1500pts IG vs Space Marines: The relic

My 2nd matchup for 6th and Ilya's 3rd... This time we decided to bump up the points level to 1500 as there's a tournament on the 26th that hopefully all three (Paul, Ilya and I) should be able to make.

1500 pts of guard:

Company Command Squad with 2x plasmagun, medic

Veterans: 3x melta, demolitions, chimera with heavy flamer and multi-laser

Veterans: 3x plasma, grenadiers, chimera with heavy flamer and multi-laser

Plastoon Command Squad with 3x flamer, power sword and plasma pistol

Infantry Squad with Grenade launcher, autocannon, commissar with power sword and plasma pistol

Infantry squad with grenade launcher, autocannon

Infantry squad with grenade launcher, autocannon

Vendetta

Leman Russ executioner: heavy bolter (as modelled), side sponsons with plasma cannons

Leman Russ Eradicator Nova: Flamer

Leman Russ Vanquisher: Lascannon

So I basically took my standard 1750 pts list and trimmed it down a little. I decided to try the command squad instead of a psyker like last match. Also dropped all the voxes, and extra bits, etc and the hellhound because I can't really justify one as it costs the same as the vendetta. Plus I've modelled mine to have a hull heavy bolter instead of a heavy flamer and flyers are so much better now.

Ilya took: 

2 squads of 10 man terminators one or two had heavy flamers which combat squadded down

Thunderfire cannon

Tactical Squad with missile launcher and flamer

Scout squad with sniper rifles, camo cloaks and missile launcher

A terminator librarian

A multi-melta attack bike and I think that that was about it. Oh yeah and a defence line with a quad gun.

This army had basically been made to scare me after I showed him a troop heavy marine army that I was going to use this game but I decided to use my guard since they're what I'm more likely to need to use considering the amount of stuff painted.

Mission: The Relic, Deployment: Pitched battle (note to self: must lookup the real name!!!)

Terrain setup: I tried to get a fair bit of open space in the middle and some los blocking terrain, hopefully not in front of the objective but Ilya got to place first so it was not to be. However I proceeded to waste terrain in his flanks placing a piece of impassable and difficult terrain in each corner which he would never use. However he still ended up with quite a strongly fortified position in the centre.

Deployment was where Ilya made a couple of mistakes, as he place his troops first and spread everyone out across the length of the board. Meanwhile I learning from the previous game actually refuse flanked him. Placing the blob in the corner to do some shooting, and my squishy tanks out of los, or behind the AV 14 russes. Plan was to weather first turn fire and then take the objective and retreat. One thing I had to think about was the blob, having initially placed the terrain for the blob's camping spot, I realised that it would have probably been better deploying them further forwards, however with the terrain already placed there was not much I could do as I did not really want them in the open especially with the thunderfire cannon around.

 We rolled on warlord traits and Ilya got his to be counter-attack in his deployment zone, while my CCS became scoring.

Then good things happened before turn 1 as I seized the initiative and the advance began. I decided to try to go for first blood, but having pulverised the terminators on my left flank to a single man who ran away but not quite to the board edge (shooting which might have been better spent elsewhere as they were already well out of position) I tried to go for his troops killing several. Meanwhile the rest of my army advanced.

Return fire saw the blob suffering moderate casaulties as well as the eradicator nova which was leading the charge. Also my plasmagun veterans' chimera was downed and a few were killed in the resultant explosion.

IG turn 2 and all forces commit to taking the relic, as tanks crash through the walls of the nearest ruin and veterans make a grab. Mixed firepower kills quite a few scouts.

Also my vendetta comes on from outflank with its payload of a pcs with 3 flamers...

Score Tracker: 3-0

In return terminators get led by a librarian get out of the building and knock around the eradicator, while small arms fire wipes out the veteran squad which had been holding the objective - Ilya takes first blood. Where's my executioner throughout all this you may ask? too afraid of shooting on friendlies but well dug in cover to discourage the terminators I know Ilya is reserving from deepstriking anywhere near it.

Score Tracker: 0-1

Turn 3: In return plasmaguns take aim and combine firepower with the most of my forward force to kill most of the terminators which foolishly ventured out of cover. I also drop the pcs out of the vendetta and kill the remains of a combat squad. Also the scouts take minor damage and both they and the terminators run away! On another note around this point I finish of the lone terminator on my left flank with a well-aimed lascannon shot.

hehe... however my laughter is soon cut short as two new units of terminators come into play.  However one of them mishaps and despite my many options place it in some difficult and so dangerous terrain on my left flank nearby to the executioner (possibly a mistake on my part). Meanwhile my blob suffers light a whole bunch of casualties from some accurate cannon fire and my eradicator takes a multi-melta to the face. Out of my veterans, only a sergeant remains.

Also my pcs is itself flamed to death by a single flamer from the combat squad which had been hiding on the left flank. Oh and my vendetta is shot out of the sky probably by the defence turret...

Turn 4: My executioner kills a whoel unit of terminators while the veteran sergeant delivers the relic to my ccs, who immediately combine firepower with the vanquisher, having issued the order which forces the opponent to re-roll successful cover saves, to take out the librarian and the remains of his squad

Score tracker: 5-1

The chimera tank shocks into the lone scout but without too much effect. Also I somehowe wounded the thunderfire.

Inhis turn Ilya tries to chase my executioner but without too much success, however my scoring units in the middle are blasted to bits by the thunderfire cannon.

Score Tracker: 2-2

Turn 5: Things re getting desperate and my blob moves out, having survived due to some wound allocation nonesense.

I grill some tactical marines... :D

Who then assault me in return but fail miserable and do nothing.

The terminators manage to take a hull point off the executioner, although now I know they shouldn't have as it's back armour is 11 but still it didn't really make a difference.

We roll for another turn and we get it!

Turn 6: I kill two terminators and oh so nearly reach the objective with the blob..

On another note I manage to grill the scout but the two tacticals still live.

In return my blob just survives with a sole heavy weapons platform left which should make it to the objective if there's another turn. Ilya then promptly forgets to run with his terminators and they are just out of my deployment zone as he declares he is entering the assault phase, as he realises this we have an argument about his use of words, etc and in the end I let him run so as not to end the game on a bad note. He rolls for another turn and it's a one.

End game score is 2-3 to him (I have linebreaker and kill the enemy warlord, he has those two and first blood) but he now doesn't feel happy about the run and we sort of call it draw...

Despite the retarded ending it was still the most enjoyable game of 40k I have ever played! It was tense throughout and I don't think I made too many mistakes. Really what I have to work on is using my blob and not giving my scoring units away too easily. The ccs is definitely much better than the primaris though.

At least with the loss and a draw/loss out of the way I can now concentrate on reporting my win and real draw! (And I really need to paint some of that terrain)