We Got A Great Big Convoy: Thousand Sons vs Dark Angels & Militarum Tempestus

We're sticking with the narrative once again - Thousand Sons take on the Imperium in a mission from the Vigilus campaign!

The trucks are rolling... who's going to stop the Convoy?

This is the start of another narrative campaign (we're quite fond of these) - but never fear, fans of the Zamaroon Campaign - we'll be back in the jungles soon enough. This is a much slower-burning campaign between I, Stylus, and Mr AP Burn (spanning several months, given the infrequency we manage to game).

But without further ado, we shall recount the first battle of The Gelidus Contingency!

Mission 1: Convoy

The Inquisition were first alerted to the existence of an unusually-gifted Culexus Assassin upon the frozen planet of Gelidus. This Assassin, believed to possess a mutated gene-strain known as the 114-Pariah Gene, was responsible obliterating a psychic coven so utterly that the resulting warp-signature was recorded upon Holy Terra itself.

Culexus 114 was immediately detained and placed in stasis, so it might be recalled for interrogation and harvesting of its superior genetic code for study and weaponisation. The elite Militarum Tempestus were tasked with escorting the Assassin off-world.

A small Dark Angels force was deemed necessary for the final journey to the launch site. For it was believed that Heretic Astartes had learned of this potent weapon, and would stop at nothing to ensure it was wrested from Imperial hands.

Thousand Sons - The Court of Miracles

As this was a narrative battle, I felt free to experiment. Given this is a race to stop the convoy, I went with lots of low-level troop choices, fast movers and big daemon engines. No Rubrics at all (too slow to keep up) and no Webway Infiltration deepstrike stratagem (it's not that kind of battle).

The plan was to throw the troops under the wheels of the convoy, while my daemon engines blasted away from a distance, and my characters caused their usual havoc.

• Daemon Prince with wings (HQ) (Warlord)
  Hellforged Sword, Malefic talons,
  Bolt of Change, Gaze of Fate
  Warlord Trait: High Magister
  Relic: Dark Matter Crystal
• Exalted Sorcerer on Disc of Tzeentch (HQ)
  Two Power Swords, Plasma pistol, Frag & Krak Grenades,
  Death Hex, Warptime
  Relics of the Thousand Sons: Seer's Bane
• Exalted Sorcerer (HQ)
  Force Stave, Inferno bolt pistol, Frag & Krak Grenades,
  Prescience, Temporal Manipulation
• 10 x Tzaangor (Troop)
  Icon of Flame, Brayhorn, Tzaangor blades
• 10 x Tzaangor (Troop)
  Icon of Flame, Brayhorn, Tzaangor blades
• 10 x Tzaangor (Troop)
  Brayhorn, Tzaangor blades
• 10 x Chaos Cultists (Troop)
  Shotgun, 9 x Autoguns
• 10 x Chaos Cultists (Troop)
  Brutal Assault Weapons, Autopistols
• 10 x Chaos Cultists (Troop)
  5 x Brutal Assault Weapons & Autopistols, 5 x Autoguns
• Tzaangor Shaman (Elite)
  Force Stave, Weaver of Fates
• Tzaangor Shaman (Elite)
  Force Stave, Glamour of Tzeentch
• Helbrute (Elite)
  Twin Lascannon, Missile Launcher
• 8 x Tzaangor Enlightened (Fast)
  Fatecaster Greatbow
• 4 x Chaos Spawn (Fast)
  Hideous mutations
• 4 x Chaos Spawn (Fast)
  Hideous mutations
• Defiler (Heavy)
  Battle cannon, Twin Heavy Bolter, Defiler scourge, Defiler claws
• Mutalith Vortex Beast (Heavy)
  Enormous Claws, Betentacled Maw
• Mutalith Vortex Beast (Heavy)
  Enormous Claws, Betentacled Maw
• Heldrake (Flyer)
  Hades Autocannon, Heldrake claws

Level: 120 | Battle-forged + Brigade - Relic: 14 CPs

Dark Angels and Militarum Tempestus - The Culexus Convoy

Yeah, breaker one-nine, this here's the Rubber Duck.

Following the narrative of the game, we had three Taurox Primes, fully loaded with Scions, as well as a Prime and a Psyker. Escorting them were Ravenwing Bikers, a Dark Talon for air support, three squads of Sniper Scouts and a Land Raider full of Deathwing Terminators, complete with Master and Librarian.

• Dante Cyranos, Tempestor Prime (HQ)
  Chainsword, Hot-shot Laspistol
• Alphonse, Primaris Psyker (HQ)
  Force Stave
• 5 x Militarum Tempestus Scions (Troop)
  2 x Hot-Shot Lasguns, 2 x Plasma Guns, Vox-Caster, Sgt with Chainsword and Hot-Shot Laspistol
• 5 x Militarum Tempestus Scions (Troop)
  2 x Hot-Shot Lasguns, 1 x Plasma Gun, 1 x Hot-shot Volley Gun, Vox-Caster, Sgt with Chainsword and Hot-Shot Laspistol
• 5 x Militarum Tempestus Scions (Troop)
  2 x Hot-Shot Lasguns, 1 x Melta Gun, 1 x Grenade Launcher, Vox-Caster, Sgt with Chainsword and Hot-Shot Laspistol
• 5 x Militarum Tempestus Scions (Troop)
  2 x Hot-Shot Lasguns, 1 x Melta Gun, 1 x Flamer, Vox-Caster, Sgt with Chainsword and Hot-Shot Laspistol
• 5 x Militarum Tempestus Scions (Troop)
  2 x Hot-Shot Lasguns, 1 x Plasma Gun, 1 x Grenade Launcher, Vox-Caster, Sgt with Chainsword and Hot-Shot Laspistol
• 4 x Militarum Tempestus Command Squad (Elite)
  2 x Hot-Shot Lasguns, 1 x Hot-shot Volley Gun, 1 x Platoon Standard
• 1 x Taurox Prime (Transport)
  Missile Launcher, Two Autocannons
• 1 x Taurox Prime (Transport)
  Missile Launcher, Two Autocannons
• 1 x Taurox Prime (Transport)
  Missile Launcher, Two Autocannons

• Zachariah Demitrios, Deathwing Master (HQ)
  Relic blade, Storm bolter
• Suiliman, Deathwing Librarian (HQ)
  Force stave, Storm bolter
• 5 x Scout Squad (Troops)
  Sniper rifles, Camo cloak 
• 5 x Scout Squad (Troops)
  Sniper rifles, Camo cloak 
• 5 x Scout Squad (Troops)
  Sniper rifles, Camo cloak 
• 5 x Deathwing Knights (Elite)
  Flail of the Unforgiven, 4 x Mace of Absolution, 5 x Storm shields
• 3 x Ravenwing Bike Squad (Fast)
  Twin boltguns, Plasma gun, Chainsword
• 3 x Ravenwing Bike Squad (Fast)
  Twin boltguns, Plasma gun, Chainsword
• 3 x Ravenwing Black Knights (Fast)
  Plasma Talons, Grenade Launcher Corvus Hammer, Power sword
• Land Raider Crusader (Heavy)
  2 x Hurricane bolter, Twin assault cannon
• Ravenwing Dark Talon (Flyer)
  2 x Hurricane bolter, rift cannon, stasis bomb

Level: 121 | Battle-forged + Battalion + Battalion: 13 CPs

Mission

We're playing Convoy from the Vigilus campaign book, and it's pretty straightforward. The Defender has to get his vehicles across the length of the board and off the edge. The Attacker will appear on either of the long flanks, and has to stop the convoy to win. Partial success will result in minor victories.

For a narrative twist, the Imperium have placed a Culexus Assassin inside one of the four vehicles. He doesn't take up transport space and cannot participate in the battle, but if he leaves the field, then the Imperium gets free use of him in the next battle.

Mr AP Burn gets to choose which vehicle contains the Assassin, but as Thousand Sons, I won't know which Kinder Egg contains the prize until I crack it open.

Deployment

It's a snow-covered field with some old Imperial bunkers left standing. There is a clear path through to the launch pad ... assuming you get that far.

The Imperium form their escape convoy: three Taurox Primes, all stuffed with Scions, in the centre. Flanked on either side by the Ravenwing Bikers and Black Knights, with the Dark Talon behind. And on the extreme left flank, a battle bus of Land Raider Crusader stuffed with Deathwing Knights and their leaders.

In advance deployment, two units of Scouts occupy the two central bastions. And the third (who clearly drew the short straw) get the nearby woods.

My deployment was even simpler - I didn't get one. At least, not until I used the Outriders stratagem (unique to the mission) that allowed me to deploy one unit. I put down the Tzaangor Enlightened - basically because I reckoned the disc-riders would be first on the scene.

And that was it! Everything else would come in from reserve, which mean no further moment and long charges on Turn 1. Although I was, at least, guaranteed first turn.

Thousand Sons - Turn 1

I waste no time in closing the jaws of the trap. The Enlightened race forwards to tie up the biker escorts (and maybe a Taurox, if they're lucky), while I deploy my entire army in one go (I actually forget I'm allowed to drop units in any of my turns - but I'm going for it!).

On the northern flank, I put a Mutalith, Tzaangors and Spawn to get in close. The Spawn are led by Spawntarion, who is immediately targeted by the Hunt the Fallen stratagem (will his suffering never end?)

Further back on the same flank, I put all my big daemon engines as a sort of artillery park. Heldrake, Helbrute and Defiler, with the foot Exalted Sorcerer to buff them. In front of them, I put down two units of Cultists as screens.

On the southern flank, I repeat the process of Mutalith, Tzaangors and Spawn, with the addition of two Tzaangor Shamans, the Disc Sorcerer and Daemon Prince.

And right at the very back, hidden from sight (and hoping the Imperium forget about them) is another unit of Tzaangors and another unit of Cultists.

The Psychic phase is a slow starter: I manage to Smite away the Scouts in the southern bastion, and Smite a wound on the Ravenwing Bikers. I also Warptime a Shaman closer to the Enlightened (to buff them) and get Prescience on the Defiler, but nothing else comes of it.

In the Shooting phase, all my heavy guns open up on the Land Raider, taking seven wounds from it. All my small arms essentially bounce off the remaining Scouts hunkered down in the bastion. The arrows of the Enlightened do manage to kill three Ravenwing Bikers: two from the front squad and one from the back. My northern-flank Mutalith also gives re-rolls to charge to the Tzaangor, so they can tie up the Land Raider.

Charges go very well in the Assault Phase: my Enlightened hit the two remaining Biker squads and engage one of the Taurox Primes as well. On the same flank, the unit of Tzaangors make it into the lone Biker. My Defiler also charges into the woods to his his favourite target - the Scouts.

And then the Tzaangors try to charge the Land Raider. Overwatch is survived, but I fail the charge. I get to re-roll it, thanks to the Mutalith - and fail it even worse. Oh dear, that Land Raider is now very much free to do as it pleases.

In Combat, I slaughter the Bikers, although the sergeant survives. The Defiler also squashes the Scouts, although that sergeant manages to duck past his massive claws.

I've had a good strike, but three of the four vehicles are ready to roll and they're barely damaged.

Turn 1 - Imperium

Time to move! The Taurox Prime breaks from combat and busts upfield, along with the other two.

Yeah, we definitely got the front door, Good Buddy Mercy sakes alive, looks like we've got us a convoy.

Before doing so, one of them disgorges its squad of Scions to hold the rearguard.

The Land Raider Crusader also unloads all its Terminator cargo, who square off against the Tzaangor, while the vehicle itself eyes up the Spawn.

The Dark Talon zooms between the two central bastions, ready to draw aim on the daemon engines. And as the only escorts left, the Black Knights race across the field, from north to south, to screen against the other Spawn and Mutalith.

In the Shooting Phase, two of the three Spawn are blown away by the Scions, and the Crusaders small-arms shoot a few tentacles off the Mutalith. On the other side, the Black Knights plink some wound off the other Mutalith. The Dark Talon takes off half the Helbrute's wounds (though its Rift Cannon fails - something I understand is not uncommon).

In the Charge Phase, it's Terminators all the way: the Deathwing Knights, Master and Librarian all hit the Tzaangor and pulverise them. They then pile into the Mutalith, who cannot even hurt then.

The Land Raider charges lone Spawntarion and takes off half its wounds. As a reprisal, my Tzaangors kill the last Biker sergeant and the Defiler polishes off the final Scout.

The shooting could have been a lot better, but the transports are already halfway upfield and that's all that counts in this game!

Turn 2 - Thousand Sons

I have a funny feeling that nothing is going to stop the Deathwing Knights, so I back away with the Mutalith and let them come at me.

The daemon engines stay still (even the Heldrake, who is allowed to flap on the spot), but everything else continues the chase.

Yeah, Ten-Four Sod Buster. Listen, you wanna put that microbus in behind that suicide jockey?
Yeah, he's haulin' dynamite And he needs all the help he can get.

Spawntarion stays in combat with the Land Raider, as one unit of Cultists moves to support him (I have a plan). The Tzaangors move towards the Scions, the Enlightened go after the Taurox, the full unit of Spawn and Mutalith go towards the Black Knights and the Daemon Prince and Disc Sorcerer head towards the Dark Talon.

The Psychic Phase is not great (Magnus, where are you?), but I manage to Smite the Dark Talon, heal up the Helbrute with Temporal Manipulation and Warptime the Deamon Prince into an easy charge range.

The Mutalith Powers are the most effective part of my Shooting Phase. Chaotic Infusion adds 1S to the Spawn about the charge the Black Knights, and Beam of Unreality kills one and a half Deathwing Knights (mortal wounds are the only way to go with these buggers).

My deamon engine artillery is a bit of a let down (though I'm spending the Daemonforge stratagem freely), although I succeed in blasting away the empty Taurox - so that's one vehicle down.

In Assault, the Spawn make it into the Black Knights, the Tzaangor into the Scions and the Enlightened into the rear Taurox. The Cultists also charge the Land Raider, who is too busy trying to run over Spawntarion to Overwatch them.

My Daemon Prince also reaches the Dark Talon, but does get hit in Overwatch with the Rift Cannon. Mr AP Burn is gleefully telling me about the mortal wounds I can expect when he rolls a 1 to wound. A Command Point reroll presents ... another 1. Someone forgot to load the Rift Cannon today.

We start Combat with another custom stratagem: Melta Rig. Essentially, all my expendable infantry were handed sticky bombs and told them to attach them to the treads of the enemy vehicles. The Cultists fighting the Land Raider cause five mortal wounds with their bombs.

Moving onto real combat. I use the Fated Mutation stratagem for the Spawn to pick Razor Claws and make their attacks -4AP. I can also reroll their random attacks, but when it comes up as 5 each, I let it stand. With each attack causing double damage, and no armour save, every wounding strike will kill a Black Knight. I murder the unit two times over.

The Scions interrupt combat, but only kill one Tzaangor, and then suffer seven causalities in reply (and two more to Morale).

The Enlightened batter the side of the Taurox, but fall just short of opening it up. The Daemon Prince throws the Dark Talon down from the sky.

He then stands between the hot gates of the bastions to face the oncoming convoy.

Turn 2 - Imperium

The Imperium starts its turn with some custom stratagems of its own: Field Repairs to put 5 wounds back on the Land Raider (I just took those off!) and Breakout Action, to add D6 to the move of all vehicles. Accordingly, the two remaining Taurox and Land Crusader all break free and head downfield. Don't stop moving, as Rachel from S Club 7 would say.

A second squad of Scions leap out of the lead Taurox and form a barrier between the 'hot gates' of the Imperial bastions, aiming to buy some time from the pursuing heretics. The Primaris Psyker also disembarks, but instead heads for the Daemon Prince blocking the path. The two Tauroxs race past them, the landing zone just one more burst away. The lone Scion in the rear backs away from the Tzaangor, readying his flamer.

In shooting, the fresh squad of Scions blast away at the Tzaangor Enlightened, leaving only two remaining on their discs, and that's about it, with everything else having advanced or fallen back.

On the far side of the field, the Deathwing Knights charge the Mutalith, but find it made of sturdier stuff than Tzaangor and can only put a few wounds on it. The Master and Librarian charge into Spawntarion, kill it, and consolidate into the Cultists.

The Primaris Psyker has the temerity to attack the Daemon Prince, and then to put two wounds on him! Such is Yr'bith Fulred's shock that it's all he can do to sheathe his Hellforged Sword and rip the man's head off.

Turn 3 - Thousand Sons

The noose is tightening. But not for the Mutalith, who falls back once again from the Deathwing Knights, but only by the minimum amount required, meaning they're making no real progress upfield having to charge and re-charge.

I close in all my combat troops to squeeze the Scions in the centre, and finally bring out my hidden units of Cultists and Tzaangor to block the escape route.

Well, mercy sakes good buddy, we gonna back on outta here.
So keep the bugs off yer glass And the bears off yer...tail

In the Psychic phase, the big news is that my Daemon Prince casts Smite on a double-6, which inflicts two wounds himself, but at least is sufficient to clear out the stubborn Scouts in the last bastion.

Straight to Shooting, and the stationary Heldrake blasts away the rear Taurox, which throws out the Tempestor Prime and the last Command Squad. The Defiler unloads everything on the final Taurox, but he evades all shots.

The Mutalith once again blasts the Deathwing Knights with mortal wounds, taking another of their number.

But that's all small potatoes compared to the double-lascannon strike the Helbrute manages on the Land Raider. The vehicle is destroyed - and then explodes! Causing a whopping D6 damage, this is bad news for all concerned. The Tzaangor lose a chunk, then the rest flee to morale. The lone Scion dies before he can say 'what about my flamer?', the Terminator Master and Terminator Librarian are both obliterated with some uncharacteristically high rolling (rumours report they were later recovered under the debris).

So that's that side of the field pretty much obliterated.

In the Assault Phase, the combined savagery of the Spawn and Mutalith rip apart the screening unit of Scions. The Daemon Prince clears up what remains of the Command Squad and the Tzaangor Shaman flies in and clobbers the Tempestor Prime (rumours report his concussed form was later discovered in the bastion).

We'll catch you on the flip flop. This here's the Rubber Duck on the side. We gone.

The final unit of Tzaangor successfully charge the final Taurox Prime and, with my last command points, I use another Melta Rig stratagem to open up the last vehicle and reveal ... Culexus 114 is mine!

Turn 3 - Imperium

With a single Deathwing Knight remaining on the field, the Imperium activates the teleport homers and goes back to plan their counter-strike.

"You're nicked, sunshine!"

Result: Victory to Thousand Sons!

Credit: images courtesy of Armoury of The Rock's Instagram

Locker Room

Writing up this battle, I could have sworn it lasted four turns, so I may have merged one of them. But the gist was the same: Imperium vehicles couldn't escape from getting repeatedly bogged down by the oncoming chaos hoards and basically get overwhelmed.

I really enjoyed this scenario. The vehicles racing downfield to escape made for a good story, and it was pure chance that the last vehicle (who would have made it to freedom if I'd failed that last charge) contained the prize.

On reflection, this scenario played into the strengths of my army, who are all about getting in close and scrapping. By contrast, it did the Imperium no favours at all - the poor Tempestor Prime never even got off an order, let alone the chance to let rip with the firepower on their vehicles. And the reall killer unit - the Deathwing - got bogged down in a meaningless fight in the corner.

Bunching the convoy together did make it easier for me to lock down one after the other, and maybe the escort bikers could have been a better screen. The Scouts in the bastions were causing me problems (pushing back my deployment and soaking up the Smites), but maybe they could have been better employed in a long line that kept back my charges and bought the Imperium a free round of shooing. Ultimately, I think a lot of this comes down to a tough scenario and bad luck at exactly the wrong time.

For myself, I quite enjoyed mixing up my force. Using lots of cheap and expendable infantry units certainly helped to sow havoc, and I very much enjoyed having a wealth of Command Points to spend with a Brigade (not using them for rerolls helped to use them for stratagems).

I'm very much taken with using Spawn in large numbers, especially with their stratagem. Given how much I love the kit, I can see a return for them in the future, and in greater numbers. They seem to jive well with the Mutalith, which is a nice narrative pairing too.

Using daemon engines as artillery was something of a success - bizarrely. The scenario helped, as I knew the enemy were coming at me, so I could afford to hold back and shoot, but it was nice to give the Heldrake's Hades Autocannon a try-out anyway (I have to admit, I quite liked it).

And so ends the first chapter of The Gelidus Contingency. But how will the Imperium respond to their loss, and who will they send to the rescue. And just who are the Thousand Sons working with?