For the purpose of this play test for our new Space Wolf Chapter Supplement, we had to proxy the models. If the Space Wolves appear to be Custode or Necrons in anyway, it is the Chaos god Tzeentch playing trickery with your eyes and mind. Please see your local Commissar for a quick fix.
Ursula Creed consulted her data slate. Valour System was being reinforced daily, and when regiments were not engaged with the many enemies present they needed to be training. Moving quickly and without much forethought, she selected the Death Korp of Krieg and the Space Wolves for an exercise. Paint Rounds and low voltage las packs were issued, and she moved about her business without a thought as to why this was the worse idea ever.
Krieg Engineers returned the following images from their recon patrol. Deployment commenced as a response with Grand Marshal Venner prepared his training material.
Grand Marshal Venner gazed across the battlefield through his gas mask. The sounds of other excited gas mask noises could be heard as his assault Platoon prepared to break the Attrition. Darkness was in full effect, but he could hear the Space Wolves sending up their howls. Or their Thunderwolf steeds were. It would not matter. High Command saw fit for them to train together to prepare to defend Valour System. But High Command had overlooked one thing. Space Wolves and Death Krieg only believe in lethal training! The only reason a nuclear reactor was not “borrowed” from the fleet and detonated in high orbit is this would not be a permanent Death Korp training ground.
His deployment started with a Macharius Omega on the West Flank, supported by an entrenched Mars Alpha Vanquisher. Holding the Yellow Objective and supporting the tank for second and third wave he had a team of Veterans armed up with (Sergeant) Plasma Pistol and Power Sword, two Meltaguns, a Plasma Gun, Grenadier Doctrine (increasing their Sv to 4+) and attached Grand Marshal Venner for the third wave. A normal squad of Guardsmen with a (Sergeant) Power Sword and Las Pistol, and a Flamer was downstairs for the second wave.
On the East Flank, he had a Malcador Infernus rolling up with two more squads of Guardsmen. The Red Objective was secured by a third squad, ready to form a second wave if needed. And it was going to be needed. A lot of guardsmen had spent all night sharpening their entrenching tools. Rumours the Space Wolves were trying to keep it relatively safe by fielding mass Stormshields was going to make this difficult. A Commissar also joined them.
In the center of the spearhead, a Tank Commander in command of a Leman Russ Executioner fully loaded with plasma and other heavy weaponry directed a Malcador Defender. The Platoon Command Squad with an Enginseer rallied the fifth Guardsmen Squad. Engineers made a daring Scouting action forward with a second Commissar to secure the Orange Objective.
In Reserve, a full unit of Outriders and a third mounted Commissar prepared a daring flanking maneuver for the Tactical Squads.
The Space Wolves took to the field quickly under the cover of darkness, using their predatory instincts to steer them straight into the Krieg lines. Both units of Thunderwolves surged forward with an immense burst of speed, ending up right in front of the Krieg as soon as the battle started!
One unit of Wolfen closed in as fast as inhumanly possible, and another had to stop to scratch their fleas. before they built up too much momentum.
The Space Wolves were too busy howling in excitement to hear the sounds of excited gas mask noises as the Krieg lowered their Lucius Pattern Lasguns. Spotlights lit up the field in blinding contrasting light from the tanks, only to appear dim still as the mighty Macharius Omega fired its monstrous Plasma Blastgun. When the dual radioactive blue mushroom clouds faded, the majority of the Thunderwolf Cavalry appeared unharmed. Their Stormshields had weathered the worse of the twin blasts! The Macharius began chattering its Heavy Bolters and Heavy Stubber, taking down several Wolfen. Its Hunter Killer Missile cradle raised up and blew another one off of its feet.
Grand Marshal Venner barked orders for Guardsmen Squads to “Bring it Down”, and for Veterans to do the same. The Platoon Commander order Guardsmen to “First Rank Fire! Second Rank Fire!”, setting a deadly cadence for fire rate that maximized the efficiency of the recycle time of the high powered, but slow firing Lucius Lasguns. The Tank Commander gave Orders to his crew to “Bring it Down” because of the Thunderwolves closing in.
First wave consisted of thirty Guardsmen spread across the spearhead. They fired, and due to the high Toughness of the Space Wolf units being deployed, were robbed of the trade off of increased fire power for less shots. Never the less, a few Wolfen went down, smoking holes in their exposed limbs. No training rounds here. Flamers spat their payload and did a fair amount of casualties considering how heavily armoured their targets were. Engineers also had Scouted forward, holding the Orange Objective. They fired Shotguns point blank into the Thunderwolves. Supporting fire came from the Malcador Infernus, who woefully failed to properly drench the Wolfen on the East Flank in promethium. Its Lascannons, Heavy Stubber, and Hunter Killer Missile all fired for minimal effect. In addition, the Malcador Defender lobbed a Demolisher shell into the Thunderwolves, but over shot and only clipped the unit. Its Heavy Bolter pillbox nest chattered, picking of targets in all directions. The Lascannons also fired, dealing damage in each direction.
Second wave engaged as well. They were out of Flamer range, but it consisted of twenty guardsman staggered to fill the gaps so they could reinforce in either direction to keep a strong push. Once again, light casualties were inflicted. The Squad on the East Flank had a note made about their superior marksmanship by Venner, who smiled behind his gasmask as he made a note on his data sheet to enter them into the marksman program afterwards. Scoring 85 percent accuracy was noteworthy. The Tank Commander supported with heavy amounts of Plasma Cannon fire, overloading the cooling coils on the tank but managed to melt one Thunderwolf rider and finishing off another. Once again Heavy Stubber and Hunter Killer Missiles were fired.
Third wave was the Veterans with Grand Marshal Venner. They fired from their second story window, blasting into the West Flank Thunderwolf Cavalry. The Plasma Gunner burned himself into a crisp as it overheated instantly. The Meltaguns, Plasma Pistol, and the rest of the squad’s weapons did substantial damage. Venner injured a rider with his Hotshot Laspistol with contempt. The Mars Alpha Leman Russ Vanquisher blasted rounds into the Thunderwolf Cavalry as well, inflicting serious damage. Its Vanquisher shell failed to arm correctly and bounced violently off the of forcefield of Stormshield, but everything else hit within acceptable parameters.
They finished by ordering a steady volley of flares from a local battery, rendering the sky as bright as day. It was supposed to be a day training, but they did not fell like waiting six hours for daylight.
This was all the time the Krieg at to launch their assault, as the Space Wolves were upon them! On the East Flank, the Wolfen were in an uncontrolled frenzy and through themselves at the closest enemy, which was the Malcador Infernus. It tried to fire its massive Infernus Cannons but they sputtered and clogged. By now, it was apparent that they had been sabotaged by Lukas the Trickster! He was not present on the field, but must have messed with the fuel mix. Their Lightning Claws tore armoured panels off and the champion smashed the tank into pieces with his Thunderhammer. The tank did not explode, but it was destroyed before its crews could get the main weapon operational again.
The Thunderwolf Cavalry on the East Flank split into two units using their Tactical Squad doctrine! Two with Lightning Claws went for the Platoon Command Squad nestled in-between the tanks and the other two went for the Tank Commander. The Platoon Command squad blazed away with their three Meltaguns and Laspistols to no effect, but were able to hide between the tanks, making it difficult to be hit by Lightning Claws. They pounced in return, excited gas mask sounds intensifying as they beat one of the Thunderwolves and its rider to almost death with their shovels. The Stormshield was no protection against the intense beat down they were getting from the entrenching tools. The Tank Commander was hit rather hard by the Thunderhammer and Lightning Claw, but held its ground.
The West Flank found the Wolfen annihilating a ten man unit of Guardsman because they were the closest target. There had been no time to brace with their shovels. The sheer volume of attacks from the Lightning Claws tore everyone to pieces.
On the far reaches of the West Flank, the mighty Njal Stormcaller arrived from Reserves by Deepstriking… directly into the building due to bad intel. Someone did not take into account that Krieg fortify everything with sandbags, dirt, spare bodies, and anything else they can get their grubby little hands on. They spent their surprise arrival digging their way out of a number of unpleasant things that made up the makeshift barricade they teleported into. Unable to cast his spells, the Warlord was left vulnerable!
The Thunderwolves on that flank made it easily to the Macharius Omega. The unit was still dazed from the twin suns exploding off their shields, and only a few Lightning Claw strikes had any effect. In return, it ran over one of the Wolf’s legs but refused to be intimidated.
An annoyed Ursula Creed winced her eyes through the blinds at the steady barrage of flares in the distance. She yanked the curtains closed and went back to sleep. “Bloody Krieg” she muttered.
The same Orders were issued as before, except Venner worked on his Veteran Squad only to maximize their potential. The Tank Commander Ordered the Malcador Defender to “Bring it Down” so they could slay the Warlord before he could do any damage.
The Macharius Omega shifted to hit the vulnerable Warlord. Without his spells to protect them, now was the time to strike! The Plasma Blastgun, a Heavy Bolter, and the Heavy Stubber hammered the unit hard. The Chief Apothecary was still trapped under rubble and was unable to stop his battle brothers from being incinerated. Their charred outlines were blasted deep into the paint of his armour. Njal tried to intercept the blast for his fellows, and paid dearly with massive amounts of 3rd degree burns and losing a few fingers. The other Heavy Bolter chattered its rounds into the Thunderwolves, injuring one further.
Next, the Malcador Defender hammered the Terminators with its Demolisher cannon and a variety of heavy machine guns. other targets were peppered with bolter fire. The Mars Alpha Vanquisher fired all weapons point blank. The commander estimated the main cannon to be at 4 meters from its target and blew the torso right out of a Terminator. The unit was massively destroyed by the incoming rounds. Once again, the Chief Apothecary was unable to assist his brothers for some reason.
The Veterans fired from above on the Thunderwolf Cavalry. The Stormshields must have been overloaded by the Plasma Blastgun because they failed to stop just about everything, slaying two of them.
The second wave came out from the building and fired at close range into the Wulfen. Their Stormshields also were malfunctioning and many began to die.
The engineers joined fire, and saw similar effect much to the delight of the Commissar.
On the East Flank, the Stormshields of the Wolfen also failed. While unknown if they share a server is some kind of network to function because of the loss of understanding with technology, the failures were painfully apparent. A remaining first wave squad blasted into them as well, causing casualties.
The Tank Commander had split its fire all around, and claimed equal kills in friendly Engineers and enemy Wolfen. A fair trade by the Krieg standards.
The Rough Riders thundered in from the back line, and tossed two demolition charges into the unsplit squad of Tactical Marines and pumped them full of las weapons. One charge clipped a rider, but the Tactical marines were nearly obliterated! Even the horses had gas masks, adding to the noise in the nightmares the Space Wolves would have for years to come.
As the gun fire lulled for a moment, the East Flank saw a very eager remnant of the first wave Charge as far as humanly possible against the Wolfen!
The second wave joined them hot on their heels with an eagerness that made Grand Marshal Venner tear up with pride, but none could see it behind his gasmask. The sound of excited gasmasks intensified, and the slathering Wolfen had a moment of doom come upon them!
Krieg swarmed all over them! Shovels beating them senseless and Sergeants dual wielding Shovels and Power Swords hacked at them with fury! They responded with a more primal kind of fury and Counterattacked!
Many Wolfen were slain, but two Guardsmen remained and continued the fight!
The Platoon Command Squad grimly carried on their fight, decapitating one of the Thunderwolf Marines with a shovel while the Enginseer pummeled another one in the ribs with his Servo Arm. He also found time to try and keep fixing the Tank Commander’s vent issue with his Plasma Cannons.
The Tank Commander continued to drive erratically, making it impossible for the Sergeant to get a hit with the Thunderhammer! He got scratched up by the Lightning Claw again, nearly losing his tank but kept on fighting.
On the West Flank the Engineer Sergeant, Commissar, and the squad from the second wave caught the Wolfen in the middle! Once again Power Swords flashed, Shovels bonked on ceramite, and gas mask noises permeated the auditory sensors of the Space Wolf helmets.
This time though, more practical results came out, leaving just a lone Commissar to hold the line, barely alive. But the exchange for a Wolfen and injuring another plus the Sergeant was worth it!
The Space Wolves responded by firing flame weapons and charging into the Rough Riders. The split squad in the middle of the field joined them in a desperate attempt to halt the rear assault.
The Sergeants were equipped with Power Swords and Stormshields, and they made short work of the horseman. The marines had their Astarte Combat Knives, but struggled to get good stabs in with them. In return, the Rough Riders did light damage but held the their ground.
On the West Flank Thunderwolves Hit the Macharius Omega on the side! Its punishment of the Terminator squad would not go unanswered! they smashed it solidly, disabling the Heavy Bolter on the left side and forced the commander to close the hatch, removing the Heavy Stubber from the equation for a bit. It still held the line but failed to do anything in return.
The Terminator Squad limped its way towards the Mars Alpha Vanquisher and smashed it into pieces. Its Overwatch fire was very inaccurate and it did not have a chance against the two Thunderhammer wielding Sergeants that got on its side. The Commander attempted to chuck an Entrenching Tool at Njal but it missed.
The speed of the Wolfen could not be matched, and the Commissar died holding them at bay as long as briefly possible.
The Platoon Command Squad dueled with the last Thunderwolf. Shovels bonked, Power Swords hummed, Lightning Claws flashed like Lightning, and no one was injured as the Krieg relentlessly pushed back without giving ground.
The Tank Commander continued to have his driver careen up and down the street, dodging Thunderwolves, Lightning Claws, and Thunderhammer swings. He even managed to slap one in the back of the head with a Shovel as they drove past, but the Space Wolves held their ground!
On the East Flank, the last two Guardsmen were cut down, but held the Wolfen back as long as possible so the spearhead could have the best chance of reforming and pushing!
Ursula Creed’s head popped off her pillow as she sleepily made the connection to what was going on. “Bloody Krieg!” She tugged on her combat boots and raced down to her staff car. Without waiting for her attendant, she slammed it into gear and tore off down the road.
Grand Marshal Venner saw his chance to eliminate Njal Stormcaller or make him prove his worth as a Space Wolf. He pulled his Veterans from the windows and prepared to ruin his day. First, the Macharius Omega gave them another painfully bright radioactive blue dual sun treatment. The Veterans fired next, finishing off Njal with Meltaguns and the final shot coming from the last rifleman firing his Lasgun in cadence with the Order to “First Rank Fire! Second Rank Fire!” that was being issued just for his benefit. During this barrage, the Chief Apothecary managed to patch one of his own Wounds only before being annihilated by titanic plasma blasts!
The Rough Riders were unable to make head way and one the riders was injured. The unit attempted to route, but the Commissar shot him out of the stirrups and they remained to fight! The Entrenching Tools were reliable, but the far more advanced Stormshields were preventing them from making headway.
The hapless Thunderwolves continued to literally hammer at the Macharius Omega but failed to hit. This particular Krieg Battalion had either attended some extreme defensive driving courses or the Thunderhammers were broken, but it survived to continue fighting despite being flanked by marines! The excited gas masks noises from the crew cabin intensified.
The Tank Commander had failed to do more than scorch its hull during the volley fire, and was finally destroyed as it collapsed in on itself. The Thunderwolves howled and got ready to move on to their next target!
Some intense shovel bonking later, the Krieg traded blows on an equal level with the Thunderwolf, leaving it barely alive but refusing to die!
The Wolfen moved to the next closest target, which was the Malcador Defender. They started tearing it down in a frenzy, sending spare parts everywhere and ripping out important pieces that made the machine spirit groan in agony! It tried to push back and crush them, but was incapable of doing so as a slow trench crosser.
It began to retreat but was caught and the fighting resumed!
The Thunderwolves that finished off the Tank Commander moved and engaged the remainder of the second wave. Due to the difficulty of reaching the second floor, the guard were surprisingly able to boop them on the snoot with shovels and keep them at bay. The Commissar got a bit ragdolled by one but survived. Barely. Overall they nearly killed one! With yelps the wolves circled back under the floor and got ready to pounce again.
Meanwhile, the never ending Rough Rider fight continued, with no real change in battle or control!
The Wolfen finished tearing apart the Malcador Defender as if they were Watchers in the Dark and proceeded to move towards the Platoon Command Squad! It seemed nothing could stop their fury!
Ursula arrived at the Krieg’s camp but only a token guard was present. There were large pallets of stun rounds and training packs were still present. None of them had been opened. Swearing, she drove towards the flares.
The fighting became more bitter and intense as the fight became closer. The second wave squad on the East Flank suffered horrific casualties with no return to their sparring partners. It was a training exercise after all. They refused to back down and continued to try and fight back the best they could.
The Rough Rider’s fight took an odd turn of events. The lone Sergeant killed his rivals and the other two marines were cut down by shovels and viscous neck chopping. Warily, they closed in on each other, with gas mask noises giving away how excited the Krieg were.
The Macharius Omega was caught and destroyed, exploding into tons of pieces of debris as its plasma reactor ignited! No damage was done by its titanic explosion though.
CGI Effect Boom!
The Wolfen on the East Flank closed to the Platoon Command Squad. They were brutally annihilated in the frenzy of attacks!
The Wolfen from the West Flank closed in on the beleaguered second wave unit. Surrounded just they way they liked it (that way the shovel cannot miss its mark), they were annihilated as well.
The Rough Riders found their fight turning sour and unable to slay the Marine Sergeant with his Stormshield.
The Commissar decided retreat was necessary, but the Krieg refused. He shot one’s horse out from under him to buy time as he retreated back to friendly lines!
Ursula Creed skidded to a halt in front of Grand Marshal Venner, screaming at him to stop. She realized she had rammed Njal Stormcaller. He was alive, but very much comatose and severely injured. Venner gave her a shrug and announced the training a success.
The battle was won by the Krieg 9 to 7, a Minor Victory! Take aways are that the Space Wolves are very solid, just do not roll 1s on your Stormshield saves like Alex. He had like 40% of his rolls as 1s, 55% as 5+, and 5% as everything else. Definitely an odd dice night but it was a blast to run Krieg again!
Alternate 40k Rules 