Caledonian Revolution 2017: Game 2- Deathwatch vs Astra Militarum

Game 2 of Caledonian Revolution 2017 saw my Deathwatch taking on John's Astra Militarum army.

The misssion for game 2 was Big Guns Never Tire for the Eternal War, Tactical Escalation for the maelstrom mission and Dawn of War deployment.

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment

Watch Master- Guardian Spear (W)

Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Xenophase Blade, Bolt Pistol (W)
Kill Team 1- Sergeant with Power Sword, Black Shield with Power Sword, 3 Veterans, 2 Frag Cannons, Vanguard Veteran with Pair Lightning Claws, Deathwatch Biker with Teleport Homer (KT1)
Kill Team 2- 5 Veterans with 2 Frag Cannons and 2 Shotguns (KT2)
Kill Team 3- 5 Veterans with Meltagun, 3 Combi-meltas (KT3)
Kill Team 4- 5 Veterans with 5 Stalker Pattern Boltguns (KT4)
Kill Team 5- 5 Veterans, Terminator with Power Fist, Storm Bolter and Cyclone Missile Launcher (KT5)
Rhino- Storm Bolter (R1)
Rhino- Storm Bolter (R2)
5 Vanguard Veterans- 2 pairs Lightning Claws, 2 Heavy Thunder Hammers (VV)
4 Bikers- Teleport Homer, Power Axe, Power Maul, 2 Power Swords (DB1)
4 Bikers- Teleport Homer, Power Maul, 3 Power Swords (DB2)
Corvus Blackstar- Twin Assault Cannon, 2 Stormstrike Missiles, Hurricane Bolter, Auspex Array (CB)

6 Command Points

My Warlord was the Watch Master, who had the Legendary Fighter warlord trait. 

Caledonian Revolution 2016: Best Army Nominees Photos

Today's post features the nominee armies for the best army at Caledonian Revolution. This was a really tough decision to make, as the quality of the armies was amazing. 

First up, we have a deathstar type army based on several fantasy and Age of Sigmar models. 

Caledonian Revolution 2016:Armies on Display

Since I had a lot of spare time with my first tournament game finishing so early, I got a chance to take some photos of the various armies at the tournament. This post will feature some of the random armies that caught my eye as I walked around. Tomorrow's post will feature the armies that were nominated for best army. 

Hope you enjoy the photos.

Caledonian Revolution 2016: White Scars Army Review

As is customary after any tournament that I attend, I like to take a look at how my army performed to see which units worked well and which units could be improved in the next iteration of the list. For the context of my army review, check out my battle reports for the tournament in the Tournament Battle Reports tab above.

As a reminder, my army consisted of:

Scarblade Strike Force

Hunting Force

Khan- Moondrakken

Command Squad- Bikes, Apothecary, 4 grav guns, 4 storm shields, Banner of the Eagle

6 Bikers- 2 grav guns, sergeant with power axe and meltabombs 

6 Bikers- 2 grav guns, sergeant with meltabombs 

Attack Bike- Multimelta

6 Scout Bikers- 2 Grenades launchers, sergeant with meltabombs and homing beacon

Stormbringer Squadron

5 Scouts- bolt pistols, combat weapons, sergeant with meltabombs

Landspeeder Storm- Heavy Bolter, Cerberus Launcher 

Landspeeder- Multimelta, Typhoon Missile Launcher

Combined Arms Detachment

Chaplain- Bike, Hunter's Eye, Meltabombs

5 Scouts- Bolters, sergeant with meltabombs

Landspeeder Storm- Heavy Bolter, Cerberus Launcher

3 Bikers- 2 meltaguns, sergeant with meltabombs 

3 Centurions- Grav cannons and grav amps, hurricane bolters

Drop Pod 

Stormhawk Interceptor- TL assault cannon, Skyhammer missile launcher, Las-talon

I will now take a look at each component of the army and see how it performed. 

Scarblade Strike Force

For one of the first times with my White Scars, my tournament army did not solely consist of a Combined Arms Detachment. This time, I decided to use the Scarblade Strike Force (the White Scars' Gladius-type formation). I figured that the bonuses from the formation would be extremely beneficial to my army. 

Lightning Assault:

The re-rolls to failed Hit and Run rolls were useful in this tournament, as there were a few instances over the course of the tournament where I failed these rolls. Unfortunately, the Grav Cannon Centurions were not a part of this formation, as they were the only unit that repeatedly failed Hit and Run rolls (as per usual). 

Ride the Wind:

This allows vehicle and bikes to move an extra D6" after moving flat out or turbo-boosting. I always completely forget about this rule and can't think of too many instances in my games where it would have come in useful. 

Maximum Impact:

Gain hammer of wrath if charing 8" or over (or re-rolls if you already have HoW). Never once came up in my games. The only time I risked a charge that was over 8", I failed the charge. With the mobility of my bike squads, I can pretty much guarantee that I will be charging less than 6" most of the time. I would be unlikely to risk a charge of 8" or over, possibly taking overwatch wounds and failing the charge, unless it was absolutely necessary to win the game. 

Caledonian Revolution 2016: Game 5- White Scars vs Tyranids

Welcome to the battle report for my final game of day 2 of Caledonian Revolution 2016. After scraping a minor win in the last game, I found myself playing at the same table once more against William and his Tyranids. 

The mission for game 5 was Big Guns Never Tire (5 objectives), with Tactical Escalation for the maelstrom mission (one card on turn 1, two on turn 2, etc.). The deployment was Hammer and Anvil. 

My army consisted of:

Scarblade Strike Force

Hunting Force

Khan- Moondrakken (with CS)

Command Squad- Bikes, Apothecary, 4 grav guns, 4 storm shields, Banner of the Eagle (CS)

6 Bikers- 2 grav guns, sergeant with power axe and meltabombs (BS1)

6 Bikers- 2 grav guns, sergeant with meltabombs (BS2)

Attack Bike- Multimelta (AB)

6 Scout Bikers- 2 Grenades launchers, sergeant with meltabombs and homing beacon (SB)

Stormbringer Squadron

5 Scouts- bolt pistols, combat weapons, sergeant with meltabombs (S1)

Landspeeder Storm- Heavy Bolter, Cerberus Launcher (LS1)

Landspeeder- Multimelta, Typhoon Missile Launcher (L)

Combined Arms Detachment

Chaplain- Bike, Hunter's Eye, Meltabombs (with CS or C2)

5 Scouts- Bolters, sergeant with meltabombs (S2)

Landspeeder Storm- Heavy Bolter, Cerberus Launcher (LS2)

3 Bikers- 2 meltaguns, sergeant with meltabombs (BS3)

3 Centurions- Grav cannons and grav amps, hurricane bolters (C)

Drop Pod (DP)

Stormhawk Interceptor- TL assault cannon, Skyhammer missile launcher, Las-talon (SI)

Khan was my warlord.

Caledonian Revolution 2016: Game 4- White Scars vs Imperial Knights/Space Marines/Daemons

My fourth game of the Caledonian Revolution tournament began nice and early on the Sunday morning. I found myself on table 20, going up against Mark and his unholy alliance of Imperial Knights, Ultramarines and Chaos Daemons.

The mission was Emperor's Will (one objective each) with Conact Lost as the maelstrom mission (one card for each objective held).

My army consisted of:

Scarblade Strike Force

Hunting Force

Khan- Moondrakken (with CS)

Command Squad- Bikes, Apothecary, 4 grav guns, 4 storm shields, Banner of the Eagle (CS)

6 Bikers- 2 grav guns, sergeant with power axe and meltabombs (BS1)

6 Bikers- 2 grav guns, sergeant with meltabombs (BS2)

Attack Bike- Multimelta (AB)

6 Scout Bikers- 2 Grenades launchers, sergeant with meltabombs and homing beacon (SB)

Stormbringer Squadron

5 Scouts- bolt pistols, combat weapons, sergeant with meltabombs (S1)

Landspeeder Storm- Heavy Bolter, Cerberus Launcher (LS1)

Landspeeder- Multimelta, Typhoon Missile Launcher (L)

Combined Arms Detachment

Chaplain- Bike, Hunter's Eye, Meltabombs (with CS or C2)

5 Scouts- Bolters, sergeant with meltabombs (S2)

Landspeeder Storm- Heavy Bolter, Cerberus Launcher (LS2)

3 Bikers- 2 meltaguns, sergeant with meltabombs (BS3)

3 Centurions- Grav cannons and grav amps, hurricane bolters (C)

Drop Pod (DP)

Stormhawk Interceptor- TL assault cannon, Skyhammer missile launcher, Las-talon (SI)

Khan was my warlord.

Caledonian Revolution 2016: Game 3- White Scars vs Dark Angels

Game 3 of Caledonian Revolution saw my White Scars taking on Lee's Dark Angels army. Lee's army was absolutely stunning as you will see in the photos below. The third mission had The Scouring as the primary mission and Deadlock as the maelstrom mission (6 cards on turn 1, 5 on turn 2, etc). 

As a reminder, my army consisted of:

Scarblade Strike Force

Hunting Force

Khan- Moondrakken (with CS or K)

Command Squad- Bikes, Apothecary, 4 grav guns, 4 storm shields, Banner of the Eagle (CS)

6 Bikers- 2 grav guns, sergeant with power axe and meltabombs (BS1)

6 Bikers- 2 grav guns, sergeant with meltabombs (BS2)

Attack Bike- Multimelta (AB)

6 Scout Bikers- 2 Grenades launchers, sergeant with meltabombs and homing beacon (SB)

Stormbringer Squadron

5 Scouts- bolt pistols, combat weapons, sergeant with meltabombs (S1)

Landspeeder Storm- Heavy Bolter, Cerberus Launcher (LS1)

Landspeeder- Multimelta, Typhoon Missile Launcher (L)

Combined Arms Detachment

Chaplain- Bike, Hunter's Eye, Meltabombs (with CS or C2)

5 Scouts- Bolters, sergeant with meltabombs (S2)

Landspeeder Storm- Heavy Bolter, Cerberus Launcher (LS2)

3 Bikers- 2 meltaguns, sergeant with meltabombs (BS3)

3 Centurions- Grav cannons and grav amps, hurricane bolters (C)

Drop Pod (DP)

Stormhawk Interceptor- TL assault cannon, Skyhammer missile launcher, Las-talon (SI)

My warlord was Khan.

Caledonian Revolution 2016: Game 2- White Scars vs Necrons

After my absolute crushing in Game 1 of the tournament, I found myself banished to table 32 to play Simon and his Necrons, after he had as good a start as I did. 

The ETC mission for this game was The Relic as the primary and Spoils of War as the secondary (3 maelstrom cards per turn, you can steal your opponent's secure objective cards).

As a reminder, my army consisted of:

Scarblade Strike Force

Hunting Force

Khan- Moondrakken (with CS)

Command Squad- Bikes, Apothecary, 4 grav guns, 4 storm shields, Banner of the Eagle (CS)

6 Bikers- 2 grav guns, sergeant with power axe and meltabombs (BS1)

6 Bikers- 2 grav guns, sergeant with meltabombs (BS2)

Attack Bike- Multimelta (AB)

6 Scout Bikers- 2 Grenades launchers, sergeant with meltabombs and homing beacon (SB)

Stormbringer Squadron

5 Scouts- bolt pistols, combat weapons, sergeant with meltabombs (S1)

Landspeeder Storm- Heavy Bolter, Cerberus Launcher (LS1)

Landspeeder- Multimelta, Typhoon Missile Launcher (L)

Combined Arms Detachment

Chaplain- Bike, Hunter's Eye, Meltabombs (with CS or L2)

5 Scouts- Bolters, sergeant with meltabombs (S2)

Landspeeder Storm- Heavy Bolter, Cerberus Launcher (LS2)

3 Bikers- 2 meltaguns, sergeant with meltabombs (BS3)

3 Centurions- Grav cannons and grav amps, hurricane bolters (C)

Drop Pod (DP)

Stormhawk Interceptor- TL assault cannon, Skyhammer missile launcher, Las-talon (SI)

Khan was my warlord.

Caledonian Revolution 2016: Game 1- White Scars vs Tau/Grey Knights

Welcome to my first battle report from my games at the recent Caledonian Revolution tournament. The tournament was held at the North Western Gaming Centre down in Stockport and featured 75 players. 

I decided to take my White Scars to the tournament and had been practising with my list for a few months with varying degrees of success, so was feeling ok about my chances in my games over the two days of the tournament. Ideally, I wanted to win at least 3 of the 5 games and finish in the top half of the rankings table.

Overall, I had a fantastic time at the tournament. I play 5 very challenging games over the two days against some great opponents. The guys organising the tournament were fantastic, all the games ran on time with plenty of time for each match, and everything was run efficiently and with good humour. A big thanks to all of my opponents and everyone I got chatting to over the weekend for making it such a fun event.

A big bonus for me was how many players over the weekend recognised my army from the blog and how many people said that they read and enjoyed my blog and battle reports. It's great to get that kind of feedback from people I haven't met before and really makes the effort that I put into the blog worth it. I also got a few compliments on my army, which was great given the very high standards of painting you will see in the Armies on Display post. Over the weekend I got several comments along the lines of "it's so unusual to see a White Scars army actually painted up as White Scars", which made me chuckle.

I did not win any raffle prizes, but got a bargain of a sale. One of the winners decided he did not want to take his Betrayal at Calth prize with him on the flight, so I snapped it up for only £50! My resistance to starting that Emperor's Children 30K army is slowly diminishing as I type.

It was a really fun weekend and I got to meet some great new players and hopefully get a few new readers for the blog in my game opponents. 

After a disastrous drive down the motorway on the Friday (more on this in a later post) and a lack of sleep on the Friday night (my hotel decided that 5 am was the perfect time to use the industrial dish washer located directly below my room), I got my army ready to see what table I would be playing on. I was due to play Matt and his Daemons in my first game, but he had to drop out of the tournament. I was informed later that he had actually won the last Caledonian Revolution, so I was not too upset about this. 

My opponent for the first round turned out to be Sid with his Tau, Grey Knights and Assassins army. Things were already looking up, as Sid had only come in second at the last Revolution.........

My army consisted of:

Scarblade Strike Force

Hunting Force

Khan- Moondrakken (with CS)

Command Squad- Bikes, Apothecary, 4 grav guns, 4 storm shields, Banner of the Eagle (CS)

6 Bikers- 2 grav guns, sergeant with power axe and meltabombs (BS1)

6 Bikers- 2 grav guns, sergeant with meltabombs (BS2)

Attack Bike- Multimelta (AB)

6 Scout Bikers- 2 Grenades launchers, sergeant with meltabombs and homing beacon (SB)

Stormbringer Squadron

5 Scouts- bolt pistols, combat weapons, sergeant with meltabombs (S1)

Landspeeder Storm- Heavy Bolter, Cerberus Launcher (LS1)

Landspeeder- Multimelta, Typhoon Missile Launcher (L)

Combined Arms Detachment

Chaplain- Bike, Hunter's Eye, Meltabombs (with CS or C2)

5 Scouts- Bolters, sergeant with meltabombs (S2)

Landspeeder Storm- Heavy Bolter, Cerberus Launcher (LS2)

3 Bikers- 2 meltaguns, sergeant with meltabombs (BS3)

3 Centurions- Grav cannons and grav amps, hurricane bolters (C)

Drop Pod (DP)

Stormhawk Interceptor- TL assault cannon, Skyhammer missile launcher, Las-talon (SI)

Caledonian Revolution 2016- White Scars Army Lists

Today I will be attending Caledonian Revolution down at the NWGC in Stockport. I will be taking my White Scars army (my go to tournament army) and have made two lists for which to use at the event.

The first list is for the games on the Friday night. This is a 1000 pts Combined Arms Detachment with no Fortifications, Superheavies or Gargantuan creatures and no D weapons.

My army list is:

Combined Arms Detachment

Khan- Moondrakken

5 Bikers- 2 Grav Guns, Sergeant has Meltabombs

5 Bikers- 2 Grav Guns, Sergeant has Meltabombs

10 Tactical Marines- Meltagun

Drop Pod

5 Sternguard Veterans- 3 Combi-meltas

Drop Pod

3 Scout Bikers- one grenade launcher

5 Scouts- Close combat weapons, bolt pistols, Sergeant has Meltabombs

Landspeeder Storm- Heavy Bolter, Cerberus launcher
Attack Bike- Multi-melta

Battle Report 59- 1850 pts White Scars vs White Scars

This week's battle report features my White Scars taking on Allan's White Scars in another practice of my list for the upcoming Caledonian Revolution tournament.

 

Last week, I played Innes and his compact, deathstar-containing army and my White Scars list fared pretty well. This week, I played a very different type of army. Allan likes to field his White Scars with as many bodies as possible and lots of bikes. In fact, the board would be swarmed with bikes in this game and I would get to see just how annoying it is to go up against those jinking White Scars.

 

My army consisted of:

Scarblade Strike Force

Hunting Force

Khan- Moondrakken (with CS or K)

Command Squad- Bikes, Apothecary, 4 grav guns, 4 storm shields (CS)

6 Bikers- 2 grav guns, sergeant with meltabombs (BS1)

6 Bikers- 2 grav guns, sergeant with meltabombs (BS2)

Attack Bike- Multimelta (AB)

6 Scout Bikers- 2 Grenades launchers, sergeant with meltabombs and homing beacon (SB)

Stormbringer Squadron

5 Scouts- bolt pistols, combat weapons, sergeant with meltabombs (S1)

Landspeeder Storm- Heavy Bolter, Cerberus Launcher (LS1)

Landspeeder- Multimelta, Typhoon Missile Launcher (L)

 

Combined Arms Detachment

Librarian- Bike, Hunter's Eye, Meltabombs, Mastery Level 2, Force Sword (with CS or L)

5 Scouts- Camo cloaks, sniper rifles (SS)

5 Scouts- Bolters, sergeant with meltabombs (S2)

Landspeeder Storm- Heavy Bolter, Cerberus Launcher (LS2)

3 Bikers- 2 meltaguns, sergeant with meltabombs (BS3)

3 Centurions- Grav cannons and grav amps, hurricane bolters (C)

Drop Pod (DP)

Stormtalon- TL assault cannon, Skyhammer missile launcher (ST)

My warlord trait was fixed with Khan (giving me re-rolls for morale and pinning tests and Scout moves for my bikes and transports). My Librarian got Psychic Shriek and Prescience. I decided that Shriek would be useful against so many bikers and Prescience should help my units hit if I managed to cast it.

Battle Report 58- 1850 pts White Scars vs Space Marines/Imperial Knight

This week's battle report is a tournament practice game where my White Scars take on Innes' forces of Space Marines with an allied Imperial Knight. Innes and I are both attending Caledonian Revolution in the summer and I was interested in playtesting my army in the ETC mission format.

 

I have previously discussed one of my proposed lists for the tournament. This is based on a Scarblade Strike Force with a Combined Arms Detachment thrown in as well to give me access to a Librarian and the Grav Centurions.

 

As a reminder, my list is:
Scarblade Strike Force

Hunting Force

Khan- Moondrakken (with CS)

Command Squad- Bikes, Apothecary, 4 grav guns, 4 storm shields (CS)

6 Bikers- 2 grav guns, sergeant with meltabombs (BS1)

6 Bikers- 2 grav guns, sergeant with meltabombs (BS2)

Attack Bike- Multimelta (AB)

6 Scout Bikers- 2 Grenades launchers, sergeant with meltabombs and homing beacon (SB)

Stormbringer Squadron

5 Scouts- bolt pistols, combat weapons, sergeant with meltabombs (S1)

Landspeeder Storm- Heavy Bolter, Cerberus Launcher (LS1)

Landspeeder- Multimelta, Typhoon Missile Launcher (L)

 

Combined Arms Detachment

Librarian- Bike, Hunter's Eye, Meltabombs, Mastery Level 2, Force Sword (with CS)

5 Scouts- Camo cloaks, sniper rifles (SS)

5 Scouts- Bolters, sergeant with meltabombs (S2)

Landspeeder Storm- Heavy Bolter, Cerberus Launcher (LS2)

3 Bikers- 2 meltaguns, sergeant with meltabombs (BS3)

3 Centurions- Grav cannons and grav amps, hurricane bolters (C)

Drop Pod (DP)

Stormtalon- TL assault cannon, Skyhammer missile launcher (ST)

My warlord trait was fixed with Khan (giving me re-rolls for morale and pinning tests and Scout moves for my bikes and transports). My Librarian decided to roll on the Technomancy table and got Subvert Machine, Blessing of the Machine and Warpmetal Armour. Not the best powers for my army, I was hoping for one of the haywire powers or auto-glance powers for taking on Innes' Knight (spoilers for below!). Warpmetal Armour could be useful for making my Command Squad even tougher.

Caledonian Revolution Tournament- Initial List Thoughts

I have signed up for the Caledonian Revolution tournament, taking place down in Stockport in July this year. This is a 5-game, 40k tournament using ETC missions, scoring and rulings.

 

I have decided that I will be taking my White Scars to the tournament. They are by far my most competitive army and I am keen to see  how some of the new formations will perform in higher points games. After looking through my tournament army reviews for Rapid Fire 2015 and the more recent Stronghold V, I have put together some initial lists for my White Scars army. I have a practice game this week at the club to test one of my lists.

 

Scarblade Strike Force and CAD

My first army list uses the White Scars Decurion-type formation and a Combined Arms Detachment. The army consists of:

 

Hunting Force

Khan- Moondrakken

Command Squad- Bikes, Apothecary, 4 grav guns, 4 storm shields

6 Bikers- 2 grav guns, sergeant with meltabombs

6 Bikers- 2 grav guns, sergeant with meltabombs

Attack Bike- Multimelta

6 Scout Bikers- 2 Grenades launchers, sergeant with meltabombs and homing beacon