4 Player Mini-Apocalypse

We started off intending to play a quick game of partners but with everyone wanting to take a "full" army to show some of their new toys, we played with 1850 points per person.  That gave us 3700 points per side.  The sisters of Battle joined Imperial Fists against Orks and more Orks.  3700 points if Orks meant a target rich environment.  This was the first 6th Edition game for one of the Ork Players as well as my Imperial Fist partner.

It took us 4 hours to play 2 turns but we did have a lot of fun getting those two turns in.  Even with just two turns, there was way too much for me to keep notes on.

The Imperial forces won first turn in what was to be The Relic mission.  The Sisters of Battle deployed mostly to the left and the Imperial Fists took the right.  Across from us was a literal horde of Orkz of every type.  Battlewagons, truks, mega-dreds, killa kans, def kopters, lootas ... they brought it all.

One Dominion squad went to Outflank, the other redeployed 12" closer to the Ork walkers.  Imperial Fists scouts too cover behind the central hill near the Relic.  The plan was for them to snatch the Relic quickly and then fall back behind the cover of Lysander's terminator squad and Jacobus' Battle Conclave.

It was a good plan and went along smoothly for ... oh .. about half a turn.   The Ork battlewagon in the center did not move forward as I expected. Instead killa kans and def-dreads filled the center.  Jacobus stayed in cover with his rhino waiting for a target he could damage.  Lysander took the lead met the kan wall.

On the left flank, the dominion squad managed to immobilize the mega-dread before being gunned down by the lootas.  The Immolator survived both rounds of shooting with only a single hull point taken.

Seraphim moved up along the edge with the intention of burning the loota boyz but were met by ork jump troops in the woods.  It was a tough few rounds of hand to hand combat, but the orks were just too strong and wore away at the Seraphim.

 On the far right flank, def copters moved along the edge and engaged the Marine's Predator.  The orks rolled poorly and took more damage than they caused.  After two turns the kopters and the predator were still trading punches.

The Outflanking Dominions came on the right side at the start of turn 2.  Looking to score a solid kill they passed by the kopters and fired on the ork battlewagon.  It exploded and left a warboss with his kustom force field in the open.  One shot from the Immolator's multi-melta and the warboss was gone!

Of course the orks would not let that pass without retaliation.  On the Orks turn the Dominions were assaulted.  They snap fired their weapons, scoring a hit with both meltaguns!  Box cars, baby!  Rolling to wound was a different matter.  Snake eyes!  Neither melta hit managed to wound.  The Dominios fell to the greenskins while the players howled with laughter.

 It looked like the Imperial forces had the upper hand even with Jacobus being out of position and in no place to respond or join the fight for at least two more turns.  The Retributors in the ruins where hot, raining bolter fire on the lootas across the board and getting rending hits on the kans threatening the left side.  That was until the bommas came flying on the table.  Half of the Retributors were lost and the scouts in control of the Relic were wiped out in one turn of shooting.

 At the end of 2, we had to call it done.  Real life called and friends had to return home.  It was fun, if slow going while we discussed new and old rules alike.  I have more pictures than commentary this time so instead of rambling on

What Worked:

Outflanking Dominions
Rending Heavy Bolters

What Didn't:

Waiting in the woods with the Battle Conclave
Seraphim in hand to hand with assault troops.  They held out longer than I thought they would but it was a very lopsided fight.

Exorcise Part 2

This is the second part of the Grey Knight Exorcises.  The last game was also the last of the 5th Edition game we would pay.  For the first 6th Edition, we used the same lists and the same table setup to see if we find any profound differences in how our armies will play.

This game took some time to play as we were getting accustomed to the new rules.  We often spent time going back to the book even when we thought we knew rules.  It is not safe to assume much because we still remember 4th Edition rules from time to time that were changed before.

We made mistakes.  Of this I am sure.  Considering how many times we stopped and cought a slipup, I wonder how many passed us by with out being seen.  It is going to take a few more games to get comfortable with the reule set but so far, I like how they play.

The forces for this game are identical to the last and uses the exact same Force Organization for both Grey Knights and the Sisters of Battle. 


I don't know what happened to the format for this post but it is giving me fits trying to correct it.  Eventually I had to settle for "close enogh" and let it go.

Pre-game

We rolled for our Warlords' traits. The Grey Knights made their Interceptors Scoring while the Sisters of Battle could redeploy 1 unit up to 3d6 inches. 

The Mission was The Scouring with deployment on the short edges.  For the objective markers we used 6 plain 25mm bases and painted the numbers on top.  We shuffled them around and picked one at a time alternating with who put one out.  We did not plan to lay them out in a mirrored fashion but it wound up that way.  One was next to each Bastion.  One was in the woods across from each Bastion and on each side of the middle hill.

The Grey Knights set up first and deployed the Inquisitorial forces on top of their Bastion.  Interceptors along with the Autocannon Dreadnought deployed near the Bastion, behind the walls for cover.  Placement of the Servoskulls protected his Dreadnought from my Scouting Dominions.

The Sisters of Battle deployed the Retributor squad inside their Bastion.  One Battle Sister Squad deployed in the trees wile the other two deployed by the Bastion.  One Dominion squad went on the table across from the Dreadnought while the other went into reserves in order to Outflank, Exorcists took their places on either side.  The battle Conclave and the Repentia joined the Dominion on the side of the board across from the Dreadnought.  This side was overloaded by Grey Knights and I intended to counter that, trusting the Battle Sister troops that would be held back to hold the other side from the Grey Knight forces not yet on the table.  The center would be a challenge for most troops to get across but jump troops could do so quickly; they would just have trust in their armor to protect them from dangerous terrain results.  Saint Celestine and the Seraphim set up in the center just behind the hill. 

As a quick note, the Repentia no longer need to juggle Line of Sight in order to embark.  Rage has been changed to grant +2 Attacks on the Assault and nothing else.  Rage longer has the forced movement rules.

The Dominion Scouts were able to redeploy forward 2" before getting to close to the servoskulls.  Once that was done it was time see what point value the objectives had.  We flipped over the markers to find a 3 by the Sororitas' Bastion and the 4 was in their woods.  The other three was in the Grey Knights' woods and a 2 next to their Bastion.  The remaining 2 and the 1 were by the hill.  The Sisters failed to seize initiative and the Grey Knights kept the first turn.  One final pre-game roll was made to determine that the first turn would not be Night Fighting.

Turn 1

The Inquisitorial Psykers tried to drop a Strength 8 blast on top of the Dominion's Immolator but scattered wide.  The Interceptors were on target with their psycannon but only managed a glance.  The Dreadnought's Autocannon finished off the Immolator with two penetrating hits.  The tank did not explode but with all Hull Points gone it became a smoking wreak forcing the Dominions inside to disembark.  They took the opportunity to move as far forward as possible hoping to get in melta range on their turn.  With the destruction of the Immolater, the grey Knights claimed the Firstblood Victory Point.

The Sisters of Battle moved forward as much as they could.  The disembarked Dominion squad was not able to get in range for their meltaguns so they took a few bolter shots at the Inquisitorial henchmen on the Bastion.  Jacobus raced forward followed by the Repentia who could only move 6" after embarking.  Seraphim and Saint Celestine jumped safely to the top of the hill and ran for a few inches more. 

With the Retributors out of range for any target, the 1st turn shooting relied on the Exorcists and they performed well.  The Exorcist in the woods fired 5 missiles at the Dreadnought scoring 4 hits.  After cover saves, two missiles penetrated the walker.  AP1 missiles roll at +2 on the damage chart so even after re-rolling for damage it was no surprise when the Dreadnought exploded.  The remaining Exorcist fired at the Inquisitorial henchmen on top of the tower and managed to inflict a single casualty.

Turn 2

The Grey Knight Storm Raven zoomed in from reserves and headed straight for the hill.  The Interceptors moved back behind the Bastion so that their cannon could fire with exposing the rest of the squad to return fire.  The Storm Raven open up with all weapons on the Seraphim squad causing heavy losses.  The Interceptors fired at Saint Celestine but missed with the psycannon.  However bolter fire managed to give her a single wound. 

From the top of the Bastion, the psykers again tried to blast the Sisters with their spells.  While the roll of the psychic test was successful, they rolled a 2 and thus suffered a Periles of the Warp.  The blast hit perfectly and covered all 5 of the disembarked Dominions as well as covering a portion of the Battle Conclave's Rhino.  Deny the Witch failed as did all Shield of Faith saves.  The Dominions were lost and Jocobus' Rhino was stunned by the blast.  Back on top of the Bastion, all the psykers suffered the same fate.  With no way to save against the wounds, all psykers were lost.

The Sister responded by inching closer.  The Outflanking squad did not come in so they had to wait for another turn.  The Seraphim moved up past the the fortified walls at the top of the hill while Saint Celestine moved as close as possible towards the Bastion and even ran instead of shooting on her turn.  Jocobus disembarked with the Battle Conclave and moved closer to the enemy.  In the back, the Battle Sisters held there positions for another turn leaving the shooting to the Heavy support.  The Exorcist by the Bastion fired at the zooming Storm Raven and again got 5 missiles off.  Hitting on a 6, it managed to penetrate and destroy the flyer's Multi-Melta.  The Retributors made their Faith test and fired at the Storm Raven with Heavy Bolter.  Out of 15 shots, 4 hit the zooming vehicle and one of those managed to Rend and thus caused another penetrating hit; the Rending hit did no real damage but it did reduce the Storm Raven to a single Hull point. After this, I felt like my lucky dice could not hold up longer so the other Exorcist fired at the Inquisitor but missed with both missiles.

Turn 3

The final Grey Knight terminator squad came in from reserve by Deep Strike.  They landed between the Storm Raven and the Bastion near the approaching Battle Conclave.  The Strom Raven dropped into hover mode so the passengers could disembark.  Draigo and the Paladins landed at the base of the hill and the final Dreadnought filled in the wall of metal between the Paladins and the terminators.  The Interceptors moved out from their position behind the Bastion and took cover behind the terminators.  Grey Knight shooting managed to wreak the Repentia's Rhino as well as taking out a single Crusader from the Conclave.  The Seraphim lost two more from the Paladin shooting and were cut down shortly after in hand to hand combat.  Conditions were crowded around the Bastion, hill and walls so that the Dreadnought was not able to get into a good position to take on Battle Conclave.

On the Sisters' turn, the last Dominion squad came in on the flank by the trees near the fighting.  Saint Celestine jumped to the top of the Bastion where she finished off the henchman with her flamer followed by assaulting the Inquisitor and killing him in hand close combat.  The Repentia moved forward and managed to thread the gap between the Paladins and the terminators in order to get at the Dreadnought behind them.  Exorcists and Retributors opened fire where they could and even with all the cover and fortified positions they managed to take out a Paladin and a terminator.  The Outflanking Immolator was just in Multi-Melta range of the Grey Knight vehicle.  It did its job and put the final glancing hit on the Storm Raven which sent the flyer crashing to the ground.

When the Repentia assaulted the Dreadnought, Snapfire from the walker was turned aside by invulnerable saves and Feel No Pain. .  In close combat, the Repentia's Faith let them be sure of getting at least one attack even if they died, but it turned out that this would not be necessary.  The Dreadnought's attacks were avoided or failed to wound while the Repentia (with 4 attacks each and rolling 2 dice for penetration) cut the walker's Hull Points away with many more to spare.

The Battle Conclave did not make it through the enemy Snapfire as well.  Bolter fire from the terminators killed 1 Crusader and 1 Assassin as they charged.  In hand to hand, the Death Cult Assassins used their axes and went at Initiative 1.  The Grey Knights managed to kill the last two Crusaders and another Asassin who proved to be remarkably resilient thanks in no small part to Feel No Pain.    The extra Strength from the axes allowed the surviving Conclave members to cause more wounds that they normally manage while the AP2 meant that those wounds could only be saved by the terminator's invulnerable saves.  When the fight was over, Jacobus and 4 Death Cult Assassins were all that remained from either side.

Turn 4

We rolled for night at the start of the turn but it remained daylight. 

The Interceptors moved as fast as possible away from the Conclave and towards the 3 point objective in the trees where the Dominions had come on.  As expected, Draigo and the Paladins fired on the Repentia and then cut the last few down in the following Assault.  They wisely chose to consolidate as close to the hill as possible to avoid fire coming from the Exorcists.

Saint Celestine flew down from the Bastion in pursuit of the Interceptors.  She managed to run an additional 6" which put her roughly 8" away from the Knights.  When she declared her assault, the snapfire from the Interceptors cut her down before she could move in.

The Battle Conclave's Rhino was operational and moved closer towards them but the few remaining members would have to wait before they could embark. 

One Exorcist had Line of Sight to one of the Paladins and managed to kill him.   The advancing Dominions in their Immolator (who stayed in the tank and just within 3" of the objective marker) managed to put another wound on Draigo.

The Battle Sisters troops decided to advance forward -- on the opposite side of the hill from where Draigo was moving -- in order to capture or help contest the objective in the Grey Knight's woods.  The closest Rhino move forward but was immediately stuck when trying to go over a section of the walls.  The only other Rhino able to make it there spent the turn getting up to where the first Rhino started from.  At least they were moving into position, if they were being slow about it.

Turn 5

On turn 5 we forgot to roll for Night Fighting.  This is something we will have to keep up with better.

Draigo was in the center of the board walking while hugging the hill to block line of sight.  With no one in range to charge he would have to wait on the table.  The Interceptors moved up closer to the Dominions and fired on the Immolator getting a penetrating hit that exploded the tank.  Snapfire did nothing to slow the Grey Knights from their Assault so the small squad of Dominions was entirely lost in close combat.  This also left the Interceptors (made troops by the Warlord's trait) in sole possession of the 3 point objective.

Saint Celestine did not revive for turn 5.  The Battle Conclave embarked in their transport but with no real objective in mind other than “don’t get shot while in the open.”  One of the Sororitas Exorcists could see the Interceptors in the trees but the cover protected them from all wounds.  The other could just see Draigo and managed to put the final wounds on him.  One sole Paladin was left on the board and I was sure he would be easy to finish off later.

Battle Sisters continued with their plans to capture objectives.  The immobile Rhino's troops disembarked onto the objective beside them near the Bastion.  The Battle Sisters in the tress also disembarked but remained in the trees covering that objective.  The third squad managed to make it out to the middle line of the board on this turn.  At that time I was sure the game was going to be a sweep. I was sure I could table the Grey Knights in one more turn The die roll, however, said it was the end of the game.

End Game

So we are wrapping up and the Grey Knight player is saying he is not going to play Draigo-wing again (at least not against Sisters of Battle) when we start counting up points.  Saint Celestine was still down so he got Kill the Warlord point. He had Firstblood as well and the 3 point objective held by the Interceptors.  Add in Victory Points for the full units he destroyed and he had quite a few points.  With the Scouring mission, Fast Attack units are worth an additional point.  Once we got everything added up ... it was a draw.  So much for me thinking it was going to be a sweep!  The Grey Knights had 6 models on the table but managed to kill all the key units.

What Worked:

Axes!  Equipping one power axe and one power sword on the Death Cult Assassins was a great idea.  Too bad it wasn't mine.  It was, in fact, the Grey Knight player I just faced that told me how to equip the Assassins in order to face either Terminators or Marines with the single entry.

Exorcists were hot again this game.  AP1 in the new system is getting harder to come by and having d6 Strength 8 AP1 missiles is more valuable than ever.

Repentia!  Those 5 ladies with "chainfists" opened a Venerable Dreadnought, exploding it and doing double the hull points worth of penetrating hits before I even finished rolling.  It was glorious!

What Didn't:

Seraphim in the open.  Again.  If I am going to keep using them as a distraction unit I need to cut down the number of Seraphim in the squad and spend those points elsewhere.

Troops in hiding.  I should have started moving the Battle Sisters to cover objectives on turn 3.  I think part of this is also tied to not keeping up with the points.  Put another way, I was not paying attention to all of the Mission Objectives, only the markers on the table.

Grey Knight Training Exercises

My friend and I have this idea (OK, so it was my friend's idea; I'm stealing credit, tho) of playing a final game with the 5th edition rules and then next week play using the exact same table and armies in 6th edition.  Over the weekend we played what will probably be our last 5th edition game.  This was also his debut with a new army and the first time ever playing Grey Knights.  The "training exercise" is not only the story of the game, it is also getting my friend used to a new -- and fluffy -- heavy infantry army.  He is aware that Sister of Battle are one of the better armies for dealing with terminators but this was the point of the game.

We set up the table with two bastions at opposite corners, a large hill in the dead center of the table and defensive walls diagonally across the board.  small groves of trees broke up the corners not taken by the bastions.

On the hill, more defensive walls surrounded the top and debris littered all around.  We declared the entire hill as difficult terrain because of poor footing and scattered junk smaller than what is shown on the table.

 

The Exercise Yard

For the 2000 point game, I took the same list as last game since I have become comfortable with it.  I did cheat a bit in anticipation of the 6th Edition game by giving some of the Death Cult Assassins power axes in place of their power swords.

Sisters of Battle

HQ: Saint Celestine (a.k.a. "The Big Cheese")
HQ: Uriah Jacobus
HQ: (No FOC used) Battle Conclave of 6 Death Cult Assassins and 3 Crusaders.
ELITE: 5 Sister Repentia and their Mistress
TROOP: Battle Sister Squad with metlagun(2) in a Rhino
TROOP: Battle Sister Squad with metlagun(2) in a Rhino
TROOP: Battle Sister Squad with Flamer(2) in a Rhino
FAST:  Dominion(5) with meltagun(2) and combi-meltagun in a Multi-Melta Immolater
FAST:  Dominion(5) with meltagun(2) and combi-meltagun in a Multi-Melta Immolater
FAST: Seraphim(10) with dual Hand Flamers(2) and an Eviscerator for the Seraphim Superior
HEAVY: Retributors(5) with Heavy Bolters(4) and a Storm Bolter.  Their Rhino with dozer blade would be used by the Repentia.
HEAVY: Exorcist

HEAVY: Exorcist

Sisters of Battle forces.

The Grey Knight Forces

HQ: Lord Kaldor Draigo
HQ: Ordos Xenos Inquisitor
HQ: (No FOC used) Henchmen Warband with Psykers(5) and 5 Warrior Acolytes(5)
ELITE: Venerable Dreadnought with Doom Fist, Heavy Flamer and Assault Cannon with Psybolts
ELITE:  Venerable Dreadnought with Twin-Linked Autocannon(2) and Psybolts
TROOP: Paladin Squad(5) with an Apothecary and a Psycannon
TROOP: Grey Knight Terminator Squad(8) with a Psycannon
FAST: Grey Knight Interceptor Squad(5) with Psycannon
FAST: Stormraven Gunship with Mindstrike Missiles, Twin-Linked Assault Cannons and Twin-Linked Multi-Meltas

Grey Knight Forces

"Can Draigo come out and play?"

Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Dawn of I hate this stupid freaking deployment War
Grey Knights won first turn and Sisters of Battle did not attempt to seize initiative.
The Grey Knights placed the objective at the corner of their Bastion nearest the middle.  The Sisters' objective marker was placed on the lower part of the hill near their Bastion.
The Grey Knights deployed nothing so Saint Celestine took the hill top and let Battle Sister squad Ruth find a safe spot on the flank to wait in their Rhino.

The Grey Knights walked on with the Inquisitor and his Warband coming on in the center, the ranged Dread on the North near their Bastion and the Interceptors walking on near the South.  Night rules made shooting difficult and ineffective.

Finally on the table

The Sisters took the momentum and walked the remainder of the forces on the board.  The Retributors walked up to the door of their Bastion and embark.  Their Rhino moved on along the northern most edge where the Repentia moved on behind it and embarked.  Battle Sister squads Hellena and Cassia (the flamer squad) moved on behind the hill while Squad Ruth moved into the trees.  The Exorcists each took a table end and the Serphim surged forward in the center, taking cover behind the hill.

First blood

Both of the Dominion squads stayed back in Reserves in an attempt to outflank.  The rest of the Sororitas army was on board in good positions.

Saint Celestine threw herself into the fight, jumping forward as much as possibly and forgoing shooting, she ran towards the Inquisitor then followed up with an assault.  Although takeing a wound herself, she took two acolytes out of the fight and thus drew first blood.

As a side note, Dawn of War is my least favorite deployment rule.  This time it worked for me but it will invariably make someones list and tactics unplayable.

This is gonna hurt

On the Grey Knights' second turn, the Stormraven and the close combat Dreadnought came in from reserves.  The flyer zipped along the Southern edge to the center line and the walker ... umm ... walked on near Celestine.  The Interceptors moved forward and took shots at the Seraphim, killing two.  The Psyfleman fired at the northern Exorcist but failed to penetrate its armor.  The assault dreadnought joined the Inqusitorial forces in fighting Saint Celestine.  The living saint managed to take out 3 more hemchmen but a crashing blow from the Dreadnought put her down.

On the Sisters' turn, one Dominion squad came in from reserves.  With an armored target on each end of the table it was a perfect time to Outflank.  Dominion Squad Athena came in on the North right beside the Dreadnought with the autocannons.  Four twin-linked close ranged melta shots later and the Dreadnought exploded beside the Bastion.

Saint Celestine failed to recover and stayed down but that did not stop the army.  The Seraphim moved up to the top of the hill and ran forward a few steps more, the north Exorcist moved into the trees for cover but could still not get line of sight to any target.  The Repentia, were moving straight across with the intent to take on the walker but once Athena and her Dominions smoked it they would have to change directions on the following turn.  Jacobus managed to make it through the maze of walls to mid-table near the Interceptors but stayed in the Rhino for protection.  In the Bastion, the Retributors fired at the Interceptors and two of them went down.

Charlie Foxtrot and friends

The Grey Knights had to continue with their remaining terminator squad staying in reserves for another turn.  All other forces moved forward towards the southern side of the Sister's edge.  The Interceptoes fired on the Exorcist but failed to penetrate its armor.  It would not be so lucky for long because the Knights followed up by assaulting it with their hammers leaving it a smoking wreak.

The Stormraven turned to fire on the Conclave's Rhino and although scoring two penitrating hits, it only managed to destroy the hull mounted Stormbolter and to shake the crew for a turn.

"Go around!"

Saint Celestine recovered enough to rejoin the fight and came back with 3 Wounds. The last Dominon squad came out of reserves and given the choice of table edge, they chose South.  Dominion Squad Jaxx moved on right next to the Stormraven and came out (melta)guns blazing.  The Seraphim also surged forward catching the Inquisitor forces between themselves and Saint Celestine.  On the North, Dominion Squad Athena moved around the Bastion towards the door but were slowed by the crater of the Dreadnought there.   The Repentia turned 90 degrees and headed South along the Knight's deployment zone.  Battle Sister squad Ruth pulled out of the trees headed for the Knight's objective with the intent of an easy capture.  Jacobus decided to hold his position not knowing where to deploy but knowing the Paladins and terminators had yet to be seen.

Dancing with Mr D

Shooting saw vast amounts of fire covering the Inquisitorial unit, removing all henchmen and severely wounding the Inquisitor.  The following assault was not able to finish the Inquisitor and the Seraphim Eviscerator did nothing to the Dread despite two penetrating hits (Venerable Dreadnought re-rolls on damage table changed two 6's into a 1 and a 2).

The Retributors in the Bastion managed to make their Faith and poured Rending Heavy Bolter rounds into the last of the Interceptors finishing off the squad entirely.

Also at the Sister's Southern corner, the Dominion's brought down the Stormraven with melta fire.  The flyer exploded and dropped Draigo and his Paladins in front of the Sisters. 

I love it when I don't have to disembark

Turn 4 saw the final terminator squad making it in from reserves.  They entered by Deep Strike right in front of Jacobus' Rhino.  Their Psycannon penetrated the Rhino causing it to explode.  Between the reflex saves and Feel No Pain, all of the Battle Conclave survived the ordeal.

Draigo and the Paladins fired on the Dominions in front of them and killed three Sisters before finishing the squad in close combat assault.

The Inquisitor finally fell to Celestine's blade while the Dreadnought and Seraphim continued to struggle to no effect.

"Gulp."

On the Sister's turn, the Northern forces continued their trek to the southern side.  The Dominions wanting to take the bastion moved slowly again through the Dreadnought's wreckage and then ran 1" more, still out of range of the door to embark.  Battle Squad Ruth maneuvered through the barriers towards the objective marker and while not quite close enough, they could easily move the 3" across open ground needed to capture it on turn 5.   The Repentia closed in ready to suport the Seraphim with their struggle against the Venerable Dreadnought and while not able to assault this turn, they could the next if the walker remained that long.

One final Multa-Melta shot from the lost Dominion's surviving Immolater caused a wound that was taken by Draigo himself who laughed as it merely bloodied his lip. (one wound taken, but with his T5 it was not enough to cause Instant Death like it would if taken by a Paladin).  The Retributors in the Bastion managed to wound one Paladin with their Heavy Bolters.  With the nearby Exorcist in ruins and the other across the board and closing fast, the Paladins would remain intact for the turn.

The Seraphim's Eviscerator finally struck true and destroyed the Dreadnought's Close Combat Weapon.  The beast was tough but weakened.

Finally, Jacobus saw his moment and ordered his Conclave to charge the terminators.  All 8 terminators fell to the power weapons while 2 Crusaders and an Assassin were lost.

Owning the battlefield.

With Draigo, 5 Paladins and a crippled Dreadnought left to face the melta and missiles of the bulk of the Sister of Battle forces, the Grey Knights conceded the fight.

What Worked:

While I would love to tout my superior tactics, the long and short of it is great rolls at key times and Dawn of War shafting my opponent.  Even with the Sisters of Battles ability to use melta and flamers by the truck load, the battle was really the result of overwhelming force applied to small groups at a time.  Tactically I simply took advantage of his broken deployment.  I don't see this swinging my way in the next game.

What Didn't:

Faith.  The Seraphim made the one test they attempted.  The Dominions passed 1 of 3 as did the Retributors.  At least they made the rolls when they needed it most.  

Celestial Lions - 2000 points against a codex Space Marine army

Been a few weeks away while playing with Chaos Space Marines (and Diablo III) and now it is time for Sisters of Battle to take to the battlefield once more.  I also just started a repainting project and will have a DIY Order once completed.  There are a few purple robed models on the table but most are either in the red and black for the Order of Our Martyred Lady or still sporting their black or white primer.


On this occasion, the Adepta Sororitas were charged with delivering a censure to the Celestial Lions for a reason only know to the High Lords of Tera.  One does not ask why, one only does the will of the Emperor.




The Astares were bivouacked in force valued at 2000.  The Sororitas were to respond in kind.

Cato Secarus lead the Celestial Lions forces which contained the following.
Devastator Squad of 10 Marines supported with 4 Plasma Canons
Devastator Squad of 10 Marines supported with 4 Missile Launchers
Two Combat Tactical Squads of 5 Marines supported with a Lascannon
Two Combat Tactical Squads of 4 Marines and a Sargent armed for close assault, each riding in the safety of a Rhino.
Two Squads of 5 Marines in Tactical Dreadnaught Armor, one supported with an Assault Canon, the other with Cyclone Missiles
And possible reason for the censure, the Astares were also lead by a  witch  Librarian classified as a Level 3 Psyker.

The Sisters of Battle took to the field under the direction of Saint Celestine.
Uriah Jacobus attached to a unit of 3 Crusaders and 6 Death Cult Assassins deployed in their Rhino.
Two Battle Sister Squads armed with two Meltaguns deployed in Rhinos.
Battle Sister Squad armed with two Flamers deployed in a Rhino.
Seraphim Squad of 10 Sisters supported by two Sister's weilding dual hand flamers and a Superior armed with an Eviscerator.
Two Dominion Squads armed with two Meltaguns and a Combi-Melta deployed in Immolators caring Twin-Linked Multi-Meltas.
Two Exorcists Tanks.
Retributor Squad of five Sisters carrying 4 Heavy Bolters.
The Retributors allowed their Rhino to be used by 5 Sisters seeking absolution as Repentia and their Mistress.


 The Sororitas had the initiative despite Cato's efforts to seize it at the last moment as he has been known to do.  The Dominions were armed for hunting armored vehicles, yet with only 2 Rhinos -- one of which was well hidden in a corner -- there was little choice in what they should do.  Dominion Squad Alpha scouted forward towards the exposed Rhino while Domion Squad Beta slipped closer to a tac squad hiding in the trees.  Exorcist fire managed to do little more than a few marine casualties.  Alpha Squad bailed from their Immolator and opened with close ranged melta against the Rhino target succeeding in only immobilizing it in place.   The Seraphm surged forward and Saint Celestine flew to the middle of the field where she had good position to see the fray and to respond accordingly.  The Retributors did not respond to the signal to lay on and missed their first chance of firing. ((I forgot to shoot my heavy bolters))

The Celestial Lions responded with plasma fire, cause heavy losses for the Seraphim.  Missiles rocked one Exorcists stunning the crew while lascanons destroyed the launcher system of the other.  The immobile Rhino retaliated by firing its Hunter-Killer missile into the rear of the Immolator causing it to explode where it stood.  Cato emerged from the malfunctioning Rhino directing his squad to fire on the Dominions, killing all but one.  The Last Dominion broke and ran, spending the rest of the engagement fleeing for safety.  This Dominion will be punished at a later date; we suggest remanding her to the custody of the Mistress Repentia and allow her to seek absolution for her failure through blood in acknowledgment of her previous service. At this point, the winds of war seemed to be blowing in favor of the Celestial Lions, yet faith would not yield so easily.

 Saint Celestine and the remainder of the Seraphim worked to clear the marines form thir forest position.  Flames from both of the jumppack enabled forces put an end to all but one marine who then fell under the close assault of the Seraphim.  The surviving Dominion squad made its way aroubd the fortified position held by the lascanon and the missile equipped Devastators.  

The Retributors in the ruins opened up with Heavy Bolters on Cato's squad with minimal results, yet one fewer marine was alive for their efforts.

Jacobus finished his drive along the southern flank getting into position to counter Cato's strength.  The Repentia -- now securely embarked in the Rhino -- made their way to midfield where they could be used as counter assault troops in support of the Battle Conclave.  Although casualties caused were not stellar, the Sisters were gaining tactically advantageous positions.

Cato's homing beacon assured the arrival of the first terminator squad, bolstering his position in front of the coming Sisters' hammer.  It was at this point when the fickle winds of war changed direction.  Plasma canons did manage to wound Saint Celestine and truth, we thought her dead.  Yet the missiles and lascanons failed to harm the remaining vehicles, nor was Cato successful ing doing more than immobilizing Jacobus' Rhino after it had successful delivered its cargo to the battle.  Cato charged with his squad yet still the Rhino defied his attacks, keeping its occupants safe.

 Jacobus quickly took advantage of the forttude of the Rhino and safely disembarked on the protected side.  Heavy Bolters claimed another from Cato's squad while the Battle Conclave circled around to catch Cato in close combat.

Saint Celestine made known why she is called the living Saint when she rose up from her previously received grevious wounds only to join the battle once more.  Flames from her blessed weapon swept the Devistators while supporting fire from the Dominions helped finish the job and secure the fortifications on the hill.  Although Marines still managed to hold out on the hill, their numbers were few and their ability to fire on the Sisters was minamal.

Seraphim moved forward to engage the last tactical combat squad even under fire from the plasma canons in the ruined factory. Their faith in the Emperor guided there attacks with bolt pistols and flamers causing massive wounds on the marines whose armor than failed to protect them. 

The remaining Exorcist had recovered from the stunning hit they had taken and opened fire, sending missiles at the entrenched marines but failed to breach the safety they had behind the walls.

Repentia and Death Cult alike tore into Cato's weakened squad and finished him quickly.  Both units moved to confront the marines in TDA who had appeared on the battle field just before the assault.

The Celestial Lions tred to reenforce the side of the battlefield they most controlled -- that side with the plasma cannons in the cover of the ruined factory.  The second squad of terminators arrived and the remaining rhino moved forward along the northern edge of the field.   The plasma weapons rained down over the Seraphim while the heretic Librarian managed to prevent the Emperor from Shielding His Faithful such that the Sister were not allowed to save from the armor melting plasma blast.  When the vapor settled, the Sisters Seraphim were no more.  On other fronts, the Marines were less effective.  The northern flank fired on the Battle Sisters reserves in their Rhinos managing merely to shake up the crew of a single transport.  The southern terminators fired into the conclave managing nothing more than to see their bots absorbed on the shields of the Crusaders or dodged by the single Assassin who threatened.  Having no other choice, the Marines in TDA closed for hand to hand with the conclave.  Two terminators managed to survive contact while none of the Adepta Sororitas forces were lost.

The Sisters pressed their advantage.  The Living Saint and the the Dominions swept any remaining marines from the hill.  The Immolator spun and moved towards the Librarian with Multi-Melta blazing.  The superheated weapon burned the heretic where he stood.  On the south, the Repentia charged in screaming while Jacobus urged the Battle Conclave to quickly finish off the last two terminators.  On the north, two Battle Sisters fired their melta guns from the fire ports of the Rhino, kiling a terminator each.

Rather than face the complete destruction of the Celestial Lions (and seeing as the witch was dead anyway) the final marines surrendered the battle at that point.

What Worked:
I got good results from just about every unit.   The Battle Conclave preformed wonderfully as usual.  Seraphim flamers with double template hits and re-roll to wound were again key to reducing infantry numbers even if the targets are in power armor.

What Didn't:
Seraphim in the open.  Twice I left them in the open with no cover and not locked n combat and twice they were hammered.  They are sort of the glass cannons of the list being able to generate a large number of wounds in close range shooting but fragile both to incoming fire and close combat assault.   The Repentia never had a chance to swing.  I had originally thought I would be faceing a few dreadnoughts and wanted a small unit of Eviscerator wielding Repentia to keep my Battle Conclave from getting stuck in close combat with a machine they can not harm.  ((Besides just being "fluffy" I think they also do have a tactical usage))  Once I saw that was not going to be the case, I believe they would have been better used to help support the Seraphim.  Maybe so, maybe no.  They are no where near as mobile as Seraphim and I am unsure if the Repentia would have even been able to support them.  We'll see.  I will need to try it out some time.