Thorgrimm's Return! (a 40k post)

A little something different today, a 40k post.  Yesterday I went down to the corner store (AetherStorm Games) for a little 40k Tournament. 

This event was a little different from the standard fare that is usually run down there.  This event was an effort to raise some Toys for the local Toy Drive through Lower Township.

The event was a good turn out, one of the local radio stations covered the event and we had 12 players show up.  Which is good considering the local event usually only gets about 8 on average.

After much debate (with myself, which is quite a site) I decided to give the Iron Warriors a little break and dust off my Space Wolves.  With more than 10000 points painted, I thought I should be able to come up with something at least viable.

I must have left the list at the store, but here is the general make up from memory:

1850 Points

HQ: Wolf Lord Thorgrimm, in Runic Armor, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Space Marine Bike,

Saga of the Beast Slayer

HQ: Wolf Priest on a Bike

Troop: 10x Grey Hunters with a pair of Melta and all the other goodies in a Drop Pod

Troop: 10x Grey Hunters with a pair of Plasma and all the other goodies in a Drop Pod

Troop: 8x Blood Claws with a Flamer, Plasma Pistol, Power Axe in a Drop Pod, with a Wolf Guard in Terminator Armor with combi-PG and Power Fist

Elite: 5 Wolf Scouts with Melta

Elite: 5 Terminator Wolf Guard in a Pod with a couple of Combi-PG an Assault Cannon, and a Fist

Fast Attack: Bike Squad with Attack Bike, Melta gun, Melta Bombs, Power Fist, Wolfguard with Combi-MG and a Power Fist

Fast Attack: Bike Squad with Attack Bike, Melta Bombs, Power Fist

My Thought was to overwhelm my opponent and quickly cripple my opponents forces.  Well that was the thought...

First round challenges came up, and I was challenged by some young upstart named Brandon who also plays Space Wolves, the young man wanted to challenge the Alpha Wolf!

His list was quite different from mine.  Crusader with Blood Claws, Pod with Grey Hunters, 2x Long Fang packs, couple Rhino units. 

The game was an absolute blood bath as one would expect from a Wolf vs. Wolf battle.  My Wolf Scouts were actually the ones to gain me first blood with the destruction of a Razorback

At the end of the game I won holding 2 objectives, I also had First Blood, Line Breaker, and Slay the Warlord giving me a solid 12 points going into round two.

I should note here that for this tournament we were using the Mechanicon style points system for Battle Points.  I find this a superior system as Power lists are not as reliable, because we don't use a win-loss system.  It's all about the amount of Battle Points you manage to gain, and pairings are done that way.  This leads to interesting pairings, and interesting games.

Above you can see me pushing hard I don't think he managed to get out of his deployment zone the whole game.

The down side to doing well in your first game, is the pairing you have to face in game two.  In this case it was an Eldar list.  Farseer, and Council all on bikes, Dire Avengers x3 all in Transports, a Trio of Walkers, and 3 heavy support skimmers with the Torrent weapon thingy...   Now before I even continue, you should all know I hate the Eldar.  No, you don't understand, I really, really hate the Eldar.  I will never even paint one.  Now Josh (the young man playing this army) is a nice kid, he typically plays up the road at Jester's Playhouse.  He tends to play the flavor of the month and I swear he designs his lists just in an effort to stir me up.

Anyway, I won the roll off for first turn.  I decided that all was lost if the Farseer didn't die immediately so I deep struck my 2 pods in, bringing my Plasma GH pack and the Terminator pack and just pushed forward as hard and fast as my bikes would travel.

Then it happened, I caused enough wounds through his stupid invuln saves to force a break check, he responded with box cars and fled off the board.  Now the real problem is after first turn I chased over 800 points off the board and I still struggled the whole game.  The Eldar are stupid.  They break all the rules of the universe and is one of the reasons why I am so frustrated with 6th edition.  Anyway, at the end of the day no troops survived on either side and I won 3-2 with First blood and Slay the Warlord, his two points were from Slay the Warlord.

Well, after such a minor win I was looking forward to a relaxing 3rd game, maybe vs. the disgusting Mechguard list that was floating around.  

But nooooooo, I would have to face against Stephen's Eldar!!! fuck...

His list had a Farseer and a Council on foot, some Aspect Warriors in the form of Howling Banshees, Fire Dragons, Dire Avengers, two squads of Guardians, all the Transports he could manage, a Fire Prism, and of course that giant Knight thing.  Oh and his army Warlord was that special character Autarch guy.

His army is for the most part painted quite nicely (its not finished yet). but have I mentioned that I hate the Eldar?  Anyway, again I got the first turn and went for the same tactic.  Go for the Farseer and Seer Council.  I killed 8 of the 9 leaving his Farseer and 1 Warlock alive.  They however passed their leadership and stuck around. 

Oddly enough, Russ saw fit to reward our bravery and his last Warlock died to a perils of the warp also awarding me with first blood!

This game was another blood bath, with Thorgrimm taking out the big Knight guy in close combat, and ending the game locked in combat with his Warlord (we are now sworn enemies)

I held a 4 point objective and took another minor win with 7 points to 0.

So thus ended the day with 3 wins, but nothing convincing enough to place.  Not a bad day considering my match ups.

I have a bit of a rant to go on with my thoughts concerning the current state of affairs 40k is in with 6th edition, but sadly that is for another time as I must get to work.

Next up another Mordheim update.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

6th Edition is here, and so is my first game

 Okay, so my son Chucky and I went down to the corner store to try out the new 6th edition rules.  We wanted to play a smallish game, so we could take the time to look up rules, but we wanted armies large enough to use some of the new goodies that were spread all through this new rulebook.  With that in mind we agreed on 1000 points a side.

Of course this being my first game of the new edition there was no other army to choose than my beloved Space Wolves who had been collecting dust for a few months while I've been messing around with some other projects.  My son who has decided to start a Tau army, borrowed some of my models so that he could try them out in this new edition. (I should note here, that I am not attempting to club a baby seal for this battle report, my son who is 19, has been playing WH40k for about 9 years, and is quite an accomplished player in his own right.)

Here is the list I decided on:
Wolf Guard Battle Leader, "Erik the Master of the Hunt" on a bike with a Frost Blade (sword)

The Blood Claws x7 with a Power Axe, and a Flamer, led by Wolf Guard Hagar, with Power Axe, and Flamer.  Rhino Transport

The Grey Hunters x10 with a Power Sword, Plasma pistol, 2x Plasma guns, Standard, Mark of the Wulfen, led by Wolf Guard Boris in Terminator Armor, with a Power Axe and Storm Bolter

The Long Fangs x6 with 5x Heavy Bolters

Blood Claw Biker Pack (sorry, can't get used to calling them Swift Claws) x3+1 Attack Bike with Heavy Botler, one pack member has a Power Fist, and another a Melta-gun, led by Wolf Guard Dorgar of the Hill People, on a bike with a Power Fist.

As a fortification choice I took the Aegis Defense Line with the Quad-Gun upgrade.

My son took:
Commander Shas'o, with 2x bodyguards and 2x shield drones with an assortment of Plasma and Missile Pods
A Battle Suit Team of 3 with an assortment of Missile Pods and Burst Cannons with some more Shield Drones
3x Fire Warrior Squads of 10 each
Hammer Head Gunship (which he used one of my Devil Fish as Proxy)

(Please note here that neither list is optimized, we simply wanted to take a variety of units in an effort to see how different units and rules interacted with one another during the course of game play while getting used to the new rules.)

We rolled for the mission and ended up with The Relic, that is a single Objective in the middle of the board, rolling for deployment type we ended up with Vanguard Strike (I like this deployment)

I rolled for my Warlord ability, taking the personal traits, rolling a one I got "Master of Defense" really? WTF?!!  So my Battle Leader on a bike, gets to give himself and the unit he is with (more bikes by the way) the Counter Attack Special rule (which they already have) while in their own deployment zone...

My son, being the sporting fellow, offered me a re-roll, but I declined, it is what it is.  Sometimes the ability will be cool, other times, not so much.


My son deployed with his Fire Warriors center, his Hammer Head in support behind them, and the Missile Pod, Burst Cannon Suit squad on his left, the Commander and Body Guard were in reserve for a deep strike operation.

Below you can see my deployment, I set up my defense line in the center with the Quad gun and the Grey Hunters holding the fort, my Blood Claws in their Rhino were on my left and the Long Fangs on the right.  My Bikers with the Battle leader were as far up and left as they could go, out of line of site to most of the Tau due to intervening terrain.

 Chucky Takes the first turn, Shifting his Fire Warriors (Fire Warriors got a huge boost in this edition, the ability to move and still fire at 30" is a great boon for this unit, maybe more people will start using them in their armies now) and his battle suits he then sends a massive amount of Fire Power into my Long Fangs killing four of them.  They make their moral check, Chucky makes a shift with the Battle suits in the Assault phase in an effort to prepare for the inevitable Biker attack.

In my first turn, I move my bikers forward 12" to behind the building right in front of them.  I rush my rhino forward and left to the far side of the Landing pad, attempting to place the Tau in a pincer move, hopefully causing him to split his fire power on the two units.
My Grey Hunters and the Long Fangs stay put.
I open up with my Long Fangs into the Fire Warriors that are hiding in the ruins, as I didn't have a good field of fire on his Battle Suits, I kill a couple, most making their cover saves.
The Quad gun opens up on the Hammer head, as I was able to draw a line of sight under the landing pad.

I had to take a picture of my shots, because I never roll like this...
He passes two of the cover saves afforded to the Hammer Head, and in the end I strip 2 hull points with glances (all four shots glanced) my dice were hot...
I then Turbo boost my Bikers around the corner of the Building preparing for what will hopefully be a turn two assault, and I also move my Rhino up in the shooting phase to take cover behind a wall and to prepare to get into his lines as quickly as possible.(I would have popped smoke, but I don't think I can if I move flat out)

Chucky then rolls for reserves, and finds that his Commander is going to come in and attempt to save the day, he drops him in Deep Striking right onto the landing pad in a position to turn my Blood Claws into slag.  

He then moves 2 Fire Warrior squads and the Hammer Head into position to support his Commander.  On the other side he commits his other Battle Suit squad and a squad of Fire Warriors to attempt to take out the Bikes (he knows all too well that those bikers need to die, if he is to have any chance of winning)

The fire power he unleashes on the Blood Claws in the Rhino is truly an impressive sight, the Rhino explodes, leaving nothing but a smoking crater, and after the support fire is finished only 2x Blood Claws remain, one with a Flamer and one with a Power Axe.  They pass their pinning check and their moral, so are still a threat to the Greater Good.

On the other side of the board the Tau did not fare as well, killing a single biker, and stripping a wound from the Attack Bike was all the Tau were able to accomplish on that side of the Battle Field.

In my Turn my Bikers go straight for the Battle Suit Squad with Missile Pods and burst, while the Biker Pack goes forward towards the Fire Warriors (I was careful here to split the Character off from the pack, I could have kept him with them and multi-charged, but I didn't want to lose my attack bonuses)

I positioned the last few Blood Claws to shoot with their flamers at the commander and then make a charge attempt.  While my Grey Hunters clambered over the Aegis Wall, and advanced on the Landing Pad, the Long Fangs would take some shots on the Battle Suits to soften them up for Erik.

My shooting being a little lack luster, I decide to do things the old fashioned way, with a howl, I charge with everything I can.  My Blood Claws roll box cars and make the assault to the Battle Suits on the Landing Pad (we made a mistake here, I was supposed to roll 3 dice and take the highest out, but as I was only seven inches away and rolled box cars we decided not to worry about it, as I would have made the charge anyway)
Erik, smashes into the Battle Suit Squad while my Bikers smash into the Fire Warriors, literally as one of them crashes his bike charging into the ruin...Over Watch takes a wound off of my Battle Leader, takes out a Bike from the Swift Claws, and kills the Wolf Guard in the Landing pad charge. (Over Watch is another great boon for some armies, even with needing sixes to hit, it is intimidating to have all that fire power come your way when you are trying to get into someones battle lines)

 Most of the combats were short and bloody, with Erik finishing off the Battle Suits, the Blood Claw bikers killing the Fire Warriors to a man (Hammer of Wrath is just a cool rule).  The Tau commander however, puts up a fight, killing the Blood Claw with the Flamer, I cause enough wounds however with my Power Axe to swing the battle into my favor, the Tau commander passes his leadership and the fight will continue.

As Chucky starts his next turn, he realizes he needs to do something about those damn Bikes.  He shifts his remaining Fire Warrior packs and his Hammer Head into a position to deal with this threat.  He pours everything he has into the Biker pack, when the smoke clears all that remains is my Attack Bike with a single wound remaining, who then promptly fails his leadership check and flees back about 11 inches.  At this point he is quite pleased with himself, but realizes this will cost him, my Battle Leader is still alive, as are 3 Long Fangs, all with Heavy Bolters.  Things are not looking so good for the Tau...

In the Close Combat phase he manages to finish off the last Blood Claw before he even gets to swing, freeing up his Commander and Bodyguards. ( like the new rules for Power Weapons, I really think this is a bad example, because I had so few survive to the combat, but in a larger combat the S5 AP2 will really come in handy I think.  as another note, I played another game after this with my DeathWing, and had a Sgt. with a Power Maul walk through quite a few Orks.  S6 AP4 isn't so bad)

The Tau are in trouble, I push hard with my Battle Leader and prepare to assault a large group of Fire Warriors, riding right through the ruin, a gamble I know, I have to remember that IC do not have skilled rider anymore.  My Lone Attack bike positions himself on another Fire Warrior squad out of the way of the Long Fangs so they can soften them up a bit before the charge.

My Grey Hunters continue their advance and climb onto the Landing Pad.

In my shooting phase the combined fire power of the Long Fangs and the Attack Bike kill 8 Fire Warriors out of the ten, they pass their Moral and decide to stick around for the face smash, I fire with my Bolters on the bike of the Battle leader to no effect, Erik just likes to swing his Frost Blade I think, (he is a lousy shot)

The Grey Hunters open up fire, trusting in their close range fire power to win them through the day, killing the Shield Drones one of the Body Guard and causing a wound on the commander. 

 
I declare my charges, the Battle Leader smashes into the full squad of ten Fire Warriors and my Attack bike, well, uhm, he rolls a pair of twos and falls short of making the charge.  This would prove fatal for the Attack bikers...(I originally thought I would hate the new charge rules, but I find the uncertainty exciting.)

 Of course Erik, wins combat, the Tau break and are promptly run down.  

Not much left, Chucky uses the Hammer Head to try and stop Erik, to no avail.  The remaining Fire Warriors do manage to kill the Attack Bike, but the Tau Commanders shooting isn't as effective against the Grey Hunters as he needs it to be.  In his assault phase he abandons the Landing pad in an effort to preserve the life of his commander.

In this last turn, I move my Grey Hunters onto the objective, and open fire on the Tau Battle suits, Erik finishes off the Hammer Head (it only had one hull point left, and didn't move in the previous turn), and my Long Fangs finish off the last of the Fire Warriors.

a Victory for the Space Wolves.  Not a bad first outing.

Chucky has since improved the list, his new 1000 point Tau list is much deadlier, I will post it here soon.

I am really not happy with the performance of the Rhino, very fragile now.  I think Mech may finally be dead.  Long live the Blood Claw Biker!!! 

Oh, and I know most of you disagree, but the Heavy Bolter is even more awesome than before.  Missile Spam? Pffft....  15 Heavy Bolters baby...

I do hope you all enjoyed the read, please feel free to post any and all comments you may have.  Especially if you note any rules mistakes, this was our first game with this new edition.

I didn't quit 40k...

I haven't painted anything new for 40k in some time, as I have been hard at work on my Warriors of Chaos army.
I do however have the Colonial coming up fast, and have a slight change in mind for my Logan Grimnar led list. So I have 2 Dreadnoughts in their box staring at me awaiting patiently to be put together and painted. More on that later, as well as my planned list.

While my Thursday nights have been filled with Mordheim mayhem at Aetherstorm Games, I did drive up to Jester's Playhouse for a visit and a 2000 point one day 3 game event, which was being billed as a warm up for their upcoming GT.

I took my "grab and go" army, my Deathwing. I call it my Grab and go army for a couple of reasons, 1. is I have set lists which I play at 1500, 1850 and 2000 points with it, and 2. it's a compact army, quick to grab and run out the door with.

I ended up winning this smallish event yesterday, I think there were about 10 people in attendance, I ended my day with 2 wins and a tie. Beating Necrons and IG, and pulling a draw against Dark Eldar.

Above is a group shot, taken with my phone. Please forgive me if the pictures didn't turn out. I just got the phone the other day, after much pressure from my family to move into this modern age and give up my good ole' Nextel for an IPhone...


Above you can see my Chaplain, no conversion work here, just painted right out of the blister pack, I love that model.

Here we have Captain Vindicis, 1st Company Master of the Deathwing of the Angels of Vindication.
I know I have posted some pictures of these guys on the Bolter and Chainsword, but I don't think that I have ever put them up here.

the Link below will take you to the



http://www.thedarkfortress.co.uk/oratorium/oratorium_littlebitz.htm
Where you can see some more shots of my Deathwing, as well as Dark Angel models from other gamers, some of which blow away any of my own work...

Well that's it for now,
Thanks for looking!

Mark of the Wulfen

Sorry about the picture quality, but it was 5:00 AM when I took these photos. I am quite happy with how the skin tones turned out. I know its hard to tell in the pictures, but there really is a more distinct highlight on the actual model.



I'm not sure what to do as far as tattoo markings, so I left him as is for now.
Well, time to get ready for work...