[Battle Report] The Vadinax Crusade, IV | Ninth Edition | Crusade | Tempest of War | Night Lords vs. Cult of Time

Following a disastrous planetfall, the Lifestealing Crusade found themselves at odds with the Cabal of the Seekers after Knowledge - a dangerous warband from the XV Legion, whose forbidden lore included mastery over the flow of time. Perhaps, if they were convinced to offer their aid, certain recent errors of judgment could be... amended.

I was lucky to get this third game in: Beornwulf was passing through the Border Lands on their way south, and I had a free day right as they were on the road. Chaos-on-Chaos violence wasn't strictly optimal - it's a win for Chaos either way, but a loss as well - but it was and is a fine tradition.

This was the game that taught me how powerful a forward deployment option can be. When ten Rubricae appear on a central objective with great firing lanes for Overwatch, the result is a challenging tactical situation.

Observe: a challenging tactical situation.

This photo of Beornwulf's Forgefiend is just here because I like it.

The new and improved Chosen deployed in cover, lacking invulnerable saves; the Possessed and Obliterators took their chances in the open.

We both agreed Skallagrim should get a shot at the Maulerfiend,
(at last, the prospect of fulfilling his special campaign agenda!) but...
well, that Blind In One Eye preventing him from exploding any of his attacks
meant he just wasn't going to finish the job. Krunch he goes.

Meanwhile, the central objective is cleared of Rubricae,
forcing the Spawn to sweep in and contest, but...

The casualties taken in that push were... severe.
Possessed and their Master were wiped out by shooting, then Overwatch;
an Obliterator was sniped out by psychic nonsense of some ilk.

My star unit, the Talon Sharply Curved, fly in to counter-contest,
and in the finest of Goonhammer traditions, miss a Chaos Spawn
who's RIGHT UNDERNEATH THEM. Beornwulf's Warlord, an Exalted
Sorcerer whose name has alas escaped me, swoops in to counter-counter-contest...

It's not all bad news for the Night Lords. Tar Zahaan waddles onto the field,
blows up the Forgefiend, and then shrugs off the insufficient damage on the
Scarab Occult Terminators' weapons. Over two rounds, he demolishes them.

So... the Raptors remove the Spawn and Exalted Sorcerer,
but a Rubricae squad shows up to remove the Raptors,
and my Legionaries are left desperately trying to kill them off...

So near, and yet so far. The closest game of ninth edition I failed to win.

Taking that central objective first thing left Beornwulf in a superior scoring position throughout the game - pieces were traded, but I couldn't quite sustain a toehold until the last round, by which point it was too late as the bonus points were already locked in. It was, however, a delightful game, and I really hope Beornwulf and I can meet and play again.

Crusade homework? The Legionaries had scored a lot of Secondaries, and as such Your Faith Lost acquired a masterwork heavy bolter (intending to get more mileage out of Daemon Shells), and earned the Mark of Nurgle for their efforts against the Changer of Ways.

It wasn't all good though. Mercurio the Warlock... damn his hide... picked up a Battle Scar. Blind In One Eye. Again!

That gave me the perfect narrative setup for the next game, but that next game would, alas, end up not happening. Real Life did what it does best, got complicated, and I wasn't really able to involve myself further in live-action Vadinaxing. At least the forces of Chaos did liberate Steadfast Repentance, just as planned - and straight up crashed it into a planet. I contributed something to the narrative by suggesting the prison planet as a target, even if my mechanical role was essentially that of... detriment.

I still wrote up the narrative hook, though. One more post awaits.