| November 22, 2003 RTT hosted by the Pittsburgh Iron Legion |
Return
to RTT Overview Return to Batreps |
Dan Moore - Wych Cult of Strife
Bob Barclay / Dennis Bachy - Space Marines (ringer army)
This scenario used normal Victory points rules for determining the outcome of the battle. The special rules for the scenario were the selection of a "Hunted" enemy unit for each player that would be worth double its normal victory points if the unit was destroyed or fled the battlefield. Players would select one enemy unit, other than HQ's, as the unit to be hunted.
Bob Barclay's space marine army was the "ringer" army for the tournament, since there was not an even number of participants that showed up. Bob, and his advisor Dennis were two of the PIL staff members that were running the tournament. Bob normally does not play space marines (he plays Eldar - see our batrep from January 2003) so he enlisted Dennis's help since he is a veteran space marine player.
The space marine army that Bob used consisted of a Chaplain HQ, 3 tactical squads (a 6-man and two 10-man), a 6-man Terminator squad, a Dreadnaught with twin-linked lascannons, a Devastator squad (lascannon, plasma cannon, 2 missile launchers,) a Land Raider Crusader, and a Land Speeder Tornado.
Setup was in 12" wide deployment zones along the long edges of the battlefield. The battlefield itself consisted primarily of featureless desert with several large rock outcrops adjacent to both deployment zones. The outcrops were tall enough to block line of sight to vehicles (skimmers or tanks.) I deployed first and placed one of my Wych raiders behind a rock outcrop in the middle of my deployment zone. My other raiders were deployed in similar fashion behind the various rock outcrops on my side of battlefield. Two warp beast squad were deployed in the middle of the battlefield, one behind the other. Behind these I placed my Hellion squad. The jetbike squad and HQ raider were placed on the right side of the battlefield to get them within striking range of Bob's Devastator squad. I opted to give Lelith's retinue a 12" assault range with combat drugs in hopes that they would be able to engage the Devastators on turn 1. The remaining warp beast squad was placed on the left side of the battlefield to support the Wych raider nearby.
Bob deployed all of his units in the center of his deployment zone. The Chaplain was attached to Tactical Squad 2, which was the one that I designated as my "Hunted" unit. Bob nominated the Wych squad that was deployed nearest to my Hellions as his "Hunted" unit. Tactical squad 1 was the 6-man squad.
Battle description:
We rolled to see who got first turn and Bob won the roll. Bob moved only one his Land Speeder before firing all of his guns at my Wych cult. His initial volley of fire first stunned and then destroyed the raider that was carrying the wych squad that he nominated as "the Hunted". Six of the wyches in the squad died when their raider crashed, while the remaining 4 took cover behind the rock outcrop. Tactical squad 1 fired a krak missle at another wych raider but it missed. The Land Speeder fired all its weapons at the jetbike squad and destroyed 3 bikes. The rest of Bob's units fired on the first line of warpbeasts in the center of the battlefield and managed to kill only 3 beasts.
During my half of Turn 1 I moved all of my units toward Bob's deployment zone. The jetbikes advanced toward the Land Speeder and destroyed it with blaster fire. The HQ raider moved 12" and Lelith and her retinue disembarked and then fleet-of-footed 5" to get the whole unit into assault range. The warpbeasts and Hellions in the middle of my deployment zone advanced en masse toward the space marine lines. The wych raider in the center of my deployment zone advanced 12" and the squad disembarked behind the cover of the raider. The warpbeast squad on the left side moved and then fleet-of-footed to gain some cover behind the same raider. The wych raider on the left side made a 24" move and took cover behind a large rock outcrop in Bob's deployment zone. A wych raider and the HQ raider fired their dark lances at the Landraider Crusader but failed to hit or damage it. During the assault phase, Lelith and her retinue assaulted Bob's Devastator squad and managed to kill only one marine. Both units made their "pile in" moves.
At the start of turn two Bob moved most of his units to get them into better positions to fire at my Wych Cult. The Land Raider moved on to the rock outcrop that was screening my Wych raider on the left. The Land Raider fired all its weaponry at the raider and succeeded in stunning it and destroying its dark lance. Tactical squad 1 fired all its weapons at the nearest warpbeast squad and killed two beasts. The Terminator squad advanced toward the onrushing Wych Cult and destroyed the lead warp beast squad in the middle of the battlefield. Tactical squad 2 fired at the HQ raider but failed to damage it. The Dreadnaught advanced and fired its lascannon at the nearest Wych raider. The shot hit the raider but only destroyed its dark lance. Tactical squad 3 moved to join the close combat between Lelith's retinue and the Devastator squad. During the assault phase Lelith's retinue killed marines in both Tactical squad 3 and the Devastator squad with the loss of only a single wych.
During my half of turn 2, I advanced most of my units to get them in assault range of the space marines. The "Hunted" wych squad that was pinned in turn 1 advanced from behind the outcrop that it used for cover. My HQ raider moved in position to fire at the Land Raider but failed to penetrate with its dark lance. The weapon-less Wych raider in the center of the battlefield made a 24" move to interpose itself between the Land Raider and the stunned Wych raider (with full wych squad) on the left side. During the assault phase, one wych squad, the surviving warpbeast squads, the Hellions, and the jetbike squad assaulted the nearest space marine units. A full 8-wych squad and a warpbeast squad assaulted Tactical squad 1 and destroyed it to the man before they could counter attack. The wych squad consolidated into some nearby ruins while the warpbeasts formed a living shield to protect the wyches. The Hellions and warpbeasts that attacked Tactical squad 2 traded casualties with each side losing 3. Each side made its "pile in" moves. The reaver jetbikes assaulted the Devastor squad and killed one marine while taking no casualties in return. Lelith and her retinue focused their attacks on Tactical squad 3 but only managed to kill two marines while losing 1 wych in return. Lelith missed with all of her attacks!
On turn 3 Bob moved his Terminator squad into position to shoot and assault the 8-wych squad in some nearby ruins. The Land Raider pivoted so that it could fire all its weapons at the the same wyches or the warpbeasts that screened them. The Terminators easily dispatched the warpbeasts with storm bolter fire, while the Land Raider killed the entire 8-man wych squad with its hurricane bolters and its miscellaneous weaponry. The Dreadnaught fired its lascannon at the HQ raider but somehow managed to miss it. Undeterred by this setback, the Dreadnaught moved to assault Lelith directly. Lelith focused her attacks against the on-rushing Dreadnaught and succeeded in stunning it with her agonizer. The Dreadnaught's attacks failed to hit Lelith. Lelith's retinue
inflicted more casuatlies on Tactical squad 3 while losing one wyche in return. The jetbike squad managed to kill one of the two remaining marines and the Devastaor squad. The lone survivor of the squad failed his morale check and fell back from the combat. The jetbikes made a "pile in" move on Tactical squad 3 to assist Lelith's retinue. The Hellions and warpbeasts that were fighting Tactical squad 2 killed only one marine during the assault phase and took heavy casualties in return.
During my half of turn 3 I moved the Wych raider on the left side so that the full squad on board could disembark and shoot and/or assault either the Terminators or Land Raider. Ultimately, I decided to assault the terminators with this squad even though they had blasters that could concievably destroy the Land Raider. I figured that the HQ raider would be able to crack the Land Raider with its dark lance. Besides I figured that the wyches had more chance of surviving in close combat than being shot at by the Terminators storm bolters in the next turn. I moved the HQ raider in position for a clear shot on the Land Raider and it subsequently missed. The other weapon-less raider made a 24" move back to my deployment zone. The "Hunted" wych squad advanced and did fleet-of-foot but could not get within assault range of Tactical squad 2. During the assault phase my full Wyche squad on the left assaulted Bob's Terminators and managed to kill 3 while taking only one casualty in return. Bob's Tactical squad 2 had great success in killing my Hellions and warpbeasts while taking only light casualties. The Hellions failed their leadership check and fell back which left only my beastmaster to face the remainder of squad 2. Lelith and two members of her retinue (haywire grenades) attacked Bob's dreadnaught and Lelith was able to destroy its close combat weapon with her agonizer. The remainder of the retinue and the jetbikes attacked Tactical squad 3 and killed two more marines while losing a jetbike in return.
As we finished Turn 3, the tournament organizers announced that the 2 hours allotted for game 3 were over. I thanked Bob and Dennis for a thoroughly enjoyable game and we proceeded to tally up our victory points.
Final Results and Analysis:
The final tally of victory points for both side resulted in a tie. Dennis commented that if I had managed to kill just a couple more marines (lone Devastator and a terminator) then I probably would have had enough victory points to win the game. It would have been nice to finish the day with a win, but I was actually quite pleased with the outcome of the game. My Wych Cult had finally performed as I had hoped they would. Most of my units were able to get into close combat by turn 2 and do so in a coordinated fashion where they could overwhelm the enemy squads that they faced.