Battle Report! 2000pts Blood Angels vs. Space Wolves!

Yes, Blood Angels! I sometimes get 3+ envy, and want to try new things, and was inspired by something I heard on an 11th company podcast.

My good friend Sean Nayden used to play a very Dreadnought and Drop Pod heavy Vulkan based army, with a fair amount of success. Neil said something about making an all Drop Pod Blood Angels army...those ASM get Pods for free, ya know!...and I put two and two together...

and got about 3 and 3/4 :)

The list isn't quite what I'd hoped...just not quite enough points to get everything I want, so it ends up feeling watered-down and inadequate. Still, it's fun and different and does what I like to do best, applies pressure right away! So, here's my list:

Librarian with Blood Lance and Unleash Rage

Furioso Librarian with Wings and Might in a Drop Pod

Furioso Dreadnought (Heavy Flamer) in a Drop Pod

2 Sanguinary Priests (Power Weapons)

9 ASM (Pwr Fist; Meltagun) in a Drop Pod

9 ASM (Pwr Fist; Meltagun) in a Drop Pod

9 ASM (Pwr Fist; Meltagun) in a Drop Pod

5 Death Company (2 Power Weapon) in a Drop Pod

Death Company Dreadnought (Blood Talons) in a Drop Pod
Dreadnought (Heavy Flamer) in a Drop Pod
Dreadnought (Heavy Flamer) in a Drop Pod
and 2 Land Speeders (MM/HF)

You can see the intent here. Each ASM gets either a Priest or Librarian. Null deployment. Reasonable melta coverage, lots of Dreadnoughts, and some speed from the Deep Striking Speeders.

What the pods do to me though is prevent me from getting the second MG in the ASM...unless I find some other way to get the Priests on the table. I could use an Honor Guard, but then I'd feel compelled to put them up close to drop a bunch of melta on something, and they'd surely get killed. I'd wanted the Death Company to be a little beefier with a few more PW and a Hammer (in case they were compelled to assault a Dread or Vehicle), but...points. I'd wanted a third "regular" Dreadnought, but...points. I'm not sure the Land Speeders are necessary, but I really felt compelled to get something that moves faster than 6" in there, and it seemed a nice way to do it while staying "in theme". Why can't Assault Bikes come in Pods?! I mean, if a Dread will fit, surely a Goldwing with Sidecar and a big gun can get squished in there!

So, the list isn't perfect, but it is fun and different...so off to Vassal I went.

I met my good friend Cerberus, who wanted to try a Space Wolf list. I sadly didn't write it down, so from memory:

Njal
Long Fangs with Missiles; Razorback
2 Grey Hunters with Rhinos
2 Grey Hunters with Razorbacks
a Grey Hunter on foot (Wolf Guard Terminator Cyclone attached)
2 AC/LC Predators
3 HB/Typhoon Land Speeders

Well, Njal seemed bad. All these cool Psychic toys I have he'll shut down on a 3+. He's got Melta all over win the GH squads, so the Dreads that drop close will get fried. And if the Melta don't get them, the gazillion Missile, Autocannon, and Lascannon shots will!

I won the roll and had him go first. I believe we had Spearhead and C&C. I was determined to not have it be "roll dice and tie", and committed to going balls out to shatter the castle I was sure he'd make.

I won the roll and had Cerberus go first. No surprise, he castled up. No surprise, I put the Speeders in reserve to deep strike.

Turn 1 he shuffled things around a bit. He had 4 vehicles in a nice neat line that I'd been excited about, but he moved them sadly.

Then I unleashed the pod rain! I dropped in two ASM, one with Libbie, one with Priest. The Furioso Librarian, the DC Dread, and a regular Dread. I tried to arrange things so the pods would provide cover to everything, but the Furioso Lib and DC Dread scattered a bit farther than I wanted and were left in the open too much.

The Blood Lance went off, Njal's staff failing to stop it. It wrecked a Razor and exploded a Rhino. Regular Dread Wrecked the other Rhino. DC Dread shot at a Landspeeder but missed. I ran the Furioso Librarian back to hopefully maintain in cover.

Not much moving on his second turn. Speeders shuffled a bit to get shots, while some Grey Hunters moved...I thought he was going to assault and kill the Priest that I'd left exposed...newb mistake!

His shooting was fun. My Psychic Hood stopped Njal from using Murderous Hurricane. A million frag shots went on the Librarians squad, but with 3+/FNP they only lost a few guys. The DC Dread took a ton of missiles and las to the face, but was only shaken/stunned...which he ignored! The Furioso Librarian took a Pen from a Typhoon, failed cover, and wrecked. The regular Dread ate melta and died. He didn't assault, preferring to double-tap and rely on his Counter-Attack.

My turn 2, and I got in one Speeder and the other regular Dread. The Speeder scattered off in to a forest, passing Dangerous, while the Dread I dropped right in the middle of his castle, lining up to kill a Land Speeder.

Of course my speeder missed his, and my Dread missed his speeder.  The Librarian's squad wedged itself in to a fine multi-assault on the Long Fangs and Grey Hunters with the Cyclone guy, while the Priest's squad went in to the small Grey Hunter squad. The Death Company Dread was compelled to charge the Predator, which he Wrecked.

The Priest's squad didn't do as well as I'd had liked. The Priest himself failed to wound with any of his four Power attacks (hitting on 3s, wounding on 3s...bummer). Tie combat. The Librarian's squad did a bit better, primarily because Njal's staff once again failed to stop my Librarian who used Unleash Rage. The Wolves lost combat, and I believe lost a few to "Fearless".

Top of turn 3, and a Razorback with Grey Hunters still embarked takes off towards my objective. Uhoh! Njal's squad moves on to his objective, while the other Rhino squad moves that way also. His Speeders line up rear-shots at the Death Company Dread, and it explodes. The second Regular Dread is Stunned, and shooting at my Land Speeder does nothing. Njal's attempt to use Living Lightning was stopped by my Hood again.

In assault my Priest again wiffs, but the rest of the squad makes up for it, killing several of the Grey Hunters, leaving just one alive. The Librarian again gets off Unleash Rage, Njal's staff failing yet again, and only two Grey Hunters are left.

Bottom of turn 3, and I get in the Death Company, the last ASM squad, and the Furioso Dread. I had to think on this one a bit...I felt like I had done a good job busting up his castle, if I threw everything in to it I thought I could hold that objective easy...but that would leave his last Razorback squad free to go take my undefended objective. I still had one Speeder left, though, and last turn. I decided that I'd go "all-in" on his objective, and leave it to the last speeder to contest if he went for my objective.

I tried to drop the Furioso on his Objective, because nothings more annoying than having a pod contesting an objective! Sadly, though about 10" away from the edge, I scattered off, and the mishap allowed him to place the Furioso, which he did: in a corner away from everything. Ha! So I put the Death Company in the same spot, and the landed dead-on. The last ASM I put near the Librarian, also near his objective, primarily to get the FNP/FC bubble over there, and to be the ones to actually hold his objective. I figured the Death Company could shred one squad, while the remnants of the Librarian's and this fresh squad could finish off whatever was left.

My Stunned Dread blew smoke (is that allowed?). My Speeder moved up and blew up one of his Speeders with the MM, and immobilized the other with it's Heavy Flamer! My Drop Pod forest shot up Njal's Grey Hunter squad, I believe they put a wound on Njal and between them and the ASM and Death Company pistol shots killed off two whole Grey Hunters!

In Melee I did not get off Rage (rolled an 11), but the Librarian took that GH squad down to 1 guy. The Priests's squad finally finished off the small Grey Hunter squad they'd been fighting, and consolidated towards the razorback...I thought they might get one hail-mary rear shot if it sped off towards my objective. The misplaced Furioso ran towards my Objective...he'd just become the Goalie!

Things were getting tense now. He decided to keep the Razorback home, and it's occupants got out to assault my reduced Priest squad. Njal's squad moved to wrap around his objective, while the intact Grey Hunter squad moved to engage my Librarian's squad.
My Smoked Dreadnought was killed despite the smoke, and my Speeder again survived. In Melee the first Priest Squad was assaulted, and held their own, killing 3 of the Grey Hunters (the Priest again failing to do any damage). My Librarian's squad was dropped down to the Librarian and the Power Fist, but finished off the Grey Hunter squad they'd been fighting forever and took a few off the fresh squad.

The Death Company finally got in to action, as their Difficult Terrain roll was more than enough to get around the wrecks and Drop Pods to line up an assault on Njal's squad. The last ASM squad, on the other hand, rolled very weak for Difficult Terrain, where I thought they'd be left out of the fight. The Furioso angled in to the fight a bit...I thought he might get a long range Meltagun shot maybe before the end! My Speeder moved in to melta range of his last Predator.

Said Predator Exploded. Drop Pods all shot at Njal's squad again, for minimal effect. The Death Company made their assault, and though I expected to be woefully short, I tried the assault with the fresh ASM in to Njal's, and rolled a Six for Difficult, and made it with half an inch to spare! Njal's squad was obliterated, leaving just Njal with a single wound, I believe. My Librarian and his squad were finally killed, but took all but 4 of the Grey Hunters with them. My first Priest's squad stalemated with the Grey Hunter squad...again the Priest failed to do any damage.

I took this one as my turn was starting...ignore that new Land Speeder...
this is not the Land Speeder you're looking for...he can
go about his business...move along...

At the top of turn 5, things had taken a very ugly turn for him. He threw his last Grey Hunters in to try to save Njal, but it was too late. His immobilized Speeder wrecked my Speeder.

In melee Njal cut down all but one Death Company, but was killed by everything else. The Grey Hunters did good work, beating up many Blood Angels, but we were stuck in combat. My first Priest finally learned how to swing his Crozius, and killed off the Grey Hunters, and the consolidated towards his Razorback.

Bottom of 5, and my last Speeder comes in. I wanted him to kill his last mobile Land Speeder, but only manage a Stun. The Furioso desperately stumbled along trying to get in to the fight.

Priest and Fist assaulted the Razorback, and Stunned it. In assault the Grey Hunters were reduced to one Fist, while the Blood Angels had a Power Weapon Death Company, a Priest, and the Power Fist Sgt alive...one scoring model for each of us!

Top of turn 6, no shooting or moving, straight to the assault where the Death Company guy cut the Wolf Sgt in half, and my one scoring model consolidated on to his objective. I did nothing on my turn, we rolled and it ended...1-0 for the Blood Angels!

I don't see games that are that bloody that often. I mean we both lost damned near everything!! My army was a lot of fun, though I was a bit sad the Dreadnoughts died as easily as they did. I know, dropping on to Meltaguns makes that happen. Maybe instead of trying to blow things up they should pop smoke when they land? I dunno, I had cover most of the time anyway. Maybe not drop quite so close? Not sure. Regardless, I liked the list. The Land Speeder did well (the other coming in too late to matter), but I'd almost rather drop them for another minimal scoring unit or a third regular Dread. I'd like to get a couple more bodies in the Death Company and include a Hammer or Fist...really make them something fearsome that can shred a unit by themselves. I think dropping the DC Dread in first was kind of silly, too...another Regular Dread would have made more sense, saving the DC Dread for when the troops are on the ground.

A fun, great, light-hearted game. Cerberus has sworn he'll never take Njal again, as my Hoods shut down all his powers, and the Runic Staff failed to work. Yes, that's how the dice work sometimes, but it sure was disappointing for him!

This is an army I'll continue to tweak and use on Vassal...I'd like to see it go against a solid IG list!

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Feedback of the battle or army is much appreciated!