Wednesday, 13 August 2008

Splendum V Teaser

Work is under way on the Splendum V Campaign. The booklet is slowly coming together, or more to the point, it's coming together and growing at the same time. Apparently these kinds of projects have a tendency to do that. Regardless, here's a quick teaser from what has been written so far:

Whispers on the Wind

Gunther braced himself against the bulkhead as the craft visibly shook. “What the hell was that?” he shouted, as he unsteadily made his way the last few metres to the command deck. The shock waves from whatever had just passed them had meant that it was close, very close. “Sir, unidentified energy source, just flew across our bow Sir” replied the officer on watch. “Can you bring it up on the holoscreen Lieutenant?” “Bringing up visuals now Sir.” An image slowly formed on the holoscreen in front of Captain Gunther, and took his breath away. The outline of a Chaos Infidel Class Raider swept slowly across the holoscreen. “Get the Astropath, we must warn command.” Where there was one of those ships, there would be more, and the Splendum system could ill afford an invasion right now. A scrambling sound caught Gunther’s ear, turning to face the source of the noise, Captain Gunther received his second surprise of the day. The beast looming over him was a creature taken straight out of nightmares. Bright red skin, the colour of blood covered a lithe yet muscular body, an elongated head with two curved horns rising from it topped the beast, its mouth open in a snarl, with sharp fangs and a slithering wet tongue. In one hand it held a wicked sword upraised ready to strike. Gunther only had moments to take all of this in before his head toppled to the floor, his neck oozing blood as his body joined his head in a bloody heap.

***

A naval combat team stood ready at the airlock waiting to enter, as the Swiftsure docked on automatic pilot. All attempts to raise the ship had so far been unsuccessful, and manual communication with the crew on board had had no success either. The combat team took their positions preparing for the worst. The scene that greeted them when the airlocks finally opened was nothing like what they expected; blood and gore covered every part of the corridor from floors to ceiling. There were no signs of distinguishable bodies of any of the 200 crew that had been onboard when the ship first departed from the space docks on its long range patrol.

I haven't got an exact date yet for when the book will be finished, but I can guarantee that it will be before the end of August.

~ Eltnot.

Saturday, 9 August 2008

Been kinda busy...

It's been a while since I last updated this, so I'll quickly run through what I've been up to, and what I'm working on.

Firstly, Cowcon 2008 was a blast. I placed 10th out of 23 players with my Witch Hunters overall.

Game 1: Massacre Loss vs fester's Pirate Orks.
Had a great game, but luck wasn't with me, nor was the rather full table of terrain. At the end of the game, I had no models left, for just under 1000pts worth of dead orks. This game was the second largest points difference of the tournament (and won me the "Try harder son" award).

Game 2: Major Victory (or Victorious Slaughter, I can't remember) vs Doug William's Dark Eldar.
Had a great opponent that whilst they were shaky on their rules, was still a lot of fun. Had a wonderfully painted army.

Game 3: Major Victory (or Victorious Slaughter, I can't remember) vs Rebecca Stear's Marines/Sisters
We got to see a sisters vs sisters rumble, as well as a Space Marine Sergeant with a power fist, chase an Immolator for four turns without ever doing anything to it. Once again a lot of fun and another well painted army.

Game 4: Draw vs Martin Frost's Eldar
The table we played on made it impossible for me to move a vehicle without taking dangerous terrain rolls. Needless to say, my sisters had to footslog it across the board. Eeked out a draw against a great opponent.

Game 5: Minor Loss vs Alex Rick's Dark Eldar
Got too overconfident and got jumped by unit after unit as they came out of the webportals. Still had fun tank shocking anything I could with Rhinos.

Photos from the event can be found HERE.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at Cowcon 2009.

Secondly, I've been absent due to my brother getting married up in Carins, so I headed up there for a week and a half. Had a nice relaxing break and a great wedding.

So now I'm back in Rocky with a couple of projects ahead of me. The main one of these being to get my sister's finished off, hopefully for a 2000 point tournament in Mackay in early November. The other project, and the one that is currently taking up all of my time is writing a small campaign, ending in a pair of Apocalypse battles for Rockhampton Wargamers Guild. Expect to see some teasers for that shortly.

~ Eltnot.

Thursday, 29 May 2008

I'm pulling my finger out, and getting all the stuff ready for COWCON 2008. I've already accepted that I won't get my Witch Hunters to a finished standard, but I still have some goals. I'm aiming to have my three basic colours on each model, including some highlighting on the blue to actually make it visible on the models. I also would like to get all of the models based (to my finished basing standard) if I can. Below is a list of where I'm at, and what I have still to do.


Canoness
- Undercoated and needing Jump Pack

Palantine
- Undercoated
Celestians
- First coat of Grey
Immolator
- Undercoated (except for Turret)

Death Cult Assassins
- Undercoated

Inquisitor and Retinue
- Undercoated

Battle Sister Squad 1
- Meeting three colours except for blue highlights and backpacks
Rhino
- Undercoated and almost finished with three colours (needing tracks)

Battle Sister Squad 2
- First coat of Grey
Rhino
- Undercoated

Infantry Platoon
- Being assembled

Seraphim
- First coat of Grey

Immolator
- Undercoated (except for Turret)

Exorcist
- Mostly assembled

Exorcist
- Partially assembled

Jungle Terrain
- Finish painting trees (1/3 done)
- Finish bases (mostly final drybrushing and paint pollups)

Desert Terrain
- Put together two buildings and glue the rest together, paint and add detail
- Paint and Sand Rock Spires
- Paint and base Pig Pen

-Eltnot

Monday, 19 May 2008

Cowcon 2008

Changes have been made to the mathematical system recently, after some player feedback, so be sure to check out the changes.

The Cowcon 2008 Player Pack is now available for download.

Player Pack

The missions are almost identical to the ones from the CP tournament but modified for larger games.

Feedback welcome.
Eltnot.

Monday, 28 April 2008

2008 Combat Patrol Tournament Roundup

Well the dust has settled and all of the gamers have gone home. Everyone seemed to have a pretty good time for the day, with plenty of tight battles along the way (except for the crazy first round with 4 massacres!). We got off to a bit of a late start (due to a missing player and timely printer problems), but the day ended pretty much bang on time. At least this time I was awake when people started to arrive :-D

The placing were as follows:
1st - fester - Orks
2nd - Rob - Space Wolves
3rd - Justin - Witch Hunters
4th - Craig - Imperial Guard
5th - James - Necrons
6th - Wonna - Imperial Guard
7th - Damo - Ravenwing
8th - Brad - Space Marines

Before I finally finish rambling, and get onto showing you all the pics, I want to hear people's feedback. What did you like, what didn't you like, and what can be done better? The feedback that I receive for this tournament will help make later ones better for all involved.

-Eltnot

Justin's Eversor gets in amongst the Necrons

Damo's Ravenwing Sgt. Vs Rob's Wolf Guard

One of the tables before too much carnage got underway

Games in full swing

The Eversor doesn't fair so well against the orks.

Wonna's Guard deploy into the ruins...

...but fester's Orks lay down a hail of fire...

...before swarming over the guardsmen.

fester's take and hold objective (Russbot)

Thursday, 17 April 2008

2008 Combat Patrol Tournament Update

I'm extending the deadline for payment and army lists. However, if you don't get the army list to me in time, you will score zero for Army Composition (as I need time to go over them and mark them).

Edit - Places are starting to fill up, so get your submissions in soon.

Eltnot

Wednesday, 9 April 2008

Deathwing Vs. Witch Hunters, 1500 Points

Belial studied the notes on the holo projector again. The priest Antonio had definitely come into contact with some space marines on this planet. All the signs pointed to the fallen marine supposedly in the area. Unfortunately the damned priest had been martyred when the chaos invasion had started on this planet. Belial scratched his chin again. The fact that he had become a martyr meant that getting a hold of the old priest’s notes would be difficult. The Ecclesiarchy didn’t let the possessions of a martyr out of their sight easily. Belial thought hard for a few seconds more before leaving the room. “Ready the men, we’ve got a smash and grab to do.”

******

Belial could see the ruins of part of the village in which Antonio had lived, his men advanced up behind some hedge rows, keeping an eye out for patrols. The Dark Angels hadn’t been cleared to operate in this area, and their presence so close to the village would not go down well at all. Squad Two pushed through the hedgerow, their Terminator armour easily breaking through the tangle of branches. An indicator in Belial’s helm winked to life, enemy forces detected. “All squads move out!”

******


The terrain setup

Cleanse – Omega level

Deployed:

Damo:

Terminator Squad One, Terminator Squad Two, Belial.

Eltnot:

Bishop(Inquisitor) and Retinue, Three Death Cult Assassins.


Deployment

Eltnot Turn 1

The Death Cult Assassins stayed put behind the woods, waiting for the right time to spring out. The Bishop and his retinue opened up on Terminator Squad One, felling two of them behind the hedges with plasma bolts.

Damo Turn 1

Terminator Squads One and Two along with Belial advanced through the hedges. Meanwhile Terminator Squad Three deep struck down, scattering close to the Bishop and his followers.

All three squads and Belial opened up and killed the Bishop and his followers that were hiding in the trees.

Damo's Terminators behined the hedges

Eltnot Turn 2

In response to the firefight, all of my units except for one Battle Sister Squad and the Celestian Squad arrived. One exorcist deployed far right, whilst the other came on from the corner. Battle Sister Squad One’s Rhino rolled up and disembarked the Sisters in front of Terminator Squad Three that had deep struck last turn. The Seraphim jumped up alongside Battle Sister Squad One to lend some firepower. The Bishop’s empty Immolator rolled on from the right flank behind craters with Canoness hiding in its shadow. The shooting phase saw only the assault cannon wielding terminator survive from Terminator Squad Three. One of the Exorcists hoped for a lucky roll but only killed one Terminator from Squad One reducing them to two.

Damo steals the trees from a nearby wood to hide his squad, trying to convince me not to shoot at them...

Damo Turn 2

Only a single dreadnought arrives. It waddles on from his left flank and proceeds to destroy Battle Sister Squad One’s Rhino at long range. All of the Terminators open up on the Battle Sisters. Between squads One, Two and Belial, they only manage to kill two sisters due to bad rolls. The lone Terminator from Squad Three however kills two with his assault cannon before killing another three in hand to hand combat. The Battle Sisters of Squad One hold their ground.

Damo's Dreadnought takes out the Rhino at extreme range

The lone Terminator from Squad Three avenges his brothers

Eltnot Turn 3

The Celestians in their Immolator roll on from the far left flank, and move up popping smoke. The Canoness leaps across the crater near the Battle Sisters and the lone Terminator from Squad Three. Exorcist Two moves into the woods beside it for cover whilst Exorcist One moves for a better shot. The Seraphim squad jumps over the Battle Sisters in front of the Remnants of Terminator Squad One, opening up but failing to get through the armour. The Exorcists open up on Terminator Squad Two, but fail to kill any rolling poorly for shots, and Damo passing two invulnerable saves. The Canoness charges the lone terminator and fells him with her Blessed Weapon. The Seraphim fail to damage the two Terminators but pass their invulnerable saves.

Damo Turn 3

The Predator Annihilator and Vindicator roll on, from the middle of the left and right flanks respectively. Terminator Squad Two moves into the rocks ready to charge the Seraphim along with Belial. The Dreadnought moves for a shot and lines up Exorcist One taking its second kill for the game. The Predator takes a shot at the Celestian’s Immolator but only prevents it from shooting next turn. The Vindicator attempts to kill some of the Death Cults, but the shot scatters wildly into the trees. Belial and the Second Terminator Squad charge the Seraphim. In a flurry of blows, the Seraphim manage to fall a single Terminator from Squad One. In return, they fail to lose any to the massed powerfists (I passed somewhere in the region of about a dozen 3+ saves. Damo began cursing my fortune.). The Seraphim hit and run towards the Dreadnought intent on bring it down.

The Dreadnought takes it's second victim for the evening

The Seraphim make a move for the Dreadnought, as the Vindicator lines up the Death Cult Assassins

Eltnot Turn 4

The last Battle Sister squad arrives on the far left flank, and heads off towards the Vindicator, hiding from it behind a wood. The Celestian’s Immolator rolls up, and they get out in front of Terminator Squad Two, ready to fire. The Bishop’s Immolator and the Canoness also move up, along with the three survivors of Battle Sister Squad One. The Seraphim jump behind the Dreadnought and destroy it with their Inferno Pistols. Meanwhile the Death Cult Assassins head off towards the Vindicator to cause some trouble. The Canoness, Immolator, Celestians and Battle Sister Squad One open up on Terminator Squad Two, but only manage to kill two of them thanks to Damo’s saves. The Canoness charges into the Terminators, but Battle Sister Squad One fails to make it through the rocks to assist. In hand to hand, the Canoness manages to drop another Terminator, whilst her 2+ invulnerable save keeps her alive.

The Seraphim exact their revenge on the ancient walker

Damo Turn 4

Damo’s second Dreadnought arrives behind the Seraphim. The Predator pivots to bring its guns to bear on the Seraphim, but fails to hit or wound with everything. The lone Terminator from Squad One and the Dreadnought also fire on the Seraphim, killing two. The Vindicator again targets the Death Cult Assassins but the shot scatters. Belial shoots and then charges the Celestians, killing five of them. The last fails to hurt him, and is cut down as the attempts to flee. He consolidates into the Canoness after she deals with the last two Terminators of Squad Two. The Dreadnought charges the Seraphim, but fails to kill any, and they hit and run towards the Predator.

Eltnot Turn 5

The Death cults once again head towards the Vindicator, aiming for its rear armour. The Seraphim move alongside the Predator, destroying it with Krak grenades after the Inferno Pistols fail to stop it entirely. The resulting explosion kills one of the girls leaving a smoking crater in front of them. The two Immolators move up to the lone Terminator from Squad One, and douse him in flames, burning him up. The Exorcist moves behind the woods that it was in to safely secure my deployment zone as it had no targets. The remnants of Battle Sister Squad One charge into the fray alongside the Canoness. I hand to hand, the Veteran Sister Superior manages to fell Belial after losing one of the own to his attacks. The Canoness consolidates towards the Dreadnought, whilst the Battle Sister Squad heads towards the Vindicator.

Damo Turn 5

The Dreadnought turns to face the Seraphim, killing two of them. Meanwhile the Vindicator trundles forward and fires at the two remaining sisters of Squad one, killing them both.

The Vindicator finally manages to kill something

Eltnot Turn 6

The remaining Seraphim jump over the Dreadnought, along with the Canoness. The Bishop’s Immolator makes a dash for Damo’s Deployment Zone. The Death Cults try to get to the Vindicator, but only two manage to assault it, one failing to get over the hedges quickly enough. I forgot to shoot the last Seraphim at the dreadnought, so she charged along with the Canoness. The last Seraphim manages to immobilise the Dreadnought, whilst the Canoness failed to do any more then stun it. Battle Sister Squad Two gets out of their transport to claim that table quarter, and their Rhino heads towards the Vindicator.

Damo Turn 6

The Vindicator fires at the Rhino but again misses. In hand to hand, the Dreadnought kills the last Seraphim for no damage in return.

Eltnot Turn 7

The Bishop’s Immolator rolled up alongside the Vindicator, but failed to hurt it with it’s Heavy Flamers. Two of the Death Cults manage to get around to it’s rear armour, immobilising it and destroy it’s Demolisher Cannon. The Canoness and Dreadnought fail to hurt each other.

Damo Turn 7

The Canoness and Dreadnought again fail to hurt each other.

Result: Victorious Slaughter to the Witch Hunters

I had some good luck in this game, particularly when it came to making saves. Whilst Damo got a bit shafted with his reserves rolls. It was good fun none the less, and we both got to drive vehicles through the nice new hedges...

Eltnot.