A Narrative Begins

I've been looking forward to getting some gaming done back in the Mid-west, and I'm finally able to! I played a game recently with Mark. He played his Marine's Errant and I of course played the Children of Rust. We tied it into the D-Company summer campaign as well, which was neat!

We pulled a mission from the Exterminatus supplement, called The Gate. My guys took on the role of "Nids". It came down to long edges, I needed to get within 6" inches of a gate on his board edge. Unfortunately, many of my models were either missing, in storage, or damaged, so my army was not all painted the same scheme. Sigh.
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Captain Cadmius leads his forces into battle through the streets of the abandoned manufactorium village. His rides his customized space marine bike and wields his ancient relic blade, blasting down the narrow roads. Brother Tigrus holds his plasma gun ready, while landspeeders provide overwatch and rapid reaction.

The gate to the fuel depot lies on the other side of the hab blocks, and the scouts climb through the ruins ahead of the force, finding a safe path.

The enemy has infiltrated their own scouts! The Children have been detected. A vicious fight is sure to be had.

The land speeder typhoon unloads it's payload of missiles and heavy bolter shells, slaying 4 of the scouts and securing the right flank of the forces while they advance.

 The scouts bravely charge through the scattered rubble while the Captain and his escorts sweep around the streets, trying to encircle the foe. Two scouts are gunned down, but they bravely keep
advancing.

The tactic is sucessful! Charging into the foe's tactical squad, the bikes and scouts slaughter the enemy. Captain Cadmius accounts for two kills on his own, but the scouts lose another of their squad in the ensuing melee.

A badly damaged Marine Errant rhino makes a last ill-planned attempt at glory, and attempts to ram the transport of the Children. The rusted armor holds strong, and the Marine Errant vehicle erupts in flames and smoke.

The enemy is bloodied but unbowed. They unload weapons into the bike squad, slaughtering all but the Captain. Meanwhile Tactical Squad Jamus piles out of their rhino and fires bolter shell after bolter shell into the Marines Errant. The enemy commander is finally slayed, his servitors gunned down and his armor failing him.

Enemy vehicles take heavy fire from the land speeder typhoon while Captain Cadmius rushes towards the entrance point to the Promethium refinery, securing access to badly needed supplies.

Tactical Squad Jamus surrounds the Captain, supporting him and ensuring the Children of the Rust carry the day.

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All in all, a great game. Having a single fixed point objective was awesome, and Mark was very forgiving with all the rule errors I made. We forgot about his Command Trait though, which could have definitely changed the battle. He had rolled Feel No Pain, which could have kept his Techmarine alive longer and denied me 3 victory points. The end score of 7-3, though, was largely due to my Captain wrecking house in close combat and then my land speeder typhoon going on a rampage and wiping out scouts as well as vehicles. Man those dual missiles and HB are NASTY against light skinned transports.

So far the Children are shaping up nicely, and I'm looking forward to progressing the story. They've secured a foothold in the system now, and the Inquisition is chasing them. Look for more fluff and bat reps (as well as hobby progress) over the next couple months!

Speaking of hobby progress...here's a hint. It involves 25 scouts and a week of painting! Also, I bought a bunch of 32mm bases to put all my power armor troops on. Exciting times.

Until next time, Through Loss We Serve!