Battle Report: Last Stand of the Storm Wolves

As promised, despite my change of blogging pace last week I have a nice little battle report to share with you good people.  After a short hiatus in our 40K campaign, me and Ollie decided to get together and play a good old fashioned 40K game.  We had all the old codexes and decided to make it an Oldhammer game - that is, Third Edition.  This is less of a Battle Report and more of a picture compilation, just since it was so dynamic (read 'cuffed') and didn't really follow a structure.

The gallant Marines defending the sanctity of the Emperor's church...
The mission pitted the freshly-painted Storm Wolves Command Squad of Haakon Haakonsen against the men of 1 Platoon, 122 Company.  It would be a Wave Defence scenario of our own devising - one super-elite squad, defending a terrain piece at one end of the board, and an endless horde of Guardsmen to attack them.  The SMurfs had to hold out for 10 turns (equivalent of about 5-6 turns in a regular 40K game).  Whenever I had a full squad of dead Guardsmen, I could bring them back on

The elite marines of Haakonsen's command squad have regrouped in a shattered church in a tiny Edethorian mining station.  They are aided by some Palladian deserters, who have sworn revenge on the Imperial Guard that is trying to hunt them down.

The Palladians are led by the snooty Major Biblius - the Battalion commander, who has commandeered the company to lead it on this fools' errand (note - this allows me to play the 'bad guys', as it's not one of my named characters leading the platoon).


The Board - set out according to our gaming philosophy.  The Guard
edge is at the bottom, the Marine edge at the top (you can see their temple)

Plenty of cover and gantries for the Guard to get nice and close...

The view into the gloom of the mining settlement.
And the area the Storm Wolves and deserters have to defend.

Major Biblius with his Honour Guardsmen
If you're going to die, die smartly dressed.
The Palladians advancing, using a trench system for cover.
One of the deserters mans a Heavy Bolter
"This way, men!  Along the rickety gantry!"
Anything but a one.  Several of my chaps fall into the conveniently-placed pit of bubbling acid.
I'm meellltttiiinnggggg!
Uh oh!  Just as the Palladians get close, the Storm Wolves catch them off-balance with an unexpected charge.
Haarkon is wounded by a cowardly meltagun shot, but carries on cutting through the squad.
Any problem the Guard have - send more men at it!
The Palladians thin the deserters' ranks and tighten the noose...
Ollie's marines each have personal challenges to fulfil.  Florri here has to kill four psykers.  Easy?  You'd think so...
But the dice are a cruel mistress.  Florri is hacked to bits by a horde of Guardsmen.
The last of the deserters succumb to a bayonet charge.
The battalion commander forms a shield wall for a charge!
But the Marines are sticking cunningly to the objective, impervious to the fusillade.
The rest of the Storm Wolves decide they've had enough and charge.
Cowards!  After losing the combat, the
Guard retreat and Major Biblius is cut down.
With one marine on the heavy bolter, the remaining three crash into the Palladian lines.
Stand firm, men!  Men?
Sadly, at that point my camera battery died.  But you only missed the charge of the Storm Wolves which broke that last squad and sent them fleeing off the board.  Despite the Marines abandoning the objective, the ten turns were up and the closest living squad were Haakon's Command Squad.

DECISIVE STORM WOLVES VICTORY!

This was a very fun game to play.  As the pictures showed, we didn't stick too rigidly to the rules and we had individual marines detaching themselves and generally tried to make it as fun as possible.  The one difference was the assault rules - normally we have quite a few in a game but this was almost all assaults, often complex ones with different WS and S involved.  To be honest, although we used the Third Edition rules there wasn't really a chance to test them, although flicking through the classic rulebook was much more fun than the boring new one.

All in all, a lovely relaxed, easy game with plenty of cinematic moments.  Hope you enjoyed (because we loved it!).

Ed

Comments

  1. Funny report. Good paintings. love it.
    GReetings

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  2. Kool. Three cheers for the Storm Wolves.

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    Replies
    1. Gah! I would have gotten away with it, if it wasn't for those meddling Marines...

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  3. Good stuff. Nice to see games with no vehicles too. The more meat for the grinder, the better.

    Have you ever tried those old "Movie Marine" rules?

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    1. Oh, Man - those 'Movie Marine' rules were just brilliant!

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    2. No, but a Google search has opened my eyes! Where are they from? Old WD?

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    3. Yeah. They were rules made so that one's Space Marine models could actually have rules that matched their fluff.

      I think using those rules is the only way I'd ever play Space Marines again, and then only if they were "True-scale".

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  4. I must say, those storm wolves are nicely done! Very good shades

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    Replies
    1. Thanks a lot James, appreciate the feedback.

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  5. What a great-looking game: and every bit as fun as wargaming ought to be!

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  6. It looked a blast.

    The three stand outs for me based on the pictures:
    - The Honour Guard look lovely
    - You once again added height to the board - we don't see enough of that
    - Splitting of Marines - so much more characterful, and to use the GW term, narrative building

    Top stuff Colonel, and I'm sure the Palladian's will bounce back next time!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks awfully - the terrain is now a massive part of how we game and it's made a real difference. Cinematic, climactic games are what we do. The Palladians will, I'm sure, grind them down to dust eventually!

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  7. Looks bloody superb and now I'm cursing that damn bug even more, very cinematic indeed, the terrain density and height definitely adds to the games

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  8. This looked like great fun! Really liked the storyline that went with it.

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  9. I came back for another read of this and I must say it was just as enjoyable the second time. Beautiful miniatures and great photos really make this story. Thanks for sharing it!

    We gave 7th ed a go recently and now I'm thinking that 'OldHammer' might be a really good way to go. Taking the focus off the rules and just playing out the story is a brilliant way to approach these games.

    Hope all is well Colonel and the Palladians haven't been swallowed by some warp storm. ;)

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