I had not played 40K since November 2023, so I will be a bit out of practice – I played with my new Krieg models and a selection of Leman Russ.

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This game was at Boards and Swords in Derby.

Astra Militarum 2,000 Points List

I went simple here:  no Tank Commanders, no Lord Solar, only the Marshal to order the Krieg.

The List

• 20x Krieg with Psyker and Marshal
• 3x Leman Russ Battle Tanks with Lascannon, HKMs, and Multi Meltas
• 2x Leman Russ Exterminator with Lascannon, HKMs, and Multi Meltas
• 3x Enginseers
• A unit of 3 Armoured Sentinels with HKMs and Plasma Cannons
• 2x Infantry Squad with Vox and Plasma Gun
• 3 units of 5 Scions with Power Fist, Plasma Pistol, Melta Gun and Plasma Gun
• 3x units of 3 Bullgryns with Brute Shields and Power Mauls

Iron Hands

The Iron Hands went fixed Objectives with;

• Cleanse
• Deploy Teleport Homers

The Mission

Turn 1 – Astra Militarum

Details will be thin here; I did not take many photos, and this game was started, done, and packed away in 2.5 hours! It was also two weeks or more ago as I write this.

It was not a bad start from the Guard. I removed the enemy Repulsor, and a guy inside died. I moved forward to try and stop the Drop Pods, but I do not think I was aggressive enough with my movement to screen out the Drop Pods.

I scored Area Denial and got rid of Behind Enemy Lines.

Turn 1 – Iron Hands

I lost two Leman Russ this turn, which was decent retribution for the dead Repulsor. The Krieg got thinned out pretty well – but survived well.

They scored 7 for their secondaries this turn.

Turn 2 – Astra Militarum

I scored 4 for Investigate Signals this turn, using my Scions – which is their primary task.

Everything pushed up, and three Bullgryns, to my surprise, dealt just enough damage to a Drop Pod to destroy it. That left them a little exposed.

Turn 2 – Iron Hands

Another Leman Russ went down this turn, and more Krieg.

My forces were surviving OK, but the enemy was scoring well.

They scored 4 for their secondaries this turn.

Turn 3 – Astra Militarum

I scored Defend Stronghold and No Prisoners this turn.

I think that my lack of play of late is showing now. I was making mistakes in hindsight and not maximising my scoring with poor decisions. The lack of push on Turn 1 is most prevalent now. Had I gone forward, the enemy would have sat on zero Objectives in their Turn 1, which would have removed Primary VP at the start of Turn 2 and also removed their ability to score Cleanse on Turn 1.

Turn 3 – Iron Hands

Sadly, I took no more photos as the game got faster and faster to fit it into the 2.5-hour window we had.

They scored 5 for their secondaries this turn.

Turn 4

I got rid of Assassination and scored Extend Battle Lines this turn.

They scored 8 for their secondaries this turn.

Turn 5

I scored Secure No Man’s Land in the last turn.

They scored 6 for their secondaries this turn.

Astra Militarum vs Iron Hands Summary

So, had I denied the Drop Pods better in Turn 1, the enemy would not have scored 4VP for Cleanse in Turn 1 and possibly stopped them from scoring 3VP for the Primary in Turn 2. I am not sure how pushing forward would have affected Deploy Teleport Homers in the centre, which scored 3VP in Turn 1.

Anyway, there were VPs that I threw away and let the enemy have.

Lessons learnt!

Final Score

Astra Militarum – 61
Iron Hands – 70

Iron Hands Victory