Battle Report 198- White Scars vs Death Guard

In this battle report, my White Scars army take on Rob's Death Guard in an ITC mission. I wanted to get some practice with ITC missions for some upcoming tournaments, so decided to try my list with one of the standard missions. 

We were playing ITC mission 1 in this game and rolled and got Search and Destroy deployment. For those unfamiliar with ITC missions, they score a little differently. You got one point for holding an objective and one point for killing an enemy unit each of your turna. In addition, at the end of the the battle round, you score a bonus point for holding more objectives or killing more units. There are also secondary objectives you choose to score more points during the game. 

My 2000 pts army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment

Captain on Bike- Twin Bolter, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Chogorian Storm, Master of Snares, Wrath of the Heavens

Librarian- Jump Pack, Force Stave, Mantle of the Stormseer, Ride the Winds, Storm-wreathed

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols
5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

3 Scouts Bikers- Twin Bolters, Shotguns, Combat Knives
Impulsor- 2 Storm Bolters, Ironhail Heavy Stubber, Shield Dome
3 Eliminators- Bolt Sniper Rifles
3 Eliminators- Bolt Sniper Rifles

Battalion Detachment

Captain- Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Chapter Master

Lieutenant- Jump Pack, Power Axe, MC Bolter

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolt Pistol, Combat Knives
5 Inceptors- Assault Bolters

Battalion Detachment
Chaplain- Jump Pack, Crozius Arcanum, Bolt Pistol, Litany of Hate
Phobos Librarian- Force Sword, Camo Cloak, Teneborous Curse, Mind Raid, Lord of Deceit

5 Infiltrators- Marksman Bolt Carbines
5 Infiltrators- Marksman Bolt Carbines
5 Scouts- Sniper Rifles, Camo Cloaks

Thunderfire Cannon- Techmarine Gunner with Flamer, Plasma Cutter, 2 Servo-arms

I had modified my tournament army based on some additional Primaris units that I had painted up. I added two units of Infiltrators, a couple of Eliminator Squads, the Phobos Librarian and the Impulsor. This army has a lot of board control with most of my troops infiltrating to grab objectives and areas of the board. I also added a second psyker to try and get off some useful powers. I'll need to see how this army performs in the ITC missions.



Rob's army consisted of:
Battalion Detachment (Death Guard)
Malignant Plaguecaster- Miasma of Pestilence, Blades of Putrefaction, Pandemic Staff
Typhus- Miasma of Pestilence, Putrescent Vitality
6 Plague Marine- 2 Plasma Guns, Power Fist
20 Poxwalkers
20 Poxwalkers
Plagueburst Crawler- 2 Entropy Cannons, Plagueburst Mortar, Rothail Volley Gun

Outrider Detachment (Death Guard)
Daemon Prince- Mark of Nurgle, Arch-Contaminator, Daemonic Axe, Malefic Talon, Wings
Foetid Bloatdrone- 2 Plaguespitters
Foetid Bloatdrone- 2 Plaguespitters
Myphytic Blighthauler- Missile Launcher, Multi-melta

Vanguard Detachment (Death Guard)
Lord of Contagion- Manreaper
Lord of Contagion- Manreaper
3 Deathshroud Terminators
Foul Blightspawn- Plague Sprayer
Noxious Blightbringer- Plasma Gun

For the secondaries, I chose Recon, Headhunter and Engineers (Intercessor and Infiltrator unit). I thought that my infiltrating units would help me to get Recon for most of my turns, and the Primaris gave me some durable units for the Engineers squads. I also took Headhunter, as I had a number of sniper units and Rob had quite a few characters that I needed to take out anyway to reduce the effectiveness of his army.

Rob chose Headhunter, Butcher's Bill and Kingslayer. Equally, I had a number of characters that Rob could kill if he needed to to maximise the points, as well as a number of small units for him to score well on Butcher's Bill (kill 2 or more units a turn). If he could kill my Biker Captain, he would also maximise Kingslayer for his secondary.

Looking at Rob's army, I think I was going to struggle getting kill more each turn, as the Death Guard units are pretty durable, thanks to psychic buffs and character buffs that they could stack. I would need to use my superior numbers to try and get more objectives, as well as minimising my own casualties.

The placement of the objectives was set in the mission as shown below. The deployment was Search and Destroy:

I placed my Thunderfire Cannon behind the ruins, with the Chapter Master and Lieutenant nearby. The rest of the characters and Scout Bikers went behind the ruins. I put the Sniper Scouts on the roof of the ruins, with another unit of Scouts and my Engineer Intercessors in the ruins, out of line of sight. I put the Engineer Infiltrators on the left flank, with a unit of Eliminators on top of the building. On the left flank, I put the Eliminators, Infiltrators and Phobos Librarian. I put the Inceptors in reserve, as well as putting the Impulsor (and Intercessors inside) in Outflank.

In reply, Rob deployed pretty far forward. He used the two units of Pox Walkers as a front screen, with the characters behind them. The Plague Drones went on the left, while the Blight Haulers on the right. The Plagueburst Crawler went to the rear of the army. The Lord of Contagion and Deathshroud Terminators went in reserve.

We rolled off for first turn and Rob won. I failed to seize the initiative.

TURN 1- DEATH GUARD

The Blighthaulers moved towards the objective on the right. The Poxwalkers and characters in the centre advanced, while the Bloatdrones also advanced on the left. At the start of the turn, my Chaplain failed in the Litany of Hate, even with a CP re-roll.

The pyschic phase began with the Daemon Prince casting Smite on the Eliminators. The Librarian failed to block and they took one wound. Miasma of Pestilence was cast on the Poxwalers, while Putrescent Vitality failed to manifest. Blades of Putrefaction was then cast on the Poxwalkers.

The Blighthaulers fired on the Scout Bikers and Scouts, killing 3 Scouts and one wound on the Bikers. The Crawler fired its Entropy Cannons at the Eliminators and the Mortar at the Scout Bikers. The Mortar hit 3 times, but rolled a triple 2 to wound! The Cannons did one wound on the Eliminators, but I saved it on a 6.

Rob scored a point for holding an objective.

TURN 1- WHITE SCARS

On the left flank, the Scouts advanced into the enemy deployment zone. The other unit of Scouts and the Phobos Librarian moved up towards the ruins. The Scout Bikers, Captain, Librarian, Chaplain and Scouts advanced up the centre. The Librarian stayed out of deny range for his powers. The Infiltrators on the left moved out from behind the ruins to target the Poxwalkers. I played Born in the Saddle on the Scout Bikers.

In the psychic phase, the Librarian cast Storm-wreathed on the Captain, and Ride the Winds on the Librarian. The Phobos Librarian failed to manifest both his powers.

The Thunderfire Cannon fired at the furthest unit of Poxwalkers, killing four. The Scout Bikers, Intercessors and Infiltrators fired on the Poxwalkers, reducing their number but failing to wipe them out. The Thunderfire Cannon fired again (for 2CP), killing all but three of the squad.

The Snipers fired at the Foul Blightspawn, doing one wound. The Eliminators fired at him, doing 2 wounds. He took 5 damage, but saved three with his DR saves. The second Eliminator squad fired at him, doing 2 hits and no wounds. I used a CP re-roll to wound and got two damage through. However, Rob made both DR saves to leave him on a single wound.

In the charge phase, the Biker Captain charged the Drones and Poxwalkers. The Scout Bikers charged both units as well. The Chaplain failed his charge, as did the Scouts.

On the left flank, the Scouts and Phobos Librarian charged the Blighthaulers.

In the fight phase, the Captain struck at a Drone, hitting five times but only wounding twice. Rob made more DR saves and he only lost 3 wounds. The Scout Bikers were able to kill a couple of Poxwalkers. The Scouts and Librarian were able put a couple of wounds on the Blighthaulers.

The Drone attacked the Captain, doing a single wound. The Poxwalkers attacked the Scout Bikers, killing two. The Blighthaulers were able to wipe out the Scout Squad. I spent 3CP to attack with the Captain again, killing the Poxwalker unit.

At the end of my turn, I scored Kill a unit and hold an objective. I also scored Hold More and Recon.

VICTORY POINTS:
Death Guard- 1
White Scars- 4

TURN 2- DEATH GUARD

At the start of the turn, I switched to the Tactical Doctrine. The Chaplain failed to cast his Litany once more.

One Blightdrone fell back from combat, while the other was blocked from doing so by Master of Snares. The Death Guard characters moved up towards the enemy Captain, while the Poxwalkers moved up on the Scouts.
The Blighthaulers decided to stay locked in combat. At the end of the phase, the Lord of Contagion and the Terminators landed near the White Scars firebase. The second Lord of Contagion landed on the right flank. The Grandfather's Blessing stratagem healed one wound on the Blightbringer. He then used Cloud of Flies on him as well, to protect him from my Sniper units.

The Plaguecaster cast Smite, doing a super Smite. The Librarian failed to block it and the Captain took four mortal wounds. He then cast Blades of Putrefaction on Typhus, perilling, but blocking it with a re-roll. He then cast Misama of Pestilence on Typhus. Putrescent Vitality was cast on the Poxwalkers.
The Daemon Prince cast Smite, killing the Captain and earning Rob all four points for Kingslayer.

The Plagueburst Crawler fired at both Eliminator units and the nearby Scouts, killing one Scout and one Eliminator from each squad.

The Plague Marines fired at the Scouts, killing two of the squad. The Foul Blightspawn fired at the Scouts, wiping out the unit.

The Terminators failed to charge the Intercessors, with a CP re-roll. The Lord of Contagion made the charge on the Intercessors, while the other Lord failed a charge on the Scouts. The Poxwalkers charged the Chaplain.

The Poxwalkers attacked the Chaplain, doing two wounds on him. The Lord of Contagion was able to kill three Intercessors. The Blighthaulers struck at the Phobos Librarian, doing 5 wounds, but I only failed one save. The Intercessors attacked the Lord of Contagion, doing 2 wounds on him, while the Chaplain killed one Poxwalker. The Librarian failed to damage the Blighthaulers.

At the end of his turn, Rob scored Kill One, Hold One, Butcher's Bill and four points for Kingslayer (he couldn't stack Headhunter and Kingslayer). A great round and foolish of me to sacrifice the Warlord like that.

TURN 2- WHITE SCARS

The Chaplain fell back from combat, while the Infiltrators and Intercessors moved up to support him. The other Intercessor squad fell back from combat, while the Chapter Master and Lieutenant moving to engage the Terminators. The Scout on the left flank advanced onto the enemy objective. The Phobos Librarian fell back towards the Plague Marines.

At the end of the phase, the Inceptors arrived near the Deathshroud Terminators.

In the psychic phase, the Librarian cast Storm-wreathed on the Infiltrators next to the Drone. He then cast Ride the Winds on himself. The Phobos Librarian attempted to cast Mind Raid and Smite, but both powers were blocked.

On the left flank, the Thunderfire Cannon, Intercessors and Infiltrators fired on the Poxwalkers, killing only 10 of the squad after some great DR saves. The three Sniper squads fired at the Plaguecaster, but failed to do any damage.

The Inceptors fired at the Terminators, doing 12 wounds (at -2AP), killing two of the Deathshroud and leaving one on one wound. The Lieutenant fired at the last Terminator, but failed to wound.

The Techmarine fired at the Lord of Contagion, doing one wound on him.

In the charge phase, the Captain, Librarian and Lieutenant charged the Lord of Contagion. The Chaplain, Intercessors and Infiltrators charged the Poxwalkers, while the second squad of Infiltrators charged the Drone. The Phobos Librarian charged the Plague Marines.

The Captain struck at the Lord of Contagion, killing him. In the centre, the White Scars were able to kill all but one Poxwalker, wrapping him up to stop him from falling back.

The Phobos Librarian attacked the Plague Marines, killing one, while the Intercessors did 2 wounds on the drone. In reply, the Drone killed one Infiltrator, while the Plague Marines did one wound on the Phobos Librarian.

At the end of the turn, I scored Kill One and Hold One, as well as Recon, Engineers and hold more. No one scored kill more.

VICTORY POINTS:
Death Guard- 9
White Scars- 10

At the end of turn 2, the game was close. Both armies had taken some damage, but both were in a good position to win the game.

TURN 3- DEATH GUARD
At the start of the turn, I switched to the Assault Doctrine, while the Chaplain passed his Litany test to re-roll hit rolls.

The Blightbringer advanced towards the Infiltrators, while the Drone fell back over the ruins to settle below the Eliminators, while the second Drone moved up to support the Blightbringer.

Typhus and the other characters moved up on the central White Scars units. The lone Terminator moved towards the Captain. On the other side of the field, the Lord of Contagion moved up on the objective, while the Blighthaulers moved towards the Inceptors. He used Cloud of Flies on the Blightbringer once more.

The Plaguecaster cast a super smite, putting 3 mortal wounds on the Intercessors. Miasma failed on the Daemon Prince. He then cast Blades of Putrefaction, but was blocked by the Librarian. Putrescent Vitality failed to cast on Typhus.

The Terminator fired his Hand Flamers at the Inceptors, wounding them twice and I failed both saves to lose one. The Drone fired at the Infiltrators, wounding them three times. The second drone added its firepower, wiping out the unit.

The Plagueburst Crawler fired at the lone Scout, killing him, as well as taking out one Eliminator. The Blighthaulers fired at the Inceptors and the Elminators. The Eliminator was slain, and one Inceptor was taken down.

In the charge phase, the Terminator charged the Chapter Master, while the Daemon Prince, Typhus and Plaguecaster charged the central White Scars units.

The Terminator struck at the Captain, wounding him four times. I failed a single wound, but chose to CP re-roll and passed. I wanted to keep the Captain at full strength to go after the enemy characters in the following turn. The Daemon Prince attacked the Intercessors, killing two. Typhus attacked the Chaplain, killing him. The Plaguecaster did two wounds on the Infiltrators, and I failed both 4+ saves to lose two more. The Plague Marines then attacked the Librarian, killing him.

In reply, the Intercessors killed the Poxwalker and put a wound on the Daemon Prince. The Infiltrators did one more wound on the Daemon, while the Captain killed the Terminator.

In the morale phase, I rolled a double 6 on the Infiltrators, losing one more of the squad.

At the end of his turn, Rob scored Hold 1, Kill one, Butcher's Bill and 2 Headhunter points.

TURN 3- WHITE SCARS

The Librarian, Lieutenant and Chapter Master moved up on the enemy characters. The Infiltrators and Intercessors fell back. I brought the Impulsor in to the enemy deployment zone.

The Librarian failed to cast Smite, then cast Ride the Winds on the Captain.

The Inceptors fired on the Plague Marines, killing three. The Thunderfire Cannon added its firepower, doing three wounds but failing to get past their armour. I spent 2CP to fire the Cannon again, doing four wounds, but only killing one more.

The Eliminators and Snipers fired at the Plaguecaster, but failed to do any damage.

In the charge phase, the Chapter Master, Lieutenant and Librarian charged the Daemon Prince. The Intercessors charged the Plague Marines. My plan was to try and kill them to take them off the objective.

The Chapter Master struck at the Daemon Prince, doing 4 wounds and killing him. The Intercessors attacked the Plague Marines, but only killed one. The Sergeant then struck back with his Power Fist (which I forgot he had!) and was able to slay the two White Scars! This stopped me from scoring Recon this turn, annoyingly.

At the end of the turn, I scored Headhunter, kill one, hold one, hold more objectives and Engineers. Rob scored kill more.

VICTORY POINTS:
Death Guard- 15
White Scars- 15

We ran out of time for this game, so had to end there. We weren't too familiar with the ITC mission rules, so had to keep stopping to check them out, which meant we didn't get as many turns in as normal.

AFTER-BATTLE THOUGHTS
Thanks to Rob for a great game

I liked the mission format, it forces you to play in a very different way to an eternal war or maelstrom mission. I'm looking forward to seeing how the army progresses in this style of mission.

There were a few mistakes that I made in this game though. The big one was rushing the Biker Captain forward on turn 1. I do this in most games to tie up the enemy forces and cause a problem that they have to deal with. In normal missions, he can give up slay the warlord for one point, but thanks to the Kingslayer secondary rules, he gave up the full four points with his death in this mission. Had I realised this, I probably would have deployed him further back and not been so aggressive with him, perhaps going after the Blighthaulers or a weaker character.

I think in future games, I will make the Jump Pack Captain the warlord and give the Biker Captain the Master of Snares trait with a stratagem. This will allow me to still use him aggressively, but not give up so many points if I do so and he dies.

Another mistake was also the deployment of the two Eliminator squads. My plan was originally to castle them up with the Thunderfire Cannon, Chapter Master and Lieutenant. However, the deployment type and ruin my deployment zone meant that this would be challenging, so I went for a wider deployment. I should have put the Sniper Scouts in another position and put the Eliminators on top of the ruin to benefit from the re-rolls.

This was my first game with the two squads. They did ok, but not great. The T5 and disgustingly resilient saves of most of the enemy characters meant that their damage output was limited. I was unlucky with them not to kill the Foul Blightspawn on turn 1 with them, thanks to some good saves from Rob. After that, they struggled to do any damage to the rest of the army.

I was quite impressed with the Inceptors in this game. Bringing them in from reserve on turn 2 means that their Bolters are AP-2. Paired with the Chapter Master re-rolls, and I can see their damage output being quite formidable in future games.

Going forward, I think I will drop the Scout Bikers. They never seem to achieve anything in my games, and just die quickly. I don't really see a return on their firepower and their combat ability is lacking as well. I think I will drop them and have the points to take two squads of three Inceptors (which I am currently painting up).

I've got another practice game before going to my next ITC tournament in February to try and refine the army further.