Chapter Approved: Battle Report: LGS Escalation League

Last week’s escalation match jumped up to 1250 points and I got a chance to face an army I haven’t played against yet: the Adeptus Mechanicus. In this case it was the Ryza forge world and my opponent Sam was clear that they weren’t traitors, just intent on not letting anyone else get the technology they were after… perhaps something in the binaric cant static they were transmitting got lost in translation?

Battle Report:

Ruleset: 2022 War Zone Nephilim Grand Tournament - Strike Force (w/ Q4 Balance Datasheet)
Mission: 2 1 Abandoned Sanctuaries
Points: 1250

My Forces:

++ Battalion Detachment 0CP 1,250pts ++
**Chapter Selector**: Ultramarines
Battle Size [6CP]: 3. Strike Force (101-200 Total PL / 1001-2000 Points) [6CP]
Game Type: 4. Chapter Approved: War Zone Nephilim

+ HQ +

Primus Leo Exevio Faustus - Chapter Master in Terminator Armour: Adept of the Codex, Chapter Command: Chapter Master, Power sword, Rites of War, Storm bolter, Stratagem: Exemplar of the Chapter [-1CP], Stratagem: Relic [-1CP], Stratagem: Warlord Trait [-1CP], The Burning Blade, Warlord
Lt Commander Psigoras - Lieutenant: Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Plasma pistol, Power sword

+ Troops +

Vitus - 5 man Tactical Squad - Astartes Chainsword, Bolt pistol, Meltagun, Bolters
Quinn - 5 man Tactical Squad - Plasma pistol, Power sword, Meltagun, Bolters
Kaiel - 5 man Tactical Squad - Astartes Chainsword, Bolt pistol, Flamer, Bolters

+ Elites +

Chief Apothecary Hulm Singa - Apothecary: Astartes Chainsword, Bolt pistol, Chapter Command: Chief Apothecary, Frag & Krak grenades, Selfless Healer, Stratagem: Hero of the Chapter [-1CP]
Nox - 5 man Terminator Assault Squad - Teleport Homer, 3x Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield, 2x Lightning Claw (Pair)
Tourbillion - 5 man Terminator Squad - Power sword, Storm bolter, Assault cannon, Chainfist 3x, Power fist

+ Fast Attack +

Land Speeder Tornado: Heavy flamer, Multi-melta

+ Heavy Support +

Nero - 10 man Devastator Squad - Plasma pistol, Power sword , 2x Lascannon, Plasma Cannon, Missile launcher

Secondaries: Oaths of Moment, We March for Macragge, and Shock Tactics

Sam's Adeptus Mechanicus: Forge World Ryza

++ Battalion Detachment 0CP (Imperium - Adeptus Mechanicus) ++
Battle Size [6CP]: 3. Strike Force (101-200 Total PL / 1001-2000 Points)
Forge World Choice: Forge World: Ryza

+ HQ +

Skitarii Marshal: Relic: Exemplar's Eternity, Stratagem: Relic, Stratagem: Warlord Trait, Warlord, Warlord Trait (Codex 2): Battle-Sphere Uplink
Tech-Priest Enginseer
Tech-Priest Manipulus: Magnarail lance

+ Troops +

Kataphron Breachers: 3x Hydraulic Claw, Torsion Cannon
Kataphron Breachers: 3x Hydraulic Claw, Torsion Cannon
Skitarii Rangers: Omnispex, Host of the Intermediary, Warlord Trait (Codex 3): Programmed Retreat, 19x Galvanic Rifle, Plasma Caliver

+ Elites +

Fulgurite Electro-Priests: 10x Electroleech Stave
Sicarian Ruststalkers: Ruststalker Princeps (Razor), . 4x Sicarian Ruststalker (Razor/Chordclaw): 4x Chordclaw, 4x Transonic Razor
Sicarian Ruststalkers: Ruststalker Princeps (Razor), . 4x Sicarian Ruststalker (Razor/Chordclaw): 4x Chordclaw, 4x Transonic Razor

+ Fast Attack +

Ironstrider Ballistarius: Twin Cognis Lascannon

+ Dedicated Transport +

Terrax-Pattern Termite: Terrax heavy Flamers, Termite Drill, Terrax melta cutter

Secondaries: Retrieve Nephilim Data, Behind Enemy Lines, Assassination

Takeaways & Analysis:

Chapter Master Leo called down an orbital bombardment and nuked a few breachers! And squad Nox kept on trucking to the bitter end.

This one was a bit lopsided though, quite a blow-out actually. Sam was able to get a strong first turn advantage and keep me off of all of the objectives all game, and thus lead to a runaway. In cribbage this is called 'getting skunked.' I learned a lot about the terrain keyword Obscure vs Line of Sight rules this game that I don't think I was as clear on as I thought. I think it is because this was a lot shooty-er than some prior games. I mistakenly thought that Obscure would also confer some type of imaginary Line of Sight benefit, but this is not the case, you actually have to select terrain that physically does obstruct/obscure a line of sight between models. Anyway, I would have been a lot more careful about using LOS blocking terrain (I got there first and set up the board so it was completely on me), and then where I would have placed my units.

I also made a lot of mistakes using the Apothecary. I thought I had the rules down but I kept forgetting the wound heal and unit resurrections, and while it wouldn't have ultimately made much of a difference, my opponent was gracious enough to let me retroactively fix mistakes so that I could try to get the hang of my army.

I also completely missed my doctrines after battle round two, and all CP re-rolls. Basically I was forgetting all of my rules this game.

Sam gave good feedback - I needed to be able to get the first charges onto the kataphrons and maybe be a bit more aggressive with the speeder to kill something and trade.