Battle for Starport Twelve - Cerberus

Planet: Cerberus.
Region: Cerberus sector.

Death Guard / Nurgle Daemons vs Salamanders.
1500 points.
Mission: Tactical Escalation.
Deployment: Dawn of War.

The Imperium sought to restrict access to vital resources and points of supply to the traitor forces. Guilliman, still recovering from his recent battle against his brother Mortarion, determined that a port city designated Starport Twelve would be the perfect target for attack. 
The Salamanders were chosen for this strike. A number of their battle brothers were able to breach the outer walls and enter the city. Once battle was joined in the streets, reinforcements teleported down from orbit to sow confusion and devastation among the enemy.

Tonight's match up was against Alex and his Salamanders army. He beat me rather well at our last meeting so I was looking for some friendly pay back. We picked Tactical Escalation as a mission that neither of us had played previously and I decided on 1500 points just to try some smaller point games for a change. I had a couple things to try out and this seemed like a good opportunity to do so.

We rolled the Dawn of War deployment and Alex began by deploying his terminator units in reserve forcing me to put my infantry down without knowing what was coming. It also forced me to spread out across my side of the table so that he couldn't deep strike those terminators in the middle of my lines. It wouldn't help though. Two roll offs and Alex got the first turn. I debated whether it was worth seizing as it was an objectives mission and sometimes going second helps knowing what I need at the end of the game but I failed to seize.

First turn and down came my opponent's thunderhammer and stormshield terminators, and his captain right in front of my plagueburst crawler. Immediately I knew this was not going to go well. The Salamander's shooting was spot on and I lost a whole plague marine unit in one go. The crawler lost most of it's wounds to a devastator squad as well. I could not make DR rolls to save anything it seemed. That is when it went wrong. For some reason I had forgotten that his terminators could assault the turn they came in and they went right into the crawler, smashing it to scrap with their hammers.

My first turn was difficult. Alex had drawn an objective that he could achieve easily and I drew one that wanted me to cast psychic powers. I tried to move forwards but Alex had nearly everywhere covered with multiple fields of fire. My new toy, a hellforged contemptor, had sustained some damage so I made sure it marched towards a scout squad on my right flank. My plan being to take a couple down, assault and heal from killing them. Instead my dice went into kill mode and all the scouts were cut down. I charged the terminators with my daemon prince but he didn't last long against the thunder hammers. At least I managed a victory point for casting a psychic power. It was going to be my only victory point all game however.

From here it just got worse and quick. Alex was drawing objective cards for the card type he had picked for the mission and I got nothing of the sort. The Salamander's shooting robbed me of the hellforged contemptor, a rhino, a second squad of plague marines and a fair chunk of my poxwalkers. Turn three I was considering conceding the match as there was just no way I was going to pull this game back but I decided to go on and see just what I could do. Turn four left me with just a lord of contagion and a plaguecaster. Turn five and it was just the plaguecaster. When he fell that was it. I had been tabled. I had one victory point and I just didn't want to consider how many Alex had secured. But them's the breaks.

Good game Alex. Next time I will have my revenge.

---

After thoughts...

A very frustrating game. From the get go I really did not have a chance here. It wasn't an alpha strike list but Alex was able to ensure that my envisioned battle plan wasn't going to happen. I had taken a Nurgle daemon prince from the daemons codex with the idea of using the "healing" psychic power (the name escaped me right now) to keep the plagueburst crawler alive as it is a Nurgle daemon. He could also defend it if the enemy got too close.

My dice didn't help either as for the first couple hours they didn't roll enough disgustingly resilient or armour saves for that matter. Only on the last couple game turns did that start to go in my favour. A little too late though.

I enjoyed the game but nothing went right for me at all. There's always next time.

---

++ Battalion Detachment +3CP (Chaos - Death Guard) [65 PL, 1162pts] ++

+ No Force Org Slot +

Gifts of Decay (1 Relic)

+ Dedicated Transport [4 PL, 94pts] +

Chaos Rhino [4 PL, 94pts]: Combi-bolter [2pts], Combi-flamer [11pts], Havoc launcher [11pts], Smoke launchers

+ Heavy Support [8 PL, 152pts] +

Plagueburst Crawler [8 PL, 152pts]: 2x Entropy cannon [40pts], Plagueburst Mortar, Rothail volley gun [12pts]

+ HQ [13 PL, 227pts] +

Lord of Contagion [7 PL, 117pts]: 2. Living Plague, Fugaris' Helm, Manreaper [17pts], Warlord

Malignant Plaguecaster [6 PL, 110pts]: Blades of Putrefaction, Blight Grenades, Bolt pistol, Corrupted staff, Curse of the Leper, Krak grenade, Smite

+ Elites +

Hellforged Contemptor Dreadnought [10 PL, 181pts]: Havoc launcher [11pts]
. . Left Arm [42pts]: Combi-bolter [2pts], Hellforged deathclaw [40pts]
. . Right Arm [25pts]: Kheres assault cannon [25pts]

+ Fast Attack [8 PL, 158pts] +

Foetid Bloat-drone [8 PL, 158pts]: 2x Plaguespitters [34pts], Plague probe [25pts]

+ Troops [32 PL, 531pts] +

Chaos Cultists [6 PL, 48pts]
. . 9x Chaos Cultist w/ autopistol and brutal assault weapon [36pts]: 9x Autopistol, 9x Brutal assault weapon
. . Chaos Cultist w/ special weapon [8pts]: Heavy stubber [4pts]
. . Cultist Champion [4pts]: Shotgun

Plague Marines [10 PL, 180pts]: Icon of Despair [10pts]
. . Plague Champion [42pts]: Blight Grenades, Krak grenade, Plague knife, Plasma gun [13pts], Power fist [12pts]
. . 4x Plague Marine w/ boltgun [68pts]: 4x Blight Grenades, 4x Boltgun, 4x Krak Grenades, 4x Plague knife
. . Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon [30pts]: Blight Grenades, Krak grenade, Plague knife, Plasma gun [13pts]
. . Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon [30pts]: Blight Grenades, Krak grenade, Plague knife, Plasma gun [13pts]

Plague Marines [10 PL, 183pts]: Icon of Despair [10pts]
. . Plague Champion [42pts]: Blight Grenades, Krak grenade, Plague knife, Plasma gun [13pts], Power fist [12pts]
. . 4x Plague Marine w/ boltgun [68pts]: 4x Blight Grenades, 4x Boltgun, 4x Krak Grenades, 4x Plague knife
. . Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon [27pts]: Blight Grenades, Blight launcher [10pts], Krak grenade, Plague knife
. . Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon [36pts]: Blight Grenades, Krak grenade, Plague knife, Plague Spewer [19pts]

Poxwalkers [6 PL, 120pts]
. . 20x Poxwalker [120pts]: 20x Improvised weapon

++ Auxiliary Support Detachment -1CP (Chaos - Daemons) [8 PL, 156pts] ++

+ HQ [8 PL, 156pts] +

Daemon Prince of Chaos [8 PL, 156pts]: Hellforged sword [10pts], Malefic talon
. . Nurgle: Smite

++ Total: [83 PL, 1499pts] ++

Battle is joined!

Hellforged Contemptor Dreadnought.

Salamanders camped out on their objective.

Holding Action - Cerberus

Planet: Cerberus.
Region: Cerberus Sector.

Death Guard vs Salamanders.
1500 points.
Mission: No Mercy - Fire and Fury.
Deployment: Spearhead Assault.

With the Death Guard in retreat things looked bleak for the sons of Mortarion. Then, when the Imperium was one step away from total victory three entire plague fleets translated in system from the Warp bringing much needed reinforcements for the Death Guard. When word of their arrival reached Typhus he ordered all forces to halt and prepare to repel the enemy.

A nice friendly game against Shadbolt. Last time he brought his Tyranids to bear but this time he had a nice force of Salamanders for me to crush. Shadbolt plays a good game so I was hoping that this match against the Salamanders wouldn't be quite so one sided as last time. I was not disappointed.

Shadbolt's choice of the Fire & Fury battle zone meant that I wouldn't be taking my heldrake even though I really wanted to play it again. Knowing he had a land raider redeemer in his collection instead made me include my renegade knight in the hopes that it could bring it down where little else I had to get to do so quickly enough. In the end he had taken a redemptor dreadnought instead. Phew.

Spearhead Assault was a nicely rolled deployment as it meant that I could get my poxwalkers at point and draw fire. Turn one that is exactly what Shadbolt did. I did not expect him to unload five or six squads worth of fire just to bring down 20 poxwalkers. He did not like my zombies one bit. It did leave Typhus out in the open however and I was forced to then catch him up with some plague marines marching down my right flank.

The renegade knight strode forward offering fire support for more plague marines and a handful of cultists. It knocked some wounds from the redemptor but little else. My first turn was pretty much just moving my units forward and hoping that they would survive to do something back.

This match was almost a week ago so some details are a little sketchy in my head. But what I remember was the knight and predator pouring everything they had into the redemptor. It eventually fell over (partly from a hit by falling debris) but I also lost the predator. I succeeded in gunning down a few of his marines but I couldn't make my usual DR rolls and my poor marines were dropping like plague flies. It was only sheer luck that I was creeping up on the victory points.

The cool moment of the game came when my knight charged into combat with Shadbolt's primaris captain. I think they spent two turns dueling before the mighty chainsword came down and turned his captain into a nice fine red mist. One lieutenant followed him to the grave shortly after and then reduced in wounds, Shadbolt dropped it with a bolter round to the back. No explosion though unfortunately.

Typhus soon found himself in combat with a small squad of (I think) tarterus terminators. A squad that he swiftly and mercilessly cut down with manreaper and smite. When my forces got into melee the game was very much otherwise on Shadbolt's side. Assault is where he excelled.

By turn five all I had left on the table was Typhus who was stuck half way up the table and wondering what to do next. All he managed that turn was a casting of smite which took out the remaining man of a squad and I had equaled Shadbolt's points total. Luckily for me the game ended there with a draw!

-

In this match Shadbolt did the right thing. He played the old style gun line army and barely moved from his deployment forcing myself to ground pound my way across the table. I probably shouldn't have taken the knight and instead gone for some rhino's but I was too scared of a redeemer burning everything of mine away.

Very good game and I look forward to a rematch at some point soon.

--

++ Battalion Detachment +3CP (Chaos - Death Guard) ++

+ HQ +

Malignant Plaguecaster: Miasma of Pestilence, Plague Wind

Typhus: Miasma of Pestilence, Plague Wind

+ 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
. . Power fist and Plasma gun: Plasma gun, Power fist
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun
. 4x Plague Marines

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

Poxwalkers: 20x Poxwalker

+ Heavy Support +

Chaos Predator: Combi-plasma, Havoc launcher, Twin lascannon
. Two heavy bolters: 2x Heavy bolter

++ Super-Heavy Auxiliary Detachment (Chaos - Questor Traitoris) ++

+ Lord of War +

Renegade Knight: Heavy stubber, Reaper chainsword, Thermal cannon

Plague marines and Plaguecaster fight for supremacy (and fail).

Things look bad for the space marines.

Typhus slaughters his way through terminator's with ease.

Death Guard deployment.

The Salamander's big dreadnought.

The Imperium Advances - Cerberus

Planet: Cerberus.
Region: Cerberus Sector.

Death Guard vs Salamanders.
1500 points.
Mission: Retrieval Mission.
Deployment: Search and Destroy.

During a heavy thunderstorm elements of the Salamanders chapter sought to bring down one of the Death Guard fortresses on Cerberus Secundus. Despite being lightly defended the servants of the plague god successfully held off two assaults by the loyalist space marines. The third attempt finally brought low the outer gates allowing the loyalists access to the interior where brutal fighting broke out between the two surviving sets of warriors.

Alex is one of our club's newer players and this was our first match together. Not sure how his play style was I went with a fairly simple and basic list. Couldn't quite fit what I wanted really and in hindsight I could have swapped something out to give me a better chance at survival.

Mission was predetermined as Retrieval Mission but we rolled the deployment which probably was the cause of how badly my game went. We had set up the four objectives but one quarter did not get one. Alex picked the opposing corner leaving my Death Guard with nothing to hold initially and forcing me to split my forces as I had to enter his fields of fire to grab something.

I failed to get Seize the Initiative and his first volley of fire from the predator tank and his repulsor destroyed by predator and helbrute before either had a chance to do anything. Thankfully neither exploded but with those gone I now longer had any long range anti-tank firepower and made things a lot harder. My first turn was just advancing everything towards their nearest objectives. Alex seemed to take a dislike to my plaguecaster and his snipers put everything towards him.

By the time I got one plague marine squad with Typhus into ruins where one objective lay Alex was moving forward and decimating my poxwalkers. I had taken them as bullet shields but even so they fell without doing anything useful. Likewise on my right flank he was blasting the cultists away and dropping a few wounds on my plague marines advancing there.

Although my disgustingly resilient rolls were still as good as they have been in previous games Alex was having a great time with his dice. Coupled with some seriously harsh rerolls and abilities from the new space marine codex I soon realised that I had no chance of taking back this game. Best I could do was just try to hold what I could and hope.

Typhus proved himself an awesome combatant in melee, slicing through primaris marines and lieutenant like they were paper. Unfortunately once he became my last remaining model he seen fell to the firepower of the repulsor. We didn't even check victory points. I was tabled turn 5.

A good game but one that I found very difficult to handle. It was a mix of not having a decent deployment zone coupled with re-rolls and bonuses for the Salamanders. There was very few shots that didn't hit. The loss of my only anti-tank options straight off the bat hurt badly.

There are still a few things that I am forgetting. I still keep forgetting Death to the False Emperor, although I don't think it would have made much difference but it is bugging me that I forget about it. Still a lot that I need to sink in.

---

My list was:

++ Battalion Detachment +
6CP

* Typhus : Blight Grenades, Manreaper, Miasma of Pestilence, Plague Wind, Smite, The Destroyer Hive
* Malignant Plaguecaster : Blight Grenades, Bolt pistol, Corrupted staff, Krak grenade, Miasma of Pestilence, Plague Wind, Smite
* Chaos Cultists
. 8x Chaos Cultist w/ autopistol and brutal assault weapon.
. Chaos Cultist w/ Heavy stubber.
. Cultist Champion : Shotgun
* Plague Marines : Icon of Despair.
. Plague Champion : Blight Grenades, Bolt pistol, Krak Grenades, Plaguesword, Plasma pistol.
. 2 Plague Marine w/ : Blight Grenades, Krak grenade, Meltagun
. 7x Plague Marines.
* Plague Marines : Icon of Despair.
. Plague Champion : Blight Grenades, Bolt pistol, Krak Grenades, Plaguesword, Plasma pistol.
. 2 Plague Marine w/ : Blight Grenades, Krak grenade, Plasmagun.
. 7x Plague Marines.
* 20x Poxwalker.
* Helbrute : Multi-melta, Helbrute fist, Heavy flamer.
* Foetid Bloat-drone: Plague probe, 2x Plaguespitter.
*Chaos Predator : Combi-flamer, Twin lascannon, two heavy bolters

---

Salamanders dominate the battlefield with their tanks.

Devastators cover the area with powerful plasma weapons.

Plague Marines push cultists ahead of them to soak incoming fire.

Death Guard forced to start in the open.