With the first crop of fresh new Cadians only three days away from mobilisation in the Cadia Stands: Astra Militarum Army Set, the galaxy’s finest guardsmen have been putting in the hours against the Imperium’s deadliest foes. In this week’s episode of Battle Report, they test their discipline against Nurgle’s festering faithful.
Only the finest strategic minds can truly wield the Hammer of the Emperor, so General Si Grant of the Cadian 8th will be briefing us on this operation. Ten-hut!
Si: For this battle, we wanted to conjure the image of a small contingent of Astra Militarum manning the trenches against the slow advance of an implacable foe. The Death Guard were the perfect opponents –- especially with a large unit of Poxwalkers shambling towards the Imperial lines.
The force I opted for is based on the contents of the Cadia Stands Army Set. I added a Hellhound to round the army up to a 500-point Combat Patrol.
Nick matched this with a Death Guard army which also included a unit of Plague Marines and a unit of Blightlord Terminators, led by a Malignant Plaguecaster.
The Death Guard are notoriously hard to kill, especially in matched play as they benefit from the Armour of Contempt rule from the Balance Dataslate – but I was confident that the brave soldiers of the Imperial Guard would be up to the task. After all, a high Toughness is all good and well, but with all my hit rolls of 6 wounding automatically thanks to the Born Soldiers Regimental Doctrine, Nick would certainly have his hands full when it came to saving throws!
The obvious threat of Nick’s Blightlord Terminators aside, I knew that another thorn in my side would be his Malignant Plaguecaster’s psychic abilities. Nick had chosen Miasma of Pestilence and Putrescent Vitality, which, if successfully manifested, will make it even harder for me to take down his already incredibly resilient warriors.
I had a few tricks up my uniformed sleeve, so I wasn’t too intimidated. First up was the heavy lascannon of my Field Ordnance Battery. With two shots, the chances are I’d score at least one hit every time I fired it – and when you take a look at its profile, you’ll see that anything it hits is as good as dead!
Another plan was to combine the Relic of Lost Cadia with the Take Aim! Regimental Order for one deadly accurate Shooting phase. The relic improves the Ballistic Skill of nearby Cadian units, and Take Aim! improves their hit rolls, so my Shock Troops would be hitting on rolls of 2 or higher!
This Battle Report has reminded me how much fun Combat Patrol-sized games of Warhammer 40,000 can be. Every unit – and often certain models within those units – can stand out and make a difference on the battlefield, developing a personality all of their own in the process.
If you’re a fan of skirmish games like Kill Team, Warcry, and the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game, give Combat Patrol a go – you don’t even need many models to get started, so it’s really accessible. More importantly, you’ll love it!
Thanks Si! You too can take your place among the Astra Militarum with the Cadia Stands Army Set – which is on pre-order for just a few more days – and jump right into exciting small-scale games of Warhammer 40,000.*
In the meantime, head over to WarhammerTV.com today to watch this exciting episode of Battle Report along with a new episode of Citadel Colour Masterclass, teaching you how to paint the dirty metal armour of the Slaves To Darkness.
* This also gives you a great starting point for Boarding Actions, a new close-quarters game type coming in the Arks of Omen series.