Battle Report: The Siege of Rylstone Keep

Chapter Master Kasfunatius, Lord of the Crypt Angels, has once more engaged the fell mechanisms of the Casket of Dust. Perhaps in hope of recreating the Rubicon Primaris in his own way, the Chapter Master has sealed himself inside the device, safe inside the walls of the Rylstone Keep.

Or is he safe? No sooner is the Casket activated when an unprecedented Warp Storm blows up, encircling the Keep and preventing the defensive troops from communicating with the rest of the Chapter. 

From the storm, a tide of daemons emerges. Greater Daemons of every hue, an endless swarm of lesser creatures at their heels. Captain Jereann and Codicier Ibrani, both of the newly arisen 11th Company, must command the defenders and awaken a trio of Knights to prevent the daemonic incursion from taking their Chapter Master!

Yeah, we got carried away for the final battle of the 'Boot. It's Crypt Angels vs Daemons, 5000 points a side. 

Stylus and I are taking control of the Crypt Angels, Generals Kas, Leofa and Bubonicus are the Daemons. Playing on a T-shaped board, using as much of Kas's collection as we possibly can, in a home-brew narrative scenario game on a scale none of us have attempted before. Nothing can possibly go wrong!

Armies

Crypt Angels

Inner Defences

• Primaris Captain
• Primaris Lieutenant with Power Sword
• Primaris Lieutenant with Stalker Bolter
• 2 x Redemptor Dreadnoughts
• 10 x Tactical Marines (plasma gun, heavy bolter)
• 10 x Tactical Marines (flamer, lascannon)

Outer Defences

• Primaris Librarian
• 10 x Tactical Marines (flamer, missile launcher)
• 5 x Scouts (bolters)
• 5 x Scouts (sniper rifles)
• Knight-Paladin
• Knight-Warden
• Knight-Gallant

Reinforcements (left flank)

• Land Raider (with 5 x Terminators)
• 5 x Terminators
• 3 x Centurions
• Biker squadron with Attack Bike
• Land Speeder

Reinforcements (right flank)

• Repulsor Tank
• 10 x Hellblasters (Heavy Plasma Incinerators)
• 10 x Intercessors

Chaos Daemons

Khorne

• Bloodthirster
• Bloodmaster
• 40 x Bloodletters
• 3 x Bloodcrushers (summoned)
• 1 x Skullcannon (summoned)

Nurgle

• Great Unclean One
• Poxbringer
• Sloppity Bilepiper
• 40 x Plaguebearers
• 6 x Nurgling Swarms
• 3 x Plague Drones (summoned)

Slaanesh (left flank)

• Keeper of Secrets (auto-summoned on turn after they appear)
• Exalted Seeker Chariot
• 40 x Daemonettes (in three units)
• 3 x Fiends
• 10 x Seekers
• 1 x Soulgrinder (summoned)

Tzeentch (right flank)

• Lord of Change (auto-summoned turn after they appear)
• Fateskimmer on Burning Chariot
• 40 x Horrors (in three units)
• 6 x Flamers (summoned)
• 5 x Screamers (summoned)

Deployment

We kept things as simple as possible (hence the big movement trays for the daemon hordes). The forces of Khorne and Nurgle will have to cross the 6x4' bridge to get into the Keep, so they just have to weather the shots and batter their way through.

The forces of Slaanesh and Tzeentch will actually appear within the Keep itself, on the left and right flanks respectively. Each of these forces will be split into two halves (plus summoned daemons) and the order in which they appear will be randomised. We rolled at the start, and half of the Slaanesh force started on the board.

The deamons also have a number of points set aside for summoning (even though this is Narrative, we're basically sticking to the Matched Play restrictions).

The Crypt Angels start off with a few garrison troops - Tacticals and Scouts - scattered around key points, with some command units and a pair of Redemptor Dreadnoughts standing vigil over the inner Keep. They will also get reinforcements from either flank - starting from the second turn, these will appear on a 4+ (rolling for each unit, so it arrives piecemeal).

The big defences are the three Knights standing before the gate. These are in the process of being powered-up, and will come online on the roll of a 6+ (on the first round, decreasing as the game rounds go on). So it doesn't get overpowered, only one Knight can come online per round - unless a Knight is destroyed, whereby all the other quickly wake up.

We also decided to ration Command Points - three each to start with, and an additional CP per turn. So we get a decent amount to play with, but we can't burn through them all in turn one.

And the Most Important Rule: have fun!

Turn 1 - Slaanesh Strikes First

+++In the dusk before dawn, the Neverborn came. An unholy cascade of fire and filth crawled across the Great Bridge in ranks innumerable. All that stood in their way were three sleeping titans and a few brave souls. 

As the defenders of the inner keep scrambled to summon reinforcements, a tear in reality opened and hundreds more daemons spilled forth, moving with sickening litheness and inhuman grace.

I was not personally present, as I had a prior appointment at my pedicurist. But I have it on good authority that the Captain of the Primaris Marines was leading the defences. As such, I humbly request his immediate courts-martial for dereliction of the sentries.+++

---

Crypt Angels go first. The inner defences - squad of tacticals, two Redemptor Dreadnoughts, Captain and Lieutenant - swing left to engage the newly-arrived Slaanesh daemons. Gun down half a pack of daemonettes with small arms and dent a Soulgrinder.

Shooting upfield is less effective - a solid lascannon hit on the Bloodthirster is all that is managed.

The god-machines still slumber.

The daemons surge forward. Slaanesh doubles-down on reinforcements and brings in an Exalted Chariot and Keeper of Secrets, while Tzeentch has yet to appear on his flank.

The Khorne and Nurgle ground troops press over the bridge, and the Daemon Prince flies up to the tower and eats a unit of Scouts as an appetiser.

The first unit of Slaaneshi daemons lock claws with the combat knives of the tacticals, trading blows as the first blood and ichor is spilled on the sacred ground of Rylstone.

Turn 2 - The Crypt Angels Counterstrike

+++The might of our guns was proof against any warp-spawn. Thorn, first of our Knights to rouse from auto-slumber, destroyed a Red Slayer with fire, then threw itself into the serried ranks of the foe. We shall not see its like again. I salute it in death. 

Not that the Knights were alone in their defence. Our bolter drill is our prayer, our chainsword the orison to the Emperor. Where the heresies against him trod, we purged the ground with shell and sword. Even at close range, where they whispered their blandishments and temptations the loudest, we trampled their unholy skins into the sod and cleansed our world with a hymn of death. 

As Captain of the Primaris Marines, I would of course be responsible for the defence of the Fortress. Except on Saturdays, when custom has it that I walk the Company Dog, leaving defensive responsibilities to my brother, the Captain of the Tactical Marines. As such, I humbly request he be stripped of his rank and flogged into penitence for gross incompetence and possible heresy.+++

---

The Knight-Warden awakes! And wastes no time running forward and killing the Bloodthirster with his thermal cannon (although I think it was finished off by that plucky tactical with the lascannon once again). The second unit of Scouts (Operation: Expendable Speedbump) runs alongside, ready to mop up any survivors.

The Daemon Prince general gets all kinds of shot up by the tacticals in the gantry, until he remembers he's aligned to Nurgle and heals up a bunch of wounds.

On the right flank, no Primaris reinforcements are forthcoming. On the left flank, a good chunk of the mini-marines arrive: Bikers, Attack Bike, Land Raider with Terminators and Centurions.

They all pile into the flank of the Slaaneshi daemons and open up on them with a disgraceful amount of bolter firepower. Caught in the crossfire, two packs of daemonettes fall, and the Soulgrinder is down to its last wound.

The Knight Warden wades into the horde of Bloodletters, but find that giant stompy feet are no match for a thousand blades and the Knight is cut to shreds. Adding insult to injury, reality blinks, and a half-dozen more Bloodletters join the crowd. This is great news for the Scout squad, who are delighted that they'll have something to kill after all.

The daemons continue their press forward, with Tzeentch deigning to throw a few packs of Horrors onto the right flank. In some newfound caution, the Daemon Prince is surrounded by his peer, and a lot of Plague Drones. Another Bloodthirster is also summoned from the ruins of the Knight.

What remains of the Slaanesh daemons charge forward into both halves of the Crypt Angels' pincers - the Soulgrinder makes it into combat with the Bikers, and whiffs. The last few Daemonettes hit the Centurions and actually manage to kill one. The Keeper of Secrets hits the Redemptor Dreadnought, but he proves quicker on the draw, interrupting the combat to deck the greater daemon with a single mighty uppercut.

Turn 3 - The Knights Awaken

+++With swift and sudden strokes, the first wave of Neverborn were sent screaming back into a hell of their own making. The humble bolt shell, multiplied by a thousand in the hands of the righteous, tore through the pale ranks and wiped the stain of the Warp from our left flank.

And lo! The machine spirits of the two remaining Knights, Ares and Griffin, were roused from slumber. With feet planted squarely on the bridge, they shall be our bulwark against the darkness

None of which would be evident to the Captain of the Primaris Marines, who had yet to commit his forces to the battle zone. I was not yet present, as my litanies of purpose had come loose from my armour and I was having them re-waxed, but I content that the Captain of the Primaris Marines should be immediately demoted for tardy behaviour and mutinous dragging of his feet.+++

---

At the loss of their brother, the other two god-machines awaken! Although they could both clearly use a cup of coffee in the morning, because neither one shows any inclination to get any closer to the action.

The Primaris show up - a whole Repulsor loaded with Hellblasters. It zooms over to high ground to aim at the arriving Tzeentch daemons, and unloads its passengers to shoot the screen of Plague Drones (which, despite being armed with the rubbish kind of plasma incinerator, they do).

On the left flank, the Crypt Angels fall out of combat and then open fire on the remaining Slaanesh daemons, destroying the Soulgrinder, Exalted Chariot, Fiends and remaining Daemonettes in a hail of mass-reactive bolt rounds. The left flank is most definitely secured, but the slow-moving marines have been drawn out of position.

The Hellblasters and gantry Tacticals pour fire into the Plague Drones, wiping them out, though leaving no guns left for the two Daemon Princes. The Repulsor shoots into the Tzeentch daemons, targeting the fast-moving Screamers and getting most of them.

The two Knights put all their firepower into the second Bloodthirster, who falls in the same manner as the first: his axe still not wet.

The guardians of the keep - two Redemptors, Captain, Lieutenant, half a Tactical squad and a Librarian who has jogged back from his dynamic position on the gantry - finish off the Fiends and fall back towards the gates.

The daemons bring more reinforcements for Tzeentch - a Lord of Change and Fateskimmer on his chariot, and move the daemons forward to push against the right flank of the keep.

The mass of daemons on the bridge converge on the Knight-Gallant, bringing in a mob of Bloodcrushers to make sure of the Bloodletters' work. They swarm and bring down the second Knight in the same manner as the first, though not before he summons one last effort and stamps down two Bloodcrushers.

Turn 4 - The Defences Are Breached

+++The full glory of the Astartes was made manifest in this dark hour. The agents of the Change god had no plan for a hail of bolter fire from their flank, backed by the full power of the Heavy Plasma Incinerators of squad Fluxus. Reality is fickle in their vicinity, however. For every cackling horror that died, another burst into being. 

Change and decay were all around us. Griffin strode tall against the tide but was submerged. Daemons crossed the wall, leaping directly over the Tactical Marines charged with its defence. All seemed dark, and still the Chapter Master slept. 

Not so the Primaris! Sleep, Death and Coffee Breaks hinder us not at all in our matchless protection of Imperial assets. My own decades-long tour of duty of Plong's World has left me with a certain inconvenient weakness in my Cadron's Bladder, as you will see from the attached notes from the Apothecary. In order to maintain fighting fitness, I am obliged to apply unguents according to a strict schedule, explaining why I had relied on the Captain of the Tactical Marines to hold the line. 

In light of his dire failure to prevent the Daemons encroaching on holy soil, historical precedent insists the requisition of an Eversor Assassin, to be deployed to the Captain of the Tactical Marine's personal water closet, is the next correct course of action. +++

---

The final reinforcements arrive - a squad of Primaris on the right flank and a Land Speeder (not really living up to its name) on the left). All the Crypt Angels are now either racing to support the keep or fighting their own battles.

The Knight-Paladin shoots the last Bloodcrusher with everything its got, and only just manages to destroy it - a crucial loss, as it frees up the gantry Tacticals to unload into the Daemon Prince warlord and finally banish it! (does that mean we win?)

The Hellblasters reverse their angle and start blasting away at the Lord of Change, but his reality-defying warp field keeps deflecting the shots. The Intercessor squad start gunning down the nearby Horrors, closing the distance with the intent of charging the survivors. 

The Repulsor blows a chunk out of the Lord of Change, which at least denudes his casting ability, and the Intercessors blast away at the Horrors, killing half but not slowing down the advance of the other two packs of Horrors and the Flamers on the keep.

The Daemons must be reeling, because they forget to summon a Bloodthirster. Instead, Nurgle takes a swing at the Knight-Paladin, with the Great Unclean One, Plaguebearers bringing down the last Knight. Sleep tight.

Elsewhere, Nurgle is also making strides - the Nurgle Daemon Prince leaps over the gantry wall. The first of the invaders is over the bridge and inside the fortress grounds!

The Bloodletters - still at almost half strength - make a long charge into the last line of Tactical marines (the guys with the Lascannon that had claimed so many Greater Daemons), massacre them and catapult right into the Primaris characters and one of the Redemptors.

Tzeentch daemons race towards the keep, with the exception of the unit of Horrors that charges into the Primaris Intercessors and begins a stalemate melee that lasts the rest of the battle.

The Flamers, boosted by various trickery, wash down the unengaged Redemptor Dreadnought, but its armour proves resilient against the warpfire.

Turn 5 - The Last Defence of the Keep

+++ What a piece of work is an Astartes? In action how like a Blood Angel, In apprehension how like a God-Machine. As I transcribe this report to my Scrivener-Servitor, I order him to secrete saline drops upon the page to represent the tears I would surely shed at the heroism of my own Astartes.

Skull Squad, armed with nothing but small-arms, the indomitable resolve of Tactical Marines, and a small cache of thermonuclear rockets, succeeded in bringing down not one, but two foul captains of this deamonic horde. Also the Primaris Tank may have brought down a Greater Daemon or whatever.

I only wish that my duties to the Chapter's stationery cupboard had not drawn me away at such a critical junction, but I know Master Kasfunatius expects each of us to stand by his post. Especially if that post is collected before noon, because those Astropaths don't wait for you.

Anyway, I have it on good authority that the Captain of the Primaris Marines authorised unrestricted fire upon the encroachers, and so I think it entirely appropriate that he be cashiered for wasteful expenditure, his skin flensed of its body, and his remains shredded down to the molecule to be inspected for the taint of heresy.+++ 

---

The central Crypt Angels back up to the keep, Butch-and-Sundance-style, and the Librarian finally manages to cast a power - Null Zone - which could come in handy.

Without their precious daemons saves, both the Bloodletters and Flamers are cut down with gunfire. Lending aid from the far off left flank, the ranks of the Plaguebearers are thinned and the Great Unclean One wounded.

One the right flank, the Repulsor combines with the Hellblasters to bring down the Lord of Change, while the Tactical squad on the gantry move up and use a Flak missile to claim their second Daemon Prince scalp. Nurgle's Prince is down!

It looks as if the daemon tide has ebbed, but then the Bloodmaster sacrifices his own precious ichor to summon a third Bloodletter and it's all on again!

The Plaguebearers can't get up the hill fast enough, but the Great Unclean One lumbers up to smash one of the Redemptor Dreadnoughts. Moreover, the Tzeentch Fateskimmer is able to nip over the top of the defending Primaris and kill the Null Zone-casting Librarian with a Smite.

That leaves the fate of the keep in the hands of two characters and a Redemptor Dreadnought left. And more importantly, the're nothing to stop the Fateskimmer from charging straight into there and facing Chapter Master Kasfunatius - awakened from the crypt!

Turn 6 - Only In Death

+++Death! Death Bites! So we shouted as we destroyed the Daemons. The ground smoked where they died. A hundred years will pass before their taint is scoured from the soil of Rylstone. But it shall be done. The cleansing will be flawless, the precious earth of our homeworld will be a new legend amongst the Astartes, reknowned for its sanctity! It shall be done!

By the Captain of the Tactical Marines, who is clearly more fit for soil renovation duties than a task so simple as to hold the greatest of our fortresses against a simplistic direct assault by the foe. A thyroid-deficient sump-gnoll with a mind wipe could have achieved this goal, and it staggers the mind to think that a so-called Space Marine could not. 

I mean, seriously, look at him! A full foot shorter than a mighty Primaris. His bolter is barely even the same size as his leg, it's ridiculous. You might as well cram two gretchin into an ammo pouch and say they could protect the Holy Throne against a fourteenth Black Crusade, rather than entrust this crippled lout with something so clearly intended for the strengths of the new breed of Astartes. Was it for this the clay grew tall? What made your fatuous techpriests toil to fix these muppets, Cawl?+++

---

The flanks have been all-but secured by the Crypt Angels (the Land Speeder even races forward to try and assassinate the Bloodmaster), but the battle for the centre is perilous.

But we couldn't let it go without shooting another Bloodthirster! This time, the honours go to the Repulsor, and its lascannons suceeded in banishing Greater Daemon Waec-Ah-Mohl for the third time. Poor thing, he never saw combat, but you can't say he didn't get his share of the action!

After shooting back a number of Horrors, the final Redemptor charges into battle with the Great Unclean One, tearing out hunks of rotting flesh, but not enough to stop him squashing both Lieutenant and Captain.

However, only in death does duty end, and the brave Primaris captain draws upon one last burst of strength to drive his sword into the throat of the Great Unclean One, killing it too.

All that remains is a single Redemptor Dreadnought, the remnants of warpflame still licking its armour, cradling the fallen captain in its arms, standing vigil as the battle rages within the keep.

Turn 7 - Fate Is Inexorable

+++ And so it comes to this, the final battle between out beloved Chapter Master Kasfunatius and his true enemy. Not the herald of the Ruinious Powers who sought to corrupt and destroy him, but the Captain of the Primaris Marines, for I have truly seen the face of evil. And it wears MkX armour.+++

---

The final rounds are just a single duel between Chapter Master Kasfunatius and the one daemon who managed to force a path to him - Fateskimmer.

Being Tzeentch, he naturally brought a chariot to a knife-fight, and the extra wounds, not to mention the armour-crunching bite of his lamprey steeds, is enough to win the fray.

Lord Kasfunatius falls, the Crypt Angels belong to the Ruinous Powers!

Aftermath

So what does all this signify?

Well, General Kas had decided to advance the story of the Crypt Angels a bit. Having been a somewhat suspect chapter for various reasons, he felt they needed to go one way or the other. This game settled it - Tzeentch has corrupted them.

Letting the dice tell the story, we randomised as much as possible - when and where the Crypt Angels reinforcements would appear, which Chaos faction would be summoned etc.

And so the dice told the story of the Primaris and Mini-Marines utterly failing to coordinate their defences, and Tzeentch waiting for all three rivals to soak up damage, before sneaking in the back door to claim a cheeky win! That checks out for me.

For the foreseeable future, the Crypt Angels will be fielded as a Renegade Chapter. No Salamander Traits for them this year! And at next year's 'Boot, Kas will play as Chaos Marines, come what may. The Inquisition will be taking notes, I'm sure.

Given that this was the first time we'd ever attempted a game on this scale, it went very smoothly. The homebrew scenario got tweaked a little on the way (the spare assault squad waiting to defend Kasfunatius got ditched in favour of dramatic tension, for example), but it seemed to work pretty well and led to a very enjoyable and tense game. Not least because Stylus and I couldn't seem to agree on the finer points of tactica!

Yes, that was great fun. It was nice that our defensive line was even more chaotic than the daemons of the Warp!

As Churchill said: "There is only one thing worse than fighting with allies, and that is deciding who gets to spend the last Command Point."

For those of you who enjoy a good fluff, I've updated the Crypt Angels chapter page with this historic clash, and amended the record of the fallen with their brave deeds.