Alpha Strike: Alpha Legion vs Mantis Warriors

Unexpectedly, I seem to have completed two small armies this year! The obvious thing to do with them is therefore to hold one in each hand and smash them against each other to establish dominance.

However, I, Kraken, cannot trust my own hands to give these armies a fair showing. Therefore playing my Left Hand in tonight's Skype Match is none other than...

Pootle, leading a different brand of chaos marines this time: the Alpha Legion.


These forces are both pre-selected by me, pre-CA 2019 points drops. Which is just as well, the chaos boys would have done very well out of their new budget!*

It's Not That We Don't Trust You...

I'll be taking the Mantis Warriors, who are now painted up to small battalion standard. Some reinforcements have just arrived for them, but they aren't past undercoating yet. Using what I've got gives me a force capable of nipping round the field, punching above its weight in melee whilst still keeping a decent bit of ranged punch.

The drop pod and rhino should keep selected squads safe, delivering them to where they need to be in time for the all important Assault Doctrine turn. There's a Land Speeder to provide long-ranged fire support, and enough Tactical Squads to camp on objectives whilst blazing away. The Company Veterans ought to be able to murder something in close combat, especially with support from the Librarian, and the Chaplain Warlord is a close combat monster!

But the Mantis Warriors have a suspicious history of picking the wrong sides to fight on. Who better to keep them in line than an Inquisitor of the Ordo Malleus, decked in Terminator Armour and sporting some of the new wargear and traits from the recent White Dwarf update? He's quite the psychic powerhouse, too, given a trait of his own for another CP. This gives him some great psychic options, a spell that can generate CPs plus various blasts and curses. He also doesn't take away my tactical doctrines. He's like a malteaser, the smite you can spam without spoiling your appetite.

Mantis Warriors Battalion

• HQ - Chaplain with Chogorian Storm trait, Master-Crafted Storm Bolter, Mantra of Strength and Litany of Hate
• HQ - Librarian with storm bolter and force axe, Storm Wreathed and Spirits of Chogoris powers
• Troops - 10 Tactical Marines, a storm bolter for sarge and a lascannon for the chaps
• Troops - 5 Tactical Marines, a power fist and plasma pistol for sarge and a flamer for the chaps 
• Troops - 5 Tactical Marines, a chainsword and bolt pistol for sarge and a missile launcher for the chaps
• Elites - 5 Company Veterans, equipped with Thunder Hammer, Storm shield, power sword, paired lightning claws, three chainswords and a pair of bolt pistols
• Fast Attack - 3 Bikers, sarge has a Thunder Hammer
• Fast Attack - Land Speeder with Typhoon Missile Launcher and Heavy Bolter
• Dedicated Transport - Drop Pod with Storm Bolter
• Dedicated Transport - Rhino with Storm Bolter and Hunter Killer Missile
• Guest HQ - Ordo Malleus Inquisitor in Terminator Armour with Nemesis Daemon Hammer, Storm Bolter, Psychic Mastery trait, Blackshroud Relic and the powers Castigation and Mental Interrogation

...But Where Are You Hiding?

I'll be leading Kraken's beautifully painted Alpha Legion. Probably a major advantage for me will be that Kraken will be extremely unwilling to damage the paintwork on these guys by shooting at them.

There's only a limited choice of models, but I did turn down the initial offer of an Obliterator and Venomcrawler - we were trying to set up a balanced game and I felt those two could either tear a hole in the Mantis Warriors or leave a similar sized one in mine if they were picked off with heavy weapons.

My plan is to move forwards and hold central objectives. I won't even try to take objectives in the Mantis Warriors rear as they'll be coming for me pretty quickly and I don't have the mobility. The one tweak to that strategy is that I expect a drop pod full of veterans to land and I'd like to keep the Noise Marines within range of their likely drop zone to counterpunch.

I've got far fewer long-range heavy weapons than Kraken, but I know that there'll be plenty of scenery on the table, so hopefully that plus the Alpha Legion trait (-1 to hit outside 12") will keep them alive.

Rather than the (admittedly fun) I Am Alpharius warlord trait, I chose Clandestine (an extra -1 to hit all the time) and the Mindveil relic (3D6" move, able to move through other models and terrain and can fall back and charge). I want to be able to get the thunderhammer where I need it, and those seem like a pretty potent combination to enable me to do so.

Alpha Legion Battalion

• HQ - Chaos Lord with Thunder Hammer and Plasma Pistol, the Mindveil relic and the Clandestine trait
• HQ - Master of Possession with Cursed Earth and Possession powers
• HQ - Fabius Bile
• Troops - 6 Chaos Space Marines, champ has a chainaxe and plasma pistol, plasma gun for the boys
• Troops - 6 Chaos Space Marines, champ has a combi-flamer and an autocannon for the boys
• Troops - 10 Chaos Cultists with autoguns and a lone heavy stubber
• Elites - 2 Greater Possessed
• Elite - Hellbrute with combat weapon and Multi-melta
• Elites - 10 Noise Marines, Champion has a Doom Siren and Sonic Blaster, 4 more Sonic Blasters, 4 with chainsword and pistol, a Blastmaster and the Icon of Excess

Mission and Terrain

We're running with the homebrew mission Stylus and I have played before. Four objectives, one the middle of your deployment zone and two in the middle of the field. Your opponent's is worth 3 VPs at the end of your own turn, the others score you 1 VP. On top of this, three maelstrom cards a turn, ditching any that refer to objectives 5 and 6 (not present), Dominance and Priority Orders Received.

And it's a return to the snowy ruins for tonight - the big castle mound in the middle and a scattering of ruins and woods on all sides. Neither army is super-shooty, but lurking at range in cover is definitely going to suit the Alpha Legion! Equally, the blocked line of sight will make it even easier for the Mantis Warriors to get into hitting range.

Impressive though they are, the pics here really don't do justice to the battlefield that Kraken has built here. Most of it is scratch built and shown elsewhere on the blog. And it really does look fantastic.

Deployment

The Mantis Warriors pick a side (South), so the Alpha Legion goes down first.

I'm planning to use the Forward Operatives stratagem to move the Noise Marines forwards very close to objective 4 before the game begins. That will also put them in cover and, hopefully, enable them to survive long enough to provide covering fire for anyone attacking either objective 4 or my home objective 1. Fabius Bile deploys near them, intending to stick needles into them as soon as possible to buff (or kill) them.

The Cultists are deployed on the other side, ready to sprint forwards and grab objective 3, and the Autocannon-armed marine squad sits on objective 1. Everyone else goes down in between this lot, ready to move forwards.

Seeing all this, I go with the southern edge. Camping the large tac squad on my home objective, I put snipers on each flank in the form of the Land Speeder out on the left where it has a nice line of sight to the Chaos back line. The Missile Launcher squad goes up in a ruin on the right.

Everything that can deep strike, does - so the Inquisitor and the Drop Pod, bearing Librarian and Veterans. The Chaplain and the flamer squad go in the Rhino, and that sets up in the middle with the Bikes.

No stealing - off go the Alpha Legion!

Alpha Legion Turn 1

My first three objectives are Master the Warp (should be easy), Hold the Line (gaaa - I'm going to have a drop pod full of marines next turn) and Psychological Warfare (against marines, very funny).

A couple of the Noise Marines creep forwards out of the ruins to take objective 4. This does mean that they're not in cover, however Fabius Bile's "special medicine" gives them +1 T, although it's too much for one of the marines. Now they're almost Plague Marines, so that keeps me happy (I'd put the mark of Slaanesh on the whole army solely due to the Noise Marines - I'm normally a mono-god kind of chaos worshipper).

The Cultists don't manage to advance far enough to claim objective 3. I'm tempted to use a CP reroll to get a VP, but I have plans for all my VPs already so don't want to spend one this early.

Everyone else moves forwards. I'm keen to keep the Helbrute out of sight in particular (or at least force the loyalists to move to get the pleasure of hosing it down with all their heavy weapons) so tuck him behind the central hill.

Now for a cunning plan. I want to tempt Kraken to stick his drop pod down near objective 1 but behind objective 4 so that the Noise Marines can shoot up the contents before the rest of the Mantis Warriors caught up. I'm planning to use Scrambled Coordinates (1CP to force the drop pod and its contents to land 12" away, and hence have a nearly impossible charge) followed by Ambush (2CP) to let the Noise Marines shoot at the Veterans, who are pretty brittle (for marines). To that end I leave my warlord on the edge of my deployment (but not right on the edge...I hope).

In the psychic phase I cast Cursed Earth (+1 to the Greater Possessed's invuln) to achieve a VP. I don't bother with casting a second power just in case I succumb to Perils of the Warp.

Shooting isn't much to write home about, with the Noise Marines only managing to take one wound off a bike, despite targeting them with everything they have. The autocannon misses the Land Speeder, and that's all that I have in range.

I discard Psychological Warfare at the end of the turn.

Objectives scored: Master the Warp (1), Scoring Objectives 4 and 1 (2)

Mantis Warriors Turn 1

Hmm - that's a strong start for the Alpha Legion, so I need to catch up fast. My objectives are Kingslayer, Mounted Assault (kill squads with Bikes or Land Speeders) and No Prisoners. 

Now, unaware of Pootle's wiles, I can only see an exposed warlord out there. A daring strike team could drop pod in, charge in and kill him before swinging on to that key backline objective. I have just such a daring squad. It's a suicide mission, of course, they won't survive the attention of the rest of the army, and I can't really thin them out enough to help much with the limited firepower to hand. If it works out perfectly, though, I could score very highly - I count as many as 9 VPs at stake!

I do discuss my plan to use Scrambled Coordinates and Ambush with Kraken before he commits the pod. And he points out that although the drop pod would have to be 12" away, the contents can still deploy up to 9" away.  

Plus Ambush can only target the pod, not the veterans, thankfully! Good to know it's a duff trap after I've walked into it.

So my cunning plan turns out to be level with Baldrick's best. However I'll still be able to target the drop pod and its contents with the rest of my army next turn.

Well, I know I'm going to lose them. But if my gamble pays off, the score will have paid for itself! So as the bikes and rhino roar up the middle, the drop pod slams down in the back line. This also screws with Hold the Line for the Alphas, and means they'll have to focus their attentions backwards next turn. So I'm keeping them pinned, sort of...

My psychic powers don't go so well. The Spirits of Chogoris start haunting the Chaos Lord, but I don't manage the much more useful Storm-Wreathed, even after a reroll. 

The cultists wither away under bolter fire, but there's not much shooting elsewhere. So the combat phase is where it's at, and the Veterans don't disappoint with a nice strong charge! The Librarian dual charges the autocannon squad and the Lord, but gets nowhere. Too busy moping after that failed Storm-Wreathed.

"Quick lads! Get him while his back's turned!"

This clandestine warlord is a shifty chap, however. Flickering in and out of existence, he manages somehow to avoid almost all the damage the Veterans can sling at him, taking a mere two wounds after rerolling to dodge the sarge's hammer. He then kills three of the vets in return after the guy with the storm shield forgets to turn it on.

"Aw, bugger, he heard us."

Then the Cultists prove to be Insanely Brave!

Normally keeping Cultists from fleeing wouldn't be worth 2CP, but this denies Kraken First Strike, forces him to keep No Prisoners in his hand, and gives me troops to score objective 3 next turn: that's quite a big VP swing. 

So instead of the dreamt-of big money, I take home virtually bupkiss, having killed nothing, shot my drop bolt and held only the objective I started with. Uh-oh. 

Objectives scored: Scoring Objective 2 (1)

Alpha Legion Turn 2

My new objectives are Secure 4 (my Noise Marines are there already) and Defend 2 (never mind). I start off by moving the brave Cultists forwards onto objective three. For the greater bad...or something.

The Chaos Lord rolls a twelve inch random move and leaps forward to sit next to the Librarian, smirking and waving his Thunder Hammer about rather threateningly. All my other characters move back across to lend support to clear the drop pod and its contents. It's even possible that I could yet get Hold the Line if I kill everything.

I start with a baby smite into the Veterans, then shoot the rest away in short order. The Helbrute aims his multi-misser hopefully at the drop pod. Remarkably not only does it hit and wound, but I roll 6 damage to give me real hope of clearing my lines. This makes the job for the Noise Marines fairly easy and they finish the drop pod off.

I'm pretty confident that my Lord can take down the Librarian by himself, and so it proves. 

I picture him materialising by the Librarian like some grotesque Cheshire Cat armed with a hammer.

I think that's fair, but probably less amusing. I end the turn by discarding Defend objective 2.

Objectives scored: Hold the Line (1), Secure Objective 4 (1), Scoring Objectives 1, 3 and 4 (3)

Mantis Warriors Turn 2

With this much of a points lag, I need to get a move on. I've still got all my objectives from turn one, and they're all doable, so time to crack on!

The tac squad in the Rhino pile out and jump on Objective 3, whilst the Rhino itself zooms forward, advancing round the remaining cultists and coughing smoke. The bikers speed to the far right, keeping distant and forking out on two strategems - Ride Hard and Fast and Skilled Riders. So -1 to hit and a 3+ invuln save, which will hopefully preserve the small squad for one more turn!

I bring down the Inquisitor too, who keeps a respectable distance from the enemy. Not so much he can't fling a spell or two out, wiping the Cultists out with a smite and then bouncing a Castigation off the Autocannon Chaos Marines to no avail.

I was quite happy for you to smite the Cultists off as it meant you didn't use either the Bikes or Land Speeder to kill them, which would've given you a VP.

The other squads at the back hang back, gunning away at the assault-armed Chaos Marines. Although I do plink off more than half the Marines, I still don't manage to score Mounted Assault, which is a shame.

The Missile Launcher squad aren't doing well - two hits and no damage on the Hellbrute so far, and their bolters can't actually see anyone from their perch. Might have to shift them next turn.

Then the Rhino assaults both Chaos Space Marine squads. This opens it up to interventions from the Master of Possession and one of his pet Greater Possessed, but they don't manage more than a few scuff marks in return. Not bad for tying up a decent amount of the enemy, although once again, I'm going to have to weather a hard counter stroke before I can really get killing.

No Prisoners is scored for the dead cultists, I'm holding two objectives, and that's it for now. 

Objectives scored: No Prisoners (1), Scoring Objectives 2 and 3 (2)

Alpha Legion Turn 3

My new objectives are Secure objective 1 (under my Autocannon squad), Kingslayer (never a bad draw, especially a little later in the game and particularly when the enemy warlord has just arrived alone in your deployment zone gift-wrapped in a Rhino) and Overwhelming Firepower.

Kraken had failed to take my warlord out when he drew Kingslayer on his first turn, but on turn I drew the same objective he had obligingly delivered his warlord for my personal attention. Unfortunately he had managed to tag both squads of marines. All those in contact fall back whilst the Helbrute, Chaos Lord and second Greater Possessed move forwards. I plan to destroy the already-damaged Rhino in the psychic and shooting phases before tearing the Chaplain limb from limb.

Unfortunately the only guns I can muster aren't sufficient to remove the last five wounds and pop the metal box open. The multi-misser has had its moment of glory and the Noise Marines aren't really purposed as anti-armour.

However the Helbrute easily dispatches the Rhino in close combat, the Chaplain deploying near his troops behind the smoking wreckage. So that turn wasn't as effective as I'd hoped and now the rest of the Mantis Warriors were perfectly positioned. And once again, my warlord was left hanging around with a "kill me" sign around his neck.

Objectives scored: Secure Objective 1 (1) Scoring Objective 1 (1)

Mantis Warriors Turn 3 

Right. Assault Doctrine activated!

Everything that can charge, does. And that's the entire front line. I have just drawn Feigned Retreat, which I can only score by falling back, and that means starting a fight first.

Interesting rules lesson learnt here - a Chaplain has to be on the table at the start of the battle round, not turn, to sing his psalms of hate. My chap has only just come out of the rhino, and so can clear his throat, but there's Kingslayer to claim and no time to tune up.

As it is, everyone closes in, shooting as they do so, except the Missile Launcher squad. They can't see anyone, so get out of the tower and hide behind the tents further up field, ready to give long range support next turn (or shoot noise marines).

Shooting goes well! But not well enough. I want the Hellbrute out of the way so I can use the Tac Squad to tie up the Greater Possessed, try and stop them intervening in the warlord battle that's about to start. Despite softening it with a smite and a veritable barrage of other weapons, I can't rid it of its last wound, and the damn thing holds on.

It's the closest thing I have to a daemon engine and I appear to specialise in frustrating my opponents with this kind of thing. 

This even means wasting all the bikers' firepower (not a single wound from twelve hits!) on it, when they should really be softening up their own targets. The Chaplain even chips a pair of wounds off the Alpha Warlord with his relic storm bolter, so it's all looking hopeful.

All the same, charging goes well. Everybody gets in except the Inquisitor, and he was a long shot. But he has at least softened the Chaos Warlord with Mental Interrogation, not stealing a CP but giving him -1 to hit.

And except for the bikers - they've made it this far, somehow, without losing anyone. And then get overwatched (I forgot that the Chaos Marines had a flamer!) by an autocannon as they head towards the vital rear objective, and only the sarge makes it in!

"Stay in formation, lads! Lads?"

I finish the Hellbrute, although there's a nasty moment where we suddenly remember it should have maybe gone crazy after earlier damage. It does! And hits but then fails to wound someone with the multi-melta.

The dice gods don't like you forgetting that kind of thing and coming back after the fact. 

And then another nasty moment as Pootle realises how many of his characters could be hurt if it explodes! But it doesn't, even though I beg him to spend CPs on the Sabotage stratagem.

Tempting... but not that tempting!

The Biker bashes in three of his targets and shrugs off their attempts to bring him down. Then it's Warlord v Warlord in a hammer battle.

Souped up, the Chogorian Chaplain could very easily finish the wounded Chaos Lord - a single hit from his Crozius will settle the deal! But despite getting four such blows in, the wretched traitor somehow shrugs it all off with his invuln save. At least he's too exhausted to lift his hammer properly, so can't connect for a revenge kill.

I wasn't at all hopeful as if even one got through he'd've been finished, but I didn't even need a CP reroll!

I'm already knee-deep in Interventions, sadly. Somehow, I survive a Greater Possessed, but not its Master. Down goes the Chaplain, and all the newly-freed heroes look hungrily at the poor Tactical squad.

I ditch Feigned Assault as being useless - you can't run from combat if you can't survive, and I rather suspect that's a tall order.

Objectives scored: Scoring Objective 1 (1), Kingslayer and Slay the Warlord (Alpha Legion, 4)

Alpha Legion Turn 4

I draw Blood and Guts as a new objective (I drew another too, but I don't seem to have noted it down - it wasn't achievable in any way I think). 

To the East, the Noise Marines finally break cover and hare forwards towards the Lascannon-armed tactical squad, backed up by one of the Greater Possessed. Everyone else closes in around the surviving loyalist in my back line. My Chaos Lord glides over to the Inquisitor, hoping that he can knock a big hole in his terminator armour. This is maybe a risk, but I feel he's living on borrowed time and it's quite possible I could remove the last imperial character.

I kick things off by smiting the Bike sergeant away. Unfortunately I had ordered the Autocannon squad to fall back, so despite the sudden lack of opponents, they won't be shooting.

As I've got a couple of CPs left and the battle appears to approaching a climax, I put Veterans of the Long War on the Noise Marines, who kill the entire remaining Missile Launcher tactical squad with one salvo and then a couple of the Lascannon squad with an Endless Cacophony second round.

Fabius Bile, the Master of Possession and a Greater Possessed charge into the tactical squad. I let the Greater Possessed go first to see what it can do. With five attacks hitting on 2s I roll four 1s, however this is a good time to roll badly as the other two characters make short work of the marines.

An otherwise pretty perfect turn is slightly marred by the Chaos Lord failing to take down the Inquisitor and getting a Daemon Hammer in the face in return, finally killing him.

It was a near-run thing! The Inquisitor survived on a single wound, thanks to his Blackshroud relic slightly nerfing that hammer.

Objectives scored: Overwhelming Firepower (1), Blood and Guts (1), Scoring Objectives 1 and 4 (2), Kingslayer and Slay the Warlord (Mantis Warriors, 4)

Mantis Warriors Turn 4

New objectives - secure Objective 2, as if I hadn't been doing that all game, and Master the Warp, which my mighty Inquisitor can manage tidily.

This is not looking at all good - suddenly, I'm thin on the ground and lacking much punch. Not no punch, of course - the Tactical Squad at the back put a decent dent in the Noise Marines, although this means I lose one of my own to the revenge fire. And the Land Speeder picks off a Greater Possessed with a Krak missile, which finally scores me Mounted Assault!

Staggering forward, the Inquisitor manages to wound, charge and take down Fabius Bile. But before the Primogenitor can be taken in for questioning, the Master of Possession and his remaining horror tear the wounded Inquisitor down.

Now, it's late, I'm tailing massively in points, and looking ahead, I think I can see the Noise Marines assaulting and burying the last Tac Squad before grabbing the back objective off me. I can't bear to see that happen, so time to call it a night!

Objectives scored: Secure Objective 2 (1), Master the Warp (1), Mounted Assault (1), Scoring Objective 2 (1)

Result: 17-9 to the Alpha Legion!

Locker Room

Well, this is why I'm not a professional gambler.

Even putting them on the board, I kind of suspected the early deep strike was a mistake. Although with nine VPs for the taking, it's not surprising I got greedy.

Still, even with kinder dice, a Chaos Warlord is not low-hanging fruit, especially this particular semi-transparent bastard. If the Veterans had waited to turn three instead, bolstering my charge, I think it might have turned the tide.

I absolutely agree. Particularly in a small game, it's vital that your attacks coincide. I was able to focus practically all my firepower and close combat muscle sequentially, firstly on your Drop pod (and contents) in my second turn, then the Rhino (and your warlord) in turn 3, and finally your Bikes, Inquisitor and Tac squad in turn 4. And I was doing all this out of sight of your Lascannon, Missile Launcher and Land Speeder.

In my defence, I think that though this Alpha Legion list lacked a bit of mobility, it's certainly a nasty one to face! The Noise Marines are a nasty prospect - nobody wants to shoot something that shoots back even when dying, and having them boosted by Bile made them pretty impregnable.

I still think that their paint job protected them more than Bile's injections :-) But I agree; the terrain negated your advantage in long-range weaponry and there are quite a few units that are pretty potent in close combat.

The original draft had the Venomcrawler and some Obliterators instead of the Helbrute and Greater Possessed. That would have been a stronger list (so I'm glad I didn't face it), able to stay at lurking range and blaze away but still being absolutely no slouch in melee either.

Indeed, I don't think that would have been fun. Perhaps a better tactic might have been to have hung back a little, securing one of objectives 3 and 4 and peppering whoever tried to secure the other with missile launchers etc, then swing round one side or the other on turn 3 with the assault doctrine. 

Maybe? I'm not sure about that, actually. You had first turn and were already on objectives, I think the onus was on me to get out there and attack, especially with my round one draw. It would have been a cagey and maybe less action-packed game if we'd both spent our time lurking behind the central mountain.

That's true - playing hide and seek could've made for a boring game. And you certainly couldn't have left me on the central objectives. Characters charging heroically into melee is what 40k is about!

The Mantis Warriors are clearly a finesse army, I'd say, able to deal a lot of damage if used wisely and at the right moment. I can see a path to that more clearly now, defeat is a great teacher. But I'd also definitely like to give them some more long-range punch. Either a Whirlwind or a Hellfire Cannon are decent options for this, hanging back out of sight and shooting to help soften the foe for an assault.

I agree that some indirect fire would be very useful to encourage the enemy to do something silly! So, we still haven't repeated the close game we tried to set up, but it was still fun - the dense terrain really adds to the tactical complexity, which I really enjoy.

Next time, Pootle. Next time!

*I actually checked later, they'd have had 110 points in hand, compared to the meagre saving of 4 points the Marines got. You know what that could have added to the list? A Venomcrawler. Jeepers. I know who I'm playing as, next time out!