Skirmish inside the Great Gout

Greetings one and all. Following the release of Arks of Omen; Abaddon, I decided to give it a go. I saw some videos on YouTube and got the itch to play some space hulk type games. I had pre ordered the book from GWs website only for it to arrive some 10 days after it was supposed to on the day of the game. Never being one to let ignorance of rules interfere with a game, myself and Dylan decided to plough on with a game. Another thing to note is I am too scabby to buy the GW boarding actions terrain (for now anyway) so I am using Necromunda bulkheads, Warhammer Quest doorways and various other terrain that if you squint really hard could pass for the inside of a space hulk. 

The Death Guard deploy.

The Scenario

We decided to play Access Junction Primus, the first scenario in the book which has a central open space with four objectives. Points are scored for 1, 2 and more than your opponent with additional CP's for purging the ship of enemies. Nice and simple.

The Narrative

My initial boarding force are a splinter cell of The Assembly of D'Keddes  who have resided on the Great Gout, a space hulk for several centuries. Unknown to the assembly it has been given to a Nurgle warhost by Abaddon to further his spikey plans. When a routine Nurgle patrol discovered Aberrant dung along some of the walkways a group was sent to investigate and kill. Due to the enormity of The Great Gout quite a sizeable force of Genestealers reside on it and have been running a racket whereby incautious explorers get waylaid and infected with Genestealer genetic material then released back into their respective 'people' to begin the breeding cycle elsewhere. When within the deepest bowels of the Gout the Patriarch became aware of a large number of invaders, the cult was mobilised.

The Boarding Parties

The cult force consists of two Acolyte Hybrid units, a neophyte squad, 5 Aberrants,  Biophagus Nerm and force leader Stumbleklunk an Abominant. They are of the Twisted Helix strain so +1 strength and +1 move make them ideal close quarter fighters. Dylan took two five man units of Plague Marines 10 Poxwalkers, five Deathshroud Terminators and their leader was a minor character, a Foul blightspawn if memory serves.

The Disclaimer

I do not have boarding party terrain so a quick search of my terrain collection enabled me for the most part to construct an approximation of the map in the book. This includes necromunda  bulkheads, Warhammer Quest doorways and various other bits. the game itself was to figure out what the boarding parties games would be like and let myself and Dylan know if we want to play more in that vein. Photography was a bit meh too, as I have to yet sort out adequate lighting in the loft.

The Game

The fun thing with Cult armies in boarding actions is that due to the lack of being able to use blips, my army always sets up last, regardless.  So the Death guard set up with the Terminators in a teleportarium somewhere. I set up with all my bodies on the ground (gravity permitting). In the centre was the Abberants, five Hybrids and Stumbleklunk. North of them was another five Hybrids and to the south were the Neophytes.

The idiotically deployed Neophytes skulk through small chambers rather than set up where there is the only long firing lane.

The red blips denote closed doorways until I manage to either create hinged doors or beg steal or borrow the proper terrain.

My Neophytes slink through a doorway.

The game was hella fun with plenty of killing and holding of objectives. My troops weren't as durable as the Death Guard but they were slightly more mobile. Grabbing objectives and stealing the DG home objective put me in a great position early doors. What seemed amusing to me at first but actually gave me an unassailable lead was my Northmost Acolytes holding a door closed for two turns while holding an objective. By the time the Plague Marines did get the door open I had spent two turns racking up the score. 

The central 'claw' of my boarding party made up of the Aberrants and Acolytes make for Junction Primus, presumably to Access it. Biophagus Nerm follows behind while the Stumbleklunk makes a racket in the vicinity.

Through the bizarrely semi transparent walls five Plague marines walk out on the set. The Foul Blightspawn (or whatever) hides behind them.

The Poxwalkers do their thing, walk with pox. They grabbed the objective and held it until wiped out by Acolytes.

One thing I really missed was using some of the ultra fun Genestealer strategems. This was particularly missed when the Deathshroud Terminators started whaling on my poor innocent Aberrants. Had I been able to use Monstrous Vigour they might have  stuck around for a bit longer. Also using the Biophagus to give my Abominant a 5+ feel no pain when he already had it was a bit dumb. Read your Codex's kids! Had I been a bit more savvy with my army rules I possibly would have survived until Dylan's final turn. As it was the strategy of holding a door closed against all comers was a sound one.

The Aberrants duke it out with the Deathshroud terminators while the Hybrids decide on whether to save the day.

This rather snazzy scoring sheet is from an app made by goonhammer.

The Hindsight

My deployment was wrong, the Neophytes should have gotten the central objective and thusly be able to use their long range weapons, particularly as they were opposite the Poxwalkers. I also should have put a unit into deepstrike to react to whatever stunts the Death Guard would pull. I used the Biophagus to give Stumbleklunk a 5+ fnp when he already had it! D'oh! The Acolytes were the ones who won it for me however with one unit wiping out and therefore taking Dylan's home objective and the other unit by holding a door closed for 2 turns, stopping the Plague Marines from contesting another objective.   

The Conclusion

I sometimes find games of 40K don't sit well narratively speaking with my own armies, ie. why would Drukhari be fighting Aeldari on an Imperial world? Boarding Actions removes this bugbear of mine as pretty much everyone is fighting on somebody else's turf. The other narrative hook for me is space hulks in general are the home of genestealers and therefore I am perfectly happy to have Orks vs the Cult as it makes much more thematic sense. Anyway, as far as the game went, it was 40k with less stuff for me to forget (only three strategems to use) and LoS considerations. I like it and hope to play a good few more games of this type.

The Future

Next time I'm going to use GSC I think I will try to get a Magus in there. In particular using the power to advance and charge could be crucial to get into the right position mid game. With that in mind I think my Druchari will be very tasty in boarding actions as power from pain isn't affected by boarding actions. Some of the obsessions could make quite an effect on small scale skirmishes. Anyway I would recommend boarding actions as a fun little diversion. I wouldn't buy the terrain until you've had a few games to see what you think. Of course, GWs books Angron and Vashtorr are already sold out so whether I will get to play any of the later scenarios remains to be seen.

Thanks for reading. 

The Relic of Neararva

 Diary of Culpert Whinne archivist 3rd class, Saath region, Imperial Planet Neararva, Sochis System.

Imperial Date; 0338021.M403 the planet is still suffering the depredations of a Nurgle army, all loyalist forces are scattered or dead and disease is rife in the major cities. Governor Kraven is missing presumed dead. While the accursed heretics are wantonly slaying the populace, they appear to be searching for something out on the Gorgothia Plains. It is not certain if an  Astropathic distress signal has been sent or whether aid will be forthcoming. It would seem that the people of Neararva needs a miracle or our fate is sealed...

The Ritual ; Thwarted?

The dawn mists were thick but swiftly dissappaitng, the ruins of an Imperial outpost lay before them with the delicious whiff of fear and despair in the air. Adraxys Molech  sat at the fore of the Raider, eager to taste more. His personal Incubi bodyguard and Kabalite underlings were there too, his two Succubi allies were alongside him, each in their Venom accompanied by their bodyguards. His contacts had told him of a world that had not felt the depredations of the Drukhari for many generations - it's name was Neararva, however this world came with an added complication. The foul Death Guard were preparing to enact a ritual on this benighted Imperial desert world and try to claim it as their own, this could not be allowed. So with the Death Guard forces deployed to defend their warlord, Molech's raid began.

The calm before the battle

 

A Disagreement With The Death Guard

Sivar Rotlung, Lord of Contagion looked at the vid viewer screen that showed the settlement of Colebuck situated in the Scroxix hills in Gremthorpe, planet Scargill. The raiding force at his disposal were deployed aboard his ship The Rancid Destroyer ready to transport down. Visions of spreading pestilence and woe upon the sandy soil of Scargill had been frequent in his seldom needed sleep but Sivar was well aware the Father Nurgle spoke to his favoured children through fevered dreams. He knew that great portentous events were in the offing on this prosperous Imperial planet and Nurgle himself wanted a pustulent foothold on the planet. 

"Sergeant Harker, that does not seem to be regulation uniform."

"I know captain, I was at a fancy dress party last night and didn't have time to change."

"Carry on, sergeant!".

Battle of The Lords of War

Tanks Vs Daemons

Greetings. A few weeks ago, my gaming group gathered round Stuart to give it death with abandon. My Astra Militarum allied with Billy's Ultramarines to protect the Imperium from the foul depredations of Mortarion most disgusting of Primarchs and an offal cart full of daemons and Death Guard, led by the dynamic duo of Stuart and Dylan. Giving sage advice on the sidelines was Alan. Now, I've found four player games tend to be a bit more confusing and shouty so a lot of the tactical nuances are missed by me and pertinent facts left unsaid. So with that in mind I'll let the pictures tell the story of the short and bloody battle.

Most of my army is in this picture, left to right Hellhound, infantry, mortar squad, commander, another infantry squad, Leman Russ, some Ultramarines, another infantry squad, Tank Commander, more Ultramarines and a Baneblade. 

Rouboute Gulliman and some ratlings make up the rest of the deployed units. Billy kept some characters up in space or something like that. On the other side of the table some Blight Drones, Plaguebearers, Great Unclean One, Chaos Rhino filled with Death Guard, Poxwalkers, Maulerfiend (or some such)and Chaos Predator. There is also a daemon Prince lurking around there and completly out of shot Mortarion, but I suspect he is somewhere between the Plaguebearers and GUO.

Gullimann is basically surrounding himself with expendable troops while giving out rerolls like they are tictacs. The Baneblade is parked sideways on as it wouldn't fit after I had placed nearly everything else. I paid the points for 4 sponsons armed with a lascannon and heavy bolter in each one. This thing has so much dakka it is criminal!

We were playing the scenario where a player (or in this case team) wins when they complete 10 tactical objectives. Our first three all applied to Mortarion so he was a very important target.

Virtually our entire army (those that had range anyway) targeted Ole Morty and barely managed to kill him. First Blood and Kingslayer got us a good headstart in the VP stakes.

Nurglings had appeared on the battlefield and another Rhino I had previously forgotten to mention. Some brave Astra Militarum break out the Daemonic Insect Repellent - Claggonne® and attach it to their bayonets. Sergeant Bloke yells to his men "We're going to need bigger flypaper!".

The majority of the Imperial army stays right where it is with perhaps some Primaris Marines showing off in front of their Primarch. "Dad! look at us! We're the bestest Marines in the whole universe, aren't we dad?".

Some Nurglings get into combat with the Primaris Marines. I don't think a 5+ invulnerable save will save you from Rouboute Gullimann's favourite test tube babies.

Nurgling Attack!

Rather a lot of Plaguebearers get uncomfortably close to the Imperial line. I think Gullimann has rather a cavalier attitude towards Astra Militarum. Probably thinks they like catching horrible diseases in stead of him.

Meanwhile the Blight Drones and Rhino are destroyed by Leman Russ and the Chaos Marines have to footslog their way across the battlefield.

On this side of the table a unit of Marine Scouts that I had completely forgotten about hold an objective. Various servants of the ruinous powers amble over the battlefield to spread all manner of diseases amongst Imperial ranks. Chlamydia is off limits of course as that one belongs to Slaanesh. 

A Daemonic power turned the planet violently on it's axis, or I failed to rotate this picture, you decide. Perhaps the Nurglings assaulting the Hellhound ran into it so hard it shoved the planet 90° temporarily. The Guardsmen in the building are getting whittled away nicely by unwelcome Death Guard pox encrusted bullets.

Reality rights itself in time for the Plaguebearers to assault both Primaris Marines and guardsmen. On the bright side the tanks and Gullimann are perfectly safe. 

A closer view of the fight for objective five.

Sometime around turn two Billy deepstruck two powerful Ultramarine characters to assassinate a Daemon Prince and GUO They were both pretty tasty and Billy's Librarian attempted to cast a psychic power to give them a reroll to his charge plus bonuses in combat. Sadly the power failed and left the Lieutenant up shit creek as he failed his assault and both models were duly trounced by the tag team of pus. Sadly I can find no pictures to support this anecdote but I'm sure it happened and I didn't dream it.

In this picture my claw like hand is about to either a) pick up dice or b)remove casualties 😟.  Also in the picture are two more members of C.L.A.W. - Dylan & Stuart. In the foreground the Slaughterbrute kicks some dung out of SM scouts, it will teach them about the correct use of cover in a battle. 

The final picture taken of the battle. The followers of Nurgle although still advancing are not taking out many imperial assets.

The game was conceded in turn 3 by the forces of farts and snot. In retrospect the first turn was essential. Virtually the entire Imperial army targeted Mortarion killing him. Only just. The Baneblade is an awesome tank, especially with Rouboute Gullimann holding it's hand. One thing I have decided on is not using one again for a while as it is pretty domineering on the battlefield. Had Morty gotten first turn it could well have been the Imperials that quit turn three. There is definitely a massive advantage to going first.

Thanks for reading.

Foule Ole Gron And Weak Eldar Stomachs

Following two previous skirmishes involving the disgusting minions of Nurgle, Farseer Gelladrill was once more forced to intercede on a minor Imperial planet, in High Gothic it was known as Triumphant Fanfare or something similar but in the common vernacular of the locals it was something far less inspirational. The planet itself was a small if somewhat heavily industrialized place filled with surly humans choking on the highly polluted atmosphere crushed by the monotonous drudgery of their short brutal lives. It made them ripe for the ruinous powers to subvert them. A cult had formed, dedicated to the Lord of Pestilence, and their saviors had landed. A small force of Death Guard marines led by a hideous Daemon Prince named Festerpuke . The rancid second in command; Foule Ole Gron had quickly attacked the main PDF garrison overwhelming them. Advancing into the main plaza of Gorgonplatz to consolidate was where the Ulthwe force met them. Failure here would mean disaster in the future for the Craftworld. Gelladrill vowed that would not happen!