SPACE MARINES - BLOOD ANGELS SPACE MARINES versus Chaos Daemons

Game: Warhammer 40,000 5th edition
Opponent: Gary
Mission: Seize Ground
Deployment: Dawn of War
1st turn: Blood Angels Space Marines
Points: 1200
Location: 278.M41, Mandag, Hexen Sub, Skolarii sector
Background: Warp intrusions escalate on Mandag and a Daemonic force led by a dread Bloodthirster attempts to retake control of a ruined Imperial Shrine from Blood Angels Space Marines.

Blood Angels

• Chaplain, plasma pistol, jump pack
• 6 Death Company Marines with jump packs
  
• 5 Tactical Marines, flamer, Vet sergeant with Powerfist
• 5 Assault Marines, plasma pistol
• 5 Assault Marines, plasma pistol
  
• 5 Veteran Assault Marines, plasma pistol, Vet sergeant with Powerfist
• Venerable Death Company Dreadnought Blackblood
• Dreadnought Rueben with multi-melta
• Predator Destructor with autocannon and heavy bolter sponsons
  

Chaos Daemons

• Bloodthirster
  
• 8 Bloodletters, Icon, Instrument of Chaos
• 8 Bloodletters
• 5 Bloodletters
  
• 12 Daemonettes, Icon, Instrument of Chaos
• 8 Flesh Hounds
• 8 Flesh Hounds
• Daemon Prince with Iron Hide

Terrain and Deployment
This was our second game on the same 4 foot square table. The first had ended with my 500 point Blood Angels patrol capturing a ruined Imperial shrine. It was surrounded by a low wall in my right centre, there was a ruined building on my left centre and a rocky lake in the Daemon deployment zone on my extreme left. There were four loot counters; two on my side of the board behind the shrine and the ruins, and two in the Daemons deployment zone, one near the lake and the other in the open. Due to the small table size we could only put them in square formation.

Gary won the initial die roll again giving me choice of table edge, first deployment and first turn. I set up the Tactical Marines inside the shrine walls and the Assault squad behind the other ruins. Everything else would come on from reserve. The Daemons would deep strike on from turn one so started with nothing on the board.

Gary once again played cleverly by giving me first turn. That meant I lost an entire shooting phase while his army was off-table. My own plan was to keep my own army compact so that they could cover each other and make co-ordinated assaults. I wanted to basically ignore the objective behind the shrine as it was near the most cover and go for the other three as they were exposed and would hopefully allow me to lever my shooting advantage. My priority was to target the Chaos Daemon Troops and prevent Gary from claiming objectives, while keeping at least one of my own Troops units alive.

The game
I pushed forward with the Tactical squad in the ruined Shrine and my Assault squad shuffled forward. Gary got his first choice Daemons and three squads of Bloodletters and the Bloodthirster arrived from reserve. Learning from his first disastrous game he deployed conservatively near the objectives in his deployment zone.

I got the Veteran and regular Assault squad from reserve, as well as the Predator and Death Company Dreadnought. I brought them all on on my left flank and pushed them up behind the ruins. The original Assault squad also slid left to form a very strong flanking force. This meant they were also a very long way away from the Bloodthirster!

I had intended to move my Tactical squad back into the shrine but changed my mind when I got 6" on the terrain roll. Instead aggressively I pushed them forward hoping to score some easy kills on the large Bloodletter squad in front of them. I figured that a flamer and seven bolter weapons shots would cause carnage amongst the Daemonic ranks. I was wrong. I fluffed my rolls badly and caused no casualties.

The Daemonettes and Daemon Prince decided to come out and play and materialised in and around the shrine, effectively capturing that objective. The Bloodletters charged into the Tactical squad but before they could swing the Bloodthirster barrelled in and killed all five Blood Angels with one mighty sweep of his axe.

The rest of my reserves appeared on the left flank again. The Chaplain led the Death Company up to the ruins which also allowed me to control Dreadnought Blackblood. The other Dreadnought plodded up behind. I made another aggressive move this turn when I flew all of my Assault squads over the ruins to take on an isolated Bloodletter unit. When the smoke from my shooting had cleared I had killed maybe one Bloodletter. Only one of my Assault squads made the charge but I whiffed my attacks and the whole unit was killed for nothing.

Now a unit of Flesh Hounds appeared behind the shrine and it looked like our battle lines had been rotated by 90 degrees, with the Daemons holding the right flank and the Blood Angels the left. All of the Daemons moved across to the centre to threaten the Marines. The isolated Bloodletters on the left assaulted both the Regular and Veteran Assault squad and wiped out nine Marines for minimal casualties. Crucially, a single Assault Marine escaped the carnage and fled. That meant I had a single scoring Trooper left in the game. If I could keep him alive I might achieve a draw or even scrape a win.

My Death Company had to come to the rescue. They swooped in on the Bloodletters on the left and annihilated them. They consolidated back, hoping to keep away from the Furiuos Charge of another Bloodletter unit.

Meanwhile the rest of my army shot everything they had into the central Bloodletters and Bloodthirster. All the melta weapon shots of the Dreadnoughts at the Bloodthirster either missed, failed to wound or were saved and my Predator only killed a couple of Bloodletters over two turns of all out shooting. Garbage.

The Daemons now launched assaults over the entire front. The Bloodletters contacted the Death Company and in an outrageous round of combat killed the whole unit. This included a single Bloodletter killing the Chaplain using just three attacks.

The Bloodthirster took on Dreadnought Blackblood and with his first attack rolled a five followed by a five on the damage table and destroyed it.

The Flesh Hounds move in on the Predator which was now trapped in my left corner.

The Predator again fluffed it's shots against the Daemons and the Dreadnought had it's multi-melta shot saved by the Daemon Prince. My lone surviving Marine moved up behind the Dreadnought, near an objective.

The Bloodthirster spotted him and used his whip to kill him from a distance. The Daemon Prince charged Dreadnought Rueben and rolled a six on the damage chart causing a large explosion.

The Flesh Hounds followed suit by getting a single penetrating hit on the Predator and rolling - you guessed it - a six.

The Chaos Daemons had wiped out the Blood Angels Space Marines and comprehensively won the battle.

Result: Loss, wiped out

Learning points

• What a drubbing. While part of this loss has to be attributed to dice rolls (mine were universally appalling while Gary's were above average for the whole game) the largest part has to go down to strategy and tactics. I was just too aggressive and this led to the destruction of several units. I should never have charged the Tactical Marines forward and I should have held my assault elements back for another turn until I was in a better position. Gary deployed his army better and they mutually supported each other throughout the game, in what was for him a relatively defensive tactic. It worked perfectly!
• Certainly against Daemons, and in general, I need some better long range shooting in my army. More Tactical Marines are a must (and would help with objective claiming) and things like attack bikes, Land speeders, Vindicators and Whirlwinds would help. I need enough hard hitting stuff capable of taking out the Bloodthirster and yet enough small arms fire to threaten the lesser Daemons.
  
• I can see that our two armies are going to be quite evenly matched and a lot will be decided by who charges who. Furious Charge has a disproportionately large effect on our games as it decides who hits first between the Marines and the Bloodletters, so I need to get more of it in my army. How?

SPACE MARINES - BLOOD ANGELS versus Chaos Daemons

Game: Warhammer 40,000 5th edition
Opponent: Gary
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Dawn of War
1st turn: Blood Angels Space Marines
Points: 500
Location: 278.M41, Mandag, Hexen Sub, Skolarii sector
Background: All shipping from Mandag abruptly stops in 275.M41. The Kore 347th investigate in 277.M41 and report all settlements ravaged and the surviving population scattered and insane. All contact ceases from the Kore 347th. One year later the Blood Angels arrive to continue the investigation. Patrols are posted to all major settlements. Before long, patrol Vigilant discovers the horrifying fact that Daemons have come to Mandag.

Blood Angels

• 5 Tactical Marines, flamer, Vet sergeant with Powerfist
• 5 Assault Marines, plasma pistol
• 5 Veteran Assault Marines, plasma pistol, Vet sergeant with Powerfist
• 3 Death Company Marines

Chaos Daemons

• 8 Bloodletters, Icon, Instrument of Chaos
• 8 Bloodletters
• 12 Daemonettes, Icon, Instrument of Chaos

Background
This was my first game of 5th edition 40k and as well as Gary's first game, he didn't even have the rulebook, it was his first using Chaos Daemons. For these reasons we decided on a 500 point game over a four foot square table. Gary only had a Bloodthirster for an HQ so suggested choosing our forces without HQ choices. Rather than face a raging Greater Daemon in a tiny game I quickly agreed!

Terrain and Deployment
Gary set up the table with a ruined shrine surrounded by a low wall in my right centre, a ruined building on my left centre and a rocky lake in the Daemon deployment zone on my extreme left. He won the initial die roll giving me choice of table edge, first deployment and first turn. I set up the Tactical Marines behind the shrine and the Assault squad behind the other ruins. The Veterans and Death Company would come on from reserve. The Daemons would deep strike on from turn one so started with nothing on the board.

Gary played cleverly by giving me first turn. That meant I lost an entire shooting phase while his army was off-table. My own plan was use my superior mobility to mob a single Daemon unit per turn with two or three of my units. To help with this I deployed both of my initial units about 14" from my board edge meaning they would be within range of my jump-packers coming out of reserve. Would Gary fall for my trap?

The game
I stayed where I was for my first turn until Gary showed his hand. He got his favoured units and both Bloodletter units materialised. He put the one with the Icon in between the two ruins and the other to the right of the shrine. They spread out in the shooting phase to minimise the damage from my flamer.

I got my Veterans from reserve and moved all three of my units toward the central Bloodletters. Between shooting and assault I killed them all for the loss of five Marines. My Blood Angels consolidated away from the other Bloodletters.

Gary failed to get his Daemonettes and cautiously brought his Bloodletters up behind the shrine. My Death Company came on from the board edge and flew straight at the Khorne daemons. The other Marines followed suit and in a three way assault my jump-packers massacred the Bloodletters, this time for no losses.

The Daemonettes once again failed to arrive so I spread my units out toward the centre of the battlefield. Eventually the Daemonettes warped in to the table edge but before we could get stuck in the battle ended.

Result: Win, 2 kill points to 0

Learning points

• My plan worked; my mobility allowed me to concentrate my forces and I got the reserves at the right time. The only mistake Gary made was not deploying his Bloodletters close enough together to support each other. The Daemonettes arriving late didn't help either.
• Furious charge was massive on the Death Company when they got the charge. It meant the difference between taking five casualties and taking none. The only problem is that Bloodletters get furious charge too. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end with my Blood Angels!
• So my first game of 5th edition kicks off with a win. I'm under no illusions, though; my Blood Angels are not a cohesive force and need some reinforcements quick to make them competitive.
  

DAEMONHUNTERS versus Black Templars Space Marines

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Opponent: Kyle
Campaign: Vogen campaign game 2
Mission: Cleanse (Nightfight)
1st turn: Black Templars Space Marines
Points: 1000

Daemonhunters

• Inquisitor Lord Severus, Daemonhammer, Bolt pistol, Holocaust, Icon of the Just, 2x Acolytes, Power Armour, Bolt Pistols and Close Combat Weapons, 1x Acolyte with Close Combat weapon and las pistol, 3xCombat Servitor, 3x Mystics, Rhino with Smoke Launchers, Hunter Killer missile, Searchlight
• Inquisitor 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, Hierophant, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol
• Daemonhost
• Eversor Assassin
• Squad Matoso, 5 Stormtroopers, 2 meltaguns, Rhino, Smoke launchers, Extra Armour, Hunter Killer Missile
• Squad Godirtho, 5 Stormtroopers, 2 plasma guns
• Squad Seralvo, 5 Stormtroopers, 2 Grenade Launchers
• Squad Vargas, 5 Stormtroopers, 2 Flamers

Black Templars

• Emperor's Champion
• Chaplain with retinue including Techmarine with servo-arm
• Large tactical squad
• Small Tactical squad with Heavy bolter
• Small Tactical squad with lascannon
• Assault squad
• 5 Terminators

Vogen Campaign
This was my second game for the Vogen campaign and we only had an hour before the store was to close so we had to play very quickly. It was played on the same Lord of the Rings table which I used in game 1, and is covered in dense terrain.

This was the most bizarre game I have played in a long while.

Deployment
Kyle won the dice off and gave me the open corner with the cornfield in it - if I'd have won the roll I would have picked this one anyway! Since I was playing an assaulty Marine army again I used the same tactics, putting the Stormtroopers out front and everything else behind for a counter punch. The only difference was Severus, whose Rhino I put front and forward to my right. Since the Templars used their Pure in Body, Mind and Soul power to gain extra movement I tried to lure them right out in front of my guns.

The Game
I was completely unprepared for the speed at which the Templars hit me. I lost first turn and both rhinos went down immediately (to two meltagun shots, fired from Tactical squads on foot and they were both closer than 6") and Severus' squad were charged by the Terminators. All this before I had even moved a model!

My Eversor charged the large Tactical squad in the centre while the now dismounted Squad Matoso took two meltagun shots at the Emperor's Champion but failed to kill him. They then joined the assassin in the assault. Severus' squad easily dealt with the Terminators for minimal losses and they consolidated ready to receive the charge of the assault marines lurking behind the buildings.

A firefight erupted between Kyle's Tactical squad with the Heavy Bolter and my firebase. By the end of the game I had lost Squads Godirtho and Seralvo but had wiped out all of the Marines. The Emperor's Champion was chopped down by the Eversor in the centre, but the Templars were bolstered by the arrival of the Chaplain and his retinue.

The assault squad hung back and played no further part in the game as they just claimed their table quarter by hiding in some woods.

Severus joined the brawl in the centre and mayhem ensued. The Eversor went down to the Chaplain and the rest of Squad Matoso were wiped out, but then Severus and his squad killed most of the retinue and the rest of the Tactical squad. Severus went on to duke it out with the Chaplain and was eventually dragged down, but the Chaplain had been wounded and he had only two followers left. As they emerged from combat they were blasted apart by Inquisitor Kurven.

My Daemonhost finally appeared on turn 4 but was promptly lost in the warp (double 1 on a deep strike). The scramble for table quarters came down to Squad Vargas crawling through some woods under fire from the last Tactical squad with a lascannon. Fortunately they were unharmed and they helped me to tie the game at two table quarters apiece.

The campaign co-ordinator had neglected to write any rules for games that ended in a draw so he called it a win for both sides.

Result: Win

Campaign effect
I gained 50 extra points to add to my army for all of the coming games.

Campaign results: Played 2, Won 2, Lost 0
Learning points

• I don't think my write up conveys just how strange this game was. It was played at a hundred miles an hour so it was littered with mistakes, coupled with bizarre dice rolls and very dramatic moments. We forgot we were playing a nightfight on turn two so we switched to a cleanse mission, I was assaulted before I had even had a turn, the Daemonhost got lost in the warp, assault marines hid in the undergrowth for 5 turns and there was a massive ruck in the centre of the board including an Emperors Champion, a Chaplain, an Inquisitor Lord and an Eversor assassin as well as over 30 troopers. Our game even caused Paul, the campaign organiser, a headache as he hadn't planned for draws. After some deliberation he decided to class the game as a win for both sides.
• A thought flashed across my mind as I rolled for the Daemonhost deep striking - gee I've never, ever rolled a double one for deep striking. Sure enough I got snake eyes!
• Having lots of ultra cheap Stormtrooper squads is working out well. They are charge bait and they can claim table quarters. Maybe I should add another squad or two.
  

DAEMONHUNTERS Versus Blood Angels Space Marines

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Opponent: Joseph
Campaign: Vogen campaign game 1
Mission: Recon
1st turn: Blood Angels Space Marines
Points: 1000

Daemonhunters

• Inquisitor Lord Severus, Daemonhammer, Bolt pistol, Holocaust, Icon of the Just, 2x Acolytes, Power Armour, Bolt Pistols and Close Combat Weapons, 1x Acolyte with Close Combat weapon and las pistol, 3xCombat Servitor, 3x Mystics, Rhino with Smoke Launchers, Hunter Killer missile, Searchlight
• Inquisitor 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, Hierophant, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol
• Daemonhost
• Eversor Assassin
• Squad Matoso, 5 Stormtroopers, 2 meltaguns, Rhino, Smoke launchers, Extra Armour, Hunter Killer Missile
• Squad Godirtho, 5 Stormtroopers, 2 plasma guns
• Squad Seralvo, 5 Stormtroopers, 2 Grenade Launchers
• Squad Vargas, 5 Stormtroopers, 2 Flamers
  

Blood Angels

• Librarian with Jump pack
• 5 Honour Guard with Jump packs and power weapons
• 5 Terminators with 4 Lightning claws
• 8 Marines with veteran sergeant with power weapon in rhino
• 7 Marines with veteran sergeant with power weapon
• Dreadnought with Assault cannon
• 6 man Death Company squad with 3 power weapons

My Opponent
Before the Vogen campaign was organised I had bumped into Joseph and he was complaining because no-one would take on his Death Company army (an entire Blood Angel army who have succumbed to the rage). I'm not one willing to dodge a game (I'll play anyone with any army) I said I would take it on. Then the campaign rules disallowed his army so he had to field regular Blood Angels instead. Disappointed, we played the game anyway.

Terrain and Deployment
The table deserves a mention because it is so heavily covered in terrain. Because the campaign had attracted so many players we were forced onto the smaller 4x4 tables, and this one was built for Lord of the Rings. Most of the middle table is covered by largish houses fixed to the board (around 12 of them). Some of the gaps in between them weren't even large enough to allow a regular model to move through. The edges of the board were covered in forest with one corner taken up by a large cornfield. A river also ran from one edge to another, near the edge of the table. Assault armies would have a terrific advantage, with very poor lanes of fire for shooters. I was particularly worried about my rhinos as they had only a couple of areas on the board where they could move around without hitting difficult terrain.

Anyway, I lost the choice of table edge and then had to set a unit up first. I placed Squad Vargas with their flamers up front to push the Space Marines back, and set up as good a firebase as possible given the terrain. I basically refused the right flank, set my firebase up on my left flank in the most open terrain, and kept the Eversor and Severus near the centre to countercharge.

The Blood Angels had set up fairly centrally, mostly hidden behind a building but they had one tactical squad out on the far right.

The Game
I won first turn and Squad Seralvo got lucky, taking out the Blood Angels rhino with the first shot of the game! I pulled my squads back from the centre so that my whole army was on my left flank, with the Stormtroopers up front and Kurven, Severus and the assassin behind. The Blood Angels took the bait and piled forward.

On turn 2 Squad Seralvo were charged by the dismounted tactical squad, Squad Matoso in the rhino were charged by the Librarian and his honour guard and Squad Vargas were charged by the Death Company. Squad Seralvo and most of squad Vargas were killed but this set up my rapid firing plasma guns to wipe out the Librarian and his unit and the Tactical squad, and the Eversor and Severus decimated the Death Company. This tore the heart out of the Blood Angel attack and pretty much won me the game.

My Daemonhost appeared in the centre just in time to help out the Eversor and Squad Matoso wipe out the second tactical squad, but then the Terminators arrived and only the Daemonhost survived to the end of the game.

Neither of us had gotten a unit into the others deployment zone, but I was 150 points ahead in victory points, so took the game.

Result: Win

Campaign effect
Because I won the game I had to roll on a chart to see what the benefit of the game was. My opponent ended up losing a wound from his Librarian for the rest of the campaign!

Campaign score: Played 1, Won 1, Lost 0

Learning points

• My plan broadly worked as I set up the small Stormtrooper squads as charge-bait and this allowed me to maximise my shooting and my own assault elements. It's not often you see the Blood Angels duffed over in combat but I managed it in this game.
• The table was a nightmare to play on. Despite having two hunter killer missiles I couldn't get a clear line of sight to the Dreadnought to use them! To do so I would have had to block my other shooting units with my own vehicles. In many ways the game was similar to a Cityfight as the terrain was so dense.
• Severus' squad was of limited use in this game as their movement was seriously hampered by the terrain. It also meant that when they assaulted the Death Company I could only get the powerfists into base contact and of course meant I had to remove them as casualties first, so they were all killed before they could swing. Then the large unit had difficulty moving around the board so they played no further part in the game.
  

VOGEN CAMPAIGN: Introduction

Nightbringer in a 1000 point army? Pimped out Daemon Princes and multiple units of Bloodletters? The Red Terror and a winged Hive Tyrant in 1000 points? Entire Death Company armies? This could only mean one thing - a campaign!

Our Battle Bunker organised a campaign for 40k based loosely around the Games Workshop Vogen campaign. It used the Vogen map, and staffer Paul put together some rules to affect each army depending on the area fought over. You could get additional points for your army, for example, or a bonus weapon (someone picked up a power weapon that always wounds on a 2+), or something that will reduce an opponents army.

The campaign was to run for six weeks. Players could play as many games as they liked in that space of time, against whomever they chose. Points were won for playing games - more for winning of course- and the player with the highest points total at the end of the campaign would win the city of Vogen (and bragging rights in the store!).

I chose to play my Radical Daemonhunters, led by Inquisitor Severus.

Knowing that there would be a few tough armies flying around I went back to the painting table to add some more models to my Radicals. I painted and converted two more combat servitors to Severus' squad as well as another mystic, taking the model count to ten. The Mystics and Acolytes were there to absorb wounds so that I could get 14 S6 powerfist attacks on the charge. Potentially very nasty.

The other additions were fairly minor, including squeezing a Hierophant into Kurven's squad to boost his leadership (regular readers of my gaming diary will probably remember how many times they have fallen back under pretty light fire - i.e. I can't pass a leadership check on an 8), and I put a searchlight and hunter killer missile on Severus' rhino.

This was to be their last outing for some time; could I go out on a winning note?

DAEMONHUNTERS versus Chaos Space Marines

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Opponent: Wayne
Mission: Pitched Battle
1st turn: Chaos Space Marines
Points: 1500

Daemonhunters

• Inquisitor Lord Kurven - Psycannon, Purity Seals, 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, 2 x mystics
• Grey Knight Grand Master - Icon of the Just
• 3 x Death-Cult Assassins
• Inquisitor Lynch - Incinerator, null rod
• Squad Godirtho - 5 Storm troopers, Veteran Sergeant with Plasma pistol, 2 x meltaguns
• Squad Matoso - 5 x Inquisitorial Stormtroopers, Veteran, Bolt Pistol, Power Weapon, Targeter, 2 x Flamer, Rhino, Extra Armour, Hunter-killer Missile, Smoke
• Squad Vargas - 5 Storm Troopers, 2 Plasma guns
• Armoured Fist Squad (inducted Imperial Guard) - Sergeant, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol, Flamer, Chimera, Multilaser, Heavy Bolter, Smoke Launchers, track guards, hunter killer missile, heavy stubber
• 6 Grey Knights - 1 incinerator
• 4 Grey Knights - 1 incinerator

Chaos Space Marines

• 2 Defilers with mutated hull
• Dreadnought with plasma cannon
• Assault unit all with rending claws in rhino with warp amp
• Sorceror with Dark Blade and gift of chaos
• 3 units of daemonettes
• 2 tricked out havoc squads
• Lieutenant with flight and 2 lightning claws

The game
What a bizarre, god-awful game!

Wayne had 1500 points so I used another player's Grey Knights models to pad out my army (after dropping the Daemonhost of course). I had been considering adding Grey Knights to my army for a while and I was looking forward to trying them out.

I lost the first turn and was decimated by the Chaos firing. One defiler hit a rhino, destroying it and killing everyone onboard. The second defiler deviated onto Inquisitor Kurven wiping out the whole squad. When the smoke cleared from the rest of the Children's firing I only had a handful of troops left. With no long range fire that could hurt the Defilers I concentrated on the rest of Wayne's army. After 8 lasgun shots, 2 meltagun shots, a plasma gun shot and a hunter killer missile I only managed to prevent his rhino from firing.

He hammered me again and then the daemonettes arrived. Things looked up briefly when an assassin killed his lieutenant in close combat but it was far too little to turn the tide.

The Grey Knights landed over three separate turns and were wiped out immediately in the Chaos following turn.

I was utterly annihilated.

Result: Loss

Learning points

• I knew I had lost the game when Wayne pulled out two defilers with mutated hulls. With very little in the way of long-range firepower I was all but beaten. If I had won first turn I might have troubled them with two hunter killer missiles but of course I lost the first turn, and subsequently most of my army...
• Ordnance is far too powerful - Wayne was using it to snipe my special weapons troopers. Of course it helped when he rolled sixes to destroy the vehicles and all the occupants. I have only experienced four direct hits upon vehicles in all my 40k games and three of those have rolled a six on the damage chart! Two of them were in this game, while the other was against Ken's World Eaters.
• I didn't even get to try out the Grey Knights properly because they simply teleported in, shot up a couple of Chaos Marines and then they were riddled with fire and the odd survivor or two charged and killed before they could fight back. Ho, hum.

DAEMONHUNTERS versus Necrons

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

Daemonhunters

• Inquisitor Lord Kurven - Psycannon, Purity Seals, 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, 2 x mystics
• Daemonhost
• 3 x Death-Cult Assassins
• Inquisitor Lynch - Incinerator, null rod
• Squad Godirtho - 5 Storm troopers, Veteran Sergeant with Plasma pistol, 2 x meltaguns
• Squad Matoso - 5 x Inquisitorial Stormtroopers, Veteran, Bolt Pistol, Power Weapon, Targeter, 2 x Flamer, Rhino, Extra Armour, Hunter-killer Missile, Smoke
• Squad Vargas - 5 Storm Troopers, 2 Plasma guns
• Armoured Fist Squad (inducted Imperial Guard) - Sergeant, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol, Flamer, Chimera, Multilaser, Heavy Bolter, Smoke Launchers, track guards, hunter killer missile, heavy stubber
  

Necrons

• 20 warriors
• 6 immortals
• 10 flayed ones
• 5 pariahs
• Lord

The game
Although this game was on a green board (thank God I finally got a game away from the city fight table) it was packed with terrain, severely limiting the lanes of fire. I began with my chimera on the board, with the guardsmen deployed in a building nearby while my opponent started with a unit of warriors.

Because of the terrain, there wasn't a shot fired until turn 3. I brought squad Vargas and a death cult assassin on next to the guardsmen to hold my centre with Inquisitor Kurven to my right. Everything else bombed forward to engage the first Necron warrior squad who had moved into the cover of a large building. In a protracted fight the warriors were routed all the way to the board edge and although they subsequently rallied they were effectively out of the game.

However the Necron lord had arrived behind them and forced Squad Matoso to rout, putting them out of the game. The combat went on for an age with the Daemonhost and two death cult assassins still duking it out with the Lord when the game ended.

The Necrons tried a right flank attack of their own with the other warrior squad, the immortals, the pariahs and the flayed ones deep striking in. With the constant difficult terrain checks and poor shooting opportunities they caused minimal damage and on the turn they broke cover I killed the whole pariah squad and all but one of the flayed ones. In another turn they might have hit my lines but the game had ended.

Result: Win

Learning points

• A good mission for me with most of my squads arriving from reserve deployed in vehicles, while the Necrons typical phalanx formation was disrupted.
• I got lucky with the Daemonhost who survived several turns with only one wound left then recovered them all. He held up the Necron Lord for six combat phases (with the help of two death cult assassins).
• The chimera worked well as a firebase, taking out a fistful of pariahs and flayed ones in a hail of fire.
  

DAEMONHUNTERS versus Dark Eldar

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

Daemonhunters

• Inquisitor Lord Kurven - Psycannon, Purity Seals, 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, 2 x mystics
• Daemonhost
• 3 x Death-Cult Assassins
• Inquisitor Lynch - Incinerator, power weapon, melta bombs, purity seals
• Squad Godirtho - 9 Storm troopers, Veteran Sergeant with Plasma pistol, 2 x meltaguns
• Squad Matoso - 9 x Inquisitorial Stormtroopers, Veteran, Bolt Pistol, Power Weapon, Targeter, 2 x Flamer, Rhino, Extra Armour, Hunter-killer Missile, Smoke
• Armoured Fist Squad (inducted Imperial Guard) - Sergeant, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol, Flamer, Chimera, Multilaser, Heavy Bolter, Smoke Launchers
  

Dark Eldar

• Dracon - agoniser and shadow field, with 5 Incubi in Raider
• 10 Wyches with Wych Weapons
• 2x10 Warriors with 2 dark lances
• Ravager
• Talos
• Warp beasts

The game
I won the roll off and started to set up first. The battlefield had a large building in the centre of the table with smaller buildings scattered around and about. I began with my two rhinos behind the building in the centre, the chimera covering my right and Inquisitor Kurven covering the left.

On turn one I targeted both warrior squads while the rhinos moved forward. I chose not to shoot at the raiders because my opponent has had some trouble with them in his games (but more on this later). Although I forced both units to take morale checks they both passed.

He brought his two raiders up behind the building while the ravager took on the Inquisitor, killing several of his retinue. Now was the time to strike. I flung both rhinos around the building to target the raiders, an assassin hiding in the large building leapt forward to assault any survivors and Inquisitor Kurven squared up to the ravager. After 2 meltagun shots, an Incinerator and flamer shot, 3 Multilaser shots, 3 heavy bolter shots, 1 plasma cannon shot, 2 plasma gun shots and a psycannon shot I had killed precisely nothing. Zip. Zilch. I lost the entire game on this turn.

Kurven and retinue were wiped out in an assault by the Incubi, a rhino went down to the ravager, the chimera was destroyed by a warrior's dark lance and the wyches assaulted Inquisitor Lynch and squad Matoso. Although I rallied a little when the Daemonhost arrived, and managed to kill the wyches and warriors on my right, I was wiped out to a man by turn 5.

Result: Lose

Learning points

• I lost the game on turn 2 with the most appalling shooting phase ever. I hung on in there and gave the dark Eldar a bloody nose but there was no way back for the Daemonhunters.
• This Dark Eldar list is perfect for taking out my Daemonhunters army. All the dark lances can pop the rhinos while all of the dark Eldar are better than my units in combat. My only hope was to take out his mobility early on but that brings me to...
• Gary has had problems with some players in the store with his raiders. Although he carefully screens them behind tall buildings, the gigantic profile of the paper darts always leaves a bit of them sticking out. So opponents target a vehicle they can perhaps only see 1% of. I think this stinks and so does Gary. So in this game I refused to shoot at them in the first turn (even though I could maybe see 30-40% of them). Unfortunately, because of my awful shooting in turn 2, my generosity backfired big time. Ho, hum.

DAEMONHUNTERS versus Chaos Space Marines

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Opponent: Gary
Mission: Rescue (modified)
1st turn: Daemonhunters
Points: 1000

Daemonhunters

• Inquisitor Lord Kurven - Psycannon, Purity Seals, 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
• Daemonhost
• 3 x Death-Cult Assassins
• Squad Godirtho - 5 Storm troopers, 2 x meltaguns
• Squad Seralvo - 5 Stormtroopers, 2xGrenade Launchers
• Squad Vargas - 5 Stormtroopers, 2xPlasma Guns, Veteran Sergeant with Plasma pistol
• Squad Matoso - 9 x Inquisitorial Stormtroopers, Veteran, Bolt Pistol, Power Weapon, Targeter, 2 x Flamer, Rhino, Extra Armour, Hunter-killer Missile, Smoke
• Armoured Fist Squad (inducted Imperial Guard) - Sergeant, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol, Flamer, Chimera, Multilaser, Heavy Bolter, Smoke Launchers

Chaos Space Marines

• Lord with axe of Khorne
• Dreadnought with twin linked lascannon
• 8 man squad in rhino
• 8 man squad in rhino
• 8 Khorne Berzerkers
• 8 flesh hounds

Terrain and Deployment
This game was played on the store city fight board which looks awesome but is a devil to play on. I won the roll for deployment and chose the board edge closest to me for deployment because I couldn't be bothered to carry my models over to the other side of the board!

My first mistake.

I was stuck in a corner with a massive ruined building while my opponent had clear terrain. Given that we both had to rush forward and collect the rescue counters I was at a big disadvantage.

Just a quick note on our modified version of the rescue mission. Now this is a mission I hate. Not because it is unbalanced or because it has reserves but because my opponent always uncovers the objective in turn one right next to his deployment zone. Always.

So to shake things up a bit we decided that we could collect the rescue counters during the game and only reveal which counter was the real objective at the end. That meant we had to decide whether to push on and collect more counters but risk losing them to the enemy, or whether to consolidate and hang on to the counters we had. It all made for a tense game.

I deployed my chimera inside the ruined building to claim hull down, intending to use it as a weapons platform. There was a counter maybe 8" ahead of it so my Guard squad started on foot ready to race forward and collect it. Behind these units in the building were my two stormtrooper units on foot looking to move to my right. On my left in a spot of clear terrain I had the rhino with the plasma stormtroopers covering them.

Gary began with a rhino at either end of his deployment corner and his Berzerkers in the centre. All the rest of our armies were in reserve.

The game
I won first turn and took some long range shots at the chaos rhinos to try and slow them down but they emerged unscathed. They both raced toward my lines, threatening each flank of my army. My Inquisitor arrived from reserve at the start of the second turn and reinforced my left. On the right my melta gunners had moved up and could just see the rhino round the corner of a building and they blew it up. On the left I failed to hurt the rhino again and knew I was in for some pain in the following turn.

The chaos marines in the rhino barrelled into the Inquisitor and his retinue (having driven over and collected two counters already) but they got a poor spread of rolls and got stuck in a combat they should have won. The other marines who had spilled from their wrecked transport assaulted the storm troopers but only after they summoned the flesh hounds. This combined assault wiped out squad Seralvo and Godirtho to a man. The hounds swept on into the guardsmen who had just retrieved a counter.

Now it was time for the Daemonhunters to counterattack. All the assassins passed their reserve rolls as did the Daemonhost. One assassin came on to attack the marines on my right while the other two piled into the combat with the Inquisitor. Most of the flesh hounds were killed by the firepower of the rapid firing guardsmen and they were reduced to a single model (who had a counter).

Over the next two turns all but two of the chaos marines were killed along with their remaining rhino (except of course for the Berzerkers who were still slogging their way over the battlefield on foot. The Inquisitor had picked up the two counters from the chaos marines and simply stood off to utilise his psycannon; there was no chance of the chaos army reaching him. Two marines had survived the combat with the Inquisitor and the subsequent fight with the Guardsmen and claimed another counter. Somehow the last flesh hound survived the carnage and emerged with a counter. The chaos dreadnought had arrived by this point and although hit failed to hit anything with his lascannon he did pick up a stray counter to take the tally to 3 for chaos and two for the Daemonhunters.

The last of the six counters was being carried by the chaos lord until the last turn when he went down to the Daemonhost in close combat. This should have left us a three counters each but I forgot to consolidate the Daemonhost and so the counter remained unclaimed. Finally, we rolled a d6 to determine the real objective and it turned out to be the one carried by the two surviving chaos marines.

Result: Loss

Learning points

• The variant of this mission worked and kept the game tense right up until the finish. Of course the counter turned out to be the one nearest my deployment zone this time so the regular mission would have actually been better for me. Aaarrrghh!
• We had a few quibbles about terrain in this game but that was more down to the table than the players. When will I ever get to play on a regular table?
• An interesting rules query came up when I had an empty rhino zooming around: could it collect counters? On the one hand it is a model and surely the driver could pick it up but on the other it is an empty vehicle. We ruled no it couldn't and that left the dreadnought to claim it. But surely the dreadnought is a vehicle, too? In the end it didn't matter because the real objective was elsewhere but it would be good to clarify this for future games.
• The death cult assassins were worth their weight in gold in this mission. Showing up late from reserve could have put them out of the game but luckily they all made it into combat on the turn they arrived. Against marines they always seem to make their points back.