Batrep: Ultramarines vs. Black Legion (80 power)

Getting back on the horse as far as 40k goes has been a slow process, but it’s still going.  This week, Simon, of all people, showed up to game night and we threw down for a game of 40k.

My Ultramarines:

• HQ:
  • Cato Sicarius (warlord)
  • Sergeant Telion
• Elites:
  • 5x Assault Terminators w/ Lightning Claws
  • Venerable Dreadnought w/ Twin-Lascannon & Missile Launcher
  • 3x Centurion Assault Marines w/ Hurricane Bolters & Flamers
• Troops:
  • 10x Tactical Marines w/ Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun, & Power Weapon
  • 10x Tactical Marines w/ Heavy Bolter, Flamer, & Powerfist
  • 10x Scouts w/ Camo Cloaks, 4x Sniper Rifles, Missile Launcher, 4x CCW/Pistol, & Powerfist
• Fast Attack:
  • 1x Storm Talon w/ Assault Cannons & Typhoon Missile Launcher

I originally started by pulling out the Tyranid codex, but realized that I have to play alot of marine games to catch up to the number of bug games I’ve played this year.  I didn’t know what to play though, so I just started taking advice around the room of what to include.  I started with Cato because I don’t know when the last time he saw the table was, and then Telion because he was a cheap second HQ option.  With Telion, I needed a squad of scouts, and everything else was added based upon the suggestions of those around me.

They were intentionally choosing less than ideal option, but I was ok with it.  Simon and I have played a bunch and the win/loss ratio is a tad lopsided, so having a slight handicap would make things more fair.

BatRep: Nurgle Daemons vs. Hive Fleet Proteus (50 power)

Part of why I haven’t been blogging much as of late is because I haven’t been playing 40k. I’ve still been playing games, but for some reason I choose not to blog about board games for the most part. If I had to answer why that is, I think it’s to give me a break. Blogging can be a chore, so I try to keep it to a relevant minimum.

Well, in an effort to get back on the wagon, I scheduled an impromptu game over Memorial Day weekend in the hopes of inspiring myself to play. Mitch showed up with his “as few models as possible” list and we threw down.

Mitchell’s Daemons of Nurgle:

• HQ:
  • Daemon Prince of Nurgle w/ Wings
• Troops:
  • 3x Nurglings
• Fast Atttack:
  • 1x Foetid Bloat-Drone
  • 1x Myphitic Blight-Hauler
• Lord of War:
  • Mortarion

In fairness, he asked if I minded him using Mortarion in a game. I’d never faced him, but had read up on him. I don’t want to face him in any size game, let alone a small game, but the worst that could happen is I’d lose, so why not? It also helps me make an informed decision on a unit’s power level to see it in action, rather than just doing theory-hammer.

The rest of his list I’d seen in practice as well, some on an actual game table.

Apocalypse 2018: Winter Edition – Battle Report

Writing Apocalypse battle reports is hard work. Writing a detailed accounting of what transpired in the order they happened is neigh impossible.

I used to bother trying to go through the ordeal, but I’ve learned my lesson. Since I was playing in the battle, and my army was really sequestered to one half of the table, I had almost no clue as to what was going on on the other side (other than they were clearly taking “too long”). I’m hoping then that someone from the far end of the table speaks up in the comments and gives me some idea of just exactly what was taking so long.

The day began with the potluck that went awry. We always do a potluck when it comes to Apoc games as it just works out well. In our first few, everything went groovy: people brought various foods and everything just worked out. Then, one game someone thought ahead to bring breakfast and that was a deal changer. It blew our minds that someone would bring breakfast.

Don’t ask me why, as we’ve always started between 8am and 10am, so breakfast should be first on someone’s mind.

Still, it was a novel concept and very well received. Well, in succeeding events, we’d had problems with too many people bringing breakfast, and this was just a continuation of that. Of the nine people in attendance, fully five of them brought some sort of breakfast item, which meant that lunch really consisted of a couple forms of cookies, a veggie tray, and some soup. I eventually busted out some frozen pizza and that made up for the difference, but a key lesson to learn here is that we should limit who all brings breakfast. Simply put three dozen doughnuts, sweet rolls, and muffins proved to be more than our old pallettes can handle.

With the food sorted out, and the teams decided (as detailed in the previous post), we moved on to determining who goes first.  In our last game, Sam had decided that nothing as important as first turn should be decided by something as insignificant as a die roll, and the test of skill was born.  For those that don’t recall, he and Mitch held their breath, and Sam lost.  Itching for a come-back, his new “feat of strength,” was whoever could chug a soda and smash the can first would be crowned the winner.  I escorted them outside, knowing that someone would make a mess and let them do their thing.

Sam proved that the old timers still had something left in the tank, and Chaos was scheduled to take the first beating.

Batrep: Imperial Fists vs. Hive Fleet Jormungandr (80 power)

This week’s battle report comes to you courtesy of Sam.  After having many Friday Night Games co-opted by folks that don’t play 40k, I put my foot down last week and insisted that I get a game of 40k in.  We had a decent turnout, including Sam–who was itching for a rematch after our game in January.  He had come up with some sort of strategy that he wanted to try out, and I was his chosen victim.

Sam’s Imperial Fists:

• HQ:
  • Chapter Master w/ Storm Shield & Flame Blade
  • Librarian w/ Jump Pack & Force Sword
• Troops:
  • 5x Tactical Marines w/ Lascannon, Powerfist, & Combi-Melta
  • 5x Tactical Marines w/ Lascannon, Powerfist, & Combi-Flamer
  • 5x Tactical Marines w/ Lascannon, Power Sword & Plasma Pistol
• Fast Attack:
  • 10x Assault Marines w/ 2x Plasma & Powerfist
• Heavy Support:
  • 8x Devastators w/ 3x Multi-Melta, 1x Plasma Cannon, Combi-Plasma, & Cherub
• Transport:
  • Drop Pod w/ Storm Bolter
• Superheavy:
  • Knight Paladin w/ Rapid Fire Battle Cannon, 2x Heavy Stubbers, & Rocket Pod

Prior to the game, Sam I talked a fair bit of trash to each other, which is the norm around these parts.  I have been on a bit of a winning streak against him though, and didn’t want to make a list that was too hard–nor did I want to make something entirely too soft that he’d just roll over.  So, I asked a neutral party (Brandon) to review Sam’s list and give me an idea of general power level.  His response was that it was just a bunch of marines.  After watching it in action, I’m not sure his assessment was entirely fair, as he lead me to believe it was relatively soft.

What’s interesting here is that Sam, famous for using Knights and drop pods, is branching out.  Though both of those are included in the list, neither of them is really prevalent.  At face value, the list looks like something I’d play (except I’ve still yet to use a Knight outside of Apocalypse).  I’d say the list is pretty well rounded though.

Batrep: Black Legion vs. Ultramarines (81 Power)

It’s been a little while since I’ve played 40k.  Based upon the blog history, I’ve played four other games so far this year (or five, if you count the last Apoc game, which definitely happened last year), so it can’t have been a very long stretch.  Many of our regularly Friday game nights are taken up by board games, based upon the folks that show, so 40k is coming less frequently.

Well, with the recent President’s Day holiday, Simon dropped by and we threw down for his first game of 8th edition.

Simon’s Black Legion

• HQ:
  • Chaos Lord in Terminator Armor
  • Demon Prince
• Elites:
  • 5x Chaos Terminators
  • Hellbrute w/ Multi-melta
• Troops:
  • 5x Chaos Space Marines w/ Plasma Gun & Power Sword
  • 5x Chaos Space Marines w/ Plasma Gun & Power Sword
  • 5x Chaos Space Marines w/ Plasma Gun & Power Sword
• Heavy Support:
  • Defiler
  • 5x Havocs w/ 4x Autocannons
• Transports:
  • Rhino w/ Combi-bolter
  • Rhino w/ Combi-bolter
  • Rhino w/ Combi-bolter

Simon hadn’t played a game of 8th edition yet, so he threw together whatever he had.   As with most people, a typical 8th edition list starts off by playing what you played in 7th edition, so you can see how it fares.  The list contained a fair number of high-wound models with reasonably high toughness, plus a smattering of different units to hold objectives with.