40k Battle Report--Father vs. Son--playing Son vs. Father!

After finally finishing my SpaceHulk board, finishing my Horus/Sanguinius—figured it was time to take it out for a walk.  My 6 year old son had been asking me to play for a bit now—so, what better game than a Father vs. Son game—with a Father vs. Son scenario!  He, as always, wanted to play the good guys—so I was going in charge of stopping the false Emperor and giving glory to Horus.  Here is the board setup;

As some of you might wonder, the 3d Space Hulk tiles are made by a company named Creative Gamescapes.  Their site is located here;

http://www.creativegamescapes.dreamhosters.com/

I have no affiliation with Creative GameScapes—but boy am I a fan of their product!  It’s a modular tile set that is extremely easy to put together, stores well and is made of rugged (I’m talking, you could probably run it over with a car!) plastic.  Just a really great product put out by a super friendly company—I cannot recommend them enough.  So on to the game!

The General Rules:
Without going into a great amount of detail, the rules are pretty simple—the Emperor starts with two Custodes and as he explores the ship, they can find other trapped Custodes to aid the fight.  However, given they are on quite possibly the most evil Astartes ship in existence—they are also bound to find some Daemons along the way.  As the Chaos player, I rolled on my little chart and made some random Warp Points—along with some random trapped Custodes.  Depending on that roll, I might get a couple of Bloodletters—Flamers—or perhaps a Herald.  Once the Emperor or any Custodes approached or opened a door into that room/point, I rolled on the chart.  So first turn….

Turn 1

My son advanced the Emperor to one side and two Custodes on the other “They aren’t as strong so they need buddies”.  Makes sense to me.  As the Emperor rounded a corner however, the first Warp Point ignited and a handful of Daemons erupted from the rift.  Unfortunately for me, I was facing the Emperor or Mankind and rolled miserable on the chart.  Three Bloodletters charged to their doom, inflicting no damage to the God Emperor;

Turn 2/3

The Loyalist advance continued on the right side—and they decided to split up yet again (This would prove unfortunate for one of them).  While one Custodes discovered a friend and some enemies, the other lone Custodes just found enemies!  The Emperor continued his advance and found a single Custodes surrounded by Daemons in a small sub room.  Now, Nathaniel had a single Custodes fighting for his life in the middle—and small scrums to the right and left of the board.

Turn 4

Slightly wounded, the Custode in the middle of the board advanced—and found yet more bad luck.  I rolled pretty high on my Warp Chart and got Skulltaker—whom promptly took the Custode’s head.  Score one for the Ruinous Powers!  The Emperor and his Custode advanced to the middle room—with the other wing wrapping up their combat and continuing on as well.

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v694/AgeOfEgos/Horus%20Emperor%20Battle%20Report/Turn4SkulltakerFinishes.jpg[/img]

Turn 5

Turn 5 saw a surprise for the Loyalist—I had secretly decided to let Sanguinius show up to fight Horus—and if he managed to wound him, make it a bit easier for the Emperor to finish him (Old school fluff)--however I made Horus pretty tough so didn't know if it would happen or not.  Sure enough, leave it to the 6 year old to roll my Dakka dice like this;

This battle would continue through the next turn.  In the middle of the board, everything met in the large room—and a big battle broke out.  Warp Points erupted, a new Custodes was located—and we went to rolling dice.  Minutes later, he had lost a couple of Loyalists—and the room was cleared.

Turn 6

So, Horus took a wound—then promptly owned his brother (I might have made Horus a bit too strong);

If only Sanguinius had held out, his father might have saved him in time—as it was, the Emperor advanced just in time to see his son die to Horus’s hands.

Turn 7/8

So the showdown is finally set and of course Horus has a plan up his sleeve.  My Justaerin Terminators arrive and shape the board up for a nice final showdown.  One of the rules of the scenario is the Emperor’s “Annihilate” power.  It’s a power that must be used to finish Horus—but the Emperor cannot use it until the third round of combat (It takes a couple of turns to make the Big E realize Horus is utterly evil and needs to be put down).  Everyone charges/counter charges—we make a father/son gentleman agreement to let the Big E and Horus fight alone—and it’s on!

Turn 9

Battle continues with the Custodes/Justaerin—and I’m actually winning this fight.  I was up a model up going in—but the Custodes have a slight edge in stats—so I’m getting wore down in wounds.  The Big E and Horus continue their fight—and the Big E is down to a wound, Horus has two remaining.

Turn 10

Well, a round of epic rolling for my son—the Custodes finish the Justaerin with one left standing (with one wound mind you).  The Emperor auto casts his power, being third round—and needs to roll at least a 2 for the number of wounds caused.  Of course, he rolls a 6 to rub my nose in it—and the Warmaster has fallen!  Not without doing some damage though—and had he rolled a one to wound—Horus would have likely finished the Big E.

All in all, we both had a great afternoon.  It’s really special to share my hobby of 10+ years with my son—and makes me feel pretty old at the same time!  Now, to talk tournament organizers into letting me bring him along to roll my dice….

Post Games Workshop

Our little gaming group has decided to take a sabbatical from Warhammer and 40k. For the past couple of months we have devoted our hobby time to upstart Privateer Press. Just this past weekend I came to a startling revelation: I don't miss 40K!

I was shocked! 40K has consumed much of my life for the past six years. I didn't take up the hobby until my late 30's (Needed something to take my mind off of tobacco) and for the most part, my hobby time was devoted to 40k.

Like some of you, I have become disenchanted with Games Workshop due to their recent actions. The apparent disregard for their customers leaves me wanting to voice a protest in the most only way that I, as a consumer can, by withholding my dollars.

What does that mean? For the rest of the year I will not purchase any of their products, including Forge World. This is not easy as I am very close to completing my Dark Eldar force which I enjoy playing and I really want a Nightwing and some Haemonculi. Unfortunately Games Workshop will only change their practices if I and others vote with their dollars. Time to take a stand. Honestly I thought this would be difficult....

.....Until I started playing Warmachine....and loving it! I have over fifty points of Menoth painted and just placed an order for fifty points worth of Circle models. Sorry GW...I'll come back when you start thinking about customers first.

Mike

Time Spent Painting----armies vs. time vs. quality vs. kids vs. wife vs....

So in preparation for our Horus Heresy Campaign (Yes it's coming!)----I'm painting up some Orks for the Ullanor Campaign. I'm speeding through the Boyz pretty quickly----spending a bit more time on my Battle Wagon/Nobz---will spend a lot of time on my Bikers---which got me to thinking; When did I start painting like this?

To explain---I realized that I've pretty much created an internal formula for the amount of time spent painting a miniature. Unlike CMON artists, I lack the skill---and time (Some state 300+ hours on a miniature!) to make an Ork army to a very high standard. Sure, I could take my time and pop out some fantastic Orks (Humbly speaking)----but it would take about 5 years probably.

As you get older, you find yourself having more and more with less and less. Kids, wives, life, staying in shape, school, work, eating, bathroom breaks, kids----etc etc. Getting straight 'paint time' is so tough to find---you have to make concessions (at least I do). So there is my internal formula working away---basically telling my body how much motivation to have on a piece. I think it's something like;


How Cool the Sculpt Is + How Long It will Be on the Table + How Many Different Builds I Can Fit It in = Amount of time/motivation painting it.


So, using that formula----I can see why I spend hardly any time on Ork Boyz---but I hesitate on rushing through my Nob Bikers. My Custodes are similar---I can fit them in as Th/SS Terms, Grey Knights, etc---so I spent an inordinate amount of time on them.

Basically, I'm venting because I have too many projects....and not enough time...

Adepticon Bound---We present the Defenders of Holy Terra!

Well, Adepticon is almost upon us---and we're getting ready to pack things up and head out. Decided we would post a few shots of our team table before the con---not the final product---but only missing a few bells/whistles.

We'll be putting up more shots on the blog following Adepticon, along with information regarding our kick off Horus Heresy Campaign. Blog info here;

http://op40k.blogspot.com/


We tried to be accurate to the fluff as possible during the Siege----so we have all the Primarchs present with their action/placement on the table representing where they were during the Siege. Full lit underground with the Big E/Malcador/Custodes plotting---full basement for vehicles, etc.

Anyways some teaser pics!

Dakka Friend/Moderator ripped off

Posting this up-----this is Alpharius from Dakka. A great guy who was recently ripped off by Redstarone.

Redstarone has an infamous reputation online----from getting banned on Bartertown for ripping people off----then Dakka. Anyways, I'll let Alpharius speak for himself;













I am really NOT happy about being, for all intents and purposes, ‘forced’ into posting this.

Clearly Matt has been through a lot – the loss of a child and the loss of a wife.

However…

I started e-mailing Matt (RedStarOne, RSO, Red the Conversionist, etc.) way back in December of 2008.

I was looking for help in getting an all MKVIII marine army on the table.

It quickly became apparent that it wasn’t feasible, and would probably be too expensive in the end.

So, instead, we moved on to other conversions I’d like to have built.

Conversation went back in forth and on 5/13/2009 I sent the following to Matt:

1) Stormhammer Super-Heavy Tank conversion (Baneblade based)
2) Pre-Heresy Land Raider conversion (Land Raider based)
3) Venerable Dreadnaught (Finish a conversion I started but was having trouble completing)

Good communication followed and in late July 2009 he announced he was finished!

He sent pictures, I was happy and so, on 8/3/2009 he requested payment, and on 8/4/2009 I sent $120 to him via PayPal.

Now, oddly enough, nothing ever got shipped – but I was VERY happy with the pictures and figured this was just a minor glitch – after all, he was going through some tough times with his wife’s illness.

I received MANY assurances that Yes, my package is on its way soon!

In September of 2009, we moved forward with the next round of conversions:

1) Stormhammer Super-Heavy conversion (Baneblade based)
2) Stompa Lifta-Dropa arm (bits based, provided by me)
3) Leman Russ conversion – Magnetized with turret and sponson options
4) Space Hulk Terminators – all 12 of them, for removal of BA specific icons.

So, even though he still hadn’t shipped the first round of conversions, which I’d already paid for, I shipped him the next round.

Many excuses and delays later, he announced that the second round was complete!

On 11/27/09 he requested payment, and on 11/27/09 I paid him $140 via PayPal.

I was then told everything was going to ship – no worries!

In fact, I soon heard that everything did ship!

I then FOOLISHLY believed this, and sent in the last round of conversions – ‘upsizing’ Marine vehicles to accommodate my long labor of love, a Pre-Heresy True Scale Alpha Legion army.

So, without waiting to receive the package which had allegedly shipped, in December of 2009 I sent along:

1) 6 Rhinos
2) 2 Predators
3) 2 Whirlwinds

After MANY excused and delays, including TWICE being told that the packages had shipped but… mysteriously BOTH times it was returned to him for… some reason.

On 2/1/2010, he emailed me to tell me that EVERYTHING was complete – finally!

Final payment for this job was requested on 2/1/2010, and on 2/2/2010 $235 was sent via PayPal.

Fast forward 13 MONTHS and over 150 e-mails later and still… NOTHING.

Now, you’re probably thinking … “What were you thinking?”…and I’d have to agree with you.

Basically, I believed all the stories Matt told me, and even though he could never provide a tracking number, I always thought ‘tomorrow’ would be the day he’d finally ship everything AND provide a tracking number.

So, to summarize:

Total paid in conversion fees adds up to $495.

And the list of models?

1) Leman Russ tank - $50
2) Pre-Heresy Land Raider – plastic Land Raider $65
3) Venerable Dreadnought - $40
4) 1 set of Space Hulk Terminators – 12 Terminators, irreplaceable at this point, but call it $100
5) 6 Rhinos - $198
6) 2 Predators - $89
7) 2 Vindicators - $89
Stompa Lifta Dropa Arm – misc. bits
9) Stormhammer Superheavy Conversion - Baneblade Kit $99
10) Stormblade Superheavy Conversion - Baneblade Kit $99

That's around another $829 right there.

That totals up to about $1300.

MANY times I've offered to send more money to get it shipped, but that never helped either.

Fast forward to 2011.

Matt has started a new blog, in order to “Pay it Forward” and “Give Back to the Community”.

Miniature Wargame Conversions.

miniaturewargameconversions.blogspot.com

You could imagine my surprise upon seeing this.

He can find time to continue to model, organize give-aways and give back to the Wargaming Community…

But he can’t find the time to ship my stuff back to me?

Stuff I’ve already paid for and have been waiting, very patiently for, since August of 2009.

I don't know what else to do.

I’ve been supportive of him and his efforts.

As much as it is possible to be someone’s friend via the Internet, I have been his friend.

I can sympathize with what he’s been through.

I have been though some things during this time too.

I’ve had heart problems.

I’ve had a skin cancer scare.

My wife has thyroid problems.

And, most importantly, I’ve had my youngest daughter, now five years old, diagnosed with Autism.

She still doesn’t speak, and the medical bills associated with all of her challenges and now the legal bills as we fight the school department to get her the services she needs…

My hobby used to be a release for me, something to do to get away from the stress of ‘everything else’, at least for a little while.

Now, along with a lot of my money and models, Matt’s kind of taken that away too.

Now, he's almost killed this hobby for me.

I cannot recover from this hit. I cannot afford to replace what Matt is, for some bizarre reason, holding hostage.

I just want my models back.

The models I’ve already paid for.

The models I’ve offered to pay shipping for AGAIN in order to get them back.

The models that Matt allegedly shipped back to me (for the third time) on 3/9/11, that still haven’t arrived.

The models that allegedly shipped back to me (for the third time) on 3/9/11 but for which he still hasn’t provided tracking numbers.

If Matt wants to “give back to the community”, if Matt wants to “pay it forward”, I sure would appreciate it if he would do the right thing here.

Thanks for reading this…

Ken

Some musings on the Space Marine FAQ

Well, the Space Marine FAQ came out and I've decided I'm doing a pre-heresy Smurf force----led by Guilliman (Counts as Calgar). I had thought about it for some time for other reasons....but two things led me to it. One, I ended up buying an Ultramarine Thunderhawk for relatively cheap---and two, the FAQ! So what changed....

Calgar's God of War no longer triggers No Retreat! wounds.
When Space Marines rally, they get a 3" consolidation (and don't count as moving during shooting). Or you can go ahead and move 6" more for a 9" move.

So what funny stuff can we do now?

Well, first---you can't ever seriously shoot a unit of mine you plan to assault. I'll simply auto-fail, run away----then auto-rally next turn----move 9"----then rapid fire or assault you. 100% reliable with Calgar.

Second, if you choose to shoot one of my units that's in cover because it's out of assault range---I can go to ground for a better save----then auto-fail-----then auto-rally at the start of my next turn. Yeah really.

Third, you better be careful when you multi-assault me. I'll auto-pass with the unit that has one model left and auto-fail with my big unit I want. So you sit in HTH with a one model unit while I dance away----then maybe after I auto-pass at the start of my turn and move 9" I'll go ahead and charge back in with bonus attacks.


So combat tactics----well is combat tactics now! Plus, let's face it....Calgar beats face in HTH as well. So he force multiplies (a great deal now) and can stick it in HTH. I'm going with him. I've also decided I'm going to make this my mech-marine army. I have other variants...so this is the natural gap filler. So something like;

Marn.

Dread
Dread
6 TH/SS Terms in an EA LR

Full Tac Squad with Flamer/ML in a rhino
Full Tac Squad with Flamer/ML in a rhino
Full Tac Squad with Flamer/ML in a rhino

Predator with Hvy Bolter sponsons/Auto Cannon
Predator with Hvy Bolter sponsons/Auto Cannon
Predator with Hvy Bolter sponsons/Auto Cannon


That's 1850 and it's mobile, hits hard and has plenty of Dakka. Thoughts?

1850 Blood Angels....playing around

So, after playing all jump angels a few times, I've came to the conclusion that all reserve DOA style won't work...or at least it won't work well. When the enemy knows they have the first turn free to move/pop smoke/whatever...well it's easier for them to prepare. So I've been playing around with a Dante list...

Dante
Honor Guard w/ Packs
Flamer x 4
Melta x 4

Sang Priest----x 3
One in power armor
Two with Jump Packs and power weapons

Sang Guard x 5
Power Fist
Infernus pistol x 1

Sang Guard x 5
Power Fist

Assault Squad x 10
2 Meltas
Powerfist Sarg

Assault Squad x 10
2 Meltas

Devs x 6
4 ML

Devs x 6
4 ML



4 scoring units
8 ML shots
10 Melta/Infernus Pistol shots
A great deal of HTH death

So, setup the Devs in cover with a Priest bubble for both....or if I setup/go 2nd I can spread them to different corners for overlapping fire and put the priest in the group across from the most firepower. Other Priest goes with a Sang Guard unit, other with the PF Assault Squad. Dante drops with no scatter within the Honor Guard Squad...which gives me 5 melta shots where ever I want (Or 4 flamers and a melta).

If they want to do the 'move 12 and pop smoke' 2nd turn that's fine, as they'll take 8 ML shots the first turn anyways. They choose to try to get my FNP in cover Devs off the board 1st turn, that's fine too as next turn I'll be dropping several melta shots.

Think I'll give it a go this weekend.

Grytz has opened a store! Check it out...

I've used Grytz for commission pieces several times over the past couple/three years (Man time flies?). He's always been punctual, honest and turned out awesome pieces...so when he gave me an email stating he was opening his own store...well I had to share it on here. The guy is a class act and will churn out some awesome stuff. Man it's a good time to be a 40k gamer with all the indie shops opening. I really hope to see him succeed as not only is he talented but he's honest...which believe me from failed experiences...is rare combination to find in the online conversion world....

http://hitechminiatures.com/#


I won't go into details about his plans for this coming Christmas...but safe to say if you're a 40k fan/historian......you're going to be happy. You can check out his stuff on CMON under GrytzMinis.

Xenos you say? Heresy!

So I'm finally going to start a non-power armor army (Well, I have Daemons but Daemons are Daemons). Eldar have always intimidated me as a painter...and the only way to get better is to challenge yourself right? So the Space Elves it is...or at least my version. First rule is----no vehicles! I've played Mechdar enough to hate it and be bored with it...so I'm not going to return the favor :). So Footdar it is, certainly not original but I like the idea of it. Basically going to do Iyanden with some Harlies thrown in (Because I like the models and that's all that matters!). Here are my first goes;


Obviously bases aren't done....but I'm planning on using DragonForge designs "Lost Empires" as they befit Eldar. Slow project for sure but here is my plan;


FW Avatar
Farseer with Seer Council on bikes from Chapter House

Harlies
Wraithguard

Three units of Guardians x 10 with Lances/Spirit Seers

Wraithlords

....and no fething grav tanks! Hope it works!

Well since Mike hasn't, I will--look at his Nurgle Army!

Mike is breaking down and getting rid of one of his armies; Nurgle Death Guard. Beautiful army and equally as deadly, as I've found at many a weekend (#!$@#$ Plague Marines, unless you are using 30 marines to shoot/assault them, don't bother!). Anyways, I'll let his pics speak for themselves;






The rest of his auctions, including display table, army transport, etc....

Ebay Auctions

Warhammer Fantasy! Yes, really!

First, apologies for the lack of updates! It's been a pretty crazy month but hopefully we should be back on a semi-regular update schedule. We've actually taken a break from 40k the last couple of weekends and tried something new. Mike and I gave 8th Edition a spin to see how the latest rules changed the game we both loved setting up for....and hated playing!

To explain, I think I can speak for both of us in saying, 7th Edition Fantasy felt like clocking in at a new job. It was exciting getting there, meeting people and setting up....then very quickly you realized it's still a freaking job. Well, 8th is much different! Notably, your warriors actually kill people in hand to hand! Before, you would run up to the enemy, maybe kill one with your 30 guys in a block...then seemingly all your warriors would drop weapons, grab calculators and decide who had to run away. Pretty dull stuff.

So, without going into a detailed review of 8th (There are so many of those out there), suffice to say stuff dies to other stuff now. Your guys actually use the weapons and not the calculators this edition. I decided to give me a Wood Elves a go this past weekend after hearing all the doom and gloom and ran the following;




SpellS. Lvl 4--------Life (duh)
Wand for reroll dispell (duh)

Branch, Lvl 1 w/ TS + Cluster for +1 dispel dice

Glade Guard x 10 w/ musician
Glade Guard x 10 w/ musician
Dryads x 8
Dryads x 8
Glade Riders x 5

Treekin x 6
Treekin x 4

Treeman (woman in my case, Treeperson for the PC crowd)
Great Eagle


Mike and I are still learning the new rules but they performed very well.



My mini-review;

Lvl 4 SS w/ Lore of Life: Pretty much a must in this edition I think. Too bad, as I wanted to run two Tree(Persons!)....but Lvl 4 w/ Wand = Pretty tough dispel phase. Plus access to Lore of Life is a must with Treekin.

Treekin are freaking insane. They are hands down the best looking unit for a WE in 8th right now. They love Life spells and pretty much stomped anything I pointed them at (Chaos Warriors, Knights, etc.) I think either go 3X2 for rank or 4x1 for attacks (Of course, don't forget free reform if you win to add to that front rank...). They rocked out and I was still shorting them attacks!

TreeWoman (Treeperson for the PC crowd) rocks now but to be fair I wasn't playing against a heavy WM army, as he only had one HellCannon and it raged a few times. I would be nervous playing them against a Dwarf/Empire player though considering the non-guess nature of WM now....again Life Lore is a must if you take one.

Glade Guard: They still move, shoot and plink away units. Still a solid choice and two ranks makes them slightly less unwieldy.

Dryads: I put one group in a forest to make them stubborn, tied up a chaos knight unit for a round/two. The other group killed some Maurader Cav but then died later to Chaos Warriors. Unsure on them yet but Skirmish movement rules blow! Easily the worst change in 8th.

Eagles: Can still bait Frenzy units due to TLOS, can still threaten wizards....and no longer takes up a 'slot' in Rares..just 50 pts of your 25%....so I'm thinking 1-2 look pretty good.

Glade Guard: Unsure yet. Vanguard move put me in a good position to harass...but meh, dunno.




So...contrary to belief, I don't think the sky is falling for Wood Elf players. We'll still have some bad rock, paper scissor matchups (Daemons will still be nasty as will Empire/Dwarf gunlines)....but I think that's just 8th edition until they get a proper Armybook redux going.

Target Aquired Sir----Dark Eldar Incoming!

What's that coming down the street....

Originally posted by Dr. Gonads over on Dakka;

• The warriors are not striding forward and hunched over like they are about to tip over- legs are laid out in a wide stance and the models are much, much better proportioned than the old ones, so no more legs that go all the way up and tiny torsos.
• Helmets and non helmeted heads included.
• Non helmeted head has a high ponytail.
• Ribs/shards of bone poke through loincloths and the ponytail.
• The helmets are pretty much identical to the above pic, but with lumps/gems over the ears/temples.
• From behind the helmets look exactly like eldar guardian ones.
• There is a gem/soulstone on the left chest armour- not the shoulder armour piece as per the above pic.
• This is where you have to use your imagination as the pic doesn't show it: On the back there is a backpack that looks like it started as an eldar backpack but does not stick out as far, has vestigal 'vanes' compared to the eldar one (so doesn't stick up above the shoulder) and most excellently down the centre of the backpack, it is recessed with scaled armour over the spine (triangular scales with points downwards)
• A high collar that flanges out
• Rifle is almost exactly the same as the pic for the base model, even down to the jagged bit that pokes up in front of the warriors abdomen in the pic. There is a variant with what looks to be crossbow arms sticking out laterally (ends up looking like a mini anchor)
• Attachable Loincloths (variable designs) One has a skull, one a hook on them.
• As per the pic, greaves over the lower legs, then knee pads and scales over the upper legs, with points upwards.
• Knife scabbard, 2 'rods' and 2 small sachels on the 'utility belt' posteriorly
• Blades of differing lengths and size on various armour parts, primarily lower legs and shoulder pads.
• Curved knife HW available.
• Attachable blades for the end of splinter rifle.

The concept art (Which is in the hard cover rulebook) is stated to be 'Near identical' to the complete models. As seen here;


I remember playing DE a long time ago and always loved the idea behind them...the models not so much. With Phil Kelly writing the rules and Jes Goodwin making the miniatures...I might be tempted into Xenos waters again!

Just to keep it fresh....a couple of pictures

I saw an interesting debate on a forum discussing true line of sight vs. category heights. One of the major changes of 5th was true LOS and it was received rather poorly overall judging from various forums. I actually enjoy true LOS as it encourages you to get eye level and helps you 'sink' into the game a bit. So on that theme, I had a few pics I hadn't uploaded yet of my Celestial Lions chapter/board;