2nd Ed. Battle Report: Space Marines vs Chaos

Hi folks,

Last weekend a couple of us from the Crown of Command community played some games in Glenbrook, a small village up in the mountains west of Sydney. I teamed up with Moody, combining our 1000 point Space Marine lists to take on Kharnifex with his 2000 points of Tzeentch marines and daemons. 

Here’s a quick run down on the army lists:

Dark Angels

Sapphon, Grand Master of Chaplains (jump pack, aegis suit)

Assault combat squad (4 x power fists, 2 x chainswords, powersword, hand flamer, flamer, melta bombs and blind grenades)

Scouts (4 x needle sniper rifles, heavy bolter + hellfire rounds)

Devastator combat squad (2 x heavy bolters + hellfire rounds, powerfist)

Predator (twin-linked lascannon, 2 x heavy bolter, 2 x ammo feeds, ablative armour, storm bolter)

Space Marines

Chief Librarian (psychic hood, force weapon)

Techmarine

Assault combat squad (2 x power fists, 2 x power swords, flamer)

Terminator squad (assault cannon, 5 x powerfists)

Dreadnought (assault cannon and close combat weapon)

Chaos Marines

Chaos Sorcerer on Disc of Tzeentch (powerfield, inferno bolts)

Chaos Sorcerer in terminator armour (lightning claw, storm bolter, Displacer Field)

6 x Rubric marines

6 x Chaos terminators (reaper autocannon, combi-weapons, chainfist, other power weapons)

5 x Chaos veterans (missile launcher + plasma missiles)

Lord of Change

Pink Horrors

Missions

Space Marines: High Ground (score if within 3” of one of three hills on the battlefield). 

Chaos Marines: Guerilla War (score points for every three enemy models killed in close combat and vehicles within 24” of your board edge).

Deployment

Chaos deployed first, hiding the terminator squad in some ruins, center left of the board. The Chaos Sorcerer in terminator armour deployed nearby. The Rubric marines deployed in the backfield to the left behind some more ruins, with the second Sorcerer.

I deployed my Devastator marines near a hill on the left flank, separated from the chaos terminators by a wall. Sapphon and the assault squad deployed to their left to provide support up the left flank. I deployed the Predator to move towards the center of the board and attack the terminators if they come out of hiding. My scouts infiltrated into the woods in the center of the board, supported by the predator and within movement range of a second hill. 

Moody deployed his Librarian, Techmarine and Dreadnought in the center of the board, with the Assault squad. The Terminator squad utilised the Ambush strategy card to deploy near a third hill on the right flank.

Having won the roll to infiltrate last, the Chaos Veterans deployed on the far left flank threatening all of the deployed Dark Angels there!

Turn 1

Space marines: I advanced my Devastator marines to capture the first hill and cover the left flank with their firing arcs. Sapphon and the assault marines jumped in close range of the first Chaos Veteran, spotting them. The Predator tank rolled onto the center of the table and the scouts stayed hidden. Moody’s assault marines advanced towards the hidden Chaos Terminators and the loyal Terminators advanced to capture a second hill on the far right. During the shooting phase Sapphon killed the closest Veteran with a krak grenade; I had judged that a charge would not reach him earlier. The psychic phase was ferocious, with 16 warp cards being dished out and used. This would lead to some rapid summoning of daemons in later turns. The Sorcerer in Terminator armour moved through the warp past the wall, threatening my Devastator marines.

Chaos: the Veterans (except for the missile launcher) moved closer to my assault squad, supported further back by the Sorcerer on Disc. The Rubric marines shifted across to where the Chaos Terminators were hiding. The Sorcerer in Terminator armour made a charge move against the Devastators. In the shooting phase the Veteran fired a plasma missile into the assault marines, killing one. A well placed Inferno Bolt from the Sorcerer on Disc failed to wound the 4 marines it hit. In the close combat phase the Sorcerer in Terminator armour easily killed two Devastator marines, then summoned a Lord of Change in the psychic phase. A trio of Pink Horrors were also summoned in the center of the board and the loyal Chief Librarian cast Aura of Fortitude.

Turn 2

Space marines: I piled my remaining Devastator marines into the Sorcerer to clear the way for our Dreadnought to fire on the Lord of Change. Sapphon and the Assault marines charge the closest Veterans. The other squad of Assault marines jumped into close combat with the Pink Horrors. The Predator advanced at a slower speed to provide cover for the scouts, should they move on the objective later on. During the shooting phase it picked off an unengaged Veteran on the left flank with its twin-linked lascannon, triggering a break test. They failed the roll and fell back out of close combat with my assault marines, who killed them all with the free powerfist hits that followed. The Dreadnought managed to cause a single wound with its assault cannon, but caused a whopping 10 wounds, slaying the monster. Up to this point, it was clear that Kharnifex was having the worst kind of luck. In close combat, Moody’s assault marines killed two pink horrors for the loss of one marine. All three of my remaining Devastators were crushed by the Sorcerer's lightning claw. More Pink Horrors were summoned and Storm of Wrath was reflected back onto the loyal Chief Librarian.

Chaos: The Chaos Terminators came out of hiding, shifting back and firing the Reaper autocannon on the loyal Dreadnought; it failed to penetrate the Dreadnought’s armour and jammed (more bad luck!). The Rubric marines were placed on overwatch, anticipating a long range assault by Sapphon and his flying circus. The Sorcerer in Terminator armour charged the Dreadnought, destined to avenge the fall of the Lord of Change. In close combat, the Pink Horrors killed another three Assault marines, for the loss of only one of their own. A Blue Horror also fell, but this combat was becoming very lopsided! The Sorcerer in Terminator armour dismantled the Dreadnought. Two of my Assault marines were killed by the Sorcerer on Disc in the psychic phase (some Tzeentchian devilry), who also cast Psychic Shield on himself.

Turn 3

Space Marines: With nothing to gain by moving closer to the Terminator’s combi-meltas, and nothing to shoot at, my Predator tank went on overwatch. I kept my scouts hidden, preparing for a final turn dash to the objective hill under the cover of the Predator. Sapphon and the surviving two marines jumped into close combat with the Sorcerer on Disc, but the last of his bodyguard were cut down by overwatch fire during the move (curse that predictable trajectory!). The Chief Librarian and Techmarine moved into close combat against the other Sorcerer, keen to avenge the Dreadnought. In close combat, Sapphon beat the Sorcerer and landed some cruel blows with his Crozius Arcanum. We both forgot about the Psychic Shield, which was a bit of a bummer, to be honest. He failed his armour rolls and he was dealt 4 wounds; just enough to kill him. The Sorcerer in Terminator armour killed the Techmarine but took some hits from the Chief Librarian. Saved by his Displacer Field, he jumped through the warp in the direction my scouts were hiding in. In the center of the board, the Horrors finished off the last Assault marine.

Chaos: The Horrors moved into the cover of some nearby woods, but suffered a blistering round of overwatch fire from my Predator, losing many of their number. The Terminators and Rubric marines turned ominously to face Sapphon’s direction, though there was still a ruined building between them. The Sorcerer in Terminator armour charged back into combat against the Chief Librarian, though I believe that close combat ended up being tied.

Turn 4

Space Marines: I had the option of tucking Sapphon safely away behind the ruins under a blind template, or charging the full squad of Rubric marines and Terminators who had been placed on overwatch…

The overwatch fire removed two of Sapphon’s wounds, but he managed to complete his charge move against the nearest Rubric marines. The Predator and Terminator squad fired on the Horrors in the woods, killing all but one (if I remember correctly), at the cost of a jammed assault cannon. I finally ran my scouts out the woods to capture the hill in front of them, using the bulk of the Predator as cover. In close combat, Sapphon killed two Rubric marines. The Chief Librarian and the Sorcerer in Terminator armour continued to fight, with the loyalist taking 2 wounds.

Chaos: The surviving Rubric marines and the Chaos Terminators surrounded Sapphon. He survived several combats but the weight of numbers took its toll. The final hits from a chainaxe rent his armour asunder and he fell.

Final Victory Points:

Space Marines: 20

Chaos Marines: 15

This was a really enjoyable game against some lovingly painted miniatures. It was a good chance to relearn some rules as well; I hadn’t dealt with overwatch for something like 25 years. Kharnifex had some really bad luck and I think our collective exhaustion after the working week was also a factor. It is hard to know what would have happened if we had remembered the Psychic Shield; there were a lot of variables in play and few options for earning victory points by that stage. Tzeentch was certainly up to his mischief. Huge thanks to Kharnifex and Moody for the game!!

See you across the table,

Marc