Maelstrom of War - Deadlock
Mission Source: Main Rule Book
Mission: Maelstrom of War - Deadlock - Vanguard Strike Deployment
Points: 2000
Armies: World Eaters / Tau Empire
[World Eaters Chaos Lord] had received some rather worrying news. The planned insurrection was not going well so far. The forces of Chaos had failed to recover the Kytan Daemon Engine from the Tau planet it had been located on, An Ork warband had caught Nurgle Warlord Mordebas Goulstur preparing for his part of the campaign. While Goulstur had seen the Orks off, it had been a close run thing, and Goulstur needed time to repair and refit his forces before leading them into action again, such was the brutality of the contest with the Orks. And now, he had news that a Tau'nar had been spotted in the lines before them. The reports had said the Tau forces before them were few, but possessed heavy firepower. No matter. Forward! Skulls for the skull throne! Blood for the Blood God!
Core - Maelstrom of Gore
Chaos Lord [Warlord]
Bike, Bloodfeeder, Khorne, Sigil of Corruption, VotLW
Khorne Berzerkers
Berzerker Champion - Power Axe, Plasma Pistol, Melta Bombs
7 Berzerkers
Khorne Berzerkers
Berzerker Champion - Power Axe, Plasma Pistol, Melta Bombs
7 Berzerkers
Khorne Berzerkers
Berzerker Champion - Power Axe, Plasma Pistol, Melta Bombs
7 Berzerkers
Khorne Berzerkers
Berzerker Champion - Power Axe, Plasma Pistol, Melta Bombs
7 Berzerkers
Command - Lord of the Legion
Daemon Prince
Axe of Blind Fury, Khorne, Power Armour
Auxilliary - Hellforged Warpack
Forgefiend
2 Hades Autocannons
Hellbrute [Warpack Commander - Gains 4+ Inv]
Multi-melta
Maulerfiend
Magma cutters
Warpsmith
Khorne, Power Axe, Talisman of Burning Blood, VotLW
Auxilliary - Spawn
Chaos Spawn
Khorne
 |
| World Eaters army. |
Farsight Enclaves
Combined Arms Detachment
HQ
Commander Farsight [Warlord]
Plasma Rifle, Shield Generator
T
XV8 Crisis Battlesuit
2 Plasma Rifles
T
XV8 Crisis Battlesuit
2 Plasma Rifles
T
XV8 Crisis Battlesuit
2 Plasma Rifles
LoW
Tau'nar Supremacy Armour
Pulse Ordnance Multi-driver, 2 Tri-axis Ion Cannons, Vigilance Defense System
Dawn Blade Contingent
Core - Retaliation Cadre
XV8 Commander
2 Plasma Rifles, Neuroweb System Jammer, Iridium Armour,Stimulant Injector
XV104 Riptide
Ion Accelerator, Twin Fusion Blaster, Stimulant Injector
XV8 Crisis Battlesuit
2 Plasma Rifles
XV8 Crisis Battlesuit
2 Plasma Rifles
XV8 Crisis Battlesuit
2 Plasma Rifles
XV88 Broadside Battlesuits
XV88 w/ Twin High Yield Missile Pods, Twin Smart Missile System, Velocity Tracker
XV88 w/ Twin High Yield Missile Pods, Twin Smart Missile System, Velocity Tracker
XV88 w/ Twin High Yield Missile Pods, Twin Smart Missile System, Velocity Tracker
Auxilliary - Piranha Firestream Wing
TX4 Piranha
Fusion Blaster, 2 Seeker Missiles
TX4 Piranha
Fusion Blaster, 2 Seeker Missiles
TX4 Piranha
Fusion Blaster, 2 Seeker Missiles
TX4 Piranha
Fusion Blaster, 2 Seeker Missiles
 |
| Farsight Enclaves army. |
Setup and Deployment
Maelstrom of War - Deadlock (6 Objectives) - Vanguard Strike Deployment
World Eaters Warlord Trait: True Berzerker (+1 S)
Farsight Enclaves Warlord Trait: Through Boldness, Victory (No scatter Deep Strike).
World Eaters won the initiative, chose their corner, and deployed first.
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| Before the pre-game movement of the World Eater Butcherhorde Detachment. Such an orderly line. |
Farsight Enclaves deployed deep in their zone, wary of the additional movement.
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| The Tau really can't get any further away, even if they tried. Might make claiming objectives tricky. |
No Night Fighting, since the World Eaters are not likely to wait for the cover of darkness to strike, when they can run into the firing squad in broad daylight.
Mysterious Objectives - Listed here, but determined in game when first claimed. Also, we didn't take a picture of which objectives were where on the board, so yeah, there's that.
1. Nothing of note.
2. Skyfire Nexus.
3. Grav Wave Generator.
4. Skyfire Nexus.
5. Grav Wave Generator.
6. Scatterfield.
Post-deployment World Eaters make their Bloodmad move and all non-vehicle units start their headlong rush before the game even starts.
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| The World Eaters mess up their neat deployment line with Bloodmad moves. |
Farsight Enclaves try to Sieze the Initiative, but fail. The World Eaters rev their chainaxes and charge! Death to the False Emperor! Skulls for the Skull Throne!! Blood for the Blood God!!!
Turn 1 World Eaters
Farsight Enclaves Killing Blow: Khorne Biker Lord (allows Tau units re-rolls To Wound when shooting at the marked unit).
Objectives
Uh, apparently we didn't record which objectives the World Eaters drew at the start of their turn. Objectives? World Eaters? Kill everything!!!
Move
The Biker Lord moved forward 12".
Everything else Moved and Ran as fast as possible toward the Farsight Enclaves battle line.
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| World Eaters rushing to cross the killing field of the Farsight Enclaves. |
Shooting
Khorne Biker Lord fired his Twin Bolters at the nearest Crisis Suit, but the armour deflected the bolt rounds.
The Forgefiend fired at the Riptide, but all hits deflected away due to the heavy armour plating.
 |
| Khorne Biker Lord by the corner of the ruins, trying to figure out how to get to the Tau. |
Assault
The Khorne Biker Lord rolled a 4" charge, but has Fleet, so re-rolled...and got 5". And needed 8". This particular rule has got to be addressed. Anyway...
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| The line surges forward. |
Score:
World Eaters: 6 (Obj 2, Hold the Line, Obj 1, Ascendancy (3)
Farsight Enclaves: 0
Turn 1 Tau
Objectives
Supremacy, Obj 6, Obj 1, Demolitions, Harness the Warp, Witch Hunter
It's awesome when you draw a bunch of objectives completely not relevant to the battle you are involved in. You kinda want to scream into the radio to HQ to get their heads outta their asses. The World Eaters did offer to not count objectives that were not relevant, but that ain't in the rules, so the Farsight Enclaves declined. And being down 6 VP's in turn 1, they were getting an inkling of the only way they were going to win this game...annihilation.
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| The World Eaters right flank as it crashes towards the Tau line. |
Move
The Piranha Firestream Wing disembarked their drones so they could head off toward some of the objectives to be a nuisance.
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| Before the killing, World Eaters overrunning objectives everywhere. |
Shooting
Piranhas launched their full compliment of seeker missiles at the Maulerfiend sitting right in front of their lines. The salvo crashed home, Wrecking it.
Drones 1, being the only ones in range, fired at the Khorne Spawn, inflicting two wounds.
Crisis Suits 1, 2 and 3 (left flank) all fired at the Khorne Spawn, but either couldn't hit or get past the Cover.
Crisis Suits 4, 5 and 6 (right flank) all rapid fired at the Khorne Biker Lord, who Jinked and managed to evade all the searing plasma directed his way.
The Commander also fired his plasma rifles at the Khorne Biker Lord, 3 shots coring him, scorching his bike and claiming First Blood and Slay Warlord all in one go! [First Blood, Slay Warlord]
The XV88 team unloaded the barrage of missiles into the Hellbrute, Immobilizing him and knocking two massive holes in his armour.
Farsight fired a long range plasma rifle shot at the Khorne Spawn, but the beast scuttled behind Cover.
The Supremacy Armour, seeing a Berzerker squad threatening Crisis Suits 4,5 and 6, directed his Smart Missile System, Burst Cannons, and both Tri-axis Ion Cannons (Standard Beam) at Berzerkers 1, and the Pulse Ordnance Multi Driver at the Khorne Spawn. 7 of the Berzerkers were cut down, and 2 Spawn were killed by the scattering Apocalyptic Barrage.
The Riptide overcharged his Ion Accelerator, but the blast scattered badly and hit no one.
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| The Farsight Enclaves start on their right flank, and apply staggering firepower. |
Assault
There was some Thrust moves by all the suits that could do them, as they danced away from the charging World Eaters.
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| The view from the Tau'nar. The World Eaters still seem really close. |
Score
World Eaters: 6 (Obj 2, Hold the Line, Obj 1, Ascendancy (3)
Farsight Enclaves: 2 (Slay Warlord, First Blood) Discard: Witch Hunter
Turn 2 World Eaters
Farsight Enclaves Killing Blow
Foregefiend
Objectives
Blood for the Blood God, Make 3 charges, Kingslayer, Supremacy,Assassinate
Move
Hellbrute: Crazed - Shoots twice.
Everything else moved forward, and onto objectives where they could.
The Rhinos are all sitting on objectives. (4 of them)
Shooting
The Forgefiend shot at the Riptide, but again couldn't get past the thick composite plate armour.
Hellbrute fires his Multi-melta at the XV88 team, instantly killing one of them with its heat beam.
Assault
The lone survivor from Berzerkers 1 attempts to charge Crisis Monat 4, but is killed by Overwatch from the nearby XV88 team.
The Khorne Spawn assault Farsight, but lose one on their way in to massed plasma Overwatch from Farsight and his 3 nearby Crisis Monat Suits. In the ensuing fight, the Farsight only hita once and fails to wound, while the Spawn hit 8 times, wound 4 but Farsight only fails 1 wound. He passes his Leadership and fights on..
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| The World Eaters are just about in charge range. Next turn for sure. |
Score
World Eaters: 9 (Obj 2, Hold the Line, Obj 1, Ascendancy (3), Supremacy, Blood for the Blood God (2))
Farsight Enclaves: 2 (Slay Warlord, First Blood)
Turn 2 Farsight Enclaves
Objectives
Supremacy, Obj 1, Obj 6, Demolitions, Harness the Warp
Move
The Piranha Firestream Wing departed into Ongoing Reserves, to replenish their seeker missiles and drones.
Slight shuffling of firing line to ensure lines of sight to relevant targets.
Shooting
In a rather unlike Tau fashion, there was a lot of missed shots by the Tau.
Crisis Monats 1, 2 and 3 all rapid fired plasma into Berzerker 2, who made 5 Cover saves to take NO casualties!
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| Firing plasma rifles around the massive tree trunk, the Crisis Monats can't land a clean shot on the Berzerkers racing at the Riptide. |
Crisis Monats 4, 5 and 6 all fired their plasma rifles at Rhino 1, put could only strip 2 Hull Points from Glances.
The Riptide fired its Overcharged Ion Accelerator at Berzerkers 2 right in front of it, but it scattered badly again, hitting nothing, and the Twin Fusion Blaster missed.
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| Trouble for the Enclaves, when massed AP 2 weaponry can't kill 8 World Eaters mostly not in Cover. |
The Supremacy Armour fired its right Tri-axis Ion Cannon (Coherent Beam) at Rhino 1, and Wrecked it by stripping the last Hull Point. It fired its left Tri-axis Ion Cannon (Coherent Beam) at the Hellbrute, and Wrecked it in a spectacular explosion, sending armoured plates spinning through the ruins around it. The Tau'nar fired its Pulse Ordnance Multi Driver (Concentrated Bombardment) at Berzerker 3, which was safely far enough away from any Tau units in case of scatter, and killed 3 in the 7" D blast.
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| Drones screen the approach of the Daemon Prince to the left, as the Berzerkers are torn between assaulting the Riptide or Farsight. |
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| Smoke plumes rise into the sky as Tau firepower starts to assert itself. |
Assault
Thrust moves by most suit units to again give ground to the advancing World Eaters and stay far enough away from them to avoid assault.
Score
World Eaters: 9 (Obj 2, Hold the Line, Obj 1, Ascendancy (3), Supremacy, Blood for the Blood God (2))
Farsight Enclaves: 2 (Slay Warlord, First Blood) Discarded: Harness the Warp
Turn 3 World Eaters
Farsight Enclaves Killing Blow
Daemon Prince
Objectives
Kingslayer, Assassinate, Obj 1, Obj 4
Move
Rhino 2 moves onto Obj 4, where the Tau'nar had just killed a Rhino.
 |
| Rhino 2 nervously claims the objective literally driving over the shattered remnants of Rhino 1. Nervous driver, perhaps? |
Berzerkers 2 moved to assault into the Farsight / Khorne Spawn ongoing combat, rather than the Riptide, who had Thrust moved away from them.
Berzerkers 4 moved to assault the nearest unit of two Drones.
The Daemon Prince uttered an indignant roar to discover his path blocked by insignificant Drones. There were no skulls or blood to be gained by destroying them, but it would do it.
Shooting
The Forgefiend fired his Hades Autocannons at the XV88 team, one round blasting through the heavy armour, killing the pilot instantly with its heavy shot.
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| Only one XV88 left, and he passed his Morale test. |
Berzerkers 3 fired off a volley of bolt pistol rounds at the nearest Drone unit, smashing one, and sending the other fleeing, leaving them without an assault target to vent their rage on.
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| Berzerkers 3 kill a Drone and make the other flee, while Berzerkers 4 ensure there is no escape for the Tau. Rhino 4 secures the objective. |
Assault
The Daemon Prince charged into the nearest unit of two Drones, shrugging off a wound on his way through Overwatch fire, and promptly smashed, pounded, stomped and thoroughly disarticulated both of them, and Consolidated 3", only to find his path barred by yet more of the insignificant things.
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| Daemon Prince can see the Crisis Monats he wants the heads of, but these damn Drones keep getting in the way. |
Berzerkers 2 charged into the Farsight / Spawn fight, losing on of their members to Overwatch from the nearby Crisis Monats 1, 2 and 3. The Berzerker Champion raged his Challenge at Farsight, who accepted with eagerness. Farsight promptly hit and wounded 4 times with his Dawn Blade, wiping out the Berzerkers before they could even swing their chainswords. The Khorne Spawn could not find a weakness in Farsights fighting style.
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| Farsight accepts the Challenge from the Berzerker Champion, kills him and his 3 buds, before turning his attention back to the Khorne Spawn he has been sparring with. |
Score
World Eaters: 11 (Obj 2, Hold the Line, Obj 1, Ascendancy (3), Supremacy, Blood for the Blood God (2), Obj 1, Obj 4)
Farsight Enclaves: 2 (Slay Warlord, First Blood) Discarded: Harness the Warp
Turn 3 Farsight Enclaves
Regroup
The single Drone fails its Morale check to Regroup and flees from the battle.
Reserves
The Piranha Firestream Wing, reamed and refueled, returns.
Objectives
Obj 1, Obj 6, Supremacy, Demolitions
Move
The Piranhas disgorge their Drones again, and watch happily as they begin to make their way down the length of the table, covering ground quickly.
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| The Drone Horde, the Tau version of Summoning Daemons. |
Seeing a general weakening of the enemy battle line, the entire Farsight Enclaves force performs a measured advance. One quick bound forward, and they brace for firing.
Shooting
Piranhas unload their payload of Seeker Missiles into the Daemon Prince, punching through his armour, and overwhelming his Daemon Save, and they send him back to the Warp.
The Riptide fires his ion Accelerator and Twin Fusion Blaster at the Forgefiend right in front of it, but can't get past the armour and Daemon save.
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| The Riptide can't hurt the Forgefiend, and it turned aside the Fusion Blaster with its Daemon ward save. |
The lone XV88 adds his high yield missile pods to the firestorm, but his attacks are futile as well.
Crisis 4, 5 and 6 light up Rhino 2, sitting on the nearby objective, but don't even scratch the paint, let alone cause any damage.
Crisis 1, 2 and 3 and the Drones take their turns pouring firepower into Berzerkers 3, and end up wiping them out.
The Tau'nar fires both its Tri-Axis Ion Cannons (Coherent Beam) at the Forgefiend, destroying one Hades Autocannon and tearing two huge holes in the mechanical beast, but can't silence it.
It fires its Pulse Ordnance Multi Driver (Pattern Bombardment) at Berzerkers 4, the Barrage scattering slightly but still killing 4.
Assault
Crisis Monats 1, 2 and 3 all attempt to assault Rhino 2, but only two make it. They fail to hurt the transport though.
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| Crisis Suits bravely launch an assault...on something that can't fight back. That's how they roll. |
Farsight continued trying to finish off the last Khorne Spawn, but couldn't finish it off this turn.
Thrust moves were made to try to ensure no assaults could reach any of the other Crisis Monat Suits.
Score
World Eaters: 11 (Obj 2, Hold the Line, Obj 1, Ascendancy (3), Supremacy, Blood for the Blood God (2), Obj 1, Obj 4)
Farsight Enclaves: 2 (Slay Warlord, First Blood) Discarded: Demolitions
At this point, Farsight realized the only way to win this battle was through complete annihilation of the World Eaters. The point deficit was just too great.
Turn 4 World Eaters
Having few units left, the World Eaters are torn between trying to score objectives and trying to kill some Tau. Being World Eaters, they opt for killing, naturally.
Farsight Enclaves Killing Blow
Forgefiend
Objectives
[Kill, Maim, Burn], Kingslayer, Assassinate
Move
The few remaining World Eaters, fueled by rage and hatred at the carnage inflicted on their forces, race toward the Tau, an unstoppable force.
Shooting
Rhino 2 shoots at Crisis Monat 4, but fails to hurt it.
The Forgefiend fires his one remaining Hades Autocannon at the last XV88, but can't get past the armour.
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| The Forgefiend ignores the Riptide to try to kill the last XV88. But it fails. |
The Warpsmith fires his plasma pistol at the Riptide, but the force field turns the searing shot aside.
Berzerkers 4 fire off a volley at the nearest Drones, killing one and making the other flee from the battle.
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| The last Berzerkers find themselves facing nothing but worthless Drones. Much anger ensues. |
Assault
The Warpsmith attempts to assault the Riptide. The lone XV88 fires Overwatch, but even with everything twin linked, can't get a hit. The Riptide itself fares much better, Instantly Killing him with his Fusion Blaster.
Farsight finally manages to slaughter the last Khorne Spawn, Consolidating 1", apparently tired from his long battle.
Score
World Eaters: 11 (Obj 2, Hold the Line, Obj 1, Ascendancy (3), Supremacy, Blood for the Blood God (2), Obj 1, Obj 4)
Farsight Enclaves: 2 (Slay Warlord, First Blood)
Turn 4 Tau
Objectives
Obj 1, Obj 6, Supremacy
Move
Most of the Farsight Enclaves moved forward, trying to get to objectives, or to get line of sight to the remaining World Eaters. Notably, the Piranhas did not leave the battle space to rearm and refuel, preferring to stay and lend their firepower immediately.
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| Farsight Enclaves closing in for the final Killing Blow! |
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| The Drone horde continues on its way down the board. |
Shooting
Crisis Monats 1, 2 and 3 and all Drones within range all pour their firepower into Berzerkers 4, wiping them out.
The XV8 Commander employs his plasma rifles to destroy Rhino 2.
The Supremacy Armour focused all its firepower on Rhino 4, stripping 2 Hull Points (and it survived getting hit by a D blast - made its cover save).
Assault
Thrust moves are performed as Crisis Suits try to get to objectives, and get ready to try to kill the last remaining World Eaters on the battlefield...2 Rhinos.
Score
World Eaters: 11 (Obj 2, Hold the Line, Obj 1, Ascendancy (3), Supremacy, Blood for the Blood God (2), Obj 1, Obj 4)
Farsight Enclaves: 3 (Slay Warlord, First Blood, Obj 1)
Turn 5
Not much going on on either side here. The two surviving Rhinos of the World Eaters get on objectives and pop smoke, trying to survive. They don't claim any objectives.
The entire surviving Farsight Enclaves move to kill the last two Rhinos, and successfully do it, though it does take literally every shot available to them to do it. They also manage to score some more Victory Points in the last turn, though still not enough to make a comeback via points. Having completely annihilated the enemy force, even though down by 11-8 points, the Tau slaughter their way to a victory.
Who needs to move in a Maelstrom of War mission? Just wipe the enemy out.
Summary
World Eaters jump out to an insurmountable lead early, and keep pouring it on, racking up victory points almost every turn, and keeping the Farsight Enclaves pinned against their table edge for most of the game with their constant forward pressure.
From the Tau perspective, it was all about denying the initial assault on the right flank, and then the firepower just chewed its way down the World Eaters line. If the World Eaters had just a few more models, they might have been able to outlast the firepower.
World Eaters: 11 (Obj 2, Hold the Line, Obj 1, Ascendancy (3), Supremacy, Blood for the Blood God (2), Obj 1, Obj 4)
Farsight Enclaves: 8 (Slay Warlord, First Blood, Obj 1, Behind Enemy Lines (2), Obj 6, Supremacy, Linebreaker)
Until next time, happy gaming!
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