A Hemlock Came Travelling......

Farseer Gelladrill had observed the attempted raid of Pur'la Sept on the Imperial planet of Scargill with great interest. Their motives seemed unclear but it would appear that the Tau were attempting to form a beachhead and eventually bring the planet to 'The Greater Good'. This in itself was inconsequential to Ulthwe but there were more factors to consider. Waargh Gitsmasha was closing in on Scargill and though the Tau were currently hostile to the humans on the planet a large scale force of Orks would probably result in an alliance. Despite the Tau defeat against the Scargill PDF, there was an increasing number of Tau military assets deploying in the vicinity. To ensure that Waargh Gitsmasha met an alliance of human and Tau, a swift raid by Ulthwe on the Pur'la dropsite was required. To maintain the facade of Ulthwe neutrality, Guardians bearing the Moonkillers pirate band colours would be deployed. All going well the Tau from Pur'la Sept will be unprepared for the fast attack pattern of the Aeldari. Time will tell.....  

Greetings. Having not played 40K in about 10 weeks this 40K batrep seems a bit late. Apologies for those who think it makes a difference. The reasons for this are many, but a trip to the US and Killteam dropping are two. Having played Aaron's Tau in my previous game with Astra Militarum, it was time for another game against the little blue fiends with something different. This time the conversation went to the subject of which army to use I was undecided but then I was offered the lend of a painted Hemlock and that made up my mind, Aeldari it is.

The jauntily angled battlefield.

The Battle For Worlds End

The Scargill Planetary Defence Force were having a hectic lunar cycle. First the accursed Heretic Astartes of the Death Guard, then a raiding force of Necrons appeared, almost out of the ground to threaten the Imperial settlement of Scousehatton. All Balto Krudditch - commander of Scargill's Planetary Defence Force - Kinnock Region, wanted was a few weeks of relative peace, some light skirmishing from slavers or pirates, but nothing more strenuous than that. His request for reinforcements had once again been met with pedantic exactness (all previous casualties were replaced by troops of the very same position and armament). Then came new orders over the vox net. Sensors have picked up a large xenos radiation signature over the Grimbling Crevasse. Grimbling, a settlement of some renown, famed for it's Godtalker Ale, a popular semi-hallucinogenic beverage that the wretched masses of Scargill rely on to maintain optimum work quotas. Xenos raiders capturing the brewery would be disastrous for the Thatcher Magz regime. Worse yet was the identity of the xenos, Tau from the Pur'la Sept were confirmed. The Emperor alone knows what filthy alien hygiene and/or health and safety regulations would be introduced. This must not be allowed to happen. So began the Battle For World's End.

Eldar Attack (so do the Tau)!

Farseer Gelladrill had cast the runes of fate for the third time and the result was the same. She kept discerning the sign of the death of Aeldari. Tracing back the threads of causality it was clear that a combined force of Ultramarines and Crimson Fist Astartes were about to attack a smaller force of Tau on the contested planet of Gabbrodon Theta. This in itself was of no great consequence but if her reading of the runes were correct they would then advance towards one of Ulthwé's maiden worlds and that could not be allowed. What further complicated the endevour was the craftworld was already stretched thinly as a large force of Ulthwé soldiery was currently deployed against Ork Warlord Gitbag Gutstrangla. Nevertheless it was imperative that Pur'La Sept was allowed time to reinforce their beachhead and therefore divert attention from Aeldari territories.

Barely have I finished one lacklustre batrep, then I have to start the next! This week is pretty novel as far as the normal workings of the WH40K universe is concerned as two Imperial forces (Ultramarines and Crimson Fists) duke it out with my Eldar army (20 + years in the making) and Aaron's Tau - who if recent comments made at the games table are to be believed - a genetic experiment by the Eldar to act as a buffer against humanity. This game is a bit of a departure as I have not taken any of the pictures on display, mainly due to no battery on my phone, but with the assistance of Aaron and Billy, photographic evidence was supplied.

The Armies

My army consisted of for the most part what I've been painting over the last 20 years, which isn't very much as I'm a terribly slow painter and all over the place when it comes to creating a cohesive force. Prior to the codex I had decided to go with Ulthwe, mainly because I thought black and white is a quick colour scheme. The Craftworld Attribute: Ulthwe: Foresight of the Damned made my choice even more worthwhile as it gives every unit in my army a 6+ save against every wound caused. So now every vehicle I take gets a free set of Spirit Stones.Of all the craftworld attributes, I figured it was the most beneficial as it will work in every phase, psychic, shooting and combat. The characters I took were Asurmen because I have never fielded him before, a Farseer as they are top notch psykers and a Autarch just because. Banshees were my only elite choice as I'm trying to only field painted models, I say trying as I just couldn't not take my two Wave Serpents, they were vital to my plans, the Dire Avengers and Banshees were to scoot across the table deploy and hopefully destroy swathes of marines.

The Battle Of Sugden; A Tale Of Two Bombardments.

Supreme Commander for the Mitigation Of Hemmerdale, Porfectus Von Neestleroi pondered the map. A rebellion, xenos incursions and both Sisters of Battle and Ultramarines seemingly randomly attacking loyal Astra Militarum forces left him exasperated. The geography of the planet hindered him at every turn. Patches of intense magnetic activity in the atmosphere rendered major aerial troop movement hazardous as the destruction of the Chestafar 64th's continental troop freighters would testify. Intelligence reports indicated that the Pur'la Sept had once again been sighted, this time on the outskirts of Sugden a moderately sized town where an Imperial armoury was situated. Sending a priority order to Farg Woolstrop of the Krablokistan 47th to engage and destroy hostiles on the way to Sugden, once there rendez vous with a detachment of Crimson Fists marines and hold Sugden from all enemy forces.

Heresy Of The Highest Order!

Still stationed on the temperate yet eventful Hemmerdale, Farg Woolstrop's command received orders to rendezvous with elements of the 420th Suhnnidayl Shithawks regiment and secure an important artifact from the vicinity. He was perplexed to find the commander of the 420th was a highly intoxicated and abusive Ursakar Creed. Recent intel had surmised that Creed was missing, presumed dead following the destruction of Cadia, and that this particular version of Creed was swilling a malt based liquor which was causing him to issue orders that were both senseless and contradictory. The artifact was supposed to be set in a solid gold copy of The Thumb Of The Emperor, an object d'art that had presumably mystical properties that ensured citizen obedience and loyalty. Further information had led to surmise that Tau from the Pur'la Sept had allied with renegade Astartes to take the relic for their own purposes. When the order to move was issued Farg was once again horrified to see the so called renegades were from the Ultramarines chapter and led by none other than Rouboute Gullimann! Never one to shirk his duty he ordered his force into suppression formation and prepared to take the relic....

Hot on the heels of last weeks defeat against the Ruinous Powers comes this battle report. As our gaming group in Cavan is undergoing a bit of a revival due mainly to the new 40K this game is another 4 player battle. 1500 points per person. This time it was the valiant Krablokistan 47th, Stuart's 420th Suhnnidayl Shithawks (Astra Militarum) vs Billy's Ultramarines and Aaron's Tau (of the Pur'la Sept).

Chaos Vs UltraKrablokistanmarines

Following their skirmish with Ultramarines where (sub)Commander Bolshoy Bartlett was attacked and possibly killed (the body had been removed the Astartes), Commander Farg Woolstrop was surprised to receive orders to bolster Ultramarine forces that had become bogged down fighting rebels that had declared the entirety of Hemmerdale's second largest continent - Brearley - Imperium free. As had recently occurred several times in the recent past Woolstrop was half expecting the Ultramarines to immediately open fire as soon as they came within bolter range. But as was so often the case with the seemingly last minute orders he had been receiving from High Command lately no sooner had the Astra militarum deployed then the rebels came capering across to engage and the foul sight of the Traitor Legions could be seen behind them. On the plus side, the Ultramarines were holed up in an old jail and, for now at least, not shooting at him.....

Another Day, Another Batrep.

Welcome! Last week I participated in a game of 40K where my most recent enemy was now my ally. Yes that's right Billy's Ultramarines and my Astra Militarum have apparently patched up their differences in an adult fashion and smoked the pipe of peace. Not a moment too soon as the Ruinous Powers have landed on the beleaguered planet Hemmerdale intent on fomenting rebellion and nailing good honest imperial folk up on walls and using them as hood ornaments. We arranged for a 3000 point a side battle with Shane, Billy, myself and Aaron. Sadly Lord Nurgle infected the Tau force with Galloping Flatulence and they couldn't attend. Luckily Shane brought more than enough Chaos models to make up the shortfall. As I don't have either Shane's or Billy's army list, all I will say is Shane took 3 grands worth of Chaos and Billy took half that in Ultramarines. I brought my Imperial Guard that included 3 infantry squads, a unit of heavily tooled up Scions, a Leman Russ, Hellhound and Chimera, a meltagun special weapon squad and 2 heavy weapons squads (mortars and autocannons), the obligatory ratlings and sundry characters made up my force. The mission was the one where at the end of each battle turn each of the four objectives scores 2 VPs, it's called Only War. A simple mission that proved to be a lot of fun.

The Krablokistan 47th Strikes Again!

More Carnage

My enthusiasm for 40K continues apace (but Necromunda is looming on the horizon so who knows) so I'm trying to maintain momentum by playing as much as possible. This week was Aaron's turn to feel the sting of lasgun fire upon his armoured Tau warriors. My first game of the new 40K was against Aaron and that went pretty well so I was hoping for more of the same. We've both had a couple more games and presumably as the games didn't kill us, they made us stronger.

The Big Guns Never Tire - Or Do They?

We rolled  for a scenario and got Big Guns Never Tire  as I hadn't played it I was eager to have a lash. For the uninitiated this scenario has 4 objectives that are worth 1 VP for the most models nearest to them at the end of the game. A heavy support unit trumps any other unit so 3 mortar weapons teams would gain 1 VP even if there was 35 Ork boyz. Extra VPs were for first blood, killing the general, linebreaking and addition enemy heavy support units destroyed. A nice simple mission for my old brain.
Set up was pretty unimaginative for me. I clumped all my infantry around the left hand side of the table with only the Hellhound & Leman Russ over on the right. A unit of infantry were ensconced in the inn named Ye Olde Shielde although I may be giving it the unofficial moniker The Lazy Guardsman. I used a unit of Scions this game and they began the game up in the atmosphere of this planet. My mortar teams were in their usual place, hidden behind a hill. Aaron placed a couple of units of  battlesuits also in the skies but luckily neither unit met up there as it would be a nightmare to work out charge distances. His boots on the ground consisted of 2 units of Fire Warriors, a battlesuited Tau, Also my ratlings bundled in around the three unfinished craters near the centre of the table where an objective lay. My plan (if such could be said about the vague idea behind deployment) was advance on the left secure two objectives there. Using extreme prejudice destroy any xenos that got in the way. Minimising my own losses was if anything going against the plan.

The table before any turns were taken just after the ratlings appear (as if by magic) in front of the Tau soldiers (if you can call them that).

40K 8th Edition! Two 1000 Point Batreps.

Two Xenos Invasion in One Evening

Greetings. As I so often do, a bandwagon rolled into town, and I leapt upon it. That bandwagon was the new 40K and as there are dozens (in not billions) of blog posts about the new game I will jump fairly quickly into the games and draw some conclusions afterwards. As the title suggests, we (myself, Aaron & Stuart) arranged to have a couple of games. As we'd all seen the leaked army lists forces were mustered and 3 1000 point armies assembled round Stuart's abode. Two armies were filthy xenos (Stuart's Tyranids and Aarons Tau) whilst the Imperium of man was represented by my Imperial Guard. I say Imperial Guard as I'm not totally on board with this Astra Militarum malarkey. Not yet anyway.

The Krablokistan 47th

There is something very exciting about writing an army list for a game system you know but has been totally overhauled and to be honest my army was just what I had painted (from 3rd edition 40K). So whether it was to play well or not remains to be seen. Here is what I brought;

HQ; Company Commander, Primaris Psyker,
Troops; 4 Infantry Squads with 2 meltaguns, a plasmagun, 2 missile launchers and a heavy bolter.
Elites; Commisar, Astropath, Preacher, flamer special weapon squad and ratlings.
Fast Attack; Bane Wolf
Heavy Support; Leman Russ with plasma cannons, battlecannon lascannon and storm bolter. Autocannon heavy weapon team and mortar heavy weapon team.
Dedicated Transport; A Chimera to carry an infantry squad.
So that's what I have painted to an ok (1995ish) standard.

The Krablokistan 47th regiment is what I'm calling them, if long term survival happens to my force they may even get insignia and shit. the fact that models have goblin green bases really shows their age! The planet that these battles are set on are Killa La Neck in the Cyavunnh system, a generally peaceful agri world with a few sporadically situated urban areas.

The Battle Against The Tau 

The Krablokistan 47th were put on high alert when some medium sized herbivore herders reported a small scale firefight in the eastern R'Yak plains (Stuart & Aaron had a game before I got there). Duly warned Company Commander Djmetri 'two guns' Vlashvilli mobilised his troops to meet whatever threat had landed on his doorstep. It turned out to be a small force of Tau do gooders, the Jehovah's Witnesses of the 41st Millenium selling copies of the Tidewall magazines and talking to everybody about 'the Greater Good'. Vlashvilli was having none of it and battle was joined.

My forces were deployed thusly. The plan was to scoot round with both the chimera and Bane Wolf  delivering hot flaming death on the Tau whilst theremains of the force moves up and engages the remains. Simple yet elegant?

A Very Bloody Rescue Mission

The Problem with Rescue Missions

Following on from my previous game against Pat and Vinny, I captured a member of The Greater Profit, now, in my experience rescue missions are seldom played, as the mission itself is quite unlike an average game, with all that skulking around and not shouting and firing off your weapons and that. Also I found a lot of the time it was far easier to pay the hey-I-just-found-your-ganger money, as a lot of leaders see tax free non deductible ransom as a way of keeping Throne Geld out of the grubby mitts of their wastrel fighters. In my experience I also found captures seemed to come in groups of two or more with many times both warbands capturing an opponent. I myself, don't suit the rescue mission as I'm far too keen to go in guns blazing then failing to rescue my fighter and totally cocking up the attempt. In any case, Pat decided to rescue Ashict an autopistol wielding human ganger with a WS of 4. Just the sort of thug the Inquisition want down the mines so they can't do any harm. 

My initial deployment, in the centre of the board,Ashict is proudly dsplayed standing on a crate. Clumsey stands guard next to him, Greylocks to the right on a gantry, Hellion to the right of him and Mr Bom, the new recruit stands in the bottom right of the table wedged in such a way he can only move left and right.