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...
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!
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.
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!
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?
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 4th edition rules and the campaign is close to being finished, we would finish the campaign in 4th 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 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 5th ED, I hope!!!
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?
