Turn 4 - Ravenwing
I make a pretty big mistake this turn... My opponent's Warlord is down its last wound and out in the open unattached to any of the combat squads. I should have gunned him down with a large salvo from the command squad's plasma talons for Slay the Warlord which is one of the primary objectives but instead I decide to go after the combat squads instead via another multi charge and catch the Salamander Captain so I can finish off more enemy units. Sammael and his retinue shuffle around into position for the assault electing not to shoot. The Salamander Chaplain and his jump squad seem far enough away that I decide to to focus all my backfield units on the two combat squads and punch the scoring drop pod with a melta bomb in assault. The lone Black Knight moves up to shoot the Captain.
Shooting from the lone Black Knight only manages to hit once and I roll a 1 to wound the Captain. My backfield units pour fire power into the two combat squads - they both go to ground... There is one survivor from one squad and a couple more from the other squad and they both pass their leadership tests. One of the Black Knights dies from an overheat bringing that squad down to just two Black Knights.
I first multi assault with Sammael and his retinue but roll poorly for the charge and even with the extra 3" can't quite reach the Captain. Both combat squads are shredded though. I then multi assault with my backfield units. The Ravenwing sergeant attacking the drop pod with his melta bomb only manages to strip one hull point and one Salamander survives and breaks but is caught.
Salamanders: Emperor's Will (20)
Ravenwing: First Strike (2)
Turn 5 - Salamanders
My opponent informs me he has a long drive home and this will have to be the final turn. First the Captain jumps into an empty transport and it pulls back into the castle. Luckily for me my opponent makes a mistake here as he should moved up his tanks and transports to block off the Captain's transport. He thinks awhile decides to move the Chaplain and jump squad up towards my two remaining Black Knights in the back field - they will need around 9" to make the charge.
There is a bit of shooting which is ineffective even though I opt not to jink Sammael's squad. The Chaplain then declares the charge and passes off a couple wounds from Overwatch to the jump squad. They just make the charge - I finish off the jump squad but both Black Knights are dropped as well. The Chaplain then consolidates but is still too far away to claim my Emperor's Will objective. I then finish off the last Marine from the combat squad claiming my objective, however the melta bomb attack fails to finish off the drop pod.
Turn 5 - Ravenwing
I need to take out the drop pod and slay my opponent's Warlord. The two Ravenwing squads encircle the drop pod while Sammael and his retinue pull up to the front of the Salamander Captain's transport. The Librarian splits off for Line Breaker. Shooting explodes both the drop pod and the transport - the Captain spills out the back roughly 9" away from Sammael. I stick the charge and finish off the Captain... Game over !
Salamanders: Emperor's Will (10) - Last Strike (12)
Ravenwing: Emperor's Will - Slay the Warlord - First Strike - Line Breaker - Last Strike (36)
Post Game Analysis
I played the game at a fairly moderate pace taking out big chunks of the battle company over the course of the game and was able to recover from my mistake. Had I not been been able to slay my opponent's Warlord then the game would have ended 12 - 16 in my favor so the final turn was a big swing. It takes time to delete all those combat squads, drop pods and transports... I probably should been more focused on going after the main objectives rather than simply grinding down enemy units.
Story Line
Sammael reports back to the Inner Circle immediately after re boarding his waiting battle barge in geosynchronous orbit:
"I am sad to report we were unable to successfully locate the whereabouts of the Fallen Angel. All the Salamanders were slain in order to maintain the code of silence."
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