Contrasts in Gaming

Today I would like to write about two contrasts that exist in gaming, sore losers/game sharks/jerks, and the wonderful people that keep us coming back.  I believe I will start on the sour note of gaming so that we can all end up on a happy note at the end of this post.  Sound good?  OK, here we go!

This past week I went to our local gaming store as normal hoping for a fun pick up game.  Usually there are between 4 and 6 of us there and we can play a number of different things which really makes the games generally enjoyable.  This week, however, was not enjoyable.  The reason was not my army list, that I lost, or even that we played down in the basement away from everyone else.  The problem was my opponent.  Before he had even started his first turn, he had cheated twice and that stat did not decrease throughout the rest of the game.  He was very egotistical, angry when I would ask him a rule about his codex (daemons, which lets face it... have a ton of extra rules to know!), and disbelieving when I would tell him the rules of the Eldar Codex.  Overall, it was not a very enjoyable game simply because of my opponent!  Now that, should never happen.  Whether I win or lose I try to generally be a good sport and have the game be enjoyable.  None of us can truly say we enjoy losing and some of us may genuinely despise it, but overall we can be good sports and have fun while we play. There's no reason to cheat in a GAME that is played with what many of my friends call painted dolls!  The more the game went down hill, the more mistakes I made which just continued to aggravate my temperament and made the night not enjoyable.  It is experiences like that, which cause people to leave the hobby or people like myself to promise I won't play him again unless I absolutely have to.

  The happy part of this post is about the people that keep us coming back for more and hold our loyalty.  I love our local gaming store Dragon's Keep in Provo, UT.  The people are nice and generally knowledgeable, we have a good number of people interested in many different hobbies, and they are always open to doing things that the players suggest.  This past week, I thought I had left one of my paints at the store so I posted on the forums asking people to keep an eye out for it.  The same day I got a message from the owner of the store saying that if I couldn't find it he would like to replace it for me.  Now, I know it's only 4 bucks but the gesture is what matters.  He doesn't have to replace something that I lost because I was stupid but he wanted to because he actually cares about his customers and wants them to have an enjoyable gaming experience.  Nice people, whom I enjoy talking to and playing with, are the reason why I go to gaming stores and not just play at home.

  In conclusion, be one of those people that everyone enjoys playing.  Whether you win or lose, remember that this is a game meant for us to have fun.  This is the only way for you to gain self-worth and if you lose it doesn't mean that you're horrible.  Have fun, and more importantly help others have fun!

olof21

Thanksgiving Apocalypse!

Autarch Friouq leapt down from his idling Wave Serpent transport and reverently approached the circle of seers standing on the hill.  In the distance he saw Autarch Helario racing to the same meeting on his jet bike with Farseer Milok following closely behind.

“Your presence is welcome at this council Autarch Friouq”

Although the figure's back was still turned to him, Friouq new the psyche-voice resonated from Grand Farseer Anmaril Gareel.  Bowing in reverence Friouq replied audibly, “Our scouts report that Thrensis is here my lord.”

 “Yes, revered Autarch.  Your scouts are correct. Our divinations have confirmed the presence of at least part or all of Thrensis."

 “Then we must move immediately! 

Friouq rose from his kneeling position with a smile gently playing across his almost white lips, “Then we must move immediately my Lord.  Thrensis will…“ Friouq froze as he saw the deep azure eyes of the Grand Farseer for the first time in their meeting. 

“Friouq. Be still.  We will indeed move at once for Thrensis, but we are not the only ones here, the Mon-keigh are here also.”

 

Bowing once more, Friouq paused to gather his thoughts.  “What would you have me do my Lord?” 

“Take your aspect warriors, Farseer Worigue and the Cloud Strike Squadron and strike at the mon-keigh’s feeble attempt at a surprise attack.”

 “My Lord, what will the mon-keigh be attacking?”

“As a young Eldar I used to hunt on the exodite worlds of our craftworlds.  Often, to entice the beasts from their lairs we would provide a form of bait they could not resist.  When they would emerge from their safety we would swiftly pounce upon them and use our mobility, intelligence, and technology to slay the beast before they even knew they were in a trap.”

“My Lord, may I ask what will be the bait?”

“Why, a target they could not resist Friouq.  Myself.  Myself, and the seer council of Alenthrasis.  Now, inform Autarch Helario.  The two of you will see heavy fighting before the sun sets this day.”

- - - - - - - - -

As Autarch Friouq walked to his waiting wave serpent he wondered what Gareel was up to.  “Zior. Please inform Autarch Helario that he and his Swift Rider Host will be executing a Pel-nar attack from the East.”

 “Yes my Lord.”  The driver quickly informed Autarch Helario and turned to face Friouq. 

“Yes, Zior?  Is there something more?”

“My Lord, we have received word from Exarch Siro of the Howling Banshees.  She wishes us to know that Khaine smiles upon us and our Phoenix Lord Jain Zar has joined them for the coming battle.”

“Selar Vie,” Autarch Friouq exclaimed as he sank to the floor of the wave serpent.  “Truly Khaine smiles upon us this day Zior.  Relay this news to the Grand Farseer and to all our forces.  We will succeed no matter the cost Zior!”

“Yes my Lord”

As Friouq felt the Wave Serpent gain speed under his feet he pondered the coming battle and the coming of Jain Zar.  “Truly this will be a battle that defines Alenthrasis,” he thought to himself as he heard the first ponderous blasts of the crude mon-keigh heavy weapons.

- - - - - - - - -

“Grand Farseer, you were not completely honest with Friouq”

“No, Tissor I was not.  Friouq began this path with his dream, but he has no idea where the pursuit of Thrensis will take us.  Khaine smiles upon us, because if we do not succeed we truly have damned not only ourselves, but all the Eldar.

  This past Friday I had the wonderful opportunity to place a 12,000 pt apocalypse game against a wonderful opponent at the local gaming store Dragon’s Keep.  He brought a combined force of Deathwing, Ravenwing and 5 allied Thunderstrike Bombers.  I had a mixed force composing mainly of an aspect assault wave, seer council, cloudstrike squadron and Swift Rider Host.  The game started off with his entire Deathwing Force of 25 terminators teleporting within a foot of my seer council (which if he killed, counted as two objectives) and also killing most of my Dark Reapers and two of my three falcons in the Cloudstrike Squadron.  I thought I had already lost until my assault wave plus all of my shooting thundered into his terminators and wiped out 4 of the five squads and my swift rider host came in on the flank behind his landspeeders and silenced many of them forever.  I was feeling pretty good until his fliers came in and dropped 5 apocalypse templates and wiped out all of my firedragons, most of my banshees and striking scorpions as well as all but one of the farseers and Eldrad in the seer council.  To make matters worse, his 20+ bikes hadn’t even come on yet!  squeek to victory with holding 3 objectives out right, contesting two of his claimed objectives and his general hiding in the back holding their vital objective.  Conclusion, one of the best games that I have ever gotten to play and one that most definitely could have gone either way.  It was great and I look forward to the next rematch!

Fire Prisms

So, I saw the amazing sunstorm squadron statistics in white dwarf and I thought to myself (wouldn't it be awesome to be able to link four fire prisms together and get those amazing abilities?) So I go down to the local store, order the four fire prims (which with my 30% discount was only $120) and began play testing with falcon chasis to see how they did.... THEY SUCKED. Seriously, template weapons against nids did so little it wasn't even funny. I couldn't target the gargantuan creatures because they would only do one wound and against the regular nids it seemed like my fire prisms did too little to be any good at all. So here's the question, do you use fire-prisms in your apocalypse or regular army? How do you like them? What armies do you find them useful against, or completely useless? I have 3 unopened fire prisms here that I'm thinking about selling on ebay just to recoup my costs but I don't know yet.

My new Loot!

So I won an apocalypse tournament at Dragon's Keep about a week ago and with it I bought some sweet new loot.

The New Ork Codex (for a possible army in the future)
Two cardboard boxes filled with foam for transport of my new stuff
A box of striking scorpions (to allow me all three options of exarch and a full squad of ten)
A box of harlequins (to fill out my current squad or possibly allow me to field more than one unit)
A second Shadowseer (once again, to allow for another squad)
A third box of Dire Avengers
An autarch with power sword and swooping hawk wings

I had been toying with the idea of starting a new army with the gift certificate, possibly buying a baneblade or some ork stuff, but I decided that finishing off my eldar army would make more sense and allow me to achieve my goal of completely painting my army by the end of the summer.

On the other hand this is the look I'm gonna be going for with my autarch with a few differences that I haven't decided upon yet.

Striking Scorpions

So I did some extreme highlighting with a really bright green for the Striking Scorpions instead of the usual muted colors more like camo. Overall I'm really pleased with the turn-out and can't wait to finish up this unit... they were a lot of fun to paint and look great on the battlefield.

Battle Report Eldar vs Orks (1000)

So today I played a 1,000 point game against a new ork player at the store that wanted to learn the new rules and just have a no pressure fun game. His army consisted of 8 bikers, 30 regular orks, 30 Hardboys, 5 mega-armored Nobz and a mega-armored Warboss mounted in a truck. My army consisted of 2 units of Dire Avengers, a Wraithlord, a unit of 10 scorpions, a farseer, 2 vypers, and a warwalker squadron armed with scatter-lasers. We set up the table with a large piece of area terrain in each corner and one large hill in the middle of the board. He deployed his bikes on the far right behind a building, his nobz and boss in a truck on the right behind a building and both squads of boys spread out along the back in two parrallel two foot lines. I set up both vypers on the right to try and take down the truck, the warwalkers on the hill with the farseer next to them and the wraithlord to the left. In the middle and the left I deployed my dire avengers and I infiltrated my scorpions behind the large hill in the center. With him winning the dice roll and me taking the scout move the game began.

Turn one started with the truck charging forward 24 in. in a hope for a second turn charge, his boys each moving 6 inches forward and his bikes moving 12 inches forward and unsuccesfully shooting at my striking scorpions (on a side note, are dakka guns strength 5 AP 5 Assault 3 or are they strength 5 AP 4 Assault 2 and also are they twin-linked? The codex is a little messed up there) and missing with all nine shots.

Turn one for me saw the scorpions moving 4 inches forward around the hill hoping for a charge in the assault phase. Both squads of dire avengers moved forward for eventual shots at the boys as they would come charging around the hill. Both vypers shot their scatter-lasers at the truck doing absolutely nothing but luckily the wraithlord's bright lance did the trick causing the truck to kareen 9 inches straight back and blow up. 24 guided scatter-laser shots at the Mega-nob squad later and... not ONE had fallen!!! Stupid 2+ save!!! The rest of the shooting did absolutely nothing and suddenly with the orc menace much closer and only 40 points smaller I became very afraid. In the assault face my scorpions barely made it into assault with the bikers killing one with the orcs passing their leadership test and (due to yet again amazing rolls on his part) both of us pilling in.

Turn two for the orks started with all the orks moving as far forward as possible in their WAAGH!!! with the regular boys going 5 inches, the nobz going 1 in but making their save, and the hardboyz going one inch losing the squig eater to his untied shoes. In his assault phase he did not charge the boyz into the protracted combat with the bikers and instead left them spread out along the board. In his assault phase I killed 4 bikers and he killed one scorpion, lost the combat and was caught and killed by my pursuing scorpions.

My turn two started with my vypers jetting to the other side of the board, both dire avenger units moving forward to take up firing positions, the wraithlord moving closer to the approaching nobz, the warwalker squadron moving back to put more space in between them and the nob, and the scorpions moving for a hopeful assault into the hardboyz once the regular nob was thinned by firing. After both dire avenger squads and both vypers the front mob squad was left with only 6 models that promptly broke and ran off the table. The farseer mind warred one nob giving him a womb in the psychic struggle, the wraithlord's brightlance killed one outright and the warwalkers 24 guided shots added three more wounds killing 3 nobz in total, unfortunately they passed their leadership and stayed in place. In the assault phase the scorpions charged into combat killing 6 for the loss of only one prolonging the combat.

At the beginning of turn 3 my opponent graciously conceeded with the role of a 3 for the movement of the mega-nobz.

Eldar losses: 2 scorpions
Orks: 3 meganobz, 30 boyz, 8 bikers, one wartrukk, and 7-8 hardboy

Overall this was a fun game that could have swung either way. I'm looking forward to our 2,000 point rematch next week.

Eldar Heavy Support

I wonder if any other eldar players find that we are completely spoiled when it comes to heavy support. First off we have the wraithlord, strength 10 toughness 8 how can you not love one of these guys? In addition to this walker we have the warwalkers... probably my favorite unit to use against unsuspecting opponents. 190 points for 24 strength 6 AP 6 shots that can be re-rolled with guide completely destroys ork units (on a side note I played in an apocalypse tournament where I ran three warwalkers with bright lances, guided every turn-it worked great against the deathwing player I was facing in the first round). Next up in the list comes the infamous dark reapers, the bane of power armor across the board. An exarch with fast shot and a full unit of reapers can shoot out 2 strength 8 ap 3 and 8 strength 5 ap 3 shots at BS 5 and 4. If you guide the squad the numbers of hits goes way up and you rip the heart out of just about any squad on the board besides terminators. Next we have the beautiful grav-tanks, the fire prism with its ability to combine fire and tage whole squads of gaunts can not be looked down upon and it's sister: the draqon wagon (a falcon with a 6 man squad of fire dragons and holo-fields) can slag any tank in the game. I have not had the chance to use heavy weapons platforms but hear that they are quite deadly if used correctly. So how do you choose what heavy support choices to take? I personally run dark reapers, a wraithlord and three warwalkers in many of my games now. What do you take and why? Any particular tricks you have learned?

Howling Banshees vs. Scorpions

So I have used a combination of howling banshees, and striking scorpions, using each independently and for the life of me i can't really figure out which one I like better in any one situation. Banshees, when combined with doom are a unit are simply destructive but even on the charge don't get nearly as many attacks as scorpions, or as good of a save. Scorpions get an extra attack, + 1 strength, and a 3+ armor save, but can't move nearly as quickly as banshees with the fleet. I've ended up taking a squad of each and assaulting the same unit just to make sure I get the best of both worlds, but what do you recommend? I know I probably don't have any readers right now but it would be nice to know what others thing about it.

Imperial Gaurd Fluff

The 1^st Orphean Polar Rangers

"The Yetis"

The Orphean Polar Rangers’ home world is the large Hive World of Orpheus Prime. Orpheus Prime’s only moon, named Corinth, is the home of The Blazing Fists Adeptus Astartes Chapter. Orpheus Prime is the Capital Planet of the whole Margath System and as such supplies arms and munitions to multiple war efforts through out the system of Margath including an Imperial Navy Battle Group, a detachment of 20 Titans, and their attendants from the nearby Forge World of Maskar II, and 3 missions of the Adepta Sororitas.

Orpheus Prime has 5 major inhabited continents all of which are arranged roughly in the equatorial regions of the planet. These 5 continents are all covered with huge Imperial Cities, called Hive Cities, that exploit Orpheus Prime’s large reserves of petroleum and rare minerals found beneath the surface. There are also multiple manufacturing hives that produce the high quality Orphean pattern Sniper Rifle (which is one of the top sniper rifles in the whole Imperium), the Orphean Pattern Sentinel, and the Orphean Pattern Power Weapon. In addition to the 5 inhabited continents there is also an ice-covered continent at the north pole of Orpheus Prime. This continent is largely uninhabited except for a large relay station with a full astropathic choir at the equatorial north pole of the planet. This relay station is the lynchpin in all of the regional communications and is defended by The Polar Planetary Defense Force or PDF consisting of 9 Orphean Polar PDF companies and 3 companies of the elite Rangers. These troops are taxed with defending the relay station and the small mining colonies along the coast. As these troops are permanently garrisoned on the ice continent they have to conduct extensive patrols across the frozen wasteland to make sure the native Yetis, huge man-eating beasts standing at over 4 meters and weighing over 400 kilos, do not threaten any citizens. As such they quite quickly become experts at camouflage, stealth, marksmanship, and survival. The defense forces quickly found that their Battle-tanks and armored personal carriers were too heavy to transport them across the planet. Soon the troops completely abandoned the use of vehicles except for their specially modified Sentinels. Most of the PDF stationed there have been there for over 5 years and are very well trained. Uncommonly for a PDF force, most of the troops see action quite a few times against the Xenos commonly called Eldar, and the Xenos known as Orcs. This exposure to action leads to the creation of some of the most hardened veterans in the whole Orphean PDF. The hardened veterans of the Polar PDF constantly have their training and courage put to the test. One such occasion happened at The Battle for Munox Glacier.

The Battle for Munox Glacier

The Battle for Munox Glacier was fought 35kms east of the astropathic relay station on the frigid plains of Munox Glacier in MK40.987. The 1^st, 3^rd and 7^th companies of the Polar PDF and the 2^nd Ranger Company had cornered a large force of Word-Bearer Chaos-Space Marines, including their Commander [EXPUNGED], between the impassable Tordez Mountains and the frigid Sea of Claws. Although the Word-Bearers were outnumbered and cornered, the Imperial Forces could not make them budge. The Word-Bearers excelled at close combat fighting and were impossible to move from their well-built trench system. The battle went on for 2 months with neither side gaining the upper hand. Finally the Commander of the Imperial Forces, General Isaac Ramhorn, devised a plan to defeat the Word-Bearers. He split his force into 2 divisions. The 1^st Division, under the command of Thomas Folag, a seasoned veteran with over 25 years of experience in the Polar PDF, was smaller but more elite consisting of the whole 2^nd Rangers and 7 elite platoons from the 1^st, 3^rd and 7^th companies of the Polar PDF. The remaining men in the 1^st, 3^rd and 7^th companies formed the 2^nd Division under the command of General Isaac Ramhorn. Under the cover of darkness Ramhorn attacked the Word-Bearer’s trenches. For 8 ½ hours the battle raged between the 2^nd Division and the Word-Bearers. The PDF forces lacking the combat ability of the Word-Bearers were being slowly pushed back. General Ramhorn was about to order a retreat when his trap was finally sprung.

While the 8½-hour battle between the 2^nd division and the Word-Bearers was raging, Major Folag was leading his division up the treacherous slopes of the Tordez Mountains. For hours they marched through the ice and snow not hearing the sound of the battle far below them. Many men were lost to predators and cold but somehow Major Folag was able to lead his men to their destination. They stopped on a 300-meter cliff overlooking the rear of the Word-Bearers position and a large ammo-dump. Now Folag had to make the most important decision of his career. He could either stay were he was and use his heavy weapon squads to pore enfilading fire into the Word-Bearers rear, or he could descend the cliff and attack the Word-Bearers From behind. Major Folag decided to descend the cliff. Major Folag had done the impossible, he had marched his division for 61/2 hours and over 7kms of some of the harshest terrain on the planet, to the place where he was now standing. He now asked the impossible again. The 1^st division although exhausted were aided by the sounds of battle below them. The whole force of almost 750 men descended the cliff in under 2 hours. When they reached the bottom of the cliff they wreaked havoc in the Word-Bearer camp.

For the next 2 hours the combined 1^st and 2nd divisions destroyed the Word-Bearers piece meal. Although a timely attack by a force of Word-Bearer Terminators almost broke through, the Imperial Forces carried the day. Not only was the Word-Bearer army all but destroyed, but Commander [EXPUNGED] was also taken prisoner and ritualistically interrogated and tortured by the Chaplains of the Blazing Fists Chapter of Adeptus Astartes. Victory was not bought without a price however, The Battle for Munox Glacier claimed the life of General Ramhorn. Also in General Ramhorn’s 2^nd division there were 54.7% casualties, and in Major Folag’s 1^st division there were 43.6% casualties. For his exploits in the battle General Ramhorn was awarded the Honorifica Obscuras, the Macharian Cross, and the title Lord Polaris (posthumously). Major Folag (who was wounded twice in the action) was awarded the Medallion Crimson, the Macharian Cross, and the Command of the elite 1^st Ranger Company. All members of the 1^st division were awarded the Medallion Crimson. Although the troops in this battle were not Imperial Guard they were awarded Imperial guard honors, and they now form the elite core of the 1^st Orphean Polar Rangers, with Major Thomas Folag as their com

Jetbike Conversions

These are my two most recent conversions, on the left is an autarch armed with a laser lance on a jetbike. On the prow is mounted a flamer that will "count as" a fusion gun, there is also a scorpion chainsword attached to the back in case I choose that configuration. He is removable for easy painting and storage.

The picture on the right is of my jetbike farseer armed with a singing spear. The torso comes from a left over gaurdian, the arm from the dire avenger sprue, the head from one of the extra farseers I had and random bits from the eldar weapons platform, warwalker, and shining spears. The farseer is unfortunately glued down which will make painting him harder but overall I'm happy with the finished product.

Alenthrasis Craft World Fluff Part 1

Craftworld Alenthrasis is currently traveling between and defending the eldar exodite planets within the Orpheus System from both the Imperium and its enemies. Craftworld Alenthrasis, which literally translates to Retribution of the Morning, was renamed in year 38,931 from Killaq Ra'h, the Flare of the Dying Sun. This change occurred with the ascendance of Autarch Friouq who influenced the craftworld's seer council to take a more aggressive stance in the system. Friouq said that he had been visited by the long dead warriors of the craft world residing in the Infinity Circuit while he was centering his soul. These warriors told him that the sunset of the eldar was over and soon the morning would come and the eldar would once again ascend to their rightful place as rulers of the galaxy. As the Farseer Council meditated upon this vision Friouq disappeared into the webway in search of what he called Thrensis or Nova's Wrath; a weapon that would allow him to conquer all who stood in the way of the eldar's rightful place as rulers of the galaxy.

The Farseer Council decided to heed the dream of Friouq and renamed the Craftworld Alenthrasis. They redirected the craftworld's resources to train and maintain more aspect shrines and prepare themselves to defend the exodite worlds from oncoming Imperial, Tau, and Ork expansion. Bonesingers worked tirelessly to create new grav-tanks and wraithbone constructs. Warriors trained night and day to better hone their skills against the foes of Alenthrasis. Even the warlocks and farseers practiced their divination and precognitive skills to better assist their brothers in battle.

The farseers did well in their divination, saving the craftworld from not only direct assaults but really any concerted attacks whatsoever. The farseers were able to manipulate their foes against each other so that each was incapable of waging war against Alenthrasis.

Warhammer!

So I've never set up a blog before but I figure that I'm so into warhammer right now that I might as well start some and maybe get into the world a little more. I have a sizeable eldar force (about 6000 pts if I wrote it all out) and 3000 points of Space Marines (who doesn't). This page will primarily be for my eldar as I track my progress of painting my full force before September.