Showing posts with label Biel-Tymm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Biel-Tymm. Show all posts

Thursday, June 12, 2025

40K - Action on on Calispass IX

 It's been a while since I've played Warhammer 40,000. 

A new Space Wolves Codex is on the way and an Army Box with new models and special edition codex was released in the last week or so - which Orion picked up and has been itching to play with... So I suggested we play a game! 

I did pick up the new Codex: Aeldari back in February, but I haven't played them in... five or six years!? (I may have used some in a few Kill Team games, though...). 

THE SITUATION

Farseer Thymiltelyir of the Biel-Tymm Fleet foresaw the Mon-keigh building of a refinery on Calispass IX was a little too close to some ancient Aeldari ruins and should they find any of the artifacts lost within, it could be ruinous for the Aeldari. A force was dispatched to dissuade the Mon-Keigh from further encroaching on the site. 

Unfortunately, Farseer Thymiltelyir did not foresee the presence of the worst of the Mon-Keigh; the brutal and savage beasts that call themselves "Space Wolves"... 

THE SCENARIO

Just to keep things simple, we played the very basic Only War scenario from the Warhammer 40,000 (Tenth Edition) Core Rulebook. There are four Objective locations. A single point is awarded at the end of each players Command Phase (after the first tun) for each Objective held (to a maxim um of three points per turn). 

That's it. 

THE FORCES

Aeldari Force

Farseer Thymiltelyir  (with Psychic Destructor enhancement) 

Warlocks Adrellewi and Broelwyn of the Chorus of the Emerald Reaping Warlock Conclave

Shrine of the Fading Night Dire Avengers led by Exarch Bylizek

Shrine of the Dawning Confluence Dire Avengers led by Exarch Thodelwynn

Shrine of the Crawling Fury Warp Spiders led by Exarch Latrodectus

Maesenir's Rangers

Myardak's Rangers 

Kaedoreth's Rangers

Wraithguard


Space Wolves Force

Bjorn the Fell-Handed

Ragnar Blackmane leading ten Blood Claws 

Wolf Guard Battle Leader leading six Wolf Guard Headtakers and six Hunting Wolves

Wolf Guard Battle Leader (with Wolf Touched enhancement) leading Wulfen (with Thundershields!) 

A pack of six Fenrisian Wolves


THE GAME

The Mon-keigh's new a refinery on Calispass IX

The brutal savages of the Space Wolves are there waiting... 

Kaedoreth's Rangers infiltrated ahead of the main Aeldari force, signalled back the presence of the unexpected defenders. It was decided to go ahead with the raid. 

Farseer Thymiltelyir lead the Chorus of the Emerald Reaping Warlock Conclave and some Wraithguard forward, while Thodelwynn, Exarch of the Shrine of the Dawning Confluence Dire Avengers, held his troops back to defend one of the Ancient Aeldari ruin sites. 

The Wraithguard brought fire upon an anceint dreadnaught within the refinery, damaging it slightly... 

Shrine of the Crawling Fury Warp Spiders surged past Myardak's Rangers to seize one of the locations the Farseer determined would be ideal to set demolition charges. the were followed by Shrine of the Fading Night Dire Avengers led by Exarch Bylizek. 

Before they could even start setting the charges, they were assaulted by the brutal and savage Wulfen, led by a Wolf Guard Battle Leader. The Warp Spiders let loose with their Death Spinners and shredded three of the Wulfen, before they were upon them. 

The Wulfen crashed into the Warp Spiders with a terrifying fury, smashing and shattering flesh and bone and equipment. With so many injured and/or rendered ineffective with shattered equipment, Exarch Latrodectus called for the Shrine of the Crawling Fury Warp Spiders to retire to the rendezvous point in preparation to return to the fleet via a webway portal 

So shocked by the violence of the Wulfen's assault, the Shrine of the Fading Night Dire Avengers did not even have a chance to react to a second Wolf Guard Battle Leader leading a troop of Headhunters assaulted from their flank, through the Shardwrack Spines. 

A few of the Dire Avengers were immediately cut down by the murderous Headtakers. Exarch Bylizek ordered the remains of the squad to lay down suppressing fire to give the injured a chance to escape, then all fell back to the rendezvous point. They may have beaten them, but they would not be taking any heads today!

Elsewhere, Ragnar Blackmane and his Blood Claws, along with a pack of Fenrisian Wolves savaged Maesenir's Rangers then attempted to storm the position held by Exarch Thodelwynn and the Shrine of the Dawning Confluence Dire Avengers. Thodelwynn and the Shrine of the Dawning Confluence Dire Avengers were a bit more prepared than their compatriots. Thodelwynn directed a the Dire Avengers to unload vicious volley of monofilament shurikens at the stampeding brutes, slaughtering all but Blackmane... 

The Dire Avengers then charged in and, with the aid of the Farseer and warlocks...  

...brought down the famed leader of the Space Wolves. 

meanwhile the Wraithguard finished off the pack of wolves and siezed one of the objectives. 

The Wraithguard exchanged fire with the ancient dreadnaught in the refinery... 

Meanwhile, the headtakers quickly redeployed to the opposite flank of the battle!?

All but Maesenir (leader of one of the Ranger groups that had been savaged by Ragnar Blackmane and his barbaric Blood Claws) moved forward to try and hold one of the objectives long enough to start planting demolition charges.  

More fire was exchanged with the Headtakers and the Dreadnaught, chipping away at the forces on both sides. 

Eventually the Headtakers and their Wolf Guard Battle Leader charged in. 

Maesenir continued taking pot shots with his long rifle and planting demolition charges to destroy evidence of the Anceint Aeldari ruins. 

He hoped the rest of his rangers made it back to the rendezvous point. Two had been seriously injured... 

The sounds of escalating violence drew the Wulfen away from the position their commander had told them to hold... 

More of the Wraithguard were smashed and Dire Avengers injured. Farseer Thymiltelyir decided the situation was untenable and had the remaining forces exact an ordered retreat to the rendezvous point. The Farseer and Warlocks gathered the spririt stones of the Wraithguard and escorted the injured Dire Avengers off the battlefield. 

Exarch Thodelwynn stayed to hold back the beasts of the Mon-Keigh... 

Maesenir, distracted by the violence in the distance was unable to concentrate on setting up demolition charges... (failed a battleshock test and no longer counted as holding the objective). 

The Beastly Wolfen rounded the corner and it was time for the Exarch to give up the position. He'd held it long enough for the others to get away. There was no glory in dying this day.. 

The Wolf Guard Battle Leader and last surviving Headtaker had finally spotted the hidden Ranger and decided they should chase him off. Maesenir faded into the forest and made his way back to the Rendezvous point just in time to travel with the rest of the force. 

Despite slaying many of the absurd genetically-enhanced mon-keigh, what was gained strategically was too little compared to the Aeldari losses. Despite access to the best flesh and bone weavers, two were killed in action (Daelwynneth of the Shrine of the Fading Night Dire Avengers and Aurelys of Maesenir's Rangers) and others were so grievously injured, they had to leave the Path of the Warrior (or Outcast) and find new paths to walk in life. Klofaryl's head injury meant the could not focus to be an effective ranger. Holemenes and Bothrenon of Shrine of the Fading Night Dire Avengers lost and arm and a leg, respectively, and neither of the replacements grown for them were strong enough to continue their path. Farseer Thymiltelyir  took a bolter round to the spine and was crippled for some cycles. Many others spent many cycles in painful and difficult recovery and it would be a long time before they rejoined the path. 

What actually happened in the game...?

I had to go first and moved up, taking an objective with the Warp Spiders... because that's what we have to do... right? Then the space wolves went and the Warp Spiders, a unit of Dire Avengers and a unit of Rangers were charged and wiped out... Three of my seven units of troops gone in the first round. 

The next round the other two units of Rangers were destroyed. 

I did take out ONE unit of Space Wolves... chipped away at another... but didn't really 

I think I ended with 4-5 victory points and Orion would have scored... 10?  or so...?

Wednesday, April 16, 2025

40K - Aeldari Faction Update... sort of...

Ages ago, in January, I took a bunch of new pictures of ALL THE AELDARI - right before the new codex came out, I think...? I was planning to do a Taking Stock/Faction Update post... and I'd started organizing them into a new gallery page. 

I never did the Taking Stock/Faction Update post... and it seems like a pain in the ass to basically copy and past ALL of those pictures from the Gallery into a post just to post the same stuff in a post... when the Gallery is right there... So I finished up what I could for the Gallery and published it. It still needs some new pics of the Epic stuff and the Drukhari/Ynnead stuff... but all the Assuryani and Harlequins have been catalogued! 

You can find all the pictures of the CURRENT Aeldari force (along with some commentary and point values) on the new Gallery Page:

40K - Aeldari Gallery

It has all the current (as of March) point values. 

Spoiler: If I put ALL my painted Assuruyani (Craft World Aeldari) and Harlequins together in a force, I'd have 1995 points!

(I have NO IDEA if it would even be a USEFUL, PLAYABLE force... but I have a 2000 point force ready for action and don't NEED to paint a thing! Yay!) 

Saturday, June 17, 2023

Warhammer 40,000 - 10th Edition

 There is a new edition of Warhammer 40K in the pipe. The start box is currently in preorder, sort of... it sold out within minutes of it going up for pre-order!? If I really wanted a copy, I'm sure I could get one from my FLGS... but I don't. I may not even buy the main book - at least not straight away. 

GW has released the core rules as a free PDF along with ALL the new datasheets and point costs. Which is nice. Now that the points are out, as of today, I've been looking over my forces and seeing what I can put together. 

WHY!? Am I actually going to PLAY the damned game...? Maybe! There is a tournament coming up in July that I'm seriously considering going to. 

The tournament is Battleforce Recon. It's a smaller event with smaller forces (1000 points!). I attended in 2018 and in 2019 - and it was good fun! I signed up for it in 2020... but.. COVID happened... They ran it last year (2022), but I just wasn't ready for hanging out in crowds at that point. I'm not sure I'm all that exited about it still... but... 

This year, like in 2018, everyone will be playing with brand new forces for a brand new edition. In 2018, Warhammer 40000 - 8th Edition had just come out and none of the new codexes has been released and everyone was playing with Index armies. The armies will change as new codexes get released... but for now everyone has armies with limited abilities and special rules to keep track of. 

So I have been looking at my various forces and pondering how they are to be organized under the new rules. One thing that has really changed with 10th edition is, as far as I can tell, they have completely ditched detachments. The only requirement is that you have at least ONE Character model - to lead your force... and... that's pretty much it...? Beyond that you can take up to three of anything else that isn't a Unique unit or character, and up to six of anything that is labelled "Battleline" - those are generally your bog standard infantry soldiers... 

THIS caused be SOME anxiety as I have Many, MANY Imperial Guard Infantry Squads!? But yesterday they released the new data cards for the Astra Militarum and I'm still, theoretically, going to be able to field up to 12 squads... sort of... Astra Militarum "squads" can now be fielded in 10 or 20 model units... (yikes!).

Also, I have enough tanks to, theoretically, (once they are all painted) field and entire tank squadron! The new construction rules have kind of wrecked that plan as none of those tanks are "Battleline"!? Not even the standard Leman Russ Battle Tank... All of the variants have their own Data Card, so I can take up to three of each - three standard Battletanks, three Vanquishers (bigger gun, better at taking out vehicles), three Executioners (giant plasma cannon), three Punishers (giant gattling cannon), three... you get the idea. It will kind of force me to field way more of the special variants - I'd originally intended to have three platoons of three - each platoon having two Battle Tanks and one of the special variants... Ah well... How many times and I actually going to roll out with that full Tank Squadron. Honestly the time I finish it, there will be at least one new edition out - and it may have entirely changed by then!? 

This will make things a little EASIER for my Aeldari force, however. If you recall with the previous (9th edition) Codex - Dire Avengers, which had been "Troops" in previous editions and formed the core of my Aeldari fighting force, has become Elites and only Rangers and Guardians were allowed as Troops... which meant the corps of my figthing forces would be Rangers (who, technically, aren't even part of any particular Craftworld, they just show up to fight alongside, from time to time) and/or Guardians (who are just ordinary citizens that are pressed into service in dire circumstances)!? 

Now I no longer HAVE to include Rangers OR Guardians - I can have a force made up of entirely Aspect Warriors - the real warfighters of the Aeldari Craft worlds... 

So below is what some of the forces I have might look like - what I can field now... in some cases what I could potentially field if I got all the stuff I have painted... and what I might take to Battleforce Recon. 

Did I mention they got rid of power ratings...? Oh, they got rid of Power Ratings alright... But points have been super streamlined. Units are just; a unit of X include y troops for Z points... not points per model and points per weapon and every different option... which is kind of what they tried to do with Power Rating... but now they're doing it with points (basically the Power Rating x20 = points...) People like the bigger numbers I guess...? 2000 points sounds like a more supstatian force that one that's got a power rating of 100...?

Harlequins

Now, Harlequins have been lumped back in with the craftworlders and can be included as part of any Aeldari force... but I was looking at things and realized I could almost put together a 1000 point force of JUST HARLEQUINS... It might be tough to get them all painted in time for Battleforce Recon... but sometimes a DEADLINE is just what I NEED to do such a thing. 

The Current Troupe - Troupe of the Eternal Lament

What I have done:

  • Troupe Master - 55 points
  • Shadowseer - 60 points
  • Solitaire - 115 Points
  • Death Jester - 70 points
  • Death Jester - 70 points
  • Death Jester - 70 points
  • Troupe (6) - 75 points 

Total: 515 points

BUT I do also have another 26 Troupe players if various states of paintedness. Originally I was going to organize them into four more units of 6 (with two spares left over) ... but that would be five Troupes... and TROUPES are NOT Battleline... No matter I can just reorganize them into THREE TROUPES. Troupes can be fielded in groups of five, six, eleven, or twelve...? (I THINK this is because the current Harlequin box comes with six miniatures... but one of those miniatures can be used to make your Troupe Master - which would leave you only five for a unit).

So I am ONE miniature shy of being able to field three Troupes of eleven. 

OR four miniatures shy of being able to field three troupes of TWELVE!? 

(I think Keiran had some spare metal Harlequins that they had picked up insome used lot... I may be able to steal/buy those from them!)

If so, I would be able to field the force as: 

  • Troupe Master - 55 points
  • Shadowseer - 60 points
  • Solitaire - 115 Points
  • Death Jester - 70 points
  • Death Jester - 70 points
  • Death Jester - 70 points
  • Troupe (11) - 165 points 
  • Troupe (11) - 165 points 
  • Troupe (11) - 165 points 

Total: 935

Which would leave me 65 points... Perhaps they could be joined by a unit of rangers (55 points)

OR (If I did manage to scrounge up four more Harlequin players... 

  • Troupe Master - 55 points
  • Shadowseer - 60 points
  • Solitaire - 115 Points
  • Death Jester - 70 points
  • Death Jester - 70 points
  • Death Jester - 70 points
  • Troupe (12) - 180 points 
  • Troupe (12) - 180 points 
  • Troupe (12) - 180 points 

Total: 980 points - I could make the Shadowseer a Reader of Runes for +20 points and that would be 1000 points even... 

OR maybe I could field two Troupes of 12 and one Troupe of six and add in an Aeldari War Walker - that I could paint up in all sorts of fun Harlequinesque colours!?  


Aeldari

This is the rest of the Aeldari that I have currently painted. I have loads more in various states of completion - including a few units that are VERY CLOSE to being complete... but this is what is DONE and ready to play right now! 


  • Farseer Thymiltelyir (1) - 65 points
  • Warlock Conclave (2 -Adryllewi and Broelwyn) - 60 points
  • Rangers (5) - 55 points
  • Rangers (5) - 55 points
  • Rangers (5) - 55 points
  • Shrine of the Fading Night Dire Avengers (10) - 140 points
  • Shrine of the to-be-named-shrine Dire Avengers (10) - 140 points
  • Warp Spiders of the Shrine of the Mean Red Spiders (10) - 200 points
  • Wraithlord Kloethades (1) - 160 points
  • Wraithlord Phinyndros (1) - 160 points
  • Wraithlord Melynaearian (1) - 160 points

Total: 1150 points

Boom! That right there is a force big enough for Battleforce Recon, right there! I just have to drop one of the Wraithlords and I've got 990 points! 

The Stuff that is closest to being finished include

  • Dark Reapers (5) - 75 points
  • Howling Banshees (10) - 170 points
  • Autarch (1) - 65 points
  • Warlocks (4) - 120 points
  • Farseer (1) - 65 points
  • Guardians (11) - 110
That would be another 605 points, for a total of 1755. Just need another 245 points for a 2000point force.

Of course, I could mix in the Craftworlders and Harlequins... and that would be 1665 points without having to paint a single thing... 

I have SO MANY other things I could paint up to add to the force... Like thousands of points more... But there is little point even considering those at the moment. 


Cadia

I have LOADS of Astra Militarum, but I thought I've had a quick look at what the small force of Cadians might add up to for a smaller tournament. (I'm not SUPER excited about bringing Imperial forces to a tournament, as there are SO MANY other Imperial forces... and it's always a bit lame fighting other Imperial forces... but anyway) 

  • Platoon Command Squad - 60 points
  • Platoon Command Squad - 60 points
  • Cadian Shock Troops - 65 points
  • Cadian Shock Troops - 65 points
  • Cadian Shock Troops - 65 points
  • Cadian Shock Troops - 65 points
  • Commissar - 35 points
  • Commissar - 35 points
  • Regimental Preacher - 35 points
  • Regimental Preacher - 35 points
  • Heavy Weapon Squad - 60 points
Total: 580 points...

Not much, it seems. I'd need a lot more to bring that up to 1000!? The few things I have that I could finish up and add to the force amounts to: 

Platoon Command Squad - 60 points
CREED! (using old model in place of new one) - 55 points
Kasrkin - 120 points
Primaris Psyker - 60 points

Total: +295 points  = 875 points

A Leman Russ Battle Tank is 195 points. I could add that and remove a few of the others to make 1000 points. 


Tallarn Desert Raiders


Stuff that I currently have painted )I'd have to drop ONE of the Platoon Command Squads, above, as I can only have THREE!?): 

  • Platoon Command Squad (5) - 60 points
  • Platoon Command Squad (5) - 60 points
  • Platoon Command Squad (5) - 60 points
  • Infantry Squad (9) - 65 points
  • Infantry Squad (9) - 65 points
  • Infantry Squad (9) - 65 points
  • Infantry Squad (18) - 130 points
  • Infantry Squad (18) - 130 points
  • Infantry Squad (18) - 130 points
  • Commissar - 35 points
  • Commissar - 35 points
  • Primaris Psyker - 60 points
  • Regimental Preacher - 35 points
  • Heavy Weapon Squad - 60 points
  • Heavy Weapon Squad - 60 points
  • Heavy Weapon Squad - 60 points
  • Rough Riders (5) - 80 points
  • Rough Riders (5) - 80 points
  • Rough Riders (5) - 80 points
  • Leman Russ Battle Tank - 195 points
  • Leman Russ Battle Tank - 195 points
  • Leman Russ Vanquisher - 190 points
  • Leman Russ Punisher - 180 points
  • Leman Russ Demolisher - 220 points
  • Scout Sentinel - 50 points
  • Taurox - 65 points
  • Shadowsword - 440 points
Total: 2885

So... lots already done... 

What would 1000 points look like? Looking at what I took to the 2018 Battleforce Recon... 
  • Platoon Command Squad (5) - 60 points
  • Platoon Command Squad (5) - 60 points
  • Platoon Command Squad (5) - 60 points
  • Infantry Squad (18) - 130 points
  • Infantry Squad (18) - 130 points
  • Infantry Squad (18) - 130 points
  • Heavy Weapon Squad - 60 points
  • Heavy Weapon Squad - 60 points
  • Scout Sentinel (1) - 50 points
  • Roughriders (10) - 160
  • Leman Russ Punisher - 180 points
Total: 1080

Close, I'd have to shave off 80 points. I guess I could just take five Rough Riders...? That would make 1000 points, even... 


Chaos Space Marines

This was the force I've been thinking of building up to take to any tournaments... because Chaos Space Marines will fight ANYONE - including EACH OTHER!? 


I don't really have a recent picture of the entire force... this is most of them... 


But there have also been more Noise Marines added since the above picture was taken... 

Currently the full force looks like:

Heratic Astartes Daemon Prince (1) - 180 points
Chaos Lord in Terminator Armour (1) - 100 points
Sorcerer (1) - 60 points
Master of Possession (1) - 70 points
Legionaires (5) - 100 points
Noise Marines (5) - 85 points
Noise Marines (5) - 85 points
Noise Marines (5) - 85 points
Obliterators (2) - 160 points  
Traitor Guardsmen (10) - 70 points 
Traitor Guardsmen (10) - 70 points 
Cultist Mob (10) - 55 points
Venomcrawler (1) - 140 points 

Total: 1160

Again - could go with these and not have to paint a thing! I'd just need to lose 160 points from these...? Maybe lose the Master of Possession and a unit of Traitor Guard and the Cultists...? Add in some Intoxicating Elixers?

I have no end of minis I could paint up to add to this force as well... another 15 Noise Marines, 20 Chaos Space marine Legionnaires, 10 Terminators, 5 Raptors,  and so many cultists and accursed cultists and mutants and Dark Commune... 


Well... I have some options for Battleforce Recon (if I end up going)... and I have lots I could just get playing with, if the mood struck (though I'd have to get creative about where I'd play, as the game room is still out of commission!). Maybe I should stick to Kill Team and Warcry as planned... 

Sunday, March 6, 2022

40K - New Aeldari Codex

 Well I did pick up the new Aeldari Codex Saturday... I've really only had the briefest of looks through it. 

(TL/DR: Eldar being reorganized, stay tuned for pictures later this week, maybe) 

There are things I like about it, so far.  

Others... well... 

I DO like that the Assuryani and Harlequins and Ynarri and Corsairs are all included in this book. And it looks like there is lots of cool new stuff for narrative Cursade Campaigns. 

There have been some changes to the troop types, however, that are going to throw a BIG OL' SPACE WRENCH into my traditional force composition!? 

A LOT of my troops have suddenly become "Elites" in the new codex. I now have a FEW TOO MANY Elites and not enough Headquarters... or... other stuff... Are least not to field proper core detachments (the ones that refund you the Command Cost of the detachment if your warlord is included in it)... 

Warlocks went from being Headquarters to Elites...

Dire Avengers went from being TROOPS to being Elites...? 

Wraithlords went from being HEAVY SUPPORT to being Elites!? 

Ugh... it's the 8th Edition Astra Militarum Codex all over again. (or was it 7th when the basic Troop element went from being an entire PLATOON to a single infantry squad and EVERYTHING ELSE in the platoon became separate Elite elements!?)  

So... for headquarters... you can now have Farseers.. Autarchs... the GIANT FREAKING AVATAR OF KHAINE... and Phoenix Lords.... In the fluff, these are all commanders of entire ARMIES!? 

If you want a small, up-to-platoon-sized Patrol Detachment, it's going to be a Farseer, Autarch or PHOENIX LORD leading it!?  

If you're wanting to field something between a platoon and company sized force (a "Battalion" detachment), you're going to need at least TWO of them.  

If you want a full-sized/reinforced Company sized force ("BRIGADE" Detachment) you will need at least three!? 

They really seem to want to turn the game into HIGH POWERED HEROES leading around a small host of... other things... and it'll probably come down to a throw-down between those heroes...? 

All we need is CHALLENGES to return. Remember those? Maybe it wasn't a thing in 40K, but I'm pretty sure it was a thing in Warhammer Fantasy where your general could issue a challenge to the opposing general, if they were within a certain distance and the whole battle would stop and the two would fight their own little duel and the winners army would gain a huge morale boost and the losers army would melt away... and if you didn't accept the challenge, pretty much the same thing happened anyway...? Was that Warhammer Fantasy? Am I thinking of something else...? 

I digress... 

Then there are the Dire Avengers. Aspect Warriors are the Professional Warriors of the Craftworlds, and Dire Avengers are the bog-standard, Shurican-Catapult-armed-shooty-bang-bang, foot soldier of the Aspect Warriors. These used to be TROOPS. They made up the core of the warfighting professionals. Well now they are ALSO ELITES...

Troops now have to be made up of Guardians (either Guardian Defenders or Storm Guardians), Rangers or Corsairs. Guardians have been, for the last few editions, just citizens of the craftworlds, that have taken up arms in dire times - usually to defend the craftworld itself!? Rangers are outcasts that technically don't even belong to a Craftworld anymore, wanderers, doing their own thing, but are sometimes called upon to show up on a battlefield if they happen to be in the area or have some specific knowledge and are leading the rest of the army to an objective... 

And then there are the Corsairs - Pirates, that are DEFINITELY NOT part of a craftworld (can can't even be used to fulfill the basic troops requirement, so it's really just Defenders and Rangers...) 

Finally Wraithlords... These three hard-hitting, muthafukkin' wriathbone constructs powered by souls of dead Eldar, pretty much WERE my Heavy Support (along with a single unit of three Dark Reapers) now they are Elites... and each has to be fielded as a separate until 

So... 

I went from having 4-6 units of elites (once all the minis I have are painted), depending on whether two options are fielded as two units of five or a single ten  (all being easily fit into a Battalion or Brigade Detachment). Now I will have 10-18 units when everything is painted (again, depending on whether units are fielded as multiple units of less than maximum size or a smaller number of units at their maximum size. EVEN IF they were fielded at MAXIMUM SIZE, I have TOO MANY for even a BRIGADE Detachement (the largest Core Detachment) and no longer have enough Heavy Support options to field a Brigade... 

I know... I know... WHO CARES!? I could just play Open War games with forces designed around scenarios and completely ignoring "battle-forged" force compositions... 

I do like the idea of being able to field a force that actually conforms to the current rules (but that also fits a narrative and "makes sense" fluff-wise) - just in case I actually played against... someone else outside of my home... or in a league... or if I went to a tournament again someday... 

I'm not crying or making any sort of claim that GW is just doing it to fuck over the older players and making us buy more toys... I can even kind of understand why they made some of those changes. Some having to do with changing fluff as the narrative of the 41st millenium continues to develop... Some having to do with aesthetics and style of play... Its just annoying to have to try and make the shift... I'm NOT going to have to run out any buy ANYTHING new... I just won't be using some units as much as I might have... and other units I thought would only be used in scenarios, if it fit the narrative, are now going to be staples in the army (Guardians).

So given the current situation, what CAN I do... 

Here's what I have painted (or... very nearly painted!): 

  • Farseer x1 - Headquarters
  • Guardian Defenders x10 (one unit of 10 with weapons platform) - Troops
  • Rangers x15 (2-3 units of 5-10) - Troops
  • Warlock Conclave x2 (one conclave of two) - Elites
  • Dire Avengers x20 (2-4 units of 5-10) - Elites
  • Howling Banshees x10 (1-2 units of 5 or 10) - Elites
  • Wraithguard x5 (one unit) - Elites
  • Wraithlords x 3 (3 individual units) - Elites
  • Warp Spiders x10 (1-2 units of 5-10) 
  • Dark Reapers x4 (one unit - need one more to make COMPLETE unit of 5) - Heavy Support

This totals about 96 Power Level. With this what can I field...? A Patrol Detachment! (like the 25-Power Level Biel-Tymm Patrol Detachment I put together last September to potentially start a .. but with a bit of a different make up) 

A Patrol Detachment includes 

  • 1-2 Headquarters
  • 1-3 Troops
  • 0-2 Elites
  • 0-2 Fast Attack
  • 0-2 Heavy Support
  • 0-2 Flyers
  • (up to one dedicated Transport for each Infantry unit taken) 
So, I can't even put together the same Patrol, as THREE of the units in that detachment are now Elites (Warlocks, Dire Avengers, Wraithlord) and a Patrol Detachment limits Elites to two... In addition to that, the Power Ratings of a few of the units have increased and it would now be a 27 Power Level force... 

The Farseer will now be my only Headquarters. 

Currently, Rangers will fill the Troops requirement - 1-3 units of 5 or 10 - They've increased from a Power Rating of 3 per five rangers to 4. I COULD include the Guardians... but I feel like a Combat Patrol, lead by a Farseer, should be made up of professional warriors, not cooks and poets and janitors pressed into service as "Guardians" 

A maximum of two Elites could be chosen from Dire Avengers or Howling Banshees or Wraith Guard or Wraithlords (though the Wraithlord has also increased in Power Rating)... 

Warp Spiders could be taken as a Fast Attack Option

Dark Reapers could be taken as Heavy Support... but the unit is now understrength so I probably won't be taking them at all for a while until I can source one more... 

A few options for 25 Power Level Combat Patrols:

  • Farseer (1) - Headquarters - PR 5
  • Rangers (5) - Troops - PR4 
  • Rangers (5) - Troops - PR4 
  • Rangers (5) - Troops - PR4 
  • Warlocks (2) - Elites - PR 3
  • Warp Spiders (5) - PR5
or
  • Farseer (1) - Headquarters - PR 5
  • Rangers (5) - Troops - PR4 
  • Dire Avengers (10) - Elites - PR6
  • Wraithguard (5) - Elites - PR10
or
  • Farseer (1) - Headquarters - PR 5
  • Rangers (5) - Troops - PR4 
  • Warlocks (2) - Elites - PR 3
  • Wraithlord (1) - Elites - PR8
  • Warp Spiders (5) - PR5
or
  • Farseer (1) - Headquarters - PR 5
  • Rangers (5) - Troops - PR4 
  • Wraithlord (1) - Elites - PR8
  • Wraithlord (1) - Elites - PR8
or
  • Farseer (1) - Headquarters - PR 5
  • Rangers (5) - Troops - PR4 
  • Howling Banshees (10) - Elites - PR8
  • Wraithlord (1) - Elites - PR8
(Technically, I can field THREE Warlocks for PR3, so I could paint up a third to include with the two indicated in two of the options above...) 

I like the first option, as it's basically the Ranger Element of Maesenir's Rangers Kill Team, with a Farseer, Warlocks and a handful of Warpsider. Narratively, it could be seen as Maesenir finding something needing to be dealt with and calling upon the Biel-Tymm Fleet for a little bit of back-up and Farseer Thymiltelyir shows up with his Warlock entourage and a rapid reaction team of Warp Spiders... Yeah. I think that might be the one I use... 

To field ANY larger force, I would now have to finish up the other Farseer that I have (and/or the model I'm hoping I can pass off an Autarch). With that, however, I could instantly field a Battalion Detachment, which increases the number of Elites I can field to six... which, could be MOST of the ones I currently have painted... but not all. Even fielded at their maximum sizes, I'd have EIGHT Elite units: Warlocks (2), 2x Dire Avengers (10), 1x Howling Banshees (10), 1x Wraith Guard (5), 3x Wraithlords (1) 

Incursion Level (Power Level 50) Battalions could look like:

  • Farseer (1) - Headquarters - PR 5
  • Farseer (1) - Headquarters - PR 5
  • Rangers (5) - Troops - PR4 
  • Rangers (5) - Troops - PR4 
  • Rangers (5) - Troops - PR4 
  • Warlock (1) - Elites - PR 2
  • Wraithguard (5) - Elites - PR10
  • Wraithlord (1) - Elites - PR8
  • Wraithlord (1) - Elites - PR8
or
  • Farseer (1) - Headquarters - PR 5
  • Farseer (1) - Headquarters - PR 5
  • Guardian Defenders (10 + Weapons Platform) - Troops - PR5
  • Rangers (5) - Troops - PR4 
  • Rangers (5) - Troops - PR4 
  • Rangers (5) - Troops - PR4 
  • Warlocks (2) - Elites - PR 3
  • Dire Avengers (10) - Elites - PR6
  • Dire Avengers (10) - Elites - PR6
  • Howling Banshees (10) - Elites - PR8
STRIKE FORCE (Power Level 100) would require deciding which Elites to take, which to leave behind, and require a few more NOT-ELITE units to be finished up... but could look like... 
  • Farseer (1) - Headquarters - PR 5
  • Farseer (1) - Headquarters - PR 5
  • Guardian Defenders (10 + Weapons Platform) - Troops - PR5
  • Rangers (10) - Troops - PR8 
  • Rangers (10) - Troops - PR8 
  • Rangers (10) - Troops - PR8
  • Warlocks (5) - Elites - PR 5
  • Howling Banshees (10) - Elites - PR8
  • Wraithguard (5) - Elites - PR10
  • Wraithlord (1) - Elites - PR8
  • Wraithlord (1) - Elites - PR8
  • Warp Spiders (10) - PR10
  • Swooping Hawks (5) - PR4
(This would require painting 15 Rangers, 3 Warlocks, 5 Swooping Hawks) 

(Y'know, instead of just using the Dire Avengers and a third Wraithlord That i COULD have in the previous edition...) 

The Rangers above COULD also be fielded four units of five and one unit of ten

I COULD have fielded a Brigade Detachment in the past - once everything was painted (or even just a few more units were painted) but now I'm going to have a hard time making up that minimum three Heavy support requirements... I'd need second unit of Dark Reapers or another War Walker - if I'm wanting to keep it all METAL... 

Maybe I'll just stick to big battalions and be limited to six Elites - three of whom will be Wraithlords. 

What I WILL have when all the stuff I currently have squirrelled away is painted... 

  • Farseer x2 - Headquarters
  • Autarch x 1 - Headquarters
  • Jain Zar (Phoenix Lord) - Headquarters
  • Fuegan (Phoenix Lord) - Headquarters
  • Baharroth (Phoenix Lord) - Headquarters
  • Karandras (Phoenix Lord) - Headquarters
  • Guardian Defenders x20 (two units of 10) - Troops
  • Rangers x30 (3-6 units of 5-10) - Troops
  • Warlocks x5 (one conclave of up to five) - Elites
  • Dire Avengers x20 (2-4 units of 5-10) - Elites
  • Howling Banshees x10 (1-2 units of 5 or 10) - Elites
  • Striking Scorpions x 10 (1-2 units of 5 or 10) - Elites
  • Fire Dragons x 5 (1 unit of five - unless I find three more) - Elites
  • Wraithguard x5 (one unit) - Elites
  • Wraithlords x 3 (3 individual units) - Elites
  • Warp Spiders x20 (1-4 units of 5-10) - Fast Attack
  • Swooping Hawks x5 (1 unit of five - unless I find one or two more I need to make 10) - Elites
  • Dark Reapers x4 (one unit - need one more to make COMPLETE unit of 5) - Heavy Support
  • War Walker x1 (on unit) - Heavy Support
All of this adds up to about 188 Power Level.. (which is about 3600 points...?) The LARGEST games are "Onslaught" which are played at 150 Power/3000 points. I think most tournaments are built around Strike Forces which are 100 Power/2000 Points? So I have LOADS to play around with... 

The ONLY thing I'm even considering trying to track down would be ONE metal Dark Reaper to finish up a unit of five.  

It doesn't even include the Wraith Knight (another 23 Power Rating) it is a plastic model... buuuuuut, I'd be okay using it (or tanks, if ever I got some) with this force. 

It also doesn't even include my Harlequins - which are included in this book. I haven't read far enough to determine if they have to be included in separate detachments... 

ALSO, I have a SECOND Aeldari force I'm kind of working on... in a large lot that Keiran and I bought off a local guy (for some metal stuff to finish up units) I ended up with a bunch of plastic stuff and a resin Eldrad Ulthran. So I thought I'd try to put together a separate Ulthwe Patrol Detachment, lead by the Big Elf himself! (If ever the Corsairs Ill be getting in the Kill Team box are used in 40K, they will probably show up in THIS detachement!) 
  • Eldrad Ulthran - Headquarters - 8 PR
  • Guardian Defenders (10 + weapons platform) - Troops - 5 PR 
  • Guardian Defenders (10) - Troops - 4 PR 
  • Corsair Voidscarred (10) - Elites - 8 PR
I also have an extra Warlock I could paint as Ulthwe I could add to this... If ever I got all these done and wanted SOME kind of additional options, I might pick up some of those sweet new Storm Guardians! 

Hopefully in the next week, I'll finish up the few final minis I need to finish up the Howling Banshees and Guardian Defenders - as well as the second Farseer, that I apparently now need - and post some pictures of these complete forces... 

Then I need to come up with some opponents - either my own guard, or maybe help Finnegan reorganize/finish up some of his T'au or Orks or Deathwatch... and THEN we can actually try these theoretical options out!? 

(I suppose I should read through the Harlequin options and finish rebasing those, too, at some point!)

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

40K - Recovering an Aeldari Artefact.

Picking up the narrative from the Aeldari Ambush (Kill Team scenario) The real purpose of Maesenir's Ambush was ... deadly... 

BACKGROUND

3.859.021.M42 - Xoxigar Tertium

Maesenir's Rangers have been tasked with keeping an eye on the Ancient Aeldari ruins deep within the jungles of the planet know to the Mon-keigh as Xoxigar Tertium. Recently, Genestealer cultists, fleeing Imperial forces after a failed uprising in the city of Gehardog Fol, have taken up residence in caverns connected to some of the Aeldari ruins. They have looted some of the ruins, though they know not what the use of half the stuff they made off with is. Unfortunately, one of the items is an artifact of great power and it has been determined too great a risk to leave in their hands, lest they discover it's secrets... Or, more likely, it is stolen from them by someone who does know it's purpose and can use it... Like the forces of the inquisition that have been prowling the area. 

To determine where, exactly, the Genestealer cult spirited the item off to, Maesaenir laid an ambush for a group of the Cultists and implanted their leader with tracking devices which allowed them to follow them back to their lair. It turned out that there were many more cultists in their 

SCENARIO

The scenario, itself, was based on the 8th Edition Narrative Play Mission: Rescue. There were four stashes in which the artifact could be located. Aeldari forces had to move within 3" to determine if the artefact was within and recover it.

In addition to the regular forces, the Defending Genestealer Cult got some extra sentries. The scenario called for a unit of troops of 10PL or less... since the scenario, as written, assumed a force of 50-100 Power Level (and we were only using 25) rather that taking a full unit of 10 Neophyte Hybrids, we agreed upon six. The sentries were the ONLY defending forces on the table. The rest would only arrive if/when the alarm was sounded. 


FORCES 

Biel-Tymm Combat Patrol

Headquarters

  • Farseer Thymiltelyir - Shuriken Pistol and Witch Blade - 6 PR
  • Warlock Conclave (Adryllewi and Broelwyn) - Shuriken Pistol and Witch Blade - 4 PR 

Troops

  • Rangers (5 - Maesenir, et al) - Shuriken Pistol and Ranger Long Rifle - 3 PR
  • Rangers (5 - More of Maesenir's Rangers) - Shuriken Pistol and Ranger Long Rifle - 3 PR
  • Dire Avengers (10 - Shrine of the Fading Night) - Avenger Shuriken Catapult and Plasma Grenades plus Exarch with Shuriken Pistol and Diresword - 5 PR

Heavy Support

  • Dark Reapers (3 - Shrine of the Sunset Bouquet... it makes more sense in the original Aeldari...) 5PR

Power Level: 26

This varies from the original team I put together for a Combat Patrol level Crusade Campaign force - that force had a Wraithlord, which I thought made no sense bringing that down into caverns, so I replaced it with 3 Dark Reapers and added five more Dire Avengers... this brought the total to 26... but that was okay because the force Finnegan wanted to use was also 26... so... 

Ebony Viper Genestealer Cult

Headquarters

  • Patriarch 7 PR
  • Magos 5 PR

Troops

  • Neophyte Hybrids (10) 4 PR
  • Acolyte Hybrids (5) 3 PR
  • Acolyte Hybrids (5) 3 PR

Elites

  • Kellermorph (1) 4PR
+6 Neophyte Hybrid Sentries 

Power Level: 26


THE GAME

All set up and ready to go. 

Cache #1 

Cache #2 

Cache #3

Cache #4


On the left flank approaching Cache #1

Farseer Thymiltelyir and the Dark Reapers of the Shrine of the Sunset Bouquet on the center-left. 

Exarch Bylizek leads his Dire Avengers of the Shrine of the Fading Night on the center-right, towards the central cavern containing Caches #2 and #4... 

Maesenir and his Rangers, accompanied by the Warlock Conclave on the right flank. 


ROUND ONE - Aeldari

The Rangers sneak up through the shadowed corridors in utter silence. 

Exarch Bylizek leads his Dire Avengers of the Shrine of the Fading Night towards the central cavern. A sentry is spotted, but it seems completely unaware of their presence... 

(the sentries only spotted stuff within line of sight and up to a certain distance - for all units of 5 Power Rating or less, that distance is 3"!) 

Aeldair forces moving forward. 

On the left, Rangers snuck into the cavern containing Cache #1 and took out the sentry with silenced Shuriken Pistols. 

(Silenced Weapons was a 1CP Strategem - allowing you to shoot and not raise the alarm) 

The Cache was clear. 


ROUND ONE - Genestealer Cult

Until the Alarm was raised, the only thing that happened on the Genestealer Cult turn was moving teh sentry. each sentry was diced for and the winner got to move them up to 6". Ties meant the Sentries stayed where they were... 

I won all by one of the roll-offs so the SEntries got bored and wandered off to gather in the central cavern for a coffee break and to play cards... or... something... 

Sentires leaving their posts... 

One did not leave his post... he wasn't liked much by the other Neophyte Hybirds. He turned and looked down a corridor and wished he hadn't... 

The defenders also has a strategem that, for one Command Point, they can double the distance that one of their sentries can see... so... the Dire Avengers were spotted and the alarm was raised. 

As soon as the alarm is raised, the defenders get to play a regular full turn and can dice for the arrival of the rest of their force. 

The sentry spotting the Dire Avengers fled, shouting and screaming about the intruders... running only meant he died tired. 

More neophyte Hybrids were the first to arrive on the scene!

(actually they were the ONLY ones to arrive on the first turn!?) 

they could not see the Dire Avengers, though... so that's about all that happened on their first turn. 


ROUND TWO - Aeldari

Aeldari moving with more speed and purpose, now that the alarm has been raised. 

Dark REapers falling behind Farseer Thymiltelyir - the tight tunnels made it difficult for them to maneuver with their Reaper Launchers. 

(rolled six for the Farseers advence. Rolled one for the Dark Reapers...) 

The Farseer quickly despatched the Sentries with Psychic Powers (Smite and Executioner) 

Dire Avengers poured into the central cavern and while surveying the scene and making plans to destroy the enemy, they also check Cache #2 and it was clear. 

Maesenir and his rangers and the two Warlocks swiftly moved about the flanks, hoping to check the Third Cache without drawing the attention of any of the hostiles. 


ROUND TWO - Genestealer Cult

And then the hordes arrived... 

A Kellermorph and a unit of Acolyte Hybrids arrived on the Aeldari left... 

Though they could not spot the Rangers in front of them... 

The Neophtyes surged into the central cavern, followed by a Cult Magos. 

The Cult Patriarch also arrived, along with a brood of acolyte Hybrids. 

The Neophytes blasted away at the Dire Avengers. Three were injured and forced to retire to the Rally Point.


ROUND THREE - Aeldari

The Dire Avengers advanced into the cultists fire, returning fire and preparing to assault - those cultists were standing in the way of their objective - Cache #4

Teh FArseer and Dark REapers also moved forward into the cavern. 

The rangers on the right took up firing positions to hold off the aDvancing cultists on the left flank. Their fire only managed to take down one of the Acolyte Hybrids... 

Maesenir and his rangers on the right rushed forward to check Cache #3 and fire on the Patriarch. 

The Cache did not contain the Artefact. 

The Dire Avengers of the Shrine of the Fading Night stormed the neophytes position and saw them off. They consolidated into cover. 

(technically, they couldn't check the cache as that is only done if they end a MOVE within 3" of the cache... they'd have to survive to the following turn... which might be easier said than done! 


ROUND THREE - Genestealer Cult

The Magos and Patriarch moved towards the Dire Avengers! 

The Kellermorph and Acolyte Hybrids rushed forward, blasting away at the Rangers cloaked in the shadows... though the RAngers were barely visible in their cameleoline cloaks the sheer volume of fire was telling. Two of their number were severely injured and a third left to escort the others to the Rally Point. The other two remained, hoping to pin and slow the advance of the monstrosities charging them, that the others might make their getaway and protect the flank of the others searching the last caches. 

Both Patriarch and Magos charged in to fight the Dire Avengers. 

The last two Rangers on the left saw their position overrun and were obliged to retire from the mission, with serious injuries. 

Which, unfortunately, left their flank open... 

The melee in the dark shadows of the dank cavern was brutal. Four more of the Dire Avengers were taken out of action. But the Dire Avengers managed to take down the Magos. 


ROUND FOUR - Aeldari

The two remaining Dire Avengers, Zaelanys and the Exarch Bylizek, fled the Patriarch and secured the Artefact...

The Rangers and Warlocks on the right took down the last of the acolyte Hybrids accompanying the Patriarch.

The Farseer and Dark REapers maneuvered into the Central Cavern and brought fire down on the Patriarch, injuring it severely. 

The followed up their fire with a charge into melee... which proved to be their undoing... no furhter damamge was dealt the Monstrosity, but the Farseer was gravely injured in the combat. 

Their hope was to buy the Dire Avengers time to escape with the Artifact. 


ROUND FOUR - Genestealer Cult

Avolyte Hybrids moving in on the left flank. 

Teh Kellermorph broke off from the Acolyte Hybrids and went directly after the Dire Avengers that were making off with their loot... clearly it was something of importance! The Kellermorphs usually deadly accurate fire was not able to find it's mark... 

The Patriarch cut down the Farseer in their protracted melee... 


ROUND FIVE - Aeldari

The Dark Reapers fell back from the Patriarch - realizing they were of no use there. They dragged away their fallen commander. 

The Warlock Conclave charged the Patriarch, hoping to buy the others time to escape - and possibly finish off the Patriarch... (seriously, it was down to two wounds... they had two attack each, hit on 3+, their Witch blades always wound on 2+... and dealt d3 damage... but NOTHING could get past that 4+ invulnerable save!?) 

Maesenir quickly tried to redeploy his Rangers so they could help the others escape! 


ROUND FIVE - Genestealer Cult

Things not looking good... 

Acolyte Hybrids sneaking in from behind. 

The Kellermorph blasted into the chamber!

Surrounded... 

The patriarch blasted the Dark REapers with Psychic energies - taking down two of them. 

The Kellermorph shot down the last two Dire Avengers. They had to abandon the artifact and crawl away, injured, in the darkness. 

Acolyte Hybrids charged the remaining Dark Reaper. 

As did the Patriarch, finishing them off...


ROUND SIX - Aeldari 

In a desperate last ditch effort, Maesenir's Rangers moved into position and brought fire down on the Acolyte Hybrids... but only managed to down one of them. 


ROUND SIX - Genestealer Cult

The Rangers were blasted with Psychic energies, shot at by the Acolyte Hybrids and then charged by the same.... They were unable to recover the artifact, but bought the others a little time to escape to the rally point. 


POST GAME

Well that was a lot of fun!

Are we going to use these forces again...? Not sure... but I suggested we treat them like Crusade Campaign forces and check for survival and award experience accordingly. Crusade forces and Kill Teams track survival and experience a little differently, though, so we also decided that units made up of elements of Kill Teams we might do a little differently. 

Crusade Force Units that were taken out of action check for survival as a group - on 2+ they are fine - injuries or losses weren't serious enough to disrupt the integrity of the team - they may have had members die, but they are immediately replaced and the overall efficiency of the unit isn't compromised. On a one, though, they have to choose Devastating Blow or Battle Scar. Devastating Blow means the team loses d6 experience and does not gain any from this mission. Battle Scar means they roll for a permanent penalty of some sort (presumably this option if for experienced units that have gained really cool Battle Honours and don't want to lose them with the loss of experience points. 

I don't love this system - I actually like the campaign system in Age of Sigmar where you actually roll for individuals survival within units and, until they are replaced with Requisition Points, that unit starts battles. I may have to modify this for our campaign... Of course that would require re-reading BOTH sets of campaign rules, and, considering how often we're playing... it might not be worth my time... We shall see. 

ALL my units were taken out of action, so there were probably injuries or deaths among the units, but for the units that passed the survival roll, the injuries weren't so bad that some time in the super advanced Aeldari medical facilities - just beyond the webway gate - couldn't fix/regrow... Rolling for my forces, everyone was okay - except for the Dark Reapers, which failed the roll. So I said the Dark Reapers, one of the last to go down, stayed behind and fought to the last to delay the Genestealer Cultists and give the others time to escape to the Rally Point and then to the Webway gate to escape. None of the Dark Reapers bodies were recovered. 

The Dire Avenger Squad and Rangers were made up of members of Maesenir's Rangers Kill Team, however, so I rolled for all of them individually. Again, as the units were all wiped out, one can expect there were a lot of serious injuries among them... but also, advanced medicine would be able to repair a LOT of those injuries relatively quickly. there were a few individuals who were so seriously damage that they would have lingering impairments... 

Crusade Forces also gain experience differently. Each unit gains ONE experience point just for participating in the battle, regardless if they survived or were taken out. They also gain one additional point for every THREE units they take out. ONE unit is designated as Marked for Greatness and gains three experience points. In Kill Team there is no participation experince points - they only get experience for individually taking out enemy operatives, and completing mission objectives or Tac Ops... of which there are none in regular 40K. So I suggested that any models that are members of Kill Teams just get one experience point (like the crusade forces) and that was it for them. The other Crusade Force units could track experience as per normal. 

If it seems like we might use these again, I might create a Page to track the status of the forces - much like I did for the Daemon World Crusade Forces