Have army, will travel

I was 'on vacation' over the last two weeks, and it was mostly a good time.  I now know for certain that I have a severe phobia for driving in precipitation (snow, rain, just plain-'ol water).  But that aside, I also got to take my army on a road trip and test it out.

My first stop was in Nashville, TN, where my buddy and team-mate lives and runs a Games Workshop (the student has become the master and all that jazz).  He presented to me his Tyranid list, but I'll go into that in a bit.  We played a game against one another, and that had some good lessons.  The next day, we teamed up and played against two of the hobbyists in the shop, and that was a hard-fought battle.  A few days later, we'd made it to Buffalo, NY, where I got to chill with another old buddy (and also team-leader) and play a game.  Again, some strong lessons.

Before I go into the games, let me show off my army and the army list:

1000 point Adepticon Army- Word Bearers Chaos Marines

HQ-  1st Chaplain Erebus (counts as Huron Blackheart)  160
TROOP-  10 Chaos Marines, Power Fist and Plasma Pistol, 2 Plasma guns, Veterans of the Long War  220
TROOP-  20 Cultists, Shotgun, Flamer  97
TROOP-  25 Cultists, Shotgun, 24 Autoguns  136
ELITE-  5 Terminators, twin Lightning Claws, 3 bolter/melta-guns, Reaper Autocannon, 2 Power Fists, 2 Chainfists, Veterans of the Long War  272
HEAVY-  5 Havocs, 4 Autocannons  115

This army is not a min-maxed force, it's not specialized at killing anything (in fact, there's a few things it can't kill), and it fits the 'theme' to the point of insane.  But that's the point anyway, so this became the army.  If you want to know the theme, check out the Horus Heresy novel 'Know No Fear', by Dan Abnett.  Other than that, the reasoning for all the units is simple- horde and bullets.  I needed the autocannons to break light vehicles and possibly drop some flyers, and I needed Terminators to lay down the hurtin' when possible since the rest of the army is pretty weak.  I had to include 'veterans of the long war' because these guys AMBUSHED THE ULTRAMARINE LEGION ON THEIR OWN MASTER-WORLD!  So yeah, that rule was pretty much required.  So now it's time to see how this army did in the real-world:

Game 1- Tyranids vs Chaos Marines, 1000 pts.
His army was definitely scary.  It comprised of the Swarmlord with 2 Tyrant Guard, a Zoanthrope, and 3 units of 30 Hormagaunts.  It was the 'horde and dice' game I thought I could play, and was embarrassed at the attempt.
I rolled for my d3 infiltrating units (Huron's warlord trait) and got a '2', which allowed me to attach Erebus to the CC unit of Cultists and outflank.  We were playing the 'ol "Castles" scenario (objective on each side) and he got to go first.
So his doods all rushed at me.  I shot him.  The first casualties of the game were my Plasma Gunners blowing themselves up.  Then more good luck- my Terminators deep-struck directly behind the Swarmlord and cadre, fired everything, and caused a single wound.  A unit of claws, er, 'gaunts simply turned around and overwhelmed the elites, killing them in a single phase.  But luck does have a way of changing- twice, my autogun-wielding Cultists were saved by a poor Charge roll ('4' when he needs a '5', and '5' when he needed a '6').  But luck does not a game win.  The Swarmlord simply stomped foward and smashed everything.  My Cultists died first, then my Chaos Squad.  My Leader'd-up Cultists outflanked and wiped out the 'gaunts threatening my Havocs' position, but were then chomped by the Swarmlord themselves.  Even Erebus fell pitilessly in a single phase.  The Havocs shot a unit of 'gaunts from across the table and chased them from the objective.    The game ended with the Tyranids taking my objective and gaining all the secondaries.
All in all, it was a fun game.  I got to see how my units fared against other armies.  The MVP for me was, surprisingly, the Cultists.  They each caused a decent amount of damage and took some real work to get rid of.  I found them surprisingly distracting.  I learned that Huron seemed to be wasted in the CC Cultist unit.  Other than that, just happy to see them in action.

Game 2-  Tyranids/Chaos Marines vs Necrons/Space Marines, 2000 pts.
So my buddy and I team up and take on a couple of other gamers, and this being my last hours in Nashville. We roll up the multiple objectives, then Night Fight, and then they got first turn.
I rolled for my d3 infiltrating units and got a '2' again, so I attached Erebus to the Autogun-Cultists and chose to outflank again.  I deployed my Havocs in some woods on the back of the table, behind layers and layers of 'gaunts.  The Swarmlord deployed in front of me, and my Chaos Marines deployed opposite inside a ruins (which just happened to have one of the objectives and no line of sight to the enemy).
The battle began with a Drop Pod full of Veterans popped out right in front of the mob and the Swarmlord.  With some powerful shooting, a Tyrant Guard died and the other was nearly dead.  More shooting from the Necrons and Space Marines saw a ton of 'gaunts get blown up.  But not enough.  Our turn started with a massive surge foward, some running, and quite a bit maneuvering.  The Havocs killed an Annihilation Barge in one round (and some terrible saves), while the Stormlord and horde crunched through Marines and Drop Pod alike.  The game went on to see some epic swings.  My Terminators deep-struck next to his Triarch Stalker and melta'd it to death, only to die by Necron and Tactical squad fire.  The Techmarine and accompanying squad were responsible for killing droves of xenos, but was subsequently cut down by the Swarmlord.  My Cultists, led by Erebus, outflanked behind the ruins where some Wraiths were waiting to counter-charge, and successfully killed one and wounded another.  A timely counter-charge by Hormagaunts saved my Cultists, who went on to take the objective in the enemy ruins and be killed to a man.  Erebus was slain when even he could not withstand an army's shooting phase alone.  The Swarmlord was killed as a Land Raider drove over him.  When the smoke cleared, we had just pulled out a victory.  It was a BLAST!
We learned that the Zoanthrope was getting dropped and another Tyrant Guard was being added to keep the Swarmlord alive longer (plus not give away the free 'First Blood' objective point that easily).  I learned the Huron is perfect in the Autogun-cultists.  I learned, definitively, that the Terminators are too frail to withstand close proximity to the enemy.  Which explains why I took combi-meltas- I need them to kill something NOW! because they may not be here in a moment...
It was very nice to work with my buddy again.  This game proved how well we play together, and how well my army can do with some proper support, and vice-versa.  The MVP for this battle was the Chaos squad, who stayed strategically hidden behind an objective while the Tyranids were a huge distraction, just to climb up in time to kill a Dreadnought and wipe out the remnants of the Tactical squads.  Claiming the objective, and with good marksmanship this game, they proved to be the decider.  Also nice to get a win...

Game 3- Chaos Marines vs Necrons, 1000 pts.
This game was a learning experience more than a game.  My buddy wasn't familiar with the new rules quite yet and didn't have all the models he needed, so we fudged a few things.  His army had an Overlord in a Command Barge with Warscythe and Phylactery, 2 units of 5 Immortals, a unit of 18 Warriors in a Night Scythe, and 3 Wraiths.  We rolled up the random-objectives mission and deployed.  My Chaos Marines went onto a hill across from ruins with Wraiths, while my Cultists and Havocs deployed in some ruins across from the 'douche canoe'.  Erebus rolled a '2' yet again and chose to outflank with the Autogun-cultists.
This game was a ton of shooting and some wild swings themselves.  My Cultists survived copious amounts of fire from Warriors disembarking from a 'flying croissant'.  The Havocs and Cultists were very lucky for the area terrain of the ruins.  Wraiths rushed foward and charged my Chaos squad, eventually losing but tying them up for many turns, while the Terminators deep-struck right in front of the enemy ruins and jumped the Immortals there.  The crowning moment, early in the game, was when the Erebus-led Cultists showed up right beside the 'douche canoe', got charged and survived, then went on to kill the barge and stick the two lords in combat.  After a number of harrowing turns, the Overlord finally fell (and failed to self-repair) and the mob took the most valuable objective.  The funniest moment was when the Night Scythe returned and my Havocs decided to let lose and killed it right then, only to remember the 'Jink' save and pass both with boxcars!  It was hope, snatched away in the most poetic event in the battle.  The Terminators finally held up their end of the bargain by killing off a unit of Immortals while only the Champion and (more effective) single Terminator stood.  Some 'Veil of Darkness' shenanigans and the Necrons were able to steal the victory from the Chaos, only to have the last teleport of the game miss by inches and allow the Cultists, led by Erebus, to claim the top points on the table.  Chaos won, if sloppy.  But the Necrons certainly hadn't lost...
In this battle, we discussed the merits of certain army builds, rules, and combos that may work a little better. My army seemed to do exactly what it was supposed to do in every case.  Despite not killing the Night Scythe, I still finally got to test the effectiveness of those Havocs against flyers.  My MVP for this battle was the Havoc squad.  Their shooting proved to be very effective (despite only hitting half the time) and they proved that they can handle the very thing I'm scared of.  All in all, very educational (as well as a blast!)

So there it is, there's the games I got to play.  I'm planning on playing this army a few more times before Adepticon, so stay tuned for more battle reports!  And Happy Gaming!

Hero that clicks?

I do, in fact, play other games.  I love my 40k (obviously), but I didn't start there and I won't stop there.  But I'm going to talk about a game I got into recently.  You may remember that I run a little game club (about a dozen members) at the local comic shop.  I may have mentioned that I'm into comic books (in fact the reason I went there anyway).  You may also be aware that I have a 7 year-old boy to entertain.  Enter, Heroclix.

I have a buddy who 'donated' a massive amount of common characters and villians to get me started, and he even gave me FOUR different versions of Superman.  I am a bit of a Superman-fan.  If you want to check out my poorly-maintained comic blog-site, go here:  

http://jayspages-agemmanjw.blogspot.com/

(I promise to start actually updating it, once I have the time...)

In any case, I've spent FAR more money than I wanted to so far on this game, and will probably spend FAR more.  But this game comes with some serious advantages.  

1. The models come pre-done.  There's no need for assembly, painting, option-building, anything.  You literally rip open the pack or box and dump the figure out.  READY.  TO.  PLAY.
2. The play-space is small.  A simple 2x3 area for the map, two d6s, the models and cards themselves, and some counters to represent actions taken is all you need!  You can play on a large coffee-table, the dining room table, or even a small amount of floor-space.  There's not even enough materials to take up much more, so it stays small.
3. The rules are terribly easy.  Once you learn what all the special rules mean, it's just a matter of looking at the base of the figures to figure out what they do.  And if you have problems memorizing that, there's a printout that gives all the rules by color free from the website.  The mechanics of the game are like this:  When it's your turn, each model may take a single action (move, shoot, punch).  When they do, mark them with a counter, and move to the next model, repeating until all models are done.  If a model doesn't act, 'clear' away any action counters.  A model is limited on how many times they can act, but it's usually every other turn.  To complete an attack action, roll 2d6 and add result to stat (attack), then compare to target's stat (defense).  Equal or higher, cause damage equal to damage stat.  When moving, use movement stat.  All four of these stats go down as you receive damage, done by simply 'clicking' the dial on the base a number of times equal to damage received.  Done.  There, I just taught you the rules.  :-)

If you're into comic books or love simple, collectible games, or even have a younger child (10 or so) that you could distract this way, look into this game.  Here's the website:

http://heroclix.com

Otherwise, just enjoy the reading and thanks for letting me rant about something other than 40k.  

Start of the game-

My boy had an 'Avengers' team, consisting of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and the Hulk, all adding up to almost 500 points (Thor alone is 200 points!).  He was deployed atop a raised platform that only Thor and Iron Man could fly off of.  Hulk and Cap didn't let the ladders get into the way for long...

I had a 'Pimpin' Superman team consisting of Superman (203 points), his girlfriend Wonder Woman, and his hot cousin Supergirl (also 200 points), adding up to nearly 500 myself.  I can fly, so my deployment didn't matter.  I freakin' Kryponian, baby!!!

Superman and crew immediately fly to the platform in the center of the battlefield (Green Lantern area) and stared menacingly at the Marvel heroes.  Thor answered by flying straight at Supergirl, and Iron Man followed by taking a 'flying shot' at Supergirl.  First blood was drawn.

Supergirl wasn't bothered at all and used her 'supersonic speed' to smash into Cap, putting some hurting on.  Hulk ran backwards and tried to smash Supergirl, but to no avail.  There was to be fight on the Avenger's side!  Wonder Woman charged right into Thor and showed the god that a goddess was just as powerful.  Iron Man chose to blast Superman, but the icon simply stepped out of the way.

Thor finally finished off Wonder Woman with his mighty hammer, calling down lightning and thunder and just smashing her from reality.  It was sad, as the first casualty of the day had made it real.  Superman, now angry, saw that his team was outnumbered two to one...  What was he to do?

The game itself

The battle was fierce.  The Hulk punched Supergirl in the back of the head, but it only made her angrier and she took it out on Captain America.  The shielded hero saw his indestructible shield destroyed by an angry teenage girl with a cape and was lost to swift Kryptonian anger.  Iron man realized that this match was still far from over.  Superman charged straight into Iron man in the alley and punched him hard, sending the armored leader smashing into the ground.  Thor charged at Superman soon after, but it wasn't enough.  The most powerful man on Earth was upset...
Supergirl tried to punch the Hulk, but he was just impossible to hurt and she soon wore down.  The Hulk, not being as vulnerable to exhaustion, simply crushed her petite body into the concrete, burying her and scanning for more people to beat up.  He turned around just in time to see Superman smashing Iron Man's armor open and tossing a broken Tony Stark to the ground.  Sure enough, the Hulk leapt to join the fight as Thor charged the man-with-the-cape.  Unfortunately, Odin was not watching and Thor was powerless as Supes grabbed him and pounded his face while shielding him from a hindered-Hulk.  It was a short time before even Thor fell to Superman's fury...

When the smoke cleared from the battle of god-on-superhuman, the Hulk glared impatiently at Superman.  Superman casually floated in the air, his eyes burning with barely-kept energy and mercilessly at the green monster.  This was a battle of strength on strength.  The Hulk charged in and swung mightily at Superman, only to find his fist bounce off the tight chest.  Summoning even more anger from that, the Hulk unleashed with a two-fisted smash and crushed Superman into concrete floor.  No sooner had the Hulk picked up his fists than Superman launched a flying-uppercut and knocked Hulk into the ceiling.  The two were evenly matched, it seemed...

Hulk and Superman traded punches over and over, but Hulk was wearing out while Superman seemed to becoming even more invulnerable!  Finally, the Hulk ran out of energy and stood panting, sure that the bleeding Supes would take this moment as well.  But the green monster miscalculated and Superman picked him up and body slammed him with immense force.  It was too much and even the Hulk couldn't stay conscious.  Superman, beated and bloodied, was victorious.   

 And there ya go!  I beat a 7 year-old based on dice.  Yay, me!  I am a gaming god!  Oh, wait, I'm not?  Oh, well then fine!  It was still fun.  I'm NOT saying run out and buy this stuff (it's a collectible game, which means random buys and 'common' quality).  But I AM saying that a game is a game, and this isn't too bad for something really casual.

Hopefully I'll get some other games up here someday...  Happy Gaming!

One squad down...

Okay, so I finally settled on my Adepticon list (and by settled, that means I finally acquired everything I wanted) and I needed to jump into painting frantically.  To begin with, I took the nearly completed squad of Chaos Marines and decided to 'spruce them up'.  After all, I was originally painting a Chaos Marine army just to have one and get it done.  Now it matters.

Here's the squad before I picked up the brush this time:

Here's the squad after  (Note that I painted the armour to look more 'solid' and get rid of that 'drybrush' look.):

Here's the iconography (and I have to brag and point out I did it all in freehand while watching 'Til Death' on CBS):

I even tried my hand at some RLS (reflective light-sourcing).  I didn't get it right, but I know how to do it now.  Too bad I'm not using any other Plasma Guns in the rest of my army...

Here's even a comparison of the 'new squad' lined up with one of the 'old squads'.  I don't know if you'll be able to see the difference, but I figured I'd show it off.

I got something done!  Now to get on the rest of the force- 56 more models!

Happy Hobbying!

Build a bastion, er, bunker, er, both!

What's that?  That's right, I'm talking about some terrain today.  I need to switch my focus completely to getting my Adepticon army in order and painted to a standard better than 'done', so what did I do?  I built some terrain instead...

That's right, I'm always focused on what's important in this hobby.  As it turns out, building terrain can be important too.  In this particular case, it was.  You see, I'm running a Planetary Empires campaign in my game group and we needed a bastion to fight over.  Seeing as how the other players are mostly newbies, I had to 'take one for the cause' and finally build one of mine.  And it was fun.

It was fun because it was very easy, but it was also enlightening.  I don't have any money these days, so buying the new bunkers and trench lines isn't an option, yet I really wanted a bunker.  Is there a way to build the bastion and still be able to make it into a bunker as well?  Why, yes there is!  GW was brilliant when they designed this kit, and a little less glue than normal can give it a dual purpose.  Let me show you a whole series of pics and give you the basics on how to do it all:

First, get all the bitz cut and cleaned up.

Secondly, build the base.  It's easiest to glue the triangular corners to the facings and then glue it together.  Make sure it's 'squared' up.  Plastic glue can move too much sometimes...

Then build the second layer.  I made sure to build the gun-mountings and install them after everything is done.  Really, I wanted to focus on getting the sides done right.  After all, a gun-mount is only as good as the concrete holding it, right?

 Of course, the next step is to build the parapet walls.  Same thing here, make sure you pay attention to 'squaring it up'.  I did this at each step by test-fitting each layer on the layer below repeatedly until it held.

No good deed goes un-noticed, so I have to show off the fitting of everything.  Note that there is no glue between the layers, just a snug fit.

Now comes the important part- adding the flooring!  I built the floor separately and then dropped them in.  In fact, I found the floor may have been a safer bet for testing the 'square' status.  Luckily, it all fit perfectly and proved that my years as a carpenter actually mattered...  Please note, again, no glue for this.

What about the next layer?  Same thing, no glue, tight fit, perfect!  And not gluing the floor down means I can easily switch this thing anytime I want.

Finally let's see how this looks all built up:

See bastion done.  Done, bastion, done.

See bunker done, minus the middle layer.  Shrink, bastion to bunker, shrink.

And that's it!  Simple, sweet, and almost like it was designed this way.  I know most of you have probably built your bastion the same way and thought the same thing when you bought the kit, but if there's anyone that hasn't- hopefully this helps!

Now on to making this blog worth reading...

How many people bring fortifications into their army?  I don't see it very often.  When I do see someone bring a fortification, all I see are Aegis Defense Lines.  I know they're cheap and that makes it easier to include the too-often-necessary AA Quad-gun, but think about this:

A bastion is only 25 more points, comes with four more heavy weapons, two levels of fortification (AV 14 building and 3+ cover-giving parapets), plus the same weapon options.  Do I have an Aegis line?  Of course I do!  But 25 additional points to gain that much extra stuff is a deal, to say the least.

What about players that refuse to bring any fortifications in their lists?  Those players are, unfortunately, very much like me.  I appreciate terrain under player control, but I appreciate my army more.  That usually means I would rather spend the points on more troops or a bigger, meaner HQ or tank.  But hey, terrain is just as important to the game as the toy soldiers themselves are.  The fact that GW included this option is one of the many things about 6th edition that I LOVE!  It may not be the wisest idea, especially in the competitive meta, but the cool-factor alone more than makes up for this.  Plus, who doesn't like having bunkers from Turn 1 for those heavy weapon squads?

Let me know if you like fortifications and, if you do, which ones you take and why.  Otherwise, Happy Gaming!