State of Play 2010.

The festive holidays are here, which means a fair bit of must be devoted to family. This, in turn, means a lot less time devoted to gaming. Which is a shame really as I do not want to end the year with a loss (damn those untrustworthy rusty Necrons). Having said this, I think that another game between now and New Year is not going to happen.
So it has to be time to look to the future. In the coming year, I seriously hope to not lose as much and I aslo seriously hope to actually read some rulebooks and get things to stick in my mind. I also hope to take part in another tournament or two. This would most likely be for either Warmachine or 40k (the Tanelorn London Riots was good fun), but I would be open to other themed tourneys. Campaigns at the Cross Gaming Club will be a must and I hope to take part in as many as I can.
As for the collecting side of things, I will be hopefully be making a few purchases here and there:

• I'm not going to add to my Dark Angels. They don't need anything else, unless a new Codex comes out with some spanking new must-have models.
• I want to add some more Destroyers and Heavy Destroyers to my Necrons. Maybe some Warriors as well. I think I have enough Elite units to cope.
• As I have just made a significant Dwarf purchase, I now have a LEGAL force that I can use. New units here and there will be a must.
• My Protectorate of Menoth have what sounds like a cool unit to be released soon, so I may have to get me some of those. I still want a Castigator and a Fire of Salvation, and possibly a new Warcaster too!
• I will definately add to my Terrasaurs and Empire of the Apes for MonPoc. I will hope to play more games in the New Year.
• One of my friends has a blister of Van Saar Gangers and one of Juves that I'm hoping to take off of his hands. May try and find a Bounty Hunter and/or Scum to add to the fun.

As usual, there isn't going to be much painting being done but a little more effort will be made. I can't wait to get back into the gaming.

Why did I do that for?

Like any other gamer, I play in a few different systems. Actually, it's only since I've been attending Charing Cross Gaming Club that I have branched out into other systems. Before, I was just loyal to 40K with my Dark Angels and Necrons. But now, I play Warmachine with my Menoth, Monsterpocalypse with my Terrasaurs and Empire of the Apes. In the past, I have also collected Fantasy Dwarfs and Warriors and Daemons of Chaos, but those flirtations never became any thing.
Until now! I managed to get rid of my Chaos horde (all those Warriors, Knights and Horrors) but for some reason kept my Dwarfs. I have seen an opportunity to make my Army of Smaller Persons into an actually legal force. I have never played Fantasy. I had no inclination to play Fantasy. So why did I agree to take on even more Beardy Midgets? I have trouble remembering the rules for 40k and Warmachine. I've just started to take MonPoc a bit more seriously and also don't want to lose touch with Necromunda. So why do I have the urge to start playing with Dwarfs?

I guess I have all of next year...

Necrons vs Orks (Planetary Empires) - 17/11/09

After a long absence flirting with various Privateer Press games, I dusted off my Rusty Ruiners (not sure that’s a good word/name) and got back into 40k. As mentioned previously, I signed myself up to take part in a Planetary Empires campaign down at Charing Cross Gaming Club. I had chosen to challenge Paul (EdSmahsa) and his Ork army. Before the game, Paul had gone through what bonuses I could get for holding certain tiles on our map. I was holding a Hive City and other bits, I would be receiving + 150 points to add to my army, a bonus for my reserve rolls, and a chance to give up to three of my units special abilities.


Unsure of the make-up of Paul force, I took the following:

Necron Lord with Resurrection Orb and Destroyer Body.
3 x Wraiths
6 x Immortals
14 x Warriors
13 x Warriors
13 x Warriors
4 x Destroyers
3 x Destroyers
3 x Heavy Destroyers
2 x Tomb Spyders

I felt fairly confident with this list as I had a shooty core of Warriors and Immortals, and then my Destroyer Flying Circus to move around and cause a bit of trouble. That was until I saw what Paul was taking! Paul hasn’t mailed me his list yet, but from what I can remember there were:

Four trukks full of Boyz
Four Bike including big boss guy (forget his name)
Shokk Attakk Gun plus lots of Gretchin.
Snikrot.

We rolled for deployment (Spearhead), mission (thingy kill points thingy) and set-up (Paul won and I couldn’t seize the initiative either). The Trukks and bike all set-up in a line almost at the edge of their deployment zone, making sure that at least one Trukk was looking to try and out flank me. The Shokk Attak Gun stayed back but it was close enough to threaten me from the start. Snikrot stayed back in reserve.

I set up two small cores of firepower (one of two units of Warriors and the other with the Immortals and remaining Warriors) in the centre of my zone, while the Wraiths looked to cover my left flank and my Flying Circus to go out to my right.

TURN 1

Paul made a general (and scary) advance towards my front line. One Trukk went to hunt my Wraiths and another went to hold up any potential Destroyer advance. There was some cannon fire from the Trukks but with very little effect. The Shokk Attak gun surprised everyone with an accurate shot, but gave no surprises when my Warriors shook it off.
I decided that my core units were not going to move at all and just sit and fire. The Wraiths took cover from the oncoming Trukk on my left flank. The Destroyers moved out and poured fire into first immediately into the first visible Trukk (which subsequently blew up and killed half the Boyz onboard) and then into the bikes (causing a miserly single wound). Their shooting could have had a calming effect on me by being a tad more effective. As it were, it was down to the massed fire power of my Warriors and Immortals. Combined they managed to disable a single Trukk and take out the weapons on another. No comfort to be had there either.

TURN 2

Paul was forced into disembarking two of his Trukks, but didn’t mind as they were pretty much in charge range. Which is what they did. 24 Boyz charged directly into the centre of my force. The Trukk on my left advanced and unloaded, while the ejected Boyz on my right charged the Destroyers. The bikes also made a charge on my Immortals. A little bit of shooting saw the Shokk Attak gun surprise again. This was also an accurate, but ineffectual shot. The large mob of 24 Boyz decided to shoot before they engaged. This had managed to put some of my tin pots on their backs temporarily. Combat came along and hurt me very much. My Wraiths 3+ Invulnerable saves were no match for 11 Boyz, not including the Nob (44 attacks!). To my right, the six Boyz who were thrown from their destroyed Trukk charged the first unit of Destroyers and took down two. The bikers charged into the Immortals with devastating results. Not one of the Elites were left standing. Then came the big one Pauls two units of Boyz charged forward as one. They targeted my Warrior unit. Paul and I decided to treat this as one big combat. 24 of his Boyz vs 14 of my Warriors. We worked out that without the Nobs, Paul would roll a hefty 88 attack dice. I can’t remember how many of my trashcans fell but it was about a quarter of them. Naturally they just wanted to rest a little.
My turn was fairly easy. No Wraiths on my left. My Immortals gone. My Warrior core engaged. All that I could do before resuming combat was to move and fire upon Paul’s bikerz. My Destroyers managed to whittle the Speedfreeks down to the Nob and one other. My Destroyer unit that was engaged got cut down which unfortunately meant the those six Boyz would be able to charge next turn and cause more havoc. My only hope would be for my Warriors brave warriors to allow themselves to be killed which could possibly set-up a kill-box allowing my two remaining units of Warriors to catch the Orks in a deadly cross-fire. Sadly this didn’t happen due to a good saving throw and a Tomb Spyder nearby. Only half of the unit now remained.

TURN 3

This turn like last turn saw Paul fail his reserves roll which meant that Snikrot could not come in and damage my fire base. Paul then looked to cause more mayhem with his bikes as they charged into my Destroyers with his Power claw wielding Nob taking a couple down. The Boyz in the middle finally took down the Necron roadblock only to look down more than two down Gauss Flayer barrels. On my right, Paul’s ‘Destroyer-Hunter’ Boyz engaged another unit (this time my Heavy Destroyers) with good effect. None were left standing/hovering.
My turn was looking very bleak indeed. With most of my Flying Circus down and out and my Wraiths and Immortals dead as well, outcome of the fight would come down to how long 26 Warriors and a Tomb Spyder could hold out against a practically unscathed Ork horde. The shooting phase was over pretty quickly as I only had a total of 52 to hit rolls to make. The C’Tan were not smiling on me as most of the shots bounced off of the Orky armour plating (!?!?). But several Greenskins DID die, but not enough to cause a Panic test in either mob. This left the last of my Destroyers to fight off their opponents. They proved that they are not combat specialists and were torn apart. There also was the last charge of my Necron Lord against the Warboss on his bike. He managed to wound the big guy, but was then lost the last of his own wounds.

ORK WIN

As it was nearing closing time at the club, we had to wind our game up here. Which I was quite thankful for as I didn’t want it to be a complete massacre. Paul getting the first turn was my downall. He was able to get all of his Boyz in and do what they do best and chop enemies to pieces. I was also thankful for not facing Snikrot. While never coming up against him before, I know that Snikrot can be quite a painful fellow. If I had first turn I would have properly set up a kill zone to trap the Orks, probably making it easier for me. My Wraiths didn’t have the chance to be as effective as the last time I used them. The Flying Circus would have tried to take down the Trukks before they reached me, causing the Greenskins to come to me on foot. Thay also could have zoomed around and been a general nuisance.

A heavy loss for me allowed Paul to try and take one of my territories on the map, which he did successfully. I now have to make this up against some one else. The bright side of this battle was the fact that my Metal-heads did not phase out. Could this be the start of a good habit.

My Dark Angels and my Imperial Guard.

Dark Angels were not my first love when I started war gaming. In fact I was attracted to the Space Wolves. I loved Space Wolves Grey. I loved that they were crazy, bloodthirsty Nordic-style warriors. Some of the first miniatures I bought were Njal Stormcaller, the Iron Priest and Ragnar Blackmane. I painted them badly, and thought this would be a good start.
Now a dozen or so years later, I have realised that they wouldn’t be good for me. It's probably because I lost these guys. The Dark Angels became my chapter of choice. For me, Azrael just looked a bit cooler, especially when he was depicted in a diorama featured in White Dwarf a long time ago. Also, I liked the way that they are based on a knightly order and that they had a lengthy initiation process.
Today, my little green guys are sitting in boxes simply gathering dust. Like a lot of other DA players, I think that the new Codex Space Marines made them weaker. This is probably the main reason that I started my Necron side project last year. I have heard talk from someone at the club that the Dark Angels (and indeed the Blood Angels) would get a makeover. If that’s the case, then I will certainly look to get the duster out.
I have amassed quite a large force over the years with the army standing at 10810 points (11260 if you add Legendary units for Apocalypse games). Out of this lot,I can field a whole battle company (without transports), which I have used in the only Apocalypse battle I played so far. I won’t be adding to this anytime in the near future unless I see a decent deal.
Another army that I am currently neglecting is my Imperial Guard force. The reason behind this is that they will consist of only Mordian Iron Guard and Praetorians (with a few old style Stormtroopers (the static ones with the berets)). There are a few different paint schemes amongst the force as I lost most of them, bought new ones and then painted the differently, and then found the older ones. I thought this would be nice as it would reflect the idea that several Imperial guard armies who have suffered great numbers of casualties, would all be thrown in together and form a new Legion. Although in this case, all troops are fiercely loyal to their home force that they refused to wear a new coloured uniform (besides trying to refit a whole army at the other end of the galaxy is simply not going to happen). As these types of Guard are not made any more, I can’t really add to them. Last month, I brought some old Mordians and Stormtroopers from a guy at the Cross Gaming Club which has now made my force just about legal under the new edition Codex. I haven’t updated my spreadsheet for my Guard, but I think they would stand at a little over 2000 points. Suitable enough to get bossed around by my Dark Angels. I could start using my Guard in games, but seeing as I will not be buying new models I think they will become a little stale because they will not be as flexible as either my Necrons or Dark Angels. However, they are biding their time…

Why do things happen at the same time?

I ask this because there is going to be a Necromunda campaign going on at the club. Seeing as I have committed myself to the Planetary Empires campaign, I don’t think I’ll have the time take part. I would have loved to taken my Van Saar gang along.


Hallow’d Way’s Reservoir Frogs were an unlucky gang, losing most of the time to their only opponents at the time. Due to a lack of interest in fighting from other gangs in the area, they took it as a sign to retire. Now there is talk of a comeback and potential participation in a campaign. Youngsters have now taken up the names of these legendary (useless) gang members, and hope to do Mr Brown, Mr White, etc, proud.

Knowing my luck, they will perform just as badly as their predecessors (and my Necrons, and my Menoth, and my…), but there’s no harm in trying.

Necrons are GO!

After giving all of my attention to Warmachine for the past few months, I have decide to go back to playing 40k for a while. I have decided to keep my Dark Angels boxed up as they (and I) are waiting for a new Codex or an update at the very least. According to various forums, the Necrons are also waiting for a new Codex. But, for me, they are still current enough to still be fun. According to my spreadsheet, they now stand at a total of 5104 points (thanks to a recent acquisition of three Tomb Spyders and 5 Immortals from). I think that would be enough for me to be flexible in picking smaller lists, although you can never have enough Warriors. I still plan on adding at least a full unit roughly every month as long as I’m not distracted by another Privateer Press games system.


At my local gaming club, there is going to be Planetary Empires campaign run by EdSmasha and his Orks and I have put my metal minions forward for this. It would be good to finally get a game against EdSmasha, as our last two games have been cancelled due to illness and then childbirth. In additional to myself and EdSmasha, there will be four other players (including Nick the Dark Eldar player who tore my trashcans a new a-hole a few months ago (please see previous posts)). There will be a nice mix of armies in this campaign with some Eldar, Ultramarines and Tyranids completing our sextuplet of participants.

I am quite excited about this new campaign, but I’m up against some really good players. That, coupled with my bad dice and luck, should mean that I would be better off sticking to Dawn of War on my PC. But I shall turn up with a fully painted army (thank the C’Tan for spray paint!), which is something I cannot do with any other army for any other game (even my Van Saar Necromunda gang is incomplete). And, as ever, I will also turn up in the hope of gaining a victory.

Monsterpocalypse? Yes please!

I've decided that the Cross Gaming Club is a dangerous place for me. Since I have started to attend, I have been roped into Warmachine/Hordes and now Monsterpocalypse. I was just happy building up my Necron army, awaiting the new Codex that's supposed to be coming out next year (also waiting to see if they give the Dark Angels an updated Codex as well). If I built them up to say 10,000 points, I, then at that point, might have actually started to read the Warhammer rules and then made my Dwarf army legal. I'm now safely hooked on WM/Hordes (although taking a break after the Riots and a C2A league at the club) and have now turned my greedy eyes on plastic monsters. The idea that there is a game that plays exactly like an old monster movie is just too much to resist. I've watched games where monsters throw each other and stomp and rampage through built up cities.
As the Monpoc scene was gradually gathering new players just like Katamari Damacy, a guy called Carlos decided to purchase the Series 4: Monsterpocalypse Now! Mega Kit and get people involved. Also he needed 5 additional people to cover the cost, I helpfully put my name forward. Once it was agreed who was taking which faction (I chose Empire of the Apes), we all got together after London Riots and shared out the Mega Kit. Because no-one knows what is in each box, we had to swap our goodies until we got what we wanted. It is a nice idea to do this, but I had reservations about this because you can't choose what you get. But having to swap means that you will most likely meet another gamer and end up playing after you trade. After divvying up all of the monstrous goodies, I had to rush home as I had something planned with my Princess at home. From what I heard, the rest of the Mega Kit Shareholders had pretty decent games.
I had to wait for the following Wednesday in order to get my first game. Instead of playing on club night (Tuesday) I met Carlos in a pub in Marylebone to go through the finer points of Monpoc. Carlos used his one of his new monsters from the Mega Kit (UberCorps Gorghadratron) while I used the Terrasaurs Terra Khan (whom I picked up in a box of Series 1 Monpoc stuff on evilBay). I probably should have used one of the monsters from the Mega Kit (King Kondo or Gakura), but somehow felt that a rampaging dino would have been better. It was to work out how things should work like how many units you can spawn, how to balance the Action Dice between monster and units, which buildings to stomp all over, etc. Even though it was just a friendly, I still ended up on the losing side despite being in a pub called the Perseverance (my secondary school motto being Persevere (I forget how to spell the Latin version) which I thought was a good sign). It was my first full game and I didn't know much of what all the various symols mean and how that could affect my play. A good idea would be to actually pick up, and read, a rulebook. I don't think I've ever sat down and immersed myself in any set of rules (I thaven't even read the Monpoc, Warmachine or 5th ed 40k rulebooks!) as I think it's best to learn by playing. But as I have a bad memory, I get confused and ended up losing. Which is something I should remedy as soon as possible.

London Riots

Sunday, November 1st - Tanelorn Wargames Club, Wanstead.

Woke up bright and early for my first Warmachine/Hordes tourney (not counting Charing Cross Crush which was squeezed into half an evening). Living some way aways from Wanstead, I had plenty of time during the bus/DLR/Tube ride to psych myself up for my first win. I stepped out at Wanstead Tube a little early so I decided to walk to the venue. After what seemed like a minute, a very light shower turned into a heavy shower. All my good thoughts went down the drain at that point, not a good sign. I arrived at the venue very much soaked. Everything I wore was totally drenched. Thankfully my t-shirt was only about 20 percent wet. And this was only 0940 in the morning. I had to spend the rest of the day playing with wet feet. With all the greeting and rules laid out by Tanelorn's John Snape, we got down to the gaming.

The day was pretty hectic and I didn't take any notes (also have a shit memory) so there won't be much detail.

The rules stated that we had to pick a 450 point list without a Warcaster/Warlock. Instead, we had to take three warcasters/warlocks and rolled ramdomly for each game.
My list consisted of:
Feora, Kreoss and Severius
Crusader, Devout and Revenger
Exemplar Seneschal
Zealots (full strength plus Monolith Bearer) and Exemplars Errant (x7).

My tactics throughout the day was for the Errants to try and outflank whenever possible, while the warjacks, caster and Seneschal would advance behind the Zealots. I stuck to this plan pretty rigidly for most of the day, which was good as it meant that I didn't listen to the voice that wanted to live dangerously.

My first game was against a guy called Jay and his Skorne.
This was a pretty frustrating game as Jay for the most part used a spell (I forget what it was called) on his troops which meant that when if my attacks against them missed, they could move for free without backstrike. I could hardly scratch anything. Jay bided his time and certainly made his move on Feora. Loss!

Next up was against a guy called Jon and his Asphixious-led Cryx.
This was bad. No good memories from this game at all. All my 'jacks were taken out by two units of Drudgers (?) with the scary ability Headbutt. This left Severius particularly vulnerable when surrouned by these aforementioned units. Loss!

Following this, was a game against Richard and his Legion.
This was a fun game against a fun player. My Revenger got chewed apart my two Shredders in an extremely slow manner and didn't really hit back hard enough. Seneschal took a Hydra down to a single point only to be smooshed by the said beast when it was fully healed. Feora went in to show how it was really done but was then let down by her troops when they couldn't stop her from dying. Loss!

Last game of the day was against another Jon (who beat me in three turns the week before last) and another Asphixious-led Cryx force.
Jon's Zombie pirates threw me off-guard. My Zealots were pretty much taken apart. Seneschal made good progress on a Leviathan leaving it only able to attack with it's tusks. Time was called before Asphixious could take advantage of his good position and kill Feora. Draw!

Still no win! I had a lot of fun but still no win. Overall, I wasn't generally happy with my gameplay. My Zealots proved why you shouldn't leave home without them. At times they caused quite a bit of damage to the enemy, and thankfully not much to themselves this time. I don't think I used my Errants as best I could. They were victims of hit and run attacks by Richard's Legion, torn apart by Jon's (last game) Cryx and left dumbfounded by Jay's Skorne. Special mention goes to the Seneschal. He had Feora's Ignite on him for three of the games and was pretty dangerous. Causing 4d6+13 damage on his first hit, 3d6+13 on his second and then 2d6+13 on his chain attack, he dealt a fair bit of death. Feora also proved to be a combat machine with Engine of Destruction. I didn't utilise my 'jacks much all day, I was pretty conservative with them. But the worst performer out of the lot was Kreoss! He never deigned to show his face even once.

This day left me pretty much exhausted. This seemed to be a fairly laid back tourney, so I would have to pull myself together if I want to attend something a bit bigger. But thats something to think about in 2010 as I'm going to go back to 40k and play with my equally unlucky Necrons.

Another Warmachine Double Header 20/10/09 (part 2).

The second game of the evening was against Jon (aka Dancingmonkey) and his Cryx. There was quite a contrast in the make-up of both armies with mine troop heavy and Jon's 'jack heavy.

My force saw Feora leading the following:

Jacks: Devout and Revenger
Units: a Choir (full strength), Zealots (full strength with Monolith Bearer), Exemplars Errant (full strength) and Temple Flameguard (x 8).

Feora came up against Mortenebra who led:

Jacks: Nightmare, Harrower, Deathripper, Defiler and Cankerworm.

We played using the Bodyguard scenario, which meant neither of us had to mess around with capturing objectives and simply go for a 'caster kill.

We rolled for set up and first turn. I won the roll and opted to go first. For set-up, I placed my Zealots to the left of my deployment zone and my Flameguard, 'jacks and Feora on my right. If Jon had wanted to get a 'caster kill, he would have to come down my right-hand side. This would be ideal as my Zealots could just run around the hill in the centre of the board and out flank the Cryx force. Jon set all of his force on my right except for Cankerworm, who was placed in the centre of his deployment zone. After that, I had my Errants advance deploy on the hill in the centre of the table facing the right. What I wanted was a gauntlet for Jon to run down, coming through crossbow fire before hitting the Shield Wall of my Flameguard. With set-up finished we went to turn one.

TURN ONE

A quiet turn for both players. I set about a general advance. The Errants moved slightly further up the hill followed by the Revenger. The Flameguard did the same while staying in tight formation. Feora and the Devout kept pace with the Flameguard and stayed behind them. The Zealots ran halfway across the battlefield in order to skirt the hill. At this point Feora had decided to sit on all of her Focus, giving her DEF 15 and ARM 23!
Jon moved his Harrower towards my Errants, Nightmare towards my Flameguard and Cankerworm towards the oncoming Zealots.

TURN TWO

The Zealots continued running. In fact they reached the opposite deployment zone and found the the Cankerworm sitting in a shallow pond. They couldn't do anything more as they collected their breaths and thier thoughts. The Errants decided to use their crossbows to open fire on the Harrower. This didn't prove to be particularly effective as only a handful of points worth of damage was casued. The remaining units all stayed where they stood. Once again, Feora kept all of her Focus.
Jon took the offensive line by having the Cankerworm, Harrower and Nightmare charge the Zealots, Errants and Flameguard respectively. Cankerworm held up the rushing Zealots by killing three. The Harrower laughed off the pitiful display of shooting and charged into the Errants. Only two of the Exemplars fell as a result, but had used Bond of Life to keep engaged with the Harrower. Jon was only building up the carnage as he loaded Nightmare with Focus in order to cut a path through the Flameguard towards Feora. Five of the Flameguard fell leaving only three to guard their leader.

TURN THREE

After the witness the slaughter of the rightous Menites, I decided to take action. The Monolith Bearer used Greater Destiny, so that his followers could disengage from the Cankerworm without harm and do waht they do best. Once at a safe distance (within range, of course) they launched their Firebombs. Cankerworm exploded as it was subjected to seven POW14 blasts. The Errants didn't fare so well. Those that could engage did resonable damage but not enough to seriously hurt the Harrower. Not even the Revenger, who decided to help out and charged the Harrower from behind, could take down the enem Helljack. This left the small matter of the Nightmare. The Flameguard went forward to engage with a combined melee attack and did as much damage as they could, which turned out to be not much. The Devout charged in as well, again just causing minor scratching. After watching her forces do so badly, she decided to show them how to do things. She cast Engine of Destruction, which boosted her own decent stats (+2SPD, +4Strength, +2MAT), and threw herself at the Nightmare. While causing considerable damage, the helljack remained on its feet.
There wasn't much for Jon to do as he had Feora in sights (melee range). All he needed was for Nightmare hack Feora to pieces. Which it did, despite Feora sitting on two points of Focus.

END OF GAME

Jon was kind enough to point out that in the last turn, Feora should have bought extra attacks with her two remaining Focus. This could have finished off Nightmare allowing me to regroup slightly. Other than that, the Zealots could have made it accross the table to Mortenebra and try to soften him up. The Errants may have taken out the Harrower with numbers and then gone on to support the Zealots. Also, while drawing up some notes on the train (the batteries in my camera had already run out), I realised one very important thing I should have done. In the second turn, the Errants decided to fire their crossbows at the Harrower. I remember measuring to see if they were in range, that the distance between them and the Helljack was nine inches. CHARGE RANGE! 10 Errants (or maybe only as many as can fit around the Harrowers base) with Weapon Master and charging would have caused 4d6+10 damage each! That would have put a bit of pressure on Jon at that point and made the game a bit closer. The cagey start made it look the the game was even, but in the end two well place 'jacks controlled the game.
Thats just another thing that I will have to remember for other times.

Warmachine double-header 15/09/09 - part 2

After the carnage of the first game, I don't think I actually wanted (or needed) a second game. Vish (who was offering a few tips in the first game) offered to have a friendly battle and run through the finer points of the game. We agreed that we'd play a 500 point game and he would be using his Khador. Vish and I made new lists on the spot while Vish explained a bit about selection to me. So I took a trimmed down list from the previous game, leaving out the deliverers and a couple of  'jacks this time.
Vish gave me more tips about deployment and movement, and went through different synergies I could try. There were a few things that I will keep looking to use. For example, (and I'm probably not going to help myself here by giving away some of my plans) the use of Wracks as explosives. I managed to get Severius to aim Ashes to Ashes at a Wrack. The Wrack duly exploded with a POW 15 balst with 5" AOE. This managed to soften up Vish's Demolition Corps first before Ashes to Ashes kicked in and gave an additional POW 12 hit to each member. This took down three out of five of the unit which I thought was quite effective! There are others (like last game where I cast Death Sentence on Den's Titan Canoneer and hit it with my Deliverers) that I'm trying to work on over the next few weeks. I'm aware that the timing of some of these combinations may be few and far in between, but I'll need to work out how to make it happen. Using the more or less the same lists week in, week out I should be able to do this.
Back to the game, I properly learnt the value of a Monlith Bearer. What he can add to the Zealots is just awesome. From what I've learnt from the PP forums and Battle College, Mr M. Bearer is being toned down a little under MKII rules but will still be able to make the Zealots a harder hitting unit.

The game still ended with me on the losing end again, but I suppose you learn more through losing than winning. If thats the case, why don't I win sometimes?

Warmachine double-header 15/09/09 - part 1

I had signed myself up for two games of Wamachine/Hordes in one night. This was a night were I massively overstepped my Warmachine mark. As a relative newbie to the game, I made the mistake of jumping from 350 point games to a 750 point game! I didn't even graduate from playing 500 pointers. The difference was huge, I had to control more models than I was prepared for.

I took up a challenge from a Skorne player called Den. Den brought with him a wonderfully painted force, with a great blue and gold theme throughout. His force was led by the Lord Assassin Makeda who creeps me out a little, crouching with his fans. The rest of the force consisted of:

Warbeasts: A Titan Cannoneer, a Titan Gladiator, a Basilisk Krea and a Cyclops Savavge.
Units: 5 Paingivers and two units of 9 Praetorian Swordsmen.
Solos: An Ancestral Guardian, two Extoller Soulwards, one Void Spirit and Orin Midwinter.

Against this I fielded a force led by Severius and his Hierophant attachment. He was accompanied by:
Warjacks: A Crusader, a Revenger, a Repenter and a Devout.
Solos: Exemplar Seneschal, Reclaimer, a Vassal and three Wracks.
Units: A full-strength Choir,9 x Deliverers, 7 x Exemplar Errants and 10 x Holy Zealots with Monolith Bearer attachment.

The game was massively overwhelming for me so I wish I had taken pics in order to record the game better. The game started off sluggishly partly beacuase I just couldn't figure out in which order to do things, but then warmed up when I started dying. A lot of things went wrong for me as most of these units and solo's were making their debuts.
There was just a bit too much going on to actually write a proper report here, so I'll just list my high and low points.

LOW:

• I didn't use my Hierophant as I should have. All he did was take three points of damage from Severius.
• The Exemplar Seneschal was totally not effective and therefore deserved to one of the ones to die first.
• My Revenger with Arc Node died quickly. As did my Reclaimer.
• I didn't use my Wracks enough.
• I deployed in a way that I was sometimes blocking my own troops.

HIGH:

• A Severius 'Death Sentence'/Deliverers combo took out the Titan Cannoneer.
• The Zealots proved to be quite a tough screen for some time (I love giving them Holy Vigil and then when they get close enough, pulling off Greater Destiny).
• The Exemplars Errant were effective at range.

Makeda was never in danger as firstly he was sat behind a unit of Paetorians, and then able to teleport himself close to Severius and kill him. I thought maybe Severius might have been safe enough as can't be targeted by spells and he had a Devout in tow blocking ranged attacks.

But still, it was an enjoyable game. I really hope that Den wasn't put off by my mistake to play such a big game.

Protectorate additions.

Back in June, I didn't think I would really get into Warmachine. But when I got the Protectorate of Menoth battlebox, I don't really need to explain how it went...

Now nearly three months down the line, I have amassed a sizeable force already. The idea was to purchase at least one unit per month. This would be difficult to do as I am trying to make my 40k Necron army the same size as my Dark Angel force, just another 7000 points or so to go! But, I have been severly hit by the Privateer Press bug! So much that I have given up on expanding my metal minions (well they do weigh in at 4793 points) for the time being. I will come back to them at some point next year, unless I'm unable to resist the Monsterpocalypse bug!


My current force is as follows:

'Casters: PSeverius, PKreoss and PFeora. Plus Hierophant 'caster attachment.

'Jacks: one each of the following, Crusader, Repenter, Revenger and Devout.

Solos: Reclaimer, Vassal, Exemplar Seneschal and Wracks (x 3)

Units: Choir (full strength), Deliverers (full strength), Zealots (full strength) with Monolith Bearer unit attachment, Exemplar Errants (full strength) and Temple Flameguard (x 8).

Next on my list would be to make Flameguard full strentgh and add their unit attachment. I would also like to add a full unit of Exemplar Vengers. As for more Warjacks, I've got my eye on a Blessing of Menoth and another Revenger. Eventually, as with my Necrons, I would like at least one of every unit. This would then enable me to look into the possibilty of collecting a Hordes force (looking at Skorne, but who knows?).

The sad thing for me about collecting more models, is the painting aspect thingy. I really hate painting! I can never gather the patience to do it and when I do, I remember that my technique is really poor. This really annoys me as my wife, who is quite ticked off with the amount of space taken up by all of these models, gave me a recommendation/compromise/rule that I should only buy new models when I've finished painting everything else. If I had to guess how much more I have to paint before this can happen, it would probably be something silly like 15/16ths of my entire collection. I probably wouldn't be able to buy anything until after the next two World Cups. This might call for a lengthy absence from work and getting rid of my PC!

Necrons vs Orks

*** This entry is actually really late. I have forgotten most of the game already. I managed to begin writing and you will see exactly where I finished. It might be laziness, or I could use the excuse that I was actually preparing for my big holiday! ***



Another Tuesday night at Charing Cross Gaming Club, another tabletop battle. Tonight I had arranged a game of 40k against Edsmasha and his Orks. I had played Orks before against one of my friends, but that time I used my beloved Dark Angels. My Necrons had never faced the dreaded Greenskins before (they are yet to encounter the majority of all 40k armies), so I eagerly awaited the game. But it wasn't to be! Edsmasha had become a father for the third time very early tuesday morning (congrats again), so we had to call it off. This is the second time our game had been cancelled as he had been hit by 'Ork' flu previously.


I managed to get a game against another player, whose opponent also bailed, called Edge (I forgot his real name). We agreed upon a 1500 pointer with my Necrons facing Chaos Space Marines.


My list was as follows:


Necron Lord with Resurrection Orb and Destroyer Body


6 x Immortals


3 x units of 10 Warriors


2 x units of 4 Destroyers


3 x Heavy Destroyers



Edge took the following:


Chaos Lord with Daemon Weapon and Wings


1 x unit of Khorne Berserkers with Personal Icon


1 x unit of Chaos Space Marines with Aspiring Champion (armed with Plasma Pistol and Power Weapon), Icon of Chaos Glory, 2 x Melta Guns and dedicated Rhino Transport


1 x unit of Chaos Space Marines with Aspiring Champion (armed with Power Fist), Icon of Khorne, 2 x Flamers and dedicated Rhino Transport.


3 x Obliterators


Land Raider


9 x Summoned Lesser Daemons (Daemonettes of Slaanesh)



We rolled for scenario (Seize Ground) and deployment (Spearhead). I won the roll for setup and first turn. I set up in the table quarter to my right. The idea was to set up all my mobile units around the Lord so that they benefit from the Resurrection Orb (provided they all stayed together and not get distracted). They would then be able to concentrate all of their fire power on a unit/tank per turn. I set two units of Warriors next to the objective in my quarter. My last unit of Warriors could then move forward towards the objective in the centre of the table. The Immortals would sit in front of them to provide some decent fire support.

Edge had all three of his units tucked away in their transports and looked to move around the main building in the centre of the table. The Chaos Lord set up deep in his table quarter to stay out of trouble and then use his wings to get into the thick of things. The Obliterators were held back in reserve.

TURN 1

END OF GAME

After turn 7, it ended with Edge (playing his second ever 40k battle) controlling two objectives compared to my one. The good news was that I didn't Phase Out like I usually do. I managed to get rid of the tanks and transports fairly early forcing Edge's troops to run all the way to my front-line. It still didn't stop the Berserkers from doing what they do best. I was happy with the way all my Destroyers were more durable thanks to the Lord holding a Resurrection Orb. Credit for this would go to Nick (one of the 'Grown Ups' at the club), as it was his helpful hint that led to the creation of my Flying Destroyer Circus. I remember that this was a fairly tense game, which may have been the reason why I was a bit more cautious than I should have been. A total of 12 Destroyers should be able to zoom around the table scaring the crap out of my enemies and suffer minimal casualties themselves.

I enjoyed playing with this list, and would like to entertain the idea of entering a tounrey with this list at some point in the future. I would need to practice a bit more though as I'm still finding my feet with the 5th ed rules. Hopefully I will get that game with Edsmasha.

Necrons vs. Dark Eldar

Tuesday night is here again. Another chance to act just like a teenager, but in an adult way.
Tonight I am up against Nick and his Dark Eldar at the Charing Cross Gaming Club. I have never come up against Dark Eldar before, so this should be fun. We had arranged to have a 1750 point game.

I took the following:

HQ
The Deceiver

ELITE
4 x Pariahs
6 x Flayed Ones

TROOP
3 x 14 Warriors

FAST ATTACK
4 x Destroyers
4 x Scarab Swarm bases

HEAVY SUPPORT
3 Heavy Destroyers

They were facing:

HQ
Archon – Punisher and Tormentor Helm, Combat Drugs, Plasma Grenades, Shadow Field, Animus Vitae

ELITE
Dracon – Punisher and Tormentor Helm; retinue of Incubi; Dhazhar – all mounted in a Raider with Dark Lance

TROOP
4 x 10 Warriors – two Dark Lances in each squad
2 x 5 Warriors – Splinter Cannon and Shredder mounted in Raiders with Dark Lances

FAST ATTACK
5 Reaver Jetbikes – 2 with Blasters. Succubus with Punisher and Tormentor Helm
Talos

HEAVY SUPPORT
2 Ravagers – 3 Disintegrators each

We rolled the Seize Ground for the mission and Pitched Battle for the Deployment. The terrain was a fairly dense cityscape. We set up our objectives and rolled off for setup and first turn. Nick rolled higher, but gave me the first turn.
I had set up looking to take the two closest objectives early (one on my right flank and one just left of centre). I set up the Deceiver in a central position so that he could react to anything major. I set the Pariahs and Flayed Ones up on my right in order to move forward using the cover available. Nick only set up two of his Warrior squads and his Talos in a building in his deployment zone. Everything else was in held back in reserve. I used Grand Illusion to move some of my units. I moved the Pariahs and Flayed Ones in a more central position, just opposite Nick’s Warriors.

TURN 1

For my movement I moved all of my Warrior squads closer to their closest objectives with one unit actually doing so. The Flayed Ones, Pariahs, Scarabs and the Deceiver all ran forward. My Heavy Destroyers and Destroyers moved into firing positions. The Heavy Destroyers unleashed the first shots claiming two warriors. The regular Destroyers claimed a few more from the same unit. This caused them to fail a Leadership test and run.

Nick’s warriors cemented themselves in the building they were stationed in and opened fire on my Heavy Destroyers. The combined efforts of four Dark Lances took out two.

TURN 2

The Warriors on my left moved to claim another objective. The Warriors in the centre moved to get into firing range. The Flayed Ones, Pariahs, Scarabs and Deceiver continued their advance towards the Dark Eldar. The remaining Heavy Destroyer claimed the life of another foe. The Destroyers didn’t so as well as the previous turn dispatching only two. The Scarabs were in assault range so they swarmed forward in order to tie some warriors.

Nick rolled for his reserves but only got his Reaver Jetbikes. The Jetbikes and Talos advanced forward. Nicks Dark Lances sang again taking down the last of the Heavy Destroyers and two of the Destoyers.

TURN 3

I failed my We’ll Be Back rolls from the previous turn. The Pariahs and Flayed Ones edged closer to the enemy. The Deceiver sighted the Jetbikes and homed in on them. My central most Warrior unit opened fire taking the lives of two more Eldar. The remaining Destroyers failed in their shooting. The Warriors on my left, shot at the Jetbikes dispatching with one of them. The Scarabs continued to hold up a unit of Warriors in combat. The Deceiver launched himself at the Reavers, killing two.

The rest of Nick’s reserves arrived on the table on both flanks to reinforce his line. His Archon and retinue came in on my left. The Archon disembarked and moved toward the isolated Flayed Ones. The Talos joined the combat with the scarabs after successfully shooting at the Pariahs, killing two. The reaming Warrior units combined the take out the rest of the Pariahs. One of the Ravagers to my right felled the remaining Destroyers. The Scarabs were swiftly taken out of the game. The Deceiver killed more of the Reavers, who promptly broke and fled.

TURN 4

Not much action this turn! The unit of Warriors on my left ducked into cover. The Necron Warriors in the centre aimed at the Dark Eldar opposite, to little effect. The Deceiver engaged the Talos and failed to hit.

The Archon Charged the Flayed ones and killed half of the unit. The Incubi and retinue carried on toward my left and opened fire at the closest Warriors killing nine. The Dark Eldar Warriors whittled down the number of Necrons in the centre of the table. The Talos, while still engaged with the Deceiver shot its tail laser thingy (I forgot its name) and took out four Necrons in the centre. The Talos survived the combat for another turn.

TURN 5

Again I couldn’t do much this turn either The Necron Warriors decided to shoot some pointy ears, again with little effect. The Deceiver took out the Talos.

Every available Dark Lance on the table concentrated on the C’tan and banished him from the physical realm. The Incubi and its retinue wiped out the Necrons on my left. The Archon charged the Warriors in the centre of the table and wiped them out too. He then consolidated towards the remaining Warriors.

TURN 6

With the game poised at on objective each, it was important my last remaining Warriors stayed alive. So they hid in a building.

Nick charged forward with his Archon, who threw a grenade before engaging the last Necrons. The effect of this was to cause my metal minions to Phase Out!

END OF GAME

Quite a thrashing, don’t you agree? Nick played very well, concentrating on the main threats in an orderly fashion. Also, everything went wrong for me. Shooting was bad, WBB rolls and combat rolls too. It didn’t matter at the end if my remaining Warriors had survived. They were engaged in combat by the Archon, which meant the objective they were holding was now contested.
But it was an enjoyable game. As pretty much all of the games at the club are friendly, so you cannot really feel bad about losing. You just have a drink and talk about the good dice and bad luck.
Despite playing on and off for 15 or so years, I got to see a more experience player in action, whom I can learn from. I also got to see a different army play and learned about their style too.

Necrons vs. Tyranids

My friend Dan and I had been planning this game for a little over a month. Originally, this was going to be a 1500 pointer but I wanted a larger game (as I can only play smaller games at my local club). So we set this at 3000 points per side. I had more or less had this list already made up, the only decision I had to make was if I wanted to take my Pariahs or not (they had performed badly the only other time I have used them). Dan was still putting some 'gaunts together as we arrived. I knew that Dan would upgrade his bugs as much as he could, so I would have to rely on shooting them up before he engaged my tin cans in combat.
My list consisted of:

HQ
The Deceiver
'Lefty' the Necron Lord - Warscythe and Veil of Darkness

ELITE

6 x Pariahs
7 x Immortals

TROOP

5 x units of 12 Warriors

FAST ATTACK

3 x Wraiths
7 x Scarab swarm bases (split into a unit of 3 and a unit of 4)
2 x units of 4 Destroyers

HEAVY SUPPORT

3 x Heavy Destroyers
1 x Monolith

Dan's Tyranid list was:

HQ
Hive tyrant- Enhanced Senses, Toxic Miasma, Extended Carapace, Toxin Sacs, Scything Talons, Venom Cannon, Warp Blast
Broodlord- Extended Carapace, Feeder Tendrils, Toxin - Retinue of 8 Genestealers - Acid Maw, Extended Carapace, Toxin, Scything Talons

ELITE
Carnifex- Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands, Mace Tail
2x Lictors
Warrior Brood- 5 x Deathspitters 1 x Barbed Strangler, Enhanced Senses, Toxin, Scything Talons

TROOP
12X Genestealers- Feeder Tendrils, Scuttlers, Toxin, Extended Carapace
12x Genestealers (as above)
12x Genestealers (as above)
23x Termagaunts
23x Termagaunts

FAST ATTACK
3x Raveners- Scything Talons and Rending Claws, Deathspitters

HEAVY SUPPORT
Carnifex - Scything Talons x 2, Adrenal x 2, Spinebanks, Mace Tail, Bonded Exo-Skeleton, Extended Carapace, Reinforced Chitin, Regenerate, Acid Maw
Carnifex - Scything Talons, Enhanced Senses, Mace Tail, Bonded Exo-Skeleton, Extended Carapace, Reinforced Chitin, Barbed Strangler
Carnifex - Enhanced Senses, Mace Tail, Bonded Exo-Skeleton, Extended Carapace, Reinforced Chitin, Twin-linked Deathspitters

We played on a 6x4 foot area on Dan's floor. We had a bit of a terrain fail, as I forgot to bring my big bag of scenery. Dan didn't fancy playing over clear terrain (I wonder why?), we had to resort to DVD box sets set up in a hilly valley type landscape. I rolled for scenario (Seize Ground) and Dan rolled for deployment type (Pitched Battle). We rolled again and placed a total of three objectives (one outside Dan’s deployment zone to my left, one on a hill outside my zone to my right and one to my right not to far off the second objective). With that in order we rolled for set-up and first turn which I won. Dan attempted to 'Seize the Initiative' but failed. I opted to set-up first and take the first turn. I had set up with three Warrior units poised to take the closest objectives on my right in the first turn. They were backed up by a unit of Destroyers. The Heavy Destroyers sat just behind a small hill that would give them an elevated position and a greater field of fire. The Pariahs stood behind The Deceiver looking to follow him around the battlefield. Lefty and the Immortals was looking to move toward bolstering my left flank. The Wraiths stood in the centre waiting to see where the action was happening just like the Scarab which wanted to tie up anything big. I left the Monolith and two units of Warriors in reserve.

Dan set up his Hive Tyrant and on my right looking to shake me off the two objectives I was set to take. The Brood Lord with retinue, both Termagaunt units and the Raveners set up on my left to swarm the other objective. Both Lictors and 3 units of 'stealers were held back in reserve.
I used The Deceiver's Grand Illusion ability to rearrange my army. I moved a unit of warriors out to my left to add some firepower to the Immortals. The Pariahs were moved towards the oncoming Carnifexes in order to benefit from their Warscythes.

TURN 1

I moved all of my Destroyers into better positions on elevated ground. This worked as my Heavy Destroyers took 2 wounds off one Carnifex. Not much else happened as I wasn't in range of much else. So I took position on the two objectives closest to me and waited for the bugs.

Dan used a manoeuver I don't think is in the Tyranid playbook. He hid his Carnifexes behind cover! He pretty much hid all of his units in this turn. His Termagaunts and Broodlord crept up on my left flank while trying to hide at the same time.

TURN 2

First up I rolled for reserves which never came. Most of my units stayed in roughly the same position. The Pariahs and Deceiver moved slowly towards the cowardly Carnifexes. My shooting left a lot to be desired. While having a high proportion of shots on target, they didn't do much in the way of wounding. So I couldn't do much. Although the Warriors on my left shot down a few Termagaunts.

Dan rolled for his reserves and got all of them. The three units of 'stealers all used flank march (The dice led two units to come on from my left flank and one from my right (which subsequently eyed up some of my Warriors)). The Lictors appeared out of the foliage on the hill where my Heavy Destroyers sat. Dan’s Carnifexes and Hive Tyrant felt adventurous and came out of hiding. They started to shoot and targeted some Destroyers and Warriors taking out a few of each. The Lictors kicked off the first close combat and killed two.

TURN 3

No reserves again, must be something wrong with our superior technology. Again I was pretty lucky with my WBB rolls as all my Heavies got back up again. In the movement phase, the Pariahs and Deceiver moved towards the oncoming Carnifexes again. My Wraiths centered on one of the Lictors. Not much else moved after that. My shooting phase was not that great again. Despite cracking off a large amount of shots, the Warriors, Destoyers and Pariahs on my right just couldn't wound the big beasties heading toward them. The Warriors and Immortals fared a bit better and took out some Termaguants. The Wraiths proceeded to slice and dice one of the Lictors that was harassing my Heavies. On that high note, my turn ended.

The Tyranids then did what they do best! They swarmed forward en masse towards my brave little toasters. Shots from the Carnifexes Deathsptitters Took out one of the Destroyer units and the Pariahs. The Raveners fired upon the Wraiths with their Deathspitters and hoping to target the Heavy Destroyers as well. The Heavy Destroyers all fell but the Wraiths stood thanks to their invulnerable save. The Raveners then followed up their shooting and attack the Wraiths. This time they weren't so lucky with two of them falling. The Genestealers and Brood Lord on my left converged on my Warriors and engaged them in combat. Combat was fierce, but a lot of the wounds were saved. The 'stealers on my right also engaged some Warriors as well. Both units giving as good as they got with casualties on both sides.

TURN 4

Reserves at last!!! The Monolith finally makes an appearance, and as it does so, it dispenses a rather welcome unit of Warriors who look to make a break for the left flank objective. But they faced by the fast approaching Termaguants. With the situation on my left flank looking dire, Lefty decided to gather his Immortals and use the Veil of darkness to try and help out with defending the two objectives on my right. Unfortunately, they scattered in front of the Hive Tyrant and a Carnifex. The Deceiver moved in the same direction but was not in range to charge. Nothing else could move because they were either engaged in combat or just wanted to defend objectives. The Immortals opened fire at the Hive Tyrant and but were pretty ineffective. The remaining Destroyers managed to finish off the Carnifex next to the Tyrant. Time for close combat came and Lefty led a plucky charge against the Hive Tyrant hoping to make use of his Warsythe. Lefty managed to cause only one wound while his Immortals struggled as to do anything. A few of the also Immortals failed their armour saves for good measure. The final Wraith managed to cause a couple of wounds on the Raveners but was destroyed. The Warriors on both sides managed to stem the flow of the Genestealer threat. Both units causing a few wounds while taking a few themselves.

Dan was now in a position to sweep in from my left but had to get rid of the Warriors in their way. In order to do this, he used one of his two units of Genestealer to help out the Brood Lord and retinue by engaging the Warriors. The other units raced on towards the Destroyers. The Termaguants raced towards the Warriors looking to contest the objective on the left. The Raveners also saw this threat and promptly moved toward them. The now unengaged Lictor wandered over to the last unit of Destroyers with metallic murder in its eyes. The two Carnifexes continued their advance towards the right flank objectives and opened fire on the unengaged Warriors causing minimal damage thanks to some good saving throw dice. Going into combat, the Warriors on my left succumbed to the combined 'stealer threat. The Warriors on my right still managed to hold off their own threat with a couple losses on each side. The Hive Tyrant finished off Lefty and his Immortals. The Lictor (now joined by some 'stealers) held its promise and murdered one of the Destroyers, but it died surprisingly easy as well. The Termaguants also got in on the combat action, losing more wounds than they caused.

TURN 5

The Monolith sent out its final reserve unit who also looked to the left flank objective. The Deceiver moved towards the Hive Tyrant looking to take it out. In the shooting phase, the unit of Warriors who were currently holding one of the right flank objectives, concentrated their Gauss Flayers at the charging Carnifexes but couldn't inflict any wounds. The freshly emerged Warriors combined their gunfire with the Gauss Flux Arcs of the Monolith and took out over a quarter of the unengaged Termagaunt unit. With that done, the Deceiver slaughtered the Hive Tyrant and looked for his next target. The Destroyers were killed before they could strike back at the Genestealers. The Warriors on my right had beaten the odds and dispatched the last of the 'stealers while being whittled down to three themselves.

Dan moved both of his Termagaunts units and Raveners towards the Warriors on the left within shooting distance. The 'stealers who had clawed through the Destroyers looked to move towards the smaller unit of Warriors on the far right thus ignoring the unit just inches away. The Brood Lord and retinue and the final units of 'stealers approached the ignored Warriors. The Carnifexes opted to soften up the full strength unit of Warriors ready for the impending combat. This had caused three of the Warriors to drop. The Raveners had mixed fortune with their shooting killing Tyranid and Necron alike. The Termaguants had some good fortune with the amount of shots they cracked off, but found it difficult to cause much damage. The combat phase saw a major amount of charging by pretty much everything. The 'stealers wiped out the quarter strength unit of Warrior on my far right. The Brood Lord and all other Genestealers around him tore into the other unit of Warriors who managed to hold ground. The Raveners and one unit of Termagaunts were within charging range of the new arrivals. The Necrons lost one Warrior while they dispatched with six Termagaunts. One of the Carnifexes rammed into the Deceiver causing three wounds while suffering only one in return.

TURN 6

The only Necron unit that could move was the Monolith, which crept slowly towards the right flank. But it was not in range to unleash it's Particle Whip. All that was left to do was resolve combats. Both units of Warriors on my left took out a few more Termagaunts each but not enough to be free in order to claim the objective. The unit of Warriors on the far right were swamped with tooth and claw and couldn't repel the attack. The Warriors next to them managed to stand up to their own Genestealer threat losing as much as their opponents. The Deceiver fumbled in his attempt at beating his opponent. As a result he was finished off without much fuss.

There was no moving or shooting in Dan's turn, so we went straight into combat. The Genestealers on my right consumed the rest of my Warriors. Both Termagaunt units managed to keep the two units of Warriors on the left tied up giving victory to the Tyranids.

END OF BATTLE.

The game finished with Dan holding two of the three objectives while the third was only contested. The game was certainly hard fought. I thought my deployment was ok, but maybe I could have moved one or two units into better positions to support each other. Some of my shooting wasn’t that great despite the amount of shots pulled off. I didn’t support my Pariahs so they ended up being smooshed. I think I left the Deceiver out of the action for too long. I should have tried to engage him sooner and maybe try and draw some fire. The biggest nuisance for me was the monolith not coming on until late. I could have used the Particle Whip against Dan’s Carnifexes, while the Warrior units they were holding may have finished off the Termagaunts and captuered their objective. This was the first time I had used my Wraiths. They proved their worth when they hit the Lictor with no less than 9 S6 hits!
Still, I’m annoyed I lost. But then I realized one positive. My Necrons didn’t Phase Out! Marvelous!

Forthcoming Homecoming.

After a brief encounter with Warmachine/Hordes, I will be coming back to my first love (can you call paying through the nose for a rollercoaster of emotions depending on how certain units perform?). I have two games lined up for my Necrons in the next few days.

First up is a game against my friend Dan and his Tyranids (or Chaos Marines if he changes his mind). this is going to be a fairly big game of 3000 points per side. This won't be an Apocalypse game as I don't think we'd have much time on Saturday. The last Apocalypse game we had last year took a whole weekend to play. That was a game between my 13000 point Dark Angels and Imperial Guard and Dan's 8000 point Chaos Marine and Tyranid army. I had to scale my force back a bit but still managed to take a full battle company. We had invited two other players to help out with getting the game finished, but sadly one didn't turn up so Dan was controlling all of his models by himself. We only ended up managing three full turns which resulted in a draw.

I have been craving a large game like this as down at my local club we are restricted to smaller games. I have been itching to roll handfuls of dice in anger (with Warmachine you don't need more than four dice). The force that I will be taking, will be led by The Deceiver along with two untested units (a Monolith and some Pariahs (I have used the Pariahs before but they didn't really do anything apart from die)), plus a lot of familiar units. I will make a post the game shortly afterwards. I may even include some pics.

Tuesday night will be a 1750 point game against some Dark Eldar at my local club. I have never played against DE before when I was playing with my Dark Angels, so this should be fun. I will probably use the same force I used against Chris' Deathguard Marines a few weeks ago. hopefully the Dark Eldar will be a little bit more squishy than traitor marines.

That's all I have lined up for the moment. The next game is likely to be on the following Tuesday with my Necrons as I don't really feel like taking my DA (I don't think non-codex armies fared well under the 5th ed rules). Then I have a choice. I could try and play against Edsmasha (who couldn't make it due to Ork Flu), or challenge one of the Eldar players. Alternatively, I could go back to Warmachine as I will now be able to field a 500 point force. Better yet, I could try and get a game of Necromunda. My sorry Van Saar gang will want to make up for things that happened (or didn't happen) in a previous life. Choices, choices, choices...

Charing Cross Crushed!

I am still mentally exhausted from last night's tourney. As much fun as it was, it was slightly painful. I thought that this was a slickly run tourney, with a friendly atmosphere. I think that the other nine players had a good time also. There is talk of having another small tourney like this one quite soon, but I won't be able to make it due to another hobby.

So, down to the action! Each player had three games. I was quite pleased, as I played opponents who were more experienced and were willing to give a few friendly pointers (while being competitive at the same time). I wasn't expecting much from the night as I had only been playing Warmachine for a few weeks. I took the following as my Protectorate list:

High Exemplar Kreoss

Guardian

Repenter

Revenger

Reclaimer

Choir (full strength)

I chose this as I still have not had time to build up my army. There were no scenarios so we just went for caster kills.

Please forgive me if I don't remember exactly models I came up against, as I am late in publishing this post ( I should have finished last week, but something came up).

First up was Marcus and his Khador force. Both of us charged forward in order to get into the action. I think I may have drew first blood, but I took more damage from his warjacks. I managed to bottleneck my 'jacks through the terrain as usual. This resulted in my Repenter being turned into scrap metal and my Revenger being immobilised. My Guardian couldn't do much as he was impeded as messy battlezone, and had been previously slammed into my own Choir despatching half of them. I seem to remember casing some damage to Marcus' Warcaster, nowhere near enough. Marcus then managed to place his 'caster in view of my 'caster (Kreoss) and deal out 17 points of damage! A few people were watching this happen and thought that Marcus had won, but Kreoss survived becausse he has 18 damage boxes. There wasn't much time for me to complete my turn where a gratefully tough Kreoss was going to (hopefully) Immolate the enemy 'caster. So the game ended with a draw, but Marcus scored a few victory points while I scored none.

Next was Conrad (the winner of the most sporting player) with his Circle army. This was a quiet game for both players as neither side took much damage. The game ended in a draw and no VP's were scored at all.

Last up was Nick and his Circle force, albeit with a completly different list. This was a marginally more brutal game than the first. I ended up being teased by Nick's warlock as he kept teleporting in, casting a few spells and then teleporting out to safety. I couldn't get near him. My Guardian was the subject of a pretty impressive slam attack that knocked me into Nick's solo who tried to sneak up behind me. As a result I managed to take him out. I lost my Repenter, Choir and Reclaimer because of a well placed spell. the rest of my force couldn't do much to protect Kreoss who didn't prove to be as tough this time round. So the result was a loss for me.

Overal, two draws and a loss. That isn't such a bad record for a relative noob to the game, especially someone playing in his first tabletop tourney ever (not even a 40k tourney). I ended up finishing 9th out of 10. I had read Marcus' comments after the event, and it turned out he didn't win any of his games and finished 6th. So the bottom five didn't record a win. But the difference between me and Marcus was that he actually scored more VPs than I did. Something that I could have easliy have done if I gave myself that chance.

On the train home, I tried to analyse what had happened. The answer was simple. I still had a 40k mind-set. Where 40k has different phases for you to do things (move all models, Shoot with all models, fight with all models, etc), in Warmachine/Hordes you have to do everything by model (model 1: moves, cast a spell, fight;model 2: move, fight; model: etc). You cannot really take back moves in a competitive game, but thats all I kept hoping for. You also have to try and figure out in which order you want your models to activate, as some actions affect other models. I kept getting both of these wrong. I was just moving all models, therefore givng up performing other actions. When I remembered to perform these actions, I had done it all in the wrong order. I don't want to use the five minute turns as an excuse, but I will admit that I panicked a bit (lot) despite numerous practice games in the previous weeks.

Despite a lowly finish, I had a great time. I will be hopefully be better prepared for the next tourney.

Warm up for Charing Cross Crush!

I'm writing on the eve of Charing Cross Crush. This is a small Warmachine/Hordes tournament (12 entrants) held at the Charing Cross Gaming Club (obviously). Due to time constraints, each player will have three, 350 point games each which will last between 30-40 minutes. And I think I'm ready for it.

The last few weeks has seen a lot of small practice games at the club. Last Tuesday I played two games againt the same force (Trollbloods), used by two different opponents. I lost both games, but they certainly yielded some valuable lessons, some tricks that I WILL use in the tourney. Tricks that I will not mention here in case anyone from my club reads this. I did learn that I have to be clever about the order in which I activate my models. I failed to think about this properly last week which resulted in my loses. I realised later as I sat down on the train home, where I went wrong in both games. I will have to set in my mind, how I want my Activation Phases to go, and also how to adapt them if things go wrong. I also have to be able to do this quickly as there will be five-minute turns. This should be easy as each player won't have many models in his force (I will be taking eleven). I'm still a fairly new Warmachine player, but I will be confident of getting at least one win, despite there being some experienced players.

So last weeks games:

The first was against a guy called Mitch who is also new to Warmachine. I had bottle-necked my force through the terrain features in order to get to my enemy which probably hurt me more than he did. My Guardian (heavy warjack) got engaged by a Troll Impaler. My Repenter and Revenger (light warjacks) got tied up by a Troll Axer. I thought that this was good, as this was shielding Kreoss, my Warcaster. But it allowed Mitch to get the rest of his force to get up close and personal with my 'jacks. By the time Mitch's Trollkin Hero broke through my front line, he was able to target Kreoss. Game Over. Not to take anyhing away from Mitch, we're both still finding our feet and got confused with some of the rules. As a result, we agreed on which course to take at the time. I realised after that one or two things we agreed upon were wrong. this could have went in Mitch's favour or mine. But I know that knowing what I know now, could have done a bit more damage. But fair play to Mitch, he played well and deserved his win.

The next was far more annoying. I played Rich (I thinkthat's hat his name was). He had a much different force to Mitch but probably tougher. Rich happened to take Mulg the Ancient! This is an impressive, impressive model. Without this seeming like an excuse, sometimes I get caught out by seeing an opponents model thats larger than everything else on the table, and then worry about just that! I concentrated too much on trying to get it killed. Then got attacked by everything else that Rich could throw at me. There was one thing that I could have done to give me a better chance of winning the game, but I'll save that for next week. Game Over!

It's always funny when you realise that you should have done something differently or that you should have done SOMETHING! I kicked myself all the way home and then vented my spleen at the wife and cat (one doesn't like the idea of men gathering in a room playing war and the other just licked her private parts)! But my frustration has taught me a big lesson here (or at least I hope it will!) and I will be ready for the CRUSH!!!

Necron vs. Deathguard.

A few weeks ago I took up a challenge to face a guy at my club (Merchant1874). This was a 1750 point game against his Deathguard Chaos Space Marine force. My list was as follows (I remember as I've still got this written down):

The Deciever - 300 pts

7 x Pariahs - 252 pts

14 x Warriors - 252 pts

14 x Warriors - 252 pts

14 x Warriors - 252 pts

4 x Destroyers - 200 pts

4x Scarab Swarms - 48 pts

3 x Heavy Destroyers - 195 pts

Total - 1751 pts. (Phase Out total = 12)

My memory isn't quite complete here, but Merchant took a Daemon Prince, two units of Plague Marines, two squads of Marines with Rhino transport, a Vindicator, a Defiler, a unit of Terminators and unfortunately I'm now drawing a blank. I must make a point of asking if he remembers what he took

We rolled for Capture and Hold Objective. Then we rolled for first turn, I rolled highest and opted to go first

First of all, I rolled for The Deciver's Grand Illusion. The result was a paltry nothing. He didn't get to change the position of any of my units. I was gutted because I felt one of Warrior units and my Destroyers could have been better placed elsewhere in my deployment zone. Apologises for the lack of images, I will describe as best as my memory allows.

Anyway, I thought I should move my Pariahs (currently on my right flank. towards the Daemon prince to test out their lovely Warscythes. All Warrior (left flank, left of centre and centre) units moved towards their closest objectives. My Scarabs (centre) bombed forward as a bit of a smoke screen. Both the Destroyer (left flank) and Heavy Destroyer (centre of dployment zone) units opened fire at range taking out an empty Rhino and a Rhino carrying a unit of Marines (who emerged unscathed). My opponent moved a Plague Marine unit onto an objective (which would prove difficult to shift).The Daemon Prince moved closer to my metallic minions. The other Rhino mounted Plague Marine unit moved extremely close to my Pariahs. Old father Nurgle obviously doesn't like shooting as I think I only lost one Warrior in the first turn.

Turn two, and I remember to actually move The Deciever (centre of board)! Inevitably he moves towards the Daemon Prince. The Pariahs suffer from a bout of indecision and edge forward towards the oncoming Rhino.

The Scarabs charge a Rhino and destroy it and two Marines inside. The Destoyers move around the left flank and aim at an empty rhino (the closest) destroying it. The Heavy Destroyers take out the Defiler. Two of my Warrior units capture objectives. Merchant's Plague marines disembark from thier Rhino fire at and then charge my Pariahs. This will be the last time I mention it, but they were battered. The Plague marines suffered minimal losses. The Daemon Prince loomed ever closer. A unit of Marines (sans Rhino moved forward towards one of my Warrior units holding an objective. They open fire and put a few warriors on their backs.

Turn three sees the mother of all battles. The Deciever vs the Daemon Prince! The Deciever has a weaker WS than the Daemon Prince, but has a far superior S and T. Plus he ingores both armour and Invulnerable saves. My C'Tan charges and does... nothing. The Daemon Prince hits back and does ... nothing! Way to go guys! My scarabs then charge the bewildered Marines who were rudely expelled from their Rhino. They don't cause much damage (A3, WS2 and S3) but they tied the traitors up and soaked up a bit of damage (T3 and W3, giving the unit 12 wounds.) The Destoryers take aim at the marines firing at my Warriors holding one of my objectives, killing a few. The Heavy Destroyers continue with a shooting masterclass and get rid of the Vindicator. The Daemon Prince takes 2 wounds while dishing out none in his turn. The Plague Marins on my right flank move toward my other objective holding Warriors and open fire, dispatching a few more of the Necrontyr. The marines in the centre are still held up by the Scarabs. The Terminators make thier long awaited arrival and land in the centre of the board.

Turn four and I'm now in panic mode as a results of the Terminators. My Destroyes race throught the centre and take aim at the new arrivals. The odds of 12 S6 shots getting through was good as the Termies suffered a few wounds. My central warriors helping out by causing a few more wounds. My Heavy Destroyers kill a couple as well.The Scarabs are still engaed with the marines and soaking a few more wounds themselves. They did kill a couple of marines themselves. I lose the objective on my right after the Warriors were blown to pieces by a combination of short range bolter fire, a Krak missile and a Plasmagun. The gargantuan battle between our HQ choices carries on in a stalemate, both losing a single wound. The Warriors on my left flank defend their objective and open fire at close range dispatching the advancing marines. Merchants Terminators open fire at my Heavy Destroyers killing two. The last of my Scarabs are felled by the marines in the centre of the table. The plague marines in the centre move towards my Destroyer and open fire, sending three to their (second) deaths.

Turn five sees both the Terminators and Daemon Prince depart from the table. The Terminators succumbing to fire from the lone Heavy Destroyer, the now lone Destroyer (I had been unlucky with my We'll Be Back rolls all game) and Warriors. The Deciever cutting through the Daemon Princes and sending it back to where it was spawned. The Warriors on my left duck behind cover while holding onto their objective. The Chaos turn sees the Marines (now free from having their ankles bitten by my Scarabs) cut down the last Destroyer before noticing that some Necrons are now playing Hide and Seek. The Plague Marines on my right claim the Necron-free objective. The second Marine squad (centre) contest my central objective before destroying the remaining Warriors holding it. This now makes it 3-1 to the Deathguard.

Turn six and things are a little deserate for me. The Deciever engages the Plague Marines on my right, killing half the unit. The single Heavy Destroyer contests my central objective. Chaos turn sees my last Heavy Destroyer killed and the last of the Plague Marines succumb to the Deciever.

The game finishes 2-1 to the Deathguard. An enjoyable game against a good player and exceptional painter. things I have learnt from the game was that I have to really think carefully about taking Pariahs. If they had better dice, they might have stopped the Plague Marines leaving The Deciever a free run at other units. At 36 points they are an expensive choice, and you could get two Warriors of Flayed Ones for the same cost.

It was only as we were packing away our models that I realised I should have phased out earlier in the game. It didn't matter as it would have been the same result.

Not the battle I was expecting.

I went to my local gaming club last night to get my weekly fix of dice. I was due to have a 1750 point game with my Necrons facing an Ork horde. Sadly my opponent didn't turn up due to illness so my metal minions had to wait a little longer for blood. I had wanted to try out my new Wraiths which I had bought last month. I could slot these into my small (1500-1750 pt) lists, and just test them out. I would have loved to see them take out some big Ork Nob Warboss. I just hope they are more successful on their debut than my Pariahs. ( I will post later about this).

I tend to buy at least one full strength unit per month which is quickly making my small "side project" into a full blown invasion force. This month will see the arrival of a full unit of Flayed Ones. Next month, another unit of Heavy Destroyers.

But I'm now losing my thread.

I didn't get my 40k fix, but I did manage to get a couple of games of Warmachine. I am still relatively new to Privateer Press games, so am still trying to get a new set of rules into my head. There is a small Warmachine/Hordes tourney at my club in a fortnights time, so two more 'practice games' were very welcome.

The first game of the night for my Menoth force was against a guy called Andre and his Talion crew. We are both beginners in the game, and it was good both discussing the rules as we went along. We both went in headstrong, and were engaged in melee by the 2nd turn. I managed to take out Andre's light warjack (Buccaneer). Then I pretty much disabled the cannon on one of his heavy warjacks (Mariner) by getting my Choir of Menoth to sing the Safe Passage hymn which meant my 'jacks were immune to ranged attacks. Turn 3 came around and my Choir sung a different hymn, (Infuse, giving my 'jacks a +2 bonus to hit rolls and damage rolls. This now meant Andre can fire his cannon, which caused my Repenter and Revenger (light warjacks) quite a bit of damage. I waited until turn 4 before getting Grand Scrutator Severius (my warcaster) to 'pop his Feat'. This stopped Andre's warcaster (Captain Bartolo) casting spells and replenishing his Focus allowance. This gave me a free run into his 'caster who I didn't kill, but was in a good position to do so. At this point Andre conceded the game. We were timing the rounds to see if we were inside the 5 minutes that will be allocated during the upcoming tourney. I'm pleased to say that this happened more often than not. Overall, I was pleased with the way this game went.

Next up, my Menites faced a guy called Ollie and his Everblight. This was a bit more of a casual game as Ollie wasn't looking for a game, but I was grateful when he obliged me with one. We didn't time the rounds, but instead Ollie went through the rules a bit when I wasn't sure. Now Everblight are a Hordes army, which while using most of the same rules, plays slightly different. It was really good to play against this sort of force. I got the first turn again so raced forward and got my Choir to sing their Safe Passage hymn. Ollie opted to run his Carnivean down one flank and his Blighted Swordsmen down the other. I managed to use my Repenter to flame the Carnivean and set him on fire (which nearly killed it early on). My 'jacks kept moving forward, supported by the Choir, Reclaimer and Severius. The Reclaimer decided (as he mostly always does) to sacrifice a memeber of the Choir each turn in order to claim their Soul to use later. Ollie's Carnivean slammed my Repenter, knocking it into my Revenger causing damage to both 'jacks. Ollie then charged my Revenger with his three Shredders dealing a fair bit of damage. I somehow managed to harm the Carnivean a fair bit, but not enough. I used my Crusader to occupy the Blighted Swordsmen. This forced Ollies hand a little, so he moved His 'caster (Lylyth) within enough range to cast a few spells on Severius in order to kill him. Severius stayed alive, and because Lylyth was in range to cast spells this meant Severius could cast some of his own. He casted Immolation a twice, boosting the damage each time. This was more than enough to kill her and win me the game.

Winning twice in one night is always a good thing, but I did take quite a bit of advise from other, more experienced Warmachine/Hordes players like Ollie and others like Sam and Mig. I now have one more night to get a couple more games with my Menoth force before the tourney on the 21st. My Necrons will now have to wait until after the tourney to spill some blood.

Begin Again...

After a long abscence, I have recently come back into tabletop gaming. I got got interested in GW after hearing my best friend (here after referred as to as The Dude) talk about Warhammer during history class when we were about 13 years old. It took a while to actually get really involved in the hobby as my pocket money was limited. I got there in the end and started to play every weekend with The Dude. We ended up choosing 40k, with me starting my Dark Angel army and El Duderino picking Eldar. I will admit here that I didn't win too many games, even when we swapped armies just to check that the Eldar were not indestructable.

We played other systems with pretty much the same results. Space Hulk, Necromunda (I had a Van Saar gang while he took Cawdor), Blood Bowl (despite scoring the first point of the only game we ever played, my Orcs got clattered by those pesky Humans), Warhammer Quest and Gorka Morka.

Inevitably, we started to grow up bit, finding other interests (under-age drinking, the opposite sex, etc). We both kept our models, but I kept looking in on GW every now and then and buying the odd unit here and there. I've got back into the hobby over the last year and now play on a regular basis by going to my local gaming club (Charing Cross). I've tried to get The Dude back into the hobby, but no luck so far.

Going to a gaming club, has given me the idea to leave my 11260 pts Dark Angel army and take on a side project. My Necron army now stands at 4779 pts and will steadily grow each months until I have at least two of every unit that isn't Troop or HQ. I now enjoy using my Necrons and as they are basically Space Marines but also have the chance to get up again. As a result I have gone from mostly bad results, to average results.

It can only get better from here...?