Taken Alive: Blood Angels vs Creations of Bile

Fabius Bile is looking for some blood donors, but the Angels of Death aren't keen to share.

Blood Angels vs Creations of Bile!

Back in the saddle! Though I, Stylus, have played some memorable Skypehammer games this year, I haven't faced an opponent across a table since last August. With lockdown easing, Rapid was generous enough to set up a game of garagehammer for my inaugural battle with the Creations of Bile.

Creations of Bile

A fairly easy army to pick, since this was all I had (that I'm allowed to reveal at the moment - see our Hobbypocalypse series on Deployment Zone TV for the full adventures.

A big chunk of Possessed at the heart, with some buffing characters in the form of a Master of Possession, Greater Possessed and, of course, Fabius himself. To make the Greater Possessed even more effective, I used the Supreme Creation stratagem and Living Carapace relic on him - with multiple damage, he should be cleaving through Primaris marines.

Backing them up are a couple of Chaos Space Marine squads and some Warp Talons. These will be mainly for board control, but with the boosts of a Creations of Bile legion trait, they are all capable of dealing out some damage.

Finally, a pair of Venomcrawlers - not guaranteed to throw out a lot of damage (although the Master of Possession has some psychic powers to help with that), but I can see them being difficult for the Blood Angels to deal with.

Chaos Space Marines - Creations of Bile - Battalion

• Fabius Bile (HQ) (Warlord)
  Xyclos Needler, Rod of Torment, The Chirurgeon, Frag & Krak grenades
  Surgeon Acolyte
  Warlord: Lord of Terror
• Servilius - Master of Possession (HQ)
  Bolt pistol, Force stave, Frag & Krak grenades, 
  Psychic powers: Cursed Earth, Infernal Power
• 5 x Chaos Space Marines (Troop)
  Power maul, 4 x Boltguns, Missile launcher
• 5 x Chaos Space Marines (Troop)
  Lightning claw & Plasma pistol, 4 x bolt pistols and chainswords
• Scarificator - Greater Possessed (Elite)
  Daemonic mutations
  Relic: Living Carapace
  Supreme Creation: Prime Test Subject
• 10 x Possessed (Elite)
  Horrifying mutations
• 5 x Warp Talons (Fast)
  5 x  Pair of Lightning claws
• Venomcrawler (Heavy)
  2 x Excruciator cannons, Eviscerating claws, Soulflayer tendrils
• Venomcrawler (Heavy)
  2 x Excruciator cannons, Eviscerating claws, Soulflayer tendrils

Points: 1,000 | Level: 51 | Battle-forged + Battalion - Supreme Creation: 5 CPs

Blood Angels

Space Marines - Blood Angels - Patrol

• Chief Librarian Mephiston (HQ) (Warlord)
  Plasma pistol, Vitarus, Frag & Krak grenades
  Powers: Quickening, Wings of Sanguinus, Speed of the Primarch
• 5 x Assault Intercessor Squad (Troop)
  5 x Chainswords & Heavy bolt pistols
• 5 x Intercessor Squad (Troop)
  Sergeant: chainsword, bolt rifles, bolt pistol, frag & krak grenades
• 5 x Intercessor Squad (Troop)
  Sergeant: power fist, bolt rifles, bolt pistol, frag & krak grenades
• 9 x Death Company (Elite)
  2 x Thunder Hammer, 7 x chainswords and bolt pistols, jump packs, frag & krak grenades
• 5 x Sanguinary Guard (Elite)
   Angelus boltguns, Encarmine swords, Frag grenades, Krak grenades
• Eradicator Squad (Heavy)
  Melta rifle, Bolt pistol

Points: 1,000 | Level: 62 | Battle-forged + Battalion: 6 CPs

Mission and Deployment

We're playing the Centre Ground mission, which has the standard four objectives (two central, one close to each deployment zone). The deployment are triangular, with the right angle in opposing corners, which leaves a very narrow strip of no-man's land to cross.

The Creations of Bile secondary objectives were:

• Engage on All Fronts - Spread out and run around, seems like a plan!
• Raise the Banners - Never tried this one - I'm hoping to sneak a few points from doing actions on the objectives while the Blood Angels are other occupied (destroying me)
• While We Stand, We Fight - 5VP for each Venomcrawler, and Bile himself, alive at the end of the game

The Blood Angels' secondary objectives were:

• Engage on All Fronts - They also want to run around
• Attrition - Destroy more units per round - and they have the punch to do it,
• Slay the Warlord - what did Bile ever do to them?

The nature of the deployment zones means we can end up very close to each other, but I want to hang back a little. On the left flank, I create a small castle of Bile, Master of Possession, Greater Possessed and two Venomcrawlers. In front of them, ready to raise a banner on my home objective, is one of the Chaos Space Marine squads.

There's a large ruin in the centre of the battlefield, which we've decided will block line of sight - so that seems a good place to plant the large unit of Possessed. The final squad of Chaos Space Marines hides in the ruins on the right-flank, ready to make a dash for the objective on that side of the field.

The Warp Talons go into deepstrike, so I have something in my pocket for the mid-game.

The Blood Angels are similarly circumspect, with both Intercessor squads in the back corners, ready to take objectives, and the Sanguinary Guard in deepstrike.

The heart of the army is in the centre: the Eradicators in the ruins, the Assault Intercessors and the Death Company gathered around them and Mephiston supervising matters. Neither side, it appears is willing to go all-out on the attack just yet.

We roll off and I take the first turn.

Turn 1 - Creations of Bile

I play it cagey, since I don’t want to stick my head directly into the Blood Angel blender. The squad of melee Chaos Space Marines on the right flank attempt to rush the objective, but fall short, so settle for spreading out among the ruins.

The other squad of shooting Chaos Space Marines move forward a little, also clinging to the central ruins. Bile, the Master of Possession and Greater Possessed cluster behind them (the Greater Possessed taking the opportunity to ‘raise a banner’ on that objective) and the Venomcrawlers circle around to take aim downfield.

Fabius Bile uses his Enhanced Warriors ability to boost the Possessed up to T5 – go science!

In the Psychic Phase, the Master of Possession manages both Cursed Earth (+1 invulnerable save aura) and Infernal Power (reroll hit and wound rolls of 1 aura). He did roll a Perils of the Warp for his first test, but I spend a Command Point to make it clear that we don’t tolerate that kind of performance in this army. If he wants to behave like that, the Thousand Sons are down the hall.

Shooting is restricted: most of the bolters bounce, but the Excruciator Cannons of the Venomcrawlers knock off one Intercessor and Death Company respectively.

And that’s the turn over – no points scored, and the ball very much in the Blood Angels’ court.

Objective secured: none

Creations of Bile 0 : 0 Blood Angels

Turn 1 - Blood Angels

The Blood Angels waste no time about picking up that ball to run with it. The Intercessors in the top-right bastion move onto their objective, while the Eradicators jump down to gun down a Venomcrawler.

There’s a big push in the centre as the Death Company zip forward for a short-range charge, backed up by the Lord of Death, Mephiston himself, who flies into the central ruins with Wings of Sanguinius.

In shooting, the Eradicators blaze away at one of the Venomcrawlers, but only manage two wounds, which both bounce off the invulnerable save. Not a great start for them.

But then the main event, the Death Company smash through the ruined walls and absolutely murderise the Chaos Space Marines cowering there, ripping down the banner that I just raised there.

They stop short of the rest of my units, which means they’re now facing all my characters and both Venomcrawlers, but by scoring the only unit kill of the round means VP points for Attrition, plus engaging in three table quarters.

Objective secured: Engage On All Fronts (2), Attrition (4)

Creations of Bile 0 : 6 Blood Angels

Turn 2 - Creations of Bile

I'm already behind on points, but I do have the opportunity for a good counter-punch, so let's go for it!

My Venomcrawlers, Master of Possession and Greater Possessed all crowd around the Death Company, while my remaining squad of Chaos Space Marines make a dash for the right-centre objective on the right flank. 

Bile himself also positions for a charge into the Death Company, but gets close enough to to lend his Enhanced Warriors ability to the Chaos Space Marines - he also boosts them to T5, although one of them can't handle the pace and immediately perishes (you can't stand in the way of science!)

But it's the unit of Possessed that get the main prize - Mephiston himself. Using the Macrotensile Sinews stratagem to advance and charge (with a +1M bonus to their already impressive Movement 8), the Possessed fairly fly across the battlefield to threaten the Lord of Death.

The Master of Possession once again buffs the Venomcrawlers, and most of my firepower goes into the Death Company, although I only take out a couple of them, leaving an alarming large chunk of them remaining.

In the Assault phase, the Possessed absolutely swarm around Mephiston, with enough movement left to consolidate into the Eradicators behind (assuming I knock off this Chief Librarian first).

I throw everything against the Death Company - including Fabius Bile, which I immediately realise was a mistake. The Progenitor is quite tasty in combat, but I know that Rapid has enough Command Points to interrupt combat, and there are two thunder hammers who might like a word with my warlord.

But then Rapid could choose to interrupt combat against my Possessed and try to save his warlord. Trusting to their invulnerable saves, I decide to whittle down the Death Company first - which the Greater Possessed does quite handily.

Sure enough, Mephiston does interrupt combat, but only manages to account for three Possessed. When I attack back, I roll maximum attacks for their horrifying mutations (four each!) and the Blood Angels Librarian disappears under the weight of attacks,

Pushing home the attack, I consolidate into the Eradicators, who club back with their melta rifles. The Possessed hold up pretty well, but I roll badly for their morale check and lose two of them to combat attrition (I guess Mephiston wasn't going quietly!)

So my main strike force is at half-strength, but is deep in enemy lines and ready to cause all sorts of problems, My counter-punch just took out two of the Blood Angels' scariest units, and though I only  get a few points for Engage On All Fronts, I'm ready to rush the objectives.

Objective secured: Engage On All Fronts (2)

Creations of Bile 2 : 6 Blood Angels

Turn 2 - Blood Angels

His warlord gone, Rapid wastes no time in counter-punching my counter-punch. The Eradicators fall out of combat (they're not having the best game), and all three squads of Intercessors close in on the Possessed.

And upon wings of angels, the Sanguinary Guard come down to reinforce the lines, eyeing up the Chaos Space Marine squad for a charge (and to push them off the objective).

Shooting is limited to small-arms, and with the Possessed's new T5, they stand up pretty well to the massed fire. Then they get sandwiched in the Assault Phase between the Assault Intercessors and regular Intercessors.

The Sanguinary Guard are less fortunate, and fall just short of their charge, despite the re-roll.

The Assault Intercessors cut down two of the Possessed, so despite only having three left, I spend my dwindling Command Points to interrupt combat. This time they roll minimum attacks (ahh, such is Chaos) and only manage to take out one Intercesssor - but that's all I needed!

I spend my last Command Point on a Creations of Bile stratagem Taken Alive - that Intercessor was not actually killed, but dragged back to Bile's laboratories. The rest of the squad are so unnerved by this that, for the rest of the game, every lost model counts double for testing Morale. Not hugely effective, but I wasn't going to pass up the chance for that kind of narrative twist.

And with that, the turn ends with the Possessed being reduced down to a lone model (I assume the captured Intercessor got passed through to the back of the scrum like a rugby ball).

Objective secured: Primaries (5)

Creations of Bile 2 : 11 Blood Angels

Turn 3 - Creations of Bile

I've pushed the Blood Angels back into their deployment, so I need to press my advantage while there are turns left for scoring. I start well by holding more primary objectives, so leap ahead in the points.

I send one Venomcrawler off to reinforce the Chaos Space Marines on the right centre objective (they stay put and raise another banner), while the other one scuttles upfield to grab the left centre objective.

The Greater Possessed races down the middle to rescue its lesser brethren, while Bile and the Master of Possession hang back to secure my home objective.

I then bring in my last reinforcements - the Warp Talons drop into the Blood Angels backline (they've left me plenty of space since they all piled into the Possessed), ready to threaten the luckless Eradicators.

There's not much exposed to shoot, so it's straight to charging. The Greater Possessed make it into combat, but the accompanying Venomcrawler rolls pitifully and stays on the objective.

The Greater Possessed cleaves through three of Assault Intercessors, and the regular Possessed falls to the Intercessor's return strikes.

For the Warp Talons, I use the Macrotensile Sinews stratagem to shorten their charge - which is fortunate, as they roll exactly 8" to make it into combat.

Their increased S5 (an army-wide trait for Creations of Bile) does good work against the Gravis armour, but Rapid rolls well on his saves and the Eradicator sergeant somehow survives the flurry of lightning claws.

This is enough to pull me into the lead - I'm conscious that I've completely ignored the Sanguinary Guard (maybe if I don't look at them, they'll go away), but I'm all over the Blood Angels army - it's just that Primaris are so damn hard to kill!

Objective secured: Primaries (15), Engage On All Fronts (3)

Creations of Bile 20 : 11 Blood Angels

Turn 3 - Blood Angels

Having cleared their lines, the Blood Angels look to push back. And with the Assault Doctrine unleashing all sorts of bonuses, they're going to push back hard.

The surviving Assault Intercessors fall out of combat with the Greater Possessed, opening him up to be shot at. The four-man Intercessor squad move around the tank traps to engage the Venomcrawler on the left-centre objective (even if they can't kill it, they're Objective Secured, so will take it from it)

The lone Eradicator sergeant races off to cover the home objective, while the untouched Intercessor squad (with the power hammer) move to threaten the right-centre objective, gunning down one of the Chaos Space Marines, but failing the charge.

With Angelus boltguns and an easy charge, the Sanguinary Guard tear the Greater Possessed apart. The Intercessors charge into the Venomcrawler, but fail to punch through the daemon engine's hide. In return, three of their number are gobbled up.

This leaves the Intercessor sergeant with a Morale check at -6 Ld (because of the effects of Taken Alive - I can't believe it actually came in useful!). He fails the check, and is removed from the battle (or, if you would rather, he is so overcome with the idea that his battle brother was taken alive, he abandons the fight and begins a personal quest for his rescue). 

Either way, the removal of an Objective Secured unit means the Venomcrawler is still holding it for maximum points in my turn. Although one Intercessor squad destroyed is not enough to prevent Attrition being scored again - despite my best efforts, there are still fragments of Blood Angel squads holding on (and still very formidable, especially in this late game).

Objective secured: Primaries (10). Attrition (4)

Creations of Bile 20 : 25 Blood Angels

Turn 4 - Creations of Bile

I start the turn with full primary objectives once again, and finally score a couple of points for Raised Banners. With a Venomcrawler on each of the centre objectives, I'm hopeful of being able to outlast the Blood Angels on objectives.

Bile continues to hang back on the home objective, having no-one else to buff. The Master of Possession only manages to cast Cursed Earth, but that does give the left-centre Venomcrawler a 4++ invuln (which is useful, as the Encarmine swords have crazy AP).

The only aggressive move I can make is to move my Chaos Space Marine squad past the larger Intercessor squad and into the two Assault Intercessors. 

They make the charge (the speed of a Creations of Bile army really is something) and though they only manage a single wound (Rapid's armour saves start rolling very hot), they don't lose anyone in return (the Bile-gifted T5 is helping them here). More importantly, they get one Objective Secured foot on the back objective, taking it away from the Eradicator Sergeant.

Not much killed, but a strong turn for the Victory Points, and there are still 15 VP to claim at the end of the game if my top three units - none of which have even been wounded - survive to the end.

Objective secured: Primaries (15), Engage On All Fronts (3), Raise The Banners (2)

Creations of Bile 40 : 25 Blood Angels

Turn 4 - Blood Angels

With that in mind - and only scoring one primary objective - Rapid stats to target the Venomcrawlers. The Eradicator sergeant shoots at the right-centre daemon engine but - and he's a had a tough time, to be fair - fails to damage it.

The Intercessor squad pile into the same Venomcrawler, and they're really relying on the power fist sergeant to do the heavy lifting. Sadly, he only manages two wounds and, although the Venomcrawler's performance is also under-par, it manages to gobble up one of the Intercessors and regain one of those wounds.

It's a different story with the left-centre Venomcrawler. The Sanguinary Guard fly into him and bombard it with sword-blows. Despite the 4++ save (and a desperate reroll with my last Command Point), the Venomcrawler takes just enough wounds to be destroyed (not taking anyone with it, either).

The fight between the Assault Intercessors and Chaos Space Marines is largely ineffectual, but does swing my way as one of the Intercessors is cut down, still leaving me in command of the back objective.

The Blood Angels end the turn trailing 10 VP with one turn left, but what remains of my army is all of a sudden looking quite exposed.

Objective secured: Primaries (5)

Creations of Bile 40 : 30 Blood Angels

Turn 5 - Creations of Bile

Despite scoring 10 VP for Primaries, and a single point for Raise the Banners, I'm in desperation mode here. The Sanguinary Guard seem capable of destroying whatever they want, and there's a lot of VP riding on Fabius Bile's head.

I start by trying to clear up the back units (there are a couple of lone sergeants and I could do with preventing another Attrition scored against me). The Chaos Space Marine overcharges his plasma pistol, aims at the Assault Sergeant ... and rolls a 1. I spend my last Command Point ... on another 1.

So there goes my Lighting Claw champion. I was hoping if I could shoot my way out of combat, I could charge the single Eradicator and knock him off too. But no such luck. To add insult to injury, the last two bolt pistols do chip away one of the Assault Sergeant's wounds, before he butchers one of the heretics in melee.

The fight against the last Venomcrawler remains a stalemate - the Blood Angels do manage to drop the daemon engine a bracket, but they can't do much more than keep it from scoring the objective.

In an attempt to save Bile, the Master of Possession is despatched to whittle down the Sanguinary Guard. It goes badly, as his Smite only takes off a single wound, the pistol fire from both him and Bile does no damage, and his subsequent charge does nothing more than remove the wounded Blood Angel (before he is mercilessly chopped to pieces).

I've built a lead in VP, though I don't have enough units left to Engage on All Fronts. There's still everything to play for and some very dangerous angels left on the field.

Objective secured: Primaries (10), Raise The Banners (1)

Creations of Bile 51 : 30 Blood Angels

Turn 5 - Blood Angels

With the new rules on players going second - Rapid will score his primary objectives at the end of the turn, so he will have one last chance to push me off them.

The Intercessors fall back from their fight against the Venomcrawler. The Eradicator sergeant takes aim but - I think you can guess what happens there.

More surprisingly, the battle of attrition between the Assault sergeant and final Chaos Space Marine goes in the heretic's favour. Taking off that last wound means we are now tied for units destroyed this turn, and the Blood Angels' home objective still belongs to me.

Which means a lot is riding on the Sanguinary Guard to kill Bile and claim my home objective. The four remaining Blood Angels swoop in and hack away at the Progenitor. The Chirurgeon is working overtime to shrug off the wounds, but the sheer number of attacks means it falls just short and Bile is brought down. This is huge.

As the dust settles on the battle, the Blood Angels claim the full points for the primary objectives, plus Engage On All Fronts (so that Eradicator sergeant was good for something), and finally Slay the Warlord.

For myself, I gain another 5 VP for keeping the Venomcrawler alive, but as we tot up the points, it's just not enough.

Objective secured: Primaries (15). Engage On All Fronts (2), Attrition (4), Slay the Warlord (6)
Objective secured (Creations of Bile): While We Stand, We Fight (5)

Creations of Bile 56 : 57 Blood Angels

Result: Victory to Blood Angels!

Locker Room

Fantastic game - some real swings of fortune and a lot of moments in the end game when the result really did rest on a single dice roll. Congratulations to Rapid for the win - I thought he was in real trouble in the mid-game, but he methodically took down my army and pulled out a victory.

It was a cracking debut for my Creations of Bile. I'm super-impressed with the sheer speed and aggression of the army, and there's a few tricks that could allow them to run rampant. Bile is a curious creature to use as a warlord - not as tanky or killy as a Chaos Lord, but no pushover either. His ability to buff units was of real benefit in the game, and he's worth taking for that alone.

Indeed, if I were to criticise my gameplan, it was not having enough faith in the killing power of this army. The Blood Angels scare me, and I wasn't convinced I could got toe-to-toe with them, so picked fairly passive secondaries. If I'd gone with ones that were more aggressive (Raise the Banners really was a dud for this army), I might have squeaked a win.

But a great game to clear away the cobwebs - can't wait to test Creations of Bile against some other armies (or have a rematch against the boys from Baal - after all, one of their own as been Taken Alive...)

 

Rapid:

It was a fantastic game, thoroughly enjoyed. My biggest take out was not sending the Death Company into the Possessed in the first place. I was scared of the S5 T5.... A mistake that lost me the DC and Mephiston early on, the DC would have died anyways (as they are meant to). Blunting the Possessed charge would have helped me significantly. Mephiston should have been dispatching the Greater Possessed.

The Eradicators failed to live up to their name, however the T5 with 3W kept them around; this impresses me (Heavy Intercessors may be an interesting take for future). Sat on an objective it would take a lot to remove them.

 

Creations of Bile are a great army, echoing Stylus' "...the sheer speed and aggression of the army, and there's a few tricks that could allow them to run rampant...". T5 S5 with 2W is brutal. I now understand why they rate highly at present. I did not however consider how fast they could move!! 

 

Repeating myself. Great game!!! 

 

The Angels will return, to take back their fallen. We will not stand by and let Bile unleash his heretical modifications to our geneseed!