Brother-on-Brother Violence: Salamanders vs Black Templars in Warhammer 40,000
This one was exactly the kind of game we love reporting on: Space Marines deciding that the biggest threat on the table was, in fact, other Space Marines.
Salamanders faced off against Black Templars in a very proper bit of brother-on-brother violence, played on what Michał immediately and lovingly identified as the “Upośledzeum” map. Honestly, that already set the tone for the whole report.
Deployment
Wilini dropped us a deployment shot early, and from the start it looked like one of those games where both sides were close enough that things would get messy fast.
There was also an immediate sense that this would become one of those very cinematic 40k games where every photo looks like a dramatic pile-in. As Stas wisely asked: why do 40k photos always look like one side is doing a gangbang to the other? We still don’t have a better answer than: because that is apparently how the grim darkness of the far future photographs.
Round 2 and the start of the carnage
By round 2, things were already disappearing off the table. The ATV was gone, and the outlook for the Sword Brethren plus Marshal was, let us say, extremely unhealthy.
From there the battle turned into exactly what we want from a Space Marine mirror match: elite units smashing into each other, heroes overperforming wildly, and both players feeling like it was still anyone’s game.
Mid-game: fire, blades and bad life choices
The later photo dump really shows how dense the fighting got. Units were stacked into ruins, pushing onto objectives, and generally making every combat look personal.
The standout moment on the Black Templars side was absolutely the Emperor’s Champion. According to Wilini, he deleted three units by himself: an ATV, Assault Intercessors, and Eradicators. That is a very respectable day at the office.
And then came the other side of the story: the Sword Brethren, the Impulsor, and the Emperor’s Champion eventually got burned and hacked apart by a crowd of furious Infernus Marines led by a Captain with a power fist. If there was ever a more Salamanders sentence, we haven’t heard it lately.
So yes, MVPs from both sides were pretty obvious:
- Black Templars MVP: Emperor’s Champion, who apparently brought a personal grudge list.
- Salamanders MVP: Infernus Marines with the Captain, who solved the problem the proper way: with fire, then punching.
Wilini later clarified that the Emperor’s Champion was the one with the surprise factor, and instead of being overwhelmed, he was the one doing the overwhelming. End3r added the important tactical note that if you have a 1:5 numerical advantage over him, then clearly you have no chance.
The endgame and the score
In the end, Salamanders won.
End3r’s summary is probably the fairest one: Salamanders won, but mostly because the Emperor was apparently whispering scoring advice into their ears. For most of the game it was very close, and only near the end did they manage to pull ahead on points.
That part is worth stressing, because it sounds like this wasn’t a one-sided beatdown at all. It was one of those games where models were exploding, elite units were trading up, characters were doing absurd heroics, and the actual result came down to who could still score in the closing turns.
Which, honestly, is exactly the sort of battle report we like seeing.
Bonus appearance: Kotucz Titan
At some point, Wilini also reported a Kotucz titan on the battlefield. We are choosing to interpret that as either vital battlefield support, a local wildlife event, or the kind of meta-shattering intervention no list can prepare for.
Final thoughts
This one had everything:
- Space Marines fighting Space Marines
- an ATV vanishing early
- Sword Brethren getting roasted
- an Emperor’s Champion going on an absolute rampage
- furious Infernus Marines returning the favor
- a game that stayed close until the scoring in the final stretch
So congratulations to the Salamanders for the win — and respect to the Black Templars, whose Emperor’s Champion clearly did his best to personally drag the crusade over the finish line.
The Emperor protects. Just, apparently, not always the same Space Marines.