[batretp] 40k 8th – Space Wolfs vs Tzeentch Chaos Demons (750pts) – Vraki Campaign chapter 2

This is the second battle on a small-scale campaign I'm playing. Click here for the first battle of the series.

Brother Iskander was the last of his squad to board the Rhino. The interior of the transport was dim-lit with the flashing runes on the pict-screen on the back of the tank. The runes for his outrider formation flashed blue on the lower corner of the feed: a square rune for the rhino transport carrying himself and his long-fang battle brothers, they where heavy weapons experts called in to deal with an unknown threat. Trailing ahead of theirs were two triangular runes for the two land speeders flanking the formation, and four smaller, circular runes spread amongst the others. These were their thunderwolf cavalry escort being led by brother Halthan on his mighty war-bike, trailing smoke as they sped across the desert.

Their mission was simple: Iskander's Squad was to provide covering fire for a retrieval mission of a Xenos artifact recovered by scout squad Silverclaws from the depths of a Mechanicus base deep in the desert wasteland of Vraki. The whole scout squad and supporting land speeders had lost communication, not before reporting daemonic incursions closing in from within the underground vaults. The Wolf Priest Haltan had assembled a thunderwolf pack and the supporting units to hunt down and face any threat that may be awaiting for them.

The rumbling of the powerful Rhino engine at full throttle speeding through the gritted desert was broken by the vox-cast of the Wolf Priest: "Enemy sighted! Long Fangs, to high-ground and provide fire support. Speeders, circle and destroy. Thunderwolf cavalry, you are with me, we'll hit them straight on and deliver them vengeance for the Silverclaws!"

They all knew the names of those that had come before them. Svund Silverclaw had trained many a packmate and many of the battle brothers riding on this mission had been trained by the veteran. He gave his life retrieving that artifact and they would honor his sacrifice.

Deployment: Dawn of War

Points: 750pts

Mission: Modified Relic



Special Scenario: Arisyaa, high draconne sorceress of Tzeench has seized the Xenos Artifact from the vaults of the Mechanicus by deceiving the space wolfs to bring it to the surface. What she failed to forsee, however, was that the artifact had a life of its own and exploded into a sphere of anti-warp the moment her horrors had grabbed it. After that initial discharge, the artifact started to move in a direction of it's own will, as if escaping from its captors. To make matters worst, she is now faced with a vengeful force of space-wolves that will try to deny her the spoils of her schemes.

Active Xenos Artifact: At the start of every round the artifact will move. It moves as if it had the fly keyword. It always moves 6'' away from the closest model and then 6'' towards one random battlefield corner.

Space Wolf Hunting Pack

++ Outrider Detachment (+1 cp) ++

+HQ+
Haltan Ironstride (Wolf Priest on Bike): Bolt Pistol, Crozius Arcanun, Frag & Krak grenades.

+Fast Attack+
Pack Thanos (Thunderwolf Cavalry)
Thanos Wojack (pack leader): Chainsword, Storm Shield, Frag & Krak grenades, Thunderwolf.
2x Thunderwolf Cavalry: Chainsword, Storm Shield, Frag & Krak grenades, Thunderwolf.

Land Speeder: Multi-Melta, Assault Cannon.
Land Speeder: 2x heavy bolter.

+Heavy Support+
Long Fangs: 2x Missile Launcher, 2x Heavy Bolters, Sargent with Bolt Pistol and Chainsword.

+Dedicated Transport+
Rhino: Stormbolter.


Tzeench Demon Incursion

++ Vanguard Detachment (+1 cp) ++

+HQ+
Arisyaa, high draconne sorceress (Herald of Tzeench on disk): Disk of Tzeench, Ritual Dagger.
The Changeling

+Elites+
3x Flamers of Tzeench 

+Troops+
10x Pink Horrors
10x Pink Horrors

+Summoning+
139 points


Haltan's hunting pack had followed the signal from the xenos artifact deep within the desert, away from the original mechanicus vault where it was first encountered. A host of demons was pursuing the artifact and the two forces met between a rocky hill where the thing had climbed atop.


Deployment
The two support land speeders rushed ahead of the wolf formations securing cover behind the rocky outcrops.

Deployment
The demon forces set up a skirmish line across the other side of the hill with the two characters flanked by pink horrors on both sides.

Deployment
The thunderwolves, Wolf Priest and Rhino came in to close the Space Wolf formation. Inside of the transport the Long Fangs were safe from harm as their heavy weapons would be needed to mow down the incoming demonic onslaught that had killed the Silverclaws.

Deployment
Finally, a host of deadly flamers of Tzeench littered the backfield of the demon deploy zone, ready to zoom in on unsuspecting targets with their ability to fly over obstacles and models.

The Space Wolfs win the initiative roll but opt to let the demon horde go first, knowing full well that the advantage to move last when there is only one objective in the field to be of greater value than any initial advantage over the formless mass of horrors across the battlefield.

Turn 1 (Tzeench)
Horrors hopelessly flock towards the artifact in an impressive advance. Their clawed hands fail to get a hold of the thing, however, as it prepares to fly away at the start of the next turn.

Turn 1 (Tzeench)
Unable to smite the Space Wolf units from this far the Sorceress casts a Boon of Tzeench on the foremost pink horrors. Their skin crackles in lumps of hardened carapace as they increase their toughness in one, ready to absorb any fire from the space wolves.

Turn 1 (Space Wolves)
As soon as the mad incessant mocking and laughing of  the horror hordes makes it acorss the air to the space wolf lines brother Haltan throttles in his bike and bellows a powerful war-cry. Followed by the thundering advance of the wolf cavalry they advance through the left flank of the demon formation, ready to circle around the horrors and hunt down the sorceress and the changeling.

Turn 1 (Space Wolves)
The lead Land Speeder hugs the rocky outcrop in search of cover as it advances in the right flank.

Turn 1 (Space Wolves)
The rhino with the Long Fang squad moves in to deploy them in high-ground as the support Land Speeder opens-up heavy-bolter fire across the field. The mad screen of horrors explodes in a shower of colors as two pink horrors are felled and split into blue horrors that split into smaller, fire-bright brimstone horrors, as they receive the fire. After the volley only two morose blue horrors stand still, smoking colorful remains of the other demons scattered all around them.


Turn 2 (Relic movement)
With a will of its own the Xenos artifact treks across the table away from the horrors and towards the southeast corner of the battlefield...

Turn 2 (Tzeench)
Eager to stay close to the artifact, Flamers streak across the arid desert air melting the sand around their position near the lead Landspeeder. The space marine pilots sees the threat too late and both battle brothers brace for the incoming onslaught.

Turn 2 (Tzeench)
Driven by the mad will of Arisyaa the horrors make another powerful advance towards the enemy lines, forfeiting the artifact chase in search of a much bloodier resolve.

Turn 2 (Tzeench)
The whole line advances with the characters staying well behind the massed infantry in front. One of the pink horrors from the formation manifests a powerful smite that is followed by the Changeling, both hitting the side armor of the Rhino in a crackling of elemental fire. Arisyaa tries to follow as well but is unable to cast her spell. The horrors follow that with a volley of their ranged attacks but fail to deal any damage.

Turn 2 (Tzeench)
The flamers open up with a jet of coruscating flames that bathes the the Landspeeder. The quick reflexes of the pilot saves him and his gunner from the worst of it, several warning runes flood his pict-screen, but the vehicle suffers no critical damage. As the speeder stabilizes, however, they are assaulted by the three flying demons! The battle-hardened marine squeezes the assault cannon trigger on a full burst of overwatch fire and manages to destroy one of the incoming enemies.

Turn 2 (Tzeench)
The two remaining demons envelop the vehicle with licks of flaming whips that deal two wounds to the model. The flamers, having the ability to shoot in melee due to their pistol weapon profile, decide its a safe bet to force the -1 hit modifier after they force the speeder to fall back.

Turn 2 (Space Wolves)
Brother Iskander grabs his missile launcher and disembarks from the Rhino as it reverse-throttles from the hill. "Take aim at the flying demons, frag missiles and controlled bursts of bolter fire to scatter their formation!" yells his sergeant!

Turn 2 (Space Wolves)
The Rhino driver reverts back and blocks the pink horror advance towards the Long fangs.

Turn 2 (Space Wolves)
Thunderwolves howl in fury as they circle about the demon formation to strike from behind. The wolf priest follows up their charge on his bike.

Turn 2 (Space Wolves)
Receding from the flames, the torrent of assault cannon and a stream of hot prometheum from the multi-melta deal massive damage to the demons in front of them, but their invulnerable saves keep the pyrocaster alive.

Turn 2 (Space Wolves)
Flying demons dancing above the formation where hard to hit, and the shadowy veil cast by the Changeling only made matters worse. From 10 successful hits the long fang squad only managed to get 1 kill on the flamers and 3 kills on the pink horror unit.

Turn 2 (Space Wolves)
The muscular wolves climbed the sandy rocks of the hillside to meet the demons in close combat. Theirs huge figures towering over the smaller creatures while their powerful leaps brought the flying ones low on the ground.

Turn 2 (Space Wolves)
Two flamers succumb to the flurry of claws and chainsword strikes. A few horrors are banished back to the warp on the morale phase and the thunderwolves close in for the next round having dealt some damage to the demons but not managing to break in and threaten the characters hiding inside the formation.

Turn 3 (Space Wolves)
The high draconne sorceress has to spend her precious command points to prevent the Pink Horros unit from failing morale.

Turn 3 (Artifact Movement)
The artifact moves away from the fray and towards the opposite direction from last turn...

Turn 3 (Tzeench)
As if driven by a single mind, all of the flamers vector in on the long fangs on the rock outcrop. Their blue shapes contrasting against the red sky of the Vraki desert, spelling certain doom for brother Iskander's squad.

Turn 3 (Tzeench)
The rest of the demon forces are tangled in a messy melee with the Thunderwolf and the Wolf Priest. Arisyaa flies over the carnage seeking to cast a smite spell directly on the leader of the astartes forces. As she passes overhead, Haltan catches her gaze "I will hunt you down witch! – screams the wolf priest – for the Silverclaws, for Svund and the allfather, you will pay for your tress passing!"

Turn 3 (Tzeench)
"Your life is forfeit – Arisyaa replies as she flings darts of energy in the back of the priest – I will claim your soul as I did the others before you!" Her laughter hurts more than the bolts, smiting the wolf priest for 3 wounds.


Turn 3 (Tzeench)
The Changeling, the one that helped Arisyaa lure the wolves into this trap, watches the battle from above. His shadow spell protecting all the demons around him.

Turn 3 (Tzeench)
Iskander watches in horror as his entire squad is engulfed in coruscating flames. Their skin bubbles and melts away in impossible colors, the fires of Tzeench both burning and changing the nature of matter itself. He is left alone surrounded by the carcass of his packmates.

Turn 3 (Tzeench)
The horrors swarm around the Thunderwolf Cavalry but is unable to deal any significant damage. The wolfs, in turn, kill a host of demons by scores, with the pack leader himself taking down a whooping three demons with swift strikes of his chainsword. But the demonic wave just splits and multiplies, two new horrors taking place of any felled one. The fight is fierce, but the wolves are against an ocean of claws and teeth.

Turn 3 (Space Wolves)
Haltan parries the few demons that are still around him and gulps down a foul-smelling brew from his leather pouch. The viscous liquid burns as it goes down but makes him numb to the pain of the arcane darts buried in his back. He regains 3 wounds.

Turn 3 (Space Wolves)
Haltan's plan worked. Even if he did not foresee losing all but Iskander from his long fang squad he knew that the secret laid in splitting the demon force to expose the sorcerer at the center.

All of the available space wolf units take the opportunity and race towards the Changeling atop the hill. The front landspeeder, having been freed from the engagement with the flamers takes aim at the creature, but the sudden movement and the shadowy aura makes it a difficult target, the few shots that make contact are dissipated into magical shields.

Turn 3 (Space Wolves)
Iskander's face is frozen in a dry war cry of revenge. A command point re-roll allows him to make 3 hits of his frag missile.


Turn 3 (Space Wolves)
That missile is enough to decimate one of the creatures. The supporting landspeeder takes down a second one.

Turn 3 (Space Wolves)
In combat the pack leader and his wolf kill two of the demons while his pack dispatches a second one. The invulnerable saves of the demons are frustrating to deal with and Haltan smashes down a Blue Horror with his Crozius. Two wounds are dealt to one of the Thunderwolves in a particularly furious fight phase for the demons.

Turn 4 (Relic Movement)
The artifact floats away from the battle once more...

Turn 4 (Tzeench)
Arisyaa knows that the Changeling is pivotal to her demon horde survival, and she feels like her summoning powers will soon be depleted to keep them splitting in an endless tide. She floats back to support her ally.


Turn 4 (Tzeench)
One moment of joy for the tiny blue horror when he waves his fingers on the air and manages to conjure a smite, felling one of the great Thunderwolves. As the large mount falls motionless on the dirt, the space marine riding it is dragged down by what seems to be a hundred claws and is mercilessly murdered  by hundreds of ritualistic dagger punctures...

Turn 4 (Tzeench)
Rushing to protect the Changeling, the lone flamer tries to fire at the landspeeder and deals a wound.

Turn 4 (Tzeench)
Arysaa charges into the landspeeder to prevent it from shooting with precision and manages to cause a wound on the craft.

Turn 4 (Tzeench)
With the space wolf dead and Arysaa gone to protect the changeling, the Priest is surrounded by Horrors but his armor is too thick for their initial pile-in. He deals no damage in return, still shaken by the desecration of the demons, climbing over his brother's corpse to get to him.

Turn 4 (Space Wolves)
The wolves grind through two more demons, with the splitting gone the tide starts to low.

Turn 4 (Space Wolves)
The front landspeeder falls back from the sorceress and the gunner aims the multi melta at the changeling, slicing it in half with a precise stream of hot prometheum. However precise the shot, Arysaa spends her last command point to re-roll the creature's invulnerable save and keep it unscathed.

Turn 4 (Space Wolves)
The heavy bolters of the Support landspeeder open up and rip through another flamer. Iskander misses his shots entirely.


Turn 4 (Space Wolves)
The wolf priest continues to fight and fire his bolt pistol into the tide of horrors.

Turn 4 (Space Wolves)
The horrors manage another wound on the Thunderwolves.


Turn 5 (Relic Movement)
The players reach the potential final turn of the game and the artifact scampers off to even farther...


Turn 5 (Tzeench)
It is then that Arysaa reveals a final trick. The tide of splitting horrors had stopped just at the last of the needed power to summon an entire host of horrors towards the artifact. The newly arrived unit prepares to chase it down as the rest of her forces tie up the space wolf units.

Turn 5 (Tzeench)
The Changeling casts a smite and deals one wound on the Speeder while the last flamer sets up for a charge. Shooting does no damage and Arysaa fails her smite spell.


Turn 5 (Tzeench)
On a furious turn the wolfs and priest kill six horrors. Now depleted of command points it seems like the demons may all flee battle back into the warp and free up the Thunderwolf unit.

Turn 5 (Tzeench)
The last three demons flee back into the warp in terror, freeing up the space wolf unit to try and chase the artifact.


Turn 5 (Space Wolves)
Space wolves fall back from combat towards the artifact.


Turn 5 (Space Wolves)
The Landspeeder manages to get closer to the artifact than the demons. If the game ends here the Space Wolfs will have managed the victory!


Turn 5 (Space Wolves)
Thunderwolves fail a charge! The last command re-roll is used for the space wolves.


Turn 5 (Space Wolves)
With the re-roll they make it and tie up the yellow horrors.

Turn 6 (relic movement)
The roll is made and the game does not end! Turn 6 rolls in and the relic moves just slightly and basically stays in the same place.


Turn 6 (Tzeench)
Arysaa grows fearful of the Landspeeder and flies as far as she can, advancing an impressive 14'' towards the artifact.


Turn 6 (Tzeench)
Since the space wolves play the potential last turn all depends on defeating the Landspeeder that poses a threat with its high move speed.


Turn 6 (Tzeench)
On the other side of the battle Haltan, the wolf priest, loses a wound to a pink horror smite. These are tied for the rest of the game as the horrors surround the priest, as he is capable of incredible speed if left free with his turbo-boost ability.


Turn 6 (Tzeench)
Smite from Arysaa takes down the Landspeeder and shooting from the Flamer destroys the Rhino. The path is clear, but the Thunderwolves are still a threat.


Turn 6 (Tzeench)
Arysaa decides to takes matters into her own hands and charges the Thunderwolves. Far from the Changeling she loses the shadowy aura and takes two wounds, dealing none in return. But she poses an obstacle for the Thunderwolves that could simply fall back from the pink horrors and move towards the artifact.


Turn 6 (Space Wolves)
In control of the last turn, the Space wolves dart forward. Brother Iskander moves into a position to fire at the changeling as does the support landspeeder. They fail to hit the target, however, and the situation grows dire. The Thunderwolves need to clear out the horrors and Arysaa, but the shadowy aura of the Changeling makes that a difficult task.

The changeling must be slain!


Turn 6 (Space Wolves)
Brother Iskander doesn't have time to mourn, that will come later. He doesn't have time to look back as well, he knows what lies there: His slain packmates.

With a grim resolve, the longfang puts away his missile launcher and draws his long, sharp battle knife. The distance is great, and the enemy ferocious, but his path is clear. Bellowing a deep war-cry of vengeance, he charges across the battlefield at the Changeling.


Turn 6 (Space Wolves)
He makes the charge!

Turn 6 (Space Wolves)
The landspeeder declares a charge against the lone flamer, taking two wounds on the overwatch fire.


Turn 6 (Space Wolves)
The landspeeder crew manages to deal one wound to the changeling. Brother Iskander, having made the long charge towards the creature, has his blows parried.


Turn 6 (Space Wolves)
Renovated by the war-cry of the longfang, the Thunderwolf cavalry pack leader deals the final blow and sends Arysaa back to the warp.


Turn 6 (Space Wolves)
Unfortunately, the thunderwolves fail to defeat all of the summoned demons in the fight phase. As they are the closest models to the artifact, if the game ends now, the demons will have won.

Turn 7 (Relic Movement)
But the roll is made and the game continues into turn 7! It's the last hope for the Wolves and a dire situation for the Demons as their lines grow thin! The artifact moves away from the fray and onto the rocky outcrop at the southeast of the battlefield.


Turn 7 (Tzeench)
The yellow horrors fall back and form a line to prevent the Thunderwolves from moving towards the artifact without a fight. The flamer falls back from the landspeeder, trusting that the Changeling can deal with it using his spells.

Turn 7 (Space Wolves)
But the changeling fumbles his cast and only manages a single wound on the vehicle, falling back from combat with the two units with one last wound. The creature prays for his dark lord that the Space Wolves focus on the objective and leave him alone to flee.


Turn 7 (Space Wolves)
The support landspeeder makes an impressive advance, maximum thrust and overpasses the flamer dashing for the artifact.


Turn 7 (Space Wolves)
Brother Iskander loads a frag missile onto his launcher.

"DIE FOUL BEAST!" he screams as he squeezes the trigger. He manages to score 5 hits and destroys the manifestation of the changeling, banishing it back to the warp in a gory shower of colorful gunk and shimmering bones.


Turn 7 (Space Wolves)
The Thunderwolves mop up the rest of the horrors.


Turn 7 (Space Wolves)
Brother Haltan is still dealing with his own horrors, inebriated by the healing brews he is downing like a madman.


Turn 7 (Space Wolves)
The game ends. The space wolves manage to mop up the remaining demons, now with their leadership gone. The artifact, for some unknown reason, simply floats in place. Haltan drives to it and uses a magnetic clamp to drag it behind his warbike.

"Gather my sons, let us say a prayer for our lost packmates today"

He proceeds to walk over to the corpses of the fallen, drawing the fang of morkai to extract their progenoid glands.

Space Wolf Victory!