Angron and Guilliman

  My son and I were dying to get a game in.  We haven't played in months and have even completed some hobby projects between (which is supposed to be a goal, not an accident).  Moreover, GW had released yet another Balance Dataslate the amended the Oath of the Moment special rule for codex-compliant Chapters, and I really wanted to test how powerful it really was.  So we set up a game of Leviathan- Ultramarines vs. Tyranids.  But my son changed his mind and shifted to the World Eaters (he had finished painting Angron and needed to properly "blood" the daemon primarch). 

Mission and Deployment

  Unfortunately, I'm too lazy to look up the information that I've forgotten, but we chose the scenario that gave 4 primary objective points for holding an objective point, 4 more for holding more than the opponent, 4 points for killing an enemy unit, and 4 more for killing more than the opponent.  The deployment zones were the long edges and there were five objective points around the board.  And, of course, Cityfight, because that's where Primarchs would battle.  This isn't some ancient Mycenean culture here...

The battle

  The Ultramarines were able to snatch the initiative and take the first turn.  Roboute Guilliman was able to use his 2nd Oath of the Moment to give the loyalists their buffs against both mini-knights.  That allowed the boys-in-blue to annihilate one easily, and put some damage on other units.  

  When the renegades finally got to act, everyone rushed forward and staged for the upcoming melee.  The Ultramarines knew better than to fight the World Eaters in close, so they set up firing lines and manuevured their vehicles to shield the lines by blocking movement.  Not to be deterred, Angron and a unit of Chaos Marines charged the Valiant tank and destroyed it.  This left the marines vulnerable to a charge from the Ultramarine veterans and Angron himself standing alone against an astartes gun-line.  

  As Angron was gunned down by well-placed Eradicator fire and the marines were chopped down by Bladeguard Veterans, Roboute took the opportunity to charge into some possessed Eightbound.  Unfortunately, the Lord Commander underestimated their fervour and took significant damage as he swept them aside.  

  Very casually, the surviving mini-knight ("Helldog"?) walked up and melted Roboute while the surrounding troops swept into the loyalist lines.  Before long, that entire flank fell and both sides were now without their Primarch.  And yes, Bobby G failed his "We'll be back" roll...  

  Always with a battle-plan, the Ultramarines continued their slaughter of the World Eaters, laying carpets of high-strength firepower and even a few blades into the enemy.  The fallen flank was cleansed (but not yet reclaimed) and the side of the battlefield where Angron emerged was methodically cleansed as well.  But the tricks weren't done yet...

Conclusion

  In the fourth round, the Ultramarines had completely 'tabled' the World Eaters- there were no models left on the table for them!  The Ultramarines were well ahead in points (breakdown- 1: UM 7-WE 4, 2: 23-20, 3: 35-24, 4: UM 51-WE 32) and the only hope the chaos force had was a Blood Tithe (I think it's called) roll with three 6's- and then he did it.  

  Angron immediately appeared on the table and prepared to make a massive charge during that turn.  He had already charged and destroyed the Bladeguard and was ready to begin tearing through the rest of the loyalists.  But a sneaky Overwatch and a very, very, very accurate Multi-melta instantly took the daemon primarch out again.  And when you see three "accurates" up there- I rolled boxcars three times in a row to pull this one off.  If that isn't Robin Hood-level shooting, I don't know what is!  

  The Ultramarines easily claimed victory, despite losing their primarch, with a final score of 59-32.  The Oath of the Moment change was massive and played a huge role!  Not only getting the rerolls to hit but also adding one to the wound roll...  that's ridiculous.  But as long as my Ultramarines- long ignored and outshined by other Chapters- can benefit from this, I think I'll be enjoying the rule.  Now if I have to face it...

  That's it!  As always, Happy Gaming!

Fires of Possession

   I had to take a break from the Necromunda, but I didn't want to lose my momentum.  Since my brother and I are playing the Combat Patrol stuff, I decided that the Master of Possession deserves a little more attention.  Better, it gave me a chance to teach my (already a great painter) another technique that he isn't comfortable with yet.  This won't take long...

Step 1:  First,  I painted all the flames white.  This took a few layers and some water to keep it thin and smooth.  From here, I had to make the decision on which technique to use.  There's always the good 'ol "wash" method so the darker areas are on the inside and the brighter areas outside.  But this isn't how fire works, so I went with the fade-down method.  

Step 2:  GO!  With wet paint ranging from yellow through bright green and all the way to black, this was going to take mixing and quick paints.  Admittedly, I don't have the best lighting and couldn't get the colours placed exactly the way I wanted upon later inspection.  But the technique is there, so...

  Start by painting the yellow onto the fire areas, leaving white along the bottom edges and inside the recesses.  Mix in a tad of green and paint that higher, right at the top half of the yellow and higher up.  Then, mix in more green (or just go straight green, as long as it's bright) and paint them at the top half and higher up the fire, leaving the white at the bottom, the yellow just above that, and painting the 'top' of the flames so the recesses are brighter.  Finally, just mix in a tad of black and paint the top of the fire, leaving the darker green below (and in the recesses), the lighter green below that (and in those darker recesses), the yellow below that, and the white below that.  Top off the flames with a dab of black.

  And that's it!  Once you do it a couple of times, it becomes just another technique and can be used with any colour.  Practice also means that you can get the fade cleaner.  Eventually, I plan to throw more OSL into the mix.  

Happy Hobbying!