The Samos Sanction (Story and Mission)

In my first ever game of 40k, my ugly golden yellow Tau Commander was sniped to death by a Vindicare Assassin. I'm pretty sure it went something like this

Joe's Opponent: "Ok, the Vindicare shoots at the commander. Hits. Ok, that is three wounds with no cover save. Roll your "Look out Sir". A miss. Ok, he's dead".
Joe: "Uh, WHAT?"

I think the guy might have been cheating, but it didn't matter. In my head, I envisioned my poor hapless commander having his boxy little head blown off in front of his poorly painted drones. I was hooked.

::puts on glasses:: YYYEEEEAAAHHHH!!!

A couple weeks ago, I ran across The Samos Sanction, a comic written by Bill Kaplan about Vindicare Assassin 13-X and his mission to kill the future Free King of Samos. It is a fun read, and gives a brief look into the Officio Assassinorum. It also gave me a fun idea for an assassination kill team mission.

The Setup

The Assassin
rules from Officio Assassinorum Dataslate

Vindicare Assassin 150pts

The Warlord 
Rules from Codex Inquisition

Renegade Warlord 80pts
(Ordo Malleus Inquisitor) Pysker, Hellrifle, Power Sword
Henchmen x7 63pts
(Acolytes) Hot Shot Lasgun

Deployment
Play on a 4'x4' table with at least two terrain pieces in each quadrant. Roll off for board edge, and deploy up to 12" away from your table edge. The Warlord sets their models first, the Assassin goes first.

Victory Conditions
The attacker receives 3VP for slaying the Warlord. The defender receives 1VP for each wound taken by the Assassin.

I haven't tried it out yet, but it seems like a fun way to play out the Samos Sanction. Feel free to substitute the Vindicare with your favorite assassin to create your own story. I could see a Culexus v. Farseer and guardian bodyguard match-up would be fun.

This would also be a cool way to turn your once a week game into a mini campaign. Maybe if the assassin is victorious your opponent's warlord starts with one less wound, or if the Warlord wins then his unit has the hatred special rule for the next game. The narrative, forge it!

Until next time!

Shadow War (Inquisition War Campaign)

On Tuesday, Inquisitor Schmidt played in the monthly Kill Team meet-up for Endgame's Inquisition War campaign. Here's the setup:

After the catastrophic destruction of Kali M4 and the subsequent failed assault on the Renegade and Radical Inquisitors home bases by the Puritans, the balance of power among the warring factions is in a bloody stalemate! All bets are off now as the battle becomes even more personal. Grudges and vendettas exacerbated by the war are causing the Inquisitors to begin to realize that in the end, it may come down to every Inquisitor for themselves.

Dun, dun, dun!!! People always talk about competitive versus narrative gaming, and these Kill Team games really show how good background and fun mechanics add so much value. In this case, it was some really interesting fog of war rules created by Adan meant to represent fighting in a bustling hive city (minus the chasing down replicants part).

Obligatory Blade Runner Reference 

During deployment, players placed numbered tokens (representing troops) and cards (representing vehicles) rather than their miniatures and hid their lists.  When a token moved within 12" of an enemy model they could test to "reveal" them on a +5 roll (or +4 for vehicles). The cool wrinkle here was that some tokens were "civilians" or "trucks", represented by additional models provided by Adan. The scenario created many more cool situations, and really captured the feeling of fighting in a populated area. My favorite was when one of my hidden troppers was taken out by Inquisitor Preod Levat with a Hellfire shot. It ended up being an acolyte, but Stephen's Renegade Chaos Inquisitor shooting into a crowd of people just makes so much sense! Awesome job, Mike and Adan!

The initial setup (tokens=troops, cards=vehicles)

The end result

The Recap

Won 5-1

Inquisitor Schmidt hated crowds almost as much as he hated people. They moved to slowly, smelled awful, and made him feel extremely nervous. And, on this day, he was doubly nervous. His hated enemy, Inquistor Preod Levat, was here. It wasn't hard to find him, all you had to do was track his location to the nearest city and head to it's red light district. Schmidt's entourage was dispersed amongst the evening crowd, their armor covered by simple hiver rags. He felt comfortable for a moment, until the shooting started. 

He heard it first, then turned to his right and saw Loki on the ground. Schmidt looked around and saw the golden gleam of a Hellrifle. It was Levot. The Inquisitor gave the signal to his acolytes, and all hell broke loose. Lasgun shots ripped through the panicked crowd. Nervous energy was everywhere, adrenaline bouncing off of the alley walls. Schmidt's Chimera, originally hidden under make-shift camouflage, cut down Levot's henchmen in a torrent of multi-laser and bolter fire. Absolute chaos.

But Ziggy heard none of this. All he could see was the death of Levot at his own hands. Over and over again. He moved forward, eyes locked on the Renegades position. And suddenly, he was gone. They were all gone. The bastard had escaped! Again! Two of Ziggy's men ran to up to him in the now empty street.

"God dammit! What the hell guys? What happened?".

"He got away. We were moving on his position and then he just vanished. But, I did find this.".

Schmidt grabbed the relic from his acolyte's hands. It put a smile on the alien hunters face. A glimmer of hope.

At that moment Hoof walked up to him, bloody and incredibly content. He looked up to the stars and bayed praise to his god's for the victory they had won.

"BBBBLLLEEEAAAATTTTTTT!!!!!", he bleated.

"SHUT UP, Hoof!", yelled the Inquisitor.

Hoof shut up.

"Ok, good job guys. Now let's go get drunk!".

Until next time!

Lords of the Deluge (WIP Converted Eldar Farseer)

I have been working through the story behind my own planet in the 40k Universe (Thanks to The Overlords for the inspiration). The planet, Tirnan, suffers from a perpetual storm, know as The Tempest. It's heavy winds, thunder and driving rain has forced it's inhabitants to take refuge in the great pine forests that surround their world's habitable zone. 

Tirnan is home to a small population of Eldar exodites. The most famous of these is the Farseer, Veran Stormborn. Often seen in the company of the notorious corsair, Loki Starborn, Veran has guided his fellow Tirnans to many glorious victories.

The Stormlord

For the model, I used an old Dark Elf Corsair champion and some Dire Avengers bits. Let me know what you think! I am looking for some help with the color of the dragonscale cloak. Main colors for my army are purple and grey. I was thinking a golden yellow. 

Until next time!

WIP Wednesday (Extreme Makeover, Hobby Desk Edition)

I have been known to be messy. Not intentionally, of course. It is just the nature of the hobby. All of us have been at a flea market, on eBay, or searching through dumpsters behind our local game stores from time to time and found that new hotness. I am not immune to these outbursts. Unfortunately, there are negative side effects.

My precious!

So, with some free time this afternoon I decided to tackle the beast and do some organization. Thanks to some IKEA boxes and an additional closet, I now have this.

Ooo! Ahh!

Better! Still a little messy, but more manageable. A nice home for my larger models, and some space on the top drawer to put my WIP stuff. Cleaning is always a cathartic thing, and sometimes it can help people out of a hobbying rut. If you feel stuck, organize your workspace and it should help clear you head. Now, anyone want to start playing fantasy?

Until next time!

CelestiCon Demon Skull 2014 Battle Report

Tournaments are a whirlwind. New faces, new rules, lots of dice, and some pretty nasty lists. Beer helps, but it is definitely a mentally draining endeavor. That being said, I can't imagine a better tournament than the CelestiCon Demon Skull. Run by the awesome Doc Dragon, the 37-man event had the perfect mix of beautiful armies and great players. I had talked about some list ideas in a previous post,  and I made some changes the night before. Conversations with my gaming buddies made me realize that my original lists, while fun and narrative-based, would have some tactical issues on the field. So, Loki and crew left the sniper rifles at home and grabbed their avenger shuri-cats on the way out the door. Maugun Ra, having nothing better to do on Labor Day (he is really gloomy at barbecues), decided to join the fun.

The Army

Loki and his Corsairs

The List

Game One

Lost, 0-10

The Demon Skull was a three round, BAO style missions event. Points were awarded for generalship, painting, and sportsmanship. My first game was against Jamie and his Farsight/Shadowsun deathstar with two Riptides list in an Emperor's Will mission. The game started with night fighting, and those cover saves were life savers for the fishmen. Fifteen (!!!) S6 AP2 suncannon shots ended up with only one melted drone. The Tau were cagey at first, but eventually Farsight and gang swept across the board to take out Maugun Ra in a blaze of plasma fire. My favorite moment was my Crimson Hunter crashing and burning into a Riptide, taking out his last wound. The game ended in Turn Five with a 10-0 win for Jamie. This was the first time I played against the Farsight deathstar, and Jamie played it really well. Very telling, as he would end the tournament winning Best General! This also made me feel better about getting my ass handed to me.

"You think this is bad, try the subways on T'au!"

Rooftop Part-ay!!!

Lunch Break

Joe 10, Hunger 0

Spicy Italian and the Champagne of Beers

Game Two

Won, 6-1

Jeff is an awesome guy, and he was playing a really fun Space Wolf army. The list was Njal Stormcaller, ten Terminators, Blood Claws in a Stormwolf, and a Grey Hunter drop pod. The mission was The Relic. Half of his army dropped in on Turn One, only to be pretty badly beat up by mighty, mighty shuri-cat shots. All of the Termies and Njal were knocked out by Turn Two. The game hinged on a fight between my Wraithknight, Loki, Maugan Ra and the Dire Avengers against Jeff's Blood Claws. The Corsairs took the day, and gunned down the remaining Grey Hunters on the next turn to capture the Relic. Good guys took this one, 6-1. Jeff was a great opponent, and I hope to see him across the table again.

In the lush jungles of Fenris

Wraithknight Smash!!!

Game Three

Lost, 0-10

Wow...

One of the best parts about tournaments is seeing really beautiful armies. It makes everything better, even being tabled in Turn Four. The mission was Purge the Alien. Izzy's dual Riptide and dual Skyray list was expertly used to completely annihilate Loki and his... Ok, can we look at Izzy's Tau again?

Wow... again

Awesome army played by a great guy. It felt like getting punched in the face by Princess Leia, in the slave costume. Fitting that they won Best Painted.

Final Results

1-2 and Best Sportsman

Woot!

I won something! I am all about the experience of the game. Above winning, losing, and forging the narrative, 40k is about having fun rolling dice and playing with awesome models. I am really glad that my opponents enjoyed themselves, and that I didn't nerd rage over Feel No Pain rolls on a Riptide. Would I make changes to my list for next time? Yes. Am I going to run a Seerstar? No. Will I go out and buy a Riptide kit just to build it so I can drunkenly smash it with a sledgehammer and cry? You'll have to wait and see.

Until next time!

Eldar Corsairs List for Celesticon (or, how to fail at tournaments without really trying)

This Monday I will be headed to Celesticon in Fremont for the Deamon Skull 40K Tournament, where I am expecting to be thoroughly roflstomped into submission. Beatings aside, I am really looking forward to this event. It will be my first big tournament in what feels like forever, and my army is only one unit away from being done. I'll post the sexy pictures later, but for now I would love some feedback on the lists I have been mulling over.

From Traveling the Immaterium

The Story

Loki Starborn (Illic Nightspear rules) and his Corsairs are known for their skill in covert operations. When they aren't killing dignitaries and wrecking havoc on Imperial shipping lines, they can be found on the deathworld of Tirnan in the Segmentum Obscurus. Trapped in an eternal storm, known as "The Tempest", the conditions are excellent for special operations training. If you can hit something from two clicks away in driving rain, you can hit anything. Their base, hidden in one of the planet's massive pine forests, is known throughout Rogue Trader circles as the best sniper academy in the sector. It is even whispered by some that Loki has a training contract with the Vindicare Clade. Lies and rumors, according to the Inquisitors.

Loki and his warband will often work with the craftworlds on various missions (for a price, of course). Farseers have saved the lives of countless would-be guardians thanks to the deadly skill of these corsairs. This instance is no different. They will fight, and kill anything that stands in the way of them and their prize.

The List

Both have a very special forces feel to them (only 31 and 27 models in each list). I am going to be depending a lot on cover and target priority. I already know that some lists are gonna rock the crap out of my scissors. But, I feel like if I play well I can at least keep games close and pull out a win or two. I have used Loki and the Pathfinders (great band name, by the way) with some success. The key will be good deployment and some lucky dice.

List One

Loki Starborn (Illic Nightspear)

Farseer

Pathfinders x6

Pathfinders x6

Wraithguard x5

Crimson Hunter

- Exarch

Warp Spiders x5

- Exarch (Power Blades/Dual Death Spinner)

Dark Reapers x5

- Starshot Missiles

Wraithknight

- Suncannon/Shimmershield, Scatter Laser

Total 1500 pts (31 models)

List Two

Loki Starborn (Illic Nightspear)

Farseer

Pathfinders x6

Pathfinders x6

Wraithguard x5

Crimson Hunter

Dark Reapers x5

- Starshot Missiles

Wraithlord

- EML

Wraithknight

- Suncannon/Shimmershield, Scatter Laser

Total 1500 pts (27 models)

Let me know which one you like more. 

Until next time!

Inquisitor Josep Arador and the Fell Hounds (the beginnings of my Ordo Chronos army)

I love old citadel models. Something about them has always caught my eye. Especially with the prevalence of digital modeling, the hand-sculpted details and character really stands out in the modern 40k scene. Normally, when I am planning out a new army, I will start with one model. Something that represents the narrative I have created, and a show piece that will make my force unique. Enter the Ordo Chronos:

Inquisitor Verhoeven (from sho3box.worpress.com)

I came across this guy searching Ordo Chronos on Google. He is beautifully painted by the author of sho3box, a great blog with some incredible minis. After I saw this mini, I realized that he would make a perfect Ordo Chronos Inquisitor. Dated enough to look ancient next to newer models, but still tough and exotic. A temporal badass. After a couple searches on eBay, I came across this:

The future Inquisitor Josep Arador

Gorgeous, right! A nice bid and he was mine for about $10 after shipping. I am really excited about this guy, and looking forward to building on the Ordo Chronos theme. Here is a little teaser of things to come:

Inquisitor Joseph Arador is a mysterious figure. Born on Tirnan, a world trapped in a perpetual storm know as "The Tempest", he was discovered by Imperial Black Ships at the age of ten. He quickly gained the attention of the Ordo Chronos, and began training with the Guardians of History at the age of fifteen. A brash man, he was known for being the loudest of the otherwise shadowy Ordo. While he served the Emperor with all his ability, it was whispered that the darkness of what he had seen was beginning to taint the Inquisitor. When the Ordo Chronos dissapeared, he fell into the shadows and returned to his homeworld. After some time he resurfaced with the Fell Hounds, his personal Space Marine warband. Their purpose and actions remain a mystery.

Until next time!