Battle Report 59- 1850 pts White Scars vs White Scars

This week's battle report features my White Scars taking on Allan's White Scars in another practice of my list for the upcoming Caledonian Revolution tournament.

 

Last week, I played Innes and his compact, deathstar-containing army and my White Scars list fared pretty well. This week, I played a very different type of army. Allan likes to field his White Scars with as many bodies as possible and lots of bikes. In fact, the board would be swarmed with bikes in this game and I would get to see just how annoying it is to go up against those jinking White Scars.

 

My army consisted of:

Scarblade Strike Force

Hunting Force

Khan- Moondrakken (with CS or K)

Command Squad- Bikes, Apothecary, 4 grav guns, 4 storm shields (CS)

6 Bikers- 2 grav guns, sergeant with meltabombs (BS1)

6 Bikers- 2 grav guns, sergeant with meltabombs (BS2)

Attack Bike- Multimelta (AB)

6 Scout Bikers- 2 Grenades launchers, sergeant with meltabombs and homing beacon (SB)

Stormbringer Squadron

5 Scouts- bolt pistols, combat weapons, sergeant with meltabombs (S1)

Landspeeder Storm- Heavy Bolter, Cerberus Launcher (LS1)

Landspeeder- Multimelta, Typhoon Missile Launcher (L)

 

Combined Arms Detachment

Librarian- Bike, Hunter's Eye, Meltabombs, Mastery Level 2, Force Sword (with CS or L)

5 Scouts- Camo cloaks, sniper rifles (SS)

5 Scouts- Bolters, sergeant with meltabombs (S2)

Landspeeder Storm- Heavy Bolter, Cerberus Launcher (LS2)

3 Bikers- 2 meltaguns, sergeant with meltabombs (BS3)

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

Drop Pod (DP)

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

My warlord trait was fixed with Khan (giving me re-rolls for morale and pinning tests and Scout moves for my bikes and transports). My Librarian got Psychic Shriek and Prescience. I decided that Shriek would be useful against so many bikers and Prescience should help my units hit if I managed to cast it.

Allan's army consisted of (in blue on the maps):
Scarblade Strike Force

Hunting Force 1

Captain- Bike, Power Sword, Storm Shield (with CS2)
5 Command Squad- Bikes, Banner of the Eagle, Apothecary, 4 grav guns, 4 storm shields (CS2)
4 Bikers and Attack Bike- 2 Flamers, attack bike has heavy bolter (BS1)
4 Bikers and Attack Bike- 2 Flamers, attack bike has heavy bolter (BS2)
Attack Bike- Heavy Bolter (AB1)
5 Scout Bikers- 2 grenade launchers (SB1)

Hunting Force 2

Kor'sarro Khan- Moondakken (with CS1)
5 Command Squad- Bikes, Apothecary, 3 grav guns, 2 storm shields (CS1)
4 Bikers and Attack Bike- 2 Flamers, attack bike has heavy bolter (BS3)
4 Bikers and Attack Bike- 2 Flamers, attack bike has heavy bolter (BS4)
Attack Bike- Heavy Bolter (AB1)
5 Scout Bikers- 2 grenade launchers (SB2)

Speartip Strike
Landspeeder- 2 Heavy Flamers (L)
3 Bikers and Attack Bike- 2 Flamers, attack bike has heavy bolter (BS5)
3 Bikers and Attack Bike- 2 Flamers, attack bike has heavy bolter (BS6)

Khan was also Allan's warlord. A sizeable army with lots of bikers, two hunting forces and two tooled up Command Squads. This should be an interesting match up.
Allan actually brought the wrong army list to play the game. He intended to give most of his bike squads two grav guns and the attack bikes Multi-meltas, but seeing as he had brought the list, he decided to use it in the game.

As things are going to get very confusing quickly with both armies being White Scars, Allan's force will now be known as Blue Scars (to match their colour on the maps). This should hopefully make things a bit less confusing.

For my hunting force, I chose the following targets:
Primary- Captain
Secondary- Captain's Command Squad
Tertiary- Khan's Command Squad

For Allan's hunting forces, he chose the following targets:
Hunting Force 1:
Primary- Khan
Secondary- Centurions
Tertiary- Command Squad

Hunting Force 2:
Primary- Khan
Secondary-Command Squad
Tertiary- Centurions

The Hunting Force gives re-rolls to Hit and to Wound against the primary target until it is dead, then on to the secondary target, etc. They also get furious charge against the current target. So lots of re-rolls for both armies in this game.

We rolled for the mission and got the Scouring (the one with the objectives being worth different points values). We placed the objectives as shown below. The numbers represent the points value of each objective in the game (which were revealed after deployment).

I won the roll off to deploy and chose to go first. I deployed the Command Squad in the centre, flanked by a bike squad on either side. The sniper scouts went in my ruins to the left. On the right flank, I put one of the Landspeeder Storms and the attack bike. The other Landspeeder Storm and the Landspeeder went on the left flank. I deployed pretty evenly in order to try and counter Allan's deployment, depending on where he set up his units. I felt that with Scout moves, I would be able to advance on the biggest threats in the army (both Command Squads) and hopefully eliminate them early in the game. This would then allow me to go after the multiple bike units and see if I had enough time to take them out before the end of the game.

Allan deployed the Captain and his command squad in the centre of the board, with Khan and his command squad on his left flank. The rest of the bike units were spread across the board, ready to advance on my units.

I won the roll off for Infiltrators and deployed my Scout Bikers towards the centre of the board. This was to limit both the Infiltration of his bike units and the Scout moves of the central line. Allan deployed both units of his Scout Bikers just outside of his deployment zone on each flank.

Allan failed to seize the initiative and we moved on to Scout moves. I won the roll off once more and moved by Scout Bikers forward towards the centre of the board. Allan countered with moving one unit of Scout Bikers towards the centre. I then moved up the Command Squad, while Allan moved the other Scout Biker unit towards the centre. Finally, I moved my biker unit on my left flank up, while Allan moved several bike units and his second command squad.

Scout moves.

Scout moves

Scout moves

With Allan having failed to seize, I got the first turn.

TURN 1- WHITE SCARS

The drop pod carrying the Centurions arrived. I chose to use the teleport homer on the Scout Bikers to bring it down on the objective in the centre. The Centurions moved out into the ruins to the left of the pod.

In the centre, the Command Squad, Scout Bikers and unit of Grav bikers advanced on the Blue Scars' Captain. On the right flank, the Bikers and Landspeeder Storm moved up to engage the Command Squad.

In the psychic phase, the power of the warp was strong as I rolled a 6. I began by casting Psychic Shriek on the bike squad in the ruins in front of me. The psychic attack killed the attack bike and one of the bikers in the unit. The squad passed their morale check. The Librarian then cast Prescience on the Centurions. The Librarian periled in the process, but rolled a 6 on the table and passed his leadership test to become over-powered.

The Centurions opened fire on the Blue Scars Command Squad with the Captain. The grav cannons caused 10 wounds, but only two veterans fell thanks to the combination of storm shields and apothecary (this must be how most of my opponents feel when playing me, it is not nice!). The hurricane bolters caused 5 more wounds, but these were all saved.

My Command Squad fired at the same target (benefiting from the hunting force re-rolls). My grav guns caused 9 wounds, and again, some great saves saw only one of the veterans die. The Bike squad also opened fire on the unit, killing Khan and the Apothecary and leaving only a single veteran alive.

On the left flank, the Landspeeder Storm opened fire on the scout bikers, but failed to wound them. The sniper scouts and drop pod opened fire on the Scout Bikers, but again failed to cause any wounds. Finally, my Scout Bikers opened fire on the unit, killing three of the squad. The Blue Scars Scout bikers failed their morale check and fell back 3" (Allan rolled a triple one for their fall back move).

The Landspeeder fired its multi-melta and typhoon missile at the bike squad in front of it. The shots wounded the attack bike and forced the unit to jink.

On the right flank, the Landspeeder Storm, attack bike and Bike squad opened fire on the second Blue Scars command squd, killing two of the veterans.

At the end of my first turn, I had eliminated the Blue Scars warlord and most of one of the command squads and wounded several other bike squads. There were still a lot of bikers left to kill though.

TURN 1- BLUE SCARS

The majority of the Blue Scars army converged on the central units in the middle of the battlefield. An attack bike went after the Landspeeder Storm on the left flank and one unit of bikers moved up on the White Scars bikers on the left flank.

The Landspeeder fired both its heavy flamers at the Bike squad in front and the Scout Bikers, killing one of the normal bikers. The Blue Scars units surrounding the bikers in the centre opened fire with their flamers and bolters, killing all but one of the grav bikers in the unit. One Scout biker also succumbed to the flamer attacks in the centre.

The Blue Scars then turned their attention towards the White Scars Command Squad. The Blue Scars Command Squad opened fire on the unit, causing 8 wounds and killing one of the veterans. Three unit of bikers and the scout bikers opened fire on the Command Squad with their flamers and boltguns. Despite the hail of fire causing 23 wounds, only a single Veteran fell and Khan was wounded.

On the left flank, the Blue Scars bikers fired their flamers at the squad in front of them, but failed to cause any damage. The Attack Bike fired at the Landspeeder Storm, but failed to harm the transport vehicle.

With shooting not proving successful against the White Scars, the Blue Scars decided to assault them to try and finish the job.

Three units of bikers assaulted the White Scars Command Squad, one of the bikers being taken out by the overwatch of the veterans. Thanks to the bonuses of the Hunting Force, the Command Squad took 9 hammer of wrath wounds and one veteran died.
Khan struck at one bike squad, killing the attack bike in one unit. The Librarian struck at a bike squad, but failed to wound them (I forgot he had fleshbane from the peril's overpowering. I always forget this!). The Veterans struck at the unit, killing another 2. In reply, the Blue Scars struck at the Command Squad, causing 12 wounds (thanks to the Hunting Force re-rolls) and killing three of the Veterans, leaving only the Librarian and Khan. I won the combat, two of the bike units fleeing but staying on the table. Khan and the Librarian hit and ran towards the Scout bikers.

On the right flank, one unit of bikers charged the lone grav biker and Scout bikers, two of the Blue Scars dying to the overwatch fire. The Blue Scars struck but failed to cause any wounds, while the White Scars scouts killed one more biker. I won the combat but remained locked in. The Scouts hit and ran from combat, but the lone biker failed his hit and run test (even with the Scarblade re-roll).

On the left flank, the Blue Scars bikers assaulted the White Scars bikers. The squad took seven wounds from the Hammer of Wrath attacks and two bikers died. Both units struck at one another, killing one biker each. I lost combat and failed my morale test, fleeing 16" to the table edge and just remaining on the board.

Allan's bikers had hit back hard. The shooting was pretty ineffective, but his assaults were great with the additional hammer of wrath hits and re-rolls thanks to the Hunting Force.

TURN 2- WHITE SCARS

The Librarian and Khan moved to join the Scout bikers, while the Landspeeder and Landspeeder Storm moved to engage the units on the left flank, the meltagun bikers moving up on the squads.
On the right flank, the bikers and attack bike moved up on the Blue Scars bikers. The Stormtalon arrived, moving up the centre of the battlefield.

In the psychic phase, the Librarian cast psychic shriek on the bikers in the crater, killing two of the unit. He then attempted to cast Prescience on the Centurions, but failed to manifest the power.

The Centurions opened fire on the bikers in front of the drop pod. The grav cannons caused 11 wounds, but the jinking bikers only lost a single rider and wounded the attack bike! The hurricane bolters managed to kill off the attack bike.

The Stormtalon opened fire at the Scout bikes in front of it, killing one of the jinking squad.

On the left flank, the meltagun bikers and scout bikers opened fire at the squad in the crater, killing one of the enemy marines. The squad failed their morale check and fled 5" away from the scout bikers. This was unfortunate, as I was intending to charge the unit with my Scout bikers, Khan and the Librarian and they were now quite far away.

The Landspeeder fired at the Blue Scars Landspeeder, penetrating it and forcing it to snap fire.

On the right flank, the three White Scars bikers fired at the squad in front of them, killing one of the Blue Scars bikers. The Blue Scars squad also failed their morale check, fleeing 9" from the White Scars bikers and out of charge range once again.

The sniper scouts fired at the sole remaining member of the Command Squad, but failed to kill him.

The Scouts assaulted the Landspeeder, easily wrecking the enemy vehicle with their attacks. The other combat in the centre of the board ended a stalemate, with the lone White Scars bikers hit and running out of combat towards his deployment zone.

Both of Allan's bike squads failing their morale checks was a bit of a blow. I was planning to assault both units and hopefully finish them off, but they fled and escaped the wrath of the Khan.

TURN 2- BLUE SCARS

On the Blue Scars left flank, the fleeing bikers turned their mounts around and advanced on the White Scars that had fired on them. The Command Squad and Scout Bikers moved towards the centre of the battle, while the White Scars Khan and Scout Bikers soon found themselves surrounded by enemy bikers.

On the left flank, two of the Blue Scars units targeted the unit of three White Scars, but failed to cause any wounds.

On the right flank, a unit of bikers opened fire on the Scouts, killing two of the squad. The Blue Scars then turned their attention to the large unit of scout bikers. Two units of Blue Scars bikers fired on them, but the jinking Scouts were unharmed. Another squad opened fire, wounding the Librarian once. The lone member of the Command Squad fired at the unit, taking Khan down to a single wound. The other command squad opened fire on the unit, killing the Librarian in a hail of grav fire.

The White Scars were now softened up for the mass of assaults to come.

On the left flank, the three Blue Scars bikers charged the White Scars bikers. Both sides fought one another to a stalemate with neither side causing any damage. The White Scars bikers hit and ran away from their opponents.

Another bike squad charged the Scouts on the ground. Once again, the combat was fought to a stalemate with neither side suffering casualties. The Scouts hit and ran towards the centre of the battlefield.

Two units of bikers and the lone member of the command squad charged the Scout bikers. The Hammer of Wrath attacks killed one of the Scouts. Khan struck at the bikers, but failed to cause any wounds. The Scout bikers were equally unsuccessful in taking out any of their opponents. The Blue Scars struck back, wiping out Khan and the Scout bikers.

TURN 3- WHITE SCARS

Time was running out at the club night, so this would likely be the final turn. I moved what units I could to secure the objectives and weather the storm for the Blue Scars' next turn.

The Stormtalon opened fire on a unit of two bikers, wiping the squad out. On the left flank, the Landspeeder and meltagun bikers opened fire at the unit of bikers in front of them, killing one of the squad.
The lone grav biker fired at the lone member of the Blue Scars command squad, wounding him all 3 times but failing to get past his storm shield. The Scout snipers also opened fire, wounding him twice but failing to kill the veteran (this guy would just not die!).

The Centurions opened fire at the Command Squad, wiping them out with their grav cannon shots.

On the right flank, the three man squad fired on the Blue Scars in front of them, killing two of the squad and leaving the attack bike alone. They then assaulted the attack bike, joined by the attack bike. The Blue Scars fired its overwatch shots, hitting with all three of its heavy bolter attacks, but failing to wound. The White Scars cut down the lone Blue Scars biker in combat for no loss of their own ranks.

On the left flank, the meltagun bike squad assaulted the unit in front of them. The hammer of wrath attacks failed to wound, but the White Scars bikers took down one of their opponents. The Blue Scars bikers hit and ran out of combat.

TURN 3- BLUE SCARS

On the left flank, the lone veteran moved to engage the lone grav gun biker, while the bike squad moved up on the meltagun bikers.
On  the right flank, the Scout bikers and a biker unit moved up to engage the Scouts holding the objective.
In the centre, two bike units moved to engage the Scouts.

The two units opened fire on the combat Scouts, wiping out the unit to claim the objective. The Scout Bikers and bike squad opened fire on the White Scars bolter scouts, killing one and glancing the Landspeeder Storm (with the flamer).
The lone command veteran fired at the meltagun unit, killing one of the squad, while the attack bike killed the lone White Scars grav gun biker.

Unfortunately, we had to call the game there. I had several Objective Secured units holding several objectives which Allan would be unlikely to clear.

End of the game.

VICTORY POINTS:
White Scars (Mike)- 12 VP (inc. First Blood and Slay the Warlord)
Blue Scars (Allan)- 5 VP (inc. Slay the Warlord and Linebreaker)

AFTER-BATTLE THOUGHTS
Thanks to Allan for a great game (if not a little confusing for the reader, so many bikes!). I wish would could have finished it fully as I am not sure how it would have turned out in the end. Would my objective secured units have survived to seize the objectives and take out the biker units, or would the enemy bikers have swamped my units and taken them out? I guess we will never know.

Both my and Allan's hunting forces were very strong. The re-rolls against selected targets are brilliant and greatly increase the damage output of any squad that can use them. My only annoyance was that the lone Veteran from one of the Command Squads would simply not die to allow me to get re-rolls on the second Command Squad. I must have put enough firepower into him to kill him 5 times over, but he simply would not fail a storm shield save! My cries of frustration at not killing him attracted a few other players over and gave them much delight (as you may have guessed, I get quite animated and involved in my games).

I didn't get to use my double Hammer of Wrath hits in this game, but did see how brutal they could be when Allan used them against me. I will need to try them in my future games. We also both forgot that the Hunting Force units get Furious Charge against a target unit in the game.

One mistake I made was shooting at the units that I planned to charge in turn 2. I managed to kill one from each unit and was not expecting both units to fail their morale tests and flee out of charge range. This cost me in the following turn where the units were able to charge me and wipe out the Scout Bikers and attached Khan and Librarian.
Also, it might have been better to not have Khan join the Scout Bikers. Doing this gave Allan re-rolls to hit and to wound against the unit, which helped in wiping them out. It may have been better to just sacrifice Khan on his own and hope that the Librarian and Scout Bikers survived on their own.

I need to check with the tournament rules for Caledonian Revolution as to whether the Hunting Force re-roll bonus for the HQ unit applies to a unit he joins. If not, I think this will diminish the bonus of the Hunting Force, as unless the HQ unit is on its own, I will only get to benefit from the re-rolls in combat against the HQ unit.

Looking at my army, it generally performed very well. The Centurions survived a game for once and the Scout Bikers were key for getting them into position. I took a unit of 6 Scout Bikers to benefit from the double Hammer of Wrath attacks for the Hunting Force, but wonder if it may be better splitting them into two units of three.

For the second game in a row, the Sniper Scouts did not cause a single casualty in the shooting phase. I thought about removing them, but they do provide me with a cheap, objective secured unit that should be tough to shift from an objective in terrain (2+ cover save when going to ground). I'll try them again in a few more games, but if I was to replace them, I'm not too sure what I should replace them with?

I hope you enjoyed the game, even though it was a little short. I'll be heading off to Double Trouble tomorrow, so expect some upcoming Ork battle reports and lots of green in my photos!