Feeling No Pain...

For Sanguinius!

After a string of harrowing defeats, the Blood Angels had finally managed to reestablish a secure base of operations on Angamar.  Mephiston had retired to the orbiting Battle Barge to better coordinate the campaign against the Xenos, leaving Brother Decartes as the tactical commander of the Blood Angels' forces.  During the previous battles, Brother Corbulo had managed to identify a signature emitted by the relic fragments that could be tracked from orbit.  Descartes's first mission would be to secure one fragment located deep within territory under Dark Angel control.  Based on their experience with the Brothers Penitent, Mephiston knew this would not be an easy fight...

 

Sammael and the Ravenwing had received word that the corrupted Blood Angels were advancing into territory already secured by the Dark Angels.  With so many threats on the planet, the Blood Angels had no legitimate reason to be intruding into already pacified areas.  Obviously, the Fallen were still working deep within the chapter and needed to be cleansed.  The Ravenwing would run them down where they stood...

 

Blood Angels vs Dark Angels (Summary and Pics by Jeff)

Jeff vs Noah

Ravenwing to the Rescue

 

The rumors of Fallen seeking ancient weapons on Angamar had been enough to cause the Dark Angels to deploy in force.  As soon as word had reached Grand Master Azrael that fallen marines had infiltrated the planet, he immediately dispatched his champions, Belial and Sammael, to track down the relics and capture their quarry.

However, by the time the Dark Angels arrived, the xenos invaders had already entrenched themselves across the planet.  The world-wide battles provided the perfect cover for the Fallen to pursue their nefarious plans.  Belial and Sammael knew that the xenos had to be driven from the planet in order to flush the traitors from hiding.  They split their forces, with Belial and the Deathwing pursuing a report of Fallen in one of Angamar's desert wastelands.  While the Deathwing hunted the traitors, Sammael and the Ravenwing would hunt down and destroy a band of strange, feral Necrons near Command Bastion A15.

1500 Dark Angels vs. Necron (Written by Noah)
Noah Vs Forest

Deploy: Dawn of War (Old Pitched battle)
Battle: Big Guns Never Tire

Noah could not remember all the details of the army lists/assets, but he was kind enough to write a pretty cool narrative report!  Enjoy!

Everyone hates the Blood Angels...

Never forget, Never forgive!

Like all Dark Angel's successor chapters, the shame of the First Legion's failure during the Heresy has weighed heavily on the Brothers Penitent.  Since its founding, the entire chapter has waged a penitent crusade for reasons only the Inner Circle fully understands.  While the chapter at large seeks to regain their honor through the crusade against the Imperium's enemies, the Inner Circle has conducted the covert campaign against the Fallen.  The chapter's visible crusade has been joined over the centuries by units of Imperial Guard or even Space Marines from other chapters seeking to earn redemption for their sins.  The Inner Circle jealously guards the knowledge of their real campaign and does whatever it takes to make sure their unknowing allies remain oblivious.

The rumors of a powerful artifact hiding on Angamar had lured multiple Fallen to the planet in search of a weapon to use against the Imperium.  Elements of the Brothers Penitent had tracked them to the planet, but the fighting on the surface provided a perfect camouflage to hide the traitors.  Their location was completely unknown, and the Brothers could not rule out the possibility that the Fallen had even managed to infilitrate loyal units fighting to save the planet. 

Mephiston and the Blood Angels were falling back under the cover of darkness to regroup after their recent losses.  Brother Corbulo had been correct about the existance of an artifact residing on the planet that was capable of controlling the Blood Angel's rage.  However, he had severly underestimated the potency of the relic.  Its influence had driven the Blood Angels into such a frenzy where they had attacked their own allies, and had almost led to the destruction of Mephiston's entire force.  As they retreated through the night, the horizon lit up with the unmistakable flashes of missile fire.  Even before the screaming missiles slammed home, the Blood Angels were already manuevering to enage and eliminate this new threat...

1500 Point Brothers Penitent (Dark Angels) v. Blood Angels (Written by London)

London vs Jeff

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD... Angels?



While initial reports had indicated that Mephiston's force of Blood Angels had been utterly destroyed, remnants of the battered and broken half-company had been able to fight their way free of the ambush.  Even, Mephiston, who had been laid low by dark lances, had managed to survive the battle with timely ministrations from the Sanguinary Priests.  He awoke from his recovery to a waiting transmission from the Chapter Master of the Ultramarines who desired to meet and formulate a combined battle strategy to liberate the planet...

Marneus Calgar and a small contingent of Honor Guard supported by elements of the Second Company had taken up positions in the ruins surrounding the Droman manufactorum.  The Ultramarines had initially moved to shore up the manufactorum's defenses while the Blood Angels had been fighting in the western desert, and Calgar anxiously awaited the return of Mephiston and the Blood Angels to coordinate the counter-offensive against the xenos forces.  With the a thundering roar of its enginges, the Blood Angels Thunderhawk 'Sanguine Fury' swung low over the landscape and disgorged Mephiston and his strike force across the small valley from the Ultramarines.  As Calgar and his retinue of Honor Guard began marching across the valley to meet his allies, Librarian Muran continued his investigation of the shards recovered from the Eldar.  The pieces appeared to be the shattered remnants of a very large crystal.  It was obvious that while many fit together, an even larger number were still missing.  Muran picked up two pieces that appeared like they should fit and lifted them towards the light to examine their edges.  As he brought them close together, the pieces suddenly leapt from his hands and snapped together, releasing a shockwave across the valley...

Calgar watched as the shockwave raced across the valley and through the ranks of the approaching Blood Angels.  It was not strong enough to unsteady the footing of him or his retinue, but the Blood Angels were visibly shaken by it.  The slow, measured steps of the Assault Marines picked up speed and the orderly march quickly accelerated.  Had they been an adversary, Calgar would have sworn that approaching Marines were beginning to charge.  Before he could dismiss the thought, the unmistakable cries of "For Sanguinius! For the Emperor!", rolled across the valley.  His mind racing, Calgar bellowed, "Ultramarines!  Defend yourselves!" and stepped forward to meet the incoming threat...

Opponents: Bob (GK/SM) versus Jeff (Blood Angels) - Written by Bob

Pain and Profit

Life as a PDF Guardsman is never fun...

The rumors of large caches of ancient weapons and armor in Angamar's western desert had been enough to draw a large Dark Eldar raiding force to the system.  Instead of finding an unsuspecting planet ripe for the taking, the Kabal of the Bloody Claw had arrived to find the world fully engulfed in a raging battle between the mon keigh, Necrons, and Craftworld Eldar.  Taking advantage of the confusion and chaos, the Kabal had raided and pillaged countless cities with scant opposition as the bulk of the defenders had been marshalled against the Necron threat.  Duke Sliscus had been ready to leave with his considerable spoils when the sudden appearance of Space Marines forces from not one, but three chapters had made reconsider.  For the Imperium to respond with such a large force obviously meant that something extremely valuable rested on the planet...

The Blood Angels, lead by the indomitable Mephiston bounded across the desert with their jump packs, responding to reports of a Dark Eldar raiding party streaking across the sands.  Destroying the xenos force would bring the Blood Angels one step closer to securing the planet and starting their search for the fabled artifact--a relic that might hold the key to saving their entire chapter.  The Dark Eldar had no such noble goal, but saw only the profit to be had in the coffers of the ancient race who once had inhabitated the planet.  While Duke Sliscus and the rest of the Kabal of the Bloody Claw were engaged elsewhere, one of his partners, the archon Haud Dico raced northeast with his fast moving transports full of warriors and wyches looking to capture slaves for the arena--and find out just what treasures the Blood Angels were seeking to protect...

1500 Blood Angels vs. DE  (Written by Ned)
Jeff vs Ned

Allies No Longer

This is what happens when you don't provide real pics...

Even before the distress signal arrived, the Blood Angels had already departed at full speed towards the Angamar system.  Brother Corbulo's research into the Blood Angels' gene seed flaw had discovered rumors of an ancient artifact capable of dampening psychic influences or even manipulate emotions.  Such a device might might hold insights into how to mitigate the bloodlust of the Red Thirst and Black Rage, and buy the chapter time to cure the affliction of their geneseed.  Mephiston and a contingent of Blood Angels had been immediately dispatched with the orders to secure the artifact at ANY cost... 

 

Within minutes of arriving in the system, Blood Angel Drop Pods and Thunderhawk Transports had delivered squads of Tactical Marines, Devastators, and Assault Marines into the heart of three of Angamar's manfactorums and mining structures.  Not only were the facilities vital to defending the planet from the marauding Xenos, the planetary surveys they contained might offer a clue to the location of the relic. 

 

Mephiston had personally accompanied the Assault Marines sent to secure the manufactorum on the Cifius lava plains only to find Necron forces massing against it.  He gazed across the acrid  landscape to watch as the shambling, metallic horde took up firing positions.  However, the unruly mob before him was not the same adversary that the Blood Angels had faced in the Gehenna Campaign.  While the Silent King's forces had been unrelenting, soulless automatons, these Necrons instead resembled a pack of feral Orks.  Orange "warpaint" streaked their bodies,  and they milled about their positions with halting, jerking movements.  Even though the Lord of Death knew the Necrons were nothing more than metallic husks with no other thought than the destruction of all living things, it almost seemed that something was driving them mad.  Regardless of the strangeness of the Necron's actions, Mephiston and the Blood Angels would prove that they still "died" all the same...

 

Blood Angels vs Necrons (Written by Jeff)

Jeff vs Forest

Necrons... dun dun dunnnnhhhhhhh

A new threat arises....

So I have been acting like a little kid lately--saving up money from my birthday, Christmas, and extra jobs to buy my next new toy.  However, as I am also masquerading as a "grown-up", my toys are more expensive and of the plastic crack variety.  The new Necron codex has caught my eye and I plan on building a 1500-2000 point army list to act as a foil to my Ultramarines Second Company and Honorguard.  I have the devious goal to try and get my friends hooked on plastic crack too, and I think the best way to do this is through intro games with two well-painted, evenly matched armies.

More Honorguard Battle Summaries

Chapter Champion and TDA Honorguard

I have been playing a lot of Minecraft lately, so I have been on a bit of a 40K hiatus.  However, the "semi-local friendly gaming store" hosted another 1500 tournament this Saturday.  I am starting to really get into the 1500 scene... it's cheaper and does seem to allow older/themed armies to compete better than at the higher levels.  I decided to bust out my Ultramarine Honorguard (Counts as GK) again and here's how they did:

Tournament Overview
The tournament was a three-round RTT-like tournament with Battle, Painting, and Comp Scores.  There were about 20 people with a solid mix of armies.  I saw IG, Marines, BT, GK, Eldar, Orks, a couple of Necrons, and a couple of DE.  Noticibly absent were SW and BA.... two tournaments in a row without them.  The missions were based on normal missions (KP and Sieze Ground) with slight "Christmas Theme" twists.  The games were broken down into Major/Minor/Tie with 2 bonus points per round.  Unfortunately, not a single one of my opponents had an extra army list, so I am going from memory.  My army consisted of:

Draigo (Chapter Champ)
5 Pallies with 2 Pyscannons, 2 DHs, and Brother Hood Banner
5 GKSS with Pyscannon and Pysback
5 GKSS with Pyscannon and Pysback
5 GKSS with Pyscannon and Pysback
2 Pyflemen
1 Dreadknight with no upgrades (CALGAR!)

It's a really weird/unbalanced army, and I was really worried about the DE lists floating around.  I almost busted out my normal Space Marine army, but ended up just saying "screw it."

Honour Guard at 1500 RTT

So I finally was able to take my Honour Guard (Counts as GK) out for a spin today in a 1500 RTT.  It was super small (10 people), but was still fun as normally I spend my time playing just one other person/army all the time.  It was definately nice to have an opportunity to play other armies.  It was a very suprising meta, as here were at least three Chaos Space Marine players and a Necron player, but SW, BA, and DE were all not represented.  I think some of the normal heavy hitters were at 'Ard Boyz.

My list was:
Draigo (Chapter Champ)
5 Pallies with 2 Pyscannons, 2 DHs, and Brother Hood Banner
5 GKSS with Pyscannon and Pysback
5 GKSS with Pyscannon and Pysback
5 GKSS with Pyscannon and Pysback
2 Pyflemen
1 Dreadknight with no upgrades (CALGAR!)

1500 Bikers against Mech Marines

(Ignore the tanks... they're not really there)

This will be a fairly short and sweet batrep.  Starraptor and I wanted to try and get two games in last night, so we started with a 1500 point game.  I've been playing my Mech Marines against his for the last several games, so I switched it up with a 1500 Biker list.  I haven't played with my Bikers in a long time and it was his first game against a bike army.  My list was:

HQ
Captain with Bike, Relic Blade, and Combi-Melta

1500 "Rule of Cool" GKs

Got a good 1000 point game in with GKs tonight.  I proxied up a small force and went against shooty mech Marines.  I like the feel of the army, even at 1000 points.  But without henchman, it's definately very, very squishy (I had a pretty low model count army).  I have also bought into the 5-man GKSS with Pyscannon and Pysback units being touted on the internet.  They definately performed well.  However, GKTs were mediocre at best.  I failed way too many 2+ saves before they could do much.  I also got to see just how nasty Pysfleman dreads are on the tabletop.

I've been reconsidering my 1500 point army for a few days now and in light of recent revelations (Honorguard Counts As), I am thinking about changing it.  I am getting away from the full squads and going to the Pysback Squads.  The extra Justicars seem like they would be very useful along with the extra vehicles.  I also want to try to fit in the Dreadknight Counts As Calgar and/or a Stormraven.  So here's what I came up with:

1500 GK Starter List Design

While I'm used to normally playing at the 1850 level, games around here seem to be much smaller.  I am going to start the GK army at 1500 and work my way up as time and money permit.  I figure anything below 1500 will be tough for any sort of GK army that doesn't lean hard on inquisition forces.  I'm not against Inquisition in general, but I want to use the GK models I already have which are mostly PAGKs and GKTs.

Having said that, I plan on starting with a pretty vanilla list.  Nothing fancy like Draigo, Mordrak, Coteaz, or shunting for 1st turn assaults.  I think those options are better left for after I have a better feel for the codex and am operating at higher points values.  For now, I want to start with the "must haves" from the GK codex and then support them with mostly GK forces.  Anyone who has been following the internet chatter can probably guess what they are:

1.  Pysfleman Dreads
2.  Vindicare Assassin
3.  Purifiers