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.

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.

Facing a Tyranid Hierophant Bio-titan

Last Wednesday at Marquee Models Veterans Night, myself and Adam faced off against Ed.  Two 1000pt armies (Wolves and Salamanders) vs 2000pts of Tyranids.  I thought we would lose, as I have nothing high end in my army at all.  Deciding to leave the heavy gunning and defence up to the Salamanders I went for light and fast... It was the wrong option.

We got dominated.  The Aureus were pretty much tabled two turns in and my Culexus Assassin was one-shot in the first round... 140 points straight down the drain.  Somehow my psykers managed to survive until turn three and one until the game was called to an end at the end of the third round.

Scoring 8-0 Ed won a mighty victory.  I have never faced off against something so hideously powerful. We were swamped by the Bio-titan on our 6x4 board and there was no hiding or escape.  

As per usual, I was unprepared for what faced me.  A few weeks ago My Aureus managed to take down a Storm Surge with standard firepower and have also once felled the Primarch Vulkan, also with standard fire. Dumb luck is my friend,  however, as with most of my battles, I tend not to go stat hunting to understand my enemy.  In the words of Sun Tzu: "If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles."

Perhaps if I did more research I would win more battles.

Regardless it was a punishing experience as it is never nice to see your loved figures perish under the might of another so rapidly and pathetically. The game itself though was still a good game and certainly one for the history books of the Aureus. They sure do hate the Tyranids!  The Salamanders tried their best to kick up a Storm but nothing could quell the overwhelming power of the Tyranid invasion force.

To check out Eds Bio Titan progress head on over to his blog by clicking here.

Twas the Night of Festivities

For my brithday this year Ed over at BERSERKBLADE arranged a large scale game of kill team.  It was my Canis Aureus (led by St. Nic pictured below), Tau, Marines, more Marines and some Raging Heroes Imperial Guard vs 1000pts of Eds Tyranids.

It was an amazing game that was touch and go throughout. So much so I thought I would turn it into something silly.

Twas the Night of Festivities

Twas the night of festivities, when the Tyranids came, Attempting to engulf the planet, the hive mind to blame, War between rivals stopped, sudden and quick, The Warlord had come, the mighty St. Nic.

At first the Sisters of Silence made their advance, Spewing forth flamers and rituals to lance, Around the flank came Tau regimented and keen, To spread goodwill, wherever they've been.

From the hills to the right, arose such a clatter, A rhino, some scouts and marines to assist in the matter, Their bolters and plasma, spat forth hellfire, To cleanse the Xenos threat their desire.

Buxom lasses, veterans each one, Emerged from the trenches to join in the fun, Quickly torn apart by hormagaunts aplenty, Their limbs hit the floor ever so gently.

The Sisters held firm under St. Nic's gaze, Their spirits afire, their guns ablaze, Zonethropes advanced to bring mental rupture, While deathspitters hit home, armour they did puncture.

Tau and Marines did clean up the threat, Sisters and vixens were not quite dead yet, Marines unloaded until St. Nic was safe, Out came the final volly, the warlord it strafed.

Down it fell, thrashing with a groan, Victory within their hearts, a change of tone, Aureus, Angels, Agents and Tau, Left with few parting words and a bow,

For that was the day a planet was saved, For peace and goodwill, rivals behaved, Today enjoyment can be found, But tomorrow brings plenty of war abound.

The Final Veterans Night Festivities

This week represented the last of the Veterans Nights at Marquee Models this year.  To celebrate Keith, the shops owner, set up a special Christmas Kill Team event.  The objectives were mince pies, each of which were potential explosives.  The ork carollers were in the middle of the battlefield moving around at random, pulling others into the festive fray.

In both games Adam thrashed us with his forces, while myself and Keith suffered hard losses. My Canis Aureus and his Squats just couldn't claim enough pies. Ed fared well in the first game with his Night Lords though, snatching early pies and surviving a huge Str AP1 explosion early on. It made for an amazing night full of merriment and great gaming.

 

Recon

Below is a brief action scene that was created after my first ever kill team game with my pal Ed a while back. I forgot to upload it back then so here it is now. The sheer amazement of my heavy bolter marine's snap firing, was the only thing that kept me in the game. When he reached the top of the tower he was climbing in the fifth round. He killed the warlord and was taken out. It was quite the display of epic heroism and also another loss for the Aureus.

No pictures here I am afraid but plenty more to come.

Recon

A simple recon mission was all it was supposed to be. Cadus knew what it would take to defeat the advancing forces. Not only were the incoming marines more efficiently trained, but they had a veteran commander. He was certain they would be torn apart within seconds. Cathor was the only other Aureus that had seen combat. Both him and Cadus had seen plenty of conflict in the last decade, but even so it was just the start of a marines long service. He was but a child compared to those heading towards him. Gradually he began to climb the ancient crumbling remains of the old chapel,as his men charged the veterans head on. Within seconds the bolter fire rained down upon them, punching clean through the armour, tearing through flesh and bone. Diving to the ground, Calthor avoided the las cannon blast. Seeing the glint of the snipers armour deep within the ruins, Cadus fired a spat an arc of fire from his heavy bolter. The desperate spray impacted through the dilapidated brickwork and connected with the marines helmet and chest, decorating the wall behind him in a deep Crimson with flecks of bone. The exchange soon fell silent. Cadus heard Calthor's dying curses being yelled to the Wolf Mother. Fuelled by his brothers defeat, Cadus continued to climb, despite the overwhelming weight of his colossal bullet pack and heavy bolter. Clumsily he fired as he ascended. For every floor he reached he fired crazed bolts of fury and prayed to the Mother of all Aureus. Dropping cover the marines advanced towards his location as two of their men hit the ground. On reaching the top Cadus surveyed the area. Now steady and still, he let the Wolf Mother take him. He could hear her whispers, her keenness to see death and destruction. Holding the trigger firm, he tore the unit of marines beneath him apart. Heavy fire came at him from below all sinking deep into his armour and beyond. He felt no pain. As he saw the captain below, Cadus broke cover and hailed down sweet vengeance into the adversary beneath him. Roaring in rage Cadus took two more shots to the torso. Feeling the life slip from him, he knew he had done more than what was expected of him. Detaching his bolter and his ammo pack, he succumbed to his fate. The battle was over but his unit of fresh marines had done well. Feeling the night air rush into his helmet and his hot blood rush out, he toppled from the tower and fell to meet his brothers.

Back to Victory

Over the past few months I have been playing a fair amount of 40k.  I was on a crazy loss streak of 13 games and now I have gradually started pulling a few wins out.  I also took part in two tournaments, but I shall write up about them another time.

Currently I am playing a lot of Kill Team. After playing four games of it I decided I needed to get it.  It is essentially a shorter, sweeter and more cinematic 40k experience.  Don't get me wrong a big game is still good, but why not squeeze in a few smaller games too.  There is always more time for 40k right? 

Now that other things have died down, I finally got around to painting up some scouts I found on ebay too.  I decided to give them a cyberpunk/anime 80s feel. My girlfriend finished four of them for me just in time for a game for my pal Ed's birthday.

Below is a fluff sum up of everything that has happened in the last 17 40k games that I have had.  

Back to Victory

The chapter had started to carve a new legend over the recent months. After having lost their last 13 conflicts , Gunnvor took off on his own. He began by launching small recon missions against the known surrounding forces.

Their first great success was the battle against an unknown space marine chapter. Gunnvor managed to claim victory and locate intel of an incoming tyranid invasion.

In the darkest and most dangerous jungle on the planet they waited. Siegfried was lost to the giant apes and Hauf fell to the hell snakes of Feng. The brothers were not mourned, they were made an example out of. Gunnvor only celebrated success. He managed to leave with a small force of twenty men and he intended to return with at least half.

Finally the night arrived. The tyranids came from the skies, they claimed ground quickly as the marine faction secured the northern sector. Gunnvor's losses were heavy, a unit of scouts was torn apart by a Brood Lord and four of his marines were defeated in the northern sector.  The decoy had worked. He had both sides where he wanted them. From the ruins in the long dead city his heavy weapons team opened fire. Bolter rounds decimated the opposing forces as they converged. Assault marines fell from the sky, as tyranids burst in sickly greens on the torn earth below.

As the Brood Lord advanced, Colite braced his team for the assault. His five men fell to the initial blows. Limbs being torn and acid melting their flesh. They fought until their last breath. Letting out a furious roar, Colite launched forward. The Wolf Mother had blessed him with his fusion of flesh, bone and metal. His arm had ascended into that which was more than human. A claw with the power of the Wolf Mother's jaw. Bringing it down into the monstrosity before him he cited the prayer of their mother. Screeching and thrashing the xenos scum collapsed to the ground. From above he heard the cry of victory from his fellow brothers. The battle was over.

Claiming the rival marines predator and razorback. They voxed in for pickup. Gunnvor knew his efforts would be celebrated and hoped that it would lead to further freedom of him and his pack.