RockCon Report Part 3 - Game 2 Battle Report: Iron Warriors Vs. Death Guard

The second game of my RockCon weekend was an old Death Guard foe.  We have always had good games and I was looking forward to this game.  For this game, he didn't just take Death Guard more on that in a moment.

This was the Friday night game and we rolled randomly for the mission and deployment.  The mission we rolled up was Purge The Alien with the Hammer and Anvil deployment.  We decided to play a 2,000 point battle.  I took Morgoth again and hoped that this game he would do something.  I gave him an assaulty chosen squad and put em in a rhino.

2,000 Pts -

HQ -
Chaos Lord Morgoth - 2 lightning claws, veterans of the long war, combat familiar, meltabombs, sigil of corruption, mark of khorne, gift of mutation

Elites -
4 chosen - 2lightning claws, 2 flamers
1 champion - combi-melta and powerweapon
in rhino with havoc launcher and warpflame gargoyles

Helbrute - missile launcher and twin-linked lascannon

Helbrute - missile launcher

Troops -
9 marines - missile launcher and flamer
1 champion with meltabombs
in rhino with havoc launcher and warpflame gargoyles


9 marines - missile launcher and flamer
1 champion with meltabombs
in rhino with havoc launcher and warpflame gargoyles


9 marines - autocannon and plasma gun
1 champion with meltabombs
in rhino with havoc launcher and warpflame gargoyles


9 marines - autocannon and plasma gun
1 champion with meltabombs


9 marines - autocannon and plasma gun
1 champion with meltabombs

Heavy Support -
Predator - autocannon and 2 lascannons and warpflame gargoyles

Predator - autocannon and 2 lascannons and warpflame gargoyles

Predator - twin-linked lascannon and 2 heavy bolters and warpflame gargoyles

His approximate 2,000 point list - 

HQ - 

Chaos Lord mark of nurgle

Elites -
5 Terminators

Helbrute - twin-linked lascannon

7 chosen with power axe and plasmagun and a couple other assault weapons
in rhino

Troops -
10 marines with lascannon

10 marines with lascannon

7 plague marines in rhino

7 plague marines in rhino

Heavy Support -
Landraider


Here is the deployment:

The Iron Warriors line up their shots on top of a hill.

The Predators are waiting for the perfect shot.

I lined up two rhinos with the missile launcher squads way over to my right flank.  My initial thoughts were I could flank the enemy and try to eventually take the Linebreaker secondary objective.

The Death Guard line up their tanks with those of their purpley allies.

The Iron Warrior frontline prepares to fire in the Ice Wastes.

Turn one the Death Guard and their allies move forward while the Iron Warriors shift their fire to optimum effect.  After their first volley of shots the Death Guard emerge unscathed.  The Gods of Chaos laugh.

Maybe the laughter came from the Nurgle Helbrute on the hill.

The Iron Warriors' Predator then pop a Nurgle rhino claiming first blood.

The other two Predators continue firing lascannons and wreck the landraider making the terminators pile out the front.

Morgoth's rhino then kicks it into high gear and goes flat out following the other two outflanking rhinos.  Meanwhile an Iron Warrior's marine squad moves into the forest to fire some shot off at the Chosen's rhino.
Their fire does nothing but as the rhino powers into the woods it blows a track and gets immobilized.

The purple marine squad on the hill advance to get better lanes of fire.

The Iron Warrior's Helbrute gets shot and loses a hull point.  In the next turn it goes into a rage and runs at the enemy.

The Helbrute gets itself into some trouble not realizing until too late that it got a bit too close to the Death Guard Rhinos.  It tripped as it was trying to assault one of the rhinos and couldn't quite get there.  The Death Guard decides to disembark and let loose with meltaguns.  The Helbrute then gets blown sky high.

The Iron Warriors squad decides it would be a good idea to assault the immobilized rhino in the woods.  They unfortuneately can't make the assault distance and are then stranded in the woods.  The Chosen disembark from their rhino and open up on the marine squad at short range.

The purple marine squad on the hill fires its lascannon and blows up an Iron Warrior Predator.

The Iron Warrior Marine Squad backs out of the woods and the Nurgle Helbrute on the hill blows up Morgoth's rhino.

The Nurgle terminators round the forest and charge into the Iron Warriors.

The chosen in the woods begin firing on Morgoth's Chosen eventually killing them all.

Morgoth emerges from the fire unscathed.  He then charges into the woods and kills all 5 chosen before they even get to attack back.

The flanking rhinos move back and the squads inside emerge to fire on the Nurgle terminators.  Papa Nurgle is smiling down, however, and the terminators don't lose a single model.

At the end of the game Death Guard scored 6 points.  One for linebreaker and he had 5 units he killed.  The Iron Warriors killed three units and added one point for first blood to score 4 total points.

Death Guard win 6 to 4.

Another fun game.  I can't say for sure what my strategy was for flanking the rhinos down my right flank.  I think I was hoping to be able to kill the Helbrute with fire and then score linebreaker.  I didn't commit to that plan fully however.  I also was threatened pretty heavily in the center.

Also his long-range lascannon fire worked well and once my Predators were blown up I had issues with fire support.

Morgoth's Warlord trait gave him Hatred which allowed him to reroll his hits when he charged the chosen and that allowed him to kill them pretty easily.

I forgot all about the warpflame gargoyles.  I don't think it would have made much of a difference though.

Up next is battle report number 3: Iron Warriors versus Grey Knights.