Battle Report: IG vs Sisters of Battle

"READY YOUR LASGUNS!" commanded Lt. Klinp of the Hetalian 34th regiment. As he barked his orders a squad of men began bursting into red mist as bolter fire from the advancing Adepta Sororitas began to rake the gun line of guardsman. His command squad was covering in the rear of an abandoned earth mover, overlooking the scene of devastation below. His unit began to open up on the sisters, but the lasguns rarely found a weak spot in the power army of the Sororitas. 

Today I had my first game against a Witch Hunter army. I did not know exactly what to expect from them, since I knew that they are slightly weaker marines. I did learn some lessons about the dangers of jump troops in this game, but in the end my men prevailed against the sisters.

As a caveat, my opponent was very new to the hobby, and it shows in some decisions of his. To be fair, I tried to give him as much advice as possible when it came to shooting and assaulting, but some decisions it is hard not to wonder why he decided to do it that way. I would argue that he was overly cautious with an assault army, and that he lacked the heavy weaponry to deal with my army. But anyway, on to the battle report.

34th Hetalian Regiment 
Company Command Squad - Bolt Pistol, 2x Sniper, Vox-Caster
Infantry Platoon
   Platoon Command Squad - Vox-Caster
   Infantry Squad - Grenade Launcher, Vox-Caster
   Infantry Squad - Grenade Launcher, Vox-Caster
   Infantry Squad - Flamer, Vox-Caster
   Heavy Weapon Squad - 3xLascannon
Infantry Platoon
   Platoon Command Squad - Vox-Caster
   Infantry Squad - Grenade Launcher, Vox-Caster
   Infantry Squad - Grenade Launcher, Vox-Caster
   Infantry Squad - Flamer, Vox-Caster
   Heavy Weapon Squad - 2xHeavy Bolter, Autocannon
Hellhound
Leman Russ Battle Tank - Lascannon, 2x Heavy Bolter

992 points

Sisters of Battle
To be honest, I never got his army list, so this list is a rough approximation.

Adepta Sororitas Heroine
2x Battle Sisters Squads, each with 2x Flamers
2x Seraphim Squads, 2x Hand Flamers
Immolator


Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Spearhead

We set up terrain and rolled for first turn. My opponent won that roll and decided to deploy first. He placed his army and I placed mine on the opposite corner.

I deployed my army in a wide arch with the plan to kill the sisters before they reached my lines. My plan was to use the hill to cover my Leman Russ, which would be the anchor of my gun line. The hell hound and the ten man squad behind it would attempt to flank the sisters, with the ten man squad's role being to protect the hellhound from infantry. To reduce kill points on the board I combined by infantry squads with grenade launchers from each platoon.

I failed to seize the initiative so he played first.

 This picture shows the end of his turn. He moved his immolator 12" forward, and marched and ran almost everything else forward 6". I wasn't certain at the time, but I believe that he didn't know that his seraphims could move 12". He also didn't move the battle sister squad in the read. These two mistakes hurt him further down the line. He also exposed his immolator to my 3 lascannon heavy weapon squad and my Leman Russ. I think that it would have been wiser to stay out of sight this turn and move 6" next turn to try to get a multimelta shot off at my tank.

This photo shows the end of my shooting phase. Starting on the upper left; I moved the twenty man squad and the platoon command squad together, and used the "move!move!move!" order to get them as far forward as possible. This advance actually ends up costing the lives of a good many guardsmen. I moved my company command squad forward to begin climbing the hill. The heavy weapon squad on the hill and the Leman Russ both shot at the battle sister squad in the center (the blue squad). Together they killed 9 sisters, forcing a leadership test that he passed. The large infantry squad in the center moved to provide cover to the Leman Russ, and was issued the order "Incoming!" which they passed. The lascannons attempted to pop the immolator, but all three missed their target. Finally the hellhound and the ten man squad moved forward 12" with help of the "Move!Move!Move!" order. The hellhound fired its incinerator cannon at a seriphim squad, killing 1.

My biggest mistake this round resulting from deployment. The "Bring it down!" order requires that the officer have live of sight to the target. My deployment of my company commander gave him absolute no vision of the board. Had I had that order I probably would have hit that immolator and destroyed it this round. I also should have been more cautious with my infantry squads on the left. They are largely exposed and turn into red mush next round.

This photo shows the end of my movement on turn 2 (I forgot to take a shot after the end of his turn). On his turn he decided that he needed that sister battle squad in the read to get into the fight and began to move them forward. He also moved his seriphims and the blue battle sister squad into closer positions again (still only at 6"). In his shooting phase he opened up at the twenty man squad on the left. I lost 15 men out of 20 in that round of shooting, but they passed their leadership test. His immolator also fired at my Leman Russ, but missed. If he had moved his seriphims 12" each turn he would have been in close combat this turn, which really would have saved him a lot of trouble over the next few turns.

During my turn I moved the remnants of the infantry squad on the left forward and moved the platoon command squad into the read of that truck. They both attempted to kill some more sisters in the blue battle sister squad, and with the help of the heavy bolters on the hill, killed four. The Leman Russ shot its cannon at the battle sister squad in the rear of his army, killing nine. The company command squad continued to climb the hill in an attempt to get some line of sight for my commander. The large infantry squad covering the tank were still "gone to ground" from the order. The hellhound and infantry squad continued their flanking, with the hellhound killing two more seriphims.

End of his third turn. He must have finally remember to move his seriphims 12" a turn, because he sets up both seriphims for a charge. He also shots the remnants of the infantry squad on the left, wiping them off of the table. The seriphims on the right shot into the ten man squad, and so do some stray shots from the battle sister squad that finally joing the right. They killed five, forcing a failed leadership test. They ran like the wind 11" toward my board edge. His seriphims in the middle shot their pistols and charge into my large squad in the middle. They win the combat by 6, forcing my to take a leadership test at ld 2, which i soundly fail. The remaining men bite the dust in the initiative test. He just earned 2 kill points.

End of my turn. The panicking squad runs off of the table. Combined firepower from my heavy weapon squad and platoon command squad kill two more sisters from the blue squad, forcing a leadership test that they pass. The squads in the middle and the leman russ (forgoing the battle cannon because of the proximity) attack the seriphims, killing two of them. My hellhound kills a handful more of the sisters from the white squad. His seriphims failed a leadership but passed it next turn.

That was actually the last picture that I took, so I must finish with words alone!

His seriphims rally and shot into and charge the ten man squad behind the leman russ. He actually kills a handful in the shooting phase, but fails to wound any in the assault phase. That squad killed one seriphim, but the sisters remain. The seriphims on the right move up onto the hill and shot into and charge the company command squad up there. They take four wounds, leaving only the company commander to fend for himself.

I counter charge my entire gunline, killing the last of those seriphims. The combat on the hill also with my commander dead. We finish off the blue squad with a round of shooting, and my leman russ and hellhound cause more damage to the white sister squad.

He charges the seriphim into the heavy weapon squad on the hill. The last two seriphim cause no wounds in the combat, and I get lucky and cause one. He fails the leadership and runs. The heroine finally does something and charges my leman russ with a melta bomb, but it fails hit since the leman moved.

I finish off the last seriphim and tank shock the heroine. She Death or Glory!'s it, but fails to stop my leman russ from crushing her under its tracks. That ends the game with a tabling. I had 6 KPs, and he had 4, so I also won by that measure.

I believe that this battle went my way for two reasons: my opponents inexperience and the Leman Russ. As I noted earlier, if he had moved his seriphims 12" each turn he would have hit my lines earlier, spelling doom for my firepower. He also should have had the other sister squad dealing bolter fire of doom earlier. His heroine also did almost nothing the whole game, which was a waste of points in my opinion. The Leman Russ also pulled a lot of weight this game, killing over 20 sisters itself. Had my opponent more anti-tank though this match might have ended differently. None the less it was a fun game and good learning experience for both of us.