The Battle for Mirum Ostentum Part 8

Player: KE
List Name: Tapestry of evil
Composition: Chaos space marines and chaos daemons
Warlord: Morrs Penna (Lord of change with customised & fixed ‘master of mortals’ warlord trait. Which allows his army to consist of both chaos space marine and chaos daemon units, but the warp storm table is still utilised and the army counts as being drawn from the chaos daemons codex where this is relevant)

Player: DA
List: Emperors children
Composition: 30k horus heresy traitor Emperors children
Warlord: Preator [Name to be confirmed]

Additional forces [Can be used for subsidiary forces and will be used in apocalypse at the end of the campaign.]

Syrens (2,000 pts 40k daemon coven)
Tapestry of evil reserve forces (22,000 pts of 40k chaos space marines and daemons.)
Alpha legion (9,000 pts 30k Horus heresy Alpha legion)
Warband Reaver (7,000 pts 40k chaos space marine force)

Imperial

Player: AN
List: 131^st cadian regiment
Composition: Astra militarium
Warlord: Cavros Thorne (company commander)

Player: AS
List: Black Templars
Composition: Space marines
Warlord: Sigismund (We allowed him to be used as a super powered emperor’s champion and he is technically the Black Templars second primarch and because he owned the model and we thought it would be fun to allow his use.)

Additional forces [Can be used for subsidiary forces and will be used in apocalypse at the end of the campaign.]

Gallian 7^th regiment (3,700 pts 40k Astra militarium force)
Storm Hawks (9,000 pts 40k Space wolves force)
Blood eagle’s angels (11,395pts 40k Blood angels force)
Tagmata forces (7,000 pts 30k Tagmata Omnissiah force)

Wildcard forces (as the respective players attend intermittently.)

Dark angels [6000pts] (hunting the fallen, will take part in apocalypse if they are not all captured by then.)
Player: PH, List: Shia’La sept, Composition: Tau empire, Warlord: La’Rios [2,500 pts] {can choose which side he wants to aid}
Player: JE, List: -, Composition: Imperial guard armoured company/30k world eaters, Warlord: TBD
Player: KU, List: -, Composition: space marines, Warlord: TBD
Player: MA, List: Black Legion, Composition: Chaos space marines Warlord: Abaddon

The mission

Breakthrough their lines.

Representing the chaos forces trying to break out from their landing site by forcing a breach in the imperial defensive line. For this mission, we are using the stronghold assault ‘breakthrough’ mission, only playing it lengthwise rather than widthwise representing a small portion of the imperial defensive line. [which adds to the straight up the middle rule for this mission where neither side can make use of outflank.]

For this mission the chaos forces have the use of a lord of War (up to 750pts in value, difference can be filled by additional units). While the imperials can purchase 750pts of defences. Chaos forces get free rhinos for all eligible units (but these do not grant a kill point or provide a victory point bonus if they leave the table.)

Secondary objectives for this mission are: price of failure. Linebreaker *, Onslaught attack and strike the head.

(*Chaos scores two points for linebreaker.)

Onslaught attack: score 1 victory point for each unit destroyed in the first turn.

Price of failure: Lord of war worth 1 VP per 3 starting wounds/HP if destroyed

Strike the head: Score 3 victory points for killing enemy warlord within the first 3 turns.

Armies

Main force Chaos

KE, Tapestry of evil

Morrs penna: lord of change with 3+ save, souleater and hellfire gaze. Has the paradox relic. He knows precognition from the divination discipline, flickering fire of tzeentch, Crush and psychic maelstrom from the telekinesis discipline. His bonus power is Scrapcode curse from the heretec discipline

3 oblitorators with mark of tzeentch, 10 thousand sons, rhino: dirge caster, kharn, 5 csm with mark of khorne and asp with power axe, 10 pink horrors, 1 herald of tzeentch lvl 2 locus of conjuration (knows perfect timing and prescience), burning chariot, lambda {chaos predator with 3 lascannons}, warp phoenix (heldrake with baleflamer), terminator squad (asp twin lightning claws, 2 chain fists, 2 power fists, heavy flamer, combi bolter, combi flamer, combi melta), 5 raptors (khorne, 2 meltaguns, asp with power fist), land raider.

Lord Of War: Greater brass scorpion of khorne. 10 cultists (used to fill in the last 50 pts of the LOW detachment)

Secondary force Chaos

DA, Emperors children, 30k legion list.

Delagatus with jump pack, command squad with jump packs. 2 10 man veteran tactical squads inc 2 flamers, in rhinos. One sergeant has a power fist. Contemptor cortus with keres and power fist.

Main force Imperial

AN, Cadian 131^st regiment:

Command squad with nork dedogg, kell, astropath, master of ordinance, vox, medipack, master of the fleet, lascannon team. Commander Cavros Thorne has the relic power sword that grants +1 Strength. (the command squad counts as the warlord and such is free. In a 1 vs 9 confrontation morrs penna [The lord of change above] would eat them alive though.)

2 infantry platoons. (2 squad each, 2 command squads with banner, vox and medipack), bombard, tech priest with 3 servitors, 2 laser rapier destroyers, vendetta, 3 drop sentinels, 2 priests, 2 commisars, 2 primaris psychers, inquisitor with terminator armour, power fist and psycannon, 2 chimera, 2 special weapon teams with meltaguns, 1 missile launcher heavy weapons team.

Secondary force Imperial

(unfortunately our Black Templar player could not attend but we subbed in this mechanicum force to aid the defenders)

Machanicum:

Magos auxhilla Nils with 4 servo automata, thanatar with paragon of metal and enhanced targeting array, castellax with darkfire cannon, 3 myrmidon destructors with conversion beamers, 10 secutarri peltasts, 10 secutarri hoplites.

Defences: Fortress of redemption, skyshield landing pad, bastion, 2 wall of martrys sections, firestorm redoubt with twin quad Icarus lascannons, vengeance weapon battery with punisher cannon

Story excerpt

Second defensive line – Time elapsed since chaos landing Eight hours.

Adept Nils looked around at the defensive line. Thundering artillery barrages were being traded as the forces of chaos unleashed their fury and the guard responded in kind. The hulking Thanatar nearby cast its shadow over him as it waited for instruction. Mymidon destructors stalked the battlements of the nearby fortress of redemption while the imperial guard forces he had been sent to reinforce wheeled laser destroyer rapiers, a bombard and a pair of chimera transports into position. He could detect the faint traces of fear from the nearby platoon who were led by a priest declaring that the emperor wound protect them.

Looking elsewhere he noticed a squad of conscripts being herded into position as Mr 12 the resident Culexus assassin was given his orders by his Inquisitorial master.

—

Cavros Thorne looked over the defences and nodded as the unnatural fog parted, revealing the enemies spearhead forces.

“Now that’s a big one.” He commented as a Greater brass scorpion scuttled forwards.

The Game

Imperial forces manning their fortifications. (There is a heavy weapons team with missiles in the firestorm redoubt and there is a Secutarri Peltasts squad in the bastion.)

Chaos forces on the limit of their deployment zone. (the burning chariot is on the deployment edge but was wobbling on the terrain hence its current position being due to wobbly model syndrome)

Chaos forces charge forwards as fast as they can.

Morrs Penna has destroyed the chimera {Thanks scrapcode curse} forcing the meltagun squad into the open whilst a combination of perfect timing, a locus of conjuration and the flickering fire of tzeentch power was used to burn the missile team from the firestorm redoubt.

The greater brass scorpion of khorne after some ineffective shooting charges in to tear the conscripts apart. Due to the presence of a priest the conscripts cannot run from the daemon engine but the 1’s rolled for its stomp attacks really hurt its damage output and it kills 3 conscripts.

The forcibly dismounted melta team and the second melta team in their chimera move forwards as the secutarri hoplites move to try and charge the greater brass scorpion.

Imperial shooting removes 3 hull points from and stuns the Land raider, while the vendetta destroys the chaos predator and the thousand sons minus their rhino must now walk. (Note all three remaining rhinos are indeed immobilised and would remain so for the duration of the game)

Now down to 3 hull points the greater brass scorpion crushes 25 conscripts with its stomp attacks (the only time the rolls on the stomp table were not all 1’s) while a squad of cultists has charged in to help with the hoplites. The thousand sons have destroyed the second chimera before kharn killed the survivors. The khorne squad is now down to one man as the power sword armed commissar killed three of them including the aspiring champion. The emperors children delagatus and his command squad deep striked in the gap behind the bombard and ran off the table.

The imperial guard reinforcements arrive and block off the escape route. As the second unit moves forwards.

Using the nucio vox the oblitorators deep strike without scattering. Morrs, the heldrake and the Raptors prepare to leave the table. Note that the myrmidons have destroyed the contemptor cortus.

The oblitorators twin linked flamers prove too much for the infantry squad. This leaves MR 12 the Culexus assassin in the open.

The final Hoplite standing after the destruction of the greater brass scorpion that took out the nearby rhino. The emperors children remnants have charged the conscripts.

The heldrake has lost its baleflamer and been shaken as the cultists kill the last hoplite. The inquisitor and the veteran emperors children sergeant having killed each other with a power fist double KO releases the last handful of conscripts.

The second emperors children squad claims the empty firestorm redoubt while the oblitorators spread out to surround Mr12. The cultists move up to charge the conscripts.

The heavy flamers of the oblitorators turn Mr 12 into BBQ as the cultists kill the last few conscripts. The secutarri peltasts move in to enact revenge.

The vendetta finishes off Kharn, the Peltasts shoot down all but one cultist who passes his morale check while the castellax charges into the obltorators who kill it in close combat.

The cultist has taken refuge in the firestorm redoubt while the obliterators and thousand sons have been gunned down. 2 pink horrors and their herald remain. (As well as two immobilised rhinos, the one cultist and the emperors children squad in the firestorm redoubt.)

Story excerpt

Cavros Thorne looked took the offered magnoculars his master of ordinance had presented to him. Looking through he could see more chaos forces advancing. The line could hold but his supplies would not. Those enemy forces who had broken through were even now harassing his supply lines. Taking his master vox in his hand he spoke the words he had never thought he would need to speak.

“All forces pull back. We will be surrounded and cut off if we do not fall back now.” He yelled.

The fall back began in earnest as more fell creations of the chaos forces moved into view. When they reached the lines they spread outwards looking for more victims as well as solidifying the hold the chaos forces had over the area.

—-

Morrs Penna stood as his breakthrough forces harassed the imperial backfield support but did not actively pursue the retreating imperials. Delagatus Parmenion of the emperors children looked up at him.

“Yes.” Morrs asked pre-empting the marines question.

“Why do we not chase them.”

“There is no need. They have nowhere to run to.” Morrs stated. “they cannot evacuate the planet with our fleet in orbit so they must stand and fight eventually.”

“I still don’t like it.”

“That is irrelevant”

Parmenion snarled and spat out a curse.

Morrs ignored the little marine’s actions as further chaos forces flooded into the area and started stripping the remaining supplies from the imperial positions that had been abandoned when the fall-back order was issued. Sporadic fighting broke out where the enemy had lain traps and where space marines conducted hit and run strikes to try and slow them down.

Conclusion

When we came to totalling up the scores we found that the Imperial force had scored 14 Victory points while the Chaos force had scored 21 victory points. (and gotten 7 units off the defenders table edge[Terminator squad sigma, khorne raptors, Morrs Penna, delagatus Parmenion, his command squad, the burning chariot and the heldrake], with four lurking [Pink horrors, herald of tzeentch, a cultist and a veteran emperors children tactical squad] within the imperial deployment zone at the end of turn 5 when the game ended.)

This was a far cry from the last time our group played this mission.

{that time a combined imperial guard force 4000pts inc defences fought an emperors children/black Templar alliance and held the line preventing anything from leaving the table via the defenders edge. One back Templar squad managed to move through the ruined piles of transports and make it into the defenders deployment zone. The score was 20/3 not quite matching the biggest ever victory in our group. (47/12 if you were interested, Mealstrom (the one where you get a number of cards based on the objectives you hold.) one side scored the hold all objectives card on that day, admittedly with dual chaos daemon summoning lists)}

So it was nice to see a closer game which ran to a natural conclusion. This result leads us further down the path of chaos heading towards the slaughter mission.