Kill Team: Relic Recovered

 Finnegan and I FINALLY got back to playing Kill Team on Monday this week. 

The story here picks up from The Aeldari Assault on the Genestealer Cult stronghold in a cave system under the jungles of Xoxigar Tertium. Farseer Thymiltelyir lead a Beil-Tymm Combat Patrol (including Maesenir's Rangers). The attack was an utter debacle. The Assuryani were surprised and overwhelmed by the unexpected numbers of cultists they faced and were unable to recover the ancient Aeldari artefact they had gone there to recover. 

Kill Team Coranos has been operating in the region, under the direction of Lord Inquisitor Drusilla Kyros and monitoring both the Aeldari and Genestealer Cultists. The sudden appearance of the full combat patrol tipped off the Deathwatch Kill Team that they were after something very important. In the immediate aftermath of the battle, Sergeant Laescos Coranos led his battle brothers into the cavern to take advantage of the cultists while they were still reeling from the violence of the aeldari attack. 

We just made up our own scenario here, and ignored Tac Ops. It was simply whoever controlled the artifact at the end of the fourth Turning Point won. 

Both of these forces are Finnegan's (through I painted both) and I have to admit, I wasn't really familiar with all the Genestealer Cultists tricks and probably didn't play them... optimally...? (It's also been three months since we've played this relatively new game and we kept confusing rules - "Is this a thing..?" - "No, that's Necromunda...")

All ready to go. 

Kill Team Coranos enters the Caverns...  

Brother Icasos Scamedes, Brother Nasirdan Cannistus, and Brother Borealis Issolis advancing on the Deathwatch's left flank report the first contact with sentries in the cavern complex. 

Sergeant Laescos Coranos and Brother Benatos Diodexious on the right also encounter sentries. 

Turning Point One

The alarm is raised and panic spreads through the team guarding one of the cults stashes. 

Before the cultists could react, Brother Icasos Scamedes, formerly of the Thunder Chickens Space Marine Chapter, charged at the first barricade, blasting the sentries behind it with his Deathwatch Shotgun. Bother were grievously wounded.

Despite their injuries, the cultists answered with their own shotguns... injuring The Thunder Chicken, slightly. 

Brother Nasirdan Cannistus, of the Silver Skulls, followed his Battle Brother down the tunnel. As Scamedes peeled away, drawing the sentries fire, Cannistus finished off the both of them with a double tap from his Stalker Pattern Bolt Gun. 

The Cultists sentries on the other flank were terrified by the sudden appearance of Brother Scamedes in the side tunnel and the violence of the Deathwatch's assault on their compatriots. One blasted at Scamedes with a shotgun and the other fired on the advancing Sergeant Coranos. 

Brother Borealis Issolis having no immediate targets, moved up to join Scamedes and Canistus. 

Targets would present themselves soon enough - more cultists came running down the tunnel to see what was the cause of all the ruckus. Spotting the Marines advancing thought the gloom, they immediately opened fire. Brother Cannistus was peppered with shot and bullets. One of them found their mark and wounded him slightly. 

Brother Benatos Diodexious advanced past his sergeant blasting at the sentries before them. One was taken out, the other lingered, briefly. Sergeant Coranos charged past Diodexious and finished off the filthy xenos-tainted cultist behind the barricade. 

A cultist carrying a special weapon moved up to the barricade on the left and fired it at Brother Cannistus. Canistus was able to duck the relatively slow moving blast of sticky goo meant to entangle slow it's target. 

The rest of the cultists repositioned themselves to try and get cover and good sightlines to defend their stash. 

Turning Point Two

Situation at the beginning of the second turning point. Four of the Cultists were taken out, but ten more remained! Cannistus and Scamedes had both been injured but the ceaseless firing of the defenders, but not terribly so... 

The Battle Brothers resumed their assault - The two cultists that had rushed to regain the barricade on the left went down in a hail of rounds from Brother Issolis' Infernus Heavy Bolter. Issolis, himself, then rushed forward to take cover behind the sentries barricade. 

Other Cultists ducked and took pot shots at the Deathwatch marine, but whether it was the Cultist's own Barricade, the Marines Mk VIII Power Armour, or Brother Borealis' unshakable faith in the Emperor... no bullet could harm him. 

Brother Cannistus moved forward past Brother Issolis tracking targets, but was unable to bring fire on them 

Brother Cannistus drew some fire from the defenders, but was unscathed. 

Brother Scamedes followed Brother Cannistus and took another of the cultists down with a single blast from his shotgun. 

A cultist armed with a Grenade Launcher seriously damaged Sergeant Coranos with a Krak Grenade. The Deathwatch Sergeant was undeterred and charged forth and chopped a cultist clean in half .

A Cultist with a seismic cannon repositioned to get a clear shot at the invaders. 

Turning Point Three

Terrified Cultists scatter for cover as the Deathwatch Kill Team enters the cavern containing the cults stach , that they were tasked to defend. Nearly half of their number already gone! 

Sergeant Coranos pressed his attack, charging another cultist. This one was a slippery customer and ducked and dodged all of the sergeants swings of his Xenophase Blade. 

The Cultists' leader rushed to the aid of the cultists being attacked by the Deathwatch Sergeant. Springing out from his concealed position in the rubble, he drover his Power Pick into the Sergeant's side, dropping the mighty warrior!

The Cultists' Leader's triumph was short-lived, however, as he went down in a hail of Bolter fire from Brother Diodexious. Diodexious followed up his fusillade by charging the same cultist the sergeant had attacked, but he too found it hard to land a blow on the dexterous cultist!? 

Another Cultist joined the melee, only to have his head stoved in by a backhand blow from Brother Diodexious' power armoured fist. He then finished off the original target of his charge, when the cultist exposed himself while trying to land a blow on the Marine, thinking him distracted by the dead cultist's assault.

Bother Scamedes continued forward, taking down another Cultist. 

Brother Cannistus moved forward and secured the target of their adventure and prepared for extraction. 

A foolhardy cultist took shots at the marines... only to be blasted apart by Brother Borealis Issolis's Heavy Bolter when he poked his head out from cover.

Turning Point Four

The cultist with the seismic cannon finally got off a shot and slightly damaged Brother Cannistus and Bother Scamedes, as they prepared to depart with their prize. The latter was heard to moan "Oooh, right in the Neuro Glottis... that smarts!" 

Finnegan references the weirdest things in his banter between the Deathwatch Brothers. the Neuro Glottis is, apparently one of the dozen, or so, specialty organs Marines have implanted in them... Neither of us are sure what they hell it does, but it sure made me laugh when he uttered it! 

Brother Diodexious covered their extraction, taking down the Cultist with the Grenade Launcher and then charging the other cultist with the Seismic Cannon. this gave the others some time to get away with their prize and drag their fallen sergeant out of the dank cavern. 

Thanks to the many aforementioned specialty organs implanted in the marines, Sergeant Coranos survived his injuries. 

As these were Finnegan's Kill Teams, I left if for him to update fighter cards and experience and such.