Sorry, I wanted to post on the Imperial Knights Faction Focus, but I am severely ill. Have been somewhat bedridden with fever, aches and chills, as well as incessant coughing for the past few days. It's been pretty bad.
I'm sure you'll find out more on Warhammer Community, and there are already leaks on the Skorpius Dunerider and Skorpius Disintegrator available online, so you can check those out too. The Skorpius Dunerider costs 73 points total, while the Skorpius Disintegrator with Belleros energy cannon costs about 111 points, and the other version costs 116 points. About the same as an Onager Dunecrawler. Pretty cheap, I guess.
I'm in no condition to write about them or think what I want to get, so I'll be heading to bed and trying to recover as quickly as possible. Also have university stuff to deal with tomorrow...so ciao.
Featuring the Knight Houses of Ryusei and their household militia, the Draconian Defenders, and the Skitarii maniples, Cybernetica Cohorts and Titan Legions of the forge world, Draconis IV.
About My Blog
Ave Omnissiah!
My blog is primarily my own personal fluff in the Warhammer 40,000 universe regarding the Draconis system such as the Knight House Yato in Ryusei, their Household Militia, the Draconian Defenders, and the Forge World of Draconis IV with its Adeptus Mechanicus priesthood, Cybernetica cohorts and Skitarii legions, and the Titan Legion, Legio Draconis, known as the Dark Dragons.
Featured Post
Retrospective: Imperial Knights
Today, we're going to a Retrospective on...Imperial Knights! I mean, this is primarily an Imperial Knight blog, so obviously if I'm ...
Sunday, June 30, 2019
Monday, June 24, 2019
Apocalypse Datasheets now available for download!
Just saw this on the Warhammer 40,000 Facebook page. Apocalypse datasheets are now available for download! WOOHOO!!
You can access the website here. Even better, they have Death Korps of Krieg and Elysian Drop Troops too! Not to mention Renegades and Heretics and Titan Legions! YAY!
By the way, the Skorpius Disintegrator has no transport capacity at all, so it's just a hover tank.
You can access the website here. Even better, they have Death Korps of Krieg and Elysian Drop Troops too! Not to mention Renegades and Heretics and Titan Legions! YAY!
By the way, the Skorpius Disintegrator has no transport capacity at all, so it's just a hover tank.
Adeptus Mechanicus for Apocalypse
Today, Warhammer Community has a Faction Focus on the Adeptus Mechanicus!
That's a lot of models! Wow. Not a big fan of the Electro-Priests, though. But you can imagine Skitarii marching alongside Knights, robots and Titans (my Secutarii are going to come in useful here!). I'll probably keep my Adeptus Mechanicus contingent small and focus on Knights and Imperial Guard tanks.
We have an army-wide rule that allows us to re-roll saving throws of 1. Not sure how useful that is when we have to roll D12s for large blast markers, but I guess I'll take that.
Kastelan Robots have pretty cool battle protocols.
Yup, pretty sweet.
They really are pushing this guy, aren't they? We have...barrage weapons.
Looks cool, I guess.
Our Canticles have turned into Command Assets, and they look really, really awesome.
Yeah, rolling D12s for a BS 3+ means your chances of hitting just went up from 67% to 84%, and WS 4+ probably means 50% to 75%, so it's really good!
Oh, and we'll be getting a Crusade Case XL, which will be extremely useful for my Knights. Yay.
Friday, June 21, 2019
Stats for Skorpius stuff!
Sorry for being late, but I just saw this. As usual, head over to Warhammer Community and check out their latest news and information.
First, we have the Skorpius Dunerider, which is a Dedicated Transport. I think. 12" movement, pretty standard for Transports.
And it also has 4 cognis heavy stubbers, so that's 12 Strength 4 AP 0 shots and it doesn't suffer penalty for firing heavy weapons after moving. Not to mention it can carry up to 10 infantry models. So an entire squad of Skitarii, or Secutarii. Nice.
Looking good, eh? Well...I dunno. The stats seem good to me, the only problem is the price. Let's hope it's not too expensive.
I'm more interested in the Skorpius Disintegrator, but it seems like it doesn't have any transport capability, so that kind of sucks. I was hoping for a Razorback type where it can transport 5 models or something, but it is what it is. Well, the weapons look cool at least.
Oh, nice. Don't forget this is in addition to three cognis heavy stubbers, so you have 9 Strength 4 AP 0 shots in addition to D6 Strength 7 missiles.
First option for its primary weapon is the ferrumite cannon, which is essentially an anti-tank weapon.
Of course the Onager Dunecrawler's neutron laser will be better, but keep in mind this is a standard 3 shots, so it's a lot more consistent. Less Strength and AP, though, so let's hope it's cheaper. It does have a lot more dakka. I think.
The second option for the primary weapon is a belleros energy cannon, which allows you to shoot at units who aren't visible. Great for ITC missions. Yay.
The Skorpius Disintegrator is Toughness 7 (so same as the Onager Dunecrawler). But it shares Heavy Support slots with your Onager Dunecrawlers and Kastelan Robots, which are already the best Adeptus Mechanicus units in the game. Makes it kind of sad since we have a very crowded Heavy Support menu. Oh, well. Was hoping for it to be Fast Attack, but...as I said, it is what it is.
Doesn't seem to have any transport capability, though. Would be awesome if it did, and I get bring my 5-men Skitarii Rangers with arc rifles into objectives for a really thematic mobile Skitarii force, but I'll take what I can. On the other hand, the US$75 price tag means I am not going to get too many of them, simply because I can't afford to. Maybe 2 at most, and a single Dunerider...eventually. It also depends, and I'm still hoping it has a small transport capacity, so I'm praying to the Omnissiah for that. But if it doesn't, then...never mind. Oh, and the points too. I mean, I'll get just one because I love the model, but if the rules don't fit my playstyle, then I'll just stick to one instead of having more. Again, we'll see.
Anyway, we'll find out!
First, we have the Skorpius Dunerider, which is a Dedicated Transport. I think. 12" movement, pretty standard for Transports.
And it also has 4 cognis heavy stubbers, so that's 12 Strength 4 AP 0 shots and it doesn't suffer penalty for firing heavy weapons after moving. Not to mention it can carry up to 10 infantry models. So an entire squad of Skitarii, or Secutarii. Nice.
Looking good, eh? Well...I dunno. The stats seem good to me, the only problem is the price. Let's hope it's not too expensive.
I'm more interested in the Skorpius Disintegrator, but it seems like it doesn't have any transport capability, so that kind of sucks. I was hoping for a Razorback type where it can transport 5 models or something, but it is what it is. Well, the weapons look cool at least.
Oh, nice. Don't forget this is in addition to three cognis heavy stubbers, so you have 9 Strength 4 AP 0 shots in addition to D6 Strength 7 missiles.
First option for its primary weapon is the ferrumite cannon, which is essentially an anti-tank weapon.
Of course the Onager Dunecrawler's neutron laser will be better, but keep in mind this is a standard 3 shots, so it's a lot more consistent. Less Strength and AP, though, so let's hope it's cheaper. It does have a lot more dakka. I think.
The second option for the primary weapon is a belleros energy cannon, which allows you to shoot at units who aren't visible. Great for ITC missions. Yay.
The Skorpius Disintegrator is Toughness 7 (so same as the Onager Dunecrawler). But it shares Heavy Support slots with your Onager Dunecrawlers and Kastelan Robots, which are already the best Adeptus Mechanicus units in the game. Makes it kind of sad since we have a very crowded Heavy Support menu. Oh, well. Was hoping for it to be Fast Attack, but...as I said, it is what it is.
Doesn't seem to have any transport capability, though. Would be awesome if it did, and I get bring my 5-men Skitarii Rangers with arc rifles into objectives for a really thematic mobile Skitarii force, but I'll take what I can. On the other hand, the US$75 price tag means I am not going to get too many of them, simply because I can't afford to. Maybe 2 at most, and a single Dunerider...eventually. It also depends, and I'm still hoping it has a small transport capacity, so I'm praying to the Omnissiah for that. But if it doesn't, then...never mind. Oh, and the points too. I mean, I'll get just one because I love the model, but if the rules don't fit my playstyle, then I'll just stick to one instead of having more. Again, we'll see.
Anyway, we'll find out!
Thursday, June 20, 2019
How to play Apocalypse
Warhammer 40,000 website has a page dedicated to Apocalypse, and a video explaining the rules! Check it out!
Rules seem pretty simple. Basically, you group your units into detachments, and it seems there's no longer any HQ requirement for most of them, though if you do include them they become commanders or warlords that help you draw more Command Assets. But you can otherwise build a flexible list, like 6 infantry squads in a Battalion, 3 Leman Russ tanks in a Spearhead, the same old Supreme Command Detachment with 3 HQs and a Lord of War, or the Super-heavy Detachment!
Once you've done organizing your dudes into detachments, you calculate their power. They use power, so that's what you add up to see if you have roughly the same power as your opponent.
Each turn is divided into 4 phases. Initiative, Command, Action and Damage Phase.
Initiative Phase
Not much to say here. Roll a D12, the one with a higher roll gets to go first. You alternate between phases, by the way, so if you roll a 7 to your opponent's 6, then you go Command phase, your opponent does his Command phase, you do your Action phase, your opponent does his Action phase, then you do your Damage phase before your opponent does his.
Command Phase
Each player will have a deck of 30 Command Assets, so you draw 1 card from it, plus 1 for each Warlord in your army (and if you have Astra Miltiarum Detachments with officers, they allow you to draw an extra 1). You are allowed to generate a maximum of 10 Command Assets, depending on how many Warlords you have and their abilities. Then you issue orders to each of your detachments, while making sure they're within command range (12" of each other). This is important, for if they are more than 12" away from their commander, they risk being routed/destroyed in the Damage phase. This is Out of Command. You also do your Deep Strike in the Command Phase (like my Kamikaze Troopers/pseudo Kasrkins). There are 3 orders you can issue, and each detachment gets only one order. After both players secretly decide their orders, they flip their order markers to reveal what each detachment was ordered to do.
Action Phase
Wait, you cry. What are these orders? Well, you carry out these orders in the Action phase, so that's why I moved to it immediately. There are three types of orders.
Advance Order - they move, and then they either shoot or fight in melee if they are in base contact with the enemy. Super-heavy units like Knights and Titans can both shoot and fight in the same turn, but they are special exceptions. Yay.
Aimed Fire Order - Your detachment can't move, but gets bonus to their shooting. Can fight, but will suffer a penalty to their hit rolls for melee (only affects your WS). So be careful - if you lose the initiative, your opponent might charge their dudes up to be in base contact with your guys and force you to fight. Advance is more flexible in that your guys can pull back and shoot, since there is no 8th edition Fall Back or whatever penalties. So no tarpits and all that.
Assault Order - Double movement, and then fight. Yay? No need to elaborate, right?
After rolling to hit for your shooting/fighting, roll to wound and depending on the weapon and the target (infantry or tanks), you roll a D12 and see if you succeed. 7+ to wound personnel and 9+ to wound tanks for most weapons. For every successful wound, place a small blast marker. Then swap out every 2 small blast markers for a single large blast marker. So if you have like 3 small blast markers on a wounded unit, turn it into a single large blast marker and a small blast marker.
Damage Phase
Now this is where you make the saves. If your guy has a large blast marker on him, roll a D6 and pray that his 6+ armor save saves him. If it's a small large blast marker, then roll a D12 and you'll have 7/12 chance of passing his save. Hmm. Units that lose half their wounds are critically wounded, and you need to roll for morale. Like in 8th edition, you roll a D6, and then add it to the number of blast markers he had on him (or wounds). If it's more than the unit's leadership, then he takes another damage. Ouch.
For those units that are more than 12" away from their commander, they...die. No, seriously. They just die for some reason. Don't ask me why or how. Maybe the Warp snatches them away. Makes me wonder what happens if the Commander dies - does the whole Detachment automatically perish because you have no Commander to stay 12" within of?
Then you see if any victory conditions have been achieved. If not...go for another turn!
...simple, right? No? Oh well...anyway, I'm going to try it out...and soon.
And whoever filmed poor Becca...dude, don't do that stupid side view where it looks like she's staring off at...something. I know she's looking into the front camera, but it's...just weird. It feels more natural when she's looking straight at us (or at least gives the impression that she does), and when the damned camera angle suddenly shifts to the side where she seems to be staring at...the side, it becomes annoying. Maybe I'm just being too fussy, but that was just bad filming, dude. Focus the camera from the front. Please.
Rules seem pretty simple. Basically, you group your units into detachments, and it seems there's no longer any HQ requirement for most of them, though if you do include them they become commanders or warlords that help you draw more Command Assets. But you can otherwise build a flexible list, like 6 infantry squads in a Battalion, 3 Leman Russ tanks in a Spearhead, the same old Supreme Command Detachment with 3 HQs and a Lord of War, or the Super-heavy Detachment!
Once you've done organizing your dudes into detachments, you calculate their power. They use power, so that's what you add up to see if you have roughly the same power as your opponent.
Each turn is divided into 4 phases. Initiative, Command, Action and Damage Phase.
Initiative Phase
Not much to say here. Roll a D12, the one with a higher roll gets to go first. You alternate between phases, by the way, so if you roll a 7 to your opponent's 6, then you go Command phase, your opponent does his Command phase, you do your Action phase, your opponent does his Action phase, then you do your Damage phase before your opponent does his.
Command Phase
Each player will have a deck of 30 Command Assets, so you draw 1 card from it, plus 1 for each Warlord in your army (and if you have Astra Miltiarum Detachments with officers, they allow you to draw an extra 1). You are allowed to generate a maximum of 10 Command Assets, depending on how many Warlords you have and their abilities. Then you issue orders to each of your detachments, while making sure they're within command range (12" of each other). This is important, for if they are more than 12" away from their commander, they risk being routed/destroyed in the Damage phase. This is Out of Command. You also do your Deep Strike in the Command Phase (like my Kamikaze Troopers/pseudo Kasrkins). There are 3 orders you can issue, and each detachment gets only one order. After both players secretly decide their orders, they flip their order markers to reveal what each detachment was ordered to do.
Action Phase
Wait, you cry. What are these orders? Well, you carry out these orders in the Action phase, so that's why I moved to it immediately. There are three types of orders.
Advance Order - they move, and then they either shoot or fight in melee if they are in base contact with the enemy. Super-heavy units like Knights and Titans can both shoot and fight in the same turn, but they are special exceptions. Yay.
Aimed Fire Order - Your detachment can't move, but gets bonus to their shooting. Can fight, but will suffer a penalty to their hit rolls for melee (only affects your WS). So be careful - if you lose the initiative, your opponent might charge their dudes up to be in base contact with your guys and force you to fight. Advance is more flexible in that your guys can pull back and shoot, since there is no 8th edition Fall Back or whatever penalties. So no tarpits and all that.
Assault Order - Double movement, and then fight. Yay? No need to elaborate, right?
After rolling to hit for your shooting/fighting, roll to wound and depending on the weapon and the target (infantry or tanks), you roll a D12 and see if you succeed. 7+ to wound personnel and 9+ to wound tanks for most weapons. For every successful wound, place a small blast marker. Then swap out every 2 small blast markers for a single large blast marker. So if you have like 3 small blast markers on a wounded unit, turn it into a single large blast marker and a small blast marker.
Damage Phase
Now this is where you make the saves. If your guy has a large blast marker on him, roll a D6 and pray that his 6+ armor save saves him. If it's a small large blast marker, then roll a D12 and you'll have 7/12 chance of passing his save. Hmm. Units that lose half their wounds are critically wounded, and you need to roll for morale. Like in 8th edition, you roll a D6, and then add it to the number of blast markers he had on him (or wounds). If it's more than the unit's leadership, then he takes another damage. Ouch.
For those units that are more than 12" away from their commander, they...die. No, seriously. They just die for some reason. Don't ask me why or how. Maybe the Warp snatches them away. Makes me wonder what happens if the Commander dies - does the whole Detachment automatically perish because you have no Commander to stay 12" within of?
Then you see if any victory conditions have been achieved. If not...go for another turn!
...simple, right? No? Oh well...anyway, I'm going to try it out...and soon.
And whoever filmed poor Becca...dude, don't do that stupid side view where it looks like she's staring off at...something. I know she's looking into the front camera, but it's...just weird. It feels more natural when she's looking straight at us (or at least gives the impression that she does), and when the damned camera angle suddenly shifts to the side where she seems to be staring at...the side, it becomes annoying. Maybe I'm just being too fussy, but that was just bad filming, dude. Focus the camera from the front. Please.
The Astra Militarum in Apocalypse
So we have a Faction Focus for Astra Militarum in Apocaylpse! Yay!
I won't say much, so just head over to Warhammer Community to check it out.
Just a few things to take note. Officer Warlords generate extra Command Assets, so yay.
Leman Russ tanks still have Grinding Advance and fire twice if they move less than half their move distance. Take note this is for Codex Leman Russ tanks, though, so I have no idea if Leman Russ Annihilator tanks still get to fire their twin lascannons twice. They had better.
I love my tanks, so I'll be fielding them. Heh!
Baneblades will be awesome, and we have 8 variants! I'm tempted to buy 2 more Baneblades to get a Super-heavy Detachment, but I have no money. So...we'll see. Maybe next time, in the far future.
Deathstrikes might still be a joke, but they're really powerful. I just dunno if they still have that stupid rule where you have to roll every time you want to fire it. Ugh.
Got a few Command Assets, though Psychic Barrier has been turned into a Command Asset (there is no Pyschic phase in Apocalypse). Cool...? I have no idea what this means for Thousand Sons...
Anyway, my own army is getting ready for Apocalypse, and I'm using Combined Arms so it's tanks and Knights! And Skitarii!
Monday, June 17, 2019
More Apocalypse stuff
Warhammer Community has more Apocalypse stuff. Won't talk too much here, and sum it up, as usual.
1. You still build your armies using Detachments. Will be a bit different, but essentially allows you to specialize - for example, Imperial Guard and Spearhead Detachment of Leman Russ tanks (obviously this one is for me). I don't think we're getting Command Points and Command Benefits.
2. Activation is done by Detachments, so count each Detachment as a single unit for the purpose of moving, shooting and fighting. Each Detachment is led by a Commander. If a Character (like Tank Commander), it becomes a Warlord and grants you Command Assets.
3. Phases
'nuff said. Basically you switch between phase, so even if your units get shot, you only resolve damage after you move, shoot and fight back. So yay for my Leman Russ tanks and Shadowsword!
4. Different Datasheets. No Strength or Toughness profile. Not sure if 5 Intercessors have 2 wounds, or 2x5. And they may seem to have a terrible armor save but POSSIBLY saves are now made on a D12.
5. Weapons. Instead of relying on Strength, they now have two profiles - Strength against Personnel and Strength against Tanks. Roll a D12 and hope you get it. If you wound (for example a 5+ against infantry), stick a small blast marker on them.
The Space Marine focus is already up (of course). Not gonna bother covering that, I'm only interested in Imperial Guard, Adeptus Mechanicus, Imperial Knights and Titans (not that I have one, but...). Oh, given how Space Marines have a Thunderhawk, so we'll be getting rules for Forge World units as well.
Sunday, June 16, 2019
APOCALYPSE Release!! AND SKITARII SKORPIUS DUNERIDER!
Warhammer Community has announced the release of Apocalypse!
I'm not going to say too much. There's a lot to read, so just click on the link to read the details. The video works now and you can listen to Robin Cruddace and friends talk about designing the game. Everything will get to do something before it dies as damage is resolved at the end of both players' turn so no need to worry about your Knights or Titans dying before they do anything! Anyway, to sum things up, this is what we're getting for Apocalypse:
1. Command Asset Cards, 300 to build a deck, plus an extra 100 that you can buy separately.
2. Blast markers to represent statuses, and orders for each DETACHMENT. Oh, the game is played in terms of detachments rather than units/squads.
3. Movement trays for 25mm, 32mm and 40mm.
4. Free Apocalypse datasheets for each faction available for download at launcn.
5. Apocalypse Battalions for sale - basically Start Collecting for Apocalypse-sized armies. There are 10 different ones, for Orks, Imperial Knights, Imperial Guard, T'au, Adeptus Mechanicus, Chaos Space Marines, Space Marines, Tyanids, Necrons and Craftworld.
6. Old Baneblade kit is back in new packaging.
7. Space Marines' Primaris Repulsor Executioner will be released alongside Apocalypse.
8. Adeptus Mechanicus's Skorpius Disintegrator/Dunerider also released alongside Apocalypse.
9. All Apocalypse stuff and the Skorpius Dunerider/Disintegrator (I'm assuming) will be up for preoders on June 29th.
10. More previews of Apocalypse on Warhammer Community in the coming weeks.
I'll let you guys know when there's more information, but for now mark June 29th on your calendar! The Apocalypse is coming!
I'm not going to say too much. There's a lot to read, so just click on the link to read the details. The video works now and you can listen to Robin Cruddace and friends talk about designing the game. Everything will get to do something before it dies as damage is resolved at the end of both players' turn so no need to worry about your Knights or Titans dying before they do anything! Anyway, to sum things up, this is what we're getting for Apocalypse:
1. Command Asset Cards, 300 to build a deck, plus an extra 100 that you can buy separately.
2. Blast markers to represent statuses, and orders for each DETACHMENT. Oh, the game is played in terms of detachments rather than units/squads.
3. Movement trays for 25mm, 32mm and 40mm.
4. Free Apocalypse datasheets for each faction available for download at launcn.
5. Apocalypse Battalions for sale - basically Start Collecting for Apocalypse-sized armies. There are 10 different ones, for Orks, Imperial Knights, Imperial Guard, T'au, Adeptus Mechanicus, Chaos Space Marines, Space Marines, Tyanids, Necrons and Craftworld.
6. Old Baneblade kit is back in new packaging.
7. Space Marines' Primaris Repulsor Executioner will be released alongside Apocalypse.
8. Adeptus Mechanicus's Skorpius Disintegrator/Dunerider also released alongside Apocalypse.
9. All Apocalypse stuff and the Skorpius Dunerider/Disintegrator (I'm assuming) will be up for preoders on June 29th.
10. More previews of Apocalypse on Warhammer Community in the coming weeks.
I'll let you guys know when there's more information, but for now mark June 29th on your calendar! The Apocalypse is coming!
Friday, June 14, 2019
Battletech
Just a little quick question here. Would anyone object if I add Battletech stuff to this blog?
I mean, my Draconis Coalition with its Knight World of Draconis III and forge world Draconis IV is obviously inspired by the Draconis Combine from Battletech. And...mechs. Imperial Knights and Battlemechs. Plus...yeah, you already saw my Japanese-inspired Knight Houses of Draconis III, and how that's pretty similar to the Japan-inspired Draconis Combine ruled by House Kurita.
On the other hand, I understand if you guys don't want me to, and prefer if I keep this purely as a Warhammer 40,000 blog. Then again, I rarely have anyone visiting this blog so I'll be pleasantly surprised if even one person replies or comments on this.
So far I've built a lance, and gosh, I hate gluing pewter or metal miniatures. I'm so glad Warhammer 40,000 stuff are mostly plastic. Metal is so hard to glue together. And the Kasrkins and whatever few metal models I have are pretty easy to glue, with so little components. But we'll see.
Well, if there's anyone reading this blog, let me know if expanding to Battletech is a good idea. Thanks.
I mean, my Draconis Coalition with its Knight World of Draconis III and forge world Draconis IV is obviously inspired by the Draconis Combine from Battletech. And...mechs. Imperial Knights and Battlemechs. Plus...yeah, you already saw my Japanese-inspired Knight Houses of Draconis III, and how that's pretty similar to the Japan-inspired Draconis Combine ruled by House Kurita.
On the other hand, I understand if you guys don't want me to, and prefer if I keep this purely as a Warhammer 40,000 blog. Then again, I rarely have anyone visiting this blog so I'll be pleasantly surprised if even one person replies or comments on this.
So far I've built a lance, and gosh, I hate gluing pewter or metal miniatures. I'm so glad Warhammer 40,000 stuff are mostly plastic. Metal is so hard to glue together. And the Kasrkins and whatever few metal models I have are pretty easy to glue, with so little components. But we'll see.
Well, if there's anyone reading this blog, let me know if expanding to Battletech is a good idea. Thanks.
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Imperial Knights versus Grey Knights
Okay, this was a pretty weird day today. For some reason I started out playing against a Tyranid swarm, but my opponent quit the game halfway in order to play Wrath and Glory with another group. Oh well...that kind of sucks, but whatever. I was losing anyway, having failed to kill any of his Carnifexes except one, and my Guardsmen just died in droves, leaving just my tanks and Knights. Oh well.
In the end, I played with another friend, who brought Grey Knights and Imperial Guard. He had a scary list, with a Guard Battalion of Creed, a Company Commander and three infantry squads, a Spearhead detachment of a Tank Commander with Hammer of Sunderance (after spending a point to make it the Emperor's Fist Armored Company), a Leman Russ main battle tank, a Leman Russ Executioner tank and 3 squads of 3 mortars each. They were backed up by a Grey Knights Vanguard detachment comprising of a Grand Master in Dreadnknight, Castellan Crowe, 2 Strike squads, 2 Purifier squads, a Venerable Dreadnought and a Stormraven.
Facing against that was my Imperial Knights and Imperial Guard. As usual I had my Knight Lancer with Landstrider and...damn it, I had Helm of the Nameless Warrior and I completely forgot about the +1 to WS the entire game...never mind. A Knight Gallant with Knight Seneshal and Paragon Gauntlet and my Knight Crusader. This time I brought an Armiger Helverin along with the 3 Titanic Knights, and my Imperial Guard Battalion consisted of only a single Tank Commander in a Leman Russ Executioner tank, a Company Commander with plasma pistol, and 3 infantry squads with a plasma gun each. Could be worse, but I like my plasma Draconian Guard. Rounding that off was a Culexus Assassin from Operative Requisition Sanctioned.
We rolled and got the Four Pillars. I got to deploy first, my opponent failed to seize the Initiative and the game was a go!
Turn 1
My opponent spend 2 Command Points on Prepared Positions to give all his guys cover, and it made a lot of difference, especially for the tanks. Tank Commander put 6 wounds on the enemy Leman Russ Executioner tank, while his lascannon struck the opposing Tank Commander...only for him to roll his cover save. My Knight Lancer basically fluffed his arc lance shots, whoops, while my Knight Gallant advanced, so couldn't shoot. The Knight Crusader did most of the work, killing an entire infantry squad with the Avenger Gatling cannon and heavy stubbers, killed a single mortar team (the rest made their cover saves), and his rapid-fire battle cannon did 4 wounds to the Tank Commander. The Armiger Helverin did absolutely nothing, failing to wound any of the Leman Russ tanks. First Strike to me, and I managed to get 4 objectives by moving my infantry squads forward to capture, while my Knight Lancer stepped on one. Then my Knight Gallant used Full Tilt to charge into the infantry squad, as did my Knight Lancer, and just one of them was enough to wipe them out, and they both consolidated into the Leman Russ Executioner tank. Well, that works too.
My opponent had his tank fall back, his last infantry squad moved up to secure the objective from my Knight as troops, and his three mortars wiped out both my infantry squads on the objectives, and between them and the heavy bolters, they left 2 men in each of the 2 infantry squads. The 3rd infantry squad was in cover and I think I lost about 3 of them. I'll take that. The tanks fired upon my Knights, as did the Stormraven, and I think the poor Knight Lancer was left with about 14 wounds left while the Knight Gallant had...I believe 20 or so wounds, because I used Rotate Ion Shields for him. I can't remember. The Stormraven ate a mortal wound from overheating its plasma cannon. But my 2 infantry squads with 2 men each, as expected, failed morale and ran away. Ouch. So we were even on objectives, and neither of us got a point for the Four Pillars. My opponent did get First Strike as well, so we were even on victory points. Yay? Oh...unfortunately, my opponent charged my Knight Lancer and Gallant with the infantry squad, and they failed to wound either, and ended up getting stomped to oblivion. But he managed to contest the objective with his Leman Russ tanks, so I think that's why I didn't get it. Don't forget, Leman Russ tanks in a Spearhead Detachment have Objective Secured!
Turn 2
After losing my infantry squads on both objectives, I had my Armiger move to one, while my Culexus Assassin Deep Struck on another of the objective. The Knights moved up closer to the Leman Russ tanks. I can't remember what happened after that, but I think I spent a Command Point on Skyreaper Protocols and did about 3 or so damage, so it only took 4. Ugh! My Armiger Helverin was really...pretty bad for this game. On the other hand, my Tank Commander shot the wounded Leman Russ Executioner, and it was his turn to eat a mortal wound from supercharged plasma. Meanwhile my Knight Crusader killed the wounded mortar squad, finished off the Leman Russ Executioner (who had about 2 wounds left) with his Avenger Gatling cannon and injured the Tank Commander with the rapid-fire battle cannon, leaving him with 6 wounds, leaving just 2 heavy weapons squads. The Knight Lancer failed to do anything with his arc lance, but he charged the Tank Commander and killed him, but took 3 damage from overwatch to bring him down to 11 wounds. The Knight Gallant also charged the Company Commander and last Leman Russ tank, and splitting the attacks - 5 to the Leman Russ tank and 2 to the Company Commander, he killed both of them, but failed to throw the tank with his Paragon Gauntlet. Still a pretty good round of shooting and combat, I would say. Now I had all 4 Objectives, but obviously it remained to be seen if I could hold onto all of them until the end of the battle round. Oh, the tank commander exploded and dealt a mortal wound to my Knight Lancer (who now had 10 wounds left), Knight Gallant and one of the mortar squads.
My opponent disembarked his Purifer squads and Venerable Dreadnought and Castellan Crowe from the Stormraven before it felt away to tackle my Knight Crusader, having dropped to hover mode. A single Strike squad deep struck 9" away from my Culexus Assassin (the fools!), while the Grand Master in Dreadknight appeared 9" away from my Knight Crusader and Tank Commander. Psychic phase was devastating as Purifers did D6 mortal wounds with their Smite, and the Knight Gallant was brought down to 16 or so wounds, I think. Or more. The shooting was less effective and he survived. The mortar squads opened fire and wiped out my final infantry squad. Ouch. Then the second Purifier squad did about 4 wounds to my Armiger Helverin, and Crowe also did another 5 wounds, bringing him down to 3 wounds eventually (either that or he did 4 mortal wounds and I failed a save or two from the shooting). Then they charged into him, but didn't actually hurt him. I can't remember but the Grandmaster in Dreadknight and Stormraven fired on both my Tank Commander and Knight Crusader, and after was all said and done (he failed Vortex of Doom but managed to get Sanctuary off), the Tank Commander had only 3 wounds left and I think the Knight Crusader had 14. Ouch. The Dreadknight Grand Master failed his charge and ate 2 damage from my Knight Crusader's overwatch with the Avenger Gatling cannon, as did the Strike squad who charged at my Culexus Assassin after dealing only 1 wound to him from their shooting, and one guy died from overwatch. The Purifer squads were not as unlucky, and both they and the Venerable Dreadnought piled in and smashed my Knight Gallant - the Venerable Dreadnought dealing 9 damage, bringing my Knight Gallant down to 7 wounds. I paid 2 Command Points for Counteroffensive and obliterated the Venerable Dreadnought in return, but once again failed to throw him with the Paragon Gauntlet. The Purifer Squad didn't do any damage to him, though, surprisingly enough, so...whoops?
At this point both my opponent and I controlled a single Objective each with the Purifier squads contesting and claiming the objective from my Armiger and the Objective from my Knight Gallant while my Culexus Assassin and Tank Commander and Company Commander sat on two objectives. Neither of us got any Victory Points this turn.
Turn 3
With the scary Dreadknight right in front of my tank and Knight Crusader, I moved the Knight up while leaving the Tank Commander stationary and the Armiger locked in combat with the Purifiers. The Knight Gallant retreated, and then the Knight Lancer moved around to stare at the remaining mortar squads. His shooting, as usual, was pretty bad and I think I only killed one or two squads, leaving just one mortar team in one squad, while the Knight Crusader and Knight Gallant's Ironstorm missile pods merely took out one team in the other squad (the Knight Gallant was hitting on 4+ now or something). The Tank Commander fired and managed to score quite a few hits on the hovering Stormraven, bringing the gunship down to just 4 wounds. I think. Maybe less, because I also fired upon it with my Knight Crusader's rapid-fire battle cannon, but I must have completely fluffed his shots and did absolutely no damage to it, or the total damage between the two did 6 wounds. Which was bad. The Avenger Gatling cannon and heavy flamer did about 4 or so damage? I can't remember. He had taken 6 or so wounds by now. I then charged him and the Stormraven, but failed to kill the Stormraven, leaving it with just one wound despite House Griffith's Titanic Feet. On the other hand, I managed to stomp the poor Dreadknight down to 4 wounds, dealing about 8 in total (so perhaps 2 or so from Titanic Feet). His 3++ invulnerable save was incredible. The Dreadknight struck back but failed to wound for some reason. On the other side of the table, the Knight Lancer charged and killed one mortar squad and Creed, earning me Slay the Warlord. Then he consolidated into the last mortar squad. The Knight Gallant, despite having only 7 wounds, managed to wipe out the Purifer Squad that had smite him. The Culexus Assassin killed another one or two Strike squad dudes with his animus something...but I wanted the objective, so I had him stay where he was. The Armiger and Strike squad continued to hit each other, but neither of them did anything.
My opponent left the Dreadknight locked in combat, and he...failed Sanctuary this time. I think he used Vortex of Doom...and failed as well. I can't remember. Or he did only 1 mortal wound and my Knight Crusader only had 13 wounds left? Yeah, that sounds about right. The Purifers killed the Armiger with Smite, and settled upon the Objective. The second Strike squad Deep Struck near my Knight Gallant, and a combination of shooting from them and the Purifiers, who used Psybolt ammunition, brought the Knight Gallant down to just one wound. He was almost dead. Ouch. Then the Stormraven moved next to my Tank Commander and Company Commander, but with 1 wound left, was hitting on 5+s, so he did absolutely nothing to my Tank Commander, but he did 3 wounds with his hurricane bolters on my Company Commander, who barely survived. Ouch. The Strike squad then charged my Knight Gallant...and failed. Meanwhile the 2 members charged my Culexus Assassin, and I failed to kill any this turn. They failed to hit him, and I failed to kill them because he only has 4 attacks and wounds on a 4+, so...not that good. They had Objective Secured, so they secured that objective, and the Purifier got their objective, while my Knight Gallant and Tank Commander and Company Commander secured me 2 objectives, so it was once again a draw. No victory points for either of us. Oh, before I get ahead of myself...after the Strike squad charged my Culexus Assassin and attacked him, I spent another 2 Command Points (probably the last 2) for my Knight Crusader to stomp on the Dreadknight with his Titanic Feet, and I finally killed him, dealing exactly the 4 wounds I needed to take those last wounds off him. Phew! The mortar squad did absolutely nothing to the titanic Knight Lancer, who proceeded to stomp all of them to death with his Titanic Feet, killing all the mortar squads. Yes!
Turn 4
It was now turn 4 and neither of us were high on victory points, surprisingly enough. I still had First Strike and Slay the Warlord, and my opponent had First Strike, so it was 2-1, and a very even game in terms of Objectives and Victory Points. With the Dreadknight dead, my Knight Crusader moved upward to contest the objective with the Purifiers and Castellan Crowe. My Knight Lancer moved away from the dead mortar squads and Creed's corpse toward the final Strike squad, while my Culexus Assassin stayed where he was. The Tank Commander finally succeeded in killing the Stormraven with his plasma and stuff...only for my opponent to roll a 6, and then the Stormraven crashed and burned, dealing exactly 3 mortal wounds to my Tank Commander and killing him, as well as the Company Commander who was sitting on the same objective as him. OUCH! Sweet revenge for my friend! I joked that after the Stormraven got shot down, the pilot decided to crash his Stormraven into the tank for revenge, and that was probably what happened! On the other hand, my Knight Crusader killed the Purifer squads with his Avenger Gatling cannon and rapid-fire battle cannon while his Ironstorm missiles killed 1 Strike squad dude. The Knight Gallant was hitting on 5+s, so he didn't hit or kill anything with his Ironstorm missiles, but surprisingly enough my Knight Lancer killed one dude with his shock blast. The Knight Crusader then charged Castellan Crowe and stomped him to death with his Titanic Feet despite the latter's 4++ invulnerable save. The Knight Lancer also killed the 3 surviving Strike squad dudes with Titanic Feet, and the 2 Strike squad guys on the other side of the table failed to hit the Culexus Assassin. This time, he actually wounded them both, and they both died. Whoops!
...yeah, and my opponent was tabled. He literally had no more models left on the table. I had killed every single one of them. Meanwhile I only had 4 models left on the table myself, a single Knight Gallant with 1 wound left, a Knight Lancer with 10 wounds left, and a Knight Crusader with 13 wounds left. Oh, and the Culexus Assassin with 4 wounds left. I controlled 3 out of 4 objectives, which would get me one point, probably get Linebreaker thanks to my Knight Lancer and Knight Gallant...and my opponent had no more units, so the game ended there and then. Even with Acceptable Casualties, he would be behind on points without any way of scoring them, so the game had to end there. The Imperial Knights won - just barely!
After that, we discussed how his Grey Knights could have done better. He should have taken Paladins instead of Purifiers, especially since their Nemesis Daemon Hammers hit like a freight truck, being Strength 8 and wounding on 4+ (3+ with Hammerhand), and at AP -3 I would be struggling to make my armor saves for my Knights in close combat (except the Lancer, but...yeah). We're going to try again on Saturday and see if his new list of 3 squads of 3 Paladins would work better against my Knights!
In the end, I played with another friend, who brought Grey Knights and Imperial Guard. He had a scary list, with a Guard Battalion of Creed, a Company Commander and three infantry squads, a Spearhead detachment of a Tank Commander with Hammer of Sunderance (after spending a point to make it the Emperor's Fist Armored Company), a Leman Russ main battle tank, a Leman Russ Executioner tank and 3 squads of 3 mortars each. They were backed up by a Grey Knights Vanguard detachment comprising of a Grand Master in Dreadnknight, Castellan Crowe, 2 Strike squads, 2 Purifier squads, a Venerable Dreadnought and a Stormraven.
Facing against that was my Imperial Knights and Imperial Guard. As usual I had my Knight Lancer with Landstrider and...damn it, I had Helm of the Nameless Warrior and I completely forgot about the +1 to WS the entire game...never mind. A Knight Gallant with Knight Seneshal and Paragon Gauntlet and my Knight Crusader. This time I brought an Armiger Helverin along with the 3 Titanic Knights, and my Imperial Guard Battalion consisted of only a single Tank Commander in a Leman Russ Executioner tank, a Company Commander with plasma pistol, and 3 infantry squads with a plasma gun each. Could be worse, but I like my plasma Draconian Guard. Rounding that off was a Culexus Assassin from Operative Requisition Sanctioned.
We rolled and got the Four Pillars. I got to deploy first, my opponent failed to seize the Initiative and the game was a go!
Turn 1
My opponent spend 2 Command Points on Prepared Positions to give all his guys cover, and it made a lot of difference, especially for the tanks. Tank Commander put 6 wounds on the enemy Leman Russ Executioner tank, while his lascannon struck the opposing Tank Commander...only for him to roll his cover save. My Knight Lancer basically fluffed his arc lance shots, whoops, while my Knight Gallant advanced, so couldn't shoot. The Knight Crusader did most of the work, killing an entire infantry squad with the Avenger Gatling cannon and heavy stubbers, killed a single mortar team (the rest made their cover saves), and his rapid-fire battle cannon did 4 wounds to the Tank Commander. The Armiger Helverin did absolutely nothing, failing to wound any of the Leman Russ tanks. First Strike to me, and I managed to get 4 objectives by moving my infantry squads forward to capture, while my Knight Lancer stepped on one. Then my Knight Gallant used Full Tilt to charge into the infantry squad, as did my Knight Lancer, and just one of them was enough to wipe them out, and they both consolidated into the Leman Russ Executioner tank. Well, that works too.
My opponent had his tank fall back, his last infantry squad moved up to secure the objective from my Knight as troops, and his three mortars wiped out both my infantry squads on the objectives, and between them and the heavy bolters, they left 2 men in each of the 2 infantry squads. The 3rd infantry squad was in cover and I think I lost about 3 of them. I'll take that. The tanks fired upon my Knights, as did the Stormraven, and I think the poor Knight Lancer was left with about 14 wounds left while the Knight Gallant had...I believe 20 or so wounds, because I used Rotate Ion Shields for him. I can't remember. The Stormraven ate a mortal wound from overheating its plasma cannon. But my 2 infantry squads with 2 men each, as expected, failed morale and ran away. Ouch. So we were even on objectives, and neither of us got a point for the Four Pillars. My opponent did get First Strike as well, so we were even on victory points. Yay? Oh...unfortunately, my opponent charged my Knight Lancer and Gallant with the infantry squad, and they failed to wound either, and ended up getting stomped to oblivion. But he managed to contest the objective with his Leman Russ tanks, so I think that's why I didn't get it. Don't forget, Leman Russ tanks in a Spearhead Detachment have Objective Secured!
Turn 2
After losing my infantry squads on both objectives, I had my Armiger move to one, while my Culexus Assassin Deep Struck on another of the objective. The Knights moved up closer to the Leman Russ tanks. I can't remember what happened after that, but I think I spent a Command Point on Skyreaper Protocols and did about 3 or so damage, so it only took 4. Ugh! My Armiger Helverin was really...pretty bad for this game. On the other hand, my Tank Commander shot the wounded Leman Russ Executioner, and it was his turn to eat a mortal wound from supercharged plasma. Meanwhile my Knight Crusader killed the wounded mortar squad, finished off the Leman Russ Executioner (who had about 2 wounds left) with his Avenger Gatling cannon and injured the Tank Commander with the rapid-fire battle cannon, leaving him with 6 wounds, leaving just 2 heavy weapons squads. The Knight Lancer failed to do anything with his arc lance, but he charged the Tank Commander and killed him, but took 3 damage from overwatch to bring him down to 11 wounds. The Knight Gallant also charged the Company Commander and last Leman Russ tank, and splitting the attacks - 5 to the Leman Russ tank and 2 to the Company Commander, he killed both of them, but failed to throw the tank with his Paragon Gauntlet. Still a pretty good round of shooting and combat, I would say. Now I had all 4 Objectives, but obviously it remained to be seen if I could hold onto all of them until the end of the battle round. Oh, the tank commander exploded and dealt a mortal wound to my Knight Lancer (who now had 10 wounds left), Knight Gallant and one of the mortar squads.
My opponent disembarked his Purifer squads and Venerable Dreadnought and Castellan Crowe from the Stormraven before it felt away to tackle my Knight Crusader, having dropped to hover mode. A single Strike squad deep struck 9" away from my Culexus Assassin (the fools!), while the Grand Master in Dreadknight appeared 9" away from my Knight Crusader and Tank Commander. Psychic phase was devastating as Purifers did D6 mortal wounds with their Smite, and the Knight Gallant was brought down to 16 or so wounds, I think. Or more. The shooting was less effective and he survived. The mortar squads opened fire and wiped out my final infantry squad. Ouch. Then the second Purifier squad did about 4 wounds to my Armiger Helverin, and Crowe also did another 5 wounds, bringing him down to 3 wounds eventually (either that or he did 4 mortal wounds and I failed a save or two from the shooting). Then they charged into him, but didn't actually hurt him. I can't remember but the Grandmaster in Dreadknight and Stormraven fired on both my Tank Commander and Knight Crusader, and after was all said and done (he failed Vortex of Doom but managed to get Sanctuary off), the Tank Commander had only 3 wounds left and I think the Knight Crusader had 14. Ouch. The Dreadknight Grand Master failed his charge and ate 2 damage from my Knight Crusader's overwatch with the Avenger Gatling cannon, as did the Strike squad who charged at my Culexus Assassin after dealing only 1 wound to him from their shooting, and one guy died from overwatch. The Purifer squads were not as unlucky, and both they and the Venerable Dreadnought piled in and smashed my Knight Gallant - the Venerable Dreadnought dealing 9 damage, bringing my Knight Gallant down to 7 wounds. I paid 2 Command Points for Counteroffensive and obliterated the Venerable Dreadnought in return, but once again failed to throw him with the Paragon Gauntlet. The Purifer Squad didn't do any damage to him, though, surprisingly enough, so...whoops?
At this point both my opponent and I controlled a single Objective each with the Purifier squads contesting and claiming the objective from my Armiger and the Objective from my Knight Gallant while my Culexus Assassin and Tank Commander and Company Commander sat on two objectives. Neither of us got any Victory Points this turn.
Turn 3
With the scary Dreadknight right in front of my tank and Knight Crusader, I moved the Knight up while leaving the Tank Commander stationary and the Armiger locked in combat with the Purifiers. The Knight Gallant retreated, and then the Knight Lancer moved around to stare at the remaining mortar squads. His shooting, as usual, was pretty bad and I think I only killed one or two squads, leaving just one mortar team in one squad, while the Knight Crusader and Knight Gallant's Ironstorm missile pods merely took out one team in the other squad (the Knight Gallant was hitting on 4+ now or something). The Tank Commander fired and managed to score quite a few hits on the hovering Stormraven, bringing the gunship down to just 4 wounds. I think. Maybe less, because I also fired upon it with my Knight Crusader's rapid-fire battle cannon, but I must have completely fluffed his shots and did absolutely no damage to it, or the total damage between the two did 6 wounds. Which was bad. The Avenger Gatling cannon and heavy flamer did about 4 or so damage? I can't remember. He had taken 6 or so wounds by now. I then charged him and the Stormraven, but failed to kill the Stormraven, leaving it with just one wound despite House Griffith's Titanic Feet. On the other hand, I managed to stomp the poor Dreadknight down to 4 wounds, dealing about 8 in total (so perhaps 2 or so from Titanic Feet). His 3++ invulnerable save was incredible. The Dreadknight struck back but failed to wound for some reason. On the other side of the table, the Knight Lancer charged and killed one mortar squad and Creed, earning me Slay the Warlord. Then he consolidated into the last mortar squad. The Knight Gallant, despite having only 7 wounds, managed to wipe out the Purifer Squad that had smite him. The Culexus Assassin killed another one or two Strike squad dudes with his animus something...but I wanted the objective, so I had him stay where he was. The Armiger and Strike squad continued to hit each other, but neither of them did anything.
My opponent left the Dreadknight locked in combat, and he...failed Sanctuary this time. I think he used Vortex of Doom...and failed as well. I can't remember. Or he did only 1 mortal wound and my Knight Crusader only had 13 wounds left? Yeah, that sounds about right. The Purifers killed the Armiger with Smite, and settled upon the Objective. The second Strike squad Deep Struck near my Knight Gallant, and a combination of shooting from them and the Purifiers, who used Psybolt ammunition, brought the Knight Gallant down to just one wound. He was almost dead. Ouch. Then the Stormraven moved next to my Tank Commander and Company Commander, but with 1 wound left, was hitting on 5+s, so he did absolutely nothing to my Tank Commander, but he did 3 wounds with his hurricane bolters on my Company Commander, who barely survived. Ouch. The Strike squad then charged my Knight Gallant...and failed. Meanwhile the 2 members charged my Culexus Assassin, and I failed to kill any this turn. They failed to hit him, and I failed to kill them because he only has 4 attacks and wounds on a 4+, so...not that good. They had Objective Secured, so they secured that objective, and the Purifier got their objective, while my Knight Gallant and Tank Commander and Company Commander secured me 2 objectives, so it was once again a draw. No victory points for either of us. Oh, before I get ahead of myself...after the Strike squad charged my Culexus Assassin and attacked him, I spent another 2 Command Points (probably the last 2) for my Knight Crusader to stomp on the Dreadknight with his Titanic Feet, and I finally killed him, dealing exactly the 4 wounds I needed to take those last wounds off him. Phew! The mortar squad did absolutely nothing to the titanic Knight Lancer, who proceeded to stomp all of them to death with his Titanic Feet, killing all the mortar squads. Yes!
Turn 4
It was now turn 4 and neither of us were high on victory points, surprisingly enough. I still had First Strike and Slay the Warlord, and my opponent had First Strike, so it was 2-1, and a very even game in terms of Objectives and Victory Points. With the Dreadknight dead, my Knight Crusader moved upward to contest the objective with the Purifiers and Castellan Crowe. My Knight Lancer moved away from the dead mortar squads and Creed's corpse toward the final Strike squad, while my Culexus Assassin stayed where he was. The Tank Commander finally succeeded in killing the Stormraven with his plasma and stuff...only for my opponent to roll a 6, and then the Stormraven crashed and burned, dealing exactly 3 mortal wounds to my Tank Commander and killing him, as well as the Company Commander who was sitting on the same objective as him. OUCH! Sweet revenge for my friend! I joked that after the Stormraven got shot down, the pilot decided to crash his Stormraven into the tank for revenge, and that was probably what happened! On the other hand, my Knight Crusader killed the Purifer squads with his Avenger Gatling cannon and rapid-fire battle cannon while his Ironstorm missiles killed 1 Strike squad dude. The Knight Gallant was hitting on 5+s, so he didn't hit or kill anything with his Ironstorm missiles, but surprisingly enough my Knight Lancer killed one dude with his shock blast. The Knight Crusader then charged Castellan Crowe and stomped him to death with his Titanic Feet despite the latter's 4++ invulnerable save. The Knight Lancer also killed the 3 surviving Strike squad dudes with Titanic Feet, and the 2 Strike squad guys on the other side of the table failed to hit the Culexus Assassin. This time, he actually wounded them both, and they both died. Whoops!
...yeah, and my opponent was tabled. He literally had no more models left on the table. I had killed every single one of them. Meanwhile I only had 4 models left on the table myself, a single Knight Gallant with 1 wound left, a Knight Lancer with 10 wounds left, and a Knight Crusader with 13 wounds left. Oh, and the Culexus Assassin with 4 wounds left. I controlled 3 out of 4 objectives, which would get me one point, probably get Linebreaker thanks to my Knight Lancer and Knight Gallant...and my opponent had no more units, so the game ended there and then. Even with Acceptable Casualties, he would be behind on points without any way of scoring them, so the game had to end there. The Imperial Knights won - just barely!
After that, we discussed how his Grey Knights could have done better. He should have taken Paladins instead of Purifiers, especially since their Nemesis Daemon Hammers hit like a freight truck, being Strength 8 and wounding on 4+ (3+ with Hammerhand), and at AP -3 I would be struggling to make my armor saves for my Knights in close combat (except the Lancer, but...yeah). We're going to try again on Saturday and see if his new list of 3 squads of 3 Paladins would work better against my Knights!
Sunday, June 9, 2019
Rumors: Skorpius Dunerider and Apocalypse release date
My routine thus far is to check Warhammer Community, then DakkaDakka news and rumors section, then Natfka and Bell of Lost Souls, and then finally Reddit for rumors. And what do you know, I found this post on Reddit that may point toward the release date for the Skorpius Dunerider that we've all been looking forward to. Oh, and I'm also looking forward to Apocalypse, since I'm running a Knight House and all. But first things first.
According to lalassssss on Reddit, his/her contacts say that the Skorpius Dunerider (and its Disintegrator variant) are due for a release in late June, same timeframe as Apocalypse. SweetChilliTom also mentions that he heard a rumor that the Skorpius Dunerider and Skorpius Disintegrator's datasheets are included in Apocalypse, which is confirmed by mrlunchboxx, whose friend attended Warhammer Fest and heard in the Q&A that the Skorpius variants will indeed be coming out with Apocalypse.
From this, it seems unlikely that we will be getting a new, updated Adeptus Mechanicus codex as previously whispered (so I seem to have read that right, wouldn't be surprised if I read that whole thing on Reddit before the user deleted it, or it got buried under lots of other Reddit threads). Nothing on Mechanicum units getting 40K datasheets, though someone on Facebook claimed Fires of Cyraxus will be out in August, which is most probably not going to happen no matter how much you hope for it (hope is the first step toward despair). I guess we'll see? Maybe it's the datasheets that will be released in August, but...I doubt that. Been disappointed too many times with regards to Forge World Mechanicum stuff getting 40K rules...though if we do get them, I'll be buying a Legio Cybernetica army. Heh.
Well, we'll see. For now, look forward to having an apocalyptic time at the end of June, especially for fellow Tech-priests and Skitarii!
Saturday, June 8, 2019
Tons of stuff
I had a lot of stuff happen to me over the past week, so I'm not going to write about all of them in great detail. I literally had 3-4 games of 8th edition, 2 games of Adeptus Titanicus. One of the games was an all-Knight game, and I literally got wrecked. I can't remember what happened, but basically the opponent brought a Knight Castellan, a Knight Crusader, a Knight Warden and 3 Armiger Helverins, and tabled me in short order. Ouch.
Then the tournament last Saturday...I was going to write about it, except there wasn't much of a tournament. Only 3 people, including me, showed up, and that was that. We had fun, though. I let the other 2 guys play against each other first, Adeptus Custodes versus Imperial Guard (or Traitor Guard, the Blood Pact using Imperial Guard rules). In a 1,500-point game, the Adeptus Custodes ran all over his infantry, wiping them out, and leaving just a couple of Basilisks, a couple of Wyverns and 2 Chimeras. The Guard did kill quite a bit of Custodes, and I think there was only 3 or 4 Characters left, with maybe a couple of Allarus Terminators. Everyone else died.
Since the tournament was basically null and void, I suggested we just up the game to 2,000 points and include Lords of War for the fun of it. I decided to help my fellow Imperial Guard player take revenge, an brought my Knights plus Imperial Guard army. The Custodes player brought 1 Shield Captain on jetbike, Trajann Volaris, 3 Dawneagle Jetbikes, a Vexilus Praetor, 3 squads of 6 or 7 Custodian Guards, a bunch of Allarus Terminators, and a Venerable Land Raider. Against this intimidating list of the Emperor's Legion, I brought a Knight Lancer, a Knight Crusader, a Knight Gallant, and an Imperial Guard Battalion featuring 2 Tank Commanders in Leman Russ Executioner tanks, 3 infantry squads with plasma gun (2 of them, anyway) and 2 Astropaths. And I used the Stratagem to pick a Vindicare Assasin because he had quite a few Characters, and the Vindicare's BS wouldn't be affected by the Veilus Praetor's -1 to hit. The Tank Commanders rolled hot, and I killed about 2 Custodian Guard squads in the first turn alone, while my Knight Lancer ran up and did more damage. Wow. It was a brutal and fun game, my Vindicare Assassin failed to wound anything in the first 2 turns, but my Tank Commanders were just vaporizing everything with their plasma, from Custodian Guards to Allarus Terminators, while the Knight Lancer and Knight Gallant hunted and killed the Characters, and the Venerable Land Raider (eventually). The jetbikes Deep Strike to finish off my Knight Lancer, failed (my Knight Lancer died when he charged the Venerable Land Raider and ate a lascannon shot in overwatch), and were destroyed by the Tank Commanders' plasma. One of the Tank Commanders blew himself up with mortal wounds taken from rolling 2s from firing his plasma. Ouch. Did his job, so his sacrifice was not in vain. Well done, sir. In the end, I basically tabled the Custodes, with only a single Vexilus Praetor left on the table. The Vindicare Assassin finally wounded him on turn 3, but failed to kill him, dealing only about 4 wounds before I didn't roll a 5+ for that 3rd mortal wound to kill him (I rolled a 2 for D3 wounds).
Well, the tournament was basically null so we didn't really care about the results and stuff. At least we had fun!
After that, I ended up playing a couple of Adeptus Titanicus games. My Fortis Maniple with the Legio Fortidus Sons of Mars Trait to get 2 Warlord Titans and a Reaver Titan backed up by 2 Cerastus Knight Lancers againt 1 Warlord, 1 Reaver and 3 Warhound Scout Titans. I can't remember what happened, but the first game was Hold the Line for me, and I literally destroyed all of my opponent's Titans while he couldn't even kill a single one of mine. I think he only killed a single Knight Lancer, whose surviving partner in the banner was shaken but passed his Command Check all the same. And...that was it.
Feeling bad for him, we played another game and I deliberately chose a mission that was disadvantageous to me this time. I think it was a rescue mission where I had to grab the Titan's Crew from the center of the map and run away with them. I actually completed that and got the 20 Victory Points, my Reaver Titan sacrificing all his shooting to grab the objective and running away with Full Stride Orders. My Warlord Titans were used as meatshields and I deliberately held my fire for most of the time, allowing my opponent to destroy both Warlord Titans and giving him 30 Victory Points. The Knight Lancers survived though, or one of them did, and the other, as usual, died. But he didn't kill the entire unit, so too bad (he was ahead in victory points anyway). I failed to kill anything, and I think my opponent got another bunch of points for having more than half of his guys survive. Oh, the funniest thing that happened was when his 3 Warhounds attacked my last Warlord Titan and slew him. I rolled a D10 on the Catastrophic Damage table and scored a 10, and I basically killed all 3 Warhounds with multiple critical damage hits by rolling a 6 for the D6 number of attacks. BOOM! And with the Warlord Titan literally blowing up, he nuked the 3 Warhound Titans who had come to slay him, causing them all to die as well. Thankfully my Knight Lancer was just out of range, and survived the terrible explosions behind him. Heh. That was an epic game. I did get a few victory points for killing the Warhounds (can't remember how many) as my secondary objective, but I still lost the game. It didn't matter to me, since I was going easy on him and feeling bad for tabling him without losing a single Titan earlier.
The last battle was just yesterday, when I played my Knights against the Knights guy, but this time he brought Chaos and Renegade Knights while I brought my House militia in the form of Imperial Guard. He had 1 Lord Discordant, a Master of Possession, a Daemon Prince (Warlord), 3 squads of 5 Red Corsairs Space Marines with bolt pistols and chainswords (giving him that extra 3 Command Points), a single Leviathan Dreadnought with butcher cannon array and siege drill, 2 Venom Crawlers, and they were backed up by a Renegade Knight with 2 Avenger Gatling cannons and 2 Armiger Heverins. This time I brought my Vindicare Assassin to back up my 3 usual Knights (Lancer, Gallant and Crusader) and 2 Tank Commanders in Leman Russ Executioner tanks. Not much to say other than I almost got tabled, with only a single Vindicare Assassin and a Sergeant left by the end of turn 7. A good luck draw from Maelstrom cards was what salvaged the game for me and allowed me to win 19 to 18. Phew! But I was so close to being tabled. Highlight of the game was my Vindicare vindicating my decision to take him and killing the Master of Possession in the 2nd turn by rolling a 6 for wound roll to deal D6 damage, and I rolled 4 to kill him outright. His turbo-penetrator rounds was also useful for dealing mortal wounds to the Renegade Knight and Leviathan Dreadnought and eventually the last Venomcrawler left on the table. My Knight Gallant was almost taken out by the Daemon Prince, but I used Counteroffensive to have my Knight Gallant fight next and kill the Daemon Prince for Slay the Warlord! Drawing Kingslayer and getting 3 from D3 Victory Points contributed greatly to me just barely edging my opponent out on points!
After that game, I realized that I needed something against Psykers, so today I bought a Culexus Assassin, built him and painted him. Now I have a Vanguard Detachment of Assassins, but honestly I'll just stick to using the Stratagem and choosing whichever I want. The day will be bleak and desperate indeed if I am ever forced to field all 3 Assassins at once. We'll see.
Anyway, that's all for this week! Till then!
Then the tournament last Saturday...I was going to write about it, except there wasn't much of a tournament. Only 3 people, including me, showed up, and that was that. We had fun, though. I let the other 2 guys play against each other first, Adeptus Custodes versus Imperial Guard (or Traitor Guard, the Blood Pact using Imperial Guard rules). In a 1,500-point game, the Adeptus Custodes ran all over his infantry, wiping them out, and leaving just a couple of Basilisks, a couple of Wyverns and 2 Chimeras. The Guard did kill quite a bit of Custodes, and I think there was only 3 or 4 Characters left, with maybe a couple of Allarus Terminators. Everyone else died.
Since the tournament was basically null and void, I suggested we just up the game to 2,000 points and include Lords of War for the fun of it. I decided to help my fellow Imperial Guard player take revenge, an brought my Knights plus Imperial Guard army. The Custodes player brought 1 Shield Captain on jetbike, Trajann Volaris, 3 Dawneagle Jetbikes, a Vexilus Praetor, 3 squads of 6 or 7 Custodian Guards, a bunch of Allarus Terminators, and a Venerable Land Raider. Against this intimidating list of the Emperor's Legion, I brought a Knight Lancer, a Knight Crusader, a Knight Gallant, and an Imperial Guard Battalion featuring 2 Tank Commanders in Leman Russ Executioner tanks, 3 infantry squads with plasma gun (2 of them, anyway) and 2 Astropaths. And I used the Stratagem to pick a Vindicare Assasin because he had quite a few Characters, and the Vindicare's BS wouldn't be affected by the Veilus Praetor's -1 to hit. The Tank Commanders rolled hot, and I killed about 2 Custodian Guard squads in the first turn alone, while my Knight Lancer ran up and did more damage. Wow. It was a brutal and fun game, my Vindicare Assassin failed to wound anything in the first 2 turns, but my Tank Commanders were just vaporizing everything with their plasma, from Custodian Guards to Allarus Terminators, while the Knight Lancer and Knight Gallant hunted and killed the Characters, and the Venerable Land Raider (eventually). The jetbikes Deep Strike to finish off my Knight Lancer, failed (my Knight Lancer died when he charged the Venerable Land Raider and ate a lascannon shot in overwatch), and were destroyed by the Tank Commanders' plasma. One of the Tank Commanders blew himself up with mortal wounds taken from rolling 2s from firing his plasma. Ouch. Did his job, so his sacrifice was not in vain. Well done, sir. In the end, I basically tabled the Custodes, with only a single Vexilus Praetor left on the table. The Vindicare Assassin finally wounded him on turn 3, but failed to kill him, dealing only about 4 wounds before I didn't roll a 5+ for that 3rd mortal wound to kill him (I rolled a 2 for D3 wounds).
Well, the tournament was basically null so we didn't really care about the results and stuff. At least we had fun!
After that, I ended up playing a couple of Adeptus Titanicus games. My Fortis Maniple with the Legio Fortidus Sons of Mars Trait to get 2 Warlord Titans and a Reaver Titan backed up by 2 Cerastus Knight Lancers againt 1 Warlord, 1 Reaver and 3 Warhound Scout Titans. I can't remember what happened, but the first game was Hold the Line for me, and I literally destroyed all of my opponent's Titans while he couldn't even kill a single one of mine. I think he only killed a single Knight Lancer, whose surviving partner in the banner was shaken but passed his Command Check all the same. And...that was it.
Feeling bad for him, we played another game and I deliberately chose a mission that was disadvantageous to me this time. I think it was a rescue mission where I had to grab the Titan's Crew from the center of the map and run away with them. I actually completed that and got the 20 Victory Points, my Reaver Titan sacrificing all his shooting to grab the objective and running away with Full Stride Orders. My Warlord Titans were used as meatshields and I deliberately held my fire for most of the time, allowing my opponent to destroy both Warlord Titans and giving him 30 Victory Points. The Knight Lancers survived though, or one of them did, and the other, as usual, died. But he didn't kill the entire unit, so too bad (he was ahead in victory points anyway). I failed to kill anything, and I think my opponent got another bunch of points for having more than half of his guys survive. Oh, the funniest thing that happened was when his 3 Warhounds attacked my last Warlord Titan and slew him. I rolled a D10 on the Catastrophic Damage table and scored a 10, and I basically killed all 3 Warhounds with multiple critical damage hits by rolling a 6 for the D6 number of attacks. BOOM! And with the Warlord Titan literally blowing up, he nuked the 3 Warhound Titans who had come to slay him, causing them all to die as well. Thankfully my Knight Lancer was just out of range, and survived the terrible explosions behind him. Heh. That was an epic game. I did get a few victory points for killing the Warhounds (can't remember how many) as my secondary objective, but I still lost the game. It didn't matter to me, since I was going easy on him and feeling bad for tabling him without losing a single Titan earlier.
The last battle was just yesterday, when I played my Knights against the Knights guy, but this time he brought Chaos and Renegade Knights while I brought my House militia in the form of Imperial Guard. He had 1 Lord Discordant, a Master of Possession, a Daemon Prince (Warlord), 3 squads of 5 Red Corsairs Space Marines with bolt pistols and chainswords (giving him that extra 3 Command Points), a single Leviathan Dreadnought with butcher cannon array and siege drill, 2 Venom Crawlers, and they were backed up by a Renegade Knight with 2 Avenger Gatling cannons and 2 Armiger Heverins. This time I brought my Vindicare Assassin to back up my 3 usual Knights (Lancer, Gallant and Crusader) and 2 Tank Commanders in Leman Russ Executioner tanks. Not much to say other than I almost got tabled, with only a single Vindicare Assassin and a Sergeant left by the end of turn 7. A good luck draw from Maelstrom cards was what salvaged the game for me and allowed me to win 19 to 18. Phew! But I was so close to being tabled. Highlight of the game was my Vindicare vindicating my decision to take him and killing the Master of Possession in the 2nd turn by rolling a 6 for wound roll to deal D6 damage, and I rolled 4 to kill him outright. His turbo-penetrator rounds was also useful for dealing mortal wounds to the Renegade Knight and Leviathan Dreadnought and eventually the last Venomcrawler left on the table. My Knight Gallant was almost taken out by the Daemon Prince, but I used Counteroffensive to have my Knight Gallant fight next and kill the Daemon Prince for Slay the Warlord! Drawing Kingslayer and getting 3 from D3 Victory Points contributed greatly to me just barely edging my opponent out on points!
After that game, I realized that I needed something against Psykers, so today I bought a Culexus Assassin, built him and painted him. Now I have a Vanguard Detachment of Assassins, but honestly I'll just stick to using the Stratagem and choosing whichever I want. The day will be bleak and desperate indeed if I am ever forced to field all 3 Assassins at once. We'll see.
Anyway, that's all for this week! Till then!
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