Hero for a Day: Game 1- White Scars vs Chaos Daemons

I recently attended Nick's 24 hour charity gaming event, Hero for a Day. This day provides seven awesome battles (based on Nick's custom scenarios) and raised a lot of money for a great cause. The theme for the day was a Xenos invasion on an Imperial world. I took my White Scars, so was placed on the defender's team. 

The first game was against Tom and his Daemons. The first mission was Planetfall. This consisted of three objectives in the centre of the board and used the tactical objectives deck (all cards except the objective-based ones, two cards per turn). The attacker's army (the Daemons) must start in reserve, with half the units arriving on turn 1. The rest of the army shows up as normal and the defender cannot seize the initiative. The defender's army had to set up in the centre of the board. 

The first game was 1850 pts. My army consisted of:

Scarblade Strike Force

Stormlance Battle Demi-Company

Khan- Moondrakkan (with BS1)

5 Tactical Marines- Bolters, Flamer, Meltabombs (T1)

Rhino (R1)

5 Tactical Marines- Bolters, Grav gun, Meltabombs (T2)

Rhino (R2)

5 Tactical Marines- Bolters, Meltagun, Meltabombs (T3)

Rhino (R3)

5 Devastators- 4 Grav Cannons, Combi-grav (D)

Razorback- TL Assault Cannon (Rz)

Attack Bike- Multi-melta (AB1)

Hunting Force

Chaplain- Bike, The Hunter's Eye, Meltabombs (with BS2)

6 Bikers- 2 Grav guns, Power Axe, Meltabombs (BS1)

6 Bikers- 2 Grav Guns, Meltabombs (BS2)

6 Scout Bikers- Meltabombs, 2 Grenade Launchers (SB)

Attack Bike- Multi-melta (AB2)

Stormbringer Squadron

Landspeeder- Multi-melta, Typhoon Missile Launcher (L)

5 Scouts- Meltabombs, Combat weapons, Bolt pistols (S1)

Landspeeder Storm (LS1)

5 Scouts- Meltabombs, Bolters (S2)

Landspeeder Storm (LS2)

I decided to go for a reasonable competitive army, but not a tournament style list that I would take. I was keen to try the Stormlance Battle Demi-Company and see how useful the command benefits would be. 

Tom's army consisted of: 

Combined Arms Detachment

Fateweaver (F)

Herald of Tzeentch- Mastery level 2, Grimoire of true names (with S)

Herald of Nurgle (with PD)

8 Plague Drones- Palaquin with Ether Blade (PD)

8 Screamers (S)

11 Pink Horrors (H1)

11 Pink Horrors (H2)

Renegade Knight- Avenger Gatling Cannon, Rapid Fire Battle Cannon, Twin Icarus Autocannon (RK)

His psychic powers were:
Fateweaver- Iron Arm, Hallucination, Forewarning, Fiery Form, all the Tzeentch powers
Herald of Tzeentch- Summoning, Prescience
Horrors- Flickering Fire

For the scenario special rules, I set up first in the centre of the board. I deployed the transports on the right flank. The two bike units went in the centre and on the right hand side, with the speeders and attack bikes in between. I infiltrated the Scout Bikers towards the enemy board edge to get closer to the enemy as they arrive. Not too much of a plan to start with, I would need to see what arrived first and try and deal with it.

For my hunting force, I chose:
Primary- Herald of Nurgle
Secondary- Screamers
Tertiary- Herald of Tzeentch

I could not seize and chose not to Scout as I was close enough as it was. Tom took the first turn.

TURN 1- DAEMONS
This turn, Tom drew No Prisoners (destroy 3 enemy units) and Glory of Khorne (kill a character in a challenge).

The Screamers arrived on the left flank, moving up to engage the transports. The Plague Drones advanced on the centre of the White Scars lines, while the Renegade Knight moved up on the right flank.

The Herald of Tzeentch cast Prescience on the Screamers, while casting the Grimoire on them as well.

The Knight fired its Battle Cannon at the Chaplain's unit, but scattered off and caused no damage. The Gatling Cannon fired at the Scout Bikers, wounding them 7 times, The bikers jinked and only one died. The Meltagun fired at the squad, but the wound was saved by the jinking. The Plague Drones fired at the Scout Bikers, wounding them twice, but both were saved.

TURN 1- WHITE SCARS
This turn, I drew Behind Enemy Lines (have units in enemy deployment zone) and Kingslayer (kill the enemy warlord).

The White Scars transport vehicles advanced on the Screamers, the squads inside disembarking to bring their weapons to bear. The two bike units moved up to engage the Plague Drones, while the Landspeeder moved to engage the Knight.

The Landspeeder fired at the Renegade Knight, its multi-melta hitting but failing to glance and both the Krak missiles failed to find their target.
The two Bike squads fired at the Plague Drones, killing two of the squad with their combined firepower. The Devastators fired their grav cannons at the squad, hitting with all their shots and killing one of the squad. The Squad's Razorback fired at the squad, wounding one of the drones.

The nearby Landspeeder Storm fired at the Plague Drones, blinding them with its Cerberus Launcher and killing one with its Heavy Bolter. The two attack bikes fired at the unit, killing two of the Drones in total.

The Tactical Squads combined their fire to target the Screamers, wounding them 4 times, but failing to get past the Daemonic invulnerable saves. The squads of the Stormlance got back into their transport vehicles.

In the assault phase, both units of bikers attempted to assault the plague drones, but only the Chaplain's squad made it in to combat. The hammer of wrath attacks managed to bring down one of the drones. The Chaplain and squad struck at the squad, wounding them 5 times. The Herald struck back, wounding the Chaplain once and killing a biker. The Drones managed to kill another biker, but still lost the combat. They failed their Daemonic instability test, losing one more wound.

At the end of my turn, I scored no points and discarded Kingslayer.

At the end of the first turn, I had managed to put a real dent into the unit of Plague Drones and had suffered few casualties in return.

VICTORY POINTS:
Daemons- 0
White Scars- 0

TURN 2- DAEMONS
In turn 2, Tom continued to hold No Prisoners (destroy 3 enemy units) and Glory of Khorne (kill a character in a challenge).

One unit of Horrors arrived from reserve, moving on near the Screamers. The Knight advanced on the Landspeeder, while the Screamers moved to engage the White Scars transports.

In the psychic phase, the Herald cast Prescience on the Screamers. He attempted to use the Grimoire on the Screamers, but the attempt failed and they went down to a 6+ invulnerable save.

The warp storm struck at the attack bike, but failed to harm the jinking biker. The Renegade Knight opened fire on the Bike squad led by Khan, killing one with its Gatling Cannon. He targeted the squad with his Battle Cannon, but the shot scattered onto the nearby Razorback, penetrating it and immobilising the vehicle. The Melta gun and Icarus Autocannon fired at the Landspeeder and managed to glance the jinking skimmer once.

In the assault phase, the Screamers charged the Rhino, easily blowing up the transport vehicle. The resulting explosion killed two of the Screamers and one of the Tactical Marines. The Knight assaulted the Landspeeder, crushing it with his hammer of wrath attacks.

In the Plague Drone combat, the Herald issued a challenge that the Chaplain accepted. The Chaplain struck down the Herald in combat, while the bikers failed to wound the drone. The Drone struck back, killing one biker. The White Scars hit and ran from the combat.

At the end of his turn, Tom scored no points.

TURN 2- WHITE SCARS
This turn I drew Hold the Line and Behind Enemy Lines.

The Rhinos advanced on the Screamers, the squads inside leaping out to engage the Daemons. A Landspeeder Storm arrived from reserve, outflanking behind the Screamer unit. The Chaplain led his bike squad to engage the Horrors, the Scout Bikers joining them. Khan led his unit towards the last Plague Drone, while the attack bikes moved up on the Knight.

An attack bike fired at the Renegade Knight, penetrating it with its multi-melta and taking 3 hull points from it. Khan's unit fired at the last Drone, killing it with their bolter rounds.

The Chaplain's unit and the Scout Bikers fired at the Horrors, killing 7 of the unit with their combined fire.

The Devastators, the Tactical Squads, their transports and the Landspeeder Storms opened fire on the Screamers. the combined fire killed 6 of the squad. The squads with surviving transports got back in their vehicles.

In the assault phase, the Chaplain's unit and Scout Bikers assaulted the Horrors, easily wiping them out.

At the end of my turn, I scored two points for Behind Enemy Lines. At the end of turn 2, I had put a serious dent in the Daemon army and had not lost much of my own army.

VICTORY POINTS:
Daemons- 0
White Scars- 2

TURN 3- DAEMONS
Tom continued to hold No Prisoners (destroy 3 enemy units) and Glory of Khorne (kill a character in a challenge).

Fateweaver arrived, moving on towards the centre of the battlefield. The Horrors also arrived, moving on from the Daemon deployment zone. The Knight advanced on the Chaplain's squad, while the Screamers moved to engage the Tactical Marines.

In the psychic phase, the Daemons cast Infernal Gateway on the attack bike, but the shot scattered off target, causing no harm. Fateweaver cast Prismatic Gaze on the Razorback, failing to cast it but perilling and taking a wound.
He then cast Flickering Fire on Khan's unit on two power dice, but I was able to block the attempt.

The Knight fired his Battle Cannon at Khan's unit, killing one of the jinking bikers. He then fired at the other bike unit, killing one biker and the Chaplain with the Gatling Cannon.

In the assault phase, the Knight charged the Bikers. He struck at the squad, but failed to wound them. The sergeant attempted to clamp his meltabombs to the Renegade Knight, but failed to hit. The Knight then stomped the bikers, rolling a 6 on the table and obliterating the rest of the unit.

The Screamers charged the Tactical Marines, killing one of the squad. The Marines struck back, but failed to wound the Daemons. The Tactical Marines passed their hit and run test, moving back towards their deployment zone.

At the end of his turn, Tom scored no points.

TURN 3- WHITE SCARS
This turn, I drew Hold the Line and Witchhunter.

One Rhino retreated towards the White Scars' deployment zone, the squad leaping out to join the second retreating squad. The other Tactical Squads and Landspeeder Storms advanced on the Screamers. Khan's bike squad and the Scout Bikers advanced on the Horrors.

In the shooting phase, the Tactical Squads and Landspeeder Storms opened fire on the Screamers, wiping the unit out with their combined fire.

The Bike squad and Scout Bikers fired at the Horrors, killing 7 of the squad. The Devastators opened fire on the Knight, finally taking its last hull point with their Grav Cannons.

With that, we called the game there. I scored Hold the Line for 2 points and Witchhunter for 1 point.

VICTORY POINTS:
Daemons- 0
White Scars- 5

End of the game.

AFTER-BATTLE THOUGHTS
Thanks to Tom for an exciting game, it was a really tough scenario for the attacker to win.

Starting so close to the enemy so that I was able to assault in turn 1, as well as only having to deal with half the army was simply too good of a bonus for the White Scars.
If Nick was to re-design the scenario, I would suggest only allowing half the defending force to set up on the table and make the rest come in from reserve. I would also suggest a special rule allowing the attackers to assault from reserves or deep striking. This would hopefully give the attacker some advantages and make the scenario a bit more balanced.

The White Scars army was strong. Not a tournament style list for me, but it had a lot of good firepower and durability in the army.

Talking about the game with Tom afterwards, I suggested that he should have been much more aggressive with the Knight. Shooting at White Scars is always going to be difficult with their great Jink saves, so combat with the bike units would possibly have been a more effective way to take them out. 7

So my first game of Hero for a Day was off to a great start, I was keen to see if I could continue my wins throughout the long, long day of gaming ahead.