Warhammer 40k 6th edition Battles: Upcoming battle

If all goes according to plan - I should be taking my Marines back to the battle field this coming Thursday with an imperial guard Vanguard at my back... charging into the fight against the nemesis of the Ultramarine. The Tyranids.

Expect a detailed battle report by the weekend with many delicious photos of my Marines being dissected by Xenos claw, maw and psychic strike, whilst guardsmen pound the ground.  and a detailed battle report by the weekend!

-V

Warhammer 40k 6th edition resources / recommended sites.

With the arrival of 6th edition - many many people are out hunting for information to try to keep up with their A-game. You aint going to find a whole lot of useful information directly from me... I will post what I can when it comes to me, or I find it - but what I would like to do is provide a little list of links to sources and other blogs that I think are really on the Ball and useful :-) I'm fairly sure that most people that happen to stumble upon this page already know of most - but in case you don't. check them out!

The Bolter and Chainsword - A forum that many avid gamers use to air their problems and seek advice. Primarily aimed towards Marine players, but it has info useful for all :-)

Warseer - Another forum packed with useful information.

DakkaDakka - Yet another forum! (Hey, your best resource is the rest of the gaming community...)

The Beasts of War - YouTube channel that covers quite a lot on 40k and other Tabletop gaming.

Way of saim hann
Fritz was always a good resource for me, providing strategies and tactics, battle reports and fun information for various armies. The information I followed most was the Space Marine and Eldar stuff, but he also is a big player of Necrons, Tyranids and Grey Knights. At this point in time he has YouTube videos up on Necrons, Eldar and Tyranids - and how the game changes effect them, and how units can be adapted to work in 6th ed, or if they should just be dropped. Check it out!
Necrons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=bNqm0AcmnsY
Tyranids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=BLqLWaaK9bw
Eldar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=BLqLWaaK9bw
Fritz's YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/WayOfSaimHann

I have a few more that I may add in later, they dont seem to be active at the minute...

I hope this helps, if you know of any other good resources, fire them into the comments - Ill be happy to check them out and add them in.

Warhammer 40k 6th edition. My first game battle report. (Pt.1)

As the sun slowly appeared over the horizon among the ruins outside of Castle Belvedere, two marine forces  in seek of strange artefacts happened across each other. Was one rogue? Who knows... The first shots were fired from the Ultramarine forces as their transports trundled over to the first artefact... The opposing forces opened fire, and battle commenced...

Welcome to the battle report for my first game of 6th edition Warhammer 40,000!

This is part 1 of the battle report - I am breaking it up as I feel I should talk about things in detail, including game setup, and rules complications we came across.

Setup:

The forces that were to meet today consisted of:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1,000 point Ultramarine force:

HQ:
Level 1  Librarian with:
Terminator Armour (2+ armour, 5+ invul save)
Force Axe (+1s, unwieldy)
The dust of a thousand worlds Warlord trait.

Troops:
2 x Tactical squads, each with:
Melta gun
Combi-Melta
Power fist

2 x Rhino Transports

Elite:
1 x Ironclad Dreadnought with Ironclad Assault Launchers


1 x Terminator Squad with
Assault Cannon
Power Sword Sgt
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

V's

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1,000 point Space marine force:

HQ:
Captain with
Power claw
Combi-melta
Legendary Fighter Warlord trait.

Command squad with
Power fist

1 x Razorback with
Twin linked Lascannon

3 x Tactical squads with
Missile launchers
Melta guns
2 x Power Swords
1 x Power Axe

3 x Rhino Transports

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The mission selected was: Crusade.
Two items of scenery were selected to be 'peculiar terrain' - a woodland copse, and a Ruin within Chris's deployment zone.

Librarian powers drawn: Inferno and Smite.

We rolled for turns and I won, choosing to deploy first on the near-side of the board:

Warhammer 40k 6th edition. My first game battle report. (Pt.2)

Welcome back, this is the battle report for our battle - some details are amended in retrospect, I hope it gives you an insight into the workings of the new rules! 

Events by turn:

Turn 1: Stu

<Night time>

Ultramarine deployment

Movement:

Ultramarine movement

My Rhino’s moved forward towards the first objective, and into the battle zone I was setting up with the placement of these two mid-field objectives.

Terminators and Dreadnought followed alongside, the Dread using a Rhino as cover. (Cowardly, yeah... but its a 5+ cover save, and with the night time rules - I was getting a +2 shrouded bonus due to the range the enemy would be shooting at me from. Thats a 3+ cover save. Nice.)

Shooting:

Missile launchers took a snap shot from the moving Rhino’s hatches, but failed to hit anything. (New rule: Snap fire - AWESOME! Basically, everything can shoot, but if its move or fire, or its a vehicle thats going to fast to normally be able to fire - it performs a 'snapfire' shot - an opportunistic fire of the weapon that requires a 6 to hit. It is also used as a defensive move against incoming attackers. Some say Orks are broken due to the way assault now works - but if the Orks get assaulted... a big mob has a LOT of shots... that would normally need a 5+?? to hit, instead its a 6... not a lot of difference there. I would opt to run 10 marines into a mob of 40 rather than recieve the charge, but thats 40 shots (less what the flamer hits *grin* and bolt pistols) to save from. (statistically - 6 hits, so 2-3 wounds... thats still a dead marine, and if luck is against you... who knows.).

Assault:

None.

Turn 1: Chris

<Night time>

**Peculiar terrain identified (Combat squad): Ruin – Targeting relay. Shots that roll a 1 to hit can be re rolled.** (I cannot remember what the objective's trait was. It was pretty useless I think)

Marine deployment

Movement:

Transports advanced towards both objectives, two rhinos positioning themselves nicely next to my entire battle force.

Shooting:

Missile launcher and Lascannon’s shot into the darkness at the transports but most shots fail to damage anything due to the shroud of darkness. The closest Rhino however is destroyed *+1 Vicory point for Secondary Objective: First Blood* leaving a mighty crater, and 3 desintegrated marines as the remaining 7 take cover in the crater. The Nearside Rhino opened fire on Terminators to no avail.

Assault:

None

Turn 2: Stu

<Night time ends>

Movement:

The second rhino advances on the nearest objective and unloads its troops into the ruins in front of the two enemy rhinos.

**Objective trait revealed: Enemies who wish to assault defenders can only move half the rolled charge distance**

The 7 guys from the previously blown up rhino move through cover (thanks to the nearby Warlord Librarian granting move through cover).

The dreadnought and Terminator with Librarian advance on the closest rhino.

Shooting:

The shooting starts with the troops that mounted the rhino – firing two melta shots from the top-hatch, shearing the weapon systems off the closest rhino, but causing no other real damage.

The Ironclad Dreadnought fires its melta gun through the terminators at the Rhino but fails to score a hit.

The second tactical squad fires from the ruins upon the rhino’s with two melta shots and a snapshot krak missile – this time shearing the weapons systems off of the other Rhino, immobilising it, and causing it to blow up with a final hit. The troops dismount unharmed into the crater in front of the terminators.

The Librarian opens up with a smite as the Terminators open up with Storm bolter and Assault cannon eliminating everyone except for the Sargent, who though sheer luck, is just out of assault range of the terminators charge roll, and breaks – making a run for his own lines.

Assault:

Terminators attempt a charge, but they roll too low to get through the crater into combat.

Turn 2: Chris

<Night time ends>

Movement:

The damaged rhino near the Ultramarines unloads its troops into a firing line along with the command squad who dismount from the Razorback. The other rhino rumbles up alongside the woodland objective and unloads its troops into the woods.

**Objective trait revealed: Enemies who wish to assault defenders can only move half the rolled charge distance**

**Peculiar terrain identified: Woodland: Iron Wood. Forest provides a 3+ cover save instead of 5+**

(On a note: I love this randomness. Normally this would be an objective sat in the woods that would probably be left with someone nearbye for the remainder of the game… but with these traits, it means that anyone shooting at the troops inside have to fend off a 3+ cover save, have to move through cover to advance into woods, and if they wish to charge, can only move half the distance they roll… Brutal! )

Shooting:

The marine forces open fire with a volley of heavy weapons fire on the remaining Ultramarine Rhino causing it to explode in a spectacular fashion, catching the 7 remaining tactical troops inside, their own command squad, combat squad, surviving sargent and two of the terminators. Spectacularly, only one marine was lost due to this explosion, and it counts as friendly fire. (Again, loving the chaos here!)

The command squad and tactical squad open fire on the two tactical squads in front of it, killing several of the marines.
The lone Sargent lobs a Krak grenade into the unhelmeted face of an ultramarine trooper before him as he is preparing his charge, blasting the surprised victims head clean off and leaving a fountain of crimson gushing from atop the power armoured foe that lays slain before him...

Assault:

The first assault move of the game! The lone Sargent then charges forward into single battle with the squad of ultramarines in an attempt to get his power axe to bear on the squad, but in his blood lust leaves himself open and is cut down by a lucky snapfire reaction shot before he can engage.

Turn 3: Stu

Movement:

The surviving marines in the ruins and vehicle craters advance on the command squad as the terminators advance on the combat squad that emerged from the Rhino.

The Ironclad dreadnought advances into the crater of the first destroyed rhino to line a melta shot up on the Razorback.

Shooting:

The tactical squads manage to slay two more of the command squad and wound the captain.

The terminators manage to slay one single marine with their volley of fire, and the Librarian attempts another Smite, but is nullified thanks to a lucky *Deny the witch* roll from the tactical squad. (New Rule: Deny the Witch. Psychers are much more powerful now - when they attempt to cast psychic spells, instead of a counterspell attempt that can only be done if the defender has a psycher within range, the unit targeted can attempt to shrug off the spell - with a psycher on the board, the roll improves. Normally this is a 6+ - a quirk that will sometimes help... Normally this is the case...)

The Ironclad managed to hit its target, but rolls a 1 on its Pen roll.

Assault:

The terminators advance on the combat squad, losing 1 man to the initial combat before eliminating all bar the marine sargent, who takes the initiative to run from combat.

The two tactical squads advance on the opposing command squad and kill the remaining marine, but fail to kill the warlord, who himself manages to slay the Sargent *+1 Victory point: Legendary Fighter* The captain then fails his leadership test for losing by 1, but is caught by one of the squads, and everyone remains in combat (Rule unclear here. We presumed that because the captain was caught by one of the squads, he never managed to get the opportunity to break from combat, so the other squad who failed on their initiative roll would still be in base to base contact and would carry on fighting.)

Turn 3: Chris

Movement:

The woodland troops spread out a little to take advantage of the space in the woods and get their melta guns and boltguns into a more useful distance.

The Razorback backs off from the dreadnought to avoid its melta gun.

Shooting:

Razorback attempts to destroy dreadnought but fails to penetrate its thickened armour.

The woodland tactical squad open fire on the terminators – but their melta gun is just out of reach, and the multi melta fails to wound. Regardless, they still manage to kill one of the terminators, whilst another drops to the volley of fire from a combat squad on a nearbye building.

The rhino that has been mostly ignored since losing its stormbolters moves around to get a line on the Dreadnought to attempt to Ram it in the next round.

 Assault:

The captain starts to dismantle the troops he is in combat with, causing both units to break and flee. He then consolidates 6” into the safety of the Iron Woodlands near the remaining full tactical squad.

Turn 4: Stu

Movement:

The terminators advance on the woodland troops.

The ironclad advances towards the captain, and the consolidated marines advance on the woods from the side.

Shooting:

The terminators spin round and open fire on the sole sargent – effectively killing him in a hail of bullets (but again, deny the witch prevents the librarian from doing anything!)

The ironclad unloads its melta and stormbolter at the Sargent but the bolter shots fail to wound and the melta shot is saved by a nearby tactical marine (Note in retrospect: Clearer on the rules now - the captain would have had to be part of that squad to perform this manoeuvre. Regardless, the look out sir roll was high enough that it could have been an iron halo save.)

The remaining tactical troops (1 melta gun from one squad, and a melta, missile and 2 or 3 other troops from the other squad) open fire into the woodlands, dropping a solo marine in their hail of fire.

Assault:

The Ironclad descends into the woodlands catching the captain in melee. The captain flails helplessly as the dreadnought hits him again and again and again… but every wound that lands is absorbed by his Iron Halo.

The two units of tactical troops charge the woodland marines, the sole melta gunner failing to make the 3” run… and manage to drop a couple of marines in exchange for the power sword on that sargent cutting some of them down.

Turn 4: Chris

Movement:

In a desperate attempt to get the Captain away from the dreadnought, the combat squad on the nearby roof starts making a run towards the dreadnought

Shooting: 

The remaining terminators are killed from fire from what units remain, with the exception of the librarian.

Assault:

The ironclad inflicts another single wound in combat – which is taken on a tactical trooper (The rules do not state anything about attackers not being able to target fresh combatants – it seems to all be done on initiative, so we just rolled with it, and the wound was allocated here, though even if it was not the combat squad could have ‘look out sir! Arrrrghed’ on a 2+ to allocate the wound, so no tears shed. Note in retrospective: This was handled wrong - the Dreadnought would choose a target unit - in this case the captain, and the wounds would not have been distributed to the other unit as they are not the same squad. *The more you know!* :p) The captain and the tactical squad then opt to fail their morale test, and the captain escapes, whilst the troops remain locked in combat.

The tactical troops carry on, drawing with a casualty each again, leaving a single marine fighting the remaining 7 tactical troops. He shall forever be known as Jimmy the Indomitable!

Turn 5: Stu

Movement:

In an attempt to get anything that resembles a victory point in the game, the solitary melta gunner makes a sprint for the objective in the tower, but pretty much falls flat on his face in the rhino explosion craters.

The Librarian spotting the wounded captain on the edge of the woods advances towards him, then after ANOTHER ‘deny the witch’ roll, charges the captain.

Shooting:

The only shooting this round was the denied librarian Smite.

Assault:

The ‘epic battle of epicness’ commences. The Warlords initiate a challenge, and proceed to fail to inflict any damage on each other what so ever.

The dreadnought proceeds to smash another marine asunder with its Seismic hammer whilst the tactical troops fight on in a stalemate – the sole ultramarine trooper passing another 3 armour saves.(go Jimmy!)

Turn 5: Chris

Movement:

The razorback adjusts to get a line of fire on the melta gunner running towards the objective in the tower.

Shooting:

The razorback fires, but the melta gunner manages to spin behind a rock and dive out of the way of the incoming shot, laughing at his luck, he then gets smacked in the face from a long range krak missile and collapses into the crater with the remains of squad mates from the wrecked Rhino.

Assault:

The dreadnought smashes another marine asunder leaving one standing.

The epic battle of epicness continues, librarian and captain again failing to make any wounds stick.

Turn 6: Stu

It was decided this would just be the last round due to time and the fact I was no longer in a position to score more than a single victory point versus the half a dozen he was guaranteed at this point. The epic battle of epicness continues, the captain managing to land a wound on the terminator librarian, the dreadnought finishing the remaining marine and consolidating through the woods deeper into cover from the Razorback’s lascannon, and Jimmy finally falls to the weight of armour saves he is called upon to make this round.

Turn 6: Chris

In a final display, the captain cuts down the Librarian and ends the Epic battle of Epicness, netting another two Victory points for his forces *Legendary fighter and Secondary Objective: Slay Warlord*

To add insult to injury the tactical squad opens up with melta fire, lascannons from the dreadnought and a missile from the deployment zone to cripple the Ironclad, resulting in a total annihilation for the Space Marine forces.

Final Score: Space Marines: 10 , Ultramarines: 0.

Ok, I got my ass handed to me, but it didn't feel like it as we were playing, and it was a fantastically epic battle. Apart from a couple of unlucky rolls early on when I had my entire army facing ¼ of his that I intended to quickly crush, but failed to make a big enough dent in, it could have gone either way. (Come on - 4 melta shots, two missile shots, melta gun, an assault cannon and a charging terminator squad... very unluck to take only a gun off one rhino and glance the other one to death (weapons, imobilised, destroyed) I must say I'm loving the new rules – the unpredictability of much of it, the new rules for charging, fleet of foot, move through cover and the warlord rules – as well as so many new psychic powers just make it so much more random… and also, evens the playing field between the different forces. I think I could now have a decent shot at surviving against a Tyranid force, as opposed to the guaranteed Wipe out I have always experienced in the past.

Most definitely the most memorable moments wherem firstly: when 3 of the Rhino's exploded over the course of two turns turning the main battlefield area into a no mans land. If it were not for the Warlord ability granted by my librarian to all within 12" - Move through Cover - I would have been at an even greater disadvantage at this point. Secondly, the Captain v Dreadnought... Chris's tactics of throwing marines in there to die to allow the captain to use either Combat Tactics or 'our weapons do nothing'(??) rule (same thing, but allows anyone to opt to run from something they cannot damage.) to escape combat. Naturally the final most memorable moment was the entirety of the last round where the Epic Battle of Epicness finally concluded and the remnants of my army were blown to hell.

I cant wait until next week for the next session :)

6th Edition... OMG

That may just have been one of the most entertaining games of 40k I have ever played... Their attempts to make it more cinematic worked a treat, and such an action packed battle was mad! Battle report will be up as soon as I write it, but there is a LOT of detail to write about... It may come in sections...

-V

Warhammer 40k, 6th Edition is here... Initial thoughts

Greetings all! It’s been a long time since I last wrote a post – Ill make a separate post about that – for now, I wish to discuss 6^th Edition…

Disclaimer: Primarily based off hearsay, and some blog posts from people first experiences…

I have not yet got my mits on the latest rulebook, but I am hooking up with my 40k gaming buddy this evening to get educated. ~I intend to take my camera and give a report on my first game of 6^th Ed later on.

Searching around for information on the changes, I and stumbled back to my favourite 40k bloggers page, ‘Way of Saim-Hann’ and now know a few things… Firstly, all games follow a form of Night-Fighting rule, where depending on the range – your forces get a cover save. This is clearly in an attempt to reduce the impact of ‘Alpha strike’ builds.

Secondly – Psychic rule changes have strengthened psychers considerably. Firstly, yey – my marine psychers might be more than transportation and cover saves now. Secondly – this really makes me want to get started on my Eldar army – especially since I think they will be getting their new Codex soon…

Lastly: Shooting appears stronger… Tanks are dropping like flies? , and infantry shooting seems stronger due to closer combat range and invulnerability saves at range. It sounds like armour for marines will be less valuable at range – but when it comes to cover saves… they are 5+ meaning having good armour is a bonus once you close the range.

More later!

-Velk

Adventures of moving to the new geekery-pad.

So, last night we planned out the big move. We have moved roughly once every year and a half since 2003 and every time we move, we seem to get less organised and pick up more and more crap. This time around we plan to be organised!

So...
We made a packing and task chart...

Which rooms to start on, what stuff to pack in advance, what tasks need taken care off (e.g cancelling services, changing billing addresses, etc.), the list is crazy and seemingly endless - but feels much more organised. Damn having these exams and some remaining admin to take care of before the move is officially official (i.e we actually get moving and don't just lose some of the deposit by pulling out.) I want to start packing and moving stuff in now!

Anyway, one of the things I am looking forward to the most is actually having a gaming area at last! At the moment if I want to play Warhammer I have to set up a single 2'x6' board on the living room floor or go to a friends house to play there. When running D&D and other P&P RPG's (Captain Acronym today!) we basically gather a couple of rickety old chairs around a big cushion and couch, and place a 2'x2' gaming board on the floor with some miniatures and a stack of dice on.
In the new place - the living room is fairly big, and will only have a couch and a couple of bits of furniture, and the kitchen has a 6-seater table. This gives us choice, and space! I cant wait to get the first game under way!

The exploits of Sgt Robinus, continued!

I had a couple of games of Warhammer 40k last night against a mate playing Imperial Guard. Sgt Robinus once again performed some thrilling heroics that provided some entertainment. In fact, without them both games would have had a VERY different result! Below are two brief battle reports, centered around his actions.

Marine army: 
Chaplain (melta bombs + jump pack + Plasma Pistol)
Assault Squad x10 (2 Plasma Pistols, Power Claw and Combat Shield.)
2 x Tactical Squads with Rhinos, (Power Fist, Combi-Melta, Melta gun and Missile Launcher - both squads combat-squadded for both battles.)
2 x Landspeeder Tornado's - MultiMelta and Heavy Flamer.

Battle 1: <5 objectives>
The imperial guard brought along a pretty decent tank army. 2 chimaeras, a Leman Russ Demolisher and a Leman Russ Executioner (I hate these things!) as well as a Valkyrie filled with Veterans It was very intimidating - especially when considering my lack of heavy weapons.

Sgt Robinus rode around midfield for half the battle guarding an objective, supporting the assault squad and the other Rhino looking for targets.  In the latter half of the game, him and his squad trundled up nose to nose against the executioner on the right flank, with the Valkyrie (Immobilised) and its vets behind it. The combi-Melta wrecked the Executioner, and everyone mounted back up and trundled over to the vets, who Demo packed their ride, and charged the squad once they dismounted. The squad held out and the next round a chaplain who's assault squad had been wiped out jumped on in and between them they took down the remaining vets. 2:0 win for the marines due to 2 rounds of rediculously lucky shooting from the the 2 missile launchers up the back.

Battle 2: <Objectives, 3 markers.>
The imperial guard brought an infantry army for this one - 80+ troops, 8 scoring units - considering I had a footslogging assault squad - this was more intimidating than the last (At least I could block the executioners line of site in the first battle - cant block the lines of site from all 80 guardsmen, or their 6 missile launchers, 3 Lascannons, hotshotting Storm Troopers (Ap3 lasguns), and dozen or so Melta guns/plasma guns on vets!) The assault squad made some major judgment BooBoo's that resulted in them being mowed down in the open in front of 90% of the guards line. As for Sgt Robinus: His squad and the other squad went up the right flank - the other squad being dismounted, slogging up the middle and eventually being slain to plasma fire.

Robinus and his squad trundled up through the woodlands, and emptied out in front of a heavy weapons team and guardsman squad, and opened up with Melta guns and rapid fire bolters forcing the surviving heavy weapon guy to flee. They took the shots from the guardsman squad losing the Melta gunner, whilst the rhino got stripped of weapons beside them. The rhino moved over whilst Sgt Robinus and co. moved over to the guardsmen and assaulted. The charge was a failure, the combat was tied - but this meant that the squad was safe from guard shooting next round. In the Imperial Guard round the guardsmen lost, and were cut down in their retreat. The Rhino tank shocked a heavy weapon squad behind the guardsmen squad that had just been killed forcing them to flee, and they continued off of the board. Sgt Robinus and his squad continued over to a vet squad, charging and killing all but 2, the storm troopers joined in in the guard round and the battle there raged for another two rounds before Robinus was cut down by the remaining Colonel and the remaining Storm Trooper leaders power sword. (Robinus+co tally: 2 heavy weapons squads, 2 guardsman squads!) I am proud of this little marine... anything less from them and the battle would have been a tie, or lost. As it was, it ended with a score of 2:1 to the Marines.

It was an interesting evening - I may have stumbled onto a 1k point army I actually like with Marines! I dont think they would fair well against Tyranids however! They have always been my Achilles heel...

-V

Sgt Robinus - Warhammer 40k Ultramarines Sgt.

Sgt Robinus Pegging it from a 'Nid horde.

Welcome to my page for one of the most decorated - and conflicted characters in my Ultramarines Warhammer 40k battleforce.

I play as Ultramarines (Aka Smurfs, or Space Lunchboxes) and one man has stood out with his acts in numerous battles. I shall reminisce on the top 3 memories of him here today :).

1. Sgt Robinus and the Traitor Guard.
Robinus and his tactical squad were mounted in a Rhino - and made a beeline up the center of the battlefield, parking up behind some wooded swamplands - only to be immobilised by a stray Battlecannon shell. The Squad dismounted by his command, into the swamp to use it as cover on their advance into the Traitor Guard Mech line. By the time he emerged from the treeline his armour was pitted with holes, and sprayed with the blood and entrails of his squad mates from a couple of rounds of heavy bombardment from the Traitor Guard lines. He sought vengeance, and targeting the closest Leman Russ Demolisher, he ran forth, melting the turret with a direct his from his Combi-Melta before charging in and tearing through its thick armour plating with his power fist, killing all the crew in the process. He proceeded to hunker up against a wall for a couple of rounds picking off guardsmen whilst the rest of the Marines battleforce outflanked and dismantled the opposing army around him.

2. Sgt Robinus and the Tyranid combat patrol.
As dawn was breaking, Sgt Robinus, accompanied by 4 marines and backed by a combat squad of tough marines, 2 landspeeders and a Captain went into battle against a Tyranid patrol consisting of a couple of squads of genestealers, a Trygon and a Tervigon, spewing forth Termagants. As the battle unfolded, he found his transport destroyed, as a large horde of fresh Gaunts charged towards his squad. They held out as best as they could, killing almost all of them but he was last man standing, he initiated a tactical retreat towards friendly lines, regrouping once he was at a safe distance. He then charged into 2 genestealers, wielding naught but his Powerfist he survived their attacks and killed them both - but this was not time to celebrate - a Trygon named Jennifer was making its way towards him from accross the field. He scaled to the top of a ruined building, and stood out on its precipice, ready to accept its charge. With a blood curdling battlecry he accepted the charge from the Trygon, and as it scaled the building towards him he pummeled it with that mighty fist - reducing it to a single wound before being cut asunder... As he lay their dying, the speeders finished off Jennifer and he was rescued, and put back to work.

Not Jennifer.

3. Sgt Robinus and the Great Race.
In his latest venture - him and his tactical squad, along with a small unit of allied scouts held a ruin that was about to become the brunt of a Tyranid Zerg. His unit held out bravely, opening fire for several rounds before enough of the squad was cut asunder, and they opted to make a tactical withdrawal to avoid being charged by a Tervigon, and a large force of surviving DevilGaunts and Termagant Xenos. The unit regrouped and advanced upon a Trygon that was in the midst of the marine force, opening fire - but being caught by the fire from the Tervigon and the gaunts and being the only survivor - he opted to fall back again to save being charged solo by them all.. He then spent the next two rounds legging it across the back of the battlefield, being persued by 7 Termagants, 14 Devilgaunts and a Tervigon, beying for his blood but whom were just not fast enough to keep up with this marine who was determined to survive and regroup with the remainder of his force. He survived the day, and now we are left wondering what the next battle will hold.

I will say one thing... The battles in which I have done my best in have had this guy at the front line with combi-melta and power fist, getting stuck into the enemy with no fear - although it is hilarious to see him in retreat, as the enemy try in vain to gun him down!

-V

First 40k battle in ages! Fun times.

Caught with your pants down?

Last night I had the first game of Warhammer 40k that I have had in ages - I gotta say, I didn't realise just how much I missed it :) I will include a battle report below just for the hell of it. Me and a friend teamed up with marines against another mate bringing some nasty 'nids to the table.

Forces were:
Me:
2 tactical squads, pf, ml, flam
2 dreadnoughts, asscan, hf
2 razorbacks
librarian with avenger and gate of infinity.
Ally:
10 scouts (combat squadded) with sniper rifles and a heavy bolter
10 sternguard, pf
5 vanguard with power weapons lead by a chaplain all piled in a Razorback.

Nids:
3 genestealer broods with broodlords
15 Devilgaunts
Tervigon
Trygon (Jennifer)
Trygon Prime (Reginald)
2 Hiveguard
2 Hiveguard
2 Zoanthropes
1 Big thing with a cannon that I cant remember the name of.

The marines deployed pretty much along the whole of their front line, whilst the tyranids deployed with a heavy right flank, leaving the Zoanthropes and a couple of HiveGuard on the left flank.

Turn 1:
Marines: Marines went first, and ADVANCED towards the enemy... the librarian gated a squad to the flank of the bulk of the nid horde, and the firing for the round took out the Zoanthropes and a couple of genestealers.

'Nids: Nids advanced, the guards shook the Vanguard filled Razorback but the extra armour kept it going, and the Cannon-think peeled a turret off a razorback.

Turn 2: 
Marines: The librarian squad advances on the nids flank, along with the razorback. The marines opened fire with all weapons... quite pitifully. A unit of stealers was wiped out with a single volley from the Sternguard - the rest of the shots put a few holes in the units of stealers roaming the table, and a few wounds on Jennifer..

'Nids:The tervigon pooped out 9 termagants and run out of juice. The rest of the army advanced. The devilgaunts mow down a group of scouts bar the heavy bolter and the hiveguard immobilise a dreadnought. Jennifer then charges forth into the Sternguard, killing 7 of them in exchange for a power fist wound. Reginald charges into the Librarian and Tactical squad, killing 3 and taking a wound in return from the Sarge's power fist.

Turn 3:
Marines: All hell breaks loose - the marines on the tyranid light flank start to make a move to get closer to some action, the remaining Sternguard that were fleeing regrop, and the mobile dreadnought moves up to the two Trygons who are pretty much side by side. The vanguard vets and chaplain dismount and pile in with the Trygon thats fighting the librarian and that squad, and the dreadnought opts to add its firepower to the Trygon that is not in combat since 6 blokes with power weapons charging and rerolling misses is BOUND to take that Trygons 4 wounds off right?... right? The dice decide to defect at this point. The mobile Trygon loses a single wound to the fire from two dreadnoughts and the sternguard, whilst the other one takes out most of the tactical squad save for the librarian and sargeant, and the vanguard vets pile in. 22 power weapon hits on the charge. 1 wound. That is epic fail of epic proportions. :( The chaplain and sgt flee.

'Nids:The tyranids open fire again - the immobilised dreadnought gets popped, and take out the two typhoons that have been hovering about the back doing bugger all, and the squad of marines on the nid-heavy flank take multiple casualties to the Devilgaunts fire and opt to fall back rather than take on the juiced up termagaunts and the Tervigon. Jennifer charges and kills the remaining Sternguard whilst Reginald eats the squad of Vanguard vets and the chaplain. Nom. Crunchy.

Turn 4:
Marines: Things are looking grim by this point. The librarian and Sgt keep running from Reginald, popping off an ineffective bolt-pistol shot and the intact marine squad sets up a firing line in front of Reginald - if he doesnt drop - they will. The retreating marines on the other flank regroup 3" and advance on Jennifer, setting up a firing line aswell. The dreadnought positions himself to flame them both and let loose with the assault cannon. The intact squad manage to take out Reginald who had 1 wound left, the other squad fail to hurt Jennifer, but the dreadnought lands two lucky rending shots on her, blasting her Niddy Tataas off. A chance?

'Nids:The 3rd Stealer brood finally arrives from reserve - coming onto the left flank - but they forget to run, effectively nullifying them for the battle. The hiveguard blast the remaining dreadnought to oblivion, and the Devilgaunts, and Termagaunts lay into the depleated tactical squad thats now stood in the middle of the board causing them to take a moral test: The Sgt remains and opts for a strategic retreats instead of getting charged by the blob of Xenos heading his way. (forever now known as Sgt Robenus for his Benny Hill ending to the game.).

Turn 5:
Marines: There is little the space marines can do now but try to score a crucial kill point or two whilst maintaining their own. My force consists of 1 sgt, 1 turretless razorback, and a librarian accompanied by a sgt. My ally has a full tac squad, and 5 scouts. The nids force consists of 2x2 hiveguard, 14 devilgaunts, 7 termagants, 10 Genestealers, a Pooped out Tervigon and that big bastard with the cannon who has done nadda save take a razorbacks turret. We have lost about 5 more KP than the nids put on the table at this point but have not counted them up. In an epic feat of bravery - the intact tactical squad advance on a nearby unit of hiveguard whilst the librarian and sgt Gate of Infinity right beside them (to pistol them. woot.) whilst Sgt Robenus pegs it 14" along my board edge (3" regroup, 6" move 5" run) away from the zerg of nids that want to make him have their babies. One hiveguard dies to the volley of bolter fire, the other to a fist on the charge.

'Nids:The nids cant do much but advance. They advance and attempt to mow down Sgt Robenus who takes about 15 s4 shots and a s10 template to the face, and manages to save or be tough enough to take every shot without dying (I think the back Armour on my marines is stronger than the front... tailoring to my tactics?)

Turn 6:
We take this moment to tally up the points left on the table. There is nothing within charging distance in this round for either side, and the marines cannot break even even if they were to table the remaining nids so we bow down to the might of the nids, and teleport the hell out.

Awesome battle. May have only been 2k, but it took 4 hours.