20 Questions Wargamer style

Found this 20 questions on Iron Legions Blog but via Don’t throw a 1’s blog. Thought it would be good for a laugh.

note I have adapted it a little (I hope the original author doesn’t mind as I don’t do historical wargaming much)

 

1. Favourite Wargames setting  and why?

I’m a big 40k fan at heart but also love the Battletech back story too.

 

2. Next game, money no object?

Blood Bowl or maybe Dust Tactics, those mechs look cool.

 

3. Favourite 5 films?

Ferris Buelers Off

Beverly Hills Cop

Evil Dead 3

Ghostbusters

Laputa Castle in the Sky

 

4. Favourite 5 TV series?

Red Dwarf

Spring/Autumn Watch

Battlestar Galactica (New)

The I.T. Crowd

The Mighty Boosh

 

5. Favourite book and author?

Dune by Frank Herbert

 

6. Greatest General? Can’t count yourself!!

Commander Dante

 

7. Favourite Wargames rules?

Necromunda

 

8. Favourite Sport and team?

McLaren F1

 

9. If you had a only use once time machine, when and where would you go?

One word – Dinosaurs!

 

10. Last meal on Death Row?

Fish and Chips

 

11. Fantasy relationship and why?

Hmm I would love to party with Will I Am, just as bro’s mind

 

12. If your life were a movie, who would play you?

James Corden or Meat Loaf

 

13. Favourite Comic  Superhero?

Judge Dread

 

14. Favourite Military quote?

“They Don’t Like it um ‘em! “

 

15. Historical destination to visit?

Any of the ancient abandoned cities in the middle east.

 

16. Biggest Wargaming regret?

Giving away loads of 40k stuff before I left for Uni

 

17. Favourite Fantasy job?

Writer/Designer on Elite 4

 

18. Favourite Song Top 5?

Get the Girl, Kill the Baddies – Pop Will Eat Itself

Waterfall – The Stone Roses

Testarossa Overdrive – Kavinsky

Sploosh – Ozerics Tenticles.

Movin on Up – Primal Scream

 

19. Favourite Wargaming Moment?

That look on your opponents face when the Blood Angels assault units get into the soft underbelly of their army.

 

20. The miserable Git question, what upsets you?

Cruelty and lack of respect.

Just a Quickie

I must stop forgetting to roll for Red Thirst!

 

 

That is All

Flames of War Army Lists (work in progress)

 

I thought a little post about the two army lists I’m working on would be a good idea. The two forces I have decided to work on both had briefings available for free from the Flames of War website. Units in red represent possible future purchases.

Soviet Heavy Guards Tank Regiment (KV-1, Late War)

Now there is nothing more moving than the thought of a Soviet Heavy Guards Tank Regiment moving at speed across the countryside. Walls and hedgerows would simply cease to exist as the unstoppable behemoths crushed them beneath their heavy tracks. The sound of their guns thundering across the plains as they pick off another hapless German Tank. 

However the unstoppable KV-1 behemoths of the early war are now the second line tanks of the Soviet Army. Not as invulnerable to enemy fire as they once were. Their superiority on the Battlefield is over, maybe numbers will win the day…

HQ

1 KV-1e  75

Company 1

5 KV-1e  370

Company 2

4 KV-1e 295

Company 3

5 KV-1e  370

Company 4

5 KV-1e  370

Corps Support

Priority Air Support

IL-2 Shturmovik 270

 

Total 740 (1750)

 

German 653. Schwere Panzerjager Abtelung (Late War)

Facing the seemingly unstoppable Soviet advance is a small ad-hoc company with elements of the 653 Schwere Panzerjager Abtelung  supported by other Heer Panzer units. The 88mm Pak 43 guns mounted on the Elefants will make short work of the once invulnerable Soviet armour facing them, but numbers favour the Russians.  Will quality defeat quantity?

HQ.

1 Elefant Tank Hunter 300

Platoon 1

2 Elefant Tank Hunters 600

Panzer Anti-Aircraft Platoon

2 Sd Kfz 7/1 (Quad 2cm)  90

Heer Support Platoons

Assault Gun Platoon

2 StuG G’s 190

Heavy Tank Platoon

1 Tiger 1E   215 (Gotta have a Tiger!)

Panzer Platoon

5 Panzer IV H  475

Total 1090 (1870)

 

 

So there we are. I’m part way there and looking forward to buying, building and eventually painting (oh and possibly gaming with) these two forces!

The Elefants Have Arrived!

 

Waiting for me when I got back from work today were my three new German Elefant Tank Hunters. These three vehicles alone are worth more in points than my ten Soviet KV-1 tanks. I will post some more shots once they are built.

 

And here are five of my KV-1 tanks. Ready to try and take them on.

So there we are

Some Painted FoW Tanks

 

Here’s a couple of shots of the Tanks you get in the Flames of War Open Fire! starter set.

StuG III

StuG III

M4 Sherman

M4 Sherman

 

This is my first time painting in 1/100 scale and also my first time using anything other than Citadel paints. I used Tamiya paints in the main that I picked up nice and cheap from a local hobby store and I think they look pretty good. They didn’t take long to paint and certainly look table ready.

My 10 Zvezda KV-1’s have arrived!

 

Ordered from the plastic soldier company and promptly delivered. No proper pictures yet (I’m about to leave for a full shift at work) but I will post some unboxing pics tomorrow.

Hawken New Year Update

 

 

The guys over at Adhesive Games Ltd have given us a few concept pictures to keep us keen, waiting for that all but impossible dream of a good modern mech game.

 

As you can see from the above pictures, it looks like dark brooding BladerRunneresque Cities and Post apocalyptic ruins are all the rage in Hawken but they sure look nice and I look forward to seeing some more game renders and videos.

Now these Mech concepts look interesting, I like the blend of Mechwarrior like running gear with more real world ablative/ reactive armour. I’m guessing this is some kind of  light or scout Mech as itl looks sleek and fast (I would call it a SC-1B Scarab but hey that’s just me)

So for all you Battletech Players waiting for a new game or you players of Heavy Gear, keep your eyes open and check out Hawkens Facebook page for loads more info including some early gameplay vids.

 

Hip Hip Hooray! A new Mech game is on its way!

The Codex Astartes is a Lie!

 

After the terrible events of the Horus Heresy it was Robute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines that would have the longest lasting effect on the remaining loyalist Astartes Legions. In his legendary tome the Codex Astartes, he covered all aspects of Astartes warfare. From squad organisation, heraldry and unit markings, tactics and deployment. However the greatest effect he would have was his decision to see the once proud Legions decimated into Chapters of no more than 1000 marines.

Ten thousand years later the majority of the estimated thousand remaining Astartes Chapters claim to adhere to the Codex. Some like the Space Wolves, Black Templars, Dark Angels etc do have minor deviances from the Codex but very few stray very far from the 1000 Battle Brothers commandment.

However this figure of 1000 Battle Brothers is a grossly misleading figure and the number of fully trained Astartes a Chapter could bring to bear could be much much greater.

As an example we will look at the Blood Angles Chapter.

After the fateful events at the end of the Horus Heresy that saw the Blood Angels decimated and leaderless, the Sons of Baal were believed to be one of the first Legions to adopt the directives of the Codex, seeing it as a way to return stability to the now fractured Legion.

Today the Blood Angels are for all intents and purposes a Codex chapter, they have ten companies, each with one hundred Marines organised into the correct number of Tactical, Assault and Devastator Squads. It must be noted that the Blood Angels do have several extra and ad-hoc units such as the Sanguinary Guard and the mythical Death Company, this is not a particularly relevant fact and the reader will soon see that the finding in this text can be applied to any Chapter.

Anyone with access to Codex Blood Angels will note in the Chapter Ordering of the Host that we have a full Order of Battle for the Blood Angels Chapter. It is on this page we see the unravelling of the Codex Astartes.

These hidden Marines can be found in those non Company organisations within the Blood Angles Chapter these will be broken down by element.

1) The Armoury

36 Techmarines, these are ALL fully trained battle brothers.

144 Vehicles including Stormraven Gunships, All of these vehicles need multiple crew to operate and even with a conservative number of one Marine per vehicle we already have an extra 144.

2) The Librarius

31 Librarian Marines. This alone is a staggering figure

3) Fleet Command

64 Space going vessels including Battle Barges as big if not bigger than the larges Ships of the Imperial Fleet. Again with a conservative estimate of three marines per ship we gain another 192 Battle Brothers

4) Reclusiam

14 Chaplains

5) Sanguinary Priesthood*

22 Sanguinary Priests

*This is a unique organisation to the Blood Angels however in a codex chapter it would be substituted with an apothacarion either as a separate logistical organisation like the Priesthood or integrated into each company at command level.

 

By just looking at the logistical part of the Chapter we have found an extra fully trained, equipped and deadly 467 Battle Brothers. Not only that but this figure includes specialist formations including trained psykers and veterans. Also this does not include any crew of transportation vehicles assigned to the battle companies themselves. This figure could easily put the number past five hundred.

In conclusion the actual force a Space Marine Chapter can deploy could be upward of 50% of the Codex standard. This could possibly explain the extreme reluctance the Inquisition has in declaring even heavily deviant Chapters Excommunicate Traitoris. As seen with the Astral Claws during the Badab war, a Space Marine Chapter with its back to the wall is a terrible thing to behold.

Not the most thought out of comments!

 

I just read the review of Space Marine for PC over at PC gamer and noticed the following in the comments section:

“I feel the same way, the whole of the demo seems to have that "rinse and repeat" element about it. Deffo not on my purchace list. I had really high hopes for this game having played 40K since Rogue Trader days but it's just meele spam at the end of the day :(“

 

Melee spam? If you ask me that would fit in with later versions of 40k perfectly!

lol

StuG of the Dump

I have been a bit ill over the last few days and in between moping around all achey and feeling sorry for myself I have found the time to finally unlock a tier five Tank in World of Tanks and it’s a StuG!

Oh Yeah! I’m loving it so far although I seem to get more higher tier games than I would like.

Cites of Death Campaign pt 3

 

Well I have built my Manufactorum and I am quite pleased with the result. If I get a chance I will be adding some detritus to the base before the campaign starts but this also depends on available funds.

 

Should look quite good when it’s painted up, need to get more Bolt Gun Metal though unless I get all unorthodox and try something weird with Tin Bitz.

Disaster!

Argh! I've run out of Boltgun Metal. How will I survive?

Cities of Death Campaign pt 2

A quick update on the upcoming Cities of Death campaign at my local GW. The point value has been upped from 500 to 750. We also have to bring along a piece of Cityfight Terrain.

This give me a great opportunity to finally buy some terrain. The piece I have decided on first? Why the Manufactorum of course. The Shrine of the Aquila came a close second (and may be an additional purchase soon)

I have also tweaked my Army list:

HQ

Librarian with Jump Pack 125

Elites

Sanguinary Priest with Jump Pack, Melta Bombs, Hand Flamer and Power Weapon 95

Troops

Assault Squad. Sgt with Powerfist, Plasma Pistol & Melta Bombs + Meltagun 155

Assault Squad. Sgt with Plasma Pistol & Melta Bombs + Flamer 125

Heavy Support

Stormraven Gunship with TL Multi Melta, TL Assault Cannons, Hurricane Bolters & Extra Armour. 245

I’m hoping it all acts as a hard hitting elite assault force.

Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought

Spotted this little fella at the GW site today:

That there is a Contemptor-Mortis pattern Dreadnought with Kheres pattern Assault Cannons, Cyclone Missile Launcher and a Helical Targeting Array. First seen (and sold I believe) at Games Day Germany and the latest Dreadnought to come out of Forgeworld.

Looks like a mini Titan to me and gets a 9.3 on my cool as F**K! scale

Cities of Death Campaign

 

I popped into my local Games Workshop today to kill some time and ended up chatting to the new manager. Turns out he is a pretty cool guy and not as pushy on the sales front as other managers I have encountered in recent years. Anyway in September they are running a Cities of Death Campaign and I think I’m going to have a crack at it.

It’s all pretty standard fayre. You start off with 500 points and you get and extra 250 to add each week. Other requirements are the Cities of Death book (obviously) and one CoD terrain piece.

So first off here’s my army list:

HQ

Librarian 100

Troops

Assault Squad 100

1 Sgt Plasma Pistol, Powerfist +45

5 Marines, Bolt Pistol & Close Combat Weapon (2 marines + 36)

1 Marine, Meltagun +10

191

Assault Squad 100

Sgt Thunderhammer +30

3 Marines Bolt Pistol & Close Combat Weapon

1 Marine Inferno Pistol & Close Combat Weapon +15

Trade Jpacks for Razorback with TL Lascannon, Search Light and Dozer Blade +61

200

497

 

Obviously you are very limited at 500 points with any Marine force but I think this is a well rounded Blood Angels force and can be easily built upon.

Whatdya guys think?

 

Ben

For Fans of Panzer General

Found this game purely by chance while looking for strategy games for my PSP.

Panzer Corps is a PC game that makes no secret of its illustrious predecessor. It really does look like a modern remake.

 

 

I guess anyone familiar with the old Panzer General titles can see from the above screenshot that this is something worth getting a little excited about.

Find out more at Matrix Games

Ben

First Games of Flames of War

 

Not many updates in the last month or so, I’ve been a bit more busy at work which means more pay (yay!) but less time for other things and I have been so tired after work that all I have wanted to do is veg out on World of Tanks.

 

Anyway on with the post.

I had my first couple of games of Flames of War this week, a couple solo and a couple with my Bro. Nothing to amazing just working through the scenarios that come with the Open Fire boxed set. It all went well apart from by brother declaring any game that relies on dice as too random and unrealistic (hmm not much of a wargamer is our Cam).

Personally I liked the systems reversal of which sides skill you use to set difficulties and despite what Cam thought the various games gave us plenty of different results and would totally  recommend the Open Fire set to get you started in Flames of War

This month I hope to pick up a couple of Infantry Platoons and maybe the Hells Highway book to get me some more units to play with.

Scibor’s Archangel, a decent Sanguinius model?

 

Spotted this on Table Top Fix’s feed. A fantastic looking Archangel in armour from the crafty folk at Scibor. Take at look at this:

 

Might have to pick this up in the future.

New Blood Angels 1500 point list.

 

This is my current goto 1500 point force, easily tailored for a specific opponent. More Fluffy than Netlist but fun to play.

HQ

Dante 225

Elite

Furioso, Dreadnought, Heavy Armour 140

Sanguinary Priest, Hand Flamer, Melta-bombs, Jump Pack 90

Troop

Sanguinary Guard, Chapter Banner, Death Masks, Inferno Pistol. 265

10Tactical Squad, Flamer, Missile Launcher (Melta Bombs) + Rhino, HK Missile 175 + 60

5 Death Company, 2x Power weapon, Inferno pistol + Razorback, TL Lascannon, Storm Bolter 195+100

10Assault Squad, (Power fist, Plasma Pistol, Melta Bombs), Flamer, Meltagun. 250

= 1500 points

Blood Angels Update.

Here are some new shots of my Blood Angels.

 

My Razorback:

This was originally Black to go with my Death Company but it just didn’t gel with the rest of my force so I decided to redden it up.

Next A Rhino:

I never go anywhere without my trusty Hunter Killer Missile quite a few kills it has now!

 

And finally my Furioso Dreadnought:

A nice simple conversion of the AoBR Dreadnought with some Forgeworld Dreadnought arms I got on eBay.