NMTBW Game 3 – 2000pts battle report – Dark Angels v Tau

Last game and I was still on table 12 but my opponent this time was Ian Plumpton. I first met Ian at Blog Wars 9 over four years ago which is another enduring success of Alex’s events – a regular group of people continue to participate and it’s always cool to meet up again. Ian was using Tau this time [instead of his Adeptus Mechanicus] something I believe he started because he won some Tau related goodies in one of the Blog Wars ludicrously generous raffles.

The low down:

• Cleanse and Capture [3 objectives per turn]
• Blood Points
• Hammer and Anvil deployment
• I went second

Ian’s deployment, twin Devilfish with Breachers either end of his line with the Stormsurge holding the centre, two Ghostkeels pushed up in my grill and two squads of Stealth Suits, one with the Ghostkeels and the other right up against my DZ just outside of shot on the right.

You can just see the second squad of Stealth Suits on the top left, so I deployed the Ravenwing bikes to counter. Black Knights arrayed against a Ghostkeel with the Dark Talon and Knight holding the centre opposite the second one. Scouts hold the high ground in the ruins.

Devastators in the abandoned Bastion and my Plasma Tactical Squad in the centre, Flamer Squad beside the Knight with the land Speeder.

Turn 1 and my cards weren’t good I had drawn objective 4, which was in the ruin to the top left but thought I couldn’t get it. But I’d accidentally positioned my Ravenwing Apothecary in such a way that he could just reach it. The rest of the Black Knights positioned opposite the Ghostkeel, while the Dark Talon zoomed forward.

Ravenwing Bikers positioned between the Stealth Suits and the Black Knights. This gave me options – I could see how their shooting went and charge if they weren’t successful, and if the Stealth Suits could be dealt with they’re then in a position to sweep round with the Knights supporting that flank. They were also helping to cover the Apothecary too.

The Knight moved up to the second Ghostkeel with the Techmarine sprinting to keep up and the Librarian a little ways behind.

Tactical Squad took cover int he ruins and the Land Speeder repositioned to get good fields of fire and cover, although with hindsight he probably could have stayed where he was and still shoot…?

Ravenwing bikers managed to shoot, kill and charge the Stealth Suits laving just one left alive, grrr. Lone survivors are always a problem.

Black Knights managed to do some damage on the Ghostkeel, not sure how much but he killed one Knight in return. The Dark Talon also managed to wound the Devil Fish. The Stealth Suits in the centre looked to have been wiped out too, I think thanks to the Tactical Squads close by. I ended up with just the 1VP for holding objective 4 this turn.

Ian’s turn and those slippery fish headed flippers just will not stay locked in combat. The lone Stealth Suit jumps out of the combat with the Ravenwing bikes… lets just take a moment to acknowledge six Ravenwing bikes could not kill a single Stealth Suit in combat!

The Ghostkeels also jump out of combat and the Stormsurge anchors down to dish out the pain in his next shooting phase. Ian secures Objective 5 for 1VP

Ian had brought down a unit of Battle Suits beside the lone Stealth Suit. They’d targeted the Ravenwing bikes but I’d only suffered two casualties. I repositioned and returned fire, killing two of the Battle suits. The Plasma Talons of the Black Knights destroy their Ghostkeel, leaving them ready to assault the remaining one. The Dark Talon banked off, I still hadn’t dropped it’s Stasis Bomb, waiting for a bigger unit to make the best of the Mortal Wounds. Tactical Squad moves up and the Apothecary joins them. Ian has drawn a Warlord specific mission to capture Objective three so I have to put as many bodies on it as possible before the Taun Commander arrives by Aerial Deployment. The Imperial Knight prepares to multi-charge the Ghostkeel AND Stormsurge!

After Overwatch the Imperial Knight is on 18 wounds. Everyone gets into combat, the Stormsurge takes a licking from the Knight but isn’t quite put down, equally the Ghostkeel survives. I score 1VP for objective 2.

The Bike Squad surround the Battle Suit and Stealth Suit and still can’t finish the job off on either of them.

And thus they slip through their fingers yet again. Finally the Tau Commander arrives to offer them support, thankfully away from objective 3, where he needs to be but my forces deny access to it.

Instead Ian redeploys on objectives to guarantee Supremacy at the end of his turn.

The Ghostkeel prepares to leave combat while the Breachers disembark to mow down the Black Knights as they become exposed.

And they become super exposed, with not even their armour sufficient to protect them! Just the Huntsmaster survives.

The Ghostkeel jump allows it to fire at the Imperial Knight, supported by the Devil Fish. Ian scores 3VPs from Supremacy so is winning 4 to 2, but is till holding the high scoring Warlord mission if I lose Objective 3 to him.

My turn 3 and I also draw Supremacy and alongside Kingslayer I have the cards to meet and overcome Ian’s lead. Huntsmaster and Apothecary [down to 2 wounds] converge on the Tau Commander, the remaining bikers move to support and give options on those indestructible Battle Suits and Stealth Suit survivors.

Tactical Squad surround Objective 3 with the Librarian, while the Techmarine repairs two wounds on the Imperial Knight.

Who shoots the Stormsurge to pieces and then multi-charges the Breachers and Devil Fish. I split my attacks for the Chainsword on the tank and Titanic Feet on the Breachers but it’s spread too thin and fail to achieve either goal of wiping one of them out.

The Battle Suit gets picked off with shooting, the Stealth Suit lives to die another day. I charge and the Huntsmaster gets headshot on overwatch! Everything piles on the Commander but I cannot kill him and I fail with Kingslayer but secure Supremacy for 3 VPs.

Ian’s final turn and the Commander manages to kill the Apothecary for Kingslayer and scores 3VPs this turn to take the total to 7VPs for Ian 5VPs for me. BPs are 1497 to me, 550 for Ian. So, three games, three losses on VPs and three wins on BPs [which Ben was quick to point out is still three losses]. But I have never been so ‘killy’ and this game in particular nearly 75% of Ian’s force was wiped out.

Given my practice game wasn’t so successful I’m really pleased how this went down. My final position was 20th out of 32 but in truth I didn’t even check where I came until Alex posted the results online. I honestly didn’t care about the result, I’d had three of the best games of 8th I’ve ever had and as frustrating as the Maelstrom results are the effectiveness of my army list far outweighs what I feel is a relatively underpowered army.

It was another classic event and so long as Alex keeps running them I’ll keep going. My only disappointment was forgettign to do selfies with Tom, Tom and Ian, how could I forget? Anyway, I’m looking forward to Double Trouble 3 next year where I hope to take my Genestealer Cult… I’ve got the painting competition to post up next, hotly contested as usual 😉

If you’re interested in any more of my Battle Reports, point your cogitators here: www.40kaddict.uk/p/battle-reports.html

1500pts battle report – Dark Angels v Necrons – game 3

Who do I get drawn against for game 3? Only Ben and his implacable Necrons! It’s over a week since Birthday Bash, I’m still playing catch-up so as usual my recollection of the game will be very sketchy.

The low down:

• One of the Maelstrom missions – 3 cards per turn
• Hammer and Anvil
• Warlord Trait – 3 enemy Units take pinning tests
• I set up second and failed to seize the initiative
• No night fighting. 

Ben puts his Necron defence wall across the road, presumably to stop foreign invaders!

The Ravenwing hold my near flank, Tactical Squad the far flank.

Scouts secure the ruins

Stalker, Scarabs and Spyder advance up the table. Don’t know what Bend did shooting wise but he came away with 2 VPs for Ascendancy and Supremacy.

Dreadnought drop pod arrives behind the defence wall, the Dread taking a shot at the Quad Gun to help keep the Dark Talons safe [eventually]. I swing the Land Speeder Typhoons round the Bastion to get a lock on the Triarch, they blast away.

And it is no more! First Blood.

This might be the reason why! [that’s 1/1296 BTW, I should have put a £1 on it]

My bikes get into combat with the Tomb Blades, or what remains of them thanks to my shooting.

He couldn’t survive those odds but the bikes don’t consolidate far and the enraged Spyder close by seeks revenge. First Blood, Objective 3 and Behind Enemy Lines get scored this turn.

The Scarabs manage to reach the Bastion and disassemble it with consummate ease before my Techmarine can even affect any repairs. This nets Ben a VP for Demolitions and leaves me just 3 surviving Devastators.

2nd Pod arrives, and I think the Dreadnought targets the Quad Gun again.

Just two bikes remain from the unit thanks to the predations of the Canoptek Spyders! I score no VPs

Flayed Ones that had infiltrated at the back of my DZ finally catch up with the Tactical Squad, killing them and leaving that flank with just a few Marines left from another combat squad. Ben captures Objective 6 for a VP.

The Land Speeders manage to insta-kill a few Scarabs but move out of range to leave the Techmarine to hold them in combat.

The Ravenwing must have been killed but their last known location is a beacon to the Dark Angel’s finest who appear in a flash of light.

Tactical Squad and Dreadnought assault the Necron Warriors, two survive, I still can’t score a VP.

Flayed Ones join up with the Scarabs against the Techmarine who his systematically smashing the Scarabs to pieces.

But he can’t hold back their numbers and succumbs giving Ben Assassinate [and Slay the Warlord].

The Scarabs catch up with the Speeders and I’m lucky to come away with only 1 Hull Point of damage.

My Drop Pod gets destroyed,

 and the Spyders take on the finest of the First!

Two fall… er I mean not fall, we don’t mention the Fallen, they die, that’s it, dead, no more. But the remaining unfallen take out a Spyder and the last is wounded. Ben scores another VP for Obj 4.

Finally the Dark Talon arrives, screaming up Main Street.

He blasts away with all his weapons.

Killing one measly Eternal! Grr!. The Deathwing kill the last Scarab getting me Big Game Hunter and I also get Blood and Guts for 2 VPs

That’s it, game over and it’s 10:8 [Ben scoring 8 plus Slay the Warlord and Linebreaker, while I scored 6 plus First Blood and Line Breaker].

Necrons triumphant yet again but no bother, we had a great day and a good laugh. We were both exhausted at the end, made me realise I do not look forward to another weekend tournament if I feel like this after one day! Three great game with three great people.

I have some pics of the best army nominees to share and wrap up next…

1500pts battle report – Dark Angels v Space Marines – game 2

Doogie Doyle was my game 2.

The low down:

• One of the Maelstrom missions – 3 cards per turn
• Dawn of War
• Warlord Trait – Move through cover and Stealth Ruins
• I set up second and seized the initiative
• No night fighting. 

His list had some similarities to mine, think it was an Imperial Fists faction with bikes, two units of scouts, two Whirlwinds, three Rapier Quad Guns, a Thnderfire Cannon and a bunch of bikes including a Chapter Master with all manner of upgrades and bonuses

This was my set up and I was lucky enought to steal the initiative.

This meant I got my drop-pod in and Brother Cask managed to destroy the missile launcher on one of the Whirlwinds. My Ravenwing managed to kill one of the bikers but the unit had all sorts of saves and re-rolls thanks to the Chapter Master it was nigh indestructable. Knowing how durable the Rapier Battery was and even the scouts I suddenly realised the task I had ahead of me. 

Doogie focussed on the Ravewing in his turn. Not sure how many got killed but they don;t appear in any other pictures so they may have succombed at some point, if not this turn maybe later. Doogie scores a VP for holding Objective 1.

Turn 2 the Dark Talon arrived and VORTEX!

Gotta love D weapons as Doogie’s bike squad gets sucked into the warp. Meanwhile my Drop Pod Tactical squad fired ont he Rapier Battery, to little effect. Doogie actually suggested I put the drop pod there to hamper his own shooting, so again the spirit of the event prevailed.

Brother Cask Melta’d the nearest Whirlwind to slag and then vaulted over it’s smouldering wreckage with a 12″ charge to go punch it’s squadron buddy, wrecking that too [First Blood?]! BEAST!

Doogie’s turn 2 and the Vortex is drawn to the Dreadnought, stripping a hull point off his sarcophagus. He picks up 2 VPs this turn – making it 3:1 in his favour.

My turn 3. Having targeted ground troops with the Quad Gun I remember skimmers are shot at full BS and there’s one sneaking up my flank – not for long!

His bikes followed up but with little weaponry strong enough to harm the Bastion they aimed at the Devastators instead.

They’d lost two already but they couldn’t survive the relentless attack. Doogie scores another 2 VPs for objectives 5 and 1 [because of the mission he could steal my objective card!]

I remembered the Deathwing this time, they mishap though and end up in the corner of the board – idiots!

What remained of my Plasma Cannon Tactical Squad entered the bastion with the Techmarine to take control of the building. I manage to score objective 5 for a VP.

What remains of the Chapter Masters bike squad ends my drop Pod and my Tactical Squad is killed too.

The final score is 4:7 to Doogie. I must work out how to tackle those artillery batteries, they were super tough and durable. The Chapter Master too was nigh unkillable with so many saves and bonuses, He’s someone you want in your army!

So, one win, one loss, who have I got for game 3…?

1500pts battle report – Dark Angels v Dark Angels – game 1

First game and I’m drawn against Hendrik from Germany. We’ve met at previous Blog Wars [where I played against his friend Tobias] and Double Trouble [where I faced his brother Kai-Uwe]. This was such a nice pairing as I’d really appreciated Hendrik’s support of the event and travelling all the way. Of course given recent GW news we entered into some good natured banter about who was the loyalist Dark Angels and who were obviously more loyalist 😉 He had a slight advantage bringing Azrael, he is their Chapter Master afterall, but I pointed out he could just as easily have been Cyper or an Alpha Legion guy in disguise. He did also bring a Deredeo dreadnought with Missile Launcher, a Land Raider Helios, two Razorbacks with tactical Squads, Azreal and Command Squad retinue in a pod and a Nephilim Jetfigther. So my air superiority was well and truly lost!

The low down:

• One of the Maelstrom missions – 3 cards per turn
• Vanguard Strike
• Warlord Trait – Warlord and 3 Units get Infiltrate
• Liam got a Maelstrom Warlord Trait that allowed him to discard even the numbered objectives
• I set up second and failed to seize the initiative
• No night fighting. 

The best thing about this game was that Hendrik, from the off, was not treating it like a competition. PeteB had said a number of times it should be like a Tuesday night round at your mates and this what it was. I think Hendrik realised his force was a little unconventional and I was inexperienced with the Dark Angels [which probably means they were too young for them to be Heretics 😉 So he was giving me advice about deployment and tactics. With my extra infiltrating units I deployed quite far forwards.

Hendrik’s line was centred on the Helios with the Deredeo holding the ‘high’ ground and flanked by Razorbacks.

His drop pod arrived to secure objective 4 [I think]

With Azrael and his honour gouard inside.

Although my Ravenwing were the most dangerous threat Azrael targetted the Tactical Squad. I lost either 2 or 3 and the broke and ran towards the perceived safety of my Bastion.

The Bikes would be next on Azrael’s list to hunt, but in the mean time had to jink to avoid shots from other quarters.

On the other flank the Razorback advanced, disgorging troops btu they failed to get through the bolstered defences of the science station. Hendrik scored the maximum 2 VPs for the turn on objectives.

My turn and the Ravenwing skirted round the rock outcrop, they focussed on the Tactical squad, just five guys and so close to the board it could be an easy kill. Unfortunately Jink makes my shooting go awry and the unit survives.

My automatic drop pod turned up, sending Brother Cask forth to melta the Helios. Again Hendrik advised me on where to drop the pod, providing an obstruction to the Helios’s shooting/movement.

My Land Speeder Typhoons, Basiton, Devastators and regrouped Tactical squad shot at Azrael and his guard.

As the dust settled only Azrael and one marine was left standing.

Having killed the attached Librarian I take Witch Hunter and Overwhelming Firepower for 2 VPs, [First Blood too for that matter].

Hephilim arrives but cannot kill Cask. I think it took a Hull Point from my Quad Gun.

Azrael wreaks vengeance – Dark Vengeance on the Ravenwing.

Slaying them all!

My turn 2 and the Dark Talon zooms on. Out of the firing arc of the Deredeo’s cannons I boldly refuse to Jink from it’s missiles and survive.

In return fire up the Rift Cannon and BOOM!

Vortex! Sadly I only do 1 damage to the Dread.

I end the turn on another 2 VPs

The Nephilim enters into a dogfight with the Dark Talon, I think I was forced to Jink this time. Even so I think I was shaken.

One fo the Razorback’s picks up it’s squad and advances onto the landing pad.

My turn 2 and the second pod arrives, disgorging troops to try and secure Obj 2.

The shakend Dark Talon continued on it’s merry way, just staying on the board.

Typhoons redployed to target the Razorback on my right flank but could not destroy it. The Scouts had broken in the previous turn but regrouped without any target to shoot at.

1 VP for Obj 2.

Nephilim goes for the Scouts, but they’re just too hidden to fall, which cannot be said about the Dereadnought’s pod. Not sure when Brother Cask fell but looks like he will need to be interred again if we caan recover his remains.

Tactical squad charge what remains in the bunker and my Techmarine charges the Deredeo. Hendrik’s force is reduced to one and my Techmarine is stomped by the Deredeo. Thinking about it should I have got my 2+ save? Is a dreadnought only AP2 when it has a Dreadnought Close Combat weapon? Anyway, as my Warlord fell I did suddenly think didn’t I have something else with a 2+ save? And my eyes dropped to see the Deathwing Command Squad I’d not rolled to bring on all game! You have to laugh – Hendrik and I did…

I do however make 2 VPs for Behind Enemy Lines and the scouts holding Obj3

Next turn and this is the only picture I took – scoring a VP, either for the Nephilim or a Razorback, not sure which. I know the Terminators did come on, perhaps they shot the Razorback in the back?

This was the final score, although with First Blood and Linebreaker I should have been on 10 and Hendrik should have +1 for Slay the Warlord.

There wasn’t much left of my army. My notorious Bastion had survived a game, booking the trend but a lot had died and yet somehow I’d won – good cards I guess. It was the super-relaxed attitude from Hendrik that made the game for me though, I almost felt he’d been robbed of the victory, he definitely did not deserve to lose.

That also means, I believe this is the first time I’ve ever won game 1 of a tournament! Anyway, what matter is it was a good game and we invited Hendrik to the local curry house that night rather than leave him on his own. Birthday Bash really did it’s job well!

1500pts battle report – Caledonian Highlander 5 – Tyranids v Tau

Peter Lennon was my final opponent of the tournament, also with Tau but a slightly unique list with only 1 Riptide, it’s almost as if he thought a Highlander event was about bringing just one of a particular type. That said he also had 2 Remora, 2 Tetra, 2 XV9 Battlesuits some Kroot and Farsight with his gang.

Psychic Powers Winged Tyrant HQ Tervigon CC TR Broodlord Onslaught Dominion Dominion The Horror Psychic Scream The Horror Dominion

The low down:

• Eternal War missions
• Maelstrom missions
• Hammer and Anvil
• I think I won deployment but asked Pete to deploy first and failed to seize on a 1!
• Warlord Trait -Warlord and 3 units get infiltrate
• Not sure about night fighting. 

Unfortunately I lost the most important dice role of the game – getting to deploy Infiltrators first. Peter positioned those Stealth suits the other side of the Factory ruins effectively blocking off my options to capitalise on my 5 Infiltrators. The best I could do was bunch up on the flank  halfway up the board and my Genestealers just 3″ out of my DZ.

Peter had the advantage of the high ground and cover.

Peter lines up the Malenthrope with marker lights and he suffers 3 wounds before he’s even moved. Luckily everything else was left unmolested.

With the weight of fire from all the Devourers the Riptide just couldn’t last and was readily dispatched. This may have been First Blood and probably a Maelstrom Card too, things were looking good with the major threat out of the picture.

Kroot came on at the back of my DZ

The Remoras zoomed on, dodging through the ruins…

their targeting systems locking onto the Flyrant…

…putting 3 wounds on the conduit to the Hive Mind, despite jinking.

 
Farsight and his gang appeared behind my advance force.

They would not suffer the Tyrannofex to live and executed him with precision, the Malenthrope was also destroyed.

The Flyrant swooped across to take cover behind the rocks.

I actually think he may have died from a Perils, I think that’s the Perils result of a two, which is a wound with no saves. Stupid winged flappy thing!

Meanwhile the Genestealers had only just made it into the Factory – lazy gets! But I think they did secure objective 6 for me.

Which did them no favours as they were cut to ribbons by the XV9s and Stealth Suits.

With no airborne targets left the Remoras focused their attention on the Hormagaunts holding objective 5.

They thinned their numbers but Farsight was nearby to mop anything else up.

The Carnifex came under fire from the Battle Suits on the building but their armour was ridiculously ineffective against the Tau weaponry.

That wasn’t the end of their woes and the remaining Carnifex took another two wounds.

Farsight, rebel that he is assaulted the Hormagaunts.

They got wiped out with the Termagants next on his list.

The gaunts swarmed together, putting two wounds on his retinue.

The battlesuits systematically dispatched gaunt after gaunt

But the weight of number brought two of the suits down leaving Farsight and one bodyguard.

The XV9s faced down 8 spawned gaunts but however hard they tried they could not eliminate the last one as it skulked int e shadows.

The last Carnifex headed towards the Tau line unawares the last Remora had targeted it from behind.

The Carnifex was brought down and suddenly my entire flank had crumbled, so much for that good start!

The Tyrannocyte arrived deep in the heart of Tau territory, it’s cargo of Rippers stealing the objective out from under the Battle Suits but it’s Deathspitters limited in effectiveness against the Tau armour.

Meanwhile back in my DZ the Kroot had moved to snatch objective 2 away from my Tervigon. It was repeatedly casting dominion to keep the still engaged Termagants from bolting from Farsight.

With only one bodyguard left the suits could fight in close harmony using Farsights enhance Weapon Skill to hamper my ability to hit. He still took wounds but the brood was thinning each round of combat.

Eventually the Kroot contested objective 2, turn 5 came and the game ended. I think another 20-0 defeat after differentials [I socred points in the game but when you look at the difference Pete gets 20 points and I got zero for game score]. I thought I had a chance of the wooden spoon but Sandy must have had another bad game as he went away with the rather impressive trophy, £15 voucher and jar of lollipops.

With time left on the board, I know, me not going to full time! We played out the Farsight combat I was curious to find out if the Gaunts could prevail. Sadly they didn’t, with Farsight cutting them all down – amazing, Tau succeeding in assault. I’m sure the Tervigon would have Miasmic Spit the Kroot off objective 2 and joined the fray at some point. But overall it was amazing to witness the nids just crumble so quickly with the loss of the Flyrant.

Another great event attended and five excellent games with genuinely pleasant individuals. The perception beforehand was the Caledonian events breed a more competitive atmosphere and although the Highlander format attempts to make it less WAAC there were clearly some very competitive builds. Of course I spent most of the tournament down on the bottom tables were just getting a win was challenging all round. I have to say not having any aspirations of progress it’s so much more relaxed and enjoyable. I always play my best but if my best isn’t good enough then I’ll have a darn good time losing! I think this marks a new dawn in my appreciation of the social aspect above and beyond the competitive side, as evidenced by the selfies. I know it’s a bit cheesy regardless of the results it’s the people that count and the shared experiences, here’s to the next event!

1500pts battle report – Caledonian Highlander 4 – Tyranids v Tau

Day two and I’ve managed to drop to the bottom table, what’s even more shocking is my opponent Sandy Grant has brought Tau! It’s not like he’s even brought rubbish Tau with two Riptides, three Hammerheads and three Skyrays! How he’s ended up on the bottom table is beyond me but I was pretty comfortable in the idea that I was going to lose this game, I mean I was going to try but that Wooden Spoon trophy was close.

Psychic Powers Winged Tyrant HQ Tervigon CC TR Broodlord Onslaught Dominion Dominion The Horror Psychic Scream The Horror Dominion

The low down:

• Eternal War missions 1 objective each worth 6VPs
• Maelstrom mission
• Dawn of War
• I think I went second and deployed second again
• Warlord Trait – 3 enemy units make a pinning test first turn
• Not sure about night fighting

The forces of the greater good and the great devourer face each other.

With some Kroot hiding in some ruins.

Sandy’s first turn brought about a wound on the Tervigon, I think he also wounded the Tyrannofex as well but for the most part it was pretty ineffective.

In response the swarm surged.

The Flyrant managed to take out a couple of battlesuits but despite the cover on top of the bastion he was wiped out by the combined fire from the Skyrays and marker lights ensuring he couldn’t hide. He fell to first blood and slay the warlord.

With the Tyant gone the Malanthrop continued to urge the Tyrannofex and Carnifex forward while the Tervigon remained protecting the Hive.

The Tfex must have killed another Battlesuit, I think his Acid Spray failed but the Stinger Salvo may have succeeded.

The Tyrannocyte landed in the ruins by the Kroot, with the Rippers disembarking to the first floor. Unfortunately only 1 or 2 Kroot fell to the Deathspitters on the spore pod. I knew I had a Maelstom card for objective 5 so killing the Kroot was a must to secure the objective.

Having taken four wounds it didn’t require much for Sandy to finish the Tyrannofex off.

For no other reason than the fact I’d struggled tofind somewhere to Infiltrate the Stealers I’d decided to Outflank them, this turn they cam on, rolling the left flank but would they survive to impact the game.

This would certainly help, my last Carnifex managed a 9″ charge into the Skyray squadron.

Blowing it up, I think killing a stealer in the process.

The Riptides seemed to be doing more damage to themselves, overcharging, than I was but still managed to get three wounds on the Carnifex.

The Malanthrope was targetted with marker lights, stripping his cover and leaving him easy prey. The spawned gaunts are still in Synapse range of the Tervigon so at least they’re not stuck with Instinctive Beahviour next turn.

I now have a quandry, I have the Riptides, Skyrays and the Battlesuit Commander left and my Broodlord and a Genestealer to assault. For some reason I think the Riptides are the best option, the Skyrays won’t have them locked in combat and the Battlesuit will die and they’ll be exposed again. All I need are some rends and I could take one or even both of them down

All I get is one wound on them.

I then decide to conga line the big brood of gaunts while moving the spawned gaunts up to swamp the Riptides, although I think I must have failed their charge move

The Rippers pass their IB test [or fail and eat themselves] I still have a Maelstrom objective 5 but I also have a Maelstrom Card that gives me a point for Linebreaker this turn. So I realise I can get Secondary Mission Linebreaker and Maelstrom Linerbeaker for 2 points by ignoring Objective 5 for 1. The Tyrrannocyte meanwhile heads for the objective, but I think it was too far away to claim it. It does however cause the Kroot to break and run.

However, it draws the wrath of the Hammerheads.

Who blast it into smithereens.

Big brood of Gaunts manage to get into combat with the Riptides, the spawned gaunts must have been killed, probably by the Skyrays who are about the only thing left not in combat.

The Broodlord manages to get a couple of wounds on the Riptide but somehow manages to evade all it’s return attacks.

Another round of combat and the Broodlord survives yet again, the Riptides just do not have the Weapon Skill to hit it. Sandy and I go to divvy up the scores and somehow I’ve won, thanks to controlling both Eternal War objectives. The Tervigon on the Skyshiled is sat above mine and the ObSec Broodlord controls Sandy’s.

This is the face of a guy who has just had victory snatched from him thanks to an inability to remove one wound from a Broodlord. I have to say this was an awesome game, I think there was a level of incredulity about just how unlucky the Tau were for Sandy. I mean he did a good job killing a lot of my army but it was just that last squabble over his objective that swung it. But that was down to a series of unpredictable events – the random choice of outflanking, the random target of the Riptides and the sheer inability to hit the damn thing in combat. By rights that Broodlord should have been dead but instead it won me the game.

So I was going up a table and Sandy was looking towards the Wooden Spoon trophy.

1500pts battle report – Dark Angels/Knight v Tau

Liam and I haven’t had a battle since Throne of Skulls, we never even finished that properly thanks to the early closing at Warhammer World. It’s odd really as he lives only about 20 minutes away from the train station I get to work so as I’m half way there anyway I just take my stuff and go straight from work, he even made me tea – spaghetti and meatballs which was pretty awesome.

The low down:

• One of the Maelstrom missions – 3 cards per turn cannot discard numbered objectives, opponent can ‘steal’ them from you.
• Dawn of War
• Warlord Trait – +1 to Seize the Initiative, re-roll reserves
• Liam got a Maelstrom Warlord Trait that allowed him to discard even the numbered objectives
• I lost deployment and set up second but seized the initiative without need to use my Warlord Trait!
• No night fighting.

Initial deployment

Liam came unstuck, as battlescribe no longer gave him an option to take his Skyshield, of course a big ruined tower works exactly the same, near enough although my Dark Angels were the focus of a lot of scorn when they used cover 😉 .

Like my Bastion, ‘hiding’ behind the ruins.

Having stolen the initiative Liam was convinced he was already doomed, banking on a first turn where he destroyed my Lancer. But for me it was all about the objectives and my Ravenwing managed to get objective 2 while my Tactical squad [not shown] next to the Bastion secured objective 3.

The Lancer got within range of the Stormsurge and I got 3 hull points on it. The Ravenwing went for the Tetra’s

I managed to kill one Tetra and I think another was damaged. Liam’s turn, despite his worst fears turned out really well. The bikes by the ruined tower got reduced to one and fled. He had the mission to get D3 VPs for holding three objectives, he also had to claim objective 2, which his ObSec Fire Warriors took with ease out from under the nose of my Ravenwing. They also shot them with everything they had but their Ravenwing Jink re-roll meant only one fell to the Xenos weapons [much to Liam’s dismay]. With three objectives he got the full 3 VPs on his D3 roll, plus objective 2 so ended the turn 2:4 in the lead.

I rolled for reserves but rerolled a passed Deathwing to keep them off the board, hoping they’d be better off if I’d got an objective to capture in Liam’s board half, which I didn’t currently have in my hand. The Dark Talon Zoomed on though! Interceptor fire took 2 Hull Points off it, I didn’t Jink to keep the Rift Cannon in play. Shooting-wise I think it shot the Tetras to pieces with Hurricane Bolters, the Rift Cannon doing very little. This won me First Blood and a VP for killing a unit in the shooting phase. More importantly it took out all but one of his Marker Lights which meant his Stormsurge would struggle to fire it’s D-weapon missiles!

The Lancer had to make a decision though, take out the Storm Surge or assault the Fire Warriors. I was reluctant to do the latter as I thought I’d be tarpitted with hindsight I should have done that and hoped to remain locked in my turn [by not stomping at the least] and then win in Liam’s releasing me to assault in my next go. Instead I went for the Storm Surge, it seemed the biggest threat but thanks to his saves I think only 1 or 2 more hull points went on him.

The remaining Ravenwing on my left flank shot at the fire Warriors, killing just one, the Bastion also took another. I was hoping to thin the numbers for assault and as I was only 1″ away at the beginning of the turn didn’t think it was risky. Then I assaulted and overwatch by them AND the Riptide lurking behind the ruin meant I needed a 10″ charge roll through cover… Yep these guys did it, hence the Evel Knievel pose as they jumped to the first floor!

I won the combat by 2, the Tau broke and I over-ran them consolidating towards the centre of the board. I also claimed objective 4 for another VP

The XV-109 arrived, flying into position directly behind the Lancer. With no shield to protect his rear armour he got plasma-flamed to oblivion [everything else, including the Storm Surge missiles missing by miles]. 

The resulting explosion did no further damage to anyone else.
 This gave Liam D3 VPs for taking down a big walker, he got 2 VPs on the roll. He also gained a VP for holding objective 1.

The Riptide focused on the Ravenwing, I think he won, making the score at the end of turn 2 5:7 in Liam’s favour.

Turn 3 and Deathwing arrive. I need yo kill their leader for D3 points to get me back in the game, it’s at this point I’m regretting the Lancer not assaulting those Fire Warriors he’s joined to.

I throw everything at them but a Warrior and the Leader survive to thwart my attempts. I do however score 2 VPs for gaining objectives 5 and 4, we’ve drawn even again.

The Deathwing assault at some point [presumably the turn after they arrive] with only three left, one being the sergeant with powers sword, another the Apothecary with Narthecium and the last being my ‘big gun’ with power fist I do little damage thanks to some upgrade that prevents me getting the extra attack on the charge. The Riptide would subsequently crush the three of them and controlling objective 1 elsewhere would take Liam into the lead by 1 VP.

My next turn saw the Dark Talon hover, so I can get a shooting attack on the Warlord and hope the Rift Cannon will double and take out the Storm Surge too. Unfortunately the cannon misses, deviates wildly and no doubles 😦 The Warlord survives the Hurricane Bolter by heroically throwing his bodyguard into the blessed bolter shells. Thanks to hovering I couldn’t release the Stasis Bomb, so the mission and Slay the Warlord goes begging I get nothing this turn still 7:8

With the flyer vulnerable in hover mode the Storm Surge brought all it’s weapons to bear.

Which were significant, with obvious results.

The Riptide roasts the Techmarine getting Slay the Warlord.

The other Riptide smashes the Bastion to pieces [has it ever survived?] Liam gets Line Breaker, completes another mission of being in my DZ, claims objective 3 AND gets D3 VPs for having twice as many objectives as I do. You guessed it Liam gets 3 VPs on the roll. So the maximum  5 VPs from all his Maelstrom cards, plus the 2 VPs for Slay the Warlord and Line Breaker resulted in a final score of 7:15. It was 12:30am so I called it there.

Before I look at any of my actions Liam was adamant that the battle report made something very clear – his dice rolling was appalling. Mine was ridiculously lucky but his was atrocious in his eyes and wanted everyone to know how bad it was. That said let look at how he beat me 7 VPs to 15!!! 😉

Bottom line I screwed up with the Lancer, I should have charged the Fire Warriors. Hindsight is always 20:20 and to be fair I did not realise the XV-109 could be so devastating, or in fact remember it was coming on!. Rergardless that exposed back is quite the weakness for the Lancer so I must remember that in future.

I was also impressed by the bikes and I’m looking forward to adding some more, they’d have definitely been more effective than the Deathwing. Another 8 bike would have been more shooty, more board control and more target saturation. I need to get more bikes done. I never imagined my Dark Angels being Ravenwing heavy but they are seriously effective [as has been observed by many] and playing with them I can see the appeal and if I can get to grips with how to use them I think I could really enjoy the fast hitting nature of bikes.

Anyway, it was a great game, one I casually threw away but I still see these as learning experiences so I’ll try to be more aggressive next time with what I have at my disposal.

Throne of Skulls March 2016 – Battle 0, Tyranids Vs Tau, Eldar and Orks

For the life of me I can’t remember anything about this game and I can;t find my notes either. We’d travelled don on the Friday and arrived to play on the Spyral Prime table, Otty and I using nids, Ben, Scott and Liam with the holy/’unholy’ alliance of Tau, Eldar and Orks! 

We were using the City Fight Maelstrom cards I’d got from a couple of White Dwarfs long time back – glad they finally got some use. We also had some sewers we could come out with and the other guys booby trapped a number of buildings. Also, because of the table I didn’t take my Skyshield but had Deathleaper instead, a bit more points but he is pants. Ultimately though we never finished the game. Warhammer World closes at 8pm so we had to pack up, which was a shame. Anyway these are just pictures to enjoy mostly, if they sparek any memories I’ll drop em in but for the most part just sit back and enjoy the pretty pictures.

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My Genestealer literally got outflanked by these Boyz and slaughtered.

Bring on the big boys!

For the most part the Tau were ignored, Otty concentrating on the Eldar while I dealt with the Orks.

My Purestrains climbed on top of this landing pad, discovered it was booby trapped and then found out it was a dud!

I loaned Otty the Hive Guard as I felt they’d be more effective against the Wave Serpents, which they were. Meanwhile my Purestrains got oblitereated by the Riptides.

‘Sons of Anorky’

I think we got beaten in the end, I recall Otty had tried to kill off a Riptide with Devourer gaunts. He had 60 shots and managed to put a few wounds on one. It was the sensible thing to do as anything else wouldn;t have allowed them to utilise they’re guns. However, that did mean the Tau held the centre objective for two turns scoring them a VP and ultimately winning the game. At the that stage though we porbably didn’t know the game was going to be so short but it was good fun and some nice pictures too

Throne of Skulls March 2016 – Battle 1, Tyranids Vs Tau

Game 1, back at Warhammer World after two years. We were starting a little later than previous visits but table numbers were on display from doors open so I was able to get a head start on unpacking while I put stuff out on the table I casually glanced at the next table where I saw a Warhound Titan being set up opposite a Tau KX139 Ta’unar Supremacy Armour but I thought ‘let them have at it’ and admired the Warhound at length, well it was red and shiny.

With my army unpacked and having had a couple of chats with people about the Skyshield I popped into Bugman’s to join the guys and have my breakfast. Halfway through my bacon and egg butty I needed to see if anyone had set up opposite and I could see what I was facing and have time to formulate a strategy while finishing breakfast. As I glanced across the tables from the other direction it was the Ta’unar Supremacy Armour that stood out and a cold dread trickled down my spine as mistakenly thought he was on my table. I quickly realised my mistake, breathed a sigh of relief as I saw my table was still empty and went and finished my butty.

Time to begin and as I’m stood waiting for my opponent there’s a small discussion going on next to me and I hear the Tau player say “well at least I don’t have far to go”… and so I got to meet Dan and his Ta’unar Supremacy Armour as he moved across one table! Oh sh…

Psychic Powers Winged Tyrant Tervigon Zoanthrope Broodkin Magus Dominion Dominion Dominion Psychic Shriek The Horror Warp Blast Warp Blast Shrouding Catalyst Paroxysm Dominate Broodlord Dominion The Horror

The low down:

• Into The Maelstrom – Contact Lost and ‘Carnage points’ for killed units. Vanguard Strike
• Warlord Trait – Warlord and three units Infiltrate
• Night fighting first turn, won deployment, elected to go second!

I needed to keep as far away from the Ta’unar as possible, which is way I gave up deployment, with hindsight that was probably a mistake.  Rippers are in the Spore Pod and Genestealer with Broodlord are outflanking [no I don’t know why either]. I’ll probably struggle to keep track of what went on as Maelstrom games are difficult to follow, moreso when I don’t have a great record of Dan’s cards.

Dan advanced forewards on my left.

The Ta’unar was opposite the Broodkin.

The Ta’unar focussed fire predominantly on the Skyshield, taking out the Venomthrope for First Blood, reducing my cover save and I became reliant on the Skyshield Invulnerable save. Unfortunately it couldn’t help the Flyrant on the ground who took 3 wounds.

That’ll teach me for having it under the Skyshield instead of on top but I feared those apocalyptic blasts on the table.

My objective for this turn.

Flyrants swoops forward and I think targets the Ghostkeel. The Devilfish gets wrecked by the Hive Guard, potentially with help from the Carnifex. Unfortunately those are Breechers who disembark so he’s about to get roasted. I manage to score my VP but the other Devilfish’s contents disembark from it meaning I don’t secure that objective for next turn, meaning I’ll only get three cards. The Tervigon spawns out first turn on 9.

The Culexus assassin does some damage

I think it gets in range of the objective to take me back down to 2 cards next turn 😦

The Ta’unar manages to destroy the Broodkin, thannks to markerlights from the Pathfinders.

Breechers put an end to the carnifex

And their colleagues do the same to the other one.

The Zoanthrope also gets killed. This turn Dan gets 1 VP for ‘supressing fire’.

The Genestealer arrive from reserve. And I pick two objective cards, which I can score with ease, if the drop pod arrives… which it does. Objective 1 is in front of the Ta’unar and although the pod deviates the Rippers get out and capture the objective.

The last of the Purestrains goes for the Culexus but it was a foolish plan.

The Culexus wipes it out with ease.

I manage to cull some of the Breechers to give me space round objective 5, meaning I now have this one too, to score 2 VPs.

Dan’s turn and the Stealth Suits get an angle ont he Hive Guard, who’d whittled them down to two.

Breechers and Devilfish advance.

Trying to kill off the last of the Carnifex, but he somehow survives.

The Ta’unar charges the Genestealers, which if it kills them in combat will secure a VP for Dan.

The Stealers attack…

and amazingly I get three rending hits on it. Unfortunately it passes one Invul save and subsequently Feel no Pains the two remainders [bloomin Gargantuans!]. They then get stomped for their troubles giving Dan the VP, plus one for holding objective 3.

I pick up this card but it’s deep in Tau territory, making it almost impossible to achieve

With nothing much else to do the Nids go on a killing spree, shooting the Breechers with abandon. The Tau can’t handle firepower of such magnitude and both squads break and run, the squad in front of the Carnifex sprinting 12″ to get away from him. The Stealth suits also break and run, the entire Tau front line melting back to their own deployment zone.

Dan pulls cards to get VPs for holding objective 1 [the Ta’unar had killed the Rippers and consolidated onto it after killing the Stealers] and objective 6 but he also gets a card that pays out 1VP for every 5 models killed [it is Carnage afterall].

Sorry, my notes are confusing here alongside the pictures. Somehow the Carnifex gets out of the ruins

setting his sights on the Breechers

making a significant charge

killing two with Hammer of Wrath

He remains on two wounds

While the spawned gaunts get to grips with the Devilfish

Wrecking it with glancing blows

The Hive Guard advance

The Ta’unar targets the Tervigon with all it’s firepower

and manages to pop it!

8 of the big brood of gaunts burst through Synaptic Feedback and so do the Gaunts that just wrecked the Devilfish killing 17 in total on top of their brood mother [that’s 3 victory points right there]

The Ta’unar also manages to kill the Tyrranocyte and secure objective 2 for another VP AND having killed 3 units that’s 3 VPs = 7VPs, but wait… just as I’m about to start my turn I realise I need to do a morale check on the big blob, they fail and bolt 7″ to my board edge and foolishly one of them is only 4 inches away. I lose the remaining models making a total model kill tally of 32, another 3 VPs scoring Dan 10 [plus I think another 2 for something else I can;t work out]

The game has tipped over, we’ve ten minutes left for my turn and I think Dan was on 17 VPs total as a lone Stealth suit on my right flank easily makes line breaker unopposed. I’m on 3 VPs with these cards

The Hive Guard manage to end the Ghostkeel, giving me Giant Slayer, just. I also manage to get Onbjective 3 with the Flyrant, but not before removing the Tau Warlord for Slay the Warlord and also gaining Line Breaker.

The Breechers flee from the Carnifex but he’s too slow to catch them. I think I finish the game on 7 VPs to 17. Totting up the Carnage points Dan has managed to kill every one of my 120 starting points but with the 9 spawned gaunts gone as well I just have 9 remaining on the table in the form three wounds on the Hive Guard, two wounds on Carnifex and one wound left on the Flyrant. I manage to dish out just 40 Carnage points in return.

So, game one is a loss and the Ta’unar was pretty much instrumental in that catastrophic collapse of my army in turn 4, but really it was the cards – delivering so many VPs in one turn. So overall I didn;t feel slaughtered, even if what was left on the board of the nids was minimal. That said the Tau had just a couple of breechers, a Stealth suit and the Ta’unar, which is worth 600pts on it’s own.

Anyway, a sound drubbing but it didn’t feel that way, whether that’s because of how quick it went down, whether it was the cards falling right for Dan or pretty much believing the Supremacy Suit was beyond my grasp anyway so what I did achieve despite was a victory in my eyes I don’t know. Suffice to say I was surprisingly bouyant, it had been a great game, and Dan had been good fun. Lunch and then game 2

Not quite ebay sales you won’t regret

OK folks, what I have here is that my nephew is getting out of 40k. The one that inspired my own son to dip into the muddy waters of Games Workshop and so helped me fall off the wagon! He’s got quite a lot of stuff, some still on sprues and some painted as only a 10 year old can. I thought I’d offer them up first to readers before I go through ebay. Ideally I’m after selling each of the factions [Space Marine, Tau, Orks, and a few Lizardmen] in whole lots.

So what I’ve done is look at the GW retail price for the full value, then looked at 3rd party/ebay equivalents for what you’d pay discount [or estimated with a *] and then I’ll shave off a good percentage more so you’re getting a bargain. I’ll even include the cost of postage in these prices!

Ultimately though these are his miniatures and he’s selling up to pump more into his PS4 habit so I’m trying to get a decent return for him but I accept some are built and painted badly but they can be stripped easily. Have a look what there is, oh and the foam trays won’t be included as I’m buying the two carry cases off him:

Most of the marines as a group, separate images to follow

Decals included, some Space Wolves too.

Space Marines	GW	3rd
Venerable Dreadnought	£28	£21
AoBR Dreadnought	£28	£12
Terminator Chaplain (Metal)	£13	£9
AoBR Tactical Squad	£25	£10
AoBR Commander	£10	£4
AoBR terminator Squad (5 men)	£28	£13*
Scout Squad (5 men)	£15.50	£11
Assault Squad (5 men)	£20.50	£15
Command Squad (5 men)	£20.50	£15
Terminator Squad (5 men)	£28	£21
Predator Tank	£35	£26
Razorback (mint in box)	£25	£18
Attack Bike	£16.50	£12
Techmarine and 4 Servitors (finecast)	£25.50	£19
TOTAL	£318.5	£206

So a discount price of £206, but I’m looking for £150, less than half it’s retail value!

Close up pictures of the above tray…

Two broken rotors, no rotors and two broken rotors. These Deffkoptas fly by luck alone!

Orks	GW	3rd
36 x Ork Boyz [some AoBR]	£64.8	£60.75
5 x Ork Kommandos [metal]	£25.5	£25.5*
1 x AoBR Ork Warboss	£7*	£7
9 x Ork Mobs with Big Shootas/Lootas	£24	£24
9 x Ork Big Nobz	£27.9	£4
3 x AoBR Deffkoptas [broken or missing rotors]	£10*	£10*
3 x Killa Kans	£28	£21
1 Ork Trukk	£22.5	£17
TOTAL	£210	£169.25

Again I’m looking for less than half retail at £100.

These Kroot images may be a bit mixed up but check the table for what’s on offer.

Tau	GW	3rd
28 x Kroot [12 unpainted + 16 on sprue]	£40	£27.50*
36 x Fire Warriors	£66	£49.5
3 x X25 Stealth Suits	£16	£12
1 x XV8 Battlesuit	£15.50	£10*
8 x Drones	£13	£9*
1 x Devilfish [Mint in box]	£22.50	£16.88
1 x Devilfish [built and painted, badly]	£22.50	£16.88
TOTAL	£195.5	£141.76

Once again, £90 all in, way less than half retail and £50 off the discount options

I’ve also got a box of Warhammer Lizardmen Saurus Warriors. These are practically mint in box so I’m after £15, including postage which is the same as you’d pay from Wayland, but you’d have to add postage on top.

So if you’re interested drop me a comment below. No doubt I’ll get comments for just bits instead of the four lots, in which case I will consider these options with a smaller saving on the 3rd party retail price, i.e. a Devilfish for £15 but the multiple postage will be a pain, hence why I’m trying to sell in bulk and just get them sold and out of my house.