Warhammer World: Rynn's World Battle

The home world of the Crimson Fists chapter is Rynn's World. It was invaded by the Ork warlord Snagrod, the Arch-Arsonist of Charadon and the Crimson Fists defended it, ultimately defending and saving New Rynn City from being over-run.

More famously, this battle is noted for being the original front cover of Rogue Trader itself. And within the halls of Warhammer World, this very scene has been reproduced.

The diorama is compact, but very detailed. The core of the Crimson Fists are set up so that when viewed from the side, it replicates the front cover of Rogue Trader very nicely. The wider fields of view show the wider battle scene with wrecked vehicles and Orks and their contraptions moving in for the kill.

Horus Heresy Review: Alexis Polux

Background

For the fans of the Crimson Fists, the appearance of Alexis Polux in Extermination will no doubt be very exciting. Polux himself is described as Inwit-born (the home planet of Dorn himself) and a giant made of stone before even being elevated to the Space Marine Legions. As a marine, he towered above his battle brothers still. Through chance he came to command of Dorn's retribution fleet and proved his worth at the Battle of Phall and in many other battles beyond that. He is known to have been strong in close combat and a master of void based combat between spacecraft. And, of course, after the Heresy, he became the first master of the Crimson Fists Chapter. 

Strengths

Firstly, Polux allows one infantry squad to deep strike by teleportation on the the board. This could be a good move for a full squad of tactical marines to unleash the fury of the legion at BS5 (thanks to the Imperial Fists legion rules) for instance. Or perhaps a terminator squad?

In addition, he (and any unit he joins) can automatically pass or fail any morale or pinning test they're required to take during the game. This could be pivotal at the right moment, but is certainly quite situational within a given game. 

The really interesting part of Polux profile is the ability to reduce his attacks in combat down to 1 in exchange for ignoring the unwieldy part of his power fist attack. Since the legion rules mean he must re-roll failed to hit rolls in personal challenges, this is not a huge negative to be fair. Indeed, it should probably be done more often than not as it is a real character slayer given that his natural strength is 5. To be clear: a power fist attack for S10 going at initiative is huge. Its instant death for most space marines where required (assuming they don't have an invulnerable save or eternal warrior). 

As a warlord, he is a master tactician that permits redeployment of one unit as required. This is not so strong, as it could be highly situational. 

For equipment, not only does he have his master crafted power fist (that could go at initiative), but also a Vigil shield for a great invulnerable save. Oh yes: he also has the usual grenades and a combi-melta gun to boot. Not bad at all.

Weaknesses

Genuinely, the only weakness I can see is his standard (but void hardened) power armour. He does not have artificer armour. Hence only a 3+ save. I see this as being fluffy as Polux had command forced upon him and he stood up to the proverbial plate with superior ability. But nobody crafted him anything special and new armour was clearly hard to come by. He therefore needs to beware duelling against space marines who can sling a power sword better than he can his master crafted power fist. Don't get as arrogant as Eidolon and Polux will certainly work well!

Tactics

Polux is a generic commander (and master of the legion) that can help one unit deep strike in to position. He is also a character killer, but not at the same level as Sigismund. To be clear, he's not going to go toe to toe with a primarch the way that Sigismund is capable of. But in a lower points game, he's going to be powerful. 

Like many of his legion, he needs transport options. But perhaps he could deep strike off his own special rules on to the board?  Indeed, this deep striking is an excellent way to build a larger unit around that might not ordinarily have the rule (think of a full plasma tactical support squad deep striking in to position for instance -- it reminds me a little of what Armillus Dynat is capable of pulling off, but he's not got Dynat's other rules to back it up as a force multiplier). 

I therefore see him as an excellent upgraded Legion Praetor who can field a mixed or specialised force as required. He's well worth the points, and in lower points games could be a game winner if Sigismund is too expensive. But he's not the multiplier that Dynat is and a force should not be built around him -- treat him as you would a generic Praetor (an upgraded and great Praetor, but a Praetor none the less).

Battle Report: Chaos Space Marines vs. Crimson Fists and Black Templars

The first of the team battles in the Wasp Campaign features my chaos space marines taking on the combined forces of the Crimson Fists and Black Templars chapters.  Since I have less manufactoria, I'm at a points disadvantage overall.  Here are the army lists:

Chaos Space Marines (2100 points):

HQ: 
Daemon Prince, Mark of Nurgle, Wings, Doombolt (160 points)
Daemon Prince, Wings (130 points)

Elites: 
1 Chaos Dreadnought with Plasma Cannon, Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon, twin-linked bolter (105 points)

3 Chaos Terminators, 3 combi-meltas, 1 power fist (115 points)

4 Chaos Terminators, 2 combi-flamers, 1 heavy flamer, 1 chain fist (150 points)
Troops: 
5 plague marines, 1 flamer, 1 melta, 1 plague champion with powerfist, 1 icon (175 points)
5 plague marines, 1 flamer, 1 melta, 1 plague champion with powerfist, 1 icon (175 points)
5 plague marines, 1 plasma gun (130 points)

9 genestealers, 1 broodlord (172 points)

Dedicated Transports:
1 Rhino with Havoc Launcher (50 points)
1 Rhino with Havoc Launcher (50 points)
1 Rhino with Havoc Launcher (50 points)

Fast Attack: 
6 Chaos raptors, 1 aspiring champion with power fist, 2 meltas (180 points)

Heavy Support: 
2 obliterators (150 points)
Chaos Vindicator, Daemonic Possession (145 points)

Soul Grinder, vomit and phlegm (160 points)

Crimson Fists (1200 points):

HQ	Wargear	Qty.	Points	Total
Pedro Kantor		1	175	175
TROOPS
Tactical Squad		10	170
	Flamer	1	0
	Power Fist	1	25
	Lascannon	1	10	205
Tactical Squad		10	170
	Flamer	1	0
	Power Fist	1	25
	Lascannon	1	10	205
DEDICATED TRANSPORT
Razorback		1	40
	Twin-Linked Lascannon	1	35
	Hunter-Killer Missile	1	10
	Dozer Blade	1	5	90
ELITES
Sternguard Veterans		5	125		+BS1
	Power Fist	1	25		+Inf
	Combi-Melta	2	10
	Combi-Plasma	3	15	175
Ironclad Dreadnought		1	135
	Close Combat Weapon	1	0
	Seismic Hammer	1	0
	Meltagun	1	0
	Heavy Flamer	1	10	145	995
Drop Pod		1	35
	Storm Bolter	1	0	35
Devastator Squad		5	90		+TH
	Missile Launcher	2	30
	Plasma Cannon	2	50	170	205

Black Templars (1275 points):

HQ	Wargear	Qty.	Points
Emperors Champion			90
	Accept Any Challenge, No Matter the Odds	1	50
Marshal		1	80
	Power Weapon	1	15
	Storm Bolter	1	5
	Iron Halo	1	25
	Artificer Armour	1	20
	Melta Bomb	1	5
ELITE
Sword Brethren Terminator Squad		5	200
	Power Fists	5	0
	Storm Bolters	5	0
	Tank Hunter	5	15
	Cyclone Missile Launcher	2	50
Sword Brethren Squad		5	95
	Furious charge	1	0
	Pair of lightning claws	1	25
	Power weapon	1	15
	Close Combat Weapon	3	0
	Bolt Pistol	4	0
	Frag Grenades	5	5
	Krak Grenades	2	10
TROOPS
Crusader Squad	Initiates	5	80
	Lascannon	1	15
	Plasma Gun	1	6
	Bolter	3	0
Crusader Squad	Initiates	5	80
	Lascannon	1	15
	Plasma Gun	1	6
	Bolter	3	0
HEAVY SUPPORT
Predator Annihilator			120
	Turret mounted twin linked lascannon	1	0
	side mounted lascannons	2	25
	Power of the Machine Spirit	1	30
FAST ATTACK
Land Speeder Typhoon		1	50
	Typhoon Missile Launcher	1	20
Land Speeder Typhoon		1	50
	Typhoon Missile Launcher	1	20
DEDICATED TRANSPORTS
Rhino		1	50
	Smoke Launcher	1	3

Set-up:
The game is annihilation and we square off with a pitched battle set-up.  The terrain features ruins, craters and rocks arranged by independent parties and we roll off for who gets to set up first (etc.) which I miraculously win.  I elect to go first and set up in a castle in one corner of the board, apart from my dreadnought, which goes in the other corner.

My opponents surprise me by NOT reserving everything.  The Crimson Fists set up opposite me apart from one squad on the other side of the board (to take out the dreadnought).  The Black Templars reserved quite a lot (terminators, etc.), but placed on their command squad.

Turn 1.
I bring in my soul grinder (we're playing allies in 5th, okay?!) but he scatters a bit further back than I would have liked ... nearly enough to land on a stone wall, but narrowly avoids going back to the warp.  I move forward key elements of my army: a couple of rhinos, the raptors, the princes and leave a squad of plague marines and my obliterators in one of the ruins.  Then I unleash a firestorm backed up by the dice gods!  Man, I couldn't believe how lucky my rolling was (and how poor the Crimson Fists saves were).  I really felt sorry for the guys as the obliterators and dreadnought hit their squads with lucky plasma cannon shots, followed up by soul grinder barrage, rhino havoc launchers and the rest.  Although I really wanted to take out Pedro before he could summon down his orbital bombardment, I failed.  But most of the rest of that squad perished. Other enemy positions that were taken out included the predator, most of the Black Templar command squad, a few random devastators, a crusade squad and others.

In exchange, my opponents had a terrible opening round.  Pedro's guys unleashed their volley, but the daemonic possession rule saved both my vindicator and soul grinder.  Meanwhile, the ironclad dropped in behind the vindicator and tried to take it out with a rear armour shot.  The shot missed.  The only miniature I lost on this turn was a single raptor.  Seriously, I've never seen such one sided die.

Turn 2.
The remaining Black Templars squads come in for fire from my increasingly focussed targeting.  There's only a few of them left now -- just enough to have a daemon prince do some mopping up in later turns.

Meanwhile on the opposite flank, I decide to outflank my genestealers on to the board (allies, remember!).  They creep up on the Crimson Fists that are gunning for my dreadnought.

Sadly for me, the dreadnought dies this turn and plays no further threat.  But there's nothing that's going to stop those genestealers from contacting the enemy in my next turn.  The opposition's reserved guys fail to show up.  More lucky and unlikely saves ensue for my side, but my daemon princes do lose a couple of wounds each and an obliterator feels some pain as well.

Turn 3.
It's ugly.  If you're a loyalist.

The genestealers make short work of the Crimson Fists, with the brood lord (patriarch!) ensuring the power fist does not strike back.

The daemon princes round up the survivors and finish them off.  A lucky melta shot from my remaining raptors wrecks the ironclad.

And the we look around.  There's nothing left except what is in reserve for the loyalists. We delve in to the books: can reserves come on to the board if there are no other miniatures on your team left?  Apparently not.  The game ends with a massacre victory to the forces of chaos whom the fickle dice gods favoured in this battle.  I feel dreadful for my opponents -- a turn 3 victory is amazing when I'm behind on points like this. But by not reserving everything, they provided me with the targets that I needed and I systematically took them down one by one through my castled up approach.

Battle Report: Crimson Fists vs. Black Templars

Crimson Fists vs. Black Templars (a Wasp Campaign report via Chuck Thunder)

Mission: In the thick of it (primary targets), Humiliation (secondary targets)

Deployment: Pitched Battle

Crimson Fists list 1226pt:

Pedro Kantor, 175pt

Tactical squad (10 man), flamer, lascannon, power fist  205pt

Tactical squad (10 man), flamer, lascannon, power fist  205pt

Sternguard veterans (5 man), power fist, 3xcombi-plasma, 2xcombi-melta 175pt +Infiltrate +BS1

Razorback, twin-linked lascannon, dozer blade 85pt

Devestator squad (6 man), 2xplasma cannon, 2xmissile launcher 186pt

Drop pod, deathwind missile launcher 55pt
Ironclad Dreadnaught, close combat weapon, seismic hammer, meltagun, heavy flamer 145pt

Black Templar list 1276pt:

Emperors Champion, Vows: Accept any challenge, no matter the odds 140pt

Marshal, power weapon, storm bolter,iron halo, artificer armour, melta bomb, frag grenade 151pt

Sword Brethren Terminator squad (5 man), power fists, storm bolters, 2x cyclone missile launchers, tank hunters 265pt

Sword Brethren squad (5 man), pair of lightning claws, power weapon, furious charge, frag and krak grenades 150pt

Rhino, smoke launcher 53pt

Crusader squad (5 initiates), lascannon, plasma gun 101pt

Crusader squad (5 initiates), lascannon, plasma gun 101pt

Predator Anihilator, power of the machine spirit 175pt

Land speeder Typhoon 70pt

Land speeder Typhoon 70pt

With three primary targets to take down the Crimson fists chose to immobilise the Black Templar, knowing of their might in close combat. They targetted the rhino and both land speeders. The Black Templar targetted the razorback, sternguard veterans and the chapter master Kantor, a plan that backfired when the Crimson Fists decided to bring the veterans in from reserve in their transport. The Crimson Fists won the initiative and chose to deploy first, setting up a firing line largely protected by cover. The Black Templar also made use of cover where possible, hiding the fast vehicles and rhino behind buildings, and the initiates using their predator for cover.

Turn 1:

The Crimson Fists drop pod descended deep into the heart of Black Templar territory, landing between a rhino and land speeder and releasing the ironclad dreadnaught inside, which immediately unleashed its armour piercing melta gun, dropping a land speeder (1st primary objective).  Concerned with the grunt inside the Black Templar rhino, the Fists bombarded it with lascannon, plasma and krak missiles, but the transport made it through unscathed.  The rhino and remaining land speeder moved clear of the mighty deadnaught, allowing the tank-hunting terminators bring it to its knees with krak missiles and a barrage of storm bolter fire.  With no other vehicle to shoot at, the Black Templar aimed their heavy arsenal of lascannons at the tactical squad led by Kantor, but the Emperor was favouring Kantor and his men, and the casulties were minimal.

Turn 2:

Still adament on stopping the Templar's charge, all heavy fire was aimed at their rhino, which withstood more than imaginable, before finally succumbing to multiple plasma cannon blasts (2nd primary objective).  Black Templar lascannon fire zipped across the battlefield in the direction of Kantor, but they must have angered the Machine God, as they yield little damage.

Turn 3:

The Crimson Fists sensed the opportunity left by the misfiring Templar, and called in their legendary sterngurd veterans from reserve.  They attempted to outflank their opponents, but did so from the wrong side of the battlefield, leaving them short of firing range.  Kantor, seeing this misjudgment calls in an orbital bombardment, taking out 2 terminators.  His tactical squad and the devastators drop 2 more.  Stunned by the fall of their battle brothers, the Black Templar sword brethren forget to advance.  Their multitude of lascannon fire is again deflected, this time by the approaching razorback, before it is shaken by a krak missile.  A squad of initiates reduce Kantor's tactical squad to 2 men.

Turns 4 and 5:

Confident with the swing in momentum, Kantor moves to higher ground to re-assess the battle.  A combination of plasma and krak destroy the Black Templar predator, and immobilise their remaining land speeder, but can't manage to destroy it.  The Crimson Fists razorback withstands another barrage, protecting the sternguard within, who never reach the frontline to disembark.  The Templar initiates and sword brethren charge forward for a final hurrah, but don't manage to reach any primary objectives.

Final Result: Crimson Fists Victory

Crimson Fists: 6pts 
Black Templar: 3pts

Battle Report: Orks vs. Crimson Fists

From round 2 of the Wasp Campaign via cosec:

Mission: Battle Missions: Pillage (aka Resource harvesting), with 4 collection points
Deployment: Spearhead

Orks (1275 points) vs.  Crimson Fists (1150 points) -- the points disparity is due to the empires held and the spread thin rule.

Pre-game: The emergent Ork Waaagh! on WASP-987c has so far failed to gain momentum, following the decisive actions of the Blood Ravens in round 1.

The Crimson Fists, following in the steps of their Adeptus brothers moved in to crush the Orks yet again, attempting to remove the Ork blight from the West side of Wasp.

The emergent Waaagh! had attracted more orks from across the planet than last time, as more orks became aware of, and rushed to fight under the banner of Warboss Gutzspilla.

It was into these superior numbers that the Crimson Fists charged, bringing all their might to bear on this immense horde. The Crimson Fists brought an immense arsenal of heavy weaponry, including their newly requisitioned Whirlwind Missile Launcher. Pedro Kantor knew full well that he would need to bring his largest ordnance weapons if he was to stem the Ork horde.

The Orks saw the Crimson Fists slowly marching towards them, but elected to hide their numbers for as long as possible, choosing to deploy second. The battle was fought amidst the cratered landscape left behind from an earlier battle, littered with broken imperial buildings. Pedro Kantor and his Crimson Fists approached from one corner of the game board and quickly set up heavy weapons in the old buildings, whilst deploying their Whirlwind well behind their lines. The Ironclad Dreadnought that had fought boldy for the Crimson Fists in past battles waited excitedly for the battle to begin - he had been granted use of a drop pod, and eagerly anticipated flying in from the heavens to smite the orks.

Seeing such a devastating array of firepower gave the orks something of a shock. Most of them brazenly deployed in craters or behind barricades, whilst the Deff Dreads, Killa Kans and Trukks deployed on the flanks of the army, ready to provide cover as the ork horde swarmed forward. The Orks were led by one of Gutzspilla's key generals, Warboss Stabbyface, who, even though mounted on a warbike, cowardly deployed underneath some ruins. He however argued it was prudent, because he had a great fear of Pedro Kantor's Orbital Bombardment.

After deployment, a cunning unit of Devastators who had developed a knack for infiltration deployed in the centre of the battleground, holding one resource point. Simultaneously, an Ork Deffkopta turbo-boosted quickly onto an objective. Being a rather lazy fellow, he didn't move any further than this throughout the battle.

Turn One 
The battle began decisively for the crimson fists, with them throwing every possible pound of firepower at the Orks. Pedro ordered an Orbital Bombardment, which destroyed the Ork Trukk carrying the 'Ard Boys, and one Killa Kan. Lascannon fire immobilised another can. Whirlwind fire bathed the slugga mob in incendiary ammo, and pinning them until the next turn. The Ironclad dreadnaught arrived from orbit in its drop pod, and wrecked the Deff Dread with its meltagun. The Ard' Boys that had been in the trukk were blasted by the devastators, but fortunately passed their morale test.

Meanwhile, one squad of tactical marines ran for an objective, not quite making it all the way.

The Ork response to this barrage of fire was quite pitiful, the green-skin horde thoroughly embarrassed by being caught with its pants down by enemy fire. The Warboss turbo-boosted away quickly, hoping to make the most of his cover save. The remaining trukk sneakily hid behind a building hoping to outflank Pedro, and shoota fire took out one devastator.

Points from this round/Total points - Orks 2/2, Crimson Fists 1/1

Turn Two:
The crimson fists launched into the next phase of the battle with confidence. Torrents of bolter fire rained down upon the orks, as the devastator squad shot to pieces every remaining 'ard boy. The ironclad launched a barrage of close range flamer and melta weaponry on the remaining useful killa kan, exploding it easily. Lascannon and sternguard bolter fire managed to cause one wound on the warboss, who was threateningly poised to assault Pedro and his unit. Meanwhile, one tactical squad quickly sneaked around the side of the battlefield and secured an objective.

The Orks were however heartened by the scatter of this rounds whirlwind fire, and perhaps viewing it as a sign that they should attack with vigour, launched a strong assault on the space Marines. One deffkopta turbo boosted to the crimson fists table quarter, whilst the remaining trukk moved 12 inches to bring its cargo of nobz close to the tactical marine line. The slugga boys moved threateningly towards the dreadnought, seeking power klawed glory, whilst the shootas brought a wave fire down upon the devastators, killing one, and even spooking them into retreating off the objective due to their low squad members. Excited by the possibility of combat, at the beginning of shooting, Warboss Stabbyface screamed WAAAGH! thrilling the horde which joined in his chorus. The nobz ran and assaulted the tactical Marines, winning convincingly before consolidating onto the objective formerly held by the devastators. Warboss Stabbyface charged at Pedro, unleashing all his Power-Klawed might at the Crimson Fists commander (in particular trying to stab his face!). This suicidal manoeuvre cost him his life, but he caused instant death to Pedro also, somewhat redeeming him for his earlier cowardice.

Finally, the Slugga Boys near the dreadnought assaulted. The Dreadnought took out two boys, before a power-klawed nob dug into his armour, causing him to explode, a process which killed a couple more boys, who died quite happily, knowing they were still able to use their 6+ armour save!

Points from this round/Total points - Orks 2/4, Crimson Fists 1/2

Turns Three, Four and Five:

From this point, the battle became a lot more quiet. The orks sat on their objectives whilst being harassed by space marine shooting. Despite the valiant efforts of the space marines, there were just too many orks to shoot, and they had all managed to find some cover. Notable moments however came when the Sternguard Veterans ripped into an Ork Trukk, destroying it with Melta bombs, and then proceeded to shoot to pieces all they could of the remaining slugga mob. The Whirlwind missile launcher also rained down havoc from the sky, killing Orks, but not killing enough.

Turn three: Points from this round/Total points - Orks 3/7, Crimson Fists 1/3
Turn four: Points from this round/Total points - Orks 3/10, Crimson Fists 1/4
Turn five (final score): Points from this round/Total points - Orks 3/13, Crimson Fists 1/5

A great game was enjoyed by both players. The initial two rounds were quite epic. The first round definitely belonged to the Crimson Fists, eliminating all of the Orks heavy support, whilst the Ork assaults in round two changed the game back into the Orks favour. Some bad luck definitely hit the space marines when the devastators retreated from their objective, which helped the Orks secure a commanding hold early in the game. The later rounds were comparatively quiet, with the Orks happy to hold the objectives and win on points.

Crimson Fists Army List for the Wasp Campaign

The second army list for the Wasp Campaign is the Crimson Fists Space Marine chapter. 



Presenting Chuck Thunder's Crimson Fists, (1500 points):


HQ:
Pedro Kantor (175 points)
4 Honour Guard; 2 relic blades, aux. grenade launcher (180 points)


Elites:
5 Sternguard Veterans; 1 power fist, 2 combi-meltas, 3 combi-plasmas, melta bombs (180 points)
5 Sternguard Veterans; 1 power fist, melta bombs (155 points)
Ironclad Dreadnought; power fist, seismic hammer, melta gun, heavy flamer, hunter-killer missile (165 points)


Troops:
10 Tactical marines; 1 flamer, 1 lascannon, 1 power fist (205 points)
10 Tactical marines; 1 flamer, 1 lascannon, 1 power fist (205 points)

Heavy Support:

5 Devastator marines; 4 heavy bolters, melta bombs (155 points)

Dedicated Transports:

Razorback; twin-linked lascannon, dozer blade, hunter-killer missile (80 points)