In preparation for the Warhammer World Betrayal gaming event in August, myself and Alex felt it was about time we actually played some games and tried out a few units to see what was good and what was 'fluff' from our planned armies.
Alex used a mix of his Sons of Horus and my Night Lords models as Sons of Horus. I used my existing Raven Guard force from a previous event. Both of us had a pretty wide spread of different unit types.
Game 1: Boost the signal (1500pts)
I took the first turn and managed to move a lot of my army closer to the central bastion (which would give me a bonus to my transmission score at the end of the turn), although a few bad difficult terrain rolls meant my Tactical squad with my HQ came up short. Earluy shooting from both sides was pretty ineffectual, although Alex did manage to immobilise his Plasma Executioner Deimos Predator behind a building which blocked line of sight.
The game really kicked off when Abaddon and 5 Justaerin arrived from deep strike and promptly got leapt upon by 15 assault marines. After the melee cleared, the assault marines had lost 6 of their number and despite bringing down 3 terminators, they fled, with Abaddon hot on their heels (see below). This combat carried on over a few turns as Abaddon charged and broke the assault marines twice more before ignoring them and heading for the centre of the board.
Whilst this was going on, a grinding war was erupting around the bastion. The Raven Guard landspeeders sped forward and exploded Alex's other Deimos Predator, before being subjected to the twin Kheres assault cannons of the Contemptor (which did nothing) and then the chain-fired plasma pistols of the Moritat. The picture below shows the result of his armour penetration rolls after landing 16 hits on the squadron...
The reduced Tactical Squads grappled over the bastion and it changed hands several times over the course of some brutal close combat.
Abaddon was finally brought down by a sequence of single wounds and single failed armour saves, eventually being felled by a reduced Tactical Squad firing overwatch as he charged towards the Bastion.
Despite some poor transmission rolls from both sides, the Raven Guards early bonuses proved sufficient to give them the win.
Result: Loyalists - 11, Traitors - 4
Game 2: Firetide (2000pts)
The second game was a terrifying prospect. Not only would we have to contend with our opponents armies, but also with fireballs raining from the sky, making the battlefield incredibly hazardous.
The Traitors won the first turn and barreled forwards, dropping a fireball into the building at the back of my deployment zone which sheltered my Tactical squad. Despite luckily missing the building, the flames still claimed the lives of 3 Tactical marines. Shots from the Plasma Executioner cannon killed yet more tactical marines and took a hull point off my Contemptor. The game became something of a stand off as squads tried to avoid the burning area of the battlefield and stay in cover in preparation for rushing the objectives at the end of the game. My Assault squad and Praetor deep striked into the back of the Traitor lines, unaware that the Moritat and his Destroyers lurked nearby. After failing to glance the Magna Melta Predator to death with their pistols the return fire from the tank, tactical squad, destroyers and Moritat killed all 15 assault marines and left just the furious looking Praetor alive.
Abaddon and his Justaerin suffered a long run after their Spartan transport was immobilised in the 2nd turn by multi-melta fire from a suicide unit of Land Speeders. Despite this he broke a unit of Veterans and a Tactical squad single handedly.
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Result: Loyalists - 7, Traitors 6
Game 3: Shatter Strike (2500pts)
For this game we moved from a 6x4 table to the fantastic Spyral Prime themed board. I took the opportunity to take a few army shots with this great backdrop....
We expanded the deployment zones and extended the game length as the scenario revolves around getting infantry into enemy deployment zones, and the board we were playing on was 8' x 6'!
Im not going to explain too much, as this game is better served by the pictures below. It was a brutal affair with fighting funnelled down the two main roads and around the ruined building in the centre of the board which the Spartan got immobilised in!
In the end it was the Night Lords assault squad deep striking into the back of the board that made the difference giving the Traitors the win.
Final Result: Loyalists - 2, Traitors - 4
