Trial By Fire

     Wow what a game! I wrote last week about a game that was less than amazing. It didn't even reach turn three! There really wasn't much in the way of war gaming nourishment to be had from an experience like that. I'm happy to say that THIS weekend's game was quite the opposite.

     I lined up a game with a friend from work. We had agreed on 1850 for the points level. He's still very new to the hobby, so I told him that he shouldn't stretch out his army to reach the agreed value, as it usually just ends up creating a frustratingly bad army. He reminded me that he was planning on using allied Grey Knights, and there's no question that he would be able to reach that mark. Those units can soak up some points. Usually it's not for the best, either.

     We decided to try a game from the Battle Missions. We rolled off, and came up with a Chaos Space Marine's mission called "Black Crusade." This was basically an annihilation game type with one MAJOR special rule: all non-vehicle units, once completely destroyed enter your reserves and can come back in. This turned our 1850 point game into something much larger. As a result, this game lasted nearly four hours!

     This was only his third game playing his Sisters of Battle (first time playing Grey Knights) and my third game playing my Blood Angels variant list. This didn't help us speed up play, but the biggest part of the problem was the units just constantly re-entering the fray. Most of the fighting was focused on the middle third of the table. It became a real meat grinder in there. He was able to deep strike his once dead units back on the table, and usually with some pretty good success. This meant more assaults, more shooting, and obviously more time!

     You might think that I'm complaining about this. Nothing could be further from the truth. I enjoyed this game immensely. I found the match-up profoundly interesting. He made some mistakes (namely he forgot to use his faith abilities), but I think he made some pretty solid tactical choices. I was playing my Blood Angels much better than I had before. I had really thought through some of my previous horrible tactical blunders and was able to foresee those problems before they occurred in this game.

     I ended up winning the game by a substantial margin. It was something like 12 kill points to three. The major reason for this was my Honour Guard. I haven't really talked about them on this blog, but I have to say that they are by far the most under-valued and overlooked units in the Blood Angels codex, and if used properly, can be one of the most amazing hammer units on the table. I'll have to talk about that unit in more detail in the future. I still need to finish painting them, so perhaps when I'm done, I'll do a little write-up.

     The picture at the top is from my newly assembled Hell Hound. I've started my Guard army, and I've got a few pics to show for it. I'm trying to be a little bit more involved in my basing for this army. The theme is more urban, and thus I've decided to put a bit more effort and time in making these things. I'm quite happy with my first batch. Here is a pic for ya:

Dats wut we's need for a proppa WAAAGH!

     I've completed the assembly of my Deff Dread. This new model is supremely awesome. The options are plentiful, the bits are bountiful, and the end result is properly menacing. The model is freaking massive to boot. I took a pic of him along side a standard Space Marine dread for size comparison. The pic above shows him with the four close-combat arms, but I spent quite a bit of time magnetizing the other weapon options. I'm thinking I'll most likely run him with a Kustom Mega Blasta and a Skorcha. That will allow him to sit back on an objective (being that he'll be a troop choice) and just pester the opponent. Should anything take the time to shoot at him, that means they're not shooting at my Trukk or my Nob Bikerz. At only 95 points, he'll be a nifty little trick to throw at my opponent. Basically, I don't plan to play him aggressive unless I absolutely have to. In addition, I'm hoping to have a mek in the back-field hanging around with the Lootas. This gives me the potential to effect repairs. Wouldn't that be Orky thing to do? Regardless I've got an awesome model to assemble, paint, and show off. If it happens to pan out in the game, that's just sugar on top as far as I'm concerned.

     I had another great game on Saturday. I managed to squeak out a victory against  my buddy's Eldar army. We played yet another Battle Missions game. That book is paying off big time. Thus far I've had nothing but interesting games out of it. I had a good time, got to play some of my newer Orks, and punched a few Space Elves in the face. Nothing wrong with that. Watched a few interesting games. Had to leave early though as my wife was getting out of work earlier than she normally does on a Saturday, so I wanted to spend some time with her.

     Here are some detail shots of the mighty Deff Dread:

Mission Success

     I had a really good day at the CLGS today. I won every game I played, I had a pretty good time, and the Battle Missions book seems to be pretty slick.

     First, my orks! They performed excellent. The Trukk showed to be an extremely lethal addition to the army. I played a 1000 point game against my friend Sean with his Eldar army. Turn one was a down right murder! I flung my three Nob bikers and the Trukk filled with 10 Nobz and my Big Mek up the right flank. The awesome open-topped-ness of the trukk allowed me to disembark far enough out front to setup a truly epic assault. With the Nobz plowing through the Eldar in assault, my 20 'Ard Boyz just sat back on our objective, making sure no sneaky Striking Scorpions tried to take it. I had pretty much wiped the Eldar by the end of turn three. For as awesome as this all sounds, it was assisted by some exceedingly terrible rolls on my friend's side. I found myself in that uncomfortable position of feeling bad for him.

     After that first game, we got the Battle Missions book and played a game of Kill Teams. I really dig it, but I must say that this game type needs a few rule clarifications. If you and your opponent have an understanding before the game starts, then it's totally cool. This game type seems like it might be easily broken by certain armies (namely horde armies). I got one more two on two kill teams game in before I left, and this too was tons of fun.

     I got Vulcan Hes'tan in the mail the other day, along with some squigs that I plan on using on both objective markers and potentially with the Warboss on Bike that I'm getting for Forgeworld. Vulcan represents really the beginnings of my "third" army. Really I'm just building a variant of my current SM list to be more Salamandar-ish. I really still want to do a Imperial Guard army next, but that will have to wait for a while. I've got plenty to paint until then.

Battle Missions = Excited!

     Man oh man! I couldn't be any more excited about this Battle Missions book than I am right now! One of the biggest things that pulled me into this hobby/game was the narrative. I was hooked when I began to learn how gritty and unique this sci-fi fantasy really was. This book taps directly into that vein.

     The primary motivation I have for painting my models is that I want them too look complete on the table. I want my opponent to feel the same way so that, when we're playing, you can SEE the story play out. There's fantastic subtext to everything, sometimes even the rules themselves! My tactical marines all are unique in some way. There's a story there. I have rank markings, runes, and reasons for all of it. As the game unfolds, I've found myself choosing particular marines out of the squad as casualties. Not because it has massive strategic purpose but because I have a story in my head about it. It's like being young again and playing Cowboys and Indians, but now that I'm 31 I think this 40K game is a bit more reasonable for my age.

     I have a friend who has, in less than a year, amassed four armies. All but one was directly selected purely because of the story behind the army. This is what we crave! Now seriously Kris, get to painting. Hah! Just kidding... but seriously... paint.

     I hope I enjoy this book, and I really look forward to exploring the template of creative missions provided. I'm going to be introducing some people to 40K this weekend, and this might be the perfect opportunity.