Cloak and Shadows

 

A quick update on the second 4th of July game I had couple weeks back. Been a bit caught up with work, so this is more like a highlights rather than a batrep. The opponent was Doc Selvam's scary-looking White Scars, complete with a Land Raider Crusader, 2 Predators (autocannons with lascannon sponsons), 2 Razorbacks (twin assault cannons), Veterans, Tacticals, a Storm Raven, Storm Talon and the Chapter Master himself! I used Captain Brigitte Vogelsang's 3rd Company, 6th Schutzen Rgt with 109 infantry, 4 Leman Russ, 1 Hellhound, 2 Sentinels and a Vendetta.

We played the Maelstrom mission Cloak and Shadows on the Cityfight table, and what's interesting about the mission is that unlike the other Maelstrom missions, each Tactical Objective generated is kept secret, so neither side knows what the other needs to achieve.

At any rate, for awhile it did look like objectives did not matter, and it was a right bloodbath! The White Scars went first, and the Land Raider Crusader wasted no time barreling down the street towards my lines, supported by one of the Predators. The lascannon platoon occupying the tall ruins in the center of my line did not perform very well, and despite Captain Vogelsang's exhortations to Bring It Down! they only managed to glance it once. Leman Russ from the Assault Tank Squadron did squat too. The Plain Jane Leman Russ fared better as their battlecannons knocked out a lascannon sponson of a Predator.

 

As usual, my infantry was sweeping forwards up the flanks, using the city ruins for cover. 1st Platoon on my left was charged by Assault Terminators from the Land Raider Crusader, but the Termies were easily mashed to bits under the weight of numbers, driven to a frothing frenzy by the hymnals of Ministorum Priest Parler. 1st Platoon went on to assault the Land Raider Crusader with meltabombs, easily achieving what the combined fire of 2nd Platoon and the Assault Tank Platoon could not do.
 
On my right, 4th (Conscript) Platoon was caught in the open (bad run dice) by incoming White Scars flyers, wiping out half their number. The escorting Storm Talon later peeled off from the formation to hover behind the conscripts and add to the carnage. Ministorum Priest Erhardt was greviously wounded in this volley, but miraculously the platoon managed to hold.

Revenge came in the form of the Vendetta, which blew the Talon out of the sky. The Hellhound moved up with the Conscripts to continue the pressure on my right flank, even as the Sentinels appeared behind enemy lines on my right to sucker punch the Predator from behind, turning it into a wreck. Avenging Tactical Marines easily destroyed both Sentinels soon after.

 

But the White Scars Storm Raven got through to my backfield, and a flamer-toting veteran squad, charged 2nd Platoon, utterly routing them. The White Scars' Chapter Master took on Vogelsang's Command Squad. Amazingly, the plucky little Captain and her veterans managed to hold for an entire turn before getting run over.

The game ended as my 3 surviving Leman Russ manouvered to pound the White Scars Veterans as they took cover in 2nd Platoon's former position, while the Vendetta, 2nd Platoon's commander and 1st Platoon went on to seize further objectives. The Hellhound took a chance and went flat out deep into enemy territory for the Linebreaker point.

The Imperial Guard won the battle, but as has become usual in my 7th ed games so far, it was quite bloody. The White Scars' infantry actually fared pretty well, partly because they weren't threatening too many of my objectives, but also because my shooting could have been better. I think they lost 5 Assault Terminators, and maybe 5 Tactical Marines. But they lost almost all their vehicles, the Storm Raven being the only surviving White Scar vehicle (with 1 hull-point remaning). My losses were quite heavy - around 60 Guardsmen (including all of 2nd Platoon, the Company Command squad, more than half of the conscripts, the Commissar and 1 Ministorum Priest), 2 Sentinels and 1 Leman Russ. But as they say in the Guard - acceptable losses.

 

It's been fun fielding the Sentinels again in this game, as well as in the game vs the Iyanden (see previous post). But between the Sentinels and the Hellhound, the Hellhound was just too amazing to compare. It's not just the amazing Inferno cannon and the reasonable armor, it's the speed of the tank. I think I'll add another Hellhound in the next game and see how that works out. The other thing I want to reconsider is the Master of Ordnance. In both games, I forgot to use him about 80% of the time. Maybe I'll leave him home the next time, though my Catachan AirCav will still use him (my Catachan AirCav, being light infantry, have no access to Leman Russ. The only large blasts they have are the demo charges and off-table artillery).

Anyways, I'm totally looking forward to more action this Friday. Keep rolling them dice!