Once more into the breach! Jon and I delved into the grimdark world of Warhammer 40,000 with a game last week. My Dark Angels Deathwing faced his Sisters of Battle in a 2,050-point, skull-filled encounter. As the two forces came to blows, a pair of encrypted communiques from the two warring factions relayed details of the conflict to their superiors.
Unconfirmed rumors of a device called as "Caliban’s Bane," an
artifact of great import to the Ecclesiarch, missing for millennia, had
brought the Sisters of Battle to the abandoned fortress on Exellus
Secundus. As they approached, a haze obscured visibility on the
battlefield, and suddenly the Sisters' units came under fire as armored
figures appeared in their midst...
-- Ecclesiarchy Dictatus, Cipher Level Cerulean
The report mentioned the fugitive known to a select few as "Caliban’s
Bane" was below on the planet protected by an unknown military force.
An individual to be dealt with carefully and captured at all costs. The Deathwing planned and launch their assault, immediately engaging
the enemy as they appeared through the haze…-- Dark Angels after-action communique
Deathwing
- Belial - Master of the Deathwing
- Interrogator Chaplain in terminator armor
- Deathwing Command Squad
- Apothecary
- Deathwing Standard Bearer
- Champion
Assault Cannon
- Deathwing Knights
- 3 Deathwing Terminator squads
- 1 Assault Cannon
- 1 Plasma Cannon
- 1 Cyclone Missile Launcher
- Nephilim Jetfighter with twin-linked lascannon
- Land Raider Crusader
Sisters of Battle
- Canoness Persephone of Order of the Cobalt Torch
- Sisters Command Squad
- Celestians
- Sister Dialogus
- Hospitaler
- 1 Celestian Squad in Rhino Transport
- 2 Battle Sister Squads (1 in Rhino Transport)
- 1 Storm Bolter
- 1 Multi-melta
- 1 Dominion Squad in Rhino Transport
- Confessor Maximillian Krator
- Battle Conclave
- Crusaders
- Arco Flagellants
- Death Cult Assassain
- 2 Repentia Units
- 1 Retributor Squad in Immolator
We played on a green planet that had been torn asunder by previous battles. There were abandoned bunkers, craters, and a large fortress spanning a river. For our game purposes, the fortress was just a large building with non-functional weaponry. Two bridges spanned the river on either side of the table.
Jon deployed first. The Sisters spread out across the deployment zone, mostly in tanks.
The Deathwing Land Raider was the only thing on the table. Inside were the Deathwing Knights, Belial, and the Interrogator-Chaplain. All other Terminator squads were in reserve for a second-turn Deathwing assault. The Nephilim jetfighter started in reserves as required.
The Deathwing failed to seize the initiative, so the Sisters of Battle started the turn.
Turn 1A - The Sisters moved their Rhinos forward. The Exorcist missile launcher shot at the Land Raider, and got a lucky shot, glancing 1 hull point from the tank.
Turn 1B - The Land Raider moved 6 inches forward, putting its multimelta in 12-inch range of the forward Rhino. A penetrating hit resulted in an explosion. Four of the squad inside were killed as a result, and one more trooper was taken out with bolter fire, but the squad remained on the table hoping to get their vengeance in return.
Turn 2A - The Sisters maneuvered their vehicles and took another shot at the Land Raider. This time they hit, failed to damage the hulking armored behemoth.
Turn 2B - Things really started happening! The Nephilim jetfighter rocketed onto the board from reserves, spewing destruction across the battlefield. On the green fields below, the Deathwing arrived. The command squad and one tactical squad landed within 6 inches of Belial's teleport homer. The other two squads landed right in the backfield, but luckily they didn't scatter too far away. Taking advantage of "Vengeful Strike" (twin-linked weapons for the rest of the turn after deep-striking) and the Deathwing squad's ability to split their fire against two targets, these newly arrived squads did some damage. The Terminator armored with the plasma cannon destroyed the weapon on one of the Exorcist tanks, and the Nephilim's lascannon took out the other. A number of Sisters fell to storm bolter and assault cannon fire.
Turn 3A - Five Terminators from two different squads perished under a hail of meltagun fire from Celestions and Dominions, and two more died during the ensuing assault. The Terminators took some of the Sisters with them to the grave, but the Sisters still held fast.
Turn 3B - The Nephilim took out the remainder of a Repentia squad. The Land Raider advanced, opened its doors and disgorged Belial, the Interrogator-Chaplain, five Deathwing Knights, and a Watcher in the Dark. They did some damage with guns, then charged for the assault. The Sisters' overwatch only succeeded in removing a single Knight, due to the Toughness 5 granted to them by the "Wall Of Shields" rule. Since they were within 6 inches of the Deathwing standard bearer, they got an extra attack in close combat. The Dark Angels managed to score a devastating number of wounds, but the Sisters managed to make most of their armor saves, holding the bridgehead to block the advance for yet another turn! Melee combat ensued elsewhere on the battlefield, with the Sisters' command squad (and Canoness) perishing in close combat.
Unfortunately, at this point it was very late, and we had to call it a tie. Atmospheric conditions that had been scrambling vox frequencies cleared, and suddenly it became clear who the combatants were. Obviously, there must have been a misunderstanding, and Belial and the Ecclesiarcy Confessor went out for tea and cookies (burnt gingerbread psykers, of course) after they realized their mistake. Not that the new mistrust between them wouldn’t likely set them at odds again in the future. After all, there was no sign of that which each force sought to find on the planet below.
Josh's post game notes
This was one of the most exciting games I have played. It was full of epic events and lucky rolls. This was the first time I played a game exclusively using my own terrain, and the table looked great! There were a few things that we goofed up on rules-wise, including one botched assault that might have made a difference in the tide of the battle, but we didn't realize it until after the fact, and decided to move forward.
It's too bad that we had to call it after turn 3... The game was still really up in the air at that point. It could have gone either way.
I really enjoyed playing the all-Deathwing list, but I'm not sure that it's the best tactical option. If I hadn't been lucky with the dice, I could have run out of units very quickly due to the comparatively few models I had on the table. In addition, the choice to deep-strike the entire army was questionable, especially on this table. My strategy really depended on getting the Land Raider into enemy territory to use Belial's teleport homer to eliminate scatter.
Jon's initiative, coupled with the bridges, really caused a choke point. I couldn't move the way I wanted, and had to risk scatter instead. I got lucky here, but it could have been bad. It was also VERY risky to start the game with only 1 unit on the board. If the Exorcist had destroyed it and caused an explosion, the resulting wounds could have ended the game right there! The Nephilim jetfighter worked out very well for me. It was able to take out some key units early on and saved me a ton of pain. It was still a little expensive, but it is just too fun and cool to leave at home.
All in all, it was a TON of fun, and I can't wait for the rematch!
Jon’s post game notes
It was definitely a very fun game, and the great layout added a lot to the enjoyment of the scenario as the armies raging across the tabletop looked very dynamic. The most difficult part about playing against an all-Deathwing Army (aside from the 2+ saves and the fact that my esteemed opponent forgot how to roll 1s this particular game) was not knowing where on the table the actual battle was going to take place. I could guess all I want during deployment, but was essentially guaranteed to have at least some of my units out of place when the deep strike occurred, and the time came for actual battle.
In hindsight, aside from adding some minor mobility, the transports were mostly useless. Though they did provide some cover, I'd cut a few of them out of the list in the future, and replace them with either Seraphim or another Exorcist.
My initial strategy was primarily to test how well certain units did in this edition of the game. I found the Battle Conclave and the Repentia to be very effective, although the need to work in concert with each other or other close combat squads was clear, as only half of them actually made it into assault. One unit less of them and they would have been far less effective.
I was disappointed with the Arco-Flagellents -- they did a lot of flailing with very little result, though that may be as much because I couldn’t make my Faith rolls to save my life this game. Not a single one succeeded. I think I may remove the Crusaders, and take only Death Cult Assassins (who proved very effective due to high initiative) and Arco-Flagellents next time. If I can make some Faith points, the results may be different. Finally, I will seriously have to consider some Skyfire allies next time (maybe a Hydra), as the Nephilim jetfighter was all too effective at removing my Exorcist from the equation, and killing the only entire unit that I lost.
The rematch should be very interesting indeed!
-- Josh and Jon, Chicago Skirmish Wargames club members, with photos by Josh
