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"The
first
landings
by
the
company
barely
held
their
ground
against
he
swarms
of
creatures
which
emerged
from
the
shattered
bunkers
and
tunnels
to
oppose
them,
only
being
driven
back
by
the
combined
fire
of
Devastator
squads
and
Thunderhawk
gunships.
Captain
Fabian
summoned
three
dreadnoughts;
Severus's
Ironclaw,
Maximus's
Victory
and
Diocletian's
Agrippa
to
assist
his
troops
in
clearing
the
forbidding
underground
tunnels.
The
twisting,
intersecting
passages
were
already
subtly
altered
by
the
aliens'
presence,
dripping
mucus
and
resounding
with
horrifying
shrieks
and
screams.
The
dead
lay
everywhere,
contorted
and
mangled
by
the
violence
of
their
passing.
More
than
once,
Tyranids
hid
among
the
dead
before
ripping
into
the
advancing
Ultramarines
from
ambush.
Casualties
mounted
and
the
Space
Marines
were
forced
to use
flamers
to
burn
their
way
forward.
The
Dreadnoughts
were
moved
ever
closer
to
the
front
of
the
advance
as
squads
peeled
off
to
guard
intersections.
Agrippa
was
leading
when
a
flank
attack
broke
across
the
company
like
a
wave
of
razor-fanged
destruction.
In
seconds,
two
squads were
overrun
and
hacked
down
by
a
dozen
Tyranids.
Agrippa's
assault
cannon
painted
the
walls
with
Tyranid
ichor
as
they
rushed
forward,
and
Maximus
was
reduced
to
trampling
them
underfoot
when
his
power
fist
was
torn
away.But
the
veteran
Dreadnought
still
held
the
perimeter
against
the
bio-engineered
monstrosities
until
Severus
arrived
to
crush
the
survivors."
After finishing up the first of the Company's dreadnoughts, I figured I finally have enough to try them out in a battle so last week I went in to my local store and, armed with a rulebook and codex kindly loaned to me by the staff, fought against 600-ish points worth of Ork. Considering it was the first game I've played since I was a child, I think it went well. I chose to deploy second and positioned Squad Delta, Captain Invictus and Victory at the base of a tower near the corner of the board, supported by Epsilon in a wooded area to the left and my WIP snipers in the tower itself, then waited for the Greenskins to come to me.
Within a few turns, my scouts had taken two out of three wounds off the enemy's warboss, thanks to a couple of sixes in the roll to hit, and the opportunity to select which model in a unit I wanted to target.
Danger came in the form of two trukks full of infantry that came from both flanks, but disciplined bolter fire destroyed both, pinning one mob. Much to my opponent's dismay, his charge into the woods failed, and, rather than go toe to toe, I opted to keep Epsilon in their cover and mow the enemy down from a distance with rapid fire, taking out all but two of the oncoming unit and stopping them in their tracks. My first casualty came when I engaged the second and larger of the two parts of the enemy army in a daring charge by Dreadnought Victory with the aim of protecting Invictus and Delta from being overwhelmed in close combat. Unlucky rolls of the dice meant only a few Grots died in the initial attack and the dreadnought was subsequently destroyed by the warboss' power claw. The attack hadn't been in vain, though, as my dreadnought's explosive demise took a number of Greenskins with him.
The battle was eventually decided in a duel between the Ork Warboss and Captain Invictus in the woods occupied by Squad Epsilon, who had finally taken a number of casualties. Invictus managed to take the Warboss' remaining wound, but was himself defeated in the process. However, with his leader gone and only one unit of boys remaining, locked in close combat with Squad Delta and the snipers, who had finally left the tower in the final turn, my opponent conceded defeat.
Victory to the Ultramarines!
Courage and Honour
- Jon
