5 Warlord Titans - 10,000 points

A guy in my gaming group made these with his friend. Each one is about the size of a toddler. Look for them on Ebay sometime in the near future. I have no idea how much they will go for, but trust me it will be worth it.

 

 

The Perils of Miniatures Gaming

Our family welcomed our latest edition two weeks ago, so I haven’t done much gaming recently. So unfortunately, no new battle reports at this time.

I did surprisingly have a little bit of free time this past weekend after the kids went to bed to work on a model that’s been sitting on my shelf for some time: a Sisters of Battle Repressor.

This model consists of a standard GW Rhino tank fitted with a Forge World resin kit. Nothing too complicated, right? This was my first experience working with Forge World bits and I’d heard a few bad things. However, the kit I received seemed to be just fine: no unsightly bubbles, no unsightly deformations.

Everything was going quite smoothly until I discovered that the elevated crew compartment didn’t fit quite right on the top of the Rhino. The problem wasn’t with the Forge World resin compartment, it was the Rhino itself. Some of the raised texture details on the rear top of the vehicle were sticking up a bit too much.

I thought, well I can just mangle this thing with my clippers or try to finesse it with the hobby knife. In opted for the finesse. Bad choice.

One slip and the blade drove deep into my right thumb. It didn’t really hurt, but the blood came gushing out. I tried to apply direct pressure to stop the bleeding, to no avail. After several attempts at bandaging the wound failed, I wound up driving myself to the emergency room.

Two hours, three stitches and a tetanus shot later, I was on my way home. While I was cleaning up the mess on the table, I thought to myself “you know, those space marines really are blood red.”

40k Battle Report - Feb. 4

Witch Hunters vs. Orks

My Monday night group took a break from our Apocalypse battles and played a good old-fashioned 1500 point 40k game recently. The tide of battle swung back and forth and in the end it came down to two units facing off. In short, it was a lot of fun.

The Witch Hunters included only Adeptas Sororitas units: two squads of Battle Sisters in Rhinos, one squad of Dominions armed with flamers in an Immolator, one squad of Seraphim, a Canoness and her Celestian retinue in an Immolator and a Living Saint. This mechanized infantry unit wanted to close quickly into flamer and rapid fire range, using faith points when necessary to withstand the ork firepower.

The Orks took the field with a Big Mek armed with a shok attack gun, a squad of flash gitz with full weapon upgrades, a Deff Dread with four (!) dreadnought close combat weapons, a Warboss and escort squad in a battlewagon, a squad of tankbustas with rockets and bomb squiqs, lootas and a lot of Ork Boyz. This green horde made up for its low ballistic skill with an enormous number of guns. When you’re rolling a ton of dice, you’re bound to get more than a few hits.

Turn One saw the shok attack gun and the Tankbustas taking out the Canoness’ Immolator and nearly half the Seraphim. The Canoness and her Celestians bailed out of the wrecked vehicle, entangled but otherwise unharmed.

Armed with short ranged weapons, the Witch Hunters could not return fire in Turn One. The Dominions’ Immolator raced up the left flank while the two troop-carrier Rhinos advanced up the center of the board. All three vehicles popped smoke, hoping to withstand another round of fire. The Seraphim jumped behind cover, escorted by the Living Saint.

Turn Two saw more effective use of Ork firepower. The Imperial vehicles all blew their obscurement rolls, meaning their smoke launchers turned out to be useless. The shok attack gun immobilized one Rhino and the tankbustas and the flash gitz took out the other, taking out a handful of Sisters and leaving the rest entangled. The Deff Dread advanced to the center of the board, daring the Sisters of Battle to come out and play. The Warboss and his escort leaped from the battlewagon, ready to engage the oncoming Dominions.

The Canoness and Celestians pulled themselves away from the wreckage of their Immolator and behind cover of some trees.  The squad from the immobilized Rhino bailed, somehow managing to put the tank between themselves and the Orks. What was left of the Seraphim jumped forward and unloaded on the flash gitz. Twin hand flamers managed to inflict some wounds, but not enough to take them down. 

It was time for close combat. The Seraphim charged the flash gitz, lead by a Sister Superior wielding a power weapon. She dropped two of the greenskins and turned out to be the last surviving member of her squad once the Orks finished hitting back. Making use of her hit and run ability, she jumped away behind cover.

The Living Saint, on the other hand, made use of her faith points to increase her strength and gain a 2+ invulnerable save. Feeling the might of the Emporer, she charged the Deff Dread. After a mighty exchange of blows, the two figures remained in the center of the board, neither able to hurt the other.

In turn three, things started to turn the Witch Hunters way. The Ork firepower cut into the squads of Sisters now making their way on foot, but not enough.  The Dominions managed to close into range on the left flank Four Sisters armed with flamers jumped out and vaporized an entire squad of ‘Boyz in one barrage of burning promethium.

The next two turns saw frantic and bloody action. The wounded Witch Hunter units all made their leadership checks. Ave Imperator! The lone Seraphim superior jumped back into close combat with the flash gitz, her power sword leaving more Ork bodies on the ground.  The Living Saint, powered by her faith, stuck down the Deff Dread with one mighty swing of her Ardent Blade. Her consolidation move allowed her to close with the shok attack gun that had caused so much damage.

Meanwhile, the flash gitz and other ork units on the right side of the board closed with the remains of one Battle squad and the Canoness and her Celestian, all the while harassed by the last Seraphim. In close combat, the Orks made short work of most of the Sisters, except for the Canoness. Armed with her Blessed Weapon, she cut down ork after ork, almost single-handedly clearing out that side of the table.

In the ork deployment zone, the Living Saint was having similar success. She cleaved through the shok attack gun and its surrounding units, her ardent blade blasting fire and cutting down orks with ease. Soon, nothing stood between her and the battlewagon.

At this point, the orks were down to the battlewagon, the Warboss and his escort. The Witch Hunters had a full squad of sisters, the Canoness, the Living Saint and the Immolator. Both players agreed the Canoness would never reach the other side of the board on foot, so play concentrated on a final confrontation on the left flank.

Rapid fire bolters and flamers left the Warboss standing on his own. In turn, he lashed out and slaughtered the Living Saint, exacting a measure of vengence. The remaining sisters charged, but without any faith points were unable to inflict the final wound needed to kill the Warboss. He had no such problems, swinging back and leaving dead Sisters strewn across the battlefield.

Finally, the Warboss stood, clad in mega-armor, staring down the barrels of a twin-linked multimelta mounted on the Immolator. However, he was too far away to charge and his twin-linked shoota could not penetrate the tank’s front armor. Realizing the Immolator could continue to back away and fire, the Ork player conceded the game.

It was a vicious bloody battle that showed off the best attributes of both armies. The orks had numbers and packed a lot of punch in both ranged and close combat. The Sisters used their faith points and lethal short ranged weaponry to cut down the orks.

In short, it was the kind of game that reminds us why we play this game: it was a lot of fun for everyone involved.  

Apocalypse Campaign - Conclusion

Scenario 3 – The Secret Revealed

The Orks have pulled out, but the true puppet masters have been unmasked. The Tau created the spores and used Spartacus V as a field laboratory for their experiment. Now they are ready to move in and finish off the depleted Imperial forces. However, the Cadians still have a score to settle with the Inquisition, which is looking to end the menace of the spores once and for all.

 Setup

The Tau will take the long deployment zone. The two remaining zones are split between the Inquisition and Imperial Guard.

 

- The Tau will place two objectives in their deployment zone. The objectives must be at least 18” apart.

- The Inquisition will place an objective anywhere in its deployment zone.

- The Imperial Guard will have no objectives in its deployment zone.

 Victory Conditions

- Tau: The Tau must hold both of their objectives to win the game. There is no reason for them to attempt to take the Inquisition objective.

- Inquisition: The Inquisition must hold its objective and take at least one of the Tau objectives to win the game.

- Imperial Guard: The Imperial Guard must take one of the Tau objectives and the Inquisition objective to win the game.

Strategic Assets

Tau –Supreme Headquarters, Scheduled Bombardment

Inquisition – Surgical Raids, Ambush

Imperial Guard – Flank March

AT-43: Not just “pre-painted 40K”

A lot has been written about AT-43 in the last year. It’s been a huge success for Rackham and Fantasy Flight, so I see no need to review the game here. Instead, I’ll go over a few things my group has discovered during our games which may help you.

1) Play on a small board. We recently experimented with a 3′x3′ board and it really seemed to improve the game. The combat was fast, immediate and deadly. It quickened the pace of the game and made it a lot more fun to play.

2) The rule books need work. There are a lot of rules questions in any game, but the AT-43 books could be organized better. We spend a lot of time flipping through pages figuring things out, looking up threads on message boards and, at times, deciding rules quesitons with a roll of the dice. It’s not bad enough to ruin the game, but hopefully in the future the editing of the books will be better.

3) Battlesuits need to be used carefully. Whether its UNA Steel Arms or Red Blok Kolossus units, low speed and not-so-heavy armor means these guys can get lit up if left out in the open. They pack serious firepower but are pretty fragile when it comes down to it. My suggestion is to leave your suits in reserve and deploy them as reinforcements.  If you can drop them in halfway up the board, you can wreck some serious havoc.

4) Spend that LP. Leadership points are the currency of the game and unless you have some uber-secret plan,  go ahead and spend those points. Most players have more than they need to pull off whatever tricks they have in their bag.

5) Going second is not a bad idea. In the words of one of our local players “you go first, I go second and shoot you. You go again, I go again and shoot you.” As with 40k, going second also allows you to take the last move and secure objectives, critical for winning a game.

Edition Angst - D&D & 40K

There have been a lot rumors flying around the internet about a 5th edition for Warhammer 40k. At the same time, Wizards of the Coast is preparing to release the 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Both developments are creating a lot of buzz, anxiety and angst among fans of both games.

What strikes me is WOTC and Games Workshop are taking two diametrically opposed approaches to these new editions. GW has not even confirmed that a new edition of 40k is in the works. As the saying goes, in the absence of information there is only speculation. There are huge threads on message boards rambling on and on about what’s going to happen to the game, how will this impact my army, does this mean all  the miniatures I’ve collected are now going to be under-powered under the new rules.

WOTC on the other hand had a big announcement at last year’s GenCon, has designers and developers posting regular updates on their forums, is talking about the new edition in its podcasts and has even put two compilations of design notes out on the market for sale. 

I’ve seen WOTC take a lot of criticism for this approach, but I personally think it’s brilliant. They must be actively seeking the criticism to put these design concepts out there. They receive nearly instantaneous feedback from their fans about the new rules. Add this to their playtests and it seems WOTC is going to have a pretty good idea how 4th edition will be received by fans of the game.

The other night I was in my local Barnes & Noble looking at D&D books when a couple of guys came in, picked up one of the 4th edition preview books and immediately started chatting about the game. We struck up a conversation. They told me about their campaigns and their favorite characters (One had a stormlord with some gauntlet that created a never-ending supply of javelins. If you know the prestige class, you know that makes him uber-powerful. Not sure I would allow that if I were DM.)

They were young guys and had never played 1st or 2nd edition D&D, so they never had to go through this kind of change before. But they were looking forward to it. They liked the idea of 30 level classes, new core races, new spellcasting systems, the works.

The conversation made me feel good about the future of D&D and re-affirmed my commitment to dive in to the new rules. These were young players, focused on building up their characters and having fun. They want new ways to do that.

GW, on the other hand, is playing its cards very close to the vest. Maybe it’s because they’re in a different market position that WOTC. GW has competition from a lot of different miniatures games and more are popping up all the time. WOTC has the corporate backing of Hasbro, so it can take some chances.

 Whatever the case, GW’s strategy is creating a lot of angst and rabid speculation among gamers. One could argue that any publicity is good publicity, but GW’s way of thinking is resulting in a sort of random buzz that doesn’t really help the company refine its thinking about 5th edition 40k, if indeed it does exist.

By contract, WOTC is receiving a lot of feedback on its new rules, which will hopefully help them create a better game.

I love both games and hope that they turn out well. At this point, however, I have a little more faith in WOTC’s ability to deliver than GW.

Apocalypse Scenario 2 - The Cadians Fight Back

The Imperial Guard hits back at the Inquisition while holding off the Orks. The Orks realize their campaign is falling apart and unleash their secret weapon in one final assault against both the Marines and the 3^rd Division. The Inquisition finds itself fighting a defensive battle as it tries to hold on to its headquarters.

 Setup

The Inquisition takes the long deployment zone. The two remaining zones are split between the Orks and Imperial Guard.

 

- The Inquisition will place two objectives in its deployment zone. The objectives must be at least 18” apart.

- The Imperial Guard will place on objective anywhere in their deployment zone.

- The Orks will have no objectives in their deployment zone.

 Victory Conditions

- Inquisition: The Inquisition must hold both of its objectives to win the game. There is no reason for it to attempt to take the Imperial Guard objective.

- Imperial Guard: The Guardsmen must hold their objective and take at least one of the Inquisition objectives to win the game.

- Orks: The Orks must take one of the Inquisition objectives and the Imperial Guard objective to win the game.

 Strategic Assets

Inquisition – Hold at All Costs, Orbital Bombardment

Imperial Guard – Supreme Headquarters, Strategic Redeployment

Orks – Vortex Grenade

 

The winning side will receive a bonus asset in the next scenario.

 

Imperial Guard – Orbital Bombardment

Orks – Minefields

Inquisition – Precision Strike

 

Apocalypse Campaign - Scenario 1

Scenario 1 – Shattered Hope Points per side: 4000  

Initiative: Roll each turn. No player may go first in consecutive turns. If a player rolls the highest in consecutive turns, he re-rolls until his initiative order is determined. Ties are rolled off.

 Table set-up

- 6’x8’ divided into three zones. The Imperial Guard will set up in the zone that runs along the length of the table. The Orks will take one of the two remaining zones, the Inquisition the other.

- The Imperial Guard will place two objectives in their deployment zone. The objectives must be at least 18” apart.

- The Orks will place on objective anywhere in their deployment zone.

- The Inquisition will have no objectives in its deployment zone.

 Victory Conditions

- Imperial Guard: The Cadians must hold both of their objectives to win the game. There is no reason for them to attempt to take the Ork objective.

- Orks: The Orks must hold their objective and take at least one of the Imperial Guard objectives to win the game.

- Inquisition: The Inquisition must take one of the Cadian objectives and the Ork objective to win the game.

 Strategic Assets 

Each side starts the game with the following strategic assets. They may have additional assets if granted by certain formations or datasheets.

-          Imperial Guard: Hold At All Costs, Shield Generator

-          Orks: Supreme Headquarters, Recon

-          Inquisition: Camouflage

The winning side will receive a bonus asset in the next scenario.

Imperial Guard – Orbital Bombardment

Orks – Flank March

Inquisition – Shield Generator

Apocalypse Campaign

With the start of the new year, my gaming group has decided to start playing a series of linked scenarios for Apocalypse. We started kicking around the idea and I volunteered to write up some background and rules. What emerged was a pretty long document, so I’ll post each section separately.

There were a few design principles I tried to adhere to. First and foremost, we were going to have three players. The normal Apocalypse rules call for two sides battling each other, so I needed to come up with a  structure that would facilitate a three-way battle. The trick was to come up with victory conditions that would encourage everyone to fight each other.

Secondly, I tailored this campaign to fit with the armies each player owns. Pretty much a no-brainer, but still an important point.

So without further ado, let’s start with the campaign background.

Apocalypse Campaign – “The Warp Spore Deception”

It hasn’t been a good year for the 3^rd Cadian Division on the outpost world of Spartacus V. The Imperial Guard has been fighting skirmish after skirmish for months through a seemingly endless series of invasions by Orks. The battles started off small, but grew with each encounter. It seemed clear the Orks were making exploratory raids in preparation of a full scale Waagh!

Now the Guard forces face perhaps their greatest challenge. The main Ork force landed on Spartacus V two weeks ago and quickly overwhelmed defenses all across the planet. The Orks were strangely aided by a force of Tyrannids. Sketchy intelligence reports indicate the Orks were somehow controlling the Tyrannid monsters. The exact method of control remains unclear, but clearly the creatures are responding to Ork commands.

The Cadian 3^rd had grown accustomed to fighting on its own. On this world at the edge of the Imperium, they had beaten back invasion after invasion. The appearance of a combined alien force convinced Cadian commanders they would need reinforcements. Dispatches were quickly sent to the Imperial Navy, leaving the Guard with nothing to do but dig in, hold on and wait.

The plea for help, however, was intercepted by agents of the Inquisition. The situation on Spartacus V was red-flagged for further scrutiny. One seemingly unrelated report unlocked the secret to the Ork-Tyrannid alliance. A previously undiscovered species of plant had appeared on the world. The plants released spores which somehow resonated with energies from the Warp. Perhaps the spores were in some way inciting the aliens to work together.

Suspecting the hand of Chaos at work, the Inquisition sent orders to the nearest available chapter of the Space Marines.

Meanwhile, the Orks on Spartacus V were having the time of their lives. They had been trying to take the planet for months with little success. Then a vision appeared, telling them that they would find willing slaves on the Imperial outpost world. Heading this, the Orks gathered all available forces and immediately set out. They found a host of Tyrannids waiting, just where the prophecy said they would be.

The monstrous aliens seemed to be dormant, but wakened upon the Orks approach. The Tyrannids remained compliant, willing to follow any command. Clearly, the prophecy was true and glorious victory was at hand. Aided by the monsters, the Orks washed across Spartacus V, hacking and slashing to their hearts’ content.

In a strange twist, bands of Kroot warriors suddenly appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. However, they have been behaving strangely, and have been seen wandering in the direction of Ork and Imperial Guard camps.

Now, the Cadians have received word that reinforcements are coming. The Guardsmen have decided to draw a line on the map at one of their supply stations. Their objective is to stop or delay the Ork advance. If successful, the 3^rd Division will be able to mount a counter-offensive with the help of the off-world reinforcements.

What the Guard commanders don’t know is they are not receiving any help. The Inquisition concluded that the “warp spores” which seemed to be affecting the Tyrannids might have also infected the Cadian troops. Better to eliminate everything than run the risk of an unknown plague escaping the planet.

With these thoughts in mind, the Inquisition gave a simple set of orders to the Blood Angels: kill every last Ork, Tyrannid and Cadian on Spartacus V. Assisted by forces of the Inquisition and using the cover of camouflage, the Marines prepare to ambush both sides.

Apocalypse strategy and tactics

At this point, my group has played a few Apocalypse games and it has been quite a learning experience. So far, a few themes have emerged:

1. Take your army list and run with it. One of our guys fielded Orks and took 7 fighta-bomba raids. Before a single shot was fired he had stunned nearly half my vehicles, crippling me for the first round.  In return, I dropped four Callidus assassins behind his lines, carving up his ranks and blasting his vehicle crews with neural shredders.

2. Use all your tricks. During the same game, I used the “A word in your ear…” ability granted by my assassins to move my opponent’s barbed hierodule into a spot where it couldn’t hurt me during the first round when my tanks were stunned.

3. Superheavies are awesome…and they can die. Titans, hierodules and other legendary units pack immense firepower, but concentrated fire can bring them down. At least, that’s worked with “normal” superheavies. One of our players actually built a Warlord Titan that stands more than three feet tall. It took out my land raider, the squad of terminators on board and a predator with one shot. We never did manage to bring that thing down.

4. Don’t forget the objectives. It’s easy to get caught up in the carnage and shear desire to wreck havoc on your opponents. In our last game, one of my dreadnoughts did nothing at all besides walking right up to a key objective that somehow went ignored by everyone else. It accounted for zero casualties but played a pivotal role in the outcome of the game.

5. Don’t forget to use your strategic assets…and use them early. Nothing sucks worse than watching your carefully constructed plan to strategically redeploy your units than to watch them evaporate under your opponent’s guns.