Civil War, Sort Of

For some time Patriarch Vexermillidies had been troubled by doubts. For many years his cult had grown strong on Pruscilla, an Agri-world of little note. Then came the Custodes. A vicious battle had been fought and won and the invaders were eradicated. Vexermillidies had been sorely wounded in the battle by the accursed Custodian's axe and had very nearly lost his life. What had been particularly galling was the siren song of the Star Children had been growing stronger signifying their proximity. After his head wound however, the siren song had become a grating screech. Thus it had been for months and then Star Children had arrived. The nearer they came the more it pained the Patriarch, to such an extent that when the bio-forms started landing his cult, rather than aiding the invaders, they were mentally commanded to gather once more around Custrad Castille. The Tyranid creature in the temple that had been protected for many seasons had become agitated that the cult were not attacking with the Star Children. It sent out a pheromone signal to attract attention of it's peers. Vexermillidies, head pounding flew into a rage and eviscerated the creature after a brief struggle. Still raging the Patriarch removed the head of the creature and hurled it into the central square outside the temple beside a transmitting device. The pheromone  signal however, did not cease and a spearhead of Tyranid creatures arrived to find out the source of the signal. By this time a large portion of the cult had assembled and the pain in Vexermillidies was increasing, the only possible solution was to kill all the Tyranids on Pruscilla to bring relief, that was the start of second battle of Custrad Castille.

The Battle of Custrad Castille

Patriarch Vexermillidies was in a state of agitation. Agri-world Pruscilla was going to be subjugated, of that there was no doubt. The Cult had control of the small province of Custrado and was starting to send out enthralled merchants and workers to spread the infiltration. No, this wasn't a problem, what was of concern was the word that a considerable force of Adeptus Custodes had landed in the capital Demidrullio and were now speeding towards Custrado, knowing that conflict was inevitable Vexermilledies sent out a mental command to his cult to meet in the hills just outside Castille Custrad, as a distraction must be caused to protect the contents of the temple. It would be vital to neutralise the force before they could discover what was in the Castille, no matter the cost.

Greetings, back in August I had the pleasure of a game of 40K against Billy with his very nicely painted Adeptus Custodes army. Having never played them before, I was rather looking forward to it. A quick look at the codex was pretty interesting reading. Everything is T5 (or above) with 2+ armour saves and other de-buffs to make killing them difficult. The best thing about them though is they come in small numbers. They also are very tasty in close combat. Pretty good at shooting too. So the main feature of these guys are they plod forward killing the enemy at will shrugging off lots of small arms fire and probably a fair bit of slightly bigger arms fire. So the battle will be all about will my expendable hordes be up to the task of killing 25 or so unexpendable warriors of the Emperor.

HQ;
Shield Captain in Allarus Terminator Armor: Castellan Axe
Shield-Captain on Dawneagle Jetbike: Hurricane Bolter, Superior Creation, Warlord. Auric Aquilis
Troops;
Custodian Guard Squad. Custodian: Sentinel Blade, Storm Shield. Custodian: Sentinel Blade, Storm Shield. Custodian: Guardian Spear
Custodian Guard Squad. Custodian: Sentinel Blade, Storm Shield. Custodian: Sentinel Blade, Storm Shield. Custodian: Guardian Spear
Custodian Guard Squad. Custodian: Guardian Spear. Custodian: Guardian Spear. Custodian:Guardian Spear
Elites;Allarus Custodians . 5 x Allarus Custodian: Castellan Axe.
Vexillus Praetor: Storm Shield, Vexilla Defensor
Fast Attack;
Vertus Praetors. 9x Vertus Praetor: Hurricane Bolter.
Total: [110 PL, 8CP, 1,997pts]

Brigade Detachment
Cult Creed: Cult of the Four-Armed Emperor
Stratagem: Broodcoven
HQ;Jackal Alphus Mary
Magus Frowl: Familiar, Power: Mass Hypnosis, Power: Might From Beyond, Warlord, Warlord Trait: Inscrutable Cunning
Patriarch Vexermillidies: Amulet of the Voidwyrm, Familiar, Power: Mental Onslaught, Power: Might From Beyond, Warlord, Warlord Trait: Shadow Stalker
Primus Pincus Wrex; Bonesword, Warlord, Warlord Trait: Alien Majesty
Troops;
Acolyte Hybrids [6 PL, 95pts]: Cult Icon
. 6x Acolyte Hybrid
. Acolyte Hybrid (Heavy Weapon): Autopistol, Demolition Charge
. Acolyte Hybrid (Heavy Weapon): Autopistol, Heavy Rock Drill
. Acolyte Leader: Autopistol, Cultist Knife

Acolyte Hybrids : Cult Icon. 6x Acolyte Hybrid. Acolyte Hybrid (Heavy Weapon): Autopistol, Heavy Rock Saw. Acolyte Hybrid (Heavy Weapon): Autopistol, Heavy Rock Cutter. Acolyte Leader: Autopistol, Cultist Knife
Brood Brothers Infantry Squad : Brood Brothers Leader. 9x Brood Brother
Brood Brothers Infantry Squad : Brood Brothers Leader. 9x Brood Brother
Neophyte Hybrids: Cult Icon. 10x Neophyte Hybrid. Neophyte Hybrid: Grenade Launcher
. 2x Neophyte Hybrid: 2x Mining Laser. Neophyte Hybrid: Webber. Neophyte Leader: Autogun, Autopistol, Power Maul.
Neophyte Hybrids. 9x Neophyte Hybrid. 2x Neophyte Hybrid: 2x Grenade Launcher
. Neophyte Hybrid (Mining): Mining Laser. Neophyte Hybrid: Seismic Cannon. Neophyte Leader: Autogun, Autopistol, Chainsword
Elites;
Aberrants. 4x Aberrant (Hammer): 4x Heavy Power Hammer. 4x Aberrant: 4x Power Pick. Aberrant Hypermorph: Heavy Improvised Weapon
Clamavus
 19x Purestrain Genestealer
Fast Attack;
 Achilles Ridgerunner: Flare Launcher, Heavy Mining Laser, 2x Heavy Stubber
Achilles Ridgerunner: Flare Launcher, Heavy Mining Laser, 2x Heavy Stubber
Atalan Jackals . Atalan Jackal: Demolition Charge, Shotgun. Atalan Jackal: Demolition Charge, Shotgun. Atalan Jackal: Demolition Charge, Grenade Launcher. Atalan Leader: Demolition Charge, Power axe. Atalan Wolfquad: Atalan Incinerator, Shotgun
Heavy Support;
3x Brood Brothers Weapons Team: 3x Autocannon
Goliath Rockgrinder with Cache of Demolition Charges, Heavy Mining Laser, Heavy Stubber
Goliath Rockgrinder with Cache of Demolition Charges, Heavy Mining Laser, Heavy Stubber
Total: [112 PL, 14CP, 1,998pts] 

To provide a bit of narrative, as part of Rouboute Gullimann's new Imperial policy of the Indomitus crusade (or whatever it's called) and the fact that the Adeptus Custodes have abandoned their laissez faire attitudes, a large force of them (25 is large by their terms) ave been dispatched to investigate and probably kill anything out of the ordinary on Pruscilla, a relatively prosperous agri-world.  What isn't know is there is a fairly well established  genestealer cult on the planet. To add a bit more spice to the story Stuart decided to place a Hive Tyrant within the temple of the Castille. As I can't go round using Hive Tyrants in my games willy nilly, it's assumed (by me anyway) that somehow this creature was seperated from it's Hive Fleet but somehow the pod containing it latched onto the cults psychic spore landing  pretty close in Custrado. The cult recognised the Hive Tyrant as a star child and is currently protecting him until they can find a female Hive Tyrant and breed them. Now as I'm struggling to keep up to date with my batreps, I will try to keep waffle to a minimum and try to keep the prose succinct and impartial. Lets see how I get on;

Some sneaky Custodes. Not happy with having T5 2+ armour they are hiding in the woods. What's a self respecting Patriarch to do? 

As if that wasn't bad enough! The Emperor's favourites on jetbikes are shivering in the Castille. There are also three Custodian Guard lurking behind some rock formations. SPOILER ALERT; I get first strike by killing those three.

My deployment zone has a veritable patchwork of painted and unpainted models. Purestrains and Patriarch on the right. Rockgrinder/Chimera hybrid next to it with Ork Trukk/Achilles hybrids to it's left. There are also Brood Brothers and Neophytes bravely taking position behind some walls.

On the landing pad is another Brood Brother unit with more Neophytes and Jackals behind them. Aberrants and Hybrids are using tactical brilliance to hide underground, ready to spring a trap on the Custodes later.

A Rockgrinder's-eye-view of the preceedings. 

The Neophytes and Brood Brothers heroically defend some sort of transmitting device. If the Custodes get hold of it the entire globe will drown in a sea of baby oil and bronzer. Incidentally as previously spoiled, the combined might of numerous mining lasers and other nasty weaponry got a first strike VP on the central Custodes unit.

To the left the Magus offers encouragement in a safe position. Also in a safe position are the Jackals. They're so safe they will have to do quire a bit of maneuvering to get round the dim witted Neophytes standing there like, well cattle.

The Custodes objectives.

With the help of the Clamavus the Genestealers get into long charge range. Incidentally the Clamavus failed to keep up with them as he has a 'bad knee'.

The Custode bikers are worst than their footslogging companions as they seem to spend a lot of time 'lubing' rather than getting into combat.

The Custode Guard with Vexillus Praetor amble toward objective 2. They don't need it I think, just like the way the sun shines down on it so they can get some great selfies for the communal Adeptus Custodes instagram account.

Shit gets real! The Aberrants suddenly appear, Probably from the large Chapel type building that the Custodes forgot to look in.  

Some Hybrids appear out of nowhere ready to dish out some death and destruction to the rear ends of the Custodes!

A long charge is made. Cult Of The Four Armed Emperor be praised for the Cult Of The Four Armed Emperor's +1 to charges.

The Aberrants  manage to make their charge! Scratch one large unit of Dawneagle Bikers (or whatever). The Aberrants kill a few bikers then I find to my amazement their spears give them a ludicrous strength bonus even when the aren't charging! I also totally forget to decrease any damage by one in this combat.

The Custodes appear to be ignoring the Hybrids as they try to chop them up!

This rather arty picture was taken by Stuart. The Dawneagle riders trundle over the Castille walls to shoot some Hybrids in the back. Not very sporting is it? 

Oh no! Some flying cavalry appear. They left two remaining Aberrants coughing on diesel fumes as they try to be heroic elsewhere.

Some Allarus Custodians appear from their super oily teleportarium/tanning booth and attack the Patriarch with big throwing axes I think. This is one of those times where I'm sure I could have postioned him a bit more safely.

Having kicked the shit out of the Aberrants leaving two behind as they weren't of any consequence, the bikers go to inflict stupid amounts of firepower on lightly armoured Hybrids.

Quite a lot of the senior members of the cult try to look as unthreatening as possible as some mini Primarch takes a good hard look at the aliens. Another thing I forget in this turn is my bikers are -1 to hit. 

When this happened I was quite confident that my guys had this covered....

A while later I wasn't so sure.

The closest target to a considerably large part of my army is the aforementioned demi-Emperor revs his Rhino sized jetbike. Shortly after this the Rockgrinder charges into the Dawneagle bikers, failing to kill many but in the returning  fight gets destroyed but that was ok as they self detonated causing petty revenge mortal wounds. It was all part of my plan. Probably.

Turn three and I have a healthy lead.

Most of the Allarus Custodians are gone, as are most of the Genestealers and the Primarch. Highlight of this scrap was when the Primarch made one of the Custodian hit his mate. Didn't kill him but it was funny.

These guys walk right past the Ridgerunner to shoot my Clamavus skulking in the woods.

Two combats that didn't exactly go my way. The Rockgrinder, Brood Brothers and Primus all carked it this turn. 😩

There are now considerably less bikers and aliens in this area. Testament to the brutal nature of the game.

Due to the superior numbers of the Cult I manage to score quite a few objectives and rolled a maximum for Supremacy. Stuff like this skews the scores a bit.

"DIE COMMIE SCUM!". Or "YOU THERE! FILTHY XENOS ABERRATION WITH THE SOUND SYSTEM. KINDLY SHUFFLE OFF THIS MORTAL COIL! THANKS!". So ended the saga of the Clamavus 😟.

Either the Vexillus is dry humping the wreckage of the Ridgerunner or the crew have made peace with him and have kindly offered to take him down to the offy for 20 Dunhill and a bottle of Pinot Grigio. 

Meanwhile two callously dismissed Aberrants climb the Castille walls to overlook the carnage (and grab an objective).

The tactical objectives fell redonkulously kindly for me. The opposite could be said about Billy's.

Final Score. 20 - 2 to the bug eyes.

Meanwhile Back In The Temple.....

That was a fun game. Totally skewed victory points wise but rather enjoyable to play in. After fighting the Custodes I have a new found respect for anyone playing them. When every game you play you are outnumbered, severely, it will make any game involving VP's challenging. They are bloody hard to get rid of though. Custodes are absolutely lethal in combat too. If I was to critique Billy's tactics he probably should have flown his bikes over the Castille first turn. Perhaps because we have a running complaint about mining lasers in the group Whatsapp, that might have delayed him. I don't complain about them at all. Once again though I forgot vital rules in my army, namely the Aberrants reduction of wounds thing and the Jackals -1 to hit. In the end neither really were game changing but had the cards been kinder to Billy, it would have been a different story. Billy put my army to shame with his paintedness. It has, however spurred me on to get cracking with my Cult, and now most of of Purestrains are done, so there won't be any more united colours of Cultetton pictures in the future. So there you have it, the cult defeats the Custodes and the planet of Pruscilla under threat of insurrection. Also will Patriarch Vexermillidies find a playmate for the Hive Tyrant? Only time will tell, or not if I get bored.

The real reason the Cult led the Adeptus Custodes away from the temple.

Despite suffering massive losses the remains of the cult were victorious. Patriarch Vexermillidies had been severely wounded but survived (barely). Only a hand full of  Custodes managed to leave the battlefield. It was now imperative that they were hunted down before they could bring more meddlesome Imperial agents to Pruscilla. As a matter of course cultists had attempted to sabotage the Custodes transport even as the main force was engaging them. This should buy enough time for a second assault and a relocation of Tyranid life form in the temple.

Thanks for reading.

Ol' Yeller Genestealers

Greetings fellow humans! Once again I'm back in the painting saddle. This time it's more genestealers. I used contrast paints once again and knocked these out in a couple of hours. They are of an experimental colour scheme as I needed to be able to differentiate between two purestrain units. Having a traditional purple and blue, I went for desert camo genestealers. Not exactly camo, just sandy yellow. If fluff is necessary, the stealers that come out yellow are a product of heavy sulfur deposits in the mines they skulk around in. A filter has been applied and an unpainted collection of scenery was plonked down for aesthetic appeal.   

Raarrrgh!

Next step is to paint the buildings!

So I'm not entirely convinced with the colour scheme but I'm fupped if I'll redo them. Expect to see them (in an unpainted, then painted guise) on the battlefield soon!