Battle Report - Black Templars vs. Emperor’s Children (Incursion 1000 points)

 

 

I had a 1000 point game versus Emperor’s Children yesterday. We used Open War to generate the mission. The size of the table was roughly half the size recommended by geedub for 2000 point games. My apology for the unpainted army, I’m just starting to build my force and want to play some games.

Here’s my army list which was a combat patrol:

Marshall - Chapter Master; WLT: Frontline Commander; Plasma Pistol & Perdition’s Edge

Emperor’s Champion - WLT: Master of Arms

Primaris Crusader Squad: Sword Brethren (Power Axe), 2x Initiate (Power Fist), 3x Initiate (Heavy Bolt Pistol & Astartes Chainsword), 4x Neophyte (Bolt Pistol & Astartes Chainsword)

Bladeguard Veterans (BGV): Sergeant/Champion of the Feast (Volkite Pistol & Sword of Judgement), 4x BGV (Heavy Bolt Pistol & Master-Crafted Power Sword)

Ironclad Dreadnaught: Hurricane Bolter, 2x Hunter Killer Missile, Heavy Flamer & Chainfist

3x Eliminator: Lasfusils

3x Eliminator: Lasfusils

Here’s my opponent’s army list to the best of my knowledge (Combat Patrol & Auxiliary Detachment)

Chaos Lord - WLT: Exalted Champion; Rapacious Talons

Sorcerer - Diabolic Strength, Delightful Agonies; Bolt Pistol & Force Sword

Dark Apostle

19x Noise Marine: Bolt Pistol & Astartes Chainsword, Champion: Bolt Pistol & Astartes Chainsword; Icon of Excess

Chaos Contemptor Dreadnaught: Hellforged Cyclone Missile Launcher, Hellforged Kheres Pattern Assault Cannon & Chainfist (built-in Plasma Blaster)

4x Havoc: Reaper Chain Cannon, Champion: Plasmagun

Looking at my opponent’s army list I was mostly worried about the large brick of Noise Marines generating extra melee attacks on rolls of 5+ due to the icon.

Mission:

Deployment was Hammer and Anvil. Each player places three objective markers in their deployment. You score a victory point for each of your objective markers you hold and two victory points for each of your opponent’s objective markers you hold at the end of your turn. The twist was on turn 1 the player who wins the roll off selects a table edge and players shooting towards that edge subtract 1 from their hit rolls during the shooting phase; on turn 3 the opposing player selects an adjacent table edge.

Due to the size of the table we both had to string our objectives across our deployment zone.

Black Templars’ Vow: 5++ Save and only wounded on rolls of 3+

Deployment:

I placed my Warlord, the Crusader squad and Ironclad along one flank, both Eliminator squads on top of hills holding objectives, and my BGV and Emperor’s Champion on the other flank hidden behind obscuring terrain. My opponent deployed his brick of Noise Marines across the table facing my BGV with his three HQ behind them in support and the Havocs and his dreadnaught on his other flank.

I won the roll for the twist so my opponent had the -1 to hit penalty the first two turns. I also won the roll to go first.

1st Turn - Black Templars

My Warlord gave rerolls to the Crusader squad during the command phase then I advanced everything up towards the opponent except my Eliminators and Ironclad then forgot my shooting phase (BIG MISTAKE). Note I measured to make sure the big brick of Noise Marines could not counter charge my BGV or Emperor’s Champion the first turn.

1st Turn- Emperor’s Children

My opponent moved his brick of Noise Marines forward with his HQ behind in support holding one objective while the Havocs moved in range of my Primaris Crusader squad holding another objective along with his dreadnaught. He forgot his psychic phase - Delightful Agonies probably could have helped his Noise Marines so it kind of evened out me forgetting my shooting phase. His shooting phase saw my entire Crusader squad shot off the table except for the Sword Brother… note my opponent popped Endless Cacophony for his Havocs. His dreadnaught then made a long bomb charge into the lone Sword Brother mulching him and consolidated into my Ironclad whom then punched him back stripping 5 wounds. That was quite painful losing the entire Primaris Crusader squad… if I had remembered to shoot I’d have probably greatly reduced his Havoc squad if not killed it outright between my Eliminators and Ironclad.

Score is tied 2-2.

2nd Turn - Black Templars

My Warlord granted rerolls to himself during the command phase then moved up to charge the Chaos Contemptor dreadnaught. BGV and the Emperor’s Champion moved up to assault the brick. My Ironclad remained in combat. Eliminators combined to kill three of the Havocs and I forgot to shoot my Ironclad into the Chaos Contemptor - lol ! The Marshall charged the enemy dreadnaught while my BGV and Emperor’s Champion both charged the brick. I chose to fight first with my Marshall which destroyed the Chaos Contemptor outright rolling two 6s to wound (four mortal wounds due to the relic axe). My opponent then interrupted with his Noise Marine brick - due to the area confinement he could only get around half his squad into engagement range… I lost two BGV plus one on his last wound and the Emperor’s Champion lost three wounds. I then struck back and killed over half the squad - the remainder of the Noise Marines were decimated by morale with only a couple left standing. This was obviously a great turn for me.

2nd Turn - Emperor’s Children

The Chaos Lord and Sorcerer moved forward to engage my BGV and Emperor’s Champion while the Dark Apostle held still to hold an objective. During his psychic phase the Sorcerer periled while casting Delightful Agonies then failed to cast it with a reroll; Diabolic Strength was successfully cast on his Chaos Lord and I failed to deny it using Abhor the Witch (4+ stratagem). Shooting was inconsequential. The Chaos Lord charged my Emperor’s Champion while the Sorcerer charged my BGV. The Chaos Lord slew the Emperor’s Champion and I used Honor the Chapter so he could fight back and slew him in return. The Sorcerer whiffed against my BGV then they mopped him up along with the last of the Noise Marines; they consolidated towards the Priest.

Scored is tied 4-4.

 3rd Turn - Black Templars

This was a quick turn… BGV moved up to charge the Dark Apostle and take that objective while my Marshall advanced back to hold the third objective in my deployment zone. Shooting killed one more Havoc (last one was out of line of sight). BGV charted the Priest and murdered him. My opponent then conceded.

Conclusions:

It was a fun game. Forgetting to shoot the first turn was a very silly blunder. I was impressed with the Emperor’s Children - that huge mass of Noise Marines is quite scary and double shooting Havocs with chain cannons absolutely shred - lack of cover due to the vow really hurt. I’m really liking the Ironclad in this list.

Iron Hands vs Mephrit Necrons

 

Iron Hands vs Necrons

Had an open war game yesterday at my FLGS. The mission objective was to destroy more enemy units than your opponent. The twist was -2 to cast psychic powers and they couldn’t be rerolled. The ruse was every unit gets +1 attack in melee. Deployment was modified Hammer and Anvil. Battle size was 2000 points.

I brought an Iron Hands battalion:

Chapter Master on bike, thunder hammer and storm shield

Chief Librarian - force sword

Iron Father Feirros

Five man Intercessor squad - stalker bolt rifles

Five man assault Intercessor squad - master crafted thunder hammer

Five man Infiltrator squad - Helix Gauntlet

Chief Apothecary - Selfless Healer

Relic Contemptor Dreadnaught (character) - twin lascannon, missile launcher, chainfist, plasma blaster

Eight man Relic Terminator squad - chainfists, plasma blaster, heavy flamer, combi bolters

2x Company Veteran - storm shields & chainswords

4 man Eradicator squad - multi-melta & heavy melta rifles

3 man Devastor Centurion squad - lascannons and hurricane bolters

My opponent also brought a Mephrit battalion:

Overlord

Skorpekh Destroyer Lord

Nightbringer (OMFG!!!)

20x Warrior - Reapers

15x Warrior - Reapers

5x Immortal - Tesla

Royal Warden (Veil of Darkness)

Gauss Walker

10x Lychguard - Sword & Board

3x Canoptek Wraith

5x Scarab

5x Scarab

Going into the game I felt like I had a big advantage in terms of long range high damage fire power, which turned out to be true. Both armies are highly resilient which made the game quite interesting… my goals versus the Warrior blobs was to parse them down as much as possible each turn but not be frustrated if I couldn’t destroy a unit per turn. Also I knew I had to carefully manage the Nightbringer… he can just go through any army quickly and throws out a lot of mortal wounds. I had a few tricks up my sleeve to catch that monster off guard.

I put my terminators in deep strike reserve and Eradicators in strategic reserve. I deployed most of my army out of enemy line of sight and infiltrated the Infiltrators forward but also out of line of sight. My opponent also had a conservative deployment but setup close to his line.

Luckily I got to go first and got up my buffs for the Centurions and Relic Contemptor. Shooting was fairly brutal bring the xenos walker down to one last wound and snagging three wounds on the Nightbringer. In return my opponent veiled the big blob of Warriors up front and managed to bring down one of my Centurions. The Nightbringer was only able to kill one Infiltrator with its mortal wounds jank… my ignore injury rolls were on fire! The Nightbringer couldn’t charge since it advanced luckily.

2nd turn I moved the Infiltrators up to deal with Nightbringer. I also brought in both the terminators and Eradicators from reserve. Shooting saw the first blob of Warriors gunned down and the walker was destroyed. My Infiltrators were able to strip 5 wounds from Nightbringer using some sweet strats with combined shooting and melee… the sergeant managed somehow to survive the close combat locking the Star God in place. The terminators made a big splash in the shooting phase helping to bring down the first Warrior blob but unfortunately my Eradicators bounced versus the Wraiths - my opponent’s invulnerable saves were red hot.

In return the Wraiths hit my Eradicators in melee shrugging off the melta overwatch like nothing… damn robots !!! On the flip side the Necron shooting was like light rain inflicting minimal damage. Of course my Infiltrator sergeant was snuffed but he will be always remembered as a true hero, helping to bring the Nightbringer down to only one wound and keeping the beast out of my lines.

Third turn was epic. The highlight was my Relic Contemptor gunning down the Nightbringer in overwatch like a dog. This was the final turn as the store was getting ready to close. When the smoke cleared I had killed one more unit than my opponent. I still had a lot of my army intact, losing the Infiltrators, Eradicators and Intercessors.

It was a good game and a sweet victory for Ferrus’ boys.

Ezra - Part 2

 

The Lord of Contagion waddled forward, the long hilt of his great axe clutched by both oversized rusted gauntlets. The left hand had three stubby fingers terminated into long broken claws while the right had six spindly long fingers wrapped tightly around the strips of bloody scabbed cured flesh. A single orb jutted out from the corroded helm blinking at the inky black night. Its tongue rasped against the grille. "Just another Space Marine…" it chortled as the bulking husk began to shamble forward. Wave after wave of fecal stench poured off the bone white plate. Instinctually Ezra squatted and stepped back into the blast zone carefully passing over the many dead. His injured arm snapped in place as he launched the heavy cleaver with a flick of the wrist. The rectangular blade spun as it closed in quickly crossing the short gap between the two combatants. Cutting into the exposed mounds of dead flesh seeping out from under the enemy’s helm the heavy blade cut deep through the rotten gristle locking in place. Black ooze dripped from the fresh rend spilling down upon the swollen vambrace.

 

Ezra felt raw bolts of electricity coursing through his body re-energizing his drive to fight. He ran the tip of his tongue over his teeth then spat. His free bionic hand clutched at the second chain sword mag locked to the back of his power pack. Dual wielding the two chain swords he charged straight at the Lord of Contagion. Striking with fiendish speed the traitor drove the head of his great axe descending upon the Templar’s head. Ezra countered crossing the chain swords high up to catch the poisoned blade. The mechanized teeth screamed as they fought in unison to block the strong blow. He then deftly spun away racking the back plate of the enemy chipping deep into thick interwoven plates of armor.

"You can’t win this fight." wheezed the Lord of Contagion.

Ezra - Part 1

 

Ezra

Ezra lifted himself from the crater. Deathguard swarmed just beyond the blast zone. The Templar lifted his chain sword with his good arm thumbing the activation rune. The sudden thrumming of the chain drive calmed his nerve. Putrid waves of stench rolled across the open ground as Ezra righted himself, blinking his left eye to clear the blood flowing down from an open gash across his forehead. Bolters began to fire, breaching the open ground. His brothers laid dead rank upon rank, some piled upon one another. He heard the buzz of blow flies descending upon the dead, the constant drone was sickening as he held back the bile.

Erupting from the dead Ezra launched himself into the center of the most immediate enemy. The chain sword sang as the whirling bits dug into the flace plate of a champion flowing though the deformed skull. Flicking his wrist the shorn helm flew apart then he drove the weapon into the bloated gut of the next closet driving the traitor to its knees. He could hear the tearing of rotted flesh and bone as he guided the chain sword through the corroded plate sundering the Deathguard in half. Geysers of puss filled boils erupted as he leapt aside.

The enemy moved slowly. He felt their sunken orbs all staring upon him as they encircled him rank upon rank. Again their bolters sang in unison as Ezra dodged first to the right then to left. Leaping up he brought his chain sword down in a wide arc eviscerating another traitor with a swift strike. Biting down on a stim capsule the Templar felt the engineered genome burn within his veins as his limp arm came back to life. Pins and needles stabbed into the muscle as he flexed the stiff arm. Dragging his awoken limb across the barren ground the stiff fingers clutched at the haft of a huge cleaver.

Briefly the pain was gone as he attacked with unbridled passion hacking the huge blade with new found strength. Limbs were shorn free and heads rolled. "Converge." came the command from the second champion, redirecting the force of the Poxmongers. Suddenly the lone Templar was amongst them giving himself to the fight. They grabbed at him to hold him down but the chain sword and cleaver struck for faster shredding swollen fingers. Ejecting a hidden stilleto from the hilt of the chain sword Ezra drove the tip deep into neck of a lumbering traitor severing the spinal cord. The head fell limp as the Deathguard was pushed aside.

The ground trembled as a Lord of Contagion erupted from the sick fold barreling down upon the lone Templar.