We return to our long-running narrative campaign to determine the fate of the Culexus - buckle up for Part III (and IV) of the The Gelidus Contingency!
I once again faced off against YouTube battle report star Mr AP Burn, who had brought so many Imperium factions, he needed a side-table just to organise his codices. This was going to be a slobberknocker of a fight.
The Thousand Sons intended to hand the prize over to the Black Legion, but the rendezvous point was infiltrated by three other Assassins, who called in the aid of the Deathwing, an Imperial Knight, and the legendary Primaris chapter, the Acquiritur Scopum.
Though it cost the lives of the Calldius and Eversor Assassin, the Black Legion forces were scattered and destroyed, and the Culexus was once again secured by the Inquisition.
But the veterans of the Long War are not so easily thwarted. As a Fire Raptor, modified for transport, took to the skies with the Culexus and its escorts, the Traitor Legion scrambled to respond. Before the Imperial gusnship even made high atmosphere, a host of Raptors descended upon it, while a mechanised patrol sped along ground level, preparing to scour the wreckage.
There would be no escape this time.
Level: 104 | Points: 2000 |Battle-forged + Battalion + Outrider - Hot Raptoral - Field Commander: 7 CPs
I'm souper!
True to the narrative, the Imperium are scrambling whatever they can to secure the crash site. There are a trio of officers from the Acquiritur Scopum taking point, while three Taurox trucks loaded with Scions race forward. In addition to various command characters, they'll also be hauling a Tech-Priest Enginseer, whose expertise will be vital to the mission's success.
Holding down the backfield is a Hellhammer superheavy tank, which is packing more firepower than we can count (literally, in the case of the Hidden Autocannon).
Piling out of the wrecked Fire Raptor are two Inquisitors, their entourage of Acolytes, and the two Assassins. They'll start the battle embarked on board the downed gunship.
So it's a list with plenty going on with it. Oddly for a battle against Imperium, I think the Chaos side will start off with more bodies - although the only one that counts is the Culexus...
In any other circumstance, if the Culexus is still on the table when the game ends (random turn length), Chaos wins!
The last Taurox unloads its Scion squad, then reverses all the way back to the Inquisitor's group. Meanwhile the squad moves forward with the Primaris Captain, Lieutenant and Phobos Librarian, ready to pry the Chaos Space Marines off the beleaguered Taurox.
On the other side, with nowhere obvious to run, the Imperium remnants fall out of combat with the Berzerkers and huddle together.
And then - in a flash of teleportarium light - the Grey Knights have arrived!
It appears the presence of Daemons on Gelidus was enough to draw the attention of Chapter 666, and a Grandmaster in Dreadknight armour appears, backed up with two squads of Grey Knights and an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor in Terminator Armour who must be feeling very good about his life choices right now.
The Psychic Phase Smites away a few Berserkers, but little else. In the Shooting Phase, the Berserkers continue to take punishment from the remaining Scions and Inquisitors until only two of them remain (no-one fancy a charge?).
Despite being Black Legion, these last two Khornites subsequently fail their Morale check and both leave the field (presumably to decapitate and flense their kills, rather from any sense of self-preservation).
Eschewing the previous tank duel, the Hellhammer puts all its guns against the newly-arrived Host Raptorial. Unfortunately, it was too ambitious in its targets and the dispersed fire, combined with the daemonic saves, means that only one Obliterator and a couple of Warp Talons are taken out.
The Grey Knights train their guns on the Poxbringer, and reduce him to goo. They also gun down a Plague Drone before the Grandmaster charges in and swats the remaining two flies.
The Space Marines and Scions charge into the Chaos Space Marines, near-annihilating the two squads, though not before the heretics are able to rip off the final wound from the Taurox.
Incredibly, it's taken until Turn 3 for the first vehicle from either side to fall. And if the Fire Raptor doesn't get repaired, those transports are going to be vital.
Although the backline has its own problems: the Warpsmith (after putting a single wound back on the Land Raider - again) and the Land Raider itself take point-black aim at the Grandmaster, but fails to damage it.
The clash of Grey Knights and Nurgle Daemons is becoming something of a sideshow - although it is crucially tying up the guns of the Land Raider. All the Plaguebeaers and Chaos Space Marines are ripped apart by the reinforcement of the strike squads, and the Grand Master turns his hammer onto the machine itself.
... who then flees from morale. That's the last of the troops I have in the Imperium's side of the board. The Culexus has a clear run to safety, but have I done enough to delay it?
Credit: images courtesy of Armoury of The Rock's Instagram
Guest thoughts from Mr AP Burn:
So that was a bit of a sprawling epic and it was great to see so many units, factions and interactions on the board . My brain certainly hurts after that one, keeping track of all the codexes, stratagems, traits and tactics for Scions, Inquisition, Assassins, Space Marines and Grey Knights was no picnic and not something I'm in a hurry to repeat!
However that said the game was exceptional, so close, and could have gone either way right down to the final turn. Yet again my sneaky Assassin slipped through the net cast by those filthy heretics and once again the Scopum proved their worth on the battlefield in covering his escape.
It will be interesting to see where the story goes from here and what the next twist in the tale is, but its finely poised for a conclusive showdown.
Great game. That was the closest battle we've ever fought, and with the narrative conditions we set up, it really could have gone either way.
There were some real surprise upsets in there: my army surviving two turns of Imperial shooting pretty much unscathed; every single Raptor unit failing their charges; and then the final battle over the Culexus, where every step made a difference to its escape.
It's always a risk in these ' grab the central objective' missions that it becomes a big scrum in the middle, but by adding a number of variables (repairing the Fire Raptor, randomising the escape route), it avoided that, and made for some very exciting play - picking off the last of the transports to deny them to the Culexus was certainly cinematic!
The poor Hellhammer had a bit of a lacklustre debut - although the Land Raider was pretty under-par too - and it was certainly easier for my firepower to deal with than the Imperial Knight of our last battle.
I really liked the Host Raptorial (for all its failings when it landed - it made a mess of the Fire Raptor), although I think the Chiropteran Wings might be better on a support character (like a jump sorcerer) and have the Chaos Lord armed with something more killy.
In game terms, I think I did okay in surrounding the Imperial soup. My failing was probably in the third turn - I should have concentrated all my efforts on destroying the transports and the characters, and left the wounded Hellhammer alone. It's effectiveness was already reduced, but it was still hard to ignore (so maybe it had a role to play as a massive distraction Carnifex).
I also summoned the entirely wrong kind of daemons to deal with the Grey Knights, but you can put that down to the limits of my collection - more are on the way, and they'll be a lot better at dealing with power armour!
Still, a very fun scrap, and surely not the final chapter in the Gelidus Contingency!
The Story So Far
On the desolate world of Gelidus, an unusally-gifted Culexus Assassin was discovered by the Inquisition. It was immediately detained so that Imperial gene-scholars might examine its unique 114-Pariah Gene for weaponisation. While being escorted to the planetary evacuation site by Dark Angels and Militarum Tempestus, a force of Thousand Sons ambushed and massacred the convoy, taking the Culexus for themselves.The Thousand Sons intended to hand the prize over to the Black Legion, but the rendezvous point was infiltrated by three other Assassins, who called in the aid of the Deathwing, an Imperial Knight, and the legendary Primaris chapter, the Acquiritur Scopum.
Though it cost the lives of the Calldius and Eversor Assassin, the Black Legion forces were scattered and destroyed, and the Culexus was once again secured by the Inquisition.
But the veterans of the Long War are not so easily thwarted. As a Fire Raptor, modified for transport, took to the skies with the Culexus and its escorts, the Traitor Legion scrambled to respond. Before the Imperial gusnship even made high atmosphere, a host of Raptors descended upon it, while a mechanised patrol sped along ground level, preparing to scour the wreckage.
There would be no escape this time.
Mission 3: Fire In the Skies
As a pre-game warm-up, we thought we'd play out the ambush on the Fire Raptor with my Host Raptorial (since both came in at around 500pts).
The objective was simple: if the Fire Raptor was reduced to 0 wounds, it would be forced down and inoperable for the next game. If it killed all the Traitors before that happened, it would still start the next game on the ground, but in a much better state.
The Fire Raptor began in the centre of the board (perched on top of the tower was just to give it gravitas) and the entire Host Raptorial struck at it from all sides (technically they should have all clumped together, but I felt this way looked more predatory).
This game was going to depend very heavily on the first-turn charge, because if I didn't start tearing wounds off that gunship, it could hose down my jump troops.
The opening shots of plasma and melta begin well, and then the real stroke of fortune happens when the Warp Talons make their charge (they only need 7" because of the Tip of the Claw trait). Unable to Overwatch the Warp Talons because of their inherent trait, the gunship is now unable to Overwatch anyone, and so, as Brian Blessed would put it, DIIIVE!
Also aided by the Tip of the Claw (and their Icon of Wrath), the Plasma Raptors make it in, and then the Melta Raptors make it in. And then the Chaos Lord makes it in.
And then Haarken Worldclaimer ... decides that's probably enough and just flutters his rockets at the rear, while shouting encouragement.
Despite that inspired leadership, the rest of the Host Raptorial do excellent work, then the Fire Raptor is torn down to half-strength by the end of the phase.
In the Imperium's turn, the Fire Raptor guns its engines and tries to escape. In a desperate attempt to cut the heart from the Host, it trains its arsenal on Harkon Worldclaimer. The Herald of the Apocalypse manages to swoop and soar through the hail of bolt rounds, and comes away relatively unscathed.
The final turn is a replay of the first: with a loss of just one Raptor, the Chaos jump-troops manage to shoot and claw away the engines of the Fire Raptor.
The gunship, with its precious cargo, is forced to make an emergency landing back on the cursed earth of Gelidus.
The objective was simple: if the Fire Raptor was reduced to 0 wounds, it would be forced down and inoperable for the next game. If it killed all the Traitors before that happened, it would still start the next game on the ground, but in a much better state.
Host Raptorial Detachment - Black Legion
- Haarken Worldclaimer (HQ)
Helspear, Lightning Claw
Warlord Trait: Lord of Terror - Chaos Lord with Jump Pack (HQ)
2 x Lightning Claws
Relic: Chiropteran Wings
Field Commander Trait: Tip of the Spear - 5 x Raptors (Fast)
Icon of Wrath, Power Sword, Plasma pistol, 2 x Plasma gun, Bolt Pistol & Chainswords - 5 x Raptors (Fast)
Icon of Wrath, Power First, 2 x Melta gun, Bolt Pistol & Chainswords - 5 x Warp Talons (Fast)
2 x Lightning Claws
Auxiliary Detachment - Imperium
- Fire Raptor Assault Gunship (Flyer)
Twin avenger bolt cannon, 2 x quad heavy bolters, 2 x twin hellstrike launchers
The Fire Raptor began in the centre of the board (perched on top of the tower was just to give it gravitas) and the entire Host Raptorial struck at it from all sides (technically they should have all clumped together, but I felt this way looked more predatory).
This game was going to depend very heavily on the first-turn charge, because if I didn't start tearing wounds off that gunship, it could hose down my jump troops.
The opening shots of plasma and melta begin well, and then the real stroke of fortune happens when the Warp Talons make their charge (they only need 7" because of the Tip of the Claw trait). Unable to Overwatch the Warp Talons because of their inherent trait, the gunship is now unable to Overwatch anyone, and so, as Brian Blessed would put it, DIIIVE!
Also aided by the Tip of the Claw (and their Icon of Wrath), the Plasma Raptors make it in, and then the Melta Raptors make it in. And then the Chaos Lord makes it in.
And then Haarken Worldclaimer ... decides that's probably enough and just flutters his rockets at the rear, while shouting encouragement.
Despite that inspired leadership, the rest of the Host Raptorial do excellent work, then the Fire Raptor is torn down to half-strength by the end of the phase.
In the Imperium's turn, the Fire Raptor guns its engines and tries to escape. In a desperate attempt to cut the heart from the Host, it trains its arsenal on Harkon Worldclaimer. The Herald of the Apocalypse manages to swoop and soar through the hail of bolt rounds, and comes away relatively unscathed.
The final turn is a replay of the first: with a loss of just one Raptor, the Chaos jump-troops manage to shoot and claw away the engines of the Fire Raptor.
The gunship, with its precious cargo, is forced to make an emergency landing back on the cursed earth of Gelidus.
Mission 4: Black Raptor Down
Black Legion - The Unkindest Cut
This is a race to the crash site, so I wanted this list to be mobile. In the skies, we have a full Host Raptorial (less the Worldclaimer, whose work here is done), accompanied by a trio of Obliterators (marked for Nurgle this time, as I think we could all use a break from Endless Cacophony).
Racing along at ground level will be two Rhinos and a Land Raider, carrying a squad of Khorne Beserkers, some chainsword-armed Chaos Space Marines, a plasma squad and a melta squad. Riding in the spare seats will be an Exalted Champion, and some new characters: a Nurgle Sorcerer and Warpsmith, who is also my Warlord, to keep all the machines ticking over.
I know I'm going to be facing a Hellhammer, among other things, so my priority is keeping enough of my armour alive to overrun the crash site, and then counterpunch hard with my deepstrikers in Turn 2.
Racing along at ground level will be two Rhinos and a Land Raider, carrying a squad of Khorne Beserkers, some chainsword-armed Chaos Space Marines, a plasma squad and a melta squad. Riding in the spare seats will be an Exalted Champion, and some new characters: a Nurgle Sorcerer and Warpsmith, who is also my Warlord, to keep all the machines ticking over.
I know I'm going to be facing a Hellhammer, among other things, so my priority is keeping enough of my armour alive to overrun the crash site, and then counterpunch hard with my deepstrikers in Turn 2.
Battalion + Outrider Detachment - Black Legion
- Calpurnia-114 - Warpsmith (HQ), Warlord
Bolt Pistol, Power Axe, Meltagun, Flamer, Mechatendrils
Warlord Trait: Unholy Fortitude - Strato - Chaos Lord with Jump Pack(HQ)
2 x Lightning Claws
Relic: Chiropteran Wings
Field Commander Trait: Tip of the Spear - Varro Bloodearth - Exalted Champion (HQ)
Combi-melta, Power axe, Mark of Khorne - Flavius - Chaos Sorcerer (HQ)
Combi-bolter, Force Stave Mark of Nurgle
Powers: Miasma of Pestilence, Warptime - 9 x Chaos Space Marines (Troops)
Mark of Khorne, Icon of Wrath, Chainswords, Bolt pistols, Flamer, Power sword - 5 x Chaos Space Marines (Troops)
Combi-plasma, boltguns, plasma gun - 5 x Chaos Space Marines (Troops)
Combi-melta, boltguns, melta gun - 8 x Khorne Berzerkers (Elite)
Icon of Wrath, Plasma pistol, Power fist, Chainsword and Chainaxe - 5 x Raptors (Fast)
Icon of Wrath, Power Sword, Plasma pistol, 2 x Plasma gun, Bolt Pistol & Chainswords - 5 x Raptors (Fast)
Icon of Wrath, Power First, 2 x Melta gun, Bolt Pistol & Chainswords - 5 x Warp Talons (Fast)
2 x Lightning Claws - 3 x Obliterators (Heavy)
Mark of Nurgle - Chaos Land Raider (Transport)
Combi-flamer, Havoc launcher, Twin heavy bolter, 2 x twin lascannons, Mark of Nurgle - Chaos Rhino (Transport)
Combi-bolter, Havoc launcher, Mark of Nurgle - Chaos Rhino (Transport)
Combi-bolter, Havoc launcher, Mark of Nurgle
Level: 104 | Points: 2000 |Battle-forged + Battalion + Outrider - Hot Raptoral - Field Commander: 7 CPs
Imperium - Militarum Tempestus, Acquiritur Scopum, Inquisition and Officio Assassinorum
I'm souper!
True to the narrative, the Imperium are scrambling whatever they can to secure the crash site. There are a trio of officers from the Acquiritur Scopum taking point, while three Taurox trucks loaded with Scions race forward. In addition to various command characters, they'll also be hauling a Tech-Priest Enginseer, whose expertise will be vital to the mission's success.
Holding down the backfield is a Hellhammer superheavy tank, which is packing more firepower than we can count (literally, in the case of the Hidden Autocannon).
Piling out of the wrecked Fire Raptor are two Inquisitors, their entourage of Acolytes, and the two Assassins. They'll start the battle embarked on board the downed gunship.
So it's a list with plenty going on with it. Oddly for a battle against Imperium, I think the Chaos side will start off with more bodies - although the only one that counts is the Culexus...
Battalion Detachment - Tempestus Militarum
- Lord Commissar (HQ)
Bolt Pistol and Power Sword - Tempestor Prime (HQ)
Hot shot las pistol and command rod - 6 x Tempestus Scions (Troops)
4 x hot shot lasguns, Tempestor with chainsword and hot shot las pistol, plasma gun - 6 x Tempestus Scions (Troops)
4 x hot shot lasguns, Tempestor with chainsword and hot shot las pistol, plasma gun - 6 x Tempestus Scions (Troops)
4 x hot shot lasguns, Tempestor with chainsword and hot shot las pistol, plasma gun - Tempestus Command Squad (Elite)
Platoon standard, heavy flamer - Tech Priest Enginseer (Elite)
- 3 x Taurox Prime (Transport)
Autocannons and missile launchers
Auxiliary Super-Heavy detachment - Astra Militarum
- Hellhammer (Super-Heavy)
Autocannon, Demolisher Cannon, Hellhammer Cannon, Hunter-Killer Missile, 4 x Sponsons (Lascannon, Twin Heavy Bolter), Adamantium Tracks
Supreme Command Detachment - Space Marines
- Captain Winters (HQ), Warlord
Master-crafted Stalker Bolt Rifle and power sword - Librarian Mikey P(HQ)
Force sword - Lt Brom (HQ)
Master-crafted Stalker Bolt Rifle
Vanguard Detachment - Ordo Hereticus
- Inquisitor Corteaz Drake (HQ)
Force Sword, Inferno pistol - Inquisitor Mathais Braxton (HQ)
Force sword, hotshot lasgun - Acolyte (Elite)
Chainsword and bolt pistol - Acolyte (Elite)
Chainsword and las pistols - Acolyte (Elite)
Hotshot lasgun - Acolyte (Elite)
Meltagun - Acolyte (Elite)
Grenade launche
Vanguard Detachment - Officio Assassinorum
- Culexus Assassin (Elite)
- Vindicare Assassin (Elite)
Points: 2009 | Battle-forged + Battalion - Super-Heavy Auxiliary + Supreme Command + Vanguard: 9 CPs
Mission
Once again, the Culexus is the prize. The Imperium's win condition is to get him to safety, and they can do this in a couple of ways:- The Tech-Priest Enginseer can repair the Fire Raptor as normal. If this reaches 7 wounds, it can take off, and carry the Culexus with it (assuming he is close enough to embark). Once airborne, the Fire Raptor can be shot at, as normal.
- The Culexus can embark any of the Taurox, or just move on foot to safety (this will be a randomly-determined edge of the board - getting into the Imperium's deployment zone is not sufficient)
In any other circumstance, if the Culexus is still on the table when the game ends (random turn length), Chaos wins!
Deployment
We roll Vanguard Strike deployment. I throw everything I can into deepstrike, then load up my three transports and try and get as close to the centre as possible, while still hugging the buildings for cover.
The Imperium do the same, loading up the three Taurox, setting the Primaris Marines in the ruins and putting the Hellhammer at the back (it can rumble over those ruins no problem, but will have to manoeuvre around buildings).
The Imperium do the same, loading up the three Taurox, setting the Primaris Marines in the ruins and putting the Hellhammer at the back (it can rumble over those ruins no problem, but will have to manoeuvre around buildings).
We roll for the first turn and the Imperium goes first!
Turn 1 - Imperium
Dustoff! The Assassin and Inquisitorial retinue all disembark from the downed Fire Raptor. Without the attention of an Enginseer, that bird is staying on the ground.
The Imperium forces unleash what they can, but when the smoke clears, both Chaos Rhinos and Land Raider are left on a healthy amount of wounds and no real harm done.
Inquisitors Corteaz and Braxton flank the Culexus, not letting him out of their sight. The five Acolytes take firing positions on the side closest to the Traitors, ready to sell their lives as a rearguard. In the shadow of the wing, the Vindicare unpacks his Exitus Sniper Rifle and waits.
Meanwhile, the relief column surges ahead. Two of the Taurox swing to the right of the crash, the other holds back with the Scopum officers, In the backline, the rumbling Hellhammer warms up its guns.
With only three armoured vehicles in the enemy deployment zone, there’s not much choice for small-arms, and even the big guns struggle to make range and effectiveness.
Turn 1 - Chaos
Feeling favoured by the Pantheon to still have use of all three transports, both Warpsmith Calpurnia-114 and Sorcerer Flavius jump out of the vehicles. This may be somewhat reckless with a Vindicare lurking about, but I need their buffs this turn.
Both Rhinos bust forwards towards the crash site, one going left and one going right, and both popping their smoke launchers in the Shooting Phase.
The Land Raider stays put, so the Warpsmith attempts to patch up some of its damage, though only manages one wound.
The Sorcerer tries to cast Miasma of Pestilence on the Berserkers' Rhino (giving it a -1 to hit would be worth risking getting sniped by the Vindicare) - and fails to cast. His next power is Warptime on the same Rhino, which he cast with a Perils of the Warp, losing three of his four wounds.
Good going, Flavius! Next time, I'm recruiting a Thousand Son.
The Land Raider throws its lascannons against the lead Taurox - I'd rather be shooting the Hellhammer, but I can't afford to let the Culexus jump into one of these transports. As it goes, I only hit once and peel off a couple of wounds.
All the Land Raider's small-arms go into the Acolytes, who are single-man units and have to be picked off individually. So with impressive overkill, three get plinked off with havoc launcher, combi-bolter and twin heavy bolters (technically, that was First Blood).
I've got my troops into a good position, but now I have to weather the Imperium's firepower once again.
Both Rhinos bust forwards towards the crash site, one going left and one going right, and both popping their smoke launchers in the Shooting Phase.
The Land Raider stays put, so the Warpsmith attempts to patch up some of its damage, though only manages one wound.
The Sorcerer tries to cast Miasma of Pestilence on the Berserkers' Rhino (giving it a -1 to hit would be worth risking getting sniped by the Vindicare) - and fails to cast. His next power is Warptime on the same Rhino, which he cast with a Perils of the Warp, losing three of his four wounds.
Good going, Flavius! Next time, I'm recruiting a Thousand Son.
The Land Raider throws its lascannons against the lead Taurox - I'd rather be shooting the Hellhammer, but I can't afford to let the Culexus jump into one of these transports. As it goes, I only hit once and peel off a couple of wounds.
All the Land Raider's small-arms go into the Acolytes, who are single-man units and have to be picked off individually. So with impressive overkill, three get plinked off with havoc launcher, combi-bolter and twin heavy bolters (technically, that was First Blood).
I've got my troops into a good position, but now I have to weather the Imperium's firepower once again.
Turn 2 - Imperium
The crash site has been reached, if not exactly secured. The Imperium wastes no time and two squads pile out of the Taurox, backed up by the Command Squad, Commissar and Enginseer.
One empty Taurox goes around the far side of the Fire Raptor, followed by a full-laden Taurox and the Scopum command, to intercept one of the Rhinos. The other Taurox, and most of the infantry, square off against the Berserkers' Rhino.
The Enginseer gets to work to start repairs on the Fire Raptor, needing at least a few more turns of uninterrupted repairs to get it skybourne. The two Inquisitors and the Culexus link up with the Militarum commanders.
The Inquisitors and Scopum Librarian begin some psychic preliminaries, but whatever effectiveness they are able to muster is immediately denied by the wounded Chaos Sorcerer.
Spotting this psychic roadblock, the Vindicare takes the expedient step of removing the Sorcerer with a quick headshot.
After this promising start, the whole army sets to work on reducing the three Chaos transports
But once again, after all the shooting has been done, all three are left very much intact (if a little worse for wear). The small arms couldn't dent the armoured hulls, and the big guns either missed their mark or failed to make an impression.
One empty Taurox goes around the far side of the Fire Raptor, followed by a full-laden Taurox and the Scopum command, to intercept one of the Rhinos. The other Taurox, and most of the infantry, square off against the Berserkers' Rhino.
The Enginseer gets to work to start repairs on the Fire Raptor, needing at least a few more turns of uninterrupted repairs to get it skybourne. The two Inquisitors and the Culexus link up with the Militarum commanders.
The Inquisitors and Scopum Librarian begin some psychic preliminaries, but whatever effectiveness they are able to muster is immediately denied by the wounded Chaos Sorcerer.
Spotting this psychic roadblock, the Vindicare takes the expedient step of removing the Sorcerer with a quick headshot.
After this promising start, the whole army sets to work on reducing the three Chaos transports
But once again, after all the shooting has been done, all three are left very much intact (if a little worse for wear). The small arms couldn't dent the armoured hulls, and the big guns either missed their mark or failed to make an impression.
In desperation, the Acolytes charge their closest Rhino, losing one of their number to Overwatch, and the lead squad of Scions runs into the Rhino filled with Berzerkers. They do no damage to either vehicle, and there are ominous rumblings coming from within.
For a second consecutive turn, the guns of the Imperium have failed! And now the skies begin to darken, as the airborne traitors make their predatory descent.
Turn 2 - Chaos
With the hulls of their vehicles battered and smoking, the Heretic Astartes make their move.
Both Rhinos burst open and spill their contents. The Bezkerers and Exalted Champion head directly for the nearest Scions and Vindicare. Both plasma squad and melta squad of Chaos Space Marines jump out and square off towards the Taurox Prime and Acolytes.
At the end of phase, Calpurnia-114 repairs the Land Raider (for only one wound - again - you just can't get the parts). And then, feeling that some help from the Ruinous Powers might be appreciated, she summons a Poxbringer from the Warp (taking a wound in the process).
(That’s right, we pre-arranged this twist: I have 500pts set aside to summon demons. I was getting a bit worried about having no characters left to summon – since I’d already lost my Sorcerer – so went early with the summoning and brought in another character. We also amended the rules to allow the Poxbringer to summon in three Plague Drones. I'm going to need them, as this awakening of the Neverborn will inevitably trigger an Imperium response…)
And then, the Host Raptorial descends. Having brought the Fire Raptor down, they didn’t want the ground elements to get all the best pickings. Finding a gap in the Imperium back line, two squads of Raptors, a pack of Warp Talons and a Chaos Lord cut off the Imperium’s escape route. Three Obliterators also step out of the Warp for good measure.
The Poxbringer fails his Smite in the Psychic Phase, but the Shooting Phase is a lot deadlier.
The Melta Raptors, Obliterators and Land Raider combine to strip half the wounds from the Hellhammer, while the Plasma Raptors take out some of the rear squad of Scions.
The Chaos Space Marines gun down the remaining Acolytes and then take aim on the empty Taurox. The Champion orders his plasma gunner to overcharge, but wisely forgets to crank up the setting on his own combi-plasma. Sure enough, the luckless gunner explodes, while the Champion scores two perfect hits on his mark.
With the contribution of the melta squad, the Taurox is ripe for charging. On the other side of the crash site, the Exalted Champion uses his melta to drop the other empty Taurox down a bracket too.
However, it all unravels in the Assault Phase, as the entire Host Raptorial lets itself down.
Despite three units only needing a 7” charge (due to the Chaos Lord’s Tip of the Claw trait), and two units getting rerolls due to their Icons of Wrath, every jump-trooper somehow fails to make contact with the Scion command squad. To add insult to injury, a couple of the Plasma Raptors are lost to overwatch.
Things are better on the other side of the crash site. Both squads of Chaos Space Marines charge the Taurox and wrap around it. They fail to tear away its last wound, which effectively protects them from Imperium shooting.
The Bezerkers and Exalted Champion make the charge that they can't fail into the Scions, Taurox and Vindicare.
Both Scions and Vindicare are torn down, though the Berzerkers run out of steam as their second round of attacks reach the Enginseer (which was also declared against).
Both Rhinos burst open and spill their contents. The Bezkerers and Exalted Champion head directly for the nearest Scions and Vindicare. Both plasma squad and melta squad of Chaos Space Marines jump out and square off towards the Taurox Prime and Acolytes.
At the end of phase, Calpurnia-114 repairs the Land Raider (for only one wound - again - you just can't get the parts). And then, feeling that some help from the Ruinous Powers might be appreciated, she summons a Poxbringer from the Warp (taking a wound in the process).
The Poxbringer fails his Smite in the Psychic Phase, but the Shooting Phase is a lot deadlier.
The Melta Raptors, Obliterators and Land Raider combine to strip half the wounds from the Hellhammer, while the Plasma Raptors take out some of the rear squad of Scions.
The Chaos Space Marines gun down the remaining Acolytes and then take aim on the empty Taurox. The Champion orders his plasma gunner to overcharge, but wisely forgets to crank up the setting on his own combi-plasma. Sure enough, the luckless gunner explodes, while the Champion scores two perfect hits on his mark.
With the contribution of the melta squad, the Taurox is ripe for charging. On the other side of the crash site, the Exalted Champion uses his melta to drop the other empty Taurox down a bracket too.
However, it all unravels in the Assault Phase, as the entire Host Raptorial lets itself down.
Despite three units only needing a 7” charge (due to the Chaos Lord’s Tip of the Claw trait), and two units getting rerolls due to their Icons of Wrath, every jump-trooper somehow fails to make contact with the Scion command squad. To add insult to injury, a couple of the Plasma Raptors are lost to overwatch.
The Bezerkers and Exalted Champion make the charge that they can't fail into the Scions, Taurox and Vindicare.
Both Scions and Vindicare are torn down, though the Berzerkers run out of steam as their second round of attacks reach the Enginseer (which was also declared against).
Though the fearsome Assassin is gone, repairs on the Fire Raptor will continue. Apparently even dodging chainaxe attacks is not enough to deter the Mechanicum.
Turn 3 - Imperium
The Imperium rescue force have now been enveloped by traitors, and they need to force apart the jaws of this perfidious trap.
Step forward: three of the finest from the Acquiritur Scopum!
Step forward: three of the finest from the Acquiritur Scopum!
The last Taurox unloads its Scion squad, then reverses all the way back to the Inquisitor's group. Meanwhile the squad moves forward with the Primaris Captain, Lieutenant and Phobos Librarian, ready to pry the Chaos Space Marines off the beleaguered Taurox.
On the other side, with nowhere obvious to run, the Imperium remnants fall out of combat with the Berzerkers and huddle together.
And then - in a flash of teleportarium light - the Grey Knights have arrived!
It appears the presence of Daemons on Gelidus was enough to draw the attention of Chapter 666, and a Grandmaster in Dreadknight armour appears, backed up with two squads of Grey Knights and an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor in Terminator Armour who must be feeling very good about his life choices right now.
The Psychic Phase Smites away a few Berserkers, but little else. In the Shooting Phase, the Berserkers continue to take punishment from the remaining Scions and Inquisitors until only two of them remain (no-one fancy a charge?).
Despite being Black Legion, these last two Khornites subsequently fail their Morale check and both leave the field (presumably to decapitate and flense their kills, rather from any sense of self-preservation).
Eschewing the previous tank duel, the Hellhammer puts all its guns against the newly-arrived Host Raptorial. Unfortunately, it was too ambitious in its targets and the dispersed fire, combined with the daemonic saves, means that only one Obliterator and a couple of Warp Talons are taken out.
The Grey Knights train their guns on the Poxbringer, and reduce him to goo. They also gun down a Plague Drone before the Grandmaster charges in and swats the remaining two flies.
 |
| "I'll have no flies in my soup!" |
The Space Marines and Scions charge into the Chaos Space Marines, near-annihilating the two squads, though not before the heretics are able to rip off the final wound from the Taurox.
Incredibly, it's taken until Turn 3 for the first vehicle from either side to fall. And if the Fire Raptor doesn't get repaired, those transports are going to be vital.
Turn 3 - Chaos
The ground elements of the Chaos attack have been beaten back, but there's a lot of flyers swarming around, keen to finish what they started in the air.
Undeterred by the sudden arrival of Grey Knights to the rear, the Warpsmith continues repairs to the Land Raider (still only one wound - use a different spanner!) and summons up a pack of Plaguebearers to overwhelm the Grandmaster.
And in case the Neverborn aren't up to the job, the final squad of Chaos Space Marines leap out of the Land Raider, keen to test their chainswords against the grey ceramite.
Upfield, the melta Raptors fly in to menace the Hellhammer, the Obliterators plod forward, and the Chaos Lord leads the rest of the fliers to surround the Culexus and his escorts
On the far side of the crash site, the three remaining Chaos Space Marines (who are no longer in combat, as all the front-rankers were slain), scramble up the building and train their guns on the Scopum (and miss the lot of them).
Undeterred by the sudden arrival of Grey Knights to the rear, the Warpsmith continues repairs to the Land Raider (still only one wound - use a different spanner!) and summons up a pack of Plaguebearers to overwhelm the Grandmaster.
And in case the Neverborn aren't up to the job, the final squad of Chaos Space Marines leap out of the Land Raider, keen to test their chainswords against the grey ceramite.
Upfield, the melta Raptors fly in to menace the Hellhammer, the Obliterators plod forward, and the Chaos Lord leads the rest of the fliers to surround the Culexus and his escorts
 |
| "We have you now." |
On the far side of the crash site, the three remaining Chaos Space Marines (who are no longer in combat, as all the front-rankers were slain), scramble up the building and train their guns on the Scopum (and miss the lot of them).
The badly-damaged Rhino blocks off the route through the buildings and applies the parking brake, so at least the Imperium can't get through to my backline.
Although the backline has its own problems: the Warpsmith (after putting a single wound back on the Land Raider - again) and the Land Raider itself take point-black aim at the Grandmaster, but fails to damage it.
Both Chaos Space Marines and Plaguebearers charge in against the Grandmaster, but even with Veterans of the Long War in effect, his armour holds firm and only three wounds are lost.
The Raptors have better luck at the business end of the battle, as their meltaguns strip the last few wounds from the Hellhammer, leaving the Obliterators to destroy the superheavy tank with their final volley.
Now on a roll, the plasma Raptors overcharge and blast away the second Taurox, denying the Imperials another vehicle.
Then the entire Host descends, the Warp Talons hit the Lord-Commissar and Inquisitor Braxton, the Obliterators thump into the side of the last Taurox, and the Exalted Champion chases down the Enginseer.
Finishing up, the Chaos Lord flies at Inquisitor Corteaz, though not before his Chiropteran Wings have sliced up the Lord-Commissar and Inquisitor Braxton as he flew past.
It's something of a massacre, as the last of the Command squad falls, then the Lord-Commissar, then Inquisitor Braxton is shredded by the claws of the Warp Talons.
Crucially, the Exalted Champion tears the Enginseer into scrap metal. That's a game-changer: the gunship was tantalisingly close to being repaired, but now the Culexus' only route of escape is on the ground - assuming it can even escape the press of jump-troops swarming it.
When the Chaos Lord comes to strike, he tears into Inquisitor Corteaz, but leaves him alive on a single wound. Corteaz strikes back and kills the Chaos Lord in return.
A small setback ... but what harm can a single Inquisitor do?
The Raptors have better luck at the business end of the battle, as their meltaguns strip the last few wounds from the Hellhammer, leaving the Obliterators to destroy the superheavy tank with their final volley.
Now on a roll, the plasma Raptors overcharge and blast away the second Taurox, denying the Imperials another vehicle.
Then the entire Host descends, the Warp Talons hit the Lord-Commissar and Inquisitor Braxton, the Obliterators thump into the side of the last Taurox, and the Exalted Champion chases down the Enginseer.
Finishing up, the Chaos Lord flies at Inquisitor Corteaz, though not before his Chiropteran Wings have sliced up the Lord-Commissar and Inquisitor Braxton as he flew past.
It's something of a massacre, as the last of the Command squad falls, then the Lord-Commissar, then Inquisitor Braxton is shredded by the claws of the Warp Talons.
Crucially, the Exalted Champion tears the Enginseer into scrap metal. That's a game-changer: the gunship was tantalisingly close to being repaired, but now the Culexus' only route of escape is on the ground - assuming it can even escape the press of jump-troops swarming it.
When the Chaos Lord comes to strike, he tears into Inquisitor Corteaz, but leaves him alive on a single wound. Corteaz strikes back and kills the Chaos Lord in return.
A small setback ... but what harm can a single Inquisitor do?
Turn 4 - Imperium
The Grey Knights may be cleaving through the Black Legion's rearguard, but there are very few assets left where it counts.
With the Fire Raptor permanently grounded, the Culexus will only be safe it if escapes off a randomly-determined table edge. Luck favours Mr AP Burn, as he rolls for the edge closest to him.
All it would take for the Culexus to get away is to advance into the last remaining Taurox, who can then break from combat and speed away.
... except the Culexus was tied up in the melee from last turn, and can't advance out of combat. So there's a route out of here, but it will take at least on more turn to get there.
So instead the Culexus breaks in the other direction: away from the Taurox, while the Scopum and Inquisitor Corteaz form a screen in front of him.
And now the Psychic Phase. After three turns of achieving very little, the Imperium make up for it now. Corteaz casts Dominate on one of the Obliterators, who then turns his guns on his own Warp Talons and wipes them out!
A couple more Smites from the Inquisitor and Phobos Librarian, and both Obliterators are also torn apart. Small-arms fire from the rest of the officers take down the Exalted Champion, which also removes the chance of summoning daemons to choke up that area.
The few remaining Scions destroy the blocking Rhino with gunfire, but don't press any further ahead.
With the actions of a few characters - supported by Captain Winters, who bats aside the last Chaos Space Marines, that side of the field is suddenly looking a lot more secure.
With the Fire Raptor permanently grounded, the Culexus will only be safe it if escapes off a randomly-determined table edge. Luck favours Mr AP Burn, as he rolls for the edge closest to him.
All it would take for the Culexus to get away is to advance into the last remaining Taurox, who can then break from combat and speed away.
... except the Culexus was tied up in the melee from last turn, and can't advance out of combat. So there's a route out of here, but it will take at least on more turn to get there.
So instead the Culexus breaks in the other direction: away from the Taurox, while the Scopum and Inquisitor Corteaz form a screen in front of him.
And now the Psychic Phase. After three turns of achieving very little, the Imperium make up for it now. Corteaz casts Dominate on one of the Obliterators, who then turns his guns on his own Warp Talons and wipes them out!
A couple more Smites from the Inquisitor and Phobos Librarian, and both Obliterators are also torn apart. Small-arms fire from the rest of the officers take down the Exalted Champion, which also removes the chance of summoning daemons to choke up that area.
The few remaining Scions destroy the blocking Rhino with gunfire, but don't press any further ahead.
With the actions of a few characters - supported by Captain Winters, who bats aside the last Chaos Space Marines, that side of the field is suddenly looking a lot more secure.
The clash of Grey Knights and Nurgle Daemons is becoming something of a sideshow - although it is crucially tying up the guns of the Land Raider. All the Plaguebeaers and Chaos Space Marines are ripped apart by the reinforcement of the strike squads, and the Grand Master turns his hammer onto the machine itself.
Turn 4 - Chaos
From a commanding position, the Black Legion have suddenly lost a lot of crucial assets. But all they need to do is prevent the Culexus' escape, so the fight is still in the balance.
Over by the Land Raider, Calpurnia calls in the last of the daemon reserves - a large swarm of Nurglings should indicate that things are getting desperate over there. In the ensuing Fight Phase, both Warsmith and Land Raider fall under the hammers of Titan, and the rear support for the Black Legion is gone.
Back where it counts, there are seven Raptors left to stop the Assassin getting away. They all converge on the surviving Imperials and, tempting as it would be to try and shoot the Culexus, they put shots into the last Taurox before charging both transport and Culexus.
A couple of Raptors are lost to Overwatch when charging the Culexus (who really doesn't want to be captured again) and then there is a heroic intervention from Librarian Mikey P, which I hadn't counted upon.
In melee, the Power Fist Champion makes short work of the Taurox, and the fastest means of getting the Assassin out of here is gone.
... unfortunately, so are most of the Raptors. The Librarian cleaves through them like an astartes on a mission, and then the fight ends, only one of them remains.
Over by the Land Raider, Calpurnia calls in the last of the daemon reserves - a large swarm of Nurglings should indicate that things are getting desperate over there. In the ensuing Fight Phase, both Warsmith and Land Raider fall under the hammers of Titan, and the rear support for the Black Legion is gone.
Back where it counts, there are seven Raptors left to stop the Assassin getting away. They all converge on the surviving Imperials and, tempting as it would be to try and shoot the Culexus, they put shots into the last Taurox before charging both transport and Culexus.
A couple of Raptors are lost to Overwatch when charging the Culexus (who really doesn't want to be captured again) and then there is a heroic intervention from Librarian Mikey P, which I hadn't counted upon.
In melee, the Power Fist Champion makes short work of the Taurox, and the fastest means of getting the Assassin out of here is gone.
... unfortunately, so are most of the Raptors. The Librarian cleaves through them like an astartes on a mission, and then the fight ends, only one of them remains.
... who then flees from morale. That's the last of the troops I have in the Imperium's side of the board. The Culexus has a clear run to safety, but have I done enough to delay it?
Turn 5 - Imperium
Only one thing matters now - the Culexus running as fast at its legs will carry it.
It doesn't make it off the table this turn - but if the game continues and there is nothing to delay (or kill) it, it will get away next turn.
It doesn't make it off the table this turn - but if the game continues and there is nothing to delay (or kill) it, it will get away next turn.
Turn 5 - Chaos
My last surviving Rhino is tied up by the heroes of the Scopum, so even a last ditch-shot with the Havoc launcher isn't going to happen.
I can do nothing by anxiously wait the result of the dice.
I can do nothing by anxiously wait the result of the dice.
Turn 6 - Imperium
Mr AP Burn rolls ... and the game continues! The Culexus runs off the board to safety and the Black Legion have been thwarted once again!
Victory to the Imperium!
Credit: images courtesy of Armoury of The Rock's Instagram
Locker Room
So that was a bit of a sprawling epic and it was great to see so many units, factions and interactions on the board . My brain certainly hurts after that one, keeping track of all the codexes, stratagems, traits and tactics for Scions, Inquisition, Assassins, Space Marines and Grey Knights was no picnic and not something I'm in a hurry to repeat!
However that said the game was exceptional, so close, and could have gone either way right down to the final turn. Yet again my sneaky Assassin slipped through the net cast by those filthy heretics and once again the Scopum proved their worth on the battlefield in covering his escape.
It will be interesting to see where the story goes from here and what the next twist in the tale is, but its finely poised for a conclusive showdown.
Great game. That was the closest battle we've ever fought, and with the narrative conditions we set up, it really could have gone either way.
There were some real surprise upsets in there: my army surviving two turns of Imperial shooting pretty much unscathed; every single Raptor unit failing their charges; and then the final battle over the Culexus, where every step made a difference to its escape.
It's always a risk in these ' grab the central objective' missions that it becomes a big scrum in the middle, but by adding a number of variables (repairing the Fire Raptor, randomising the escape route), it avoided that, and made for some very exciting play - picking off the last of the transports to deny them to the Culexus was certainly cinematic!
The poor Hellhammer had a bit of a lacklustre debut - although the Land Raider was pretty under-par too - and it was certainly easier for my firepower to deal with than the Imperial Knight of our last battle.
I really liked the Host Raptorial (for all its failings when it landed - it made a mess of the Fire Raptor), although I think the Chiropteran Wings might be better on a support character (like a jump sorcerer) and have the Chaos Lord armed with something more killy.
In game terms, I think I did okay in surrounding the Imperial soup. My failing was probably in the third turn - I should have concentrated all my efforts on destroying the transports and the characters, and left the wounded Hellhammer alone. It's effectiveness was already reduced, but it was still hard to ignore (so maybe it had a role to play as a massive distraction Carnifex).
I also summoned the entirely wrong kind of daemons to deal with the Grey Knights, but you can put that down to the limits of my collection - more are on the way, and they'll be a lot better at dealing with power armour!
Still, a very fun scrap, and surely not the final chapter in the Gelidus Contingency!
Completely splendid! And a great example of good soup, too - fluffy and fun.
ReplyDeleteAlthough... if I may, I might interject that Dominate only works on enemy characters, so I'm not sure you can target Obliterators with it. Might have been FAQ'd, though, I'll have to check.
DeleteThat's true! I was ROBBED!
DeleteAh well, he could have cast Smite instead and that may have killed off the Warp Talons in a less-entertaining fashion.
Arrrgh! Can't believe I messed that rule up. I've been using it wrong for ages. That sad this was the first time I've ever successfully manifested it!
DeleteWow, very exciting - well done on making the scenario so balanced as well as interesting
ReplyDeleteThe dice gods helped to keep it in the balance - no CP rerolls here!
DeleteGreat report. Thanks for posting. Any chance of seeing the Nurgle Sorcerer who caught the sniper round in his teeth, please? Looks like a good conversion from a distance.
ReplyDeleteCertainly. He and the Warpsmith were a bit camera-shy because they only had their base coats on, but when they're finished, I'll post up full portraits.
DeleteAnd only a few months later - I finished him! https://woffboot.blogspot.com/2019/11/black-magic.html
DeleteGreat. Thank you.
ReplyDelete