'Carnage!'

Greetings from the bloodied battlefields of the 41st millennium! Knowing that my time for playing the game before the New Year arrives was very limited, I decided to finish the year out with my Space Wolves taking to the field of battle. Also I might've been inspired to do so because I spent the day working toward finishing the Land Raider Crusader (as showcased in the early 'Pods to Drop and Lands to Raid' series) and got it to the point that I thought it was time to give it a proper shake down. When I arrived to Hobbytown, we discovered that we were limited on tables for the evening and we had more players in attendance then we typically do. Mac just so happened to have his PDA with the new 'Carnage!' downloaded on to it, and suddenly the lack of tables was no longer an issue.

Brought to us by GamesWorkshopDigitalEditions 

As part of the Advent Calendar series of daily releases that Games Workshop is doing they released to the world 'Carnage!' on December 17th. Here is a brief description according to their Facebook page:
"('Carnage!') is a new four-player Mission for Warhammer 40,000. ‘Carnage!’ is a brutal game that pits your army against three opponents in furious all-out war. Alliances will be made and broken, blood will be spilt, for there can only be one victor."

So Mac (Ultramarines), Scott (Imperial Fists), Skylar (Chaos Space Marines) and I, "Neverness" (Space Wolves) decided to give this a try. We each had 1500 point lists. My list comprised of the Land Raider Crusader on it's maiden voyage (so to speak), a whirlwind, 5 Wolfguard, a full squad of 10 Grey Hunters, a smaller squad of Grey Hunters which the Rune Priest would join, a pack of missile launcher totting Long Fangs, a Lone Wolf and my Wolflord Sven Axegrinder. 

Ready to deploy! 

 I don't have a list of what my opponents had, only that I knew going in that it was going to be a hard fight considering that we all had powered armor and my army was balanced more toward dealing with hordes as opposed to armor penetration. I ended up deploying last.

Chaos and Space Wolves deployment zones. Note that the Long Fangs are inside the bunker.

 Opposite me on this short side of the table is the Chaos force. All of us eyeing, with concern, the Helldrake sitting off-table in Reserve...

Ultramarines and Imperial Fist deployment zones.

The Ultramarines and Imperial Fists had squads waiting to deploy in drop pods (I had to put in a Rhino in place of my drop pod which I accidentally left at home!). I had nothing staying out in reserves. This is amusing due to my Warlord Trait, "Strategic Genius", which allows re-rolls on reserve rolls. Genius isn't anything Sven has ever been accused of before and why should he have to deal with such a charge now?

"The Relic" a lost suit of armor. 

 I went first. Nothing much accomplished on my first turn other than killing a few of the Las Cannon wielding Havocs that were perched high on a rocky outcropping. It was dark on this first turn and the Night-Fighting rules were in effect which spared more of the lives of Chaos foes with in my reach... I had hoped to get the "First Blood" Secondary Objective but it was not to be. I raced the Rhino up field and launched smoke.

Space Wolf turn 1.

 The Chaos first turn began, 

 The Chaos force focused mostly on trying to kill the Lone Wolf who was lapping over towards his line. He deflected every las cannon hit with his Storm Shield, saved every bolter hit or simply didn't feel any pain from them. It was a lot of shots, and he didn't get a scratch. Chaos was worried, while the Fists and Ultras watched with respectable interest and relief that he wasn't heading in their direction! The rest of the Chaos force took shots and maneuvers against the Imperial Fists (there is apparently a standing rivalry with these two).

The Imperial Fist first turn starts with the screaming arrival of the Imperial Fist Drop Pod, arriving right on target on the edge of the Chaos deployment zone. it was close!  They jumped out, and with deadly precision blew up the Chaos Landraider! My Land Raider crew took note of this action with nervous apprehension...

Ambush!

The Imperial Fists charge the hill, with the Contemptor Dreadnought leading the way.

 Ultramarines first turn. 
Attempting to replicate the success of the Imperial Fist's tactics., the Ultramarines tried the same thing, only his dice betrayed him and the Drop Pod scattered off of the board, and to make matters worse, he rolled a 1 on the mishap table, losing a very potent Command Squad! Mac says the point value of that unit was over 300 points. Ouch.

The dice say NO, and scatter the Drop Pod 7" away and off the table...

 After dealing with the shock of that loss, Mac refocused his attentions, mostly on me, took his rage out on my smaller Grey Hunter squad and killed all by one member of the pack, leaving just him and the Rune Priest.

Imagine a lot of Space Wolf bodies in the big green space...

 The smoke on the rhino helped it survive as it avoided being slagged by las cannons!

Space Wolves turn 2. 
I was mostly concerned with the treacherous machinations of the Ultramarines, however their power armor proved effective against my firepower when ours had failed! Perhaps this is why we're fighting over a dead Ultramarine -they have superior armor tech!?

My Rune Priest and Grey Hunter charge the Ultramarines, with the Rune Priest taking a wound from an Overwatch shot!

Space Wolves vs. Ultramarines! The Rune Priest would remain locked here for awhile...

 On the Chaos front I reduced the Havocs numbers down a little more and sent the Lone Wolf striding forward.

 Chaos Turn two. 
The Helldrake arrives. It annihilates an Imperial Fist Devastator squad with it's Bale Flamer! Mac and I look up from our own little war to see the common foe has taken the field!

"KILL IT!!!"

 The three remaining Chaos Marines (I had picked off a few last round) moved forward to deal with the Lone Wolf, who still refused to take a hit. The red guys charged the Imperial Fist drop pod crew.

Over the course of two assault rounds, these red guys would kill off the drop pod crew.

 Imperial Fist turn 2. 
Basically Scott threw everything at the Helldrake. But it was no good, as it was still flying and still looking to kill more!

Ultramarines turn 2 (The uneasy truce)

Concerned about Helldrake and the obvious bloodbath we were setting up for each other, Mac asked for a parley, a temporary truce, to deal with the Helldrake as opposed to having a Terminator slug-fest in the middle of the field. I reluctantly agreed, leaving only our melee as it was. He teleported his terminator squad and Warlord on top of the hill taking the objective.

Teleport successful! 

 This mission does use hidden objectives, and it turned out to be a Skyfire Nexus! Quite impress suit of armor indeed! And very fortunate for us all. The terminators opened up on the Helldrake, damaging it. A krak missile from the cyclone missile launcher destroyed the bale flamer, eliminating the Helldrake's most troublesome aspect.

Space Wolves Turn 3

i repositioned my Landradier Crusader to assist with dealing with the Helldrake, but it failed to bring down the daemon engine. My Rhino held it's ground, while the Lone Wolf had moved up to charge the 3 Khorned-marked Chaos Marines that had been sent to eliminate him, only to have his glory robbed from him by the Long Fangs that wiped the unit out with Krak Missiles. I imagined the Lone Wolf turning around and cussing his comrades who were probably giddy about the whole incident...

I still think I should've ignored the truce the dealt with the rhinos instead.

 Chaos Turn 3.

The Helldrake performed a vector strike against the Contemptor, knocking off some hull points. It flew over to the far side of the Ultramarine deployment zone far away from any action...

Meanwhile the Chaos Warlord and the Imperial Fist Warlord would tangle for a few assault phases in close combat, with the two warriors ultimately killing each other!

"I say, you wouldn't mind terribly to place your head on one of these spikes would you? It would be a awfully helpful." 

 Imperial Fist Turn 3.
The Fists moved up on the Ultras, now that the threat of the Helldrake has flown by, and set up to make a gambit for the objective, as well as focusing on tabling the Chaos force.

Ultramarines Turn 4

With almost the whole force deployed to hold the center, Mac let the treachery of the Ultramarines be revealed. He opened up on the Imperial Fists, destroying the Contemptor Dreadnought. He then deployed his Devastators who wrecked the Rhino, forcing the Grey Hunters to bail out, and pinning them! (My Space Wolves are rarely pinned!). He also had his Techmarine jump in to assist the two marines that had locked in combat with the Runepriest, defeating the Runepriest.

"Bail out lads, and hit the dirt!"

 Space Wolves Turn 4

Enraged by this Ultramarine treachery, The Land Raider Crusader moved up, and the Terminators deployed. The combined fired power of the Crusader and Wolf Guard Terminator squad reduced the Devastators down to just 2 men. They had no chance once Wolfguard charged, and their scalps were claimed for Russ. A 6" consolidation allowed the Wolf Guard to take the Objective.

"We've taken the hill, prepare to defend it!"

 Meanwhile on the other side of the field, the Lone Wolf charged and finally took a wound from the overwatch attack of the red Chaos Marines, who were then defeated and ran down by him. He consolidated to confront the Ultramarine Assault Squad that had been sent "to help".

"Say, any of you guys up for giving me a glorious death?"

 Chaos Turn 4. 

The only thing he had left at this point was lone Havoc marine, and the Helldrake. The Helldrake attempted to vector strike a rhino that was broke down in the Ultramarine deployment zone, and it managed to remove a hull point.

Imperial Fist turn 4. 

With revenge in mind, the Imperial Fists opened up and tore apart the Ultramarines, eliminating an Assault Squad and most of the Terminators! He took a shot against the last Havoc, effectively tabling the Chaos army.

The final pic.

Ultramarines Turn 4. 

We noted how late it was (we played an hour and half over the usual stop time), and assessing the field, Mac decided to call the game, declaring me the victor for being on the objective. I wished we had at least played through his turn, but as late as it was, it made sense to stop. 

My final thoughts on this scenario is that it is very fun! However time is something to consider, as each turn takes longer to work through as opposed to a two-on-two game. Next time we might knock the points back a bit in order to finish a proper game in the time allowed. A bit like the overview of Triumph and Treachery, alliances can be made and torn asunder in a matter of moments, and find that a fun aspect that you never see in a typical 40k game. 

Thanks for a good game guys!
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You can download the eBook edition of this new Mission here:
http://www.blacklibrary.com/games-workshop-digital-editions/Carnage.html