THE BIG ONE - Part One - Horus Heresy 30k Mega Game

"Dupes of the False Emperor in sight! Attack!"

It's been over a year since I started on a project initially referred to as "Legion Lunacy".  My aspirations at that time were to get enough stuff painted for a small but fun game of 30k, set on Istvaan III where the Horus Heresy erupted. "Small but fun" didn't last, especially once Dallas and Byron joined in the fun. Collection escalation kicked in - way in - and soon we had very large forces taking shape.  Dallas had visions of a huge game, set for an opportune long weekend at some point, where these forces would finally clash in a bonkers all-out game of Warhammer 30k.

The adherents of hope and change muster; this photo doesn't event include the Death Guard...

Well, I'm pleased to share that, after quite a lot of hinting here and there at different times on the blog, the game took place over the recent Thanksgiving weekend (that holiday taking place in October here in Canada).  Dallas fused a celebration of Thanksgiving and his birthday to host this long-awaited mega-smack-down! This game was so big, it needs a couple of posts, so here is part 1.

The loyalist dupes huddle in the ruins to make their stand...

The battle would be follow-on from our previous scenario, the Defence of Orask. The forces of Horus, having driven the Loyalists away from the traitor landing sites, mustered their forces for a final assault on the Orask defences.  Everything, from the Reaver Titan "Ferrum Mori", the Knight Titan "El Booze", down through to the recent last-minute additions was added in for the assault. The assault force included the Sons of Horus, the World Eaters and the Death Guard, and totaled more than 7000 points (it was hard to count it all).

The followers of Horus arrayed for battle...

For their final defence the dupes of the false emperor mustered elements of Blood Drinkers and Solar Auxilia, backed by a Reaver Titan from Legio Metallica, the "Blue Bomber" and a Stormblade super heavy tank.  I'm not sure of the total points for the defence, but it was around 5000 or so, if not more (Dallas will know better).

Armoured column set to make an assault up the road...

The battle would take place across an 8' x 4' table.  The traitor forces had 8 turns to utterly crush the loyalists.  We put some restrictions in for the Reaver Titans in the game - namely that the void shields could not regenerate (uh, even Titan Legios need to conserve energy, right?) and that the Titans would have to a) use one weapon mount for a close assault weapon and b) always use their scary "D weapon" to target the opposing Titan until that opposing Titan was knocked out.  The intent here was to make the titans a little less un-killable and also prevent them from totally dominating the tabletop.  They could still dish out the abuse form their "apocalypse launchers" on any target they wished, but the laser destroyers had to fire on the other Titan.

Solar Auxilia hunker down and return fire...likely a little concerned about the proximity to the main weapon on the Stormblade...

The game obviously took a long time with so many forces involved.  The table was crowded, and GW's 40k rules engine was strained to the max to accommodate forces of this size, particularly the massive titans.  There was no tactical flexibility here...in many ways it really resembled the crowded proto-horse-and-musket encounters described in GW books like "Horus Rising"...

The Blood Drinkers hunker down...

So while it was not a very free-flowing game, it was tremendously fun! Huge apocalypse templates, mega cannons, d-weapons, massive reserves...this game had it all!!! Entire squads disappeared from apocalyptic bombardments. Hull points and structure points melted away from terrifying 30k weapons.

Volkite-armed World Eater marines provide covering fire

Centurion and Legion Champion of the World Eaters lead the ground assault

 Horus' forces charged out of their crowded deployment area and hammered away at the loyalists, while infantry elements charged through brutal return fire.  The loyalists sheltered in the hard cover while receiving punishing bombardments.

The Death Guard move grimly forward

They are confronted by Blood Drinker assault troops! It would not end well for the Blood Drinkers, once that Dreadnought visible in the background gets involved...

I will leave further details on the play-by-play to subsequent posts from Dallas.  For now, I'll just say, it was AWESOME!

The ground assault surging forward; the Sons of Horus are happy to let the World Eaters absorb some of the preliminary abuse...

Blood Drinker Spartan rolls forward to disgorge troops - but the World Eaters would prove surprisingly tough...

Thanks to all the guys who came out to play.  A big thank you to Dallas, for hosting the game and inspiring it in the first place.  It was Dallas that prompted the acquisition of the Reaver Titans, and he pulled together a very significant assortment of Blood Drinker Legion Marines as well as some amazing terrain pieces, from his new mat to some of Byron's awesome new buildings from SG2 Creations.  And also a big thanks to Byron for assembling an amazing Death Guard collection, designing the incredible new ruined buildings, and spurring serious collection escalation.  We have been building toward this game for a long time, and it was really great to see it all come together.

The Defence of Orask, Part 1 - Horus Heresy Campaign Battle Report

Force escalation is a wonderful thing - it drives us to move stuff from a wishlist, to the painting queue, to the gaming table. And the end result is spectacular games! Such has been the case with our Horus Heresy escalation project. Greg's been working on Sons of Horus and World Eaters, Byron on his Death Guard, and me on my IX Legion lads. The objective has always been to have some large games in the late summer, and with it being August, that's where we are. So last Thursday we leaned on Greg to design a scenario for the first game in our mini-campaign, "the Defence of Orask". Here's what he came up with:

The machinations of Horus are revealed, and they reach well beyond even the events of the Istvaan System!

Knowing they would not join his cause, Horus dispatched the IXth Legion to “liberate” the worlds of the Signus Cluster - a campaign far from Terra, far from Horus’ plans, and home to a trap.

The Primarch of the Blood Angels has led the bulk of his Legion into that distant assault, and Horus now looks to cut them off completely from contact with the rest of the Imperium. He will do that with an attack on the frontier world of Orask, staging area for the IXth Legion’s invasion force.

As news of events on Istvaan reaches Orask, the local Imperial government is stunned - and panics when their sensors detect a task force of ships bearing the signals and markings of the Sons of Horus, the World Eaters and the Death Guard headed for the planet. Things get worse when a number of Horus’ agents take action, disabling defence systems, monitors, docks and other elements, sowing further panic. The traitor Legion elements crash through the scattered resistance among the orbital defences and begin to secure landing areas.

On the planet’s surface, elements of the IXth Legion - the 66th Maniple, the “Blood Drinkers”, reserves which had been planning to follow their brethren toward the Signus Cluster, instead turn to defend the planet, knowing if Orask is overrun, the bulk of the IXth Legion will be trapped in the Signus Cluster and unable to defend the Imperium from Horus.

In our first game the Blood Drinkers will rush to try and defend against one of the rebel landings, hoping to contain the enemy and buy time to secure the capital….  

Here is the Blood Drinkers force. Praetor Draculis and command squad, Veterans to the left, Rapier behind just in front of the Tactical Support squad and the heavy weapons squad. Masses of Tactical Marines at right.

But wait... there's more. Assault squad and Terminator squad, with Rhinos. Landspeeder and THIS. IS. SPARTAN!!!! ;-)

Byron brought his Death Guard. Sicaran, Contemptors, boss and standard bearer.

 

Plus Terminators, Support squad and tactical marines too.

 

Solar Auxilia joined the Blood Drinkers in defense of Orask. Greg has done a great job with these.

 

Greg's Sons of Horus strike force... Land Raider Proteus, lascannon squad, heavy bolter squad, Assault squad, Veterans...

Plus Support squad, scary boss, Contemptor, and tactical marines in new Rhinos.

The battlefield represents a tactical staging area for the Orask planetary defense force/Solar Auxilia. The superheavy tanks are under repair and won't take part in the battle (tonight anyway). The Blood Drinkers and Solar Aux defenders were allowed to deploy in the Bastion (at centre) and behind the defence line around it, as well as in the area "south" and "west" of the roads (assuming that "north" is the short table edge at top right of picture).
 
The objective was to control the Imperial Bastion at the end of the game.

 

Solar Aux mobbed up on the top of the landing pad with excellent fields of fire over the approaches to the Bastion. Their comrades deployed behind the defense lines. The Blood Drinkers were allowed three infantry elements on table - the Tactical Support squad with Volkite Calivers on the landing pad, the Rapier carrier behind the storage tanks, and the plasma cannon squad on top of the Bastion.

Solar Aux defending the Bastion. Quad autocannons are under AI control.

Plasma cannoneers keep a lookout. "Land Raider spotted!"

Traitors got the first turn; Death Guard walk on, accompanied by the Sons of Horus vehicles. They drew first blood, if you can call fragging a single Solar Aux dude "first blood".

Where's the Death Guard gone? The entire squad was wiped out by Blood Drinker plasma cannon fire. That's what I call "first blood" ;-) Masses of Solar Aux lasrifle fire and Quad autocannon fire scratch a hull point off the Rhino.

In turn two, the Blood Drinkers started to roll for Reserves to bring the rest of the force on board. However, the Warp was playing up (and Orask Telecom was subsequently not to be trusted), and for each successful Reserve roll, Byron was allowed to attempt disruption with his Death Guard... basically an opposed die roll. If the DG won the die roll, they were allowed to bring one of their own units in Reserve on table, instead of the Blood Drinkers getting their unit. So guess what happened - three Blood Drinkers units available, three Death Guard challenges, and three Death Guard wins. Three DG units appear in the Loyalist backfield, uh-oh...

But the news got worse at the top of turn three. Greg explained that the Warp was in turmoil...

...the Solar Auxilia were beginning to panic...

...and their treason became complete! The Solar Auxilia switched sides to ally with the forces of the Warmaster!!

The victory conditions of the game changed at this point as well - in order to win, the Traitors had to ensure that not one Blood Drinker Marine survived! This whole development had the potential to cause some serious problems for the IX Legion as at that point, there were only 9 Blood Drinker models on the table! (Greg surmised that this stab in the back was likely a contributing factor to the Legion's later "rage issues")

Blood Drinkers reinforcements did start to arrive from reserve, though. The Assault squad came on and shot, then assaulted the Death Guard Contemptor Dreadnought and Support squad camping on the Loyalist table edge, wiping them out.

The SPARTAN!!! and a Rhino rolled on as well. Just out of shot, the Praetor and command squad were about to assault the other Death Guard tactical squad, and eventually eliminate them.

Around the Bastion, the psychic tsunami had blown the two remaining plasma cannoneers out of the building and into the midst of the now-suddenly-unfriendly Solar Aux and Sons of Horus. Undaunted, they blazed away with their plasma cannons but sadly the scatter of a template took one of them to the bosom of the Emperor. The last remaining hero bellowed his defiance as the Traitors cocked their weapons...

...and blew him to his component atoms.

Meanwhile, back on the Loyalist table edge the Praetor and co. were dealing with some Death Guard. Byron's boys had it pretty rough in the game.

A moment later there were none left standing...

The Sons of Horus formed up for a last push on the bastion. The crater at centre is where their Rhino once sat; the laser destroyer array on the SPARTAN!!! had done as the name indicated.

The SPARTAN!!! disembarked its 20 Space Marine passengers in preparation for a last push on the accursed Bastion. The Landspeeder (just above the SPARTAN!!!) supported the remnants of the Assault squad in attacking a Solar Aux unit standing just under the landing pad. The Solar Aux volkite weapons were suffcient to see off the charging Blood Drinkers though.

Two mighty machines of the 30th Millennium face off.

Blood Drinkers make a mad rush for the Bastion...

...but the turn limit expired before they could complete their victory by obliterating the last pitiful remnants of the Traitor forces (j/k). The game ended in a draw - the Traitors controlled the Bastion and its communications array, but the Blood Drinkers survived the encounter and are able to wage guerilla war against the forces of the Warmaster, and try to hold open the Signus Gate for the return of the rest of the IX Legion.

We had a great turnout of lads for the game and I think we all really enjoy "30K". The models are amazing, of course, and the gameplay is a lot less complex than 40K because there are a lot fewer special rules to remember. Looking forward to the next escalation in the campaign!  

Last Stand on Isstvan - Horus Heresy Battle Report

Last week we rolled out my new IX Legion Blood Drinkers army for a game of "30K". Conscript Greg supplied the storyline:

“The Warmaster has raised his true flag at Istvaan and now his Legions turn against the very Imperium they strove to create.  Horus’ war fleets make a grim advance toward Terra while the Imperial authorities struggle to recover from the shock of the Warmaster’s betrayal.  Through the Warmaster’s own sinister designs the Loyalist forces are scattered at the outset of the war and must make what defence they can manage while awaiting further instruction.

In this setting elements of the IXth Legion are making a stand in a city called Rogsburg, hoping to hold back elements of the Sons of Horus and the World Eaters as they race through the local system.  Can a determined local defense of a critical supply depot spike the plans of the Warmaster and his minions?”

We played a straightforward game with 4 objectives, on a half-urban-half-rural board using my new mat from Barrage Miniatures. The Blood Drinkers deployed a Praetor and his Command squad, two large tactical squads, a veteran squad with missile launcher, six-man Terminator squad, and a Rapier. They were joined by two large Solar Auxilia units (19 men each) and an Auxilia Veletaris Storm Squad.

The traitors followers of the alternative Emperor rolled with a couple tactical squads and some specialized weaponeers - squads armed with multi-meltas, heavy bolters, volkite weaponry, and plasma guns. Ouch! They were lead by a Praetor with command squad and various hangers-on like a Centurion, Apothecary, Legion Champion, etc.  Points totalled about 1500 per side.

Here's a view from the Blood Drinkers' side of the table. The objectives were mainly scattered through the middle of the table, with both sides having to move on them.

Game on! Traitor Marines move towards a wood, looking to set up a firebase.

Traitor tactical squad moves up also.

Traitors deploy in the built-up area. You can see a few of the traitor characters standing just outside the building.

Roll Tide!! The followers of Sanguinius got the first turn, and the two tactical squads moved up, fronted by the Terminator squad. First objective taken - seen at centre right just behind the front-line trooper.

The Blood Drinkers were accused of using the Solar Auxilia as ablative human shields in the battle, a charge that the IX Legion strongly denied. Not even sure how anyone would get that impression.

I mean, I ask you...?

Veteran Marines squad deployed behind an Auxilia squad and moved together towards objective #2.

Rapier Laser Destroyer somehow made it up onto the second floor of the building. Some serious suspensor work there.

Auxilia fan out a bit and start taking fire from the traitors at top.

On the other side of the table, the Terminators have been thinned down a tad, and some Auxilia have rushed to the front. Their righteous zeal for the Emperor knows no bounds - it would be downright boorish for the Blood Drinkers to prevent the Auxilia getting between them and the traitors.

Traitor bolter fire takes its toll on the Auxilia but the survivors hang in there. I have to give some props to the Solar Auxilia in this battle, their lasgun fire took a toll on the traitors, especially as the Auxilia was tooled up with some buffs to their shooting.

Blood Drinkers Veterans sweep towards the objective after Auxilia absorb the shooting. There's a reason these guys survived long enough to be "veterans".

Surviving Terminators anchor the line with the Auxilia. The battle's nearing its end and the IX Legion is firmly in control.

Too many chiefs and not enough braves on the traitor side, I'm afraid ;-)

The mighty IX Legion had a weight of numbers and the excellent Solar Auxilia to back them up, and while the game went back and forth, the result was a clear win for the followers of the Emperor. I really like 30K as a gaming experience - the models are great, and the fact that there's a limited number of unit types involved means that the "special rules overload" of 40K isn't as likely to rear its head. Heresy escalation is now in full effect - we need vehicles!!