Sunday 16 December 2018

Chapter Approved 2018: Part 2- Eternal War Missions

Part 2 of my Chapter Approved review will take a look at the new Eternal War missions. The book features 6 new missions to use in your games of 40k. 

Eternal War Missions
Acceptable Casualties
Sudden Death no longer applies in the new Eternal war missions. What this means is that tabling your opponent does not automatically win you the game. 

You can check out my thoughts on this for the maelstrom of war mission in yesterday's post. I think this rule would have a much greater effect in Maelstrom of War missions than in most Eternal War missions, if we were using the standard ones. You could simply table your opponent, then hopefully use the remaining turns to grab the objectives and win the game.

However, the new Eternal War missions feature a lot of progressive scoring (scoring as the game goes on, rather than at the end game), so it could be possible to gain a good lead as the game goes on to prevent your opponent from snatching victory on the final turn.

I prefer progressive scoring in most games. End of game scoring can tend to turn into a bloodbath, with the objectives being a consideration for the final turn, pouncing on them in the end game, rather than a focus from the start of the game.

Saturday 15 December 2018

Chapter Approved 2018 Review: Part 1- Maelstrom Missions

Chapter Approved 2018 is now upon us, with a whole host of new missions to try out in our games of 40k. The first part of my review will take a look at the new Maelstrom of War missions. These are my favourite way to play 40k, so I was keen to see what was in store. 

Maelstrom of War Missions
As well as 6 new missions, there are a number of special rules added to the maelstrom games that are a big improvement over how the game will be played. 

Acceptable Casualties
Sudden Death no longer applies in the new maelstrom of war missions. What this means is that tabling your opponent does not automatically win you the game. 

Finally! In my opinion, this is how the game should have been played from the start. In so many casual games and tournament games, I have had opponents go for wiping out my army, as opposed to actually even attempting to play the mission. This will now hopefully force players to actually consider going after the maelstrom cards/objectives for a hope of winning the game. 

A gunline army can still sit back and pound the enemy force with their superior firepower, but this will probably punish them in the long run, as they are not collecting maelstrom points. This new rule change will probably not affect me at all, as in all maelstrom missions, the cards were always deciding how I was playing. Hopefully, we'll see a lot more players making greater tactical decisions in games; sacrificing a units' shooting to advance onto an objective, thinking about unit placement to best go after objectives in later turns. 

If one opponent gets tabled, I think the game still continues, giving your opponent the chance to score more maelstrom points in their turn. This is one way they can try and win the game after tabling their opponent, but does not guarantee victory if your opponent has been focusing on scoring big in the maelstrom mission and has a significant lead. 

I would hope more tournaments would adopt maelstrom only missions and get rid of kill points in an effort to encourage better playing of the mission, rather than just crushing your opponent. 

Thursday 13 December 2018

40k Grand Slam Tournament Game 3- Dark Angels/Deathwatch vs Imperial Knights/Astra Militarum

My third game of the Element Games Grand Slam 40k tournament saw my Dark Angels and Deathwatch force take on Matt and his army of Imperial Knights and Astra Militarum. 

The ETC mission was Dominate and Destroy for the Eternal War mission and Contact Lost for the maelstrom of war mission. This would be tough, as this game gave double kill points for the Eternal War mission on top of the ETC mission. We would be using Dawn of War deployment. 

My army consisted of:
Battalion Detachment (Dark Angels)
Azrael (Az)
Primaris Lieutenant- Master-crafted Auto Bolt Rifle, Eye of the Unseen (Relic) (L)
Primaris Ancient- Bolt Rifle (An)
5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles (I)
5 Scouts- Bolters (S1)
5 Scouts- Heavy Bolter, Bolters (S2)
5 Devastators- Heavy Bolter, Armorium Cherub (D)
10 Hellblasters- Plasma Incinerators (H)
Darkshroud- Heavy Bolter (DS)

Battalion Detachment (Deathwatch)
Watch Master- Guardian Spear (W)
Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Bolt Pistol (WC)
10 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols (DI)
10 Veterans- 10 Storm Bolters, 2 Storm Shields, 8 Chainswords (DV1)
6 Veterans- 2 Missile Launchers, 4 Stalker Bolters (DV2)

Auxiliary Detachment
Culexus Assassin (CA)

Tuesday 11 December 2018

40k Grand Slam Tournament Game 2- Dark Angels/Deathwatch vs Ynnari

After a big win on game 1, my second game of the tournament saw me taking to one of the top tables to face Mikey from Hellstorm Wargaming and his Ynnari force. 

The joint missions were Big Guns Never Tire for the Eternal War and Deadlock for the maelstrom of war mission, with Search and Destroy deployment. 

My army consisted of:
Battalion Detachment (Dark Angels)
Azrael (Az)
Primaris Lieutenant- Master-crafted Auto Bolt Rifle, Eye of the Unseen (Relic) (L)
Primaris Ancient- Bolt Rifle (An)
5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles (I)
5 Scouts- Bolters (S1)
5 Scouts- Heavy Bolter, Bolters (S2)
5 Devastators- Heavy Bolter, Armorium Cherub (D)
10 Hellblasters- Plasma Incinerators (H)
Darkshroud- Heavy Bolter (DS)

Battalion Detachment (Deathwatch)
Watch Master- Guardian Spear (W)
Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Bolt Pistol (WC)
10 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols (DI)
10 Veterans- 10 Storm Bolters, 2 Storm Shields, 8 Chainswords (DV1)
6 Veterans- 2 Missile Launchers, 4 Stalker Bolters (DV2)

Auxiliary Detachment
Culexus Assassin (CA)

Tuesday 4 December 2018

40k Grand Slam Tournament Battle Report 1- Dark Angels/Deathwatch vs Adeptus Mechanicus/Blood Angels/Astra Militarum

Here is my first 40k tournament battle report form the recent Grand Slam event held at Element Games. 

The first game was against Wayne and his mixed Imperial force, featuring a lot of firepower and some hard-hitting combat units. The first mission was a mixture of The Scouring Eternal War and Tactical Gambit for the maelstrom of war, using Spearhead Assault deployment. 

My army consisted of:
Battalion Detachment (Dark Angels)
Azrael (Az)
Primaris Lieutenant- Master-crafted Auto Bolt Rifle, Eye of the Unseen (Relic) (L)
Primaris Ancient- Bolt Rifle (An)
5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles (I)
5 Scouts- Bolters (S1)
5 Scouts- Heavy Bolter, Bolters (S2)
5 Devastators- Heavy Bolter, Armorium Cherub (D)
10 Hellblasters- Plasma Incinerators (H)
Darkshroud- Heavy Bolter (DS)

Battalion Detachment (Deathwatch)
Watch Master- Guardian Spear (W)
Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Bolt Pistol (WC)
10 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols (DI)
10 Veterans- 10 Storm Bolters, 2 Storm Shields, 8 Chainswords (DV1)
6 Veterans- 2 Missile Launchers, 4 Stalker Bolters (DV2)

Auxiliary Detachment
Culexus Assassin (CA)