Vindication

Svengril knew this area like the back of his hand. It naturally favoured close quarter fighting and to that end he had procured a Vindicator siege tank. However, as he looked across the battlefield he saw that the enemy had managed to do the same. "Pah! Tank battles are for the Imperial Guard" he snorted. His squad laughed. He plugged into the vox caster and spoke to the rest of his force, "Ignore their tank, capture the objectives and leave their captain to me - his head is mine!"

This is a 750 point battle report between my Space Wolves and Dave's Space Marines. We rolled up 5 objectives with Spearhead deployment. I won the roll off and decided to go first.

Deployment:

Turn 1:

Svengril gave the word and from the Strike Cruiser in orbit a Drop Pod was launched. As it slammed into the ground, the hatches blew and out stepped the Dreadnought within. He opened fire with his Assault Cannon and his Heavy Flamer at the enemy Devastator Squad but their Power Armour was a match for the incoming fire and none of them fell. Behind him the rest of the Space Wolf army moved up.

The large enemy Tactical Squad made their way into the woods while the Vindicator backed away to get a better shot. The Devastator Squad stayed where they were and prepared to return fire on the Dreadnought. In front of them the Captain led his Combat Squad forward. At the back the other Combat Squad remained protected in the ruins. Two Missile Launchers, two Plasma Cannons and a Multimelta opened fire at the Dreadnought but the sum total of their attacks was that it couldn't fire. The Vindicator opened fire at its opposite number but the shot scattered harmlessly away.

End of Turn 1:

Turn 2:

The Space Wolf Vindicator rumbled forward and leveled its Demolisher Cannon at the Devastator Squad. As the smoke cleared only one Marine was still standing. Out of the top hatch of the Rhino Svengril cast Murderous Hurricane on the Tactical Squad in the woods. The Land Speeder Typhoon also fired at the same squad but casualties were minimal.

The Space Marine Captain led his squad into the ruins while the rest of his army opened fire. The Vindicator managed to wreck the Rhino while a Multimelta shot immobilised the Dreadnought.

End of Turn 2:

Turn 3:

Svengril stepped out from behind the wreckage of his Rhino and once again cast Murderous Hurricane on the large Tactical Squad. The Space Marine Vindicator also fired at the same squad and left only one survivor. The Typhoon finished off the remaining Devastator Marine while the Dreadnought fired upon the Combat Squad in the ruins but only managed to kill one of them. At the rear of the battle, the Grey Hunter squad got out of the Razorback and opened fire on the Captain and his squad. The Razorback added its Assault Cannons to the gunfire and only the Captain and two of his squad survived.

The Space Marine Vindicator once again tried to take out the Space Wolf one but its shot scattered and managed to immobilise the Land Speeder Typhoon. The Space Marine Captain yelled a challenge at the Grey Hunters and they tried to charge through the ruins to get to them. The two Tactical Marines got into combat but the Captain tripped and couldn't reach the fight. The combat was bloody with both of the Tactical Marines killed for the loss of a Grey Hunter. The Captain then managed to pile in.

End of Turn 3:

Turn 4:

Svengril, seeing that the Grey Hunters would be in trouble against the Space Marine Captain made his way towards the combat with some haste. The Space Wolf Vindicator opened fire on the Tactical Marines in the ruins and managed to kill three of them. Meanwhile the Captain managed to cut down another Grey Hunter but the squad stayed firm.

The Sergeant of the large Tactical Squad, the last survivor, made his way to try and secure the objective that had been held by the other Tactical Squad before the Vindicator had struck. The Multimelta Marine, who was now also the last member of his squad took aim at the Dreadnought and managed to blow off the Assault Cannon. The Vindicator fired at the Space Wolf one again but this time failed to penetrate the armour of the tank. The Captain swing his Power Sword in a bloody arc and managed to kill two more Grey Hunters. The final member of the squad stayed where he was, confident that Svengril the Rune Priest would turn combat the way of the Wolves.

End of Turn 4:

Turn 5:

Everything that the Space Wolf army had in range opened fire on the two hapless Tactical Marines that remained and they were reduced to a fine dust by the bombardment. The Rune Priest charged into combat with the Space Marine Captain. The Captain managed to kill the final Grey Hunter but Svengril cut him down with his Runic Weapon, even the Captain's Iron Halo was no match for the Force Weapon.

With the Space Marines only having a Vindicator left things were looking bleak. However, the driver and the gunner knew that if they could kill the remaining Grey Hunters then neither side would be claiming any of the objectives. They opened fire but the shell hit one of the trees on the way through and the Space Wolves were all safe.

End of Turn 5:

Turn 6:

The Space Wolf Vindicator saw what its enemy counterpart was trying and so parked itself between the the Demolisher Cannon and the Grey Hunters. With nothing else to move, the Space Wolves awaited the final shots of the battle. The Space Marine Vindicator fired its final shell but the Space Wolf Vindicator was protected by the trees and remained unscratched.

End of Turn 6 1-0:

Svengril laughed as he watched the enemy Vindicator back away at full speed. The Space Wolves had triumphed and once again their domain was safe.