Space Wolves vs Knight-Crons in "Lady Jenna's Affair" (1500, 9/2)

[BigToof]

Space Wolves vs Knight-Crons in "Lady Jenna's Affair" (1500, 9/2)

Hi All,
Sorry this isn't the Sisters Battle.

Why?

Well, first, when I started writing this rep, it was a three way tie, but in any case, it's also because I just had a great game with a very new Space Wolf list that feels a LOT better than what I was playing with before.

How?

By adding IG.  And not my usual IG.  New characters, new units, and most of all, new fluff.

I hope you will all enjoy this rather rousing (possibly mildly saucy) tale.

Best,
-BT

P.S.  As usual, C&C is greatly appreciated!  Super Promise Sisters are up next!


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The Lists
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The Hairy Marauders 1500 pts: 78 Infantry, 1 Vehicle, 1 Fort; 11-14 VPs
Space Wolves
-Rune Priest Harald "Mad Harry" Runesmith in Runic Armor
-Lone Wolf "Heartless" w/Chainfist, Stormshield
-Wolf Guardx3 in Terminator Armor, Power Axes, Combi-Plasmasx2, 1xCyclone ML
-Grey Huntersx10 w/Plasmagunsx2, Wolf Standard
-Grey Huntersx10 w/Plasmagunsx2, Wolf Standard
-Long Fangsx5 w/Missile Launchersx4
Lady Jenna's Marauders (Imperial Guard Detachment)
-Lady Jenna Mordheim (Primaris Psyker w/Force Staff)
-Stormtroopersx5 w/Meltagunsx2
-Lt. Jack Hawkins, Platoon Command Squad w/Flamersx4
-Infantry Platoon w/Lascannon, Flamer, Sgt. w/Power Axe
-Infantry Platoon w/Lascannon, Flamer, Sgt. w/Power Axe
-Infantry Platoon w/Lascannon, Flamer, Sgt. w/Power Axe
-Veterans w/Plasmagunsx3, Carapace Armor
-"The Boxbreaker" Leman Russ Exterminator w/HB Sposons
Ageis Defense Line w/Quadgun

Knight-Crons 1500pts: 29 Infantry, 2 Walkers, 2 Vehicles; 10-12 VPs
GK Detachment
-Ordo Malleus Inquisitor w/Terminator Armor, Psycannon, Force Sword
-Ordo Malleus Inquisitor w/Terminator Armor, Psycannon, Force Sword
-Grey Knightsx10 w/Psycannonsx2, Psybolt Ammo
-Grey Knightsx10 w/Psycannonsx2, Psybolt Ammo
-Dreadnaught w/TL-ACx2, Psyammo
-Dreadnaught w/TL-ACx2, Psyammo
Crons Detachment
-Overlord w/Scythe, Weave, Scarabs
-Warriorsx5 w/Harbringer of Storm Cryptek in Night Scythe
-Doom Scythe
--------------------------------

-------------------------------
Chapter Two: Strange Bedfellows
-------------------------------

"Captain, the Astropaths managed to get a bit more of it this time, I..."

"Thank you Jack, we'll be exiting into Realspace shortly."

Lieutenant Jack Hawkins raised an eyebrow.  It was unlike his Captain to be so...  Well, so involved in anything.  At least anything that didn't involve profit.  He nodded to one of the Navigators.  The crew of the Anne Bonny were nervous to say the least.  Their Captain, Lady Jenna Mordheim, was a Rogue Trader of some renown.  However, none of their reputation was for combat.  Which was odd as to why they were suddenly rushing off after a half-heard distress call. 

As Seneschal, Hawkins was used to negotiating the price of goods, tribute and interest rather than engaging in gunplay.  Even the Imperial Guard regiment supposedly under his command had fired their weapons maybe half a dozen times, maybe half or so during ceremonies.  And, Jack added, it was working out fine for everyone that way.  It did help that Lady Jenna was a psyker, and a powerful one at that.  Negotiating is much easier when you can read the minds of the people you're dealing with.  That, Jack added, and Lady Jenna was more than easy on the eyes and spoke High Gothic with a flourish that he had thought was only in cheap novella. 

He had been truly fortunate to get assigned to her crew, even though he was frightened and paranoid of her in the beginning.  After all, he had heard tales of Psykers getting possessed, going mad or... worse.  The worst thing that Jenna had ever done to Jack was to ask him to massage her feet after a hard day's work.  A tiring job, but well worth the investment for the later midnight rendezvous that...

"Exiting to Realspace."

The gruff voice of the Navigator brought Jack back to reality as the entire ship shuddered and shook as the transition from the warp occurred.  Brilliant flashes of light blotted out the stars and at first Jack was worried something had gone wrong with the Geller Field.  And that was when he realized that they were being shot at.

"Report!" he barked, "What's going on?  Who's shooting at us?"

"Two vessels in close proximity.  Stray lance fire glanced off our shields.  Vessel types are Imperial.  Space Wolves.  Inquisition."

Jack inhaled sharply.  Inquisition.  This could get them into real trouble.

"Navigator!  Get us out of here!  All speed to..."

"Belay that order.  Hail the Space Wolf vessel."

Jack swiveled around to see Lady Jenna standing up off her chair, looking intently at the scanner holo.

"Lady Jenna?  It's the Inquisition.  Our Letter of Marque does not..."

"I know, Jack, I know.  Hail them.  Please."

Hawkins bit his lip for a moment in thought and then nodded to one of the Techpriests.

The holo shimmered a bit, and then came into shape as a blob of static.

"This is the Rogue Trader vessel Anne Bonny.  Are you in need of assistance?"

Jack looked over at his Captain.  She was standing next to one of the rails.  Her face was pale and she was gripping the rail with whitish knuckles.  Her platinum hair and violet eyes looked less than their usual casual aplomb.  What was going on?

The reply back was broken, but still understandable.

"Rogue Trader, eh?  Haha, good enough, Praise be the All-Father.  This is Rune Priest Runesmith.  The damn Inquisitors are shooting my bollocks to pieces.  I've got most of my lads into drop pods for an emergency dump to the nearby planet.  I'd fancy some help, Lass.  Think you can give us some cover fire?"

Jack coughed and spoke in a whisper to his Captain, "Lady Jenna, that seems unwise, we're dealing with an Inquisitor Cruiser.  If we open fire on it, we're basically declaring..."

"It won't be a problem," continued Lady Jenna, ignoring the whispered warning,  "May Russ and the All-Father see you through."

Lady Jenna nodded to the Techpriest who ended the holocomm.  She turned and looked at her Seneschal who seemed more than a little bewildered.  It didn't take a psyker to realize that he was shocked.

"Jack, tell the gunners to aim for weapons, engines.  I don't want this being more of a bloodbath than we have to."

"Lady Jenna.  It's the Inquisition.  If we open fire, we are signing our own death warrants.  We don't even know the Space Wolves.  They could be Renegades, Traitors or..."

"Or Mutants, Jack?"

Hawkins frowned, "I... I wasn't going to say..."

Jenna took a moment to loop a hand around her Seneschal's arm.

"Jack, please.  This is very important to me.  I have a debt that needs to be paid.  I promise, they're not tainted.  I would feel it from here.  Please, Jack.  Please."

Jack frowned again, trying not to feel the brilliant violet eyes burning into his face.

"Weapons.  Do as the Lady says, aim for weapon batteries, engines.  Nothing fancy.  Oh, and jam their comms, the last thing we need is to make it easy for them."

The Techpriests nodded and began working.  Within a few moments, Jack felt a shudden lurching under his feet and realized that for the first time in a long time, they were shooting at something that wasn't an errant asteroid.  He tried to push away the growing concern that things were going to get worse, but the feeling wasn't getting better.

"Jack?  Assemble your Guardsmen.  We're going down to the planet to bring the Space Wolves in."

Hawkins's eyes widened and he looked over at Lady Jenna, who seemed uncharacteristically serious.

"We?  I can't allow you to..."

"I have to Jack.  Now, can you ask them to ready the Grace O'Malley?  I'd like the transport that at least has plush seats for our guests."

---------------------------------

Pre-Game Thoughts: You know, sometimes new decisions mean radical new directions.  Case in point:  I've decided to massively change the Wolves and add in some IG help.  Threw in a Lemun Russ Exterminator and Psyker.  Most of all, NO MORE RHINOS.  Never liked them in the first place, and the savings let me get Terminator Armor Wolfguard to soak shots.  The list is very shooty and even has some hitty with 3xPower Axes in the blob.

On the other hand, the Knight-Crons list is just rude.  With 3xpsycannons, all twin-linked with S5 bolters I don't think anything in my list will be surviving at 24".  And they all have power weapons.  The good news is that there aren't that many of them, and the Dreads have literally nothing worth shooting at, as it's all 2+, in the blob, or behind the Defense Line.  The Necrons... uh... ah...  I don't know, I'll think of something.  I hope.  Maybe the Psyker will save us all (haha).

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Setup: Dawn of War (Night Fight ON)
Mission: The Scouring (6 objectives, Fast Attack score. Now if only had some of those...)

Warlord:
Harry: Counter Attack in own DZ (wait... we're... Space Wolves...)
Inquisitor1: Furious Charge in opponent's DZ

Psychic Powers:
Jenna: Iron Arm and Enfeeble (I... think those are useful), Harry: Misfortune, Prescience
Inquisitor 1: Forewarning, Prescience, Inquisitor 2: Scrier's Gaze, Prescience

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To be Continued!
-------------------------------------

[Cammerz]

I'm liking this new direction already. Lady J seems like she'll be an interesting read (and Emperor forbid she'll ever meet up against Lady D).
Your new list certainly appears more survivable, mainly due to the increase in bodies on the field. And hopefully you'll be able to put out enough shots to take down those aircraft.

The knight list looks pretty typical really, duplicate units which are designed just to win competitions. I count 6 psycannons in there which hopefully was expensive so there won't be too much that you need to kill. And whilst I don't really know from experience, I'm guessing that psyriflemen are a bit easier to kill than those damn dreadknights.

Good luck with this battle, now I'll go and read that other one which you've uploaded.

[Rej]

Oh boy, so much intrigue in a single post! What is this debt she mentioned? We can't wait to find out!

I'm enjoying it.

[Will's on Fire]

Sweet background as always. When are you planning to turn this stuff into a book?

- Will

[BigToof]

I'm liking this new direction already. Lady J seems like she'll be an interesting read (and Emperor forbid she'll ever meet up against Lady D).
Your new list certainly appears more survivable, mainly due to the increase in bodies on the field. And hopefully you'll be able to put out enough shots to take down those aircraft.

The knight list looks pretty typical really, duplicate units which are designed just to win competitions. I count 6 psycannons in there which hopefully was expensive so there won't be too much that you need to kill. And whilst I don't really know from experience, I'm guessing that psyriflemen are a bit easier to kill than those damn dreadknights.

Good luck with this battle, now I'll go and read that other one which you've uploaded.

Hi Cammerz,
I guess Lady Jenna is getting fans already!
I'm a bit surprised you didn't question her surname, but I suppose that'll be more obvious in the fluff as time goes on.  My opponent's list was pretty, but a bit bland I must admit.  He has a thing for making doubles of everything, but it still was a bit funny to see basically two big GK blocks.
Lady D always causes me pain, but I suppose it's a good pain.  That particular DE player always finds weird lists and makes me rethink my lists more than anyone, which is a reason why I enjoy playing versus Lady D.  That said aside, they are always some of the most tight, aggressive lists and gameplay that come from weird places.  I suppose it's better than just walking through games with lazy lists and tactics, but it's still gut-wrenching to see your guys get taken apart.

Oh boy, so much intrigue in a single post! What is this debt she mentioned? We can't wait to find out!

I'm enjoying it.

Hi Rej,
Oh my, if you like intrigue, then Lady Jenna is going to be your favorite series.  She's pretty mysterious and as a Rogue Trader, there's going to be lots of adventures...  assuming that they survive the GK and Necrons first...

Sweet background as always. When are you planning to turn this stuff into a book?

- Will

Hi Will,
I've actually considered trying to find a way to put up my writings on a webpage or such, so that way if things go down in SS, then they'll still be ok.  Not entirely sure if I'm up for maintaining a page, especially if it will take attention away from the BatRep boards.
As for actually publicizing anything well...  I suppose I'll have to see.  Perhaps internet notoriety first, then the real world

Best,
-BT

[crisis_vyper]

Can't wait for this one. By the way, have you considered Njal for anti-air defenses? His powers are such that RAW-wise his attack can gun down flyers and not letting them get their cover saves.

[BigToof]

Can't wait for this one. By the way, have you considered Njal for anti-air defenses? His powers are such that RAW-wise his attack can gun down flyers and not letting them get their cover saves.

Hi Crisis,
Thanks for the reply.  I hope you like this one, it certainly was interesting for me.

As for the Njal issue, isn't it FAQ'd to not them (as it's an auto-hit)?


And now, more rep!

---------------------------

Setup: I think someone upset the Terrain Fairy, as we are extremely sparse this game in terms of terrain.  Luckily, I brought my own, plopping down my Ageis line 12" from my backfield.  Terrain danced around with a few patches of broken rubble to either flank and also a pair of trees in the far corners.  A massive crater was just in front of the Ageis Line, and just opposite my line went a large ruin.  Sadly enough, I'm going to have to give it to him.  Objectives also went scattered in a fairly uniform fashion, one in the center 3" in front of my Line, one to either flank in cover, one in front of the big ruin in the crater, and one to either side of the big ruin.  Fairly symmetrical.  Then we saw where the values were popping up.  My side went: 2, 3, 2.  Fair enough.  My opponent's went: 4, 1, 3.  Certainly very interesting there, with the big objective to the left side.  Still anyone's game, but I'm glad I have a decent number of scoring mates.  My opponent wins the roll to decide who goes first, and decides to go second, a smart play given his flyers.

I deploy the vets in front, straddling the line, with Heartless behind them manning the Quadgun.  The big blob went behind them with Lady Jenna and Harry in it.  The Long Fangs went to the right and the Russ went to the left.  The Wolf Guard separated with the CML Guard on the Long Fangs and a standard Guard in either of the Grey Hunters, which went to either flank.  Jack goes in the center back.  Putting the Stormtroopers in reserve, I turned it over to my opponent.

He elects to put down both of his big squads with an Inquisitor in each, with a Dread behind each of them.  All the Necrons go into reserve.  He first puts the Knights on the 12" line, then reads what Enfeeblement and Misfortune does...  He then measures out to make sure that the Grey Knights are 30.1" away from my mates, with the Inquisitors in front to catch bullets.  Huh, this is going to be interesting.

He rolls to steal and fails (whew).


Picture Caption: Yeah... that's going to be a problem

---------------------------------

Inquisitor Gauros was beside himself with rage, most of it directed at his fellow Inquisitor.

"Vargas, this is unforgivable!  How could you let things escalate this far?"

Inquisitor Vargas sighed.  Gauros was being insufferable.  If he wasn't technically in charge of the operation, Vargas would have left him long ago to sulk in the warp.

"You're the one with the problem, Gauros, not me.  After all, it was under your command that those Space Wolves were allowed to see that contingent of Grey Knights."

Gauros fired back, "But I'm not the one that let them get away!  Giving the option for the Space Wolves to surrender?!  Those furry heretics would never even consider such a thing!  You should have fired on them the minute they got into range!"

Vargas raised a curved eyebrow, "I didn't think that wasting more of our ground resources was a wise decision.  After all, we've caught up to them and it's just a matter of time before..."

There was a sudden rumble as the bridge of the Inquisitor Cruiser shook.

"What was that?" Vargas asked.  "Felt like a..."

The ship rumbled again and warning lights began to flare.  A holo in the Inquisitors' room flared to life and one of the Acolytes appeared, speaking in a frantic voice.

"My Lords!  We are coming under fire from an unknown vessel.  Our transmissions are being blocked.  Damage to primary weapon systems, engines...  We need to pull back."

"Unacceptable," barked Gauros.  "Where are the filthy traitors?  Their ships was heavily damaged, there is no way that they could have kept..."

The ground shook again, cutting off the Inquisitor.

"I...  I'm sorry to report, My Lord, but the Space Wolves have jettisoned escape pods to the nearby planet.  I..."

Gauros snarled, "Of all the incompetent tomfoolery.  Very well.  Alert the Grey Knights, ready the transporters, we will descend to the planet and take care of them ourselves."

The Acolyte saluted sharply and the transmission ended.

Inquisitor Vargas raised an eyebrow, "Gauros, you know that is Ceti Alpha Prime.  If we damage the Stasis Field Generators there, the repercussions..."

"Are acceptable, Vargas.  You know what those foul heathens have seen.  We cannot let them survive.  For the good of the Imperium, we must prevail."

----------------------

Lieutenant Jack Hawkins swore as the armored transport cut through the atmosphere.  Their pilot muttered an apology as the ship shook, trying it's best to stay on course.  Jack whispered a prayer to the Emperor and tried not to think about if he had cut back on the Grace O'Malley's maintenance protocols in the past few months.  He glanced over, ready to put a reassuring hand on his Captain, Lady Jenna Mordheim, but was shocked when he saw that she was oddly contemplative.  Which, Jack had to admit, in practice was never a good thing.

"Lady Jenna, is something wrong?"

She blinked a few times and looked at Jack as if she had been miles away, "Jack?  Oh, yes, I'm... sorry.  Oh, the ship looks rather turbulent.  Is everyone alright?"

Mutters of confirmation went around the men crammed into the vessel.  Jack had always found it a bit irritating that the Captain insisted that the crew talk directly to her without title or chain of command, but he accepted it as one of her eccentricities.  Plus, he added, she could probably read their minds anyway.

He glanced over at her, and saw that she had a kind of hurt smile, and Jack felt himself blush.

"Uh, sorry, your Ladyship, I didn't mean anything."

Jenna laughed, "I know, Jack, I know.  Sometimes it's hard to shut people out especially..."

Jack looked over at Lady Jenna who stopped mid-sentence, and again looked contemplative.  What was going on?  It was unlike her to lose focus like this.  He frowned and pushed away the immediate paranoid reflex regarding sudden mood swings in psykers.  He only hoped that it was justified this time...

----------------------------

To Be Continued!

[crisis_vyper]

As for the Njal issue, isn't it FAQ'd to not them (as it's an auto-hit)?

Got FAQ'ed a few days after I gave the advice. Njal can't do shit to flyers now.

[BigToof]

As for the Njal issue, isn't it FAQ'd to not them (as it's an auto-hit)?

Got FAQ'ed a few days after I gave the advice. Njal can't do shtlk to flyers now.

Hi Crisis,
That is what I sadly had thought.  I was hoping there was a FAQ that I didn't see
In any case, with the news that Doom Ray doesn't hit fliers well...  I think things are better.  Hopefully we'll see a little less, especially once the new Chaos book hits and someone has flakk missiles (finally).

----------------------

Hi All,
The rest of the rep is incoming.
Sorry as the fluff just kind of... exploded.
Really, it's pretty bad down there.
So if you want to skim out some of the more wordy sections, I've tried to chop it up into bite-sized chunks.
Then again... if you wanted brevity you may have come to the wrong rep

Best,
-BT

--------------------------

Turn 1: SW/IG
--------------
"Lady Jenna Mordheim, at your service, Rune Priest Runesmith."

Harald "Mad Harry" Runesmith laughed, looking down at the brightly dressed woman in front of him.  It looked like she was going to a dance instead of a battle.

"So you are, young lady.  I hope that you and your lads are ready for a fight.  I doubt the Inquisitors are going to just let us go."

Jenna nodded, looking around the field.  Jack had already gotten his men to setup the Defense Line in record time, thanks to the giants in Power Armor that were hefting around the large steel plates like they were toys.  She glanced up at the Rune Priest.  He seemed so... different than she had imagined.  Bearded, obviously aged, with a pungent aroma of ale and sweat.  But the power that rolled off of him was palpable with a kind of subtle intensity that seemed incongruous to his savage appearance.  She felt Jack looking at them, and felt him start to walk over.  His thoughts were fairly plain, in a way, sort of flattering, but they could start trouble if not handled well.

"Lady Jenna," said Jack in a stern voice, "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, Jack," said Jenna, turning around and throwing him a stunning smile, "Everything's fine.  I was simply introducing us to the Rune Priest here.  Rune Priest Runesmith, I would like to introduce my Seneschal, Lieutenant Jack Hawkins."

Jack looked up at the massive super-man clad in enormous armor.  The Space Marine extended a massive armored hand, and Jack tried his best to shake it without embarrassing himself.  He glanced at Lady Jenna.  She seemed to be looking at the Space Wolf far too much for his liking.  And the Rune Priest was certainly giving her more than an eyeful.  Jack was about to give a not-so-veiled warning, when he heard a shout:

"Transporter signals!  They're coming!"

"About time!" laughed Harry, turning back to the field, "Let's see what they brought us to play with."

------------------------

I cast Prescience on the Lascannons.

I move the Vets and Grey Hunters forward.  The Vets go into the danger zone of 24-30", and try to run for the crater in front of them.  Sadly, they fall pretty short.  I move the blob forwards up to the line.  We start rolling for objectives, and they come out left to right: Sabotage (toes on the 3" line, so we're ok), Re-roll 1's (ooh!), Skyfire (OOH!).  I get ready to shoot, and first decide to shoot at the Dread on the left.  I find out that he's just within 36", but gets Shrouding, so nothing much is done.  I then illuminate him with Searchlights, and it's enough to let my Long Fangs and Lascannons (twin-linked!) to blow the Dread sky high, also downing an adjacent Grey Knight.


Picture Caption: Dread goes crunch!  First blood to the Wolves!


Turn 1: GK/Crons
---------------
"Pathetic," intoned Inquisitor Gauros. 

He looked at the barely armed and armored pack of fools in front of him.  There was a shift of their lines, and a small group of Guardsmen ran out to the front, trying to secure a more forward position.  Gauros smirked.  It would be an ample test for their psychic powers.  He nodded to Inquisitor Vargas, who began concentrating as well.  Gauros let this mind reach out, grasping hints of the future.  It showed him all that he needed.

Without an order, the Grey Knights moved as one.  Death vomited forth from their weapons, filing the air with a fusillade of psychically-enhanced weaponry.  The men they shot at barely had a chance to consider what to do before they were perforated into non-existance.

Gauros chuckled to himself.  A simple as swatting a gnat.  What made these simple creatures think they had a chance?
---------------
Both of the big GK squads advance.  Having rolled for prescience, they both light up the vets, doing more than twice the number of wounds needed to take them apart.  Wow, overkill anyone?
The Dread fires at the Long Fangs, but they make their saves.


Picture Caption: Ouch, vets, ouch.


Turn 2: SW/IG
---------------
Hawkins took a sharp intake of breath as he watched the squad that went over the top get turned to ribbons in just a few short seconds.  It seemed as if the men couldn't even get to cover, as each shot seemed to fly with eerie accuracy.  He glanced around at the large squad of men in front of him, none of which looked eager to be next.

He glanced over at Lady Jenna, a bit worried that she might take flight at the carnage, and saw that she was pale and trembling.  Jack took a step towards her and was about to offer a comforting word, when she spoke.

"Psykers.  They're psykers."

The Rune Priest looked down and nodded at her, "Yeah, they tend to be.  Inquisitors sometimes..."

"No," interrupted Jenna, "Not just the Inquisitors.  All of them.  It's... an entire ARMY of psykers."

Murmurs broke out amongst the men, none of which sounded good.

"Lady Jenna?" asked Jack, "Uh, do you think that we should pull..."

Lady Jenna looked up, eyes ablaze and turned to him with a fury that he had never seen before.  "They would dare... dare do this to us after all that..."

She paused for a few moments, nodding to herself, and opened her eyes again with her usual composure.

"I'm... sorry, Jack, that outburst was unnecessary.  Can you order the men to fire?  You know, the one where they shoot in ranks?"

"Uh, yes, Captain," said Jack as he readied himself, a bit more unnerved now than before.  Whatever these strange marines were, he hoped that they fell to laslight all the same...

-----------------------

No Stormtroopers yet.  I'm still a bit aghast at the loss of the Vets, but at least they did something:  They made the GK's move.

Prescience again goes on the blob.  I send the blob and both Grey Hunters up. 

Jack calls out a first rank, second rank fire on the blob and a shower of laslight and lascannons go down on the squad on the left (that's the Warlord-Inquisitor's squad.  Plasma fire, missiles and autocannons also hammer the squads.  In the end, I've downed a few GK's from the right and about half from the left, but MOST importantly, the Dread in the back has been wrecked (glances are awesome).


Picture Caption: Yeah, take that you overblown Mary Sues!


Turn 2: GK/Necrons
--------------------
Inquisitor Vargas frowned, watching the Knights around him fall.  They were taking casualties at far too great a rate.  He glanced at Gauros.  The fool had lead them right into a kill zone.  Without support there would be no way to...

There was a sudden chill in the air that made Vargas' bones creak and he looked up as a shimmering, inhuman green ship flew over the treetops.  Glowing green lines of energy ran over the obsidian surface, almost alive in it's intensity.  The craft seemed to survey the situation for a moment, before making another sweep

Vargas turned to Gauros in a panic, "Gauros!  Something's gone wrong!  The stasis fields must be down!  The Necrons are awakening!"

The other Inquisitor turned with a grin that made Vargas' blood run cold, "Of course they're waking up, you fool.  I turned off the stasis fields fifteen minutes ago."
---------------------
A Night Scythe comes in.  Oh, that's not good.

It moves up as do both big squads.  The Warlord's group tries to Prescience, but Harry blocks it with his staff.  The other Inquisitor is just a hair breath's too far away though...

Then, before his shooting can start, Heartless opens up on the Scythe, throwing down four hits, three glances and the ship thankfully fails all of it's attempts to jink away.  It goes down in a crater.

Both squads fire on the big blob and down almost a dozen of my poor guys bite it as mass shooty takes apart my front.  Luckily, I have Harry in front of Jenna, otherwise I might be really worried.


Picture Caption: Night Scythe Fail.  That is all.


Turn 3: SW/IG
-------------------
I move everyone forward.  Time to get serious.  This time, I get Jenna to put Enfeeblement on the Warlord's squad.  Prescience goes down on the blob.

Jack again gets the order off and mass lasgun fire (now against T3 marines!) cuts into the squad like a hot knife through butter and only the Inquisitor is left.  Deciding that he's the least of my worries, I leave him alone and focus the Long Fangs and Russ on the other squad, also reducing it to the other Inquisitor.


Picture Caption: OUCH.  Now THAT is a LOT of dakka.


Turn 3: GK/Necrons
------------------
Lone Wolf "Heartless" leaned against the Quadgun, watching the Xenos ship slam into the ground with an explosion.  The man who was once Erik Redclaw smiled.

"See, Erik?  I told you using the gun was a good idea."

Erik swiveled around to see his apparition, the... thing that looked like his long dead sister Astrid dancing around the gun, looking at it's inner workings with a kind of childish glee.  After his encounter with Chaos, it had never left him alone.  He was scared of it, not sure if it was his own mind falling into madness, or some kind of touch from the Warp that was a sign of his further degeneration.  He shook his head.  It mattered little really, it was time for him to die soon enough.

There was another humming sound and he turned back to the battlefield to see another strange craft moving towards them.  He turned the huge gun towards the ship, firing, but only managed to gouge out a few chunks of the exterior.  It kept going and then dropped down a strange rod like device that moved towards him.  There was a greenish glow and then it cut through the sky, hitting some of the men in front of him, the gun... and then struck him.  Greenish energy rolled over him and he waited for the pang of death, but then it was over.  Looking down, he saw the huge tear in his armor, that carved across his chest and cut deep into his side.  Pain tore at him, but he snarled in return.  The Xenos had failed in it's job.  He wasn't even close to dead.
-----------------------

The Doom Scythe comes in.

The Inquisitors go back to hiding close to the objectives, hoping to wait out the clock. 
Heartless fires at the Doom Scythe, but only gets two glances this time.  In response, the Scythe fires at the Quadgun with it's Doom Ray, hitting it, Heartless Jack's Squad and the Russ!  The Russ explodes, showering Jack and blob with shrapnel.  The Tesla Arc goes in too, and there's mass Arc action hitting everything, including downing men from the blob and all of Jack's squad except Jack and also shattering the Quadgun.  Heartless takes a wound from the Doom Scythe, but you know...  Eternal Warrior and all, so he doesn't care.  Jack, though, runs wisely off the board.


Picture Caption: OW.  Just... OW.


Turn 4: SW/IG
--------------------
Jack tried to fight through the pain and disorientation, shoving aside the body of Trooper Godfrey, who had valiantly and probably unwisely thrown himself in the way of the electrical blasts.  He looked around for his men, but found only bodies.  Something was shouting, but it took him a few moments to realize it was in his head.

"Jack!  Are you alright?"

It was Lady Jenna's voice.  She was talking to him.  In his head.  He fought for a moment, forcing aside sheer terror, trying to ignore that another living creature was somehow in his own mind.

"Jack!  Please!  Are you alright?"

He looked up and lifted his hand up to his commbead, wincing as pain shot through everything,
"Lady Jenna?  I'm... alive.  I'll...  I'll..."

She responded back, thankfully over more conventional methods,
"Jack, fall back to the lander.  We'll take care of things here."

Jack looked up and saw the strange alien craft tearing out another gouge from the Marines out to the left.  It definitely did not look safe out here, especially not for Lady Jenna.  He was about to speak, when she said,

"Jack, please, you're wounded and alone.  Head back to safety.  Please don't make me try to give you an order.  I don't know how we both will take it."

Hawkins chuckled a bit, and gritted his teeth against the sharp pain that it caused.

"Affirm...  Alright, I'll fall back.  But, Captain...  Jenna... Please be careful."

He stood up, taking a few gingerly made steps and then paused.  He didn't use her title.  He wondered if she noticed.
---------------------

Time for endgame.

My Stormtroopers finally come in and I deep strike them near the Scythe.  They then... scatter onto the Scythe.  I roll again and they scatter onto the blob.  I then roll a 1 for mishap.  Sigh.

It doesn't matter much as I move everyone up to shoot the pants off the Inquisitors, and feel a bit of satisfaction as they both go down.  The Long Fangs try to do some damage to the Doom Scythe, but just can't get a 6.


Picture Caption: Huh, sort of cleaned out now...


Turn 4: GK/Necrons
---------------------
The Overlord saunters in on the left with his Warriors and Crypteks.  They fire into the Grey Hunters on the left, doing nothing.  The Doom Scythe though, does a lot, as it has moved over to the Hunters as well.  Doom Ray and Tesla go together and rip apart about half the squad.


Picture Caption: Huh, that's... not so good.


Turn 5: SW/IG
---------------
Turn five, time for objectives.  I move out the blob so that they solidly hold an objective and look out towards the Necrons.  I decide to try and run them, just so that we solidly hold it but get a six!  So I then have them run towards the Necrons, just in case of a possible turn six assault.  Both Grey hunters settle down on their respective objectives.


Picture Caption: Almost done, time to camp!


Turn 5: GK/Necrons
---------------
The Necrons shuffle a bit and fire into the blob, killing a few.  The Doom Scythe has no really good targets so decides to fly off the board.




We roll for it and Turn six pops up!


Turn 6: SW/IG
---------------
"Mad" Harry laughed watching the skeletal Xenos start to edge back.  Without turning, he yelled, "Lass!  You up for a charge?  These things should break apart if we get a good one.  Just stay behind me and..."

There was a tearing sound, and Harry glanced backwards and then felt his jaw drop at what he saw.

Instead of the doll-like figure of Lady Jenna, a tall, amazonian woman sat crouched down behind him.  He didn't realize her height until she stood, and Harry whistled slightly as he only came up about chest height.  And what a chest it was.

Looking down, Lady Jenna blushed slightly and took a few moments to adjust her torn garments into something resembling decency.  Biomancy was always one of those rather unreliable disciplines.  Sometimes you gained a bit more body mass, or you turned your skin to metal and sometimes... well...  She glanced around and saw that everyone was looking at her.  And it didn't take an ounce of telepathy to realize what they were thinking.

"Gentlemen?" she said, picking up her once heavy staff with a finger, "I believe you were saying something about a charge?"
-----------------------

Time for some fun.  I've got both objectives already, but I HAvE to try an assault.  Harry casts Prescience and again it goes off ok.  Then, I decide to Iron Arm up Jenna, and she rolls massive, getting +3 to her S and T, making her on par with a Greater Daemon!  Who has a force staff, that is +2S and AP4...

We then assault in.  I lose a few more Guardsmen, but that's ok.  I challenge with a Power Axe Sarge, who gets cut down by the Cryptek.  Harry moves up to the Necron Overlord, and then I realize that's sort of a bad move as he inflicts no wounds.  I'm sweating it a bit, and then Jenna tears apart four Warriors just by herself!  The last Sargeant takes down the last Warrior, and luckily the Necron lord only does a wound.  The Necrons fail their morale and fall back.  The blob sweeps them and sit on their remains, but it's sort of unnecessary as there's now no more Crons on the field.


Picture Caption: Jenna Hulk's Out.  Face beating commences.


Result: Space Wolf/IG Victory!


-----------------------
Post-Game Thoughts: Wow, just... wow.  What a difference a list makes.  The IG blob was just stellar and with Jenna's debuff of Enfeeblement, Jack's orders and Harry's Prescience, it was just so much shooty my opponent didn't know what to do.  Even the Necron flyers weren't that big of an issue, as I had nothing that couldn't take a few shots and keep going.  I liked the Quadgun too.  Oh, why not, let's do this official:

Harry: Absolutely stellar.  2+ save for keeping the second line intact.  Prescience basically doubles my shots.  And Ld10 with They Shall Know No Fear means that the blob never really has any concerns is wonderful.

Hearltess: Erik was great on the Quadgun, as he just shot everything to bits and even took a Doom Ray to the chest without blinking!  Really liked him with the gun.

Grey Hunters: Groups of 10 with a Terminator WG was just what the squad needed.  Got a bit torn up at the end, but enough bodies that I wasn't really worried about losses.

Long Fangs: Awesome shooty and much more tough with the WG in front offering up 2+ saves.

Jenna: OMG.  Just what the doctor ordered.  Enfeeblement was stellar, as it basically wiped away a Grey Knight squad and Iron Arm is just TOO much fun.  I think I'll try to boost her up every game I get that buff.

Jack: FRSRF was never better.  The combo of Prescience, with Orders with Enfeeblement basically can erase almost any squad.

Guardsmen Blob: The Blob was great.  30 is about right as otherwise it's too massive to hide behind the line.

Stormtroopers: Uh... fell onto something and died.  That's never happened with the Baron before...

Vets: Pretty pricey, but threatening as all get out with their plasmaguns.  It basically made the GKs step up to get slaughtered.  An expensive, but perhaps necessary sacrifice.

Lemun Russ: Why didn't I get this before?  Stellar at putting down wounds and great range.  If it only could have survived the Doom Ray...

[BigToof]

Jack Hawkins panted a bit, ignoring the sharp pain in his side as he ran over the hill.  Just a broken arm, a few busted ribs, nothing to really worry about.  How could he have just left her?  He stumbled over a branch, but kept himself upright.  Did Lady Jenna even know how to fight?  Jack had never even seen her raise a fist in anger.  If only he hadn't allowed himself to be so unnerved by the "voice in your head" thing.  He shook his head.  If anything happened to her, he would never forgive himself.

Jack burst through the trees, running onto the battlefield.  He ran towards the first group of men he saw, feeling his blood run cold at all of the injured.  And the dead.  He swallowed again, looking around, hoping against hope that everything was alright.  Finally, a medic looked up at him and said, "Sir?  Are you... looking for something?"

Jack nodded, barely keeping his mind together, "Jenna.  Lady.  Jenna.  Where...?"
The medic gestured towards a group of armored marines, and was about to say something when Jack leapt to his feet, sprinting towards the cluster.  He tried to stop in time, but hit a patch of grass, skidding to stop on his knees, far too close for comfort.
Gasping, he tried to get to his feet, and then felt strong arms pick him up.

"Jack?  Are you..."

He looked up and smiled to see Lady Jenna's face.  Then he realized something was wrong, as his feet were nowhere near the ground.  He glanced down, and saw a significantly more opulent than usual bosom before looking away.

"Uh...  Lady Jenna... I...  What's going..."

"Perfect timing as always Jack, please listen in.  I would love to hear your input on this whole affair."

Jack nodded, trying to act like his Captain always grew into a giant buxom amazon every other day of the week.

"Uh... yes... Captain."

He glanced over with a frown and saw an Inquisitor with heavily damaged armor sitting with his helmet off, surrounded by armed Marines and Guardsmen.

Lady Jenna adjusted what was left of her dress and spoke, "Inquisitor Vargas over here was just thanking us for repairing the stasis field generators that broke down on this planet.  His fellow Inquisitor had acted... rashly, and he would like to make amends."

Vargas nodded, "Yes, indeed.  Inquisitor Gauros was acting far beyond even his station.  Shocking, really.  The Inquisition is in your debt for your assistance in this matter."

Jack raised an eyebrow and looked up at Lady Jenna.  Even in her new form, she had a slight smirk that let Jack all he needed to know.

He said in a business-like tone, "Of Course, Inquisitor, we're glad that we could offer such assistance, and of course, the Inquisition will make proper amends to this situation."

The Inquisitor raised an eyebrow, "Amends?  Of what sort?"

Jack tried to not smirk at his response, but failed, "Oh, simply that we would have our Letter of Marque expanded.  Full rights to navigate and trade with any sector we choose."

Vargas frowned, but then nodded, "Fair enough.  Now, I will take my leave and..."

"Also," Lady Jenna added, "You will pay reprimands to every Guardsman injured and to their family, if they perished in this... misunderstanding."

Vargas blanched, then looked around at all of the guns and then nodded, "A... small price to pay for the safety of the Imperium."

"Indeed," said Lady Jenna, who nodded at Jack.

The two watched the Inquisitor walk away, and after a few minutes, Jack spoke.

"It's... an interesting look, Captain, I take it though, you won't be making it permanent?"

Lady Jenna smiled, "Unlikely Jack, the pain in my back alone is making the entire situation untenable.  Plus, I'd have to have all of my dresses redone.  If you like, I could... show you the intricacies of the form later."

Jack chuckled a bit.  Then thought a bit longer.

Jenna spoke up, "I didn't read your thoughts, Jack, but you want to know why I endangered the ship for the Space Wolves?"

Hawkins looked up and nodded, "If... you don't mind, Captain, yes, I'd like to know."

Jenna nodded, "My home planet, Mordheim, is renown for it's number of psykers.  Quite higher than the normal Imperial norm, always something that was thought to be related to the Warp Storms that ran through the sector.  To the people of Mordheim, though, being a Psyker was not something entirely unusual, and in time, could be powerful and useful.  But, like any tool, could be abused.  However, we did not think of it any more than a fact of life.  Others, however, had different thoughts."

Jack watched Lady Jenna pace a bit.  She took a few moments to think and then continued, "One day a Space Wolf vessel appeared.  It was damaged in some fighting and settled down on the Mordheim spacedocks for repair.  We got along well, as it was the first time we had actually laid eyes on the mighty Adeptus Astartes.  Then, the Inquisition came.  A frightful number of ships, all bearing the All-Seeing-Eye.  They declared Mordheim to be judged for Exterminatus.  No reason was given, but they ordered the Space Wolves away.  They did not go.  Even as more ships appeared, more words were said, shots were fired...  But still, they did not go."

Lady Jenna nodded to herself, "And in the end... The Inquisition backed down.  They left, angry and swearing, but they left.  And so did the Space Wolves.  They never asked for anything in return.  And we have always, always been grateful.  Now, after this, I feel that things are perhaps a bit more... even.  But not yet.  Is... that enough of an explanation?"

Jack nodded, still in the grips of the tale, "I... take it then that we're not just going to leave them here with a distress beacon then?"

Lady Jenna smiled, "Oh, Jack, that wouldn't show the usual Rogue Trader hospitality.  Please make sure the ship is ready.  Our guests will have a long ride back to Fenris."
--------------------------

[The Man They Call Jayne]

Fantastic BatRep! Loving the new characters, and some excellently written back story as well

[Rej]

This is going to be a great story! Adventure Ahoy!

Loved the Rep and I'm loving the characters, especially the Biomancy part.

[Cammerz]

We can never have to much fluff BT, and this was all fantastic. Certainly above par in this instance (par being your average, and thus very high).
Jenna and Jack are great characters, and I'm starting to remember Erik from the old days of 5th.
I truly hope that we'll be seeing more of the Space Wolves than we used to as they have a great storyline and the ability to actually win nowadays, (always a bonus).

As for the battle, your mix of psychic powers and orders worked incredibly well and I can only hope you repeat it in future (whilst simultaneously hoping that I'll never have to go up against something like that).

Its a shame that you had no luck with your Storm Troopers, but at least we know that the Baron will never let that happen to him (he'll just do a turn of shooting, lose the rest of his squad but kill a character in single combat (or maybe a Bloodthirster)). Although I'm not sure how much help this squad would have been at that late stage in the game.

Lady Jenna's biomancy trick was certainly fun, well done on your rolling there. And the fluff for her is so good that she seems like her own character rather than a bog-standard primiris psyker.

I look forward to seeing more from these guys, keep up the good work.

Job's a good un!

[Lord Sotek]

Writing was top-notch here, what with Lady Jenna's motivations and whatnot that got explained at the end there was a real sense of plot and resolution thereto.

Plus, as always, it does my heart good to see you trash a cheeseknightcron list in style. And I'm pretty sure I did a triple-take reading the stat boosts for Jenna's Hulk-out moment. (No female space marines? Biomancy says "Hell with that noise!" )

Job's a good'un! You can be expecting some more batrep doodles imminently.

[BigToof]

Thank you all very much for the kind words.  I am really liking how Lady Jenna is coming together.

Fantastic BatRep! Loving the new characters, and some excellently written back story as well

Hi Jayne,
Glad to hear your liked the fluff and rep.  Hope you'll stay for more adventures as the story continues.

This is going to be a great story! Adventure Ahoy!

Loved the Rep and I'm loving the characters, especially the Biomancy part.

Hi Rej,
Thanks for the comment.  Glad you liked how things are going.  I was hoping the Biomancy part wasn't too risque, but you know, you take chances   I think Jenna may like being a 10' tall buxom lady herself.  From... time to time anyway.

We can never have to much fluff BT, and this was all fantastic. Certainly above par in this instance (par being your average, and thus very high).
Jenna and Jack are great characters, and I'm starting to remember Erik from the old days of 5th.
I truly hope that we'll be seeing more of the Space Wolves than we used to as they have a great storyline and the ability to actually win nowadays, (always a bonus).

As for the battle, your mix of psychic powers and orders worked incredibly well and I can only hope you repeat it in future (whilst simultaneously hoping that I'll never have to go up against something like that).

Its a shame that you had no luck with your Storm Troopers, but at least we know that the Baron will never let that happen to him (he'll just do a turn of shooting, lose the rest of his squad but kill a character in single combat (or maybe a Bloodthirster)). Although I'm not sure how much help this squad would have been at that late stage in the game.

Lady Jenna's biomancy trick was certainly fun, well done on your rolling there. And the fluff for her is so good that she seems like her own character rather than a bog-standard primiris psyker.

I look forward to seeing more from these guys, keep up the good work.

Job's a good un!

Hi Cammerz,
Really glad you liked the fluff.  For some reason, Jenna is just a different sort of character that makes it easy to write.  Jack is also very fun, but I'm getting the feeling that Jenna will probably be the breakout character for this series.  The Wolves may be there, but I'm getting the feeling they may be relegated to the background as time goes on.  Biomancy was great fun, and I'm glad people are liking Jenna's "Hulk" type build.  She's certainly a powerhouse when she gets going (or is it a brickhouse?  I can never keep track of these things).

Writing was top-notch here, what with Lady Jenna's motivations and whatnot that got explained at the end there was a real sense of plot and resolution thereto.

Plus, as always, it does my heart good to see you trash a cheeseknightcron list in style. And I'm pretty sure I did a triple-take reading the stat boosts for Jenna's Hulk-out moment. (No female space marines? Biomancy says "Hell with that noise!" )

Job's a good'un! You can be expecting some more batrep doodles imminently.

Hi Lord Sotek,
Thanks for the comment.  It always does me great to see the support and it helps the next one come out faster   BTW, loved the sketches!  Hope to see more, I'll comment and support directly into your post.

Thank you all.

Jenna and Jack and the Wolves will be back!

Best,
-BT