Word Bearers vs Emperor's Children, 22.09.2022

Round two of some Chaos on Chaos action, with the scenario taken from Tempest of War (although my opponent request we scrap the extra mission rule, to which I agreed to).

Triangle deployment, with brave, brave Cultists ready to jump on objectives. On my side most things hide inside transports, while the Emperor's Children blob up the center. Abaddon and a large squad of Terminators waiting to teleport in.

Battle round 1

I got first turn, and Bring it Down. I decided to shoot up the Disco Lord by disembarking all the Havocs.

Reaper Chaincannons eliminate the Cultists in a hail of fire. Then the other squad, plus the Land Raider, do a combined 1 wound. Sigh.

Emperor's Children surge forward to take the middle.

RIP Havocs, although the Chaincannons killed 1 Possessed in overwatch.

Battle round 2

Time to lean on the old favorites: the Rubrics. They walked out and Warptime'd right on top of the Disco Lord, doing a couple of wounds but much less than I expected. Armor of Contempt came in strong.

In the middle, the Venomcrawler and Terminator Sorcerer take out the Possessed. My souped up Terminator Lord takes 4 wounds from Warp Talons and doesn't even take them out. I honestly expected more from this guy.

Disco Lord and Bikers assault the Rubrics, who kill all 3 Bikers in overwatch. Karma coming back on some rolls!

Abaddon came down behind the Bikers, sadly away from the action. He was pretty much wasted there. The Terminators, on the other hand, Honor'd the Prince and smashed into the Venomcrawler after shooting up the objective holding Cultists.

In the meantime, more Possesed and the Warp talons mopped up the center, taking out my Lord. Sigh.

Battle round 3

I was ahead in primary points but behind on cards scored. I still had some plays, though. I needed to take the center.

All those Possessed, Warp Talons and ObSec Cultists... how to handle them? 10 Chosen in the Land Raider with the Black Rune of Damnation, of course!

I shuffled my center units around to grab objectives. I had high hopes for Cypher sneaking unto the table, but he barely scratched the Disco Lord. But then the Raider shot him up for 10 wounds. Where was that the first two turns?

Then the Terminators smashed into the Chosen, and the center turned into a grind.

At this point we got into a rules argument concerning fight first, and it was late anyway, so we called a draw.

Highlights/lowlights

The Disco Lord survived much more than it should have, until the Land Raider decided to show up and overkill him. 4+ proved to be swingy. Armor of Contempt is huge, as always.

The Land Raider pulled its weight, protecting the Chosen and the objective, shooting a bit here and there each turn, charging the Noise Marines to pin them in place, etc.

Speaking of Chosen, 10 with the Black Rune, Mark of Slaanesh, icon, and 5+ ignore wounds (coupled with good rolls, to be honest) were insanely good. They might make a comeback next game.

Terminator Lord with Exalted Possession, slaaneshi double daemon weapon (Chainfist/Lightning Claw) and Intoxicating Elixir was... meh. Or are just Warp Talons that good? Anyway, I missed my Dark Apostle.

Warpflamer overwatch is a killer. But so are Possessed in close combat!