Michael is a valued part of the Sydney Mournival crew, and I was lucky enough to line up a game with him at the August 2018 event day.

I used the same 1500 point Centurion list from my game earlier that day against the fearsome Primordial Ednihilator:

+Legate Commander- charnabal sabre & inferno pistol

+Veletaris- power axes

+Veletaris- power axes

+Charonite Ogryns x8

+Magos Dominus

+Tech Thralls x20- rite of pure thought, carapace armour

+Domitars x3

Michael fielded an attractive and versatile list composed of staunch cobalt-blue Astartes from the XIIIth Legion:

+Forge Lord- thunder hammer, servo arm

+Master of Signal

+Cataphractii Terminators- combi meltas, chainfists

+Tactical Marines x 10

+Tactical Marines x 10

+Tactical Support Marines x 5- plasma guns

+Legion Seeker Marines x 6- 3 combi plasmas

+Deredeo Dreadnought- anvillus autocannon, aiolos missile launcher

My army is decidedly non-standard, and lacks significant shooting in favour of two powerful and expensive close combat units- the Ogryn Charonites, and the allied Mechanicum Domitar-Class battle automata.

The Ogryn Charonites are about a third of the points cost of the whole army, and will be able to shred apart the Ultramarine’s power-armoured troops with their S6 AP3 Charonite claws. But only if they get close enough!

Each force deployed in opposite corners of the battlefield, separated by the open ground of a dried riverbed. Without much shooting to fear, the Ultramarines deployed mostly in the open. The Solar Auxilia and Mechanicum forces took advantage of some ruined petrochemical refinery infrastructure for cover.

Thanks as always must go to the skilled and industrious Dom, who crafted the beautiful terrain.

In the opening moments of the battle, the Mechanicum Tech-Thralls are sent forwards as a skirmishing line, while the rest of the force moves up. While it may seem harsh on the Thralls to make them walk straight into oncoming fire, they are lobotomised servitors created from the worst criminals. Compared to the other troops, they are fairly expendable.

Advancing behind the Ogryns is the Solar Auxilia Legate Commander, accompanied by a unit of Veletaris bodyguards wielding ornate power axes.

The other unit of Veletaris axemen move up into the cover of an abandoned silo, next to the lumbering Domitars. The big robots fire some krak missiles from their carapace-mounted launchers, doing some minor damage to the distant Ultramarines.

The Astartes move up into firing positions. If they don’t start dealing significant damage to the Solar Auxilia and Mechanicum as soon as possible, they will be slaughtered in combat.

The event was using the Points of Interest System pioneered by the Eye of Horus Podcast. A randomly determined number of Points of Interest markers are distributed across the battlefield, offering chances of friendly characters, useful equipment, or encounters with hostile beasts.

The Sergeant of the Legion Seeker team investigates a mysterious noise near an old pipeline…

…And is pounced on by a clutch of rogue murder-servitors! Hazards such as these are part of the dangers of fighting over uncharted industrial wastelands. Before the servitors can strike, the Legion Seekers raise their bolters, unleashing a torrent of special-issue ammunition.

Eager to be free of such irritants, the Seekers call upon support from the Deredeo Dreadnought. The venerable war machine stomps over and unleashes a blizzard of rapid shots with its anvillus autocannon array. The high-calibre shells pound the skeletal servitors into scrap metal and drizzles of oil.

Having dealt with the unexpected murder-servitors, the Seekers resume their focus on their primary enemy, moving into optimal range.

The Tech-Thralls and Ogryns continue their advance toward the foe. The Thralls clumsily fire their laslocks, but do negligible damage.

Without warning, a piercing shriek sounds in the air above the Ogryns. A trio of aiolos missiles from the Deredeo plunges down and blows of the big abhuman infantry apart. Confused by the direction of the attack, the Ogryns fail a leadership check and are pinned!

Michael made great use of the Deredeo’s ability to split fire, slaying the hostile servitor encounter with autocannons, and saving the pinning missiles for the Ogryns. This has delayed their advance, something the Solar Auxilia cannot afford.

The Tech-Thralls continue their forlorn march into the teeth of enemy bolter fire, losing several of their number. If they tie up a couple of enemy units for a while, it’ll be worth their sacrifice.

Combined shooting from the Deredeo, the Seekers, and a couple of other Astartes units manage to drop one of the mighty Domitars. Every loss is a significant blow to their combat effectiveness, they need to get into combat before it’s too late!

The remaining Domitars snap off missiles in the direction of the enemy army, doing little. The axemen creep forwards in the wake of the automata, so far unharmed.

A critical point has been reached in the battle, a momentary calm before the storm. The Magos Dominus directs the two surviving Domitars, preparing them for a desperate headlong charge. Two Tech-Thralls, the hapless survivors of multiple boltgun volleys, stumble aimlessly in no-man’s land.

The two opposing lines close, knowing the next few minutes will determine the outcome of the conflict. The arid crust of the riverbed is churned by armoured feet. Dust swirls in spirals, carried by wind whistling over the rocky outcrops.

The Ogryns resume their forward advance, this time directly supervised by the Legate Commander, who urges them on. Unfortunately, they are too slow to get into combat, and must spend more time running.

The Domitars surge out ahead of the rest of the army, and charge into the Cataprhactii Terminators. The last remaining Tech-Thrall makes it into combat alongside them.

Spurred on by the example of the Domitars, the Veletaris axemen run up and leap into combat with the Seekers. The Ultramarine sharpshooters manage to snap off some defensive bolter shots, cutting down two axemen with tungsten-cored kraken rounds that ignore the Veletaris’ reinforced void armour.

The Seekers try to fend off the axemen, swinging power-armoured fists and using the bolters as clubs. But it is not enough. The eight remaining human warriors bring down their axes in powerful overhead chops, killing most of the Seekers outright. The last few turn to fall back, hoping to regroup and bring their guns to bear, but the axmen run them down, finishing them off.

The Domitars stride into combat, raining down blows with the Graviton Hammers mounted on their fists. The Terminators stand their ground, resisting most of the crushing attacks with the aid of their Cataphractii plate and its built-in defence fields. One of the Terminators turns and saws apart the last Thrall with a contemptuous flick of his chainfist.

A couple of Terminators are knocked down and crushed into a tangled mass of broken, bloody armour. But in return, they manage to batter one of the Domitars senseless. it topples over, critically damaged.

The combat grinds on, with one Domitar and the Magos Dominus remaining to fight against the Cataphractii and Forge Lord.

The axemen, fresh from killing the Legion Seekers, decide to flank the Terminators, hoping to strike them from behind and assist the lone Domitar. However, a giant figure looms in the distance.

The Deredeo cycles up its powerful weapons, and ruthlessly guns down six of the Veletaris. The autocannon shells punch into the human soldiers with so much force that there is nothing left of them but red mist and a few smoking shreds of green cloth.

Despite the horrendous casualties, the Veletrais Prime and one other axeman refuse to run, standing ready to sell their lives dearly in the ongoing struggle.

Having avoided taking any damage so far, the plasma gunners led by the Master of Signal move up and fire searing beams into the Ogryn Charonites.

Multiple lances of white-hot energy burn into the leading Ogryn, slaying him. Bolter shots from a nearby tactical squad also take their toll.

The Domitar smashes its fist into another Terminator, flinging the heavily armoured man across the sandy landscape like a child’s toy. But the Forge Lord steps up to meet the war machine, swinging his crackling thunder hammer.

With a roar of effort, the Ultramarines leader cripples the Domitar’s leg, then delivers another swing which caves in the automata’s central logic processor. It shorts out, and the battle construct falls silent. The other Terminators gang up on the Magos Dominus and punch him to pieces.

Triumphant, the Terminators stride onward. The rest of the Astartes fire disciplined, controlled bursts into the Ogryns, killing more with plasma shots and autocannon bursts.

The Auxilia Commander desperately weighs up his options. His forces have been reduced to three Ogryns and a mere handful of axemen.

One unit of axemen charge the Terminators and Forge Lord, happy to take their chances instead of waiting in the open to endure the Ultramarine’s fearsome ranged attacks.

The Axemen and Terminators strike at the same time. The brave Solar Auxilia manage to cut down all the Cataphractii, but only in exchange for many of their own lives. A particularly talented or lucky axeman even manages to wound the Forge Lord, slicing a deep gouge into his thigh plating.

The Ogryns try to charge, but before they can close the distance, Ultramarines tactical squads and the Deredeo move in to support the wounded Forge Lord.

A torrential hail of bolter fire and plasma bolts slams into the Charonites, scything two of them down. The Legate Commander looks on in horror, but there is nothing he can do but try to avoid the shots himself.

The last Ogryn is executed with a stream of autocannon shells from the Deredeo while it struggles to get to grips with the tactical squad. Ignoring the corpse of the Ogryn and the now unguarded Legate Commander, the bolter-armed Astartes charge into combat to rescue their commander from the axes of the Veletaris.

Despite their best efforts, the axemen cannot stand up to the massed attacks of the tactical squad. They are knocked to the sand and murdered with efficient strokes of combat blades.

One last axemen, the Veletarii Prime from the squad that originally fought the Seekers, tries in vain to charge the tactical squad, shouting in defiance to the last moment. He is gunned down without mercy. The Forge Lord sees the lone Legate Commander, and walks over to confront him.

Gritting his teeth against his wounds, the Forge Lord barks out a challenge to the Legate Commander, who is now completely alone. The Anatolian Auxilia officer sees a brief chance to snatch some measure of victory from the situation. He pulls out his inferno pistol, and fires a point-blank shot, hoping to burn the enemy character into molten slag. The shot hits and wounds…

But the Forge Lord’s artificer battle plate deflects the hit with its powerful energy field. The Legate Commander has no choice but to fight in a close combat duel.

He is the faster of the two, and slips in to deliver a blinding series of cuts with his charnabal sabre. The blade is old and sharp, made by the finest Terran craftsmen, but it proves unable to pierce Terminator armour. The Commander jumps back out of reach, narrowly avoiding the swinging thunder hammer.

The two leaders pace backwards and forwards, each trying to gain the upper hand. For all the Forge Lord’s superior armour and weapons, he is wounded already, and one more well-placed cut could mean his doom.

The remaining Ultramarines gather round. Some make moves to help their senior officer, but the Forge Lord shouts them down, ordering them to honour the sanctity of the ongoing single combat.

Dust wafts over the battlefield, which is now totally silent but for the the sound of hurried footsteps, and the ring of steel on steel. The Legate Commander executes a deft twist of his sabre, stabbing it under the Forge Lord’s arm. But the Rending hit is turned aside once again by the defensive power field. The panting Auxilia leader ducks and weaves to avoid the crackling thunder hammer.

But finally, as he rises to make another attack, the Forge Lord’s servo-arm reaches down and clamps around the Legate’s shoulder, holding him in place. His eyes go wide with surprise. The thunder hammer descends. The men cheer.

Total victory to the XIIIth Legion!

The Forge Lord lets the body of the Legate Commander fall to the sand, and delivers a rousing speech.

Oh noes! Michael cleverly used his army to whittle down my units one by one, prioritising and dealing with each threat in turn. He managed to do this despite some bad luck with environment hazards.

I just mindlessly ran my whole army forwards, without much finesse, so I couldn’t have expected too much of a different outcome. Still, I wonder what might have happened if the Ogryns weren’t delayed by being pinned in Turn 1…

Thanks for reading. Please check out the my other battle reports, Michael’s inspiring Instagram account, and the Eye of Horus Podcast if you’re not already a listener. Fully painted is for closers.