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Snailed It

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"I can't feel my legs!"

Happy St Patrick's Day! Green Daemon time, as usual.



Alan Rotmarsh

Yeah, it's this guy, Horticulous Slimux. The model won a few 'best new model' shouts from various nerd sites last year, and it's not hard to see why. Heaps of detail, plus an inventive take on their IP. You know, relatively inventive, for GW. A daemon gardener riding a giant snail is a bit more out there than some of their po-faced grimdarkery, anyway.


A pleasure to paint, as ever for Nurgle models. Something about maggots, gaping wounds and fecund grossness just appeals to me, I guess, either that or I've done enough of them that they come out well without too much thought on my part.


The shell was the main challenge for this. Some brief internet research showed me that my original idea for the stripes would be a step away from nature - the stripes generally seem to follow the spiral of the shell, not go across it as I originally thought. This daemon also has a sinistral spiral, which is rare in real life and probably appropriate. Everyone knows lefties are associated with the damned, after all.


The rider is magnetised, just in case you wanted to field Mulch the snail as a beast of Nurgle. The new models for those are pretty nice, I think, but hellishly dear for a single model. They haven't made it as far as the bottom of my shopping list, anyway.

Painting Guide:


  • Undercoat - Death Guard Green
  • Slimux - Athonian Camoshade wash, Elysian Green highlight, Underhive Ash drybrush
  • Mulch - Black, then Nuln Oil Gloss, a quick drybrush with Eshin Grey and Longbeard Grey, then more Nuln Oil Gloss. Screamer Pink, Druchii Violet and Changeling Pink on the tongue and spiracles (or whatever they are), Ardcoat over everything, Nurgle's Rot to taste
  • Toes and Teeth - Zandri Dust, Agrax Earthshade, Seraphim Sepia, Ushabti Bone
  • Leather bands and blankets - Steel Legion Drab, Agrax, either Zandri Dust layer (on the blanket) or Deathclaw Brown (on the belts and bands), Tyrant Skull drybrush
  • Tree - Dryad Bark, Nuln Oil, a variety of Sylvaneth Bark, Underhive Ash and Longbeard Grey drybrushes. Spanish Moss done with Deathworld Green and Bilious Green, puffballs with Rakarth Flesh, Serpahim Sephia and Pallid Wychflesh, the treefrog with Wazdakka Red and Bad Moons Yellow
  • Shell - Karak Stone, Rhinox Hide and Averland Sunset stripes, all washed with Agrax, then layered up towards Ushabti Bone mixed with the base colour, a little Tyrant Skull to finish
  • Plough - Leadbelcher, Agrax and Nuln Oil, Ironbreaker and Runefang Silver
  • Base - PVA, sandy gravel and Rust Red paint powder, blobs of Nurgle's Rot round the plough



Only one unit left to do for the Death Guard!


Flies in the Ointment

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You know what? I don't like these.





Several times now, I've painted things I wasn't that keen on when I saw them in the store or on the website. By the time I'd finished, though, I kind of had an affection for them. Probably just the self-indulgent sort of affection where I secretly rate my own paint scheme over the official studio ones, in fairness, but even so.


But for these Plague Drones? Nope, not a fan. The wings don't quite convince me somehow, nor the dangling mosquito legs, nor the ragged elephant trunks or the jagged scimitar blade feet. They're supposed to be repulsive, sure, I get that, and probably a bit cartoony in the way that Nurgle stuff often is. These just really don't work for me, even if you put a nice Putrid Blightking on top to try and mitigate it. Bleh.


Leofa has very sensibly super-magnetised these, so all the spindly bits don't snap off in transit. So the wings, the riders and the swappable heads can all be taken off. They aren't glued to their bases either (and the bases aren't glued to the flight stand), so they pack amazingly flat for something so spiky.


I need to rant further, though! Because I looked at the stats, assuming that there would be mitigation in there for a ropey model as incentive to buy. Nope - fast for Death Guard, sure, and as hard to shift as any of their other models. But pretty tame in both short ranged shooting and close combat, at least without buffs. To my eye, you'd need a lot of them do be good for anything other than squatting on objectives, and they're so damn expensive I reckon there are other more effective picks you could take instead.

And they're ugly. Did I say that? Even Mrs Kraken stopped by the table to remark on how ugly they are. She wouldn't usually bother to remark on models as a general rule, so these are doing their jobs really well or really badly depending on your taste.

Painting Guide:

  • Riders - See previous posts for Plaguebearers
  • Abdomen: Death Guard Green, Athonian Camoshade, Elysian Green, Rotting Flesh drybrush. Rakarth Flesh for the bellies, Athonian Camoshade, Flayed One Flesh drybrush
  • Carapace - Incubi Darkness, Nuln Oil Gloss, Glistening Green or Amethyst drybrush with an eye to get a bit of iridescence in there, a very light Runefang Silver drybrush for edges, then Waystone Green feathering after the varnish spray later
  • Buboes - Warpfiend Grey, Druchii Violet, Ulthuan Grey dots
  • Eyes - Either Averland Sunset with Bad Moons Yellow or Wazdakka Red with Wild Rider Red, Black pupils
  • Wings - Corax White undercoat, Nuln Oil, Longbeard Grey and Praxeti White drybrush, struts done as for the carapaces
  • Claws - Rakarth Flesh, Agrax Earthshade, Karak Stone and Terminatus Stone drybrushes



And that's the Death Guard sorted!

It's Not Easy Being Green

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Especially if you're blue.




Gretchin! Love them. Small, annoying, cheap and brimming with cheekiness. One of the best bits of 40K fluff is the Ork/Gretchin relationship, both using the other to cover their own weaknesses.


These are corkers, horrible little try-hard thugs with crappy outsize guns, bandit trappings and attitude. They're on the smallest bases around, which made them a bit harder to hold than my big fingers could manage, but it was worth the challenge.


You'd probably want a bigger squad for 40K? Maybe not, maybe ten is enough to fill a slot in your detachment. Of course they won't achieve much, but they're Gretchin, you don't expect them to. With the Runtherd to keep them in line, they'll at least stick around long enough to intercept a couple of bullets or bog down a vehicle in combat or something.


Last time I had any Gretchin was the squad of forty you got with the old 2nd ed box set, row after row of identical ones. Or no, I tell a lie, it was the similar ones from Space Crusade, which I at least painted. These are much more fun to do, much more varied and entertaining.

I know wot yer finkin'. Did ee fire sum shots or did ee fire sum?

Painting Guide:


  • Skin - Goblin Green, Drakenhof Nightshade, Goblin Green layer, Moot Green drybrush, Rotting Flesh lips
  • Runtherd - As per the Boyz from the other day
  • Teeth - Ushabti Bone
  • Eyes - Wazdakka Red
  • Leathery Bits - XV88, Agrax Earthshade, Deathclaw Brown layer, Tyrant Skull finish, or Dryad Bark, Nuln Oil and Sylvaneth for darker fur
  • Gunz - Leadbelcher, Agrax and Nuln Oil, Runefang Silver highlighting
  • Red Bitz - Wazdakka and Wild Rider Red
  • Blue Bitz - Macragge Blue, Drakenhof Nightshade, Lothern Blue. The Squig got the same but with a layer of Ahriman Blue before the Lothern
  • Bases - Sand and PVA with Zandri Dust and Tyrant Skull




Job's a Good'un!



Cerebrals & Tentacles: Thousand Sons vs Tyranids

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The commanders are back in charge of their proper armies - let the grudge continue!


It is I, Stylus, once more at the helm of my Thousand Sons (reigning champions) to try and erase the stain of the drubbing they last received from Kraken's seemingly-invincible Tyranids.

Whereas I, Kraken, would just like to win a game again before the end of the month.


Don't Shoot Until Their Eyes Are White!
It's All-Skype Fight Night!


Armies

The Court of Miracles: Thousand Sons

Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

The core of this list is the one that got tabled in short order (ulp!), but we've upped the ante to 1500pts, so I've got the resources to bring in some of the good stuff: a small pack of Tzaangor, a second squad of Rubrics, another Exalted Sorcerer and, the star of the show, my beloved Defiler.

Aside from the Defiler's lascannons, I'm lacking a bit of range, but I do have a good mix of small-arms and close-combat ability, not to mention two daemon engines to absorb the damage from my infantry and characters. The Daemon Prince is geared for combat, but even he might hang around a bit on the backline.

The Disc Sorcerer is going to be my warlord (I'm already thinking about a quick getaway), and with all my psykers on the table, I'll be bringing nine powers to play (a portentous number).

  • Exalted Sorcerer on Disc of Tzeentch (HQ)
    Force Stave, Inferno Bolt Pistol
    Warlord Trait: High Magister
    Relic: Helm of the Third Eye
    Psychic powers: Doombolt, Weaver of Fates
  • Daemon Prince of Tzeentch (HQ)
    Malefic talons, Wings
    Psychic powers: Gaze of Fate, Warptime
  • Exalted Sorcerer (HQ)
    Force stave, Plasma pistol
    Psychic powers: Death Hex, Prescience
  • 5 x Rubric Marines (Troops)
    Force stave, Warpflame Pistol, 3 x Inferno Boltguns, 1 x Warpflamer
    Psychic powers: Glamour of Tzeentch
  • 5 x Rubric Marines (Troops)
    Force stave, Warpflame Pistol, 3 x Inferno Boltguns, 1 x Warpflamer
    Psychic powers: Temporal Manipulation
  • 10 x Tzaangors (Troops)
    Brayhorn, Tzaangor Blades,
  • 10 x Chaos Cultists (Troops)
    Shotgun, 8 x Autoguns, Heavy Stubber
  • 10 x Chaos Cultists (Troops)
    Autopistol and brutal assault weapon, Flamer
  • 5 x Scarab Occult Terminators (Elite)
    Force stave, 4 x Inferno Combi-bolters, 4 x Power Swords, Soulreaper Cannon, Hellfyre Missile Rack
    Psychic powers: Tzeentch's Firestorm
  • Defiler (Heavy Support)
    Combi-bolter, Defiler scourge, Twin lascannon
  • Heldrake (Flyer)
    Baleflamer, Heldrake claws
Points: 1500 | Battalion: 6 CPs

Hive Fleet Kronos

Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

So because we all know the terrible power of Hive Fleet Kraken 'nids, I'm taking something else. Just in case I'm missing something, you know, not because I want to make it harder for myself!

I'm also taking a much more swarmy list, leaving the excellent Tyrant at home and taking fewer genestealers than I could in favour of the Tervigon/Termagant horde. A shiny new Sporocyst, which should combine objective blocking with anti-infantry goodness, and a test run of a Tyranid Prime with a nice big warrior squad to boost. And the Gargoyles too, I haven't tried them out, they will be my fast response unit. 

Because this is actually a slower, shootier army. Hive Fleet Kronos, this lot, so reroll ones in shooting if they don't move. This is likely to help the Sporocyst and the Tyrannofex the most, they're the gunline, everything else is going to be assaulting forwards. But there's one more reason to take Kronos - my enemy likes his psychic powers. 

Kronos can take a hilariously mean Warlord Trait that throws mortal wounds on any psyker failing a casting test within 18". Coupled with Shadow in the Warp and the even meaner Strategem that forces your opponent to make a casting test on a measly single dice, and you could really screw with your magic foes, and that's the plan - romp up the middle with the psychic whirlpool round the Tervigon, and use the gribblies to mop up the survivors!

  • Tervigon (HQ)
    Massive Scything Talons, Stinger Salvo
    Warlord Trait: Soul Hunger
    Psychic power: Psychic Scream
  • Tyranid Prime (HQ)
    Deathspitter, Flesh Hooks, Lash Whip and Bonesword
    Relic: The Reaper of Obilterax
  • 20 x Genestealers (Troops)
    Rending Claws, 4 x Acid Maw
  • 30 x Termagants (Troops)
    12 x Devourers, 18 x Fleshborers
  • 5 x Tyranid Warriors (Troops)
    4 x Boneswords, 4 x Deathspitter, 5 x Flesh Hooks, 1x Scything Talons, 1 x Venom Cannon
  • 3 x Venomthrope (Elite)
  • 20 x Gargoyles (Fast)
  • Tyrannofex (Heavy Support)
    Adrenal Glands, Rupture Cannon, Stinger Salvo
  • Sporocyst (Fortification)
    5 x Barbed Strangler

        Points: 1500 | Battalion + Fortification Network: 6 CPs  | Hive Fleet Kronos trait

        Terrain & Mission

        Back on the desert battlemap again, and I really need to break my lifetime habit and paint up some scenery. It's the usual hodge-podge of ruins, plus a very large piece of terrain that shows a lot of promise once I can figure out what to do with it. Let's call it a hab-block - it's the biggest piece on the board and will block a fair bit of line-of-sight, which should help to avoid a straightforward artillery duel between our big beasts.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        Our mission is a straightforward one: Kill Confirmed. You get 1 VP for every unit destroyed, plus the usual secondary objectives and whatever other objective cards you draw (but you may not discard any objectives that involve destroying the enemy).

        I've got more units than Kraken, most of them fewer in number and some of them are very squishy, so I'm already sweating the potential of this mission.

        For my part, I'm liking the odds - my massed shooting probably won't shift the Thousand Sons, but their armour is going to melt under Rupture Cannon hits, and the Genestealers ought to be able to cope with the rest! All the same, there's a lot of firepower out there, and my swarms are going to die in droves on the way in. 

        Deployment

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        Unlike the rulebook practice of  'person who places second objective chooses deployment and picks their side', we decided to roll-off for everything*, which makes things more random and removes a huge early advantage to one player.

        *the exception being who places first, which goes to the person who did not pick the deployment side.

        As it transpired, once the objectives were down, Kraken chose Front Line Assault (the 'arrowhead' one) and picked the side with the big hab-block.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        I spend 1 CP to put my Tzaangor into the webway, and Scarab Occult into the teleportarium. My two units of Cultists spread out across two-thirds of my deployment zone, to prevent any early surprises from the Sporocyst or Gargoyles.

        At the tip of the arrow was the Heldrake, because if anyone was going to absorb an early strike, it may as well be him.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        I put a squad of Rubrics in the ruins, on one objective; and another squad on the Ophidian Archway (its debut on home soil!), guarding the other. All my characters, huddled safely behind the Archway, next to the Defiler, who was anchoring the end of my line.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        My lot basically go in a massed pack in the middle, with the Gargoyles high above in the belly of a Harridan, ready to swoop on any handy objectives I might need. The Venomthropes hide at the back, shrouding the bulk of the army, and the Genestealers lurk on the left flank, ready to speed forward into the enemy lines. 

        The Sporocyst (proxied here by this splendid post-soviet doll) slaps right down in the centre, squatting on an objective and ready to throw a massive speed bump into the Thousand Sons if they get cocky and think about advancing. Maybe it's a bit by itself? But at worst, it's going to tie up his shooting for a turn, preserving other, more important units.

        (*genuine* Soviet-era doll, thank you very much. A school trip to St Petersburg secured him for a pack of chewing gum and a signed photo of David Hasselhoff).

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        Despite the odds being against me, I take the first turn (yay!) Just like I did last time (boo!)

        Turn 1 - Thousand Sons

        I begin with drawing Secure Objective 2 (I'm right on it, good start), Defend Objective 4 (currently in Kraken's deployment zone, unlikely), and Scour the Skies (I'll have to wait for the Gargoyles to appear).

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        Tempting as it is to be cautious against Tyranids, a gunline isn't going to serve me here. I soar the Heldrake right across the battlefield, where he lands next to the Tyrannofex.

        The Rubric squad in the ruins nudges forward (keeping in cover, but getting the Aspiring Sorcerer in Smite range of the Sporocyst), and the other squad comes down from the Archway. The Cultists on the extreme flank string an advance upfield, essentially extending the bubble where deepstrikers can't land.

        My Tzaangors remain in deepstrike, by I bring my Terminators down on the flank of the Tyranid Warriors.

        For the main event, the Defiler and Daemon Prince both move up against the Sporocyst. The last thing I want is that thing dropping mortal wound bombs against my lines.

        In the Psychic phase, I'm careful to ensure that I'm out of Shadow of the Warp and Soul Hunger range, since exploding psyker heads would be very bad for me. But it turns out that the Hive Fleet Kronos have a specific stratagem - The Deepest Shadow - to make me roll a psychic test on a single die - most of my powers at 6 to cast (and all the good ones 7+), it pretty much guarantees Kraken can shut down one power per turn - which he duly does with Prescience on my Defiler.

        Everything else goes off well: Glamour of Tzeentch and Weaver of Fates to make my Daemon Prince more survivable, and then a bundle of Smites that chip away wounds from the Sporocyst. I also Warptime the Defiler closer to the Sporocyst so he can't fail the charge.

        Shooting next: my Defiler gets a lascannon hit on the Tervigon, blasting away a couple of wounds. My Heldrake breathes on him, taking off a few more. Small arms fire go into the Sporocyst and my Scarab Occult open up on the Tyranid Warriors - aided by Veterans of the Long War, they still only manage two kills, then fail their subsequent charge

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        The Defiler has no such problems, and makes a huge charge that hits the Sporocyst from the rear. The Deamon Prince follows him in, just to ensure its end. Elsewhere, the Heldrake charges the Tyrannofex, to tie up that devastating Rupture Cannon - he makes it in, but the cannon gets an Overwatch hit and blasts away six wounds!

        In combat, the Heldrake and Tyrannofex whiff against each other and the Defiler squishes the Sporocyst before the Deamon Prince can even raise a claw. With such an enormous footprint, I'm then able to consolidate all the way into the Tyranid lines and engage the swarm of Termagants (who hit away, somewhat surprised, but do no damage.)

        I rack up my first few victory points, and try to shake the nagging feeling that I've just flung my two hardest hitters into the nest of space-vipers.

        Objectives secured: Secure Objective 2 (1), First Blood (1), Sporocyst Kill (1)

        Turn 1 - Tyranids

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        Whaaaat? I'm being hit by first turn charges? Who are these Thousand Sons, some kind of Hive Fleet Kraken in disguise? 

        And I was looking forward to trying out the Spore Mines. Still, the Sporocyst has fulfilled its role as ablative-armour-slash-character-lure, and I've got some nice tempting targets nearby now. So, no matter. Snarling up my planned advance is pretty frustrating, but it at least plays into my tendrils. 

        The Warriors advance on the Terminators, backed by the Prime, as the Tyrannofex lumbers away from the Heldrake. The Tervigon stomps round to smite the flying pest, the Genestealers lick their lips and scuttle forwards on the Defiler and the Gargoyles arrive on my right flank, camping just next to Objective 3. 

        Which I have to hold for two turns, but annoyingly this won't be one of them - I can't quite get close enough to it, thanks to the Terminators. 

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        The Tervigon smites a wound off the Heldrake, then charges in for a quick game of whiffle-swap. Likewise, the Termagants patter uselessly off the Defiler. And the Warriors shamble forward, barely plink a single Terminator down with their weapons, and even that requires supporting fire from the Gargoyles. Then they go charging in, but alas, the Prime fails his charge, so won't be joining them. 

        At least the Genestealers pull off a nice double charge, splitting half on the Defiler, half on the Daemon Prince. Maybe splitting my fire is a mistake? But forty attacks on each of them ought to do the business, I reckon. 

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        In the Fight Phase, I get very spendthrift with my Command Points - spending two to interrupt the combat and hit first with my Terminators, and then another one on Veterans of the Long War to ensure their strikes count for something.

        It almost pays off perfectly - two of the Tyranid Warriors are hacked down, which ensures my survival in the counterstroke, but there is one pesky survivor keeping my guns locked in combat.

        At least I kill another of the big blue dustcans. Elsewhere, their awful armour is holding out well. The Daemon Prince takes a battering, losing five of his wounds in short order, but he deals a few back too. 

        (Correction: my Daemon Prince only lost three wounds - he was making his invulnerable saves like a boss)

        Worse, the Defiler has been kitted out better than I realised for swarm eating, and its high toughness protects it from the damage I was hoping for. Seven Genestealers bite it in total, and the Defiler takes less than a quarter of its wounds - not so good.

        And I score no objectives - I'm also supposed to be advancing out of my deployment zone and scouring the skies of the Heldrake. It's all stuff I can do, really, so I don't want to swap out for things that could be harder, but it's a frustrating start to the match. 

        Turn 2 - Thousand Sons

        I've weathered the first charge of the Tyranids and I'm still alive! My new mission is Big Game Hunter - so killing the Tervigon would do nicely (no easy task, but it's what I need to do anyway). I also have to Defend Objective 3, but that's swarming with Gargoyles, so I discard that at the end of my turn.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        My Daemon Prince celebrates his lucky escape against the Genestealers by getting immediately out of dodge. My Defiler is too overwhelmed to move, but at least he can't get shot while he's swatting bugs.

        The Heldrake flaps out of combat and perches on top of the hab-block, all ready to breath fire down on the Tyranid Prime. Elsewhere, I shuffle up the flanks: the Rubrics to take on the Gargolyes and the Cultists to try and threaten linebreaker (they'll only survive if Kraken forgets about them, but at least he'll have to divert something to deal with them).

        In the Psychic Phase, its Weaver of Fates that gets shut down by The Deepest Shadow stratagem, which means I can at least cast Prescience to increase the Defiler's hitting chances. In more aggressive mood, a series of Smites smash into Genestealers - including a boosted Smite that drops their numbers down below ten, making them much more manageable in combat. I also Warptime the Rubrics into rapid-fire (and flamer) range of the Gargoyles.

        But the power I really need to go off is Tzeentch's Firestorm for my Scarab Aspiring Sorcerer. It's a bit like an expensive Smite (although we're playing beta rules where Smite gets more expensive, so it can be cheaper), but you must roll 6s with nine dice.

        If I pull this off, I can obliterate the final Tyranid Warrior, leaving my Terminators free to shoot. I cast the power and then roll - only two 6s. That's the last of my powers spent - but I have a stratagem - The Great Sorcerer - that allows me to cast one extra. I give it to my Scarab Sorcerer to cast Smite - he can only do one wound, but that's all he needs. And then it fails to cast.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        In the Shooting Phase, the Heldrake coughs out a single hit that fails to wound, and most of the centre of the battlefield is locked in combat. My Rubrics take out their frustrations by gunning down about half the swarm of Gargolyes (who will ignore the hideous morale consequences due to my failure to kill the Tyranid Prime).

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        In close combat, my Scarah Occult rally round and beat up the last Tyranid Warrior, so I at least secure another point. The Defiler directs all his attacks against the Genestealers, killing six of them and scarcely taking any damage in return. I am concerned that he could end the game surrounded by Termagants that he'll never be able to finish off, but as long as he's still a presence, I might be able to mount a rescue.

        Objectives secured: Tyranid Warriors Kill (1)

        Turn 2 - Tyranids

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        This all appears to be going south! My lovely Genestealers are a spent force, and there's a strong risk they'll die uselessly against the Defiler before I can get them into a combat they would shine in. The Termagants aren't going to hurt it, the Tyranid Prime has no chums left, and the Gargoyles are badly depleted. 

        Still lots left to play with, mind you! And most importantly, the Rupture Cannon...

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        The Gargoyles go and grab Objective 3 at last, and start camping. The Prime advances on the Terminators, ready to do what he can to hold them up - combat is actually his safest bet, they'll shoot him apart otherwise. 

        The Termagants and Genestealers disengage. I shall hold this forever as a moment of shame, running Genestealers out of combat and into cover, but it's that or lose them. Sigh. 

        But it pays off. The Tyrannofex effortlessly murders the Defiler with a single round of shooting, and even plinks the Heldrake with his stinger salvos. I also claim another wound off it with a Smite from the Tervigon, but elsewhere, shooting doesn't really achieve much. The Gargoyles can't hurt the Teminators any more than the Prime can. 

        Worse, the damn Defiler explodes! And, thanks to his giant bootprint, takes three of the four remaining Genestealers with it. Gah.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.
        Write 'Booooom' in the middle of this picture, and you've captured the moment perfectly. 

        The Venomthropes ooze forward, in the absence of anything else to do, and the 'gants get ready to swarm, but can't shoot yet. The Prime wounds a Terminator, but that's his lot, and he's already pretty battered from overwatch shots earlier. So although I score a point for killing the Defiler, I don't really feel like I'm hitting my potential yet. 

        Objectives - Defiler Kill (1)

        Turn 3 - Thousand Sons

        So long Defiler, at least you went out in a blaze of glory. My new objective is to Defend Objective 2, which should be simple as it's the corner of the field that indisputably mine.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        I bring my Tzaangors out of the webway and into the Tyranid back line - I still have that Tervigon marked for death, and with their Relic Hunters rule, they might sneak in a few wounds. The Heldrake adjusts his perch so an easy charge on the big beast is on.

        My Cultists continue to move up the table - not advancing this time, as I have that final Genestealer in my sights. The other Cultists camp around Objective 2. My Daemon Prince swoops off into the blind spot of the hab-block, keeping out of sight. The Rubrics nearest the Gargoyles move back into rapid-fire range, but ensure they are in range to heal up the Daemon Prince. Everyone else holds fast.

        The Psychic Phase begins ... poorly. In my haste to keep the Daemon Prince hidden, I moved him into Shadow of the Warp range (totally unnecessary - he could have easily landed a few inches back). And of course that mean he only just failed his first spell - Gaze of Fate. This meant that he was also in Soul Hunger range and lost a further 3 wounds. After that, I wasn't about to risk any more spells with him.

        Eager to recover some wounds, the Rubric's Aspiring Sorcerer attempts Temporal Manipulation and rolls double 6. I'm all out of re-rolls (gee, a Gaze of Fate would've been useful about now), so I have to take the full Perils, blowing up the Aspiring Sorcerer, and taking out one of his Rubrics, a couple of Cultists and the odd Gargoyle for good measure. I can't remember if he also tags the wounded Daemon Prince, but it really would be the crowning glory for his triage skills.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.
        "Here, let me heal youuuuaaaaaaaaaarggghhhh my head is melting!"

        After this heady excitement, the rest of my Psychic phase is muted. I pick up speed in the Shooting Phase, as my lowly Cultists gun down the last remaining Genestealer and my sans-Sorcerer Rubrics wipe out the last of the Gargoyles. Small fry, but it all nets me kill points and Scour the Skies. Speaking of fry, the Heldrake manages to burn a few more wounds off the Tervigon, who is finally starting to show the strain.

        Yeah, half my wounds left doesn't feel like enough to make it all the way through, and he's my last synapse unit. Not good. 

        The Heldrake then charges in, but the Tzaangor fall just short. In the ensuing combat, he rips off another couple of wounds while the two remaining Terminators hack down the wounded Tyranid Prime - that's another kill point, and two of the three Synapse/Shadow of the Warp creatures down (shame the last one's such a bugger to kill).

        Objectives secured: Scour the Skies (1), Gargoyles Kill (1), Tyranid Prime Kill (1), Genestealers Kill (1)

        Turn 3 - Tyranids


        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        Well, I have a simple and obvious way to pull this back, and that's skittering forward and eating everything in my path. There's even handy new objectives, which are to kill something in the fight phase, and then take an objective in the back field of the enemy. I later ditch the Secure Objective 3 plan, though, there's nothing over that side of the field any more. 

        Between smites and rupture cannon work, the Heldrake is toast as the Tervigon limps away from it. The Termagants find their range and murderate the cultists handily, but even with weight of fire, they don't do more than scratch the Rubrics ahead of them. 

        I do pull out a surprise Venomthrope attack, though, the very first time they've hurt anyone in any of the games I've taken them in! A sneaky poison tentacle snaps out and takes the Daemon Prince down to his last wound. He's looking pretty scared now, I feel confident he's not going to be doing much except skulking and buffing for the rest of the game, which is good. He's one of the few things I'd trust to finish off the Tervigon at this point. 

        A dribble of handy points is starting to emerge, but I'm way behind. Gotta kill them all...

        Objectives: Heldrake and Cultists Killed (2), Scour the Skies (1)

        Thousand Sons Objectives secured: Defend Objective 2 (2)

        Turn 4 - Thousand Sons

        I'm still stuck with Big Game Hunter, so high command gives me a lucky break with Master the Warp, which I reckon I might just about manage.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        I'm ahead on points, but seriously deficient in big hitters, so my best plan is to melt away and hope for an early conclusion. My intact Rubric squad starts falling back towards the Archway, while the other one moves towards the Scarab Occult, using the hab-block to screen them. My Tzaangor move close to the Tervigon and my Daemon Prince carefully moves out of Shadow of the Warp range.

        Then I get a plan: if my Disc Sorcerer can get close enough to the Tervigon (which would be perched on top of the hab-block), he can throw a Smite on him. This would mean that I'd be leaving my warlord open to getting shot by Rupture Cannon, but if my Daemon Prince were to then Warptime him back out of sight behind the hab-block, I'd have myself a good old 2nd Edition 'pop-up attack'.

        Not happy with pretending to be Tyranids, now they're playing at being Eldar. Great. 

        I put this into practice during the Psychic phase, and it actually works - three mortal wounds on the Tervigon and my Exalted Sorcerer chuckling from the blind side of the terrain piece. I then boost the Tzaangor's invulnerable saves with Weaver of Fates and call it a day - having secured maximum Master the Warp points, I don't want to push my luck.

        Shooting reduces the Venomthropes to a lone gribbly on his last wound, and whittle away a few Termagants, just to force the Tervigon to spit out some more.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        In the combat phase, the Tzaangor make their charge easily and land a boatload of hits on the Tervigon, but can't do much against the massive toughness of the beast. It won't be shooting next turn, but it may well be their last huzzah.

        As a final squib, my D3 roll for Master the Warp comes out as 1.

        Objectives secured: Master the Warp (1)

        Turn 4 - Tyranids

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        Tzaangor? You hope to stop my majestic Tervigon with a rabble of mutant beakfaces? Hah! Calmly, the lumbering monster moves on, and shortly afterwards all the beastmen explode in a hail of beetle fire from the Termagants. Which is nice, because they can't actually see anything else to shoot. 

        The lone Venomthrope charges the Daemon Prince, a surprise move that could pull a kill out of the bag, but I get countercharged by the Heroic Intervention of the Magister himself. Still worth it! For the sheer outrage factor. 

        It's a quick and quiet phase otherwise, though. The Tyrannofex spatters fire over the Scarab Occults, but their armour mostly protects them. Obviously the Venomthrope dies without effect, but had it survived, it could have plinked a mortal wound off the big guy. 

        This is looking increasingly like being a loss to me. The enemy is going to ground faster than I can find or kill it, but at least I'm not getting tabled either - Stylus simply doesn't have the time or firepower to take out the Tyrannofex and all those 'gants, I suspect. At least, as long as I can maintain synapse.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        Objectives: Beastman Kill (1)

        Thousand Sons Objectives secured: Venomthropes Kill (1)

        Turn 5 - Thousand Sons

        We're running and hiding, although my orders have different ideas, and issue me Vengeance Long Awaited - which I'll basically score if I kill a unit. This must be the worst time in the battle to receive these order, since I've already wiped everything within my capability and am now faced with the three most unkillable things in the Tyranid army.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        I continue my plan of running and hiding - Rubrics and Exalted Sorcerer in the Archway, other Rubrics and Scarab Occult behind the hab-block, Daemon Prince in the lee of the hab-block and the Cultists among the ruins.

        Not one to let repetition stand in the way of a good plan, I move to repeat my psychic pop-up. The Disc Sorcerer moves back into Smite range of the Tervigon and cracks his knuckles.

        The Daemon Prince warms up with Gaze of Fate - and miscasts! Double 6 again! He promptly loses his last wound and disappears back into the Warp, taking a wound off the warlord and zapping another of the truncated Rubric marines, who must be sick of psychic backlash by now.

        Somewhat stunned, the Exalted Sorcerer tries his Smite, but only takes off a single wound and is now left dangling before the entire Tyranid army.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        There is one my psychic dice to throw - by Scarab Occult Sorcerer can cast his Tzeentch's Firestorm at the Tervigon. It goes off and I promptly roll nine dice and see no 6s (I got five 1s, if anyone's counting).

        What little shooting remains achieves nothing and I can only wait to take my medicine.

        Objectives secured: none

        Tyranid Objectives: Daemon Prince kill (1)

        Turn 5 - Tyranids

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        But with nothing to see, there's nothing to kill! The 'gants roam forward, and pick off a few cultists, but I don't really have range to them for the full horror of my firepower. I forget to try and charge the Rubrics ahead, but we were actually further off than the map makes it look, and it would have been a dicey attempt at best.

        It would be remiss of me not to mention my warlord getting shot at by a freaking RUPTURE CANNON! But fortune swings back my way, and a combination of missed hits and great invulnerable saves means that my Sorcerer is, improbably, still alive on his Disc.

        The wounded Tervigon is now struggling to keep up, but I at least score that objective I've been clutching since the beginning of the game - I get the Tyrannofex out of my deployment zone, and score the Advance. Nothing else is achieved! But there will at least be another turn, so there's still hope. 

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        Objectives: Advance (1)

        Turn 6 - Thousand Sons

        As my warlord struggles to believe his luck in surviving, he gets a specific command: Priority Orders Received + Secure Objective 3. There's a whopping four VPs to be had with this order, and as luck would have it, it's a short disc ride away.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.
        Ignore the position of my Warlord on Disc - he's actually on Objective 3

        I immediately advance my warlord in range to claim Objective 3 (the one surrounded by dead Gargoyles) and bring the last two Rubrics in front of him as a bodyguard. 

        The Scarabs continue to slog around the hab-block, but its proving as obstructive for me as it is for the Tyranids. Only the Aspiring Sorcerer can get eyes on the Tervigon; the Hellfyre Missile Terminator has to settle for the Tyrannofex (who is never going down this battle).

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        I do manage to cast Tzeentch's Firestorm at the Tervigon - this time I manage a single mortal wound, so my luck's improving somewhat. The Hellfyre missiles take another wound of the Tyrannofex and that's me done.

        Objectives secured: Priority Orders Received + Secure Objective 3 (4)

        Turn 6 - Tyranids

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        Even at close range, I can't get the Termagants line of sight to a single foe. All those juicy beetles go unfired! The Tervigon is looking dire, hanging on a thread of its last three wounds, so hugs the building and crosses its claws for luck. 

        And although I can see the Terminators, the Tyrannofex whiffs the shots, achieving precisely nothing. So a quiet turn for me, but even now, it's not the last - the fight lurches on into the seventh.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        Objectives secured: none

        Turn 7 - Thousand Sons

        Final orders for me - Witch Hunter, as if killing the Tervigon hadn't been my priority for the whole game. Although the combination of  Big Game Hunter and Vengeance Long Awaited (plus Slay the Warlord and a standard kill point), means that the Tervigon is worth 5 VPs to me. 

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        I fly the warlord back to his precarious perch and try a Smite. It goes off, but only causes one wound! The Aspiring Sorcerer tries Tzeentch's Firestorm again, figuring that, by now, the laws of probability owe me a couple of 6s. Reality disagrees, and I get no mortal wounds on him.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        It's down the my final shots of the game: the Hellfyre missile rack. Both missiles hit, both wound. One is saved. Final dice throw, and I need 3 or higher to kill this thing once and for all.

        I roll a 2. Nooooo!

        Objectives secured: none

        Turn 7 - Tyranids

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.

        There's nothing to see! Nothing to do! The 'gants still can't draw a bead on the Rubrics, and even fail an easy charge, so can do nothing but grind their many many teeth.

        As a clarification, the Termagants were now so close that at least half of them could peek around the Archway to shoot, and they all charged in, taking a half-dozen casualties to Overwatch. But with the combination of cover saves and All Is Dust, my Rubrics are as durable as Terminators. I lost perhaps one marine in both phases. At least it scores Kraken Linebreaker.

        The Tervigon and Tyrannofex turn to face the enemy, but don't really achieve much. I fail my smite against the Magister, then the Rubrics are actually a bit closer and have to be shot at, which doesn't really impress anyone (I think the Rupture Cannon butchers one of them, but that's it). 

        And then that is, finally and with something of a deflating feeling, it. 

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Kill Confirmed - 1500 points - Thousand Sons vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Kronos.
        "Jeff! Stick your head out and see if they've gone yet, will you?"

        Objectives secured: Linebreaker (1)

        Thousand Sons Objectives secured: Linebreaker (1)


        Final total: 17 vs 8 VPs - a win for Thousand Sons!

        Back At Bughunter's Bar

        That was really something! One helluva match and it played out in a way neither of us were expecting. Who could predict that the Tyranids would find themselves penned into their own deployment zone, struggling to get out? Who could predict my Terminators would actually last a whole game? Who could predict that I'd blow up half my psykers with miscasts (actually, anyone familiar with my history in these battle reports).

        Aye, it was a grand match. 2000 points is supposedly the ideal for 40K, and I can see why - more going on, a much lower chance of tabling, and it's a lot easier to acheive objectives with more stuff on the table. Despite my early drubbing, I was still very much in the game with a reasonable chance of pulling back all the way through, and it was very enjoyable despite the loss!

        My getting the first turn was an important one - board control is so important in 8th edition and once the gribblies start running everywhere, you can kiss your objectives goodbye. Luckily I could play aggressive, and once the initial strikes were over, hide my damaged units to save kill points.

        I can't remember experiencing such swings of luck in a game - my dice ran from very hot, to very cold, to downright treacherous and right back again. It seems an entirely fitting way to play Tzeentch.

        Even though I find myself at the end of another victory where my forces are hiding behind cover and clinging onto victory points, I thinking maybe that's a decent playstyle for Thousand Sons: get in there and secure objectives, then rely on evasion and durability to survive a tabling.

        I'm also thinking that daemon engines are a key part of the army, providing some solid multiple-wound targets that can dish out serious damage. They also make better use of the psychic buffs better than most of the other units. The Heldrake was a splendid nuisance along the backline and the Defiler earned his corn as always. I don't want to lean too heavily on them, but I am going to be tempted by a Maulerfiend or Helbrute in the next iteration.

        I reckon if run and hide is your thing, transport tanks would be worth a look at (even if you don't like the models). Rhinos with flamers, for example, or a nice big Land Raider, very reliable and deadly. 

        Tracked vehicles? Never! There are no roads on the Planet of the Sorcerers!


        Playing with 1500pts was a lot of fun too, as was using the whole battlefield (and it turns out, we did use it all). It makes a difference having a few more elements in the army, to regroup and counterpunch, and it's worth the extra time taken (though I clearly need to expand my collection).

        For my ten cents, I'd say that my army needed to be much shootier to take advantage of the Kronos keywords. The psychic defense was invaluable, but taking a Neurothrope instead of the Prime would have been a better idea. Equally, the Sporocyst would have done better in a quieter part of the battlefield, and actually sending the Genestealers forwards and into the squishier part of the enemy instead of getting torn up by the Defiler would have been wiser. I'm sure the Tyrannofex could have dealt with it in shooting anyway, and losing two turns of advance and fire from the 'gants was a sore loss. Still, hindsight and all!

        Gorgon next for me, I'm thinking, there's some tempting tricks in there to examine. But not until I've painted some more of the swarm!

        A ripper of a battle, and nice to get one over on the 'Nids (who I remain in terror of). Onwards Thousand Sons!

        Green and Bear It

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        Still keeping it green here.



        The last of this Ork warband is done! I hear interesting rumours ahead for the Ork Codex in a month or two. Always liked the Orks as a faction (and their models), so it'll be good if they get a really decent book to boost them back to their rightful place as a major threat to the Imperium.

        Ork Nobz up first, so you can write your own gags for the next few paragraphs. I'm done.


        [insert nob jokes here]


        This is a pair of Deffkoptaz, I think? Not sure which box set they come from, they aren't currently appearing on the GW site anywhere. Something from last edition, perhaps, one of the campaign sets. Nice models, anyway, and I'm particularly pleased with the rusty metal on these. Typhus Corrosion over the whole model, then sponged with Leadbelcher, washed with watery Deathclaw Brown and given a light drybrush of Runefang Silver. Quick and effective.

        Ride of the Vorkalrees
        "I am da smell of napalm in da mornin'!"
        "Dun DUN da dun dun derrrr, dun da dun dun derrr, dun da dun dun derrrr, dun da dun dunnnnn!"

        Finally, their Warboss, a chunky and imposing chap. Dunno how he intends to use that brace duelling pistols slung over his back when his entire left hand is a massive pair of scissors, but it clearly isn't worrying him.

        "Righto chaps, form a phalanx and watch the flanks, we'll advance steadily in cover towards that ridge."

        And that's the lot! Altogether, it looks like a few hundred points worth of Orks. No idea how it would handle on the field, but I'd imagine it would benefit from either a lot more bodies or a clutch of vehicles to support. Wait for the Codex to see, I guess!


        "Oi, ya littul runt! Da Boss sed wait!"

        The Warband of Putrifus Bligh

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        Chaos warriors! Now that takes me back.





        More of Leofa's meticulous conversions, this is a small group of Nurgle Warriors built from Putrid Blightkings bits on a Heroquest Original chassis. All parts dear to my heart in many ways, and they're a tasty little gang overall.


        Painting chaos warriors is where I came in on this blog, really. Funny to be painting them again - it's been a couple of years. Despite still loving them and their faction, I'm not really looking to use mine much at the moment. AoS pales in comparison to 40K for me, probably thanks to the shooting and strategems parts (same game otherwise, let's be honest), and that's where I'm currently invested at the moment. No amount of Mer-elfs are going to convince me otherwise.



        The rider is a really good touch, harking back to that nice resin scythe lord from a while ago. Other than paint, the only thing I added was some fungal blooms on the base. That's done with a blob of PVA and then a dash of superglue on top while it's still wet - the two react together to form a twisty-looking knot. I saw it done as organic Tyranid basing somewhere, and it looks great, although I'm not sure it's worth the resources to cover an entire base with it. You'd use a lot of superglue very fast.


        Painting Guide:


        • Undercoat - Leadbelcher, I think it was. Something dark and silver, anyway
        • Metals - Nuln Oil and Agrax Earthshade over the undercoat, Runefang Silver drybrush
        • Green armour - Orkhide Flesh, Athonian Camoshade, Elysian Green, the rider got some very very watery Putrid Flesh spattered on that's dried in a pleasingly fungal pattern
        • Armour Trim - Brass Scorpion, Runelord Brass
        • Helms - Ushabti Bone, Seraphim Sepia, Pallid Wychflesh layering
        • Weapons - Typhus Corrosion over the basecoat, Runefang Silver layers
        • Wood - Dryad Bark and Sylvanus Brown drybrush
        • Boots and Straps - Rhinox, Nuln Oil, Gorthor Brown drybrush
        • Flesh - Barbarian Flesh, Flesh ink wash, Kislev Flesh
        • Puffballs - Rakarth Flesh, Druchii Violet, Pallid Wychflesh, Praxeti White drybrush, Carroberg Crimson layer
        • Soil - Skrag Brown, Tau Light Ochre drybrush



        Leofa, your commissions are complete! The usual delivery methods are to suffice, I take it?

        I see Fields of Green

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        Unfortunately, someone's eaten all the red roses.




        Nobody looks forward to doing big blocks of troops. Everyone looks forwards to the results, of course, that happy feeling of having put another hobby chore behind you. That's the blissful state of mind I can finally relax into after a solid week of grind on this tarpit. The Termagants are done!

        I couldn't quite face doing all the little stripes and spots for this lot, so they got a slightly reduced version. Two spot ladybirds, basically. Fly away home, your house is on fire and your children's biomass has been absorbed for future recombination, type thing. 

        Thirty two is a slightly annoying number. It's two more than a maximum size unit, in fact. I knew I wanted to be able to field thirty, but buying them as one standard box set of twelve (the ones with devourers, the bigger guns that look like half a well-chewed pine cone) and then four of the smaller boxes of five was a bit cheaper. And let it be said, I am nothing if not cheap.


        The boxes of five are less posable and don't come with all the extra weapon options, but who's going to notice that in a big swarm? Not me. Although I did use some spare armour plates to customise a couple of them just in case.

        Landshark version
        Big shoulder pads version

        They look pretty good in their full squad, charging down the field like a splendid herd of wildebeest. Although at the same time, if I'm honest, there's also a slight feeling of disappointment. Is that really all thirty? All that time painting, and they don't seem that intimidating a hoard. Not that I'm going to do any more, there's still plenty of Tyranid left in the painting pile.

        "When we left the hive ship, did you remember to turn the oven off?"

        Speaking of which, it's the new spring season for the Tyrant.

        All the Boneswords! Which makes this guy the Swarmlord, technically.
        Heavy Venom Cannon and Scything Talons

        Painting scheme is absolutely exactly the same as the last zillion of the little buggers I painted, so let's skip that today. Nice to have all the weapon options finished, really, just in time for what internet rumours promise to be a points increase and selection nerfing for the Tyrant. Some nobnuts fielded an army almost entirely consisting of Flyrants at a recent tournament, which has all the non-Tyranid players moaning about OP, accuracy to fluff, neck beard neck beard whiney whine whine, etc.

        Monstrous Crushing Claws and Stranglethorn Cannon.
        Personally, I think (although I would) that the flying tyrant tail looks fine like this, like he's pouncing on something. Or singing 'the wonderful thing about Tiggers.'
        Claws and Wings

        For the record, I'd say 'get over it' - no amount of points tweaking is ever going to make 40K a fully balanced, totally fair game. As fast as you fix one rules abuse, another will arrive. Taking nothing but commanders in your army list is totally fair, especially for the awful-sounding big competition scene, where everyone pulls such shenanigans in one form or another. It's annoying that humble, single-Tyrant types like me will get slapped with whatever GW comes up with to 'fix' it afterwards, though.

        Flyrant with Bonesword and Whip

        Ah well! At least it will likely stop me considering buying a second one! So I can splurge my money on some other nonsense (a Harpy, quadruple Carnifexes, two hundred more 'gants!!) instead.

        See? Thirty is almost nothing. I need enough to tile my kitchen wall to wall. And someone else to paint them for me. 

        Swiss Army Brute

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        I can see that project updates from I, Stylus, have been pretty thin since February, and I have duly sealed myself within a daemon engine sarcophagus in penance.

        A magnetised chaos helbrute with all weapon options for Thousand Sons, Warhammer 40k
        "Where are the toilets in here?"


        In truth, there are two reasons why my hobby has slowed down to the point where, short of a painting frenzy, I am *never* going to meet my annual goals:

        1. I am WoffBoot Champion 2018, and glory doesn't just bask itself.
        2. Weather over the past few months has been abysmal (if not, arctic) and I've barely had a chance to venture outside to do any spray priming. Winter can be a real roadblock to painting. Roll on the summer months, when I can stay indoors and use all that natural light.
        Undaunted, I have been doing a lot of assembly (another 60 models have been added to my Shelf of Shame) and - this is the real kicker - magnetising.

        Pre-Woffboot, I ordered a Helbrute for the Thousand Sons, as I figured they could use a little punch and firepower. Luckily, it didn't arrive in time, and I had to fall back on its larger cousin, the Defiler (which ROCKED!)

        But when the Helbrute did arrive, I was caught on the dilemma of which of its many weapon configurations to use (I swear this was never as much bother in Fantasy - you either had a shield, or you didn't).

        No other choice - magnetisation!

        A magnetised chaos helbrute with all weapon options for Thousand Sons, Warhammer 40k

        This really isn't for the faint-hearted (or for those lacking magnets). None of your Space Marine Dreadnought pop-off-one-gun-and-replace here - the Helbrute is a morass of interconnected and shared configurations:
        • The two Helbrute fists are the easiest - they have their own shoulder pads and sit right on the sides. Interestingly, the joint is sculpted with jagged flesh, which helps to 'grip' the magnet in place (very useful)
        • The right-hand missile launcher, is just a missile launcher, easy.
        • The right-hand hammer shares a shoulder pad with the right-hand flail - so you have to tuck the magnet into the recess and hope it connects.
        And that's the easy part! Wait until you get to the guns:
        • All five guns share the same connecting shoulder pad (so you'd better glue the correct polarity)
        • The Autocannon, Multi-Melta and Plasma Cannon then connect onto the shoulder plate.
        • The Heavy Bolter and Lascannon both share the SAME connecting piece that, in turn, connects to the shoulder plate.
        Basically, don't put this Helbrute anywhere near a USB stick. It will erase every scrap of data from ten yards away.

        I went slow and *very* carefully - and I'm very happy to say that (possibly for the first time), not one magnet was backward, not one connection is anything less than flush and strong.

        (Credit where it's due - I was expertly guided by this very useful tutorial)

        I can now field him in whatever configuration I want (although, given I bought him to be a DakkaBrute, that's probably what he'll be most of the time).

        Best of all - Disco Brute!

        Jive Maulin'


        Revenge of the Nerfbat: Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids

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        The bugs are running lose again? It's like I always say: never send a marine, to do a Primaris marine's job...


        Battle time once again! I, Stylus, will be supersizing my portion of Astartes, and taking the Primaris Marines out for a field-test. Kindly (and unwittingly) loaned to me by Kasfunatu - but don't worry, we'll wipe down the fingerprints and re-fill the bolter rounds, and he'll be none the wiser.

        Challenged by this rare display of alpha humanity strutting about, I, Kraken, shall unleash a tide of unstoppable monstrosities to poison the very sky with horror. Or my usual selection of Tyranids, at any rate, undeterred by all the whining that the internet is doing about the post-FAQ changes. 


        Bird? Plane? Or Kite? 

        No! It's All-Skype Fight Night!


        Armies

        Boltgun Vincit Omnia - Primaris Ultramarines

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.
        The Primaris Crypt Angels are well under way, and I managed to get the whole of Stylus' picks three-colour ready in time for the fight. Now to freehand all those shoulder pads...

        My record with space marines is played two / lost two, but now I have these extra extra-augmented warriors at my disposal, how can I go wrong?

        Force structure is limited to what is available, but my strategy is very much along the lines of 'kid in a candy store'. I take a whole swathe of characters, enough Intercessor squads to fill out a Battalion Detachment, and then some glorious heavies in the form of a Redemptor Dreadnought and a massive Hellblaster squad.

        The only shortfall is that I would have liked more Inceptors, but I guess you have to draw the line somewhere. I did have enough to divide my command into a Vanguard Detachment, so with the new FAQ command points allowance, plus the warlord trait refunding them, I should be swimming in command points!

        ... so it's a bit of a rude awakening to discover that, due to the unit-specific nature of the Space Marine stratagems, there's only six I can use (and only about half that I'd want to). Ah well, guess re-rolling dice isn't going to be a concern.

        • Primaris Captain (HQ)
          Master-crafted stalker bolt rifle, Power sword
          Warlord Trait: Adept of the Codex
          Relic: The Santic Halo
        • Primaris Librarian (HQ)
          Force sword
          Psychic powers: Might of Heroes, Null Zone
        • Primaris Lieutenants (HQ)
          • Primaris Lieutenant: Master-crafted stalker bolt rifle
          • Primaris Lieutenant: Power sword
        • 5 x Intercessor Squad (Troops)
          Auxiliary Grenade Launcher, Bolt rifle, Intercessor Sergeant
        • 5 x Intercessor Squad (Troops)
          Bolt rifle, Intercessor Sergeant
        • 5 x Intercessor Squad (Troops)
          Bolt rifle, Intercessor Sergeant
        • Primaris Ancient (Elite)
        • Primaris Apothecary (Elite)
        • Redemptor Dreadnought (Elite)
          2 x Storm Bolters, Macro Plasma Incinerator, Onslaught Gatling Cannon, Icarus Rocket Pod, Redemptor fist.
        • 4 x Inceptor Squad (Fast)
          Assault bolter, Inceptor Sergeant
        • 9 x Hellblaster Squad (Heavy)
          Plasma incinerator, Hellblaster Sergeant: Bolt pistol
        Points: 1500 | Battalion + Vanguard: 9 CPs

        Hive Fleet Gorgon Afanc

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.

        • Hive Tyrant (HQ)
          Adrenal Glands, Heavy Venom Cannon, Hyper-adaptive Biology, Monstrous Rending Claws, Wings
          Warlord Trait: Adaptive Biology
          Psychic powers: Onslaught, Psychic Scream
        • Neurothrope (HQ)
          Psychic power: The Horror
        • Neurothrope (HQ)
          Psychic power: Catalyst
        • 20 x Genestealers (Troops)
          Rending Claws, Toxin Sacs
        • 30 x Termagants (Troops)
          12 x Devourers, 18 x Fleshborers
        • 5 x Tyranid Warriors (Troops)
          3 x Boneswords, Deathspitters & Flesh Hooks; 1 x Scything Talons, Deathspitters & Flesh Hooks; 1 x Scything Talons, Venom Cannon
        • 1 x Mucolid Spores (Fast)
        • 6 x Spore Mines (Fast)
        • Tyrannofex (Heavy)
          Acid Spray, Adrenal Glands, Stinger Salvo
        • Tyrannocyte (Transport)
          5 x Venom Cannon
        Points: 1499 | Battalion: 8 CPs  | Hive Fleet Gorgon trait

        So midway through picking out my list, the big 40K FAQ struck after the recent Adepticon tournament. With it came the unwelcome news that my Flyrant was now going to cost me more points, as well as changes to the rules to stop me flooding my opponent's drop zone with deep strikes in the first turn. 

        All good changes, though! I think, anyway, all the new stuff seems determined to curb the worst instincts of tournament players and make the game (slightly) more balanced and fun. I decided to stick to my original plans, at any rate, and see if I could adapt on the fly(rant). 

        This is a Hive Fleet Gorgon list, that being the Afanc alternative of the day. A very adaptive Tyrant, who ought to be a bugger to shift if he can survive a first hit, and a selection of spore mines and transports to help him drop down in turn two. Otherwise, the army hits even harder in close combat, rerolling all ones to wound in the fight phase to represent their lethal poisons. 

        The army is carefully following the rules of how much has to be on the table at the start. The rank and file is a big pack of bubblewrap in the form of Termagants, some average Joe Warriors and a huge alpha strike of Genestealers, tooled up with full toxin sacs. Two Neurothropes to provide synapse and psychic support, and that's the troops dealt with.

        Marines have good armour, which Tyranids aren't great against, so I've got a few venom cannons here and there to help. Mostly on the Tyrannocyte, actually, which is a poor shooter, but makes up for it with volume of fire at least. 

        Finally, the big gun - a Tyrannofex with acid spray. He'll be dropping down in the Tyrannocyte, where his nasty gun ought to make a mess of anything in range. 

        Overall, the plan is to have the troops on table to start, romp them forward into the enemy guns and hope enough survive that when the drop troops arrive on turn two, they can soak enough firepower for the remnants of the troopers to clean up. Claws crossed!


        Battlefield and Deployment

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.

        Icy swamps! Who'd have guessed? Plus a bit of jungly research station in the middle, just for fun. This 6x3 battlefield is short on account of my kitchen not quite having space for a 6x4 table, so our deployment zones will be shrunk back by 6" towards the edges to balance it out. 


        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.

        The buildings are staggered down the field to give line of sight blocking, and there's plenty of ruins and woods/swamps at the edges. Staying mobile and using the cover is going to pay off, as we've both got enough firepower to put the hurt on each other. 

        Randomly rolling a mission gives us the Cloak and Shadows from Maelstrom of War. Darkness shrouds the field. That's nice - there's a penalty to hit over 18", but most of my guns are closer ranged than that and I'll want to be running forward anyway, so this is mostly a pain for Stylus. Our objective cards are also kept secret, so it's a bit harder to block your opponent over specific objectives when you don't know what they're after. 


        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.

        I win the roll-off for picking deployment and go with Vanguard Strike, so we're facing off diagonally. My plan is to feint left with the packs of troops, then send the Genestealers off round the other way (behind the big rock to hide) and then meet in the middle of the enemy lines around turn three. The Flyrant, Tyrannocyte plus Tyrannofex and spore mines of all sizes take to the air, and won't be about until turn two at the earliest, so I'm going to have to pray everything can survive long enough.

        I'm somewhat torn in my deployment: I really want my Hellblasters to have a commanding view, but the likeliest spot for this is the low bunker, which is a bit too close to the edge of my deployment zone for comfort. I decide to chance it, planting the Hellblaster squad on the roof, accompanied by a General Committee Meeting of Captain, Lieutenant, Librarian, Ancient and Apothecary.

        The Dreadnaught anchors one end of the bunker (to also benefit from the re-roll bubble) and the Intercessor squads string out along the line - I'm thinking I'll need to push them forward to keep the xenos tide away from my castle.

        The Inceptors go into orbit, and the poor lone Lieutenant gets the thankless task of sitting on the backfield and ensuring nothing can get into deepstrike range.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.

        That gives us a final deployment looking more or less like this:

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.

        Turn 1 - Hive Fleet Afanc

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.

        Objective Draw - Take and Hold 6, Defend 3, Scour the Skies

        I've got the first turn, so I get straight to work rushing everything into cover as quickly as I can. Alas, my big units are not very easy to fit into cover. The Termagants just don't all fit in the handy nearby wood, and are even poking out of the sides of the building I attempt to hug, but hopefully there's enough going on elsewhere that they won't be a priority. 

        The Genestealers go to ground behind the castle, as planned, and the Tyranid Warriors... well, they end up in the middle of the field, waving a cheery hello to the assorted plasma guns of the Ultramarines. Eep. This means they get Catalyst to keep them going, and I'd better hope the dice gods are kind. 

        Otherwise, it's a quiet turn. Everyone's advanced, and I don't have much in range, so the limiting shooting I do manages to scratch a single wound off the Dreadnought. 

        Finally, I realise to my annoyance that I've forgotten about my objectives! Number 6 is in my deployment zone and would have been easy money, but I've run off and left it behind. Knowing I'm not going back for it, I discard it at the end of my turn. No points so far!


        Turn 1 - Ultramarines

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.

        Objective Draw - Secure Objective 2, Mission Critical Objective (2), Blood and Guts

        Not a great draw for me: Objective 2 is placed in the centre, at the junction of the hill and the wall - right in the path of the Tyranid advance. I might have tried a cheeky drop with the Inceptors on it, but that sort of behaviour isn't allowed post-FAQ.

        Blood and Guts seems an equally preposterous notion, but I push forward with my flanking squads anyway, just in case they can pick on a badly-wounded Tyranid once the shooting stops.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.

        And then it's shooting time! All the big stuff is off the table, so it's the Tyranid Warriors who get the short straw. I use a scenario-specific stratagem to light them up with Flares (and then refund the command point immediately), then open up with my Redemptor Dreadnought...

        ... who has the most desperately disappointing round of shooting. Despite unloading everything on the Warriors, and being in re-roll range of the characters, he fails to remove even one Tyranid (about half my dice rolls were 2s, it was uncanny). I throw the small arms of one Intercessor Squad and the characters to plink off one pesky remaining wound, so that when my Hellblasters unleash with supercharged guns, not a wound will be wasted...

        To be fair, the Hellblasters did a bit better (almost average in fact), and land eight wounds that Catalyst fails to save, so that's another two Warriors gone (I also lose one of my squad to Overcharge, but the Apothecary is reading his syringe to revive him next turn).

        The rest of the small arms fire guns down a handful of Termagants, and that's the end of a very lacklustre turn. My entire gunline couldn't even remove a unit of Tyranid Warriors, and that's before the big beasts have even landed. I discard Blood and Guts in the hope of something more useful.

        Turn 2 - Hive Fleet Afanc


        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.

        Objective Draw - Kingslayer

        Drop time. 

        The small but gentle advance of the enemy gunline has left a tiny hole inside his deployment zone. It's big enough for a single drop, and it's a tough choice. Maybe a pack of distracting spore mines? The Tyrannocyte could fit in, but not the Tyrannofex at the same time, so he plops down in the middle of the field. The Tyrant grits its teeth and swoops into the backline gap, although I'm reluctant, as he's a bit on his own out there and there's a lot of guns in the vicinity. 

        Sure enough, some of them swing round to cover his appearance...

        Haha! I interrupt events with the Auspex Scan stratagem! (for which I once again refund the command points - I've yet to spend one yet). My entire squad of Helllblasters open up on the Hive Tyrant with Overcharged Plasma Incinerators (losing two in the process) and causing a horrendous amounts of wounds on him. Tragically, I fall one short of a Warlord kill (even after a CP re-roll), so the big beastie is left in my back lines, charred but still alive.

        ... yow. That was lucky, in fact, it could easily have finished me off. As it is, I pop the Rapid Regeneration stratagem off and grow a couple of wounds back, but just four left leaves me with a steep hill to climb if I'm to earn his points back. 

        The rest of the troops rush forwards. Shooting suddenly ramps up in damage - the Tyrannofex and 'Cyte between them hammer the Dreadnought down to a couple of wounds, and the forerunners of my Termagant swarm start plinking off Intercessors. After psychic power damage (Catalyst on the Warriors, Horror on the Intercessors next to them) the lone Lieutenant at the back gets flattened by the Tyrant's Miasma Cannon, but there's still a hell of a lot of Marines up on that roof. 

        Nothing for it but a long bomb charge, and giant chicken that I am, I pick the weakest option available and charge the Apothecary. It's a long shot, needing an 11, so I may as well try against the least powerful shooter I can reach. Overwatch obviously proves ineffectual, so it's down to the roll. 


        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.

        And it's a good 'un! I need to reroll with command points, but that turns a crucial 1 to a 6, and I'm in. But I'm not out of the woods yet. Because elsewhere, the Tyranid Warriors charge the Intercessor squad in front of them, and as there's just two of them left, I resolve their fight first. It goes well, hacking down a pair of marines, but Stylus spends some of his regenerating CPs to counterpunch the Tyrant before it gets going.

        Unexpectedly, it's the Hellblasters! They're close enough for almost the whole squad to pile in, and I'm suddenly a bit worried. It won't take much plinking for my battered to go down. 

        In the event, though, it's a fizzle. The poor gunboys don't have the strength they need against the adaptively tougher monster, who survives without a scratch and then pulls the head off the Apothecary. Although I lose another Tyranid Warrior to determined gun butts, there I am, scoring First Blood and nice and safe in combat! 

        Objectives Scored - First Blood (1)

        Turn 2 - Ultramarines

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.

        Objective Draw - Area Denial

        Okay... so I've got a Flyrant in my castle and my Dreadnought is near-finished. And now the objective cards start taking the Micky by telling me to clear the centre of Tyranids. I immediately spend two Command Points (reclaiming one of them) to ditch that objective and draw a fresh one.

        New Objective Draw - Psychological Warfare

        Get the unbreakable Tyranids to fail a Morale test. Much better.

        Off to work then, and salvage what I can from this. I pull back the Hellblasters from combat, shuffle my characters so that the Captain has a clear charge route to the Hive Tyrant (he's feeling optimistic), hold my Inceptors in the skies for one more turn (I still have Objective 2, twice over, and maybe the landing zone will have sufficiently cleared by then).

        Everyone else just edges back, maximising the distance, but still keeping in rapid-fire range (this is real Starship Troopers stuff). Including the Intercessors backing away from the final Tyranid Warrior.

        The Psychic Phase is a bust, thanks to Shadow in the Warp. Neither Might of Heroes, nor Smite got off, so there's no help there against the Tyrant. It all comes down to shooting, and fortunately for Ultramarines, they can break combat and still shoot.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.
        What do you mean, I'm not nice and safe in combat any more?

        I start off with the Dreadnought's last huzzah, unloading everything but the Icarus Pod (reserved for the Tyrant, to no effect) at the Tyrannofex. Despite being down to his last bracket, it's actually more effective that his previous huzzah, and chops down a goodly number of wounds from the creature.

        I then decide to finish it with the Hellblasters - rather than choosing to rapid-fire into the looming Hive Tyrant. I overcharge once again - risky, as falling back gives me a hit penalty, and thereby doubles my risk of overcharging - but I need to overcome his Toughness of 8. The Plasma Incinerators do their work once more, knocking the Tyrannofex down to almost his last wound, but not quite, which seems to be the story of my battle.

        All the characters' small arms fire patter off the Hive Tyrant (wish I'd had the presence of mind to use Krak Grenades) and the Intercesssors once again target the Termagants. It is quite refreshing to do so, as they're pretty easy for my Bolt Rifles to kill, but there are a lot more critters on the table, and I don't feel I'm making much progress.

        Maybe redemption will come in the Assault Phase - my Captain takes on a lone charge into the Hive Tyrant. I hadn't quite realised how deadly his auto-hit Heavy Venom Cannon is, and have to spend a Command Point for my Santic Halo invulnerable save to keep him alive.

        It's only in the combat phase that I realise how ineffectual the Captain actually is (in my defence, I forgot that I failed to cast Might of Heroes on him). Even with the re-rolls to hit and wound, his feeble Power Sword only gets one wound on the Hive Tyrant - once again knocking him down to his lowest bracket. In return, the Captain takes three wounds from a single hit, and has to use another Command Point re-roll (ominously I'm no longer reclaiming them with as much success) to get his Santic Halo to save him.

        It's possible I've bitten off more than I could chew here.

        Turn 3 - Hive Fleet Afanc

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.

        Objective Draw - nothing new

        Funny - although I've still got vast clutches of troops still on the field, I feel like I'm clinging on for dear life. I was extremely lucky to survive all that shooting with the big monsters still intact, so it's bonus points to them. My expectation was to be relying on the Genestealers and Termagants by now. Well, keep on hitting! 

        The Tyrant drops back, deciding to shoot and psyche his way past the Captain rather than risk being punched down. As before, the rest of the army skitters forwards, getting ever closer, apart from the Tyrannofex who hangs back to maximise fire. 

        The Neurothrope on the south side is in range for smiting, and starts picking holes in the nearby Intercessor units, then slaps Catalyst on the Hive Tyrant, who I also repeat the Regeneration strategy with. Again, he's got four left, just enough to last another turn, I hope. Smiting chomps two wounds off the Captain too, and I'm also throwing The Horror around for good measure. 

        Shooting sees the Dreadnought brought low by the Tyrannocyte's venom cannons. The Tyrannofex, who was planning on finishing that particular slinging match, has more than enough acid to obliterate the nearby Intercessor squad handily, which means the last Warrior can go and sit on objective three. If he's still there at the end of next turn, that's some points for me. 

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.
        BOOM! And where's your torso? 

        My Devourer pack is closing the range nicely, and manages to finish off their nearest opposites in a hail of exploding larvae. 

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.
        Not Pictured: The recently deceased Intercessors

        I also manage to finish off the Captain with my Miasma Cannon. But he's close enough that Stylus fires him up with a stratagem to let him fight a full round of bonus combat before dying! Thank goodness the dice are definitely on my side tonight - not a one of his full five hits connects, and I'm still breathing.

        Apparently Duty does end with Death. That's two Command Points I won't be seeing again.

        The Tyrant weighs up his options, then I decide I'm feeling cocky and charge the Hellblasters. A storm of overcharged plasma meets me and fails to connect, but here's an annoyance - even though two of the gunners blow themselves up, the nearby Ancient waves his flag around to make them shoot a second time as they die! And at full BS, too! Amazingly, I still manage to shrug off all bar a single wound, and then I'm running around inside the squad, eating Marines and gurgling happily.

        Five overcharged Plasma incinerator hits got through and he shrugged them all off. I'm not getting a good feeling about this.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.

        Until all three nearby heroes pile in, anyway, then I'm feeling a bit less sunny. Again, though, these guys just don't have the weapons to deal with an armoured monster, and I breeze through the counterattack. 

        Objectives Scored - Slay the Warlord (1), Kingslayer (1)


        Turn 3 - Ultramarines

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.

        Objective Draw - Witch Hunter

        Naturally, I ditched Psychological Warfare last turn, and at least my next Tactical Objective has something I can do: kill the Hive Tyrant and it's worth an objective point and a Slay the Warlord point. The slight drawback is the Hive Tyrant has proved to be near-impossible to kill for the last few turns, but we have faith.

        My remaining troops all fall back - the surviving characters get away from the Hive Tyrant and the Hellblasters take up their last stand in the backfield woods.

        It's time to bring in the Inceptors, while there's still anything left to defend. They drop in between to fill the gap between my Troops and HQs - all hope of getting into the Tyranid lines is now gone.

        NB The Inceptors are here played by Aggressors. Not because Kraken hadn't painted them in time, but because they weren't attached to their stands. Come to think of it, some Aggressors might have been useful.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.
        Actually, there should only be four, I got a bit generous putting them out

        Last change to damage the Hive Tyrant in the Psychic Phase - I actually manage to cast Smite with the Librarian. Rolling a mere 1 mortal wound, I agonise over spending my last Command Point (I was saving it for Scions of Guilliman for the Inceptors), but in the end, I reckon mortal wounds are my best shot at hurting the damn thing. I re-roll for two mortal wounds ... and Catalyst saves them both.

        It's all shots into the Hive Tyrant now. A volley of Krak Grenades from the characters do nothing, the Inceptors' assault bolters end up rolling a lot of 1s (gee, I wish I'd used Scions of Guilliman), and the Intercessor shots plink away. In the end, I've maybe taken the Hive Tyrant back down to his bottom bracket (which he can spend a stratagem to recover next turn) and left the rest of the army untouched.

        In desperation, I try a long charge on the Hive Tyrant with the Inceptors (they can cause mortal wounds on the charge), but fail miserably, and lose one of their number to Overwatch.

        Things may not be going my way.

        Objectives Scored - Defend Objective 3 (Tyranids, 2)


        Turn 4 - Hive Fleet Afanc

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.

        Objective Draw - Blood and Guts, Big Game Hunter

        Well, we're just mopping up survivors at this point. Not to denigrate the fine members of the Ultramarine Elite HQ Squad as they run desperately for their lives, but now that the Inceptors have shot their bolts, the Marines are looking like a spent force. 

        The Tyrant flops through the sky to keep up with the enemy heroes, smiting and shooting wounds off the Librarian on the way. The Genestealers and Tyrannofex are out of the game, really, they're too far off to make much difference now, but the Tyrannocyte spews Venom Cannon fire at the Ancient and brings him down to a last wound. 

        The Spore Mines have been slowly floating into range over the last few turns, and they're now finally in range. As I hoped, they've been overlooked in favour of other, juicier targets. Now, the Myotic spore detonates on the Inceptors, claiming one of them in a shower of bile. And the Spore Mines manage a medium charge into the trio of heroes, avoiding a hail of frag grenades entirely to come home to roost on the faces of their foes. The Ancient goes down in the blast, the Librarian loses another pair of wounds and the Lieutenant takes a mild scratch too. 

        Then the Tyrant decends on the trio, monstrous claws flashing, and we'll draw a veil over their demise. 


        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.
        I hereby rename my Flyrant the Nerfbat. 

        Objectives Scored - Blood and Guts (1)

        Turn 4 - Ultramarines

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.

        With bare bones left, I'm just playing for pride now - or at least to finish off than damn Hive Tyrant so I can get at least a couple of points on the board before I'm tabled.

        Shots are fired, charges are made. The Hive Tyrant stands defiant at the end of it, casually picking bits of Primaris out of his teeth. It's a drubbing.

        Objectives Scored - Scour the Skies (Tyranids, 1), Linebreaker (Tyranids, 1)

        Result: Hive Fleet Afanc 7, Ultramarines 0


        Locker Spore/Cyst/Sac

        Pleased as I am to break what has been rather a long losing streak, I can really only put it down to Stylus's bad luck and the fact he's playing an army for the first time. With only very slightly better rolling, the horrible horrible firepower of the Hellblasters would have been wiping my monsters off the board as fast as I could put them on.

        It was a fun game (a whole army vs the Hive Tyrant), and I certainly learned more about what not to do. Still with just one more wounding hit on my Auspex Scan, and I would at least have made a fight of it. I don't like to bemoan my luck, but when you're throwing a dozen dice, statistically, half of them should not be 2s!

        More than this, the bad luck with Objectives drawn was a clincher. I didn't really score all that highly, and with a couple of VPs here and there, it would have been much closer.

        My only real complaint about this scenario is that you have to keep your Tactical Objectives secret - where's the fun if you can't loudly complain how rubbish they are?

        I realised a mistake, too, the morning after - in turn three, the Tyrant shouldn't have been able to assault the Hellblasters, as he'd Fallen Back that turn. That kind of cheating is reserved for Hive Fleet Kraken, not Gorgon. 

        Given that he killed the Captain in the Psychic Phase (Smite and Psychic Scream), he would have been free to charge if he'd stayed in combat, so it's all good (unless you're the Captain).

        Not the worst mistake ever, I think I'd still have wiped them out with the Tyrannofex (not to mention the full unit of bored Genestealers twiddling their talons nearby), but really and truly I'm not convinced the Tyrant should have made it through the game.

        And who says Tyrants have been nerfed? Honestly, anyone who needs to field more than one of these beauties at once is compensating for something. Gorgon goes on my list of decent Hive Fleets (I'm not convinced by Leviathan or Kronos yet) for the Warlord trait alone, although the extra wound rolls are also tasty.

        For the army as a whole, I think Hive Fleet Kraken is scarier. However, Gorgon's warlord trait makes a hell of a difference.

        I was also pleased to see the Warriors earning their keep. Again, in a better, fairer world (i.e. not the Grimdark Future), they'd have been doing their usual disappearing trick in turn one to heavy fire, but they managed to soak shots and still punch back for a change. Good old Catalyst, never lets you down!

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Cloak And Shadows - 1500 points - Primaris Ultramarines vs Tyranids, Hive Fleet Gorgon.

        For my part, I reckon I hamstrung myself with the all-Primaris force. The Intercessors are nice and durable, and the character buffs are welcome - although it did force me to clump them altogether in one group to maximise their benefits, which felt static for my taste. I'm also not sure a Redemptor Dreadnought is better than two regular ones.

        I really missed having any kind of close-combat presence (I don't think Reivers or Aggressors really fill the gap), or weapon options (why have they all got bleedin' power swords?), and I really missed having access to a range or stratagems or psychic powers to mix things up.

        What I did like were the Hellblasters - admittedly, most of my battle revolved around them, but they (almost) didn't disappoint. Although, should I ever deign to field the warriors of the False Emperor again, I'll be more circumspect about when to overcharge.


        Black To Basics

        $
        0
        0
        So I may have accidentally started a Black Legion army...

        Black Legion Chaos Space Marines for Warhammer 40,000
        The topknots were the deciding factor.

        And in celebration of that fact - some new backgrounds for the photos!

        I blame the Helbrute. I got it for my Thousand Sons army, but the most economical way to buy it was in the Start Collecting! box, which came with ten tactical marines. And so, never one to disregard a written instruction, especially with an exclamation mark, I started collecting.

        Black Legion Chaos Space Marines for Warhammer 40,000

        I don't even know how many 40k armies I'm currently neglecting any more. I had a lot more restraint in Fantasy (maybe fitting everything onto a movement tray had a natural conclusion to it).

        Black Legion Chaos Space Marines for Warhammer 40,000

        Whether or not I go the full potato and start another Chaos army is to be decided. But after a hectic time with work, post-WoffBoot comedown, and a few months of nothing but assembling, I'd reached something of a painting slump, and knocking out a few basic colours on some straightforward sculpts proved to be just the tonic!

        Black Legion Chaos Space Marines for Warhammer 40,000

        The shoulder-plate decals do give something of a stark contrast. I gave them a wash of Nuln Oil to bring down the brightness, and I think it works okay. I love a decal, anyway, and I'm certainly not freehanding chaos stars on each one.

        Black Legion Chaos Space Marines for Warhammer 40,000

        I went with a quick and easy paint job on these guys. I reasoned that, if I painted them really fast, it wouldn't really count as starting a new army. #hobbylogic

        • Gold armour: Retributor Armour base, Agrax Earthshade wash
        • Black armour: Chaos Black base, Mechanicus Standard Grey layer,
        • Pipes, straps & gun barrels: Ironbreaker base, Nuln Oil wash
        • Bullets: Runelord Brass + Xv88 base, Agrax Earthshade wash
        • Eyes: Mephiston Red base, Carroburg Crimson wash
        • Skin: Rakarth Flesh base, Reikland Flesh wash, Pallid Wych Flesh layer
        • Topknot: Khone Red base, Nuln Oil wash, Evil Sunz Scarlett layer
        • And to age it all up, everything got a very light drybrush with Terminatus Stone


        Black Legion Chaos Space Marines for Warhammer 40,000

        I didn't mess around with conversions much (though the kit has potential). This 'one-hand bolter' was one of the few occasions - although I keep mistaking him for a guy with a bolt pistol, which is why I should stick to the script.

        Black Legion Chaos Space Marines for Warhammer 40,000

        The Icon of Vengeance has been painted in the colours of my incipient Imperial Guard force. Although the true vengeance is that they've jumped ahead of them in the painting queue (sorry lads).

        Black Legion Chaos Space Marines for Warhammer 40,000

        I gave them all a very deathly pallor to their skin (as I imagine 10,000 years in the Eye of Terror isn't great for getting a suntan). Mercifully, they're aren't many bare-headed guys for me to mangle my eye-painting on.

        (come to think on it - why has no-one thought of decals for eyes? I'd buy a hundred sheets!)

        Black Legion Chaos Space Marines for Warhammer 40,000

        The benefits of Chaos is they're not terribly organised (natch!), which means I can field unevenly-numbered units, or swap individuals around without worrying about squad markings. This heavy bolter, for example, could get transferred to the Havocs (once I get enough of them).

        Black Legion Chaos Space Marines for Warhammer 40,000
        Semper Volvunter Unum

        In fact, I was so carried away with weapon diversity, I gave this batch an extra plasma gun instead of a proper unit champion. So this guy will step up be a combi-plasma boss.

        Black Legion Chaos Space Marines for Warhammer 40,000

        That's the first unit done, and boy were they a treat to paint. It also means the WoffBoot 40k Roster is now weighted in favour of Traitor Legions, rather than the noble Astartes (and serve them right, with their corpse-Emperor). Any takers for Word Bearers? Emperors Children? Alpha Legion?

        Junior WoffBoot 2018 - Game 1

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        Those of you playing attention will know that our annual tournament was played overseas for the first time this year. All very good, and many langoustine were slain in the process, but what about the younger enthusiasts who weren't able to travel - were they to be denied a game?


        Not on my watch!

        This Junior WoffBoot comprised of four players who, for ease of reading, will be assigned cool WoffBoot names: Tinky-Winky, aged 11; Dipsy, aged 8; Laa-Laa, aged 7 and Po, aged 4.

        Of the quartet, Tinky-Winky was a WoffBoot veteran, having attended several and played his own army in the previous one (I believe Kraken's scalp is still hanging from his belt). Dipsy had also witnessed a few WoffBoots in action. Laa-Laa and Po were both half-way through a HeroQuest campaign. In addition, Po had been eyeballing the inside of 'Daddy's toy cabinet' and was overjoyed at getting to play with them.

        The game was Age of Sigmar, with myself as gamesmaster and General Yalfrezi assisting (re: making tea). As I was supplying three of the four armies, I'd gone through the warscrolls and chopped out anything extraneous, such as special rules, different weapons, champions, musicians etc.

        Each unit was simply the 'stat circle' and one line for the missile and melee options respectively. This should strip everything down to a bare minimum so we can focus attention on the table, not the paperwork. I even used an illustrative picture on each warscroll (thank Sigmar I obessively catalogue everything).

        Game 1 - We're Going On A Spawn Hunt

        Four-player games can get complicated, even with grown-ups involved, but with limited time and only one table/referee, we went for it. Each player had a small force of three units (one command and two troops) and deployed in separate corners of the table.

        In the centre of the table were three Chaos Spawn, who would be controlled by Yalfrezi. The object would be to 'catch' one or more Spawn (reduce it to zero wounds), then escort it back to your corner. Rival warbands could fight each other as well, and if they removed all your models from a captured Spawn, they would take possession of it.

        The contestants picked their forces from the alliances available, and chose a corner to deploy. The first turn was randomised and went around clockwise (there was no random determining of the turns after that - the boys were showing a great amount of patience in waiting for their turn as it was).

        Tinky-Winky's Stormcast Eternals

        • Lord-Celestant on Dracoth
        • 5 x Liberators
        • 5 x Retributors

        Dipsy's Chaos Monsters

        • Ogroid Thaumaturge
        • 10 x Kairic Acolytes
        • 3 x Razorgor

        Laa-Laa's Last Alliance of Order

        • Lord-Celestant
        • 9 x High Elf Archers
        • 10 x Swordmasters

        Po's Destruction Ironjawz

        • Megaboss
        • 5 x Brutes
        • 8 x Grot Scuttlings


        Turn 1

        Tinky-Winky took the first turn, and sent his Lord-Celestant on Dracoth charging forward to quickly knock out and capture the first Spawn.

        Laa-Laa was next, who elected to hold his Lord-Celestant in reserve, while sending the two units of Elves forward to take on the second Spawn. The archers were ineffectual, but the Swordmasters ripped it apart with an unmatched ferocity (he could barely hold all the attack dice in his hands).

        That left one Spawn left, so Dipsy and Po were now eyeing up each other as the potential threat. Po went next, but his slow-moving Ironjawz weren't going to out-run Razorgor.

        Sure enough, when Dipsy took his turn, he sent his Razorgor hurtling towards the final Spawn, locking it down in combat (then finishing it off in the Spawn's turn). The Kairic Acolytes were sent off to harass the Orruks, while the Ogroid was also held back (as the only spellcaster on the table, he was enjoying his Arcane Bolt supremacy).

        Turn 2

        Tinky-Winky's Lord-Celestant handed off his capture to the Liberators, while his Retributors advanced towards the Elves. After all, one Spawn could only tie the game - he would need two to win it.

        Laa-Laa pulled back his Swordmasters and their capture, while bringing his Lord-Celestant forward to take control of it. The Elven Archers formed a screen against the advancing Stormcast and managed to plink off a wound from the Retributors.

        The Ironjawz continued to slog towards the centre, led by their Megaboss, who tried a long charge at the Razorgor and failed. The Grots fired ineffectually at Acolytes, but the Brutes charged in and chopped down the unit until only a handful remained.

        Reeling from the loss, Dipsy pulled back his Razorgor and their captured Spawn, making a break for his own corner. The Ogroid continued towards the centre, to meet the challenge of the Megaboss.


        Turn 3

        While Tinky-Winky's Lord-Celestant on Dracoth galloped to catch up with his paladins, the Retributors charged into the Archers and hacked them to pieces, leaving only one survivor.

        In response, Laa-Laa's Lord Celestant grabbed his Spawn and pulled back to his own corner while the Swordmasters counter-charged the Retributors. The elves did a surprising amount of damage, while the paladins whiffed their rolls. By the end of it, only the Retributor-Prime was left standing among the elves.

        On the other side of the battlefield, Po's Ironjawz chopped down the last of the Kairic Acolytes, while the Megaboss got in a successful charge against the Ogroid. Sadly, luck was not with the greenskins this day, and the Ironjaw general flubbed every attack. The Ogroid was not so careless and, having already softened up the Megaboss with Arcane Bolts previously, now ran him through with his horns.

        Following up on the success, Dipsy blasted the Brutes with an Arcane Bolt, then followed up into the Scuttlings. He found it a lot harder to crush an enemy that was running around his hooves, however, and killed none of them while taking a wound in the process. More importantly, the Razorgor were almost half-way back, and nearly out of interception range.

        Turn 4

        In a valiant attempt to save what was left of his Retributors, Tinky-Winky charged his Lord-Celestant on Dracoth into the Swordmasters. However, he fared no better than his paladins and felled only a handful of elves as the last Retributor was cut down.

        Having secured his own prize, Laa-Laa's main task was to chop down the Lord-Celestant on Dracoth with his Swordmasters, who were having the game of their lives.

        On Po's battlefield, the Scuttlings were still inexplicably tying up the Ogroid, leaving the Brutes free to chase down the Razorgor. They caught them with a long charge, chopped them into bacon bits, and relieved them of their captive.

        In Dipsy's turn, the Ogroid finally managed to crush the Grots, and was now blocking the Brutes' escape route back to their own corner - could the third Spawn exchange hands yet again?

        End Game

        Tinky-Winky was staying put with his Liberators, guarding his prize. Laa-Laa was doing to the same with his Lord-Celestant, though he had dispatched his Swordmasters to the far end of the table to see who they might support/betray.

        In the final contest, the Ogroid kept edging backwards, keeping the Brutes in Arcane Bolt range, but out of effective charge range, hoping to whittle them down with magic. It was a fine plan, but the Ironjawz eventually made their charge and beat up the Chaos general, ensuring their prize.

        Or had they? The Swordmasters had now completed their march across the table and could have tried to charge in and kill the Brutes, taking a third Spawn and ensuring victory for Order. With a sportsmanship that is rarely displayed in grown-ups, Laa-Laa decided that Po had earned his laurels, and everyone retired to their respective corners, a three-way draw as the outcome.

        Milk and Biscuits wrap-up

        That was quite a game! Despite the general excitement and clamour (answering four questions simultaneously was not uncommon), all four players took to the game well and really enjoyed themselves.

        I remember in the early days of Age of Sigmar, one of the sour gripes was that it was a kids' game. While this is patently untrue, it doesn't take much to translate it into something that pre-teens can latch onto. I doubt if Warhammer Fantasy could have been 'levelled-down' quite so quickly, nor gamesmastered so efficiently. The boys knew what they had in their forces, understood what they could do, and grasped the aim of the game. They also had terrific fun, which is really the Most Important Thing.

        Personally, I had a blast. The four-way scenario worked pretty well. If I were tweaking it, I might have made the Spawn more durable (or had the objectives as locked chests to break into), or had more of them (so that every team could have captured at least one). I had a supply of random monsters to make an appearance if anything got dull or one-sided - luckily, it flowed like butter.

        That concluded the four-way game. After that, Po had to go to bed and Laa-Laa's mum came to take him home (not the usual excuses at a WoffBoot). But that still left Tinky-Winky and Laa-Laa wide awake and present to play a final, full-strength battle scenario! 

        To be concluded!


        Junior WoffBoot 2018 - Game 2

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        The second and final game of our inaugural Junior WoffBoot was an Age of Sigmar pitched battle. Bedtimes had claimed two of the combatants, so that just left the elder combatants to bash heads.

        Unleash the Chimera!

        Winner takes all!

        Game 2 - The Chimera Who Came To Tea

        With fewer players, I narrowed the battlefield to a 4x4 cobblestone setting. There were three objectives across the centre of the board: whoever claimed most of them by the time the game ended would be the winner.

        Having learned on the nursery slopes, the two generals - Tinky-Winky and Dipsy - were ready to handle full armies (c.750pts). Although Tinky-Winky had been very impressed with the Swordmasters in the previous battle and ditched his Stormcast to give Mixed Order a try.

        General Dipsy stuck with Chaos, as any right-thinking person would.

        Tinky-Winky's Last Alliance of Order

        • Lord-Celestant
        • Excelsior Warpriest
        • 5 x Liberators
        • 10 x Swordmasters
        • 9 x Elven Archers
        • 20 Freeguild Spearmen

        Dipsy's Chaos Monsters

        • Ogroid Thaumaturge
        • 10 x Chaos Warriors
        • 10 x Kairic Acolytes
        • 3 x Razorgor
        • Chimera


        Dipsy spread out his forces across the board. From bottom-left to top: Chaos Warriors, Razorgor, Ogroid Thaumaturge, Kairic Acolytes and Chimera. 

        Tinky-Winky went for a refused-flank: double line of Swordmasters and Archers, with the Lord-Celestant behind them. The mass of Spearmen in the centre, backed up by the Liberators and Warpriest.

        Turn 1

        This time, Dipsy won the priority roll and raced his Razorgor forward, placed between the centre and bottom objectives. The infantry advanced forward steadily, and the Chimera raced up the flank, burning away a couple of Swordmasters with his fiery breath.

        In response, Tinky-Winky moved his Spearmen to occupy the centre objective, took his Elf Archers to shoot a few wounds off the Chimera, and then screen them with the Swordmasters to tempt a charge.

        Turn 2

        Dipsy took his second turn with some bold moves. The Chaos Warriors occupied the bottom objective, while the Acolytes moved to fire sorcerous bolts at the Archers, felling one of them.

        In the assault phase, the Chimera charged into the Swordmasters, chomping down half of them but taking a battering in return. Meanwhile the Ogroid and Razogor combo-charged the Spearmen, tearing through the massed unit for little reply.

        Tinky-Winky moved his Archers into the top objective within the Numinous Occulum, held his Warpriest back to continue buffing his units, then sent everything else in to a counter-charge.

        Peckin', Burnin' and Nod.

        The Lord-Celestant went into the flank of the Chimera, but the Liberators failed a crucial long charge into the Chaos Warriors and were left stranded. In combat, the Spearmen continued to get whittled down by the Ogroid and Razorgor.

        The Chimera targeted everything against the the Lord-Celestant, but every attack failed against his armour, then was brought down to one wound by the Swordmasters.

        Turn 3

        A bit of tactical play followed. Rather than keep the Razorgor in combat with the Spearmen (where they were doing very well), Dipsy elected to withdraw them from combat and place them between the Liberators and Chaos Warriors. This effectively locked down the bottom objective for Chaos, and gave Tinky-Winky some hard decisions.

        Elsewhere, the Kairic Acolytes moved to besiege the Numinous Occulum, needing to drive off enough Elven Archers to claim the objective for themselves.

        In the fight phase, the Chimera used his last bit of vigour to once more attack the Lord Celestant, and this time the three heads worked as one, ripping the general apart. The three remaining Swordmasters avenged their leader and hacked down the monster.

        Left alone in the central combat, the Ogroid nonetheless ripped apart enough of the remaining Spearmen to clear them off the central objective, claiming it for himself.

        Finally, the Acolytes sent a volley into the Elven Archers, which killed enough on the upper floors to follow up with an assault. The poor elves were outclassed and only one was left alive, which meant they were outnumbered on the third and final objective.

        Tinky-Winky's last chance to draw back was a short charge with his Liberators into the Ogroid - clear him away from the centre objective and the game was back on. Sadly, the dice gods were against those Liberators making any charges this game, and they rolled snake eyes.

        With bedtime approaching, and no way back for the Forces of Order, Chaos and General Dipsy took the win!

        Wrap up: Child's Play

        That was a cracking game to watch and officiate. Both generals had no problem with the step-up in game size and complexity and played with a good deal of canniness and understanding.

        I think this was the first Age of Sigmar played on my table this year, and great fun it was too. While I appreciate the game has been evolving into a properly strategic system (sign me up for AoS 2.0), it still makes for a great platform for homebrew rules and scenarios. 

        It's definitely made me feel like painting up some more random models and monsters - things that will really catch the imagination. After all, Junior WoffBoot '19 is only a year away!

        I Am Broot!

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        I've already converted the multi-arm Helbrute, but if you want it fast and nasty, you can't beat this monopose monster!

        Painting and converting Mortis Metalikus Helbrute for Warhammer 40k Dark Vengeance starter set. Black Legion Heretic Astartes.

        It's Mortis Metalikus - the Helbrute from the Dark Vengeance starter set. I may be looking at this through warp-tinted glasses, but the Chaos half of that box set seems vastly superior to the Imperium side.

        I've already done the cultists (Squad Tetchvar and Squad Anarkus), so now it's time for the big boy!

        I hadn't intended to move this one up the painting queue so quickly - it was just something to doodle away on while the washes dried on other models. But it's such a lovely model to paint, I can see why it's ubiquitous in Chaos armies.

        Painting and converting Mortis Metalikus Helbrute for Warhammer 40k Dark Vengeance starter set. Black Legion Heretic Astartes.

        Pretty much the same colour scheme as the Chaos Space Marines:

        • Gold armour: Retributor Armour base, Agrax Earthshade wash
        • Black armour: Chaos Black base, Mechanicus Standard Grey layer,
        • Pipes, claws & gun barrels: Ironbreaker base, Waystone Green insides, Nuln Oil wash
        • Skin: Rakarth Flesh base, Reikland Flesh wash, Pallid Wych Flesh layer
        • Outside Flesh: Rakarth Flesh base, Reikland Flesh wash, thinned Typhus Corrosion wash
        • Horns: Khone Red base, Nuln Oil wash, Evil Sunz Scarlet layer
        • Toenails: Skavenblight Dinge base, Nuln Oil wash, Dawnstone layer
        • Daemon Tentacles: Naggaroth Night base, Genestealer Purple drybrush
        • 'Eye of Horus': Mephiston Red base, Evil Sunz Scarlet layer, Carroburg Crimson wash, Troll Slayer Orange layer, Yriel Yellow layer, Carroburg Crimson wash (again).


        Painting and converting Mortis Metalikus Helbrute for Warhammer 40k Dark Vengeance starter set. Black Legion Heretic Astartes.

        Once I'd got the wash and highlights on his face, I decided to leave the eyes unpainted. I thought the sunken shadows look all the more horrific and Davros-like (also: who would paint eyes if they didn't have to?)

        Painting and converting Mortis Metalikus Helbrute for Warhammer 40k Dark Vengeance starter set. Black Legion Heretic Astartes.

        There's a lot of flat areas for the Helbrute's flesh/carapace, so I roughed it up with some thinned Typhus Corrosion, which also helped to darken him up.

        But, as with all Helbrutes, one weapon option is never enough, so I took the liberty of sawing off the multi-melta and magnetising another helbrute fist for him.

        Painting and converting Mortis Metalikus Helbrute for Warhammer 40k Dark Vengeance starter set. Black Legion Heretic Astartes.

        In addition to making a punchy Helbrute a little more punchy, he can also mount weapons on each fist. This means he can race into battle with a pair of combi-bolters and, because of the Black Legion rules, these can fire off even when he advances. Dakka dakka!

        Painting and converting Mortis Metalikus Helbrute for Warhammer 40k Dark Vengeance starter set. Black Legion Heretic Astartes.

        Whether that actually works or not, we'll have to see. But unlike the poor sods who get stuffed into the sarcophagus, I'm glad to have him on board!

        The Other Black Legion

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        Over a month since I posted anything painted. Here's why.



        Yes, it's all the Primaris Crypt Angels. All? No, not all, there's some vehicles and a character left to do, but I'll be giving myself a break from this particular paint scheme for a bit before I tackle those.

        Hellblasters with Heavy Plasma Incinerators
        Hellblasters with Assault Plasma Incinerators
        Hellblasters with Some Other Form of Plasma Incinerator

        Last time I took on a block of fifty models, they were rank and file zombies. Those got finished in a week, because rank and file zombies don't require hand-tooled insignia. Dear me, I am quite tired of winged maws now. Perhaps I was when I began. I don't recall.

        Inceptors with Assault Bolters
        Inceptors with Plasma Exterminators (my, they really pushed the boat out on all these plasma weapon names)

        For Space Marines, though, these are good, chunky, tough-looking models. I'd rate them over vanilla marines - they look bigger and better, as their fluff suggests, and the characters and elites are very striking sculpts. Being a little bigger, the fine detail isn't quite as challenging either, which was a huge relief.

        Intercessor Squad

        Another one. Intercessor and Inceptor is a bit too close together in my lexicon to tell them apart, even though one has massive jump packs and the other doesn't

        They've been back and forth over Sweden in a sweets tin, this lot, I've been away on tour a lot recently (which also didn't help me finish them). Sitting in my hotel room in various Baltic sea ports, well, there wasn't much else to do. Why not layer shoulder pads?

        Aggressors with Flamestorm Gauntlets
        Aggressors with Auto Boltstorm Gauntlets and Fragstorm Grenade Launchers
        Reiver squad

        The 40K community seems fairly unimpressed with Primaris Marines, outside of painting and modelling. Not as flexible as regular Wombles, more expensive and thus more prone to going down in a hail of fire, and just not quite proving their worth on the field somehow. God help the poor old regular dudes if that's how their souped-up brethren are faring.

        Primaris Lieutenant
        Another Lieutenant
        Chapter Ancient
        Sorry about these captions, I'm tired after a zillion tiny maws and can't think of anything funny to say
        Primaris Chaplain with Giggle Stick
        Captain
        Apothecary
        Librarian
        You can't see them from here, but he's got purity seals in his armpit. I think Captain doth protest too much. 

        It's been a while since I painted Crypt Angels, so the painting guide is being updated for anyone who's tearingly curious:



        Painting Guide:


        • Black - Chaos Black spray, drybrushed with Eshin and then Ulthuan Grey. The latter was also layered thinly on in a few places, but only a few - I started out intending to carefully edge the lot and got bored after about five minutes
        • Red - Khorne Red, Druchii Violet (I'd left the blue wash at home), two thin Wazdakka Red coats, thin edge layer of Wild Rider Red
        • Yellows - Averland Sunset, Agrax Earthshade, layers of Averland up to Bad Moonz Yellow up to White Scar. But then my venerable Bad Moonz Yellow pot dried out, and I switched to Flash Gits Yellow for the shoulder markings. It's not the same, sigh
        • Guns - Warplock Bronze, Agrax gloss, Brass Scorpion, Runelord Brass
        • Skin - Rakarth Flesh, Reikland Flesh wash, Kislev Flesh then Flayed One Flesh layers
        • Eyes - Nuln Oil over the skin tones, then Lothern Blue
        • Leather - Scrag Brown, Agrax, Deathclaw Brown edging, Tyrant Skull drybrush
        • Bases - Chaos Black, Dawnstone and Terminatus Stone drybrushes, Pallid Wych Flesh on larger stone pieces
        • Silver - The usual, Leachbelcher with Nuln Oil, then Runefang drybrush and Stormhost Silver touches
        • Pinks - Screamer Pink, Emperor's Children layer, Tentacle Pink layer
        • Whites - Pallid Wych Flesh and White Scar for insignia, larger areas got an inking with Seraphim Sepia before the layers




        Something for the home armies next, I think. Imperium or Tyranid? YOU decide!

        They've All Got It ... Infamy: Black Legion vs Thousand Sons

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        Chaos Civil War! The Black Legion make their first move against the Thousand Sons to show that this gaming table 'ain't big enough for two Traitor Legions!


        At least I'm guaranteed a win for one of my armies this time. I, Stylus, have *almost* got a working force of Black Legion together (the character models are just very heavily shaded, that's all). And the reason they're not done yet is that I'm painting up new Thousand Sons models at the same time.

        So I really have bitten off more than I can chew, but at last I'm playing 40k with no proxies!

        I, Kraken, have returned to the dread fold of chaos, my Alma Dismater, for a foray with the Black Legion. Let the Galaxy Burn! Also Mars, and any other chocolate bars we can turn our chainswords on.


        Who Owns The Heretic Copyright?
        It's All-Skype Fight Night!


        Armies


        Court of Miracles - Thousand Sons

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        New toys for the Court of Miracles (and three-colours legal, so shut up). To accommodate whatever Kraken might wish to field in the Black Legion, I eschewed any 'shared' units for uniquely Thousand Sons ones.

        This does deprive me of both Daemon Prince and Defiler, consistently my best units, but it's about time I took the stabilisers off. And I get to try out an additional nine Tzaangor, a Tzaangor Shaman (who looks a bargain) and the mighty Mutalith Vortex Beast (if I can figure out how to best use him).

        I have a lot of melee troops here, and a bit of small-arms fire, but no big guns. So my plan is to charge up the centre and start mixing it up at close range. And also cast psychic powers. I have a LOT of psychic powers.

        • Exalted Sorcerer on Disc of Tzeentch (HQ)
          Force Stave, Inferno Bolt Pistol
          Warlord Trait: Otherworldly Prescience
          Relic: Dark Matter Crystal
          Psychic powers: Warptime, Diabolic Strength
        • Exalted Sorcerer (HQ)
          Force Stave, Inferno Bolt Pistol
          Psychic powers: Prescience, Death Hex
        • 5 x Rubric Marines (Troops)
          Force stave, Inferno Bolt Pistol, 4 x Inferno Boltguns
          Psychic powers: Temporal Manipulation
        • 5 x Rubric Marines (Troops)
          Force stave, Inferno Bolt Pistol, 4 x Inferno Boltguns
          Psychic powers: Weaver of Fates
        • 19 x Tzaangors (Troops)
          Brayhorn, Tzaangor Blades
        • 5 x Scarab Occult Terminators (Elite)
          Force stave, 4 x Inferno Combi-bolters, 4 x Power Swords, Soulreaper Cannon, Hellfyre Missile Rack
          Psychic powers: Tzeentch’s Firestorm
        • Tzaangor Shaman (Elite)
          Force Stave
          Psychic powers: Glamour of Tzeentch
        • 3 Chaos Spawn (Fast)
        • Mutalith Vortex Beast (Heavy)
        Points: 1196 | Battalion: 8 CPs


        The Black Pack - Black Legion

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        Long time since I ran with the Black Pack. Not since 2nd edition, I think, when I had about 1500 points worth of them, a very disfunctional selection of what I thought to be the best models at the time and sold off long since. Miss you, Abaddon!

        So this is a far more effective selection, taken from Stylus's budding collection. A pair of Black Legionnaire squads, one for close combat and one for range, and tooled up Rhinos to carry them to battle. 

        Some chaffy cultists to screen my characters, who can't quite fit in the buses at the same time as their troops. And for heavy hitting, a Helbrute and Heldrake, Mr and Mrs HelConstruct. 

        I don't have much of a plan, but the army is fairly flexible. I spent a pre-battle CP to take an extra relic, the Eye of Night, for a bit of extra punch against vehicles. This turns out to be a bust, as Stylus cannily takes none, but I've still got the Murder Sword, which I know will have Stylus's Warlord running/flying scared. 

        I haven't used the Chaos army before, so I'm a bit vague about strategems and ploys. They aren't a million miles from Marines, though, so I'm expecting them to be decent middle-weights across the board. Can't say I'm looking forward to the psychic phase, though...

        • Chaos Lord with Jump Pack (HQ)
          Plasma pistol, Power sword
          Relic: The Murder Sword
        • Dark Apostle (HQ)
          Bolt pistol, Power maul
          Relic: The Eye of Night
        • Sorcerer (HQ)
          Combi-bolter, Force sword
          Psychic power: Death Hex, Prescience
        • 10 x Chaos Space Marines (Troops)
          Aspiring Champion: Plasma pistol & Power maul; Bolt pistols, Chainswords, 2 x Melta Guns.
        • 10 x Chaos Space Marines (Troops)
          Aspiring Champion: Plasma pistol & Power maul; Bolt pistols, Boltguns, Heavy bolter, Autocannon.
        • 10 x Chaos Cultists (Troops)
          Autoguns, Heavy Stubber
        • Helbrute (Elite)
          Helbrute Fist, Heavy Flamer, Multi-melta
        • Chaos Rhino (Transport)
          Combi-bolter, Combi-melta, Havoc launcher
        • Chaos Rhino (Transport)
          Combi-bolter, Combi-plasma, Havoc launcher
        • Heldrake (Flyer)
          Baleflamer, Heldrake claws
        Points: 1200 | Battalion: 8 CPs (7 after the extra relic)


        Battlefield and Deployment

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        We're playing Lost Contact, which means that the Objectives on the ground are also your source for future missions. So control of the ground is going to be vital to ensure you get a good flow of VPs. I stick one on the high cliff in the middle, feeling confident that I have more flyers to claim it with and totally forgetting about the damn disc riders in the other force until right now, five days later when I'm writing about it. Gah. 

        Kraken won the roll-off and chose Dawn of War deployment. With so many transports for the Black Legion to stuff troops into, I was sure I'd finish second (and I did, but only by one drop), so I deployed conservatively.

        One unit of Rubrics went on my extreme right flank to lock down an objective (with their armour save, All Is Dust rule and cover save, they'd be all-but impervious to small-arms fire); the other unit of Rubrics took the objective on the left flank. 

        The Scarab Occult went into the teleportarium, and my Tzaangors and Spawn clustered around the Mutalith, where its buffing abilities could benefit them. All the characters hung around the back - thanks to the new FAQ, I'd have at least one turn before I'd have to worry about jump-pack Murder Swords paying me a visit.

        I'd picked the side with fewer objectives, as my plan was to zerg-rush the melee units forward, while holding back with the two Rubric squads and seeing what Fate had in store for me...

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        Deploying second, I'm mostly reacting to Stylus's drops, so I get a unit of shooty marines facing off on the left flank against his Rubrics. The CC-tooled marines go in the Melta Rhino on the other flank, with the Helbrute alongside. The Helbrute will need to go and deal with the Mutalith, but I don't know where it is when I deploy (Stylus keeps it for last, wisely). 

        My Murder Warlord is in drop position, the Cultists screen the Sorcerer (who needs to be on the board from turn one on the off chance I can negate anything), the Dark Apostle rides in style in the Plasma Rhino and the Heldrake lurks at the back, partly to keep some sort of protective bubble against deepstrikers and partly to look cool. I forgot that protecting your back line against deep strike on turn one is less of an issue these days, of course. Luckily, the Heldrake is nippy enough that it wasn't really a problem.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        Fortune favours me - I get the first turn!

        Black Legion Turn 1


        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        Objectives Drawn: Supremacy

        Aaand we're off! A nice first draw for me, my mission is to hold three objectives at the end of a round, and I can do that handily on the first turn. So the Rhinos roll forward, the cultists swarm onto the nearest objective, and the Chaos Marines with the big guns do likewise on the flank. 

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        The Heldrake swoops way out forward, ready for a pounce on those isolated Rubrics. The Psychic phase is a bust, as I fail to cast Prescience and have no range for anything else, so it's straight to the guns. 

        The Cultists manage to gun down a few Tzaangor with some help from the Rhino. The Chaos Marines patter some autocannon shells uselessly off the opposing Rubrics, the Helbrute shaves a pair of wounds off the Mutalith but has to use a reroll for it, so I'm feeling a bit whiffy. Then the Heldrake makes a good showing, burning away a pair of Rubrics, and I cheer up. 

        Especially when it then makes the charge, tearing another of the dust buckets up in return for no damage! There's no first blood claimed yet, but I've made a reasonable start, and best of all I roll high for victory points, and take an early lead. 

        Objectives Claimed: Supremacy (3)

        Thousand Sons Turn 1

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        Objectives Draw - Wrath of Magnus

        I've weathered the opening moves, and my first tactical card is to kill something in the Psychic Phase. Should be easy enough for me, but not really achievable in this turn, even with the amount of Smite at my disposal.

        The Black Legion forward elements are moving towards the heart of my line, which suits me fine. The Heldrake, on the other hand, is a problem. With a free reign in my backline, that thing will be worse for my characters than any Murder Sword.

        I move the Spawn, Mutalith and Tzanngor forward, backed up by the characters. The right-flank Rubrics fall back out of combat and - either in a moment of tactical nous or sheer panic - I drop the Terminators in my own deployment zone, within range of the Heldrake.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        The Psychic Phase is a hoot. I cast Prescience and Weaver of Fates on the Scarab Terminators, Glamour of Tzeentch on the Tzaangor, Tzeentch’s Firestorm on the Heldrake (then fail to roll a signle wound), Smite on the Helbrute, and Diabolic Strength on the Mutalith. The latter causes me to Perils and take two wounds off my Sorcerer, but luckily I can then cast Temporal Manipulation and restore them straight away. Team work makes the Tzeentch work!

        But all of this is misdirection, trying to temp Kraken into wasting his single Deny the Witch ability (he wasn't fooled). What I really wanted to do was cast Warptime on the Tzaangor - so much so that I use the Cabalistic Focus stratagem to boost the casting. I get the spell off with a 9, only for Kraken to deny it anyway! Oh Tzeentch, you give and then you take away.

        The Shooting Phase kicks off with my Mutalith's special abilities. I can either select one power (and having failed Warptime, the one that lets me re-roll charges would be very handy) or I can have two random powers. I'm inclined to leave it to fate, and so I get one power that inflicts two mortal wounds on the Helbrute and another that increases the AP on the Tzaangor. Not too shabby.

        The Terminators open up on the Heldrake, abetted by Veterans of the Long War. And, as it often the way when they need 2s to hit and are out of range of a Lord, they roll a lot of 1s. Still, they can't be totally hopeless and take the beast down to three wounds. There's not much else to shoot, as I really didn't bring a lot of guns in this army.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        In my Assault Phase, I declare a lot of optimistic long-bomb charges and it goes remarkably well. Unless, you count Overwatch, in which case it was a minor disaster.

        The Spawn charge the Rhino, and get hit with a melta that microwaves one of their number. The Tzaangor make a very long charge into the same Rhino, although not many of them get into combat (which actually helps me keep in range of the Tzaangor Shaman and his buffing). The Mutalith fails a charge against the Helbrute, but at least doesn't get shot.

        Then the Scarab Terminators run face-first into the Heldrake's baleflamer. Three of them are wounded, I fail all my boosted-invulnerable saves (even using a Command Point re-roll) and, with double damage, I lose three-fifths of the squad before I've even made the charge.

        That was a boon! And a lucky one too, the Heldrake is already in bits and isn't going to do much in melee. 

        As cold-comfort, the surviving Scarabs do make it in against this monster, and in an emotional moment, I use Veterans of the Long War on them once again, hoping that it might just be enough to take down those last three wounds and salvage this. As it transpires, they all miss their attacks and the combat is a whiff.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        It's a different story on the other side of the battlefield - the Tzaanogor pile in around the Rhino, rolling a bucketload of dice, hitting on 2s because of the Shaman, re-rolling 1s because of the Exalted Sorcerer, with -2AP because of the Mutalith. What they're really lacking is the ability to punch through that toughness (if only I'd been more judicious about spending Veterans of the Long War, eh?). In the end, they scratch off a couple of wounds from the vehicle. The Spawn fare little better - I spend a Stratagem to improve their viability, but anti-armour really isn't their forte.

        So what began as a promising turn has become a bit of a shambles. Still, there's plenty left on the table!

        Objectives Scored - none


        Black Legion Turn 2

        Objectives Drawn - Long War, Defend Objective 3, Secure Objective 4

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        Still holding three objectives, I get a mixed bag of missions. 4 is up on that tall ridge, 3 is under a squad of Rubrics on the other side of the battlefield and Long War is just to kill an enemy unit but is worth more if they're Imperial. I guess the Thousand Sons were once? Does that count? 

        The close combat Chaos Marines are in a pickle. They need to get out of the Rhino so they can get to work, but it's surrounded by the enemy. Getting out of the front end, there's not quite enough room to avoid the foe, so I have to throw one of them to the wolves, presumably as a distraction to let the others get out. Once the rest are out, the Rhino slams into reverse and gets out of dodge. 

        The shooty Marines move up so they can see past the ruins with their bolters, the Heldrake backs away cautiously from the Terminators, and the Dark Apostle climbs out of his Rhino, which then heads for the Terminators optimistically (I missed that on the maps, sorry). 

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        Helbrute, Apostle and Sorcerer are all converging on the Mutalith, the plan being to soften it up with shooting and psyching before finishing it in close combat. Alas, the psychic phase is not kind, and I get shut down on my every attempt. 

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        Shooting is much more cheerful. The last of the damaged Rubric squad gets flushed out by Autocannon and Heavy Bolter fire, so I've scored First Blood. The close combat marines burn off another Spawn, and together with the Cultists, mow down Tzaangor until there's just six left. And the Heldrake keeps hosing the Terminators, claiming another of them. 

        My Lord has also arrived, dropping in position for an optimistic charge on the only character he can reach. Stylus is keeping his Warlord heavily protected, sensibly, and the Tzaangor Shaman has drawn the short straw of being on the outer edge of the screening troops. I blast a pair of wounds off him with plasma fire, then make the long charge in with a reroll!

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        The Terminators get an unexpected Rhino charge. I'm not really expecting much out of this (and sure enough, I don't get much other than a mild beating) but they're tied up at least, so there won't be any more missiles hitting the Heldrake. 

        Although the Mutalith isn't really any the worse for wear this turn so far, I make all the charges in there, and the Helbrute, Sorcerer and Apostle get to work. Between them, they claim a decent whack of wounds, leaving it with just four to go. 

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        Alas, my Warlord muffs his rolls. Murder Sword? Attempted Murder at best. I hack a single wound off, and in return, discover the Shaman is fairly well tooled for combat...

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        The Shaman survives! In your face, Sinfang the Murder Sword! My goat-high-priest then smacks back and deals three wounds to his assailant. Hah!

        But before that happens, I capitalise on this swing in beastmen fortunes by spending two Command Points to interrupt combat with my Tzaangor, and then use my past Command Point to go all-in and give them Veterans of the Long War. Despite being less than half-strength, the boys do me proud and kill five Black Legionnaires before they can react.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        Eep - pared away like that, the Black Legion Boys don't really make much of an impact on the Tzaangor, and I don't think they actually kill anything else. And the Mutalith manages to then bash the Helbrute about even more, leaving it on a meagre three wounds. Yikes - I was hoping to finish off a lot more of the foe than I have here, and there's some nasty characters ready for counter charges.

        In the Morale Phase, the Tzaangor pay the price for the heavy losses taken this turn - and me rolling a 6 didn't help either. Five more beastmen melt away, leaving just one left - optimistically sitting on the objective.

        For my part, the increased Leadership of the Black Legion sees me through okay, and I'm steeled for the next turn with some more VPs!

        This would have made no difference, but I should try and school myself: the Chaos Spawn would have dropped the Leadership of the nearby marines.

        Objectives Claimed - Long War (1), First Blood (1)


        Thousand Sons Turn 2

        Objectives Draw - Wrath of Magnus, Secure Objective 1

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        Things are not going well. I've lost most of my army, spent all my Command Points, and am serious lagging behind in victory points (Objective 1, by the way, is the Numinous Occulum that the Black Legion are camped on, so good luck with that).

        Still, there's a scrum in the centre that I ought to punch through. If I manage that, my Sorcerers can still wreak havoc. There's also a Jump Pack Lord that's about to get the crap smited out of him.

        The remaining Chaos Spawn chases after the retreating Rhino. The last Tzaangor sits on the objective, as if he's not going to get immediately shot off it. The Rubrics move within rapid-fire range of the Chaos Space Marines. All the characters line up to charge into the Mutalith's fight.

        The Psychic Phase begins briskly: the Shaman kills the Chaos Lord with Smite, freeing him up to join in the fun. Temporal Manipulation restores some wounds to the Mutalith (who heals one per turn anyway, so has raised up a bracket), another Smite takes off wounds from the Heldrake (who is also healing, damn him) and another Smite brings the Dark Apostle down to his last wound. And, since this is no time to hold back, my Disc Sorcerer gets Diabolic Strength.

        The Shooting Phase starts with me picking the Mutalith's power (I can't trust fate right now) and I go with the one that deals a mortal wound to every enemy in range - that would kill the Apostle and soften up the Helbrute. Sadly, being wounded, he just fails the roll to cast the power (why didn't I keep a Command Point for this?).

        The only other shooting is my Rubrics wiping out the last of the Chaos Space Marine squad, so at least that's two less meltas to worry about.

        In the Assault Phase, the Spawn crashes into the Rhino and all my characters make their do-or-die charge into the central fight.

        The Exalted Sorcerer leads off proceedings with his boosted strength and attacks. He still manages to whiff somewhat and leaves the Helbrute with one wound left. That should be something that the Tzaangor Shaman should be able to manage, but he's lost his Chaos Lord-killing knack and fails all his attacks.

        Down to the Mutalith then, who I was hoping to have free to attack the characters by this point. I split his tentacle attack - putting enough in the Dark Apostle to remove his last wound, and the majority into the Helbrute. I land four wounds and the Helbrute save only three of them - he's going down! Then Kraken spends his last Command Point and passes the last save - he's staying up!

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        Both Black Legion Sorcerer and the Exalted Sorcerer on foot essentially contribute nothing to the melee. Then the Helbrute has the temerity to go Crazed! and has another round of attacks at my warlord. Luckily his invulnerable save spares his blushes, but that combat could have gone a lot better.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.
        JUST DIE ALREADY!
        I score Wrath of Magus with Slay the Warlord as a bonus. I discard Secure Objective 1 in the hope of anything more achievable.

        Objectives Scored - Wrath of Magnus (1), Slay the Warlord 


        Black Legion Turn 3

        Objectives drawn - Take and Hold Objective 6

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        I don't like the way this is shaping up. Extreme luck has saved me in the middle of the field there, with the Helbrute weathering a nearly impossible storm, but there's no way he's lasting much longer. Once he's down, those characters are going to murder the rest of my army in seconds flat, as I really don't have anything left strong enough to deal with them. 

        Luckily, I've still got some easy missions to claim, and Defending Objective 6 right underneath all my Cultists is going to be the first of them. They get right on that by staying totally still and hoping nobody notices them. The nearby Rhino continues running from the Spawn, I can't really think that staying put will help anything out. 

        The other rhino (more fake map news here) actually flees the combat with the remaining Terminator and goes and parks by the Chaos Marines over in the Occulus. They're starting to look a bit left out, and I feel certain I'm going to need them back in action before long. Finally, the Heldrake flies up to snatch Objective 4, and then everyone else is desperately trying to finish off the Mutalith.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        Which mightn't be impossible, as it does only have a few wounds left at this point. The psychic phase gets me nowhere nearer this, of course, as all the Tzeentchian manipulators sit heavily on my every attempt to anything. 

        Shooting? The Heldrake at least burns down the final Terminator, and a lucky longshot from the Chaos Marines' Autocannon blows up the last Spawn. Having seen what the Rubrics did to their Chaos Marine buddies midfield, the Cultists return the favour by wiping the last, sad Tzaangor out, so that's a decent amount of closure for one phase. 

        And then it's combat time. We're slugging it out in turns, nobody has the charge advantage here. I get to go first, and I get greedy. I Split the Helbrute's attacks like a chump, thinking I only need to get a single hit on the Mutalith to finish it, and a couple of good hits on the Warlord will do for him too. Obviously, I kill nobody. 

        The Sorcerer Warlord overreacts to this, and pastes the Helbrute in short order.

        Pastes him a little too hard, as it turns out - he explodes! D3 mortal wounds on everyone nearby!

        That settles the rest of the combat in short order. The Mutalith dies, as does my Dark Apostle and the already wounded Tzaangor Shaman. Thankfully, the Mutalith doesn't explode as well, or we'd probably all be dead, but all the remaining sorcerers are looking a little tattered round the edges. 

        The morale phase is short - there's nobody left alive who'd need to take one. 

        Objectives Claimed - Secure Objective 4 (1)

        Thousand Sons Turn 3

        Objectives drawn - Hold The Line

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.
        Map errata: the top-left Rhino has returned to collect the Chaos Marine squad

        The exploding Helbrute has pretty much sunk me, so now we're playing for pride. I draw Hold The Line, which means I need to get my three remaining units back into my deployment zone. Easy enough for the Rubrics, as they never left. 

        The Disc Sorcerer can skim back easily, but I have to deploy my Dark Matter Crystal to bring the Sorcerer back into the fold (I couldn't risk a failed Warptime attempt on him. I am behind on points - and not likely to score many more - so I need to keep drawing fresh cards each turn).

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        The Psychic Phase is mostly healing up my wounded Sorcerer with Temporal Manipulation and whittling down that Heldrake with Smite. The Black Legion Sorcerer also gets Smited off the table. I would say that he's been schooled by superior magicks, but if he did nothing more than deny me that critical first-turn Warptime, then he's earned his corn.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        In the Shooting Phase, my paltry collection of Inferno Boltguns takes some pot-shots at the Heldrake and finally brings the monster down!

        That's the last of my successes. I claim Hold The Line, but Kraken also gets Defend Objective 3 for two points. It's all uphill from here.

        Objectives Claimed - Hold The Line, Defend Objective 3 (Black Legion: 2pts)


        Black Legion Turn 4


        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        Objectives Drawn - For the Dark Gods!, Secure Objective 2

        This looks... manageable? I'm ahead on VPs, at least, and those deadly characters are going to be vulnerable to heavy weapons fire. If only I had any left on the field!

        The Chaos Marines with the big guns are, despite my hopeless mapping, by the Rhino already, so they hop in and it heads directly for Objective 2. I've just drawn this, it's in the ruins opposite their current position, and it's also in the enemy's deployment zone which makes Linebreaker a tempting prospect too. Plus they can't actually see anyone from their current position, so no point hanging about.

        The Cultists advance, because maybe they can charge? Or at least shoot harder from nearer. Plus being Black Legion, they can still shoot even as they do, and it's probably the last thing the Rubrics are expecting. The other Rhino drives on to the midfield Objective, which might help me draw more later on, and also gets its guns in better range.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        No more psychic phase for me, but I hardly notice the difference to be honest.

        Shooting is okay, but no more. The plasma Rhino somehow plinks two wounds off the nearest Sorcerer with weight of fire, and between them, the other Rhino and cultists account for two more Rubrics. That's all I've got for now, but I'm still liking my odds.

        Objectives Claimed - none


        Thousand Sons Turn 4

        Objectives drawn - none

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        Did I say I was playing for pride? I'm now just playing to kill stuff. I can't even draw any more tactical objective cards, so I let rip with whatever Smite and Boltguns I have available.

        The Cultists take the brunt of my wrath, bringing them down to two models. And then I charge in with my Warlord to finish them off.

        There was no overwhelming tactical reason for picking on them ... but then, we're all dying over here, why should they get away with it?

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        Objectives Claimed - none


        Black Legion Turn 5

        Objectives Drawn - None

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        You can tell I was in the right ball park with my mapping, but my left flank is about a turn behind here. Ah well - in short, the chaos marines in the Rhino there actually pile out on to Objective 2 at this point, setting up with a good line of fire down the field. The other Rhino ploughs forward, getting its melta in range, and the Rubrics slowly patter back down to earth in a shower of gore. 

        Caught in the crossfire, the Thousand Sons start coming apart at the seams. I risk an overcharged Plasma shot with the left flank Rhino and take the Exalted Sorcerer back down to two wounds, then claim this with Autocannon fire. On the other flank, the Melta Rhino torches all but one of the Rubrics. I feel safe now, although not safe enough to stop shooting. 

        Objectives Claimed - Secure Objective 2 (1), Slay the Warlord (1), For the Dark Gods! (1)

        Thousand Sons Turn 5

        Objectives Drawn - None

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        One Exalted Sorcerer and one Aspiring Sorcerer left. Maybe the game will end early and spare my blushes.

        I let off a few Smites, then head for whatever line-of-sight blocking cover I can reach on foot.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        Objectives Claimed - None


        Both Turn 6

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Contact lost - 1200 points - Black Legion vs Thousand Sons.

        For my final turn, I get a pair of useless objectives (Big Game Hunter, Rise to Glory), but the damage has already been done. Although I can't finish them all off by weight of fire, I do manage to sink the last sorcerer, leaving a lone Rubric to try and kill my remaining tanks. 

        The Aspiring Sorcerer YOLO's his way into the Rhino, and falls to a hail of Overwatch. Of course he does. And that's a tabling even before we count up the hockey score of victory points against me.

        Objectives Claimed - Linebreaker (Black Legion 1)


        Result: Black Legion Victory (12 VPs to 4)


        Locker Room of Terror

        Crumbs, I don't usually get tabled this badly when I'm not facing Tyranids. Clearly, I have some lessons to learn before I can integrate my new units into the army. Although, to be honest, they performed quite well - it was the old guard that stuffed up (and their general, of course).

        Also: I'm soooo glad that I bust a gut to get the Helbrute ready to fight against me. What happened to New Model Syndrome?

        Well, that was equal parts luck and sensible planning on my part, I think. Stylus had some shocking dice, not least the fatal explosion of the Helbrute, and I got some nice easy VPs from lucky draws in the early game. Maybe that early lead put the psychological pressure on Stylus?

        I wish I had that excuse. I just made a couple of early unforced errors that cost me dearly. Picking the wrong side might have been the first one, but trying to alpha-strike my Scarab Occult has never worked out for me and I really ought to learn to use them properly.

        Charging the Heldrake flamer, for example, was an unusual error. And I'm not sure the Tzaangor picked their best target in the humble Rhino, either, when they could probably have eaten the Helbrute for breakfast. But otherwise it looked like an object lesson in horrible luck.

        Regarding the Heldrake, when I got it down to three wounds, I think I got tunnel-vision in trying to take it down, even when it came to charging Baleflamer Overwatch. An absence of long-range firepower was a weakness in my list - a Defiler's guns or a DakkaBrute could have really helped me out there.

        As for the Tzaangor, yes they would have been a lot more effective against the Helbrute, but in my defence, I was trying to encircle the entire vehicle (which I would have done with another inch on the charge), preventing its escape, stopping me getting shot in the next turn, and keeping the troops inside buttoned-up. It didn't really work, but as I had no other answer for vehicles, I was willing to try it.

        My lot did what they were expected to, though, which was carefully move about grabbing objectives wherever possible and not get too shot up in the process. Err, although I did lose almost the entire army in the process, I guess. Two rhinos and a lone squad of troops isn't much to take home. I suppose I'll put the bodies and loot in the empty transport.

        Speaking of which, the Rhinos are my joint MVP. Being able to slap combi-weapons on them, as well as the cheeky Havoc Launchers, makes them more or less equivalent to a squad of marines in terms of firepower. I didn't expect that! With some lucky melta overwatch, they accounted for quite a tasty amount of the enemy's numbers. I'd definitely rate them over their rather tame loyalist counterparts.

        I was happy with the impact the Tzaangor pack had on the battle - especially when buffed by the Shaman and Exalted Sorcerer. The Mutalith was a fun pick too. He can take hit, draws a lot of attention and, though I only got to use his powers twice, I can see there is a lot of potential. Next time, I think I'll hold him back from the front line a little, or at least make sure he's properly supported.

        I'm still liking the formation of two 5-man Rubric squads. They do soak a lot of small-arms fire to get rid off, and the extra Sorcerer more than compensates for the lack of Soulreaper Cannon.

        So from my point of view, Stylus's claim that this is an *almost* functional Black Legion list is rather put to bed! 

        Now I've got my hand in (and paid the battalion tax) with the squaddies, I have a few small additions that might flavour the army's playstyle. One thing for certain, they're not getting a Heldrake!

        Okay, they're borrowing the Heldrake from the Thousand Sons (and I guess they'll be wanting it back for next time), but it wouldn't take much to swap an alternative in. A Daemon Prince, for example, or another Helbrute.

        Or Abaddon...

        (take note GW - we are happy to receive any advance copy and share them with all four of our readers) 

        Paint It Black

        $
        0
        0
        Between the Crypt Angles and Abbadon's lads, it's a wonder that GW have any stocks of Chaos Black left...

        Black Legion Chaos Space Marines for Warhammer 40,000

        This time, we're packing chainswords!

        There's a story behind this unit: I picked up a few Rhinos on eBay (my avoidance for assembling 40k vehicles knows no bounds) and, as an unexpected sweetener, they arrived with a squad of combat marines, all painted to a tabletop standard.

        25mm bases? Pure heresy.

        What I time-saver! So did I re-base them, touch up the paint and thank the Eye of Terror for such a quick turnaround? Did I heck.

        The gold was not *quite* my gold. The flesh was not *quite* my flesh. And the Black Legion are all about integrating other heretics into their forces. so with apologies to their original painter, I had no recourse but to respray the whole lot and start all over again.

        Black Legion Chaos Space Marines for Warhammer 40,000

        I mean, they're completely different!

        Black Legion Chaos Space Marines for Warhammer 40,000

        These guys were tooled up for close combat. I'm not sure this is the optimum load-out for them, especially when Khorne Berserkers are such an murdersome alternative. But they'll have fun against Imperium armies, and when have I ever built armies to be competitive?

        Black Legion Chaos Space Marines for Warhammer 40,000

        Same paint scheme as their boltgun-armed brethren. Quick and easy:

        • Gold armour: Retributor Armour base, Agrax Earthshade wash
        • Black armour: Chaos Black base, Mechanicus Standard Grey layer,
        • Pipes, straps & gun barrels: Ironbreaker base, Nuln Oil wash
        • Bullets: Runelord Brass + Xv88 base, Agrax Earthshade wash
        • Eyes: Mephiston Red base, Carroburg Crimson wash
        • Skin: Rakarth Flesh base, Reikland Flesh wash, Pallid Wych Flesh layer
        • Topknot: Khone Red base, Nuln Oil wash, Evil Sunz Scarlett layer
        • Horns and Skulls: Talarn Sand base, Ushabti Bone layer.
        • Power Sword: Celestra Grey base, Nihilakh Oxide wash, White Scar drybrush
        • And to age it all up, everything got a very light drybrush with Terminatus Stone


        Black Legion Chaos Space Marines for Warhammer 40,000

        There is a rumour on the grapvine (isn't there always) of a Primaris/Truescale version of these Chaos Marines in the pipeline. Certainly, this crew do seem a wee bit smaller than their more modern Thousand Sons brethren.

        I'm not too bothered. They're classic models and were good fun to paint (also, as they come from a simpler time, a lot faster to finish!)

        Black Legion Chaos Space Marines for Warhammer 40,000

        Part of my integration process involved hacking away their 25mm bases and replacing them with 32mms. Much improved, even on their diminutive scale.

        Black Legion Chaos Space Marines for Warhammer 40,000

        Unlike my last squad, this one actually gets a leader! A nice glowing Power Sword (I prefer a big punchy fist myself, but at least swords look more authoritative).

        Black Legion Chaos Space Marines for Warhammer 40,000

        This squad was also keen on melta weapons, since both the special load-outs get them. Not a bad choice for a unit that has to get up-close and personal (and has a Rhino to scoot them up the table too). Though they don't prove that handy when your unit has just been jumped by a pack of Tzaangors.

        Black Legion Chaos Space Marines for Warhammer 40,000

        This melta operative clearly has eyes on command, what with this backpack accessories and loincloth of authority. If I were the Aspiring Champion, I wouldn't turn my back on this one.

        Black Legion Chaos Space Marines for Warhammer 40,000

        Finally, the icon. Appropriately for a melee unit, it's Khorne's Icon of Wrath. I washed the gold with Reikland Fleshshade to make it ruddier than the other gold trim. Then slathered it with Blood for the Blood God, which is really all you need for ruddiness.

        Black Legion Chaos Space Marines for Warhammer 40,000

        So that's all my Battalion tax paid. When I build the next phase of this army, we're looking at some more specialised units!

        You've Got Alpha Mail: Millitarum Tempestus vs Alpha Legion

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        Chaos never sleeps! So the Inquisition have called upon the Militarum Tempestus to help them winkle out the heretics. This time it's the Alpha Legion - Hail Hydra!


        After so many years of playing the good guys (and Orks), I've clearly found my home in the Eye of Terror. I, Stylus, will continue my whistlerstop tour of the Traitor Legions with the enigmatic XX Legion.

        Orks are the good guys, aren't they?

        Kraken here, hosting in the depths of a Hive World tonight. My Imperial Stormtroopers have some reinforcements and are desperate for battle. So under the guidance of an Inquisitorial Sect, it's time to set fire to these traitors and show them Vengeance for Cadia!


        Smash that peace pipe!
        It's Fight Night on Skype!


        Armies

        Hunt The Traitors - Imperium

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Tactical Escalation - 1500 points - Alpha Legion vs Millitarum Tempestus & Inquisition.

        Imperial soup time! With the new improved recipies, of course, so no blending of army books within a detachment for me. A fairly standard roundup of my Stormtroopers for the battalion, although I'm trying out a Commissar as the Warlord for a change. Of course, I forgot his Old Grudges, so the senile old fool couldn't remember who it was who short-changed him that time at the supermarket, and it played no bearing on the fight. 

        The newbies to the list are the Ogryn Bodyguards. Three is probably excessive, but should be fun to try out. I don't lose the Tempestus trait for taking them, they'll make my squishy characters a bit more durable and I've just finished painting them, so kind of a must-take. As such, the heroes get close combat gear, just in case that's where they end up. 

        The secondary detachment is Inquisitors - the bigger, harder Ordo Malleus Terminator guy, and a smaller regular one. The Daemonhost is padding to flesh out the list, as they're a liability for First Blood, but the Acolytes are a solid choice, especially with such frail characters about. 

        A third detachment too! These vanguarding assassins don't get me any CPs, but they're both pretty dangerous. The Callidus in particular makes it harder for the enemy to use strategems in the first turn of the game, and knowing the Alpha Legion, there's going to be deepstriking or sneaking or such going on. Plus who doesn't like a Neural Disruptor, am I right, ladies and gentlemen? 


        • Lord Commissar (HQ)
          Bolt pistol, Power fist
          Warlord Trait: Old Grudges
          Relic: The Emperor's Benediction
        • Tempestor Prime (HQ)
          Power maul, Tempestus Command Rod
        • 10 x Militarum Tempestus Scions (Troops)
          Tempestor (Chainsword, Hot-shot Laspistol), Vox-Caster, 4 x Hot-shot Lasgun, 4 x Hot-shot Volley Gun
        • 5 x Militarum Tempestus Scions (Troops)
          Tempestor (Chainsword, Hot-shot Laspistol), Vox-Caster, Hot-shot Lasgun, Meltagun, Flamer
        • 5 x Militarum Tempestus Scions (Troops)
          Tempestor (Chainsword, Hot-shot Laspistol), Vox-Caster, Hot-shot Lasgun, Meltagun, Plasma gun
        • Nork Deddog (Elite)
          Ripper Gun
        • Ogryn Bodyguard (Elite)
          Bullgryn Maul, Bullgryn Plate, Slabshield
        • Ogryn Bodyguard (Elite)
          Bullgryn Maul, Bullgryn Plate, Slabshield
        • Valkyrie (Flyer)
          Hellstrike Missiles, Lascannon, 2x Heavy bolter
        • Taurox Prime (Transport)
          Heavy Stubber, Taurox Missile Launcher, Two Autocannons
        • Taurox Prime (Transport)
          Storm Bolter, Taurox Battle Cannon, Two Hot-shot Volley Guns

        • Inquisitor (HQ)
          Combi-plasma, Force stave, Ordo Malleus
          Powers: Dominate
        • Inquisitor in Terminator Armour (HQ)
          Nemesis Daemon Hammer, Storm bolter, Ordo Malleus
          Powers: Terrify
        • 2 x Acolytes (Elite)
          Acolyte (Laspistol, Plasma gun), Acolyte (Chainsword, Laspistol), Ordo Malleus
        • 2 x Acolytes (Elite)
          Acolyte (Flamer, Plasma pistol), Acolyte (Chainsword, Laspistol), Ordo Malleus
        • Daemonhost (Elite)
          Unholy Gaze, Warp Grasp

        • Callidus Assassin (Elite)
          Neural Shredder, Phase Sword, Poison Blades
        • Vindicare Assassin (Elite)
          Blind Grenades, Exitus Pistol, Exitus Rifle
        Points: 1500 | Battalion + Vanguard + Assassin Vanguard: 9 CPs


        Alf Alpha - Alpha Legion

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Tactical Escalation - 1500 points - Alpha Legion vs Millitarum Tempestus & Inquisition.

        The army is mostly disguised as Primaris Crypt Angels - but isn't that just like the Alpha Legion? A few standard squads and a cultist mob to fill out the Battalion detachment, with a couple of Helbrutes to move forward and apply pressure.

        I also went with some heavies in the Spearhead Detachment -  a squad of Havocs with Autocannons and Missile Launchers; a Predator (here represented by a dragon) and some Obliterators (featuring one of the original lead models!). I spread around the mark of Slaanesh, so I would have access to Endless Cacophony, but I forget to use it all battle, so it's moot.

        My three characters all have the ability to deepstrike in, and with Warlord (or is he?) has the I Am Alpharius trait, which I already love.

        All told, I have a robust base of fire, with some strong close-combat units and enough surprise drops to keep my opponent guessing.
        • Chaos Lord in Terminator Armour (HQ)
          Combi-plasma, Lightning Claw
          Warlord Trait: I Am Alpharius  + Exalted Champion
        • Sorcerer with Jump Pack (HQ)
          Combi-bolter, Force Sword
          Powers: Warptime, Prescience
        • 5 x Chaos Space Marines (Troops)
          Aspiring Champion (Chainsword, Combi-plasma), Boltguns, Heavy Bolter
        • 5 x Chaos Space Marines (Troops)
          Aspiring Champion (Chainsword, Combi-plasma), Boltguns, Heavy Bolter
        • 20 x Chaos Cultists (Troops)
          Autoguns, 2 x Flamers, Mark of Slaanesh
        • Helbrute (Elite)
          Helbrute Fist (Heavy Flamer), Heavy Bolter
        • Helbrute (Elite)
          Helbrute Fist (Heavy Flamer), Heavy Bolter

        • Chaos Lord with Jump Pack (HQ)
          Chainsword, Combi-melta
          Relic: Blade of the Hydra
        • 7 x Havocs (Heavy)
          Aspiring Champion (Chainsword, Boltgun), 2 x Missile Launchers, 2 x Autocannons, 2 x Boltguns, Mark of Slaanesh
        • Chaos Predator (Heavy)
          Predator Autocannon, 2 x Lascannons, Havoc Launcher, Combi-flamer
        • 3 x Obliterators (Heavy)
          Mark of Slaanesh 

        Points: 1500 | Battalion + Spearhead: 9 CPs


        Battlefield and Deployment

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Tactical Escalation - 1500 points - Alpha Legion vs Millitarum Tempestus & Inquisition.

        Apologies - my camera was out of action last night, so no pictures of the game in action. You'll just have to use your imaginations. 

        An experimental battlefield. I cracked out a bit of Space Hulk tiles and made two internal layouts, representing bunkers inside massive overhead bridge supports (or hive city pillars, or something. Again, use your imaginations). The outside edges of these blocked all movement and line of sight, even for flyers, and the insides were only accessible to infantry, and then only if they used the doors politely. You could deep strike into them, though. 

        Otherwise, relatively light cover outside, although two smaller buildings to further tinker with line of sight across the battlefield. With the objectives out, Stylus picked Hammer and Anvil. We're fighting an Escalation, so you draw Objectives up to the number of the turn. The longer the game goes on, the more there will be on offer in terms of VPs, balanced by the fact that you'll probably have less to claim them with.

        You also have to nominate one type of tactical objectives. You get an additional point for scoring these, and lose point if you discard them. At the end of the game, the one who scored the most gets a bonus point. We both went with out codex-specific objectives - because that sounded like the most fun.

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Tactical Escalation - 1500 points - Alpha Legion vs Millitarum Tempestus & Inquisition.

        My massive army can pull all sorts of deep striking tricks, as well as containing three large transports. But I need at least nine units on the table, so in the end I go with a relatively conservative presence in the warp. Both Assassins, of course, the Terminator Inquisitor and a single small unit of Stormtroopers. 

        Nork and the Warlord get in the Valkyrie, the other Stormies get in the backs of their vans, and everyone else cowers round the backs of the large pillar complex, so they can't be shot off in turn one. 

        I put as much as I can into deep strike: Obliterators and the three characters. I also use the Forward Operatives stratagem to move my Cultists forward - although when all's said and done, I can't find a really good place for them. If they could all fit inside the bunker, that would have been aces, but half the unit is left dangling temptingly outside.

        After some complex dithering, Stylus kindly offers me the first turn. So I accept!

        It was not dithering, it was mind games! I was sowing misdirection and confusion (mostly in myself). But since my guns can't reach Kraken in this turn, he may as well come to me.

        Heretic Hunters - Turn 1

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Tactical Escalation - 1500 points - Alpha Legion vs Millitarum Tempestus & Inquisition.

        Objective Draw - Supremacy

        Interesting - there I was, thinking Stylus was giving me first turn because I wouldn't be able to shoot anyone. And then he very sportingly places a massive unit of heretic scum right in range of most of my army. Excellent!

        Sure enough, everything I have roars forward so they can either see the Cultists lurking out of the back of the bunker or dashes in through the internal corridors. I even bring the Terminator Inquisitor down inside, although he can't actually see them. 

        Then I let rip with everything I've got, and I mean the works. The worry is that if I don't wipe this unit out entirely, Stylus will be splashing out on Tide of Traitors, allowing him to replace the whole lot elsewhere. 

        Luckily, I roll some pretty hot dice. The Battlecannon Taurox alone accounts for something like eight of them, and between Acolytes, Taurox missile launchers and whatever else I'm throwing (I think even the Daemonhost warp gazes some poor sod down), fourteen of the junior rotters snuff it. 

        So Stylus is left with a conundrum - if he spends CPs on making them immune to morale for a turn and then more CPs to Tide of Traitors them back in, he could be spending as many as 6 CPs! This is because of the lurking disruption my Callidus Assassin is sowing, which can force you to spend extra on CPs in the round 1 of the game. 

        In the end, Stylus bites down and decides its not worth splashing out. The remaining Cultists breathe a sigh of relief and leg it, safe in the knowledge that they won't have to die all over again in subsequent turns. 

        As for everything else, well, my plan is to try and claim as much of the battlefield as possible and then scrape VPs up whenever my card draw allows. I can't quite claim Supremacy (which needs three objectives) yet, but I did get First Blood, so that's nice. 

        Objectives Scored: First Blood (1)

        Alpha Legion - Turn 1

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Tactical Escalation - 1500 points - Alpha Legion vs Millitarum Tempestus & Inquisition.

        So much for the Cultists. Thinking about it, it would have been better to keep them hidden in my back lines and then send them forward with Tide of Traitors. Ah well, they were only Cultists and I've forced Kraken to use up valuable lasgun battery packs in annihilating them.

        Damn you, Alpharius!

        My first objective is a bust: Advance. That's not going to happen with my gunline, so I'm already on the back foot.

        Inside my bunker, I move the Chaos Marine squad onto Objective 3, just in case it turns up, and leave everyone else in their assigned cowering positions. The Jump-Pack Chaos Lord and the Jump-Pack Sorcerer pop down into the shooting castle to provide buffs.

        (I actually got a bit mixed up with my Chaos Lords - I had originally intended the Terminator Lord to join the castle, and the Jump Lord to go in with the Obliterators. Which is why the Terminator has the longer-range plasma, and the Jump Lord has the shorter-range melta. Damn Alpharius impostors are even confusing me!)

        The Sorcerer casts Prescience on the Predator and then we're off to the races! The battle tank blazes away at the Valkyrie, knocking off a healthy amount of wounds. The Havocs follow up, loading the Flakk Missile to knock off a full three mortal wounds. The airbus is now chugging along at a single wound, which is clearly easy prey for my Helbrutes.

        Or not. Despite standing still, and getting the Lord's re-reroll, and my using the Fire Frenzy stratagem, they roll an improbably amount of 2s and fail to damage the flyer at all! Indeed, I should have gotten in more shots, since I forget that I had twin heavy bolters, not just heavy bolters (how can I play Alpha Legion and forget about twins?).

        So that concludes my shooting phase: it began brightly, and ended in disappointment - that flyer is still airborne. It's shooting has been seriously nerfed, but it can drop its passengers anywhere it likes. I discard Advance so I can stay tucked up in my shooting castle.

        Objectives achieved: none

        Heretic Hunters - Turn 2

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Tactical Escalation - 1500 points - Alpha Legion vs Millitarum Tempestus & Inquisition.

        Objectives Drawn - Defend Objective 3

        The Valkyrie wheezes off behind the big bunker up ahead, and drops the Lord Commissar and Nork off as he does it. They leg it for the corner of the bunker, as I need to get inside and squat on Objective 3 for two turns, according to my latest update from command. 

        To help them, I grav-chute in the small Flamer squad of Stormtroopers. I also stick the Vindicare down ahead of Objective 4, get the other small Stormtrooper squad out into the same building and advance pretty much everything else up towards the middle of the field. This gives the Tauroxes line of sight on the Predator, which is a big priority as I'm terribly afraid of its big guns. 

        Shooting is a massive bust. Although the big guns on my jeeps are pretty nasty, they don't connect much. Too much moving about on my part, and too much sneakily painting his tanks black from Stylus, I expect - I don't do much of great use, including the forward Tempestus Squad failing to pick off any Chaos Space Marines in my forward deployment. Even the ruddy Vindicare misses his shot.

        I do manage to pick about half the wounds of the Predator with a lucky bit of autocannon fire, but this is the one turn I'm going to be firing on all cylinders, I suspect, so I was hoping for a bit more. 

        Nork sighs to himself, unimpressed as ever by human incompetence, and charges off round the corner of the building. No overwatch (they can't see him when he sets off), so the Alpha grunts are dismayed to meet a massive ton of Ogryn pounding uninjured towards them. The combat is as one-sided as you'd expect, and Nork murders four of them for no returns. 

        At which point I remember he's supposed to be a bodyguard, and he's left the man he came to look after all by himself round the other side of the building...

        At least I claim the Supremacy Objective from earlier, so I'm keeping my slender lead for now. 

        Objectives Claimed - Supremacy (1)


        Alpha Legion - Turn 2

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Tactical Escalation - 1500 points - Alpha Legion vs Millitarum Tempestus & Inquisition.

        The Imperium are loose on my left flank, and there's a ruddy great building preventing me from shooting at them! More troubling, they are dominating the whole field. This a problem for my next draw: Defend Objective 1 and Defend Objective 5. At the moment, I can't even get to those objectives, so staying there for two turns is even less likely.

        But I need to get on the move: my surviving Champion pulls back from the combat with Nork Deddog and my Sorcerer jump-packs into Smite range. My intact squad of Chaos Marines run to the opposite end of the bunker, just in case Nork wants to step inside, and my two Helbrutes romp forward towards the centre (if anyone can last on the central objectives, it's that pair).

        And then it's time for my favourite part of every battle: making a mess of the deepstrike! I plonk my Obliterators down by the opposite bunker, forming a triangle around the Terminator Lord.

        The Psychic phase goes off nicely (although, for a player used to Thousand Sons, all too briefly): Smite takes off two wounds from Nork, and Prescience is put on the Predator, cancelling out his damage bracket.

        Here comes the shooting! The first Helbrute opens up on the foolishly-exposed Lord Commissar, and takes three wounds off him. The second one can't target him, so tries his luck on the last wound of the Valkyrie, and misses entirely (so just shoots his bolter into the air, then).

        It's my first try of the Obliterators, and they don't disappoint: S8 shots at -2AP and 3Damage. They even roll well - hitting with all twelve of their shots without the Lord's re-rolls and putting everything into the Missile Taurox. Despite saves, 18 wounds still make it through and the transport explodes, doing 3 more wounds to its neighbouring Taurox and killing two of it's passengers. Yikes!

        (Note to future self: this would be an excellent time to play the Endless Cacophony Stratagem on the Obliterators. Slaanesh isn't just there for claws and nipple clips, you know)

        The rest of the shooting is something of a bust. The surviving Scions use the Go To Ground stratagem and so survive my Havoc's fire. The Predator whiffs most of its shots and only puts a few more wounds on the Taurox. In better news, the Sorcerer's combi-bolter chips off two more wounds from Nork.

        No assaults for me (although, thinking about it, charging in the Terminator Lord wouldn't have been the worst idea), and no objectives either. I've done a fair bit of damage, and most of my army is intact, but I still feel like I'm playing catch-up here. I discard Defend Objective 5, since there are still a lot of Tempestus between it and me.

        Objectives achieved: none

        Heretic Hunters - Turn 3

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Tactical Escalation - 1500 points - Alpha Legion vs Millitarum Tempestus & Inquisition.

        Objectives Drawn - Death from Afar, Advance

        Tricky Objectives again - I could get Advance right away, but only if I run away from the large unit of deadly shooting mutants in my back field. Death from Afar is never going to happen, I'd have to stand in my deployment zone and shoot something in the enemy end to death, but I'm stuck with it for now. 

        The last of my units appear on the field, namely the Callidus Assassin. Who pops up right on Objective Three, having been polymorphed as a girder. Elsewhere I scramble about trying to get guns or assault troops to bear on all the new threats that have arrived, or hide my suddenly vulnerable troops in heavy cover. 

        The twin Inquisitors (twinquisitors?) both run back to get psychic powers in range of the Obliterators. And it works out well when the Terminator Inquisitors manages to Dominate the Chaos Lord. Ordering him to crank up his plasma gun to maximal and let rip on the Obliterators works out well, as despite rerolling ones he still manages to explode himself. I can't even take the credit for it entirely, Stylus rolled the dice for it. To add injuries to this insult, he even wounds an Obliterator. 

        No Warlord killing points, though. This was clearly not Alpharius, he's now one of the other two remaining characters. 

        After that heartening attack, though, it's pretty weak elsewhere. I finish off the Chaos Marine Champion with hotshot fire, the Vindicare misses another shot, the Callidus fries a pair of traitors with her Neural thingummy and then fails an easy charge, and I totally fail to wound the Predator despite pouring fire into it from everything I can. Er, which is a damaged Taurox and the Valkyrie, which is somehow still flying in crazed circles at this point. 

        At least the Ogryn Bodyguards don't disappoint. Between frag bombs and a double charge, they batter and blast two and a half of the Obliterators off the field. Ha. 

        Objectives Scored - Nil



        Alpha Legion - Turn 3

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Tactical Escalation - 1500 points - Alpha Legion vs Millitarum Tempestus & Inquisition.

        This is getting worrying: my counterstrike has been counterstruck and I'm in danger of getting overrun in my own bunker. My tactical objectives come a turn too late: Behind Enemy Lines and Priority Orders: Defend Objective 6. I could have dropped my Obliterators on that quite happily.

        However, Kraken helpfully points out that I have one surviving Obliterator, so he waddles out of combat and secures me Behind Enemy Lines (my first point of the game!). The Helbrutes continue to march forward towards the centre.

        In the bunker, I decide I need some bold moves: the Sorcerer and Chaos Lord jump inside, while the two remaining Chaos Legionnaires move forward to support the Sorcerer and screen their newly-appointed Warlord.

        In the Psychic phase, I fail to get Prescience on the Predator, but do manage to Smite off three wounds from the Callidus. He follows up the the shooting phase and guns her down with his combi-bolter. Assassins - hah!

        The Havocs and the Predator combine to blast apart the remaining Taurox, and one of the Helbrutes continues to hunt the White Whale that is the Valkyrie's last wound. He fails, so the other one blasts away at the small Scion squad on the roof. He only managed to kill one with Heavy Bolter fire, but then it's revealed that the squad is in heavy flamer range of both Helbrutes. Bathed in promethium, the rest of the squad burns to a crisp.

        This is particularly galling, as I'd spend VPs on Go to Ground to boost their save, then reminded Stylus he had the heavy flamers and rolled a fabulous selection of ones and twos against the flames. 

        No close combat for me, so I ditch Defend Objective 6.

        Objectives achieved: Behind Enemy Lines (1)

        Heretic Hunters - Turn 4

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Tactical Escalation - 1500 points - Alpha Legion vs Millitarum Tempestus & Inquisition.

        Objectives Drawn - I'm afraid I get a bit vague here, there were a lot about. Something like Defend Objective 4, Capture Objective 5 and Kingslayer, if I recall? 

        Whatever it was I was supposed to achieve, I had bigger fish to fry. Those Hellbrutes were looking like a big problem, but I had a clever plan to deal with it. The large Scion squad advanced as close as they could, backed by all the Inquisitors and the Tempestor Prime. 

        First up, some softening Smites, that deal five wounds between them. Nice!

        As a consolation for all those mortal wounds, the Helbrute becomes Crazed! This is excellent - he can blaze away at that Scion squad with Heavy Bolter and Heavy Flamer and wipe them out before they get a chance to fire! ... except that doesn't happen. Bad rolling and good saves mean that nothing at all happens. As you were, Kraken.

        Phew, because I was relying on them for phase two of my plan: Krak grenades! The Prime barks out the command that lets the squad fire even though they advanced, and then I spend CPs on the Grenadiers strategem. Five Krak grenades ought to have a decent chance of finishing the reeling 'Brute. 

        Not with my dice, of course. No, it's a total bust, and the points are wasted despite a total of six grenades, two Volley Guns, various plasma and bolter fire from the Inquisitors and some extremely approximate attempts at shooting from the lurching Valkyrie. The Viudicare keeps firing randomly into the air. 

        Over by Objective 3, which I still have a chance of getting, the Scion squad pour in through the door to back my Warlord and Nork. Between all three I gun down the Chaos Sorcerer and his Legionnaire chums, and the Objective is nearly mine! I also nick cheap points by getting the Daemonhost out of my deployment zone for Advance. It's a slow but steady drip...

        Objectives Claimed - Advance (1)

        Alpha Legion - Turn 4

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Tactical Escalation - 1500 points - Alpha Legion vs Millitarum Tempestus & Inquisition.

        This is it: time to get stuck in and turn the tide of the battle back in my favour. Tactical objectives are pushing me on: Secure Objective 1, Secure Objective 6 and Mission Critical Objective 4. Clearly the centre ground holds the key to victory.

        The Helbrutes move into the centre, where they cannot fail the charge. The Chaos Lord jumps closer to the Scions squad (but keeps himself hidden from Overwatch, around a corner) and the Havocs step into the bunker to train their heavy weapons on Nork.

        When it comes to shooting, the Helbrutes don't really impress: taking down only five Scions between them. Although they do better than the Predator who, deprived of Prescience, can only manage one kill. Even the Obliterator seems demoralised, and rolls low for his fleshmetal guns, only chipping off one wound from the Ogryn.

        It's a different story inside the bunker: Nork is shot to pieces by the Chaos Lord, and three Scions are felled with Havoc fire.

        In the assault phase, the Chaos Lord charges the Scions, and kills them many times over with his Hydra Blade and newly-acquired warlord trait (Hatred Incarnate). The Havocs also make short work of the Commissar's last wound, securing me the bunker and, more importantly, a point for Slay the Warlord!

        Killed in close combat by a heavy support squad! The shame!

        But the main event is going on in the centre: one Helbrute makes a long charge into the Terminator Inquisitor, but his size blocks the other one from charging anything other than the Tempestus Prime and Scion squad.

        The other Inquisitor, knowing that this is going to be short and ugly, performs a Heroic Intervention and joins in. 

        With the fickleness of fate, the Helbrute against the Scions does wonders - smacking all his attacks with his Helbrute fist and even rolling a few Death to the False Emperor bonus attacks that turn the Prime to strawberry jam. However, the attack I really need to succeed - against the Terminator Inquisitor - suddenly blossoms a load of 1s and I don't even get to test his invulnerable save. He whacks back with his daemon hammer, his comrade joins in with a Force Stave and the Helbrute is destroyed.

        It doesn't look like I'll be grabbing anything in the centre right now (where's a Tide of Traitors when you need it?) and I ditch Mission Critical Objective 4, since I definitely don't want to put my warlord on the same rooftop as the Vindicare who's been looking for him all battle. 

        Objectives achieved: Slay the Warlord (1)

        Heretic Hunters - Turn 5

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Tactical Escalation - 1500 points - Alpha Legion vs Millitarum Tempestus & Inquisition.

        Objectives Drawn: Defend Objective 6, Mission Critical Objective - Capture 4, err, something else too? 

        The Daemonhost, who is wandering about in my back lines aimlessly, suddenly grows a purpose - he can get to Objective 6 easily, and goes and camps on it. Likewise the Vindicare (not shown above) decides his sight is off and goes to pick up Objective 4. 

        I don't have a lot of other fights to resolve, I'm running low on troops now. The Ogryn Bodyguards have no bodys left to guard nearby and head off to deal with that rogue Obliterator, backed with plasma fire from the nearby Acolytes. That merely fries myself, but the Ogryns get the job done with aplomb when they charge in. 

        The Inquisitors smite the wounded Hellbrute apart, the Valkyrie misses all its shots against the Predator aaand... that's it, really. Lucky objective draws are keeping me in the game, here, I'm a spent force or too far out of position to be of use. 

        Objectives Achieved: Mission Critical Objective 4 (1)

        Alpha Legion - Turn 5

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Tactical Escalation - 1500 points - Alpha Legion vs Millitarum Tempestus & Inquisition.

        Is victory even possible? I've still got a few guns left, and maybe I can annihilate my way to the finish line. At least I draw some killing objectives, although as before, they would have been more useful on turn earlier: Blood and Guts and Witch Hunter.

        I run all my units out of the bunker, so they can get shots on anything if the game continues. That only leaves my Predator, who unleashes all its guns against the Valkyrie, who was sneaking into Linebreaker position. I finally break through to that last wound and bring the gunship crashing down.

        I ditch Blood and Guts - possibly prematurely, now I think about it. It's more likely my Jump-Pack Warlord will kill something in melee than I am ever going to get onto an Objective.

        Objectives achieved: noneImperium: Defend Objective 6 (2)

        Heretic Hunters - Turn 6

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Tactical Escalation - 1500 points - Alpha Legion vs Millitarum Tempestus & Inquisition.

        Objectives Drawn:Secure Objective 4

        The game rolls on! I pick up a slew of objectives, most of which are unlikely. If I can somehow kill the enemy Warlord, I'll be well ahead, as I've got Scour the Skies and Kingslayer all in hand. But he's hiding behind a mass of concrete, and nobody can see him. The Inquisitors take their remaining acolytes and dash towards the final heretics, everyone else heads for the nearest Objectives in the hope I'll draw well. 

        Between smites, snipes and storm bolter fire, I pick off a trio of Havocs. But that's it. 

        Objectives Achieved: Secure Objective 4 (1)

        Alpha Legion - Turn 6

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Tactical Escalation - 1500 points - Alpha Legion vs Millitarum Tempestus & Inquisition.

        The tactical objective cards finally do me a favour: Hold the Line means I need to get all three of my units back into my deployment zone. Since they barely left, that's an easy one. I also get Mission Critical Objective 1, which I add to the pile of Things I Won't Capture.

        I move everything back into my own deployment zone, then open up on the closest enemy model - which happens to be the Terminator Inquisitor. Though his two Acolytes bravely though themselves in front of the shells for him, the slayer-of-helbrutes is finally brought low - and that's Witch Hunter!

        Objectives achieved: Hold the Line (1), Witch Hunter (1)

        Heretic Hunters - Turn 7

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Tactical Escalation - 1500 points - Alpha Legion vs Millitarum Tempestus & Inquisition.

        Objectives Drawn: No Prisoners, Secure Objective 5

        Miffed by the death of his big chum, the smaller Inquisitor keeps on trucking, and gets close enough to cast Dominate on the Chaos Lord. Who's holding a combi-melta, which is interesting as killing a unit will now net me No Prisoners. Stylus once more rolls the hits and damage, and sure enough the melta hits and wounds! But he picks the lowest result he can, wisely, and the tank escapes with a nice burn mark. 

        I'm still claiming a steady drip of VPs from sitting on Objectives I've already got, which is lucky - it's looking very close at this point.

        Objectives achieved: Secure Objective 5 (1),

        Alpha Legion - Turn 7

        Warhammer 40k battle report - Maelstrom of War - Tactical Escalation - 1500 points - Alpha Legion vs Millitarum Tempestus & Inquisition.

        Final turn, and the tactical objectives throw me a ray of hope: Kingslayer, Assassinate, and Secure Objective 2. Kingslayer is in the bag (for D3 points too); I can kill the last Inquisitor for Assassinate and, now I don't have to worry about Vindicare sniping, I can bounce my Lord out in the open on Objective 2 - maybe going second wasn't so dumb after all. I could steal this game!

        Sadly, my Chaos Lord's jump-pack runs out of fuel at the wrong time - only needing a 3 to secure Objective 2, I instead roll a 2. I console myself with gunning down the last Inquisitor, and even get an improbable 3 VPs for Kingslayer, but I don't think that will suffice. I don't have the firepower or the angle to shift the Imperium units off Objective 5, so they'll get 2 points for defending it. That ought to be enough to tip the balance.

        Objectives achieved: Assassinate (1), Kingslayer (3);
        Imperium: Defend Objective 5 (2)

        Result: Millitarum Tempestus Victory (10 VPs to 8)

        Locker Room of Terror

        That was a belter of a game! We both tore chunks out of each other, and yet it was relatively low scoring until the end. The bunker terrain really added something, especially as we were both tooling some very shooty armies, and combat devolved into a number of small skimishes that were a lot of fun to play out. Huge line-of-sight blocking terrain is a must-have for these battlefields.

        Yep - the internal spaces and shooting angles made it a very cagey and tense game. Neither of us could just sit still and shoot, we had to move into range and LOS before engaging, and that was always risky as it traded early shots with less accuracy against your opponent's counterfire. 40K is a great game for gambling in this way, and playing it sat in your own deployment area, upending buckets of dice from leaf-blower armies seems very dull to me. 

        I wasn't sure about having parts of the board denied to vehicles, that could easily be very tough for certain armies and I hadn't checked it with Stylus before the game. That's probably a necessity for next time, but otherwise I'm definitely thinking about how to model this kind of scenery for future use.

        I was cursing the tactical objectives throughout the game, but it's my own fault for ceding board control to Kraken. Being able to sit on 4-5 of the objectives a turn meant that he was well-placed to claim the cards when they came up, whereas I just had to hope for killing ones or Objective 3 inside the bunker. A bit of fortunate rolling almost had me back in the game, and it's a sobering thought that, if I'd drawn just one of my chosen objective cards (out of 15), it would have been worth at least 3 points and a (probably undeserved) victory.

        Yeah, my spread out and cling on approach really paid off. Which is lucky, because I got shot to shit! Against the armoured might of a Predator and the Havocs, my light vehicles took a beating. The Valkyrie too, although it managed to survive that deadly alpha strike (ho ho), it did exactly nothing for the rest of the game. Despite this, and also because of the fortunate failure of the Hellbrutes to sweep the middle, I still picked up enough cheap and easy VPs to pull through. 

        I liked playing Alpha Legion (oh no, not another Traitor Legion, please). I Am Alpharius is especially fun and characterful, and the -1 to hit (when I remember to apply it) adds some nice survivability. I like the Obliterators (though they didn't last long) and I reckon I'd rather have a second unit of them than a Predator, who seemed to fade away once he'd dropped a damage bracket.

        I reckon what you need is your own homebrew chapter here, that can legitimately swap between various Traits of your choice. Which is what I've got with Hivefleet Kraken, for example. I know it's not quite the same as following the official schemes, especially for ones with great fluff and colours like the XXth Double Crossers, but it also lets you go Renegade when you want. That's another very decent trait worth looking at. 

        Yes, I think I might apply my Black Legion like that - judging by the novel, they're a very broad church, so it wouldn't be absurd to have them absorbing other Traitor Legions. But I could never play a Renegade Legion: I'm too much of a classicist, I have insufficient imagination to create one and, critically, they're not allowed to play Veterans of the Long War stratagem.

        The Helbrutes had so much promise, but failed when I really needed them. A buffing character like a Dark Apostle or Chaos Lord would have helped mitigate their whiffs (plus ... extra characters to play the I Am Alpharius whack-a-mole game) but I like their load-out of flamer-fist and heavy-bolter.

        For my part, I should probably observe that Ogryn Bodyguards should actually guard bodies, not run off by themselves like lone assassins. That accounted for the deaths of both my Guard characters, particularly on Nork's part. Mind you, at the same time, the bloody assassins were pretty useless! I'll be taking them again, I think they are probably capable of more, but other than useful psychological pressure they didn't really justify their points. 

        It was very enjoyable to see the Vindicare miss or flunk every shot (somebody left his bullets at home...), but it greatly limited the freedom of movement for my fast-moving and quite killy warlord. Keeping heads down is as much a sniper's job as killing folk, so I don't reckon he was a total bust.

        Huge fun. Now I wonder if I could squeeze in a wee Alpha Legion warband into my cabinet...

        He Norks Hard for the Money

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        After the Primaris spree, the popular vote was in favour of Ogryns. So by a two-nil landslide, here they are, fresh from their debut in the last battle!





        It seems ridiculously fast, getting these done in three short days (about five hours total). That's just in comparison to the slog of the last month, though, I don't think it's any more or less than I usually put it. Plus I had the incentive of a battle report to get them done for, which always helps.

        I know he can't actually act as bodyguard to Inquisitors. He just doesn't accept that.
        Three individuals, mostly because I desperately wanted to avoid doing more identikit paint schemes. They can be fielded as Bodyguards, and one of them is pretty clearly Nork Deddog himself. Not that it would stop me putting them out as a Bullgryn unit, mind you.


        If I stumbled over another box set some time, they'd probably get done in the white and black Hagan Lampreys colours. That's a story for another day, of course, and there's plenty ahead of Ogryns on the shopping list before then!


        Painting Guide:


        • Undercoat - GW White spray
        • The Hagan One - no details here, I followed the scheme previously listed for my Stormtroopers
        • Black Inquisitor - armour done with Ulthuan Grey and White Scar edging after a Gloss Nuln Oil wash, a few Ironbreaker nicks and scars put on here and there. Red bits done with Khorne Red, Carroberg Crimson wash, Wazdakka Red layer and a touch of Wild Rider Red. Gold done with Balthazar Gold, Reikland Flesh Wash, Gehenna's Gold and Auric Armour Gold layers
        • Nork - Death World Forest armour and trousers, given a Athonian Camoshade wash and layers of Elysian Green and Nurgling Green. Camo pattern done with Skrag/Gorthor Browns and Zamesi Desert/Averland Sunset yellows
        • Flesh - Ratskin Flesh (a bit of black added in for Nork), Reikland Flesh, Barbarian Flesh (Army Painter), Kislev Flesh and Flayed One Flesh layers. Nork got some Dawnstone + Lahmian Medium washes on scalp and jaw
        • Leather - Rhinox, Nuln Oil, Gorthor Brown and Ushabti Bone layers
        • Metal - a variety of silvers along the Leadbelcher, Ironbreaker, Runefang and Stormhost scale, Nuln Oil to taste


        And with that finished, it's back to the final Crypt Angels. Hooray!


        Happy Little Blue Birds

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        They're still picking bits of Black Legionnaires from their beaks, so it was about time I finished of my second wave of Tzaangor

        Tzaangor from Warhammer 40k, Thousand Sons or Age of Sigmar, Disciples of Tzeentch.

        Let's get pecking!

        Internet opinion seems divided (isn't it always?) on Tzaangor. They're a brutal unit in Age of Sigmar, and can dish out a near-genestealer level of close-combat punishment in 40k, but that is accompanied with some harrumphs about 'goat herder Thousand Sons'.

        Tzaangor from Warhammer 40k, Thousand Sons or Age of Sigmar, Disciples of Tzeentch.

        Personally, I'm not going to complain about a unit that both looks awesome and performs well on the tabletop, since just one of those criteria will suffice for me. The fact that I'm technically bolstering two of my armies in one go is a bonus.

        Tzaangor from Warhammer 40k, Thousand Sons or Age of Sigmar, Disciples of Tzeentch.

        It helps with my double-dipping that the 'Tzaangor blades' loadout is far superior to the more 40k-centric 'chainswords and autopistols'. After all, if autopistols were any good, they wouldn't give them to Cultists. And chainswords seem so intrinsically Imperium in look, it looks out of place on a flerd of Tzaangor (saying nothing of the costs of the upgrade sprue).

        Tzaangor from Warhammer 40k, Thousand Sons or Age of Sigmar, Disciples of Tzeentch.

        I remember the last time I painted a batch of Tzaangor, I found it a slow and fiddly process. But that was before I was a veteran of painting Rubric armour, so maybe I would breeze through it this time?

        No. They still take forever. Chaos Space Marines they ain't.

        Tzaangor from Warhammer 40k, Thousand Sons or Age of Sigmar, Disciples of Tzeentch.

        At least I take painstaking painting notes, so I can match the last colour scheme. And here they are again:


      • Skin: Calgar Blue base, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Lothern Blue drybrush
      • Horns, hooves and claws: Zandri dust base, Agrax Earthshade wash, Zandri dust drybrush
      • Claws and beaks: Averland Sunset base (wet-blended), Agrax Earthshade wash
      • Feathers: Screamer Pink base, Carroburg Crimson wash
      • Dreadlock/tentacles: Druchii Violet wash, Lothern Blue blend
      • Mail kilts: Celestial Grey base, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Nuln Oil wash
      • Cloth kilts: Celestial Grey base, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Ulthuan Grey layering
      • Armour and shields: Retributor Armour base, Reikland Flesh wash, Golden Griffon drybrush, Ahriman Blue layer
      • Shield bosses: Kalabite Green base, Nuln Oil glaze
      • Weapons: Ironbreaker base, Druchii Violet wash, Stormhost Silver drybrush
      • Weapon hafts: Charcoal Grey base, Celestial Grey drybrush
      • Tongues: Pink Horror

      • Tzaangor from Warhammer 40k, Thousand Sons or Age of Sigmar, Disciples of Tzeentch.

        The Twistbray isn't much cop in this set (but I have the skull-faced Tzaangor from the original batch who can step up), but I will admit that the icon bearer is an improvement - having a banner in the first place is a big help.

        Tzaangor from Warhammer 40k, Thousand Sons or Age of Sigmar, Disciples of Tzeentch.

        I was aware when I was assembling these that they're not *just* for the Thousand Sons. We may eventually, somehow, someday, play Age of Sigmar again, and so I tried to pay attention when assigning weapons. I think I've got a good spread and a legal loadout on all concerned. Maybe we'll take them for a trot once AoS 2.0 drops.

        Tzaangor from Warhammer 40k, Thousand Sons or Age of Sigmar, Disciples of Tzeentch.

        This model was a happy accident - caused by me not dry-fitting the models before committing the glue. I quite like the idea of a Tzaangor so crazed he has to chew on his shield rim.

        (but next time, seriously, dry-fit first)

        Tzaangor from Warhammer 40k, Thousand Sons or Age of Sigmar, Disciples of Tzeentch.

        These guys are slightly different from their Silver Tower brethren (no bad thing in a Tzeentch army) and I'd only just scratched the surface with the number of poses I could put them in.

        Tzaangor from Warhammer 40k, Thousand Sons or Age of Sigmar, Disciples of Tzeentch.

        Overall, it's a really good kit. If there is a drawback, it's that the body parts are specific to these moulds, so kitbashing potential is limited unless you're prepared to expend a lot of greenstuff. A shame, as there are a few Tzaangor heads left over and a whole bunch of Acolytes waiting for the change of life...

        Mutant Tzaangor from Warhammer 40k, Thousand Sons or Age of Sigmar, Disciples of Tzeentch.

        Last, but certainly not least, the mutant Tzaangor. He's just there for flavour in 40k, though how he gets an extra attack in AoS (how he manages that with a split head, Sigmar only knows). He looks awesome for all that - I added some extra wire and blobbed on Blood for the Blood God, just to add to the sinewy horror of it all.

        Tzaangor from Warhammer 40k, Thousand Sons or Age of Sigmar, Disciples of Tzeentch.

        And that's the last of my Thousand Sons troops done! It's elites all the way from here!

        Fish Gotta Swim, Goat Gotta Fly

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        Even Chaos bird-goat-men need someone to boss them around, and this guy is at the very top of the pecking order...

        Tzaangor Shaman from Warhammer 40k, Thousand Sons or Age of Sigmar, Disciples of Tzeentch.

        It's the Tzaangor Shaman!

        This guy has already made his battle report debut. I'm not going to mention the time he managed to beat up a Chaos Lord with a Murder Sword, but did I ever tell you about the time he beat up a Chaos Lord with a Murder Sword?

        Tzaangor Shaman from Warhammer 40k, Thousand Sons or Age of Sigmar, Disciples of Tzeentch.
        Surfin' Bird

        Since I was already in the swim of painting Tzaangor, this was an easy enough add-on. Although the top of his staff proved to be quite fragile whenever he fell over (which he did a lot - this is a precarious perch), so it's now held together with wire and a lot of greenstuff, which is not quite as graceful as the rest of the spiralling staff.

        Tzaangor Shaman from Warhammer 40k, Thousand Sons or Age of Sigmar, Disciples of Tzeentch.

        To make him a little easier to transport, I planned to magnetise him to the disc - although rather than have a complete Shaman model that pegs onto a disc, this sculpt comes with feet moulded onto the disc, and a Shaman that ends at the ankle (why do you do this to us, GW?)

        So I duly added magnets to the ankles, and this Shaman now has some furry fetlocks made from greenstuff to cover the join (good job they're a melange of animals).

        Tzaangor Shaman from Warhammer 40k, Thousand Sons or Age of Sigmar, Disciples of Tzeentch.

        He's the same basic paint recipe, although I went with albino-skin to make him stand out. 
        • Skin: Rakarth Flesh base, thinned-The Fang wash, Ulthuan Grey layer
        • Claws and beak: Averland Sunset base (wet-blended), Agrax Earthshade wash
        • Feathers: Pink Horror base, Genestealer Purple base, Naggaroth Night base, Druchii Violet wash, Emperor's Children highlights, Pink Horror highlights, Genestealer Purple highlights
        • Dreadlock/tentacles: Druchii Violet wash, Lothern Blue blend
        • Cloth kilts: Ahriman Blue base, Drakenhof Nightshade wash, Lothern Blue layering
        • Staff Head: Ironbreaker base, Druchii Violet wash, Stormhost Silver drybrush, Nihilakh oxide wash, Coelia Greenshade wash
        • Staff haft: Charcoal Grey base, Celestial Grey drybrush
        • Tongues: Pink Horror
        • Disc: Retributor Armour base, Reikland Flesh wash, Golden Griffin drybrush,
        • Disc base: Warpstone Glow base, Biel-Tan Green wash
        • Disc spikes: Screamer Pink base, Carroburg Crimson wash, Emperor's Children highlights
        • Disc swirl: Ulthuan Grey base, Carroburg Crimson wash, Pink Horror highlights


        Tzaangor Shaman from Warhammer 40k, Thousand Sons or Age of Sigmar, Disciples of Tzeentch.

        Only a few Tzaangor left now, then it's bye-bye birdies.

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