The Mission – Secure Missing Artefacts

• Control one or more objective markers.
• Control two or more objective markers.
• Control more objective markers than their opponent controls.

At the end of each player’s turn, the player whose turn it is scores 3VP if they control the Priority objective marker in their territory.

Deployment

I think I got my deployment about right.

• The Manticore was hidden.
• The right flank had 30 infantry screening (with some Bullgryns), my Stormlord, and two Leman Russ.
• The right flank had my other 30 infantry and other Bullgryns.
• The Enginseers each had a Leman Russ to heal and give a 5++ to.

Turn 1

Astra Militarum

So first turn, I pop two Raiders, whose occupants come off unscathed from the destroyed transports.

I did push forward a bit to get nearer to the No-Man’s Land objectives, ready for turn two, in case two goes well and I can safely jump into the middle.

Not a bad start; two vehicles were dead, which was great for the Bring It Down Secondary.

Also, something which I have not done before with the new codex was to;

Turn One go for all Take Over orders on all my infantry

They were not close enough to shoot effectively, so I sacrificed that to Take Cover. It worked well and I lost almost no models from my Infantry Squads in this first turn. I will be repeating this tactics again. And it may even find its way into turn two in the future.

Drukhari

The Drukhair spread and pushed forward. The centre was still empty, which was a surprise.

They went wide though towards the outermost Objectives. My Bullgryns got charged and shot on my left, and I lost two of the three.  A few wounds were lost on a Leman Russ, but I got away lightly.

Turn 2

Astra Militarum

An excellent turn of shooting here for the Cadians. Three more Raiders went down, along with the first of the two Ravagers. Again, great for Bring It Down. I was now fair enough to get three points for Boots on the Ground.

My Leman Russ was healed and pushed forward to get line-of-sight onto enemy units.

The Manticore was doing OK, despite the line-of-sight debuffs it was now getting, thanks to the latest Balance Sheet. I was moving it forward an inch to see a unit, deleting that unit and then doing the same on the next turn.

I did not kill much enemy infantry this turn, though, a lot of it was now in the open.

Drukhari

The charges came, and I lost 20+ infantry models and three or four more Bullgryn. The Bullgryns did survive in the middle and stopped the enemy from further consolidating towards my tanks.

My tanks were still alive and doing OK.

Turn 3

Astra Militarum

I was now swatting away enemy units that had made it to my frontline. Both Leman Russ were engaged in combat, and both stayed put. Their Plasma Executioners fired out from the combat towards other enemy units, and their sponsons and Lascannons picked off enemy units close by.

In the Fight Phase, some Wyches rolled six Wounds at AP-4 vs a Leman Russ, which had three Wounds. It was dead. But the Enginseer had blessed it! I made all six of the 5+ Inv Saves! That was such a moment in the game, the tank survived, and I could use Relentless next turn to have it act at full wounds. If it survived the next FIght Phase…

Drukhari

… it did not!

I lost both Leman Russ this turn and the last my of Bullgryns.

The enemy were now charging through No-Man’s Land and towards my Stormlord.

Turn 4 & 5

I took no photos of the final turns, so it is hard to remember what happened.

It consisted of my trying to beat back the enemy and control Objectives while the Drukhair pressed me to get Grind Them Down and the Primary.

Cadians Vs Drukhari – Summary

Thanks to my Secondaries and my ability to smash all enemy vehicles, I managed a win here. I even lost in the Primary. And that killing also denied the enemy Grind Them Down four out of the five turns. Which was a big deal when I had so many squishy Toughness 3 Infantry Squads.

Final Score

Astra Militarum – 69
Drukhari – 51

Astra Militarum Victory