Category Archives: Battle Reports

January 1st I travelled down to the FLGS to meet a friend, and we had our first game of the year.

I brought Chaos Space Marines: generic Chaos Lord, Plague Marines 2×7 w/Rhinos and x2 plasma, 1×5 Havocs (Lascannons x2, Autocannons x2), Melta-Maul Termicide squad x3, Ectofiend, and Baledrake.

He brought Craftworld Iyanden: Wraithlord as HQ, a Spiritseer to buff it, Wraithguard squads x2, Wraithblades x1, and a Crimson Hunter.

I didn’t take a lot of pictures, and I forgot I was taking pictures during the most intense parts of the game, but the ones I have should give a good idea of what happened.

We played Dawn of War and, as usual, forgot about the night fighting rules. I won deployment and decided to go first. We had three objectives, so I chose the table half that had two of the three. Since we had Big Guns Never Tire, I set my Havocs up on one objective backed up by the Chaos Lord: A. The other objective was at the entrance to a small building, so I hid a unit of Plague Marines out of LOS to camp out next to it, using their empty Rhino to block LOS in the gap between the hills in front of the objective: D. I set up my Ectofiend in the middle, so he could either support the Havocs or the other set of Plague Marines: B. The second unit of Plague Marines started in their Rhino, with the task of moving forward to contest or seize the third objective: C. The Baledrake and Termicide are in Reserves.

My friend sets up. He makes an “FU blob” with the Wraithlord, Spiritseer, and Wraithblades: 1. He positions them to move against the objective my Havocs and Lord are sitting on. He puts a unit of Wraithguard on the one objective in his deployment area: 3. The remaining squad of Wraithguard are placed opposite my maneuver units, probably to block them: 2. He’s got his Crimson Hunter in Reserves, of course, and counting on it coming in after my Baledrake so he can burn it down with it’s ridiculous shooting capability.

You can see those two Wraithguard there. I shot everything in the world at that one unit in an attempt to remove them before they could do anything. I got hits with both Ectofiend shots and my Havocs lit them up too. Not a bad first round.

My Ectofiend, and the worrisome menace of the Wraithblades. I was worried about taking just the one Ectofiend, because they’re only AV12 and they normally get exploded first thing. He lived to shoot for two rounds, though, then got tied up by the one surviving Wraithguard tar-pitting him in HTH.

My Terminators almost went off the board when they teleported down. They went nine inches straight toward the corner. Only the sergeant hit with his combi-melta shot, which failed to blow up the Wraithlord. The next turn the Wraithlord detached to face them, I forgot to assault with them, then the Crimson Hunter came in and lit them up and killed them.

And then I forgot to take pictures!

My Plague Marines had their Rhino shot out from under them, but had a gun-line showdown with the Wraithguard on the objective. The Wraithguard and Crimson Hunter killed my Plague Marines, then my Baledrake came tearing in and took HP off the Hunter with Meteoric Descent then put a fatal template over the Wraithguard. The Hunter was velocity locked at 18″, but it’s super maneuverability rule made that not completely terrible for it. The Baledrake got some lucky saves from the return fire, then flew off the board, hitting the Hunter again for HP. I think. Some things are fuzzy, but I know the Baledrake went off the table in a strategic retreat.

My Chaos Lord detached from the Havocs to set up a counter assault. The Havocs downed the Wraithlord with lascannons because it had left itself open by detaching from the Wraithblades squad. The Wraithblades made a couple of unsuccessful attempts to assault the Havocs, but they had the mysterious objective thing that halved charge distance, and I rolled some unholy 6s during overwatch shooting and killed a few. They finally made it up there and swept the Havocs, then the Lord charged in and used his LC/PF combo to wreck a few more before he got stabbed to death by the Spiritseer.

The Crimson Hunter blew up the Ectofiend after it finally managed to stomp on the lone Wraithguard following a terrible slap-fight. The Hunter then positioned itself to shoot up my Plague Marines on the far objective. Only 1 or 2 PMS actually go down to shooting, and then the Baledrake came screaming in from Ongoing Reserves and clawed the Crimson Hunter from the skies before laying down a template over the recently triumphant but now utterly horrified Wraithblades. All the Wraithblades got burned to death after failing every single invuln save, and the Spiritseer couldn’t claim the objective.

So we went 6 rounds, with the final tally being CSM: First Blood, Slay the Warlord, x1 Objective for 5 VP; Iyanden: Linebreaker for 1 VP. It was a very close game, and we both committed some tactical errors, but it came down to a single Spiritseer facing 5 PMs and a Heldrake at the end. A clear victory for the IV Legion XLIX Grand Company ‘the Iron Hounds’.

I look forward to a fun year of gaming and hobby related activities.

Reviresco!

This is a work of “fan fiction”, and is not authorized or endorsed by Games Workshop Ltd. For a fuller explanation of copyright see this website’s legal disclaimer concerning third party intellectual property.

Not exactly a battle report, but kind of.

After a string of complete, brutal victories the Wide Patrol was finally dealt a loss. Overconfidence and berserk tendencies led to the usually well disciplined hares charging willy nilly, breaking formation and all sorts of other un-military things. The super elite and fearless Wide Patrol was destroyed piecemeal, the Black Rabbit calling them all home in a decisive and complete loss.

Time to try a different strategy. The idea of a small group of super elite Hares with crazy high stats depends on making it into contact with the enemy without losses and in formation. It also helps if the enemy has two or three formations that I can hit in turn. But we’re all getting the hang of this new game and my opponents are finding their own stride with their forces.

So yeah, different strategies. I decided to opt for a more standard set-up, and tried a couple of things. I thought that two groups of warriors marching forward in shieldwall formation would be good, but I ended up with mixed results. Two shieldwall groups proved awkward to keep in good formation when the battleground wasn’t completely open. A single terrain feature in the middle of the field could break the strategy. And lacking a ranged troop choice put me at a disadvantage when an opponent formed his own shieldwall and placed archers in support.

That seemed like a good idea, so I stole it.

After some playtesting the other day I have my initial campaign list and a basic strategy and some ideas of tactics. I’m running a Hare shieldwall moving in formation, with a Hare Leader and a Standard Bearer moving behind them, with a group of archers ranging out on the flanks to both cover the main formation and strike at targets of opportunity. I may trim some points somewhere and put long movement on the remaining ranged troops to move them around faster.

But with 1 leader, 1 standard bearer, 5 shield warriors, and 3 archers I figure I’ve got a good starting set-up. In campaign mode it gives me a decent maximum number, and should be nimble enough to operate in various types of terrain as pretty much an all-comers list. As the campaign progresses I plan to tailor warbands to different terrain or situations, but we’ll see how that pans out.

In my test run of the starting formation an interesting thing became apparent. When you have two Splintered Lands armies that are very evenly matched in numbers and tactics it sort of degenerates into waiting for someone to trigger the morale check. In the two battles I fought with this list I was up against 8 otters with my 10 hares. The otters had two personalities, a group of warriors, and a smaller group of slingers. I had a personality and a standard bearer, that’s where the real difference was.

In the first game I managed to seize the high ground first and rain arrows down on the advancing enemy. My shieldwall formation rounded the hill in good order and crashed into the flank of the enemy. I quickly triggered a morale check, and then chased down the surviving otters to surround and finish them off. I lost one archer to the otter’s sling stones.

In the second game the terrain changed oddly, leaving a hill sort of off-center but still in good position. Both warbands raced to be the first on top of it. The ranged weapons of both warbands dragged behind, the warrior formations made decent progress, but the two leaders raced ahead to claim the summit. A heroic individual combat broke out as the troops tried to climb to support. I realized at this point that whichever leader won was most likely to win the game. It wasn’t a given by any means, but taking out a leader triggers a morale check, and on top of that leaders tend to be vital for group movements and have better combat stats.

Captain Burdock got cocky and lost, though by the time he was felled the standard bearer was there to lend support. This is where the difference between the two lists showed through. In a similar situation in the preceding game the otters failed their morale checks and ran for the table edge. With my standard bearer right in the thick of things a failed moral check actually helped! My legionnaires got free moves toward the objective, excepting the two that rolled triple fails. So even though Burdock had fallen I found myself in a decent position to continue the attack. The battle was weighted against me, but I felt I still had a good chance of a clean victory.

Unfortunately the dice gods were not good to me. Here is where Song of Blades can get a little weird, though. Both battles were complete routes, but both battles were fought to the bitter end. In 40k you can get into a position where you look at it and say, “well, I’m boned. Let’s call it…”. But with Splintered Lands you don’t quit. I had some hares killed and ended up with three left for the end game. Two archers who had fled to the end of a hedgerow, and a standard bearer who had run and hid in the woods. The combat was focusing on the two otter champions trying to run down the hare archers, so the standard bearer got a couple of free turns to just sit in the trees and gather his courage. The first archer was run down and killed, but here I figured out I could still pull out a desperate win.

Everyone was near a table edge. Everyone was near a table edge in long or medium range. You see where I’m going with this? It became imperative to put a killing arrow into the otter leader. There was some moving around, some chances taken, some gambles, and some desperate rolls. I almost managed to do it. I harbored some hope once the standard bearer starting fighting troops who remembered to infiltrate the woods that I might take out enough to get a 50% morale check, too. These were long shot hopes, desperate “to the last” fighting. The standard bearer did not have a run of good luck. He did redeem himself by taking out one of the enemy foolish enough to run ahead of his companions, but could not take out the required number on his own to trigger the morale check. The hare archer fought bravely, doing much better than I expected, nearly managing his kill, but in the end he was run into hand to hand and slain. Everyone fought tooth and nail to the bitter end, and I learned a couple of valuable things.

Take a standard. Always. It costs nothing and not only can it keep your troops from running off the table edge, it can actually get you two free moves toward an objective.

Don’t get strung out. Rushing forward to claim an objective can be enticing, but without a clear lead the benefits are few to none. In the first game I was rushing to put archers on high ground and had a good head start on the enemy. In the second game field positions were evenly matched, but the two leaders were not. Burdock had a Q+ advantage and Finn (the otter leader) had a C advantage. It seems like an even match up, but what you’re really doing is giving the better warrior more chances to kill you.

Have a plan to trigger morale checks on the enemy. Really, this is where Song of Blades  battles tend to fall apart for one of the players. Kill a leader and also trigger a 50% check right after and you’re golden. Try to get the leader at a disadvantage. Try to put higher C rated characters against easier targets in the opening stages. Try to maneuver the enemy so that he’s closer to the table edge than you. Try to surround harder targets, or really anybody you need dead. The negative modifiers for additional opponents can totally negate high C rated personalities.

And try to remember this the next time I take the Wide Patrol to war…

The campaign looms. Raspberry Haven must stand inviolate. The Wide Patrol will offer the blood of the slain to the Black Rabbit.

Death and glory! Blood and hate! Enjoy everything!

Also, check out this cool new logo I bashed up:

This army is crazy…

Reviresco!

The fields to the northwest of the county of Raspberry Haven, protectorate of the hares of the Wide Patrol.

The fearless hares of Captain Burdock Rabscuttle’s Wide Patrol received word that neighboring counties were violating the sovereignty of Raspberry Haven. Burdock took a small detachment of his best hares and met with Mellivor Braw, the badger that lived under the oak tree in the northwest corner of the county. Mellivor led them to a hill where he had found strange animal tracks in large numbers, and soon a raiding party of foxes was discovered lurking near a wooded area to the north.

Burdock led his hares out from behind the hill and across the field to take up a position to observe the intruding foxes. Mellivor Braw was not quick enough, and the foxes spotted the Wide Patrol as they entered the woods. Dand-O Flatfoot exchanged a couple of arrow shots with the archers under the fox champion’s command, but it quickly became apparent that the enemy was too expert at using cover to hit from afar.

Seeing that they would be shot to pieces if they remained where they were, Burdock declared a charge! The hares bounded across the field engaged the enemy forces in fierce hand to hand combat. The enemy had an assassin in their ranks, who took advantage of Mellivor Braw stumbling and struck the poor fellow when he was down. Bounder was gravely injured, leaving Burdock and Dand-O to fight on alone. The archers of the enemy backed away to attempt a clear shot, but Burdock lept across the distance and engaged them both. Dand-O held his own, fighting bravely.

The enemy’s morale was broken, and they were either struck down or fled the field. The hares cared for their wounded, then sang campfire songs while they ate sandwiches and drank buttercup mead.

But the day was not over for the valiant Wide Patrol! As they sang a merry marching song and made their way back toward the hill, a large combat force of mice were spotted coming from the north. Perhaps they had been pursuing the foxes, and were friendly? Burdock didn’t like the look of them, nor did he like the menacing sound of their beating war drums.

Burdock led his hares around the east side of the hill, Mellivor Braw the badger following behind. Keeping the hill between themselves and small horde of mice warriors as long as they could, they then dashed across the open field, making for the wooded area to the north.

As they bounded across the field they saw that they had been spotted. A mole combat engineer disappeared into the ground, followed by a detachment of mice warriors. The mice also had an assassin, as well as a leader skillfully directing a group of mice slingers toward the hares. The fearless hares would take cover from their missiles within the trees, and draw them into hand-to-hand combat, an activity the soldiers of the Wide Patrol excel at.

The Wide Patrol formed a skirmish line and braced for a charge from the mice. The mole engineer surfaced near Mellivor Braw, and the badger found himself swamped with angry mice, murder written in their twitching whiskers. Burdock and Bounder charged in, while Dand-O was caught off guard, having to dodge his way through a rain of slung bullets. Dand-O opted to join the brawl instead of trading shots with the mouse slingers. The mouse assassin chased him into the fray.

It was a hard fought battle. Amongst the trees and the broken ground, it was hard for any of the animals to keep their feet. Bounder and Mellivor Braw were both struck down, grievously wounded, though Burdock and Bounder fought on. They were knocked down many times by the swarming mice, yet the two fearless warriors kept up the attack. When Bounder was cruelly slashed while he lay helpless on the ground, Burdock became enraged, charging into the mob of mice and striking a mighty blow.

The shock of the gruesome death caused the mice to break and run. In the ensuing panic and confusion several mice were killed, further deepening the despair of the mouse invaders. When their leader himself abandoned the field the panicked retreat of the mice turned into a complete, brutal route. The courageous hares of the Wide Patrol had proved victorious twice!

Raspberry Haven was safe, the borders secure and the message to the other animals quite clear: this land is ours.

The foul vermin horde swarmed out of the north, intent on striking a psychological blow on the good folk of the forest by cutting down the Old Oak Tree. Rallying from all corners of the domain to protect the tree were the Mouse Guard, the otters of Finnegan the Blade’s tribe, and Captain Burdock Rabscuttle’s Wide Patrol of hares. The vermin horde of the evil rat Rufer, supported by the villain Durge the Wolverine and the nefarious warlock rat Skurr had to make it to the Oak Tree and put four cuts into it before the valiant woodland folk could stop them. In an epic oversight, there was no turn limit in this scenario…

The vermin horde spilled directly out of the north, tumbling in from the craggy mountains and harsh badlands, murder on their hateful minds. The valiant Mouse Guard came from the west, moving to secure the River Camp before joining the fray. Finnegan the Blade’s otter tribe used the Hidden River to arrive, deploying just on the south side between the Hidden River and the Old Oak Tree. Captain Rabscuttle’s Wide Patrol bounded in from the southeast, coming between Lookout Hill and the South Hill. The four armies were on a collision course; the villainous rats and their murderous champions had to be stopped!

The Vermin Horde had the initiative! Their main force pushed directly into the Oak Tree Down, moving between the Lonely Copse and Lookout Hill. Flankers were deployed, Skurr and some rat bodyguards moved toward the Lonely Copse, while a lone sword-rat moved toward Lookout Hill. The main force formed a skirmish line of rat slingers supported by the heavily armored Durge, a ferocious anti-badger wolverine. Rabscuttle’s Wide Patrol, consisting of Captain Burdock Rabscuttle himself, Sgt. Bounder the spear-hare, and Cpl. Dand-0 Flatfoot the archer-hare, moved around Lookout Hill to plant themselves before the Hidden River in an attempt to head the main force off and join forces with Finn’s otters. The Mouse Guard had trouble mobilizing effectively, stringing themselves out from the River Camp to the Old Fence.

And this was just the first of forty (40) rounds…

Finn’s otters, consisting of Finnegan the Blade himself and Fletcher the archer-otter, linked up with the hare Wide Patrol on the north side of the Hidden River. The two forces consolidated momentarily and traded some ranged volleys with the rat-slingers of the Vermin Horde. The Vermin Horde approached cautiously while the Mouse Guard tried to consolidate and move toward the Lonely Copse, though “Mouse Captain the Inevitable Martyr” moved far out ahead of his reluctant troopers. Shooting from the cover of his friends, Fletcher the archer-otter managed to put an arrow into the face of a rat-slinger. The wretched creature’s death throes were horrific, causing the bulk of the Vermin Horde to lose faith momentarily. Durge the wolverine-champion stood fast while the rats of the Horde rallied to Rufur’s banner, though there were some deaths in the panicked stampede.

Gripped with righteous fury, Finn, Burdock, and Bounder charge toward the isolated Durge in an attempt to overpower him while his messmates were cowering around the banner far behind him. The Mouse Captain, in his own battle fever, moved into hand-to-hand with an elite sword-rat at the edge of the Lonely Copse. Finn runs through an elite sword-rat, the only one who stood with Durge, while Burdock and Bounder fail to find a gap in Durge’s heavy armor. The fortunes of war change dramatically, with the Mouse Captain pushing back his quarry, only to be transfixed and slain by Skurr’s foul magic and his bodyguard. Captain Rabscuttle is dealt a mortal blow by Durge, falling dead in the midst of battle. Dand-O Flatfoot manages to hold his own against four rat-slingers who have returned to support Durge, but cannot strike true.

Durge knocks Finnegan down and slays him mercilessly, leaving Fletcher to carry on alone. Sergeant Bounder pushes in, and the two are deadlocked in the middle of the field. The Mouse Guard is struggling to regroup, their movement slow and their troops discouraged by the death of their Captain. The Vermin Warlord Rufur moves in after Fletcher, knocking him down. Fletcher manages to regain his feet, but while trying to get his distance Rufur takes advantage of the otter’s momentary distraction and runs him through, disemboweling him gruesomely. Seeing their chance, the Vermin Horde surges forward, lead by Durge, who makes straight for the Old Oak Tree. Meanwhile, at the Old Oak Tree, Finnegan the Other Blade arrives out of the south, touching the Old Oak Tree for luck before moving to meet the foul Durge. Rufur shoves a Mouse Guard trooper into a tree at the skirmish at the Lonely Copse, knocking mouse-slinger down.

Rufur takes a moment to consolidate his rat-slingers. The organization he provides them assists them in a volley, knocking Dand-O off his feet. Dand-O stands defiantly, but is too shaken to retaliate immediately. Finn the Other Blade stands in the middle of the Hidden River and issues a challenge to the approaching Durge, who is approaching cautiously, unsure of the depth and flow of the waters. The Vermin Horde maneuvers but takes no immediate violent actions, much to their immediate regret. Moving up to high ground, Dand-O sticks Rufur with an arrow while the rat’s back is turned. The violent death of the Vermin Warlord sends his rats into a wild panic. Sergeant Bounder spears a fleeing rat, then turns to charge across the battlefield. Unable to penetrate the armor on Durge, Bounder sprints across Oak Tree Down and makes a passing attack on Skurr the rat-warlock, knocking him down. Seizing the opening, a Mouse Guard trooper steps in and cuts the fallen Skurr down. Finn the Other remains in the Hidden River, pleased as he watches a Mouse Guard knock another rat down.

The Vermin Horde is in disarray and does not manage to do much immediately following the death of Skurr. Dand-O, from his vantage point on Lookout Hill, puts an arrow into a rat-slinger, killing him. The rats of the Vermin Horde, seeing that they’ve lost their Warlord and his pet warlock and half of their own messmates, abandon the field in droves. All that is left after this break in morale is Durge, the stalwart wolverine champion. Durge plods on toward the Old Oak Tree, intent on cutting it down no matter what. The good folk of the forest, having isolated the dread champion, surround him and attempt to overwhelm his defenses. In a sudden change of tactics Durge lumbers toward Dand-O Flatfoot, forcing the hare, who had abandoned Lookout Hill to get a better range, back toward the east. The remaining sergeant from the Mouse Guard rallies his two surviving mouse-slingers, organizing them to better volley against Durge. Finn the Other moves out of the Hidden River to block in Durge, who is unable to catch Dand-O

The rolling brawl moves closer to the Old Fence and the Hidden River. Sergeant Bounder, attempting a series of running strikes, misjudges his distance and Durge catches him by the Old Fence. The two battle, moving their brawl toward the Hidden River. The brawny vermin hammers the valiant hare down, striking poor Bounder dead. The incensed Dand-O abandons his reason and charges across the battle field to meet Durge in hand to hand to revenge his sergeant. Finn the Other and the Mouse Guard rush in to support Dand-O, and the wolverine finds himself surrounded and set upon from all sides.

Durge makes a mighty blow upon Finn the Other’s head, knocking him down, then reverses direction and rushes on the Mouse Guard. There is a lot of confusion, and everyone still left alive on the field is involved in this vicious hand to hand combat. Finn the Other makes a reckless attack and Durge slips under his guard, killing him (again). The mouse-slingers make a brave effort, but are dispatched rather effortlessly by the riled up wolverine. Durge, at last free from the woodland creatures, makes it to the edge of the Hidden River. Unfortunately for the plans of the Horde, Durge finds the river is too swift and deep for a warrior as heavily armored as he. But determined to complete his mission he heads southeast to round the South Hill and bypass the Hidden River entirely.

Durge plods relentlessly on, shrugging off the arrows that Dand-O sends into him one after the other. He is knocked down several times, and the last surviving Mouse Guard attempts to time his attacks to slay that maddened beast while he is down. As Durge begins to round the South Hill he is once again knocked to his knees by a well placed arrow. Rushing in to strike him while he is compromised, the Mouse Guard makes a fatal error. Calling forth a second wind, Durge catches the attacking mouse by surprise, stabbing him in the gut as he rises to defend himself from the mouse’s opportunistic blow. Durge trudges on with Dand-O following just out of his charge range, shooting arrow after arrow into the beast’s armored back.

The Old Oak Tree is under attack! Covered with blood, much of it now his own, and decorated with dozens of arrow shafts from Dand-O’s bow, the weary champion begins to chop down the iconic tree. Dand-O Flatfoot is the only woodland creature surviving, and all he can do is loose shaft after shaft as the relentless wolverine hacks away. Durge swings with tired limbs, stumbling as arrows thud home through his armor and into his thick hide. Dand-O believes Durge is dead several times, but the wolverine still struggles to rise, sometimes making it to his feet to take yet another strike at the Old Oak Tree. Three fourths of the way through the mighty tree’s trunk, blade raised to deliver the final strike, Durge stops. He has been struck too many times. A final arrow slams into his hide, his armor torn and full of holes. It’s too much, and the relentless Vermin champion finally falls dead.

Corporal Dand-O Flatfoot is all that remains. The Vermin Horde lay dead across the downs or is running back north, leaderless and panicked. The heroic woodland creatures are scattered across the battle field, dead and dying, covered with death and glory. It has been a horrific and tragic day, but the Old Oak Tree still stands…

The warband of Jarl-Captain Bolverk and the 55th Cerberan Armored Guard clashed in deadly combat again today. The battle this day was to deny the enemy valuable assets while waiting for reinforcements from the Fleet, who were engaged with the Imperial Navy further out in the system. The two combatants arrayed against one another in spearhead formation, fighting for three strategic points amidst the bombed out ruins of an outlaying settlement. The 4th Wælheim Free Company brought the 4th & 8th Assault Squads (8 Berzerkers, Champion w/PF&MB), The Jarl’s Comitatus (6 Terminators, 4PF, 1RAC, 1 PW), the 1oth Armor Squad’s Defiler, and the Jarl himself accompanied 4th Assault Squad “Bone Eaters” carrying his Bloodfeeder Axe. The Imperials brought 4 Leman Russ tanks variants, a Company HQ squad, a Platoon HQ and 3 squads of Veteran Infantry. The Chaos Marines won the initiative and rushed to seize the first objective as they set up to receive the enemy, and the Guard came rumbling straight in to meet them.

The first round of combat saw the 55th attempt to seize the initiative from the 4th and fail. The Jarl ordered his Comitatus to lay their Reaper behind the boulders on the hill and surround the first objective to protect it. The 10th’s Defiler swung out to position itself to bring its battle cannon to bear, and the 4th and 8th squads rushed toward a second objective in their Rhinos. The 55th Armored split off into two thrusts, each supported by two tanks in squadron formation with the infantry out in front. A few shots were exchanged by both sides, with the 4th drawing first blood, albeit not much. Most of the firing this round was ineffective, though the Defiler was stunned by some heavy blows from the Guard tanks, which may well have been decisive.

In the second round of combat the Teeth Grinders (4th Squad) and the Shield Biters (8th Squad) pushed forward in the Rhinos and debarked to screen the objective and manoeuvre into a position from which to assault. The Defiler crew were helpless from the hard hit they took the previous round and were taken out by the meltaguns of the advancing infantry. An assault on Rhino 108 was attempted by the Guard, which failed miserably. Some other shots were traded, the most significant result being the Teeth Grinders losing seven Berzerkers from a Demolisher strike.

In the third round of combat things got interesting. Rhino 108 cleared a path through the Guard making a mad drive toward the enemy tanks. The Shield Biters followed in its wake, completely bypassing the confused Guardsmen who had been pushed out of the way. The 8th rounded on the 55th’s Platoon HQ and ground them to pieces with bolt pistol and chain-axe. Rhino 104 manoeuvred a bit and downed a Guardsman with its twin-linked bolters, right before the Teeth Grinders, or rather the Teeth Grinder’s Champion and Jarl Bolverk, charged into them and unleashed the bloodlust of Khorne upon them with a startling number of attacks due to the Jarl’s Daemon Weapon. The Shield Biters were still hacking the Platoon HQ to paste when the 55th dropped a barrage of revenge down, annihilating them. The Comitatus and the Guard traded shots, and one of the Jarl’s Thegns was among the casualties.

Reaper’s-eye view of the 55th Cerberus Armored moving in on the middle objective.

Jarl-Captain Bolverk and Huscarl-Leftenant Gapthrossnir of the 4th Assault Squad (Teeth Grinders), journeyed to Wælheim this round courtesy of an enormous ordnance round. They died doing what they loved: chasing the enemy across the battlefield. Rhino 104 moved into the woods at the objective in attempt to both deny it to the enemy and gain cover from the big guns on the tanks. It was not enough, unfortunately, and 104 was finally blown up.

After four rounds of intense fighting the battle was unexpectedly ended. The 55th received word from the Naval Command that their fleet had been ordered to withdraw, so the battle would not be a decisive one this day. The Comitatus had held true to their oaths to the Jarl and were standing fast on their objective. The infantry of the 55th were dug in on the middle objective, and nobody was anywhere near the third objective except the remains of Huscarl-Leftenant Farmatyr and his crew scattered around the burnt out hulk of 104. It was decided that it was a tactical draw.

“The Thegn paused to watch as the Imperial lifter departed the battlefield as the Fleet’s transports came in low and fast. On the horizon the smoke glowed eerily with flashes as the orbital bombardment of the hive commenced. Whose bombs were falling on the city? It didn’t matter anymore, the entire system was doomed. Naval troopers from the transports were loading the fallen Astartes into stasis pods and thralls were scouring the wreck of the Defiler as fast as they could, overseen by an anxious tech-priest. The bombardment would be here in minutes, but they’d be gone. And then they would do it all over again in some other luckless system. Yes. The blood would flow again.”

This is a work of “fan fiction”, and is not authorized or endorsed by Games Workshop Ltd. For a fuller explanation of copyright see this website’s legal disclaimer concerning third party intellectual property.