"Task force Onyx Blade, reporting Xenos presence at marker S351B, confirm" the whispered voice of Sergeant Von Drak came over Lieutenant Albo's vox.
"Confirmed, task force moving into position on your left flank now, gain good firing positions and await the command" the Ultramarine Lieutenant ordered.
Black and silver clad Astartes pushed into the ruins, their armour collecting a patina of dust as they moved. The powered hum of their armour suits vibrating the same dust from any surface it has settled on.
Ruins creaked as they moved and took up positions, and the heavier Aggressors stomped forwards, ammunition clacking as they wound up and tested their electrically charged autoloaders.
Satisfying himself that everyone was in place and affirmed that they were ready for battle, Lieutenant Albo opened a wide vox channel to all his men.
"In the Emperor's name, let none survive. Onyx Blade, engage" Albo calmly ordered, bring the storm to the calm.
*****
To celebrate my birthday on Sunday just gone (29th September) and the fact that I had the new game table, once things had settled down in the evening I pulled together a few things and played out a solo battle of 8th edition 40k.
Why 8th edition? I hear you asking.
Well, to be honest, I just pulled the rulebook and the indexes out of the cupboard as I was searching for something, and using the indexes is the easiest and most balanced thing in the world*.
So with the topper of the table removed...
A grey fleece blanket I'd bought specifically for this.
My finished ruin scatter pieces and the long suffering MDF built ruins (which I must get round to painting).
They were roughly placed to create a sort of thoroughfare look to the battlefield:
.
The Deathwatch force codename: Onyx Blade.
Tyranids Invaders, Hive Fleet Leviathan splinter.
Timestamp: #19.34 local time (Turn 1**).
Opening fire, the intercessors and Infiltrators chewed through several Termagants on the flanks, meanwhile Sergeant Marius's squad put a wound on the approaching Carnifex.
Von Draks team came under fire from the Termagants and the Shrikes infront of them, but the living ammunition exploded harmlessly around them.
The shadows moved behind the apothecary as a Neurolictor appeared through the darkness and dust.
Before anyone could react, the stalker-beast pounced and Apothecary Gerhardt found himself fighting for his life against the beast.
Forces were then drawn together from the cabinet, the limiting factor here was the size of the Deathwatch force as I only had around 40 Power of troops painted, I also didn't want anything too extravagant for the first battle.
Lieutenant Tassius Albo.
Apothecary Gerhardt.
5 man Intercessor squad, led by Sergeant Ermenrich.
5 man Intercessor squad, led by Sergeant Marius.
5 man Infiltrator squad, led by Sergeant Von Drak.
3 man Aggressor squad, led by Sergeant Soldano.
Tyranid Prime, Command Synapse Beast.
3 strong Warrior unit, Synapse Beasts.
3 strong Shrike unit, Synapse Beasts.
Neurolictor, Infiltration Beast.
20 strong Termagant unit, Horde Beasts.
20 strong Termagant unit, Horde Beasts.
Screamer-Killer, Carnifex, Assault Beast.
Biovore, Artillery Beast.
Timestamp: #19.25 local time (deployment).
With the mission established I rolled up for objectives and got the following:
The contested zone is indicated by the four objectives (circled red), an army holding an objective with a unit above half strength will gain 2 Victory Points per objective.
Additionally, if the enemy Warlord is slain, this feat is worth an additional 3 Victory Points.
With that, the turn initiative was rolled and the Deathwatch were acting first.
With quick orders, Lieutenant Albo moved his force forwards into cover and firing positions.
Sergeant's Ermenrich and Marius squads moved into the ruined buildings and took up advantageous firing positions.
Sergeant Von Drak moved his squad into the rubble near the right flank objective.
Sergeant Soldano, accompanied by Albo moved up one of the side roads to begin an aggressive push forwards, and Apothecary Gerhardt remained in cover to see where he was needed.
Then, with a guy wrenching roar, the Tyranids force moved forwards as one.
Termagants scuttling over the ruins and the Carnifex stomping it's was forward, ignoring the bleeding wound in it's carapace.
Blows were traded from chainsword and rending claw and wounds were suffered by both combatants.
The Biovore at the rear launched a spore mine across the battlefield***, landing a direct hit on the Infiltrators, the acidic weapon slew two of the warriors, Von Drak commanding the remains of his team to stand firm against the Xenos.
Timestamp: 19.50 local time (Turn 2).
A few more Termagants are killed, not enough to stop the onrushing tide however.
Ordering Soldano to push forward and engage the Carnifex, Lieutenant Albo turns to engage the Neurolictor and save his Apothecary.
All other space marines remain on position and open up with all weapons available.
The main focus was the Carnifex, who suffered another three wounds from the attentions of Bolt Rifle and Heavy Flamer.
The Tyranids rushed forward again trying to cover the open ground. Soldano and his unit are charged by the Carnifex, which was supported by the Tyranids Warrior's. In a brutal melee, one of the Aggressors is pulled down to his death and a second takes a wound, in return the Carnifex takes and further three wounds, badly injuring the beat and leaving it on its last wound in the fight.
Sergeant Von Drak and the remaining Infiltrators are killed to a man by another Spore Mine explosion amongst them, leaving the ruins and the objective open to the swarm now****.
Sergeant Ermenrich, after a desultory round of fire, found his squad assailed by Termagants who swarmed the building. Chainswords roaring they accounted for six of the beasts for no losses!
Timestamp: 20.34 local time (Turn 4).
With nearly everything locked in combat, movement was limited to the Termagants who claimed the objective where Von Drak had been before. The Tyranids Prime broke off from the unit to face Lieutenant Albo and the Shrikes flapped their leathery wings and moved from the top of the building to the street.
One of Sergeant Marius's squad were killed by the Biovore, the mine exploding on the window he was manning.
Combat continued in all other avenues of the battlefield with Soldano brutally ending the Carnifex and two of the Warriors, however he lost his remaining squad mate in the melee, leaving him alone.
Lieutenant Albo finally killed the Neurolictor, taking two wounds, but avenging Apothecary Gerhardt.
Timestamp: 20.50 local time (Turn 5).
In the final moments of the battle, Sergeant Soldano moves off to face the Shrikes, destroying two of the beasts, as Ermenrich guns down the last Warrior, the come under fire from the Termagant unit, but suffer a wound.
Lieutenant Albo charges the Tyranid Prime, the leader of the Xenos and in a tense melee wounds the creature twice for no wounds in return. Bolt rounds fly over the tops of the warriors battling on the ground as Sergeant Marius targets the Biovore and wounds the artillery beast twice.
With no Synapse Beasts remaining, the Termagants flood into the ruined buildings to hide and the Biovore lumbers off away from the battlefield.
Final Scores:
Deathwatch: 7 Victory Points.
Tyranids: 2 Victory Points.
*****
An enjoyable game and an hour spent battling was a good time.
I really like this period of 8th edition, where as I said, everything was more-or-less balanced against each other and may have to play it some more going forwards.
I definitely need to work my terrain sets up to finished status though, as the battle would look so much better with fully finished terrain.
I reckon I could easily play up to about 1,500 points on my table without it getting too crowded, I just have to modify the deployment zone sized to suit (instead of 12" make it 6", etc).
So the table is very suited to battles of the size I generally played when I was playing regularly in 5th edition, and again at the start of 8th edition, this is a very good thing.
So with victory attained, the Deathwatch now return to their fortress to recover.
Until next time, have nice day...
*Mostly balanced, remember this was the big reset of 40k so everything was rewrote from the ground up. After this codex creep started, then the insanity of Command Point/Stratagem 9th edition and now Competitive 10th edition...le sigh.
**Once deployed, it game some real Space Marine 2 open vibes with the mass of Tyranids Vs the Deathwatch.
***Yes I know this is our of order, I forgot about it at the time and did it just before the turn was over.
The curse of not playing for a while.
The benefit of solo-play, no-one complains when you backtrack like this.
****Again I forgot about the Biovore, so did it right at the start of the Marines turn...shut up complaining.
Great to see the new table in action!
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