My Raptors committed to a rather foolish suicide assault at the beginning of the battle, and their loss and the loss of two Chosen from a stray Plasma Cannon shell did not bode well for the rest of the battle. My assault faltered, and I fell back into the caves, readying myself for the counterattack. Ahriman and his brethren of four Marines with Bolters, and his Equerry with Banner and Plasma Pistol, swept to cover the right flank the dying Raptors had left unpreserved. A pack of Assault Marines dropped in behind Ahriman, but they were right next to a large group of Cultists with Autoguns in addition to Ahriman and his bodyguard. They managed to kill two of Ahriman's brethren, but the Cultists killed one with sheer weight of fire. Then, Ahriman and his brethren killed another in the shooting phase. Ahriman and his kin rushed, and slaughtered the remaining three Marines in hand to hand combat. The enemy deep-striked Terminators into the center passage of the complex, so I had my Helbrute retreat around a corner, and my Chosen waited the opportune moment. My few remaining close combat cultists, most wiped out in a scrap with Marines on the left flank, charged up to the Terminators and blasted at them fruitlessly with their autopistols, then did not assault.
The Terminators and several other units of Marines blasted the poor Cultists into scraps of flesh and bone, and advanced into the caves. My trap sprung, with the remaining ranged Cultists charging into one side of the left flank of advancing Marines, and one of my Chosen squads slamming into the other with my Chaos Lord. In the center, a squad of Chosen with power axes, fists, and other assorted nastiness slammed into the Terminators head on, while the Helbrute thundered into their flank. Ahriman and his one remaining brother unloaded upon the Plasma Cannon Marine and his three brothers, then charged into hand to hand, defeating one but losing their lives in the fray.
The right flank is wide open, and the left flank is embroiled in a tense, difficult battled between my outnumbered but better armed Chosen, and their huge mass of bolter Marines. In the center, my Chosen slaughter half the Terminators in a single assault phase, and the Helbrute kills another. I lose two Chosen but the fight continues. They advance up the right flank, forcing an encirclement. On the left flank, a pair of my Chosen are brought low, bringing the Meltagunner and the one brother with a bolter into combat. The Chaos Lord kills three, and the next wave of Marines assault him, dealing a wound.
The next turn, my Helbrute kills another Terminator, and is assaulted by the Company Master and his retinue. Fortunately, they are not well armed enough to defeat him. My three remaining Axe Chosen kill the normal Terminator, and deal two wounds to the Chapter Master, who kills one. They take my right flank, and charge my axe chosen from behind with two biker Marines while the Plasma Cannon Marine and his two Marines continue across, trying to attack the left flank. Curiously enough, my Cultists do very well in hand to hand combat with the Marines, and the Chaos Lord does also, though his retinue dies to a man. Suddenly, my left flank is winning, the Chaos Lord single-handedly wiping out an entire Tactical Squad in hand to hand, and the Cultists managing to down a Librarian and two Marines through lucky rolls. In the center, my Axe Chosen have killed their Chapter Master and one Biker, but lost a brother. The Helbrute has killed a Marine in his combat, but it's mostly stalemated. They are still trying to flank with the Plasma Cannon unit.
The final turn comes, and my Chaos Lord kills the last couple Marines before him, and the Cultists lose a few men, but finish off the last marine in the unit facing THEM. Their Plasma Cannon unit levels and fires at my Cultists, killing several. The unit panics and runs. My Axe Chosen kill the last biker, and the Helbrute kills two Marines, dropping the Company Master's unit to one Marine and the Company Master himself. My opponent surveys the situation, and declares defeat. I insist we finish the battle, but he believes it will only be a mop up. He is correct. With my Chaos Lord close to the Plasma Cannon unit, he would charge into melee and more than likely kill them all by himself. The Axe Chosen in the center would be able to advance and support the Helbrute in wiping out the last of the Company Master's retinue, and I still had a couple cultists.
But by the Dark Gods, it was close. So very close.
Warhammer 40,000 Tabletop
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Topic: How did you last *own*? (Read 1351406 times)