Doubles Tournament Game 2- White Scars/Mechanicus vs Space Marines/Mechanicus

Game 2 of the 6s2Hit double tournament saw our combined White Scars/Mechanicus army take on a Space Marine/Mechanicus army, with not one, but two Imperial Knights in the force! Our opponents for game 2 were Cameron and Aaron, who had also won their first game.

As a reminder, our armies were:

 

Combined Arms Detachment

Kor'sarro Khan- Moondakken (with CS)

Librarian- Mastery level 1, Bike, Meltabombs, Hunter's Eye (with CS or L)

5 Command Squad- 4 Grav guns, Apothecary, Storm Shield (CS)

5 Bikers- 2 Grav guns, sergeant has meltabombs (B1)

5 Bikers- 2 Grav guns, sergeant has meltabombs (B2)

5 Scouts- Bolt pistols, combat weapons, Sergeant has Meltabombs (S)

Landspeeder Storm- Cerberus launcher, Heavy bolter (LS)

Drop Pod- Storm Bolter (DP)

Stormtalon- TL assault cannons, Skyhammer missile launcher (ST)

 

Dominus Maniple

Tech Priest Dominus- Raiment of the Technomartyr, Volkite Blaster, Macrostubber, Conversion Field (with V)

5 Skitarri Vanguard- 2 Plasma Calivers, Omnispex, Vanguard Alpha with Red Carbine. (V)

2 Onager Dunecrawlers- Neutron Laser and Cognis Heavy Stubber, Cognis Manipulator (D)

 

Oathsworn Detachment

Mechanicum Cerastus Knight Atropos- Occular Augmetics. (K)

Our supreme warlord was Khan, while in this game Innes' warlord trait allowed him to choose the mysterious objective when it was revealed. My Librarian got Dominate and Psychic Shriek.

Our opponents' armies were:

Ultramarines CAD

Techmarine- Servo harness, Auspex, Boltgun, Power Axe, 3 Servitors (T)

5 Scouts- 4 Sniper Rifles (S)

8 Tactical Marines (TM)

3 Devastator Centurions- Grav cannons and grav amps, hurricane bolters (C)

Knight Crusader- Avenger Gatling Cannon with Heavy Flamer, Ionstorm Missile pod, Meltagun, Thermal Cannon (K2)

AdMech Skitarri Maniple

10 Rangers- 2 Arc Rifles, Ranger Alpha with Galvanic rifle (R)

10 Vanguard (V)

Dunecrawler- Neutron Laser and Cognis Heavy Stubber, Cognis Manipulator (D1)

Dunecrawler- Neutron Laser and Cognis Heavy Stubber, Cognis Manipulator (D2)

Knight Crusader- Rapid-fire battle cannon, Heavy Stubber, Avenger Gatling Cannon with Heavy Flamer, Stormspear Rocket Pod (K1)

The supreme warlord was the Techmarine, who rolled on the tactical warlord traits table, allowing him to force us to discard one card at the end of any one turn. The Skitarri warlord got the trait allowing him to re-draw all his cards on the first turn only.

A tough force for our army. Two Knights were going to be a problem, but fortunately, they lacked any destroyer weapons.

The mission rolled was Spoils of War. This is where you draw 3 cards per turn, but cannot discard any "Secure Objective X" cards. Your opponent may score any of your "Secure Objective X" cards at the end of their turn. This means you have to try to grab all your objectives as if you don't, they will give points up to your opponent.

We placed the objectives as shown below. The mysterious objectives were:

Objective 1- Skyfire Nexus (skyfire)

Objective 2- Nothing of note

Objective 3- Scatterfield (+1 cover save)

Objective 4- Grav Wave generator (-2 to charge)

Objective 5- Scatterfield

Objective 6- Grav Wave Generator

The numbers give the objective number in the maelstrom mission.

We rolled off for deployment and drew twice with our opponents (on a 1 and a 6). We lost the third roll off and had to go second.

Cameron and Aaron deployed the Space Marines and Knight to the right flank, while the Mechanicus and second Knight went to the centre and left flank.

I deployed one unit of bikers on the left and right flanks and the Command Squad in the centre, ready to Scout forward and seize the objectives in case we got a chance to steal them. The Landspeeder storm went on the left flank to try and blind the Centurions. The Dunecrawlers deployed behind the bikers, while the Knight went to the right flank.

The grey arrows represent Scout moves.

 

The Scouts infiltrated behind the bastion in the centre. We won the roll for Scout moves and moved the Command Squad and Bikers up towards the objectives. This prevented the Scouts from entering the bastion, so they moved backwards towards their own lines.

We failed to seize and were going second.

TURN 1- SPACE MARINES/MECHANICUS

In the first turn, the Marines drew Objective 1, Objective 6 and Scour the Skies. The Mechanicus drew Objective 4, Objective 6 and Objective 3.

The Centurions, tactical marines and Knights advanced on the White Scars. The second Knight advanced through the ruins as well.

The Centurions fired at the bikers in front of them. With the Devastator doctrine active, they hit and wounded with all 15 shots. The bikers Jinked and lost only a single biker (gaining a 2+ cover save thanks to the nearby objective).

The Vanguard fired at the bikers in front of them, wounding them 6 times, of which I failed 3 armour saves. The Knight fired at the two remaining bikers, killing them both. It then turned its attention to the Command Squad, firing its battle cannon at them. It failed to damage the jinking bikers again (2+ cover save again thanks to the objective).

The Rangers targeted the Command Squad, wounding them 6 times. I failed 4 armour saves (looks like my luck from the first game was continuing), but amazingly made all four Feel no Pain rolls.

The second Knight fired its Gatling cannon at the bikers on the right, but failed to get past their cover save. It fired its Thermo cannon at the Duncrawler, scoring a glancing and penetrating hit. The penetrating hit was saved and the vehicle suffered only a glance.

The Knight then managed to make a 10" charge against the bikers (I made the mistake of scouting them into range). The Knight struck at the squad, killing 2 of the bikers for no damage in return. The squad passed their morale check and managed to hit and run out of combat.

At the end of turn 1, the Mechanicus scored Objective 4 and Objective 6, as well as First Blood.

TURN 1- WHITE SCARS/MECHANICUS

In our first turn, I drew Objective 3, Objective 6 and Psychological Warfare. Innes drew Praise the Machine God, Supremacy and Ascendency.

The drop pod crashed to the ground in front of the ruins sheltering the Centurions, the Vanguard moving out to the hill beside them. The Landspeeder storm advanced on the Ultramarines, while the Dunecrawlers moved to engage the Knight in front of them. The Command squad moved towards the right flank, while our Knight shuffled to grab objective 1.

In the psychic phase, the Librarian cast psychic shriek on the Vanguard, but failed to hit them after Jinking last turn. He was then able to cast Dominate on the same unit.

 

The shooting phase began with the two bikers on the left flank snap firing their grav guns at the enemy Knight, managing to strip a hull point from it. The Dunecrawlers fired at the Knight Crusader, penetrating the mighty vehicle once. The penetration roll came up explodes, and the Knight lost four hull points in total, leaving it on one.

 

The Knight Atropos fired at the Vanguard, killing three of them. It then fired at the Knight Crusader, penetrating it, but the Knight's shield saved it from damage. The Command Squad fired at the Vanguard, killing one of them.

 

Our Vanguard fired at the Centurions, killing one of the elite warriors. The drop pod and landspeeder fired at the enemy Scouts. The drop pod failed to damage them, while the Cerberus launcher scattered off target and the Heavy Bolter failed to wound.

 

The Dunecrawlers charged the Knight Crusader, hoping to remove its last hull point. The Knight struck, destroying one of the vehicles. The Dunecrawler missed with its return attacks, and the Knight's stomp attack succeeded in taking a hull point off the second vehicle.

At then end of our turn, I scored objective 3 and Innes scored Praise the Machine God. We discarded Psychological Warfare and Ascendency. We also scored our opponent's objective 1 and objective 1.

 

Victory Points:

Space Marines/Mechanicus- 3



White Scars/Mechanicus- 4 

 

TURN 2- SPACE MARINES/MECHANICUS

This turn, the Mechanicus drew Psychological Warfare, Hungry for Glory and Blood and Guts. The Marines drew Objective 6, Ascendency and Harness the Warp.

On the left flank, the Knight Crusader advanced on the command squad, while the Vanguard failed their Domination roll to move towards objective 6 and had to stay put. The Dunecrawlers moved up on the Command Squad. On the other flank, the Centurions moved up on the enemy Vanguard.

Utilising split fire, one Centurion fired at the two grav bikers, but failed to harm the Jinking riders. The other fired at the landspeeder storm, immobilising it with its grav cannon and then wrecking it with his bolters. The Scouts spilled of the wreck, coming under fire from the Rangers and sniper scouts, killing three of the squad. The combined firepower was too much for the scouts and they fell back under the assault.

A Dunecrawler, the Techmarine and the tactical squad fired at the Vanguard. The Dominus tanked most of the wounds aimed at the unit and suffered a single wound in the process.

The other Dunecrawler fired at the Knight Atropos, its Neutron laser penetrating the armour of the Knight and taking 4 hull points from the walker. The nearby Vanguard ran up to claim objective 6 (passing their domination roll to do so).

The Knight Crusader fired at the Knight Atropos, glancing it once. It then turned its attention to the Command squad, firing its battle cannon at the unit. Despite Jinking, one member of the squad was lost.
It then charged into the Command squad, killing one with its combat attacks. The Librarian struck back with his meltabombs, glancing it once. The Knight then managed 3 stomp attacks. The first wounded the Libarian, the second killed Khan and another marine (after rolling a 6 on the Stomp table) and the third failed to cause any damage. The unit passed their morale check, but failed their Hit and Run test (on a 6!).

On the other flank, the Knight and Dunecrawler struck at one another, but neither could finish off their opponent and the combat was another stalemate.

At the end of their turn, the Mechanicus scored Blood and Guts and Psychological Warfare in addition to our objective 6. Added to Slay the Warlord, this gave them 4 points this turn.

TURN 2- WHITE SCARS/MECHANICUS
This turn I drew Hungry for Glory (issue a challenge), Objective 4 and Objective 5. Innes drew Domination, Supremacy and Objective 6.

On the left flank, the Scouts retreated to objective 3, while the Mechanicus units advanced on the Ultramarines in the ruins. The two bikers moved to the centre of the battlefield, turbo-boosting to grab objective 5.
On the other flank, the Knight Atropos moved ahead, ready to engage its counterpart in the enemy army.

In the psychic phase, the Librarian cast Dominate on the Rangers beside him.

In the shooting phase, the drop pod fired at the Rangers, hitting twice, but failing to wound. The Vanguard and Dominus fired at the tactical marines, killing the Techmarine, a servitor and two tactical marines. The unit failed their morale check and fell back towards the objective (not good for us, Innes was hoping to charge the unit, maybe wipe them out and consolidate onto the objective).

With no other shooting, it was on to the combat phase. The Knight Atropos charged the Crusader. The Crusader missed with all its attacks, while the Atropos hit with one of its 4 attacks. The resulting D attack took 4 hull points from the enemy Knight, leaving it on one. The Librarian failed to hit with his meltabombs and the Stomp attack failed to harm any of the bikers in return.

In the other combat, the Knight missed with all his attacks against the Dunecrawler. With only one hull point left, the Dunecrawler tried to finish off the Knight, but missed with his attacks also, leaving it a stalemate once again.

At the end of our turn, I scored objective 5 and Innes scored Slay the Warlord. He discarded Domination and I discarded Hungry for Glory.

Victory Points:

Space Marines/Mechanicus- 7



White Scars/Mechanicus- 6

TURN 3- SPACE MARINES/MECHANICUS

In their turn, the Mechanicus drew Big Game Hunter, Objective 1 and Objective 5. The Ultramarines drew Assassinate, Supremacy and had Objective 6.

The Rangers passed their Dominate roll to move up on the two bikers holding objective 5, as the Centurions continued their advance.

The Rangers opened fire on the two grav bikers, wounding them six times, but the White Scars passed all their Jink saves (2+ thanks to the objective). The Dunecrawlers opened fire on the bikers, but missed with both the Neutron lasers and their heavy stubbers failed to wound the bikers.

 

The Centurions fired at the two scouts near the Knight. They wounded them 7 times and the scouts failed 2 saves, despite going to ground for a 2+ cover save. The tactical marines and Scouts fired at the Dominus and Vanguard, but were unable to get past their cover saves and FNP rolls.

In the combat phase, both the Crusader and Atropos managed to take each other out in combat, both superheavies exploding at the maximum strength. The blast from the Atropos destroyed the nearby Dunecrawler, while the exploding Crusader scattered off my bikers and left them unharmed.

 

The other Dunecrawler assaulted the two bikers in the centre, but their overwatch fire from the grav guns succeeded in immobilising the enemy walker and stalled its assault.

 

On the right flank, the Knight Crusader finally finished off the Dunecrawler, the superheavy walker turning to face the Vanguard behind it.

As the end of their turn, Cameron and Aaron scored their objective 6 and our objective 6. They also scored Big Game Hunter for 1 points and Supremacy for 3 points, giving them a total of 6 points this turn and significantly extending their lead.

 

TURN 3- WHITE SCARS/MECHANICUS

This turn, I drew Objective 1, Objective 2 and Demolitions. Innes drew Harness the Warp, Objective 5, and Supremacy.

The Stormtalon arrived, moving to engage the rear armour of the last Dunewalker. The Librarian separated from his squad, moving to engage the Rangers, while the Command Squad moved to grab Objective 1. The other two bikers moved to support the Librarian, while the Vanguard went after the Centurions.

 

The Librarian cast Psychic Shriek at the Vanguard, passing the test to hit and wound the unit 6 times. This killed most of the unit and left the Alpha on a single wound. The Stormtalon fired at the Dunecrawler. The assault cannon penetrated once, but the shot was saved by the 6+ invulnerable save. The Skyhammer missiles were able to finish the enemy walker though.

 

The Librarian and Bikers fired at the Rangers, the Librarian killing one of the squad. The other Vanguard unit fired at the Centurions, killing one.

 

In the assault phase, the Librarian and Bikers charged the Rangers. Their Hammer of Wrath attacks killed two of the Skitarri warriors, the follow up attacks from the Librarian and bikers killing another two for no loss in return. The Rangers failed their morale test and were cut down by the White Scars. The unit consolidated forward to grab objective 4.

The Dominus and Vanguard charged the last Centurion, the Dominus striking and wiping out the last member of the squad.

At the end of our turn, we scored our Objective 1 and their Objective 1 for 2 points.

 

With that, we ran out of time and the game was over. We both scored Linebreaker for the Librarian and Knight, respectively.

End of the game.

 

 

Victory Points:

Space Marines/Mechanicus- 14



White Scars/Mechanicus- 9

 

A decisive win for the Space Marine/Mechanicus alliance.

 

AFTER-BATTLE THOUGHTS

Congratulations to Cameron and Aaron for playing such a great game and for such a win.

 

I don't think there was too much we could have done to won that game, even if the game had continued to 5 turns. There were a few issues that helped contribute to the loss:

• Scouting the bikers on my left forward was a big mistake. This allowed the Knight to charge them and take out a lot of the unit. Even though the rest of the squad survived till the end of the game, it put the Knight right in our faces from turn 1. Fortunately, I was able to Hit and Run out of the combat, allowing us to target it with some firepower.
• I should have not Scouted the unit of bikers on the right. I moved them forward in case we drew Behind Enemy Lines, but they ended up getting wiped out. As a result, the Knight had to hold objective 1 in our first turn, rather than move forward to engage the enemy Knight ASAP. In hindsight, we should have given up the point for a chance to engage their Knight (which may have saved the Command Squad in turn).
• Failing to Hit and Run out of combat with the Knight at the end of their second turn was also a huge blow. I swear that every time I need to Hit and Run with a White Scars character, they always fail the initiative test on a 6 (this isn't true, but it's all I seem to remember happening). Had I been able to Hit and Run, I could have gone after the Rangers on objective 4 and would have been able to score that objective and Blood and Guts if I had taken them out in an assault.
• It would have been nice to be able to take out the Marine's Knight in combat with the Dunecrawlers. This would have been asking a lot, but we got it down to one hull point, but just could not get rid of the last one. We were pretty fortunate in that combat, as it took the Knight several turns to take down the last Dunecrawler.
• The Librarian could have finished off the other Knight if he had hit with his meltabombs. This probably would have also taken out our Knight (as it was down to one hull point), but we may have got lucky with the scatter. I need to think about taking a few more meltabombs in the command squad to deal with superheavies or monstrous creatures.

Unfortunately, in the end we were just outplayed and lost the game. We had good mobility on the board, being able to score 4 of their objectives, while they only scored about 2 of ours.

It would be interesting to see how the game proceeded had it gone the full 5 turns. Our opponents had a Knight on one hull point, about 5 tactical marines, 5 Scouts and one Vanguard Alpha. We had a Stormtalon, Librarian (on one wound), the Dominus and Vanguard, two grav bikers and two command squad.
We certainly had the mobility advantage, but the firepower of the Knight could not be underestimated. Our opponents had a big lead going into turn 4, so we would have to do very well on the cards to claw back a victory.

So, with one win and one loss, we went into the final game hoping for a win.