"An alliance lasts exactly as long as it is advantageous to both parties. In war, survival is everything and I do whatever it takes."
-General Titus Ghoulv, Commander of the Iron Battalion
Background:
Operation Downfall was the Loyalist codename for an attempt to establish a secure landing zone on Xhorik Prime using a planetary drop force from Xhorik Secundus with an attempt to rendezvous with the remnants of the White Scars garrison on the capital planet of the system.
At this point, the Loyalists have the upper hand with two wins, a loss and a draw. They also have the momentum after their most convincing win yet.
After taking heavy casualties and seeing the Traitor Legions distracted by the Loyalist marines, the Chem Dogs decide to do some pillaging to resupply.
Scenario: Maelstrom of War
Victory Points are earned at the end of each player turn for meeting the criteria listed on the mission cards. Each player has three mission cards to start the battle and when one is achieved, it is turned in and replaced. At the end of each player turn, the player can voluntarily discard one card and replace it with one from the deck. VPs can be earned by holding specific objectives, destroying certain types of units in certain ways, or achieving other miscellaneous feats.
Belligerents:
Death Guard: Pete
Rite of War: The Reaping
Commander: Praetor Wolfgang -
2000 points
Traitor Militia: Bill
General Titus Ghoulv’s Iron Battalion:
“The Marauders of Meddeon VII”
“The Pirates of the Northern Fringe”
“The Chem Hounds”
Provenances of War: Alchem Jackers, Industrial Stronghold, Warrior Elite
Commander: General Titus Ghoulv - Robber Baron
2300 points
Loyalist Militia: Phil
Xhorik 87th Drop Troopers, 3rd Company:
"The Firebirds"
Provenances of War: Warrior Elite, Legacy of the Great Crusade
Commander: Captain Skander Xhaer - Marcher Lord
2300 points
Battle:
Some key moments and themes from the battle:
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| The Contemptor was dominant, almost single-handedly destroying the Chem Dogs' right flank. |
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| There is something wrong with the rules when this giant tank is so utterly bested by this walker. |
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| The OGRE Mech Suits faced off against Wolfgang and the Deathshroud. |
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| The Sentinels were one of the few effective units the militia had. |
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| The OGREs attempted to Hold the Line, but failed morale, then failed again when charged and fled. Should have used Overwatch!. |
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| The Chem Dogs and Xhorik 87th face off over Objective 1. The grenadiers would wreck the Leman Russ in melee with krak grenades. |
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| The Chem Dogs "Ogryn" mercenaries attempted to engage the Death Guard Contemptor but were shot up going in and then easily defeated by the dreadnought. |
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| The Deathshroud are brought down by concentrated fire from most of the Xhorik forces, but Praetor Wolfgang survives. |
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| The Praetor charges and single-handedly destroys a grenadier squad with a discipline master. |
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| The Xhorik fliers arrive, but the Arvus is shot down before it can deliver its transported unit to the objective. |
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| The Chem Dogs make a push for Objective 1, finally getting some VPs in the last few turns. |
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| The Death Guard infantry finally move in and easily wipe out the Chem Dogs grenadiers. |
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| Captain Xhaer survives the fray. |
Final Victory Points:
Death Guard: 7
Xhorik 87th FIrebirds: 7
Traitor Milita Chem Hounds: 4
Draw!
Post-Game:
This battle made clear just how inferior the militia rules are compared to the Legions. Even with 15% more points for the militia armies, the Death Guard easily controlled the game. The Xhork militia managed to keep up in VPs due to swarming the board with Line units and getting lucky enough to draw some objectives on their side of the board. The two militia sides also threw most of their best stuff against the Legion and only skirmished with each other by comparison. The tanks of the Traitor militia really struggled to do any damage against the Death Guard due to the massive de-buffs on the militia ordnance weapons.
The result being a draw between the Xhorik Drop Troopers and the Traitor Death Guard mean the Loyalist results for the Operation Downfall phase of the campaign stand at 2-1-2. I think the next battle could serve as as suitable finale for the campaign, determining the result of the Loyalist attempt to establish a beachhead on the Traitor-controlled planet of Xhorik Prime.
