Nightclubbing

Svengril Icefang shook his head as he walked away. He had hoped to end this without bloodshed but the Space Marine Captain had refused to listen. The Chaplain hadn't really helped matters and now the only answer was to fight. There was honour to be satisfied on both sides and Svengril knew what he had to do.

This is a 1750 point game between my Space Wolves and Space Marines controlled by Dave. We played Open War mission 1. Dave won the roll off to go first but passed it to me.

Deployment:



Turn 1:

The Lone Wolf howled at the grey, uncaring sky and then charged towards the distant enemy. Behind him, the Space Wolves' long range fire power opened up. One Long Fang pack killed two Space Marine Devastators, forcing the rest of the squad to flee. The second Long Fang pack destroyed the enemy Vindicator. Svengril's concentration waned and he failed to get a psychic power off.

On the Space Marine right the two Rhinos sped forward supported by the Assault Squad. The Devastator Squad rallied and managed to destroy one of the Space Wolf Razorbacks, 2 Grey Hunters dying in the resulting explosion. Both sides had started the battle in a very cagey manner.

End of turn 1:




Turn 2:

The Lone Wolf, spying a Combat Squad hidden in the terrain ahead, continued to run forward. The rest of the Space Wolf remained calmer as two Razorbacks arrived from reserve. On the Space Wolf flank, the Wolf Scouts arrived, firing into and then charging the Space Marine Assault Squad. The Scouts managed to kill 3 Marines but lost a couple of Scouts and the combat remained deadlocked. Fire poured into the Devastator Squad forcing it to flee from the battle altogether. The Space Wolf Dreadnought managed to immobilise his opposite number but no amount of shooting or psychic powers could halt the Space Marine advance on the left of the Wolves' lines.

All eyes on the battlefield were raised skywards as a Land Speeder Typhoon tried to Deep Strike. However, the pilot seemed to have gotten his co-ordinates wrong as he crashed into the treeline. On the Space Marine right one of the Rhinos stopped and fired a Multimelta at the recently arrived Razorback blowing off the turret. The other Rhino continued forward with the Assault Squad still in close proximity, having finished off the Scout squad. On the opposite side of the field, the Space Marine Dreadnought managed to Shake the Space Wolf one. The Combat Squad in the ruins opened fire at the Lone Wolf but failed to harm him.

End of Turn 2:

Turn 3:

The Space Wolf Vindicator arrived from reserve and levelled its Demolisher Cannon at the enemy Assault Squad. However, the deadly shell deviated from its target and only managed to kill one of the jump packers. One Long Fang Pack wrecked the Space Marine Captain's Rhino while the other Pack blew the Multimelta off the Dreadnought. Assault Cannon fire blew the other arm off the Dreadnought leaving him all but out of the battle. With the Captain and his Combat Squad now out in the open Svengril closed his eyes and mustered his power. The ground opened up and the Captain found himself swallowed by the Jaws of the World Wolf. The Lone Wolf crashed into Marine Combat Squad and they managed to wound him before he swung his Chainfist. He then cut down two Marines in return but the Marines asked no quarter and stayed in the fight.

The Space Marine Scouts arrived just in time and, using their Teleport Homer, they guided the Terminators right on target. The assault Squad charged the Vidicator and managed to immobilise it and blow off the Demolisher Cannon with a combination of Krak Grenades and Melta Bombs. The Combat Squad charged the Razorback but didn't manage to damage it. The Lone Wolf slayed another Tactical Marine but they stayed in combat.

End of Turn 3:

Turn 4:

The Pack of Grey Hunters in the turret-less Razorback stepped out and prepared to face down the Terminator Squad who had just materialised in their midst. Svengril cast Jaws of the World Wolf upon the Terminators with one of them being consumed by the living earth. The Grey Hunter in the Rhino tried to fire his Plasma Gun at the same squad but it exploded in his hands, killing him. Boltgun and Meltagun fire failed to kill any more Terminators. The Long Fangs found that they either had no targets or couldn't do any damage. Autocannon fire from the Dreadnought managed to kill a Tactical Marine forcing the squad to fall back from their assault on the Razorback. The Assault Squad managed to blow up the Vindicator but lost two men in the resulting explosion. The Lone Wolf killed another Tactical Marine but the key battles were about to take place on the other side of the battlefield.

Scout Shotguns failed to do any damage but Storm Bolters killed a Grey Hunter before the Terminators charged in. The Hunters cut down two Space Marines while they were still charging up their Power Fists but they killed a Grey Hunter in reply. The Lone Wolf killed the final Tactical Marine. The rest of the Marine army failed to do any damage, the battle was starting to turn in favour of the Wolves.

End of Turn 4:

Turn 5:

The two Space Wolf Land Speeders finally arrived and blew apart the Space Marine Rhino with Multimeltas, the squad inside were pinned by fire. A Lascannon shot from a Long Fang Pack finally wrecked the Space Marine Dreadnought. The Space Wolf Dreadnought, backed up with other firepower, killed the remaining Space Marine Combat Squad.

The Scouts tried to shoot down one of the Land Speeders but their Shotguns proved ineffective. Meanwhile, the Assault Squad blew apart Svengril's Rhino. The Terminators killed another Grey Hunter but they held firm.

End of Turn 5:

Turn 6:

Everything that had line of sight fired into the Assault Squad before the Dreadnought charged in, leaving just the Chaplain alive. One of the Speeders flamed the Scouts killing 4 of them and causing the survivor to flee. The other Speeder killed a couple of the Tactical Squad that were in the wreck of their Rhino but this would have no real effect on the final outcome of the battle. At the last, the two Long Fang packs fired all of their weapons at the immobilised Land Speeder Typhoon, blowing it to pieces. Meanwhile, another Grey Hunter fell to a Power Fist attack but the remaining member of the squad stayed in the fight for the honour of his Chapter.

With the end in sight the Marines set out to do as much damage as possible to the Space Wolves. A Multimelta shot blew up one of the Land Speeders but the last Scout was killed in the explosion. The Chaplain fumbled with his Melta Bombs against the Dreadnought but the attacks back all failed to wound. The last two Terminators still couldn't kill the Grey Hunter and so the battle finished in the Space Wolves' favour.

Final Score: Space Wolves 4-1 Space Marines

Kill Points: Space Wolves: 11 - 7 Space Marines

Battle Points: Space Wolves 23 - 14

Svengril knocked back another ale as he told the story again how the ground had swallowed the Space Marine Captain. The men all laughed. They all knew how close the battle had been but they also knew that any victory had to be celebrated. The thralls came in with another barrel and an even louder cheer went up.