Daemons vs Tyranids, 07.06.2016

We continued our preparation for the tournament.

Mission: Contact Lost + Crusade, Hammer and Anvil Deployment. ETC rules

Points limit:  2000 points

Lists:

Chaos Daemons: 

Daemonic Incursion Detachment

• Warpflame Host 
• 5x 11-man Pink Horrors, 2x Cursed Earth, 2x Posession, Summoning
• 2x 3-man Flamers of Tzeentch
• 2x Exalted Flamer
• Herald on Disk, exalted locus of +1 spell strength, level 3 psyker, rolled on Change
• Demon Lord: Kairos Fateweaver
• Demon Lord: Lord of Change (Staff of Change, reroll invulnerables, Greater Etherblade, level 3 Psyker, the Impossible Robe), Warlord (Soul Blaze on melee attacks)
• Auxiliary: 5-man Chaos Furies

Combined Arms Detachment

• 2x Nurglings
• Herald of Tzeentch on Disk. Level 3 psyker. Divination, Grimoire of True Names
• Herald of Tzeentch on Disk. Level 2 psyker. Divination, Portalglyph
• Aegis Defense Line, Icarus Lascannon

I've reduced the number of Pink Horrors. 99 of them is a logistical nightmare. I've got the ADL instead, for some 2+ go to ground cover saves, rerolling 1s for the Horrors. 

Tyranids:

Living Artillery Node

• 3-man Warriors with 1 Venom Cannon
• 3-man Biovores
• Exocrine

Leviathan Detachment

• 3x Flying Hive Tyrants, twin linked Devourers with Brainleech Worms, Electroshock Grubs, level 2 Psykers, one is the Warlord
• 2x Venomthrope
• 2x Termagaunts 13-man and 14-man with Fleshborers
• Children of Cryptus
  • 8 Genestealers with the Spawn of Cryptus
• 2x Carnifex with twin linked Devourers with Brainleech Worms
• 3-man Zoanthropes with Neurothrope

Deployment

I won the rolloff, so I deployed first and went first.

Kairos on the left, Lord of Change on the right. Pink Horrors in the middle, with the Heralds and the Exalted Flamers attached. Lascannon is represented by a Plaguebearer model (let's assume he throws poop at the speed of light). Flamers and Furies in Deep Strike Reserve. Nurglings infiltrate.

Counter deployment. The only proxy is one Wraithlord that stands in for a Hive tyrant. Genestealers outflank.

With the Nurglings neatly placed in ruins, let's proceed to turn 1.

Chaos Daemons, turn 1.

I neatly forgot to take pictures. Anyway, I failed the Grimoire (twice). So I flew Kairos ahead, killed some Gaunts with psychics, then flew off the table. The Lord of Change did the same, staying in convenient Cursed Earth range. I got some Pink Horrors out of the Portalglyph, then summoned another group, then exchanged one existing group for a Lord of Change through Posession.

Scored 1 point.

Tyranids, turn 1.

Everything advances.

I find myself too close for comfort with a lot of bugs. The Demon Lord shrugs off some shooting, but some Pink Horrors die to Biovore barrage.

No point scored.

Chaos Daemons, turn 2.

Time for bad decisions! Let's fly the Lord of Change directly into the Shadow in the Warp!

I tried to Deep Strike the Flamers so as to kill the Warriors and/or the Biovores. Both squads scattered off-target. Furies misshapped and went to ongoing reserves. The Lord of Change summoned more Flamers to kill off a Zoanthrope and hold objective 1.

Kairos flies on to the board and casts Invisibility onto the Lord of Change.
Some points scored and some models picked off, but no First Blood.

Tyranids, turn 2.

The Hive Tyrands fly dangerously close.

The Flamers get Spirit Leech'd.

The Lord of Change eats lots of shots. Rerolling 3+ fails hard. Then dies to the leadership test due to Shadow in the Warp.
Did I mention that I forgot to cast the Grimoire on Kairos? Two Hive Tyrants focus him off, and he dies.

I am now Greater Demon-less and Warlord-less.
In the top right corner, the Warriors have also annihilated a squad of Flamers.

Chaos Daemons, turn 3.

I tried to salvage the mess I put myself in. Misfortune + lots of Flickering Fire + failed Grounding Test + charge by a squad of Horrors = dead Hive Tyrant.

Furies hold unto the Objective.

Both Nurglings charge Gaunts. One squad wins with only 1 Gaunt getting away. The other squad fails horribly, remaining with 1 model at 1 wound.

The remaining Flamers toast the Warriors. 1 model remains at 1 wound.

Tyranids, turn 3.

The Tyrants fly over the Defense Line and shoot down a lot of Pink Horrors.

The state of the board at the end of turn 3.

By this time, it was already 10 PM, so I conceded (being left behind in kill points) and went home.

Did I actually learn anything?

• ETC rules make no fun for Daemons. Summoning (especially Sacrifice) awards lots of free killpoints to the enemy. Board control does not count for that much if you can only score 2 objectives per turn.
• DO. NOT. FORGET. THE. GRIMOIRE.
• The Lascannon was useless. So were the Exalted Flamers. I didn't get to use the defense line itself either, but I can see it as useful when facing lots of bolter fire.
• Overall, the list has potential. Then again, so did last week's.

Daemons vs Eldar/Dark Eldar, 02.06.2016

In preparation for a coming tournament, we have done a competitive (ish?) game.

Mission: Contact Lost + Crusade, Hammer and Anvil Deployment. ETC rules

Points limit:  2000 points

Lists:

Chaos Daemons: 

Daemonic Incursion Detachment

• Warpflame Host 
• 9x 11-man Pink Horrors, 3 icons scattered about. Got 3x Sacrifice, with Incursion and Summoning on the rest
• Herald on Disk, exalted locus of +1 spell strength, level 3 psyker, rolled on Change
• Demon Lord: Kairos Fateweaver
• Auxiliary: 5-man Chaos Furies

Combined Arms Detachment

• 2x Nurglings
• 3-man Screamers of Tzeentch
• 3x Herald of Tzeentch on Disk. Level 3 psykers. Mix of Change, Divination and Daemonology. Oracular Dais, Portalglyph, Grimoire of True Names.

Massive proxying here. I have 1 single squad of Pink Horrors! Everything is a Pink Horror, except actual Pink Horror models, which are the Heralds.

Dark Eldar: Combined Arms Detachment

• 2x Archon, Warlord, webway portal
• 2x 5-man Cabalites
• Raider, Night Shields
• Imperial Bunker with Comms Relay

Eldar

Allied Detachment

• Autarch
• Rangers
• 3 Nightspinners
• Hemlock Wraithfighter

Wraithhost 

• Spiritseer
• 2x 5-man Wraithguard with D-cannons
• Wraithblades
• Wraithlord, 2 flamers
• Wraithknight, 2x D-cannons, scatterlaser

The Eldar are bringing the D.

Deployment

Everything is a Pink Horror. The Heralds are distributed along the Horror squads just in case the Eldar Steal the Initiative. Furies in reserve.

2 Archons Deep Strike with the Wraithguard. Fighter in reserve. Rangers with Autarch in Bunker. Wraithblades in Raider.

Chaos Daemons, turn 1.

Why didn't I spread out my guys for area denial during deployment? I don't know. But I did in the first turn.

Also summoned some Bloodcrushers to take care of any Wraiths.

The Heralds jump forward, join the Screamers...

... and unleash a psychic barrage that destroys the Raider. First Blood!

But, I forgot to cast the Grimoire. Huge mistake.

Eldar, turn 1.

The Nightspinners target the Screamer Star. I had 3+ invulnerable, rerolling 1s (Warp Storm + Cursed Earth), but I rolled all the 2s in the world. I had one Herald (the useless one that had the Portalglyph) and one Screamer remaining. That's 9 Warp Charges gone, not to mention the Artefacts.

Wraithblades advance. Wraithlord takes out the Nurglings.

Chaos Daemons, turn 2.

Furies arrive and take objective 5.

Kairos swoops forward. It takes a lot, but I manage to stun one Nightspinner. This means one less large blast!

I try to do Overwhelming Firepower on the Cabalites, but they run and then die to other psychics.

I did manage to summon more Heralds. I even got one with Posession.

Eldar, turn 2.

Time to land in the D!

Of course I forgot to take pictures due to excitement. Anyway, my summoned Heralds and Bloodcrushers died. The Wraithblades charged in and killed a unit of Horrors.

Chaos Daemons, turn 3.

Nurglings and Furies move in to tarpit one unit of D.

I charge the other unit with 2 units of Pink Horrors.

... and this is why we play Orks! Just kidding. Of course, 40+ attacks, hitting on 4+, wounding on 6+, 3+ save means no casualties. Fortunately, with rerolling instability and spectacularly bad rolling for the opponent (also 4+ saves due to Cursed Earth) I manage to tarpit.

Kairos flies off the table.

Eldar, turn 3.

Nurglings are worn down to 1 base with 1 wound.

Wraithblades multi-assault and fail spectacularly at killing stuff.

Wraithlord charges Pink Horrors who just cannot die.

Chaos Daemons, turn 4.

Endless combats. Never before have I seen Pink Horrors resist so long in melee! 

Kairos flies back in and risks Perils to get a D-shot at the Wraithknight. Guess what that 6 is next to it?

With the Wraithknight gone, I summon Screamers and turboboost on the objective.

I also summon more Heralds, because why not.

Nurglings die.

Eldar, turn 4.

The D-cannons are finally free to shoot at the Screamers.

JINK!

Chaos Daemons, turn 5.

The Screamers assault the D-guys and get tied combat despite the enemy being invisible!

My master plan unfolds as one Herald as well as Kairos get Possessed! I get two Keepers of Secrets.

Eldar, turn 5.

Screamers holding fast. No combats end. The Pink Horrors love it!

A couple more turns and I would have even killed the Wraithblades.

... and so the game ends on turn 5. My master plan crumbles.

We were pretty close in Maelstrom points, equal in Eternal War points, I had First Blood, he had Linebreaker and Slay the Warlord. Alas, I was far, far behind in kill points. I barely killed a couple of units, whereas all my summoned (and re-summoned... and re-summoned) Heralds provided a large amount of killpoints.

Final result: 14-6 for the Eldar.

Things learned?

• 99 Horrors are a logistical nightmare. I barely had enough miniatures.
• Don't forget the damned Grimoire.
• The answer to D weapons is: endless tarpits!
• Herald management can be tricky. I discounted the ETC rules on killpoints.

Taking breaks and getting back into the game

After another long break, I am back in the game! My wife and I took 2 weeks off to travel around Europe. I am now well rested and ready to take up a challenge. Well, two actually.

Challenge 1: paint, paint, paint.

Well, not just paint. But I intend to:

• finish painting my half-painted models. First in line is a squad of Word Bearers Chaos Space Marines.
• base my painted-but-not-based models. I am looking at the two Spawn models here.
• repair my broken models. Daemonettes are flimsy and they frequently loose their arms, but I have a few broken standards as well.

Of course I have a lot more to do besides that, but the goal is to bypass the hobbyist's curse and finish one thing at a time.

Challenge 2: Warhammer 40k tournament

Coming up on the 25th June. 2000 points. 2 days. I already had my first training game, battle report coming out right after this post.

Wish me luck!

M.A.G.U.S. - Gordham baro atka

Why is this post not in English?

Előzmények

Az állandó kalandmesterünk többször említette, hogy milyen rég MAGUSozott utoljára kalandozóként. Úgy döntöttem, hogy kedvében járok egy kicsit, és KM-kedek egy kalandnyit. Eddig még csak DnD csoportokat igazgattam, úgyhogy kihívás és újdonság lesz bőven!

Bevezető

Miután a kalandozók bevasalták az előző akciójukért járó jutalmukat, a varázsló rájuk sózott egy segítségért esdeklő idős uraságot. Sürgős ügyről volt szó, másnap már indulni kellett.

Wilborint azonban leakasztotta egy futár. Családi birtoka veszélyben forog! A lovag azonnal útra kelt. A varázsló egy ott lézengő elfet küldött harmadiknak az útra.

Daramin

Mint tiszteletre méltó veterán játékos, a volt KM egy saját kaszttal állt elő. Az ifjú elfnek százegynéhány éve van elsajátítani a mozaikmágiat és a harcművészetet - két olyan szakmát, amelyek normális körülémények között teljes odaadást igényelnek. A mindkét irányba fejlesztett képességeknek az egyéb képzettségek hiánya a hátulütője.

Gordham báró átka

Néhány nap lovaglás után érkeztek meg Gordham báró birtokára. Az öreg várnagy semmit sem volt hajlandó előre elárulni, ám a kalandozók sikeresen megfőzték Janit, a fiatal mindenes szolgát, hogy elárulja a küldetés mibenlétét. A szolga szerint a bárói családot átok sújtja, ezt kell majd nekik feloldani.

A birtokra érés után - vidéki nemeshez mérten - gazdag lakoma fogadta a kalandozókat. A báró, egy tapasztalatlan fiatalember, szivélyesen fogadta vendégeit. Az igazi  főnöknek azonban az öreg várnagy nézett ki. Együtt adták elő a báró családjának tragikus történetét: a férfi ágot sújtó átok a birtok átvevésekor lép életbe, és néhány év alatt legyengíti, majd megöli az éppen aktuális bárót. Az átok forrásaként egy boszorkánymestert jelöltek meg, akit a báró dédapja ölt meg ezelőtt hatvan évvel. Az egészben a legfurcsább egy cigányasszony proféciája volt, mely a jelek szerint pontosan a jelenlegi kalandozócsapatot jövendölte meg.

A kalandozók egyből gyanut fogtak - a profécia túl pontos volt. Azonnal több irányban is vizsgálódni kezdtek. Mágikus energiaforrások után kutattak - ám a bárót semmilyen hasonló dolog nem övezte. Körbeszimatoltak a birtokon, ám a szakácsnőtől csak annyit tudtak meg, hogy a birtok gyengén védett, nincsen sok katona. Végül nem láttak jobb megoldást, mint eltorlaszolni a háló ajtaját, majd nyugalomra térni. 

Másnap reggel elvezették őket a régvolt boszorkánymester romos szentélyéhez. A történet szerint már több kalandozócsoportot is fogadtak már fel, de senki sem emlékezett arra, hogy mit csinált a romoknál.

Előzetes kutatás után - ami csupán vadállatok nyomait fedte fel - a kalandozók végül megközelítették a romot. A bejárat feltételezett helyén egy sima fal állt. Közeledtükre kőszáj alakult ki, és találós kérdéssel fogadta őket. Először nem találták ki a helyes választ, és azonnal feledésmágia lett úrrá rajtuk. Másodikra azonban megfeleltek a kérdésre, és a mágikus őr beengedte őket.

Rövid ereszkedő után egy romos, beomlott, növényekkel benőtt terembe értek, ahol farkasok vertek tanyát. A négytagú falka a kalandozókra rontott, és súlyosan megsebesítették Daramint, mielőtt tűz, villám és penge végzett velük.

Pár órás pihenő után a kalandozók nekiestek a legromosabb falnak, és fel is tártak egy lefele irányuló járatot. Egy megviselt ajtó mögött, egy nagyobb teremben, régmúlt csatatér helyszínére leltek. Az egymás hegyén-hátán tornyosuló hullák természetellenesen haladó bomlás jeleit mutatták. Rövid fürkészés után a csapat a terem végében tornyosuló kapu irányába vette az utat, ám egy óvatlan lépés mágikus csapdát hozott életre. Több holttest életre kelt, és elállták az utat.

A boszorkánymester azonnal átvette az irányítást három élőholt felett. A tűzvarázsló mágikus lángjai elborítottát az őt támadó zombikat. Az elf mesterien forgatott karddal pusztította ellenfeleit.

A terem egy pillanatra sötétbe borult, ahogy Aegon ráesett a kezében tartott fáklyára...

... de ennyi varázslóval ez nem okoztt sokáig gondot, és az élőholtak hamarosan mind elhullottak.

Nem utolsósorban az, amelyikkel Aegon levágatta a saját fejét.

Rövid kutatás a holttestek között némi pénzt és ékszert eredményezett. 

A következő próbatétel a kapu kinyitása volt, ami nyers erővel nem sikerült - Phempheusz szinte gerincsérvet kapott. Ám pszi-erővel megsokszorozott fizikai erő mozgásra bírta a berozsdázott vasakat.

A kalandozók egy pókháló-lepte laboratóriumban találták magukat. Szemközt fakó trónon csontváz üldögélt, bordái között hosszúkard. A vizsgálatra induló Daramint egy lidérces látomás lepte meg. A valamikori boszorkánymester holta után is bosszút igért a nyugalmát zaklatóknak. Még be sem fejezte jól a meséjét, amikor a trón mögötti falat áttörve, egy hatalmas szörny rontott a terembe.

Mindenki bevetette az összes varázslatot, amit csak elő tudott csikarni. A szörny pengével, tüskével, csáppal és ollóval támadott. Piócaszerű szájával sikerült ráakaszkodnia Phempheusz fejére - a tűzvarázsló testét azonnal erős kínméreg járta át. Mindez hiába - néhány kör után, több sebből vérezve, hiányzó végtagokkal, a szörny összerogyott.

A laboratóriumot átkutatva, a kalandozók néhány titokzatos üvegcsére bukkantak - ám egy képzett varázsló számára a természetes anyagok kevés rejtélyt nyújtanak. (Természetesen meg kellett a meditáló Phempheusszal szagoltatni az erős afrodiziákumot a vörös üvegcséből. A mit sem sejtő tűzvarázsló egész este hadakozott ébredező szexualitásával.)

Az átok feloldása

A kalandozók mindent magukkal vittek - iratokat, üvegcséket, a szörny különös módon mágiataszító vérét, és visszatértek a báró udvarházába. Kétségbeesett kisérletezést folytattak reggelig. Az üvegcsék tartalma: afrodiziákum, sav, méreg - nem nyújtott megoldást. A szörny vére egyszerűen több faj mágiával összefűzött vérkeverékének bizonyult. A biztonság kedvéért - és jobb ötlet híján - a báró ünneplő ruhájának bélésébe több, ezen vért tartalmazó edényt varrattak.

Reggel aztán sor került az avatási szertartásra. Az unalmas beszéd és fogadalom végén a báró rituálisan bort ivott a családi kehelyből, majd tisztelete és hálája jeléül átnyújtotta a kalandozóknak. Phempheusznak és Daraminnak semmi nem tűnt fel, ám a szemfüles Aegon kiszúrta, hogy a kehely nehezebb, mint amilyen kéne legyen, és néhány helyen szürke fém látszik az aranyborítás alatt. Az átok nyitja tehát az ólomkehely, melyből a mindenkori Gordham báró reggel és este szertartásosan bort fogyaszt. Phempheusz azonnali szókitörését Daramin állította meg, majd az észbe kapott kalandozók diplomatikusan meggyőzték a bárót, hogy ne használja többet az edényt.

Az elégedett, és immáron boldog, báró még néhány napig vendégül látta a kalandozókat, majd saját zsebéhez mérten gazdagon megjutalmazva engedte őket útnak.

Daemons vs Khorne Daemonkin, 26.04.2016

This time, we decided to have a fun - and not a least bit competitive - game. Our gentleman's agreement: no vehicles, and no monstrous creatures.

Mission: Spoils of War + The Relic, Vanguard Strike Deployment

Points limit:  2000 points

Lists:

Chaos Daemons: 

Daemonic Incursion Detachment

• Flayertroupe
• 3x 10-man Daemonettes, Alluress 
• 3x 3-man Fiends of Slaanesh
• Herald of Slaanesh, psyker lvl 2, The Slothful Claw, Etherblade
• Rotswarm
• 6x Beast of Nurgle
• 3-man Plague Drones, Plagueridden with Etherblade, icon, Death's Heads, instant death attack

Combined Arms Detachment

• 11-man Pink Horrors, rolled Sacrifice
• 3-man Nurglings
• 4x Herald of Tzeentch, all lvl 3 Psykers
• Paradox, rolled all on Daemonology (Malefic), Warlord (useless trait)
• Endless Grimoire, rolled all on Change
• Portalglyph
• Locus of +1 spell strength

Around 70 models on the table. I imagined Nurgle on one side and Slaanesh on the other, with the psychic kill squad bringing up the middle.

Note some proxies, as I lack the models for all this. Plaguebearers on 40mm bases act as Beasts of Nurgle, along with the Nurgle Spawn model I assembled and painted just for this role. Plaguebearers on 60mm bases act as Plague Drones. The Herald of Nurgle is proxied by a Herald of Khorne model.

Unpainted Plaguebearers on 40mm bases act as Fiends of Slaanesh, along with the Slaaneshi Spawn model I assembled and painted just for this role.

Khorne Daemonkin: Blood Cult detachment

• Slaughtercult
• 10-man Possessed
• 2x 10-man Chaos Marines, 2 Flamers each
• 10-man Bloodletters
• Chaos Lord on Juggernaut with Korlath, Axe of Ruin, Warlord (trait: no leadership when ascending to daemonhood)
• Gorepack
• 2x 5-man Fleshhounds
• 2x 3-man Chaos Bikers, 2 Flamers each
• Brazen Onslaught
• 2x 5-man Terminators, all with Power Mauls
• 3-man Bloodcrushers
• 4-man Bloodcrushers, icon, Bloodhunter

Lots and lots of close combat units. Also around 70 models. This should indeed be fun.

Note that while the Axe of Ruin walk the fine line of the edge of our agreement, I easily countered by rolling on Daemonology/Malefic (although I did not get Posession anywhere).

Deployment

Obviously, the deployment method ruined my plans of a unified front. I also had to counter the Daemonkin deployment, who went first. So the Daemonettes on the left flank counter the Bloodletters and Terminators across the line. The Daemonettes with the Herald and some Fiends counter Bloodcrushers and Terminators on the other flank. More Fiends, along with the bulk of Nurgle's forces and the Psychic kill squad bring up the middle to counter Marines, Possessed and more Bloodcrushers. 

We placed the Relic in the middle to add a bit of narrative to the batrep: let's have Khorne fight the other 3 gods over some kind of daemonic weapon. However, in the end, we kind of ignored it and just punched it each to death.

Let the mayhem begin!

Khorne Daemonkin, turn 1.

Uneventful, really. The Daemonkin were reluctant to advance in mass, so as not to give me the chance for first charges. Two factors proved crucial:

- pulling objective 2 (which was right in front of my Daemonettes on the far side), a squad of Bikers turbo boosted there, knowing full well that they will die horribly. However, if they did not, I could steal that objective in the following turn

- pulling Behind Enemy Lines, with the Bikers already within 12" of my edge, the Bloodcrushers and the Terminators on the far side ran in the shooting phase, so as to get D3 Victory Points (rolled 2).

At the end of the turn: 3-0.

Chaos Daemons, turn 1.

First off, I advanced my Nurgle units into the middle, to secure the Relic. Then, I surrounded the Bikers with Daemonettes and Fiends.

I deployed the Portalglyph, and it scattered right into the middle, hampering my further movement.

A Lash of Slaanesh killed 1 Flesh Hound and 1 Possessed, and more importantly, consumed the deny dice of my opponent. I then casted Acquiescence of the Bikers, denying their double Flamers Overwatch.

Flickering Fire of Tzeentch (with Prescience and Perfect Timing) killed 3 and a half Bloodcrushers, although my Heralds suffered 2 wounds due to Perils in the process.

I then charged everything into the Bikers, killing them. I got First Blood and Assasinate. I also now held 3 objectives, scoring The Glory of Chaos for D3 (1) Victory Points.

For extra lulz, I charged 4 Flesh Hounds with a Beast of Nurgle, intending to sacrifice it as a tarpit for a couple of turns, maybe. I circled around with another Beast, intending to take the objective on top of the large structure in the corner.

3-3.

Khorne Daemonkin, turn 2.

At the beginning, I was sitting most comfortably with a bubble of Cursed Earth around the Heralds, as well as Feel no Pain from the Nurgle Herald.

Alas, my activity on the previous turn yielded enough Blood Tithe points to summon Bloodletters.

With most of my models moved up, the Daemonkin marched forward and prepared to assault. At the of this turn, most of our units were locked in close combat (just where they belong!).

My barricade was flawed, and the Bikers charged the Fiends in the center.

The Flesh Hounds got through to the Horrors. I counter charged with 2 Beasts of Nurgle. We both scored some wounds.

The surviving Crusher and the attached Lord charged a Beast of Nurgle. No wounds on either side.

The Possessed charged the Plague Drones. I lost combat, but managed to spread the wounds around to have 2 surviving models.

The Bloodcrushers on the flank charged some Fiends. I counter charged with a Beast of Nurgle. The Fiends were annihilated.

Chaos Daemons, turn 2.

With Maniacal Fervour, the Daemonettes and the Herald of Slaanesh smashed aside the Bloodcrushers. On the bottom, a squad of Chaos Marines and one of Terminators footslog ahead, trying to reach the fighting.

The other two squads of Daemonettes on the other flank each charged a squad of Bloodletters, leaving 2-3 models alive and getting locked in combat.

I charged the Lord and his Crusher with some Fiends, but failed to kill the Lord. I was trying to prevent the Axe of Korlath shenanigans.

Pink Horrors came out of the Portalglyph, and summoned more Fiends of Slaanesh.

The Possessed killed the remaining Plague Drones. I decided to ignore them for now.

The lone Beast of Nurgle was still holding up 4 Flesh Hounds.

Khorne Daemonkin, turn 3.

Axe of Korlath shenanigans! We got a Daemon Prince without wings and a Bloodthirster.

The Possessed charged and killed the Daemonettes, along with the Herald.

The Marines and Terminators shot the Fiends in the ruins, doing a good job of killing them.

Chaos Daemons, turn 3.

Time to finish the fight.

Two squads of Daemonettes closed in on the Terminators, while 4 Beasts of Nurgle and 3 Fiends surrounded the Possessed.

The Terminators were killed, but the Possessed rolled miraculously well for their saves (that, and I rolled horribly for my random attacks) and inflicted enough wounds to phase out all their opponents due to Daemonic Instability. There goes half the army!

At this point, the shop was closing, and we were past 4 hours play time. We decided to end it there.

Points wise, I was in the lead with a generous 12-7. As far as my opponent was concerned, I won.

Thinking about it, I'm not that sure about it. The Daemon Prince was unharmed and ready to charge. The Possessed were now free to do as they pleased in the middle of my lines. On the other hand, I held the Relic, and had more units in the middle to throw into the grinder, with more that could be summoned at any time. In the back lines, the Daemonettes would most likely kill the remaining Marines. So the game was far from decided - alas, we had to end it.

Conclusion

• This was a fun and epic game! I haven't had so much fun in a long while, with each of us trying not to out-cheese the other, but to play a fair and balanced, low power-level game.
• On the other hand, 2000 points with 140 models on the table is reaallllly slow to play.
• The number of specials rules can be overwhelming. We frequently forgot hatred, the Possessed tables, the Nurgle Herald issuing orders etc.