Weekend at Burnies 3: Ultramarines - A Gathering Storm

Pootle here, with an intro to my games at Weekend at Burnies. I have to start with a huge thank you to Mr AP Burn for organising the event at the Factorum near Warminster. I had four cracking games against some top opponents and had an amazing weekend of Warhammer!

I took 1,750 points of first-born Ultramarines, following on from the narrative developed by Kraken (links here and here). This is the intro to my army. Battle reports from the first three games against Khorne Daemons, Necrons and Harlequins are here and the (awesome) finale against Word Bearers is  here.

Captain Praesidio’s eyes flicked open as the effects of the g-force receded. Time to reflect.

Despite the wind, it was a beautiful day; Hendris’s sun stared unwinkingly down at him, but there were clouds on the horizon. Praesidio allowed himself a slight smile at the metaphor. His Ultramarines had been battling Death Guard, Orks and Necrons on Bagot Prime for three years. Now he was called to a new planet to face the same threats to humanity, and more.

“Deartur, this is Praesidio: report.”

“Deartur reporting, proceeding to target in Iram Fidei, no hostile contact yet. Cor Gloria II is an imposing sight sir.”

Praesidio smiled again. The Chapter Champion rarely allowed emotion to show through, but he had a special attachment to the Land Raider, having personally retrieved a critical vaccine from its namesake on Bagot Prime and thereby turning the tide against the Death Guard. Normally, names of fallen vehicles were retired on their destruction, but special allowance had been made here. Deartur was leading a mobile vanguard trying to flush out the enemy. Typically though, he was himself embarked in a Razorback and left the more prestigious Land Raider for others.

“Brother Chaplain Sirius, this is Praesidio: report.”

“Sirius reporting. Faith and honour are at your side Captain. In addition, Squad Culmus and I are in the Teleportarium and await your command.”

The wind buffeted his power armour relentlessly, howling in rage at its inability to cow him. Praesidio looked around at the nearby squad of Vanguard Veterans. Only Sergeant Tarantus briefly returned his gaze; the others continued their vigilant scanning of all quarters, alert for any possible threat to their leader. All was ready; his trap was about to be sprung. The only uncertainty was quite who would take the bait.

Intelligence indicated that elements of the Death Guard were on Hendris and had begun to deploy the same optic plague they had used on Bagot Prime. His experience in dealing with this threat was the main reason for summoning Praesidio, but they were more than messengers carrying details of the vaccine: they were the Emperor’s scalpel, here to cut the diseased flesh from the body of those who opposed the His will.

“Captain, Deartur reporting: hostiles in sight, Iram Fidei taking fire.”

This was it. Meticulous planning and preparation with allied forces were complete, now it was time to test the forging of his plan in the fire of battle.

“Sirius, Praesidio. Contact: commence teleportation.”

“Sirius, affirmative. The Emperor’s judgment is incoming. Our righteous fury will not be turned aside.”

Praesidio looked down at his feet and visualised the battle now starting. He briefly pitied the Emperor’s enemies, then allowed that misplaced emotion to die: pity had no place here, he was going to enjoy this.

“Squad Tarantus: prepare to engage. Attack pattern Romulus”

He thumbed his jump pack controls and thunderous engines roared into life. G-force hit again, pulling him upwards this time and slowing his meteoric descent with seconds to spare. Six pairs of boots rang as they struck the ground.

Praesidio’s eyes blinked reflexively on impact, then he focussed on the task at hand. Time to kill.

HQ – Captain Praesidio - Combi-melta, Jump Pack, Thunder hammer, Warlord trait: The Imperium's Sword (+1 A & S on charge plus reroll charges), relic: The Sanctic Halo (3++ and deny the witch)

HQ – Brother Chaplain Sirius in Terminator Armour - Master of Sanctity, Combi-melta, extra warlord trait: Wise Orator, Crozius arcanum -> extra relic: Benediction of Fury (AP-2, D3). Litanies: Mantra of Strength (+1 A, S and Damage), Canticle of Hate (+2" to charges within 6"), Litany of Hate  (reroll hits in combat)

Troops – Tactical Squad Pondus - Sergeant with Power Fist & Storm Bolter, 1 marine with Multi-melta

Troops – Tactical Squad Fortactus - Sergeant with Astartes Chainsword & Storm Bolter, 1 Marine with Grav-cannon 

Troops – Tactical Squad Arrius - Sergeant with Bolt pistol & Boltgun, 1 Marine with Missile launcher 

I'm particularly proud of taking a squad of RTB01 marines painted by a thirteen year-old me. I had enough more modern Tactical Marines that I didn't *need* to do this...but I think I did!

Elites – Chapter Champion Deartur - Champion's blade, Master-crafted power sword -> extra relic: Blade of Triumph, extra warlord trait: Martial Exemplar 

Elites – Terminator Assault Squad Culmus - Sergeant with Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield, 2x Terminators with Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield, 2x Terminators with Pair of Lightning Claws, Teleport Homer  

Elites – Vanguard Veteran Squad Tarantus - Sergeant with Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield, 2x Marines with Pair of Lightning Claws, 2x Marines with Lightening Claw & Storm Shield 

Fast Attack – Attack Bike Memorius - Attack bike with Multi-melta 

Fast Attack – Bike Squad Apophaso - Sergeant with Thunder hammer, 3x Bikers with Astartes Chainsword, 1x Biker with Meltagun, 1x Attack bike with Multi-melta 

Heavy Support – Land Raider Cor Gloria II - Hunter-killer missile, Multi-melta, Storm bolter, Twin heavy bolter, 2x Twin lascannon 

Dedicated Transport – Razorback Iram Fidei - Storm bolter, Twin assault cannon

Battalion: 1,750 points, 8CP

I decided to make the entire list firstborn marines, partly because it makes dealing with a huge number of stratagems easier by cutting out all the Primaris ones, partly because it feels "right" to focus on either firstborn or primaris at a narrative event like WaB, but mainly because it gives me a chance to focus on some classic models like the Land Raider.

Most of my choices don't need much explanation. The one unusual choice is the Chapter Champion, who's based on an old lead Lieutenant Commander model I've had for over 30 years. I've magnetised his left hand so be can take a variety of options and function as a number of different characters; here he has a massive second sword. He's an anti-character specialist (no invuln save, so somewhat brittle with only 4 wounds) who can reroll hits and wounds against characters as well as heroically intervene up to 6", he always counts as "fights first" and he's -1 to hit in close combat. I also picked an additional warlord trait to give any core or character units within 6" the ability to reroll charges.

I decided before the event that my narrative above will dictate my deployment for all of my games: the jump pack troops are all in the sky and the Terminators are all in the Teleportarium. That's not particularly restrictive, but I will also start all games with all infantry units embarked in the Land Raider (two tac squads) and the Razorback (another tac squad and the Chapter Champion) as the idea is that they're proceeding towards a target and then get attacked so nobody is on foot (and conveniently already holding an objective for example).

As per the above, the battle reports from the first three games against Khorne Daemons, Necrons and Harlequins are here