tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64785736502584608482024-02-21T08:49:43.201-08:00Spunkybass Place 3.0spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.comBlogger107125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-37575449381585923852017-10-05T02:29:00.000-07:002017-10-05T02:29:16.124-07:00Safehouse Tourney - What a Blast!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The 40k tourney on 9th September at Safehouse was simply a blast! As usual, I had zero expectations, but real big kudos to Safehouse, the TOs, my opponents and everyone who was there. I truly had a great time, which the whole point of a tourney.<br />
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The tourney used ITC rules and we each played 3 games. I brought a slighlty adjusted version of the Windrider army I brought to Singapore in the previous tournament:<br />
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<b>FALCHU WARHOST OF ALAITOC</b><br />
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<b>Windriders of Alaitoc (Outrider Detachment)</b><br />
Farseer LahnSeiraPartecion - Farseer Skyrunner with Singing Spear<br />
7 Fire Dragons with Exarch<br />
4 Windriders, each with shuriken cannon<br />
4 Windriders, each with shuriken cannon<br />
4 Windriders, each with shuriken cannon<br />
8 Dark Reapers, Exarch with Tempest Launcher<br />
2 Wave Serpents, each with hull shuriken cannon and turret shuriken cannon, and Spirit Stones<br />
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<b>Wings of Khaine (Air Wing Detachment)</b><br />
Hemlock, with Spirit Stones<br />
Hemlock, with Spirit Stones<br />
Crimson Hunter Exarch, with bright lances<br />
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<b><u>ROUND ONE</u></b><br />
The first battle was against an angry-looking Blood Angels army, led by the golden boy Dante himself.<br />
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If my memory serves well, the army was a battalion detachment with:<br />
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Dante<br />
1x Captain<br />
1x Apothecary<br />
1x 5-man Assault Terminator squad<br />
2x 5-man Tactical squads<br />
1x 5-man Scout sniper squad<br />
2x 5-man Devastator squads<br />
2x Land Raider Crusaders<br />
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The terrain was ... sparse! A couple of craggy hills, a couple of woods. And a nice bastion for the mon keigh Devastators. And I got so used to the dense terrain in Balau and AB too ... But it looked good, so all was good.<br />
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I think the scenario was Secure and Control. The Blood Angels had first turn and proceeded to advance on my position. The Land Raider Crusaders, screening Dante, engaged at extreme range and gunned down bikers from the lead Windider squad that didn't hide well enough. I used 2 CPs to make sure the sole survivor didn't run away and give away First Blood.<br />
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From my turn 1 onwards, the battle was one-sided. The 2 Hemlocks managed some fancy pin-point flying, lining up close to Dante and killed him with Smite and a volley of heavy D-Scythe. Combined fire from the Crimson Hunter and Dark Reapers heavily damaged a Land Raider Crusader (down to a couple of wounds), and massed shuriken fire wiped out the scouts. To make sure the other Land Raider Crusader didn't use its awesome firepower, the lone surviving jetbiker charged it, survived the hail of incoming overwatch rounds and ended up with the pic of the tournament for me.<br />
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The battle ended with a decisive Eldar victory. Blood Angels were left with 1 Devastator marine and the Captain with 1 wound left. The Eldar lost 4 jetbikes and a couple of Fire Dragons.<br />
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<b><u>ROUND TWO</u></b><br />
Officially, my opponent's army is Sisters of Battle. But it looked like AdMech to me.<br />
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I really don't know either army well, but it was something like:<br />
St Celestine<br />
The insane fat AdMech boss dude<br />
A skinny AdMech character dude<br />
A small squad of AdMech snipers<br />
SOB squad<br />
SOB Retributors with heavy bolters<br />
6 of those uber shooty Baymax robots<br />
4 of those gangly AdMech walkers with lascannons<br />
Eversor assassin<br />
Commissar (I think)<br />
50 Conscripts<br />
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I think the mission was The Scouring. Which meant that there was no First Blood, but Big Game Hunter for me meant having to kill the 6 Baymax bots.<br />
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What really saved me was terrain. There was enough LOS-blocking terrain to mitigate the Baymax uber shooty squad. Hearing that they can dish out 2x 54 shots a turn, and the fact that they also represent the Big Game Hunter VP, they became priority target. Unleashing almost all my firepower, the bot squad was wiped out in 2 turns.<br />
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Eldar pretty much controlled the game - right until Turn 3. I wasn't paying attention to time, and it turned out that Turn 3 was the last turn. Bent on killing St Celestine, I changed my mind about embarking the 4 surviving Dark Reapers (Big Game Hunter VP on my side) into the safety of their Wave Serpent in order to add to the weight of fire. Turned out I didn't need the firepower as the living saint fell to massed shuriken fire. But when she came back, she killed the Dark Reapers AND scored Linebreaker, and therefore winning the game.<br />
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Losses were heavy. The Eldar lost both Hemlocks, the Fire Dragons, the Dark Reapers, and 3 jetbikers. The mon keigh lost the Baymax squad, one of the lascannon walkers, the assassin, both SOB squads, and a bunch of conscripts.<br />
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<b><u>ROUND THREE</u></b><br />
This was against the Saim Hann who brought an Engine of Vaul in the form of a Scorpion grav super-heavy tank.<br />
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The smelly Saim Hann had:<br />
1x Farseer Skyrunner<br />
1x Autarch Skyrunner<br />
2x Warlock Skyrunners<br />
7 jetbikes with shuriken cannon<br />
15 Guardians w bright lance weapon platform<br />
Wraithlord<br />
2x Fire Prisms<br />
Scorpion super-heavy grav tank<br />
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The terrain was ... worse than sparse! And with an uber shooty long ranged weapon on the enemy side, this was going to be tough.<br />
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I won this narrowly, making a couple of noob mistakes in the process. One of them was not resisting the temptation to attack the Scorpion with my Fire Dragons. The Dragons' volley plus Dark Reaper fire crippled it, but I should have followed up with a charge to force it to move. Either that or I should have concentrated on wiping out the rest of the army instead.<br />
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As it turned out, losses were heavy on both sides. The Alaitoc were left with only 3 Windrider squads, the Farseer and 1 Wave Serpent. The Saim Hann were left with the Farseer, the Autarch, the Warlocks, half the jetbikes and a crippled Scorpion. A narrow victory which I could have made better.<br />
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All in, it was a fantastic experience. I ended up in 6th place and had fun throughout. I look forward to the next tourney. Congratulations to the winners and to Safehouse for an amazing tourney!<br />
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<i>Faizal's Crimson Fists - Best Sportsmanship</i></div>
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<i>Kadir's Raven Guard - Best Painted (and to me, awesomely fluffy)</i></div>
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<i>Chris' IG - Best General (just realized I don't have an army display pic)</i></div>
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<br />spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-7055909234303607022017-09-07T21:48:00.002-07:002017-09-12T00:40:28.511-07:00Balau Resurrected<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The hallowed halls of the Balau Sector were once a hive of epic wargames activity, where friends gathered once or twice a week (more during tournament season), fielding impressive armies of all persuasions, and gleefully rolling dice till the wee hours of the morning amidst bellows of laughter, whoops and shouts, and capped by the obligatory trip to the local <i>mamak</i> joint for some <i>teh tarek</i> and <i>roti, </i>where the deeds of the preceding wargaming action were recounted, celebrated or mourned.<br />
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The history of the Balau Sector as a private wargames nexus began over two decades ago in 1994. My brother and I decided that the large spare basement room would be best utilized as a personal wargames space.<br />
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Initially we had an 8'x6' table with lots of 15mm terrain. Our main period at the time was Napoleonic, and we used <i>Napoleon's Battles</i> a lot, though we also used <i>In The Grand Manner</i> and <i>General d'Brigad</i>e (and the occassional madness of <i>Chef de Bataillon</i>). We had a cozy group of around 4 regular gamers and we eventually called ourselves the IXth Coalition.<br />
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The IXth Coalition expanded to incude WW2 wargaming, using <i>Command Decision</i> at first, then moving to <i>Rapid Fire!</i> using plastic and metal 20mm models. The basement could now fit up to 2 large tables (typically two 8'x6', sometimes split into 3 or 4 smaller tables). The coven of regular gaming friends expanded as well, and the typical wargames night would host around 4-5 wargamers engaged in epic horse & musket or tank & rifle action.<br />
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Throughout the second half of the nineties, all the wargames action at the IXth Coalition involved refighting historical battles in those two periods. It was classic ol' skool wargaming in which armies were always WYSIWYG and fully-painted, and stuff like points-based games, "balance" and competitive-play were all alien notions.<br />
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Then in early 2000 Warhammer 40k finally arrived. Some of the members had tried to introduce 40k much earlier, but 2nd ed really looked and felt too cartoony and character-based (instead of army-based) to catch on. Warhammer 40k 3rd ed changed everything.<br />
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40k took Balau by storm, with the group even changing its name from the Napoleonic-inspired IXth Coalition to the more 41st millennium Imperium-isque Balau Sector. I started with the 3rd ed Eldar Battleforce (all of which are still in my collection today, and in fact the 3 jetbikes from that box are still seeing frontline duty) from a store in Singapore and the rulebook from eBay. I didn't even have a proper HQ and kit-bashed a farseer from a mage model. My brother started with a Dark Eldar army which was as deadly as it was graceful.<br />
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Balau Sector grew rapidly. Wargaming nights easily hosted upwards of 6-10 wargamers, and there were typically 3 to 4 tables up and running at any given time. We got into everything 40k. Everything. Hobby, lore, competitive play, mega-battles, campaigns, related games (BFG, Necromunda, Blood Bowl, Fantasy, Mordheim). You name it.<br />
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Balau Sector members quickly gained a reputation as players with highly-thematic competitive armies, and for awhile dominated the local competitive scene (we played countless practice games, and Balau Sector even had its own "aggressor" generic Space Marine force built around the day's meta, against which members would test their armies). It was great fun going to a tournament as a group of friends in a loosely-grouped "team" as it were. Our members won many a tournament in Malaysia and Singapore, and regularly placed in the top 3 for overall, generalship, painting and sportsmanship awards.<br />
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Campaign play was a very important feature of the Balau Sector. In fact, the best campaign I've ever experienced was run at the Balau Sector by Kai, which ran over an epic 10 weeks! Officially known as <i>The Campaign for K-50490</i>, and best remembered as <a href="http://spunkybass.tripod.com/KaisCampaign.html#" target="_blank">Kai's Campaign</a>, the GM-run campaign saw 8 armies fight over strategic resources in a far-flung world, complete with resource management, secret strategems, recon and special forces, experience points and strategic moves. Truly memorable.<br />
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Before 40k Apocalypse existed, mega-battles were another huge wargames activity which Balau members really deeply enjoyed. So when Apoc first came out 2007, we took to it like Berzerkers to blood.<br />
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For a solid 9 months, every single wargame played at the Balau Sector was an Apocalypse battle, typically on 12'x6' tables, with at least a couple on a huge 16'x6' table. The pure spectacle and epic scale of Apoc completely filled our imaginations and wargames appetite. Very quickly, Balau Sector saw scores of Forge World, GW and scratch-built super-heavies, flyers and titans take to the field. We were so much into Apoc that when a tournament came around, and we decided we needed to practice a few "regular-sized" games, the 6'x4' table looked really small.<br />
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In 2009, through a combination of real-life work and family factors, activities at the Balau Sector began to wind down. I eventually transferred my own personal wargames flag to <a href="http://legiomalaysia.blogspot.my/" target="_blank">Legio Malaysia</a>, which boasted simply the best wargames facilities ever seen in Malaysia, and ran some of the best tournaments, painting competitions and campaigns I've seen.<br />
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The guns finally fell silent at the Balau Sector in late 2010, interrupted by the occassional wargame now and then for the next 6 years. As with most places neglected, tables and terrain fell into disrepair and much was lost in those dark years.<br />
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In May 2017, I was reminded that the Balau Sector has always been an awesome place to wargame, hobby and hang out. So I moved my wargames table from JB back to Balau. And started acquiring, building and painting terrain.<br />
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I reached out to people who enjoyed the Balau Sector over the years - and realized that we have a sizeable alumni. Off the top of my head - Rizal, Kai, Saleem, Faizal Paxter, Vinder, Gary, Faizal, Amin, Dann, Khairul, Jeff, Doc Selvam, Quake, Kadir, Dhany, Nick, Doc Chua, Ainul, Jo, Azim, Mahmud, Eddie, Ang, Syamel, Din, Wolf, Mark, Max ... and I'm sure I've left out a bunch of names here, my apologies if your name is not here.<br />
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Today, the resurrection of Balau Sector is well under way. There are now 3 tables permanently set up - urban, grassland/woods and desert - with a fourth table on the way. There is an abundance of 28mm terrain, and I continually acquire more over time. The old (like 20 years old) 15mm and 20mm terrain are still around, and at some point I will start building more 15mm terrain for Napoleonic and Flames of War and perhaps Team Yankee action.<br />
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Also, in the next couple of months, there finally (after more than 20 years) will be air-conditioning, which will make day-time gaming more pleasurable. The lighting will also be rewired to replace the spotlights with bright white fluorescent lights. I'm also bringing in some new shelves to replace the old ones, for storage and display of armies and terrain.<br />
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I am stoked and totally looking forward to the next couple of decades of wargaming action at Balau!<br />
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<br />spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-12641861373695789102017-08-21T02:09:00.000-07:002017-08-21T02:09:37.536-07:00First 2k Tourney in 8th Ed!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been a long time since I wrote anything here. And an even longer time since I played in 40k tournaments.<br />
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I have been slowly dipping my toes back into 40k tournaments for a couple of months now - but nothing serious. By not serious, I mean I just use existing models and paint jobs, and have zero practice games in.<br />
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I played a doubles event at Alexandria in the dying days of 7th ed, using a 1,000-pt version of my AirCav, teaming with Amin's Ravenwing. And a 1,000-pt 8th ed kick-off tourney using my Brandenberg IG.<br />
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But last Saturday was what I regarded as my first real 40k tourney since 2009, which was also in Singapore. In between then and now, I was very involved in a lot of the early Legio tourneys, but not as a player.<br />
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The Road to War 2,000-pt 40k tournament held at and run by the good folks at Gamersaurus Rex was a blast! It was a tiny tourney, but the terrain, the TOs, the players, the atmosphere and the whole thing was just a lot of great fun! I also really enjoyed that they chose to use the <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yMBZ9xROQ8y_GJtCW-05mk0lK-Lz9VHhL6Ao_BmZORk/edit" target="_blank">ITC ruleset</a>. It was my first experience with the ITC rules, and I must say it's a brilliant set of rules and scenarios for tourneys.<br />
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<br />
I brought my Eldar Windrider army for the tourney. In the run-up to the tourney, the army went through several iterations. The list started off as a direct port from my 7th ed list, complete with Fire Prisms and Warp Spiders, but without the scatterbikes. After a few weeks of lots of 40k games, learning the Craftworld Eldar index, learning 8th ed itself, trying out stuff, and lots of fine tuning, I ended up with the following list:<br />
<br />
<b><u>FALCHU WARHOST OF ALAITOC</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>Windriders of Alaitoc - Outrider Detachment</u></b><br />
Farseer Skyrunner - jetbike, singing spear<br />
8 Fire Dragons, with Exarch<br />
3 squads of 4 jetbikes, all armed with shuriken cannon<br />
8 Dark Reapers, Exarch with tempest launcher<br />
2 Wave Serpents for the Aspect Warriors, both armed with twin shuriken cannon in the turret and a chin-mounted shuriken cannon. The Fire Dragons' Wave Serpent was also equipped with spirit stones<br />
<br />
<b><u>Wings of Khaine - Air Wing Detachment</u></b><br />
2 Hemlocks, one with spirit stones<br />
1 Crimson Hunter Exarch, with bright lances and pulse laser<br />
<br />
This tiny list came in at 1,996-pts, with 5 CPs. Going in, I was expecting to have a hard time against hordes, but I really like the speed of my army.<br />
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<br />
<b>Round 1: vs Tsui's Defenders of Macragge</b><br />
<b>ITC Combined Arms Mission 1 - Retrieval</b><br />
It's a real pity I didn't manage to get a pic of Tsui's army, and of the game itself for that matter. Really nice-looking army. His list was:<br />
<br />
Roboute Guilliman<br />
Tigurius<br />
Sergeant Chronus<br />
2 Venerable Dreadnoughts with plenty autocannon dakka<br />
5 Terminators<br />
3x 5-man Scout squads with bolters<br />
2x 5-man Devastator squads with heavy bolters<br />
1 uber Predator with the funky autocannon and lascannon sponsons<br />
2 Rhinos<br />
1 Lord Commissar<br />
20 Conscripts (nicely painted as Macragge PDF)<br />
1 Acolyte<br />
Eversor assassin<br />
Culexis assassin<br />
<br />
Deployment was Dawn of War and most of his army was deployed on his far right flank, anchored by a hill. His center was held by the Conscripts and a Scout squad and his left by the 2 other Scout squads. My deployment pretty much mirrored his - heavy on my left, light on my right.<br />
<br />
I managed to get first turn and the Air Wing proceeded to attack his anti-aircraft assets, destroying one venerable dreadnought and severely damaging the other. Because of Chronus, I largely ignored the Predator until later in the battle (the tank survived with 3 wounds left).<br />
<br />
A couple of highlights of the battle:<br />
On turn 3, I switched flanks, abandoning my left flank and hitting his weak left and center. All the Scouts and PDF troopers were wiped out, and I easily controlled all objectives on that flank. The bulk of the Ultramarines were simply too far away to respond.<br />
<br />
I had been using one of the Wave Serpents to screen my Farseer against infiltrating assassins. At some point, I actually forgot about that assignment and moved the Wave Serpent up to support the attack on his left flank. A Culexis assassin appeared and I was really lucky that he failed the 9" charge (with CP reroll). The nearby Dark Reapers then took care of that threat.<br />
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<br />
Aftermath: Decisive Eldar victory. I controlled almost all the Eternal War objectives, and scored almost all Maelstrom ones too, and scored Linebreaker. Neither of us got Big Game Hunter (mine were the Dark Reapers, and his was Guilliman) or Slay the Warlord. I lost a Wave Serpent and both Hemlocks. Ultramarines lost all their Scouts, the Terminators, a Rhino, both Venerable Dreadnoughts, the Commissar, the Conscripts, the Acolyte and the Culexis.<br />
<br />
<b>Round 2: vs Chris' IG horde</b><br />
<b>ITC Combined Arms Mission 3 - No Mercy</b><br />
I really didn't want to be paired against Chris. Not only could we have done this game back home in JB, but I somehow suspected that his army's got more bodies than I had ammo. His list was:<br />
<br />
4x Company Commanders<br />
4x Commissars<br />
4x 50-man Conscripts (that's 200 guys, with a potential of 800 lasgun shots combined!)<br />
2x 10-man Infantry squads<br />
2 mortar squads<br />
2 Manticore<br />
1 Baneblade<br />
2 Taurox<br />
<br />
I felt a little outnumbered.<br />
<br />
Deployment was Vanguard Strike, and 3 of his Conscript blocks were deployed in line forward, with one more immediately behind the center block. The Baneblade, Manticore and other hard hitters were deployed in the rear, making ready for a first strike by my jets. My deployment was heavier to my left flank, except for the Fire Dragons on the right (which proved to be a mistake).<br />
<br />
Again I managed to get first turn, with the Air Wing sallying deep into enemy territory. The Hemlocks made easy work of one of the Manticores, scoring my First Strike. The Crimson Hunter, with supporting long-range starshot fire from the Dark Reapers, quickly stripped away 10 wounds off the Baneblade.<br />
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<br />
Some battle highlights:<br />
The IG return fire in turn 1 was not effective at all, which denied him what turned out to be a crucial point for not scoring First Strike.<br />
<br />
Mortars! I would say the IG's most effective units that day were his mortars. They wiped out a jetbike squad that got within range, helped kill my Fire Dragons after their Wave Serpent was destroyed, and was even harrassing my flyers (with some special airburst shrapnel rounds I assume).<br />
<br />
Engaging and wiping out large blocks by rolling up the flanks works just like clockwork. We all probably know this, but to see it in action is pretty cool. When I remembered to do it, I was able to wipe out more than 100 Conscripts by creeping up his far right flank and firing away. I should have done that right from turn 1, instead of waiting for them to come closer.<br />
<br />
Spirit stones are awesome! The Hemlock with the spirit stones eventually died, but it took the IG the entire battle to shoot it down.<br />
<br />
Aftermath: Perfect Draw. I scored more Eternal War kill-points (based on Power Levels - the Baneblade alone was 30 points). He dominated Maelstrom objectives (no way I could contest those, which is why I needed to use my massed shuriken cannon firepower from turn 1 against the hordes). I scored First Strike, he easily did King of the Hill and no one got Slay the Warlord. I lost a Wave Serpent, a jetbike squad and the Fire Dragons. The IG lost the Baneblade, both Manticores, a Taurox and 2 Conscript blocks.<br />
<br />
<b>Round 3: vs Gavin's Imperium Tourney Warhost</b><br />
<b>ITC Combined Arms Mission 6 - Secure & Control</b><br />
Gavin came into the final game by tabling both his earlier opponents. I only managed 1 win and 1 draw. So I did feel like the underdog - a little. His list was:<br />
<br />
Roboute Guilliman<br />
Celestine<br />
2x 5-man Scout squads - sniper rifles. One of the squads had a heavy bolter, the other a missile launcher<br />
3 Primaris Aggressors<br />
5-girl Retribution squad with heavy bolters<br />
Thunderfire cannon with attendant Techmarine<br />
Lord Commissar<br />
50 Conscripts<br />
Culexis assassin<br />
2 Stromravens<br />
<br />
Deployment was Spearhead Assault and Gavin made good use of the huge ruined complex near the center to anchor his line, Conscripts bubble-wrapping the ground quite effectively and Stormravens in the rear in defensive positions. He was prepared to go second. I won the roll-off to start - and then he proceeded to seize the initative!<br />
<br />
A combination of orders and Guilliman's presence saw the mon-keigh bound forwards like World War Z zombies, both Stormravens sped forwards and focused fire on my spirit stone-less Hemlock. And he survived with 2 wounds left!<br />
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<br />
Some highlights:<br />
Scoring First Blood. That was a good feeling - starting second and still scoring First Blood. I got lucky his shooting was not so good in his first turn. The heavily damaged Hemlock sped forwards as best as it can and unloaded Heavy D-Scythe death onto the nearest Scouts, sending them to oblivion. One of the Stormravens was also destroyed under the combined firepower of a Hemlock, Crimson Hunter and massed shuriken cannon fire.<br />
<br />
That one time when my Hemlock went for Smite instead of Conceal was a bad move. It was easily shot down in the turn after that.<br />
<br />
Not going for Celestine was a mistake that cost me the battle. At one point, Celestine had sallied forth and charged my Dark Reapers. I could have easily fell back with the Dark Reapers, disembarked the nearby Fire Dragons and fried Ms Celestine to a crisp. He would be less aggressive with the second incarnation of the girl. Celestine was really the only unit he had (other than the flyers) that could chase down my army. Instead, the Fire Dragons went for another close target - the second Stormraven. Although they easily killed it (overkilled it, more like), the Stormraven would also have easily been crippled by massed shuriken cannon fire.<br />
<br />
Also, with only 50 Conscripts, I should have used my shuriken firepower from turn two onwards to thin their numbers down, or even destroy the unit.<br />
<br />
Aftermath: Decisive Imperium victory. I only managed First Blood and Linebreaker. Ignoring the Conscripts cost me the Maelstrom and Eternal War points. My army was doing ok until after my mistake with Celestine, and only the Fire Dragons and one Wave Serpent survived the battle. I managed to kill both Stormravens, the Retributors, both Scout squads, and the Thunderfire cannon.<br />
<br />
<b>Thoughts on the Tourney:</b><br />
I thoroughly enjoyed it! Had a superb time with some excellent games with great people. A road trip to go play 40k with new opponents in a different environment is always fun, and the TOs for this tourney really helped make sure that it is indeed fun.<br />
<br />
I ended up 3rd overall. I'm not sure what my generalship score was, but I imagine it wasn't that high with only 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss.<br />
<br />
If I were to use this Eldar army again in another tourney, I will definitely give all eligible vehicles spirit stones. They are just awesome and totally worth the 10 points.<br />
<br />
I enjoyed all the games I played, and each had its own character. In the first game, I was able to use my army's speed to outmanouver the mon-keigh, but his skill in using the assassin threat minimized the effectiveness of my hard-hitting aspect warriors. In the second game, I got over my horde-phobia, realizing that they die faster than you think - though by turn 3, Chris just wanted to game to be over as he was getting physically exhausted moving around 200++ dudes. The last game was really enjoyable and was the most tactical for me. I had to plan and execute each move purposefully, and there was simply no room for tactical errors at all. Unfortunately, I made a few.<br />
<br />
Thanks again to my cool opponents, the other participants, the Malaysian contingent, and a huge thanks to the awesome TOs and hosts at Gamersaurus Rex. It's a great store, and I highly recommend a visit there. I ended the day buying some excellent terrain kits from the store.<br />
<br />
On to the next tourney!<br />
<br />spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-47740935825948261252017-01-20T00:18:00.000-08:002017-01-22T20:47:20.253-08:00Exploring the Current Thousand Sons - Third Iteration<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
What excites me about the current Thousand Sons is that it packs a punch while still being flavorful, with its over-reliance on magic, it's single-mindedness automata, and how battlefield tactics slant towards deception. Did I mention it's really flavorful? Change agents, that's what we are.</div>
<div>
Before I go on, I'd like to share my personal criteria for my Thousand Sons army lists. Just because ...:</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Must be built on a core of Rubric marines. As far as possible, each Rubric unit must be "favored" (a concept that no longer has rules at the squad level) with 9 models or multiples of 9.</li>
<li>No Cultists, or them new-fangled beasty cultist wannabe things.</li>
<li>No Daemons. I spent a few years before this book came out fielding a Thousand Sons army with a daemon allied detachment (1 Lord of Change and a pack of Pink Horrors). It was a really strong list, but I really do prefer no daemons at all, if possible (on another note, a Tzeentch daemons list looks quite stupidly strong). Daemon engines are exempted (because I do really like the Defiler and Heldrake models).</li>
<li>No Magnus. Because I don't know why he would bother playing in my house or local store (I just got over justifying to myself why Ahriman would bother to do the same, and that took me a few years of deep earnest conversations with myself).</li>
<li>No non-Tzeentch/non-Thousand Sons allies (though I might just allow a Shadowsword, because my ancient Armorcast one is begging to be Tzeentched up - but definitely no Knights of any persuasion).</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div>
So in the first game I had with the current book (it was really new then), I fielded the list that could be deployed fastest as we were rushing - Ahriman, Exalted Sorcerer, 5 Occult Terminators in Land Raider, squad of 8 Rubric marines (couldn't go 9 because they had to share their transport with the 2 lead sorcerers), squad of 9 Rubric marines on foot, Heldrake and a Land Raider.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
That army faced a White Scars army that had 3 Land Raiders, a couple of Razorbacks, assault termies and Drop Pod-borne Astartes. With the help of some nasty Heretech spells which made easy work of the loyalist armor, the White Scars were almost wiped out for minimal Thousand Sons losses.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In my second game, I decided to try a funny list that uses the Astral Grimoire - Ahriman, Exalted Sorcerer, Sorcerer, a squad of 18 Rubric marines, 5 Occult Terminators in Land Raider, Heldrake, Las-Pred.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This army faced a Death Watch army with a scary Watchmaster, a squad of Deathwatch vets, a Deathwatch bike squad, a Deathwatch ven Dread, 3 Ultramarines Tactical squads in Drop Pods, 3 Ultramarines Terminator squads and an Ultramarine Land Speeder. Lucky for me it was a Kill Points game - the only survivors from the loyalists was the Watchmaster (who killed Ahriman and his sorcerers) and the Drop Pods. Thousand Sons were left with 4 Rubric marines, 1 Terminator, the Heldrake and the Land Raider.</div>
<div>
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<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Iteration No.3</b></div>
<div>
This iteration of my Thousand Sons army expands on the first list. Rhinos are still invaluable, even after millennia of service on both sides of the divide. And especially so for my slow and purposeful Rubricae. And the fact that Ahriman can cast his witchfire spells from the handy top hatch hasn't gone amiss. So 1 of the Land Raiders had to go.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Another change from the previous lists is that I finally got around to assembling my Occult Terminators (I had been using my old converted Rubric Terminators as nicely painted proxies), and just had to put in the really nicely casted soulreaper autocannon and helfyer missile rack. What's another 50 points between friends?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<u>Thousand Sons War Cabal (1850 points):</u></div>
<div>
Ahriman, Arch-Sorcerer of the Thousand Sons</div>
<div>
Sobek Sekmet, Exalted Sorcerer - mastery level 3, Seer's Bane</div>
<div>
5 Scarab Occult Terminators - soulreaper autocannon, helfyre missile rack</div>
<div>
Land Raider - dozer blades</div>
<div>
8 Thousand Sons marines</div>
<div>
Rhino - dozer blades</div>
<div>
9 Thousand Sons marines</div>
<div>
Rhino - dozer blades</div>
<div>
Heldrake</div>
<div>
Predator - lascannons, dozer blades</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This time I faced a Ravenwing army that's just fresh from being awarded Best Loyalist Army in a recent local tourney. It had something like:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Chaplain on bike - mace of redemption</div>
<div>
6 Ravenwing Black Knights (commmand squad) - apothecary, standard bearer</div>
<div>
6 Ravenwing Black Knights</div>
<div>
6 Ravenwing bikes - 2 meltaguns, sgt w powerfist</div>
<div>
6 Ravenwing bikes - 2 meltaguns, sgt w powerfist</div>
<div>
6 Ravenwing bikes - 2 gravguns (don't remember if the sgt had a powefist)</div>
<div>
2 Ravenwing attack bikes - multimelta</div>
<div>
2 Ravenwing attack bikes - multimelta</div>
<div>
Ravenwing Land Speeder Typhoon</div>
<div>
Ravenwing Land Speeder Typhoon</div>
<div>
Ravenwing Land Speeder Typhoon</div>
<div>
Ravenwing Dark Shroud</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It's actually not too different from my own Ravenwing army. We rolled <i>Spoils of War</i>, Night Fight is on, and Thousand Sons got first turn.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
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<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Deployment</b></div>
<div>
The battle was fought over a desolate landscape, with blown-out ruins, sparse dead forests and hills. It was perfect country for speed and manouver.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The scenario specified Hammer & Anvil deployment, and the Ravewing amassed in 2 flanks - on my right flank, the stronger wing of their army anchored amidst some ruins, while on my left flank they took advantage of a craggy hill.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Having far less units to deploy, I decided to take advantage of the width-wise deployment (which meant that my 2 flanks are not far apart), and spread my army, using cover just in case he seized the initiative - Terminators in their Land Raider on the left flank behind the wrecked Rhino, Rubric squad in their Rhino behind the ruins in the center, the Predator on the main avenue and next to a ruin facing down the loyalist bikers, and Ahriman and Sekmet with their Rubricae in their Rhino behind the Predator.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As was predicted, the loyalists scouted forwards to close the range, the squad with the gravguns to the fore, while their long-range missile Land Speeders hung around the back center of the field, ready to lend support for either flank.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ28B3Lz1TljHc8D0FsqO_aVqA4911AirZqyIg_s2UbMIHSxiDZHscuXmLtFrRQSBT9LdPAnlcxXUdH-T_Rsv3TgIYR5h9CYiwUhmUrs_ZDEQHNLGUS106lgkcYCQmP-caMaVf-XVuy3dT/s1600/IMG_0513.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ28B3Lz1TljHc8D0FsqO_aVqA4911AirZqyIg_s2UbMIHSxiDZHscuXmLtFrRQSBT9LdPAnlcxXUdH-T_Rsv3TgIYR5h9CYiwUhmUrs_ZDEQHNLGUS106lgkcYCQmP-caMaVf-XVuy3dT/s400/IMG_0513.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Turn 1</b></div>
<div>
The battle began quietly enough as my Predator turned left and sped towards the center of the Thousand Sons' line.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As the Rhino in the center lurched forwards onto the main thoroughfare, its top hatch opened to reveal Asthmus the aspiring sorcerer, who unleashed a cascading Breathe of Chaos spell on the lead Ravenwing bike squad, nearly wiping it out. The Rhino bearing Lord Ahriman also advanced slightly, the Arch-Sorcerer casting deadly Psychic Shrieks from his Rhino's fire point, which finished his aspiring sorcerer's job, and severely damaging another squad.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Then, both Rhinos retreated rearwards, keeping a safe distance from surviving loyalist meltaguns <i>(shooting phase flat out moves - my opponent accused me of "Eldar cheese!").</i></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
On the left flank, the Land Raider advanced slightly and pivoted, its assault ramps hitting the ground hard as elite Scarab Occult Terminators disembarked from its bowels. The Scarab Occult Sorcerer loosed his Psychic Shriek attacks on the nearest Ravenwing bike squad, felling a couple of loyalist bikers, then his squad's autocannon and missiles, combined with the Land Raider's weapons, opened up on the Land Speeders in the rear, but thanks to the cover of night and some inhuman jinking manouvers, only 1 Land Speeder was glanced.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div>
In response, the Ravewing line surged forwards. The attack bikes on my left flank opened fire on the Land Raider, but were too far to gain optimal effectiveness. Nevertheless, they did manage to score 1 glancing hit.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The surviving bikers opened fire and charged the Occult Terminators. The Terminators' overwatch fire felled one of the bikers, even as the impact of Ravenwing bikes on Terminator armor killed one of the Terminators. The Occult Sorcerer bellowed a challenge which was dutifully accepted by the powerfist wielding veteran sergeant, who was duly slain by a combination of the sorcerer's hatred and high-strength stave. The other Occult Terminators put to the sword the other bikers, and the lone survivor only just managed to escape with his life, speeding to a crook behind the hill for safety.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
On the right flank and center, the Ravenwing line barreled forwards, now led by the Black Knights at the tip of the advance. Ravenwing shooting was ineffective as most of their guns were not in range, and the missile-bearing Land Speeders were jinking and could not aim their weapons to effect.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRScY3jyXUHPuut89pATDOcC0pv5xEuHxrfA5VvCnq-rCaYQAVWdTUzVzbBpqJKP32kKDNNNMnq9KZs6WQhKu_wtnIhPUSHhXcD16lXeIMpTtFozBuvTUAPnsVTbsSRUpakPntQLDAINYw/s1600/IMG_0514.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRScY3jyXUHPuut89pATDOcC0pv5xEuHxrfA5VvCnq-rCaYQAVWdTUzVzbBpqJKP32kKDNNNMnq9KZs6WQhKu_wtnIhPUSHhXcD16lXeIMpTtFozBuvTUAPnsVTbsSRUpakPntQLDAINYw/s400/IMG_0514.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Turn 2</b></div>
<div>
The Heldrake failed to appear, which was much regretted, as the Ravenwing mass in the center offered the juiciest of targets.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Asthmus' Rhino advanced towards the leading Black Knights. Once again emerging from the Rhino's top hatch, his Breathe of Chaos spell obliterated 4 of the proud elite bikers. Lord Ahriman followed up with multiple Psychic Shriek attacks but failed to wound the surviving Knights. Then Asthmus' Rhino went flat out forwards towards the right of the Sons' flank <i>(it really looked like a drive-by shooting)</i>, while Ahriman's Rhino fell back once again. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
On the left, the Occult Terminators advanced towards the nearest Attack Bikes, while their Sorcerer unleashed Psychic Shriek on the Ravenwing Command squad in the center, to no effect. Inferno bolter and heavy weapons fire from the terminators wounded one of the Attack Bikes before the Terminators' charge finished them off.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Land Raider and Predator, which by now had manouvered to the Sons' left flank, focused their fire on the Land Speeders, destroying one, and forcing another to jink.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Intent on revenge, Ravenwing bikers on the right flank sped up towards Asthmus' Rhino, even as the 2 surviving Black Knights approached that Rhino from the other side. Melta fire made easy work of the Rhino, blowing it apart, the blast killing 1 of the Rubricae inside. The Knights opened up with their Talons, easily felling another 4 Rubricae, before charging in to wipe out Asthmus and his squad in a flurry of Corvus hammer attacks <i>(this was a really bad series of saving throws - didn't roll a single save for Asthmus' squad).</i></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Chaplain and his Command Squad peeled off from the center and headed toward the Occult Terminators, guns blazing before charging in. The Scarab Occult Sorcerer locked in mortal combat with the Chaplain in a deadly challenge, both champions wounding the other. The Knights of the Command squad felled one of the Occult Terminators. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Gezz1UZwPN72GJN7b0sqplN2hDqlbw3dbWtt6vjp-NssGwOusV9-hmyeZGrXk5BDgE7-64jFqTW6t-NiVDI-2EzcNXmVzDPXuXxBaE_3Y9XLf2jYX_Xmel3LEROsL8RrPq864jz_C70L/s1600/IMG_0520.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Gezz1UZwPN72GJN7b0sqplN2hDqlbw3dbWtt6vjp-NssGwOusV9-hmyeZGrXk5BDgE7-64jFqTW6t-NiVDI-2EzcNXmVzDPXuXxBaE_3Y9XLf2jYX_Xmel3LEROsL8RrPq864jz_C70L/s400/IMG_0520.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Turn 3</b></div>
<div>
With a Banshee wail, the Heldrake roared onto the battlefield, its deadly unearthly fire wiping out the Ravenwing bike squad on the Sons' right flank, partially avenging Asthmus and his Rubricae.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
On the left flank, the Land Raider pivoted and opened fire on a Land Speeder, damaging it despite the pilot's wild jinking.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Meanwhile, both the Predator and Ahriman's Rhino fell back to fulfill a Hold the Line order.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In the on-going melee between the Ravenwing Command squad and the Occult Terminators, the Sorcerer killed the Chaplain with his glowing force stave. And thanks to the blessing of Tzeentch, the rending Corvus Hammers could not get past the Terminators' ward saves.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Ravenwing are fast running out of men. The 2 surviving Black Knights on the right flank came around the ruin there to close with Ahriman's Rhino. The Dark Shroud peeled off from close support of the Command squad, which was still in melee, to execute a risky manouver amongst the center ruins to capture an objective.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
On the left flank, the 2 surviving attack bikes closed with the Land Raider and opened fire with multimeltas at point-blank range. Tzeentch was smiling on this Land Raider as it was only stunned with 2 hull points remaining.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The 2 surviving Land Speeders also fired at the Land Raider, to no effect.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In the melee between the Ravenwing Command squad and the Occult Terminators, the challenge now was between the Black Knight champion and the Scarab Occult Sorcerer, a duel which ended in neither side getting past the other's armor. However, another Occult Terminator was hewn by the flailing Corvus hammers.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHE35WZcOudvpmZjkJTqWQLuXH-0AhUXuVDrsNtGBUURPzK_3ZY6v7kvzLAzrEz4pPDfeTEeQSWIvXJfH3Em4ohJIEP6vcm3DJgoRbD5hVqfcVWR0pGcuD0CU3jBI8MD_qEh3yH-QAW7kl/s1600/IMG_0524.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHE35WZcOudvpmZjkJTqWQLuXH-0AhUXuVDrsNtGBUURPzK_3ZY6v7kvzLAzrEz4pPDfeTEeQSWIvXJfH3Em4ohJIEP6vcm3DJgoRbD5hVqfcVWR0pGcuD0CU3jBI8MD_qEh3yH-QAW7kl/s400/IMG_0524.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Turn 4</b></div>
<div>
With a quiet suddenness, the Heldrake banked sharply to port and attacked the Dark Shroud with a Vector Strike that left the skimmer immobilized. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Ahriman's Rhino sped forwards towards the ruin in the center where the Dark Shroud sat damaged, the Arch-Sorcerer's repeated Psychic Shrieks finally slaying the last 2 Black Knights on the right.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Predator pivoted and let loose its lascannons on the grounded Dark Shroud blowing it up in a fiery explosion <i>(I needed that to happen to seize an objective - one of the downsides of not having ObSec Rubrics in this detachment)</i>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Meanwhile, the Land Raider snap-fired all guns into the oncoming attack bikes, destroying one, and wounding the other.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The drawn-out melee continued, with both champions failing to wound one another. But the last surviving Occult Terminator finally succumbed to the repeated rending Corvus attacks.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The last surviving Ravenwing attack bike approached even nearer to its Land Raider target, but missed its mark <i>(ikr, point-blank range, and you miss. All those years of dedication, prayer and training ...)</i>. The Land Speeders kept up their fire at the same target, and managed to score a glancing hit despite the Land Raider's thick hide.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Sensing his moment of glory, the last surviving Ravenwing biker from the very first charge decided to lend a hand to his Command squad, who had been locked in combat with the Occult Terminators for some time now. Redlining his engine, he sped headlong into the lone surviving enemy Terminator, killing the vile champion in the impact. Expecting congratulatory prayers, the biker was much chastised by the Black Knight champion, for the champion had intended to capture the enemy sorcerer alive <i>(it was an objective my opponent had been holding onto for awhile, hoping to score it with the Sorcerer)</i>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-hMBFKrP1csg6FNTWUZAa4utnnvcwVkmQXPqD6FmrngVZZe_ZXaKUuLVHeUAv7lt-cHLgFpTOiDVvlaWxcVmMibD5EAJH9jPXe4djX4UTFVKeeAFHujg4uMjBW_bYOK2DW_7qd7lnhEMs/s1600/IMG_0512.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-hMBFKrP1csg6FNTWUZAa4utnnvcwVkmQXPqD6FmrngVZZe_ZXaKUuLVHeUAv7lt-cHLgFpTOiDVvlaWxcVmMibD5EAJH9jPXe4djX4UTFVKeeAFHujg4uMjBW_bYOK2DW_7qd7lnhEMs/s400/IMG_0512.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Turn 5</b></div>
<div>
The marauding Heldrake descended rapidly into hover mode and skimmed forwards over the battlefield. The Land Raider advanced towards the right flank, climbing over the battlefield debris, and nearly throwing a track <i>(thank God for dozer blades, what a great investment)</i>. The tank opened fire on one of the Land Speeders, but once again the loyalist skimmer was able to avoid the incoming shots. Meanwhile, the Heldrake went flat out into enemy territory, capturing an objective. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Ahriman's Rhino moved forwards in the left flank, and the Rubric squad with the 2 attached Sorcerers disembarked, advancing on foot towards the Ravenwing Command squad. While his deadly magicks killed the last remaining Attack Bike, the Arch-Sorcerer's Psychic Shrieks were unable to harm the loyalist Command squad Knights. Sekmet the Exalted Sorcerer cast Invisibility onto himself, his Lord and the accompanying Rubricae.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As the Rubricae advanced, they opened fire on the Ravenwing Comand squad with their inferno bolters, Sekmet also calling in a fiery blast due to his being a Lord of the Silver Tower. The Predator joined in the concentrated firepower into the elite loyalist bikers, but after the dust settled, none of the loyalists were harmed.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Ravenwing Command squad took the bait and roared towards Ahriman's squad at breakneck speed, Plasma Talons rapid-firing, but unable to draw a bead on most of the Invisible Rubricae, killing just one.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
Meanwhile, the Ravenwing Land Speeders switched targets and fired their krak missiles at the hovering Heldrake, but the Daemon-engine was able to easily jink out of harm's way.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Then in a final act of desperation, the proud Black Knights of the Ravenwing Command squad charged into the Invisible Rubricae, their bikes' impact killing 1 Rubricae. Sekmet the Exalted Sorcerer challenged the champion and weilding his Seer's Bane, easily hewed the Black Knight champion and the entire Ravenwing Command squad in one graceful sweep of the possessed daemon weapon.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And with that last deadly strike, Tzeentch truimphs again!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy_u0bxAMvJF3yy9VL3crzwFAteOCd0zyQoTqgoGt7wxi9SZ5mdIgwIS_3ihqLtLet_opKDpuy0dxbU4PBj6vK2u0j2vaCb9V8XfQhyphenhyphenK_DUTZYl0ulG7M6BKCz_ZiM97UXbZlhA0O0bbKg/s1600/IMG_0521.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy_u0bxAMvJF3yy9VL3crzwFAteOCd0zyQoTqgoGt7wxi9SZ5mdIgwIS_3ihqLtLet_opKDpuy0dxbU4PBj6vK2u0j2vaCb9V8XfQhyphenhyphenK_DUTZYl0ulG7M6BKCz_ZiM97UXbZlhA0O0bbKg/s400/IMG_0521.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Aftermath</b></div>
<div>
The Thousand Sons won the battle 10-6, including First Blood, Slay the Warlord and Linebreaker. As was expected, the Thousand Sons are not very adept at scoring objectives, given the small number of units in the army, and the fact that in this detachment, they don't have ObSec. In retrospect, it was a good call to give each squad a transport vehicle. Rhinos ftw!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Consistent with the first 2 battles, the enemy was severely punished. The Ravenwing was left with only 1 bike and 2 Land Speeders surviving. The Thousand Sons lost squad Asthmus and their Rhino, though the Land Raider was 1 hull point away from being wrecked. The Land Raider performed well as a fire magnet, to be sure.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Scarab Occult Terminators were really tough, and while I only managed to use their new ranged weapons twice before being locked into combat for all eternity, I think 50 points for 2 krak and 4 S5 AP3 rending shots on a super-tough fearless Terminator platform is pretty good. And the 2+/3++ (thanks to Force being a blessing) saves are just amazing.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Breathe of Chaos, even coming from a lowly aspiring sorcerer, is insanely good. Especially against the Ravenwing, who can survive most shooting pretty well.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This game is the first time I didn't forget to re-rolls 1's To Hit, and the first time I used Lord of the Silver Tower (though 3+ re-rolling jink saves kinda made that moot). It's also the first time I saw the Seer's Bane really used to full effect - it is one deadly piece of accursed kit!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I noticed that in all 3 battles thus far, my Thousand Sons faced only their loyalist erstwhile brethren - White Scars, Deathwatch, Ultramarines, Dark Angels. It would be interesting to see how they would fair against xenos (Eldar and Tau are going to be really tough, I expect) and other Chaos forces, though I would love to face a Space Wolves force!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As always, the Thousand Sons' truimph was with a combination of deadly magicks, manouver and close assault.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Totally looking forward to the next one.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Keep them dice rolling ...</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-10346767520617766112017-01-12T19:28:00.000-08:002017-01-12T19:30:51.375-08:00It's 2017! Omigosh, when did that happen?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGNtmNJxx1fq4mxAnq8BFrgf2uAJzL3Bzk457o-nor52-L-htpu3O_oCbawW-ufo45BfOZUpHK1REKZKPBDEkzCyUrlMXBpEaR0LBMapbrwNAVRn6WBh3CYtXFzm_KAViiU9yxvH5Jkcq8/s1600/IMG_0336.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGNtmNJxx1fq4mxAnq8BFrgf2uAJzL3Bzk457o-nor52-L-htpu3O_oCbawW-ufo45BfOZUpHK1REKZKPBDEkzCyUrlMXBpEaR0LBMapbrwNAVRn6WBh3CYtXFzm_KAViiU9yxvH5Jkcq8/s640/IMG_0336.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Time ... just flies. Really fast.<br />
<br />
Thank God I managed to make time couple nights back for a game with my Thousand Sons. I used a funky experimental list that's quite scary for myself - not so much for my opponents:<br />
<br />
<b><u>Thousand Sons War Cabal</u></b><br />
Ahriman<br />
Exalted Sorcerer Sekmet, w ML3 Astral Grimoire and Seer's Bane<br />
Sorcerer Soreth, w ML2 and Mark of Tzeentch<br />
5 Scarab Occult Terminators, w heavy warpflamer<br />
in a Land Raider dedicated transport<br />
18 Rubric Marines<br />
Heldrake<br />
Predator - tri-las<br />
<br />
1850 pts<br />
<br />
It's got 12+d6 warp charge dice and is a tiny army at 1850 points. I frankly had no idea how to use this list, but the thought of 18 Rubric Marines plus 3 high powered sorcerers (not including the Aspiring Sorcerer in the squad itself) flying around like jump infantry is really cool.<br />
<br />
My opponent fielded a Deathwatch + Ultramarines list. I think he had:<br />
<br />
Watchmaster<br />
10 Deathwatch marines<br />
5 Deathwatch bikes<br />
Deathwatch Venerable Dreadnought<br />
3 five-man Tactical squads in 3 drop pods<br />
3 five-man Terminator squads<br />
Land Speeder Typhoon<br />
<br />
He was quite shocked to find that he actually outnumbered me - apparently that doesn't happen too often.<br />
<br />
Lucky for me, we rolled Purge the Alien, and I had precious few Kill Points to give away.<br />
<br />
The game ended in a 9-6 win for the Thousand Sons. Some thoughts and highlights:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>It was quite amusing to bubble-wrap my Predator with a horde of Rubrics, a job normally left to cultists and other such undesirables. In any case, I didn't do a good job with it and the Predator was alpha-striked by drop pod borne marines.</li>
<li>18 Rubrics plus 3 independent character sorcerers are deadly! That squad wiped out 2 Tactical squads and 2 Terminator squads in close combat (it helps that the Exalted Sorcerer has Seer's Bane), plus another Tactical squad and Terminator squad with magic and shooting.</li>
<li>On the other hand, even this big squad is no match in close combat with uber-cc specialists like the Watchmaster.</li>
<li>My excitement with the heavy warpflamer has waned considerably after my opponent learnt not to close with the Occult Terminators. Time to find the extra points for the soulreaper autocannon.</li>
</ul>
<div>
The game went to maximum turns, which turned out to be a bad thing for Ahriman, who was slain in close combat by the Watchmaster in the very last assault phase. He was very lucky to last that long. Thousand Sons scored Linebreaker, while the loyalist scum scored First Blood and Slay the Warlord.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
By the end of the game, the Thousand Sons were left with only 4 Rubrics, 1 Occult Terminator, the Land Raider, and the Heldrake. I lost every single sorcerer.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The loyalist scum only had the Watchmaster and 3 Drop Pods left on the table.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It was bloody game indeed. Khorne is pleased.<br />
<br />
While this list was fun to play, I don't think it would have done very well in a Maelstrom or most objective-based mission. There's simply not enough flexibility and not enough units.<br />
<br />
But hey, at least Khorne is cool with it.</div>
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<br />spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-49860986027133278892016-12-13T04:29:00.000-08:002016-12-13T04:32:45.589-08:00Ahriman Ascending<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I got my Wrath of Magnus books a couple of weeks back and I meant to post something about it but didn't get around to doing it. Then I had my first game using the new rules last weekend.<br />
<br />
The Thousand Sons are back - big time!<br />
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I must say when I first read the rules I was slightly disappointed with the unchanging points-cost, and the fact that the fancy new weapons (warpflamer, reaper cannon) just add even more points to an already expensive army.<br />
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Then I remembered that the magic in the Thousand Sons lies with the ... magic!<br />
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For one, the revamped Tzeentch powers are simply awesome! But best of all, your sorcerers now have access to some amazing psychic disciplines, which gives your army amazing flexibility.<br />
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For example, in my game on Sunday, I faced a White Scars army with 3 Land Raiders, plus 2 other tanks. So each and every sorcerer who could, rolled at least once on Heretech (of course we also had Tzeentch, Telepathy and Divination). And the result was crazy.<br />
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But first, here's the list I used. We were in a rush, so I used the list that was quickest to deploy:<br />
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<b>War Cabal:</b><br />
Ahriman<br />
Exhalted Sorcerer - mastery level 2, Seer's Bane<br />
5 Scarab Occult Terminators - with heavy warpflamer<br />
in a Land Raider with dozer blades dedicated transport<br />
8 Thousand Sons<br />
9 Thousand Sons<br />
Heldrake<br />
Land Raider with dozer blades<br />
<br />
The White Scars loyalist scum was using some kind of formation that had 3 Land Raiders - 2 Crusaders (one of which was the Warlord, carrying a Techmarine and 2 Servitors) and a Redeemer, the Land Raiders carrying 2 squads of 5 Assault Termies (3 with thunder hammer & storm shield, 2 with lightning claws). They also had 5 Space Marines with plasma gun in a Rhino, 10 Space Marines with a melta gun in a Drop Pod, and another Tecmarine with 2 Servitors in a Razorback with twin-linked lascannon.<br />
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So I gleefuly gave Ahriman, his Exhalted Sorcerer and the Scarab Occult Sorcerer Heretech spells, on top of Tzeentch and Ahriman's Telepathy.<br />
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The Heretech spells are just deadly against vehicles. On Turn 1, the White Scars Warlord Land Raider Crusader got hit by multiple castings of Flayerstorm and Scrapcode Curse, and was quickly wrecked (glanced to death). Scrapcode Curse gives D3 haywire hits, and Flayerstorm reduces the target by D3 hull points. Crazy stuff.<br />
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Flayerstorm also hits nearby targets with D6 rending hits everytime it brings down a Hull Point. Later in the game, the second Land Raider Crusader was killed with it, and a nearby Rhino blew up because of it.<br />
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Seer's Bane on the Exhalted Sorcerer is really good. The Artifact is expensive, but at S=Ld, and you know how good the sorcerer's leadership is, he easily hacked the loyalist marines to bits. It's a daemon weapon, and I of course would have to roll a 1 when I used it.<br />
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When I first read about them, I kinda scoffed at the Scarab Termies. But I love 'em now. Fearless Termies with AP3 combi-bolters and a heavy warpflamer, not to mention getting a level 2 sorcerer to boot. It's awesome. Combined with the fact that they and their dedicated transport Land Raider infiltrated, they almost scored First Blood by wiping out a 5-man Space Marine unit in Turn 1 (First Blood was scored in the Psychic Phase, when the White Scars' Warlord Land Raider Crusader was toasted).<br />
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It was a truly brutal game. Just as before, and since CSM Codex 3.5, the Thousand Sons are best used aggressively. By Turn 3, the White Scars had lost all 3 Land Raiders, a Rhino, all 10 Assault Marines, all 15 Space Marines, the Drop Pod and all 4 Servitors. Only the Razorback and 2 Techmarines remained. The loyalist scum duly conceded. The Thousand Sons lost 6 Rubricae and a Termie.<br />
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I'm itching to try out more games with this new super-magic Thousand Sons. I just tweaked the twin-Land Raider list I used to include a Rhino - in the game, the Thousand Sons squad on foot didn't do much at all. And I do need to remember to re-roll 1s, and Hatred Space Marines, and the Exhalted Sorcerer's Lord of the Silver Tower.<br />
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I do have another War Cabal list that I'm curious about - just 1 Land Raider for the Termies, an additional budget-sized Tzeentch sorcerer, Rhinos for both Thousand Sons squads and a Predator. But the list I'm most curious to run is Ahriman's Exiles combined with a CAD - a total of 8 psykers and 17+d6 magic dice, on top of 2 squads of Rubrics, a Heldrake, a Land Raider, and the curious fact that the Exiles cast on 3+.<br />
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Insane.<br />
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Keep them dice rolling.<br />
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<br />spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-41010340175998714362016-09-19T02:11:00.001-07:002016-09-19T21:32:30.334-07:00From the Archives: 6th Assault Grenadiers Routs Ork Horde!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>I was messing around with the way back machine, and found this battle report from my old Multiply.com site. It's a fiercely fought battle between my 6th Brandenburgers and Orks, sometime in 2010 (that's Fifth Ed right?).</i><br />
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<i>I had a good read, and thought you might enjoy it too. I do remember the battle - it was super bloody involving 2 horde armies, and out of hundreds on each side, only handfuls remain:</i><br />
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Captain Tillman lowered his binoculars and calmly issued the
final orders for his men to make ready for combat. He did not need any visual
aid to know that the ork horde is upon them and will contact in a matter of
minutes. His scouts had counted some 110 greenskins, including a whole mob on
their noisy bikes and the contraption the xenos call trukks. Against this, his
3rd company arrayed 108 men in 3 platoons, including Commissars Busso and
Kastner lending their unshakeable faith to 1st and 2nd platoons respectively.
The two Leman Russ Demolishers, Basilisk and Manticore from divisional support
were also a welcome boost. The three ancient relics that he had been ordered to
retrieve must not fall into xenos hands. His assault grenadiers have no choice
but to defeat the xenos and cleanse the field of them.</div>
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The position he had chosen was strong, with nearly all his
force concentrated on the right flank. The assault grenadiers of 1st and 2nd
platoons massed to the fore of his position, anchored against some ancient
ruins, with the Demolishers holding the extreme right. The ruins themselves
were occupied by 3rd platoon, lascannons at the ready. The missile launchers of
2nd platoon’s heavy weapons squad were occupying a small hill to the left of
the main position, somewhat unsupported but with an excellent field of fire.
Tillman sited his Manticore in the extreme right behind the safety of the
ruins, and the Basilisk in the extreme left of the field in an attempt to bait
the xenos into splitting their forces.</div>
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The oncoming greenskins spread the breadth of the
battlefield, slugga boyz blanketing the field from left to right. Behind and to
the left of the wooded ruins was a sizeable mob of nob bikers, and to the right
of the same wooded ruins was the rattling trukk, belching thick brownish black
smoke. The ground started to shake amidst the deep rumble of massed xenos
iron-shod boots. Breathing a quick prayer of faith, Tillman bellowed into his
micro-bead, “Here they come! Steady Brandenburgers! For the Emperor!”</div>
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Like a surging tide, the orks bounded forward towards the
Imperial line. On the left flank, the bikers gunned their engines and sped
straight towards the Basilisk at breakneck speed. On the other flank, the trukk
did much the same, bumping across country at dangerous velocity, then swinging
ninety-degrees into a skidding stop. Led by a bellowing warboss, the huge
frames of ork nobs poured out of the vehicle with unnatural agility and charged
straight into 1st and 2nd platoons. Tillman couldn’t help but sneer at the
xenos’ audacity of ten of their number taking on more than 60 of the Emperor’s
finest in hand-to-hand combat. The greenskins’ fearsome great weapons and
power-klaws cut many of his men down, but the Brandenburgers gave back as well
as they got, and seriously bloodied all but the xenos’ medic, who somehow
escaped injury.</div>
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To the right of the melee, a huge mob of 30 slugga boyz stormed
straight towards 3rd platoon’s position. Seizing the moment, Lieutenant
Trierenberg’s 2nd platoon command squad and the 20 men of 3rd platoon advanced
into rapid-fire range. Trierenberg shouted “First rank fire! Second rank fire!”
and they opened fire in disciplined rapid-firing volleys, shredding the
greenskins into ribbons. Tillman saw this, and ordered Sergeant Windmann’s
Demolishers and Lieutenant Weigel, OC 3rd platoon to join in the enfilade, and
immediately the deafening boom of the tanks’ fearsome demolisher cannons and
ripping roar of their heavy bolters joined in the cacophony of death.</div>
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Only seven orks emerged from the dust of the explosions, and
they threw themselves straight into Trierenberg and his squad, easily cutting
them down with choppas and blunt objects. The orks’ leader went straight for
the Demolishers, miraculously doing them no harm despite his snapping
power-klaws (auto-hit, four 1’s to pen). This was the only chance this mob got
and they were subsequently wiped out by massed lasgun volleys from 3rd platoon.</div>
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The melee between the ork warboss’ nob retinue and 1st and
2nd platoons was not going well for the xenos. While many good Brandenburgers
were killed, the weight of numbers began to tell, and one by one the nobs were
being skewered by bayonet, saber, power weapon and power fist. The ork leader
had no choice and called his Waaarrghhh! Bellowing at the top of their
corrupted xenos lungs, the massed orks picked up their already fast momentum
and poured forwards with renewed vigor. A fresh slugga boyz mob piled into the
on-going melee, thankfully not doing too much damage, while the mass of orks
from the left rushed forwards towards the main fight.</div>
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The nob bikers broke off from their interception course with
the Basilisk and swung towards the right flank at full speed, impatiently
intent on getting into the thick of the swirling melee. Tillman spotted this
and ordered all available guns on them. The Manticore fired first, its rocket
arcing in a low trajectory before its multiple warheads landed amidst the nob
bikers in three great explosions of fire and dust. The Basilisk rolled steadily
forwards, its tremendous Earthshaker cannon barking and throwing hi-ex death
into the middle of the nob bikers. Sergeant Windmann gave an order into his
microbead, and as one his Demolisher squadron lurched forwards and swung left
to bring weapons to bear on the nob bikers, huge cannon belching fire and the
resulting explosions scattering the nob bikers further. 2nd platoon’s heavy
weapons squad joined in the mayhem and loosed deadly krak missiles into the
bikers, the missile contrails snaking menacingly into the bikers’ positions.<br />
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Out of the smoke and fire of the Imperials’ concentrated firepower,
three surviving bikers led by the biker warboss roared straight into the melee.
They were too late to save their nob kin, who were mercilessly cut down by the
intrepid Brandenburg assault grenadiers, the trukk warboss being last to go
down. The relieving slugga boyz mob were themselves having a difficult time
holding down their supposedly-puny human opponents in the close-combat and many
orks were slain, though the human infantry’s numbers were thinned down to only
a handful. But the fury of the surviving bikers’ charge was enough to tip the
balance, and as the assault grenadiers’ numbers dwindled, 1st platoon ceased to
exist. Commissar Busso was swinging his power-axe in silent fury, his fine
commissar uniform and cap slick with xenos blood, and was about to turn to face
a nob biker when a large-caliber big shoota shell slammed into his face at
point-blank range. Two meters away, Commissar Kastner’s crackling powerfist had
just smashed into the chest of a xenos warrior, lodging deep into the creature,
but before he could remove his weapon from the body a nob powerklaw cut him in
two. The three remaining survivors of 2nd platoon had no choice but to fall
back, successfully eluding the blood-crazed orks.</div>
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The so far unblooded ork slugga boyz from the left flank
finally arrived at the sharp end of the battle. With unbridled ferocity, the
mob bounded across open ground and up the small hill where 2nd platoon’s heavy
weapons squad were sited. The squad could only turn and let loose a single
volley before the xenos horde was upon them. The fight was completely
one-sided, and in a matter of seconds the xenos warriors were shrieking their
foul language in celebration as some of their warriors swung captured Imperial
missile launchers in the air, precariously balancing stacks of krak missiles on
top of each other in a mad show of glee.</div>
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Captain Tillman witnessed the destruction of his 1st and 2nd
platoons with a cold calm, without any hint of surprise or alarm. He had been
silently keeping tabs of the battle, and so far the losses were about even in
terms of the sheer number of warriors slain on each side. But he had the
tactical advantage of reserves, in the form of 3rd platoon, and mobile fire
support from his tanks. He waited until the retreating remnants of 2nd platoon
was in shouting distance before projecting his voice across the field,
“Sergeant Reichelt! Get back in the fight!” The grizzled veteran sergeant
simply nodded and held up his hand to halt his squad’s retreat, and they turned
around to face the enemy once again, weapons at the ready.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
The handful of surviving orks and nob bikers from the huge
melee that had cut down 1st and 2nd platoons would need to be dealt with
decisively. Captain Tillman ordered 3rd platoon to fix bayonets and advance,
and gave the order for disciplined ranked las-fire. He himself shouldered his
ancient lasgun, took aim and steadily squeezed the trigger, felling a xenos
warrior. Sergeant Windmann’s Demolishers were called to the fore, rolling
forwards with the impudence only unchallenged Imperial armor could ever show.
Once again, the great demolisher cannons spoke and fiery orange explosions
blossomed amidst the nob bikers, incinerating one of them. Sadly, the blast was
so close to Sergeant Reichelt’s survivors that it caught his meltagunner full
in the chest, and the unlucky guardsman fell in a smoldering heap. The
Basilisk, still advancing towards the enemy lines, lent its high explosive weight
into the fire, obliterating even more xenos.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By the time the dust settled, only the bike warboss remained
standing, and even then was badly injured. He roared out in anger and
frustration and gunned his bike towards the Manticore, one of the many objects
of his hatred. The hapless Manticore crew could only fire their last missile,
whose warheads impacted amidst the remaining slugga boyz mob with fearsome
effectiveness. That was to be their last act, and within moments the crazed
warboss was upon the warmachine, its oversized powerklaws slicing the Imperial
armor like so much cardboard and paper, and the proud machine soon caught fire
and ceased to function.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The loss mattered not to Tillman, and with his
characteristic calculative calm, ordered 3rd platoon forwards in an all-out
rush for the nearest ancient relic. “Move! Move! Move!” he demanded, and the
mass of Imperial manhood ran forwards as fast as their tired legs would carry
them. Tillman and his command squad led the advance, the company banner flying
proudly amidst the smoke of battle. He ordered Lieutenant Weigel’s platoon
command squad to focus fire on the remaining xenos warboss, and the combined
lasgun, lascannon and plasma rifle fire easily put the beast down.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There remained only the matter of the 25 or so orks from the
last surviving slugga boyz mob. The Basilisk advanced steadily towards another
of the ancient relics, even as its Earthshaker spat flame, sending a hi-ex
shell into the middle of the mob and scattering many xenos limbs high into the
air. Windmann’s Demolishers, untiring, advanced relentlessly from the right to
close the trap as they too opened fire sending fearsome demolisher shells and a
hail of large-caliber heavy bolter shells into the xenos.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
The beleaguered orks milled around aimlessly and finally
spread out in order to lay claim to two of the ancient relics, but in so doing
denied themselves of much of the available cover. Captain Tillman was not
impressed, and even as he pressed his 3rd platoon forwards and claimed an
ancient relic, he ordered the Basilisk to advance at full speed straight into
the xenos in order to scatter their grubby hands away from the Emperor’s
ancient relic. Windmann’s merciless Demolishers once again came into their own,
the booming demolisher cannons and roaring heavy bolters pouring great plumes
of death amidst the xenos. As the mayhem subsided, only five orks remained
standing, and after a moment of bewilderment at their violent fate the xenos
warriors turned and ran off the field.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Imperium Victor! Ave Imperator!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-59795529379469603882016-09-05T23:46:00.003-07:002016-09-05T23:46:55.010-07:00Eldar xenos meets Ordo Xenos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
After getting the jetbike squad painted to tabletop standards, the Windriders were immediately rushed into action in a 1850pt Spoils of War battle against ... the Death Watch by John!<br />
<br />
Talking about super-elite funkiness, the Death Watch mon-keigh could be equipped with just about anything. And they can do funky stuff like almost everyone can deep strike (and easy to arrange for no scatter), split firing, mixed squads, special rounds everytime you shoot, etc.<br />
<br />
I might be off on some of the details, but John's Death Watch was made up of:<br />
<br />
Brother Captain Artemis (amazing scaled down model of Inquisitor fame)<br />
5 Death Watch veterans - 1 with heavy bolter, and I'm sure the rest were funked up too<br />
5 Death Watch veterans - with 4 (four!) heavy bolters that can move and shoot as normal<br />
5 Death Watch assault marines - including a couple with the uber S10 hammers<br />
5 Death Watch assault marines - more uber S10 hammers!<br />
5 Death Watch terminators - including 4 (four!) with cyclone missile launchers<br />
5 Death Watch bikes - with 3 plasma guns<br />
1 Death Watch venerable dreadnought - with plasma cannon<br />
<br />
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<br />
The renegade Alaitoc Windriders was the same list as before:<br />
<br />
<u><b>CAD:</b></u><br />
Farseer Lahnn on jetbike - Spirit Stones of Anathlan, singing spear<br />
3 jetbikes - scatter lasers<br />
3 jetbikes - scatter lasers<br />
3 jetbikes - shuriken cannons<br />
3 jetbikes - shuriken cannons<br />
3 jetbikes - 2 shuriken cannons<br />
3 jetbikes - 2 shuriken cannons<br />
6 Swooping Hawks - exarch with Hawk's Talon<br />
Hemlock<br />
Fire Prism<br />
Fire Prism<br />
<u><b>Aspect Host:</b></u><br />
5 Fire Dragons with exarch<br />
- Wave Serpent with twin-linked bright lance, shuriken cannon<br />
8 Warp Spiders, exarch with twin-linked death spinners<br />
8 Dark Reapers with exarch<br />
<br />
This battle looked one-sided at deployment. The mon-keigh were outnumbered, outgunned and outmanouvered. And the Eldar got first turn!<br />
<br />
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<br />
Unfortunately, there were no surprises. The Death Watch were almost tabled after 3 turns. We called the game at the bottom of Turn 3. The score at that point was 11-1 to the Eldar.<br />
<br />
The Death Watch only had 2 bikes and 3 terminators remaining. The Eldar had lost their Dark Reapers and a jetbike squad. The Fire Dragons didn't even get the chance to disembark and spent the entire time watching the battle from the comforts of their Wave Serpent (I believe there was some Elven version of popcorn and soda served on board too).<br />
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<br />
There were a couple of interesting moments though. It was the first time I managed to use Eldritch Storm. And that pyschic power is not funny if you're on the receiving end. The gigantic template covered 3 Death Watch squads, AP3 Fleshbane. They could only rely on Feel No Pain and Artemis' squad had cover saves. But the blast was spectacular, and many of the mon-keigh's finest perished in that one blast.<br />
<br />
Another unfunny moment was perhaps the first time I actually used the Warp Spiders' flicker-jump to full effect. They were about to be lit up at short range by 4 Death Watch heavy bolters - when they suddenly flickered into the warp and came back behind a large wall, out of line of sight. I did feel sorry for the mon-keigh.<br />
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<br />
A couple days later, we decided to play another game with the Death Watch, and this time I brought my Thousand Sons. That's Ahriman, 2 favored Thousand Sons squads, 1 Rhino, 1 Heldrake, 1 Land Raider, 1 Predator, 1 Defiler, allied Lord of Change (His Exalted Lord Ka'Kaa), and a pack of 10 Horrors.<br />
<br />
This time the Death Watch had: Artemis, 5 Death Watch veterans, 5 Death Watch assault marines (with them hammers of course), 5 Death Watch termies with 4 cyclone missile launchers, 2 squads of 5-man Death Watch terminators (each with an assault cannon), 5 Death Watch bikers with 5 (five!) plasma guns, 1 Death Watch venerable dreadnought and an allied 5-man squad of assault terminators of the Ultramarines.<br />
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<br />
The Death Watch started first and had the upper hand for the first 2 and a half turns (and was leading 6-1 at that time), but from the bottom of Turn 3 onwards, the Emperor's watchful eye strayed from his hapless servants and through a combination of sorceress magicks, tactical prowess and good fortune, the Thousand Sons carried the day with a 10-7 score, including First Blood (Defiler got that one on Turn 2 when he finished off the Death Watch bike squad which he charged in the previous turn), Slay the Warlord and Linebreaker.<br />
<br />
Some of the funniest (not at that time, but in restrospect it warrants some mirth) moments was Ahriman's first pyschic phase. Three times he let loose Psychic Shriek on a squad of hapless Death Watch terminators - for zero wounds scored! In fact, he did score one wound - on himself! That was simply an abysmal psychic phase, to say the least.<br />
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<br />
Another highlight was the first time I got to use Lord Ka'Kaa's (the Lord of Change) Prismatic Gaze (yes folks, it was a week of trying out big Warp Charge 3 spells), which he cast successfully on the Death Watch venerable dreadnought. And of course, I rolled a '6' on the D table.<br />
<br />
All in all, it was a brilliant week of dice-rolling. This next couple of weeks I'll hopefully get back into painting - finishing off the 3 Dark Reapers and 2 Warp Spiders, as well as the terrain for my table.<br />
<br />
Keep them dice rolling!<br />
<br />
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<br />spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-23962564681867809562016-09-02T01:26:00.000-07:002016-09-02T01:26:30.246-07:00Jetbikes are table ready!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Just a quick update - in a frenzy of last minute painting, the 6 new scatter laser jetbikes are ready for battle, which happened just an hour after the bikes were painted.<br />
<br />
I finished up the weapons, shading, gems, helmets and runes. I also took out the Hemlock and painted additional gems onto it, but didn't get around to adding more runes.<br />
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<br />
After I unpacked it onto the gaming table, I realized that I forgot to finish the helmets - the faceplate details weren't painted and the helmet runes were not there.<br />
<br />
O well, that's something that I need to get back to then.<br />
<br />
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<br />
After this, I'll need to paint 5 more models to get this iteration of my Windrider Force full painted - 3 Dark Reapers (including the Exarch), and 2 Warp Spiders.<br />
<br />
I'll post the batrep next, or at least a summary of the battle.<br />
<br />
Keep them dice rolling.<br />
<br />
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<br />spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-59266284093747178712016-08-24T18:27:00.000-07:002016-08-24T18:27:07.480-07:00Jetbikes inbound!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Finally managed to put more than just the undercoat to my scatter laser jetbikes. All the bikes sport my Alaitoc renegade blue armor with light blue stripes. As of last night, I've managed to block paint the underslung scatter lasers, as well as the riders' helmets and fringe thingies.<br />
<br />
Next up, I'll put another layer of yellow for the helmets, paint in the eyepieces and the gems for the riders and their jetbikes, the jetbikes' instrument panels, a light wash for the riders, touch up on the highlights after the wash, decals for riders and jetbikes, and they should be done.<br />
<br />
Also, when I get to the gems, I'll whip out the Hemlock and paint more gems for that flyer. I was rushing it when I painted her and she really needs more gems on that gorgeous body of hers. I'll probably add a couple more runes as well.<br />
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I should be able to get all this done in time for my next game 2 weekends from now. Totally looking forward to it!<br />
<br />
Keep rolling them dice ...spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-36278732260031295432016-08-09T19:27:00.000-07:002016-08-09T19:27:20.402-07:00Home Table WIP<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Of all the distractions taking me away from painting my Eldar, my IG and other assorted models in queue, perhaps the most benevolent and excusable is the on-going Home Table project.<br />
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I live in a condo, so space is premium. The whole idea is to have a table that is portable, sets up fast and easy, and packs away just as quick and neat too. So after some mulling around, I built and acquired the materials for it. So this is what I have so far:<br />
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- 6'x4' board, cut into three 2'x4' pieces for easy handling and storage, from the local hardware store<br />
- Double-sided battlemat from gamemat.eu<br />
- 12 tall trees from Woodland Scenics<br />
- 28 medium trees from Woodland Scenics<br />
- 6 mounting boards (for the woods) from Art Friend<br />
- 2 craggy hills from ye olde local pet store<br />
- 2 low flat hills from Amera<br />
- 1 four-stoery ruin from Amera<br />
- 1 Fortress of Redemption from GW (I guess this can be broken down into 4 different structures)<br />
- 2 three-storey ruins from HF<br />
- 1 wrecked Rhino from HF<br />
- 1 lookout tower from HF<br />
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The Amera kit is a simple vacuum-formed thing, but it works out really well. In fact I'm soooooooo tempted to get a couple more (the Admin Block and Factory look awesome), as well as the really nice-looking Gothic Ruins from Gamemat.eu. But I passed my LD test and did not click "Buy".<br />
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While in a pinch, I can already have games on the board (thanks to the awesome mat and bits of scatter terrain already in hand), there's still some work to do, in order of priority:<br />
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- Assemble the remaining 28 trees<br />
- Base all 40 trees<br />
- Cut out the mounting boards to mark out woods area terrain<br />
- Paint all of the above<br />
- Paint the Amera ruin<br />
- Touch-up paint of the craggy hills<br />
- Paint the low hills<br />
- Touch-paint the old terrain from HF<br />
- Assemble and paint the Fortress of Redemption<br />
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I'm stoked! But I do want to finish painting the 6 jetbikes this month too. Anyways, you know what they say about the best-laid plans ...<br />
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Will be having a game vs some Ultramarines this weekend - should be a blast!<br />
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Keep them dice rolling!<br />
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<br />spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-78340410407446423392016-08-04T09:45:00.000-07:002016-08-04T09:45:23.378-07:00Khorne clash at Balau<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been awhile since I had a game with Kadir and on a weekend back to KL, we managed to squeeze in a late-night 40k game on the hallowed battlefields of Balau.<br />
<br />
I brought the same 1850pt Alaitoc Windrider Warhost (which is actually a CAD), which is WIP with about 6 bikes, 2 Warp Spiders and 3 Dark Reapers currently being painted. Here's the list:<br />
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<b><u>Eldar Combined Arms Detachment</u></b><br />
<u>HQ:</u><br />
Farseer - jetbike, singing spear, Spirit Stone of Anathlan<br />
<u>TROOPS:</u><br />
3 jetbikes - scatterlasers<br />
3 jetbikes - scatterlasers<br />
3 jetbikes - shuriken cannons<br />
3 jetbikes - shuriken cannons<br />
3 jetbikes - 2 shuriken cannons<br />
3 jetbikes - 2 shuriken cannons<br />
<u>FAST ATTACK:</u><br />
6 Swooping Hawks - Exarch with Hawk's Talon<br />
Hemlock<br />
<u>HEAVY SUPPORT:</u><br />
Fire Prism<br />
Fire Prism<br />
<b><u>Aspect Warrior Host</u></b><br />
5 Fire Dragons with Exarch<br />
Wave Serpent - twin-linked bright lance, shuriken cannon<br />
8 Warp Spiders - Exarch with twin-linked deathspinners<br />
8 Dark Reapers with Exarch, starshot missiles<br />
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The Khorne army was quite formidable. Something like:<br />
Kharn the Betrayer<br />
Daemon Prince - Nurgle, wings, Mastery Level 3<br />
8 Khorne Berzerkers - Champion w powerfist<br />
Rhino<br />
8 Khorne Berzerkers - Champion w power axe<br />
Rhino<br />
<div>
8 Khorne Berzerkers - Champion w power axe<br />
Heldrake - baleflamer<br />
Land Raider<br />
Predator - lascannons<br />
Predator - lascannons<br />
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We got Tactical Escalation with Hammer and Anvil deployment, and while Chaos got to choose table sides, I got to deploy and start first, which is good. Funny enough, my army list was flexible enough for me to not really be concerned about the kind of Maelstrom mission and deployment.<br />
<br />
There was single 3-storey ruin in my deployment zone on my right flank, and it was quickly occupied by the Dark Reapers. One Fire Prism hung around behind that ruin, next to the Wave Serpent, while the other Fire Prism covered the left flank. Jetbikes were deployed on each flank and center, shuriken cannon ones to the fore, scatter laser ones in a second staggered line. One of the scatpacks hung around near the Fire Prism on the right flank behind the ruin, joined by the Farseer. Swooping Hawks will deep strike as usual, and for the first time, I'm going to deep strike my Warp Spiders.<br />
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<b>Turn 1 Highlights</b><br />
Kharn's Land Raider is a priority target as it's only 2 turns' charge range away. Lance fire from my Fire Prisms managed to knock only 1 hull point off the beast, and it was the Dark Reapers who almost wrecked the might tank with starshot missiles, leaving only 1 hull point left.<br />
<br />
I didn't want to bet that the single twin-linked bright lance shot from my Wave Serpent will take away the final hull point, so that skimmer went flat out forwards to block the Land Raider's path to force it to go through some woods.<br />
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Assorted shuriken cannon and scatter laser fire destroyed both Rhinos, serving only to madden the already-crazed Berzerkers pouring out of both wrecks.<br />
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Two of the most forward shuriken cannon jetbike squads on my left flank turbo-boosted deep into enemy territory, behind the ruins behind his Predators.<br />
<br />
The Nurgle Daemon Prince flew back towards the rear-most jetbike squad, unleashing its terrible vomit torrent, killing 1 jetbiker. While his Psychic Shriek was ineffective, the dousing of the jetbikers with terrible pestilence was enough to break their resolve and they fell back.<br />
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One squad of Berzerkers occupied some woods in their deployment zone, while the other advanced towards the Wave Serpent, charging it and easily destroying it, even as Kharn's Land Raider, which is by now Invisible, ploughed into the woods on my right flank in no man's land.<br />
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It turns out that the 2 Chaos Predators across from my left flank were sitting on a Skyfire Nexus! Thats' 4 lascannons and 2 twin-linked lascannons with Skyfire. Suddenly my Hemlock doesn't feel like coming in.<br />
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Those very same tanks unleashed their heavy las weaponry on my Fire Prism covering the left flank. Some deft jinking manouvers ensured that the skimmer tank was only glanced once.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr5LzTtqWqcIuyMu3y5my20Syd-Deq2BpuPsD-St0O0RTZrR5J-q9cNl0PPuAu4nulGRHjfmGAQRuLXDeASKxYu4fEX3M2DVLpLE-RQcZfVOE2id6uh2fCg3kivlcZ2TXAIw6m2qq62au_/s1600/Hemlock-attack.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr5LzTtqWqcIuyMu3y5my20Syd-Deq2BpuPsD-St0O0RTZrR5J-q9cNl0PPuAu4nulGRHjfmGAQRuLXDeASKxYu4fEX3M2DVLpLE-RQcZfVOE2id6uh2fCg3kivlcZ2TXAIw6m2qq62au_/s400/Hemlock-attack.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Turn 2 Highlights</b><br />
Streaking in on the left flank at full throttle, the Hemlock unleashed its Heavy D-Scythes on the Chaos Predators, but both shots scattered wildly away. The Swooping Hawks deep struck behind the Predators, and the Exarch showed them who's boss, single-handedly wrecking the nearest Predator with his Hawk's Talon.<br />
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The 2 jetbike squads in the enemy rear managed to knock off 2 further hull points from the remaining Predator, and shaking it.<br />
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On the right flank, I finally managed for the first time ever to cast Eldritch Storm on the Berzerkers and Kharn's Land Raider. But it turns out my Farseer was out of range. Undeterred, the Fire Dragon squad who had bailed safely out of their Wave Serpent moved forward toward the Invisible Land Raider. They scored one hit, and it was enough to wreck the mighty tank.<br />
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Massed Dark Reaper, scatter laser and shuriken fire wiped out the Berzerkers that bailed out of the Land Raider, and even left Kharn with just one remaining wound, clinging on to survival. Shuriken, scatter laser and the guided Fire Prism on the right almost wiped out the Berzerkers that killed the Wave Serpent, leaving 2 survivors (they later charged the Fire Dragons, killing the Exarch and another Dragon, but the survivors managed to escape. The Berzerkers were then easily gunned down in Turn 3).<br />
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The Chaos marines now didn't have many units left, and even the Heldrake failed to arrive. Kharn joined the Berzerkers that were in the woods, and the Daemon Prince ensured that they were made Invisible to Eldar eyes.<br />
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Once again, the Daemon Prince's Psychic Shriek attack on the jetbike squad deep in his lines proved ineffective, but his vomit killed 2 Swooping Hawks.<br />
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<b>Turn 3 Highlights</b><br />
As the Swooping Hawks Skylept back into the heavens, the Warp Spiders deep struck onto the battlefield near the surviving Berzerker squad. This is the first time I tried deep striking them into battle, and I must say I like it! But the power of Invisibility proved too much, as massed fire from the Spiders, nearly all the jetbikes, and the Dark Reapers only killed 2 Berzerkers.<br />
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The Hemlock's Psychic Shriek attack on the same squad was dispelled easily, with Kharn in that squad (actually we forgot about that, but he Denied the Witch anyways).<br />
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The only successful shooting was by the jetbikes deep in enemy territory on the left flank, who easily killed off the last damaged Predator. Tragically, the Warp Spiders' jetpack jump was only 4" - and they were well within charge range of the crazed Berzerkers.<br />
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The Chaos Heldrake finally arrived, and its terrible weapon easily wiped out, finally, the jetbike squad that has been deep in enemy territory since Turn 1. The Daemon Prince had to come onto the ground to capture an objective. However, his attempt to cast Invisibility on Kharn's squad was dispelled.<br />
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With nothing else to shoot (they wisely did not shoot at the Warp Spiders), Kharn led the Berzerkers into a frenzied charge on the Warp Spiders. A hail of monofilament overwatch fire felled 1 Berzerker, but it was a foregone conclusion as Kharn hacked and chopped almost the entire squad single-handedly, his minions taking care of the rest.<br />
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<b>Aftermath</b><br />
We called the game at the end of Turn 3 as we had run out of time (Kadir was helping run an AOS tournament the next day and needed the sleep). But without Invisibility on Kharn's squad, and with the Daemon Prince on the ground, it is most likely that the Eldar would have tabled the Chaos army in Turn 4.<br />
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In 3 turns, the Khorne army was cut to pieces, with only the Daemon Prince, a wounded Kharn, a squad of Berzerkers and a Heldrake was all that was left. The Eldar lost the Warp Spiders, a Wave Serpent and a jetbike squad. Objectives-wise, the Eldar just managed a 3-2 win.<br />
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Kadir would have done much better with his normal army, which had a stream of summoned daemons. That would have done much to dissipate my firepower.<br />
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At any rate, it was real fun time, and I totally look forward to my next game.<br />
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Keep rolling them dice!</div>
spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-83928974847284305272016-07-25T00:46:00.000-07:002016-07-25T00:46:07.192-07:00Hemlock!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUnLcBuNAcsmBXrF8zAjW2HVGqobl-H78WtRxePeOG45N7Cbuidn-Tdl_4iCk6hAp6A3uAKRk9rV7n4daawYL3gtdClgsF90Y873xM2M0aSGJrp-_j5qUQzJLf8yLS6KxAP87JOQtRe54I/s1600/hemlock-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUnLcBuNAcsmBXrF8zAjW2HVGqobl-H78WtRxePeOG45N7Cbuidn-Tdl_4iCk6hAp6A3uAKRk9rV7n4daawYL3gtdClgsF90Y873xM2M0aSGJrp-_j5qUQzJLf8yLS6KxAP87JOQtRe54I/s400/hemlock-2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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This fine aircraft didn't take too long to paint. I admit it's not the best paint job I've done by far, but it is the first model I've painted in almost 2 years, and it was done in many many small steps in between my work and life schedules. Now it's done and battle-ready, and I'm happy with it.<br />
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I've chosen to paint over the canopy, taking the Wraith theme of the aircraft just one step further. The original aircraft comes with a SpiritSeer pilot with a mirror mask sitting in the cockpit, which is not bad, but also not different enough from the sister fighter Crimson Hunter, flown by the Aspect Warriors.<br />
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I've decided that this particular hemlock is truly a Wraithcraft, piloted by the soul of a SpiritSeer whose gem is encased in the cockpit. Relying on waithsight alone, she has no need for a transparent canopy (thankfully we don't need to roll for wraithsight anymore).<br />
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Other than that it's a pretty standard build, Heavy D-Scythes in the wing weapon points and the Mindshock Pod under belly. This standard weapon load-out has already proven to be extremely deadly against man, xenos, daemon and machine, and to me, it's just right.<br />
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The paint sheme itself is based on my standard upstart Alaitoc Warhost of Farseer Lahnn. As the 16-year fluff of this particular warhost goes, Farseer Lahnn's warhost vehicles are not painted in the standard Alaitoc mottle camo scheme. His younger years as a Pathfinder amongts the Saim-Hann has influenced his approach to battle when it comes to jetbikes and skimmers, and this influence extends to his warhost's vehicle livery, which is reminiscant of the Saim-Hann stripes and diagonal patterns.<br />
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So this Hemlock is painted in a similar pattern to the Falcons, Fire Prisms, Wave Serpents, Jetbikes and Vypers of the warhost. But unlike the skimmer tanks, she does not have a light-blue underside. This is similar to the paint schemes for the warhost's jetbikes and Vypers.<br />
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The aircraft's base is not quite done yet, and she's currently using the Crimson Hunter's base. The wrecked Leman Russ turret on the base is actually quite befitting for one of the deadliest attack aircraft in 40k. I look forward to seeing this Hemlock create more gaping holes in enemy lines, striking fear amongst all foe who set eyes on her.<br />
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Keep them dice rolling!<br />
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<br />spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-67335835097219133612016-07-20T23:28:00.001-07:002016-07-20T23:40:28.429-07:00Monday Night 40k!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is what Monday nights should be about - dice rolling, nice models, friendly people, friendly store, new friends, and old friends.<br />
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I've been due to roll dice at JB's Alexandria Bookstore for a month now. But due to various commitments, and the fact that it was Ramadhan, I had to cancel planned gaming visits a few times. Until last night, whence the stars and planets aligned, and my renegade Alaitoc Windriders found themselves upon the bloody fields of Alexandria.<br />
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Still, to make sure that the game won't be rushed, we played an Eternal War mission: The Scouring, on a Vanguard Strike deployment. The Alaitoc Windrider Warhost is actually, rules-wise, a CAD with an attached Aspect Warrior Host formation. This is the 2nd iteration of the list, the first I tried out a couple of months back against some Tyranids. Not much changes, just some tweaking. And here's the 1843pt list:</div>
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<div>
HQ:</div>
<div>
Farseer Lahnn - jetbike, singing spear, Spirit Stone of Anath'lan</div>
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TROOPS:</div>
<div>
3 Jetbikes - all with scatter lasers</div>
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3 Jetbikes - all with scatter lasers</div>
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3 Jetbikes - all with shuriken cannon</div>
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3 Jetbikes - all with shuriken cannon</div>
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3 Jetbikes - 2 with shuriken cannon</div>
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3 Jetbikes - 2 with shuriken cannon</div>
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FAST ATTACK:</div>
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6 Swooping Hawks - exarch with Hawk's Talon</div>
<div>
Hemlock Wraithfighter</div>
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<br /></div>
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HEAVY SUPPORT:</div>
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Fire Prism</div>
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Fire Prism</div>
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ASPECT WARRIOR HOST:</div>
<div>
8 Warp Spiders - exarch with twin-linked deathspinner</div>
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8 Dark Reapers - with starshot missiles</div>
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5 Fire Dragons - in a Wave Serpent with twin-linked bright lances and shuriken cannon</div>
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My opponent is John, with his Ultramarines. He had a couple of formations in there, including the one that gives free transports, and the one that deepstrikes all the drop pods of the formation in turn 1, and I really don't recall what they are called, but his list is something like:</div>
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Chaplain (Warlord)</div>
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5-man Tactical Squad (w meltagun) in Razorback with twin-linked lascannons</div>
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10-man Tactical Squad (w missile launcher & flamer), split into 2 combat squads, with Razorback with twin-linked lascannons</div>
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Bike Squad with 3 bikes and an Attack Bike with multimelta</div>
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5-man Devastator Squad (w 4 lascannons) with Razorback with twin-linked lascannons</div>
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Venerable Dreadnought in Drop Pod</div>
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5-man Tactical Squad with 2 flamers, in Drop Pod with Deathwind Launcher</div>
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5-man Tactical Squad with 2 meltaguns, in Drop Pod with Deathwind Launcher</div>
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5-man Tactical Squad with 2 meltaguns, in Drop Pod </div>
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Captain in terminator armor</div>
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5 Terminators, with 1 assault cannon</div>
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Land Speeder Typhoon</div>
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The Ultramarines got to choose table side, but I won the roll for deployment and started first.<br />
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<b>Turn 1 Highlights</b></div>
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Since John won the roll for table side, the mon-keigh Devastators set up shop in the tallest building on the battlefield, while my Dark Reapers looked on enviously, and had to make do with an abandoned trench line that commanded a reasonable firing field, even if not the best.</div>
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I had deployed to make full use of the cover afforded by the ruins, and planned a main thrust up my left flank. The entire army, except for the Dark Reapers and the Wave Serpent, deployed on the left flank.</div>
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When battle commenced, the Warhost advanced cautiously (around 12") and proceeded to open fire on the marines occupying the first ruin in mon-keigh territory. The bike squad was cut to ribbons, the Razorback lost 2 hull points and its lascannon, while both forward combat squads were reduced to half-strength or less.<br />
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The Dark Reapers unleashed a hail of S5 AP3 missiles (that's 17 shots at BS5) at their Devastator counterparts. The mon-keigh was smart to Go To Ground, and only the sergeant was lost in the deluge of high explosives.</div>
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The mon-keigh struck back aggressively. Drop Pods roared down in front of the Dark Reapers position, and the grim Aspect Warriors received the attention of intense bolter fire, flamers, stormbolters and Deathwind missile strikes. Even with Fortune, 5 Dark Reapers perished.</div>
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Two more Combat Squads from the Drop Pods opened fire at point-blank range with their meltaguns on the Fire Dragons' Wave Serpent, but thanks to jinking and the serpent shield, the transport survived the assault with 1 hull point to spare.</div>
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On the left flank, a missile launcher, the Devastator's Razorback and a snap-firing Devastor managed to severely damage a Fire Prism, knocking off 2 hull points, shaking the crew and immobilizing it.</div>
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The Venerable Dreadnought took on the front-most Jetbike squad, killing 2 Windriders.<br />
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<b>Turn 2 Highlights</b></div>
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One of the best things about Eldar is its amazing speed and manouverability. And it was easy for the Warhost to pull back almost the entire army to deal with the drop pod assault.<br />
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Swooping Hawks landed near the offending mon-keigh, grenade packs covering the marines in a lot of noise and dust, and nothing else. The Hemlock decided to not turn up from reserves this turn - wraiths!<br />
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Starting with Farseer Lahnn's Psychic Shriek, the culling of the mon-keigh warriors began in earnest. While he didn't roll very high, it was enough to put down 2 marines. I see his Psychic Shriek abilities as a progression from his early days as Mind War specialist (pest?), hence his nickname <i>Brain Smelter</i>.<br />
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The combined firepower of the Swooping Hawks, Warp Spiders, Jetbikes, Fire Prism, Dark Reapers and the Fire Dragons and their snap-firing Wave Serpent wiped out all the drop pod squads, as well as both Deathwind-equipped drop pods. One of them blowing up and taking 2 Fire Dragons with it.<br />
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While all this glorious death was going on, 4 Jetbikes skimmed over the Venerable Dreadnought, turned on a pin, an unloaded shuriken death into the rear armor of the dreadnought, and it exploded in a spectacular display of fire and steel. On the far left, the immobilized Fire Prism got a lucky snap-firing shot into the Razorback opposite it, wrecking the mon-keigh vehicle.<br />
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Then with Battle Focus and jump moves, the Alaitoc Warhost resumed their advance up the left flank, such is Eldar manouverability!<br />
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The rest of the Ultramarines reserves arrived. The Captain and his Terminator squad teleporting to face the lead elements of xenos, their firepower, combined with the surviving combat squads deployed at the start of the battle, wiping out the lead Jetbike squad. The Devastators could only aquire one target, the immobilized Fire Prism, and put it out of its misery with a well-laid lascannon volley.<br />
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The deep-striking Land Speeder Typhoon killed a further 2 Jetbikes with its heavy bolter and frag missiles. Twin-linked lascannons of the Devastator's Razorback took aim at the Warp Spiders, who immediately flicker-jumped. However, the mon-keigh could still see one Warp Spider, who failed his cover save and was subsequently vaporized,<br />
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On the right flank, the Ultramarines Chaplain and his Tactical squad advanced in their Razorback, disembarking and shooting at the nearest lone Jetbike, to no effect.<br />
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<b>Turn 3 Highlights</b><br />
The Hemlock finally deigned to arrive, streaking low over the mon-keigh chaplain's head and making an impossible 90 degree turn near the Devastator's position. The Hemlock's Psychic Shriek reduced the Devastator squad to one man, who was forced to fall back. This is the first time I saw first-hand how deadly is the combination of the Mindshock Pod and Psychic Shriek.<br />
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Continuing their relentless advance up the left flank, the Alaitoc Warhost focused their fire on the Captain and his Terminators. Psychic Shriek attacks, scatter lasers, shuriken cannon, deathspinners, focused blast prism cannon shots drenched the mon-keigh in a deluge of Eldar munitions, and the Terminators were easily wiped out.<br />
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Scatter lasers also destroyed the Devastator's Razorback, wrecking it in a single deadly volley. The Hemlock is not done with her death and destruction, and her double Heavy D-Scythes easily obliterated the Land Speeder Typhoon.<br />
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On the right flank, advancing Dark Reapers and the Wave Serpent opened fire on the Chaplain and his squad, killing only 3, thanks to good cover (I just realized I was shooting the Wave Serpent at BS4. It should really be BS5 as it's part of the Aspect Warrior Host).<br />
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With only a handful of warriors left, the mon-keigh shot back with whatever was left, but could not make a mark. The Ultramarines then decided that discretion is the better part of valour, and conceded the battlefield.<br />
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<b>Aftermath</b><br />
This Alaitoc Windrider Warhost is fast! It was easy to concentrate firepower on chosen targets, switching back and forth between flanks and always gaining localized superiority. It helped tremendously that the Ultramarines arrived piecemeal and their units were never able to link up and lend mutual support to each other.<br />
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As it turned out, the battle was one-sided. The only survivors from the Ultramarines' force was the Chaplain, 7 marines, 2 drop pods and a Razorback. The Eldar only lost 2 units (a Fire Prism and 1 Jetbike squad).<br />
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It remains to be seen how this army would do against a Knight- or Land Raider-heavy enemy, as the Warhost is short on heavy anti-tank weaponry with only 2 Prism cannons, 1 twin-linked Bright Lance, 5 Fusion guns, and 2 Heavy D-Scythes at its disposal.<br />
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At any rate, it was real fun, and I look forward to the next session of furious dice-rolling. Now to finish painting the Hemlock, 6 additional Jetbikes, 2 additional Warp Spiders and 3 additional Dark Reapers. And the terrain pieces too.<br />
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Thanks John for a great game, and Quake for great banter from a fellow Eldar!<br />
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Keep them dice rolling!</div>
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spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-42534145545260275472016-07-17T23:42:00.000-07:002016-07-17T23:42:52.082-07:00Gathering materials ...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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... for my table in JB!<br />
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While my Hemlock and jetbikes are still WIP (I've been chipping away at these models, painting whenever I can find the time. The Hemlock is coming along nicely, and I hope to post pics up soon), I've also started to gather things for my new table in my new place in JB.<br />
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I've ordered one of those cool battlemats, and that's on its way here. I've managed to rescue some of the scatter terrain that I painted for Legio some years back, and that will be put to good use - maybe a bit of repainting to better match the mat. I also have a Fortress of Redemption on sprue, and will start assembling it next month. The idea is to use the individual parts of the fortress as stand alone terrain features (either as bunkers, buildings or impassable terrain). I've also ordered some ruins and a couple of hills - experimenting here and there. I think all the stuff I've ordered would be arriving over the next few weeks - exciting indeed!<br />
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And I got a 6x4 board from the local friendly hardware store to mount the battlemat. The board itself is cut into 3 sections of 2x4, for ease of transport and storage. And with a quick visit to ArtFriend I managed to pick up a couple packs of awesome Woodland Scenics trees. The idea is to assemble them, spray a black undercoat, and drybrush browns and grays for that fresh ashwaste look. I'd prefer mounting them on MDF woods bases, but I might just settle for hard card mounting boards instead.<br />
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Anyways, I'm stoked about table Mk.1 and look forward to finishing it and rolling dice on it.<br />
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In the meantime, I got some dice to roll tonight ...spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-23286574593214788502016-07-11T01:33:00.001-07:002016-07-13T01:03:55.424-07:00Trip down memory lane - the Balau Sector<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So it was that during the recent Eid holidays, I flew home for the celebrations and some good ol' wargaming friends turned up one night - complete with a few armies, rulebooks, etc.<br />
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So we headed down to the hallowed sweltering halls of the Balau Sector, scene of years of strife and furious dice rolling and serious hobbying. From the pre-40k days of Napoleonic and WW2 wargaming (back when the place was called the IX Coalition), to the heady days of 40k 3rd, 3.5, 4th ed and the first Apoc books (during which we didn't play a non-Apoc game for a whole year).</div>
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At the height of Balau Sector, between 2000 to 2007, it was common to see 3-4, sometimes 5 tables with 40k action going on. Balau regulars regularly terrorized tourneys with nicely painted but fearsome armies and it was a pretty fun time. Regulars would get into "training" to prepare for tournaments - complete with a fully-painted "aggressor" army to fight against.<br />
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Campaigns, megabattles (sort of a pre-Apoc Apoc) and Apoc battles were a staple, and some of the best campaigns I've ever participated in was played there. Check out <a href="http://spunkybass.tripod.com/KaisCampaign.html" target="_blank">Kai's campaign</a> on this ol' skool site.</div>
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But time passes, things change, people grow and move towns/countries and gradually the Balau Sector went into decline, as all empires do.</div>
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Revisiting Balau Sector was full of nostalgic fun, and a little sadness. We could scrounge up 2 complete tables, with most of the other tables in disrepair. There was a shortage of scatter terrain and gone were the shelves and shelves of model armies. </div>
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But there was still a bit of the wild fun atmosphere of unbridled wargaming excesses of the original Balau Sector vibe in the air. And with a series of loud whoops and laughter, and tons of thematic digging and teasing and ribbing, we actually had a quick game in which the Thousand Sons won decisively against a Tyranid horde, successfully rolling up the flank and breaking the bug army apart. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It was very late night/early morning by the time we realized we were really sleepy and needed to crash - just like the gool old days of Balau. But we all agreed that there will definitely be occassional game nights in the future at the Balau Sector. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Rolling dice rocks!<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDdw0VwWgOfByvrwDua-xINMyRnWc-YawmiSv3IDwY_cc38l_yY9xZhaFE8WradsL0rMuMkTiR6-DZHkW_IDFAlE5EFanu-maSDQZmu6rPd4nwyAAGIs7FX_ZrkZyYM050WufFiOIFf9Za/s1600/batlefield2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDdw0VwWgOfByvrwDua-xINMyRnWc-YawmiSv3IDwY_cc38l_yY9xZhaFE8WradsL0rMuMkTiR6-DZHkW_IDFAlE5EFanu-maSDQZmu6rPd4nwyAAGIs7FX_ZrkZyYM050WufFiOIFf9Za/s320/batlefield2.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp4xKfZULc5pVkKFzolIeaHlr_uEBGBQhcgu8i-CWQhTVEZVshBiNKVnLOLRCwj1R7Kk2Lf_d4qsl6pmBNRBN9ZuMDwP-uq9UisEtQ4xfU5GelulwonceOZpRZ4UwhbUsk5WrVQMfl45BS/s1600/balau-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp4xKfZULc5pVkKFzolIeaHlr_uEBGBQhcgu8i-CWQhTVEZVshBiNKVnLOLRCwj1R7Kk2Lf_d4qsl6pmBNRBN9ZuMDwP-uq9UisEtQ4xfU5GelulwonceOZpRZ4UwhbUsk5WrVQMfl45BS/s320/balau-1.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-40918944975707629912016-07-03T20:45:00.000-07:002016-07-03T20:45:08.774-07:00Serpent weapon swap again ... or back to the lances, perhaps.<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAnRY53-cB7LEvgE6raHo-3T4_ou9NiSDo_h6pk-RovsDDlYr2w0hwgiZCbVvV5EXYRIqlk9alw5tnrjnXXDul-3N9ortsGQaECLyU3myAL380IpUz6RTEq7i_E6YZnf5biPZ7ZoE2lPig/s1600/serpent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAnRY53-cB7LEvgE6raHo-3T4_ou9NiSDo_h6pk-RovsDDlYr2w0hwgiZCbVvV5EXYRIqlk9alw5tnrjnXXDul-3N9ortsGQaECLyU3myAL380IpUz6RTEq7i_E6YZnf5biPZ7ZoE2lPig/s400/serpent.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Today</i></div>
<br />
With the current codex, the Wave Serpent's role has reverted to its role back in 3rd Ed - as the best d**ned transport in the game! The amazingly broken previous codex' Serpent turned it into the best gunship/battle tank in the game, which is not quite right (though I enjoyed it tremendously). But really, the Wave Serpent is a transport vehicle, and I'm glad that it's gone back to its roots.<br />
<br />
16 years after converting a couple of Falcons into Wave Serpents by lengthening the hull and adding bow shields (all based off plans found on some website somewhere), those very same Serpents are still in action. Back then they usually carried Howling Banshees and Fire Dragons. They remained exactly the same models until 2013, when I gave them a face lift - refreshed the paint job and changed the turret to scatter lasers (magnetized) from the original bright lances (glued).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpw3_a0zWAVbzC3wxr-IOqgYbr54El1UZITnR55wWaFsrnPo7ZEV4aN43VrdngY8w6NXke0Nr00XFel9xHnKvY26aZgCNWGrT8KfPDO_QlVLwojsXPl_m8ro0ibdiu9n4GC_Bgz2FcTPna/s1600/wave-serpent-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpw3_a0zWAVbzC3wxr-IOqgYbr54El1UZITnR55wWaFsrnPo7ZEV4aN43VrdngY8w6NXke0Nr00XFel9xHnKvY26aZgCNWGrT8KfPDO_QlVLwojsXPl_m8ro0ibdiu9n4GC_Bgz2FcTPna/s400/wave-serpent-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Refreshed</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr6R3srsF004YBuWJGctLn_BV6MDPgRln3lYST0Bd4cdyd9yQnHQmk7KHtt_fiXYmFeNm8kXlaYwV4xw73oUe6YMfPO_VAslTp9PGJ9YJmRZA-ELWFFIUrGBNF81A2T2ztHN6tvE_KJ8Bs/s1600/wave-serpent1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr6R3srsF004YBuWJGctLn_BV6MDPgRln3lYST0Bd4cdyd9yQnHQmk7KHtt_fiXYmFeNm8kXlaYwV4xw73oUe6YMfPO_VAslTp9PGJ9YJmRZA-ELWFFIUrGBNF81A2T2ztHN6tvE_KJ8Bs/s400/wave-serpent1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
Yes, I completely missed the era of the Forgeworld Wave Serpent bits, and have yet to get one of those nice looking current era plastic Serpents.<br />
<br />
So, in between converting my jetbikes, painting my Hemlock and tweaking my army lists, I decided that the army currently doesn't need another twin-linked scatter laser in its arsenal. By some kind of miracle, I managed to find the original metal bright lance bits which were pried off the turret back in 2014.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFbVu8qW-_bFiBurUfuda3UGYsEvT883D06D_asaTYW1QqcQzPjdZQyLJ94EYsd1e2sh8eLd0YQ5xub3St-bgoJVSXg4cUT4esGqggN6O7Kgpr36owvLl8d-9D-pRKr4vrNAJpMnhRlqcO/s1600/P6220193.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFbVu8qW-_bFiBurUfuda3UGYsEvT883D06D_asaTYW1QqcQzPjdZQyLJ94EYsd1e2sh8eLd0YQ5xub3St-bgoJVSXg4cUT4esGqggN6O7Kgpr36owvLl8d-9D-pRKr4vrNAJpMnhRlqcO/s400/P6220193.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>3rd Ed memories</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiUpl47QNBGLMwEYIUnlkaOM3IvUIArQyUWg1PKvK7mqnzB9UxDHyxjuRYl-San2uz5KsQNe3bRvkl6QqUX4m709gM9iLKzqxbY39Nu-GNi_URM6gAARGo9qnsejqcl7WZ8uToKGrUjNmX/s1600/batrep03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiUpl47QNBGLMwEYIUnlkaOM3IvUIArQyUWg1PKvK7mqnzB9UxDHyxjuRYl-San2uz5KsQNe3bRvkl6QqUX4m709gM9iLKzqxbY39Nu-GNi_URM6gAARGo9qnsejqcl7WZ8uToKGrUjNmX/s400/batrep03.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>3rd Ed memories</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
<br />
And after that it was the easy matter of putting magnets onto the bright lances, and since the turret already has magnets on it, I just swapped away the scatter lasers. Now I just need to touch up the paintwork, and it's all set.<br />
<br />
Hope to give an update on the Hemlock paintjob soon.<br />
<br />
Keep rolling them dice!<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-28201467851264094822016-06-28T19:13:00.000-07:002016-06-29T02:14:48.715-07:00Jetbikes are WYSIWYG again!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixRefpGnTL0KK6-MFgCIIUddBczvxsEyEgxRrt3gQgBAsmU3jNMfMUYC6vmQsuoemI-pUk4U5HAVDQQN4zrw9f74UeoCtvBhoGGb1kuBi2P7LH9FxD66Vka8ls64pXCaTFjzXHOjXWELfG/s1600/jetwip1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixRefpGnTL0KK6-MFgCIIUddBczvxsEyEgxRrt3gQgBAsmU3jNMfMUYC6vmQsuoemI-pUk4U5HAVDQQN4zrw9f74UeoCtvBhoGGb1kuBi2P7LH9FxD66Vka8ls64pXCaTFjzXHOjXWELfG/s400/jetwip1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
At last weekend's game 6 of my jetbikes had <i>invisible</i> shuriken cannon. That will not do. My Eldar may be my first ever 40k army and certainly not the best painted. But it is WYSIWYG.<br />
<br />
Just to recap, my current Windriders list has the following jetbike squads:<br />
<br />
3 jetbikes, all with scatter laser<br />
3 jetbikes, all with scatter laser<br />
<div>
3 jetbikes, all with shuriken cannon</div>
<div>
3 jetbikes, all with shuriken cannon</div>
<div>
3 jetbikes, 2 with shuriken cannon</div>
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3 jetbikes, 2 with shuriken cannon</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
And why the eclectic load out? Why not all with shuriken cannon or scatter lasers? For the simple reason that I already have 4 jetbikes with shuriken cannon, and I only have 6 of the new scatter laser bikes, and 6 shuriken cannon bits from those new bikes, which I can transplant to retrofit my older bikes. When I do find 2 more shuriken cannon bits, I will find the 20 points and retrofit the remaining 2 jetbikes which are still armed with shuriken catapults.</div>
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<br /></div>
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And it does work out nicely that the scatter lasers are all mounted on the new jetbike models, while the shuriken cannon are all on the old jetbike models (you can tell by the varying bases that the old models themselves are from several different generations - I really should clean up and get rid of those old hex bases).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcRRpFi4iYB6_9stOJ6NhsCghI_Vq9etvUV1D8N0-FViw1HysHwcsiVMHhJHK6xGUjJ605w5N5J_2AaOgBTt8Rr1e3yufvlyrzp8LIB2GMv8sRY_M_dvicKFvbui_u6uPVYtBensFSbWTH/s1600/jetwip2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcRRpFi4iYB6_9stOJ6NhsCghI_Vq9etvUV1D8N0-FViw1HysHwcsiVMHhJHK6xGUjJ605w5N5J_2AaOgBTt8Rr1e3yufvlyrzp8LIB2GMv8sRY_M_dvicKFvbui_u6uPVYtBensFSbWTH/s400/jetwip2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div>
Since I already have 4 of the old jetbikes with shuriken cannon, I wanted all the shuriken cannon jetbikes to have the same kind of look, with the cannon barrel potruding from under the left side of the carapace. Incidentally, of the 4 original shuriken cannon jetbikes, only 2 had the old metal shuriken cannon bit, while the other 2 were converted from Vyper turret shuriken cannon bits.</div>
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<div>
The conversion itself was pretty easy. As usual, I never think about taking step by step WIP pictures, so I did the graphics below to give you a rough idea. The original plan was to remove the twin-linked shuriken catapults from the old jetbikes so that it's easier to work on the conversion, and then putting them back onto the jetbikes. But plastic glue will never cooperate with that crazy plan, so I had to do the conversion with those shuriken catapult bits still stuck onboard the jetbikes</div>
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So I took all the rescued shuriken cannon bits from the new jetbikes and cut the barrels off like so:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr8g9ylu-Xo8IcupagiyrvFjEtqVCDU-WDIhGarGB8j7_VwMKW7FpjWfNoSOCEfhwRro_A_jCZDmONJzBJbhU4PaHdUqnr1omqrP45QxUMrlY2UGYtcDitFB0lVh7Qvjj1T276kJlIEdAx/s1600/shuricannon-cut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr8g9ylu-Xo8IcupagiyrvFjEtqVCDU-WDIhGarGB8j7_VwMKW7FpjWfNoSOCEfhwRro_A_jCZDmONJzBJbhU4PaHdUqnr1omqrP45QxUMrlY2UGYtcDitFB0lVh7Qvjj1T276kJlIEdAx/s320/shuricannon-cut.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Then I cut the twin-linked shuriken catapults like so, finishing off with a good filing to round off the edges, as only the monkeigh have hideous sharp edges:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVEU7rL5wDLx3fai7pinH3rWWx2xCCuNH6JHm03kkU7NZAsW2izXi00WY32qws4GwAoQqJicwdZYuIKZbAb8CoLd1SWLiJ21Dy8MpLHT1Odkh_r-kuZtXgcayt9-OMXNDglgvFI4n_Q7Dr/s1600/twin-shuricats-cut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVEU7rL5wDLx3fai7pinH3rWWx2xCCuNH6JHm03kkU7NZAsW2izXi00WY32qws4GwAoQqJicwdZYuIKZbAb8CoLd1SWLiJ21Dy8MpLHT1Odkh_r-kuZtXgcayt9-OMXNDglgvFI4n_Q7Dr/s200/twin-shuricats-cut.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div>
Then I simply glued the shuriken cannon barrel from the first step to the cut-down twin-linked shuriken catapult housing, and ,.. presto! (just realized that in the graphic below the cannon barrel is upside down - don't do this)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe_qnnI5crNLozU82ScCWB7oU-ZePiUF1Y9kJFk7U5fNtEh5_ItcOMAN-5sc6OeJlmBHqebqKl4Zw1IpmIBKlJVQsXNS2OcXjBjsKuVfyfEVv-q6DFEjbuAdRkmoLEJ0J8TteBryXsLNW8/s1600/shuricannon-converted.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe_qnnI5crNLozU82ScCWB7oU-ZePiUF1Y9kJFk7U5fNtEh5_ItcOMAN-5sc6OeJlmBHqebqKl4Zw1IpmIBKlJVQsXNS2OcXjBjsKuVfyfEVv-q6DFEjbuAdRkmoLEJ0J8TteBryXsLNW8/s320/shuricannon-converted.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
Repeat as necessary, which in my case was 6 times. The result is pretty convincing, and with a little bit of paint, would be close enough to the ol' skool jetbike shuriken cannon look.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Next, to paint the 6 new jetbikes, the 6 new shuriken cannon, and the Hemlock. And I've tweaked the list a bit. I've replaced the Falcon with a Wave Serpent to transport my Fire Dragons, and I've decided to swap the turret scatter lasers with bright lances instead. Thats's for another time.</div>
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<div>
Keep rolling them dice!</div>
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spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-84013163181478586762016-06-26T20:37:00.000-07:002016-06-29T02:15:13.901-07:00First game in fifteen months!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_6y1qEbiSHl0v7Dck9UD3-IcWnWdKG1UQ_BxERywBFtY4XNXKPiVS_KflAqM4WMxNQF-Z8uZYxoKrLCeVAqxdSTD40D6zH3loZK9v5d-VqVttCknumgUJiA4t8qkiVjRd4Uw0RLC4zhug/s1600/batrep3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_6y1qEbiSHl0v7Dck9UD3-IcWnWdKG1UQ_BxERywBFtY4XNXKPiVS_KflAqM4WMxNQF-Z8uZYxoKrLCeVAqxdSTD40D6zH3loZK9v5d-VqVttCknumgUJiA4t8qkiVjRd4Uw0RLC4zhug/s400/batrep3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">"You shall not pass!"</span></i></div>
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And it was a blast! ... almost literally.<br />
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<br /></div>
<div>
I finally got around to updating my Eldar list after more than a year of owning the codex. I've done several different versions, but this is what I brought to battle last Saturday:</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<b><u>Alaitoc Craftworld Eldar CAD (1850 pts)</u></b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
HQ:</div>
<div>
Farseer - jetbike, singing spear, spirit stone of Anath'lan</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
TROOPS:</div>
<div>
6 Windrider jetbikes - 6 scatter lasers (the original list was actually 2 squads of 3, but I decided to try a combined large squad instead)</div>
<div>
3 Windrider jetbikes - 3 shuriken cannon</div>
<div>
3 Windrider jetbikes - 3 shuriken cannon</div>
<div>
3 Windrider jetbikes - 2 shuriken cannon</div>
<div>
3 Windrider jetbikes - 2 shuriken cannon</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
FAST ATTACK:</div>
<div>
6 Swooping Hawks - Exarch w Hawk's Talon</div>
<div>
Hemlock Wraithfighter</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
HEAVY SUPPORT:</div>
<div>
Fire Prism</div>
<div>
Fire Prism</div>
<div>
Falcon - pulse laser, scatter laser, shuriken cannon, holofield</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
ASPECT WARRIOR HOST:</div>
<div>
8 Warp Spiders - Exarch w twin death spinners</div>
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5 Fired Dragons w Exarch</div>
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7 Dark Reapers w Exarch</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
I was against a scary Tyranid list with:</div>
<div>
2 Flying Tyrants</div>
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2 Tyrant Guard</div>
<div>
1 Xoanthroape (I think)</div>
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2 chunks/broods of Gaunts</div>
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1 Imperial container thing</div>
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1 Heirophant</div>
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<div>
We played Deadlock from the Maelstrom of War missions list. The bugs got first turn, so I deployed accordingly. And of course I managed to Seize the Initiative (which was the last 6 I was to roll for 3 turns).</div>
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All in, it was an amazing battle. I made lots (lots!) of nube mistakes, including: 1) being distracted by the Titan bug and splitting my firepower as a result, 2) forgetting to move stuff, 3) correctly assigning targets to units, then promptly forgetting about them and shoot something else instead, 4) overall bad fire discipline for the first 3 turns (not focusing on the correct priority targets).</div>
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The lack of fire discipline, in sharp contrast to the bugs' amazing hive-controlled fire discipline is telling. The Tyranids only lost their Warlord flying Tyrant and the Tyrant Guards, half of the Gaunts and half of the Heirophant. I lost all 18 jetbikes, 1 Fire Prism, the Falcon, the Hemlock, the Farseer and the Fire Dragons.</div>
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But thanks mostly to Eldar speeed and agility, and the fact that I managed to regain proper fire discipline late in the game, Eldar won 12-10, including Slay the Warlord and Linebacker. The Tyranids' 10VPs include First Blood, Slay the Warlord and Linebacker.</div>
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Some observations:</div>
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1. Warp Spiders rock! (I guess everyone knows that) Awesome manouerability. Awesome manouverability (it's so good I had to say it again). Awesome firepower. Iron Resolve. It is indeed the best all-around Aspect Shrine in the Eldar war host.</div>
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2. Dark Reapers rock! When I finally figured out that using their multi-shot S5 missiles for AA is more effective than the single shot S8 missiles, the Warlord Flying Tyrant was easily put to sleep.</div>
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3. BS+1 and Shrinekeepers for the Aspect Host is just amazing!</div>
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4. Swooping Hawks are still very much relevant. Pin-point Deep Strike accuracy, grenade packs, good firepower against low T troops make them still a much-loved Aspect Shrine. I didn't get to try out Intercept. Perhaps in another game against an army with a flyer. Note that my read of the new FAQ limiting squads to only 1 grenade per assault doesn't apply to the Hawks' Intercept ability, as RAW it says each model may make a special attack in the movement phase that hits on a 4+, with the Haywire rule. I'm hoping they don't FAQ that.</div>
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5. Large jetbike squads are just not practical. It was a headache to deploy and move them. My old Windrider lists all had 6-man jetbike squads in them, but the new models are larger/longer than the old ones. I'll stick to the original MSU squads.</div>
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6. The Hemlock is a scary attack aircraft, it's no wonder it costs so much in points. Casting Psychic Shriek and then bombarding the enemy with D-weapons is just awesome. And I've yet to see the effects of the Mindshock Pod.</div>
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7. For psychic powers, I think it pays to mix disciplines, and forego the free Primaris. I went for an all-Telepathy mix (and did not get Invisibility out 5 tries), and found that I really miss some of the other powers.</div>
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8. I'm not sure yet how to "hide" the Farseer. </div>
<div>
9. The Fire Dragons were unproven in the battle as I didn't have any tanks or mechs to shoot at. So we'll hold onto them for now. </div>
<div>
10. There is a thought in my mind to trade the Falcon and Fire Dragons for 2 bright-lance Wave Serpents. I save 25 points, and if I take only 6 Dark Reapers, I can take a Warlock to ride with my Farseer. I trade off sure-kill tank-killing capability for flexibility, as I will have one extra AV12 fast skimmer tank for the enemy to worry about, and I get an extra psychic power die, and Conceal and another Rite of Battle power. I probably should try it out and see what happens.</div>
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Anyways, it was really really good to get back to rolling some dice in the grimdark, and I'm totally looking forward to the next game. Meanwhile, I'm halfway through retrofitting 6 of my old jetbikes with shuriken cannon (bits from the jetbike sprue), and once that's done, I'll painting the new converted weapons, the 6 new scat-jets, the Hemlock, the 2 or 3 new Dark Reapers and the 2 additional Warp Spiders. Looking forward to that.</div>
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Keep them dice rolling!</div>
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spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-14440423950830337692016-06-23T01:40:00.000-07:002016-06-23T01:41:14.938-07:00Awesome new jetbikes.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfArDtKFaAF7vFCcXqg4aQzng8tPBAAcqcUlPfwKGXhEmfzqRPPjaD6DSyBC4_8laiWQH0gWA-wrvzZWkHwVF2_eZTCoVpRzg6k0MGvlhXnDptlEfcayQO5RS7y81Njj67izAzOr2Re7nW/s1600/jetwip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfArDtKFaAF7vFCcXqg4aQzng8tPBAAcqcUlPfwKGXhEmfzqRPPjaD6DSyBC4_8laiWQH0gWA-wrvzZWkHwVF2_eZTCoVpRzg6k0MGvlhXnDptlEfcayQO5RS7y81Njj67izAzOr2Re7nW/s400/jetwip.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I finally got around to assembling these jetbikes - after more than a year. These are excellent models! Just amazingly well done GW. Design is awesome and the quality of the kit is just perfect.<br />
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The Eldar have long been overdue for new jetbikes, and these are just perfect. The only trouble is, they look so much nicer than my old ones, and I don't really feel like replacing 12 painted (and some converted) jetbikes ... I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.<br />
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And I'm fitting all of them with scatter lasers. And thanks to the kits, I have 6 shuriken cannons to retrofit into my existing jetbikes. So my Windrider-themed lists will have 6 squads of jetbikes: 2 squads with 3 scatter lasers each, 2 squads with 3 shuriken cannons each, and 2 squads with 2 shuriken cannons each. Pretty cool.<br />
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Anyway, tonight I'll open the Hemlock box ^_^<br />
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Keep rolling them dice.spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-76177239223631373432016-06-19T20:14:00.001-07:002016-06-19T20:16:13.044-07:00Reapers ... Assemble!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Finally assembled the 3 additional Dark Reapers, including Exarch, that I need for my updated Eldar lists. And I just realized that the squad itself is quite ... um ... diverse (or motley). The squad has: 3 metal Dark Reapers from 2nd Ed (coneheads), 2 metal ones from 3rd Ed (skull heads), and now 3 more of these new dudes (fairy heads?). I should just consolidate into the new look actually. I'll paint these up first and make a call on this at another time.<br />
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I also discovered that I have 2 unopened boxes of jetbikes. That's handy, because one of my new lists needs 6 scatter laser jetbikes. So these will be assembled next - maybe in the next couple of days.</div>
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I spent the weekend doing a bit of shopping. I got me a Hemlock (to complete my new lists), a box of Black Knights, a Darkshroud, an OOP Chaplain on bike, and 3 more bikes from the old Dark Vengeance box. I am stoked. The Hemlock gets assembled after the jetbikes. Hopefully this week too.</div>
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I'm hoping for a game this weekend. Perhaps to try out my updated Eldar lists. Here's hoping for the best.</div>
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Keep them dice rolling.</div>
spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-38250082677627246962016-06-09T18:55:00.000-07:002016-06-10T00:16:15.790-07:00We're Back! Sort of ...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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After a long long long hiatus, we're finally ready to get back into wargaming action - I think. A lot has happened in the past year, including moving to different town, packing away models, moving models, storing, looking for stuff in storage, fixing models damaged in transit and storage, finding out some stuff are somewhere other than where they should be, etc, etc, etc ...<br />
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Anyways, not to bore you with the minutae, but an old wargames buddy also happened to move to the same city, and we started to talk about 40k and the topic of Ravenwing came up. And I realized that I actually never did read the Dark Angels codex I bought last year. So I managed to dig up the codex (by accident actually, I really forgot all about it) and finally started reading it.<br />
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And what a read that was. I guess I'm one of the last Ravenwing players on earth to get excited about the new teeth this army has been given. I've been playing Ravenwing since 2003, and they did well back then, even coming in a decent Top 5 finish at a tournament in 2009 (which was the year I finally painted the army).<br />
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But the Ravenwing has always suffered from a severe case of chronic crapcodexitis, and any successes had to be hard-fought. When I first started playing the Ravenwing, they had a different Master of the Ravenwing, and he only rode in his Land Speeder with a 4+ invul save. Every biker had skilled rider and an always-on 6+ jink save (I think that was the first time I heard the term "jink" in 40k). Then Sammael came along, the bikers lost skilled rider, and the army got even harder to play.<br />
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When the Black Knights were first introduced, it did help a bit, as they now finally had a decent close combat unit. But the army as a whole lost traits that would help it survive because of its speed and manouver, as befitting an all-bike army. Then last year's codex came out. And it's brilliant!<br />
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Well at least on paper. I'll be trying it out this weekend hopefully. Looking forward to that.<br />
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And since my friend also plays Ravenwing, I'll be bringing my old Thousand Sons buddies over to have a go against his Ravenwing army. I finally unearthed them from the crypts last night, and thankfully there was only minimal transit and storage damage (Land Raider's smoke launcher and Ahriman's staff had to be glued back, and there's a tiny paint chip on the staff where it joins his right hand, but nothing too serious). I'm looking forward to see these guys back on the table this weekend, and share the magic of their modest 10+d6 warp-charge dice.<br />
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Because of the minor repair work I did last night, I also unearthed my <i><b>complete and fully-functional</b></i> modeling and paint toolbox, and I'm excited to get back into hobbying. Here's what I have in mind for the rest of the year:</div>
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1. <b>Updated Ravenwing.</b> For this I need to paint 18 Black Knights (including the Command Squad), Chaplain on bike (with a suitable-looking mace), a Dark Shroud, and 2 more Land Speeder Typhoons. 11 of those Black Knights and the Land Speeders have already been assembled and undercoated (which means they are also base-coated, ahh .. the wonders of a black-liveried army).<br />
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2. <b>Updated Eldar.</b> I procured all the models for this update almost exactly a year ago. I think I'll need to paint 1 Hemlock, 3 more Dark Reapers, 1 new Dark Reaper Exarch (because the old one is ... old), 2 more Warp Spiders, 2 more Swooping Hawks, and 6 more jetbikes.<br />
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I will be getting back to my Denerair Highlanders, but that's a huge project which my temporary quarters is not capable to handle. So that's going to be a 2017 project.<br />
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I'm totally looking to some furious dice rolling this weekend, and I'm lucky that the town's brand new game store is like 7 minutes away. Love it!<br />
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Let's roll them dice!<br />
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<br />spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-89396213108128731612015-07-14T11:33:00.000-07:002015-07-14T11:33:00.362-07:00Finally Moved In!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Seven months' delay, but we've finally moved into the new place. And after a couple of weeks of sorting out stuff from storage, I finally managed to get my models in the shelves. Well, mostly.<br />
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What's on the shelves are my 40k and FOW armies, as well as wargames books and rules. What's not on the shelves yet are my 15mm Napoleonics, 15mm DBA, 20mm WW2, 28mm WW2 and BFG stuff. And some trophies, which need some repairs.<br />
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But I like how the new shelves are panning out. Neat and compact, though I must admit I have a slight paranoia of the glass shelves breaking and dropping onto models below. Doesn't help that the bottom two shelves are home to the AirCav detachment.<br />
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The cupboards below the shelves are where unopened boxes, bitz boxes and tools are kept. Other cupboards to the side have game box sets such as Space Hulk, Firestorm, etc.<br />
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I've decided not to have a permanent painting table as I'll be too tempted to sit out in the living room. So I'm in the market for one of those cool painting or project trays so that I can paint on the bar counter with the TV on.<br />
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I'll most likely be investing in a gaming table, and for ease of storage, use and to comply with Home Ministerial Standards on Neatness and Un-Messiness, I'm leaning towards one of those cool gaming mats, plus a mixture of GW and Battlefront scatter terrain. I'll need to figure out the platform for the mat though. Thinking of two 3x4 or 4x4 plywood.<br />
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Anyways, I'm looking forward to enjoying this new pad - after my vacations.<br />
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cheers.<br />
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<br />spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-86349823839047233122015-03-01T06:00:00.001-08:002015-03-01T06:00:49.159-08:00A couple of games amidst the chaos of being in limbo ...<br />
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... and it was a blast! My entire life, hobby and all, have been rather upside-down for the past couple of months, as I've had to vacate my old house (sold it), but my new one's not quite ready for moving in yet. So I've been officially homeless and squatting at my in-law's for the past few weeks. Far from ideal. Not to mention the job's been rather hectic.<br />
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So it was that on the eve of Chinese New Year Eve, I manage to get a couple of games in vs two very elite mon-keigh armies. I used my Eldar because I actually have two 1,850pt lists packed very neatly into a bag and a case (as opposed to the other armies, which are packed in many many different cases).<br />
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The first battle was against Amin's elite Ravenwing. It was most unfortunate for the Ravenwing, as being Eldar, his speed and mobility advantage was easily nullified by my skimmers. His army was smaller than my own take on the Ravenwing, but had more long-range punch. Led by Sammael on jetbike and his Command Squad, I think he had 3 full squads (each with 6 bikes, attack bike and Land Speeder), a squad of 2 more Land Speeders and the shroud Land Speeder. The shrouding speeder was the first to be killed, which made the others much easier to shoot down. The Ravenwing gave a valiant fight, but the Eldar won decisively.<br />
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Next up was Khairul's Grey Knights. This army is scary-looking. 20 of those Interceptor power-armored dudes, 10 termies, 2 librarians, 2 of those big scary Knight things, all led by a scary-looking mon-keigh sorcerer. He had like 14+d6 psychic dice or something like that. I had zero psykers, my war-host being led by a venerable Autarch of Alaitoc.<br />
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The first couple of turns were nail-biting, with the mon-keigh advancing against my skimmers to try to hem them into a corner. I managed to get first blood by gunning down one of the combat-squadded Interceptor units, but my firepower for the first couple of turns were seriously limited as I had to sacrifice shooting to manouver myself out of the closing noose. However, the Eldar did manage to elude the mon-keigh trap and was then able to lay down carefully lad fire plans and deliver concentrated whithering fire on the enemy. When it came down to the last 4 terminators, the mon-keigh, to their credit, waved defiance before being summarily gunned-down execution style, for my very first TA using this Eldar list.<br />
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Two amazing games. Let's hope I get some more before the March tourney.<br />
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<br />spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6478573650258460848.post-65793853965514739662014-12-25T07:59:00.001-08:002014-12-25T07:59:31.393-08:00When a Few Armies Need to Move House ...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We've been spending the past couple of weeks packing and making ready for the big move, which will happen in the first week of January. And to make things worse, it's a 2-part move! The new house is not quite ready, but I've already sold my current one, and need to vacate soon. So I'm moving to the in-law's place for a couple of months, while most of my stuff goes into storage. Then, sometime in March, I move again to the new place.<br />
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Anyways, timing mishaps aside, it's really interesting to go through 10 years of stuff - books, music, wargames, clothes, junk, etc. I gave away/trashed a whole bunch of stuff, and got organized a lot too! My daughter's boyfriend is the proud recepient of 13 years worth of White Dwarf, including some really old '90s vintage ones (including the issue that announced the release of the Eldar Falcon tank - awesome issue), as well as stacks of '90s vintage Wargames Illustrated.<br />
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My long-delayed bitz organization exercise was forced into action, and I can now proudly boast a few stacks of nicely organized bitz boxes. It's amazing how much less space is need when you get organized!<br />
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Anyways, as the picture above shows, my wargames stuff is almost all ready to go. In fact, as of writing, I'm done packing my wargames stuff, except for the bulk of my Ravenwing which is still at Hobby Forge, and my BFG fleet which is at Wira Games.<br />
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Rulebooks for 40k, Fantasy, FoW, WAB, Grand Manner, Napoleon's Battles, NPOW, General d'Brigade and all kinds of other rules, plus codices, army books, Ospreys, unopened boxes, boxes of WIP projects, all kinds of other wargames-related kits, hobby materials, tools etc, all fit nicely into 3 large boxes.<br />
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Painted armies are packed in various army carrier bags and cases. For my frequent trips to and occassional games down south, I have 2 Eldar armies ready for action in a Sponge Bag + tool box. Another two Thousand Sons armies are also ready for action in another Sponge Bag + tool box combo, just in case I need a break from the Eldar cheese.<br />
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Three FoW armies are neatly packed in the awesome FoW army bag. The giant GW figure case is now filled with all my painted IG infantry - Brandenberg, Catachan AirCav, Necromunda-based militia, Denerair Highlanders - my guess is about 250 figures. Also in the giant case are 11 Leman Russ, 7 Chimera, a Hydra 2 Hellhounds and a Devil Dog.<br />
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The large padded plastic bin that I normally use to transport the AirCav now contains the 6 AirCav flyers, 2 other flyers (Dark Eldar, Ravenwing), a Shadowsword, a Baneblade, 2 Basilisks, a Manticore, a Wyvern, 3 Leman Russ, 3 Vypers, 4 Land Speeders and other assorted stuff. Another large tool box carries 2 Baneblades, a Shadowsword and assorted Thousand Sons, IG and Eldar vehicles that didn't fit anywhere else.<br />
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That was tiring work, but it is fun to go thru your old toys once in awhile.<br />
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Keep them dice rolling. I'm trying ...<br />
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<br />spunkybasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00854729157258095368noreply@blogger.com2