Goth Girls Gone Wild!--Battle #3  by Patrick Eibel and Kenton Kilgore 
(“Defend the Shrine”; 2000 points each)

With a gasp, Canoness Marian Tressant awoke. It was night, and around her the other Sisters in her Commandery were sleeping or keeping watch.

“Not all dead,” she thought, remembering the events in her nightmare, in which every last Sister fell trying to secure the wreckage of an Aquila lander. She rose and walked among the Sisters, taking comfort in the cool night air and stopping occasionally to impart encouraging words to those that needed comfort.

From inside the treeline, Sergeant-Sister Agatha ,leader of her Celestians, approached the Canoness. “Holy Mother,” Sister Agatha whispered, “we have found the chapel.”

Canoness Tressant beamed in anticipation. Could this be what they had been seeking - the final resting place of their order’ss patron?

Quickly, the Canoness moved through the camp and gathered the members of Squad Piete.  She rejoined Sergeant Sister Agatha and the rest of the Celestians. “Come with me while I pray for guidance.”

“This way,” Sister Agatha said, leading the group back into the jungle,  followed by the Celestian’s Rhino, crushing foliage as it went. After a few hundred yards, the jungle abated at a large clearing in which were several ruined buildings. In the center of the clearing were the remains of a chapel, with only one wall and part of a stained glass window still intact.

“Wait here while I pray,” the Canoness instructed.

The Sisters took up defensive positions, peering into the deep jungle darkness, bolters at the ready. It was not long before they heard the telltale grunts and hoots that marked what passed for a Kurindan language. 

“Let us hope that the Holy Mother’s prayers are answered,” Sister Agatha said, as she aimed her bolter and fired, killing a small Newt that was climbing a tree some yards away.

As discussed in the introduction to this campaign, each player was to build on the army list they had used in the previous battle, adding units, wargear, etc., but not subtracting anything previously taken. 

The Kurindans (2000 points)  by Kenton Kilgore
For this game, I spent most of my 500-point allotment on filling out my Troops, maxxing out each “Troglodyte Rampage” (i.e., Genestealer Brood) to 12. “Defend the Shrine” (from Codex: Witch Hunters) calls for players to move figures onto a terrain piece in the center of the board, with the winner being the player who has sole possession of the objective. To that end, I selected a Carnifex, which I hoped would be tough enough to withstand any of Pat’s attempts to keep it off the objective. Sort of like playing “King of the Hill” with 40K figures.

I brought:

• Three Troglodytes on Dracosaurs  (HQ Warriors w/ leaping, extended carapace, enhanced senses, and toxin sacs; two have rending claws and deathspitters; one has rending claws and a venom cannon; 148 points) 
• One Lurker  (Lictor; 80 points) 
• Four Troglodytes on Dracosaurs  (Elite Warriors w/ leaping, extended carapace, enhanced senses, rending claws, and deathspitters; 164 points) 
• Troglodyte Rampage* #1  (Twelve Genestealers w/ extended carapace; 240 points) 
• Troglodyte Rampage #2  (Twelve Genestealers w/ extended carapace; 240 points) 
• Troglodyte Rampage #3  (Twelve Genestealers w/ extended carapace; 240 points) 
• Troglodyte Rampage #4  (Twelve Genestealers w/ extended carapace; 240 points) 
• Newt Rampage #1  (Twenty four Hormagaunts; 240 points) 
• Newt Rampage #2  (Nineteen Hormagaunts; 190 points) 
• Shaman  (Zoanthrope w/ Warp Blast and Synapse; 65 points)
• Hydrasaur (Carnifex w/ enhanced senses, adrenal glands [+1 WS], flesh hooks, barbed strangler, venom cannon; 153 points)

The Sisters of Mercy (1995 points) by Patrick Eibel
Time for a cookout in the jungle. In this game, I brought along an additional Seraphim Squad with two hand flamers, a Dominion Squad with four flamers and a bolter-flamer, and an Immolator. And you know what Sisters shout when they use all those flame weapons, right? “REPENT!” (Although telling a lizard to repent doesn’t do much good.)

• Canoness Marian Tressant w/ blessed weapon, bolt pistol, rosarius, Book of St. Lucius, purity seals, Cloak of St. Aspira (131 points). Accompanied by Celestian Squad Sapristi. Veteran Sister Superior w/ power weapon and bolt pistol; one Celestian w/ flamer; one Celestian w/ meltagun; six Celestians w/ bolters (173 points). Canoness and Celestians mounted in Rhino w/ extra armor and smoke launchers (58 points)
• Battle Sister Squad Piete. Veteran Sister Superior w/ storm bolter, Book of St. Lucius; two Sisters w/ storm bolters; seven Sisters w/ bolters (149 points) 
• Battle Sister Squad Esperance. Veteran Sister Superior w/ storm bolter, Book of St. Lucius; two Sisters w/ storm bolters; seven Sisters w/ bolters (149 points) 
• Battle Sister Squad Croyance. Veteran Sister Superior w/ bolt pistol, close combat weapon, Book of St. Lucius; one Sister w/ meltagun; one Sister w/ heavy flamer; seven Sisters w/ bolters (151 points). Mounted in Rhino w/ extra armor and smoke launchers (58 points)
• Battle Sister Squad Clemance. Veteran Sister Superior w/ bolt pistol, close combat weapon, Book of St. Lucius; one Sister w/ meltagun; one Sister w/ heavy flamer; seven Sisters w/ bolters (151 points). Mounted in Rhino w/ extra armor and smoke launchers (58 points)
• Seraphim Squad Belliqueux. Veteran Sister Superior w/ bolt pistol and power weapon; two Seraphim w/ flame pistols; five Seraphim w/ bolt pistols and close combat weapons (210 points)
• Seraphim Squad Etoiles. Veteran Sister Superior w/ bolt pistol and power weapon; two Seraphim w/ flame pistols; five Seraphim w/ bolt pistols and close combat weapons (210 points)
• Dominion Squad Demene. Veteran Sister Superior w/ bolter-flamer, Book of St. Lucius; four Sisters w/ flamers; one Sister w/ imagifier (151 points). Mounted in Immolator with twin-linked heavy flamers and extra armor (70 points)
• Retributor Squad Revanche. Veteran Sister Superior w/ bolter, auspex, Book of St. Lucius; four Sisters w/ heavy bolters (136 points) 
• Croix de Mort. Exorcist w/ extra armor (140 points)

Per the scenario rules, Pat placed his commander, Canoness Marian Tressant, on the shrine, and Squads Piete and Revanche (the Retributors) within 12"; the rest of his army was in reserve. I reminded him that the rules allowed one HQ choice to start on the table, so, in my opinion, he was entitled to place Tressant’s Celestians and their Rhino on the board as well. Pat readily agreed. 

I had prepared for the game by splitting my army in two. Group 1 had Troglodyte Squads #3 and 4, Newt Squad #1 (the one with 24 of the little lizards) and the Shaman, and was led by the three HQ Trogs on Dracosaurs. 

Group 2 had everyone else, including the Hydrasaur, which I hoped would be my trump card. Not wanting to expose the Hydrasaur to unnecessary fire, I set up Group 2 out of sight of the Retributors. Group 1 had significantly less cover and, as you will see, would bear the brunt of the Sisters’ fury throughout the game.

As the Defender, Pat had the first turn.

Turn 1
Pat’s girls stood their ground and opened fire, gunning down six Newts. On my turn, both groups advanced, with the venom cannon from the HQ Trogs dropping a Sister from Squad Piete. 

Turn 2
Pat rolled for Reserves: Squads Esperance, Croyance, Etoiles, and the Exorcist Croix de Mort came on and added their fire to that of the Sisters already on the board. The HQ Trogs fell, as did four members of Trog Rampage #4 and all but one of the members of Trog Rampage #3—and that last fellow perished when the Seraphim invoked Hand of the Emperor and assaulted him. The bad news was that I had only 18 Newts, a handful of Trogs, and the Shaman left on that side of the board. The good news was that none of my Lizardmen were going anywhere, seeing as how they were all in Synapse range of the Shaman. The better news was that now my Kurindans had plenty of opportunities to play “hack-n-slash” with the girls. And the best news of all was that Group 2 had taken no fire.

On my turn, the Shaman’s Warp Blast missed Squad Esperance. The Newts charged Squad Croyance, stabbing two Sisters with their poisoned spears and losing none of their kind, despite the Sisters’ invoking Hand of the Emperor. Croyance tried to flee but were caught and chopped down. Squad Etoiles invoked The Passion but were wiped out by the charging Trog Rampage #4; though the Seraphim died, they took one of the Trogs with them. Group 2 continued to move up.

Turn 3
Squad Piete and the Celestians advanced on Group 1, and Squads Clemance and Demene came on the board from Reserves. Demene dismounted from their Immolator and attacked Troglodyte Rampage #4: the Immolator killed seven Kurindans, but the Dominions themselves only killed one. Close-range fire from Squad Clemance killed the last Troglodyte from Group 1, and the heavy bolters from the Retributors wiped out the rest of the Newts on that side of the board. The Shaman suffered a wound from the Exorcist, but was able to shrug off fire from Squad Esperance and the nearby Rhinos.

On my turn, the Shaman retaliated by nuking four Battle Sisters from Squad Esperance with a Warp Blast. As Group 2 continued to advance unmolested, the Hydrasaur made his presence known by spitting a blob of acid that blew off the tracks of the Celestians’ Rhino and violently shook the vehicle. The Lurker appeared directly behind Retributor Squad Revanche and pounced on them; but its claws and fangs could not penetrate their armor—yet….

Turn 4
The other Seraphim unit, Squad Belliqueux, came on from Reserves; now, all of Pat’s army was on the board. As the other units before them, Belliqueux entered on the side where Kurindan Group 1 had been. In his Movement Phase, Pat had his Dominions board their Immolator and the bulk of his army began heading towards the shrine, in the center of the board. 

Squad Clemance and their Rhino combined their fire against the Shaman, his bloated body finally exploding in a shower of green ichor under the fusillade from the Sisters’ boltguns. The Seraphim Belliqueux counterattacked the Lurker, pulling it off the Retributors before it could harm any of them and mercilessly gunning it down at point-blank range. 

Yet still Group 2 kept advancing, with the Hydrasaur firing on—but failing to harm—the Retributors. The Sisters may have killed half the Kurindans, but the other half remained to be dealt with.

Turn 5 
The Sisters of Mercy now turned their attention to Group 2, with the Exorcist, the Retributors, the Celestians and their Rhino killing five Troglodytes from Rampage #1, some of the few Kurindans in sight. Sprinting as fast they could (6" move + 6" Fleet of Claw + 12" charge), Newt Rampage #2 hurled themselves into the Celestians, who successfully invoked The Passion. Four Celestians fell, but so did six Newts, and the tiny Kurindans fell back (5"). One of the Dracosaur-mounted Troglodytes bellowed and the Newts gathered themselves for another charge (i.e., they fell back into Synapse range).

Turn 6
“Kill the leaders,” Canoness Tressant ordered, and the Exorcist and the Retributors gunned down three of the four Trogs on Dracosaurs and wounded the last one. The Celestians and the Immolator opened up on the Newts, obliterating them in a torrent of flame and bolter shots. 

Trog Rampages #1 and #2 crept through the underbrush and reached the shrine. The last Trog captain urged his mount to spit its breath weapon, but the armor of the Retributors shrugged off the steaming acid. The Exorcist was not so fortunate: the Hydrasaur cocked back its head and spat a huge glob of sizzling death that ate through the tank, killing its crew. 

Both armies glared at each other, but the Sisters could not continue the fight without harming their precious shrine. The battle was a draw.
 
 

Post-Game Analysis  by Patrick Eibel
For about five turns, I thought I had played a very good game. I had thought about the criteria for the mission set-up and had decided to wipe out one side of Kenton’s force and then attack the other. This plan worked out very well, as I focused on killing units down to the last man and brought in reinforcements from the side to finish the job where needed. I was managing my forces wisely, using my Faith points judiciously, and not making the mistakes that cost me the last game.

The only problem was that I had not fully read the Mission Objectives part of the mission, and was rather surprised at the end of the game to learn that I had lost. Yet another lesson learned: no matter how well you play, if you don’t read the mission, you may not actually win the game. The only thing that saved me was that in the campaign set up, I determined that this should be a Gamma-level game (even though it didn’t actually have that option), which meant that Victory Points would be applied. Kenton kindly agreed to call the game a tie, as I was clearly ahead on Victory Points, while he actually achieved the mission objective.

While the game was a loss, I felt that I had played well against a very good opponent. To get to the end of a game to only find that you have lost through your own carelessness is just inexcusable. While I am still trying to get a handle on all of the Sisters’ funky powers (I forgot the Shield of Faith rule for yet another battle), I also must do a better job in playing the actual games. Fortunately for me, I am only one Campaign Point down, and still have a chance to bring honor to my forces by winning the campaign. 

Post-Game Analysis  by Kenton Kilgore
I must admit that during Turn 6, I was perplexed as to what Pat was doing. Surely he knew that the victory condition was to get models inside the shrine, right? When he made no effort to do so, I started to think maybe I was wrong. 

At this stage, winning or tying the game isn’t as important to me as how well I’m playing the army. This was, after all, only my fourth game playing them. I did an okay job on deployment: Group 1 might have been better served running up the other side of the board, but it was cluttered with terrain and wouldn’t have kept Pat from using his reinforcements as he did. Group 2’s deployment was solid, as was their approach. Had Pat’s Sisters gotten back to the shrine, they would have found a whole mess of Troglodytes (Genestealers) waiting for them. 

As for the other Kurindans: the Hydrasaur (Carnifex) didn’t have enough time to actually reach the shrine, but I like how he vaporized the Exorcist. The Shaman (Zoanthrope) did some respectable damage, too, and the Lurker (Lictor)…well, he tried, didn’t he? I seem to recall Lictors being Barney Badasses in 2nd Edition, but they’ve obviously been toned waaaay down. Sometime before this campaign ends, I’ll have to see what two Lictors working together can accomplish. And I continue to be awed—awed, I tell you—by the speed of this army, particularly the Newts (Hormagaunts). 

I don’t know if I’m going to win this campaign, but I do know I have a solid handle on using the Kurindans.
 

Posted: September 2006
 

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