Battle Report 02
Due to the fact that I have five factions, there was always going to be a battle where one war band's first battle was going to be another's second. The Campaign Rules do have a mechanical means of trying to give advantage to a side that has fewer points, but I still wanted every faction to have a "fair shake" in their first fight. So, knowing that the Robot Legion was due to go up against the Human Imperium, I decided to field a war band of Battle Brothers against H.A.L.'a Hoplites because I figured they were resilient and tactically diverse enough to stand up to any mechanical disadvantage.
Thus, the second skirmish of the Cruthanarc Campaign sees the Cenobites of the Red Hand, going up against H.A.L.’s Hoplites of the Robot Legion. The latter had 40 points to spend on re-equipping and recruiting. Given that their first encounter exposed their lack of mobility, I decided to recruit a Flesh-eater, which has the Special Rule Tunneller. This rule allows the Flesh-eater to be kept in reserve for turn one and then deployed anywhere on the board at least 1" away from enemy troops. Here are the point break-downs:
Cenobites of the Red Hand
Assault Brother [1] | Qua 3+ Def 3+ | 30pts
Weapons: Close Combat Weapon, Heavy Pistol
Abilities: Fearless
Assault Brother [3] | Qua 3+ Def 3+ | 30pts
Weapons: Close Combat Weapon, Heavy Pistol
Abilities: Fearless
Battle Brother [3] | Qua 3+ Def 3+ | 40pts
Weapons: Close Combat Weapon, Heavy Rifle
Abilities: Fearless
Battle Brother [1] | Qua 3+ Def 3+ | 30pts
Weapons: Close Combat Weapon, Heavy Rifle
Abilities: Fearless
Battle Brother [1] | Qua 3+ Def 3+ | 30pts
Weapons: Close Combat Weapon, Heavy Rifle
Abilities: Fearless
H.A.L.’s Hoplites
Eternal [1] | Qua 3+ Def 2+ | 40pts
Weapons: CCW, Flux Carbine
Abilities: Regeneration, Robot, Slow
Warrior [1] | Qua 3+ Def 4+ | 25pts
Weapons: CCW, Gauss Rifle
Abilities: Regeneration, Robot, Slow
Warrior [1] | Qua 3+ Def 4+ | 25pts
Weapons: CCW, Gauss Rifle
Abilities: Regeneration, Robot, Slow
Guardian [1] | Qua 3+ Def 3+ | 30pts
Weapons: Atom-Caster, Void Sword
Abilities: Regeneration, Robot, Slow
Guardian [1] | Qua 3+ Def 3+ | 30pts
Weapons: Atom-Caster, Void Sword
Abilities: Regeneration, Robot, Slow
Flesh-eater [1] | Qua 3+ Def 3+ | 30pts
Weapons: Metal Claws
Abilities: Regeneration, Robot, Slow, Tunneller
Although the final results were very lopsided, this fight proved my assumptions about the Battle Brothers to be true. Unfortunately, the dice were not kind to them. The two assault brothers were quickly felled. The first with a lucky pot shot from a Warrior, the next in a charge against the Flesh-eater.
Despite these early set-backs, the Brothers were in a position at the end of the game to win. They controlled one objective and contested two others. Had the dice gone the other way, a pyrrhic victory was in sight. Instead, another Battle Brother was knocked out when the Eternal's Flux Carbine kicked in with its Poison attribute. The Brother had to make three saves instead of the usual one. As a consequence, the Hoplites were free to use their last moves to secure the 10 pt reward for the Secondary Mission of having troops in all four quarters of the board.
The dice were finally kind to the Brothers in the post-game Casualty Check. All three brothers recovered and the two Assault Brothers gained an extra +1XP.
Results:
Cenobites of the Red Hand 0 VP and 30pts; +2 XP for Assault Brothers, +1 XP for the Battle Brothers
H.A.L.’s Hoplites 2 VP and 20pts; +2 XP for one Guardian, one Warrior, and the Flesh-eater, +1 XP for everyone else
As a final note, I really like how the game pushes a Battle Brother player to act like one might expect the Imperium's best soldiers to act. Victory was only in their grasp at the end because they fearlessly charged into what seemed like a hopeless situation. Had the dice been a bit more kind, this valor would have been rewarded. As it is, I can't help but believe that Cenobites can hold their heads up high after their valiant attempt at snatching victory from defeat.
