Campaign - Ardan V, Mission 3 Battle Report

The Eldar Pathfinders had quickly visited 6 locations in the industrial district of Baston, before disappearing quickly, practically melting into the ruins around the main fuel storage depot before Hjorvard could get close enough to them to try and extract some information as to what this xenos invasion was all about. 

Still, 6 locations of interest was the best lead the Space Wolves had had in the last three weeks of chasing these shadows all over Baston. There was something about these locations, something important, something he knew his Wolf Lord and Rune Priests would like to hear about.

Arandril Starsong had listened to the Pathfinders reports, agreeing with their assessment that the location of the cursus must be in this industrial sector of Baston. Time was running out now, the cursus would become critically dangerous to the entire planet in a matter of days, maybe even less, if action was not taken. Using the full force at his disposal, Arandril was going to move toward the site and search all six locations and end the threat from the cursus once and for all. He had already forseen a bloody battle with these humans, but he could not determine the aftermath. Giving his orders, in place of the slain Autuarch Alarique Dawn runner, Arandril was firmly set along the path which could also lead to his demise.

Battle Report - 3,000pts

Wolf Lord Fjolnir Lightningwolf's Space Wolves

Fjolnir Lightningwolf - Runic Armour, Wolf Claw, Belt of Russ, Combi-Melta, Wolf Tail Talisman, Saga of the Beat.
Hjorvard Gunnarsson - Runic Armour, Frost Blade, Wolf Tail Talisman, Saga of the Hunter.
Wolf Priest - Runic Armour, Bike, Wolf Tail Talisman, Saga of the Warrior Born.
Rune Priest - Runic Armour, Wolf Tail Talisman, Living Lightning, Tempests Wrath.

Wolf Scouts - 6 Men, Flamer, Power Weapon.
Lone Wolf - TDA, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, 2 x Fenrisian Wolves.
Wolf Guard - Frost Blade/Combi-Melta, Powerfist/Combi-Melta, 2 x Wolf Claw/Combi-Melta, Power weapon/Combi-Plasma, Razorback.
Dreadnought - Extra Armour, Assault Cannon, Missile Launcher.

Grey Hunters - 10 Men, Standard, Powerfist, Meltagun x 2, Rhino.
Grey Hunters - 10 Men, Standard, Powerweapon, Flamer x 2, Rhino. 
Grey Hunters - 6 Men, Standard, Plasma gun, Razorback.
Grey Hunters - 6 Men, Standard, Plasma gun, Razorback.
Blood Claws - 15 Men, 2 x Flamer.


Bikes - 5 Bikes, Flamer, Powerfist, Attack Bike
Wolf Guard Bike - Powerfist, Combi-Melta.


Long Fangs - 6 Men, 5 x Missile Launchers.
Predator - Heavy Bolter Sponsons.
Land Raider Crusader.

Arandril Starsong's Biel-Tan Eldar


Arandril Starsong - Ghosthelm, Rune Armour, Spirit Stones, Shuriken Pistol, Witchblade.
Avatar.
Warlock Unit - Embolden, Enhance, 3x Destructor.


Wraithguard - 5 Men, 1 Warlock with Singing Spear, Wave Serpent with TL Shuriken Catapults and TL Bright Lances.
Harlequin Troupe - 8 Men, 1 Shadowseer with Veil of Tears, 1 Troupe Master.
Fire Dragons - 10 Men, Wave Serpent with TL Shuriken Catapults and TL Shuriken Cannons.


Dire Avengers - 9 Men, Avenger S-Catapult, 1 Exarch, Blade Storm, Defend, Power Weapon, Shimmershield.
Dire Avengers - 9 Men, Avenger S-Catapult, 1 Exarch, Defend, Power Weapon, Shimmershield.
Pathfinders - 5 Men
Guardians - 10 Men, Bright Lance Weapon Platform.
Guardians - 10 Men, Bright Lance Weapon Platform.

Shining Spears - 4 Jetbikes with Laser Lance and TL Shuriken Catapults, 1 Exarch with Star Lance and TL Shuriken Catapults.
Vyper Squadron - 1 Skimmer, Bright Lance, TL Shuriken Catapults.


Wraithlord - Flamer (x2), Wraithsword, Bright Lance.
Wraithlord - Flamer (x2), Wraithsword, Bright Lance.
Fire Prism - Holo-Field, Spirit Stones, TL Shuriken Catapults, Prism Cannon.
Fire Prism - Holo-Field, Spirit Stones, TL Shuriken Catapults, Prism Cannon.

The Space Wolves surged forwards, with the Eldar a long way off in the distance and, for the moment, well out of range of the weaponry the Wolves had. Fjolnir was aboard his Land Raider Crusader alongside his Great Company's newest recruits, whilst Hjorvard took a scout pack around the fringes of the battlefield, hoping to gain a surprise attack on the back lines of the Eldar. 

The scouts early reports were of the mixed variety, the xenos were searching two locations, but still had not found what they were looking for. They also seemed to be a rather light force on the ground and their main forces seemed to be holding back.


The two enemies were closing in on each other now, however few shots had actually been fired, with both sides frantically searching for the cursus so that it could be captured and controlled by one side or the other. Hallkjell, now a lone warrior, having seen his pack destroyed by an earlier skirmish with the Eldar, took his two accompanying Wolves east to search a possible location in the ruins of an old control center. The area was clear, leaving only three locations as the possible source of the cursus. Hallkjell set off west toward the remaining locations when Arandril Starsong appeared from atop of the bridge across the river running through the industrial complex.


Before Hallkjell could even react to the appearance of the Eldar leader, he could feel his brain beginning to burn, to heat up, an unrelenting pressure within his skull. The Lone Wolf stumbled and lost his footing, falling to both knees as the intensity of the attack reached its crescendo. Hallkjell's brain exploded within his skull and the Space Wolf fell to the ground, his life finished in a second without the chance to gain any vengeance for his fallen pack mates.

Upon hearing of Hallkjells demise, Hjorvard sprang forward with his scouts, determined to responded to the death by taking some Eldar lives for himself. Appearing on the Eldar right flank, Hjorvard and his scouts struggled through the ruins and couldn't reach the Dark Reapers who were hiding there. Unfortunately for Hjorvard and his scouts, the Reapers position was then reinforced by a Harlequin Troupe, an Avatar and Shining Spears. Within moments the scouts and their Wolf Guard Battle Leader were torn to shreds by a ferocious counter attack that spared no one.


In retaliation the Space Wolves unleashed a barrage of fire power at the Farseer, which left him scrambling for his life and barely escaping with his life and finding cover with a Dire Avengers unit that had rushed to his position to assist him. Arandril then attempted to push west toward the last remaining locations that needed investigation, but again got caught in a hail of heavy bolter and assault cannon fire, which forced the Eldar Farseer to flee from the battlefield, with hopes of returning once the remaining Eldar force had secured the cursus.

The Long Fangs had, by now, set up a good position and were loosening off shots at any targets exposing themselves. Meanwhile Fjolnir's Crusader had moved up on the Space Wolves left flank and had moved well within the industrial complex, seeting itself up dangerously next to the fuel tanker situated there, as forces from both sides closed in on its position. 

The Harlequin Troupe converged on a location situated in the river that ran adjacent to the industrial complex. The Eldar had found the cursus and were quick to relay this information to all other Eldar units to bring all back up they could to the area. The Shining Spears, Wraithlords and Avatar all responded immediately, with a Wave Serpent loaded with Wraithguard moving as swiftly as possibly from the Eldar left flank across to their right.


The Space Wolves pushed forward, with the Space Wolves fire taking down one Wraithlord, while the bike squadron tried to take down a Wave Serpent carrying Fire Dragons. The Dragons themselves were forced from their transport, but the bikes suffered heavily in the return melta fire. The remaining Fire Dragons were then wiped out by a Grey Hunter squad who then went on to take the Vyper that was zipping around using their plasma gun.


Over at the cursus location, the Avatar and Wraithlord were firing off high powered shots at the Land Raider, trying to incapacitate it before it got into range of the Harlequins defending the mission objective. One stray Bright Lance later and the fuel tanker ignited and a huge ball of fire which engulfed the entire industrial complex, along the river and back toward nearby ruins of other buildings. The explosion took an almighty toll on both sides, with Shining Spears, Harlequins and Dire Avengers among the dead on the Eldar side and two squads of Grey Hunters losing men as well as the Land Raider having its tracks blown off.


It was at this point that the cursus sprung to life, with 10 Lesser Daemons spewing forth and leaping upon the nearby troupe of Harlequins. The Daemons devoured the Harlequins quickly and set forth toward the nearest unit, a squad of Pathfnders.

The Space Wolf Lord, Fjolnir, led his Blood Claws from the Land Raider Crusader and charged toward the unclaimed objective, avoiding the lurking Avatar and Wraithlord, to claim the objective for the moment for the Wolves. A nearby Grey Hunter unit finished the remaining Shining Spears and moved on toward the Dark Reapers who were firing upon the Wolf Lord at the cursus.


With a couple of Razorbacks still operational, all firing was focused upon the monstrous form of the Avatar that still moved across the battlefield, even though it had taken a couple of wounds already. This focused fire saw the Avatar finally fall, but not soon enough as the remaining Wraithlord had made it into combat with the Wolf Lord near the objective and the close combat there could see only one possible victor thanks to the strength and toughness of the Eldar warmachine.


The Lesser Daemons were still reaping a bloody toll among the Eldar and claimed more lives form the Pathfinders before moving on to a squad of Dire Avengers. The Daemon charge was slowly grinding to a halt thanks to the Dire Avenger Exarch who was restricting their attacks.

Fjolnir had seen his squad slowly wiped out by this walking beast that no weapon either he himself or his squad had could touch. The objective was out of reach and survival was all that occupied Fjolnirs mind. He would not fall this day to this monster.

Both forces had taken heavy casualties and the cursus was looking like being left unclaimed, the power of the warp ready to jump forth from it and devour this ruined world of Ardan V. Fjolnir Lightningwolf was locked in an unending dual with a Wraithlord, a pack of Grey Hunters had just cleaned out the fire base of the Dark Reapers, but were out of range and time to move closer to the cursus to claim it for the Space Wolves.


Suddenly, almost from out of nowhere, a Wave Serpent moved within touching distance of the combat between the Dire Avengers and Lesser Daemons. With the Wraithguard leaving their transport they threw themselves into the combat, helping to obliterate the last of the Daemons and send them back to the warp. Having won the contest, the Dire Avengers slumped to the ground, broken but alive, and able to only take one step forward toward their goal. The fresher Wraithguard could move without any fatigue, claiming the cursus as theirs while also setting up a perimeter around it to ensure no further Daemons could appear from within.


The Space Wolves, their forces spent and stretched across the battlefield, beat a tactical retreat and could only watch from a distance as the enemy Farseer, who fled the battle much earlier on, returned to the field to confront the tainted artifact, carrying out some form of ceremony to close its threat. With the cursus neutralised the Eldar left the planet of Ardan V immediately, while the Space Wolves were left to gather their dead and harvest the geneseed from the fallen.

Campaign - Ardan V, Mission 2 Battle Report

Wolf Guard Battle Leader Hjorvard Gunnarsson and his last remaining Grey Hunter, Hallkjell quickly located their Wolf Lord, Fjolnir Lightningwolf, deep in conversation with Ornulf Windtamer, the highest ranking Rune Priest the Space Wolves had on Ardan V. Following a very detailed but brief description of events from Hjorvard, Fjolnir and Ornulf decide the Rune Priest will hold a forward position with a substantial force, while the Wolf Lord will prepare a larger force as a last line of defence against the xenos invaders.

Battle Report - 2,000pts  

Ornulf's Primary Defence Force

Ornulf Windtamer - Runic Armour, Master of Runes, Chooser of the Slain, Wolf Tooth Necklace, Wolf Tail Talisman. Living Lightning, Tempests Wrath.

Wolf Guard Battle Leader Kollsegg - Runic Armour, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Saga of the Beastslayer, Wolf Tooth Necklace, Wolf Tail Talisman.

Wolf Guard Squad - Frost Blade and Combi-Melta, Wolf Claw and Combi-Melta (x2), Powerfist and Combi-Melta, Power Weapon and Combi-Plasma, Razorback.
Dreadnought - Heavy Flamer, Wolf Tooth Necklace, Wolf Tail Talisman.

Grey Hunters - 10 Men, Rhino, Standard, Powerfist, Meltagun x2.
Grey Hunters - 10 Men, Rhino, Standard, Powerweapon, Flamer x2. 
Grey Hunters - 6 Men, Razorback, Standard, Plasma Gun, Plasma Pistol.
Grey Hunters - 6 Men, Razorback, Standard, Plasma Gun, Plasma Pistol.
Blood Claws - 15 Men, Flamer x2.

Long Fangs - 6 Men, Missile Launchers x5.
Long Fangs - 6 Men, Heavy Bolters x5, Razorback.

Additional Reserves - Grey Hunters - 10 Men, Rhino, Plasma Gun, Flamer.

Elarique Dawnrunner's Primary Assault Squad

Autarch Elarique Dawnrunner - Eldar Jetbike, Laser Lance, TL Shuriken Catapults.

Yvaine Skydancer  - Rune Armour, Ghosthelm, Runes of Warding, Spirit Stones, Witchblade. 

Fire Dragons - 10 Men, Wave Serpent
Howling Banshees (10) - 9 Banshees with 1 Exarch, Wave Serpent.

Guardians - 10 Guardians, 1 Warlock, 1 Bright Lance weapons Platform.
Guardians - 10 Guardians, 1 Bright Lance weapons Platform. 
Pathfinders - 5 Men.
Dire Avengers - 9 Avengers, 1 Exarch, Wave Serpent.

Shining Spears - 4 Jetbikes with TL Shuriken Catapults and Laser Lance, 1 Exarch.

Dark Reapers - 4 Reapers, 1 Exarch with Crackshot.

 Ornwulf positioned himself in the middle of the battlefield, with a clear view of all approaches the Eldar could take toward his position. Pushing all his Razorbacks forward, the Rune Priest was hoping he could slow the advance of the xenos warriors until his Long Fangs squads could get clear line of site shots at the enemy. Today there was no retreat, today the only path for the Wolves was to victory.


Elarique Dawnrunner, along with the accompanying squad of Shining Spears moved quickly down the Eldar right flank, trying to locate the psyker who would bring an end to this planet if he was not stopped. Dawnrunners progress was quickly halted though by the presence of two transport tanks, with large heavy bolters swiveling round toward their position. Moving in to cover, the Autarch watched as 6 of the grey armoured warriors rushed forward toward their position in cover. Spotting the charge, Dawnrunner sent the Shining Spears forward to meet this assault head on. 

Unfortunately for Elarique Dawnrunner he had underestimated the tenacity of the approaching enemy, who managed to throw back what seemed like an endless flurry of attacks, landing wounds on Elarique and three of his companions. There was no escaping the fury of the remaining four Wolves, who gunned down the other two Shining Spears as they attempted to escape and gave pursuit of the Eldar Autarch who seemed to be fleeing the battle.


On the opposing flank, Saemund the Ancient Dreadnought marched forward, unleashing volley after volley of blasts from his assault cannon on any enemy targets and locations he could see, while also covering the advance of a 10 man strong pack of Grey Hunters. The Ancient was amazed at the progress this squad was making, a new saga was being written right in front of him and he would be proud to retell the story to the new recruits for years to come.

The Grey Hunters, having had their Rhino transport immobilised, proceeded on foot toward the encampments of the Eldar Pathfinders. Under hail of fire from the Pathfinders and supporting Guardian units, the Grey Hunters were slowly being eroded down, 10 men became 7 which soon became 6. The Hunters were then within striking range of the Pathfinders and ferociously set about ending their part of this battle, and this they did without taking another casualty. Unfortunately, as soon as the last Pathfinder lay dead at the bottom of the crater they were hiding in, a torrent of fire rained down upon the Grey Hunters, which saw another 2 brothers fall.

Moving quickly as their numbers became ever smaller, the Grey Hunters, now numbering only 3 men, assaulted 10 Guardians and their Warlock who were hiding in cover. The hurting Space Wolves lashed out with precision, taking four Guardians down and, ultimately, chopping every last man of their opponents down as they attempted to flee. With their immediate opponents finished, the Wolves hunkered down in cover, and assessed their options, which appeared to lay in facing off against another 10 man Guardian squad.

 As the remaining three came under heavy fire it appeared their time had come as another of their number fell. The Guardians were lining up to attempt to blast the Wolves from their hiding hole, when the survivors sprang from where they were pinned down and launched what they assumed would be their final assault. In the ensuing melee three Guardians fell, but amazingly the Wolves stood strong and once again chopped down their fleeing opponents. Barely aware of their victory the Wolves then found themselves in the sights of a few remaining Dark Reapers who took but a few seconds to aim and pull their triggers, finally finishing this Grey Hunter rampage.

In matters of the rest of the battle, Elarique Dawnrunner was finally cut down by the plasma fire from the Grey Hunters in pursuit of him, the final wound killing the Eldar Autarch and leaving him beyond the help of any known remedy. 

The Wolf Guard Battle Leader and his Wolf Guard assaulted a Wave Serpent having missed with all their melta shots. It was Kollsegg's Thunder Hammer which caused the destruction blows on the Serpent, the explosion spreading for several metres all around the vehicle. As the smoke cleared an horrendous amount of melta fire poured forth, killing every single Wolf Guard present, leaving Kollsegg standing alone against the emerging Fire Dragons.

Taking the charge of the Dragons, Kollsegg stood firm, deflecting blow after blow until he could work an opening for himself to strike back. His Thunder Hammer obliterated three of the Fire Dragons. In the ensuing carnage of wiping out the Fire Dragons to a man, Kollsegg came under fire from some Dire Avengers who had disembarked from a Wave Serpent along with Yvaine Sundancer, Farseer and now the highest ranking Eldar on the battlefield.

As Kollsegg finally fell to a heavy weight of fire, he also watched in horror as Saemund the Ancient collapsed to the floor, a smouldering wreckage that would be able to do no more this battle.

With Kollsegg and Saemund down and the Eldar left flank completely crushed, Ormunds attention was drawn to a single Wave Serpent moving at speed down the Eldar right flank. Ordering his remaining Long Fangs to unleash their missiles to halt the vehicle, his wishes were duly obliged as the vehicle lost its engines and its nose ploughed into the ground. A high pitched wail suddenly began emanating from the vehicle and soon the Howling Banshees poured forth from the stricken vehicle and carved their way through a full squad of Grey Hunters before moving directly toward Ornulfs position.

With the bloody battle taking its toll on both forces, the Rune Priest had little option but to take his eyes from the battlefield and concentrate on this very real, very close proximity threat. Ordering his Blood Claws to unleash all their firepower, Ornulf was amazed to see only two of the Banshees drop in the face of 13 bolt pistol shots and 2 dousings in burning promethium. He was sure he had seen at least 15 potentially killing shots connect with this xenos threat.

 Having little in the way of options, Ornulf and his Blood Claws lept in to action, jumping at the lightning quick Banshees, hoping to cause some form of damage. Eventually the Banshees fell silent as the last of their number was caught on the end of chainsword, but not before a terrible toll of 9 Blood Claws had fallen to the xenos power weapons. Even more worrying was that Ornulf had also fallen during the battle, thankfully the great Rune Priest was not dead but fallen deep into a coma from which his body may never fully recover.

The last remaining battle saw the Grey Hunters who had taken down the Eldar Autarch Elarique Dawnrunner ambushing the Farseer Yvaine Sundancer, killing the Eldar psyker with accurate plasma fire. The only remaining Eldar on the battlefield, 3 Dark Reapers, seeing the battle was well and truly lost, melted into the ruins and vanished. The Space Wolves had won this confrontation, but at tremendous cost to both sides.

Campaign - Ardan V, Pre-Mission 2 Battle Report

The Pathfinders were closing the gap between themselves and the fleeing Space Wolves quickly, soon they would be able to take sight with their rifles and put an end to this chase. Just a few more metres.

Hjorvard could see the xenos warriors pursuing them, getting ever closer, ever more dangerous. They needed to clear the outskirts of the city, disappear into the denser wreckage of the city that once was Baston, the capital of Ardan V, and ensure safe passage of the news of this Eldar invasion to Lord Fjolnir before he was set upon by a surprise attack similar to the attack Hjorvard himself had been subjected to. Failure was not an option for these Space Wolves, the message had to get through.

The Pathfinders split in five different directions, each with specified targets that they had to take down. Moving quickly and skillfully into position, their rolling formation allowed one three to take aim while two rushed forward. The first round of firing saw two shots hit their mark brilliantly through the ruins, but could not stop the Space Wolf movement.

Hjorvard vaulted over ruined walls, crashing through debris without stopping, determined to make it to the city in double quick time. Once or twice he felt the ping of shots ricocheting safely from his runic armour. Behind him he could hear the distinct roars of fury from the two Grey Hunters who had escaped the camp site massacre with him.

Hallkjell was determined to level the playing field in this chase and doubled back immediately, launching himself at the first Pathfinder, crushing the fragile Eldar warrior before he could manage to do any damage back. With the taste of xenos blood he threw himself quickly into combat with a second, which again ended with the death of yet another Pathfinder. His remaining Grey Hunter brother, Alfgeir, ran his chainsword through his closest opponent, the blood of the xenos fighter spraying up the front of his armour and dripping from his sword as he deactivated the blade. Hallkjell could only watch in despair as one of the enemies bullets finally found a way through their defences, with Alfgeirs head snapping back violently, the lens of his right eye shattered and blood pouring from the hole.

As Hallkjell watched the  body of his friend waver on its feet for a second, before crashing down to the floor, he realised he had now seen the end of each member of his pack. Looking across the ruins he could see no signs of Hjorvard and interference on their vox units made it impossible to discern whether his Battle Leader remained alive or not. With long, piercing howl Hallkjell began at a jog and proceeded into a full sprint to close the gap toward the remaining pursuers.

The two Pathfinders had been trying to land critical hits on the running Wolf for some time now, his agility and resilience commendable, but allowing him to escape was ultimately problematic. The Space Wolf had managed to get to the maximum range of their rifles and showed no signs of slowing. Suddenly one of the other Space Wolves had attacked a position to the left of them, leaving him in the open. Taking careful aim from such close range, the Pathfinder found his target, and watched as the unnatural humans head jerked backward, with the body collapsing to the floor moments later. A quick glance back toward the leader of these Space Wolves brought an end to this skirmish, he was out of the range of their guns, they could not catch him before he made it into the city wreckage. 

A long howl in the direction of their one and only kill brought the Pathfinders attention back to the Space Wolves who had turned around and assaulted them instead of trying to warn their leader of the potential threat. Knowing their mission was failed, the two Pathfinders melted into the ruins to report their shortcomings to the Farseer Yvaine Sundancer and leave the Wolves to their own devices for now.

Hjorvard could see Hallkjell charging toward the last known position of the Eldar pursuers. Lighting a flare to let Hallkjell know of his whereabouts, he tossed the brightly burning light to the floor and moved into the wrecked city to wait for the lone Grey Hunter before moving on toward the camp of the Wolf Lord Fjolnir Lightningwolf to warn of the coming storm.

Campaign - Ardan V, Mission 1 Battle Report

With the battle coming to a close in Baston, the last remaining remnants of the Oracles of Change were being slowly pressurised into a last stand by the Wolf Lord Fjolnir Lightningwolf and his Great Company. Huge Land Raider Crusaders bathed buildings in burning promethium, forcing the Chaos Marines out of their hiding holes within these buildings and out into the welcoming arms of the Lightningwolf's very own Wolf Guard.

High above the planet the Fang of Russ and its Gladius class escort Grimnar's Fury monitored movements within Ardan V's capital city. The Oracle were broken and in complete disarray, but all units continued to retreat north away from the advancing Space Wolf forces.

Having received this information from his flagship, Fjolnir commands his second in command, the Wolf Guard Battle Leader Hjorvard Gunnarson, to flank around the outside of the main battle area and set up camp with a small force, ready to launch an assault on the fleeing traitor marines if they make it that far.

Meanwhile on the Biel-Tan craftworld Darryth Sunblade made the last preparations required for his strike squad to achieve planetfall and establish a safe perimeter for more of his Eldar brethren to join them and eliminate the threat from the Cursus. Accompanying the Exarch on this mission, Yvaine Skydancer knew what was required, a force was to be led toward the Space Wolves Rune Priest, the one who could bring the entire to planet to ruin if he were allowed near the Cursus.

Battle Report - 1,500pts

Hjorvard's Force

Hjorvard Gunnarson - Runic Armour, Frost Blade, Wolf Tooth Necklace, Wolf Tail Talisman.

Wolf Priest - Runic Armour, Wolf Tooth Necklace,
Wolf Tail Talisman.

Wolf Guard - 1. Powerfist, Combi-Melta
                      2. Wolf Claw, Combi-Melta
                      3. Frost Blade, Combi-Melta
                      4. Powerfist, Combi-Melta, Space Marine Bike

Grey Hunters - 7 Men, Standard, Flamer
Grey Hunters - 7 Men, Standard, Meltagun
Grey Hunters - 7 Men, Standard, Plasma Gun
Grey Hunters - 7 Men, Standard, Flamer

Bikes - 5 Bikers with Flamer and Powerfist, 1 Attack Bike

Long Fangs - 6 Men, 5 Heavy Bolters, Razorback
Long Fangs - 6 Men, 5 Heavy Bolters, Razorback

Yvaine's Strike Squad

Yvaine Skydancer  - Rune Armour, Runes of Warding, Spirit Stones, Witchblade.


Fire Dragons - 10 Men, Wave Serpent with TL Shuriken Catapult and TL Star Cannon.
Howling Banshees - 10 Men including 1 Exarch


Dire Avengers - 10 Men including 1 Exarch
Dire Avengers - 10 Men including 1 Exarch

Shining Spears - 5 Spears including 1 Exarch
Vyper - 1 Skimmer, Bright Lance, TL Shuriken Catapults.

War Walker Squadron - 3 Walkers with 2 Starcannons.

Hjorvard and his men settled down into their camp, having covered 30 miles since receiving their orders from Lord Fjolnir. The two squads of Long Fangs took up positions in the north-east and south-west, with the Land Speeder parked and disengaged in the centre of the camp. All other units were spread around the skimmer on all sides. The silence unnerved Hjorvard, although he could find no reason for his uneasiness with the situation and as such took up position with a squad of Grey Hunters he had fought many battles with on Ardan V.


Yvaine Sundancer could see clearly the layout of the Space Wolves camp that sat between the Eldar and the Rune Priest who could unleash all manner of hell from the Cursus located somewhere on this planet. Splitting their forces accordingly, Yvaine hoped that a swift and deadly surprise assault would destroy these humans and leave the Eldar forces relatively intact.

The Eldar struck quickly and with incredible force. With very little time to react the Space Wolves numbers were cut down in a matter of moments. The Long Fangs in the south-west were annihilated from a storm of plasma sent out by the war walkers, who were personally guided by Yvaine.

That was not the only casualty of the surprise assault. The Swiftclaw bikers were reduced to molten waste by a squad of Fire Dragons, the Land Speeder stunned from a Bright Lance from the Vyper and a few Grey Hunters falling to shots from Dire Avengers.

A squad of Howling Banshees heading for the north-east Long Fangs did not have much luck as the unit of Fangs, utilising all their experience, got their heavy bolters into position quick enough to cut down every last Banshee and ensure they would not fall to their power weapons today.

Success for the Wolves was in very short supply, but this did not prevent a heavy bolter shell from a Razorback strike the Farseer Yvaine Sundancer and cause a wound, while return plasma fire from a nearby Grey Hunter squad momentarily halt the movement and firing from the war walkers.

Where the Wolves could, they launched into combat with their Eldar attackers, fighting against hope as the onslaught of the Xenos warriors slowly began to reduce their numbers. The Dire Avengers masterfully held up the Wolf Priest long enough for the Shining Spears to come to their aid and finish of the remaining Wolves who struggled for what seemed an eternity against the Avengers.


Hjorvard had better luck up against the Dire Avengers he had squared off against. After coming under a hail of fire, twice, in which he lost five men, Hjorvard and his remaining squad are assaulted by Dire Avengers, who believe they have the Wolf Guard Battle Leader almost finished. With a vicious snarl, Hjorvard leaps into combat, slaying a Dire Avenger while his squad smash another apart. The Avengers falter and break at the sheer ferocity of the Wolves counter-charge, with Hjorvard leading the move to cut down the surviving exarch and his troops before they can escape.


Turning to survey the rest of the battlefield with his two accompanying Grey Hunters, Hjorvard is confronted with a scene of utter devastation. In the distance he can see a long serving Razorback being ripped open by the Witchblade of Yvaine Sundance, the Land Speeder exploding under the melta weapons of the Fire Dragons where he sees at least one of the enemy attackers burn in the blaze.

It does not take Hjorvard very long to realise that there is only himself and the two that stand alongside him left alive. This battle was lost before it even started and the Space Wolves now have a newer and more powerful enemy on the soil of Ardan V.


It was now obvious that trying to claim some level of vengeance against these Eldar was a pointless exercise at this particular moment in time and Hjorvard decided that the three of them would attempt to fall back and get word to Wolf Lord Fjolnir so that a bigger force can be assembled to drive them from the planet.


Yvaine Sundancer stepped away from the blazing wreckage of the tank destroyed with the help of the Witchblade, pleased to see that the Eldar force had only suffered two units worth of casualties. By his calculations the human warriors had lost ten units. A successful assault and the first part of a plan going smoothly completed. That was until Yvaine spotted three warriors in the grey armour slip from the battlefield in the direction of the main city of the planet. If those three lived, warnings about the Eldar arrival could be raised and a much bigger force, and bigger problems, would lie in wait.


Considering the situation for the briefest of moments, Yvaine dispatched a fresh squad of Pathfinders to hunt down and kill the fleeing Space Wolves, hoping to silence their warnings forever.


Introduction to the Campaign, Mission One.

Battle Report - Space Wolves vs Necrons

Another week, another battle against those ever-living robots. Again the points value was set at 2,000pts with a standard annihilation match set up. This battle was to settle the draw from last time out, one army was to take it all.

I am not 100% sure, but my Necron friend had something similar to the following list:

Imotekh the Stormlord
Necron Destroyer Lord

C'Tan Shard
Lychguard x 5 with Cryptek

Warriors x 5 with Cryptek (4 units)
Warriors x 6 (attached to Imotekh)

Destroyers x 5 (2 units)
Monolith

For my Space Wolves I fielded the following list:

Ragnar Blackmane
Rune Priest, Runic Armour, Jaws of the World Wolf, Murderous Hurricane
Wolf Priest, Runic Armour

Lone Wolf, TDA, Thunderhammer, Storm Shield, Fen Wolf

Grey Hunters x 8 men, Standard, Melta Gun, Rhino, Wolf Guard with Frost Blade (Ragnar Attached)
Grey Hunters x 8 men, Standard, Melta Gun, Drop Pod, Wolf Guard Arjac Rockfist
Grey Hunters x 8 men, Standard, Melta Gun, Rhino, Wolf Guard with Wolf Claw (Wolf Priest Attached)
Grey Hunters x 5 men, Standard, Plasma Gun, Plasma Pistol, Razorback, Wolf Guard with Powerfist

Land Speeder x 2, Heavy Bolter, Multimelta

Long Fangs x 6, 3 x Missile Launchers, 2 x Lascannnon, Wolf Guard TDA with Cyclone missile launcher (Rune Priest attached)
Long Fangs x 6, 5 x Heavy Bolter

From the deployment it looked as if the Space Wolves were outnumbered and, given they were going second, were about to take a lot of firepower if the Necrons could see through the night generated by the Stormlord. Imotekhs lightning attack came to full force in this battle, operating for 5 of the 6 turns and laying waste to both a Rhino, Razorback and a Land Speeder, while also taking out three members of the Heavy Bolter Long Fangs squad. By the start of turn two the Space Wolves were looking at footslogging across the board to meet the Necron forces, while the C'Tan shard was sitting comfortably 10" from Ragnar and his recently evicted squad of Grey Hunters.

In addition to losing all transports and one Land Speeder, the other Land Speeder was prevented from moving or shooting for a turn, and Arjacs drop pod had come down in a decent position, but his hammer throw, melta gun shot and seven rapid fire boltgun shots failed to leave a single mark on the warriors they were closest to. The entire squad bar Arjac then fell, leaving the man mountain on his own against an army of Necrons. Things were about to get interesting.

After their initial successes the Necrons were finally met by the Wolves going into the second and third turns of the game. The Long Fang squad with Rune Priest took a couple of wounds from the C'Tan. From here on in this report while focus on what each of the heroes of the Space Wolves contributed to the battle.

Lone Wolf

Footslogging this beast across the battle field would never be an easy task, but when the Necron Destroyer Lord turbo boosted to within 8" of him in the first turn, the slingshot was set to get him moving. Having seen the Lord lose one wound to Plasma fire from a nearby Grey Hunter squad, the Lone Wolf and his Fenrisian Wolf launched into assault knowing two wounds was enough for victory. Having seen his pet cut down, the Lone Wolf obliterated the Lord, causing 3 unsaveable wounds from a possible three. Consolidation saw him move toward the halfway point of the board, and close enough to reach a squad of Warriors and a Cryptek in his following turn.

This battle lasted a little longer, with 4 assualt phases passing until the Lone Wolf was again victorious, causing the Warriors and Cryptek to break and run. It was then a simple case for the Lone Wolf to babysit the fleeing mob until they ran off the board.

Arjac Rockfist

Probably the man of the match. Having seen his Grey Hunter squad cut down, in consecutive turns he took down 3 squads of Warriors with Crypteks after throwing his hammer at them and utilising both the Necron and Space Wolves assualt phases to wipe all clean from the battlefield.

After he had finished with the Warriors he moved onto the squad of Lychguard that had moved toward him. Throwing his hammer at them, the attack was bounced back on to himself, which he duly saved using his own Storm Shield. In the first round of combat Arjac knocked down three Lychguard and the Cryptek, seeing them duly pass their leadership test to remain in combat. In the next round one Lychguard returned, but the three were smashed apart, but did cause a wound on Arjac.

Following on from this Arjac then completed his final assault on the last remaining Necron squad, containing Imotekh and his collection of Warriors. With the help of the Wolf Priest this squad was also massacred, clearing the table of all Necrons in the process.

Wolf Priest

With a kill tally slightly shorter than that of Arjac, the Wolf Priest and his squad of Grey Hunters saw off the resurrected Necron Destroyer Lord for the last time before taking down 4 Destroyers from one squad. With this the Monolith stepped in and wiped out all the Grey Hunters and Wolf Guard accompanying the Wolf Priest. Not to be deterred the Priest then finished the remaining Destroyer from the other squad before launching a joint final assault against Imotekh and his Warriors, which saw the Stormlord defeated.

Ragnar Blackmane

Ragnar, his Grey Hunter squad and Wolf Guard had the sole responsibility of taking down the two toughest units the Necrons had. This wasn't the initial plan, he would've been much more suited to butchering the Warriors, Lychguard and Imotekh, but the drop pod scatter and Rhino destruction put pay to that plan.

Instead Ragnar set his sights on the wounded, but still potentially dangerous, C'Tan. With the Shard being down to two wounds, Ragnar launched his assault, gaining three bonus attacks for the charge giving him 8 attacks at initiative 6 and strength 6. These attacks alone were enough to slay the former deity, with the explosion of the dying creature causing a wound on the young Wolf Lord.

Next up Ragnar led his remaining squad toward the Monolith and having them open up their melta fire on it, resulting in an explosive ending to its slow movement across the field.

So there you have it, the four key players in the Space Wolves victory over the Necrons. For conclusions I would say that mech really does not like going up against the Necron firepower, especially the lightly armoured units against Imotekh lightning attack. However, Space Wolves in close combat against Necrons is still a no contest, as can be seen be the sheer amount of uncontested combats fought. Having said that, at the start of my second turn I did not think I stood much chance of victory and its only down to the luck of the individuals mentioned above that the tide was turned back against the Necrons.

Battle Report, of Sorts... Space Wolves vs Necrons

Last week I put a 2000pt Space Wolf force up against 2 1000pt Necron armies. The main conclusion I have drawn from this first combat is that Necrons are still very powerful at range, even more so than in their last incarnation, and while still slightly more durable thanks to the removal of the phasing out rule, are still relatively weak on the close combat side if you ignore the C'Tan shard that floated around the place.

As a new layout for this element of the blog, I am going to only comment on what I think worked during the battle and what can/should be removed and/or improved for the next game.

Space Wolves

Wolf Priest - Runic Armour, Wolf Tooth Necklace
Rune Priest - Runic Armour, Wolf Tooth Necklace

Wolf Guard - 8 men with Wolf Claws, Land Raider Redeemer (Wolf Priest attached)
                     1 man TDA with Cyclone Missile Launcher (attached to Long Fangs 1)
                     1 man TDA with Assault Cannnon

Grey Hunters - 2 squads with 9 men, Standard, Meltagun, Rhino (one had the Rune Priest attached)
                        1 squad with 8 men, Standard, Plasma Gun, Rhino
                        1 squad with 6 men, Standard, Plasma Gun, Plasma Pistol, Razorback

Land Speeders - 2 with Heavy Flamer and Multimelta

Long Fangs 1 - 6 men, 3 x Missile Launchers, 2 x Lascannon
Long Fangs 2 - 6 men, 5 x Heavy Bolter

Necrons (Using two Force Organisation Charts)

Imotekh the Stormlord
Nemessor Zahndrekh with Cryptek Royal Court

C'Tan Shard of the Nightbringer
Lychguard
Immortals

Warriors - 1 squad of 10
                2 squads of 5 (one with Imotekh attached)

Ghost Ark
Annihilation Barges - 2
Destroyers

Having little to no cover on the Wolves side and going second was always going to leave me open to the potential of taking a first turn pounding, but due to the night fighting rule in place and being able to stay out of range in the majority for the first turn of Necron shooting, meant most my army remained unharmed. One unit that took a huge bash however, was the Long Fang squad which had missiles launchers in it. This was quickly whittled down to just one lascannon Long Fang and the Cyclone Missile Launcher Wolf Guard. Deployment was relatively successful as none of the mech had been damaged.

Thanks to the remains of the Long Fangs squad decimated in the opening turn, their sharp shooting through the game removed an Annihilation Barge and the Ghost Ark from play in consecutive turns. Luck rather than tactics I think had a huge role to play in that, as AV 13 all round should be relatively optimistic of surviving against one lascannon shot and two krak missiles a turn for only two rounds.

The heavy bolters on the other Fangs and Razorback made light work of Necron Warriors, I was unaware their armour had been downgraded to 4+, leading to all wounds killing Necron Warriors left, right and centre. This initially lead to Imotekhs squad being reduced to 2 men and himself and trying to flee the board at the start of the second turn. Thankfully for the Necrons, the Ghost Ark swung into range and repaired one Warrior and allowed them to regroup just in time, given they were no more than 2" from the table edge.

The destroyers were taken apart initially by the plasma gun and pistol in the squad from the Razorback, with eventual assistance from the Assault Cannon TDA (once his squad had been wiped out), a Land Speeder and the Razorback itself. The destroyers kept on getting back up and were the only really persistent unit that really refused to die. Eventually a couple of rending shots from the Assault Cannon put an end to their existence.

Now for a quick report on the hammer unit of the army - Wolf Priest, 8 Wolf Guard all with Wolf Claws in a Land Raider Reedemer. 24 power weapon attacks on the charge from the WG with re-rolls on both the hits and wounds thanks to the Wolf Priests Preferred Enemy rule. The LRR got immobilised 10" from a squad of Immortals and Warriors who had tried to get out of charge range, but it wasn't enough for them. Within one round of combat the Wolf Guard and Priest had assaulted both units simultaneously, wiping out the Immortals completely and leaving four Warriors to be swept away in a 16-0 victory for the Wolves.

The consolidation move put the squad into terrain, but didn't stop it being assaulted the next turn by the C'Tan shard and Lychguard. I am sure that if it were a straight up battle Wolf Guard v Lychguard that I would've come out on top, but the C'Tan was pretty much unstoppable with what I had in that squad and as such the unit was wiped out in two rounds of combat, only claiming 3 Lychguard in return. Thunderhammer and Storm Shields are in order as you now also get invulnerable saves against the C'Tan. Alternatively you can just stay away from it and shoot it with high power weaponry.

Finally, Imotekh did fall in this battle to the Rune Priest and his squad of Grey Hunters. The Rune Priest had had quite an abysmal battle up to the last round of combat. Up to this point he had failed the psychic test twice (rolling 11 both times - very weird) and not really been involved in much. Then his squad dove into action against Imotekh and his remaining squad, killing the three warriors and forcing Imotekh into a leadership test that he once again failed and swept away in the process. Again in this combat no Wolves were hurt.

So, after my first skirmish with the new Necrons, I can definitely say that they are now a lot more competitive than they used to be. There is a lot in that Codex I did not come up against. For instance, if there were Scarabs on the table I would've feared a lot more for my tanks. As it was, the tank options helped to get me a lot closer more safely than if I had not had them. The C'Tan is still an obvious hard element in the Necron armoury and my army really had no possible reply to it outside of luck, which meant it went the game unscathed.

Based on kill points the game ended 9 - 9. Not a bad result and I enjoyed the game (which is what its all about really!).

Chaos Space Marines v Crimson Fists. Report 6

Black Crusade - 2,000pts

This game represents my first using an army that doesn't hail from the ice world of Fenris. As such I wasn't thinking of a competitive list at all for the battle, but a list that would allow me to use and observe the units I chose to deploy. The result was probably one of the most exciting and fun games of Warhammer 40k I have ever taken part in. Kudos to my opponent, another Ian, who also enjoyed the slaughter as much as I did.

Using the Black Crusade mission from the Battle Missions book (pg 12 for those with the book to hand) the battle was pitched at 2,000pts, Chaos leading first, 5 turns decided the victor of the skirmish.




Crimson Fists
Pedro Kantor 
Librarian in Terminator Armour - Storm Shield

Terminator Assault Squad - 2 x Lightning Claws (pair), 2x Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield, Sergeant with Lightning Claws.
Sternguard Veteran Squad - 5 men, Combi-Melta, Power fist

Tactical Squad - 10 men, Plasma Gun, Missile Launche, Power Weapon
Tactical Squad - 10 men, Melta Gun, Missile Launcher, Power Weapon
Tactical Squad - 10 men, Flamer, Missile Launcher, Power Weapon

Vanguard Veteran Squad - Jump Packs, Relic Blade, 4 x Power Weapon

Land Raider Redeemer - Extra Armour, Multi-Melta
Predator - Twin-Linked Lascannon, Lascannon Sponsons, Extra Armour

Chaos Space Marines
Lucius the Eternal
Terminator Lord - Twin-Linked Bolter, Power Weapon

Terminators - 5 men, Icon of Slaanesh, 2xTwin-Linked Bolters,2xCombi-Weapons, Reaper Autocannon, 3xPower Weapon, Chainfist and Power fist.
Possessed Marines - 4 men with 1 Champion

Chaos Space Marines - 8 men, Icon of Slaanesh, Plasma Gun with Aspiring Champion - Combi-Melta and Power fist. 
Chaos Space Marines - 9 men, Icon of Slaanesh, 2xMelta Gun with Aspiring Champion - Combi-Melta and Power fist, Rhino.
Noise Marines - 7 men, Personal Icon, 6 x Sonic Blasters, Blast Master with Aspiring Champion with Power Weapon and Doom Siren.

Chaos Raptors - 4 men, 2xMelta Gun with Aspiring Champion - Plasma Pistol, Power Weapon

Obliterators - 2 men(?)

Land Raider

The Battle

A bloody affair this one was, with both Land Raiders falling in the first turn, the Loyalist machine falling to the lascannons of the Obliterators and the Chaos equivalent going to the lascannons of the Predator. I will talk about some of the effective units from the Chaos side of things shortly, and also some of the less effective units.

The tactics from the Chaos side was to keep the Chaos units relatively close together so they could support each other, hopefully knocking out on flank of the enemy and controlling the battle along one of the short sides. By and large the tactic and units were successful in doing this and once the carnage was called to a close, the Chaos force was triumphant by 13 points to 11.

Lucius the Eternal

I have always wanted to field this guy since reading the opening five Horus Heresy novels. For his debut he didn't disappoint either. He got away with making a few invulnerable saves (5+ for those without the Chaos Codex) which is incredible given I generally fail 3+ Storm Shield saves, while also whittling down a couple of squads in close combat. The one and only time he fell on the battle field was to Pedro Kantor and his Power fist. Upon his return he got close enough to the Vanguard to kill all five of them with his Doom Siren, which is also quite a beastly weapon against units with a 3+ or worse save. 

Noise  Marines

Before fielding them I hadn't really looked too much into their stats, they were put in just to satisfy my need for an Emperors Children/Slaaneshi feel to my army, but, boy, can they throw out a lot of fire power if you don't move them. Thankfully the majority of the action pivoted around their position in a building 10" from the centre line of the long side of the table. They didn't take a single casualty during the game and put various holes in numerous squads.

Obliterators

A good solid performance from these guys saw a Land Raider ruined and the Predator reduced to an immobilised wreck, with only one gun still functioning but unable to see anything by the end. They absorbed a huge amount of fire before being overwhelmed by the fire power directed at them. Being able to select the best gun for the job in hand is a good benefit, especially when coming up against another marine army.

Possessed Marines

And now for the one and only unit that failed to do anything of any particular note. Having no ranged weaponry and getting the Scout special rule at the start of the game, these guys attempted to move up the field behind the cover of the Rhino, before getting in to close combat with the closest unit they could find. Unfortunately by the time this happened they were down to two men against 6, of which they couldn't make a dent before being wiped out and never managing to return to the battlefield. There has to be a way to field them usefully and effectively. Maybe a bigger squad with a better roll for the special rule they get? Needs more testing.

Conclusions

The addition to the Initiative was a handy bonus against marines who generally strike at Initiative 4, allowing this Chaos army to reduce its losses in close combat by killing more of the enemy before they hit them. The army had a good mix of ranged fire power and close range nastiness and Lucius was very fun to throw into combat at every opportunity. Next time I just have to remember to use the Armour of Shrieking Souls when I make those armour saves in close combat.

While there is not much I would change to the base of the army, I feel the possessed marines need to be replaced as they did close to nothing. Possibly dropping the Terminator Lord (although he also made an inordinately high number of invulnerable saves) and the Possessed Marines and using a Daemon Prince to add further strength to the close combat punch of the army would be a possibility and one that I will very possibly try out once I have my DP assembled.

As for the game itself it was immensely enjoyable as I mentioned earlier and has given me an extra thrust in getting back in to war gaming and this will hopefully lead to more content for the blog as I start getting back in to the swing of things! Cheers for reading folks, hopefully I will be back with more content pretty soon.

Space Wolves v Imperial Guard. Report 5

After a short hiatus, I am back. I have also used the time away to have a think about the layout of these battle reports and how to revamp them a little to make it easier to find the important points of the battle from the mundane. We'll have to see how that works out as I do tend to waffle a little and if I do, someone please shout at me!


My return to the battlefields saw my Space Wolves against an Imperial Guard army of which I do not have a copy of the list used. I shall therefore just run through the army list I used. The battle was a 2,000 point battle to the death or, as actually occurred, our time ran out and had to judge the contest on kill points.

Space Wolves - 2000pts.
Logan Grimnar
Rune Priest - Runic Armour, Chooser of the Slain, Murderous Hurricane, Tempests Wrath

Wolf Scouts - 6 men, Meltagun

Wolf Guard - Arjac Rockfist
                     TDA, Combi-Melta, Wolf Claw
                     TDA, Combi-Melta, Power Fist
                     TDA, Storm Bolter, Power Fist
                     TDA, Storm Bolter, Power Weapon, Cyclone Missile Launcher
Grey Hunters 1 - Meltagun, Standard, Power Fist, Rhino
Grey Hunters 2 - Flamer, Standard, Power Weapon, Drop Pod
Grey Hunters 3 - Flamer, Standard, Drop Pod
Grey Hunters 4 - Meltagun, Standard, Rhino

Land Speeder x2 - Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer

Long Fangs - 3 x Missile Launcher, 2 x Lascannon.

Deployment

The Imperial Guard deploy first, spreading their numbers across their table edge, with high numbers of troops flanking four Leman Russ tanks, of which two were part of a squadron and the other two were lone tanks.

The Space Wolves deployment saw one Land Speeder deployed along with both of the Rhinos and the squad of Long Fangs. All of these units were deployed to the right hand flank of the Wolves and mostly covered by a lone building in the their deployment area.

The Space Wolves steal the initiative and the drop pods fall to start things off.

Let Battle Commence

The aim with the drop pods was to strike hard and fast at the tanks lined up in the middle of the Guard deployment. The first pod with Logan and Wolf Guard came down exactly where required, immobilising and therefore destroying one tank of the squadron, while the other tank was left unable to shoot the following turn. The second pod scattered far enough away to keep Arjacs hammer from reaching it, leaving two active tanks on the loose, which wasn't part of my initial plan, but ultimately not too far away.

Heavy Weapons fire from the Long Fangs was sent in two directions - frag missiles at the troops while the lascannons tried unsuccessfully to damage the tanks further. The rhinos moved forward toward the main nucleus of Guard troops and popped some smoke, while the Land Speeder used the tanks as cover.

One thing to learn about terminators is that if they face enough firepower, whether it is AP2 or not, eventually they will fall if faced with massed guns. This was their downfall. As for Arjacs pod, he lost pretty much all of his squad thanks to plasma cannons on the tank I had hoped they would destroy. It is a pretty big hope to try and land a drop pod within 6" of its target. Fortune certainly didn't favour the brave at this point.

Back on the right flank, one rhino was immobilised, the other one still fully operational. By the start of the third turn all Space Wolf reserves had arrived. The Scouts came in behind a few of the troops, shooting then assaulting then sweeping the squad before them for the loss of one man. The command squad fell to flamer and bolter fire, with a heavy weapon squad falling in an identical manner.

After the initial barrage his squad had taken, Arjac fought back resolutely, blowing the battle cannon off of a Leman Russ, and surviving concentrated fire from every conceivable weapon on the table from lascannons and plasma cannons to lasguns and rifles. Shame he ended up losing a wound to a las pistol in the end, but he still showed his titanic might enough to be proud of his performance.

Logan wasn't so lucky, while after smashing off a plasma cannon, died to a quick round of shooting along side his Wolf Guard. It was a fairly quick demise for my flagship drop pod, especially one that cost in the region of 400pts. The lesson here is not to leave any unit, no matter its size, isolated for any period of time, especially in an open location where fire can be easily concentrated upon them.

One Land Speeder was also reduced to scrap metal by a Leman Russ, as a deep striking squad of Storm Troopers attempted to land close enough to the Long Fangs to take them out. The squad scattered out of range and was quickly eliminated the following turn by the remaining Long Fangs with frag missiles and lascannon fire.

The game ended on turn 4 due to time constraints. The result, based on kill points, was a 5-2 victory in favour of the Wolves. The main lessons learnt from this encounter are that distance with the Imperial Guard must be closed down rapidly (drop pods help with this immensely, maybe bikes would also be beneficial in this aspect too), isolated units will generally equal dead units pretty quickly, and Arjac with his 2+/3++ save is pretty difficult to fell.

Space Wolves vs Tyranids. Report 4

Another week, another battle for my Space Wolves. Once again I was up against an army I have not fared well against over the last year, but a steely determination to squash some bugs drove me onwards to one day overcome the unstoppable behemoth hive.

Anyhow, the points were set at 2,000, with the Infestation battle mission. The Tyranids were clear favourites at this point, it was going to be one almighty struggle and one I was going to go down fighting with.


Tyranids

Hive Commander Tyrant with 2 Tyrant Guard

8 Ymgarl Genestealers
2 Zoanthropes x2
2 Hive Guard

8 Genestealers and Broodlord x2
10 Termagants with Devourers x 2

15 Gargoyles x 2

Mawloc x2
Biovore

Space Wolves

Rune Priest - Runic Armour, Chooser of the Slain
Wolf Priest - Runic Armour, Wolf Tail Talisman, Wolf Tail Necklace

Lone Wolf - TDA, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Fenrisian Wolf
Wolf Scouts - Meltagun
Wolf Guard - TDA, Cyclone Missile Launcher
                     PA, Combi-melta, Wolf Claw x2
                     PA, Combi-plasma
                     PA, Combi-melta, powerfist

12 Blood Claws - Flamer, Power Weapon
5 Grey Hunters - Razorback, Plasma Gun, Standard
6 Grey Hunters - Razorback, Flamer, Standard
8 Grey Hunters - Drop Pod, Flamer, Standard

Land Speeder - Heavy Flamer and Mulitmelta x2

Vindicator
Land Raider Crusader
Long Fangs - 3xMissile Launcher, 2xLascannon.

Deployment and the Beginning

All the Tyranids deployed 12" away from my marines deployment quarter, with only the Ymgarls, Mawlocs and one of the other genestealers left in reserve. All the Space Wolves deployed, with the Long Fangs and scouts set up in the only bit of cover in the table quarter, the Blood Claws, Wolf Priest and a wolf claw Wolf Guard were in the Land Raider. The Rune Priest joined the Long Fangs and the Land Speeders lined up among the tanks.

The first Tyranid turn saw 6 of the bugs die to dangerous terrain, which was quite the bonus for the Space Wolves. The Long Fangs in cover took heavy fire from the Tyrant, his Guard and the Hive Guard. The only damage was a wound on the Rune Priest. All other Tyranid units moved forward, closing the distance between themselves and the marines. The Gargoyles on the Tyranid right flank swooped forward and assaulted the Long Fangs, getting wiped out in the process, but they did manage to claim the life of the Rune Priest which was a blow to stopping Tyranid powers such as Paroxysm and Leech Essence. The Vindicator was just in range for a strike from the Zoanthropes Warp Lance and as such lost the chance to fire next turn.

The reply from the Wolves saw the flamers come in to play, with many genestealers, gargoyles and termagants roasting in the promethium flame. The heavy weapons fire took wounds from the Hive Tyrant and his guard while the drop pod came down behind the Tyranid approach and began unleashing all the firepower it could at the Zoanthropes. The Razorbacks stood their ground and unleashed their heavy bolter rounds, claiming a wound on a Zoanthrope and a couple more termagants. The Land Raider took down 5 gargoyles while holding its position.

The start of turn two saw the arrival of the Ymgarl genestealers in a building just on the edge of the Space Wolves deployment zone, with them bursting forward the dangerous terrain claimed another Tyranid life. This however didnt stop the rampaging 'stealers and they reached and destroyed a Land Speeder, the resulting explosion killing two of them. A single Mawloc also arrived from reserve, exploding just into the action from under the Long Fang position, killing one of them. The Hive Tyrant moved forward, paroxysm unleashed on the Long Fangs they were reduced to 2 by the end of the assault. The drop podded marines took a lot of focussed fire from the termagants, reducing their numbers by a few, before being assaulted by them. The Wolves fought back and wiped the squad, but losing a two more members leaving three men left.

The lone wolf tried desperately to get in some monstrous creature bashing, but got caught by the three genestealers and broodlord. With Hypnotic gaze in full flow, the Lone Wolf and his companion were sliced up without landing a blow. At least he didn't give away a kill point! The remaining Long fangs were wiped out in the combat with the Tyrant. The scouts and Land Raider unloaded all their firepower into the Mawloc, causing four wounds, while one lot of Zoanthropes were smashed to pieces in close combat by the powerfist Wolf Guard.

The remainder of the battle saw a close escape from an emergency disembarkation by the Grey Hunters in a Razorback after it was swarmed by genestealers and eventually blown up, the resultant explosion killing enough of them to clear a hatch for the Hunters to get out. The Second Mawloc and remaining genestealers arrived to their right flank, by which point the battle was all but over. The marines cleared out the remaining little bugs and Zoanthropes, leaving only the two Mawlocs, Hive Tyrant and one guard, the Hive Guard, two termagants and the last genestealer brood on the table. The Wolves had their Wolf Priest leading Blood Claws survive intact at the end, along with the scouts, and all three Grey Hunter units. One Razorback was still functioning at the end, albeit without any weaponry.

The game was a tie at 8 kill points a piece, but for the sharp eyed of you, the Tyranids were later found to have fielded one more Elite unit than is allowed in the Force Organisation Chart. Moral victory for the Wolves!

Things to Learn From

Apart from taking a chance and splitting two troops on wiping out the termagants and Zoanthropes I don't think I could've done too much different in terms of directing the troops I had on the table. The list probably could've benefited from a second Rune Priest and this could've come from not using the Lone Wolf who had zero impact on the battle anyway. Hindsight is helpful in this instance, as usually the one Rune Priest and Lone Wolf excel in battles against the Tyranids. As a cheeky aside, I will also have to start checking my Tyranid opponents lists before we start to help eliminate any unfair advantages he may try to gain.

These battle reports always seem so long, so if you have read it all, well done, I hope you've enjoyed it and that you can find some useful information within.

Space Wolves vs Eldar. Report 3

This report has taken a while to write due to real life getting in the way, many of the exact points of the battle are a bit of a hazy memory now, but I will try to give as much detail as possible.

The latest battle for my Space Wolves saw a 2,500pt bloodfest against opponents that they have struggled against previously (second only to Tyranids). The Eldar were up this time and the battle mission was set as the Eldar Mobile Defence mission. Three objectives were set up, pretty much along the centre of the table each around 20" from the next.

So with the terrain set and the mission assigned it was time to move on to the deployment of the two armies, which were as follows:

Eldar

Avatar
Farseer - Doom and Guide, Ghosthelm, Rune Armour, Runes of Warding, Spirit Stones, Shuriken Pistol, Singing Spear.

Wraithguard - 5 men + 1 Warlock with Rune Armour, Shuriken Pistol and Singing Spear
Howling Banshees - 9 men with Banshee Masks and Power Weapon +  Exarch with Banshee Masks and Mirrorswords
Harlequin Troupe - 8 man Harlequin Troupe, 1 Shadowseer and Troupe Master.

2 x Dire Avengers - 9 men + 1 Exarch with Power Weapon and Shimmershield
2 x Guardians - 10 men with Shuriken Cannon + 1 Warlock
1 x Guardians - 10 men with Shuriken Cannon
Pathfinders - 5 men.

Shining Spears - 4 men + Exarch.

Wraithlord - Flamer (x2), Wraithsword, Bright Lance
Wraithlord - Flamer (x2), Wraithsword, Bright Lance
Dark Reapers - 4 men + Exarch with Crack Shot, Fast Shot, Tempest Launcher.

Space Wolves

Ulrik the Slayer
Rune Priest - Runic Armour, Wolf Tail Talisman, Living Lightning, Murderous Hurricane
Wolf Lord - TDA, Storm Shield, Wolf Claw, Saga of the Bear.

Dreadnought - Assault Cannon, Heavy Flamer, Extra Armour, Wolf Tail Talisman, Drop Pod
Scouts - 6 men, Flamer
Wolf Guard - 5 men, 2 x Wolf Claw/Combi-Melta, Power Fist/Combi-Melta, Power Weapon/Combi-Plasma, TDA/Heavy Flamer/Power Fist.

Grey Hunter - 8 men, Flamer, Standard, DropPod
Grey Hunter - 10 men, 2 x Flamer, Standard, Drop Pod
Grey Hunter - 8 men, Meltagun, Standard, Rhino
Grey Hunter - 10 men, 2 x Plasma gun, Standard
Grey Hunter - 10 men, 2 x Meltagun, Standard

Land Speeder - Heavy Flamer, Multimelta
Land Speeder - Heavy Flamer, Multimelta

Long Fangs - 5 men, 4 x Missile Launcher
Long Fangs - 6 men, 3 x Plasma Cannon, 2 x Heavy Bolter
Land Raider Crusader

Let Battle Commence

Everything from the Eldar was deployed from the start, and pretty much across the centre line of the board, forcing all the Space Wolves units back at least 18" from the centre of the table. The Wraithlords, Farseer and a couple of Guardians were deployed on the Eldar left flank, covering one of the objectives. The Avatar took the middle position with a squad of Dire Avengers and Guardians. The Pathfinders and Dark Reapers were located in building ruins on their right flank, with the Wraithguard, Dire Avengers, Harlequins and Howling Banshees taking the remaining places of the right flank. The Shining Spears were in reserve and the Eldar held two objectives of three from the outset.

The Space Wolves had the Drop Pod units, a Land Speeder and the Scouts all in reserve. The Long Fangs started in cover centrally and to their left flank. The Rhino with Ulrik and Grey Hunters started behind the central Long Fangs, while the Land Raider with the Wolf Lord and Grey Hunters in were positioned as far on the left flank as possible, backed up by a Land Speeder. The foot slogging Grey Hunter pack were using the Rhino as cover.

With everyone in position, the roll for the first turn hands the initiative to the Space Wolves. The two drop pods fall into position nicely to set alight the Harlequin Toupe and one squad of Dire Avengers. Long Fang fire sees the fall of 3 Dark Reapers and the Exarch leading them. The Land Raider and Land Speeder move up the Wolves left flank. The Grey Hunters on foot moved towards an objective while being shielded by the Rhino.

From the following next few rounds the Eldar lost a lot of troops, including the Avatar and Farseer and slowly relinquished their grasp on the objectives they were holding. The Wraithlords took 4 turns to get to the opposite side of the table than they started on and this is where the Space Wolves (my) masterplan began to unfold temporarily.

Having allowed for only high strength shooting weaponry, once the high toughness Wraithlords got into close combat with the Space Wolves units (predominantly Grey Hunters and Scouts) then there was no way for them to strike back due to the lack of high strength close combat weaponry. More thunder hammers, powerfists or chainfists would have made a difference against the Wraithlords. As it was, with one Wraithlord finishing off a squad of Grey Hunters in the Eldar turn and not being able to move into cover, he was surround by Land Speeders, Long Fangs and the Land Raider and duly succumbed to the onslaught of fire power. By the time the other Wraithlord had finished decimating Space Wolves, he was the sole remaining Eldar model on the table and the game was closed with it being surrounded by plenty of heavy weaponry.

Ulrik Watch

Unfortunatley I struggled to find an outlet for Ulrik to charge from his Rhino and into the thick of the action, bar a final flurry into seven Guardians holding one of the objectives. Ulrik dispatched four of them, leaving the rest for the accompanying Wolf Guard to mop up. So in two games so far for Ulrik he has killed 4 Necron Warriors and 4 Eldar Guardians out of two assaults. It is time to ramp up his opposition and see what he can truely accomplish, or to see if wiping troops out quickly and efficiently is his forte.

Conclusions

Talking with my Eldar friend after the game I get the impression he would have preferred a more mechanised list had he known about the mission before hand. The dice gods also abandoned him as he failed more armour saves than is normal, seeing the majority of squads cut down in one round of shooting. Not alot you can do about luck though.

While a Space Wolf victory was enjoyed on the day, it did highlight the need in the army for additional high strength close combat weapons to deal with tougher opponents. A Lone Wolf with a thunder hammer would be an interesting match up against the towering Wraithlord. Especially if he is given the bonus from Ulriks Mentor Special Rule.  Aside from that the Space Wolves achieved everything they set out for.