750 Point

Game

Wolf Priest Rúnólfr quickly interrupted, 'Eight of the young ones are under my care Lord.'

Hrothgar slammed his fist down on the arm of his large wooden chair. 'For what purpose are the Adepta Sororitas here!?'

His gaze shifted over to Iron Priest Ingólfr, 'Awake Brother Runólfr, we will need his counsel and his abilities for tomorrow's mission.'

Kyrja looked questioningly at Wolf Lord Hrothgar, 'Mission M'Lord?'

Hrothgar gave him a stern look, 'Yes, mission. This is no longer training. These Sororitas must be purged from OUR planet.'

Rolling randomly for our mission, we came up with Secure and Control, which meant the plasement of D3+2 Loot Counters.  In the top two maps you can see the battlefield layout and where the three Loot Counters were positioned.

The Set-Up map shows initial disposition of the forces.  The Long Fangs took the high ground in the large building in the corner with a view of the entire battlefield, while the Grey Hunters lined up in front of the building to make a push across the table for the far loot counter.  The Blood Claws massed behind some cover in position to claim the center loot counter in the ruined chapel, with the Venerable Dreadnought way out on the Wolves' left flank.

A squad of Retributors took position at the closest loot counter in the pile of disused steel piping where they would also have a good field of fire at the advancing Blood Claws and Grey Hunters.  The fire support Sisters Squad held the center to hopefully whittle down the Blood Claws and eventually occupy the chapel themselves and claim that loot counter.  The assault Sisters with their flamers acted as a shield to the Repentia Squad opposite the Dreadnought, to hopefully buy the small squad of chain-saw wielding loonies some time to reach the Dreadnought.  Palatine Melisandre hid herself within this mass of models.  The second batch of Retributors stood on the hill with a good field of fire to the Blood Claws pack.

The Sons of Fenris won the roll for first turn, and scampered forward toward their objectives.  The Venerable Dreadnought loomed over the nearest loot counter while the Grey Hunters and Blood Claws both advanced.  The Dread's Assault Cannon opened up on the Retributors on the hill and dropped one while the Long Fangs killed a Sister from the other Retributor squad behind the pipes.  First blood to the Wolves!

The assault Sisters, Palatine, and Repentia all advanced toward the Venerable Dread and the rest of the Sisters force opted to hold their ground to maximize their shooting.  The fire support Sisters opened up with Bolters and Storm Bolters, scoring 9 hits on the Blood Claws, but only one of the young Wolves fell from the fusillade.  One of the Retributor squads also fired upon the Blood Claws, and although they hit five times, again only a single model was killed.  The other Heavy Bolter Sisters fired on the Long Fangs, whose armor saved the two wounds that were inflicted.

By the end of turn 1 we were even up with one Loot Counter and two casualties inflicted apiece.

The turn began by Pat making his Reserves roll, and the Wolf Scouts appearing on my board edge right behind the fire support Sisters squad.  The Blood Claws advanced into the ruined Chapel, claiming the central Loot Counter there.  The Grey Hunters continued their advance toward the Retributors and their Loot Counter.

The Venerable Dread fired into the same Retributor squad it targeted the first turn, hit three times... on sixes!  With no save possible, the squad was reduced to a single Heavy Bolter model, who steadfastly passed her Leadership test.  The Long Fangs kept picking on the Retributor squad opposite them, and managed to bring down another Sister.

The Scouts then made their Assault move into the 10 Sisters of the fire support squad.  The Wolf Guard Leader brought down three Sisters with his Power Weapon, while the rest of the Scouts caused 6 Savable wounds.  "Savable" in theory; I managed to fail five out of my six 3+ Power Armor Saves!  There were only two Sisters left to strike back, but they did manage to wound with all of their attacks, and brought down 3 of the Scouts.  The Sisters lost 8 to 3, and were caught in a Sweeping Advance by the Scouts who then consolidated into the cover of a nearby bombed-out building.  Just like that, a whole squad of Sister disappeared!  Ouch!

The assault Sisters broke off from the Repentia squad, and moved toward the center of the board where they could deal with the Blood Claws and remaining Scouts.  The Repentia moved bravely forward right for the Dreadnought and his Assault Cannon, helped along by a successful Holy Rage roll getting them a few inches closer ("Fleet of Faith?").

After passing her "Last Woman Standing" roll, the final Retributor on the hill opened up on the Scouts in the rubble, and managed to kill one.  Ignoring the largely ineffectual Long Fangs, the other Retributors opened up on the Grey Hunters, causing 5 hits and 3 wounds, of which only one made his saving throw.

Due to the horrifying efficiency of the Wolf Scouts, there was no Assault phase in the bottom of the turn... Anyone wanna buy my dice?

The Scouts moved out of their cover toward the sole survivor of the hill-perched Retributor squad.  The Blood Claws stayed put atop their loot counter, cowering in the ruined Chapel, while the Grey Hunters continued their inexorable advance upon the other Retributor Squad, firing along the way.  While they scored five hits, none of the Sisters fell.  The Long Fangs managed to not hit a single thing in the shooting phase... I guess those fangs aren't quite so long after all!

The Dreadnought fired his Assault Cannon into the Sisters Repentia, causing 3 wounds which I took on 2 Repentia and the Mistress.  Failing the ensuing Morale Test, the Repentia rushed forward a whopping ten inches, straight for the Dreadnought... and just in time for their own phase...

In the Assault Phase, the Scouts charged the last Heavy Bolter toter on the hill, and made short work of her, then consolidated away from the Sisters assault squad which was still at full strength.

In the Sisters' turn, the assault squad moved up onto the hill toward the remaining Scouts, while the Repentia moved even closer toward the Dread, ready to assault.

The assault squad fired its Heavy Flamer, Flamer, and a passel of Bolters into the poor Scouts, leaving nothing but a charred patch of grass between hill and ruins...  The Retributor squad, however, couldn't bring down even a single Grey Hunter, and now they were awfully close.

In the Assault phase, the Repentia and Priest rampaged into the Dreadnought, who went first of course, but only managed to bring down a single Sister.  The remaining 2 Repentia and the Priest went Eviscerator-Happy all over the Dread, causing 3 Penetrating Hits in total.  In the ensuing explosion, the squad suffered a wound which I assigned to the Priest.  They consolidated down off the hill where the assault happened, in case the Blood Claws decided to actually participate in the game and, say, shoot at them.  Big victory for the Repentia, who had the only weapons capable of penetrating the Ancient Big Guy.

The Blood Claws once again stayed put atop the central Loot Counter, and the Long Fangs stayed in their rosst atop the tall building.  The Grey Hunters advanced on the remaining Retributor Squad, within Assault Range.

The Blood Claws did manage to squeeze off some pot shots at the Repentia, but failed to kill any of them.  The Long Fangs were a bit more successful, killing two Sisters from the heretofore untouched Battle Sisters Squad.

In the Assault Phase, the Grey Hunters charged into the Retributors and slew the remaining 3 Sisters with the 10 Wounds they caused.

The Sisters Squad moved toward the central Loot Counter, while the Repentia - no longer a Scoring Unit - hoofed it toward the Blood Claws, assisted by a little extra Holy Rage move.

The Sisters squad killed a whopping ZERO Blood Claws with their shooting.

The Repentia were in Assault Range, and charged into the Blood Claws pack.  I figured that they were a throw-away unit now that they couldn't claim a Loot Counter, and perhaps I'd get lucky and have one survive to maybe take down a Marine or two and help get the Blood Claws below half strength...

'Twas not to be.  The Blood Claws wiped them out rather quickly, before they could strike back.

The Grey Hunters shuffled about their recently-acquired Loot Counter, and took some futile pot shots at the remaining squad of Sisters.  Blood Claws and Long Fangs stayed where they were, and the Long Fangs managed to kill another Sister.

The Sisters moved closer to the Blood Claws for a better field of fire, leaving the Palatine behind, who moved closer to the Grey Hunters (Great idea...).

The Palatine fired at the Grey Hunters... but didn't kill one.  The Sisters fared better, and managed to bring down 4 Blood Claws with Holy Flame.

The Grey Hunters and Long Fangs stayed put, while the Blood Claws made their way from the rubble to engage the remaining Sisters.

The Grey Hunters fired Bolters at the Palatine, causing seven wounds.  She did not make enough Saving Throws... At least the Long Fangs didn't do anything this turn.

The Blood Claws ran screaming at the Sisters with Chainswords grinding and bolt pistols firing... and when the dust settled, the Sisters just sort of glanced at one another, wondering why they weren't dead.  Shrugging, the Sisters then set on the Blood Claws with butts of bolter, swinging flamers like clubs.  And when the dust settled... The Blood Claws just sort of glanced at one another, wondering why they weren't dead.  Not a single wound was scored in the entire combat.

On the Sisters' side of the turn, there was only the close combat to be fought.  This time around, each side was able to punch a single wound through, and while the combat ended a draw, it meant that the Blood Claws were no longer a scoring unit.

The battle was over, with the Grey Hunters contolling one Loot Counter, and the Sisters by virtue of the final Assault Phase, were in control of the central Loot Counter.  With no one controlling the final Loot Counter, the result was a Draw... again... despite their being only 5 Sisters left on the table!

Mother,

We have made contact with a Priest of the local Imperial Cult.  While his sanity is in question, and we cannot seem to get a name out of him, he appears to have knowledge of what we seek, once one strips away the local folklore and superstitious pastiche from his oratory.  He was to lead us to the village of his "congregation," but has taken grievous wounds on the field of battle today.  Once again, these Sons of Fenris have assaulted us on Holy Ground as we sought our goal.  It seems we have secured valuable clues this day, but our struggle here grows desperate.  Many faithful have been killed or maimed by these wayward Space Wolves (indeed, I myself struggle to dictate this missive via autosavant Subduco while being ministered to by the Sisters Hospitaller), and I fear the Mission is in peril.  I urge you to reinforce us with as many Sisters as can be spared.  These Wolves mean to make war, it seems, and the Artifact cannot be lost.  Hopefully the documents recovered today (and at what cost!) will lead us closer to finding the artifact, for I have serious reservations on trusting this Priest and his, almost certainly feral, congregation.  In the name of the Saint,

Melisandre