Battle Report: Ambush at Lessell

Dimiter Sozar looked up at the grating duct above him. He could hear them. each footstep on the ground was a hammer blow. He saw their gold plate armour glistening in the dusk. This was to be his moment. His insignificant life had led to this. In complete silence, he stood in the dark tunnel, surrounded by his kin. The brotherhood had to be protected at all costs, and outsiders shown the true might of the Endless Deep. He reached for his bolt pistol, firing a single round into the chain lock on the grating above him. As he sprang forth from the darkness with the rest of his brothers, he began to see just what he was up against...

And so welcome to the first Battle Report! It's been such a fantastic journey getting to this stage already, and we were extremely excited to get our first battle underway and going! Squid and myself have been painting and planning for a while now to get to this stage, and now it's time to get the Vernox Campaign underway!

The Ambush at Lessell is our first mission, which is a 500 point Matched Play game using the  'Ambush!' Narrative Mission from the main 40k rulebook. The idea of the scenario is simple: The Custodes need to make it through the town of Lessell, whilst being ambushed by a scouting party from The Cult of the Endless Deep.

So let's take a look at the armies:

The Cult of the Endless Deep

497 Points

Cult Creed: Cult of the Four-Armed Emperor

Command Points: 8 (Plus D3 for Cult Creed)

Detachment Type: Battalion

Magus
Psychic Powers: Mind Control, Might from Beyond
Warlord

Acolyte Iconward
Icon of the Cult Ascendant (Relic)

Acolyte Hybrids
Hand Flamers, Demo Charges, Cult Icon

Acolyte Hybrids
Rock Saw, Rock Drill, Rock Cutter, Cult Icon, Lash Whip and Bonesword

Neophyte Hybrids
Mining Laser, Heavy Stubber, Cult Icon, Autoguns and Shotguns,Flamer, Grenade Launcher, Power Pick and Bolt Pistol

Shield Host of the Tetrarchy

475 Points

Command Points: 3

Detachment Type: Patrol

Shield-Captain on Dawneagle Jet Bike
Warlord
Warlord Trait: Impregnable Mind
Relic : Auric Aquilas

Custodian Guard Squad
Custodian, Sentinel Blade, Storm Shield
Custodian, Guardian Spear, Misericordia
Custodian, Guardian Spear, Misericordia

Custodian Guard Squad
Custodian, Sentinel Blade, Storm Shield
Custodian, Guardian Spear, Misericordia
Custodian, Guardian Spear, Misericordia

TURN 1

Turn 1 began with the Cult springing the trap. With all the GSC strategems and shenanigans, Brap was able to move his units up close and personal to the column of Custodes right away. An Alpha Strike was going to be key in reducing their effectiveness. During the shooting phase, the Custodes withstood the wall of punishing flame from the Acolytes, walking through fire with only one wound taken off.

In the charge phase, the second squad of Acolytes failed their crucial charge into the Guardian Squad. Thanks to Tanglefoot grenades and a low roll by Brap, The unit was left completely exposed to a potential counter-punch by the Golden Host. Things weren't looking good for the Cult.

The Custodes response was nothing short of inspiring. In the shooting phase, the Guardian Spears of the golden host tore holes in both Acolyte squads directly in their path, leaving them ripe for a an opportune charge. By charging the combat squad first, Squid was able to cleverly maneuver his first squad and tag both units of Acolytes. The Genestealer Cult were too close together, too eager to get in the fight, something which The Custodes were well aware of. With both units making their charges, the Custodes butchered the remaining Hybrids with ease, pushing further up the table and closer to their objective. Things were looking grim for the Endless Deep.


TURN 2

On the backfoot, the Genestealer Cult resorted to desperate measures. with the majority of the army falling back to protect the Magus. It was going to be a big ask for them to turn the tide at this point, but they still had some tricks left.

In the psychic phase, the Magus manifested Mind Control, in an attempt to turn brother unto brother. using a stratagem designed to help with his lack of psychic defence, Squid successfully blocked the psychic power, and with only one wound inflicted from the Smite straight after, the Endless Deep looked to it's weaponry in a last-ditch attempt to inflict damage. Unfortunately the armour of the Golden Host proved too much, with absolutely nothing able to penetrate the Auramite. The Cult's turn ended there, with little hope for reprieve.

As the Custodes began their triumph march to victory, Captain Perseus swooped down into Lessell on his Dawneagle Jetbike. Arriving behind enemy lines, the Capain had the Magus in his sights. As the Guaridan squads made short work of the Acolyte Iconward and the remaining Neophytes in the shooting phase, the Captain refused to fire his bike's weaponry, instead lowering his Lance and preparing to charge. As he kicked the bike into gear, Perseus made it into combat, heroically taking down the Magus with minimum effort. As he congratulated his men on a noble and swift victory, Perseus looked over his shoulder to check the condition of his defeated foe.

There was no body. There was nothing. Just a duct covering left slightly ajar and the faintest trail of glowing blood...

Brap: What a start to the campaign! Wow! I knew the Custodes were going to be a tough opponent, but this was crazy! My deployment was really close together, as I was trying to affect everyone with buffs, and instead just made it easier for Squid to consolidate and tie everything up. I think failing that first turn charge decided the game, but I might have had more chances with a bit more thought put into my positioning. GSC are so fun to play, and such a different challenge from what I'm used to! I'm excited to play the next mission with them, and to learn how to get the most out of these fragile but effective freakazoids!

Squid: So, my first ever outing with the Custodes and I have to admit, I was nervous. At 500 points this game would likely revolve around a couple of clutch dice rolls and with BrapScallion outnumbering me by 30 models, it seemed like he could easily fail more than me and still claim victory. I fully expected the gang of hand flamers to wipe out my first unit of Guards, yet thanks to a CP reroll they only inflicted a single wound. Even more significant was Brapscallion failing the charge with the Hybrids. That unit had a ton of attacks and dished out high strength and multiple wounds in spades. The law of averages meant that they should have made short work of my second unit of Guards. In short, I got lucky.

The Custodes counterattack was simply brutal. Good charge rolls enabled me to ‘charge weirdly’ and negate the overwatch from the hybrids. Once I was in it was a forgone conclusion. By turn one, the game had effectively been decided. All that remained was to Deep strike my Captain on Dawneagle jet bike and mop up. The Custodes had taken a total of two wounds all game and tabled the GSC.

This was always going to go one of two ways and I don’t think BrapScallion could have done anything differently apart from making that vital charge. As the armies grow, I think the advantage will swing to the GSC as the model and unit disparity widens. I for one can’t wait to see if the Custodes can weather the coming storm!