Marshaling your forces

One aspect of 40K that I have never bought into was one list to rule them all. I am not saying that people who build one list for an army are wrong but that is not for me. I think this has to do with the fact that I view 40K as almost a narrative of ongoing battles. What works against one army doesn't work well against another. I have been accused of list tailoring and such but I say those gamers are just hating on me for having so much stuff!

The way I look at it when a Space Marine strike force is sent out it does not just draw the most "well rounded" equipment on average. They bring the whole damn kitchen sink. The commander looks at the intel and sees what he is up against and everyone draws their weapons accordingly. After the battle they are able to refit as necessary.

This is where playing in a campaign is right up my alley. After each battle is sit back and assess what did well and what did poorly. I also look at my next opponent and modify my list accordingly. Playing Orks? You better believe you are going see heavy bolters and flamers. Got some Death Guard marines coming my way? Break out the plasma cannons and plasma guns. Each situation requires different weapons and tactics.

This flexibility also lets you use units you never thought you would use. And units that "experts" say are terrible might surprise you and your opponent and help you pull out the win. This is where it helps to be a collector!

-Rik

Friends, what would we be without them?!

I wanted this to be my first post once I got back from Origins but I had to post up week 2’s results for our Planetary Empires. While I was gone Matt and Bill built another table for the garage, as a surprise! Matt and Bill coordinated the build with my fiancée (in secret). I got home and went into the garage to grab some models to work on; I came face to face with the beauty. I now have 2 4’ x 8’ gaming tables for the garage. It was if Santa had come and dropped off a present!

Immediately I texted Matt and Bill to thank them for building the gaming table for me. With our gaming group of nine it was getting tough to play enough games on Saturday. We had one 4’ x 8’ and one 4’ x 6’ that was on top of a card tables. We tried to play as many games as possible but it was getting tough to get in those 2k point games done in a timely manner. With the new table we can have 3 games going at once!

Matt and Bill did this to thank me for giving them a place to play with great terrain and a great gaming environment. The other guys in the group have donated terrain and models for the gaming room. I felt very lucky to have the friends that I have. Digger, Steve, Mike, Chase, Rik, Kip, Matt and Bill are not only great friends but they’re great guys to play games with. This tight group of friends inspires me to put on a great campaign and take our hobbies to the next level.

On Thursday Matt, Bill and I will stain it to match the other table. We will also paint the table top black and sand it. This topper will be painted for city fight games. I have a ton of terrain to get painted now!

I’m very lucky and blessed!

-Kyle

Week 2 Results of our Planetary Empires

Week Two results:

Mike (Space Wolves) v Digger (Tyranids)

Mission: Annihilation

Deployment: Dawn of War

Winner: Mike 6 Kill Points to Digger’s 5 (Mike captured one of Digger’s territories)

Mike was able to pullout the victory against the dreaded Tyranids. Mike avoided combat most of the game and was able to charge to his advantage. Many Space Wolves lost their lives that day but Mike was able to win.

Matt (Grey Knights) v Steve (Space Wolves)

Mission: Capture and Control

Deployment: Spearhead

Winner: Matt 1 objective to Steve’s 0 (Matt captured one of Steve’s territories)

Matt was able to win the day with his fire power. The Space Wolves fought valiantly but they succumbed to the weight of the Grey Knight’s firepower. Matt contested Steve’s objective and controlled his. This was Steve’s second game of 40k and he came close to winning. I look forward in the coming weeks to see if Steve can secure his first win.

Chase (Red Corsairs) v. Kip (Space Wolves)

Mission: Black Crusade (CSM mission from the Battle Missions book).

Deployment: Pitch battle

Winner: Draw Kip 14 Kill Points to Chase’s 14 Kill Points

This game can be summed up by one word, “CARNAGE”! This was a back and forth affair with both players killing large amount of troops. In this mission any non-vehicle or non-independent can come back in that player’s deployment zone. This was a bloody battle of the highest order. Kip and Chase highly recommend the mission!

Kyle (Night Lords) v Rik (Blood Angels)

Mission: Capture and Control

Deployment: Pitched Battle

Winner: Kyle 1 objectives to Rik’s 0 objectives (Kyle captured one of Rik’s territories)

This game was close and thank god for the gaming ending when it did. For the first half of the game I was able to control the Blood Angels. A well place vindicator shot almost had Rik’s assault squad flee off the table with the first shot of the game. The second half of the game was controlled by Dante and his angels of death. The Blood Angels were downright nasty on the charge with the Sanguinary Priest. Rik was in position to at least contest if not win the game out right but the game ended due to random game length.

Bill (Orks) v. Digger (Tyranids)

Mission: Annihilation

Deployment: Spearhead

Winner: Bill 6 Kill points to Digger’s 3 kill points

This was a rematch of week one and Bill was able to get some revenge. Bill hand the game in hand for the start. With great rolling for his lootas he was able to kill 2 Carnifexs in turn one. The score could have been a lot worse but you have to kill a lot of models to earn a single Kill Point. Bill was unable to capture one of Digger’s territories.

WEEK 3 MATCH UPS:

Kyle (Night Lords) v Kip (Space Wolves)

Chase (Red Corsairs) v Steve (Space Wolves)

Matt (Grey Knights) v Rik(Blood Angels)

Digger (Tyranids) v Matt (Grey Knights)

Mike (Space Wolves) v Bill (Orks) REMATCH

Another week went by with some great games and some very close games as well. I was able to bring my record to 3-0 but I needed the game to end early for me. Now I have the dreaded Space Wolves staring me down!

-Kyle

Objective Marker contest…

Now that we are into week 3 of the Planetary Empire Campaign I have noticed something alarming. The players, myself included lack objective markers. We end up fighting over my gun emplacement and other small terrain pieces. For some reason we think this is acceptable for proper objective markers. To remedy the situation I created an objective marker contest. The players will have 4 weeks to build and paint 5 objective markers. Here are the rules:

1. There must be 5 total

2. They must be fully painted and based

3. There is no size requirement(most seemed to be using the 40mm base)

4. Must be turned in on July 23^rd

5. The Winner will be decides by the gaming group

6. Winner will receive a $33 box of their choice

My goal was to make this fun and encourage players to come up with some elaborate markers. It also helps to have a reward for the hard work as well. In the end all players will have 5 objective markers that are unique to their armies. I will post pics of all the objective markers and the winner as well.

As a side not I will be at Origins in Columbus and will not post anything till next Monday. I will post up week 2 results for the Planetary Empires campaign

-Kyle

The Heroic Action Table creator stops by..

So the Heroic Chart has been been posted for you all to see. I think it is a great addition to any campaign. The tricky thing is figuring out what is heroic and what isn't. That all comes down to interpretation between the two players involved. You don't just give a character something for shits and giggles, it should be heroic! Something like one character passing a number of invulnerables in one turn to hold up a squad. Or a Chaplain led group wiping out three other squads by themselves. Things that normally don't happen or you are like "Wow that is truely amazing", but in a good way.

In the games I have played in my 40K lifetime, I can remember amazing things that have happened. I had a Jump Pack Chaplain (still my favorite model to this day) hold off and kill three Thunderhammer Terminators in three Assaults. In one turn he passed four Invuls to say alive. In another game I had a single Lascannon tactical marine hold off five Sternguard for two full turns. It is stuff like that that should be remembered and considered heroic and the reason I thought about doing this table.

Also I really like the aspect of army leveling or having a reason to play other than winning and losing. We all would like to win everytime we hit the table and the fun sometimes gets lost in it. This allows us something else to play for. It gives you or your play group a history to your army. You can use this kind of thing everytime you play against a friend who also has taken part in it. It gives you stories of lore that you keep that you normally would forget. You can remember past battles and heroic deeds done by characters you have made. That is something I really enjoy.

Hopefully you guys can try it out and enjoy it. Keep track of your heroic deeds and write about them for us all to see. Remember your heroes, for no one else will.

For the Allfather. For Russ. For Fenris.

For more info about Mike head over to: http://myspacewolves.blogspot.com/

- Mike

Heroic action? It had better be!

So when we decided to so this campaign I was all for it. I was also all for keeping it nice and simple. From my time in the hobby and working at GW I have seen far too many campaigns become overly complicated. And almost 100% of the time it has lead to the downfall of the campaign (I am looking at you 40K campaign involving Battle Fleet Gothic). I have found that when running campaigns KISS.....keep it simple stupid.

Needless to say when my buddy Mike brought up his desire to give models a bonus for heroic actions I was a bit reluctant. I was really worried about it affecting how the games are played. Mike and I had multiple discussions and debates on what would work.

My first concern was over the fact of what would be a heroic action. A sergeant with a power fist killing four marines? Not very heroic in my mind. A chaplain ripping apart a squad of Khorn Berzerkers? Now that is heroic! I really like the idea of both combatants agreeing upon what is heroic.

My second concern was over the table being too powerful. You have to be very careful when using abilities from the universal special rules section. A perfect example is that someone wanted one of the abilities to give "relentless" to a squad. My counter point was asking him if he would be ok with A Blood Angel devastator squad in a rhino having relentless. Needless to say his answer was no. So we sat down and continued to bounce ideas back and forth.

My last concern was making unnamed characters or sergeants more powerful than the special characters in the game. I envision the special characters of 40k to be the bravest, best and most bad ass in all the galaxy. And in my opinion having a sergeant keep getting his stats bumped and eventually being able to take on a Captain Sicarius or a Ragnar Blackmane was not the way to go. We brainstormed and decided that you could not stack abilities.

In the end I am very happy with the way that the Heroic Action Table turned out. Mike did a great job and put a lot of hard work into finding a good balance. I think his background of playing lots of RPGs really helped. I am really excited to see how this works out in our games. I hope that some of my Blood Angels are found worthy and can etch their names in the history (our at least our groups history) of 40K.

-Rik

Heroic Action Table

One model per game per side can receive one upgrade from the following chart. The models or model will be agreed upon by the two players. This is to reward a model who held out against all odds while cutting a bloody swath through his enemies or a vehicle that leaves only carnage in his wake. Not every game will produce a model or models to make a HAT roll.

The following chart was a collaboration of the group and spearheaded by Mike. He took all ideas and put them to paper. He also has a blog: http://myspacewolves.blogspot.com/

RULES:

- These special rules cannot be given to a named character.

- Must be agreed upon by the two opponents.

- Player is responsible for remembering bonus and must have it written down.

- Must be rolled following game.

- All rolls are final.

Shooting HAT:

The shooting bonuses are given to a model for outstanding accuracy on the battlefield. Each character may not stack any of the abilities on Chart 1. If you roll the same ability on the Chart 1 that your character already has, re-roll. Once the character has all the abilities from Chart 1 they can choose any ability on Chart 2.

Chart One:

Dice Roll Ability

1 – 2 +1 to BS

3 – 4 +1 to number of shots (ie Assault 2 becomes Assault 3)

5 – 6 One re-rolled miss per game

Chart Two:

Ability

Relentless (Model only)

Tank Hunter (Model only)

Night Visions (Character and Squad

Survival HAT:

Acknowledge by my scars and not my medals. Each character may not stack any of the abilities on Chart 1. If you roll the same ability on the Chart 1 that your character already has, re-roll. Once the character has all the abilities from Chart 1 they can choose any ability on Chart 2.

Chart One:

Dice Roll Ability

1 – 2 +1 to T

3 – 4 +1 to W

5 – 6 One re-rolled armor save per game

Chart Two:

Ability

Feel no Pain (Model only)

Counter Attack (Model only)

Stubborn (Character and Squad)

Close Combat HAT:

Killing on the battlefield brings renown across the stars. Each character may not stack any of the abilities on Chart 1. If you roll the same ability on the Chart 1 that your character already has, re-roll. Once the character has all the abilities from Chart 1 they can choose any ability on Chart 2.

Chart One:

Dice Roll Ability

1 – 2 +1 to WS

3 – 4 +1 to S

5 – 6 +1 to A

Chart Two:

Ability

Furious Charge (Model only)

Preferred Enemy (Model only)

Stubborn (Character and Squad)

Vehicles HAT:

Vehicles are a major part on any army. To show their prowess and renown, they may select any piece of wargear or power of the machine sprit off their list in their codex for no additional cost. No vehicle may have more than three upgrades.

These abilities are not supposed to be game breaking but to add flavor to your games. These are supposed to be fun and that is why we decided to use the Universal Special Rules from the 40k rule book. It is a blast for you and your gaming group to track the deeds of your warriors. This is meant to add another layer to your games and campaigns.

-Kyle

Week 1 Results of our Planetary Empires

All games and match ups went on without a hitch in week one. My game with Matt was delayed to Saturday and we also had a florescent light break over the game table before our game. It seemed the cards were stacked against us but we were able to throw some dice after we cleaned it up. Here are the results after a week filled with blood and mayhem, on the table of course.

Mike (Space Wolves) v Chase (Red Corsairs chaos Space Marines)

Mission: Seize Ground

Deployment: Dawn of War

Winner: Mike 2 objectives to Chase’s 1 objective

Mike was able to hold out against the CSM onslaught. Ragnar Blackmane cut his way through swathes of Chaos Space Marines. Chase had an outflanking Chosen squad that shot 5 meltas at a Dread and left it immobile, no weapons, and rendered it useless. Overall very close game that went back and forth. Mike was unable to capture a tile piece from Chase.

Rik (Blood Angels) v Kip (Space Wolves)

Mission: Annihilation

Deployment: Spear Head

Winner: Draw

Though heavy losses were inflicted on the Blood angels, they were able to fight the Space wolves to a draw. There were a couple of missteps in this game due to Rik’s first time playing Blood angels and Kip’s second game with Space Wolves. This game could have gone either way. I believe Rik and Kip will use this game to help their learning curve with their armies. No rolls were made do to the draw.

Bill (Orks) v. Digger (Tyranids)

Mission: Seize Ground

Deployment: Pitch battle

Winner: Digger (Bill surrendered after 3 turns)

Digger was able to give the Doom of Malanti Eternal Warrior from the 40k special rules. He was able to do this because he had more Command Bunkers than Bill and was able to roll a 4+. These rules can be found in the Planetary Empires rule book. Needless to say the Doom consumed the souls of a lot of Orks and Bill surrender to Digger. Digger was unable to capture a tile from Bill.

Kyle (Night Lords) v Steve (Space Wolves)

Mission: Seize Ground

Deployment: Dawn of War

Winner: Kyle 2 objectives to Steve’s 0 objectives

This game was closer than the final tally would suggest. I’m not one to blame my dice or allow my opponent to blame their dice, but damn! Steve had some of the worst rolling I have ever witnessed in my 20+ years of hobby. The classic line of the night was, “Kyle how many more 1’s am I going roll?” He then proceeds to roll five 1’s in a row. Despite the bad rolling Steve and I both had a one objective going into the bottom have of my turn and I was able to capture one more objective, while I contested Steve’s one objective. Overall it was a tough game for Steve but I expect his Wolves to come back bigger and stronger. Talos was able to put the last 2 wounds on Logan and survive with not even a scratch. I was able to capture one of Steve’s tiles.

Kyle (Night Lords) v. Matt (Grey Knights)

Mission: Surprise Attack (Space Marine mission out of the Battle Mission book)

Deployment: Augmented Seployment, see book.

Winner: Kyle 14 kill points to Matt’s 4 kill points

Matt and I decided to play a Battle Mission for our game. This mission was a more of Annihilation with HQ= 3 Kill Points, Troops/Dedicated Transports = 1 Kill Point, and everything else is worth 2 Kill Points. I was worried at the beginning of the game because I had to spend the top of the turn getting shot at or charged. I was able to weather the storm and come out on top. I was unable to capture one of Matt’s tiles.

WEEK 2 MATCH UPS:

Kyle (Night Lords) v Rik(Blood Angels)

Chase (Red Corsairs) v Kip (Space Wolves)

Matt (Grey Knights) v Steve (Space Wolves)

Digger (Tyranids) v Mike (Space Wolves)

Digger (Tyranids) v Bill (Orks) REMATCH

Overall I think the 1^st week went well. No one had a guy worthy to roll on the Heroic Action Table. Over the next couple of days I will post up the HAT so you guys can use it for your campaigns. I did go 2-0 but the Blood Angels speed has me nervous. As always keep your eyes peeled for updates and happy gaming!

-Kyle

The joys of playing in a campaign with friends....

As you have seen our campaign has begun and the first week was a blast. My Blood Angels took on a mean pack of Space Wolves and fought them to a draw. The lead up to and playing in this campaign has really re-invigorated my hobby. I am going to go over why I am building, painting, playing and having a blast in our campaign.

1. The motivation to start a new army: Those of you who know me or have listened to me on 40K Radio know that I have a retarded amount of models.....especially Space Marines. When we first started to put this campaign together I asked everyone what they were playing. Seeing that nobody was doing Blood Angels I figured it was the perfect time to start my army. Within a week I had my entire 2000 point army built. Now that is motivation.

2. Getting me painting again: I has not really done a whole lot of painting in the last year. A bit of drama at the local shop and other factors had just wiped my painting motivation out. With this campaign I vowed to have my entire army paint. I just finished my first squad roughly a week into the campaign. It feels nice to get back on that horse and start churning out models. I learned some new techniques and so far I am really happy with the way the army is looking.

3. Seeing my friends every week: To me this is what it is all about. We all get together, shoot the crap, have some laughs and play some 40K. I will take this any day over playing in some lame cookie cutter tournament with the local power gamers. Now I am not saying all tournaments are like this but most of the ones around here are. I don't want to put up with a full day of seeing the same lists, 90% of the armies unpainted and dealing with guys that are there to smash face and win prizes. Don't get me wrong when I play I want to win, but not at the cost o having fun. The game I played last week was awesome. We both took turns beating the shit out of each others armies and in the end we fought to a draw. Even though the game was competitive it was very fun and we were having some good laughs. All the way through.

4. Spicing the games up: It can get really boring playing the same old missions all the time. One of the guys in the campaign really wants to incorporate the Battle Missions book into his games. I am really looking forward to playing him so I can have a change if pace from the normal missions. For the next campaign we run I really want to use Planet Strike, Cities of Death, and Battle Missions. I feel that these supplements are often overlooked and add a ton of fun to games.

5. Building towards something: One of the coolest aspects of a campaign I that it is not just a series of one off battles. Each game played impacts your following turns. It eliminates what can become tedious gaming. It is also a risk vs reward system. As the campaign goes on I will be tweaking my army list. The cool part about this is trying out new units......the dangerous part is whether or not the tinkering works. I am looking for a way to use Vanguard Vets into one of my lists. This unit could pay off in a big way or could be terrible and I could lose a battle costing me a tile on the map. The point I'm trying to make is that in the end every single battle counts and that is what makes this so fun to me.
Well there are my big reasons on why this campaign has been great for me. I know many people out there differ from my views and love tournaments. I just wanted to give you a glimpse into how much fun a campaign can be and the good it can do for your hobby.

-Rik

Talos's Claw

During our Planetary Empires campaign I will run my Night Lords army. I was inspired by Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s book Soul Hunter. The book follows the misdeeds of Talos, who is a form apothecary for the Night Lords legion. I fell in love with the fact that the Night Lords are evil; they’re not necessarily Chaos or like their Daemons or Gods. In fact the deplore Abaddon and the Black Legion for the use of possessed marines or for their daemonic possession. Night Lords are evil because that is how they were raised on Nocturne; almost bred into their very DNA.

Here is my 2,000 point list that I will run in the PE Campaign:

HQ:

1x Chaos Lord(Talos) = 90 points

1x Daemon weapon (undivided) = 40 points

1x Melta Bomb = 5 points

135 points

I molded Talos to have the Blood Angel sword which I use as his Daemon weapon. I try to keep my HQ cheap but as effective as possible. On the charge he could have as many as 10 strength 5 attacks or roll a 1 on be worthless that round. He is also equipped with a melta bombs just in case I run into any vehicles or dreadnoughts that try to lock me up in combat.

Elites:

6x Chaos Terminators = 180 points

2x Combi-Melta = 10 points

2x Combi-Plasma = 10 points

1x Reaper Autocannon = 25 points

4x Power fist = 40 points

2x Chain Fist = 30 points

1x Mark of Chaos Glory = 10 points

305 points

6x Chaos Terminators = 180 points

2x Combi-Melta = 10 points

2x Combi-Plasma = 10 points

1x Reaper Autocannon = 25 points

4x Power fist = 40 points

2x Chain Fist = 30 points

1x Mark of Chaos Glory = 10 points

305 points

I take these 2 two terminator squads because they are reasonably cheap and it allows me to bring a lot of fire power to bear when they deep strike in. The icons will allow them to deep strike where I want to ensure the destruction of heavy armor vehicles or heavy troops. Normally I would use Obliterators for a Chaos Space Marine but to fit with the theme and I cannot have daemonic possessed marines in my army.

Troops:

9x Chaos Space Marines = 135 points

1x Aspiring Champion = 15 points

1x Power Weapon = 15 points

1x Melta Bomb = 5 points

1x Melta Gun = 10 points

1x Chaos Icon (Undivided) = 10 points

1x Rhino = 35 points

225 points

10x Chaos Space Marines = 150 points

1x Aspiring Champion = 15 points

1x Power Weapon = 15 points

1x Melta Bomb = 5 points

2x Melta Gun = 20 points

1x Chaos Icon (Undivided) = 10 points

1x Rhino = 35 points

250 points

10x Chaos Space Marines = 150 points

1x Aspiring Champion = 15 points

1x Power Weapon = 15 points

1x Melta Bomb = 5 points

2x Melta Gun = 20 points

1x Chaos Icon (Undivided) = 10 points

1x Rhino = 35 points

250 points

10x Chaos Space Marines = 150 points

1x Aspiring Champion = 15 points

1x Power Weapon = 15 points

1x Melta Bomb = 5 points

2x Melta Gun = 20 points

1x Chaos Icon (Undivided) = 10 points

1x Rhino = 35 points

250 points

I like to take a lot of CSM. I feel they are the second best troop in the game. For fifteen points you get: frg/krak grenades, bolter, bolt pistol, chainsword, and leadership nine. I have found the melta gun is the best for how I play. I’m an ultra-aggressive player and I need the meltas to be able to move and fire. They are balanced between anti-troop and anti-tank. Normally I would have one 15 man daemon unit but once again it does not fit my theme.

Heavy Support:

1x Vindicator = 125 points

1x Daemonic Possession (Machine Sprit) = 15 points

140 points

1x Vindicator = 125 points

1x Daemonic Possession (Machine Sprit) = 15 points

140 points

Army total: 2,000 points

I also employ two vindicators in this army. In an army one is easy to avoid but to can be nasty. These tanks help with a psychological edge over your opponent, especially if they are a marine player. They are concerned with evenly spacing their marines and destroying the vindis. This allows the meat of my army to get close and deploy by 12 marines. By that time it is too late and I’m on top of the enemy.

So here is a little insight to my army and the main list that I will be running for the Planetary Empire campaign. Please feel free to ask questions or leave feedback!

-Kyle

Paint night and its importance

Today I thought I would write about one of my favorite nights of the week, paint night! Now paint night is not the only time I paint during the week, but it is a great opportunity to hang with my gaming group and slap some paint on models. Our paint night usually goes for four to six hours and generally three of my buddies. I will break it down why I find paint night beneficial to you and your club.

1. Feedback: This is a chance to receive good and honest advice. Generally you are all friends but lay down some ground rules and insure that the feedback is positive. I find during this process you will exchange large amounts information from shortcuts to a special mix you may have. This really helps your hobby expand.

2. Development: Slowly the hobby skills of your group or club will increase. Your better painters can help improve all the groups’ skills and overall hobby. This also helps break down the “fear” barrier. The positive painting environment will give the weaker painters the much desired confidence.

3. Consistency: For your group to be successful you must have a set time and set local. If you are trying to establish a hobby habit, you must be consistent. If anything is for sure in this world you will know that the painting club with run on said day and time. For example group meets on Wednesday at 5:30 pm every week.

4. Movies, TV or Music: It is a must to have this playing in the background. This will give you a chance to take a break and focus on something other than models for 10 mins or so. Plus how doesn’t love to hear Predator, Master Commander or another great movie in the background. The movies will set the mood, just be careful who is picking the movies.

5. Fun: For me it is all about painting models and hanging out with my buddies. It is a break from family, man cave, girlfriend/wife or whatever. This is a hard step for most but having a good gaming group will encourage your hobby to new heights.

Try to see if you can organize your own paint night and see what results you get. Pick a night that you could all attend and make sure that it is for fun. If you make painting feel like work, then painting will become work. Remember have fun!

-Kyle