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++ A HILL FOR THE DEAD++
1700 point Take & Hold
Imperial Guard vs. Nurgle
January 31,2001
++ The Nurgle Sorcerer Lord stood amoungst the jungle foliage peering forward into the gloom. At his feet nurglings gibbered and clung to his tattered robes. Behind him awaited his war host, silent except for the soft droning chants of the cultists and the occassional metal on ceremite sound of a plague marine shifting it's weight. Ahead a short distance the jungle thinned out and a large hill stood like a beacon above the surrounding area. The Imperiium survivors of the previous nights fighting seemed to be making there way towards this hill, no doubt using it as a rallying point. A short time ago a few squads of the enemy had gathered in the jungle stand that crowned the hill, hiding like dogs. Their screams had been music to the sorcerer's ears, but now he awaited a bigger catch. The Imperial detachment approaching was large, but surely no match for his Nurgle blessed retinue...
THE BATTLEFIELD:
Chaos won the strategy roll and chose to attack. The right board edge was Chaos, and the left edge belonged to the IG. The large jungle topped hill in the center was chosen as the objective of the take and hold.
Imperial Guard Deployment: Alpha platoon deployed on the left side of the hill. No sign of tanks or other heavy fire support.
CHAOS TURN ONE: Chaos move on board and advance to engage the enemy. Three Plague marine rhinos speed towards the hill followed by a Nurgle infested Dreadnought and Predator. Cultists and nurglings follow on foot. The predator fires it's autocannon killing a couple of the guardsmen hiding on the hill top. The dreadnought fires it's plasma cannon and kills a few more. The Chaos turn ends.
IMPERIAL GUARD TURN ONE: Alpha Platoon move up the hill taking cover in the jungle growth. A plasma gun shot hits one of the rhinos but fails to damage it. Softer targets are still out of range so the Imperial's turn ends
CHAOS TURN TWO: After Chaos turn two's movement chaos have moved within range to directly assault the hill. The Plague Marines lead the charge deploying from their rhinos they start to climb the hill under suupporting fire from the Nurgle infested dreadnought and two Nurgle infested chaos predators. Alpha platoon shudders at the site of a Nurgle Sorcerer and a Nurgle Sorcerer Lord moving amougst the approaching Plague marines. Cultist and nurgling swarms continue to follow on foot. The plague Marines kill a number of guardsmen but the guardsmen's morale holds. A pack of Plague bearers is summoned but scatters out of range to assault, appearing on the chaos side of the hill just above the rhinos. The Chaos turn ends.
IMPERIAL GUARD TURN TWO: All of the IG reinforcements arrive and move on board, including two infantry platoons: 90 guardsmen including command sections!!! In addition a squad of Ogrynns, The command HQ with Commissar, a mortar squad, and two fire support squads (one with two missile launchers and lascannon, and the other with two heavy bolters and an autocannon) all advance as far as possible onto the table determined to reach the distant hill and help out Alpha Platoon:
CHAOS TURN THREE: This is when Chaos started to swing things in their favor. Three plague marine squads bolstered by The Nurgle sorcerer and Nurgle Sorcerer Lord assault Alpha platoon cutting it to ribbons with plague knives and drowning the enemy in sorcerous vomit. The plague marines and daemons quickly repelled what was left of Alpha Platoon from the hill and swept down the other side towards the advancing Imperial forces:
IMPERIAL GUARD TURN THREE: The Imperials could see already that things had become desperate. The hill was swarming with heretics, and they still had to cross alot of ground under fire to have any chance of taking it back. The infantry platoons and Command HQ advanced under oreders of the Commissar, while the Anti-tank squad concentrated it's fire on the rhinos at the base of the hill destroying both:
Chaos continued to advance on turns four and five leaving Nurglings and cultists to hold the hill while the Plague marines, Dreadnought, and daemons lead by the Sorcerer and Sorcerer Lord pessed the attack into the oncoming Imperial battle line. Despite the advantage in numbers the Imperial guard was having a hard time slowing the Plague marines due to their high toughness and armour saves (needing "6" to wound with most attacks). Despite this the Imperials bravely pushed forward their faith in the Emperor bolstering their courage. The Plague Marines, Daemon packs and sorcerers hit the Imperial line hard on turns four and five killing whole squads, sending them falling back, or stalling their advance:
The Nurgle Sorcerer and Sorcerer Lord served their foul master well, vomiting on the enemy and supporting the Plague Marines and daemons in a number of assaults. The Sorcerer Lord even killed three Ogrynns in one round of close combat thanks to his powerfist(autokills). Below you can see the sorcerer moving to engage some guardsmen distracted by the daemons in their ranks. Behind him to the left you can see the Sorcerer lord):
++CHAOS LORD'S SUMMERY: The game lasted six turns, but was clearly in chaos hands by the end of turn four. Chaos was able to move to the hill unhindered dure to cover and the speed of their Rhinos. This allowed a combined assault of Plague marines and daemons supported by a sorcerer and sorcerer lord upon the dug in Alpha platoon. The weight of chaos numbers, armour saves, and high toughness proved instrumental in this inital yet crucial assault. Once Alpha platoon crumbled and was pushed off the hill chaos simply moved up to swamp the hill and then sweep over it into the advancing Imperial line. This ground the imperials to a halt and squashed any chance they had of taking the hill. The imperial's lack of tanks or massed heavy weaponry allowed the Nurgle forces to move forward unhindered. The guard infantry pushed forward as well in a vain attempt to take the hill but had to pay in blood for every inch they took. When the second major Nurgle assault hit their line they had little hope of victory.
The unit which performed the best for chaos was a simple unit of seven Plague bearer daemons. This unit was the first to be summoned on turn two. They assaulted one of the infantry squads from Alpha platoon, broke it and ran it down, then moved on to assault and destroy two command sections and the mortar squad, and when the game ended where in range to charge a number of other targets. And they only lost two daemons. Not bad for a squad that only costs 105pts.!!!
The Sorcerer lord was aslo nasty, He smached the Ogrynns single handedly thanks to the autokills from his powerfist, and his sorcerous vomit claimed alot of infantry. The same holds true for the sorecerer.
A good solid victory for the forces of Nurgle. I like missions that force the enemy to come to me as my whole plan is to assault and assault hard. Still if the enemy had of fielded a few tanks I think things would have been a lot bloodier for Nurgle. Also I have never rolled so many daemonic aura saves for my daemons, they refused to die. Well The jungle moon of Gano-158 remains infested with the heretic forces of Nurgle, but Im sure the Imperium has not given up all hope of cleansing the taint of nurgle from this place as of yet.
My opponent Was a very good sport who took this loss in stride, and seemed to be having a good time despite the bleeding he was receiving. I hope to fight him again soon and give hima chance for some revenge.