Chaos Civil War! The Black Legion make their first move against the Thousand Sons to show that this gaming table 'ain't big enough for two Traitor Legions!
At least I'm guaranteed a win for one of my armies this time. I, Stylus, have *almost* got a working force of Black Legion together (the character models are just very heavily shaded, that's all). And the reason they're not done yet is that I'm painting up new Thousand Sons models at the same time.
So I really have bitten off more than I can chew, but at last I'm playing 40k with no proxies!
I, Kraken, have returned to the dread fold of chaos, my Alma Dismater, for a foray with the Black Legion. Let the Galaxy Burn! Also Mars, and any other chocolate bars we can turn our chainswords on.
Who Owns The Heretic Copyright?
New toys for the Court of Miracles (and three-colours legal, so shut up). To accommodate whatever Kraken might wish to field in the Black Legion, I eschewed any 'shared' units for uniquely Thousand Sons ones.
This does deprive me of both Daemon Prince and Defiler, consistently my best units, but it's about time I took the stabilisers off. And I get to try out an additional nine Tzaangor, a Tzaangor Shaman (who looks a bargain) and the mighty Mutalith Vortex Beast (if I can figure out how to best use him).
I have a lot of melee troops here, and a bit of small-arms fire, but no big guns. So my plan is to charge up the centre and start mixing it up at close range. And also cast psychic powers. I have a LOT of psychic powers.
Long time since I ran with the Black Pack. Not since 2nd edition, I think, when I had about 1500 points worth of them, a very disfunctional selection of what I thought to be the best models at the time and sold off long since. Miss you, Abaddon!
So this is a far more effective selection, taken from Stylus's budding collection. A pair of Black Legionnaire squads, one for close combat and one for range, and tooled up Rhinos to carry them to battle.
Some chaffy cultists to screen my characters, who can't quite fit in the buses at the same time as their troops. And for heavy hitting, a Helbrute and Heldrake, Mr and Mrs HelConstruct.
I don't have much of a plan, but the army is fairly flexible. I spent a pre-battle CP to take an extra relic, the Eye of Night, for a bit of extra punch against vehicles. This turns out to be a bust, as Stylus cannily takes none, but I've still got the Murder Sword, which I know will have Stylus's Warlord running/flying scared.
I haven't used the Chaos army before, so I'm a bit vague about strategems and ploys. They aren't a million miles from Marines, though, so I'm expecting them to be decent middle-weights across the board. Can't say I'm looking forward to the psychic phase, though...
Deploying second, I'm mostly reacting to Stylus's drops, so I get a unit of shooty marines facing off on the left flank against his Rubrics. The CC-tooled marines go in the Melta Rhino on the other flank, with the Helbrute alongside. The Helbrute will need to go and deal with the Mutalith, but I don't know where it is when I deploy (Stylus keeps it for last, wisely).
My Murder Warlord is in drop position, the Cultists screen the Sorcerer (who needs to be on the board from turn one on the off chance I can negate anything), the Dark Apostle rides in style in the Plasma Rhino and the Heldrake lurks at the back, partly to keep some sort of protective bubble against deepstrikers and partly to look cool. I forgot that protecting your back line against deep strike on turn one is less of an issue these days, of course. Luckily, the Heldrake is nippy enough that it wasn't really a problem.
Fortune favours me - I get the first turn!
Objectives Drawn: Supremacy
Aaand we're off! A nice first draw for me, my mission is to hold three objectives at the end of a round, and I can do that handily on the first turn. So the Rhinos roll forward, the cultists swarm onto the nearest objective, and the Chaos Marines with the big guns do likewise on the flank.
The Heldrake swoops way out forward, ready for a pounce on those isolated Rubrics. The Psychic phase is a bust, as I fail to cast Prescience and have no range for anything else, so it's straight to the guns.
The Cultists manage to gun down a few Tzaangor with some help from the Rhino. The Chaos Marines patter some autocannon shells uselessly off the opposing Rubrics, the Helbrute shaves a pair of wounds off the Mutalith but has to use a reroll for it, so I'm feeling a bit whiffy. Then the Heldrake makes a good showing, burning away a pair of Rubrics, and I cheer up.
Especially when it then makes the charge, tearing another of the dust buckets up in return for no damage! There's no first blood claimed yet, but I've made a reasonable start, and best of all I roll high for victory points, and take an early lead.
Objectives Claimed: Supremacy (3)
It's a different story on the other side of the battlefield - the Tzaanogor pile in around the Rhino, rolling a bucketload of dice, hitting on 2s because of the Shaman, re-rolling 1s because of the Exalted Sorcerer, with -2AP because of the Mutalith. What they're really lacking is the ability to punch through that toughness (if only I'd been more judicious about spending Veterans of the Long War, eh?). In the end, they scratch off a couple of wounds from the vehicle. The Spawn fare little better - I spend a Stratagem to improve their viability, but anti-armour really isn't their forte.
So what began as a promising turn has become a bit of a shambles. Still, there's plenty left on the table!
Objectives Scored - none
Still holding three objectives, I get a mixed bag of missions. 4 is up on that tall ridge, 3 is under a squad of Rubrics on the other side of the battlefield and Long War is just to kill an enemy unit but is worth more if they're Imperial. I guess the Thousand Sons were once? Does that count?
The close combat Chaos Marines are in a pickle. They need to get out of the Rhino so they can get to work, but it's surrounded by the enemy. Getting out of the front end, there's not quite enough room to avoid the foe, so I have to throw one of them to the wolves, presumably as a distraction to let the others get out. Once the rest are out, the Rhino slams into reverse and gets out of dodge.
The shooty Marines move up so they can see past the ruins with their bolters, the Heldrake backs away cautiously from the Terminators, and the Dark Apostle climbs out of his Rhino, which then heads for the Terminators optimistically (I missed that on the maps, sorry).
Helbrute, Apostle and Sorcerer are all converging on the Mutalith, the plan being to soften it up with shooting and psyching before finishing it in close combat. Alas, the psychic phase is not kind, and I get shut down on my every attempt.
Shooting is much more cheerful. The last of the damaged Rubric squad gets flushed out by Autocannon and Heavy Bolter fire, so I've scored First Blood. The close combat marines burn off another Spawn, and together with the Cultists, mow down Tzaangor until there's just six left. And the Heldrake keeps hosing the Terminators, claiming another of them.
My Lord has also arrived, dropping in position for an optimistic charge on the only character he can reach. Stylus is keeping his Warlord heavily protected, sensibly, and the Tzaangor Shaman has drawn the short straw of being on the outer edge of the screening troops. I blast a pair of wounds off him with plasma fire, then make the long charge in with a reroll!
The Terminators get an unexpected Rhino charge. I'm not really expecting much out of this (and sure enough, I don't get much other than a mild beating) but they're tied up at least, so there won't be any more missiles hitting the Heldrake.
Although the Mutalith isn't really any the worse for wear this turn so far, I make all the charges in there, and the Helbrute, Sorcerer and Apostle get to work. Between them, they claim a decent whack of wounds, leaving it with just four to go.
Alas, my Warlord muffs his rolls. Murder Sword? Attempted Murder at best. I hack a single wound off, and in return, discover the Shaman is fairly well tooled for combat...
Eep - pared away like that, the Black Legion Boys don't really make much of an impact on the Tzaangor, and I don't think they actually kill anything else. And the Mutalith manages to then bash the Helbrute about even more, leaving it on a meagre three wounds. Yikes - I was hoping to finish off a lot more of the foe than I have here, and there's some nasty characters ready for counter charges.
In the Morale Phase, the Tzaangor pay the price for the heavy losses taken this turn - and me rolling a 6 didn't help either. Five more beastmen melt away, leaving just one left - optimistically sitting on the objective.
For my part, the increased Leadership of the Black Legion sees me through okay, and I'm steeled for the next turn with some more VPs!
This would have made no difference, but I should try and school myself: the Chaos Spawn would have dropped the Leadership of the nearby marines.
Objectives Claimed - Long War (1), First Blood (1)
I score Wrath of Magus with Slay the Warlord as a bonus. I discard Secure Objective 1 in the hope of anything more achievable.
Objectives Scored - Wrath of Magnus (1), Slay the Warlord
In the Shooting Phase, my paltry collection of Inferno Boltguns takes some pot-shots at the Heldrake and finally brings the monster down!
That's the last of my successes. I claim Hold The Line, but Kraken also gets Defend Objective 3 for two points. It's all uphill from here.
Objectives Claimed - Hold The Line, Defend Objective 3 (Black Legion: 2pts)
Objectives Drawn - For the Dark Gods!, Secure Objective 2
This looks... manageable? I'm ahead on VPs, at least, and those deadly characters are going to be vulnerable to heavy weapons fire. If only I had any left on the field!
The Chaos Marines with the big guns are, despite my hopeless mapping, by the Rhino already, so they hop in and it heads directly for Objective 2. I've just drawn this, it's in the ruins opposite their current position, and it's also in the enemy's deployment zone which makes Linebreaker a tempting prospect too. Plus they can't actually see anyone from their current position, so no point hanging about.
The Cultists advance, because maybe they can charge? Or at least shoot harder from nearer. Plus being Black Legion, they can still shoot even as they do, and it's probably the last thing the Rubrics are expecting. The other Rhino drives on to the midfield Objective, which might help me draw more later on, and also gets its guns in better range.
No more psychic phase for me, but I hardly notice the difference to be honest.
Shooting is okay, but no more. The plasma Rhino somehow plinks two wounds off the nearest Sorcerer with weight of fire, and between them, the other Rhino and cultists account for two more Rubrics. That's all I've got for now, but I'm still liking my odds.
Objectives Claimed - none
Objectives Claimed - none
You can tell I was in the right ball park with my mapping, but my left flank is about a turn behind here. Ah well - in short, the chaos marines in the Rhino there actually pile out on to Objective 2 at this point, setting up with a good line of fire down the field. The other Rhino ploughs forward, getting its melta in range, and the Rubrics slowly patter back down to earth in a shower of gore.
Caught in the crossfire, the Thousand Sons start coming apart at the seams. I risk an overcharged Plasma shot with the left flank Rhino and take the Exalted Sorcerer back down to two wounds, then claim this with Autocannon fire. On the other flank, the Melta Rhino torches all but one of the Rubrics. I feel safe now, although not safe enough to stop shooting.
Objectives Claimed - Secure Objective 2 (1), Slay the Warlord (1), For the Dark Gods! (1)
One Exalted Sorcerer and one Aspiring Sorcerer left. Maybe the game will end early and spare my blushes.
I let off a few Smites, then head for whatever line-of-sight blocking cover I can reach on foot.
Objectives Claimed - None
For my final turn, I get a pair of useless objectives (Big Game Hunter, Rise to Glory), but the damage has already been done. Although I can't finish them all off by weight of fire, I do manage to sink the last sorcerer, leaving a lone Rubric to try and kill my remaining tanks.
The Aspiring Sorcerer YOLO's his way into the Rhino, and falls to a hail of Overwatch. Of course he does. And that's a tabling even before we count up the hockey score of victory points against me.
Objectives Claimed - Linebreaker (Black Legion 1)
Well, that was equal parts luck and sensible planning on my part, I think. Stylus had some shocking dice, not least the fatal explosion of the Helbrute, and I got some nice easy VPs from lucky draws in the early game. Maybe that early lead put the psychological pressure on Stylus?
I wish I had that excuse. I just made a couple of early unforced errors that cost me dearly. Picking the wrong side might have been the first one, but trying to alpha-strike my Scarab Occult has never worked out for me and I really ought to learn to use them properly.
Charging the Heldrake flamer, for example, was an unusual error. And I'm not sure the Tzaangor picked their best target in the humble Rhino, either, when they could probably have eaten the Helbrute for breakfast. But otherwise it looked like an object lesson in horrible luck.
Regarding the Heldrake, when I got it down to three wounds, I think I got tunnel-vision in trying to take it down, even when it came to charging Baleflamer Overwatch. An absence of long-range firepower was a weakness in my list - a Defiler's guns or a DakkaBrute could have really helped me out there.
As for the Tzaangor, yes they would have been a lot more effective against the Helbrute, but in my defence, I was trying to encircle the entire vehicle (which I would have done with another inch on the charge), preventing its escape, stopping me getting shot in the next turn, and keeping the troops inside buttoned-up. It didn't really work, but as I had no other answer for vehicles, I was willing to try it.
My lot did what they were expected to, though, which was carefully move about grabbing objectives wherever possible and not get too shot up in the process. Err, although I did lose almost the entire army in the process, I guess. Two rhinos and a lone squad of troops isn't much to take home. I suppose I'll put the bodies and loot in the empty transport.
Speaking of which, the Rhinos are my joint MVP. Being able to slap combi-weapons on them, as well as the cheeky Havoc Launchers, makes them more or less equivalent to a squad of marines in terms of firepower. I didn't expect that! With some lucky melta overwatch, they accounted for quite a tasty amount of the enemy's numbers. I'd definitely rate them over their rather tame loyalist counterparts.
I was happy with the impact the Tzaangor pack had on the battle - especially when buffed by the Shaman and Exalted Sorcerer. The Mutalith was a fun pick too. He can take hit, draws a lot of attention and, though I only got to use his powers twice, I can see there is a lot of potential. Next time, I think I'll hold him back from the front line a little, or at least make sure he's properly supported.
I'm still liking the formation of two 5-man Rubric squads. They do soak a lot of small-arms fire to get rid off, and the extra Sorcerer more than compensates for the lack of Soulreaper Cannon.
So from my point of view, Stylus's claim that this is an *almost* functional Black Legion list is rather put to bed!
Now I've got my hand in (and paid the battalion tax) with the squaddies, I have a few small additions that might flavour the army's playstyle. One thing for certain, they're not getting a Heldrake!
Okay, they're borrowing the Heldrake from the Thousand Sons (and I guess they'll be wanting it back for next time), but it wouldn't take much to swap an alternative in. A Daemon Prince, for example, or another Helbrute.
Or Abaddon...
(take note GW - we are happy to receive any advance copy and share them with all four of our readers)
At least I'm guaranteed a win for one of my armies this time. I, Stylus, have *almost* got a working force of Black Legion together (the character models are just very heavily shaded, that's all). And the reason they're not done yet is that I'm painting up new Thousand Sons models at the same time.
So I really have bitten off more than I can chew, but at last I'm playing 40k with no proxies!
I, Kraken, have returned to the dread fold of chaos, my Alma Dismater, for a foray with the Black Legion. Let the Galaxy Burn! Also Mars, and any other chocolate bars we can turn our chainswords on.
Who Owns The Heretic Copyright?
It's All-Skype Fight Night!
Court of Miracles - Thousand Sons
New toys for the Court of Miracles (and three-colours legal, so shut up). To accommodate whatever Kraken might wish to field in the Black Legion, I eschewed any 'shared' units for uniquely Thousand Sons ones.
This does deprive me of both Daemon Prince and Defiler, consistently my best units, but it's about time I took the stabilisers off. And I get to try out an additional nine Tzaangor, a Tzaangor Shaman (who looks a bargain) and the mighty Mutalith Vortex Beast (if I can figure out how to best use him).
I have a lot of melee troops here, and a bit of small-arms fire, but no big guns. So my plan is to charge up the centre and start mixing it up at close range. And also cast psychic powers. I have a LOT of psychic powers.
- Exalted Sorcerer on Disc of Tzeentch (HQ)
Force Stave, Inferno Bolt Pistol
Warlord Trait: Otherworldly Prescience
Relic: Dark Matter Crystal
Psychic powers: Warptime, Diabolic Strength - Exalted Sorcerer (HQ)
Force Stave, Inferno Bolt Pistol
Psychic powers: Prescience, Death Hex - 5 x Rubric Marines (Troops)
Force stave, Inferno Bolt Pistol, 4 x Inferno Boltguns
Psychic powers: Temporal Manipulation - 5 x Rubric Marines (Troops)
Force stave, Inferno Bolt Pistol, 4 x Inferno Boltguns
Psychic powers: Weaver of Fates - 19 x Tzaangors (Troops)
Brayhorn, Tzaangor Blades - 5 x Scarab Occult Terminators (Elite)
Force stave, 4 x Inferno Combi-bolters, 4 x Power Swords, Soulreaper Cannon, Hellfyre Missile Rack
Psychic powers: Tzeentch’s Firestorm - Tzaangor Shaman (Elite)
Force Stave
Psychic powers: Glamour of Tzeentch - 3 Chaos Spawn (Fast)
- Mutalith Vortex Beast (Heavy)
The Black Pack - Black Legion
Long time since I ran with the Black Pack. Not since 2nd edition, I think, when I had about 1500 points worth of them, a very disfunctional selection of what I thought to be the best models at the time and sold off long since. Miss you, Abaddon!
So this is a far more effective selection, taken from Stylus's budding collection. A pair of Black Legionnaire squads, one for close combat and one for range, and tooled up Rhinos to carry them to battle.
Some chaffy cultists to screen my characters, who can't quite fit in the buses at the same time as their troops. And for heavy hitting, a Helbrute and Heldrake, Mr and Mrs HelConstruct.
I don't have much of a plan, but the army is fairly flexible. I spent a pre-battle CP to take an extra relic, the Eye of Night, for a bit of extra punch against vehicles. This turns out to be a bust, as Stylus cannily takes none, but I've still got the Murder Sword, which I know will have Stylus's Warlord running/flying scared.
I haven't used the Chaos army before, so I'm a bit vague about strategems and ploys. They aren't a million miles from Marines, though, so I'm expecting them to be decent middle-weights across the board. Can't say I'm looking forward to the psychic phase, though...
- Chaos Lord with Jump Pack (HQ)
Plasma pistol, Power sword
Relic: The Murder Sword - Dark Apostle (HQ)
Bolt pistol, Power maul
Relic: The Eye of Night - Sorcerer (HQ)
Combi-bolter, Force sword
Psychic power: Death Hex, Prescience - 10 x Chaos Space Marines (Troops)
Aspiring Champion: Plasma pistol & Power maul; Bolt pistols, Chainswords, 2 x Melta Guns. - 10 x Chaos Space Marines (Troops)
Aspiring Champion: Plasma pistol & Power maul; Bolt pistols, Boltguns, Heavy bolter, Autocannon. - 10 x Chaos Cultists (Troops)
Autoguns, Heavy Stubber - Helbrute (Elite)
Helbrute Fist, Heavy Flamer, Multi-melta - Chaos Rhino (Transport)
Combi-bolter, Combi-melta, Havoc launcher - Chaos Rhino (Transport)
Combi-bolter, Combi-plasma, Havoc launcher - Heldrake (Flyer)
Baleflamer, Heldrake claws
Battlefield and Deployment
We're playing Lost Contact, which means that the Objectives on the ground are also your source for future missions. So control of the ground is going to be vital to ensure you get a good flow of VPs. I stick one on the high cliff in the middle, feeling confident that I have more flyers to claim it with and totally forgetting about the damn disc riders in the other force until right now, five days later when I'm writing about it. Gah.
Kraken won the roll-off and chose Dawn of War deployment. With so many transports for the Black Legion to stuff troops into, I was sure I'd finish second (and I did, but only by one drop), so I deployed conservatively.
One unit of Rubrics went on my extreme right flank to lock down an objective (with their armour save, All Is Dust rule and cover save, they'd be all-but impervious to small-arms fire); the other unit of Rubrics took the objective on the left flank.
The Scarab Occult went into the teleportarium, and my Tzaangors and Spawn clustered around the Mutalith, where its buffing abilities could benefit them. All the characters hung around the back - thanks to the new FAQ, I'd have at least one turn before I'd have to worry about jump-pack Murder Swords paying me a visit.
I'd picked the side with fewer objectives, as my plan was to zerg-rush the melee units forward, while holding back with the two Rubric squads and seeing what Fate had in store for me...
Deploying second, I'm mostly reacting to Stylus's drops, so I get a unit of shooty marines facing off on the left flank against his Rubrics. The CC-tooled marines go in the Melta Rhino on the other flank, with the Helbrute alongside. The Helbrute will need to go and deal with the Mutalith, but I don't know where it is when I deploy (Stylus keeps it for last, wisely).
My Murder Warlord is in drop position, the Cultists screen the Sorcerer (who needs to be on the board from turn one on the off chance I can negate anything), the Dark Apostle rides in style in the Plasma Rhino and the Heldrake lurks at the back, partly to keep some sort of protective bubble against deepstrikers and partly to look cool. I forgot that protecting your back line against deep strike on turn one is less of an issue these days, of course. Luckily, the Heldrake is nippy enough that it wasn't really a problem.
Black Legion Turn 1
Objectives Drawn: Supremacy
Aaand we're off! A nice first draw for me, my mission is to hold three objectives at the end of a round, and I can do that handily on the first turn. So the Rhinos roll forward, the cultists swarm onto the nearest objective, and the Chaos Marines with the big guns do likewise on the flank.
The Heldrake swoops way out forward, ready for a pounce on those isolated Rubrics. The Psychic phase is a bust, as I fail to cast Prescience and have no range for anything else, so it's straight to the guns.
The Cultists manage to gun down a few Tzaangor with some help from the Rhino. The Chaos Marines patter some autocannon shells uselessly off the opposing Rubrics, the Helbrute shaves a pair of wounds off the Mutalith but has to use a reroll for it, so I'm feeling a bit whiffy. Then the Heldrake makes a good showing, burning away a pair of Rubrics, and I cheer up.
Especially when it then makes the charge, tearing another of the dust buckets up in return for no damage! There's no first blood claimed yet, but I've made a reasonable start, and best of all I roll high for victory points, and take an early lead.
Objectives Claimed: Supremacy (3)
Thousand Sons Turn 1
Objectives Draw - Wrath of Magnus
I've weathered the opening moves, and my first tactical card is to kill something in the Psychic Phase. Should be easy enough for me, but not really achievable in this turn, even with the amount of Smite at my disposal.
The Black Legion forward elements are moving towards the heart of my line, which suits me fine. The Heldrake, on the other hand, is a problem. With a free reign in my backline, that thing will be worse for my characters than any Murder Sword.
I move the Spawn, Mutalith and Tzanngor forward, backed up by the characters. The right-flank Rubrics fall back out of combat and - either in a moment of tactical nous or sheer panic - I drop the Terminators in my own deployment zone, within range of the Heldrake.
The Psychic Phase is a hoot. I cast Prescience and Weaver of Fates on the Scarab Terminators, Glamour of Tzeentch on the Tzaangor, Tzeentch’s Firestorm on the Heldrake (then fail to roll a signle wound), Smite on the Helbrute, and Diabolic Strength on the Mutalith. The latter causes me to Perils and take two wounds off my Sorcerer, but luckily I can then cast Temporal Manipulation and restore them straight away. Team work makes the Tzeentch work!
But all of this is misdirection, trying to temp Kraken into wasting his single Deny the Witch ability (he wasn't fooled). What I really wanted to do was cast Warptime on the Tzaangor - so much so that I use the Cabalistic Focus stratagem to boost the casting. I get the spell off with a 9, only for Kraken to deny it anyway! Oh Tzeentch, you give and then you take away.
The Shooting Phase kicks off with my Mutalith's special abilities. I can either select one power (and having failed Warptime, the one that lets me re-roll charges would be very handy) or I can have two random powers. I'm inclined to leave it to fate, and so I get one power that inflicts two mortal wounds on the Helbrute and another that increases the AP on the Tzaangor. Not too shabby.
The Terminators open up on the Heldrake, abetted by Veterans of the Long War. And, as it often the way when they need 2s to hit and are out of range of a Lord, they roll a lot of 1s. Still, they can't be totally hopeless and take the beast down to three wounds. There's not much else to shoot, as I really didn't bring a lot of guns in this army.
In my Assault Phase, I declare a lot of optimistic long-bomb charges and it goes remarkably well. Unless, you count Overwatch, in which case it was a minor disaster.
The Spawn charge the Rhino, and get hit with a melta that microwaves one of their number. The Tzaangor make a very long charge into the same Rhino, although not many of them get into combat (which actually helps me keep in range of the Tzaangor Shaman and his buffing). The Mutalith fails a charge against the Helbrute, but at least doesn't get shot.
Then the Scarab Terminators run face-first into the Heldrake's baleflamer. Three of them are wounded, I fail all my boosted-invulnerable saves (even using a Command Point re-roll) and, with double damage, I lose three-fifths of the squad before I've even made the charge.
That was a boon! And a lucky one too, the Heldrake is already in bits and isn't going to do much in melee.
As cold-comfort, the surviving Scarabs do make it in against this monster, and in an emotional moment, I use Veterans of the Long War on them once again, hoping that it might just be enough to take down those last three wounds and salvage this. As it transpires, they all miss their attacks and the combat is a whiff.
It's a different story on the other side of the battlefield - the Tzaanogor pile in around the Rhino, rolling a bucketload of dice, hitting on 2s because of the Shaman, re-rolling 1s because of the Exalted Sorcerer, with -2AP because of the Mutalith. What they're really lacking is the ability to punch through that toughness (if only I'd been more judicious about spending Veterans of the Long War, eh?). In the end, they scratch off a couple of wounds from the vehicle. The Spawn fare little better - I spend a Stratagem to improve their viability, but anti-armour really isn't their forte.
So what began as a promising turn has become a bit of a shambles. Still, there's plenty left on the table!
Objectives Scored - none
Black Legion Turn 2
Objectives Drawn - Long War, Defend Objective 3, Secure Objective 4
Still holding three objectives, I get a mixed bag of missions. 4 is up on that tall ridge, 3 is under a squad of Rubrics on the other side of the battlefield and Long War is just to kill an enemy unit but is worth more if they're Imperial. I guess the Thousand Sons were once? Does that count?
The close combat Chaos Marines are in a pickle. They need to get out of the Rhino so they can get to work, but it's surrounded by the enemy. Getting out of the front end, there's not quite enough room to avoid the foe, so I have to throw one of them to the wolves, presumably as a distraction to let the others get out. Once the rest are out, the Rhino slams into reverse and gets out of dodge.
The shooty Marines move up so they can see past the ruins with their bolters, the Heldrake backs away cautiously from the Terminators, and the Dark Apostle climbs out of his Rhino, which then heads for the Terminators optimistically (I missed that on the maps, sorry).
Helbrute, Apostle and Sorcerer are all converging on the Mutalith, the plan being to soften it up with shooting and psyching before finishing it in close combat. Alas, the psychic phase is not kind, and I get shut down on my every attempt.
Shooting is much more cheerful. The last of the damaged Rubric squad gets flushed out by Autocannon and Heavy Bolter fire, so I've scored First Blood. The close combat marines burn off another Spawn, and together with the Cultists, mow down Tzaangor until there's just six left. And the Heldrake keeps hosing the Terminators, claiming another of them.
My Lord has also arrived, dropping in position for an optimistic charge on the only character he can reach. Stylus is keeping his Warlord heavily protected, sensibly, and the Tzaangor Shaman has drawn the short straw of being on the outer edge of the screening troops. I blast a pair of wounds off him with plasma fire, then make the long charge in with a reroll!
The Terminators get an unexpected Rhino charge. I'm not really expecting much out of this (and sure enough, I don't get much other than a mild beating) but they're tied up at least, so there won't be any more missiles hitting the Heldrake.
Although the Mutalith isn't really any the worse for wear this turn so far, I make all the charges in there, and the Helbrute, Sorcerer and Apostle get to work. Between them, they claim a decent whack of wounds, leaving it with just four to go.
Alas, my Warlord muffs his rolls. Murder Sword? Attempted Murder at best. I hack a single wound off, and in return, discover the Shaman is fairly well tooled for combat...
The Shaman survives! In your face, Sinfang the Murder Sword! My goat-high-priest then smacks back and deals three wounds to his assailant. Hah!
But before that happens, I capitalise on this swing in beastmen fortunes by spending two Command Points to interrupt combat with my Tzaangor, and then use my past Command Point to go all-in and give them Veterans of the Long War. Despite being less than half-strength, the boys do me proud and kill five Black Legionnaires before they can react.
Eep - pared away like that, the Black Legion Boys don't really make much of an impact on the Tzaangor, and I don't think they actually kill anything else. And the Mutalith manages to then bash the Helbrute about even more, leaving it on a meagre three wounds. Yikes - I was hoping to finish off a lot more of the foe than I have here, and there's some nasty characters ready for counter charges.
In the Morale Phase, the Tzaangor pay the price for the heavy losses taken this turn - and me rolling a 6 didn't help either. Five more beastmen melt away, leaving just one left - optimistically sitting on the objective.
For my part, the increased Leadership of the Black Legion sees me through okay, and I'm steeled for the next turn with some more VPs!
This would have made no difference, but I should try and school myself: the Chaos Spawn would have dropped the Leadership of the nearby marines.
Objectives Claimed - Long War (1), First Blood (1)
Thousand Sons Turn 2
Objectives Draw - Wrath of Magnus, Secure Objective 1
Things are not going well. I've lost most of my army, spent all my Command Points, and am serious lagging behind in victory points (Objective 1, by the way, is the Numinous Occulum that the Black Legion are camped on, so good luck with that).
Still, there's a scrum in the centre that I ought to punch through. If I manage that, my Sorcerers can still wreak havoc. There's also a Jump Pack Lord that's about to get the crap smited out of him.
The remaining Chaos Spawn chases after the retreating Rhino. The last Tzaangor sits on the objective, as if he's not going to get immediately shot off it. The Rubrics move within rapid-fire range of the Chaos Space Marines. All the characters line up to charge into the Mutalith's fight.
The Psychic Phase begins briskly: the Shaman kills the Chaos Lord with Smite, freeing him up to join in the fun. Temporal Manipulation restores some wounds to the Mutalith (who heals one per turn anyway, so has raised up a bracket), another Smite takes off wounds from the Heldrake (who is also healing, damn him) and another Smite brings the Dark Apostle down to his last wound. And, since this is no time to hold back, my Disc Sorcerer gets Diabolic Strength.
The Shooting Phase starts with me picking the Mutalith's power (I can't trust fate right now) and I go with the one that deals a mortal wound to every enemy in range - that would kill the Apostle and soften up the Helbrute. Sadly, being wounded, he just fails the roll to cast the power (why didn't I keep a Command Point for this?).
The only other shooting is my Rubrics wiping out the last of the Chaos Space Marine squad, so at least that's two less meltas to worry about.
In the Assault Phase, the Spawn crashes into the Rhino and all my characters make their do-or-die charge into the central fight.
The Exalted Sorcerer leads off proceedings with his boosted strength and attacks. He still manages to whiff somewhat and leaves the Helbrute with one wound left. That should be something that the Tzaangor Shaman should be able to manage, but he's lost his Chaos Lord-killing knack and fails all his attacks.
Down to the Mutalith then, who I was hoping to have free to attack the characters by this point. I split his tentacle attack - putting enough in the Dark Apostle to remove his last wound, and the majority into the Helbrute. I land four wounds and the Helbrute save only three of them - he's going down! Then Kraken spends his last Command Point and passes the last save - he's staying up!
Both Black Legion Sorcerer and the Exalted Sorcerer on foot essentially contribute nothing to the melee. Then the Helbrute has the temerity to go Crazed! and has another round of attacks at my warlord. Luckily his invulnerable save spares his blushes, but that combat could have gone a lot better.
 |
| JUST DIE ALREADY! |
Objectives Scored - Wrath of Magnus (1), Slay the Warlord
Black Legion Turn 3
Objectives drawn - Take and Hold Objective 6
I don't like the way this is shaping up. Extreme luck has saved me in the middle of the field there, with the Helbrute weathering a nearly impossible storm, but there's no way he's lasting much longer. Once he's down, those characters are going to murder the rest of my army in seconds flat, as I really don't have anything left strong enough to deal with them.
Luckily, I've still got some easy missions to claim, and Defending Objective 6 right underneath all my Cultists is going to be the first of them. They get right on that by staying totally still and hoping nobody notices them. The nearby Rhino continues running from the Spawn, I can't really think that staying put will help anything out.
The other rhino (more fake map news here) actually flees the combat with the remaining Terminator and goes and parks by the Chaos Marines over in the Occulus. They're starting to look a bit left out, and I feel certain I'm going to need them back in action before long. Finally, the Heldrake flies up to snatch Objective 4, and then everyone else is desperately trying to finish off the Mutalith.
Which mightn't be impossible, as it does only have a few wounds left at this point. The psychic phase gets me nowhere nearer this, of course, as all the Tzeentchian manipulators sit heavily on my every attempt to anything.
Shooting? The Heldrake at least burns down the final Terminator, and a lucky longshot from the Chaos Marines' Autocannon blows up the last Spawn. Having seen what the Rubrics did to their Chaos Marine buddies midfield, the Cultists return the favour by wiping the last, sad Tzaangor out, so that's a decent amount of closure for one phase.
And then it's combat time. We're slugging it out in turns, nobody has the charge advantage here. I get to go first, and I get greedy. I Split the Helbrute's attacks like a chump, thinking I only need to get a single hit on the Mutalith to finish it, and a couple of good hits on the Warlord will do for him too. Obviously, I kill nobody.
The Sorcerer Warlord overreacts to this, and pastes the Helbrute in short order.
Pastes him a little too hard, as it turns out - he explodes! D3 mortal wounds on everyone nearby!
That settles the rest of the combat in short order. The Mutalith dies, as does my Dark Apostle and the already wounded Tzaangor Shaman. Thankfully, the Mutalith doesn't explode as well, or we'd probably all be dead, but all the remaining sorcerers are looking a little tattered round the edges.
The morale phase is short - there's nobody left alive who'd need to take one.
Objectives Claimed - Secure Objective 4 (1)
Thousand Sons Turn 3
Objectives drawn - Hold The Line
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| Map errata: the top-left Rhino has returned to collect the Chaos Marine squad |
The exploding Helbrute has pretty much sunk me, so now we're playing for pride. I draw Hold The Line, which means I need to get my three remaining units back into my deployment zone. Easy enough for the Rubrics, as they never left.
The Disc Sorcerer can skim back easily, but I have to deploy my Dark Matter Crystal to bring the Sorcerer back into the fold (I couldn't risk a failed Warptime attempt on him. I am behind on points - and not likely to score many more - so I need to keep drawing fresh cards each turn).
The Psychic Phase is mostly healing up my wounded Sorcerer with Temporal Manipulation and whittling down that Heldrake with Smite. The Black Legion Sorcerer also gets Smited off the table. I would say that he's been schooled by superior magicks, but if he did nothing more than deny me that critical first-turn Warptime, then he's earned his corn.
In the Shooting Phase, my paltry collection of Inferno Boltguns takes some pot-shots at the Heldrake and finally brings the monster down!
That's the last of my successes. I claim Hold The Line, but Kraken also gets Defend Objective 3 for two points. It's all uphill from here.
Objectives Claimed - Hold The Line, Defend Objective 3 (Black Legion: 2pts)
Black Legion Turn 4
Objectives Drawn - For the Dark Gods!, Secure Objective 2
This looks... manageable? I'm ahead on VPs, at least, and those deadly characters are going to be vulnerable to heavy weapons fire. If only I had any left on the field!
The Chaos Marines with the big guns are, despite my hopeless mapping, by the Rhino already, so they hop in and it heads directly for Objective 2. I've just drawn this, it's in the ruins opposite their current position, and it's also in the enemy's deployment zone which makes Linebreaker a tempting prospect too. Plus they can't actually see anyone from their current position, so no point hanging about.
The Cultists advance, because maybe they can charge? Or at least shoot harder from nearer. Plus being Black Legion, they can still shoot even as they do, and it's probably the last thing the Rubrics are expecting. The other Rhino drives on to the midfield Objective, which might help me draw more later on, and also gets its guns in better range.
No more psychic phase for me, but I hardly notice the difference to be honest.
Shooting is okay, but no more. The plasma Rhino somehow plinks two wounds off the nearest Sorcerer with weight of fire, and between them, the other Rhino and cultists account for two more Rubrics. That's all I've got for now, but I'm still liking my odds.
Objectives Claimed - none
Thousand Sons Turn 4
Objectives drawn - none
Did I say I was playing for pride? I'm now just playing to kill stuff. I can't even draw any more tactical objective cards, so I let rip with whatever Smite and Boltguns I have available.
The Cultists take the brunt of my wrath, bringing them down to two models. And then I charge in with my Warlord to finish them off.
There was no overwhelming tactical reason for picking on them ... but then, we're all dying over here, why should they get away with it?
The Cultists take the brunt of my wrath, bringing them down to two models. And then I charge in with my Warlord to finish them off.
There was no overwhelming tactical reason for picking on them ... but then, we're all dying over here, why should they get away with it?
Objectives Claimed - none
Black Legion Turn 5
Objectives Drawn - None
You can tell I was in the right ball park with my mapping, but my left flank is about a turn behind here. Ah well - in short, the chaos marines in the Rhino there actually pile out on to Objective 2 at this point, setting up with a good line of fire down the field. The other Rhino ploughs forward, getting its melta in range, and the Rubrics slowly patter back down to earth in a shower of gore.
Caught in the crossfire, the Thousand Sons start coming apart at the seams. I risk an overcharged Plasma shot with the left flank Rhino and take the Exalted Sorcerer back down to two wounds, then claim this with Autocannon fire. On the other flank, the Melta Rhino torches all but one of the Rubrics. I feel safe now, although not safe enough to stop shooting.
Objectives Claimed - Secure Objective 2 (1), Slay the Warlord (1), For the Dark Gods! (1)
Thousand Sons Turn 5
Objectives Drawn - None
One Exalted Sorcerer and one Aspiring Sorcerer left. Maybe the game will end early and spare my blushes.
I let off a few Smites, then head for whatever line-of-sight blocking cover I can reach on foot.
Objectives Claimed - None
Both Turn 6
For my final turn, I get a pair of useless objectives (Big Game Hunter, Rise to Glory), but the damage has already been done. Although I can't finish them all off by weight of fire, I do manage to sink the last sorcerer, leaving a lone Rubric to try and kill my remaining tanks.
The Aspiring Sorcerer YOLO's his way into the Rhino, and falls to a hail of Overwatch. Of course he does. And that's a tabling even before we count up the hockey score of victory points against me.
Objectives Claimed - Linebreaker (Black Legion 1)
Result: Black Legion Victory (12 VPs to 4)
Locker Room of Terror
Crumbs, I don't usually get tabled this badly when I'm not facing Tyranids. Clearly, I have some lessons to learn before I can integrate my new units into the army. Although, to be honest, they performed quite well - it was the old guard that stuffed up (and their general, of course).
Also: I'm soooo glad that I bust a gut to get the Helbrute ready to fight against me. What happened to New Model Syndrome?
I wish I had that excuse. I just made a couple of early unforced errors that cost me dearly. Picking the wrong side might have been the first one, but trying to alpha-strike my Scarab Occult has never worked out for me and I really ought to learn to use them properly.
Charging the Heldrake flamer, for example, was an unusual error. And I'm not sure the Tzaangor picked their best target in the humble Rhino, either, when they could probably have eaten the Helbrute for breakfast. But otherwise it looked like an object lesson in horrible luck.
Regarding the Heldrake, when I got it down to three wounds, I think I got tunnel-vision in trying to take it down, even when it came to charging Baleflamer Overwatch. An absence of long-range firepower was a weakness in my list - a Defiler's guns or a DakkaBrute could have really helped me out there.
As for the Tzaangor, yes they would have been a lot more effective against the Helbrute, but in my defence, I was trying to encircle the entire vehicle (which I would have done with another inch on the charge), preventing its escape, stopping me getting shot in the next turn, and keeping the troops inside buttoned-up. It didn't really work, but as I had no other answer for vehicles, I was willing to try it.
My lot did what they were expected to, though, which was carefully move about grabbing objectives wherever possible and not get too shot up in the process. Err, although I did lose almost the entire army in the process, I guess. Two rhinos and a lone squad of troops isn't much to take home. I suppose I'll put the bodies and loot in the empty transport.
Speaking of which, the Rhinos are my joint MVP. Being able to slap combi-weapons on them, as well as the cheeky Havoc Launchers, makes them more or less equivalent to a squad of marines in terms of firepower. I didn't expect that! With some lucky melta overwatch, they accounted for quite a tasty amount of the enemy's numbers. I'd definitely rate them over their rather tame loyalist counterparts.
I was happy with the impact the Tzaangor pack had on the battle - especially when buffed by the Shaman and Exalted Sorcerer. The Mutalith was a fun pick too. He can take hit, draws a lot of attention and, though I only got to use his powers twice, I can see there is a lot of potential. Next time, I think I'll hold him back from the front line a little, or at least make sure he's properly supported.
I'm still liking the formation of two 5-man Rubric squads. They do soak a lot of small-arms fire to get rid off, and the extra Sorcerer more than compensates for the lack of Soulreaper Cannon.
So from my point of view, Stylus's claim that this is an *almost* functional Black Legion list is rather put to bed!
Now I've got my hand in (and paid the battalion tax) with the squaddies, I have a few small additions that might flavour the army's playstyle. One thing for certain, they're not getting a Heldrake!
Okay, they're borrowing the Heldrake from the Thousand Sons (and I guess they'll be wanting it back for next time), but it wouldn't take much to swap an alternative in. A Daemon Prince, for example, or another Helbrute.
Or Abaddon...
(take note GW - we are happy to receive any advance copy and share them with all four of our readers)
Good report. Great looking armies.
ReplyDeleteThank you sir, glad you enjoyed it.
DeleteAnother good write up! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteThis was a good read. Thank you for posting.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
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