Bit of a long blog post this one, as it comprises what should really have been several entries – I’ve been busy lately!
On September 26th I, along with several members of DDWG attended a 40k doubles tournament hosted by Calne Gaming Club – 1000pts per team in 4 games over the course of a day. We had a fantastic time (even if Adam and I only managed 10th place out of 13 teams with our 120 Orks and Kroot).
When we first heard about the weekend, Adam and I said we should just aim to take an absolute mass of troops and not a lot else – the look on peoples faces when they saw the veritable sea of models was priceless. We weren’t in it to win at all, although we were quite keen to get the wooden spoon for last place (but, sadly, this wasn’t to be).
A quick recap:
Game 1 (vs Orks/Chaos):
A rather small opposing force consisting of a few Ork Bikers and a mob in a Trukk plus a unit of Chaos Marines in a Rhino and a squad of Havocs – due to some appalling luck on the Ork players’ part, he lost all of his units to me by turn 4, while Adam’s Kroot dealt with the Chaos Marines, seeing them off of the second objective and winning the game for us.
Result: Victory.
Game 2 (vs Space Marine Scouts):
This game was against what later transpired to be the winning team, which was thoroughly deserved by the Father and Son pairing – it’s given me a new respect for my own Scout Army after seeing what masses of them are capable of! We were on the back foot from turn 1 and eventually our forces were systematically eradicated over the course of the 4 turns.
Result: Defeat.
Game 3 (vs Chaos Marines/Traitor Guard):
John P and George from DDWG were our opponents for game 3. Having known both of them for several years I knew this game wasn’t going to be easy – the first couple of turns looked like things were going our way, until a couple of bad rolls and an oversight on my part meant that we lost quite decisively in the end. Bugger.
Result: Defeat.
Game 4 (vs Imperial Guard):
Mark and Leigh, another pair from DDWG who I’ve had the privilege of knowing for several years were our final opponents for the day – what really made the game for us was the central Mars Bar objective (even if it went unclaimed by the end of the game. Due to the split deployment of this mission Adam and I had elected to basically ignore one of the players and concentrate all of our efforts eradicating the other. Leigh was unlucky enough to deploy closest to me and so he drew the short straw. After a few turns of continued pumelling from my Orks up close and Adam’s Kroot from afar, we managed to clear the table of Leigh’s forces, while a couple of lucky Kroot kept Mark’s troops from closing on the objective.
Result: Draw.
Space Hulk:
Following the day of gaming in Calne, I resumed work on my Space Hulk models – all of them are based up, and I’ve now begun the lengthy task of painting them up. I decided at a later stage (after the basing photos were taken) to add magnets to the bases of each Terminator – this would come in hand for attaching the Artefact and C.A.T. to in the missions which require them. It certainly helps keep track of who’s got hold of what, and makes it easier to keep the smaller bits together.
Also, I’ve finally finished painting up the first set of cardboard tiles/counters – I’ve painted over the bare cardboard edges of each and every counter/door/floor tile with a relevant colour – it takes a bit of time but the end result is worth it.
We’ve been playing through the missions gradually at the club, and we’re getting close to finishing the first run through of the campaign – it’s still proving very difficult for the Marines to pull off a win, but they certainly rack up the kills even if they lose.
I’ve now got to finish off one unit of Terminators ready for our club’s Art of War competition – originally I’d planned to use the Assault on Black Reach models to recreate a ‘last stand’ scenario, but this has fallen by the wayside in favour of the far more visually appealing Space Hulk. Once my Mac’s back in action I’ll work on getting some more photography on the site (plus update a few things here and there).
Big 40k Game
Finally, I just thought I’d detail the events of yesterday’s big game of 40k played between 8 of us at the club. Normally we’d save the bigger games for our extended sessions at the end of the month, however, as I’m going away to Amsterdam at the end of this month, I suggested we brought it forward by a couple of weeks, which thankfully everyone agreed to (although I think to be honest, any excuse for a big game will suffice for many wargamers!)
Four Space Marine players (myself, John P, George and Craig) faced off against four Guard players (Sean, Greg, Mark and Leigh). We let the guard set up a defensive line, and explained that we’d be going after their four highest ranking Officers (each representing the four players). The usual mass of infantry and tanks was set up across from us and we began to wonder just how quickly we’d be putting our glorious Astartes back into our cases…
Sean was on hand with his camera for photography, and took quite a few photos as the game went on, so hopefully we’ll see those online soon!
Craig, John, George and I had all been discussing our strategy throughout the week – Craig and George would form a base of fire while John and I got in amongst the Guard lines and caused havoc, hopefully taking out the Commanders in short order. A last minute idea by Craig and George to put all of our armoured vehicles on an opposite flank proved worthwhile, as it meant the guard’s fire was split enough to give most of us respite from the big guns.
The game began with an orbital bombardment which managed to stun a few tanks and hitting a command squad, leaving only the commander standing! Once the (quite frankly laughable) effects of the barrage had been worked out, we began the game in earnest, with my first wave of Drop Pods slamming home just behind Greg and Sean’s commanding officers. Out piled an Ironclad Dreadnought, two Tactical Squads and the obligatory Sternguard squad (with their ‘magic bullets’!). Also, John’s Sternguard also dropped in alongside my units. Suffice it to say that our Marines went to town on the closest Guard units and tanks, reducing them to bullet-riddled corpses or burning hulks in short order.
Elsewhere on the field, Craig and George securely held our lines with their mass of Tactical and Devastator units, trading fire at range with the Guard. A large recon element of Mechanised infantry plus Rough Riders sallied forth on the Guard’s left flank, moving out to meet the armoured element we’d placed to oppose them – this side of the battlefield was particularly bloody, although being in the thick of it on the other end of the Guard lines, reports were sporadic.
A counter attack by airborne Guard units was proved rather unlucky when they were systematically picked apart by the Marines on our back lines – never underestimate Whirlwinds and the humble Tactical squad – 30 Stormtroopers and a Vulture were dealt with in short order!
John’s Land Raider Crusader loaded with Assault Terminators suffered an unlucky hit which immobilised the vehicle, leaving the veterans the task of marching forwards under fire. Luckily their 2+ armour save held out and most of the unit made it into combat with the centre of the Guard line.
By the time John’s Assault troops landed and my second wave of Drop Pods hit the floor, one half of the guard lines was all but done for – we cleared out the occupying troops quickly and moved into the buildings to shelter from the inevitable shelling which was to follow. More Guard reserves arrived although they were also mopped up quickly by the second wave of deep striking Marines.
A careless move by the Guard meant that a third commander was slain as he was caught out in the open by two Attack Bikes which had made it through the defensive lines. This left us with one objective left – the seemingly unbeatable Commisar Yarrick.
Yarrick managed to fend off several Jump Pack assault squads from George and John, and tragically we ran out of time before the Ironclad Dreadnought could assault him. He’s definitely on our hit list for next time!
Another fantastic afternoon of gaming – I’m sure the other players would love to share their highlights – feel free to add a comment.