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Sunday, February 03, 2013

Ultramarine flashback army goes to war

Following up from the excitement of finding the old Ultramarines last week, I decided to brave the elements and risk a game last night. The enemy that the light of the Emperor exposed to us for cleansing was Screech's Thousand Sons. This is my 1st time facing the new Chaos Codex, and my 1st ever using the Space Marines Codex.

It was 1500 point battle and it was a fight to achieve objectives.

The Landraider, ready to face down it's corrupted mkII counterpart

The Devastator squard overlooking the battle field
Without going into a round-by-round review, I will instead focus on highlights and what I learned by 'going back to basics' by using the Codex Marines in lieu of Space Wolves. Besides, we were distracted by the weather outside, so much so that the other players played a round or two before packing it in and dashing off, leaving just Screech and I behind.

Firepower wise, I was impressed overall with the Ultra's output. A lesser army or even a rival Space Marine army, would've been punished harder by the hail of bolts I peppered them with. However, and this I would quickly learn, is that the Thousand Sons are a whole matter completely. Impressed with the Ultramarine's firepower was nothing: I was astounded by the firepower of the Thousand Sons! Inferno Bolts with Soul Blaze did a number on my right flank causing it to crumble up pretty quick.

When my Sternguard Veterans lept out of the Landraider and cut a squad of Thousand Sons in half with Hellfire Rounds, I was giddy with how awesome the Sternguard weapon options were compared to what my Space Wolves have.  But when the smoke cleared, and the surviving Thousand Sons returned fire, it was I who would be surprised as the damned inferno bolts (with Soul Blaze) would cut the Sternguard in half! In the end the final Sternguard would snuff it as the soul blaze consumed him. In the pic below you can see all that was left of this Thousand Son unit standing in the Aquila Lander wreckage.



The two Land Raiders would take turns knocking hull points off each other with their twin-linked lascannons. The Ultramarine Land Raider would later explode when struck by a meltagun at close range.

My terminator squad absorbed a lot of incoming fire, as terminators are known to do, but when charged by Khorne berserkers (correction: Choosen) they would be quick to fall to the vast number of attacks that the berserkers brought down on them. However, they took a few of the frothing gits with them, including the Aspiring Champion who had challenged my Librarian. The two characters killed each other in a bloody clash which I thought was a pretty neat outcome actually.

"So sarge, we just show up and stand here now?"
Space Marine scouts have really suffered from the rule changes over the editions. The inability to charge when coming in from reserve was put in to balance some units that were too good at this tactic, but I feel that the change might have been over kill. I put these guys on the far end to see if I could harass the objective holders on that side of the field, but my the Scout's fire power was ineffective. They ended up being target practice for the Thousand Sons...

In hindsight, I should have infiltrated the scouts forward from the beginning, putting them in the compound where my surviving Tactical squad would claim and hold onto an objective. I would in turn have used that squad to go harass the Thousand Sons marine. In particular I would've chased down the surviving member of the Thousand Son's squad that earned Screech another 3 vps.

The end of the game. The only thing the Devastators killed was a Rhino tank.

Evil cowers in any shadow it can find...
So we chose to end the game at the bottom of turn 5, as the weather was getting scary-nasty outside and the prospect of being snowed in that cold building wasn't appealing to either of us, less so me, as Screech would point out "I have a truck!". 

The Victory Point tally would be:
Thousand Sons: 9
Ultramarines: 5
 
Not a horrible loss, considering I have done far worse with armies I am actually adept at playing with and/or against! The git hiding behind the rhino wreck was within 3" of an objective and he earned Screech 3vps. Yes, a good game, and it was fun to shake the dust off these old models and prove that they still can put up a decent fight.
 


9 comments:

  1. 'Evil cowers in any shadow it can find...'

    lol, indeed it does!

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  2. The army looks good. Have I ever played you? I can't remember, but having played in the same place as you for nearly 4 years, it would seem a stretch to have never played you.

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  3. Its fluffy for my lone Aspiring Sorcerer to hide. He can't carry out Lord Ahriman's plans (or be executed later) if he is dead, now can he?

    Also, for the record, I was running a squad of Chosen with the Mark of Khorne, not Khorne Berserkers. Granted, only 1 model in the squad wasn't carrying an icon or special weapon of a type, so the end result was probably the same.

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  4. Edwin, no we've never played. Which might explain why I alone don't have a vendetta against you (kidding!). But really, I would be open to this, on a condition: And I want you to think about this: I play Warhammer 40,000. I do not play Mathhammer 40,000. I play armies because first and foremost, I am a collector. I enjoy the hobby of collecting, painting, and building these little guys. I pour a lot of time and love into these things, and yes, I enjoy the game a lot as well, but my armies are built around having different units, and diversity. I would never build a list like that Eldar army you did, because it's boring to me. I would want to play around with more Aspects. Heck, I would purposely avoid building a 'net' list as I like to build semi-unique lists. I don't play to win for winnings sake; I play with the mindset that I am participating in a small-scale reinactment of a battle taking place far away and far 'a-when'. So, I will play you, and if you would like me to step it up and try to make the list a bit beefier than normal, I can. So what is the condition? You simply need to comprehend why people like Corey, Screech, Rob and I play this game. Sure, yeah, we play 'to win' that is the point of these games after all, but focus on WHY we play at all. I see you posting on other blogs and your own, and I see that you are trying to find your niche as a 40k gamer, both locally and in the online 40k community and I am all for you doing that if you can evolve into a player people can look forward to playing with. I think you can do it, and still be competitive. So, answer me this: why do you like Warhammer 40,000?

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  5. Well, I've waited just over a week now as I was really interested in what Edwin's reply was going to be. Unfortunately he hasn't posted one. Therefor I will.

    I play warhammer 40K not just because I enjoy the fluff and the building of the models (the painting I don't enjoy so much), but because I also like to create and forge my army's place in the overall scheme of the game and world. I've never wanted to play Ultramarines or White Scars or Crimson Fists because they all had a well established background. My marine chapter was something I could fully create within the world that was totally mine.

    Heck, I've got ideas for backgrounds and such for armies I've no desire to play or own, but the kernel of the idea is still there floating around, just in case someday. This is a hobby where I don't only get to get out and socialize, enjoy a fun game after a good meal with interesting conversation (or at least a good Screech ribbing), but one where I get to apply my creative side to make something wholly mine in a grim dark future where what I created is out holding back the dark.

    Anyway, that's why I play.

    Kushial

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  6. Thanks Kushal, he either didn't read it or didn't like what i had to say. Regardless, I hope he finds his way...

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  7. It was a good question that deserved an answer, even if it didn't end up being his.

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  8. I didn't get to read it. I play because I enjoy the game, the fluff, and the hobby. I just focus entirely on too much of one side at a time. I want to be someone everyone wants to play. I love playing warhammer. It has never been a mathahmmer thing. I look at what looks fun and if I ever do math, it is only ever after I chose what to play and only in the most dire situations of being bored. (I did math in my college problems and statistics and haven't done so since). I am a gamer. In all honest, I dont want to win. A game where everything goes exactly as planned is one that no stories come from and no one really remembers for being fun most of the time. I like games where I am in a desperate struggle to even survive. It is why I have never played any marine armies. It is why I stopped playing the really defensive necrons all together. I really just want to have fun on the table top. I don't want to be gamey or cheesey or anything bad. I just want to play and be someone fun to play against.

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  9. ....well that response took a while to get! Funny thing is that we have since played and I thought you were alright and gave me a fun challenge. It was a memorable game. In fact I would have no problem playing with you again. So long as my guys remember to bring their fire retardant suits! LOL

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