Incident on Nadine Prime

I played an 8000 point game this past weekend with a friend of mine and we decided the matchup was going to be my Word Bearers versus his Grey Knights. Since we were playing with a double force org chart we decided to limit special characters to 1 per player. I had the option of either running Abaddon or Ahriman but since this was a battle versus Grey Knights I thought it would be iconic to run Ahriman with some Thousand Sons. Plus, I've had the Ahriman model sitting in by "to-paint" pile for 5 plus years and I figured this was the perfect excuse to get him painted up.  Paul decided to use Mordrak accompanied by his Ghost Knights. I typed up this report in a twofold manner, meaning that it is a turn-by-turn report with narrative elements, maps, and pictures added in to help you follow along with our game. I hope you enjoy reading the report as much as I had playing the game.
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Commit to: Imperial Record D.23/ED-56
Crossfile to: Nadine Prime - Hive City of Marnis IV
Transmitted: Officiarium - Planetary Regent
Telepathic Duct Transmitter: Astropath – Prime Se'Riva
Telepathic Duct Receiver: Astropath – Terminus Kannte
Author: Axelin Handolin - Planetary Governer and Head of the Ferriun Mining Cartel
Input Date: 9789999.M41
Thought for the day: Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment
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Transmission report start: Mining efforts in the outlying regions of Schyulen quarries have recently made a discovery of what appears to be a spacecraft of unknown origins buried 1.2km beneath the rock. Initial scans cannot determine the class of the vessel or even how long it has been buried. Carbon samples of the rock surrounding the vessel date back to the 3rd Millennium yet the condition of the craft looks to be unblemished and energy scans have detected an unusual energy source within the craft. Agents of the mechanium have breached the hull and have removed the energy source and it is currently being housed in a rail terminal, under heavy guard by mechanicum forces. I must admit that this is highly irregular as the adepts of the mechanicum have ignored all inquires sent by our office and no one has been granted access to the craft or the device currently under guard within our city. As per protocols A33-4FD, FS-8.200, and MN-22AS, the mining guilds and the planetary houses are due compensation for the item seized and demand that this matter be resolved post haste. 
Transmission report end.
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Inquisition Intercept Code: #335.01.71C
Input Date: 9809999.M41
Transmission: Inquisitional agents embedded on Nadine Prime have confirmed that Skitarri forces are guarding a device recovered from the craft. Indications are that the craft is of ancient Necrontyr design and the energy source is most likely a temporal device. Agents of the Ordos Chronos are currently on route to confiscate the device and remove all traces of the space vessel in question.

Inquisition Transmit Code: XX-X-XXXX-X.X
Input Date: 9829999.M41
Transmission: Tarot readings have indicated that forces of the ruinous powers have also learned of this device and are on route to Nadine Prime. Grey Knight forces under the command of Grand Master Mordrak are moving in to intercept the traitors to ensure that the agents of the Ordos Chronos are not delayed in their duty.
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Here is a list of what I brought:
HQs
Ahriman
Chaos Lord - Melta bombs, Sigils of Corruption, Axe of Blind Fury, Mok
Chaos Lord - Melta bombs, Jump pack, Sigils of Corruption, Burning Brand, MoK, Power Axe
Warpsmith - Aura of Dark Glory, VoLW

Elites
9 Possessed Marines - MoN, VoLW
3 Terminators - 2xCombi-meltas, Champ w/powerfist
3 Terminators - 3xcombi-meltas, Champ w/ chainfist
6 Terminators - Champ w/Powermaul, 2xPowerfist, Reaper Auto Cannon

Troops
10 Chaos Marines - Champ w/ Powerfist, 2xPlasma guns, Icon of Vengence, VoLW
Rhino - Dirge Caster, Havoc Launcher
10 Chaos Marines - Champ w/Power axe, Plasma gun, Melta gun, Icon of Vengence, VoLW
Rhino - Dirge Caster, Combi-Flamer
6 Chaos Marines - Champ w/powerfist
Rhino - Dirge Caster
19 Khorne Berzerkers - Champ w/powerfist
9 Thousand Sons

Fast Attack
Heldrake - Bale flamer
9 Raptors - Flamer, Melta gun, Mok, VoLW

Heavy
8 Havocs - Champ w/fist, 3xAuto Cannons, LasCannon, Icon of Vengence
3 Obliterators - MoN, VoLW
Defiler
Land Raider - Dirge Caster

Ahriman would join the Thousand Sons
The Chaos Lord with the axe would join the Berzerkers
The Chaos Lord with jump pack would join the Raptors
The Warpsmith would join the Possessed in the Land Raider

My 4000 point Chaos Army

Paul brought the following:
HQs
Grandmaster Mordrak - 5 Ghostknights
Ordo Xenos Inquisitor - Hammerhand, Force sword, Rad grenades
Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor - Psyocculum
Brotherhood Champion - Psybolts

Elites
8 Inquisitorial Henchmen warriors - 3xPlasma guns, rhino
8 Inquisitorial henchmen (6 deathcult assassins, 2 crusaders)
Venerable Dreadnought - Twin-linked auto cannons x 2
Callidus Assassin
Vindicare Assassin
9 Grey Knight Purifiers - 4xpsycannons, 4xhalberds, 2xdaemon hammers, psybolts

Troops
10 Grey Knight Terminators - 2xpsycannons, 5xhalberds, 2xdaemon hammers, Warding stave, psybolts
10 Grey Knights Strike squad - 2xpsycannons, 4xhalberds, psybolts
5 Grey Knights Strike Squad - Psilencer, psybolts

Fast Attack
Storm Raven - LasCannons, Multimelta

Heavy
10 Grey Knight Purgators - 4xIncinerators, 6xhalberds, psybolts
Dreadknight - heavy incinerator
Dreadknight - Great sword, heavy incinerator
Dreadknight - heavy psycannon
Land Raider - multimelta
Land Raider Crusader

Paul's 4000 points of beautifully painted Grey Knights

Mission: Relic
Deployment: Hammer and Anvil
Mission Special Rules: Since this was a large game with two mortal enemies facing off we decided to make adjustments to the scoring:

The Relic would be worth 5 points
Slay the Warlord would be worth 5 points
Line Breaker would be worth 2 points
First Blood would be worth 1 point

This way with an odd amount we would have a better chance of avoiding a draw.

For terrain we opted to use 6 pieces of large terrain, 4 piles of rubble, and 2 sections of tripwire. Each player would be able to deploy 3 pieces of ruins, 2 piles of rubble and 1 section of tripwire. The only stipulation was that the first piece of terrain had to be in your own deployment zone.

Once terrain was set we placed the relic in the center of the board but since I have a bridge support modeled in the exact center of the board we d6'ed to see what side it would go on and it would go on the right side of the support from the Chaos perspective.

I'll be using a map similar to this at the end of each players turn to help show movements.

Neither of us had fortifications.

Nothing remains a secret within the warp. Word had reached Ahzek Ahriman, Sorcerer Lord of the Thousand Sons, of a device that had been discovered recently that would allow its controller to manipulate and control time. Ahriman desired such a device to add in his collection of artifacts and data that will, one day, allow him to become the supreme sorcerer the galaxy. Deals were struck and pacts were made with the Word Bearers and elements of a renegade pack of Berzerkers. Both would lend their services in raiding the planet but Ahriman kept all knowledge of the device to himself. Let the Word Bearers take their slaves and build monuments to their primarch. Let the deranged Berzerkers slaughter all in their path and offer up skulls to their god. None of this mattered to Arhiman. Only the recovery of the device was his ultimate goal...

Grand Master Mordrak had read the tarots himself. So Ahriman was coming for the device and was bringing a host of chaos marines to do his bidding. Mordrak had never faced Ahriman before but had read the reports from his past engagements with the inquisition. His motives were often unknown, such as the time he razed an entire hive city just to recover the writings of a madman who once served as a remembrancer with Magnus the Red during the great crusade. However, his method is always the same. Ahriman unites elements of traitor marines legions to do the fighting for him while he moves in, takes what he desires and then leaves the warband to their own fate as he retreats back into the Eye of Terror. Not this time, thought Grand Master Mordrak. This time he would be waiting with his conclave of Grey Knights. The Imperium's finest and bravest marines in the galaxy...

Warlord Traits:
Ahriman has: Master of Deception - Choose to infiltrate d3 units.
Mordrak had: Master of Ambush - Outflanking units get Acute Senses.

Psychic Powers:
Ahriman is a level 4 psyker so he gets 4 rolls. One of them must be from the Tzeentch powers. I elect to roll twice on Biomancy and once of Telepathy and get the following: Doombolt, Endurance, Iron Arm, Psychic Shriek
My Aspiring Sorcer is a level 1 psyker so he rolls on the Tzeentch table and gets Doombolt.

We roll to see who can deploy first and Paul wins but he hands it over to me. I roll for my units to infiltrate and get a 6, meaning 3 units. I choose to outflank my two 10 man squads in their rhinos and the 19 Berzerkers due to Ahriman's warlord trait. The two 3 man terminator squads would be deep striking in and my Heldrake would be coming in from reserves.

Nadine Prime was the largest hive city on Marnis IV and contained the only spaceport on the planet. The chaos invasion of Nadine Prime had been swift and brutal. The planetary defense force and the few mining guild security forces were overrun and destroyed in less than 36 hrs after planet fall. The Mechanicum forces around the rail depot had put up a strong defense but they too were quickly overrun. "This will be much easier than I had imagined." thought Ahriman, as he and his bodyguard of rubric marines were slowly picking their way through the rubble of the bombed out rail depot. While the signs in the warp indicated that the device would be his by the end of the day, his warp-touched sixth sense kept telling him that all is not what it seems. As the lead elements of the Word Bearers host was picking its way through the rubble of collapsed buildings and shattered remains of the Skittari, the reason for Ahriman's nagging suspicions came to fruition as the rumbling of a Land Raider and three Dreadknights slowly emerged through the swirling smoke and fog of war....

I put the Havocs in the ruins at the 24 inch line. The Obliterators started next to them as does the rhino with the 6 marines inside. The Chaos Land Raider starts down on the tracks with the Possessed and Warpsmith inside. The 6 man terminator squad goes on the left flank of the Chaos Land Raider and the Raptors with the jump lord will move along behind the raider as mobile cover. The Thousand Sons and Defiler sit in the back.

View from my defiler.

Raptors take cover behind the Land Raider.

Paul uses Mordrak's Grand Strategy rule and makes the Purifiers and Purgators scoring units. Mordrak will be deep striking in on turn 1 and the Storm Raven and Callidus assassin will come in on reserves.

The rhino with the warrior henchmen deploy in the ruins on his right flank along with the 10 man strike squad. The Land Raider Crusader containing the scoring Purifiers and Brotherhood Champion deploys in the center of the tracks in his deployment zone and the Grey Knight Terminators joined by the Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor deploy along the side and wrap around the back. The Venerable Dreadnought deploys behind them. The 3 Dreadknights bunch up alongside the left of the Crusader, ready to move forward. The Purgators deploy behind the Dreadknights and the 5 man strike squad deploys in the ruins on my right side. The Land Raider with the Death Cult assassins and the Ordo Xenos Inquisitor deploys behind those ruins. The Vindicare assassin deploys in the back of the ruins with the 5 man strike squad.

Overview of Grey Knights deployment.

Another view of Grey Knights deployment.

Paul elects not to seize the initiative and we do not have night fight at the start of the game.

Chaos Turn 1:
Psychic Powers: I forgot to cast any psychic powers in my first turn.
Movement: I moved everything up 6 inches forward except for the Havocs and Defiler.
 

General advance of most of my units.

 Shooting: I really needed first blood and the only viable targets were the Dreadknights and Land Raider Crusader. So I ended up firing my Obliterators, Havocs, Land Raider, and Defiler all at the front Dreadknight and finally succeeded in taking it down. For the amount of heavy fire power I pumped into it I was hoping to take it down with less units but at least I got first blood.

First blood to Chaos!

Assault: There were no assaults in turn 1

The Word Bearers, in unison, quickly raised and targeted their weapons on the lead Dreadknight. At first it appeared that their fire was ineffective but a bright flash erupted from the lascannon in a squad of Havocs taking shelter in some nearby ruins. A gaping hole appeared where the pilot was sitting and then the machine, as if in slow motion, slowly toppled to the ground. Without breaking their stride, the Word Bearers kept on marching ahead...

Grey Knights Turn 1:
Movement: Paul deep strikes Mordrak in the back corner behind Ahriman and near the defiler. It was at this point I realized I forgot to cast Iron Arm on Ahriman. (Note that Arhiman and the Aspiring Sorcerer are in the back of the unit. Yikes!)

Mordrak drops in behind my lines.

He then moves the remaining two Dreadknights up 6" and the Land Raider Crusader also moves 6 inches along the tracks towards the relic.

The Dreadknights move up.

The 10 man strike squad moves up onto the top of the ruins. The rhino with the henchmen gets immobilized when he tries to move out of the ruins so the henchmen bail out of the rhino and move around the corner of the building.

Strike squad makes its way up to the roof.

Shooting: Mordrak and his squad open fire on the Thousand Sons squad and only inflicts 2 wounds. With a relieved sigh my Aspiring sorcerer makes both saves. The Land Raider shoots at my obliterators and ends up killing one. The Dreadknight with the heavy psycannon drops a template on my Thousand Sons but it deviates a bit to cover two Thousand Sons and 1 Havoc; I lose 1 of each. The 10 man strike squad on the rooftop opens up on my six man terminators and takes down the first one.
Assault: There were no assaults in turn 1.

Ahriman smiled behind his mask as he watched the first Dreadknight fall. Suddenly, his psychic senses warned him of a threat that was about to appear nearby. With a sudden and loud crack, Grand Master Mordrak and 5 Grey Knight Terminators suddenly materialized out of thin air behind Ahriman and his retinue. Something was not right about these terminators, thought Ahriman. His helmet sensors were not picking up any biological readings from the terminators but a strong presence of their spirit and faith in their Grand Master and their Emperor was undeniable. As quickly as they appeared the Grey Knight Terminators quickly leveled their bolters at Ahriman and his retinue. They were far too quick and before Ahriman could summon a psychic shield the terminators opened fire but luckily, most of the shots bounced off the rubric marines armor....

Ok, that turned out much better than I had anticipated. I was sure that I was going to lose Ahriman on turn one due to forgetting to cast Iron Arm. Paul's first turn of dice rolling was really bad and I should have been worse off than losing 4 models.

Scoring:
Chaos: 1 (first blood=1)
Grey Knights: 2 (line-breaker =2)
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Chaos Turn 2:
Reserves: I roll for reserves and all of my units come in. For anyone who has ever played against me knows that must have been a first!

All of my reserves come in on turn 2.

My rhino with the melta/plasma squad comes in on the left flank near his rhino and henchmen. The rhino with the 2 plasma guns comes in on the right flank behind his 5 man squad in the back. The Berzerkers come in on the right flank near the middle with the options to attack the Dreadknights, the 5 man strike squad or possibly even the terminators in the next turn.

Berzerkers come in with a variety of choices.

 My unit of terminators with the 2 combi-meltas deepstrike in near the henchmen and the terminators with the 3 combi meltas come in near the Land Raider (again, all land with no deviations). My Heldrake flies in 36" up near his Dreadknights and I fly over Mordraks squad to get in a vector strike.

View of the battlefield from the Heldrake's perspective.

Psychic Powers: I cast Iron Arm on Ahriman and I cast Endurance on my Raptors, thinking they will need it once they get into combat with Mordrak. I save the other two warp charges for shooting. 
Movement: In the movement phase I reposition the Thousand Sons to put some bodies between Ahriman and Mordrak. I pull the Defiler back a bit and I move the Raptors 6 inches towards Mordrak. The Possessed and Warpsmith come out of the Land Raider with the hopes that I will be able to pop his Land Raider Crusader with my Obliterators and then assault the Purifiers. The Heldrakes vector strike fails to do anything to Mordraks squad.
Shooting: I shoot the lasCannon from the Chaos Land Raider into his Crusader but fail to penetrate. My two Obliterators fire their multimeltas into it and I am able to score an immobilized result. The Havocs fire on the lead Dreadknight but fail to do anything. My Heldrake kills three of the Purgators and I set the unit ablaze with soulfire. The Thousand Sons, Defiler, and Raptors all fire on Mordraks squad and I kill three Ghost Knight terminators. The 2 plasma guns from the rhino open fire on the Vindicare assassin and all hit. The assassin fails his wounds and dies. The three combi-melta termies near the other Grey Knight Land Raider open fire within 6" but all three shots fail to do anything against. The other three man squad opens fire on the henchmen and kills 3. The melta and plasma gunners try to hit the strike squad on the roof but fail to do anything.

Combined fire brings down two terminators...

Assault: I declare a charge with the Raptors and I lose one to overwatch. My Chaos Lord with the power axe declares a challenge against Mordrak, but both fail to wound each other. The Raptors finish off the other two Ghost Knight terminators and lose one of their number in the process.

Raptors charge into combat.

Summary of Chaos turn 2.

Suddenly, vanguard elements of the Word Bearers and renegade Berzerkers came in on both flanks of the Grey Knights. A deafening screech and the gust of fetid hot air signaled the arrival of the Heldrake as it swooped over the grey knights and incinerated three members of a Purgator squad. Ahriman, wasting no time, projected a shimmering aura of darkness around himself to provide protection from enemy gunfire. Through his in-helmet vox, Ahriman summoned the Chaos Lord Axinthra and his Raptor retinue to come help deal with the sudden arrival of the terminators behind him. The Raptors quickly ignited their warp-fueled jump packs and leapt into the midst of Mordrak’s squad. The rubric marines opened fire onto the newly arrived terminators and brought down a few of their numbers but instead of falling down, the bodies of the terminators slowly faded out of existence. As the Raptors landed and charged, Axinthra eyed Grand Master Mordrak and issued a challenge. The two square off and exchanged blows while the rest of the raptors quickly dispatched the rest of the squad ....

Grey Knights Turn 2:
Reserves: The Storm Raven and Callidus assassin come in on this turn.

Storm Raven zooms in.

 Movement: The henchmen move towards the three terminators on my left flank. In the center the 10 man terminators move up towards the middle of the board and the Purgators, Dreadknight with the Great Sword  and Venerable Dreadnought head towards my Berzerkers. The Storm Raven flies in and moves near his immobilized Crusader to face off against my Heldrake. The Purifiers in the immobilized Crusader come out in front of my Possessed marines. The other Grey Knights Land Raider pivots to face the rhino that appeared behind it and the Death Cult assassins and Inquisitor come out to face off against my terminators. (Never having faced them before I didn't really think they could be much of a threat)
Shooting: The Storm Raven fires on the Heldrake and takes off 1 hull point. The Land Raider blows up my rhino and I lose 1 marine in the explosion. Between the Dreadknight and Purgator squad they kill 8 of the Berzerkers with incinerator flame.

Everything opens up on the berzerkers.

The immobilized Crusader fires on my Land Raider and ends up immobilizing it in return. The ten man Grey Knight Terminators fire on my remaining 5 terminators near the bridge support and end up killing all of them. The Purifiers kill three of the Possessed before they charge in.

Assault: The henchmen warrior squad charges my three terminators and fail to wound any of my terminators.  In return they kill 1, causing them to fall back.

Henchmen charge the terminators.

 The Purgators charge the Berzerkers, as does the Dreadknight but the Dreadknight fails to make it into combat. I roll for counter-assault and get it. My Berzerker skull champion declares a challenge and the Purgator justicar accepts. My champion kills the justicar and I roll adamantium will. The Purgators kill of a few Berzerkers and then the rest of the Berzerkers finish off the Purgators. The remaining Berzerkers  consolidate towards the strike squad in the ruins.
The Purifiers charge the possessed and I roll a 6 for the possessed abilities and I get the +1 attack and Initiative. My possessed champion declares a challenge with the Knight of the Flame who  kills the champion. The rest of the Purifiers kill the rest of the Possessed and put a wound onto the Warpsmith.

Purifiers wipe out the possessed and put a wound on the warpsmith.

The Death cult assassins declare a charge against the three terminators near the Land Raider and cause 15 AP 3 wounds on them before I even know what hit them.

The Death cult assassins prepare to charge...

and wipe out the terminators.

Wow, those ladies are tough, especially when enhanced by Hammerhand and rad grenades, all at initiative 6!
Over in Mordrak’s corner the challenge is still on going and Mordrak kills my Chaos Lord in the challenge, but my Raptors hold.

Mordrak slays the chaos lord.

As the Heldrake was spraying balefire onto the Grey Knights below it, a Storm Raven came in streaking in and fired its lascannons at the flying monstrosity and scored a hit, forcing the beast to take note that it was not the only hunter in the sky. The Venerable Dreadnought turned and opened fire on the approaching Berzerkers and cut down a couple of them but not enough to deter them from advancing. Mordrak, seeing that his former squad members were once again called back to the emperor, steeled himself for the coming fight. He sidestepped the swing of the Chaos Lord’s attack and with a swift quick twist of his wrist he decapitated the head of the foul traitor with his Daemon hammer and spun to face the crowd of onlooking Raptors and muttered, "who's next"...

Scoring:
Chaos: 3 (first blood=1 and line-breaker=2)
Grey Knights: 2 (line-breaker=2)
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Chaos Turn 3:
Psychic Powers: I cast Iron Arm on Arhiman again and Endurance on the Obliterators.
Movement: The Heldrake moves 18 inches so that it is behind the Storm Raven and I fly over a Dreadknight to vector strike.

Heldrake moves past the Storm Raven.

Figuring the Raptors will tie up Mordark a bit, I move the Thousand Sons forward towards the relic. The squad that was in the now exploded rhino, move back to the board edge. I'm definitely worried about the Death Cult ladies and their Land Raider now. The terminators over on the left move towards the fleeing henchmen and the rhino moves 6 inches in to get a better shot on the strike squad on the roof. The Obliterators shuffle forward and the Berzerkers move in towards the strike squad in the ruins.

Obliterators get closer to the Land Raider.

Chaos lord heads towards the assassin while the rest of the berzerkers head towards the Strike squad.

I break off the Berzerker’s Chaos Lord and he heads towards the Callidus assassin. My vector strikes against the Dreadknight fail to do any damage.
Shooting: The baleflamer from the Heldrake kills eight of the Grey Knight strike squad on the roof.

Heldrake roasts 8 marines.

 The Obliterators, Havocs, Thousand Sons, Defiler, and my immobilized Land Raider all fire on the Dreadknight facing my obliterators and kill it. While shooting at the Dreadknight, Ahriman tried to cast doombolt but I rolled double 1's, causing him to take a wound. The Berzerkers shoot their pistols at the 5 man Grey Knight strike squad and kill 1. My remaining squad of  terminators fire into the fleeing henchmen and kill two more, leaving two left. (Not being able to kill these two ends up having a huge impact at the end of the game)
Assault: My Berzerkers declare a charge against the strike squad. They make their charge and the champion declares a challenge with the justicar who he ends up killing.

Berzerkers charge into the Strike squad.

He rolls on the chaos boon table and gets the roll 3 abilities. I get the +1 attack, melee weapon is fleshbane, and stubborn abilities. The rest of the Berserkers easily finish off the strike squad.

Berzerkers regroup and eye the Dreadnought.

My other Chaos Lord charges the assassin but she quickly cuts him down.

The assassin cuts down the chaos lord before he has a chance to strike.

My Warpsmith declares a challenge and the Brotherhood Champion accepts and easily cuts the Warpsmith down. Over in Mordrak’s corner, the Raptor champion declares a challenge and again, Mordrak makes short work of him, leaving him against 6 Raptors.

Mordrak slays the unit champion.

Chaos turn 3 summary

Ahriman, seeing the Grandmaster is still occupied with the Raptors, orders his retinue to resume their search for the temporal device. Back behind the Grey Knight lines the element of surprise is quickly lost as the Grey Knights Land Raider quickly makes work of the Word Bearers rhino and then a squad of Death Cult assassins issues from the Land Raider to engage with a squad of terminators that failed to deal with the Land Raider and dispatch them in short order. The Raptor champion, seeing an opportunity to advance himself as the new pack leader of the Raptors quickly issues a challenge to the terminator who just slew his lord. Before the raptor champion can finish issuing his challenge, Mordrak strikes him down too...

Grey Knights Turn 3:

Grey Knights on the move!

Movement: The two henchmen regroup. The Storm Raven flies up and stops in front of my Defiler.

Storm Raven moves up to make this personal.

The remaining Dreadknight with the Great Sword moves up near my Obliterators.

Dreadknight advances on the Obliterators.

 The Purifiers consolidate onto the relic so that they can grab it. The Death Cult ladies move towards the marines in the back edge.
Shooting: The regrouped henchmen fire their plasma gun at the two remaining terminators and kill them both. The strike squad on the roof takes off a hull point on the rhino. The Storm Raven pens the Defiler and destroys a weapon. We randomize the weapon and its the arm with the reaper and extra dreadnought claw so I lose both. The remaining Dreadknight fires its heavy incinerator on the Obliterators and wounds one of them.
Assault: The Death Cult assasins charge my marines and end up killing them all.

Death cult charges the chaos marines.

 The Dreadknight assaults the Obliterators and kills one. Mordrak kills four of the raptors and the remaining two flee.

As Mordrak moves in to engage the remnants of the raptors squad that are slowly encircling him he voxes to his commander on the field to encourage the Grey Knights to hold fast and to prevent Ahriman from locating the device and making off with it. The Purifier squad, who had just finished dispatching the Possessed marines locate the device in a shipping container and quickly encircle it. The Brotherhood Champion voxes back to Mordrak, confirming that they have located the device and are in the process of securing it. With grim resolve, Mordrak charges into the Raptor pack and slays four of them and the rest, realizing that they do not wish to share the same fate, quickly ignite their jump packs and leap away. Mordrak takes a moment to survey the scene and prepares himself to engage Ahriman,  but as he starts to move he hears the sound of a clanking monstrosity scrambling through the ruins behind him like a crab across a rocky beach. As he turns to face the sound he is greeted by the sight of a twisted blending of machine and daemon, a Defiler...

Now Paul is holding the relic and is starting to clean up my units in his deployment zone. I need to focus on knocking out the Purifiers and getting some bodies towards the relic. I also realized my Chaos Lord would have been better off charging the Dreadknight instead of the Callidus assassin as he never really had a chance against her.

Scoring:
Chaos: 3 (first blood=1, line-breaker = 2)
Grey Knights: 7 (relic=5, line-breaker = 2)
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Chaos Turn 4:
Psychic Powers: I cast Iron Arm on Ahriman and Endurance on the Obliterator.
Movement: I pivot the Heldrake and move it into the corner near the Land Raider and Death Cult assassins. The Defiler moves up near Mordrak and the remaining Berzerkers move away from the Death Cult assassins and towards the Venerable Dreadnought. 
Shooting: The Thousand Sons, Havocs, Land Raider, and the rhino squad, open fire on the Purifiers and kill 4 of them, leaving 3.

Combined fire reduces the objective holding purifiers to 3 men.

 The baleflamer from the Heldrake kills three of the Death Cult assassins.

Heldrake flames the Death cult.

My rhino squad kills one of the strike squad on the roof, leaving 1.
Assault: My Berzerkers declare a charge against the Dreadnought and they kill it. The Defiler charges Mordrak, misses all but once, but Paul fails his 4+ invulnerable save and Mordrak is killed by instant death. The Dreadknight kills the remaining Obliterator.

Defiler charges Mordrak

Mordrak is no more.

Chaos turn 4 summary

Ahriman's sixth sight detects the temporal device and he sees a squad of Grey Knights trying to move the device into the immobilized Crusader. Ahriman quickly orders the units around him to focus their fire onto the marines and he smiles as he sees 4 of them are quickly cut down. Mordrak stares at the metal behemoth bearing down on him, raises his weapon and readies himself to launch an attack but the metal clad beast moves with a terrifying speed and quickly seizes Mordrak within its claws. As it begins to squeeze Mordrak between its man-sized claws, Mordrak suddenly vanishes from its grasp and disappears from the battlefield, leaving the daemon machine to wonder what became of it's prey...

Grey Knights Turn 4:
Movement: The Storm Raven goes into hover mode and circles behind the Defiler.

Storm Raven moves to get behind the defiler.

The Dreadknight and Callidus assassin head towards Ahriman and the Thousand Sons.

Dreadknight and assassin prepare to charge the Thousand Sons.

The remaining Purifiers jump into the immobilized Land Raider Crusader with the relic to protect themselves.

Purifiers enter Land Raider with objective. (We left it out next the the tank so we know where it is)

The Death Cult assassins move up towards the remaining Berzerkers.
Shooting: The Storm Raven takes another hull point off of the Defiler. The Dreadknight flames the Thousand Sons and Havocs and kills 2 Thousand Sons and 1 more Havoc. The Inquisitorial rhino in the ruins fixes itself and moves up towards the 2 remaining henchmen. They get inside.
Assault: The Death Cult assassins charge the Berzerkers and wipe them out.

The Death cult prepare to charge the berzerkers...

and make short work of them.

The Dreadknight and Callidus assassin declare charges against Arhiman and the Thousand Sons but the assassin fails to reach them. The Aspiring champion declares a challenge against the Dreadknight and gets killed.

The Dreadknight kills off the Aspiring Sorcerer with ease.

Grey Knight turn 4 summary

The Storm Raven pilot, seeing Mordrak vanish from the Defilers claw, realizes that he has an opening and swings his craft around behind the Defiler and opens fire, wounding the beast. The Brotherhood Champion, realizing that he and his squad will soon die if they do not get reinforcements calls in for assistance. The hulking Dreadknight quickly turns and engulfs the Thousand Sons retinue with flame and one of their number drops. The Dreadknight then assaults the squad and impales the Aspiring sorcerer on his force weapon. If he can provide enough of a distraction against Ahriman then hopefully the Brotherhood Champion will be able to extract the device. The squad of ten Grey Knight terminators slowly makes its way towards the Brotherhood Champion in the Crusader as well, lending their firepower to the fight....

Scoring:
Chaos: 8 (first blood=1, slay the warlord=5, linebreaker = 2)
Grey Knights: 5 (relic=5)
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Chaos Turn 5:
No night fight this turn
Psychic Powers: Cast Iron Arm on Ahriman
Movement: My plasma melta squad jumps out of their rhino and heads towards the immobilized Crusader. I put my Heldrake into hover mode and move up towards the Death Cult assassins; they have done enough damage and must go!  My other rhino near the relic tries to cross over the tripwire and gets immobilized as well. The Defiler ignores the Storm Raven and moves up a bit to try and get a shot on the terminators or Death Cult assassins.
Shooting: The Heldrake kills 2 more Death Cult assassins. Marines and the Defiler end up taking down four of the terminators.

Combined fire kills off some terminators.

 My Land Raider finally manages to explode the Crusader with the squad inside holding the relic. The explosion ends up killing two more of the Purifiers, leaving just one to hold the relic.

The land raider the purifiers took shelter in is destroyed.

The squad behind enemy lines nearest  the relic, now on foot,  fires at the last Purifier, killing him and causing the relic to be dropped.

The remaining purifier is about to be finished off by the squad in the rhino.

The Havocs open up on the Callidus assassin and kill her.
Assault:  Ahriman issues a challenge to the Dreadknight and I fail my invulnerable saves and Ahriman dies to a monstrous creature just like Mordrak did. 

The end of Ahriman.

Note: Even though Ahriman has fallen, by causing the relic to be dropped, Chaos has temporarily turned the tide of battle back to an 8 to 5 result in their favor!

Chaos turn 5 summary

Seeing that the Purifiers are trying to secure the device within the immobilized Land Raider Crusader, the Word Bearers Land Raider trains its lascannons on the enemy Crusader and score a direct hit on the vehicles power core, sending pieces of hot shrapnel into the air as the vehicle explodes. The resulting explosion kills all but one of the Purifiers holding the relic. A Word Bearer in a nearby rhino fires into the last Purifier, killing him too. Ahriman cannot believe his good fortune, the device lay nearby, within his grasp but suddenly the Dreadknight swings his Great Sword at Ahriman and strikes him down with the force weapon. Ahriman, feeling the power of the sword trying to leech away his essence, quickly activates his teleportation device and is whisked away into the warp....

Grey Knights Turn 5:
Movement: The rhino with the two henchmen tries to cross over some rubble to get into my deployment zone and gets immobilized again. The henchmen jump out and head towards my lines.

Henchmen running into my deployment zone.

The terminators move onto the relic to claim it but he keeps the bulk of them out of sight due to the bridge support.

Grey Knight terminators move onto the Relic!

The last three Death Cult assassins head towards my marines.
Shooting: The Land Raider fires its twin linked lascannons at my Heldrake, knocking it down to 1 hull point.  The Storm Raven also shoots my Defiler but I make my daemon saves. The terminators kill six Word Bearers, causing them to fall back out of his deployment zone. The two henchmen run into my deployment zone.
Assault: The Death Cult assassins fail to charge my marines. The Dreadknight finishes up my Thousand Sons and consolidates back towards the relic, but he is still far away from it.

Grey Knight turn 5 summary

The Dreadknight pilot, dismayed at not being able to end Ahriman's reign, takes his fury out on the Thousand Sons retinue left in his place. He quickly surveys the battlefield and sees that most of the fighting is dying down and the artifact is still out of enemy hands. He makes his towards to the device to prevent a squad of nearby Word Bearers from obtaining it, as does the remaining members of the Grey Knight terminator squad. The terminators quickly form up around the device and are prepared to defend it to the last man...

Scoring:
Chaos: 6 (first blood=1, slay the warlord=5)
Grey Knights: 12 (relic=5, slay the warlord=5, line-breaker = 2)

We roll for turn 6 and it goes on...
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Chaos Turn 6:
No night fight this turn either
Movement: My 4 marines pass their morale test and move back into his deployment zone. The Heldrake moves up a bit. The Defiler also moves up to get in line of sight on the two henchmen in my deployment zone.

The defiler moves to see the two henchmen.

The 6 marines in the immobilized rhino hop out to try and get to the relic.

My marines move to contest the relic if this game should end.

 The rhino in the enemy deployment zone moves up to block the last of the Death Cult assassins from my marines in his deployment zone.
Shooting: The Havocs finally kill the last of the Death Cult assassins.

The defiler lines up a battle cannon shot on the henchmen.

The henchmen are unaware of what is about to hit them...

 The Defiler misses the henchmen with his battle cannon and the remaining marines and Heldrake kill three more Grey Knight terminators, leaving 3 holding the relic.
Assault: No assaults

Chaos turn 6 summary

With Ahriman having fled the battle, and the bulk of the Word Bearers and Berzerkers dead or dying, the remaining marines continue to fight on against the Grey Knights. The Heldrake and the marines bring down a few more, leaving just three terminators holding onto the device...

Grey Knights Turn 6:
Movement: The lone strike squad member left, its justicar, moves down from the rooftop. The Storm Raven moves up a bit and the three remaining Grey Knight terminators huddle around the bridge support to hold the relic and get maximum cover. The Dreadknight moves a little to block the Havocs line of sight on the terminators. The henchmen move out of sight behind a large rubble wall.
Shooting: The strike squad justicar shoots down the unit champ in his deployment zone with psybolts and the Land Raider opens fire on the last two members of that squad, killing them both and taking away any remaining Chaos chance of scoring line breaker. The Dreadknight flames kill one of the marines and the terminators kill 2 more. The Storm Raven finally explodes my Land Raider.

The Storm Raven has a clear shot on the land raider.

 Assault: The Dreadknight charges in and kills off the last of my small marine squad. He consolidates to cover the terminators again.

The Dreadknight prepares to remove the threat to the objective.

He finished off the chaos marines and consolidates back to block line of sight to the terminators.

 

Grey Knights turn 6 summary

 With grim resolve the remaining few Grey Knights consolidate on the device and cut down the last of the Word Bearers. The Grey Knights quickly secure the area as agents of the Ordos Chronos make their way towards the device.

Scoring:
Chaos: 6 (first blood=1, Slay the warlord=5)
Grey Knights: 12 (Relic=5, Slay the warlord=5, line breaker=2)
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Chaos Turn 7: 

How things look at top of 7. I need to kill those three terminators.

Movement: My Defiler tries to move to get a shot on the terminators holding the relic. My Heldrake moves a up a little as well.
Shooting: The Havocs can only fire at the Dreadknight and fail to do anything.

Havocs can only see the Dreadknight due to Paul's canny consolidation move.

I bale flame the terminators and kill 1, leaving two but the one that I killed is the only one that my Defiler had line of sight on. So now my Defiler has no targets.

The heldrake kills one terminator....

but now my defiler cannot see the remaining two terminators.

Note: At this point we call the game because there is no way to get him to drop the relic, and even if he did, those pesky henchmen making it into Chaos lines would have left a 6 to 7 Grey Knight advantage.

These two caused me so much trouble in the game.

Scoring:
Chaos: 6 (first blood=1, slay the warlord=5)
Grey Knights: 12 (relic=5, slay the warlord=5, line breaker=2)

Brother Ben, Justicar of the terminator squad surveyed the smoking landscape. They had accomplished their mission but at a dreadful cost. Many of his battle brothers were lost that day but they had prevented the enemy from reaching their objectives. "Well done brother Ben", a familiar voice radioed into the Justicar’s helmet. "Grand Master Mordrak!  I had feared the worst when reports came back that you had been vanquished by the Defiler." "No", Mordrak responded "I was teleported out at the last second by an unforeseen ally and I am currently aboard the strike cruiser up in orbit above the planet. What became of Ahriman?" asked Mordrak. "We were unable to find any sign of his body, Grand Master." "A large energy spike was detected during the battle and it is our thought that Ahriman too must have used transportation device to remove himself from the battlefield ", replied the Justicar. "We have sacrificed a lot on this day Brother Ben, but take heart that we were able to stop Ahriman from accomplishing his goals. We will meet him again, of that I have no doubt, but until that day we must steel our resolve and strength in fighting the forces of Chaos"...

Ahriman was truly perplexed for how could he have not seen the intervention of the Grey Knights? All signs in the warp prior to the engagement indicated success, and success was nearly his... unless there was someone conspiring against him.  Someone who had the ability to alter the portents and signs within the warp, but there was only one foe of whom he knew that possessed the ability to disturb the past, present, and future within the warp... Eldrad Ulthran.

+++++++++++++++++
Inquisition Transmit Code: XX-X-XXXX-X.X
Inquisition Protocal: M25.001700.LT-11
Access Level: Magenta
Cross Reference: Nadine Prime/Schyulen Quarries, Marnis IV

Transmission: Following the successful extraction of the temproal device, the site of the Necrontyr craft has been successfully eradicated by plasma bombardment. All mining personal, civilians, and government officials with knowledge of the craft have been neutralized or are currently under inquisitional detainment for further investigation. The Schyulen quarries have been officially sealed and the area has been marked as access restricted to all but those with inquistion authorization, and anyone found in the area should be neutralized. While the invasion forces of Nadine Prime have been neautralized, the taint of chaos remains a serious threat. Officials of the Ecclesiarchy are currently working to restore and re-inforce the populations faith in the Emperor. For now, Nadine Prime will remain under Inquisitional watch until the threat is deemed resolved.
+++++++++++++++++

Kevin’s thoughts: Wow, this was truly a back and forth game from the beginning. There were a couple of dumb moves on my part with not moving the 6 man squad up earlier or being more aggressive with getting the Thousand Sons up toward the relic. Killing that last Dreadknight would have really have made a difference for me, but I never really had a chance to bring that thing down. It was almost constantly locked in combat until there was not enough fire power left to do the job. Paul played a great game and capitalized on my mistakes. Not being able to kill those two henchmen all game gave him an extra 2 points. Those two were definitely contenders for MVP of the game. Playing at a 4000 point level was fun and I am looking forward to a rematch against the Grey Knights.

Paul’s thoughts: I just want to thank Kevin for the chance to play a large game under ideal conditions on his fantastic train board.  We had great food and great beer – with a nail biter gamer to go along with it.   I was very impressed with my Death Cult assassins.  They almost single handedly ravaged the Chaos marines behind Grey Knight lines, killing three of his four squads back there and dying trying to get at the fourth.  I haven’t played them in 6th edition because of overwatch and the change to power weapons, but this experience has me re-thinking that decision.  However, if Kevin had one or two flamers in those squads – or even shot better on overwatch, the situation may have turned out differently.  If he had managed to keep line breaker and caused me to drop the relic, he would have won.  Both of these objectives were within reach right up until the end.