SM Biker army update

Apart from being side-tracked by some craters, I have made some decent progress on the bikes.

I will post some pics soon.

I am debating adding to my 5th Company units some heavy firepower in the shape of Multi-Meltas and Heavy Bolters - as an alternative choice. The missile launcher is a jack of all trades and master of none. It would be nice to have the chance to use a MM or HB - which like the missile launcher, is free. It means buying some more Devastator units to make up the required figures.

Or.

I could mix my 5th & 2nd Company units.

In other news (as they say), I have pre-ordered a copy of Space Hulk. Not sure its worth but I think my sons will enjoy playing it. We shall see!

GW Road show at the Metro Centre

It was the usual manic Apocalypse fun - only this time everything was provided.

It was an enjoyable couple of hours. Both Nick and Gabe participated - Gabe on the Ork side (of course) and Nick with the IG.

The IG side was being overwhelmed so I was asked to take over some boy scouts - the Ultramarines - to rescue the struggling Guard. Well true to form the GW guys managed to steer the game to a nail biting draw. Very nicely done methinks!

The road show was impressive. Some very nice models and check out that board!

A vid scanning across the board:

SM Biker army

I have spent the day pondering (ok - just part of the day!) what I might have in a 1500pt biker army. The trouble is you dont get many bikes for your money - or points. So I am left wondering if in fact any biker dominated list would ever be much more that a list for fun. Whatever the case may be I intend to proceed. I have the models. Just have to make them.

First up is my KOR’SARRO KHAN equivalent - Captain Fuller of the 5th Company. So bikers as troops.

I want a reasonable assault option so I am including a second HQ - a chaplain on a bike.

I will take a couple of Tactical squads and equip them with transport - a Rhino and two Razorbacks (LC & HB).

My first biker squad will be the assault unit. With seven bikes, two flamers a Sarge with a Power Fist and melta bombs they should be able to take on most opposition - particularly if the Chaplain joins them. Mind you I will be avoiding Genestealers and their like! Unless there is some very good reason to sacrifice the unit... I figure that catching a unit in enfilade with the flamers & bolters prior to the actual assault will be quite effective.

The next two bikers squads are similarly built. Six bikes with an attached attack bike (AB). One squad will have two plasma guns and the AB will have a heavy bolter (HB). The primary role of this squad is shooting up troops & light armour but the Sarge carries a power sword and melta bombs. Assault is possible...

The second squad is the primary anti-armour unit. It will have two meltas and the AB will carry the multi-melta. Again shooting is the role but the Sarge is similarly equipped to assist with close encounters. For this squad, the main target will be primary armour and montrous creatures.

And that is it. 21 bikes! It seems a lot but it is only three squads. With the tactical SM there are only five squads in all, seven units in total. Not a whole lot. It will be fun - I hope!

5th Company Bike Force Recon (1500)

HQ (2)

Captain Fuller [KOR’SARRO KHAN equivalent]

Chaplain [Combi-flamer, bike]

TROOPS (6)

(1) Squad Pugna (strife) : Rhino & Standard Squad (10)

(2) Squad Bellum (war) Alpha: LC Razorback & Tactical Squad (5)

(3) Squad Bellum (war) Omega: HB Razorback & Tactical Squad (5)

(4) Bike Squad Tigris (tiger): 6 Bikes [2 melta, SGT PW & melta Bombs] & Attack Bike [MM]

(5) Bike Squad Lamina (sword): 7 Bikes [2 flamers, SGT PF & melta Bombs]

(6) Bike Squad Pardus (leopard): 6 Bikes [2 plasma, SGT PW & melta Bombs] & Attack Bike [HB]

(19 bikes and 2 Attack Bikes - 21 total)

ELITE (3)

NONE

FAST ATTACK (3)

NONE

HEAVY SUPPORT (3)

NONE

EDIT: The list had an error in it - transports are dedicated. Now tweaked and corrected.

Alternative missions

One of the 'mission' types in Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) involved attempting to get as many armoured vehicles off the opposite board edge as you could by the end of the scenario. This was frantic fun and often quite hard.

A further variation was to have a 'meeting' engagement with both armies entering the board from opposite ends and attempting to exit as many vehicles as possible from the opposite side.

I fancy this would be fun for both Apocalypse, modified Planetstrike and normal games. But with a few tweaks.

Firstly and most importantly most armoured vehicles in WH40K are SLOW. Very slow. As in British infantry support tank slow (circa early WWII). If you assume entry along the 'short' edge of the game board then you face a journey of some 72". This would take a lumbering Leman Russ up to 12 turns to cross moving the minimum of 6" per turn.

Not really good enough. Even if you entered on the 'long' edge, moving the minimum distance per turn, getting to the opposite side would take up to 8 turns.

To make this kind of scenario/mission work, I think you need to up the speed of armour - say add 6" movement across the board.

Thus a lumbering Leman Russ would move 12" plus D6. Fast vehicles get VERY fast.

I rather think a battle based on this kind of scenario would be manic fun. I better get assembling and painting my tank companies... not to mention my SM Biker army. More on that later!

Warboss

Still working on the Orks. First up the big ugliest one.

From Warhammer 40K

From Warhammer 40K

Yeah I am not the greatest painter but its good enough for us!

Talking about WIP...

I just had to photo this. Its not everything...

From Warhammer 40K

So much to do, so little time!

Summer WH40K and Orks

From Warhammer 40K

Huh? It's a DeffKotpa - a WIP. Finally doing Gabe's AOBR Orks.

Yeah its time for a change of pace for Gabe. 500pts of green skinned mayhem is just the ticket. A nice change from his 'nids.

And I have made some very rash promises in the GW's 'oath'. All kinds of daft promises. Oh well. I just hope they don't expect me to paint, etc, in-store - no chance of that! No time!

I am hoping we can get to a number of the GW activities in the MetroCentre. Starting on July 23rd with the Endo III battles and continuing with the Macragge battle, 'How low can you go' and a kill team (survival horror?) game. Kudos to Mal and team - I am sure Gabe and I will enjoy this lot.

Another promise - some photos of the events here on this blog. Watch this space!

Meanwhile I have also promised to play far more games that I possibly can manage, to paint up some of my undercoated Landraiders, Rhinos and - yes AND, start, construct and paint some CC Termies and finish my Sternguard.

Not much eh? At least I didnt make daft promises about my forthcoming SM biker army. I have four boxes of DA Ravenwing (for my own chapter - they are good value biker boxes). I believe a WH40Kers work is never done.

Gabe promised to paint up some of his remaining & outstanding 'nids. To do 1000pts worth in fact. I will believe it when I see it!

1000pt game: Tyranids vs Space Marines

I never know how these battles are going to pan out. My younger son can play a very canny & cunning game indeed... or he can bunch up his army and charge down a kill zone. With predictable results.

We rolled for mission type and deployment and ended up with seize ground & spearhead. Gabe had set up a fair amount of terrain (which suits him). His army consisted of a couple of zoanthropes, a shooty Carnifex, a broodlord with genestealers... and a fair number of gaunts/hgaunts.

I brought along 2 ten man tacticals with rhinos, a bike squad (with MM attack bike), a whirlwind (first time I have used one), a dev squad and a captain.

The objectives were placed with one being on top of a large hill more or less central on the board. I thought this would be the critical point to fight over. The other two objectives were close to the deployment areas and we would capture these on the first turn.

I swept the bikers around his left flank, hoping to take out the zoanthrope there, and then beat up the broodlord. My dev squad had a nice line of fire on the carnifex and started up a dual with that beast.

One tactical squad captured the right most objective and my other tactical unit, with rhino, captured the central objective. The capt rode with this squad.

Gabe wrecked this rhino and I lost two of my dev squad. In fact I started to lose causulties all over the place from his shooting. But my dev squad ultimately won the dual with the carnifex and the Bike squad took care of the zoanthrope. But although I had damaged his advancing troops & broodlord, he was still able to assault the central objective.

Predictably, the broodlord & genestealers finished off the captain and the remaining squad members - capturing the central objective.

This meant that he could benefit from the full fury of my other units, including the whirlwind. In one turn of heavy firing, the hill was cleared. But I couldnt capture the hill - I only had one troop left.

Gabe though decided to call it a day. He believed that he couldnt win. I tried to explain my problem but he was convinced. I think he was wrong. He had three surviving troops and he could have gotten within 3" of the central objective forcing me to move to get LOS. Arguably my bikes might have been able to clear the troops or at least contest the objective. It would have been hard for him, but he did have one surviving zoanthrope which could have done some serious damage to my bike squad.

In all I don't think he should have given up.

As for myself. I was wishing I had split one of the squads into combat squads. Oh well.

It was a good game. And its been a while.

The Three Wolves Chapter

Since it has been rather quiet round here of late I thought it a good idea to document some aspects of my home-grown Space Marines chapter.

The name is derived from what is supposed to be our family coat of arms which features three wolves (black wolves on a white background).

The chapter is from the second founding, from the Ultramarines. They are known (surprise, surprise) as the Wolves of Guilliman.

I wanted to give this chapter some unusual characteristics for Apocalypse play to entertain my own wee wolves - da boys.

So here are the colour schemes, courtesy of the excellent B&C.

First up the 1st Company & First Company Assault specialists, the Red Wolves (respectively):

The Second & Third companies (left to right):

The Fourth & Fifth companies (left to right):

The Sixth & Seventh companies (left to right):

The Eighth & Ninth companies (left to right):

More on the chapter's history, tactics and such later...

The promise

Earlier this year my sons started getting interested in Warhammer 40000 (WH40K).

I thought this was a pretty decent hobby to get into so I promised them that if they truely engaged with the game, I would buy into it as well.

Much to my surprise they did dive into the game big time. So I had to make good on my promise.

I am now collecting the Space Marines.

Beware of making promises!