Change of E-Mail and Other News.

For those of you who e-mail me with requests for list help, article requests or just to complain about my use of swear words and pictures of girls in their underwear to liven up blog posts I have created a dedicated e-mail address. Things were getting lost and overlooked amongst my other stuff at my usual address so this seemed like the best solution.

If you need to contact me for anything blog related can you please use the new e-mail address of,

gmortschaotica@hotmail.co.uk.

I'm also in the process of starting a Facebook page with links to my posts for those amongst you who like to get their information in that manner but there won't be much on it yet,

Facebook profile

I've discovered that I get a lot more comments from my 'real world' friends when I link to my posts on my Facebook page so I'm seeing if the same applies in this case, lol.

This is the first time I've attempted something like this so I'll probably make a complete fuck-up of it for the first few weeks so please be patient ;-)

Oh, and here's a picture of an attractive girl with a flame-thrower as a reward for your patience...

Thoughts and Comments are (as usual) most welcome.

Stormraven Extension Kit.

For those of you who (like me) thought that the Stormraven was just a little bit too stumpy, the good people at Chapterhouse studios have decided to help you/us out ;-)

If your interested then they can be found on the Chapterhouse website right here.

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

Well That's Cheered Me Up No End.....

Awesome picture, But once you add Aaron Dembski Bowden's monologue to it it's even funnier,

I… I don’t think that Avatar is going to make it home to his kids.

There were several deleted streams of dialogue, where Lorgar talks smack to this guy. Ultimately, I went with this totally true and honest extract:

Lorgar did a little dance. ”Where you going in such a hurry, Chuckles? I broke your legs with my megahammer. You’re going nowhere.” 

The Avatar didn’t answer. It started crawling, bleeding this stuff like souls and fire and magic shit like that.

Lorgar laughed. He laughed like a winner. “This is why I don’t have tabletop rules, man. Because I’m H to the Ardcore.”

The Avatar still didn’t answer. It was in pain, and its life totally sucked, and everything else was on fire, too. The Avatar was sad about that, because all that stuff on fire was his house or his base or whatever.

Lorgar caught up with the crawling fellow, and pressed a boot into the creature’s spine.

“Where’s my money, man? Why you gotta make me do this? Why you gotta make it into a thing?”

“Dude…” said the incarnated essence of an alien god of war. “I just need a few more days.”

“You’ve had plenty of days. You’ve had all kinds of days. Now I’m totally going to kill you, guy.”

Lorgar raised his megahammer, and totally killed the guy.

“Screw this place,” he said afterwards. “I’m going to go kill half of the Imperium for a laugh.”

He looked at the Avatar’s corpse as it dissolved into ash, like in Dawn of War.

“Later, dater.”

Games Workshop Newsletter

The Games Workshop Newsletter 26.08.2011 In this issue: Might Makes Right!

Gather your tribe: Ogre Kingdoms available to Advance Order!

Primarchs - Rogal Dorn

Despite his appearances in several Horus Heresy books and the background to the Imperial Fists Chapter we don't know a lot about Rogal Dorn outside of his specialities.

We know that he was an expert in the manufacture, preparation and utilisation of defensive structures and planned extensively before committing himself to any action. As expected for a Primarch with his particular area of expertise he was also apparently a military genius. He also had the unfortunate habit of telling the truth at all times which on occasion was known to piss off his brother Primarchs and was primarily responsible for exasperating his feud with Perturabo of the Iron Warriors, lol.

As for his combat abilities we know that he was slower than Konrad Curze as indicated by the fact that Curze kicked the shit out of him without taking as much as a scratch in return but some of that can be attributed to the fact that he was caught by surprise, I suppose. His weapon of choice was a Sword which is somewhat amusing considering that the only artefact to bear his name (The Fist of Dorn) is a Thunder-hammer. It is also mentioned that the sacred weapon of the Soul Drinkers Chapter, namely the Soulspear was personally wielded by Dorn but there's no mention of that in his background either. I'm therefore going to arm him with a Power Sword of some description (probably a Relic Blade) and the usual 'Primarch' armour I've given the others. If for some reason you want to use the 'Fist of Dorn' currently wielded by Lysander instead then that's up to you but personally I wouldn't.

I've also been a bit lax in giving the Primarchs range weapons as they're so rarely mentioned using them. However there are a few more traditionally minded Primarchs who'd be likely to have them and I'd presume that Dorn would be one of them. I'm guessing they'd be a bit more heavy duty than a standard Marine one though.

I'm going to bias the majority of his special abilities towards defence rather than offence as I need to save some ideas for when I finally get around to Perturabo, lol. Also as these Primarchs are only going to be realistically used in Apocalypse games I'm going to give the Primarchs player some Strategic Assets for free and I'm (in the interests of fairness) going to add some retrospectively to the other Primarchs when I get around to it. If for some reason your using these guys in a 'normal' game then ignore that section.

With that lot as a starting point then,

Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the Imperial Fists.

WS 7, BS 6, S 6 (8), T 6, W 5, I 6, A 6, Ld. 10, Save 1+/3+inv.

Composition : 1 (Unique)
Unit Type : Infantry

Wargear:
Master Crafted Relic Blade (Strength bonus already included in profile), Primarch Armour, Primarch Bolter*, Frag and Krak Grenades.

* Primarch Bolter - A Primarchs weapons all utilise the most advanced technologies available - Range 36", Strength 5, AP 4, Rapid Fire, Master Crafted.

Special Rules:
Acute Senses, And They Shall Know No Fear, Eternal Warrior, Independent Character, Might of the Primarch, Relentless, Rites of Battle**, Siege Master***, Will of the Primarch.

**Rites of Battle - The Imperial Fists endurance is legendary throughout the Imperium and beyond - All Imperial Fists can use their Primarchs Leadership score for morale and pinning tests and gain the 'Stubborn' special rule.

***Siege Master - There is no method of fortification that the Master of the Imperial Fists is unfamiliar with for both it's defence and it's destruction. - At deployment Dorn may choose to increase the Cover Save of any building or terrain feature in his deployment zone (containing at least one Imperial Fist) unit by one. Therefore a 4+ cover save would become 3+ and so on. This benefit stacks with any existing benefits a unit already possesses such as Camo Cloaks or the like. Additionally a single building can be designated as Dorns 'Command Centre'. This building has a 2+ save that cannot be reduced in any way and counts as Armour 14 for the purposes of any attempt to destroy it (regardless of the buildings outward appearance).

Centuries of warfare have given Dorn an uncanny knack for detecting weakness in the defences of his enemies. Any Imperial Fist unit within 12" of Rogal Dorn may reduce the Cover save (if any) of a target unit by one. If Dorn himself is part of the unit then it can reduce the enemies Cover Save by two.

Strategic Assets:
Rogal Dorns controlling player gains one of each of the following Strategic assets though they may ONLY be used by Dorn or Imperial Fist units.

Battlefield Assets - Bunkers, Minefields, Obstacles.
Front Line Assets - Supreme Headquarters (this must be centred on the building allocated as Dorns 'Command Centre' as specified in the 'Siege Master' special rule.

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

Deathwatch - Space Hulk Recon Mission - Part 1

For those of you who e-mailed me asking for me to do more about our Deathwatch sessions then I'll try to do a bit of narrative about them after each session (usually Saturdays) but I'll need to start making notes as I go along if I have to make them accurate as well as interesting, lol. I'll also attempt a brief overview of the game system for the girl who asked about it via another e-mail but that will have to be next week now.

Space Hulk Recon Mission - Part 1
Brother Mortis stood at the back of the briefing room and awaited the details of their next mission. Though the seating in the room was designed with Space Marine dimensions in mind his mechanical systems meant that he himself outweighed the average Marine by a significant margin so he had refrained from utilising them.

The briefing started with the usual analysis of a dozen Xenos threats that were making themselves known across the sector. The Tau had consolidated themselves on several contested worlds, Tyranids were still infesting several worlds despite the Xenophage Virus his own team had introduced to their Primary Hive Ship weakening them considerably and the usual Chaos cults were appearing almost as fast as they were being exterminated by Imperial authorities(1). However all these potential threats were now de-prioritised in favour of a Space Hulk that had been spat from the warp dangerously close to their current position.

The Hulk in question had appeared several times over the millennia but had never been boarded by agents of the Imperium (to the Deathwatches  knowledge at least). The mission was simple, Recon the vessel as thoroughly as possible and withdraw should any significant threat be encountered. A Strike Cruiser was allocated to get the team close to the monstrosity before the team was inserted into the vessel via Thunderhawk.

The Deathwatch command appeared to be taking no chances with the safety of the Cruiser either as a significant number of kill-teams were aboard as well as several Keepers and a wide variety of support personnel. The team had equipped themselves from the armoury before leaving the station and had been allowed access to far superior equipment than was normally allocated to them.

Mortis himself had taken a sacred symbol of the favour of the Machine God in the form of an Astartes Omnissiah Axe and several others carried ancient Combi-Weapons of various descriptions. Brother Marcus had taken a Plasma Cannon in place of his usual Heavy Bolter, such a weapon was deadly in the hands of any Marine but was considerably more dangerous in the hands of a Devastator with the unerring accuracy shown consistently by Brother Marcus. Before the mission began the teams Librarian, Brother Claton utilised the Emperors Tarot(2) to glean some basic information about the vessel and as a result was nominated team leader for this particular endeavour.

Mortis plugged his Mind Impulse Unit into the console and awaited the sacred flow of machine code directly into his own cogitator circuits, The sensation was not unpleasant as he interfaced easily into the co-pilot controls of the Thunderhawk and ran the usual checks on all the vehicles secondary weapon systems. Meanwhile Brother Marcus settled himself into the Pilot seat and went through his own set of rituals. Though his primary role in the kill-team was as heavy weapon support he was also a trained as a pilot(3) and often flew the team to their destinations in the same way that Brother Mortis himself usually took over driving duties on the occasions that vehicle support was authorised on missions. Many other teams used supplemental staff for such duties but Kill-Team Epsilon prided itself on being a completely self reliant unit...not to mention the fact that they had a certain reputation for destruction and mayhem that meant that volunteers for such duties were understandably few and far between(4)...

As the Thunderhawk got closer to the monstrous vessel it became obvious that it consisted of the carcasses of literally hundreds of space going vessels only a few of which were Imperial in origin. Fortunately one of the starships haphazardly embedded in the outer sections of the hulk had once been in the service of mankind and seemed to have three intact landing bays of sufficient size. As there seemed little to choose between them our pilot simply headed for the one in the centre....

Continued in Part 2 ;-)

(1) I think our GM was trying to keep the nature of our opposition in the upcoming mission a bit of a surprise which was somewhat ruined by our team Librarians Augury power, lol.

(2) There's a Librarian ability that basically allows you a glimpse of the future which in game terms translates as certain information about the upcoming mission. Brother Claton's roll on the table meant that our GM had to tell us the most dangerous opposition that we would face and five other forces which then turned out to be a shit-load of Orks, lol.

(3) Once your BS is high enough and you've took the basic 'do more damage' and 'don't miss' upgrades there's usually enough XP left over for a Devastator to get himself a secondary role and it also makes the RPG elements a bit more fun for that player.

(4) Guest appearances in our missions by NPC's are usually fatally brief with the exception of Vetrov Vetrovski (our liaison officer from the 'Pilgrims loss' campaign who seemed to be fucking immune to all danger no matter what the circumstance and who's accent seemed to change from Russian to Italian and back again sometimes during a single sentence.....)

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

E-Mail in : Shooty Marines

This is the last 'list help' e-mail I've got to sort out and then it's just the 'Deathwatch' ones to work through.

E-mail In :

GMort,
I know that you favour shooty lists over punchy ones so what's the shootiest Space Marine list you can come up with?

Reply:

I presume you mean 'Vanilla' Marines as you didn't specify a particular codex. One of he 'shootiest'* Marine lists I know of is the following but I didn't come up with it...It's a Stelek one but I'll repeat it here so you don't have to dig it out from amongst the bazillions of lists that he churns out  ;-)


* is that even a real word?

2000 Pts - Steleks Critical Mass : Maximum Firepower Liist.

HQ: Space Marine Librarian in Power Armour (1#, 100 pts)
   1 Space Marine Librarian in Power Armour @ 100 pts (Null Zone; The Gate of Infinity)

Elite: Dreadnought (1#, 125 pts)
   1 Dreadnought @ 125 pts (Twin-Linked Autocannon; Twin-Linked Autocannon)

Elite: Dreadnought (1#, 125 pts)
   1 Dreadnought @ 125 pts (Twin-Linked Autocannon; Twin-Linked Autocannon)

Elite: Dreadnought (1#, 125 pts)
   1 Dreadnought @ 125 pts (Twin-Linked Autocannon; Twin-Linked Autocannon)

Troops: Tactical Squad (6#, 175 pts)
   4 Tactical Squad @ 175 pts (Razorback)
      1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Bolter)
      1 Razorback (Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Hunter-killer Missile; Twin-Linked Lascannon)

Troops: Tactical Squad (6#, 175 pts)
   4 Tactical Squad @ 175 pts (Razorback)
      1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Bolter)
      1 Razorback (Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Hunter-killer Missile; Twin-Linked Lascannon)

Troops: Tactical Squad (6#, 175 pts)
   4 Tactical Squad @ 175 pts (Razorback)
      1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Bolter)
      1 Razorback (Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Hunter-killer Missile; Twin-Linked Lascannon)

Troops: Tactical Squad (6#, 175 pts)
   4 Tactical Squad @ 175 pts (Razorback)
      1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Bolter)
      1 Razorback (Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Hunter-killer Missile; Twin-Linked Lascannon)

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (2#, 180 pts)
   2 Land Speeder Squadron @ 180 pts (Typhoon Missile Launcher x2)

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (2#, 180 pts)
   2 Land Speeder Squadron @ 180 pts (Typhoon Missile Launcher x2)

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (2#, 180 pts)
   2 Land Speeder Squadron @ 180 pts (Typhoon Missile Launcher x2)

Heavy Support: Predator (1#, 95 pts)
   1 Predator @ 95 pts (Hunter-killer Missile; Heavy Bolter (each side))

Heavy Support: Predator (1#, 95 pts)
   1 Predator @ 95 pts (Hunter-killer Missile; Heavy Bolter (each side))

Heavy Support: Predator (1#, 95 pts)
   1 Predator @ 95 pts (Hunter-killer Missile; Heavy Bolter (each side))

Total Roster Cost: 2000

That's a lot of fire-power by anybodies standards, lol.

E-Mail in : Tyranid Question

E-Mail in :

GMort,


Have you given up on your Tyranids as I noticed you haven't mentioned them for a while and judging from your Battle Honours' sidebar haven't played them for a while either. Just out of interest how did the list end up before you wimped out and went back to Marines and are they really that bad now?


Hivemind385

Reply :

Were there really another 384 guys who picked the internet name Hivemind before you did, lol?


Anyway...Tyranids had issues right from the start and now have serious shortcomings against many of the current codices. Space Wolves can 'Missile Spam' and/or 'Jaws of the World Wolf' their MC's to death, Grey Knights pretty much all have Force Weapons of one kind or another and Dark Eldar poison doesn't give a shit if your T5, 6 or fucking 10.....
As I'm what is usually referred to as a 'competitive' gamer I have issues with sticking with an army that I know is basically the same as taking a knife to a gun fight when the knife isn't even that sharp. Daemons have the same issues unfortunately...

For what it's worth, my final list was this,

2000 Pts - Tyranids Roster - Tyranids - 2000

HQ: Tyranid Prime (1#, 105 pts)
   1 Tyranid Prime @ 105 pts (Lash Whip & Bonesword; Regeneration)

Elite: Hive Guard Brood (3#, 150 pts)
   3 Hive Guard Brood @ 150 pts

Elite: Hive Guard Brood (2#, 100 pts)
   2 Hive Guard Brood @ 100 pts

Elite: Hive Guard Brood (2#, 100 pts)
   2 Hive Guard Brood @ 100 pts

Troops: Tervigon (1#, 200 pts)
   1 Tervigon @ 200 pts (Scything Talons; Cluster Spines; Adrenal Glands; Toxin Sacs; Catalyst)

Troops: Tervigon (1#, 200 pts)
   1 Tervigon @ 200 pts (Scything Talons; Cluster Spines; Adrenal Glands; Toxin Sacs; Catalyst)

Troops: Tervigon (1#, 200 pts)
   1 Tervigon @ 200 pts (Scything Talons; Cluster Spines; Adrenal Glands; Toxin Sacs; Catalyst)

Troops: Termagant Brood (10#, 50 pts)
   10 Termagant Brood @ 50 pts

Troops: Termagant Brood (10#, 50 pts)
   10 Termagant Brood @ 50 pts

Troops: Termagant Brood (10#, 50 pts)
   10 Termagant Brood @ 50 pts

Heavy Support: Tyrannofex (1#, 265 pts)
   1 Tyrannofex @ 265 pts (Rupture Cannon; Cluster Spines; Thorax Swarm (larvae))

Heavy Support: Tyrannofex (1#, 265 pts)
   1 Tyrannofex @ 265 pts (Rupture Cannon; Cluster Spines; Thorax Swarm (larvae))

Heavy Support: Tyrannofex (1#, 265 pts)
   1 Tyrannofex @ 265 pts (Rupture Cannon; Cluster Spines; Thorax Swarm (larvae))

Total Roster Cost: 2000

Pretty standard really and another disappointing Codex for the none Marine players :-(

E-Mail in : 'Foot' Space Wolves Request.

E-Mail In :

Yo GMort,

Apparently you write lists for people without taking the piss out of them for their unit preferences (well not much anyway) and don't think a person should be shot on sight for wanting to do a themed list, lol.
If any of that is true then I'd like you to throw me together an all infantry Space Wolf list if you have a spare moment or two (2000 points). I also stole your Daemon idea from an earlier list of yours (I stole the list as well, lol) and used Chaos Warhounds as Fleshhounds so I have 30 of the fuckers that are no use now as Daemons suck balls which would be nice to use. I'd also like to keep using my Missile Launcher Long Fangs if at all possible but I don't want any Thunderwolves or Wolf lords on Thunderwolves as I'm yet to see anything to make them from that I like the look of.

Hellspawn101

Reply :

Don't worry about the theft as if it's the list I'm thinking of then I stole most of it from Stelek myself anyway. As for your list then I'll see what I can do. The Warhounds can be used as a couple of screening units of Fenrisian Wolves if you really want to use them but a 2nd Rune Priest might be a better investment. If you go down the Rune Priest path then give them both the cover save power as you'll probably need it without the Fenrisian Wolves giving you the cover save. I've left the wolves in for now though, as per your original request.

2000 Pts - Space Wolves Roster - Foot

HQ: Rune Priest in Power Armour (1#, 115 pts)
   1 Rune Priest in Power Armour @ 115 pts (Chooser of the Slain; Wolf Tail Talisman; Jaws of the World Wolf; Tempest's Wrath)

Elite: Wolf Scouts Pack (5#, 85 pts)
   5 Wolf Scouts Pack @ 85 pts (Meltagun)

Elite: Wolf Scouts Pack (5#, 85 pts)
   5 Wolf Scouts Pack @ 85 pts (Meltagun)

Elite: Wolf Guard Pack (7#, 276 pts)
   1 Wolf Guard Pack @ 276 pts (Wolf Guard in Power Armour; Wolf Guard in Power Armour)
      2 Wolf Guard in Power Armour (Combi-Meltagun x1; Power Fist x1)
      5 Wolf Guard in Power Armour (Bolt Pistol; Power Fist x1)

Troops: Grey Hunters Pack (10#, 170 pts)
   9 Grey Hunters Pack @ 170 pts (Mark of the Wulfen; Meltagun; Meltagun)
      1 Grey Hunter w/ Mark of the Wulfen

Troops: Grey Hunters Pack (10#, 170 pts)
   9 Grey Hunters Pack @ 170 pts (Mark of the Wulfen; Meltagun; Meltagun)
      1 Grey Hunter w/ Mark of the Wulfen

Troops: Grey Hunters Pack (10#, 170 pts)
   9 Grey Hunters Pack @ 170 pts (Mark of the Wulfen; Meltagun; Meltagun)
      1 Grey Hunter w/ Mark of the Wulfen

Troops: Grey Hunters Pack (10#, 170 pts)
   9 Grey Hunters Pack @ 170 pts (Mark of the Wulfen; Meltagun; Meltagun)
      1 Grey Hunter w/ Mark of the Wulfen

Troops: Grey Hunters Pack (10#, 170 pts)
   9 Grey Hunters Pack @ 170 pts (Mark of the Wulfen; Meltagun; Meltagun)
      1 Grey Hunter w/ Mark of the Wulfen

Fast Attack: Fenrisian Wolf Pack (15#, 120 pts)
   15 Fenrisian Wolf Pack @ 120 pts

Fast Attack: Fenrisian Wolf Pack (15#, 120 pts)
   15 Fenrisian Wolf Pack @ 120 pts

Heavy Support: Long Fangs Pack (5#, 115 pts)
   4 Long Fangs Pack @ 115 pts (Missile Launcher x4)
      1 Squad Leader (Bolt Pistol; Close Combat Weapon)

Heavy Support: Long Fangs Pack (5#, 115 pts)
   4 Long Fangs Pack @ 115 pts (Missile Launcher x4)
      1 Squad Leader (Bolt Pistol; Close Combat Weapon)

Heavy Support: Long Fangs Pack (5#, 115 pts)
   4 Long Fangs Pack @ 115 pts (Missile Launcher x4)
      1 Squad Leader (Bolt Pistol; Close Combat Weapon)

Total Roster Cost: 1996

The two Combi-Melta Wolf Guard go with the Wolf Scouts and the other five go with the Grey Hunters. The Fenrisian Wolves act as a moving Cover save for your Marines for about a turn (or two if your lucky) before dying.

113 models of which 83 are in Power Armour...Sounds like a 'Foot' list to me ;-)

Thoughts and Comments are (as usual) most welcome.

House of Paincakes Article No.35

Article can be found here.

It's a sarcastic, profanity filled and somewhat ironic guide to gaining internet fame by basically being a complete cock. Any similarity to actual blogs is purely coincidental.....

Due to the wonders of blogger I can schedule this Tuesday Eye-Candy that I'm writing on a Wednesday to have retrospectively appeared on the aforementioned Tuesday and hopefully nobody will notice that it actually appeared a day late.....

This Tuesdays (shhh it's Tuesday okay ;-) ) article has been bought to you by Rose McGowan,

As Paige Matthews in Charmed,

In Grindhouse,

As 'Boots' McCoy from a deleted scene in Machete,

As Marique in Conan the Barbarian,

and a few mock-ups for the film Red Sonja which is now unlikely to get made considering that Conan has apparently bombed so badly at the box office,

And finally a few pictures of her as herself,

See you next Tuesday ;-)

Deathwatch - Brother Mortis Personal Log

This is an old picture. He's much better equipped now ;-)

I had decided to chronicle my Deathwatch characters progress in 'Personal Log' form and then our GM started his own Blog so the process seemed a bit redundant. He's now decided that writing the scenario, playing the scenario and then writing it out again is a bit tedious and therefore has stopped bothering, lol.

I am therefore going to chronicle our various campaigns from the point of view of my own character. I'm sure the rest of my team will chip-in with comments if they think I've missed out some important event. As I'd blatantly be lying if I said I remembered even a quarter of what happened during our campaign to prevent the planet of 'Pilgrims Loss' falling to the Tyranids (it was spread over 5 or 6 once a week sessions) I'm going to skim over those events a bit in the first of these posts before going into a bit more detail with any of our future missions.....

There will also be a few notes at the end to explain certain things for those of you who are unaware of some of the game mechanics.

Pilgrims Loss.

Brother Mortis placed the last piece of his Mark 8 Power Armour on the rack in the corner of his cell and placed his Storm Bolter on the workbench along one wall to await his attention later. Though most of the Marines cells were bare apart from whatever shrine to their Chapter, Primarch or other venerated icon they prayed to, Brother Mortis's position as Techmarine had allowed him to take a cell sufficiently large for a basic workstation and the sacred tools and oils of the Omnissiah that allowed him to maintain both his own equipment and that of the rest of his Kill-Team.

The mission on Pilgrim's Loss had resulted in much damage to every team members equipment and armour and had also resulted in the death of two members of his own team and virtually every other Marine of the Deathwatch involved which had inevitably created a great deal of work for both himself and their Apothecary. It was however still considered a 'success' due to the placing of two samples of a specially engineered viral agent (designed specifically to work on the Tyranid splinter fleet they were facing) on the primary Tyranid Hive-Ship. Though it hadn't had the effect of completely destroying the enemy fleet (as had been hoped) it had destroyed the vessel on which it had been placed as well as several others nearby and seemed to be gradually weakening the others.

The two new Deathwatch members now permanently attached to Kill-Team Epsilon after joining it to bolster their strength before the mission against the primary hive-ship had integrated themselves into the team with remarkable efficiency and were somewhat ironically far better at their team roles than the Marines they had replaced*. The new Apothecaries skills at healing far outclassed those of his predecessor and the Raven Guard Assault Marine's abilities in combat were impressive to say the least. Mortis had overheard several of the Deathwatch Serfs joking that Kill-team Epsilon had their own pile of missions awaiting them in the watch Captains office all labelled 'kill everything and set what's left on fire'. Though making light of his teams abilities had irritated him slightly he was forced to admit begrudgingly that diplomacy was not their strong suit in any way, shape or form.....

Mortis moved to his work bench and awakened the machine spirit of a portable Diognosticator before attaching it to a port in one of his new bionics in order to check it's integration with his existing systems. Epsilon's contribution to the defence of Pilgrims loss and it's considerable part in the weakening of the splinter fleet attacking it and it's neighbouring systems had not gone unnoticed by their superiors and subsequent enquiries about equipment availability had been provisionally approved** as well as the team receiving several honourable distinctions in recognition of their mighty and heroic deeds. He himself had personally received an additional Machina Opus from the stations Forge Master while the rest of the team had gained honours appropriate to their own particular specialities. Brother Magron had been particularly pleased with the Marksmen honour granted to him and had been even more humbled when the Master of the Armoury had agreed to configure an 'Ultra' Pattern Mk. IX Sniper Rifle for his personal use.

He himself had taken advantage of this new found favour by having his other arm replaced by an extremely well crafted*** Bionic that's ability to work on precision devices was considerably superior to his own organic limb that it had replaced. This procedure had been simple enough to be performed on the Strike Cruiser on the journey back to the Deathwatch Watch Station though he had had to wait until they reached 'home' before he could have the additional internal systems fitted to his Respiratory system and heart. He had also taken advantage of this downtime to fine tune the improvised additional armour plating he's added to his form during a brief stop at a medical facility while on the previous mission****. This integration of all his new augmentations when combined with his older ones had increased both his Strength and Toughness to even more impressive levels*****.

Once the diagnostic and subsequent minor adjustments had been completed he turned his attention to the Storm Bolter that had served him so well in the previous campaign. Despite the fact that it's previous owner had been a Chaos Terminator, the reconsecrated and reconfigured weapon's machine spirit had attempted to erase the stain on it's honour by destroying as many xenos as possible and had in fact killed one with virtually every bolt fired******. Brother Mortis had decided to honour his weapons new found purpose by rebuilding it to even more precise tolerances and adding a Motion Predictor who's own machine spirit would combine with that of the weapon in order to make it into a truly awe inspiring weapon of war...

...Brother Mortis aimed the weapon at the creature recently released at the opposite end of the circular area and unleashed a burst of Bolts at it as it loped across the training arena towards him. He watched with satisfaction as every bolt hit it's mark and the Diablodon exploded in a spectacular display of scattered limbs and shattered bone. Mortis engaged his Vox and sent a brief message to the Marine in charge of the stations 'Zoo'.

"Lets' try that again with a pair shall we....."

* Two members of our RPG group had decided they didn't like their characters and had (to be honest) probably not picked particularly good ones based on what they wanted to do with them. The simple solution was to just kill off their characters and create new ones. Amusingly enough our Apothecary is now an Assault Marine and our Assault Marine is now an Apothecary...

** Most of us are at 'Distinguished' levels of Renown (the stat that decides how exotic the equipment you can requisition for missions is) and the rest of them who are only 'Respected' should be 'Distinguished' by the end of our next couple of missions. This means that we can take wonderful new toys such as Omnissiah Axe's, Power Fists, Plasma Cannons and some of the more interesting grenade and ammunition types as well as most of the available equipment options as well. There's still a few things were not allowed near yet though...*cough* Conversion Beamer *cough*...

*** Equipment is either 'common', 'exceptional' or 'master' in terms of it's quality. Equipment over and above the standard types gains additional benefits depending on what it is (Armour increases in AP value, guns do more damage, etc.) but at an increased requisition cost. I've been of sufficient renown to get 'exceptional' level bionics for a while (which obviously have additional benefits) but have only just become famous enough to have 'master' level ones. Unfortunately a 'master' level piece of equipment is twice as expensive as a 'common' one...

**** I am allowed by our GM to use appropriate bionics from other of the compatible game systems such as Dark Heresy and Rogue Trader as long as I can justify it from a character building point of view. Therefore using various bits of the aforementioned medical facilities equipment to make Cranial and Subdermal armour was graciously approved. On a side note, our GM has a somewhat draconian attitude to 'Power Gaming' for the sake of it and also has a somewhat vindictive streak with those who argue with his decisions as one of our group who got ran over by a Lictor can testify too.....as can the guy who got his head stuck in what can only be described as a sphincter.....

***** It was the only way I could think of to justify suddenly getting stronger and tougher after spending XP on those particular stats.

****** I don't miss often and can fire 8 bolts in a single burst with an average roll combined with the weapons 'Storm' rule.

So that's the 'story so far'. for those of you interested in such things my character's stats are as follows,

WS 48, BS 51, S 64, T 64, A 40, Int 64, Per 49, WP 44, Fel 43.

As well as the Skills and Talents Deathwatch Marines get for free he also has the following upgrades,

Skills.
Awareness +10, Demolition, Dodge +20, Forbidden Lore : Archeotech +10, Security +10, Speak Language : Techna Lingua, Talanted : Tech-Use, Tech-Use +10.

Talents.
Autosanguine, Electro-Graft Use, Machine, Mechadendrite Use, Mechanicus Implants, Mighty Shot, Sound Constitution (2), The Flesh is Weak (1), Weapon Tech.

Bionics.
Augur Array, Bionic Arm (Left), Bionic Arm (Right), Bionic Heart, Bionic Locomotion (Legs), Bionic Lungs, Cranial Armour, Mind Impulse Unit, Servo Arm, Sub-Dermal Armour.

Wargear.
Mark 8 'Errant' Armour, Astartes Bolt Pistol, Astartes Bolt Gun, Astartes Combat Knife, Frag and Krak Grenades x3, Repair Cement, Signature Wargear (Master) : Astartes Storm Bolter, Techmarine Servo Arm.

Not sure what comments are necessary but feel free to make them if you like ;-)

Vulkan 'Drop Dread' list - 2nd Attempt

I recently received an e-mail from somebody asking about a Vulkan list that utilised Dreadnoughts in Drop Pods and I promptly obliged.

It's here if your interested.

I was however quite lazy when I threw it together. I just selected the basic units (Tactical Squads and Dreadnoughts) and duplicated them until I hit somewhere near the requested points total and to all intents and purposes said 'do what you like' with what points were left...

This is poor list design by any standards for which I humbly apologise :-(

This one will be better ;-)

One of the problems with drop lists is making sure that you have the tools in your first wave to deal with mech lists, infantry ones and the inevitable hybrid mixes of the two. They also require you to be able to deploy units in the event your opponent starts reserving stuff to avoid your first wave as you can obviously bring the Drop Pods down empty if you so require.

2000 Pts - Vulkan Drop Dreads - Ver 2.0

HQ: Forgefather Vulkan He'stan (1#, 190 pts)
   1 Forgefather Vulkan He'stan @ 190 pts
      1 Kesare's Mantle

HQ: Master of the Forge (1#, 100 pts)
   1 Master of the Forge @ 100 pts
      1 Servo Harness

Elite: Sternguard Veteran Squad (11#, 335 pts)
   9 Sternguard Veteran Squad @ 335 pts (Combi-Meltagun x6; Heavy Flamer x2; Drop Pod)
      1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Bolter)
      1 Drop Pod (Drop Pod Assault)

Elite: Dreadnought (2#, 150 pts)
   1 Dreadnought @ 150 pts (Heavy Flamer; Drop Pod)
      1 Drop Pod (Drop Pod Assault)

Elite: Dreadnought (2#, 150 pts)
   1 Dreadnought @ 150 pts (Heavy Flamer; Drop Pod)
      1 Drop Pod (Drop Pod Assault)

Heavy Support: Dreadnought (2#, 140 pts)
   1 Dreadnought @ 140 pts (Drop Pod)
      1 Drop Pod (Drop Pod Assault)

Heavy Support: Dreadnought (2#, 140 pts)
   1 Dreadnought @ 140 pts (Drop Pod)
      1 Drop Pod (Drop Pod Assault)

Heavy Support: Dreadnought (2#, 140 pts)
   1 Dreadnought @ 140 pts (Drop Pod)
      1 Drop Pod (Drop Pod Assault)

Troops: Tactical Squad (11#, 220 pts)
   9 Tactical Squad @ 220 pts (Meltagun; Multi-melta; Drop Pod)
      1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Combi-Meltagun x1)
      1 Drop Pod (Drop Pod Assault)

Troops: Tactical Squad (11#, 220 pts)
   9 Tactical Squad @ 220 pts (Meltagun; Multi-melta; Drop Pod)
      1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Combi-Meltagun x1)
      1 Drop Pod (Drop Pod Assault)

Troops: Tactical Squad (11#, 215 pts)
   9 Tactical Squad @ 215 pts (Flamer; Multi-melta; Drop Pod)
      1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Combi-Flamer x1)
      1 Drop Pod (Drop Pod Assault)

Total Roster Cost: 2000

This list gives us the following options.

Vs. Armour we have an option of a Sternguard unit that can Combat squad and take out two targets, 5 Dreadnoughts (two of which only have the Multi-Melta rather than Multi-Melta + Heavy Flamer as against many targets that's all it needs) and a pair of Tactical Squads with double melta on the turn they land (and again the turn after as long as they don't move, lol.)

Vs. Infantry our Sternguard unit has a pair of Heavy Flamers that can be fired at two separate targets if we choose to 'Combat Squad', 3 of our Dreadnoughts have Heavy Flamers and one of the Tactical Squads also has double Flamers.

Both of our HQ's have Flamer weapons so can be added to the anti-infantry squads to further supplement their capabilities and the Master of the Forge can take a pot-shot at rear armour with his twin-linked Plasma Pistol should you feel the need.

Obviously these units can be mixed and matched to deal with any hybrid builds you might encounter or if you wish to blow up a vehicle with one unit and toast the contents with another.

As I said before, I believe this list to be far better but as usual thoughts and comments are most welcome.

Games Workshop Newsletter

I Quite like the Dark Eldar Models but I'm completely indifferent to the Chaos Daemon ones. At least we now have a Herald of Tzeentch model but unfortunately I'd still have to make my own in order to fit my armies theme :-(

The Games Workshop Newsletter 12.08.2011 In this issue: Extra reinforcements for Chaos Daemons & Dark Eldar this weekend!

In Hobby Centres on August 20th A whole host of new models are available for you to buy this weekend. Chaos Daemons can be fielded in both Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000 and as Sorcerous Pacts in your Storm of Magic games. With the new Battleforce/Battalion, it's never been easier to field your own Chaos Daemons army. Worshippers of Tzeentch can show their loyalty with the new Blasted Standards, as well as fielding a Herald of Tzeentch, while those who follow Khorne will be able to use the two new Banners of Rage sets, all of which are available in Citadel Finecast. Dark Eldar fans can also rejoice as we've added two alien servants of the Dark Eldar, the Ur-Ghul and the Medusae, also available in Citadel Finecast. Head into stores on August 20th to be the first to get your hands on these new releases.

Forge World Newsletter 281

 Forge World Newsletter #281

Hi there,
            In this week’s newsletter we have a fantastic addition to our Imperial Guard range in the form of the Praetor Armoured Assault Launcher, as well as three new weapon options for the very popular Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought. We’ve also got further information for those of you attending Games Day Australia in October who want to place reservation orders, and news of the biggest event of our 2011 calendar: Games Day UK in September.

Contemptor Plasma Cannon, Heavy Bolter and Kheres Pattern Assault Cannon
The ancient and prized Contemptor Dreadnought, once a mainstay of the Astartes Legions during the Great Crusade, is capable of fielding many different heavy weapons. The Contemptor Pattern Plasma Cannon and Contemptor Pattern Heavy Bolter are both precursors to the weapons systems found on the MkIV and MkV Dreadnoughts, and the Kheres Pattern Assault Cannon is considered by some techno-savants to be the forerunner to the Assault Cannon carried by Space Marine Terminators.

Designed by Will Hayes, all three new weapon options are now available to pre-order for despatch in the week commencing August 30th.Experimental rules for the Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought are available to download from the Forge World website, and the keen-eyed amongst you will notice that one of the ‘forbidden’ weapon options has now been revealed. We’ll be bringing you more weapons for this amazingly popular Dreadnought in the coming months.

Praetor Armoured Assault Launcher
The Praetor Armoured Assault Launcher is a sophisticated weapon that mounts a multiple heavy missile launcher system. Use of this design, recently approved by the Tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus, is spreading swiftly throughout frontline regiments, but the use of the Praetor missile system far predates the hull design of the Crassus Armoured Assault Transport upon which it is now mounted.

This resin model is packed with lavish interior details such as missiles and auto-targeting systems, the Praetor’s massive main weapons system features three racks of immense warheads, and a sliding support that allows it to be opened for firing and closed for transport. The Praetor Armoured Assault Launcher is a complete resin kit, designed by Stuart Williamson and Daren Parrwood, and is available to pre-order now for despatch in the week commencing 30th August.

Experimental rules for the Praetor Armoured Assault Launcher can be downloaded from the Forge World website now, taken from the forthcoming Imperial Armour Apocalypse Second Edition,along with an exclusive Apocalypse Formation.

Games Day Australia Update
The full range of Warhammer Forge products, along with a huge selection of the Forge World range, will be available from our stand at Games Day Australia, held on 1st October at the Australian Technology Park, Redfern, NSW. Both our 2011 Event Only MkIII Armoured Boarding Space Marine and Chaos Dwarf Hellsmith models will be on sale, and to mark the return of Games Day Australia we’re also offering an exclusive last chance to buy some of our previous Event Only models as well.

We are now accepting reservation orders for Games Day Australia, and this is the best way of ensuring that we will have exactly the models you’re looking for, packed up and waiting for you to pay for on the day.

To place a reservation order, please send an e-mail entitled ‘Games Day Australia Reservation’ to fwreservations@games-workshop.co.uk, making sure to provide your full name and a list of the items you’d like to reserve. You can also phone the Forge World Customer Service team on 0011 44 115 916 8177.

You can place a reservation for anything currently available from the Forge World online store, as well as our Event Only MkIII Boarding Space Marine and Chaos Dwarf Hellsmith figures. We will provide a confirmation e-mail before the event that will contain your order number and a total cost in Australian Dollars, payable upon collection. Please contact GW Australia Customer Service for full details of pricing at the event.

Games Day UK – 25th September 2011
Here at Forge World we’re busily finishing masters and painting models for Games Day UK, held at the NEC in Birmingham on Sunday 25th September. Tickets are selling fast but there are still some left, so if you’ve not yet bought one either pop in to your local Games Workshop Hobby Centre, call 0115 914 0000 or visit www.games-workshop.com.

We’ll be bringing you regular updates on our presence at Games Day UK, ranging from the ever-popular Studio stands which will, as always, be packed with new and work-in-progress models, books, and our amazing display boards, to the Sales stand which will have a huge selection of the Forge World range of resin kits, modelling supplies and books.

We are now accepting reservation orders for Games Day UK, and as with our other UK shows this year, we’ll be taking payment in advance for these orders so that it’s much quicker and easier for you to collect at Games Day. A reservation order is the best way of ensuring that we have exactly what you want at Games Day, including our Show Only figures, so please call the Forge World Customer Service team on 0115 900 4995 to place your reservation.

Thanks,
Ead Brown
Customer Service Manager
Forge World