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.

The Court of The Yellow King Awakens

Balto Krudditch pored over the vid reps regarding the now disappeared Death guard force, the battle had been fierce with no clear victor, so with the lack of a visible enemy, all seemed well. His requisitions for a much larger force had been largely overlooked, but his command was back filled to the exact *size it was prior to the followers of Nurgles attack. Scargill had been on high alert since an alien structure had been unearthed some 700 clicks eastwards of here in the town of Kinnock. After some attempts at entering the object were marginally successful the entire central plaza was cordoned off with a strong garrison observing the object which appeared to be dormant. Then a vox command was received for his company to advance 75 clicks northeast to a small settlement of Scousehatton. A rad signal very similar to the one in Kinnock only much stronger had been identified. The entire army was dispatched to Scousehatton, a journey taking approximately 3 hours. What met them entering the small town was a surprise to say the least, what would have been more accurate was a hideous Groxballs of a surprise. A large contingent of Necrons had rounded up the inhabitants and held them in a large tavern in the centre of the settlement. They were currently using the towns main edification gallows as a staging area for the army. As the relief force arrived a booming synthesised voice was heard in archaic Imperial Gothic;

"Insignificant mammalian creatures, Lord Grimdarhk the Somnolent, rightful Lord of this world has come to reclaim his territory. Your presence here is ended. You have one hour to vacate this planet before liquidation begins. Move one micron nearer to the Court of the Yellow King's presence and you will forfeit the hour, he has generously granted you.".

Without a seconds pause commander Krudditch sent out a vox to his troops "No jumped up tinman is going to kick us off our own planet! OPEN FIRE!". And so began the battle of Scousehatton. 

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.

Dramatis Personae II (The Scargill PDF)

After having two battles recently where all my characters performed fairly well (reports incoming) I thought I'd immortalise them before they cark it! So in the hope that they have long and distinguished careers in my own part of hobby heaven, here are some of the important members of the Scargill Planetary Defense Force, Kinnock region.

Tactical Meeting, outside the pub.

Balto Krudditch

Balto Krudditch is a career soldier, never and overly imaginative or charismatic leader, he still has the ability to get a lot out of his troops. He comes from one of the wealthier families on Scargill and has custom made weapons to which he is known to use with considerable skill. He usually goes into battle using his custom powerfist and a family heirloom plasma pistol which has been microengineered to seem nothing more than a lowly stub pistol. Although 'technically' Krudditch hasn't actually fought in hand to hand combat yet, he is sure he is up for the job and will make his father; Gumbah Krudditch proud.

Balto Krudditch

Revs Cantalope

Revs Cantalope is a newly promoted tank commander (so new I haven't converted a model to use for him yet) that has distinguished himself in recent conflicts. His Leman Russ The Painful Reply is a Demolisher variant that has sent many enemies of mankind back to whatever heathen afterlife they believe in. The relatively short range of the Demolisher suits Cantalope's aggressive style of battle. 

Vim Ajax

Vim Ajax is one of the few authorised Primaris Psykers on Scargill. Originally from Scargill's outermost planet : Gruesome Discovery. Ajax was recruited into the sectors capital defense corps once his manifest abilities were discovered. Ajax is usually accompanied by his pet Thoutwyrm, a sanctioned xenos lifeform that augments his mental abilities. These creatures are semi sentient beings that have the ability to siphon off negative mental thoughts and instill feelings of euphoria instead. How or why they are able to do this is still subject to conjecture by xenobiologists, but Thoutwyrms have been utilised in the Scargill Sector for many decades.

Vim Ajax and Zimpy his Thoutwyrm.

Chuck Nimrod

Nimrod is the eccentric commander of the Scargill PDF Gremthorpe protectorate platoon, also known as the Rockworms due to their ability to dig in during battle, taking fewer casualties. Nimrod himself does not fit the image of a typical soldier with a thick beard and the tribal garb of  the hill men of  Scroxix in Gremthorpe. Despite his rustic appearance he is a fearsome warrior and able tactician. He is armed with a plasma pistol and his right arm has a cleverly disguised power field built into the wristband on his left hand that counts as a powerfist.

Chuck Nimrod.

Sergeant Barker

The good 'Sarge' is a large brute of a man. He is a fierce combatant and bears all the characteristics of the Catachan legendary warrior of the similar name. In fact some say Sergeant Barker has styled himself on Sergeant Harker. He is armed with a particularly lethal weapon he has named 'paycheck' and has assembled a group of like-minded soldiers he has dubbed Barker's Beerraisers.

Sergeant Barker

Barker and some of his Beerraisers.

So here are some more models in my collection given names to make them seem more real to me. Hopefully they can help keep Scargill human and make sure filthy xenos don't lay claim to something that humanity may or may not have stolen from another civilization thousands of years ago.

Miniature Wars you may have missed: 40K Space Rangers

Miniature Wars you may have missed: 40K Space Rangers: Space Rangers In the dark mists of time, when the Emperor was challenged he always sent for his most trusted troops, the elite of the eli...