Adeptus Astragalactica

‘ard Boyz Round 1 list and Battle Reports

2008-09-15T18:04:00.005-05:00

‘ard Boyz Army Comp
Here is what I played for the first round of the ‘ard Boyz Tourney.

Ghazghull Thraka 225 pts
1 Big Mek SAG, Power Klaw, ‘eavy armor, bosspole, Cybork Body, Ammo Runt 143 pts
8 Nobz ‘eavy armor, stikbombz, Bosspole, Painboy, grot orderly, Waaagh! Banner, 2x Power
Klaw, Truk w/ Armour Plates, Grot riggers, Boarding Plank, Reinforced Ram, Wrecking Ball, 383 pts
12 Kommandos w/ 2x Burnaz and Boss Snikrot 235 pts
15 Burnaz 225 pts
15 Lootas 225 pts
12 Ork Trukk Slugga Boyz w/ Rokkit, Stikbombz, Nob w/ Power Klaw, ‘eavy armor, bosspole, Truk w/ Armour Plates, Grot riggers, Boarding Plank, Reinforced Ram, Wrecking Ball, Red Paint Job 214 pts
30 ‘ard Slugga Boyz w/ 3x Rokkitz, Nob w/ Power Klaw, bosspole 370
30 Shoota Boyz w/ 3x Shootaz, Nob w/ Power Klaw, ‘eavy armor, bosspole 240 pts
30 Shoota Boyz w/ 3x Shootaz, Nob w/ Power Klaw, ‘eavy armor, bosspole 240 pts

Brief Synopsis of Game play

Game 1 vs. Black Templars: Massacre +1 battle point
This game was fun and I enjoyed my opponent. This was as close to a “flawless victory” that I got. I garnered 21 points from this round. The main lesson that was reinforced for me was stick to your plan. Since this mission was “Seize Ground”, I decided to focus on securing each of the five objectives and keeping them clear of the enemy presence. I also knew that since I was playing a horde army I would have to play each round as if it were my last.

My opponent was foolhardy enough to run his entire army at me, and I took advantage of this by moving my forces forward. Once my forces were where I wanted them, I shot at him and caused all of his forward troops to move towards my lines. This allowed me to assault him on turn 1.

My ‘ard Boyz managed to turn out casualties against his chaplain and command squad and ended up locked in combat because of the Templar’s fearless in hand to hand rule. Ghazghull, the Nobz, and the truk boyz hit two squads of sword brethren and when the dust cleared a lone Templar stood, which I was able to consolidate into with both units because he poorly choose who lived. He was trying to pull casualties so as to disengage Ghazghull, but 1 model from old Thraka’s unit was able to consolidate into base to base thus dragging the whole unit along.

Turn 2 was where my opponent attempted a weak retaliation and brought in 2 of his three deep striking units. Luckily for me all of his shooting was being made by Star Wars Storm Troopers and I was left fairly unscathed. As we launched into the assault phase it was announced that we had 30 minutes left.

This time the tables turned for my ‘ard Boyz as they were charged by the Emperor’s Champion and friends. The fight was bloody and the ‘ard Boyz lost and were run down. The lone Templar was cut down but he at least took two Orks with him, after which the Truk Boyz ducked behind the hill out of sight, but within 3” of the objective. Ghazghull consolidated towards an objective near the Templar lines.

On my part of turn two Ghazghull and his squad moved to capture an objective. Both of my Shoota mobs moved in and captured 2 more objectives, while the Burna boyz moved up to clear my opponent off the fifth objective. Once the boyz had moved into position they opened up to gun down nearby targets. Between the Lootas, SAG, and two units of Shoota Boyz I managed to thin the EC and his unit down to just the EC and a mook. As I began my assault moves time was called. Oh well maybe next time I will be able to secure all of the objectives instead of all but 1. I was a little annoyed that Snikrot and his Kommandoes didn’t make it out of reserve.

Game 2 vs. Imperial Guard: Tie no extra battle points 597 VP Orks to 587 VP IG

Game 2 got started after lunch. Interesting note during our 1 hour lunch the kids playing in the tournament decided to have an impromptu who brought the best character throw down. It was fun to watch, and in my opinion really in the spirit of the tourney and the game.

Game 2 began with the IG player going first. My opponent was a teenager who was a very excellent opponent. Thankfully the dawn of war rules saved my keester in this turn, but he did get off a lucky shot which threw Ghazghull and his gang out of their truck. However he forgot to bring in his forces, which I also did for a few of my units on my first turn.

When my turn 1 came I brought my Burnaz on but forgot about the Lootaz. GRRR!!! I then moved just about everything toward his lines. I did get a bit luckier than my opponent and managed enough shots to cause two squads to take morale checks, which one squad failed. Not bad for an opening salvo.

When turn 2 hit, the Hellhound, 2 Russes, and storm troopers rolled on along with a flamer special weapons squad being deployed behind my firing line. It was impressive, and it managed to kill the SAG, take out half a Shoota Boyz squad and immobilize the last remaining Trukk.

Then the hurtin’ time came for the poor IG. Once againg Snikrot thought that Ghazghull had the battle handled, and sat on the bench. The Lootas came on and got into a position to assault the Flame throwers that were in my lines. All but one unit moved up in preparation of an assault. Ghazghull declared a Waaagh! and the IG were immediately knee deep in Orks. The Orks had assaulted six units, and only managed to get 2 kill points. I knew that the KP rules were going to anger me greatly. Needless to say, he was now down six squads.

His turn 3 came and well the other Hellhound rolled on, but not his last Russ (whew.) I was able to withstand the fusillade of fire that came towards my orks, but as it became my turn game was called. Curses! Snikrot benched by my dice again!

Game 3 vs. Orks: Minor Loss
This like the last game was an evenly matched brawl against a great opponent. There was so much occurring I could not relate it all. The balance swung on the second half of the second turn where I dusted his fire base off of his objective with Snikrot and contested it, but he captured mine with his Nobz Squad. The pivotal battle was where Ghazghull and his unit rolled snake eyes on the difficult terrain check and they were more than an inch away. Curses! That stopped me cold from earning 5 KPs.

Wrap Up
I tied for fourth, but won on VP so fourth place was mine. The nice thing is that the second place player will be unable to attend the next round, so I will be going to regionals.

The biggest thing that I learned was that speed is an Ork’s friend. I also had “remember the mission rules” lesson pounded into my skull. Hopefully it will stick. I may also see if I can round up a rules runt to help me look up pertinent questions in the book and to deflect all questions away from me that slow down my game play. Hope you enjoyed my ‘ard Boyz wrap up.

Cross Posted at

Tactical Rock
Austin Miniature Minions

Just got Black Reach!

2008-09-06T01:18:00.002-05:00

So, I just got Black Reach at the midnight event for our local game store (which actually wasn't an event but that's neither here nor there).

So the big question is: who wants to trade their Marines for my Orks? :)

Besides that, in a few days, I'll be ready to begin writing about our new terrain project. :) I think it's gonna be awesome...

Oh, you Beast!

2008-08-27T11:35:00.002-05:00

Having played my first 5th-ed game I came across one really surprising and irritating rule:

Moving within ruins (page 83): "Only certain troops are capable of clambering to the upper levels of ruins. Accordingly, only infantry, jump infantry, jetbikes, monstrous creatures and walkers may move on the upper levels of a ruin - and only if the model can physically be placed there. Other units may only move on the ground level of the ruin."

I play 'Nids. My favorite units are the Raveners and Homogaunts both of which are beasts as described in the 'Nid codex.

Well, my first game was against Democratus and his Chaos. He had placed all his beginning troops on the second floor of a ruin. It gave the humorous look of "woman on a chair afraid of mice".

Aside from that, I am a little peeved at this rule. I understand not wanting bikes on the upper floor of a ruin, but have GW not heard of "dismounting"? I mean, if the ruin is strong enough to hold a walker can 14 homogaunts be any heavier?

So far other than this little peeve, I like 5th-ed rules so far. Being the casual player the game does go faster and I like that I had a draw even with one of the better players of our group.

Now if Witch Hunters and 'Nids can get an updated Codex all will be well...

AA Represents at Orkpocalypse!

2008-08-22T22:07:00.013-05:00

So Battleforge, one of our favorite local game stores, held an Apocalypse event on Thursday night. 3K points per player, 13 players (IIRC), one big table with my Marines on one side and Psyberwolfe's Orks on the other.

So we all lined up on the field, the Holy Imperium of Man versus those most foul and foreign Greenskins!

I managed to put together a Battle Company...

...while Psyberwolfe brought a Green Tide (among other things).

There was planning both strategic and tactical, fighting both ranged and hand to hand...

In the end, the Imperium won, not only because we were hard and stalwart, but also because Dante failed a morale check and had to fall back...

...keeping the Tide from getting close enough to claim an objective!

Nice Waaaagh!, Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka. Too bad you @$$ got sacked!!!

And, for the record, it was an excellent game and some very cool players on both sides. I completely look forward to the next one! Game on!

The Magic of the Multi-Melta

2008-07-30T20:24:00.001-05:00

A commonly fielded unit in my marine army is a multi-melta Devastator unit. I have considered them a fairly effective unit and they have usually performed admirably. They have usually acted in the deterrent role because of their ability punch through armor, so my opponents would typically give them wide berth or present lower armor targets.
This new edition has vindicated my faith in the multi-melta, but it has made this unit a bit of a fire magnet. In my first 5th edition game Bulwark, of Bell of Lost Souls fame, made a b-line towards this unit and allowed my Devastators a single turn of firing. By turn two he had managed to tie them up in close combat and dispatched them in subsequent rounds.
The lesson learned from this game is that Devastator multi-meltas are a liability because they tend to draw unnecessary attention and in one turn a large portion of anti tank firepower can be removed. This event caused me to wonder what role, if any, would the multi-melta play in future game of 5th edition. Then it occurred to me that my error was in fielding them as Devastators. I decided that more wasn’t better with these because one usually accomplished the job.
My new paradigm is multi-meltas are best in tactical squads, and since I play Dark Angels, they will come into their own with combat squads. They will excel in Combat Squads because they will be able to use the run rule behind the cover of my armored fighting vehicles (AFVs.) Once they have moved up they will have a decent command of the field and will be able to deliver effective anti tank firepower. The new run rule also increases their flexibility by allowing them a chance to take up a decent field position.
What excites me most about multi-meltas is their armor penetration of 1, and what that does in this new edition. Admittedly, they are a poor man’s lascannon, but there aren’t many AV 14 targets in the game. This is what will make these weapons feared and will cause many players to re-examine their tactics. I am fairly confident that here in the near future this weapon will become as common as the lascannon.

The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Gunfire…

2008-07-25T00:21:00.015-05:00

So, you got the new 5th Edition Manual and you get out on the battlefield. You’re doing alright except for one thing: you have no suitable hills now. In 4th, things were a little more abstract. If you and your opponent agreed that a hill was a hill, it probably blocked line of sight. Now, with the true line of sight rules in 5th, you’ve got nothing to hide a squad behind, much less a tank. Well, never fear! A lot of people are going to be building real hills so I think it’s time for me to show you how!

For our hill building, you are going to need the following tools:

Hot wire foam cutter ($6-15 from a hobby store)
Batteries (the foam cutter will suck them up a bit)
A marker or highlighter

You will also need the following supplies:

Glue (Good old school white glue is fine)
¾” Pink insulation foam board ($9 for a 4’x 8’ sheet)

The foam board is where it all begins. I use ¾” pink foam board (which actually, isn’t foam. It’s fiberglass). Some people use blue foam because it’s thicker, but I think pink foam has more uses for crafting so it’s better in my opinion to have more pink foam that you will use than to have two separate types of foam for different things. Of course, if you’re more serious than I am, that may work for you. On the other hand, if you’re more serious than I am, you probably already have hills! If you use the pink foam, I recommend you prepare it before use. You’ll notice that there’s a clear thin plastic sheet on each side of the foam. Peel it off. You’ll smell a chemical scent from the newly exposed foam. That’s why you’ll want to put it into a well ventilated area for a while to dry out. As far as I know, it’s not dangerous but I don’t want to take that chance with any of our loyal readers. Once it’s dried out (and you don’t smell it [trust me, you’ll know what I mean]), we can begin.

Cut the foam into smaller sheets. Then glue several sheets together.

Scale is something to think about. Most everything states that 3” up is equivalent to going up a level/upstairs/whatever. That would mean four sheets would be one level up. However, I use 3 as a level. It’s a bit of an aesthetic thing. I think the slightly smaller hill looks better and the disparity doesn’t become obvious unless you have 4 or five levels up or down. And with true line of sight, the disparity actually has no actual meaning any longer. Go a little taller if you want, I’ll stay a little shorter. As Bob Ross might have said, it’s your hill and you can make it as tall or as small as you want it.

I use toothpicks to provide stability and keep the sheets from slipping. Put them in at multiple angles but not far enough to poke out the other sides and keep them more towards the center if you can. Use cutters of something to cut off any ends that might still be sticking out. You may also want to put some glue into the toothpick holes if you can. Once it’s glued, let if sit for a while and dry. An hour or two should suffice, but you know your conditions a little better than I do.

When you’re ready, you want to take your glued stacks outside or into a well ventilated area (trust me, you want to do this outside). Take your marker and draw a ring around the area you want to be the top of your hill. A rough representation will do, but you want to make sure that it is away from the edges.

Take the hot knife and start cutting around the ring. You’re probably not going to want to do this straight on. You want to do it more at an angle which is why you don’t want the ring you draw to be too close to the edges. That way the hills you make will slope. Of course, you’re not entirely bound to that. Cutting it straight creates cliffs and dropoffs. You might want to vary up the angle you’re cutting at to create more interesting looking hills, sloping from one direction but sheer cliff on another side. Another thing you’ll notice is that as you cut, it’ll sometimes seem to drag and cut a little raggedly. That’s fine. In fact, I think it’s preferred. That way, the sloping will look a little more like the rough sides of many hills. Remember, the cutting will release fumes, but this isn’t Styrofoam, it’s fiberglass. As a result, it won’t be anywhere near as bad but fumes will still occur. Also don’t think you have to cut this all in one continuously perfect piece. Cut off a piece and then cut off some more. If you don’t like the way something is looking, cut until you like it. Pull out a utility knife or an exacto and gouge it up further it you want. Only you know what you want it to look like. Once you’re done, you may want to take some fine sandpaper around the edges to knock off any look strands of fiberglass. I personally just rub my finger around the edge to clean it up. If you do this, remember that fiberglass can pierce your skin or get on you and be really uncomfortable (if you’ve ever cut fiberglass duct, you know what I mean) so be careful.

You should end up with something that looks kinda like this:

It’s a hill! Note you can easily put a squad on top of it.

Notice how it looks from a sergeant's eyeview...

Too bad he can't see the Land Raider supporting them. What Land Raider?

THAT Land Raider.

If you make it big enough in area, you can place smaller hills on top of it to make bigger hills and still have places to stand buildings or vehicles.

If you have something with a cliff side, you can not only represent hard climbs, but you can also combine with buildings to give a mountain village kind of look. This is the best argument for your building and hills to be at a uniform level.

But who wants a pink hill? That’s why you get your favorite color of craft paint for such things (I use golden brown Delta Ceramcoat) and paint the muther some color other than pink as you probably noticed I did with the second hill. You’ll probably want to use more than one coat because the bright pink will show through a thin coat. Or, if you want, you can spray paint it! It’s not foam! It’s fiberglass! The spray paint won’t melt the hill!

Flock or don’t flock. Base or don’t base. It’s up to you. All that matters is that you have a hill that has a chance of actually hiding units. Now make some more!

Tyrus Campaign Finished

2008-07-19T22:29:00.001-05:00

After many months of manuver and battle, the Tyrus campaign has drawn to a close.

Here are the victory points earned by each force as of the end of the 11th week:

Chaos: 3200
Grey Knights: 3100
Necrons: 1400
Astramalleus: 900
Sisters of Battle: 800
Anger Sharks: 800

As can be seen, the top slot was hotly contested and only narrowly won.

Having captured the massive artifact at the center of the Tyus system, Typhus is going to attempt to create a new warp storm so he can claim a kingdom for his own.

It has been suggested that a final Apocalypse battle be fought to determine if this scheme can come to fruition. We await input from all the players to see if this will happen.

All in all, it was a noble experiment in map-based campaign play. For a first attempt at creating a dynamic system where all players had maximum choice I think it went rather well. Should we try again, there are several changes I think could be made.

Hopefully everyone had as much fun with this as I did. I really enjoyed not knowing who I would fight or where until battle was upon me. I also had much fun with the meta-gaming and scheming - as many will attest.

The big question now is....what is next for our intrepid League?

The Last Gasp of 4th ED: A Tyrus Campaign Battle Report

2008-07-18T12:47:00.031-05:00

So, the group has been playing in a campaign for the last few months. It was decided that since we’ve been playing it in 4^th edition rules and the campaign is close to being finished, we would finish the campaign in 4^th Ed. As it is a map based campaign loosely based on some of the ideas in Mighty Empires, it involves flags of various sizes running around and sometimes bumping into other flags of various sizes.

Last night’s campaign battle was a 1000 pointer pitting my own army, the Ancient and Glorious Astramalleus (Space Marines) against Rachael Storm’s Anger Sharks (Blood Angels). Of course, real life conspired to keep this report from happening. My digital camera died so I couldn’t take pictures. :( But, then again, that’s why every cellphone in creation has one! I didn’t get as many pictures as I might have liked in the quality I might have liked, but if you can forgive that, you’ll see we had a rocking time!

The Astramalleus holds firm. They will not be moved! Or will they?

Warmaster Wen Dunnigan, Hero of Jhantor

(Force Commander with Terminator Honors, Artificer Armor, Power Weapon, Plasma Pistol, Iron Halo and Meltabombs)

Tactical Squad 1 – 10 Marines (Sergeant w/Power Fist & bolt pistol, Heavy Bolter, Meltagun)

Tactical Squad 2 – 10 Marines with Rhino (Sergeant w/Power Fist & bolt pistol, Heavy Bolter, Meltagun)

Devastator Squad – 10 Marines with Rhino(Missile Launcher x4)

Drednought (Assault Cannon & storm bolter, extra armor)

The Anger Sharks come. And they will not be stopped! Or will they?

Lemartes, Guardian of the Lost (Jump pack, Frag and Krak grenades, Death Mask, Bolt Pistol)

[he was kind enough to substitute another Chaplain figure for GWs horrid one]

Death Company – 9 Marines (Jump packs, Frag and Krak grenades, Furious Charge)

Assault Squad 1 – 9 Marines (Sergeant with Power Fist & bolt pistol, Plasma Pistols x2, Frag and Krak grenades)

Assault Squad 2 – 9 Marines (Sergeant with Power Fist & bolt pistol, Plasma Pistols x2, Frag and Krak grenades)

We glared at each other from across the field…

AST Turn 1

There was little movement. The Dred moved from behind cover to take up a flank position and a Rhino moves from behind a building. The Devastators fired at Lemartes and the Death Company, killing 3 in the process.

Shark Turn 1

Lemartes took the Death Company to try to outflank and take advantage of cover while the two assault squads moved forward out of the building.

AST Turn 2

While Dunnigan and TAC1 made a minor adjustment to the right, TAC2 rushed up to flank ASS2 and lit into them supported by the Devastators. ASS2 lost 5 men but made their LD check.

Shark Turn 2

ASS1 charges TAC1 causing 6 kills (forcing the loss of my power fist!) and losing 2 but TAC1 holds, ASS2 shoots TAC2, TAC2 fails LD and falls back 8 inches. Lemartes and Death Company close…

AST 3 Turn 3

Rhino moves forward to pen and fire on ASS2 while TAC2 advances and fires. ASS2 wiped out. Devastators kill 3 more D Company. Dunnigan and TAC1 close to fight and Dred joins battle. ASS2 loses 3 men but holds out, power fisting the Dred’s CCW away.

Shark Turn 3

Lemartes and 3 man D Company assault. They and ASS1 do two wounds to Dunnigan and that’s it. Dunnigan, TAC1 and Dred do two wounds to ASS1.

And the Anger Sharks called the battle. Glory to the Astramalleus!!! He had no scoring units. I had two and was about to assault him with a unit with a power fist. Good game, Anger Sharks!

So I hope you enjoyed the crappy maps and even crappier pictures. Next time I do this, it’ll be 5^th ED, I hope!!!

5th ED is out!!!!!

2008-07-12T11:14:00.003-05:00

So, I'm sure that a lot of you out there already got it at the midnight events and such. I'm in Longview this weekend so I have to drive to Tyler this afternoon to get mine. I know some of us have already seen the rules and all that and there's much more commentary on all that on other sites. What I want to know from you all is what do you all think of the book itself? What do you like about it? What do you dislike? Is it worthy of a whole new edition? And, most importantly, what do you think is the best thing GW did this time around?

The floor is now open for discussion!

What the FLOCK?!?!?

2008-07-09T23:52:00.010-05:00

So, sometimes gamers get bored. Or they're looking for a new challenge. Or they're just cheap. Whichever one of them you are, well this might be for you. So I got to thinking a few weeks ago "Maybe I'd like a bunch of flock to flock minis." My club mates can attest to how big a deal that is since I have 9K-ish points of Space Marines and not one of them is flocked. But I don't want to spend a lot of money on flock. So I decided to start making my own. And here's how I did it!

Tools:

containers (cheap and/or probably around the house)
stirrers (old brushes, pens, whatever)
cookie sheet ($1.50)
strainer ($1.50)
tea leaf ball ($1.50)

Ingredients:

sawdust: sawdust from a wood shop or mill would probably be best, especially from sanding or a lathe, but I grabbed a plastic bag full from Home Despot around the corner from my apartment. They pay to get rid of it so they really don't care.

paint: Actually, some thoughts on that... Don't use GW paint. There's not enough and it's expensive. :) You want to get a cheap acrylic or tempera or something. Kids paints are the goal. Lots of paint, really cheap. Each of those bottles you see there cost about $2 each. I use the acrylics on buildings and such but I got the tempera just for flock. Just make sure you get paints that are much brighter than what you want to flock to look like because the brown of the sawdust will make it much darker.

water: you have a sink, right?

And now, to the work!

Step 1: mix paint and water

Mix paint and water in a container. Simple enough. You don't want it to be translucent but as you experiment (assuming you'll make more than one color/batch of flock) you may want a little more or less paint. Be prepared to maybe mix paints if you want something specific. I also happen to have a cheap ass blender. You could use that too, but I think if you want to use an appliance, a mixer would be better than a blender, but that's not important right now.

Step 2: stir in sawdust

Put in sawdust a little bit at a time and stir. Keep adding more and keep stirring until it starts getting a little hard to stir. You don't want liquid and paint to be left over. If you see the color and it's off, you can add more paint, but you don't want to if you don't have to. If you do, make sure you mix it all in throughly.

Step 3: spread it out flat and let it dry

Spread the gloop out on a cookie sheet fairly thinly. It'll probably look something like this:

...and it will be wet and sticky so be careful what you touch. Once you've done that, you want to put it in a warm dry place and let it dry out. Lately, it's been a little rainy around here so I instead have opted to put it in the oven. If you do that, you don't want it very hot. The warm setting should do the job. You could even go as high as 200 degrees, but you don't want it to be too hot. This is wood, after all. Either way, oven or sitting out, let it dry out.

Step 4: Put the dry mixture in another container and get ready to strain

If it's all been done correctly, the gloop, as it dried, should have broken apart into its constituent particles. It should all come apart easily. If it dries as hard pieces, toss it aside and start again, though I've yet to have this happen.

Take your strainer and strain out the big bits. Keep them for rocks and big bits or toss them. Either way, you should end up with something like this:

This is a fairly coarse flock that, while not the quality of professional flock, looks pretty decently like grass. The tea leaf ball is better than the strainer so when you're left with just the coarse flock, use the tea ball to strain the coarse flock and you'll end up with this:

It feels really soft and fuzzy. There's a lot of this finer stuff in with the coarse flock, but I don't have the need or the patience to get it all out. You, however, can get all you want.

And that's it! Thus far, in three days, I've made two batches, one green and one yellow (which looks a little like dead grass), and have just pulled a third out of the oven for straining tomorrow.

And there's a lot of it! Of course, the "big cost" is the tools, but some of these you probably have around the house. I bought everything and I have made these three batches for less than the cost of two bags at a store. Now that I have everything, the only real cost is more paint and that big $2 bottle should make around 15 batches. That's a crap load of flock. In fact, when I'm done flocking my minis, I'm going to flock my hills and some of my other terrain, but that is a story for another article...

Memorial Day BBQ

2008-05-20T23:32:00.004-05:00

Poney and I will be hosting a game/movie/bbq from Texas Rib Kings shindig Monday, 26 May, starting about 12:30, till folks wanna split. CXI and spouses definitely invited. RSVP so we can plan for enough!

First try at posting a pic

2008-05-19T21:21:00.001-05:00

Oh well. I think I need someone to teach me how to take pictures of minis with a digital camera. Mine always come out very blurred.

Communicatum Militare

2008-05-11T08:37:00.002-05:00

Transmitted: Hex
Received: Astropath Numalitor
Destination: Brother Captain Anastasius
Telepathic Duct: Terminus Ehud
Ref: Ordo Malleus/440982230/SV
Author: Justicar Telestes

Thought for the Day: "Emotion is the downfall of the Weak."

Brother Captain,

Daemonic incursion confirmed, destroyed, crystal mines Hex. Thirteen brothers of Titan employing Sus-An and Larraman enhancers for recovery before operations can continue. Seven brothers to garrison site post-rean.

Increased risk of Immaterium Breach also confirmed, sector designate Alpha. Request Brother Captain Athanasius attempt remedy from Environmental Control base, central hub Elysium.

Request immediate audit Psycannon ammunition stores. Tzeentchian filth appears using stolen shells, possibly further tainted, will investigate further.

Telestes, Justicar

Encounter on Hex

2008-05-01T14:26:00.008-05:00

Corporal Vespasian was having a good day. He had only recently been given command of the squad after their decimation on Shroud. The officers had seen promise in him and he intended to prove them right. Looking up from the tactical command display he looked at the men. Squad Tertius was in high spirits. They had been sent on patrol across the basalt flats of Hex and were mustered a Rhino APC for the task. Any assignment where you can sit on your ass and watch the scenery go by is a prime one. The squad was only newly reformed and he wanted a chance to test their cohesion.

Forces from several Imperial armies were reported to be on the cursed moon, but not in large numbers. And if they should have a close encounter, Regius their company standard bearer, would have a nasty surprise. Even now he was speaking to the men about the mysteries of the Warp and how they were all the chosen heralds of the lords of Chaos. The crowded interior of the transport had the air of a shrine as all the men gathered around Regius intent on his sermon. As Regius inevitably spoke of the False Emperor their tempers rose to a fever pitch. All were eager to visit ruin on the inheritors of the Great Betrayal.

A warning light woke Vespasian from his reverie. He studied the readings for a moment and informed the squad, "We have enemy movement at 2 klicks. Prepare for action!" Studying the energy signatures further it was clear that these enemies were wearing Power Armor and that they outnumbered his squad by at least two to one. They seemed to be occupying a ruined building of some kind, most likely establishing defensive positions. A Rhino APC was not a stealthy machine - the enemy had to be aware of their presence by now.

"Bring us in behind that rock outcropping," Vespasian instructed the driver. They would take as much cover as possible on the approach. The enemy might have heavy weaponry capable of piercing the light armor of their transport. "To stations!" he barked. As one, the squad moved to positions. Regius, himself, and two other men moved to the rear; ready to exit the ramp at a moment's notice. Balzar took the squad's meltagun, joined by Krys with his bolter, and went to the fire point up top ready to open fire on any targets of opportunity.

As the Rhino cleared the last piece of cover, their enemy came into view. Their blue and white livery announced their identity as clearly as the Fleur de Lis banner they flew. "Sororitas," spat Regius. The zealots were the last force he wanted to face in battle. Space Marines were predictable in their adherence to their holy Codex. Even the Necrons could be counted on to follow their implacable phalanx tactics. But the sisters were creatures of passion and whimsy, much like the Emperor's Children. There was no predicting their tactics. And their Faith gave them strange abilities that could swing the tide of battle. He would have to be very careful against these witches. As if on cue, Balzar began his report. There were thirteen of them in the ruins armed with bolters and a flamer. The squad leader appeared to be wielding a power weapon. No heavy weapons in sight.

Vespasian would play this one conservatively. Their armor would be proof against all the weaponry in the enemy squad. There was no need to leave the safety of the vehicle until the enemy was softened up. "Brother Regius, we have need of your allies. Call upon them to strike the enemy!" Regius began to chant, calling on the powers of the Immaterium to join them in slaughter. His voice was quickly hoarse, as the language he spoke was not meant for a human throat.

Now began the waiting. He had the rhino take station at 120 meters from the ruins. They would provide harassment fire from within the transport until the Daemons arrived - whenever that would be. Creatures of the Warp were notoriously fickle. Still, they should be safe from mere bolter fire until then. Most likely the Sisters would use the ruins to provide cover and discourage assault.

True to their nature, the Sisters did the unexpected. As one they broke from cover and ran directly toward the transport. Vespasian thought them mad. Surely they didn't believe he would allow them an attack on the rear of the vehicle? The rhino fired into them as they ran but they ignored the bolter rounds flying around them. As the Sisters closed the distance they shouldered their weapons and pulled out anti-vehicle grenades. The Veteran Sister, resplendent in her blue cloak, pulled out something much more wicked...a melta bomb.

He tried to give the order to pull back, but it was too late. Multiple explosions rocked the transport, igniting the fuel tanks and hurling the vehicle onto its back. Vespasian had the wind knocked out of him as he was thrown clear of the blast. Armor panels and tread sections rained down on the squad, entangling them in the wreckage. The men were quick to extricate themselves and form up, but the Sisters were even faster. They ran around the burning hulk of the Rhino and unloaded a fusillade of bolter fire into the disorganized squad. Somehow it seemed that the bolter rounds ignored the considerable protection offered by Power Armor and cut his men down like sheathes of wheat. First Krys and then Balzar fell, but still the hail of merciless fire came. The squad was fast approaching destruction and Vespasian knew it was only a matter of seconds until they were all dead.

It was then that the Warp decided to answer their call. A shimmer in the air between the decimated Chaos warriors and the vengeful Sisters began to appear. The shimmer became a horrible rend in reality through which shambled eight warp spawned Daemons. With a wild, inhuman screech they charged into the midst of the Sororitas squad tearing at them with claw and fang. A terrible close quarters struggle then ensued between the Sisters and the Daemons as Vespasian ordered his squad forward. Looking around he realized that there was no one left but himself and Regius. There was nothing for the two of them to do but rush into the combat. The time for subtlety was ended and either glory or death would be their reward.

The next several minutes passed in a haze of adrenaline and pain as the unnatural strength and fury of the Daemons slowly took its toll on the Sisters. Sensing the changing tide of battle, the Sisters executed a flawless fighting withdrawal and retreated under organized cover fire. Vespasian did not pursue. His transport was a burning wreck, the Daemons could return to the Warp at any moment, and his squad was all but destroyed.

"Victory and glory!" shouted Regius, holding aloft the sacred Icon of Chaos Glory. Vespasian didn't dare tell him how pathetic he looked shouting such a thing all alone amidst the wreckage of their comrades. Still...they were both alive and they had driven off the Imperial incursion. He would return to his superiors with an account of a battle hard won against a hated foe. Most likely he would be promoted for this 'victory'. As he thought more about it his spirits began to lift. Perhaps he would be granted command of a company! He grinned evilly as he echoed his companion, "Victory and glory, indeed." Corporal Vespasian was having a good day.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

2008-04-17T15:53:00.001-05:00

Lucius left the Augury chamber in disgust. If the sorcerer was to be believed, his patrol on Shroud was ambushed and destroyed by a loyalist force. Another patrol was getting ready to disembark, but where to send it? Lucius went to the shrine of Astrogation and viewed the massive holographic projection of the Tyrus system. Glowing symbols showed the locations of both friendly and enemy forces. It was already becoming crowded in the outer system. Should he deploy them back to Shroud in order to exact vengeance or send them somewhere else where they might have more reign to capture resources? The Lord Commander made it clear that he would was not to engage the enemy directly until his force had built up to a size befitting a Lord of Chaos; and Lucius desperately hungered for direct engagement.

It was bad enough that Pox, not he, was assigned to lead the vanguard into the system. Now reports were coming in that Pox had only just begun consolidating his hold on the Void World of Hex and the bloated fool was already under siege from two Imperial forces! The loss of materiel due to the invasion was already being felt in the fleet. They were forced to postpone deploying a third cadre. Apparently the Daemon Prince had spent his time conducting rituals for his own benefit rather than building fortifications and deploying skirmishers. If the Lord Commander did not hold Pox in such high favor he certainly would have been "relieved" by now.

As always, anger helped focus Lucius on the task and he decided on a location to send the patrol force. He had a servant deliver the orders to his unit and walked inside the floating image of the system. Approaching the sun so that it hovered before him like a bauble, Lucius stared at the projection of the strange alien device orbiting it. "I will reach this prize first and claim it for Chaos."

Lucius spun around with inhuman grace and walked toward the exit with flourish. He grinned evilly as he left, "And then...we will see who is in favor and who is not."

The battle for Tyrus has begun!

2008-04-14T11:28:00.005-05:00

Forces from all around the galaxy have converged on the obscure Tyrus system. No fewer than 4 Imperial forces have arrived, each with orders to claim the rich resources and artifacts and to stop any other forces doing the same. As happens all too often, strict adherence to orders from the far flung branches of the Imperium Administratus brings loyal troops in conflict with each other. In addition, a contingent of traitorous servants of the Gods of Chaos is also vying for dominion over Tyrus. From the depths of space a Necron Harvest Ship has silently glided into system and even now executes its inscrutable plans.

Thus far, only scouting forces have been sent forth to explore the many moons and asteroids of the outer solar system. Each power present has laid claim to one of the moons. Most have also sent spoiler forces to contest and disrupt the supply lines of their enemies. The only direct conflict occurred on the mist covered Moon of Shroud where a Daemonic incursion was driven off world by vigilant Anger Sharks.

The first two weeks of conflict brings the system to the current state:

The Anger Sharks, successors of the Blood Angels, have earned their dominance of Shroud through battle and are setting up facilities to process the unique chemical resources available there.

The Grey Knights have uncontested control of Borealis and are using the ancient sensor array complex there to assist in navigation throughout the system.

The Necrons, true to form, moved to take the dead world of Ash. What plans they have for the Dark Cathedral on this most ancient of worlds, none can know.

The forces of Chaos moved to take the moon of Hex, with its close ties to the warp. It is said that the Daemon Prince Pox has conducted foul ceremonies there. This has drawn the attention of both the Anger Sharks and the Sisters of Battle - who have both sent skirmish forces to crush this dark heresy.

The Sisters of Battle pacified the volcanic hell of Hephaestus and quickly exploited its many rich resources to field additional expedition forces. A Necron force has invaded to challenge the Sisters' supremacy here.

The mighty Astramalleus Space Marines landed in force in the dense jungles of Phrygia. There they have set up training facilities where unarmored marines fight the many powerful and hostile Xenos life forms. The Grey Knights, sensing the possibility that the Xenos are actually daemons, have sent an Inquisitorial Mission to cleanse Phrygia.

A second expedition from the Astramalleus is currently exploring the asteroids in the Lagrange point of the largest gas giant.

After an initial land grab by all the vying forces, there is little space left that can't be taken without conflict. Events should grow far more violent in the immediate future.

New Campaign to begin April 12th!

2008-04-02T23:06:00.004-05:00

As you've no doubt read in email, the new campaign is getting ready to begin. We'll need to work out a venue for the first meeting, as the Lair and Forge are full that day. With six players, we can happily host on Salem, and get three 4x4 tables going (2 in the game room, and one in the living room). Russell has mentioned the possibility of Ninja Pirate for that day, and we've never been there, but I suppose it's possible if folks don't want to come to Salem.

Also, remember that it's "Take Daniel to Chipotle" night the 12th as well, in honor of his having won the Dalyth Campaign.

UPDATE: "Take Daniel to Chipotle Night" will have to be moved, due to Marcellus' declared absence on the 12th! Perhaps we should do this Sunday the 6th, after Babylon 5!

On conversions

2008-02-15T08:37:00.002-06:00

Here is a bit on how I do these things. It's a little long, so I've linked it, rather than take up the screen here at Adeptus.

Iron Builder: CXI is there!

2008-02-11T00:38:00.000-06:00

Today was the third of the Iron Builder tourneys we've been to at the Lair, and it was pretty fun. We hadn't planned things out this time, so our piece count wasn't nearly what it might have been.

The Hive Queen built gaunts, and had in mind a conversion for her Canoness, but needed to have drilled things out ahead of time-- Zap-a=Gap betrayed her partway through as things fell to pieces without time to get them to stick together.

Larry Prinzivalle was there, building tanks for a demo later, as well as a boatload of Assault Marines, and he took piece count as well as vehicles.

I puttered around with two Piranhas, a Grey Knight Terminator, some old, old Orks, my oldest blister of Eldar Musicians, and a quartet of power armored Grey Knights, and with an hour and a half to go, started piecing together my box of plastic Cadians. With a half hour to go, a mild bit of inspiration struck, and I borrowed a bit from my lovely wife's bit jars for a slightly startled sergeant:

I must also give credit to the Hive Queen for her good advice: rotating Mr. Rippy just slightly counterclockwise, so that he leaps to one side (and the sergeant's eyes are thus right on Mr. Rippy's head). Much better than the crotch-lunge that was originally glued down! With ten minutes to go, my conversion was done.

This makes three out of three that I've won for this category. I never really thought of myself as a custom converter, but are folks interested in hearing about how to do this sort of thing? I'd be happy to write something up if y'all think it would be useful.

Campaign talk

2008-02-05T21:50:00.000-06:00

I have FAILED! Emperor Protect Me!

I did not do the campaign map over the holidays like I said I would. Bad me. I may be joining the Repentia squads later...

So I want to get together with every who wants to be in this next campaign and finally work out the details and get things started.

Dragon's Lair is having an Iron Builder contest on the 10^th. I plan to be there to build and talk and hopefully win...something!

But if you can't make it to that how about the next AA time, Feb. the 24^th?

We can meet at any of the stores, bring pencil and paper, and maybe we can get in a Combat Patrol mission afterwards.

More Painting Pointers

2008-01-30T20:04:00.000-06:00

I realized after a few read throughs, that Atredies article was not about lazy painting, but about working smarter not harder. When one has nine pointers on how to turn out painted forces they aren’t lazy; they’re economical. The thought occurred to me that many of his pointers were the base for which advanced painting techniques come from, so I thought I would share some tips on improving your painting ability.

1. Paint often

If you paint 5 minutes or 5 hours, you must paint everyday. This simple act will improve your skills, even if you are not trying to. Painting on a daily basis will build muscle memory and fine motor skills. I find that when I go without painting it takes me some time to get back into it, so save your self the hassle.

2. Ask

I find that I have learned more from asking others more experienced than me how they accomplish various effects. Painters love telling you how they accomplished a project, so take advantage of this willingness to share.

3. Research

You should always look for new techniques. Thanks to the internet this is a fairly easy task. For example, Micron Pens have made some of my painting tasks easier, and in fact I have become faster painter because of these miraculous pens.

4. Tools

If you are really into painting figures invest in your tools. I used to think that brushes or paints were the same as any other. I must say I was truly mistaken. Cheap hobby paints are substandard when compared to figure paints and artist paints, and brushes are not all created equal. Since I’ve upgraded my brushes and stopped using cheapo paints my work has improved. Please understand by no means are your tools magic “PF Flyers” but they will assist you in the quest for improvement.

5. Cheat

Painting is all about the art of illusion. If you find a shortcut, a rule to break, or technique that gives you a better illusion then do it. By no means are any set of pointers or advice meant to be hard fast rules. This is your hobby, so in the end it is up to you to define how to best approach it.

Apocalypse Formations!

2008-01-24T15:37:00.000-06:00

BoLS has links up to the new Orky Apoc formations at GW, which some of you have been seeing for the past month or so. There are some comments/complaints there to the effect that these formations are not balanced, and I must agree with one caveat (reposting from my comment there):

Apocalypse is definitely not about balance, but about getting together with friends and figuring out how to put together a xbawx-huege game. And since we're encouraged to come up with formations of our own, there's nothing to keep us from making up similar things for non-Green armies.

Here's an example:
=============================================
The Conflagration of Faith (Witch Hunters) 200+models
1 Command Immolator
2+ Immolator Squadrons
0+ Hellhound Squadrons

One Immolator must be designated as Command vehicle, with appropriately grand Sisters of Battle iconography. Other tanks in the formation must be deployed within 12" of the Command Immolator, or if entering from Strategic Reserve, enter from within 12" of the Command Immolator's entry point.

Crackling Faith: Any Immolator or Hellhound in this formation that CAN perform a Tank Shock MUST perform that Tank Shock. Units Shocked by any tank within this formation suffer a cumulative -1 penalty to leadership for every Immolator or Hellhound within 12" after Tank Shock Movement is completed.

Searing Promethium: If the Command Immolator is still on the table, any tank in this formation may also fire its main weapon after Tank Shocking. Units forced to test for fallback by taking casualties suffer a cumulative -1 penalty for every Immlator or Hellhound within 12" when they test.

================================================
Now you try it!

Finished Comission: PH Dark Angel Comander

2008-01-21T16:46:00.000-06:00

Well ladies and gents I have completed a comissioned piece that is now all made of awesome and win. So without further ado, or guilding the lily:

Crosposted at Tactical Rock.

Swarms of Swarmy-ness!

2008-01-20T08:42:00.000-06:00

Well, last night Gordon and played a new concept of 'Nids. I played the ultimate Nid swarms:

Five Warriors as HQ
10 Genestealers
2 Zoes (as synapse)
4 Ripper Swarms
64 Gaunts
64 homogaunts

I fought Gordon's Tau. It was a Recon mission, not the best for me, but oh well.

It didn't go well for me. I lost first turn which is what all Nid players want! I didn't quite get into H2H until the second round, but with units of 32 models each it didn't matter if I got shot up. I was anchored by the synapse creatures and wasn't going anywhere.

I took Zoes as they have the best saves, a good blast trick, and one of the only invulnerable saves in the Nid list. If I took Tyrants, I find that people go out of their way to shoot them first. Sometimes they leave the Zoes alone till they learn about their abilities.

If you up the strength of the gaunts, then they can swarm around to the back of any tank or skimmer and shoot the hell out it! And if that fails, they can then crawl up the tailpipe and try to blow it up. All they need is some lucky rolls, and with 32 shots one would think that at least a couple would come up 6!

What killed the most troops was the pie plates that only the Tau can give. Between the Zoes and gaunts I did manage to take out most of his skimmer's weapons. By turn six he only had one pie plate left. Heh!

In the end, I lost. We played Alpha and he had his Piranhas in my back field, but most of his troops were locked in H2H with my gaunts, with my homogaunts dying off first but locking the Kroot in place. The genestealers of course got shot up quickly and never made it into H2H, well except with drones and who counts them? But they absorb firepower that would have gone to my warriors. All that I had at the end of turn six was one warrior with four gaunts, one zoe with about six gaunts taking on the Tau's HQ. So I had nothing in his deployment zone.

This experiment I think went well even though I knew I lost after the second turn. But we played till the end and since he only had two scoring units in my deployment zone that might have been destroyed with better rolling, I thought I had done pretty good.

Lazy Painting 101

2008-01-13T14:48:00.000-06:00

I am a lazy painter.

There. I said it! I'm not someone who will ever win a Golden Demon. I will never spend days working on one miniature, making sure it's perfect. I will never discuss the merits of one company's paints over another company's paints. I am not the guy that a lot of painting articles are for. I'm not willing or able to put that much time or effort into expertise.

However, I do have a large painted Space Marine army that looks good on a field and that people like to play against. Expert painters will tell me that my miniatures need more work but most people will say that my army is really well painted. Tragically, I find that I often have a much better looking army than a lot of people I have played because more than a few people don't want to paint. Some people don't think their paint jobs will look good compared to other people's work. Some have a lot of minis and are daunted by the idea of painting them all. Some people just don't feel they have any painting skills. These are all people I used to be when I first started.

So, how do you get from this…

…to this?

If you're looking for the tips of the pros, this article won't help you at all. If you want a decent looking army that you're proud to field and that opponents are happy to play, then you might want to read this. I'm going to tell you how I, a lazy painter, do it and maybe it'll help you to get your bare plastic out of the boxes and onto the field faster and prettier. Most importantly, it will hopefully get you playing and give you the desire to be a better painter.

1. Be uniform.

The biggest secret to having a good looking army is making a uniform army. If you have a hodge-podge of miniatures that are all different, they'll look like, well, a hodge-podge of miniatures. If you have a sea of guys in your colors and scheme, it'll look great on a table and people will remember it. Besides, when you're playing, you don't see the minis individually from 6 inches away, you see them in units from arm's length so if they look like they belong together, they'll look good as a whole.

2. Be consistent.

This is a little different than the uniformity point. If you do something a certain way, stick with it. If you paint certain types of weapons a certain style, do it through the entire army. When I have a mini wearing cloth (capes, robes aprons, etc.), I always "paint" the cloth with ink. If you're consistent with how you do the details, it'll make them look that much better and add to that aforementioned uniformity.

3. Basecoat your miniatures in black.

A lot of people will tell you that you should use white so colors will stand out. I read in some GW painting guide that you should use gray. I always use black for several reasons. Firstly, black spray paint is cheap and easy to come by. Second, as you paint, there will be recessed spaces and if they're already dark, it'll save you time and effort. Lastly, if you have black spots on your miniature, they're already black! If you want to use bright colors, then either paint the small area white or, if you’re using something bright all over, heavily drybrush the mini white and you'll still get the color and the recesses will be shadowed.

Personally, I recommend either Krylon or Rustoleum flat black depending on how you plan your painting. If you plan ahead what and when you're going to paint, use Rustoleum. It takes a day to fully dry but you can't overspray without trying and it keeps all your detail. If the mood hits you and you want to paint now, use Krylon. It'll go on alright and it'll be dry and ready in an hour. I usually use Rustoleum because I’ll often basecoat something and forget about it for a few days out on the patio…

4. Learn how to drybrush.

Dry brushing is your best friend. It makes metals look good, it highlights, when done right, it can even give the illusion of lighting. It's wonderful. But there's a little bit of a secret. Your brush HAS TO BE DRY. If you have too much paint, it'll streak on. If you have a damp brush, it'll come out weird. I use newspapers as my paint bed because they're easily replaceable and cheap to acquire (in fact, the big Austin weekly is perfect). When you intend to drybrush, get the smallest little bit of paint on your brush and then wipe your brush off on the paper. Keep doing it until no more paint comes off the brush. THEN do your drybrushing. Just run along the places you want and keep doing it. You'll see how the color starts to appear. Do it until you get the look you want. And remember that drybrushing will eventually mess up whatever brush your using so I use one or two brushes exclusively. Another way is to use a brush for your normal painting until you feel like replacing it and then use that worn brush for drybrushing. It gets you a little more use out of it.

5. Put effort into your first miniature so you can put less into the rest.

The first mini is the hardest one. You have some ideas but until you see the way it actually looks, you don't really know. So spend some time getting that first mini right because it'll be the template you use for the rest of your army. Personally, I suggest you use one of your line troops for that first mini. Once you get that basic guy with his basic scheme, you'll have a better feel for how your uniform army might look. If you have a special guy like a commander or some such, you can embellish and add cool dealies and bobbers, but he's only one mini in a large army.

6. Pick two colors you'll like and stick with them.

If you want to pick 8 colors for your basic scheme, that's great, but trust me, the more complicated you make the basic scheme, the busier and messier it looks. Sure, you may want to use other colors for detail and other things, but 2 basic colors are easy to paint and look neat. For my army, I use blue and black. Sure, I use Boltgun Metal for guns and other colors for pads for various reasons, but when my army is on the field, it's a blue and black swarm and that's what people see when they face me (see #1).

7. Assembly line painting is awesome!

If you have a first mini for a template and a basic easily paintable scheme, there's no reason why you can't get a ton of paining done! Line up 5 troops and make an assembly line. Paint all the arms then paint all the legs then the torsos, weapons, details, whatever needs to be done. With a simple scheme, you can easily do five in an hour. Sit down in front of the TV and by the time your drama is over, you'll have more guys done.

8. Don't hesitate to break a rule if you like the end result.

Sure, my Marines are blue and black, but my Terminators are orange with blue highlights. Most of my Marines are made along certain basic lines, but my Veteran and Command squads are all a mish-mash of weapons and styles. I paint all my special and heavy weapons the same ways except for bolters. Sometimes they have blue casings, sometimes they're all Boltgun metal. I like the way they look and that's what matters most. As long as you're happy with what you do, that's what matters most.

9. JUST PAINT.

Even if you only paint one mini a night, keep painting. Think about it. If you paint one mini a night, in a year you'll have 365 of them done. That's three and a half Companies! The more you get done, the more complete and filled out your army will look. The more you have done, the more you'll want to get done. It always seems daunting, but once you have one squad, you'll want to do another. Once you have a bunch of troops, you'll want to do an HQ to lead them and some heavy weapons and assault squads to support them. Soon, you'll want to give them some transports and tanks to move them all around and then you'll actually look forward to painting more. And once you have a lot of stuff painted, you'll want to play more which will make you want to paint more and so on.

Hopefully, these pointers will be helpful to you. Next week, I'm going to do something for those folk who are more visual in nature. I'm going to use all these ideas and go through a paint job from scratch so you can see how some of these ideas work for me. Until then, happy painting!

Escalation Misery

2008-01-12T22:17:00.000-06:00

Well, the third session of the Dragon's Lair Escalation League was held today, and I think I can say I've never had a more wretched experience playing in my life. Possibly a game I played in 2nd edition against Orks and Gretchin who all hid in a building, and whose player insisted that I couldn't see any of them, couldn't target any of them, and had to walk across an open plain so he could shoot me-- at which point I realized this game was going to suck, packed up my models and put them back in the car. That game might have been less fun than this one.

Today, every table had loopy "special terrain" rules on it, such as "acid rain does hits to everything every turn" or "rockslides hit random board edges each turn" or similar wacky shit. Ours was, oh, yes, monsters are in every bit of terrain that count as cover, roll 2d6 every time you start in cover or enter it. On a 7 or doubles, a monster eats one of your models. Boy, was that fucking fair! I mean, given that my army uses cover and none of my opponents do. Yes, opponentS plural, because I got teamed up two on two.

Never. Fucking. Again.

One of our opponents was a good player indeed, and earned his victory points. As for the other, I think Poney and I deserve half of the VP he got, because WE HAD TO PLAY HIS FRIGGING ARMY FOR HIM. And he didn't bring any templates. Or scatter dice. Or know what his special rules were. Or what equipment his Lord was carrying, or what its stats were. Or what BS4 means.

You begin to get the idea.

Oh. And he was fielding Necrons. With a Monolith in a 1000 point army.

Yeah.

I'll have to think over whether to continue this league, because frankly, I'm sick of the teamups, in which you can't win or lose on your own, and the wonky added rules. And frankly, I'd rather kill myself than play Master Monolith again.

It was a miserable, painful, tedious waste of a Saturday. At least it wasn't raining.

On The Death of Heroes

2008-01-11T18:01:00.000-06:00

This will be a small departure that has a point. On January 10, 2008, Sir Edmund Hillary died. He was a hero of mine, so in memory of this great explorer I present my favorite quote that was attributed to him when he failed to reach the summit of Everest in 1951. He said, “You defeated me! But you won’t defeat me again! Because you have grown all you can grow… but I am still growing.”

The point: Don’t let defeat be the end. So many times we face defeat, or loss, and we give it permission to win. From defeat we assume the position that we are unable, or that we will never win. Defeat is a better counselor than victory. That is because victory is the result of successful learning, and that you have applied the lessons that have been presented to you. Defeat means that something or someone has presented a lesson that we either haven’t learned or that we are wrestling with. Defeat is also the wonderful reminder that we are human.

So tonight let us raise a drink to a man that showed us defeat will enable us to find victory!

Cross posted at Tactical Rock

Mines of Moria scenarios, part one

2008-01-10T00:22:00.000-06:00

The Hive Queen and I tried out the first couple of scenarios in the Mines of Moria boxed set, which is an intro game for Lord of the Rings. This has some things in common with most other Games Workshop games, and a few things that differ. So far, it seems fun.

The first difference is in the turn sequence. 40K and Fantasy players are familiar with the "I go/ You go" system, in which the first player moves, shoots, fights, and then the second player moves, shoots, and fights. For LOTR, the player with "priority" (in most scenarios, this is the Good player) moves, then the second player moves; the "priority" player shoots, then the second player shoots; the "priority" player picks a fight to resolve, and so on. Finally, there is a roll-off for priority, which goes to the high roll, or switches hands in case of a tie.

The alternating phases can bring some surprises for 40K and Fantasy players, as the player with "priority" may move to line up shots, only to have the second player move to spoil them and line up shots of his own. Shooting is done similarly to most GW styles (and again, Hive Queen had some frustration as it was familiar to her to move, then start shooting only to be told, "nice shot, but it's not your turn to shoot yet!"), while rolling to wound and making armor saves have been combined into a single roll, with Toughness and Armor becoming a single stat called Defense.
The old GW rolls of 7, 8, and 9 are back, as weak creatures may need a 6, followed by a 4+ or higher, to wound particularly tough or well-armored opponents. Also, bows are not particularly Strong, so that they rarely seem to wound, which can be frustrating: our first match ended with the Fellowship standing at point blank range from a goblin, with Aragorn and the goblin shooting at each other, each maniacally praying to both Hit and Wound. By the end of it, they must have been picking up each other's spent arrows to shoot back at each other.

In the boxed scenarios, one cannot shoot at a target unless it is a clean shot, unobstructed by any other model or terrain-- this also led to real frustration for the Hive Queen, as I'd make sure to keep those four bunched-up goblins from all being able to shoot at their choice targets. In the full game, this is less of a problem, as you can shoot past obstacles (or friendly models, if you're Evil), and just have to make a 4+ roll to pass each obstacle.

Scenario one requires the entire Fellowship to cross the board and exit through the door at the far end (conveniently, the size of the battlefield for the boxed scenarios is the size of the inside of the game's box lid, so if you've got the mins and terrain in the box, you have a travel set). Evil wins if it can kill any of the Fellowship. Since the non-hobbits all have more than one Wound each, and since only Legolas and Aragorn get to shoot in this scenario, it's sensible to shepherd the little guys along behind the cover of the big'uns. Good won in both trials, but we may go back to this one with the full rules once we know the game better.

The second scenario puts Aragorn in the middle of the board, an oblong room with pillars down the middle, needing to exit alive through the door in the middle of the far wall. Eight goblins are split between each end of the field, and win if they can kill Aragorn. This one ended quickly, when Aragorn moved out of cover and was charged first by two goblins, then by all the rest.

Fighting in LOTR is done by first moving into base to base with an opponent, who may no longer move once contacted. He can't shoot, either. Attackers on each side roll dice equal to the number of Attacks they have (in the first round, 3 for Aragorn, and 2 for the 2 goblins). Roll those dice, and the side that rolls the highest die wins. If there's a tie, compare the Fight statistic to break the tie. The loser is knocked back 1" or 2cm, and the winners score their full number of Attacks against him, rolling their Strength vs their victim's Defense. Aragorn luckily avoided being wounded in the first round, but Evil got priority in the second turn, and moved first, surrounding him completely, or Trapping him (a Very Bad Thing Indeed).

Remember that the loser gets knocked back (a rule you'll find all the way back in Rogue Trader, btw). Well if he's surrounded or can't move back, then he is Trapped and takes double the nromal number of hits. So in the second turn, there was poor little Strider, taking 12 Strength 3 hits, that needed 5+ to wound, and while the six goblins had to move back themselves (because this 1cm gap always has to be established at the end of combat), there was no way for him to move past them to get clear in his next move phase even if he did survive. Down went Strider, and we called it a night.

In the full game, Aragorn could have used his Might to adjust his dice (making him more likely to win combats and to Wound), and to call for Heroic Actions, moving out of sequence, Fighting more than one combat in a turn, using the Flame of the West to Wound more easily, etc. In the boxed set, this second scenario seems to be there to hammer home that wandering off on your own on the battlefield is suicide.

We'll let you know how the next scenarios play out in the next installment.

Thunderbolt WIP

2008-01-03T20:56:00.000-06:00

I was so excited about completeing the air frame of my Thunderbolt that I had to get these Pics up. The template I used was from Table Top War. These templates were more for paper, but with creativity and Evergreen Sheet Styrene I turned out the basic frame for my Thunderbolt. The materials ran about $10, which will allow me to do more than one project. (Before anyone extols the virtues of "For Sale" signs at The Home Depot; all I will say is that The Home Depot doesn't provide any helpful hints on scratch building models like the local train/ model shop.)

This is stage one. I still have gap filling, body work, and weapon systems to do. Overall I am happy with how this turned out since this is my second scratch built vehicle that I have ever done. Here are some more pics I hope you enjoy.

Crossposted at: The Tactical Rock.

CXI kicks butt at Ironbuilder III!

2007-12-29T21:47:00.000-06:00

Poney took biggest piece count (640, to Gordon's 519 and Cargill's 319), while Gordon took best conversion. Pictures of Headtaker are coming up-- he incorporates Rogue Trader Marine Legs, a Skaven Tail, and loads of Marine and Berzerker bits from various eras in GW history.

These can be seen a little bigger at my photobucket

(I wanted him armed with a plasma pistol, and wanted him to be WYSIWYG. On the other hand, I wanted him to be busy taking skulls, since Aspiring Champions of Khorne are called "Skull Champions." Thus Headtaker's pistol came to be in his third hand, at the end of a tentacle growing out of his forehead. And now you know the rest of the story... /paul.harvey )

It definitely helped that Thursday and Friday were devoted to clipping and cleaning pieces, putting bits into labelled pill-bottles for quicker assembly-- nothing was glued, of course, but everything was readied, and the conversion planned out.

Cargill, with whom Marcellus split prizes at the last Ironbuilder took the prize for most vehicles (with a Linebreaker Squadron, a Baal Predator, and a Suppression Force featuring Sammael's Flying Land Raider).

The game, which Poney skipped, went to Cargill after six grueling turns of his forces vs. Gordon's Witch Hunter Inquisitor Lord w/ retinue, 12 berzerkers, 21 Kroot, 8 Fire Warriors with Marker Drone, 3 Stealth Suits with a Fusion Blaster (Meltagun), a small squadron of Gun Drones, and a fusion Blaster-armed Piranha. A solid victory to him, not a crushing one, and not a slaughter-- the MVP award goes to Buzzy the Gun Drone, who made Sammael cry and run away at top speed in turn 2 (Buzzy and his partner Dizzy left the Piranha in Turn 1, and the Piranha Shook Sammael's Crew, whereupon Sam ran 24" straight away to the far corner of the table)! In turn 6, Buzzy was still around, having made several armor saves and having spent the game plinking at rear and side armors of various tanks, finally emptying his Twin Linked Pulse Carbines into the rear of the Flying Land Raider, whose Crew the Inquisitor Lord's Inferno Pistol had already managed to Stun.

If all were as it should be, Buzzy really ought to have asploded the Flying Land Raider, but, alas, it was not to be. Nevertheless, his cache has been carefully downloaded to Fire Caste Central Command, to serve as a template for the next generation of Drone AI. His statue will stand somewhere, surely!

Merry Christmas from the Sisters!

2007-12-25T09:50:00.000-06:00

We're here to Save the trees!

A Merry Christmas, all

2007-12-25T01:47:00.000-06:00

As well as any other holidays you have recently celebrated... we're building the new shelves and moving the minis, and will be playing more over the holidays.

Poney and I have gotten a few games of Monsters Menace America (Avalon Hill) in, and it's pretty fun. Email us if you want to do boardgaming or tabletopping this week, as we're pretty available.

Aaron, if you've gotten those Necrons painted, how'd ya like to put 'em on the table and get some games in with 'em?

Well, to all a good night, and a wonderful Christmas morning to you.

Hundreds of them, Thousands of them...

2007-12-19T18:47:00.000-06:00

Gaunts!!!

I got my endless swarm today!

Now to put them all together, paint them, and put them into broods!

Oh yeah, it's gonna be fun!

Heh.

Dalyth Apocalypse Terrain Note!

2007-12-14T10:58:00.000-06:00

Atreides has reminded me that as the Bridge to Gelbryn is a Vital Objective for both sides, it makes sense to lay down one small restriction in this scenario.

Neither side can afford to destroy this bridge. The Imperium cannot take immediate advantage of victory if it is destroyed; the Tau cannot press their foes back without it in place.

For that reason, weapons with the Ordnance special rule may not target the bridge itself or any units on the bridge. To be clear, "the bridge" refers to the foam-core span and ramps in this game. Single-shot weapons of high strength are fine (Lascannons, Railguns). Pie-plates without Ordnance rules are also fine (Hammerhead Submunitions, for example). Targetting models that are not on the span or ramp themselves although their fellow unit members are is fine.

Feel free to email with questions!
(note: no, objections are not questions)
See you Sunday!

Five days to Dalyth Apocalypse!

2007-12-12T21:16:00.000-06:00

Just a reminder to players to have your 2500/2750 point lists ready-- note that Apocalypse battles do not use a Force Organization Chart, so feel free to use any choices from your lists. I've printed out the FAQs from Codices: Space Marines, Witch Hunters, and Tau Empire. :-) There isn't a FAQ for Chaos Space Marines or Orks. :-(

Marcellus and we each have a set of templates, so that's covered, and Marcellus is bringing tons of terrain. The store opens at noon on Sundays, so please be there ready to set up and play. We can order pizza at the shop, and I suggest picking up some for Abe as well, to thank him for staying open for us.

We have a date and a place for Apocalypse.

2007-12-02T18:48:00.000-06:00

December 16th, 2007, at Battleforge Games. Be there at opening to get ready to throw down for the climax of the Dalyth campaign, as Chaos, Tau, and Orks take on the Imperium. We'll have at least until 6 PM, and may persuade Abe to stay open until 8 PM for us to play (so expect the "Time Limit" to be either 5 or 7). Marcellus left the bridge with us, so I can cut out a solid foundation for it (so that models can be placed on it confidently), and with luck it can even be clamped in place.

We'll have an approximately 6 by 6 foot table, joined by a bridge to another 6 by 6 foot table, with a 2 foot gap representing the river outside the city of Gelbryn. The energy coils normally charged by the river flow have been backcharged, making the river impassable terrain. This means that while fast skimmers can Turbo Boost over the river itself, only the bridge is safe for foot or surface travel, which makes the bridge center a Vital Objective (worth 2) for both sides. To put it even more bluntly, you cannot end movement over the river. There, boom, done.

Lot of good discussion today at Battleforge on a map campaign that Marcellus wants to run. Proposals included specific terrain effects, use of the Dawn of War: Dark Crusade map, rules for leveled experience, and revisions to the BGB experience rules for this upcoming campaign. Be sure to give input! (the world is run by those who show up, and those who speak up)

Update: Check your emails for Daniel's drafts of revised Experience and Points escalation systems.

Dalyth Apocalypse Planning

2007-11-29T17:58:00.000-06:00

I've asked Kirk if we can have the game room at the Lair for Sunday 12/16/07. We'll get a yea or nay on Saturday when we see him for the CP Tourney.

combat patrol tourney this Saturday!

2007-11-28T05:58:00.000-06:00

The Lair will be hosting a 500 point Combat Patrol tourney this Saturday, December 1st. We're planning on going to do a little playification, and hope to see folks there!

Sunday, we can hammer down the last of the planning for the Dalyth Prime Apocalypse battle, set for the 16th of December. We'll check with Kirk to see if the Lair is available as a venue the very next time we see him-- Saturday at the latest, but likely sooner, if the moonlighting checks arrive today. If y'all see him before then, would you ask as well?

Apocalypse Extinction... and CXI is there!

2007-11-24T17:39:00.000-06:00

Kirk at Dragon's Lair put on an Apocalypse Event today, and we had some old and some new faces, and a lot of fun. Mike, Poney, and Gordon brought 3,000 points each, Ray (of double blind Space Hulk fame) brought three ForgeWorld/Armorcast Titans, and Cameron and Kevin brought Eldar and DA Successors, respectively.

So, it lined up as Imperium vs. Commie-Mutant-Traitors, and was off to a good start. The Commie-Mutant-Traitors won the Deploy bid at 3 minutes, and did our best to box the Imperials in a bit. The Imperials did their best to teach us the joys of Destroyer Weapon goodness. Since I wanted to field painted troops only (although I was too much of a weedy wet to get all 3000 points fully painted, based, and sealed), I decided to field Chaos rather than Tau, and so got to play with the new Codex a bit. It's certainly powerful, no argument there, but I'm still not sure how I feel about it-- I went for oldstyle hardcore forces, with my only deliberate cheesiness being two pairs of Obliterators.

We got through three turns before the timer went off, and left it there. A fun game, all in all, and a variation on "normal" 40K that I would definitely play again with good friends.

Kudos to Kirk for building a nice table with good terrain, and to opening up the event to an alternate prize scheme: either a smaller prize for every participant, or winning side takes all. As we chose it, everyone walked away with something nice-- thanks again, Kirk, for arranging a fun event!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of CXI

2007-11-23T12:44:00.000-06:00

...and to ~~all~~ both you guests and lurkers out there! We're still waiting for moonlighting checks to arrive (they'll come today, they'll come today, they'll come today... ) and otherwise enjoying the time off-- and the best martial arts movie Bruce Lee didn't get to make, "Circle of Iron." Okay, maybe "best" is a bit of a misnomer...

...anyway, look forward to seeing some of you folks at the Apocalypse Extinction Tourney tomorrow. I'll be bringing Chaos (less painting needed to reach 3,000 painted points!). Have a happy!

A Good Campaign!

2007-11-19T17:34:00.000-06:00

This last campaign went really well, Thank you Gordon! They were fun scenarios, fairly balanced and the bonuses from the small games were not game-winners, but added to the play.

Here’s what I’ve learned or not learned from playing my Sisters:

What I’ve learned:

1) Take as many Celestines and Seraphim as possible.
2) Tanks are fun, but become immobile/die quickly.
3) A Canoness or Palatine is good people to have.
4) I hate priests.
5) I can paint my troops in less than a day and that I am a good painter!
6) The “Rapid Fire” rules.
7) How to allocate wounds better.
8) Giving everyone who can have a power weapon, a power weapon, no matter the cost.
9) How to move my flamer and “special weapons” into range.
10) Patience. Don’t try to do everything on turn one.
11) Always remember the objective.

What I haven’t learned:

1) How to use the Inquisitor Lord and retinue effectively.
2) How to get the Sisters into “Kick-ass” shooting range without getting charged next turn.
3) Combining the firepower of my troops.
4) Not to whine so much when my favorite squad gets killed off/runs away.
5) How to use my “Acts of Faith”.
6) Every little single detail that every little person on the list can do. (Give me ‘Nids, one size fits all!)
7) Being pro-active instead of being reactive.

So there are things to be learned, but I know that I am improving.

Thanks to all my opponents for their support!

Dalyth Prime Final Rankings!

2007-11-18T18:05:00.000-06:00

Today, the last battles were fought for the Dalyth Prime campaign, our second campaign so far and the first custom-written one. Thanks to the players for getting through all five rounds with no forfeits (hey, not even the BoLS PreHeresy campaign can make that claim)!

Here are the standings:
1. Daniel (74)
2. Mike (60 VP)
3. Aaron (59 VP)
4. Marcellus (43 VP)
5. Gordon (38 VP)
6. Poney (26)

Reminder for the Apocalypse Battle coming up in December, Daniel, Aaron, and Gordon get a free Battle Honor for a single surviving unit! My Broadsides rolled a... 6! Rapid Deployment! The only one that does absolutely nothing for an Apocalypse game!

Also, the field now opens for the next campaign. Who's interested in putting one together? Who's playing? What's the story? And stuff!

Playing Russell's Blood Angels!

2007-11-18T05:50:00.000-06:00

I got to play an enjoyable game last night with my old friend Russell, whom Marcellus also knows, and whom Daniel has played before too. Take and Hold, 2K points. Lots of Assaulty Marines backed up by a pair of Baal Predators and a Vindicator; Death Company with Chaplain and Flying Librarian accompanying some of the Assaulters.

I hope we'll see more of Russell and his Storm Troopers playing with CXI, and I'll be interested to see how his army develops!

Round Five Battle Links

2007-11-15T15:42:00.000-06:00

For round five, Aaron and Marcellus battle it out.

Poney's Sisters attack the Tau.

Chaos attacks the Orks.

Round Five Summaries coming!

2007-11-12T20:44:00.000-06:00

I'm going to be cooped up for the BP study tomorrow, and not getting out till Wednesday afternoon. I should probably have summaries up for late Wednesday evening.

I'll bring copies Sunday as usual, for the beginning of round 5!

Reminder about Round 4 small games: Marcellus has a KT-assassination mission attacking vs Aaron, Mike has a 500 pt Recon mission (BGB, 83) attacking Daniel, and Gordon has a KT-sabotage attacking Poney's Sisters to complete by Saturday.

Work In Progress

2007-11-11T00:51:00.001-06:00

Foamcore sheet: $2.75
Glue: $1.00
Generic slimfast cans: $4.50 for half dozen
Scratchbuilding your own Thunderhawk Gunship?

Priceless.

Dragon's Lair 40K Escalation League begins!

2007-11-10T23:15:00.001-06:00

The Hive Queen and I went down to the Lair for this, with 500 points of Combat Patrolliness that included one mandatory HQ and one mandatory Troop, no ordnance, no 2+ saves, no more than 2 wounds in a model. And yes, my models all had colors, in fact, I made sure all my Shas'la and Shas'ui were in full Scorpion Green armor. Poney likewise did a bang-up job of having her Immolator ready and her sisters in nice basic paints!

Poney ran a variation on the sisters force she tried out at the Forge last week; I ran a variation on the Tau force that had opposed it.

I got to play the event organizer for a nice, solid win-- he ran DA successors, a chaplain with command squad of bolter jockeys, two 5 man tacs in two HB razorbacks. Extra Armor on one razorback was the sole upgrade. He had a good army, with good tactics, and his dice hated his guts today. I lost my Stealth Suits to the greater good; my MVPs were a sextet of Fire Caste Warriors in the rocks who were charged by five, then four, tac marines, and over two close combat phases killed them all with no losses. Let me say that again: killed them all with no losses. Sweet Leaping Jeebus.

Poney had to team up with a BA player versus footy Eldar and Larry Prinzivalle's marines (props to Larry here-- he was subbing in for a guy who was turned away because he hadn't bothered to put two colors on his models. Speaking of which, props to Mr. Dragonforce the organizer for turning the fellow away. Not easy or fun to do, but he made his league rules stick). I think she would have preferred to win or lose her own fight, especially since her partner had some odd ideas about what he could or couldn't do (read, he never fired a pistol shot, because he was fielding a chaplain with death company and assault marines with pistols, and thought he couldn't fight or assault if he fired). The table, bar Poney, also was exceedingly off on ICs fighting in Close Combat, too. How hard is it to read the rules, and then understand that an IC counts as though it were a separate unit? Apparently, VERY. Oh well.

Old Timer Heath showed up (he's been away helping his wife open a vet clinic, and the like, but was Jonesing to play), and would have done a little better (read: his Stealers would have gotten into assault) had he rechecked the stats (bolters are AP5, not AP4, Scuttlers/Scouts can always use their ability independent of scenario, etc). A few other old faces were there, even another Tau force (with KROOT!) in Sacea urban armor.

Next event is in two weeks, and forces are bumped up by 250 points, still holding to the same Combat Patrolly structure (we shift to the normal force org chart at 1000).

Good times, yo.

Requesting feedback

2007-11-08T20:13:00.000-06:00

I have written some basic ground rules for tournaments they are posted here. Please let me know what you think.

When is GW going to realease new FAQs?

2007-11-07T19:02:00.000-06:00

So I posed a request to the High Lords of GW about a few weeks back on the Kommando board. I requested that us mild mannered gammers in Austin want GW to produce all new FAQ's. This is the response that was received today from Chris Gohlinghorst, the GW guy in charge of the Kommando Program:

I posed this question to Jeremy Vetock this weekend at the BaltimoreGT (he's the head of the games dev team at the Global Studios). Allesio is in charge of the FAQ process and, as we speak, is now beginning the whole FAQ project (he just wrapped up work on a rather huge project, so I'm told he can now focus on the FAQs).
I'd be surprised if we see anything before summer given the scope of the task at hand, but it's nice to hear first hand that they know theFAQs needs updating and, in fact, have a hard-core rules heads now taking care of it.

Well there it is. At least we have a possible projected time frame. I'm now curious what that "rather huge project" is all about?

Pictures from Kill Team action last Thursday

2007-11-06T21:36:00.000-06:00

Transmission: Astramalleus Command

2007-11-06T18:03:00.000-06:00

From: Norran Victos, Commander 4th Company Occupation Detachment
To: Leviah Milham, Commander Dalyth Expeditionary Force

The Forces of Chaos are aggressive, but not strong enough to stand up to the Sons of Guilleman, we bearers of the Emperor's Wrath.

We received your transmission on the equipment left for us at grid 7-gamma-53. I prepared a party to retrieve it and found a Chaos force approaching the same position. Perhaps one of their foul Sorcerers divined our presence or the materiel. I prepared our forces to face them.

Not having demonstrable superiority in forces, I chose to use a weakness against them: their pride. I believed that their fixation on fighting and combat would buy us the time to retrieve the equipment and I was correct. 6th Tactical rushed into the center to engage the enemy's heavy weapons troops in a center rock formation and held 2 squads at bay while 8th Devastator provided support fire. Chaos Terminators and more heavy weapons appeared but were dispatched by Devastator fire and the arrival of our own Terminators. Their leader was formidable, downing both 4th Tactical and Dreadnought Brother Onfidik but as he/it reveled in the battle, 2nd Tactical gathered the materiel and when it had been collected, we broke off the engagement and left them empty handed.

Once again, I must offer 6th Tactical up for honor. Their holding of the center managed to both weaken the Chaos force severely and bring my strategy to fruition.

We stopped them here, but this demonstrates to me that they have a strong enough presence to patrol in force and mount sorties from their main position. And if they can send such a Champion that can fell a squad and a Dreadnought single-handedly on a mission of this nature, they must either have significant force or be incredibly desperate and while the latter is preferred, neither is a good prospect.

Once again, I request reinforcements, but if you have been able to only offer these weapons and equipment to aid us, there must be greater things afoot. I hope that when I see you again, my old friend, you will be well.

Sir, we have been at this for weeks. There is barely a man who has not been wounded. Apothecary Talban is working at a feverish rate. Indeed, he has proved the most valuable man in this campaign. My own wounds are grievous, but nothing compared to some that our men have faced. And yet we would do it again for as long as is required to fulfill our duties to the Chapter and to the Emperor.

Hail to the Emperor and the Grand Satrap,

Norran Victos
In Command
4th Company Occupation Detachment

We are the mailed fist of the Emperor.

Tyranids Monsterous Creatures

2007-11-04T08:53:00.000-06:00

Many of us were talking about the stats for my resin Nid creatures that I have but have never used.

We started talking about getting the stats and remembered that "White Dwarf" once did a Chapters Approve article about them.

Well, this morning I found that article, WD #254 March.

I'll be looking at that article for use for Apoc! Then we can post those stats here once done!

Just keeping everybody up to date!

Aun'el Dalyth Rakithia, to the loyal Shas of Gel'bryn Fourth Security Cadre:

2007-11-04T00:03:00.000-05:00

Courage!

Your Shas'O is recovering from wounds taken in service to Dalyth Prime, and will be returning to you, as you will be inspired to hear. I was most heartened by your performance in the recent engagement with the Orkoid visitors who mistakenly landed near Gel'bryn. Thanks to our vision, the policy of reduction in Orkoid numbers is proving successful, and will soon result in the departure of survivors for other worlds, more suited to our Greater Good.

In continuation of this policy, you will be preserving the security of the Aun Hall of Wise Concord on the outskirts of Gel'Bryn itself, in preparation for a parley with the Gue'la known as the Scarlet Crania. I know that you will rise above even your normal efficiency and prowess in such proximity to our example.

Remember, your sacrifices make this world safer, every day. Every duty you perform benefits millions whom you will never meet, but whose destinies we are blessed to cherish. We give you our thanks.

Memorials for those who have served us to the utmost will be held at rotaa 12, dec 3.

Courage!

Aun'el Dalyth Rakithia

Personal IM from the Lady Jeremina

2007-11-03T09:07:00.000-05:00

...imagine our surprise when we found out who we were fighting! Were we embarrassed! Here we were thinking that we finally caught up to that Chaos squad only to find some old Space Marines taking a stroll through the city!

Well of course when we found them getting ready to attack us, we attacked them. It's only natural! It wasn't any one's fault really! It just happened! If it wasn't for those few stormtroopers fighting their way into the Marines HQ, we might not have been able to stop the Marines from rampaging everywhere!

Well, we're going to continue to search for those heretics in that city. We're sure to catch up to them soon!

and yes, post pix of your wedding! Say "hi" to the Emperor's Children! HA!HA!(Just kidding! Your kids aren't that bad...) :-)

Love, LJ.

**********

For the Battle Honors that my Stormtroopers won, is called "Natural Survivors". Fits them well, don't you think? The Council witnessed my roll.

Round Four, Battle Three

2007-11-02T09:02:00.001-05:00

Here is Poney and Aaron's battle for Round Four. Poney, be sure you've chosen your Battle Honor for the Inquisitorial Storm Troopers!

Round Four, Battle Two

2007-11-02T08:59:00.001-05:00

Here is the mission for Mike and Gordon for Round Four.
RESULTS (11 PM Saturday 11/3/07): Victory for the Orks, after an all-important Leadership test on the pivotal Nob unit right at board edge, to either fall back toward board center due to shooting casualties (failing to get off the board and win) or press forward off the board (and win). Good game, well played.

Round Four, Battle One

2007-11-02T08:20:00.000-05:00

This is the mission for Marcellus and Daniel in Round Four of the Dalyth Prime campaign. Marcellus, be sure you've chosen your battle honor from the last big game, and please announce it to us!

Shas'ui Kethran, special combined reconnaissance force, to Aun'el Dalyth Rakithia

2007-11-02T01:39:00.000-05:00

Excellence,

We have completed our tour of the area you identified for us, and have indeed found signs of Orkoid infestation. Attached, please find our scans of terrain and distribution of Orkoid life-signs, along with thermal and ore scans of the primitive machines these latest invaders are operating.

With rapid response, there seems a chance of Containment of their violence, and perhaps a redirection of their energies towards those who are already providing such disharmony. Our Kroot associates are eager for "another go" and several kinbands began impromptu celebrations upon our report back to base.

We await further orders, and look forward to serving our new Shas'O, whoever that might be.

Living to serve your vision,

Kethran Dalyth,
Shas'ui, Special Combined Reconnaissance Force.

Transmission: Astramalleus Command

2007-10-30T23:52:00.000-05:00

From: Norran Victos, Commander 4th Company Occupation Detachment

To: Leviah Milham, Commander Dalyth Expeditionary Force

We have met the enemy and they are us. By "us" I mean Imperial servants.

We moved to occupy an abandoned settlement near the main southern ridge during a night maneuver, hoping to catch the Tau and Orks in the area unaware. We met enemy fire and proceeded to counter the force projected. We were quickly able to reach their command center and parley with their leaders though I have been told by the rear guard that a pair of messengers from their side managed to reach us at our Command Center at around the same time. Special mention has been earned by 6th Tactical. 6th Tac managed to quickly and efficiently subdue one of the opposing squads, enter their Command Center and hold it against multiple onslaughts by the Crimson Skull leader St. Celestine. Actions such as this do great honor to us all.

It is a terrible thing indeed when loyal servants of the Emperor fight. He smiled upon none of our endeavors on the field and a bloodier fight I have never seen. By the time the mistake was known and sorted out, many of the loyal on both sides were downed. Once the truth was revealed, both sides moved quickly to aid the recuperation of the other. Of course, had the Crimson Skull notified us of their presence, this could have been avoided in the first place. But this is the least of our worries.

I have been informed by the Cannoness of the Crimson Skulls that they are here on the trail of a demon leading a Chaos band. We have, of course, volunteered to help them. They have given us the location of the Chaos force and we intend to strike it at the next opportunity. I pray that Librarian Nostradh is able to join the battle. His abilities would be invaluable. However, I do not doubt that his current incapacitation is due to the Chaos presence in the area.

The situation here has grown more out of control with each passing day. Where are the reinforcements? I can only assume that some difficulty has befallen Command. There have been no communications from you in weeks. With the current situation, I cannot return to try to render aid lest all we have fought for here fall apart. I will continue sending reports and hope that you are listening. Emperor be with you in whatever situation you now face and Emperor be with us when we strike the scions of the foul Betrayer.

Hail to the Emperor and the Grand Satrap,

Norran Victos
In Command
4th Company Occupation Detachment

Words can deepen faith but actions strengthen it.

Tourney Talk

2007-10-30T18:42:00.000-05:00

I begin this with an apology to every opponent I have ever played in a tournament where I dragged my feet and not allowed the game to complete all rounds of play. Mind you I have usually lost those games anyway, but I am now severely cognizant of the annoyance that this can cause. Now that has been said I will say that the preceding informs the rest of my Saturday tourney experience.

Round 1
Dark Angels vs. Dark Angels
Result: Massacred
Mission: Fire Sweep
Lesson Learned: Pay Attention
Game Time: 40 minutes for 5 complete rounds (I threw the towel in.)

I played against my good friend Frank. I started out real strong with my Preliminary Bombardment affecting 3 units. On turn one I punished his units with withering fire, and I was well on my way to a victory. Right up until the turn 3 assault where I had a complete lapse of reason and reacted to my opponent instead of responded. Failure to dog-pile his assault unit and poor casualty pulls completely cost me the game.

Round 2
Dark Angels vs. Necrons
Result: Draw
Mission: Urban Assault
Lesson Learned: Dragging your feet is annoying to your opponent
Game Time: 60 minutes 3 complete rounds played

This time I played against an opponent that I have never played before. His name was Joe and, from the looks of it he was freshly getting into the hobby. He fielded 2 Necron warrior squads, 1 Destroyer Squad, a Tomb Spider, a Monolith, and as always a Necron Lord with the ever popular Orb. His turn 1 took him 20 minutes to do and all he did was wound a marine. On Turn 1 I popped his Monolith, wiped out his Destroyers, and put a wound on the Tomb Spider. (All in less than 5 minutes.)

His turn 2 he charged a 5 man Tactical squad with a Tomb Spider and two scarab swarms, killed two marines, but I put two wounds on him also. His shooting once again managed to do squat. My Turn 2 I brought his squad within the target building down to below half with shooting (they would recover to just above half at the start of his turn.) I was able to assault the Tomb Spider with my master and the squad that the master was in. This time the Scarab swarms were evaporated with a power fist and the master’s power sword.

On his turn 3 he charges the center of the board with his under-strength warrior squad. I make short work of the tomb spider but now am locked with the warriors because they passed their morale check. My turn comes around and it is announced, “Finish the turn you are on.” I shake my head then wipe out the warrior squad in Melee and then consolidate into the target building. Thus I forced the draw.

One more turn I would have charged him, he would have phased out, and I would have had a Victorious Slaughter. The morale here is: Please, be considerate to your opponent and don’t drag your feet.

Round 3
Dark Angels vs. Tyranids
Result: Minor Loss
Mission: Urban???
Lesson Learned: Dragging your feet is annoying to your opponent
Game Time: 60 minutes 3 complete rounds played

I have played bugs countless times I’m not going to rehash this fight because like all bug fights I was charged on turn 1 and had no hope of reaching my objective in his deployment zone by end game. Every round was like pulling teeth because every time I measured range to something or placed a pie plate down he insisted to look at it himself. Normally this would not be a problem, but he took his damn sweet time lining things up and contesting every shot. In the end after spending a minute or two he would agree that what I said was actually what happened. I would file this under the fine art of chewing up your opponent’s time to hide the fact that you are actually the one wasting time.

In the end it was ruled because he had a scoring unit in my building (even though I had three scoring units engaged in melee with them) and I had none in his that it was a minor win for the bugs. (FYI where I come from that is a draw.) This caused me to tie with last place and we rolled off for the third place prize. I lost, of course. Oh well at least the Necron player was able to build his army a little more, and maybe we can see more folks at the Lair.

Lessons for the Future
First if I ever host an event where objective only missions are used I will make sure that the term draw and win are firmly defined before the event, so that there are no crazy spot decisions. Next finished games will be part of the scoring system. Finally I will have a defined way to decide final rankings where players have identical scores. Identical ranking scores could be decided via who had more painted, or maybe via the crazy sportsmanship score.

The Big Question
Did I have fun? Well I can say I mostly had fun. Game 1 was a hoot. My other two opponents weren’t much to write home about. I feel that really if I help build the Lair Community that we will start getting a better stock of players.

Next Tourney: Can we say possible Codex Ork Preview?

Round Four scenarios coming...

2007-10-30T16:09:00.000-05:00

Round Four scenarios should go up in the next day or so.

Rules discussion from Thursday night

2007-10-28T23:18:00.000-05:00

I have managed to find the rules that Marcellus and Poney needed to have at their disposal Thursday night. One forgotten rule cost Marcellus dearly. Others cost Poney several opportunities to use her most horrific weapons. In the end, both parties were hampered, and neither party got hold of what they needed, so it seems fair leaving results as they stand-- however, in view of the fact that they were both Fate's Red-Headed (Man)-Beeyotch that night, I agree that both sides should be accounted "winners" and not losers, wherefore both may nominate a surviving scoring unit to receive a Battle Honor.

Here are the relevant passages:

BGB 48: "ASSAULTED WHILE FALLING BACK
"A unit that is assaulted while falling back must check to regroup immediately (see Regrouping below), before any charging models are moved. No modifiers apply to the check in this case and even units which would not normally be allowed to regroup are allowed to make the check.

"If successful, the unit regroups and will fight the close combat normally. If it fails to regroup then the unit is scattered and destroyed. Note that this rule applies if a unit consolidates into enemies falling back too."

We checked "And they shall know no fear," all of us, several times, and here are the words we failed to note:

BGB 74: "AND THEY SHALL KNOW NO FEAR
Space Marines automatically pass Morale tests to regroup, and can take such tests even if the squad has been reduced to less than 50% by casulaties, though all other criteria apply." (emphasis added)

We caught the section immediately following this, that Marines are not destroyed by Sweeping Advances. What we all failed to see was that consolidation into Falling-Back enemies forces a Regroup test, and ATSKNF then specifically lets Marines auto-pass that Regroup test.

Apologies to all parties, and encouragement to read them rules, folks, because I can miss things.

Iron Builder II: Electric Boogaloo

2007-10-27T18:50:00.000-05:00

So I hit the Lair for today's Iron Builder. Psyberwolfe showed up for the Cities of Death tourney and Democratus popped in for moral support, but was unable to stay. I and one other person showed up for the Iron Builder. And we both went into it full bore. Well, for a while anyway. Realizing that we were the only two in it, we talked to the coordinator and decided to split the four tanks that were available for the four categories: piece count, most vehicles, best conversion and last man standing victor. But we still, in a more relaxed and friendly way, competed in our hearts because that's what you do!

In the end, we were still judged to see how things broke down. Surprisingly to both of us, he won piece count by ONE piece. We each had three vehicles but I also built an attack bike and that was used to break the tie so I won. His plasma gun Marine shielding his face was a cute conversion, but my Command Rhino got best conversion. As for the final battle, well, I had a tac squad, a Rhino, two Tornado speeders and an attack bike while he had half a battle force, two Drednaughts, a Predator and three special characters. I ceded the fight to him. Two and two, we tied. As the Ethereal Council would so aptly say, "the dice don't lie".

The best part is that since we each got two tanks, our coordinator gave us each a Suppression Force. So, the CXI now has two Whirlwinds and a speeder to add to it's trophy case!

Psyberwolfe was still playing when I left so GOOOO DARK ANGELS! And not those other Dark Angels, but the GOOD Dark Angels! Bring us more glory!

And remember everyone, half of victory is showing up on the field. Now you know... and knowing is half the battle!

Apocolypse Data Sheets

2007-10-23T20:39:00.000-05:00

So what happened to the flash in the pan data sheets? Well according to my sources at GW an over zealous web tech put them on the intarweb a little early so they were yanked as soon as the mistake was noticed. No Worries! They will be back mid November, so if you you don't have them you will be able to get them. Also we will get more datasheets come December.

Blog Notes from the Librarium

2007-10-23T20:19:00.000-05:00

Alrighty!

Since this blog is a WIP I thought I would display a miniature WIP of my own.

Stuff to keep your eye on:
- Austin Specific Blog Links
- New and improved Logo Title banner (90% done)
- The Librarium actually posting more

That is all for now. For my fellow CXI'ers I may hold a basic bloging followed by painting class in the near future.

Chaos on the Move

2007-10-23T08:35:00.000-05:00

All units report successfully relocating to quadrant 7-B of the abandoned metropolis. Forward elements met resistance in the city center and were forced to sweep and clear the area. It seems that the native Xenos forces are more substantial than first believed. As a result of this unexpectedly strong resistance, our squad of Berzerkers was taken out of action by weight of enemy missile fire. While replacement troops are quite enthusiastic to join the fray, they are somewhat lacking in battle experience. Time will tell if they live up to the high standards lord Lucius (his boldness knows no bounds!) has set for this glorious army.

Heavy use of warp powers by our sorcerer have caused some disturbances in the Immaterium, making it more difficult to commune with the Powers. As a result, Lucius (through his unmatched intellect!) has called a temporary ban on such heavy-handed use of Sorcerous powers. They are not to be used unless the fate of this campaign is at stake.

Our force of Plague Marines has again acquitted itself in battle and has earned the further blessings of their patron lord. Battle Honors bestowed upon them should serve as motivation for the others. The gifts of the Ruinous Powers are showered upon those who serve well!

Our redeployed scouts have reported another force of Space Marines in the wilderness to the West. These cursed Imperials are like cockroaches! We must strike at them before they can link up with the other Imperial forces on the planet. Our Seers have informed us that there is someone in the ranks of this force who has great potential to thwart our plans. He must be eliminated to tilt the tide of battle in our favor. Assassin teams have been dispatched and have been instructed to report success - or not report back at all.

Aun'O Dalyth Meh'Xian to Aun'El Dalyth Rakithia, Transmission Begins.

2007-10-22T09:02:00.001-05:00

Brother,

We have read with no little alarm your request to replace Shas'O Dalyth Lorossa. Her performance has been cause for some concern, and her injuries make the question of her further service moot. Your suggestons regarding the reorganization of the Kau'ui of which she formerly was steward seem prudent.

As for your petition to take personal command of the Kau'ui, this has raised some discussion among us. It is not our opinion that this step should be taken lightly, and yet the Kau'ui must be led, and cannot simply stand idle while a new Shas'O is transferred or promoted to command of this sector. We therefore grant you our provisional approval.

You will pass down immediate orders that Lorossa's Kau'ui should retreat in the direction of the nearest Space Marine contingent, that those invaders may be drawn into conflict with their dissident allies and thereby weaken one another. The Kau'ui's remnants, together with new recruits, will be airlifted to the site of an Ork incursion near to Gel'Bryn. Containment and elimination of this threat is vital.

Let the restoration of harmony to Dalyth Prime be declared the Greater Good by all who hear our voice and read our words. Let our destiny go forward.

Know the tranquillity of conviction, my brother Aun.

Meh'Xian

Industrial Terrain

2007-10-19T22:12:00.000-05:00

Within the CXI we own two complete sets of Necromunda Terrain. This terrain has served us well through countless campaigns, games of Necromunda and various and sundry other games. Thanks to those at Club Workshed I have seen an interesting Industrial Terrain Set.

This set is made by Litko Aerosystems. Currently there is no price on this set, but for my money It looks pretty good. Apparently it is a modular set that you buy idividual modules for and in time you can end up with the picture above. According to the PDF within the site they are looking at a November 1, 2007 realease date.

Scout Report to Lady Jeramena

2007-10-19T19:33:00.000-05:00

Dear Lady,

We have both good news and sad. Our sister troop, while reconning, was destroyed by some fellow marines who are obviously under the spell of "Chaos" of some sort. Why else would they attack and destroy our sisters like that? Just because our sisters sneaked around quiet like to see what all the noise was about. (An evil party of some sort that we were not invited to!)

We ourselves saw this happen while we avoided those evil men with our "conga line of silence". So somewhere in the middle of this city is their comm center. It must be destroyed before they entice other faithful marines to follow suit.

I beseech you to send a full destruction force to rid ourselves of these poor deluded fools and make them an example to others.

yours,

Sister Fecilcia.

CXI presence felt at Battleforge

2007-10-19T09:26:00.000-05:00

I got to play two excellent games last night at the Forge. The first of the evening was my official match for the Heresy-era campaign. I played my Chaos against Chris Long's Alpha Legion. The last time I faced Chris he was beating me senseless with his mech Eldar at a BFG tournament, so I have to admit that I was a little intimidated. It was a Night Fighting (Cleanse) mission, so we set up in opposite quadrants. Throughout the battle, spotting distance rolls played havoc with both my and Chris' ranged combat. During the setup phase the enemy army looked a little thin until he revealed that most of his army was infiltrating...the sneaky git! Due to the immense pressure from all the units popping up around me, I uncharacteristically took first turn. Once again the Noise Marines proved their worth as they piled into a rhino and drove up next to Chris' Veteran squad and killed eight(!) of them with a Doom Siren from the Fire Point - effectively eliminating his most expensive squad. Chris also placed two units of cultists behind cover at his two quarter edges so that they could do a one-turn dash to claim the adjacent quarters. This put pressure on me to move out and attack. Several very tough rounds of close combat ensued in the center where I lost my poor Daemon Prince to a tech marine (that backpack powerfist thing is awesome!) and a cool Alpha Legion character. My Raptors jumped out and killed a tank and were then gunned down like tribbles. The Defiler managed to run across the board without dying and tied up the enemy Devastator squads in combat for the rest of the game (pack your Power Fists, kids, or pay the price). The poor Vindicator killed a Predator and was then killed in its own right. The Khorne Berzerkers (led by Lucius) cut a furious swathe up the left flank, eventually killing 3 enemy units (including one of the sneaky cultists units) and claiming that quadrant without loosing any of its own number. The Plague Marines did what they do best, absorbing an enormous amount of fire before finally succumbing in a puss ridden explosion.

End result: 2 table quarters for Chaos, 1 quarter for Alpha Legion, 1 contested quarter. Victory!

Chris was a real sport and was patient with my rules questions, even when I was being obstinate. Being hopped up on vicadin and caffeine put me in an odd mood and he rolled with it. So give him a friendly CXI greeting next time you see him.

The second battle of the evening was a 'for fun' mega battle. Mike and I teamed up (Orks & Chaos) against Frank and Abe (Dark Angels and Alpha Legion) with 1500 points per player. Needless to say, we didn't get through all 6 turns - but we had a blast. Those infiltrating Alpha Guys popped up all around our forces and then had the audacity to take first turn. Ork trukks blew up all around us from Abe's Las/Plas squads. Then began the long footslogging tromp to the center where a massive brawl ensued between a pile of marines and a zillion Orks. It was a hell of a time. I spent most of the game trading ineffective long range fire with Abe on my side of the board. In a bitter surprise, I lost nearly all my plague marines to bolter fire from a tiny 5-man marine squad. Sometimes the dice gods play mean. MVP would have to go to Frank's whirlwind which chipped the Warboss' unit down through the whole game, scoring 8 unsaved wounds in the last turn! Mike's Trukk Boyz finally pulled free of their wreckage and managed to knock a few beakie hedz around.

Though we ended early, victory went to the Space Marines. We'll get them next time!

All in all it was a great time. BFG was packed to the gills and at one point there were 7 simultaneous battles happening, with even more people waiting their turn - building models and generally kibitzing.

Huzzah!

Dalyth Prime Round Two Small Games Reminder

2007-10-18T17:20:00.001-05:00

Summarized here.

Round Three, Battle Three

2007-10-18T01:24:00.001-05:00

Here is Aaron and Mike's Round 3 battle! It's a little game of "plant the flag"...

Round Three, Battle Two

2007-10-18T01:03:00.000-05:00

Here is the scenario for Daniel and Gordon's Cityfight for round three!

Round Three, Battle One

2007-10-18T00:38:00.000-05:00

Here is the scenario for Marcellus and Poney's game for Round Three! Since Marcellus is gone for the weekend, y'all will want to get this scheduled and played sometime before November 4th!

Recon Report: Dayleth Prime Campaign, Week 3

2007-10-17T09:57:00.000-05:00

Our scouting teams have returned from the target metropolis. Lucius (laud his unmatched might!) was wise to transfer leaders between squads to better foster the exchange of tactical knowledge. Unit leaders have now been restored to their squads in preperation for offensive operations.

Note to the quartermaster: Begin searching for a new Noviciate Sorcerer to lead the Tzeench contingent. The Khorne squad reports that the Sorcerer assigned to their unit was killed by enemy chainaxes. This unfortunate turn of events means that our Rubric Marines will be unavailable for the assault on the city.

The most detailed reconnaissance came from the Nurgle squad led by the Slaaneshi Aspirant, Quintius. Having entered the city for recon, Quintius decided to make it an "in force" operation. Many of the more barbaric native forces (ref: Kroot) were on patrol in the northern quadrant. These forces were purged from the area with acceptable losses. An extensive sewer system was discovered below the city streets. Detailed schematics of the tunnels may prove useful in the fight to come. Evacuation of the stronghold is now complete and our forces are moving to capture the city proper.

In the name of Lucius, sublime swordmaster of the Wastes!

CXI Represented at BattleForge Tournament

2007-10-15T08:49:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the campaign as a motivator, I now have sufficient chaos units to muster 2000 points. So last Saturday I went down to Battleforge and signed up for the tournament. I got to speak with several of the players before the tourney and found that there were two Nidzilla lists, two Blood Angels, a Tau and some bog standard marines.

My first battle ended up being a fun one against Russel and his Blood Angels. It was a fast-paced game since we both wanted to get into hand-to-hand as quickly as possible. The special rules of the mission worked in my favor. I was awarded 200 points for every enemy scoring unit I destroyed and Russel fielded 5-man tactical squads. Lots of quick bonus points pushed me up to a Major Victory.

The second battle was against a Nidzilla list and run by a very good and friendly player. The special rules had a line of darkness moving across the board 12" every turn. We must have been on a very small moon. While I did get beat to a bloody pulp, I learned a lot and had fun. It's amazing what a difference a decent human being for an opponent can make. Even a slaughter can be entertaining and social.

For the final battle, the two Nid lists fought for 1st and 2nd place. I had to fight another Blood Angels list to see who would claim 3rd. This one decided to play a stand-and-shoot approach. I used cover as best as I could and eventually had to make the dash into the enemy. My Daemon Lord did some excellent damage, killing a Dreadnought and several mortals. My Raptor squad penetrated a Land Raider, entangling the Death Company - but was then left in the open and gunned down. The game was still in balance until the very last turn when I managed to kill off just enough enemy troops to edge out a victory.

I got 3rd place and a $50 box of Chaos stuff. Not bad for a tournament with no entry fee.

Observations:
I love going second. Even when I win the roll-off, I chose to go second and it made all the difference. Having the last word in turn 6 is very powerful, provided you can keep your forces in good order to that point.

Nurlge Marines are awesome on defense. They form the perfect screening unit for more shooty units like Noise Marines.

Land Raiders aren't spooky to me any more. As big as they are, they can only shoot at most 6 times in a game and only at 1 unit at a time.

Final Thoughts:
I relly need help from my fellow CXI members for training. I'm at best an average to above average player and would love to hone my skills further. Big bugs really scare me and I want to learn how to handle them. I need effective tactics to counter Nidzilla.

CXI represent.

2007-10-14T22:21:00.000-05:00

Well, it was a brutal game, but I managed to pull off victory for the Tau(Diasporex) for the second week of the Fly Lords' PreHeresy tourney, making it 1 Slaughter, 1 Win, 1 Loss. You may see me walking a bit funny, from all the anal rape I was experiencing, and I had to use every single trick in my arsenal to pull this off, but given that I was (1) robbed of my vehicles and most potent weapons, and (2) dealing with two opponents each chock full of special rules, and (3) the special rules of the scenario favored the Marines, it was a bit satisfying to use the Emperor's Children's special character's rule against him to end things while they still seemd to favor me a bit.

Guh.

Kill Team on Tuesday with the redoubtable Daniel, who has kindly informed me ahead of time of the mutables and special kit so that I can plan-- thanks, D!

Kudos also to Mike for upholding our good name at the Apocalypse tourney at the Lair yesterday!

Hey, btw, Mike-- what sort of tchotchkes do we get from GW for being an official club again? Just wanted to check on this.

Report Received, Reply Begins:

2007-10-11T01:17:00.000-05:00

Aun'El Dalyth Rakithia to Shas'O Dalyth Lorossa,

Shas'O:

I have read your reports of the efforts at attrition of invading forces along the Hub-Gel'bryn corridor, and I find myself highly displeased. Your reports speak of a few la'rua of Gue'vesa Marines and their primitive vehicles destroyed, while you have allowed a unit of Finishers to teleport and join with the invasion force, and a heavily armored Earth Marauder to escape your grasp with its troop intact.

I tell you I have not heard of such difficulties from the other Shas'O in this Tio've, and I will not hear of them from you a third time. Your idiosyncratic Crisis Suit arrangements will be brought more into line with orthodox Fire Knife configuration at once. Further, your habit of restraint in the face of invaders will cease, likewise at once.

I have reviewed your accounts of the injuries to the Steadyfoot la'rua, and the rumors they passed along to you of incursions into city ruins. I have had civilians evacuated from the cities you have mentioned, after confirming via orbital surveillance that these areas are indeed at risk of enemy penetration. You will proceed to the northernmost of these cities at once, and arrange to make any attempts at occupying those ruins as painful and ruinous to the invader as possible.

Your Shaper, Proj Nar Gel'bryn, informs me as well that other Kinbands have told him of Ork presence in system, and of their trailing a raiding band along a corridor west of your position. Our Hunters from Pech have a longstanding hatred of the Orks, for which reason I am ordering you to seed your forces heavily with them. I am also dispatching a Por'ui to seek out this "second faction" Marine group you have mentioned to me. If the smaller faction can be allied with us briefly, we may be able to turn these invaders one upon the other, and so obviate an expensive evacuation and recolonization.

Do not fail me again. Neither of us wishes me to be forced to enter the battlefield and to relieve you of command in the presence of my troops.

Rakithia out.

(Something I missed last night-- Melta Weapons are AP1, so that any Glancing Hit is a Penetrating Hit, forcing debarkation of passengers. This would made one damage roll on the Land Raider with tacsquad and Chaplain a "Vehicle Destroyed" instead of "Weapon Destroyed", giving me the game. Oh, well, I snoozed, I losed.)

Transmission: Astramalleus Command

2007-10-10T18:51:00.000-05:00

From: Norran Victos, Commander 4th Company Occupation Detachment
To: Leviah Milham, Commander Dalyth Expeditionary Force

Late afternoon, we received a distress call from cargo transport 144254A moving some of the more advanced pieces captured with the Maglev hub. The maglev line had been broken and the transport derailed. Several of our patrols encountered Tau (the Xenos race we fought earlier) and a mercenary race working for them in a number of minor skirmishes. A detachment was dispatched to drive away Tau marauders who sabotaged the transport. The detachment arrived to encounter a previously unencountered Orc warband. It set upon the detachment and inflicted serious losses upon us. Their numbers more than made up for our bolter fire. Their War Machine was so heavily armored that even 8th Devastator's Lascannons could not stay it. For the sake of the greater mission, I ordered our men to cut their losses and leave the field. I take full responsibility for their retreat. It is far better to retreat and reconsider a losing position than to let glory and fighting spirit drive men to a fruitless and pointless death. Even still, Librarian Nostradh was gravely wounded in the battle. He will live, but his recuperation time will be a great loss, even if it is merely the few days projected.

What are Orcs doing here? There had been nothing in the briefings about greenskin presence on the planet. I never imagined they would be here and therefore never prepared the Detachment for the possibility. That is a mistake I shall never make again. Perhaps these are the "fortunes of war" you often talk about, sir. I give you now the fortune that awaits them. When we find them next, we shall show them the lessons in raiding we have learned at their hands.

We have begun picking up coded Imperial transmissions. If these are the reinforcements I requested in the last communication, they can contact us on the attached channels to follow. If they are other Imperial units, are you at all aware of their size and nature? Both we and they could benefit from an exchange of first hand information.

I mentioned Librarian Nostradh's unfortunate debilitation. According to the apothecary treating him, Nostradh, while under anesthesia, kept making strange statements and cries about "demons" and "dangers from the warp". I pray to the Emperor that they were the ramblings of a dreaming and fevered mind but I know that Librarians are sensitive to many things that other Marines are not. If the Orcs were drawn to something on this world, it is plausible that other things have been attracted also.

My recommendations are that we find a way to lead the Tau to the Orcs. Orcs will fight anything and Tau seem to be committed to defending this world. If we can point the two sides at one another and let them waste their strength fighting, we should easily be able to sweep up the pieces. We will remain mobile. If engaged, we will fight, but whenever possible, we will attempt to lead the two sides together. If we can take them both with little effort, it will be a far better victory.

We await reinforcements and bind our wounds. Tomorrow is another day and another battle.

Hail to the Emperor and the Grand Satrap,

Norran Victos
In Command
4th Company Occupation Detachment

Praise the bolter, for it is the savior of Mankind.

The Lady Jeramena's Report

2007-10-08T20:13:00.000-05:00

Generals,

Today I take over a new Order of our Sisters nicknamed the "Red Skulls". After the embarrassing performance of the last Lady there was no choice for her but to retire to the Repentia squad and let her body die in battle and let her soul marry the Emperor.

I was impressed with the Cannoness and her retinue hearing about their ability to stand toe to toe with some mean and evil Chaos in Terminator armor. We recovered their bodies and have given a relic of them to each of the Dominion squad members in hopes that the Cannoness's sacrifice will encourage them to more greatness in the Emperor's name.

Although the tanks were recaptured after we found the Daemonspawn gone, we are now on the hunt for this Chaos. Rumor has it that they went to some war-torn city. We await the return of our last scouting party into this city.

If one Chapter of our Marines have fallen over to Chaos then, so may others. We have our scouts in the field and are eagerly awaiting their inquisitions.

I must cut this short as the seating arrangements are to be made and the decision of who gets to run the Penitent Engine is again up for "grabs".

Yours, The Lady Jeramena.
***************************

Why the "Red Skulls"? Cause I smash my brains in. every. single. time. I play!

Ironbuilders Tourney at the Lair: CXI represent, yo.

2007-10-08T15:38:00.000-05:00

Remember when we showed up to build terrain and got paid on blisters? No, the good kind. Right.

Well, we got to play on that terrain Saturday when Kurt at the Lair ran the overdue but welcome Ironbuilders Tourney, wherein you bring any unassembled 40K models you want, build them, and then play with what you built. Poney and I arrived a little before noon, and Mike was already there building Ravenwing. She set to work on Sisters and Bugs, I on Captain Stern, a Kroot Shaper, and Khorne Berzerkers. After lunch, I shifted to doing Kroot and she set to work on a Carnifex.

At 5, time was called. First, "Best Conversion" was judged. Mike's Master of the Ravenwing, a cusomtbuilt Tau Crisis Suit, and my Skull Champion were the entrants. I'm glad to say the incredibly annoying work of cutting the ring on the melta-grenade and gluing it with Poney's liquid glue so that it appeared to be looped around one fang paid off well (in addition to the custom weapon swaps and hand rotations), because I got a Tau Skyray tank out of it! The "Most Built" went to Joe, whose part count (the criterion used) beat my 140-something at well over 200! (damn new chaos marines with their trillion little parts! ;-) Mike got a Rhino for his beautiful Master of the Ravenwing on Landspeeder, as Best Vehicle (indeed, the ONLY vehicle!), which was a special category seeing as this Tourney was supposed to help kick off Apocalypse.

Then the game. Remember the buildings? Yep. The terrain board that was in progress the night we showed up to build buildings was finished, a really nice cityscape board with a nasty crater at one end and a broken highway at the other. And our buildings, now painted, were lovingly arranged along it. Marcellus' Basilica pieces were done especially beautifully. The game itself was a grueling "Last Man Standing" slugfest, which saw the single Tau suit eliminated early on and the next player's scouts and chaplain taken out by Joe's Chaos/Eldar/Grey Knight coalition. Poney and I began our slog across the board, having formed an alliance with Mike to take out Joe first then duke it out amongst ourselves, figuring that it would come down to the Carnifex, the Master of the Wing on his Flying Landraider (an AV14 Landspeeder--- WTF?), and Brother Captain Stern of the Grey Knights. Unfortunately, Poney blew a target priority check and targetted my Kroot with a single shot that was saved. I would have let that pass, if she hadn't taken the next turn to run a brood of spinegaunts over to my kroot and then deliberately opened fire on them, and at that point the alliance fell apart.

In the end, only Stern and the Wing made it over to the over side of the board, with Stern wiping out most of the chaos troops before going down in a hail of blows, and the Wingmaster having eliminated every other model that could actually damage him-- so Joe conceded, ending a four hour game, a nine hour (for us) tourney, and winning Mike anohter Rhino, bringing him ever closer to his company Apocalypse formation goal (only four more to go, Mike!).

Good times, and CXI gave 'em what for.

Witches at the walls

2007-10-08T08:24:00.001-05:00

Recovering from the battle against the Space Marines, we found a suitable structure to use as a strongpoint for repairs and resupply. The Mechanicus Infernus had to toil several nights and sacrifice many native inhabitants to bind a new power source for the wrecked Defiler. Imperial forces on the planet are not yet fully aware of our allegance and so have not focused on attacking us.

However, today we narrowly escaped being discovered by the Sisters of Battle themselves. An Inquisitor Lord apparently detected the daemonic energies present within Lucius the Eternal (may he gloriously reign!) and attacked our fortress while the bulk of our forces were out on patrol. One unit of the witches managed to get within the walls and in sight of Lucius himself (blessed be his glorious might!) as an Immolator bathed the ramparts in fire. Fortunately, our elite Terminator squad was in conference with Lucius when the walls were breached and they managed, just, to intercept and eliminate the trespassers. Praise must also be given to our Obliterator cult who held the north wall against an assault by the Lord Inquisitor herself.

The witches who fled will no doubt return to this location in force. We must, therefore, relocate to a new secure location. Returning patrols have spotted the ruins of a large city nearby. We can find ample shelter in its shattered remains. Xenos activity has been reported in the area. Lucius, in his infinite wisdom, will dispatch a recon team to get a measure of the terrain before we move in and claim it. Champions from all units are now fighting in the arena to decide who will get the honor of this mission.

Round Two, Small Battles

2007-10-07T23:13:00.001-05:00

Here are the Kill-Team missions for Round Two, which are optional and may be replayed as many times as both players agree.

1. Poney's Sisters carry out an Escape mission on Marcellus' Marine Brutes in a ruined Cityscape. Results: (not played yet). Effects: Winner gets Comm Center as a bonus strategem in Battle 3A.

2. Daniel's Chaos Marines attempt Reconnaissance of the ruins of a Tau cityscape before invasion commences. Results: (not played yet). Effects: Sewer Rats may be taken by the winner.

3. Aaron's Marines are assigned to Sabotage a building within Mike's Ork infested ruins. Results: (not played yet). Effects: Marines get a bonus Demolitions strategem if they win.

Grrr! Grrr!

2007-10-07T09:39:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures from my Friday's Night game with Frank the Ultramarine player:

I'm getting better and better, slowly...

2007-10-06T09:16:00.000-05:00

Last night I played Frank the Ultramarine player in a very good game. Earlier in the day I got cold feet and was thinking that I didn't want to play, but went anyway.

Frank is always a good player and seems happy to help people along. Of course he won, but I got some moral victories on my own.

The worst critique he gave me about my army was that it was "too good". He said that some of units needed to have their points shaved to get more models. I don't agree as without those points the units wouldn't make it across the board! I'll have a look and see if a little bit points couldn't be shaved though. :-)

The other moral victories were in the way he played. Several times he stopped for a while on his turn to think about who to shoot or if he wanted to get into H2H or not. He said "Crap!" a couple of times. And I made him scrafice several units so that my 'stealers didn't get to his Captain. (His Captain gave all his units a 10 leadership. Which he needed to keep from running away when I won the H2H.)

It was funny because he kept wanting his men to run so on his turn so that he could then shoot the 'stealers, but his Captain made them stay!

Anyway, it was a crushing victory for him. I was somewhat disappointed. I would really like to play someone like an Ultamarine who doesn't know that they are playing 'Nids. If they know that they are playing 'Nids then they make a shooty army and stand on table edge and shoot! I would like to play against just a regular army list to see how I do.

BTW, Frank took a neat picture of the battle where my warriors were surrounded on a hill full of marines. He also took a panaramic one of my Old One Eye. I'll post the pic as soon as we get it.! It looked sooooo coool!

A night of 40K at the Forge

2007-10-05T23:46:00.000-05:00

Poney, Daniel, and I were at Battleforge tonight, for two games of Pre-Heresy goodness. Ultramarine Frank and Poney duked it out (stay tuned for a great group photo of the Smurfs with Old One Eye!), and I took on Travis(?) and Chris Davis, who both fielded Thousand Sons. I had Laer, which is a mixed Tau/Tyranid list. Very much a standard list for me, except for 8 Stealers and a Lictor. It was an Alpha Cleanse, and I think I can say without fear of contradiction that I ate their respective lunches.

We all know that Broadsides are a nightmare, and that Hammerheads are nasty. MVP of the night, however, goes to the Sniper Drone Team that was charged by a lone surviving Terminator and killed it stone dead. Yeah, it was just the one unsaved wound, but I take these victories where I can git 'em.

Now, to fight Brandon with this list in "The Scouring of Laeran" on Sunday at Battleforge, while y'all have your Battles on Dalyth Prime.

Hope to see folks at the Ironbuilders' Tourney tomorrow at the Lair!

Round Two, Battle Three

2007-10-04T23:30:00.000-05:00

Here is the battle briefing for Poney's Witch Hunters attacking Daniel's Chaos Marines, in the Raid scenario, "Terminate the Daemonvessel."

Round Two, Battle Two

2007-10-04T23:28:00.000-05:00

Here is the battle briefing for Aaron and Gordon's Ambush battle. It will be a full briefing momentarily. I wanted to get Battle 2C up first, as it's not in the Big Book, so the players can't really study it themselves.

Round Two, Battle One

2007-10-04T23:26:00.000-05:00

Here is the briefing for Mike's battle with Marcellus. It will become a full briefing momentarily.

Club Night at the Lair!

2007-10-03T07:35:00.000-05:00

Last night, we at CXI got to go build Imperial Ruins/Buildings for the Lair's new 40K terrain tables. Kurt, the new 40K Events Coordinator at the shop offered pay in blisters, which worked just fine-- I glued buildings for about four hours, and walked out with a Captain Stern Grey Knights blister, which is about twenty bucks MSRP, or minimum wage-- and that's fair. Other folks got Broodlords, Obliterators, an Imagifer, and I think Marcellus got a Librarian (not Evie!).

For the Ironbuilders Tourney this weekend, I think I'll pick up the Grey Knights Termies box, and bring them, with Stern, my Cadians boz and my Land Raider, and make a Daemonhunters army to field at the event. I'll prime and paint the interior pieces on the sprue first, though, so that I don't spoil that part of the model by assembling it quickly on Saturday.

Hope to see the rest of you there!

First Round Small Battle Summary

2007-10-02T05:28:00.000-05:00

Here are the current results and effects for the small battles for Round One. They'll be udpated as new info comes in!

Round Two scenarios to be posted soon!

Daily Report, Shaper Proj Nar Gel'Bryn

2007-09-29T22:50:00.000-05:00

Shaper Proj Nar Gel'Bryn to Shas'O Dalyth Lorossa,

Greetings and fine feasting to your excellence.

My Kindred have guarded your fine artillery machines with great and delicious vigor along the MagLev corridor between Gel'Bryn and North Central Hub. We have repelled Gue'la incursion in woodlands eastwards and westwards, with Kindred losses of nine in two score, and much new material with which to fortify the Kindred for your great good. We preserve Gue'la materials for your use and study, in honor of our agreement, and your Kor'vesa protector is ready for return in good working order. It is most vigorous, but its control unit is most uncomfortable and interferes with hearing and balance.

The armor of these Gue'la is different from that which you told me to seek, and my Kindred are backtracking now to determine if they also have brought more fighting kin along the corridor. We will bring you sure and trustworthy word of their location, that you may commence hunting. There we hope to take our rightful part, and your fine machines will be ready to give their loud warcall as well.

My Kindred thank and bless you for your benefitting our development, and for this latest addition to our genetic treasures most especially*. My rifle is ready to heed your call.

Shaper Proj Nar Gel'Bryn
Kroot Kindred, "We Who Are Led."

*Literally, "with loud and joyous belchings"

Translated by
Por'ui Nilassar, Linguistic Attache
Gel'Bryn Transmission Facility
Dalyth Prime

Transmission: Astramalleus Command

2007-09-28T20:57:00.000-05:00

From: Norran Victos, Commander 4th Company Occupation Detachment
To: Leviah Milham, Commander Dalyth Expeditionary Force

[[REPORT FOLLOWS]]

I am glad to report that my first command has resulted in victory. The Drop Pod deployment went smoothly and all units involved landed more or less without incident. 10th Assault landed pincered between two enemy tanks and was incapacitated to the man. 2nd Tactical and 3rd/1st Terminator Team also took heavy casualties but few of the wounds inflicted upon any of the three squads will have long term consequences. They should all be fit for the next mission.

After landing in and around the transportation hub, we were set upon by several armored speeder tanks. Chaplain Reemes, leading the remaining active members of 10th Assault, bravely assaulted one of them and managed to keep it occupied and ineffective most of the engagement. A unit of battle suits soon joined the fray but they were driven off by the arrival of 3rd/1st Terminator under my personal command. 4th and 6th Tactical arrived soon after to occupy the hub and to provide support for Reemes bold maneuver. Our forces held and cleared enough landing ground to other forces to land and mop up.

I recommend commendation for Chaplain Reemes. His aggressive actions prevented the enemy from using their armor to greatest advantage, making our victory more certain.

I have also been investigating the transportation hub. Quite a bit of enemy cargo was captured and an inventory has been appended to this report. Something seems odd about it. There's far too much cargo here for a small planetary outpost. Also there was quite a bit of armor fielded against us. Armor, especially Speeder Armor, requires quite a bit of upkeep which, along with the cargo captured, makes me think that perhaps this outpost is larger than we previously expected. It is possible that luck was with us and this was a major hub defended as heavily as was possible by the garrison force but that is not an assumption I'm willing to make at this time.

We await our next mission. I recommend pushing along the transport lines and disrupting their flow of materiel. If they have any strength, they will soon counter attack here. They have begun bombarding our positions so I expect counter attack within the next 48 to 72 hours. It would be better to slow them down before they get here and buy time for reinforcements to arrive. I look forward to your arrival and thank you again for this opportunity to show my command abilities.

Hail to the Emperor and the Grand Satrap,

Norran Victos
In Command
4th Company Occupation Detachment

The leisure of rest can only be enjoyed by the dead.

Chaos Ascendant (Battle Report 1)

2007-09-27T12:51:00.000-05:00

Finally we make planet fall! Our time in the Warp was well spent, as Lucius lowered the Gellar field and allowed all on board to experience the glory of the Immaterium. Those who would not see the truth were sacrificed to the fell powers, and favor was heaped upon us by the dark Gods.
It took little time for the worshipers of the False Emperor to discover us in their midst and they dispatched a force to eliminate us before we could spread the True Word any further.

What follows is a report of this first struggle to bring freedom to all on Dayleth.

_Imperial Forces_

HQ
Librarian (Fury of the Ancients, Fear the Darkness)

ELITE
5 Terminators (2 Auto Cannon)

TROOP
Tac Squad Alpha
10 Marines (Missile Launcher, Plasmagun)

Tac Squad Beta
10 Marines (Missile Launcher, Plasmagun)

Tac Squad Gamma
10 Marines (Missile Launcher, Plasmagun)

HEAVY SUPPORT
1 Predator Annihilator w/ Lascannon Sponsons

Devastator Squad (4 Lascannons)

_Chaos Forces_

HQ
Lucius the Eternal

Daemon Prince

TROOP
7 Plague Marines (Plasmagun, Meltagun, Power Fist)
-Rhino

8 Khorne Berserkers (2 Plasma Pistol, Power Fist)
-Rhino

FAST ATTACK
10 Raptor (2 Meltaguns, Paired Lightning Claws, Icon of Slaanesh)

HEAVY SUPPORT
Defiler (Reaper AC, Extra CCW)

Vindicator (Daemonic Possession)

TURN 1

Marine:
The Marines decided that it was best to stand their ground and fire on the approaching forces of Chaos.

Marines started the turn with a full strike from the Predator into the side armor of the Vindicator. Luck was with the Vindicator and it suffered a single 'Crew Stunned' result which was ignored due to Daemonic Possession. The Librarian unleashed his 'Fury' power but failed to wound or pin any chaos units. All other units were out of LOS from the enemy and thus held their ground.

Chaos:
Chaos movement was a flurry of activity as the entire force advanced. The Khorne Rhino and Defiler moved forward toward the Devastator squad. The Vindicator moved up the center hoping to put the tower between itself and the Predator. The Plague Marine Rhino also moved up the right flank. All Rhinos popped smoke. The Daemon Prince and the Raptor squad flew over a small forest and began moving toward the Imperial left flank.

The Defiler fired a Battle Cannon round at the Devastator squad and managed to kill 3 of them in the blast. One of the Raptors managed a long range melta blast at the Predator, but failed to have any affect. All other units were out of range.

TURN 2

Marine:
Again, the Marines enjoyed good positioning in cover and opted to stand and shoot.

The Devastator squad unleashed a full volley of Lascannon fire into the Defiler, reducing it to component parts. Two Tactical squads used their Missile Launchers against the Vindicator but only managed to shake it - again ignored due to Daemonic Possession. The Predator combined fire with the Terminator squad to slay the Daemon Prince at range. With a howl of rage it dissipated back to into the warp. Tactical squad Gamma fired at the fast approaching Raptors and slew 5 of them. Though greatly reduced, the Raptors refused to fall back.

Chaos:
The Khorne Rhino now moved another 12" toward the Devastators and unloaded a Berserker Squad led by none other than Lucius. The Nurgle Rhino moved forward and unloaded 7 Plague Marines. The Vindicator was now in a position where the Predator could not see it, so it prepared to fire. The Raptor squad leapt forward to the edge of the Marine lines and made ready to charge.

Pistol fire from the Khorne troops killed one marine in the Devastator squad. The Doom Siren of Lucius killed another. A huge cannon shot from the Vindicator managed to kill 2 members of Tac Squad Beta. The Plague Marines fired plasma and melta at the Predator stunning it for the turn.

The Raptors then charged into cover to attack Tac Squad Gamma and killed 4 of them, loosing one of their own in the melee.

TURN 3

Marine:
The Marine Terminators moved around cover to gain full fields of fire into the Chaos forces. All other units held their ground.

The Devastator squad had limited Line of Sight to the Berserkers but knew that they must kill them before being charged. They fired into the Khorne Berserkers, killing 2 of them. Tac squad Beta fired its missile at the Vindicator again, but to no affect. Tac squad Alpha fired a long range volley at the Berserkers and killed 1. The Terminator squad fired fully into the Plague marines scoring many hits (including 4 rends) from Assault Cannons, but the blessing of Nurgle was on them and only 3 perished under the onslaught. The Librarian once again unleashed Fury of the Ancients against the Plague Marines but they would not be cowed.

Fighting between the Raptors and Squad Gamma continued, with only the brave Marine Sergeant surviving the Slaanesh-blessed blades of the Raptors.

Chaos:
Lucius Separated from his squad to flank the Devastator squad as the Berserkers charged forward into the fray. The Khorne Rhino moved to block LOS from Tac Squad Alpha and give the butchers some privacy. The Plague Marines marched forward toward the Terminators and Predator. The Nurgle Rhino moved in front of the Predator, hoping to block its view of enemy units.

Lucius began the firing phase by unleashing another Doom Siren, killing one more Devastator. The Khorne Berserkers held their fire. The Vindicator again fired on Squad Beta and killed two more of them. The Plague Marines fired on the Terminators with plasma, melta and bolters - killing 2 of the giants, wounding the Librarian and forcing them to fall back.

The Raptors finished off the lone Sergeant and moved into deep cover. Lucius and the Berserkers charged into the Devastators and wiped them out in furious fighting - loosing one more Berserker in the process. They then consolidated behind cover to avoid fire from Tac Squad Alpha.

TURN 4

Marine:
All forces stood to fight.

The Predator fired a full salvo of Lascannons at the Rhino at point blank range, managing only to stun it. The terminators attempted some long range fire at the Plague Marines but to little affect. Tac Squads Alpha and Beta fired missile launchers at the Vindicator again, failing to do damage. All in all a rough shooting phase for the Marines.

Chaos:
The Raptors move behind the Predator in an attempt to exploit the weak rear armor. The Plague Marines again march forward toward the Terminators in order to bring their guns to bear. Lucius rejoins the Berserkers and they wait to see if they are needed. The Khorne Rhino moves again to place itself between Tac Squad Alpha and the Vindicator, hoping that it can help spare the valuable asset.

The Vindicator fires another volley at Tac Squad Beta, killing another two marines. The Raptors fire meltas at the rear of the Predator, knocking out its turret Lascannon. The Plague Marines fire again at the Terminators with Plasma and bolters, killing another Terminator and the Librarian himself! The hail of fire proves too much for them as they fall back off of the field of battle.

The Raptors then assault the Predator with a meltabomb but only manage to stun the vehicle.

TURN 5

Marine:
The Predator takes a risk and drives out of the cover and away from the Raptors. All other units hold their ground as they recover from the loss of their leader.

Tac Squad Alpha fires missiles and plasma at the Khorne Rhino, destroying it. Squad Beta again fires on the Vindicator, but the vehicle seems impenetrable.

Chaos:
The raptors take to the air, again gaining position behind the Predator. The Plague Marines load up into the Nurgle Rhino and begin to move toward Tac Squad Beta.

The Raptors fire meltas again at the Predator, again only stunning the crew despite the weak rear armor. The Vindicator fails to hit Squad Beta with its cannon.

Then the Raptors charge the Predator and finally manage to destroy it with close combat weapons.

TURN 6

Marine:
Squads Alpha and Beta hold their ground, swearing to sell their lives well.

Squads Alpha and Beta fire missiles at the Vindicator once again, but it again survives.

Chaos:
The Plague Marines unload from the Rhino and move up to fire upon Squad Beta. The Rhino then attempts to Tank Shock the unit out of its cover. The brave missile trooper holds his ground and immobilizes the Rhino mere inches from his feet. The raptor squad moves toward Squad Beta but is too far to do any harm. The Khorne Berserkers with Lucius move out of cover and toward Squad Alpha - hoping for a successful charge.

Withering fire from the Plague Marines reduces Squad Beta to two troopers - both special weapons marines. Fire from the Berserkers and Lucius manage to kill 2 members of Squad Alpha. The Vindicator holds its fire for fear of damaging its own troops.

No chaos units are able to make the charge distance to the Marines and so the battle is ended.

CASUALTIES
Marines:
Librarian
Terminator Squad
Tactical Squad Beta - 1/2 str
Tactical Squad Gamma
Devastator Squad
Predator

Chaos:
Daemon Prince
Khorne Rhino
Raptor Squad - 1/2 str
Defiler

RESULT
Chaos Decisive Victory

MVP Units
Marines:
Predator Annihilator: For delivering the killing blow to the Daemon Prince and tying up the Raptor force.

Chaos:
Death Guard: For forcing a Terminator squad off the board and killing the Librarian

Reporting: MagLev 1 has fallen.

2007-09-25T01:49:00.000-05:00

Transmission, Shas'O Dalyth Lorossa to Aun'El Dalyth Rakithia.

Esteemed Aun'El,

I must report that MagLev Hub 1 has fallen to Gue'la control. In accordance with your instructions, I have dispatched most of my forces along the length of the Hub-Gel'bryn corridor, and arranged for continuous bombardment of the Gue'la vehicles and troops. Consequently, the station itself was guarded by the Pathfinder La'Rua Choosers of the Slain and my own Crisis Team. The Choosers were supported by Hammerhead None Shall Oppose, and the area mined and seeded with personal transponders.

Gue'La landing pods of the Marine unit designated "Star Hammers" assaulted the area in force, along with jump-equipped close assault troops and a unit of Finisher Teleportation troops. We were able to slow the advance of many of these, but in so doing, have lost control of our central task, the security of the station itself and thus the rapid transportation of troops and materiel throughout this corridor.

We are evacuating the Choosers for medical attention, together with my two Crisis Shas'vre. We request refit and repair of weaponry for None Shall Oppose, and recommend her Kor'ui pilot for commendation. My own injuries are inconsequential, treated in the field. My scars I shall bear in penance for having failed you in my mission.

I am proceeding south ahead of the Gue'la advance, to rejoin the remainder of our Kau'ui and commence attrition of Gue'la forces. I have also to report from conferral with evacuation Kor'ui that infighting may have broken out among factions of the invaders themselves. Without any Greater Good to guide them in a single vision, how can they not fall into conflict and chaos?

I await further instruction, and accept the penalties you deem appropriate for my failure.

Shas'O Dalyth Lorossa,
Gel'bryn Kau'ui

Lady Mary's Report

2007-09-24T08:07:00.000-05:00

Transmission begins:

While visiting the shrine of a fallen hero, Saint Marcus, we were attacked by the xeno's known as Orks. Their vicious green hordes overtook us without warning! Their numbers were so large and the intrusion was so sudden that our abilities did not manifest. Obviously they had some great deamon Psyker with them as it impeded my ability to fight "fire with fire".

Our fellow sisters fought bravely! Even the men did their job well. Those who were repenting their spotted souls redeemed themselves as they fought off those nasty little grots and helped to defend the shrine.

Two priestess to keep an eye on, Julia and Petricia, ran from battle, but then the Emperor's courage filled them and they turned to fight till their deaths. They might need some time in "The Engine" to think about their cowardice. The former Sister Eve did her job well. She did not get her fires off before being overcome by stronger xenos.

After the carnage the xenos then proceeded to "loot" all the bodies and tanks of their weapons and other items. This kept them from desecrating the shrine as they could not see the importance of such a place, such is the proof that they have no soul and therefore should be destroyed.

Then the reinforcements arrived and they scattered. Thank the Emperor.

We have heard reports that some dreaded Chaos creatures are in the area. We shall send a team out to investigate as soon as we regroup.

Transmission out.

First Round, Third Battle

2007-09-22T01:28:00.000-05:00

This scenario is for Mike's Orks and Poney's Witch Hunters.

First Round, Second Battle

2007-09-21T01:51:00.000-05:00

This scenario is for Daniel's Chaos forces and Aaron's marines.

First Round, First Battle

2007-09-20T22:41:00.000-05:00

Here is the first of the Battle Briefings in the Campaign for Dalyth Prime.
This one is for Marcellus' Marines and Gordon's Tau Empire.

Mad Macks Boyz Grow

2007-09-15T09:30:00.000-05:00

Oi! So there we wuz gettin' our boyz ready to take out a girlie 'ummie fort. Den out uv nowhere comes 3 more grot mobz and 2 more mobz of boyz. Oi diss is gonna be a succezvul Waaghh! Toes 'ummies better beware of me Mad Macks da new leader ov teh Blood Axe Boyz. Oi oi oi!!!