A recent game at Warhammer World saw two mighty forces clash on a 6×8 table across a ruined city which included a large fortress. The Marines got the job of defending the Fortress. The Imperial Guard had to settle for less pleasant surroundings!
Forces:
2500 points each, with three Cities of Death Stratagems each.
Deployment:
The Marines chose the table quarter with the Fortress as their start point and defensive position. The Guard got a large building in the opposite quarter.
The Marines put a squad of troops in the fortress as a defense plus the heavies with their ranged weapons at the front of the fortress to repel attacks. The Marine Terminator Captain stood on the rooftop also with a commanding view of the rear of his position… The rest of the force hid behind the fortress or to the opposite side ready to move forward.
The Guard had enough platoons to really spread out in the deployment area, pretty much outflanking the Marines position.
Stratagems were placed, with tank traps and barbed wire around to cut down the Marines approach. The Guard Ratling snipers infiltrated on the rear flank of the fortress.
Guards won the first turn…
Action:
Turn 1:
The Guard moved quickly up, deploying squads to try to outflank the fortress and approach the entrance to it from the rear. Guard mortars ranged in on a rhino on the rear of the fortress causing some damage.
The Guard Hellhound heavy flame tank moved forward to the front of the Fortress. The Devastator squad on the roof of the Fortress failed to do more than destroy a minor weapon on the tank. The Marines had a first turn deep strike of a Dreadnought into the rear of the Guard position next to their HQ. It failed to do much with limited weaponry. Even the mortars nearby seemed to be disinterested in this new arrival.
The Guard targeted the Devastator unit and killed three of their number.
Turn 2.
A Guard Storm Trooper elite unit moved used deep strike to arrive in front of the Marine landraider. They failed to hit/penetrate though despite some decent technology.
Rough riders turned their attention to the Marine Dreadnought near their HQ, immobilising it.
Guard Ogryns had their Chimera blown out from under them but took no damage. Along with a Guard squad they attacked the walls of the fortress. Marines responded by countering with a squad of Assault Marines. Three Marines were lost but the Ogryns were still at the base of the fortress.
Terminators Deep Striked and ended up mid table in front of the Guard lines. They lost one man to enemy fire. A lucky strike.
Turn 3:
Marines tried to move a rhino, bikes and a predator up the right flank. Terminators took on a Leman Russ in assault.
A second dreadnought Deep Striked into the rear of the Guard lines and luckily bounced up against the edge of the HQ building.
The Guard Storm Trooper elites switched to a nearby rhino trying to break out of the fortress area. They thought they had easier pickings!
Rough Riders switched their attention to the advancing Marine Predator. By the end of the turn the predator was on fire.
Terminators lost two more men but exploded the Russ tank and killed some nearby guard in the secondary explosion.
Guard Storm Troopers elite crippled the rhino they were attacking.
Turn 4:
Marine bikes and troops fail to break through the pinch point on the right, being held by the Rough riders. The Marines in the fortress held back the attackers. More Guard approached the Fortress from the Marine left flank, led by a Psyker. The Psyker caused a couple of MArine casualties with some kind of ranged lightning attack much to the consternation of the Marine Captain on the Frotress roof.
The Dreadnought at the back of the Guard HQ fired on the defending Guard, but failed to do enough damage to make a difference. The defending troops advanced on the Dreadnought with threatening special weapons! The shots against the Dreddie finished it off.
Marine landspeeders deep striked into the Guard positions to try to take the pressure off the Marines being assaulted by the Rough Riders. They landed way off course and in the middle of the Guard firing lines and failed to do any significant damage.
The Ogryns, failing to assault the walls of the Fortress, turned and charged the tactical squad near the door to the Fortress. Marine defenders in the fortress shot the remaining Guard squad near the base, whitling the numbers down severely.
The Guard Storm Trooper elite finally cracked their rhino.
Turn 5:
The last of the Guard troops attacking the Fortress were despatched. The Ogryns near the door were whittled down but failed to make it into the Fortress.
Several Guard units finished off the Marine bikes and Landspeeders. Neither side was going anywhere fast.
We ran out of time at the end of turn 5 and called the game at this point. No clear victory to either side, though the Marines had lost more points than the Guard. A moral victory to the Guard….?
Pictures:
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- Most of the SM force
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- Marines defend this one
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- Guard defend the one at the back
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- Guard mortars in front of their HQ
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- Marines deploy
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- The Marine end of the table
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- Marine HQ Terminator
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- Tactical Marine 1 defend their HQ
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- Part of the Guard army
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- Psyker and retinue wait to advance
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- Guard force pre-deployment
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- The Ogryn squad
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- Guardsmen wait about…
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- Back at the HQ building….
The Old Giant 
A great write-up of a really enjoyable game. Some great photos too!
For my two-pennies worth of an opinion on the game itself: Mike would have trounced me by simply out-manoevering me if he had been a little bolder with his deployment. Keeping three Rhinos and their tactical squads hiding behind his Bastion kept them out of the game too long, his bikes were held back too long and then approached too cautiously (those things can do 24” per turn on a road!) and holding the landspeeders back in Deep Strike was a bad idea too – they could have been deployed forward (even inside the bastion) and then raced ahead at breakneck speed to become more useful more quickly. Similar could be said for the Assault Marines – what’s the point in using a highly manoeverable troop to defend a static defence? The clue’s in the title: *Assault* Marines!
All said: I was lucky to squeak a draw, I think. Mike played a heavily defensive game and had he maimed Guardsmen at the rate Marines normally would he’d have had plenty of time to move up and storm my defenses.
Thanks for the game and thanks for the write-up!