Magnus vs. Mortarion: Warhammer 40,000 Battle Report

The Death Guard and the Thousand Sons have been lingering at the Maelstrom for a long time. We finally finished putting paint to the sons of Mortarion, and it only seemed fitting that these brothers of rival gods met one another on the field of battle. Today we debut both the Death Guard AND a pair of Primarchs. Who will emerge victorious?

The Armies

Nuntius Cacotheus

Death Guard – 2,500

Battalion Detachment

LORD OF WAR

Mortarion: WARLORD, Smite, Putrescent Vitality, Blades of Putrifaction

HQ

Winged Demon Prince of Nurgle: The Suppurating Plate, Demonic Axe, Malefic Talons; Smite,    Curse of the Leper

Malignant Plaguecaster: Smite, Curse of the Leper, Miasma of Pestilence

TROOPS

7 Plague Marines: 2 Plasma Guns

7 Plague Marines: 2 Plasma Guns

7 Plague Marines: 2 Blight Launchers

7 Plague Marines: 2 Blight Launchers

ELITES

Helbrute: Twin Lascannons, Helbrute Fist

FAST ATTACK

3 Myphitic Blight-Haulers

Fetid Bloat-Drone: 2 Plague Spewers, Plague Drone

Fetid Bloat-Drone: 2 Plague Spewers, Plague Drone

HEAVY SUPPORT

Plagueburst Siege Crawler

The Winds of Change

Thousand Sons – 2,500

Battalion Detachment

LORD OF WAR

Magnus the Red: WARLORD; Smite, Gaze of Fate, Temporal Manipulation, Doombolt, Bolt of   Change

HQ

Demon Prince: Dark Matter Crystal, Demonic Axe, Malefic Talons; Smite, Prescience,      Flickering Flames

Exalted Sorcerer: Smite, Infernal Gaze, Warptime

TROOPS

10 Rubrics: Smite, Weaver of Fates

10 Rubrics: Smite, Glamor of Tzeentch

9 Rubrics: Smite, Weaver of Fates

9 Rubrics: Smite, Glamor of Tzeentch

10 Tzaangors

FAST ATTACK

3 Spawn

3 Spawn

HEAVY SUPPORT

Forgefiend: 2 Hades Autocannons, Demon Jaws

Forgefiend: 2 Hades Autocannons, Demon Jaws

Predator: Twin Lascannons, 2 Lascannon sponsons

DEDICATED TRANSPORTS

Rhino: Storm Bolter

Rhino: Storm Bolter

After Action Review

It was a ton of fun to finally see Magnus and Mortarion on the table. They have been hovering around the board for many months now, but we never found a good opportunity to get them on the table. It was interesting to see how they interacted with one another, and with their own forces.

For my part, I absolutely loved what Mortarion brought to the board. His Arch Corruptor rule proved to make him more of a beatstick than I expected; next time I am hoping to get him more central into the block of Plague Marines, to really beef up those blight launchers.

In this initial outing, however, I really felt like I had to protect him for the first round. There was a lot of outgoing firepower from the Thousand Sons, and I wasn’t eager to find out just how much firepower Mortarion could handle. I wanted to keep him as fresh (yeah, right) as possible, in case he was needed to do battle with his erstwhile brother.

Magnus unfortunately didn’t see enough play time to really show his power. Though he did a pretty nice job of eliminating the Bloat Drone, he just didn’t make enough impact before he went down. His quick departure also did a fantastic job of clearing firepower to eradicate the Rubrics, which seemed to melt like butter during that one brutal turn. All told, Tzeentch seemed to turn against his champions early in this one.

Stay tuned for more; the Death Guard will be returning soon for more carnage and rot, and the Primarchs are sure to relive this war again in the near future!