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Narrative Battle Report: Raven Guard versus Bright Lords [1250 pts]

Started by Lord Sotek, December 04, 2013, 03:58:30 PM

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Lord Sotek

On Monday, I got together for a spur-of-the-moment game with a friend, and we'd both finally managed to get our hands on the new Space Marine codex! (Huzzah!)

To test it out, we both drafted armies and had a go. Since we were both playing loyalist forces, I suppose we'll call the battle a training exercise? ;)

This'll be a bit barebones, but still, it was a fun game, and hopefully will make for a fun read. This'll be a two-parter; the army lists and intro, and then a summary of the battle proper.

As always, please leave a comment and tell me your thoughts, especially about the fluff! :)

THE BRIGHT LORDS: (Imperial Fists w/ Space Wolf allies)

HQ:
- SM captain with power sword, storm bolter. (Warlord)
- Knight-Lieutenant Matthias (Wolf Guard battle leader with frost blade, storm bolter)

Elites:
- Silverhand Reliquary Squad (7x Sternguard)
- Ancient Mordecai (Venerable dreadnought w/ TL autocannon, power fist, SB)
- Ancient Malachai (Venerable dreadnought w/ 2x TL autocannons)

Troops:
- 6 man tactical squad with flamer and vet. sgt. w/ power sword and stormbolter
- 6 man tactical squad with flamer and vet. sgt. w/ power sword and stormbolter (Can you tell I like stormbolters?)
- Matthias' Errants: 10 man Grey Hunter squad with 2x plasma guns.

Heavy Support:
- Predator Destructor (Autocannon w/ SB sponsons)
- Matthias' Devastators (Six long fangs with 2x heavy bolters and 3x rocket launchers)

THE RAVEN GUARD:

HQ:
- Shadow Captain Kaayvan Shrike (Warlord)

ELITES:
- 5x Vanguard Veterans, 3 Storm Shields.
- 10x Sternguard, 2 combi-flamers, 4 combi-meltas, Drop Pod

TROOPS:
- 10 man Tactical Squad with 2x missile launchers. (He'd misread the special/heavy weapon allowance rules. He realized this midgame, but I let it slide.)
- 10x Scouts with sniper rifles and camo cloaks
- 10x Scouts with sniper rifles and camo cloaks

FAST ATTACK:
- 5x Assault Marines, sergeant w/ power sword




PROLOGUE:

"Hail, Astartes! Your livery is unknown to me. Name yourselves, Chapter and Primarch, that I might know you as friends or foes of the Emperor."

Knight-Lieutenant Matthias looked warily towards the command bridge's viewscreen, showing the unearthly pale features of the Raven Guard captain whose battle-barge had just dropped out of warp to hove alongside the
Lantern Knight; dwarfing the much smaller Strike Cruiser with its ominous sable-and-argent presence. The newcomer's words were terse, almost insulting in their implications... but the Raven Guard were a Founding Legion, ancient and revered. It would not do to respond angrily, and risk giving offense to such an old and influential chapter.

"Hail, Astartes," the red-haired Marine replied with a calm he did not quite feel. "I am Knight-Lieutenant Matthias, a warrior of the Bright Lords; scions of the Fortress of Dawn, Bearers of the Candle, and loyal servants of the Emperor. We are sons of none, but our founder was once an Imperial Fist, and so we honor Dorn first amongst the loyal primarchs, in his honor. All know of the Raven Guard, but I am afraid I do not know you. What business do you have with us?"

The coal-haired apparition before him chuckled darkly, ink-black eyes shining with a cunning, predatory glint. "Few indeed have survived seeing my face long enough to recognize it, but you may have heard of me. I am Kaayvan Shrike, Shadow Captain of the Third. They say, and say truly, that the best way to know the soul of a man is to fight him. Tell me, foster-child of Dorn; Think you that your Bright Lords could stand against the might of  the Raven Guard in battle?"

Matthias bristled, furrowing his brows and fighting back a snarl. "Is this how a captain of one of the great Founding Chapters acts?" he hissed, one hand drifting absently to the hilt of his chainsabre, its pommel emblazoned with the candle-and-halo of the chapter's sigil. "Leaping out of the void-dark at his younger cousins like a boogeyman, to deliver crass threats and insults? To goad those he thinks he can bully? No, 'Captain' Shrike... You may be more lauded than I, have more friends in high places, but it will not stand. I would expect such behavior from a Storm Hound, perhaps, or a White Scar spoiling to prove himself... The honor of the Bright Lords can weather your insults, but the dishonor such behavior brings to all Astartes must be answered for."

Those cold black eyes blazed white-hot with fury for the barest of instants, then smoothed over and returned to their cool, lurking gaze. Matthias prepared himself for the worst. Instead, he got a thin smile, and the barest inclination of that chalk-skinned head.

"Well said, Bright Lord. Worry not; things are not as I have lead you to think. I am not here to provoke a fight, but to issue an invitation. It will be many weeks yet before my company reaches our destination. In that time, I wish to learn more about a Chapter I know but little, and I wish that my men keep their battle-skills sharp. A wargame between us..."

"Would kill two birds with one stone," Matthias finished, relaxing his stance and enjoying Shrike's twitch of irritation at his turn of phrase.

"Even so, Bright Lord. Even so."
Quote from: Saulus on March 17, 2011, 06:16:56 PM
Often I hear delusional ramble like "I painted and collected my army as ultramarine tyranid hunters....but Pedro is really good, so now I'm using him, but I'm just going to call him Jimbob-Fistpumper, cause that fits with my

Narric

This lists look decent from my knowledge of previus SM Codex. I like the lack of uber units. Means you guys weren't just out to kill eachother like most newer players.

The intro is an excellent read, and I look forward to reading the full narrative of your game ;)

Deraj

That was an entertaining little story and I do agree with narric, those are interesting lists. I like more troops, but those... interest me. With 2 fun looking lists and that great intro I can't wait to see more.

Arguleon-veq

Liked the fluff and the lists seem well matched, looking forward to the BatRep!
X-Wing Tournaments;
1st - 38
11th - 33

BigToof

Very cool start!
Like the fluff as well, and hope this turns out well!

Best,
-BT
BigToof Points:

Cammerz: 8
Waaaghpower: 1
The Man They Call Jayne: 3
Mabbz: 6
Archon Sharrek: 3

Lord Sotek

(An update at last! Finals are hell. >.< )



Flag-Captain Gideon Ramoth shifted uncomfortably as he surveyed the barren landscape around him.

Glancing at the helmeted figure of Matthias further to the west, he scratched his curly, greying beard with his silver-gauntleted left hand and sighed. He was not beholden to the Knight-Lieutenant, nor part of his forces within the Chapter; as a fleet captain, he commanded his own modest retinue of Marines outside of the company structure, for the purpose of defending his vessel. Matthias and his men were merely passengers on the Lantern Knight, and as far as chain of command went, Ramoth outranked the younger marine. No, he didn't technically have to be here on the inhospitable surface of this dead and emperor-forsaken outpost world, away from the comfortable decks and machinery of his beloved strike cruiser... But here he was, nonetheless. Matthias's command was small, and made smaller by casualties taken in his recent battles against Dark Eldar pirates. A Bright Lord did not leave his Chapter brother alone and outnumbered against a force handpicked from an entire First Founding Company.

An entire handpicked force which was nowhere to be found, it seemed. From his hilltop perch amongst the foundations of one of the derelict outpost's many time-worn ruins, all was silent and still save for the motion of black-and-gold ceramite as the Bright Lords took up defensible positions. Scanning the featureless horizon fruitlessly for Raven Guard landing craft, he voxed Matthias to voice his frustrations. "It is bad enough that the Raven Guard's behavior demands we participate in this farce, but they seem to lack even the courtesy to arrive on time for their own challenge. I wonder if they are not still sitting up in their ships, making mock of us."

Behind his wedge-visored helmet, Matthias grimaced as his own squad moved forwards cautiously, working their way into the shelter of another long-ruined building. Centuries of dust billowed around him, shaken loose as one of the Chapter's precious few Predator battle tanks rumbled past them. "Agreed, Captain, but if there's one thing Shrike has shown us about himself so far, it is that he has a penchant for mind games and false pretenses. If he showed me clear skies, I would caution the men against rain."

Ramoth sighed again. "Aye; it seems we must defer indignation for the sake of vigilance. Emperor grant me patience."

Matthias blinked as the heat radiating from the baked, dead ground caused the air near the metallic walls of the silo to ripple and shimmer. He narrowed his eyes. Something was nagging at him... but what?

As the Predator finally rolled to a stop by the side of the silo, the cloud of gray grit thrown up by its movement drifted on, washing past the silo in small eddies and dusting the empty ground beyond. One small patch stopped abruptly, suspended several inches above the ground, and Matthias' veins turned to ice as he realized what was so familiar about that earlier ripple of air.

Cameleoline.

Matthias' voice resounded across the vox. "Gideon! They're already here, lying in wait for us!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Ramoth sprang into action, centuries of a void captain's knowledge of sensor equipment coming into play in an instant . "Elon, auspex!" he snapped, taking the device from the Silverhand next to him and working its controls furiously. "Zabekai! They're spoofing the scanners - I need a triangulation. Get me the sensor data from the Dreadnoughts and our Predator. Composite them and feed them to my vox channel." The old captain worked the device's controls in silence for a tense handful of moments, then spat out a voidfarer's curse as the auspex lit up with dozens of fuzzy signatures dispersed through the ruins ahead, many of them still creeping their way towards the Bright Lords' lines. "Joram! Use the vox network to overlay this on everyone's display. Now!"

"To arms, Bright Lords!" Matthias roared as dozens of virtual green silhouettes painted themselves onto the inside of his visor. "Stand this ambush on its head, like we did at Adrelon! Weapons free!"

Stillness erupted into mayhem, and Ramoth smiled grimly as the dead world's oppressive silence shattered under the thunder of Bright Lord guns.

To be continued...
Quote from: Saulus on March 17, 2011, 06:16:56 PM
Often I hear delusional ramble like "I painted and collected my army as ultramarine tyranid hunters....but Pedro is really good, so now I'm using him, but I'm just going to call him Jimbob-Fistpumper, cause that fits with my

BigToof

Ooh!

I missed this somehow.

Want to see more, and good luck with finals!

Best,
-BT
BigToof Points:

Cammerz: 8
Waaaghpower: 1
The Man They Call Jayne: 3
Mabbz: 6
Archon Sharrek: 3