40k Grand Slam Tournament Game 4- Dark Angels/Deathwatch vs Aeldari/Drukhari

Game 4 of the Grand Slam Tournament saw my Dark Angels and Deathwatch force take on a mixed Aeldari and Drukhari army, commanded by Ben. 

This mission was a mixed Maelstrom and Eternal war ETC mission. The Eternal War mission was Resupply Drop, while the maelstrom mission was Tactical Escalation, using Hammer and Anvil 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)

Battle Report 165- Deathwatch/Astra Militarum vs Aeldari

This week's battle report sees my Deathwatch and Astra Militarum force take on Doug's Aeldari in an Eternal War mission. 

This game was actually fought a couple of months ago when I was preparing for the Warhammer World GT. It sort of got lost in the shuffle between writing up the tournament battle reports and finishing the army for the event. 

We were playing the Retrieval Eternal War mission. This is the standard game with 4 objectives that are scored at the end of the game. 

My army consisted of: 

Battalion Detachment (Deathwatch)

Watch Master- Tome of Ectoclades, Guardian Spear

Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Storm Shield, Thunder Hammer

10 Veterans- 10 Storm Bolters, 2 Storm Shields, Chainswords

10 Intercessors Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

5 Veterans- 2 Frag Cannons, 3 Bolters, 3 Chainswords

Rhino- 2 Storm Bolters

5 Veterans- 2 Frag Cannons, 3 Bolters, 3 Chainswords

Razorback- Twin Lascannon, Storm Bolter

4 Bikers and Vanguard Veteran- Twin Bolters, Chainswords, Storm Shield

Battalion Detachment (Astra Militarum, Cadian)

Company Commander- Laspistol, Chainsword, Kurov's Aquila, Grand Strategist Warlord Trait

Company Commander- Laspistol, Chainsword

Primaris Psyker- Force Stave, Psychic Barrier, Nightshroud

Infantry Squad- Lasguns, Lascannon

Infantry Squad- Lasguns, Lascannon

Infantry Squad- Lasguns, Lascannon

20 Conscripts

Wyvern- Quad Mortar Launcher, Heavy Bolter

This was a work in progress army before I changed it up for the tournament. As you can see, the core of the army was pretty much the same. The Deathwatch provide the mobile force and hard hitters, while the Guard provide a good firebase. I added the Wyvern to target units that were out of line of sight of most of my forces. 

I went for a couple of units with Frag Cannons in transports. These were to get close to the enemy army and cause some devastation with their firepower. 

Battle Report 148- Deathwatch vs Aeldari

Today's battle report is the first outing for my Deathwatch with the new codex, taking on Doug and his Aeldari force, a mixture of Eldar and Dark Eldar units. 

I was excited for the new Deathwatch codex. I really like the look of the army and was excited to see what the new codex could do. For my first use of the army, I took a nice mix of units to test them out. I didn't take any Primaris Deathwatch yet, as I haven't had a chance to assemble and paint them up yet. 

I did a video preview of the army, going over the units I was taking and some of my thinking behind the list. 

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment

Watch Master- Guardian Spear, Banebolts of Xeryia (Relic), Lord of Hidden Knowledge (warlord trait) (M)

Watch Captain- Relic Blade, Jump Pack, Bolt Pistol (C1)

Kill Team 1- 8 Deathwatch Veterans, 2 Frag Cannons, 2 Storm Shields, Blackshield with Power Sword and Bolter, Bolters, Chainswords, Vanguard Veteran with Pair of Lightning Claws (KT1)

Kill Team 2- 5 Deathwatch Veterans with Stalker Pattern Bolters and Chainswords (KT2)

Kill Team 3- 5 Deathwatch Veterans with 2 Missile Launchers, Bolters and Chainswords (KT3)

5 Bikers- Twin Bolters, Storm Bolter (B)

Corvus Blackstar- Twin Assault Cannon, Hurricane Bolter, Blackstar Rocket Launcher, Infernum Halo Launcher. (CB)

Battalion Detachment

Librarian- Force Sword, Bolt Pistol, Null Zone, Might of Heroes (L)

Chaplain- Jump Pack, Crozius Arcanum, Bolt Pistol (C2)

Kill Team 4- 5 Deathwatch Veterans with Shotguns, Storm Shield and Chainswords (KT4)

Kill Team 5- 9 Vanguard Veterans with 3 Frag Cannons, Bolters and Chainswords. Terminator with Power Fist and Storm Bolter (KT5)

Kill Team 6- 5 Deathwatch Veterans with 2 Missile Launchers, Bolters and Chainswords (KT6)

Kill Team 7- 5 Deathwatch Veterans with 3 Meltaguns, Bolters and Chainswords (KT7)

5 Vanguard Veterans- Bolt Pistols, Chainswords (VV)

A good spread of units and Kill Teams to mix out the force. I went for two battalions to give me 13 command points in total. 

I went for all four characters to test them out and see how they performed in the list. I took a mix of kill teams, with many to teleport in using the Teleportarium stratagem. 

The Watch Master and Librarian would accompany Kill Team 1 in the Corvus Blackstar. I had three units of Veterans as backfield objective holders, two with Missile Launchers and one with Stalker Bolters. 

I was going to put the Meltagun Kill Team, Shotgun Kill Team and Terminator Kill Team in reserve, with the option to put the Vanguard Veterans and Chaplain in reserve. 

Uxbridge 40k Tournament: Game 4- White Scars vs Dark Eldar (Drukhari)

The final game of the day saw my White Scars take on Paulie and his Drukhari/Dark Eldar raiders. This tournament was played on the day of the release of the new codex, so he wasn't using it in this game, but he was really excited by the new book. 

The mission for game 3 saw Dominate and Destroy as the Eternal War mission, with Deadlock as the Maelstrom of War mission. The Eternal War mission gave one point for each objective held at the end of your turn and one point for each enemy unit destroyed. The maelstrom mission started with 6 cards on turn 1, 5 cards on turn 2, etc.

This would make the first few turns important to try and score as many maelstrom points as possible. I'm not a big fan of kill point missions, but hopefully the squishy Eldar would make up for that. We were using Dawn of War deployment.

After the first three games of the day, I was pretty wiped. I actually considered leaving after game 3 to go home early (I still had an hour drive ahead of me), but am glad that I did not. Paulie had a beautiful Dark Eldar army and was a joy to play against. They army won Best Painted Army at the tournament, as it was easy to see why. You can check out more of Paulie's work on his Facebook page, Sky Serpent. Check it out and give him a follow.  Remember, you can also follow the St Andrews Wargaming Facebook page. 

My army consisted of: 

Battalion Detachment

Captain- Bike, Thunder Hammer, Shield Eternal, Imperium's Sword Warlord Trait (C1)

Lieutenant- Jump Pack, Power Axe, Master-crafted Bolter (L1)

5 Scouts- Bolters (S1)

5 Scouts- Bolters (S2)

5 Scouts- Bolt Pistols, Combat Knives (S3)

5 Tactical Marines- Heavy Bolter (TS1)

10 Vanguard Veterans- 5 with Plasma Pistols and Chainswords, 5 with two Chainswords (VV)

10 Sternguard Veterans- Special Issue Bolters (SV)

Stormraven Gunship- Twin Assault Cannons, Twin Heavy Bolters, Two Stormstrike Missiles, two Hurricane Bolters (SG)

Outrider Detachment

Captain- Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Combi-Melta (C2)

3 Bike Squad- Twin Bolters, 2 Meltaguns (B)

3 Scout Bikers- Twin Bolters, Shotguns (SB1)

3 Scout Bikers- Twin Bolters, Shotguns (SB2)

Spearhead Detachment

Lieutenant- Master-crafted Bolter, Chainsword (L2)

5 Devastators- 2 Missile Launchers, Lascannon (D1)

5 Devastators- 2 Heavy Bolters (D2)

Thunderfire Cannon (TC)

Techmarine Gunner- Flamer, Plasma Cutter, two Servo-arms (T)

Bunker War 3: Game 1- Deathwatch vs Aeldari

Welcome to the first battle report from my recent trip to the Bunker War tournament, held at Battle Bunker in Sunderland. 

This tournament was a one-day, three-game event, featuring armies at 2000 pts. The games would be three random Eternal War determined on the day. Due to time constraints in playing with my other armies, I took my Deathwatch to the tournament, as they were the only army I had really had much experience with in 8th edition. 

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment

Watch Master (W)

Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Pair Lightning Claws (W)

Kill Team 1- 5 Veterans, Vanguard Veteran with Pair Lightning Claws, 3 Frag Cannons, Storm Shield. (KT1)

Kill Team 2- 5 Veterans, 2 Missile Launchers, 2 Stalker Boltguns (KT2)

Kill Team 3- 5 Veterans, 2 Infernus Heavy Bolters, 2 Stalker Boltguns (KT3)

Kill Team 4- 5 Veterans, Meltagun, 3 combi-Meltas (KT4)

Kill Team 5- 5 Veterans, 2 Frag Cannons (KT5)

Rhino (R)

Drop Pod- Storm Bolter (DP)

6 Vanguard Veterans- 2 Pairs Lightning Claws, Power Sword and Bolt Pistol, 3 with Bolt Pistols and Chainswords (VV1)

3 Deathwatch Bikers- Power Axe, Power Sword (DB1)

3 Deathwatch Bikers- two Power Swords (DB2)

Corvus Blackstar- Auspex Array, Hurricane Bolter, Twin Assault Cannons, 2 Blackstar Rocket Launchers (CB)

Vindicare Assassin (V)

6 Command Points

This army is based on a review of my previous tournament Deathwatch army. There were a few modifications based on the models that I had available. 

The Vanguard Veterans had lightning claws, power swords and chainswords. I had hoped to have them all armed with pairs of lightning claws, but didn't have the models available. Also, I planned to take two units with two Missile Launchers, but two of them hadn't arrived yet, so I substituted them for a couple of Infernus Heavy Bolters. 

Caledonian Revolution 2017: Game 1- Deathwatch vs Ynnari

Welcome to my first battle report from the recent Caledonian Revolution 2017 tournament. The weekend features five games of 8th edition 40k, with 2000 pts armies. 

The basic rules for the tournament were:

• 2000 pts, battle forged armies
• No more than 3 Detachments
• No duplicate detachments
• No Forgeworld

I decided that I would be taking my Deathwatch army. I had been having fun with the army towards the end of 7th edition and had made a real effort to get them painted to a higher standard than my previous forces. 

Each of the five games were to ETC standards, meaning that each mission would be a mixture of Eternal War objectives, Maelstrom points and Kill Points, as well as bonus points for First Blood, Slay the Warlord and Linebreaker. 

The first mission was Retrieval Mission (4 objectives), with Contact Lost for the maelstrom mission (one card for each objective held). The deployment zone was Spearhead Assault. 

My first opponent of the day was Tess and his Ynnari army. I had previously played Tess at Blog Wars X in a really fun game. I hoped that this would be another fun encounter. 

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

I figured I had a good mix of units to take on most threats in an opponent's army. I added some potent anti-tank firepower after my first few games had showed a serious problem taking on vehicles. 

Fracture of Biel-Tan Review: Part 4- Forces of the Ynnari

Welcome to part 4 of my review of the new Fracture of Biel-Tan supplement. This section will look at the new fraction to join the 40k universe- the Ynnari. 

This army features a combined force of Eldar, Dark Eldar and Harlequin units to combine into an Aeldari super-force to use on the table. 

Warlord Traits

As is common with many of the 40k supplements recently released, the Ynnari get a new Warlords trait table to roll on if they choose. 

Lord of Rebirth- The warlord gets It Will Not Die. Useful for keeping your warlord alive for longer. Added to the wound recovery methods that the new Ynnari special characters get, this could boost their durability even further, helping to keep them alive for longer. 

Warden of the Forgotten Wisdom- If your warlord is a psyker, you get to choose your psychic powers rather than rolling for them. This is amazing. Given how powerful the Eldar and Harlequinn psychic powers are, as well as the powers in the various other shared disciplines, removing the random nature of the roll and getting to choose the best powers for the situation is brilliant. Do Eldar have access to Telepathy? If so, you now have Invisibility. This would work really well on a level 3 Farseer, allowing you to choose the best 3 powers from the various disciplines at will. 

Walker of the Many Paths- Each turn, your warlord gains a special rule of your choice from Furious Charge, Hit and Run and Move Through Cover. This is pretty awesome too. Hit and Run is an amazing special rule, so getting it guaranteed on your Warlord's unit is going to be very effective in the game. 

Fracture of Biel-Tan Review: Part 1- Yvraine

Hi everyone, welcome to part 1 of my review of the new Gathering Storm book, the Fracture of Biel-Tan. This book introduces new rules for your Eldar, Dark Eldar and Harelquin units to be used as a single force, and let me tell you, this book gives you some awesome new rules for these forces (not that the Eldar needed any help!). 

This first part will look at the rules for the first of the new triumvirate; Yvraine, Emissary of Ynnead. 

Yvraine, Emissary of Ynnead

Yvraine is a decent psyker with some good combat ability that should be a useful addition to an army. 

She has a fairly decent statline for combat. At WS8, she is going to be hitting most things on 3's, at initiative 8 and 5 attacks (4 base and one for two melee weapons). She wields the Sword of Sorrows, a weapon which is +1S (taking her to 4) and AP3 with instant death. Any characters that are toughness 4 (or 5 at a push) with a 3+ save will generally fear Yvraine in combat. She will generally be striking before them and has enough attacks to make failing an invulnerable save more likely and killing them instantly. She will struggle against those with a high toughness or 2+ save, but should be able to handle herself in combat against most basic infantry. 

She is not the toughest of characters. With 3 wounds at T3 and a 4+ invulnerable, it will not take a lot to kill her. She does gain Eternal Warrior, making it impossible to double her out with S6 attacks or instant death weapons. She also gets a nice special rule, giving her a wound back on a 4+ if any Aeldari model (Eldar, Dark Eldar, Harlequin or Ynnari) is killed within 7" of her. This should help her be a bit more survivable, but any dedicated shooting or combat attacks will still kill her relatively easily. She is certainly not as durable as Saint Celestine or Belisarius Cawl. 

Battle Report 82- 1500 pts Ravenwing vs Dark Eldar

This week's battle report comes from a recent visit to Heaton Games Club. I was wanting to get some practice in with my list for Fluffageddon, as I had not played my Ravenwing in some time. I would be going up against Adam and his Dark Eldar list in the Contact Lost maelstrom mission (the one where you get a card for each objective you hold). 

My army consisted of:

Ravenwing Strike Force

Interrogator-Chaplain- Bike, Meltabombs, Auspex, Mace of Redemption (with CS)

5 Ravenwing Command Squad- Ravenwing Banner, Apothecary, Grenade Launcher (CS)

6 Black Knights- Meltabombs, Grenade Launcher (BK)

6 Ravenwing Bikers- 2 Grav Guns, Sergeant with Meltabombs and Power Sword (RB1)

6 Ravenwing Bikers- 2 Meltaguns, Sergeant with Meltabombs and Power Fist (RB2 and RB3)

Attack Bike- Heavy Bolter (AB)

Landspeeder- Multi-melta, Typhoon Missile Launcher (L)

Ravenwing Support Squadron

Darkshroud- Assault Cannon (SS)

3 Landspeeders- Assault Cannons, Heavy Bolters

For my warlord trait, I got Rapid Manoeuvre, giving me +3" to any charges. This would be great for my Command Squad, helping to ensure they get into combat. In order to use the rules for Fluffageddon, I would be limited to a 4+ for any re-roll save on the re-roll.

Double Trouble Tournament- Game 3: Orks/Daemons vs Dark Eldar/Space Marines

The final battle of the tournament saw my Orks teaming up with Matt and his Daemon army. Our opponents were Luke and his Iron Hands Space Marines and Nathaniel (NafNaf from Objective Secured) and his amazing Dark Eldar Carnival army. Whatever happened in the fight, this was going to be a good looking battle!

My army consisted of (green on the maps):

Warboss- Eavy Armour, Power Claw, Shoota, Bosspole, Stikkbombs (with B1)

Painboy- Urty Syringe, Dok's Tools (with B1)

 25 Ork Boyz- Sluggas, Choppas, inc. Nob with Power Claw and Bosspole (B1)

11 Ork Boyz- Sluggas, Choppas, inc. Nob with Power Claw and Bosspole (B2)

Trukk- Big Shoota (T)

Runtherd and 15 Gretchin (G1)

Runtherd and 11 Gretchin (G2)

3 Warbikers (WB)

Warbuggy- TL Rokkit (W)

Warbuggy- TL Rokkit (W)

 Looted Wagon- Killcannon, Ard Case, Big Shoota (LW)

My warlord trait was conqueror of Cities (Stealth Ruins and Move Through Cover Ruins).

Battle Report 57- 1500 pts Orks vs Dark Eldar

This week's battle report sees my Orks taking on James' Dark Eldar in the Contact Lost maelstrom mission.
A little while ago, I posted my proposed armies up for the upcoming Double Trouble tournament. There was a huge outpouring for me to take my Orks along- they are an army that I have never taken to one of Alex's events so far and one that I don't get to play often enough. They are also one of my favourite armies to play as they are simply so much fun. I decided I will start playing more games with them in the run up to Double Trouble so that I can get used to their rules once more and start testing some additional potential lists.

For my army, I decided to see if I could beat the puny Dark Eldar at their own game and went for a fast moving Speed Freaks type army, but with masses of bodies in true Orky style.

My army consisted of:
Warboss- Eavy Armour, Power Klaw, Shoota, Bosspole (with SB1)
Painboy (with SB1)
18 Slugga Boyz- inc Nob with Power Klaw and Bosspole (SB1)
12 Slugga Boyz- inc Nob with Power Klaw and Bosspole (SB2)
Trukk- Big Shoota (T2)
12 Slugga Boyz- inc Nob with Power Klaw and Bosspole (SB3)
Trukk- Big Shoota (T3)
12 Slugga Boyz- inc Nob with Big Choppa and Bosspole (SB4)
Trukk- Big Shoota (T4)
12 Slugga Boyz- inc Nob with Big Choppa and Bosspole (SB5)
Trukk- Big Shoota (T5)
9 Tankbustas (TB)
Trukk- big shoota (T1)
6 Warbikers- Nob with Power Klaw and Bosspole (W)
Looted Wagon- Ard case, Killcannon, Big Shoota (LW)
Dakkajet- 3 Supa shootas (D)
2 Scorchas (S)
Battlewagon- Extra armour, 2 Big Shootas (B)

Battle Report 50- 1500 pts Astra Militarum vs Dark Eldar

Welcome to my 50th battle report on the blog!

This week's battle report sees my Astra Militarum army taking on James' Dark Eldar. James is one of the few players that I have not yet fought in the Medusa IV campaign (or at all, in fact), so he took the opportunity to attack one my tiles in the campaign.

We decided that in order to have a fun game, we would steer away from the heavier elements of the armies. James wanted to run a Wych-themed army and I decided not to take any Wyverns or a Punisher, as these would likely shred his army quite easily.

Due to the campaign rules, I would get 150 pts extra for my army, however, James would get a +2 bonus to choosing deployment zone and getting the first turn.

 

For my army, I took:

Company Command- Vox, Company Standard, 2 Plasma guns, Astropath, Officer of the Fleet (CC)

Priest (with S1A)

Priest (with S2A)

Commissar (with HBT)

Commissar (with LT)

Primaris Psyker- level 1 (with CC)

 

Platoon Command 1- 2 Flamers, Vox (PC1)

Infantry Squad 1A- Autocannon, Vox (S1A)

Infantry Squad 1B- Autocannon (S1A)

Infantry Squad 1C- Autocannon, Vox (S1C)

Heavy Weapons Team 1- Heavy Bolters (HBT)

Heavy Weapons Team 2- Missile Launchers (MLT)

 

Platoon Command 2- 2 Flamers, Vox (PC2)

Infantry Squad 2A- Grenade launcher, vox (S2A)

Infantry Squad 2B- Grenade launcher (S2A)

Infantry Squad 2C- Grenade launcher, vox (S2C)

Heavy Weapons Team 3- Lascannons (LT)

 

10 Veterans- Grenadiers, 3 Meltaguns (V1)

Chimera- Dozer Blade, Extra Armour (C1)

 

Leman Russ- Battle Cannon, Lascannon, Heavy Bolter sponsons (LR)

Vendetta- 3 TL Lascannons (V2)

 

Aegis defence line- Quad Gun

 

My warlord trait gave my command squad Relentless. My Astropath got Psychic Shriek and Mental Fortitude, my Primaris got Prescience and Misfortune.

 

For my army, I decided to go infantry heavy. I took a company command to give me orders, along with an astropath and master of the fleet to help with my reserve rolls. I took two priests and two commissars to keep my units in check.

Two large infantry platoons were then added; one with autocannons and one with grenade launchers. I added three heavy weapons teams to deal with the Dark Eldar and their vehicles. A unit of veterans in a Chimera would give me some mobility in my army.

 

I added a Leman Russ with battle cannon to hopefully avoid those annoying Feel no Pain rolls that all Dark Eldar seem to have, as well as a Vendetta to deal with any vehicles or enemy flyers. Along this line, I also took an Aegis line and Quad gun.

 

With 50 pts left over, I decided to take a Primaris psyker. The Prescience re-rolls would be useful if I managed to cast it over the course of the game.

Doubles Tournament Game 1- White Scars/Mechanicus vs Dark Eldar/Tau

Welcome to my first battle report from a recent doubles tournament held at 6s2Hit in Edinburgh. Innes and I travelled through on a rather cold and windy Sunday morning with our armies to see how we would fare against the competition.

I had never been to the store before, but really enjoyed the experience. One half of the store has six 6x4 gaming tables, the other half has the café area where you can get hot food and drinks (I had an awesome coronation chicken Panini and chocolate brownie for lunch). They also have display cases with painted armies and the retail area, where you can pick stuff up for a variety of different game systems. They also had an awesome display on one of the walls with a bunch of different boxed sets from various editions of 40k and fantasy, as well as some other games. It was a really nice store, I will be keeping an eye out for any more events and recommend you take a look if you are ever in the Edinburgh area.

On to the tournament itself: Teams were comprised of 2 players, each with 1000 pts to spend on their army. Other than that, there were no restrictions. Armies could be bound, unbound or made up of formations, and Forgeworld units were allowed. The missions would be maelstrom, determined at each round by rolling in the book (the same mission for all games that turn). Each player would have their own warlord with warlord traits, but would need to choose a Supreme warlord for each game (who would give up Slay the Warlord when killed). Each player would also draw from their own maelstrom deck and could only score their own cards (e.g. you would only score Secure Objective 6 if your own units held it, not if your partner's units held the objective only). Impossible cards had to be kept and you could discard one card each turn.

With no restrictions in place other than the points limit, we did not know what to expect in all three games.

 

My army consisted of:

Combined Arms Detachment

Kor'sarro Khan- Moondakken (with CS)

Librarian- Mastery level 1, Bike, Meltabombs, Hunter's Eye (with CS or L)

5 Command Squad- 4 Grav guns, Apothecary, Storm Shield (CS)

5 Bikers- 2 Grav guns, sergeant has meltabombs (B1)

5 Bikers- 2 Grav guns, sergeant has meltabombs (B2)

5 Scouts- Bolt pistols, combat weapons, Sergeant has Meltabombs (S)

Landspeeder Storm- Cerberus launcher, Heavy bolter (LS)

Drop Pod- Storm Bolter (DP)

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

 

Innes' 1000 points army consisted of:
 

Dominus Maniple

Tech Priest Dominus- Raiment of the Technomartyr, Volkite Blaster, Macrostubber, Conversion Field (TD)

5 Skitarri Vanguard- 2 Plasma Calivers, Omnispex, Vanguard Alpha with Red Carbine. (V)

2 Onager Dunecrawlers- Neutron Laser and Cognis Heavy Stubber, Cognis Manipulator (D)

 

Oathsworn Detachment

Mechanicum Cerastus Knight Atropos- Occular Augmetics. (K)

My army was designed to be very fast for grabbing maelstrom objectives, plus armed to the teeth with grav weaponry for taking on any tough units such as Wraithknights, Riptides, etc. The only change to the Mechanicus army was reducing the Vanguard squad from 10 to 5 (to utilise the drop pod) and the addition of another Dunecrawler. Innes' army had the hard hitters with the Imperial Knight (armed with D weapons) and the Dunecrawlers.

For the first game, our supreme warlord was Khan. My Librarian got Hallucination and Psychic Shriek for his powers. Innes' Dominus got to make one weapon master-crafted as his warlord trait.

Battle Report 39- 1800 pts Orks vs Dark Eldar

This week's battle report features an 1800 pts match up between Seb's Orks and James' Dark Eldar. Last weeks battle report first of a fantasy game is followed up by another first this week- a battle report that I didn't actually play in! Let me explain.......

Seb and James are both taking part in the Medusa IV campaign that I have been running.

 

Seb's rise to power in the campaign started off a little shaky. His Orks were initially unable to secure a victory for much of the first turn of the campaign and when they did, despite only needing a 3+ on 2D6 to secure his tile, he managed to roll snake eyes for his capture roll after his first victory.

After the Warboss gave his lieutenants a stern talking to (and cleaned up the resulting mess), the Orks started going from victory to victory. The Mekboyz in the Ork camp have not been resting on their wins and have been busy building crude Ork Manufactorums to supply the greenskin hordes with weapons and armour. Seb was initially joined by Euan in the great Waaagh, but Euan unfortunately had to drop out and leave Seb to fight for the glory of Gork and Mork on his own (claims of bullying and name calling from Seb towards Euan on who was the "bestest Ork" have yet to be independently corroborated). With each victory, Seb's Orks have slowly been making their way south, looking for a good scrap........

James has had even better success in the campaign, racking up a string of victories each and every turn. The cunning Dark Eldar even managed to pilfer an abandoned Guard Command Bastion to help with their raiding parties and have constructed several power plants to keep the lights on during a long nights torturing session. Like any good Dark Eldar Archon, James has not ventured too far from his starting territory, merely expanding his dominion and awaiting the slaves and other such playthings to be brought back to him.

Despite using what is commonly regarded as two of the weakest Codices currently available, both players have managed to build substantial empires, coming out amongst the current leading players in the campaign (alongside Shaun's Tau and Allan's White Scars).

James' and Seb's forces have clashed several times during the course of the campaign. These scraps have been limited to raiding parties and are always bloody affairs. With each victory, Seb has been making a bee-line towards the Dark Eldar settlement and there has been much trash talk exchanged between the players.

When Seb was finally in position to launch an assault directly on the Dark Eldar territory, I knew that I would have to record this battle to see what took place.

With his two Manufactorums, Seb has the numerical advantage, gaining an additional 150 pts to spend on his army (which he threatened to spend entirely on Grots!). James, however, has the speed advantage. His two power plants gives him a +2 bonus to choosing deployment zone and getting the first turn. If this does not work, his Command Bastion gives him +1 to seize the initiative.

This promised to be an interesting match up. It will be nice to watch the game as a completely impartial observer, merely recording what is going on and waiting to see if the poncy Eldar get a rightful beating by the masterful Orks. Impartial, as I said.