‘I was there,’ he would say afterwards, until afterwards became a time quite devoid of laughter. ‘I was there, the day Horus slew the Emperor.’
This is the opening line to Horus Rising by Dan Abnett, the first in the Horus Heresy series, telling the story of the founding and near destruction of the human Imperium in the grim darkness of the far future where there is only war and the galaxy is in flames and you can never find a parking spot and the toast always lands butter side down.
Despite the relentless "grimdark" of the setting, the Horus Heresy takes place in a very different time, a golden age of progress and rediscovery in which a united humankind led by the Emperor, looks outward and towards the future, conquering the galaxy in the name of the Imperial Truth. But of course things can't remain all smiles and happiness and after being betrayed and wounded nearly fatally by his favorite son Horus, is restricted to a near corpse like state encased in the life sustaining technology of the Golden Throne, the previous optimistic and rational outlook of humanity replaced by fear and ignorance.
The above is perhaps the briefest possible overview of the events that form this setting, but let us return to those opening lines: "I was there the day Horus slew the Emperor." This begins Horus Rising on a foreboding note, though it is quickly clear that this is a joke and reference to another emperor who seems to have deserved what he got.
Horus Rising is an excellent novel and the perfect start to this series, the first 4 novels: Horus Rising, False Gods, Galaxy in Flames, and Flight of the Eisenstien form a cohesive narrative that can and should be read in order. We are introduced to our characters at the height of their powers and innocence, we see Horus in all his original glory, powerful, honorable, and beloved by all, we see the relationship of Captain Garviel Loken and his brothers of the Luna Wolves at their best, even the notorious Abaddon (later known as The Despoiler) here is a character you would not mind getting drunk with, assuming Space Marines could get drunk of course.
But there is always a melancholy here, the seeds of the heresy are planted with skill, we see Horus' ego at work, his skill at political manipulation, and his resentment against his father The Emperor. We see Abaddon's nascent bloodlust and independence, we see the beginnings of the clashes between other legions. There is an atmosphere of inevitability to what we all know is coming that pervades the novels until events come to a head during Galaxy in Flames.
These novels are not really critically acclaimed due to the setting, but what we are reading here are tales of chivalry with a heavy dose of Christian and Egyptian symbology, though technically a science fiction series, these are really reminiscent of the tales of King Arthur's Court, with knights on epic and perhaps impossible quests, a golden age of civilization brought down by betrayal and treachery from those who should have been the closest of friends and loved ones, as well as by the very human failings of those in power.
The descent into rebellion is told in a very realistic (if that means anything in a universe where genetically modified superhumans kill aliens with chainsaws) manner, every step in Horus' fall is described and makes sense in the context given. Garviel Loken is a true knight, sticking to his beliefs and oaths of service to the Emperor even as his conflicting Oaths to Horus and his brothers attempt to draw him into the Heresy, and as all heroes in this style of story, he pays dearly for his loyalty.
These books have all been out for a couple years now and are fairly readily available in used form, I recommend them highly for both Warhammer 40K fans as well as anyone who likes a surprisingly traditional story of chivalry and doesn't mind it taking place in space.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Night of the Living Damned
The following mission is based on some stories I heard about last year, where players played games against zombies. I can only blame myself for this.
Night of the Living Damned: A variant mission for Halloween
Set-Up:
Before the start of the game, players must decide who will be the Zombie Lord. The Zombie Lord (or ZL) will be in charge of the Zombie Hordes (see below), forgoing the use of a Survivor Unit (see below).
Terrain is set up by the players (note: not the ZL) normally, but once it is placed the ZL may place up to nine Explosive Barrels, two Shrine Markers and three Transports. These must be at least 12” away from any board edge.
The players then select their Survivor Units. These may be any non-vehicle unit chosen from anywhere in their codex, with a point total of no more than 200 points. Any restrictions on minimum or maximum model size are suspended, as well as any 0-1 or any other requirements/restrictions to use the units. Any unit that is normally required to take a transport or be held in reserve are ignored, as well as any rules that would allow the unit to Deep Strike or Infiltrate. Instead, these units gain the Scouts special rule. No Survivor Unit may be held in reserve.
Once the players have selected their units, they then pick which short table edge they will all deploy in. If there are any issues, they will vote, with the ZL casting a tiebreaker vote. The opposite short table edge is the Zombie Lord’s table edge.
Deployment:
The players may deploy their Survivor Units anywhere within 12” of their table edge, at least 6” away from any other Survivor Units. Once the players have deployed, the ZL may deploy one Zombie Horde for every Survivor Unit, plus one additional one that is placed in reserve. The Hordes must be placed at least 18” away from any Survivor Unit. If a Horde is unable to deploy, they are placed in reserve.
Once all units have been placed, the players roll off to see who gets the first turn. There is no Seize the Initiative, and the ZL always goes last.
Mission Special Rules:
ZL reserves:
If there is a Zombie Horde in reserve, it automatically arrives, with no roll required. It enters play from the Zombie Lord’s table edge. Only one Horde may arrive each turn, even if there is more than one in reserve.
Every Man For Himself!:
During the first turn, no Survivor Unit may shoot, assault or use any ability that would cause another Survivor Unit to take a wound or remove a model as a causality. Once the first turn is over, however, the players may shoot, assault and otherwise attack the other players freely. It is in fact encouraged. During the game, units may fire into assaults that do not contain friendly models. To do this, nominate the unit as normal. Having rolled to hit, you will need to determine which of the units engaged in the assault was actually hit. Roll another die for each hit. On a roll of 4+ means the shoot has hit the unit targeted. Any other result means the other unit has been hit, and the shots will be resolved against them. If a unit would normally be forced to fall back because of shooting causalities, the affect is ignored as the combatants have more important things to worry about! Units may not assault a unit that is already engaged in an assault, even if the assault contains no friendly models.
Turns are done normally, with each player going through their move/shoot/assault phases. However, assaults are only resolved during those players’ turns, not during any other player’s turns.
Any unit falling back falls back towards the players’ deployment zone. Once the unit reaches the board edge, it automatically rallies.
Special terrain/items:
Explosive Barrels:
During the shooting phase, a unit may target an explosive barrel. If the unit scores a hit from any attack, the barrel detonates, causing a Str: 5 AP: 4 hit to any model within a D6 inches of the barrel. The wounds must be allocated to the models in range. The barrel is then removed from the board.
Shrine Markers:
Any unit that is in base contact with a Shrine Marker can only be assaulted by a Zombie Horde if the unit passes a Leadership test. If the Horde fails, it may not assault this turn.
Transports:
Transports are really the remains of other transports that have been wrecked or abandoned by others who have fled the Zombie Hordes. They are the same as the vehicle modeled, but with -1 AV on all sides, and have no usable weapons. In addition, the vehicle has a chance of dying on the unit. However, the Survivor Units may cram in models that the vehicle was never designed to handle out of sheer desperation. Any model that is on a 40mm base counts as being two models for the sake of transport capacity. Example:
Wrecked Rhino – Tank/AV; F:10/S:9/R:9, 10 model capacity, 2 fire points.
Whenever a transport moves, it only moves a D6 inches. If a 1 is rolled, the transport suffers the Destroyed – Wrecked! Damage result.
The first player who’s unit reaches the Zombie Lord’s table edge wins the game. If all the Survivor Units die, the Zombie Lord wins.
Zombie Hordes:
WS: 2/BS: 2/S: 3/T: 3/W: 1/I: 3/A: 1/Ld: 5/Sv: 5+
Composition: 20 Zombies Unit Type: Infantry
Wargear: Flak Armor, Lasgun, Close-combat weapon
Special Rules:
Fearless, Feel No Pain, Slow and Purposeful/Relentless
I live again!:
After any models that take an unsaved wound or are otherwise removed as a causality that was caused by the Zombie Horde, roll a d6. On the roll of a 6, place another Zombie model in the horde. There is no limit to the size of a Zombie Horde.
I hunger:
Zombie Hordes must move towards the nearest enemy unit, and must try to assault an enemy unit whenever possible. They may choose to shoot or run in the shooting phase, however.
Without End:
Whenever a Zombie Horde is removed from play, place a new Zombie Horde in the Zombie Lord’s reserves. It enters play as if it were a new unit. These new units may only be 20 models, but may grow larger as above.
Night of the Living Damned: A variant mission for Halloween
Set-Up:
Before the start of the game, players must decide who will be the Zombie Lord. The Zombie Lord (or ZL) will be in charge of the Zombie Hordes (see below), forgoing the use of a Survivor Unit (see below).
Terrain is set up by the players (note: not the ZL) normally, but once it is placed the ZL may place up to nine Explosive Barrels, two Shrine Markers and three Transports. These must be at least 12” away from any board edge.
The players then select their Survivor Units. These may be any non-vehicle unit chosen from anywhere in their codex, with a point total of no more than 200 points. Any restrictions on minimum or maximum model size are suspended, as well as any 0-1 or any other requirements/restrictions to use the units. Any unit that is normally required to take a transport or be held in reserve are ignored, as well as any rules that would allow the unit to Deep Strike or Infiltrate. Instead, these units gain the Scouts special rule. No Survivor Unit may be held in reserve.
Once the players have selected their units, they then pick which short table edge they will all deploy in. If there are any issues, they will vote, with the ZL casting a tiebreaker vote. The opposite short table edge is the Zombie Lord’s table edge.
Deployment:
The players may deploy their Survivor Units anywhere within 12” of their table edge, at least 6” away from any other Survivor Units. Once the players have deployed, the ZL may deploy one Zombie Horde for every Survivor Unit, plus one additional one that is placed in reserve. The Hordes must be placed at least 18” away from any Survivor Unit. If a Horde is unable to deploy, they are placed in reserve.
Once all units have been placed, the players roll off to see who gets the first turn. There is no Seize the Initiative, and the ZL always goes last.
Mission Special Rules:
ZL reserves:
If there is a Zombie Horde in reserve, it automatically arrives, with no roll required. It enters play from the Zombie Lord’s table edge. Only one Horde may arrive each turn, even if there is more than one in reserve.
Every Man For Himself!:
During the first turn, no Survivor Unit may shoot, assault or use any ability that would cause another Survivor Unit to take a wound or remove a model as a causality. Once the first turn is over, however, the players may shoot, assault and otherwise attack the other players freely. It is in fact encouraged. During the game, units may fire into assaults that do not contain friendly models. To do this, nominate the unit as normal. Having rolled to hit, you will need to determine which of the units engaged in the assault was actually hit. Roll another die for each hit. On a roll of 4+ means the shoot has hit the unit targeted. Any other result means the other unit has been hit, and the shots will be resolved against them. If a unit would normally be forced to fall back because of shooting causalities, the affect is ignored as the combatants have more important things to worry about! Units may not assault a unit that is already engaged in an assault, even if the assault contains no friendly models.
Turns are done normally, with each player going through their move/shoot/assault phases. However, assaults are only resolved during those players’ turns, not during any other player’s turns.
Any unit falling back falls back towards the players’ deployment zone. Once the unit reaches the board edge, it automatically rallies.
Special terrain/items:
Explosive Barrels:
During the shooting phase, a unit may target an explosive barrel. If the unit scores a hit from any attack, the barrel detonates, causing a Str: 5 AP: 4 hit to any model within a D6 inches of the barrel. The wounds must be allocated to the models in range. The barrel is then removed from the board.
Shrine Markers:
Any unit that is in base contact with a Shrine Marker can only be assaulted by a Zombie Horde if the unit passes a Leadership test. If the Horde fails, it may not assault this turn.
Transports:
Transports are really the remains of other transports that have been wrecked or abandoned by others who have fled the Zombie Hordes. They are the same as the vehicle modeled, but with -1 AV on all sides, and have no usable weapons. In addition, the vehicle has a chance of dying on the unit. However, the Survivor Units may cram in models that the vehicle was never designed to handle out of sheer desperation. Any model that is on a 40mm base counts as being two models for the sake of transport capacity. Example:
Wrecked Rhino – Tank/AV; F:10/S:9/R:9, 10 model capacity, 2 fire points.
Whenever a transport moves, it only moves a D6 inches. If a 1 is rolled, the transport suffers the Destroyed – Wrecked! Damage result.
The first player who’s unit reaches the Zombie Lord’s table edge wins the game. If all the Survivor Units die, the Zombie Lord wins.
Zombie Hordes:
WS: 2/BS: 2/S: 3/T: 3/W: 1/I: 3/A: 1/Ld: 5/Sv: 5+
Composition: 20 Zombies Unit Type: Infantry
Wargear: Flak Armor, Lasgun, Close-combat weapon
Special Rules:
Fearless, Feel No Pain, Slow and Purposeful/Relentless
I live again!:
After any models that take an unsaved wound or are otherwise removed as a causality that was caused by the Zombie Horde, roll a d6. On the roll of a 6, place another Zombie model in the horde. There is no limit to the size of a Zombie Horde.
I hunger:
Zombie Hordes must move towards the nearest enemy unit, and must try to assault an enemy unit whenever possible. They may choose to shoot or run in the shooting phase, however.
Without End:
Whenever a Zombie Horde is removed from play, place a new Zombie Horde in the Zombie Lord’s reserves. It enters play as if it were a new unit. These new units may only be 20 models, but may grow larger as above.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Factions
The following is for future campaigns, so we can group players in to different forces.
Two-sided Factions
Forces of Order:
Space Marines (all types)
Imperial Guard
Sisters of Battle
Forces of the Inquisition
Eldar
Tau
Forces of Disorder:
Chaos Space Marines
Chaos Daemons
Dark Eldar
Necrons
Tyranids
Orks
Three-sided Factions
Forces of the Imperium:
Space Marines (all types)
Imperial Guard
Sisters of Battle
Forces of the Inquisition
Forces of Xenos:
Tau
Eldar
Orks
Dark Eldar*
Forces of Darkness:
Chaos Space Marines
Chaos Daemons
Necrons
Tyranids
Dark Eldar*
* Each Dark Eldar player may choose to be in the Forces of Xenos or in the Forces of Darkness.
Two-sided Factions
Forces of Order:
Space Marines (all types)
Imperial Guard
Sisters of Battle
Forces of the Inquisition
Eldar
Tau
Forces of Disorder:
Chaos Space Marines
Chaos Daemons
Dark Eldar
Necrons
Tyranids
Orks
Three-sided Factions
Forces of the Imperium:
Space Marines (all types)
Imperial Guard
Sisters of Battle
Forces of the Inquisition
Forces of Xenos:
Tau
Eldar
Orks
Dark Eldar*
Forces of Darkness:
Chaos Space Marines
Chaos Daemons
Necrons
Tyranids
Dark Eldar*
* Each Dark Eldar player may choose to be in the Forces of Xenos or in the Forces of Darkness.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Coppa Boyz: Round One Summary!
Welcome to our first tournament review! We have been trying to get together for a while, and one of our friends, Shade, had recently started playing Necrons. We thought this would be a good way to teach him the rules and get some games in. Sadly, Blabbadon wasn’t able to attend. Perhaps next time he can and we’ll have more games to play.
Army Lists:
Tau:
Our Tau player, Pano, brought three squads of Fire Warriors, two 6-mans and one ten man. He also brought a Crisis Team and a Crisis Suit Commander.
Nercons:
The newest player, Shade, wasn’t able to bring much. Two 11-man squads of Necron Warriors and two units of Scarab Swarms.
Chaos Space Marines:
Remi brought a small force this time around, 9-man Khorne Berserker squad, a 5-man Chaos Marine squad and a Chaos Lord.
Imperial Guard:
I’ve been trying to work on a horde list for my Guard, this is what I ended up with. An Infantry Platoon with five squads, with a commissar, plus command squad, and an armored Sentinel.
GAME ONE: TAU VERSUS IMPERIAL GUARD
I admit I was worried to take on Panoption’s blue little bastards. He’s a good player, and I have terrible luck. This time, it appears the tables were turned. I deployed a blob with my commissar, and put the Autocannon squads in cover. The command squad was tucked behind the blob, ready to issue orders. The Tau only deployed the two small Fire Warrior squads and hid them in some ruins. As the game progressed, the blob slowly moved forward with assistance in the form of ‘Move! Move! Move!’ from the command squad. The blob ended up on the Tau end of the board, and engaged the larger Fire Warrior squad once it had arrived from reserves. The Crisis Team ended up deep striking in the middle of the table and was fired upon by just about everything that could get line-of-sight. It didn’t last long. The Crisis Commander ended up scattering off the table, to die from deep strike mishap. The blob was eventually brought down to just the commissar, who ended up running away. (He was later executed for this cowardly act.) The command squad ended up taking a few hits as well. After the dust cleared, the Imperial Guard controlled two objectives, while the Tau only had one. Win to the Guard.
(PICTURES)
GAME TWO: CHAOS SPACE MARINES VERSUS NECRONS
Both players of this game didn’t have a lot of experience, so this game was one of the longest. Remigious’ Chaos forces tried to charge Shade’s Necrons, who had deployed in a bubble. The Scarab Swarms ended up engaging the Chaos Marines and the Berserkers in close combat, tying up both squads. One unit of Warriors ended up trapped in close combat with the Berserkers, making a headache of multi unit assault for all involved. The rhino, after dropping off the Berserkers, moved up to the second squad of Warriors, plinking away with its Havoc Launcher, its only surviving weapon. With the game deadlocked, the Chaos commander was given a flash of insight, and ended up Tank Shocking the unengaged Warriors. They passed their leadership, but choose not to try shooting the tank. It ended up behind them, and almost on top of the objective they were holding. What would have been a tie was now a victory for Chaos.
(PICTURES)
GAME THREE: IMPERIAL GUARD VERSUS NECRONS
I have to admit, I was curious to see what would happen when I faced Necrons, having never had this chance before. It was interesting, to say the least. The Necrons deployed in their bubbles, to discourage use to the Plasma Cannon the armored Sentinel was lugging around. This tactic worked, to a degree. The blob once again ran out into the fray, after deploying in the back. They managed to slag one Warrior with a melta gun, before being counter-assaulted by one of the Scarab units. This speed bump slowed them down, but not for long. Meanwhile, the other Scarabs had locked the Sentinel in close combat, denying the Plasma Cannon a chance to fire. By the end of the game, the little robot beetles had torn the thing off, making the combat pointless for them. The blob engaged one of the Warrior units, where they remained until the end of the game. During all this, the Guard squads traded fire with the unengaged unit of Warriors, with neither side gaining an edge. But, in the end, the Guard controlled two objectives, the Necrons one, and another contested by the bloody hand-to-hand fighting. The Guard were on a roll.
(PICTURES)
GAME FOUR: TAU VERSUS CHAOS SPACE MARINES
Panoption learned his lesson about deep striking from his earlier game with me, and deployed his forces in a firing line. Remigious’ troops had no choice but to duck for cover or rush him. They did both. The rhino charged forward, while the smaller squad hung back in cover, hoping the Tau wouldn’t notice them. This didn’t work. The Tau put out a withering amount of fire, from pulse rifles and plasma weapons. The forces of Chaos put up a brave fight, but in the end, couldn’t tolerate that much fire power. They lost both squads and all of the objectives. The Tau had avenged their earlier defeat.
(PICTURES)
There was a week break between the first four games and the last ones. The first four had taken so long, we ended up having to wait until we could get back together to finish off the round. But now, there was a lot riding on the final two games of the round. Remi and Pano were tied, one win and one loss apiece. If Shade’s Necrons could pull of a win, there would have to be one last battle, to see who went home. It was also during this week that I realized my army list was 520 points, not 500… Oops.
(Of course, I had my own worries. I had easily taken my first two challengers, but that only made my last one try all the harder. Remi needed a win badly, to have a chance to advance.)
GAME FIVE: IMPERIAL GUARD VERSUS CHAOS SPACE MARINES
This was a game that would shape the next round, so I made sure to give it my all. As did Remi. The Chaos forces deployed in their usual fashion, with a unit of Berzerkers in the rhino with the Lord and the smaller unit of Chaos Marines set up a distance away. On the first turn, the rhino met a firery end, forcing the Khorne-lovers to hoof it across the board. The unit of Chaos Marines also made their way towards the gunline. The Guard had been set up with the 30-man unit to one side, and the Autocannon units on another, with the command squad lurking behind them. As the Chaos forces advanced, they shrugged off a huge amount of fire. They also took out the Sentinel and the Autocannon units. The smaller unit of Chaos Marines assaulted the larger unit of Guardsmen, during which another sarge met the business end of the Commissar’s bolt pistol. The Marines were eventually put down, and along with the command squad, brought down the last few Berzerkers in a hail of plasma and melta shots at the top of turn six. Victory for the Imperium, having tabled the dread forces of Chaos.
(PICTURES)
GAME SIX: NECRONS VERUS TAU
Meanwhile, the Tau had another shooting battle going on. The Necrons stood up to the Tau’s fire, getting up time after time to continue the battle. The Tau were able to eliminate a unit of Scarabs, which ended up being a major error later on. The battle raged, with both sides exchanging fire from across the board. The Shade was able to out-fox Pano, and with the help of ending the game at the end of turn five, held two objectives to Pano’s one. Victory to the Necrons.
GAME SEVEN: NERCONS VERSUS CHAOS SPACE MARINES
Well, as I feared, the games weren’t over yet. With Shade’s win, he had tied with Remigious, and we had to have one last battle to see who would advance to the next round. Chaos played it smart, and hid the rhino when she could. The Necrons poured out fire whenever they could get line-of-sight. For some reason, the Berzerkers ditched their ride early on, and had to rush the Necron gunline. They finally got place, and ended up taking down a unit of Warriors in a vicious brawl. The rhino managed to make it to one of the objectives, to contest it. The unit of Chaos Marines held their ground, and objective through out the battle, and the Berzerkers, after wiping the Warriors, held another. The surviving unit of Warriors held an objective, but it just wasn’t enough. Chaos carried the battle and made it into round two.
Well, since I had made a mistake in the scoring, it turned out Shade, Remigious and Panoption were all tied for 2nd place. There was a final battle between Pano and Shade...
GAME EIGHT: NECRONS VERSUS TAU
(to be filled it later)
I was sad to Shade go. He just started playing, but he was hampered by his older codex. He did put up quite a fight and our game was a close one. I think he’ll be ready to win during the next tournament we run. Call it a hunch…
Well, there you have it folks. Necrons placed fourth and were out of the running. Remigious’ Chaos Space Marines managed to get in enough wins to squeak on in. Panopticon’s Tau suffered from some bad luck, but did fairly well. As for me, well, I got a clean sweep. I don’t know how I managed to do it, but I cleaned everyone’s clocks. I have a hunch I may not make it to the finals, but I’m just happy to make it this far.
Scoring:
Imperial Guard: 3 wins
Tau: 2 wins, 1 loss
Chaos Space Marines: 2 wins, 2 losses (including final game)
Necrons: 1 win, 3 losses (including final game)
Until time, readers. Round Two: CITIES OF DEATH!
Army Lists:
Tau:
Our Tau player, Pano, brought three squads of Fire Warriors, two 6-mans and one ten man. He also brought a Crisis Team and a Crisis Suit Commander.
Nercons:
The newest player, Shade, wasn’t able to bring much. Two 11-man squads of Necron Warriors and two units of Scarab Swarms.
Chaos Space Marines:
Remi brought a small force this time around, 9-man Khorne Berserker squad, a 5-man Chaos Marine squad and a Chaos Lord.
Imperial Guard:
I’ve been trying to work on a horde list for my Guard, this is what I ended up with. An Infantry Platoon with five squads, with a commissar, plus command squad, and an armored Sentinel.
GAME ONE: TAU VERSUS IMPERIAL GUARD
I admit I was worried to take on Panoption’s blue little bastards. He’s a good player, and I have terrible luck. This time, it appears the tables were turned. I deployed a blob with my commissar, and put the Autocannon squads in cover. The command squad was tucked behind the blob, ready to issue orders. The Tau only deployed the two small Fire Warrior squads and hid them in some ruins. As the game progressed, the blob slowly moved forward with assistance in the form of ‘Move! Move! Move!’ from the command squad. The blob ended up on the Tau end of the board, and engaged the larger Fire Warrior squad once it had arrived from reserves. The Crisis Team ended up deep striking in the middle of the table and was fired upon by just about everything that could get line-of-sight. It didn’t last long. The Crisis Commander ended up scattering off the table, to die from deep strike mishap. The blob was eventually brought down to just the commissar, who ended up running away. (He was later executed for this cowardly act.) The command squad ended up taking a few hits as well. After the dust cleared, the Imperial Guard controlled two objectives, while the Tau only had one. Win to the Guard.
(PICTURES)
GAME TWO: CHAOS SPACE MARINES VERSUS NECRONS
Both players of this game didn’t have a lot of experience, so this game was one of the longest. Remigious’ Chaos forces tried to charge Shade’s Necrons, who had deployed in a bubble. The Scarab Swarms ended up engaging the Chaos Marines and the Berserkers in close combat, tying up both squads. One unit of Warriors ended up trapped in close combat with the Berserkers, making a headache of multi unit assault for all involved. The rhino, after dropping off the Berserkers, moved up to the second squad of Warriors, plinking away with its Havoc Launcher, its only surviving weapon. With the game deadlocked, the Chaos commander was given a flash of insight, and ended up Tank Shocking the unengaged Warriors. They passed their leadership, but choose not to try shooting the tank. It ended up behind them, and almost on top of the objective they were holding. What would have been a tie was now a victory for Chaos.
(PICTURES)
GAME THREE: IMPERIAL GUARD VERSUS NECRONS
I have to admit, I was curious to see what would happen when I faced Necrons, having never had this chance before. It was interesting, to say the least. The Necrons deployed in their bubbles, to discourage use to the Plasma Cannon the armored Sentinel was lugging around. This tactic worked, to a degree. The blob once again ran out into the fray, after deploying in the back. They managed to slag one Warrior with a melta gun, before being counter-assaulted by one of the Scarab units. This speed bump slowed them down, but not for long. Meanwhile, the other Scarabs had locked the Sentinel in close combat, denying the Plasma Cannon a chance to fire. By the end of the game, the little robot beetles had torn the thing off, making the combat pointless for them. The blob engaged one of the Warrior units, where they remained until the end of the game. During all this, the Guard squads traded fire with the unengaged unit of Warriors, with neither side gaining an edge. But, in the end, the Guard controlled two objectives, the Necrons one, and another contested by the bloody hand-to-hand fighting. The Guard were on a roll.
(PICTURES)
GAME FOUR: TAU VERSUS CHAOS SPACE MARINES
Panoption learned his lesson about deep striking from his earlier game with me, and deployed his forces in a firing line. Remigious’ troops had no choice but to duck for cover or rush him. They did both. The rhino charged forward, while the smaller squad hung back in cover, hoping the Tau wouldn’t notice them. This didn’t work. The Tau put out a withering amount of fire, from pulse rifles and plasma weapons. The forces of Chaos put up a brave fight, but in the end, couldn’t tolerate that much fire power. They lost both squads and all of the objectives. The Tau had avenged their earlier defeat.
(PICTURES)
There was a week break between the first four games and the last ones. The first four had taken so long, we ended up having to wait until we could get back together to finish off the round. But now, there was a lot riding on the final two games of the round. Remi and Pano were tied, one win and one loss apiece. If Shade’s Necrons could pull of a win, there would have to be one last battle, to see who went home. It was also during this week that I realized my army list was 520 points, not 500… Oops.
(Of course, I had my own worries. I had easily taken my first two challengers, but that only made my last one try all the harder. Remi needed a win badly, to have a chance to advance.)
GAME FIVE: IMPERIAL GUARD VERSUS CHAOS SPACE MARINES
This was a game that would shape the next round, so I made sure to give it my all. As did Remi. The Chaos forces deployed in their usual fashion, with a unit of Berzerkers in the rhino with the Lord and the smaller unit of Chaos Marines set up a distance away. On the first turn, the rhino met a firery end, forcing the Khorne-lovers to hoof it across the board. The unit of Chaos Marines also made their way towards the gunline. The Guard had been set up with the 30-man unit to one side, and the Autocannon units on another, with the command squad lurking behind them. As the Chaos forces advanced, they shrugged off a huge amount of fire. They also took out the Sentinel and the Autocannon units. The smaller unit of Chaos Marines assaulted the larger unit of Guardsmen, during which another sarge met the business end of the Commissar’s bolt pistol. The Marines were eventually put down, and along with the command squad, brought down the last few Berzerkers in a hail of plasma and melta shots at the top of turn six. Victory for the Imperium, having tabled the dread forces of Chaos.
(PICTURES)
GAME SIX: NECRONS VERUS TAU
Meanwhile, the Tau had another shooting battle going on. The Necrons stood up to the Tau’s fire, getting up time after time to continue the battle. The Tau were able to eliminate a unit of Scarabs, which ended up being a major error later on. The battle raged, with both sides exchanging fire from across the board. The Shade was able to out-fox Pano, and with the help of ending the game at the end of turn five, held two objectives to Pano’s one. Victory to the Necrons.
GAME SEVEN: NERCONS VERSUS CHAOS SPACE MARINES
Well, as I feared, the games weren’t over yet. With Shade’s win, he had tied with Remigious, and we had to have one last battle to see who would advance to the next round. Chaos played it smart, and hid the rhino when she could. The Necrons poured out fire whenever they could get line-of-sight. For some reason, the Berzerkers ditched their ride early on, and had to rush the Necron gunline. They finally got place, and ended up taking down a unit of Warriors in a vicious brawl. The rhino managed to make it to one of the objectives, to contest it. The unit of Chaos Marines held their ground, and objective through out the battle, and the Berzerkers, after wiping the Warriors, held another. The surviving unit of Warriors held an objective, but it just wasn’t enough. Chaos carried the battle and made it into round two.
Well, since I had made a mistake in the scoring, it turned out Shade, Remigious and Panoption were all tied for 2nd place. There was a final battle between Pano and Shade...
GAME EIGHT: NECRONS VERSUS TAU
(to be filled it later)
I was sad to Shade go. He just started playing, but he was hampered by his older codex. He did put up quite a fight and our game was a close one. I think he’ll be ready to win during the next tournament we run. Call it a hunch…
Well, there you have it folks. Necrons placed fourth and were out of the running. Remigious’ Chaos Space Marines managed to get in enough wins to squeak on in. Panopticon’s Tau suffered from some bad luck, but did fairly well. As for me, well, I got a clean sweep. I don’t know how I managed to do it, but I cleaned everyone’s clocks. I have a hunch I may not make it to the finals, but I’m just happy to make it this far.
Scoring:
Imperial Guard: 3 wins
Tau: 2 wins, 1 loss
Chaos Space Marines: 2 wins, 2 losses (including final game)
Necrons: 1 win, 3 losses (including final game)
Until time, readers. Round Two: CITIES OF DEATH!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Round One
Had the first round of our little tourney conclude this past Monday, so I figured I'd post something about it, this will not be a turn by turn commentary, rather a brief overview of the fights, who won and where I think they went wrong/right. There are some who might say that I played Dead Space 2 instead of paying attention to the fights I wasn't involved with, to them I say feh! In my domain few things are hidden from my sight! Don't underestimate me or I will boil your organs with my wierding module!.
Round 1: Tau (Panopticon) Vs IG(Captain Pete)
Tau list:
Shas'el with AFP and stuff
3x crisis suits with TL plasma
2x6 fire warriors
1x12 fire warriors
IG list: (Corrected by Pete)
Command squad with vox, medic, 2x plasma
30 man blob with 3x melta, commisar, vox
2x10 ig with AC
Armored Sentinel with PC (Later changed to Autocannon)
Pitched battle, 5 objectives
This ended in a loss for the Tau, his AC squads sat on objectives and didn't contribute much while his blob ran upfield, I was unable to get enough firepower into it to break it before they killed a 6 man squad and my crisis team. made the mistake of taking a couple potshots at the Sentinel and had reserved my suits so I was relying pretty much entirely on fire warriors to do the job, then the commander mishaped to death. His Sentinel spent most of the game in a fruitless for both sides assault contesting one of my objectives. Still coulda gotten a draw on objectives but was unable to get enough shots into one of his holders to force morale.
On the other board we had Chaos(Remigious) Vs Necrons(Shade)
Chaos list:
Chaos lord with P fist and plasma pistol (attached to the zerkers)
1x9 berserkers with plasma pistol (rides in Rhino)
1x5 chaos marines, no upgrades
Rhino, havoc launcher and daemonic possession
Necron list:
2x10 warriors
2x3 scarab swarms, disruption fields
This game was won by Chaos and pretty much was a big cluster assault in the middle of the board involving one warrior squad, the zerkers, and the scarabs. Probably would have gone faster if Remigious had put more attacks on the scarabs to max fearless wounds in the fights as she never lost combat, but as it was Shade survived the first round and the durable Necrons warriors tied things up for most of the game, Chaos managed to own and contest more objectives though.
Tau(Pano) Vs Chaos(Rem)
Another objective mission, this one basically involved me shooting her off the board as she walked up, I lost a fire warrior and a crisis suit, she had her 5 man chaos marine squad left.
Necron(Shade) Vs IG(CP)
To be honest, didn't follow this one that closely, but I believe it sorta mirrored my match above, the IG just shot things up and the blob tied things down enough that IG could get more objectives.
Tau(Pano) Vs Necron(Shade)
This is one where I totally was winning handily, then lost entirely due to my own mistakes and Shades good target priority. I shot the scarabs off the table in round 2, without those to threaten my firebase I was then able to wipe an entire warrior squad, unfortunately he was able to conga line that squad to control two objectives and my dice utterly failed me in the lat few rounds of shooting, still would have been an objective tie and I would have won on KP except I neglected to cover a reduced squad of warriors in the bottom of turn 6 and he was able to shoot them off the objective and win 2 to 1. I got all concerned with protecting my suits that I forgot entirely that the point of the game was objectives.
Chaos(Rem) Vs IG(Pete)
Rem's ongoing terrible luck with vehicles struck early here as her Rhino got immobilized at the first shot on the top of round 1, having to footslog across the board left her weakened to much to carry the assault against IG, and the lord/zerker deathstar was tied up for 2 rounds by the Sentinel, game ended with a tabling as it took too long to get anywhere and 15 models just can't take that punishment for that long.
Chaos(Rem) Vs Necron(Shade)
This was a tie breaker for going into the 2nd round, I dunno how Pete was doing his scoring but these two had to play off. (Pete says: At this point, Shade and Remigious had two losses and one win each, making a tie.)
Rem learned from her previous games and was able to get some good assaults in without having to wade against a river of fire, as well as a good tank shock to contest an objective with an empty Rhino. Shade was not as aggressive with his Scarabs as he could have been and that may have cost him a tie at the end being unable to contest objectives, Chaos wins it 1 to nothing
Final thoughts:
Tau: My list kinda blew and I lost my first game in the deployment phase, at this point level and on this small of a board I don't really need to have deep striking reserves, also my loss against the Necrons was a pretty huge mistake, reinforces the need to cover objectives though. Gonna switch it up a bit in the next round.
IG: Played pretty well, I always think his list building is schizophrenic though, if you are going to have an assault blob then tool it up for assault I say. Get some power weapons on the sergeants already. He was over by 20 points as he did bad math as well, but that 20 points was in the Sentinel Plasma Cannon and it did very little in any game so I forgive him. (Pete says: My list building is a byproduct from my learning process. The goal of the blob was to tie up shooting squads for several turns, and the Autocannon teams were there to hold objectives, while offering some ranged support to the army.)
Chaos: Rem is still getting into the aggressive mindset needed to run berserkers, she likes to shoot with the Rhino when most of the time it might be better to just move 12" the list was perfectly decent for this level, though I would pull the plasma off the zerkers and the havoc off the Rhino and either buy more dudes or give the CM squad a plasma gun or ML or something.
Necron: Shade is a brand new player and brought his entire model collection to the fight, he did well using the old codex, though again could have been more aggressive with his Scarabs, they move as jet bikes and he didn't take as much advantage of that as he could have. However he made no real other mistakes and good decisions about what to shoot at most of the rest of the time.
Round 1: Tau (Panopticon) Vs IG(Captain Pete)
Tau list:
Shas'el with AFP and stuff
3x crisis suits with TL plasma
2x6 fire warriors
1x12 fire warriors
IG list: (Corrected by Pete)
Command squad with vox, medic, 2x plasma
30 man blob with 3x melta, commisar, vox
2x10 ig with AC
Armored Sentinel with PC (Later changed to Autocannon)
Pitched battle, 5 objectives
This ended in a loss for the Tau, his AC squads sat on objectives and didn't contribute much while his blob ran upfield, I was unable to get enough firepower into it to break it before they killed a 6 man squad and my crisis team. made the mistake of taking a couple potshots at the Sentinel and had reserved my suits so I was relying pretty much entirely on fire warriors to do the job, then the commander mishaped to death. His Sentinel spent most of the game in a fruitless for both sides assault contesting one of my objectives. Still coulda gotten a draw on objectives but was unable to get enough shots into one of his holders to force morale.
On the other board we had Chaos(Remigious) Vs Necrons(Shade)
Chaos list:
Chaos lord with P fist and plasma pistol (attached to the zerkers)
1x9 berserkers with plasma pistol (rides in Rhino)
1x5 chaos marines, no upgrades
Rhino, havoc launcher and daemonic possession
Necron list:
2x10 warriors
2x3 scarab swarms, disruption fields
This game was won by Chaos and pretty much was a big cluster assault in the middle of the board involving one warrior squad, the zerkers, and the scarabs. Probably would have gone faster if Remigious had put more attacks on the scarabs to max fearless wounds in the fights as she never lost combat, but as it was Shade survived the first round and the durable Necrons warriors tied things up for most of the game, Chaos managed to own and contest more objectives though.
Tau(Pano) Vs Chaos(Rem)
Another objective mission, this one basically involved me shooting her off the board as she walked up, I lost a fire warrior and a crisis suit, she had her 5 man chaos marine squad left.
Necron(Shade) Vs IG(CP)
To be honest, didn't follow this one that closely, but I believe it sorta mirrored my match above, the IG just shot things up and the blob tied things down enough that IG could get more objectives.
Tau(Pano) Vs Necron(Shade)
This is one where I totally was winning handily, then lost entirely due to my own mistakes and Shades good target priority. I shot the scarabs off the table in round 2, without those to threaten my firebase I was then able to wipe an entire warrior squad, unfortunately he was able to conga line that squad to control two objectives and my dice utterly failed me in the lat few rounds of shooting, still would have been an objective tie and I would have won on KP except I neglected to cover a reduced squad of warriors in the bottom of turn 6 and he was able to shoot them off the objective and win 2 to 1. I got all concerned with protecting my suits that I forgot entirely that the point of the game was objectives.
Chaos(Rem) Vs IG(Pete)
Rem's ongoing terrible luck with vehicles struck early here as her Rhino got immobilized at the first shot on the top of round 1, having to footslog across the board left her weakened to much to carry the assault against IG, and the lord/zerker deathstar was tied up for 2 rounds by the Sentinel, game ended with a tabling as it took too long to get anywhere and 15 models just can't take that punishment for that long.
Chaos(Rem) Vs Necron(Shade)
This was a tie breaker for going into the 2nd round, I dunno how Pete was doing his scoring but these two had to play off. (Pete says: At this point, Shade and Remigious had two losses and one win each, making a tie.)
Rem learned from her previous games and was able to get some good assaults in without having to wade against a river of fire, as well as a good tank shock to contest an objective with an empty Rhino. Shade was not as aggressive with his Scarabs as he could have been and that may have cost him a tie at the end being unable to contest objectives, Chaos wins it 1 to nothing
Final thoughts:
Tau: My list kinda blew and I lost my first game in the deployment phase, at this point level and on this small of a board I don't really need to have deep striking reserves, also my loss against the Necrons was a pretty huge mistake, reinforces the need to cover objectives though. Gonna switch it up a bit in the next round.
IG: Played pretty well, I always think his list building is schizophrenic though, if you are going to have an assault blob then tool it up for assault I say. Get some power weapons on the sergeants already. He was over by 20 points as he did bad math as well, but that 20 points was in the Sentinel Plasma Cannon and it did very little in any game so I forgive him. (Pete says: My list building is a byproduct from my learning process. The goal of the blob was to tie up shooting squads for several turns, and the Autocannon teams were there to hold objectives, while offering some ranged support to the army.)
Chaos: Rem is still getting into the aggressive mindset needed to run berserkers, she likes to shoot with the Rhino when most of the time it might be better to just move 12" the list was perfectly decent for this level, though I would pull the plasma off the zerkers and the havoc off the Rhino and either buy more dudes or give the CM squad a plasma gun or ML or something.
Necron: Shade is a brand new player and brought his entire model collection to the fight, he did well using the old codex, though again could have been more aggressive with his Scarabs, they move as jet bikes and he didn't take as much advantage of that as he could have. However he made no real other mistakes and good decisions about what to shoot at most of the rest of the time.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Combat Patrol Rules
Revised rules for combat patrol. Uses 500 points.
• 0-1 HQ choices.
• 1+ Troop choices.
• Any remaining points may be spend anywhere in the codex, using normal force organization chart limits.
• No models may have more that 3 wounds.
• No special characters.
• No 2+ saves.
• No Vehicle may have a total armor value of 33. (F+S+R)
• No ordnance weapons.
• Use a 4’x4’ playing area.
• 0-1 HQ choices.
• 1+ Troop choices.
• Any remaining points may be spend anywhere in the codex, using normal force organization chart limits.
• No models may have more that 3 wounds.
• No special characters.
• No 2+ saves.
• No Vehicle may have a total armor value of 33. (F+S+R)
• No ordnance weapons.
• Use a 4’x4’ playing area.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Coppa Boyz
Coppa’ Boyz:
500 point Warhammer 40,000 tournament
Welcome to Coppa’ Boyz!
• All games use Combat Patrol rules
• One army list for each round (that means a take-all-comers list)
• Reasonable proxies are okay (let us know what’s what)
• Have a hard copy of your codex. Printed pages are okay.
At the end of each round, the player with the lowest total of wins is eliminated. If there is a tie, the player with the lowest total of wins and ties is eliminated. If there’s still a tie, the players have one last battle, with the loser being the one who has been eliminated.
Any Infantry unit can hold objectives. However, only a Troops choice can still hold an objective if under 50% strength.
Rounds continue, with the player with the lowest total of wins being dropped, until there is only one player left. That player is the winner of the tournament.
Rules, errata and etc.
For this tournament, the Necron ‘Phase Out’ rule is suspended.
Round one details:
All games are seize ground. Deployment rolled normally.
Starting with the player with the oldest codex (in order: Witch Hunters, Nercons, Tau, Chaos Space Marines, Orks, Space Marines and Imperial Guard), they can pick who they want to play against first. They may pass, if they want. When the game is finished, the winner picks who they want to battle, until all players have fought against one another.
Disqualifications:
• Failure to attend – Any player that doesn’t show up the game, without a good reason or forewarning, is disqualified. The game then advances to the next round.
• Extreme tardiness – Any player that is more than an hour late, again without good reason or forewarning, is disqualified. The game then advances to the next round.
• Poor sportsmanship – Any player, whose attitude or behavior, is determined to be unacceptable will be asked to leave the game, and is disqualified. The game then advances to the next round.
• Cheating – Any player caught cheating will be asked the leave the game and is disqualified. The game then advances to the next round.
Prizes:
The winner of the tournament wins an AoBR Ork Boy that has been painted copper. He may lord over his/her friends and rub his/her wins in their faces. If the boy is lost, stolen or broken, I will not replace it.
But, wait there’s more!
Before the winner collects their prize, they have one last battle to play! The player that was eliminated in the first round (note: only the first one to be eliminated, not disqualified) can challenge the winner. I will pay the winner of this game $5. The tournament winner still collects his prize, but has a chance to win some money, too.
500 point Warhammer 40,000 tournament
Welcome to Coppa’ Boyz!
• All games use Combat Patrol rules
• One army list for each round (that means a take-all-comers list)
• Reasonable proxies are okay (let us know what’s what)
• Have a hard copy of your codex. Printed pages are okay.
At the end of each round, the player with the lowest total of wins is eliminated. If there is a tie, the player with the lowest total of wins and ties is eliminated. If there’s still a tie, the players have one last battle, with the loser being the one who has been eliminated.
Any Infantry unit can hold objectives. However, only a Troops choice can still hold an objective if under 50% strength.
Rounds continue, with the player with the lowest total of wins being dropped, until there is only one player left. That player is the winner of the tournament.
Rules, errata and etc.
For this tournament, the Necron ‘Phase Out’ rule is suspended.
Round one details:
All games are seize ground. Deployment rolled normally.
Starting with the player with the oldest codex (in order: Witch Hunters, Nercons, Tau, Chaos Space Marines, Orks, Space Marines and Imperial Guard), they can pick who they want to play against first. They may pass, if they want. When the game is finished, the winner picks who they want to battle, until all players have fought against one another.
Disqualifications:
• Failure to attend – Any player that doesn’t show up the game, without a good reason or forewarning, is disqualified. The game then advances to the next round.
• Extreme tardiness – Any player that is more than an hour late, again without good reason or forewarning, is disqualified. The game then advances to the next round.
• Poor sportsmanship – Any player, whose attitude or behavior, is determined to be unacceptable will be asked to leave the game, and is disqualified. The game then advances to the next round.
• Cheating – Any player caught cheating will be asked the leave the game and is disqualified. The game then advances to the next round.
Prizes:
The winner of the tournament wins an AoBR Ork Boy that has been painted copper. He may lord over his/her friends and rub his/her wins in their faces. If the boy is lost, stolen or broken, I will not replace it.
But, wait there’s more!
Before the winner collects their prize, they have one last battle to play! The player that was eliminated in the first round (note: only the first one to be eliminated, not disqualified) can challenge the winner. I will pay the winner of this game $5. The tournament winner still collects his prize, but has a chance to win some money, too.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Land raider troubles
I got to use my new chaos land raider for the first time last week, and on the very first turn it got stuck in some water. I couldn't believe it. I had Kharne the betrayer in it so Pano decided to call the land raider "Kharne's party wagon." If only the party wagon was able to move more than three inches! During the first half of the game I was rolling absolute crap too.
Anyway, I hope in the near future to purchase a few more rhinos so I can get my poor little berzerkers closer to the action as soon as possible.
Anyway, I hope in the near future to purchase a few more rhinos so I can get my poor little berzerkers closer to the action as soon as possible.
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