What I've Been Painting

So I haven't been sitting on my hands for the past two weeks. Here're the fruits of my labors.

Apocalypse Battle Report - Seize and Slaughter Pt 2

So the teams were set and the battle lines drawn. It was time to wage war.

For ease of writing, Team A will be Space Wolves/Eldar/Imperial Guard/Tyranids and Team B will be Chaos/Chaos/Tau/Space Marine/Orks

Turn 1 - Team A
With three Land Raiders filled with assault troops, two defilers, a Stompa and a plethora of other nasties lined up at our doorstep, we knew that so much depended on this first shooting phase.

Logan Grimnar and his Wolfguard Terminators drop podded right in front of the Tau Hammerheads and nearby the Green Tide. Between the Cyclone Missile Launcher and Arjac's Thunder Hammer, they only gained a stunned result on a single gunship. The Tyranid carnifexes and Genestealers on the right flank moved up, under cover of the spore chimneys (they would also run in the shooting phase).

The Seer Council cast Fortune on themselves and attempted to Doom the enemy possessed but was nullified by the enemy Inquisitor's Psychic Hood. The flew up 12 inches in front of the center Chaos Land Raider and threw spears into its hull, doing nothing thanks to Daemonic Possession. Eldrad cast Fortune on his Wave Serpent and Guided the Falcon, while Doom was once again nullified, and moved 12" away and fired it's twin-linked bright lance at the Imperial Land Raider and immobilizing it, while concealing most of its hull behind the Space Wolf Land Raider. The Falcon would move 6" to the left flank to gain full view of the Slaaneshi Daemon Prince. After a torrent of fire, the Prince fell. My Vypers would move 24" towards the middle of the board to prepare to assist where the battle needed them.

The Imperials sent their orders out to fire on the two biggest threats - the Stompa and the Defiler. The Leman Russ Vanquisher, the Land Raider, and the Lascannon Teams (who failed their Orders check) would fire at the Stompa and disable both the Dethkannon, the close combat weapon and the Supa-Gatla (a victory, if you ask me). Meanwhile, autocannon teams would fire at the Defiler, miraculously destroying it. A Rune Priest and Long Fangs would split their fire at the second Defiler and the Stompa, destroying the former and doing nothing to the latter, while Grey Hunters would wait for the moment to strike. Meanwhile, one Chimera with Melta Veterans drove for the Stompa, while the other began making for one of our secondary objectives. Basilisk fire rained onto the Noise marine Rhino, wrecking the vehicle. The Manticore would hold its fire until the time was right.

In the assault phase, the Seer Council would fearless ride into the throng of Land Raiders, laying blows onto the middle one in hopes of stemming the flow of melee warriors ready to disgorge from it. The vehicle was wrecked, but all but one Berserker managed to get out of the vehicle...

Turn 1 - Team B
All on our left flank, Khorne Berserkers and Plague Marines would exit their transports and prepare to slaughter the four Eldar in their midsts. Only a single Warlock fell in the shooting phase to a torrent of Boltgun and Sonic Blaster fire. The rest are cut down in the ensuing melee while the Farseer fails to flee the combat and is slain as well. The possessed and Chaos Lord slowly advanced up the field, with even softer prey in mind... The Vanguard Veterans and Pedro fearfully remain in their immobilized Land Raider.

Towards the middle field, the Inquisitor and the Vindicare Assassin would do nothing. Grot mechanics scrambled to get the Stompa's Dethkannon back online, readying it to fire on the next turn. The Green Tide would shout their praises to Gork n' Mork (or perhaps Mork n' Gork...) and charge Logan and his Wolf Guard, who met them head on in a counter-attack. After the corpses were tallied, all of the the Wolfguard (including Arjac) were dead, Logan suffered a single wound and a little over a dozen Ork boyz were killed.

The Tau lit up the Paskquisher and the Space Wolf Land Raider with Markerlights and after three Railgun shots to each, the mighty tanks were nothing but burnt out husks. The Chaos Land Raider would unload its Lascannons into the Falcon, but only shook the vehicle.

Turn 2 - Team A
None of our reserves came in to support us, so we were on our own for now. Eldrad's Fortune was nullified by the Psychic Hood, but his second casting of it went through. Guide went to Vypers, who would move 6 inches towards the left flank to unload their firepower into the Inquisitor and his Retinue, slaughtering all but a single mystic and the Inquisitor Lord. The Wave Serpent would move 12" closer to our secondary objective and fire its Bright Lance at the Stompa, once again disabling the Dethkannon. The Guard's Manticore and Basilisks would fire into the conglomeration of Cultist Marines - slaying all of the Plague Marines and Noise marines as well as several Khorne Berserkers. Mortar fire and Lasgun fire would pepper the the possessed and surviving Berserkers, but with no results. The shaken Falcon would move 18" away to get a Cover Save.

The Chimera carrying Meltavets drives forward, unloads its squad who fire into the Stompa for a drive damaged result and a weapon destroyed. The second Chimera parks onto the secondary objective.

On the right side, the Genestealers and Carnifexes surged foward into the melee. Out of that entire swarm, only two Carnifexes did not make it into combat. Commence the flinging of body parts. Nearly 40 Ork Boyz and the Warboss were killed between the Genestealers, Carnifexes and Logan Grimnar, while only 7 Genestealers and Logan suffered wounds. Another 20 plus Boyz would die to No Retreat! wounds.

Turn 2 - Team B
Due to the Imperial Guard Officer of the Fleet, none of the enemy's reserves came into play.

The Possessed, Terminator Lord, and both squads of Khorne Berserkers surge forward, colliding gloriously into a Mortar Team and an Infantry Squad. Needless to say, it was Team B's turn to commence the flinging of body parts. Both the Mortar Team and the Infantry Squad were butchered to the man. The Stompa decided to just unload whatever weaponry it could at the nearby Chimera, shaking it, while the Broadsides turned their sights on it and, with the aid of Markerlights, sent it up in flames. The Tau Command Squad moved to fire into the melta vets, slaying several of them due to effective cover save rolls. The squad decides to stick around rather than run like pansies. Hammerhead gunships turn to fire on unengaged Carnifexes, dealing two wounds to one and a single wound to the other.

Even more body parts began flying around as another 20 some orks fall to the Genestealers and Logan, with only a few wounds being dealt to Team A's forces, as two carnifexes take a wound and 3 genestealers fall. With less than 20 Boyz standing by the end of this turn, this combat would be over by the end of the next turn.

Keep an eye out for the next post...

Squirrel_Fish out

The Gorgon Knights

For various reasons, I'm doing some painting and repainting and would like to proudly reintroduce my Space Marine army - the Gorgon Knights. 

The main reason why I did this is because I felt that by painting my marines as Salamanders, I would feel obligated to use Vulkan He'Stan in every single army list I wrote. This way, I can field other HQ choices or even field using different Codexes. I still need to figure out an interesting chapter badge, but that'll come to me eventually.

Apocalypse Battle Report - Seize and Slaughter Pt 1

The teams were drawn and on the 9th of January, they met full force.

Team 1 consisted of Chaos Space Marines, Chaos Space Marines, Crimson Fists, Tau and Ork forces while Team 2 consisted of Tyranid, Imperial Guard, Space Wolf and Eldar forces.

Chaos 1's army consisted of:

Daemon Prince of Slaanesh

Khorne Berserkers

Plague Marines in Rhino

Noise Marines in Rhino

Defiler

Land Raider

His Strategic Asset was Corrupt and Despoil

Chaos 2's army:

Terminator Lord of Khorne w/ Daemonweapon

Khorne Berserkers

10 Chaos Terminators

Possessed

Land Raider

Defiler

His Strategic Asset was Daemon Shell

Tau's army:

Battlesuit Command Squad

Fire Warrior Team x2

Hammerhead x3

Broadside Battlesuit Team

Strategic Asset: Network Markerlight

Ork army:

Da Green Tide

Stompa

Strategic asset: I don't remember

Space Marine Army:

Pedro Kantor

Inquisitor Lord with 2 Mystics and a Sage

Culexus Assassin x2

Vindicare Assassin

Big Decked out Vanguard Veteran Squad

Land Raider

Strategic Asset: The super orbital bombardment

Team 2: Eldar Army

Farseer with Three Warlocks on Jetbikes

Eldrad Ulthran

Autarch with Jump Generator

5 Dire Avengers

Wave Serpent

6 Fire Dragons

Falcon

2 Vypers

8 Warp Spiders
Strategic Asset: Hammerfall

Tyranid Army:

Broodlord

Genestealer Brood x3

Carnifex x4

Trygon

Raveners

Strategic Asset: Chimney Spores

Imperial Guard:

Company Command Squad

Inquisitor Lord with Mystics and Sages

Veterans with Meltaguns

Veterans with Meltaguns

Platoon Command with Commissar and Priest

Marbo

Several Infantry Squads

2 Mortar Teams

Autocannon Team

Lascannon Team

Leman Russ Battle Tank

Leman Russ Vanquisher with Pask

Manticore

Basilisk x2

Strategic Asset: Giant Orbital Bombardment

Space Wolves:

Logan Grimnar

Rune Priest x2

3 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armor and Arjac Rockfist

Drop Pod

Grey Hunters in Rhino

Grey Hunters in Rhino

Long Fangs

Strategic Asset: Vortex Grenade

The scenario that we played was Seize and Slaughter. We rolled the scatter die to find the no man's land and set our objectives, each side putting their primary objective in their territory and a tertiary objective in enemy land and in the no man's land. Contrary to regular apocalypse suggestion, we decided to do the standard roll off to decide who got to deploy and take first turn, with no stealing of the initiative. Us (Team 2) won the roll and decided to deploy first, knowing that destroying or disabling the Stompa was our only hope of surviving.

The IG Player set his ordnance behind cover where it would remain untouched for most of the game and scattered his infantry squads and heavy weapons around and in cover whenever possible to provide support. SW Long Fangs sat inside cover with two Rhinos filled with Hunters to back them up. The Tyranid Player set his spore chimneys up on the right flank to try and completely cover his advance of Carnifexes and Genestealers. One squad of Genestealers and the Broodlord would be outflanking. I set up my Seer council, Wave Serpent with Eldrad/DA, Vypers and Falcon with Fire Dragons towards the middle, knowing that they'll probably be re-deployed due to Eldrad's Divination ability. Autarch/Warpspiders, Marbo, the Trygon, Raveners and Logan/Wolf Guard in Reserves to deep strike into play.

The enemy team decided to go for a two pronged deployment. The Tau and the Green Tide would deploy on our right flank (Broadsides up high for full LOS to the entire battlefield), the Stompa stood in the middle of their line to support either side and all three Land Raiders (filled with Berserkers, Pedro and Vanguard Vets), Possessed, Terminator Lord, Rhinos filled with cultist marines and a Vindicare assassin sat on our left flank ready to roll over some guardsmen and Space Wolves. Next to the Stompa sat both Defilers ready to tear into squishy guardsmen. The Inquisitor Lord sat in the middle of the table behind the Stompa for safety. The Culexus Assassins and chaos Termies would stay in reserve.

Seeing the entire left flank ready to fall, I rolled to redeploy up to 3 units. Seeing that the left flank would need reinforcing, I moved the Falcon, Seer Council and Wave Serpent there.

The lines drawn and the forces deployed, we prepared to wage war......

Catch part two next time!

Death on Swift Wings

Here's an Eldar list that I've drawn up recently to adapt to my local meta of deep-striking several 'bomb' units that are capable of wrecking entire lines. The idea is that this army really has no 'line' to attack and should always be on the move. When the opportunity arises, unload enough firepower into targets to make sure that they don't get back up.

Farseer (Guide, Fortune, Spirit Stones, Runes of Warding - 140)
Autarch (70)
Fire Dragon x5 (80)
- Wave Serpent (TL-Scatter Laser, Spirit Stones, Star Engines - 140)
Dire Avenger x5 (60)
- Wave Serpent (TL-Bright Lance, Spirit Stones, Star Engines, Shuriken Cannon - 170)

Dire Avenger x5 (60)

- Wave Serpent (TL-Bright Lance, Spirit Stones, Star Engines, Shuriken Cannon - 170)

Vyper x3 (Starcannons, Shuriken Cannons - 240)

Vyper x2 (Scatter Lasers, Shuriken Cannons - 140)

Vyper x2 (Scatter Lasers, Shuriken Cannons - 140)

Fire Prism (Spirit Stones, Holo-Fields, Shuriken Cannon - 170)

Fire Prism (Spirit Stones, Holo-Fields, Shuriken Cannon - 170)

Total: 1750

If I'm facing an army that depends high on an alpha strike (Drop Pods, Tzeentch Daemons, IG Gunlines, Deep-striking armies), then my forces will be placed in Reserves in order to deny them the hit and then I'll use the Autarch's reserve bonus to come in and hopefully cripple their forces. The Vypers, while expensive and fragile, are the back bone of my shooting. By moving the Wave Serpents flat-out and then using the Star Engines in the shooting phase, I plan on screening as many Vyper Squadrons as possible in order to negate their fragility. The Farseer will put Guide a squadron and watch as the torrents of dice just bog down their targets. Fire Prisms will be the principle anti-tank roles in the army with the Fire dragons and Wave Serpents able to pick up the roles if need be.

Everyone Eventually Moves On - The Space Marine story

Pictured above is my Salamanders Dreadnought, the most recent model that I've completed. What's wrong with this? This model was finished at least a month and a half ago and I haven't had the will to paint anything else.

Now, during the Apocalypse game last Sunday, two of my friends (who play space marines) stated their intention to switch to Space Wolves and Chaos Marines. After thinking about it a while, I understand why.

The Space Marine is the poster child, it's the "easy army" to play, easy to make an effective list and has a very forgiving learning curve. The drawback? Once most people learn the game and delve into more advanced tactics, they see that the current Space Marine codex is garbage. It's boring to write a list, reasonably boring to play one and it feels that every other army in the game keeps getting more and more toys that allow it to lay waste to your 10 man tactical squads, your Land Raiders, your Dreadnoughts (I'm looking at you new Zoanthropes!) and what have you.

Heck, even from a hobby stand point, it's relatively boring. You paint dozens of dudes are intended to look exactly the same (props to the new Space Wolves kit for breaking the cliche of a power-armoured face in the crowd). Most of your vehicles are based on the Rhino-chassis, meaning you have a box, a box with a gun in front, a box with a gun on top, or a box with a bigger gun on top.

The Space Marines are indeed the poster child - it's how people learn the game. But once they reach another level game play, do they still find satisfaction in using those men in cans? I know that after playing Necrons, then switching to Eldar, then Space Marines as my latest army, I'm finding them very lacking in unit selection, model appeal and play enjoyment. I really should've saved the $300+ I spent and gotten more Eldar. :-/

I know that most players start out the game playing Space Marines or some other MEQ equivalent. If you're one of these players, have you changed your principle army? Did you play another army and then switch to Space marines for whatever reason? What are your thoughts?

Squirrel_Fish

Apocalypse Scenario - "Seize and Slaughter"

(Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics, unrelated to 40k but would make an epic Indepdendent Character)

So I've been organizing an apocalypse game for this Sunday and just wanted to throw the scenario that I've been creating for it on here for posterity. Pics will be provided as well as an attempt at a battle report.

The game is about 8000 per side (so not a huge apoc game, but enough to consume the entire day).

Basically, it's Seize Ground with a twist. Each team gets one Primary Objective and two Secondary Objectives. Each team also nominates a single Independent character who acts as the 'commander'. If there is a Unique or Special Character, then he/she must be the Commander. If there is more than one Special character, the teams nominate one.

1) For each Primary Objective a team controls, they get two Victory Points.
2) For each Secondary Objective a team controls, they get one Victory Point.
3) If a team kills the enemy Commander, they get one Victory Point.
4) If a team kills all of the enemy HQ choices, they get one Victory Point (in addition to the one they get for killing the Kommander).

Troop choices are the only ones who can control an objective. Completely destroying a unit does not give a victory point. In the unlikely situation that the enemy is tabled, the surviving team wins.

Thoughts, opinions?