Draconian Armored Defenders versus Primaris Space Marines Battle Report

I managed to finally get a game for the first time in ages! No, it's not after the Age of Darkness. Never mind, bad joke. Anyway, I managed to get a game today, as well as 5 new Cadian Guardsmen, who will be painted in the Draconian colors of black and gold. For Draconis! For the Emperor! Yeah, they're Draconian Guardsmen who learn the Cadian Regimental Doctrine of Born Soldiers, but they're not Cadians. They're Draconian. The Draconian Armored Defenders!

I'm starting to think my Draconians specialize in defensive siege warfare. On the tabletop, I play a static gunline, but this easily translates into a defensive army that entrenches themselves firmly behind trenches (again, another bad joke), defensive lines, barricades and barriers, and overwhelm all attackers with...well, overwhelming firepower. Tough, sturdy Leman Russ Executioner tanks who just sit still and bombard attacking enemies, and Guardsmen who...well, take cover in trenches and shoot prettty well (with the re-rolls of ones, I guess). And then you have the elite Kamikaze Storm Troopers who are the Draconian equivalent of Cadian Kasrkins. Yay. These are the attackers who drop in behind enemy lines and take out high-value targets and strategic installations while the armored tanks and entrenched infantry defend and endure the assault from the enemy. Makes a lot of sense. That's why they're called the Draconian Armored Defenders.

Anyway, my opponent brought Primaris Marines. He spent a Command Point to upgrade a Primaris Captain into the Chapter Master (but he wasn't the Warlord...wait, what?), had a 2nd Primaris Captain, but this guy was in gravis armor for the added Toughness. Then he had 3 squads of Intercessors, which were 7, 6 and 6. Or something. I'm not sure how that worked out. He also had 3 Aggressors and 2 squads of 7 Hellblasters each. So it was a Battalion of Primaris Space Marines. They were all foot-slogging because...well, he didn't bring transports. He was a Blood Angels player so he wasn't used to this list and he didn't know how to make use of them...evidently. It was a 1,200-point game. Obviously he didn't want to play against my Imperial Knight and honesstly, I had no intention of fielding my Knight Crusader in such a low-point game (I originally brought my Knight Crusader to face Adeptus Custodes).

On the other hand, I brought a company commander with plasma pistol, a Tempestor Prime with tempestus command rod, 2 infantry squads with plasma guns, 10 Militarum Tempestus Scions (Kamikaze Storm Troopers), a Militarum Tempestus Command squad with 4 plasma guns, a Taurox Prime with Taurox gatling cannon and hot-shot volley guns, and 4 Leman Russ tanks. I only had 2 Leman Russ Executioners with plasma cannons and lascannons and a Leman Russ Punisher with 3 heavy bolters. So to top up the rest of the points, I borrowed a Leman Russ main battle tank with 3 heavy bolters.

We rolled off to see who deployed first, and he won, and I finished deploying last. That meant he had a +1 to his roll-off. Unfortunately, he rolled a 1 and I rolled a 5, so the +1 didn't matter. I started first.

Turn 1

Mindful of the threat his Hellblasters posed to my tanks, I began by having all my Leman Russ Executioner tanks firing at the first squad of Hellblasters and wiped them out. The Leman Russ main battle tank then fired on the Aggressors and wiped them out too. That was a significant chunk of his firepower gone. As for my Taurox Prime, it went up and killed maybe 1 or 2 Intercessors. My Leman Russ Punisher also took out another 2 or 3 Intercessors, but because they had cover from my AP 0 Punisher gatling cannon, they had 2+ saves and made most of them.

My opponent then moved his Intercessors and Chapter Master forward, as well as his Hellblasters. His Hellblasters put about 4 wounds on my Leman Russ Punisher tank, and between the krak grenades from the auxiliary grenade launchers and the bolt rifles, the Intercessors put about 3 wounds on the Taurox Prime. Not a lot of harm done.

Turn 2

My Leman Russ Executioner fired on the Hellblasters and took out about 3 or 4 of them, I believe. The other Leman Russ Executioner and main battle tank wiped out an Intercessor squad, but the Leman Russ Punisher didn't do much because the Intercessors made most of their 2+ saves. The 10 Militarum Tempestus Scions had disembarked, but their shooting was ineffectual despite the First Rank, Fire! Second, Rank, Fire! from my Deep Striking Tempestor Prime. I only took out maybe 1 or 2 Intercessors at most. My plasma command squad also took aim from the order and killed about 4 or so Intercessors, I believe? I can't remember. Anyway, I know there were still quite a few Intercessors left, maybe 2 or 3 from one squad, and 2 or 3 from another squad, and 2 from one last squad.

The Hellblasters moved forward and planted another 4 wounds on my Leman Russ Executioner this time (not the Punisher - he fired on the Punisher originally because that was the only tank within his line of sight and he didn't dare put his Hellblasters within line of sight of my Leman Russ tanks). The Intercessors mowed down the majority of my Kamikaze Storm Troopers with their bolt rifles...they took out 3 of my plasma gunners with their shooting. Then the Chapter Master and Intercessors charged into combat and the Chapter Master basically killed 3 Guardsmen with his power fists, and then the Intercessors killed another 5. I don't know why my Sergeant and lone Kamikaze Storm Trooper could fight back but they did and did nothing. Then the last 2 Kamikaze Storm Troopers fled because they failed morale - losing 8 casualties would do that to you. With the Kamikaze Storm Troopers wiped out, the Intecessors and Chapter Master consolidated into my sole surviving plasma gunner and the Taurox Prime.

Turn 3

I used Jury Rigged to heal a wound on my Leman Russ Executioner, and then had my plasma gunner, Tempestor Prime and Taurox Prime fall back. The 2 infantry squads let loose with whatever lasgun shots and plasma gun shots they have, but I think they didn't kill anyone. The Leman Russ Executioner wiped out the Hellblasters, then the second one wiped out another Intercessor squad. The Leman Russ Punisher shot the Chapter Master, who was the closest enemy unit to him, and killed him through sheer dakka despite the 2+ saves. The 2nd Leman Russ main battle tank then kiled a second Intercessor squad, which meant there was only 2 Intercessors left on that end of the table. On the other end, where the blasted remains of the Hellblaster was, the Warlord Primaris Captain was alone.

The 2 guys survived my plasma gunner's barrage despite the "Get back into the fight!" order after falling back. They shot him to death, and then charged my Tempestor Prime, but failed to kill him. My Tempestor Prime only took a wound, and he fought back...only to roll 3 ones for his attacks. Wow. Anyway, that was game. My opponent conceded because he had nothing left - just 3 models on the table. I still had 4 Leman Russ tanks and a Taurox Prime - all of whom were over half their health - and 2 full infantry squads who were completely unscathed and still under the command of my Company Commander. There was little point in continuing. The outcome was clear.

The Draconian Armored Defenders had won. Against humanity's finest...against the legendary Space Marines. Despite all the narrative, all the lore, all the fluff I've read, on the tabletop, the Imperial Guard prevailed and utterly crushed the Space Marines. The Adeptus Astartes were unable to match the sheer firepower of the Astra Militarum and their armored might.

To be fair, if it had been completely infantry against infantry, the Intercessors and Primaris Space Marines would have won. Honestly, I was lucky. I got to go first. If my opponent had gone first and had the full benefit of unleashing a bombardment of plasma from his Hellblasters, I would have lost a tank or 2, and I wouldn't have been able to wipe out so much of his forces. The winner was decided by who got to go first. It was...just weird.

Well, I'll take the victory and celebrate another Imperial Guard victory! It's rare that we get to win, so let's just praise the Emperor for now!

Tada raised his head and watched the blasted battlefield. The Space Marines had tried to charge over the terrain to destroy the tanks, but the formidable firepower of the Leman Russ tanks had pulverized them to nothing. Superheated plasma from the Leman Russ Executioners turned even the most armored Space Marine into molten slag, and the Leman Russ Punisher sent a devastating barrage that crumpled the power armor of the charging Space Marines and reduced the transhumans inside into bloody pulps.

"This was...surprisingly easy," he remarked to his adjutant, Tsutsui. "I thought the Space Marines were supposed to be the Emperor's Finest. The Angels of Death...gods among us mortals. But they die just like any other mortal."

Tsutsui shrugged. "Well, they had quite the lackluster codex. Or maybe the Space Marine commander didn't know what he was doing."

"The Emperor Protects...we must have gotten some really good rolls."

"Yeah, and those poor bastards must be rolling pretty badly."

They glanced at the Leman Russ main battle tank that they had borrowed. The attached tank commander, Ueda, stood out of his cupola and waved at them.

"Did you even need my help?"

"Yeah, of course. Your main battle cannon utterly obliterated them."

"Well, Strength 8 AP -2...it wonds these Marines on a 2+." Ueda shrugged. "No wonder they're falling like fries."

"Where's their armor?"

"You mean their Repulsor tank? Come to think of it, if they had even one Repulsor tank, we would be destroyed."

Tada couldn't help but shudder at that. The amount of lascannons bristling on that Primaris Space Marine tank was nothing short of obscene. On the other hand, a single Repulsor cost almost two times as much as one Leman Russ tank. But it had 4 lascannon shots, enough to destroy a single Leman Russ tank in one volley.

"Good thing we brought anti-infantry tanks today. They had so much infantry."

"...yeah. The Emperor protects."

Despite the legends he had read and heard about the revered Space Marines, Tada was still perplexed over how they were crushed so easily. Even their vaunted power armor could not withstand a barrage from a Leman Russ tank. No wonder the Tallan Desert Raiders defeated the accursed Iron Warriors during the Horus Heresy despite being mere mortals.

"Well..." Tada ducked as his Leman Russ Executioner fired another volley of plasma, which incinerated another squad of hapless Space Marines. "Let's just celebrate this victory, all right?"

"...Lieutenant, don't forget to honor the Kamikaze Storm Troopers," Tsuutsui reminded him. Tada started.

"Oh, right..."

The Kamikaze Storm Troopers had sold themselves dearly, getting wiped out to a man. They had scrambled ahead and dropped right behind enemy lines to distract the Space Marines, their hot-shot lasguns - or hellguns being ineffectual against the ceramite power armor of the transhuman warriors. In retaliation, the Space Marines had butchered the Storm Troopers, leaving only Colonel Matsuda, the Tempestor Prime behind.

But the Kamikaze Storm Troopers' sacrifice had not been in vain. Thanks to the diversion, the Space Marines were distracted long enough for the Leman Russ tanks to roll into position and pulverize their positions into molten craters with high ordnance, explosive shells and superheated plasma. They never stood a chance.

"Welcome to the Guard," Tada muttered. "You win some, you lose some. This is why the Imperial Guard always win. Every one of us is expendable, and not afraid to sacrifice our lives to achieve an objective. Emperor bless their souls...they did good."

"Indeed," Tsutsui agreed before blasting another heavy weapons Marine squad into oblivion with the plasma cannons. "But you know....our armor infantry has barely fired a shot."

The two infantry squads entrenched in cover were only providing cover fire, their las-fire ineffective against the hulking warriors' power armor. But as with the Kamikaze Storm Troopers, their attempts at combat had successfully diverted the Space Marines' attention away from the real threat. Thanks to that, the Leman Russ tanks were mostly unscathed.

"Well, that's why the Storm Troopers always get the glory." Tada shrugged. "And the normal infantry don't. But if you ask me, I'd rather be alive than receive posthumous honors."

"Agreed." Tsutsui swept the main Executioner cannon around, but saw that there were no longer any targets around. "Huh...the Space Marines are wiped out."

"Oh well." Tada glanced at the defensive lines where the infantry remained under cover. "The infantry finally has work to do. Get them to scout the area. Ensure there are no survivors."

"Roger that."

With that, the Draconian Armored Defenders moved on to the next phase of their defensive mission.