Batrep: Imperial Guard vs Imperial Guard

The enemy within

2000 points battle

Army Lists

184th Cadian

Third playtest with the Army List Heavy Armour v1.0

Andy's Imperial Guard

HQ

Company Command Squad w/ Heavy Bolter

Troops

Veteran Squad w/ 3 Meltaguns, Demolitions
Veteran Squad w/ 3 Plasma Guns, Demolitions
Platoon Command Squad w/ Heavy Bolter
*Infantry Squad w/ Grenade Launcher, Heavy Bolter
*Infantry Squad w/ Grenade Launcher, Heavy Bolter
*Infantry Squad w/ Grenade Launcher

Fast Attack

Vendetta Gunship
Vendetta Gunship

Heavy Support

Ordanance Battery:
*Basilisk
*Basilisk
Leman Russ Squadron:
*Leman Russ Battle Tank w/ Heavy Bolter Sponsons
*Leman Russ Battle Tank w/ Heavy Bolter Sponsons
*Leman Russ Battle Tank w/ Heavy Bolter Sponsons
Leman Russ Squadron:
*Leman Russ Executioner w/ Heavy Bolter Sponsons
*Leman Russ Executioner w/ Heavy Bolter Sponsons

Mission and deployment

Mission: The Crusade (4 objectives)
Deployment: Dawn of War
We rolled and i deployed the first objective and table side, but my opponent won the roll off and deployed first
Night fighting was not in effect for turn 1.

Ok, the table is quite flat in the middle, and there are plenty of fire lanes despite the scattered wrecks and hills on the table. I've secured the only piece of LOS blocking terrain, which will be a perfect hideout for my Manticore. Plus, with my Aegis defence line, i can basically get cover for every model, which is always good.

My opponent list is even more off balance than mine, despite being quite similar. 5 AV14 vehicles are HUGE and will be a pain to crack. Also, with 2 basilisk I'm facing a very big number of large blasts, and i need to deploy accordingly. I will never be able to silence all of them, so i'd be better off ignoring them altogether. Primary targets: the basilisk. they'll murder my infantry ignoring my aegis line cover and they'll be a pain for my vehicles too, expecially the manticore.

I'm afraid this game will be seriously favoured from who gets the alpha strike... Thanks to the Emperor, I rolled to seize and got a 6! The 184th stolen the initiative and will open fire first. I let out a HUGE sigh of relief.

The Battle

Deployment

My opponent deployed first and castled his infantry and artillery in the top left corner of the map, garrisoning the ruined building and the objective inside it. This will be my main focus for the early turns for two reasons: 1. the game is won by scoring infantry, and his only resilient infantry presence is in this corner (the airborne veterans will be easily dispatched after disembark since they'll be nicely clumped together); 2. I haven't enough firepower to reliably and quickly destroy or disable FIVE av14 vehicles, so i'd be better off destroying the scoring units and just weathering the incoming retaliation from the tanks.

Therefore, I deployed my tanks straight ahead to the enemy stronghold and far away from enemy tanks. My infantry is either out of LOS or behind the Aegis, and the manticore is safely hidden behind the hill.

I usually combine my squads, expecially against a non-assault enemy where my Regimental standard is enough to keep my units on the board. This time though, I fear that i'll be going to ground a lot of times to save 3x large blasts and 6x small ones with 18 heavy bolter shots, and I don't want to waste an order just to get up and fire again with 40 men. With multiple squads, i can safely afford to go to ground and leave them there for one turn without a sensible loss in my firepower anyway. Also, in the worst case of bad save rolls, focused fire on a unit would be simply overkill.

Introduction

Blessed is the mind too small for doubt

Traitors... Enemies everywhere... Who can you trust? Who is sane, and who is corrupted? Your brethren is plotting against you, attack first, attack swiftly, leave none alive...

37th Frysean Armored Regiment HQ
Colonel Vankyle:"Captain, the 184th Cadian regiment has betrayed the Emperor's light. I've got proofs about suspicious movement and reinforcement requests which are unusual."
Captain Utler:"Uh, sir, are you sure about that? The 184th has always served dutifully and..."*BANG*
Col. Vankyle:"Anybody else willing to discuss my orders?"

184th Cadian Regiment HQ
Scanner Operator:"Sir, did we have any notice about the relocation of the 37th Armoured towards our position?"
Surveillance Officer:"What? are they moving THE WHOLE DAMNED REGIMENT towards us?"
Scanner Op.:"This is what it looks like, sir. They don't even answer our vox calls..."

They're not what they seem... They want to destroy you, you cannot allow that... You'll be an honored Colonel if you can stomp this betrayal on its early days... The truth is in your hands, don't believe what you're being told... Follow your doubts.

Turn 1 - 184th Cadian

Nobody understood why the 37th Armoured was directed towards the trenches of the 184th, but for sure they cannot move sneakily: the roar of several Leman Russes and Basilisks cannot be hidden in any way. The sun was high, and soon the sunshine reflected from the metal hulls cruising, uncovering their position.

The steel of wall was a mighty view to see, despite their betrayal. The time for preparations was running low, and the Colonel was still preparing his plan.
Colonel Wright:"We aren't prepared to withstand such an heavy number of battle tanks! If we let them crash on our lines on their terms, we don't stand a chance. First, we need to achieve artillery superiority, or the infantry will be disintegrated shortly. Second, we need to clear the enemy infantry, so we'll be allowed to surround and outmaneuver the tanks. Hopefully, we can force them to surrender and recover the heavy tanks without much damages..."

Peeking from their hideout, the Manticore's crew prepared the Storm Eagle Rockets under the supervision of a Techpriest.
Techpriest:"Praise the machine spirit, for its guidance on the rockets and its good will to prevent malfunctioning. Tend to the vehicle you've been assigned to, so it may allow you to accomplish your mission and protect it from the enemy."

Following the ritual instructions, the crew inserted the enemy artillery coordinates and the cogitator accepted them. The multiple warhead rocket went high into the sky, unleashing its payload.

Two large explosion marked the signal for the advance of the flanking attack. Rolling down from the hills, four Leman Russes opened fire against the enemy infantry which was escorting the Basilisks.

A shower of high caliber lead and self propelled, mass-reactive heavy bolter rounds pierced the lightly armoured artillery tanks and slaughtered the hapless infantry outside the ruins. Screaming for the pain, they ran into the ruins rearby, trying to protect themselves, but several plasma bursts melted the rocks and who was standing behind them.

LRXC02 vox operator"Sir, we silenced their artillery, and the infantry escort has been surprised in the open! They're scrambling for cover, but we have them in our targets."
Colonel Wright:"Good job, guardsman. Keep advancing!"

Colonel Wright:"Guardsmen! The enemy is incoming! Man the barricades, and prepare your weapons! These traitors must be destroyed!"

They knew you were coming... who betrayed you? Are there spies in your own allies? Do not have worries, everything is going according to plan, they can't even notice that...

Well, that was good. Thankfully, I seized the initiative: I really feel that this has been a real game changer. Since I have deployed the Aegis Defence Line outside my deployment zone, I had some room more to scatter away, so i can reduce the blasts effect on my infantry. The left flank advanced with all my tanks.

The lascannons missed or anyway failed to penetrate the tough av14 wall, but the manticore managed to explode one basilisk and immobilize the other one (2 warheads rolled). Since i can't afford to leave them standing, because my manticore is my most reliable weapon against the russes, the Exterminators tanks finished the last one.

The Executioners instead opened fire against the infantry outside the ruins (I focused fire who was outside cover, just to be sure) and they scored an impressive amount of kills (around 15).

A small squad which wasn't protected by the Aegis Line, ran forward alongside the hill, out of LOS by the enemy's executioners

Points count: First Blood for 184th

Turn 1 - 37th Frysean Armoured

You can't let them win, destroy the traitors... You'll be honored and powerful, you will get promoted to General...

The Leman Russ Battle Tanks spotted the Cadian armour and revved up their engine to intercept them before it was too late. Their turret slowly rotated and aimed for the exposed side armour of the advancing enemy tanks: the high explosive shells slammed into the target.

The shockwave echoed through the plains: shortly after, a thick, greasy smoke started pouring from the rightmost Leman Russ Executioner. The hatches opened, and a couple crewmen ran away: the plasma coils have been damaged by the explosions and it's not safe to wait nearby after all...

LRXC02 officer, Lieutenant Cooper:"Sir, this is LRXC02 officer. Our right track has been shattered and we cannot move without repairings. Our vox operator has been knocked out by the explosion, but we are still able to fire. The machine spirit isn't pleased, but we suppose we can cope with that for some time at least."

The infantry, the infantry is dangerous... burn them in plasma...

The enemy armour keep advancing across the field, with the right squadron heading towards the entrenched infantry, ready to shower them in plasma explosions. Heavy bolters added their angry screams to the plasma whistles, aiming to the guardsmen behind the barricade.

Sergeant Karlst:"TAKE COVER!"
The first rank of guardsmen sheltered behind the Aegis shields, which resisted the plasma fire.
Sergeant Karlst:"Is everybody ok?"

The remaining of the infantry platoon ran to cover in the ruins so it regained coherency, and the Leman Russes moved forward to close the distance. The Battle Tank squadron opened fire into the executioners, aiming for the side armor obtaining 3 glances and one penetration (my mistake here, i should have angled them better), as a result i got one wreck and one immobilized result.

The enemy Executioners opened fire against one squad behind the aegis line, scoring 17 wounds (remembered what i said about overkill in the pre-game analysis?) but the squad went to ground and i saved EVERY ONE OF THEM. It feels so great to have terminator-equivalent guardsmen!

Turn 2 - 184th Cadian

Colonel Wright:"Damn those tanks, we need more firepower! Artillery, open fire, suppress those tanks! Call in the reinforcements from the air support!"

The rocket battery extended the rituals for the new input, and soon another rocket flew towards the new target. The ordnance dropped three warheads on the enemy tanks. When the dust settled a little, the tanks were still rolling forward.

A loud jet sound crossed above the infantrymen heads: a Vendetta gunship has arrived, Its lasers fired against the main threat. The high energy beams pierced the armor of the tanks.

The leading tank, which received the most damages, slowly cranked to an halt.

Sergeant Karlst:"The air force is arrived, boys! 1 Tank gone, 4 more to go!"

Despite the damages received, the remaining Leman Russes kept firing at full effect against the remaining infantry. The high velocity bullets shattered rock and meat alike, as if there was no difference whatsoever. One by one, the traitor infantrymen got slaughtered: the firepower unleashed was so impressive that retreating was not an option, because it would have provided the autocannons a new, easier target.

Colonel Wright:"Lt. Cooper! We have identified the enemy command post. Destroy these traitors, in the name of the Emperor!"
Without moving, the immobilized tank aimed its plasma destroyer cannon on the enemy command post. The magnifying lenses shown a guard officer shouting against his men, visibly in distress: nobody in the crew shown any remorse when the plasma batteries discharged their payload on the designated target.
Lieutenant Cooper:"Kill confirmed, sir. No more enemy contacts in the target area"

Colonel Wright:"Dispatch an assault squad, we need to capture those enemy Executioners intact, or the Techpriests will put up a grudge that will take forever to resolve".

Ok, I definitely got the upper hand this turn. Only one Vendetta shows up, and, with some help from the Manticore Rocket Launcher i manage to wreck one Leman Russ and stun another one. The Executioner destroy the enemy Company Command Squad and the Exterminators whittle down again the enemy platoon which is now 5 models strong from the starting 30. The lone infantry squad assaulted the executioners (despite not having any mean to damage them in assault) to gain more inches: in a single turn that squad moved 15", which is not bad for a footslogging guardsman. I know that they will not survive the next turn and they're a simple distraction for the enemy executioners... And if they get ignored, i get closer to the enemy deployment zone, anyway.

Point count: 2 - 0 for the 184th Cadian (First blood and Slay the warlord)

Turn 2 - 37th Frysean Armoured

The plan is going forward, nobody can see that yet... The pieces are falling together perfectly...

Another Vendetta joined the battlefield, cheered by the 184th Cadian Guardsmen as it swooped above in the sky. The gunship turned on itself in mid air and the cheers immediately stop as soon as the Lascannons opened fire against the artillery emplacement hidden behind the hill.

Colonel Wright:"Traitors! Destroy them at once!"

The anti-air gun emplacement tracked the new suprise threat, trying to anticipate the flyer's position. Many autocannon shots ricocheted from the armored wings, with little effect apart from a little trail of smoke now following the Vendetta. It was not enough to down the flyer or even to prevent its strafing run: high energy beams melted and pierced the thin armor of the Manticore.

The lasers critically damaged the engine compartment, causing a chain reaction which ignited the fuel compartment: the explosion teared the vehicle from the inside out, throwing flaming debris everywhere.

Private Russel:"Look out, Sergeant!"
The guardsman thrown himself at the sergeant, pulling him to the ground while a metal shrapnel zoomed nearby *THUMP*
Sergeant Jorge:"Thank you, Russel. Russel? Oh, damn it...";
The guardsman saved the life of his sergeant, because a large debris pierced the back of his flak armor, but not his body. Blood was rushing out from the wound at an alarming rate, and his mouth was now opened in an endless, mute shout of warning.

Ok, this turn one of my opponent's Vendetta shows up from reserves, which is intercepted by the quad gun and i got a single glancing hit, and manages to pen and explode my Manticore, despite the 3+ cover save i had. Of course, it exploded the full 6" and killed 1 vox operator and 1 sergeant, which rerouted his wound to a passerby guardsman instead.
The enemy Executioners moved back 6" and plastered my decoy squad in plasma and heavy bolters shot: 17 wounds which, despite saving 4 going to ground with a 6+ save, destroyed it completely. Oh well, too bad.

Turn 3 - 184th Cadian

Colonel Wright:"Air support, keep firing on those Battle Tanks, we can handle the other gunship. Keep focus on your mission! - Infantry, Open fire against the enemy gunship! You must destroy it at once"
The heavy weapons opened fire against the fast moving enemy flyer. Several energy beams and tracing bullets pierced across the sky, but it was very difficult to aim such a fast aircraft with infantry-carried weaponry! The enemy pilot ignored these weak attempts and zoomed away in the clouds.

The Cadian flyer kept strafing the enemy battle tank, scoring another kill: only one enemy Leman Russ Battle Tank was still standing.

Lieutenant von Richt: Lieutenant, get ready to jump, we're near the launch point.
Lieutenant Huey: You heard the man, we're going to jump at the green light.
The small assault team was ready to jump and clean the enemy outpost on the hill. Their flamethrowers are loaded, and the grav chutes are turned on and ready to work, if the machine spirit agree.

My 2nd Vendetta failed to show up, not that i need it anymore but still, it's only 1 chance out of 9 that this would happen. Anyway, the game is almost over i guess: I manage to wreck another LRBT, and i proceed to finish the infantry platoon only to leave one single survivor, which for the third time in a row does not fail his morale check (again, this has a 30% probability of success)

Turn 3 - 37th Frysean Armoured

The enemy stronghold in the ruins was no more. The very ruins were, if possible, destroyed to tiny, melted pieces. Nothing was moving anymore after the incredible amount of lead and plasma delivered to the enemy fortification.

Slowly, one by one, the enemy tanks slowed to an halt and their crewmen frantically shouted their surrender across the common imperial emergency frequencies. From the ruins, a lone survivor raised a white flag, a dirty napkin tied to its lasgun.

Colonel Wright:"Look at those pathetic traitors! Looking for the Emperor's mercy, where they cannot find any. Sergeant, take every enemy survivor with your team and bring them in front of our fortification line. Get the enemy tank crews outside their tanks: tell them that if they surrender their Leman Russes, they will not be killed with the rest of their company. If they still hesitate, lie to them and promise everything they ask you. Just let them out before they damage their own tanks! We need those."

In a couple of minutes, the enemy prisoners were taken in front of the still smoking Cadian fortifications and put in line in front of Colonel Wright.

Colonel Wright:"You've committed the worst crime against the Imperium. You've attacked your fellow Guardsmen, without warning or explaination. I don't know what pushed you or your officers into this, but for sure your actions will not go unpunished! And, if you're not personally guilty of treason, INNOCENCE PROVES NOTHING! Your actions caused the loss of three mighty Leman Russes. You caused the loss of two Basilisks and one sacred Manticore. You have betrayed the Emperor's guidance, laws and will: there is only possible outcome for this! FIRST RANK, FIRE!"

Well, even his vendetta failed to show up, so i guess this even my bad reserve rolls. With nothing much else to do, he keep firing with his remaining tanks, only to achieve an immobilized result on my leading Exterminator LR (well, he's indeed lucky with his LRBT pen rolls!) and a single casualty on an infantry squad (well, 13 wounds before i went to ground!)

My opponent surrenders!

Victory to the 184th Cadian Regiment!

Post-battle analysis

Ok, objectively, I had it easy thanks to my luck while seizing the initiative. I guess it would have been VERY different if I had to resist 2 basilisk barrages, and potentially losing my own artillery. Anyway, this is a game of dice so these things happen.

Also, I'm glad i did not panic about all that AV14 i was against, and i focused on the troops. I guess that this game proved extensively once again that only a little scoring infantry presence (my opponent's list had 500 pts of infantry, 260 of which in reserve inside the vendettas) isn't going to win you any match and makes your opponent game much easier to manage. Anyway I managed to destroy 2 AV14 vehicles thanks to my Artillery and Vendettas (ok, they counted as AV13 for them, but still) which is a good result nevertheless

I'm glad that i didn't combine any of my infantry squads. This cost me a little firepower (only 2 TwinLinked Lascannons each turn instead of 4) but help my survivability a lot. I need to consider this approach, also because I didn't field any commissar.

Special mention to my aegis line. Approximatively, the squads behind would have suffered around 30 wounds, which resulted in 1 (ONE) casualty, across three turns. We can safely say that it made its points back with ease (50 pts spent saved 130 pts of infantry at least)

This game also explains what's the difference between "play to the mission" and "Kill what's big and scary". Honestly, I did sighed in relief when my opponent began firing his Battle Tanks into my own Leman Russes: my s7 tanks were basically useless after i wiped his infantry, so he decided to use them as a defensive unit instead of attacking my own troops. I guess that an advance towards my lines (to deny me the aegis cover) while blasting everything in sight with 3x large blasts would have been more effective in the long run.

Batrep: Imperial Guard vs Orks

Preemptive strike

1500 points battle

Army Lists

184th Cadian

First playtest with the Army List Mobile ground forces v1.0

Vahiagi's mek Waaaagh!

3x lootas, 2 of them with big mek and shokk gun
2x deff dreads with 2x rokkits each
2x squadrons of 2x warbuggies with twinlinked rokkit launcha
Trukk with some boyz
3x squadrons of 3x Killa kanz with Grotzookas

Mission and deployment

Mission: Purge the alien (the KP-equivalent one)
Deployment: Hammer and Anvil (short table edges)
I rolled and got first turn.
Night fighting is in effect for turn 1.

Well well well. The deployment is very good for my list: potentially I can have more space between my lines and the enemy if i deploy full back.
I must admit that i didn't know the actual statline of the killa kanz, expecially their range. If i did, i would have played my first ranks somewhat differently.
The table has plenty of cover in the deployment zones and a very nice, empty field of fire in the middle: this is very very appreciated from my Lascannons.

The Battle

Deployment

The table has been formed following the 6th edition guidelines: split the table in 6 squares and roll a d3 to see how many terrain pieces are in for each sector. The rolls have been quite above the average! It turned out that this table was very balanced, so I'm gonna like this way of table building, even if it requires a bit more time.

I deploy my aegis line halfway in my deployment zone, to get more inches from my opponent lines, and the flamer platoon in front. Their task is to get at them and slow them down as much as possible... which they would have accomplished better if they stood back and waited for their units to stagger forward (i didn't know that the killa kanz grotzooka was so short ranged... well, nevermind they'll absorb the lootas fire.

My opponent deployed as close to me as possible, of course. The killa kanz provide mobile cover to who's behind, lootas are in cover and ready to fire.

Introduction

General:"Ah! Come in, colonel. You'll be happy to know this time I have secured a safe mission for you and your men!"
Colonel (Thinking):"Sure, safe mission. I've never seen one, even when they assured me it was..."
C: "Thank you sir! It will be absolutely bully! What's it about?" G: "You need to perform a cleansing mission on this planet. It has been more than 10 years since the last ork cleaning mission, and it's about time for a new one"
C (thinking): "TEN YEARS?? Those greenskins would have had time to build a whole new HUGE mechanized army!"
C: "I completely agree, sir. My men will be enthusiast to know the details of this mission"
G: "I couldn't expect worse from your men, colonel. Go now, and prepare for battle"
G (thinking): "I guess he doesn't need to know that the last time we tried to clean the planet, we lost half a regiment worth of vehicle and machinery. It would only hamper his morale, for sure." * * *

"We can't trust the greenskins. The command wants us to believe they're still in a feral state, with primitive weapons: I don't think that we'll be armed enough with a couple of flamethrowers, we'd better bring some heavy weapons with us."
"Sir, the command HQ has detached 2 Leman russes "demolisher" to our regiment. Isn't it a bit... unusual... for an ork cleaning?"
"Corporal, remember, we can never know in advance what we can meet on the battlefield, only that the more gun we have, the better it is. Anyway, yes, it's unusual"
* * *

For a change, the regiment lands on the planet smoothly and without delays. After all, this is still an Imperial planet, and no enemies are nearby... except those orks that are theoretically under control.
A squadron of Scout Sentinels is detached in the night following the planetfall, to discover the greenskins nests. After a single hour of scouting, every contact with the explorers is lost. The last transmission was all but clear, and only a loud "WAAAAAGH!" could be made out from the static discharges.
The greenskins are coming.

Turn 1 - Imperial Guard

The cranking noises of several orkish vehicles grew louder and louder every minute passing away. The night was still thick, and nobody could spot the approaching enemy.

"Lieutenant, send your platoon forward. We need visual confirmation for our target, to open fire. On the double!"
Hundreds of boots began to march in the dark fields, with the friendly, lumbering presence of the Demolisher following the cautious advance.

"Sir, we found them! It's a mechanized formation, we can't spot any greenskin but they're filled to the brim with walkers, several sizes. We don't have any weaponry available to suppress them or slow down their advance! We need orders, sir!"

"Good job, Lieutenant. Move your men to the flank of the valley, find any cover available and await for reinforcement. Fire support is going to open fire soon. Keep reporting any new enemy information you can gather."

The tanks were the only one in the immediate vicinity able to open fire across the dark fields. Their heavy bolters began clattering away to the approaching walkers, every round lightened the surroundings like a lightning storm. Shortly after, the first demolisher cannon shell blasted away in the middle of the enemy formation.

"Sir, we report one large explosion, but we cannot confirm any kill. They're still advancing!"

The flamer platoon and the demolisher advanced across the field, trying to get as near as possible to the flanks, to get cover or out of LOS as much as possible.
The Lemans' bolters opened fire on the top and bottom squadrons of kans, and the bottom one uses its cannon too. The blast scattered away and is then blocked by cover, and the 6 bolter rounds managed to remove a single HP from one of them.
Here i have made an HUGE HUGE error: i forgot that my tanks have searchlights, thus, all my lascannons and quad gun would have been able to fire. I could have killed a killa kan or two, maybe... Another error: the killa kanz have grotzookas which are short ranged plus they really murder infantry in the open. It haven't been a really brilliant move to march across the field with my guardsmen, closing the gap for them. and only for a single demolisher shot which did nothing!

Turn 1 - Orks

"Little oomies wanna play! Stomp 'em! WAAAAAGH!"

The killa kanz squadron advanced towards the marching infantrymen, unleashing all their firepower in a single, deadly salvo. Whistling in the air, the rockets slammed into the guard lines: several guardsmen blew up in pieces, and many others screamed in pain when the shrapnels hit their bodies.

"HARR HARR HARR, dey'r blowwin up all around uns! SMASH DEM!"

From the back of the enemy formation, automatic fire answered the clattering of the Guard's heavy bolters: a lot of high caliber rounds whizzed around the wounded guardsmen, slaying more of them.

"SIR! SIR! They're slaughtering us! We request immediate assistance!"
"Hold on a little longer, Lieutenant. Reinforcements are under way. Find the best cover you can get and keep your heads down.

Ouch. Really. This turn is where i learned about grotzookas firepower, the hard way.
Everything except lootas moved forward. The buggies tried to glance the demolishers, and only 1 hull point is chipped away from the lowest LRD. Everything else opened fire against the infantry squads up front, and i lose several men in the process. At least, every morale test is passed.

Turn 2 - Imperial Guard

"Airborn Storm troopers reporting in. We're commencing the drop run, ETA 120 seconds"

As soon as the sun began to rise, the valkiries lift off the regimental HQ carrying the special operation forces. The greenskins were too much armoured for the light weaponry issued to the guardsmen, and a quick response was needed.

"There's an old landing area behind the enemy column. You have to drop there and destroy as much vehicles as possible, to slow down the enemy advance and take out the biggest threats"

Still scattered by the explosions, the survivors from the frontline, staggered back up, the sergeants yelling orders about positioning and weapon checking and setting up counterattacks and pay attention and... Just more noises in the battle. The cannons kept roaring, and now the Lascannons added their crack to the battle. The remaining guardsmen ran for cover, waiting to be rescued from their comrades, and started digging some trenches.

On the north flank, there was no place to hide. The only hope was to close the distance from the enemy line as quickly as possible, and hide in the buildings ahead.
"Move, move, move! If you want to see the light of another day, we must reach those buildings and take shelter behind them! And those rusty warbuggies won't stop us, at all! On the double!"
The young Lieutenant drove his men on a desperate run for their only hope of survival.

"Use your grenades! we must blow them up!"
Several explosive charges flew into the opened warbuggies, but the orks managed to throw all of them out of the chassis, before reversing and stuttering away. If possible, they now sprouted more smoke than before.

The enemy contraptions were now visible in the dawn's light, and the colonel itself directed the fire of the heavy laser batteries. Several beams crashed in one of the biggest walkers, halting it on its feet.

The landing has been perfect, the long training they endured has paid off. Both special units are exactly where planned, ready to blast off some greenskins.
Their enhanced lasguns provide covering fire to the melta beams and plasma bolts raining on the rear of the enemy formations: the dread staggered to a cranky halt, before blowing up, throwing razor sharp shrapnel on the field.
"Secure this landing field, we need to clear this sector to allow the rest of the army to regroup!"

The black infantry squads moved behind the buildings and pulled off a charge against the warbuggies. 9 inches and one glance free! yay! Quick note, now the good old frag grenades have been demoted to s3 and can't be used in assault either. Krak grenades are mandatory for infantry squad that plan to assault vehicles.
The purple squad got back in coherency and got called "Incoming" for a 5+ cover save in the open and a 2+ save for who's behind the tanker.
The four twinlinked lascannons managed to stun the first deff dread...
The CCS lascannon and quadgun are stopped by cover saves
The top demolisher misses completely, but the bottom one manage to wreck a killa can and immobilize another one.
The melta stormtroopers manages to explode the other deff dread (yay first blood for me) and killing a loota in the explosion, but the plasma stormtroopers only manage to glance a single HP from the warbuggies (note that 4 out of 5 plasma shots hit the target, but i managed to roll only one 3. Very bad luck!)
Quick fun note, the snipers PCS manage to pen a killa kan with rending, but it's stopped by cover. Snap!

Turn 2 - Orks

"Da boy wich bringz me da moar oomie head will drive da trukk next ride! WAAAAGH!"

The trukk drove ahead towards the already weakened northern flank, and the greenskins inside jumped out, firing their makeshift weapons in the general direction of the distracted guardsmen: despite the high firepower, the nonexistent training of the orks only managed to kill very few men. This didn't discouraged the aliens, but instead they charged the line with beastly fury, slaughtering every single guardsman.

"HARR HARR HARR! Look da stupid Grokk, it killz da self fellin on his choppa!"

"Sir, the landing field is not secure, the rear guard of the enemy formation is well defended. Our scanners detect several weapon emplacements all around the quadrant. We'll need heavier support to... HIT THE DIRT! INCOMING!"
The automatic weapons of the ork looters opened fire on the stormtroopers on the landing field. The high caliber - high velocity bullets teared through the reinforced ceramite plates of their carapace, slaughtering the hapless drop troops in a single, deadly salvo.

"Sergeant! SERGEANT! Answer, Sergeant! ... Damnit"
"Sir, Captain Allen reports that the southern flank is taking heavy casualties. We've also lost every contact with Lieutenant Steward and his platoon. What shall we do?"
The situation was looking very bleak, and very little of the first ranks was still able to fight on. The rear-guard diversion has been suppressed as soon as it started, and the enemy battle line was closing in.
It was in times like this that the Colonel thanked the emperor that there were no commissars in sight.
"Corporal, order a full retreat to every forward unit still able to listen to the message. Covering fire is being set up at the main defence line. We'll stop the greenskins there, or the whole mission would become an even greater disaster."

Oh well, this turn hurts a lot. I' ve lost a stunning 4 units in a single turn!
The warbuggies on top disengaged and allowed the boyz to charge the half depleted infantry squads reducing them to a red mush. I manage to kill a single ork boy, wohoo! Three killa kanz murder the small platoon squad with no chances of retaliation, while the other 2 squadrons kept blowing the other two infantry squads to pieces with their grotzookas, hitting the CCS nearby too. At least i passed every single morale check so far. Basically i am left with the static platoon and the main CCS completely unscathed, one demolisher at full condition, one with 2HP left, less than a quarter of a platoon, half secondary CCS (approximately 860 points worth of army) versus my opponent full army minus a deff dread, a killa kan, a loota and a boy. Ouch!
VP count: IG 1+First blood, orks 4

Turn 3 - Imperial Guard

"We must cover our retreat AND slow down their advance at the same time. They're not very fast but for sure are tough targets, our lasguns are completely ineffective. Corporal, request a long range Basilisk barrage on the enemy column to the regiment HQ, immediately!"

"Yes sir! Requesting fire for effect in quadrant NQ-12, range 5 miles, square."
...
"Sir, the 77th artillery reports that their Basilisk are currently under maintenance, and they'll be unavailable for at least three hours, maybe four!"
"Get immediately back on that radio. We won't have that many hours, and the next target after our position is the 77th field HQ. They don't want to wait that much, I am sure."

The scattered remnants of an once whole platoon were staggering through a forest to link back with the forces behind the main defence line, a blank stare on their faces. The battle cannons roared, the bolters clattered away and the lascannons whined loudly in the air, destroying orkish equipment and scattering metal scraps all across the field.

"Private, do you see that loose joint on the leg of that walker thing? Aim at it and stop that tin can immediately!"
After a deep breath, the sniper raised his long-las to the shoulder, identified the weak spot, muttered a prayer for a precise shot for his rifle and pulled the trigger.

The overcharged energy beam melted the already weak joints of the ork contraption, breaking them.
"Good job, private. Good job!"

PLAY TO THE MISSION
They should sell stickers with that sentence. I'd buy several. Everything except heavy weapons moved as back as possible, with a little run too. It's not a good strategy to give my opponent two more free kill points when I handed him so gently 4 of them.
Shooting phase has been a little more satisfying than before. Despite the top Demolisher missing everything again (it scattered exactly between the kanz and the trukk) I manage to explode one, wreck a second and immobilize a third from a single kanz squadron and to immobilize two more (from the other 2 different squadrons). Since my opponent is really lacking in mobility, crippling his forward elements is a great plan to buy more time.
Note: one of the latter immobilizations is due to another rending penetration shot from a sniper. Woah! VP count: IG 2 - Orks 4

Turn 3 - Orks

"Sir, the artillery regiment is still unavailable. They're rushing thingh as much as they can, but their Commissar pretends that every single Basilisk has to be in perfect clean condition before opening fire on the greenskins"

The green horde kept marching across the fields, every second closer to the main (and last) line of defense of the 184th.
The killa kanz kept pounding the falling back men of the first ranks. After a storm of explosions, only one sergeant made it back the aegis defense line: every other guardsman has been killed.

Without any other closer target, the lootas finally opened fire against the main fortifications of the Imperial forces. The sound of the lead slamming on the ferrocrete and zipping mere inches from the heads was deafening. Not too late the sound of shattered flesh added to the mix: the rate of fire was enough to pass through the emplacements and kill several guards.

"Sir, we have lost more than half of our forces, and the HQ can't send any reinforcements until the air field is secure again. What shall we do, sir?"
"Arrange medical evacuation for every guardsman that's still alive but unable to fight. Reinforce the aegis line, and be ready to open timed lasgun volleys when the greenskins will get close enough. Every heavy weapon still available shall open fire to the closest target. We must hold the line until the 77th finish cleaning their Basilisks. They're our only hope."

Another turn of general, slow advance for the orks.
The farthest back lootas advanced too along the bottom flank, to get in range of the aegis line next turn. I guess he forgot that heavy weapons can snapfire even when they move...
The remaining squadron of two killa kanz almost wiped away the remnants of the first platoon, and only a sergeant survived! Killpoint denied! (so far)
And lastly, the other 2 loota squads opened fire on the line, killing 7 guardsmen and a Lasercannon!
VP count: IG 2 - orks 4

Turn 4 - Imperial Guard

The orks are now so close to the imperial fortifications that their stench and the smell of the greasy oil their machines burned was thick in the air. The time available to stop the aliens was running short.

Every single shot has now to have an effect, or the green tide will overrun the guardsmen still alive.
The reckless advance of the orks has put them in the clear fields of fire in front of the Guard line: without anything obscuring the visual, the guardsmen now have a perfect target for their weapons.

Shouting orders, the Colonel directed the fire of the surviving men.
The lascannons discharged their high energy beams in the thinly armoured vehicles racing towards the line: several of them exploded with huge blasts, leaving only charred remnants and metal pieces scattered on the field

"Private, i need another straight shot. That buggy is coming right towards us: kill the driver, so they'll stop and we can get outta here"
The sniper took a deep breath, aimed the long las at the ork driver's head and fired. The overcharged beam of the modified lasgun pierced the air. A sudden bump of the warbuggy saved the head of the ork, but the shot hit the exposed gasoline tank! The explosion broke the car in two pieces, throwing them apart on the field.
"That wasn't exactly what I asked for, private, but good job nevertheless!" Let's go now, it's not safe here anymore."

Well, finally I manage to kill something this turn.
I keep retreating the lonely sergeant to hide him behind the hill, to save a killpoint, with the second CCS following him closely.
The top demolisher manages to miss everything, again. The bottom one misses too, but at least scatters on a killa kan, wrecking it. Lascannon fire blows up the trukk and glances to a single HP the last deff dread and a great sniper manages to hit, penetrate and explode one of the bottom warbuggies. HERO! (mathammer, for a unit of 4 snipers at bs3 to explode an av10 vehicle, i have a 3% success chance)
VP count: IG 3 - orks 4

Final Turns

From this point onwards, nothing much happens, except "Orks advance" and "Guard fires back", so i leave the technical commentary aside in favor of the storytelling

The exploding ork vehicles sprouted thick, black, greasy smoke pillars that blocked the visual of the remaining guard survivors. The senior officer knew it wasn't over: it's never over when there are greenskins around.
He was right: after a short lull, war cries pierced the smoke and echoed through the imperial fortifications

Another wave emerged into sight, screaming and running towards the last survivors. The battle tank opened fire, deafening the guards nearby and blasting the running orks. The small lasguns whined rhythmically, burning the thick, green hide of the xenos.

The green tide smashed against the first line, like a storm. Several orks climbed on top of the tanks, opened the hatches and slaughtered the occupants. Nothing except the lasguns and the souls of an handful of guardsmen now stand between the orks and total defeat.

"Men! we all know that our duty is our loyalty to the Emperor. Our duty is to protect His worlds and enforce his will. The highest honor we can dream to achieve is to die knowing that we have accomplished our mission! Do not be afraid, this battle is going to the end, and we bought enough time to alert and prepare a proper response from the planetary command. The Emperor light will shine upon us! We will fight together as one, to repel the enemy of the imperium. OPEN FIRE!"

Two dozens of lasguns opened fire simultaneously, carving a hole in the advancing orks. Following the shouted rythm of the sergeant voice, a fusillade of laser whittled the green ranks.

One by one, the lasguns fell silent. The orks stormed the barricades and overwhelmed every single soldier that tried to stand up against them. Where you could have heard lasguns discharge, you'd now hear only screams of pain.

* * *

Several hours later, an abandoned vox caster, crackled back to life...
*fzzttt* *fzzttt* "77th artillery regiment ready to fire. Commencing Basiliks barrage at coordinates 5.621.64.4 grid A6. Please confirm the order, Colonel."

No one was there to answer.

Army Lists: Heavy Armour v1.0

184th Cadian Regiment

Army List

HQ

Company Command Squad (vox, Autocannon, regimental standard)

Troops

Infantry Platoon 1

Platoon command squad (4x flamers)
Infantry squad (Lascannon, vox)
Infantry squad (Lascannon)
Infantry squad (Lascannon, vox)
Infantry squad (Lascannon)

Infantry Platoon 2

Platoon command squad (4x flamers)
Infantry squad (Autocannon)
Infantry squad (Autocannon)
Infantry squad (Autocannon)
Infantry squad (Autocannon)

Fast Attack

Vendetta (Heavy Bolters)
Vendetta (Heavy Bolters)

Heavy Support

Leman Russ Squadron 1

Leman Russ Exterminator (Exterminator Autocannon, Sponson Heavy Bolters)
Leman Russ Exterminator (Exterminator Autocannon, Sponson Heavy Bolters)

Leman Russ Squadron 2

Leman Russ Executioner (Executioner plasma cannon)
Leman Russ Executioner (Executioner plasma cannon)

Manticore Rocket Launcher (Camo Netting)

Fortifications

Aegis Defense line (Quad gun)

2000 points

Strategy

Straight to the point. Unless I have extensive Chimera transports and/or Al Raheem, I'll never have enough mobility. Therefore, I'd better accept this and instead play the missions following my rules: I don't care if you can go anywhere, zooming around me and grabbing every objective while i cant, my mission is to kill your troops!

With this focus in mind, here comes the AV14 wall of steel. As you can see, the strength is designed to destroy light transports and to slaughter infantry. Every kind of infantry, even marines. Yeah, i've dropped the s8ap3 standard Russes, but if you think about it for a second, an expert player isn't going to clump up his marines so it would be VERY hard to get more than 6-8 hits below 2 blasts (and how many times your russes scattered into nothing?), while 2 Exterminators with sponson heavy bolters throw out 8 twinlinked Autocannon shots plus 18 heavy bolter shots which averages 4 dead marines with a very, very reliability but high potential (and if the enemy is a xeno with 4+ armour, it's pratically blown away with 11 UNSAVED wounds.

To summarize, use the Leman Russes to destroy enemy transports, then let them unleash hell into enemy scoring units. Use the Manticore to pry open tougher targets, using fire support from the Vendettas and LasCannon infantry. Keep the autocannon squads separate and use them as meatshield for enemy shooting and buffer for enemy assaulters.

PLAY TO THE MISSION! (also known as: KILL ENEMY TROOPS)

Another small tip about objectives placement. Do not clump your objectives INSIDE your lines. Instead, place them 6"-12" in front of your units. The enemy usually is going to charge you as fast as he can. Be sure that you don't give him another reason to smash your guardsmen to death: hopefully he'll split a little forces to get to the objectives instead throwing everything plus the kitchen sink at your lines.

Army Lists: Balanced Regiment v1.0

184th Cadian Regiment

Army List

HQ

Company Command Squad (vox, Autocannon)

Troops

Infantry Platoon 1

Platoon command squad (4x flamers)
Infantry squad (Autocannon, Commissar)
Infantry squad (Autocannon, Grenade Launcher, Vox caster)
Infantry squad (Autocannon, Grenade Launcher)

Infantry Platoon 2

Platoon command squad (4x flamers)
Infantry squad (Lascannon, Commissar)
Infantry squad (Lascannon, Grenade Launcher, Vox caster)
Infantry squad (Lascannon, Grenade Launcher)

Infantry Platoon 3

Platoon command squad (3x Grenade launchers, Vox caster)
Infantry squad (Flamer, Heavy Bolter, Krak Grenades, Power Axe, Meltabomb, Commissar with Power Axe)
Infantry squad (Flamer, Heavy Bolter, Krak Grenades, Power Axe, Meltabomb, Vox caster)
Infantry squad (Flamer, Heavy Bolter, Krak Grenades, Power Axe, Meltabomb)

Fast Attack

Vendetta (Heavy Bolters)
Vendetta (Heavy Bolters)
Vendetta (Heavy Bolters)

Heavy Support

Leman Russ Battle Tank
Leman Russ Demolisher
Colossus

Fortifications

Aegis Defense line (Quad gun)

2000 points

Strategy

Platoon 1 and Platoon 2 should guard the home objectives, aided by the company command squad and its orders. The commissars should ensure that the line will hold against all odds: anyway, if the game is not Kill Point (as usual) the gunline platoons would be arranged as 10+20 to get an extra buffer from the enemy assault units that will probably storm the aegis line. If the enemy is VERY assault-based, the infantry squad shouln't be combined and instead deployed in spaced layers wherever possible: Imperial Guard strategy 101 - trade bodies with time.

Platoon 3 will head to midfield and has a primary anti-horde and speedbump duty. Of course if it can grab and hold an objective it's all good, but I shouldn't put too much faith in these men. With a proper use of movement and FRFSRF these 30 guardsmen should put a dent on any light infantry. Yes, i have heavy bolters in the unit, it's not a typo: they're not autocannons because this platoon should be focused into gunning down infantry. And, with the general decrease in transports and the increase in infantry, i guess they'll be a nice addition to the list.

The Air Force. Probably the biggest addition in 6th edition so far: Imperial Guard has probably the best flier ever (ps: the recruitment office of the imperial navy is over there) so I deployed three of them to ensure air superiority. I just have to remember that they're not invulnerable to other fliers, but AV12 is a nice steel frame to rely on. And their 3x TL lascannons will absolutely put a dent on every vehicle and 2+ save units out there. Also, a good spray of heavy bolter fire is good for when no good vehicles are in sight. Two of them carry the flamer PCS, they should drop nearby enemy light infantry holding backfield objectives and burn them away. They won't hold the newly opened objective, but will force the enemy to reroute SOMETHING from the main assault (at least i hope)

The mechanized forces, apart from the classic Leman Russ Battle Tank and its brother the Demolisher, see the addition of the Colossus. It's main duty is to murder backfield marines (hello long fangs!) and backfield objective holders. Just remember that it scatters A LOT (so far i had an incredible bad luck, and during a test game the only its shells they accomplished was to splatter MY OWN deepstriken stormtrooper)

Flaws

As usual, mobility is issue number 1. I don't have proper methods to reliable harm enemy objectives, not to speak about claim them. Ideally, I'd have to blast every vehicle in the first 2 or 3 turns, then start running and fire my lasguns like there was no tomorrow while running for my life...

Army Lists: Mobile ground forces v1.0

Mobile ground forces

Army List

HQ

Company Command Squad (vox, Lascannon, regimental standard)
Company Command Squad (4x Plasmagun)

Elites

Storm Trooper Squad (2x Meltagun)
Storm Trooper Squad (2x Plasmagun, Sgt Plasmapistol, 2x extra Storm Troopers)

Troops

Infantry Platoon 1

Platoon command squad (4x Sniper rifles)
Infantry squad (Lascannon)
Infantry squad (Lascannon, vox)
Infantry squad (Lascannon)
Infantry squad (Lascannon, vox)

Infantry Platoon 2

Platoon command squad (4x Grenade launchers)
Infantry squad (Flamer)
Infantry squad (Flamer)
Infantry squad (Flamer)
Infantry squad (Flamer)

Heavy Support

Leman Russ Demolisher
Leman Russ Demolisher

Fortifications

Aegis Defense line (Quad gun)

1502 points

Strategy

First platoon will deploy behind the fortifications with the static Company Command Squad, to provide long range, reliable, high strength fire support. The sniper rifles are there mainly for a psychological factor, to require some more thought during movement for my opponent's characters.

The second platoon will move to midfield, shielding the demolishers from close combats, while also providing cover to them (6th edition rules are that if there is any unit between the firing model and the target, the target has a 5+ cover. If it works for termagants in front of the tervigon, it will work also on guardsmen and leman russes). Once the enemy gets too close, they'll reverse and get back to the main lines or maneuver outside LoS on the flanks if possible. Hopefully they'll grab some objectives along the way.

The stormtroopers with meltaguns will drop and blow up a tank, while the plasma stormtroopers are designed to murder small marine squads or severely damage terminators without storm shields. Their deployment shouldn't always be via deepstrike, because they usually can be used for more than one time (differently than their melta carrying counterpart)

Flaws

This list suffers somewhat in the Killpoint-equivalent mission. 2 stormtroopers and 4 command squads are quite easy to get and if I blob the 4 Infantry squads together i suffer the lack of commissars in close combats. Anyway, this happens in 1 mission out of 6, and anyway a more defensive deployment should allow me to protect the weaker members of the list.

Gearing up for 6th

Refining the lists for the 6th edition

Well, most of my (few) readers must have noticed a slowdown in this blog activity.

Fear not, my friends!

At the moment, I am simply overwhelmed with stuff: the last exam before graduation, more trips to the local (well, 35km away) friendly GW shop and also i've began painting my 150+ cadian figures :D

Future of my lists

Well, 6th nerfed the Power Weapons, and in general the blob-cc approach is now much less viable than before: The sergeants will die a lot sooner if they're near the first rank of close combat, or otherwise they won't strike at all (or at least no more than one turn).

The ability to tarpit for 4 phases and do not lose a single PW in the process was what made this approach extra powerful.

Also, i don't have any "power axe" (Am I the only one that find this concept stupid? Power Axe? power Staff? WTF?) so terminators would make a mess of my lines.

The new approach: RUNlines and Rapid Fire

Yeah, not GUNlines, but RUNlines: it's not a typo. This basically means to have a large blob or multiple smaller blobs armed with guns which take advantage of the new Rapid fire rules: the plasmagun.

Keep your plasma unit mobile on foot about at 24" from the enemy (now you have an effective 30" range, keep this in mind) and maneuver on the field while harassing from distance.

Of course there will be a static section to provide a solid firebase to complement the mobile skirmishers.

Heavy armour on the field

Now it's much, much harder to get cover for our men. That's why an Aegis Defence Line will become mandatory from 1000pts up. The weaponry is optional albeit recommended if you lack fliers.

Also, I think I'm gonna give up the "all infantry all the time" theme, because the Leman Russes are now much more awesome against every opponent, infantry and vehicles alike. Now they will most probably be glanced only, so they will be really difficultly stunlocked. The problem i must figure out is if i should get the Leman Russes in place of the outflanking Al Raheem blob, or keep Al and trade away one of the other two static platoons.

Considerations

I'll need to playtest a lot, and the local GW has just launched a small campaign to get some practice with the new rules: so far I've played necrons 3 times out of 3 (which is the worst matchup for my Leman Russes) and I managed to win 2 of them. At the moment i'm running a 20x men Lascannon blob, a 20x with 2x plasmagun and plasmapistols (sarges can "precision strike" on a 6 with their plaspistol!) and 2 Leman Russes at 750p.

I need to face more varied opponents because if I use only the feedback I got from necrons, it would be basically tailoring. Anyway, i have a good feeling about this list, even if 750 is quite restricting and at 1000pts it would be much better (30x instead of 20x blobs, lascannons on the russes and an Aegis Line with the 35p gun).

Don't worry, I'll be in touch.

Do you have any suggestion or consideration or even rants about 6th edition or my ideas? feel free to comment and let me know :)

Batrep: Imperial Guard vs Tyranids

The hammer has landed

Army Lists

184th Cadian

This time I use the Army List v1.2

Tyranid Hive Fleet

Player: buddy

HQ

Hive Tyrant (2x twinlinked devourers with brainleech, regen, old adversary, paroxysm, leech essence, armored carapace)
tyrant guard
tyrant guard
tyrant guard

Elite

(2x) Hive Guard
(2x) venomthrope
The doom of Malan'tai (Micetic Spore)

Troops

(10x) Termagaunts
(16x) Termagaunts (devourers, Micetic Spore)
Tervigon (toxin sacs, catalyst, clusterspines)

Heavy

tyrannofex (rupture cannon, clusterspines, dessicator larve)

Mission and Deployment

Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead
Tyranid rolled and get first turn.
Even if Annihilation against an assault-based army is always tough, i can maximize the distance before the assaults, and i can layer my forces effectively. At least, that's my hope.
Again, Al Raheem would have been useful on board, but the asymmetry of the spearhead deployment will force the opponent to play not too far from the short table edge, and I can play my usual "L-shaped pincer maneuver".

The Battle

Deployment

The table represents a sector of an Imperial stronghold. The buildings blocks line of sights through them but give 4+ cover to anybody within them. The bunker at the head of the trenches is an AV13 building.
The trenches themselves are 4+ for who's standing inside them, while the wrecked vehicles are 5+ covers.

The Hive Mind deployed as close as possible to my deployment zone, obviously.
As obviously, I deployed as far as possible. This time I've learned that the Impaler Cannons from the Hive Guards can fire without LOS and ignoring intervening cover: every important and small unit must be within some form of area terrain. That means basically every unit except the blobs.

Mycetic spores are in reserves with their contents, and Al Raheem and his platoon are late to the party as always.

Guard rolled to seize and got a 6. Imperial Guard gained the initiative!

Introduction

"Colonel, I know that's not a simple mission. But we must open a beach head on the planet: it is too important to abandon it to the Tyranids."
"My Lord, the planet is already in ruins. We're gonna lose a lot of men and materiel for no..."
"I DON'T CARE! YOU'LL GO DOWN AND YOU'D BETTER RECOVER THAT STRONGHOLD IF YOU WANT TO LIVE! You have three options: 1. You'll stay here and be executed by the Commissariat for cowardice; 2. You'll make planetfall and allow the bugs to eat your face, and I don't recommend that; 3. You'll make planetfall and RECOVER THAT DAMNED FORTRESS before the bugs eat your face. Feel free to pick the one you prefer."
"Sir, yes sir"

* * * "Captain, prepare your men. Our action must be swift, because if we don't have the fortress in hour hands before 12 hours after planetfall, the Biomagi believes that the Hive Mind will be able to regain active control on the remaining Tyranids scattered across the planet and we won't have any hope left. You all were there on Theseus Minor and you know what it means to run out of time against that scum."

* * * The transport ships touched the planet surface, after the usual massive barrage leveled everything within 10 square kilometers. This may be an effective tactic against a more "conventional" enemy, but against a planet-sized anthill it has the opposite effect: swarms of bugs have been awaken and are ready to meet the Hammer of the Emperor.

The Hammer has landed

Turn 1 - Imperial Guard

"They control the planet. They won't be pleased of our arrival. They must be expecting us. I don't wanna die." - Anonymous guardsman of the 184th

The quietness of the planet is unnatural. Besides of the rhythmical march of thousands and thousands of boots, no sounds fills the air: no chirps, no wind, everything stands still and silent. Most of the life has been extirpated from the planet, and only rocks and dry mud is all around.

Here and there, the burned remnants of imperial structures lay in ruins. Fortunately, the objective is relatively unscathed.

"Here we are, men. This is our final destination. Here we must stand, to recover this precious assets for the glorious Emperor, where we will bring the death upon the xeno scum that is affecting this poor planet. We will clean the planet, and we will be covered in Glory tomorrow! Put your weapons at the ready, our time has come, yet again!"

* * * "HERE THEY ARE!"
The still air suddenly come to life, as soon as the Tyranids finally decided to storm the Imperial Guard lines. Swarms of bug-like aliens left the once Imperial trenches, heading on the double against the guardsmen.

Fear appeared on the faces of the survivors of Theseus Minor, until the training kicked in. The officers began directing fire, and the muzzles began flashing. Hails of energy beams zipped across the field, and the aliens began falling.

Since the last time i got swamped under spawned termagants, I decided that the Tervigon was the first bug to shot at. The luck wasn't at my side, because all the long range guns managed to chip off only 2 wounds from it.

Turn 1 - Tyranids

Roaring in danger and sensing the danger, the Tervigon activated its biological countermeasures. Another brood of Termagants spawned from its torax, increasing the aliens numbers.

The energy barrage kept raining against the running swarms of the Tyranid forces. The roars of the enemy beast echoed across the field, filled of anger and ancestral hatred for every other living being.

"They sure look angry now, right corporal?"

Well, the first turn is quite always dull between a shooting army and an assaulty one. The Tervigon spawned 10 Termagants, and the rest ran forward. The Tervigon also catalysted itself.

Turn 2 - Imperial Guard

As the Tyranids rushed closer to the Imperial lines, more and more weapons have now a target to unleash their fire at. The racket of automatic cannons pouring lead into the alien ranks added to the whines of the energy discharge from the Lascannon batteries.

"Sergeant, focus fire on the Venomthropes!"
"With all the respect, sir, WHAT THE HELL IS A VENOMTHEROPS?"
"VE-NOM-THRO-PES! It's that bug over there! - The captain realized that there were quite a lot of bugs over there, actually - These two with poisonous, yellow fog sprouting from them!"
"Got'em, sah!"

A massive hail of high caliber rounds scythed its path between the running alien, and penetrated the targets' chitin multiple times, leaving only a gooey mess where the aliens stood just a second ago.

The noise of the battle was appalling. There was no way to communicate reliably without an heavy usage of the vox network between units. Even the colonel failed to heard what the captain was saying, and he was only a couple meters ahead of him!

Al Raheem failed to show up with a roll of 2. Sadface.
You know the drill. Officers order the Lascannon blob to down the Tervigon, but only one wound managed to pass through the cover: 3 more to go; the Autocannon blob was ordered to focus fire against the venomthropes and thank to the awesome "Fire at my Target" order, 5 wounds are inflicted and all of them managed to overcome the cover saves. First blood!
The plasma CCS ordered the Lascannon CCS to bring the Tervigon down, but rolled double 6 (they don't have a vox so i can't reroll this). Of course, the veteran lascannon missed the target altogether: for fun, i rerolled to see if the twin linked would have been useful, but i failed to hit again, lol.
The platoon commanders fired against the tyrannofex, chipping the first wound off him.
A little post-turn consideration. I could have fired all my autocannons to the Tervigon, but the fact that it had FnP had forced me to find a better effect for my guns: statistically, 12 autocannon shots vs a Tervigon with feel no pain, 8 of them twinlinked, would have scored LESS than 1 wound on it. I decided to grab the easiest KP i saw out there, and my bet was successfull.

Turn 2 - Tyranids

As the battle went on, the Hive Mind began noticing the threat on the planet. It hadn't been completely consumed yet, and the fresh biomass provided by the humans was too interesting to be ignored.

Dark shadows filled the sky above the battlefield as soon as the Hive Mind dispatched new forces to consume the assaulters.
The micetic spores landed north of the guard positions, unleashing more Termagants.

Their devourer worms were hurled into the guardsman trenches, followed shortly after by screams of pain: the small parasites ate the flesh of the unfortunate guardsmen up to their brain, driving them mad in agony until they fell to the ground, dead.

"In the name of the Emperor... what was that? they didn't have it last time on Theseus Minor! Guardsmen! put them down! they must be destroyed at once!"

The Imperial lines are now in range of the enemy guns: several arrow-like spines and shards flew inside the windows of the occupied building, shredding to pieces the Platoon Command stationed there. This time, no screams were heard, because the guardsmen were killed on the spot.

The reserve rolls of my opponent brought in a single micetic spore, with the 20 strong Termagants with devourers. Man, i haven't ever saw that weapon before, and when my opponent rolled all those dice, i almost fainted. thankfully he fired at the lascannon blob which was hiding behind a thin line from the other platoon, and this allowed me to save 10. Sadly, 12 still fell. The Tervigon fired his blast against the PCS in the building, killing half of it: The Hive Guards allegedly finished the task, finishing them. The rest of the bugs just ran forward, slowed by the trenches. KP count: 1-1

Turn 3 - Imperial Guard

The Tyranids were now close enough for the trap to spring. From the southwest of the fortress sector, the third column of the regiment marched from behind the hills which were hiding them from the main battlefield.

"Here they are, finally. I was beginning to think that they wouldn't make it..."

* * * "We can't let them fire again those parasites at us, or we'll be slaughtered!"
When the guardsmen saw how their comrades died, eaten inside out by those parasites, there was no need for the sergeants to call for focused fire against the new foe: an unstoppable hail of lasgun shots showered the Termagants.

The air itself screamed when the energy beams zipped from the muzzles of the infantrymen lasguns to the alien chitin, at that point to be replaced by the beasts screams of pain.
When the dust settled, only a couple of aliens were still standing: every other was slain in a pool of burning, gooey slime.

While the light guns were decimating the lesser Tyranids, the heavy Laser cannons kept shooting the bigger monsters. Following the officiers directions, multiple laser beams crashed through the thick carapace of the Tervigon which, finally, crashed to the ground after a loud scream of anger and pain.

As soon as the big beast exaled its last breath, the Termagants it spawned earlier writhed as if they were being electrocuted: many of them fell nearby their progenitor, dead.

"That's what you can say, kill two xenos with one stone!"

Finally Al Raheem decided to show up (i rolled 2 again, thanks astropath) and i even got to reroll the flank once to get the place i wanted. I almost hadn't enough place to deploy all my guardsmen without entering terrain and losing precious inches :P
The autocannon blob used FRFSRF on the dropped termagants, killing all but 3! Nice job, men!
The lascannon blob instead kept firing on the Tervigon, removing its last wound. The subsequently shock of the nearby Termagants killed half of both squad. That's a nice bonus.
Al Raheem advanced until the hill's edge ("hey there impaler cannons!") while his platoon ran forward.
KP count: 2-1 for the Guard.
Overall a pretty satisfying turn for me, and i really feel i am gaining the upper hand in this match.

Turn 3 - Tyranids

The Hive Mind didn't appreciate the loss of its Tervigon. More and strongers countermeasures are needed on the field.

Another Micetic Spore wave appeared on the sky: one of them landed right in front of the command HQ on the hill. A single creature gushed from the alien pod, different than any else ever seen by any guardsman of the regiment.

A very frail body, a vast cranium cracking with psychic energy, hovered in front of the command squads. An ice cold sensation filled every man in sight, and a strong psychic force began scratching the back of their consciousness.

A strong pain was felt by the colonel and the captain: It was looking that the Hive Mind knew that it had to kill the officiers to destroy the threat.

A massive energy storm propagated by the alien's overgrown brain, to explode upon the nearby marching platoon: several guardsmen exploded when the psychic beams reached them.
As soon as the psychic storm ended, the Tyrannofex blasted the survivors, killing more of them. Only the fear of the commissar's execution forced the survivors to stand still.

Angered for the death of their progenitor, the surviving Termagants ran forward and leaped onto the guardsmen, compensating the low number with an increased rage.
The men didn't faltered, and teared down a good number of the assaulters.

The Doom of Malan'tai came from reserves and dropped exactly in front of my commands, in range of 4 units. Luckily only the commands itself failed the test, and most of the wounds are blocked by cover or put on the multiwound commander. (Fun fact, both of the unsaved wounds have been placed on the two commanders).
The doom itself blasted Al's platoon with an s9ap1 pieplate, downing 6 (they are still packed from the last turn).
After general movement, the Tyrannofex added its blast to the platoon, killing 4 more. All the rest of the enemy shooting is too far or uneffective.
One squad of 5 surviving Termagants charged the autocannon in its long tail behind the building. Both factions manage to kill 2, and the combat continues.

Turn 4 - Imperial Guard

"Colonel! We must withdraw from that monster! He's sucking our lives!" "Y..You're right corporal. But there's no room to withdraw! We must PUSH FORWARD! Captains, drive your men onwards and burn that monster and its bubonic pod with your plasma and melta weaponry.

Shaking, the two officiers obeyed the colonel and advanced to attack the monster which was still creeping in the back of their minds. Two guardsman couldn't stand it anymore, and fell to the ground, after a short moan.

The plasmagunner opened fire against the enemy living capsule, burning it several times: helped with several lasgun shots from a nearby guardsman they manage to destroy it. The other command squad opened fire with their termic guns: the monster deflected every shot, bending the air around it with incredible ease.

More long range fire leaved the Imperial Guard positions to crash into the other remaining spore: after a focused round of heavy laser beams, it exploded leaving a big pool of goo.

The command's lascannon added its whine to the noises of the battle: the energy discharge hit the huge Tyrannofex which was closing in every second more.

Bayonets still at the ready, the first ranks were engaged by the remaining of the enemy Termagant brood. With careful moves they managed to not lose a single guardsman, while keeping the aliens under threat.
"Keep fighting men! We must cleanse this planet, and we shall begin today, here!"

First of all i tried to move away as much units as possible from the doom's area of effect, but there's not much room for Al raheem. I manage to "save" only his blob. Said effect killed one meltagunner from Al's retinue and one veteran from the Colonel's team.
The colonel ordered the lascannon blob to bring down the spore which dropped the Termagants last turn. All 4 lascannons managed to wound it, and it died. After that, the CCS itself ordered to bring down the Tyrannofex. The plasma CCS (the captain) opened fire against the spore, and 5 managed to wound and 2 managed to burn themselves (luckily i made 1 armor save) even if the plasmagun were twinlinked... At this point the spore should have exploded but my opponent said it had 6 wounds and I didn't bothered to check it. Anyway, the remaining PCS destroyed it (fun fact, the autocannon missed but one lasgun managed to hit, wound and pass the armor save, chipping the "last" wound.
The assault phase what really underwhelming for both parts: no wound managed to reach the armor roll.
Consideration on this turn
I underestimated the doom's save and the fact that it's not a monstrous creature, which prevented me from using Bring it Down. This caused me the "waste" of the veteran lascannon shot, which removed one (useless) wound from the T-fex.
Anyway, I scored 2 kill points and i am leading 4-1, so overall it's good.

Turn 4 - Tyranids

The biomass lost in this fight was beginning to reach critical levels. There was only little hopes to overcome the odds, but for sure the Hive Mind does not know the will for surrender.

Heading his retinue, the Hive Tyrant roared and followed its minion in assault against the imperial positions. Several men were thrown high in the air, to fall many meters behind like broken dolls.

Its presence growing stronger, his anger growing meaner, his power increasing... The strength of the Doom of Malan'tai was feeding from the souls of men nearby. Many lives have already been consumed to feed its power, and more are being consumed in this very moment.

Expanding the Hive Mind's will on the battlefield, the Tyrant reached for the already weakened minds of the fighting humans, causing them fits of agony. Then, when many were writhing on the ground, screaming, it began to slaughter them ruthlessly

Ignoring its wound, the Tyrannofex unleashed his biological weapons on the marching guardsmen. Several were consumed by the acids spitted from the monster and many more were shredded by the enemy slivers blasted across the air.
The soulless monster then rammed the remaining guardsmen, ripping who was so unfortunate to be too near to its talons.

"Stand strong, my brave! These are only the futile attempts of a cornered opponent! The victory is in our hands!"

The Doom is for sure annoying. He keeps leeching my souls! Another meltagunner is dead. He tried to assault me, but thans to bad bad movement and assault rolls, he failed.
The hive guards tried to fire at Al Raheem but the cover stopped the impaler cannons. Tyrannofex attacked the blob downing around 10 of them and then charged Al's platoon. The Tyrant joined the remaining Termagants against the first blob, and 11 get killed, but the morale test is passed.
Some issue happened when he piled in, because he ignored the 1" distance from the brown blob. He even claimed that the browns are now in combat with him. Of course, i refused and went on.

Turn 5 - Imperial Guard

The monster floated nearby the colonel, pointing his eyeless head against the high officier, sensing his presence, hunting his soul. The cold feeling grew higher every second, the pain felt was never so high...

"Sir! SIR! What now? We need orders! The colonel is in danger!"
"Kill him! K..k..kill him!"
"Sir, what did you say, sir?"
The cold presence of the monster dried the throat of the captain, which didn't manage to direct the guard fire effectively
"Screw it, captain, GUARDSMEN, OPEN FIRE! THE COLONEL IS IN DANGER!"
Following the unnamed but authoritative voice, the Lascannon batteries beared on the floating monster.
The aiming was hindered by the scattered vegetation in the hilltop, but the sheer power of the high energy beams penetrated the thick foliage and the thick carapace of the monster alike.

A loud discharge of psychic energy arced high from the wounded body of the alien, propagating through the enemy ranks like sparks from a damaged cogitator. One by one, reached by the raw energy, the aliens fell to the ground, like if their life link had been suddendly cut.

Silence fell around the fort, and the heavy weight on the soul of the guardsmen disappeared.

"Guardsmen, today we have reclaimed this sacred fortification in the name of the Emperor! The enemy is still strong, but the Hammer of the Emperor is even mightier! We'll never rest, we'll never back down, because the Imperial Guard can only win, because so is the will of the Emperor. Rejoice for your fallen comrades, because they finally satisfied their duty against the golden throne of terra, and are now marching in His light. Now we must continue, to clean this planet, for Him and for the 184th!"

"HURRAH!"

The Hammer has Landed. The Hammer has won

My opponent surrendered

Victory to the 184th Cadian Regiment!

Post-battle analysis

Apart for the small problems we had regarding the rules, the game went really smooth. This list was for sure weaker than the one I faced last time against Hugz4Genestealers, but I learned the real threats of Tyranids: I can face the few big monsters through tarpitting, but i needed to slow down and kill the smaller critters, which I managed to do quite effectively (well, a whole army against the Tervigon might not appear so effective, but i really feel that this decision made me won the game).
The doom of malantai will never be underestimated. Ok, i rolled poorly 60% of the times (4 test scored higher than 14) but still, it's dangerous.
I am quite satisfied with the plasma-CSS setup. It gives me 2 more orders, and much more less pressure on the single CCS approach, and also some good, reliable, AP2 love.
Overall I am quite satisfied with this victory.

Army Lists: Assault Infantry v1.2

Assault Infantry

Army List

HQ

Company Command Squad (vox, Lascannon, Astropath, Camo Cloaks)
Company Command Squad (4x Plasmaguns)

Troops

Infantry Platoon 1

Platoon command squad (Autocannon)
Infantry squad (Lascannon)
Infantry squad (Lascannon)
Infantry squad (Lascannon)
Infantry squad (Lascannon, vox, Commissar)

Infantry Platoon 2

Platoon command squad (Autocannon)
Infantry squad (Autocannon, meltagun, Sergeant with Power Weapon)
Infantry squad (Autocannon, meltagun, Sergeant with Power Weapon)
Infantry squad (Autocannon, meltagun, Sergeant with Power Weapon, krak grenades)
Infantry squad (Autocannon, meltagun, vox, Sergeant with Power Weapon, Commissar with Power Weapon)

Infantry Platoon 3

Platoon command squad (AlRaheem, 3x Meltaguns, vox)
Infantry squad (meltagun, Sergeant with Power Weapon)
Infantry squad (meltagun, Sergeant with Power Weapon)
Infantry squad (meltagun, Sergeant with Power Weapon, krak grenades)
Infantry squad (meltagun, vox, Sergeant with Power Weapon, Commissar with Power Weapon)

1490 points

Strategy

Just a minor tweak from the older version: I swapped the plasma-stormtroopers for a plasma-CCS, which can do pratically the same job tasked to the stormtroopers. Since what needs some plasma love usually is charging madly at me (and usually is on target at turn 3) there is no need for deepstrike or infiltration on the field. What's also better is that now i can go to ground with one CCS without losing all the juicy orders for a whole turn. Also, I can have the chance to yell at the lieutenants to fire for effect their autocannons, if it's needed.
Add to this the awesome Al Raheem, and i can have the possibility of 6 Bring it Down per turn.

Flaws

This one hasn't any suicidal units, so that point's covered. What i want to keep an eye into is the performance of the second CCS, and the general cost/effectiveness of the army, because i have the feeling i am overspending on certain units: expecially all those grenades. Next step would be dropping all those kraks and upgrade 4 meltaguns to plasma (mainly for the upcoming changes of the 6th edition, if the rumors are true) and give some sniper rifles to the second line lascannon blob, because those extra 36" shots aren't bad when they wound on a fixed rate even those T6 critters, you know.

Batrep: Imperial Guard vs Grey Knights

Inquisitional playground

Army Lists

184th Cadian

Assault Infantry v1.1

Grey Knights

Player: Mr.Darkness

HQ

Coteaz

Troops

6x acolytes w/ 3x meltaguns/psyback
6x acolytes w/ 3x meltaguns/psyback
6x acolytes w/ 3x plasmaguns/psyback
5x acolytes w/ 3x plasmaguns/psyback

elites

5x purifiers w/ 2x psycannons/2x halberds/1xhammer
5x purifiers w/ 2x psycannons/2x halberds/1xhammer
5x purifiers w/ 2x psycannons/2x halberds/1xhammer

heavy support

3x Dreadnought w/ dual Twin linked Autocannon, psybolts (aka: psyflemen)

1500 points

Mission and Deployment

Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Dawn of War

Grey Knights rolled to go first.

Well, this could have definitely been worse. Dawn of war basically prevents me to fire during turn 1, barring a very aggressive deployment from my opponent.
Annihilation is a real bonus for my army: i have only 8 KP while my opponent has 18! I pratically need to not be tabled to achieve a victory!

If my opponent packs his vehicles nearby a table edge, Al Raheem will have a field day hopping from tank to tank.

The Battle

Click on images to see them at full size.

Deployment

The table has been set up by the GK player, and it's quite open. The two buildings at the side are impassable and BLOS, the centerpiece ruin has a 4+ cover save for both infantry and vehicles, like the swamps and forests. The hills aren't difficult terrain, but are tall enough to obscure ground vehicles hiding behind.

The opponent decided to not deploy anything and to wait turn 1 to bring everything on the field.

I deployed everything center-left, with the PCS peeking from the buildings. I didn't deployed centrally or split in the corners because i want to force my opponent to play close to the table edge, to allow as much targets as possible to Al Raheem's meltagunners. The Stormtroopers are deepstriking

It has been a week since the remainders of out regiment left the planet of Theseus Minor and we're still reorganizing our forces after many many casualties. It will take a while...
No rest for the weary, anyway. We just received a dispatch from an Inquisitor which informed us that he, following the will of the Emperor, is commandeering us onto a search and destroy mission. The target is another Inquisitor which is accused to be heretic and tainted by the Chaos powers. I just suspect that this is simply another politics game, but i wouldn't complain with anyone about this, or i'd simply be found dead on my bed one night...

I rolled to seize the initiative: 6!
Too bad he had Coteaz, which forces me to reroll the die.
Roll again: 6!
Who am I to discuss the Emperor's will?

Turn 1 - Imperial guard

The stormtroopers descended first on the planet, infiltrating to be able to spot our target before he's able to set up a defensive perimeter against our attack.
After a couple of hours, the enemy appeared on our long range scanners, and the ambush is set up.

"Listen here, Lieutenants. The armoured column must cross this pass: we'll wait them here and here, opening fire from multiple sides. We MUST destroy as much transports as possible before going in for the kill. Do you understand? Good. Now move your men"

The ambush was now set up. The only light available was the one from the few stars in the sky.

And then they came: several engines roaring through the darkness, marching towards their end.

Well, absolutely nothing happened.

Turn 1 - Grey Knights

The armoured transports kept moving quietly through the night, until when the first autocannon rounds began ricocheting off the armor plates.
Revving up, the first elements of the column speed up, launching smoke grenades to hide the rest of the convoy against the rising sun off the horizon.

"Who the hell ordered to fire so soon? We lost the surprise effect now! Guardsmen, pick a target and be ready to fire at my signal..."

The GK force come in, and it mostly followed my plan. All enemy transports are straight ahead of my main force, with only three walkers (which are basically useless) are on the opposing flank, hiding in the woods.
The Purifiers are in the frontal three rhinos, while the acolytes are in the rear 4

Turn 2 - Imperial Guard

"...NOW!"

Every gun available opened fire onto the advancing convoy. Several Laser beams penetrated the smoke cloud, followed by a black, thick column of smoke from where one of the rhinos now lay immobile, while its passengers staggered outside, under the Imperial Guard firepower.

A transport valkirye zoomed above the battlefield, dropping a team of Stormtroopers dangerously close to the walkers hiding in the forests: firing from the hip, a hail of plasma bolts hit the rear of the nearby Dreadnought.
The plasma's energy melt through the engine compartment, which exploded.
"Well, that's a showy entrance, for sure!"

"Keep firing, men! They weren't expecting us!"

I retreated the right side PCS, so it can fire across the board to the rhinos while not being shot from the dreads.
Stormtroopers came in, failed the first scatter attempt and barely managed to stay on board with the second one. Phew!
The gunline opened against the purifiers rhinos: one is wrecked while the middle one has its stormbolter removed and the left one is stunned. (if I inverted the targets, the central purifiers wouldn't have been able to disembark and they would be dead. Well, live to learn...)
The Stormtroopers rapidfired their plasmaguns against the rear armour of the dread (4 out of 5 hit, 4 out of 4 pens) which exploded!
Not bad for one turn of shooting.
KP count: 2-0 for Guard

Turn 2 - Grey Knights

Reacting to the Guards' fire, the remaining transports sped up to close the distance against the firing positions to deliver their contents.
"Guardsmen! Stop them NOW if you want to live!"

In the other flank, the remaining Dreadnoughts detected the explosion of their brother, and turned to face the Stormtroopers.
"Uh oh.... Sarge?"
A hail of lead showered the hapless soldiers, shredding all but one, quite surprised, trooper.
"Is that your best, tin can?" - the survivor stormtrooper taunted the Dreadnought.
Like if it was answering the challenge, the walker charged the soldier, stomping him in a pool of gore.

The transport opened fire on the move to cover their advance, targeting the officiers they can see: several streams of light rained upon the field HQ.
"Watch out, sir!" - a trooper yelled, throwing himself at the Captain, pulling him on the ground.
"Ugh, thank you, Ross... Ross?"
A puddle of blood was growing underneath the corporal. Nothing could be done for him anymore.

More shots rained on the line, targeting the hidden Platoon command.
"HIT THE DIRT!"
Bullets whined above the guardsmen heads, with rubble jumping from the walls and the ground when the incandescent lead hit them.
When the racket lulled a bit, only the Lieutenant managed to stand back up. Acknowledging the loss of his squad, he reported to the captain:
"Sir, the position is lost: I'm falling back to regroup with the main force"

The rhino wall keep advancing, joined by the now footslogging purifier squad.
A lot of fire went against the CCS, which went to ground and lost only a veteran, thankfully. I couldn't afford to lose the Astropath yet!
More stormbolters hit the PCS nearby, wiping it to the Lieutenant, which flee.
On the other flank, a dread turned back and slaughtered the stormtroopers, finishing them in assault.
KP count: 2-1

Turn 3 - Imperial Guard

The battle was going on, with the Inquisitional forces trying to break the ambush and the Imperial Guard trying to break the Inquisitional forces. The former has been directed where the Captain planned, and it was now time to close the trap and wipe the traitors, once and for all.

From the east, the rhythmical trump of marching boots filled the air, above the loud engines and the deafening racket of automatic guns: the plan was unfolding as predicted!
With their guns blazing, the Imperial Guardsmen thrown themselves deep into the armored formation.

The enemy tank drivers were completely caught by surprise when the first transports began exploding. Leading by example, the lieutenant directed the fire of his men, destroying two of the nearest enemy transports.
The flaming debris fell all around, pinging off the other transports but scything down several running guardsmen: the screams of pain went unheard, covered by the explosions and the cheers of victory from the surviving guardsmen

Keeping the momentum, the screaming guardsmen fell like a human tide against the staggering survivors outside the wrecked transports.
A sea of bayonets whirled and slashed and stabbed the enemy acolytes, leaving no survivors.
"FOR THE EMPEROR!"

Encouraged by the explosion in the rear of the enemy positions, the gun line opened fire to cover their comrades against the retaliation of the Inquisitional column, which was far from destroyed.
The captain was too busy coordinating the efforts with the new reinforcements to direct the fire of the gunline: the sergeants tried their best to slow down the enemy advance.

Loud as ever, Imperial weaponry kept shooting through the field against the enemy transports, damaging more and more of them, slowing the enemy advance to a grinding halt.

The battle was at the turning point.

Al Raheem showed up from the right flank, and positioned it ready to cause as much damage as possible.
The fleeing PCS reached the end of the line and gets removed. I later learned that i could have it keep running parallel to the long table edge.
Since the CCS was still on ground, Al Raheem began issuing orders: Bring it down to his blob and to himself, wrecking a rhino and exploding another. The explosion hit 12 guardsmen but killed only 4.
The gunline failed a bit, managing only to immobilize another rhino.
The remaining PCS fired across the board and downed one of the purifiers that are on foot.
I always love assault phases when i get the charge: the blob and Al charge the contents of the tin boxes they destroyed, wiping the 2 small acolytes squad in a single swing. Note that Al Raheem just appeared and scored 4 kill points this turn. Say what about "earning back his points"?
KP count: 6-2 for Imperial Guard

Turn 3 - Grey Knights

The Inquisitional forces were now surrounded in a pinch maneuver, and their situation is looking worse every minute passed.

The only hope left for the enemy was to break the encirclement and to find another route to escape the battlefield: a purifier patrol dismounted from its transport and ran to face the flank assault, while the others moved north to challenge the main gunline.

"Here they come, guardsmen! prepare your bayonets, here we'll decide our fate and the fate of this battle!"

In anger for their many losses, the Grey Knights opened fire against the guardsmen that dared challenging them.
Many, many automatic guns opened fire along the whole line: this was their last hope to turn the battle, and they poured all their courage in their guns.
"It's a shame we must kill all of them, they could have been a fine addition to our campaign, don't you think, corporal?"
The answer of the corporal wasn't audible under the noisy racket of guns and explosions and screams and orders everywhere on the battlefield.

"Don't be cowards like this man, guardsmen! We must stand strong and we will weather this storm, we won't disappoint the Emperor with our cowardice!"
Extract from the commissar's speech after the summary execution of a sergeant for cowardice

While charging the surrounding forces, the Purifier squad summoned a psychic wave from the warp. The blast caught the minds of many guardsmen, snapping their lifes: they fell to the ground without a single reaction.
"Don't you dare killing my men like that! You traitor!" - The commissar yelled at the Grey Knights in front of him.
Pulling out all the courage he had, the commissar lead the countercharge: standing in awe for the incredible skill of the commissar, the sergeants followed him to revenge the fallen guardsmen killed by a foe they cannot see.

Cutting like a hot knife in butter, the power weapons slaughtered the marines.
"The hammer of the Emperor will smash you all, traitors!"

The rhino wall kept advancing with what was left.
Both Purifiers disembarked from the remaining transports, one marched back toward Al's blob while the other marched ahead.
Everything opened fire against the AC blob, killing more than 25% of the unit. The morale test is passed at the second attempt, at the price of a sergeant.
The Purifiers charged Al's blob, wiping 12 with cleansing flame and 10 more through shooting and I6 attacks. The guard sergeants pulled out an incredible show, 15 attacks resulted in 8 PW wounds (where the expected average was less than 3!) wiping the squad completely!
KP count: 7-2

Turn 4 - Imperial Guard

The enemy forces are now completely surrounded, with their rear guard completely overran and an impenetrable wall of lasguns in front of them. The end was near!

"Men, this has gone on for too long. It's time to finis this now! OPEN FIRE!"
Following their commander's order, the sergeants coordinated the lasfire in timed waves, allowing the lasguns to recharge completely between every shot. The volleys reached the advancing purifiers which, with the help of Lascannons and Autocannons, fell to the ground to never get back up.
"Great job, men! Victory shall be ours!"

Jumping from wreck to wreck, the flanking platoon assaulted deep into the enemy formations. Melta beams reduced enemy transports and their occupants to smoking wrecks. There is no more room for escape!

Shortly after the final breakthrough, the Traitor Inquisitor is captured and summarily executed by the Commissars on the field, as per orders received. The other remaining survivors of his escort shall be captured and sent for interrogations.

Al Raheem and the remainders of his blob marched deep into the remaining rhinos formation, exposing rear armor to their meltaguns.
The whole line fired at the closer purifier squad, slaughtering them under the mass weight of lasrifles.
Al Raheem and friends exploded a couple more rhinos and assaulted their occupants: none survived.
KP count: 12-2

My opponent conceded

Victory to the 184th Cadian Regiment!

Post-battle analysis

1. Well, my opponent admitted that this list was assembled shortly before the match, so it wasn't at its full potential. Anyway, this demonstrated the inherently weakness of the MSU + transports approach when it comes to KP games.
2. Al Raheem won the game singlehandedly, scoring 7 KPs (at least). I suppose this evens the bad performance of the last match...
3. Plasma stormtroopers are officially out of the list. This time they earned back their points, but anyway they don't bring anything much effective to the list.