Death Guard Bloodied - Epic 30k Battle Report

Super heavy tanks from the 14th Legion prepare to bring hope and change to another world in the so-called "Imperium"

I was very pleased to host some more Epic 30k carnage last week! The game was notable for a couple of reasons.  For one, my great friend, Fawcett Avenue Conscript founding member and Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge host Curt was in town for a quick visit.  Curt loves 30k and loves Epic, so I knew an Epic 30k game would be a fitting way to mark his appearance here in Winnipeg. A further bonus is the game offered the chance for Byron to get his Epic 30k Death Guard force out on to the table for the first time.  Byron completed a Death Guard force during his mad-cap participation in the most recent edition of Curt's Painting Challenge (see here for example of this work, including his Epic Death Guard).

We all know what happens to newly-painted figures when they hit the table for the first time...I wanted a scenario that would ensure the baptism-by-fire happened in a fun and orderly fashion.  So the basics were simple...seize three objectives, or cause six formation breaks on the opposing force.  Byron had painted some drop pods for his troops, so I set up a drop-pod assault, backed by Titans and heavy armour.  The Sons of Barbarus would confront the loyalist dupes of the Imperial Fists, with both sides backed by Titans!

A view of the table as hostilities commenced

There was one other wrinkle - only infantry stands could capture an objective.  Even if you slaughtered all the infantry, you would not win it back unless you sent your own foot-sloggers into the breach.  I hoped this might balance things a little...both sides had oodles of firepower, but the loyalists had only two infantry detachments, giving the rebels a slight advantage in terms of grabbing the objectives, and forcing both sides to consider the use of their Marines carefully with Titans and super heavy tanks all over the place...

Drop assault! The Death Guard grab one objective...

I set the game for six turns, but with so many big guns on the table, we kind of knew it wouldn't last that long...Byron and Mike F took command of the Death Guard forces, while Curt and Dallas commanded the deluded loyalists fighting on behalf of the so-called "Emperor".

The engines of Legio Gryphonicus prepare to move out

Legio Mortis makes ready to bring hope and change...

Byron's Death Guard landed three detachments via deep strike - two tactical detachments landed in drop pods, while an assault detachment landed via jump pack.  They captured two of the three objectives, and plotted to use a detachment of Terminators riding in Spartan APCs to capture the third one.

Another drop pod landing...the Sons of Barbarus prepare to capture the objective

Curt and Dallas knew the Death Guard might capture that third objective at any moment, and so took very prompt action to, er, "liberate" one of them, using a Reaver and a Warhound to absolutely ventilate the relevant building.  Fight for the 14th Legion they said...anyway, it was a tough go for that tactical detachment as they disappeared beneath templates fired by the apocalypse launchers, and then the gatling cannons, and then the volcano cannon, and then the plasma blastgun, and then the vulcan mega bolters...you get the idea...

Forces clash in Epic 30k - note the Spartan and surviving Imperial Fists fleeing in the top right of the photo after the Death Guard assault detachment saw them off...

Note the pending retribution for the Death Guard assault detachment...lots of firepower prepared to exact revenge...ouch!

Byron and Mike did not quit, however, but they doubled down instead! They sent the assault detachment forward to confront an Imperial Fist tactical detachment mounted in Spartan APCs, routing them before they could even dismount! Mortarion would have been proud, and would have promoted the lot of them...if any had survived the follow-up counter-blow from the Legio Gryphonicus engines...wow, the Horus Heresy is brutal!

Death Guard armour and dreadnoughts move forward

The Loyalists buckled down and focused on another objective, concentrating fire on one of the Legio Mortis Reavers and destroying it, and then capturing an objective back from the Death Guard thanks to the support of Titans and a Glaive super-heavy tank.  For their part Byron and Mike suffered from some bad luck on the command rolls, and could not get their Terminators to the third objective in time.  By the time they did, concentrated fire from Dallas' and Curt's formations broke a sufficient number of rebel formations to cause the Death Guard to fall back, and plot their revenge...

"Great job! We captured an objective!"

Somehow the loyalist fools have captured an objective back! That Titan was soon to be at an end as the loyalists concentrated their fire...

In all, a hard-won victory for the loyalist side.  The objectives were tempting to seize, but not easy to hold, particularly with lethal firepower stalking all over the table. I absolutely love the 30k setting (as you can tell with a brief search of this blog) and I have to say that the Epic rules engine is an absolutely marvelous match for it.  The scale allows for the large sweep of troop types, vehicles and Titans to appear on a 6' x 4' table in a way that is hard to achieve with 28mm figures, and the rules mechanics are just excellent for offering the flavour of the setting, along with brutally efficient combat resolution.  Players must make decisions and can't do everything they want, creating some command tension without undue complication.  Epic really was a fantastic set of rules...

This poor tactical detachment from the 14th Legion was broken a second time, sealing the fate of the Death Guard attack...note the Glaive in the top right of the photo - the Volkite Carronade is a heck of a thing to come up against...

A big thanks to Dallas, Byron and Mike F for joining the game, and thanks to Byron for bringing his awesome Death Guard models out to the game.  Was great to see them on the table! It was a lot of fun to game with our friend Curt once again. 

Now that the Death Guard has endured their "first game" blooding, watch for them to appear in more menacing fashion in further Epic 30k action on the Fawcett Avenue tables...

Epic 30k - XVI Legion Breachers and Legio Mortis Warhound

Epic 30k reinforcements for the cause of "hope and change"

Continuing with the see-saw posting of Epic 30k work, we are back once again to the Rebel side.  This post includes infantry, vehicles and the first Titan I have attempted to paint in quite a long time! The infantry and vehicles are from the XVI Legion, the Sons of Horus, while the Titan is from Legio Mortis, one of the Titan Legions who sided with the Warmaster in the Horus Heresy.

Achilles Land Raider

Slabs and slabs of armour...

The vehicles are Achilles variant Land Raider tanks.  These vehicles are even more heavily armoured than the "average" Land Raider, meant to support close assaults or fight among ruins and built-up areas (or built-up areas blasted into ruins).

Breacher Marines for the XVI Legion

I expect these fellows will work well together...

The infantry are "Breacher" Marines, a detachment of 20 spread across four bases.  This detachment would be small, meant to augment a larger basic force.  In fact, they will probably work well together with the Achilles Land Raiders and I expect I will pair them up when the time comes for these fellows to see action on the table.

"Scout" from Legio Mortis

The Titan is a Warhound class, a so-called "scout" Titan (hilarious).  It is armed with turbo lasers and a vulcan heavy bolter, giving a mix of anti-tank and anti-personnel capability.

I went with some pretty boring/average markings on this vehicle...

This is the first Titan I have tried to paint in a while, and this paint job is pretty tentative.  Usually the Titan Legio markings feature lots of bands and chevrons of contrasting colours, but I took it easy with this model, opting for basic colours only.

A view of the engine and leg assemblies

In the "Epic: Armageddon" rules the Warhound class Titan is a pretty impressive war engine, even though it is only a "scout" Titan.  I hope to get this on the table sometime later this summer, although I'll want to make sure some Loyalist engines are on hand to keep things balanced.

Ready to stalk the ruins of Istvaan III and elsewhere...

Need to move on to a Loyalist engine now

This batch concludes my little run of Epic 30k - time for some plain-old 28mm 30k stuff. Stay tuned for more, and I hope you are enjoying your summers!

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!

Epic 30k Falchion Super Heavy Tanks

Falchion super heavy tanks - one for the XVI Legion and one for the VII - this should be a fun gun fight...

The build up for Prairiecon 2016 continues. I have always felt mayhem with super heavy tanks is an important ingredient in any game of Epic, so I want to be sure the game we are running this weekend in Brandon features the heavy tanks of the Space Marine Legions slugging it out on the table.  With this in mind I have finished a pair of Falchion super heavy tanks, one for each side that will be participating in the game on Sunday.

Heavy firepower for the Imperial Fists

There are many bonkers and beautiful super heavy tanks in the Horus Heresy, and the Falchion is right up there with the best of them.  Heavily armoured and equipped with some manner of doomsday-class laser weapon system as a main armament, it also has a pair of quad lascannon sponsons to deal with...deal with what? What is still alive after a good dose from that twin-whatever cannon? Who knows? I do so enjoy the excess of the Space Marine Legions and their equipment.

Elaborate Mechanicum gadgetry powering the deadly primary weapons...

Ready to defend the Emperor

Billed as a "tank destroyer" (certainly up for that job), these things will also be useful for putting really large holes in everything from fortifications to enemy Titans.  A nice tool for the kit of any discerning Legion Praetor.

Can you feel the hope?

Support Horus...or else...

As newly painted figures, what could possibly go wrong...? I look forward to their dominance of the table on Sunday morning.

Waiting to face the dupes of the so-called "Emperor"

I still have a few nights of last-minute-cramming-style painting to go, hopefully there will be more reinforcements before the weekend...

Epic 30k Battle Report

Fellblade of the VIIth Legion unleashes fire from its main guns during Epic 30k action!

Another belated battle report as a catch up on a bit of blogging.  A few weeks ago, founding Conscript Curt C came to town for a weekend visit.  We tried out "Team Yankee" for the first time, but we also managed to squeeze in a game of Epic 30k using the "Epic: Armageddon" rules engine.  The scenario featured another battle between XVIth Legion, the Sons of Horus, and the VIIth Legion, the Imperial Fists, duped followers of the so-called "Emperor".

View of the table - the objective, the Administratum facility, is smack dab in the middle

Conscript Byron joined the game once again, taking command of the Imperial Fists, while Curt played the side of hope and change, the Sons of Horus. The game wasn't too complicated - both sides were looking to take possession of an Administratum building which housed critical records and data on the history of the later Imperial Crusades. The Warmaster, noted for his passion for truth, was particularly concerned about the presence of some records in this facility relating to recent operations in the Istvaan system. Intelligence sources indicated said records reflected poorly on his actions by completely leaving out the notable role played in these events by false-flag Imperial terrorists.  Consumed by his devotion to accurate historical recollections, Horus dispatched his Marines and heavy tanks to secure the facility for brutal and complete purging appropriate remedial measures.

Twin accelerator cannons - KABOOM!

This Fellblade is starting to feel the pain...

A kill for the Loyalists!

The game would last six turns, and whoever controlled the building would win.  The catch? Only infantry could be sent through the Administratum facility walls for any occupation (or related assaults) - the arcana of the outside walls, aided perhaps by some twisted dark-age technology, blocked all vehicles.  Given enough time, the enlightened chaps in the IT department of Legio Mortis might have solved it, but the presence of the Imperial Fists meant things would go down the hard way...

Sicaran tanks advance for the XVI Legion

The Imperial Fists try and corner another victim...

And so the battle raged! I have to say (selfishly) that it was great fun to see these figures in action once again, as Fellblades and Land Raiders clashed.  It was an escalating engagement, with Byron and Curt able to bring on an additional detachment every turn.  The catch - or, perhaps if you were Bryon or Curt, you might argue, the "shiv" - was that there were more detachments than turns, so they had to choose between bringing on artillery and heavy tanks to hammer their opponents, or bringing forward infantry to capture the building - and also to calculate how to get the infantry delivered to the building in one piece.

The Sons of Horus turn the tables!

And it ends in tears for the dupes of the false "emperor"

Early on the Imperial Fists seemed to be carrying the day, but Curt and his tanks - guided, surely, by their excellent training and faith in the Warmaster - started to knock out the Imperial Fist armour. By the 6th turn, there were almost no Imperial Fist tanks left running on the table...and yet...

The infantry of the XVI Legion seize the objective...

The Imperial Fists mount a fierce assault...

Hard slogging on the way up...

...And yet! Byron had fed a steady diet of available infantry into the maelstrom, and as the infantry battle raged inside the Administratum compound, the Sons of Horus were forced back in the final turn!

Whirlwinds fire in support...

The Sons of Horus are driven back...

But so are the Imperial Fists!

Opposing commanders reflect on the game - good times and lots of 30k carnage!

But not so much that Curt's lads couldn't dish out some final abusive artillery and break the Imperial Fist infantry too!  Maybe the VIIth legion needed a 7th turn...

And so, the 30k-est ending possible - nobody won, but there were tons of casualties! How appropriate. A big thank you to Curt for visiting and to Byron for playing.  Both embraced the spirit of the setting very well, and the carnage on the table was very enjoyable.  Epic remains one of my absolute favourite games, and playing Epic in the 30k setting is a ton of fun.  While I'm still painting 28mm 30k stuff right now, I'm planning to bring Epic 30k out to Prairiecon in June, so I'm hoping to get more stuff finished before then.