After some epic and occasionally bloody battles on day one, day two started fairly quiet...
The Eldar who had dominated the first exchanges travelled to Octarius with a precise plan of how to tackle the Plague Marines. The battle started with the Eldar electing to use their speed to make a dash for the fuel pipe in an attempt to secure an early objective from the slower Chaos force. This attempt was met with a hail of bolter fire claiming the brave Dire Avengers as the first casualties of the mission. Changing tactics the Eldar laid down some precise shots from the Ranger sniper rifles and started to eliminate the stronger enemy warriors with several mortal wounds. After a very tense and close battle neither side could quite do enough and both forces retired from the field to regroup for the final challenge.
Elsewhere the Necrons boarded the Gallowdark and fought with the Hunter Cadre racing to control the power conduits and siphon the power. The superior hand to hand combat abilities of the Ruststalkers proved to much and the battle was over almost before it had started.
On Moroch the Tactical Marines took the high vantage point over the advancing Veteran Guardsman. Despite taking cover behind the high walls of the outpost they could not survive the bolter disciplines of the marines.
As the dust settled on the opening battles for Eldar were looking in a commanding position and returned confidently to Calnath. This time one of the rangers took up the role of Exemplar and the Exarch planned to repeat the tactics that had gone so well in their last victory. Unfortunately for them the Necrons had other plans and quickly stamped their authority on the battle and it wasn't long before just on lone ranger remained. The hordes of living metal soon overcame him and the Necrons secured the most one sided victory of recent times.
The Veteran Guard remained on Moroch to await the arrival of the Hunter Cadre. They bedded themselves in for battle hoping to gun down the Ruststalkers before they could cut through their line like the effective killing machines they had proved to be in the other battles. Despite a valiant effort the Skitari soon overwhelmed the guardsman and claimed a much needed victory.
Now all eyes turned to the Gallowdark as the Plague Marines went into the dark expanse of the space hulk to encounter the more experienced Tactical Marines. The corridors soon erupted into an explosion of bolter fire as both armies tried to secure the objectives. The marines stood guard at the doorways hoping to strike down the advancing Chaos forces. The plague marines however were proving that they were disgustingly resilient and just kept coming, slowly but surely securing the power lines. The marines still had speed on there side and their discipline with their bolters was beginning to make an impact. This battle was going to decide the outcome of the whole event.
If the Marines could hold steady then the Necrons would win the war, and the Chaos forces knew that victory might be slipping from their grasp. News arrived from Calnath of the epic defeat of the Eldar and suddenly the Plague Marines had a new sense purpose, but would it be enough?
I hope that everyone enjoyed the tournament and would like to thank everyone for playing so well and making both evenings an absolute joy. I personally played some great games and enjoyed the missions that were both challenging and brutal. After nearly 10 hours of concentration spread over two nights the result was...
Joint 5th were Riley (Tactical Marine) and Joseph (Veteran Guard) on 3 points, 4th was Charlie (Hunter Cadre) on 6 points, 3rd Gary (Eldar) on 7 points, second was Jake (Necrons) also on 7 points and the overall winner was Phil (Plague Marines) on 8 points.
Congratulations go to Phil who's army was also voted the best painted. We look forward to the league which will return in 2023 and our next tournament.