Daemon World, 1500p: Iron Hands vs Dark Angels

So we wanted to try out the scenario in The Crusade of Fire with all the Daemon World rules and stuff. So here it is. To not make it too complicated and drawn out we went for 1500p. I also decided to bring my Dark Angels... since it'd not give me any advantage with them Daemon-rules and what not.

So for starters I wanted to try out Belial, so in he went. My two units of Deathwing with him. I think I will Deep Strike these two squads in the middle turn 1 to take full advantage of the Deathwing Assault. Also, the scenario gives you points for every turn you control the objective... so if I can grab it turn 1 all ready it will be helpful.

With this get in the middle fast thinking I also grabbed my 5 Scouts. They can Infiltrate in. All though I know he has a lot of Scouts as well, so no guarantee that I'll get the middle with them.

Another unit to get in his face turn one is 10 Veterans arriving by Drop Pod. Hopefully they'll cause some damage. I equipped them with 2 Meltas (one Combi) and a Combi-Flamer. Mostly to be kinda WYSIWIG. Might Combat Squad these, so that either the Meltas are in separate squads, or the meltas+flamer are in the same squad. Depends on his list... if he has a lot of vehicles I'll gamble and separate them. These guys will be joined by a Interrogator-Chaplain, mainly just because I want to try him out - and this is also why I'll most likely NOT Combat Squad this unit. To get the most out of them. But we'll see...

Then I simply filled out with Tactical Marines to advance up as quickly as possible. And that's my 1500p!


Lists

Dark Angels
HQ
Belial
Interrogator-Chaplain - Auspex, Melta bombs, Power Field Generator

Troops
5 Deathwing - Chainfist, Assault Cannon
5 Deathwing - Chainfist, Assault Cannon
5 Scouts - Camocloaks, Sniper Rifles, Flakk Missile Launcher
10 Tactical Marines - Plasma Gun, Plasma Cannon
10 Tactical Marines - Plasma Gun, Missile Launcher

Elites
9 Veterans - 1 Melta gun, 1 Combi-Melta, 1 Combi-Flamer, Melta bombs
+Drop Pod

Iron Hands
HQ
Force Commander - Terminator Armour, Lightning Claws

Troops
10 Tactical Marines - Heavy Bolter, Flamer
10 Tactical Marines - Heavy Bolter, Flamer
10 Tactical Marines - Missile Launcher, Flamer

Elites
7 Assault Terminators - Thunder Hammers/Storm Shields
+Land Raider Crusader

Heavy Support
Vindicator
5 Devastators - Missile Launchers


Pre

The scenario is you set up the objective in the middle and then chose long table edges. If you hold the objective in the end of a turn you get the turn number amount of VP. So a bit different. Also there's Daemonic Possession going on, and my Scouts were Possessed by Slaanesh, one of my Tacticals as well, and my Veterans were Possessed by Tzeentch. One of his Tacitcals were possessed by Slaanesh as well. I got to chose sides, he won who to go first but let me deploy first. I set up my Tacticals, putting all Terminators in reserve, Deep striking turn 1. Scouts Infiltrated up in the middle on the objective, hoping to grab a quick VP.
He got Master of Offence for Warlord trait. No night fight and no steal.

Turn 1 - Dark Angels

So, with the Daemon World rules the first thing that happened was that I got to chose any of his units and "re-deploy" it using Deep Strike... so I picked up his Land Raider and put it in a corner far away, hoping for it to mishap and die... and it did. Just that instead of dying it got "opponent gets to place it"... so he put it back basically where it started! And since it suffered a mishap that meant a unit of Plaguebearers spawned where the Land Raider was supposed to be... what a weird start.

Anyway, then my Drop Pod came in, melta:ed and exploded the Land Raider anyway for First Blood, and Belial landed in the middle, the other squad of Terminators behind the Vindicator and they wrecked that one too. I also killed most of one of the Tacical Squads, including special weapons and Sergeant.

Turn 1 -Iron Hands

Daemon World was something against Psykers I think. His Terminators were angry, and moved up and slaughtered the poor Scouts leaving them right on top of the objective. In the one corner he shot away all but two of my Terminators, and thanks to the Possession token on the Veterans he also managed to kill 3 of them.

Daemons 

So in total 16 models died this turn, which meant that 15 Bloodletters spawned in the middle... they scattered off to the Iron Hands side of the board and proceeded to charge and kill the last of the Tactical Squad I maimed last turn. The Plaguebearers charged my Terminators but it was a stand off.



Turn 2 - Dark Angels

Nothing much happened for Daemon World, luckily... the board was all ready crowded with Daemons...

Belial and his Terminators charged the Asasult Terminators in the middle, but before that I shot them up with some plasma here and there. I think I killed two from combined shooting. I also killed a couple of Marines with long distance shooting, and the Veterans charged in against the other large Tactical Squad (after flaming them first). The Interrogator-Chaplain killed two, and the Marines killed two from each side or so... not much more happened there. In the middle I challenged with Belial to protect him from Thunderhammers, actually caused a wound on his Commandor for none in return. My other Terminators were slaughtered though, leaving two alive...

Turn 2 -Iron Hands

Another Daemon World result that didn't have much impact I think.

We decided that you'd be allowed to shoot into a combat where you weren't involved yourself, so he proceeded to shoot at my Terminators and killed mostly Plaguebearers (we randomized the hits) but also just barely finished off the Deathwing. He also fired frag missiles into the clumped up unit of Bloodletters and killed them all easy.
In the challenge Belial caused another wound (!) for none in return. His Terminators killed one of mine for none in return.

Daemons 

Another turn with over 15 kills... so 15 new Daemons spawned... but because we randomed them into Horrors and I only have 10 Horror-models we decided to make two units, the remaining five became Bloodletters. Both hit dead on in the middle... both charged into the Terminator-fight and killed my last Terminators and one of his. The one remaining Plaguebearer successfully charged his Tacticals, was killed and they consolidated up higher on their hill.


Turn 3 - Dark Angels

This turn Nurgle showed up and tried to rust my Drop Pod, but failed.

I started shooting into the Daemons surrounding the Terminators (we decided this was okay since they were so many...), killing off a few. I also took some pot-shots at his troops sitting up on the hills and killed a few with Missile Launcher and Plasma Cannon. The Veterans finally won their fight with 3 models left alive. The Warlord-challenge was a stand off again.

Turn 3 -Iron Hands

For Daemon World, he rolled mass possession... and of course rolled 6 for how many... and of course I had exactly 6 units left so I got all of them.

By this point neither of us had many units to actually do stuff with... he moved closer to the middle, killed some of my Tactical Marines.
In the Challenge nothing happened again, the Terminators killed off a few Daemons.

Daemons 

Only five Daemonettes spawned this turn... but they also got right in the middle. They found a gap in the lines and could charge the Terminators. After all was settled only two Terminators and the challenge (which was untouchable) remained from the Marines and still lots of Daemons.

Turn 4 - Dark Angels

Khorne showed up and gave everyone Rage... yikes.

He tried to kill me by removing a couple of the Possession-tokens, but nothing happened. I again did as last turn, killed some Daemons in the middle and a few of his Tacticals that I could reach with my Missile Launcher and Plasma Cannon. The Veterans started moving towards the Devastators on the hill, but rolled poorly for terrain moves. I also charged one five-man squad into the Daemons, with all those attacks I wiped the Daemonettes out and should've killed three Bloodletters with a single Marine but he made all the saves... The Challenge was once again a stand-off.

Turn 4 -Iron Hands

He decided to shoot back at me instead of killing Daemons in the middle as revenge... I told him not to do it since it'd spawn more Daemons... but he wouldn't listen. :P
The Challenge was a stand off once again. (AP3-weapons in a Terminator challenge is really, really silly...).

Daemons 
 
So, since he killed some of my Tacticals five Bloodletters spawned and scattered once again in his direction... they then proceeded to munch up his five man Tactical unit. Serves him right for killing me instead of Daemons!
  

Turn 5 - Dark Angels

Daemon World gave us Rage once again.

My Veterans moved up to within 6" of the Devatators, charged up the hill... I rolled exactly 6 on three dice. But then he remembered Overwatch and killed my closest guy so I failed the charge anyway... bah.

In the challenge Belial FINALLY managed to kill his Commander and that's +2VP for me, Slay the Warlord and Belials Warlord trait! All Daemons were basically dead by now... I also shot and killed his last scoring Marine, so his only chance to get any points at all was killing Belial and denying me from capturing the middle.

Turn 5 -Iron Hands + Daemons

So of course he shot all he had at my Tacticals and managed to kill just enough to spawn more Daemons who didn't scatter and assaulted into the middle. In the Assault phase Thunderhammer insta-gibbed Belial who had been trying to kill Daemons to save both of them... but no, apparently the Chaos had spread further than he thought as he was chopped down from behind...

We rolled to see if it ended, and it did. So Dark Angels victory, 3-1 after all!



Lessons Learnt

Well, no lessons to be had here as it was just a fun game... but what a strange scenario! The board nearly had us both beat! I think this scenario would have been even more fun with no Marine-armies however, as Fear had no effect at all... So that's it for next time, no silly Marines! 

1850p: Orks vs Dark Angels

So I've slowly been adding some Dark Angels... and my plan was to not play them until I had actually painted them... but when I realized I could make a 1850p list I couldn't really resist. So my first opponent will be Orks! Yay!

So there's not terribly much thinking about this list, as it's basically what I have. Azrael makes pretty much the entire army scoring, he and the Librarian will join the Command Squad - which will be boosted by Prescience.

Azrael chooses his Warlord trait with no need to roll, and depending on the mission I'll go for the Feel No Pain within 3" of an objective (and move him into a scoring unit where he is needed) or The Hunt as Azrael should be quite good at killing whatever Ork is in lead. The other traits doesn't make much sense, as I'm not planning to charge much in this game and the only reserves I have come in automatically.

The Veterans in the Drop Pod will probably be Combat Squaded - having the two Combi-meltas (+melta bombs) and the Plasma gun in one squad and the flamer in the other. This way I can use both the Flamer and still be able to blow some vehicle up. And my thinking for putting them all in the Drop Pod is that they have 2A base so they shouldn't be push overs if they're counter-assaulted. This is also a reason why I might want to keep them in one squad for safety in numbers... I'll have to decide that after I see his list I suppose. But most likely they'll be two squads.

The Terminators will come in turn 2, either off the Bikers beacon or the Drop Pods beacon, depending on which one has the better position for them to cause as much havoc as possible.

And that's basically it. The Tacticals will Combat Squad unless we play Purge the Alien, with the Heavy Weapons-guys on the backfield objectives and the plasma guns and pistols covering the midfield.

Oh, and I built this list before I knew I was playing this game, so I just added Flakk Missiles as an afterthought. Then I got to play Orks, and I realized he might've finally built his Dakkajet, so those two Flakk Missiles might be very handy indeed!


LISTS

Dark Angels
HQ
Azrael
Librarian - Level 2, Melta bombs
Command Squad - Company Banner, 4 plasma guns, melta bombs

Troops
10 Tactical Marines - Plamsa gun, Plasma Cannon, Plasma pisto, melta bombs
10 Tactical Marines - Plamsa gun, Missile Launcher (w. Flakk), Plasma pistol, melta bombs
5 Scouts - Sniper rifles, camo cloaks, Missile-Launcher (w. Flakk)
5 Deathwing Terminators - Assault Cannon, Chainfist
5 Deathwing Terminators - Assault Cannon, Chainfist
3 Ravenwing Attack Squad - Plasma gun, melta bombs

Elites
10 Company Veterans - Flamer, Plasma Gun, 2 melta bombs, 2 Combi-Meltas
+Drop Pod - Locator Beacon


Orks
HQ
Wazdakka Gutsmek

Troops
12 Ork Shoota Boyz - Nob, Power Klaw, Bosspole
+Trukk - Red Paint Job, Reinforced Ram
12 Ork Shoota Boyz - Nob, Power Klaw, Bosspole
+Trukk - Red Paint Job, Reinforced Ram
9 Ork Warbikers - Nob, Power Klaw, Boss Pole
22 Ork Shoota Boyz - Nob, Power Klaw, Boss Pole
23 Ork Shoota Boyz - Nob, Power Klaw, Boss Pole

Elites
13 Lootas - Mek, Grot oiler

Fast Attack
Dakkajet - Additional Supashoota, Red Paint Job, Fighta Ace
20 Ork Stormboyz - Nob, Power Klaw, Boss Pole

Heavy Support
Battlewagon - Deffrolla, 2 Big Shootas, Red Paint Job


Pre

So I randomized some terrain and we rolled for mission and deployment and got Emperor's Will (2 objectives) and Hammer and Anvil. I won to chose side, and chose the side with the river.
He won the roll off to go first, and decided to do so. For Warlordtraits he got an extra dice for run rolls, and I chose Feel no Pain when within 3" of objective, because I felt I wouldn't be able to catch up to a bike with Azrael... I got Prescience and Hallucination for my Librarian.
My Bikers scouted across the river, and my Scouts Infiltrated to up on a hill.
There was Night Fighting Turn 1, and I didn't steal initiative.

Lootas inside Battlewagon, my objective in the river corner his behind the mountain.

Turn 1 - Orks

So everything started to move forward (one Stormboy died from his own rokkitpack), and his objective was revealed to be a Targeting Relay (not bad!). Trukks stopped to shoot at Ravenwing, but failed to do any damage. Some more scattered shots also failed to do anything, but Wazdakka killed 3 Scouts (including my Missile Launcher that was Precision sniped by Wazdakka) while the other bikers turbo-boosted, but the Scouts stayed put.

Turn 1 - Dark Angels

So my Drop Pod came in, and as stated in my intro the Deathwing stayed out. The Pod landed to the side of the Battlewagon, pretty much where I wanted it. The Melta-half of the Veterans jumped out close to the Battlewagon and the Flamers and Plasma on the other side. The river was revealed to be Hyperslme (which didn't worry me at all, with Ld10 and a re-roll on top of that), and my objective was sabotaged. Not much other movement really.
The Combi-meltas did their job, and one hit and exploded the Battlewagon, killing half of the Lootas on the inside as well. The Flamer four Stormboys, and the Plasma overheated and got killed... The Bikers that had scooted away some shot their plasma and bolters at the closest Trukk, getting one penetrating hit and one glance, but both went through and I got another explodes result, so the Trukk careened backwards and exploded a measily 1" which covered 1 boy that made his save. Only two boyz on the inside died. The Command Squad that was Prescienced shot at the other Trukk, making it explode on the spot and killing half the squad inside. The Scouts got one precision hit at Wazdakka, but failed to wound.

Turn 2 - Orks

The Dakkajet came in. Bikers moved up towards the 5 Marines on this side of the board, shot 3 to death and then easily killed the other 2 in assault (despite me trying to be cheesy and survive through challenge). The Lootas killed off the remaining Scouts.
The Dakkajet only managed to kill two Marines (from the squad with the Flakk missiles) despite calling a Waaagh. The Waaagh at least helped the Boys to complete their charges. The two units of Trukk boys both tried to charge the Ravenwing, starting with the small squad that was furthest away trying to draw out my Overwatch, but I judged correctly that 9" was too far despite Fleet and managed to kill two boys from the other squad instead. In the combat the Orks killed 2 bikers, leaving only the Plasma gunner alive, but he used Hit&Run to get away from combat.
The Veterans with depleted combi-meltas was charged by the large unit of Boyz, and killed 4 Boys before they got to strike and in return only one Veteran died. The other half of the Veterans was charged by the Stormboyz, they failed their Overwatch, but killed one boy in combat - but more importantly the Sergeant killed the Nob in a Challenge before he got to hit back and in return the Stormboyz killed 2 Veterans. Extremely successful combat for me!

Turn 2 - Dark Angels

So the Deathwing Assault occurs, and both Deathwing squads manage to squeeze in between the cliffs and behind the Boyz within 6" of the Locator Beacon on the Drop Pod. Both squads shot at the Boyz holding their Objective, could only see 10 of them but with twin-linked shots for arriving they killed all they could see.
My Flakk Missile shot and hit the Dakkajet, and destroyed one of it's supa shootas. My Marines combined with the Command Squad finished off the Trukk Boys in one sweep (but the Sergeant in the Hyperslime river overheated his Plasma pistol and died in the process). The lone Biker killed a Loota.
The Stormboyz finished their Veterans, but one heroic Veteran in the other squad held the large squad of Boyz at bay (thanks to the Nob completely failing his attacks).


Turn 3 - Orks

The Warbikers moved up next to the river, preparing to charge across. Wasdakka once again Precision shot the Missile Launcher in this squad as well! But they failed their charge, losing one bike in the process.
The Dakkajet killed one Marine on top of the hill, feeling safe since the Flakk missiles were all gone. The Lootas and their Mek shot at the lone biker, killing him but the Mek overheated his gun and died as well.
The Boys finally killed the last Veteran in combat and consolidated a bit. The Stormboyz jumped a whooping 18" towards the Command Squad, and killed one despite only being in range with 5 sluggas.



Turn 3 - Dark Angels

In my little corner everything shot at the Bikers since they were scoring and the Dakkajet would have to fly off the field anyway. I managed to kill a single biker. I also tried to cast Hallucination, but was denied by the Warboss.
The other side of the board the Deathwing reigned supreme however, one squad tried to move around the mountain to get at the Boyz behind, killing most of them (all they could see once again). The other squad shot at the other Boyz killing a few, and then declared a multi-charge at the Boys and Lootas. They lost one of their number, but killed enough Boys to make them flee, leaving 2 Lootas and around 8 Boyz alive.
My Objective exploded, but failed to kill anything.

Turn 4 - Orks

The Lootas kept running, but the Boys rallied (on a double one! Too bad it was the Lootas that needed it...). The Dakkajet left the airspace, and both the Warbikers and Stormboyz crossed the Hyperslime river without any problems (well, one biker died to Dangerous Terrain). In the Shooting Phase Wazdakka had obviously spent his aiming with all that Missile-sniping and rolled four ones... follwed by another four ones for the re-rolls. D'oh. His Warbikers killed the remaining Marines from the squad that used to have the Missile Launcher though. The Stormboyz charged the Command squad (that got three hits on Overwatch, despite missing Prescience this turn, and also one gets hot that killed a guy). Azrael killed 4 before they could react, and all the other Marines just flailed aimlessly while the Orks failed to penetrate armour - and as a result fled and was Swept.
The Boyz that was holding the Objective also charged the Terminators coming their way, and all died for the effort.

Turn 4 - Dark Angels

The Deathwing on the Orks Objective moved up to grab it, while still getting a good line of fire up, utilizing Split Fire to perfect effect, killing both the Lootas and the four Boyz they could see. The other Deathwing finished off the remaining Boyz.
The Marines combined with the Prescienced Command Squad killed all Warbikers except for Wazdakka, and with him the sole Ork left on the board he conceded.

So when the game ended the score was 5-1 for the Dark Angels (but likely a 9-0 if turn 5 was played)!


Lessons Learnt

I didn't really learn this lesson this game, but Drop Pods are awesome. My trap with two units that are pretty decent in close combat so you don't want to charge them, but if you don't they charge you really did their job at tying up and dividing the Ork-force. Those Veterans probably won me the game themselves!
I was helped immensely by the terrain and the deployment map however, with a semi-shooty fast list against me... and me being able to hide in a corner behind a river that was potentially dangerous for most of his fast stuff. And I also think he should've moved faster with the Trukks in turn one instead of stopping to shoot, so that helped me a bit.
I also learned that Combat Squads is a ridiculously good rule. Being able to feed a small unit like I did on the flank the bikers came up on to delay them while still having enough units to hold the objective worked out great. A single unit can only go through so many units in a game after all!
And then the Deathwing... wow, they're devastating on the turn they come in. Twin-linked Assault Cannons are awesome. I was worried by the amount of Boyz when I saw the list, but I managed to come in behind Terrain, and while one of the Boyz squads was locked in combat so that just worked out perfectly for me. They barely had to make any saves all game!
And then there's Azrael. His Ld10 across the board was really helpful (I would've failed quite a lot of Ld-test without that actually). Probably his most useful ability (except for making Deathwing and Ravenwing Troops of course). And he actually got a chance to dish it out in close combat as well, showing that he can do some damage there!
I really misplaced the Scouts however. I should've sat them in the forest instead, where they could've acted as another distraction for the Warbikers. Maybe they would've spend another turn before they got to my corner that way. But ohwell.
This deployment map really made my battleplan work out perfectly however. But I'll have to try again on a different deployment to see if it's still as solid! I felt the Dark Angels shooting is pretty powerful at least!

Walkers of Death: 1750p Iron Hands vs Black Legion

So, an idea hit me a while back. My friend who plays Iron Hands obviously likes Dreadnoughts. I can also field a lot of Walkers, and add Monstrous Creatures to make up the numbers. Clash of Titans? Yes, had to be done. My list is basically all the big guys I could squeeze in. Bare minimum of Troops... hopefully we'll not play objectives...


LISTS

Black Legion Chaos Space Marines
HQ
Daemon Prince - Slaanesh, Mastery Level 2, Gift of Mutation, Black Mace, Wings, Power Armour, Spell Familiar

Troops
5 Chaos Space Marines - Meltagun
5 Chaos Space Marines - Meltagun

Elites
Decimator - Siege Claw & Heavy Flamer, Butcher Cannon
Helbrute - Power Fist, Multi-melta

Heavy Support
Maulerfiend - Lasher Tendrils
Defiler - TL-Heavy Flamer, Reaper Autocannon

Daemon allies
HQ
Keeper of Secrets - Daemonic Gaze, Pavane of Slaanesh, Soporific Musk, Transfixing Gaze

Troops
5 Daemonettes

Heavy Support
Daemon Prince - Wings, Tzeentch, Iron Hide, Breath of Chaos, Bolt of Tzeentch


Iron Hands Space Marines
HQ
Master of the Forge - Conversion Beamer

Troops
10 Tactical Marines - Missile Launcher, Melta gun, Combi-melta
+Drop Pod
10 Tactical Marines - Missile Launcher, Melta gun
10 Tactical Marines - Missile Launcher, Melta gun
5 Scouts - Snipers

Elites
Venerable Dreadnought - Assault Cannon
Ironclad Dreadnought - Seismic Hammer+Melta gun, DCCW+Storm Bolter
+Drop Pod
Ironclad Dreadnought - Seismic Hammer+Melta gun, DCCW+Storm Bolter
+Drop Pod

Heavy Support
Dreadnought - 2 TL-Autocannons
Dreadnought - 2 TL-Autocannons

Dark Angels allies
HQ
Librarian - Melta bombs

Troops
5 Tactical Marines - Plasma Cannon, Veteran Sergeant, Melta bombs


Pre

So, first of all my opponent messed up in his list building somehow and brought some 170 points too little, but luckily for him I have some Dark Angels available and got the codex yesterday so allies it is...
We rolled for mission, and got The Relic as well as Dawn of War Deployment. I got Eternal Hatred for Warlord trait, he got Feel no Pain when within 3" of objective (hahaha, big chance of that ever happening to the Master of the Forge...). For Powers I got Symphony of Pain as well as Iron Arm, he took Prescience. My Gift of Chaos turned out to be an Unworthy Offering.
He won roll off for both table halves as well as to go first, but decided to let me deploy first. Night fighting for turn 1 was enabled. Then he stole the initiative. Bastard.

Turn 1 - Iron Hands

First turn two Drop Pods arrive, one Ironclad and a Combat squaded unit of Tacticals with Melta and Combi-Melta. Drop Pods always lands where you want them, so he landed in front of my walker-line as well as in front of the Defiler. Blew up the Maulerfiend. Blew up the Defiler. Ouch.
The other half of the Combat squad was hanging out close to the Relic. The Librarian cast Prescience on his unit and the Plasma Cannon shot at the Chaos Marines that had been hiding behind the Maulerfiend and wounded all five, but thanks to Nightfighting only two died (one thanks to Preferred Enemy).
One Dread also scored a penetrating hit on the Helbrute but it was only Shaken, while the Master of the Forge hit the Decimator but failed to do anything.

Turn 1 - Black Legion

My preferred wave of Keeper of Secrets and Daemon Prince came in. Both on the left side towards the middle, to try and clean out the Troops in the middle.
The Keeper used Pavane on one of the Marine units to line them up for the Daemon Prince to Breath of Chaos at them, killing only two though. The Keeper killed one with his Demonic Gaze at least.
The Crazed Helbrute got Rage+Fleet for being hit last turn, and I decided to use him to blow up the Drop Pod. Shot his Melta and then finished it off in the Assault. The Decimator used his Heavy Flamer and Butcher cannon to kill two Marines, and the Chaos Marines killed another one which made them flee. The Decimator then caught up to them in the Assault and killed them however.
My Warlord Daemon Prince used Iron Arm to get +2S/T and used Symphony of Pain on the other five Marines from the Drop Pod just because he could. Then charged them, and thanks to Hatred (I rolled abysmally to hit) killed them all.
The other squad of Marines fired their Melta at the Ironclad but failed to penetrate.

Turn 2 - Iron Hands

The other Drop Pod with the other Ironclad came in on my right side. The combined fire from Dreads and Tacticals brought down my Warlord as I literary couldn't make a single 3+ save despite not many shots actually wounding thanks to T7.
The Librarian guided the Plasma Cannon once again and shot the Chaos Marines again, killing another two (Preferred Enemy responsible for another one). But the Melta gun survived and stood his ground.
The newly arrived Ironclad shot the Helbrute in the back and caused another Shaken result. The other Ironclad shot his Melta and Storm Bolter at the Chaos Marines - killing two. They then failed their Leadership test and fled off the board. Cowards.
My flying Daemon Prince got to eat a lot of Rapid Fire Bolters and Snapfiring Rockets and took two wounds but stayed in the air. The Keeper also took one wound from Botlers.

Turn 2 - Black Legion

The Daemonettes came on. But the whole table was rather clustered so I couldn't find any good spot to land them in cover and still being close enough to the Relic to manage to somehow grab it in the very end. So instead I put them to one side, hoping they'd be forgotten and getting good run rolls.
The surviving Melta gunner teamed up with the Helbrute (that got Rage for being crazed and shook off the Shaken result this turn as well) and both fired their meltas both in the two-dice range at the Ironclad... and only caused a single glance. The Helbrute then charged in and managed to cause one penetrating hit, but only Shook it. Then died to the return-swing.
My flying Daemon Prince vector striked one Assault-dread and actually caused a glance, and then used Breath and Bolt on the Dark Angels... killing only one. I had set his course towards the Master of the Forge though, so next turn I might get at least one VP...
The Keeper of Secrets made the Venerable Dread dance closer to himself and then charged him, causing one HP lost on it and took no wounds in return.
The Decimator got close enough to some approaching Marines to use it's Heavy Flamer again, and with a stroke of luck hit and wounded with all four Butcher Cannon shots as well causing in total 8 wounds and all five Marines somehow died before I could charge them!

Yes, those are Daemonettes to far the left...

Turn 3 - Iron Hands

The Librarian guided the Plasma Cannon once again (not that it ever needed it) and he was determined to kill that one last Marine, and did so. Sadly I failed my cover save.
Running out of targets on the rest of the board, a lot of units shot at the Flying Daemon Prince and didn't do much - but the last Dread shooting actually hit and caused him to be Grounded - the impact took one wound off him.
One of the Dreads took a Hull Point of the Decimator.
The Keeper caused another Hull Point off the Venerable with nothing in return, and then used Hit&Run to get away towards the closest Troop-choice for my turn.
The rest of the army consolidated towards the Relic in the middle.

Turn 3 - Black Legion

The Daemonettes rolled a 1 for their run move...
My Daemon Prince vector striked at the Dread in front of the Master of the Forge and failed to do anything despite four hits. But instead he got Bolt off and Insta-killed the Master of the Forge. Woo, I'm on the score board!
The Decimator continued his Kill-streak and flamed, shot and charged the five Marines behind the last squad he killed and killed all five there as well, before consolidating back towards the middle.
The Keeper used Dance and Pavane on the closest squad of Marines, glared one to death as they danced closer so he could charge them - where he decapitated all of them before they could blink. He then consolidated behind the hill.
The Decimator got his Hull Point back from It Will Not Die.

Turn 4 - Iron Hands

The Dread at the far back who had failed to protect the Master of the Forge decided that at least it could avenge him and actually managed to kill the flying Daemon Prince...
Another Rifle-Dread shot at the Decimator... in the front armour... and rolled three bloody sixes! At least the Daemon save saved one of them and the resulting penetrating hits only Immobilised it. One of the Ironclads who had shot his melta (but missed) also tried to charge but failed. The other Ironclad also moved closer.
The two man Marine-squad moved up and ran next to the Relic while the Dark Angels started moving through the forest.


Turn 4 - Black Legion

The Daemonettes moved up into his Deployment Zone to secure Linebreaker at least as they were way too far away from the Relic.
The Keeper used Pavane on the two Marines next to the Relic and dragged them closer. Tried to charge, but 12" was slightly too long...
The Decimator shot the Venerable in the back and killed it. Fast turns with seven models on the board...


Turn 5 - Iron Hands

The Ironclads moved up super-close to the Decimator determined to not fail this time.

Uhm... Hi guys?

The two Marines grabbed the Relic and the Dark Angels moved up in support of them as well.

The Ironclads hit with their meltas... but the Decimator survived! So both Ironclads charged in... one of them barely made it! The Decimator then caused two penetrating hits, one for each Ironclad. I started rolling the results, first the one with only 1HP left - explodes! Then the other one... Weapon Destroyed. Aaaah, had I got those results in the other order and also survived the close combat the Decimator could've shot the Marines grabbing the Relic next turn! But alas it was not to be, and it didn't survive anyway.

The Keeper was also gunned down by a Rifle-Dread.

Daemonettes still on the left side... but they're so good at hiding that they're even outside of the picture!

Turn 5 - Black Legion

5 Daemonettes on the table, but as the Decimator didn't explode it had a slim chance of standing back up again and perhaps killing the Marines holding the Relic and thus forcing a draw... I rolled the dice, needing a 6... and five pips showed up. Ohwell!

We rolled to see if the game ended, and it didn't - but I decided that since he would be able to run away with the Relic at this time and possibly even getting Linebreaker of his own I conceded. Good game!

5-2 Iron Hands.


Lessons Learnt

Well, it was obviously a pretty wacky game with such lists but I still learnt a thing or two. I made a huge mistake with my Warlord. Really wanting to try the Black Mace I got tunnelvision meaning I only thought about killing infantry with him. Instead I should've used him in turn one to charge the Ironclad when the melta failed. With Iron Arm I was safe from retaliation even should I fail to Smash him to death. Instead I put him in the middle of the board where his whole army could shoot him... okay, I made some horrible saves, but still. And considering how detrimental that Ironclad was in the end...
And then there's those damn Drop Pods. My opponent is usually pretty damn unlucky with those, and fails to do much once he comes out. But in this game they did exactly what they were supposed to, and due to my lack of Troops I couldn't bubblewrap stuff either. And it hurts. It basically meant that I got a 400 point handicap from that point onwards. So, if building a serious list - always, ALWAYS consider Drop Pod defence. So dangerous.
I'm also glad to see that my Decimator actually did stuff in this game. He killed 14 Marines and two Dreads by himself. That's a good showing I think! Without him this would've been a massacre after that start.
I was obviously at a huge disadvantage from the beginning with my lack of Troops, and then my best Marine-killer (Defiler) died in turn 1... So I had to play from behind all game, and try to play for a draw. In the end it was really close, a lot closer than I thought it'd be actually. Those big guys can really dish it out if they get the chance!
One Ironclad surviving two meltas and three Power Fist attacks in one turn... MVP for his side for sure!
Oh, and it was also the first outing of my Dark Angels. Okay, not a big one by any means... but they did their job really well. It's pretty sick that they can take a Plasma Cannon in a five man squad! And Preferred Enemy really hurts... In the end they were kind of the back-up plan for him that could secure the win, so I'd say they made a really sable addition to his army this time, despite only being 6 of them!