Adeptus Custodes vs Emperor's Children: 1500 points battle report

So, finally I will meet the Golden Boys with the Pink Phalanx on the battlefield.  Though I know my opponent, Tom, for years already, we actually never played 40k against each other iirc.

So after months of smacktalking, the forces meet at last on the field of g(l)ory...

To that end, I took along a Warlord (high on elixer, and with the 6+++ save) to bolster my lines, a Dark Apostle because I think those are just bloody great, and a Sorcerer whose job will be to place Death hex'es where possible.
For thr troop selection, 2 blobs of cultists each 20 strong led the way / took the bullets for my squad of Noise Marines.
I have seen those Custodes in action a few times, and I know they are hard to crack in their armour, then multiple wounds, so I opted for a very ranged army list.  Two squads of havocs, one with lascannon and missile launchers, and one with autocannons and heavy bolters, stood ready to lay down a rainstorm of fire.  Joining them, a Rapier battery of 2 laser destroyers and 1 quad bolter.
The final piece of the force is a Helbrute, with plasmacannon and missile launcher.

So in the end I have a rather okay sized force (mine tend to be to the more numerous side as I rarely take armour along) with a load of s8+ and decent ap redecution weapons.  If the sorcerer can do his thing, it might be a slaughtering shooting gallery...

Tom on the other hand brought along 4 squads of Golden Boys, of which one would deploy in reserve, 2 characters on jetbikes, a Banner Bearer and a huge Dreadnought with an arsenal of guns, while a Culexus assassin lurked in the shadows.

Both forces where deployed, and this resulted in 5 out of the 6 objectives being near the Custodes battleline as we went for the length instead of the width of the table in a Race to Victory scenario!

The Custodes took the first turn, and after their shooting phase, my first squad of havocs was out, unfortunatly the lascannon / missile launcher ones... so far the use of the cover save stratagem against the might of the 2+ firing dreadnought.

I was "helped" by having objectives actually lying BEHIND the custodes line, so there goes any hope on early points.  Add to that both Laser Destroyers failing miserably, and we ended the first turn with a 2-0 lead for the Custodes...

In the second turn, the Custodes withdrew their injured squad behind the buildings, while a fresh one teleported in behind more cover.  The Culexus appeared on top of the walkway where the Havocs had been.

In my shooting phase, the lasers hit home, seriously wounding the dreadnought who was then taken out by an autocannon shot.  My sorcerer had been reduced to a single wound by the culexus, who was consequently blown to smithereens by a barrage of sonic noise.

But it now stood 1 to 5 for the Custodes, who keep drawing objective number based cards.

In turn 3, the Custodes characters relocate to obtain even more secured objectives, as the teleported in squad charges one of my laser destroyers, taking it out swiftly.  In response, my cultists throw themselves on them to keep them locked in a fight, hoping against all odds to do something against the 2+ armoured elite warriors.

But at 1 to 6, it ain`t going well at all...

His characters keep securing and defending objectives, but one of his squads fall at last to combined fire, freeing up objective one. 

Not that it helps a lot, as his points keep raking up to a now stunning 1 - 12 lead.

Both his jetbike mounted characters prepare to slaughter the cultist unit on the flank now, while the other cutlists versus Custodes fight keeps dwindling down both units.

But at 1 - 13 it is becoming a hopeless cause, because there is no way I can table him anymore.

His lord though, after some cultists did actually survive (one of the characters failed his charge the turn before) just survives a laser destoryer hit and feels with one wound remaining.

The noise marines prepare to charge the lone squad survivor in the meantime by closing on his position.

The other character hides behind some rock formations, rather safe from most of my firepower now.

But then he reached the 10 objective cards, meaning I would get my last turn and then the game is over.

In that turn, the charge of course fails, needing only a 6, and to put extra shame to it, one is shot down by overwatch to boot...

My lord charged the lone survivor of the cultist slugfest... and even on his intoxics fails to finish him off... sigh.  Two chances for at least scoring the Blood and Guts, and zilch as a result.

And so the game came to a close, resulting in the Custodes completing 11 objectives compared to my measly three... and a massive 5 - 19 defeat for the Emperor's Children, the heaviest I ever had in this edition.

But I learned quit a few lessons when facing the Golden Boys next time, in that they struggle with ranged anti tank fire, and that I need more mobile then mass troops, like my Raptors and Talons to at least contest the objectives and all next time.

Still, a fun battle and even though the losses on both sides didn`t even amount to 500 pts each, it was an enjoyable experience.