Padaxes Crusade

Adraxys Molech waited patiently in his sanctum for his guests. A Dracon within the Kabal of the Black Heart, his lair was small by many other standards but in his mind it was temporary. His throne stood on a raised dais with his silent Incubi guards flanking him. A bell chimed and unseen lackeys opened the sentient gutwood doors giving two barely audible groans. Two lithe figures strode in with graceful moves that more than hinted at gruesome violence at a moments notice.

"You are welcome honored Succubi of the Red Grief". Molech was careful not to name either first in case the other took offence.

Both nodded, eyes constantly scanning the room for threats or challenges. One spoke up;

"You wish to enter into an alliance to gather souls from realspace?".

"Indeed, that is the reason for your invitation".

The second then spoke "Molech, you are still a minor Dracon within the Black Heart, and as such my superiors are unwilling to give extensive aid. Myself and Serpentia however, feel that after that incident with Archon Faik being trapped in torment sarcophagus indefinitely, you could be a worthwhile ally. We shall both bring our personal retinues and I can  call in a favour from the Blind Wind Reaver band and another from the Seven Clicks of Terror Hellion gang. With these we can start our endeavor". With that the two Succubi left.

Molech then called to his almost trusted lackey, "contact your spy in the Tower of Tortured Secrets; I want to find a world for a realspace raid. Make it interesting.".


Greetings, I started a Drukhari Crusade force shortly after the codex dropped and played a couple of games. namely the Ritual and the Relic. A win and a loss against the same Death Guard army. Enjoyable and very brutal. A mini tournament and a few non crusade games later, i've decided to jump back in. This thread is to hopefully chronicle my way to control of the dark city and the inevitable defeat of Asdrubel Vect himself.

Here's my force, bearing in mind that if i were to start it again i would be more likely to take Obsidian Rose and Red Grief as my Kabal/Cult respectively;

Patrol Detachment
Obsession: Kabal of the Black Heart: Thirst for Power
Obsession: Cult of the Red Grief: The Speed of The Kill
Raiding Forces
HQ;
Archon Adraxys Molech (The Whoreson): Blast Pistol, Huskblade, Labyrinthine Cunning, Overlord, Warlord
Succubus Serpentia H'tamm (Mistress Violence): The Triptych Whip. Agoniser & Archite Glaive
Succubus Quentifel Karks (The Crimson Beast) . Blast Pistol & Archite Glaive
Troops;
Kabalite Warriors . 3x Kabalite Warrior: 3x Splinter Rifle. Kabalite Warrior w/ Special Weapon: Blaster. Sybarite: Blast Pistol, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Power sword
Wyches . Hekatrix: Hekatarii Blade, Splinter Pistol. 4x Wych: 4x Hekatarii Blade, 4x Plasma Grenades, 4x Splinter Pistol
Wyches. Hekatrix: Hekatarii Blade, Splinter Pistol. 4x Wych: 4x Hekatarii Blade, 4x Plasma Grenades, 4x Splinter Pistol
Elites;
Incubi. 4x Incubi: 4x Klaive. Klaivex: Klaive
Fast Attack;
Hellions. Helliarch: Phantasm Grenade Launcher. . Stunclaw and Splinter Pistol. 9x Hellion: 9x Hellglaive, 9x Splinter Pods
Reavers: 2x Grav-talon. Arena Champion: Power sword, Splinter Rifle. 3x Reaver: 3x Bladevanes, 3x Splinter Pistol, 3x Splinter Rifle. Reaver with special weapon (up to 1 for 3 models): Heat Lance. Reaver with special weapon (up to 1 for 3 models): Heat Lance
Dedicated Transport ;
Raider : Chain-snares, Dark Lance, Grisly Trophies, Kabal, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Shock Prow, Splinter racks
Venom : Chain-snares, Grisly Trophies, Splinter Cannon, Splinter Cannon, Wych Cult
Venom : Chain-snares, Grisly Trophies, Splinter Cannon, Splinter Cannon, Wych Cult

Here's how the games went
The Ritual;
An aggressive deployment meant that when I failed to get first turn my Venom filled with wyches got blown apart and then assaulted by Plague marines, this was when my Triptych Whip armed Succubus found out just how annoying disgustingly resilient is. Some Deathshroud terminators wiped out my other squad of wyches as they charged in, both the Reavers and hellions gave good accounts of themselves, but were too unable to kill key enemy models at crucial points. The Incubi and a Succubus with the Triptych Whip very nearly killed the Daemon Prince before being smote to death by him and a Malignant Plaguecaster. My opponent's Daemon Prince ritualled like hell only to die on the pointy end of the Raider. The game was utter carnage which left only a Plagueburst Crawler and a handfull of Poxwalkers on the table.

The end game phase was unkind to me as I got no raid spoils and a couple of battle scars.    

The Relic;
This was a better game for the Drukhari as lessons were learned from the previous game and deployment was more conservative. The Death Guard advanced almost en masse
on the Relic to grab it and go but some concentrated fire and terrible saving throws meant there wasn't enough bodies to hold it. Favourite moment of the game was when a large unit of Poxwalkers charged into my Hellions only to cause 2 wounds and the resulting return attacks wiped them out. One of the Succubi made off with the relic to the resentment of the surviving characters.

The end game was equally unfavorable with no raid spoils and plenty more battle scars. The Succubus gained a crusade relic (Artisan bionics) and a chest wound, the other Succubus lost a leg (wtf?), a Venom got weakened armour, and the Reavers got the Mark of Shame. All in all a pretty brutal set of injuries. There are now several units with battle scars who can at least be useful when they gain more and get sent off to the slave pens/dissection tables/certain death arena fights. So I am planning to have one or two crusade games on saturday with pics and a more detailed breakdown of the games.

The Battle of Gnochi Heights
Adraxys Molech felt the familiar sensation of excitement. His raider contained his Incubi bodyguard and his most trusted Kabalite lackeys. A number of Death Guard marines were captured, placed in bleached stasis caskets and sent back to the arenas along with many other unfortunates. Following his previous success Molech had attracted a band of Scourges with the promise of slaughter. Beldam Qud his Haemonculus ally had informed him that to further her own research and their mutual profit, Primaris marines would be useful specimens for experimentation. An Imperial Battle Group of the ludicrously named Indomitus Crusade had been sent to the Pariah Nexus in the Nephilum sub sector. The opportunity to  torment the humans seemed to good too pass up. It was discovered that a sizable force of Void Spectres were scouting a planet named Tuberosum for Necron influence. The Astartes were ranging over the planet but a smaller party were currently investigating a small settlement called Gnochi Heights in the barbarous local tongue. They seemed to be very interested in three power sources in the area and as soon as the group divided to scrutinize them, Adraxys force struck. Thus the Battle of Gnochi Heights began.


First turn charge on some Primaris.


Same on the other flank.


The centre is mine!


Just a final bit of mopping up.

The final score was Drukhari 40, Primaris Marines 20. As the marines were wiped out to a man (?) I think the battle went well. The scenario was dependent on holding the three objectives and the added survivability  gained by hanging out by the power sources made getting them vital, fortunately for me Dylan going first really helped me as it made a couple of first turn charges very achievable. Once the left and central objectives were contested it suited my army better to get stuck into combat, especially as Hellions are made to kill marines! Both units of Wyches were shot out as was the Venom on the right and the accompanying Succubus, these casualties were acceptable due to the focused fire that left a lot of the other units unmolested. On the downside Serpentia H'Tamm received another battle scar - a second lost leg! Amazingly she has no legs but has the same movement speed as an average human. For winning the scenario I got to use the supply limit requisition twice for nowt so my crusade force was now 65 PL.

Back in his lair in the Commoragh, Adraxys allowed himself a smirk of self congratulations. The raid had gone extremely well. A small fortune had been made in Primaris slaves and many other worthless wretches were captured and loaded into slave barges before Void Spectre reinforcements could be mobilised. Several hefty bribes were made and his agents moved on Archon Dubirs' holdings in the Shadowloom, effectively taking it over. In return for poisoning Dubris' guards,  Beldam Qud asked for the now severely weakened Serpentia H'Tamm. It was known that Quentifel Karks her rival in the Cult of the Red Grief coveted her weapon - the Tryptych Whip so a secret message with a retinal duplicate to gain access to her quarters encouraged her to challenge Serpentia while she was barely able to protect herself. Karks now had possession of the artifact and was indebted to Adraxys. Qud had H'Tamm, and Adraxys was eager to gain more power. He also knew where there was a large supply of Primaris marines for harvesting. He began planning his next conquest...