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)

Friday, 30 November 2018

Video Battle Report- Dark Angels/Deathwatch vs Astra Militarum

Today, I have another video battle report for you. In this game, my Dark Angels and Deathwatch tournament army take on Mike's Tallarn Astra Militarum in a Warfare tournament practice game. 

This game features an unusual maelstrom mission, where you get to look at the next cards in advance and can use a stratagem to swap them with your current hand. This gives you good opportunity to plan ahead and maybe score more points in your turn with the right use of the stratagem. 

Check out the video and be sure to subscribe to the Youtube channel if you like the reports. 




Sunday, 25 November 2018

Game against Winters SEO- Genestealer Cults vs Space Marines

In case you haven't seen it, I recently played a game against Winters SEO, where my Genestealer Cults took on his Ultramarines. It was a blast of a game that went right down to the wire. You can check it out on Youtube, just be sure to say how much you enjoyed it in the comments!

Here are some photos I took of the game to give you a taste.



Thursday, 22 November 2018

Army Showcase- Steven's Astra Militarum

Today I have an army showcase for you, featuring Steven's Astra Militarum force. 

Steven got in contact with me on the St Andrews Wargaming Facebook page a while back with some great pics of his force when I was looking for hobby updates from readers. He was prepping them for a doubles tournament he was attending. 

The army is a great Astra Militarum armoured company, with a beautiful paint job on the tanks. I got in touch with Steven to get more info on the force and how he put it together. 

1. What drew you to the army? 
One of my friends has a Tanith army and we decided to go to the 40k doubles tournament at Warhammer World back in October. Because we wanted the army to be themed we started looking at other regiments that the Tanith fought with in Sabbat Worlds Crusade, because his army was 1000 points of pure infantry we opted for one of the tank regiments as we wanted to get past turn 1. 

I choose to go with the Narmenians 1st Armoured Regiment out of the novel Necropolis for three reasons. Firstly, the first time I read this novel it made me want to collect an armoured company but back then my painting skills were not up to scratch to do them justice. Secondly, the mustard drab colour scheme sounded like it would be fun to paint and yellow colours are always a challenge to get to look right. Thirdly, Coron Grizmund is my favourite character from the Gaunt’s Ghosts series so I would be able to convert a model for him and use him as a Tank Commander 

Wednesday, 21 November 2018

Better Know a Blogger: Part 54- Redtoof's Mostly 40k Blog

Today's Better Know a Blogger features Dan from Redtoof's Mostly 40k Blog

Dan started his blog earlier this year, and I have been a continuous reader and follower since I discovered it on the 40,000 blogs Facebook page.

On Redtoof's Mostly 40k blog, you can find a great selection of content, including battle reports, hobby updates and codex reviews. He's also been featuring on a number of video battle reports recently, including a great game with his Tyranids against Winters SEO.

A great recent article was on tournament preparation, featuring some great advice on what to do when you are getting ready for a tournament, delivered in a humourous way.

Apologies to Dan for the late posting of this. I've had it sitting for a few weeks and just haven't had the time to put it together.

Here are Dan's answers to my questions:

1. What age did you get into gaming and what started it off?
I started getting into gaming at some point during primary school in the 90s and I was about 10 when a model shop arrived in my small hometown in Devon that stocked Citadel Miniatures. I instantly thought I wanted some of that and started collecting minis, mostly based on what looked cool. A little while later 3rd edition 40k came out and I got into playing the game ‘properly’, and I haven’t really stopped since.

Thursday, 15 November 2018

Warhammer 40k Battle Report 167- Dark Angels/Deathwatch vs Thousand Sons

This week's Warhammer 40k battle report is another warfare tournament practice game, featuring my Dark Angels and Deathwatch army taking on Ben's Thousand Sons army. 

This game featured a custom mission for warfare called The Ritual. This mission features two objectives, with one on the central line, 18" away from each flank. You score two points for each objective you hold at the end of your turn. In addition, if you have a character within 3" of the objective, you can spend up to two command points to score that many bonus victory points, so lots of opportunity to rack up bonus points. 

In addition, each player gets one command point back at the start of each player turn, but you cannot regenerate command points in this game. Deployment is also a bit of a change. Both players secretly bet a number of command points for gaining first turn. The winner loses the command points, but sets up first and gets the first turn (their opponent cannot seize the initiative). Quite an unusual scenario to play. 

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)

This is my trial tournament army going forward. It contains a strong firebase and some great reserves in the Deathwatch.