Random Wednesday // First game of Infinity N3 last night

So I went down to the Exeter Inquisition club last night for some infinity and although I was disappointed not to get the new N3 rulebook yet I still got a game of the new edition in using the pdf.

We played a 200pt game using the Annihilation mission in the rulebook however as we were both pretty new to the game (never mind N3) we played with open objectives instead of classified ones.

Overall really enjoyed it and loving some of the changes in the new edition, figured I'd just slap some random thoughts down here.

• The "Strategic" use of the Command Tokens are awesome, this went completely unnoticed by us until we got the pdf and read through. My opponent chose deployment zones and made me deploy first, then as he was going second he used one of his Command Tokens to make me lose 2 regular orders on the first turn. Really makes the choice of first turn a choice rather than automatic now in my opinion
• Co-Ordinated Orders are fantastic, you can get around the board so much faster which opens up a lot of new possibilities. I used all 4 of my tokens on these orders and they were great, you get to activate up to 4 guys for the cost of 1 regular order and 1 command token, I didn't use them for attacking so much as repositioning and getting 3 Ghulams with their shotguns into advanced positions so early in the game was great.
• Hacking seemed a bit meh to be honest although we may have been playing it wrong. It was great to have all these options and I had a TO hacker in range of a glut of targets, with a TR HMG Remote, an expensive HI, and a Hacker and was planning to go to town. I looked at my options and I had loads of choices, eagerly rolled the dice and succeeded (after a couple of orders) and then went to re-camo, only to find that as I was still inside his ZOC (obviously as I had hacked him) he could ARO anything I did with a "Reset" which meant on a normal roll of 13 he just ignored anything I'd done to him.
• Suppression fire - we basically didn't use this all game. It looks good, we just didn't think to use it and as he had 2 total reaction HMG remotes he probably didn't need it!

In the end the game was a draw at 4-4, he beat me 2-1 on kills, 2-1 on surviving, but I had secured the HVT for 2 Objective Points so we ended equal which seemed about right for the game.

In case anyone is interested the list I used was:

Ghulam lt

Ghulam

Ghulam FO

Ghulam FO

Naffatun LFT, grenades

Naffatun LFT, grenades

Hunzakut FO

Hassassin Ragik Spitfire

Tuareg Hacker

Jannissary Doctor

I also picked up some more goodies to flesh out my Haqqislam and complete my scenery collection:

MAS human consoles
MAS Objective Room
MAS 3 story building
MAS Roofs/Floors
MAS Interior Walls
Nomads Hellcat HMG/Hacker
Saladin
Hassassin Farzan
2 Hafza
Odalisques boxed set

Preparing the way // Infinity N3 // Christmas Schedule

Christmas Schedule

Hi Guys, wanted to check in and apologise for the lack of battle report on Friday, I've been doing a bunch of Christmas related stuff and had little time to get it typed up whilst trying not to fall too far behind on my painting schedule.

On that note until the New Year this will likely be a weekly update of hobby progress and unlikely to include any battle reports until things get back to normal in the New Year.

Apologies for those who were enjoying the battle reports but they take several hours to type up which I can't really commit to over the next few weeks.

Infinity N3

For those of you who are interested, Infinity is getting a new version (N3) which I should get my hands on tomorrow.

I'm really excited about this and having been playing with a 2.5 ruleset since I started playing a few weeks ago, it'll be really good to get stuck into the new version in full.

I'm really interested in seeing what the points recosts will mean to my Haqqislam lists and will likely include a post at some point with my reworked lists as well as letting you know my thoughts on the new edition once I've got some games in.

From what I've seen so far my Janissary goes considerably down in cost which may mean I get to field him for the first time ever.

I've also got a Nomad list I'm putting together after expanding my Operation: Icestorm Nomads with the Corregidor Starter, an Iguana, and a Wildcat Spitfire. I'll let you know how my experiences go with these, I'm hoping to get them painted up to the best I can to try and stretch myself (still not great I know!)

Preparing the Way

Not particularly exciting update but I've been busy making sure I've closed off the rest of the Haqqislam I had sitting around in boxes so I made sure I assembled and primed everything I had left so at least it's ready to start putting paint on when I feel like it. I sold some of my Tyranids so I've some more bits coming tomorrow including a box of Odalisques, Saladin, a Hassassin Farzan, and a pair of Hafza that I think for now at least will complete my Haqqislam as it'll put me around 750pts (Far more than I'll ever need for a game but I have tons of options)

While I had the airbrush out I also had a play at trying to use it to do Tarik Mansouri's cloak but I wasn't really happy with how it turned out (I've a lot to learn about the airbrush I think) so I went back in with a brush and changed a good amount of it. I've included some random shots below for anyone interested.

Ready for Priming

After Airbrushing (Not sure how to add more depth, it seems like it's just basecoated!)

I even got some Sewing in!

Lovely weekend with my daughters

Bit more done on Tarik but overdid it with the washes so will need some Cleanup

Rear view of Tarik after washes

Busy Weekend and Lack of Progress // Space Marines with Fire Raptor vs Wych Cult 1750pts

Hi guys,

apologies but little to update you on today, I had a work Christmas do on Friday which was... messy... and spent most of Saturday recovering before a 40k game on Sunday night.

I'll write up the game from Sunday night and I hope to have this up by Wednesday, with another Infinity Battle Report up on Friday.

Just as a preview the lists we used were:

1750pt Realspace Raiders

Succubus
 - Archite Glaive, Parasites Kiss, Haywire Grenades

4 Incubi
 - Klaivex
 - Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance and Night Shields

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance and Night Shields

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance and Night Shields

5 Kabalite Warriors
 - Blaster
 - Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons

Razorwing Jetfighter with Disintegrator Cannons and Splinter Cannon

Razorwing Jetfighter with Dark Lances

Razorwing Jetfighter with Dark Lances

6 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Arena Champion
 - Blaster with Cluster Caltrops x2

3 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Heat Lance with Cluster Caltrops

5 Scourges
 - 4 Haywire Blasters

------------------------------

1750 Space Marines

Reclusiarch in Terminator Armour

5 Assault Terminators with 3 TH+SS and 2 Lightning Claws

Librarian in Terminator Armour with 10 Devastators (4 missile launchers with Flakk)

2 x 5 man Tac Squads with Heavy Bolter (Razorback with TL Assault Cannon)

2 x 5 man Tac Squads with Missile Launchers and Flakk (Razorback with Las/Plas)

Dreadnought with 2 x TL Autocannon

Aegis Defence Line

Fire Raptor (AV 12 Flyer with  4 Hull Points, has an Avenger Boltgun on the front, 2 waist mounted TL autocannons on each side and 4 StormStrike Missiles. Has a nasty rule that allows it to shoot at 4 targets a turn as well and has BS5 against ground targets.)

Battle Report Friday // Infinity Report // Guard House Scale

Quick update, I was going to schedule this for Friday but as a scale picture of the Guard House had been requested I didn't want to delay it when I'd already got the bits ready so it's a day early this week.

I've never written an infinity report before and I'm afraid I don't know of any map type program that I'd be able to use, as terrain plays such a huge part in Infinity I can't just botch it with "similar" pieces.

Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures during the game either so I figured I'd just throw a quick overview up.

It is a bit all over the place I'm afraid but I figured I'd put it up just in case anyone wants to read it, if not then don't bother and I won't get offended! :)

First of all I took a quick picture of my 150pt Haqqislam force before we played.

So that is 150pts worth for Infinity, and one of the reasons I like the game, I only have to paint 8 models! I do have more painted this than but with the list I'd written I didn't have two naffatun painted so I proxied it with the unpainted model here.

My list was:

Halqa - 16

Halqa - 16

Halqa Doctor - 20

These 3 kind of work together as they all have a rule called mechanised deployment which allows me to deploy them within each others "Zone of Control" up to half way onto the board rather than just the normal 12" for my deployment zone. I find this really useful as they can threaten straight away or gain a really good vantage point over an objective etc. The doctor with them can try and heal the other two up if they fall unconscious so is also very useful.

They cost an extra 3 points over the standard Ghulam light infantry for the privilege of the mechanised deployment but I find it very much worth it as you don't have to spend the orders getting them in a good position, they just start there.

Naffatun Heavy Flamethrower - 12

Naffatun Heavy Flamethrower - 12

These two can be either defensive or offensive, they have a very large 10" long template weapon that unless the opponent chooses to dodge rather than fire back they auto hit and go straight to an armour save. I can use this to run around a corner and flame things or just to stand in a defensive position and flame something coming around the corner. They're also my cheapest troops at 12 points.

Ghulam Lieutenant- 13

A little telegraphed in this list however I try and keep her out of the way at the back in total cover and protect the approaches with the Naffatun. (I could have a Halqa lieutenant however they're quite aggressive troops with starting halfway up the board so can be quite vulnerable)

Hunzakut - 25

Camo troop so deploys as a token rather than a model and the opponent has to discover him before shooting at him at all. Gets a +3 modifier to his first shot out of camo as well and once revealed opposing troops are at -3 to hit him due to the camo. 

Has a sniper rifle so although he can deploy up to half way onto the board with infiltrate, normally it's better to keep him back as he gets +3 modifier from 16" upwards while if an opponent gets within 16" he'll lose that.

Djanbazan Heavy Machine Gun - 36

Nasty Medium Infantry troop that has lots of cool rules. He has a Heavy Machine Gun which shoots 4 shots with +3 from 16" to 32"range in N3. (New edition of Infinity coming out December)

He also has a Multi Spectral Visor which sees through Camo and TO Camo so he can shoot these troops without the modifiers as well as seeing through smoke.

In addition he has an extra point of armour compared to my normal guys and can even regenerate if he falls unconscious.

He's also a slightly better shot than the rest of my guys with BS 12.

So with my list laid out this is what the table looked like: 

Blue scenery is Mantic Deadzone bits, MDF is Micro Arts Studio District 5 Guardhouse, Cardboard stuff is from the Operation Icestorm boxed set (Can't recommend this boxed set enough, it's awesome)

You can see my opponents list on the bottom left there, he had:

3 Fusiliers in a link team (nasty combination that until one of them goes down they get two shots in the reactive turn instead of one)

2 Order Sergeants with Combi Rifle

TO troop of some description with Combi Rifle

Teutonic Knight (Heavy Infantry thing with lots of armour and a panzerfaust!)

Order Sergeant with Spitfire

I won the roll and chose to go first, Dave chose to deploy on the left of the picture above and made me deploy first. 

We decided to play a similar mission to what we did at the Infinity weekender and said whoever has the most points on the centre building at the end of the game wins.

Deployment

I put the 3 Halqa on the Guard House using Mechanised Deployment with the 2 standard troops taking up firing positions on the parapet whilst the doctor hid prone behind them.

One naffatun was deployed on the left of the building behind the Guard House, whilst the other was to the right of the same building.

I deployed my lieutenant prone on the building in the centre of my deployment zone with my HMG next to her stood up.

My Hunzakut was held back until after I saw Dave's deployment but was deployed on the far blue building on the right flank, hoping to get some shots on Dave's link team.

Dave deployed his link team on the watchtower in the centre and his teutonic knight and spitfire behind the cargo container to the right of it.

He had two order sergeants on and then behind the building to the left of the watchtower, and his TO camo marker was held back, but went down on the far left next to the blue deadzone building.

Turn 1:

I started with my Halqa and used a co-ordinated attack to shoot at the Link team and managed to knock one unconscious. My sniper took some shots at the Order Sergeant on the building and the HMG fired at the link team as well, killing the whole link team and the order sergeant. My naffatun on the left moved up slightly into a better position behind the guard house. Quite a brutal first turn!

In response Dave moved his TO marker around the side of the building and up to the shipping crate by the main objective building. My Djanbazan and Naffatun both tried to spot him as he rounded the corner and the Djanbazan succeeded however he was now back in total cover so re-camo'd and crept around the side to shoot at the hunzakut, succeeding in knocking him unconscious. The spitfire next to the Teutonic knight crept up to the corner and shot at one of the Halqa's, knocking him unconscious.

Turn 2:

I wanted to try and deal with the spitfire before it pipped off all my Halqa and also didn't want that TO marker close to the objective so I activated my HMG and shot the spitfire full of bullets first. My Doctor then activated and healed up the Halqa who'd been knocked unconscious in Dave's turn although he was still prone so wouldn't be able to threaten anything approaching the objective as he couldn't see over the parapet.

My naffatun ran forward from the building in the centre to run past the objective and flame the TO guy sat behind the shipping crate. The flamer killed him and he failed to hit me in return, after which I ran back around the corner and up onto the objective.

In response Dave didn't have much left but I was underestimating his Teutonic Knight! He charged around the corner taking out the other Halqa and then moved out from behind the shipping container to shoot his panzerfaust at the Djanbazan with HMG. The Djanbazan won the roll off and put a point on the Knight but he has 2 wounds so kept coming, second time round the knight hit the Djanbazan with his panzerfaust and he failed 1 of his 3 saves meaning the HMG was now unconscious. With his last order the knight moved up to the bottom of the objective building and shot at the Naffatun by the guard house, knocking her unconscious, she responded by flaming him but he passed the save.

The above is a picture from the end of my turn 2 (Infinity games are generally 3 turns long) You can see where my Halqa were deployed on top of the Guard House, one of my Naffatun has crept around to the bottom of the Guard House to guard against anything coming round that corner, while my other Naffatun has run up and flamed the TO troops that had taken out my sniper before taking a position on the objective.

Turn 3

 That turned the tables a little and now I have a problem unless I could get rid of that knight. I moved the naffatun on the objective around to flame him and although he failed his save this time he also shot down the naffatun meaning I had nothing left on the objective.

I charged my lieutenant down the ladder and over to the objective building, leaving her in the corner and said good game to my opponent thinking I'd tabled him.

Dave then pointed out he still had an order sergeant on the table that I'd completely missed, hiding behind the building just to the right of the watchtower all game. As he was religious he ignored loss of lieutenant and proceeded to walk around the corner, and shoot/kill my lieutenant for a draw!

Thoughts

Overall I really enjoyed the game and I'm loving Infinity at the moment (although I'm enjoying my Dark Eldar too) I thought I'd won the game first turn but that certainly wasn't the case and there were some really cool moments with Dave's knight being generally awesome!

There were loads of mistakes made by both of us but we're still learning and had fun so it's all good :)

I was also happy with the terrain, I think there was enough for a decent game and I was a bit worried about the deadzone stuff as it has a lot of holes in the ruined bits but it seemed to work pretty well.

Anyway, I'm sure this post isn't particularly well written but hopefully you'll be able to take something from it. I think in future, particularly for the Infinity reports if I'm not going to include maps I need to take a lot more pictures.

Rich

Random Wednesday - Guard House Scenery // Reaver Jetbikes // Infinity tonight

Well quite a random post today, which was kind of expected from my Wednesday's as it depends what I've had chance to do, if anything, over the last couple of days.

I apologise for the particularly bad quality of today's pics, one was taken in the evening just as I'd finished it and the other quickly this morning before leaving for work. I'll work on getting better photos up in future.

In this case I managed to get the Guard House I picked up at the Infinity weekender built as well as getting some more done on my Reavers.

The Guard House took me a couple of hours to put together so not bad at all and no glue required, some initial hiccups getting bits pushed in (they can take some force) however in the end I got the knack of it.

One thing I would mention is if you are a bit of a fool like me and put one piece in upside down it can be really difficult to pull it apart without damaging the pieces so ensure you take the time to double check whether bits are facing the right way (etching on the outside) and aren't upside down.

I managed to pretty much fix up the bits I'd broken and there are a few spare bits in there (didn't realise this until I'd botched the bit I'd broken)  but if I put together another one I'm sure it'd be much easier.

Overall for a night's work I was pretty chuffed with the look of it and it's a good way to get some quick, cheap terrain down for Infinity (or 40k!) I think this one is about £12 ?

The Reaver's I've now got the basic colours down on the bike and done a bit of highlighting on the bodywork, I'm not spending too much time on the purple as I've some stencils I'm going to use once I've got all my vehicles/bikes ready which should make them much more interesting.

My schedule says these should be finished by Saturday however I'm probably a bit behind already as I've not started on the riders yet. I imagine I'll get them completed by next Wednesday so I can get started on airbrushing the first Raider.

Tonight I'm popping down to my local gaming club for some more Infinity and will be taking along my scenery and Haqqislam. I'm not sure I'll get a game in myself as there are three of us but it's a fun game to watch anyway and either way I'll take some pictures for a post on Friday.

I'm taking the following list in case I do get time for a game:

150pts Haqqislam

Ghulam Lietenant	13
Naffatun Heavy Flamethrower	12
Naffatun Heavy Flamethrower	12
Halqa	16
Halqa	16
Halqa Doctor	20
Hunzakut Sniper	25
Djanbazan Heavy Machine Gun	36

Infinity Autumn Weekender - Doubles Infinity and Painting Competition

Little bit of a different post today as I went to an Infinity Intro Tournament over the weekend on Saturday afternoon / Sunday which was good fun so I thought I'd mention it here.

I enjoy playing Infinity and it is certainly less effort than 40k to get a force painted up which is fantastic as it means I can play with a fully painted army most of the time.

Anyway, I had a couple of games to try and refresh myself on the rules on Saturday as I've only played 3 or 4 times before, I lost both the games Saturday and then in then Doubles tournament on Sunday we won the first before losing the next two.

Bit of a shame on the Sunday that one of us had to drop out due to numbers (Had been expecting 12 and got 9 as 3 no show) which meant that Craig volunteered to miss the Tourney and hung around getting some new loot and playing some friendly games instead.

The prizes were handed out on a points system through the day though rather than the winners of the tournament itself so my doubles partner on the day came second in points (They were given for things like critting in ARO, missing with all 3 shots from a single order, passing 3 armour saves in a row etc.)

I came runner up in the painting competition with 3 of my models (Djanbazan Sniper / Hanzakut / Ghulam) which I was really chuffed with and picked up an extra faction badge and a set of Micro Art Studio bases which I traded with my doubles partner for a Tarik Mansuri that he'd taken as a prize for 2nd place points total.

A good friend of mine came 3rd on points with his Pan O Military Orders and got an Antenocitis Workshop police car and faction badge.

Overall I think the 3 of us who went down enjoyed the day and hoping to play some more infinity before the next tournament at the end of January that should be using the new N3 ruleset, on that note I've a game on Wednesday lined up against Dave (The chap who came 3rd) and will try and get some pictures of that for an Infinity Battle Report this week.

For those of you who're interested the list I took was:

Naffatun Light Flame Thrower
Naffatun Light Flame Thrower
Ghulam
Ghulam
Ghulam Lieutenant
Khum Biker with Chain Rifle
Khum Biker with Chain Rifle
Djanbazan Heavy Machine Gun
Djanbazan Sniper


Here's what I came back with from the weekend:

Wych Cult vs Blood Angels - 1750pt Battle Report

Ok so on to the game, if you are looking for the lists, please see the previous post.

I apologise for the poor quality pictures, they're taken using my mobile and I was just snapping very quick shots while we went through so a number of them are blurry. Hopefully the maps will help you see what's happening :)

Mission: Crusade (5 Objectives rolled, 3 VP's each at the end of the game)

Deployment: Dawn of War

Night fighting:Yes

Warlord Traits: 

 - Dark Eldar - Towering Arrogance (Fearless to Warlord and units within 12")

 - Blood Angels - Forgot to roll (oops)

Combat Drugs: +1 WS

Psychic Powers: Prescience // Foreboding // Precognition

Dark Eldar won the roll and decided to deploy first and take first turn

Terrain Setup (Ignore the Dark Eldar)

Deployment

Dark Eldar deploy first and put all the Raiders on the right out of LOS of the Quad Gun in case the Blood Angels seize the initiative, the Reavers with Heat Lance deploy with them on the right to try and dissuade the Knight and Baal from deploying opposite, the other Reavers deploy on the left hand side along with the two venoms containing Succubus/Incubi and Kabalites just left of centre.

Blood Angels Put the Death Company Rhino on the left and deploy the Librarian with Devastators manning the Quad Gun with the Baal Predator next to them. Imperial Knight just to the right of them (as you look at the map) behind the two story ruin.

Blood Angels try to Seize and fail.

Blurry Pic:

DE Turn 1

Venoms pull left to draw a bead on the Quad Gun and open fire at it, the first Venom destroys the Quad whilst between the Reavers and the second Venom 2 marines from the Devastator unit are killed.

In the centre the Scourge jump forward into the crater and fire at the Knight, causing 3 Glances and 1 Penetrating hit of which 2 Glances and then Penetrating hit are saved by the shield. (5 HP left)

On the right the small unit of Reavers moves and boosts behind the ruin at the top right, hoping to bring their Heat Lance into play next turn. The 3 Raiders move out trying to spread a bit to avoid more than 1 getting hit by the Battle Cannon and fire at the Knight, causing one penetrating hit which blows off the close combat weapon. (4 HP left)

Blurry Pics:

BA Turn 1

The Rhino on the left moves 12" around the woods and pops smoke, Baal Predator fires at the Kabalite venom and wrecks it despite jinking. Librarian casts prescience and the Devastators fire at the Incubi's ride which jinks for a 3+ (Night fighting) and saves everything.

The Knight moves out slightly and shoots stubbers against the small unit of Reavers which Jink for a 2+ and the Battle Cannon at the middle raider which Stuns it and leaves it on 1 hull point.

Dark Eldar 0 - 1 Blood Angels (First Blood)

Blurry Pic:

DE Turn 2

All 3 Razorwings fail to come on.

The left Reavers jump over the wood to line up shots at the Devastators and the venom moves up 6" alongside the wrecked Venom before the Succubus and Incubi disembark ready to charge (thought about this for a while first.)

The Reavers shoot at the Baal in the end along with the Kabalites that have climbed into the ruins, hoping that the Succubus and Incubi can take care of the Devastators and Librarian. They Stun it and leave it on 1 hull point before using their Eldar Jetbike move to jump into the crater in front of the Predator.

Succubus throws the Animus Vitae which hits but fails to wound before they charge in, Succubus challenges and kills the unit champion before the rest of the unit kills all the Incubi (no grenades :( ) Succubus is fearless so stays put.

On the right I move everything up and around to take shots at the Imperial Knight and cause 1 glance, with the rest missing, failing to pen, or being saved (4 Haywire Blasters and 2 Dark Lances, then 2 snap shots from Dark Lance / Heat Lance)

Reavers then charge into the Knight (I forgot about Stomp and thought I could lock it in combat, never played against a Knight) and the Cluster Calrops on the specialist cause one rend leaving it on 2 HP, return stomping and attacks kill 2 Reavers.

Blurry Pics:

BA Turn 2

Vanguard Vets drop between the two woods and prepare to charge the Venom but the Assault Marines and Terminators stay off for now.

The Death Company Rhino moves forward at cruising speed through the woods and shoots at the venom but no damage, Baal fires snap shots at the Venom which jinks and saves everything.

The Knight walks out of combat towards the Scourges and fires into them with it's Heavy Stubbers however their armour and 6+ FNP saves all but the front Shard Carbine Scourge. The Battle Cannon fires at the stunned Raider and wrecks it, causing the Wyches to bail out towards the objective.

In the Assault phase the Knight charges the scourges and stomps all but one, with the remaining Scourge fleeing and getting away. The Succubus puts one wound on the Librarian and then takes two wounds from the combined attacks of the unit and Librarian. Stays put again due to Fearless

Dark Eldar 0 - 1 Blood Angels 

Blurry Pics:

DE Turn 3

All 3 flyers come in and line up shots, with the two dark lance Razorwings aiming at the Knight while the Disintegrator Cannon Razorwing flys at the Vanguard Veterans.

The one remaining Scourge rallies on a double 1 and snap shoots at the Knight but misses, the 2 remaining raiders move around to line up shots but have to move at cruising speed so haywire grenades will be snap firing. I bottle it and the Wyches stay in their transport as I hope to kill it with shooting this turn rather than risk my Wyches being stomped on or left in the open with the Assault Marines dropping in. The Reaver with Heat Lance and Caltrops moves just behind the Knight.

I open up with 6 Dark Lances and 2 Haywire Grenades (Snap Fired) as well as the Heat Lance and after saves the only thing to have caused any damage was the Heat Lance which knocked another HP off, but the Knight is still standing with one remaining Hull Point. I charge in with the Reaver and the Cluster Caltrops finish the job.

The Reaver and the closest Raider are caught in the explosion but it fails to wound / penetrate.

On the left the Venom moves forward into the Crater in the middle right in front of the Baal Predator and onto that objective, while the Reavers move to get shots with their blasters at the rear armour of the Rhino, stunning it and leaving it on 1 HP. I considered charging it and finishing the job with Cluster Caltrops but I don't want to be charged by the Death Company next turn so instead move to block all the exit points, trapping them inside barring an emergency disembarkation.

The Disintegrator Cannon Razorwing fires the 2 DC's plus the Splinter Cannon at the Vanguard Vets but I'm worried about the missiles scattering onto my Reavers so don't fire those. I kill 4 Vanguard Vets and leave alive. The Kabalites also shoot into the unit hoping to finish them off but can't do so.

In the Assault Phase the Succubus fails to do any wounds and the marines pull her down for Slay the Warlord.

Dark Eldar 0 - 2 Blood Angels (Slay the Warlord)

Blurry Pics:





BA Turn 3

The Assault Marines fail to come in again, the Terminators do, but try and drop by the Wyches in the bottom right and mishap, having to go back into Reserves.

Death Company stay in the Rhino, not wanting to emergency disembark, and the Rhino and passengers fire at the Kabalites but fail to hit / wound.

Librarian casts Prescience and Precognition and the unit shoots at the DC armed Razorwing which jinks but fails to save 2 penetrating hits, leaving it stunned and on 1 HP.

Baal Predator fires into the Venom in front of it and wrecks it.

Vanguard Vet shoots and then charges the Kabalites in the ruins but causes no wounds and they bounce off his armour in return.

Dark Eldar 0 - 2 Blood Angels



DE Turn 4

The DC armed Flyer flies off the board while the other two move over towards the Librarian and Devastator unit and fire missiles / lances into them killing 3. The Heat Lance armed Reaver moves behind the Baal Predator and misses, before charging in with Caltrops and wrecking it.

The rest of the Reavers move back and shoot at the Rhino again, wrecking it but finding themselves unable to charge the Death Company as they disembarked on the far side out of LOS, I use their jetbike move to pull back away from the objectives into the woods in the Marine deployment Zone.

The two Raiders move around for position and fire lances at the Rhino / Pred, missing. The remaining scourge moves to sit on the objective in the ruins.

In the Assault phase the Kabalites manage to bring down the Vanguard Vet and consolidate back into the ruins towards the objective.

Dark Eldar 0 - 2 Blood Angels

Blurry Pics

BA Turn 4

The Assault Terminators come in again and this time land close to their target, running in the shooting phase towards my Wyches sat on the objective.

The Assault Marines also come down near to the objective in the centre of my deployment zone and run in the shooting phase to spread slightly.

Death Company move south through the woods towards the objective on the left of my deployment and run in the shooting phase.

Devastators and Librarian shoot at one of the dark lance Razorwings and it crashes and burns in the open.

Dark Eldar 0 - 2 Blood Angels

DE Turn 5 

I forget to bring the DC armed Razorwing back on. The Reavers on the left move towards the Death Company and the remaining flyer turns and heads that way as well, firing 4 missiles and killing 2 Death Company and 1 of the Reavers that had strayed too close. The Reavers then charge in and kill another one, losing two back but staying in combat due to fearless.

One of the Raiders goes flat out down into position to deal with the Assault Marines next turn, while the other moves onto the objective in front of the Aegis. Combined fire from the HL Reaver, Raider and Passengers followed by a charge from the Reaver finishes off the Librarian and Devastators for Slay the Warlord.

The Wyches in the bottom right move up and shoot then charge the terminators, killing 2 and losing 1 in return although the Terminators hold.

Dark Eldar 1 - 2 Blood Angels (Slay the Warlord)

BA Turn 5

Assault marines move around the objective in the centre and shoot at the Kabalites in front of them but they pass all of the cover / feel no pain saves.

In Assault the Death Company and Reavers beat on each other but no casualties due to armour/feel no pain on both sides saving them.

In combat between the Wyches and Terminators one more Wych dies while what wounds do get through on the Terminators are saved.

We counted up the scores to see who would win if the game ended at this point and they stood at:

Dark Eldar (STW // LB // 2 Objectives) 8 - 6 Blood Angels (STW // FB // LB // 1 Objective)

Rolling the dice we got another turn

DE Turn 6

Still forgot to bring the DC armed Razorwing back on, the other flyer left the table.

Kabalites spread out and fired at the Assault Marines killing one.

The HL Reaver moved to claim the objective in front of the Aegis and one Raider went flat out down to claim the bottom left objective while the other moved around towards the Assault Marines and the Wyches disembarked. They shot and then charged in (WS 5 with Rage, Furious Charge, Fearless, Feel No Pain by this point), losing 3 to overwatch before killing the Unit Champion and 4 Marines, taking one casualty back.

Death company killed one more Reaver and lost one more marine.

Terminators killed 1 Wych and took no casualties.


BA Turn 6

Just the assault phase left, in which the Death Company and Reavers continue to slap each other and the Terminators kill 2 more Wyches, leaving just the Hydrae and Hekatrix.

Wyches in the centre cause a couple of casualties and take none back, with the marines fleeing (and getting away) off the objective.

At this point we decided to call the game.

Dark Eldar (STW // LB // 4 Objectives) 14 - 3 Blood Angels (STW // FB // LB )

So I really enjoyed the game despite making a good few mistakes as hopefully I'll learn from those and get better as a player.

If I was going back now I think the things I'd have done differently:

Don't jink with the jetbikes with Heat Lance on the first turn, I needed the gun not to be snap firing and they were in cover anyway.

Don't charge the jetbikes into the knight, stomp is nasty - I was lucky to get away with the Heat Lance surviving as it then went on to destroy the Knight, the Baal, and finished off the devastators before claiming an objective at the end of the game. Definitely my man of the match!


Should have just kept my Incubi and Succubus in their Venom turn 2, the Reavers could have charged instead and in charging through cover with Incubi against a reasonably sized unit they just melted.

Don't forget my Razorwings when they've flown off the table, they're not dead!

----------

Those are the obvious ones I can think of, I'm happy to hear any feedback from anyone who has an opinion on it.

What would you have done differently if you were the Dark Eldar and/or the Blood Angels player?

Thanks for reading,


Rich

Wych Cult vs Blood Angels 1750 - Lists

So had my game Wednesday night against Fred with his Blood Angels and Imperial Knight, lists as below, I'll follow this up with the battle report later today / tomorrow as completed

1750pt Realspace Raiders

Succubus
 - Archite Glaive, Animus Vitae

4 Incubi
 - Klaivex
 - Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance

5 Kabalite Warriors
 - Blaster
 - Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons

Razorwing Jetfighter with Disintegrator Cannons and a Splinter Cannon

Razorwing Jetfighter with Dark Lances

Razorwing Jetfighter with Dark Lances

6 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Arena Champion with Agoniser and Cluster Caltrops
 - Blaster x2
 - Cluster Caltrops x1 (additional to the Arena Champ)

3 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Arena Champion
 - Heat Lance with Cluster Caltrops

5 Scourges
 - 4 Haywire Blasters

-------------------------

1750pt Blood Angels

Terminator Librarian
 - Mastery Level 2, Terminator Armour, Combi Flamer

5 Assault Terminators
 - 3 Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield
 - 2 Lightning Claws

6 Death Company
 - Rhino

10 Assault Marines
 - Flamer

5 Vanguard Vets

10 Devastators
 - 4 Flakk Missiles

Baal Predator
 - Twin Linked Assault Cannon and 2 Heavy Bolters

Aegis Defence Line
 - Quad Gun

Imperial Knight
 - Rapid Fire Battle Cannon, 2 Heavy Stubbers, Close Combat D Weapon

------------------------------

Thoughts on the lists?

Any predictions?

Will try and get the battle report up asap just trying to work it through battle chronicler and adding the pictures (I took some more this time but haven't looked at what quality they are yet and they tailed off towards the end of the game as it was late)

List for this evening

Got a game vs a friend at my place this evening at 1750, going to use my 1500 list with a couple of additions but I'm at a bit of a stretch to hit 1750 so I'll need to break theme slightly for a unit of Kabalites.

One list query though, I don't see anything saying I can't take my 1 cluster caltrops per 3 on my champion, I assume I can put them on his bike? (He'd be a very scary proposition in a challenge then, I believe the HoW hits would be taken by whoever he's in the challenge with?)

This is the list I'm using if anyone has any last minute feedback for me before this evening.

1750pt Realspace Raiders

Succubus
 - Archite Glaive, Animus Vitae

4 Incubi
 - Klaivex
 - Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance

5 Kabalite Warriors
 - Blaster
 - Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons

Razorwing Jetfighter with Disintegrator Cannons and a Splinter Cannon

Razorwing Jetfighter with Dark Lances

Razorwing Jetfighter with Dark Lances

6 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Arena Champion with Agoniser and Cluster Caltrops
 - Blaster x2
 - Cluster Caltrops x1 (additional to the Arena Champ)

3 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Arena Champion
 - Heat Lance with Cluster Caltrops

5 Scourges
 - 4 Haywire Blasters

Random Wednesday - Post Schedule // Painting Plans

Just a brief update today with some thoughts on a post schedule and a quick insight into how I plan my painting projects in case anyone else finds it useful.

Post Schedule

One of the pieces of advice I've received when setting up the blog (from The_Burning_eye at The Dark City) was to set a post schedule in order that people know what to expect and when, and so that I can plan around what I'll update and when.

This seems a great idea and I've given it some thought before coming up with the following:

Monday: Painting Update

Gives me time to paint over the weekend and I can write the post Sunday night before posting before work Monday

Wednesday: Random Wednesday

I often have a game Wednesday night (It's the club night at my local club, Rygas Roughnecks) so this will either be thoughts on lists and my opponent for the evening, or general bits that don't fit under painting or gaming.

Will sometimes have an additional Work in Progress picture if I've managed to get much done Mon / Tue.

Friday: Battle Report

I will not always be able to do this one as I don't manage to get a game in every week, but when I was thinking about it I figured if I don't get one in myself, I'' do my best to link to a Dark Eldar one that I've seen elsewhere on other blogs or youtube etc.

I'll be trying to follow that for the next 4 weeks and I'll then review how it's gone and see if any changes need to be made.

Painting Plans

For anyone who's not seen this yet I recommend that you take a look at Kanban Flow 

It's a project management tool but it's free and really easy to use and I find it very helpful for keeping me on track.

When I started my Dark Eldar list writing I wrote down everything I'd need to paint then plugged it into Kanban Flow in manageable chunks before setting dates around when I wanted to start and complete each task. It means that I now know what I need to paint and when to be on track for hitting the various stages of our escalation league with a fully painted army.

I'll include a couple of shots of what I've done below, it's very simple to setup and use though, if anyone has any queries or comments about it, please let me know.

Any thoughts on the post schedule or painting plans?

First Wych Shard complete (minus touchups) // Scourge Assembly and Weapon Options Questions

Couple of bits done over the weekend and the first shard of Wyches is pretty much completed now, just need to paint out the mouths and dot the eyes, splash some blood on the weapons and we're done.

From what I've read the best protection is Gloss varnish as the Matt rubs off, but you can use the Gloss and then the Matt to prevent the shine from the Gloss.

Interested to hear everybody's thoughts on it before I mess them up, current plan is likely to be Gloss and then Matt using the airbrush.



I also got some more assembly done on my scourges as I'm wanting to use these in a game on Wednesday. I've only assembled two lots of arms at the moment (picture above is slightly outdated I now have one with Shard Carbine and they all have wings) as I've more of them coming for Christmas which will mean I can do a few units with varying set-ups.

On that note, my current plan is:

4 Haywire
4 Blasters
8 Shard Carbines (or 4 Heat Lance, 4 Carbines)
2 Solarites (one power lance, one agoniser)

That would give me both sets of special weapons I'm likely to use, as well as plenty of ablative wounds if I want to run bigger units, or just run a unit as anti infantry.

Most of the time this will just be 2 x 4 with Haywire Blaster and one Shard Carbine, but I figured if I'm unlikely to use Heat Lances / Dark lances / Splinter Cannons, I might as well do the others as Shard Carbines.

So a couple of questions off the back of those:

1. What do people recommend in terms of Varnish? I've always previously used GW clear varnish but I've seen horror stories online about frosting so I've also got Vallejo Gloss Varnish and Vallejo Matt Varnish to airbrush on.
2. What would you assemble the Scourge as? Are Heat Lances worth it without a webway portal delivery system?

Wych Cult vs Chaos Marines Battle Report

OK guys I had an attempt at using battle chronicler to make a record of my game from Wednesday evening. I'm sure there are ways to do some of the things I wanted to but I think I may just use Vassal in future as I did find it difficult to show who was shooting who, assaults, etc.

I've tried to include some commentary as best I recall it and I've included a couple of actual photos at the end however I'm afraid I forgot to take any pictures until gone halfway through the game!

Any comments and critique much appreciated. I'll perhaps do another post tomorrow with my opinions on the game but for now this has taken long enough!

Overview

Location: Rygas Roughnecks Gaming Club, Exeter

Date played: 19 November 2014

Mission: Tactical Objectives

Drugs: +1WS

Trait: Warlord and Dark Eldar within 12" cause Fear

Wych Cult of The Dancing Death

Succubus

            Warlord with Archite Glaive, Armour of Misery, Haywire Grenades

4 Incubi

             Klaivex

             V - Venom with 2 x Splinter Cannon, Flickerfield

W1 - 8 Wyches

Hekatrix (Agoniser and Haywire Grenades) and Hydra Gauntlets.

R1 Raider with Night Shields and Dark Lance

W2 - 8 Wyches

Hekatrix (Agoniser and Haywire Grenades) and Hydra Gauntlets.

R2 Raider with Night Shields and Dark Lance

W3 - 8 Wyches

Hekatrix (Agoniser and Haywire Grenades) and Hydra Gauntlets.

R3 Raider with Night Shields and Dark Lance

J1 - 3 Reaver Jetbikes, Reavers

Blaster, Cluster Caltrops

J2 - 3 Reaver Jetbikes, Reavers

Blaster, Cluster Caltrops

J3 - 3 Reaver Jetbikes, Reavers

Blaster, Cluster Caltrops

F11 - Razorwing Jetfighter

             2 Dark Lances, 4 Monoscythe Missiles, Twin Linked Splinter Rifle

F12 - Razorwing Jetfighter

             2 Dark Lances, 4 Monoscythe Missiles, Twin Linked Splinter Rifle

F13 - Razorwing Jetfighter

             2 Disintegrator Cannons, 4 Monoscythe Missiles, Twin Linked Splinter Rifle

• Total: 1499 points

 Red Corsairs Chaos Space Marines

Huron Blackheart

Dark Apostle

TS -         10 Thousand Sons

Sorceror

CM1 -     10 Chaos Marines

10 Marines, 2 Plasma, Sergeant with Power Axe

CM2 -     10 Chaos Marines

10 Marines, Missile Launcher, Flamer, Sergeant with Power Axe

C -           20 Cultists

Autogun

B -           5 Bikers

2 Melta

FF -         Forge Fiend

2 Ecto Plasma Cannons

V -           Vindicator

Battle Cannon, Havoc Launcher

QG -        Quad Gun

Deployment

Chaos deploy first then choose to go second, he reasoned that most of his weaponry would be out of range turn 1 and that he wanted the second turn for objectives etc.

I deployed trying to keep out of LOS as much as possible, seeing an opportunity on the left using woods to cover the advance and concentrating on hitting one point in the line then rolling up it to avoid facing all of the marines at once.

  Turn 1 - Dark Eldar

First turn I edge the venom out slightly to draw a bead on the Quad Gun, hoping to take it out first turn however although I cause 5 wounds, all but one of them is saved leaving the Quad Gun on 1 wound.

I moved the Reavers and Raiders forward 12" and fired at the Vindicator with all but one of them, shaking it and removing 2 hull points. Once it was shaken I figured the threat was removed so took one shot at the Forge Fiend but failed to penetrate.

Dark Eldar 0 - 0 Chaos

  Turn 1 - Chaos

His First Turn he manoeuvred the Forge Fiend and rear Marine unit slightly and pushed the Cultists forward, took some pot shots at the Reavers through the trees but poor rolling and cover saves meant no casualties. Bikes began to move around the hill but couldn't draw a bead to a target.

Most bits were out of range but the Missile Launcher and Quad Gun both fired at the Venom which jinked and saved a penetrating hit and a glance.

Dark Eldar 0 - 0 Chaos

  Turn 2 - Dark Eldar

Dark Eldar second turn and all 3 Razorwings came on. Quad Gun shot interceptor shots at the disintegrator cannon razorwing which I forgot to declare jink with. He scored 2 penetrating hits getting weapon destroyed and Immobilised, I passed the immobilised save so took a crew stunned result as well as losing one of the cannons.

On the left the Reavers moved up with two units lining up the Vindicator for a shot/charge while the other repositioned slightly to shoot / charge the Cultists. The Raiders continued to move forwards and the venom jumped to the other side of the woods, passing it's dangerous terrain test after which the Incubi and Succubus disembarked and moved towards the Cultists to Assault.

In the shooting phase the Reavers shot at the Vindicator and wrecked it, one of the Raiders finished off the Quad Gun and the other two Raiders both took a shot at the Forge Fiend and missed. The two Razorwings with Lances fired 4 Lances and 4 Missiles between them but only managed to scratch the paintwork, causing one glancing hit and one casualty in each of the units in front of the Forge Fiend from scattering missiles.

The third unit of Reavers and the Succubus with Incubi then shot/charged into the large cultist unit with Dark Apostle, with the Succubus challenging the Dark Apostle and causing 1 wound, before taking one back which thankfully was saved by her invulnerable dodge. The Impact Hits / Reavers / Incubi then accounted for 15 of the cultists, with 5 of those being from the Klaivex (Rampage makes him really nasty!) The 5 remaining cultists and Apostle stayed in place though due to being fearless.

Dark Eldar 2 - 0 Chaos (First Blood and Venom claimed objective in the woods)

  Turn 2 - Chaos

Rear unit of marines shuffle around again but can't get to much due to congestion and the fact that the Incubi and a unit of Reavers are stuck in combat. The bikes move to shoot/charge the Reavers but after shooting is done the assault fails by an inch due to having shot the closest. (Marines also shot into this unit) The Thousand Sons shot at the Flyers but no hits. The missile launcher with the unit on the defence line shot the centre most Raider which jinks but still takes a penetrating hit which stuns it. Forge Fiend shoots the venom and destroys it.

In the ongoing combat between the Succubus and the Dark Apostle, the Succubus put 3 wounds on him which are all saved, after which the Dark Apostle puts 1 on the Succubus, she fails her dodge save and is pulped due to a S6 Power Maul. (Dark Apostle rolls Hammer of Wrath on the Eye of the Gods chart) The Incubi and Reavers kill the rest of the cultists to win combat and pile in surrounding the Dark Apostle.

Dark Eldar 2 - 1 Chaos (Slay the Warlord)

  Turn 3 - Dark Eldar

The DC Razorwing is forced to move 18" straight so does so, snap firing at the marine bikes with its one remaining DC but failing to hit. The other two Razorwings move forward 18" and fire 2 lances and their last 2 Monoscythe Missiles at the Forge Fiend, with the last Missile managing to glance for the final hull point (Two marines also got killed by the scattering blasts)

The centre most Raider was stunned so stayed in place, the other two moved around the woods to the left ready to deliver their payload next turn. They fired lances and killed a bike. Reavers manoeuvred to shoot and one of them charged the bikes and killed 3 with shooting then impact hits, one Reaver was killed in return and the bikes ran (Sorry this isn't on the pic) but Reavers failed to catch them (rolled a 1) Bikes stopped short of table edge.

In the ongoing combat Klaivex challenged the Dark Apostle and killed him, with the Reavers consolidating to try and form a shield in front of the Incubi, and the Incubi not rolling high enough to get into the woods behind them.

Dark Eldar 3 - 1 Chaos (R3 takes an objective in the woods at the bottom of the map)

  Turn 3 - Chaos

Bikes rally and snap shoot at the Reavers on the hill but miss and then fail to charge. Huron casts forewarning on the marines by the house in the bottom left. Everything that can shoots into the Incubi and they melt into nothing. The marine unit at the top of the map shoots at the Flyers but no hits.

Dark Eldar 3 - 1 Chaos

  Turn 4 - Dark Eldar

 Before

After

I don't feel I can get R1 into range to charge the Wyches this turn so that Raider moves 12" forward onto an objective in front of the Aegis. The other two Raiders on the left move 6" forward and disgorge their passengers to shoot / charge the Marines and Thousand Sons (One unit into each)

The Reavers move to claim objectives and threaten Huron, with one unit behind the house claiming an objective, while two of them line up shots/charge against Huron, Charge isn't required however as the Blaster hits, wounds, he fails his invulnerable and is removed for Kill the Warlord

The two lance armed flyers shoot off the board while F13 targets the Bikes and shoots 3 missiles and the working DC at them which wipes them out.

In the assault phase both units of Wyches charge in with Furious Charge now and the Hekatrix make challenges which have to be accepted, during which they cut down the aspiring champion and sorceror. The rest of the unit wipes out the Chaos Marines while in the other combat there are 3 Thousand Sons left who I believe kill 1 Wych. The Reavers move backwards from where Huron was to try and keep away from the marines in that corner.

Dark Eldar 5 - 1 Chaos (Two objectives claimed)

  Turn 4 - Chaos

Things were looking bleak for Chaos with only a unit of marines and 3 Thousand Sons left and so there was limited action this turn, with the Marines moving up and hosing the Reaver Unit down. In combat the last 3 Thousand Sons succumbed to the Wyches.

Dark Eldar 5 - 1 Chaos

  Turn 5 - Dark Eldar

Turn 5 was just a case of mopping up what was left, with everything moving and shooting into the last Marine unit before two units of Wyches charged in and finished the job.

Game!

I enjoyed getting another game in with the Wyches and while I know I wasn't playing against an optimised list I have found the Wyches to be at least usable, I'll expand on my experiences and thoughts on the game more in another article either this evening or tomorrow depending on when I get time.

Thoughts from anyone else on both the game and the Battle Report format?


I'd like to know if it is worth me continuing to post these as it did take a fair bit of work.

Thanks for reading,

Rich