40k Battle Report – Nurgle vs. ScreamerStar
People question whether mono-power Chaos can still bring the pain. I attended a GT (Crucible 4 in Orlando, FL) with my Grandfather Nurgle army to find out.
Armies were 2,000 points with double FOC and allies.
My Papa Nurgle List
Chaos Space Marines – Primary Detachment
Lord: /Warlord
Mark of Nurgle, 5++ invulnerable save
Daemon Prince:
Nurgle, Wings, Armor, Level 3 Psyker, Black Mace, Spell Familiar
5x Plague Marine – meltagun
Rhino – Dozer Blade
5x Plague Marine – meltagun
Rhino – Dozer Blade
5x Plague Marine
Rhino – Dozer Blade
Heldrake – bale flamer
Heldrake – bale flamer
Daemons– Allied Detachment
Great Unclean One:
Level 3 Psyker
2x Greater Reward
Daemon Prince:
Nurgle, Wings, Armor, Level 3 Psyker
2x Greater Reward
10x Plaguebearer
Here is my CSM Daemon Prince Big Fatty (all the big smelly ones painted by Daniel Halverson):
The first round was versus a nasty Chaos Daemon army. Last year I was the only undefeated player going into the final round and lost a very close game to my last opponent. So I threw down a challenge this year which he accepted being the true Chaos champion he is. I jokingly said this game could be another Friday the 13th Part Two—Jason slew the sole survivor from Part One during the opening scene… It wouldn’t be easy though.
Opponent List
Here is my opponent’s ScreamerStar army list with Be’lakor (to the best of my memory):
Daemons Primary Detachment
Kairos Fateweaver /Warlord
3x Herald of Tzeentch on Discs – all the red hot schnizzle (Grimoire of True Names, Portaglyph) and all the right spells (Forewarning)
9x Screamer
16x Flesh Hound
10x Plaguebearer
10x Plaguebearer
Chaos Space Marines Allied Detachment
Be’lakor – Hallucinate, Invisibility, ?
10x Cultist
Heldrake – Bale Flamer
The Battle
Deployment – Hammer and Anvil
Primary Objective – 5 objective markers; one is placed in the center of each table quarter and the fifth one in the center of the table. Whomever controls the most wins. Heavy Support score. If neither player controls the majority then the primary is a draw. 8 victory points for a win and 4 victory points for a draw.
Secondary Objective – Each enemy scoring unit is worth 2 victory points if destroyed and 1 victory point if below 50 percent. 5 victory points for a win and 2 victory points for a draw.
Tertiary Objective – Select one enemy scoring unit; if you destroy your chosen enemy unit but your opponent doesn’t its a win. If both players destroy their chosen enemy unit its a draw. 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.
Bonus Points – First Blood, Slay the Warlord, Line Breaker (1 victory point each)
I won the roll to choose my deployment zone and picked the side with the most terrain. I also won the roll to choose going first or second and opted for the latter.
My opponent aggressively deployed Fateweaver, Be’lakor, ScreamerStar and DogStar all right up on the front line—holding everything else in reserve.
I defensively deployed my three squads of Plague Marines (including the Chaos Lord attached to one squad) deep in one of my corners behind terrain… I wanted to keep them away from the ScreamerStar the first turn and also as bait. I also deployed both Princes, also hidden behind terrain. Everything else I held in reserve.
Pre Game Analysis
I knew this was going to be a really tough match! My basic strategy was to draw the ScreamerStar towards my Plague Marines so that my Princes, Greater Daemon and Heldrakes could go after his scoring units with impunity. My opponent didn’t have a lot of scoring units so I wanted to capitalize on that weakness. I would see where the DogStar moved and react accordingly. We both had a good number of highly mobile units so I knew the battle would unfold over the entire table.
NOTES:
– Assume tests for psychic powers are passed each turn unless otherwise noted.
– The Warp Storm produced negligible results throughout the game.
Let’s Get It ON!
Turn 1 Chaos Daemons
The ScreamerStar heads directly towards the Plague Marines’ rhinos. Fateweaver follows in their wake to support them. Be’lakor splits off from the pack turning back deeper into the daemons’ deployment zone. The DogStar remains entrenched in the middle of the table and fan out. Flickering Fire is cast down focusing on one Rhino and wrecks it for First Blood.
Turn 1 Chaos Space Marines
The two remaining Rhinos shuffle back a bit into terrain and pop smoke… The Plague Marines and Chaos Lord exit out the back side using their transports to block line of sight from the incoming ScreamerStar. The Plague Marines from the wrecked transport duck deeper back behind line of sight blocking terrain, hooking around the terrain in an attempt to avoid a charge next turn from the ScreamerStar. Both Daemon Princes leave cover swooping away from the ScreamerStar, hugging the table edge, heading towards Be’lakor.
Turn 2 Chaos Daemons
The Cultists and one squad of Plaguebearers come in from reserve. The Cultists move onto the table headed towards the objective marker deep in the daemons’ deployment zone while the Plaguebearers deep strike on top of the opposite objective marker on the same side of the table with minimal scatter.
The ScreamerStar moves up close towards the two remaining intact Rhinos. Fateweaver exits the table and Be’lakor swoops back towards the Cultists to lend his support. The DogStar remains centrally located.
Flickering Fire and an assault by the ScreamerStar combine to wreck another Rhino and strip two hull points from the last remaining transport.
Turn 2 Chaos Space Marines
One Heldrake and the Great Unclean One arrive from reserve. The Heldrake hugs a long table edge zooming 36″ and will flat out another 12″. The Great Unclean One deep strikes into a ruin close to the Cultists with minimal scatter.
The CSM Daemon Prince glides down beside the DogStar and the Plague Marines from the first wrecked rhino moves towards them as well. The Chaos Daemon Prince swoops towards the Plaguebearers. The squad of Plague Marines with the Chaos Lord embark into the last Rhino. The third of squad of Plague Marines move directly towards the ScreamerStar, shooting them with their bolt pistols and meltagun but fail to inflict any damage.
The CSM Daemon Prince and first squad of Plague Marines both assault the DogStar. The CSM Daemon Prince rolls high for his daemon weapon mastery test… His Black Mace eliminates a few of the Flesh Hounds. The Flesh Hounds focus their attacks on the Plague Marines but only manage to kill one. The Plague Marines finally swing back and take down another Flesh Hound. The Flesh Hounds then lose a couple more due to their Instability Test.
The other squad of Plague Marines assault the ScreamerStar… Amazingly two of Nurgle’s finest manage to survive, locking them.
Turn 3 Chaos Daemons
His Heldrake and second Plaguebearer squad both arrive from reserve. His Heldrake vector strikes mine—one penetrating hit, I fail the invulnerable save and he rolls a 6 on the armor penetration table to destroy it. The Plaguebearers deep strike onto another objective marker with minimal scatter. Fateweaver re-enters the battlefield from Ongoing Reserves and makes a bee line towards the center of the table.
Be’lakor casts Hallucinate on my Chaos Daemon Prince and I fail to Deny the Witch. The Prince has a Bale Sword so if a wound gets past its invulnerable save it’s over… Of course I fail the save but manage not to wound—that was a close call. Be’lakor then attempts to cast Invisibility on the Flesh Hounds but fails on an 11. Fateweaver casts Flickering Fire on the Great Unclean One but this time I manage to Deny the Witch.
The Cultists move away from the Great Unclean One but don’t go far due to a low roll for Move through Cover. The first Plaguebearer squad moves away from my Chaos Daemon Prince.
Combat ensues…
Again the CSM Daemon Prince rolls high for his Daemon Weapon Mastery test and proceed to cut down more of the Flesh Hounds. The Flesh Hounds focus their attacks on the Plague Marines again but fail to inflict any damage. The Plague Marines strike back and take down another hound. The Flesh Hounds then lose a couple more due to their Instability Test… There are less than a handful left.
ScreamerStar wipes out the two Plague Marines and consolidate around the Rhino but can’t completely close it off.
Turn 3 Chaos Space Marines
My second Heldrake arrives from reserve along with my Plaguebearers. The Heldrake vector strikes the ScreamerStar as it passes over head toward the far side of the table and actually manages to inflict one wound on a Screamer. My Plaguebearers successfully execute a deep strike into the same building as the Cultists.
Both the Great Unclean One and my Chaos Daemon Prince successfully cast Enfeeble on my my opponent’s first Plaguebearer squad and he fails to deny either malediction. My CSM Daemon Prince casts Gift of Contagion on the Flesh Hounds but they pass their 4+ Deny the Witch (Collars of Khorne).
The Great Unclean One shambles over towards the Cultists inside the building ready to launch an assault. My Chaos Daemon Prince enters glide mode and lands beside the enfeebled enemy Plaguebearers with the same intent in mind.
The Chaos Lord and his Plague Marines remain embarked within the Rhino which backs up just over inch from the table edge to prevent the ScreamerStar from close hatching them in case they wreck the transport the next turn… This will keep them from being destroyed for two more turns—I’m taking a gamble my opponent will go after them next turn rather than go assist the last of the Flesh Hounds.
The Great Unclean One casts Life Leech on the Cultists and drops one. The Chaos Daemon Prince does the same and drops two Plaguebearers. The Plague Marines fire out from the hatch of the Rhino at the ScreamerStar along with the transport but fail to inflict any damage. That’s it for the shooting phase.
Both the Great Unclean One and the Chaos Daemon Prince both make their charges wiping out the Cultists and the Plaguebearers (i.e., swept and a high roll for the instability test). The CSM Daemon Prince and Plague Marines wipe out all but one last Flesh Hound.
Mid Game Analysis
I always consider the fourth turn critical in a close game. You really need to put yourself in a solid position to win.
At this point both of our scoring units are rapidly dwindling so I’ve really got to think about what I need to do in order to achieve the primary objective. It’s already pretty much been determined we will draw on the tertiary since I’ve destroyed my marked enemy unit and my opponent should easily be able to claim his via the Heldrake… So I want to make sure I focus on killing all his scoring units and preserve one of mine—I’ve got a trick up my sleeve though so let’s see how it plays out. Time is running out so we’ll probably only make it through the fifth turn.
Turn 4 Chaos Daemons
My opponent has some bad dice mojo to start off the turn… Grimoire fails to go off on the ScreamerStar even with Fateweaver’s re roll. The Tzeentch Herald casting Forewarning perils (snake eyes) and takes a wound, so only 4++ for the ScreamerStar. I then deny every malediction Kairos and Be’lakor attempt to cast on my CSM Daemon Prince… w00t !! Another Tzeentch Herald chucks out the Portaglyph and it scatters a good distance away from the open objective marker he was planning to capture.
My opponent first moves his ScreamerStar towards my last intact Rhino holding my Warlord (Chaos Lord) and Plague Marines… This is exactly what I hoped he’d do ! His Heldrake zooms over to my Plaguebearers—oh well I could see that coming a mile away. Kairos and Be’lakor both decide to play it safe and remain aloft swooping to the middle of the table. His last scoring unit (Plaguebearers) move away from my Chaos Daemon Prince while remaining with 3″ of the objective marker.
His Heldrake crisps all my Plaguebearers in one shot and Flickering Fire from the ScreamerStar cracks open the last Rhino. The ScreamerStar then assaults it’s occupants and my meltagun obliterates one of his Tzeentch Heralds on Overwatch (no more Grimoire now… Heh heh). I actually win the combat taking no wounds on my Warlord and two Screamers are vaporized by the Instability test bringing them down to around five left from the original nine.
Turn 4 Chaos Space Marines
It’s still very tight still but I sense a weakness that can be exploited. I need to take advantage of my opponent’s bad luck this turn and Grandpa Nurgle seems to have smiled upon the Chaos Lord.
My CSM Daemon Prince glides over towards my opponent’s last Plaguebearer squad… Been nice knowing you ! My Chaos Daemon Prince feints towards the Plague Marine ScreamerStar scrum. The Great Unclean One can only hurl insults and slobber now but he has done his job. The Plague Marines that had fought the DogStar move onto an objective marker. My Heldrake vector strikes Be’lakor and drops a wound… It then flamers the enemy Plaguebearers reducing them to three left.
Combat then ensues… My CSM Daemon Prince assaults the Plaguebearers and rolls a natural 6 for the daemon weapon mastery test… They are sent back to the warp just like that. The Chaos Lord issues a challenge which is declined so I pick a Herald to sit on the sideline… Again my squad wins combat and two more Screamers are also sent back to the warp.
I’m holding two objective markers presently winning the primary. There’s only enough time for one more turn.
Turn 5 Chaos Daemons
My opponent’s Heldrake zooms over vector striking and torching my Plague Marines holding an objective marker… Gone. : ‘(
Be’lakor finally drops down into glide mode and will issue a challenge to my CSM Daemon Prince. Again my CSM Prince denies Flickering Fire cast his way from Fateweaver. A squad of five Daemonettes pop out from the Portaglyph and with their +3″ run just manage to grab the objective marker my Plague Marines had held… Oh well… Should have seen that coming.
Onto assault… After trading blows with the ScreamerStar I am down to my Warlord (full wounds) and two Plague Marines. I manage to take down another Screamer and they remain locked. Be’lakor and my CSM Daemon Prince trade blows—I reduce Be’lakor to his final wound and he passes his Toughness test.
Turn 5 Chaos Space Marines
First my Chaos Daemon Prince drops down to glide mode to assault the Daemonettes. My Heldrake drops into hover mode closing in on the Daemonettes as well. The Heldrake then flamers the Slaaneshi lesser daemons but they pass a good number of invulnerable saves and are still holding the objective marker. The Chaos Daemon Prince slams into and finishes off the Daemonettes. My CSM Daemon Prince can’t get through Be’lakor’s 4++ invulnerable save so they remained locked. My Warlord issues a challenge which is accepted by a Tzeentch Herald—the Chaos Lord drags him down and one Plague Marine manages to survive.
The game is called for time. This mission the primary objective was Big Guns Never Tire so my Chaos Daemon Prince scores the one objective marker and I end up barely winning the game. It was too close for comfort and the Prince was quite lucky to have been spared nixing itself with its Bale Sword a couple turns back… His new nickname is Jason… Just needs a hockey mask now. The Bale Sword is super powerful but probably better to leave home versus opponents with Hallucinate or Mindshackle Scarabs.
Post Game Analysis
My dice were hot this game and I was able to Deny the Witch a several key points during the game. I felt my plan with the Warlord and Plague Marines was well executed… They effectively tar-pitted the ScreamerStar for the majority of the game and actually beat the snot out of them. My CSM Daemon Prince took down the DogStar with a little help from his friends, the Plague Marines… So I was able to handle both deathstar units. DogStar without a Herald is not a true deathstar to be honest but they can still cause lots of problems. My MVP was the Chaos Daemon Prince who won the game for me and this was an oversight on the part of my opponent.
I ended up taking the award for best Chaos Space Marine army and my opponent this game took the award for best Daemon army, putting me up on top for Chaos in general. There weren’t that many Chaos armies but both of us placed high overall.
Looks like Grandfather Nurgle still has a little spring in his (slimy) step! Have at it everybody!
