Not Now, I'm Busy

BANSHEES, BESERKERS AND BATTLECANNONS OH MY!

40k Battle Report.

Andy Mac

A peel rang out from the bell tower of the ruined Abbey of village of Feydaal. An eerie ringing it was, as the bell tower, along with its bell and much of the Abbey itself had been blasted from any tangible existence in a war fought eons before. Something unnatural was in the air, and seemed to be permeating from the exposed rubble at the base of what was once the Abbey of The Sisters of Truth. Something that was drawing attention from unnatural corners of the warp. It was these disturbances that led the forward scouting division of the Carthaginian AEF, to be diverted from their forced march to Faydon Prime and investigate the area. Read the rest of this entry →

WARHAMMER?? Isn’t that some kind of cladding tool??

So there I was, about to pen my first battle report as requested by my imposing and glorious new editor (you know who you are). I had downed two flagons of Buggman’s finest and a rather comely wench was on her way to fetch me another. Turning my eyes away from the hind quarters of said bar maid and back to my sheepskin parchment I noticed with growing agitation that it remained unmarked, an ink covered quill resting lazily on the thickly stained oak table next to it.

The arcane invention from the school of alchemy that hung on one of the tavern walls told me that it had been many hours since my endeavours had begun; but there was still something nagging at my mind. How was I to write a battle report depicting the glory and carnage of the Warhammer world without first trying to convey what Warhammer is, what it represents, and what it means to gamers like me. Not a “Warhammer is a table top board game matching armies of models against each other with the winner decided at the fall of a dice” no, that’s not enough. I mean what the Warhammer world, and all its weird and wacky inhabitants (like myself) are all about.

So with a healthy mix of inspiration and ale I set about to define a game that has lorded over a special place in my Emperor loving heart for over ten years.

The first thing that outsiders will notice about a game of Warhammer is the lack of computer or gaming console. We Warhammer nerds enjoy a social stigma of geekiness that out strips all other forms of gaming, and we don’t even need a power outlet. So why, at the expense of losing face in front of potential geek loving females to x-box, Nintendo, and Warcraft loving nerds, do we do it? To answer this there are a few things we need to consider.

The Call to arms.

Firstly there is no switch on and game on in the Warhammer world. Whether you are a 40k or fantasy player a game of Warhammer starts in the store. There is no single purchase like that of a pc or console gamer, who can pick up the latest “Halo” or “Call of Duty”, install and play. The Warhammer player needs far more time and consideration for his next purchase. The player reads, networks (with REAL people) and considers a variety of rules, opinions, and opponents before he makes his purchase. In a sense the game has already begun, and a Warhammer players next crushing victory or embarrassing defeat can rest solely on which unit, hero, monster or war machine he buys next. This is where the thrill begins, being part of a game that doesn’t switch off when the power does, you don’t even have to be at the table with your opponent to be playing it.

‘I know of players who actually spend the majority of their time on this step. Planning armies and buying up model after model never seeming to get anything assembled or painted.’

Next up there is the painstaking process of getting your new purchase ready for battle. Painting and assembling each model in your new collection are an important step before they reach the battlefield. Each player has a different take on this particular part of the process. Some players rate this as the single biggest factor in their becoming a Warhammer player. The detail on the eyes, the pattern of the insignia on a soldiers coat of arms, the chance to make the models in your army truly unique, Models that can leave your friends and enemies awestruck at the minutest detail.

I have one opponent in particular whose Eldar host is a constant source of jealousy every time he brings his latest masterpiece to the field. All the gamers in the room will literal stop what they were doing in order to gawk at sapphire bladed Avatars or the silky smooth finish on a Falcon grav-tank.

For some gamers it is the conversions that take pride of place in their gaming experience. Altering their models to make them truly unique amongst all other armies. No mods, no colour changes in the character builder screen, truly unique models that can only be seen in your collection.

Personally painting and converting are a part of the gamming experience that is not my forte. My conversions consist of whatever parts I have lying around, and I get frustrated after the second colour goes on my new unit of Beastmen Gors. It is a fact that when my motley men (or beasts) at arms make it to the field there is precious little gawking going on. Even so I cannot help but feel a sense of pride at seeing each and every model in my force painted up and looking the part as they prepare to take on the enemy. (More so if I can snicker at the poor paint job, or plain undercoated models of the opposing force.)

 Assembling the me (or beasts, or aliens)

Again we have a part of the gaming process that splits enthusiasts. Whilst some players are more than happy to show up to an opponents house with their entire collection, their army book, and proceed to come up with an on the spot army list (you know the ones) while you twiddle your thumbs and practice rolling sixes.

Personally I find these gamers more than a little infuriating and take a personal pleasure in meting out pain to those who are unprepared. Not because they are any less adept at playing the game once their armies hit the field, but because I fall into another, very different category of gamer. The lead up to a game of Warhmmer or 40k for me is a busy and painstaking affair. I pour over my army list and army book, tinkering and adjusting as I consider just which enemy I am to face.

This process can take hours the night before a game but here I confess that more often it takes several sessions spread out over the week prior to a match. I have been known to unpack my entire collection for a sort of roll call so that I can visually see how the army looks and get an idea for the way it will deploy and fight on the battlefield. While I am airing my gaming laundry I may as well reveal that I have even gone so far as to set up mock armies of my opponents, using cardboard squares to represent units, and go even deeper into how different army configurations and tactics would work against them. (I had a lot of free time in high school.)

All that being said, I have a set army when gaming that I develop very carefully during its formative stage, doing things like naming all the characters and units and making sure things like war gear and vehicle fit outs never change. This gives the army a very realistic element on the table top like the troops have been fighting together through various wars and engagements, and can be particularly engaging when your horde goes up against their long time rivals, and your generals go up against characters that they have met many times in the heat of combat. The trick with this style of army is to make the adjustments with the units you take on the day, rather than starting from scratch to match your opponent. This makes things a little bit harder as you cant just change all of your imperial guard squads to carry las-cannons when going up against a vehicle heavy opponent, and then back to flamers when taking on hordes. But it does make it all the more rewarding when you get the mix just right to pull off a decisive victory.

My Imperial guard army is an armoured division known as the Carthaginian A.E.F (armoured expeditionary force) led by the fearless Colonel Barca. The entire company is transport mounted with plenty of tanks. The Carthaginians are professional line breakers made up of heavy vehicles and their crew. They don’t have any infantry at all (line breaking being a profession with a high casualty rate). Instead the A.E.F are hired by imperial armies who are desperate to break a deadlock. Barca and his forces provide the tanks and skilled crews, and the imperial Governor or General employing their services supplies the, often reluctant, guardsmen to fill the chimeras. Such is the death toll in these suicidal charges that the A.E.F and their leader have earned many nicknames with guardsmen all over the system. Such as “The rolling Coffins” and “Colonel Barking mad”. It’s an unnerving sight for a soldier of the Imperium to line up in parade formation only to watch as Colonel Barca and his A.E.F roll by, filling their battered chimeras with men hand picked by their staff sergeants.

Charge!

Here I think lies the biggest difference in table top gaming and other styles of equally nerdish entertainment, the game itself. Connecting to an online server may launch you into a war torn landscape with your buddies miles (even hundred of miles) away, but it doesn’t mean a knock at the door, answering it to find a best mate with a cold one or two and a few gingerly balanced boxes in hand.

Taking up a seat on the couch to play the Xbox may be comfortable and quick, but it’s just not the same at taking over your garage, blasting your favourite music and actually facing your opponent while you jeer and cackle at his terrible dice rolling. Poking fun as his favourite preciously painted stone trolls are torn apart in a single round of combat by your Minotaurs, and pointing out that that’s exactly what happened the last three times.

There’s a certain event that comes with hosting a game of Warhammer that you just don’t get from calling a mate and saying “get online we’re about to invade a village”. From the initial struggle with boxes and packaging, to deployment, to battle, there is time to really stand around and catch up with friends you may not get to see everyday. The game of warhammer brings people together who have different talents (i.e tactical prowess, or artistic paint work) to lock horns face to face with armies they have poured weeks, months or even years of their lives into getting just right. 

Finally I believe there is the rush that comes only from watching your opponents face, there and in the flesh, as your unit of orc boys destroys his brand new just painted Silver helm heavy cavalry led by prince Tyrion himself in the first turn of the game.  

Andy Mac.

To me, attending Dogcon isn’t a question, it is a given. Even with the huge drop-off of the NSW fantasy tournament scene, I had to go, this being my 6th year running.

So I paid my attendance and submitted my list a few hours before they were due, realising full-well I had very limited 8th edition experience (two games over the course of a year).

My mate and I managed to (more or less) learn 8th edition fantasy over a couple of games a few days before the tournament.

Here’s the list i took:

Lizardmen

Oldblood: Blade of Realities, Charmed Shield, Luck Stone, Potion of Speed, mounted on a Cold One.

Scar Veteran: Burning Blade of Chotec, Ironcurse Icon, Talisman of Luck, Shield, Light Armour, mounted on a Cold One.

Scar Veteran: BSB, Great Weapon, Armour of Destiny.

Skink Priest: Lvl 2, Diadem of Power.

Skink Priest: Lvl 2, Dispel Scroll.

31 Saurus: Full Command, Spears.

20 Skink Cohorts: Musician, Standard.

2 x 10 Skink Cohorts: Musician, Standard.

2 x 10 Skink Skirmishers

2 x 3 Terradons

6 Cold One Knights: Musician, Standard, Huanchis Blessed Totem.

Ancient Stegadon

2 x 1 Salamander Packs

So the list was much like my 7th edition Lizardmen army which had worked really well for me. But whether it would prove worthwhile under 8th edition was yet to be shown.

Game 1: Orcs and Goblins

Dogcon was playing with special scenarios for the first time in a tournament in I dont know how long, but it was an interesting change of pace.

This scenario involved getting your own standards in the enemy deployment zone, whilst stopping them from achieving a similar goal (like backwards capture the flag).

I was up against a fluffy orcs list with a fairly new player, so I was confident.

He (roughly) had an Orc Lord, a lvl 4 and lvl 2 wizard, the Spirit Totem (extra dispel dice), 3 fat units of Orcs, some cavalry, chariots and 3 warmachines, which made a fairly standard orcish army.

I dont particularly remember anything too specific from this game (I was running off two hours sleep), but they had weird deployment rules, which meant that your army was set up in different zones on the role of a dice. This meant his line was split up (very bad for him) so I destroyed the isolated part pretty easily.

His shooting and magic wasn’t particularly effective, whilst my knights and his giant and cavalry danced around, not doing much.

In the centre his BSB’s unit got pulled out of position (don’t remember how) which meant my saurus + characters made of meal of him, but his cavalry eventually got mine after they were softened by his magic. His remaining cavalry got cleaned up by some drop rocks from some well-timed Terradons.

Unfortunately we were both a little slow (combination of both having lots of units and being new to 8th edition) so we only made it to turn 4, but if we had played on I am confident I would have had a Solid Victory.

Now the battlepoint scoring system for dogcon was also weird. The initial breakdown was a 0-15 difference (so this meant any combination of 8-7, 9-6, etc… just depending on how big a points difference there was between you and your opponent). Secondly, there were 5 scenario points up for grabs each game, depending on whether or not you acheived the objective. Thirdly, composition was tied in with battle points, so each game you would take the difference between you and your opponents comp score, halve it and adjust your battle points by that much. However, the overall total for each game would not exceed 20 battle points.

So in this game, my comp was 6, his 7 so i got -0.5 and he received +0.5, thus resulting in a 12.5 to 7.5 win to me.

Game 2: Brettonians

This scenario was capture the objective, with a primary and secondary objective placed along the centre line of the table. The table was also using the Battle for the Pass rules, so deployment was lengthways (we set up our armys on the 4 ft side opposite one another, not the 6 ft side).

His list was a fairly straightforward Brettonian army with 3 fat units of knights, a lvl 4 wizard, two lvl 1s, some mounted characters, Pegasus Knights, some Peasants and two Trebutchets.

Now terrain favoured me a lot, since there was a building right in the middle, just next to the primary objective, followed by a series of hills with which I could deploy my redirectors behind. I was also largely shielded from his shooting. The second objective was also behind the building but none of his army was positioned to claim it. Basically it seemed the advantage pointed was mine from the getgo.

The game itself largely involved both of us just dancing around one another waiting to make a move, but I was at the advantage since I had all my redirecting units set up to make sure he couldn’t charge me without getting charged back. Plus I was sitting on the primary objective.

The rules for the objective also stated that if two units are able to claim the objective, the unit with the most models would win out (this favoured me greatly since his biggest unit was 12 or so whilst mine was 33).

Essentially he never saw combat because I blocked all of his charges, whilst my fast stuff took care of his peasants, Pegasus Knights and warmachines.

I managed to panic off one of his fat units of knights threatening my flank that wasn’t anchored by the building with some Salamander shooting which meant he had no chance of cracking my Saurus unit.

I claimed both objectives and got a good amount of points from the unit that panicked, whilst my opponent got very few points out of me (some Skinks and throw units). So the final washup was a 17.5 – 2.5 win for me.

Game 3: Lizardmen

The scenario for this game was a little complicated and involved ‘breaking’ the opponents army. To break them you had to reduce them down to 2 break points, whereby the game would then end with UNLIMITED GAME TURNS….

Each army had a set amount of break points which is determined by how many banners were in the list. Your general is worth 2 break points and every banner in the army is worth 1 break point. So for example, in my list I have 7 break points whilst my opponent had 6.

This was a really tough matchup for me because he took a Slann (considered to be the strongest Lizardmen option) whilst I had an Oldblood to compete with his power.

His list was essentially 3 big units of Saurus, some Skinks and Terradon units, a Salamander, Chameleon Skinks and two Stegadons, a Slann (taking fire magic) and two Saurus characters on foot. The combination of great leadership, multiple Stegadons, fat units of Saurus and strong magic is really hard to beat.

The fact that the game only ended when one army broke also hurt me because it gave him unlimited turns of magic to blast me with.

He killed off some of my throw units very early, but I stuck in the game and played it shrewdly, because engaging him head on I would have left myself wide open to an attack of 3 Saurus units to my 1.

So I rolled around the flank with my Oldblood in the Cold One Knights, thus forcing him to split his battle line.

He was more or less winning the battle against my throw units with his magic and shooting so I had to engage sooner rather than later.

We both played very conservatively because my Oldblood was a serious threat to his Stegadons. I eventually saw combat with my Knights + Oldblood against one of his Saurus units without  (fortunately) getting magicked to bits.

At the same time i went in with my stegadon and my other mounted character against one of his stegs, hoping to break through and help out in the combat my knights were in

Unfortunately I rolled poorly (it was a ballsy move anyway) and didn’t break though which meant one of his characters and his other Stegadon counter-charged, killing them both and leaving the Stegadon I charged with only a single wound remaining (lame).

Meanwhile, the combat with my knights saw me kill lots of Saurus, but due to steadfast and leadership 9 coldblooded with a re-roll, he was staying put.

In my turn I charged my own Saurus to his exposed Stegadon (the one on full wounds) whilst my knights still continued chopping through Saurus.

By this stage we’d played at least 7 turns and my opponent was painfully slow to boot so we called it after that turn with my knights vs his Saurus holding on Ld 4 (also lame). Funnily enough, neither of us were anywhere near breaking by this stage either, but I was gaining the upper hand by this stage since I had all but broken through his line. Had we kept playing I may have picked up the win (it’s hard to say), but in the end it was a 7.5 – 12.5 loss for me. Not too terrible considering it was a bad matchup and bad scenario.

Game 4: Demons

This round was The Wizards Tower, whereby the objective was a building in the centre of the board. This scenario favoured my opponent a lot because it meant I could not remove him from the building since he could not break (being a demon). So I was pushing it up hill and he had a tough list to boot.

His army consisted of a Great Unclean One, a Tzentch Herald (Lore of Shadow), Slaanesh Herald with Siren Song (nasty and annoying), Khorne Herald with the -2 leadership banner, 29 Blood Letters, 20 Daemonettes, 6 Fiends and a single Fiend, 5 Furies and 6 Flamers. So a super small but very solid army. My Blade of Realities would be effective in this game as it kept his GUO largely at bay.

My plan was to try get the jump on his GUO with my cavalry unit which also had both mounted characters in it. He engaged me with his big unit of fiends against my saurus (a mistake I feel) and his furies against my mage bunker after I failed to kill them with an insane amount of attacks, which resulted in me losing one mage after I made a miscast and lost a wound (I’d miscast about 6 times in my games so far).

He rolled badly with his Fiends and my Saurus chopped him up over a few turns of combat. He drew out my Saurus cavalry with his Sirens Song which meant I was about to get hit hard. So I set up some diverters in an attempt to stop the incoming charges.

His next turn he cleared out one of my redirectors through a failed terror test which meant my knights were about to cop it from his bloodletters (not good….). To be fair I was inevitabley going to cop it anyway. His Daemonettes also moved into the building.

The Bloodletter combat was pretty decisive though and would pretty much decide the game (and I wasn’t looking good with all the hatred and killing blows). He challenged out my Oldblood which resulted in one chopped up champion. However, he somehow fluffed his attacks and out of 12 strength 5 attacks with hatred and killing blow, I only lost 1 knight. My attacks back resulted in my mounted Scar Veteran killing his BSB (awesome sauce) and my regular knights killing a bunch Bloodletters. So this basically changed the whole game around, since I had my Stegadon waiting in the wings for a counter charge.

After the failure of the Bloodletters my opponent did his best to distance himself from the combat and my oldblood with his remaining GUO and Flamers.

Meanwhile my Saurus + BSB were assaulting the building every turn to try and budge the Daemonettes.

I cut my way through the Bloodletters which opened up a charge on his Tzeentch Herald and I positioned all my Skinks to shoot his GUO (I took it down to 2-3 wounds), but I lost the remaining 1 Cold One Knight to shooting, but had both characters intact.

Unfortunately again we ran out of time, and if we had had time to play it out I would’ve gotten the objective (I think he had 4-5 Daemonettes left on it vs my 12-15 Saurus) and may well have finished him off with my remaining shooting.

But in the end it was only an 11.5 – 8.5 win to me (the objective gave him a full 5 battle points which hurts).

So overall a pretty good result against a really tough army.

Game 5: Empire

There were a few Empire armies floating around and I was loathe to play against them. The scenario involved capturing a cart that moved away from you every turn (neither of us got it so we got 2.5 points each). The deployment for this game was also diagonal accross the board (so we deployed in opposing triangles along the board). This favoured him a lot because he could deploy his warmachines very deep, making it tough for me to get them.

His army included an Arch Lector on foot, a lvl 3 Wizard, BSB, mounted Warrior Priest, a Captain on Pegasus, 6 Knights, 50 Halberdiers, 30-odd Swordsmen, 30 Greatswords, some warmachines, Pistoliers and some crossbows and Handgunners.

He had about a million (or so) dispel dice so my magic was pretty much non-existent.

First couple of turns involved me getting his Pistoliers with my Stegadon and some Skinks, and my knights + mounted Scar Veteran getting his Knights, with my Terradons getting in behind his flank (off to a good start).

Then things went down hill… my Stegadon was now exposed to his Cannon (which promptly died), whilst I exposed myself to a charge from his Greatswords and Halberdiers (big mistake; I underestimated his units and wasn’t fully thinking through the random charge length. Serves me right for getting precious little sleep all weekend).

He had more ranks than me so I lost and fled (bummer). I did have both Salamanders floating around his big block units so I could put some hurt on them (I panicked his Arch Lector with Halberdiers but overall rolled poorly for shooting).

I managed to rally my big Saurus + lord but i ended up panicking off the board (kinda random), but things weren’t going that well anyway.

The rest of the game involved me finally killing off his warmachines and dancing around shooting his units to no real effect.

Funny moment of the game; he had two Comets of Casandora in my battle line at the same time (which he also had units perilously close to), but he rolled poorly on the distance so only managed to kill some Skinks.

First and only game I had lost my general, BSB or Saurus (for stupid reasons might I add). But all was not lost since I managed to get some points still and we split the scenario points, so in the end it was a 13.5 – 6.5 loss (not terrible considering I got owned).

Game 6: Warriors of Chaos

Now my good mate (the one i went to Dogcon with) and I were only separated by half a point and we were very keen to play since we knew we could have a lazy old game and go for a beer run, so we organised it with our opponents to swap with eachother so we could play (and they were kind enough to oblige).

His list was pretty magic heavy with a Tzeentch level 4, two lvl 2s, a BSB, a big unit of Tzeentch warriors with ward saves against (basically) everything, some Hounds, Marauders, 4 Tzeentch Ogres, 6 Nurgle Knights with Banner of Rage and two Chariots of Khorne.

So a pretty decent list which can hurt me, but I still had the tools to beat him (which I did in our practice games).

The scenario was very straightforward (pretty much just kill eachother with a slight importance on capturing banners).

I knew his magic is powerful (pretty much just avoid Gateway from his lvl 4 at all costs…) so I deployed in a flank away from him (which was a mistake; I should’ve just gone for it because I have the tools to chew through his bunker and characters with my own).

He killed one of my mages early with his feedback scroll (you let the spell go off but roll a dice for each dice the wizard used, on a 5+ he takes a wound. I rolled 6 dice; do the math). This didn’t bother me too much, but he managed to panic the other off the board along with the unit of 20 Skinks through one spell (so i now had no mages vs his 3).

I did get the Comet of Casandora off right in front of his knights and chariots though which helped.

I charged out with my mounted Scar Veteran with the intention of pinning them in place for when the Comet came down. I also charged my Stegadon into his chariot which would then overrun into his second chariot. However disaster struck; the comet comes down and I only rolled a 4 or a 5 for the distance of the comet which meant my Stegadon, his chariots and my Scar Veteran were hit, but not his knights (about the worse case scenario possible).

It killed the chariots and my character and mauled my Stegadon. My knights were also out of position which allowed his bunker unit to charge me (it had been a long weekend and im STILL getting my head around the whole random charge distance, fml).

My Stegadon was now also open for a charge from his Ogres and Marauder cavalry (I went down easily), with his knights facing off against my Saurus + Oldblood and BSB.

My knights got easily killed by his bunker unit, whilst my throw units ate through his remaining chaff.

My Oldblood also got a charge off on his knight unit (very favourable) whilst my Saurus moved in for the kill on his Ogres and I killed off his remaining Marauder cavalry with Terradon drop rocks.

I won the combat with the knights and broke them (did not catch them though) and his bunker unit was blocked in from one of my Skink units.

Next turn I cleaned up the rest of his chaff (I think he only had 3 Hounds left), chopped up his Ogres with my Saurus and finished off the knights with my Oldblood.

His bunker Warrior unit wasn’t in a position to cast any spells so the game ended there.

So from a horrible start I managed to pull it back a fair bit, and in the end (we split the scenario points because we both had the same number of banners captured) we legitimately got a 10-10 draw (and we didnt even stitch it up haha!).

So the final washup put me on 18/45 which isn’t bad for next to no preparation for the tournament.

Overall I had a good weekend and learnt a lot about 8th edition rules.

Things I liked:

Skirmisher rules are great.

Random magic is interesting and im more in favour of it than against it.

Scenario play was a great change of pace but needs some work (it’s only early days though).

The 1 inch between all units I’m unsure about; to be honest it’s probably more of a bad thing because it places less importance on redirecting units, and more importance on big fat unkillable units (which I really dont like). The rule does make things a lot more straightforward because at times it did get very complicated in 7th Ed.

Things I didn’t like:

There are many many rules changes that take much of the skill out of the game. For example, the Make Way rule means character assassination is very hard to pull off (a tactic of mine in previous editions), the Step Up rule means taking MSU units is pointless since they just die horribly even if they rape face first up, now being able to resolve charges in any order takes all the skill out of positioning your units and charging in the correct order, initiative order for combat takes all importance out of charging and the Steadfast rule generates a negative type of play (just take HUGE units of 50 and never break).

However, the worst thing about 8th edition is the fact that the tournament scene and community has all but died (to put it in perspective, there were 45 players this year, last year there were 150).

The game itself is still playable and not as bad as what people say it is, but the NSW tournament scene has seen a massive dropoff, and in turn it makes tournaments much less inviting. To me, the most important part of going to tournaments was for the large and brimming tournament community, which now is almost non-existent.

Probably my favourite quote from my mate talking about 8th edition would be “I feel like such a noob with my army so spread out”, which definitely holds true. I still enjoy the game, but basically the feeling that I get that 8th edition is now ‘Noobhammer’ and not nearly as good as 7th edition was since so much of the things that required skill to use now are irrelevant.

Look out for my next battle report!

Cheers,

Tabletop Trev.

Massacre at Ash Ridge.

Andy Mac

Battles of Apocalypse are always events in any Warhammer group, but there was something in the lead up to this one that made it truly stand out. For one thing it was the headline game of the “Suds Classic” our groups new annual tournament, but it would also be the first time all of our games group, (including some newbie’s) had been in the one place in years.  Our gaming group had seen many team battles before but this one was going to be big. All told 12,000pts worth of armies set up on the ruined plains of Cathay Secundus, in what was set to be a very bloody encounter.

The two teams that would be forming up this prime time show down would be the Brave fighting men of the Imperium. Dany (the blast master) Mac, Chris Ambros, Karshen Naiker and myself, other half of the Mac brothers. With a space marine squadron (Chris), imperial infantry of battle group Atlas (Dan, and Karshen), and The armoured might of the Carthaginian A.E.F (Myself) we would hope to secure the sector of Ash Ridge in order to buy precious time for the tactical withdrawal of the imperials on Cathay.

Opposing us and looking decidedly eager to get their claws and blades into the soft human upstarts were the invading Xenos forces. Led by the vile Daemon prince Rhys (lemme at that baneblade) Booth. The forces consisted of his Chaos space marines and their misguided allies the Tau (Dean ) and the craftworld Eldar. (Sven  and Steph). Just what these alien and heretic forces were after, or how long they hoped their tenuous allegiances to last was anyone’s guess. What was certain is that these forces had united against the Imperium, and would prove a deadly opponent.

The Table.

The table was set up with five main objectives spread out over the pallid landscape of Ash ridge. The team with the most of these objectives at the end of the game (the game would be a timed game rather than a turn limit meaning that the teams had to have their objectives by the end of the 5 hour game.) would be crowned the victor. The Imperials buying enough time for the forces on Cathay Secundus to make their escape, or the Xeno horde swarming over and consuming the hapless Imperial rearguard before making their way to the unprotected columns retreating towards safety.

Objectives

-       The badly damaged Baneblade “Fury” must be scuttled by the Imperial forces so as not to fall into the hands of the enemy.

-       A downed imperial fighter whose crew need to be rescued before the lines are overrun.

-       The last anti aircraft weapon platform on the line. The imperials need to keep this firing as long as they possibly can before destroying it and joining the withdrawal.

-       The ruins, which afford a commanding position over this sector which the Xeno horde needs to co-ordinate their attack on the fleeing columns.

-       and the crumbled remains of the Imperial Aquilla, pulverised in the last Xeno bombardment. The imperial guard would transport this piece back to the capital before leaving it to the desecration of the heretics.

The board.

After the terrain was set up a scatter dice was rolled to determine where the opposing forces would deploy. Winning the bid to deploy first (In apocalypse games deployment is not determined by a dice off, but teams bid on who can set up their force in the shortest time, with the winner setting up first, and winning the first turn. The downside being that the opponent gets more time to set up and gets a look at how the winner has positioned himself.) The imperials began their frantic 2minute deployment.

Deployment.

The Imperial forces had been lucky in deploying first as their far left flank rested right on the trenches and anti air craft emplacement. This side of the board was left to the infantry division who piled two whole platoons of guardsmen into available cover, while the artillery in the form of a manticore, basilisk and deathstrike missile launcher set up in the imperial centre, behind two leman russ and one of the imposing Baneblades. On the imperial right the Carthaginian Armour formed a column with the other Baneblade at the fore, supported by a leman russ’s either side and a convoy of chimeras behind. Two sentinels made up an advance team looking to draw some fire and hopefully get off a lucky shot at some lightly armoured enemy tanks, while the valkyrie carrying the veterans stalked the skies at the rear of the column. Finally the space marines deployed just behind the Armoured column looking to ward off any infantry units that might stray too close to the imperial machines.

The main problem for the imperials was that the Xeno forces started the game with three of the five objectives in their deployment zone (or near enough to it) so they had to make a move, they could not just sit back and create the usual wall of fire. The plan would be for Dan and Karshen’s infantry force to hole up behind their trenches and soak up the enemy fire whilst holding the objective and the flank from the fast moving Xenos. On the other flank the tank column would smash its way through anything in front of it with salvo after salvo of blast markers clearing a path for the troop laden chimeras and valkyrie to capture the now unguarded objectives. The space marines and terminators would patrol the rear to counter any deep strikers the enemy might throw our way. As long as the imperial right flank kept moving the Xenos and heretics would find it hard to stop all that armour getting behind their lines.

For the Xenos having the advantage of deploying second really gave them the ability to focus on what the imperial plan was and counter. This was no more apparent than when their deployment phase had finished. On the Xenos right opposing the imperial infantry were row upon row of alien troops, jet bikes, and light vehicles replete with weapons able to shower vast amounts of fire over the hapless guardsmen, and all guarded by a wall of gun drones. On the opposite flank was every big, nasty, tank killing model the Xenos had at their disposal. A Daemon prince rubbed shoulders with and Avatar of Khaine. An Eldar war walker stalked the ruins in front of the imperial lines with a Tau command squad in battle suits, and a mighty wraith lord. Xeno grav tanks and heretic transports, including an imposing chaos land raider all lay in wait amongst the ruins for their moment to strike. Despite all of this their was something even more troubling to the imperial commanders on Ash ridge. There weren’t enough enemies on the board. Despite having 6000pts to their army the xeno force looked spread thin across their deployment zone. This could mean only one thing, deep strikers, and plenty of them.

THE GAME.

Apocalypse games are lengthy affairs, and the action is often fought simultaneously across different sectors of the board. Coupled with the fact that many games are timed, rather than turn based things can tend to blur in the maelstrom of battle. So rather than try to give an acute turn by turn account of the battle (which would take up an entire volume) I will attempt to summarise the game into its opening phase (turn one), the struggle (turns two onward) in which I will give the most important and spectacular events, and the end phase (last 2 turns).

Phase one.

Imperium.

Imperials wrestled the initiative and steeling themselves from the images of horror that stalked towards them they looked to their objectives. Movement was minimal as the guardsmen of battle group Atlas on the left flack edged forward to secure their positions in the entrenchments. The Armoured division’s tanks formed up behind their front line, which advance slowly lining up their sights on the armour and daemons ahead of them in the ruins. Lastly the space marine company also moved forward cautiously ready to tackle any of the nightmarish incarnations that survived imperial cannons and secure the objective of the ruins. All was now set for the first round of shooting.

In typical Imperial fashion it all went down hill from there. The guardsmen behind the trench line seemed more interested in finding cover that targeting Xenos and their fire was ineffectual. Basilisk and manticore opened up leaving large craters in the landscape, but little damage to the enemy. The armoured division seemed quite shaken at how close the xenos and their chaos allies had set up in the ruins and were firing from the hip. If only the great showers of dirt and rubble from the ruins and cover surrounding the enemy were enough to kill them. As it was the land raider was stunned, but remained intact. The daemon prince and avatar took a wound each from the hail of fire but when it was all over, they just looked even crankier. (those sentinels look a little close to the action don’t they?) With no combat to resolve, and no significant damage done, the four imperial players gave a noticeable wince as they handed the reins over to the xeno menace.

Xeno/Heretics.

The Xeno turn began with a lot more movement than the Imperium. (No surprises there). The Xeno right flank moved as fast as it could towards the imperial trench line if they could just get over those emplacements and into close combat with the guardsmen they could wreak havoc on the imperials at close quarters. The centre having little opposition in front of it seemed to spread out towards the flanks. The Xenos in the ruins wove their way between the rubble to get a better angle to fire their mysterious weapons. More ominously, having stunned the crew of the land raider its deadly consignment of Khorne berserkers had no choice but to disembark and make their own way across the ruins to the armoured division ahead.

Now the first lesson learnt by the imperial players from this battle happened around about now, and kept happening for most of the game. This lesson was that Baneblade tanks are almost impossible to destroy even in a massive apocalypse game. This however doesn’t stop your enemy from stunning, immobilizing or weapon destroying them as many times as they want. Particularly when baneblades tend to attract the majority of an enemies tank busting firepower. The other lesson was that it turns out if you have daemon princes and avatars in your army, shooting at tanks isn’t your only option. The daemon prince strode defiantly out from the hail of raining dust and debris from the imperial barrage, straight up to the nearest baneblade and ripped the main battle cannon right off, whilst terrifying the poor crew into a momentary group huddle.

The avatar also made short work of the two over eager sentinels before it. Lance and missile fire spilled out of the ruins as Eldar war machines and the Tau command section opened up on the armoured line with mercifully little damage.

On the other side of the battlefield the Tau and Eldar opened fire. The advanced guns of the fire warriors and eldar were devastatingly effective, that is until the imperials took their cover saves. Owing somewhat to their cover and somewhat to the oversized units (imperials can now join their infantry squads, a fact that Dan took full advantage of with two massive units of guardsmen with 50 models apiece, including one unit with a whopping 10 auto cannons.) the guardsmen stood fast under the storm of incoming fire suffering minimal casualties and with their objective secure were ready to return fire next round.

The stuggle.

The imperial guard soldiers of The Atlas battle group levelled their weapons at the on coming horde. With over a hundred individual guardsmen, 10 autocannons, a leman russ punisher, command squads and the support of their artillery in the form of the manticore and basilisk the imperial shooting phases took to their deadly work. Drones, gun ships and Eldar warriors were cut down in the open, long before they could come to grips with their opponent. The objective of the anti aircraft emplacement seemed well and truly secured.

Seemed. The Imperials had not reckoned with the speed of the Xenos and when the murderous guardsmen fire had subsided the trenches were crossed. Eldar jetbikes were the first to hit the imperial lines followed swiftly by the Avatar on the xeno right. Warlocks and a lone striking scorpion also entered the fray with tension beginning to mount amongst the Imperial commanders. The Xenos already had 3 of the 5 objective, if the left flank broke they would secure a 4^th, and victory would be all but out of reach for the Imperium.

As the slaughter carried on in the trenches attentions turned to the striking arm of the imperial forces. The great juggernaught of the Carthaginians had ground to a halt around the ruins on the right. The baneblade super heavy tanks were just taking too much fire, and as a result were unable to return adequate firepower of their own (and often unable to move). The daemon prince and avatar led the charge surrounded by melta bomb and power fist wielding Berserkers and chaos marines. Lacking the infantry support  (the majority of the space marines had fallen back to secure the downed imperial fighter objective from deep strike attack) the imperial tanks began to crumble. The war walker and wraith lord were downed with the concentrated fire of the armoured division, and the deamon prince had taken all but his last wound, but still there seemed to be no stopping the xeno forces on the right. The imperial advance looked dangerously close to becoming a withdrawal just as the combat in the trenches was at its tipping point.

T-minus 5…..4…..3…..2….1. (and not a minute too soon!)

The deathstrike missile soared high over the ridge before its gyroscopic targeting systems sent it hurtling earthward with a shriek towards the ruins on the imperial right. The Explosion was truly apocalyptic. (Dany Mac rolled the highest possible explosion radius after rolling a direct hit.) The berserkers, Daemon prince, Tau command, chaos marines and their transports were consumed in the Emperors holy fire, never to be seen again. Some damage was taken on the already battered baneblade and a leman russ lost its tracks in the explosion but that one shot had singlehandedly annihilated all the xenos holding up the imperial right and reopened the way for the armoured advance. All except for the lone avatar who had finished with the sentinals, and a smouldering leman russ and was merrily tearing open the chimeras in the centre of the convoy and consuming any hapless guardsmen inside, but with the entire armour division free to deal with him, what could possibly stop them securing the ruins and revving their way towards the objective of the wrecked baneblade.

The guardsmen on the imperial left had wrestled their way back from the onslaught of xenos. Despite the killing power of the alien fiends the sheer weight of numbers was enough to drive off wave after wave (Dan and Karshen showing true Imperial contempt for the high casualties of guardsmen). Things were looking up for the imperials. Despite the fact that they still didn’t have enough objectives to secure a win (Still Xeno – 3 Imperials – 2).

Just as the tables seemed ready to turn in the Armoured divisions favour the skies around the ruins crackled with dark energies. Holes were ripped in the fabric of reality and from out these gashes stepped more hideous denizens of the dark powers. These new arrivals wasted no time in taking back the objective lost with the explosion of the deathstrike missile. Terminators and obliterators cut down space marines and guardsmen, already fleeing their burning chimeras, and to make matters worse a greater daemon burst from the flesh of one of the champions. Again the imperial advance was halted in its tracks. With the clock ticking toward the last turns the imperials were still in their original deployment zone, and although the xeno army had been reduced to less than half its original size they still had control over most of the objectives.

End phase.

Something had to be done. The guardsmen had the anti aircraft emplacement and downed imperial fighter secured from attack. The other three objectives were in the grasp of the enemy. The ruins were crawling with an immovable band of heretics. The only chance for the Imperium rested in the two objectives deep inside the enemy deployment zones. The Imperial Aquila and wrecked Baneblade were far from the Imperial lines, but were thinly protected. The scene was set for a last ditch race to take these objectives and save the imperial retreat from collapse.

The guardsmen of battle group Atlas took charge of the Aquila, sending their punisher support tank trundling towards the fire warriors defending it. Despite the fusillade loosed from the tank the fire warriors held their ground. This was not enough. If the imperials could wipe out this unit then the punisher would become the closest unit and take the objective for the Imperium (in apocalypse games vehicles can also secure objectives), but if the fire warriors survived it would spell defeat.

Meanwhile on the opposite flank the valkyrie gunship that had been weaving its way through the devastation around it received new orders and locked on to the wrecked baneblade.  Launching its rocket pods and bolters at the Eldar guardians and rangers that defended it the Valkyrie gave the Xenos everything it had. Again the xenos weathered the storm of fire owing much to the cover surrounding them. The teeth had been well and truly pulled out of the xeno army however, and although they were still sowing death and confusion around the ruins, there was nothing they could do to stop the punisher or valkyrie headed for their objectives. The defenders weapons were not enough to damage either, all they could do was to stick to their cover, and ride out the clock.

The game had minutes left and all focus from the Imperium turned to the objectives they still needed to earn a victory. The punisher and imperials gave another salvo to the fire warriors, but making smart use of the cover they had they managed to hold on. In frustration Dany Mac sent an urgent Comm to his rear lines. The Basilisk and Manticore rained their deadly cargo on the hapless warriors wiping them out completely and for the first time in the game giving the Imperium the advantage. Even so the Emperor’s forces could not rest. The battle in the ruins could easily spill over to the downed imperial fighter, and if the heretics did gain the momentum in the last few minutes the game could still go to the xeno alliance.

To this end the valkyrie spurred its engines on roaring over the destroyed baneblade as the veterans inside parachuted out. Veterans and Valkyrie unloaded everything they had at the eldar defence as the final minutes ticked past. When the dusk settle the eldar lay scattered, either dead, or fleeing for the nearest board edge. The Imperium had done it, with but a few moments left on the clock, and no way of regaining control of the two rear objectives the xeno forces conceded. The treacherous heretic legion disappearing into the same web portals from which they emerged. And the Eldar and Tau evacuated the field returning to the main army some distance behind, giving the Imperials the field and the victory, if victory it could be called. The precious time bought with the lives of the imperial soldiers, crewman and space marines would be used to scuttle the wrecked baneblade, rescue the fighter crew, and imperial Aquila, symbol of hope to the retreating armies behind them, before battle group Atlas and the Carthaginians would join the routing Imperial army and escape Cathay Secundus. Vowing to return and avenge this massacre. 

Final score.

Imperials    4

Xenos           1

Debrief.

Xeno/Heretic.

Next time Gadget! What an arm wrestle of a game. The plan of the Xeno forces was unsurprisingly to get into close combat, and fast. Not only were their troops better at it, but it would limit the firepower the Imperials could hit them with. Even the ordinance weapons would have to be careful firing at enemies so close to friendly units. Aside from all of this the chaos gods demanded a bloodthirsty spectacle.

The strategy was for the Chaos and Xenos in the ruins to rush the Armoured division create a massive whole in the tanks lines and allow the Tau and Eldar to secure the objectives behind. An identical scheme to the one hatched by the Imperial team (no wonder it was such a blood bath). The Imperials were livid as their sweeping advance was halted, unaware that they were actually halting what was to be the Xenos own rampaging attack.

The first thing that really went wrong for the Xenos was the lack of cover, the Imperials won the right to chose deployment zones and there just wasn’t enough cover on the Xeno side to protects them from the Imperial guns.

The next failure, and quite possibly the one that cost them the game was the inability to get their deep strikers on the board. The original plan called for Chaos terminators, oblitorators, greater daemon, swooping hawks and all manner of other nasties to hit the field second turn (the chaos forces guided by the chaos icon to land right in the midst of the imperial right flank) and wreak havoc behind the Imperial lines. But this wasn’t to be and it was turn four before deep strike force arrived to find their advanced units already in tatters. Combined with the fact that the land raider on the far side of the ruins became immobilized and effectively blocked the two rhinos behind it, and the Xeno advance was itself blunted by the Imperials. As was seen in the game this stalemate lasted from the start of the battle to the end, without any real advantage to either side (the imperials never gained control of the ruins at all, and the Xenos never breaking through to the downed imperial fighter).

So what could they have done better. With so many forces in reserve and so desperate a need to get into close combat, the Xeno forces needed the first turn. This would have given them a much needed advantage with so much empty board to cross. The other thing was a real need for even more transports. While there was a total of around 6 transports across the Xeno horde still most of the army was left to slog it out across the open field in full view of the imperial gunners. And maybe next time they will hinge less of their plans on deep strike units.

Imperium.

Well that was a truly outstanding game of Apocalypse. Full of terrifying monsters, stoic defenders and some lucky shots. The main thing for the Imperial team was that although it was a win, it was a game in which almost nothing went to plan. The main exception being the steady guardsmen of Battle group Atlas bravely resisting wave after wave of Xeno attack. Those guys were truly immovable. Other than that however the Imperial team were well and truly at the mercy of the Xeno army. The plan to have the Armoured column, led by the two mighty baneblades bulldoze their way across the entire enemy flank was stopped in its tracks (then had most of them ripped off). The Xenos were able to set up second and bring all their tank busting arsenal to bear on them, and once the tanks began to explode or become immobilized this created one massive traffic jam. The other main drawback was the poor use of the space marine force. It has to be said here that it wasn’t Chris (the Marine captain), but the wider imperial command who were anxious about deep strike attack, and so ordered the space marines to the rear in order to intercept an attack which never came. This left the Armour without their infantry support and fuelled the chaos on the imperial right. When at last the space marines made it to combat most of the armour was in ruins and the chaos forces could take them out piecemeal.

All that said it was precisely the Xeno success against the armour that sobered the imperial team, and refocused them on their mission. They did not need to roll up the Xeno flank, or to avenge the guardsmen being slaughtered around the ruins. They just needed objectives, and there were two for the taking deep in the enemy lines.

The truly outstanding part of the game for Imperials and Xenos alike would have to have been the deathstrike missile launch. That one shot was like a huge eraser scrubbing out a quarter of the models on the table with a single devastating blow. All in all the Xeno commanders were more than a match for the Imperium, who will be approaching future games of apocalypse with a lot more caution as a result.

Dark Eldar

- The Kabal of the Red Death. Part 1.

The dust settled unevenly over the ashen ruins of Pasendora valley. The reports had been sketchy for the imperial guard detachment from Battle group Atlas as they followed the weakening signals of the settlements distress beacon. They knew they were looking for an Outlying commune of mostly monks, and there serfs, with a single Monastery overseen by a small collection of Adeptus Sororitas. What they found was nightmarish and obscene. Desecration not fit for the human eye. After some hours clearing the more disturbing reminders of the attack, the guardsmen prepared themselves for the hunt.

Last instalment I outlined some of the major changes to the Dark Eldar in 40k. Since then I have planned, themed and collected my first 1000 or so points of Dark Eldar goodness. Without the willpower to wait around for models to be painted, or tactics to be refined, I simply had to put these guys to the test against their oldest and most despised rivals, the imperium of man. So how did they fair?

Before we get to that let me first discuss with you how I began this journey from new codex, to the history, character and set up of The Kabal of the Red Death.

As I mentioned previously I take particular delight in the minute details that add real character to a force. Having lacked really in-depth background with my last Dark Eldar force this time around I had to have a truly unique and despicable army of unreasoning mayhem. Perhaps it was coincidence (or just a window into my inner Archon) that I was recently reading over some of my favourite tales of one Edgar Allen Poe. Whilst juggling between the new Codex and these tales, one caught my attention almost immediately, The Masque of the Red Death.

In this tale of woe and decay the land is ravaged by a plague that goes by the name of the Red Death. The entire population lives in fear of this stalking contagion that kills in minutes and horribly distorts the victim. While all this is going on a particularly callous Prince decides that instead of attempting to fight  this disease or to save his people, he will instead lock himself away in his palace, along with 1000 of his favourite friends and light hearted courtesans and leave the rest of the world to rot whilst enjoying parties and banquets and otherwise riding out the plague. Eventually as with all Poe tales the evil-doers get their just desserts when during a masquerade ball, the Red Death enters the palace in disguise and they all become doomed, locked inside with the horrible epidemic.

This was too good! It is well known even from the previous Codex that Dark Eldar have an all consuming dread of Slaanesh, the chaos god they themselves created through their debauchery and excess. This looming fear was quite similar to that of the Red Death. The character of the prince also rang true, a Deeply self-serving Aristocrat that cares nothing for his subjects. So that’s where It all started.

The Kabal of the Red Death is a Kabal by name alone. In reality it is one of the ancient houses of a Dynastic family that has survived the purging of Asdrubal Vect and his new insidious half blood Kabals. When the great Cataclysm came and the Evil one was born into life the Kabal of the Red death found a unique way of escaping destruction. Locking the gateways that pass between realms the Archon Prosidius and his court slunk away into the shadows. Safe behind their Castellated walls and collapsed webways they carry on in they same way they have for centuries. Grand banquets and festivities of debauchment and depravity beyond the comprehension of the upstart Kabals that now infest Commoragh. Masquerades and competitions echo through the halls accompanied by the screams of prisoners kept alive for hundreds of years by the twisted Archons Heamonculi servants.

Only rarely, on the night of the Red Death, when the crescendo of pain invigorates the Kabal to an unrestrainable bloodlust do they venture beyond the walls, into the realm of realspace to inflict their macabre entertainments on the creatures of the 41^st millennium. Tales are told of this mysterious Kabal in whispers in the highest circles of Commoragh. Of a palace where untold cruelty is served as an appetiser, and thousands of the most ancient Dark Eldar rub shoulders in an eternal feast. Most shy away from seeking it out, for once a Dark Eldar enters the Palace of Prosidius, there is no way out, save for the nights of the Red Death. Only the mandrakes know the secret of its location, and for whatever reason they guard it well, almost as closely as they guard the “guests” of the Archon, just in case the walls themselves aren’t enough. In fact the only guests with permission to come and go as they please are the Harlequin troupes. They frequent the Palace of Arhon Prosidius in their hundreds, nowhere can a larger collection of these mysterious Eldar be found, Drawn to the unending revelries of the Palace of the Red Death.  

It is rumoured that Asdrubal Vect himself has put a reward out in secret for the Dark Eldar who can find him the way into the palace, and finally cast his iron dominion over this insolent band of aristocratic despots, and their debased followers.

The Army.

So what does this mean for the Army list?

Firstly the Archon has to have a court. Although I wont be able to afford this straight away this is a must for the overall theme of decadence and aristocracy. It would also have a big unit of Harlequins and plenty of troops and transports. In fact no self respecting Aristocratic house would walk anywhere. Eventually the whole force will be mounted, plenty of Raiders and Venoms. Then fighters and bombers, Scorges and haemunculi, a real spare no expense statement. No wyches, not much room for arenas inside the palace, or jet bike tracks for that matter, so scratch those.

Incubi would feature as an official palace guard. Detached from the Archon himself, sort of keeping an eye on his revellers, making sure no ones has a change of heart about returning to the palace. Mandrakes would also feature, more or less as the UN-official palace guards.

A lot of this stuff would have to wait for now. For the first run of painting and games the army would look something like this.

ARCHON        -w/raider

INCUBI x 5    - same raider as archon

Warriors x10 -w/raider

Warriors x10 -w/raider

Harlequins x10

Ravager                                                                                                           Approx 1000pts

CONVERSIONS.

Well i wouldn’t really call them proper conversion, but considering the theme of the army i raided bits boxes everywhere for unique looking head gear. 

As raids from the warband happen only during the night of the Red Death, many of the warriors (or revellers) would still be donning their masquerade gear. There for i have put deamon prince and bloodletter heads on many of the warriors and sybarites to tie in with this theme. Stay tuned for my Archon of two heads in a later issue. 

So how did the Kabal of the Red Death go on its first venture into realspace for a Millenia?

Fail fail fail!

As much as I would love to expound the minutest details of my own brilliance at this point I am instead faced with a classical case of the downside of fielding heavily themed armies.

Just because they look and sound cool, doesn’t mean they will function in the face of the enemy. Game one my entire army was eradicated without causing a single casualty. What 40k army could possibly withstand a Dark Eldar onslaught without so much as a scratch you ask? Space marines? Chaos Space marines?

No, you read it right the first time, the squishy ranks of the imperial guard. I know I know, my Archon will surely be spending the next hundred years fighting off rivals to his power after that shameful display.  As much as id like to say that after learning their lesson the Dark Eldar picked themselves up and responded with utter carnage in the following games, sadly it was not meant to be. After suffering this initial humiliation in what was a “Slave raid” mission! My Kabal made back some ground winning a “Seize ground” mission, only to go down again in an “Attrition” game hours later. So that’s 2-1 imperials over the Kabal. So what went wrong?

First of all I have to give full credit to a gamer who did his research before the match. Nothing, and I mean Nothing! In the Imperial army was not designed solely for splattering Dark Eldar with holes. All imperial platoons were packed tight into large single squads for protection, and to deny pain tokens. Every heavy weapon was an auto cannon, about seven in total, plenty of shots for taking out raiders. (and that’s exactly what they did, on turn 1 or if I was lucky turn 2) Two Leman Russ’s equipped with large cover save negating nova guns that laid waste to my units running like crazy trying to make combat range.

Fault, if I can shift it to any one problem with the force rested squarely with the Harlequins, and one tiny little oversight on my part. Harlequins don’t have a transport entry in the Dark Eldar codex. Something I only discovered after I had already settled on a large unit of 10 with shadow seer costing me over 200pts. This massive drain on my resources was then seen each and every game jogging leisurely across no mans land being shot to pieces. Never (and I am NOT kidding!) making it to combat or even shuriken pistol range before either being wiped out, or some other faster Dark Eldar unit getting there first.

The points eaten up by this one squad could have given me a whole new transported warrior squad, or a couple of smaller squads to play with. The big fix for the immediate future will be to creation or purchase of Venom transports. This is what the Dark Eldar really needed. More targets for the enemy to worry about, more units getting into their lines and sowing death and confusion.

The real winners in these “practice” games were the Kabalite warriors. These guys hit their targets often and when they earned their pain tokens (and they earned them with most guard squads being at least 25-30 strong!) they became the bane of my opponents life. Hard to kill, impossible to slow  machines of death.

Note to self, more raiders, more warriors, and some Venoms!

Next time…….

Insight into wargear and upgrades (what worked what didn’t)

Paint scheme.

More games.