Warhammer 40,000 Conquestions

I had alluded to the fact I might subscribe to Warhammer Conquest, but that was pre-release and some website called newsstand had subscriptions at £3.45 an issue! That offer has subsequently disappeared. Even so issue 1 was a 'no brainer', as everyone and their dog was calling it. However, securing a copy in the recognised backwaters of Manchester was quite the challenge. Not a single newsagent or supermarket 'express' had one. My better half also tried the big supermarkets in Southport, again to no avail. Ultimately I had to actually go to GW itself and I was surprised they had copies left. I only really wanted the one copy, although two would have made a Kill Team I suppose. But this is the justification of why Primaris Marines just aren't going to work for me!

I mean the old skool Rogue Trader era miniatures are literaly miniatures next to it. It's almost like I'm running Squats! Sure the Missile Launcher makes the model as tall as the Primaris but even next to the Battle for Macragge push-fit model he's dinky. Don't get me wrong, the quality of the Primaris models are exceptional and looking at that Tooth and Claw Intercessor sprue next to the Genestealer sprue it's equally comical and impressive what Citadel can do with injection moulding nowadays.

So I'm not sure I can take Primaris Marines with my Dark Angels, even though Hellblasters are where it's at and fluffy with their Plasma. That said I could go successor or a different chapter but honestly I don't want another faction. No doubt I'll paint them at some point but for now I just thought I'd illustrate my long held belief.

1750pts battle report - Imperial Knights & Blood Angels v Imperial Knights & Nurgle Death Guard - game 3

Double Trouble 4 and Alex From the Fang's doubles tournament replacing Blog Wars. 875pts with random pairings but all match-ups are Battle Brothers. Once again my recollection is pretty hazy so for the most part enjoy the pictures, the commentary will be secondary ;) 

My first Blog Wars was Blog Wars 6 in June 2013, in that time I don't think Alex and I have ever faced or paired with each other. We've been on adjoining tables but with this our last chance to dance Alex twisted the strands of fate to put us both on the same table - Knight on Knight! I'm paired with Tom Capper again [paired with for DT3 and opposite for Never Mind the Blog Wars] he had his Blood Angels, Mephiston, possibly Astorath some Assault Terminators and Sanguinary Guard. Alex had his two Helverins and a Knight Warden and was partnered with Jonathan Lyness [regular attendee both at Alex's events and my own Birthday Bash] he had Nurgle and Death Guard - a Damon Prince, big blob of cultists, 2 Bloat Drones, unit of Plague Marines and I'm not sure what else.

Once again the Knights hold the line but I have some Sanguinary Guard in the ruins with Mephiston. Opposite we have Death Guard and Bloat Drones on the left, a Helverin with the Cultists blocking out the centre, backed up by the Daemon Prince. The Warden is way back behind the ruins with the 2nd Helverin behind the abandoned Bastion.

We win first turn and keep the initiative. We surge forwards, Mephiston swooping over the cultists to get to the Prince but couldn't kill it. The Sanguinary Guard got into the Cultists while my Warglaives caught them in a pincer. I think they were wiped out this turn after morale.

The Lancer went Flank Speed and crossed the entire board to get to the Helverin which couldn't withstand it's charge and was destroyed. It was a brutal first turn and I must confess I didn't feel too pleased with myself in the success of our Alpha Strike, given the spirit of the event.

But Alex and Jonathan were not done yet - the Helverin and Drones repositioned to fire at the Warglaive but didn't do a huge amount of damage.

The Warden was significantly more successful, withdrawing from the Lancer while laying down plenty of wounds taking me to the second tier at least. The Bloat Drones charged the Warlgaive

In our turn 2 the Sanguinary Guard look to have targeted the Helverin, it's down to 8 wounds. My second Warglaive slammed into a Drone.

My Lancer headed for the Warden, but it's mobility was severely hampered by damage, only getting 2" on its 2D6 Flank Speed advance! Terminators arrived from deep strike.

And made their charge into the Plague Marines. That may have required a re-roll though which meant the Lancer was at risk making his on the Warden...

I'm not sure if he was killed in overwatch or Alex's next turn but we never found out what it would be like in close combat. I felt a little less guilty about that Alpha Strike at this point.

I've no idea what damage was made here but I think the Drones survived.

Then fell back to secure the objective in the ruins

This allowed the Warglaives to move up. A Nurgle dude holding the objective in the corner of the ruins was killed somehow, allowing my Warglaive to secure it. The Terminators wiped out the Plague Marines with the help of Astorath.

The Sanguinary Guard took the fight to the Drones, while the last Helverin doesn't feature in anymore pics so might have been destroyed at this point?

The Sanguinary Guard took casualties in overwatch but I think they killed one of the Drones.

The Warden blew up both Warglaives and some of the Terminators.

But was assaulted by the remains of the squad and Astorath. The last Drone fell back to hold the objective but the Sanguinary Guard was still there so it may have been contested.

Astorath was the lone survivor against the Warden, I'm not sure how much damage it had been dealt, not half I don't think.

Fall back and retreat again, still no end to the deadlock.

With honour at stake the Standard Bearer left the objective it had been holding to charge the Knight in an attempt to bring it past half points but he could not make the charge.

The Bloat Drone must have perished leaving the Sanguinary Guard to hold our objective again. They may have been killed in Alex's turn - he had enough firepower to do it!

The final score was 7VPs to 6VPs in our favour at turn 5, which was the last turn. We'd scored 1169pts but been almost [if not completely] wiped out. I honestly don't remember much of what happened. It feels like quite a tactical game but like I say after our turn one I felt really bad but it would appear that a sacrifice of a unit of Cultists and a Helverin was a small price to lure in my Lancer and scalp it so early.

Tom Capper, Myself, Alex From the Fang, Jonathan Lyness

But another great game, regardless of the fact that my Lancer failed to survive a single match - so no honour badges to add :( It was a great way to finish the event off, nice to be picked by Alex and be with Jonathan and Tom again. That's the best part of these events as it's almost like a reunion each time. Hopefully someone will step forward to continue it on. Obviously I could 'put my money where my mouth is' and take up the baton but I think Alex has said someone has already offered.

Here's my final scorecard, not that it matters. I honestly felt I had a pretty tough army this time, but clearly it was more fragile than I thought. Definitely the Lancer is far from OP, and I think over-costed too. 440pts seems like a better price to me, maybe it would be different in a full Knightly Household. Anyway, I've a wrap up post and painting comp to do but this is the last Double Trouble report - So Long and Thanks for All the Dice!

If you're interested in any more of my Battle Reports, point your cogitators here: www.40kaddict.uk/p/battle-reports.html

1750pts battle report - Imperial Knights & Blood Angels v Astra Militarum & Tyranids - game 2

Double Trouble 4 and Alex From the Fang's doubles tournament replacing Blog Wars. 875pts with random pairings but all match-ups are Battle Brothers. Once again my recollection is pretty hazy so for the most part enjoy the pictures, the commentary will be secondary ;)

Game 2 and I'm partnered with Matt Longmore again [I'd been paired with him at DT2 and he was my opponent in DT3]. He'd brought his Blood Angels with 'Captain Slam', some Veterans, Death Company, a squad of Helblasters and some other units [THSS Terminators] that would benefit from reserve deployment. We were up against Andy Peat and his Tyranids [5 Carnifex, Old One Eye, a Neurothrope and a Biovore] and Lucas Rooney and his Astra Miliarum [2 Leman Russ, 2 Basilisks, a small unit of Bulgryns, a 'Command Point Farm' and mortars.

We managed to win first turn and not lose the initiative. Matt had kept all but a unit of Veterans in the ruins above my Lancer and the Helblasters on the top floor of the ruins at the top of the board. I deployed the Lancer in the centre with one Warglaive on the left and the other on the extreme right flank to go for the Basilisks.

Turn 1 and the Lancer Flanks Speeds forwards, just 2" away from the Carnifex, this could be awesome or very foolish. The Warglaive couldn't quite match his pace, making it's normal move but putting 4 or 5 wounds on the Carnifex on the left.

The other Warglaive was even more effective, melting one of the Basilisks into slag.

The Lancer smashed into the front rank of the Carnifex, killing all three in quick succession -now that was more like it! Using the full tilt stratagem earned our opponents some new CPs. We ended the turn on 1VP, for the veterans holding our centre objective.

Lucas and Andy pounced on the Lancer, sending in Carnifex and Bulgryns but not before the Neurothrope did 6 Mortal Wounds. As the dust settled Old One Eye and his buddies and brought the Lancer to just 7 wounds - karma? They scored 2VPs for objectives this turn.

Turn 2 and the Warglaive moved on the final Basilisk. Death Company arrived just out of shot and Captain Slam and the Terminators were elsewhere on the board.

The second Warglaive joined the melee in the middle, he was down to 1 wound thanks to the Leman Russes. I had considered sending it back to the ruins int he centre to hold the objective and free up the vets but figured he could get in the mix now, while the Vets where still 2 turns of movement away from making an impact. Another unit of Vets jumped over the derelict Aquila Stronghold into combat with a Carnifex. The Lancer fell back and charged again killing Old One Eye either with Shock Blast or in combat.!

Captain Slam jumped into combat with the Neurothrope.

The remaining 2 Carnifex got killed but the Neurothrope survived.

Warglaive killed the Biovore with its Meltagun and the remaining Basilisk. Veterans killed the Infantry Squad except their commander who escaped to the top of the building out of range of the objective. He would be killed by the Warglaive in the next turn. We finally had the sense to move the Helblasters down to hold the objective they'd mutely stared at turn 1. We scored 3VPs.

Not sure what Lucas and Andy did in their turn, killed some Terminators and take the Lancer down to 4 wounds. Rotating my Ion Shields helped but this gave them yet more CPs. Slam went in search of the Leman Russes.

The Lancer fell back and charged again. Unfortunately I couldn't kill the Neurothrope - it was going to kill me next turn with Smite for sure.

The Warglaive lost its final wound leaving this melee in its closing stages.

Another turn and I'm not sure how I moved the Lancer but it was all for nought

It was destroyed just as the Death Company arrived in Support, not sure if that Neurothrope is escaping or dead, think it's the former! The Bulgryn, nicknamed Champ survived, despite my best efforts to squish him! Anyway, final score 10VPs to us 5VPs to Lucas and Andy. We scored 1180 Blood Points

Another great game, snatching the win on VPs

Matt, myself, Andy [and his Neurothrope], Lucas [and Sergeant Champ]

One overwhelming topic of discussion throughout the game was the Astra Militarum CP farm. When you're recouping CPs from both us and their own stratagem spend Lucas must have had around 25 CPs throughout the game, he even had some left at the end! I agreed totally with him in that 'why wouldn't you take it but it's clear from BoLS that these shenanigans are a little beyond the pale.

And more recently at NOVA, the ubiquity of the CP farm has already prompted a suggestion it will be nerfed. I'm not forgetting that Tyranids can also farm, but it takes a Lictor or Genestealer to kill a character in combat, spend a CP and get D3 back. There are a lot of boxes to tick there that can still result in where you started. Perhaps Kurov's Aquila needs a price to pay to recoup before you roll? Hopefully Chapter Approved will help balance it, GW already increased the amount of CPs you get for a Battalion, farming on top seems a little over-powered.


If you're interested in any more of my Battle Reports, point your cogitators here: www.40kaddict.uk/p/battle-reports.html

1750pts battle report - Imperial Knights & Astra Militarum v Astra Militarum & Khorne Daemonkin - game 1

Double Trouble 4 and Alex From the Fang's doubles tournament replacing Blog Wars. 875pts with random pairings but all match-ups are Battle Brothers. Once again my recollection is pretty hazy so for the most part enjoy the pictures, the commentary will be secondary ;) 

Here we go with the last Double Trouble ever. I'll cover my feelings in the wrap up but suffice to say the event was it's usual fun, tinged with a hint of sadness as it has come to a fitting end. First game and I'm partnered with Matt Greenwood [Alex's regular opponent] and his Astra Militarum [3 Leman Russ with Pask, a Psyker, some Ratling Snipers and Vets but with no Command Point farm!].

Facing us was Greg Barber, again with Astra Militarum [Baneblade, Command Point Farm, Psykers and a Bullgryn squad]. He was partnered with Duncan Gray and Khorne Daemonkin [Soul Grinder, Blood Letters, Flesh Hounds, Skull Cannon and some Forgeworld Greater Daemon].

Setup was table ends but with the pointed ends 18" apart. That would have been beneficial for my Knights if only the apex wasn't right in those ruins. Regardless we paid 3 points straight off to put one of my Warglaives in reserve and outflank. We finished deploying first, won first turn and then Greg stole the Initiative. Greg and Duncan move up to secure objectives [which were scored each turn]. With my Cerastus in full view he took a pounding from the Baneblade, despite rotating the Ion Shields he took 7 wounds, down to 20. Greg and Duncan scored 4VPs this turn.

The Cerastus Advanced but was nowhere near the Baneblade. The Warglaive followed along in support. Matt managed to takemost of the wounds off the Soul Grinder [down to 3 or 1?] he also dinged a Flesh Hound with Heavy Bolter fire.

The Skull Cannon fell victim to concentrated fire from the Leman Russ and my Cerastus Shock Blast. With the Lancer exposed I decided to assual the Flesh Hounds [costing 2CPs to assault after advance] then used the Shock Lance.

Only killing two but 'safely' remaining in combat, while the Warglaive attacked the Bullgryns killing one. We scored 2VPs of objectives and then the Daemon Prince and Bloodletters appeared in our midst!

You see the thing with being locked in combat so you then Fall Back and charge again is that your opponent can also Fall Back leaving you exposed and vulnerable! I'd somehow forgotten that and suddenly all the Baneblade's weaponry was traind on my Knight but was killed with just the main cannon! Another ignominious performance from the Lancer.

While the Bullgryns set to work on the Warglaive, clubbing it to bits until it blew up in their midst putting mortal wound on all those around it. The chaos Forces pushed forward, the Bloodletters making a huge charge to tie up Pask and another [or both the other] Leman Russ, luckily the Daemon Prince failed his charge and they scored another 4VPs.

Things were starting to fall apart, but I had my last Warglaive arrive from reserve. I think our plan here was for it to try and help kill the Prince and Bloodletters, with the Veterans who appeared int he back field. This would free up the tanks to focus on the Baneblade. Unfortunately the the Veterans whiffed and he couldn't manage but take some wounds off the Prince. We scored another 2 VPs

The Bloodletters took some heavy losses but were still positioned to keep the tanks locked and score our objectives. 

Meanwhile the Baneblade set to ram the Warglaive.

The Baneblade crushed the Warglaive under it's tracks, the Blood letters continued to distract the tanks in combat.

While their Prince assaulted the Veterans, killing them with ease.

More Bloodletters died, but so did Pask as it was shot by the Baneblade having moved out of combat.

The Chaos forces added another 5 VPs to their tally.

The Daemon Prince set his sights on the remaining Leman Russ and smashed it to pieces.

All that was left at this stage was Matt's psyker...

oh and an infantry squad in the ruins scoring us 1VP. I think they must have finally taken donw the Soul Grinder but the Psyker was not about to be bludgeoned by the Bullgryns.

"Death or glory!"

And there endeth the game. We'd lost 23 VPs to 8 and scored 923 Blood Points

Another great game, the loss of the initiative had been unfortunate but the deployment  map didn't help. However, with fewer units deploying the Lancer out of sight of the Baneblade was never an option.

Greg, myself, Matt and Duncan

Everyone was super-cool to game with, so the result was once again broadly irrelevant, on to game 2.

If you're interested in any more of my Battle Reports, point your cogitators here: www.40kaddict.uk/p/battle-reports.html