Build Me a Pyramid!

AJ and Joe read the rules.

Games are hard to come by these days. I had long promised to visit AJ in rural Minnesota. I finally kept that promise and Joe joined us for their first tastes of 9th edition madness.

Nurgle's blessings still dominate the land, so it looks like no D-Company big game this year. (I miss all you guys). So this was kinda our 3 person version of a big game weekend. We played 2 games at AJ's house. A smaller affair on Friday, (it took me about 7 hours to drive from Milwaukee). If I remember correctly, the first game was 50 power for Joe and I each vs. 100 power of AJ's Necrons. I don't remember a ton of details but I know the Necrons crushed the Death Guard and Night Lords. It wasn't pretty.

Still, drinks were drunk and laughs were had, Both guys expressed how they liked the improvements that 9th edition has brought to the game. Along with a new edition, AJ was also using his Necrons for the first time since they received a codex update. I think it's safe to say, Necrons are pretty tough now. AJ has always been a very strong player and the overall buffs and changes to the Necrons only helped as he crushed us on game one. Both guys really liked the terrain rules and blast weapon rules. Plus we used secondary objectives! Which made me very happy as they add to the flavor of a game just as I had expected.

Raptors sneak in behind the Necron Lord.

Havocs cover a pox walker advance.

The two forces are about to clash!

Game 2 on Saturday was much more ambitious. 400 power level Necrons vs. 200 power level Death Guard and 200 power level Night Lords. This (sadly) was expected to be the largest game any of us would play in any time soon. We called it a mini Big Game. And a nice way to close out 2020, which for most of us was not a banner year of gaming. Chaos took the first turn and started out strong taking the fight to the Necrons.

The Necron force in game 2.

The flow of the game (and the victory points) went back and forth with each side having good early turns of shooting. I must say the Necrons are now very tough. It seemed to me, most of their weapons have some sort of -ap. Even the basic troops! The C'tan are properly buffed with a rule that they can only lose 3 wounds per phase. Making them much harder to remove from the table. And GW seems to have hit on a good system for reanimation protocols.

Well, hello there.

Barin the undying, dies to scarabs.

Excuse my lack of details in this post. This took place in early December and the fog of war, plus time passed has removed many of the details of the games from my brain. That said, we all had a blast rolling dice and talking nerd. The second game went 4 turns I believe. We had to call it at about 3:30 AM. With no clear winner.

Win or lose doesn't matter these days. It's about having fun with friends. I had a great weekend of gaming. Bonus, I mentioned I had been waiting months for a callidus assassin model for my knight. AJ had one! Score. The only bummer was getting a speeding ticket heading to Minnesota for going 11 over on the highway. Come On Man! I really hope 2021 brings more chances to game as 9th edition is shaping up to be much better then 8th IMHO. Plus, it's been too long since I played a game of Heresy.

Until next time, happy new year and Ave Dominus Nox.

First 9th game and stuff

Cobra!

 I was able to play my first game of 9th edition. Jake had me over to test out the new edition. Chaos vs Chaos is always a fun game. I must say, my initial take on 9th is that it is better then 8th.

I really like the improved rules for terrain. I simply went to a page in the rule book and each type was there with it's "keywords" below. Keywords being sub rules of each category of terrain type. So, players agree on which type each piece is before the game and the rules are set. Some rules make a unit subtract 2in of movement, others make a unit harder to hit. This really gives back some complexity to the game as what you are standing on or in, matters.

The other thing I really liked, but Jake could not find in his online version of the rules, are the secondary objective system. So we didn't use them. I really like the concept though. 3 sub objectives that you choose from based on your army, what it does well and what your opponent brings. There are several to choose from and they can add a lot of points if chosen well. Another decision from the game player that can determine the outcome of the game. I'm all in favor of player decisions impacting the end result of the game. I'm in favor of bringing some complexity back to the rule system.

On the hobby front my 20 cultists are finished. I enjoy the heads that I purchased from https://www.reptilian-overlords.com/product-category/heads/. Sadly, they don't appear on their page anymore so they may have been limited. As a child of the 80's, the Cobra heads are cool. I don't leave home without a cheap unit of cultists, you can always use a cheap troop.

Kull the conqueror

Lastly, my latest finished model. Kull Sorbo, Exalted champion of the Nightlords. Vigo is gaining more minions as he extends his power in 40K land.

On the 30K front, my quest to build an all 30K model army for a future Adepticon continues. I'm taking a break from 40K models for a while and on to 30K Nightlords in MKIV armor. I've finished a 6 man tac support squad with plasma guns and currently working on 3 sergeant models. Then on to 21 basic troops. That would allow me 3 vet. squads or a single 20 man unit to go with the 3 terror squads. Well over 4000pts. of 30K Nightlords.

I also modeled 5 more carrying missile launchers taking my total to 7. A nice heavy weapons team if needed. I'm waiting on Horus Heresy book 9. It's currently out of stock. I really like the Nightlord rules I've read about on the internets. Until next time.

Ave Dominus Nox.

I Ain't Got Time To Bleed

New firepower!

Well, well, it's been some time since I posted. It's hard to get a game with Covid so I haven't played many games this year. Let's be honest, 2020 has not been a good year for gaming.

I keep up on things by watching Tabletop Tactics but have yet to play a game of 9th edition. I did manage one game a while ago, Death Guard and Night Lords vs. Crimson Fists and Imperial Fists. News flash, we lost to the very powerful marine armies. It wasn't a wipe out but Chaos struggles against the power of primaris marines plus doctrines.

Good news is I've found the hobby juices again.

I got this havoc squad painted up. 4 chain cannons plus an aspiring champion with a flamer. I look forward to seeing them in action. As I elude to in the title, I love Predator and love the idea of marines walking around with mini-guns. On the 30K front, I've built and primed a bunch of marines including a missile launcher squad and a 6 man plasma gun team to add some more options for my legion. I also have built a chaos knight, waiting on a callidus assassin who (for fluff purposes) will be crucified on the top of the knight. Hopefully, I keep plugging along, but I find my interest in the hobby coincides with actually playing games!

I hope all my readers are doing well and staying safe and healthy.

Ave Dominus Nox.

Excuse Me, Do You Have a Moment to Talk About Konrad Curze?

Night Lords Dark Apostle

Since I have some free time all of a sudden, I've gotten some new models finished. First a Dark Apostle. He walks around spouting the verse of our father Konrad Curze. Since Night Lords don't really follow any of the gods, I imagine he reads from the book the Primarch penned during his later days.

My game plan is to have him follow a unit around giving the -1 to hit. Add that to the In Midnight Clad strat. And you suddenly have a unit who is -2 to hit. Not too shabby!

The second model I've finished lately is a new Chaos Lord with a jump pack. There are a few strats in the Psychic Awakening that are specifically for Night Lords jump units.

3D6 for a charge? Yes please.

Using the Haarken Worldclaimer model (Why wasn't he a Night Lord to begin with?) I'm thinking instead of creating a new character, Vigo the Carpathian sometimes wants to move around a bit more then his terminator armor allows. Looking forward to trying these guys out on the table!

Ave Dominus Nox.

Time of the Heresy: Into the depths

"Let them go, said Curze sadly. Now is not the time for us to kill our brothers."

"The phrasing you employed suggested to me that you have foreseen bloodshed. Is that the case?
Will there come such a time?" persisted Sevatar.

"I can tell you how you die, if you wish.' said Curze softly, a corpse-choked battlefield from whence all the glory has fled. 'Do you want to know? It is far, far from here, in the endless dark."

"No said Sevatar firmly. 'I do not want to know'

"Then never ask me questions like that again. said Curze 'Your question and mine are different , but you will like the answer to neither much."

Curze to Sevatar after an altercation with the Raven Guard, pre heresy.

Night Lords enter the lower levels.

Lord Baltar resumed command of the 8th's forces that would venture into the depths of Base 716. He split his forces into two groups. One would enter on the south, the other from the west. A foolish legion, like the 4th, would press a direct attack, not caring how any warriors they lost to accomplish the goal.

The 8th did not create fools, the Night Lords would quickly learn of the enemy units and their positions. Single out the strays and weak points in the enemy formation and hit them in force! That was the way of the 8th legion.

Iron Warrior army, southern view

The terror squad meets a second Iron Warrior squad.

The plan was set, a terror squad and veteran squad would hit the isolated Iron Warrior unit closest them. The contemptor was instructed to take the main hallway in the middle of the base.

While, Lord Baltar, a second veteran squad, and the Atramentar terminators went straight for Iron Warrior command.

The terror squad cut down their enemy target quickly and efficiently. It was in the Iron Warrior counter attack that even their apothecary couldn't save them. In the center hall the Night Lords twin kheres destroyed the Iron Warrior contemptor and secured the middle hallway. The only battle remaining was the Iron Warriors command and elite terminators...

Iron within, Iron without!

The two go at it for multiple turns.

The Iron Warrior leader was accompanied by several terminators and one of Perturabo's Iron Circle. A daunting task.

A fierce battle erupted as Night Lords veterans were joined by teleporting Atramentar and their lord, Praetor Baltar Garess. Plasma shots quickly struck down Iron Warrior terminators upon their arrival.

Both sides took losses as the two sides exchanged kills. The contemptor fired on the Iron Circle, while the veterans and the Atramentar destroyed the block of terminators. Then a decisive blow was struck as Baltar ultimately bested the Iron Warrior Warsmith in close combat. Victory! This floor of the complex belonged to the Night Lords.

Baltar mused as his men went about their business, looting the dead or the almost dead. He didn't like this, it was too easy. He had always respected the 4th legion, they were very cunning. Most of the legions underestimated them, called the Iron Warriors "ditch diggers". But Baltar underestimated no one. "I wonder if this whole thing was a trap."

Ave Dominus Nox.

Time of the Heresy: Attack on Base 716

"Do you hear their cries? Can you taste their fear, their agony? Know this mortal: we are coming for you!"

— Salvaged Vox transmission from the dead colony of Nux Haven, Travonth VI

Iron Warrior supply base 716

Baltar did not get to his level within the legion by being stupid. The meeting was worth his time, he thought. But it would not be him who would be checking the information. Those duties would fall to his lesser captains. Night Lords were never ones who felt they had to lead from the front. That type of behavior was better left to those fools in the Blood Angels or Space Wolves.

Captain Sark would do nicely, Baltar didn't particularly like him. So if this was some kind of trap or game by the Iron Warriors, no loss. But if the information from the turncoat was good? Sark was competent, he would see the situation to a positive conclusion for the 8th legion.

Captain Sark assembled his force. Iron Warriors were not the easiest of legions to catch unaware. Assaulting one of their bases would require some skill. Sark rolled over the possibilities in his head. Iron Warriors, much like the Alpha legion, relied too much on human infantry. Sark was sure there would be mortal soldiers and tanks. Two rapier teams should do the trick. And a sicaran venator for the tanks. Captain Sark never went anywhere without his consul, the master of signal, and a full squad of twenty marines, plus a terror squad, a vet. squad, and a tac. support would form his base. Last he needed a hammer, what better to smash enemy defenses then a couple contemptors and a leviathan?

Sark, his terror squad, and the leviathan.

Iron Warrior leadership.

The attack would come at night, of course. Night Lords silently moved into position, even the dreadnaughts moved with little sound.

Supply base 716 was lightly defended by Iron Warrior standards. It was garrisoned by a few blocks of Imperial troops with a few tanks. What worried Sark was that also in attendance was a full squad of marines and two contemptors, a tech priest, and praetor. The commander suspected that before his eyes, the base was being alerted to the turncoat and information leaked. It was time. All Iron Warrior communication was blocked as the Night Lords attacked from two different sides.

On the west side Night Lords break in the base.

Two contemptors clash on the east side.

The battle erupted on two flanks. On the west end of the base Iron Warrior guardsmen fell quickly to the master of signal and his 20 marine troop squad.

In the east, the venator quickly eliminated one tank threat. But the advance across open ground proved difficult for the Night Lords. The rapier batteries proved their worth as did the leviathan, resistance in the east from the Iron Warriors dwindled.

Sark believed that the tech priest had some sort of night vision he passed along to the squad in the base as they proved difficult to kill. Losses on both sides were high, but in the end, the Night lord would not be denied his victory.

The last of the Iron Warriors fight valiantly.

Delegatus Sark Dillinger mused at the scene before him. The base was theirs, at least the surface of it anyway. A door that lead below ground had been discovered by the terror squad on the east side. Sark had ordered the remains of the squad to investigate. That was over an hour ago. It didn't matter, he didn't like that squad anyway. "Lord Baltar, the surface of the base is secured but it has a lower level. I'm afraid I don't have the forces left to properly face unknown enemies." said Sark over the vox.

Ave Dominus Nox

Time of the Heresy: The Meeting

"Because the Wolves kill cleanly, and we do not. They also kill quickly, and we have never done that, either. They fight, they win, and they stalk back to their ships with their tails held high. If they were ever ordered to destroy another Legion, they would do it by hurling warrior against warrior, seeking to grind their enemies down with the admirable delusions of the 'noble savage'.

If we were ever ordered to assault another Legion, we would virus bomb their recruitment worlds; slaughter their serfs and slaves; poison their gene-seed repositories and spend the next dozen decades watching them die slow, humiliating deaths. Night after night, raid after raid, we'd overwhelm stragglers from their fleets and bleach their skulls to hang from our armor, until none remained. But that isn't the quick execution the Emperor needs, is it? The Wolves go for the throat. We go for the eyes. Then the tongue. Then the hands. Then the feet. Then we skin the crippled remains, and offer it up as an example to any still bearing witness. The Wolves were warriors before they became soldiers. We were murderers first, last, and always!" - Sevatar

Baltar decides this meeting is worth his time.

After suffering a defeat at the hands of the Iron Warriors the Night Lords Praetor Baltar needed an edge. He found it in a turn coat Iron Warrior guardsman of some ranking. The human offered information on Iron Warrior troop deployments, medical facilities and armories. It was worth the risk to at least to see where this could go.

Baltar decided to bring the Flaymaster along, his reputation among the legions would make for a good reminder to this Iron Warrior traitor that the 8th legion's time was not to be wasted.

It turns out the Praetor's time was not wasted.

The information was solid, but the meeting would be cut short. The wailing sound of jump packs accompanied the deep vibration of treads. Quickly the three units deployed to keep sentry all reported in on vox, "the 4th legion is here".

Iron Warrior Destroyers enter the fray.

The Iron Warrior attempt to plug this leak was lead by Erasmus Golg, Captain of the 11th Grand Company. A Medusa and Vindicator rained shells down on the Night Lords while Destroyers and Rhinos advanced on the ill fated meeting. Several Night Lords squads reported losses. Never ones who would allow their honor to get in the way of self preservation, Baltar called for his personal Land Raider to pick him up and some air cover to ensure his escape.

Fighting raged all around the area now. Terror Squads met Iron Warrior Terminators while Veteran Tactical squads on both sides opened fire and exchanged chainswords.

A Night Lord Xiphon swooped in and took out the Medusa. It then set it's sights on the Vindicator. While some damage was sustained, the veteran siege crew mustered on.

Hand to hand is the preferred type of killing among the majority of the 8th. Especially when you outnumber your enemy. 

Many of the attacking force fell to the blade or the chainsword. This little intrusion by the 4th was not going to work. Though Baltar will need a new command squad, he, the Flaymaster, and the Iron Warrior traitor escaped into their Land Raider while Erasmus Golg and his own squad of Terminators were hit by a phosphex bomb cluster.

Target spotted.

Golg lives with one wound.

Right now we are playing game to game. Boroth and I will keep this little campaign going. It's just some small scrapes between two Traitor Legions. Boroth reported on game one here http://apostlesofcontagion.blogspot.com The Night Lords tied the score at 1 game each.  And to what effect the Iron Warrior traitor being in lord Baltar's hands remains to be seen....

Ave Dominus Nox.

Night Lords vs World Eaters with Beta Deepstrike

Berzerkers vs. Atramentar

Things get dull in the Eye of Terror and when there are no Imperial heads to bash in, the traitors must make war against each other. A few Saturdays ago I took the trip to Mike's place to tussle with his World Eaters lead by Kharn himself.

Never to shy away from new rules we agreed to try out the beta rules on Deep strike. These rules can be found in GW's latest FAQ. Basically, any unit wishing to enter the game via reserves (deep strike, teleportarium ect) on turn 1, may only do so in their own deployment zone. Or wait till turn 2 to arrive in their opponent's zone.

Of course this was only one game. I used the same Night Lords type list I usually play. This included 2 Raptor squads, Terminators, and Obliterators all entering the game via (Deep strike). Mike had some units enter the game in this fashion as well, including a large amount of Bloodletters. Spoiler: neither of us found the rule to be that big of a deal. Now, did it alter the trend I have seen in 8th edition that most of the game happens in the first few turns? Not so much but maybe it helped a bit.

The World Eater deployment.

The Decimator and Maulerfiend face a Leviathan.

The match itself was pretty much a solid victory for the Night Lords. We ended the game after 5 turns as there were only a few of Kharn's followers remaining. I held off my Raptors, Terminators and Oblits till turn 2. Mike did the same with his units.

Ultimately the combined firepower in my list, which included a 10 man unit of Noise Marines, proved deadly. Endless Cacophony!! A 30 Deamon unit of Bloodletters showed up in the Night Lords backfield, but they were soundly hit by Sonic weapons before Vigo the Carpathian himself finished the Daemons.

Well, hello there!

While it was an enjoyable game, I'm not sure how much the beta rule changed things. I suppose to some degree it did help make the 1st turn at least, less deadly. I'm happy to say it didn't hinder anything I was trying to do with my tactics as a Night Lord player. Just one game, but I figure, why not share my early findings?

Ave Dominus Nox.

Heresy!

I had the pleasure of joining Lord Boroth http://apostlesofcontagion.blogspot.com
in a game of Horus Heresy last Saturday. 3000 pts. per side, Night Lords vs. Iron Warriors.

Horus Heresy is an elegant game to me. Space Marines vs. Space Marines. The rites of war are interesting but still restrictive enough that they don't resemble the formations that ultimately broke 7th edition. With some minor tweaks added in like multiple grenades are allowed and
Invisibility is removed, the revised rule set for 7th is balanced and fun. We played the mission that involved kill points and choosing an enemy unit to acquire additional victory points if those were destroyed by the end of the game. The game was 6 turns. Break out the Scatter dice and Templates!

The Xiphon scouts the enemy position.

Night Lords rolled to secure first turn. Using the Terror Assault rite of war they deep struck 2 Drop pods of 10 man Terror Squads with an Apothecary included. One of my placements seemed a mistake as I dropped them near a couple Iron Warrior Medusa, intending on destroying one and completely forgetting that st. 5 Volkite Chargers would have no effect on front armor 12. This somehow worked out for me though as the unit did distract several of the Iron Warrior units who had to deal with an enemy in their back field.

10 Terror Squad fought 20 Iron Warriors for 4 turns.

The game seemed to be going the way of the Iron Warriors until the Night Lords Leviathan broke the large squad of Iron Warrior Terminators and ran them down. Then the game seemed to shift into the favor of the 8th legion.

One of the highlights included an endless combat between a Terror Squad and Iron Warrior tacticals that went on for about 4 turns. I had forgotten how effective Artificer armor could be with the help of an Apothecary. Ultimately, the Night Lords lost that fight but won the battle. I chose units with the "tank" keyword as my target unit.
Boroth chose infantry. Both choices seemed wise with the army makeups. I screwed up my counting of kill points which made the final score much closer then we had originally thought. I believe the final score was Night Lords 22 pts. Iron Warriors 16.

The game was really a lot of fun to play. As I said earlier, Horus Heresy is a beautiful system. Lots of troops (which I love) and a nice balance as both players have access to largely the same unit types. I did have to brush up on my 7th edition keywords the night before as well as some of the rules that are now different in 8th edition. But it was worth it because it was a very fun game. I hope I can continue to sprinkle in some Heresy in the near future as I love it.

Ave Dominus Nox

New Recruits

I promised some of the new stuff I painted up for this years Big Game. Plus a piece of terrain I picked up from my team mate in the Urban Sprawl game. Events like the Big Game always motivate me to paint up some new units. This year was no exception.

Always useful, but pricey.

I've had this model since I first received the starter box for Chaos several years ago. I had build it with a basic paint job for a Big Game past. This year I finally got off my lazy butt and finished it.

I'm happy with how it turned out. I discovered that the best way to paint lightning on a vehicle is to pick points of origin on the model. This makes the effect less chaotic.

Points of origin really improve the lightning effect.

My second addition is Be'lakor. Said to be the first Daemon Prince. I have generally avoided any Daemon influence in my Night Lords army but Chaos is insidious... Be'lakor is nasty on the battle field. The Fly keyword allows him to attack flyers which I think is pretty cinematic. He also fits the Night Lords due to their Terror Tactics and Be'lakor's own -1 to Leadership within 12 inches of him. Finally I just like the model. I plan to write a little fluff piece to introduce my warband's new ally.

Daemons are fun to paint, I enjoyed it.

Also added to the warband are Obliterators. These guys got a nice buff when the Chaos codex came out, going from 2 shots to 4. Now they are a no-brainer take for any Chaos army. Mine preformed very well in their first game.

Of course I had to "Night Lord" them up a bit.

He adds little bits of poster and what not for great detail.

Finally my purchase from slovak.
http://guardsman-a-day.blogspot.com
A lovely new centerpiece for my home table. The only problem is now I need more! He does beautiful terrain, much better then I could do.

So I had to acquire this, plus a little cash for slovak, who makes a long trek to get to the Big Game, means a win-win. I really like it, it's very model friendly and looks awesome.

Very functional for models.

Right now, I'm working on some Cultists. I'll post pictures when I'm done. Long term, I had a funny thought that doesn't come up often in a 40K player's life, I think I'm about done with purchases for my 40K Night Lords. I'd like a Knight. A Night Lord knight needs to be.. but I don't see myself buying anything else. I've still got plenty to work on. I have primed and assembled; 20 Bezerkers, a Vindicator, and a unprimed Defiler. Plus the 30K Kharn, I always planned to do something with that..

Does that mean GW won't get anymore of my money? Ha... no, I'd like to fill out my 30K Night Lords with troops in MK4 armor. but that's a longer term goal.

Ave Dominus Nox.

Big Game 2018

D-Company's 2018 Big Game has come and gone. As usual, I had a blast! My first game was a 225 power level per player, 2 v 2 between the Marines Errant and the Imperial Guard vs. Night Lords and the Emperor's Children. This was the Vraburgh Urban Sprawl game.  Placed on the board were 50+ civilians worth 1vp each. In addition, 2 of the civilians were hidden 10vp relics. When a civilian was captured, the model was turned over and if the bottom of the base was marked it was revealed to be the relic. Unlike other civilians these stayed on the board and had to be controlled all game. Finally we added 3vp for killing an enemy warlord.

The opening deployment.

The hope was that these 10vp relics and 3vp per warlord would balance out one side getting first turn and claiming a large lead in civilians captured.

It turned out both relics ended up being deployed very close to each other and Chaos grabbed them both early in the game. We also were much more aggressive then the Imperials in our tactics. The 10vp relics did not balance out the early lead that Chaos acquired from going first and deep striking several units on to civilians. I believe the civilian count was 28 poor souls captured by the Night Lords and Emperor's children.

18 saved by the Imperial forces by the time the game ended. It was a rather one sided victory as Chaos held control over 3/4 of the game board and held 1 relic and several units close to the second. Chaos also scored 1 warlord kill when Be'lakor removed Marneus Calgar's head.

The guard face pressure from a squad of Raptors.

In retrospect, after talking with Mark (the Marines Errant player) to counter the advantage of first turn, the civilians should have been counted at the end of each turn instead of each player turn. I think that little tweak would have allowed the players who went second a chance to remove the first turn player units before they captured civilians. Still though, I felt the game was pretty balanced, it just ended up from secret deployment that the two 10 point relics were deployed near each other and Chaos happened to secure both.

The guard roll down a street as an enemy Xiphon flies overhead.

This was a beautiful game, 4 well painted armies and a board filled with Peter's wonderful terrain. http://guardsman-a-day.blogspot.com

I can ask for nothing more then well painted armies on a beautiful board, with good people to enjoy the game. A wonderful start to my 2018 Big Game experience. I have found that after my many years playing 40K that I really enjoy custom games with more real world scenarios. Capture civilians, fight over a bridge....

The kind of things you would see in a movie. I don't mind a book based game, but custom is much more fun to me at this stage of my gaming life.

Night Lords press the attack.

My first game on Saturday and second of the event was 100pl of Night Lords combined with 100pl of Chaos played by Jake against AJ and his 200pl of Marines. In a game on the "Coconut" board. The terrain was made of huts that looked like coconuts. And once Jake began praying to the Coconut gods for dice success it cemented the name.

Vigo the Carpathian meets some Terminators.

AJ is a very strong player who I don't think I have beaten is several attempts. It was a very close game that Jake and I managed to pull out.

This was one of those games that had a huge death count on both sides. A highlight for me was my Xiphon killing AJ's warlord. Again great game with great players.

All praise to the Coconut gods!!



The final of the event was Ethmongul's return. Each army who played in a game this weekend deployed a force. The Imperial goal was to kill the Khorne lord while the Chaos forces protected him. This was an excellent new addition to our Big Game, it brought all the players together for a fun end of the event scenario. Each player brought a 35pl force. Imperials deployed several assassins who shot Ethmongul fairly quickly. But everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Be'lakor lead 3 Raptor  squads in the final game.

D-Company's Big Game is always the highlight of my gaming year and 2018 was no exception. I had a blast and hope my team mates and opponents did as well. Next post I'll show some of the units I painted up for the event as well as a wonderful piece of terrain I bought from Peter.

Ave Dominus Nox.

Twas the night before the Big Game...

225 Power Level of Night Lords.. and friends.

The Final Battle at the Vraburgh Urban Sprawl a Big Game event.

Greetings readers.

I have been working on a custom scenario for this years Big Game. It a culmination of the map campaign zone battle between the forces of Slaanesh and the Night Lords vs. the Marines Errant and the Flesh Tearers. This final battle will take place at the Vraburgh Urban Sprawl Hive.

The Set Up

The Citizens of the Vraburgh Urban Sprawl have been without power for months now, rations are slim, and a call for aid has been largely unheard. The Hive's sound system has been blasting terrible screams and strange heavy metal music for some time now. Shadows move in the darkness and strange multi-colored flashes of light are a common occurrence driving the populace into hiding and bringing many of the people to the brink of insanity.

What the populace doesn't know is their call for aid has been answered by the some of the Emperor's finest. The Marines Errant and Flesh Tearers. Will their incursion be enough to save the Hive's populace from the terrors sure to be bestowed upon them by the forces of Chaos?

The Mission

The objective of the game will be to capture/secure civilian models. Each civilian model is worth 1 victory point. The side who acquires the most VP's will be considered the victor. 

Civilian Model Rules

Civilian models will be placed inside the city terrain portion of the board. They will be spread around fairly so neither side has an advantage. (Civ's) cannot be shot at in the shooting phase and can only be acquired in the assault phase by moving within 1 inch of a Civ model. A player may collect as many Civ models as they like but most maintain unit coherency at all times. A player may assault both an enemy unit and Civ models in the same charge, but one model may only collect one Civ per charge phase. 

For example: A unit of 7 Noise Marines charges  5 Flesh Tearers and 2 Civ models, 5 Noise Marines use attacks against Flesh Tearers while 2 collect Civ's. 

Civilian models will only move in the movement phase if a model with the key word (Chaos) comes within 6 inches of them. In which case they will move directly away from the model with the keyword (Chaos) 6 inches. Civ's who reach a board edge will be considered "huddled masses" and stop their movement. The are considered too terrified to move and are cowering in the fetal position!

The 6 inch Civ move can be stopped by a model with the (Imperial) keyword. If a fleeing Civ movement takes them within 6 inches of a model (Imperial) it will immediately stop as it is receiving instructions from the relief force.

Civ models will be removed from the table and counted as a VP only in the player's morale phase after any morale tests have been taken. And by models that moved within 1 inch in the assault phase. Any Civ's contacted by a model via a consolidation move after a victory in assault must wait until their next player turn to collect the VP. Being within 1 inch of a Civ model does not protect the (Chaos/Imperial) model from being shot at in the shooting phase.

Example: The Marines Errant unit wipes out a unit of Night Lords in the assault phase, they then consolidate into 3 Civ's. These Civ's cannot be collected until the end Errant next morale phase. ie. the Errant models within 1 inch must now wait a full turn before collecting these VPs.

One (Chaos/Imperial) model may only collect one Civ model per turn.

Game Turns

The winner of the map zone results (currently 21 Chaos 3 Imperial) will go first. So a game turn consists of Chaos/Civilian movement /Imperial/Civilian movement.

More to come as we test this out a bit and discuss point size and deployment zones ect...

Comments, Questions, Nasty Statements??

Ming the Merciless

Ming the Merciless kept hidden his psychic abilities for many years. It was only after the Night Haunter's death that the lords, who now ruled the warbands of the Night Lords, embraced the Sorcerer as a key member of each warband. Everyone searching for those among the legion who are gifted with their father's "sight".

Librarians, of course, existed in the legion but they were never well respected until many years after the Heresy. Upon the Primarch's death, the Night Lords were finally forced into the Eye of Terror to join their fellow Traitor legions. There they saw the truth of the galaxy.

If you were going to battle against the powers of the warp, you had to have solders who knew about the Ruinous Powers and could wield their own. To hold his own against the others within the Eye of Terror, Vigo quickly promoted Ming to second in command. They had fought together for along time, and Vigo knew of Ming's special talents. With the shackles of disapproval cast from his neck, Ming delved into the mysteries of the warp. And now thousands of years later, he is the Master Sorcerer of the Sons of Night.

Corruption 

Ming never had formal Librarian training, so he had to learn as quickly as he could in desperate, early days within the Eye of Terror. Deep in his meditations, Ming found a voice willing to help him. What he did not know at the time was that the voice belonged to an agent of Tzeentch. Thus began Ming's slow corruption by the whispers of the Lord of Change. At present, Ming believes no one knows of his support for Tzeentch. And he hopes that Vigo remains unaware.

Appearance 

Ming wears standard power armor wielding a Force Sword with a Plasma Pistol at his hip. Like several of his brothers in the Sons of Night, Ming wears a robe over his power armor. This harkens back to the Night Lords hatred for the Dark Angels based around the Thramas Crusade. In a further mocking of the Loyalists, Ming wears Purity seals made of skin taken from his victims claimed on the battle field.

Secret motivations

It is Ming who persuaded Vigo to allow Obliterators, Forgefiends, and Defilers into the army. He hopes to slowly change the beliefs of the Night Lords as they concern to the gifts of the Chaos gods. He also wants to expand the number of Sorcerers in the warband.

Ave Dominus Nox