Hero for a Day- the lost game

I recently attended a 24 hour gaming charity event, run by Nick from The Burning Eye, called Hero for a Day. 

The event was due to feature 8 games of 40k over a 24 hour period. The event was a lot of fun and raised a lot of money for a great cause. 

After seven games of 40k, the Defender's team (the team I was on) was so far ahead that the final game would have no influence on the result. Rather than play the same people again, we decided to do a free for all and I ended up playing against Rob (30Kplus40K) and his Blood Angels. 

Unfortunately, after being up for almost 45 hours at this point, I was starting to get a bit grumpy and tired. We set up and started the game, but only got to about turn 2 before I finally gave in. As a result, I never got the full battle report to write here, but I did take a bunch of photos of the game. I thought I would share the photos here for those that were interested. 

I'm hoping that with my recent move to Newcastle, I can arrange to meet up with Rob once more (possibly at Warhammer World) to get a proper game against him at some point. Till then, I hope you enjoy the photos. 

Guest Posts Wanted!

It was recently suggested that I could improve the blog by getting some guest posts from different writers. Some new voices on the blog would be a great opportunity for some varied opinions of different aspects of the game.

I have already posted a couple of Guest Posts so far:

• Innes Wilson posted a great editorial on competitive 40k and his thoughts on list building and tournament play. 
• Chris Rhodes posted a very nice introduction to Infinity, a game I have seen a lot online, but knew virtually nothing about until his article. 

So the call is out there- do you have something you want to say about 40k (or any other gaming system you are passionate about). If so, get in touch with your ideas and I'm sure we can work something out (you can email me at corrm83@gmail.com). 

I think that this would be perfect for any readers out there that don't have their own blog, but would like to write the occasional article on their thoughts on 40k when a certain issue arises or a new unit is released. Of course, if you already have your own blog but want to try something different, you are more than welcome to get in touch too.  

It doesn't have to be an extensive article either. Do you have a great looking army, awesome conversion or great piece of terrain that you are working on and would like to showcase? Get in touch. 

I can't promise you fame and fortune, but I do have a decent sized and enthusiastic audience always willing to read and comment. 

Guest Post- Plastic scenic bases from Warlocks Tower

In the latest guest post, John from the Warlocks Tower contacted me to see if he could share some information on a gaming Kickstarter that he is running that may be of some interest to some of the blog's readers. 

(Note: This guest post is from someone directly involved in the Kickstarter, as you will see below. I am not receiving any sort of inducement or "freebies" for posting this, I just figured it may be of some interest to those of you out there that use scenic bases). 

The Warlocks Tower Kickstarter Campaign

Hi there, 

This is a guest post from John of The Warlocks Tower. We are a brand new wargaming company which has just launched a Kickstarter to create round plastic scenic bases. The intention of this project is to provide a cost effective way to make your miniatures look even better at a fraction of the cost of resin bases but with all of the cool detail. 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1701708364/warlocks-tower-wargaming-bases/

The initial goal will allow us to produce a desert or moonscape bases. We have had the CAD designs coloured to show how this could instead be painted to represent a volcanic lava landscape. There are stretch goals in place to create other landscape types, check the Kickstarter page for details.

We have really tried to keep the cost of the bases as low as possible while allowing beautiful designs and high quality plastic injection moulds to be produced.

There are several brilliant CAD designers on standby and a plastic manufacturer ready to work with those designs. This will make the process of getting the bases from us to your gaming table as efficient as possible

If you have any questions email john@warlockstower.com or on twitter @warlocks_tower

Better Know A Blogger: Part 22- Servants of Ruin

The series you all know and love returns once more! This week's Better Know A Blogger features Robert from Servants of Ruin. 

Robert recently dropped me an email wanting to take part in the series. This was great for two main reasons. One- I haven't done one of these in a while and was hoping to do more of the series and two- I hadn't yet found Robert's great blog, so got a chance to check it out! 

Servants of Ruin features a whole host of varied and interesting content. There is a strong focus on editorial-type content, with Robert sharing his views on certain aspects of the game and new army releases or formations. You can find his thoughts on Deathstar armies and how to combat them, thoughts on some of the new Blood Angels formations and their new rules to name but a few. In addition, you can find some great battle reports and details of his upcoming campaign that he will be playing with some friends. 

Not just content with keeping up his own blog, Robert will also be writing articles for Frontline Gaming, so be sure to keep an eye out for his work there too, I know I will be. 

Here are Robert's answers to my questions:

1. What age did you get into gaming and what started it off?

I was around 15 when I first got into gaming. Mind you this was long before the internet was really a household thing. My best friend and I began with the old Hero Quest board game (which featured GW models I do believe).  Shortly thereafter, we started playing Magic The Gathering, which was also sort of in its infancy. One of our friends at our local card shop introduced us to AD&D and my descent into gaming culture was complete. 

Oddly enough my start into Games Workshop came with Epic. We dabbled in that for a while and when I was around 18 or so, I picked up my first 40k army and codex. The old Angels of Death codex that featured Blood Angels and Dark Angels. Blood Angels would become my army and even to this day I have a substantial Blood Angels collection (pity you chose the wrong of the two Angels forces ;) - Mike). Despite their lackluster ability in 7th edition, they will always be special to me.

I am the guy on the right holding up the purity seal

Genestealers Cult Codex Reviews: Part 5- Formations

This final part of my Genestealer Cults codex review will look at the various formations available to the army. 

Formations

Subterranean Uprising

This formation consists of:

0-1 Primus

1-3 Hybrid Metamorphs

2-4 Acolyte Hybrids

0-3 Aberrants

The formation special rules gives the units Infiltrate. The formation units must all deploy using Infiltrate, but get to roll 2D6 on the Cult Ambush table and choose the result they want (or 3D6 if the Primus is in the unit). This is a really nice bonus, giving you a better chance of getting one of the good results on the Cult Ambush table. 

This formation is also dirt cheap, coming in at only 130 points for the minimum size. However, you will probably want to take much more than the minimum units and definitely want the Primus in a unit in this formation. More units will give you more rolls on the Cult Ambush table and a better chance of getting the result that you want. With several units in this formation, you are probably guaranteed at least one first turn charge, maybe even more. 

Overall, I like this formation. It features a lot of the good units in the codex and gives some very nice bonuses to them. 

Genestealer Cults Codex Review: Part 4- Fast Attack and Heavy Support

Welcome to part 4 of my review of the new Genestealer Cults codex. This section will take a look at the Fast Attack and Heavy Support sections of the codex. With the army being based upon an uprising of an Imperial world, they have access to a number of Astra Militarum units, as well as a couple of unique choices for the army. 

Fast Attack

The Fast Attack section allows you to take a Chimera, Armoured Sentinel or Scout Sentinel in the army. These are pretty much the same as the units from the Astra Militarum codex, but with fewer vehicle upgrade options. 

Goliath Truck

Given that the Genestealers Cult army is set up as an assault orientated force, they have access to their own open-topped assault vehicle. 

The Goliath trukk has front armour 11, with side and rear armour 10 and 3 hull points. Not the most durable of chassis, but what you are really paying for is the open-topped assault vehicle that can carry 10 models. It gains a bit more durability with its special rules; every time it suffers a Crew Stunned, Crew Shaken or Immobilised result, it can ignore the effects of the result on a 4+, though it still loses the hull point. This is very useful for the vehicle, as you are unable to purchase any sort of extra armour upgrade to keep it moving when it is shaken. 

Battle Report 79- 1500 pts Orks vs Tyranids

A brief break in my Genestealer Cults reviews to bring you this week's battle report, which sees my Orks take on Innes' Tyranids in the Crusade mission. Innes and I have fought one another a number of times, mostly in competitive practice games or tournament games. This time we decided to go for a game using slightly less competitive armies from our collections, me with my Orks and Innes with his Tyranids. 

My army consisted of:

Warboss- Power Claw, Eavy Armour, Bosspole (with B2)

Painboy (with B2)

30 Shoota Boyz- Nob with Power Claw and Bosspole. (B1)

30 Slugga Boyz- Nob with Power Claw and Bosspole.  (B2)

12 Slugga Boyz (B3)

12 Slugga Boyz (B4)

Trukk- Extra Armour (T1)

12 Shoota Boyz (B5)

Trukk- Extra Armour (T2)

15 Lootas (L)

Scorcha (S1)

Scorcha (S2)

Scorcha (S3)

3 Killa Kans- Grotzookas (KK)

Deff Dread- Scorcha, 3 Power Claws, Extra Armour (DD)

My Warlord trait was Prophet of the Waaagh, a nice bonus for my large mobs of boyz. 

Genestealer Cults Codex Review: Part 3- Troops and Elites

Part three of the Genestealer Cults Codex Review will look at the Troops and Elites options available to the army. These feature a number of Genestealer Hybrids and other mutated units. For me, the models for these units look great and they have some pretty decent rules to match.

Troops
The troops section of Genestealer Cults consists of two options; Acolyte Hybrids and Neophyte Hybrids.

Acolyte Hybrids
These are the veteran troopers of the Genestealer Cult that are built for combat. They come with an Astra Militarum Guardsman's profile, but with an additional point of weapon skill, strength, initiative and Leadership and an extra attack for a couple of points more. The squad size is between 5-20 models. They are armed with assault grenades, a pistol and combat weapon and Rending Claws. This gives them 4 attacks each on the charge at AP5 with Rending. That is a pretty decent damage output for a relatively cheap unit.

Genestealer Cults Codex Review: Part 2- HQ units

Welcome to the second part of my Genestealer Cults codex review, looking at the HQ units available to the army. The first part looked at the special rules, wargear and psychic powers for the force. 

HQ Units

The HQ units available to Genestealers Cults are all pretty good. Not only are the individual characters pretty solid choices for combat or psychic powers, they all provide some nice buffs to nearby Genestealer Cult units that will improve the army. 

Patriarch

The Genestealer Cult Patriarch is the top HQ unit in the codex, designed for combat and for boosting the troops around him.

He has a very decent statline. With WS7, S6 and I7, he is pretty tough in a fight. Add to that four attacks at AP3 (with Rending and Shred) and he will make a mess of most rank and file in any force and will certainly worry any combat characters without a 2+ armour save or invulnerable save.

The Patriarch also comes with a whole host of special rules including the Genestealer Cult special rules, Fear, Fearless, Fleet and Infiltrate. He is also a level one psyker (can be upgraded to level 2) with access to Biomancy, Broodmind and Telepathy. As if that wasn't enough, he also has a 12" Fearless bubble for Genestealer Cult units. All that for the cost of a Space Marine Captain.

He is actually pretty durable, with Toughness and Wounds comparable to an Ork Warboss. He does only have a 4+ save and lacks an invulnerable save. However, when you factor in the Unquestioning Loyalty special rule, as long as he is with a decent-sized unit, it should take a lot to kill him.

He would definitely suit being placed with a sizeable combat unit such as Purestrain Genestealers for maximum effect. Depending on his psychic powers, he could really boost the unit he is in or soften up enemy units before the charge. He can be accompanied by up to two Genestealer Familiars, giving him up to an additional four S4 rending attacks in combat.

In case it wasn't clear, the Patriarch is an awesome HQ unit and would find a place in any army.

Genestealer Cults Codex Review: Part 1- Special Rules, Warlord Traits, Wargear, Psychic Powers and Relics

Last week saw the release of a codex that a few years ago, I don't think anyone would have expected, Codex: Genestealer Cults. I picked the book up at the weekend to see what all the fuss was about and I have to say that I am pretty impressed with the results. It is sorely tempting me to start a new force to ally with my Imperial Guard. I may hold out for a while or my reviews of the various parts of the codex may tempt me even further. 

This first part of the review will look at the various non-unit and non-formation parts of the book. 

Special Rules

The Genestealer Cult gets access to a number of unusual special rules that really add to the flavour of the army. I think these will lead to a very different playstyle for the army in comparison to other armies available. 

Cult Ambush

All infantry models in the Genestealer Cult have the Cult Ambush special rule. This gives them a number of options for deploying or arriving from reserve. 

Any unit with the Infiltrate rule or that arrives from reserve or ongoing reserve may roll on the Cult Ambush table for their deployment, though the unit may not move any further in the movement phase if they do so. 

The Cult Ambush table consists of 6 different deployment options, one of which is randomly selected for each unit. These include options such as deploying normally from your table edge, outflanking, deploying anywhere on the board at least 6-9" from an enemy model, getting a bonus shooting attack when you deploy or even getting to assault the turn you arrive from reserves (or even a first turn charge after infiltrating or deploying!). 

In a game where movement and unit positioning are key, the Cult Ambush rule is really powerful. On a 3+, you can deploy any unit up to 6" away from the enemy and even get the option of a free shooting attack in the movement phase or getting to assault from reserve. This is a really nice bonus for the army, one which will become very useful when you see some of the units the army can field.