Hi there, last week Dad James and I enjoyed trying out one of the missions from Book VI. Conclave of the Lost, is based on an Ultramarine v Alpha Legion encounter and sees the loyalist Ultramarine Commander being duped into meeting his counterpart alone at an alien ruin in the midst of a barren wasteland, what could go wrong, eh?!
Mission set-up
Well quite a lot as you might imagine - the mission sees the loyalist side (my VIIth Legion Imperial Fists on this occasion) delivering their commander and any other HQ on the loyalist side to the centre of the gaming board.....alone!
The board itself should match the description of the battlefield in the short story; in the centre is a large plateau with an alien ruin in the middle. Around it should be very little terrain and certainly nothing LOS blocking.
The loyalists deploy their HQs (I had a Primus Medicae and Praetor) within 6" of the centre point and everything else (other than 3 troops) goes into reserve. The traitors (James' Flesh Tearers re-imagined as a break-away element from the Blood Angels) are all put into reserve. My Imperial Fist troops (two squads of Breachers) deploy 18" away from the board centre. We each have a deployment zone in opposite table corners.
Victory Conditions
If James kills my HQs by T3 he gets 5points, if they survive I get 5 points. Normal VPs after that.
The Armies
Flesh Tearers - 3 squads jump assault marines, 1 squad jump death company, 2 tac squads in drop pods, 1 dreadnought in drop pod, chaplain, storm eagle, Land Raider Redeemer w 5 THSS Termies and baal predator. Its a fast army, damn fast!
Imperial Fists VIIth - Praetor, Primus Medicae, 2 squads Breachers, 1 Leviathan, Spartan w 5 THSS Termies, 7 Heavy Support Lacsannons, Sicarian and kheres mortis contemptor.
The Flesh Tearers always go first and James drops two drop pods (both hits) between my HQs and my troops shouting "you shall not pass" in their best Gandalf voices! He takes a wound off the Primus and I kill a few with shooting in my turn.
James and I get most of our reserves on in this turn with the exception of my Spartan with Termies and the Flesh Tearers ....
My HQs are totally cut off and by end T2 he has killed the Primus and taken Praetor down to last wound. The Praetor is locked into combat by the Know No Fear special rule. My Breachers fail their charge and cannot reach him to support.
My reserves pour all their fire into his Land Raider and do nothing! I was desperate at this point and it looks like he could table me by T3!
Being uber-sportsman-like James continually accepts challenges in CC and also somehow both his Chaplain and my Praetor fail to kill each other. The challenge rule seemingly keeping his other warriors from fighting my Praetor (I think we were playing this rule wrong as it seems so unfair).
Long story short, the VIIth Legion clean house as James gets stuck on my HQ in the middle of the table, a few lucky rolls later (for me) and the Tearers are on the run! Victory for the loyalists!
Mission review
Well I have to say it was huge fun and very stressful at the same time. I think that unless you have a fast army like James's that you have no chance as the traitor player - the HQs would be too hard to reach and you must have some way of deep-striking or drop-podding in to get them.
I also think the 5points is too big. Once you have that it is hard for the other to come back, in total its a 10 point swing and I think that 3 would make it fairer.
I got 'lucky' in that I think we played the challenge rule wrong and James just couldn't kill the HQ. Against a better traitor HQ unit I could have been tabled at the beginning of turn 3. This mission feels like it has massive potential for big wins.
In summary, it was what great narrative style gaming should be about and the mission was full of character. We both loved the open table with no LOS blocking terrain too. The verdict 7/10 - give it a go (but read the mission and tailor your armies accordingly).
Happy gaming!
That sounds like a really interesting game set up, and sounds like you had fun playing it. Well done with the victory.
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