Team Battle Report

Yesterday, I managed to get a game with a father-daughter pair who were gearing up for the Renegade team tournament in two weeks! I roped in a friend of mine to team up with me and we had a blast!

Basically it was a kind of weird game where Blood Angels, Imperial Guard and Orks ganged up on Necrons and...Imperial Guard. The Guard is just everywhere, aren't they? Speaking of which, yesterday was a great time to test the new Orks codex, so there's that. Awesome.

Draconian regiment ready for battle!

I'm trying to remember what the lists were. I think the daughter brought a Warboss, a Weirdboy, 2 squads of Boyz (one 30 and one 20), Gretchin, a battlewagon, a huge bunch of Lootas, 2 deffkoptas, and 3 bikes. The father brought an Imperial Guard Battalion of 2 Company Commanders and 3 infantry squads - 2 of them with mortars. And they were Tallarn! Actual Tallarn models! Awesome! I was gushing over the opportunity of having regimental rivalry and pitting my Draconians (who use the Cadian regimental doctrine) against Tallarns! His Blood Angels were...Vanguard, I believe? He had a Smash Captain, Mephiston, a squad of Scouts, 2 squads of Sanguinary Guard, and...huh, I don't remember what was the 3rd Elite. Oh, right! Death Company! He brought Death Company! 8 Death Company Marines!

What else...I can't remember.

My friend brought Necrons, and he used a Battalion of a Lord, a Cryptek, a Transcendant C'tan, 2 squads of Warriors, a squad of Immortals (about 20 or so in each squad?), and a Doomsday Ark. I think that was it, I mean, it's a Necron army, so...it'll be elite. As for me, I brought a Battalion of 2 Company Commanders with plasma pistols, 3 infantry squads with plasma guns (I was tempted to swap them out for flamers because Orks, but I went with plasma because it fitted the theme of my army too perfectly and I'm more of a fluff player than competitive so I couldn't care less if I took the "wrong" option), and a Spearhead of a Tank Commander in Leman Russ Punisher, and 3 Leman Russ Executioner tanks (all plasma - I told you plasma fits the theme of my army too perfectly! Everyone other than the Tank Commander has plasma!).

Resigned to losing my infantry squad, I left them in the open, the Draconians in black facing the Tallarns.

We played some Renegade mission where my team was the defender (which suited my gunline and Draconians DEFENDERS very well), and the other team was the attacker. Their primary objective was to kill all my Troops - so basically all 3 of my infantry squads. Uh oh. Our primary objective was to keep all enemy units out of our deployment zone and keep at least 3 of our units in our deployment zone by the end of the game, which is 6 turns. Secondary objectives were the 3 objective markers around each of our deployment zones (6 in total), and tertiary was Solo Blood or whatever they called it.

The attackers apparently got to go first, so they did. I can't remember what they did exactly, but they burned through a lot of their Stratagems and used up almost all of their Stratagems by the first turn. We tried to seize the initiative, but failed. Oh well. To be honest, I thought my team was in for a drubbing. My teammate was experimenting with Necrons, and from experience I knew how squishy my Guardsmen were. Furthermore, I was playing a fluffy and casual list against a team that was preparing for a tournament - I mean, look at all the plasma, and who the hell brings plasma against Orks? And I didn't use mortars or flamers...

Turn 1

The Tallarn infantry moved up, as did the big blob of Boyz...only for the Weirdboy to cast his the Jump psychic power and teleport her 30 Boyz right in front of my Guardsmen (well, 9" away). They used some Blood Angels Stratagem for the Death Company to move and advance before the battle round began, and they moved yet again. That Death Company will be the death of us. The smash Captain on jumppack also used some Stratagem and Deep Struck right behind the Doomsday Ark. Or something. The battlewagon stayed still, but the Warboss moved and Advanced...1" for a total of 5". Poor guy. Dunno why he was footslogging, but whatever. The Scouts also moved toward my Guardsmen. Mephiston casted 2 psychic spells, but one was denied by my friend's Lord with the Necron Warlord Trait to do so.

The Necrons taking up position and cover inside a building.

Anyway, between the mortars and the 30 Boyz's shooting, I lost like 3 guys in the infantry squad out in the open (I put them there to screen my Leman Russ Executioner, already resigned to losing the whole squad since that's the opponent's primary objective) from the Boyz. The mortars fared a lot worse, only killing 1 guardsman per squad for the other 2 squads. The lootas and bikes put about 3 wounds on my Tank Commander the one in the Leman Russ Punisher. Even though I had 4+ and 3+ saves to make, I failed them both. Come on! At the other side, the Death Company fired their boltguns or pistols and killed a few Warriors, then they charged the Immortals and because of their Stratagem and movement, they got in. The Smash Captain also used the Wings of Fire or whatever Blood Angels Stratagem it was to get a 3D6 roll for his charge, and he made it in to smash the Doomsday Ark, despite my friend using the quantum shielding Stratagem or something to ensure that rolls of 3 or less will deal no damage (basically add 1 to the quantum shielding thing). While the Doomsday Ark survived the first blow, the opponent used some Glory for the Chapter Stratagem and obliterated the Doomsday Ark. Oops. Before that happened, the Death Company also took out a bunch of Immortals, I think about 3? I can't remember. The Boyz charged my Guardsmen, lost about 2 Boyz to overwatch, and then...failed their charge twice, despite having a reroll from 'ere we go!

Poor Boyz...

The Cryptek and Lord did a Heroic Intervention, and after losing a few Immortals, the Necrons killed about 2 or 3 Death Company dudes. Oh, and their tesla is amazing. Since 6s count as 3 hits, the Immortals' tesla took out another 1 or 2 Death Company dudes. Awesome! Anyway, the Doomsday Ark blew up and my friend rolled a 6. I told him to let it blow up and deal mortal wounds, even though the Lord, Cryptek, 2 squads of Warriors and 2 of my tanks were within range of the explosion. The Captain took 3 mortal wounds, but he saved one of them through his 5+ Feel No Pain (Warlord Trait), and was down to 3 wounds left. The Necron Lord took 1 mortal wound, which he would heal anyway, and the Cryptek ate 3 mortal wounds. The Warriors lost 2 or 3 models, but the Death Company lost 3 guys to mortal wounds, and only had a single Death Company dude left. Meanwhile my Leman Russ Executioner took 3 mortal wounds straight while my Tank Commander thankfully only took one, and was down 4 wounds. Phew!

Totally worth it.

The Lootas inside their Battlewagon marching alongside Tallarns.

At the end of morale, none of my Guardsmen fled, but the sole survivor of the Death Company fled, despite having And They Shall Know No Fear, because he lost 7 in his squad. Gonna be hard for him to roll pretty low to survive...

Our turn came, and we retaliated fiercely. My friend moved his C'tan down to deal with the Captain, which turned out to be a bad idea, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Anyway, I didn't move at all because I'm Draconian (Cadian). We're a gunline, and we want to re-roll our ones. My friend tried to use the C'tan powers, but failed both of them, and despite spending a Command Re-roll, still failed AGAIN. He spent 2 Command Points to use a 3rd power, and...failed AGAIN. The C'tan just didn't want to use his powers this game. For the love of the Emperor...damn it. Oh, and I used Jury Rigged to heal my Tank Commander back up to 9 wounds.

Fortunately, our shooting fared better. No longer locked in combat, the Immortals opened fire on the bikes and wasted them. The Ork Bikers were wiped out. The Warriors, one infantry squad and my Leman Russ Punisher annihilated all 30 Boyz that failed their charge against my Guardsmen. I told you they were poor Boyz...the other 2 infantry squads fired into the Scouts, but their 2+ camo-cloaks made them impervious to lasgun fire. But I have plasma guns! At least that was what I thought, but the father was rolling 5s and 6s to survive the plasma fusillade. Holy Terra...

Anyway, one Leman Russ Executioner killed 6 Guardsmen in one infantry squad, the other one brought the battlewagon down to 2 wounds, and the third one fired on the Scouts and only killed 3. They were rolling pretty hot saves with those camo cloaks of theirs! Damn...

The ultimate Draconian gunline! Plasma fury!

In the fight phase...the C'tan struck, but the Captain made all of his 3++ invulnerable saves, and smashed the poor C'tan down to just 2 wounds remaining. I told you charging the C'tan into the Captain was a bad idea...anyway, they remained locked in combat.

The father used the final Command Point on a Stratagem "Fight to the Death!" and only one Tallarn in the decimated infantry squad ran away.

Turn 2

Mephiston and the 20 Boyz continued moving forward, but the wounded battlewagon and lootas within remained still. The Warboss ran forward, but rolled a 1 for his Advance again...oh well. The Gretchin followed but for some reason they were behind him. The infantry squads all fell back and ran into cover. And 4 Sanguinary Guard Deep Struck beside my Leman Russ Executioner, with the father opting to hold back the other 4 because he was trying to find a way to deep strike them into my Tank Commander and the other 2 Leman Russ Executioners, but they were surrounded by a bunch of Draconian infantry and Necrons infantry. Heh. The deffkoptas also came from the side to shoot at my tanks, but they were blocked by the screen of Immortals, the Lord, C'tan, Cryptek and Smash Captain. Oh, and the Lord with the Necron Warlord Trait denied Mephiston's first psychic spell for the second time.

The Lootas fired, and along with thhe deffkoptas, they put another 3 wounds on my Leman Russ Punisher, the tank commander being brought down to 6 wounds. Ouch. The Scouts fired on my 7 Guardsmen and killed another 3, I believe. The Mortars were ineffectual, with one totally failing to wound and the other killing just a single guardsman in one of my squads. Nope, not happening. The Boyz fired (I think?) and killed maybe zero Warriors because they were in cover and had a 3+ save. The Saguinary Guard did nothing with their Sanguinary pistols against my Leman Russ Executioner tank. Then Mephisto charged, but failed his charge despite the second psychic power giving him an extra 6". Oh well. Don't think he took a wound in overwatch. The Sanguinary Guard charged my Leman Russ Executioner, who used the Defensive Gunners Stratagem and killed one dude, only for the Sanguinary Guard to fail their charge. Ouch. The Scouts fared better, and clattered into my Guardsmen, but didn't kill any of them in combat. I also didn't kill any of them in combat, so there's that.

This time, the C'an made all his invulnerable saves against the smash Captain's thunder hammer, and rekted him, taking out all 3 wounds despite the Captain making one or two of his Feel No Pain. The smash Captain was slaughtered mercilessly by the C'tan. Heh!

That's a lot of Boyz...except that they all died by Turn 2. 49 of them. Last guy probably fled due to morale.

With nothing to move, we didn't move much, except for my decimated infantry squad (who passed their morale) falling back from the 2 Scouts. My friend did a lot of damage, wiping out the 20 Boyz to just one Boyz, getting rid of the Deffkoptas with just the Immortals and Warriors (I think). Meanwhile, I wiped out the Sanguinary Guard with my Leman Russ Executioner's plasma weaponry while my lascannon took the last 2 wounds off the Battlewagon, destroying it. Unfortunately, the Lootas all disembarked out of range of my closest Leman Russ Executioner. Aw...

My first of the other two infantry squads fired on the Scouts, who were now out of cover and hence their camo cloaks not helping them. With 4+ saves, they died to mere lasgun fire before I even rolled the plasma gun shots. Oh well, good enough for me. They were so annoying, and practically immune to plasma...

I used Jury Rigged and healed my Tank Commander back up to 7 wounds to put him back in the highest bracket. My Leman Russ Punisher fired his punisher gatling cannon on Mephiston because he was the closest model despite being a Character, and killed him with 40 shots. His triple heavy bolters took out another 7 or so Guardsmen that was trying to hold an objective, leaving the father with 2 very decimated infantry squads and one full infantry squad (and one Sanguinary guard still in Deep Strike). Oh, and the 2 Company Commanders, but that was all he had left on the table. Meanwhile my other Leman Russ Executioner could only reach the Gretchin with his lascannon, so he took one out. I can't remember what he fired his plasma cannons on, but maybe he couldn't shoot anyone with his plasma cannons so whatever. The last Leman Russ Executioner couldn't reach the Lootas, as I said, so he fired everything on the Warboss, who because of his slow 1" advances, happened to be the closest model to my Leman Russ Executioner. Needless to say, under the relentless onslaught of so much plasma, the Warboss disintegrated in solar fury.

Those were the casualties...I believe. Or I'm just randomly posting pictures from before the game out of chronological order because I was too busily rolling dice and gaming to take photographs after that.

By now, the opposing team called it. It was 9pm and they had to leave. But even if they didn't, the father admitted that there was no way they could win. The only models they had left on the table was a single Boyz (who would probably run because of morale), a bunch of Gretchin, the Lootas, a Weirdboy, 2 squads that only had 2 or 3 Guardsmen left, a single 10-men infantry squad and 2 Company Commanders. They might still have the Sanguinary Guard, but there's only 4 of them, and quite frankly, they weren't going to do much. In contrast, my friend lost only the Doomsday Ark and had all of his units, none of my infantry squads were dead - which means they can't do anything to earn the primary objective while we would definitely secure our primary objective. We were holding at least 3 objectives while they held on to one (I think). I still had all my Leman Russ tanks. Actually, I think we scored Solo Blood this turn! Holy Terra! That's insane!

So it ended in a victory for my team. YAY! For the Emperor! Even though we allied with unholy Necron constructs, but hey, think of it as the Necrons serving the Imperium like they did in the Shield of Baal thing against Hive Fleet Leviathan.

It was a great and enjoyable game, and we certainly didn't expect the result. To be honest, had the Boyz made their charges, and the Sanguinary Guard made their charges, it would have been a totally different game. Getting my Guardsmen wiped out, and my tanks locked in combat and unable to fire would have made a lot of difference. But I guess our opponents were just unlucky this game. Still, it was pretty fun, and the father said that he learned a lot! He suggested that he should have used the Death Company to kill my infantry squads instead of relying on the Orks. That makes sense.

Anyway, I hope I can get another game today, and I'll see you guys next time!