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Yesterday (Sunday 6/6/10) I took out the Imperial Fists for a play-test game against my sons Dark Angels. The Imperial Fist army is 1500 points (I wont be expanding this army, the plan is to keep them at 1500 points and I for larger games I can add in the Ultramarines or any other standard marines I may have) and I tried to theme the army around Lysander. I do not mind painting different Space Marine Chapters as long as I have a different play style for each Chapter. There is no sense having the same Space Marine army just painted with different colors. So with the Imperial Fists I decided to go the route of the Terminators.
The 1500 points Imperial Fists army consists of the following:
HQ
Lysander
Elites
5x Terminators w/ SB,PF; 1 Cyclone Missile Launcher; 1 Sgt w/ SB,PS
5x Terminators w/ SB,PF; 1 Assault Cannon; 1 Chainfist; 1 Sgt w/ SB,PF
5x Terminators w/ SB,PF; 1 Heavy Flamer; 1 Chainfist; 1 Sgt w/ SB,PF
Troops
10x Tactical Squad w/ Missile Launcher, Flamer; 1 Sgt w/ PW, Meltabomb, Teleport Homer; Rhino
10x Tactical Squad w/ Missile Launcher, Flamer; 1 Sgt w/ PW, Teleport
Homer; Rhino
Heavy
5x Devastator Squad w/ 4 Missile Launcers; 1 Sgt
I believe I am right at 1500 points.
So we rolled up a random mission from the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook and we played: Annihilation with Spearhead deployment. I won the roll-off and choose to go second. With 3 squads of Terminators deep striking, I wanted to go second.
Once the Dark Angels finished their deployment, it was time to see what the Imperial Fists can do. I deployed both of the Tactical Squads in their Rhinos as far back as possible in my deployment zone and inside some Area Terrain. I figure with the 48" range of the Missile Launchers they would be safe and I am protecting Kill Points. For Lysander special rule "Bolster Defences" I chose an old ruined building and deployed the Devastator Squad inside there. This will give them a 3+ cover save against any Dark Angel Plasma Cannons. The 3 squads of Terminators will be deep striking along with Lysander.
Turn 1:
Dark Angels started the game with Turn 1 and concentrated their fire power on my Devastator Squad. With the Predator, Whirlwind and Tactical Squads firing at the ruined building the Devastator Squads were not able to make all their saves and we had 2 casualties. Imperial Fists tried to counter on the bottom of Turn 1 with 2 Missile Launcher shots from the Dev Squad and 2 Missile Launcher shots from the Tactical Squads I was only able to get a few "crew shaken" or "crew stunned" results.
Turn 2:
Dark Angels again concentrated on the Devastator Squad. With the Rhinos out of reach of the Plasma Cannons their only squad they can shoot at was my Dev Squad. We managed to lose the remaining 2 Missile Launchers, but the Sgt. was able to stick around. Imperial Fists rolled for their reserves. All 3 Terminator Squads were coming into the game. We choose to deep strike one unit behind the Predator, one unit near a Tactical Squad hiding in cover, and the third unit we were hoping to get close to a Rhino, but we got to close and had to roll on the mishap chart. My son then got to deploy that squad where he wanted. He tried to place them out of the way as much as he can. Once the Terminators landed they tried to wreck some havoc with their shooting. Terminator Squad near the Troops were to far away for the Heavy Flamer so they unleashed the Storm Bolters. The squad with the Assault Cannon (which was on the mishap chart) was within range of 24" and unleashed the Storm Bolters and Assault Cannon. Squad 3 with Lysander and a Cyclone Missile Launcher concentrated their shooting on the Predator. We managed to kill a few Marines and achieve a "Crew Stunned" on the Predator. It was not what I had hoped for, but it did render the Predator useless for one turn. A Missile Launcher shot out from one of my Rhino's and managed to Explode one of the Dark Angel Rhino's causing an emergency disembarkation for Azrael and his unit. 1-0
Turn 3:
Dark Angel were making there way closer to my Rhino's. With one of their 2 Rhino's destroyed they had to make their way on foot. Dark Angels Assault Squad came into the game this turn but with a scatter off the table he had to roll on the mishap chart. I got to place his unit anywhere I wanted. I decided to place them as far away as possible inside some area terrain. The Dark Angels then shot up some Terminators ( I actually managed to lose a few, damn dice) and they tried to take out the one lone Sgt. from the Dev Squad. The Sgt. managed to stick around. Imperial Fists now had their turn. First the Sgt. from the Dev Squad was heading for the hills. He jumped down from the second story of the ruined building and hid on the first floor where there were no open windows. They had to protect the Kill Point. Lysander broke off from his squad and moved closer to the Predator. His original squad then moved closer to the Whirlwind. Heavy Flamer squad moved closer to the troops in cover and my Assault Cannon squad was going to make they way towards Azrael. My round of shooting was not that great. Heavy Flamer and Storm Bolters managed to kill a few more Marines. Missile Launchers all had no luck against vehicles, but one of the ML's from my Tactical Squad shot a Frag missile at Azrael's unit and managed to kill a Marine. With the shooting obsolete, it was time to see what the Terminators can do in Assault. Lysander charged the Predator with his S10 Thunder Hammer and managed to destroy the Predator. His original squad managed to destroy the Whirlwind, and Squad 2 assaulted the Troops in cover and LOST the battle. With the Lysander "Stubborn" rule for all my units, the Terminators were not going anywhere. 3-0
Turn 4:
Dark Angels are finally within range of my Rhino's and the Meltagun misses. Assault Squad with Plasma Pistols can only Stun the other Rhino. In the Assault phase my Terminators (only 1 left) managed to get destroyed. 3-1. Imperial Fists now get to counter. Shooting again was not ver good for the Imperial Fists. We did manage to thin down a few more Marines from Azrael's unit and the Marine unit I was about to assault. Lysander then assaulted the Troop Squad that had wiped out my unit, the squad that destroyed the Whirlwind also joined in on the fight. With Lysander and a full Unit, we managed to cut down the Marines. 4-1
Turn 5:
Dark Angels Meltagun from Azrael's unit destroy's a Rhino, Assault Squad with Plasma Pistols and Meltabomb still can only manage to "Stun" the other Rhino. 4-2. Imperial Fists; Lysander joins back up with his original unit and makes way towards
another Troop Squad in cover. The Imperial Fists can now actually shoot. Missile Launcher, Flamer, Storm Bolters, Assault Cannon all concentrated on Azrael's Unit and we managed to finish them off along with Azrael taking a few wounds. Lysander and company assault the unit in cover. With Lysander just out of base contact, he was not able to strike any blows. The Dark Angels managed to stick around for that round of combat. 5-2. We roll and the game continues.
Turn 6:
The Dark Angels still cannot do anything to one of my Rhino's and it manages to still survive. Azrael assaults one of my Tactical Units and manages to win combat. The IF's fail their leadership role but still managed to stick around losing 1 more casualty. Lysander and company finished off the other Dark Angel troop unit. 6-2. Bottom of Turn 6. All that was left was the combat with Azrael. The Imperial Fists were able to contain the strikes from Azrael and survived another round of combat. We roll again and the game ends. Final score: 6-2 for the Imperial Fists.
The list was fun to play especially in the Kill Point mission. With only 9 Kill Points available and 4 of those in Terminator Armour it is pretty strong. We'll see how this list does with objectives. I have only 4 possible scoring units with objectives.
Deep Striking Terminators I am not found of. But you really cannot have any Land Raiders in a 1500 point game. Maybe if I was to expand to 1750 or 2000 points I would then add 1 or 2 Land Raiders.
All in all, it was another fun game and a chance to roll some dice.
