Building a Zone Mortalis Board from scratch

Dad Rich and I have played a few games of Zone Mortalis (See Imperial Fists v Flesh Tearers here) over the last 12 months. It is a fun way to play, quick and provides a very different experience from standard 40k.

With regards to a board to play on, he has been sneaky enough to purchase a Zone Mortalis set without his better half knowing and has airbrushed it up to a playable standard fairly quickly!

Rich's Zone Mortalis board

Unfortunately not all of us are lucky enough to be able to afford to get a Forge World board and also, although it looks cool I quite fancied a Zone Mortalis board that would be more unique and varied rather than grey spaceship walls. In fact a dungeon style set of ruins took my fancy so I did a bit of research online and received my inspiration from Machu Picchu with a grey, grassy style. With this in mind I set to work designing and building my own board from scratch...

40k Flesh Tearers v Grey Knights - 8th edition comment on the Grey Knight Codex

 The last time my Flesh Tearers played against Steve's Grey Knights was well back in 7th Edition and I got well and truly tabled in about 4 turns! I was determined to get my revenge as Steve wanted to try out his brand new Grey Knight Codex for the first time.

8th Edition 40k game - Flesh Tearers v Deathwing

After 4 wins on the bounce my Flesh Tearers were challenged to a 100 power game against a very elite force - the Deathwing!

This I was not looking forward to as I was running my normal super mobile themed army - remember this is not a power build but a Flesh Tearer army I have slowly painted up over about 3 years that, in my eyes, totally fits their background. Mostly jump pack assault troops with a sizeable death company and a few terminators to bulk it out. The Land Raider and Baal Predator have no long range effectiveness being equipped with flamestorm cannons! Basically the army does what Flesh Tearers do - run at the enemy and hope for the best!!

The problem is that although my army is themed for in your face close combat, it's not particularly good at it. I have got assault marines after all! So coming up against about 30 terminators, a land raider and some knights who will literally walk into my lines and shout "come and have a go if you think you're hard enough!" Scares me rather a lot!

The Deathwing assemble

8th Edition 40k - Flesh Tearers v Orks - comment on the game and rules

Rolling on for my 3rd game of 40k in 8th edition dad Steve challenged me to pit my Flesh Tearers against his Orks. He obviously wanted revenge for the loss his Blood Angels took last time and has put his faith in the dirty xenos greenskins - fool! I think Mephiston will show him the error of his ways!!

Pre-amble

This was going to be interesting. I had only ever faced Orks before in tournaments at Warhammer World where I was running my Emperor's Feth Astra Militarum army. These battles never ended well for the greenskins as 2 Manticores and a bunch of Leman Russ's tended to take care of them by turn 3! Now however I have a smallish more elite army that is mainly assault based - not a good match up for a dedicated assault army with lots of bodies that will effectively run me over.

Game 2 - 8th edition 40k - Thoughts and comments on the new system - Blood Angels v Blood Angels

For my 2nd match up I managed to get a game with dad Steve for the first time in a while for a head to head with my Flesh Tearers v his Blood Angels in an all assault clash!

This was always going to be an interesting battle as we both have a good amount of assault troops and so I was really looking forward to how the new assault phase works and how devastating it would be after the rumours I had heard that it was vicious. This would also be Steve's first game so we kept it fairly simple by using the same armies to help each other out with getting to know the new rules.

The Mission
We decided that we would keep it simple playing the standard Only War mission with 4 objectives and the battlefield was set up with an average amount of terrain (below)

Battlefield

The Armies
The two armies were 1500 points and assault based to the point that I brought absolutely no long range guns at all!!
I had a power level of 97 to Steve's 95 so we were fairly matched.

The armies

Flesh Tearers Death Company Progress Update

Not a great deal has been happened in 4 Dads town of recent times. Work has been taking over our lives and even the whatsapp conversations have been declined over the last few weeks.

At last I have been able to begin expanding my death company after much consideration about bigger squads and better weapons following my drubbing against nurgle (see this post).

So here I have a little progress to show as I have sprued and glued 6 more marines and a bunch of arms ready to go. I have also basecoated them white - I choose to paint 7-8 thin layers of white rather than spray them. I don't know why, I have always done this even though it takes much longer!

I have prepped up some plasma pistols to go on the marines but actually on reflection I may replace them with Infernus pistols. They are shorter range but with jump packs that shouldn't be a problem and gives me the option of attacking armour or infantry in a fight.

Also I have put together a death company dreadnought which has been basecoated and washed with nuln oil. As you can see I am, panel by panel, going back over the dread with white leaving the recesses dark. This is something I will do with the marines as well which is time consuming but ends with a really good look in my opinion.

As you may realise my Death Company are white instead of black. I much prefer white and seee it as try ing to gain ascension in the name of glory rather than running headlong into a fight to die. Also they stand out really well on the tabletop!!!

Hopefully i'll get more work done on these guys in the Easter holidays and get another update out pronto. Please let me know what you think and if you have any ideas on how to get them out by all means share in the comments below.

All the best,
James

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

Comment on a battle - Blood Angels v Nurgle Chaos

Recently I played a game with my Flesh Tearer Blood Angels against a friends Nurgle chaos. I didn't have time to set up a proper battle report and take amazing photographs so I thought that I would just comment on the battle itself seeing as I haven't played for a while and have never played against this army before.

First and foremost the game was a tactical objectives game with objectives numbered 1-6 scattered around the table. We played 1500 points of which the armies were picked to the theme of the army. The Blood angels were fast moving units with jump packs, drop pods and a baal predator and very assault orientated while the chaos nurgle army was a plague zombie army with lots and lots of zombies and a few plague marines and champions thrown in for good measure.

Effectively could the Blood Angels charge the Chaos acolytes and hit hard enough before being swamped and overrun by zombies?

Flesh Tearers army
DC Chaplain
2 units of DC
5 Terminators
2 Assault squads
2 tactical squads - 1 with a drop pod
Baal Predator

The Rescue - Mission & Rules - Imperial Fists (Rich) vs Flesh Tearers/Astra Miltarum (James)

The Challenge
The challenge has been thrown down, a night has been arranged and the fluff has been written. Yes on Saturday evening Rich is coming over for beer and toy soldiers to my house to throw down some dice for the first time this year.

As we don't get to play too often (bloomin' kids) we love to have a bit of a story behind our games now that we are out of our 5th Ed. competitive stage. So the planning has been extensive over whatsapp deciding on mission, forces and story line. I thought that it was quite interesting and different and so here it is shared with you all.

It all starts with a map
Firstly as soon as Rich got the ok from his better half the first thing he did was draw a map...

He had this idea in his head about a rescue mission and that because we love playing Zone Mortalis he also wanted to incorporate his realm of battle and Zone Mortalis boards in the game.

Painting a Power Sword With Lightning Effects

I have been desperately trying to get my Flesh Tearers Death Company finished of recent times and finally found some time recently. I left the power sword and power axe until the very last purely because I didn't really know how to paint them.

After much consideration I thought i'd give it a go and try for a lightning look. I did some research online but although I found quite a few tutorials, there weren't really any I liked or that I thought looked good.

After reading many of the techniques I gave it a go myself and here is the finished look:

Even though I am not completely happy with the results here is how I did it...

New Year - New Hobby Ambitions

I find that as a busy, working dad it is supremely hard to find time to hobby. For those regular readers of our blog you will already know that I don't play as many games as I want to and that I have not finished a hobby challenge yet!! However I love the hobby and need to make time for it in my life and so, like many other things, I always give myself targets at the start of the year to try to achieve during the year. With targets in mind I find that I progress towards them even if I don't always complete them which keeps me and my model collection happy!!

The key with setting targets is adhering to the SMARTER Principle:

Death Company Chaplain - Based & Finished!

My favourite model to date is finally finished!!

Stage 7
After completing the highlights it actually took me ages to do the easy bit - the base.

Death Company Chaplain Progress - Update 4 - Highlighting

This was how I left my chaplain at the end of the last post (Here).
 At this point I had completed all of the base colours and washes and highlighted the wings of the jump pack.

I was now at the part of the process I had been dreading - the highlights!!!

Imperial Fists v Flesh Tearers - Zone Mortalis Report

The Imperial Fists were conducting a boarding action against the might Flesh Tearers...1,000 points....kill points.

The scenario sees the Flesh Tearers set up to defend a break in the ships hull made by a marauding Imperial Fist incursion force lead by the VIIth Legion hero Sigismund. The Flesh Tearers are lead by their incandescent Death Company Chaplain, furious at the VIIths attack on the sanctity of their Battle Cruiser.

Turn 1
After the breach by Sigismund and his spear-tip assault, the Flesh Tearers are first to react and set up a defensive line, covering each corridor as they sweep forward through the outer corridors of the ship, racing to meet the large hangar space where the breach was detected. Sigismund leads his unit to the edge of the hanger space, keeping a watchful eye on the bulkheads for signs of the enemy.

Angels Blade 13th Black Crusade Campaign Supplement Review

I play Flesh Tearers and Astra Militarum and so after a conversation with a Chaos friend when the Angel's Blade/Traitors Hate supplements were released we both purchased the respective supplements. With the excitement of new rules and a plan to both expand our forces by playing out a narrative campaign we got to work and I thought i'd write a review of the Angel's Blade book...

This is what the Games Workshop website says:

"A campaign supplement for Warhammer 40,000, containing a story from the beginning of the 13th Black Crusade from the perspective of the Blood Angels, featuring new rules content for that Chapter.
The Story
The shadow of a huge fleet of Crimson Slaughter and Black Legion forces falls across the Diamor System, as Abaddon the Despoiler’s 13th Black Crusade is launched. This shadow is met by the righteous fury of the Blood Angels; leading a mighty coalition of Adeptus Mechanicus and Imperial Knights, the Sons of Sanguinius fight bitterly against the servants of Chaos.
Yet the fires of war that consume the worlds of the Diamor System are revealing dark secrets, harbingers of a terrible doom that even the Blood Angels will be hard-pressed to prevent coming to fruition…
The Rules
The 136-page hardback Black Crusade: Angel’s Blade features a host of new rules content for Warhammer 40,000, to be used alongside Codex: Blood Angels:
- Updated datasheets for Blood Angels, including Terminator Captains, Death Company Chaplains, Assault Squads and Devastator Squads;- Relics of the Lost; incredibly rare and powerful Death Company relics once borne by a Chapter member who succumbed to the Black Rage;- Revised and updated Wargear of Baal;- Death Company Tactical Objectives;- 9 new Blood Angels Formations, an Angel’s Blade Strike Force and a Lost Brotherhood Strike Force;- 3 new Altar of War missions: Death on the Wing, Honour of the Angels and No Matter the Odds."

Story

The story is interesting and consists of a historical account of the war in the Diamor system. It is told in two ways; one from an in battle perspective told through the characters in the story arc in a fiction novel format and; one from a more historical non-fiction format summing up exactly what happened throughout the war.

The combination of story telling and factual information is good and works well allowing the reader to understand the conflict and be immersed in the action at the same time. I also liked the way in which the different parts of the conflict were split into 4 different chapters which gave the feeling that there were 4 specific 'moments' that were important in the whole campaign.

The only disappointment (dad Steve actually brought this point up) was the way in which the Death Company were created in the story. It does seem that GW always seem to squeeze in a spectacular single event that happens to turn the Blood Angels to the black rage in a flash! It would be nice to see the story arc differ one time and go a little bit more in depth as to why and how a marine loses himself to the black rage.

Artwork

The artwork is great! As we have come to expect, the quality of the art, the layout of the pages and the use of graphics and text is excellent in Games Workshop products. Not quite as awesome as Forgeworld but a good second best!

There is a mixture of old and new art in the book which I think works well and all the art complements the story.

There is also a good amount of miniature pictures mixed in with the artwork which is nice to see. It always inspires me to see beautifully painted models set up in battle and all pictures are good to look at and have been photoshopped well.

There are a few maps to support the action which are appropriate and help the reader to understand the story but I would have liked to see more to really get my imagination in the right place. I would like to have some large overall maps and then some more detailed close ups of the action to fully understand the battles being fought.

Rules and formations

There are updated rules for some of the Blood Angel units such as a Terminator Captain, Chaplain, Assault Squads etc. These updates are not game changing and are generally just adding extra wargear options such as the assault squad being able to take an eviscerator etc. etc.

The formations are much better and link in with the story nicely. There are quite a few and add some nice special rules to flavour your army. I like them because they are not game breaking (some formations for other armies are ridiculously over-powered!) and they are not out of reach (You don't have to remortgage your house to buy all of the models you need).

Also included are more "Wargear of Baal" and 4 more psychic discliplines to choose from which are pretty cool and useful (or useless) depending on your army build. For example the "Technomancy" discipline would be useless in a game of 2 footslogging armies!

I like all of the new rules and formations as I think that they can really expand and theme your army without making the army massively over-powered.

Missions

There are 3 missions included in the book. Only 3? Really? Seriously GW! There are 4 chapters in the book, why only 3 missions? The missions do complement the story but they are not written specifically for it and they all use deployments that are in the main rulebook so nothing new there.

The only thing that makes them interesting is the inclusion of some special rules which gives them specific flavour and can theme a game. Other than this I feel that GW have been very lazy here. There could have been more missions written for the story with some more interesting deployments. Still there are no missions at all in the Traitors Hate book...

Campaign

Campaign? What campaign? I got this book because it was a "campaign supplement" and wanted to play a series of themed games between Chaos and Blood Angels. It was really disappointing to find that there was no campaign system or linked games in the book. Effectively what we get are some new rules and a story that is not to Black Library standards. I think that GW have missed a big trick here as I know quite a few players who would love to pit Chaos and Blood Angels against each other in a narrative set of games.

Cost

For both of the physical books the cost is £30 each. Buy Angel's Blade and Traitors Hate together (as suggested by my friend initially) and the price is... oh £60!! Really?! Come on at least give us a fiver off for buying both!!!!

The alternative is to go digital rather than get the physical books. The enhanced edition's are the same price or slightly cheaper on Android or Apple and you can also get the Blood Angels Red Thirst Codex which for slightly more will get you the Codex plus the extra rules in Angel's Blade. Although you don't get the "Campaign" story or missions.

I guess there is something to meet everyone's needs in each format but as for the price? Read on...

Overall
In conclusion I like the expansions that are being released, I like the idea of the 13th black crusade and the narrative ideas that are being released to fuel the imagination for playing and modelling. Do I like this expansion? It's decidedly average in my opinion.

The story is average, there is no campaign system, there are only 3 missions and the artwork and design is what you should expect from GW's high standards. The main saving part of this release for me is the addition of the new rules, formations and psychic powers. Without these there really would be no point in getting the book.

For £30 I think that it is overpriced and should be somewhere around the £15-20 mark with a discount for buying both supplements!!!

In conclusion i'm glad I have it but disappointed I bought it!!

Let me know what you think in the comments.

James

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

Will it never end? Summer hobby challenge - James

Apparently no, it won't end!

For the 2nd hobby challenge in a row I have failed to finish - Gah!

Unfortunately for my hobby challenge because of the summer holidays (I am a teacher) we have been out and about all over the British Isles for the past 6 or so weeks. If we haven't been away then the Euro Champs, the Tour de France and the Olympics have been on 24/7 in our house as well as loads of time messing around with the kids. With all this going on I have had little hobby time to complete my challenge of 5 Death Company marines for my Flesh Tearers army.

Here is how they look so far:

Every spare moment has been spent on these guys but because of the colour scheme and the sheer amount of detail on these amazing mini's it has just taken ages!

I reckon I have about 8 more hours of painting to get these guys done. To finish I need to:

- Finish the white and details on the left hand marine and wash.

- Highlight all marines

- Finish Helmets and weapons on all marines

- Get and paint a power sword and bolt pistol for the right hand marine

- Finish the jump packs for all marines

Even though I have failed again I am pleased with the progress I have made. I have been putting this project off for ages because I knew it was difficult and the challenge has focused my attention and got me within touching distance of finishing them. Now the plan is to have them out and keep doing little bits during the next hobby challenge so I can get them finished.

All the best

James

Hobby Challenge: Will it Never End? - Part 1

After the general success of our last hobby challenge, the Spartan Challenge, I managed to finish my Spartan (funny that...). And although not all of us quite finished our challenge project, we did all make some good progress, so we thought it was time set ourselves another challenge.

It is always good to get something finished, and I bet us Dads aren't the only ones that have half-finished projects sitting in lonely corners waiting to be completed, so this time round we're starting the "Will it Never End?" challenge. The plan is to each pick something that has been half-finished then passed over for something new and exciting.

I think the deadline for this challenge is September 1st 2016. That gives us the best part of the summer holidays to get our respective units completed.

Here we'll each introduce our chosen subject:

Dave

I'm going for a couple of things whilst still awaiting the FW Space Wolves transfer sheet to start pushing things off the other side of my painting table :
Heavy weapons squad: new bases, 2 new guys to complete the ten man squad and a couple of new shoulder pads. Not much and a squad I select pretty much every time I play, so it'll be good to get these guys completed.
Rhino: I've got six of these unpainted, so it'll be great to get one finished and provide a ride for my heavy weapons squad
Banner Bearer: He's half done and just needs the details. It'll be good to get the banner bearer for my company completed
Eldar Harlequin: My wife brought me this two years ago as something different to paint... I just wanna get him finished

Problem is, my painting tray is looking pretty cramped now as I wait for those transfer sheets to be released...

Wish me luck...

James

I am going for a difficult task this time around and trying to redeem myself after being the only dad not to complete the Spartan Challenge. Unfortunately dad life interrupted the good progress I was making on my Storm Raven as part of that challenge leaving it 75% done and worthy of a proper post at some point in the future.

To make up for this failure I am going for a finish to a project that has taken 18 months so far!! Yes I am going to try to finish my Flesh Tearers Death Company (Gulp).

I finished 5 of the 10 man squad recently...

I love the Death Company but I see them as seeking ascension through their actions rather than death - Seeking eternal life with their Primarch rather than despair through death so I decided to paint them white rather than black.

This was perhaps the best and worst idea I have had as the results are awesome - they really stand out on the tabletop and the details really show when you see them in real life. However, white is a true bastard to paint!!! So they take ages. Hence the 18 months so far.

So these are the other 5 to complete for the challenge...

Lots to do including finding arms for one!!! Best get cracking...

Rich

Rich is away for work so will have to post something when he gets back!

Steve

I currently have a few units half finished already that I will aim to complete for this challenge. They are:

   Tactical Squad

Terminator squad













I am also in the process of starting a Skitarii army so I think I will also aim to complete my single squad of Skitarii Rangers who, so far, haven't even been base coated...
Plenty to do.

Why not join in and share your unfinished projects?

The Four Dads

Mission Review/Battle Report: Maelstrom of War - Cleanse & Control

So Dad James and I have played three games recently and we are working these up into a bit of a narrative campaign with a thread flowing throughout. Basic storyline is that during the Heresy a force of Blood Angels break away from the Legion naming themselves the Flesh Tearers. They are considered to be traitors by a force of loyalist Imperial Fists and well you can guess the rest!

First a bit of narrative...

Battle of Phater Minor (made up name and made up mission!)


Early on in this expanding campaign a heretical splinter group of Flesh Tearers took the opportunity of easy prey and attacked a landing zone where the remains of a downed Imperial Fist starship lay. Their mission was to recover as much information as possible through accessing computer data from working machines that lay strewn across the crash site. The Imperial Fists responded deploying a force into the now wrecked city but the Flesh Tearers beat the VIIth Legion back and drained the recovered hard drives of all data including sensitive information and codes.

Flesh Tearers won this one.

Conclave of the Lost (Legendary Mission HH Book 6)

Using this info the traitors masqueraded as a loyal chapter using official codes and channels and lured two Imperial Fist officers into a temple separating the hierarchy from their support troops. This was an effective ambush as the Flesh Tearers pounced leaving the 2 commanders isolated. Fortunately even though 1 commander died the attempt was ultimately unsuccessful as the assassination of the loyalists officers was thwarted by dogged resistance and the rogue marines were almost wiped out. During this battle a traitor was captured and mind-swept which revealed where the traitors had set up their base. It also turns out that an Astra Militarum (I know we are mixing 40k and 30k a lot here!) regiment had turned with the Tearers calling themselves the Emperors Feth.

Imperial Fists win this one

Battle of the Fort of Nine Towers (Maelstrom of War Cleanse & Control Mission)With the planetary base known to the IF an old fort town was identified as being a suitable place to plant a stronghold in order to mount a suitable invasion to wipe the heresy from the Galaxy. In this town several places were marked for the IF to secure such as an infirmary, communications station etc. Resistance was expected and encountered through the AM splinter group commanded by a Sanguinary Priest and his retinue of terminators. In the end the IF were beaten back and withdrew from the area taking heavy casualties but not before securing vital information regarding further landing areas and another group of astartes who seem to be tangled in this web of heresy....

Mission Review - Cleanse & Control

I have to say this mission is one of the best I have tried. The Primary Objective is to build up your Victory Points by securing objectives each game turn. There is a D100 list of objectives and at the start of the game you roll off with two dice to get yourself 3 of these objectives.

You must always have three objectives and once you have achieved one it is discarded and another drawn at the next turn. You may also discard objectives at the start of you turn and draw new ones if you don't think they are achievable.

 The objectives include some to hold an objective point so we laid out 6 of these at the start of the game, randomly numbered. Other objectives were things like 'wipe out 3 units in one turn for a point', 'take down a flyer for a point' etc in addition to plenty of 'hold objective number 3 this turn for a point'.

This made for a really interesting game and the changing and unpredictable objectives made for a battle that swung in each armies favour until the last turn.

Now some will find this annoying because the randomness of the objectives can negate great generalship. So if you are an uber completive player this probably isn't the game for you. Nevertheless both armies have to cope with the randomness and are faced with the ongoing tactical decisions as to whether or not to blow stuff up or go for objectives.

We had a blast playing this mission and it was enormous fun. I would well recommend trying it out.

Battle Report

So onto the battle itself...

The armies:

Imperial Fists - this force was lead by Sigismund himself. Joining him were ...

- 5 THSS Terminators
- Spartan
- Primus Medicae
- 15 Boarding Marines
- 10 Boarding Marines
 - 7 Lascannon Heavy Squad
 - Sicarian
- Contemptor Mortis
- Leviathan (Storm & Grav)

Flesh Tearers & IG

Commander
5 Termies PF/Bolter
Drop Pod w Tac Squad
Company Com'd Squad (in Chimera)
Platoon Cmd Squad w Plasma (in Chimera)
20man blob w commissar
Lots of Lascannon and auto-cannon squads
 Leman Russ Punisher
Leman Russ Demolisher
Leman Russ Executioner
Manticore
Vendetta
Vendetta

Boarding marines awaiting the onslaught

Set-up
Playing these rules meant we had to remain flexible so we both positioned near to objectives expecting we might capitalise in turn 1. James won the roll-off for first turn. However, the dice gods corrected this anomaly (James never goes first agaisnst me!) by allowing me to seize the initiative - Imperial Fists to attack first!


Turn 1

We both used forward a little, not much happening and I set up my Spartan to charge into the centre of his line. I take out a chimera and claim first blood!
James drops his Drop Pod tight next to my Lascannon team, an act that would see the Lascannons pretty much tied up all game - boo!

Turn 2 
My Spartan unloads its cargo of Sigismund and Terminators and destroys the Leman Russ Executioner. I take a pop at his other units with everything else and manage to immobilise another Leman Russ with the Graviton Pulse.
James manages to knock out my Sicarian and shoots every other gun in his army at my Terminators. One falls down laughing cos it tickles but that is all!
I am holding a couple of scoring Objs and get another couple of points 3-0 at this point to IF!

Turn 3
This turn I knock out another Leman Russ, Knight Commander Pask shows his true colours and hits reverse! James's Imperial Guard shoot everything again at my terminators and I am reduced to 1 Termie, Primus Medicae and Signismund...

I manage to grab another obj, and so does James. 4-1 to the VIIth Legion!


Turn 4
James wipes out my Lascannon Squad with his marines, I foolishly engage them with my Mortis Contemptor and get stuck in combat all game. James also kills my last termie, and Primus Medicae. Sigismund charges into his Blob Squad and starts scything through them. The vendettas take out my Leviathan too.

James is making a comeback and he has the lead 5-4 at this point.

Turn 5
Flesh Tearers Termies plough into the combat with Sigismund and kill him - boo! The Imperial Fists are reduced to just the Boarding Marines now but I am scoring still. 7-6 to James.

Turn 6
No more killing but James takes another couple of Obj's and its game over. 

Flesh Tearers for the win at 9-6!

Post-battle de-briefing

This was a fun game so I wasn't playing too tactical. Nevertheless there were some take-home points for me:

1. Protect the Sicilian - thats two games in a row I have left it exposed and lost it early on, needs careful placement in future.
2. When a challenge is refused, if there is another IC in a squad Sigismund (or any challenger) can choose to fight them instead.


In summary, great game and great mission. I can't recommend the tactical objectives enough.

Happy gaming...

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!

Death Company - How should I kit them out?

My Flesh Tearer Tactical Approach

I have been progressing with my Flesh Tearers over some time now and have enough built and painted to create a big enough force to game with.

My force focuses on fast movement, assault and lots of bodies to pressure an opponent and isolate parts of their army to take it apart bit by bit. In my mind this is how the Flesh Tearers would fight although probably more recklessly with a lot more blood and violence!

The Flesh Tearer Force

So without going into too much detail, in a 1500 point force I have a librarian with jump pack, 3 assault squads with jump packs, 2 tactical squads in drop pods, 1 assault terminator squad (to be positioned with wings of Sanguinius hopefully!) and a death company squad with jump packs. All units can be positioned where I need them fast! All units have furious charge for +1 strength and I take the Baal strike force detachment for +1 initiative on the charge.

My only headache has been to know how to equip my 8 man death company squad. These are the big hitters, the squad that will take any others out once they get the charge.

The Original Death Company Idea

My original thought was to keep costs down and take them with just chainswords and pistols and rely on volume of attacks to get them through. After trying this a couple of times it seemed that non-meq units got stomped but any marine equivalent caused me problems and the Death company would get stuck in combat. It seemed I needed something more...

Phase 2

To help with combat against marines I stepped it up by adding 2 power swords to the squad. This still kept them fairly cheap but gave them 10 ap3 attacks on the charge at I5 and S5 as well as 30 normal attacks at I5 & S5! In math hammer terms the marine kill rate has gone from 4.4 kills to 6.1 kills on the charge. I tried this layout and it definitely worked better, especially working in conjunction with an assault squad.

Unfortunately then I ran into a problem. A big contemptor shaped problem. I just couldn't deal with walkers as I couldn't hurt them and what began to happen was I would stroll through some marines and then a dreadnaught of some kind would charge me next turn making my elite assault unit a one hit wonder...

Phase 3

To combat this but still keep the hitting power I needed to sacrifice speed and points.

I decided to add a powerfist and a power sword. These additions pumped up the expense of the unit but gave me 2 things - an ability to hurt terminators and also some tools to punk dreads.

On the charge I now have 10 ap3 attacks and 20 ap- attacks hitting at I5 and S5. This is enough to remove enough infantry that I don't get hurt badly when the initiative step 4 comes around. Then I am piling in at I1 with 4 S9 & 4 S7 attacks at ap2. This is more than enough to clear out any other infantry and hurt terminators or a dreadnaught if I need to.

Conclusion

I started off with the idea of having a fairly cheap elite squad to pick off my opponents units. Along the way my idea's changed a little as I realised that this squad was quite important to me and needed to be a little harder hitting. Consequently I now have an 8 man squad worth 254 points! I am happy with the layout at the moment but I do need to play test them more.

If you are wondering why I didn't up the number of death company from 8 I found that with jump packs I struggled to manoeuvre any more that that around the battlefield effectively.

My work in progress death company

To The Future

Has my death company finished its evolution? Probably not. As I play more it may change but at the moment my only consideration is whether or not to include a Sanguinary Priest.

A possible addition?

This would bump the squad points up considerably and use a valuable HQ slot which is annoying. Also a priest would waste(?) his feel no pain on a squad that already has it albeit increasing it from a 5+ to a 4+.

On the positive side the squad gets seriously killy with a priests attacks involved and most importantly increasing the squad's WS to 5. This would give an extra 6.3 attacks when hitting on the charge which is huge - especially against terminators.

Personally I think I will try it as I'm not sure I can resist a squad that hits in lose combat with WS5, I5, S5 with a 4+ feel no pain! That is surely the essence of the Flesh Tearers right there....

I would love to know what other people do for their death company. Please get in touch either by commenting or on twitter at @4dadsapocalypse.

James

Time - How do you fit 40k into your life?

Time

The thing with Warhammer 40k is that it takes up a huge amount of time.

 

It takes time to hobby:

1.       Getting the models, paints and equipment out

2.       Painting models

3.       Building models

4.       Cutting models off the sprue

5.       Cleaning the models up (mould lines etc.)

6.       Travelling to and from shops to buy stuff

7.       Buying stuff

8.       Putting stuff away again after hobby time.

 

It takes time to play:

1.       Building lists

2.       Travelling to and from a playing venue if not at home

3.       Setting up a play area

4.       Getting models out

5.       Playing the actual game

6.       Taking down the play area

7.       Putting models away again

 

It takes time to read, keep up to date and interact about 40k

1.       Reading blogs

2.       Reading books

3.       Listening to podcasts

4.       Watching Youtube vids

5.       Social media interactions

6.       Chatting with friends on the phone, whatsapp etc.

7.       Playing 40k games – Space Marine, Space Hulk etc.

 

When I look back at this list, and I’m sure I have missed loads of things, I really do wonder how on earth anyone has the time to get involved with the game or any of its forms.

My current situation

 

My life at the moment is pretty hectic. I am married with my wife and I both working as full time teachers in special schools. We have 2 children under 11, 1 dog and 2 Guinea pigs. I am also a Beaver scout leader and so my standard week looks something like this:

Monday

School. Evening is free but generally do schoolwork as it’s the start of the week.

 

Tuesday

School followed straight away by Beavers. No free time in the evening.

 

Wednesday

School. Daughter activities but 1 hour free in the evening.

 

Thursday

School. Daughter activities. Home about 9.15pm ready for tea!

 

Friday

School. Daughter activities.

 

Saturday

Family Day

 

Sunday

Church. Family Day, schoolwork in evening.

 

As a dad I am sure I am not alone in this kind of routine and unfortunately it leaves very little time to spend on myself. As many people do I also have many interests. I play guitar, like to drink beer, play 40k, rock climb, train in the gym and play different sports. So what can we do to be able to squeeze some time in for Warhammer?

 

Making Time

 

1.       Focus on the bigger picture

The first thing that I find I need to do is realise that I am very lucky. I have a beautiful wife and 2 beautiful daughters, I live in my own house (well the bank owns most of it!) and my situation, living in England, is very fortunate – we are safe and living in a lawful democracy. I must never forget that these are the most important things in my life even if I really want to paint that model or play that game. In reality it is only Warhammer – even if I really love it I could do without it – Just!

2.       Be organised

I find that I need to keep a diary and plan ahead when I am going to do things. This is already in place as I have a school diary that I use every day. Using this I plot my days and then I can put my hobbies into place around the events I can’t change – daughter activities, work etc.
There are some weeks where I just can’t have anything to do with 40k. This week for instance has been impossible as it is assessment report time at school and I have had meetings for scouts in the evenings. Other weeks however give me loads of opportunities when my wife will go out to see her friends or takes the girls to their activities.

3.       Do little and often

One of the most successful ways that I make progress with hobby time in 40k is to plan 20-30min sessions into my week. Even if we are busy it is always possible to find a half hour here and there. Before I do this I make sure that I know exactly what I’m going to be doing (base colours of red and black or washes for example). This reduces the time spent setting up as I can get things ready prior to my 30mins so I can start painting straight away.

4.       Use your dead time

Dead time is time spent commuting, breaks at work or waiting for children to finish their activities. Commuting is a great time for podcasts while driving. A break at work for Twitter, Facebook etc. Write a blog post while waiting for children during their activities.

5.       Plan ahead

For longer activities such as games it is important to plan ahead. Look at your diary at least a month ahead and pick a date to play. Then make sure to tell your better half and okay it there and then. Believe me it is much better than springing it on your partner last minute! Once it is agreed he or she can plan to do things around your time playing such as meeting friends or another activity. Unfortunately sometimes things do go wrong last minute such as an argument or something urgent comes up which means the game gets cancelled (I have let the other dads down enough times!) but at the end of the day refer back to point 1 and remember what’s important. Another game can always be booked in also giving you more leverage as it has been cancelled once already.

What a week may look like

 

My week planned ahead may look something like this:

 

Monday

Before school while the girls practice piano I practice the guitar. School. Listen to 40k podcast on way home. Schoolwork to set me up for the rest of the  week. Read Black Library book in bed.

 

Tuesday

Before school while the girls practice piano I practice the guitar. School followed straight away by Beavers. Listen to 40k podcast on way home. Read Black Library book in bed.

 

Wednesday

Before school while the girls practice piano I practice the guitar. School. Listen to 40k podcast on way home. Wife takes daughters to activities and goes to gym. Hobby time 1 hour. Read Black Library book in bed.

 

Thursday

School. Listen to 40k podcast on way home. Take daughters to activities. Home about 9.15pm ready for tea! Read Black Library book in bed.

 

Friday

School. Listen to 40k podcast on way home. Take Daughters to activities. Read Black Library book in bed.

 

Saturday

Family Day. Read Black Library book in bed.

 

Sunday

Family Day, schoolwork in evening. Read Black Library book in bed.

 

As you can see with my week, painting time is only an hour, however my wife may go and see her friends one night or may go to the gym a couple of nights in the week when my girls have gone to bed. Typically I get another two half hour slots for hobby time during the week. This doesn't sound a lot but if you are prepared these half hours add up and make you focus which is great for getting projects finished.

 

Deadlines

One final aspect of fitting in some hobby is to give yourself an ultimatum or a deadline. I have two such deadlines at the moment.

1.       I am not allowed to buy any more models until I have no more to paint.

-          This hurts. A lot! But I am getting through my Flesh Tearers and Astra Militarum because of it. I have about 1000 points of AM and about 1500 of Flesh Tearers to go…

2.       The four dads have started the Spartan challenge within which I entered my Stormraven. It needed painting but I have been putting it off as I don't really like the model so it is a great way to push myself to get it done.

 

I hope that you have enjoyed reading about the difficulties of fitting 40k in and I would love to hear how you do it, whether you are similar to me or of any better ways to get more 40k into my life.

 

All the best,

 

James