Battle Report 11

As my days in Singapore draw to a close, I have to get ready to fly off to Minneapolis soon. Perhaps I shall start a new chapter in my Wargaming hobby when I find the local gaming store there, but I'll need to ship my Imperial Guard over. And one Imperial Knight, as that guy is the whole reason why I'm playing Warhammer 40K.

Consequently, I played what is most likely my final game in Singapore, at Battle Bunker today. I am very grateful to my opponent, who was such a good sport and agreed to have a game with me even though he was supposed to play X-Wing with some other person. Thank you!

Anyway, it was an Imperial Guard versus Space Marines (Imperial Fists) game. The game was set at 1,850 points because my opponent wanted an official tournament feel to it, or something, and we ended up playing Maelstrom, rolled a 6. So it's that mode where you draw 6 objective cards at the beginning, and slowly whittle it down by 1 with each subsequent turn (5 in turn 2, 4 in turn 3, etc.). I brought my Cadian Battle Group (or Draconian Battle Group as you already know), but this time I brought my Kamikaze Troopers (Storm troopers or Militarum Tempestus platoon for those of you not familiar with my Draconians) and an Emperor's Spear Aerial Company of 3 Vendetta gunships instead of my Stormsword. My opponent used Gladius Strike Force...actually, he used the Sternhammer Strike Force.

Basically, I'm not sure what's going on, but this was what my opponent brought along:

Sternhammer Strike Force

Command
Strike Force Command, Lysander. Yeah, he brought along a single Captain Lysander as his Command. Yup, that cheesy guy who's clad in Terminator armor, has 4 wounds, Eternal Warrior, a 3++ invulnerable save thanks to his Storm Shield and a freaking Thunder Hammer that hits at S10. Ugh. What a monster.

Core
Battle Demi-Company. A Captain...I think (not sure if it's Captain Lysander here or he used Captain Lysander as a separate Command choice). 3 Tactical squads with 10 men each, with 2 squads armed with 1 meltagun each. I think. 1 Assault squad, all armed with jetpacks. Yay. Jump shoot jump goodness. And 1 Devastator squad armed with lascannons. Oh, and the obligatory Dreadnought with a multi-melta. Two of the tactical squads are loaded into drop pods, because why the hell not?

Auxilliary
Now this is what I'm not sure about. I have completely no idea what's going on here. Basically my opponent brought a Combined Arms Detachment (yes, he brought a CAD) as his auxilliary, and he assured me that it was legal and part of the Sternhammer Strike Force. I have my doubts, but whatever. I'm here to have fun, not to debate rules and be a lawyer. If he says so, so be it.

Anyway, his Combined Arms Detachment consisted of a Librarian as his HQ, 2 5-men tactical squads with no upgrades, another Devastator squad with lascannons, and a 3-men Centurion squad with grav guns. The Centurions were loaded up inside a drop pod along with the Librarian, whom he didn't bother to roll on the Psychic Table or used his Psyker powers. In his own words, he said that he only took a Librarian because he's the cheapest HQ (cheaper than a Captain and a Chaplain). Why he didn't bother taking the Devastator and Centurion auxiliaries, I have no idea, and when I checked my digital copy of Angels of Death when I got home, I don't see anything about the Sternhammer Strike Force taking a CAD as an Auxiliary. To make matters worse, he told me that all his Devastators have +1 to their armor penetration rolls against my tanks because of some Imperial Fists Siege Hunter rules. And when I just checked the book, it says against BUILDINGS only. Well, I suppose everyone makes mistakes. I make them too. I guess.

Those blue Space Marines are meant to be Imperial Fists. That's right. Imperial Fists, not Ultramarines.

Oh, and yes, those blue Space Marines are meant to be Imperial Fists, not Ultramarines. That's right. My opponent switched chapters to Imperial Fists shortly after he painted them, so he's going to have to repaint them all over again. Only Lysander is in the proper colors. Man, I don't envy him. Painting is not my forte.

Anyway, on to my list.

Cadian (Draconian) Battle Group

Battle Group Command
Company Command Squad, armed with heavy flamer and 3 flamers. Yes, trust me, equiping them with flamers was worth it. Loaded on one of my Vendetta gunships.

Core
Emperor's Fist Armored Company. Leman Russ Vanquisher with lascannon as the Tank Commander, a Leman Russ Main Battle Tank with lascannon as squadron buddy, a Leman Russ Executioner with plasma cannons and lascannon, 2 Leman Russ Punisher tanks with 3 heavy bolters each. And the obligatory Tech-priest Enginseer.

Auxiliary
Emperor's Spear Aerial Company. 3 Vendetta gunships. Hell, yeah! I finally get to use them!
Militarum Tempestus platoon, otherwise known as Kamikaze Troopers. Old school stormtroopers. Anyway, a command squad with 4 hot-shot volley guns, and a 10-men squad with 2 meltaguns. The 10-men squad took a Taurox Prime with Taurox Gatling Cannon and twin-linked hot-shot volley gun as Dedicated Transport while the command squad rode on one of the Vendetta gunships.

So yup, that's 1,850 points worth of Imperial Guard versus Space Marines! Let the game begin!

Cadian (Draconian) Battle Group versus Imperial Fists Sternhammer Strike Force

We rolled off, I had the first turn and my opponent failed to seize the initiative. By the way, my Warlord, the Company Commander, rolled the Staunch Traditionalist Warlord Trait (he rolled Above the Thundering Guns trait first, which is entirely useless given how my Warlord already has Voice of Command AND can already issue 3 orders thanks to the Cadian Battle Group benefits, so I chose to re-roll it). That would be the death of him, as you'll see later.

Someone really ought to kick the guy who wrote those useless Cadian Warlord Traits into the Eye of Terror.

Turn 1

Anyway, I started first. I drew 6 objectives, and I think one of them was Hold Your Ground, another was grab an objective I was near to, and another was Overwhelming Numbers. I can't remember. Anyway, I deployed with my Tech-priest Enginseer sitting alone in one corner, to hog Objective 1. Yay. He remained there for the entire game (yeah). I tried to move my tanks up to grab Objectives 3 and 5, while keeping them in the Tank Commander bubble to grant them BS4, as well as keep half my tanks inside the deployment zone to grab Hold Your Ground. My Taurox Prime also zipped up to grab Objective 5 because my Punisher wasn't able to reach it, but my other Punisher reached Objective 3.

On the other side, my opponent had deployed with his 2 5-men Tactical squads out in the open (because we didn't have a lot of terrain on the table), a 10-men tactical squad, Dreadnought and Devastator squad all squeezed inside a single building (for cover and to secure Objective 2), the 2nd Devastator squad parked inside a 2nd building to capture Objective 4. The Assault Squad, along with Lysander, was deployed right next to the 2nd building for some reason, also out in the open, but they do have intervening cover from the jungle in the middle of the table.

The inexorable advance of the Emperor's Fist Armored Company toward the hapless Traitor Space Marines.

Anyway, I opened fire with my tanks. Combined shooting from my Punisher and Taurox Prime completely wiped out one tactical squad, while my other Punisher took out the other tactical squad, who was wounded after my Vanquisher and Main Battle Tank fired at them. The latter completely scattered (I think) or killed only 1, while the Vanquisher killed another with his lascannon (his Vanquisher cannon completely missing despite being BS4). I can't remember, but just know the 2 tactical squads were wiped out, giving me First Blood.

The Executioner didn't get any Gets Hot! rolls and went on to disintegrate 2 or 3 dudes from the Assault Squad. With First Blood on my hands, plus Objective 3 (or was it 5?), Hold Your Ground and Overwhelming Numbers, I earned 4 points. I had 3 more, I think one was Objective 2, another Objective 4 and the last one was Witch Hunter. Ugh.

My opponent then dropped 2 drop pods right next to and in front of my tanks. The Centurions and the Librarian poured out of one of them and basically wrecked my Tank Commander (the Vanquisher) with their grav shots. Wow, grav is awesome...unless used against me. Ugh. Oh well, there goes my BS4 benefit. NOOO!!!! Funnily enough, the other guy who came out of his second drop pod fired his meltagun pointblank range into my Leman Russ Executioner, and despite being within melta range, rolled a combined D2 of 5 (a 1 and a 4), and only had an armor penetration of 13. Not enough to even glance my AV14 front armor. Poor dude. Anyway, he combat squadded the 10-men squad and split them up into 5 each.

The Devastators fired upon my tanks and their lascannons failed to glance the AV14 front armor of my tanks, while the Assault Squad moved, ran and then jumped toward Objective 6 but just couldn't make it there...

My opponent drew Assassinate, which he had gotten, and some other objective I can't remember, for about 2 or 3 points. Oh boy, that's close!

Turn 2

I rolled for reserves, and while I fluffed my first Vendetta, my second one came in and I opted for the 3rd to automatically come in as well. I then declared a low-altitude drop for the Stormtrooper one so that they could jump out without scatter and hose down a tactical squad with their hot-shot volley guns, which they did. One Punisher and those Kamikaze Troopers that grav-chuted from their Vendetta wiped out one tactical squad while the other one was also wiped out by my other Punisher. Yay. So another 2 tactical squads bite the dust.

The Centurions were taken out by combined fire from my Leman Russ Executioner AND my 2 Vendetta gunships, firing their 3 twin-linked lascannons to slowly peel the wounds off them. Apparently the Librarian had 3 wounds, but was Instant Death-ed by a lascannon from my Executioner. Woohoo! That earned me Witch Hunter. On the other hand, I accidentally had one blast plate scatter right into my Punisher and glanced a hull point off him. Ouch.

I had drawn Objective 6 this time, so I quickly moved my Taurox Prime up to capture the objective, which the Assault Squad had run to but failed to capture, so I scored that too! Anyway, I took out about 2 or 3 with my Taurox Prime, but failed to wipe them out. Fortunately, my Leman Russ Main Battle Tank fired and squished the remaining jetpack dudes with one shot of his battle cannon. Woohoo. Another Space Marine squad blasted into a bloody pulp. Nice!

I can't remember the other objectives, but I pulled ahead to about 6 or 7 points. I think.

My opponent then responded by dropping the other drop pod next to my Taurox Prime (but for some reason he didn't shoot the Taurox Prime?!). He had his tactical squad, Dreadnought and Devastators stay in cover, but suddenly he claimed that he forgot about the Imperial Fists' Siege Hunter bonus that allows them to add 1 to their Armor Penetration rolls against vehicles. As I said, only now I found out that he misread that bonus and it only applies to Building Damage Tables...oh well. Lysander slowly moved, but to where I have no idea.

Anyway, I think he wrecked one of my Punisher tanks with the combined fire from the Devastators. Ouch. I don't remember. Anyway, I think that's about it. I can't remember what Objective he secured, but apparently there was one with D3 points, and he rolled a 5 or 6, which granted him about 3 points, which pulled him up to 5 or 6 against my 6 or 7, cutting my lead by a lot.

Turn 3

My 3rd Vendetta came onboard while the other 2 zoomed around. I dropped my Company Command Squad, but they scattered all the way to in front of the forest I was talking about earlier...right in front of Lysander of all people. Ugh. Anyway, I had drawn Objective 4, so I moved my Taurox Prime up the table to the building with Objective 4 and disembarked my troops, but they were unable to get into the building because I rolled snake eyes for move through terrain and got 2 ones. Ugh.

However, my shooting was vicious. I think. My Vendetta gunships fired upon Lysander, and only put one wound on him. Meanwhile, I threw out orders for both my Company Command Squad and Storm troopers, with "Forward, for the Emperor!" for the former and "Fire on my Target!" for the latter. The flamers didn't do anything to Lysander, unfortunately (so you must be wondering why I said they were worth buying). On the other hand, thanks to "Fire on my Target!", my Storm Troopers emptied their meltaguns and hot-shot volley guns with Ignores Cover and exterminated the Devastators camping inside Objective 4. Yay.

My Punisher killed 1 Combat Squad...I think, meanwhile my Executioner completely scattered all his shots and did absolutely nothing. Ugh. On the other hand, I rolled a Gets Hot! roll of 1, but thanks to rolling a 4 after that, my Executioner didn't kill himself. Phew. The Main Battle Tank fired on a drop pod, and while I could roll 2 dice thanks to ordnance, I only rolled a 1 and a 2 (or was it a 3?), which meant my Main Battle Tank did nothing against the drop pod. What luck.

I can't remember what objectives I earned here, but I succeeded in gaining a few more to about 9 or 10. I think. Oh, I remember. I drew Hold the Line. Thanks to my Company Command Squad, my 10-men Storm Trooper squad and Taurox Prime (now a separate unit since my Kamikaze Troopers disembarked from it) being within 12" of my opponent's side of the table, I scored D3 points and I rolled a 6. So I pulled ahead by a lot, maybe about 10 or 11. Whoohoo!

My opponent had to kill a character in a challenge or something, and to grab Objective 4, or something. And he also had to grab Objective 6, which he was in position to do with his last, remaining combat squad. He killed 1 of my Storm Troopers there in the open, ouch, but I have 9 men left. Kind of pitiful, actually, given how many bolt rounds he fired...or it was because I made my saves. Carapace Armor and their 4+ armor saves really make a difference. He had begun moving his Dreadnought and Tactical squad out of cover and into the open, finally making a move. They fired upon my Kamikaze Command squad, taking out 2 guys. The remaining 3 guys actually failed their morale test and ran away. HEY! Leadership of 9, and I rolled a freaking 11?! I lost a Punisher Tank as well, which was painful. That meant I only have 2 tanks left. Oh boy.

What happened next was kind of hilarious. Lysander charged my Company Command Squad, who responded by squeezing the triggers of their flamers and creating a Wall of Death. The boltgun, unsurprisingly did nothing, but the sheer amount of wounds the Wall of Death inflicted on Lysander actually managed to take 2 wounds off him. Yes, even with a 2+ Terminator Armor save, he actually lost 2 wounds to the flamers. That's why I said it was worth buying them the flamers.

On the other hand, my Warlord's Staunch Traditionalist forced him to issue a challenge, which Lysander promptly went and won, beating the poor Company Commander's ass into a bloody mess with his S10 Thunder Hammer. Ugh. The wounds spilled over and 2 more Veterans died, leaving the other 2 to run off, terrified at the sight of a Captain in Terminator Armor crazily swinging his giant hammer around like some sort of Khorne berserker.

These Space Marines really have fallen to Chaos, eh? Time for us Imperial Guard to do our duty in the name of the Emperor and purge these Traitors!

Hmm...what happened here, I can't remember, but I think he had a point for Slay the Warlord and for Objective 6, so he pulled to 8 points or so.

Turn 4

I can't remember what I drew this round as well, except for one card that really stood out and yelled at me. Slay the Warlord. That's right, I drew Slay the Warlord, and I had a Lysander with a single wound left in my sights. This is doable! No, I MUST do it! I must kill the Traitor Captain! FOR THE EMPEROR!

So I basically threw everything I had at Lysander. Oh, wait. I'm getting ahead of myself. The two flamer Veterans continued running away from the sight of the Terminator Captain bearing down on them, but I did regroup my Kamikaze Command Squad. Meanwhile my 9 surviving Kamikaze Troopers jumped into the building to capture Objective 4, with me rolling a 6 to bring them to the second floor of the building. Yeah, now I remember, that's another objective I captured. My second Vendetta gunship promptly flew off the board while my remaining two pivoted to face Lysander.

Anyway, everyone and anyone that could fire on Lysander did so, but the bastard was a tough nut to crack. He survived all the lascannons that my Vendetta gunships threw at him with that absurd 3++ invulnerable save of his (stupid Storm Shield), he survived the single meltagun shot (1 missed, whoops), he survived a volley of hot-shot las-fire with his 2+ Terminator Armor save, and I was forced to use my Taurox Prime to fire upon him. Finally...FINALLY! Lysander FINALLY died to a single round from the Taurox Prime's Taurox Gatling cannon. All it took was a single roll of 1, and when my opponent rolled a 1, that was the end of Lysander.

Slay the Warlord is mine. WOOHOO!

Again, my Leman Russ Main Battle Tank and my Leman Russ Executioner scattered so badly I might as well not have bothered firing their cannons. At least I didn't roll any Gets Hot! rolls this time. Phew. On the other side, the three Kamikaze Troopers (the remnants of the Command Squad) rallied and took out 2 of the Tactical Marines that were advancing upon them. Yay?

That earned me 2 points (I rolled a 4) for Slay the Warlord, another for securing Objective 4, and brought my points total to 13.

Um, my opponent opened fire with his storm bolters on his drop pods to kill the 2 fleeing flamer Veterans, his Tactical squad moved closer to kill the 3 Kamikaze Troopers and wiped out 2 in the process, as did his Dreadnought who also moved closer and melted the Kamikaze Captain (or Tempestor Prime) with his multi-melta. On the other end of the table, the Tactical squad rushed in to throw krak grenades at my Taurox Prime, taking a hull point off it, and then charged it to destroy it in close combat before consolidating at the foot of the building my Kamikaze Troopers were in, supposedly to hide out of sight so that my Kamikaze Troopers couldn't fire on them. I think that earned him D3 points for No Mercy, No Respite, and again he rolled a 5 or 6, earning 3 points to pull himself up to 11 against my 13. Wow, that's so close. It was making me nervous how he was catching up so rapidly.

Turn 5

My Vendetta returned, and I saw that I have to secure Objective 5 again. Oh well. So I dropped one of my Vendetta gunships to hover mode to capture Objective 5, only for my opponent to point out that there was a drop pod on that objective, and it had Objective Secured. Darn...except that your drop pod is right in front of my Vendetta.

So my Vendetta fired three lascannons shots into the drop pod...only to miss all 3. Yes. I had twin-linked, I re-rolled all 3 misses and I still MISSED. What the hell!? Groaning, I then have my second Vendetta that just came on again to fire at the drop pod, dreading my rolls. This time, fortunately, all hit (there was 1 miss, but twin-linked allowed me to re-roll that and I hit with all 3 shots!), and I actually rolled 2 threes and 1 four. Yes, that's right. I wrecked the drop pod in one volley of lascannon shots. WOOHOO! Objective 5 is mine! MINE, you sucker! MINE!

The 3rd Vendetta zoomed toward the Dreadnought and opened fire, and once again thanks to twin-linked, all 3 hit the side armor...only for me to score 3 penetrating shots. Wow, how lucky can I get? Even better, one of the penetrating shots resulted in an Explodes! (because I rolled a 6) and the Dreadnought's debris careened right into the Space Marine Tactical Squad in front, killing 1 or 2 of them. Wow, that was quite the stroke of luck. My Main Battle Tank opened fire and basically squished the remnants of that Tactical squad, so the entire middle section was empty save for my tanks and Vendetta gunships.

My Executioner, bless his machine spirit, did not roll any Gets Hot! rolls and while he scattered 3 of his shots, he managed to land 2 small blasts right atop the 5-men Tactical squad that clustered like mushrooms at the foot of the building my Kamikaze Troopers were camping in.  In his haste to hide from the line of sight of my Kamikaze Troopers, my opponent didn't realize that bunching up his Tactical squad like that made them vulnerable to blast templates...and my Executioner happily executed those Traitor Marines like the cowards they were. HAH!

Um...so what does that mean? I can't remember...oh, right. I pulled ahead to 15 points during that turn.

My opponent couldn't do much, but he retaliated with his remaining Devastator squad to wreck my poor Executioner tank (with those +1 to AP rolls of his), and he earned a point from there. I think. So it was 15 to 12? Still pretty close, but hey, whatever works! Anyway, with only one Devastator squad and 2 random drop pods left, that was all he could do...

My opponent rolled to see if we should continue, and continue we did! On to Turn 6...

By this time, there's not much left on the board except a Devastator squad hiding in that building and a couple of drop pods facing three Vendetta gunships, a Leman Russ Main Battle Tank and 9 Storm Troopers.

Turn 6

And what do you know, I drew a card that asked me to secure Objective 1. I bet almost everyone has forgotten by now, but my Tech-priest Enginseer that had been camping on Objective 1 ever since the beginning of the game and doing absolutely nothing while fiddling his mechadendrites on the objective was still there, so that was effectively a free point for me. At that moment, before I could shoot the Devastators off the board with my Leman Russ Main Battle Tank and Vendetta gunships, my opponent called the game. With only 1 Devastator squad and 2 immobile, stationary drop pods left, there was nothing he could do. With me pulling ahead to 16 points, there wasn't much he could do except drag the game on. So we called it there, and when it ended I found out that I actually have Linebreaker as well, with my Kamikaze Troopers still camping on Objective 4, and within 12" of my opponent's board edge. Woohoo.

So the game ended in my favor 17 to 12. That was close, very close. The game ran all the way toward the end, and if I had not rolled those lucky rolls that saw me blow up a drop pod and a Dreadnought, I wouldn't have such a great lead. Not to mention, I was lucky enough to roll 3 points and 2 points for Hold the Line and Slay the Warlord. Then again, the same could be said for my opponent, who rolled 3 points twice for the score D3 points objectives. Well, whatever the case, we had fun and it was awesome!

And my Imperial Guard army finally won a game! FINALLY! I never thought I would see the day when my Imperial Guard would win! Great job, Draconians! Mission accomplished! WOOHOO! We won! DRACONIANS FOREVER! FOR THE EMPEROR!

Not only that, my Draconian Imperial Guard regiment actually beat Space Marines! Okay, my opponent wasn't playing aggressively or competitively - and if he actually threw Lysander down in a drop pod with the Centurions, my tanks would have been totally wrecked. Ouch. Oh well. Thank the Emperor for that (I guess?). Not only that, his list didn't seem optimized. I mean, he might have been better off taking a Gladius Strike Force and spamming Rhinos, Razorbacks and drop pods (but if he did that, he wouldn't have the right to protest against me bringing a Stormsword...right?). This proves that a game can still be fun and winnable even without a super-heavy, and my Storm Troopers are actually excellent at capturing objectives! Not only that, my Vendetta gunships are pretty powerful too! They really saved my bacon there at the end, blowing up the drop pod and Dreadnought. Phew.

Anyway, the story can go like this: The Draconian Armored has prevailed over a renegade Space Marines Chapter that supposedly succeeded the Imperial Fists. That's why this successor chapter uses blue power armor instead of the golden armor representative of the Imperial Fists. They were exterminated by the courageous, determined tank crews and Kamikaze Troopers of the 42nd Draconian Armored Defense Force, and purged so that no man, mortal or otherwise, can ever defy the words of the Emperor again.

For the Emperor!

Oh, right. And as this is probably the last game I'll be able to play at Battle Bunker Singapore for a long time, here's a goodbye picture I took with the mascot standing guard right outside the shop. I mean, in the spirit of Pokemon Go! or Pokemon Trading Card Game and stuff, right?

Pikachu? Why are you in Warhammer 40K? Did some Imperial Guard regiment breed you on some paradise world where citizens of the Imperium capture pocket monsters to battle each other in the Emperor's name?

Regimental Standard: Deathwatch

Greetings, Imperial Guardsmen of the Draconian Armored Defense Force.

The Regimental Standard has published an issue regarding the revered Deathwatch, Apparently some other Imperial Guard regiment has failed in their duty to purge the hated xenos, and the Inquisitors of the Ordo Xenos have been forced to intervene - to the extent that they must dispatch their elite militant arm, the Deathwatch to take over such duties.

Let this serve as a warning to our own regiment, who has thus far never failed to serve the Inquisition, and the Imperium faithfully. Let us continue crushing xenos scum under the treads of our tanks, our armor proof against their accursed weapons and whispers of heresy. There is nothing better than cold steel and titanium to protect us from their insidious influence, and nothing more effective than depleted uranium rounds fired from our vaunted Leman Russ Punishers to exterminate these hateful species.

Remember, the moment the Deathwatch are dispatched in a mission that we are originally meant to execute, it means we have failed the Emperor. Make sure you hold fast to your faith and purge xenos scum from our galaxy!

For more details, please refer to the Regimental Standard.

Quote of the day

"The only good xenos is a dead one."

Space Hulk Deathwing

HELL YEAH! FOR THE EMPEROR!

We finally have a release date for Space Hulk: Deathwing! Well, it's not a precise release date, but it at least narrows down the period after so much time of waiting and guessing. Guess what? Space Hulk: Deathwing will be released in November 2016 on PC!

WOOHOO! And the Angels of Death shall descend upon the hated Xenos and purge our galaxy clean of them!

Anyway, here's the latest trailer. Have fun watching it, and savor the destruction we shall wreak upon the foes of the Imperium!

Heralds of the coming doom,
By cry of Raven, we are drawn.
This oath of war and vengeance,
On blade of exalted iron sworn,
With blood anointed swords aloft,
Advance we into Dread's dark shade.
Punishment divine unleashed with Hate
A wrathful storm of bolt and blade,
Purge with plasma, fist and shell,
Bring cleansing fire's righteous breath,
For the Emperor! Knights of Caliban!
The Lion's Anointed Angels of Death!
No forgiveness. No retreat.

Vendetta for Death from the Skies

Oh, right. There was quite a furor being made about the Vendetta being missing from the Death From the Skies supplement that Games Workshop released a couple of months ago. I was one of them, being the proud owner of three Vendetta gunships, so you can imagine my dismay when I learned that it was missing. I ain't gonna use no Valkyrie Assault Carrier. I want my triple twin-linked lascannons! But alas, it seems that Games Workshop has a vendetta against the Vendetta, and so did not deign to include them in their supplement. Ugh.

Well, fellow Vendetta owners, rejoice! For we have received an update from Forge World regarding the Vendetta gunship! Here are the rules for using the Vendetta in the Death from the Skies supplement! So now feel free to bring your Vendetta gunships to a dogfight and shoot enemy flyers out of the air with triple twin-linked lascannons!

AWESOME! For the Emperor!

Freeblade Chapter 6

Yes, I know. I know it is a stupid title, but I thought it was fitting because it is about a boarding mission.

That's why Chapter 6 of Freeblade is titled Too bored to board. Sorry, I can't help it. I like puns.

Anyway, this should wrap up the naval battle as well as describe the boarding action the Kamikaze Troopers and the Imperial Knight took aboard a Chaos Despoiler class battleship. It probably isn't accurate (I mean, seriously? A ship's corridors being wide enough for Taurox Primes and an Imperial Knight to stomp through?) but it was fun as hell to write and provided some much-needed character depth and development. I hope. I don't know. Anyway, it was...fun. Yeah.

I hope the naval battle was fun too. I read too many Star Carrier series by Ian Douglas. Yes, I am a huge fan of Ian Douglas (William H. Keith, Jr.), and have read almost all his military sci-fi series, including the Galactic Marines series - which consist of the Heritage Trilogy, the Legacy Trilogy and the Inheritance Trilogy - and Star Carrier series as well as Star Corpsman. I'm now just waiting for Andromeda Dark. Yes, if you're a huge fan of military sci-fi and space marines (and since you're reading a blog on Warhammer 40K there is a high chance that you are), I highly recommend his books.

Oh, and the naval battle that took place in Cadian Blood also helped. I mean, that was one badass captain and his Dominator cruiser! I wish they destroyed Terminus Est with their nova cannon, though. What a waste, but it was awesome.

Anyway, being an amateur writer, it's a given that I'll fail to emulate either of them, but I do hope you enjoy Freeblade nonetheless.

For the Emperor!

Freeblade Chapter 5

Yeah, I stayed up late just to complete this chapter. So I present to you Chapter 5 of my story, Freeblade. Yay.

This time I tried my hand at trying to write a naval battle. I know I suck at it, despite my scathing book reviews. Yeah, it's difficult to be a professional writer, and even more difficult to write a battle scene. I'm open to advice or suggestions for improvement, and so implore you to read this and tell me where I went wrong or something. I'm looking to get better, because I really enjoy writing and want everyone to enjoy reading my stuff.

And I can't do that if all I do is...well, I don't know. Anyway, please read Freeblade and tell me what you think. I hope you like the naval battle, but if you don't, then please offer suggestions and advice on how to improve. Thanks.

For the Emperor!

Tallarn: Ironclad

"Victory is a child of many parents. Defeat is an orphan." - ancient Terran aphorism, origin unknown

Tallarn: Ironclad by John French is about the Battle of Tallarn. As you guys probably know by now, I'm a huge fan of Imperial Guard armored regiments, and so when I heard there was a Horus Heresy book detailing the battle of the greatest armored conflict in Warhammer 40K history, involving over millions of tanks and armored vehicles, I was excited to get this book. Furthermore, when you look at the cover, you can see the tagline right at the bottom, "The Battle of Tallarn rages on, becoming the single greatest armored conflict in the history of mankind." Even the synopsis at the back hints at such a tale, with the line of the "...the poisoned earth shakes beneath the treads of countless battle tanks and war machines."

Unfortunately, Tallarn: Ironclad is not about that. Rather, it focuses on a few characters and small skirmishes between these characters, rather than open out into the vast, colossal armored conflict that the Battle of Tallarn background has so much potential for. The book does hint at it, yes, but the details of the larger war on a massive scale is only described within small excerpts ahout one to two pages long, not unlike those little bite-sized excerpts you see in codex and campaign books.

Yes...you got that right. The massive scale of the Battle of Tallarn is reduced into codex and campaign-styled bite-sized excerpts to give a background, rather than be the focus of the story itself. What a letdown. Or maybe it's my fault for holding such expectations and misinterpreting the synopsis. Oh well. But seriously, if I wanted to read excerpts of the Battle of Tallarn, I wouldn't have bought a novel. I would have just relied on the Imperial Guard codex or a Horus Heresy campaign book to read those kind of excerpts. I mean, Graham McNeill or Dan Abnett might have done a lot better in terms of weaving all the different threads together into a much larger story and either of them would have done epicly described battles taking place on an apocalyptic scale without needing to insert one to two-pages excerpts in the middle of chapters. They would have just melded these epic wars into the narrative itself. Why was there a need to divorce the larger battle from the more personal ones? If anything, the mere 235 pages that make up the novel does not justify its price tag of 18 British pounds (or S$45 - Singapore dollars). It's overcosted, and the whole "limited edition" thing is quite frankly, rubbish. Books are meant to be read and shared, not to be hoarded by collectors.



The writing style and content are okay. John French writes well, and his battle scenes are described competently. He might be no Dan Abnett or Graham McNeill, but he does his job adequately, and the characters are a joy to read about. I particularly like how he split the story into the viewpoints of four people, from Colonel Commander Silas Kord to Hrend, then Argonis, and then finally to Iaeo. He juxtaposes the goals and actions of these four characters, using Kord as a counterpoint to Hrend as the latter searches for the weapon Perturabo seeks, while Kord moves according to his suspicions that the Iron Warriors are attacking Tallarn for some insidious reason. They might be subtle, less direct opponents. On the other hand, Argonis and Iaeo have a common rival in Jalen, the Alpha Legion operative, who is investigating what the Iron Warriors' motives are. The way John French weaves and ties these four loose threads into a single, underlying plot is a joy to behold, and when everything comes together, particularly at the end, it's a really fun read.

So yeah, let me thank his wife, Liz French, and his editor, Laurie Goulding, for helping John French write this story. It had been entertaining in its own way, and I really like Silas Kord. I could relate to him, and he was quite the awesome character. Hrend is...well, I guess cool because Contemptor Dreadnoughts are always cool and that cover of him ripping open a tank (see above) just rocks. Argonis, on the other hand, is the typical Space Marine, y'know, loyal to his Primarch Horus (even though Sons of Horus is a traitor Legion), duty-bound, overly serious, blah blah. Iaeo is a really different viewpoint, providing insight into how the assassins of the Vanus Temple work. I can't say I really like her, but I did appreciate the difference she provided in viewpoints. She was cold, effective and cunning, even if brutal and merciless to her own allies. I might not like her character or the things she had done, but her thread was a very good read that provided an alternative perspective to the whole war. If anything, I feel Argonis was the loose end, an unnecessary thread who only existed so that his story and meeting with Jalen could be tied into Iaeo's encounter with the archenemy.

And wow, that twist at the end, where the faithful and loyal Origo turned out to be the third triplet of Jalen (after Iaeo subtly led the other two to their deaths) was just amazing. As I said, when it all came together, it just clicked so well.

However, that's probably the only part I like about the story, other than Kord being one of my favorite characters. The rest of the book kind of falls flat. This is not to say that it is a bad book (it is overcosted and not worth its price tag, though). My criticism stems from personal reasons rather than any fault of the writer. John French is a competent writer, no doubt about that. It's unfair to compare him to Dan Abnett or Graham McNeill or even Sandy Mitchell, who rank among the greats in terms of Black Library novelists. He's definitely better than Matt Ward, that's for sure.

Rather, what I don't like was the whole revisionist history thing. As you know, the Tallarn Desert Raiders are one of the most famous Imperial Guard regiments in the Warhammer 40K universe. You can check back in the old codex (2nd, 3rd, 5th ed) or Only War RPG books, and they all describe the Tallarn Desert Raiders as mobile guerilla fighters relying on hit-and-run tactics. They also described the Battle of Tallarn as a hollow victory for the Imperium, who managed to win the battle at great costs, primarily thanks to the Tallarn military conducting lightning-quick guerilla warfare against the Iron Warriors and making it so costly for them.

Yet, for some reason John French sounds like a closet Iron Warriors fan. Now, I don't think he is, but the writing style and content somehow implies that he loves the Iron Warriors, and the narrative often slants toward the Iron Warriors' favor. Throughout the whole book, the Iron Warriors are described as always winning, and the Imperium always losing. Okay, I get that the Imperial Army failed to break through and conquer the Sightless Warren fortress that the Iron Warriors constructed (or actually converted from the Sapphire City) THREE times. I mean, the fun of reading was to see how the Imperial Army went against overwhelming odds and drove out a Traitor Astartes Legion, right? But no. When every engagement (with the total exception being the Rogue Trader fleet called the Golden Fleet) goes the Iron Warriors' way, with them winning every engagement either detailed in the excerpt or in the narrative of the novel itself, something is seriously wrong here. This isn't a balanced tale of how the Imperium forced the Iron Warriors to pay a devastating cost. No, for some reason it seems that the Iron Warriors were winning...not easily, admittedly, but seriously? Every engagement?

For example, there was a scene where Silas Kord and his armored company were ambushed by Dark Mechanicum forces, and they were basically wiped out to only Kord's Malcador assault tank War Anvil and Origo's Scout Razor, but in almost the same chapter Hrend's armored team went and destroyed a company that included TWO super-heavies - 1 Baneblade and 1 Stormlord, even though they don't have any super-heavies of their own. To rub salt into wounds, he did so by destroying half of that armored company, including the Baneblade, without losing a single tank. He only lost 3 of his Predators and 1 fellow Contemptor Dreadnought to the Stormlord, whose Vulcan Mega-bolter chewed through...but they brought it down eventually. The Baneblade got destroyed too easily, with just a hit or two, and the Leman Russ tanks that escorted it did absolutely nothing. Yes, they were completely useless. It's as if the Stormlord alone was the only thing that could fight the Iron Warriors. Now, I'm not against the Iron Warriors winning, I just think they're winning way too easily, especially when the Imperium has been described throughout the entire book as losing battle after battle after battle. Seriously? Even the Golden Fleet that wrecked the Iron Warriors fleet before running away for some obscure reason (why not stick around and finish the fight?! What's the whole point of running through the system, wrecking orbits, destroying supply transports, only to leave right after that?!) wasn't a part of the Imperium.

Worse, it seems that John French has confused the Iron Warriors for Tallarn forces. As I wrote above, any Imperial Guard fan who is remotely familiar with the fluff and read the old codex and campaigns will know that the Tallarns are famous for their guerilla warfares, lightning-fast hit-and-run raids and cunning ambushes. Yet in this story, the roles are reversed. Iron Warriors, who are supposed to be masters at siege warfare, turn into the freaking ambushers in this story. Remember when I said Hrend and his armored company went and wrecked a company that had the Baneblade and Stormlord in it? Yeah, they did so in a Tallarn-styled ambush. If you're talking about tanks rushing in and taking an armored convoy by surprise, it should be the Tallarn doing that, hitting an Iron Warriors convoy then running away after inflicting maximum damage! Not the other way round! And in case you wonder if this was a one-off...it was not. Kord and his Tallarn armored company, who should be the one carrying out guerilla warfare, ended up being on the receiving end of a Dark Mechanicum ambush!

Oh, and the failed third attack on the Sightless Warren at the beginning of the book? Turned out that the Iron Warriors knew the Imperial Army's assault was coming, and they had ambushes ready to pincer the Tallarn armor and wipe them out as they attempted to retreat. So much for Tallarn being masters of guerilla warfare and determinedly wreaking havoc on the Iron Warriors by hitting and running and disappearing into the sand before the Iron Warriors could track them down and destroy them.

Yeah...if you're an Imperial Guard fan or familiar with Tallarn lore, you'll be going "HUH?! What in the Emperor's name!?" right now. Like I said, revisionist history.

To make matters worse, the Tallarn and Imperium were given their obligatory victory (because the fluff has already deemed it so) in a very grudging (or so I imagine) manner. No, the Imperium didn't win because they forced the Iron Warriors' hands and made the war too costly for the latter. They didn't win through sheer grit and determination. Nope. According to John French, the Imperium won only because the Iron Warriors, particularly Perturabo, the Lord of Iron, was ordered by Warmaster Horus to pull out. The way John French put it, the Iron Warriors and their Chaos forces could keep on going and win eventually, but Horus had to throw a fit and force Perturabo to withdraw all his forces from Tallarn just so he could have consistency with established fluff. I'm just as perturbed as Perturabo at this.

I mean, c'mon...the Iron Warriors bias is strong in this book. Even in the excerpts regarding the big picture, there was one scene where the Imperium forces conducted a surprise attack that broke through the Iron Warriors' orbital defenses and fleet to land reinforcements and armored vehicles for the final battle against them. Now I understand the need for a final battle that forced the Iron Warriors to withdraw, but as I said earlier, the way the final battle was concluded and ended via Horus forcing the Iron Warriors' Primarch to withdraw left a terrible taste in my mouth. I wanted the Imperium to at least have some credit for forcing their hand, not everything being strung along by the Iron Warriors as the entire book had been about (or by Iaeo, who was the one Imperial force who actually did any good). But despite the Imperial Navy's success in smashing thee warships and orbital platforms to land reinforcements, the Iron Warriors would soon counterattack and that this was only buying time. John French was basically implying that the Imperial Navy wouldn't win against the Iron Warriors' counterattack. Yet another bias slant toward the Iron Warriors. Ugh.

I mean, it wasn't enough that the Imperium won the war at great cost...but this revisionist history had the Iron Warriors winning all the way only to technically "lose" by being ordered to pull out by the Warmaster? That was a cheap, anti-climatic way to end the story, which was unfairly slanted toward the Iron Warriors almost the entire way. It's taking way too much liberty in rewriting the history of Tallarn and ignoring all the usual fluff about Tallarn Desert Raiders and their long history of guerilla warfare. Where was this guerilla warfare and hit-and-run raids they were so famous for? Not one mention of them actually carrying their specialties out, and when it was indeed executed, it was done by the enemy Iron Warriors who are supposed to be masters at siege, not ambushes!

On its own, Tallarn: Ironclad is a good read, and I honestly enjoyed the way the four different threads from the different viewpoints of several characters tied together into one single underlying plot. On the other hand, I couldn't stomach the Iron Warriors bias, and was more than annoyed at the way history was revised and rewritten to slant toward the forces of Chaos. Give the Imperium some credit, man. And the anti-climatic ending was just unsatisfying. Not only that, the big-scale battles were reduced to separated excerpts instead of being tied to the whole narrative, and the Tallarn and Iron Warriors seemed to be mixed up by a writer who confused who specialized in what...

As a side note, since I didn't like the ending where Iaeo tried to terminate Kord and his immobilized tank, I'm going to add a little something. Basically Iaeo failed to realize that Kord's distress call wasn't the only signal being transmitted. The Iron Hands have also been tracking down Menoetius and his Predator, and when they went to search for them in the Hacadia Flats, they found the damaged War Anvil. Silas Kord and his crew were rescued, and their report regarding a stray Iron Warriors armored assault group seemingly in the middle of nowhere was lost among the millions of reports submitted about the Battle of Tallarn. That's why nobody knew about the Cursus thing. In fact, Kord himself didn't know about it either, just that the Iron Warriors were searching for something beneath the earth. And at that time, he was too wounded to care what they were searching for, and by the time he recovered, nobody paid much attention to him to search for that place again.

Kord also retired after the Battle of Tallarn, probably to take responsibility for losing his entire company. Origo somehow survived and disappeared after that, most likely returning to the Alpha Legion. And the Tallarns lived happily ever after in this grimdark galaxy of Warhammer 40,000.

Well, anyway, as I said, the gripes I have with Tallarn: Ironclad are personal stuff concerning fluff. If you're looking for a book to read to pass the time and be entertained, Tallarn: Ironclad certainly achieves that. But beware, you are paying a premium for a thin book with not a lot of content. I can buy a Warhammer 40K novel that is twice or almost thrice the length of Tallarn: Ironclad for two-thirds of its price. So yeah...be warned that the price tag isn't justified. And if you're an Imperial Guard fan like me, prepare to be outraged by how the history for the Battle of Tallarn has been callously revised and rewritten to slant in the Iron Warriors' favor.

For the Emperor.