Fist and Furious: Death Guard vs Imperial Fists

Answering a distress call broadcast in an old Ultramarines code, a detachment of Imperial Fists have landed on Bagot Prime for the first time, but they've been ambushed by my Death Guard warband, The Second Law.

A new opponent for me today! I've met Vertica40k at a few events and we've worked out that we live pretty close to each other so he brought his gorgeously painted Imperial Fists over for a game (you absolutely must take a closer look at his superb paint jobs over on Instagram).

Triloblight

It's even harder to do this in tenth edition, but I've managed to select a list that follows a Nurgly theme of threes and sevens once again: 

First fly: seven characters

Maxwell, my Biologus Putrifier and warlord of the Second Law will be joined by his old accomplice Kelvin (a Foul Blightspawn), Planck (a Plague Surgeon) and Boltzmann (a Malignant Plaguecaster); these four will split into two groups and accompany the Plague Marines. Maxwell's Daemon (Prince) has been set loose again (the wings on the model are purely decorative; he's just walking around today) and is boosted by an enhancement that adds one to his strength and attacks. Clausius is a Lord of Contagion who will lead the Terminators, and Typhus (the only one not named after a physicist involved in developing the thermodynamics) will lead a small unit of Poxwalkers.

Second fly: seven units of infantry

Unfortunately most units can't be taken in sevens so unlike previous games when I've chosen lists along these lines I've failed to have seven units of seven troops. Two units of ten Plague Marines are fully kitted out with all the goodies and could be incredibly dangerous. A unit of five Blightlord Terminators are not to be ignored. Two units of ten Cultists and two units of ten Poxwalkers could well be ignored (apart from Typhus being embedded in one of them) and are mainly present to score secondary mission objectives.

Third fly: seven vehicles

The Plague Marines will each ride around in their own Rhino, while fire support is provided by a Plagueburst Crawler, two Myphitic Blighthaulers and a Foetid Bloatdrone with Heavy Blight Launcher. the fly is completed by a second FBD with the fearsome Fleshmower, who I'll throw forward to chew up a flank.

Standard rule for Death Guard is the -1 Toughness in a gradually increasing aura. I've chosen to add the Rattlejoint Ague aura to this which worsens the enemy's save characteristic by 1 when they're in Contagion Range.

The Second Law: Death Guard Plague Company Detachment

• Maxwell, Biologus Putrifier: warlord
• Kelvin, Foul Blightspawn
• Planck, Plague Surgeon
• Boltzmann, Malignant Plaguecaster
• Maxwell's Daemon Prince: enhancement - Deadly Pathogen
• Clausius, Lord of Contagion
• Typhus
• 10 Plague Marines: Champion with Plasma Gun & Heavy Plague Weapon, 2x Blight Launchers, 2x Plasma Guns, 2x Heavy Plague Weapons, 2x Bubotic Weapons, 1x Bolt gun
• 10 Plague Marines: Champion with Plasma Gun & Heavy Plague Weapon, 2x Blight Launchers, 2x Meltaguns, 2x Heavy Plague Weapons, 2x Bubotic Weapons, 1x Plague Spewer
• 5 Blightlord Terminators: 1x Flail of Corruption, 1x Reaper Autocannon
• 10 Cultists: 1x Flamer, 1x Grenade Launcher, 1x Heavy Stubber, 7x Cultist Firearm
• 10 Cultists: 1x Flamer, 1x Grenade Launcher, 1x Heavy Stubber, 7x Cultist Firearm
• 10 Poxwalkers
• 10 Poxwalkers
• Plagueburst Crawler
• Myphitic Blighthauler
• Myphitic Blighthauler
• Foetid Bloatdrone: Heavy Blight Launcher
• Foetid Bloatdrone: Fleshmower
• Rhino: Combi-bolter & Havoc Launcher
• Rhino: Combi-bolter

2,000 points

Imperial Fisticuffs

Vertica has brought a gunline which is highly appropriate for the Fists. He's selected the Fists-specific Anvil Siege Force detachment (quite right too!), whose core rule is that all ranged weapons gain the HEAVY keyword, and if weapons already have HEAVY, then if they Remain Stationary they add 1 to the wound role.

Imperial Fists Anvil Seige Force Detachment

• Captain in Terminator Armour: Warlord with Relic Weapon and Storm Bolter
• Apothecary Biologis
• Librarian
• Lieutenant: Master-crafted Power Weapon, Neo-Volkite Pistol and Storm Shield
• Techmarine
• 10 Heavy Intercessors: 8x Heavy Bolt Rifles, 2x Heavy Bolters
• 10 Heavy Intercessors: 8x Heavy Bolt Rifles, 2x Heavy Bolters
• 10 Sternguard Veterans: Sergeant with Power Fist & Sternguard Bolt Rifle, 2x Sternguard Bolt Rifles, 5x Combi-weapons, 2x Sternguard Heavy Bolters
• 5 Terminators: Sergeant with Power Weapon & Storm Bolter, 1x Assault Cannon & Power Fist, 3x Storm Bolter & Power Fist
• 6 Bladeguard Veterans
• 6 Inceptors: Assault Bolters
• 3 Eliminators: Las Fusils
• 3 Eliminators: Las Fusils
• Gladiator Lancer: Laser Destroyer, 2x Storm Bolters, 1x Ironhail Heavy Stubber, 1x Icarus Rocket Pod
• Ballistus Dreadnought

1,990 points

Mission & Deployment

We decide to play the Purge the Foe mission as I've seen Winters have some fun with that one. This means that in each player's turn they score 4VP if they hold one objective in their command phase or 8VP if they hold more objectives than their opponent. At the end of each battle round, players score 4VP if they've killed one enemy unit or 8VP if they've killed more enemy units than their opponent. I'm thinking that the Death Guard are likely to find board control easier than the Fists, so the hold one/hold more objective will be slightly easier for a static defence line; as I have 21 units against Vertica's 15, I also hope that this makes it slightly easier for Vertica to access the "kill more" option. We also pick the Vox Static mission rule, so rerolls will cost 2CP (I like that one to help preserve whatever weird story the dice want to tell us).

I've tried to set up a table that balances having too little scenery on the table (which could mean that Vertica's shooty list would easily blow me off the table) with having too much (which would mean my mid-to-short range list could easily sneak up and crash into close combat. It's always tricky (and kind of fun) trying to balance this out.

I did end up putting quite a bit of scenery down, but we agreed beforehand that Vertica would take the side of the board with the ruined industrial complex, including a tasty-looking raised platform to sit some firepower on with excellent lines of sight, so there's no need to roll for table edge choice.

As expected, Vertica doesindeed puts one of his Heavy Intercessor units (alongside a unit of Eliminators) up on the tower. 

The Gladiator Lancer tucks itself in at the back right, ready to pop round the corner later and provide enfillading firepower.

A strong force holds the centre, with the Bladeguard Vets ready to move and take the central objective under covering fire from the Ballistus and the other squad of Heavy Intercessors.

We talked about whether it was wise to put the other unit of Eliminators up in the crags. If I win first turn I'm highly likely to remove them, but if Vertica wins the dice roll then they could provide a deadly crossfire. In the end Vertica takes the narrative choice as they just look too pretty up there on the hill.

Last placement is the Sternguard Vets (and Librarian) hunkering down behind the hill and ready to pop over the crest and contest the lefthand objective.

Opposing the Sternguard are a unit of Cultists (not scary, but with a Scout move so they will be able to jump on the objective first) supported by a Fleshmower-armed Bloatdrone (much more of a threat to the two-wound Sternguard). There's also a Rhino stuffed full of Plague Marines (and led by the Biologis Putrifier and Plague Surgeon).

My centre is held by the Daemon Prince, a Myphitic Blighthauler and the shooty Bloatdrone. There's also a unit of Poxwalkers cowering in the backfield (currently out of range of the Heavy Intercessor guns).

My Plagueburst crawler and the second Blighthauler are lurking behind the ruined cathedral.

And on my left flank, the second Rhino holding the other Plague Marines is ready to move to claim the righthand objective.

I've put the Terminators, a unit of Cultists and the Poxwalkers led by Typhus into reserve; Vertica's own Terminators are also in the teleportarium, whilst his Inceptors are currently in the clouds.

I roll a 2 for the first turn, but Vertica manages to steal second place with a poorly-timed 1...

Death Guard: turn 1

As planned, the Cultists make their scout move and then move further to capture the lefthand objective. I'm very aware of the Sternguard opposite them, so the Bloatdrone advances to sit just ahead of the Cultists and really give the Vets something to think about.

I've got a bit of open ground to cross in the centre and I know there's a lot of Imperial firepower waiting to speak, but I decide not to hang around. The Rhino moves forwards and I decide to disembark the Plague Marines to shoot up the Eliminators on the hill (the survivors can always reembark next turn). The Bloatdrone with the Heavy Blight Launcher moves alongside, able to shoot the Eliminators if they survive the Plague Marines or reach downfield to some of the Imperial infantry. I decide to keep the Daemon Prince hidden behind the rock for now (my plan is to keep him in reserve to deal with Vertica's deep strikers who could easily steal my home objective). As it happens, the Plague Marines prove well up to their task and despatch the Eliminators without breaking a sweat (three Plasma Guns and two Blight Launchers being sufficient as Vertica fails all his saving throws).

The central Myphitic Blighthauler also breaks cover in the centre. He doesn't have much to shoot at as the Multimeltas are out of range of the Ballistus (although I realise now that they could have shot the Eliminators); he sends a Krak missile towards the Ballistus but it fails to do anything. The Plagueburst Crawler also emerges from behind the ruins, taking care to keep its nose out of sight of where the Lancer could get to next turn. Its Entropy Cannon are out of range of the Ballistus (I could get within range but that would mean getting attention from the Lancer next turn). Between them, the shooty Bloatdrone and the PBC's Mortar succeed in putting some minor damage on the Bladeguard Vets and the Heavy Intercessors. 

I'm very tempted to send the Rhino on my left flank roaring forwards, as there are already plenty of targets out in the open in the centre, but I decide to hang back a bit and only move it forwards a little to lurk behind the next bit of cover. I'd like to drop the Blightlord Terminators in on this flank next turn and it will be much more effective if they attack in tandem with the Plague Marines.

At the end of the turn I've killed one unit (so that will be at least 4VPs) but left myself open for a counterstrike...

Imperial Fists: turn 1

With plenty of targets in the centre to aim at, the Lancer guns its engines and trains its big gun on the Myphitic Blighthauler. It manages to land one of its two shots on the Myphitic Blighthauler (who has popped Smoke for 1CP to make it -1 to hit and give it cover), reducing it to only four wounds (Vertica has a free hit, wound and damage reroll, using the last to helpfully change 4 damage to 9 and dropping the Daemon Engine to a solitary wound.

The Bladeguard advance to take the central objective, with the Ballistus moving forward to widen its fire arcs (the Techmarine has awoken its machine spirits so it'll be hitting on 2s).

The central unit of Heavy Intercessors move forwards a little but only a few can see the exposed Plague Marines. However that's not much comfort, because their comrades on the tower can shoot and they do so extremely effectively, killing seven of them! Next to them, the remaining unit of Eliminators decides to target the Plagueburst Crawler and leave the Ballistus to deal with the injured Blighthauler. One shot manages to sneak through the armour, dropping a pair of wounds off the tank.

The Sternguard Vets are built to deal with infantry, so they're going to struggle with the Foetid Bloatdrone opposite them; nevertheless they manage to knock six wounds off it, which is a lot more than I'm comfortable with. The turn is going well for Vertica so far!

There's only one wound left to take off the Blighthauler and the Ballistus turns all its guns on the little Daemon Engine. Stylus will have been shaking his head as he reads this, becuase he's been in this situation so many times: no damage gets through and the tankhunter survives!

The little Daemon Engine that could

At the end of the round Vertica hasn't killed any units, so scores 0 VP there; worse than that is that I score the full 8VP as my solitary kill is now a more-than.

VPs: 8-0 to the Death Guard

Death Guard: turn 2

At the start of the turn I'm on two objectives (my home and the lefthand one in midfield) against Vertica's two (his home and the centre) so I score 4VPs. You may notice that we've not talked about secondary objectives through the last couple of turns; it's at this point we both realise that we've completely forgotten about secondaries (neither of us play all that often). We decide to write off the first turn and start drawing cards now. I get Cleanse (do an "action" on a midfield objective - the Cultists can do this easily) and Capture Enemy Outpost (not going to happen!)

I decide to keep the injured Myphitic Blighthauler stationary; it's not within Melta-range of the Ballistus, but if it moves then the Fists could overwatch it and kill it (I certainly would in Vertica's position!). One of its Melta shots does breach the Dreadnought's armour and I roll a fat six for damage! A Krak Missile also streaks home and cuts through the armour too. Another six would kill the machine, but this time my luck balances and it's only one damage. However that's seven wound that I didn't really deserve to cause at all so I feel very happy so far.

On my far left flank the Rhino gets a good advance to lurk behind the next bit of solid cover. I had considered disembarking the Plague Marines and trying to get some shots on the Heavy Intercessors but it was too far to charge so better to keep moving carefully forwards.

However I do drop the Blightlords in, next to the healthy Myphitic Blighthauler, who turns its weapons on the Lancer. This machine is less fortunate however and nothing gets through the armour. The Terminators shoot at the Heavy Intercessors but not only fail to cause any damage but go on to fail their charge so will have to look to their study armour to survive next turn.

The Plague Surgeon had revived one of the Plague Marines in my command phase; the survivors stagger towards the Ballistus and use the Biologis Putrifier's ability to hurl grenades at the dreadnought, causing another couple of wounds. 

The Poxwalkers move forwards to screen out my home objective from deep strikes next turn. I spend a CP on the PBC to make its guns Heavy and give them the Ignores Cover ability. The Entropy Cannons target the Ballistus, needing four wounds to kill it, but no damage is caused at all. I have better luck with the Mortar, which petulantly kills all three Eliminators who had targetted the tank the previous turn.

On my right, the Fleshmower Bloatdrone charges into the Sternguard but isn't at all as effective as I'd hoped, killing only three because the Librarian gives them a 4+ invulnerable save - they would have been saving on sixes otherwise so that turns out to be really helpful.

Once the Sternguard have fought, Vertica spends a CP to allow them to fall back from combat (after they punch another couple of wounds off the FBD), which means they'll be able to Remain Stationary for shooting next turn. Still, at least I've shielded the objective on that flank fairly effectively. Or have I...?

I've only killed one unit this turn (the other Eliminators) and with quite a few damaged units in plain sight, I'm highly likely to only score 4VPs on the kill front. I do get 3VP for the Cultists cleansing their objective.

Imperial Fists: turn 2

Vertica draws Storm Hostile Objective (and one other that I don't remember because it was impossible to score). He scores 4VPs for holding two objectives in his command phase (against three held by the Death Guard).

Part of me hopes that the Sternguard's anti-infantry weapons will have trouble dealing with the injured Bloatdrone, however this doesn't prove to be the case. One down.

The Inceptors use their signature ability to drop outside 3" of enemy units and steal the lefthand objective from the Cultists (they don't on landing, but training all their firepower on the Cultists would have killed a unit of 20). Two down.

The Terminators teleport into my backfield with options to charge either the Daemon Prince or the Poxwalkers. They shoot up the zombies, killing half the squad (I choose to remove the nearest ones to leave an 11" charge on the remainder).

The Lancer aims its huge cannon at the Daemon Prince, but his invulnerable save is on point; no damage! The Heavy Intercessors on the platform shoot at the Blightlord Terminators below them, but they only lose two wounds as I managed to roll save after save for their Terminator plate.

The Ballistus is needed to knock the final wound off the injured Blighthaular. A bit of overkill, but at least it's dead now. The Bladeguard Veterans charge into the surviving Plague Marines, but I spend a CP to heroically intervene with my Daemon Prince, which has the additional advantage of taking him outside the charge range of Vertica's Terminators. The Bladeguard have no problems dispatching the Plague Marines, however my DP survives their fury and gets all seven swings of his big sword through. Vertica has 4+ invulnerable saves to make...and fails every single one! Ouch! 

This turn has been a bloodbath! Vertica has killed four units (Bloatdrone, Blighthauler, Cultists and Plague Marines) against three for me (Eliminators, Bladeguard Vets and the Lieutenant who was with the Vets); he scores 8VPs for the kill-more objective and also 5VPs for the Inceptors stealing the objective from the Cultists. Adding the 4VPs from holding objectives gives a thumping 17VPs in total bring the score almost level. 

VPs: 19-17 to the Death Guard

Death Guard: turn 3

The game feels very much in the balance, but a good turn for me now could put me in the driving seat. I draw Secure No Man's Land (hold two midfield objectives) and A Tempting Target (Vertica picks the one under the Inceptors). That could all fall very well for me: I currently hold the righthand midfield objective so if I take the lefthand one then I achieve both secondaries.

For my primaries, I control two objectives so that's 4VPs to start with.

First of all there's some obvious stuff to do on my left flank. The Plague Marines boil out of the Rhino, sending Meltagun shots into the Lancer (ineffectively) and everything else into the Heavy Intercessors on the platform (extremely effectively, cutting down half of them). 

The Terminators trudge towards the Heavy Intercessors shooting as they go; they will need a 7" charge later on.

The five surviving Poxwalkers run away from the Terminators. I measure it so that although the Terminators could advance onto my home objective, they won't be able to charge the Poxwalkers. Meanwhile that objective remains sticky and under my control for the moment. 

I do a little bit of a dance in the centre. The Rhino and Bloatdrone moving around to match OC with the Ballistus and the Techmarine. Then the FBD pours all its fire into the Techmarine: if I kill him then I own the centre. I knock him down to a single wound so charge into him and Tank Shock him to death. 

Now to the Tempting Target. The surviving characters converge on the Inceptors: the Biologis Putrifier, the Plague Surgeon and, flush with success from hacking all the Bladeguard down in one go, the Daemon Prince. 

For good measure I drop the Cultists in from reserves on my far right; the put all their fire into the Inceptors and knock a single wound off, which is about par for Cultists in fairness.

Then the characters charge in and, nicely balancing my luck from last turn, the Daemon Prince is only able to kill two of the Jumpy Dudes. Ooops.

To give Vertica even more to think about, Typhus and his Poxwalkers appear in his backfield to threaten the Imperial home objective. Typhus's psychic power knocks a couple of wounds off one of the Heavy Intercessors but still leaves a 9" charge...which they fail.

The Plague Marines charge into the Lancer and manage to claw it down to only a brace of wounds left. Excellent work considering they specialise in killing heavy infantry!

The Blightlord Terminators crash into the Heavy Intercessors (well, they run around underneath them stabbing up at the ceiling) and wipe them out with ease, the Lord of Contagion doing most of the Heavy Intercessor lifting (sorry) with his three-damage axe.

So at the end of my turn I've failed to secure the Tempting Target, but because I've now claimed the centre I did achieve Secure No Man's Land for 5VPs. I've also killed three units (Techmarine, Heavy Intercessors and Apothecary Biologis) which gives me a chance of getting the kill-more bonus too.

Imperial Fists: turn 3

Vertica draws Extend Battlelines (hold his home objective and one in midfield, which he's already done) and Area Denial (which will mean killing both the Rhino and Bloatdrone).  He scores 4VPs for holding two objectives (against my three).

Defending their back lines, the Sternguard head towards Typhus and his zombie crew. The nearby Heavy Intercessors obligingly gun down the Poxwalkers with ease, allowing the Sternguard's specialist ant-infantry fire to be directed at Typhus, who is lucky to survive on one wound (Vertica does consider charging the Sternguard into Typhus to finish him off, but both the Sergeant and the Librarian are at the back of the unit and would be highly unlikey to get into melee).

The Inceptors don't fall back from combat as their Assault Bolters now have almost all the keywords going: Assault, Heavy, Pistol, Twin-linked. Vertica decides to fire two Inceptors at each of the Biologis Putifier and the Plague Surgeon and leave the Daemon Prince to others. Both the characters drop with ease (quite a bit of overkill in fact, and I'm glad that nothing was directed towards the DP). 

The Terminators stalk purposefully towards the Daemon Prince, firing as they go and reducing him to just one wound. 

The Lancer decides to stay in melee to allow it to at least get one final shot off. It's no surprise at all when the Plague Marines wreck the tank in combat, but it does get both barrels into the Myphitic Blighthauler in front of it and, although I'm hopefully of having something ELSE survive on one wound it's not to be. It doesn't explode though (nothing has, rather disappointingly).

Crucially, the Terminators fail their 7" charge on the Daemon Prince despite the free reroll option that the Captain gives them. Being on only one wound only seems to wind him up and he dispatches all four Inceptors with ease when he strikes first.

Vertica has killed four units this turn (Poxwalkers, Blighthauler, Plague Surgeon and Biologis Putrifier) so gets 4VPs for that, but I add the Inceptors and Lancer to my tally of three last turn to allow me to score 8VPs for killing more. Although killing four units in the turn is pretty good, leaving not one but two dangerous units alive on one wound could prove costly...

For his secondaries Vertica has Extended his Battlelines but failed on Area Denial.

VPs: 36-30 to the Death Guard

This means that the VP score is still close, and the score could so easily have been 34-32 the other way if that kill-more result had gone the other way. 

Death Guard: turn 4

My secondaries are Bring It Down (so kill the Ballistus) and Behind Enemy Lines. For the second turn in a row, these align perfectly with what I want to do anyway. For primaries I score the maximum 8VPs for the first time as I control three objectives (home, centre and right midfield).

My Daemon Prince has had an excellent game. It's not a very sensible decision as he's only on one wound left, but there's no way I can't send him into the Terminators. He gamely hacks two of them down but falls to the Captain's counterstroke. Never mind: I've got a good picture out of it to grace the top of this post (I'm always on the lookout for a good character v character melee pic for that)!

Typhus moves towards the Heavy Intercessors and Vertica's home objective but the Sternguard take the opportunity to overwatch him and one of the shots sneaks through (Anti-Infantry 4+ and Devastating Wounds combining perfectly to cut through his terminator armour).

The Ballistus had been healed back up to six wounds by the Techmarine earlier in the game, however I spend a CP on the Plague Burst Crawler to give its guns Heavy and Ignores Cover once more, and this time the Entropy Cannons do the trick.

With Typhus out of the picture, the Plague Marines have to sprint towards Vertica's table edge to score Behind Enemy Lines. That leaves them completely out of position, but scoring VPs works for me. The Rhino follows them in case it's needed next turn.

The remaining Blightlords crash into the Heavy Intercessors, but this time they're not as effective and the five survivors spend a CP at the end of the turn to fall back.

At the end of the turn I've achieved Bring It Down (2VPs) and Behind Enemy Lines (5VPs). I've only killed the Ballistus but as I'm now running out of Fists to kill, that's a high quality problem.

Imperial Fists: turn 4

Vertica draws Capture Enemy Outpost (and another that he couldn't achieve) which is relatively easy for the Terminators to do as long as they don't fluff their advance (they don't).

The Heavy Intercessors can stand still and pour fire into the Blightlords, but once again their armour is solid and only one terminator falls.

They're aided by the Sternguard Vets, but not with any useful outcome.

At the end of the round Vertica has killed two units (Typhus and the Daemon Prince) so does at least score 8VPs for kill-more plus another 8VPs for capturing my home objective and 4 for hanging onto his own home objective.

VPs: 55-50 to the Death Guard

Death Guard: turn 5

It's still very close on VPs, however Vertica has next to nothing left. My secondaries are Overwhelming Force (kill something on an objective) and Engage on All Fronts. Once again I'm well set up for this as my army is scattered across the board already so it's not hard to get into all four table quarters for 5VPs.

I'm sitting on three of the five objectives again so score the maximum 8VPs for hold-more again.

I've got two chances to kill something in range of an objective. The Blightlords charge back into the Heavy Intercessors but can only kill a couple of them (the survivors fall back once more at the end of the turn). The Plagueburst Crawler fires all its weaponry into the Terminators killing the squad and reducing the Captain to two wounds; it then Tank Shocks its way to 5VPs.

Imperial Fists: turn 5

We check what Vertica's last secondaries are in case there's something he can do to scrape a couple more together; he gets Defend Stronghold which at least does net the resilient Heavy Intercessors 3 final VPs on top of the 4VPs for holding the objective in the first place. 

I would score the full 8VPs for killing more this round, except that I've capped out my primaries at the maximum 50VPs. Adding 10VPs on both sides for painting gives the final result.

Final score: 85-67, victory to the Death Guard

Locker Room

That was a great game! I think that Vertica had quite a few instances of bad luck that really affected the game:

- He failed a crazy number of invuln saves that allowed the DP to kill the entire Bladeguard squad in one go.

- Three units surviving on one wound in the game (that's a Death Guard special ability for me it seems). The Blighthauler not dying in turn one not only allowed it to cause 7 wounds on the Ballistus the next turn, but it also absorbed quite a bit of firepower to finally kill it. But on top of that it allowed me to score the kill-more bonus in round one. If it had fallen to any of the significant firepower directed at it then that would have been an 8 point VP swing in Vertica's favour.

- Both Typhus and the DP also survived in turn 3 on one wound; if they had died that too would have been another 8 point swing (so these two combined would have changed the final score to 77-75).

The Daemon Prince was undoubtedly my MVP. Killing the Bladeguard was huge, but him not dying to the Inceptors and then wiping them out too was also really important. In retrospect, it might have been better to have targetted the DP with the Inceptor's Assault Bolters, either when they landed (rather than overkilling the Cultists) or when they were in combat with him (much better to risk leaving the Plague Surgeon or Biologis Putrifier alive).

Vertica was also unlucky with his Eliminators dying on turn 1, however they probably would have been targetted even if they been in the backline (say in the Ork building) as I had identified them as a relatively squishy unit with quite a high damage output, so really that was just bad luck to have lost the first turn.

Overall, and as with any game, it was a combination of a couple of unlucky elements and I think the final score should really have been a lot closer. It certainly felt very exciting and close to me as we played. As I said immediately after the game, it was close right up the point where it wasn’t!

In retrospect, I think I did put a little too much scenery on the table. I think in general that it’s better to err in that direction rather than have too little, but given that I knew the army lists that were playing and Vertica was limited in his close combat punch, I shouldn’t have been able to get my Rhino to deliver the Plague Marines up my left flank completely unseen by hopping from cover to cover.

Thank you again for coming over Vertica, it was great to play you and see your gorgeous Imperial Fists up close again. I look forward to a rematch!