June 30, 2010

W40K: Blood Angels Assault Squad 1 (Assembled)

[caption id="attachment_324" align="alignleft" width="64" caption="Blood Angels"][/caption]

I was finally able to start on some new models for my next army, the Blood Angels.  The other day I wrote about modeling/painting my Sanguinary Priests (those were models I already had and converted) and now I officially started with the new models.

The other night I had purchased one box of the new Blood Angels Death Company box.  With this new box, you can either assemble Death Company, Tactical Squads or Assault Squads.  There is enough bitz in each box to assemble 5 models.  So at $33.00 a box and I need 20 Assault Marines that would come out to $132.00.  So I wanted to find a way to save a little.

Back to the Space Marine bitz box I have in my closet.  Low and behold I was able to find 10 Assault Marines.  So my plan of attack was now going to be to just purchase two boxes of the Death Company and spread out the Blood Angel bitz to form 2 units of 10 man Assault Squads.  Each 10 man Assault Squad is going to have 1 Sgt. with Power Fist, 2 Marines with Infernus Pistols and the remaining 7 Marines will be armed with BP/CCW.

Here is the first assembled Assault Squad that I pieced together.  I plan on getting them base later tonight and maybe by this weekend I can start painting them.

[caption id="attachment_375" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Blood Angels Assault Squad 1"][/caption]

WAB: Warhammer Ancient Battles Errata & Reference Sheet Available Now

[caption id="attachment_364" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Warhammer Historical©"][/caption]

"Following the release of the second edition of Warhammer Ancient Battles to widespread acclaim, lead writer Martin Gibbins has put together a detailed FAQ with the assistance of WABforum and WABlist members.

This document is available to download from the Warhammer Historical website here, and we have also put together a handy quick reference sheet to save you from flipping through the rulebook mid-game which you can find here."

June 29, 2010

W40K: Salamanders Vulkan He'stan

[caption id="attachment_317" align="alignleft" width="64" caption="Salamanders"][/caption]

Vulkan He'stan, Forgefather of The Salamanders is the chosen of his Chapter and this past weekend I finally got around to painting him for my son's Salamanders army.  Since the Space Marines Codex first came out in late 2008 we have been using a converted Vulkan for his army.  A few months ago I had my local FLGS order me the new Vulkan He'stan model from Games Workshop.  I had the model sitting here in Arizona waiting for us to move back down.  Once we arrived back in April I picked up my model and assembled and primed the model.  Since April he has been just sitting on my painting desk just staring back at me.

Sunday morning I had decided it was time to actually paint up Vulkan.  I applied the base coats first thing in the morning (before and after the England/Germany World Cup match).  When we arrived back from our Apocalypse game later in the evening I applied some of the highlights and just before retiring for the night applied a few washes and finished up the base.  The matte spray was then applied first thing Monday morning.  Without further ado, I present Vulkan He'stan:

[caption id="attachment_319" align="aligncenter" width="286" caption="Vulkan He'stan"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_320" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Vulkan He'stan"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_321" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Vulkan He'stan"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_322" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Vulkan He'stan"][/caption]

Painting Points: 1

June 28, 2010

Battle Report: W40K APOC Space Marines vs. Space Marines

[caption id="attachment_312" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Games Workshop©"][/caption]

Points: 4500
Mission:
Apocalypse
Objectives:
6
Deployment:
Apocalypse

Yesterday was the first time ever that I played a game of Apocalypse, and I can say that I really enjoyed it.  What used to keep me a way from playing Apocalypse was the 'battle formations'  After re-reading the rulebook over the weekend, I realized that you really do not have to play with the 'battle formations'.  Yes, they do add a lot to the game, but of you do not have all the models to form a 'battle formation' you can still play Apocalypse.

When I build an army,  I usually build that army to a set point limit.  I own a few armies where I can go 2000-3000 points, but most of my armies are set around 1500-1750 points.  So with this being said, I really do no own too many multiples of the same vehicles.  As of right now, I think I may be able to field one 'battle formation' and that is the Dark Eldar 'Splinter Raid Force'.

With that being said, my son and I still wanted to try Apocalypse and we decided to do 4500 points fully painted.  I really wanted to try my Ultramarines/Imperial Fists/Salamander army and my son went with around 3000 points of Dark Angels and 1500 points of Black Templars.  We followed all the rules in Apocalypse, 'No Force Org', 'Mission', 'Strategic Assets' and 'Scoring Units' except for the fact we were not using the 'battle formations'.

After deployment I decided to pick the 'strategic asset' "Hold At All Costs" which allows all non-vehicle units below 50% to still count as scoring, and my son chose 'Orbital Bombardment' which allows him once per game to drop the 'Apocalyptic Barrage'.  Sadly since we only had 3.5 hours to play and only finished 3 turns, he was not able to use his asset.

With only having 3.5 hours to play, we had to play fast.  I really wish we had the whole day or evening to play the game.  I was having a good time.  Of course I was blowing things up and holding objectives, but it was a blast.  If we could have played another 2-3 turns, I'm sure the game may have been a bit closer.  I ended up winning the game 5-1, but you never know with a few more turns.

I think what I enjoyed the most of Apocalypse was probably the 'No Force Org'.  It was great to be able to field 4 Terminator Units and  3 Dreadnoughts.  I still had 7 Troop choices, and some Heavy choices and a couple of named characters like Vulkan, Tigurius and Lysander (who by the way is lost some place in the 'warp').

I regret that I actually have not started playing Apocalypse sooner (like when it first came out), but going forward, anytime I want to play 3000+ points, it will be Apocalypse. I have plenty of armies now to choose from, so it will be nice to try a unit here or there.

Now I have to work on building me a table top for the house so we can have the late night Apocalypse games that go into the early hours of the morning.

W40K: Blood Angels Sanguinary Priests

[caption id="attachment_324" align="alignleft" width="64" caption="Blood Angels"][/caption]

I was originally planning to start working on these guys when my Assault Squads were ready to be primed, but with a delay in purchasing the rest of my Blood Angels, I decided to start on these guys this past weekend.

In my 1500 point Blood Angels army, I plan on running 3 Sanguinary Priests.  1 with each Assault Squad and 1 alongside Dante with the Sanguinary Guard.

Instead of ordering te Sanguinary Priests through Games Workshop and having three models all look like, I decided to rummage through my Space Marine boxes and see what I can come up with.  I found an old box of metal Space Marine Veterans.  I have rummaged through this Veteran box before and used various weapons and such but I still had at least three torsos left in the box.  I then managed to find some Jump Packs, Power Swords and Bolt Pistols and voila 3 Sanguinary Priest have been resurrected.

I would like to introduce all of you too Sanguinary Priests Movius, Larius and Curlius.




[caption id="attachment_292" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Blood Angels Sanguinary Priests"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_293" align="aligncenter" width="241" caption="Priest: Movius"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_294" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Priest: Larius"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_295" align="aligncenter" width="263" caption="Priest: Curlius"][/caption]

Painting Points: 3

June 19, 2010

W40K: Ultramarines Tigurius & Librarian

[caption id="attachment_329" align="alignleft" width="64" caption="Ultramarines"][/caption]

I can now say that my Space Marine Ultramarines are COMPLETE.  Last week I had decided that I was going to change this army from 1750 points to 1500 points.  What I did was take out 1 Sternguard squad and swapped it with a Dreadnought (we'll be saving the Sternguard for a Crimson Fists Chapter).

When I finished the Dreadnought the other day, all that was left to complete was Chief Librarian Tigurius and a Librarian.  The Ultramarines are my all Drop Pod assault themed army and I wanted to run 2 Librarians with this theme.

This morning I started to paint Tigurius and the Librarian and just a few minutes ago I was able to complete them.  I actually still have the banner to complete for Tigurius.  What I did was magnetize the banner with a very tiny magnet.  I wanted to do this for two reasons.  One, I can paint the banner separately and spend some more time on it.  Two, I did not want the banner to break off in battle or while in transit.  If I am going to paint a nice banner, I do not want it to get ruined.

I am hoping next week to possible do an Apocalypse battle for the first time.  I do not own any Super-Heavies so I never really tried Apocalypse, but now I want to be able to combine my different Space Marine armies for a larger game.  I think we are going to be trying 4500 points a side.  1500 points from of these Chapters.  Ultramarines/Salamanders/Imperial Fists vs. Dark Angels/Dark Angels/Black Templars.  Yes I know two Dark Angel armies.  Well my Blood Angels are not done yet and my son and I each have our own Dark Angels army.  I'll let you all know how that game turns out next week.

Anyways, here are the pictures of the 2 Librarians for the Ultramarines.

[caption id="attachment_255" align="aligncenter" width="275" caption="Ultramarines Librarian"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_256" align="aligncenter" width="273" caption="Ultramarines Librarian"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_257" align="aligncenter" width="278" caption="Ultramarines Tigurius"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_258" align="aligncenter" width="244" caption="Ultramarines Tigurius"][/caption]

Painting Points: 4

June 18, 2010

June 17, 2010

Battle Report: W40K Imperial Guard vs. Eldar

Games Workshop©
Eldar Craftworld Biel-Tan planned an assault on Planet Taros late last evening.  The Imperial Guard called in the 114th Cadians to protect and defend the planet.

Points: 1500

Mission:
Seize Ground

Objectives: 3

Deployment:  Spearhead

This was only the second siting of Craftworld Biel-Tan for my son, and unlike the first encounter with the Imperial Fists who barley held on for the win, the Imperial Guard were not going to show any mercy.

The Mechanized Biel-Tan Eldar were flying in 2 units of Guardians and 1 unit of Dire Avengers in Wave Serpents.  1 unit of Fire Dragons were arriving in a Falcon with a Night Spinner patrolling the far edges of the planet.  Phoenix Lord Asurmen was overseeing the attack with the Dire Avengers.

The 114th Cadians also rolled onto the battlefield fully Mechanized in Chimera's.  1 HQ with 2 Grenade Launchers / Lascannon, 1 Platoon Command with 2 Grenade Launchers / Lascannon, 3 Infantry Squads with Autocannons, 2 Veteran Squads armed with Melta Guns and Heavy Bolters.  Supporting the flank was a Hellhound Bane Wolf and supporting the rear were 2 Leman Russ.  1 Battle Tank variant with Plasma Canon sponson's and 1 Executioner.  The 114th were not going to lose planet Taros.

The outcome was not good for the Biel-Tan.  They were not able to coordinate with their gunners and were only able to destroy 1 Chimera.  The heavy arsenal of the 114th manage to "table" the battlefield and claim all 3 of the Objectives.

Honestly it was a lot closer through Turn 3.  The Eldar were holding 1 Objective and contesting the other 2.  It was not until Turn 4 where the Imperial Guard were able to bring on the heat and start to hit/destroy their targets.  The list my son was playing I feel is actually a strong list.  Some better luck with his Bright Lances and the outcome may have been different.  I hope he keeps on having fun playing with them and we shall see what happens next time.

W40K: Ultramarines Drop Pod's 4/5

Games Workshop©
[sarcasm on] After having so much fun painting the insides of Drop Pods 1-3 [sarcasm off] I decided to take the easy way out and glue the doors shut on Drop Pods 4 and 5.  Some players say I cannot shoot the Storm Bolters if the doors are closed, oh well, this is not a tournament army, but a friendly army.  I play for fun and most of my friends will allow me to still shoot.

With the modification to my list, all that is left to paint are my 2 Characters.  Tigurius and a Librarian.  I cannot believe it, a year and a half later and my Ultramarines are almost done.

Anyways, here are pictures of Drop Pods 4 and 5.






Ultramarines Drop Pod 4

Ultramarines Drop Pod 5


Painting Points: 20

June 15, 2010

W40K: Ultramarines Dreadnought

Games Workshop©
Back to our regular scheduled programming of finishing the Ultramarines, for now.

Early this morning I mentioned a possibility of modifying my Ultramarines from a 1750 point list down to a 1500 point list.  Well I decided to go that route.  In place of a second Sternguard Veteran squad with a Drop Pod, I swapped out that squad for a Dreadnought with Drop Pod.  I've always wanted to see how a Dread plays in a Drop Pod, so now is my chance.

I still had one more Dreadnought left over from the AOBR box set, and he was already assembled and sand glued to the base.  So during lunch I basecoated the model and finished him up.

So now that still leaves me with a Sternguard Veteran squad already assembled, what to do? what to do?  "Why, doesn't Kantor's special rule make all Sternguard units in your army a 'scoring unit', why I think he does".  So I went through my boxes to see what I have left for the Space Marines.

I have the above mentioned Sternguard squad, a Tactical squad from AOBR, a Scout squad with snipers and a Chaplain.  All I need to do is add Pedro Kantor a couple of Rhino's, a Vindicator and I'll have a decent 1000 point Crimson Fists army to play around with.  I'll probably run Pedro and the Chaplain with an 8 man Sternguard Squad and use them as my assault squad.  With +1 attack from Pedro and the ability to re-roll misses on the first turn of a charging assault from the Chaplain, this will give my Sternguard Squad 4 attacks on the charge that I can re-roll.  Not to shabby for a 1000 point list.

Well, here are a few pictures of the Dreadnought......

Ultramarines Dreadnought

Ultramarines Dreadnought

Ultramarines Dreadnought

Ultramarines Dreadnought

Painting Points: 5

Daily Chronicle: 6/15/2010: Building New Armies

Last week in the "Daily Chronicle" for 6/7/2010 I talked about playing games with 1500 or 1750 point armies.  After week of pondering and playing a few more games at the 1500 point level, I have decided on a personal note that the 1500 point games will be my games of choice.

I have also decided that going forward all new armies I build I will also build them to the 1500 point level.  Last month I had stated that I am a Collector/Gamer/Modeler, so I really love collecting armies for Warhammer 40,000 more than anything.  Not just assembled and gray plastic, but fully painted armies.  So by cutting down my point limit on future armies to 1500 points, I'll be able to spend more time collecting new armies.  For some armies I may even decide to do 1000 points.  If I ever want to combine my armies I can always play Apocalypse.

Since I have all the models for my Ultramarines to build them to 1750 points, I'll probably make that last my army to build at that point level.  I have been contemplating on reducing them to 1500 points and I may still decide to that.  I am still playing around with lists for 1500 points and with the models that I had already converted/painted.

Since I have yet to start painting my Blood Angels, I have also reduced them down to 1500 points.  My list is similar to what I was running for 1750 except I would have to drop one Assault Squad.  So there is $66 in models that can be used for another army.  The Blood Angels will be starting soon.  I have Dante and 3 Priests already assembled.  I have been waiting to start painting until I can get my Assault Squads assembled.  This weekend or next I should be able to finally get a box of Blood Angels to get them started.

I am still going to play 1750+ point games and I have plenty of armies I can choose from for these games (Black Templars 2500+, Dark Angels 3000+, Dark Eldar 2500+, IG 2000+), just going forward I'm trying to keep them at 1500.

After the Blood Angels I am not sure what would be next.  I have been thinking about an all bike Space Marine army led by Khan, or maybe even start getting the Tau.  Price wise they may the same.  Space Marine bikes cost $45 for 3 bikes I would probably need 15-20 bikes.  So we'll see which way we decide to proceed.

Other than that, this has been/will be a slow week in painting.  I am still assembling Eldar vehicles for my son, I have 2 more Fire Prisms to assemble for him, and I would like to try a Spearhead game or maybe even an Apocalypse game this weekend.  Most likely it will probably be Spearhead since my son would want to try his Eldar and we only have around 1900 points for him.

June 13, 2010

W40K: Imperial Fists Lysander

Games Workshop©
The Imperial Fists are now complete.  1500 points in exactly 2 weeks.  Besides finishing up the Devastator Squad yesterday, I was also able to work on Lysander.

With characters I do try and spend a little bit more time on them than just regular infantry.  Washes were applied and then I went back and did a few more highlights.

I really do like the way this "tabletop" army has come out.  It gives me another play style option for my games.  They did make their maiden voyage last night against some Eldar and did manage to take the win 1-0 in 'Seize Ground'.




Lysander

Lysander

Lysander



Painting Points: 2

W40K: Imperial Fists Devastator Squad

Games Workshop©
Yesterday I was able to have some time and continue working on the Imperial Fists.  All I had left was 1 Devastator Squad with Missile Launchers and Lysander in order to complete my 1500 points.

Here are the pictures of the Devastator Squad.  I wanted this squad to stand out just a bit, so I decided to paint their shoulder pads in all black.









Imperial Fists Devastator Squad

Painting Points: 5

June 11, 2010

W40K: Imperial Fists Terminator Squads 1-3

GamesWorkshop©
I decided to work on all 3 Terminator Squads for my Imperial Fists army all at the same time.  That is why there has not been any updates this week.

Well, all 3 squads are now done.

For doing a speed paint on them without any highlights, I am actually quite happy on how they turned out.

All that is left for the Imperial Fists now is Lysander and 1 Devastator Squad.

I was able to play-test this last this past Sunday.  I was lucky and all 3 Terminator Squads arrived on Turn 2.  We shall see how this army plays out when I am not so lucky.


Imperial Fists Terminator Squad 1

Imperial Fists Terminator Squad 2

Imperial Fists Terminator Squad 3



Painting Points: 30



June 10, 2010

W40K: Eldar Fire Prism

Games Workshop©
This past Saturday I purchased the new Eldar Fire Prism kit as part of my son's 8th Grade graduation present.  Well last night he decided to open the box and he noticed that the clear sprue that has the canopies and the Fire Prism Crystals were missing.

This is the second time I had something miss-packaged from Games Workshop (the first time I was shorted some Termagants and has some Hormagaunts instead), but this is the first time I had called GW about it.

I waited until this morning when GW Customer Service was open (9:30 AM CST) and placed my call.  John from Customer Service had answered my call.  I explained to him we just purchased the new Fire Prism this past Saturday at Empire Games in Mesa, AZ and I was missing the clear plastic sprue.  John looked in their system to see if they just had the sprue.  They did not have it listed as a separate catalog item and he said they would just have to send me a new Fire Prism kit.  I said great and John proceeded to take all my information.  He says I should have the new kit within a week.  Let's just hope it has the clear plastic sprue.

Besides placing an order with GW, this is the first time I really had to call for Customer Support.  I just want to say that my experience with them was excellent.  We all hear stories about bad customer service, it was far from that with my call today.

So now that leaves me with a Fire Prism without any clear plastic pieces.  The nice thing about the new Fire Prism kit is that you can also make the new Night Spinner vehicle from the same kit.  The Night Spinner does not use the plastic crystals, but it does use the canopies.  I figure I'll go ahead and model the kit as a Night Spinner and make some of my own canopies out of "green stuff".  I know I'll have to paint the canopies instead of being clear, but it is a free model and I am not going to complain.

My son is working on this army himself, but I am helping him built the vehicles.  I'll be sure to add some pictures of his Eldar army here on my blog, and you'll also be able to follow his progress on his blog "Eye of Vulkan".

Once the new kit comes in from GW, I'll be sure and comment on this post letting everyone know if the plastic sprue did arrive in the new kit.  Let's keep our fingers crossed.

June 7, 2010

Daily Chronicle: 6/7/2010: 1500 or 1750 Points

I know this has been talked about plenty of times everywhere, but lately I have been wanting to lean towards the 1500 point games of Warhammer 40,000.  This past Thursday night I played my Imperial Guard in a 1500 point game, then yesterday I play-tested my Imperial Fists at 1500 points and I am really starting to enjoy this point level.

The Warhammer 40,000 rulebook uses 1500 point armies as their samples, the UK GT also uses the 1500 point level, but here in the states we tend to lean towards 1750 or 1850 points in our friendly and tournament games.  Don't get me wrong, I have no problems playing at the 1750 point level, just lately it seems that I am also enjoying the 1500 point level and may want to lean towards this for my friendly games and save the larger point level games for when I play expansion like Spearhead.

I'm currently running a 40K Summer/Fall League here in Arizona and I'll also be running the 'Tides of War' : "Desert Assault" GT in September and both of these are run at the 1750 point level.  So I'll still be getting a lot games in at 1750 points, but I think for a change of pace in my weeknight gaming I'll be switching to 1500 points.

At the 1500 point level when you run a special character, he takes up a lot of points, so you really have to think about your unit selections for the rest of your army.  When you start playing the larger point games, the choices are not that difficult.

I'll probably still build most of my armies to 1750 points, but some of them like my Imperial Fists, I have no problem stopping at 1500.  Then I can collect more armies.

So what's your take?, do you all enjoy playing the smaller point games? Or the larger point games?  Friendly which do you prefer? Tournaments which do you prefer?

One last thing for today's 'Daily Chronicle', I decided to remove my Dark Elves off the list of "Current Projects" on my Sidebar.  Seeing how I have not touched Warhammer Fantasy in quite a few months, and currently do not have any plans to move forward with it I am reserving the "space" for more Warhammer 40,000 armies.

W40K: IG Leman Russ Battle Tank

Games Workshop©
Well with the new Imperial Guard Leman Russ Battle Tank kit being released this past Saturday, you'd think this post was about the new kit, sorry.

When I first started buying the models for my Imperial Guard army, I purchased somewhere along the lines 14 Chimera's.  Seeing how that I was not going to need all 14, I traded one plus cash for a Leman Russ Battle Tank.  Since this trade was a few months ago, it is obviously not the new kit.

I started assembling my Leman Russ this past Saturday night and I was able to complete it yesterday.  Seeing how I already had new kit for the Leman Russ Executioner, I wanted this Battle Tank to look close to it.  So I left off the covers on the tracks and swapped out the turret cover to match the newer one.  I think it looks pretty close to my Executioner.  I also used some of the extra pieces from the Executioner (Punisher gun, Melta sponsons) and a friend of mine has given me some of the metal Plasma Cannon sponsons so that now I can run the Leman Russ Battle Tank or the Leman Russ Punisher and I can also swap out the sponsons for either Heavy Bolter, Meltaguns or Plasma cannons.  I opted not to model the Heavy Flamer sponsons since I usually do not get that close to the enemy with my large tanks.  I prefer the sit back and shoot approach.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of the Leman Russ with some of the different add-ons.
Leman Russ Battle Tank with Lascannon and Heavy Bolters

Leman Russ Punisher with Heavy Bolters

Meltagun sponsons

Plasma cannon sponsons

Painting Points: 10

Battle Report: W40K Imperial Fists vs. Dark Angels

Games Workshop©
Yesterday (Sunday 6/6/10) I took out the Imperial Fists for a play-test game against my sons Dark Angels.  The Imperial Fist army is 1500 points (I wont be expanding this army, the plan is to keep them at 1500 points and I for larger games I can add in the Ultramarines or any other standard marines I may have) and I tried to theme the army around Lysander.  I do not mind painting different Space Marine Chapters as long as I have a different play style for each Chapter.  There is no sense having the same Space Marine army just painted with different colors.  So with the Imperial Fists I decided to go the route of the Terminators.

The 1500 points Imperial Fists army consists of the following:



HQ
Lysander

Elites
5x Terminators w/ SB,PF; 1 Cyclone Missile Launcher; 1 Sgt w/ SB,PS
5x Terminators w/ SB,PF; 1 Assault Cannon; 1 Chainfist; 1 Sgt w/ SB,PF
5x Terminators w/ SB,PF; 1 Heavy Flamer; 1 Chainfist; 1 Sgt w/ SB,PF

Troops
10x Tactical Squad w/ Missile Launcher, Flamer; 1 Sgt w/ PW, Meltabomb, Teleport Homer; Rhino
10x Tactical Squad w/ Missile Launcher, Flamer; 1 Sgt w/ PW, Teleport Homer; Rhino

Heavy
5x Devastator Squad w/ 4 Missile Launcers; 1 Sgt

I believe I am right at 1500 points.

So we rolled up a random mission from the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook and we played: Annihilation with Spearhead deployment.  I won the roll-off and choose to go second.  With 3 squads of Terminators deep striking, I wanted to go second.

Once the Dark Angels finished their deployment, it was time to see what the Imperial Fists can do.  I deployed both of the Tactical Squads in their Rhinos as far back as possible in my deployment zone and inside some Area Terrain.  I figure with the 48" range of the Missile Launchers they would be safe and I am protecting Kill Points.  For Lysander special rule "Bolster Defences" I chose an old ruined building and deployed the Devastator Squad inside there.  This will give them a 3+ cover save against any Dark Angel Plasma Cannons.  The 3 squads of Terminators will be deep striking along with Lysander.

Turn 1:
Dark Angels started the game with Turn 1 and concentrated their fire power on my Devastator Squad.  With the Predator, Whirlwind and Tactical Squads firing at the ruined building the Devastator Squads were not able to make all their saves and we had 2 casualties.  Imperial Fists tried to counter on the bottom of Turn 1 with 2 Missile Launcher shots from the Dev Squad and 2 Missile Launcher shots from the Tactical Squads I was only able to get a few "crew shaken" or "crew stunned" results.

Turn 2:
Dark Angels again concentrated on the Devastator Squad.  With the Rhinos out of reach of the Plasma Cannons their only squad they can shoot at was my Dev Squad.  We managed to lose the remaining 2 Missile Launchers, but the Sgt. was able to stick around.  Imperial Fists rolled for their reserves.  All 3 Terminator Squads were coming into the game.  We choose to deep strike one unit behind the Predator, one unit near a Tactical Squad hiding in cover, and the third unit we were hoping to get close to a Rhino, but we got to close and had to roll on the mishap chart.  My son then got to deploy that squad where he wanted.  He tried to place them out of the way as much as he can.  Once the Terminators landed they tried to wreck some havoc with their shooting.  Terminator Squad near the Troops were to far away for the Heavy Flamer so they unleashed the Storm Bolters.  The squad with the Assault Cannon (which was on the mishap chart) was within range of 24" and unleashed the Storm Bolters and Assault Cannon.  Squad 3 with Lysander and a Cyclone Missile Launcher concentrated their shooting on the Predator.  We managed to kill a few Marines and achieve a "Crew Stunned" on the Predator.  It was not what I had hoped for, but it did render the Predator useless for one turn.  A Missile Launcher shot out from one of my Rhino's and managed to Explode one of the Dark Angel Rhino's causing an emergency disembarkation for Azrael and his unit.  1-0

Turn 3:
Dark Angel were making there way closer to my Rhino's.  With one of their 2 Rhino's destroyed they had to make their way on foot.  Dark Angels Assault Squad came into the game this turn but with a scatter off the table he had to roll on the mishap chart.  I got to place his unit anywhere I wanted.  I decided to place them as far away as possible inside some area terrain.  The Dark Angels then shot up some Terminators ( I actually managed to lose a few, damn dice) and they tried to take out the one lone Sgt. from the Dev Squad.  The Sgt. managed to stick around.  Imperial Fists now had their turn.  First the Sgt. from the Dev Squad was heading for the hills.  He jumped down from the second story of the ruined building and hid on the first floor where there were no open windows.  They had to protect the Kill Point.  Lysander broke off from his squad and moved closer to the Predator.  His original squad then moved closer to the Whirlwind.  Heavy Flamer squad moved closer to the troops in cover and my Assault Cannon squad was going to make they way towards Azrael.  My round of shooting was not that great.  Heavy Flamer and Storm Bolters managed to kill a few more Marines.  Missile Launchers all had no luck against vehicles, but one of the ML's from my Tactical Squad shot a Frag missile at Azrael's unit and managed to kill a Marine.  With the shooting obsolete, it was time to see what the Terminators can do in Assault.  Lysander charged the Predator with his S10 Thunder Hammer and managed to destroy the Predator.  His original squad managed to destroy the Whirlwind, and Squad 2 assaulted the Troops in cover and LOST the battle.  With the Lysander "Stubborn" rule for all my units, the Terminators were not going anywhere.  3-0

Turn 4:
Dark Angels are finally within range of my Rhino's and the Meltagun misses.  Assault Squad with Plasma Pistols can only Stun the other Rhino.  In the Assault phase my Terminators (only 1 left) managed to get destroyed. 3-1.  Imperial Fists now get to counter.  Shooting again was not ver good for the Imperial Fists.  We did manage to thin down a few more Marines from Azrael's unit and the Marine unit I was about to assault.  Lysander then assaulted the Troop Squad that had wiped out my unit, the squad that destroyed the Whirlwind also joined in on the fight.  With Lysander and a full Unit, we managed to cut down the Marines. 4-1


Turn 5:
Dark Angels Meltagun from Azrael's unit destroy's a Rhino, Assault Squad with Plasma Pistols and Meltabomb still can only manage to "Stun" the other Rhino.  4-2.  Imperial Fists; Lysander joins back up with his original unit and makes way towards another Troop Squad in cover.  The Imperial Fists can now actually shoot.  Missile Launcher, Flamer, Storm Bolters, Assault Cannon all concentrated on Azrael's Unit and we managed to finish them off along with Azrael taking a few wounds.  Lysander and company assault the unit in cover.  With Lysander just out of base contact, he was not able to strike any blows.  The Dark Angels managed to stick around for that round of combat. 5-2.  We roll and the game continues.

Turn 6:
The Dark Angels still cannot do anything to one of my Rhino's and it manages to still survive.  Azrael assaults one of my Tactical Units and manages to win combat.  The IF's fail their leadership role but still managed to stick around losing 1 more casualty.  Lysander and company finished off the other Dark Angel troop unit.  6-2.  Bottom of Turn 6.  All that was left was the combat with Azrael.  The Imperial Fists were able to contain the strikes from Azrael and survived another round of combat.  We roll again and the game ends.  Final score: 6-2 for the Imperial Fists.

The list was fun to play especially in the Kill Point mission.  With only 9 Kill Points available and 4 of those in Terminator Armour it is pretty strong.  We'll see how this list does with objectives.  I have only 4 possible scoring units with objectives.

Deep Striking Terminators I am not found of.  But you really cannot have any Land Raiders in a 1500 point game.  Maybe if I was to expand to 1750 or 2000 points I would then add 1 or 2 Land Raiders.

All in all, it was another fun game and a chance to roll some dice.



Daily Chronicle: 6/6/2010

Just a quick Daily Chronicle for today.  Empire Games ran what looked to be a cool scenario for Flames of War.  Jimmy the Manager at EG built an awesome table this week for D-Day (which is today).  His table was quite beautiful.  I havent touched FoW in over a year so we did not participate.  I ended up play-testing my Imperial Fists this morning instead.

After our quick 1500 point game, we had planned an 8th Grade surprise graduation party for my oldest son.  Nothing too fancy, my sister and niece are visiting this week from Chicago, so it was them, my parents, and our family all over at my parents house for a late lunch.  I dont think my son really expected the party.  He knew we were heading over there for lunch and for some swimming, and was surprised when he saw the balloon and cake.

My wife and I (mostly I) had bought a few things for my son.  When I was growing up, we always had large parties with families for special occasions and I wanted to get some items for my son.  On the hobby side of things, I picked up some items for him to get his Eldar army to 1500 points.  This is the army that he will build/paint by himself.  I picked up 1 box of Fire Dragons, 1 box of Dire Avengers, 3 Wave Serpents and 1 new Fire Prism (that was released yesterday).  I think he's happy, he's actually assembling the Avengers right now.  Since he is going into high school next year, we also purchased him a new laptop.  He's been using a really old desktop this past year, so we got him something a bit faster.  I am a "mac" guy and really love them, I just could not justify the $1200 to purchase him a "mac".  Plus 'Army Builder' does not work on a "mac" unless you load Windows.  I might as well save half the money and purchase him a Windows 7 machines.  I then went ahead and upgraded Army Builder to version 3.2 and also loaded that for him.  Not sure if he knows yet about AB3.2 (he hasn't powered on the laptop yet.)  I think it was a good day for him.

One more item, I did manage to complete my Leman Russ this morning for the Imperial Guard.  I'll post pics of that tank in the morning.

I started off saying a "quick Daily Chronicle for today"......  I guess it was longer than I had thought.

A quick Battle Report of today's game will come later and as mentioned above pictures of the Leman Russ tomorrow.

June 5, 2010

W40K: Imperial Fists Tactical Squad 2

Games Workshop©
Tactical Squad 2 was finished the other day for my Imperial Fists army, but I just finally got around today to take a picture and get it posted.  Not too much different on this squad compared to the first, except I went a little lighter on the "black wash", especially on the helmets.

Other than getting that squad done, I have not really done to much.  Starting working on another Leman Russ today for my Imperial Guard, and I have been getting games in.  So I guess that's a good thing.

I still have 3 Squads of Terminators to do for this army and Lysander himself.  I also have to get back to painting the Ultramarines.  I still have 1 Vet Squad, 2 Drop Pods and my Characters to finish up for the UM.  I'm actually in nor rush to finish the UM or the IF.  When they get done, they will get done.  I still have awhile before I can start on the Blood Angels anyways, and I also have some more Imperial Guard models that I would like to get done.

Imperial Fists Tactical Squad 2

Painting Points: