Dustbusters II: Thousand Sons vs Adeptus Mechanicus

When magical meet logical, all bets are off...

It's Thousand Sons vs Adeptus Mechanicus!

It's a brand new codex for Thousand Sons, even more complex than before! Who better to face them than the Adeptus Mechanicus, who also have a fairly new codex, even more complex than the Boolean Pythagorean Triples problem.

In truth I, Stylus, picked this fight out of sentiment: when Thousand Sons got me back into Warhammer 40k, my first battle was fighting AdMech against Kraken, so we're chasing that sequel magic.

Thousand Sons - The Court of Miracles

I've gone at the new Thousand Sons codex like a kid in a sweetshop, so there's not much synergy to my list. Just a lot of things I want to try.

First up is the Terminator Sorcerer, who can move fast with the Aetherstride warlord trait, increase his WS and attacks with the Battle Psyker bump, and double his attacks with the Stave Abominus relic. I'm expecting him to cleave through squads of skitarii.

The Infernal Master got a bonus relic, which gives him an extra Infernal Pact to play with and the ability to shrug off the first hit per turn. Nothing earth-shattering, but it might be a fun way to avoid death by Neutron Laser.

Elsewhere, a mixed unit of nine Rubrics (which I now realise is a LOT to deal with, now they have two wounds), and the minimum size of Scarab Occult Terminators (I'm trying not to lean on them, but they are so good). A pack of Tzaangor (who I'm trying to find the love for, but I'm not impressed) and a Spawn for a cheap objective-grabber.

And finally a Helbrute and Rhino - these could be a big mistake in the face of all this AdMech anti-armour, but they bring some punch and mobility of their own, and they also have a brand new 5++ invulnerable save, which I'm interested to try out.

I'm going with the Cult of Knowledge, which has the unflashy but potentially useful psychic power of allowing me to reroll wound rolls of 1 on a unit. Not really the best, but then again, I know what the best ones can do, and I want to try new stuff.

No real battle plan - I've got a couple of hard nuggets in my army, and I know that you deal with AdMech by getting close and mixing it up,

Patrol Detachment - Cult of Knowledge

• Hemuset the Osirion - Terminator Sorcerer (HQ) (Warlord)
  Force Stave, Inferno Combi-bolter, Frag & Krak grenades
  Warlord Trait: Aetherstride
  Relic: Stave Abominus
  Legion Command: Battle Psyker
  Powers: Empyric Trespass, Temporal Surge, Baleful Devolution 
• Phyroc Optera - Infernal Master (HQ) 
  Force Stave, Inferno Bolt Pistol, Frag & Krak grenades
  Sorcerous Arcana: Pentakairic Armour
  Powers: Empyric Trespass, Glamour of Tzeentch 
  Infernal Pacts: Glimpse of Eternity, Capering Imps, Malefic Maelstrom
• 9 x Rubric Marines (Troops)
  Icon of Flame, Soulreaper Cannon, 4 x Warpflamers
  Powers: Empyric Trespass, Presage
• 10 x Tzaangors (Troops)
  Brayhorn
• 5 x Scarab Occult Terminators (Elite)
  Force Stave, 4 x Inferno Combi-bolters, 4 x Prosperine Khopesh, Soulreaper Cannon, Hellfyre Missile Rack
  Legion Command: Rites of Coalescence
  Powers: Empyric Trespass, Empyric Guidance 
• Helbrute (Elite)
  Multi-Melta, Helbrute fist, Inferno Combi-bolter
• Chaos Spawn (Fast)
  Hideous mutations
• Chaos Rhino (Transport)
  Inferno Combi-bolter, Inferno Combi-melta

Points: 996 | Level: 49 | Battle-forged + Patrol - Sorcerous Arcana: 5 CPs

Cog-Axey, Ergo Sum

Dark rumour persists that the new Ad Mech codex is extremely good and keeps winning things. Not on my watch. 

Stylus's collection echews some of the newer robo-horsing around in favour of tried and tested stuff. I can't blame any possible loss on the models I have to pick from, they're all good. If I can mess this up, it's going to be due to the many moving parts that the new codex comes with. 

Pick a buff each turn, plus another buff that also comes with a downside that you can maybe mitigate by putting a guy in the right place with the right keyword unless you spend a turn changing his aura to a different one but so long as the correct enemy is within range of the stuff you want to shoot it with unless your opponent has thought of this and moved out of the way in advance? It's like the stress dreams I get about maths exams. 

Planning, simply put, isn't my strongest point. 

At least it's not Necrons, where you have to do it all in advance. No, what I need to do is trudge straight into the face of those blasphemous warpbolters, and give them a taste of good, old-fashioned depleted plutonium right in the third eye. 

Graia allows for a stratagem to mess with pyskers plus some mortal wound resistance (although the Sons will likely be too busy meddling with the flow of time to bother). My warlord can switch from a speedy movement booster aura to a massive shooting bonus, so I guess the plan is grab the objectives early, then shoot like hell until it all stops moving. Paired spider tanks to help with this, and paired chicken-walkers for mobile lascannons. 

Will it work? No idea. I barely understand the forces I'm toying with here, even before Stylus gets going with the buff train.

Battalion Detachment - Forge World Graia

• Tech-Priest Dominus (HQ) (Warlord)
  Eradication Ray, Macrostubber
  Trait: Necromechanic
  Holy Orders: Magi
• Tech-Priest Dominus (HQ)
  Eradication Ray, Phosphor Serpenta
• Skitarii Marshall (HQ)
  Control Stave, Radium Serpenta
  Relic: The Purgation's Purity
• 11 x Rangers (Troop)
  Phosphor Blast Pistol, Taser Goad, 8 x Galvanic Rifle, Plasma Caliver, Transuranic Arquebus
• 12 x Vanguard (Troop)
  10 x Radium Carbine, Plasma Caliver, Arc Rifle, Omnispex 
• 12 x Vanguard (Troop)
  Arc Maul, Phosphor Blast Pistol, Arc Rifle, 8 x Radium Carbine, Omnispex 
• 2 x Ironstrider Ballistarii (Heavy)
  Twin Cognis Lascannon
• Onager Dunecrawler (Heavy)
  Broad Spectrum Data-Tether, Cognis Heavy Stubber, Eradication Beamer 
• Onager Dunecrawler (Heavy)
  Broad Spectrum Data-Tether, 2 x Cognis Heavy Stubber, Neutron Laser

Points: 1,000 | Level: 51 | Battle-forged + Battalion: 6 CPs

Mission and Deployment

We're playing a random draw from the Open War deck: the mission is Search And Secure, where we have six objectives and will score 1VP for controlling each one at the end of our turn. But from Turn 2 onwards, a random objective will be removed.

The Twist is Tempest, which gives light cover for units further than 18" away. This may not be much of an issue, since we're playing just above the recommended board size, which is a cozy 34"x48".

And the deployment is an ambush style: the Defender gets a 18" wide deployment zone in the middle of the board, with the Attacker having two deployment zones along the short edges, 12" away. Things could get bloody fast!

Kraken wins the roll-off and chooses the central defence, so my forces are already (not ideal for an army that counts on overlapping buffs and auras to shine). I'm very wary of all those AdMech guns, so my deployment is all about grabbing cover!

In the east, I hide the Scarab Occult Terminators behind one ruin, and put the Tzaangors in another, with the Terminator Sorcerer to babysit them.

There's less cover in the west, so I put my tougher units there: Helbrute skulking behind a reactor, and a Spawn doing Tzeentch-only-knows what on a back objective.

Further behind the second reactor, with really nothing to screen them but blind optimism, is the Rhino carrying the Rubric squad, and the Infernal Master (who plans to jump in the transport, but needs to do a quick pact first).

My broad plan is to stick to one side of my deployment zone, then all run to one side of the board shooting as quickly as possible. 

But I don't want this to be too obvious to Stylus, so I cagily form a line roughly across the middle and prepare to shift later.

I have the choice of first turn, and can't think of a good reason not to take it. So off I go! 

Ad Mech  - Turn 1

So many Command Phase options! It's overwhelming. But I think, after reeling for a bit, that I have a plan.

Not my deployment plan, of course, I've already forgotten that. So instead of shifting the entire line in one direction, I decide to use my movement options to make some terrain grabs, conscious of the fact I can't really see much for shooting.

Acquisition protocols give me 3" extra move across the army, so I do that. Less armour, of course, but I reckon I'm still tough enough to last at least one turn, then I can go maximum resilience and squat on objectives. Benediction of the Omnissiah gives me lots of rerolls, although I promptly forget this boon. 

The Vanguard head for objectives 4 and 5, and although this probably leaves me a bit too close to the enemy for comfort, let's face it, there's no escaping them on this board. Everything else moves somewhat towards the other edge, except the Domina, who performs an action to switch from her movement boosting aura to her other, shootier one. 

The Ironstriders go full Dunestrider, letting them advance and still shoot with no penalty. 19" later, they're right round the corner and pointing all their lascannons at a rather surprised Helbrute. Lots of nice hits and damage there - at least until his all new invulnerable save shrugs most of it! That's bad, those two are now in trouble.

Under the old codex, that Helbrute would be a charred ruin. Let's hear it for change!

The rest of my shooting is a bust too - the Dunecrawlers get weak numbers of shots off against the Rhino, which coughs smoke. Not a single wound on the tainted tank. At least I score reasonably, having three objectives, but I'm perhaps a little over-exposed...

Adeptus Mechanicus 3 : 0 Thousand Sons

Thousand Sons - Turn 1

Well, I got out of jail in that round! My newfound invulnerable saves have allowed me to survive the first round intact, and now everything has marched into reach of my guns, blades and psychic bullets!

In the Command Phase, my Infernal Master tries to Capering Imps at the Ironstriders, to prevent them from shooting Overwatch, but the Imps are having none of it.

So he piles into the Rhino, which speeds off to face the Neutron Dunecrawler (but still has enough of a footprint to keep its tailgate on Objective 2).

Everything else in the west stays put. The Spawn slobbers all over Objective 6 and the Helbrute turns its laser-scorched carcass at the Ironstriders.

In the east, all my units jump out of hiding and move forward to get in easy charge range of Objectives 4 and 5. With Aetherstride lending him wings, my Terminator Sorcerer could even attempt a long charge on the Skitarii Marshall and contest Objective 1.

"Trick or Treat?"

That distance becomes a lot shorter in the Psychic phase, when I cast Temporal Surge to get to an unfailable charge range, and then a super-Smite to remove three of the Marshall's wounds (luckily I wasn't more powerful, or I'd have had nothing to charge!)

Half my psykers are embarked in the Rhino, so the only other power is Empyric Trespass from the Aspiring Scarab Occult Sorcerer, on the Beamer Dunecrawler, allowing all units to reroll wound rolls of 1.

In the Shooting phase, all the Scarab Occult's weapons go into that same Dunecrawler, who pops a Smokescreen of its own, and only loses a handful of wounds. I felt confident about taking on the two Vanguard squads, so didn't want to shorten the charge with small-arms fire.

The Rhino's melta misses the Dunecrawler, and it proceeds to charge the Neutron Dunecrawler, ending up as a push.

The Helbrute's multi-melta somehow how misses both Ironstriders (and I only painted it up that afternoon - new magnetic model syndrome), though its inferno combi-bolter strips away one wound.

Undaunted, it charges into the face of the cognis lascannons, who Overwatch and score two wounds on him. Either one is enough to finish the Helbrute, but I improbably roll another pair of invulnerable saves and the war machine makes it into combat!

... where he is so bemused by his own survival, he whiffs most of his attacks and only kills one of the Ironstriders.

Back in the east, the Scarab Occult and Tzaangor charge their respective groups of Vanguard. They manage to claim both objectives, and slay about half-a-dozen skitarii each, but without any buffs placed on them, their combat power is reduced (but they are robust enough to survive the counterpunch, where only two Tzaangor are felled).

And speaking of whiffs, the Terminator Sorcerer, augmented as he is by the Stave Abominus and Battle Psyker, (10 attacks at WS2) manages to miss most of his strikes against the Skitarii Marshall and only got through one wound! Luckily the Smite had done the business earlier and the Marshall was stomped.

"Heeeeeere's Johnny!"

So despite underperforming in the psychic, shooting and fight phases, I'm feeling in a pretty good position right now. Most of the AdMech army has been engaged and shut down, and I managed to jump on five of the objectives.

Adeptus Mechanicus 3 : 5 Thousand Sons

Ad Mech - Turn 2

We roll for the objectives and Objective 1 disappears - so the poor Marshall was defending nothing after all.

I don't need to move very far, so I switch to Protector Protocols, and couple it with the Canticle that makes me harder to hit in hand to hand. Plus the Autosermon strat (cheap at half price with my Magos warlord) to give the Beamer Dunestrider rerolls on top (we decide that I haven't used it yet, having totally forgotten about it earlier). Along with the extra hits on sixes that my Warlord now gives, I have big plans for that Beamer.

The Vanguard all pull back, because I reckon I can do a decent amount of shooting from everything else. Possibly enough to damage the Sons on the East enough that I can shift back that way next turn. The Laser Dunecrawler shuffles slowly off the front of the Rhino, the other Dunecrawler and the Warlord head a bit towards the Terminators. 

Galvanic Volleys turns the Rangers into a deadly firepower machine. Alas, most of them can't quite see the Tzaangor, who I could otherwise hurt plenty, but that means the Terminator Sorcerer gets a lot of attention. Four wounds are duly robbed from him, plus a couple of Tzaangor down too, but the Arquebus misses even with the reroll from the nearby Magos. 

Eradication Beamers are better than they used to be - on focus, the 3W hits can put a lot of pain on the Terminators. Until Stylus cracks out the Unwavering Phalanx stratagem to reduce the damage, at least. Then I don't get the best roll for shots, miss some and get some saved. Together with fire from the Dominus, I take down a mere one, wounding another who heals back up to full afterwards. 

And at point blank, the Ironstrider needs but a single hit to kill the Helbrute. Which I get! 

And which Stylus saves. 

Which means I survived to fight back - which I once again whiff and the Ironstrider makes his invulnerable saves! Who'd have picked this as a duel of the ages?

One point for objectives. I have a bad feeling about this. 

Adeptus Mechanicus 4 : 5 Thousand Sons

Thousand Sons - Turn 2

Note: the Helbrute destroyed the Ironstrider Ballistarii, not the other way around.
I think Kraken was possibly venting with all those explosion counters.

Only Turn 2, but I'm already thinking it's time for the killing blow.

The Helbrute finally gets his eye in with the multi-melta, and reduces the Ironstrider to sludge. That was quite the battle considering there wasn't even an objective at stake.

The Infernal Master (who missed his chance for an Infernal Pact, as he was inside the Rhino) leaps out and secures Objective 2. In the Psychic phase I use my Cabal points for him to take the Psychic action Echoes from the Warp and get me another Command Point.

The Rubrics disembark and head for the Rangers in the crater. They soak the Rangers in warpflame, killing half of them, and pump the inferno boltgun shots into the Beamer Dunecrawler, followed by the Rhino's melta gun, which reduces the machine to only three wounds.

As the Rhino once again bumps the Neutron Dunecrawler, the Rubrics charge the Rangers in the crater, cutting down a few more (though not as many as I thought - that armour was holding fast). The Dominus heroically intervenes, chopping down a couple of Rubricae.

Meanwhile, after casting Empyric Trespass at the Beamer Dunecrawler one more time, the Scarab Occult Terminators pour their shots into one depleted squad of Vanguard, wiping them out. The Hellfyre missiles are save for the Beamer Dunecrawler, and one snakes through, doing maximum damage and destroying the vehicle!

To add insult to injury, the Dunecrawler explodes, showing the remaining AdMech defenders in mortal wounds.

The Scarab Occult Terminators then charge into the warlord Dominus, who falls beneath their Prosperine Khopeshes.

The last squad of Vanguard comes under the attention of the Terminator Sorcerer while the Tzaangor babysit the objectives. The Sorcerer manages to whiff again with the Stave Abominus and two Skitarii are left alive.

Outnumbering the AdMech in the crater gives me all five objectives. But that's by-the-by: all of Kraken's units are dead or shut down, and there's no way back for him. We call it there.

Adeptus Mechanicus 4 : 10 Thousand Sons

Result: Victory to the Thousand Sons!

Locker Room

Whoops. I was so carried away with what I could do with all those command phase things, I stopped thinking about what I should do. Stick to the plan next time! 

Advancing into the teeth of traitor marine charges whilst also lowering my armour save was, in retrospect, something of a madness. If I'd shifted the other way en masse, the Terminators would have struggled for targets, the Tzaangor might not have reached me, and I'd still have been a functioning gunline for later. Or if I'd stayed put and gone full armour earlier. Or if I'd remembered the Marshall's ability had triggered on the unit who fought the Tzaangor in the first turn so that they didn't lose their armour save. See? I told you, I'm bad at planning!

My big fear was running the guns of the AdMech line. Had the Helbrute died in the first volley (and it should have done, by rights), those cognis lascannons would have been free to rake my lines. But for all that, I would still have engaged and killed most of the infantry, as it came out to fight me.

I think Kraken's original plan was a sound one, and may have involved giving up some early objective points to sweep one way, and then another. For myself, once I'd engaged with the AdMech, I was happy to fight lots of individual battles - although there were surprisingly hard to shift.

Great army to use, all the same, and this disaster has taught me plenty. They're tough to shift and can be fast - staying put early and eradicating as much as possible is clearly the better plan. Then you can rely on surprising speed and combat resilience to mop up survivors and grab territory. The gadgeteers will get you next time, Stylus. Next time.