Saddle up, there's goldinium in them thar hills!
I'm a-fightin' in The Wild West!
The Wild West was a Deployment Zone event orchestrated by Monkey, and a great success it was too, with over eighty hobbyists coming together for a few social games (and one very high-stakes raffle), many of whom had never attended a Warhammer event before.
As well as tearing up raffle tickets, I also got to play a few games, and my fist draw was against The Gallows Wolves, a grimdark masterpiece of painting and conversions by Stanger Come Knockin.
Fairly new to the hobby, his work with greenstuff is truly breathtaking and I'd urge you to check out his Instagram account to take it all in (I spent a lot of the battle just staring at his models).
But first - we fight!
The Gallows Wolves - Space Wolves
Having fielded something similar myself, I can attest that this is a list with some teeth. A solid centre of war machines, backed up by Primaris squads who are dangerous enough to act independently. A killy Wolf Lord and a Wolf Priest to ensure they make those charges, and some deepstriking terminators for options.
- Ulfhednar Earl Rudd ThreeTrees - Wolf Lord (HQ) (Warlord)
Heavy Bolt Pistol, Master-crafted power sword (Frost Weapon), Relic Shield
Warlord: Hunter - Kvasir - Wolf Priest in Terminator Armour (HQ)
Combi-flamer, Crozius arcanum
Canticles: Litany of Hate, Canticle of Hate - 5 x Intercessor Squad (Troops)
Bolt rifle, Astartes chainsword - 5 x Intercessor Squad (Troops)
Bolt rifle, Astartes chainsword - 5 x Assault Intercessor Squad (Troops)
Astartes chainsword, 1 x Thunder hammer, Heavy bolt pistol - Skorri Tiptoe - Invictor Tactical Warsuit (Elite)
Fragstorm Grenade Launcher, Heavy bolter, Invictor fist, Twin ironhail autocannon, Twin ironhail heavy stubber - Ancient Helblind - Leviathan Dreadnought (Elite)
2 x Twin Volkite calivers, 3 x Hunter-killer missile, Leviathan siege claw, Leviathan siege drill, meltagun - Reiver Squad (Elite)
Combat knife, Frag & Krak grenades, Special issue bolt pistol - Relic Terminator Squad (Elite)
5 x Lightning Claw (Pair) - Wolf Guard Terminators (Elite)
Storm shield, Thunder hammer, 4 x Lightning Claw (Pair) - 3 x Eradicator Squad (Heavy)
2 x Melta rifle, multi-melta
Points: 1500 | Level: 77 | Battle-forged + Battalion - Leviathan: 11 CPs
Chaos Space Marines - The Creations of Bile
Same plan as before: big packs of fighting daemonic astartes with some buffing characters at their heels.
I've dropped one of the Venomcrawlers in favour of a second Greater Possessed and filling up the Possessed squads.
The only other change was a subtle realignment of the Possessed from Khorne to Slaanesh, so they can carry Icons of Excess (and their Death to the False Emperor hits will now generate extra hits - not merely extra attacks - on a 5+ and 6+)
- 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 - Philotus - Exalted Champion (HQ)
Bolt pistol, Power Sword, Frag & Krak Grenades
Gifts of Chaos: Hyper-Growth Bolts - 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 - 10 x Chaos Cultists (Troop)
9 x Autoguns, 1 x Autopistol and Brutal Assault Weapon - Scarificator - Greater Possessed (Elite)
Daemonic mutations
Relic: Living Carapace
Supreme Creation: Prime Test Subject - Apemantus - Greater Possessed (Elite)
Daemonic mutations - 8 x Possessed (Elite)
Horrifying mutations, Icon of Excess - 8 x Possessed (Elite)
Horrifying mutations, Icon of Excess - 3 x Mutilators (Heavy)
Fleshmetal weapons, Mark of Khorne - 5 x Warp Talons (Fast)
5 x Pair of Lightning claws - 2 x Obliterators (Heavy)
Fleshmetal Guns, Crushing fists, Mark of Slaanesh - Venomcrawler (Heavy)
2 x Excruciator cannons, Eviscerating claws, Soulflayer tendrils
Mission and Deployment
This mission is Goldrush (commonly known as 'multi-ball') - six objectives on the table and you get 1 VP for securing one at the end of your turn. But at the start of each battle round, you roll a dice and that corresponding objective is worth a whopping 3VP!
The Gallows Wolves set up in the west, with two squads of Intercessors occupying an objective apiece. The Wolf Lord, Chaplain, Assault Intercessors, Reivers and Eradicators were all concealed in the ruins, ready to rush the centre, and the Leviathan anchoring the centre.
The two squads of Terminators went into the teleportarium, and the Invictor Warsuit went into the standard 'first turn charge' deployment that we know and love.
The Creations of Bile also set a up a strong centre, with one unit of Possessed, the Mutilators and Venomcrawler, backed up by all three characters, plus the Supreme Greater Possessed.
The other Greater Possessed was taking the second unit of Possessed into the ruins along the south, where they could stay out of sight. The unit of Warp Talons were similarly hidden in the south-east ruins.
The Cultists were given the job of camping on the objective, the two squads of Chaos Space Marines were placed around the ruins to the north and the Obliterators went into deepstrike.
Stranger Come Knockin won the roll-off and the Space Wolves were going first.
Battle Summary
As expected, it was an aggressive push - with the exception of the objective-securing Intercessors, everything pushed forward, firing at the Mutilators and taking out two of their number.
Then the Invictor charged the central unit of Possessed - some were crushed under its fists, but then they fought back and landed a bucketload of hits (the new Death to the False Emperor rules had just appeared - and were exploding on 5+ thanks to my Possessed last-minute pledge to Slaanesh).
The Warsuit actually managed to cling on to its final wound by the end of the turn, but the counter charge of the Greater Possessed and last Mutilator finished him off and allowed me to consolidate onto the central objective.
My second unit of Possessed continued to move up unseen, and my Chaos Marines managed to plink a wound off the Reivers.
The Gallows Wolves responded by moving to occupy the centre, with the Reivers heading along the northern flank. To close the noose, both squads of Terminators dropped in behind me, ready to charge my Chaos Space Marines and objective-squatting Cultists.
My squad of assault Chaos Space Marines were main target of the shooting and were wiped out by small-arms fire. The Venomcrawler was also destined for an early bath thanks to the Eradicators.
While both packs of Terminators failed their charges (winning me another turn of breathing space), The Wolf Lord charged into the Greater Possessed and lone Mutilator, trigging his saga so the Assault Intercessors could also advance and charge into the Possessed alongside him.
Identifying (correctly!) the Supreme Creation Greater Possessed as the biggest threat, the Wolf Lord cut him down immediately, but that left him open to the Mutilator, who rolled very well for his fleshmetal weapons and broke the Wolf Lord in return.
But not before the Possessed had interrupted combat and hacked apart the Assault Intercessors - the charge of the Gallows Wolves was blunted!
In my turn, I edged my fragile units as far away from the Terminators as possible (without actually abandoning the objectives), and sent the sharp-end of my army to work: one unit of Possessed went into the Leviathan, the other unit (accompanied by the second Greater Possessed) breached the ruins and hit the Eradicators and Chaplain.
All three Space Wolf units were eventually cut down, although the Leviathan took out the best part of a Possessed unit on his way out.
In retribution, the lightning claw Terminators ran straight through the Cultists and stole my home objective, while the Wolf Guard scaled the northern ruins and ripped apart the second squad of Chaos Space Marines.
I countered by flying the Warp Talons from their hiding place, and with Death to the False Emperor combining with Veterans of the Long War, the Terminators were torn apart.
The counter my counterattack (the objective was changing hands!) the Wolf Guard terminators strode in and ripped down the Warp Talons.
There was also a surprise attack from the north, where the Reivers abandoned their 'multiball' objective in favour of hunting the Master of Possession. These aspiring Hounds of Morkai successfully butchered the psyker, though they fell prey to the rest of Fabius Bile's entourage.
As the battle petered out, my frontal assault finally ran out of steam, hitting one of the objective-securing Intercessor squads, but not doing enough to remove them. Some very late-arriving Obliterators dropped in and wiped out the Wolf Guard Terminators, but the battle was settled by then.
Creations of Bile 22 : 17 Gallows Wolves
Victory to the Creations of Bile!
Aftermath
A very fun game against a great opponent. With the score that close, it was really the multiball that decided victory. I think I also got lucky with the table-set up - lots of ruins to screen and hide my assault forces. Had it been a more open field, it might have ended up a shooting gallery.
I also managed to keep all my key units and buffing characters together, which allowed me some momentum as I charged upfield. This was at the cost of weakening my backfield, although the Warp Talons (and latterly, the Obliterators) made decent guard-dogs.
It was Creations of Bile's first run-out against Space Wolves and was just as brutal as expected - units were being wiped out in one strike on both sides. This really made charges important, as well as who to choose first and when to interrupt, and I think I had a run of luck there (and I was relieved not to see The Armour of Russ relic in there). Perhaps the Wolf Priest's charge-boosting canticles would have been better employed with the terminators (who both missed their charges, and spend a turn not killing anything) rather than with the Wolf Lord, who could inspire others to advance and charge.
A final word on Stanger Come Knockin's army: it really is something special to behold and I'd advise anyone lucky enough to fight it to spend some time drinking in the view like a good horn of mjod.
On to the next one!
Great game gents. I have to say that wandering around the tables on the day, Stranger's army was one of the most eye-catching (and that's high praise because there were a LOT of cool armies there)
ReplyDeleteI don't think that's how sagas work - they become active at the end of the phase they are completed. So you can't use hunter to advance and charge with another unit in the same phase the says was completed.
ReplyDelete