+ inload: Down Amongst the Dead Men – An 8th edition Battle Report +

+ Team Fisto – we've seen their likes before. Bob Hunk is a name regular exloaders will be familiar with, but Fisto started as a group project. Another proud member of the golden-armoured VIIth Legion is grahamgilchrist, with whom I played a test game of 8th edition 40k using the rules that have been previewed on the Warhammer Community site recently. +

+ Not having access to the point values, we stuck with a simple mirror match. Each Captain led Four five-man squads of Primaris marines, and one seven-man squad of plasmabastards (Hellblasters). +

+ The mission was simple – four objectives were set up which needed to be claimed at the end of the game for two victory points (VPs) each. An additional D3 were up for grabs if either of us could bring down the opposing Captain. +

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Deep in the bowels of the Palace, the Iron Warriors' 242nd Company were advancing quickly through ruins that had been ancient when the Great Crusade was launched. Submerged beneath an old reservoir, the warfare on the surface had caused a breach that had allowed millions of tons of black water to drain away, revealing the lost city of Tu-Banad – an irreplaceable and precious archaeological gem, of which the warring factions were entirely uncaring.

The Fists' commanding Praetor ordered a precious demi-company of his best men to stymie and drive back the opportunistic thrust; and the streets that had known nothing but the tread of microbes for centuries were suddenly alive with the whoosh-bang of boltgun fire.

When contact was made, the Iron Warriors were spread relatively loosely around the large central ruin, with troops drawn up behind barricades in the south (front of picture), looking down a killzone. The Fists rejected the north flank and massed in the centre and south.

The Pillars of Dawn, cyclopean pillars that had suspended a protective rad-canopy over the city still stood; dwarfing even the mighty Astartes of the VIIth, as they closed to engage the intruding Iron Warriors.

Clustered behind cover, the Iron Warriors were determined to make this patch of the Palace their own.

Rushing forward, the Iron Warriors siezed the initiative – and the high ground.

Long-range firepower chipped away at the Fists, but though one or two wounded, the weight of fire was not sufficient to put any of them down.

The Iron Warriors in the south sheltered behind the obstacles, awaiting the Fists' advance.

True to form, the indomitable Fists pushed forward into the southern street. Would it prove a killing ground, or would their plate prove sufficient to protect them?

In the north, the IVth Legion's specialists waited on one of the objectives, safe from harm – but unable to target the Fists.

Small groups of Iron Warriors advance, but the two squads suffer heavy damage at the hands of hte massed Imperial Fists.

The plasma rifles are dangerous enough, but directed by the Captain, they became deadly.

+ The Captain allowed the Hellblasters to reroll to hit rolls of 1 – an obvious synergy with the 'gets hot' roll of their plasma rifles. +

With the Imperial Fists committed on the southern flank, the Iron Warriors started losing more and more men. Captain Çjarn ruthlessly sent his depleted squads forward to engage the Fists, hoping to hold the Fists here for long enough that they would be unable to contest the objectives.

Combat! Two Iron Warriors slam into their hated foes.

Clearly warp-blessed, the sergeant survives a flurry of blows from the Captain, any of which would have ended him.

As the artificial light started to fade, the surviving Iron Warriors on the south pulled back to deeper defences, still aiming to slow and degrade the enemy...

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+ The concluding part can be found here [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+] +