hmmmm... i'm known for having sound tactics and themed, but fun and competitive army lists! it's just too bad my dice are rubbish
anyways, the following is a combat patrol report from my gw store's summer campaign.
the pts values were 230pts.
guard drop troops (me!)
troops; infantry platoon:
JO w/bolter. staff; rocket launcher, grenade launcher
alpha squad; vet sergeant w/bolter. heavy bolter, grenade launcher
delta squad; vet sergeant w/shotgun. heavy bolter, grenade launcher
recce squad; 6-man remnent squad w/flamer.
fast attack; ignis squad - sentinel w/heavy flamer
ultramarines
hq; captain w/plasma pistol, power weapon & termie honours
troops; tactical squad - 6 marines w/bolters.
troops; tactical squad - 7 marines w/bolter. 1 rocket launcher.
fast attack; land speeder w/heavy bolter.
deployment: we deployed in opposit corners. i chose to deploy alpha squad at the front of my zone, thereby forcing my opponent back further into his deployment zone. delta squad took-up position on my right flank in the 2nd floor of a building. platoon command sat back on some rubble behind alpha squad, while recce squad deployed along the front of the building delta squad was defending.
my opponent deployed his marines to either side of a big rubble pile while his speeder sat back out of sight...
our objective was to capture the central building.
my basic plan was to use recce squad and the sentinel as bait to force my opponent's hand. once the marines commited, i would open up with everything! if my opponent moved cautiously, alpha squad would move forwards and take the objective under cover-fire from delta squad and my command squad!
turns 1-2:
i lost the dice for first turn, and the ultramarines began by moving the capatin and the 6-man tactical squad around the right side of the central building, while the speeder and rocket launcher squad moved around the left side...
recce squad slowly pushed forwards, supported by the sentinel to try and surprise the ultramarine captain!
as the marines kept on moving, the only shooting was alpha squad's heavy bolter and platoon command's krak rockets which repeatidly shook the land speeder!!!
turn 3-4:
the ultramarine captain saw the heavy flamer on the sentinel and immediately fired his plasma pistol, rupturing the promeathium tanks and destroying the sentinel in a spectacular fireball! however, recce squad took up positions near the wreck and flame trooper Ricard unleashed a burst of white-hot flame which consumed 2 space marines! delta squad added their firepower, but unfortunately only a single heavy bolter round found it's mark amid all the heavy smoke! the shot bounced harmlessly from the space marine's armour.
on my left, the tactical squad with the rocket launcher continued to inch forwards, but were still invisible amongst all the ruins. alpha squad and the command squad continued to pour krak rockets and heavy bolter shells into the land speeder, but yet again, either missed out-right or else only shook the crew...
recovering from the flames of recce squad, the ultramarine captain lead his warriors into combat with the guardsmen! though all the brave guardsmen died, the space marines suddenly realised their folly as now the other 25 guardsmen were pointing their guns right at them!!!
the trap was sprung and retribution was at hand! however, it was at this point that everything fell apart... despite *everyone* being in rapid fire range, not a single space marine fell!!! (i fired 34 las shots, 4 bolter shots, 2 krak grenades, 6 heavy bolter shots and a krak rocket!) in spite of all of this, i cause a grand total of 5 wounds and of corse, my opponent easily made all his saves
turns 5-6
enraged by the firestorm unleashed by the guardsmen, the ultramarines captain and his battle brothers rushed into the building delta squad was holding and ruthlessly cut them down in two rounds of combat! despite out-numbering the marines 2-1 and striking with I10 in the first round! i didn't even hit with a single attack!!! the space marines swept forwards towards my command section, the terrain hardly slowing them at all!
the now un-shaken speeder (damn, you'd of thunk 9 heavy bolter shots and 3 krak rockets would have sorted it out?!) gunned down 3 men from alpha squad
the tactical squad with the rocket launcher, who had finally made it into a firing position near the objective building, opened-up and killed 5 more guardsmen! (yep, you guessed it! i failed all five 4+ cover saves...)
the final turn saw my command section get butchered by the rampaging captain while the rest of the ultramarines wiped out the few survivors of alpha squad...
and so at the end, i lost every last model in my army and killed... 2 space marines
even the staff were beside themselves with disbelief and a good deal of laughter as the dice just seemed to kick me again and again...
i had been surprised my opponent had fallen for my obvious bait, and nearly cried when an entire platoon couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from inside of it!!! (delta squad did the worst - they managed 4 entire hits out of 20 shots!)
also letting me down was rolling four 1's on the glancing hits table trying to down that ruddy land speeder...
ah well, hopefully you have enjoyed this (rather one-sided!) battle report, and have had a few chuckles at my appauling luck!
cheers!