Non-Battle Report-esc Battle Report

I had looked forward to a game night for a while, went and played... but I have neglected my duties to post it. Now its been long enough ago where details have faded. So this battle report will not have the nice structure that most have.

Played a Killpoint-style match, but with the actual points of the models themselves being used. There was three players, and we opted for 2 on 1 match so we could play a larger force. 1000 points a side, Space Marines VS Imperial Guardsmen. We didn't have unlimited time, and we were not sure how long we would have to play. So we would play as many turns as we had until we got the All-stop call. Whenever we got the call, the game was over and points would be totaled.

Space Marines:
Chapter Master
2 medium Tactical Squads
1 medium Assault Squad with Jump Packs
2 small Devastator Squads with Missile Launchers
1 small Terminator Squad with Assault Cannon
Dreadnought: MultiMelta and Storm Bolter with DCCW

Imperial Guard:
Officer: Guardsmen with Missile Launchers
7 Infantry Squads with mix of Lascannons and Autocannons
1 small Rough Rider Squad
1 Leman Russ Battletank with Hull Lascannon

We set up on a large table, with 2 Large Multistory Buildings along the midline of the table, and a Large Impassable Terrain feature between them. This would prove difficult for early game shooting. Guardsmen set up with the Leman Russ in the middle, and all the infantry spreading out along the rest of their deployment side. Space Marines set up hiding behind buildings where possible. With Devastators and Assault Marines on one side, with the Chapter Master, and the Infantry squads on the other side. Dreadnought was in the middle, Terminators were in reserve.

The Game:
The Guardsmen along one table edge rushed forward and occupied the multistory building. The guardsmen on the other side fired into the building blocking their LOS. The Leman Russ was able to draw a bead on an Infantry squad and fire the battlecannon. Hitting, wounding, and killing every Marine in the Squad. The Assault Marines move into a small building in front of their position and take cover. The Dreadnought moves toward the center terrain and fires upon the Guardsmen occupied building. The Devastators also open fire into the building, succeeding in turning it into a ruin. The guardsmen inside exit on the other side, close to the Space Marines. The Chapter Master and the Infantry squad he is with stay put, and call down their Orbital Strike. (this was the one and only reason I took a Chapter Master instead of a Captain) The Strike aimed for a hugely populated area deep in the Guardsmen area. The deadly shot scattered just enough to hit nothing. The Guardsmen move the Leman Russ forward, firing with its Lascannon. The infantry squads that had occupied the building now open fire at the Marines and the Dreadnought. The remaining guardsmen squads advance and fire into the standing building again. The combined fire levels the building, only a ruin remains. The Terminators arrived via Deep Strike. The teleporting troops scatter, and come terrifyingly close to a mishap. They end up just over an inch away from a Guardsmen Squad. The Terminators fire into the squad and charge in killing the squad with Powerfists. The Space Marines fire heavily into the exposed Guardsmen with Missiles and Dreadnought fire. The Assault Marines leap from the building and assault another Guardsmen Squad. Most of the Guardsmen fire upon the exposed Terminators. The Leman Russ pivots and fires into the Terminators, killing off two. The isolated Guardsmen are not faring well so close to the Marines. The Rough Riders finally move into position and assist the assaulted unit of Guardsmen. The remaining Terminators charge the Leman Russ with guns Blazing. They manage to disable the Battlecannon before the tank breaks away. The Devastator Marines fire some long range missiles into the Guardsmen across the board and manage to kill off a few. The Guardsmen begin to focus and mop up. The static gun line fires into the Chapter Master and his Infantry, finishing them off after some sustained fire. The Terminators are exposed yet again, and finished off. At this point the game ends. Most of the Assault Marines, both Devastator Squads, and the Dreadnought remain. The Static Gunline of the Imperial Guard remain, and the disable Leman Russ has plenty of fight left in her. Half of the guardsmen squads, and the Rough Riders are either wiped out or down to very few models.

I didn't technically count up the Imperial Guard models, but I was down to a little over 500 points and the Guard had plenty of models and wounds left. I called it in favor of the Allied force of Guardsmen!

Note: This mini-battle report is to serve as a test run for my future battle reports. I hope to increase adding pictures and details.

Battle Report-
Imperial Guard vs Space Marines

One of my Brother-in-laws and I have played a couple of small 40K games recently. He is new to the game, and I am practically new, so its been good practice for us. We have been using modified Skirmish-style rules. To keep the games short we have been playing with 150 pts per side.

Per Skirmish Rules:

No 2+ Saves, No Multiple Wounds, No vehicles.

Squads could have as little as 2 models in them, and all squad restrictions removed.

We removed Morale from the earlier games we played. It just wasn't practical to potentially lose a single model, and immediately have a morale check. If a squad fell below half-strength, which would be very easy with how small the squads were, then they would never be able to regroup.

But when you remove morale completely, how do you resolve close combat? I would personally love to have Imperial Guardsmen stuck in close combat with me indefinitely, but that's not very fair to the Guardsmen. But if we decide that you can move out of close combat, that seems a little unbalanced as well. The house rule we used for this game was to take a morale check for every unit stuck in close combat, if they passed the morale check they are able to fall back from combat using the "hit and run" rules. If the morale check is failed, then the unit will remain in combat.

Army Lists:

Space Marines:

2 Tactical Marines - 16pt each

-Boltgun, Grenades

3 Assault Marines - 18pt each

-Jump Packs, CCW, Bolt Pistol, Grenades

2 Devastator Marines - 16+15pt each

-2 Missile Launchers, Grenades

Total Points 148

Imperial Guard

3 Guardsmen - 6+10pts each

-3 Heavy Bolters

17 Guardsmen - 6pts each

-Lasgun, Grenades

Total Points 150

We set up on a small (40 inches, maybe less) round table. Terrain was three buildings, with some stone rubble around. We gave the rubble 4+ cover save, area terrain. One of our last games we played ended in a stalemate because we had the buildings all AV12, when I lost my Missile Launcher all I had was Krak grenades and all I could do is repeatedly shake the occupants at best. So to avoid that, we made the buildings AV10. We had no firepoints, but a parapet large enough to accommodate one squad.

Guardsmen won the roll for first turn.

Deployment:

Guardsmen deployed in 3 squads. Two 7-man squads, and one 6-man squad. Each squad boasting a heavy bolter. All three were deployed near the ruins by their table edge. Space Marines were deployed aggressively, at the very limit of their deployment zone, with each positioned as close to building entrances as possible.

Turn 1-
Imperial Guard-

With such an "intimate" table, we were in range the moment we set up. One of the Guardsmen squads moved up to get in better position on the center tower. The squad behind cover fired at the Devastator Marines killing one. The last Guardsmen squad opened fire on the Assault Squad, dropping another Space Marine.

Space Marines-

Assault Marines used their jump packs to get into the North Keep in a hurry. The Devastator moved into the South Keep, and the Tactical Marines occupied the Tower. There was no shooting, as all units had run to get into the buildings.

Turn 2-
Imperial Guard-

At this point the Guardsmen are unbloodied. One squad moves toward the North Keep, running to get into base contact with it. The other 7-man squad moves toward the Tower, and has to run the last bit to get into base contact with it as well. The Heavy Bolter behind the rubble, lays down covering fire. The Heavy bolts glance off the Tower, shaking the Marines inside.

Space Marines-

The Assault Marines fire down on the Guardsmen, to little effect. The Marines in the Tower are unable to fire with the Heavy Bolter's rounds glancing off the stone around them. To relieve his comrades, the Devastator Marine fires a Frag missile at the firing Heavy Bolter squad and scores a direct hit. The explosion kills 5 Guardsmen.Turn 3-

Imperial Guard-

The Imperial Guard focus their fire into the North Keep and the Tower. The Guardsmen throw Krak grenades and the Heavy Bolter's fire into the buildings. The result is several glancing hits, and a couple of penetrating hits for the North Keep and the Tower. Despite all that firepower, the buildings stand, and the Marines inside keep their heads down.

Space Marines-

At the beginning of the turn, all but one of the Marines is shaken inside of a building unable to return fire. To avoid the standstill, the Assault Marines jumppack out of the North Keep and attack the Guardsmen at the base of the structure. The Tactical Marines charge out of the Tower, and join the assault on the Guardsmen. The Devastator Marine fires another Frag missile at the Guardsmen squad in the middle, but the shot goes wide and misses. The assault kills 4 of the Guardsmen.

Turn 4-
Imperial Guard-

The Imperial Guard quickly occupy the now vacant forts. The assaulted squad passes its morale check and is able to take the North Keep. All of the fortified Guardsmen are able to rapid fire down at the exposed Marines. Combined with the Heavy Bolter rounds, the Guard is able to kill one Assault Marine and one Tactical Marine.

Space Marines-

The Tactical Marine moves toward the North Keep and assaults with grenades, having no effect on the durable stone. The Assault Marine jumps to assault the exposed Heavy Bolter and Guardsman, killing the lasgun-guardsman. The Devastator fires a Krak missile at the Tower, and penetrates the stone. But only shakes the Guard inside.

Turn 5-

Imperial Guard-

The Northern Keep defends itself against the lone Tactical Marine. The Marine falls to the rapid fire lasguns and Heavy Bolter fire. The exposed Heavy Bolter gunner passes his morale check and falls back from close combat toward the South Keep. The Tower Guard keep their heads down in case there are more Krak Missiles coming.

Space Marines-

The Devastator fires a missile at the tower, causing a glancing hit that keeps the Tower's occupants in cover. The Assault Marine jumps back into close combat, but fails to cause a single wound.

Turn 6-

Imperial Guard-

The lone Heavy Bolter gunner passes his morale test and falls back from combat, this time running north toward the other Keep. The Guard in the Keep fire across the way at the South Keep, attempting to shake the Devastator, but failing to score a hit. The Guardsmen in the Tower pour out and move toward the South Keep.

Space Marines-

The Assault Marine moves toward the middle of the board and the now exposed guardsmen. The Devastator fires a Frag missile, and gets another direct hit killing 4 guardsmen. The Assault Marine charges in and kills another.

The End-

Result: At the end of turn 6, the Imperial Guard have 66pts worth of model's and wargear on the table. The Space Marines have 49pts left. Victory to the Guardsmen!