WoffBoot XIII: Militarum Tempestus and Inquisition vs Space Wolves

The third and final round of battles in the WoffBoot XIII - and, as tradition dictates, the two most experienced generals are duking it out over the Wooden Spoon!

It's Civil War in the Imperium as the Space Wolves take on the Inquisition! I guess 'Vital Intelligence' is just an expression in these parts...

For the second year in a row, I, Stylus, face my online sparring partner, Kraken, in the final battle. Which is something of a raw deal for him, since I have a pretty good idea of how his army works (having only just finished borrowing it), and I've also had two stinging defeats to teach me a lot about my own army.

The Whipped Curs - Space Wolves

Same list as before, but I'm trying something new (as something has to work). The Inceptors go into deepstrike as usual, but this time I'm putting both Aggressors 'On the Hunt' - which means the Reivers need to stay on the field to balance the Power Levels (that's 10pts for their grav-chutes that I flushed away).

This leaves me with a basic infantry force to start with, and bringing in the heavy weapons (presumably to counter Kraken, who will be doing the same with his air-dropped Scions). This isn't a bad thing, since this scenario is all about holding onto objectives, and the Intercessors are pretty damn good at doing just that.

In honour of their heroic feats in the past two battles, I also award my three characters some appropriate names.

• Hallbjorn Rubber-Axe - Primaris Battle Leader (HQ)
  Power axe and bolt carbine
  Warlord trait: Saga of the Hunter,
  Relic: The Armour of Russ,
• Kveldulf Killed-With-One-Smite - Primaris Wolf Lord (HQ)
  Master-crafted auto bolt rifle and bolt pistol
• Thorolf Can't-Pass-A-Psychic-Test-Ever - Primaris Rune Priest (HQ)
  Psychic hood, Runic sword, Bolt Pistol
  Powers: Tempest's Wrath, Storm Caller
• 5 x Intercessor Squad (Troops)
  Auxiliary Grenade Launcher, Bolt rifle. Intercessor Pack Leader, Power fist
• 5 x Intercessor Squad (Troops)
  Auxiliary Grenade Launcher, Bolt rifle. Intercessor Pack Leader, Power fist
• 5 x Intercessor Squad (Troops)
  Auxiliary Grenade Launcher, Bolt rifle. Intercessor Pack Leader, Chainsword
• 5 x Aggressors (Elite)
  Auto Boltstorm Gauntlets/Fragstorm Grenade Launcher
• 5 x Aggressors (Elite)
  Flamestorm Gauntlets
• 5 x Reivers (Elite)
  Combat knife, Grapnel Launcher, Grav Chutes, Heavy Bolt Pistol
• 3 x Inceptor Squad (Fast)
  Plasma Exterminators
• 3 x Inceptor Squad (Fast)
  Assault Bolters
• 5 x Hellblaster Squad (Heavy)
  Assault  Plasma Incinerator

Points: 1500 | Battalion + Vanguard Detachment: 9CP

Inquisition and Militarum Tempestus

Yes, it's me again, fielding the familiar white stormtroopers and tanks! Three fights in a row on the desert board for me, but I didn't mind. Trying to drive a Taurox over all the wobbly gantries in the other room would have been a disaster. 

I wasn't trying much new here - as much as possible inside the tanks, hoping to shrug off as much of Stylus's massed light arms as I could, then swaddle the objectives in drop troops for a win!

Tempestus Drop Force - Battalion

• Colonel 'Bunny' Badger - Tempestor Prime (HQ)
  Power maul, Tempestus Command Rod,
  Relic: Kurov's Aquila
• Commissar Colderine - Lord Commissar (HQ)
  Plasma pistol, Power fist, Power sword
  Warlord: Grand Strategist
• 10 x Militarum Tempestus Scions (Troops)
  5 x Hot-Shot Lasguns, 4 x Hot-shot Volley Guns, Vox-caster, Tempestor with Bolt pistol and Chainsword
• 5 x Militarum Tempestus Scions (Troops)
  1 x Hot-Shot Lasgun, Plasma Gun, Grenade Launcher, Vox-caster, Tempestor with Bolt pistol and Chainsword
• 5 x Militarum Tempestus Scions (Troops)
  1 x Hot-Shot Lasgun, Melta Gun, Flamer, Vox-caster, Tempestor with Bolt pistol and Chainsword
• 5 x Militarum Tempestus Scions (Troops)
  1 x Hot-Shot Lasgun, 2 x Plasma Guns, Vox-caster, Tempestor with Bolt pistol and Chainsword
• 5 x Militarum Tempestus Scions (Troops)
  1 x Hot-Shot Lasgun, 2 x Melta Guns, Vox-caster, Tempestor with Bolt pistol and Chainsword
• 4 x Militarum Tempestus Command Squad (Elite)
  1 x Hot-Shot Lasgun, Medi-Pack, Vox-caster, Platoon Standard
• Officer of the Fleet (Elite)
  Laspistol
• Ogryn Bodyguard (Elite)
  Bullgryn Maul, Bullgryn Plate, Slabshield
• Tech-Priest EnginseerOmnissian Axe, Servo-Arm
• Imperial Ingrid - Valkyrie (Flyer)
  Hellstrike Missiles, Lascannon, 2 x Heavy Bolters
• Brunhilde - Taurox Prime (Transport)
  Taurox Battle Cannon, Two Autocannons
• Sigurny - Taurox Prime
  Storm Bolter, Taurox Gatling Cannon, Two Hot-shot Volley Guns

Inquisition - Vanguard

• Inquisitor Hurous de Vaulot (HQ)
  Force sword, Inferno pistol, Ordo Xenos
  Psyker: Terrify
• Inquisitor Volx Mardi (HQ)
  Ordo Malleus Inquisitor in Terminator Armour, Nemesis Daemon Hammer, Storm bolter
  Psyker: Dominate
• Daemonhost (Elite)
• de Vaulots's Acolytes - Acolytes (Elite)
  Ordo Malleus; Chainsword, Laspistol; Chainsword, Plasma pistol; Bolt pistol, Plasma gun
• Mardi's Acolytes - Acolytes (Elite)
  Ordo Xenos; Laspistol, Storm bolter; Laspistol, Storm bolter; Laspistol, Storm bolter

Points: 1500 | Battalion + Vanguard Detachment - Operative Requisition Sanctioned - Tempestus Drop Force: 7CP

Game 3: Vital Intelligence

Deployment

We both deploy cautiously - Scions in their vehicles, or in deepstrike, or hiding behind buildings.

Yes, a visible Scion is a dead Scion, I find. Wearing white in the desert probably isn't helping. 

Because of this, I'm very thin on the ground, with only two small groups of Inquisitors holding the two objectives in my territory. Aware that Stylus can swamp these with ease, I'm keeping small squads mobile in the tanks whilst putting a decent counterpunch up in the air too. This includes not deploying the Vindicare for the first time in the tournament - I need him to thin out their command, and that means coming in behind him so he can't hide behind the cantina like Pootle did!

The Space Wolves cling to what cover is afforded by the woods and central cantina. Both Aggressors and Inceptors go into deepstrike, which means the Reivers gave to join the ground troops for once

Inquisition - Turn 1

I give up the first turn (I've played Vital Intelligence before and going second is such an advantage is balances out), so the Scions race forward in both Taurox, with the Valkyrie screaming overhead.

The gunship takes out three Intercessors and a Hellblaster, but between the cover saves of my power armour and the general poor marksmanship of the supersonic aircraft, no First Strike is secured.

Stylus had been enthusiastically preaching the virtues of exterminating Troops choices in these games the night before, so I did my best! But I also wanted the Hellblasters off the table, knowing the Valkyrie would prove very hard to get rid of once they were gone. 

Space Wolves - Turn 1

In my turn I jump the Reivers onto the cantina (their grappling hooks mean they can actually get there) and hunker down with everything else.

I cast Storm Caller to give my Rune Priest a 6" cover save bubble, then spend 3CP to make that same bubble -1 to hit. It's expensive, but I know how much firepower the Militarum Tempestus can put out and I need my boots on the ground.

I then spend another CP to give Hellblasters Keen Senses, so they can safely overcharge their guns into the Valkyrie. I know the gunship is something of a distraction unit, but I wanted to deny Kraken that amount of mobility and get those squishy Scions on the ground (there's also another reason - that I didn't know about at the time - why it needs to die).

With all my other small arms fire pitching in, I get the Valkyrie down to just two wounds - aargh!

Yep, I'd just put some white paint on a Blight Drone. Surprise!

Inquisition - Turn 2

The Scions respond with a big drop in my deployment zone: Volley Gun Scions jump out and form firing lines, so does Officer of the Fleet and Ogryn Bodyguard. On the other side appears the Terminator Inquisitor Volx Mardi. A plasma squad of Scions drop down on the building opposite the cantina. Also in the backline appears the dreaded Vindicare.

Shooting is less effective. The Assassin pops off two wounds from the Rune Priest, and the massed firepower into the bubble only accounts for a couple of Hellblasters. The Ogryn Bodyguard make up for it by smashing up last two Intercessors and taking the objective.

Inquisitor Volx Mardi also makes a long charge into the opposite squad and kills three, though he does revive a hefty counter-punch with a power fist.

Yeah, I'd forgotten about those damn fists! It doesn't matter how much Terminator armour he wears, that Inquisitor is still only T3 and not as resilient as I'd like. All the same, the marines are dropping in decent numbers back here. If I can keep it up, he won't have the troops to hold the vital objectives by the end of the game!

Space Wolves - Turn 2

I respond by dropping heavily into the Scions deployment zone. Flame Aggressors against Inquisitor Hurous de Vaulot, Plasma Inceptors against Lord-Commissar, Bolter Inceptors against both.

Uh-oh. I knew this was coming, but it's still frightening. There's easily enough firepower here to wipe me off the back field in a single turn. 

In my own lines, the characters all run back to fight the Inquisitor, shielded by the remaining Hellblasters.

The last full squad of Intercessors move to beat up the Volley Gun Scions and, last but not least, the Bolter Aggressors land next to the Vindicare with the intention of drowning him in bullets.

The Inquisitor dies quickly to a Smite, I pop off a few Volley Gun Scions with small arms, then continually fail to take down the Valkyrie with grenades. The Hellblasters overcharge, but miss their mark and one dies. The Aggressors have better luck, and kill the Vindicare dead, dead, dead.

Not good! My mistake here was leaving him out alone, instead of parking him in behind the Valkyrie where he wouldn't have been a target. Oh well, too late now!

In the centre, the Reivers gun down a couple of Scions with their pistols.

The Intercessors do make their charge, then Kraken reveals a new Vigilus detachment rule that allows the crippled Valkyrie to lend fire support (it's the T'au all over again). I lose two in the charge, then to add insult to injury, they kill another in melee.

This strategem, Aerial Fire Support, gives a Valkyrie within 6" the chance to fire overwatch that hits on an incredible 4+. Not bad for a smoking wreck on two wounds! But situational enough that this is the first time I've been able to use it in three game. 

On the other side of the field, the two characters are well-screened and I only manage to murder all the Commissar's retinue with the Inceptors, leaving the character untouched. The Aggressors are out of flamer range and fail their charge, as do both Inceptors.

And thank the good lords for that!

Inquisition - Turn 3

The Scions drop the last of their reserves: the melta squad lands in the back to support the Inquisitor, the melta/flamer squad leaves the Taurox to join the Commissar.

The Volley squad falls out of combat (with no-one to tell them to Get Back In The Fight). The Enginseer jumps put and puts three wounds back on the Valkyrie (nooo!).The Ogryn moves to engage the last two Intercessors (and handily bops them both on the head).

Inquisitor Hurous de Vaulot, as previously mentioned, has a glorious history of charging into heavy overwatch. There is nothing I'd like to do less, but if I don't, my goose is cooked. It is going to rely very heavily on getting Terrify off on the Flame Aggressors. 6d6 autohits is going to finish me otherwise. At least the Runepriest is out of deny range, so I roll...

And get it! Okay, now there's a chance. 

Shooting is fairly tame otherwise. The Gatling Taurox only removes one Bolter Aggressor, and the Battle Cannon Taurox splits fire (Never Split Your Fire! I need that tattooed somewhere obvious) takes out two Plasma Inceptors and two Bolter Inceptors. 

The melta squad doesn't manage to hurt the Flame Aggressors because their meltas are out of range, and the rest of the Scion squads are ineffectual because I've gone and slapped Badger in the middle of a splendid castle whose walls are too far off for him to shout orders at. Gah!

In melee, Inquisitor de Vaulot proves a hero by chopping down two more Aggressors, then survives the power fist counter-strike (with a little help from his Acolytes).

Space Wolves - Turn 3

In my turn, I race the Plasma Inceptor point-blank on the Commissar and the Bolter Inceptor jumps over to shoot the melta squad. My characters, and the Hellblaster sergeant run over to the Intercessors on the back objective shame I blew all my CP, because I have a lot of Lone Wolves now...)

The Rune Priest attempts to Smite the Ogryn, perils, and does a wound to himself and two to the abhuman.

My Bolter Aggressors stand still, and move into point-and-delete mode. The Volley Gun Scions go first, then half the wounds on the Gatling Taurox.

The Plasma Inceptor gets the Commissar down to his last wound, the Bolter Inceptor takes out a couple of Scions and the Reivers pop off another one of their opposite numbers.

In combat, the Inceptor and Commissar whiff against each other, the Flame Aggressors whiff even worse on de Vaulot, and somehow the Inquisitor survives to chop another one down!

Go Hurous!

Inquisition - Turn 4

I begin by parking the Officer of the Fleet and Enginseer on the back objective while the Ogryn steams across to face the characters. This is a long bomb, but you never know - an Ogryn to the face always amuses, and the other two can help keep the Valkyrie running. 

Commissar Bleeth, who I cannot afford to lose for the Warlord points he'd give away, stays in combat, but a squad of plasma Scions arrive to lend a hand. The other two squads get instructions from Badger to take the cantina.

Inquisitor de Vaulot stays in combat and Smites off his penultimate Aggressor, before running through the Sergeant with his sword. What a guy!

The Battle Cannon Taurox then turns its attention to the Reivers and blows them away, leaving the central objective clear. The rest of the shooting achieves nothing - the melta squad fail to dispatch the last Bolter Inceptor and then have to charge him to grab the objective. Commissar Bleeth does punch his opponent to death in melee, though, which is nice. 

The big action is the Ogryn going for warlord kill - he makes the charge, but all the other characters heroically intervene and, with the Armour of Russ forcing him to go last, he gets beheaded with a power sword before he can strike.

I almost manage to smirk about how I pulled all the characters off the objective with this, then Stylus points out that it's his turn now and they can all instantly move back. Oh well. 

Space Wolves - Turn 4

I move my diminishing character castle forward on one flank, and push Bolter Aggressors down the other. Even one round of shooting is enough to bring down the Valkyrie (finally) and they then charge and pulverize the Officer of the Fleet and Enginseer.

The three characters move towards the cantina, but keep the melta Scions in view for some pot-shots - which kills all but one of them.

The Galting Taurox is also destroyed by the Hellblaster sergeant, so that clears my backline (just as Kraken cleared his - the topsy-turvy deployment has now been corrected)

The Bolter Inceptor has to split fire between Inquisitor de Vaulot and Scions. Only one Scion falls, but he finally kills the Inquisitor!

No! Although really, it's amazing he's lasted this long. He'd shrugged off several near deaths by this point, with only Stylus's insistence on rolling ones to keep him alive. 

Inquisition - Turn 5

In reply, the Battle Cannon Taurox finds his range once again and obliterates the Bolter Aggressors. Everything else races for objectives, because if I don't get them, I'm lost. Now I finally have the upper hand in terms of troops, but the delay in the back line means they're going to have to face down a pack of very mean characters in order to hold them. 

One squad consolidates around the one-wound Commissar (I'll never get him now) and the other two run towards the cantina with Badger. The melta squad finally kills the Bolter Inceptor and takes that objective.

Squad is a strong word for the lone gunman huddled behind cover, but at least he's doing his job!

Space Wolves - Turn 5

I'm running out of assets, so the Aggressors amble forward, but stay on the back objective.

I make my last dash for points. The Battle Leader advances onto the roof. He can charge and advance, thanks to his trait, and once he's successfully done so, it triggers a 6" bubble. So I also advance my Wolf Lord and Hellblaster sergeant onto the roof, fully expecting them to benefit (I'm thinking: charge, slaughter, consolidate off the roof and out of sight of that Taurox).

Unfortunately, the idiot Battle Leader failed his charge and now my commanders are left stranded on the roof in plain view.

I gently pivot the turret in question, just to make the point. 

Inquisition - Turn 6

Fortune favours the wolves in the next round, however, when all the Scions shooting targets the Wolf Lord, and he passes all his Belt of Russ saves but one, taking a couple of wounds. Look above - I even somehow manage to position a plasma Scion behind that dome, where it turns out he can't actually see anyone! I'm a genius!

The Battle Cannon Taurox has a rare whiff in the shooting phase - only taking off one Intercessors at the back - the pack leader is left clinging on to the objective. Everything else either can't see or hit the five remaining models I have, so they just clamber up to the cantina roof.

Hold the line, you chaps. Badger is counting on you. 

Space Wolves - Turn 6

But fate is fickle. On my go, when I'm gearing up to murder every Scion on the roof with a charge I cannot fail, I decide to warm up with a Smite from my Rune Priest. The silly man then Perils (again!), kills himself and drags the Hellblaster, both squads of Scions into the Warp, leaving Badger and the Wolf Lord on a wound apiece and the Battle Leader on two.

In the aftermath, no-one is too confident about taking on the Overwatch from Badger - well-founded when he scores a wounding hit on my Wolf Lord with a krak grenade (go Badger!). It gets through my armour, but only does one wound.

The two heroes pile in and throw Badger off the cantina roof, where he presumably crawled inside to replenish his spirits with a fortifying Pimms.

Inquistion - Turn 7

Behind on points in the final round (the cantina was worth two, hence the bloodbath), I have to try to wipe out Stylus's last three models and get a tabling. The Battle Cannon Taurox does its best, but needing to split fire three ways means the Wolf Lord is blown apart, but the Battle Leader - and last Intercessor sergeant standing - are alive. 

Never! Split! Your! Fire!

Space Wolves - Turn 7

There's nothing for me to do in my turn, since I'm holding two objectives and I've only got two models left.

Neither side has managed First Strike, Linebreaker or Slay the Warlord, so it all comes down to these Objective points. Essentially, we each held one backfield objective that never left our hands, we each lost and regained a backfield objective, and I managed to hold the centre objective for more turns. That, and the doubling of points on random objectives, pushed me just a couple of points in the lead.

So I whisper a prayer of thanks to the AllFather and take my victory with trembling hands.

Result: 20:17 - victory to the Space Wolves!

Final thoughts

These battles rarely disappoint, and that was no exception. It went right down to the wire, and had me clinging into victory by the tips of my claws. Great game - and playing it out on my new scenery was a treat.

Good grief, it was a proper nail-biter! In the last two turns, if I'd scored lucky with a roll and got double points on all objectives, I'd probably have held. As it was, my temerity for heading deep into enemy territory early in the game didn't quite pay off - my weak back line had only held through a miracle (and Hurous!), and the resilience of the Marines saw them through.

I like playing with (and against) the Militarum Tempestus - mobile, packing a lot of punch and not as fragile as they seem. And I wish I'd bothered to read about the Tempestus Drop Force formation when I was playing them - Valkyries as supporting gunships is really characterful and very effective!

For my part, I'd agree. That detachment puts them into a place where they're really effective without being broken, and I've got a much better handle on how to use them. They might still be best used with something a bit heavier in the other detachment than Inquisitors - Imperial armour, maybe? I'm not cheesy enough to bring a Knight, but a few batteries of Hydras or Wyverns might be worth looking at. Or a Baneblade. That's not cheesy at all.

For the Wolves, they've partially redeemed themselves - although I'm not sure that four Perils of the Warp failures in a dozen attempts is a true reflection of the odds.

I'm starting to get the hang of what works and how it should be used. Everything seems to have a good role to play - with the exception of the poor Flamer Aggressors, who had a bit of a shocker (in my defence, all my practice games were against Tyranids). I could also use a better Warlord than my toothless Battle Leader, if I insist on charging him into combat.

But the Boltstorm Aggressors are good, the Hellblasters are good, the Intercessors are very tactically useful and - assuming I can ever cast them - the psychic powers and stratagems are solid. There's life in the Wolves yet!

(but I could probably use a couple of Redemptors...)

Final placings

Oh, and while I won the match, it wasn't by a sufficient margin to overcome my previous two defeats, so for the first time in our twelve-year tournament, the Wooden Spoon is mine!

General Kraken was catapulted to the stratospheric heights of third place (don't get giddy, now). But the real question is: who took home the Cup?

Tune in tomorrow for the Cup Final of WoffBoot XIII between the veteran General Kasfunatu and rookie-of-the-year General Pootle...