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.

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