IMPERIAL GUARD versus Space Marines - Space Wolves

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Opponent: Wayne
Mission: Pitched Battle
Location: Eye of Terror
Background: In 999.M41 the Cadian Expeditionary Force rushed back to Cadia to participate in it's defence. En route their transport developed problems with it's warp drives and had to return to realspace in the Fenris system. While the ship was being repaired the 271st regiment were landed on a nearby planet. They were attacked in error by an impetuous Space Wolf force and it was some time before the mistake was recognised..
1st turn: Space Marines - Space Wolves
Points: 1000

Imperial Guard

• Command Platoon 77, Captain Kennell (Junior Officer), Company Standard, 2 Meltaguns
• Anti tank squad, 3 Lascannons
• 9 Stormtroopers, Vet sergeant with plasma pistol, 2 plasma guns, deep strike
• 8 Stormtroopers, 2 meltaguns, deep strike
• Infantry Platoon
• Command Squad 36, Junior Officer with power weapon and plasma pistol, medic, 2 plasma guns
• Infantry Squad 501, Missile Launcher, Grenade Launcher
• Infantry Squad 541, Missile Launcher, Grenade Launcher
• Infantry Platoon
• Command Squad, Missile Launcher
• Infantry Squad 609, Missile Launcher, Grenade Launcher
• Infantry Squad 812, Flamer
• Basilisk, Indirect fire
  

Space Marines - Space Wolves

• Wolf Priest
• Another HQ with Frostblade
• Grey hunters in rhino
• Bloodclaws in rhino
• Landspeeder tornado with multi-melta and heavy flamer
• Attack bike with heavy bolter
• Predator annihilator
• Wolf scouts with meltagun and powerfist

Terrain and Deployment
This was another warm-up game for The Gauntlet. Wayne is a strong player with a nasty army, so I knew he would give me a tough game. He has beaten me numerous times in the past with his Emperor's Children and Lost and the Damned army.

We played on a 6x4 table with a lot of terrain. It had a large building on my right deployment zone and a hill on my left. There was a wood in the centre of Wayne's deployment zone. There was also another large building in the left-centre of the board. Between these big terrain features there were numerous walls, hedges and rocks.

I was really worried about the wolf scouts running amok against my anti-tank and command squads so I set up in a very unusual fashion. I stretched one command squad out across the back edge of the table then set the infantry squads out around it in a large horseshoe shape. Then I put all my vulnerable squads inside, ensuring the scouts would have to attack an infantry squad first. My basilisk was set up nearby behind the tall building on my right, and a single infantry squad on my extreme left, on a hill. Both Stormtrooper squads started in reserve, so they could deep strike on.

Wayne started with both rhinos and the predator behind the woods. His 'speeder was on my left and his attack bike on my right. His scouts were, of course, in reserve.

The Game
The Space Wolves won first turn and raced forward in a rhino rush toward my lines. The Landspeeder moved 24" to threaten my lone infantry squad and the predator targeted my basilisk. I hadn't noticed but the building had a large open doorway and the basilisk was clearly visible! Fortunately it missed.

I now had a vital round of shooting. It started badly when I failed to knock the 'speeder out of the sky. Virtually everything in my firebase shot at the rhinos but I only managed to stop the lead one. For some reason I had a brainfart and forgot to shoot my basilisk at the predator, taking a long shot at the rhinos and hoping to scatter backwards. It missed by a mile.

Now I started to take a beating. The Landspeeder fried all of my Guardsmen with it's heavy flamer, killing 9 and routing the last man. The scouts arrived and assaulted an infantry squad, and the predator killed the basilisk. Wayne's 2nd rhino raced forward but he didn't dismount his troops (it was touch and go whether he was in assault range or not). His other unit left their rhino behind and ran toward my gunline.

I took out that surviving rhino quicksmart and hosed both units on foot with lots of firepower, Both were halved in number. My Guardsmen put up a good fight in combat with the scouts. I had deployed every squad member in base contact so I qualified for +1 initiative from Close Order Drill. That meant I was swinging at the same time as the Marines and managed to drop one. Wayne rolled poorly and the fight continued. My plasma Stormtroopers dropped right into the wood to threaten the predator.

Wayne brought his Landspeeder 24" toward my firebase and they were so closely packed his heavy flamer would be devastating if he got to fire it. His bike had advanced up the other flank and now started sniping at my command and anti-tank squads at my rear (their infantry screen was tied up in combat with the scouts). The Grey Hunters made contact with my lead infantry squad, but again I put up a stiff resistance. They were eventually overwhelmed but I dragged down a couple of Marines on the way. His Bloodclaws would take another turn to reach my lines so the attached Wolf Priest cast stormcaller.

My main concern was to take down that 'speeder, so I dropped the melta Stormtroopers next to it. I rolled two misses. In return, the speeder flamed the Stormtroopers, killing every single one. Ouch.

The firebase took down the Priest and last 'claws. It was now that my unusual deployment came back to haunt me. Every unit I had was closer than 3" to each other, meaning that Wayne could consolidate from combat to combat and dodge my shooting. It was a war of attrition now, as I killed one model for every five he destroyed. In the end I triumphed through weight of numbers and close order drill. The Wolves were defeated in combat!

The final actions of the game were the 'speeder being shot down by a missile launcher and my Stormtroopers assaulting the side armour of the predator and immobilising it.

It was clear that I was ahead on victory points but in totting them up we found it was closer than it had appeared at first sight. I ended up 254 points ahead, just enough for a marginal victory. That last turn immobilization of the predator made the difference between a draw and a win.

Result: Win

Kennell's Commendation: The Stormtrooper squad with plasma guns who captured a table quarter and victory points by immobilising the predator with a few well placed Krak grenades.

Learning points

• This was a good, tense game. My first against a true rhino rush army. I think my army stood up pretty well.
• Close order drill was excellent. The Marine squads were already weakened by the time they hit my lines, so that extra kill or two per turn helped to wipe them out before they slaughtered everybody.
• I really have to watch out for flamer templates. Just two shots with that heavy flamer destroyed about 200 points of my army. Eeek!

IMPERIAL GUARD versus Chaos Space Marines

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Opponent: Gary
Mission: Pitched Battle
Location: Luzon
Background: With the Cadians on the back foot Captain Kennell requests reinforcements, and receives them in the form of Stormtroopers from the Schola Progenium on Klasa. Kennell goes onto the offensive, determined to avenge his earlier defeats
1st turn: Imperial Guard
Points: 1000

Imperial Guard

• Command Platoon 77, Captain Kennell (Junior Officer), Company Standard, 2 Meltaguns
• Anti tank squad, 3 Lascannons
• 9 Stormtroopers, Vet sergeant with plasma pistol, 2 plasma guns, deep strike
• 8 Stormtroopers, 2 meltaguns, deep strike
• Infantry Platoon
• Command Squad 36, Junior Officer with power weapon and plasma pistol, medic, 2 plasma guns
• Infantry Squad 501, Missile Launcher, Grenade Launcher
• Infantry Squad 541, Missile Launcher, Grenade Launcher
• Infantry Platoon
• Command Squad, Missile Launcher
• Infantry Squad 609, Missile Launcher, Grenade Launcher
• Infantry Squad 812, Flamer
• Basilisk, Indirect fire
  

Chaos Space Marines

• Lord with Axe of Khorne, Mark of Khorne, Talisman of Burning Blood, Bolt pistol, Collar of Khorne
• 8 Marines with Bolt pistols and Close Combat Weapons in rhino
• Dreadnought with Lascannons
• 8 Bloodletters
• 5 Fleshounds
• 8 Khorne Berzerkers, Aspiring champion with powerfist
• 5 Marines, 1 lascannon

Terrain and Deployment
This was a practice game for The Gauntlet tournament I will be attending in late June. We wanted to keep the game as close to tournament conditions as possible so it was played on a 6x4 table with sparse scenery. Pitched battle allows for deployment similar to the recon mission; up to 18" onto the table but no closer than 24" to the enemy. We rolled a nightfight for the last turn.

It was refreshing for me to begin with my whole army on the table (except for my deep striking Stormtroopers). The basilisk was well hidden behind a tall building, and I set up an infantry platoon on either side of it. My HQ Command squad and the anti-tank squad both set up behind the platoon on my left, covering the centre of the board.

Gary started with his Berzerkers on my extreme left, behind a building and his Dread on my centre left in a hull down position. His rhino was placed centrally, behind a wood in his deployment zone and his lascannon squad were on a hill on my right, overlooking the basilisk. His Daemons would arrive later as they were summoned from the Warp.

The Game
I won first turn and moved nothing. On the left I had a very dubious line of sight to the rear of his rhino with a rocket launcher (I could maybe see 10% of the vehicle) but I decided not to target it - I just couldn't have lived with myself. Instead, I shot at the Berzekers, killing one. My lascannons immobilised the Dreadnought and my entire right flank shot at the 5 man Marine squad with the lascannon, killing 3 of them.

That lascannon stunned my basilisk, so it wouldn't be able to shoot next turn. His Berzerkers and rhino raced forward, eager to close the distance between the armies. My lascannons took out his rhino (fortunately for him, Gary had dismounted the troops). I shot the Berzerkers with my plasma command squad and an infantry squad but only killed one. On the right I wiped out his lascannon squad.

The Daemons now arrived with the Bloodletters summoning on from the dismounted squad to threaten my right and the fleshounds landing near the Berzerkers to attack my left. Typically, the fleshounds scattered 7" toward my lines, putting them in assault range. The Bloodletters advanced and passed difficult terrain checks to assault a Guard squad in the same building with the basilisk. The 'letters slaughtered the squad and ended up looking down the barrel of the basilisk. In one round of shooting, my right flank wiped out the whole squad. Yes!

Still on that flank, one Stormtrooper squad landed behind the Marine squad, partly in the woods. I rolled 3 ones for the plasma weapons and two men perished from overheats. Predictably, they were then chopped into small pieces in combat. That did however hold up the Marines who then had to slog across open ground toward the basilisk and remaining infantry platoon.

On the left, things weren't going so well. The 'hounds hit an infantry squad and kept them in place long enough for the Berzerkers to pile in. I fed another infantry squad into the fight to keep my Captain and lascannons alive. Gary rolled fire frenzy twice in a row for his Dread, and he began to whittle down my squads.

My cunning response was to deep strike the melta Stormtroopers in behind the Dreadnought. This would have potentially been a game winning tactic. It would have allowed me shots at the rear armour of the Dreadnought. I could have captured, or at the very least contested that table quarter, and it would have forced the Berzerkers to run backwards at them. I rolled a double 1 and they were lost in the warp.

Eventually, my infantry squads were slaughtered and I had one round of shooting to halt the Chaos Marines and Daemons. I shot everything I had at the 'hounds (3 lascannons, 2 plasma guns, numerous lasguns, the basilisk) and only killed two, leaving one alive. It assaulted my platoon command squad while the Berzerkers charged my lascannons.

The command squad, against all the odds, killed the last hound for no losses. They were then swept by the Berzerker squad who had decimated the anti-tank squad. In a last, desperate gamble, Captain Kennell leapt into combat. All of my Guardsmen were killed, but they did manage to take the unit down to below half strength.

I held the only table quarter with my basilisk and infantry platoon, netting me a further 200 points. Gary had more of his army surviving, though, so we knew it would be close. It turned out I had a 179 point lead which counts as a draw for the tournament.

Result: Draw

Imperial Control: Unaffected

Kennell's Commendation: It has to be the basilisk for that direct hit on the Bloodletters who were no more than an inch away.

Learning point

• I thoroughly enjoyed this game (far more than my previous two outings with the Guard). Having the whole army set up from the start of the game helps, plus I didn't suffer from the appalling bad luck that dogged my earlier games. At least my lost Stormtroopers were balanced by the hit with my 'lisk.
• This was my first trial for an infantry heavy list and it seemed to work. Gary's Dreadnought had poor targets for its lascannon throughout the game. The whole army looks intimidating, having 79 models and a lot of special and heavy weapons.
• Definitely need conscripts to soak up charges and to increase model count.

IMPERIAL GUARD versus Chaos Space Marines

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Opponent: Gary
Mission: Rescue variant
Location: Luzon
Background: With the Chaos presence upon Luzon uncovered anarchy reigns. The Chaos forces crawl out of their hiding places and attack the planetary capital Cavite. The Planetary Governor, Gravilian Maximire, made a hasty escape to the outskirts of the city and waited patiently for Captain Kennell to pick him up. But a small Chaos Space Marine force was also closing in...

Points: 1000

Imperial Guard

• Command Platoon 77, Captain Kennell (Junior Officer), Company Standard, vox caster, 2 Meltaguns
• Anti tank squad, 3 Lascannons
• Infantry Platoon
• Command Squad 36, Junior Officer with power weapon and plasma pistol, medic, vox caster, 2 plasma guns
• Infantry Squad 501, Missile Launcher, Grenade Launcher, Vox caster
• Infantry Squad 541, Missile Launcher, Grenade Launcher, Vox caster
• Infantry Squad 609, Missile Launcher, Grenade Launcher, Vox caster
• Armoured Fist Squad 812, Flamer, Vox caster, Chimera with Multi-laser, Heavy Bolter and pintle Heavy Stubber
• Sentinel, Multi-laser, Searchlight
• Sentinel, Multi-laser
• Sentinel, Autocannon, Extra Armour, Improved Comms
• Basilisk, Indirect fire

Chaos Space Marines

• Lord with Axe of Khorne on Juggernaught with Mark of Khorne + Bolt pistol
• 8 Marines with Bolt pistols and Close Combat Weapons in rhino
• Dreadnought with Lascannon
• 8 Bloodletters
• 8 Fleshounds
• Predator

Terrain and Deployment
The table had a large number of buildings (obviously the outskirts of Cavite) but most of them were bunched up on my right and in my opponents deployment zone. This meant my left flank was wide open with no terrain. Gary won the roll to choose deployment zones and we ended up with corners, my opponent obviously hoping that the buildings would cut down my lines of sight. We placed the rescue counters (Planetary Governor Gravilian Maximire) on the board, and fortunately for me they were mostly on that open left flank.

I began with my infantry platoon set up to cover this wide expanse, as the Chaos army would need to cross it to get to me. The Sentinel special rules also allowed them to deploy at the start of the game so I placed two on the left and one behind the buildings on my right. Gary started with his rhino-borne squad behind a building in the far corner.

We were using our own variation on the rescue mission. We placed 6 dice as the counters, numbered from 1 to 6. Models could pick them up and carry them around, then at the end of the game we would roll a die to determine which counter was the real objective. We have found that this keeps things interesting right through the battle. And of course that last dice roll is nerve wracking.

The Game
I won the dice off for first turn but I let Gary go first as I couldn't see anything to shoot at (and I figured the last turn might be handy for grabbing counters). He raced forward in his rhino, dismounted the squad and collected a counter. In my turn I raced some infantry squads forward and collected a counter, with another in my sights. The Sentinels on my left moved laterally, toward the counter on my extreme left, while the one on the right moved up behind the buildings. I managed to destroy his rhino with a penetrating multilaser hit.

Gary's reserves arrived in the shape of the Predator and the Bloodletters. The Bloodletters scattered backwards and were probably over 36" away from the Imperial Guard lines. The Predator immobilised a Sentinel and the rest of the army moved forward toward the Guard gunline.

All of my remaining squads arrived from reserve (with the help of improved comms). The basilisk parked up behind a building, well out of sight. Captain Kennell and the anti-tank squad moved into a building in my deployment zone, with good lines of sight over the exposed left flank. I raced an infantry squad further forward and captured a second objective. I brought my Armoured Fist squad on on my extreme right, to threaten the side armour of the predator (and also threaten the objectives near the Chaos deployment zone). My shooting phase was poor, and only a couple of Marines were killed.

The rest of Gary's reserves arrived now. The Dreadnought came on between the Chimera and the Predator, the Lord arrived and raged to catch up with the Bloodletters, but the worst of all was the Fleshounds. The icon was probably 30" from the Guard lines, so I felt quite safe, but the fleshounds scattered forward. Combined with the 5" diameter of the template and their 6" move and 12" assault they easily achieved combat with my two foremost infantry squads.

Outrageous!

This was just the beginning of a downward spiral, though. The hounds caused horrendous casualties on both squads and I wanted the survivors to fall back, leaving the hounds stranded in front of my guns. Unfortunately for me I passed both morale checks (on 6 or less) and the combat continued.

In an effort to hold the dogs up I threw my Sentinel into combat with them. This backfired massively when just one dog, with only two attacks, managed to destroy the Sentinel. Some of my Guardsmen survived and now I desperately wanted them to stay in combat. I therefore used the Command Squad's Standard and Captain Kennell's leadership, so I only needed to pass a re-rollable morale check on an eight. I failed both rolls.

In the rest of my turn, the moving Sentinel on my left picked up an objective and the basilisk killed a single Marine when it's shell scattered 6". The Chimera dropped off the armoured fist squad who moved toward the combat with the dogs and the Chimera itself took a shot at the Dreadnought which I rolled 3 misses for.

Gary moved everyone forward in his army, including the Predator, taking it out of sight of the Chimera. The Hounds now hit another line of infantry and managed to contact my anti-tank squad. After fluffing my morale checks it was now time for me to start fluffing armour saves. Over the next 3 assault phases the dogs passed 3 of the four 5+ saves I forced upon them and I failed 14 5+ saves in a row.

The anti-tank squad and another infantry squad disappeared and now my Command Section was fighting off the dogs. Predictably, despite going first because of cover, I was slaughtered. By this stage there were only two dogs left, and most of those casualties had been caused when they rolled ones for cavalry moved through terrain. That 160 point unit had killed 41 Guardsmen, including my Command Section and a Sentinel.

My basilisk got a direct hit amongst the advancing Chaos units and killed 2 Bloodletters and 2 Marines. Combined with the shooting of the Sentinel Multilasers, the Marine squad was wiped out. The predator immobilised my second Sentinel. My Chimera moved into a building to threaten the rear armour of the Dreadnought, but it was immobilised and shaken and played no further part in the game.

My dismounted armoured fist squad picked up the counters dropped by my infantry squads who had been attacked by the squads. Unfortunately, by the time they got there, the two remaining dogs were looking for more prey. The dogs charged in and killed two Guardsmen. Predictably I failed my morale check again and the rest of the squad was chased down by the hounds.

With all the turns over we had to roll for the objective. I had one (on an immobilised Sentinel) and Gary had three, with two unclaimed. Gary collected it and won the game.

Result: Loss

Imperial Control: Reduced 36%

Kennell's Commendation: No commendation

Learning points

• After my last disastrous game I was looking forward to a fresh start with my Guard. Then we roll up another rock-hard mission for my relatively immobile army. Then add in some atrocious dice rolling and I want to wipe the slate clean and start again with my next game.
• Chatting with Gary after the game we couldn't really think of anything I could have done differently to try and win the game. Gary didn't even need the vast majority of his army as his hounds killed 51 Guardsmen on their own.
• If I was to change anything at all, it would be the entire army list. Back to the painting table!

IMPERIAL GUARD versus Chaos Space Marines

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Opponent: Gary
Mission: Meat Grinder
Location: Luzon
Background: The Cadian Expeditionary Force, under the command of Captain Kennell, have acted upon the intelligence reports of Inquisitor Lord Severus who warned that remnants of the original Chaos incursion some 600 years ago, are still active upon Luzon. Kennell quickly located the small Chaos warband and set out to exterminate them with extreme prejudice.
1st turn: Chaos Space Marines
Points: 1000

Imperial Guard

• Command Platoon 77, Captain Kennell (Junior Officer), Company Standard, Master Vox, 2 Meltaguns
• Anti tank squad, 3 Lascannons
• Infantry Platoon
• Command Squad 36, Junior Officer with power weapon and plasma pistol, medic, vox caster, 2 plasma guns
• Infantry Squad 501, Missile Launcher, Grenade Launcher, Vox caster
• Infantry Squad 541, Missile Launcher, Grenade Launcher, Vox caster
• Infantry Squad 609, Missile Launcher, Grenade Launcher, Vox caster
• Armoured Fist Squad 812, Flamer, Vox caster, Chimera with Multi-laser, Heavy Bolter and pintle Heavy Stubber
• Sentinel, Multi-laser, Searchlight
• Sentinel, Multi-laser
• Sentinel, Autocannon, Extra Armour
• Basilisk Indirect fire
  

Chaos Space Marines

• Lord with Power Weapon, Mark of Khorne, Bolt pistol
• 8 Marines with Bolt pistols and Close Combat Weapons in rhino
• 8 Marines with Bolt pistols and Close Combat Weapons
• 8 Khorne Berzerkers
• 5 Marines with Lascannon
• Dreadnought with Lascannons
• 8 Bloodletters

Terrain and Deployment
This was a 6'x4' table with fairly sparse terrain. Mainly this consisted of four ruined buildings, one in each deployment zone and two more central but one closer to the left flank and one closer to the right flank. We each had a hill in our deployment zone, mine on my extreme left, my opponent's overlooking the middle of the board.

I set my Guard army up in the middle of my deployment zone, in a layered fashion, with the infantry platoon and dismounted armoured fists screening the Command platoon and Lascannons. The Basilisk hid behind the building in the centre of my deployment zone with two Sentinels screening its vulnerable side armour. The last Sentinel with the autocannon I set up on the hill on my left with a clear line of sight to the Chaos rhino.

Most of the Chaos army deployed behind the ruined building toward my left flank with just the small squad with the lascannon on the hill.

As the attacker in a meat grinder I knew I was up against it. Gary offered to change the mission but I elected to go ahead, after all, real life commanders wouldn't have the luxury of choosing their fights.

The Game
Gary won the first turn and ran most of his army forward. His only rhino became immobilised as it tried to crash through the building in front of it.

After a discussion which included the advantages of standing on a hill, the merits of screening with vehicles, and the effect of buildings on hull down, we rolled a d6 for it and Gary won, so his lascannon hit the side of the Basilisk and blew the Earthshaker cannon off it.

In reply I destroyed the Dreadnought with my lascannons, and peppered the Khorne Berzerker squad with shots. In a flurry of good dice rolls, Gary passed virtually every save. His Bloodletters arrived from the icon in this unit and scattered 9 inches toward my lines. Unfortunately for me, the Guard Squad they hit in combat held, and I now had a Daemon squad in my deployment zone, messing up my lines of fire.

My units on my right could see one Marine squad on foot and they were subjected to a hail of fire. Again Gary passed virtually all of his saves. I tried to move the Basilisk to bring its heavy bolter into play but I rolled a 1 to immobilise it.

In an attempt to hold up the Bloodletters I charged a Sentinel into them (the other Sentinel in the centre had been taken out by that damned lascannon). It worked a treat, as it killed a Bloodletter on the charge. The remaining Guardsmen were wiped out and the Bloodletters had to consolidate around the Sentinel. In the Chaos turn it was destroyed and blew up, taking three more 'letters with it.

My right flank was now assaulted by the Marines on foot. Against all the odds, over three combat phases, my armoured fist squad killed the Marines. Booyah!

The Bloodletters swept into my Guardsmen, and after the entire Guard army shot at them, they were sent back to the warp, despite passing many saving throws. Now the Berzerkers made combat with my Infantry platoon. I used the variable leadership with the Captain and Standard to control the combat and when the Berzerkers emerged from combat they were hosed down with rapid firing plasma, meltaguns and lots of lasguns.

The squad that had me worried was the Chaos Marines with the lascannon. They were so far from my lines and I lacked mobility. Fortunately the mission has the sustained attack rules which allowed me to bring on one of the infantry squads which had been slaughtered in combat. They arrived on my right flank, right next to the Marines, and killed two with their shooting. The Marines charged into combat and were eventually killed by the Guardsmen. Get in!

The game was very tight now. Most of my infantry squads had been badly mauled and all my Sentinels were destroyed. The Chaos army was reduced to the single squad who had emerged from their immobilised rhino and slogged their way over the entire board. At this point Gary could have hidden his unit away and claimed the win, but he elected to steam forward and into close combat.

The Marines munched their way through a squad and consolidated into my anti tank squad. This meant that I had to take them on in close combat rather than shooting them to death. Every Guardsman available rushed into combat (including the recycled squad that the Marines had just dispatched) but the Marines rolled white hot dice and killed virtually everyone they were in combat with.

I reduced them to four models, but the game ended there for a Chaos victory.

Result: Loss

Imperial Control: Reduced 12%

Kennell's Commendation: Armoured Fist squad 812 who held the line despite a fierce assault by Chaos Marines.

Learning points

• Full marks to Gary for making a game of it and rushing forward to attack, when he could have hung back and won easily by forcing me to run forward.
• Low marks to Gary for that cheeky shot into the side armour of my Basilisk, especially after this game.
• Overall, despite the mission and the scattering Daemons, I still had more than enough firepower to win the game. Unfortunately, virtually everything bounced off the Marine armour. By my calculations I should have killed at least 5 Marines per turn for the first three turns, and that is without adding in the plasma and melta weapons. That would have decimated the Berzerkers and other Marine unit on foot. Instead, I killed one or two, and both squads hit my lines.
• Oh, well. It can't get any worse for Captain Kennell in terms of mission or dice rolling, so bring on the next battle.

DAEMONHUNTERS versus Eldar

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Opponent: Gary
Mission: Ambush
1st turn: Daemonhunters
Points: 1500

Daemonhunters

• Inquisitor Lord Severus, Master-crafted Daemonhammer, Bolt pistol, Holocaust, Icon of the Just, 2xAcolytes, Power Armour, Bolt Pistols and Close Combat Weapons, 1xAcolyte with power weapon and las pistol, Combat Servitor, Rhino with Smoke Launchers
• Inquisitor Kurven, Psycannon, Power Armour, Gun Servitor, Plasma Cannon, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Targeter, 2 x Imperial Guard Veteran, Plasma Gun, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Targeter, 2 x Sage, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol, Mystic, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol
• 2 Daemonhosts
• Squad Matoso, 8 Stormtroopers, 2 meltaguns, Veteran with Bolt Pistol and Power Weapon, Rhino, Smoke launchers, Extra Armour, Hunter Killer Missile
• Squad Godirtho, 5 Stormtroopers, 2 plasma guns
• Armoured Fist Squad (inducted Imperial Guard) Sergeant, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol, Flamer, Chimera, Multilaser, Heavy Bolter, Smoke Launchers, hunter killer missile, heavy stubber
• Infantry Platoon (inducted Imperial Guard) Command squad junior officer with power sword and plasma pistol, medic, vox caster, 2 plasma guns, Infantry squad missile launcher, grenade launcher, vox caster, Infantry squad missile launcher, grenade launcher, vox caster
• 3 Sentinels, 2 Multilasers, 1 Autocannon, Extra Armour, Searchlight, Improved Comms
  

Eldar

• Farseer with mindwar and singing spear, Warlock retinue with witchblades, All tooled up with psychic powers
• 5 Scouts
• 8 Dire Avengers including exarch with power weapon
• Wraithlord with starcannon
• Falcon with scatterlaser and holo-field
• 5 Fire dragons including exarch with burning fist
• 5 Striking scorpions including exarch with powerfist
• Waveserpent with twin-linked Starcannons

Terrain and deployment
Gary was actually playing with only 1400 points in this game against my 1500 points so I allowed him to choose the mission, to try and balance things out. Gary diced off between a breakout and an ambush and we ended up with my Daemonhunters being jumped by the Eldar.

With a large contingent of men on foot I knew I wasn't going to get units off the board so I set up a static firebase in and amongst the trees that lined the road I was moving along. My plan was to go for victory points, ignoring the bonus for escaping the table.

However, I knew I would be getting assaulted on turn 1 as I had used that trick when I was the attacker against Tyranids in an earlier game. This was going to be close.

As expected the Waveserpent unloaded a squad of Striking Scorpions within assault range of my Guardsmen and they were slaughtered. Unfortunately I passed the morale check and the Scorpions were safe from my shooting in combat. It was the last successful morale check I would see for quite some time.

I chose to ignore the assaulting Eldar and concentrate my fire upon the rest of the Eldar army, hoping to get a sackful of victory points in my first shooting phase. I took two wounds off the Wraithlord when I should have killed it, the Waveserpent emerged unharmed despite its rear armour being exposed to virtually my whole army and the Falcon survived 7 plasma weapon shots unscathed. In that appalling round of shooting I lost the game.

The Scorpions took out the rest of the Imperial Guard squad and then assaulted Stormtrooper squad Godirtho and the Guard Command squad. The Stormtroopers were wiped out and the command squad routed. They failed three further morale checks until they hit the board edge and then were tank-shocked off the table. My remaining Guard squad had already been routed by this stage and had run off too.

Stormtrooper squad Matoso had the rhino shot out from under them but still managed to catch the Fire Dragons off-guard and killed everyone but the Exarch. The Fire Dragon assaulted and killed Matoso's veteran sergeant and yes, you've guessed it, failed their morale check several times and ran off the board edge.

Inquisitor Kurven and the Sentinels were assaulted by the Farseer unit and they were all wiped out. The Farseer unit munched their way down my column, taking out the Chimera and armoured fist squad, until they hit Severus who gave them a good spanking.

My Daemonhosts arrived at the top end of the table and did for the scouts. The wounded Wraithlord peeled back to take them on but the Daemonhosts tag teamed to kill him (although one Daemonhost was instantly killed). The survivor was then within range of the Dire Avengers shuriken catapults and he was sliced apart by the razor sharp discs.

By the end of the game it was painfully obvious that the Eldar had won so we didn't even add up the victory points.

Result: Loss

Learning points

• What a panelling! Gary felt a bit guilty about picking the ambush mission but I reckon I had a chance to win. The main problem I had was very bad luck with the dice. At one point I failed at least seven morale checks in a row! And that shooting phase. Uggh.
• The one positive was my Daemonhosts that assaulted the scouts on the turn they arrived and wiped them out, and then rolled decent powers to tackle the Wraithlord.
• After such a comprehensive defeat, with Wave Serpents, Falcons and a Wraithlord wandering around the battlefield with impunity, I am going to make a rock hard army to play in my next game!

DAEMONHUNTERS versus Eldar

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Opponent: Gary
Mission: Nightfight
1st turn: Eldar
Points: 1000
Daemonhunters

• Inquisitor Lord Severus, Master-crafted Daemonhammer, Bolt pistol, Holocaust, Icon of the Just, Consecrated Scrolls, 2xAcolytes, Power Armour, Bolt Pistols and Close Combat Weapons, 1xAcolyte with power weapon and las pistol, Combat Servitor, Rhino with Smoke Launchers
• Inquisitor Kurven, Psycannon, Power Armour, Gun Servitor, Plasma Cannon, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Targeter, 2 x Imperial Guard Veteran, Plasma Gun, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Targeter, 2 x Sage, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol, Mystic, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol
• 2 Daemonhosts
• Squad Matoso, 8 Stormtroopers, 2xFlamers, Veteran Sergeant with Bolt Pistol, Power Weapon, Rhino, Smoke launchers and Extra Armour
• Squad Godirtho, 7 Stormtroopers, 2 plasma guns
• Squad Seralvo, 7 Stormtroopers, 2 meltaguns
  

Eldar

• Farseer with mindwar and singing spear, Warlock retinue with witchblades
• 5 Scouts
• 8 Dire Avengers including exarch with power weapon
• Wraithlord with starcannon
• Falcon with scatterlaser and holo-field
• 5 Fire dragons including exarch with burning fist
• 5 Striking scorpions including exarch with powerfist

Terrain and deployment
Hooray for the new bunker! With all the new tables there was no-one shoving us out of the way to get their game in so we set up and went at it again.

This time we rolled up a nightfight and I suspected this would favour the Eldar. In particular it would allow their slower units to get into the fight and reduce my already meagre shooting phase even further. Additionally, Gary had the Wraithlord and Falcon which I could barely scratch. Straight off the bat he had two table quarters.

The game
The game was pretty exciting. This time the Farseer and retinue were in the Falcon and they sped forward to engage Squad Seralvo on my left flank. Lord Severus counter-charged and forced the Farseer and remaining Warlock to rout. Next, the Dire Avengers were charged and destroyed by Severus who raced into the Eldar deployment zone in his sweeping advance. Now he was threatening to loop around and get the Scouts.

In amongst the carnage Severus was mind-warred by the Farseer and managed to make four out of five invulnerable saves.

All was not so good on my right flank. Squad Matoso lost their rhino to a lucky glancing hit from the Wraithlord's starcannon and were then wiped out by the Fire Dragons. The Dragons then went on to kill both of the deep striking Daemonhosts who rolled useless powers and I failed all of their saves.

In the centre the Falcon was keep getting shaken but then tank shocked everyone in range, including squads Godirtho and Kurven. Godirtho lost all of its plasma weapons to death or glory and the survivors were reduced to below half strength by the Scouts. Kurven continued to shoot at the Falcon but couldn't bring it down.

In the end Gary claimed 2 table quarters (1 with the Fire Dragons, 1 with the Wraithlord) and contested 1 (Kurven and the Falcon).

Result: Lost

Learning points

• Boy is that Falcon tough. In my two games against it I must have rolled eight times on the damage table but couldn't roll higher than a 3. In fact most of the time I rolled 1's or 2's. I really needed my Guard allies for this bad boy.
• Severus showed his abilities again by wiping out the Farseer and Dire Avengers for the second game running. What I could really do with is swapping some of the acolytes with combat servitors. I already have my eye on the arco-flagellants from the Witchhunters range.
• My Daemonhosts were pants in this game. One was instantly killed by a shot from the Fire dragon Exarch and the other was beaten in combat by them. Even then, if he had just killed one more Dragon it would have stopped them from claiming a table quarter.
  

DAEMONHUNTERS versus Eldar

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Opponent: Gary
Mission: Patrol
1st turn: Daemonhunters
Points: 1000

Daemonhunters

• Inquisitor Lord Severus, Master-crafted Daemonhammer, Bolt pistol, Holocaust, Icon of the Just, Consecrated Scrolls, 2xAcolytes, Power Armour, Bolt Pistols and Close Combat Weapons, 1xAcolyte with power weapon and las pistol, Combat Servitor, Rhino with Smoke Launchers
• Inquisitor Kurven, Psycannon, Power Armour, Gun Servitor, Plasma Cannon, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Targeter, 2 x Imperial Guard Veteran, Plasma Gun, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Targeter, 2 x Sage, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol, Mystic, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol
• 2 Daemonhosts
• Squad Matoso, 8 Stormtroopers, 2xFlamers, Veteran Sergeant with Bolt Pistol, Power Weapon, Rhino, Smoke launchers and Extra Armour
• Squad Godirtho, 7 Stormtroopers, 2 plasma guns
• Squad Seralvo, 7 Stormtroopers, 2 meltaguns
  

Eldar

• Farseer with mindwar and singing spear, Warlock retinue with witchblades
• 5 Scouts
• 8 Dire Avengers including exarch with power weapon
• Wraithlord with starcannon
• Falcon with scatterlaser and holo-field
• 5 Fire dragons including exarch with burning fist
• 5 Striking scorpions including exarch with powerfist

Background
The store Battle Bunker is now fully operational so we managed to grab a six foot table straight off the bat. Excellent!

I had brought a 1500 point army including Imperial Guard allies, hoping to get a larger game in, while Gary had his brand new 1000 point Eldar army. Because we had the table, and it was the first outing for the Eldar, we decided to play each other. This left me with a bit of a headache as I had to lose 500 points from my army. The obvious thing to do was to drop the Imperial Guard. Now I had just over 100 points to add to the Daemonhunters to get them up to 1000 points and luckily I had brought some extra Stormtroopers. So I bought Squad Seralvo and padded out Squad Godirtho.

Then Gary put his army on the table replete with Wraithlord, Falcon and 'mini' Seer council.

I was screwed.

Although Inquisitor Lord Severus is good in close combat, even he would baulk at taking a Wraithlord on in close combat. The only other way for me to kill it would be to hose him down with plasma weapons, but somehow I didn't think he would stand around in rapid fire range with a big target around his neck.

The Falcon is mega tough with the holo-field. This bit of wargear forces you to roll two dice on the damage tables and take the lowest. Combined with my lack of armour-busting ability it would run riot in our game.

Terrain and deployment
Despite my reservations we got on with the game. I knew mission would be vital for me to stand a decent chance and we rolled a patrol. Pretty good I thought, although I would have loved to have still had my Guard for this mission. With only one troop choice on the table I could have started with 25 men including 2 heavy weapons, and 4 special weapons. Additionally I would have had 3 Sentinels on the board too. Ho, hum.

I started with Squad Godirtho and Gary deployed his Scouts.

The game
I advanced the Stormtroopers into a large ruin on my right. Gary surprised me by running his scouts straight at the Stormtroopers and in a flurry of high fleet of foot and difficult terrain rolls he assaulted my men. In the combat that followed I went first because of the terrain and I had a veteran sergeant. Nevertheless I took more casualties and fell back!

Meanwhile my army had begun to arrive. Squad Matoso and Squad Seralvo came on to my left and Inquisitor Kurven deployed on my right. Only the Farseer and Dire Avengers came on for the Eldar.

Squad Godirtho rallied and charged back into the scouts. The combat was more even now and went on long enough for the Farseer unit to join the fight. The Stormtroopers were wiped out, as were the scouts and the Farseer swept forward. By this stage most of our units had come on from reserve. The most noticeable exception was the Striking Scorpions who didn't arrive until turn 5 and didn't play any part in the game.

One Daemonhost was assaulted by the Wraithlord and killed, but he held out for a couple of turns, effectively keeping the behemoth out of the game. The other Daemonhost landed near the Dire Avengers and charged into combat, holding them up for several turns. Inquisitor Kurven blasted and Squad Matoso flamed the Farseer and his Warlocks and killed everything but the Farseer who lost two wounds. I have never seen such poor saving throws.

In the centre, Inquisitor Lord Severus had his rhino shot out from under him by the Fire Dragons who had been dropped off by the Falcon. The Dragons then charged in and killed an Acolyte and the combat servitor before they were dispatched.

Our two commanders were now facing off against each other. The Farseer cast mind war, which caused no wounds, and then assaulted but was beaten down by the Inquisitor's Daemonhammer. That left Severus free to charge the Dire Avengers still tied up with the Daemonhost. The squad was wiped out in short order. All that was left was to tot up the victory points.

There were barely any Eldar units left on the table but the ones that were there were worth a lot of points. I had only taken a wound off the Wraithlord, and despite getting a lot of rolls on the damage tables I just couldn't take the Falcon down. Most of the time it was stunned or prevented from shooting so it had little effect on the game but it still counted for victory points. Also, the Scorpions were untouched and worth full points. So a game I clearly had by the scruff of the neck ended up much closer than I had expected.

However, many of my units were still intact and I finished over 100 points in the lead.

Result: Win

Learning points

• My army was not suited to taking on such a tough opponent. This is a longstanding problem with the Radical list and recently I had overcome it by adding an assassin or some Imperial Guard. Fortunately the mission helped to level things somewhat, what with my two units in rhinos and especially with Gary's poor reserve rolls. Additionally he actually has one of the slowest Eldar armies I've ever seen. The Striking Scorpions and Wraithlord can only move 6 inches per turn and the scouts lose their shooting ability if they move. I'd imagine Gary will shake the list up quite a bit by the next time I fight him.
• The 6 foot table really makes a difference. I could spread my units out so that enemy assaulters could be shot up on the way in, and it also allowed me to deep strike one of the Daemonhosts on a flank. Me likey.
• Lord Severus is nasty in his current incarnation. Every unit he went up against he obliterated in a turn, what with his Daemonhammer attacks and especially the Holocaust power. He costs a lot of points but is probably worth it.

DAEMONHUNTERS versus Space Marines - Space Wolves

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Opponent: ?
Mission: Breakout
1st turn: Daemonhunters
Points: 1000

Daemonhunters

• Inquisitor Lord Severus, Master-crafted Daemonhammer, Bolt pistol, Holocaust, Icon of the Just, Consecrated Scrolls, 2xAcolytes, Power Armour, Bolt Pistols and Close Combat Weapons, 1xAcolyte with power weapon and las pistol, Combat Servitor, Rhino with Smoke Launchers
• Inquisitor Kurven, Psycannon, Power Armour, Gun Servitor, Plasma Cannon, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Targeter, 2 x Imperial Guard Veteran, Plasma Gun, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Targeter, 2 x Sage, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol, Mystic, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol
• Callidus Assassin
• 2 Daemonhosts
• Squad Matoso, 10 Stormtroopers, 2xFlamers, Veteran Sergeant with Bolt Pistol, Power Weapon and Krak Grenades, Rhino, Smoke launchers and Extra Armour
• Squad Godirtho, 9 Storm troopers, 2 plasma guns
  

Space Marines - Space Wolves

• Lord with Frostblade
• Priest with Frostblade
• 2 blood claw packs - 1 in rhino
• 1 grey hunter pack
• Exterminator
• Predator Annihilator

Terrain and deployment
This was my first game in the new store and I managed to get onto a six foot table. Who-hoo!

We decided to go for an unusual mission, just because we could, and ended up with a breakout. I was the attacker in the centre of the board trying to get past the Space Wolves. I placed the two rhinos facing the left board edge and Inquisitor Kurven and Squad Godirtho toward the right to keep my opponent guessing. The Daemonhosts and assassin would deep strike in later.

My opponent in turn set the rhino and exterminator on my left and the predator, grey hunters, bloodclaws on foot and rune priest on the right.

Normally in this mission I would attack the most mobile enemy group, hoping that the slower elements will be left behind on the far side of the board. In this game that would have meant rushing to my left. However, the terrain meant I had a more covered run to the board edge on the right, and I also wouldn't have to face an armour 14 Leman Russ. The right it was.

The game
I won first turn and peeled both rhinos to the right. Squad Godirtho and Inquisitor Kurven opened fire on the bloodclaws and killed six. Squad Matoso were deprived of their rhino by a lucky glancing hit, so they would be walking for the rest of the game.

The Daemonhosts arrived on the second turn so I placed them on my right in between the Grey Hunters and Blood claws - both rolled the ability to assault immediately. Together with Squad Matoso firing their flamers and charging and Severus pushing his rhino further to the right I was threatening to completely overwhelm the flank.

The Daemonhosts rolled effective powers and did for the Grey Hunters and remaining Blood Claws but the Rune Priest broke Squad Matoso and sent them running back to the centre of the board. The Rune Priest was then charged by the newly arrived Callidus assassin and Squad Godirtho who just managed to finish him off.

Meanwhile, on the right I had managed to immobilise the rhino with the Blood Claws and Lord so they were slogging over the board toward Kurven. In the nick of time a Daemonhost materialised behind them and charged. The Space Wolves had to pull back to deal with him and that put them out of the game. The Exterminator on that side killed half of Inquisitor Kurven's retinue and all of the routing Squad Matoso but played little part in the scenario.

I had a bit of a scare late on when the Predator managed to tank shock Squad Godirtho who routed 7" away, but they rallied immediately and sneaked off the board with Inquisitor Severus.

Another win for the Daemonhunters.

Result: Win

Learning points

• Good to play a different scenario on a full-size board. Hopefully this will happen more frequently in the future when the Battle Bunker opens.
• My opponent was returning to 40k after a 9 month lay-off and was a bit 'rules rusty.' This led to a few rules disagreements and we had to call the staff in a couple of times to arbitrate. I'd far rather settle disputes myself and can usually sort them quickly and without fuss, but these were for daft things; if you roll double 1 on your difficult terrain test can you assault 2" into the terrain or do you get an immediate and extra 'free' shot after a sweeping advance(!).
• This was a tough scenario for me because the assassin and Daemonhosts couldn't fulfill the victory conditions so it only left four viable squads, and therefore two would have to leave the board. Two of those four were on foot and I had to advance straight at the Space Wolves. When my lead rhino got destroyed in the first shot of the game I was facing an uphill struggle but the arrival of the Callidus and Daemonhosts was crucial.
• I forgot to use the assassin's 'word in your ear' rule yet again.

WARRIORS OF CHAOS versus Dark Elves

Game: Warhammer Fantasy Battle 7th edition
Opponent: Gary
Scenario: Pitched Battle
1st turn: Warriors of Chaos
Points: 2000
Background: With the new Warriors of Chaos army book recently released I was trying my hand at lots of different lists. In my last game I went Nurgle and this time I felt the pull of Khorne. Out went my two Sorcerers and in came two fighty characters with Khornate wargear. How would I fare without any form of magical defence?

Probably not well since the Dark Elves brought a level four Sorceress and three level two Sorceresses! Gary had to drop his assassin to do this and he didn't have the rock hard fighty Lord either so I just had to make it across the table into combat to guarantee victory.

Warriors of Chaos

• Sigurt Volsung, Lord on Daemonic Mount, Mark of Khorne, Axe of Khorne, Collar of Khorne, Enchanted Shield, Diabolic Splendour
  
• Thaer, Exalted, Mark of Khorne, Additional Hand Weapon, Bloodskull Pendant, Blood Roar, Shield
• 12 Warriors, Shields, Mark of Khorne, Full command
  
• 12 Warriors, Shields, Mark of Khorne, Full command, Standard - Banner of Wrath
• 16 Marauders, Shields, Light Armour, Mark of Khorne, Full command
• 5 Knights, Mark of Khorne, Full command, Warbanner
• 5 Marauder Horse, Mark of Khorne, Musician, Flails
  
• 5 War hounds
• 5 War hounds
• Chariot, Mark of Khorne

Dark Elves

• Level 4 sorceress with sacrificial dagger
  
• Lvl 2 Sorceress
  
• Lvl 2 Sorceress
• Lvl 2 Sorceress
  
• 2 Repeater Bolt Throwers
  
• 10 Repeater Crossbows
• 16 Spearelves full command
• 5 Dark Riders
  
• 5 Dark Riders
  
• 19 Executioners full command Banner of Murder
• Hydra
• Chariot
• Chariot

Terrain and deployment

Gary had done us proud once again and set up the table before I arrived. There was a hill in the corner of one deployment zone and a wood in the corner of another. Some rocky columns broke up the centre of the battlefield.


The Dark Elves won the dice off and naturally chose the side with the hill. They bunkered around the hill and I heavily weighted this side of the table. My plan was to hit the hill with my Knights with the Warriors and Marauders following up on each side to prevent the Executioners and Spearelves getting a flank charge. The Marauder horse and Warhounds were on screening duty.

Despite starting to set up second the Warriors of Chaos finished their deployment first and got the +1. With a mighty roar the Khorne army marched to battle.

The game
The Warriors all marched forward at top speed. To my surprise the Dark Elf Dark Riders charged my Marauder block. When Gary tried to cast Word of Pain on them I understood; it would have taken my weapon skill down to one and he might have beaten me. In the event he didn't get the spell off and I slaughtered four of the cavalry. The survivor fled beyond the Spearelves.

Meanwhile the Hydra marched into the centre and flamed the Knights. Both Bolt Throwers unleashed a volley of shots at them too, but only one Knight fell. My Marauder horse weren't so lucky and four died.

Turn two and I was multiple charging already!

The Knights sped up the hill and despite having Word of Pain cast on them they butchered the Bolt Thrower crew (as you can see in the photo below we just left them at the bottom of the hill as we couldn't balance them where they should have been). My Marauder horse survivor charged the Sorceress in the Repeater Crossbows. He was peppered with shots and died before he got into combat. My Marauders on foot charged the Spearelves who fled past the lone Dark Rider.


Closer to the middle of the battlefield a unit of Warhounds charged the Executioners. I knew I'd lose but I was hoping to draw the Elves forward so my Warrior unit could get a charge - possibly even a flank charge. The Warhounds duly took four casualties and the survivor ran. The Executioners just failed to catch him.

My second Warhound unit scampered away from the Hydra in terror.

Things were very tense and tactical now so I forgot to take photo's for a couple of turns. Gary tried to destroy my left flank by charging a unit of Dark Riders into the flank of my Chariot and one of his own Chariots charged my Warriors. Neither combat worked well for the Dark Elves as the Dark Riders were all killed and the Chariot was wounded and fled. It wasn't all doom and gloom for the pointy-ears though, as the Chariot ended up zooming off into the woods. It fortunately didn't take any damage but it was so far from the action it played no further part in the game.

Two turns of concentrated shooting and magic killed my 10 man Warrior unit leaving my Lord out on his own. He charged the Hydra anyway, keen to attract the attention of the Gods if he killed the monster. Sigurt only hit twice then rolled a double one for damage. The Hydra caused a wound in return and Sigurt ran for the hills! The Hydra followed him up and charged him off the table.

Things were tense over by the hill. The Knights munched through the second Bolt Thrower and ended up on the far side of the hill. That last Dark Rider got in the face of my Marauders and due to the Mark of Khorne I had to charge. This left me awkwardly facing the right table edge.

My Knights doubled back to take on the Repeater Crossbows so they ended up charging my Marauders. In an unlikely combat the Dark Elves won comfortably and broke the Marauders. They pursued off the table leaving my Exalted with no-one to charge (he had left the Marauders to try and chase down a Sorceress). He eventually ended up attacking the Spearelves in a futile charge and got killed for his trouble. The Knights too were left hanging so they marched down to face off against the Hydra. Down to just two men by this stage they were easily defeated.

The game deciding action was now happening at the base of the hill. My Warriors got a flank charge into the Executioners and were also fighting the High Sorceress. Despite Word of Pain taking my weapon skill down to one I scored two wounds on her and killed some of her bodyguards. The Dark Elves didn't run.

My dice rolling in the next round of combat was appalling and I lost several men. By this time the Chariot had rallied and charged into my Warriors. The second chariot also thundered in (having fled a charge from my own Chariot in turn two it was only just seeing some action). My Warriors were cut down in short order and that meant I had lost the game.

Result: Loss

Learning points

• No magic defense versus a level four and three level twos is nasty! At times the Dark Elves were generating close to twenty power dice. The Collar of Khorne helped a little but I was easily overwhelmed. Word of Pain really sapped my close combat prowess and all those magic missiles took their toll. Even the luck was on Gary's side as he rolled several double sixes and only had one miscast (which allowed me to cast one of my own spells - and I had no Sorcerers). It's clear to me that to be competitive I will have to include some magic defense against the Dark Elves.
• I don't think I'll bother with the mark of Khorne in the future. It is really expensive and the downside is too great. Plus one attack is awesome, and in particular it made my Chariot formidable, but always having to charge allows the enemy too much control.
• We discovered a number of rules we'd been breaking before and during this game. The first was with Arcane items - you are only allowed to use one and Gary had used three on his High Sorceress in previous games. Gary had to have a re-jig of his gear just befoe the battle. We also found out that units under 25% couldn't rally. That's something I'll have to remember in regards to the Dark Riders in particular - how different would the game have been if my Marauders had got into combat with the Spearelves?

DAEMONHUNTERS versus Tyranids

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Opponent: ?
Mission: Ambush
1st turn: Daemonhunters
Points: 1000

Daemonhunters

• Inquisitor Lord Severus Master-crafted Daemonhammer, Bolt pistol, Holocaust, Icon of the Just, Consecrated Scrolls, 2xAcolytes, Power Armour, Bolt Pistols and Close Combat Weapons, 1xAcolyte with power weapon and las pistol, Combat Servitor, Rhino with Smoke Launchers
• Inquisitor Kurven, Psycannon, Power Armour, Gun Servitor, Plasma Cannon, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Targeter, 2 x Imperial Guard Veteran, Plasma Gun, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Targeter, 2 x Sage, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol, Mystic, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol
• Callidus Assassin
• 2 Daemonhosts
• Squad Matoso 10 Stormtroopers, 2xFlamers, Veteran Sergeant with Bolt Pistol, Power Weapon and Krak Grenades, Rhino, Smoke launchers and Extra Armour
• Squad Godirtho, 9 Storm troopers, 2 plasma guns

Tyranids

• Winged Hive Tyrant (2+ save) with Warp Blast
• Carnifex (2+ save) with Venom Cannon
• 2x3 Winged Warriors (4+ save) with Scything Talons and Rending Claws
• 3x6 Genestealers
• 10 Gargoyles

Background
This Tyranid army has a fearsome reputation at our store and I'd been wanting to square up to it for a while. The combination of wings on virtually everything plus our small 4x4 foot boards meant they had swept pretty much every army before them. Still, it is a relatively small, elite army and I felt they were tough, but not unbeatable.

Terrain and deployment
We used the mission generator from Chapter Approved and came up with an ambush. I won the dice off and chose to be the attacker. Due to the small table we had to modify the distances and this meant the Tyranids were only 30" from their target board edge rather than the recommended 36". Gulp. I quickly worked out that two movement phases and an assault followed by a sweeping advance would put all of the winged gribblies off the board edge and win the game for the 'Nids.

To counter this I set my two rhino mounted squads on the flanks, one to each side. I knew from the last ambush mission I played that I would be within assault range on turn 1 with both these units and I wanted to assault the Tyranids at the rear of their column, forcing them to pull troops backwards to deal with them. Inquisitor Kurven set up facing the advancing 'Nids. Squad Godirtho screened them, and they in turn, were behind a wall. I placed markers for the Daemonhosts an the Assassin fairly centrally and they didn't deploy them, aiming to get some booby traps or a minefield. I got two and went for the booby traps to threaten the Tyranid big guys.

The game
I went first as the ambusher and surprised everyone watching, including the 'Nid commander, by steaming right in with my rhino-borne units. Squad Matoso flamed the gargoyles and then riddled the survivors with hellgun fire. Scratch one Tyranid squad.

The storm troopers then assaulted a Genestealer unit! Onlookers were shaking their heads in disbelief at this stage, but I had a plan.

Inquisitor Severus assaulted a squad of Warriors. In a flurry of good rolls the 'Nids killed his entire retinue, but Severus got his own licks in and killed two of them with his master-crafted Daemonhammer. Then I whipped out the Holocaust template (twice because of the consecrated scrolls) and fried three Genestealers, the remaining warrior and a warrior from the second squad. Now the ten storm troopers of squad Matoso were only taking on 3 'stealers and although I lost 3 stormtroopers I wiped out the beasts. Both squads then swept into the last warrior unit. Meanwhile, at the front of the column I poured all my fire into the Carnifex and took it down to 1 wound. I passed the tape measure over to my shell-shocked opponent for his first turn.

He pulled his Carnifex to my right, getting behind the cover of a ruined building. It's venom cannon took out a straggling storm trooper on the end of squad Godirtho but it would be shielded from most return fire. His two remaining squads of Genestealers ran forward toward his target board edge. The Hive Tyrant ran backwards to deal with Severus and the storm troopers.
Between the Warriors and the Hive Tyrant, four storm troopers and Severus went down, at the cost of a single warrior. The plucky survivors of squad Matoso vowed to carry on fighting and held the warriors in place while the Tyrant swept back towards the front of the column.

Both the Daemonhosts and the Callidus assassin failed to arrive from deep strike so my turn was short. Kurven and squad Godirtho turned their attentions (and guns) on the advancing 'Stealers. The lead squad evaporated under heavy fire from Kurven and retinue (the plasma cannon accounted for 4 'Stealers itself), and then the storm troopers killed 3 more Genestealers from the squad behind. Squad Matoso were finally killed by the Warriors and they swept far to my left, no doubt looking to advance down the flank, well away from Inquisitor Kurven and my small firebase.

The Tyranids needed a big turn to pull themselves back into the game. The Carnifex and remaining 'Stealers advanced upon Kurven and co, as did the Hive Tyrant. The Warriors began to move up my left flank, well away from the action. Using Warp Blast, followed by an assault, the Hive Tyrant killed squad Godirtho to a man. I wasn't to concerned though, as it left the monstrous creature in rapid fire range of Inquisitor Kurven's retinue.

The Daemonhosts and assassin now arrived and it was the final nail in the coffin for the 'Nids. One Daemonhost appeared near the Warrior unit on the flank and the second landed near 3 'Stealers and the Carnifex. The Callidus Assassin sprang up at the end of the line of 3 Genestealers ready to use her neural shredder. Conveniently the Carnifex was also in the template's path and although I failed to hurt any of the 'Stealers I rolled a six for the 'Fex and removed it's last wound. Hurrah!

One monster down, one to go. The Hive Tyrant was riddled with fire by Kurven's retinue, being hit with the plasma cannon and two rapid firing plasma guns. Every single plasma weapon hit and wounded and the Tyrant failed every single cover save. The beast toppled over and my opponent conceded.

Result: Win

Learning points

• What a brutal game! I surprised everyone, including my opponent, by steaming straight into the Tyranids. Although everyone who did so was killed in short order, they managed to kill 10 gargoyles, 6 Genestealers and 4 Warriors and forced the Hive Tyrant to run backwards to deal with the threat. With such a small, elite Tyranid force he just couldn't recover.
• I didn't build my army to take on this opponent but it was ideally equipped to do so. I had the two flamers in a rhino which murdered the larger squad, and then 14 hell guns to take on regular units. With 5 plasma weapons, and the assassin's Neural Shredder and C'tan Phase Sword, I also had plenty of ap 2/1 weapons to threaten the Tyrant and Carnifex. Being able to assault on turn 1 and then the 'Nids having to advance into the teeth of my guns suited me perfectly.
• Looks like I picked the right week to revert to a pure Daemonhunters army, with no inducted Guard!
  

DAEMONHUNTERS versus Imperial Guard (Blood Pact)

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Opponent: Jamie
Mission: Recon
1st turn: Imperial Guard
Points: 1000

Daemonhunters

• Inquisitor Lord Kurven, Psycannon, Emperors Tarot, Gun Servitor, Plasma Cannon, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Targeter, 2 x Imperial Guard Veteran, Plasma Gun, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Targeter, 2 x Sage, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol, Mystic, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol
• Eversor Assassin
• Daemonhost
• Squad Godirtho, 6 Storm troopers, 2 x meltaguns
• Squad Matoso, 6 Storm troopers, 2 plasma guns
• Armoured Fist Squad (inducted Imperial Guard) Sergeant, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol, Flamer, Chimera, Multilaser, Heavy Bolter, Smoke Launchers, hunter killer missile, heavy stubber, track guards
• Infantry Platoon (inducted Imperial Guard) Command squad, junior officer with power sword and plasma pistol, medic, vox caster, 2 plasma guns, Infantry squad missile launcher, grenade launcher, vox caster, Infantry squad missile launcher, grenade launcher, vox caster
  

Imperial Guard

• 2 stalk tanks (sentinels with autocannon)
• Leman Russ
• Infantry platoon with autocannon and grenade launchers
• Armoured fist squad
• Mortar squad
• Stormtroopers with two plasma guns
• Command section

Background
My second game against Jamie. My first was against his Crimson Fists but this time I was facing his Imperial Guard, heavily converted to resemble the Blood Pact from the Gaunts Ghosts books. He has a number of stunning conversions in the army including stalk tanks built from beefed up predator turrets with defiler legs and under slung autocannon.

Other vehicles are his stripped down Leman Russ with all of the track mechanisms exposed, and his chimera which has loyalist guardsmen nailed to the hull to simulate extra armour! His command section is festooned with all kinds of banners and decoration, and all of his guardsmen use the helmet with mouthpiece from the Cadian sprue. All in all a very sweet army, but me being Daemonhunters it was my duty to blow them into oblivion.

Terrain and deployment
Surprise, surprise we were on the Cityfight table and I ended up with the deployment zone littered with buildings. Partly due to time constraints, partly to keep clear lines of sight and partly due to inexperience with ordnance I set up my firebase centrally, models close to each other. Worried about the Leman Russ I placed squad Godirtho on my right (with their meltaguns) accompanied by the Eversor assassin (and his melta-bombs).

The game
Despite the Emperor's Tarot (that forced us to re-roll for first turn twice) Jamie got to go first. He stunned the chimera, preventing it from moving or firing in my turn and his ordnance and mortars blew great holes in my guardsmen in the centre. In return I decimated his stormtroopers with Inquisitor Kurven and retinue, and took out a stalk tank.

His second turn saw my Chimera stunned again, and more guardsmen going down to Mike's blast weapons. My deployment in the centre was looking decidedly poor. With little left to hit back with I wiped out the stormtroopers and knocked the autocannon off the last stalk tank.

Jamie's Russ now lined up part of Inquisitor Kurven's retinue and killed the sages and mystic. The Mortars took out more guardsmen and his advancing chimera added to the carnage. His weaponless stalk tank rushed forward and impacted my chimera in the side, rolled two sixes to penetrate the armour then a further six to blow the vehicle sky-high. The resultant wave of fire further thinned my guard and storm trooper squads in the centre.

Now my Daemonhost appeared, right in the centre of the Blood Pact guardsmen. Unfortunately I rolled an unusable power so he would have to survive the turn before he could act. Squad Godirtho broke cover to get the Leman Russ in their sights and would be able to get shots in against it's side armour next turn, and with a bit of luck my assassin could get a charge in if necessary.

This turn marked my nadir in the game. The Daemonhost went down to a couple of autocannon shots and lasgun fire from the armoured fist squad (oh, the shame). The Leman Russ swivelled and killed every stormtrooper with a direct hit. Even the mortars hit Inquisitor Kurven's squad and took them below half strength. And to add insult to injury I took out the stalk tank with plasma gun fire, it exploded in a fireball with a 5" radius and took out more of my Guardsmen.

Things looked up when the Eversor assassin contacted the Russ and blew it to smithereens with a melta-bomb. Next turn he could target the mortars and then maybe sweep to the left and get into some Pact guardsmen. Kurven and co killed the entire Blood Pact Command section in just one turn of shooting.

In the centre the remnants of squad Matoso, survivors of the armoured fist squad and the two men left in my command squad, all sprinted forward toward the Blood Pact deployment zone. I was hoping to catch Jamie off-guard here and pull out an unlikely win. He had brought his chimera back to deal with the Daemonhost and his two infantry squads were still in his deployment zone on my left. If the Eversor could cause some carnage, I could get some survivors of my squads into the enemy deployment zone for bonus victory points, and if Kurven could take out the chimera to deny points to Jamie, I might have a chance yet.

The Eversor did his thing, wiping out the mortars but Jamie had pulled his infantry away and I rolled poorly for the sweeping advance. Game over for the Eversor. My three squads in the centre all made it over the board into the deployment zone and gained 300 points between them. Mainly this was because the Blood Pact were moving and not shooting. His chimera hit my deployment zone and dropped off the fist squad, and despite Kurven's best efforts they were still there at the end of the game. That gave the Pact 400 points and the win.

Result: Loss

Learning points

• Never take a single vehicle in an army. My chimera was targeted by every heavy weapon on the board and subsequently achieved nothing in the game. Either have multiple vehicles or none at all.
• I was caught off-guard by the ordnance again. To be fair it was partly due to time (it was far easier to set up in the small patch of open ground than to begin perching models in amongst the buildings), but Jamie had also set up the Russ in a ruined building so I thought his lines of sight would be more restricted than they were.
• The Leman Russ in itself was always going to be a problem for my army. I just don't have the long range punch to take out tough targets. Armour 14 from the front was just too much for my Daemonhunters.
• We agreed on a re-match when my Imperial Guard are finished. I'll get you then Blood Pact!

DAEMONHUNTERS versus Lost and the Damned

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Opponent: Wayne
Mission: Cleanse
1st turn: Daemonhunters
Points: 1000

Daemonhunters

• Inquisitor Lord Kurven, Psycannon, Emperors Tarot, Gun Servitor, Plasma Cannon, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Targeter, 2 x Imperial Guard Veteran, Plasma Gun, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Targeter, 2 x Sage, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol
• Death Cult Assassin
• Squad Godirtho, 5 Storm troopers, Veteran Sergeant with Plasma pistol, 2 x meltaguns, rhino with smoke, extra armour, hunter killer missile
• Squad Matoso, 5 Storm troopers, 2 plasma guns
• Armoured Fist Squad (inducted Imperial Guard) Sergeant, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol, Flamer, Chimera, Multilaser, Heavy Bolter, Smoke Launchers, hunter killer missile, heavy stubber
• Infantry Platoon (inducted Imperial Guard) Command squad, junior officer with power sword and plasma pistol, medic, vox caster, 2 plasma guns, Infantry squad missile launcher, grenade launcher, vox caster, Infantry squad missile launcher, grenade launcher, vox caster
• Lance strike
  

Lost and the Damned

• Basilisk
• 15 man Traitor squad with sergeant with powerfist
• 2 large mutant squads
• 5 spawn
• 5 raptors with 3 flamers
• 2 units of Slaanesh daemons
• Lieutenant with dark blade and mutation

Terrain and deployment
Yet another game on the Cityfight table.

Nooooo!

Wayne won the choice of board edge and I had a large, deep building to contend with in my deployment zone. I set my Inquisitor up on top of the building in a commanding position with the Guard squads amassed below. They were set up a bit further forward than I would have liked but it meant I had clear lines of sight everywhere. My chimera anchored my right while the stormtroopers in the rhino took the extreme right flank. The assassin was placed centrally in a good counter-charge position and the Imperial Guard command squad and the storm troopers with plasma guns were behind the front rank of infantry, hoping to get a chance to rapid fire.

The game
The game began superbly for me. The first shot of the game was the hunter-killer missile on the rhino taking out the hull down basilisk in a long range effort. Result!

I followed this up by wiping out the entire 5 man spawn squad in just two turns of concentrated fire. I know how tough these guys are in combat and made sure I killed them all. Wayne was looking despondent at this stage as he had caused virtually no damage to my army, for the loss of his two heavy support choices.

He got back in the game, though, with a daemonette squad who just scraped into combat with a Guard unit and wiped them out. They swept into the command squad who then rapid fired their plasma guns. When the smoke cleared there wasn't a daemonette left. The mutant squads were now in assault range and impacted my front line, causing a massive rolling melee involving 50 or more men.

Up until this point I had been shadowing Wayne's Raptors with squad Godirtho but they shot forward, flamed a few Guardsmen, assaulted the survivors and then hit and run away from my rhino. My whole firebase began to collapse now as the guardsmen were killed or routed and Inquisitor Kurven had to pitch in, trying in vain to take down the Chaos lieutenant.

The assassin leapt out of the shadows to kill a couple of Raptors and a flamer shot from the dismounted armoured fist squad killed the crucial third to take them down below half strength.

Then the 2nd unit of daemonettes showed up and got stuck in.

My chimera was destroyed by a powerfist in a mutant squad I hadn't spotted - even so Wayne needed to roll sixes on 4 attack dice to just glance the front armour, and he got four! To add insult to injury he rolled two sixes on the glancing chart to blow it up, but it did manage to reduce the traitor guardsmen to less than 50% before it went.

Looking at the board in turn 6 I had three squads capable of taking a quarter: Kurven who was in combat with the lieutenant, and squad Godirtho and their rhino. Wayne only had two units remaining: a large unit of mutants led by the lieutenant and one unit of daemonettes. I knew Kurven was going to die in combat so it was up to squad Godirtho. I could either run the squad one way and the rhino another, claim two quarters and settle for a draw, or I could zoom forward, kill the daemonettes through shooting and a charge, and then sweep the stormtroopers into another quarter to try and win.

In the spirit of past games against Wayne I took the latter. I needed to kill two daemonettes to take them under half strength. Squad Godirtho shot a plasma pistol, two meltaguns and two hell guns at them and I only killed one model. They passed their instability test so I assaulted them, lost one model and then hit them with 11 attacks. They all failed, the squad was wiped out in the last assault phase of the game and Wayne won two quarters to my one.

Result: Loss

Learning points

• Another cracking game against Wayne! It had everything - awesome shooting, huge close combats, HQ vs HQ slugging it out, and a decisive last turn. It genuinely could have gone either way.
• I really enjoyed my shooting phases in this game. I had forgotten what is was like to be in charge of a really 'hard' army that your opponent fears. After my second turn it looked all over for Wayne. I can't wait until I have an all Imperial Guard army painted up.
• Emperors Tarot worked a treat allowing me to off the basilisk on turn one. I think this little piece of wargear will turn up even in my regular Imperial Guard army.

DAEMONHUNTERS versus Orks

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Opponent: Gary
Mission: Recon
1st turn: Daemonhunters
Points: 1000

Daemonhunters

• Inquisitor Lord Kurven, Psycannon, Power Armour, Emperor's Tarot, Gun Servitor, Plasma Cannon, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Targeter, 2x Imperial Guard Veteran, Plasma Gun, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Targeter, 2x Sage, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol
• 2 Daemonhosts
• Callidus Assassin
• Squad Matoso, 9 Stormtroopers, Veteran with Bolt Pistol and Power Weapon, 2 Flamers, Rhino, Smoke launchers, Hunter Killer Missile
• Squad Godirtho, 5 Stormtroopers, Veteran with Plasma pistol, 2 Flamers, Rhino with Smoke
• Armoured Fist Squad (inducted Imperial Guard) Sergeant, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol, Flamer, Chimera, Multilaser, Heavy Bolter, Smoke Launchers, hunter killer missile, heavy stubber

Orks

• Warboss in mega-armour with 5 Nobz in wartrukk
• 3 Killer kanz
• 5 warbikes
• Small unit of shoota boyz with 3 big shootas
• 2 small squads of tankbustas each with 3 rokkits
• 16 slugga boyz with 3 rokkits

Background
This was to be the last game I played before Christmas, and maybe until well into January, so I wanted to sign off with a win. Unfortunately the only other 40k player there was Gary, my long time nemesis.

After talking to some other players over the 'net I was advised to try a Callidus assassin, as she is supposedly the most powerful of the assassins, so I dropped the death cult assassins and slotted her in the list. In order to make the most of her deep strike rules I also chose two Daemonhosts who would hopefully arrive at the same time.

Terrain and deployment
The game was played instore on a 4'x4' table (thankfully not the Cityfight board) and we set up a sort of large ruined temple in the centre of the board - very appropriate for Daemonhunters.

With three troop choices in vehicles my plan was to slam into one portion of the Ork army with my entire force, arriving by deep strike or vehicle, and destroy it utterly before moving on to the next portion.

With this plan in mind I put my two rhinos on my left flank ready for a quick charge and formed a small firebase in the centre with the Inquisitor screened by the dismounted guardsmen supported by the chimera. The Orks were spread out with the Killer Kanz facing off against the rhinos, the slugga boyz and Warboss in the centre and the warbikes and shoota boyz opposite my firebase.

The game
With the help of the Emperors Tarot I won the first turn. I shot both hunter killer missiles at the kanz and only managed to blow a claw off one. It was then I realised I had forgotten the assassin's word in your ear rule because the kanz were just out of sight of my firebase and I could have moved them into sight if only I'd remembered. D'oh!

Still, the chimera could see them and it shot it's Multilaser and heavy bolter at them too, but caused no damage. The only target I had was the bikes so I took two out with the plasma cannon and the Inquisitor's psycannon. The Orks pressed forward on all fronts - their shooting managing to kill five guardsmen and force them to rout. Fortunately for me they only ran three inches and I could try to rally them next turn. More worrying was a lucky Rokkit shot taking out the chimera. Suddenly my firebase was looking a bit thin.

My second turn began with the Daemonhosts arriving but not the assassin. I was in quite a quandry here as my left flank assault was up against the largely unharmed Kanz backed up by 16 slugga boyz and covered by no less than 9 rokkits. That was one whole heap of instant death. Additionally the Warboss had gunned his wartrukk 24 inches and was now threatening to charge my firebase next turn.

So I brought the Daemonhosts down on the right, next to the shoota boyz and the Warbosses' wartrukk. My Inquisitor took out the remaining bikes who were now in plasma gun range and one Daemonhost assaulted the wartrukk (having rolled teleport). Unfortunately for me I failed to roll a single 6 on seven attack dice. On my left I moved the rhinos forward, ready to assault the following turn.

The Orks moved forward again and the Warboss leapt from his trukk right in front of Inquisitor Kurven. Most of the action was on this right flank as the Daemonhosts were raked with fire and one was reduced to a single wound. In all the commotion Gary forgot to assault with his Warboss which left him sitting in rapid fire range of my plasma guns...

With the Ork leader and retinue now hideously exposed I just needed the Callidus to appear next to him. I rolled a 1 for her reserve roll. Two one's in a row. Well, I was just going to have to do it without her.

When the smoke cleared three of the Warbosses' Nobz had been slaughtered but Gary passed his leadership test on a 10. Close but no cigar.

Both Daemonhosts charged Ork units, one into the shoota boyz and another into a Tankbusta squad. The already wounded Daemonhost fell to the shoota boyz and the other got stuck in a protracted combat with the tankbustas. I rolled some appalling dice and just couldn't make a save.

On the left I decided the Kanz had to go and squad Godirtho got the task. They only took one out and they were now in assault range of virtually the whole Ork army. In the return fire my five stormtroopers were wiped out to a man and the rhino was obliterated. Similarly Inquisitor Kurven was snipped in two by the Ork Warboss and the rest of his retinue were killed.

So now my firebase was completely decimated and I only had one squad left as well as the yet to appear assassin. I rolled another one for her reserve roll. Three in a row. Squad Matoso zoomed up the extreme left flank and shot their flamers out of the hatch at the Kanz in a drive-by style. They both failed to damage the clunking machines. Although the rhino was now vulnerable because it counted as open topped it somehow managed to survive all of the Rokkit shots and even a charge by the Killer Kanz. Now I was near the Ork deployment zone and a possible 200 extra victory points; maybe I could pull off an unlikely victory.

If I could just get the assassin into the fight. I rolled another one. Four in a row. By this time passers by were shaking their heads in sympathy. Gary of course could barely stop laughing. I drove the rhino into the Ork deployment zone and shot at the Kanz once more but failed to hurt them again. What do they make these things from?

Squad Matoso weren't so lucky this time as a Rokkit blew the rhino out from under them and they were charged by the Kanz. Over the next three combat phases they passed every morale check I wanted them to fail. Aaaaarggghhhh! Meanwhile my Daemonhost had finally seen off the mighty 5 man tankbusta squad and was promptly instantly killed by a stray Rokkit shot. Ho hum.

On a brighter note the Callidus finally turned up on turn six. With the Warboss safely tucked away in his trukk I had nothing really to go for except the large slugga boyz squad. With some trepidation she took them on and between the shooting phase and two assault phases she killed ten of the buggers!

It was too little too late though as the Orks had clearly taken the field.

Result: Loss

Learning points

• This is typical of my luck - bringing along a new unit then rolling horribly for it. The same happened in my last game using Grey knights. But four ones in a row for the Callidus is just infuriating. I have decided to cut right back on deep striking units in the future; it is just too unpredictable.
• Those Kanz did for me again. Every time I play against them I just can't seem to take them down. Mostly this is due to the lack of long range hitting power in the radical list but partly it is due to bad luck. After all I threw three Multilaser shots, three heavy bolter shots, two hunter killer missiles, two melta gun shots, a plasma pistol shot and four flamer templates into them and only destroyed one. In contrast my chimera went down to a Rokkit shot on turn one. Just wait until I get my inducted guard painted up!
• The Emperors Tarot worked a treat to win me the first turn in this game. It could become very powerful in a shooty army and coincidentally I am currently painting up an Imperial Guard force. I think an allied Inquisitor with the Tarot could be very useful to them.