A game for the ages!

Last nights game was a real knock down drag out event, it was an epic “Slobber Knocker” of a great time! I was trying out both the Seeker bikes and the Reaver siege troops. So we played 2000 points to facilitate both units as they weigh in at over 300pts each.

My list was as follows

HQ 165
Titus the Butcher
165

Elite 115
3 Terminators, 3 Combi-Melta, 1 power fist
115

Troops 961
2x 10 Chaos Space Marines with 2 melta guns, Icon of Chaos Glory
Aspiring Champion with power fist
Rhino, extra armor
270

5 Chaos Marines (objective sitters)
Plasma gun
90

8 Reaver Siege Marines
Heavy Flamer, Icon of Chaos Glory
Aspiring Champion with power fist
Karpathian Rhino
Extra armor,
321

Fast Attack 308
5 Seekers
Aspiring Champion, Pfist, 2 Melta guns, Icon of Chaos Glory
1 Infernal Seeker Bike
308

Heavy Support 450
2x Defiler
150

2 Obliterators
150


My buddy Greg is in from outta town for Thanksgiving, so I will get a chance to redeem myself! He brought his brand new Steel Legion guard army.

HQ
CCS: 4 meltaguns, carapace armour, Chimera w/ multi-laser and heavy flamer

Troops
Infantry Platoon
PCS: vox, 2 grenade launchers, autocannon

2x Infantry Squad: vox, grenade launcher, autocannon

3x Veteran Squad: 3 meltaguns, Chimera w/ multi-laser, heavy flamer

Veteran Squad: 3 plasma guns, carapace armour, Chimera w/ multi-laser, heavy flamer

Fast Attack
Scout Sentinel Squadron:
2 Scout Sentinels w/ autocannons

2 Vendettas

Heavy Support
LR Squadron:
2 Leman Russ w/heavy bolter sponsons

LR Squadron:
2 Demolisher w/ heavy flamer

Ordnance Battery:
2 Griffons

The mission was Capture and Control with Spearhead deployment.

He won the roll off and decided to go first. He deployed everything on board. I held the Terminators and Seekers in reserve.

For once I actually stole the initiative! Seemed like the Dark Gods were smiling on me.

In the first turn my Oblits downed a Vendetta and the Defilers killed 1 Chimera and stunned another. Titus and all the Rhinos rushed forward with two blowing smoke obscuring the third and Titus. He responded by Nuking the Obils with the second Vendetta and LR’s as I failed my 4+ cover saves. Then he destroyed the BC on one of the defilers. By the end of turn one all of the rhinos were stunned, thank goodness I took the extra armor so the advance could continue.

The second turn saw no reserves. The BC-less Defiler stun the second Vendetta, while the other defiler smacked down a second Chimera that exploded and killed three vets. Lucky for me there was a large rocky outcrop that I’d be able to hide two of my Rhinos behind. Unfortunately the third Rhino and Titus could not reach the outcrop and was destroyed in a hale of IG fire the squad that was inside was whittled down to 7 models losing it’s icon from the rest of the guard shooting. (I couldn’t seem to make a 4+ FnP or Cover save for the entire turn) I lost the Defiler with the BC to Leman Russ fire. His advance on my objective was getting close.

Turn 3 both the Seekers and Terminators show up, the Seekers race forward and butcher the Griffon battery and the Terminators got the perfect scatter 2 inches behind the Demolisher Sqdn. They nuked one and destroy the cannon on the other! I rushed the Reavers forward disembarked then fried 8 Guardsmen with the Heavy Flamer, the rest of the guard sqd are mopped up by pistol fire! The squad of 7 CSM’s destroys one of the dismounted vet squads with bolter fire. The mounted squad does a drive-by and destroys the Sentinels. The defiler shakes the Vendetta, so it cannot fire for another turn!

He kills the defiler in his turn with the LR sqdn. He destroys the mounted squads rhino, but the squad weathers the flashlight and autocannon fire unscathed. The command squad lights up the Seeker bikes killing three. The two Chimera mounted squads disembark and rain hell on my 5 man squad of CSM’s they manage to kill two, I lose two more CSM’s from the 7 man squad luckily I pass both leadership tests. Amazingly other than the Heavy Flamer toting Demolisher nothing else shot at the Terminators.

Turn 4 my errors are grievous in this one. I move the Melta toting 10 man CSM squad forward to rapid fire their bolters as I thought they were to far away to move shoot pistols and assault, I was wrong and would pay in the bottom of the 4th. While they did kill 8 guardsmen who passed their LD test, they left themselves with their arse hangin’ in the wind. The Reavers move up and assault and wipe out the PCS. The Seekers decide to kill the Command squad. The now 5 man melta CSM squad assaults the last of the Chimera-less Vets win combat and run ‘em down. My objective holders kill 3 Vets from one of the two squads that are set to assault them. I assault the Demolisher with the Terminators and immobilize it.

He moves nothing in his turn other than spinning the LR sqdn around to bring the pain to my arse swinging melta sqd. After 18 heavy bolter and two BC shots the CSM squad is vaporized! He assaults my 3 man squad on my objective and killed all three. He now holds both objectives.

Turn 5 I assault the last infantry platoon squad off his objective with my Seeker Bikes, but my Reavers and withered Melta CSMs are both about an inch short of being able to claim his objective. The game ends on a die roll at the end of his turn. Victory to Greg and the Steel Legion!

So all in all a fantastically tough game lost by a mere inch! It was nice to be able to throw down with Greg as I only get to see him 2 or 3 times a year since he moved to Oregon.

After looking at what happened in this game I may drop the Defilers for some more long range AT, which I feel I am severely lacking. I'm just not sure what to use, because I don't wanna spam Oblits. With the tank heavy options that the guard have now I need a little more reach out an touch them in my list. I could just be over reacting.


Unfortunately I have no pics as the idiots at the camera repair shop seem to have misplaced my camera that they supposedly fixed. Expect to hear more on that later.

100th post, new art and Siege troops unit profile

This is the 100th post here on Galaxy in Flames, I’d like to thank all of the Disciples of Fire out there that have supported me so far! I appreciate you guys sticking around through all my random thoughts and silliness. I’d also like to give a shout out to the guys that have on and off line been helping with the Soul Reapers Mini-dex.

I was hoping to have a picture filled post for this, but my camera is still in the shop. I really broke it good, but at least the part needed to fix it arrived this afternoon to the shop and I should have a working camera soon. Fear not though, because Menzies has some more Soul Reapers artwork to share.



The Unit of the week is almost completely painted and pics will follow as soon as I can get them up!

Here is the preliminary unit entry for the siege troops.

Reaver Siege Marines are specialists at assaulting fortified positions. They are the direct product of the corrupted techniques of the Apostles of Malevolence. These once proud servants if the Imperium now despise their former masters as weak minded fools. They now serve the Soul Reapers with a level of fanaticism that is high even for an Asartes; this is probably related to the aggression chips that have been implanted in them.

Reaver Siege Marine WS4 BS4 S4 T4 W1 I4 A1 LD9 Sv3+ Pts 25
Reaver Champion WS4 BS4 S4 T4 W1 I4 A2 LD10 Sv3+

Unit type
Infantry

Squad composition
5-10 Reavers

Wargear
Bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon, Frag grenades, Melta Bombs

Character:
Upgrade one Reaver to an Aspiring Champion for 40 points. The Aspiring Champion has the following Wargear:
Bolt Pistol, Power Fist, Frag grenades, Melta Bombs

Options
Up to two Reavers may take one of the following:
Flamer
Melta gun
Heavy Flamer (one per squad) 15 points
Demolition Charge (one per squad) 25 points
(Stats for the Demo Charge are as listed in the Codex IG)

One Reaver may carry an Icon of Chaos Glory

Special Rules
Fear is for the weak.
Furious Charge

Transport
Karpathian pattern Rhino 55pts
BS 4
Armor
F 12
S 11
R10

Wargear
Twin Linked Bolters
Smoke Launchers
Searchlight
Siege Shield

Options
Pintle mounted Heavy Bolter 15 pts
Extra Armor

Special Rules
Repair

Fire points
2

Access points
3-Side and rear hatches.

Soul Reapers Teaser pic and Seeker Bike squad profile

I’ve got a few tidbits to share with you. First off, Menzies has graciously offered to make a cover for the Soul Reapers Mini-dex, look at this great Teaser pic.



Next I have started working out a unit profile for the special bike squad. I’d like to thank Mad Cat over at Librarium Online for the suggestions for the Assault bike special rules. When looking at the points values for this squad, I'd as you to keep in mind that we have lowered the base cost of a standard Chaos Biker to 28 pts.

Added to the Fast Attack force org.

Seeker bike squads are used as an advanced element for any Soul Reapers army. They scout ahead of the main force disrupting enemy movements and probing their lines for weak spots with lightning fast raids.

The squad if often augmented by the addition of an Infernal Seeker bike. It’s a hellish nightmare of a bike covered in power blades combined with a sidecar containing a marine wielding power scythe.

Seeker Bike Squad (Points 117)
Stats
Seeker WS5 BS4 S4 T4(5) W1 I4 A1 LD9 Sv3+
Seeker Champion WS5 BS4 S4 T4(5) W1 I4 A2 LD10 Sv3+

Unit type
Bike.

Squad composition:
1 Seeker Champ
2 Seeker Bikes

Wargear
Bike with a TL bolter
Bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon

Special Rules
Fear is for the weak.
Outflank

Options (The points values for wargear upgrades can be found on Pg 99 in the Bikers entry in the codex CSM)
May include up to 4 more Seeker bikes at 33 points per model

The Seeker Champion may replace his close combat weapon with one of the following:
Power weapon
Power Fist

Up to 2 Seekers may take one of the following:
Plasma gun
Melta gun
Flamer

One Seeker may be upgraded to carry an Icon of Chaos undivided.

Add one Infernal Seeker Assault bike to the squad for 70 pts.

Infernal Seeker Assault Bike
Stats
WS5 BS4 S4 T4(5) W2 I4 A3 LD9 Sv3+.

Unit type
Bike

Wargear
Bike with a TL Flamer
Bolt pistol, power weapon

Special Rules
Fear is for the weak
Outflank
Furious charge (Note this does not transfer to other models in the unit)
Spiky death: When charging it add +1D6 attacks instead of the usual +1. These additional attacks are not from the powerweapon but due to the spikes on the bike.

I am currently working on a mock up for the Infernal Seeker bike and will get pics up as soon as I have my camera back from the shop.

Soul Reapers new unit ideas

I sat down with the guys last night after a few games, we had a great chat and have decided to try dropping the Cult troops completely and attempt to add a couple of new units to the Soul Reapers list.

If we are going through all the effort of making our own mini-dex, why not create something truly unique.

From our quick brainstorming we came up with two probable candidates.



The first is not my idea but I like it, Siege Breaker assault marines. Initial thoughts for a starting point are non-fearless Khorne Berzerkers that must be mounted in a Rhino with a Siege Shield and extra armor.

The second is a special Bike squad with an option to upgrade one to an Infernal Harvester bike. It’s a hellish nightmare of a bike with its bolters replaced with linked flamers, covered in power blades combined with a sidecar containing a standing marine wielding power scythe.

I’ve always thought it would be nifty to have a marine riding on a sidecar ala Road Warrior, cleaving through their foes while hanging on the side at break neck speeds!



Any thoughts or comments?

-Jim

Unit of the Week 1: Squad Hades

This weeks unit of the week is this Chaos Marine squad. Including this converted Possessed Champion with a Power Fist and Bolter.

I know I’ve posted these pics before, I dropped my camera last night and now the shutter won’t open. The camera is now in the shop getting fixed and should be ready for pick up Wednesday. The squad is all basecoated now and should be an easy finish this week.



I may as an added bonus paint their Rhino this week too.



See you for the update on Thursday!

-Jim

Sneak peek at Defiler 'Rampage'

While I was away I finally started slinging paint on my Defiler conversion, I've named him Rampage because of the nifty Daemon head/mask on the top. He is about halfway done, and I should have him completed very soon.

I decided to paint the head a flesh tone just because I've never seen it done before, and boy am I happy that I did. The face at the end of the battlecannon will be gold as I feel that the red will detract from the shield face.

I also built 20 more Chaos Space marines, a second Defiler, 3 Rhinos and a second Landraider for the Reapers too.

-Jim

Now back to our regularly Scheduled Program

I just got back from my wonderfully relaxing and productive vacation! Boy it sure is nice to leave real life behind and just relax.

I got a few things painted and a ton of models built while I was away. Pics to follow soon.

Here are a few things I decided to do while I was gone.

I will be doing one ‘Rules from the Man-cave’ post a month. Some will be the house rules that we use and others will be a rules proposal put forth for discussion. This month’s topic will be the reintroduction of Overwatch in 5th edition, because it was brought up in the last post by more than one of you.

My buddy has put his Necrons on hold until after the New Year, due to financial issues. So this frees me up for my projects. I really need to get the Soul Reapers finished beyond their pathetic 3 color tabletop state and I need to start working on my Space Wolves revamp project again. Now obviously the latter goes on the Space Wolves blog.

Every Monday I will be naming the unit of the week, that I intend on painting, I will post a starting pic followed up by a progress shot on Thursdays and finally the finished pics on Saturday or Sunday.

The Soul Reapers Mini-dex is complete as far as the Special Rules are concerned. Everyone in my group has decided that the rules are fair and balanced. I have decided much to the chagrin of my Imp Fist wielding mate that I am dropping the Ancient Enemies rule completely. He doesn’t really care that much but liked it from a Background/Fluff perspective.

So these are the final army wide special rules for the Soul Reapers:

Fear is for the weak: Soul Reapers have been in service the Chaos for ten millennia and know that the Dark Gods watch over them.

Soul Reapers never have their leadership reduced by more than –2 Ld as the result of losing an assault. If the Unit loses the assault by more than -2, then immediately take any remaining modifiers as armor saves. They may also attempt to regroup even if the squad has been reduced less than half strength through casualties.

Undivided We Stand: The Soul reapers detest the though of becoming single-minded minions of any particular Chaos God. Because of this the Soul Reapers make very limited use of the Cults of Chaos. A Soul Reapers army my only contain one unit of Berzerkers, Rubric Marines, Noise Marines, or Plague Marines for every HQ model in the army. Cult marines never count as the compulsory troops selections.


Icons of Chaos: The Soul Reapers make no use of icons dedicated to the Chaos Gods. They may only take the Icon of Chaos Glory as listed in the Codex Chaos Space Marine.


So work still continues on the Special Characters, although Titus is solid and probably set.

Reporting from the road

After a visit to the magical land of Tornadoes, tonight I retire to the Log Bunker hidden in the wilds of Northern Cali.

Just imagine this, four guys, four armies, a dozen cases of beer, and a case of whiskey in the woods for four days; this is sure to be a kick ass time!

We are finally moving into the stage of Playtesting the Soul Reapers that I actually get to field my own army, Woohoo! Warlord Krüg and his Reaver bodyguard will be finally hitting the tabletop too!

I should resume regular posting on Saturday night or Sunday. So expect some tall tales from the Log Bunker!

-Big Jim

I'm outta here!

I am heading out on Vacation and probably won't be doing any updates for the next week.

I will be packing up a bunch of minis and my paints. So expect plenty of Eyecandy shortly after my return.

Thanks for your patients!

Big Jim

Tales from the Soapbox episode II NETS edition

Ok guys, it’s time for another NETS (Not Enough Terrain Syndrome) post. The Wild West Shootout happened almost 2 weeks ago in Arizona sponsored by Battlefoam. I’d like to give props to Blackmoor for winning the event with footsloggin’ shooty Eldar (OMG!!!), and to the rest of the participants for enduring through a severe outbreak of NETS, plus surviving the worst mission in the history of 40k during which all terrain was removed from the table. Yes, you read that right round 4 of the event was played out on terrain-less tables; what the Hell?

Blackmoors battle reports and pics that speak volumes about the tables.
Wild West Shootout game #1
Wild West Shootout game #2
Wild West Shootout game #3
Wild West Shootout game #4
Wild West Shootout game #5

People paid money to participate in and travel to this event and they get this crap dropped on them. It’s just shameful, that the organizers thought that this was acceptable. The community at large really need to put tournament organizers to task, and stop laying down to be walked upon just to have someone run an event.

I’m not saying that I don’t appreciate all the effort that goes into running an event, because I have first hand knowledge from running my own. I’m saying that is someone is running an event, either do it right or don’t do it at all; especially if you are running an event that is geared for people to travel to it.

I know that sounds harsh and it’s meant to, but 40k has enough problems rules wise in a tournament environment that they should not be compounded by other factors. Never male a paying participant feel cheated by an issue the can be solved through proper planning.

As I said before, I know it’s not cheap to buy and time consuming to build terrain, but being silent about the issue is not going to make the problem better.

Organizers need to man up and ask for help if they need it. If you are light on terrain ask for people to bring some and offer prizes for best table or terrain piece.

It is time for the gamers to make a stand and speak up. Demand better terrain on your tables and make sure that it’s placed well, so every piece of terrain is not on the edges.

You can blame TastyTaste at Blood of Kittens for the proceeding post. He brings up this event in his post about when TO's should release the missions for an event.

Gaming Podcasts

I’m sure everyone out there has at least listened to one of them. I find listening to them in the background during my painting sessions to be quite entertaining.

Here is a list of the shows I listen to.

D6 Generation
Worlds End Radio
Dice Like Thunder
40k Radio
Imperial Voxcast

So far my favorite has to be Dice Like Thunder, the show has been split into two different shows, since Mack’s recent repatriation to California. They release a show every Saturday alternating between the Chicago Crew and the Cali40kation Crew each with a distinctive style of its own.

Out of all of the Podcasts that cover 40k I think the DLT guys have the firmest grasp on how the game works. The great coverage of all aspects of the 40k hobby from RAW to house rules, to painting they cover it with a passion that is unmatched so far in my opinion.

The show does have some raunchy adult humor and language, so keep that in mind.

I quite enjoy the raunchy humor while listening to the show, it’s almost like hanging out with your buddies on game night, and this really sells the show for me.

I’d also like to bring attention to the guys over at the Imperial Voxcast. It’s a rather new show, but it seems that they are finding their groove. This show like DLT does contain adult humor and language.

So head on over and check them out, if you haven’t already and tell them that I sent you.