10th Edition incoming!!

 

The behemoth that is 40k has arrived with a new edition!!!! Now I still have fond memories of the 2nd edition and getting murdered constantly by my cousin's eldar or tryanids.  All the things I've read and watched give me good vibes (not even the huge queues at Warhammer fest will put me off), I'm not going to rush out and buy the box set as the rules are free online so that suits me . I liked the fact all the data sheets for all the units are free online (I'm still a bit dubious as I know GW likes their money so a wary eye is always on them). I really like the new points, now I see both sides some people like planning intricate lists but I like the fact I can pick a unit and add what I want. Yes on a competitive side those players will always take the best combo but as you all know Rule of Cool is number one!! Plus me and magnets don't get on so I am stuck with whatever I  have glued on at the time. I'm happy with that! 

The rules seem simpler and I like how they have moved certain stats onto the weapon profiles and they are all on the card for easy reference. Will save me having to flick through books and battlescribe during the game as I can just look at the card for that unit. My awesome folks have printed the data sheets out for me (only the ones I need for Astra Militarum as there is over 100 pages but all the Votann)

The data sheets have changed my army somewhat but nothing drastic  Just a re-think and adjustment. I've heard this word a lot on YouTube so I'm stealing it. Sinergy seems to be the key with the Guard.  With the army special rules being orders I need to learn to spread out officers and add them to squads now which is a new thing! This way can issue orders to all units and get the best out of them.  Commissars look much improved now, able to give orders and keep units from being battle shocked by using Summary execution to persuade the unit to stay in the fight.  

I will have to get used to some changes but now I can try a 20 catachan blob led by Colonel Stracken and Sgt Harker (proxy)!  But excitingly I may have a new warlord on the horizon!!! I'll keep you updated on that!!

The Votann took a hit with 10th going from the elite army I thought they were to a more average army and I was planning on changing armies but I decided to stick with them. So my next purchases should be aiming at boosting my votann list  though again this could change and they get sold. I'm in two minds at the moment 

All in all in looking forward to trying the astra Militarum in 10th edition! Hopefully we will get our codex before 11th!!!!

Warhammer fest!!

**Warning Heavy Games Workshop content gonna keep it all to this post so you can ignore if you want **

So this weekend I went to Warhammer Fest with my cousin and oldest . This was his first foray into GW proper. I was quite excited as I have never been to a GW event before and my son was excited and intrigued. Me and my cousin were looking forward to hopefully finding more out about 10th edition (and maybe get some models). There was all the Golden Demon entries to look at as well.

We arrived and my son was blown away by first the 2 cosplay he saw. A tau stealth suit and a Chaos space marine terminator. Then we hit the shop to get it out the way the queue for the till was massive!!!! (we soon found out this was to be a thing for the two days we were there) I picked up a event exclusive commissar and my son picked up a get started with 40k book. 

 My cousin grabbed an exclusive chaos marine and some kill team terrain.  After the hour queue to pay we had a look around. Saw some more cos play, the new tryanid models and space marine models. The tryanid models looked really nice!! I'm quite tempted by the ravenous hordes! The new space marines did look very cool also.

Though the only photo I got of the space marines was from the back so a bit pointless putting it on here for you.  After this we had a go on the Squigapult!

This was quite difficult but we managed to win a pen!! Next to the Squigapult was a titan legions battle going on except the titans were 40k scale!!!!! It looked awesome I have to say.

Very careful foot placement needed here! 

Also on display by the titans was a very impressive 40k scale Imperator titan. This thing was a beast!!

This thing was almost as tall as my son! We then had to remove my cousin from the area as he was getting buying a 40k scale titan vibes.  We joined another queue! For the hang out and paint after a brief hour wait we sat down with our free mini. Me and my son picked a space marine and my cousin picked an age of sigmar storm cast warrior.  We sat and painted for a while. It was really good fun and my sons first proper try at painting a miniature.

My sons on left, cousins in the middle and mine on the right. I really like the yellow on bolt gun. 

After this we had a bit more of a look round. There was a section of warhammer computer games which looked awesome. Again massive queue so didn't get to play any but Battle sector looks good. Also the new Boltgun looks brilliant!! We went and had a look at the golden demon entries. We did half and then left for the day and got soaked in a torrential rainstorm! The next day we went back our plan get in early and get in the queue to play 10th edition! Mission................. Failed we stood in the queue for around 10 minutes to be informed it was more than a 3 hour wait! Me and my cousin maybe could have been able to do this but not my 9 year old. So disappointed we gave up on that idea. Back into another queue. The models were all awesome and the talent on display was immense. Then we watched the cos play parade. My son was a big fan of the space marine suits. There was more attempts at the Squigapult and a quick look at an app called combat cards then we headed out there and home!

Overall we had a good time! And it was good seeing all the amazing painted models and showing my son the models, the lore and the amazing community. The queues were the only down point for me. The shop not sure what you could have done about that but hangout and paint or trying 10th edition they could have easily implemented a time slot booking system or even as simple as take a ticket and wait for your number to be called. I'll drop some pictures of my favourite models that I saw.

Awesome Led use here 

Amazing epic Rhino! 

The epoxy resin work here is amazing!

6mm gretchin!! 

Awesome Catachan model 

Imperial Guard vs Space Marines

 Got to play a big 40k battle recently. 2000pts. My friend wanted to try out a Knight he had and I wanted the to flex my Shadow sword a bit also. So it was to be Guard vs Ultramarines!! The ultramarines were led by none other that Gulliman!! So a Knight and Gulliman...... Hmmm OK I brought all the tanks I had!!! The board was set the forces were set let's do this!

The Guard amass! 

The roll for who went first was crucial here. The knight and Shadowsword were facing off. Who would shoot first? I won the roll so had the first turn. I didn't make a note of exactly what happened but here's the jyst. The Guard moved forward, shooting was either great or bad. Infantry and sentinels didn't do much damage to the dug in  marines neither did the sponsors of my leman russes. The battle cannons faired better pounding a couple of squads causing casualties. The demolisher cannon equipped leman russ wiped a razor back off the table. The troops spilling out into cover. The hell hound had no one to shoot at so manouvered for a shot later on. The time was ripe for the Shadowsword to speak. The heavy bolters and Las cannons lashed the knight and then the volcano cannon fired. The knight was no more!! annoyingly as its Canis Rex the pilot pops out and you have to kill him first. 

The space marines were up next, bolters blasted  and most of my infantry died. The 2 librarians blasted the shadow sword and infantry with psychic powers handing out mortal wounds like sweets. The hellhound was blown to bits but didn't explode! Which was annoying. The guard tanks pounded away at the space marines causing more casualties. The attempt was made to remove the space marines in front of Gulliman. 50 odd heavy bolter shots, 2 battle cannons!!!! And still 2 space marines remained stopping the volcano cannon targeting Gulliman. Boo!!!!! The volcano cannon was forced to shoot the Vindicator rhino killing that out right. My hero of the game (the space marine heroes were those bleeding marines refusing to die so I could kill the primarch) was Colonel Stracken. Stranded alone the infantry dead, 8 space marine intersessors standing triumphamtly   in front of me. He charged forward, survived a hail of bolter fire  from the marines and engaged in close combat. After some incredibly lucky rolls Stracken killed all 8 space marines!!! Unfortunately the next turn he was then blown up by a krak grenade! Gulliman arrived in the centre of the battlefield and charged  one leman russ. Ripping it to shreds he attacked another. The shadowsword fell to more pyshic attacks and close combat attacks. We called the game there. Hard  fought battle, I think I took the win but if we had played on I  had no answer for the primarch.

Was great fun!! Shadowsword is very powerful so I have to pick where and when I play it. I think the knight would have battered the shadowsword had it gone first but that's the whim of 40k. First turn gives you such a huge advantage!! 

Good fun though!

Xenos Rampant Project

 

I love starship troopers and Aliens so I want to do a Xenos rampant aliens vs colonial marines (Can't do starship troopers as I can't find the right arachnid models) . Handily Pendraken do the miniatures I require in 10mm. Being 10mm I thought this would be a good opportunity to make slightly larger forces. In Xenos Rampant units have strength points usually either 10 or 5. In a 28mm game most of the time you would represent one strength point with 1 model, so lose a point 1 model removed. With 10mm I thought about removing a stand to represent 1  strength point. At the moment it's either 2 models to a stand or 5. I'm leaving towards 2 as that will be a bit cheaper and you still will get the larger unit sense. A standard Colonial infantry unit would be 10 strength points this would equate to 5 stands with 2 models on each. I think this would look cool and hopefully not to crowded. 

These guys would be my standard heavy infantry. 

And here is the enemy the Xenomorph. There is a Xenomorph profile in Xenos Rampant so will be using that. There are a few more options for each side also. The classic APC

And the fearsome Queen 

There are a few other things like turrets and face huggers so plenty of other options aswell. All from Pendraken miniatures which is handy!! 

What's everyone think? I think it could be cool

 

The Emperors Light

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Urren has had better days he had to admit. At least the rain had stopped he thought. He looked around  his foxhole the sides were slick with mud and battle debris. The rain had dribbled down his back and under his flak armour causing him to shiver . Not that it mattered now... He was the only one left. The Vaunted Hylan 506th, Victor's of thousands of battles but not this one Urren said outloud. He almost expected commissar Grawn to reprimand him, he looked over at the commissar who was lying back against the foxhole side, hand gripped to the Hylans standard pole, the flag fluttering limply in the little wind that was left after the storm. His skin a faded grey colour, his uniform still in pristine order how ever the hole in his head would stop the reprimand. The wound had cauteriseed and killed the commissar instantly as he yelled at Lago for running away. That coward will get what he deserves, the emperor will see to that. Urren wiped his mouth and took a slug from a canteen lying on the ground the water was cold and refreshing. A small comfort in these end of times. The last words Grawn had said echoed in Urrens ears "The emperors light is waiting. Do not falter in your duty"
Grawn and Urren had been holding this foxhole against the arch enemy for emperor knows how long. All the other foxholes had gone silent. The emperors servants lay where they fell, nearly all Urren thought proudly had died fighting enemy bodies surrounding each hero. He looked at the Vox set, Grawn had been messing with it earlier before he was killed but it just blinked red and had been for the last day. No one was coming The last stand of the Hylan 506th on some gacking back water world, where no one would remember Urren thought...... No he slapped his helmet to get his attention back. The emperor sees all and knows of their sacrifice. The arch enemy will pay, Urren would not go quietly into the night and the emperor will see this. He heard clinking and boots squelching in the mud. They were coming, his Las rifle was out of power packs and lay on the ground. He tucked the bayonet in his sheath and picked up the commisars plasma pistol. After a quick examination he worked out how to switch it to overcharge. What dangers about the weapon mattered now? He also pulled a bolt Pistol  from the small stack of weapons they had gathered. He could hear the rebreathers of the enemy closing "Give up Guardsmen the false emperor has deserted you. Come be with your friend Lago, he sends his regards" the rasping voice floated across the battlefield almost like a whisper.  A shudder went down Urrens spine, an unnatural evil was in the air. He breathed in, braced himself and stood up. "Never you spawns of evil. The emperors light shines and you will be cast into the warp! “ with the rain cleared he saw figures in muddy orange uniforms closing in. Several had masks with horrific images on, others had brutally cut and scarred faces. Urren raised his pistols and fired. Super hot plasma bolts flew into the advancing figures, several collapsed screaming as the hit plasma consumed them. His bolt Pistol roared, one enemy soldier collapsed his body shuddering as the bolts exploded. Others scattered for what little cover there was on the ruined battlefield. Panicked shots were fired at Urren but by the emperors grace they missed. He fired again and again more enemy fell. He was laughing now. The emperor was with him!  A Las bolt caught his shoulder spinning him round. Urren gritted his teeth and raised his pistols. The plasma pistol was whining and glowing more unusual than normal. He flung it at a charging soldier, the molten pistol struck the soldier and exploded, disintegrating them in a ball of molten plasma. He quickly changed the magazine of the bolt Pistol and picked off another 3 enemies.  It all seemed quiet  so Urren lowered his pistol. Out of no where an enemy soldier tackled Urren. The 2 struggled in the mud of the foxhole, Urren stared into the snarling face of the arch enemy. Pure hatred was behind the eyes, well that was OK Urren had hate in his heart. Hate for the traitors to humanity. He managed to reach his bayonet and stabbed the heretic  repeatedly. A look of shock took over the hatred. Urren whispered into the heretics ear as the life flowed from his body "The emperor protects!" Urren kicked off the dead heretic, he scrambled for a weapon, a Las pistol with one power pack was all that was left. Urren reached for the standard. He pulled it from the death grip of Grawn and stood tall.  A sudden breeze picked up and the standard unfurled fluttering beautifully in the air. Urrens shoulder ached but he lent against the standard pole the adrenalin pumping through him. No one shot at him, he could see the forms of the enemy watching him. "Here I am!!! Come kill me" he yelled, none of the figures moved they just watched. What power held the  arch enemy back like this. Urren looked around and what he saw terrified him. A 8ft behemoth strode past the waiting figures. A traitor marine! The icons on the traitors armour burned Urren eyes. He started to say the litany of faith under his breath to steady himself. The traitor marine stopped about 10ft  from Urren. It was Clad in thick black and gold power armour daubed with heretical symbols.In its hands was a huge bolt pistol  and the other a wicked looking sword. Blood stained the sword, some old and some fresh it seemed to Urren.
"Guardsmen I am impressed you alone stand on this field where we have prevailed so I give you a choice. The  false emperor has abandoned you. Come embrace death willingly and your soul can join others worshipping the gods of chaos or I will render your soul to the warp piece by piece" the things voice had a sickly pull to it, enticing Urren to give himself to chaos, a small part of his soul yearned for it he could feel it tugging. He felt .... suddenly ashamed and he gripped the standard tighter. Drawing courage from he didn't know where he spoke "The emperors light never abandons his dutiful servants and will burn all the traitorous scum that are caught in its glory!"
The traitor marine laughed, an evil laugh that went right through Urrens soul. "You petulant insignificant worm. Your soul will be devoured by demons in the warp" the traitor marine moved forwards. Urren went to raise his Las pistol but noticed the vox castor. Its light was blinking green now and a muffled sound came from it "Uriels Fury online. Signal received orbital barrage engaged" Urren laughed and wept tears of joy. The traitor marine had stopped, the air tinged with a static buzz, it looked puzzled at Urren. "The emperors light never fades and will cleanse you filth from this planet!!" Urren held the standard high as a beam of light from an imperial lance battery lit up the area all around him and then smashed into the area vaporising Urren and the chaos forces surrounding him.

Jurassic Park!

 On Sunday taking the kids to spend some pocket money I was wondering round Smiths and discovered in the sale section a Jurassic Park board game for £7. The family and I love a good board game especially for that price. 

The box was damaged but all the game board and pieces are intact and on great condition. Tonight we all sat down for a game. One player had to be in charge of the 3 dinosaurs and the rest of the players take on the human characters (From first jurassic Park). Humans need to get 3 humans to the helicopter alive. Dinosaurs need to eat up 3 characters (There are about 6 or 7 so if your character dies you select another). The game uses cards to move characters and dinosaurs. If you get attacked by a dinosaur you lose a card. Run out of cards and  your character is dead!

The board has a similar make up to Settlers Of Catan. Hexagon pieces surrounded by bigger pieces to hold the. Map in place. There are a few tokens but a nice amount that you don't get overloaded

My T rex takes a bite of Lexi! 

We had fun, took the kids a while to learn how to use the cards but they got there.  Would reccomend this game! 

Xenos rampant

 

Got to play a game of Xenos Rampant recently. I have to say it was good fun! 

I made up some super simple units with a few options and Xenos rules so we could try out the game. Crafting an army to how you want it could take a bit longer but even that is super simple 

With each unit having its own little profile it's  nice not to have to sort through  pages of rules for each unit.

It didn't take to long to pick up the flow of the turn sequence. Basically most things you would like to do need a test to pass on 2d6 (Some units get a free action)  Though it is a bit scary that one failed activation can end your turn there and then! You gotta make sure you get your free activations in when you can.  

The combat mechanics are nice and simple which keeps the game going. After the first few shooting activations we both were able to fly through the process without needing to look in the book that often. We did notice if one army has an armoured vehicle and the other has no anti tank. Its an absolute nightmare to destroy that vehicle. Shooting is as simple as rolling your units strength points (More often than not this will be 5 or 10), each unit has a shot value of you match or best that value you have hit. You need multiples of the opponents armour to do damage. Eg armour 2 means every 2 hits will knock off a strength point. 

We only had one melee action occur in the game and that was also simple to do as well and is very similiar to the shooting rules. Attackers roll their attack value and defenders roll their defence value. These hits use the same system as shooting for causing damage. 

The scenarios looked well thought out, we rolled the bottle neck scenario. We used a brodge to fight over Victory points dished out for destroying units and holding the bridge. Only thing I couldn't find was how many turns we needed to play but this could be that I just missed it in the rule book.

So all in all a good simple fun game where you can use what ever minis you like!