Eternal Night - Susperia

Planet: Susperia.
Region: Eye of Terror.
Time has no meaning in the Warp.

Death Guard vs Chaos Daemons.
2000 points.
Mission: Eternal Night.

The Ruinous Powers are fickle and always struggling to outdo one another in their rivalry. They have snatched up their greatest champions from throughout the galaxy and brought them to the daemon world of Susperia - a world trapped in the heart of the Eye of Terror, where reality meets unreality. There to do battle in glory of their dark masters!

A couple nights ago my friend Richard and I went up to Nottingham for the night to have a game at Warhammer World (and meet one of the chaps from the Tabletop Tactics youtube channel). He brought his slaaneshi daemons to face the might of Nurgle's finest.

Our choice of mission was Eternal Night from Altar of War/Battle missions. It has a strange deployment basically to represent a defending force being surprised by a daemonic foe materialising out of thin air. The table is split into four triangles with their points meeting at the middle of the table and each unit is randomised as to where it starts. The daemon player then does likewise. I soon found myself surrounded by a horde of pink.

First turn of the game was horrendous and bloody. I lost a Great Unclean One, a unit of plaguebearers, my warlord and a rhino not to mention a fair few marines. I was lucky and managed to bring his Chaos Knight down with two meltaguns and a multi-melta. Those slaaneshi things are nasty!

After that the turns went rather quickly and with much brutal combat. I had severely underestimated how good a pure Slaanesh daemon army would be. I had always looked at them as the weakest of the four armies and I had my eyes opened. The mission is fairly much geared towards the daemons which helped them. Had they needed to race across the table at me things would have been very different.

As I say we spend the rest of the game in bloody assault. Daemonettes tore both my helbrutes and the defiler down with ease which amazed me. I thought they would be untouchable by such puny things. The mounts of Slaanesh proved very hard to deal with and Richard just kept summoning them turn after turn. I just was not able to deal with them. I think I only managed to bring down one unit of them and that was it.

The last turn of the game, turn 5, ended with his army largely intact due to summoning and sitting on a pile of victory points while I had gave up counting. All I had left from my army was the Chaos Knight of Nurgle which certainly was the model of the match for me. Next time I face those little pink terrors, I'll have a bit more respect for them.

My list was a standard Combined Arms Detachment with a daemons allied detachment:

Chaos Sorcerer, level 3 wielding the Pusbringer relic.
Two units of chaos marines with two melta guns, in rhinos.
Two Helbrutes with multi-melta and power fist.
A defiler with autocannon and scourges.
A heldrake with baleflamer.
Chaos Knight of Nurgle.
A great unclean one.
A unit of plaguebearers.

Warhammer World!

Daemonettes about to be crispy critters.

Final stand of the Death Guard at table centre.

Deployment.

Slaanesh daemon prince.

Slaanesh and Nurgle daemons battle for dominance.

Daemon Knight of Slaanesh.

Mining Colony 557 - Caseopeia.

Planet: Caseopeia.
Region: Cadian Sector.
999.M41

Death Guard vs Eldar Corsairs
2000 points:
Mission: Spoils of War.

Desperate for supplies and fresh promethium, a small band of Death Guard head out in the badlands to assault an Imperial mining station. As they arrive they find that their xenos foes have had the same idea and battle is joined. The Eldar are few in number and underpowered to face a force as large as the Death Guard's. Emboldened the war lord led his forces into battle. His overconfidence would be his undoing.

 This was originally going to be a game against my friend Danny and his new Thousand Sons (with Magnus) army but last minute he decided he needed some practice with corsairs for an upcoming tournament in April. I threw together a basic list to help out and figured it would be a tough game but one that, should the mission be willing, I had a fair chance at winning. We followed the Spoils of War mission - one that no one at my club enjoys but I figure I have to give it a decent go.

We set the objectives up equally across the table and then rolled that awful corner deployment. Danny picked his side but I got to set up first. Everything except raptors and the heldrake terror pack started on the table already holding one objective. Danny was trying to do some sort of Alpha Strike type play so started only with two units of jetbikes and a unit of rangers on the table. Everything else, including his Lynx and Warp Hunter, in reserve.

I forget who got the first turn but it was fairly blunt. I think I got one chaos marine sniped and the battle cannon from my defiler took out a couple of his rangers, but the rest made their cover saves. One of his jetbike squads dropped a webway portal on the far side of the table. Night fighting then came to an end.

On the second turn none of Dan's reserves came in where I got my raptors and one heldrake. The raptors deviated into some rough terrain and one marine crumpled under the impact. I finally got an objective next to my deployment zone and dispatched my terminator champion with his terminator retinue to grab it hopefully on turn 3. Along comes turn 3 and Dan get's his two hornets in as well as a third squad of jetbikes. Both units outflank onto my side of the table and with just incredible luck on my opponent's side (and terrible rolls on mine) they gun down the warlord and all but one terminator! I was so not happy.

When his warp hunter entered the table it only stripped a hull point from one helbrute. Shots from two meltaguns and a multimelta destroyed it over two turns without it getting to fire again. Danny's time to not be happy. When his lynx came in, it got a mishap and I ended up placing it on the far corner of the table facing the wrong way to give me a little extra hope.

Danny was very lucky with his tactical cards but about this time I pulled a blinder. I drew three objectives, including a Death Guard specific one, all of which I could pull off at the end of my turn finally closing the gap in victory points.

The unit of jetbikes who slew my warlord soon died when the remaining terminator charged into them. He won the challenge and then proceeded to slaughter the remaining eldar. Slowly my game turned and I was whittling his forces away. Heldrakes basically burnt down his jetbikes and rangers. He had hardly anything to handle them so after the initial arrival I was able to just go into hover mode and keep pouring flame into everything.

By the time the game reached turn five I think I was winning on victory points. Unfortunately random game length took us all the way to turn seven which allowed Dan to seize a few more cards and put him in the lead. It was close with Dan winning 15 victory points to my 12.

I do think Dan has become very stuck on fitting big D tanks into the game where perhaps one would suffice and the points better spent on more jetbikes. Although the cards were in his favour for most of the game he could have held me back better and been in a better position to seize more had he had the manoeuvrability.

Death Guard verticulum detachment.

Chaos Warband.
Chaos Lord in terminator armour.
10 man CSM squad, with heavy bolter and metlagun. Champion with power weapon, plasma pistol and meltabombs.
10 man CSM squad, with two meltaguns. Champion with power weapon, plasma pistol and meltabombs.
5 man Raptor squad. Champion with pair of lightning claws.
5 man Terminator squad. Four sets of lightning claws and a reaper autocannon/power weapon.
Helbrute.

Helforged Warpack.
Warpsmith with combi-melta and power axe.
Defiler with power scourge.
Two helbrutes.

Heldrake Terror Pack.
2 Heldrakes with baleflamers.

Death Guard ready to bring death and ruin to the xenos filth!

A slow and steady advance through the mining colony ruins.

The unlucky champion and his terminators.

Updated Worlds of Battle

After recent changes to the "established" Black Crusade story in the Gathering Storm books I've decided to update the narrative war zones. More will be added as and when I play against specific armies. So here are those updated details. Enjoy.

Cadia.
The primary target of the 13th Black Crusade. Pacts have been made with the Despoiler and Typhus leads his forces against the Imperium. Here they face the might of the Imperium intent on defending the Cadian gate against the forces of Chaos.The war will not be easy but this will be the conflict that will see the fall of night across the Imperium.
Expected Defenders: Astra MIlitarum, Black Templars, Cult Mechanicus, Dark Angels, Grey Knights, Imperial Fists, Imperial Knights, Inquisition, Legion of the Damned, Sisters of Battle, Skitarii and Space Wolves.

Abraxes.
The world of Abraxes had already fallen to the Death Guard after a lengthy campaign. Space marines and guardsmen alike had fallen to Nurgle's gentle caress. It was then that the sorcerers felt a disruption to their connection to the Immaterium - the Shadow in the Warp! From the ruins arose a host of foul genestealers and from the void comes a terrible foe. The Death Guard have claimed this world and will not let the Great Devourer to take it from them now.
Expected Defenders: Genestealer Cult and Tyranids.

Bludhaven.
Launching an attack upon a lightly protected Imperial world the servants of Nurgle find that another foe has already taken the planet for their own. The Greenskins have decimated the planet and enslaved any survivours. The Death Guard deploy from space into the Ork lines fighting for the glory of Nurgle and their own wrath at having lost the opportunity to decimate this world themselves!
Expected Defenders: Orks.

Caseopeia.
A mining colony unlucky enough to lay in the path of Typhus' plague fleet. The traveller orders his legion to attack the Imperial mining facilities. Initially successful, the Death Guard then find themselves under alien attack from a superior raiding force of Eldar pirates. Forced into the desert badlands, Typhus must find a way to defeat the foul xenos if the Death Guard can seize the promethium supplies and return to their ships.
Expected Defenders: Eldar Corsairs.

Delphi Majoris.
Sometimes even the rival powers of the Warp have common interest. The newly risen Reborn of Ynnead have come to this once pristine world searching for some ancient and powerful artifact with which to upset the balance of power in the universe. In an unusual alliance, Nurgle has brokered a pact with Slaanesh, and the plaguefather has dispatched his favoured sons to stop the Aeldari before they can find the relic that they seek.
Expected Defenders: Craftworld Eldar, Dark Eldar and Reborn of Ynnead.

Devonia III.
A world in the Cadian subsector used by the Imperium as a munitions stockpile. The Death Guard have assaulted the planet in hopes of seizing those supplies for their own war effort. However, the planet is not as lightly defended as they had hoped. In addition to the Astra Militarum defence forces, Devonia is garrisoned by a force of Blood Angels marines who will not let this incursion go unpunished.
Expected Defenders: Astra Militarum, Blood Angels and Legion of the Damned.

Lelithar.
One of the first targets for the Death Guard in the vanguard of the 13th Black Crusade was the Imperial world of Lelithar. The Death Guard arrived and seeded the atmosphere with the virulent zombie plague. While the Planetary Defence Forces mobilized to fight the growing number of the dead, the Death Guard deployed to the surface many kilometers from the main hive city. Colonies were reduced to cities of the dead and the crops in the fields rotted to mulch. An astropathic call for help was sent. The Dark Angels chapter of space marines answered the call and began to deploy a company to the surface.
Expected Defenders: Astra Militarum, Dark Angels, Legion of the Damned and Sisters of Battle.

Miridian.
The Death Guard had successfully captured the world of Miridian from the Imperium. Typhus began to turn the planet into his own place of power from which to launch attacks upon Cadia. A few weeks after the Death Guard won the planet, they came under attack from a raiding force of Dark Eldar eager for slaves and to sow confusion.
Expected Defenders: Dark Eldar.

Susperia.
The Ruinous Powers are fickle and forever seek to prove their dominance over their brethren. Deep in the Eye of Terror, they draw their forces, pitting them against once another in a war of ideology. Forced to fight and die for the glory of their patrons the forces of Chaos battle in a war eternal.
Expected Defenders: Chaos Daemons, Chaos Space Marines and Khorne Daemonkin.

Tanis IV.
A protectorate world of the Crimson Fists chapter. Using the recent decimation of the chapter's homeworld of Rynn's World as a distraction, the Death Guard attack to sow chaos and to raid the chapter's stockpiles of munitions. As well as mopping up any remaining Ork resistance the traitor legion must also fight to defeat the Crimson Fist battle brothers present.
Expected Defenders: Crimson Fists, Legion of the Damned and Orks.

The Perdus Rift.
In the years before the launch of Abaddon's final Black Crusade, Typhus led his fleet into the Eastern Fringe on a crusade of conquest. The Warp drops them into the middle of the expanding Tau Empire and their war with the Imperium. Drawn to the fighting, the Death Guard seek to sow Chaos and destruction among the combatants.
Expected Defenders: Astra Militarum, Farsight Enclave, Legion of the Damned, Raven Guard, Tau Empire and White Scars.

Tethys Ultima.
A barren dead world long forgotten by the powers of the galaxy. The Death Guard have claimed this lost world as a base of operations for their raids into the surrounding sectors. Little do they know that below them lies a vast Necron tomb. The construction efforts on the surface have triggered ancient defence mechanisms and the machines have begun to awaken, arming to destroy the interlopers on their ancient home world.
Expected Defenders: Necrons.

Thule Ultima.
In the last days of the 41st millennium, the forces of Chaos descend upon all who may pose a threat to Abaddon's schemes for the Imperium. Typhus leads his forces into the Empire of Ultramarr, specifically a fortress world known as Thule Ultima. The Ultramarines mobilise to the defence of that world to halt the advance of Nurgle's favoured sons.
Expected Defenders: Astra Militarum, Grey Knights, Legion of the Damned, and Ultramarines.

Loot & Pillage - Devonia

Planet: Devonia III.
Region: Cadian Sector.
999.M41

Death Guard vs Blood Angels
2000 points:
Mission: Loot & Pillage.

Daylight was filtered by the hazy glow from the vast gas giant rising up across the sandy horizon of Dovonia III, casting the landscape in a brownish hue. Bubonicus snarled in anger. This was supposed to have been a simple supply raid on the Imperial stockpile here, but instead the Death Guard found it garrisoned by a detachment from the Blood Angels chapter. It mattered not as these supplies were vital to the next stage of the war and Bubonicus did not feel like answering to Typhus should he fail here. With no choice, he bellowed the order to attack and lead the attack.

My list of missions to play has finally cleared the rulebook ones and I'm onto the Battle Missions/Altar of War ones. Loot & Pillage being next up. Jon accepted my offer and blew the dust off of his Blood Angels. Both of us agreed to not play anything silly and to play nice fluffy lists. This mission should have been nice and simple. Rather than just holding objectives you get points each round (in your opponent's turn) for each one that you hold. Unfortunately after placing the random four objectives down, Jon managed to choose the table quarter closest and he stole the initiative to put the boot in. Immediately the poor Death Guard were on the back foot. To make matters worse both of us could only deploy a HQ and two troops to the table per the mission rules.

First turn and Jon threw down a drop pod which deviated and landed mid table not quite where he wanted it. A few shots rang out but the first turn for both of us was fairly quick and uneventful. Turn two and most of my opponent's reserves came in. Jon had a nice number of assault marine squads which he had combat squaded and they dropped down into my deployment zone which was going to be my undoing. A misunderstanding on the rules for coming on in reserve along his table edge meant that one of his vindicators came on too close than it should have done, but when my terminators came on the table we agreed that I should do likewise and then any further would come on as they should have done.

My second turn and I received very little help from my reserves. Most likely hiding from the Death Company marines ahead of them. My terminators and two helbrute's walked on and that was it, and it didn't help that wherever I put them they were not really in a position to help. A multi-melta into the wayward vindicator did nothing and a few shots brought down some Jon's marines but not enough to make a difference.

Third turn and I had successfully gunned down the assault marines and scouts that came up from behind to steal my only objective. Everywhere else I was being locked in combat with the remaining assault marines. When my heldrakes finally came in, on turns three ad four, they did their job by baleflaming a squad holding an objective reducing his points scoring. Unfortunately that was their own real ploy of the match as both soon had their baleflamers destroyed. One became vector locked and flew off the table and the other was shot down and ditching into the hard dirt.

As the game progressed the rest of my army came on but just a little too late to salvage the game. The raptors did good taking out an assault marine unit and the champion was rewarded with daemonhood only to be torn apart by a furioso dreadnought the following turn. My chaos lord found himself surrounded by a the enemy and just could not seem to kill enough of them and eventually was cut down. An ignominious end but I'm sure Bubonicus will be back soon enough. Nurgle's champions have a way of returning from the dead. Once again my defiler died far too easily, even with a 4+ invulnerable save.

When the game ended turn 6 Jon had won 12 victory points to my 6. The Death Guard had been driven off but they had walked away with some salvage just not everything they wanted. This was a good game but really frustrating. Jon's very fluffy list locked me down very easily and my terrible reserve rolls meant that I never had enough forces coming in to help combat what he had. Even my FNP could not keep me alive in combat this game.

Death Guard verticulum detachment.

Chaos Warband.
Chaos Lord in terminator armour.
10 man CSM squad, with heavy bolter and metlagun. Champion with power weapon, plasma pistol and meltabombs.
10 man CSM squad, with two meltaguns. Champion with power weapon, plasma pistol and meltabombs.
5 man Raptor squad. Champion with pair of lightning claws.
5 man Terminator squad. Four sets of lightning claws and a reaper autocannon/power weapon.
Helbrute.

Helforged Warpack.
Warpsmith with combi-melta and power axe.
Defiler with power scourge.
Two helbrutes.

Heldrake Terror Pack.
2 Heldrakes with baleflamers.

Start of the game and the slow advance up the table. 

The rise and soon fall of a new daemon prince. 

Death to the servants of the false emperor! 

Turn 5. Death in the skies.