The theme of my second Escalation League match was speed. This time I brought Land Speeders with multi-meltas to better deal with big targets. I think that would have helped a lot last match. This week, however, despite the best efforts of my speedy speeders, the fastest things on the board were a pair of giant Helbrutes. Despite their bulky size, they nimbly ambled across the board and smashed Tourbillion's entire unit right out of the gate. I'm embarrassed to admit that, while I have been a fan of 40K for a long time, I still don't know a lot about every faction, probably for various reasons, but I guess the main one being that I'm stuck in Rogue Trader and the lore/fluff since isn't quite the wacky and open-ended grim grim darkness that I prefer, and so I tend to just write my own head canon...
But I digress, this battle:
Battle Report:
Ruleset: 2022 War Zone Nephilim Grand Tournament - Incursion (w/ Q4 Balance Datasheet)
Mission: 1 3 Desperate Raid
Points: 1000
My Forces:
++ Patrol Detachment 0CP 1,000pts ++
**Chapter Selector**: Ultramarines
Battle Size [3CP]: 2. Incursion (51-100 Total PL / 501-1000 Points) [3CP]
Game Type: 4. Chapter Approved: War Zone Nephilim
+ HQ +
- Epistolary Prior Isaac Theodesius - Librarian in Terminator Armour: 1) Veil of Time, 2) Might of Heroes, 3) Null Zone (Aura), Adept of the Codex, Armor of Kronor, Chapter Command: Chief Librarian, Force axe, Iron Resolve, Storm bolter, Stratagem: Exemplar of the Chapter, Stratagem: Relic of the Chapter, Stratagem: Warlord Trait, Warlord
+ Troops +
- Vitus - 10 man Tactical Squad - Astartes Chainsword, Bolt pistol, Missle launcher, Meltagun
- Kaiel - 5 man Tactical Squad - Astartes Chainsword, Bolt pistol, Meltagun
+ Elites +
- Nox - 5 man Terminator Assault Squad - Teleport Homer, 2x Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield, 3x 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
- Land Speeder Tornado: Heavy flamer, Multi-melta
Secondaries: Oaths of Moment, We March for Macragge, and Warp Ritual
Jason's Chaos Space Marine Red Corsairs
+ HQ +
- Lord Discordant on Helstalker: 1-2. Reaver Lord, Baleflamer, Black Rune of Damnation, Magma cutter, Mark of Nurgle, Stratagem: Relic, Stratagem: Warlord Trait, Warlord
+ Troops +
- Legionaries (5) : Bolt pistol, Boltgun, Havoc autocannon
- Legionaries (5) : Bolt pistol, Boltgun, Havoc autocannon
+ Elites +
- Helbrute: Chaos Undivided, Heavy flamer, Helbrute fist, Power scourge
- Helbrute: Chaos Undivided, Heavy flamer, Helbrute fist, Power scourge
+ Fast Attack +
- Chaos Bikers (3): Bolt pistol, Chainsword, Flamer
- Chaos Bikers (3): Bolt pistol, Chainsword, Flamer
+ Heavy Support +
- Defiler: Combi-bolter, Defiler scourge, Twin heavy bolter
Secondaries: Raid And Reave, Abhor the Witch, No Prisoners
Takeaways & Analysis:
I kinda held my own for a bit, but yeah 4 those big bodies move really fast which I just wasn't expecting. I'm familiar with the Black Legion, Emperor's Children, Word Bearers, Emperor's Children (and also Death Guard, T-sons etc), but Red Corsairs came out of left field for me and so I didn't realize they were the White Scar mirror, I had a feeling when I saw the bikes though, and my opponent warned me. So, yeah missed on the prep for the game a bit. My plan was to bunker in on my side of the middle and get a few warp rituals in and then bunker in cover on 3 objectives to eke out a win. I didn't have the worst luck and was actually able to Smite the Helbrutes and some bikes and such. But I made a few critical errors. First was that I had charged the Lord Discordant but didn't elect to fight that charge first, and so he got a fight interrupt off (I might still have not cleared him but he was down to 4 wounds). Also, I didn't realize smite targeted the closest enemy unit (thus why you might take Psychic Scourge which is otherwise just worse) - so yeah Theodesius smote some mooks on bikes instead of the big bad, whoopse!
Still, it was a lot of fun, and I'm still doing better in terms of playing a bit faster, fewer mistakes, and such. Some times the plan just doesn't match up. And Jason pointed out that fast melee armies are just pretty tough to handle on a short battlefield unless you had really been planning for it. My approach has always just been to bring what I have and try to have a balanced force, and yeah I think I did much better than the last time against a melee heavy rush since I was able to clear off 3 units, and might have been able to get a 4th. I think I still would have lost though. The ending total was 35-37 just before we called it in Round 3, but by then my force was mostly destroyed.
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| *Anomaly 30 meters ahead, be vigilant brothers!* |
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| *The way is clear, Sir!* |
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| *I sense malevolence from the warp nearby!* |
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| *..That speed!..* *THEY ARE UPON US! BOLTERS!* |
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| *JAMMED!* (Yelling noises) |
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| *SQUAD TOURBILLION ELIMINATED!* |
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| *(Deadpan) Brother, we're gonna need a faster speeder...* |
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| *WITH A THOUGHT YOU DIE TRAITOR!* |
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| *Be at ease brother, back in my T-16---* |
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| *AIEEEE---* (Static noises) |
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| *Right... off for a pint then?* |
++++Transmission: Adeptus Astartes Ultra++++
(REDACTED)
Date: 3827022.M42
Location: Iax
System: Iax
Sub Sector: Ultramar
Segmentum: Ultima
ATT: (REDACTED)
(REDACTED)
The effect was to corrupt the remaining elements of the Cadian division stationed here. Regulus was sent to purge their ranks when the warp flared. In order to re-establish contact, Epistolary Prior Theodesius attempted to nullify a disturbance detected on the surface of Iax.
Contact has not been reestablished, but imagry suggests traitor legions have emerged from the empyrean. I will personally lead an expedition to investigate (REDACTED)
(REDACTED)
Primus Leo Exevio Faustus - Weeks prior to the breakout of the Plague Wars
++WARNING: DATE CODE MISMATCH DETECTED++
REF: R66Q/00023-78019-8U5653M097FD
THOUGHT: Say the prayer of firing and curse the target. Do this rapidly lest the wrath of the weapon be wasted. (SRB131)
++++Transmission End++++
