Twitter Primarch Deathmatch Quarter-Final Result - Mortarion v Alpharius/Omegon

"This is unbelievable!! Mortarion has been struck down twice by the dynamic duo but has risen from the dead both times!"

"Yes truly epic scenes here in the Deathmatch arena as he drags himself back up after 2 serious beatings."

"The twins appear to be preparing themselves for another onslaught. They're preening in the corner at the moment, making sure that they look their best for the remembrancers."

"The polish is out as they make their armour look nice and shiny..."

"Wait a moment. I don't think they've noticed the big guy....he's right behind Omegon.....Up comes the scythe....."

"And Omegon is completely oblivious....he's got some deodorant - lynx I think..."

"Of course it's Lynx you idiot, these are demigods..."

"I can't believe he's worried about smelling nice in the deathmatch arena..."

"The arm goes up.....the scythe comes down....he sprays.....and Mortarion is down!!!!!"

"Its a full frontal floral scent right in the face!!!!"

"Of course!! It's taken the smelly one down! Why has nobody thought of this before? Anti-perspirant, the only think, apart from odour eaters, that could down the death guard!!"

"And its all over. The Alpha Legion are going crazy while the Death Guard are holding their noses. Alpharius and Omegon have made it to the semi's!"

"So we're down to four Primarchs, down from 18. Who will battle each other in the semi finals?
Stay tuned for the draw coming soon..."

fourdadsoftheapocalypse.blogspot.co.uk – A blog about Warhammer 40k and the Horus Heresy by four Dads

Twitter Primarch Deathmatch Quarter final 3 and 4 Draw

"So there are already two Primarch's through to the semi finals. Who will join Magnus and Russ?"

"Well tonight we find out as the draw for the last two quarter finals is about to take place. Left in the pot we have Sanguinius, Mortarion, Alpharius/Omegon and Angron."

"So who will it be and who will be making the draw?"

"Well I can answer that for you, in fact here he is, it's DANTE!!!"

"And this could be some time. Come on grandad get that zimmer cracking!!"

3 hours later.....

"Finally he's reached the table. So who will it be? One old crooked claw reaches to the pot...."

1 hour later....

"And...yes he has the ball in his hand!  Its.....oh hang on he's getting his glasses on..."

Another hour.....

"SANGUINIUS!!!"

"But who will he face?"

2 hours later....

"ANGRON!!!!!"

"Wow what a match up this is going to be!! Beauty and the beast!!"

"This also means that the last quarter-final will be MORTARION v ALPHARIUS/OMEGON."

"So we start with Sanguinius v Angron. Get voting @4dadsapocalypse on Twitter to see who progresses to the semi finals."

Twitter Primarch Deathmatch Week 5 Result - Alpharius/Omegon v Lorgar

"...Omegon climbs to the top rope, Alpharius sat like royalty on his shoulders. Balancing on the corner post the duo raise their fists in the air facing the baying, delirious crowd."

"Legion! Legion!" the crowd chant in adoration.

"This is it...here it comes, the Alphadown! The duo slowly tip backwards from the post, elbows are out. No-one has survived this most famous of finishing moves before. Lorgar is immobile , its going to be messy.......oooooooh that has to hurt. The twins pick themselves up from the wrecked corpse of the Word Bearers Primarch and slowly, holding arms aloft, exit the arena."

"Well Deathmatch fans the Alpha Legion leaders are through to the quarter finals and its hard to see how any Primarch can beat a tag team."

"While the studio calms down here, we are going for a break only to be back soon for the next Deathmatch draw - Stay tuned"

Twitter Primarch Deathmatch Week 5 - Alpharius/Omegon v Lorgar

Introducing our week 5 draw tonight in the studio our special guest.......Eldrad Ulthran!

 

As 'little Yoda' wanders onto the stage tonight it is worth remembering that we have seen pretty much half of the Primarch's now and we should be able to begin to predict just who could emerge in the draw...

Eldrad is now in position, the bowls of drawing balls in front of him and doesn't he look great for someone who is older than life itself. The question is: will this be a random draw or will it be 2 opponents who satisfy the needs of old jawaballs? Is it going to be Armageddon all over again -allegedly of course....(stern looks from lawyers).

And here we go, one of the balls rises mysteriously up from the bowl and glides to a rest on the table in front of Eldrad. A second ball follows suit.....no further actions......a high pitched voice emits itself from Eldrad's direction: "Alpharius/Omegon versus Lorgar".

A possible tag team on Lorgar from the twins it seems but before we announce the draw proper, in the interest of fairness and to make sure that the old crone's foresight still works we'll just get a servitor to open up those balls.......yes it's confirmed Week 5 is indeed the Ugly Sisters versus J.K Rowling.

Alpharius and Omegon (maybe, who knows who it might be really) v Lorgar master of the word, inventor of swearing. Alpha Legion v Word Bearers.

Get voting now on the Twitter poll on @4dadsapocalypse

Horus Heresy Book Review - Scars by Chris Wraight (No spoilers)

I am slowly getting through the Black Library Horus Heresy series and thoroughly enjoying my trip through Warhammer history. I find it incredibly interesting to read each author's interpretation of the legions and the events that have taken place in the Warhammer universe. In truth some of the books have been brilliant - Horus Rising, Flight of the Eisenstein, Outcast Dead, Deliverance Lost & Fear to Tread to name just a couple - and some have been pretty boring - Descent of Angels, Battle for the Abyss, Nemesis, Mechanicum, Legion. I would say that on average though you can't go too wrong with this series of books as there is always something in these novels that is enjoyable and worth finding out about.

When it came to reading Scars I have to say that I was definitely NOT looking forward to this book. I generally have no interest in the White Scars and before the book had no idea about the chapter, their Primarch or their history in the Horus Heresy. Also I hadn't read a lot of Chris Wraight's novels previously although the one I had read (Battle for the fang) I thoroughly enjoyed. So with this slightly negative view off I went to join the Khan...

In the novel we are treated to many different legionsof Space Marines - From the White Scars & Space Wolves to the Alpha Legion, Word Bearers and Death Guard. We also get to meet 4 Primarchs - Khan & Mortarian in the main and Russ and Magnus chipping in with bit parts. With the meeting of these primarchs and legions we are treated to some interesting reveals and backstory of the Horus Heresy that has not been covered before and the characters in the book are extremely compelling which made me want to keep reading to find out more.

The story has a number of sub-plots and distinctly follows two storylines which can be a little disjointed but are both important to the story and the Horus Heresy as a whole with a great reveal about the workings of the Word Bearers and how they are controlling things.

The most enjoyable parts of the story for me were the interactions between the primarchs which just make me want to know what would happen if.....(once you've read it you'll understand!) and the decision that the Khan must make whether to be loyal to the Emperor or Horus. Chris Wraight did a magnificent job of getting the feeling of confusion across to the reader as bits of information, messages and rumours about the wider galaxy reached the White Scars creating division and corruption amongst the legion.

The poorer parts of the book in my opinion were the pace - I thought that at times it slowed down when things had just started to get going - which is probably due to this book being originally released as a series ebook in parts. Also I thought that some of the fighting and battle scenes weren't as engaging as they should have been. I'm not sure why but it just didn't feel like I was in the battle with shells and swords clattering around me.

As a whole I really enjoyed the book and I think it is well worth a read. It compliments and extends the Horus Heresy background, tells the story of the White Scars chapter of which little has been written before and is an interesting standalone story with some great characters.

I give this book an 8/10

Let me know what you think

James

HH Book VI Retribution - Review of 'Conclave of the Lost' Mission

Hi there, last week Dad James and I enjoyed trying out one of the missions from Book VI. Conclave of the Lost, is based on an Ultramarine v Alpha Legion encounter and sees the loyalist Ultramarine Commander being duped into meeting his counterpart alone at an alien ruin in the midst of a barren wasteland, what could go wrong, eh?!

Mission set-up
Well quite a lot as you might imagine - the mission sees the loyalist side (my VIIth Legion Imperial Fists on this occasion) delivering their commander and any other HQ on the loyalist side to the centre of the gaming board.....alone!

The board itself should match the description of the battlefield in the short story; in the centre is a large plateau with an alien ruin in the middle. Around it should be very little terrain and certainly nothing LOS blocking.

The loyalists deploy their HQs (I had a Primus Medicae and Praetor) within 6" of the centre point and everything else (other than 3 troops) goes into reserve. The traitors (James' Flesh Tearers re-imagined as a break-away element from the Blood Angels) are all put into reserve. My Imperial Fist troops (two squads of Breachers) deploy 18" away from the board centre. We each have a deployment zone in opposite table corners.

Victory Conditions
If James kills my HQs by T3 he gets 5points, if they survive I get 5 points. Normal VPs after that.

The Armies
Flesh Tearers - 3 squads jump assault marines, 1 squad jump death company, 2 tac squads in drop pods, 1 dreadnought in drop pod, chaplain, storm eagle, Land Raider Redeemer w 5 THSS Termies and baal predator. Its a fast army, damn fast!
Imperial Fists VIIth - Praetor, Primus Medicae, 2 squads Breachers, 1 Leviathan, Spartan w 5 THSS Termies, 7 Heavy Support Lacsannons, Sicarian and kheres mortis contemptor.

Turns Highlights
The Flesh Tearers always go first and James drops two drop pods (both hits) between my HQs and my troops shouting "you shall not pass" in their best Gandalf voices! He takes a wound off the Primus and I kill a few with shooting in my turn.

James and I get most of our reserves on in this turn with the exception of my Spartan with Termies and the Flesh Tearers ....

My HQs are totally cut off and by end T2 he has killed the Primus and taken Praetor down to last wound. The Praetor is locked into combat by the Know No Fear special rule. My Breachers fail their charge and cannot reach him to support.

My reserves pour all their fire into his Land Raider and do nothing! I was desperate at this point and it looks like he could table me by T3!

Being uber-sportsman-like James continually accepts challenges in CC and also somehow both his Chaplain and my Praetor fail to kill each other. The challenge rule seemingly keeping his other warriors from fighting my Praetor (I think we were playing this rule wrong as it seems so unfair).

Long story short, the VIIth Legion clean house as James gets stuck on my HQ in the middle of the table, a few lucky rolls later (for me) and the Tearers are on the run! Victory for the loyalists!

Mission review
Well I have to say it was huge fun and very stressful at the same time. I think that unless you have a fast army like James's that you have no chance as the traitor player - the HQs would be too hard to reach and you must have some way of deep-striking or drop-podding in to get them.

I also think the 5points is too big. Once you have that it is hard for the other to come back, in total its a 10 point swing and I think that 3 would make it fairer.

I got 'lucky' in that I think we played the challenge rule wrong and James just couldn't kill the HQ. Against a better traitor HQ unit I could have been tabled at the beginning of turn 3. This mission feels  like it has massive potential for big wins.

In summary, it was what great narrative style gaming should be about and the mission was full of character. We both loved the open table with no LOS blocking terrain too. The verdict 7/10 - give it a go (but read the mission and tailor your armies accordingly).

Happy gaming!

Forgeworld Friday! New Cataphracti Kits and Alpha Legion Upgrades

Forgeworld rarely let us down and this Friday is no exception. We are getting some new Cataphracti weapons kits and the Alpha Legion Headhunters get a kit to upgrade your regular troops.

The Alpha Legion Headhunters are upgrades to your existing kits rather than full kits themselves - I can't decide if that works out better financially - probably not always depending on what you have lying around the work bench. Dad Dave saw these in the 'flesh' yesterday at WarhammerWorld and thinks the detailing is some of Forgeworlds best. I have to say that they certainly look that way. Here's what FW say:

The most secretive of all Legions, the Alpha Legion developed the original Seeker Squads. Tasked with eliminating the enemy’s command structure, the tactics and training of this unique unit type were perfected by the XXth Legion with the formation of Headhunter Kill Teams.


The Cataprachti Kits look great and expands the range of choices for these very popular terminators. I don't have any (yet) as my current style of painting favours the flatter surface areas of the Tartarus Terminators, but maybe later this year...Here's what FW say:

Today also sees the release of two new upgrade sets designed for Cataphractii Terminators, specifically for the plastic Cataphractii pattern Terminators you’ll find in The Horus Heresy: Betrayal at Calth. One set is made up of five power axes and the arms to weild them, and the other includes thunder hammers, power mauls, combi-weapons, a reaper autocannon, and a plasma blaster. Awesome weapons of war for your Terminators, arm yours today!