I wanted a second go at the Siege Regiment, this time slashing out the Basilisks and bringing in artillery that actually fires on 4+. 1500 points against the Black Templars sounded great. I proposed a simple game with just kill points, but we rolled Purge the Foe anyway, so let's have at it.
The Templars presented a phalanx of infantry supported by a plasma Redemptor, and Eliminators on the high ground in a 7th edition type deployment. Two squads of Eradicators hiding behind the Crusader squad.
I accidentally brought a lot of scouting units, so Ratlings, Combat Engineers, Sentinels and Kasrkin in a Chimera pushed up the field. Dorn commander and a lone Hellhound support the Cadian block for the second wave. Bombast Field Nuns with Ursula in the back.
Battle round 1
I thought I was cautious enough, but the scouting Crusaders made their rerollable charge, and annihilated a squad of Combat Engineers. This scored a surprise No Prisoners.
I wanted to preserve my Kasrkin to shoot up the board, so I wasted a CP on Smoke against the Redemptor's plasma cannon, which did one or two wounds.
Everything else pushed up the board.
On my turn, the Cadians broke out of the ruins and everything closed up on the Crusaders.
Furious Fusillade worked a lot better than against the Custodes, nearly annihilating the unit on its own. Small arms and the Hellhound finished them off.
Then I had the Dorn commander shoot its biggest threat, the Redemptor, supported by random hunter killer missiles. To my surprise, the dreadnought died.
Finally, the Ratlings shot across the field killing a Lieutenant, then moved into a line for Engage on all Fronts.
Battle round 2
Send in the second wave of Templars.
Terminators drop in to threaten my artillery and score Behind Enemy Lines. Dorn overwatch killed 1.
Terminator shooting was spread out and ineffective. However, they made their charge and slaughtered an artillery squad. Ursula started sweating.
A Bladeguard Squad charged and killed the center Sentinel to deny me objectives, and tagged the Chimera, again.
Eradicators bounced off both the Chimera and the Hellhound.
On to my turn. Retreat the Chimera and move unto the Bladeguard. Back up the Dorn to threaten the Terminators. Ursula tried running away but couldn't move past the ruins.
Furious Fusillade plus Grenades and Remote Mine deleted the Bladeguard. Dorn with full rerolls from Flare Burst removed the Terminators. Ratlings moved through the wall, shot down another Lieutenant, then moved back.
Battle round 3
I left the Ratlings too close to the wall and they were charged by the Bladeguard. The Cadians then ate Intercessor bolt fire and the Chimera exploded to the Eradicators. However, I still had heavy hitters left. I would also score both Secure No Man's Land and maybe Assassination. I moved the Dorn and the Kasrkin ahead, and the Templars conceded.
Aftermath
When we ended, points were still close, but the Templars were on their last legs. Their shooting was ineffective all game. Whatever they touched in melee died, but they never got to anything important enough. I recommended metal bawkses for their infantry, and dropping the Eliminators, even if they did kill a Cadian Castellan after two turns of shooting. Intercessors are dope.
I did a lot better this time. I would still switch out the backfield artillery for the krieg variants, just as soon as I get my hands on them. Having Ursula sit back for orders and a free reroll for number of shots each turn sounds better than Basilisks.
Realizing that Flare Burst works on tank commanders made my day.
Finally, even though I was reeeeeeally tempted to use the slow effect from the Siege Regiment on the first turn, the chances of slowing down something meaningful were slim. I just ignored cover on important targets for the whole game. I could still do better with target priority.
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