Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Project: Reaver Titan (2)

Part Two: Preparing the base

I chose the Warhammer 40,000 Battlescape to use as a base for the Reaver Titan because I like the crashed/wrecked Rhino. Opening the box I was a little dismayed to see that the tree stumps and broken branches were moulded onto the base although an hour or two with my rotary tool saw the details grinded away. Of course now I have lots of holes that need to be filled in - or which can be used to pin the mighty Reaver's feet to the base for stability. Actually, I'm not sure the base is going to be wide enough so I may need to add more real estate.

It's hard to see (because it's a ruin anyway!) but there are many holes left from grinding the tree details away.


Workbench update

Otherwise I've been tinkering with my Dreadnoughts. I've customised three 'Assault on Black Reach' Dreadnoughts to give a little more detail by adding various bits from the bits box. Two of them even have clipped lengths of sprue to extend their exhaust stacks.

Two others are a kitbash of Ironclad and Venerable components (with a few Forgeworld bits) to make Furioso Dreadnoughts, the last of which is waiting for his legs to arrive from eBay.

(Apologies for the tiny picture)

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Project: Reaver Titan (1)

Part One: Opening the Box

As many of you know I was promised a Reaver Titan for Christmas by my lovely wife Emily (well, we went halves in the cost).

Yesterday it arrived... and only now do I realise how huge this project is going to be!


Unboxing the beast. The package is large, weighty and filled to the brim with bits.


The head is large! When I get a chance I'll place it beside a Rhino.


I suspect this is going to take a long time to finish, but with fingers crossed I'm hoping I can get it done within a month so I can drag it down to the Apocalypse event at Cancon being run by an old friend from back-in-the-day. Crikey.

Monday, November 22, 2010

(40k) Battle of the Four Heads


Friday Night Allied Battle!
Last Friday was another night for Warhammer 40,000 - although this time we had a fourth player, allowing us to play a 'two-headed giant' style game. Matthew, an old friend of mine from my adolescence, made contact via this blog and managed to find a babysitter for the night.

Marc and I formed an Imperial alliance with my Blood Angels and my wannabe Imperial Guard Armoured Company. Matthew and Justin took the other side of the table with Chaos Space Marines and Dark Eldar.

I was a little apprehensive facing the new Dark Eldar codex - but managed to get a very broad idea of their tricks by reading the November White Dwarf battle report and getting a quick summary from Riptide on 40kNation.

After a little socialising and a lot of secret planning we got down to business. Matthew brought the Battle Missions book and we rolled up a Dark Eldar "Feigned Retreat".

Feigned Retreat: The board is divided into thirds with the Dark Eldar forced to deploy bait in the centre zone. Victory Condition: Kill points.


Imperial Deployment: Blood Angels Predator "Archon" and Vindicator "Cauldron" positioned forward with Razorbacks and Imperial Guard Leman Russ' up against the backline.


Chaos Deployment: Justin places a wedge of Predators on a flank supported by some footslogging Chainfist Terminators and a Rhino seeking cover in the background. This warband seems to have raided an Ultramarines motor pool ;P
(The very handy green Deployment Zone marker is from Gale Force Nine, sadly I placed it upside-down so the words are flipped)


Dark Eldar deployment: Raiders lurk behind the woods. In the top left another of Justin's Chaos Rhinos, having been chosen as bait, wisely hides behind an unpainted Bastion supported by another Raider. Yes, the sun was still up when we started.


Dark Eldar Deployment: A clearer photo of the above-mentioned Rhino bait. As you can see there is a potential face-off between the Raider's Dark Lance in the foreground and my Predator Annihilator in the distance.


And we're off! Leman Russ Vanquisher hits and kills the Raider shown in the previous image.


The passengers tumble out of the wreck - that should slow down the Dark Eldar HQ and his friends a little.


Surprise! Meanwhile on the other side of the table my Librarian Furioso lands in his drop pod on-target and immediately behind the wedge of Chaos Predators! Sadly his Blood Lance fails to penetrate their rear armour (I roll two ONE's!!! wth!?) .


But my Predator and Marc's other Vanquisher manage to shake and stir two of the Chaos Predators.


Justin's chainfist Terminators assault the Librarian Furioso. My Dreadnought manages to kill five of the seven Terminators (making up for his bad luck with the Blood Lance) although he loses both arms in the process.


Matthew and I consult a faded printout of the Imperial Guard roster. Tilting the head sideways helps get oxygen to the part of the brain which is used for readin' rules. Sadly I have chosen the wrong angle.


Marc mocks us with his blurry hand technique. I can't recall what we're trying to figure out but it looks important. The sun has set...


Dark Eldar Talos emerges from a Webway portal on the blindside of the Bastion. All armour is instructed to bring it down before it can get its claws into our metal hides!


Chimera transports arrive from reserve and immediately wish they didn't. Perhaps they can linger behind the wood and wait for some Dark Eldar infantry to come closer...?


The tide begins to turn: The armour exchange continues on the left flank; a Chaos Predator loses its weapon but my own Predator is wrecked :(


The tide continues to turn: A second Talos appears from reserve via the Webway portal and they both run at the nearest tank. A grey Raider has snuck up the side of the table while the Razorbacks and Leman Russ' sent shots wild over the top of the seemingly more-immediate Talos threats.


The tide has turned... okay no more talk of tides: Imperial forces pull back to the starting line to try and put some distance between themselves and the Dark Eldar... classic Imperial Guard tactics but not a good sign!


Unpainted Raider unloads its cargo of Dark Eldar Incubi... uh-oh...
Meanwhile Matthew demonstrates the terrible power of his nearest Talos by allowing it to pinch his finger. Or something.


I attempt to show Marc how to move his tanks to avoid a traffic jam while he laments my lack of confidence in his ability to maneuver armour. To be fair I got in the way of his Vanquishers twice - mercifully the error was detected (by Marc) before our Movement phase ended both times.


On the topic of maneuvering armour, we manage to coordinate a defensive line to protect the thinner Chimera transports from the advancing Chaos Predators by hiding them behind my shaken Vindicator.


One of my Razorbacks explodes when attacked by a Talos. As the passengers tumble out they are assaulted by Dark Eldar Wyches, although before they are cut down my HQ Librarian Malpheus kills the Talos with his Force Weapon. This photo shows the aftermath of a crater depicted with green corner markers while the Wyches gleefully cavort away. Cheeky!


Conga Line! Shuffle to the right! The Chimeras continue to seek protection behind my Vindicator while opening a fire lane for the Vanquisher in the table corner.


Dark Eldar Incubi in the centre of this photo have been whittled down by one of my assault squads, who in turn were destroyed.


Dark Eldar Incubi assault the nearby Leman Russ, Immobilising it and (due to the vehicle squadron rules) destroying it! Chaos marines disembark from their Rhino and assault my empty Razorback, destroying its heavy bolter and Immobilising it.


Endgame: Imperials have been pushed right up against the back of the table and have suffered many losses, in part due to my aggressive Blood Angels throwing themselves into the fray. Chaos has lots of shaken, stunned, weapon destroyed and immobilised tokens on them but frustratingly few wrecks.

Dark Eldar / Chaos Space Marines: Eight Kill points (Victory!)
Blood Angels / Imperial Guard: Four Kill points (Defeat)

It was great to have Matthew join us and certainly good to see him again after all these years, although sadly we had too little time to catch up properly. The battle was enjoyable (despite our loss) and I like mixing up the forces by playing allied 1000 point lists as it presents interesting blends of strengths and weaknesses.

In post-match analysis I put too much effort into trying to kill the Chaos Predators and thus neglected the greater threat of rampaging Dark Eldar advancing under the frustratingly inaccurate hail of Imperial Guard fire up the flank. Placing three tanks opposite the Chaos Predators was not required, although they did manage to lock things down over there I suspect the Vindicator probably should have moved Flat Out once it was Shaken to help kill Dark Eldar instead of ping shells off Chaos Marine armour.

I have mixed feelings about the drop-pod Librarian Furioso, perhaps Blood Lance is not required (although Might of Heroes was fantastic!). Broadly I think the Drop Pod Assault requires more drop pods to work. One creates a distraction but three (or more) would be more effective - having walkers dropping into your rear is a threat that cannot be ignored.

Having Matthew there was good to learn a few more of the rules that had slipped past me and I hope Marc and Justin moved further up the learning curve too :)

Friday, November 05, 2010

(40k) Battlezone: Flemington 2 of 2

Flemington Battle 2 of 2
Angels Sanguine vs Chaos Warband
1000 points

And now the promised second half of last Friday night's game...

Taking just enough time to repair their damaged armour the Angels Sanguine push deeper into the battlezone seeking the true threat of Chaos. Approaching the coordinates of Bastion A380 the unmistakable silhouettes of traitorous tanks and walkers come lurching through the mist! At last the elusive Chaos Warband which has been threatening the sector can be cleansed from Flemington.

.........

Player: Troy
Angels Sanguine
Armoured Spearhead
(Blood Angels 1000 points)

Razorback with 5 man Assault Squad (Troops) and Librarian Malpheus (HQ)
Psyker Powers: The Blood Lance, The Sanguine Sword
Power Sword

Razorback with 5 man Assault Squad (Troops) and Sanguinary Priest (Elite)
Power Sword

Razorback with 5 man Assault Squad (Troops) and Sanguinary Priest (Elite)
Meltagun

Whirlwind (Heavy)

Vindicator "Cauldron" (Heavy)

Predator "Archon" (Heavy)
Autocannon, Lascannon sponsons

.........

Player: Justin
Chaos Warband
(Chaos Space Marines 1000 points)

The Scourged Chaos Sorceror (HQ)

The Scourged Chaos Rhino with Havoc Launcher
Chaos Space Marine passengers (Troops)

5x Khorne Bezerkers (Troops)
Plasma Pistols (x2?)

Word Bearers Dreadnought (Elite)
Twin-linked Lascannon, Missile Launcher

Black Legion Dreadnought (Elite)
Twin-linked Lascannon, Missile Launcher

Iron Warriors Predator Annihilator (Heavy)
Havoc Launchers

Black Legion Vindicator with Havoc Launcher (Heavy)

.........

Marc, who is now our neutral extra player, is tasked with setting up terrain. The die is rolled and this time we score the minimum number of terrain pieces; three. With apologies Marc deliberately clusters all three bits to one side of the table to create a wide open field. With so much armour this will be interesting...

We roll the bones and get another Seize the Ground mission (although this time with five objective markers) and another Spearhead deployment (start in opposing table quarters). I don't mind as I enjoy playing with objective counters and starting in table quarters is a nice change from the classic battle-line deployment we are accustomed to. Our five objective counters are placed in a wide circle in the middle of the table.

Justin wins initiative and places his Bezerkers and Sorceror in cover while both Dreadnoughts are up front and center ...and dangerously close to each other. His Predator deploys on the extreme flank (bottom right of image) while his Vindicator covers the Rhino in convoy down the middle (bottom left corner of image).



I deploy my Razorbacks in a forward line with the Vindicator anchoring one flank (opposite Justin's silver Predator). My own Predator is a step back and using a gap in the Razorbacks to keep crosshairs on the enemy Dreadnoughts while the Whirlwind tries to keep out of harm's way as best it can.


Angels Sanguine deployment as seen from the side. Marc took the photos for both our battles and is fascinated by my Vindicator, hence it featuring in the foreground of this picture :)


Justin's Predator (right) uses the red laser to confirm line of sight to my command Razorback. With concentrated fire from the Dreadnoughts and Predator he manages to Immobilise it and destroy the Heavy Bolters on the roof. Meanwhile his Vindicator and Rhino have split up, presumably with tricky Chaos trickery in mind...


My Vindicator (left) moves up to threaten the Chaos Predator while my Razorbacks go Flat Out to grab a few objective counters (I appear to be reaching for both of them at once which seems uncharacteristically ambidextrous). My Predator and my Whirlwind inch up, slightly less enthusiastic than their battle-brothers to be within assault range of the enemy walkers.


Sadly my Whirlwind barrage scatters completely off the Bezerkers :(
Justin breathes a sigh of relief!


Tank Duel: Vindicator and Predator face off on the left flank!


To my delight the Black Legion Dreadnought goes crazy, pivots and fires everything twice at the Word Bearer's Dreadnought immobilising it and destroying a weapon! My nearby Razorback considers its options.


Another Razorback is Immobilised (not sure what we are checking with the red laser level here as the Chaos Vindicator fires a large blast weapon, it does look dramatic though!)


Oh well, time to get out and walk then! Assault Marines disembark with Meltagun warmed up and Sanguinary Priest offering words of encouragement.


My Librarian follows the example above and also disembarks.


Mirror-match: On the right flank my Predator is having a tank duel with the Black Legion Vindicator which, as you can see, ends well for the Angels Sanguine (hopefully not an omen for how my own Vindicator will fare against the Chaos Predator back on the left flank).


Khorne Bezerkers begin their long angry march towards battle.


Back on the left flank and the dice are kind to me; my Vindicator destroys the Chaos Predator. Both armour duels have ended in my favour ~ although it could have ended quite differently!


The Chaos Sorceror lurking in the shadow of Bastion A380 suffers a wound from my distant Librarian's Blood Lance.


The Black Legion Dreadnought goes crazy again but this time charges at the nearby Predator (presumably outraged at the Chaos Vindicator's demise in the previous turn). With two ranged weapons on the walker's configuration I escape with only a few scratches.

((I can't recall why this Dreadnought has a red counter, he must have been shaken in the previous turn...?))


(Bottom left) My immobilised Razorback wounds the Chaos Sorceror who has moved out from the shadows and is now in the center of the field.
(Left) The Black Legion Dreadnought has disengaged from my Predator and prepares to put some shots into a healthy Razorback which is sitting on an objective.
(Top) My Vindicator and Whirlwind inch back as the Khorne Bezerkers surge out of camera-shot behind the Bastion.
(Right) My Meltagun/Priest Assault Squad take a rest behind the Chaos Vindicator wreck, preparing to assault that nearby Rhino if it wanders any closer.


Pop! The Chaos Sorceror suffers a Perils of the Warp result when attempting to invoke a psyker power and loses his last wound.


The immobilised Word Bearers Dreadnought fires it's Missile Launcher at my immobilised Razorback and ignites it!


Chaos Marines disembark from their Rhino and prepare to face down the nearby Meltagun/Priest Assault Squad, but as the clock has already gone half past midnight, we have already played an extra turn and the neighbour's dog is barking at us we decide to call it a night.


Endgame
(Left) An interesting firefight was just about to be resolved between the Assault Marines and Chaos Marines before time was called, as detailed in the previous photo. There's an objective marker in that mess!
(Top Center-Left) Objective held by Librarian's Assault Squad and shielded by a healthy Razorback.
(Top Center-Right) Black Legion Dreadnought contests an objective otherwise held by a fresh unit of Assault Marines while my Predator looks on.
(Right) My Whirlwind and Vindicator inched almost to the edge of the table before they managed to score a direct hit on the Bezerkers, destroying them and thereby denying Justin any possibility of grabbing one of the two objective markers on that side of the table.


Blood Angels: One Objective (Victory)
Chaos Space Marines: Zero Objectives

I found this to be quite an interesting match as, with the exception of Justin's Dreadnoughts, we brought similar armies to the table. On each flank we had a satisfying Vindicator/Predator and Predator/Vindicator duel (which I maintain was resolved only by lucky dice rolls, given that it was a straight-up fight). Strategically I had an upper hand in that I had three scoring units who were all in Razorbacks whilst Justin had two - one of which was in a Rhino and the other on foot. Justin's Dreadnoughts seemed to be inclined to go crazy more often than expected - in one turn they both went off!

If I knew I was only going to play against Justin's Chaos army I wouldn't bother with my Whirlwind and would spend the points buffing other units up, however I announced that I would use the same list against both Marc and Justin and as I was expecting to see Orks in the first match decided the Whirlwind would be required. Otherwise I don't think further tweaking of my Angels Sanguine list is required at the moment.

The Librarian's Blood Lance psyker ability is gold. Being able to open the hatch on his command Razorback to shoot mind bullets with impunity makes it even better. The Vindicator is also very good, particularly as it is Fast due to being a Blood Angels tank - I can see now why they are so popular.

The polite advice I offered Justin when asked was to drop one of the Dreadnoughts in favour of another small scoring unit of Chaos Marines in another Rhino. I know how hard it is to put that second fun unit back on the shelf so I will understand if the extra Dreadnought is still in the list the next time we play!

A great night was had and our rest was well-earned :)