2000pts battle report - Imperial Knights & Dark Angels v Eldar

Before the Last Chance Open Ben and I had a game, both to familiarise ourselves with the ITC format and it's Primary and Secondary missions and to also familiarise ourselves with our respective armies. I had a little advantage as I'd run my Knights previously in our last game and the Lancer & Warglaives at Double Trouble 4

However Ben had borrowed an Aeldari army off Otty, it had a Scorpion Heavy Grav Tank, a Warp Hunter, Pheonix strike aircraft, Farseers on bikes, Shining Spears and 3 units of 10 Dire Avengers. You can see their disposition below.

I faced off with the Lancer taking the lead, backed up by the Warglaives and Euronymous while my tac squads took cover behind the church and my Scouts held the objective in the ruined watchtower.

I won the first turn and my Lancer did Flank Speed right down the centre of the village [Hogsmeade? 😉 The Warglaives moved to the outskirts and their Thermal Spears, alongside the Thermal Cannon of Euronymous took out the Warp Hunter for a 'cheeky First Strtike'. My Plasma Cannon blew up first shot, but Dark Angels get to re-roll if their stationary, so survived afterall.

The Dark Talon couldn't quite make the distance to deploy the Stasis Bomb but shot at the Dire Avengers. They were from a Craftworld that made it -1 to hit so I didn't do too much damage. The Lancer went to charge and I think it whiffed on 3", I rerolled the 1 to get another 1 [typically].

Ben's turn and the Pheonix and bikes flanked round to the watchtower [Shrieking Shack?]

The Scorpion moved to the side to get a better angle on the Lancer and position the Dire Avengers between it and the Knight.

The Aspect warriors reformed to force the Knight to engage them before it could get to the Grav Tank.

Unfortunately the Scorpion couldn't quite penetrate the Lancer's shields [thanks to some obscene dice rolling and rotating Ion Shields] and it only lost 3 of its 27 wounds to the titan killing weaponry aimed at it. The Dark Talon was less lucky though, being wiped out by the superior airborne firepower of the Phoenix. I think the Jetbikes failed their charge on the scouts, thanks to killing a couple of the nearest ones.

Turn 2 and my Warglaive made it into the back of Ben's DZ, assaulting the other squad of jetbikes. The Lancer multi-charged the middle unit of Dire Avengers and the one on its left.

The second Warglaive went for the bikes going after my scouts and managed to take them down to just 1 remaining. Euronymous backed up the Lancer.

On the other side of the battlefield on my right I'd sent my Ravenwing to mop up some scout hiding in an abandoned farm. I think one of them had been killed in Ben's turn but they made a silly charge to get in their faces.

The Lancer stomped all over the Aeldari, while the Warglaive smashed the jetbike aside allowing it to consolidate onto the objective. 

Ben's turn 2 and the Warglaive was left in the dust as the Jetbike move to oust the last scout from its sniper perch.

The Scropion continued to evade the approaching super heavy Knightly host.

It targeted all it's weaponry at Euronymous and was able to strip 23 of its 24 wounds in one shooting.

I'm not sure what happened next, I think the Lancer and Warglaive might have wiped out the Dire Avengers and the Scorpion might have taken some damage but it was possibly -2 to hit so perhaps not. We eventually called it but I think Ben was pretty downbeat about his chances.

His lack of success with the Scorpion had dampened his enthusiasm for the LCO. It just hadn't performed quite as he'd expected. A Knight killer is one thing and it came close to deleting Euronymous in one go but with Ion saves and the chance to miss it's a lot of eggs to put in one basket, although the Warp Hunter is a fair support, having lost it first turn it never really got chance to add it's weight to the game. The Pheonix did OK, you can just see one of its wings in the pic above, I actually thought it had died, not sure if it did at some point but it was v. difficult to hit so probably not.

At the time I didn't realise Ben should have split his Dire Avengers into ranks, instead of groups alongside each other, that would have been a far better bubble wrap, but even so the dense terrain and many bodies meant I struggled to get my Knights through the village. It was an OK game in the end, Ben felt outgunned/outclassed, which is never any fun but at least we had a better idea of what was in store for us, bring on the LCO!

Imperial Knights - House Corvus Twins in manufactorum pt10. Chevrons

I cogitated an awful lot about the chevrons. I was trying to balance what I've already done with the Lancer and Warglaives but also take the opportunity to expand so there was a little more variety instead of sticking to some hard rules. Firstly my chevrons are not chevrons, that would be a V or A shape. These are just angled stripes but I'll be still calling them chevrons. Secondly, mine angle backwards, while Raven chevrons are more the V toward the head. And I also don't add the white line between the black and yellow. My house Corvus can be a little different as an offshoot branch of Raven.

But the big thing on this guy is his chevrons are twice as thick on the carapace as I normally do. Raven has some fluff about the more experienced you are the thicker they get [although it also says they eschew heraldic indentifiers that normally indicate higher ranks...? Go figure?]. I also covered one third of the carapace. I see this guy as a little more experienced Knight Crusader who stands back and shoots.

Whereas the running Knight is a young Gallant and so he has narrower chevrons that only cover the angled edge. This is the mirror of my Lancer and the Warglaives have similar reflected schemes.

On top of the stripes I also painted some panels black, again with mirrored panelling.

The orange got an Iyanden Dark Sun highlight but I was keen to keep some of the orange base showing.

The Gallants stripes were a bit inconsistent with thickness unfortunately but it's not too noticeable.

Chevron stripes on the shin plate too. Not a particularly common choice on Raven, invariably the inner panels are both black but this was a choice on the Lancer that I'm continuing on my other Knights, again to add a subtle amendment to the scheme but also because I haven't done too much with the chevrons on the carapace.

Should I ever get a Dominus class knight I will definitely do the entire carapace as a chevron but for now these colours are done. Further highlights will be added after decals and damage. I've also got to prime the small-arms weaponry, can't have bare plastic stubbers.

You can see I also did a white stripe down the front of his faceplate and the bottom of its mouthguard. White/cream is a further addition to my scheme. Raven does feature white sparingly, my use is on the ion shields and the head. I'd liked to have used it more but I just can't reconcile it next to the chevrons, another reason why it doesn't edge the black and yellow stripes. Anyway, decals next so gloss varnish on all the armour plates.

Imperial Knights - House Corvus Twins in Manufactorum
Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |

We begin week 4 [out of six] of Radiotherapy at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre for my hero. \The weekend was reasonably quiet, he's beginning to get tired a little quicker but his radiologist pointed out just how much of his body is being treated so that's understandable. On Friday his hair really started to come out and he found it so uncomfortable that night he decided he wanted to go to the barbers the next morning 

We've been taking the boys to Your Barbers in Ormskirk for years and although we're not on first name terms with them they were incredibly understanding and supportive. By the end there was just a small bit of hair left, surprisingly round his surgery scar. The owner wouldn't take any payment and asked us to put it in a charity, which we did at Clatterbridge yesterday.

Also we received some financial support from the Family Fund this included some money for clothes [he's had a lot of new pyjamas] bedding and support for transport, which with a daily 50 mile roundtrip and twice through the Mersey Tunnel is really helpful. Interestingly I understand the tunnel was featured in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt1. I think it's meant to be the Dartford Tunnel, and is for the entrance/exit but the inside sequence with Hagrid's bike is the Queensway Tunnel, which we take on a Tuesday. I think it was easier to film there than Dartford and they look similar too.

Anyway, it all helps and we're still being positive.

Imperial Knights - House Corvus Twins in manufactorum pt9. 'brass, brassy, bronze, brass'

And back to my old 'friend' the metallics. I must confess there was a very particular emotion I can't quite describe when I was at this stage. My brassy bronze approach has always been challenging since the first time I did it on my drop pod.

It's a result I love but can be a real slog to do despite it just stippling on metallic paints. There's no finesse [look at that big blob of gold on that side vent] but it still takes a while and the paint ends up thick and gloopy and I fear for the brushes, even the knackered ones I use to achieve all the texture.

I did sponge it on in places too which I think helps. Once again it's Warplock Bronze, Balthasar Gold, Retributor Armour, Valejo 'gold and gunmetal' mix.

But it's all going to be washed and weathered too so it doesn't need to be perfect.

Now these pics might be earlier than the above ones just after the Retributor Armour coat or post wash, not sure but you can see how rough I've been. Too much faffing to fix it so bear with...

More close-ups of the sponging.

More of the same.

The hips look pretty cool whereas those ends to the side-pods look bloomin rough.

'The Imperial Knight in front of you is a Questoris'. Once again just the bare metal from the back view.

The second knight, just a little more planted.

The two Knights together, I keep building them up after a session. It's silly really as it means I have to disassemble them before I start painting the next session but they do look cool.

So despite all the things going on these are progressing quite reasonably and with no real deadline now for them there's less pressure. Despite that I might actually be going to bed later than normal, regularly ending up at 12:30am instead of 12. That said I'm enjoying it [now the metals are done anyways].

However, the weapons were all still at Warplock Bronze phase [ore even grey plastic in the pics above!] so I still have all those to paint too. I'll no doubt kick myself that these two elements are not progressing simultaneously - the panels and chassis will be completed and then the weapons will be almost starting from scratch. That's the joy of batch painting, it's smaller gains along the way but the pay off is much bigger at the end. But go with the flow and if my motivation is the armour and then weathering the chassis who am I to argue... with myself 😕

Imperial Knights - House Corvus Twins in Manufactorum
Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |

We begin week 3 [out of six] of Radiotherapy at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre for my hero. Yesterday was a bit of a challenge as he woke up feeling sick and with pain in his lower back, which we think is due to an unrelated issue with his coccyx. We spent the morning at Alder Hey just to be sure but it was a bit of a wake up call. Friday had also been bad, again with nausea but the extra prescribed anti-sickness tablets had meant the weekend had been almost normal until 5am Sunday morning. 

That said he did brilliantly today and he's back to his normal self and in school for a lesson. We had a chat with his consultant and he's still sporting a full head of hair which is surprising us all... who knows. Anyway, 'hump week' - after this it's down hill. Week 4 will be the last full treatment and then 5 and 6 is a different machine, quicker and less intense. So we get these two weeks out of the way and keep up with the anti-sickness tablets and it should be a fair bit easier on everyone.

Last Chance Open wrap up and painting competition

The Last Chance Open was this weekend and I have to commend Martin, Aceface and all the other folk who chipped in. I can definitely say the event was well run and once the free wi-fi settled down even updating the Best Coast Pairing App was straightforward [although the judges could fill in the details for you!]. I had some really great games and met some really nice people and had a good time. That said I am feeling a disconnect with 40k and how it is played. I absolutely love the idea of running knights but there were so many of them at the event it feels like a cop-out to take them. Losing even one can feel devastating and on the flip-side outgunning your opponent with them is equally disheartening because it's just not fun to take someone apart in that way. Anyway, I'll discuss my feelings in depth at a later date.

Keith Martin-Smith with Astra-Millitarum [tanks and conscripts] was my first match.

Dominik Brundler with Nurgle Chaos Marines was Game 2

Andrew Davies and mixed Chaos Daemons [Nurgle/Tzeentch] Game 3.

Sadly I missed getting a pic with Rick Martin who I faced in Game 4 with his Deathwatch. Last Game was with Robin Neill and he had Iron Hands Space Marines.

The painting competition was of a high standard. Unfortunately I didn't get chance to take pics on day one of the individual categories but I got pics of the Best Army nominations with these Tau

And they're awesome energy shields.

Otty got nominated for best army with his Tyranids and his 'nid Bastion, which won best conversion.

Ad Mech and Knights.

Liam's Renegade Knights were also nominated.

His Warglaives were a new addition to the force.

 
As was this new dual battle cannon Knight.

Apparently this eyeball took 5 minutes to paint, it's amazing how much you can hate one of your own friends ;)

Unsurprisingly Liam came away with the honours for best army.

Apparently I gave him a challenge though with only a few votes in it, not that I mind.

I did have a quick chat with the Honest Wargamer guys about how they're review of our lists had failed to recognise that not everyone is choosing a list on a competitive basis.

It was really funny when I said to Liam "why did you take the Bloodthirster?" [a question Jon had asked himself on the stream] - "because I like the model" was the answer. When I asked Otty "why did you take the Bastion?" [noted by Jon as the only Fortification brought to the tournament] - "because I never take it!". When I asked Ben about the Eldar Cobra it was also "because I never take it"!

And the final query based on Jon's surprise at seeing me take the Lancer - "Why did I take the Lancer? Because these were the only two Knights I had painted!" So we had a good laugh at our reasons.

Almost a week on I'm still feeling a glow of satisfaction about the tournament. There's a real dichotomy between just how much I enjoyed the event and the people but feel there are continuing flaws in 8th edition. Previously those flaws would be levelled at the Codex but now I think there are things inherently wrong about the game. There are also things very right and I can't quite put my finger on what the flaws are, which is why I need time to dissect what they might be, but I am both looking forward to a break but also going to miss the satisfaction brought on by the efforts of Martin, Aceface and the crew. On top of that they raised £1107.50 for Alder Hey Children's Hospital Charity, which given my circumstances is amazing news. Well done all!