The theme for my list was simple, field a Battle Company in 2,000 points. The base cost is 1,840 points which means I could run it at 1,850 points, and probably will, with 10 points left over to give someone something, but the 160 points of upgrades throughout the list was nice and well worth the slightly larger game. In the end I decided to distribute the points as follows (obviously all squads must be 10 strong):
Captain: Power weapon, jump pack
Tactical Squad: Flamer, missile launcher
Tactical Squad: Plasma gun, plasma cannon
Tactical Squad: Plasma gun, plasma cannon
Tactical Squad: Flamer, missile launcher
Tactical Squad: Meltagun, multi-melta
Tactical Squad: Meltagun, missile launcher
Assault Squad: Power claw
Assault Squad: Power claw
Devastator Squad: Missile launcher
Devastator Squad: Missile launcher
Clearly not the best list, but no one can argue with the solid theme I have, in fact you could even make this list using one, sadly, now out of print box set. I know a Chaplain would be superior to the Captain in every way, but this is an entire Company so not taking a Captain would be WRONG. I was sorely tempted to take a Command squad, but that would have only left me with 35 points to spend on much needed options. So I opted for the extra options, which also made my army name sound like a Disney movie.
My foe was playing Chaos Marines and had a Daemon Prince, Khorne Lord with a power claw, five Obliterators in three squads, two Noise Marine units, a Plague Marine squad with plasma guns, an infiltrating squad with an autocannon, and two units of Berserkers in Rhinos. Since GW was kind enough to send me my April White Dwarf last Friday, I only was able to pick it up from the store where it is sent today and discovered the Death World Battle Missions, so we played that.
The mission was Breakthrough and I won choice of deployment zone and took the one closest to me as niether side mattered and my models were already arrayed on that side. At the end of the alternating deployment my foe had deployed rather heavily to his right flank and put his Obliterators and Daemon Prince in the center while I went straight across the six feet I had, combat squading about half of my units, including both Devastators. We then rolled for first turn and I won that as well, which spared me from some nasty plasma cannon doom.
That first turn I rolled an Indigenous Hazard of Self-Detonating Fauna. With the autocannon squad ahead of the main traitor force and perched in some overgrown ruins, I chose them as my target, killing two. My advance, with a heavy emphasis on closing to meet his force while a Tactical combat squad ran along the far and abandoned table edge to the opposite thick forest, and pitiful shooting saw no further casualties. In response the traitors rolled an Environmental Hazard of Deathly Miasma, which slew Loyalists and Traitors alike across the field. With a steady advance on their right flank and some sporadic fire that fell a few Loyal Astartes, mostly with plasma shots, the traitors responded to my central units with the Daemon Prince and the Rhino containing the nine Berserkers with the Lord under cover of the Obliterators, of which a unit of two also advanced. Overall, a rather quiet turn with the casualties heavier on the Loyalist side, but more telling for the Traitors who were outnumbered almost two to one with only 56 models to my 101.
The following turn opened with the exact same Loyalist roll on the Death World hazards, again killing another two of the same squad. An advancing Tactical squad with a flamer and missile launcher killed a Noise Marine, and there was much rejoicing (clap, clap, clap for them). The other Rhino was surrounded, but unharmed from both ranged and assault attacks by two missile launchers, a meltagun, a power claw, and many S4 attacks in the assault. Not to be out done, the Chaos player likewise rolled the same as he did the turn prior, again dropping numerous Astartes table wide. By this time, the mission had killed more models than both of our armies combined; now we knew why both of our armies were seeking to flee this planet as badly as they were. Yet his turn saw that change as he charged the center with the Lord and his Berserker entourage and Daemon Prince, removing two of my squads from the game with contemptuous ease. An assault squad charged fled far across the table, nearly to the Chaos deployment zone. The surrounded Traitor Rhino tank shocked the meltagun squad so it could disgorge the ten Berserkers within, but was blown apart by the meltagunner's death or glory (well, just glory). None of the crazed fanatics died while three Loyalists were felled by shrapnel, giving them room enough to deploy. More Loyalists fell in droves to Obliterators and Noise Marine firepower.
With the opening of the penultimate turn and a full half company dead (although I still outnumbered him, ha ha) I rolled something new, an Acid Geyser on the Seismic Hazards table and where better to put it, but in the middle of tightly bunched traitorous scum, yet I failed to wound, corroding power armor in a boiling rain. The now bunched up Berserkers were torched and blasted by bolt shots, ending with half the squad shredded by the explosive rounds or incinerated by promethium. The survivors were charged by a Tactical squad and a combat squad to prevent them from being charged, resulting in the Khornate traitors falling to the righteous fury they deserved. Elsewhere Berserkers fell and a couple of other shots inconvenienced some Slaaneshi Astartes while the far assault squad made for a pair of Obliterators. In that combat, two Astartes fell and the sergeant and remaining Marine fell back just to just a few inches from the Chaos table edge, but still in cover. With Ghostly Hallucinations from the Hellscape Hazards table heralding his turn, one of my Devastators found themselves pinned as they grappled imaginary images. Sighting a Marine in the woods, a long shot from a lascannon dropped him. A Loyalist with a flamer became a mewling spawn that would later turn on his brethren when they met with the Chaos Lord and his followers; neither of those two loyal Marines survived. The Daemon Prince slaughtered an entire squad of Marines and moved on. Noise Marines bombarded the Loyalists, dropping more. A Tactical squad that was completely surrounded was forced to fall back and was trapped and automatically destroyed as only a roll of snake eyes to fall back would have saved them. The Captain and his Assault Marines were charged, beaten, and the Captain and sergeant forced to flee far to the Chaos table edge, a situation that only benefited the Loyal Astartes. A unit of Obliterators killed one of the Assault Marines that had charged them, despite their having gone to ground, leaving only the sergeant, who was sniped by another through a window. The Tactical squad that torched the Berserkers found themselves in combat, but quickly out of it and fleeing towards victory.
As the final turn began, the Hellscape Hazard table I got to choose granted me Burning Skies, clearly spiting in my face as there was nothing in reserve. My missile launchers now proved their worth felling three Obliterators in as many shots; I wanted to know why they didn't just do that on turn one and save many lives. Flying behind a large wall, the Captain and Assault sergeant took refuge from all but the remaining Rhino's pair of bolters while the five Tactical Marines on the forgotten flank nestled into the thick forest in the corner of the Chaos deployment zone. Putting the spawn out of its misery, little else was done, but the game was still quite close. Of course the Environmental Hazard of Seeker Lightning had to hit one of my Devastator squads, which was the sergeant as his helmet had a small antenna that made him ever so slightly taller than the missile launcher armed Astartes next to him and six S8 wounds later he died with half of his armor saves failed. Angered by the brutal effectiveness my Tactical squad, an Obliterator killed four of the six remaining Marines, leaving the flamer armed Marine and his sergeant. A parting shot from an autocannon cut down the flamer and the sergeant fled into the Traitor's deployment zone. The Daemon Prince moved to finish the Devastators who lost their sergeant to the Seeker Lightning, but found that the missile launcher armed Astartes survived his onslaught, not that it would matter. The Plague Marines had marched onward to the Loyalist deployment zone and needed only to make a run roll of a 3 or more to win the game now that one of my Troops units fled into the Chaos deployment zone. He rolled a one and fell short of his goal. With a unit of Berserkers, a unit of Obliterators, his now separate Lord who had butchered a squad on his own while his minions did likewise elsewhere, and some Noise Marines in my deployment zone, he had six points, while I had a Captain, an Assault sergeant, and two Tactical sergeants in his for six of my own.
With the Devastator with the missile launcher locked in combat with the Daemon Prince, an untouched Tactical combat squad with a missile launcher and the other Devastator missile launcher combat squad (reduced to four), I had a mere 14 Marines left alive at the end of the game, just over 86% casualties; and that is from a full Company of Marines to boot. I had made the most progress crossing the table by moving in my turn, fleeing in my foe's, and then regrouping and moving again in my next thanks to the mission having the specific rule that fleeing units do so towards the opponent's table edge, and boy did I ever
, ending with four models in my foe's while he had at least four or five times that, although we had the same number of units (2 Troops, an HQ, and either a Fast Attack or Heavy Support for me and him, respectively). Fun game, although my dead pile was massive making the casual glance over from other tables tell a story far different from the close fought draw that the game was. Even though the game tipped heavily in my foe's favor by casualties, my position, although tenuous if we continued, was far stronger on turn four than his as I bogged down much of his army prior to allow me to trickle into his deployment zone compliments of And They Shall Know No Fear while he still had a ways to go as he couldn't just fail leadership tests with reckless abandon and had to be cautious. Actually I had quite a bit of incentive to fail leadership tests through Combat Tactics since that would give me a 2D6" move, plus my consolidation, plus my normal movement and if I got caught doing it in assaults, it's just a few extra saves to make; and all because the Emperor loves me. I did die faster than I anticipated, which meant that I really needed the 1/3 chance of the game ending on turn 4 to occur, which it dutifully did. A fifth turn would have seen another two of his units guaranteed to enter my deployment zone with me able to kill only his Lord with a pair of krak missiles in response, but fortunately it didn't come to that, praise the Emperor.
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Originally Posted by Captain Hatl
