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Friday, November 1, 2019
Monday, August 26, 2019
Chaos in 2nd Edition
I had recently obtained a copy of the 2nd edition Chaos Codex. I'd never played Chaos before 7th/8th edition. I was not interested in playing "bad guy" armies as a kid and I've always gravitated towards Loyalist Imperial forces or tragic alien races like Eldar and even the sadly misguided and naive Tau.
The book is loaded with information and has a lot to it. It definitely feels like a more fully realized book than the Ultramarines Codex (or even Space Wolves and Angels of Death, for that matter).
I decided to break protocol and adapt my small IV Legion (Iron Warriors) army for play in 2nd edition. I've been breaking even with them more or less, playing in a ladder style mini-campaign.
I was disappointed to see that Combi-Bolters, the predecessors of the Imperial Storm Bolter, are better in 2nd edition than Storm Bolters are. It's interesting how much Games Workshop focused on the Sustained Fire Dice in that edition. Combi-Bolters are Twin Linked: roll one time to hit and if you hit, roll twice to wound. That's effectively like rolling a '2' on the Sustained Fire Die *every time*. With the Malfunction mechanic working as it does, it's interesting to me how Storm Bolters are by comparison very unreliable and average 1.5 hits per shot (even taking into account that you can conceivably hit 3 times in one shot).
The book is loaded with information and has a lot to it. It definitely feels like a more fully realized book than the Ultramarines Codex (or even Space Wolves and Angels of Death, for that matter).
I decided to break protocol and adapt my small IV Legion (Iron Warriors) army for play in 2nd edition. I've been breaking even with them more or less, playing in a ladder style mini-campaign.
I was disappointed to see that Combi-Bolters, the predecessors of the Imperial Storm Bolter, are better in 2nd edition than Storm Bolters are. It's interesting how much Games Workshop focused on the Sustained Fire Dice in that edition. Combi-Bolters are Twin Linked: roll one time to hit and if you hit, roll twice to wound. That's effectively like rolling a '2' on the Sustained Fire Die *every time*. With the Malfunction mechanic working as it does, it's interesting to me how Storm Bolters are by comparison very unreliable and average 1.5 hits per shot (even taking into account that you can conceivably hit 3 times in one shot).
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
Old School rules, new school models
Part of the joy of the experience of playing earlier editions of Warhammer 40,000 is using era specific models. I enjoy using my Eldar and Rogue Trader era Marines in games of 1st edition and my second edition models in 2nd ed games as well.
Lately, though, I've been toying with breaking that unofficial rule in order to break up the monotony of playing the same three armies (Space Marines, Eldar, and Orks). I have a nice and I feel pretty balanced Iron Warriors army that I built for 8th edition and it would work well with the Chaos Codex of 2nd edition with very few instances of "counts as".
Sometimes I agonize over breaking unwritten rules, probably due to my adherence to playing with only painted models (the one rule I absolutely will not break -ever-).
I'm also a little unhappy with the reluctance to adopt house rules for our early edition games. Essentially you have to have house rules to even play Rogue Trader, but my opponent seems to really not want to adopt any real changes to the 2nd edition rules at all.
The only real rule I'm not happy with in 2nd edition is the Sustained Fire rules. The Sustained Fire dice were apparently not a big hit given that they did not survive integration into third edition.
For the uninitiated, the Sustained Fire Die is essentially a D3. The results on the die are:
Malfunction
1
1
2
2
3
The malfunction or "Jam" symbol triggers effects on some weapons such as Chaos Plasma weapons and Assault Cannons. Each malfunction also creates a jam which must be cleared before the weapon can fire again. In order to clear you must skip the shooting phase once for each jam you roll. Some weapons fire multiple sustained fire dice, such as the Assault Cannon while other weapons are twin linked and can fire up to four dice, such as the Twin Heavy Bolter.
This can lead to a weapon being unable to fire for the entire game.
Sustained Fire Dice came about as the streamlining of the "Following Fire" rules that several weapons had in 1st edition. Those weapons could, under the right circumstances, create situations where one model could effectively kill one unit per turn (or even more if you weren't spread out enough). At the advent of 2nd edition I feel like the Sustained Fire die was a good solution but now with the decades of gaming since then I feel more and more like it was overcompensation, something that creeps into iterative editions of any game.
The risk/reward for sustained fire dice just isn't worth it in most cases. For something like a Plasma gun, which has to recharge every other turn, there's zero risk since you can only roll one jam and you aren't shooting it next turn anyway.
But for the vast majority of weapons it's really bad and can lead to holding your fire until the last turn of the game (something that seems wrong within the larger context of the game setting).
A solution that I feel retains the spirit of the rule without creating really bad play experiences would be to simply count any jam as a zero when determining the total number of hits. You still reference the weapon to see if any malfunctions trigger other effects, such as an Assault Cannon exploding.
This feels like a more balanced approach, doesn't lock up a weapon for multiple turns, and lets weapons like Stormbolters function as better versions of Combi-Bolters. I bring up Combi-Bolters because they're by far a superior weapon to the the Stormbolter (the weapon that according to the historical context of the game is far superior). A Combi-Bolter is simply a twin linked bolt gun so you roll one to hit roll and if you hit, you roll two rolls to wound.
It's effectively like having a sustained fire die that always rolls a '2'. When you add in the Space Marine Rapid Fire rule, Chaos Terminators become terrifying.
If I were to codify a set of 2nd ed house rules I'd start with how Sustained Fire Dice work and I'd lobby to adopt the change I just outlined.
Other rules in the game I'm more or less fine with. I'm unhappy that the Orks arbitrarily can't have certain missions, something that inhibits choice for the player (which I'm usually not a fan of) and also creates situations where Ork armies become more focused on a smaller spread of missions when players draw randomly. It also creates headaches when trying to draw up a mission flowchart or a campaign of any kind. There's also a big issue with the nature of that rule which seems to indicate that Orks are too stupid to want to kill the enemy leader but somehow can recognize the strategic importance of a particular territory (Take & Hold) or particular buildings/areas (High Ground).
At the end of the day this edition of the game is dead as old Marley. Playing it "correctly" isn't as interesting to me as playing it for fun and for trying to represent a 40k skirmish game.
Lately, though, I've been toying with breaking that unofficial rule in order to break up the monotony of playing the same three armies (Space Marines, Eldar, and Orks). I have a nice and I feel pretty balanced Iron Warriors army that I built for 8th edition and it would work well with the Chaos Codex of 2nd edition with very few instances of "counts as".
Sometimes I agonize over breaking unwritten rules, probably due to my adherence to playing with only painted models (the one rule I absolutely will not break -ever-).
I'm also a little unhappy with the reluctance to adopt house rules for our early edition games. Essentially you have to have house rules to even play Rogue Trader, but my opponent seems to really not want to adopt any real changes to the 2nd edition rules at all.
The only real rule I'm not happy with in 2nd edition is the Sustained Fire rules. The Sustained Fire dice were apparently not a big hit given that they did not survive integration into third edition.
For the uninitiated, the Sustained Fire Die is essentially a D3. The results on the die are:
Malfunction
1
1
2
2
3
The malfunction or "Jam" symbol triggers effects on some weapons such as Chaos Plasma weapons and Assault Cannons. Each malfunction also creates a jam which must be cleared before the weapon can fire again. In order to clear you must skip the shooting phase once for each jam you roll. Some weapons fire multiple sustained fire dice, such as the Assault Cannon while other weapons are twin linked and can fire up to four dice, such as the Twin Heavy Bolter.
This can lead to a weapon being unable to fire for the entire game.
Sustained Fire Dice came about as the streamlining of the "Following Fire" rules that several weapons had in 1st edition. Those weapons could, under the right circumstances, create situations where one model could effectively kill one unit per turn (or even more if you weren't spread out enough). At the advent of 2nd edition I feel like the Sustained Fire die was a good solution but now with the decades of gaming since then I feel more and more like it was overcompensation, something that creeps into iterative editions of any game.
The risk/reward for sustained fire dice just isn't worth it in most cases. For something like a Plasma gun, which has to recharge every other turn, there's zero risk since you can only roll one jam and you aren't shooting it next turn anyway.
But for the vast majority of weapons it's really bad and can lead to holding your fire until the last turn of the game (something that seems wrong within the larger context of the game setting).
A solution that I feel retains the spirit of the rule without creating really bad play experiences would be to simply count any jam as a zero when determining the total number of hits. You still reference the weapon to see if any malfunctions trigger other effects, such as an Assault Cannon exploding.
This feels like a more balanced approach, doesn't lock up a weapon for multiple turns, and lets weapons like Stormbolters function as better versions of Combi-Bolters. I bring up Combi-Bolters because they're by far a superior weapon to the the Stormbolter (the weapon that according to the historical context of the game is far superior). A Combi-Bolter is simply a twin linked bolt gun so you roll one to hit roll and if you hit, you roll two rolls to wound.
It's effectively like having a sustained fire die that always rolls a '2'. When you add in the Space Marine Rapid Fire rule, Chaos Terminators become terrifying.
If I were to codify a set of 2nd ed house rules I'd start with how Sustained Fire Dice work and I'd lobby to adopt the change I just outlined.
Other rules in the game I'm more or less fine with. I'm unhappy that the Orks arbitrarily can't have certain missions, something that inhibits choice for the player (which I'm usually not a fan of) and also creates situations where Ork armies become more focused on a smaller spread of missions when players draw randomly. It also creates headaches when trying to draw up a mission flowchart or a campaign of any kind. There's also a big issue with the nature of that rule which seems to indicate that Orks are too stupid to want to kill the enemy leader but somehow can recognize the strategic importance of a particular territory (Take & Hold) or particular buildings/areas (High Ground).
At the end of the day this edition of the game is dead as old Marley. Playing it "correctly" isn't as interesting to me as playing it for fun and for trying to represent a 40k skirmish game.
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Franke-7 Atlas
Dotted with automated Promethium refineries and storage tanks, this world was covered in ash from the many battles fought there in antiquity. What is known is that several decades ago orks landed there and easily subjugated the human population. The Planetary Defense Force lasted for a time but was eventually surrounded and overrun in an apocalyptic combat.
Yet the population of this planet was far lower than it should have been when the orks arrived. Due to their depredations little of the information about that time period has survived.
Within the last year the enigmatic Eldar of the Biel-Tan Craftworld arrived near Haver's Fall. Cutting directly for the capitol city of Retep, the Eldar engaged ork forces for several weeks. Following the a warp inversion which swept Weirdboy Thunka-Rah and the Eldar Exarch, Kethil, the Eldar forces withdrew in order and departed the system.
Thunka-Rah was an enthusiastic and potentially very powerful psyker and it is theorized that the Eldar sought out conflict with this rising force in the ork ranks in order to prevent a future catastrophe for Biel-Tan.
The orks had been fighting each other prior to this intrusion. The arrival of the Eldar galvanized the ork forces on Franke-7. After the departure of the Eldar old rivalries were starting to reemerge just as Imperial forces arrived in the system in order to reestablish control of Franke-7.
The current levy of Imperial troops dedicated to retaking this system include:
The 8th Necromunda Regiment of the Imperial Guard
Elements of the following Space Marine Chapters:
-The Crimson Fists
-The Imperial Fists
-The Ultramarines
Agents of the Officio Assassinorum
Agents of the Inquisition
Planet fall was made west of Retep City and the Crimson Fists comprised the main elements of the landing. Able to bring their hard earned experience of battling orks to bear, they were able to secure a landing zone and to take the northern city of Mero's Hold. Subsequent to that, however, the orks have proven resourceful. Almost a dozen veterans of the Crimson Fists 1st Company were killed, their geneseed and suits of Terminator armor lost. Even the Ultramarines forces led ostensibly by Captain Quintus of the 2nd Company and supported by the mighty Chief Librarian Tigurius had great difficulty in engagements with the orks. Tigurius took it upon himself to try to retrieve the lost treasures of the Crimson Fists but ultimately failed in this task.
Even as he quit the field he began to search the warp, wondering if the Eldar's arrival weeks earlier wasn't meant to prevent a catastrophe for the Eldar but instead to unite the warring ork factions just in time to oppose the Imperial forces.
Eras of Play
One of the more interesting aspects of playing different editions of Warhammer 40,000 is seeing how the same models do things differently.
A good example of this is Terminators. When the first Terminator models appeared in 1st edition they were tough as nails and hard to kill. That continued in 2nd edition where a Terminator could shrug off even a direct hit from a Lascannon.
As the game changed and newer editions were released, Terminators have become less popular. Even in 8th edition they're still not quite where they should be.
Another good example is the humble Tactical Squad. Not very effective or useful in 1st or 2nd edition. The "Combat Squad" rule helped tactical squads out somewhat, but generally Devastator or Assault (or Veteran Assault!) Squads were just better.
Vehicles also saw a significant shift between the various editions. 1st edition saw the move away from vehicles having Toughness and Wounds to having location charts and armor penetration. This led to vehicles being less useful from 2nd all the way to 7th edition (with some exceptions) and now in 8th edition the circle is complete.
A good example of this is Terminators. When the first Terminator models appeared in 1st edition they were tough as nails and hard to kill. That continued in 2nd edition where a Terminator could shrug off even a direct hit from a Lascannon.
As the game changed and newer editions were released, Terminators have become less popular. Even in 8th edition they're still not quite where they should be.
Another good example is the humble Tactical Squad. Not very effective or useful in 1st or 2nd edition. The "Combat Squad" rule helped tactical squads out somewhat, but generally Devastator or Assault (or Veteran Assault!) Squads were just better.
Vehicles also saw a significant shift between the various editions. 1st edition saw the move away from vehicles having Toughness and Wounds to having location charts and armor penetration. This led to vehicles being less useful from 2nd all the way to 7th edition (with some exceptions) and now in 8th edition the circle is complete.
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Themed Strategy Decks and Missions
Continuing our loose narrative of games, the Crimson Fists and Orks clashed again. This time around we did something interesting with the Strategy Cards and Missions.
After setting up the board with both High Ground and Take & Hold in mind, we secretly chose missions. The week before I took a look at the 25 Strategy Cards (we removed Virus Outbreak) and divided them into 5 different subsets, each one themed. I then took the seven missions and tied two of the subsets to each mission.
The idea would be you secretly choose a mission and then draw from the ten cards tied to it. We kept missions secret until after both armies were deployed (but Strategy Cards which impacted Strategy Rating were played before deployment as normal).
It worked out pretty well, though I think next time we'll change how we draw the cards. This time we combined the two subdecks, next time we'll try drawing from each subdeck once.
The strategy deck is broken up into five categories as follows:
Uncommon Valor and Blind Luck:
Look Out, Sir!, Saved!, Insane Courage, Ultimate Sacrifice, Last Gasp
Cunning Plans and Gambits:
Surprise Assault, Forced March, Reinforcements, Flank March, Ambush
-The theme of this deck revolves around manipulating units, either preventing them from moving quickly or outmaneuvering them.
Off Table Support:
Crack Shot, Strafing Run, Bombing Run, Covering Fire, Barrage
-The theme here is about outside elements impacting the game. Crack Shot may seem somewhat out of place here but I feel like it fits with the others pretty well.
Mayhem and Mischief:
Minefield, Booby Traps, Special Issue, Sabotage, Malfunction
-I thought that these cards went well together as a theme.
Subtlety and Cunning:
Craven Cowardice, Traitor, Delayed, Brilliant Strategy, Divine Inspiration
-This deck is about outwitting your opponent.
I then tried to imagine what each mission would go with the decks and this is what I came up with.
Dawn Raid:
Cunning Plans and Gambits, Uncommon Valor and Blind Luck
-Dawn Raid is a mission that can represent trying to get past the front lines of your enemy or it can be about getting past your enemy to get back to your own lines. It pushes the player to move towards the enemy and I felt that these two decks would support a player who chose this mission.
Take and Hold:
Subtlety and Cunning, Off Table Support
-Take and Hold is one of two missions that target specific points on the table. It's a "big" mission and I liked the idea of bombers and fighters dropping in and attacking ground targets. I thought that the leadership qualities of the other deck were appropriate, too.
High Ground:
Cunning Plans and Gambits, Off Table Support
-This mission was a later addition to the missions from the main set. I like it a lot, especially since I never played it back when 2nd edition came out. I liked the maneuvering cards for this mission because it rewards a player who is spreading out and like Take & Hold it's a "big" mission so bombers and fighters should be involved.
Guerrilla War:
Mayhem and Mischief, Cunning Plans and Gambits
-Guerrilla War is an odd mission, one that can be harder to play than others. I felt like the maneuvering cards and the area denial cards like Booby Traps and Minefield would help the player get close to their opponent.
Engage and Destroy:
Off Table Support, Mischief and Mayhem
-Engage & Destroy is one of the "easier" missions to play, it rewards a player for doing things they'd normally do in a game. It's another "big" mission so Off Table Support felt right. I also liked the annihilation factor of the mission, so cards like Minefield felt appropriate as well.
Witch Hunt/Assassins:
Subtlety and Cunning, Uncommon Valor and Blind Luck.
-Orks technically can't play these missions. I don't understand it, killing the other warboss seems pretty straightforward to me but apparently Orks are too dense for that (but figuring out that higher ground is good is something they seem to have no problem with!). When it came time to assign decks I decided to combine Witch Hunt with Assassins, They're very similar missions, so I felt like they would probably share similar strategies tied to them.
After setting up the board with both High Ground and Take & Hold in mind, we secretly chose missions. The week before I took a look at the 25 Strategy Cards (we removed Virus Outbreak) and divided them into 5 different subsets, each one themed. I then took the seven missions and tied two of the subsets to each mission.
The idea would be you secretly choose a mission and then draw from the ten cards tied to it. We kept missions secret until after both armies were deployed (but Strategy Cards which impacted Strategy Rating were played before deployment as normal).
It worked out pretty well, though I think next time we'll change how we draw the cards. This time we combined the two subdecks, next time we'll try drawing from each subdeck once.
The strategy deck is broken up into five categories as follows:
Uncommon Valor and Blind Luck:
Look Out, Sir!, Saved!, Insane Courage, Ultimate Sacrifice, Last Gasp
Cunning Plans and Gambits:
Surprise Assault, Forced March, Reinforcements, Flank March, Ambush
-The theme of this deck revolves around manipulating units, either preventing them from moving quickly or outmaneuvering them.
Off Table Support:
Crack Shot, Strafing Run, Bombing Run, Covering Fire, Barrage
-The theme here is about outside elements impacting the game. Crack Shot may seem somewhat out of place here but I feel like it fits with the others pretty well.
Mayhem and Mischief:
Minefield, Booby Traps, Special Issue, Sabotage, Malfunction
-I thought that these cards went well together as a theme.
Subtlety and Cunning:
Craven Cowardice, Traitor, Delayed, Brilliant Strategy, Divine Inspiration
-This deck is about outwitting your opponent.
I then tried to imagine what each mission would go with the decks and this is what I came up with.
Dawn Raid:
Cunning Plans and Gambits, Uncommon Valor and Blind Luck
-Dawn Raid is a mission that can represent trying to get past the front lines of your enemy or it can be about getting past your enemy to get back to your own lines. It pushes the player to move towards the enemy and I felt that these two decks would support a player who chose this mission.
Take and Hold:
Subtlety and Cunning, Off Table Support
-Take and Hold is one of two missions that target specific points on the table. It's a "big" mission and I liked the idea of bombers and fighters dropping in and attacking ground targets. I thought that the leadership qualities of the other deck were appropriate, too.
High Ground:
Cunning Plans and Gambits, Off Table Support
-This mission was a later addition to the missions from the main set. I like it a lot, especially since I never played it back when 2nd edition came out. I liked the maneuvering cards for this mission because it rewards a player who is spreading out and like Take & Hold it's a "big" mission so bombers and fighters should be involved.
Guerrilla War:
Mayhem and Mischief, Cunning Plans and Gambits
-Guerrilla War is an odd mission, one that can be harder to play than others. I felt like the maneuvering cards and the area denial cards like Booby Traps and Minefield would help the player get close to their opponent.
Engage and Destroy:
Off Table Support, Mischief and Mayhem
-Engage & Destroy is one of the "easier" missions to play, it rewards a player for doing things they'd normally do in a game. It's another "big" mission so Off Table Support felt right. I also liked the annihilation factor of the mission, so cards like Minefield felt appropriate as well.
Witch Hunt/Assassins:
Subtlety and Cunning, Uncommon Valor and Blind Luck.
-Orks technically can't play these missions. I don't understand it, killing the other warboss seems pretty straightforward to me but apparently Orks are too dense for that (but figuring out that higher ground is good is something they seem to have no problem with!). When it came time to assign decks I decided to combine Witch Hunt with Assassins, They're very similar missions, so I felt like they would probably share similar strategies tied to them.
Wednesday, July 3, 2019
The Imperium Confronts The Ork Threat On Franke-7
Franke-7 is a world formerly held by the Imperium. Rich in Promethium, Franke-7's surface is dotted with automated pumping and refinery stations as well as storage facilities. For thousands of years Franke-7 was a key supplier of Promethium in its sector.
Roughly five hundred years ago the Ork Menace fell on this world. The Planetary Defense Forces were able to hold out against the green tide but calls for help went unheeded. Within the past decade the human population has been reduced significantly with most serving as slaves to the orks who have taken over the planet.
The orks have been restive since the last elements of the PDF were destroyed in battle. Some Warbosses advocated for releasing human slaves and arming them so that they can fight while others wanted to sack the planet and make off for the next enclave of humans.
The arrival of elements of the Eldar Biel-Tan Craftworld captured the interest of the Ork tyrants and soon open battle was taking place on Franke-7 again. Few outside the aloof Eldar race can discern their true motives and this engagement was no different. The Eldar proved more than a match for the Warbosses in the outlying areas of the main continent and seemed poised on being able to push back the great green horde altogether. Yet they departed Franke-7 almost immediately after eliminating one of the more unstable Weirdboyz in the Ork forces.
During this time Imperial forces had been dispatched to the planet in order to retake it from the Orks. It had been hoped that the Orks would have fallen to infighting, making planet fall for the bulk of the Imperial forces much easier.
The recent battles with the Eldar, however, had reunited the Orks. With wild abandon and a united front they engaged elements of the 8th Necromunda Spiders of the Imperial Guard, the Ultramarines, the Imperial Fists, and the Orks most hated foe: the Crimson Fists. The small crusade fleet also contained operatives from the Inquisition and the Officio Assassinorum, among others.
Seeing that the Orks were mobilized, the Commander of the Crimson Fists in this theater of war, Captain Esteban, volunteered to lead a strike against the largest portion of Ork forces on the southern end of the main continent. The hope was to draw the Orks from the outlying regions into the fight and give relief to the other Imperial forces making planet fall.
Seizing key objectives was paramount to Esteban's strategy. Establishing a fortified position by putting heavy weapons on high ground would give the Crimson Fists a significant advantage in the coming weeks and months.
The Warbosses on the southern end of the continent recognized the heraldry of the Crimson Fists and began a lightning quick advance on their positions. With a goal no less lofty than taking the head of Captain Esteban, battle was joined.
With close to a dozen marines injured or killed, the conflict boiled down to a swirling melee on a hill in the center of the battlefield. Captain Esteban was triumphant and the Ork forces were routed. Medics were busy assessing the injured, some were able to return to duty immediately while others were offered the Emperor's Peace.
Vox traffic quickly spread news of the victory, spurring the forces of the other Space Marine chapters and the Imperial Guard to action.
Roughly five hundred years ago the Ork Menace fell on this world. The Planetary Defense Forces were able to hold out against the green tide but calls for help went unheeded. Within the past decade the human population has been reduced significantly with most serving as slaves to the orks who have taken over the planet.
The orks have been restive since the last elements of the PDF were destroyed in battle. Some Warbosses advocated for releasing human slaves and arming them so that they can fight while others wanted to sack the planet and make off for the next enclave of humans.
The arrival of elements of the Eldar Biel-Tan Craftworld captured the interest of the Ork tyrants and soon open battle was taking place on Franke-7 again. Few outside the aloof Eldar race can discern their true motives and this engagement was no different. The Eldar proved more than a match for the Warbosses in the outlying areas of the main continent and seemed poised on being able to push back the great green horde altogether. Yet they departed Franke-7 almost immediately after eliminating one of the more unstable Weirdboyz in the Ork forces.
During this time Imperial forces had been dispatched to the planet in order to retake it from the Orks. It had been hoped that the Orks would have fallen to infighting, making planet fall for the bulk of the Imperial forces much easier.
The recent battles with the Eldar, however, had reunited the Orks. With wild abandon and a united front they engaged elements of the 8th Necromunda Spiders of the Imperial Guard, the Ultramarines, the Imperial Fists, and the Orks most hated foe: the Crimson Fists. The small crusade fleet also contained operatives from the Inquisition and the Officio Assassinorum, among others.
Seeing that the Orks were mobilized, the Commander of the Crimson Fists in this theater of war, Captain Esteban, volunteered to lead a strike against the largest portion of Ork forces on the southern end of the main continent. The hope was to draw the Orks from the outlying regions into the fight and give relief to the other Imperial forces making planet fall.
Seizing key objectives was paramount to Esteban's strategy. Establishing a fortified position by putting heavy weapons on high ground would give the Crimson Fists a significant advantage in the coming weeks and months.
The Warbosses on the southern end of the continent recognized the heraldry of the Crimson Fists and began a lightning quick advance on their positions. With a goal no less lofty than taking the head of Captain Esteban, battle was joined.
With close to a dozen marines injured or killed, the conflict boiled down to a swirling melee on a hill in the center of the battlefield. Captain Esteban was triumphant and the Ork forces were routed. Medics were busy assessing the injured, some were able to return to duty immediately while others were offered the Emperor's Peace.
Vox traffic quickly spread news of the victory, spurring the forces of the other Space Marine chapters and the Imperial Guard to action.
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
More Second Edition
I picked up a set of 2nd edition 40K on eBay this week. I wanted to be able to get some more models and ruins (can't have enough ruins!) and I wanted to start working Imperial Fists into my 2nd edition game.
I already own a 2nd edition Predator and Dreadnought that are part of my Imperial Fists army as well as a Rhino. I'm working on some characters from that era as well.
The box didn't have all the models but it had *most* of them. 15 marines, 17 orks, and 38 gretchin. Add that to the full set I got a few years back and it's a lot of models. The Marines from that box are already earmarked for Blood Angels (to match the box art).
This also gives me a good option for creating an ork army, too. I have around 78 gretchin, 37 orks, a few characters I've picked up here and there and a 2nd ed Ork Dreadnought.
I already own a 2nd edition Predator and Dreadnought that are part of my Imperial Fists army as well as a Rhino. I'm working on some characters from that era as well.
The box didn't have all the models but it had *most* of them. 15 marines, 17 orks, and 38 gretchin. Add that to the full set I got a few years back and it's a lot of models. The Marines from that box are already earmarked for Blood Angels (to match the box art).
This also gives me a good option for creating an ork army, too. I have around 78 gretchin, 37 orks, a few characters I've picked up here and there and a 2nd ed Ork Dreadnought.
Thursday, June 20, 2019
No Peace Among 2nd Edition...
Peter and I have recently decided that 2nd edition is a better way to play Warhammer currently. As more of a "Middlehammer" game it's somewhat easier to obtain models and rules for the game.
My Crimson Fists translate well to the new edition and there are some relaxation of list requirements, such as only needing one Techmarine, which are welcome.
We've played a couple games so far with Peter's Orks versus my Eldar. The Eldar are a solid army in 2nd Edition. It's likely the best version of that army in all editions of the game, in fact. The Orks are a bit rough and require a lot of optimism to be effective, though as Peter plays more he's getting more out of them.
I'd quite forgotten all the extras that Games Workshop had included in White Dwarf during this time. It was a treat to go through my collection and harvest things like the extra missions, Battle Bunker, Wargear cards, Strategy Cards, and the like.
Our first two outings were only 1000 points, Peter has worked up to 1500 points of fully painted Orks and we hope to soon move to 2000 which I think is the optimal value for the game, giving players a lot of options without bogging down the game too terribly much.
Since my Crimson Fists and Eldar were already fully painted I undertook a few projects while Peter worked on his orks.
I realized that I didn't have any Shining Spears, one of several units in the Eldar Codex in 2nd Edition that didn't have corresponding models until (I believe) 3rd Edition. I had some old Guardians on Jetbikes but not enough to make a full squad. I also decided that I wanted my Shining Spears to look different so I decided to convert the unit rather than to field the actual sculpts.
My Crimson Fists translate well to the new edition and there are some relaxation of list requirements, such as only needing one Techmarine, which are welcome.
We've played a couple games so far with Peter's Orks versus my Eldar. The Eldar are a solid army in 2nd Edition. It's likely the best version of that army in all editions of the game, in fact. The Orks are a bit rough and require a lot of optimism to be effective, though as Peter plays more he's getting more out of them.
I'd quite forgotten all the extras that Games Workshop had included in White Dwarf during this time. It was a treat to go through my collection and harvest things like the extra missions, Battle Bunker, Wargear cards, Strategy Cards, and the like.
Our first two outings were only 1000 points, Peter has worked up to 1500 points of fully painted Orks and we hope to soon move to 2000 which I think is the optimal value for the game, giving players a lot of options without bogging down the game too terribly much.
Since my Crimson Fists and Eldar were already fully painted I undertook a few projects while Peter worked on his orks.
I realized that I didn't have any Shining Spears, one of several units in the Eldar Codex in 2nd Edition that didn't have corresponding models until (I believe) 3rd Edition. I had some old Guardians on Jetbikes but not enough to make a full squad. I also decided that I wanted my Shining Spears to look different so I decided to convert the unit rather than to field the actual sculpts.
Here are the finished models. I used plastic shields to build up the armor on the front as well as to create the base for the Laser Lances which I incorporated into the jetbikes themselves. I added a full body shield to each rider as well to help reflect the better armor save of the Shining Spears.
I decided to also go with silver rather than white, which I feel looks better and is easier to paint.
After our second game I started looking at my old Imperial Guard Codex and began work on a small Imperial Guard army which could stand alone or be added as support to my Crimson Fists (because who doesn't want cheap Lascannons that can re-roll missed shots?).
I decided to also go with silver rather than white, which I feel looks better and is easier to paint.
After our second game I started looking at my old Imperial Guard Codex and began work on a small Imperial Guard army which could stand alone or be added as support to my Crimson Fists (because who doesn't want cheap Lascannons that can re-roll missed shots?).
I only owned 17 or so of the RT Era Guardsmen (originally used as a stand-in Blood Bowl team!) so I had to settle for two Heavy Weapon Squads and a Regimental HQ Command Squad. I decided to paint them up as the 8th Necromunda Spiders and used the box art as inspiration. I also felt that by using the Necromunda's most famous regiment that would let me sneak in a Van Saar Underhive gang as a squad of Stormtrooper equivalents. I had plenty of those models as Van Saar was my favorite gang back when Necromunda debuted and I bought a lot of them. Here the Van Saar "Silver Spiders" are ready to support the rest of their platoon.
In reality this army is not enough points to currently field at even 1500 points. I need some tanks to bulk it out. Thankfully the Chimera and Leman Russ are the same kits that debuted back in 2nd edition so I can just buy a couple of those and plug them into this list.
I envision this unit as being seconded to an Inquisitor who is hunting daemons who (unbeknownst to them!) have lurk in the minds of enemy psykers.
The goal is to field a unified force of Crimson Fists and Imperial Guard with Grey Knights, Inquisitors, and an assassin. I feel that would be an interesting army to see on the table.
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