Battle Report - Blood Angels v Salamanders

Time for another batrep. I was able to sneak out of the house for a few hours and got a game in vs. a new friend at the FLGS. He is relatively new to the game, and he is still learning some of the basics of the game. I helped him out a bit as we went, giving tips etc. I think it is really fun to teach new people the game. It is great to watch them pick up on the nuances as they learn.

I went back to my roots for this game, switching up my army list back to one I really like, the dual LR list with Mephiston. Only this time I took out the DC Furioso dreads, and put in another Terminator assault squad. My, what fun to drop that combo out of LRs on another army. The list I had concocted was a 1750 list, but it was pared down to 1500 to accommodate the newer guys smaller model count.

My list was this:
Mephiston
Corbulo
2x 5 man assault Marines in Rhinos
2x LR crusader
2x 5-man Terminator Assault squads (3x LC, and 2x TH/SS)
I only put on 2x DC models, just now realizing there should have been 4 of them, lol

My opponent had:
Vulkan
1 squad of TH/SS terminators
2x Tac squads, flamer/ML and melta/plasma cannon, each with a Razorback, one with h. bolter and one with TL lascannon
1 Dread with MM and H. Flamer
1 Ironclad Dread in Drop pod
Predator Annihilator
Thunderfire cannon with Techmarine.

I believe that was all of his army.

We decided to play annihilation for simplicity's sake, and he won the die roll and chose to go first. He spread his whole army out across his board edge. I then deployed everything in my right corner. This took his dread w/ MM out of play for most of the game, along with Vulkan and the attached tac squad guarding the opposite side of the board for a few turns. I love castling in a corner and then plowing into a flank and mowing them down in assault. It just feels right to me :) And with only half his army on that side of the field, none of it assault oriented, it was ripe for the picking.

So first turn I have all my tanks behind cover for his shooting that is coming my way, but I couldn’t really block off my LRs from his podding in Ironclad. I could have sacrificed my rhinos for that, but I didn't think about it at the time. I should have made a wall with my rhinos 4 or so inches from my LRs to block him out of landing within melta range of my LRs. I never used the troops this game, so that would have been a good trade. So he drops his Ironclad not too far from my LR next to the board edge in a gutsy move, and sticks the landing. His predator and las razorback open up on me and don't accomplish anything thanks to my cover saves. His Ironclad then tries to melta my LR and fails to harm it. Lucky for me he rolled poor on his penetrate.
On my side of the turn I only move 6" with my LRs to be able to melta his dread. And nothing of his was in assault range so there wasn't a point in going flat out. I fired on his dread and the first shot it and destroyed the poor dread left sitting there. Lucky rolling for me! End of turn 1.

Turn 2 he unloads on me again with all his lascannons, and manages to stun my LR with Mephiston and a squad of termies in it. And that is all he has accomplished. His techmarine had been firing at my Rhino behind cover but never managed to do any damage. Bottom of turn 2 things start going downhill for him. I dump Mephiston out of the stunned LR he was in, and jump pack him 12" forward to get into the mix. My DC close on his Las razorback, and my other LR advances up the left side of the board towards his razorbacks and Techmarine. My DC assault the las razorback manage to get a don't move/shoot roll result and my LR shoots the other razorback with the MM. I pen it and blow it up. The marines take no casualties, but are subsequently pinned down in the wreckage. End of turn 2.

Turn 3 he continues to run Vulkan and his squad and the dread towards me from the opposite side of the board. His one combat squad hops out of the stunned razorback and shoots up my DC to no effect, those DC are tough buggers. His thunderfire cannon still fails to do any good, and his Predator manages to maybe chip the fancy paint job on my LR. No luck for the poor guy. On my turn I unloaded death all over his flank. Because of bad luck, or poor moving or who knows what, but I manage to make a triple assault on the pinned marines, the stunned razorback, and the combat squad that just hopped out of their ride with one squad of termies. The DC assault the combat squad as does Mephiston. With Corbulo hanging out in a nearby LR, things got messy with furiously charging termies. I wrecked everything of course. Mephiston smears the combat squad all over the side of the razorback before anyone else attacks, then my TH terminator wrecks said razorback just to add insult to injury. The pinned squad was torn to shreds by the LC termies. End of turn 3.

Turn 4 he turns his Thunderfire cannon on my termy + Mephiston squad and manages to kill one with the shot, and forces them to all make dangerous terrain tests next turn. Luckily Corbulo was close enough to ignore the failed armor save for the poor terminator. His Predator was able to knock a gun off my LR this turn, but not much else. Vulkan was getting close in range, and the tac squad he was attached to was able to fire their plasma cannon. It scattered onto his own Thunderfire cannon! And of course I fail to wound it. I guess the dice gods don't hate him too bad after all. Vulkan flamed one of the DC down, then assaulted and killed the other. My turn I overran his thunderfire cannon, but not before another of my Terminators failed a dangerous terrain test, that Corbulo subsequently ignored for me. My last MM shot and killed his dread that was threatening with multi-melta shots and str 10 attacks next turn. I had unloaded the second squad of termies to assault the dread just in case. They were left twiddling their thumbs after the explosion. End of turn 4.

Turn 5 he moved Vulkan back into the safety of the tac squad. And his Termies finally arrived from deep strike. His shooting killed one of my terminators, and that is about it. My turn Mephiston scored his second perils of the warp and took his second wound, the first time I failed to gain extra attacks on the Cannon. So Mephiston was out of range to assault the Predator, but he was in range for the Termies who had just landed. I unloaded both of my crusaders on his termies and killed 2 of them with storm bolters, then assaulted and wiped them with Mephiston alone. End of turn 5. Die roll showed a 4 so we went into turn 6, even though the game was already over for him. All that remained was his tac squad with Vulkan, and his predator. I had lost the assault cannons of my land raiders, and my 2 DC models.

Turn 6 he assaults Mephiston with Vulkan and the tac squad. Big mistake. Mephiston goes first and kills 6 tac marines. Vulkan puts one wound on Mephiston, and then my remaining termies kill all but his sarge. His serge fails morale and books it away. On my side of the turn I finish everything else off, finally getting his predator and the fleeing sergeant. Game over, Salamanders annihilated!

It was a fun game overall, although more resistance would have made for a more fun and challenging game. His starting turns had some poor dice rolling, but that happens to everyone. Mephiston was MVP of this game hands down. This guy wrecked nearly half of the opposing army single-handedly. Stick him in a terminator squad and his survivability goes up exponentially. This guy just needs an Iron Halo and he will be so tough, although the rumors are not pointing that direction. MVP runner-up was Corbulo. Corbulo + LC terminators = win. Strength 5, Initiative 5, reroll to wound attacks are so strong! And this game I was finally able to use his exsanguinator. My last few games with him in I either forgot about the ability, or was never able to use it. And this game he was saving terminators, well worth his points.

I am getting way excited for the codex. Mephiston will cost a crap load of points, but I will still take him. This guy smashes nearly everything in front of him. Power weapons are his doom, but with the rumored psychic power to stop a single models attacks, he will plow through squads. I can’t wait!