Damacles Campaign Results Table

I will be keeping a table of the results. In the campaign points column the number in brackets is what has been spent.

Games played = 12.

Race	Wins	Draws	Losses	CPs	VPs
Eldar	3	2	4	2(4)	3
Tau (H'Rus Sept)	2	0	4	2(2)	2
Tau (Y'ieldi Saemu)	5	1	0	6(4)	5
Tyranids	5	1	0	5(12)	5
IG	0	1	2	2	0

Game Two - The winds of fate

Warlock Alagos approached Farseer Bellthandien and bowed. ' Farseer, we are ready to depart '. Bellthandien looked up and gestured to the runes before him. ' Alagos my loyal friend, like your name sake the runes show a storm approaching. We must be vigilant on this journey '

Our second game involved three armies. The Eldar, Imperial Guard and Genestealers. The scenario was that both the IG and Eldar scouts have spotted a strange object in the centre of an abandoned settlement. Patrols have been sent out to investigate.

This game only had one objective, which was the capillary tower. The imperial guard formed up on the hill with small Last chancer contingents in the tree line to the right. Snipers were situated in the woods as well as the ruined building on the left.

The Eldar deployed onto the hill opposite with the Falcon in support.

The first and second turn were a bloody affair with heavy casualties for both the Eldar and IG. This was further compounded when the Tyranids appeared from the capillary tower in the centre and woods to the right of the Eldar deployment. The ensuing Nid turn was the decimation of a IG platoon and the Falcon becoming immobilised.

The imposing threat from the nids resulted in both the Eldar and IG to redirect their firepower! The ensuing shuriken and bolter fire decimated the Broodlord and genestealers. With the threat of the nids diminished, the shooting between human and Eldar restarted.

By the end of the game no side had gained control of the capillary tower and the game was a draw!

Below are piccies from the game.

Game One - Did you see that?

' Guardsmen Henk, keep an eye on the tree line to your right! Sergeant Khole micro-beaded over the link. Henk looked through his scope and scanned the trees for anything unusual. He had heard that the Tau had stealth suits that made seeing them difficult. However, they wouldn't be able to stop moving leaves and branches. That would give away their position. The deeper wood line looked clear. He was about to bead sergeant Khole that everything was clear when he saw something beyond the trees. Looking harder, he could make out teeth and claws, lots of claws!! Tyranids...Tyranids he shouted over the open-link'

The first game in the H'Rus Reprise was a battle between Imperial Guard and Tyranids. It was a 500 pt Capture and Control mission. The set-up was dawn of war.

The IG set-up its objective on the hill. This was a sentinel that had broken down during the patrol. The nid objective is in the ruins to the left just out of the picture.

The IG deployed first with a HQ squad on the hill. A troop unit pushed up ahead to give cover.

The Brood Lord and retinue of genestealers infiltrated into the IG's half of the table.
TURN ONE

Colonel Schaeffer and his squad moved onto the table a safe distance from the Brood Lord. The second guard squad covered the HQ units. Hoping that weight of fire would stop the nids in the their tracks before they made contact with the unit. The guard squad that had pushed ahead during the deployment doubled back on themselves to try and assist their comrades. The shots from the IG was ineffective and short ranged, with non of the nids being brought down.

The nids chittering reply was to rush forward and assault the closest unit of guardsmen. The battle was short with all the guardsmen being cut down with scything talons. The nids consolidated into the woods to pick the flesh from their talons and prepare for the next assault.

TURN TWO

Recovering from the seeing the slaughter of their comrades. The second squad of guardsmen moved closer to the woods with the flamer and lasguns in hand. Schaeffer and Kage ordered the last chancers to open fire in the Emperors name. When the smoke had cleared from the flamer, heavy bolter and lasfire, the brood Lord and only two of his retinue had survived.

The Brood Lord used his synapse mind to call forth his reserves of genestealers, who appeared on the left side of the table, and moved towards the objective in the ruined buildings. The Brood Lord and retinue then moved out of the shelter of the woods, and made short work of the guard squad that had just previously torched the wood. Those that survived were scattered or cut down as they tried to run. Chittering loudly the Brood Lord and retinue moved towards the Last Chancers on the hill.

TURN THREE

Schaeffer and his squad moved towards the Brood Lord whilst Kage ordered his squad to stand fast and take aim. The fire was short and precise, wounding the Brood Lord and wiping his retinue.






In response, the Brood Lord sensing that there was something about one of the humans upon the hill (Lieutenant Kage) ran straight at them. The ensuing battle was one sided with even Kage being knocked down by the sheer force of the Brood Lords attacks.
The genestealers that had entered the table on the previous turn reached the ruins, and the their objective.

TURN FOUR

Schaeffer and his squad fired at the Brood Lord with all their weapons, but the shots just bounched off its chitinous skin. Schaeffer was cut down with his squad in the ensuing reply from the four limbed beast with a blur of claws and teeth.

All of the Imperial Guard had been wiped out. A win for the Nids!

'Sergeant Khole and Guardsmen Henk slid behind the fallen tree in the woodline. Looking carefully over the tree they saw the four limbed monster was sniffing the stricken sentinal. It sneered and then slowly moved down the hill, surveying the corpses. It passed them by only a few meters as it headed towards the ruins in the north. Once it was clearly not going to come back Sergeant Khole headed towards the hill dragging the frightened Henk with him.

They checked the bodies as they gathered ammo and rations. and were surprised to find that the Kage was only concussed. Colonel Schaeffers was alive as well, but in a worse state. His breathing was shallow and quick, and he was bleeding from multiple lacerations. Rigging together a stretcher they quickly placed Schaeffer upon it and headed towards the emergency extraction point with Henk holding up Lieutenant kage'

Damacles Campaign Two - H'Rus Reprise

Our previous campaign on the planet H'Rus had seen Inquisitor Mateus try to smuggle a relic away from a Tau/Eldar home world. This was foreseen by the Eldar Farseers of the Exodite home world, and with the help of Craftworld Biel-Tan the Inquisitor Mateus was prevented from leaving with the relic.

However, nothing can be that simple on the planet H'Rus:

Inquisitor Mateus has left a small company of Imperial Guard in the outlands of the planet to search for further relics that he believes maybe on the planet.

Eldar and Tau are now fighting over the planet H'Rus. After expelling Inquisitor Mateus, Lord Farseer Varshar has decided that this home world must be expunged of all Tau to prevent any further artifacts from the fall being discovered.

Mean, while a splinter from hive fleet Behemoth has landed in the vast eastern plains of H'Rus.

The forces involved in the campaign are:

• Eldar - Craft world Biel-Tan - Sword of Varshar.
• Tau - Water Caste & Air Caste.
  
• Imperial Guard - Last Chancers.
  
• Tyranids - Splinter from Hive fleet Behemoth - Germanicus Node.

Initial games in the new campaign would start small (500 points). This was to take into account the nids starting in small breeding/gestation pools, as well as skirmishes between the armies. Nid victories in battle would mean they would gather biomass that could be added to the pools to help in bringing bigger and nastier nids into the game. Other armies who gained victories would acquire resource points as they gained more favour with their superiors.

Let the battles commence!

Farseer Varshar vs Chaos Space Marines

Hello again.

Today I managed to play two games of 40K at the Bromley Games Workshop. One against the filth of Chaos Space Marines (especially filthy when playing against Nurgle!), the other against the ravenous Tyranids.

This post is about my game against Chaos Space Marines. Unlike my previous game, I managed to bring my camera this time - unfortunately I only managed to take a couple of photos as I got caught up in the game!

The Mission type was Capture and Control with a spearhead deployment, and I had won the die roll for first deployment and move.

Below are the photos during turn two of the game against Nick (my opponent) Chaos Marines.

As you can see, I am a mechanised army. This really helps against Chaos Marine Armies where Lash of Submission is likely to be used (as Lash only works against non-vehicles).

The Rangers in the woods that you can see in the this photo are deployed as far back as I can too prevent the lash (As well as holding the objective).

The Plague marines are running for cover as the first turn showed the power of the Fire Prism.

The Fire Prisms are working independently to drop strength 9 AP 2 on the Plague marines as their Toughness 5, feel no pain does not work against this much fire power.

The Fire Prism on the right in this photo is trying to get a bead on the enemy objective in the Nick's corner.

In turn three I had to move the Fire Prism onto the second floor of the ruined building on the right in order to get a better fix on the marines holding the objective. Luckily when I landed in the ruin my difficult terrain test was not a one!

This maneuver paid off, as in later turns Nick was forced to deep strike his last lesser daemon squad onto his objective, as I started to drop instant kill blast templates into his marines. He also started to move his Plague marines entrenched in the tree line towards his objective.

A Obliterator (proxied by Ork!) deep strikes behind my Fire Prism on the hill. Luckily he only managed to shake the vehicle (you got to be thankful for Holo-fields and spirit stone).

The Obliterator was subsequently removed by pulsars from my Falcon.

In turn four a single lesser daemon (the other four were returned to the warp through combined Fire Prism and shuriken fire) ran onto my objective, and had to be dealt with by shuriken pistol from my rangers. A Obliterator arrived the following turn right next to them, and flamed out three of them! Luckily the Rangers passed their morale test to stay near the objective. The Obliterator was subsequently vapourised with pulsars from the Falcon.

The game was a close run thing, with a victory for me when the game ended on turn six with my Wave Serpent contesting his objective, and my remaining two Rangers holding mine.

Farseer Varshar vs Space marines

I thought I would start my first post this year with a report as to a game I had last Sunday against Space Marines. This was to be a 2500 point game. Below is my army for that game.

HQ:

• Farseer Varshar (Doom, Guide, Runes of Witnessing, Runes of Warding, Spirit Stones) - 145 pts

Troops:

• Guardian Jetbike Squadron - 88 pts
  
• Pathfinders (Rangers) - 120 pts
  
• Guardian Squad (Starcannon), Warlock (Destructor, Singing spear) - 149 pts
  
• Dire Avengers, Exarch (Avenger Shuriken catapults x 2, Blade storm) - 297 pts
  
• WraithGuard & Warlock (Conceal) - 396 pts
  

Elite:

• Howling Banshees, Exarch (Executioner, War shout, Acrobatic) & Wave Serpent (Shuriken cannon, Bright Lance) - 273 pts
  
• Striking Scorpions, Exarch (Scorpions Claw, Shadow Strike, Stalker) - 148 pts
• Fire Dragons, Exarch (Firepike, Tank Hunters, Crack Shot) - 136 pts
  

Heavy Support:

• Fire Prism (Holo-Fields, Spirit Stone) - 160 pts
  
• Fire Prism (Holo-Fields, Spirit Stone) - 160 pts
  
• Falcon (Holo-Fields, Spirit Stone, Missile Launcher) - 180 pts
  
  

Fast Attack:

• Vyper (Holo-Field, Spirit Stone, Missile Launcher) - 110 pts
  
• Warp Spiders, Exarch (Death Spinner x 2, PowerBlades) - 137 pts

Total = 2499

I met my opponent Rob at Games Workshop in Bromley and he told me that he only had 2300 points and could i do the same. I was tempted to say no, but being the kind soul that i am removed my Guardian Squad to reduce my army by 150 points. This left me with 50 points over his total, but i wasn't about to do micro tweaks to my army to accommodate him (Rob was the one who had challenged me to a 2500 point game in the first place!). Anyway enough ranting.... to the game!

Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Dawn of War

The Farseer would be deployed with Dire Avengers, the Fire Dragons would be deployed inside the Falcon, and my Striking Scorpions, Warp Spiders would be outflanking, deep striking respectively.

I won the dice role and deployed my Rangers into woods, and the Wraith Guard between the hills, as seen below in the dodgy picture I made. (Apologies for the rough map using paint, but I forgot to take pictures! Hopefully next time!).

The idea behind my deployment was to use the 10 Wraith Guard as focal point for the enemy. Toughness 6, fearless, 3+ armour save and with the wraith cannon make them hard to ignore. Especially if i deploy them in the middle of the table! Also as this was a Dawn of War deployment, I didn't want to have to walk them from my table edge. Where I would have almost 400 points being ineffective for 2-3 turns as they lumbered up the table.

Rob deployed a 10 tactical squad in a Rhino and some Scouts with combat shotguns.

TURN ONE
Beginning of the turn Rob tried to steal the initiative, but only rolled a four...phew!

My Wraith Guard lumbered towards the Rhino, whilst the rest of my army pushed up onto the table.

Due to the dawn fighting the only effective shots were done by my Wraith Guard which blew the hunter killer missile off the Rhino!

In response, During Robs move phase he moved onto the board his Librarian, Tactical squad, Vindicator and HQ units from his table edge. The Rhino made a 180 degree turn and deployed the Tac squad. Robs Drop Pod containing Stern Guard landed bang on target next to my Wraith Guard.

Robs shooting phase consisted of his entire army that was in visual and weapon range shooting at my Wraith Guard. This resulted in eight of them dying as well as the attached Warlock. A lot of harm was due to the amount of fire power heading their way, but also some extremely rubbish armour saves by me! The Vindicator targeted the Falcon, but deviated way off target.

TURN TWO

I started the turn by Dooming the Tactical squad next to the Devastator squad and guiding the Dire Avengers.
I moved the Wave Serpents, Fire Prisms, Vyper and Falcon at cruising speed forward (Before realising that i hadn't rolled for reserves!!!!). Being fast skimmers, this allowed me to still fire a single main weapon and all defensive weapons (and made it 6's to hit for any marine that decided to assault). The Dire Avengers deployed from the wave serpent on the left.

In the shooting phase I prioritised my targets. That being anything that could harm my vehicles. With that in mind I linked fired the Fire Prisms, dropping a large blast strength 6, AP 3 on top of the Devastators. This killed four out of the five marines (after re-rolling wounds...the joy of being twin-linked when combining fire!). This left one marine with a lascannon, which my Vyper finished off with a well placed crack missile. The Dire Avengers that had deployed from the Wave Serpent on the left released their blade storm which decimated the Tactical squad. Looking at the Librarian, I asked Rob if he was attached to the Tac squad behind him. To my surprise he said no! I vaporised his Librarian with the pulsars from the Falcon, as his Terminator armours 5+ invulnerable save didn't work. The Wave Serpents on the left and right fired at the Drop Pod and Vindicator respectively with no armour penetration. The remaining two Wraith Guard fired at the Vindicator, causing a glancing hit which shook the vehicle. The Rangers didn't manage to harm the Stern Guard next to the Drop Pod.

In Robs turn his second squad of five Scouts arrived on the board. One was armed with a missile launcher. Robs Terminators failed to arrive this turn.

During the movement phase his units moved forward apart from the Stern Guard who stayed in the shadows of the Drop Pod, and the Tactical squad next to the Rhino.

Firing commenced with the Stern Guard finishing off the Wraith Guard with vengeance rounds. The Scouts who arrived on this turn fired at the Jet Bikes with their bolters, but these bounced off their armour. The Tactical Squad next to the Rhino fired their missile launcher at the Falcon, but only shook it (thanks to the holo-fields and spirit stones).

TURN THREE
I rolled for reserves with only my Striking Scorpions arriving this turn on the right flank.

Movement consisted of the Dire Avengers getting back into the Wave Serpent and moving back behind the hill (as they couldn't fire this turn) . The Fire Prisms moved so that they could get clear line of sight to the Tactical squad next to the Rhino. The Wave Serpent on the right deployed the Howling Banshees who moved towards the Command Squad. The Wave Serpent then moved on to the hill to get clear line of sight to the Vindicator. The Falcon went flat out as it couldn't fire this turn. The Striking Scorpions who were outflanking on the Right moved towards the Chapter Master and his retinue. The Vyper moved forward to get a clear line of sight to everything.

Shooting consisted of the Fire Prisms combining fire to kill eight out of the Tactical squad marines next to the Rhino. The Wave Serpent fired its bright lance and the Vyper shot a crack missile to kill the remaining two marines in the squad. The Howling Banshees now with a clear path to the Command squad ran forward five inches to get within assault range. The Striking Scorpions fired at the Chapter Master and his retinue killing one marine. The Jet Bikes fired at the Scouts killing three of the recruits, and the Wave Serpent carrying the Dire Avengers killed another recruit. The remaining Scout with missile launcher failed his morale check and headed back towards his table edge. The Wave Serpent on the left fired the bright lance at the Drop Pod, but did not penetrate. The rangers scored three hits on the Stern Guard, but didn't manage to wound them.

During the assault phase my Howling Banshees wiped out the Command squad. I lost only three of the Banshees. I then consolidated the Banshees into the wood line on the left, to prepare for an attack on the Stern Guard in my next turn. The Striking Scorpions smashed into the Chapter Master and his retinue killing all, and losing four scorpions in the process. They then consolidated towards the Vindicator with a mighty six inch move!

In Robs turn, his Terminators deep striked onto the table. He moved the Rhino back to allow the Vindicator a better line of sight.

Robs shooting consisted of concentrated firepower from the Stern Guard and Tactical squad onto the remaining Howling Banshees, killing all of the them. The Rhino killed a Striking Scorpion leaving the Exarch. The Vindicator fired at the Wave Serpent, but the shot did not penetrate. The Tactical squad fired at the Jet Bikes, killing one rider. At the end of the shooting phase the Jet Bikes passed their leadership test.

TURN FOUR
Now that the Dire Avengers had reloaded their weapons, I guided them whilst Dooming the Terminators. My reserve roll for the Warp Spiders was successful.

In my movement phase the Dire Avengers disembarked from the Wave Serpent next to the Terminators. The Fire Dragons who had been waiting patiently inside the Falcon also disembarked, and moved towards the Terminators. The Falcon then moved to also get a clean line of site to the same target. The Warp Spiders deep striked behind the Vindicator and the Scorpion Exarch moved within striking distance of the Vindicator as well. The Fire Prisms moved into positions which allowed them to hit multiple targets depending on the outcome of the rest of my shooting.

Shooting commenced with the Dire Avengers blade storm. This resulted in one Terminator failing his 2+ save. I then fired the Falcons pulsars and shuriken catapults, with no damage. The Fire Dragons then fired their weapons killing two more Terminators (even with one of them having a 3+ invulnerable from its storm shield). The Rangers then fired killing another. This left one Terminator with paired lighting claws! The Warp Spiders fired into the rear of the Vindicator resulting in it being wrecked. The Fire Prism fired at the remaining Tactical squad, killing eight of them. The Scorpion Exarch ran towards the Rhino.

During the assault phase i had to make a decision as to whether to assault the last Terminator with the Fire Dragons. I knew that if he stayed alive, he could cause some serious damage. To my surprise I managed to get 5 wounds, which subsequently he only managed to save all but one!

This was the straw that broke the camels back, Rob shook my hand and conceded the game.

Hopefully you have enjoyed this report, and next time I will be able to have a report with proper photos!