Dark Angels vs Chaos 1500 points (part 2)

Greetings, folks! 

Bob here with part 2 of the epic clash between the forces of Neverness's Chaos warband and my Dark Angels as we try and capture the cursed Cypher!

Before the coverage starts check out Neverness's list from the game:

Chaos Lord: terminator armour, mark of Khorne, ichor blood, murder sword.
Cypher
Chaos Marines: (10) Mark of Khorne, flamer, plasma gun
Chaos Marines: (9) Mark of Slaanesh, flamer
Khorne Berzerkers: (10)
Chaos Bikers: (6) Mark of Khorne, flamer, melta gun
Landraider: Havoc launcher, dirge caster, warpflame gargoyles, destroyer blades, smoke launchers
Vindicator: dirge caster, warpflame gargoyles, smoke launchers  


Turn 4

With Cypher now on the loose it was time to get the Ravenwing and the Tac squads across the board to hopefully net the slippery bastard. The Ravenwing moved closer to the Vindicator to get into close range and set up a charge if it somehow survived shooting. The Tactical Squads both advance with the one in the center moving to contest the central objective and the other moving to support the Deathwing. Speaking of the Deathwing, they decided to stay put and shoot the Berserkers as much as possible then charge them before they charged me (because screw that nonsense).

My name is Bob and I approve the destruction of this Vindicator. Photo courtesy of Neverness

In the shooting phase the Ravenwing managed to knock out the Vindicator thanks to the multimelta and ultimately the squad plasma gun. The explosion result was thankfully one inch so my bikes avoided any damage from flying heretic vehicle bits. The Tac Marines in the center tried to thin out the advancing Chaos Marines in advance of their inevitable charge. The Deathwing opened up on the Berserkers and thinned them out a bit. In combat the final Deathwing finally went down to the Chaos warlord and what was left of his Black Legion escort. The remaining Deathwing charge the Berserkers and manage to survive the combat and pulp a few in the process! 

Cypher desperately trying to get into cover. Photo courtesy of Neverness

In the Chaos turn Cypher continued to move towards the trench system. The Chaos Marines on the hill shot at the Tac squad in the ruins before charging into them. Between overwatch and the ensuing combat they were wiped out by the Tac squad who then consolidated towards the objective. Having wiped out one Deathwing squad the warlord and his unit charged in to support the by now greatly reduced Berserkers. This proved to be a futile effort as the Berserkers were destroyed by the Deathwing.

Turn 5

Movement was simple in this turn. The Tac squad near the objective moved up to claim it. My Company Master moved off the hill and in the direction of Cypher. The other Tac squad also advanced towards Cypher as did the Ravenwing. In the shooting phase both the Ravenwing and the advancing Tac squad opened up on Cypher and managed to wound him twice! Unfortunetly nobody could get a charge off on him and prevent him from moving into the cover of the trench. 

Lots of guns turning towards Cypher. Photo courtesy of Neverness

On the Chaos turn the now lone warlord tried to hold his own and tie up the Deathwing for another turn, but luckily for me he met the his end from a Deathwing powerfist. Following their victory, the Deathwing consolidated towards Cypher who had gunned down a member of the advancing Tac squad and jump into the trenches. The noose was getting very tight at this point as Neverness's army has effectively gone at this point. We talked about calling the game at this point, but we both decided that we wanted to see if Cypher would manage to escape or not.

The noose is very tight at this point. Photo courtesy of Neverness

  
Turn 6

So I decided that the best way to end this would be getting to grips with Cypher to make sure the fish wouldn't slip the net. I advanced the Deathwing into the trench works and ran the Ravenwing up for a fool proof charge in case he managed to survive the shooting phase. The advancing Tac squad and Company Master moved behind the trench works in case Cypher managed to win combat and book it towards my deployment zone. Needless to say with shrouded and the cover of the trenches he survived the ensuing fusillade. This meant that it would come down to fisticuffs.

Cypher's last stand. Photo courtesy of Neverness

Both the Ravenwing and Deathwing made their charges and survived the overwatch. The Deathwing Sargent was killed in close combat by Cypher's plasma pistol. The Ravenwing struck first but didn't manage to take him out. It all came down to the last surviving Deathwing to take out the traitor and take him out he did (turns out Cypher doesn't have an invul save)!

The aftermath

Glory to the First! Truly the the Lion was with us this day. The enemy was vanquished utterly and the most hated of The Fallen was captured (for now). I can honestly say this was the most enjoyable game of 40k I have played in a very long time. Neverness's idea to include Cypher and use one of the missions from his data slate was a brilliant one. The game was wonderfully narrative and full of great action and fun. Thanks to their efforts in capturing Cypher the Ravenwing and Deathwing are now bumped to the top slot of the painting backlog. Stay tuned for the results of this long overdue project.

In the meantime, I will be heading over to France for a few weeks to do some archaeology at the site I have been helping to excavate and study so my internet access will be spotty at best. I will try and get a few articles written up that I can just hit publish on or have John publish while I am away.