Ambush - Delphi Majoris

Planet: Delphi Majoris.
Region: Ghoul Stars

Death Guard vs Harlequins
1500 points.
Mission: Ambush.
Deployment: Special.

The battle for Misty Vale was a major engagement at the start of the campaign. Typhus had learned of a possible clue to the location of the crone sword that the Ynnari sought. Eager to get there first he matched with a force to claim it before and deny them their prize. Two days into the march, as the Death Guard entered the valleys where it lay, they came under attack. Fire prisms bombarded the convey's head before retreating into the mist. Webway portals then opened all around and a troupe of harlequins descended upon the convoy.

I have been seeking a game against Jamie for a while now and Thursday night we clashed! Another Harlequin troupe against my Death Guard. Jamie chose Ambush as our mission as something a bit different. Pleased he did so as my other opponents have been picking the more standard missions lately. We decided in advance that it made more sense for my force to be the defender.

After deployment Jamie set off a preliminary bombardment which succeeded in damaging one of my rhino's but the other shots failed to do anything. I decided not to waste command points on seizing the initiative so the Harlequins went first. During his first turn he blasted away most of my cultists and a fair few poxwalkers. A few wounds stripped from the already damaged rhino but he just could not destroy it. Everything that ran into assault. I killed a couple but the bloodbath was just beginning.

My first turn saw a few mortal wounds inflicted because of Typhus' gift of Nurgle ability. Nothing could move really due to how Jamie had placed his models. The bloat drone was the one thing and it moved into a position to vomit up lots of foulness upon an the enemy. Smite and curse of the leper were my main ways of killing off the harlequins. Nurgle's sorcery was a blessing here. In combat I finished off one unit of harlequins, and spawned their replacements within the ranks of my poxwalkers. The cultists however died without even swinging a club.

The game pretty much became a blood bath at this point. We were slaughtering each other's units with gleeful abandon. My rhino's died and a few bodies were left behind when the plague marines crawled out. My disgustingly resilient dice were not with me in the ensuing combat and models were just being pulled off the table. Once again my psychic phase was very dominant and I think that took away more of his army than anything else.

By turn four, we had swift turns of nothing but melee and I had decided that the only way to win was to table Jamie and I tried to work toward that goal. By the end of that turn all I had left was Typhus, a bloat drone and the defiler. Jamie had a starweaver and his death jester. Like any cowardly xenos they kept running away while my forces tried to advance up the table, the defiler blasting away as best it could.

Turn five went to turn 6 and then the game ended with his survivours stuck in a corner basically but I just could not get what I had left up there or cause enough damage. Victory to my opponent and well earned. Probably the most fun game of 40K I think I've ever had thus far.

---


++ Battalion Detachment +3CP (Chaos - Death Guard) [81 PL, 1492pts] ++

+ HQ +

Malignant Plaguecaster: Curse of the Leper, Miasma of Pestilence, The Pandemic Staff
Typhus: Plague Wind, Putrescent Vitality

+ Troops +

Chaos Cultists
. 10x Chaos Cultist w/ autopistol and brutal assault weapon
. Chaos Cultist w/ special weapon: Heavy stubber
. Cultist Champion: Shotgun

Plague Marines: Icon of Despair
. Plague Champion: Plaguesword, Plasma gun, Power fist
. 4x Plague Marine w/ boltgun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun

Plague Marines: Icon of Despair
. Plague Champion: Plaguesword, Plasma gun, Power fist
. 5x Plague Marine w/ boltgun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Blight launcher

20x Poxwalker

+ Elites +

Helbrute: Helbrute fist, Multi-melta

+ Fast Attack +

Foetid Bloat-drone: 2x Plaguespitters, Plague probe

+ Heavy Support +

Defiler [11 PL, 190pts]: Combi-flamer, Defiler scourge, Reaper autocannon

+ Dedicated Transport +

Chaos Rhino: Combi-bolter, Combi-bolter, Havoc launcher
Chaos Rhino: Combi-bolter, Combi-bolter, Havoc launcher

---

A bloat drone advances down the table in search of prey.

A cowardly death jester hiding in the ruins.

The state of play for most of this game.

Brutal bloodbath!

Worlds of the Narrative - Oblivion

Planet: Oblivion.
Segmentum: Ultima.
Sector: Nemesis.
System: Oblivion.
Surveyed: M34.
Planets:
Oblivion - Hive World / Forge World.

Summery:
The planet Oblivion, which sits on the edge of the Blood Angel's protectorate, is the only world to orbit it's bright orange star. The planet is large and covered by a vast hive which houses the population and a sizable Mechanicus forge. Although not a major facility Oblivion's forges have produced vast numbers of munitions and vehicles for the local space marine chapters and Astra Militarum regiments.

Size: Equatorial distance - 30,000 miles.
Gravity: 1.3G
Satellites: One moon.
Population: 22 billion at last count.
Orbit: 200 million miles to it's star. Oblivion takes 50 months to complete one orbit.
Climate: Mean surface temperature of 24 degrees centigrade.

Riding out of the Maledictum, the Death Guard once again began their conquest by bombarding the planet with biological weapons and plagues. Over weeks they let the dark plagues do their work before finally dropping to the surface. The remaining defence forces were swiftly defeated and the population that survived enslaved or turned in to the walking dead. Those survivors were put to work in the forges of the fallen Mechanicus to fuel the creation of new daemon engines.

Aid was coming though. A single astropathic message escaped to give warning to the Blood Angels. They have now arrived and engaged the ships in near orbit. Drop pods and assault craft blast down to deliver battle brothers, tanks and dreadnoughts to the surface. The streets and ruins of a charnel world now ring with the sounds of glorious battle.

Notes: This is the world for battles against the Blood Angels and possibly their successor chapters.

Tide of Battle:
Blood Angel victories: 0.
Death Guard victories: 0.
Draws: 0

No games have been played here yet.

Worlds of the Narrative - Artica

Planet: Artica III.
Segmentum: Obscurus.
Sector: Cadian.
System: Artican.
Surveyed: Unknown.
Planets:
Artica's Pearls - Asteroid Belt.
Artica I - Barren World.
Artica II - Gas Giant.
Artica III - Ice Planet.

Summery:
The Artican system is a cold region barely lit by a dying blue star. The only world in the system with an atmosphere is Artica III. Some millennia ago the Adeptus Mechanicus came here and using advanced technology tunneled into the ice. Beneath the surface they constructed a sizable fortress and within they constructed... something. It is not known whether it was a weapon or something else but it lays there waiting. Why the Mechnicus abandoned the site is also unknown although the surface is dotted with ruins and Imperial wreckage, the detritus of a battle fought long ago.

Size: Equatorial distance - 1,300 miles.
Gravity: .02G
Satellites: Three moons and countless asteroids.
Population: None.
Orbit: 3 billion miles to it's star. Artica III takes 240 years to complete one orbit.
Climate: Mean surface temperature of -240 degrees centigrade.

With the Imperial forces beginning to push back against the darkness, Abaddon has consulted his seers seeking something to aid in the war effort. His sorcerers cast their gaze into the Warp and soon intone that an ancient relic lies beneath the ice of Artica - a frozen world which once held an Adeptus Mechanicus stronghold now entombed in the ice.
The Despoiler seeks the aid of the Death Guard in recovering this powerful device. However as they close in on it's location Abaddon decides that he will not share power and orders his marines to attack the plague marines.

Notes: This is the world for those games against the Black Legion.

Tide of Battle:
Black Legion victories: 1.
Death Guard victories: 0.
Draws: 0

The Black Legion have launched a surprise attack and right now the Death Guard are on the back foot.

1. Betrayal on the Ice.

Betrayal on the Ice - Artica

Planet: Artica.
Sector: Obscurus.

1500 points.
Mission: Sabotage - Psychic Maelstrom.
Deployment: Special.

With the Imperial forces beginning to push back against the darkness, Abaddon has consulted his seers seeking something to aid in the war effort. His sorcerers cast their gaze into the Warp and soon intone that an ancient relic lies beneath the ice of Artica - a frozen world which once held an Adeptus Mechanicus stronghold now entombed in the ice. 
The Despoiler seeks the aid of the Death Guard in recovering this powerful device. However as they close in on it's location Abaddon decides that he will not share power and orders his marines to attack the plague marines.




This game was the result of a challenge from Mark who wanted to try and field a pure bike list. I had not played against Black Legion under 8th so I accepted provided he played that faction. He chose Sabotage from my list of unplayed missions and included the psychic maelstrom battle zone. Had to play a sorcerer of some sort then to try and make use of that battle zone.

We didn't play the set up properly as we rolled off at the start of the game to see who would be the attacker and defender. Mark won the roll and off we went. I set up my cultists as the sentries and used the Sensors stratagem to give me a better range of spotting the enemy. It was rather pointless though as his bikes roared forward and opened fire thus triggering the alarm straight off the bat. I think he forgot that he had a stratagem that could have let a second unit fire before triggering the alarm. Once that unit got to fire it then swapped to me.

I brought most of my forces on from the left flank and tried to blast through one bike squad. My lord of contagion, plaguecaster and poxwalkers wandered on from the opposing flank. Things went rather well and I was able to send a few bikes to their fiery graves but it was when I tried to charge with my helbrutes, mark's meltaguns burnt one down and severally damaged a second. The combat did go well and the remaining couple bikers failed morale, crushed by the might of the helbrute.

Mark got his forces into contact with my base of operations and place four objectives almost straight away. I knew then that I needed to keep one command point spare for the Cut The Wires stratagem at the end of the game. Due to a misunderstanding of the rules though on my part, Mark did not get his obliterators in as he wanted. I got myself mixed up with rules from the Night Fighting battle zone. it didn't make much difference though as you'll see.

As the turns moved on I did quite well with my psychic phase. Between smite and curse of the leper I was able to slowly remove Mark's models but I couldn't do enough to cause them to run. Likewise he had some trouble with my disgustingly resilient rolls. Once he had his obliterators down on the table, I was able to drop one pair but not before he had secured enough sabotage actions to ensure that I could not stop him winning the game. I conceded and we shook hands. Good game but there went my current winning streak.

--

This was an interesting game although next time I play this mission I think we'll need to determine attacker/defender and some proper lists before hand. Will probably make the game a little more even. Also, I was a little disappointed that the battle zone didn't make much of an impact. We both only rolled a double for our sorcerers once each and neither effect was too game changing.

--


++ Battalion Detachment +3CP (Chaos - Death Guard) [80 PL, 1498pts] ++

+ HQ +

Lord of Contagion: Manreaper
Malignant Plaguecaster: Curse of the Leper, Miasma of Pestilence, The Pandemic Staff

+ Troops +

Chaos Cultists.
. 9x Chaos Cultist w/ autopistol and brutal assault weapon
. Chaos Cultist w/ special weapon: Heavy stubber
. Cultist Champion: Shotgun

Plague Marines: Icon of Despair
. Plague Champion: Plaguesword, Plasma gun, Power fist
. 7x Plague Marine w/ boltgun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun

Plague Marines: Icon of Despair
. Plague Champion: Plaguesword, Plasma gun, Power fist
. 7x Plague Marine w/ boltgun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Meltagun

14x Poxwalker

+ Elites +

3 Helbrutes: Helbrute fist, Multi-melta

+ Heavy Support +

Defiler: Combi-flamer, Defiler scourge, Reaper autocannon.

---

Black Legion sorcerer atop his bike.

 

A swarm of Black Legion biker marines surge forth.

Obliterators!

Worlds of the Narrative - Miridian

Planet: Miridian.
Segmentum: Obscurus.
Sector: Cadian.
System: Miridian.
Surveyed: Unknown.
Planets:
Miridian - Hive World.
Miridan's Belt - Asteroid belt.

Summery:
Miridian sits below the galactic plane on the edge of the Cadian sector. Until the 41st millennium it had never been invaded nor known the horrors of war. The planet was colonised by the Imperium about the same time as Cadia and while that world became a bastion of Imperial defiance, Miridian grew to become a populous hive world supplying many hundreds of thousands of men and women to the defence of Cadia through the millennia.

Miridian has no real manufacturing or agricultural significance. However, the asteroid field known as Miridian's Belt has assisted the world's of the Cadian sector with vital ores and metals to construct their weapons of war.
Size: Equatorial distance - 5,000 miles.
Gravity: 1.0G
Satellites: Two moons.
Population: 66,000,000,000 at last count.
Orbit: 120 million miles to it's star. Grendel III takes 400 days to complete one orbit.
Climate: Mean surface temperature of 19 degrees centigrade.

Before the start of the 13th Black Crusade, Typhus was dispatched by Abaddon to be the vanguard for his great invasion. Typhus had his eyes on the Lelithar system but first he would need a base of operations from which to launch his attack. Scouring the charts he soon found the world of Miridian and it's relative isolation made it a perfect target. The Death Guard caught the planet unawares and began with an atmospheric bombardment of poisons, plagues and bacteria. They then deployed to the surface. The planetary defence forces were no match for a battle-hardened force and the war was swiftly completed. The population not slain were rounded up and either enslaved or forced into the rapidly growing chaos cults of the plague father.

Not three weeks after the Miridian campaign was concluded, the planet came under surprise attack by a superior Drukhari raiding force. They had expected a weak and unprepared human population but instead found a renegade astartes force eager to slay the alien interlopers for their intrusion. The coming war against the Imperium was forgotten while the Death Guard waged war against the alien slavers.

Notes: Miridian is the world for games where the Death Guard face down the Drukhari.

Tide of Battle:
Drukhari victories: 2.
Death Guard victories: 3.
Draws: 0

The invading Drukhari are not doing well. The entrenched plague marines have the upper hand currently but will it last as more xenos raiders arrive to bolster the attacking kabals.

1. Into Darkness (7th edition).
2. The Scouring (7th edition).
3. Hold the Line.
4. Drukhari Ambush.
5. Death in the Rain.

Worlds of the Narrative - Grendel

Planet: Grendel III.
Segmentum: Ultima.
Sector: Bathesda.
System: Grendel.
Surveyed: Unknown.
Planets:
Grendel I - Barren World.
Grendel II - Barren World.
Grendel III - Terrestrial World.
Grendel IV - Gas Giant.
Grendel V - Ice World.

Summery:
The Grendel system is a minor world on the edge of the Farsight Enclaves. It was originally scouted by the Imperium several years before the location of the Tau home world was first discovered. It was deemed unimportant and simply cataloged for future reference. When Commander Farsight abandoned the Empire and installed the Enclaves Grendel III was claimed as well. It has since been used as an outpost monitoring the void north of the Enclaves.

Grendel III has little mineral wealth and is too warm and dry for most crops to survive. It does have some natural predators but nothing too much of a threat. Several monitoring and communication stations exist spread across the surface which remain in constant contact with the Enclave home world.
Size: Equatorial distance - 4,400 miles.
Gravity: 1.0G
Satellites: Two moons.
Population: 2,000 approximately.
Orbit: 110 million miles to it's star. Grendel III takes 275 days to complete one orbit.
Climate: Mean surface temperature of 65 degrees centigrade.

.Adrift in the Warp for some time, carried by the whims of the gods, the Death Guard emerge and find themselves on the edge of the Grendel system. Long range auspex sweeps reveal the presence of Tau technology but little in the way of population. Eager for battle once more the plague fleet swoops down upon the colony. The planet lacks orbital defences and the Death Guard manage to deploy to the surface with little interference. The Enclave forces marshaling for a defence while a call for aid is dispatched to the home world.
When Commander Farsight arrives to bolster the defence, the forces of Nurgle have laid claim to much of the planet driving the defenders into specially prepared kill zones. Farsight leads an orbital insertion and starts to bring the war to the rotting foes arrayed against him.

Notes: Grendel is the planet for games against the Farsight Enclaves. As mentioned in the notes for Fandrel, I determined that it made more sense for them to have their own world than be lumped in with the rest of the Empire.

Tide of Battle:
Farsight Enclaves victories: 0.
Death Guard victories: 0.
Draws: 0.

Currently I have had no games against the Farsight Enclaves under 8th edition.

Pestilence Prevails - Susperia

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

Death Guard / Nurgle Daemons vs Emperor's Children / Slaanesh Daemons.
1500 points.
Mission: The Scouring - Night Fight battlezone.
Deployment: Hammer and Anvil.

This was a major battle in the conflicts that were fought on Susperia for the glory of the Ruinous Powers. The Emperor's Children led by Lucius the Eternal with aid from the daemon known as the Masque had fought and won uncounted battles in the name of Slaanesh. When they pushed into what little territory the Death Guard held, they were halted by a concentrated force of plague marines and daemons of pestilence.

This was my first game of 8th against my friend Richard. Hopefully trying to impress him with the new edition and drawing him in. I think we were both on the same wavelength as we turned up with combined traitor marine and daemon ally lists. Richard had a lot more slaanesh daemons than he did emperor's children marines, while I was more plague marines and a couple nurgle daemon units.

Richard had already chosen the Scouring mission and opted for the night fight battle zone. I was very pleased with that as the battle zones don't seem all that popular at the local club. I seem to be the only one interested in playing them. I think they make for a more interesting game but that is just me.

Once we had set up terrain we had another player set up the objectives for us before we rolled for deployment. Hammer and Anvil was probably not the most helpful one for this mission especially once we rolled for the superior objective and it was in my deployment zone while Richard had the inferior one. A bit harsh but that's the randomness for you. We both also got a fire support mysterious objective so that was going to make things interesting. Although I finished setting up first, Richard had the first turn - we used the new initiative roll system from this year's Chapter Approved.

Richard had a fair bit of heavy weapons but night fight was a hindrance. He used a command point to light up my predator and brought it down to one wound via saturated firing. His forces moved forward but didn't clear too much ground but he had me worried as to how I was going to handle it all. My first turn and all I did was move up my daemons and the bloat drone down the right flank. Everything else stayed put holding objectives. The predator, despite being on the verge of falling apart managed to bring down most of a unit of seekers. Moral rolls took out the rest. My left flank was mostly safe for the time being.

The game moved quite quick. Richard finally dropped my predator but no explosion. Richard had not brought any vehicles so the loss of the predator was not a big issue for me. He did manage to strip a lot of wounds off of the bloat drone though. Turn two on wards was pretty much a mosh of close combat. The bloat drone had done some damage but on my right flank the plaguebearers and his daemonettes clashed. This was going to be the war eternal because I wouldn't drop due to disgustingly resilient and we both kept rolling 1's for moral but with the icons models stood back up again. For two or three turns we just could not kill each other's units. It was only when Masque joined the fight that the tide began to turn in his favour. I had to bring up my plaguecaster to use smite in order to bring things back to my control.

My plaguebearers were just holding up his daemonette's advance. Neither of us really did much with our chaos marines. Richard's were held up in ruins putting fire into anything that got close enough in range and mine hid out of sight just holding objectives. My concerns that I was going to get squished disappeared about now. With the daemons held I tried to get my great unclean one up the table and into |Richard's emperor's children. Unfortunately they gunned him down as he got there with powerful sonic weaponry. Disappointing but he lasted longer than he usually does.

During the game I think the fire support objectives triggered twice each. I forget what Richard targeted but I dropped both of mine onto Lucius and finally dropped him netting me Slay the Warlord. About this time Richard conceded at the end of turn 5.

Victory went to the forces of Nurgle 9 vp to Slaanesh 6vp. Still quite close but at the end it was a pyrrhic victory as I did feel that Richard did not get a particularly great game. Deployment I think as the problem. With the superior objective in my deployment zone Richard was not going to get there. He did get some daemonettes in there but they died in short order. Nothing else came close.

Hopefully the next time we play we'll have a bit more of a closer game.

----


++ Battalion Detachment +3CP (Chaos - Death Guard) [60 PL, 1073pts] ++
+ HQ +
Lord of Contagion: Manreaper
Malignant Plaguecaster: Curse of the Leper, Miasma of Pestilence, The Pandemic Staff

+ Troops +
Chaos Cultists
. 9x Chaos Cultist w/ autopistol and brutal assault weapon
. Chaos Cultist w/ special weapon: Heavy stubber
. Cultist Champion: Shotgun

Plague Marines
. Plague Champion: Plaguesword, Plasma gun, Power fist
. 5x Plague Marine w/ boltgun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun

Plague Marines
. Plague Champion: Plaguesword, Plasma gun, Power fist
. 5x Plague Marine w/ boltgun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Blight launcher

+ Fast Attack +
Foetid Bloat-drone: 2x Plaguespitters, Plague probe

+ Heavy Support +
Chaos Predator: Twin lascannon
. Two heavy bolters: 2x Heavy bolter

+ Dedicated Transport +
Chaos Rhino: Combi-bolter, Havoc launcher

++ Patrol Detachment (Chaos - Daemons) [20 PL, 418pts] ++

+ HQ +
Great Unclean One [12 PL, 248pts]: Fleshy Abundance, Stream of Corruption.

+ Troops +
Plaguebearers [4 PL, 85pts]: Daemonic Icon, 9x Plaguebearer, Plagueridden.

Plaguebearers [4 PL, 85pts]: Daemonic Icon, 9x Plaguebearer, Plagueridden.

March of the daemons!

Dangerously beautiful daemonettes.

My right flank where the bloodbath took place.

Lucius the Eternal - champion of Slaanesh.