A Rather Daemonic Rumble in the Jungle

The Vilniaus 39th encounters the Chaos Daemons for the first time

Hello and a very belated Happy New Year! My plans of having a post nice and early to reflect on 2023 and discuss my plans for this year have been derailed by an upcoming house move. But in the meantime, here’s a battle report from a game I did a couple of weeks ago!

A couple of firsts in this battle report:

• First time on a jungle map! This was aesthetically absolutely wonderful, and also changed things up - our forces were very much canalised from the outset and prevented from moving in many directions. Dark Sphere really does a great job with their terrain and layout every time.

• First time against Chaos Daemons. I’ve fought Chaos before, but never the completely daemonic variety. It certainly included some different considerations, like their focus on invulnerable saves instead of armour saves.

I’ll provide the scoring at the end, but in the meantime here’s the usual report from Lt Spade…

After Action Report: Engagement with Forces of Tzeentch

Reported by: Lt. Spade, Vilnius 39th Astra Militarum

Summary Info

• Date of Engagement: [REDACTED]

• Location: Jungle Outskirts, [REDACTED]

• Commanding Officer: Lord Solar

• Engaged Enemy: Vile Servants of Tzeentch

Forces Deployed

Friendly Forces:

• Lord Solar leading a platoon of Cadian Shock Troops.

• A Primaris Psyker with Mordian Iron Guard in a Chimera.

• 1x Leman Russ Battle Tank.

• 1x Scout Sentinel.

• 1x Rogal Dorn.

Enemy Forces:

• A Daemon Prince of Tzeentch, a twisted abomination against the Emperor's light.

• An Exalted Flamer, a monstrous harbinger of destruction and fire.

• A Lord of Change, a deceitful and malevolent entity of chaos.

• 2 squads of Pink Horrors, the gibbering and grotesque foot soldiers of anarchy.

• Flamers, incendiary fiends of the warp.

• Screamers, sky-bound horrors, scourge of the faithful.

Operational Summary

Dawn of Battle and Strategic Deployment

The Vilnius 39th, stalwart defenders of humanity, faced the unspeakable horrors of Tzeentch's minions. With strategic brilliance, Lord Solar and his troops took positions, ready to confront the warp-spawned terror.

The Vilniaus 39th deploys for battle. The main force deploys in the centre, with the Rogal Dorn ready to charge down the left, and the Sentinel eyeing up an objective on thr right.

Lord Solar himself leads the move into the jungle.

Opening Skirmishes

In a display of righteous fury, the Sentinel engaged the accursed Screamers, while the Leman Russ unleashed hellfire upon the vile Flamers.

The Leman Russ Battle Tank surges to support the right flank, pouring fire on the enemy Flamers. The Sentinel supports with it’s plasma cannon and hunter killer missile.

Rogal Dorn, our bastion of strength, grievously wounded the Lord of Change, a symbol of the Emperor's might against chaos.

The Rogal Dorn opens up on the monstrousity as it guns up the left flank.

Enemy Response

As the enemy forces surged to meet us, our Armoured Fist squad attempted to intervene. Our Psyker's brave attempt to unleash a psychic maelstrom from the weapons hatch was unfortunately unsuccessful. The heavy flamer, however, killed some enemy horrors. The Chimera, a testament to Imperial engineering, withstood an onslaught from an enemy Daemon Prince.

Our Sentinel valiantly retaliated against the twisted Screamer and Flamer onslaught.

At the top you see the Sentinel bracing for impact. Meanwhile, both forces converge in the jungle.

Escalation of Conflict

With Lord Solar's inspiring command, the Sentinel continued to contest the objective against the foul enemy.

The Leman Russ - true to it’s namesake - surges forwards to help contest an objective, by running down the enemy!

The Rogal Dorn, in a glorious act, obliterated the Lord of Change. The Daemon Prince, a fiend of Tzeentch, remained locked in combat with our Chimera.

The Rogal Dorn moments before annihilating the enemy Lord of Change with it’s multimeltas.

The Chimera braves the melee onslaught from the Daemon Prince.

Tzeentch's Counter

The Chimera’s flamers wreaked havoc among the Horrors as they continued to advance, while the daemonspawn inflicted losses upon our Cadian Shock Troops. The relentless Daemon Prince continued its futile assault.

Despite taking heavy losses, the diminished Cadian Shock platoon relentlessly advances towards the foe, led by Lord Solar.

Crushing the Foe

Our relentless Leman Russ and heroic Cadian Shock Troops systematically dismantled the enemy forces, showcasing the indomitable spirit of the Imperium.

The Mordian Iron Guard, having dismounted from the Chimera, support the Cadian Shock. They advance in orderly ranks to engage the Horrors and Daemon Prince.

The Chimera, after a heroic stand, fell to the Daemon Prince, detonating in a blaze of glory.

Final Blow

The Daemon Prince, a creature of pure evil, continued its relentless attacks, narrowly avoiding its deserved demise. In a moment of Imperial supremacy, the Rogal Dorn vanquished the Daemon Prince with it’s multimeltas.

‘REVERSE GEAR!’ The Rogal Dorn rapidly reverses to take aim at the Daemon prince.

The Leman Russ, an avatar of Imperial might, eradicated the last remnants of the Tzeentchian scum.

The final shot of the game - the Leman Russ moves towards the centre, eliminating the final Horrors from the jungle with a blast from it’s battle cannon.

Casualties

• Moderate casualties among the Cadian Shock Troops.

• The heroic sacrifice of the Chimera.

• Minor damage to the Scout Sentinel and Rogal Dorn.

Recommendations

• Intensify training against warp entities and psychic threats.

• Enhance Chimera armament and defensive capabilities.

• Continue refining aggressive armored warfare and rapid response strategies.

Conclusion

The Vilnius 39th, under the unwavering leadership of Lord Solar, faced the horrors of Tzeentch and emerged victorious. Each unit, displaying unparalleled bravery and tactical prowess, contributed to the annihilation of these foul enemies of the Imperium. This engagement stands as a resounding declaration of our eternal vigilance and unwavering resolve in the face of chaos.

Lt. Spade, Vilnius 39th Astra Militarum

Overall a fun game. As I mentioned this was my first time against Chaos Daemons. The way that Pink Horrors on death can split into Blue Horrors, which can then become Brimstone Horrors, was actually quite hilarious, and really highlighted the advantages of focus firing to eliminate enemies.

As you can see below, in the need I was reasonably lucky with my secondaries, able to get a few points at least most turns. Because of my antics on the right flank with the Leman Russ and the Sentinel, I also maintained decent control of the Primaries all game.

I was a bit delayed getting this battle report out, and have since then had an extremely fun game against the T’au Empire, so stay tuned for another battle report soon!

Thanks for reading.