The Battle for Mirum Ostentum - Slaughter (Part 9)

The post relates to the ongoing narrative campaign that is being run by my gaming group.

Table of Contents hide

1) Phase 2 mission 2: Slaughter

2) Armies

2.1) Main force Chaos

2.2) Secondary force Chaos

2.3) Main force Imperial

2.4) Secondary force Imperial

Phase 2 mission 2: Slaughter

Representing the chaos forces attacking the training grounds for the imperial guard conscripts and the imperial reactionary forces attempting to save what they can.

For this mission, there 100 conscripts (arranged into 20 man squads) and a lord commissar deployed in no mans land. (must be set up 3″ away from another squad and the deployment zones)

Each unit killed is worth 1 victory point. Each conscript unit killed in close combat is worth 2 victory points for the forces of chaos.

The Lord commissar projects his leadership and a stubborn bubble 6” from his position. conscript units auto rally at the table edge if they continue to fall back far enough. They are unable to leave the table.

At the end of the game each surviving imperial unit within the imperial deployment zone grants the imperial side an additional victory point.

Secondary objectives for this mission are: Linebreaker

Armies

Main force Chaos

DA Emperors children, 30k legion list
Praetor: Paragon blade, jump pack, artificer armour, Has the relic that allows him to up his invulnerable save if he sacrifices attacks.
5 man legion heavy support squad with autocannons
Siege breaker with boarding shield and thunder hammer
3 rapiers with quad launchers, shatter and phosphex shells (1 squad of 2)
Command squad, charnable sabres, jump packs, banner bearer has a power fist
Apothecary with jump pack, artificer armour and power sword
Sicaran with lascannon sponsons
Contemptor cortus with keres, ccw and graviton gun
2 rhinos with mutli melta
Deredeo with lascannon battery, heavy bolters and missile launcher
veteran tactical squad, marksmen 2 flamers sergeant with art armour
Veteran tactical squad, marksmen, 2 flamers, sergeant with power fist and art armour.
Bastion with ammo dump.

Secondary force Chaos

KE Alpha legion, 30k legion list.
Vigilator: power sword, bolter with specialist ammo, art armour, refractor field, meltabombs.
Moritat with bolt pistol, plasma pistol, art armour, power dagger, power sword, refractor field and jump pack.
Destroyer squad 6 men inc 1 rad missile launcher and sergeant with art armour, lighting claw + power dagger.
Fire raptor with reaper batteries and hellstrike missiles.
1 rapier with laser destroyer. I chose the tank hunters USR for my infantry.

Main force Imperial

(unfortunately our Black Templar player could not attend and as such we used one of the reserve forces for the second primary army [as the IG warlord could not be used in this mission])

AN: Storm Hawks

Wolf Lord Kraken: Terminator armour, storm shield, storm front (Relic thunder hammer with a built in one shot heavy flamer/localised lightning template)
FOC used: detachment of the great wolf (provides +1 Ws to all wolf guard and provides preferred enemy characters to them and all characters. But they must issue/accept challenges where possible.)
Land raider crusader with Multi melta
Spartan with armoured ceramite
5 man terminator squad with thunder hammers and storm shields
5 man terminators squad: sergeant has a thunder hammer and a power sword, 3 power fists and storm bolters and 1 man with an assault cannon and power sword
9 skyclaws inc 3 thunder hammers
wolf lord sigmar with thunder hammer, jump pack and runic armour, wolf priest, thunder hammer and runic armour
ROC pattern storm eagle
Venerable dreadnought with frost axe and blizzard shield.
Free minion squad 10-man grey hunter squad with 2 meltaguns, inc terminator sergeant with power fist and heavy flamer. (additional close combat weapons are also present on each non terminator marine)

Secondary force Imperial

Imperial guard

4 Leman russ demolishers with hull heavy bolters
1 leman russ demolisher with hull lascannon
1 leman russ punisher with hull mounted heavy bolter.

Story excerpt

Captain Kraken sat in silence within the Land raider crusader observing the tactical holo that was being projected into the centre of the tanks interior.

It was bad but they had a chance to salvage something Drachen had been left in charge with specific instructions to keep Jordas in line and prevent the 10^th from marching.

“Six minutes until we arrive at the contact zone.” Chimes over the com.

“Are the forces on the ground.” Kraken states.

“Dwindling. Predominately conscripts and their minders being trained to aid in planetary defence.”

“And our relief forces.”

“2 hours out.”

“Then we shall hold back the tide of filth and hold the line”

His terminator bodyguard nodded in response know that words were meaningless. Kraken himself nods and returns his attention to the holomap

“Are the preliminary forces in place.” Kraken asks

“Three minutes. The thunderhawk is ahead of us with the storm eagle is keeping watch from the rear.”

_______

Senitam sighed as the current levels of slaughter were not sufficient to bring about any meaningful khornate daemons. Moving through the scarred ground he linked up with the main emperors children forces as his forces moved into their prearranged positions. A thunderhawk transporter dropped a bastion down into the field as he approached.

________

Kraken noted that swift action had been taken and the conscripts had started to pull back as the chaos forces moved into the battleground. Five Leman russ demolishers and a punisher were also present having been in use to provide the conscripts with training. They were fully armed and ready to aid in the defence.

The Game

The imperial forces ready to aid the beleaguered Conscript forces.

The Chaos forces ready themselves to take the fight to the imperial defenders

The conscripts pull back and the imperial vehicles move forwards to take the fight to the forces of chaos.

The conscripts run for it and the only damage caused to the forces of chaos is to the bastion which loses a Hull point and suffers -1 Av on all sides due to a demolisher cannon hit.

The destroyers move forwards losing a member to dangerous terrain in the process.

The deredeo moves out to take advantage of the ammo dump.

The emperors children rhinos move forwards.

The leman russ demolisher that was responsible for the damage to the bastion is wrecked.

The contemptor cortus guns down 4 conscripts. Not enough to cause a morale check.

The destroyers and moritat have charged in and killed 5 more conscripts before sending them running. (having failed to catch them with their sweeping advance.)

The Spartan moves forwards as does the dreadnought Solstice. The conscripts continue to pull back as the Storm Eagle flies onto the battlefield and deploys its cargo.

The lord commissar rallies the fleeing conscripts, 3 of the Skyclaws die due to dangerous terrain as they jump from the Storm eagle.

The leman russ demolishers advance as the land raider crusader lines up to fire upon the destroyers.

Fire from the land raider kills 2 destroyers while the two leman russ demolishers manage to blow the Sicarian apart. The storm eagles shooting takes out the alpha legion basilisk.

The deredeo and the quad mortar concentrate their fire to take out the leman russ punisher.

The Rhinos move up as the contemptor cortus lines up the skyclaws.

The surviving destroyers and the Moritat move up to engauge the Conscripts

The laser destroyer rapier takes a hull point from a leman russ demolisher. While the multi melta on the lead rhino takes a HP from another Leman russ demolisher.

The contemptor cortus charges the skyclaws and wipes out all of them leaving wolf Lord Sigmar on his own. A glancing hit concusses the dreadnought and keeps him alive for now.

The destroyers wipe out a unit of conscripts via sweeping advance, then consolidate into cover.

The Leman russ demolishers continue to advance

The Storm eagle drops into skimmer mode and lines up the rhinos. The final surviving leman russ moves up to target the emperors children.

The Spartan disgorges the terminators within as it advances them into assault range.

Through a combination attack the leman russ demolishers and the storm eagle break open the Emperors children rhinos.

The Spartan wrecks the deredeo and makes the bastion explode. This kills three of the heavy support squad, shooting from the terminators finishes off the remainder with only their attached siege breaker left alive.

The combined firepower of three conscript squads and the land raider remove the Moritat and the last of the destroyers from the table.

Solstice rips the two quad mortars apart.

The last few surviving terminators after they have killed the siege breaker.

Vigilator senitam moves forwards to meltabomb the skimming storm eagle. While the two veteran tactical squads spread out to try and evade the leman russ demolishers.

The preator leads his command squad towards the Spartan.

The Laser destroyer rapier blows a leman russ demolisher apart.

Senitam charges in and manages to stun the storm eagle while the contemptor cortus finishes off Sigmar and consolidated into the building.

One lucky meltabomb strike and damage roll sees the Spartan explode.

The surviving Leman russ demolisher tanks move up to draw line of sight to new targets.

The surviving terminators move up to attack the Quad mortar while the conscripts continue to run further into the imperial deployment zone. Solstice lines up to charge the contemptor cortus

An emperors children veteran tactical squad’s remnants take cover in the ruin from the demolisher cannon blasts.

Despite taking a glancing hit and a shaken result Solstice slices the contemptor cortus apart. Senitam fails to harm the storm eagle.

Now we come to a very strange set of circumstances. The terminator squad charged in and lost one member to overwatch fire. Then the sergeant missed with all of his power sword attacks and was downed by the gunner punching him in the head. (one hit, one wound and one failed armour save for the terminator later) We all laughed about this as the dice were abysmal for all players during this game.

Arriving on turn 4 (having failed to arrive during prior turns) the Fire raptor flies onto the board.

The Preator and his command squad move up to engage the conscripts.

Four phosphex rounds from the surviving quad mortar later and most of the conscripts are melted into goo.

The fire raptor lives up to its name, Four helstrike missiles (heavy 1 Str 8 Ap 2 Sunder) take 2 hull points and the demolisher cannon from one leman russ, a reaper battery wrecks a second one while the nose mounted cannon guns down some conscripts. The Laser destroyer rapier stuns the nearby leman russ demolisher.

The preator and his command squad wipe out the last few conscripts.

The Storm eagle takes flight as Solstice moves to engage Senitam. He would charge in and kill the Alpha legionnaire (I failed one of the five 5+ invulnerable saves I was called upon to make)

The Storm eagle chases down the Fire raptor

The fire raptor jinks and avoid damage as the leman russ and the land raider try and gun down the emperors children veterans.

The grey hunters and wolf priest move into rapid fire range of the preator and his command squad. Taking a single model out with their shooting.

The fire raptor continues to move forwards. And manages to kill off the last few brown coat conscripts and pick off the lord commissar.

The preator and his command squad move forwards towards the grey hunters.

The Laser destroyer Rapier blows Solstice apart avenging Senitam.

The grey hunters put up a fight taking down a member of the command squad as the wolf priest gets two thunder hammer hits past the preators 2+ invun save (he had a relic that allowed him to up his invun if he gave up attacks. And didn’t die soley due to him having the eternal warrior rule[due to him being a campaign warlord]) but takes 2 wounds as seven grey hunters are killed.

Storm Eagle Vs fire Raptor round 2 The fire Raptor elects to jink…

Of which one failed and the damage result was a natural 6. Boom goes the fire raptor.

The grey hunters kill another command squad member for the loss of the wolf priest.

Missing 1 Storm eagle, last seen with the laser destroyer rapier managing to hit, penetrate and then blow the vehicle apart. (Despite it trying to jink)

The conscripts pull further away from the preator and his command squad.

Having managed to best the grey hunters, the preator and the command squad move to claim linebreaker.

Story excerpt

Preator Sine Nomine was wounded but alive. The storm hawks had put up a fight and their chaplain had even managed to wound him. His once pristine armour was now fractured and he would need to replace some of his retinue. Glancing round the corner of the structure they had taken refuge in he could see the enemy slowly pulling back. He turned to his apothecary who held the squads auspex.

“Report”

“Severe damage to both forces. We have ten veterans and a quad mortar left alive. Our allies remaining strength is that laser destroyer team. The enemy have rescued 40% of their assets from this warzone.”

“And the other strike forces in this sector.”

“Similarly repulsed.” The auspex bleeped as more information appeared on it. “More Storm hawk forces moving in company strength.”

“Gather the wounded and fall back.”

___

Kraken watched as the enemy pulled back. He turned as six rhinos moved into the area. Techmarine Fried and Apothecary Garm dismounted as two cleansing fire units and three tactical squads piled out and started to search for survivors.

“Captain” Fried states. “Master Helic suggested we move to reinforce and recover what we can.”

“Acknowledged.” Kraken walks over to the conscripts before kneeling down. “you did good work today soldiers. Your world will need you in the coming days.”

The conscripts unused to being spoken to by a space marine could only cheer at this proclamation.

Conclusion

The final results were Imperial victory points 18, Chaos victory points 18. A draw. Which threw the campaign progression off slightly. We adjusted the progression route by adding an additional mission with a tiebreaker clause included.

Next up we will be playing the fog of war mission which will lead us into phase 3 [4 normal missions -> themed apocalypse game -> Battlefleet gothic game -> Extraction apocalypse mission (where the survivors from the losing side of the previous apocalypse game attempt to leave the planet via a landing pad as enemy pursuers close in all around them.) – > and we shall then have a winner of this campaign.]

The game itself was full of all sorts of close moments with both forces heavily mauled by the end as well as its fair share of odd moments and the rare occurrence of a draw was an unexpected twist to the campaign.