Warhammer 40,000 Battle Report #57 – Blood Angels vs World Eaters

The Long War is heating up, with another new faction throwing in their lot today! The Blood Angels launch an assault against the World Eaters, finding an abattoir that was once a city. Can they recover the ruins for the Imperium of Mankind?

The Armies

Knights of Baal

Blood Angels – 2,000

Combined Arms Detachment

HQ

Sanguinary Priest: WARLORD (Strategic Genius)

TROOPS

Tactical Squad: Meltagun, Razorback transport with Lascannon and Twin Plasma Guns

Tactical Squad: Meltagun, Razorback transport with Lascannon and Twin Plasma Guns

ELITES

Assault Terminators: 5x Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield

FAST ATTACK

Space Marine Bike Squad: five additional Space Marine Bikes, Attack Bike with Multi-Melta;     2x Grav-Gun, Veteran Sergeant has Power Fist

Assault Squad: five additional Space Marines; 2x Meltagun, Sergeant has Power Maul

Assault Squad: five additional Space Marines; 2x Meltagun, Sergeant has Power Maul

HEAVY SUPPORT

Devastators: five additional Space Marines; 4x Lascannon

Devastators: five additional Space Marines; 4x Plasma Cannon

Land Raider Crusader

The Tithe

World Eaters – 2,000

World Eaters Butcherhorde

Demon Lord

Demon Prince: Demon of Khorne, Power Armor, The Berserker Glaive

Maelstrom of Gore

Kharn the Betrayer: WARLORD (Eternal Hatred)

Khorne Berserkers: three additional Berserkers; Skull Champion has Power Fist

Khorne Berserkers: three additional Berserkers; Skull Champion has Power Fist

Khorne Berserkers: three additional Berserkers; Skull Champion has Power Fist

Khorne Berserkers: three additional Berserkers; Skull Champion has Power Fist

Helforged Warpack

Warpsmith: Mark of Khorne, Talisman of Burning Blood

Maulerfiend

Maulerfiend

Maulerfiend

The Lost and the Damned

Dark Apostle: Mark of Khorne

Cultists: Mark of Khorne

Cultists: Mark of Khorne

Cultists: Mark of Khorne

Cultists: Mark of Khorne

After Action Review

The new Blood Angels list is a much improved version of what I played against with my Necrons a week ago. Honestly, I can’t even tell it is the same list! Other than a handful of units, the list is completely changed. They were able to maneuver into play and deal punishing damage to my World Eaters throughout the game, and it was everything I could do to keep pressure on them and pin them from spreading out across the entire board.

At the beginning of the game he briefly considered moving everything as fast as it could along the extreme flank, and in hindsight I wonder if this wouldn’t have been a better approach. Although he did atrocious damage to the World Eaters throughout, he may have avoided some of the return carnage by moving himself a bit further away from my advance.

The Maelstrom of Gore is an absolutely brutal formation. The additions to their charge ranges make them a threat that can never be ignored, even when they are a very long distance from the target. I unfortunately forgot about their Red Rain rule during the game; if the extra attacks had managed to clear that last Assault Terminator, I might have been able to keep my Demon Prince in the fight with the additional aggression. That said, they were the only foe resilient enough to stand up to the World Eaters; their raw power just tore right through anything that got in their way.

Kharn turning himself into a spawn was also a huge bummer; I’ve said it before, and I’ll reiterate it now. I think the Boon chart is okay, but I think the result should have more to do with how well you performed in the combat. I think there should be a VERY small chance of turning into a Prince if you succeed in slaying your opponent, and a VERY small chance of turning into a Spawn if you fail to kill them. I think this would be slightly more fluffy, and also reward the Chaos player more when they do well. That said, I guess Kharn’s butchery was simply too much for Khorne to bear, and he had to kill the ancient slaughterer before he grew too powerful!

Kharn was joined on the bad luck train by the poor Berserkers; although they came ready to kill, apparently they did so in the nude. I didn’t make many armor saves, which I can only attribute to their unceasing desire to die in service to their god. That they did in flying colors, with not a single Berserker surviving the initial battle. Still, they did their job in holding the Blood Angels and allowing the cultists to complete their ritual.

This was a fun return for me, as World Eaters were my first army. I do think the army might need a bit more shooting, and I’m still unsure of the Warpack. It works great for Griff’s Thousand Sons, but it went down so easily in this game. I think it needs some more time though before I cast it out; besides, the Warpsmith proved to be unexpectedly beefy in melee. Add to that the Berserker Glaive Prince, and there are a handful of units in this army that can reap entire squads in one go.

I am probably going to crunch the numbers on a World Eaters Warband, Bikes look like they would be a nasty addition to this skull-taking horde of butchers. For now though, I’m going to give Kharn and his berserkers a few more chances to revel in the newfound power of the Blood God.