Forces

Space Wolves

Asper the Frozen, Space Wolves Redemptor Dreadnought: heavy onslaught gatling cannon, heavy flamer, two storm bolters, Icarus rocket pod, Redemptor fist.

Genestealer Cults

Bregg the Anointed , Abominant : rending claw, power sledgehammer

: rending claw, power sledgehammer 1 x Aberrant Hypermorph : heavy improvised weapon, rending claw, hypermorph tail

: heavy improvised weapon, rending claw, hypermorph tail 2 x Aberrant Metamorph : power pick, rending claw

: power pick, rending claw 3 x Aberrant Metamorph: power hammer,rending claw

Deployment

Game

Sure enough, sneaking my lumbering monsters out of sight pays dividends: I roll well on Bregg's change and he comes tearing around the corner to lock down the Redemptor before he can even fore a shot.



Whaaaaat? How is this possible! Not a single overwatch shot! And the rest of the pack closing in fast, eh? Well, we'll do it the hard way then. *cracks servo-knuckles





The Hypermorph also jumps in via Cult Ambush (I'm rolling well again, aided by my City of Traps bonus), so my two best hitters are in. Everyone else is too far away, or can't actually fit into the narrow space.









Back in the Wolves' Lair

This one's even simpler than the first mission: there is a Space Wolves Redemptor Dreadnought in the centre of the board, five Aberrants and one Abominant must kill him.The battle lasts for five turns, if the Redemptor is left alive but on less than seven wounds, it's a draw. As before, we get to use City of Traps and the Aberrants can be recycled on 4+We use exactly the same terrain as before, with Asper the Frozen dead centre and the Genestealer Cults either in ambush or 18" away. This does mean that the Dreadnought does begin its turn wedged into a narrow alley, but I guess that will prevent him from getting swamped.Bregg and two Aberrants begin on the board, cowering behind cover from all that firepower, with two other Abberants and the Hypermorph in ambush.Everyone counts as an individual unit, which is going to make things very interesting since the Redemptor will get to fire Overwatch at every single model that charges (and he can fire aof Overwatch).This time it will be terrain, not ambush, that will be my best hope. You can't Overwatch something you can't see, but youcharge something you can't see. I'll be doing a lot of hiding around corners.If I ever do get into combat, I should be able to inflict plenty of damage. I'll never survive the counter-punch (what could?) but I can recycle my units and have a stratagem to resurrect Bregg.Bregg swings first, hitting twice with his power sledgehammer - this could almost be enough to end the game right away, but I roll low for his damage. But even 'low' means six wounds off the Dreadnought and Asper clinging onto his top bracket. Kraken wisely spends two of his command points to interrupt combat and step on the Hypermorph before he can whack him with his street sign.In the Space Wolves' turn, not even Bregg can survive the undivided attention of a Redemptor, but I play the stratagem that resurrects him on D3 wounds. We then go into my turn where Bregg's regeneration rule gives him back another D3 wounds - I'm loving Bregg!But Asper the Frozen has now broken from combat, and moved into the open where he can get clearer fields of fire. My fears about Overwatch come true when he guns down an Aberrant in the Charge phase.But then Bregg steels himself and charges into the same hail of fire - and lives! Go Bregg!This allows the rest of the gang to pile in and finish off poor Asper. He didn't really have much of a chance.Another victory for the Thirsting Wyrm!My campaign bonus this time: my Aberrants (and Abominant) get to re-roll hits of 1 when they face the Dreadnought in the finale.Well, that was a blast! Narrative scenarios are hard to gauge, but I did feel that the Genestealer Cults had the upper hand in both. Mind you, if I'd been consistently rolling low for my Cult Ambush results, then Kraken could have been sending my troops to the far side of the board and had an easy time of it. As always: Cult Ambush is very important to the success of Genestealer Cults!The Aberrant units are especially impressive. In a conventional battle, with a Primus to drop them in and psykers to cancel out Overwatch, and these guys are a fantastic anti-armour solution. In fact there seem to be a lot that Genestealer Cults can do - against elites, hordes, armour - can't wait to see the Codex!