Epic 30k - Smackdown at Prairiecon 2016

Glaive super heavy tank from the XVI Legion supporting an attack in Epic 30k action...

Another June in Manitoba, another Prairiecon in Brandon, Manitoba! The 2016 edition of the event took place this past weekend and the Fawcett Avenue Conscripts turned out in force once again.  Conscript Dallas is the cornerstone of our overall annual raid on Western Manitoba's premier gaming event - volunteering, running the auction and staging two separate games of this own!  For my part I took the opportunity to stage a demonstration game of Epic 30k.

Sons of Horus on the bottom left, Imperial Fists on the top right

The target: Mechnicum facility, home to dark knowledge which is vital to both sides in the Horus Heresy

The scenario was a big one, a huge, armour-heavy clash between the Sons of Horus and the Imperial Fists.  The prize was an important Mechanicum facility, home to dark knowledge from lost ages past.  The forces on hand were enormous - I really wanted to get a little bit of everything I have painted so far on to the table to see how it would perform.  To give you an idea, each side had two Fellblades, a Glaive and a Falchion - AND a Reaver Titan...and THEN you got to the main forces...

The result was many, many burning vehicles, but a pretty slow game.  Epic: Armageddon is a great set of rules, and the games tend to move at a pretty good clip, but I was greedy and put like 3,800 points of stuff per side out on the table...oh well...sorry about that guys!

VII Legion attack waves at the ready...

Mixed dreadnought Talon supporting a Sicaran tank squadron

Dallas took command of the Sons of Horus, while Byron and Winnipeg gamer Christian played the Imperial Fist side.

Imperial Fists move out...

Sons of Horus Land Raiders race ahead - the Warmaster has a schedule to keep!

VII Legion Fellblades engage at long range - twin accelerator cannons make short work of just about everything...

It starts to go badly for the Sons of Horus...

For a slow game, the carnage was satisfying. The Space Marine Legion super heavy tanks were suitably devastating. Both sides paid dearly in their attempt to seize the Mechanicum facility...an Imperial Fist detachment, backed by Spartans, a Typhon and a Whirlwind Scorpius battery made the first entry, occupied the facility and felt pretty secure.  Dallas then rolled up with a column of infantry, backed by a deadly Glaive super heavy tank which cleared out the entire facility in one amazingly lethal blast of its Volkite Carronade...suddenly the XVIth Legion was ascendant...until a talon of Imperial Fist dreadnoughts threw THEM back...it was carnage! Very "30k", in my opinion.

Falchion super heavy tank takes out some loyalist fools at long range...

The Land Raider is such a tough vehicle in most 40k games, but in the 30k setting there are many terrible weapons around which zap them in a single shot (and I'm not talking about the Eldar)...this was from the Falchion - an Armoured Proteus is replaced by a crater...

Elsewhere on the table Land Raiders on both sides exchanged fire, backed by the guns of heavy tanks and Reaver Titans. Overall I would say Dallas' dice were not kind, and his armoured forces took some large losses.  The Imperial Fists were also able to coordinate a precise take-down of the Reaver Titan supporting the Sons of Horus, knocking out the void shields and then delivering a coup-de-grace from a Falchion heavy tank,all in one round of firing. Ouch!

Predators sense an opportunity and move in for support (aka kill stealing)

A Reaver Titan tries to support the Sons of Horus attack - but note the blue tokens - each one represents a void shield lost...

One killer shot from a distant Falchion (seen dimly near the top centre of the photo) and the Reaver Titan is no more...needless to say, the Spartan APCs were a little reluctant to advance down THAT particular avenue...

We finished three turns before calling the game.  While losses were high on both sides, I would say the the Sons of Horus were suffering a little more, even though they still had a strong second wave left of troops for a final push.  If you go with the whole "posession is nine-tenths of the law" approach, the Imperial Fists were technically occupying the Mechanicum facility at the time the game ended, although a substantial portion of that occupying force was comprised of ashen remnants of a tactical infantry detachment which had been hit by a Volkite Carronade.  Since the Imperial Fists had enjoyed a bit of a bonus with the facility being a little close to their side, we'll call it a high-price draw...

As I said, the scenario was too big, as I had overloaded both forces, so we couldn't get the game to a decisive conclusion.  I promise to be more focused when planning for my next Epic 30k game!

Final dispositions - lots of smoke and carnage, an advantage to the Imperial Fists, but still enough Sons of Horus to be very dangerous...

A BIG "thank you" to Dallas, Byron and Christian for playing and helping to show off the game.  It's always nice to wave the Epic flag, and was great to participate at another Prairiecon.  Looking forward to Prairiecon 2017!