Saturday, August 28, 2010

Wedding Bells!

Congratulations to Brother C!

My long time friend and pretty much brother Jon got married today!

I just wanted to wish him well and hope you guys share in their excitement!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Old Enemies - False Hope Crusade!




"Hurry my brothers, the markers are close" The sorcerers felt the dark and murky voice of Lord Moros in the back of their minds. The treads of their rhino's were caked in the blue dust of the 4th planet in the Possiah system, Gallum. And close behind them the methodical gears of the giant Defilers pounded the sand-like rocks in their paths into clouds of blue dust It was on this long forgotten planet only three days earlier that Moros lead his fellowship to victory over a Blood Angels scouting party.

Moros felt a ripple in the warp once again, instantly his thoughts shifted to his memories from his long campaign in the Bellean sector. The fights with the cursed Disciples of Caliban weighed heavily upon him. His master Ahirman was so close to securing his objective in that sector but the unrelenting Dark Angels drove them out of the region. It would not be long until the rest of the renegades came to join Moros here at Possiah.

Cato broke through Moros' thoughts with a frantic delight. "Yes, Cato, I see it now. Brothers! disembark and scour the area for the library's location!" shouted Moros. The transports arrived in the ancient ruined buildings of a long dead Eldar outpost. The blue dust covered the buildings in deep drifts. The former majesty of the buildings was not lost on Moros as he scanned the area attempting to find the source of the disturbance in the warp. This could finally be what they have been searching for, information on how to enter the Black Library.

Moros paused, in that instant everything seemed to stand still. He could feel everything around him with heightnend senses. The shining blue and gold armor of the rubric marines glistened in the light of the dual suns. The almost constantly howling wind of Gallus seemed to stop with a sense of coming dread. The clouds parted with sudden fury and the thrusters of a Thunderhawk bearing the markings of Ahriman. The ship touched down and the boarding ramp lowered, Ahriman walked with speed and purpose, shrouded in malcontent.

Ahriman gestures to Moros for him to follow and swiftly walks past him. Moros speeds up to match his pace, "My master, how goes the conflict in the Bellean?".

"The cursed dogs of Caliban have driven us from the sector. They are most troublesome, but I am confident that you have not let the opportunity here go to waste. I read your report of your victory over the Sons of Sanguinious. It was a most pleasing." said Ahriman. The wisdom and experience of all the centuries of war could be heard on his voice.

Ahriman stopped in his tracks, he peered through the blue sands as if he caught a glimpse of something elusive in the shadows. "Plans have changed, heed the tides of the great ocean. I am sending you back to the Veracity to await further orders. I have foreseen many events unfolding here in the False Hope Sector that will need your intervention. As for now, you must go. The fools from Caliban are coming and you must not engage them yet."

"At once my master." Moros' cloak flew around him as he turned. Everything within him wanted to stay and fight his most hated enemy, but to question Ahriman was to throw ones life away.

Ahriman began preparations for the coming battle. The Disciples of Caliban would soon be upon them. He lifted the spells on the defilers and took up battle formations. As the Suns began to set the coming battle would be quick and violent.

The Black and green tanks of the Disciples of Caliban pulled into the edges of the ruined Eldar outpost. Instantly a piercing light impacted the front of one of their predators and it exploded. The barrage of lascannon fire from the renegade's land raider and defilers pelted the Dark Angels. Their venerable dreadnoughts leg was blown clean off and the hulking metal form limped to the ground. White hot shrapnel from the exploding predator flew into a building housing some tactical marines. The sergeant dove to shield his battle brothers from the incoming blast and was shredded to pieces, his lascannon damaged beyond repair.

Ahriman and his fellow sorcerers opened the hatches of their rhino's and unleashed the power of the warp upon another dreadnought. It's armor was torn and mutated, but it still lumbered on! Even Ahriman was impressed with the amount of punishment that the venerable dreadnought was able to take.

But just as he readied the final blow from his channeled powers he felt a backlash in his mind! "Your time has come heretic!" The raging voice of the chief librarian of the Disciples of Caliban tore into Ahriman's thoughts and stayed his power. His Psychic Hood was glowing white, surging with latent energies.

"What is this? A fledgling puppy of the betrayer? I see you still cling to your relics from the corpse king for your power." Retorted Ahriman. Brother-Librarian Nicholas boastful words resonated in the depths of Ahriman, "I have come for the fallen... you will answer for your crimes or die foul sorcerer!"

"Nicholas... your arrogance knows no limits. You will pay for your pride." Ahriman's words brought the brother-librarian to his knees and the carnage of the battlefield seemed to melt away. The light of explosions, mussel flashes, and lascannon fire gave way to the brightness of the souls of the astartes. Ahriman could feel the calming embrace of the warp and could see the soul of Nicholas flickering even from inside the armored Rhino. The Librarian was hit with a force he only felt in his deepest nightmares. When he regain his sight he could see the glowing form of Ahriman, wielding the Black Staff, standing over him. "Here, in this place, you and I shall determine the true outcome of this battle. Prepare yourself." The words were distorted as they flowed gracefully through the utter silence of the warp.

There was only Ahriman and Nicholas now, a duel of will.

Nicholas was the first to strike he was caught unaware by this foreign place, a dark place only seen in his dreams. With all his might he struck at Ahriman with his mighty blade. Ahriman swept him aside with little effort, "Come now, is that all the betrayer muster?." Nicholas summoned all his will from deep within him and lashed out in the fury that only an astartes can fathom. Ahriman was taken by surprise by this and the ensuing melee was not nearly so lop sided. Infact, the Libarian proved to be quite the match for Ahriman in martial prowess. Every soul on the battlefield lived or died with every strike of the mighty duel.

The battle raged on, the Terminators of Caliban lead by Master Adso took the center of the field. Sehkmet Terminators poured out of the golden clad chaos land raider supported by monstrous defilers to engage and destroy the Dark Angels. The melee as fierce, lightning claws tore through the ensorcelled armor of the thousand sons with a hiss of green energy being released. The defilers cackled with dark laughter and screams as they tore appendages and cracked bone. Even the mighty Terminator armor was not enough to save them from the onslaught. Sorcerer Qoheleth of the second fellowship summoned the powers of the warp to strike down the stalwart Terminator Captain Adso down. Qoheleth artfully parried the claws of Adso as they tore through his chest guard leaving a deep tear. In one fluid motion he raised his force staff for the killing blow...

something was wrong, the power of the warp was sapped from him!

Ahriman reeled as he was struck with a pommel strike from Nicholas. As his senses returned he sought to end this conflict, "This is enough whelp, I tire of this." barked Ahriman. In a flash of light Ahriman had Nicholas by the throat. Ahriman brought their eyes level, "A mighty display, it is a shame your talent will be wasted..." Nicholas' light began to fade and just then Ahriman dropped him in stunned disbelief, "NO, it cannot be!" shouted Ahriman. The tides of the great ocean began to ripple with an ever changing rainbow of colors. A warp daemon of immense power roared with a power that all the astartes felt deep within their souls. Instantly the booming sounds of bolter fire and screams of carnage filled the air again.

Ahriman and Nicholas returned to their corporeal bodies. Ahriman's rageful shouts could be heard across the battlefield as he lept from his rhino in search of Nicholas. Nicholas was clutching his chest in agony as he leaned against the wall of the decaying Library.

The duel cost Ahriman the field, he underestimated the strength of Librarian Nicholas. The diversion was enough to allow the Disciples of Caliban to make off with the Eldar artifacts.

-------------

Hey guys thanks for reading! If you're still reading at this point I'll take it that you liked it!

My friend Brother C. and I have been doing a little narrative battle reporting with our 40k matches. We played a really close match last thursday which this is based off of.

He tells the battle from his perspective in the previous post.

It was a great game and I honestly think that I am having more fun with the narratives than the actual games! Let us know what you think!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

A Narrow Escape on Possiah

‘Fan out Astartes,’ whispered Brother-Librarian Nicholas, ‘And hold your fire until I give the signal.”



“Unleash Fury Disciples!”

The sky lit up with blue streaks of entrenched lascannons and autocannons amid screams of glory and pre-mature victory. When the dust had cleared, the corrupted armor of the thousand sons still showed their hideous blue and gold against the bright sun.

The cords from Nicholas’ hood grew tighter, forcing an aching pain along the middle of his neck; then an icy cold. A vision of the large serpent with glowing green eyes flashed in front of his bionic eye.

“Ahriman” he managed to gasp, the frosty grip of his hood growing stronger and stronger. No wonder the heavy weaponry had gone astray; he had used the warp to see it coming.

The massive defilers spun around and powered up their battle cannons.

“Take cover Angels!”

The Disciples of Caliban were not prepared for a long range fire fight. Nicholas knew that with the power of Tzeetch behind him, Ahriman’s renegades would obliterate them at this distance. But none of that mattered, what mattered was getting the ancient tomes out of this area and back to the stormbird for his master.

Lady Aja and Brother-Veteran Aldaron (the last two nobles from the ancient house of Lupus, Luther would never have approved of their presence, but they had pledged their loyalty to Cornelius and to Caliban, and the Dark Angels needed their support) in their venerable dreadnoughts took to the right flank and were instructed to delay the wretched Ahriman long enough to get the tomes excavated without comprising their integrity. Followed by the Techmarine Orion, they rushed the transports of the traitor marines. Under a hail of lascannon fire and havoc storms, the rest of the squads fanned out into defensive positions among the ruins.

Master Adso brought his terminators down about 2 clicks in front of the front line and ran into cover, hoping to distract the foolish marines from the objectives.

“Brother-Sergeant Septimus, take your squad and begin extraction of the tomes,” bellowed the Librarian. “I will try to hold off Ahriman’s treacherous sorcery with everything I can.”

Nicholas knew he was not match for the mighty Ahriman, he just hoped to stall long enough to complete their mission.

The trap was sprung. The tainted Astartes crashed into Master Adso and his terminator retinue. Even the mighty defilers were distracted from their barrages enough to charge into the ruins. The terminators were able to repel the first wave, but the mighty war machines of chaos were too much. Massive legs and claws ripped apart the heavily armored infantry. Tossing them aside like the helpless larvae of the reaver worms.

Brother-Librarian Nicholas was bent at the waist, leaning against a ruined column for most of the fight. Trying with all his might to focus on the rotes he was taught by the inner circle in hopes to delay the vile wizard.

After thrashing the terminators, the defilers moved on the ancient library, climbing the walls with their steaming, screeching appendages. The screams from the trapped daemons within shook the Disciples to their very core.

Nicholas took up his sword and his eyes began to glow a deep red as he uttered ancient words from a long forgotten language. The sword began to glow and crackle as well; as he stood alone against the might of the heavy war machines. The outright display of limitless courage inspired the rest of the Dark Angels.

As the defilers reached the summit of the interior of the library, a blue flash shot across the sky. A lascannon shot straight through the battle cannon, igniting the ammunition and exploding the top half of the walker. Horrid screams of agony filled the air as the daemons escaped the twisted metal and fled into the warp. Another flash and the second defiler exploded, throwing a storm of shrapnel into the air. A well-timed and placed multi-melta shot from one of Orion’s servitors.

A few moments later Brother Septimus presented the newly excavated tome for the librarian’s inspection. “This will do nicely,” Nicholas said, “good work Sergeant. Now let’s get back to the Stormbirds.


Final result:
Disciples of Caliban 2 objectives held . Ahriman’s Renegades 1.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Dragon Forge Thematic Bases





Brother C here for another quick update:

Recently I've stumbled onto the Dragon Forge site. The above image is just one from a set called "Urban Rubble" of their many thematic bases. These things are fantastic looking and not to badly priced to boot. If you spend $30, which why wouldn't you, they even throw an extra 5$ worth into the mix.

I know there has been alot of talk about custom basing for your models and many of these folks are getting turned off by not knowing where to start. Well, these are a great place to start and allow for easy customization.

check out their site here

Necron Tactica : Dirty Crons + Trickery



Brother C here:

Following a match with Forsaken recently, I decided to talk a little about some tactics one could use to take full advantage of the Deceiver, Pariahs and Scarab Swarms.

I apologize ahead of time for not remembering specifically what each of the abilities is named in the codex.

Pairing the Deceiver, a group of Pariahs and 2 small contingents of Scarabs (+ Destroyer Lord) is a great strategy for Necron players wanting to control the middle of the board. I’m convinced that the middle of the board is essential for victory in the 40kverse. (More on that on a future post.) Keeping your pariahs and deceiver behind cover for the first two rounds of shooting will be the key to this strategy. You can’t allow them to get bogged down early game; you want them to the middle of the field to get the best range on their abilities.

Heavy destroyers and destroyers will need to be used to pop transports if your opponent has gone all mechanized. (remember to exploit the skimmers to get side and rear armor shots)

What you are aiming to do is get your opponent within range of the pariah’s ability to turn all leadership values to 7. Then you want to pair that with the Deceiver’s ability to force a unit to take a morale check regardless of fearlessness or not. With using Leadership 7, your opponent has an approx. 50% chance to fail this test. The key is to get them running, especially if your opponent has not broken off any ICs. (2 KPs instead of just 1)Once your opponent fails their leadership test, you will then want to use the scarab swarms to escort your opponent off the board. (you are not allowed to take a regroup test if an opponent is within 6” of a unit falling back, INCLUDING FEARLESS UNITS). This is huge and will make your opponent very unhappy with you. With the timing of some of this, you may have to boost your scarabs into an estimated position before all the abilities go through. You can also use the deceiver to do any escorting if you absolutely have to, but what you want him to do is to start wrecking armor and other priority targets. If your opponent is not fearless, try to keep your pariahs at a distance so your opponent has to still use Leadership 7 for any regrouping test and attempt to sweeping advance with anything within range. If they fail the leadership 7 regroup test, they are destroyed.

If you attach a destroyer lord to one of your scarabs, get him into the opponent’s priority targets as well or use for sweeping advances.

If you are having trouble keeping the deceiver out of concentrated fire, consider leapfrogging him up through the ranks. Assault a group of infantry on your turn and try not to outright obliterate them, then on your opponent’s turn, use the deceiver’s ability to leave combat for that turn. Continue moving through the field in this manner, trying to avoid any squads with hidden powerfists or termies that will throw some potential wounds onto him. Be sure to take full advantage of the deceiver’s ability to jump around on the field and cause mass havoc.

I know this is a little different of a strategy than most Necron players are currently using. This one encourages you to get your crons dirty instead of sitting back in a clump, hoping you don’t phase out.

Anyways, give it a try and I would love to hear back on anyone’s thoughts about these tactics. If they are using similar lists and how they have fared against the multitude of forces out there.

.Brother C.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Mark Your Calendars


image designed by Shoze

October 9th 2010.

Lancashire War Gaming will host its official first tournament. It will be a small competition between members and non-members, essentially anyone who would like to spill some blood. There will be more information to follow but I wanted to give everyone ample time to plan for the event.

Matches will be 750 points, 1v1, victory point calculations to determine overall standing. after 3 rounds of matches, matches determined at random, there will be a championship between the 2 top finishers.

There will be a 10 dollar entrance fee and the winner of said competition will receive a gift certificate to either Hobbytown in Reading, Pa or to GW (have yet to decide which). All competitors will be required to have completed models, reasonable proxies will be accepted and painting is encouraged but not required.

I know you all haven't heard from Brother C. in awhile, but I'm still here and there will be more events in the coming future. Hope to see you all on the 9th.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

The Emperor's Angels Fall from Grace! - Ahriman's Renegades vs Blood Angels


A warp rift opens, through the crackling energy emerges the strike cruiser Veracity.

"The master was correct, as usual." Uttered a powerful voice overseeing the ship's helmsmen. "Prepare the recovery crews, I feel the ancient energies flowing through this place." Ritualistic blue robes, emblazoned with gold runes that pulse with an aura of dark energy shroud his menacing presence. In the daemonic tongue the words upon his robes detail secret pacts and call upon unnameable horrors, beseeching them for protection. The crew spring into action, instantly following his every word to the best of their ability. They are driven by more than fear, the sheer power of the word of Lord Moros is enough.

They are utterly loyal, like all the Thousand Sons, to the end. Even in the face of betrayal from the emperor himself, they remain, loyal to the end.

Possiah, a system with a dark past. Ancient Eldar knowledge tells of temples and libraries on the 4th planet, Gallus. Lord Moros, at the bidding of his Master Ahriman has come. To claim the mysteries of the False Hope sector and bring an end to the traitorous Imperium.

Blue sand and stones on the surface of Possiah begin to leviatate manipluated by an unknown power. The swirling stones break reality with a tearing vortex of color. An instant later, the stones and sand fall and Lord Moros and his Fellowship stand on the surface. "The tides of the great ocean are strong this day." Whispered Moros. As he peered at his surrounding he felt it, a presence, one like his own. The glowing green eye on the head of his ornate staff glanced at him. "What is it? What do you see?" with haste Moros immediately fell into a trance like state, he eyes rolled back into his thick brow and reality melted away from him. The blue barren world was replaced by a myriad of color and light, ever shifting. He was looking into the warp. Cato, his familiar, was wrapped around the head of his staff. His great green eyes were now clearly seen as belonging to a coiled black snake. Cato motioned in the distance, and there Moros saw it. The light of the souls of adeptus astartes. They were dim compared to those of his company, but nonetheless they were present. One light shone far greater than the other, "I see them, thank you my old friend."

The blue surrounding returned as Lord Moros awoke from his trance, to the other Thousand Sons it seemed like the blink of an eye. "Battle formation my brothers, the misguided Angels of the false emperor are upon us."

Dawn approaches. The Angels descend led by Commander Dante. They take up the center of the field with Brother Corbulo's squad of Tactical Marines covering their left flank. Lord Moros and his fellowship's rhino's hold fast at their ambush coordinates. "Just as I had foreseen" chuckled Moros, "Now! Under the cover or darkness bring forth our forces. Unleash the runes of binding!" Sorcerer Duro of the second fellowship gestures his hand and the glowing runes upon the hull of the Defilers dissipate into the light blue air.

The searchlights from the Thousand Sons Land Raider spot Corbulo, they duck for cover but its too late, the Daemonic engines of the defilers spout purple flames and the muzzle blasts of the mighty battle cannons flare. Round after round rains down upon the emperors misguided dogs. Commander Dante's squad of Sanguinary guard are struck by white hot shrapnel and two of the golden clad warriors fall.

At that very moment the scene of carnage seemed to stand still and a white light formed infront of the Thousand Son's battle lines. "There is the disturbance I felt, The Sanguinor!" shouted Moros, "Sehkmet, focus your energies and send him back to the carrion lord!". The doors to the land raider crashed down in a cloud of blue glistening dust. The Sehkmet Termintors unleashed a withering barrage of plasma fire from their combi-bolters. Moros laughed, "Foolishness must run in the geneseed." The charred body of The Sanguinor demoralized the remaining Blood Angels. Their will to fight was broken and the Thousand Sons routed them from the field of now purple sands.

-------------

Hey all! Thanks for reading my narrative report. This was my first battle vs the Blood Angels commanded by SanguinorsWrath here at Lancashire gaming. We were able to get in a quick match last night. The battle was Dawn of war - Annihilation and it was a 2000 point battle.

Wrath used the list he posted a few days ago and I used a new list that I am very pleased with. I think I finally figured out something that might work for my Thousand Sons themed army.

So here it is,

HQ - Lord Moros (Proxy as Ahriman using Ahriman's profile) 250

Elites -
5 Terminators - 190
+Icon of Slaanesh
+5x Combi-weapons
+Land Raider Dedicated (See Below)

Chaos Dreadnought - 100
+Multimelta
+Missile Launcher

Chaos Dreadnought - 100
+Multimelta
+Missile Launcher

Troops -

7x Thousand Sons with Aspiring Sorcerer - 296
+Warptime or Bolt of Change
+Rhino with Havoc Launcher

7x Thousand Sons with Aspiring Sorcerer - 296
+Warptime or Bolt of Change
+Rhino with Havoc Launcher

Heavy Support -

Defiler - 170
+Twin-Linked Lascannon
+Twin-Linked Heavy Flamer

Defiler - 170
+Twin-Linked Lascannon
+Twin-Linked Heavy Flamer

Defiler - 170
+Twin-Linked Lascannon
+Twin-Linked Heavy Flamer

Land Raider - 255
+Daemonic Possesion
+Havoc Launcher

I really like this list cause it bring some serious ranged firepower. In this battle it really came through. I didn't even get to use my dreadnoughts cause I had to keep them away from my main force. The dawn of war deployment made that hard for me so they were basically out of the fight. The Defilers performed amazingly, as did the Terminators. They laid down so much firepower that the sanguinor instantly got destroyed as he moved up mid-field.

My land raider and defiler lascannons sniped his vindicator and rhino. The massive shock and awe of my ranged firepower combined with the sanguinor eating it early on in the game pretty much gave me the psychological victory. Dante, and his terminator squad actually moved away from my battle lines for a turn.

All in all, it was a really fun battle with some really bad luck for Wrath. However, it was my first win in 8 games, with Wrath's first loss. So I don't feel too bad about it :P

I think this game really gave him some stuff to learn as far as positioning goes. The match ended with me getting 3 kill points to his 1. We had to end it on turn 4. But I was about to pick up 3 more kill points and he would have been hard pressed to get any more. Great battle, thanks for having me over!

Sunday, August 1, 2010

New ork list

Hey everyone the great prophet here haven't made a post in a while but I just made a new list so I thought I would share it with everyone. i made this list for my game against Skyking and the Wrath of the Sanguinor. It is more of an elite ork army its a new thing i'm trying but I hope it works. Alright here it is.

HQ
+2 Big Meks
- 1 Shokk Attack Gun each
- 1 Power Klaw each
- 1 Attack Squig each
- 1 'Eavy Armour each
- 1 Cybork Body each
=300

Troops
+ 30 Boys
- 3 Big shootas
- 1 Nob
- 1 Big choppa
=210
+ 2 Deff Dreads
- 2 dreadnought close combat weapons each
- 1 grot rigger each
=220
Elites
+2 Squads of 8 Lootas
=240
+ 5 Mega Nobz
=200
Dedicated Transport Vehicle
+ Battlewagon with Meganobz inside
- Grot Riggers
- Deff Rolla
- Killakannon
- Red Paint Job
- Boarding Plank
- Grabbin' Klaw
- 4 Big Shootas
= 205
Fast Attack
+ 4 Deffcoptas
- 4 Buzzsaws
- 4 Twin-Linked Rokkits
- 1 Bigbomm
= 280
Heavy Support
+ 3 Deff Dreads
- 2 Dreadnought Close Combat Weapons Each
- 1 Grot Rigger Each
= 330

Blood Angels Ready for Battle

Hey all, Wrath here. Just putting up a picture of my near finished Blood Angels Brigade. I'm Excited to show off my newly aquired Sanguinor, Exemplar of the Host, model that was painted and assembled by me. Now I'm new at this, so don't go picking apart my photography skills and the fact that I didn't eveen attempt to base any of my models. I mean come on, The Sanguinor is floating on SCROLLS people. That's pretty BA. The paint job on The Sanguinor is not yet complete though. I have yet to do the fine ddetaails but he still looks good. And for the record, the wings took me 45 minutes each to glue on. And now I have my old list that has yet to be shared with the world.

HQ-
-The Sanguinor, Exemplar of the Host-275
-Commander Dante-225/ Will join the Sanguinary Guard

ELITES-
-Furioso Dreadnought with Heavy Flamer and Plasma Cannon-160/ Will come in -Drop Pod-35
-Terminator Squad with Assault Cannon and 2 Chain Fists-240
-Sanguinary Guard with Chapter Banner and 3 Infernus Pistols-260/Commander Dante
-Brother Corbulo-105/ Will join Tactical Squad

TROOPS-
-Tactical Squad with 10 Marines, Lascannon, Plasma Gun, Combi-Melta-220/Brother Corbulo
-Tactical Squad-90/Riding in -Razor Back with Twin Linked Assault Cannon and Hunter/Killer Missle-100
-Assault Squad-100
-Assault Squad-100

HEAVY SUPPORT-
-Vindicator with 2 Storm Bolters and Extra Armor-180


Total-2000 Points

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