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.