Crusade Battle: Tempest of War
Primary Mission: Priority Targets
Deployment: Search and Destroy
Mission Rule: Delayed Reserves
Points: 1500
Mission Victor Bonus:
Attacker Wins: A Character that took part in the battle gains a Crusade Relic (not free).
Defender Wins: Can add a new Character to Order of Battle, they get a free Warlord Trait, Relic or Specialist Reinforcement Requisition (0 RP).
Attacker: Goffs
Defender: Krieg
Crusade Battle: Tempest of War
Mission: Take and Hold
Deployment: Dawn of War
Twist: Lightning Storms
Points: 1000
Mission Victor Bonus: One HQ unit that survives the battle can be given a Battle Trait of choice.
Captain Arastos has been searching for the Ork Warboss Ghenga for some time, and has finally been able to deploy his terminators in the path of the rampaging horde. Determined to stem the green tide, his brave veterans brace themselves for the coming storm.
"A lone outpost, situated in a remote area so as not to draw attention, secretly contains an uplink to the planetary defense network. If this relay can be demolished or subverted, the orbiting defense guns will be silenced, paving the way for a full scale invasion."
Mission: Crusade -Containment - Combat Patrol - Drop and Demolish
Power: 25 PL
Mission Victor Bonus: 2 units can be Marked for Greatness
"Prior to an assault on a new area of the Imperial defenses protecting Pankallis, the Goffs have launched a small vanguard force to disable an early-warning sensor array in a sudden assault, aiming to overwhelm the small garrison and disable the site before they can raise the alarm."
Kriegmeister Keist and his company have been transferred to a quieter sector to rest and refit after their recent actions. While Keist is off doing Officer things, Commissar Stagler is overseeing the troops. Unfortunately for them, Waaagh Bonekleava has set its' sights on this sector to achieve a breakthrough in the Imperial lines. There is no respite for the valorous, no retreat for the faithful.
Mission: Crusade - Containment - Combat Patrol - Vanguard Operations
Power: 25 PL
Mission Victor Bonus: One unit gains a Planetstrike Battle Trait.
Warboss Garhak Ugul Bludshredda Ghenga had finally healed up. Painboy Bloodcuttah had managed to get out all the shrapnel from his latest wounds dealt by the Iron Hands. He was really starting to develop a dislike for the new Primaris style of tanks. He realized that he was going to have to change up his approach. Sheer number of boyz wasn't enough, for the first time. But he would need some time to gather some scrap for Big Mek Nogbugg to come up with something.
Ghenga leads his forces back into the fray against the Iron Hands.
Mission: Crusade - Strike Force - The Relic
Power: 100 PL
Mission Victor Bonus: Free Battle Trait for unit unit.
Warboss Garhak Ugul Bludshredda Ghenga having failed in a second attempt to take over the Waaagh! from Waaaghboss Bonekleava, leads his forces into battle once more. If he can't beat Bonekleava, he is determined to beat the next thing he comes across. He knows where he can find a good scrap, because he knows where the Iron Hands are.
Mission: Crusade - Incursion - The Relic
Power: 75 PL
Mission Victor Bonus: The Victor can nominate two units to be Marked for Greatness.
Warboss Garhak Ugul Bludshredda Ghenga has accrued 39 XP, surpassing Warboss Bonekleava who has only 21 XP. A challenge to who has the right to lead the waaagh! has been issued. Following the rules we have the following phases:
1. Psychic - starting with the Waaagh! Boss
2. Shooting - starting with the Waaagh! Boss
3. Fight - starting with the Waaagh! Boss. Both count as charging. This will be bloody. And quick.
Having over-run the Iron Hands position, Ghenga finds himself immediately attacked from behind by the reinforcements called in by the Iron Hands before they fell.
Mission: Crusade - Incursion - Sabotage
Power: 50 PL
Mission Victor Bonus: Defender (Goffs): Use Increase Supply Limit and Rearm and Resupply once each free.
Attacker: Iron Hands: Free Battle Trait for non-Character/Vehicle/Monster
Still smarting from the thrashing he received from Waaagh! Boss Bonekleava, Warboss Garhak Ugul Bludshredda Ghenga still intends to " 'ave a gud go " at the beakies in his area. Thinking he was goingt o find yellow beakies, he insteads finds silver ones. He knows not the difference between Imperial Fists and Iron Hands, and he also cares not. With a mighty bellow, he leads his forces into the fray once more!
What Ghenga doesn't know is that this new force of marines is here specifically to kill him.
Mission: Crusade - Patrol - Assassinate
PL: 25
Mission Victor Bonus: Free Battle Trait
Warboss Garhak Ugul Bludshredda Ghenga has accrued 20 XP, surpassing Warboss Bonekleava who has only 13 XP. A challenge to who has the right to lead the waaagh! has been issued. Following the rules we have the following phases:
1. Psychic - starting with the Waaagh! Boss
2. Shooting - starting with the Waaagh! Boss
3. Fight - starting with the Waaagh! Boss. Both count as charging. This will be bloody. And quick.
Warboss Garhak Ugul Bloodshredda Ghenga, on his way to assault an Imperial Fists patrol, finds himself confronted instead by a force of Farsight Enclaves Tau. Figuring this will be a good scrap, even if the weedy Tau don't like to get krumpin', he leads his boyz straight into the fight, since he still plans on smashing the beakies after this.
Mission: Crusade - Incursion - Behind Enemy Lines
Deployment: Dawn of War
Mission Victor Bonus: One unit may select a Battle Trait of your choice.
This was a pick-up Crusade game, but since I used my Goffs Crusade army, I figured I'd count it as Battle 9. These two armies have a fairly lengthy rivalry going at this point, close on 5 years now. I took less notes and pictures than normal, so this report will be a bit shorter. With the Crusade rules, it will add even more depth to the history. Anyway, on to the battle!
Battle Size: Incursion - 50 PL
Deployment: Dawn of War
Mission: Behind Enemy Lines
Mission Victor Bonus: The Victor can give a unit a free Battle Trait of choice.
Moving onto Phase 2 of the Assault on the Pankallis Sector in the Octarius Warzone, we have the two forces of the Imperial Fists as the Defenders, Strike Force Darsway and Strike Force Arastos. Darsway will be in the next battle report.
Strike Force Arastos is led by Terminator Captain Lexandro Arastos, and is finally joined by the rest of his command team, Chaplain Dravyn Aximov and Apothecary Iatros Travma. As usual, Arastos is accompanied by Terminator Squad Hektor, who are almost acting as his personal bodyguard at this point. Also making their first appearance is Terminator Squad Drakon, whose main objective is to protect Chaplain Aximov.
On the Attackers side of things, we have Hunter Cadre Sul'an and Waaagh! Bonekleava. Sul'an will lead his mechanized Hunter Cadre in the next battle report.
Waaagh! Bonekleava has a new Warboss that has appeared on the scene, and he has plans on challenging Bonekleava for the leadership of the Waaagh!. But first, he has to earn enough XP to deserve that challenge. Mega-armoured Warboss Garhak Ugul Bludshredda Ghenga plans to smash any force that dares to stand before him, since he is bringing with him his Rukkboyz, who enter the Crusade as Blooded, and get the Battle Trait Ded Choppy so they hit on 2+ right out of the gate as befits a veteran unit.
In this battle of 51 PL, the veterans of Strike Force Arastos are determined to hold the line against the new Warboss Ghenga.
**NOTE**
Rather than play the rather restricting Crusade missions over and over, we've changed things up a bit. We are going to try playing Tempest of War missions to determine the winner of the game, but each player will also select Agendas to accomplish for the Crusade, and we will randomly determine the Crusade reward for victory. So rather than staying at 25 PL, we are stepping up to 51 PL so we can play full board battles.
Strike Force Arastos has finally tracked down Hunter Cadre Sul'an. The final match-up for Warzone Octarius Phase 1 Stage 1 to determine which Alliance takes the first step on their path to ultimate victory. Can the firepower of the Tau overcome the added resilience of Armour of Contempt? Let's find out.
Battle Size: Combat Patrol - 25 PL
Mission: Sweep and Clear
Mission Victor Bonus: 2 units can be Marked for Greatness.
Strike Force Arastos: Know No Fear (+2 XP per passed Morale test)
Hunter Cadre Sul'an: Hit Their Supply Lines (+1 XP per objective damaged, + Military Points)
Captain Arastos, still recovering from the wounds received in his last engagement, is dispatching Terminator Chaplain Lexandro Aximov and Terminator Assault Squad Thanatos to engage and destroy the Ork menace. Equipped with Tactical Dreadnought Armour, and outfitted to take an Ork charge head on, these heroes, while heavily outnumbered, can deal death in close combat like few others are capable of.
Battle Size: Combat Patrol
Mission: Sweep and Clear
Campaign Victor Bonus: Strategic Gambit
Mission Victor Bonus: 2 units can be Marked for Greatness
Goffs Agenda: Krumpin' Spree - +2 XP per Character/Monster/Vehicle kill
Fists Agenda: Know No Fear - +2 XP for each tally the unit passes Morale tests.
Captain Darsway, of the Imperial Fists, readies his men to hold the line against the Goff menace of Warboss Bonekleava in this first clash in the Octarius warzone.
In the outskirts of the city, an Ork lander (a rok) has smashed its way to the planet surface. Determined to cleanse the xenos filth before it can get a toehold in the city, Strike Force Darsway searches for the enemy.
Battle Size: Combat Patrol
Mission: Sweep and Clear
Mission Victor Bonus: 2 units can be Marked for Greatness
Goff Agenda: Krumpin' Spree (+2 XP per Character/Monster/Vehicle killed by Bonekleava)
Fists Agenda: Angels of Death (+3 XP for each unit alive if the enemy is wiped out)
After my break from hobby blogging, I thought I would be getting back into a more competitive mindset.
Nope.
It seems that with the completion of painting Ghaz, the Narrative bug has struck again! Not that I can use him in Crusade games. Damn!
Anyway, I've gotten Warzone Octarius into my hands, and decided a 3 stage invasion of the Octarius sector by the Orks and Tyranids was in order, with various Imperial forces as defenders.
So here's the setup. Orks and Tyranids and Tau are the Attacking Alliance, but they are not friendly to each other.
The Defending Alliance will be two different forces of Imperial Fists, since unfortunately my Krieg force is nowhere near table top ready.
Here's the layout of Stage 1.
So that's what's on the near horizon. We'll see how long the Crusade bug lasts. It might depend on how much extra work and record keeping the additional campaign rules invoke.
As you can see above, we are starting small, and working our way up, in terms of Power Level. Let the Heroes have a chance to truly shine before the forces start to get too big for their heroics to matter as much.
That's it for now. Until next time, happy gaming!
In this second battle, the Goffs take on the Astra Militarum. As normal, this lists can be found on this page.
Horde vs horde should be an interesting match. Let's find out.
Detailed below are the four lists, in alphabetical order.
Fair warning, some of these armies are not totally painted, just so you are prepared for it.
