The Purge have heard tales of a lethal biotoxin accidentally made in an imperial manufactorum. The toxin killed everyone in the area and the facility has long been abandoned. The Purge want to find the toxin and spread it indiscriminately.
Meanwhile, the Death Guard prefer a more measured approach than planet-wide slaughter and want to take possession of the biotoxin themselves to analyse it.
I, Pootle, will continue leading The Purge after the fun I had during the Averment Campaign, and I, Stylus, will take command of the Death Guard.
The Purge
This Purge warband will be led by a former acolyte of Ghormenghastly's. Because he's also a Terminator Sorcerer with a Combi-Melta and Force Axe, he's called Normannasty. The last HQ is a regular Sorcerer. The troops are a ten-man unit of Cultists and a couple of units of Marines, one with the fabulous Reaper Chaincannon and one with a Missile Launcher.
I've taken a unit of Raptors with three Plasma Guns to drop in and, hopefully, take out a choice target from deep strike then bounce around causing trouble. My hard hitting units will be a Venomcrawler (for whom I expect to spend a lot of CP on Daemonforge) and two separate individual Obliterators.
Battalion Detachment
- Sorcerer in Terminator Armour (HQ) (Warlord)
Force Axe, Combi-Melta, Infernal Gaze, Warptime
Trait: Blessed Mission - Sorcerer (HQ)
Force sword, Combi-Bolter
Miasma of Pestilence, Prescience - 5 x Chaos Space Marines (Troops)
Reaper Chaincannon; Power maul & Combi-Bolter for Champion - 5 x Chaos Space Marines (Troops)
Missile Launcher; Chainsword & Combi-Bolter for Champion - 10 x Cultists (Troops)
Autoguns - Raptors (Fast)
2x Plasma Guns; Combi-Plasma and Power Fist for Champion
Outrider Detachment
- Daemon Prince (HQ)
Double Malefic Talons, Diabolic Strength
Relic: The Orb of Unlife - Obliterator (Heavy)
- Obliterator (Heavy)
- Venomcrawler (Heavy)
Death Guard
I have a Death Guard army awaiting assembly (thank you Warhammer Conquest for that enabling), but this will be the first time I've ever played the stinky lads - and I get Pootle's impressive collection to draw from.
Given we're playing 1000pts, I elected for restraint (despite the lure of toys like the Foul Blightspawn or Biologus Putrifier). Two squads of Plague Marines, one for shooting and one for melee, with a Rhino to transport them. A squad of Blightlord Terminators for the heavy lifting and a Foetid Bloatdrone because I've been tormented by those things far too many time to pass up the chance at some payback.
HQs proved more of a head-scratcher - I need two of them, and they're not cheap in the Death Guard. In the end, I went with Typhus himself. It's not often I would go with named characters at this level, but he costs less than a Daemon Prince and gives me psychic and melee threats. He gets a pack of Poxwalkers to accompany him, naturally, and a Malignant Plaguecaster to round off the battalion.
I also spent a pre-game CP on the new Psychic Awakening stratagem Contaminated Monstrosity - which gives my Rhino Disgustingly Resilient. Keeping these vehicles going could be huge for Death Guard (and you can spent it multiple times).
Battalion Detachment
- Typhus (HQ) (Warlord)
Master-crafted Manreaper, The Destroyer Hive
Gift of Contagion, Curse of the Leper - Malignant Plaguecaster (HQ)
Corrupted Staff, bolt pistol
Relic: The Suppurating Plate
Miasma of Pestilence, Putrescent Vitality - 20 x Poxwalkers (Troops)
Improvised weapons - 5 x Plague Marines (Troops)
2 x Flails of Corruption, 2 x Double Plague Knives; Power Fist for Champion - 5 x Plague Marines (Troops)
2 x Blight Launchers; Plasma Gun for Champion - 5 x Blightlord Terminators (Elite)
Blight Launcher, Flail of Corruption, Combi-Plasma for Champion; all with Bubotic Axes - Foetid Bloatdrone (Fast)
2 x Plaguespitters - Chaos Rhino (Transport)
Combi-Bolter
Mission and Deployment
We're playing the standard Schemes of War mission from CA19 with a few of our homebrew amendments:
- No reduction in the deck of objective cards apart from discarding Domination
- Area Denial can't be achieved in turn 1
- Priority Orders received only scores 1 additional VP (rather than 3) as it's a lot easier to do with the Schemes of War set-up
To think this could be the last time we have to homebrew rules for 8th Ed. We'll be homebrewing all sorts of new rules for 9th Ed before we know it.
I win the roll-off to pick the deployment area and choose the north end of the table with the gatehouse in the middle of my deployment zone.
The pic below was the view from my deployment zone. But with medium-to-short range guns and a fair bit of punch, I doubt I'll be staying there for long.
It's was a pretty quick drop for me: the Blightlords went into the teleportarium and both squads of Plague Marines squeezed into the Rhino, which went front and centre, ready to pick its avenue of attack.
The big herd of Poxwalkers spread out from in front of the Rhino all the way across to the left flank. The Malignant Plaguecaster went behind them, as did Typhus - he may be slow, but he'll boost the Poxwalker screen.
The Bloatdrone buzzed behind one of the industrial stacks, hidden and ready to pop out.
Seeing this, I stick the Cultists on the extreme right flank, ready to move forwards and grab Objectives 6 and 4 (if they survive that long...who am I kidding?)
The Missile Launcher squad and Venomcrawler position to be able to see the Rhino in case I steal the initiative. The Sorcerer and Daemon Prince back them up.
On my left, the Obliterator and Chaincannon squad hide in the woods in front of the building. The second Obliterator joins Normannasty and the Raptors in deep strike.
Death Guard - Turn 1
Objectives in play - Secure Objective 1, Symbol of the Fly Lord, Overwhelming Firepower (hidden...ish)
Yes, Overwhelming Firepower was not-so secret, since I blurted it out while running through me cards (one of the drawbacks of Skypehammer is it gets you used to sharing everything).
But Objective 1 is just outside my deployment zone, and with decent advances, I can grab three, so there's a couple of easy VPs to be had (which is useful, since I won't be killing much).
Yes, Overwhelming Firepower was not-so secret, since I blurted it out while running through me cards (one of the drawbacks of Skypehammer is it gets you used to sharing everything).
But Objective 1 is just outside my deployment zone, and with decent advances, I can grab three, so there's a couple of easy VPs to be had (which is useful, since I won't be killing much).
The Bloatdrone starts off with a big advance that lands it nearly on Objective 3 on the bridge.
The Poxwalkers shamble sideways to get on the backfield Objective 4 and clear the way for the Rhino to advance onto Objective 1.
The Psychic phase is all about preservation, so I put Miasma of Pestilence on the Bloatdrone, and Putrescent Vitality on the Poxwalkers (who are now T5). The only shooting is to pop smoke on the Rhino, so both my vehicles are now -1 to hit.
It's a promising start, even if I do only roll 1 for my D3 VP for getting Symbol of the Fly Lord.
Objectives Scored - Secure Objective 1 (1), Symbol of the Fly Lord (1)
Death Guard 2 : 0 Purge
Purge - Turn 1
Objectives in play - Mission Critical Objective: 1, Defend Objective 2, Supremacy (hidden)
The first thing I do is try to run the Cultists forwards to head towards Objective 6 in the woods: I'll need this to get Supremacy but I don't expect to get it this turn, which is why that objective (rather than Defend 2) is hidden. However I roll a 6 for the advance and that just gets the front Cultist within 3". My next job is to try to maximise my chances of defending objective 2.
The Venomcrawler and Daemon Prince both move forwards to get within charging distance of the Rhino. I'd really like to crack it open and keep the Death Guard back in their half of the board on that side. Hopefully when the Blightlords drop in they'll fail a 9" charge and be isolated on the other side of the board whilst I clean up here.
I fail to put Prescience on the Venomcrawler but do cast Miasma of Pestilence on the Daemon Prince. Stylus then denies the Daemon Prince's attempt to put Diabolic Strength on himself.
A Flakk Missile knocks a couple of wounds off the Foetid Bloatdrone, and bolters somehow manage to tickle another off, but the smoke-wreathed and Disgustingly Resilient Rhino shrugs off a couple of wounds from the (Daemonforged) Venomcrawler, Obliterator and Reaper Cannon squad, leaving it on six remaining. The Venomcrawler duly charges in and tears it in two, killing one of the occupants as they crawl out of the rear of the wreckage.
I was so very close to foiling this play. The Rhino made two 6s for its armour save and the Venomoncrawler only inflicted six wounds on it - all I had to do was make a single Disgustingly Resilient roll and the Rhino would survive. I couldn't make any! From six attempts! With a reroll!
(I mean, I still think Contaminated Monstrosity is a great stratagem for a Rhino, but come on!)
Death Guard 2 : 3 Purge
Death Guard - Turn 2
Objectives in play - Overwhelming Firepower, Advance, Psychological Warfare (hidden)
With so many choice targets, I can't be timid. Let's drop the hammer!
To score Advance, I need to get the Poxwalkers out of my deployment zone. I move them towards the Cultists, banking on a 5" charge roll to get them on the move, rather than advancing them.
The shooting Plague Marines keep back, just edging away from Objective 1 (no sense in giving Pootle bonus points just from taking it off me) and the melee Plague Marines move up into a position to charge both Venomcrawler and Daemon Prince - they've got a big appetite!
Typhus and the Malignant Plaguecaster also move up, with the big man eyeing up the Venomcrawler for a charge.
The Bloatdrone hovers down towards the Chaos Space Marine squad and Sorcerer on Objective 2. If I can kill the Space Marines, then the Bloatdrone and Sorcerer will contest the objective.
To facilitate this, I drop the Blightlord Terminators on top of the hill, which gives them a commanding field of fire, if not much to actually charge.
The Psychic phase is something of a bust, with Typhus and the Plaguecaster failing most of their casts - although I do manage Putrescent Vitality on the melee Plague Marines, which could be crucial (as those Plague Flails are now S7), and the fallout chips away a wound from the Venomcrawler.
Shooting is brief, but significant. The shooting Plague Marines throw everything against the Obliterator, but leave him alive on a couple of wounds.
I use Veterans of the Long War on the Blightlords and throw everything against the Chaos Space Marines, but their aim is a bit off and only three of them are slain. The Bloatdrone fires up its Plaguespitters - and rolls a double 1 for number of shots! I improve the tally with a CP reroll, and score four wounds - which wipes out the squad! I made heavy weather of that, but it could be a big VP swing.
The Assault Phase goes very well - the Poxwalkers make a huge charge against the Cultists and surround the poor sods with zombies. The melee Plague Marines hit both Daemon Prince and Venomcrawler. Typhus makes it into the Venomcrawler and the Bloatdrone hits the Sorcerer.
Eagle-eyed readers may have spotted a weak point in my plan: I have engaged with two combat monsters and Pootle has more than enough CP to interrupt combat. Despite him being my warlord, I decide to trust in Typhus' cataphracti armour to keep him alive and fight first with the Plague Marines (who likely wouldn't survive the attentions of the Daemon Prince).
I start with the Plague Flails - and end there too. I roll high for the attacks and well for the hits. The Daemon Prince is pounded into jam before the rest of the squad can join in. Poor Gormenghastly's had better days. Even his Orb of unlife sinks into the mud before he can use it.
I even spend a CP on a hopeful reroll of my 5+ save as I really don't want this guy leaving so early, but it wasn't to be.
Pootle elects not to interrupt combat with the Venomcrawler, calculating that it could survive Typhus' attacks and save the CP to punch back with Daemonforge. But Typhus is on a mission with his Master-crafted Manreaper and chops away all nine remaining wounds.
And then it explodes. Because of course it does.
I lose Plague Marines left and right, and Typhus himself is showered in glory and acidic ichor. Still, I won't complain - that was a great result!
The fun doesn't stop there - the Bloatdrone excels itself in combat and munches through the Sorcerer on Objective 2. Now there's an unexpected bonus!
Even the Poxwalkers don't let me down. Despite having a bucketload of attacks, they only manage to gobble up six of the Cultists ...
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| "Everything's coming up Milhouse." |
The only drawback is I was keeping Assassinate and Scour the Skies in my hand - because what were the odds of killing a Daemon Prince?
Objectives Scored: Overwhelming Firepower (1), Advance (1), Psychological Warfare (1), Slay the Warlord (1)
Death Guard 5 : 3 Purge
Purge - Turn 2
Objectives in play - Defend Objective 2, The Warp Is Your Ally, Blood & Guts (hidden)
I need to kill all the remaining Plague Marines to let me target Typhus. Just in case I need it, the injured Obliterator shuffles forwards to ensure an automatic charge onto the Close Combat Plague Marines.
Measuring up carefully, there is a single spot where I can teleport Normannasty down so he is just within 12" of Typhus but more than 9" away from both Plague Marine squads. The geometry is fine enough that there isn't room to land even one Raptor Plasma gun also within 12" rapid fire range of Typhus, so they just drop in behind the Terminator Sorcerer.
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| The Norman Conquest |
My second Obliterator lands on the balcony of the building on my left flank. He can't see Typhus from here, but I want him in cover with a reasonable field of fire on the Blightlords and FBD who I'll need to deal with next turn.
Normannasty kicks off the psychic phase with a smite on the shooty Plague Marines, killing both of them. I'm tempted to put Infernal Gaze onto the choppy Plague Marines to trigger Purge rerolls, but I'm confident that I'll be able to kill them all easily with all the firepower available so I look ahead to Typhus and successfully cast it on him. However Normannasty isn't as skilled at psychic garroting as his former master and I don't even force any DR rolls from Typhus. Blast.
Because he can't see anyone else, the newly-arrived Obliterator opens up on the Plague Marines, but I only kill two of them. The Chaincannon squad go next but despite a barrage of firepower I only kill two more, leaving one Flail-armed Marine standing. I have to kill him, so I'm forced to divert the Plasma guns from the Raptors to take him down.
I'm left with Normannasty's Melta Gun and an Obliterator to shoot at Typhus. Normannasty goes first and, after a CP reroll, wounds Typhus, only to succeed in melting a small bit off his terminator armour. That means no rerolls for the Obliterator and, despite rolling three damage (again - I've rolled well for damage for the Oblits so far), Typhus emerges with a couple of wounds remaining.
My wounded Obliterator is only 7" away so could charge Typhus, but Normannasty is just within 12". I'd rather charge Typhus than have him charge me, so roll a shot-to-nothing...and see boxcars come up! Wow - this could turn the game!
I love it when it comes down to a boss fight!
Boom! Typhus is not messing about this game!
Objectives Scored: The Warp Is Your Ally (1)
Objectives Scored (Death Guard): Slay the Warlord (1)
Death Guard 6 : 4 Purge
Death Guard - Turn 3
Objectives in play - Master the Warp, Disgusting Devotions, Scour the Skies (hidden)
I've got one hand on victory, but my warlord is riding his luck front-and-centre of all that firepower, and I really don't want to blow it.
Master the Warp should be simple enough with two psykers (unless I roll like last turn), and Scour the Skies works well with taking out those Raptors.
Disgusting Devotions is unlikely, since I don't think I'm going to receive enough damage to make seven Disgustingly Resilient rolls. But that, is they say, a high-quality problem.
I've got one hand on victory, but my warlord is riding his luck front-and-centre of all that firepower, and I really don't want to blow it.
Master the Warp should be simple enough with two psykers (unless I roll like last turn), and Scour the Skies works well with taking out those Raptors.
Disgusting Devotions is unlikely, since I don't think I'm going to receive enough damage to make seven Disgustingly Resilient rolls. But that, is they say, a high-quality problem.
Before anything else happens, Typhus' Living Plague ability licks out and kills the Obliterator, so my warlord is now free to move as he chooses.
The Blightlords trudge down the hill, too far to charge, but able to lend their guns to the fight. The Bloatdrone advances into the fray, to spare Typhus from being the closest enemy model for at least some of The Purge.
Typhus and the Malignant Plaguecaster move towards the Raptors, wiping out the whole squad with a couple of Smites, before adding Miasma of Pestilence on Typhus (and having achieved three powers, I stop - I've lost too many warlords to late-game Perils to push my luck).
My remaining firepower tickles the last Obliterator and knocks off a Chaos Space Marine.
So that's another two points in the bag (once again, I only roll 1 for my D3 VP for Master the Warp - but I can't really complain about my rolling).
Objectives scored: Master the Warp (1), Scour the Skies (1)
Death Guard 8 : 4 Purge
Purge - Turn 3
Objectives in play - Blood & Guts, No Prisoners, Claim & Despoil (hidden)
I guess I'm playing for pride now, but let's see if I can kill Typhus and get some revenge at least. Because of a carefully positioned Bloatdrone I need to advance the Obliterator to be able to target Typhus (which isn't going to help his chances) and only a couple of the Bolter-armed Marines can get closer to him than the FBD. The latter go first, hoping to trigger rerolls for the Obliterator, but no dice...or at least the dice gods say no when the Obliterator whiffs and once more nothing gets through the invulnerable save. The Chaincannon does manage to knock a few wounds off the Bloatdrone, but that's small comfort.
My last chance is to charge the Marines in to kill Typhus hand-to-hand (gulp). At least the Champion has a Power Maul, but this really is last-chance-saloon. They make the charge (losing two to overwatch from the Destroyer Hive) and the Champion does manage to knock a wound of Typhus, but it's not enough and the counterpunch (of course) kills the marines easily.
At that point the Obliterator decides that perhaps the biotoxin isn't in this facility after all and teleports back up to the Purge's (rather quiet) spacecraft.
Objectives scored: none
Result: Death Guard 8 : 4 Purge
Locker Room
Ooof, that was a drubbing! Stylus and I both tend to play quite aggressively, and I am very familiar with the Death Guard tactic of stomping forwards and dispatching anybody foolhardy enough to come into short range, but it's interesting to be on the receiving end of it! Despite the heavy losses in the top of turn 2, I could still have turned things around if my counterstrike had worked and I'd killed everything at the Eastern end of the board (and specifically Typhus!). That would have left slow-moving Blightlords and Poxwalkers plus a Bloatdrone. I would then hope that the Obliterators and Plasma-armed Raptors could shoot away the FBD whilst I kept out of charge range of the Blightlords. That scenario could have made for a close game.
Yes, that second turn was something of a high-risk, high-reward play - if Typhus had been squashed by the Venomcrawler, it would have been a very different kettle of stinking fish. A more cautious play would have been to brought the Poxwalkers over and swamped that flank, keeping the characters safe. But my blood was up, and the dice rewarded me!
I think my big mistake was in turn 1: I shouldn't have charged into the Rhino but moved back away from it to ensure its cargo couldn't assault me in a similar manner to what I'd done against Stylus's Black Legion. That would have left Typhus plodding slowly along behind everyone and kept him out of the game. Coupled with the low probability of the Blightlords making a charge out of deep strike I might have been able to focus fire on units. Of course, that would all have depended on the objective cards. What might have been!
It was great fun. Having seen the Death Guard play so many times, it was great to get my hands on the putrid reins. I'll have to crack on and get my own army painted. Thanks to Pootle for taking on the hosting duties, and for giving me the chance to - finally, and just in the nick of time - beat him in 8th Edition.
Well played Stylus - the Death Guard have won every single battle between us!
We'll have to arrange a mirror-match, then at least Death Guard are guaranteed to lose (and win).
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| Look at this shrine to Skypehammer. |
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