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.