250 Points

Game Two

Sister Superior Gabrielle led the disembarkation of her small force of Battle Sisters of the Order of the Widowed Choir as soon as the landing struts made touchdown.  She moved swiftly toward a row of discarded tank traps left on this forsaken, unnamed planet that lay on the border between the Segmentae Pacificus and Obscurus.

The Space Wolves had been restless lately, initiating a new fortress on one of the moons of Fenris.  As always, Grimnar's Wolves met the Holy Inquisition's inquiries with aloof distain and even outright rudeness.  Following a Strike Cruiser to this desolate planet, the Palatine had commanded Gabrielle to make planetfall here to find out what this group of Space Marines was so interested in here.

Gabrielle's Retributors formed up around her as Squad Cantator took up position in front of them.  The Superior could just make out some pale grey forms lurking in the building ruins where her Auspex indicated the presence of hostiles.  It was time for these genetic mutants to answer some rather pointed questions...

I began by placing the Battle Sisters unit behind a row of tank traps, which offered some protection as well as providing a good field of fire.  The Blood Claws were then deployed directly across the table from them, once again, inside the buildings where the Sisters took up residence in the first game.

I then set the Retributors right behind the Battle Sisters squad.  The plan was to not only concentrate fire, but if the Scouts emerged early and took them from behind, the combined squads would probably be able to swamp them through sheer weight of numbers.

Of course, the Scouts were held in Reserve once more.

Once again, the Space Wolves won the roll to see who would go first.  The Blood Claws bravely clambered over the barrels and crates in front of them, advancing full speed across the table, right into the gaping mouths of all those hungry Bolt Weapons...

The Sisters stayed put, and unleashed all weapons on the approaching Wolves.  The Battle Sister Squad caused five wounds, slaying a single Blood Claw.  The Retributors caused a whopping nine wounds, but the Wolves made all their Saves but two.

After taking three casualties, the Blood Claws promptly failed their Leadership test and ran away 7 inches, back over the barrels to where they started.

After the debacle of their "Charge of the Light Brigade," the Blood Claws were a bit wiser and ran behind the nearest building, edging to their left, and staying out of sight.

The Sisters advanced, moving six inches over the barrels.  My strength in numbers theory went to pieces at this point, as after a bad Difficult Terrain roll the Retributors got stuck behind the tank traps.

The Battle Sisters could see a few of the skulking Blood Claws through some of the windows, and the four Storm Bolter shots caused 3 hits, but no wounds.

The turn began with Patrick miraculously failing another Reserves roll, keeping those loathsome Scout off the table for a little while longer.

The Blood Claws continued their stealthy advance along the side of the buildings, trying to keep out of sight.

The Sisters continued shimmying to their right toward where the Blood Claws would eventually appear, with the Retributors finally able to lug their Heavy Bolters over the tank traps and follow along behind them.

One Sister armed with a Storm Bolter caught a glimpse of one of the sneaking Blood Claws, and put a round right through his visor, dropping him on the spot.

Once again, the Wolf Scouts didn't show up - undoubtedly they were confused by the actions of their neophyte charges, and stayed hidden in the hills to try and find out what exactly the young Wolves were up to.  The Blood Claws continued their advance around the buildings, getting uncomfortably close at this point... yet not close enough to fire at the Sisters just yet.

The Sisters performed another side-step toward the edge of the buildings, while the Retributors simply moved forward, farther away from the table edge.

Both Storm Bolters fired and caused one wound on the Blood Claws, who failed the Saving throw.  "If I have to, I'll take you a piece at a time..."

The first order of business was Patrick's Reserve roll, which he finally passed.  The Wolf Scouts entered play behind a rocky hill and moved forward while the Blood Claws advanced right toward the Sisters again.

The Scouts and their Wolf Guard leader fired at the Retributors who were just in range, and two Heavy Bolter Sisters fell to the combination of Bolt and Plasma Pistol fire.

The Battle Sisters Squad moved to their right some more, and opened fire on the Blood Claws - this time, the Bolters were also in range.  The Sisters caused three Wounds, and true to form the Blood Claws failed the ensuing Leadership test and fled with their wolf pelts between their legs.

The Retributors stood their ground, and spun around to let fly at the recently arrived Scouts, causing five hits, but only one wound, which was saved by the Wolf Guard (Patrick was taking any Heavy Bolter wounds on the Wolf Guard, as its AP of 4 would give the Scouts no Save).  That didn't go as well as I'd hoped...

Rather than charge at the remaining Retributors as I expected, the Scouts wheeled off toward the Battle Sisters Squad, making cunning use of the rocky outcrop on the hill to block the Heavy Bolters' lines of sight.  The Blood Claws once again moved forward toward the Battle Sisters.  Surely one day they'd learn?  After all that fleeing, they must have been getting tired...

The Scouts fired upon the Battle Sisters Squad, killing just one.  The Blood Claws were also in range this turn, and added one more Sister to the death toll.

The Retributors moved toward the center of the table, and the Superior was able to fire a shot at the Scouts, who made their Save.  The Sisters opened up on the Blood Claws, rolling big fistfuls of dice.  The ten hits scored caused only two Wounds, however, and they made both their Saves.

As the smoke cleared, this game clearly went to the Sisters.  Clearly the delay of the arrival of the Scouts caused Patrick some problems.  Just for giggles, we decided to play it out for a few more turns, though, until one side or the other were completely wiped out.

In the following turn, the two remaining Blood Claws were able to Charge the Battle Sisters Squad.  They killed one Sister, and lost one in return.  Meanwhile the Scouts had charged the Retributors, and massacred them instantly.  Their four inch move took them closer to the Battle Sisters Squad.

In the Sisters' turn, the Blood Claw failed to cause any wounds, and the return attacks wiped out the pack.  The Sisters got a five inch move after the massacre, and moved directly away from the approaching Scouts.

In the next turn, the Scouts moved closer, and rather than keep my distance, I decided to maximize my firing by staying still and laying down some Rapid Fire Death.  It... Didn't work.  Not a single Scout fell, and now I was in their Charge range.  Which they did in the following turn, and wiped out every remaining Sister.  Good thing only the six turns counted!

In that last picture, you can see that Patrick was able to catch my "Good Luck" Sisters shirt while measuring a move...