October 2013 game day

Posted on 9/28/2013 in blog with tags Warhammer 40K

This post originally appeared on the forums of Cranky Old Gamer, a very fine website (sadly now extinct) ran by my friend Greg Buron

So yeah, I'm back. I got my fill of Roman history that I forgot since junior high and couldn't fail to notice the constant references and similarities between our Astartes and Roman soldiers... :)

Anyays, about this campaign rules?

Updated on October 21, 2013

Siege of Thrax ... Phase I ... Imperium / Dark Angels

Location: Thrax Primaris
Mission: Crusade
Deployment size: 2000pts
Deployment type: Hammer and anvil
Opposing force: Orks ... Marc Racine
Warlord: Belial
Turns: 6
Result: 1-5 Loss. Got 1st Blood, took 6 units

Fielded units (Unit: Survival rate)

Belial (Warlord): 0%
Librarian Quinctilius: 0%
1st Deathwing Company ... 1st Deathwing Knights Livius: 40%
1st Deathwing Company ... 2nd Deathwing Terminator Squad Lucius (Reserve): 0%
3rd Battle Company ... 2nd Tactical Squad Hilaria: 0%
3rd Battle Company ... 3rd Tactical Squad Ovidius: 10%
3rd Battle Company ... 9th Devastator Squad Numerius: 80%
3rd Battle Company ... 10th Devastator Squad Harut: 50%
Land Raider ...Bene Elhoim...: 0%

Battle report

From: <unreadable scrawling> To: Valeria

Dearest,

I'm writing you this letter now that finally brother Harut has closed his eyes. The wounds were too terrible and I had to administer him the last of my surgifoam just to make sure the apothecary can recover something, anything, from his body. Brother Hesediel is now in charge of the 10th, and he called for extraction too long ago. We're watching the orange sky in the east for signs of the Thunderhawks, but all we can hear are the thunder of greenskins' rockets blasting away at our Aegis.

The day started well enough, with the 9th and 10th squads deployed just east of Thrax Primaris oriental wall, in perfect overlapping fields of fire, while the Land Raider Bene Elhoim and the Rhinos of the 2nd and 3rd squads were advancing towards our objectives. The combined might of our weapons laid waste to the disgusting red tide of xenos in remarkable order, and it looked like another glorious day for the Lion.

The first large explosion in this valley was an Ork trukk, destroyed by a barrage of missiles from the first team of the 10th, I think brothers Terentius and Viritribia (if we survive this, we'll have to add this honor to our squad banner). But even that explosion was the harbinger of how the battle would evolve; instead of blowing up to pieces and destroy nearby enemy vehicles, the flaming hulk went careening into the 2nd squad's Rhino and then exploded right in front of brother Vergilius.

The Emperor protects, they say, and maybe Vergilius was due for a worse fate. Maybe.

That was the first of a series of dreadful events for our battle brothers. First the explosion hid the assault from the enemy's warlord towards the Land Raider Bene Elhoim (which ultimately ended in the crippling of the holy machine), then, just when the 1st Deathwing Knights led by the Grand Master of the Deathwing, Belial himself, was advancing to strengthen the position of the 3rd squad on a key objective, the drop pod carrying the 2nd Deathwing Terminator squad was caught into a vile warp disturbance and disappeared without a trace in a fiery azure blast.

Every brother on the battlefield was stunned and agape by the horrible fate of brother Lucas and his team. The orks caught wind and assaulted with renewed vigor, and only the blessed chants of our Knights managed to wipe out and hold the right flank. But the middle was lost and, with it, our support lines.

It wasn't long that even the mighty Knights were suffering casualties and librarian Quinctilius fell as well, not before having taken many enemies with him.

Our warlord Belial wielded the Sword of Silence masterfully and sliced to ribbons three bikes in a single blow, but the horde was too overwhelming. I lost view of him a while ago.

We're hunkered down now and trying to resist, but the objectives are lost.

Valeria dearest, I think I'm hearing the distant sound of your voice...