Vigilus Campaign in pre-production

For 2019 the club is going to run our own version of the Vigilus campaign. At the moment we seem fairly accurate to the factions involved in the actual events. I will keep a weekly report of the tides of war as we progress.

Adam: Tyranid faction.
Alex: Imperium faction.
Ashleigh: Imperium faction.
Charlie: Tau faction.
Christopher: Imperium faction.
Colin: Tyranid faction.
Dan: Drukhari faction.
Elliot: Imperium faction.
Gary: Drukhari faction.
Jaime: Imperium.
Jon: Orks faction.
Landon: Imperium faction.
Luke: Orks faction.
Mark: Chaos faction.
Michael: Chaos faction.
Multch: Orks faction.
Shadbolt: Tyranids faction.
Stuart: Orks faction.

My Thrones are obviously on Genestealer Cults to win but this could be an interesting series of games.

More info as it becomes available.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Going to be back in the new year with some cool new content, battle reports and articles long overdue.

I hope Santa brings you lots of cool Warhammer. :)

A Productive Week

Despite an insanely busy week at work, I have managed to get a lot of painting done. Two complete squads of Genestealers built and painted. I've now managed to build a squad of acolytes ready to be painted. I am really motoring through them and enjoying every moment of it. Haven't felt that buzzed with the hobby for ages.

Unfortunately my camera lens on my phones has broken and I can't take decent photos. Once I can get it fixed after Christmas I'll get some photos taken. I already have a game booked for the second week of January against a friend who is also starting a new army. We'll both be looking at it as a training experience.

Broodcoven WiP

I've been working on my HQ options this week when I've had the opportunity. These are works in progress and my camera phone is rubbish so please be gentle.

Here is the Patriarch of the cult. Since taking the picture I've removed the stray hair in the horns, painted the base and have started adding a pool of green goo below the pipehead.

Magus and two familiars. The Magus robes have actually been highlighted but the camera couldn;t pick up the details for some reason.

The Primus is the current work in progress that I am focusing on. Needs a little touching up here and there plus a few highlights.

GSC release!

I certainly picked the right time to jump on the Genestealer Cult band wagon. Lovely new models as well. Especially loving the bikes and the buggy. I'm guessing this is going to be a January 2019 release.

New Dawn

My initial purchase of Genestealer Cult arrived earlier this week and I have started painting the Brood Coven. Not enough to showcase a work in progress yet but do not fear I shall do so some time this coming week.

Oddly I am feeling quite nervous about starting this army. I'm too used to playing power armour troops over the last 30 years and GSC is going to be a big change and a whole new learning experience. I'm going to be losing more games than I win for a good while I think.

Wish me luck.

End of an Era

I have now sold my Death Guard army. I have lost too much interest in the army and one of my fellow club members has purchased it so it will still get seen from time to time. I've used that money to pay so bills and to start my new army.

So what am I going for?

Genestealer Cult. Yep. I've decided to go for something more casual and fun. I've placed the initial order and waiting for it to arrive. My plan being to slowly build and paint over December unlike how I handled my old armies. One unit at a time.

So once that is done, you'll see some more info.

Thanks for reading

Battle for Rigel XII

After my short break away from 40K I fancied a game against my chum Jon. Originally we were going to be playing 1000 points but after that game was postponed I had the idea of making 1500 points and trying something special - I borrowed my newphew's collection of Sisters of Battle. I knew that I was not going to win against Necrons but I would have fun and perhaps playing a different army than my regular Death Guard would be a nice change of pace.

On the night we rolled up the Relic mission along with the standard Dawn of War deployment. I don't think rocking up with a Sisters army was quite the surprise I was hoping it would be but I think we both knew it would be an interesting fight. What surprised me was Jon's list. It was nearly all destroyers and tomb blade's where I was expecting a lot of necron warriors - a traditional necron army. Okay, I thought, going to be tough but I can do this.

Due to terrain and the position of the Relic I was set up on the left hand side of the table. I won the roll off but Jon stole the intitive, an act of random luck which would seal my fate this game. First turn and his necron forces destroyed both exorcist tanks, one squad of death cult assassins and half a squad of battle sisters. I suppose I should have thought about protecting them better but I really needed those exorcist tanks. Jon was also able to swiftly grab the Relic. In my turn I think I moved up but did nothing in the shooting phase other than knock a wound off of something. This was going to be the way of game went.

As the game progressed I tried to advance forward as for some reason Jon was moving the destroyer unit holding the Relic towards my lines. Again though Jon's necrons, especially the tomb blades, were tearing their way my lines with their shooting. Two rhino's went down along with a couple Sisters from each.

I dropped Celestine behind the necron lines and a unit of seraphim to my right to try and deal with the tomb blades creeping forwards. Celestine and her friends were dropped with one round of shooting from immortals, and she had to pop up out of sight on the other side of terrain. The seraphim were gunned down and did nothing all game. Turn four and all I had left was Celestine. She got one of her friends back, charged into the destroyers holding the Relic and died after dropping three of them.

Game ended with myself being tabled.

I enjoyed the game although I made a couple mistakes but I blame them on my being out of 40K for a while. I think Jon admitted a mistake but it was all fair in a good casual game.

I have been pondering whether to play Adeptas Sorioritas next year when they come out in plastic but they would need a severe boost over the Index. The Index list did nothing for me really but against a full on codex army, I don't think I had much of a chance. Very good fun game though.

---

+++ New Roster (Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition) +++

++ Battalion Detachment +5CP (Imperium - Adeptus Ministorum) ++

+ HQ +

Canoness: Boltgun, Power sword

Canoness: Blade of Admonition, Boltgun, Power sword

Celestine: 3. Tenacious Survivor, Celestine, 2x Geminae Superia, Warlord

+ Troops +

Battle Sister Squad
. . 9x Battle Sister
. . Battle Sister w/ Special or Heavy Weapon: Heavy bolter
. . Battle Sister w/ Special Weapon: Flamer
. . Sister Superior: Bolt pistol, Boltgun

Battle Sister Squad
. . 9x Battle Sister
. . Battle Sister w/ Special or Heavy Weapon: Heavy bolter
. . Battle Sister w/ Special Weapon: Flamer
. . Sister Superior: Bolt pistol, Boltgun

Battle Sister Squad
. . 9x Battle Sister
. . Battle Sister w/ Special or Heavy Weapon: Heavy bolter
. . Battle Sister w/ Special Weapon: Flamer
. . Sister Superior: Bolt pistol, Boltgun

Battle Sister Squad
. . 9x Battle Sister
. . Battle Sister w/ Special or Heavy Weapon: Heavy bolter
. . Battle Sister w/ Special Weapon: Flamer
. . Sister Superior: Bolt pistol, Boltgun

+ Elites +

Death Cult Assassins: 5x Death Cult Assassins

+ Fast Attack +

Seraphim Squad: 5x Seraphim
. . Seraphim Superior: Bolt pistol, Bolt pistol

+ Heavy Support +

Exorcist: Storm bolter

Exorcist: Storm bolter

+ Dedicated Transport +

Sororitas Rhino: 2x Storm bolter

Sororitas Rhino: 2x Storm bolter

++ Total: [105 PL, 1435pts] ++

Deployment.

A clash of arms in the center of the table. 

The Sisters of Battle march to war!

Where am I right now?

I've been out of the 40K side of things for a couple months now. Partly because a loss in the family which required my attention and partly because I have begun to sense a slip in my enjoyment of the game.

I still feel that the 8th edition rules are by far the best that we've had but lately two things have started to bother me. One is the level of competitiveness that is emerging locally and for me it is sapping a lot of my enjoyment. The other is just the sheer amount of FAQ and rules updates that have appeared in the last year and a bit since this edition has dropped. I'm not even sure what order to apply things anymore. Thank goodness Battlescribe handles that well enough.

When 8th came out, all we had were the rulebooks and the indexes. The game felt balanced and fun. The codexes have lost that in favour of a more powergaming style approach. It almost feels like the old days of codex creep. In the beginning I was having a lot more fun and my win to loss ratio was about 50/50. These days unless I am playing against a fellow casual gamer (and there aren't that many locally) I feel that playing has once again become a serious chore. So I have stepped away from 40K for the most part. Give myself a break, play another game which has quickly become more popular for me, and see where I am in a couple months.

It also has not helped that I have become somewhat disillusioned with my Death Guard. I just feel that they don't have what I want anymore. I keep looking at other armies but nothing grabs me. Either I stick to Death Guard or I go back to my old space marine army, which I would rather not do. I'm also pondering whether I should look at Genestealer Cult or wait until next year for the Adeptus Sororitas release - see if they can be made playable.


I know this feels all negative and ugh but that is where I am with 40K right now. I'm not going to give up on it but I think the number of games I'll be playing will drop off a bit.Something needs to give me that big push again, and maybe a short break will do me good.

Worlds of the Narrative: Svartos.

Planet: Svartos.
Segmentum: Solar.
Sector: Midgard.
System: Svartos.
Surveyed: M39.
Planets:
Svartos  - Ice World.

Summery:
A little known world orbiting a pale white star. Svartos was discovered a few years before the end of the Great Crusade and granted by the Emperor to the Space Wolves legion. The frozen ice fields and great volcanos spewing a constant flow of a lava reminded the legion of their own frozen home world. Under Leman Russ the legion constructed a mighty fortress. From here they could protect the coreward advances towards Terra from any potential threats. The fortress is still in use now and with the forces of Chaos slowly making their way towards the seat of Imperial power, the fortress has been resupplied and the garrison increased.

Size: Equatorial distance - 745 miles.
Gravity: 0.62 G.
Satellites: One moon.
Population: None.
Orbit: 152 million miles from it's star. Leviticus 426 takes 248 days to complete one orbit.
Climate: Mean surface temperature of -63 degrees centigrade.

Svartos lies in the path of Abbadon's advance towards Holy Terra. The Space Wolves fortress must fall to prevent them attacking the flank of the traitor forces. Once more, the Death Guard are nominated for this task, much to the chagrin of the Thousand Sons. His eyes now set upon this prize, the great plague fleet of Typhus descends upon the Space Wolves fortress planet.

Notes: This is the world for battles against the Space Wolves. I felt that with the possibility of Leman Russ returning, that they should have their own battle zone.

Tide of Battle:
Deathwatch. victories: 0.
Death Guard victories: 0.
Draws: 0

Necropolis Street Fight - Cerberus

Planet: Cerberus.
Region: Cerberus sector.

Death Guard vs Neotian Saints (Cadian).
500 points.
Mission: N/A.
Deployment: Dawn of War.

Sometimes the smallest engagements can turn the tides of battle. For three months the Imperium have been attempting to dislodge the Death Guard from their holdings in the city of Necropolis but to no avail. Space marines, grey knights and even a small force of Titans have been unsuccessful. The final deciding engagement occurred when two scouting forces met in the rubble strewn streets shortly after dawn...

My good friend Mister Landon has been looking to join our merry gang of Warhammer players for a while and this week we met up at the club for a basic training game. His army of choice is an Astra Militarum (boo! hiss!) regiment named the Neotian Saints (Cadian doctrine). At 500 points neither of us were going to have a lot so we just played 4x4 board with terrain laid out in a X pattern. My points were pretty much two plague marine units and a lord of contagion. I really hoped Landon wouldn't roll out a tank but that's what he did. But it did make for a very interesting game.

Despite setting my army up first, Landon got the first turn and I elected not to seize the initiative. Before the game started Landon activated a stratagem that triggered a pre-emptive bombardment which killed a single plague marine.

The first couple of turns were fairly simple as my opponent moved up on my left with his guardsmen and leman russ, and his taurox sped forward to my more undefended right flank. I lost a couple plague marines to the imperial tank but it would eventually have bad rolls with it's random shots which helped me out. Once I had started moving up the middle of the table, a squad of scions and his warlord dropped down behind me and another squad jumped out of the taurox.

Over a couple turns my lord of contagion hacked his way through all of these, including the taurox. At best he took one wound which was healed via his tainted regeneration war lord trait. With these down Landon was left with one guardsmen squad and his leman russ. My squad with the meltagun moved closer to it, pinning it in place, stripping a couple wounds and then smashing into assault. While by the game ended, I hadn't destroyed it but I did get it down to it's lowest setting.

The game went to 6 before it ended and I won on 4 victory points to 0. A very good game and one that I thought I was going to lose purely down to the presence of the leman russ on the table. In hindsight, my opponent needed to sit it at the back in a good field of fire rather than slowly grind it forwards. In the end I think my ability in assault compared to his guardsmen that won me the game.

I really look forward to the next match we have. If Landon has expanded his army up to 1000 points we can play a regular mission and give him a better experience. The only thing that was a problem for me was a lack of playing 40K for a couple months which meant I had to look up some silly stuff like Rapid Fire because I had completely forgotten (too much playing a different game). Time to hit the rulebook again!

---


++ Patrol Detachment (Chaos - Death Guard) ++

+ HQ +

Lord of Contagion: 3. Tainted Regeneration, Manreaper, The Suppurating Plate, Warlord

+ Troops +

Plague Marines: Icon of Despair
. . Plague Champion
. . . . Codex: Plague knife, Plasma gun, Power fist
. . 4x Plague Marine w/ boltgun
. . Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. . Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun

Plague Marines: Icon of Despair
. . Plague Champion
. . . . Codex: Plague knife, Plasma gun, Power fist
. . 4x Plague Marine w/ boltgun
. . Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plague Spewer
. . Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Blight launcher

++ Total: [27 PL, 484pts] ++

---

The Taurox rumbles forward.

The foolish minions of the false emperor!!!

Plague marines holding out in the ruins.

Like manreaping grox in a barrel!

Update

Unfortunately I have not really been about lately. I had a death in the family and it has taken a bit of toll on me and taken my attention elsewhere. Things are coming to a head shortly and hopefully I can get back to the gaming content.

Siege of Adronberg - Bludhaven

Planet: Bludhaven.
Region: Seraphon Sector.

Death Guard vs Orks.
1500 points.
Mission: Spoils of War.
Deployment: Front-Line Assault.

The Siege of Adronberg was fought over a six month period with the Ork horde surrounding the hive city and trapping the forces of Nurgle within. The city defenses were considered undefeatable by the lords of the Death Guard. The final battle consisted of night time bombing by the Orks before the outer wall was breached by gargants and other large siege devices. With the green tide pouring into the streets, the Death Guard forces moved into engage and halt their assault.

So this game was played at home rather than down the club for a change. My opponent was Gary D who turned up with his Ork army. I had set the table up beforehand so we got right down to it and rolled our mission. Spoils of War against Orks was going to be tough but fun match.

As I recall we both set up our armies so that everything was behind some sort of cover to limit incoming fire as much as possible. I decided to give the Orks the first turn in case I was able to use my last turn and secure victory. It seemed like a good idea at the time anyway.

The Orks began by moving up the right flank under cover of large terrain and the killa kan's marched forth up the center of the table. Of everything on the table, the Kan's were my biggest fear. Sure, I could try and bolter some shots off but if they managed to get into combat with my plague marines then I knew that DR was not going to help me. Thankfully I had the right unit on the left flank to try and handle them. Gary's psychic phases for the first few turns was all about jumping big boyz squads up the table where they were able to assault my lines much earlier than I had anticipated.

From a mixture of shooting and all too soon assaults I had lost both my rhinos and eventually my land raider. Thankfully my deathshroud terminators and lord of contagion were no match for those ork boyz but my main means of dealing with the killa kans were gone. The Orks laid down a lot of firepower and Gary knew what he was doing with his conga line to get the best out of his forces. I lost my cultists very early on and one plague marine squad was swiftly decimated.

Oddly the killa kans were not so much a problem as I had thought. A lot of lucky bolter fire, plasma guns and a meltagun turned out to be what I needed to whittle them down. They did get a good way against the table but I was lucky enough to avoid combat with them. Eventually however, the Orks proved more resilient than I needed them to be. It was the number of boyz and their hammering assaults that ended up taking out my infantry.

If I remember right the game got to turn 6 before it came to a sudden end. Neither of us had much left on the table other than a handful of infantry. Counting up the points it was a close match but Gary had just pipped me to seize victory.

---

After match thoughts...

This game was rather odd. The point of Spoils of War is that you can snatch the objective holding cards of your opponent but we never saw any. Everything that came out of our decks had nothing to do with the objective markers. It was all cast psychic powers, assassinate a warlord, kill units in combat...etc. Very unusual but made for an interesting match up.

I've normally had good luck against Gary's Orks in past games but this time around he had the upper hand. Looking forward to seeing what the Ork Codex (when it turns up) can do for his army.

---

The Kult of Speed approaches!

The battlefield laid out before us.

A Call to Arms!

A smash of Ork boyz.

Shock And Awe - Cerberus

Planet: Cerberus.
Region: Cerberus sector.

Death Guard vs Blood Angels.
1500 points.
Mission: Sealed Orders - Night Fight.
Deployment: Vanguard Strike.

Despite their victories over the Death Guard, the Imperium was spread thinly in an effort to engage the enemy on all fronts. The Astra Militarum did not have the manpower to initiate an offensive against the Death Guard fortress at Salazon. Following a successful campaign in the south, the Blood Angels under Mephiston swiftly redeployed to launch an attack upon the chaos forces present.

I haven't had a game against Jon for a while so when the opportunity came up I took it. He asked what army I would like to face and since I haven't played a lot against Blood Angels under 8th edition this seemed like that opportunity.

John rocked up with a nice Death Company list. He even spent some command points to make his captain a member of the Death Company. Nice and thematic. As I have over the last few games, I have have continued to use the same list in an effort to perfect it. In hindsight, perhaps I should have perfected it beforehand.

Considering the deployment I decided not to take the first turn. By looking at it Jon would need to come towards me and I'd have a chance to try and burn his army down before he could. Again, in hindsight, I should have probably tried to go first. A lot of Jon's army stayed put assault marines and the stormraven moved forwards. I weathered a fair bit of firepower from both the aircraft and his long range predator tanks but I lost the hellforged contemptor and more than a few wounds from my transports. It wasn't long before his firepower took out my transports and cost me a few plague marines inside.

I didn't do well at all. My dice did well when I wanted to hit but they did not want to wound or pass DR rolls. This became very clear once my Death Guard were swarmed in assault by death company assault marines supported by Mephiston. I put up a good fight but the dice and the Emperor were with my opponent. He battered his way through everything I had pretty much until I was left with my lord of contagion on the third turn I think, if I remember right. That was quite a brutal fight with Mephiston and the Lord smashing the blood and snot out of each other but despite the suppurating plate and a man-reaper, Mephiston remained standing and decapitated my remaining model. I didn't even bother counting up the victory points - not that I had many anyway.

---

After match thoughts....

I don't think I've ever had much luck against Blood Angels in any edition and a mixture of good choices and Jon's usual skill ensured that I was going to chalk up another loss. But it was still a good game and I may have learned something about facing this sort of army again. I probably had the wrong army list for what Jon brought to the table but I still enjoyed the match a lot.

Also, apologies for the shortness of this report. Due to work and real life it has been early a month since this match was played and a lot of the details have fled my memory.

---

Normally I post my list but I've been playing the same list a lot lately so for a change here is Jon's list:

Battalion detachment:

Captain with jump pack, stormshield and The Hammer of Baal (1cp for Black Rage).
Mephiston.
5 man scout squad.
5 man scout squad.
5 man scout squad.
6 man death company (sergeant with thunder hammer).
10 man death company with jump packs (two with power fists).
Furioso Dreadnought with heavy flamers.
Predator with HK missile, and lascannons.
Stormraven with stormshrike missile launchers, assault cannons and twin multi-meltas.

The Blood Angels maintain air superiority.

Our deployment and table.

Cultists hiding from the naughty men in red.

Update

Have no fear. I have not forgotten or abandoned you guys. Work and real life have kept me fairly busy. I am working on two recent battle reports which I hope to have up in a couple of days.

Worlds of the Narrative: Leviticus 426

Planet: Leviticus 426.
Segmentum: Tempestus.
Sector: Daedalus.
System: Leviticus.
Surveyed: M41.
Planets:
Leviticus 426 - Dead World.
Leviticus 426B - Dead World.

Summery:
Leviticus is a system on the far edge of the Eastern Fringes beyond even the Tau Empire. The Astronomicon is extremely weak here. It is a barren planet with a barely breathable atmosphere and no resources to speak off. A hundred million years ago this world was part of a new extinct Necron dynasty which fell due to infighting. The remnants of it's technologies still lie deep below the surface.

Size: Equatorial distance - 1,200 miles.
Gravity: 0.8 G.
Satellites: One moon.
Population: None.
Orbit: 17 million miles from it's star. Leviticus 426 takes 31 days to complete one orbit.
Climate: Mean surface temperature of -20 degrees centigrade.

A Deathwatch station sits on the edge of the Tau Empire constantly on the alert for xenos activity. When strange garbled communications are faintly detected coming from what was thought to be a dead world, a Deathwatch team are dispatched to investigate. Deathwatch command aware of the former Necron occupation fear that the modern dynasties could be looking to loot the remains. What the team find upon arrival is a sizable force of Death Guard with eyes on several Tau worlds. Deathwatch command cannot risk the region being destabilized and so order the team to attack and destroy the traitor forces below.

Notes: Leviticus 426 (I'm sure you get the reference) is the world for games against the Deathwatch.

Tide of Battle:
Deathwatch. victories: 0.
Death Guard victories: 0.
Draws: 0

Blockade the Hive - Abraxes

Planet: Abraxes.
Region: Ceres Sector.

Death Guard vs Tyranids - Kraken.
1500 points
Mission: Targets of Opportunity.
Deployment: Spearhead Assault.

Following the recent losses against the Hive Mind, the Death Guard leadership decided that the legion should engage in a blockading action. Form an immense line in a vital location, and weather the storm as the xenos beasts threw themselves against the might of the legion.

This weeks club match was against young mister Charlie. I wasn't sure what he was bringing to the game. At one point it was Harlequins and then that changed, and what I ended up facing off against was a rather nasty Tyranid list. We had already decided on the Targets of Opportunity mission and we rolled Spearhead Assault on the night.

After picking our sides, we set up and I completed mine first. I was quite dismayed to see the sheer number of genestealers arrayed against me. I hoped it would take them a fair while to get to me but then I was introduced to the Kraken faction ability. This was going to be tough. Even with the +1 Charlie got the roll and I decided not to seize the initiative. He had no long range shooting so I thought it would be easier to let him run at me and I'd have a bit better time of it.

To start with the cards did me well. I started on two of the objectives I needed so I held those rhinos and their occupants. As usual only my hellforged contemptor walked forwards. I figured no point getting into a position where the genestealers could assault me easily. I wasn;t doing their job for them. On their turn I learned what the kraken ability was much to be horror. The whole mass shifted and swarmed up one side of the table clearing so much ground that next turn they would be in assault position no matter where I put my options. Charlie's winged hive tyrant manged to get into combat with my contemptor. He knocked two wounds off I think and in return I did nothing.

My second turn revolved around staying out as the cards didn't want me going forwards and I knew I was going to be overrun fairly quickly. I held my ground and tried to go down as many as I could. As I should come to expect my dice were terrible early on and I barely made a dent in them. On the hived tyrant was smacked down to it's last couple wounds and did nothing to my contemptor. Come my opponent's turn and one rhino was surrounded by genestealers and torn apart. I lose the squad inside. The winged hive tyrant jumped from combat to smite my plaguecaster, who passed his disgustingly resilient rolls, and promptly exploded his own head with a perils of the warp. The hive tyrant fell having been utterly useless.

Turn 3 and I was just about keeping it together with the tactical objective cards. A lot of what I was drawing was kill units and a well drawn assassinate the warlord (even if he's already dead). But it wasn't helping long term. The genestealers tore down another rhino and my land raider. The broodlord, I think it was, tore through my cultists. I was left with my lord of contagion and his deathshrouds. Turn 4 and all four succumbed to the wall of teeth and claws. I was tabled down to a man.

---

After match thoughts...

I had played the same list that have been trying of late. I want to use it as a base line for what I field and in this match it didn't do well. Had my plague marines actually been able to get out of the the rhinos before they went down, I might have been able to gun down a few more genestealers. This was the first time I ever played against a list that surrounded vehicles and locked down any attempt to escape. Not something we see at the club really so it took me a little by surprise.

A good fun game. Had I managed to get to the end of turn 5 I could have won on victory points as I was ahead by two I think when I was tabled. Maybe next time.

---

++ Battalion Detachment +5CP (Chaos - Death Guard) [87 PL, 1466pts] ++

+ HQ +

Lord of Contagion [7 PL, 117pts]: 3. Tainted Regeneration, Manreaper, The Suppurating Plate, Warlord

Malignant Plaguecaster [6 PL, 110pts]: 1. Miasma of Pestilence, 6. Curse of the Leper

+ Troops +

Chaos Cultists [6 PL, 48pts]
. 9x Chaos Cultist w/ autopistol and brutal assault weapon
. Chaos Cultist w/ special weapon: Heavy stubber
. Cultist Champion: Shotgun

Plague Marines [10 PL, 155pts]: Icon of Despair
. Plague Champion
. . Codex: Plasmagun, Plague knife
. 4x Plague Marine w/ boltgun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun

Plague Marines [10 PL, 156pts]: Icon of Despair
. Plague Champion
. . Codex: Plasmagun, Plague knife
. 4x Plague Marine w/ boltgun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Blight launcher

+ Elites +

Deathshroud Terminators [11 PL, 180pts]
. Deathshroud Champion: Manreaper, Plaguespurt gauntlets
. 2x Deathshroud Terminator: 2x Manreaper, 2x Plaguespurt gauntlets

Hellforged Contemptor Dreadnought [10 PL, 196pts]: Havoc launcher
. Left Arm: Hellflamer, Hellforged deathclaw
. Right Arm: Kheres assault cannon

+ Heavy Support +

Chaos Land Raider [19 PL, 356pts]: Twin heavy bolter, 2x Twin lascannon

+ Dedicated Transport +

Chaos Rhino [4 PL, 74pts]: Combi-bolter, Combi-bolter

Chaos Rhino [4 PL, 74pts]: Combi-bolter, Combi-bolter

++ Total: [87 PL, 1466pts] ++

The giant beasts advance at the head of the xenos force

How many genestealers????

Cultists guarding the objective that the tactical cards loved.

Our battlefield and deployment.

Missions - Narrative Play

After Apocalypse, which I shall come to at a later date, Narrative Play is oddly, one of my least favourite gaming formats. I really like the missions but not how they are supposed to be played. Unlike Match Play, Narrative missions aren't designed for equal play. One army is quite often put into a much more difficult position than the opponent rather than both being set up fairly and then getting on with the game. What this means is, that unlike regular missions both players usually have to plan for these games rather than just turn up to a club on an evening and playing as with more standard missions.

Part of the reason for this is the added complexity. Narrative games use additional rules to represent elements of the battlefield from hidden deployment to artillery fire from off table support. For a game which isn't overly complex by itself, I find that these can bog the game down a little, stretch out the length of the game and add to the one-sidedness.


Historical wargames are more what I think of when I consider narrative games. The games played are often recreations of actual historical battles which are normally also one sided and the players try to test their ability to alter the flow of events and see how they could have done given the situation. The following video is a good example of this.

Unfortunately Warhammer 40K cannot do this very well. Partly it is because of the scale. Warhammer is 28mm which makes it perfect for skirmish games but not larger engagements. True historical games are more like 6mm (what we once had as Epic 40K - space marine and adeptus titanicus) which means you can cover a lot more of the actual conflict. At 28mm Warhammer 40K is all about those few minutes (probably less) in a certain spot where the final outcome was decided. The rest of the battle is taking place off the side of the table out of sight.

For myself I would much prefer to play the Narrative missions as regular Eternal War missions. Drop the Narrative mission rules additions and just play. They are good fun if you are having a mate over for a sunday afternoon's gaming and you've both put a lot of effort into fine tuning your lists but not so good for pick up games.

Worlds of the Narrative - Bastion

Imperial Fists / Adeptus Custodes

Planet: Bastion.
Segmentum: Solar.
Sector: Solarum.
System: Bastion.
Surveyed: Pre-Imperium.
Planets:
Bastion I - Dead World.
Bastion 2 - Death World.
Bastion 3 - Fortress World.
Bastion 4 - Dead World.
Bastion 5 - Gas Giant.
Bastion 6 - Gas Giant.
Bastion 7 - Gas Giant.
Bastion 8 - Ice Planet.

Summery:
Bastion was one of the first worlds terraformed by humanity not long after they achieved warp flight. It began as a military training facility that swiftly grew into a sizable colony. When the early Imperium relocated the planet it was determined that it's position was perfect to as a shield world absorbing potential incoming attacks. The planet was given over to the governorship of Rogal Dorn who established an Imperial Fist contingent alongside elements of the Imperial Guard.
Since then, Bastion has survived with very little conflict but the garrison remains ready and able to blunt any invading force headed for Holy Terra.

Size: Equatorial distance - 10,500 miles.
Gravity: 1.2 G.
Satellites: One moon.
Population: 15 billion.
Orbit: 162 million miles from it's star. Bastion takes 340 days to complete one orbit.
Climate: Mean surface temperature of 27 degrees centigrade.

With the fall of Cadia, Abaddon's crimson path has not faltered. He has taken the time to consolidate his position on the worlds surrounding before pushing forwards. Now, nearly one hundred and fifty years later, he calls upon his allies to continue the push towards the Imperial seat of power. As before, the Death Guard lead the assault but first they must overcome the forces station on Bastion.

Notes: This world is for battles against Imperial Fists, Sisters of Silence and Adeptus Custodes mainly.

Tide of Battle:
Imperial Fist victories: 0.
Adeptus Custodes victories: 0
Sisters of Silence victories: 0
Death Guard victories: 1.
Draws: 0

1. First Strike.

First Strike - Bastion

Planet: Bastion.
Region: Solarum Sector.

Death Guard vs Imperial Fists.
1500 points
Mission: Roving Patrol.
Deployment: Hammer & Anvil.

Streaking out of the Warp the great plague fleet comes on it's route towards Holy Terra. Only the fortress world of Bastion stands it's way. The Death Guard ships blast aside the orbiting defence platforms before deploying huge ground forces to the surface.
The initial battle took the defenders by surprise and by the time the Imperial Fists could take to the battlefield, the Death Guard had already seized a number of vital strategic locations.

This game was long in coming. I have for a while wanted a match against my friend Gary and his Imperial Fists. I am not sure but I think this may be my first game against them since the drop of Codex: Space Marines.

We rolled randomly on the night for the mission and we got Roving Patrol with us deploying length ways down the table. We each had an objective in our deployment zones to hold and would need to march forward to clash over the third one sitting in a ruin at the center of the table. My starting force was a rhino with plague marines inside and the hellforged contemptor. I kept the rhino behind cover close enough to my objective that when the time was right I could leap out and claim it. The contemptor I wanted to move forward, clear some of gary's marines from their objective and basically draw fire. We could both tell though that the turns would be short and it was going to take a while to get to the middle.

Over the first two turns I got all my reinforcements in and proceeded to move up the table. A second rhino with plague marines went up my left flank while a land raider with my lord of contagion and his deathshroud bodyguards tried to make for the middle. While a few wounds game off things, it was my contemptor that drew the fire over the first two turns and was ultimately gunned down by a mix of plasma and grav weaponry. A little disappointed it died but it's job was to soak fire so I can't complain.

Gary's army was very static to start with, as one should expect from Imperial Fists and I think that if he had been more forward in the early part of the game he may have done better. It meant though that I was able to get to the middle with little resistance and capable of putting a lot of firepower out that was slowly taking his marines down. Eventually as his primaris marines started up the table I began to take casualties. Both rhinos and the land raider went bang, although thankfully after their occupants had jumped out. Rather than use the plague marines to hold my objective I decided to push them forward and let the cultists from reserve clamber up to keep it.

The biggest threat on the table to me was the stormraven and I did have to assign a lot of firepower to finally bring it down. Once it was a burning wreck my life became a lot easier. Likewise I think Gary really wanted rid of my land raider.

Once Gary's marines got around the objective they gunned down all my plague marines and my deathshrouds, leaving my warlord to stand over it, plaguereaper in hand. The game turned into one of brutal combat where somehow my warlord smashed through marines and their captain with ease. His warlord trait keeping him alive to do so. The game went to turn 6 and victory was mine with just my lord of contagion, plaguecaster and cultists left standing. The Imperial Fists were down to a few men and not in a fit position to fight me further!

---

After thoughts...

This time I decided to change my list and go back to basics. I keep trying odd combinations lately and they haven't been working. I can't say with 100% certainty that it was my list that helped win that match but I do think a combination of that and the distance the space marines had to walk up the table. The deployment of Hammer & Anvil really meant that the first couple turns of the game were going to be rather quick. Thankfully taking rhinos for a change helped with that.

A very good fun game. The mission/deployment was interesting too although under a different deployment type it would have been a very different game.

---


++ Battalion Detachment +5CP (Chaos - Death Guard) [87 PL, 1466pts] ++

+ HQ +

Lord of Contagion [7 PL, 117pts]: 3. Tainted Regeneration, Manreaper, The Suppurating Plate, Warlord

Malignant Plaguecaster [6 PL, 110pts]: 1. Miasma of Pestilence, 6. Curse of the Leper

+ Troops +

Chaos Cultists [6 PL, 48pts]
. 9x Chaos Cultist w/ autopistol and brutal assault weapon
. Chaos Cultist w/ special weapon: Heavy stubber
. Cultist Champion: Shotgun

Plague Marines [10 PL, 155pts]: Icon of Despair
. Plague Champion
. . Codex: Plasmagun, Plague knife
. 4x Plague Marine w/ boltgun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun

Plague Marines [10 PL, 156pts]: Icon of Despair
. Plague Champion
. . Codex: Plasmagun, Plague knife
. 4x Plague Marine w/ boltgun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Blight launcher

+ Elites +

Deathshroud Terminators [11 PL, 180pts]
. Deathshroud Champion: Manreaper, Plaguespurt gauntlets
. 2x Deathshroud Terminator: 2x Manreaper, 2x Plaguespurt gauntlets

Hellforged Contemptor Dreadnought [10 PL, 196pts]: Havoc launcher
. Left Arm: Hellflamer, Hellforged deathclaw
. Right Arm: Kheres assault cannon

+ Heavy Support +

Chaos Land Raider [19 PL, 356pts]: Twin heavy bolter, 2x Twin lascannon

+ Dedicated Transport +

Chaos Rhino [4 PL, 74pts]: Combi-bolter, Combi-bolter

Chaos Rhino [4 PL, 74pts]: Combi-bolter, Combi-bolter

++ Total: [87 PL, 1466pts] ++

---

Contemptor versus Stormtalon

Battle for Bastion.

Space Marines pretending to be Imperial Fists

8th edition one year on...

It has been a year since Games Workshop blessed us with Warhammer 40K 8th edition. It has had some rough patches but I think we can safely say that this is the best the game has ever been but has it held up as well since it's release? Well as much as I do love this edition, I must say that I enjoyed it more a year ago when we just had the Index books for the army lists. The Codexes have made their armies more powerful but somewhere along the way it has detracted from the casual flavour that the game had at time of release. I don't get quite the same level of entertainment from 8th that I did this time last year.

Game balance has gone from being fairly neutral at release to being a lot more gamey with each new codex. Some codexes, such as Grey Knights, have suffered but most have increased to a level of competitiveness that borders on the old concept of codex creep. While this is to be expected I did prefer the old balance under the Index books. There was discussion at the time that tournament players had helped balance out the Index entries and I had hoped that such would continue but I don't think that has been the case. At least, I have not heard of that since.

The psychic phase is still much better that what it was previously and I have no problem with the so called Smite Spam that has caused Games Workshop to almost nerf the power. I really think it is one of those elements of this edition which seems to have been spoiled by the overly competitive players. Locally I never see Smite being thrown around like many internet posters seem to cry on about. Doesn't mean that it isn't there somewhere but my experiences are very different.

Vehicles were better at surviving at the start of 8th edition. As more codexes have been released I do find that that survivability has begun to dip somewhat, and units like Knights which are obvious fire magnets tend to die far too easily. At the start I was zooming tanks around the battlefield but as the year has passed I find that I either rely on stationary artillery types or else I have fallen back on the idea of leaving tanks in a fortified position much like I did during the previous editions.
I still don't mind vehicles not having facings but I think that weapons should have arcs rather than being able to fire from any point on the model.

Command Points (CP) have been a great addition and recently modified based upon the three main detachments. However, I would like to see a change. Rather than a base number plus whatever the detachment gives you I would rather that each player receives a set number - I would say 15 or 20 - regardless of detachments or game size. The reason being that that would allow the basic stratagems like re-rolls but would also allow players to more fully utilize the army specific stratagems which otherwise don't really see a lot of play.

I'm still very pleased that we no longer have scatter dice or templates. I know that random number of shots has been very popular and that 2D3 would be better than 1D6 but it still works. No more arguments about which way the scatter points or units having to be strung out awkwardly to avoid template hits has been a bit of a godsend in my mind.

I'm still not a fan of the alternating combat system from Age of Sigmar. I'd rather the charging units go first but then the active player picks a combat and everyone fights simultaneously.I find that a fairer way of doing it. It's the only aspect of the IGOUGO system that I don't like.

Likewise I still think that dice rolls should be reversed to be re-rolls and then modifiers. It would more intuitive and make a lot more sense. I have had fellow players try and explain the reasoning but I just don't see the reasons for it.

So all in all, I still find 8th to be the most enjoyable edition of the game thus far. It isn't perfect, we still need decent rules for terrain for instance, but enjoy the games I have a lot more under this rules set than I did previously. If Games Workshop can keep going with the Chapter Approved books and maybe drop us some campaign books then I see the issues it has being fixed and the game growing stronger.

The Abraxan Salt Flats - Abraxes

Planet: Abraxes.
Region: Ceres Sector.

Death Guard vs Tyranids - Leviathan.
1500 points
Mission: The Relic.
Deployment: Hammer & Anvil.

This battle took place on a vast expanse of salt flats dotted with abandoned mining stations. It was one of the largest engagement of the first year of the war. The Death Guard had come to this site desperate for resources and munitions to help combat the xenos menace. Although they failed to accomplish their task, they were successful in decimating this army of the Tyranid forces.

Another match up against my friend Shadbolt and his Tyranid forces. We agreed to play The Relic mission and rolled the Hammer & Anvil deployment. I had not had much time, as usual, to plan a list out so I basically took what I played in last week's game minus Mortarion and a couple plague marine models. When I gazed down upon what Shadbolt had brought to face me I knew I was going to have trouble. I should have made the time to work on that army list.

Although I had the option I decided to let the Tyranids get the first turn but only because I didn't want to get my infantry up to the relic and then get assaulted by genestealers. Shadbolt started out moving his gaunts and genestealers forward and quite close to snatching the Relic straight away. Come the shooting phase, he had his tyrannofex start blasting away at my plagueburst crawler. If if I didn't know otherwise I'd think he didn't like it.

For the start of my turn I moved up everything I had pretty much. Only the plagueburst crawler stayed put. On my left flank I was trying to get my hellforged contemptor into combat with Shadbolt's gaunts in order to get some wounds back. My other infantry and bloat drone moved towards the center. I wanted that Relic. My warlord and his deathshrouds moved up the right flank with the idea of getting the big monsters locked in combat.

Although I made many disgustingly resilient rolls on Shadbolt's turn, it was very much in his court. He pulled away from my left flank forces unwilling to risk the combat, and his genestealers snuck in to take the Relic. His shooting was rather spot on, and he knocked a lot of wounds off my crawler, but as it was extremely disappointing this game as usual, I didn't mind so much. Despite my good rolls I was slowly losing models.

The game started to turn when I had an idea on turn 3. Due to my shooting and I think Shadbolt's desire to get his genestealers and broodlord into combat I was able to lure his forces away from the Relic once I had inflicted enough casualties. It cost me everything I had to do it and on turn 4 all I had left was my plaguecaster who had done very little all game. With his demise and the talons of the genestealers the game ended and with no one to have their grubby claws on the Relic the game ended with a draw.

---

Afterthoughts...

This was a really fun game and goes to show how good 8th edition is when played with a casual attitude. Shadbolt is a great opponent who gets the idea of the non-competitive approach.

My list was okay, but I don't really know what I would have taken differently. Nothing else in my collection would really have helped I don't think.

The Tyranid list was very nice. Genestealers are a nasty unit to deal with and I knew that I was going to struggle there.

---

++ Battalion Detachment +5CP ++


+ HQ +

Lord of Contagion : Manreaper, The Suppurating Plate

Malignant Plaguecaster : 3. Plague Wind, 6. Curse of the Leper

+ Troops +

Plague Marines : Icon of Despair
. Plague Champion: Plague knife, Plasma gun, Power fist
. 7x Plague Marine w/ boltgun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun

Plague Marines : Icon of Despair
. Plague Champion: Plague knife, Plasma gun, Power fist
. 5x Plague Marine w/ boltgun
. Plague Marine w/ melee weapons: Flail of Corruption
. Plague Marine w/ melee weapons: Great plague cleaver
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plague Spewer
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Blight launcher

20x Poxwalker

+ Elites +

Deathshroud Terminators
. Deathshroud Champion: Manreaper, Plaguespurt gauntlets
. 2x Deathshroud Terminator: 2x Manreaper, 2x Plaguespurt gauntlets

Hellforged Contemptor Dreadnought : Havoc launcher
. Left Arm: Hellflamer, Hellforged deathclaw
. Right Arm: Kheres assault cannon

+ Fast Attack +

Foetid Bloat-drone : 2x Plaguespitters, Plague probe

+ Heavy Support +

Plagueburst Crawler : 2x Entropy cannon, Rothail volley gun

---

The set up to an all too brief skirmish which saw the Deathshrouds slaughtered.

The battle lines are drawn.

Foul smelling plague marines.

A horde of genestealers waiting to be unleashed.

Rain of Warpfire - Susperia

Planet: Susperia.
Region: Eye of Terror.

Death Guard vs Thousand Sons
2000 points.
Mission: The Relic - Fire & Fury.
Deployment: Search and Destroy.

A largest engagement ensued when Mortarion led his Death Guard into the flesh plains thus far unclaimed by any warlord. There they encountered his rival Magnus the Red, also leading his legion forth. As both armies prepared to face off for dominance, a great storm of Warpfire poured from the blazing red sky onto the battlefield.

This is a game against Marko that we had been planning for some time now but either work commitments or illness got in the way. Last week we finally managed to achieve that game.

I want to start off with a small caveat, I am not a sore loser. Even the most one sided game I can happily take something from it and come out happy. Unfortunately this game was not one of those. Much like the game I had some months ago against my friend Mike, the point of this game was supposed to be one of Primarch versus Primarch while the rest of our armies fought and died over the proper mission. A gentleman's agreement if you will. As you will read that is not how it turned out. I just wanted to put this forward now before anyone comments about "that is how the game is played" and calling me out as a sore loser, when that isn't the case.

With that done, enjoy.

---

Unlike most of the games I play at the club in the last year, my opponent and I had not decided upon a mission in advance. All we knew was that we wanted to use the Fire & Fury battle zone. We rolled off and got The Relic, which I had not played for some time and so was rather excited to play. We rolled the Search & Destroy deployment which also does not come up very often. After picking sides we set up our armies.

I was lucky and secured the first turn. Everything bar my plagueburst crawl moved forward to try and get as close to the Relic as possible. I advanced Mortarion up so that we could get on with the main event of the night. Shooting wasn't very accurate but I did managed to do away with some tzaangors and some cultists. About the only time by plagueburst crawler actually hit anything!

This is where the game took the unpleasant turn. My opponent moved his units, cast the plethora of psychic powers that Thousand Sons are known for and then decided to ignore the point of why we set this game up in the first place. He proceeded to throw smites and open fire with almost everything into Mortarion successfully knocking quite a few wounds off him. More than a little irritated I asked my opponent why? His response being something like smug like "Tzeentch changes things" which quite frankly rubbed me the wrong way. He had obviously decided not to play to the narrative game that we had agreed and instead decided to go full competitive and out for the kill.

Turn two and I pulled a few units back as I realized that Marko had some scarab terminators and a terminator sorcerer in reserve. The main infantry, two plague marine squads and a 20 man block of pox walkers moved forward to grab the Relic. Mortarion prepared for the upcoming fight whilse trying to stay out of sight of the predator trio that Marko had brought to the game.

Marko's turn 2 was explosive. Using his psychic might he stripped Mortarion of his invulnerable save before smiting and unloading almost everything into him. I lost a few plague marines to heavy bolters and a few pox walkers fell. Magnus charged into Mortarion and cut him down. The only good bit was Magnus took a mortal wound from the exploding primarch.

From here I just became somewhat self defeating. Where the first two turns neither of us managed to hit with the flaming bits of warpfire plummeting from the sky but from here I don't think either of us bothered with it. I was just hoping for a quick defeat while Marko was going for the kill.

Over the next couple turns I did manage to get my hands on the Relic twice but both times Magnus charged the lucky unit decimating it. His terminators did drop down into my deployment zone where they blasted the plagueburst crawler and eventually dropped it with smite. Turn five however and Marko had tabled my entire force. This was one game that I was glad was over.

---

After thoughts...

I find it hard to be objective about this game. When you go into something with an agreed to format and then your opponent ignores that, and proceeds to completely stomp you going to feel a bit pissed off. I must admit that my opponent has history and I am seriously considering not playing them again.

Would it have made much difference had we not made that initial Primarch vs Primarch agreement? I still think Marko would have won. He is just so much more competitive than I am. I would have probably made a very different list but against his psychic might I would still have had a hard time.

---

+ HQ +

Lord of Contagion [7 PL, 117pts]: Manreaper, The Suppurating Plate

Malignant Plaguecaster [6 PL, 110pts]: 3. Plague Wind, 6. Curse of the Leper

+ Troops +

Plague Marines [13 PL, 231pts]: Icon of Despair
. Plague Champion: Plague knife, Plasma gun, Power fist
. 7x Plague Marine w/ boltgun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun

Plague Marines [13 PL, 259pts]: Icon of Despair
. Plague Champion: Plague knife, Plasma gun, Power fist
. 5x Plague Marine w/ boltgun
. Plague Marine w/ melee weapons: Flail of Corruption
. Plague Marine w/ melee weapons: Great plague cleaver
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plague Spewer
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Blight launcher

Poxwalkers [6 PL, 120pts]: 20x Poxwalker

+ Elites +

Deathshroud Terminators [11 PL, 180pts]
. Deathshroud Champion: Manreaper, Plaguespurt gauntlets
. 2x Deathshroud Terminator: 2x Manreaper, 2x Plaguespurt gauntlets

Hellforged Contemptor Dreadnought [10 PL, 196pts]: Havoc launcher
. Left Arm: Hellflamer, Hellforged deathclaw
. Right Arm: Kheres assault cannon

+ Fast Attack +

Foetid Bloat-drone [8 PL, 158pts]: 2x Plaguespitters, Plague probe

+ Heavy Support +

Plagueburst Crawler [8 PL, 152pts]: 2x Entropy cannon, Rothail volley gun

++ Super-Heavy Auxiliary Detachment (Chaos - Death Guard) [24 PL, 470pts] ++

+ Lord of War +

Mortarion [24 PL, 470pts]: 4. Blades of Putrefaction, Warlord

++ Total: [106 PL, 1993pts] ++