Warfare 2018: Battle Overview- Dark Angels/Deathwatch vs Deathwatch/Astra Militarum/Dark Angels

Today I have a battle overview of one of the tournament games I played at Reading Warfare last year. I actually meant to write these up ages ago, but lost the notes on the games, so only had the photos to go by. 

It's hard to think this game was only played a year ago, as so much of the game has changed since them. 

Here are some photos of the first game, where my Dark Angels and Deathwatch took on Daniel's force of Deathwatch and Astra Militarum. This was a custom mission for Warfare. In the first two turns, you scored kill points for killing units in your opponent's army. Then in turn 3, the player with the lowest current score gets to place two objectives, and these are worth 5 points each (if I recall correctly). This meant you could be at a disadvantage for scoring big in the initial turns. 

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment (Dark Angels)

Azrael- Combi-Plasma, Sword of Secrets, WARLORD (Brilliant strategist Warlord trait)

Primaris Lieutenant- Master-crafted Auto Bolt Rifle, Bolt Pistol, Eye of the Unseen Relic

Primaris Ancient- Bolt Rifle, Bolt Pistol.

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles. Bolt Pistols.

5 Scouts- Bolters, Sergeant with Chainsword

5 Scouts- Heavy Bolter, Bolters, Sergeant with Chainsword

Devastators- Heavy Bolter, Armorium Cherub, Bolters

10 Hellblasters- Plasma Incinerators, Bolt Pistols.

Darkshroud- Heavy Bolter

Battalion Detachment (Deathwatch)

Watch Master- Guardian Spear

Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Bolt Pistol

10 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols, Auxiliary Grenade Launcher

10 Veterans- 10 Storm Bolters, 2 Storm Shields, 8 Chainswords

6 Veterans- 2 Missile Launchers, 4 Stalker Bolters

Auxiliary Detachment (Officio Assassinorum)

Culexus Assassin

White Scars Tournament Army Review: Warfare 2019

I recently attended Warfare 2019 with my White Scars army. I have been developing the force since the release of the new codex and supplement, and it was proving to be a powerful force on the table top. The event was 1750 pts, and featured 5 missions from Chapter Approved 2018, a mixture of eternal war and maelstrom missions. 

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment

Captain on Bike- Twin Bolter, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Chogorian Storm, Master of Snares, Wrath of the Heavens

Librarian- Jump Pack, Force Stave, Mantle of the Stormseer, Ride the Winds, Storm-wreathed

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols
5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

5 Scouts Bikers- Twin Bolters, Shotguns, Combat Knives

Battalion Detachment

Captain- Jump Pack, Master-crafted Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield

Lieutenant- Jump Pack, Power Axe, MC Bolter

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolt Pistol, Combat Knives

Spearhead Detachment
Chaplain- Jump Pack, Crozius Arcanum, Bolt Pistol, Litan of Hate

10 Vanguard Veterans- 5 with 2 Chainswords, 5 with two Lightning Claws

5 Vanguard Veterans- Chainswords and Plasma Pistols
5 Devastators- Bolters, 2 Missile Launchers, Heavy Bolter
5 Devastators- Bolters, 2 Missile Launchers

Thunderfire Cannon- Techmarine Gunner with Flamer, Plasma Cutter, 2 Servo-arms

I'll take a look through the army and see what worked and what did not.

Captain on Bike
The Captain on Bike is one of the hard hitting combat units of the army. With the Wrath of the Heavens relic, he has incredible mobility on the battlefield, able to advance up to 22" and ignore intervening models and terrain in the movement phase.

With the ability to advance and still charge, this gives the Captain an incredible threat range on the tabletop. This allows him to get a first turn charge in most games, if I want him to. With the Chogorian Storm warlord trait and Shock Assault rules, this gives him between 6-8 attacks on the charge. This gives him incredible combat potential with the Thunder Hammer.

He was able to do a lot of damage on the charge in combat, dealing with many threats in the enemy army.

The Master of Snares ability is also very useful in games. It allows you to prevent enemy units from falling back from combat, keeping the Captain safe from enemy firepower in the enemy turn. You can also use his abilities to fall back and charge in your subsequent turn, thereby getting the most out of the Captain.

With using the Captain so aggressively, he can be slain by enemy army, giving up slay the warlord. However, he has a decent level of durability with the Storm Shield and T5, and can take on most threats in combat with ease.

St Andrews Wargaming- 2019 in review

I thought I would take a look back at the year of blogging in 2019 for St Andrews Wargaming, and seeing what the new year has in store.

Blogging
My blogging content has been down significantly in 2019. I posted 160 articles on the blog in 2018, compared to only 81 in 2019, a reduction of about 50%. These articles have been exclusively hobby updates, battle reports and codex reviews.

There are several reasons for this. One of the main ones is that I think blog interaction and views appear to be down across the board. I think a lot more readers are migrating to social media and Youtube channels to get their hobby content. This has left a lot of bloggers behind and I think my average article views are well down compared to a couple of years ago.

I think another issue is the way that GW have changed their release schedules and release practices. In previous years, Codex Reviews were a big draw to the blog, as people wanted to read about the new releases and new rules and units for an army. For much of 8th edition, GW have started giving advance copies of the codices to the bigger Youtube channels and websites. As a result, most people are getting their information about the new releases from those sources, weeks before anyone else can supply these highly sought after articles.

Another issue for me has been the increased release schedule of the new books. We have gone from one to two codices a year, to almost one a month with 8th edition. It can be hard to keep up do date with the reviews for just the armies that I have. For most of my reviews, I have focused on the special rules, warlord traits, psychic powers and stratagems, rather than reviewing each unit in turn. I have saved the more indepth reviews for my Frontline Gaming articles.

As I will discuss below, the battle reports have also been a time-consuming part of blogging. This has limited the number of posts I can put out.

Changes in my social life have also limited the amount of time I can spend on the blog. I started a new relationship this year and have taken up some hobbies that have cut down the time I can spend on blogging each week, which has helped contribute to the lower output this year.

Another aspect that I need to work on for the new year is interacting with other blogs. Potentially one of the reasons for the reduced readership and comments on the blog has been that I have also dropped off in reading blogs and commenting on other blogs. As I have said previously, interacting with other bloggers is a great way to keep the community going and get more people interested in your own blog. I've been trying to start this up again more recently, and hope to improve on this in the new year.

Many of the people I starting blogging around the same time as, and many of the blogs I used to follow on a regular basis have either stopped altogether or seen a dramatic reduction in their posts; Confessions of a 40k addict, The Burning Eye, From the Horus Heresy to Infinity and Beyond, From the Fang.

A big shout out to some recent bloggers who have taken up the mantle, producing great content most weeks; Stylus from the Woffboot Chronicles and Redtoof from Redtoof's mostly 40k blog.

I also want to call out some blogs that have continued to go from strength to strength; Old School Gaming, WeeMen and Cascadian Grimdark. If there are any other blogs you think I should be following, please leave a comment and let me know.

Many thanks to all of those that continue to read and comment on the blog on a regular basis, and for helping to keep my motivation up in the past year.

Video Battle Report- Space Marines Primaris Army vs Sisters of Battle

Today I have a new video battle report. In this game, my Space Marine Primaris Army take on the new Sisters of Battle army. 

Tournament Battle Report: Warfare 2019: Game 5- White Scars vs Death Guard

Game 5 of Warfare 2019 would see my White Scars take on Rob's Death Guard in the final game of the tournament. The mission was Decapitating Strike with Search and Destroy deployment. 

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment

Captain on Bike- Twin Bolter, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Chogorian Storm, Master of Snares, Wrath of the Heavens

Librarian- Jump Pack, Force Stave, Mantle of the Stormseer, Ride the Winds, Storm-wreathed

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols
5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

5 Scouts Bikers- Twin Bolters, Shotguns, Combat Knives

Battalion Detachment

Captain- Jump Pack, Master-crafted Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield

Lieutenant- Jump Pack, Power Axe, MC Bolter

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolt Pistol, Combat Knives

Spearhead Detachment
Chaplain- Jump Pack, Crozius Arcanum, Bolt Pistol, Litan of Hate

10 Vanguard Veterans- 5 with 2 Chainswords, 5 with two Lightning Claws

5 Vanguard Veterans- Chainswords and Plasma Pistols
5 Devastators- Bolters, 2 Missile Launchers, Heavy Bolter
5 Devastators- Bolters, 2 Missile Launchers

Thunderfire Cannon- Techmarine Gunner with Flamer, Plasma Cutter, 2 Servo-arms

Tournament Battle Report: Warfare 2019- Game 4- White Scars vs Astra Militarum

The fourth game of Warfare 2019 would see my White Scars take on Mike's Astra Militarum Tallarn army in the Narrow the Search eternal war mission. 

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment

Captain on Bike- Twin Bolter, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Chogorian Storm, Master of Snares, Wrath of the Heavens

Librarian- Jump Pack, Force Stave, Mantle of the Stormseer, Ride the Winds, Storm-wreathed

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols
5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

5 Scouts Bikers- Twin Bolters, Shotguns, Combat Knives

Battalion Detachment

Captain- Jump Pack, Master-crafted Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield

Lieutenant- Jump Pack, Power Axe, MC Bolter

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolt Pistol, Combat Knives

Spearhead Detachment
Chaplain- Jump Pack, Crozius Arcanum, Bolt Pistol, Litan of Hate

10 Vanguard Veterans- 5 with 2 Chainswords, 5 with two Lightning Claws

5 Vanguard Veterans- Chainswords and Plasma Pistols
5 Devastators- Bolters, 2 Missile Launchers, Heavy Bolter
5 Devastators- Bolters, 2 Missile Launchers

Thunderfire Cannon- Techmarine Gunner with Flamer, Plasma Cutter, 2 Servo-arms

Tournament Battle Report: Warfare 2019: Game 3- White Scars vs Imperium

The third game of the tournament saw my White Scars take on Aidan's Imperium force, consisting of Astra Militarum, Space Marines and Blood Angels. The mission for game 3 was Visions of Victory, using Search and Deploy deployment zone.

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment

Captain on Bike- Twin Bolter, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Chogorian Storm, Master of Snares, Wrath of the Heavens

Librarian- Jump Pack, Force Stave, Mantle of the Stormseer, Ride the Winds, Storm-wreathed

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols
5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

5 Scouts Bikers- Twin Bolters, Shotguns, Combat Knives

Battalion Detachment

Captain- Jump Pack, Master-crafted Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield

Lieutenant- Jump Pack, Power Axe, MC Bolter

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolt Pistol, Combat Knives

Spearhead Detachment
Chaplain- Jump Pack, Crozius Arcanum, Bolt Pistol, Litan of Hate

10 Vanguard Veterans- 5 with 2 Chainswords, 5 with two Lightning Claws

5 Vanguard Veterans- Chainswords and Plasma Pistols
5 Devastators- Bolters, 2 Missile Launchers, Heavy Bolter
5 Devastators- Bolters, 2 Missile Launchers

Thunderfire Cannon- Techmarine Gunner with Flamer, Plasma Cutter, 2 Servo-arms

Tournament Battle Report: Warfare 2019- Game 2- White Scars vs Drukhari

The second game of the Warfare 40k tournament would see my White Scars take on Giles' Drukhari in the Vital Intelligence Eternal War mission, using Vanguard Strike deployment. 

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment

Captain on Bike- Twin Bolter, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Chogorian Storm, Master of Snares, Wrath of the Heavens

Librarian- Jump Pack, Force Stave, Mantle of the Stormseer, Ride the Winds, Storm-wreathed

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols
5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

5 Scouts Bikers- Twin Bolters, Shotguns, Combat Knives

Battalion Detachment

Captain- Jump Pack, Master-crafted Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield

Lieutenant- Jump Pack, Power Axe, MC Bolter

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolt Pistol, Combat Knives

Spearhead Detachment
Chaplain- Jump Pack, Crozius Arcanum, Bolt Pistol, Litan of Hate

10 Vanguard Veterans- 5 with 2 Chainswords, 5 with two Lightning Claws

5 Vanguard Veterans- Chainswords and Plasma Pistols
5 Devastators- Bolters, 2 Missile Launchers, Heavy Bolter
5 Devastators- Bolters, 2 Missile Launchers

Thunderfire Cannon- Techmarine Gunner with Flamer, Plasma Cutter, 2 Servo-arms

Tournament Battle Report: Warfare 2019- Game 1- White Scars vs Astra Militarum/Deathwatch

Welcome to my first battle report from the recent Warfare 2019 tournament held in Reading. In this tournament, I was taking my White Scars once more. I was still modifying the army after some tournament performances, so was interested to see if the changes would help to improve the Marines further. 

The first mission of the day was Strategic Gamble maelstrom mission using Dawn of War deployment. In this game, I would be facing off against Arran and his Astra Militarum and Deathwatch forces. 

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment

Captain on Bike- Twin Bolter, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Chogorian Storm, Master of Snares, Wrath of the Heavens

Librarian- Jump Pack, Force Stave, Mantle of the Stormseer, Ride the Winds, Storm-wreathed

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols
5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

5 Scouts Bikers- Twin Bolters, Shotguns, Combat Knives

Battalion Detachment

Captain- Jump Pack, Master-crafted Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield

Lieutenant- Jump Pack, Power Axe, MC Bolter

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolt Pistol, Combat Knives

Spearhead Detachment
Chaplain- Jump Pack, Crozius Arcanum, Bolt Pistol, Litan of Hate

10 Vanguard Veterans- 5 with 2 Chainswords, 5 with two Lightning Claws

5 Vanguard Veterans- Chainswords and Plasma Pistols
5 Devastators- Bolters, 2 Missile Launchers, Heavy Bolter
5 Devastators- Bolters, 2 Missile Launchers

Thunderfire Cannon- Techmarine Gunner with Flamer, Plasma Cutter, 2 Servo-arms

As you can see, a slightly modified force from my last tournament list.

To start with, I swapped the Khan on Bike for a Captain with Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield to give him extra offensive and defensive capabilities. His warlord traits and Relic were unchanged, as this combination worked very well for me in the past.

I also took three units of Intercessors with Bolt Rifles. I decided to try these out over the Tactical Marines, to see if the extra durability and firepower would prove to be useful in the list. I kept the Scout Bikers to accompany the Captain, but dropped the Biker squad, as I didn't find the so effective in the previous tournament.

For the second Battalion, I took another Captain, this time with a Jump Pack, Master-crafted Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield for some more powerful combat ability. The Lieutenant and Scouts were the same as in the previous list.

I also added a Spearhead Detachment, which was led by a Chaplain. This was my first trial of the Chaplain and I wanted to see what his abilities would bring to the army. He knows the standard Litany, allowing you to re-roll hit rolls within 6" in combat, which should pair well with the Devastating Charge ability. He also took the litany of Hate, which gives one unit +2 to the charge and the ability to consolidate up to 6". Great for getting another unit into combat, along with the Ride the Winds psychic power.

I also took a couple of units of Devastators with some Missile Launchers for some more long-ranged firepower support, something my last list was missing. I took the ever useful Thunderfire Cannon and a couple of units of Vanguard Veterans to make use of their combat ability once more.

Surrey 40k Tournament: White Scars Army Review

I recently attended a three-game Eternal War tournament in Surrey with my White Scars. This is the first time I had taken them to a tournament since the start of 8th edition, and the new codex game them a lot of useful tools to use in a new list. 

In the tournament I managed two wins and a draw. I was really pleased with that, given how few practice games I had with the White Scars before going to the event. This article will take a look at the army and what changes and improvements I would make to the list for future events. 

My army consisted of:

My White Scars army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment

Khan on Bike- Twin Bolter, Khan's Spear, Chogorian Storm, Master of Snares, Wrath of the Heavens

Librarian- Jump Pack, Force Stave, Mantle of the Stormseer, Ride the Winds, Storm-wreathed

5 Tactical Marines- Bolters, Heavy Bolter

5 Tactical Marines- Bolters, Plasma Cannon

5 Tactical Marines- Bolters, Power Sword, Flamer

5 Scouts Bikers- Twin Bolters, Shotguns, Combat Knives

5 Bikers- Twin Bolters, 2 Meltaguns, Force Stave

5 Devastators- 4 Grav-cannons, Combi-grav

Rhino- Storm Bolter

Rhino- Storm Bolter

Drop Pod- Storm Bolter

Battalion Detachment

Captain- Bike, Twin Bolter, Teeth of Terra

Lieutenant- Jump Pack, Power Axe, MC Bolter

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolt Pistol, Combat Knives

10 Vanguard Veterans- 5 with 2 Chainswords, 5 with Chainsword and Plasma Pistol

5 Sternguard Veterans- Special Issue Bolters

Thunderfire Cannon- Techmarine Gunner with Flamer, Plasma Cutter, 2 Servo-arms

1750 pts.

This was not an optimal army by any means. It was simply some useful units that I had in my collection and some options that I wanted to try out with the new codex and supplement.