My second battlereport

The battle was layed using the vassal client and the 40k online mod.
Because the action took place only in one part of the map I shot only that part.

My forces
501st. Cadian Planetary Assault Regiment – “Say hello to my big blast”

Iron Discipline
Stormies
Grenadiers
Drop Troops
Cameleoline
(Yep I do not use grenadiers, but that’s the doctrine list for my online campaign.)

HQ
JO, ID - 55
AT LC squad, cameleoline - 120

Elites
4x stormtroopers, sergeant, 2x flamers, deep strike
66

Troops
Platoon 1
JO, ID - 55
2x 10 Guardsmen, AC, PG, cameleoline
2x95
10x GM, LC, PG, cameleoline
105

Platoon 2
JO, ID - 55
3x 10GM, LC, PG, Cameleoline
3x105
10xGM, AC, PG, Cameleoline
95

H.S.
2x LRBT - H. HB, S. HB, EA
2x160
Basilisk, indirect fire
125

1500

The Enemy – “Death from above. And below. And from the right.”

Traits: Keeper of Genes?, Cleanse the Unholy Ones, Carry your Colors with Honor, From Face to Face

1 Epistolary, BP, Terminator Armor, Veil of Time, Fear of Darkness?, frags, bionics, companion, storm shield
191
4 Terminators, 2 Assault cannons
200
Drop Pod
30

1 Codificer, BP, Terminator Honors, Iron Halo, Vortex of Doom, frags, krak, companion
164
8 Marines, 2 plasma guns, apothecary, veteran sergeant, power fist
195
Drop Pod
30

9 marines, 2 plasma guns, veteran sergeant, apothecary, plasma pistol, power fist
225
Drop Pod
30

9 marines, 2 plasma guns, veteran sergeant, apothecary, plasma pistol, power fist
225
Drop Pod
30

1 Dreadnought, venerable, missile launcher, assault cannon, additional armour, tank hunters
150
Drop Pod
30

1500


That’s my first battle report since the thrill filled battle against elder when I blew up 3 holofield skimmers in one game. So here it comes.


Mission: Seek and Destroy

Colonel Stephen Stakes, commander of the 501st Cadian P.A.R. , for the first time in his life felt disbelief and confusion, unable to think for a few seconds as he stared at the auspex scanner where five stars were racing towards the planet surface.
“The “Balthazar” launched combat drop pods.” , he spoke, voice as if he was suffocating. Cromwell Mallister, first platoon commander stopped cleaning his massive chainsword and lifted his eyes towards the officer:
“That’s impossible. They are not within range of the gene stealer lair. “Cadian soil” has not yet commenced bombardment on the aliens, they”
“They are not targeting the aliens. The pods are coming for us..” As Stephen spoke he lifted his helmet.” Prepare the men!”

Deployment:

He won and chose the north side.
I have never played against entirely deep striking armies before, so I did my best to conceal all my infantry or at least give them a chance to hide into cover in turn 1-2. Strategy was simple – blow away one squad at a time, then move to the next. With the deep strike rolls I hoped that they will arrive at small chunks that I can eat with battlecannons, heavy weapons and rapid firing lasguns/plasmaguns.

I won for turn and chose to go first, though when I look back I think that it should have been better if I chose turn 2 – that’d give me one less turn of movement and one more turn of shooting.

Turn 1
Chaos broke in the Cadian camp. Men were shouting, tanks were roaring, leaving deep track-marks on the earth, commanders were screaming orders at the top of their lungs, their soldiers running as fast as they could, carrying weapons and ammo towards the safety of cover. Like a stirred ant nest, men, armor and heavy weapons poured to their corresponding locations, leaving deep marks in the soft, muddy earth. The guardsmen of the Imperium were ready to face their new enemy.

Imperial guard
Movement:
My tanks maneuver so they can at least force the enemy to deep strike when he will be vulnerable. I set my Basilisk trap – I hoped that the enemy will drop something expensive just to blow it up. All my infantry tries to get further into cover.

Shooting:No targets
Assault: No Targets

Space Marines
Movement: Nothing
Shooting: Nothing
Assault: Nothing

Turn 2

Private Maxwell Payne was cleaning his autocannon’s mechanism with well greased brush. It was work simple enough to let him observe the gray-clouded sky. He was sitting at the edge of an alien-looking forest; trunks covered in grayish bark , leaves as green as his camo-armor and great branches spreading like a spider’s web. The earth was soft, muddy and smelling of grass, soil and rain. It was a good place to sit and watch. There was one thing that was breaking the idyllic picture - the absence of any birds or other animals. The only other living creatures were Maxwell’s comrades, all around the autocannon’s stand, inspecting their weapons and waiting. Their stern faces were contrasting with the calm world – scarred veterans of many battles, people who have seen both victories and defeats, disciplined and calculating their choices. And the wind. The only disturbance in the air, so soft that you can almost forget about it and the fact that it was coming from above, with increasing strength.
“From above?!” private Maximillian whispered to himself and harshly turned on his forgotten short range auspex. Four or five teardrops were rapidly closing to their postion.
“Emperor protect us! Here they come.”
Imperial Guard
Movement: Further tank maneuvers with the same purpose and infantry again tries to get as much cover as they can. My reserves do not arrive
Shooting:
Assault:

Space marines

Movement: Reserves. One tactical squad arrives as well as the terminators. The Dread and two other squads are left behind. The Tacticals deep strike just in front of the forest, luckily for me in range of almost everything. The terminators catch the bait and go for the basilisk.
Shooting: The terminator librarian fails Fear of the Dark. The tacticals fire their bolters and plasmaguns, killing after I made a couple of 4+ cover saves due to cameleoline only 3 guys. The librarian fails his Vortex of doom power.
Terminators shoot at the basilisk and make him explode with 2” radius.
Assault: no assault

Turn 3

With deafening roar the first two capsules struck the ground, sending shockwaves all around, their support engines unable to slow them down enough for easy landing. As soon as they touched the wet mud, the hatches were blown away and steel figures poured from the openings, greeting their enemy with torrent of exploding shells, turning trees into splinters in a heartbeat, tearing men apart, their blood spilling in wide arches all around, bathing trees and comrades alike. Grotesquely hacked bodies, decapitated by the high powered shots were all around and the defenders were stunned in a moment of terror before their silent attackers. Unable to think, the cadian training proved superior to survival instincts, as strict firing lines opened up on the invaders, answering with storm of laser rays. Then the first shells flew in.

Time to see if my plan will work.
Movement: Left Russ moves in a way that he’d be safe from the terminators. Right russ moves 6” to get LOS on the tacticals. My reserves arrive and since they are utterly useless against MEQs they deep strike on the other side of the table, and do nothing for the whole game so I will ignore them in the report.

Shooting: The left leman russ tries it’s pie plate over the tacticals bu utterly misses with bad scater. To compensate for that the Right Leman Russ hits and massacres 7 of the tactical marines. Various squads from the forest shoot at the remaining marines until there is only the librarian left. He’s shot dead by my lascannon team.
He terminators have similar fate, though after all my remaining units poured fire onto them the librarian and champion survived and I will pay dearly for that later.

Assault: No assault

Space Marines

Movement: Everything arrives. The dread drops behind the right leman russ. Tactical squad deep strikes near the left ruins to rapid fire something to hell and the last – at the edge of the table, behind the big forest. Librarian and champion move further into the trees to gain range

Shooting: The Dreadnough fires all weapons at the poor tank’s rear armor, but the sturdy russ survives and is only shaken. The Librarian uses his Fear of the Dark power, this time successfully making his psychic test; one of my squads run away right onto him. The champion stormblters one of the cowards.
The marines which deep stroked in the ruins rapid fired one of my squads which was not fortunate enough to get into cover into oblivion – no one survived. The south tactical squad tries to do the same and kills four of my guys there. The poor guardsmen decide to bail and run away.

Assault: Librarian and champion devastate the fleeing unit and consolidate into another squad.

Turn 4

After the dust settled, Maxwell could hear and see again, though he wished the contrary. The direct hit that the marines absorbed had butchered almost all of them, lacerating bodies despite the titanium suits of power, sending wide bloody chunks of burnt meat and molten metal into the air. Body parts were everywhere, covering the landing zone into gory layer of what once was the mighty astartes. Maxwell felt his stomach revolting, but managed to point his autocannon at one of the survivors. “Lock and load!” he screamed to his loader, while emptying his first clip of shells at the armored silhouette.
On the other side of the battlefield colonel Stephen stood up from his cover, looking at the marines devastating his men. He lifted his chainsword and screamed, consumed with anger:
“To me! To me! Break their backs!”

Movement: The shaken russ runs and turns to face the dreadnought. The other one maneuvers so he can shoot at the tactical marines which rapid fired me so badly. The cowards regroup. My squads in the forest try to run away from potential consolidation, but get bad dif. Terrain checks.

Shooting: The left russ hits Directly on the tacs, killing 7 of them. Almost all other squads in the ruins shoot at them and bring them to the apothecary. The regrouped cowards rapid fire some of the south tactical squad to death so after theirs and some other squad’s shooting there are 3 marines left. Some of my guys shot several drop pods, and with that my shooting ends.

Assault: The command squad in the ruins charges the lone apothecary and utterly butcheres him while sustaining no casualties.
In the forest the terminators kill the squad they are in combat with down to 2 or so guys and they run away..

Space marines

Movement: Librarian, Champion and tacticals continue their movement. The dreadnought walked to gain better sight at my right Leman Russ.
Shooting: The librarian tries to use a power and gets Perils of the Warp and one wound from the daemon trying to fry his head. The Dreadnought blows the battlecannon off the right russ with glancing missile shot. Then the champion fires his storm bolters and gets some kills, but I pass my morale check. That’s not the case when the south surviving tacticals force my poor guardsmen to run off the board.
Assault: The librarian and champion charge, kill some guardsmen, but they are brave and continue fighting with no effect.

Turn 5

Cacophony was everywhere. Maxwell did not knew what happened to the other flank, but by the screams and massive explosions coming from there it was bloody and violent. He was tired, angry and confused. What was happening?
From the forest behind him two massive figures appeared, hacking and slashing their way through his friend, cutting bodies in half with just one blow. Their enormous armors covered in blood and guts, crushing everything in their way. As Maxwell stood frozen with terror, the two angels of death continued to close to his position, unhampered by desperate bayonet blows and las fire.
Suddenly, a strong hand shaking his shoulder lifted the trance-like state.
“Come on! Do not sleep soldier, take the fight to them!” sergeant Hughs screamed into his ear and charged towards the marines. Maxwell picked up his lasgun, abandoned the autocannon and joined the screaming fray; his comrades were already losing, having no chance against the
Terminators, who with apparently no effort threw away half the squad in gory arches of splashing blood and decapitated bodies. “Kill them!” sergeant Hughs screamed and threw himself at the steel mountain, clawing it with bayonet at the mighty warrior. Just a second of silence, the behemoth turned to face the guardsman, as if astonished by his bravery and then tore his flesh apart with one great swing of his massive weapon, decapitating and lacerating the once living body.
“NO!” Maxwell felt the battle frenzy rising in him “NO!”, the soldier lifting his autocannon packs high in the air, charging the back of the terminator “In the name of the God-Emperor!” the guardsman screamed as he leaped and struck true his pack, sticking it into the armor’s forearm. The terminators, feeling that breach in the already damaged part of his powersuit turned and swung great arch of singing steel and cracking energy, but failed to hit the ducking guardsman, who with the last strength left in him took the sergeant’s gun from the torn hand still holding it, threw himself away and with one las shot hit and exploded the shells stil sticking to the terminator’s forearm. The massive explosion separated the terminator’s arm from his body, sending rain of blood all around. Slowly, almost as if some field was holding him up, the champion fell to the ground, his body torn apart. Then the darkness came for Maxwell and he lost consciousness.

Movement:no movement

Shooting: For the first time in my career as imperial guard commander I have nothing to shoot at except some surviving drop pods.

Assault: My desperate guardsmen are brought down to 2 and in return bayonettize the terminator champion(mwahaha). Then they decide to bail.


Space marines

Movement: The librarian casts Fear of the Darkness successfully. Then moves in assault range of the next squad.

Shooting: The Dreadnought fires at the russ to no effect.

Assault: That part is somehow unclear, I do not remember, but the tacticals killed some guardsmen.

Turn 6

Commander Stakes picked up his chainsword and turned on the radio again. No response. The screams they heard though were enough
“We should be there now, you know. We must be there, where our brothers are dying.” He told to himself. The survivors in the ruins were staring at him.
He looked around, feeling the duty of the officer on his shoulders.
“Destroy the drop pods. Then we march to finish the bastards.”

Movement: Russ runs away. Command squad tries desperately to kill the librarian.

Shooting: No shooting except my left russ who explodes the last drop pod in 11” explosion killing two of my guys(great…). The command squad shoots at the librarian to no effect.

Assault: The command squad assault the librarian to no effect.

Space Marines:

Movement: none at all.
Shooting: Dreadnought shakes russ.
Assault Librarian finishes my command squad.

Final results:

He had Librarian + dreadnought + tactical squad under half strength = 454
I had full command squad, two russes, anti tank squad, las/plas guardsmen, storm troopers and one autocannon/plasmagun unit under half strength for 713.
Result: Solid victory for the Imperial guard.


Maxwell was feeling dizzy. He was not sure what was happening – the world was black swirling waves, passing around him. He was feeling comfortable, though. He was laying on something soft like….something very soft. Angels were singing around, and he was trying to accompany their voices, but the muscles of his mouth defied his commands. Everything was so peaceful. The wind, the waves, the songs, the man slapping Maxwell on the cheek.
Shock flew through the soldier’s body, as the cruel, painful reality greeted him with scarred face, more looking like a daemon than a man, almost screaming in the poor guardsman’s face:
“Wake up! Wake up, Lieutenant Maxwell. Wake up and attend to your duties!”
“Sir……?” Maxwell’s head was going to blow up.
“You heard me. The medic told me that you are all right, just the emotion broke your nerves. Your men told me that they had to draw you away from the battle, that you were screaming like an animal, obsessed with blood lust.”
“Sir I…” Maxwell began.
“Do not worry. They told me how you killed that bastard, lieutenant. Good job there. Too bad that old Cromwell could not live up to see this. I always though that the old bastard would die in some ridiculous charge. Well. Any questions?”
“No..uuuhh…yes. Sir…did you just call me lieutenant?”

Most valuable unit: The pair of russes. If I have to choose which, then I will choose the left one. Not only did he destroy a squad of marines in one blow, but survived dreadnought fire for a lot of turns.

Hero of the Game: The guy that killed a terminator in close combat. He is just so awesome.

I am disappointed in how I got lazy from turn 3 to the end. I could have dome a lot and killed that librarian. Next time, I will be more careful.

P.S. Sorry for my clumsy written fluff - English is not my first language and my eyes hurt so much that I cannot see.