From the Front Line

Okay, so we were bored.

A lament for Lucky Jim

Jim, my lad, you did just fine
Even for a humble mine
On the winds of change you'd drift
Whilst Varras always seemed miss
To us you never be "just a spore"
We'll remember you for ever more.

And a contribution from Jasper...

Lt. Varras you lucky man,
Soaring through the air.
Your spaceship crashed away you ran,
Those red blobs don't look friendly.

Lt. Varras you lucky man,
You keep the geneseed safe.
Dancing swiftly as you can,
Avoiding Lucky Jim.

Lt. Varras you lucky man,
The red blobs float the other way.
Your nimble feet - your electric fan,
You waft the floating menace.

Lt. Varras you lucky man,
There seems to be a noise.
A flash of claws - A glint from teeth,
Not so lucky now.

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Westonbirt

Westonbirt Arboretum is just up the road from Bristol, and a favourite place of mine, especially during autumn. Alas, I was a week or so early and the full display of autumn colour had not quite begun.

From the front line

Well, the Battlewagon bits delivery turned up last week. Although annoyed by the additional customs charge, everything was as expected. I did make one mistake as I had not realised that Jump Packs are now two pieces so I had only ordered 3 whereas I thought it was going to be 6. Ah well, at least the Chaplain is now properly equipped and the Assault squad he leads is now up to seven troops (all 'legally' armed with bolt pistols and chainswords).

 

The Lascannon model will have to wait a little longer, as the marines I had left over wouldn't fit with the new pose, but the missile launcher is together.

 

So, a few new models to paint.  These were added to with the arrival of the Battle for Maccragge box set that I found on eBay. To be honest, this was a disappointment. The book is pretty flimsy and only A5 sized and the plastics are the worst mouldings I have ever seen from Games Workshop. Every model had bad mould lines, and the crashed ship scenery pieces almost needed carving out.

 

Although the scenery turned out to be pretty natty, and the marine squad is useful, I would recommend getting the full rule book on it's own instead. 

 

Still, another tactical squad of marines to add to the collection, even if a little blocky. This now gives me ample troops to field two or three tactical squads all armed with bolters, plus a Devastator squad. More than enough for most battles :) I spent most of yesterday evening putting the marines and scenery together.  Haven't managed the Tyranid troops yet - maybe tonight!

 

The next thing to get, which really will have to wait until more models are painted, will be a Scout Squad armed with sniper rifles. These are a very cheap Troops selection for the army, and I like the idea of being able to infiltrate a squad to take and hold a key area of cover that can provide some useful covering fire and threaten light armour. In addition, the sergeant can always be upgraded to carry a teleport homer to allow Terminators to deploy close by in later turns. Since this squad is likely to consist of either a stack of fire power, or the most heavily armed close combat troops available, this could be a useful tactic. Even if only to worry the pants off my opponent!

 

Oh, and finally, and the pilot from the Maccragge boxed set will make an excellent Igor to accompany Archie...now all I need to do is create some rules for them.

 

Current wish list, (cheapest first!)

 

3 jump packs

1 Terminator with assault cannon

1 Marine Scout squad boxed set (4 scouts with sniper rifles and 1 with missile launcher)

1 Land Speeder boxed set (with assault cannon and heavy bolter)

1 Crusader Land Raider

 

 

 

 

 

A small step up...

I had completely forgotten that several months ago I put together the justification for my being promoted to the next grade up - basically I had to show that I was already doing that role.

 

Anyway, Friday last week my boss called me aside and gave me the letter saying that I had been successful!

 

Even better was the very slight pay rise that I wasn't expecting :)

 

Apart from now having to live up to expectations, I now qualify for a bigger share of the pie when it comes to the performance-based bonus next time around...but the day job won't be changing.

From the front line

I want one of these.

WTF, you ask?

Well, with those, a bag of plaster of paris and a bit of time, you can create this, this or even one of these!

And when I saw this miniature on eBay, how could I refuse?



I just won, so he should be on his way soon.

From the front line

Not a good day for the forces of the Adeptus Astartes, especially the Dark Angels.

Following last week's game, the roster looked slightly different. The Commander was replaced with a cheaper Chaplain, who was attached to the assault squad. I also took a 10-marine Tactical squad (all armed with bolters) and a Devastator squad (2 missile launchers for anti-troop/light armour and a Lascannon for anti-vehicle work, plus 7 marines for short range fire power). The Deathwing from last week were replaced by a Predator tank (Autocannon turret and two Lascannon sponsons) and a rhino for the tactical squad. The Dreadnought and Landspeeder were retained.

This force seemed to be a little better balanced, with plenty of shooty troops supporting reasonable fast attack units. I nearly went for an all-shooty army with no assault at all, but relented.

When I saw my opponent, I wished I had.

The tyranids are a race I have only faced once, but did remarkably well against. It's not often you can take 'nids down in hand-to-hand, but I have managed it - it gave my opponent of the time a new respect for the Dark Angels - see my campaign info on the website for more. But I digress.

I'm not sure how "normal" the force I faced was. A couple of Carnifexes, a squad of four things with guns (I don't know what they were) and three units of Genestealers.

The one lesson to remember is "Do not get into combat with 'stealers". Stay in cover. Keep your heads down. And keep on firing.

The Landspeeder was well worth it’s points. It single handedly wiped out one unit of stealers, and also finished off one Carnifex. My Devastator’s did not do so well, having trouble being able to hit anything. Mind you, I was distracted by someone’s cry of “those marines are illegal – that’s not a Space Marine!”. He was referring to one of my ‘beaky’ marines (in Mark VI armour from the original Space Marine boxed set from the early 90s!. Young ‘uns these days!
The model was older than he was…

Taking multiple vehicles worked well. Incoming fire was spread around more, and I didn’t lose any to shooting. Hand to hand combat against the vehicles was nasty. Not only did I eventually lose the Predator, Rhino and Dreadnought to ‘stealers, but the tanks both exploded, killing the units attacking them! Revenge is sweet!

With only the Land Speeder and the Tactical squad left against a Carnifex, a few stealers and the squad of Tyranid warriors (?) I decided to concede and let someone else have a go.

A good game, even though.

I think the army list wasn’t too badly organised. Perhaps a couple of Marines fewer in the Devastators, and a couple more Assault troops.

I’ll soon be ready with this, as the close combat bits and extra Lascannon are on order from Battlewagon Bits and should be here soon.

Well, here's the roster used:

HQ

Master of Sanctity (136 points)
Croziuz Arcanum (Power weapon)
Rosarius (4+ invulnerable save)
Bolt pistol
Jump pack

Elites

Dreadnought "Old Faithful" (135 points)
Twin linked Lascannon
Missile launcher

Troops

Tactical Squad Caecilius (200)
Sergeant Caecilius - Bolter (not power sword)
9 marines - Bolter
Rhino transport

Devastator Squad Sheriden (185 points)
Sergeant Sheriden - Bolter
1 Marine - Lascannon
1 Marine - Missile launcher
1 Marine - Missile launcher
6 Marines - Bolter

Fast Attack

Assault Squad Morden (120 points)
Sergeant Morden - Plasma pistol, chain sword, Krak grenades 120
4 Marines - Bolt pistols, chain swords, krak grenades

Landspeeder (80 points)
Assault cannon, Heavy Bolter

Heavy Support

Predator (138 points)
Autocannon (turret mounted)
2 Lascannon (one in each side sponson)
Pintle-mounted storm bolter

And, finally, some photos (Click for a larger version):

The 1,000 point army as described above.



Old Faithful



Ravenwing Land Speeder



Predator

To those who didn't believe...

BBC news shows that it's true!

Opulence

Fellow Hobblings will appreciate how exciting it is to meet a favourite author and talk about his/her work, and will understand why I was thrilled when I learnt that Joy Kirton-Smith, the artist whose work I love, was going to be at the local gallery to meet people.

It turned out that, in addition, it was also a chance to see the new range of her work including the original pieces!

I arrived and wandered around looking at Joy’s latest work whilst the staff frantically finished off setting everything up, and then the gallery manager brought Joy over and introduced us. The gallery provides headed paper for dedications (it’s a little harder to bring the paintings along than books!) that can be added to the pocket on the back of the painting.

We then talked for something like 30-40 minutes, about where she gets her inspiration from, to how she manages to get such dynamic figures in her painting, to Renaissance history.

It was funny that Joy was nearly as nervous as I was, finding it strange that people would want to come and meet her when it is the paintings that they ‘know’.

Eventually Joy was dragged away to talk to some of the other people, and I had a second look at the paintings. What was interesting to note was that even when side-by-side it is very hard to tell the original from the print, unless you look at the price tag!

From the front line

(Note : I'll be using this heading for all gaming stuff from now on, so those who aren't interested don't have to read it!)

First up, a couple of links. This one, to a series of WH40K-inspired comics, Turn Signals on a Land Raider. I've had a look last night, and there are some great ones in there. The other place worth a look is Battlewagon Bits. These were recommended - essentially you can by individual components through a US company instead of the entire sprue/kit. Useful for conversions, or for my troop modifications that are planned (more later).

My baptism of fire into the new edition of the rules for the game went relatively well. 500 points against a 15 year old munchkin, where I was able to prove that youth and enthusiasm are no match for age and treachery (plus some lucky dice rolls). A city fight which, after the commanders and retinues had duked it out in hand to hand, ended in a scene close to the Block War from Judge Dread. Luckily, my Lascannon was more accurate than Munchkin's missile launcher, and I was able to pick his troops off one at a time.

Next up was 1,000 points of my Dark Angels (but treated as Space Marines as I only have that Codex) against Eldar. I started off well, with the Tactical squads all in cover, allowing the assault squad and Deathwing to advance into the enemy territory. The two Falcons proved troublesome, first dropping off a squad of Banshees in front of my assault troops, then providing a scary amount of covering fire. Fortunately, the Deathwing, led by their Commander, were able to hold their own easily, and the remaining Banshees were mopped up by the assault marines. I was losing men to the fire from the Warp Spiders, who kept ducking back into cover after firing, making them impossible to kill.

The dreadnaught "Old Faithful" did manage to draw an awful lot of fire away from everyone else, mostly as it was the only thing I had that posed a threat to the Falcon tanks. He has been renamed "Fire Magnet".

The assault troops were wiped out in a salvo from the Falcon, caught out in the open after wiping out the Banshees. The Terminators decided that Honour and Valour were things for other people that day and ducked into the nearest cover to join the remaining troops. They were wiped out, at which point the commander coughbrokeandrancough and since the table edge was close, the bugger managed to rout from the field leaving the two remaining troops to attempt a last ditch break for the objective. "Butch" and "Sundance" will be honoured appropriately, whereas the commander has been summarily executed for being a pansy.

On the plus side, I did cause some embarrassing casualties to the Eldar and learnt some useful lessons:

(1) The game is much faster paced than 2nd Ed.

(2) Eldar are still evil little pointy-eared gits.

(3) Commanders are of limited use in the new rules. Better to go for a Chaplain as the HQ choice, put him with an assault squad and let them get on with it. He's got some useful traits that can help close combat troops.

(4) Terminators are not good at walking into combat. I already knew this, but don't have any transport for them and didn't like the sound of the Deep Strike rules on teleporting into combat (which was my usual tactic). A drop pod would solve this as the cheapest option, but a Land Raider Crusader is now on the Christmas list...

(5) The Marine option for carrying a heavy anti-tank weapon is even more pointless now than before. Far better to place them all in a single Devastator squad with a few standard marines to act as cannon fodder.

(6) Dreadnoughts still rock, but are not good when fielded with no other tank support (my Land Speeder was on the other side of the table)

(7) Land Speeders still rock, but are more vulnerable to incoming fire than I am used to. A second one to support it would help, as well as making better use of cover.

(8) Eldar are going to become even more evil pointy-eared gits when the new Codex is issued.

(9) Tank-Shock can be effective. More troops need Krak-grenades.

(10) Close combat is nasty. The weapon options on marines are limited now, so tactical troops do not carry bolt pistols etc. Also, power weapons and plasma pistols are not standard Assault Marine upgrades, so some modifications to my models will be needed.

(11) Marines need to be kept as squads of 10, not broken into smaller groups of 5. They need to be able to bring more bolters to bear on the enemy. This also applies to Assault squads, who I think need at least 8 men.

(12) Weapons have changed! Several weapons are no longer used, or have been modified. The Warp Spiders web spinner things are just a rapid fire weapon (although that is about to change) They will be lethal if they get the template weapon back! Imperial Guard can no longer have assault cannon (making my sentinels redundant). Assault cannons are just as effective as ever against light vehicles and troops. They seem to be less effective than I remember against vehicles.

(13) The mission options are pretty slick, adding a more interesting twist to the games. The second game was aiming to capture table quarters, for instance.

More later.

Gardening...of a different sort

I spent the afternoon tending to trees.

Very small trees.

For those who are interested...it's the pack of tree from GW. Each is mounted on a piece of plastic cut from an ice cream tub lid, and the larger area (to represent the extent of the wooded area inthe game) is a double-thickness piece of ice cream tub lid.

To paint...base coats of Goblin Green for the fronds and Snakebite Leather for the trunks. Then a wash of 1:2:6 Dark Angle Green:Scorched Brown:Water over the greenery and 1:2 Scorched Brown:water for the trunks.

Finally, a coat of Goblin Green on all the plastic bases, and a coast of flock (remembering not to sneeze over it, this time!)

Easy. Total cost, £3. Time, 3 hours. Result, 2 woods!


During a battle, woods give cover to troops within the area of the base, and are harder to see.
Below, a Vindicare Assassin makes use of the cover of the trees to pick his next target.