Everyone hates the Blood Angels...

Never forget, Never forgive!

Like all Dark Angel's successor chapters, the shame of the First Legion's failure during the Heresy has weighed heavily on the Brothers Penitent.  Since its founding, the entire chapter has waged a penitent crusade for reasons only the Inner Circle fully understands.  While the chapter at large seeks to regain their honor through the crusade against the Imperium's enemies, the Inner Circle has conducted the covert campaign against the Fallen.  The chapter's visible crusade has been joined over the centuries by units of Imperial Guard or even Space Marines from other chapters seeking to earn redemption for their sins.  The Inner Circle jealously guards the knowledge of their real campaign and does whatever it takes to make sure their unknowing allies remain oblivious.

The rumors of a powerful artifact hiding on Angamar had lured multiple Fallen to the planet in search of a weapon to use against the Imperium.  Elements of the Brothers Penitent had tracked them to the planet, but the fighting on the surface provided a perfect camouflage to hide the traitors.  Their location was completely unknown, and the Brothers could not rule out the possibility that the Fallen had even managed to infilitrate loyal units fighting to save the planet. 

Mephiston and the Blood Angels were falling back under the cover of darkness to regroup after their recent losses.  Brother Corbulo had been correct about the existance of an artifact residing on the planet that was capable of controlling the Blood Angel's rage.  However, he had severly underestimated the potency of the relic.  Its influence had driven the Blood Angels into such a frenzy where they had attacked their own allies, and had almost led to the destruction of Mephiston's entire force.  As they retreated through the night, the horizon lit up with the unmistakable flashes of missile fire.  Even before the screaming missiles slammed home, the Blood Angels were already manuevering to enage and eliminate this new threat...

1500 Point Brothers Penitent (Dark Angels) v. Blood Angels (Written by London)

London vs Jeff

Brothers Penitent 1499 Points:

215-Azrael
130-Librarian Kane, bolt pistol, force sword, level 2 psyker, infravisor, displacer field (with Plasma Dev Squad)

55-Techmarine Caro, infravisor, boltgun (with Missile Dev Squad)

145-Scout Squad (10), sniper rifles, camo cloaks, sergeant with melta bombs

140-Scout Squad (10), 5 boltguns, 5 bolt pistol and ccw, sergeant with power sword
170-Tactical Squad (10), meltagun, multimelta, sergeant with combi melta (Azrael starts here)
104-Tactical Squad (6), lascannon

200-Devastator Squad (10), 4 plasma cannons

240-Devastator Squad (10), 4 missile launchers, 4 flakk missiles

100-Aegis Defense Line with Quad Gun

Blood Angels 1500 Points (my estimate from memory):

Mephiston
Sanguinary Priest

Death Company (8)

Assault Marines (10), 2 flamers
Assault Marines (10), meltaguns
Assault Marines (5), meltagun

Attack Bike, heavy bolter

Attack Bike, heavy bolter
Attack Bike, multimelta

Devastators (5), 4 missile launchers

Devastators (5), 4 missile launchers

Game Info:
London's warlord trait was redeploy, Jeff's was extra run speed.
Both had almost identical assets and the only difference was London had a slight addition to going first, and won the first turn.
Night Fight was also on for first turn.

We deployed lengthwise 12" in and mission was kill points. I deployed across my deployment zone, and Jeff cornered on one flank. I redeployed my dev squad nearer to be in range of his flank deployment.

1st Turn:

London
I won first turn and did not move, began firing. Infravisors on Librarian and Techmarine allowed both dev squads to ignore nightfight. Killed all 5 members of the Jeff's closer Missile Dev squad (for the first VP), and 2 members of an assault squad.

Jeff

He moved the bulk of his army towards my right flank.  Bikes went towards my left.  Missile fire may have killed one of my Dev marines.



Infravisors FTW!

2nd Turn:
London
Kept firing, killed three marines from the closest Assault squad on my right but it was fearless.  Also killed maybe 2 marines from the other, non-fearless assault squad and managed to not only snipe the Sanguinary Priest, but also pin the squad with Sniper Scouts. Boltgun scouts fired potshots at the pinned Marines perhaps killing one.

Jeff

He moved his army along the flank. No real losses. Attack bikes snuck up on the other flank, to the base of my deployment zone.



Who wishes they had combat tactics?

3rd Turn:
London
Boltgun scouts moved to intercept incoming Mephiston and Co. Tac Squad and Azrael jumped my Aegis line and moved towards the middle of the board. I kept firing, and the quad gun and sniper scouts killed another three or so. Nonfearless squad also suffered a loss or two. My Devastators also sniped his other devastator squad, killing all five of them.

Jeff

Attack bikes moved up along the flank and shot at my sniper scouts, slaughtering six.

His Mephiston, death company, and the remains of both ten man assault squads arrived near my 6 man Tac Squad. Mephiston assaulted my 6 man assault squad, was challenged by my sergeant, and he proceeded to slaughter my sergeant. The nonfearless assault squad with one surviving member assaulted my ten man bolter scouts, and was shot to death. The other assault squad had two members left as it entered combat. His assault squad and death company slaughtered 7 of my bolter scouts, and the bolter scouts in return killed the remains of his reduced assault squad.
 

Death Company tearing it up!

4th Turn:
London
I moved my tac squad forward, towards his deployment zone. My plasma dev squad moved up the hill to take on the attack bikes, killing one. My missile dev squad moved away from the mephiston death squad. My sniper scouts fired bolt pistols at his bikes, contemplating a charge, but did not end up charging. Mephiston slaughtered the remaining Tac Squad, and the Death Company killed the remaining boltgun scouts.  Both consolidated.
 

Jeff

He moved his 5 man Assault Squad near my Tac Squad to threaten them. Mephiston and the Death Company moved to threaten the missile launcher dev squad. He shot his attack bikes at my scouts, killed two, and he proceeded to charge them. Sniper scouts put one wound on an attack bike with a rending sniper overwatch hit before being slaughtered. He shot at my tac squad with his 5 man assault squad, killed two, and proceeded to charge them. My tac squad and Azrael killed his assault squad. He tried to charge his Death Company and Mephiston at my missile launcher dev squad, but didn't make it.

5th Turn
London
I moved my tac squad and Azrael into his deployment zone for the extra VP, shot up and killed his attack bikes, and killed several Death Company (maybe three or four left in the DC). Mephiston took a wound or two.



Death Company getting torn up...

Jeff
He moved his death company and mephiston into my missile launcher dev squad (which my librarian had moved into a turn before), several were killed due to foreboding and prescience. Only one DC reached combat (I believe) and mephiston. He did not challenge me, so I challenged Mephiston, who proceeded to slaughter my sergeant. The remaining DC got killed by massed attacks.

At this point we pretty much called it, he had Mephiston left, I had First Blood, Linebreaker and only lost three VP (two scout squads, small tac squad).

Win for London!

Lessons Learned:

- Scouts are not worth it (even with the point reduction in the Dark Angels codex). They weren't much even as a speedbump.
- Infravisors are worth 5 points, but require a separate IC, so there are some overhead costs
- Mephiston is scary.
- Prescience and foreboding (or any divination) are overpowered.
 
To the Brothers, the reports of the Blood Angels attacking loyalist forces clearly indicated the prescence of a Fallen within Mephiston's force.  They had no choice but to find the threat and eliminate the Fallen before he could secure the weapon or reveal the chapter's secret.  The darkness had proved an effective ally, allowing the Brothers to ambush the Blood Angels with a withering barrage of long-range firepower.  The first salvo had crippled the Blood Angels ability to respond, and forced Mephiston and the Blood Angel to move into point blank range in order to fight their way free.  Mephiston's depleted force had weathered the blistering fire, and the survivors finally brought their melee skill to bear against their ambushers.  Even woefully outnumbered, the ferocity of the Blood Angel assault allowed them to break through the Brothers' lines to freedom.

For their part, the battle brothers of the Brothers Penitent had fought with skill and bravery.  Their leaders had ordered the attack on the Blood Angels, stating it was because the Blood Angels had fallen under the sway of Chaos.  They had fought hard against the traitors and eliminated many of them before Mephiston and the rest had managed to escape.  While they surveyed the carnage, a lone Dark Talon roared off into the night, carrying one of the Blood Angels in its hold...