To Hagan To Hold: GSC vs Astra Militarum

 Mombassa has been a rare pocket of peace during the Jimulthuan War. No longer! Inquisitorial Stormtroopers descend, determined to root out an insidious Genestealer Cult!

Jhnlk has retreated the Xenos fleet here, seeking to rack up points in another corner of the quadrant. My Inquisitor has chased him down, and we're playing his first full game of 11th ed to settle our hash. Good that we've both picked nice easy armies to throw at each other, then. 

Haga Sixpence

Lots of new models getting their first trial today. All the new Guard stuff - the Centaur, the shock troops and the Hippogriffs, filling out a Mechanised Assault detachment with that has all my usual Tempestus stuff in as well. No room for flyers, sadly, but I am running an Armoured Sentinel for fun. 

All the strats are movement stuff here. I can get in and out of trucks in more ways than you can possibly imagine (around three), go faster, run away faster and occasionally shoot a bit harder. Not that shooting hard is something the Tempestus usually struggle with!

There's even an Inquisitor with this lot, a psychic bod to give the Shock Troops a bit of punch. This is a Recon detachment, so I'm expecting them to do some actions while the others do the actual work.

Mombassan Intervention, 1000 points Mechanised Assault

• Inquisitor - psychic gifts, combi-weapon, force weapon, leading the Reservists
• Tempestus Command Squad - Flag, medikit, plasma gun, master vox and Tempestor Prime with swagger stick, bolt pistol and the (entirely unused this game) Smoke Grenades upgrade
• Commissar Graves - did so well on her table debut for Pootle I thought I'd give her a go myself!
• 5 Tempestus Scions - with the Command Squad, melta, plasma and vox, chainsword and bolt pistol for the Tempestor
• 10 Tempestus Scions - vox, two plasma guns, two hotshot volley guns and plasma pistol/power sword for the Tempestor
• 10 Hagan Reservists (Cadian Shock Troops really) - Vox, melta, plasma, Sarge has an autogun
• 2 Hippogriff APVs - Lascannon and heavy stubber so they can underwhelm any target
• Centaur RSV 
• 2 Taurox Primes - quality metal boxes, one with missile launcher/autocannons, one with gatling, storm bolter and volley guns
• Armoured Sentinel - chainsword and missile launcher

Cultivating Friendships

Jhnlk is giving himself a baptism of fire with the famously fiddly GSC. Xenocreed Masses and Purestrain Brood as a double detachment, no less, then a wide selection of powerful units to throw up the board at me. 

We're a good matchup in many ways, both fast mobile armies who can punch better than they can take punches. Neophytes for supportive shooting and objective or action play, two massive Genestealer packs and their big daddy, then light vehicles to zip about being annoying and mean. 

Is it possibly a bit light on anti-tank stuff? Well, maybe, but I'm extremely light on melee power. And nothing I have can trivially lift a full squad of Genestealers, whereas even a damaged squad can go through my troops like chillies through a toddler. And unless I wipe entire squads of Neophytes in one go, they can put up to nine models back in a round, so good luck getting rid of them!

I was convinced there were Aberrants in this army, so put some out for the army pic. Luckily, I was wrong.

Mombassan Rise Up, 1000 points, Xenocreed Masses/Purestrain Brood

• Patriarch - you know him, you love him, but only because he's hypnotised you. This one has the Talons of the Sire for extra melee punch
• Magos - a bit of extra hitting power for some Neophytes
• Ironward Acolyte - don't leave home without one, extra durability for the Acolytes today
• 10 Neophytes - webber, flamer, heavy stubber, seismic cannon, icon, shotguns
• 10 Neophytes - same again guv
• 5 Acolytes - hand flamers, two demo charges
• Goliath Rockgrinder - heavy mining laser and big drill
• 5 Atalan Jackals - Wolfquad has a heavy stubber
• Achilles Ridgerunner - Heavy Mining Laser
• 10 Purestrain Genestealers 
• 10 More of them, o god

Mission and Terrain

This is my first time with an official 11th ed layout. Sheesh, what a hassle to set up! My mat is the wrong size, most of my terrain isn't super compatible with the new system and I didn't have any official terrain templates. 

Props to GW for making free printouts, though, that was good. They lose some of those props for making them very inefficient to print, you waste a lot of A3 from how they are set up. It does the trick, though, and even comes in variants that can match my different mats. 

In the event, I was pleased to find that more of my homemade bunkers and eclectic resin tat fits reasonably well on the templates. It's still hard to make it feel like a realistic place, really, but it's a decent slice of grimdark all the same. 

We are mirror matched on Recon for this, which means the mission is Gather Intel:

• Score 6 if you can hold a central objective at the end of turn 1
• Score 4 if you hold at least one objective at the start of subsequent turns
• Score 7 for each objective you perform an action in to search it for important intel
• Score 5 at the end of the game if you've done that three times, and an extra five if you also got your opponent's home objective

Dogpile the middle and fight through to the other side while your scouts deal with the flanks, sounds like!

Deployment

Here we are, all set up: 

I like how my Hippogriff deployment looks like a big joke

Yes, those are infiltrating Genestealers down the south flank. Yes, I'm scared of them. Jhnlk decided not to deepstrike anything, he's going full board send. I've got the unenviable puzzle of killing his stuff in the right order to prevent him bringing any of them back via Cult Ambush. Don't fancy my job. 

My troops are all in their transports - the command squad scions in the missile Taurox, the others in the gatling one and the Inquisitor with his shock troops in the Centaur. 

Jhnlk wins first turn!

Turn 1 GSC

The GSC draw Engage on All Fronts and Secure No Man's Land, which is great for a positional first turn! Genestealers swarm both flanks, with the Ridgerunner and Jackals moving into the middle in the south. 

In the middle, the Goliath and the Magos with his Neophytes move towards the middle, lurking just behind the central objectives.  

There aren't many shots to be taken - the Goliath tries a pop at Graves with its heavy laser but misses, and the southern 'stealers consider a charge on the Sentinel but fall short. It's very much job done for objectives, though, they score everything for a convincing first turn. 

Score: 6 on primary, 5 for Secure No Man's Land and 3 for Engage on All Fronts (14)

Turn 1 Lampreys

On the other hand, I get dreadful objectives. Burden of Trust (nominate units to hold specific objectives until the start of my next turn) would be great later on, but right now I could only guarantee holding my own home. No Prisoners is also a bit early, I'm unlikely to kill much from here. 

So it's all about grabbing that middle objective by parking a trio of trucks behind it and getting ready for later. 

The Sentinel is already looking like it's in trouble, with a 'stealer swarm heading right for it. Might as well bring it towards the middle so I can rescue it faster; it bungs a missile at the bugs and scuffs one of them. Behind it, Graves spins up her guns to thin out the Genestealers, but they have a strat to lurk in the shadows. Detection range drops for them, and Graves is out of range. Bah!

The Hippogriffs manage the same on the north side, plinging a single genestealer before scooting back towards my home objective. And the missile Taurox chucks a bit of fire back at the Goliath but it shrugs it all off. Time to brace for impact, I think...

Score: 6 on primary (6 total)

Turn 2 GSC

Sure enough, Jhlk goes piling in. The Goliath zips forwards and releases its pack of Acolytes, who start throwing demo charges at the Centaur. Good job I'm in cover - between the truck and its contents, they blast away six wounds. 

Supporting fire piles in from the southern flank as the Ridgerunner opens up, but the Centaur scrapes through. I'm more anxious about the Genestealers there, who are lining up on Graves with the Sentinel as a sideboard. To the north, the Patriarch is searching the ruins for clues, as do the Jackals in the south. 

Luck is with me - Graves proves a bit too far for the 'stealers, and they start snacking on the Sentinel. Who proves tougher than I expected! They pick a single wound off it thanks to its armour, and it even kills a couple back with its chainsaw. Phew!

But the cards are still racking up scores for the GSC - outflank is trivial when you're already on both flanks, and they've started on the primary too.  

Score: 18 on Primary, 5 for Outflank (37)

Turn 2 Lampreys

High command really isn't interested in my excuses. Now they want me to get the Center Ground, which is full of cultists, and grab a Tempting Target. It's that ruin to the north, the one full of Genestealers. Is that tempting? Really? 

Well, it's there for later. For now, I pile out of the trucks and swamp the middle with angry Stormtroopers. With the bonus to wound I get as I disembark stacked with orders and support fire from the Taurox, the Command batter the Goliath with impunity and have enough spare to kill about half the Neophytes. Shock Troopers and Graves, who's flanking to the south, start murdering the Acolytes. 

The Hippogryphs might not be super hard-hitting, but they're very fast! Assault guns and a move-shoot-move lets me zoom them in to the middle, spraying lead at the Patriarch as they go. They pick off the wounded 'stealer there and blow up the Goliath for extra gravy!

Graves also shouts at the Command Squad to fix bayonets, which they can stack thanks to the swagger stick on the boss. They charge the Neophytes and nearly finish the job, leaving only the Magos alive. He swings back and kills a couple, added to the guy who overcharged his plasma gun. The Acolytes vanish as Graves backs over them, but I've taken the middle pretty convincingly. 

The Sentinel opts to stay in combat. I reckon it's tough enough to keep those Genestealers busy for a bit. Overall, it's a good turn, but not a big scoring one - I've been shooting not looting, and I've killed a pair of units for No Prisoners. The centre is cleared enough to score the low version, at least. 

Score: 4 on primary, 4 on No Prisoners, 3 on Centre Ground (17 total)

Turn 3 GSC

Another useful draw for GSC. You'd think they'd planned this fight for generations or something!

Jhlk thinks hard - Graves would be great to assassinate, but is also a tough lift. Not so the Command Squad in the middle there, who have charged out of range of their transport and can't hide. So the Patriarch commits to the middle, advancing right into the middle of my army. 

The Jackals rev their engines and go Behind Enemy Lines while the Neophytes and Ridgerunner start peppering my transports with their many, many guns. Mostly the armour holds, but the Gatling Taurox takes a few hits. 

As the Sentinel carries on valiantly delaying the secondary 'stealers, the Patriarch goes nuts in a target-rich environment. Even before the fight start, he's causing problems with his Cosmic Horror ability, boosted to a 12" bubble with a familiar. Almost my entire army takes Battleshock, it's like a mini Shadow in the Warp!

I fail quite a few, too - the Centaur, Graves and the missile Taurox. Even the Command Squad, although they change their minds when Graves shoots one of them. That's going to make the primary hard for them next turn, although not as hard as when they promptly vanishes down the maws of five of the Genestealers. It's that or explain to Graves, obviously. The Patriarch and the rest of his chums smash one Hippogryph and chase the other one off. 

At least they aren't also scoring the primary! Plenty of Secondary action though. This is starting to look like an uphill climb for me, I'm worried!

Score: 4 on Primary, 3 on Behind Enemy Lines, 5 on Assassinate (52 total)

Turn 3 Lampreys

Maybe I'll get some useful orders this time? My hand is pretty big, I've still got stuff left from the first turn. 

Oh screw you, top brass.

Secure No Man's Land is pretty tough - a lot of my army is Battleshocked right now, not to mention all those Genestealers. Assassinate is a possible, though, maybe I can shoot out the Patriarch's squad? Or there is a very achievable Magos hanging about too. 

First, the Sentinel is now clinging on with only a single wound left. It risks a desperate escape (it's surrounded) and manages to flee in one piece. Then the Reservists get back in the Centaur, which goes and parks on the other central objective and starts gathering up the name tags of the fallen. I line up shooting from the Tempestus Squad and the gatling Taurox, but the missile one is falling back too. So is the Hippogryph, which is also Battleshocked, but if it can shake that off I may be able to take the north objective later. 

Disaster! I've forgotten that the Genestealers have a reactive move. They slip away round the side of the objective where I can't see them with all those nice Scions. Worse, the Scions and their tank are right between the two middle objectives and can't see anything else either - even the Magos, which is behind the Centaur. 

Graves can still see the target but her shooting goes wild, and although she makes the charge in, she whiffs that as well. A couple of Genestealers get knocked down, then she takes five wounds in return. 

Okay, well, I did get an objective marked! That's something, I guess. Looking at the board, though, I'm in disarray. Battleshock all over the place, squads with no targets, retreating tanks - it's a mess. And I'm well behind on scores. 

Score: 11 on Primary (28 total)

Turn 4 GSC

Still following their cunning plans, the GSC are now after Plunder and Bring It Down, and they've got Overwhelming Force in their pocket from earlier. Jhnlk has the troops to do it all, too, as well as spare bodies on the table to perform actions. 

Leaving Graves in the dust with a fall back and charge strat, the Patriarch heads for the Centaur. I try and scoot it away (I've misremembered the strat Swift Interrupt as a reactive move instead of waiting for them to charge me first), but the net result is the same. I can't get far enough, and the swarm quickly starts pulling the back doors off. 

The Sentinel now gets rammed by the Jackals! They shoot it first, achieving nothing with their hail of bullets. Switching to a hail of crowbars, they keep up their good work, and the Sentinel is once again holding a flank up all by itself!

Alas, the Ridgerunner is focusing fire nearby, and the gatling Taurox goes up in smoke. Genestealers flood the centre again, tagging the missile Taurox and snatching the wing mirrors. The Patriarch whiffs very badly, though, and the Centaur somehow avoids death for another turn. 

The score is still ticking relentlessly upwards, however. Plunder from the Neophytes, more intel from the Magos (who I keep forgetting is even there, tucked into the ruins as he is!), and that dead Taurox scores both Overwhelming Force and Bring It Down. Help!

Score: 11 on Primary, 5 for Plunder, 5 for Bring It Down, 3 on Overwhelming Force (74 total)

Turn 4 Lampreys

High Command called. They want to know if you're still here.

It's getting late, mistakes are being made. I keep forgetting Burden of Trust is even there, for one. There is still hope. There's always hope! A lot of it rests on that Hippogryph recovering from Battleshock, and I breathe a big sigh of relief when it does. It takes the north objective (the Tempting Target!) and searches for intel. 

My other outside chance is to get the Shock Troops over to the GSC home objective and tag that. Ideally, they'd drive there, but the damaged Centaur fails battleshock instead, and I can't risk them getting hurt if it fails a breakout test. So they leap out and use Rapid Dispersal for a bonus d6" move. 

It's a one, of course, and then the Centaur gets its rear axle torn off when it tries to do a bunk too. Graves is going to have to fix a lot in the middle - the Sentinel is running away from the Jackals, the remaining Scions are going to try and bail it out and stick on the middle objective, and the missile Taurox stays put and takes its lumps so it can shoot at the Patriarch's squad. 

It does - it misses. The Shock Troops try a bit of fire in too, and also achieve very little. Graves rolls her eyes and redeems them all, however, spiking her dice and shooting the Patriarch's brood off the table in one long volley! Then she drives over the Magos for dessert. 

That's not at all bad, I've caught up a bit. The gap is still massive, though, especially as I didn't hold any objectives at the start of the turn! 

Score: 7 on Primary, Assassinate for 5, Tempting Target for 5 and Secure No Man's Land for 5 (50 total)

Turn 5 GSC

The Cult is wise to what I'm up to with those Shock Troops. The Neophytes and the Ridgerunner move to intercept, and boy can they crank out some shooting when it counts. Only the Sarge and the Inquisitor are left, and Battleshock could be a problem again. 

Without the Patriarch, though, there's not that much left. Somehow, I've managed to only kill units that Jhnlk can't bring back (having a leader attached makes them ineligible for Cult Ambush at the moment, which I think is a rules errata in waiting). Wish I could claim it was intelligent shooting on my part, but it's really just luck.

That's their final mission. Display of Might proves impossible, there are the remains of too many of my units left to score that. But the last living Jackal remembers his training, drives up to the Sentinel and plonks a blasting charge on it. Death by drive-by! That at least picks up a couple of points for No Prisoners. 

Genestealers charge the Stormtroopers, who Overwatch them. I kill a 'Stealer and both my own plasma gunners. Excellent. At least they're down to two, which means they don't quite murder me as fast as usual. I lose another trooper, then Sarge kills one back with his power sword.

Jhnlk has maxed out his Primary - he's got his three tokens down, and the final tally of secondaries has him on a majestic 81 points, more than thirty ahead of me. That's not good. 

Turn 5 Lampreys

My last draw is another tall set of orders - Engage on All Fronts and Behind Enemy Lines. Okay, that's not too bad, the remaining Shock Trooper can manage that. If he's not Battleshocked, anyway. 

So I decide he definitely isn't. If there was ever a time for Insane Bravery, it's now. Possibly being marched at gunpoint by the Inquisitor, the Sarge goes and searches GSC Central for incriminating evidence. 

The Hippogryph is just fast enough with an advance to get back home and defend; Graves jiggles about to Plunder the centre, the Tempestus Scions fall back in good order to the southwest corner, the missile Taurox hits the gas and goes northeast. 

That's a whole bunch of last minute secondaries, and tagging the enemy stronghold gets me up to max on primary too. But is it enough?

Final Score: 94:91 

Aftermath

I have to admit, I didn't believe my maths the first time I added up the scores. Wouldn't be the first time I'd done wrong sums, after all! But careful tallying back it up. With painting bonus, I'd just squeaked ahead on the final turn!

Hell of a game, that. I really thought there was no way back after such a slow start, but that's 11th for you. Apparently Sid Meier describes a good game as a series of interesting decisions, and this was absolutely a good game. Down to the wire, scrabbling in the dirt for points and really having to think about where to send units - fantastic stuff!

Neither of us managed to really pull all the levers on our armies, I suspect. There were overlapping bonuses we both forgot at times, and I'm sure more skilled opponents would have found faster kills or better fields of fire. This was a memorable game, though, and I don't think either of us disgraced ourselves. Hats off to an excellent opponent, and bring on the next one!