Campaigning in 40K- A Personal Quest

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, to yet another glorious update to the Chaos Corner. I hope you will find this offering to be interesting, intriguing, and indispensable! I have to say I am very excited to see new Dark Eldar on the horizon (I love the Haemonculus and the Wracks- though I wish the Wracks were a bit cheaper- unless they have really strengthened them in the new Codex). The Dark Eldar was my first army back in the day (I started in 2000 with 3rd edition Dark Eldar), and I loved their update in 2010 (fantastic models, great codex with lots and lots of options). And while I don't play Fantasy, the Nagash stuff has been interesting, and rumors that Fantasy Chaos will be getting goodies may well translate into 40K Chaos players getting goodies too (one can hope- either new Daemon models or at the very leaset models and bitz for conversions).

I have always wanted to play a long term, story driven campaign complete with a campaign map, story background, and a lot more. I'm not interested in the tournament scene really, much preferring to play with friends or one-offs with people at my local store. However, I have always wanted a hard-hitting, twist-turning, and exciting campaign. The problem was getting people to invest the time and effort in such a campaign.

In July 2005, my friends and I managed to put together one campaign. It was called The Gryphonne Secondus Campaign: The Siege of Kronian. Basically, the famous Forgeworld of Gryphonne IV is under attack by Tyranids. It's lesser known neighbor, Gryphonne Secondus is also under attack- not just by Nids, but also by Chaos and Orks! The idea was that all of our friends could take part in the campaign.

 We wrote a storyline that featured a good-hearted but weak Planetary Governor, a divided populous rife with traitors, slavering Nids and Orks, as well as heroic Guradsmen and Space Marines. The campaign centered on the city of Kronian, capital of Gryphonne II. We created a whole "campaign pack", which included the background, rules, maps, pictures, charts, and even quotes from key leaders. Yes- our imaginations ran wild! This was exactly what we were talking about doing for years! The first batch of games were an absolute blast! I even made a newsletter (The Daily Inquisitor) at the end of every campaign turn to summarize the events of the turn in an exciting fashion- I printed it on "old parchment" looking paper to boot.

But, there were a few problems. Our imagination got the better of us. We made the darn thing way too complicated. The map system I devised was a mess- with limited avenues of attack on the city "tiles". Making it worse was that each "tile" had its own rules, missions, etc. Basically,  it was way more cumbersome than it should have been. It made preparation a nightmare. And, of course, it was hard to schedule everyone to get together. Before you knew it, people dropped out--- the whole thing pretty much collapsed.

We played 4 campaign turns, which saw several battles in each turn- so it turned out to be a lot of battles, but as everyone pulled out, the whole thing just came undone. In the end, it was just me and my brother (which was not at all what I expected to happen). We played a "final Apocalyspe" match to determine the winner. Ultimately, my brother's guardsmen won the day, saving the world from the forces of evil.

The collapse of the campaign saddened me. But, the flame would not quite die. For the next few years, I tinkered with campaign ideas, tearing down what was done with the Gryphonne II campaign pack and streamlining it. I painted up the map- tiles that Games Workshop produced. I began to create a new story (which would see several revisions). Most of all- I kept after the rules, making sure that it would be faster and playable.

The Victory Parade at the end of the Gryphonne II Campaign

Thus, after years of tinkering and revision, my new campaign was ready- the Judgement of Trovana Prime!! In my next blog update, I'll let you guys all know how that campaign has been going- if I have indeed learned from my mistakes, or if I am indeed a fool and have learned nothing...

Until next time!!

7th Edition Thoughts and a Short Battle Report

Hey there Chaos fanatics! I know I've been away a bit, but things have really been crazy in my corner of the Eye of Terror. Yet, I know you don't care about any of that hogwash. You just want an update from Old Man Chaos- well, I'm back baby! As the summer begins I'll be posting more regularly once again.

So, 7th edition landed a couple of weeks ago, and I've read through it cover to cover once, and re-read certain sections (like the Psyker phase stuff). Ultimately, I find that the book is more of a 6.5 edition than an outright new edition, but... that's fine by me. There are changes, big and small (look at counterattack for an example of a slight change that could go unnoticed).

Basically, if you liked 6th then you'll pretty much like 7th. Most of the mechanics are the same, and ultimately the changes that were made (save two) don't have an enormous impact. The Psyker phase isn't quite a "game breaker"- the odds against getting off warp charge 3 spells are higher than you think, and Deny The Witch can block any psychic power- well, let's just say that unless you are fielding an all sorcerer army, then the new phase isn't going to drastically alter the game. Even a Daemon summoning Daemons isn't easy. The Maelstrom of War cards/missions are fun, but again don't change everything about 40K.

 There are two changes that are huge though. First is the whole unbounded/battle-forged army list. With ALL units now counting as scoring, this changes the dynamic of the whole thing- I know everyone is rethinking their troop usage and the like. The concept of unbounded armies is an idea fraught with peril, but also filled with promise. On the one hand, you know there's going to be butt-holes (this is a family publication) that are going to field an army of Riptides or Heldrakes. Sadly, there won't be much you can do about them except choose not to play them. However, unbounded also opens up the codexes, allowing for more variety. For example, an Iron Warriors army could field 4 Maulerfiends and a couple of Vindicators and a handful of Warpsmiths. That is a fluffy army and one that ISN'T invincible. That means a Khorne Bezerker army can take Bloodcrushers without the old HQ/2 Troop "Tax". It is endless possibilities, and no two armies need be the same ever again. Again, I just hope players act reasonably with this.

The other big change is that indeed, Lords of War ARE part and parcel of the new rule set, meaning you could see super-heavies at any time in any battle. While I don't think this is a "bad thing" per se, I just again hope that players act responsibly, and discuss with their opponents if this is OK or not. I do think TOs can choose to have them or not (indeed, I think GW is being quite open ended, making it easy for TOs to make the tournaments as they wish).

I played my first game of 7th edition last Friday. My brother and my friend Brian teamed up, with Brian as Grey Knights and my brother as Imperial Guard. The total was 3,000 points per side/faction- Brian and Steve had 1500 each then. My bro went unbounded, taking only tanks as his force (since they were together, we decided that their whole army was "unbounded"). I was originally going to do battle-forged, but... the temptation to do unbounded was just too great! For the first time ever, I did a combined Khorne Bezerker / Plague Marine army. I've had combined daemon forces, but never Khorne and Nurgle Chaos Marines. I didn't have to worry about who was troops or elites, as with unbound they are all scoring. I must confess it was quite freeing.

I ended up taking Kharn, a Nurgle Sorcerer, a Warpsmith, 2 squads of Bezerkers, 2 squads of Plague Marines, 2 Heldrakes (I normally don't do that, but at 3,000 I think its acceptable), 3 Maulerfiends, a Land Raider, 2 Dreadnoughts (one with Helcult), 2 squads of cultists, and a Daemon Prince of Nurgle (so that's a mastery 6 total). Taking an army with no limits is great, but I kept thinking "Ohhh... how about I take this? Or how about that...?".

We decided to use the tactical cards, with each side having 3 secret cards (discard, etc allowed). The game started off rough for me, with the Imperial scum going first. Steve's tanks blew chunks out of my army, felling a Maulerfiend turn 1. The only way to win was to get in there and negate his tanks range as much as possible.

The game was a see-saw at first. Ultimately I managed to summon two squads of plaguebearers but- every other thing I tried to summon failed- either denied or I didn't get enough 4s. The Plaguebearers distracted my opponents, and even Touch of Rust-ed a tank, but they were more annoyance than game changing. The Grey Knights proved frustrating with all of their bells and whistles, as usual. Iron Arm was amazing though, allowing my Sorcerer to survive just about anything, and cursed earth is good for daemons, no doubt.

By mid-game, my 2 Maulerfiends began to tear up the tanks, as did my close combat Helbrute. I kept my daemon prince airborne, attempting to use my psychic powers to lash out at the enemy or summon new daemons (which didn't work out so well). My Heldrakes arrived, torching the Grey Knights quite a bit. My brother's Hydra couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.

The cards made things interesting. There was a constant shuffle to try to reach one objective or another. I wouldn't play with the cards EVERY time, but when you get tired of Eternal War missions the Maelstrom ones make for a fresh experience. I approve, and I hope they release other cards (for campaigns or just new missions), as I think there is a lot of potential here.

In the end, adding kill points and objectives gained, it was a score of 11 to 15. My forces were all over the Imperial table edge at the end, and I still had fresh guys in their tanks (you try not to put troops outside of their transports when you are facing several ordinance launching tanks). The game was an absolute blast though, with plenty of back and forth throughout.

It was a fun game, and I am pleased to say that this first test was just fine. The sky isn't falling. The only big concern is how people might abuse the rules as I mentioned above. Barring that, 7th is worthy. At any rate, I'll be playing at my local this week- my opponent and I already talked, and let's just say both of us will be bringing a super-heavy (see? agreed in advance). Should be a blast!

Until next time...

When Is Introducing Someone To 40K Like A Medical Emergency?

Hey there Chaos followers and heretics. Old Man Chaos is back with a bit of a kind of humorous post. But first, I just did a quick read through of the Imperial Guard codex (I am fine with Astra Millitarum, but I'm always going to call it IG). I really like the codex- the orders system is really solid, there is potential for lots of Psykers and such, and of course, the tanks are as dangerous as ever (the Hydra will be a must in this age of flyers). I think the book is really solid- I shall have to work on my Traitor Guardsmen, that's for sure!

The Ultramarine's line

The Scions of Gorechild prepare to charge

At any rate, last Friday was round 3 for me and my friend Brian, whom I have been introducing Warhammer 40K to. To begin with, Brian already knows about Warhammer from the computer fantasy games (which, I'm frankly not sure), but he knew little about 40K. He always saw my models and all that, so finally he had asked what it was about, so I loaned him the big rule book so he could see for himself. At any rate, he decided that he wanted to try, so I let him use my Ultramarines and away we went. In our first match (at like 800 points), his Ultramarines shot my Khorne Bezerkers all to hell, and he won. Wow. Beginner's luck or a hustler? Ha. The first game was a basic set up, with some Marines, a dreadnought each, etc. Simple enough to learn the rules. Brain was successful in fire discipline, carefully whittling down each unit in turn- impressive enough for a newbie. In our second match at 1200 or so, the Scions of Gorechild got revenge, defeating the Ultramarines handily (Brian learned to hate the Maulerfiend, which quickly tore through his back ranks, and the Defiler, which blew huge holes in his lines). We introduced jump packs as well as deep strike and Terminators. Brian appreciated the learning curve thus far.

The Stalker was ready to shoot down enemy aircraft

So, this past Friday Brian said he wanted to play again. So we increased it to about 1800 points, and included flyers (Heldrake versus Storm Talon, as well as a Stalker tank, which I wanted to see in action). This game would allow Brian to play a larger match, as well as learning about Flyers.

The Defiler blew up chunks of the Ultramarine line

The mission was Relic, for which we used a simple set of barrels amid a crashed ship (who knows what was in those drums? A hiding Inquisitor perhaps? Nyuk Nyuk). Brain won the roll off but decided to let me go first- that'll learn him not to do that again. I decided to hold nothing in reserve and charged everything at him, as a Khorne lord should. My Defiler cut a whole into his army, taking out some of his jump squad and some regular men, thanks to a drifting blast template.

Two Maulerfiends can be quite a headache

Brian again was very disciplined in firing, even taking out a couple of my Chaos bikes as well as some of my Warp Talons. He naturally targeted both Maulerfiends, (eventually taking out one with a hale of fire from his Dreadnought). His Land Speeders shot my cultists all to hell (as I was sure he would).His Librarian suffered a perils of the warp with double 6s, which made me laugh (and Brian scowl).

Smite the enemies of the Imperium of Mankind!!

I failed to give the bikes the mark of Khorne- an accident that became a big mistake

Close combat was amusing at times. My first Maulerfiend wrecked a squad before it was destroyed. My second Maulerfiend killed the Stalker (thus I still didn't see it in action). My bikes shot at and charged the Scouts- but I didn't give them the Mark of Khorne and thus couldn't cut through them fast enough. My last remaining Talons got into it with the Assault Terminators, but those thunder hammer / storm shield combos hurt. The funny part was my champion challenged his sarge, and... both of us came up with lousy rolls, not even scoring hits (I didn't take VoLW, as I want him to learn more rules before I turn it up a notch). My damn Heldrake was nowhere to be seen. Damn it.

A fight that went nowhere for two turns.

Keep moving... blood for the blood god!

Then,  his Storm Talon roared in, Lascannon blazing at my Defiler, destroying it. Combats were not going anywhere, as the bikes just couldn't finish off enough of the Scouts still, and the Warp Talons finally getting knocked out. But, by top of turn 3, my Lord and his Terminator retinue had just taken the relic. Yes, Brian was about to pitch a lot of his force toward me, but I had a Maulerfiend and an inbound Heldrake that could ruin his day, as well as two squads of mostly untouched Bezerkers at either side of the Lord's squad.

The Stormtalon's arrival heralded the end of the Defiler

Keep your eyes on the prize!

Then, as it was about to start Brian's turn 3, he said he needed to go to the bathroom. Sure- happens to all of us, even in the midst of battle. But then, when he emerged from the bathroom... he was as pale as could be!! He said that he needed to go to the doctor ASAP. What?! Holy Cow!! I have met people who couldn't handle losing before, but geez. To fake going to the hospital to get out of losing... ;-)

Actually, Brian did suffer a medical problem, and thankfully the ER was able to help him. I've never heard of a game of 40K making someone sick before (Ha ha. These jokes just write themselves). Apparently he was ill from rolling too many ones (see what I mean). Just when I think I have seen it all as a 40K player... I've never sent an opponent to the ER before. This will be a game I will long remember, for its crazy ending!

For his part, Brian was as gracious as usual, conceding the game to me, since I had the relic. He says he wants a rematch though, as soon as he is 100%. He obviously likes the game...

Can you top that gaming war story? Until next time...