Farewell Swap Meet at Highland Library, and Sweet Acquisitions!

Today was the last day of the Highland Library 40K club, and they finished it off with a HUGE swap meet! I brought my disused Orks and traded for some wonderful treasures, but first, the festivities! Actually documented thanks to my new phone!

Age of Sigmar was played for the entire duration. It’s pretty popular in the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti groups!

My good buddy Paul offloaded a boatload of Space Marines and other stuff from Age of Sigmar.

In a heated game of 40K, Salamanders fought traitor beastmen guard! The star of the match: a Leviathan Dreadnought who took multiple quake cannon shots to the face and devastated multiple tanks!

Here, Dawn and Ian celebrate 10 years of the club at the library with a wonderfully decorated cake, complete with the Golden Rhino logo. It was chocolate.

…and here is the beginning of my haul! First, a set of craters bought from Dominique, a former student.

Next, a bunch of Primaris models! Sadly one got lost in the shuffle, but hopefully Dawn can find it and I can pay her to mail it to me.

Finally, the sweetest deal, an ENTIRE PAPER BOX of leftover Tyranid bitz for $20! This is the beginning of my Tyranid Battlefleet Gothic fleet!

It’s sad to see the Highland Library Club gone, but I have a feeling that there will be more gaming coming soon.

Next, painted Aggressors!

Proof of Concept: Primaris Aggressors

Thanks to Lexington’s extremely generous xmas spirit, I am the proud owner of a new Primaris Aggressors kit. Naturally, I wanted to see how the kit went together. As the Azure Flames are a Salamanders successor, I of course went for the Flamestorm Gauntlets.

The kit is designed very well. My one big gripe is that the arms are mono-pose. However, this is inevitable because without one specific pose, the ammo feeds for the gauntlets would be impossible. The back and backpack are not glued on for ease of priming and painting and…

…oh a second one? Wait. That’s the same pose… how…

Oh my, MODULAR AGGRESSORS!

That’s right, even the grenade launchers can be modular! Sadly this is the weakest of the joins as the only magnet small enough to fit in the launcher is the smallest magnet made. This size magnet is also on the ammo feeds on the lower left and right of the backpack, but the direct contact with the magnet inside the feed provides extra strength.

All in all, the finished product will have 6 pieces. The main body (with head, back, and backpack all permanently glued), the grenades, and the four guns.

Sadly, I cannot make the other two right away as I am almost out of the smaller magnets. But I plan to put an order in today!

Next: More Aggressor fun! I also plan to get a new digital camera for more batreps!

Khalil, Captain of the 7th Company on Bike with Thunder Hammer and The Shield Eternal

Khalil has been in pieces for several games, so I prioritized getting him painted up and ready to go.  Here he is!  Doing a sweet sideways skid as he climbs out of the seat to swing his Thunder Hammer.  Two Storm Shields on the faring of his bike represent The Shield Eternal.

Math time!  Bike characters start at 5 wounds.  With the Warlord Trait “Iron Resolve” it bumps him to 6 with a 6+ FNP which is functionally a 7th wound.

The Shield Eternal halves all damage, rounding halves up, so D6 weapons like Lascannons instead do the equivalent of D3.  On average, two apiece, so you’d need 4 Lascannons to get through the shield to kill him.

The Shield is a 3+ invulnerable, so you’d need 12 total wounds.

Toughness 5, so a S 9 Lascannon wounds on a 3+ so you’d need 18 hits.

Guardsmen are BS 4+ so you’d need 36 Guardsmen Lascannons, or 27 Space Marines at 3+, excluding any re-rolls.  That’s hearty!

Conversely, those 7 wounds could be eaten by about 54 Ork regular close combat attacks, which one squad of Orks could do in a turn.  That’s how a Smash Captain goes down; force of saves!

Next, more painting!

Land Speeder Heavy Flamer Gunners

I’ve been using these gunners a lot (6D6 auto hits, S5, -1 AP and +1 to wound with Flamecraft) but they’ve always been bare plastic.  Now they are fully painted.  I even jeweled all of the eyes!

Next: more painting!

I Scouted

So, I’ve been a bit busy.

More than a year ago, Lexington dumped his Space Marine army in favor of Chaos.  I inherited his bitz box which contained a wealth of plastic Scout bodies but no arms.

Several weeks ago, AFK games in Holt had a bitz trade.  I gave a unique model I don’t know where I got (a con?) and ten bucks for some plastic sniper scouts in pieces and an incomplete regular scout sprue.

I put together a few of the snipers, but then I realized I could do more with Lexington’s bits.  So, I made:

• Four Scout Sergeants with Sniper Rifles and Chainsword/Combat Knives, and Camo Cloaks
• Five Scouts with Sniper Rifles and Camo Cloaks
• One Scout Heavy Bolter with Camo Cloak
• Three Scouts with Bolters and Camo Cloaks
• Four Scouts with Bolt Pistol/Combat Knife and Camo Cloaks

A total of 17 more Scouts to add to my 10th company, bringing the total to more than 60!  Plus, with Camo Cloaks on all, it will let me have more variety when choosing cheap troops to hold objectives.

To keep it from being too same-y, I did some conversions for the poses.  This required partial rebuilds of the arms with paperclip pins, and putty work to rebuild the sleeves.  I like the result.

That being said, although the plastic Scouts are much better than the two poses of the old 3rd ed pewter scouts, the poses are still extremely same-y and static.  I wish a few of the arms had been a pistol pointing at the enemy, or a bolter upslung to the sky so that the other arm could be free to dramatically point, or perhaps a combat knife held upside down in a dueling fashion.

Oh well, the new plastics are still nice.  Next: painting!  Is it too late to strip and re-paint the Flames using contrast paints?  YES.  But is it too late for the Orks? We’ll see…

Ork Big Mek on bike with Kustom Force Field

I haven’t been active on fourstrands lately because my camera is broken, but I just finished this and thought it was awesome, so I used my iphone camera.  It’s a Big Mek with Kustom Force Field on a bike, based on the old Skorcha!  I got a KFF bit from a friend at AFK Games in Holt, a Skorcha from ebay, and kitbashed the rest.

I’ll have batreps and painted stuff soon, but I might look into a new camera first.

Reunion Gothic Match! 1000 The Raiders, Marines vs. Chaos, featuring Lexington!

Lexington’s back in town for the holidays!  I got him a Boomdakka Snazzwagon for xmas and he got me a Protomen hoodie that is so warm it’s basically a coat.

Storytime!

Long ago, Lexington built an Ork Battlefleet Gothic fleet out of the old pewter Killa Kans and some other bitz.  However, the fleet fell off a shelf and shattered into a million pieces.  Like Humpty Dumpty, Lexington couldn’t put it back together.  So, he asked to borrow one of my fleets.  He chose Chaos to represent his other 40K force, while I played the good old Azure Flames.  To keep the game small, we played a 1000pt The Raiders mission.  Here’s what happened!

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Bozeman – Azure Flames Space Marines, Crusade Fleet List (Attacker, 500pts)

• Strike Cruiser Honor, Extra Shield, Honor Guard
• Strike Cruiser Duty, Extra Shield, Honor Guard
• Strike Cruiser Sacrifice, Extra Shield

Lexington – Chaos, Abbadon’s 13th Black Crusade Fleet List (Defender, 1000pts

• Styx Heavy Cruiser Time of Sorrow
  • Warmaster (Ld+2), Re-roll
• Devastation Cruiser Pride of Heresy
• Devastation Cruiser Hateful
  
• Infidel Raider x3, Talon Squadron
• Idolator Raider x2, The Defilers

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Mission – The Raiders

The Attacker gets 1/2 of the points value agreed on.  Defender deploys their entire fleet more than 30cm from any board edge, all facing the same board edge, and with each ship/squadron more than 20cm from any other.  All Defender ships are at -1 Ld for D6 turns.  (3 Turns this game) Attacker gets first turn and comes on from any board edge.

Battlezone – Inner Biosphere (bonus/penalty for Batteries doubled) (Note, one Solar Flare result was rolled during setup)

Setup

Turn 1 – Azure Flames

All three Strike Cruisers come on from the Starboard side of the Time of Sorrow.  Torpedoes do 7 damage, and Thunderhawk Gunships cause a few weapons to be disabled.  The Hateful also takes one damage from torpedoes.

Turn 1 – Chaos

The Time of Sorrow disengages.  Both Escort squadrons go on Come to a New Heading to fire on the Space Marines.  The Honor takes one damage from torpedoes.  The Duty suffers four critical effects from assault boats.

Turn 2 – Azure Flames

The Duty Braces for Impact but still takes a few more critical effects from assault boats.  The Hateful is crippled by torpedoes, and both remaining capital ships suffer more critical effects.

Turn 2 – Chaos

Unable to reload, the Chaos ships fire at the Marines ineffectually.

Turn 3 – Azure Flames

Solar Flare occurs!  Duty, overburdened by critical effects, disengages.  Honor and Sacrifice Reload Ordnance.  Torpedoes do 3 damage to the Hateful, and a Thunderhawk scores an Engine Room Damaged effect, finishing the ship off and leaving it a drifting hulk.  The Pride of Heresy is crippled by torpedo damage.  Turn not pictured.

Turn 3 – Chaos

Pride of Heresy disengages.  Escorts take down both shields of the Honor.

Turn 4 – Azure Flames

Both ships Reload.  Talon Squadron of Idolators is destroyed by ordnance and fire.  The Defilers Infidel squadron loses one member.

Turn 4 – Chaos

The Defilers disengage.  Game over.

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Final Score

Azure Flames: 519

Chaos: 17

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Several factors heavily influenced this game.  1: Lexington left his Admiral’s ship dangerously close to the edge, allowing a turn 1 alpha strike.  He should have buffered his sides with the escorts.  2: The leadership penalty led to some key missed reloads.  3: Anticipating only minor damage, Lexington refused to Brace for Impact several times.  Knowing when to Brace is key in Gothic.

Next: more painting and batreps!  Hope my computer doesn’t die again!

Post Computer Brick Batrep – 2v2 Battle! (and RANT)

This battle report comes two weeks too late, as I went to AFK games, played this battle, and came home to find my computer completely useless.  Now, after an extended repair and getting the setup not quite right, I’m ready to give the highlights of the battle!

Editors note: halfway through this report, I will digress to a point where I will shout angrily.  You’ll see why when I get there…

Anyway, longtime Fourstrands opponent Chris brought his Blood Angels alongside new player Tyler who brought some Cadian Imperial Guard.  I had another newbie on my side, Mike, who brought Dark Angels.  Because this batrep is two weeks old in my mind, below are some highlights.

Setup

Our opponents went first, giving us a bit of a bloody nose.  However amazing saves by the last Scout in the ruins, combined with me spending 2CP prevented the enemy from getting First Blood!

My Captain on Bike retaliated, smashing a Razorback with the help of the surviving bike squad.

The Tactical Squad fell back to allow Tempestus Scions to shoot then charge!  This devolved into a bloody scrum.

My new double-heavy-flamers break cover to incinerate some Scions

Next, Chaplain Lemartes and the Death Company deep strike!  The Death Company charges my Captain, but he smashes four of them and takes no wounds in return!  Lemartes can’t charge.

RANT TIME.

OK, so next, my tactical squad moves up toward Lemartes.  They hose him down with flamers, doing four wounds.  Chris rolls 1, 1, 2, 2, and fails all FNP rolls so Lemartes takes four wounds.  That’s fine, right?  Chaplains have five wounds.

NOPE.

LEMARTES, ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS CHAPLAINS IN THE IMPERIUM, HAS ONLY FOUR WOUNDS.

OTHER CHAPLAINS THAT ARE NOT NAMED CHARACTERS HAVE FIVE.  APOTHECARIES HAVE FIVE.

WHAT.

Seriously, from a game design perspective, how do you make one of your cool, named, one-of-a-kind characters have FEWER wounds than some random other chaplain?

Ok, rant over.

Anyway, we traded casualties, ending with a slaughter on both sides.

In the end, Matt and I prevailed.  It still felt weird that Lemartes died like a punk.

Oh well, next, Lexington and I play some Battlefleet Gothic!

Back in the Saddle – 2000 Azure Flames vs. Orks Spoils of War

I’d like to say I’ve been busy, but really my laptop died, so I haven’t updated for a while.  But now, I’ve got a bitchin’ new gaming rig to play Battlefleet Gothic Armada II – Electric Boogaloo!

But this blog is about model gaming, so here’s what I’ve been up to.

I played Eric’s extremely mean Slaanesh demon tournament list.  Demons are very strong in tournaments, as I’d be hard pressed to beat this list without buying a bunch of flamers.

So I bought a bunch of flamers.

After that, I went up against Dominic (Mr. Cat) and his Knights.  My gimmicky drop-in-and-kill-a-knight list was a failure.

Finally, this weekend, I played Jesse again.  He wanted to test out his sweet new Ork models for a 1750 tournament the next day.  We played 2000 so he could try different things to see what works.  ‘Ere we go!

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Bozeman – Azure Flames (Salamanders)

• Brigade Detachment
  • Captain on Bike, The Shield Eternal, Thunder Hammer, Warlord Trait: Iron Resolve
  • Librarian, Force Staff, Might of Heroes, Veil of Time
  • Lieutenant, Chainsword, Combi-Grav
  • Scout Squad x5, Missile Launcher
  • Scout Squad x5, Missile Launcher
  • Tactical Squad x5, Storm Bolter, Lascannon
  • Tactical Squad x5, Storm Bolter, Lascannon
  • Tactical Squad x5, Power Fist, Combi-Flamer, Flamer
    • Rhino
  • Tactical Squad x5, Power Fist, Combi-Flamer, Flamer
    • Rhino
  • Apothecary
  • Company Ancient, Standard of the Emperor Ascendant, Bolter
  • Dreadnought, Twin Lascannon, Heavy Flamer
  • Attack Bike, Heavy Bolter
  • Land Speeder, 2x Heavy Flamer
  • Land Speeder, 2x Heavy Flamer
  • Devastators x5, Combi-Plasma, 4x Lascannon, Armourium Cherub
  • Devastators x5, Combi-Grav, 4x Heavy Bolter, Armourium Cherub
  • Thunderfire Cannon

Jesse – Orks

• Batallion – Deathskulls
  • Big Mek, Shokk Attack Gun
  • Weirdboy, Warphead
  • Boyz x28, Nob, Power Klaw, Sluggas + Choppas
  • Boyz x20, Nob, Power Klaw, Shootas
  • Gretchin x10
  • Mek Gunz x3, 3x Traktor Cannon
  • Tankbustas x6, Nob, 3x Bomb Squigs
  • Battlewagon, Deffgun, Big Shoota, Deff Rolla
• Batallion – Evil Sunz
  • Warboss on Bike, Da Dead Shiny Shoota, Power Klaw
  • Deffkilla Wartrike
  • Big Mek on Bike, Kustom Force Field
  • Gretchin x10
  • Gretchin x10
  • Gretchin x10
  • Megatrakk Scrapjet
  • Megatrakk Scrapjet
  • Stormboyz x 20, Nob
  • Warbikes x10, Nob, Power Klaw

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Spoils of War – Maelstrom of War Mission #4

6 objectives.  You can score an objective that is Secure Tactical Objective X from your opponent’s hand.  In addition, the player with the most Secure Objective X scored at the end of the game gains an additional victory point.

Setup

Spearhead Assault (Chevron shaped deployment along short board edges)

I couldn’t take pictures of the pregame because my camera broke!  I got to tape the battery case shut halfway through turn 1.

On turn 1, the Warphead used Warpath on the 28 Boy Squad, and then used Da Jump to teleport them right in front of me!

The Boyz charged my Bike Captain, reducing him to one wound!

I let loose a volley, blowing up one of the Skrapjets and causing a huge amount of mortal wounds from the explosion.

In an attempt to get objective 6 for some points, the Warboss charged a Tactical Squad, leaving the sergeant to face him down.  Elsewhere, the Captain succumbed to the Boyz, who were slaughtered in kind by the rest of the army.

The Deffkilla Wartrike entered the fray, but couldn’t assassinate the Apothecary for a point!

A Tactical Squad defended Objective 3 to score a point, finishing the last of the Stormboyz

The Warboss is eliminated by a fantastic Heavy Flamer roll.

The Skrapjet and Battlewagon charged in, laying waste to minor characters!

After this, it devolved into a bloody killzone with few surviving on both sides.  Da Jump brought Gretchin and Shokk Attack Gun Mek into my backfield, while Scouts walked on from reserve.

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Final Score:

Azure Flames – 11 plus Slay the Warlord, Linebreaker, First Blood, Steal the Loot = 15

Orks – 7 plus Slay the Warlord, Linebreaker = 9

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Orks are REALLY good.  They have a lot of tricks and some great new stuff.  I was not impressed with the Deffkilla Wartrike, as the Bike Warboss really outshined it in every phase.  Stormboyz were not effective, as they need some decent numbers to really get going.  The Battlewagon was boss in melee, and the Skrapjets kicked out huge amounts of Rokkits and rocked in melee.

My Land Speeders with double flamers were lackluster, as poor rolls had them doing approx. 4 wounds/turn each.  I also forgot to deploy the scouts, forcing them to walk on from the edge!  In the end, though, I drew well.  That’s kind of what counts in Maelstrom, which is why I still don’t like it a lot.

Next: I should paint some models and more games!

Azure Flames vs. Bloodletter Bomb 2000 GT Practice

There’s a Grand Tournament coming up, and everyone has the hottest, meanest netlists.

Except me.  Tournaments are not usually my scene.  However I don’t have a problem with helping others test their lists…

…until I saw Jesse’s Bloodletter Bomb.  Yeesh.  Well, I’m not one to back away from a fight, so here we go…

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Bozeman – Azure Flames (Salamanders)

Brigade Detachment

• Librarian, Force Axe, Jump Pack, Tome of Malcador, Psychic Powers: Veil of Time, Might of Heroes, Null Zone
• Librarian, Force Sword, Psychic Powers: Fury of the Ancients, Null Zone
• Librarian, Force Staff, Psychic Powers: Psychic Scourge, Null Zone
• Scouts x5, Missile Launcher
• Scouts x5, Missile Launcher
• Tactical Squad x5, Storm Bolter, Chainsword, Missile Launcher
• Tactical Squad x5, Storm Bolter, Chainsword, Missile Launcher
• Tactical Squad x5, Power Fist, Bolter-Flamer, Flamer
• Tactical Squad x5, Power Fist, Bolter-Flamer, Flamer
• Dreadnought, 2x Twin Autocannons
• Dreadnought, Heavy Flamer, Assault Cannon
• Ironclad Dreadnought, Seismic Hammer, Heavy Flamer, Hurricane Bolter, Ironclad Launchers, 2x Hunter Killer Missile
• Attack Bike, Heavy Bolter
• Attack Bike, Heavy Bolter
• Attack Bike, Heavy Bolter
• Devastators x10, 4x Missile Launcher, Armourium Cherub
• Devastators x5, 4x Grav Cannon with Grav Amp, Armourium Cherub
• Thunderfire Cannon

Jesse – Khorne, Slaanesh, and Renegade CSM Triad

Battalion Detachment – Chaos Demons

• Demon Prince, Mark of Khorne, Super Khorne Axe, Wings
• Skulltaker
• Herald of Khorne
• Bloodletters x20
• Bloodletters x20
• Bloodletters x10
• Bloodhounds x5

Battalion Detachment – Chaos Demons

• Demon Prince, Mark of Slaanesh, Soul Reaver, Wings, Psychic Power: Vain
• Herald of Slaanesh
• Herald of Slaanesh on Steed
• Seekers of Slaanesh x10
• Daemonettes x28
• Daemonettes x10
• Daemonettes x10

Patrol Detachment – Chaos Space Marines

• Demon Prince, Mark of Slaanesh, Wings
• Cultists x10

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Mission: Grand Tournament Mission #1

Objectives placed 12″ in both directions from each corner, plus two more 24″ from each corner.

Players generate up to 3 Tactical Objectives per turn.

At the end of the game, each objective is worth 2 VP.

Secondary Objectives: Slay the Warlord, First Strike (kill a unit on your first turn), Linebreaker

Game Length: 6 Turns

———————————–

Setup

———————————–

Turn 1 – Chaos

Demon Princes and Daemonettes charge the sacrifical Scouts, eliminating them.  Seekers run around them and charge the Ironclad  Tactical Squad, and Rifle Dreadnought.

Turn 1 – Azure Flames

Flamer squad counterpunches and burns the Daemonettes, forcing the survivors to break and flee.  Seekers are eliminated by a Smite and Dreadnought punches.  Lucky missile shot does 6 wounds to the CSM Daemon Prince!

Turn 2 – Chaos

Daemonette squad breaks cover and charges the FLamer squad, and all but 2 die thanks to overwatch!  Herald also charges.  They all die, leaving the squad holding objective 2.  Bloodletters arrive, charge Dreadnoughts and one of the Attack Bikes.  Attack Bike goes down and Bloodletters consolidate into Devastators.  Other Bloodletters take some damage from Dreadnoughts and dish it out in return.  Khorne Demon Prince smashes the Rifle Dread and consolidates out of combat.  Slaanesh Prince charges the other Dev Combat Squad, and takes 5 damage from overwatch, but gains 3 back thanks to his Soul Reaver.  He also kills 4/5 of another squad with a SUPER SMITE!  The surviving Sergeant spends 2CP to interrupt and kill the CSM Demon Prince that charged him!

Turn 2 – Azure Flames

Squad and Librarian charge the Bloodletters, which was a stupid idea as they do little damage and get chewed up.  Other Librarian charges Slaanesh Prince, he dies.  Bloodletters on the right side eliminate the Devs. Thunderfire harasses the Cultists in the building.  Khorne Demon Prince is completely annihilated by Grav Cannons!

Turn 3 – Chaos

Regular Dread is removed, Ironclad reduced to 1 wound.  Bloodletters and Skulltaker kill the Attack Bike.  Slaanesh Prince kills the other Devs.

Turn 3 – Azure Flames

Sangamon the Librarian (my Warlord) gets off NULL ZONE.  The Ironclad falls back and the Bloodletters all get killed form shooting.  Thunderfire blasts the other Bloodletters across the board with a Tremor Shell, slowing them.  Other shots reduce the Slaanesh prince to 2 wounds.

Turn 4 – Chaos

Slaanesh Prince charges the Tactical Squad, doing a bit of damage and consolidating into the Thunderfire.  Skulltaker, Bloodletters, and some Demonettes advance.

Turn 4 – Azure Flames

Bloodletters are blown apart by Grav Cannons, Thunderfire, and all other shooting.

Turn 5 – Chaos

Skulltaker moves up but fails a charge and takes a wound from Overwatch from a Bolter Marine.  Oh, the indignity!

Turn 5 – Azure Flames

Skulltaker, Daemonettes, and all other visible targets eliminated.  Cultists in the building are wracked by the Thunderfire.

Turn 6 – Chaos

Cultists Hide.  Turn not pictured.

Turn 6 – Azure Flames

Cultists are reduced to 3, but make their morale check!  Sangamon can’t get another objective.  Game ends.

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Final Score

Azure Flames: 6 plus Slay the Warlord, First Strike, and 2 VP from an objective = 10

Chaos: 7 plus First Strike and 2VP from an objective = 10

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I SURVIVED THE BLOODLETTER BOMB!  Almost tabled it too!  This list was designed with inevitable charges being eaten by small units, then counterpunch units reacting.  It was awesome.

Star of the list: GRAV CANNONS.  Holy crap they are Demon Prince Erasers and Horde Stompers, especially with NULL ZONE.

Honestly, I could have won had I advanced the Attack Bike on the right, and the Grav Devs to hold the objective he left behind, but I didn’t think of it.  I forgot that objectives were 2VP.  KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE.

Next: more games and hopefully painting!