Battle Report: The Valley of Acheron

After lots of time spent painting my Grey Knight army up to a very basic level, i've been lucky enough to get a few games in, recently I played a friend's Blood Angels army to a square trouncing on my behalf, which i place midway between finding my feet with the army and some pretty foolish tactical decisions on my part, but in many ways i prefer a friendly loss to a supreme crushing win, you walk away from a loss with some great questions, does the list need tweaking?  Did i deploy wrong?  Should i have kept that unit in reserve?  If you analyze a loss properly it can lead to you being a much better player.  With these things in mind i went into a rematch against one of my favourite foes in a 1500 point 40k match up, we usually play 1750 points but my friend is going to the PAW tournament in Plymouth soon (which i had the honour of taking the 2nd place trophy in my last visit to), and those southpaws only like playing 1500, so the boy fancied some practice.

The Battle lines are drawn.

Playing area provided by our good friends at Heroes and Legends games in Surbiton, We rolled up an Annihilation mission with Pitched battle deployment (which is a welcome respite from all the spearhead deployments i have been playing recently.)  In time honoured tradition i lost the roll to deploy and go first, with the Blood Angels deploying the Sanguinor and an Assault squad towards the center of their deployment zone backed up by a Vindicator, close by on the other side of a river deployed a 5 man unit of foot slogging assault marines alongside a Land Raider full of Assault Terminators, with a Librarian Dreadnought mounted in a drop pod in reserve, with my deployment i opted for a refused flank, instead concentrating my forces on the left flank where i hoped my foes would have to engage me on my own terms, i deployed my ten man unit of Terminators in the open with Grandmaster Valdek and Inquisitor Coteaz, backed up by a Strike squad on foot and the Dreadknight looming behind them, i kept a Strike squad in reserve as well as the 5 acolytes (who, hopefully would see as little battle time as possible, bless them.) i placed a servoskull in the ruin ahead of my forces and one on the left and one to the right of the Sanguinor and co in the wood in case i could attempt a deep strike to get at the back armour of the Vindicator if need be, the Vindicare Assassin opted to Infiltrate into the highest level of the ruin on my left flank, with a nice clear view of the battlefield.


When i write battle reports, i prefer to do it in a narrative style, which while it may seem overly grandiose, i tend to find reads a bit better than "this unit did this and then this unit did this etc."

Enjoy.

+++TERREK V+++ SEGMENTUM OBSCURUS+++

Having recently seen the sudden uprising of a Daemon-worshipping Chaos cult within its populace, Terrek V was fortunate enough to have had its call for help heeded by a Successor chapter of the famed Blood Angels Astartes, unfortunately for those righteous defenders of humanity their insurrection was required to stem a warp gate which had allowed Daemons to flow forth from the immaterium onto Terrek V's surface, fortunately the brutal assault from the Sons of Sanguinius saw this filth to a relatively quick demise, but the stirrings of the warp hadn't escaped the Inquisition's attentions...

Inquisitor Darkhammer of the Ordo Malleus had joined in the assault in its latter stages and aided the Astartes in the closing of the Unholy warpgate, but at the battle's end the trouble hadn't ceased there,  the Company Captain in control of the Astartes forces resolutely refused to have himself and his troopers mind-scrubbed per the orders of Darkhammer, standard practice of the Inquisition to prevent further corrupting influence.  Reminding the Blood Angels of the power vested in his remit handed to him effectively from the Emperor of Mankind himself.  Inquisitor Darkhammer reminded the Space Marines of the folly in their actions as he boarded his personal craft, contacting his superior, the High Lord of the Formosa Sector, Lord Inquisitor Torquemada Coteaz.

As the Proud Astartes continued their cleansing of the planet a lone sleek, and impossibly fast, Grey Knights strike Cruiser made it's way to Terrek V...

BLOOD ANGELS TURN 1
Grand Master Valdek marshaled his elite force with cunning inspired only through centuries of war with the darkest denizens of the warp, his elite warriors striking deep into enemy territory before they had a chance to react, imposing forms of the Grey Knight Terminators and Strike Squad moved towards the Blood Angels forces, the Strike Squad taking up positions in a ruin overlooking the valley,

The Blood Angels forces maneuvered in response to the fresh threat of the Grey Knights, and in an unfortunate turn of events, the Vindicator accompanying the assault force threw a track whilst attempting to take up a better firing position, doomed to sit prone on the edge of a wood, fortunately it's demolisher cannon at least remained fully operational.

The Sanguinor leads the Assault marines through a wood.

From the sky drifted a shining figure, with a nimbus of gold light playing about his head, the legendary figure of the Sanguinor joined the forces of Space marines in battle, stilling their hearts to face those who would have them reduced to mindless servitors, without a word he advanced through a the wood with the Sanguinary priest and Assault Squad on his heels,

Meanwhile, and with considerably more force, a Drop Pod smashed from the sky into an area of woodland on the right flank of the Grey Knights, presenting a new and real threat, the great form of a Librarian Dreadnought advanced forward, sending a tendril of Crimson Psychic energy lancing forth, fortunately for the Grey Knight Terminators on the receiving end, their psychic defenses stood strong, and none fell to the psychic Attack.

Spotting the Vindicare Assassin atop the ruined building, the Land Raider crew swiveled their Godhammer-pattern Lascannons to bear on the lethal sniper, the great blasts of energy failed to land on the concealed form of the Assassin, as he coolly continued to line up a shot on the vehicle..

GREY KNIGHTS TURN 1

 Choosing to press forward in the face of this new and terrible threat,  Grand Master Valdek orders his squad to continue towards the bulk of the Blood Angels force, accompanied by the confident striding form of Inquisitor Torquemada Coteaz,

The Librarian Dreadnought engages the Grey Knights

Strike Squad Ovidius continue to advance through the ruins of an abandoned Administratum building, the very same building that Coteaz' Vindicare temple Assassin operative had taken up position in earlier that day, where he was currently drawing his sights on the mighty form of the Blood Angels Land Raider, with impossible accuracy, he fired a Turbo-Penetrator round through the top of the tank and into it's engine stack, the Adamantium-tipped warhead round burning out integral parts of the engine mechanism and stranding it in the open atop the shallows of the river..

The Sanguinor falls to the first punishing Salvo.

Grand Master Valdek offered up a prayer to Him on Earth and as one the Terminator squad raised their weapons towards the radiant form of the Sanguinor, Valdek's own Psycannon joining the salvo, shot after shot of psychically-impregnated large bore round was pumped into the figure and despite it's ornate armour and otherwordly nature, it's form crumpled in the face of adversity and fell to the ground, striking sorrow into the hearts of the Blood Angels to see such a mighty hero fall so early in the battle.

The menacing regal form of the Dreadknight strode forward in its battle brother's tracks, raising its Heavy Incinerator towards the Dreadnought on the other side of the river, it fired a great gout of prometheum but was too far away to land a shot on the machine, instead scorching the earth to cinders before it as the flames reflected in the cold golden death mask of the machine.

BLOOD ANGELS TURN 2

With heavy hearts, the Assault marines continued forwards through the wood, blessing the sacrifice of the Sanguinor that had allowed them to advance upon the enemy unscathed,

The smaller foot Assault squad near them advanced towards the ruin and the Grey Knights, also maintaining cover, though rendered immobile the Lascannons of the Land Raider continued to fire upon the Vindicare in search of Vengeance for the damage inflicted upon it, one of the shots came very close to felling the Imperial Agent, but he was saved by his Supernatural reflexes and melted into the shadows in time to avoid death.

The Vindicator loosed off a shot from its Demolisher cannon over the heads of the Assault marines in the wood and though it landed amongst the Grey Knight terminators, the high angle of the shot caused the shell to detonate in mid-air, robbed of it's impact the Terminators were saved from harm in their tactical Dreadnought armour.

The Librarian Dreadnought suddenly launched itself into the air on great pinions of crimson psychic energy, swooping over the prometheum-scarred ground and river between it and its foes, it launched into the great form of the Nemesis Dreadknight as a battle of titans commenced, the two wrestled in each other's grip, the Nemesis Great sword falling upon the Sarcophagus of the Dreadnought but failing to cause catastrophic damage, the Librarian entombed within the dreadnought blazed with anger, and his force weapon wounded the pilot of the dreadnought, severing one of his arms, but the hero piloting the machine continued to battle the psychic warmachine with just as much zeal.

GREY KNIGHTS TURN 2

 Grandmaster Valdek, utilizing his prodigious psychic power, willed Strike Squad Decimus to teleport at that exact moment to join the fray, they materialised deep in enemy territory on the left flank, raising their weapons, they showered the hunkered down assault squad with Stormbolter ammunition and psycannon rounds, felling two of their number.

Strike Squad Decimus joins the fray.

Inquisitor Coteaz' personal Acolytes advanced onto the battlefield, moving up on the left flank, the Terminator squad turned in their tracks to aid their Dreadknight-armoured brother marine,

Atop the ruins of the Administratum building the Vindicare temple Assassin loaded another turbo-penetrator round into the chamber of his Exitus rifle, and with ruthless efficiency fired again into the engine stack of the Blood Angels Land Raider, moments later it blossomed with flame as the fuel tanks combusted, showering its nearby brethren with shrapnel, the Terminator assault squad burst from the wreckage with fury, though one of their number had succumbed to the blast and lay motionless amidst the battlefield detritus.  The Vindicare began reloading his rifle and selecting his next target.

Strike squad Ovidius advanced through the building, attempting to fire at the assault marines in the distance, but causing no telling damage.

The Terminators pile into the Librarian Dreadnought.

The Imperial Rottweilers charged into the Librarian dreadnought, throwing a salvo of Psyk-Out Grenades at the behemoth, causing psychic feedback that reeled the machine, they hacked away at it but failed to do any damage, the Dreadknight lashed out also failing to destroy the enraged machine, all seemed lost until the Justicar of the Terminator squad strode forward, and with one mighty blow from his Nemesis Daemonhammer shattered the sarcophagus of the Dreadnought, instantly killing the pilot.  With a final wave of psychic fury the Terminators and Dreadknight were buffeted with shock waves, but they stood firm.


BLOOD ANGELS TURN 3

The Assault Terminators advanced through the rocky outcrop towards the Grey Knights, determined to have their revenge, even further enraged at the demise of the venerable Librarian they had just witnessed, the Grey Knights were proving themselves a force to be reckoned with..

The Vindicator fired another high-angle shot from the woods, this time the shell landed brilliantly and two of the Imperial Rottweilers were blown from their feet, great blackened holes ravaged through their Terminator armour,

The assault squad in the wood advanced, preparing for their moment to strike which would be very soon, meanwhile their foot mounted brethren on the left broke their cover and began to advance on Strike squad Decimus, determined to assault their foe in glorious combat,

The Drop pod fired shots from its Storm bolter into the Terminator squad, but failed to strike any down, even though its armoured charge had fallen it continued to attack in his stead.

GREY KNIGHT TURN 3

The Grey Knight Terminator squad advanced across the stony bridge over the river, setting their sights on the large assault squad in the wood, while the rearguard of the squad turned to face the Assault Terminators.  As they advanced, the Psycannon-armed brethren loosed off a salvo into the Drop pod, blowing out its control systems and rendering it a wrecked hulk of metal spires.

The Sanguinary Priest survives the Vindicare's lethal intentions.

Strike Squad Ovidius fired into the Assault Terminators and their Psycannon rang true,  One of the Blood Angels slumped to the ground, the psychically-charged ammunition having found its mark.

The Vindicare Assassin fired a Hellfire shell at the Sanguinary Priest, but he avoided injury by darting aside just as the shot splintered into a tree behind him.  And in the midst of all this, the Dreadknight fired a gout of Prometheum into the Terminator squad, killing another two as they roasted inside their armoured tombs.  The last of their number pressed forward, grim determination filling him as he faced insurmountable odds.


BLOOD ANGELS TURN 4


Knowing that it was now or never, the last elements of the Blood Angels force mustered for a final charge, with it they would either break the back of the Grey Knight force or die to the last man.

Squad Decimus and the Blood Angels prepare to do battle.

The foot Assault squad charged towards Strike squad Decimus, killing one of their number with accurate bolt pistol fire.

As the Blood Angels Assault Squad with the Sanguinary Priest prepared to charge the Imperial Rottweilers with the last of the Terminator Assault squad, Inquisitor Coteaz began to speak hallowed words with righteous zeal, until now he had played a minor part in the battle but his true intentions had become clear, focusing his psychic hatred he shielded his Battle brothers with holy flame, the last of the Assault Terminators never made it into combat, dropping his Thunder Hammer and Storm shield he sank to his knees as flames enveloped him in a lethal embrace, two of the Assault squad fell to the same holy flame as they closed on the Grey Knight Terminator squad as well as one of the foot Assault squad, carnage on a grand scale.

The foot assault squad charge into Strike squad Decimus, killing two of them with furious blows, but the Grey Knights were hardened veterans beyond even the Blood Angels compare, and their force weapons struck with more force than even their enhanced frames would belie, the marines were killed almost to a man, and the Sergeant fled the battlefield, knowing that all hope was lost.

The Sanguinary Priest stirred his remaining brethren with words from the book of Sanguinius, but as they charged, Grand Master Valdek unhooked an archaic grenade from his battle-rig and tossed it in their midst, it unleashed sweet-smelling gas and in seconds, the howls of rage from the Blood Angels became truly terrible, as the Psychotroke Grenade caused battle brother to fall upon battle brother, striking their comrades in the confusion, the Imperial Rottweilers strode through the chaos and despatched them one by one with broad sweeps of their Nemesis Force-Halberds lopping off heads, arms, rendering torsoes in two, the few remaining survivors fled in absolute panic, the army in full rout now.

The Grey Knight Terminators returned to formation and looked to their Grand Master, he kicked aside a severed helmet, the head still inside.

"Hun them down."

And with that simple order the Terminators turned away and marched after the handful of marines that had fled to ensure there were no survivors.  The Vox-grille of Coteaz' archaic battle helm spoke as he strode casually in the opposite direction alongside Valdek, "a dark day for the Imperium, it is unfortunate that their heroic acts should end in such a futile footnote."

"Aye" replied Valdek monosyllabicly as they strode through the corpses of the assault squad to the spot where the Sanguinor had fallen.

The body had disappeared.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So a pretty crushing victory to the Grey Knights!  Though to be fair, my opponent was cursed by some pretty horrible dice rolls and i was blessed with reliable luck across the board, i didn't spawn out horribly, but things definitely went according to plan.  

Man of the match for me is either Coteaz for his ridiculously effective use of Sanctuary or the Vindicare, who the more games i play, the more i like.  I can't believe i was thinking of dropping him from the list!  Of course, for every couple of games where he performs excellently, there will be a game where he gets sniped by a lascannon or fails to do anything, but he's doing well.

I don't really think my army is "beardy" as much as i'm getting a pretty good handle on tactics with it, the use of the Strike squads is actually pretty key to the whole battleplan, whether to deep strike them or set them up with the army.  Of course, the big terminator squad with all the tricks is beastly, and very costly, but i'm liking them a lot more than some of the other "deathstar" style units i would play in other armies, like Vulkan and Terminators in a Land Raider,  I'm getting better at not wasting their potential and trying to dictate the flow of battle with them, this game taught me how important it is to try and keep other elements of the army close to the big squad of terminators, to make the most of Coteaz' Sanctuary, which is just horrible when it works!  I didn't even miss the Warp-Jumping Dreadknight in this game, and i thought that was something that would never happen!

On to the next fight!