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Strongpoint mission
January 1, 2003

Written by Dan Moore

Introduction:

I decided to start the New Year properly with some Warhammer 40K.  It had been quite a while since my Dark Eldar had seen any action so I contacted Ed Milnes, a friend and space marine player that I know, to see if he was interested, which he was.    My 10 year old son, Douglas, also wanted to get in on the action so we decided to have my Kabal of the Searing Blade battle a mixed space marine force containing Ed's generic marines and Douglas's Imperial Fists.

Ed arrived at my house with a large piece of unpainted terrain that resembled a medieval fortress.  It measured roughly 24" x 18" and comprised 3 walls with battlements, a main gate, a central tower, and an elevated walkway between the battlements and tower.  We thought it would be neat to use the terrain for our battle so we decided to play the strongpoint mission and use the fortress terrain as the deployment zone for the space marine defenders.  Obviously my dark eldar were the attackers as they always are in such missions.  We scavenged some extra terrain for the battlefield and added some woods, hills, and ruins. We also added some 12" wall extensions to the fortress including a breached area where the wall had collapsed.

Army selection:

Space Marines
Ed and Douglas agreed to each take a ~1000 point detachment of marines that used the standard force organization chart.  This is what they chose:

	Doug's Imperial Fists Marines	Ed's Marines
HQ	Chaplain with plasma pistol	Commander with power weapon & Plasma pistol
Elite	6 man Terminator squad with heavy flamer & missile launcher	6 man Terminator squad with Assault cannon & heavy flamer
	Dreadnaught with assault cannon, CC weapon & storm bolter	Dreadnaught with assault cannon,CC weapon & storm bolter
Troops	10-man tactical squad (1st) Missile launcher, meltagun	7-man tactical squad (4th) Heavy bolter, flamer
	6-man tactical squad (5th) Lascannon, plasma rifle	7-man tactical squad (1st) Vet. Sergeant with power weapon
		6-man tactical squad (2nd) missile launcher
Fast Attack	3 Attack bikes with heavy bolters	8-man Assault marine squad  with 2 plasma pistols
Heavy	5-man Devastator squad  3 missile launcher, plasma cannon

Dark Eldar
I hastily pieced together a ~2000-point dark eldar army from the models that I had on hand.  This is what I came up with:

HQ:               Uber-Archon with agonizer, pistol, shadowfield, combat drugs, trophy rack, and hellmask
                      Haemonculus with destructor, scissorhand, and webway portal
Elite:               10-woman Wyche squad & wyche weapons, Succubus with agonizer/pistol, raider
                       8-man Grotesque squad led by haemonculus on raider
                       5-man Mandrake squad
Troops:           Two 12-man warrior squads with 2 dark lances each
                       Four 9-man raider squads with splinter cannons and blasters or shredders
                       Raiders had a mix of dark lances and disintegrators
Fast Attack:    6 Reaver jetbikes, 2 with blasters
Heavy:            Ravager with 3 disintegrators and night shields
                      2 Talos

Mission setup and deployment
The strongpoint scenario is one in which the defender places his HQ, troops, and heavy units in a fortified area with one or more bunkers.  He/she also places sentries to call the alarm when they detect enemy forces.  Reserves are rolled for normally once the alarm is raised.  

 
                 Douglas and Ed Milnes, My opponents                                        The "Fortress" for our Strongpoint mission

I gave Ed and Douglas the option to designate any part or parts of the fortress as bunkers.  They chose to make the central tower the only bunker.  Since Douglas was using his Imperial Fist space marines, we agreed that the whole fortress was Armor value 14 including the bunker.  Further, we agreed that the marines in the fortress would never need to make morale checks from shooting while securely placed anywhere within the fortress. We also discussed how skimmers would deal with the fortress walls and courtyards.  It was agreed that any skimmers could traverse the walls without difficulty.  The skimmers could off-load troops onto the battlements provided they spent a turn hovering at the height of the wall.  This exposed them to enemy fire from either side of the wall.  The skimmers could also land within the fortress in any courtyard space that was large enough.  These courtyards would not be considered as difficult terrain for purposes of determining if the skimmers would crash.  Finally, the gates of the fortress were considered to be Armor value 14 and had to be blasted open with weapons fire before enemy ground troops could pass through them.

Douglas deployed his HQ, troops, and heavy units in the fortress.  Imperial fist squad # 5 with lascannon and plasma rifle was positioned in the upper floor of the bunker.  The chaplain was located in the ground floor.  The other Imperial fist squad (#1 with missile launcher) was positioned on the left wall of the fortress. The Devastor squad was position atop a second tall tower within the fortress.

Ed deployed his HQ and troops in the fortress as well.  Tactical squad 4 with heavy bolter was positioned on the right wall of the fortress.  Tactical squad 1 with veteran sergeant was placed just inside the main gates at ground level.  The commander was assigned to this squad as well.  Tactical squad 2 with missile launcher was placed at ground level next to the bunker.  (I was puzzled by this deployment because the squad had no LOS to anything outside the fortress.)


I decided to swarm the fortress with every available unit that I had and told the guys to not even bother placing sentries because they would know that I was attacking from the start of turn 1.  To the left of the fortress I positioned my ravager, jetbikes, 3 raider squads, and a mandrake counter.   To the right of the fortress I positioned my wyche raider, grotesque raider, and remaining raider squad.  The Uber-Archon was assigned to the raider squad.  Two mandrake counters were positioned in front of the main gate.  The warrior squads with dark lances were positioned in some woods to the left and front of the main gates.  The talos's were held in reserve to be deployed through the webway portal by the haemonculus that was leading the grotesques.  I made my drug rolls for the wyche squad and reaver jetbike squad.  The wyches got +1 attack, while the jetbike squad got +1 strength.

Turn 1
My basic strategy was a full-blown assault on the strongpoint.  Every unit would advance and fire if permitted.  There were several exceptions.   The ravager moved only 6" so that it could shoot all of its weapons. The raider with the grotesques advanced and the haemonculus and grotesques disembarked next to the fortress so that they could deploy the webway portal on turn 2.  The wyche raider took a full 24" move so that it could park next to the right wall of the fortress and avoid enemy fire.  The reaver jetbikes did likewise along the left wall.  I figured that there were plenty of other juicy targets for the marines to shoot at so they would not bother moving along the battlements to shoot at the wyche units.  My shooting with the ravager was pathetic, three "1's" came up on the dice when I fired at the devastator squad.  What a way to start the New Year!  I concentrated the bulk of my shooting on Imperial Fist tactical squad #1 atop the left wall and destroyed it to the man.  This was key if I was to disembark my raider squads on the left wall during turn 2.  My remaining shooting inflicted only minor casualties on IF tac squad #5 and marine tac squad #4.  I discovered that one of my warrior squads with dark lances was out of range of the bunker so I made a mental note to move it closer on Turn 2.
Dark Eldar Turn 1:

The marines maintained a static defense during their turn 1.  The devastator squad fired a volley of shots at the ravager.  Suprisingly, all three missile launchers missed when Douglas rolled three "2's".  The plasma cannon made up for it though by getting a penetrating hit and causing the ravager to crash (serves the ravager crew right for missing with all three disintegrators!)  Imperial Fists tac squad #5 shot down a raider squad with its missile launcher and inflicted 4 casualties to the warriors in the resulting crash.  Marine tac squad 4 was less successful shooting at the raider squad (with Archon) to the right of the fortress.  They only managed to kill the raider gunner with massed bolter fire.
Space Marine Turn 1:


Turn 2
The time was right for the dark eldar to pounce!  All three raider squads brought their transports even with the battlements and they disembarked on to the walls.  The raider squad with Archon positioned itself so that it could assault marine tac squad 4 atop the right wall.  The wyche raider lifted over the right wall and hovered at ground level within the courtyard of the fortress while the wyche squad disembarked in position to assault marine tac squad #1 (with commander) and/or marine tac squad #2.  The jetbikes zoomed forward to surround the Imperial Fist Devastor squad atop the rear tower of the fortress. The haemonculus deployed his webway portal along the right wall of the fortress while his grotesques formed a living wall around him.  The mandrake counters advanced towards the fortress as did the warrior squad whose dark lances were out of range and the squad of the crashed raider.  The dark eldar shooting was mixed.  The raider squads on the left wall and a dark lance squad on the ground unleashed all their firepower into Imperial Fist tac squad #5 in the bunker and only managed to kill two marines?  The squad of the crashed raider and the reaver jetbikes fired upon the IF devastator squad and killed three marines.  Another marine devastator died when the jetbikes assaulted them.  The wyche raider had the best success at shooting when it vaporized 4 members of marine tac squad #1!  The wyches killed or captured the remaining members of tac squad #1 when they assaulted.  They also killed a member of marine tac squad #2 during the assault. I decided to assault both squads simultaneously since marine squad #1 had been depleted by disintegrator fire.  Amazingly, the wyche squad took no casualties from the marine counterattack despite having to make four invulnerable saves!  The grotesque's raider managed to kill 2 members of marine tac squad #4 with its disintegrator.  The remaining members of squad #4 were either killed or captured by the Archon and raider squad atop the right wall.  The raider squad and Archon consolidated along the right wall.  Things were looking good for the dark eldar as the marines only had 11 men left in the fortress.  Alas, reinforcements were on the way…
Dark Eldar Turn 2:


On the space marine's turn 2 reinforcements began entering the battlefield to assist their comrades.  Both the Imperial Fist Terminator squad and the space marine Terminator squad entered the fortress from reserves.  Likewise the space marine Dreadnaught entered the battlefield and advanced along the left side of the rear tower.  The bolstered marine forces unleashed a hail of deadly firepower into the dark eldar invaders.  The IF Terminators shot down the wyche raider and then assaulted the wyche squad engaged with marine tac squad #2.  The other Terminator squad used their storm bolters and assault cannon to decimate the raider squad with the Archon that was atop the right wall of the fortress.  A lone warrior and the Archon were all that remained from the carnage, although they did make their morale check.  The space marine Dreadnaught shot at the nearest raider squad on the left wall and inflicted two casualties with its assault cannon.   Imperial Fist tac squad #5 shot at one of the raiders along the left wall, but only managed to shake the crew.  During the assault phase, the wyche squad destroyed marine tac squad #2.  The IF Terminator squad retaliated by killing 2 members of the wyche squad with their power fists.  The lone member of IF Devastor squad on the rear tower of the fortress was killed by the reaver jetbike squad.
Space Marine Turn 2:


Turn 3
I made reserves rolls for the dark eldar talos's and both deployed through the webway portal.  They hovered over the right wall of the fortress and landed on top of Ed's space marine Terminator squad.  They unleashed a volley of fire with their talos stings but the Terminators saved every wound.  The haemonculus and grotesques embarked on their raider.  Likewise the Archon and lone warrior embarked on their raider that was hovering along the right wall of the fortress.  The shaken raider moved to the front wall of the fortress to avoid any more enemy fire (yes, I realize now that it should not have been stunned and not moved, but we all overlooked that during the confusion of the battle.) The other raider that was hovering along the left wall of the fortress moved to the left of the battlefield to distance itself from Ed's Dreadnaught and avoid any penetrating hits. The raider squad that had crashed continued its advance toward the breach along the rear left wall of the fortress. One warrior squad with dark lances continued its advance toward the fortress and positioned itself on a small hill.  The other warrior squad fired its dark lances at the main gate of the fortress to no effect (Those pesky Imperial Fists are masters of the siege after all.)  The mandrakes had been deployed in front of the main gate under the assumption that it would be blasted open.  Oh well, they will have to wait until next turn.  The two raider squads atop the left wall of the fortress advanced.  One moved along the walkway toward the bunker while the other advanced toward Ed's stunned Dreadnaught. This raider squad fired its weapons at IF tac squad #5 in the bunker Two raider squads, a raider, and the reaver jetbikes opened fire upon Ed's Dreadnaught but only managed to stun it!  During the assault phase the IF Terminator squad and the wyches traded one casualty each and continued fighting.  The talos's attacked Ed's Terminator squad and inflicted only two casualties while receiving one wound in return.  The Terminators made their moral check and continued fighting.
Dark Eldar Turn 3:


The space marines received more reserves this turn when Ed's assault marine squad arrived and positioned itself along the flank of my reaver jetbikes.  The assault marines fired their pistols at the jetbikes and managed to kill three of them!  The remaining 3 bikes failed their morale check and fell back to the left side of the battlefield. In a way this was fortuitous for me because it spared the jetbikes from being assaulted.  The Imperial Fists Dreadnaught also entered the battlefield from reserve and advanced along the right side of the rear tower in the fortress.  The Dreadnaught fired its assault cannon and storm bolter at the nearest raider squad causing only 2 casualties.  The Imperial Fist's Chaplain fired his plasma pistol at the remnants of this same raider squad and killed one warrior.  The remaining member of IF tac squad 5 fired his lascannon at the raider with the Archon and managed to shoot it down.  The Archon survived the crash unhurt, but the remaining squad member died.  The close combat continued between both Terminator squads and the wyches and talos's.  Both sides took wounds in each battle but they continued fighting.  I was surprised at how resilient the wyches were with their invulnerable saves.  They were going toe to toe with the Emperor's finest and yet they gave as many casualties as they took.
Space Marine Turn 3:


Turn 4
Both surviving transports for the raider squads moved in position to fire their weapons at enemy units within the fortress.  The raider squad on the ground advanced into the breach at the rear of the left wall.  The remaining jetbikes were able to rally and then advanced to cover the raider squad's flank.  The Archon joined the grotesque squad and haemonculus on their raider.  The surviving raider squad transports and the jetbikes opened fire upon Ed's Dreadnaught and were only able to stun it for another round.  The raider squad atop the left wall of the fortress was able to kill the lone remaining member of IF tac squad #5 with massed splinter fire.  The remnants of the raider squad on the elevated walkway near the bunker fired at the IF Dreadnaught with their blaster but were unable to damage it.  The raider squad in the breach likewise had ineffective shooting against Ed's assault squad.  Both warrior squads with dark lances fired at the main gates of the fortress but failed to destroy them (I roll more "1's" with dark lances than anybody I know) During close combat the Wyches and Talos exchanged wounds with their Terminator foes.  Both close combats would continue for another round!
Dark Eldar Turn 4:


During the space marine turn there were no reserves and not much shooting.  The IF Dreadnaught killed 3 more members of the raider squad on the walkway.  The IF Chaplain finished the job by assaulting the remaining two members of the squad and killing them.  Surprisingly, the chaplain took a wound in the process! The Dreadnaught then assaulted one of the Talos that was fighting Ed's Terminator squad in close combat.  Ed's assault marines assaulted the raider squad that was in the breach in the left wall and destroyed them to the man while only taking one casualty.  Ed decided to consolidate the assault marine's position behind the breach instead of sweeping into the jetbikes.  Ed's Terminator squad was finally destroyed by the talos's.  The IF Dreadnaught exacted some revenge though, when it put a wound on one of the talos's.  The Wyches killed another Terminator in close combat and took no casualties in return.
Space Marine Turn 4:

Turn 5

The remaining jetbikes moved into fortress so that they could flank Ed's Dreadnaught and shoot it from behind with their blasters.  They only managed to shake it with their shooting Both surviving transports for the raider squads moved into position to shoot at Ed's Dreadnaught or assault marines.  The first raider got a penetrating hit on the Dreadnaught and destroyed it with a fiery explosion.  Unfortunately, one of the nearby jetbikes was destroyed by the blast.  The other raider vaporized Ed's remaining 4 assault marines with a well placed disintegrator blast!  Once again my warrior squads with dark lances had no success blasting open the gates to the fortress. It was a good thing that I brought transports or my troops would never have made it into the fortress!  The grotesque's raider moved into the rear courtyard of the fortress and deposited its deadly cargo. I detached the Archon from the squad as they disembarked.  The Archon used fleet of foot to get in a position to assault the rear of the IF Dreadnaught.  The grotesques and haemonculus charged the front of the Dreadnaught to help out the Talos.  The other Talos advanced to assault the IF Terminators that were locked in combat with the Wyches.  In the close combat phase the IF Dreadnaught dealt a wound to the Talos and the Wyches took another wound from the Terminators.   The Terminator squad lost 3 members to attacks by the Talos and Wyches.  The Archon, grotesques, and Talos were unable to hurt the IF Dreadnaught in close combat.  The raider squad on the left wall of the fortress charged the IF Chaplain in the bunker and gave him one wound before he dispatched 3 members of the squad.  The squad failed morale and fell back with the Chaplain in hot pursuit.
Dark Eldar Turn 5:


The last of the Space Marine's reserves arrived as the attack bike squad entered the fortress on the left side.  The bikes shot up the raider in the courtyard and sent it crashing to the ground.  They then turned and assaulted the two remaining jetbikes and destroyed them in close combat.  The Chaplain and raider squad continued their close combat atop the left wall.  The Chaplain killed three more members of the squad but was taken captive when the squad dealt him his third and final wound.  The Talos and Wyches final managed to kill/capture the remaining two members of the IF Terminator squad.  Once again, The Archon, grotesques, and Talos had no success in damaging the IF Dreadnaught.  The Dreadnaught however, was able to destroy the Talos by giving it a third and final wound.  The Grotesque squad failed the subsequent morale check and fell back toward the right wall of the fortress.  This left only the Archon in close combat with the IF Dreadnaught.
Space Marine Turn 5:


Aftermath
At this point, Ed conceded defeat to the dark eldar forces as it was getting late.  The space marines had only 4 models (2 units) left on the battlefield and the Dreadnaught was tied up in close combat.  By comparison the Dark Eldar had 49 models on the battlefield that comprised 7 different units.  There was just no way that the remaining marines would be able to kill enough enemy units to turn the tide of battle.
Final Unit locations:


This battle was a great deal of fun despite my miserable dice rolling for dark lance and disintegrator fire.  There was plenty of close combat with many of the elite hand-to-hand units facing off in a battle of the titans.  I was particularly impressed with the resilience of the Wyche squad.  They killed/captured two marine tac squads, a marine commander, and a Terminator squad, and they still had 4 members left at the end of the battle!   All in all it was a great way to start the New Year.

Dan
    
         The two Talos's destroy a Terminator squad                                        More Slaves destined for the arenas of Commorragh!
          and the Dreadnaught arrives too late to help!

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