Warhammer 40k Campaign, Daemons/Khorne Daemonkin vs Space Wolves/Imperial Fists, 09.08.2015

Instead of a tournament, our local gaming shop will host a Warhammer 40k Campaign! This is a variant on the Crusade of Fire campaign. We got rid of most of the extra rules. We still have planet-specific rules (death world tables and such); there are Command Bastions and Manufactorums (and Hive Cities, which count as either); and finally, whenever a faction attacks a planet which is entirely held by another faction, we will be playing Planetstrike.
There were 2 Chaos, 2 Imperial and 2 Xenos players present on the first day. We played a 2v2 Imperial vs Chaos on the frozen moon of the system (gorgeous gaming mat provided by the Space Wolf player), while the Eldar assaulted the Necrons, helping out the Imperium.

Extra rules:

- Planetstrike
- Subzero temperature: fails Dangerous Terrain tests on 1 or 2, Gets Hot! loses its effect
- no bonuses from planetary structures for the first game

Lists:

Chaos Daemons: Planetstrike Defender

• 11-man Pink Horrors
• Daemon Prince of Nurgle, wings, armor, greater gift (Corpulescence), Psyker level 2 (Smite, Life Leech, Stream of Corruption), Warlord
• Daemon Prince of Nurgle, wings, armor, greater gift (Unholy Gaze), Psyker level 2 (Iron Arm, Enfeeble, Stream of Corruption)
• 3x Herald of Tzeentch, Psyker lvl 3, 1 exalted gift (Portalglyph), all rolling on Daemonology

Khorne Daemonkin: Planetstrike Defender

• Daemon Prince, armor, wings, Blade of Endless Bloodshed
• 10-man Chaos Space Marines 
• 2x 10-man Cultists
• 5-man and 3-man Chaos Terminators, all with combi-plasmas
• Helbrute, Power Scourge, Thunder hammer

Imperial Fists: Planetstrike Attacker

• Techmarine (Warlord) 
• Land Raider Redeemer
• 10-man Tactical Squad, plasma gun, heavy bolter, in a Rhino
• 5-man Scout Squad, with Sniper Rifles
• 5-man Devastator Squad, 2 Lascannons, 2 Missile Launchers
• Venerable Dreadnought in Drop Pod
• Thunderfire Cannon

Space Wolves:

Planetstrike Attacker

• Runepriest lvl 2, Biomancy
• Arjac Rockfist

Wolf Guard Void Claws

• 5-man Terminator squad, Wolf Claws

Wolf Guard Thunderstrike 

• 10-man Wolf Guard, in Drop Pod, all with combi-plasmas
• 5-man Terminator Squad

Deployment

This was our first Planetstrike game, so we hurriedly read the rules beforehand, and proceeded to mess up everything. The Chaos Terminators and the Khorne Daemon Prince were placed out in the open, leaving them vulnerable to Firestorm attacks. We had 5 Stratagem points per man (not per side). The Imperial Fists proceeded to rain down 4 S10 AP2 Firestorms, annihilating one squad of Terminators and insta-killing the Daemon Prince. Some Chaos Marines also died to the S8 AP3 Firestorms.
And then, the Space Marines came from the skies.

This is how the table looked like before the attackers moved in (you can already see 1 Drop Pod).

The Heralds and the Horrors formed one large squad in the ruins in the upper-right corner. Cultists are holding objectives. Helbrute already 1 HP down from Firestorm. Nurgle Prince in the middle down 1 wound from the Firestorm (missed 2+ cover save). Chaos Marines in the ruin below him, down 3 models. Terminators next to the Drop Pod. Our Warlord in the ruined tower.

We both chose the stratagems that wound attackers coming from Deep Strike and scatter them an extra D6. Unfortunately, the Drop Pod landed with a direct hit,  taking 1 HP damage. The combi-plasma armed Wolf Guard then poured out, and annihilated the remaining Chaos Terminators. At least the other two Terminator Squads were scattered sufficiently to miss their turn-1 charge, although they didn't take any wounds (damn Planetstrike). The Imperial Fist reserve rolls were horrible, with only the land Raider, the Drop Pod and the Scouts moving in first turn.

Reeling from the losses, we rallied to the best of our abilities.

The Helbrute charged the Wolf-claw Terminators (proxied by Wraithguard); unfortunately, they had Arjac attached, who then proceeded to destroy it, taking 1 wound in the process.
The Nurgle Prince in the middle charged the Wolf guard, killing three. The Warlord Prince, afraid of instant death by hammer, turned to swooping over the Terminators, but failing to wound with the Vector Strike.
Using 5 out of 6 Blood Tithe points, Bloodletters were summoned in the upper left corner.
The Portalglyph immediately got to work, releasing 4 Pink Horrors.
We were in a very bad position. We needed something, fast. I sacrificed a Herald for Posession, creating a Bloodthirster.

Attackers, turn 2.

The assault was losing steam. The Land Raider flamed the Horrors, but Cursed Earth saved most of them. The Devastators came in, shot at the swooping Bloodthirster, inflicted a wound (missed Jink) and grounded it (taking another wound). This left me able to assault next turn!
The Terminators with the Rune Priest (lower right corner) were milling about, shooting at cultists. The other squad charged the Chaos Marines in the ruins, killing them. However, Chaos decided to favor us in the ensuing challenge. The Chaos Marine Champion inflicted 2 wounds on Arjac, who then failed his 2+ and died.
The Nurgle Prince continued to kill Wolf Guard, but at a very slow pace.

Defenders, turn 2.

Gutsy summoning using the Blood Tithe points landed another group of Bloodletters in the middle of the field.
The Portalglyph spewed forth another squad of Horrors, with Summoning bringing in another one. The middle field was now full of bodies, blocking access to the Heralds and multiple objectives.
The Bloodthirster charged the Scouts, whiffing attacks horribly. 2 were left alive.

On the other side, the Bloodletters helped mop up the Wolf Guard. The Warlord Prince landed, shooting Smite and Life Leech at the Terminators, to no effect.

Attackers, turn 3.

The Rhino and the Tactical squad finally came in, annihilating one Cultist squad. The Terminators destroyed the other. The Devastators shot at the Nurgle Prince and scored 1 wound. The Drop Pod did the same. That's 3 out of 3 2+ cover saves failed.
The Wolf-claw Terminators charged the Bloodletters. It was their time to fail 2+'s, however; 3 died.
The Dreadnought charged the Bloodthirster, inflicting 1 wound. I rolled 1 on my Smash attack.

Defenders, turn 3.

More Summoning and more Blood Tithe. At this point, my partner only had summoned troops on the field.
We had total board control on the left, with Daemonettes from the Portalglyph ranging as far the objectives and the Rhino.
The Rune Priest turned out to be a Herald of Khorne in disguise - thanks to the Warp Storm.
Of course, a number of whiffs were due.
The Bloodthirster rolled another 3 on his Smash Attack, and the Dreadnought finally destroyed him.
The Bloodletters, decimated, charged the Devastators, leaving 2 alive but dieing in the assault.
The Warlord Prince attacked the Rhino, leaving it at 1 HP.
The other Prince shot the Dreadnought, doing nothing.

Turn 4 and 5.

Both sides struggled on, trying to cope with the horrible losses so far.
Outstanding moments:

• The remaining Terminators charged the Warlord Prince, killing him with Daemonic Instability.
• Summoned Pink Horrors charged and killed the Scouts.

However, in the end, the multitude of summoned troops won us the game due to table control. We held 2 objectives, and contested 2 others, with the Marines holding 1. Even with their Slay the Warlord and First Blood, this was a win for Chaos, with the game ending on turn 5.