Tuesday 28 March 2017

Carpet Campaign with Chaos

At the weekend I played my first 40k campaign.  Three missions and two Kill team challenges.  This was expanded upon when my girlfriend came home and wanted to join in the fray.  Having lost all but one Kill Team Jamie (My opponent) wanted a big final game using all of their Tau Forces. In total this came to 3300pts of Tau.

The biggest lesson we all learnt during this campaign is that dirge casters in chaos rhinos versus Tau are horrible. Preventing over-watch in an army that depends on its ranged combat was crippling.

The first game was: 1500pts Tau vs Chaos Marines using Echoes of War: The Scavenger War (Customised) from the Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia supplement.

I deployed Chaos Marines and a renegade knight while Jamie used his refreshed Tau force including a riptide battle suit.  Having heard many terrifying things about riptides and also previously having faced a stormsurge, I was worried.  Sadly Jamie rolled beyond awfully in the first match and the Corrupted Aureus won 10-0.

Gottfried my second hand knight restored.

After this we moved onto a Kill Team Challenge: Against the Horde.  70 Chaos Cultists vs 200pts of Tau in a building granting 2 up cover.  This came down to the last hit of the final turn, in which my cult leader killed the Tau's final specialist in hand to hand.  As a reward and for flavour I rolled on the Chaos Boon table and got a 65 result.  Now I have to invest in a daemon prince, as the mighty cultists recived the best blessing from the dark gods.

The cult. The shotgun leader at the back is to become a prince!

Game 2 was 1000pts Tau vs Chaos Marines Echoes of War: The Sword of Defiance (Customised) from the Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia supplement.  No knight was used in this game but again the score ended 13-0 in my favour.  a brutal and swift advance left the Tau forces in a lot of close assault.  Those that did not die in assault fell victim to the might of the deep striking obliterators.

My custom obliterators


Kill Team 2 was Prey Stalker: 200pts of Deathwatch (7 Astartes) vs a fully kitted out Riptide with two shield drones.  The challenge was a close one.  The riptide took 4 wounds but managed to take down all 7 men pretty swiftly... as one would expect.

In game 3 we played 2400pts Various Imperials vs Tau Tau  Echoes of War: The Emperor Protects (Customised) from the Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia supplement.  In this the Tau were winning 8-5 but in the final two turns the Order Extermini caught up and the game ended 11-8.  Once the hammerhead and riptide fell the tables turned pretty swiftly.  Maulerfiends fare well against riptides :D

The days highlights.
Finally we played the 3300pts of Tau vs Chaos. Echoes of War: The Fall of the Kriegan Gates (Customised) from the Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia supplement. It took 3 and a half hours and was the largest game of 40k I have ever played.  The Tau hit hard but deployed too close. Once again it was a swift comeback from the Corrupted Aureus.

After 14 hours of 40k myself and Jamie were pretty damn tired but it was worth it.  Since I started in the hobby just over a year ago I wanted to play a thematic campaign and this weekend I achieved it.

Below is some fluff from the final game.



The Fall of the Peacekeepers. 

Lord Faustus had led them to victory in many battles. He had defeated the Salamanders, clashed with Death Guard, tore apart an Orc Warband and crushed the Tau, claiming three worlds in the process. Despite his overwhelming presence on the battlefield he had been taken from them seven times. Dragged into the warp to reemerge months later with even greater forces. Giant beasts of metal and flesh came to aid them from beyond the mortal realm. He had attracted warbands of traitor marines and cultists from nearby systems to defend the name of the Aureus. His direct link with the wolf mother had made him a beacon of the twisted and the lost. One uprising had successfully crushed the Tau without the Astartes intervention. The lead cultist being blessed and transformed into a daemon prince. He was without question, in their eyes, the High Jackal even if others did not recognise his status. Now without him again, they had to act. The odds stacked against them they descended into the Tau stronghold. With a mere fifty Astartes, a band of cultists and two demonic machines they disembarked from their vessel. Cranus could smell the Tau in the air. Tormented and tamed he longed to be released. As soon as the chains were cut, the mechanical monstrosity lurched into motion. Tearing through the fortified walls he made his way into the fort. The Tau weaponry bounced off of his hard metal carapace as he advanced. Out of the shining bronze central chamber burst the riptide battle suit. The beast had already eaten one a few days prior, Cranus was not perturbed. Dashing after its prey he flung himself from the ground and collided with the gleaming giant. Locked in brutal combat his fists punched into the suit, while the magma cutters tore at the cabling and circuitry beneath. From the opening the cultists strode through. Auto-rifles in hand, they spattered the central tau sentry point with fire. Instantly the xenos began to fall like dead fruit from a tree. Each impacting with a crunch spraying blue blood across the brass structure beside them. Hollering with glee the fanatics steadily advanced onto the building, tearing apart the enemy warlord with their firepower. Beside them spread out two units of Astartes, twenty strong each. Opening fire with their bolters they wiped the remaining sentry points clean. Not showing any signs of remorse as their brothers fell to the taus superior firepower, the Aureus pushed forward. Their Wolf Mother's Chosen emitted a sickly cloud of miasma that entered the surrounded piranha. Panicking the tau pilot opened fire. The vehicles corrupted weaponry lurched with vile energy before erupting in a ball of fly blown bile. Across the field of battle the other Chosen took off his helmet to reveal his twisted feminine face. With a seductive caress of his lips the kroot rifle team began to thrash and seize. Tearing at their own contorted, smiling faces five collapsed to the floor dead, before the rest fell victim to the hellbrute's heavy flamer. From the east the Baron Gottfried advanced. He refused to let the Canis Aureus down. His knight tore open a hammerhead before lurching into the hordes in front of him. Making light work of the infantry, he tried to ignore the systems alert signals. His knight had not yet recovered from its battle in the Exterminii's compound. The Barron knew the commander was his. The Aureus had taken down the bodyguard and left two crisis suits by his side. Walking over to their leader, he let her stare in horror before bringing his gigantic blade down upon her. With the battle over the remaining tau began to leave the system. Their losses had been too great and they needed to pool their resources before attempting another war. The Aureus would take control swiftly and with force. The war was far from over but the system was won.

Thursday 23 March 2017

Corrupted Canis Aureus vs Orks!

New blood is a great thing to have in 40k.  The more opponents I can get the greater I enjoy the game. Having different people to face off against keeps the game interesting and fresh, especially if people use different forces. This is why I was thrilled to see that my pal Richard had finally been coerced into the hobby by Ed and myself.  

It was a small 500pt game that lasted until turn 5 and also my first game playing as Chaos Marines!


It was only a matter of time until I delved into Chaos. with such heretical marines it was an inevitability. I started work on these obliterators and a mauler last week and also purchased a maulerfiend off of a friend.  


Playing against Richard was great. He had learnt his codex and we had a great game.  Sadly his charge rolls didn't go too well and my flamers and lone obliterator made swift work of his ork lines.  Faustus sucked himself into the warp once again. that now makes a grand total of six times.

The game ended 7-4 to the Aureus. Another victory to the hunted chapter. 


After our game we played Tanks, a game I had bought Richard for Christmas.  He got his sweet revenge, swiftly tabling my German tanks. I managed to take out one British tank but suffered a crippling defeat.  A simple but very entertaining game to end the night.



Monday 6 March 2017

The Loyalists

The Loyalists


Now that I have started playing co-op games of 40k. 2 vs 2 or 2 vs 1, I have had to justify to myself why and how the Aureus would team up with other Imperial factions, as they are mostly ancient and heretical in nature and hate everything.

Well there was a simple solution, some of the aureus remained loyal to the Imperium. They did not chase down the Wolves and Thousand Sons or get tainted by the warp.

I was these guys that removed the Canis Aureus from record for their treason and the few hundred that were not executed in punishment, continued to work alongside various other imperial forces.

I decided to paint up some normal marines to play in these games instead of my usual heretical ones.

They were not prepared...

Their second battle was against the Eldar alongside the Salamanders. They lost of course, but it was an incredible game.

The first was against the Dark Eldar.  It was tense, I lost all of my forces but Jack held on with his Wolves allowing us to win the game.  Below is my fluff of the game.


The Darkness Comes

Alessandro Ermo had been there when Prospero fell. Slaying his brothers and watching the merciless Wolves slay their own. He had agreed with their methods but his chapter had not. All had left for the Warp that day, in pursuit of the 13th company in an effort to talk sense into them, to prevent the genocide that was to come. He had stayed with their allies. Promoted both to a High Jackal for his efforts and a Jackal Lord, he had fought with extreme prowes, worthy in the eyes of Russ himself. The first of his order to be of both ranks, he had spent the last ten thousand years pursuing chaos and aiding the Imperium. Alessandro had signed the paperwork and preformed the rituals to have his chapter stricken from all records. He knew the cost of the defiance the Aureus had exhibited. Now only his force of a mere five hundred warriors survived. They would be the last.


***

On hearing of his brothers emerging from the far reaches of space, Lord Ermo was both hesitant and elated. They had sent out feelers but was aware that they had already been in regular conflict with various imperial forces. Learning of Demens' awakening he had arranged for immediate dispatch. Commanding both his most trusted rune priests, ancients and a sizeable force of his allies he prepared for battle. Approaching the long forgotten world of Strain, the force descended. Clearly they were too late but that was irrelevant. They were here for the location of the mighty Typoon Seige Tank. He needed to reach it before his brothers. Making headway through the ruins the Wolves located multiple consoles that still emitted electrical power. It was then they came. At first they held back shooting from afar and hiding in the shadows. The marines made for the consoles, accessing, transmitting and deleting all of the data they could find as the storm of the Dark Eldar approached. Lord Ermo witnessed the agile and decadent force rip through his infantry and tear his allies apart. ascending the dilapidated communication tower, he heard them coming. The view from the ruin was horrifying. Xenos hordes like ants, seemingly immune to the firepower of the Astartes weaponry, surged beneath him. From above he observed the Blood Claws fighting until their last breath. Managing to upload the data to the central comms tower. One swiftly destroyed the consoles while the rest of the pack held grotesques and an aberration at bay. The mighty cannons of the Deredeo erupted and punctured the enemy fliers out of the sky, but not before all of Ermo's ancients had been sent to their maker. Hearing the cries of the rune priest below, he knew his time was over. It was only a matter of seconds before the wyches claimed him. Crushing the console with his fist he cursed. His mission had been a success information had been sent. Lord Ermo had wanted to see his brothers in person but clearly it was not meant to be. Throwing his storm bolter down, he drew his heavy and ancient blade. The wyches ascended to the upper floors. The first kicking the mighty warrior in the jaw, while another garrotted him from behind. It was over, the xenos had won. In orbit Decimus received the co-ordinates. Getting to the Typoon Seige Tank was going to take a lot more work than he had expected. With the loss of their Lord, they would need to find allies in order to achieve their goal and get the advantage over their tainted brothers.


Battle Scribe!



Making army lists has always been time consuming.  For the year I have been playing chopping, changing and switching around points can be a total pain in the backside.  I love it but I also hate it.  Buying the official Space Wolf codex for my Aureus saved me a lot of time.  But the Force Requisition manager is not without fault and it often crashes or lags out when you need it most.


Battle Scribe fixes these issues.  While it isn't a codex it does posses all of the information and options for every army list, including supplements and data slates that have been released separately.  Meaning that now making a Chaos Space Marine, Genestealer Cult or Deathwatch army list has become far easier.

Once again a big thank you to Jack for getting me to buy the app on the iOS store.

Now making my lists for this weeks games is easy!



You can select units and then customise them fully, without complication or hassle and you can always see the running points total.  now there is no need to buy every hard copy of a codex that I own in digital format too.

But if 40k isn't your thing or you play other miniatures games as well, never fear as Battle Scribe supports most of those too.  For such a tiny price it is a must have to any tabletop war gamer.

Thursday 2 March 2017

A Relic Uncovered

Two weeks ago I acquired my first piece of Forgeworld kit.  Granted I got it second hand as getting the gear new is a bit out of my price range.  Regardless it was still pretty new.  I had to wash it, build it and paint it.  In total after five and a half hours work, I finally finished him.



My first encounter with a Deredeo was maybe my fifth or sixth game of 40k ever.  Needless to say my Jackals were under-equipped and I was tabled by turn three.  I vowed that day to not play in the big leagues, but then one was put in front of me, at a price I could not refuse.  Old, not built and unwanted I felt it needed a home.  My dreadnought addiction knows no bounds though, as the same day I acquired two more dreadnoughts in need of a home, thanks to my new pal Jack.

Ignis - the first of the two multi-melta dreadnoughts
and by far the nicer of the brothers.

So far out of all the games my Deredeo has been in he has performed well.  It really filled the gap in my army in terms of anti-air weaponry.

In the second game the Deredeo was fielded the Salamanders nearly engaged
him in close combat, but my grey Hunters were quick to charge to his aid.
Now for the fluff based on his first fielding vs Tau.



A Relic Uncovered

With a dark sense of foreboding Faustus knew it was time. Demens was to be released. The wolf mother demanded savagery and the onslaught of excessive force to all who opposed them. The High Jackal knew that he could not justify releasing the Brothers, but waking Demens was a risk worth taking. Contorted and buckled within the small confines of his prison, the Astartes hunched sedated. His ancient flesh, intertwined with the thick cabling and age old mechanisms that kept his one forsaken heart beating. For seventy centuries he had been locked beneath the surface of the death world of Strain. His location concealed and indeterminable to the imperium. A relic of a bygone age, dormant and trapped in an eternal chemically induced slumber. Haunted by the slaughter, the battle against his own kin. Demens was free of the taint of chaos but consumed by crippling insanity. Placing his hand over Demens' ravaged and tormented head, Faustus disconnected the makeshift stasis tubes. Crusted with rust and centuries of blood, he threw them to the ground. Gradually the beast began to wake. As the dreadnought's systems engaged Faustus knelt on his brother's chassis, peering into the dead, unfocused stare. "Aerial bombardment inbound High Jackal." Grekus said the dank confines of the bunker. "The Tau are coming." "Let them come, our brother here needs to adjust to the new order of things." Emerging into the piercing sunlight Faustus saw them descend. Lunging into action he was desperate to burnish his reputation with the Wolf Mother. As he gathered his men he worked up his chant of the incantations into a vehement rage. Bolts of energy veered into the sky before thundering down into three of his brothers. Instantly each one split and then erupted into a shower of crimson. In the plethora of demonic activity, a giant claw broke through the confines of the material plane and wrenched Faustus into the unknown.

Waiting for their transport to arrive the Jackals wondered where Faustus had been taken.


***
Advancing towards their enemy the Tau rushed into battle. Fraught with horror, they advanced using the cover of the ancient ruins. The peacekeepers had grown a deep hatred for the Aureus. The larger force this side of space seemed to be darker and greater in number than the Jackals that they had encountered first. Their use of daemonic energy seemed beyond acceptable for the average Astartes. On discovering their new-found mission, they new they had to make an aggressive advance. Demens was more than a tool of war, he was a symbol of power and more horror to come. Sniper fire punctured into Faustus' remaining squad. The last of his marines collapsed into the rubble, claimed by the sharp accuracy of their foe. As the snipers lined up their next target, he'll rained from the skies. Demens had opened fire. The devastation of the planet and the sight of these radiant and efficient xenos disturbed him. Surely the imperium of man had not buckled to such flimsy invaders. His vision blurring he saw Brother Janus calling him forth. The ancient was sure that Janus had been slain in the assault on Prospero. Regardless he was pleased to see his brother again. Taking heed of his advice, Demens obliterated the oncoming crisis suits and breacher teams. The rest of the Astartes sweepers forward, crushing the xenos advance and forced them to retreat. It was clear that they would be retiring with even greater numbers. Even with the ancient one here, they were now eleven warriors. There was nothing of importance left on the dead planet.