Imperial Guard v. Chaos Space Marines 1750

Some people like tanks, and then some others don't.  Death Salvo is in that category of people that doesn't like tanks.  In a friendly 1750 point game of Imperial Guard versus Chaos Space Marines the following things occurred:

-Turn 1 my IG wiped 5 CSM vehicles off the table, 1 CSM Dreadnought, 3 Rhinos, and 1 Vindicator.
-Nurgle CSM are tough, I had a heck of a time trying to wipe them off objectives.  I had more than enough firing and they handled tons of punishment.
-I think I finally got into a good vibe with my guardsmen!
-We played Seize Ground with the Pitched Battle deployment.  Perfect for IG in every way.
-I pulled off the win by the start of Turn 5 with three of the five objectives in my control.

I think Death Salvo did a great service by sticking with the game even though he was not happy with the performance of his troops.  He is a Daemon player.  Die hard, card carrying, and loyal to the max Daemon player.  He plays them well.  He did some spectacular conversions on his Chaos Space Marines and the vehicles he has.  He takes the hobby so far with his imagination.  I am lucky to have such a worthy opponent.  Here are some pictures of the battle from Turn 1 while Death Salvo was moving.

I am getting closer to getting my army fully painted.  The brown and black scheme blended perfectly on this battlefield.  A total coincidence I assure you.

Sigh, I love my Valkyries.  I need a third one!  My newly constructed Manticore is in the top left. 

In other news:

-I have an Iwata airbrush!  YAY!  Christmas was good to me.

-My Manticore is fun!  It looks awesome, was fun to build and it performs spectacularly. 

Conclusion to The Battle at Hadax Ridge

The 66th Cadian Mechanized Infantry Regiment thrust platoon after platoon of troops into the the Hadax Ridge Hab units to try to repel the Chaos Daemon incursion to the area.  During the Warp Storm a chaos temple was discovered as wind displaced the sand that hid the temple for centuries.  The Daemons blasted their way through platoons of infantry men.  The fighting was chaotic with small victories won on each side.  Only the resilient ranks of Cadians pouring into the area kept a total disaster from occurring.

I deployed some huge units of infantry.  That is how I like it.  Lots of troops with just enough supporting vehicles.  I am quite fond of my Valkyries as they continue to save me from being out maneuvered time and again.

Death Salvo's daemons are tricky to handle.  This was a battle against a Tzeetch Daemon Prince (333 points!) and two heralds (nasty buggers).  Tzeetch and Khorne units always pay for their worth in combat.  I am less impressed with the Nurgle units only because I feel they can be out maneuvered most of the time.  When they get on an objective it can be tricky as they can take more punishment than anything else in the game, in my opinion.  Ah heck, all the Daemons are a beast to mess with!

As night fell the 66th was forced to dig in to the emptied Hab sector while keeping vigilance on the dark Chaos ruins.  The commanders of the 66th awaited orders as pure bedlam raged at the Imperial Guard Headquarters.  News of Raven Guard Astartes arriving from a hurried void journey mixed with news of a Chaos incursion unmatched in scale as of yet taking place on the polar opposite of the planet.  Inquisitor Hannibal reported that a master plan by the archenemy was to establish a small version of the Eye of Terror.  Way points were already in place and the Imperium had precious moments to react before it was too late.

A big battle was brewing.

Operation Whiteout Battle Results

Operation Whiteout went off without any problems.  It was 15,000 points and one strategic asset per side.  The sides we as follows:

Daemon Host and Allies
Death Salvo-Daemons
Salamander-Daemons
White Consuls-Chaos Space Marines
Tau Fiend-Tau
Enemy at the Gate-Necrons
(Strategic Asset-Careful Planning)
Army Composition: Lots of Daemon Princes, Chaos Space Marines, Daemons with Tau crisis suits, Necron troops, a monolith, devil fish, Chaos Land Raider, a chaos warhound, and a gargantuan Tzeetch Daemon.
Daemon MVPs: Blood Thirsters (a single one accounted for two warhound titans and survived the battle), Gargantuan Tzeetch Daemon (literally dropped hell on Imperium forces), Daemon Princes in general (shrugged off strength D hits all game.....), Tau crisis suits, The Deciever Necron

Imperium Army
Inquisitor Hannibal-Grey Knights and Assassins
Colonel Rysm-Imperial Guard and Raven Guard
Princeps Lucifer-Legio Tempful
Princeps Short-Warlord Titan
Brother Captain Blazer-Salamander Space Marines
(Strategic Asset-Disruptor Beacon)
Army Composition: 2 Shadowsword super heavy tanks, 2 Warhound titans, 1 Reaver titan, 1 Warlord titan, tons of Grey Knight termies, Dreadnoughts, Tactical space marines, IG veterans, 2 Valkyries, various armored vehicles, ratling snipers (yay), sternguard vets with Pedro Kantor, an interesting spread in general.
Imperium MVPs: 2 Valkyries with veterans (for surviving the onslaught of the Daemons and contesting an objective), The Grey Knights and Assassins (They turned the tide of the battle contesting another objective), the Warlord titan (cleared off many Daemons with its devastating Apocalypse Missile Launcher barrages and volcano cannons, it saved the game by killing off all the Daemons on the third objective), the valiant salamanders that weathered the worst of the Daemons first attacks, and lastly the Reaver titan of Legio Tempful (that held the gate closed).

All I can say is the battle was brutal.  The Imperium forces had 13 weapons that fired strength D.  It mattered not as Daemons have eternal warrior.  I would have been better off bringing horde guardsmen with manitcores.  Ah well....  It was a friendly game thanks to Salamander and Inquisitor Hannibal the opposing team captains.  Some notable events:

YOU SHALL NOT PASS-The Tau defended their Daemon Allies objective with tenacity.  Fierce fighting erupted in the vicinity by turn two thanks to the arrival of the assassins and the Redemption force of Grey Knights.  It was brutal counter attack by the Imperium but the Tau made it a hard fought battle for the Imperium.

ENEMY AT THE GATE-The Necrons fought tooth and nail to gain access to the fortress where the main Imperium objective was located throughout the entire game.  They were almost there but not quite.  I think the Necrons feared to move from the warm green grass they stood on to enter the frozen base.

IF A SENTINEL FALLS AT THE BACK OF THE BOARD...-Chaos Space Marines sniped my Sentinel with a meltagun.  Later they used a Chaos Space Marine Captain to run down my Ratlings.  I have since called child services.... but I found out the player actually works for child services lol.  That joke was a hit.

THIRSTY THE BLOOD THIRSTER-This blood thrister killed two warhound titans and helped kill my last shadowsword.  Insanity!!!!!!!!

There were many other notable events but pictures speak louder than words... or something like that.  Before I post the pictures the outcome of the battle was a Draw with two objectives contested and one objective covered only with the corpses of the archenemy (unclaimed in other words).  If the battle had gone on any longer the Daemons would have won it.  We had roughly four turns if I remember correctly.  A good show for a game going from 1300 to 1930.

A clear and quiet morning, and then the Daemons arrived.

Enemy at the Gate!  Why aren't they advancing?  Oh they like the grass under their feet.

The Warhound Titans and Daemons charge each other...  The Daemons won that battle.

Melta vet guardsmen hold off a Daemon Prince for two turns.  They did eventually die.  A valiant effort nonetheless.

The Battlefield appeared so calm before the Daemons advanced.  The Daemon to the bottom left was a real beast.  He was the gargantuan Daemon.  Size doesn't matter as nothing could hurt the damn thing.  Believe me I tried.

Daemons hunt down the Warhound titans.  This ends badly for the Imperium.

Back shot!  Booyah!  Didn't end up wounding the gargantuan Daemon of Tzeetch, and I don't know if this back shooting style is allowed but fluff wise I guess I could see it.

Oh noes, my last Shadowsword gets ripped up by a horde of Daemon Princes.  The red daemon was the killer of the two warhound titans.  Incidentally my other Shadowsword ate it turn one when the opposing Chaos Warhound turbo laser'ed it to death.

Here comes the cavalry... I mean Grey Knights.  Redemption at last!

Denied!  For three turns, until the onslaught was too much and the Necrons, Daemons, and Chaos Space Marines brought the hulking Reaver Titan to its knees before they dragged its carcass back to the Daemon forges.

There you have it.  I wish I took more pictures of the Tau, Daemon, and Grey Knight/assassin battle.  That was an unexpected battle for the outcome of the game.  I had a ton of fun, and I'd like to thank anyone who played in the game.  A Draw is a fine way to motivate people for the next big battle.  Until next time!  The archenemy yet lurks in the Sabbat Worlds.  The Emperor's justice will find them eventually.