Gate to Gortuloth - Final Battle!

So there it was. The final battle for the Imperium versus Chaos Campaign. Everyone gathered together at my house on a weekend afternoon and the six by eight foot table dominated my small dining room area. Gonna have to move these Apocalypse games into the garage next time. Two full sets of Citadel Realm of Battle Gameboards (provided by Cundo & Jay) were used to represent the battlefield.

There were a few side objectives worth one point each, but the main objective was the Summoning Cirle in the middle of no-man's land. That was worth two points.

The Chaos deploy on the southern end of the field while the Imperials set up to the north.

After making a few loose plans amongst themselves, the players set up their units, and then began the game. Nobody could tell quite yet who had the advantage from the start. From the Imperial point of view, they worried most about Renegade Reaver Titan an it's immense firepower. From the Chaos point of view, they worried about the three Baneblade super heavy tanks.

The Dark Angels immediately push forward on the western flank.

In the early stages of the battle, the western flank saw the most carnage. The Dark Angels pushed hard on that side of the field and decimated a large amount of Chaos Marines (mostly from my collection sadly).

The Ravenwing continue their lightning blitz through the western flank.

While the Chaos forces crumple on the western edge of the field, there was a stalemate on the eastern flank. Both sides would have to cross a large open patch of ground and so no one wanted to risk their assault troops on the charge quite yet. Instead, both sides continue to pound at each other's lines with long distance fire. Also, the Reaver Titans and the Baneblades continue to exchange fire.

Outflanking Deathwing Terminators arrive and decimate a Chaos Defiler

Awkward Moment: Loyal and Chaos Marines park their Land Raiders side by side.

Being extra sneaky, a Dark Angels Land Raider comes in off the back southern edge and deploy a squad of Terminators. Their mission, to disable that Reaver Titan! Then, a moment later, the Chaos Marines send in THEIR LAND RAIDER! Guess where they park it? That's right ... next to the Dark Angels Land Raider. :) "Hey guys, what's up?"

Things start to get nasty on the eastern side.

The Imperials finally are able to disable some of the more potent weapons off the Reaver Titan. With the threat of the Titan weaponry no longer around, the Imperials start to break from their positions and move forward.

A Bloodthirster joins the battle.

The remaining Chaos forces were worn thin and victory looked to be in the hands of the Imperials. However, just at the last minute, two greater daemons of chaos show up. A Bloodthirster and a Great Unclean One.

Great Unclean One spreads his disease all over the Imperial lines.

Reaver Titan has been shot up so much, nothing on it works anymore.

A handful of Chaos Marines grab the main objective.

As the Greater Daemons wreaked havoc through the northern Imperial lines, a few Chaos Marines drive up in their barely functioning beat up Rhinos and secure the main objective. The game ends and the Chaos side squeezes out a win.

With the last summoning circle secured, the ritual began. The ancient gate came to life with wild warp energies. Within moments, the daemon Gortuloth stepped through.