+ inload: Rules for Ork Gargants and Eldar Titans in Adeptus Titanicus +

+ Eldar and Orks in
Adeptus Titanicus +

 + Free Bloodsong supplement released +

+ It's nearly Christmas, so as promised, the Bloodsong supplement for Games Workshop's Adeptus Titanicus, which allows you to play with Ork and Eldar forces, is now freely available. You can find it here:

[+Bloodsong+]

+ The Phantom Titan spread, featuring the beautiful work of MeshyMesh Miniatures +

+++

+ What is Bloodsong? +

It's a free supplement for Games Workshop's awesome Adeptus Titanicus (AT) game, which has been on the boil for the past couple of years. Started in 2019 soon after the release of AT, it's been in playtesting for the best part of two years now, gradually expanding in scope and being refined.

There comes a time, however, when the dials have been calibrated, the chrome polished and the War Engines hunger for purpose, so the version you find here is ready for play.

Please do let me know if you try it out, and I'd love to hear any feedback, positive or critical. Feel free to come join the discussion on the Death of a Rubricist Facebook group  [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+], or as noted in the document itself, send me an email to comment directly on the PDF with your ideas for further refinement.

+++

+ What will I find inside? +

This 64-page print-ready booklet contains everything you need to play Open Play games of Adeptus Titanicus with Xenos – Eldar Titans and Ork Gargants.  They can be played against your existing Imperial or Traitor Titan forces, or indeed against each other. 

You'll need to find new tactics and strategies to command or combat the terrible threat of the Xenos – and rest assured that they've been playtested to ensure a level of balance.

+ @johnpaints awesome Goff Tribe accompanies one of the short stories. +

The supplement contains everything you need to represent the particular nature of these Xenos in Adeptus Titanicus, so you'll have the following nuts-and-bolts: 

• Command Terminals
• Weapon cards
• Special rules
• Maniple equivalents
• How to prepare the cards and Command Terminals
• How to use the supplement

...along with material to make the supplement a bit more enjoyable and easy to read and reference during a game:

• Artwork 
• Short stories and colour text
• Table of contents
• Reference pages.

+ Titan (and Gargant) silhouettes now make the Conclave and Bigmob limits a bit easier to understand – and hopefully look nicer too! +

For those who have been following along or helping with playtesting, this is the final version. You'll spot version notes on the weapon cards and Command Terminals, so for future games, make sure you find the ones with v1.5 to ensure you've got the up-to-date Terminals and Weapon cards:

+ The version note is at the top left of each Terminal (highlighted) ; and on the back of each weapon card. +

You'll also find that the visuals have been substantially improved by the following artists, who generously allowed me to feature their inspirational work. Thank you one and all! Go and check 'em out on Instagram for more awesome stuff.

• John W – @johnpaints 
• MeshyMesh – @MeshyMesh Miniatures 
• Dorkamorka – @argaastes 
• Rich – @2ndeditionpaints 
• @biped_jackdaw 
• Gary C
• Tommy – @BigBossRedSkullz  / BigBossRedSkullz.com
• John N – @jgnstudios  / JGN.Studios 

+++

+ What's next? +

The supplement is now 'complete', though I intend to return and revise in a couple of years' time to take in any comments, feedback and development in that time – so please do keep the feedback coming, particularly if you feel something's not working as intended. As a fanmade supplement, it's much easier to make adjustments.

The plan now is to follow up Bloodsong with a campaign booklet that expands the options available to the Xenos and makes the supplement more suitable for play in Matched Play events. While still in the early stages, this is intended to bring in:

• Stratagems for both Orks and Eldar
• New Bigmobs and Conclaves
• War-clan and Waaagh rules to further customise and theme your xenos forces
• Missions and a themed campaign
• Rules for Mekboy Gargants/Supa-Stompas.

In essence, I'm following the model of how the Legio rules for Imperial and Renegade Titans were released. I’m leaning away from ‘Craftworld’ and ‘Clan’ as terms because they don’t really reflect the way the forces work in-universe, and the archetype of some Clans/Craftworlds don’t translate particularly well into giant robot battles. Perhaps most importantly of all, I don’t want to limit how people paint their models! That said, as currently planned the new  fit the broad archetypes – so there’ll be – for example – a ‘bashy’ one that’ll fit Goffs and a ‘sneaky’ one to fit Alaitoc if you prefer to paint them to match.

+ Work in progress – watch this space! +

+++

+ Sounds fun – I'd like to know more +

Great! Go download the Bloodsong supplement using this link [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+], and if you'd like to help spread the word, that'd be very much appreciated. Feel free to share it, play it and adjust it as you like  – but as noted in the copyright notice at the back, please be respectful to Games Workshop's IP.

I'd love to hear you feedback and thoughts, and if you are inspired enough to build, paint or play with Xenos in the awesome game of Adeptus Titanicus, please do share any pics of your models and games on Instagram using the tag #ATBloodsong. I'd love to see them – and if you're happy for me to do so, perhaps feature them in a future expansion.

+++

+ inload: Bloodsong update and Great Gargant +

+ 'Ere We Go – Great Gargant +

+ Before the paint is dry on the first, a second Great Gargant has emerged from the Meks' workshop, eager to get into combat with the 'oomie Titans. +

As the great philosopher Udgrub of Gaff had it: 'Woss ded ard and ded shooty? A Gargant. Woss even arder and shootier and krumpier? Two Gargants!' Who am I to argue with such a paragon of kultur?

The finer points of ork warfare aside, I'm delighted with this print, which was given to me over a pint at the local. Drawing from the same original sculpt, the two 3D-sculptors have given slightly different results, as you can see below. The new one is slightly more broad in the chest and the arms are proportionally a little lower, and I think these differences help to suggest an individuality that's fitting for Gargants. After all, each is a kustom job – even when orks try to copy each other, there's inevitably some variance.

+++

+ Gaming +

Besides making a very attractive set of bookends, why would two Great Gargants be useful? Well, what if you had a set of rules that let you play Orks – or Eldar, if that's your breakfast fructose pulp-preserve of choice – in Adeptus Titanicus? Well, I'm pleased to say that such a supplement exists, and pending a couple of permissions for featured artworks, it's just about ready to release.

You can judge for yourself whether I've been successful in my initial aims – the first article on the project was written back in September 2018 [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], and it's been more actively polished and revised in the years since.

I've been beavering away on Bloodsong for just about as long as the new version of Adeptus Titanicus has been out. We're now up to beta version 14, and I'm on track to publish the free, finished, ready-to-play booklet as a Christmas thank-you to readers. 

+++

+ What's new? +

Well, if you've already given the expansion a try, I hope you'll be pleased to hear that it's more refinement than rework. 

The Eldar, who benefitted from being much more similar to Imperial Titans, haven't thrown up any huge problems in playtesting, and are largely untouched. The big exception is the psychic lance, which has been considerably toned-down following playtesting – terrifying it might be in background terms, the older rules were both powerful to the point of being oppressive, and also a pain to use in practise.

As for everyone's favourite space-hooligans, ork shields seemed uncharacteristically reliable in early turns – not a problem when you've just got one on the table, but the more you had, the more oppressive it turned out to be. The solution? I looked back into Adeptus Titanicus '87 for inspiration, and found a rule about Power Fields occasionally allowing shots through gaps. There's thus now a (small) chance for a shot to go through and set off a fire. This gives 'feels-good' factor for the opponent, and also gives the Ork player something to juggle in otherwise quiet early turns. Win-win.

In addition to that, the shields/boiler relationship now has a smaller 'sweet-spot', so it's much harder for an Ork player to simply avoid touching their boiler. There's also a bit more of reward/encouragement for pushing, introduced through adjustments to the Gargant's speed value.

The Maniple equivalents – Conclaves for Eldar, Mobs for Orks – were a relatively late addition, and  while the Eldar ones seem to have worked out okay, playtesting revealed some fairly elementary problems with the ork's Godbreaka mob; which has been defanged and reworked.

It's not all down-tuning for the orks, however. The gun decks – those key elements for the 'land battleship' feel – now kick out two shots per Krew assigned, making them a genuine alternative to other parts of the Gargant, for example. In recompense for the reduction in their durability, they've also seen some of their more characteristic weapons tweaked upwards; increasing a little in S, range or coming down in cost.

+++

Besides the crunch, there's now lots of lovely pictures submitted by talented hobbyists like jgnstudios, Gary C, MeshyMesh and Johnpaints, to give you an idea of how to build and paint your Gargants and War-Clans.

I've worked up some silhouette illustrations for the various Maniple equivalents...

... and you've got new background and lore, all lovingly re-interpreted from the original material and aiming to reconcile newer and older lore.

The book has also received reference sections for each faction, so you've got quick comparisons for weapon stats, Command Terminals and more.

+ Tactics and strategy +

Overall, I'm very pleased with how playtesting has refined things, but as always, these rules are explicitly designed for Open Play. I hope they give you fun, balanced games, but the key aim is to allow Xenos players the chance to get involved, and provide a new challenge for Imperial players.

Quite a few playtests threw up a common point that's worth addressing: Imperial players who used an existing force sometimes found it difficult to adapt in their first game – those who tooled up to take on the aliens they were facing tended to fare better. I wanted to make sure that each faction provided a new and interesting challenge to the Imperials, as it's as much an expansion for them as it is for Xenos players. After all, Imperial/Traitor players are likely to make up the vast majority of games you'll get in.

As a result, a lot of the weapons and tactics that are optimal against other Imperial/Traitor Titans aren't necessarily ideal for tackling the Xenos – and that's intentional. The lower armour ratings and shieldbane trait make the oft-derided lasers surprisingly useful against Gargants, for example, while a combination of weight of fire (to deal with holo-fields) and precision shots (once they're knocked down) are your friend against Eldar, rather than specialist Titans.

+++

+ Back to the point +

But enough on the rules, let's look at some more pictures of the Great Gargant!

+ inload: Fire up the Bigmob +

+ Painting Gargants +

+ Waa-ork! The boiler's nearly at full, so let's go full steam ahead on getting a Bigmob of Gargants ready for Adeptus Titanicus play. +

I'm having fun picking away at this Gargant – I hope that the slightly mismatched look almost inevitable with this approach should add to the feel. For all my protestations of disliking painting big things like tanks, this year seems to have alternated between giant Titans and teeny-weeny Epic figures, with very little in between. Funny how things work.

+++

Since last time, all I've really done is work on the muted olive green of the superstructure with washes. I've had a variety open on my painting desk, ranging from Gryphonne and Seraphim Sepia to Agrax Earthshade and whatever the red, green and blue ones are called.

The effect gives a textural result that I really like – I think once some contrasting plates are in place, it'll provide a bit more 'pop'. Regardless, I'm finding more and more that I'm simply enjoying the process of painting, rather than the finished result. 

I'm not sure that's entirely a good thing – I can't imagine it's quite so interesting to everyone else, but the relaxing nature of gradually building up and refining is certainly relaxing.

+++

+ Fire the secondary batteries! +

This Gargant has been a bit of an experiment in avoiding primary colours, and substituting them for secondaries. I've used lots of reds, blues and yellows recently (along with highly-saturated greens), and thought another palette might be a fun experiment.

Enter the secondary colours, and in muted, earthy hues. I like working within restrictions like this – it'll help to give a coherent finish, and the nature of picking a colour scheme means that groups of colours like this (a triad) will always tend to work.

The washes have been laid in around the seams and rivets in a fairly hotch-potch fashion; varying the colours across the surface. While wet, I've used a clean dry brush to selectively lift out some of the pooling wash from raised areas, as well as dropping in other wash colours for variety here and here. I've also used some kitchen paper and swiped with my thumb to remove washes in more textural ways.

As I hope you can see, the results are starting to build up into the appearance of mottled, dusty, rusty and oily textures across the surface. I think this sort of textural greebling goes a long way to selling the idea of scale. Compare the effect on the front with the back, where things are mostly at an earlier stage.

I'm planning to have some brighter areas to suggested internal lighting – showing through in the various little 'huts' and portholes/windows, and to have some plates made up of metals taken from looted foes.

+++

You'll note the base has been worked up in various browns up through yellow ochre to an ivory colour for highlights. This matches my Iron Skulls (Legio Metalica) forces and the rest of my Armageddon-themed miniatures. I'll probably add a few tufts and bits and bobs. The huge bases of Titans and similar War Engines provide a great canvas for stuff that helps set the scale, like barrels and infantry figures. You'll spot a little mek poking out of the hatch at the top of the Gargant's head. He's from Vanguard Miniatures' Skinners range [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+].

+++

+ Plans and plots +

The eventual plan for this is to have a 'maniple' of each of the 40k factions I find iconic for Epic – Eldar, Orks and Imperials. I'll be using the Bloodsong expansion, [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+] which is entering its final beta testing stage over the next couple of weeks.

Duplication is anathema to the orks, and I managed to find another Great Gargant sculpt, which a friend of mine has kindly printed. This version is a bit more refined than the other, I think; a bit more natural looking. 

I've not received the figure, but he should fit in very nicely alongside our unnamed friend above.

Speaking of names, it struck me that it might be fun to have name generators or a list of suggestions in Bloodsong, so I'm very open to any ideas or suggestions for Ork Gargant and Eldar Titan names – exload 'em into the comments here, or pop them up on the +Death of a Rubricist+ Facebook group [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+], where you can ask any questions you like about the project.

A couple more 'glamour shots' of the WIP Great Gargant. He's magnetised at the head, and the torso is also unglued in order to allow things to rotate freely. 

The weapons are magnetised, mostly using 5mm rare earth magnets – apart from the shoulder guns (part of the gun decks, rules-wise), where I realised I could use some spare corsage magnets instead. These Gargant models are quite substantial, and so larger, cheaper magnets seem sensible.

I haven't got a pict-capture of them on the Great Gargant, but you can see them nice and clearly on this smaller Gargant:

... and while they're at an early stage, I thought I'd show the rest of the bigmob as they currently stand:

This head is based on the original Great Gargant one – I found a couple cheap second-hand, and have bulked it up a bit (it looked a bit pin-headed originally!)

+ inload: September update +

+ A whole new boardgame +

+ Slow progress on painting and modelling, but I've been teaming up with Sinan to put together an event! +

+++

+ Third War in 3rd +

Themed around the Third War for Armageddon, sixteen (or eighteen) players will be be playing two linked games. I won't share too many details here just yet, but I've excited to see so much enthusiasm for what we assumed would be a pretty niche event.

The #3rdwarin3rd tag on Instagram is up for people to share their pics.

The event happily coincides with my main 40k-era enthusiasm at the mo, which is Armageddon. Regular inloaders will remember the work I've been doing on the Armageddon Prime [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] expansion for the old Battle for Armageddon board-wargame.

I've not been idle there, as you can see below, as I've been working on creating my own set of counters:

The plan is to get these printed up on covered greyboard and match the originals as closely as I can. How does this relate to the event? Well, the plan we're currently working on is to have a 'campaign map' to provide some immersion – players will get to see how their forces are doing on a strategic scale between the games, and they'll be able to take away some custom counters of their own forces as a keepsake.

Tickets, alas, are already sold out, but if it's a success I think we're both keen to try to run another.

+++

Painting – between summer holidays, heat, work and general malaise – has been a bit spotty and intermittent. We therefore have more Steel Legion specialists nearly polished up for the 707th:

... and closer to events, my Squat killteam progresses for the PCRC campaign in just eight short weeks. I'm really enjoying these. Tempted to get some BattleBuilder nameplates for the gang – you can use my referral code and 'MournStarfall' to get 10% off, if you'd like to fancy up your forces too [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+].

And last but not least in this much-delayed update, I've also picked up some more Epic stuff. I think Epic: Legions Imperialis is in a much better place at the moment, so if you've been tempted to give it a go, I'd recommend it. More in a dedicated inload.

+++

 1,500pts Steel Legion 707th

HQ – 445pts

• Command HQ – 178pts
• Colonel (70)
• Carapace armour (5)
• Refractor field (15)
• Power weapon (10)
• Bolt pistol (3)
• Bionics (5)
• Standard Bearer (10)
• Regimental standard (20)
• Medic (10)
• Comm-link (15)
• Grenade launcher (15)
• Mortar squad – 95pts
• Anti-tank squad (35) – 115pts
• Missile launcher team (20)
• Lascannon team (30)
• Lascannon team (30)
• Commissar (40) – 57pts
• Carapace armour (5)
• Bolter (2)
• Power weapon (10)

Troops – 320pts

• Command section – 81pts
• Lieutenant (35)
• Power weapon (10)
• Bolt pistol (3)
• Carapace armour (5)
• Plasma gun (8)
• Missile launcher  (15)
• Comm-link (5)
• Infantry Squad (60) – 78pts
• Flamer (3)
• Missile launcher (15)
• Infantry Squad (60) – 78pts 
• Plasma gun (8)
• Heavy bolter (10) 
• Infantry Squad (60) – 83pts
• Melta gun (8)
• Missile launcher (15)

Troops – 320pts

• Command section – 81pts
• Lieutenant (35)
• Power weapon (10)
• Bolt pistol (3)
• Carapace armour (5)
• Plasma gun (8)
• Missile launcher  (15)
• Comm-link (5)
• Infantry Squad (60) – 78pts
• Flamer (3)
• Missile launcher (15)
• Infantry Squad (60) – 78pts 
• Plasma gun (8)
• Heavy bolter (10) 
• Infantry Squad (60) – 83pts
• Melta gun (8)
• Missile launcher (15)

Heavy support – 

• Leman Russ Vanquisher (175) – 190pts
• Hull-mounted lascannon (15)
• Leman Russ battle tank (140) – 145pts
• Hull-mounted heavy bolter (5)

+ inload: 2nd edition 40k thoughts +

+ Hard Luck at Hemlock Bank +

Rutger's rebreather gave a protesting click. He was too tired to be nervous about the filter – all he wanted was for the interminable waiting to be over. The High-and-Dries had been encamped in the Hemlock valley for more than a week now, the orks sending occasional probing attacks along the line – not enough to warrant a decisive response, but more than sufficient to keep the whole line at ready status. 

Why weren't they attacking?

Little more than ten minutes later, Rutger would regret asking.

+++

A very fun little classic 40k game of Orks versus Imperial Guard, Og Throatchoppa's Blood Axes against my Steel Legion 707th. Commanded by General 'Asbach' Grünhold, the 707th fielded a reinforced platoon of around fifty Guardsman supported by a squad of Ogryn auxiliaries, a Leman Russ battle tank, and a Demolisher.

Besides the good General, a junior officer, two psykers and a commissar were also present.

Facing them was an intimidating sea of green – around three-score orks plus three looted Rhinos, one of which bore the infamous Og Throatchoppa and his retinue. 

A Shokk attack gun had been laboriously carried up an escarpment, and a number of shock troops, in the form of a mob of boarboyz and a dreadnought, were noted by Imperial observers.

The game was very enjoyable, with the Guard putting up a bit more resistance than last time! The line had been stiffened by swapping out the Griffon (Manticore) for a Demolisher and the addition of some Ogryns and Stormtroopers. 

The game started well for the Steel Legion, with early shots sending a mob of orks scampering for cover, and some lucky hits on the advancing Rhinos slowing the advance. The Boarboys overcame the Stormtroopers in the shuttle wreck, but a Demolisher shell completed the exchange.

We chatted afterwards and noted that it was nice that Orks and Guard weren't nearly as distinct as in later editions. The differences boil down to one better T for orks, and one better I for Guard; which meant that orks could exchange fire effectively, and Guard weren't hopelessly outclassed in every combat.

On an individual basis, Orks versus Guard is not nearly as predictable across the different phases of the game, which meant for closer exchanges and more nail-biting dice rolls.

There was plenty of fun stuff to laugh at too, with surviving tank crew frantically trying to man the right guns for the turn, and the poor ork boy pictured above being flung back and forth by the Primaris Psyker before finally making it into combat!

Lessons learned from more modern editions don't really follow – we'd forgotten quite how dead 'ard vehicles are, and as you can see from the brawl above, ork dreadnoughts versus ogryns isn't quite the death trap it later became.

Don't get me wrong, the rules are initially complex, but once you're over the learning curve, that's it. The complexity of the rules is built in and created through the decision you make on the table, so – with the notable exception of the Strategy cards and Psychic phase – there's not a great deal more that is added. As a result, it feels quite clean and clear once you're going. There aren't lots of exceptions and breaks and things to bear in mind, so there's less mental load than a lot of more modern games.

That's both a good and a bad thing. Epic: Armageddon and Adeptus Titanicus (my favourite tabletop games) both require constant engagement, which makes them very involving; while the turn-based 2nd edition 40k gives you more mental space, which is a different sort of fun.

Overall, a very enjoyable game – and it's stoked the desire to play more 2nd edition, so it's clearly doing something right!

+ inload: 9th edition Battle Report +

+ The Fall of Djaih Principal +

Member-Cardinal Naqib wept. I remember that most clearly; for seeing Astartes shed tears was utterly beyond my expectation. Every time I thought I had a handle on this Chapter, one of them would dumbfound me. 

It clearly had an effect on the stoic Primaris, too. Septimal looked discomfited; insofar as an eight-foot tall armour-clad giant could look anything other than intimidating.

Neither he, nor I, made any movement towards Naqib; but his weeping was taken up by an ululation of woe by the other Sons of Djaih that shared the shuttle. 

I turned away, horror running up and down my spine, and looked through the viewport. Built for Astartes, I was rendered doll-like; and had to stretch slightly to see, adding further to the unreal atmosphere.

Defeat. The loss of a world to the ork. 

It later became apparent that such losses were far from uncommon. Perhaps once or twice in an Astartes generation, the Gatebreakers' line – always tenuous and thin – would be broken by xenos. This was sobering to me; but not half so affecting as the grief-rituals of the Gatebreakers.

The whole journey back was accompanied by ritual wails of his brethren; but Naqib's grief was as genuine as ever I have seen. Unsurprising, perhaps, for a godling who has lost his birthworld.

Remarks – Inquisitrix Barbari Kills

+++

+ So, 9th edition, huh? – First impressions +

+ Games Workshop recently released the Core Rules for the 9th edition of Warhammer 40,000 [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+] as a preview, so I gave it a try last night, with a skirmish between greenskin raiders and the freshly-painted Gatebreakers. +

+ It was a small game – 15 power level a side; but the new rules give specifics on the size of board to use. My first impression is that little has changed from 8th; but also that the subtle refinements make surprisingly large differences. I don't want to draw too many conclusions from a single small game, but it's certainly promising! +

+ The more intimate – and scaleable – table size, combined with the reduction of overwatch and new terrain rules seemed to go a long way to getting the orks into combat, which I know will be welcomed by some of my gaming buddies (and lamented by others!). +

Chopping's back on the menu, ladz!

+ The big change for the better is definitely the clarity of the rules. From the previews, I was a bit concerned that the language had become extremely stylised and formal, to the detriment of readability, but that doesn't seem to be the case overall. +

+ The addition of summary bulletpoints and general layout is a huge improvement, and the additions and clarifications over 8th were minor but useful. I wonder if the latter is a sign of being designed for tablet/screen; the rules are much more compact and stripped-down, and seemingly designed for quick comprehension – exactly as you might expect for screen reference, rather than a traditional instruction manual. +

+ But as I say, I don't want to judge too much on abstracts; how did it play? + 

+++

+ Djaih Principal +

+ Djaih Principal is – or was – a recruiting world for the Gatebreakers; one of the few under their purview which submitted candidates willingly, rather than them being taken by force. For the past centuries, this has made the planet a valuable source of manpower for the ever-overstretched Chapter, and a substantial number of the recruits from the planet – the so-called Sons of Djaih – have become officers or otherwise noteworthy members of the Chapter. +

+ The Gatebreakers rarely establish Chapter keeps, even on valuable worlds like Djaih – their numbers are too low and their area of responsibility too large and diffuse to make it practicable. As a result, their long-ranging sweeps of the sector often leaves decades between visitations. This was the fate of the planet; for the Gatebreakers' last recruitment took a substantial proportion of the world's most promising young warriors, just at the moment their presence was needed most. +

+ Of course, the few thousand individuals taken (for the Gatebreakers' harrowing implantation protocols work as much by fate as design, and failure is near-total) made little practical difference to the fighting strength of the planetary defence force, but as a symbol, they were so much more. The ork invasion found a surprised populace that quickly grew demoralised when their pleas for aid resulted in no support – all the more heartbreaking when they had seen the flower of their youth offered up to the sky-warriors. +

+ When the greenskin invasion came, it bulldozed the main cities in short order and drove the defenders into hiding in the matrix of steaming jungles and mineral deserts that make up the surface of the world. Eight long years passed, during which the enslaved populace was forced into manufacturing weapons and equipment for the ambitious and greedy ork warlord. +

+ At this point, salvation appeared to some, for the Gatebreakers returned. Alas, the strikeforce was heavily depleted; sent only to draw a further tithe for the Chapter, and ill-equipped for deployment. Restricted to minor strikes, the Astartes launched a series of stinging raids to liberate or support regions of resistance; but could not afford to enter extended warfare. +

+ What follows is the melancholy reports of the final action taken by the strikeforce before the Gatebreakers were to admit defeat and abandon Djaih. +

+++

+ Mission and deployment +

+ We used the standard Only War mission in the pack, with the objectives (entrances to sewers occupied by the human resistance, and critical raw materials left in the ruin) spaced fairly evenly across the board. +

+ As a very simple starter game, the Gatebreakers were represented by three five-man squads of Intercessors; while the orks fielded a mob of boyz, a mighty deff dredd and a nobz mob. +

+ Early turns +

+ The Gatebreakers advanced through the ruins, their bolt rifle fire frustrated by light cover and the thick stone of the ruins. A handful of orks fell, but return fire from a large mob on the right flank took two marines out of the fight. +

+ Worse was to come – with the central squad prevented from offering fire support by intervening terrain, a clanking behemoth strode into view; blasting another of the depleted squad into smithereens! The cackling orks broke cover and charged into the Gatebreakers' hastily-made barricade. +

+ Scrambling to redeploy, the Gatebreaker's fire on the left was again frustrated, only lightly wounding one of the nobz. The central squad moved up into the ruins to claim an objective and in an attempt to lend support to the embattled and overwhelmed squad on the right, which left the left-flank squad on its own. +

+ Mid turns +

+ Mighty as the Astartes are, when faced with the cream of the greenskins (well, they're greasy and smell a bit of gone-off milk), they met their match. The nobz charged in, swinging their weapons and taking the Astartes by surprise. +

+ The fighting swung back and forth, but the orks were having the better on it. +

+ The central squad were caught in a quandry – charge their comrades in combat with the nobz, or continue to claim the objective and fire at the larger mob? Their Member-Cardinal opted for the latter, lending support fire that took down four or five orks as the two survivors of the right flank fell back. +

+ With nowhere to retreat to, the two survivors prepared to sell their lives dearly, and were swiftly overwhelmed. Their broken bodies were hefted into the air by the triumphant orks, who swiftly took to stripping the armour and looting their weapons +

+ The Deff Dread lumbered into a surprising burst of speed and managed to engage the central squad with the squeal of pistons and hiss of venting power. +

+ Closing turn +

+ Their foes downed for no loss, the nobz sneered and closed in on the Gatebreakers struggling against the Deff Dread. With a horrific tearing noise, the war engine sheared three of the Astartes into pieces. The last survivor commended his soul to the Ten Divine Princes, and voxed in a last report. +

+ Confirm: Beast Triumphant +

+++

+ After action report +

+ A fun and quick game – particularly given that the other player was a (very indulgent!) first-timer. The new edition is quick to pick up for an old hand like me, but also looks nice and accessible. +

+ Tentative mechadendrites up for 9th edition; I'm looking forward to some bigger games with some variation in missions. In the meantime, I'll need to get painting – looks like the Gatebreakers need some heavy support! +