Warhammer 40,000 Battle Report # 58 – Blood Angels vs Crimson Slaughter

Today we are returning to the city, with another Cities of Death match-up. Hutch dusted off his Crimson Slaughter at the mention of Dark Angels returning to my table soon, and in the meantime ran into a force of Blood Angels from the 3^rd Company. Who will hold the ruins once the sounds of warfare have ended?

The Armies

Knights of Baal

Blood Angels – 2,000

Combined Arms Detachment

HQ

Sanguinary Priest: WARLORD

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: Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields

FAST ATTACK

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

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

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

HEAVY SUPPORT

Land Raider Crusader

Devastator Squad: five additional Space Marines; 4x Lascannon

Devastator Squad: five additional Space Marines; 4x Plasma Cannon

The Voices

Crimson Slaughter – 2,000

Black Crusade Detachment

Chaos Warband

Chaos Lord: WARLORD; Mark of Khorne; Juggernaut of Khorne, Chainfist, Lightning Claw

Chaos Space Marines: Plasma Gun, Rhino transport with Dirge Caster

Chaos Space Marines: Plasma Gun, Rhino transport with Dirge Caster

Possessed: Mark of Khorne; Rhino transport with Dirge Caster

Helbrute

Chaos Bikes: two additional Bikers; Aspiring Champion has Power Axe, 2x Meltagun

Chaos Terminators: two additional Chaos Terminators; Champion has Power Maul and Combi-    Bolter, 1x Heavy Flamer and Chainfist, 3x Combi-Melta and Power Axe

Helforged Warpack

Warpsmith: Mark of Khorne

Maulerfiend

Maulerfiend

Maulerfiend

Spawn

Spawn: Mark of Nurgle, four additional Spawn

Spawn: Mark of Nurgle, four additional Spawn

After-Action Review

The Blood Angels looked set to deliver an early trouncing right out of the gate. They were positioned well with their quickest units, and the Crimson Slaughter seemed to be locked in some very static positions. I was actually wondering what they would have that still lived when their reserves finally started rolling on from the board edge.

Then, the third turn happened. The Crimson Slaughter laid down an absolute pasting that turn, and really moved the tide against the Blood Angels in a way they couldn’t recover from. Their reserve elements showed up perfectly, and it caught the Imperials in a perfect storm that they struggled to answer. The early Demon Prince also made a huge impact on the game; without it, I don’t know if the Crimson Slaughter could have kept from being punched through and giving up overall board control. With those Grav-Guns still in play, the Lord and his Bikes could have been in for a much more unpleasant welcoming when they arrived from Reserve.

All said, the game was still a close one. I think both armies performed well, which was to Eric’s credit since his Devastators had such a small chance to impact the game. We discussed afterward that we need to start building armies in advance when we’re going to do the specialized missions in Cities of Death. They just rely on a very modified way of waging war, and take all comers lists don’t seem to perform as well. Lessons learned!

Stay tuned; the Maelstrom is still heating up for another year of bloodshed and mayhem!