M41.26.01.15 Stiria Insurrection (10:50)

The MISSION ETERNAL dispatched a strike force to Hive Stiria Prime, intended as a largely symbolic show of force supporting local Arbites against reported civil unrest. Upon arrival, however, the Marines were ambushed by well organised and equipped insurrectionists, and all but destroyed. While details remain unclear, it is apparent that authorities have lost control of the hive. Stiria is now at civil war.

Highlight: calling this game a battle would be misleading - it was a massacre. The MISSION ETERNAL intended to meet their opponent aggressively, but were immediately and effectively boxed in by cheap vanguard units, and quickly drowned in bullets and bodies. At the end of turn two, the army was basically neutralised with only a handful of infantry models and three vehicles remaining. I did not gain a single victory point.

I wanted to try out the new Bastion detachment, and I like it. My army was probably a bit unbalanced, with too many Battleline units and too few high-damage dealers; what really troubled me, was the asymmetric scenario, and the fact that I severely underestimated the Genestealer Cult‘s damage output. Both together enabled Martin to box me into my deployment zone (which I hardly managed to leave), and quickly take my army apart. Brutal!