More armour for GünSchwarm

The enemies of GünSchwarm continue to increase their forces - see last week's battle report for details. In particular, I was pretty disappointed when we lost our Panther on the first shot of the game!

There were several reasons for this setback- an alarming string of good luck from Cam recently, and my poor (or perhaps overconfident) deployment of the tank in the line of fire right at the beginning of the game all contributed.

Although we pretty much got our revenge on Mike F and Cam thanks to what amounted to an un-killable Flakpanzer (AA vehicles vs. infantry = good times), I was still ticked that the Space Panther had bit the big one without even firing a shot in the defence of New New Berlin's ruins. After the game, Frederick provided a short and accurate assessment of the GünSchwarm Space Panther situation - "you need another one".














So I took out another Solido Panther, a hacksaw, a GW tank sprue and got to work. I decided this tank would also have an open hatch with a tank commander. Since I was already in the hock to F*** World, I used a Death Korps of Krieg tank commander from GW. The figure is great, and fits in well with the GW Steel Legion troops who are providing the fighting bulk of GünSchwarm.














The process, painting etc was the same as the first Panther. For whatever reason, the desert yellow colour is a little brighter on the second tank. I was going to worry about it, but then I figured it was close enough. With Future Gordon Brown on the loose, we can't get worried about the shade of yellow on the tanks. Besides, someone from TMP will point out where I screwed up and I'll know for next time.

GünSchwarm now has another Space Panther to back up the troops. If those APCs from Old Crow ever show up, we'll be busting loose from New New Berlin and heading straight for New New Old Moscow! I believe Brian referred to it as a "Blitz-Schwarm"...we'll see...

"Future Potsdam" Conference Postponed

Last Thursday we had another go at the FuturKom vs. GünSchwarm rivalry, with the added bonus of participation from Future Gordon Brown's lads in the form of Mike's FutureBritz.

The scenario was rather simple: the setting was 1945, in the ruins of New New Berlin, the remnants of GünSchwarm struggle on. In the finest future-Teutonic tradition, the Schwarm had some new war-winning wonder weapons - the Gepanzert Grenadiere (armoured battlesuits), the manic SchwarmBot, and the focus of the scenario, the super-schwere (or über-heavy, if you like) selbstfahren waffentrager, a giant self-propelled gun hurling projectiles the size of Volkswagens several miles downrange. The FuturKom and FutureBritz had 12 turns to reach the gun and silence it. GünSchwarm's objective was to prevent those victory conditions. Greg and Frederick ran the Schwarm, Mike and Cam took the Britz, and Brian and I controlled the Kom forces.

War-winning wunder-waffen...?

Future Panther lays in wait. But soon... kaBOOM!

Schwarm digs into the ruins.

The Schwarm dug in several infantry squads, a mortar, the Future Panther, an SP flak gun, the urban annihilator tank, and a recce halftrack, along with four battlesuits. Against this FuturKom threw two recce cars, two T-340 tanks, and a full infantry platoon. The FutureBritz deployed the Future Churchill, Sherman Mk XXV, some infantry, and the fearsome Tesla coil cannon.

Gepanzerte Grenadiere

See? KaBOOM!!

The game started well for the Britz as they took out the Panther on the first turn. However this was a somewhat misleading start to their game as they were whittled down almost to a man, only the Tesla surviving.

Future Gordon Brown expects every man to do his duty...

The inexorable advance of socialism (future style)

The better 'ole

GünSchwarm command

Across the street to certain... victory!

Future desantniki

FuturKom fared a bit better, but after a promising start, Frederick ranged in with the mortar and took out the bulk of a squad, with the plasma guns of the battlesuits also doing fearsome damage. One tank and some intrepid riders reached the objective by turn 13 or so, and although by that time the Schwarm was spent, it was too late, as the superheavy's crew had time to finish their bombardment and/or scuttle their vehicle (we hadn't thought that far ahead).

Thanks to Frederick for bringing many of the cool buildings and junkyard piles, they looked awesome. Another fun (and great-looking) game in the twisted future of SpaceKrieg!

Escape from West Staines - the pictures

"Booyakasha!" A few weeks back, we put on a zombie skirmish game loosely based on "28 Weeks Later". I wanted a British flavour to the game so I decided to set the game in a neighbourhood that sounded kinda run down and a bit nasty - "Staines" fit the bill. I mean, who calls their neighbourhood "Staines"? Only people that are chock-full of awesome, that's who!



Anyway, here's the neighbourhood. Tower block, bank, police station, and a couple of row houses surrounded by light-industrial and rubbish tips. "Perfick!"



The premise of the game was simple. The lads each took a "gang" (cops, gangsta types, corporate suits, SAS, mercenaries, criminal heisters, etc.) and started from the far corners of the table. The objective was to get to the helicopter on the roof of the police station and be on it when it took off. Of course to get to the chopper you had to fight through waves of zombies and the occasional unco-operative fellow player...

The West Staines Massive

Bankrobber surrounded by zeds

SAS menaced by the infected

The suits with their backs to the wall

On the rooftop

"I think we're in trouble!"

A fun game and great looking too! Thanks to Mike F. for supplying buildings and Infected, and Jake R. for generously letting me use some commissioned figures in our game.

Mechani-Kon Game Four: No Quarter

Opponent: Byron and his Dark Angels

Belial – Storm Bolter, Sword
Belial's Deathwing Terminator command squad – Apothecary, Assault Cannon, 4 x Storm Bolter, 4 x Power Fist, Power Sword
Deathwing Terminator squad - Banner, 4 x Lightning Claws, Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield, Cyclone Missile Launcher
10 x Tactical Marines – Missile Launcher, Rhino APC w/ Hunter Killer Missile
10 x Assault Marines – Jump Packs, 3 x Plasma Pistol
Land Raider

Scenario: Setup was on a large rocky plateau. The table was divided into four quarters. A player could control a quarter if they had at least one scoring (i.e. Troops) unit in the quarter, and there were no enemy units contesting it.

Major Victory: Player controls 3 or more table quarters
Minor Victory: Player controls or contests 2 table quarters

The Dark Angels set up first, in the northwest quarter. They divided the Tactical Marines into combat squads, putting 5 Marines w/ the Missile Launcher on foot behind a ridge line, and the rest in the Rhino. The Land Raider, holding the Terminator Assault squad, set up at the south edge of the table quarter. The rest was held in reserve.

By the rules of the scenario, the Eldar could NOT achieve a Major Victory – my Swordwind had only two Troops available, the Dire Avenger squads. The Dark Angels now functionally had four Troops, and could potentially control all 4 quarters. Everything on the Eldar side was held in reserve, with the Spiders set to come on from the south board edge, not deep strike.

Turn 1 and top of Turn 2:
The Land Raider moved south into the southwest table quarter. The Rhino moved into the northeast quarter and got stuck climbing a ridge. Belial and his boys teleported behind the Land Raider. The Assault Marines jumped deep into the northwest quarter.

Stuff had to happen right away if the Eldar forces were to have any chance. The Autarch’s Master Strategist skill ensured that the Autarch, Farseer, Fire Dragons, Banshees and one squad of Avengers arrived.

Bottom of Turn 2:
The three Wave Serpents skimmed onto the southwest quarter in a variation of a Capstone formation (thanks, Dweomer!). The Fire Dragons’ boat spun around, dumping the Dragons out the rear near the Land Raider. The Banshee Serpent tucked in behind the Dragon boat, which shielded it from fire. The Avenger boat took up the rear. The Farseer and the Autarch jetted to the right of the Dragon Serpent. Everybody who could let loose at the Land Raider; a couple of the Dragons were even within 6” so they could use their Melta ability. After 10 Fusion Gun shots and a thrown Singing Spear, the Land Raider received exactly ONE “immobilized” result.

Rats!

The jet bikers sped back off the ridge to save their hides.

Turn 3:
The Rhino and the ground Tac squad both shot missiles, which bounced off Serpent hulls. The Land Raider’s side sponson lasers failed to penetrate the Dragon Serpent’s force field.

Belial and his command squad moved south and shot up the Dragons. They then assaulted and wiped them out with Power Weapons and Power Fists. The Assault Terminators assaulted the Dragon Serpent, stunning it. The dead pilot's essence held in its Spirit Stone would allow it to at least move next turn.



The second Avenger squad showed up. The Farseer tried to Doom the Assault Terminators, but she rolled an “11” on 2D6.

Double rats!

The Banshees disembarked and ran up the rise to face Belial and company. Their Serpent and the Dragon’s Serpent moved to the left and right of the Land Raider, both to try and shield the infantry from Missile Launcher fire, and to try and channel the movement of the Jump Assault Marines away from the upcoming scrimmage. The two Avenger boats moved into a delta formation. The Avengers disembarked yet again into a fighting wedge in between their two Serpents; they were shielded from a lot of fire, and enemy assaulters would be limited in how much power could be brought to bear. The Farseer moved to support the Avengers, and the Autarch moved behind the Marines to within charge distance of Belial’s men.

Both Avenger squads and three Wave Serpents poured all their fire into the close combat Terminators. With a double Bladestorm, that was 69 dice of various strength shuriken fire, plus a Krak missile. When the dust cleared, all five of the Terminators had been killed.

The Banshees and the Autarch charged the other Terminator squad, inflicting 36 Power Weapon attacks. All the Terminators but Belial died before the Marines could even swing. A couple of Banshees were killed by his sword, but the combat ended with a wounded Belial locked in combat, outnumbered 9 to 1.



Turn 4:
The combat squad in the immobilized Rhino disembarked and ran off to the northeast. The Eldar would never be able to dig them out with the remaining time left. The Assault Marines jumped to the southeast, laying some plasma fire into the Serpents, to no lasting effect. The Land Raider and missile launcher dude again bounced shots off force fields.

Another saga should be written and sung about Belial’s last stand. (Do Dark Angels even recite such tales?) Belial failed enough saves to die a warrior’s death. Consolidation moves went north.

The Farseer Doomed the Tactical combat squad (finally!). The Banshees then ran towards these missileers. The Dragon Serpent moved 12” east. The Avengers all mounted up and their Serpents moved off at combat speed towards the north and east, respectively. The Banshee Serpent moved north, getting an angle on the jump troops. The two jet bikers then moved generally to the rear of the Land Raider. Concentrated Wave Serpent fire killed six Assault Marines, but their morale held firm.

The Banshees charged home and wiped out the Dark Angels combat squad. They then consolidated against the ridge line.



Turn 5:
The remaining combat squad ran further to the northeast. The Assault Marines jumped into the southeast quarter, shot up the rear armour of the Dragon’s Serpent, and put it on the ground. The Land Raider failed to even glance.

Up to now, the Spiders had been rolling "1" for their reserves. I forgot to bring them on for this final turn, but in the end it wouldn't have made a difference.

As the time wound down, one Avenger Serpent moved into the northwest quarter, controlling it. The other Avenger Serpent moved into the southeast quarter, contesting it. The Farseer and the Autarch remained in the southwest quarter, trying to deal with the Land Raider. After much shooting and assaulting, they only managed to pull off one of the laser cannon sponsons.

At the end of the game, each army controlled one quarter, and contested two others.

Result: Eldar and Dark Angels each claim a Minor Victory

The Eldar also gained two extra battle points, for controlling the Dark Angels’ deployment zone, and for not having any Heavy Support in their own deployment zone. I didn’t have any Heavy Support to begin with, and I asked a judge whether I should get the benefit – I didn’t think I should. They said I should, based on the scenario “Rules as Written.”

Alex and Thurston, the convention organizers, put on a great tournament. Interesting scenarios, nice looking terrain, and everything ran on time. All my opponents played well, and I liked the look of the various MEQs I'd faced - interesting, themed armies.

The full tournament results are posted here:
http://mechani-kon.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=76

Mike, the only other Eldar player, won the Best General award and came in Third Place. Byron, my last opponent, came in Second Place. I was fortunate to score enough on total Appearance, Sportsmanship and Battle Points to win Best Overall.

Cheers,

Can this man be stopped?

Financial bailouts? Crippled national economy? We'll leave that for the current pundits.

Instead, fast forward to April 2945, and New New Berlin is under attack from all sides (and, one presumes, the financial sector has also stopped functioning properly, but back to the military situation).

GünSchwarm units put up stubborn resistance in the final defence of their capital city, as Futurekom moves in for the kill. "Wotan", the schwere-wonderwaffen panzer, is blazing away to the bitter end. And the Schwarmbot has been activated, ready to go down fighting.

Meanwhile, Future Gordon Brown has entered the fray, sending a unit of Britz to find some advanced Gün technology before the Kommers get to it. Presumably this will be used to pay down the FutureBrtiz debt of 245 trillion Interstellar Pounds...

Can this man be stopped? We'll see tonight!

Mechani-Kon Game Three: Cleanse

Opponent: Bruce and his Space Wolf drop pod army
Wolf Guard Battle Leader – Frost Blade, bolt pistol, frag, meltabombs, Wolf Pelt
Wolf Priest – plasma pistol, frag, meltabombs, Wolf Pelt
5 x Drop Pods – 2 w/ Deathwind launchers
10 x Grey Hunters – frag, flamer
10 x Grey Hunters – 2x plasma pistol, power fist, frag
10 x Grey Hunters – 2 x plasma pistol, 2 x power weapon, meltagun, frag
10 x Blood Claws – 2 x power fist
10 x Blood Claws – 2 x power fist
Landspeeder – multi-melta, assault cannon

Scenario: Setup was diagonally across an urban highway, running through some low ridges; the highway was covered with barricades. This was a kill point game with some twists: an army’s highest point HQ choice was worth 3 KP, an army’s highest point unit was worth an additional KP, and squads broken at the end of the game were worth 1 KP.

Major Victory: Player has the most kill points
Minor Victory: Player has at least 5 kill points

Everything in the Space Marine army would deep strike. I chose to go second, and put everything in reserve; the Spiders would come in from my table edge. Just before the game started, there was nothing on the table from either side – very odd to see.

The Space Wolves dropped a trio of pods in the middle of the multilane highway, within mutual support of each other. Grey Hunters disembarked out the west side of the closest drop pod.



The Farseer, Autarch, both Avenger squads and the Banshees showed up for the party. The Avenger Serpents moved just south and east of the ridge. The Avengers disembarked in a wedge between their two Wave Serpents. The Banshees' Wave Serpent moved onto the table just to the east of the Avenger boats. The Farseer came on supporting the Avengers, and the Autarch moved behind the Banshee’s Serpent. Two full Bladestorms and concentrated vehicle fire washed over the Grey Hunters. Bruce’s luck deserted him completely – despite the cover, all the Grey Hunters were shot down and the pod destroyed. The photo below is from a vantage point behind the Avengers, taken just after the last of the Marine squad was removed as casualties.



The Space Puppies dropped the remainder of their force in the third turn. The Landspeeder tried a bold move, deep striking near the Banshees’ Wave Serpent. Sadly, it deviated right on top of a wrecked drop pod. Failing its Dangerous Terrain test, it crashed. Despite this setback, the Battle Leader and his flamer squad Grey Hunters made a bold move. Risking deviation off the west table edge, they landed just west of the ridge and disembarked into the woods. Blood Claws dropped and disembarked to the southeast of the ruined Grey Hunter pod. The northernmost Marines moved south to support their battle brothers.

Bottom of the turn, the Dragons showed up. The Farseer Doomed the Blood Claws and moved towards the Battle Leader. Both Avenger squads were shot dry, so they mounted up and their Serpents moved at combat speed towards the woods. The Dragons’ Serpent moved onto the table and they disembarked. About half were in range of the Battle Leader’s squad. The Banshees dismounted and moved towards the Blood Claws, along with the Autarch. Their Serpent moved to the east of the Blood Claws’ pod, to channel the movement of the other Space Marines in a westerly direction.

Dragon fire killed a few Grey Hunters. The Banshees, defying all tradition, fired their pistols, killing some Blood Claws. The Autarch destroyed the Blood Claw drop pod with his fusion gun. The ensuing explosion killed yet more Blood Claws - and hit a Banshee, but her armour held up. The Autarch then assault moved south.

A saga should be written for the last stand of the Blood Claws, who held their ground despite all the shooting casualties they took. The Banshees launched themselves toward the Iron Men. Clenching their weapons, the Blood Claws counter charged the Banshees. The area around the pod became a shambles of whirling fighters. Afterward, all the remaining Blood Claws were down on the ground. The women of the Banshee Shrine consolidated back south, away from enemy fire.



Fourth turn, the Battle Leader and his men tried to move out of the woods, but they rolled very badly. As they tried to disentangle themselves from the underbrush, they started singing their death songs. They wrecked the all-shuriken cannon Serpent. The other Blood Claw squad moved towards the wreck of the first Blood Claw drop pod.



The last Grey Hunter squad caught a glimpse of the Autarch. A plasma weapon sent the Eldar officer into his next life, probably as a Wraith construct.

The Spiders finally deigned to show up and moved onto the table. The Farseer Doomed the Blood Claws, and moved onto the ridge, but she missed the Battle Leader’s pod with her thrown Singing Spear. The Dragons moved north and their fire killed a few more Grey Hunters around the Battle Leader. The Avengers in the immobilized Serpent dismounted. Their Bladestorm killed the Battle Leader and his few remaining men.

The other Avenger Serpent moved onto the ridge. The Avengers dismounted, to pour their fire into the Blood Claws, killing a few. A Krak missile destroyed another pod.

In the close combat phase, the Farseer came back off the ridge. The Banshees moved, fleeted and then charged the Blood Claws, killing several. A single power fist Marine remained on his feet to strike back, killing a couple of Banshees.

As the fifth turn started, a time warning was called. We would play through turn 5 and call an end to the game. The Grey Hunters moved south and poured fire into the Spiders, killing two. Their morale held.

Another saga should be created for the last of the Blood Claws, cut down by the two-handed sword of Exarch Rhapsody. The Banshees consolidated to the northwest.

The Farseer cast her spear again, destroying a drop pod. The remainder of the Eldar army ran or skimmed towards the Grey Hunters. After all shooting was resolved, a drop pod and five Space Marines were all that remained of a once-proud battle force. The only Kill Points given up by the Eldar were for the hapless Autarch.



Result: Eldar Major Victory

The Eldar gained two extra battle points: one for killing at least 50% of their opponents available KPs, and one for killing the Space Wolf general. The Space Wolves lost a battle point for scoring 3 KPs or less, but gained a battle point for killing the Autarch.

Fourth game (and the tournament finale): Eldar vs. Byron's Dark Angels!

Mechani-Kon Game Two: Supply Run

Opponent: Fabio and his Death Guard:
Winged Demon Prince – Warp Time
Winged Demon Prince – Lash of Submission
7 Death Guard – Aspiring Champion, Power Fist, Meltagun, Rhino APC
7 Death Guard – Aspiring Champion, Power Fist, Meltagun, Rhino APC
7 Death Guard – Aspiring Champion, Power Fist, Meltagun, Rhino APC
2 Obliterators
2 Obliterators
Vindicator

Scenario: Setup was on a blasted wasteland table, with a Necron-esque obelisk in the middle of the table. Vital supplies of food, ammo and spare parts had had been airdropped on the table. Six counters were provided to represent these resources; they would be placed randomly on the table by the players. There were four black & white counters, one red counter, and one decoy (representing supplies too damaged in landing to be useful). Any figure with a “hand” (not just Troops) could pick up an objective and reveal its nature in the movement phase. They could pass off the objective in a subsequent movement phase, and would drop it if killed or forced to run away.

Major Victory: Player controls the coloured counter.
Minor Victory; Player controls two black and white counters.

Fabio chose to go first, and set up broadly across the table. From west to east: Vindicator, Demon Prince, Death Guard, Demon Prince, Death Guard, Oblits, Oblits, Death Guard. Again, the Eldar were held in reserve. Everyone who could mounted up, and the Spiders prepared to Deep Strike. My idea was to see what tokens the Chaos forces would reveal first, and then decide where to concentrate the Swordwind’s forces.

The Chaos forces moved out, with all the Rhinos popping smoke. Since the Eldar had nothing on the table, the smoke dissipated at the start of the second turn. After the first couple of turns, the Death Guard squads had revealed three counters and castled behind his Rhinos. From West to east: black & white, black & white, red. That decided it. The focal point would be to the east. This was going to be an uphill battle.

At the bottom of Turn 2, I used the Autarch’s Master Strategist ability to bring on the Autarch, Farseer, both Avenger squads and the Dragons. The Fire Dragons moved flat out towards the easternmost Death Guard squad. These Chaos Marines had the potato, and the Eldar wanted it badly. The two jetbike HQ’s turbo boosted along the eastern board edge, using the Dragon’s boat as cover. The two Avenger boats moved on 12”, immobilizing the centre Death Guard Rhino.



The potato-wielding Marines mounted up and withdrew north in the face of fiery doom (or is that Dooom?). The Chaos forces moved in a general advance to the east, to try and get in on the action. Gunfire was unremarkable.

Bottom of the third turn, the Warp Spiders appeared and deep struck in the northeast quarter. The EML Avenger boat moved up in support of the Dragons, who moved close to the easternmost Rhino. The Autarch moved up in support of the Dragons, and the Farseer slid back and captured a Black & White objective. The remaining Serpent moved west. The Spiders’ fire immobilized and disarmed the Rhino. No other fire was effective. In the close combat phase, the Spiders jumped 11” towards the far northeast corner.

On the fourth turn, the Obliterators created lascannons from their unholy bodies, killing 4 Spiders. The Exarch’s morale held, though. Everything else moved east, except the guys in the almost-wrecked Rhino. One of the Demon Princes was going to cast a spell, when I explained what Runes of Warding did. The Chaos magicians declined to cast any magic for the rest of the game.

At the bottom of the fourth turn, the Banshee Serpent came in from reserve, and moved flat out towards the east side of the pillar, using it to hide from the Vindicator. The lone Spider Exarch teleported to the northern side of the Rhino. If he could pop it, they’d have to dismount somewhere out the rear or other side. The Dragons dismounted just south of the Rhino. The EML Serpent and Autarch moved up in support of the Dragons. The other Avenger Serpent slid 6” west, to take advantage of the Chaos attention being fixed on the Eastern Front.

The Exarch wrecked the Rhino, but the Chaos Marines were able to dismount out the rear, behind the cover of the Rhino hulk. The Dragons had no shot against the Death Guard, and the few in range whiffed when they tried to shoot some Oblits. To the west, six Shuriken Cannon shots from the Avenger boat into side armour destroyed the Vindicator. The Autarch, seeing the danger the Dragons were in, used his second move to bravely interpose himself between the Dragons and some Oblits and a Demon Prince. The Spider Exarch assaulted the Marines, in a vain attempt to lock them up. He went down with his battlesuit caved in from a power fist. The Marines consolidated through the wreck towards the Dragons.

"Khaela Mensha Khaine, for what we are about to receive, may we be truly thankful."



Top of the fifth, two Obliterators wrecked the Banshees’ Serpent with lascannons, but the girls were able to disembark with no consequence. A second Death Guard squad was able to squeeze a melta shot between models to insta-kill the Autarch, who failed his invulnerable. The Marines with the potato moved through the wreck, shot pistols, and then they and the Demon Prince assaulted the remaining Dragons, wiping them out. Consolidation moves took them back north, with the Death Guard climbing into the wreckage of their APC. Mmm, cover.

Again, time was running out, and the fifth would be the final turn played. Two hours goes by so quickly!

The Farseer Doomed the Chaos Marines holding the red prize. The Diresword Avengers dismounted and moved north. The Banshees moved and fleeted towards the Doomed Death Guards. The other Avengers to the west of the obelisk dismounted and moved into contact with a counter in the western half of the table – 50% chance of a dud! It was Black and White, so a tie was actually achievable now.

Under the rules of the scenario, you had to choose which model carried an objective. Fabio had chosen the power fist dude. Even if he had picked a normal trooper, his possession of the dingus would allow him to be targetable under the “Complex Units" rule.

The Avengers unleashed a Bladestorm, killing the power fist Marine with a shuriken in the face. The red objective was dropped on the ground. To seal the deal, the Banshees charged home and wiped them out in a flurry of rising and falling power blades.

In the photo below, the ghostly Wood Elf Sorceress is a marker I use to indicate that an enemy unit is Doomed (I see the Eldar psychic powers as being based upon spirits and spirit stones - an archer is used for Guide, and a spearman for Fortune).



Result: Eldar and Death Guard each claimed a Minor Victory.

The Eldar also gained a single extra battle point for NOT losing any markers.

Word of the day: BLADESTORM!

Next up, Eldar vs. Bruce's Space Wolf Drop Pod army