This is a battle report for the fourth and final scenario in my Vile Secrets of Vulcoth campaign for Warhammer 40,000. Inquisitors Greyfax and Ostromandeus of Ordo Hereticus have killed Chief Ellisar and the Chaos Lord with whom he was conspiring. Satisfied that they have cleansed the Imperium of yet another festering evil, Inquisitor Greyfax feels oddly ill at ease as they walk out of Chief Ellisar's vile bunker. The Vulcoth production facility is quieter than before, but no more peaceful. One of the Space Marines of her Deathwatch retinue notes that his auspex detects large numbers of humans fleeing the facility. More importantly for the Deathwatch, his auspex also detects the foul biological signal of xenos!
Those working against the Imperium of Man must not be allowed to escape punishment. It's time to chase down the rebels and whatever foul being they're trying to escape with.
Inquisitorial Agents
The whole army's coming along for this adventure. The Deathwatch wants to kill the xenos infiltrator, and the Inquisition is eager to assist. The auspex readings display that the xenos life form is unusually large in size, but they are Space Marines, and they know no fear.
- Inquisitor Greyfax (Warlord)
- 1 Adeptus Arbites Judge Dyer
- Inquisitor Ostromandeus (without Stentor-I 52)
- UR-25
- Navigator
- Rein and Raus
- 2 Servitors
- 1 unit of 5 Deathwatch
That's about 310 points, according to the back of the book.
Superintendent Ryoss
Years ago, Chief Ellisar's exploration of warp energies let a minor dæmon, calling itself Ormisblix, to slip into the Materium. Ormisblix started visiting Superintendent Ryoss and found her to be receptive to the notion of creating a gigantic humanoid "as a gift to the God Emperor." Actually, Ormisblix just wanted a biological vehicle that could transport him around the planet, but Ryoss convinced herself that she was designing the successor to the Astartes. She used the factory's laboratories, along with biotech procured from whatever xenos race would deal with her, until she at last
The enemy army in this scenario consists Superintendent Ryoss, a band of factory workers using the Hell's Last profile from Astra Militarum: Legends, and a band of merchant Kroot who had recently arrived to sell Ryoss gene seed harvested from a fallen Astartes.
Also, of course, there's Ryoss's abomination. A giant humanoid that Ryoss considers an utter failure, this abomination has spent its two years of life locked away in a basement cell because Ryoss couldn't bring herself to destroy her creation. The creature calls itself Thrubtub and has been raised, secretly, by Ormisblix. Thrubtub is not very intelligent, but he is strong and frightened, and he trusts only Ormisblix, who he carries around on his shoulder.
- Superintendent Ryoss and her guard (Hell's Last)
- 20 Kroot carnivores
- 1 Thrubtub and Ormisblix (adapting the Visarch profile from the Aeldari index)
This is an army I've cobbled together in every sense, but according to the Munitorum Field Manual v3.8 about 330 points. I have no idea what to expect, so I reserve the right to bring in some Traitor Guardsmen from reserve if I've drastically miscalculated.
Setup and special rules
Rules as written, the only requirement for victory is that Superintendent Ryoss is not alive at the end of the game. At any time, the hero army may exit the battlefield to be extracted back to the safety of its ship. I have a feeling the Deathwatch isn't going to walk away from a big juicy targets like Thrubtub and Ormisblix, no matter how bad things get.
There is a strict 5 Round limit to this scenario, however, so if Ryoss isn't dead by Round 5, it's assumed that she gets away.
The location is a field outside the facility. There are some trees and an old well (because I got one in the Terrain Crate Advent calendar and figured I'd put it to use) providing some cover for the enemy, but otherwise it's a big open battlefield with plenty of elbow room for killing each other.
There are no Objective markers or even formal exits from the battlefield.
This isn't a chase, it's an execution. Or at least, that's what the Inquisition and Deathwatch are hoping.
Round 1
Ryoss and her rebels roll high for initiative, and they're all out of bubble gum. The Kroot Carnivores line up behind cover of trees and open fire, dealing 4 of 5 space marines 1 Wound. A space marine only has 2 Wounds these days, so that's not a great start for the Imperium.
Thrubtub charges at the Inquisitors as if compelled by a daemonic need to spill holy blood. He swings at Greyfax and Ostromandeus and hits with all 5 attacks. It must be divine intervention, but all but 1 of those dice rolls a 1 for damage. Ostromandeus fails his Invulnerable Save and takes 2 Wounds of 4 (but remember, he has the Icon of Intolerance, so he basically has 8 Wounds total.)
Ryoss and her companions stay back behind the well, letting the mutie and xenos do all the hard work.
On the Inquisition's turn, Rein and Raus advance in an attempt to circle around the trees and get to Superintendent Ryoss. Judge Dyer does the same thing, on the other side of the battlefield. Unfortunately, they BOTH roll a 1 for their Advance, so it's slow going.
The space marines rush toward the xenos hiding in the trees, and split their fire between the Kroot Carnivores and Thrubtub. Foiled by cover, they only manage to remove 1 Kroot Carnivore.
I screw up the turn sequence and accidentally allow Greyfax and Ostromandeus to make melee attacks against Thrubtub, dealing just 1 Wound, and then they make a Desperate Escape so everyone else can shoot at him. I decided to let them keep the small victory despite getting the rules wrong, because all other attacks this round fail. Nobody wounds anybody.
All in all, things aren't looking so good for the Inquisition!
Round 2
The baddies roll high for initiative again. Lucky for the Inquisition, the xenos seem to be a little shaken by the retributive attacks they've just dodged, and so their aim isn't great. The Kroot Carnivores only get 1 Wound on the space marines and, after he charges back into melee, Thrubtub somehow only deals 1 Wound to Ostromandeus.
Superintendent Ryoss continues to hold fast, her rebels' guns trained on the tree line as they wait for the Inquisition to inevitably emerge.
It looks like Greyfax and Ostromandeus are going to be hounded by Thrubtub and Ormisblix, so it only makes sense for the rest of the Inquisitorial Agents to hunt down the mission target. It's what Ryoss expects, but they decide to play into that. Judge Dyer leads UR-25, the servitors, and Espern Locarno through the trees, while Rein and Raus approach quietly on the opposite end of the battlefield. Rein has one explosive charge in his sniper rifle, and it's got Ryoss's name etched into its casing.
That's the plan, and it goes surprisingly well. Judge Dyer bursts through the trees and opens fire at Superintendent Ryoss. Even with the benefit of cover (counting the well as cover), he gets 1 Wound in, but of course one of her rebels jumps in front of her and takes the bullet. No removals.
Rein and Raus roll 5 to advance, so they clear the trees on the other side of the battlefield.
Most importantly, Greyfax and Ostromandeus use their power swords and a good deal of divine intervention to deal 4 Wounds to Thrubtub, removing him from the battlefield.
The space marines, tired of taking pot shots at cowering enemies, charge into the ranks of the Kroot Carnivores. The trees still get in the way, though, and the space marines can really only reach 2 Kroot, and remove 1 from the battlefield.
Well, just like that, the state of the game has changed drastically. It goes to show what a few bad rolls can do for a single model. Thrubtub was positioned to take out both Inquisitors, but the combination of a few good hits and a few bad saves ended it all.
Round 3
Ryoss rolls high for the third time in a row, which is probably bad news for Judge Dyer. They open fire at the Adeptus Arbites who's just emerged from the trees, and while he does make some pretty great saves, the melta gun lives up to its name. Judge Dyer is removed from the battlefield.
The Kroot attack the space marines, but those darned trees keep getting in the way and only a few Kroot can get attacks in. No wounds get through.
On the Inquisition's turn, UR-25 and the servitors (and Espern Locarno, steadily everybody's the enemy's Stratagem options) move toward Ryoss and open fire. UR-25 deals 1 Wound, but still no removals.
The space marines deal 4 Wounds to the Kroot Carnivores, so that's 6 down and 14 remaining.
Rein and Raus advance even closer to the target, and Rein uses his one detonation round to target Ryoss. It has d3+3 Attacks, so he rolls 7 dice, and imposes 2 out of 3 Wounds. Not bad, but not an immediate win either.
Greyfax and Ostromandeus hurry toward the action, but Thrubtub drove them back substantially so they've got a long way to go yet.
Round 4
Just 2 more rounds to go, and Ryoss is down to 1 Wound, but she's got a whole band of rebels around her willing to take a bullet for her. This is a very important initiative roll, and the Inquisition finally rolls high.
The plan is obvious, now. Rein uses his sniper rifle for a precision shot at Ryoss, and of course fails to wound. The servitors naturally fail to hit anything. Business as usual.
Everybody knows melee is where all the serious work gets done, so the space marines cut down 5 more Kroot Carnivores and UR-25 charges at Ryoss. UR-25 makes his attacks with his power claw (with Strength 12!) and Ryoss fails her invulnerable save. Superintendent Ryoss is dead, and the game is over.
Post-game administration
Going into this one, I thought I'd mis-balanced, but after the seemingly detrimental first round I was pretty worried for the hero army. Obviously things turned around quickly, and it turned out to be a fun game with just enough anxiety to make it interesting.
It also reinforces how easy it is to adapt a profile to fit a miniature. All you really need are a handful of broad categories (melee brute, sniper, generalist, mage, and so on) and you probably have basically all the stats you need for whatever assortment of miniatures you put on the table. I'm not saying heavily themed profiles aren't nice, because they definitely are. But I think it sometimes gets taken too far, and anyway it's comforting to be reminded that you don't need official stats for your toy soldiers if you can't be bothered.
Inquisitorial Agents
The army gains 1 XP for the battle. I'm awarding UR-25 the Marked for Greatness bonus of 3 XP, because he dealt the final blow.
- Greyfax: 6 XP
- Navigator: 6 XP
- Rein and Raus: 7 XP
- UR-25: 4 XP
- Everyone else: 4 XP
End of the campaign
That's the end of the campaign! Greyfax and Ostromandeus investigated Vulcoth expecting to find a heretic, and they found 2 instead. Their team was able to eliminate both threats, and now the Imperium is free to continue to oppress the guilty and the innocent alike, and slaughter whomever and whatever gets in the way.