Trench Warfare!

This years trip down to Rockford allowed me to play a 2500 point. game against my buddy Dale. For the last few months, Dale has been building a trench system for his Orks that he will defend at this years Big Game. He's really doing a nice job on it and who wouldn't want to fight in a trench?

Since Dale was kind enough to give me a ride and lug the trench pieces down to Illinois, it only seemed fitting he get to defend his creation. Dale has been working on several house rules for the Ork trench which include a +3 save for every model in the trenches and special effects when template weapons hit the trenches.

We would play the battle as part of D-Company's Doric-ar1 map campaign. Konrad Curze would lead 2500 points of Night Lords against the Ork emplacement. Because we were playing in the campaign and at the trench, we played a game with no real mission rules other then random game length. The game was simple, we battle for position on the trench and then when the game ended we would decide the winner.

Orks in trenches.

The Orks would deploy in the trenches. The Night Lords deployment was 12 inches on for the table edge opposite the Orks. I brought the Terror Assault. We would simply roll off to see who went first.

After seeing the rules for the trenches I decided my best chance would be a direct assault. Shooting was going to have a minimal effect against models receiving a +3 cover save. Normally engaging an Ork army in close combat was not a wise move. But these were not ordinary marines, they were Night Lords lead by their Primarch! Every unit causes fear and those who already do, cause fear tests at -1 Leadership. This would turn out to be costly for the Orks.

Gretchen squads ready for the charge.

My initial charge was blunted by some bad dice rolls. Ork (and Grot) guns got an extra turn before the close combat carnage would begin. On the flanks I dropped Terror squads in Drop pods and the fight was on. The great wall of Gretchen fell fairly quickly, turns out Curze and a squad of Night Raptors are more then a match for Grots and a Slaver.

The battle in the trench rages on.

In this game, the Orks were overwhelmed by the attacking Night Lords. By the time the dust had settled we had decided that the victory was pretty clear. Dale had a tough time with fear tests, he failed quite a few. The Orks also had no answer for the Night Haunter, who was in his element once he was in the trench. The fact he has Stealth and Shrouded makes him very difficult to shoot once he's in terrain. The trench effects rules Dale has created really didn't effect the game much. I suppose part of the reason being I never fired a temple weapon.

Sometimes themed games, such as defend/attack the trench can be a lot of fun. That was the case in this game. Part of the game that has always appealed to me is the idea of "go fight for the hill" or "secure that bridge". The small battle within a larger war. Those types of games require the terrain to really enhance the over all experience. It was a pleasure to play in Dale's trench.

Ave Dominus Nox.

Book Review: Pharos by a Night Lord fan.

Last night I finished Pharos by Guy Haley. Book 34 in the Horus Heresy series. I don't read every title in the series anymore. I read the first 10 or so in a row and then started to pick and choose. But this one has Night Lords! Also, it is really the next in the story line of Unremembered Empire.

As a Night Lord fan and experienced reader of the series, I understood that to a degree my favorite legion would wear the black hats and be the nameless killed by the heroes of the story. You come to expect this when you read as a fan of the traitors. The Ultramarines killed at a 5 to 1 ratio because Ultramarines are the heroes we as the reader are supposed to support.

I feel the author does do fair justice to the 8th legion. Their interactions and plans are very characterful for Night Lords. I liked the split between the Night Lords who use terror as a weapon and those who just enjoy it. And the idea that there are some trying to hold the legion together while others just grab for power is very compelling.

Basically a group of Night Lords splintered off from the Thramas Crusade followed the beacon to the Ultramar system. They concoct a plan to lure in a ship to take. After their plan works their leader becomes infatuated with the idea of taking control of the Pharos, the alien technology that is allowing the Ultramarines communication in their realm despite the warp storms left by the Word Bearers attack.

Without spoiling too much, the story focuses on several characters. Some human, some Astartes and some Primarchs.  It really clips along nicely, never once was I bored as a reader. The high point being a confrontation between Konrad Curze and Sanguinius...

"You are a slave. A slave to Father's will, and a slave to fate. Our only choice is what manner of slavery we shall embrace, and even that choice is an illusion."

Curze is badass, by my count so far in the heresy he has fought; Corax (he ran away) Vulcan, The Lion several times (to mixed results) Almost killed Dorn, Guilliman and the Lion at the same time, and now Sanguinius. I don't think any other Primarch has been as active.

The book reveals some interesting things about Sanguinius I did not know...

All in all, a good Night Lord read, or if you are a loyalist fan you should enjoy it as well.

7/10 as a Horus Heresy book.

Bloody Bones

Ahhh, trooper are you in need of assistance?

I completed my version of The fallen Primus Medicae, Flaymaster Mawdrym Llansahai. Or "Bloody Bones" as his Legion named him. With a name like that no wonder he has a nickname!

The model is formed from a bunch of bits I have collected.

The Flaymaster was the Primus Medicae for the Night Lords until it was discovered he was conducting unsanctioned surgical experiments.

In my opinion, he is the perfect example of Forgeworld doing characters right. While he adds slight benefit to the army, his rules are very fluff driven. He's an HQ choice but can never lead the army as"even the Night lords have their limits of toleration for madness".
He rerolls his failed Feel No Pain and look out sir rolls because "he has survived both enemy action and attempts on his life by his comrades, seemingly often by sheer chance alone".

On the left shoulder of the model was what I assumed to be oaths of the moment. I painted them flesh colored with some Blood for the Blood God to give more of an idea that those were taken from some of his favorite victims. Speaking of taken, I like to think the Purity Seals adorning the model are a collection of those the Flaymaster has taken off of Astartes he "helped" on the battle field.

On the table top, I do see some value to using Bloody Bones. He's fearless, which of course extends to any unit he joins. Plus, his Narthecium gives Feel No Pain making him an excellent candidate to lead a 20 man Tactical Squad. Also, being an HQ special character choice means a Night Lord player using the rite of war Terror Assault (as I often do) gets a second council choice in the army, (Terror Assault limits the player to one Council choice).

I'm pleased with how he turned out, my only complaint is couldn't the game developers have given him a name easier to pronounce?

Ave Dominus Nox.

Sometimes it's better to be lucky then good

Flesh Terrors!

On Tuesday night I had the pleasure of taking on some 40K Flesh Terrors, fielded by a buddy named Chuck. My group is slowly getting into 30K, as a result I play most of my games against 40K armies these days. D-Company as a group has always been open to Forgeworld units and armies.

The game was part of our summer campaign on Doric-ar1. 2000pts per side. We made up a mission based on 5 objectives being D3 victory points each. Plus Slay the Warlord and First Blood.

The game had a odd start, Chuck seized the initiative with a 6 and went first. I rolled my +2 for Terror assault Night Fight and he proceeded to immobilize his Land Raider and kill two bikes via dangerous terrain rolls before I had ever fired a shot. If that is the way it goes when people seize on me, I'm ok with that!

The First Captain did his killing.

Chuck built himself a strong list. Mortars, a Xiphon interceptor, Terminators, Assault squad, some flamer Predator and bikes. I made a big mistake sending my first 2 Terror squads against the Mortars. T7 was too much for my Volkite chargers. Chuck had the better of killing though Sevatar was quite deadly.

The Xiphon is a great model. 

I was finally able to roll Sevatar's psychic power successfully, 3 Times! I'm still not sure it's properly balanced but this may be do to playing against a lot of 40K armies which tend to have more psychers. Chuck did not have a psycher in his Flesh Terrors list.

Sevatar and his Vet, squad took care of some infiltrators and strategically avoided (ran from) the Flesh Terror dread.. and eventually secured an objective. To even the playing field a bit, we have been using 40K objective securing rules for both sides.

Terror Squad survived the mortars.

On the other end of the table 2 of my 3 Terror Squads died hard to Flesh Terror fire. The decision to attack the Mortars was a very bad one. Though the third squad survived the bombardments to claim the Night Lords second objective.

Chuck scored first blood and secured one objective for himself. I feel I was lucky to roll a 2 on the random game length roll. I strongly felt I would lose this game if it went another turn. Sometimes the dice are with you.

The final tally was Night Lords 6 VP Flesh Terrors 3.

Current state of Doric-ar1

Red=Chaos Blue=Imperials Green=Xenos

Your tires will Burn!

Grot guns hide amoungst the tires.

Orkamungus loves tires. He loves them so much he collects them on his homeworld and devotes all of his Ork hordes towards acquiring even more tires!

To what purpose? Only my friend Joe knows.

He was kind enough to have me over for a game. My Night Lords vs his Orks. 2500pts per side. The theme of the game was simple, Mungus loves his tires, if the Night Lords win

His precious tires burn.

The VIII establish a position.

We played a maelstrom of war game. As part of D-Company's map campaign. It seemed only right that the Orks defend. I brought a Terror Assault with Sevatar. I'm currently finishing painting on my Terror Squads. Once I'm done with those, I'll paint the Preator I made. For now though Sevatar leads my army most games. After my initial plunge with Curze, I had to try him out.. He now is reserved for only special occasions much like the Phoenix Lords of the Eldar. I firmly believe the big boys only appear in big events.

This Terror squad is in trouble.

The Orks fared well early on. Terror Assault yielded only one turn of night fight. This was my first game with the upgraded +5 from the shadows, and talent for murder.

I sent one Terror squad to deal with 4 Grot Bombers, two were able to fire. (I hate those things in power armor (st8 ap3 large blast)!!).

Another hit the rear of the Ork mob. Their fate would be sealed when a Nob squad disembarked right next to them. Despite having an apothecary, and a sargeant who wielded a Nostroman Chainglaive, they would all fall.

But on the other side of the battle. Things were looking Good.

Sevatar brings the Atramentar.

I was racking up points due to the cards. Sevatar used his ability to call down terminators in support of veteran tac squads. When Joe failed a charge against them, his fate was sealed. The Night Lords used their talent for murder very well by killing the Ork Warboss and Nobs in decisive fashon. Sevatar insta-kills in challenges. Nostroman Chainglaives are very effective against Nobs it turns out. As long as your side outnumbers.... which I did. The Orks conceded after 4 turns.

That's the Night Lords in the middle, red dots.

The update to the VIII seems very powerful, hitting on +2's is very nasty. Heh, in the entire game...only Kharn and the 30K Night Lords can do that!

Summer disclaimer. These few months of warmth tend to be when  I spend the least amount of time on the hobby and the game. Updates will be sporadic.

Ave Dominus Nox.

Ground control to Major Tom

Finished my Master of Signals. In my opinion the most useful of the Consuls. I made him out of bits I had handy. I felt a Nostraman Chainglaive seemed wise, as he will forgo shooting to either fire the bombardment  or up a units BS by one. I usually deploy him with a basic Tac squad, and a Chainglaive adds a little close combat punch.

Some Consul types just seem unfluffy to me and I won't use them, the Chaplin comes to mind.  I just can't see the 8th Legion taking a Chaplin seriously. They aren't the most religious of legions. In fact, quite the opposite. My goal is to keep to what I think the Night Lords would have used.

Speaking of which, also on the hobby front, I painted Sevatar's gauntlets red. In my haste to get him done for our big game, I forgot to do that. D'oh.

Purchase wise, my Legiones Astartes Age of Darkness book came.

I must say a nice update for the Night Lords. Talent for murder now adds +1 to hit and +1 to wound. That means Sevatar (ws7) hits anything lower then that on a +2. If anyone fails a fear test, while outnumbered, Terror Squad hit on +2 with preferred enemy. That's a nice boost. Another upgrade is From the Shadows now confers every unit in the Night Lords army a +5 instead of the old +6. So when playing with Night Fight (stealth) to start a game, the whole army gets a +4 save on the first turn. I like that..

My only disappointment with the book is that it doesn't come with the new special character or the new rite of war. The book also doesn't come with Blood Angels, White Scars or Dark Angels rules. Apparently all of that is only in book 6 of the Horus Heresy. I did not know that before I got the book.

You win some, you lose some...

We have come for you.

It's been a bit since I last posted. After the Big game in February I took a little break from the hobby. I worked every night up to the event on getting stuff done and did a massive amount of work.

I feel if don't put the dice and brushes down it could cause me to burn out and I never want that to happen. So March was largely a non-40K/30K month.

That said, I went to my first ever Adepticon. I wanted to pick up a Night Lords shirt from Forgeworld (an item you can only get at events). I also ordered the newest red book for 30K and some MK4 Night Lord shoulder pads. So, looking forward to that coming from across the pond.

I didn't play in any tournaments but looked around at the armies people brought. Ugh... too many Eldar and Tau! As a long time Eldar player it saddens me to see so many Jetbikes and  Wraithknights. I was happy to see, as I observed the 30K players, no Night Lord armies. I think I'll have to change that next year...

No Talent for Murder here.

After my healthy break though.. back to it! I played two games recently and I'm working on my Master of Signal, hobby wise. My first game was against my friend Jay (http://apostlesofcontagion.blogspot.com/) and his Iron Warriors. We played a 30K mission that involved kill points. My Terror Assault was soundly defeated. Jay has always been good at defending and when you play against the Night Lord Terror Assault you know they are coming to you. He had a Medusa with phosphex shells, waiting for me and ouch it hurt. Also charging a unit with Rad Grenades is not wise.

Iron Warriors beat me again, but I have some new ideas on how to deal with him in our next game. The Iron Warriors had two blocks of 20 marine squads backed up by Apothecaries. I need some better ways to deal with those. Not going to post those ideas yet (he may read my blog) but I'll share when I play him again.

Target locked!

My second game was part of D-Company's map campaign we've started post Big Game. Night Lords and Death Guard (40K Nurgle) vs Grey Knights + Knight and Crimson Fists + Knight.

This was a game of firsts. I took my first list not using the Terror Assault rite of war. I wanted to try out something different so I used Pride of the Legion. For you non-30K types this rite allows Veteran Tac Squads and Terminators as troops. The Night Lords and Nurgle allies won in a close game. My Sicaran Venator had it's best game yet (I've used it 5 times so far).

The Sicaran was mostly responsible for destroying the Knight you see in the picture. Hehe.. it was his first time using it in a game. New model syndrome! A squad of Grey Knight terminators also fell to the Venator and a couple hull points off the second Knight. Then it used it's fast-tank status to get line breaker at the end of the game.

Pride of the Legion came into play as my 6 man Atramentar was deadly, killing several Crimson Fists on it's way to contesting their 3 point objective! A move that was largely responsible for Chaos winning the game. I gave both my Vet squads the Sniper rule (seems the most popular choice among players) and they were very effective until a Knight's battle cannon hit them...

Night Lords on the move.

Some final thoughts...
I can't seem to get Sevatar's psychic power to ever go off, is he too reluctant?? In 5 games now he has gotten his power one time. Just once.

I will play more games outside of the Terror Assault Rite of War, Pride of the Legion seems very effective. And while I don't own any yet, more then one heavy support appeals to me.

Battle Cannons hurt.

Ave Dominus Nox

Big Game recap... first games of 30K!

Terror Squad

Well.... last weekend was D-Company's Big Game. A weekend of gaming, drinking, and general frivolity. I forgot batteries for my camera so I will just show some of my newly completed models.

I was able to play 3 games. The Big Game was a hex based, map campaign that was broken down into three factions: Imperials, Chaos, and Xenos teams. Players picked a spot on the map to fight over and the winner claimed hexes for their team if they won. The event was set up very free form, so you could play as little or as much as you liked.

My First game was my first true 30K game as I played 3000pts. against the Iron Warriors. We played a 30K mission, and because we were both Chaos forces, this game had no bearing in the map campaign. Jay and I decided our forces would have a little tussle before we left for Doric-ar1 (the planet the Big Game took place at).

This was a very close game, which ultimately went the way of the Iron Warriors. The game was based on two objectives and then kill points. It turned out a deep strike mishap from my Land Speeders was the difference as Jay won by a single kill point! Some highlights:

Perturabo and his body guard killed Curze for his first death on the table top. Jay very smartly took 3 wounds off Curze in shooting before engaging him in HtH. (consider my Primarch cherry popped)

The Terror Squads preformed very well. Apothecaries in each squad were very useful.

The Iron Warrior Destroyer Squad did very well, that is a damn fine squad.

The King of Terrors.

My next game was against the Marines Errant 3000pts. After the Night Lords little scrape with the Iron Warriors they moved on to Doric-ar1. We also played 3000pts. but the game went late (3am) so the details are a bit fuzzy. We fought over terrain pieces and the fact we both had things coming on from reserve in many ways: deep strike, drop pods, out flank, ect... it was a very dynamic game. This also marked my first 30K vs. 40K game.

This was Konrad's most deadly game. He killed a rhino, razorback, the Captain of the Marines Errant, a Librarian and several marines.

Sevatar killed Thad Allen(Marines Errant character Mark had created) in a challenge.

Again the Terror Squads performed extremely well.

I believe the game went 3 to 1 Night Lords.

The Prince of Crows

My final game took place on Saturday. 5000pts. of Night Lords joined Word Bearers and a general Chaos warband in a huge game against the Guard (with two Warhounds and a Reaver) Flesh Terrors, and Space Wolves.

This game was a blast. Highlighted by a turn were my Lightning Strike Fighter (with Kraken missiles) and two Multi-melta Land Speeders took 11 hull points off the Reaver in one turn!
Curze and Sevatar both killed Imperial assassins. (foolish loyalists, it was not Konrad's time to die)


I really enjoy the challenge of fighting against Titans, it always makes for a memorable gaming experience. I was a bit disappointed this game only went 4 turns but we had to call it so hex points could be tallied to determine the over all faction winner. Chaos took the game, and Chaos took the overall win in the Big Game. I was very happy to be a part of the victory as our win in the Saturday game gave Chaos the overall victory for the weekend.

I was voted best overall general (my first time at a Big Game). In map games I was 2-0. And had a large hand in the final victory that brought Chaos Big Game 2016 glory.

I kept track of Curze's kills for the whole weekend. They were as follows: 14 Iron Warriors, Marines Errant Rhino, Marines Errant Razorback, 5 man Marines Errant tac squad, Errant Captain, Errant Librarian, 12 Space Wolves, and a Eversor Assassian.

Not to shabby for the father of the Night Lords....

It was nice to just be a player and not in charge of the Big Game (like I was last year). We had over 20 players show up. And to get three games in was great! Look for more pictures of my finished models in future posts. I love the Night Lords Terror Assault rite of war and to be able to play with rules for my Legion is awesome. (listen up GW!)

Ave Dominus Nox.

Big Game Army List - 30K Night Lords

Hello fellow gamers. As the D-Company Big Game approaches quickly, I've been hard at work getting my army ready. It's to the point were I'm painting everyday and working on multiple projects at once. (Something I normally don't do, I usually work on one project at a time.) Work is going very well but I thought I'd break from painting (my whole army is assembled and primed) and present to my readers my army list as it stands....

We have come for you.

30K Night Lords - Using the Night Lord Rite of War: Terror Assault - Age of Darkness Force Org.

Lord of War) Konrad Curze 435pts.

HQ) Sevatar 175pts.

HQ) Master of the Signal - Nostroman Chainglaive, Refractor Field, Trophy of Judgement 125pts.

HQ) Legion Praetor - Cataphractii, Combi-Melta, Peragon Blade, Master Crafted, Digital Lasers, Trophy of Judgement 197pts.

--- Command Squad: 3 Cataphractii Terminators: 2 Claws, 2 Combi-Plasma, 1 Thunderhammer, 1 Chain Fist. Standard Bearer: Plasma Blaster, Thunderhammer, Grenade Harness. 279pts.

Land Raider Phobos: Armored Ceramite, Extra Armor 280pts.

T) 8 Terror Squad + Volkite Chargers
Headsman: Nostroman Chainglaive, Artificer Armor, Plasma pistol + Drop Pod 280pts.

T) 8 Terror Squad + Volkite Chargers
Headsman: Nostroman Chainglaive, Artificer Armor, Plasma pistol + Drop Pod 280pts.

T) 8 Terror Squad + Volkite Chargers
Headsman: Nostroman Chainglaive, Artificer Armor, Plasma pistol + Drop Pod 280pts.

EL) Apothecarion Detachment: 3 Apothecary: Artificer Armor, Combi-Melta, Nostroman Chainglaive 225 pts.

T) 19 Tactical Squad + CC weapons
Sergeant: Artificer Armor, Powerfist 313pts.

T) 8 Tactical Support Squad + 8 Meltaguns
Sergeant: Artificer Armor, Combi-Melta, Melta Bomb + Rhino: Havoc 355pts.

EL) 6 Legion Terminators: 2 Claws, 4 Combi-Melta, 2 Chainfist, 1 Powerfist, 1 Reaper Auto Cannon
Sergeant: 2 Claws, Telehomer 348pts.

EL) Contemptor: 2 Kheres Auto Cannons 205pts
Comtemptor: Multimelta + Chainfist 185pts

EL) 9 Veteran Tactical Squad + 2 Plasma Guns
Sergeant: 2 Claws, Artificer Armor, Melta Bomb + Rhino: Havoc 315pts.

FST) 9 Night Raptors + 2 Meltaguns, 7 Nostroman Chainglaives
Huntmaster: Artificer Armor, 2 Claws 380pts.

FST) 2 Land Speeders + 2 Multimelta + 2 Heavy Bolters 150pts.

FST) Lightning Strike Fighter + 2 Kraken Pen Missiles 160pts.

HV) Sicaran Venator Tank Destroyer: Armored Ceramite, 2 Lascannons 270 pts.

~ 5237 points.

Of course it is still subject to change, but that's the jist of my Big Game 2016 army. Any thoughts or comments are welcome.

Ave Dominus Nox.