Red Morning Light

"Nearly dawn," he thought, "the best time for war." Who was he kidding, he was a warrior in the Space Wolves, the 6th Legion, the Emperor's chosen and all times were a good time for war. Especially for battles like this. Space Marines were trying to set up a listening post to spy on Fenris. Well, there was no way that the Great Wolf would allow that. He had sent a strike force to fight off the enemy troops and destroy their equipment.

This is a 1500 point battle with 5 objectives and dawn of war deployment between my Space Wolves and David's Space Marines. He won the roll off and decided to go first. FYI, the 5th objective marker is in the corner of the ruin in the Space Marine deployment zone and isn't visible on any of the photos but it is there!

The Space Wolves hung back, like a hunting dog on a leash ready to be set upon their foes. Through the gloaming they could just about make out the outline of a Rhino in the distance and through the trees they could hear other troops moving about. So, the Marines had beaten them to the listening post. "Well, let's see how badly they want to keep it..."

Deployment:

Turn 1:

On the far side of the battlefield the Space Marines took up their positions, all slightly concerned by the fact that there were no enemy troops anywhere to be seen. Was this a trap? Their questions were soon answered as a Drop Pod landed in the middle of their lines and out strode a Dreadnought. With practised aim he fired upon the enemy Rhino but only succeeded in blowing off its Hunter Killer Missile. Behind him the rest of the Space Wolf army advanced, foregoing shooting in an attempt to reach their foes quicker.

End of Turn 1:

Turn 2:

The two Assault Squads lept forward ready to engage the Space Wolves. The Terminators moved up slowly behind them while on the other flank one of the Combat Squads of Tactical Marines prepared to capture the nearby objective. From the Rhino a Krak Missile ended the battle of the Dreadnought much to the relief of the rest of the squad inside. To their right the Dreadnought tried to fire at the Predator but his shot missed. The Devastator Squad was more accurate and managed to blow the Assault Cannons off one of the Razorbacks. The Combat Squad on the hill fired at the Long Fangs in the distance and managed to take out the Squad Leader. Meanwhile the Command Squad managed to bring down one of the fast moving Land Speeders.

The Space Wolf retaliation was swift and deadly. The Long Fangs wiped out the Tactical Squad that had shot at them while the Predator took out the enemy Dreadnought. Further firepower took out an Assault Marine, a member of the Command Squad and put a wound on the Space Marine Captain himself. The Fenrisian wolf pack attacked the other Assault Squad and managed to take out three of the jump packers. However they lost four wolves in return and were cut down as they tried to flee.

End of Turn 2:

Turn 3:

Once again the Space Marine shooting proved accurate if not completely deadly as a Razorback was Stunned and the 2nd Land Speeder was exploded. In Assault the 5 man Assault Squad charged the Lone Wolf and even though he managed to slay two of them he was brought down. The other squad found themselves just out of range of a charge into the Long Fangs and stood in the open hoping that the end would be quick.

However, the Long Fangs ignored the threat. They had been killing in the Emperor's long enough to be able to leave such a juicy target in preference of a more important one. They fired at the Tactical Squad that was making its way towards the nearest objective but only managed to cause a single wound. The other Tactical Squad took fire from the Predator and decided that discretion was the better part of valour and made a tactical retreat. The Rune Priest cast Murderous Hurricane on the Terminator Squad who managed to hold on in the teeth of the storm. The Assault Squad who had felled the Lone Wolf found themselves under fire and as the dust cleared only one of them remained.

End of Turn 3:

Turn 4:

The Tactical Squad recovered from the shock of their losses and rallied. In front of them the Terminators decided that trying to move in the Hurricane was far too dangerous and so stayed where they were. The Devastator Squad again fired on the Heavy Bolter Razorback but couldn't see through the smoke and all of their shots either missed or bounced harmlessly off the hull. The 2 man Assault Squad charged the Long Fangs but easily cut down for no loss by the wily old Space Wolves. The other Assault Marine tried to reach the relative safety of the ruins but misjudged his landing. Meanwhile the Command Squad managed to blow the Storm Bolter off the nearby Rhino.

The Predator took out another Tactical Marine while shear volume of fire took our three Terminators. The Long Fangs managed to take out another three Tactical Marines on their flank. Apart from the Lascannon Razorback at the rear of the field the rest of the army moved into position ready to capture another objective.

End of Turn 4:

Turn 5:

The Command Squad opened fire with their pistols at the Long Fangs but only killed a single heavy weapons trooper. The Meltagun armed Tactical Marine managed to prevent the Rhino from shooting while the Devastators blew the Heavy Bolters off the Razorback and immobilised it. However, these were futile victories as they could feel the Space Wolf noose tightening.

With just 3 Tactical Marines now sat on objectives the Space Wolves opened fire with everything that they had at them. The Long Fangs eradicated the last member of one squad while the other two Marines received fire from 10 Grey Hunters, a Rune Priest, a Land Speeder Typhoon and a Lascannon Razorback.

End of Turn 5:

The dice actually decreed that we would play another turn but with only one scoring unit left David very graciously admitted defeat.

The Space Wolves cheered as they watched the remains of the Space Marine force retreat. They could easily have followed them and cut them down to a man but letting them live served a greater purpose. The Space Marine Captain would have to file a report and that report would have to advise against ever entering Space Wolf space again. And if they didn't believe what he had written then he had the scars to prove just how foolish an idea it was.