Thursday Night Battle Report 29/07/10 Part 4: Battle for Argos’s Grave

Part 4 of my Thursday Night Battle Report, The Battle for Argos’s Grave:


Turn 6

Alpha Legion
Movement: I knew that a draw was the probable result with a victory being in the hands of the dice, a single Tactical squad stood around the objective. Both Chosen squads disembarked from their stationary Chaos Rhinos and advance on the objective. The single Possessed Chaos Space Marine makes it to the foot of the hill, facing six Devastators. The Chaos Lord and Terminator also move towards the Tactical Squad ready for close combat. I continued the right-hand Havoc’s advance and move them into charge range.
Firing: I avoid firing at the Tactical in case anything goes wrong. The Havocs ping another Devastator leaving only five for the Possessed to fight.
Close Combat: The Possessed takes three wounds before it can swing a claw; neither side kills anything. The main battle sees one of the Chosen in each squad die as the squad is eventually wiped out Powerfists and the Daemon Weapon of the Chaos Lord. The objective is now uncontrolled although I have several squads contesting it. Elsewhere the final Scout dies along with the two Tactical marines fighting with the Chaplain. He kills the final Chaos Marine in base to base and finds himself out of close combat with just a stray bolt pistol round taking an overkill wound.

The lone Chaos Marine Troop consolidates 6” towards the objective and gets within two inches of it to score; a single figure carrying a plasma rifle. Units of Chosen move to cover the advance and guard against any unexpected attacks. With both the Chaplain and Chaos Lord free from combat both figures advance towards each other.

Ultramarines
Movement: The battle is over, but honour is at stake. The chaplain charges towards the Chaos Lord.
Firing: The Drop Pod fails to hit the lone scoring figure, the second Drop Pod misses a Chosen marine.
Close Combat: The Chaplain charges the Chaos Lord hoping for vengeance. Re-rolling misses he cause three wounds and sustains two back. The Iron Halo stops one of the wounds and the Powers of Chaos stop two, with a wound each it is drawn combat, but the Chaplain falls to the ground bleeding from the stray bolt pistol round. The only other combat took place on the hill between the Devastators and the Possessed. Again making three armour saves the Possessed survives without killing anything. The battle is over…

Kill count: Alpha Legion 22 Ultramarines 66

Survivors


Alpha Legion
Chaos Lord (wounded)
1 Possessed
1 Chaos Terminator
9 Chosen (inc Aspiring Champion)
Chaos Rhino
9 Chosen (inc Aspiring Champion)
Chaos Rhino (immobilised)
2 Chaos Space Marines
1 Chaos Space Marine
5 Havocs
3 Havocs

Ultramarines
Librarian (wounded)
Drop Pod
Drop Pod
5 Devastators (inc Veteran)


Random Conclusions:

I was shocked at the final result; I was honestly expecting a draw with a Tactical Marine contesting the objective. Looking at the kill total I cannot believe how much I won by, when the drop pods landed on Turn 3 I thought the game would only last another turn or two.

Both squads of Chosen coming in from the wrong side of table won the game for me by eventually being in the right place and the right time. I may have been unlucky with the dice rolls, but in the end they saw me to victory.

Poor dice rolls meant that I passed every leadership check I had to make, every single one. Now that was lucky…

Despite playing most of the game expecting to lose, as did the gamer that was watching the battle and not playing, I hung on and ground out the win. I focussed on dealing with the threats at a time of my choosing and ignored those elements I could not make contact with. The risky Chaos Lord shots at the Devastators could have cost me the battle if I had continued along that course.

Possessed Chaos Space Marines whilst expensive are golden with their 5+ invulnerable save and wounding T4 on a 3+. They are too expensive in points to take a large squad; hopefully I can buy their special abilities when the new Codex comes out.

The Ultramarine player is looking to add assault elements to his list, Vanguard and Assault Squad. He does have and does normally play Assault Terminators; they would have cost him a HQ and Tactical in points.

The Ultramarine player needs to add powerfists, power weapons and plasma pistols to this arm – even at the loss of models. Before every game he tells the opposing player to ignore them on the models.

Both sides were equally poorly blessed with special close combat weapons; the Ultramarines could boast a powerfist, power weapon and force weapon; Alpha Legion 2 powerfists and a Daemon Weapon which rolled a three or four every time it was used.