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So I've been on a secret mission.... to get into a different army that is not 'power armoured'. I love my Ultra's, and my Thousand Sons/Chaos but I have built/painted/played most of the armies in the game that interested me. AdMech is different. I've played against them a fair amount. I play at our local GW, and a few groups of friends. I have to say the height of Power Armour at the store these days is insane. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a dozen power armoured armies. (Not that I recommend doing so!) So it turns out the codex is around the corner. So I thought I'd post a shot of my last game: I am struggling to find something I like that also motivates me like Thousand Sons/ Red Corsairs / Ultra. I was on my back foot vs Renegades (FW) : Even though I commit to playing "Cawl Wall", I do a lot of damage back. (All the Artillery Renegades have is sick... S10, 2 x Laser Rapiers, and indirect 10 x D6 S4 is brutal, and untouchable) Dual Onager Dune Crawlers with Cawl were fantastic. I forgot a Datasmith, never got to change protocols. I swapped out two of my 4 Dunestriders to get a squad of rangers with sniper dude in them.. big mistake. I like those walkers... all of them. I never scored a point after T2 to t5, and then on T5 I scored 4 points, but he was already at 13. I did hit 12 to his 16 going into T7 but I had the bottom of the turn, drew up my 3 cards and all were impossible at that point in the game. He started annihilating me and by mid game I thought I was going to be swamped in zombies, but I did fend them off. The walkers with repairing HQ's running around are very good I think. He had so much trouble actually finishing off those units. But the two squads of Kastellan Robots were a huge threat, and one squad survived the game. SO they always took most shots. Mobility and staying power (combined in a unit) is a massive issue. I always despise using allies, but the golden boys would fit this army very well. (custodes). That being said ti was a fun game, I came within 2 points of tying it up, but I went back and looked and EVERY card I drew until T7 was 'hold something' which is probably what I felt I was least suited towards. Baller lasted the game, he had a lot of Ogryn, possessed, zombies and deposits of artillery. It was a very good list I'd say. It mimics Astra fairly well even with sprinkles of walkers, banewolfs, chimera's etc. (IE: Similar playstyle) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Kudos to my friend. He's had this army since inception, but he doesn't like it as much as his other armies and I'm fortunate enough to borrow it while I buy some stuff, and fumble around in the dark like a fool trying to find my way. I started to work on a Onager Dunecrawler (Love the las type weapon) and was going Metalica (it's rare) and I also like the main stream red colour however it has become apparent there will be different Strategums for different Forgeworlds! So a bad choice in my first unit could suck!

So a few times I've been asked for close ups and references to my battle reports so I think it's time to just start this up as a thread: Contents: + Finished Thousand Sons and Tzeentch Models are here: +LINK+ The following WIPs and Finished projects are in order of oldest to newest: + WIP shots of various units: Tanks/Forgefiend/Flamers/etc: +LINK+ + Finally...after some delays Magnus the Red is complete! +LINK+ + Alright time for Daemons! We have Pinks, Blues, Brimstones, a Tzaangor Herald AND Flamers all in one post: +LINK+ + Hopefully some better shots of Magnus the Red here: +LINK+ + Finally a WIP Forgefiend turns into the finished product! +LINK+ + Thousand Sons Helbrute for 8th edition! +LINK+ +++ New Shadow Wars Content +++ I'll slip in the Shadow Wars Armageddon content here as most of it will be paint related, but I will link the Shadow Wars batreps in the section below. Whereas this section will mostly host projects related to Shadow Wars: + First up I challenge myself to finish some terrain from the starter box set in 2 Days! Can I do it? +LINK+ + Phase 2: I showed you the Crates/barrels, but I also bought a Galvanic Magnavent and gave myself the same 1 week challenge: +LINK+ + Two Batreps for the price of One! ITC mission 5 (Highlander) 1500 Points: vs Orks and vs Admech: +LINK+ + Another ITC (Highlander) 1500 Points vs Space Wolves: +LINK+ + Two Batreps again for the low price of one: 1850 Points Maelstrom vs Orks and Tyranids: +LINK+ + Another ITC (Highlander) test of my futility at 1500 vs AdMech + Skittles: +LINK+ + The Fall of Cadia Campaign SUPER DUPER Batrep collection (3 games, then a 4th mega battle game featuring 3 Chaos armies vs. 3 Armies of the Imperium using the "Emperor Protects" scenario. All games were played out at my local GW store: (lots of pics) - Fall of Cadia GAME ONE: +LINK+ - Fall of Cadia GAME TWO: +LINK+ - Fall of Cadia GAME THREE: +LINK+ - Fall of Cadia Final Mega Battle: The Emperor Protects: +LINK+ + An important tactics article for me as I'm trying to understand Tzeentch Daemons and Summoning. I never foresaw me going down this path until I saw how tough life is with 18 models on the table.... Are you trying to figure it out as well? Do you have something to add? Please check out the conversation here: Using Daemons with Thousand Sons +LINK+ + + More to come shortly!

Guys, I desperately needed a change of pace. I have tried to steer away from all loyalist activities heading into the new year. I wanted marine infantry with staying power in this edition of mass destruction while sticking with Chaos so here we are. I have to start with some advice though. I haven’t played DG since the codex came out, and I’m starting with the new Plague Marine box and wanted some unorthodox build in a Landraider to launch the project. I love the look of some of the new cc models/ bits. ... but I don’t want t handicap myself too much. So that said, let’s pretend 2 of my squads will be traditional, champ Fist/ plasma and 2 Blightlaunchers. And this third squad will be for mixed or more specific for CC ability coming out of the Landraider. Could you share some wisdom on this? Flails look amazing to model, the giant axes are fun, but what works for you and what’s reasonable?

Sorry for the brief report. Time is really tight, but I wanted to at least document this game.... Game Setup: (POST Chapter Approved 2017) Maelstrom, 2,000 pts, Deployment: Frontline Assault. AdMech: Brigade: Cawl Dominus Techpriest 5 Vanguard/Ranger sqds 5 Torsion/Claw Breachers (New Test post Chapter Approved) 5 Infiltrators 1 Datasmith 10 Jazz Hands 3 Dragoons 3 Phosphor Kastelans 2 Onagers Nutrons Nids: Lots. Tervigon + Gaunt Blob Fart cloud squad (I always forget the name of these things. Essentially three dudes that force you to fire at -1) Super Zoanthrope 20 Geneastealers Tentacle super bug (Sorry forget the name, it's a close combat massive bug) Trygon (deep strikes with mortal wounds) 5 (?) Hive Guard squads of spore mines Deathleaper Shooty Carniefex Shooty Flyrant Shooty Warrior Squad The Mission is a new one.. pretty cool one: Kill Confirmed (?) Basically you have 3 cards a turn, but cannot discard any 'kill unit' type cards, and if at any point during your turn you kill any unit, you get a bonus victory point. A fairly balanced idea. Here's what my army looked like (there is some minor proxying, mostly the Breachers) +Hold the line boys. Here's the plan: Nids are hungry for meat, but we're more like chewing through an old 50's TV set. Indigestion for the win? + - I lose the roll to go first, I cannot seize. Here's our deployment: The Nids are a bit off screen, but you get the idea. One side is charging forward, the other is filling their boots with used batteries. + - Early Game: - Nids get good rolls. I am defenseless against the psychic phase but at this range it is mostly a buff session. - He does get first blood....and I can't believe how deadly the Hive Guard are! They take down 1 and a half Breachers. He infiltratred his Deathleaper behind some crates as well. But keeps the rest of his reserves intact. He takes an early 3 point lead (gets a bonus "Kill Confirmed", accomplishes a kill card, and First Blood.) - His turn is strong with shooting between those Hive Guard, and all the shots from the Gaunts (special psychic ability? allows him to advance and shoot) and Flyrant + Carnifex. - I draw 2 cards I can't do, but one is a shooting kill type! This is big because of where he put the Deathleaper. - This is where things get ugly for me (yes this soon)... I realize the fart cloud -1 to hit pretty much extends to his entire army. The Gaunts are already getting close because his special rule is roll mutli advance dice, and pick the highest. I have no real damagable targets with my low end firepower. It takes a LOT to kill about 6 gaunts... then I remember, with the Tervigon he can regen 10 per turn! Ugh. What a fool... I blame Cawl... he's so cocky. - I realize that I can barely see the Tervigon with a few key Dunecrawler Nutron shots, but with the -1 to hit Cawl is helping a bit, but not enough. Also the Tervigon warlord trait is -1 to all Damage. That's actually huge. I do about 5 wounds to the Tervigon, but it maybe takes 3? - The Torsion cannons have re rolls but again everything is so hard to hit. It's darn good Cawl allows rerolls of ANY to hit or I truly would be screwed. The bad BS of Kastelans and Breachers is keenly felt here... I need 6's to hit the bloody Deathleaper, and the Kastelans moved (change protocols for next turn) and therefore need 6's to hit his army! This is killing me. - I kill one unit. The Deathleaper is hit twice ,but wounded twice, and the Torsion guns split him apart. This gets me 2 points. But the rest of the turn is abysmal. I can't hit anything, and wounding is bad. The 3 Arquebus' do nothing as they do every game for me. (I think I got one wound off the Flyrant). Mid Game: + A shiny, obscure, robot from the back yells, "The odds of us surviving first contact are 3,720 to 1." Cawl deactivates the robot, and fires up an escape pod. + - Yes it looks bad. This is T2. He draws another kill card, and an objective. He has a fairly mediocre psychic phase which is good for me. - His Mawloc comes in, spanks some mortal wounds all around him. Then the shooting starts.... - Flyrant finishes off a squad, gaunts split fire and hose a bunch of Vanguard/Rangers. I have canticles Shroudpsalm running and it makes a HUGE difference on a few Vanguard, soaking up tons of fire. But weight of fire catches up... the Hive Guard ignore cover, and pop my Kastelan, and remove another Breacher. - Here's something I may have done illegally but it did not have an overall efffect. When the Mawloc came in, I played the Strategem that lets the Jazz hands fire 'as if in shooting phase (but at -1 BS). And I used Cawl's aura. I couldn't figure out if this was right or not... I don't use Cawl often and realized his shooting aura is for shooting phase, but the strat said to treat it like a shooting phase so I hope this was correct??? - I also had Jazz hands use the Wrath of Mars. Still I could not kill the Mawloc when it came in. That was ugly. It took about 2 mortal wounds and 4-5 more wounds, but it had a fair amount left. - End of Nid Turn and I'm shot up far worse than he is, and about to be assaulted. +From the nid perspective: A Sicarnan Surprise attack. A total act of desperation. Indecision causes these guys to blue-screen at the worst possible moment. I think they've been hit with ransom ware and won't be functional until Cawl can come up with some bitcoins. + - This is truly desperate. My opponent convinces me to take on the Tervigon with my shooting, and I agree... it's a sound judgement. But with all the damage reduction, and -1 to hit, the Dunecrawlers still struggle. The Torsion cannons have maybe... 1-2 shots. They take it. But fail to do anything. The Tervigon is holding me from killing Gaunts. I don't have LoS from anything else so... I throw reason to the wind and really do something stupid.... - The Sicaran Infiltrators come in; I had a card where I needed to take an objective from my opponent for 2 points. I desperately need these two points to just stay in the game. - I had 3 wounds to get rid of on the Tervigon. My original plan was to shoot up the Hive Guard though... they were really shredding me, now that they hit on 3's (not moving) and go through shroudpslam. So against my better judgement I throw 25 Strength 3 shots into the Tervigon and use two strategems: one to reroll 1's to hit, and Wrath of Mars. I hit a lot... a fair amount, but I only get about 3 wounds, and 1-2 mortal wounds. The Tervigon stands with 3 wounds left. - Back at the ranch, the Dragoons have to finish the job that the Arquebus' fail to yet again, by charging the Mawloc. They take a wound or two, but the Mawloc still lives. Some remaining Vanguard shots ignore the Gaunts because while the Tervigon lives, this will be futile. They shoot at some Spore mines, but I get zero points for spore mines (special rule). - The Jazz hands fire up again, and they fire everything into the Genestealers, as usual the army is -1 to hit... I maybe kill 5-6 out of 20. - I can't kill the Flyrant, and I finally can see part of the squad of that is emitting the -1 to hit cloud... I kill 2 out of 3 of them, so the cloud still exists.... - The Sicarans are now entirely screwed. They killed nothing in shooting. I was going to assault the Hive Guard pictured above, but my opponent convinces me with Tazer Goads I can get those last three wounds. I'll tell you at T8 a Tervigon is bloody hard to take down, especially reducing damage, and -1 to hit. I feel it's a big miss match, but I do it... I successfully charge the Tervigon (instead of the Hive Guard). Of course this is a massive, massive mistake. So I don't go for the Maelstrom points on the Hiveguard, and they can shoot like crazy, so that's two bad moves combined, because I bounce right off the Tervigon causing zero wounds. At 3 wounds I hoped he wouldn't be able to move far enough away from my squad to become unengaged, but apparently he can! Great news everybody, I killed no units this turn and am entirely exposed! + Don't worry boys, they hate chewing on metal....+ - Turn 3 is a good draw for my opponent. He's had reserves that really didn't have a job until now, he draws some objectives and the reserves take them. - He advances, and smites me successfully in a few areas depleting squads. - Shooting is fully normal thanks to my stupid moves, and bouncing off the Tervigon. As a result: - Sicarians are shot dead - Jazz Hands are shot to death with Gauts/Carnie - Rangers/Vanguard are shot to death with Flyrant. - I lose some other stuff... so before assault and the ensuing tabling, I concede. Cawl crawls in an escape pod mumbling something about 'resurrecting a better Primarch' and takes off... Conclusion: - Totally wiped. Torsion Breachers did nothing- but it was a bad match up. Really bad. They would have been a good anti-assault, short range marine type killer but this was the wrong match up. - I was out shot. Out psykered, and out assaulted. That's rough. - -1 to hit seemed to be super penal to this army. My best shooting (aside from Onagers) comes from BS4 (BS5 if moved) and BS4 Breachers. Even with Cawl my inability to hit was poor. - I was out maneuvered (typical with Admech) but without having an answer to an unbreakable horde, I had no options for movement. I had no answer for the Tervigon, and therefore no answer for the lead horde, nor the secondary horde of Genestealers. The buffer this created gave his Hive Guard and psychic phase free reign. This was key, but I saw no way to change the outcome of this game..... while I have done an honest assessment of mistakes I made, I don't think I could have changed the results....back to the drawing board!!!

+++ Welcome to Prot's Chapter Keep of all things anti-Xenos. Here you will find the shared tactics, hobby ideas, painting, battle reports and (hopefully) the motivation you need to smite the xenos in the name of the Emperor. +++ +++ The gravest lessons are learned in defeat: What follows are various batreps of (typically 1850 points) in various levels of competitive environments. All battle reports are covered with pictures and a 'play by play' for your perusal. +++ + Tau Frustrations: Going back in time a bit here, this was the first full sized, non-allied, Deathwatch new Codex game vs Tau ITC style 1850pts: LINK + An 1850 Maelstrom game vs. the Orks: LINK + An 1850 Maelstrom game vs. the Eldar. This was not a 'hardcore' Eldar list but shows how nasty even a mediocre list is. LINK + 2 Battle Reports for the price of 1 ! ! !. This is not for the feint of heart. We have the first game against Tau, and the second against the Daemon Tetrad list. 1850 pts. LINK + The "New" Genestealer Cult Codex is chalk full of things that made me instantly jealous of such a well thought out codex. But nonetheless, the Xenos must be confronted. 1850 Maelstrom vs. Tyranid Genestealer Cult. LINK + The Deathwatch put a call into the Assasinorium and take on the Blood Angels with the assistance of the Culexus. LINK + Deathwatch continue using Custodes as an experiment and test a new Black Shield Config vs. Ork Wazdakka Biker Star. LINK + Prot's Deathwatch CAD and Skyhammer take on a no holds barred Tau Stormsurge List. LINK +++ Most of the articles/links below focus on finished models, but there are a few WiPs. +++ + First up a link to our first ever Painting Event. LINK + One of my faves... a Deathwatch Terminator Captain: LINK + Finished (and sold) Terminator Librarian, and Black Spear Strike Force Units: LINK + Added a squad of Painted Custodes: LINK + The squad above sold, so working on some more. Here's a WIP of the new blade I've decided on : LINK + After selling my first Custodes Squad, I knew I had to do another one. They're some of my favorite models in the line right now: LINK + Prot's buddy's Deathwatch army. Here's a couple of pictures of my friend's Deathwatch. The army looks really sharp and he's done it really quickly: LINK + 2017 WIP shot of some contents from the Watchblade Task Force in progress: LINK + 8th Edition and Shadow Wars inspired me to do 2 Figs as fast a possible with a decent standard set to them. LINK + 8th Edition WIP's using a more involved technique beyond Airbrush + Highlight. LINK + Final Veteran (6 man squad) shots of my more detailed attempt at Deathwatch: LINK +++ Below are links to special interest pieces in this thread or outside of it. Various topics including, rules, fiction reviews, art, etc. +++ + The Black Fortress Edition Codex. I take some pictures and discuss the lavish contents of the limited special edition codex: LINK + Deathwatch the novel by Ian St.Martin. This came out around the release of the codex and it has impressed me. Join in on the conversation here: LINK + My Deathwatch Print arrives! I also talk with David Annandale about his book from the Beast Rises series (where this print is from.) LINK ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So here we go..... I wanted to do another Custodes test. I've used them a few times now and did batrep one of those games before the squad got sold. If you're curious and haven't seen it, the first Batrep with my GK army is here: LINK NOTE: Please excuse the large number of unpainted models. I sold the unit of Custodes and am working on my new squad. Sold a lot of DW so am now rebuilding them from scratch. Sorry for the unpainted stuff... I hate it too. The GAME: Maelstrom: Contact Lost (draw 1 Maelstrom card in T1, but you may only draw additional cards for every Objective you Control! ouch) The Armies (just the basics): Orks: This is a basic Wazdakka dual Bikstar list. Essentially we're talking two max sized Bike squads that become ObSec, both have Fists on multi characters, and both have Apothecary type save guys. The Wazdakka squad gets Skilled Rider as well. It's really a potent list and can do well at some tournaments. Especially if you haven't faced it before. He also had Mega Armoured Nobs in a trukk which is underrated, and annoying as heck. He had the 4+ save boyz in trucks, and 2 squads of Tank Bustas full of rocket launchers. Lots of junk to go with his bikers and armoured nobs, totaling something like 72 models I think.... Deathwatch: Here I take my basic BSSF + CAD. I am proxying an Imperial Bunker with Improved Comms to see if I can correct the horrible delays my army has had in recent games. I also have the Culexus, and a 5 man Squad of Custodes to go with my DW CAD Chaplain. (The idea being RAW that I can use the Terminator Captain's Beacon Angelis to teleport the Chaplain (attached to Custodes on the ground) to my location T1 if necessary.) The Custodes are Experiment number 1. Experiment number 2 comes from forcing myself to use a different load out for a Black Shield! Yes I have not been a fan of them, but I haven't tried one with an Axe and a CC weapon. So I plopped him with my Captain in a pod. NOTE: Until FAQ I'm still not using all Shotguns also have Bolter ruling. DEPLOYMENT + OPENING SALVO! + Orks win first turn deployment and opt for Night fight, and get it! (Not fun considering Jink + Night + Skilled Rider = 2+ cover saves on ObSec troops!) + I deploy my Bunker safely within my Zone and I put 5 Stalker Bolter guys in the bunker to secure it, and I plop that thing 3" away from a Marker to ensure (?) I get a card going forward.... My Culexus has no real target, so in this game he will play the wild card trouble maker. I deploy him near my bunker for now, beside an Assault Cannon Dreadnought. + I fail to steal the initiative. His first turn is fairly basic....he turbo's up everything. I kept the Custodes with the DW Chaplain and hold on for the firepower, but only 2 shots wound my Custodes and they laugh it off..... The good news is I don't give up First Blood. The bad news is he has total board control and outnumbers me more than 2-1 and he has blobs of ObSec all over the markers making it almost impossible for me to get cards in the future. +++ The Deathwatch wait patiently. The motive of the Beast is as obvious has his body odor. The Custodes lie in wait. Their time will come..... +++ + The massive wall of bikers and trukks all zoom full forward. (I can't fit it all in the picture. In some situations terrain forces some of his trukks to slow down.) + I draw a card that requires me to get an Objective in his backfield! A big challenge since it will definitely leave the Deathwatch on their own, unsupported but I need points. + I deployed my entire force on the table because of the army I ended up playing against... except for 2 pods. One was empty, one had my Termie Captain, and an Aquila including the Black Shield. I decide to go after the Objective in my T1 with this unit.... +++ It's a dire situation. I need to distract the horde and grab this objective. The Captain makes the call and the Pod is left unsupported, deep in the Ork back lines. +++ + The picture above paints a bleak picture. I did have the option of Beaconing over my Custodes and Chaplain but elected to do something else with the Custodes. The Captain's squad has no ObSec so I must blow away this Trukk full of Tank Bustas. Now they hurt Power Armour pretty badly so I elect to start with the Frag Cannons and Template them over and over, roasting the contents until the trukk is a burning pit of rotten green skin. Now the really bad part, because hey, it's Watch Master Prot, and things can never go off cleanly! The I still need to get one hullpoint off the trukk, he keeps making these stupid 6+ Nightfight saves. So I reluctantly fire off the Assault Cannon on the termie and I get my first 6! The explosion radius is also a 6! D'oh.... In the explosion I lose the front 3 guys.... the Frag Cannon included, and my Shotguns (I rolled 1,1,2 for saves.) .... and now I face an angry, smelly green horde... with no templates now. lol. + The Custodes decide to make things happen.... a massive cloud of bikes and trukks advance the ruins, and Storm Bolters fire them up and somehow kill 2 bikes! (Custodes mean business) +++ The Custodes use Hatred to full advantage. The Warlord Wazdakka bellows in disgust as he watches the Custodes hack down his entire Bike squad +++ + The Custodes perform way above my expectation. Even with FnP the bikes go down hard, and the Hatred re-rolls are quite punishing. The Shield Captain in particular is brutal, severing a Nob's bike in half, and lopping his head off with a backhand. He eyes Wazdakka up for the next round.... + I get one point for the objective, but I know a world of hurt is coming my way. Above the Bikes are dead, but now two full squads of Nobs rush my Custodes to get revenge.... The Custodes take wounds, but hold their ground. Things are slower now but the butchery is decidedly in the Custodes favour. Ork blood stains the ground, Wazdakka is destroyed. + Without breaking pace the Custodes continue to butcher the green horde to the degree I've never seen before.... Nob Fists do hit home this time, but at T5, and Eternal Warrior I make sure they only lose one model, and the rest hold on for dear life. Some are now wounded, but fight on with the Emperor's Will. + North of this butchery the scene is much more grim for Deathwatch.... +++ The Captain is alone. The vehicle explosion and 20 bike shots (snap firing) manage to take down another Deathwatch and a Terminator. The Ork Nobs run in, but the Black Shield exposes an ancient blade of hate, and attempts to protect the Captain.... +++ + I did try to thin the secondary biker unit, but I stood further away with my back line, and did not want to get overwhelmed so soon, I fired 12" shots, and he jinked, only losing a few bikes. The Dreadnought tried to help but the Jinks were really good, compounded with Feel No Pain. + The Bikers turn their attention to the Captain. The cowards see an easy kill... but after shooting down the Terminator the Mega Armoured Nobs figure this is an 'easy' job and bark at the bikes to turn around and face the Deathwatch front lines..... + The 3 Nobs rush into the captain, brandishing clunky fists that look like crude toasters mounted to forearms. The Captain steps up with his relic blade, and using his unique Warlord Trait (I have never rolled this one before) he ends up with Five Re-rolls. I use them all as this might be his swan song.... The Relic blade hits all, and wounds all with the assistance of Aquila rules.... BUT the crude looking Mega Armour passes all on a 2+. Going at the same time as the Nobs, the Black Shield thumbs the activator on his power Axe, and with 5 attacks he needs to use only one of the Warlord Trait dice, to get 5 hits! The Axe only wounds 3 times though, but this is enough to send two of the Nobs to their graves. (One Nob had a wound from over watch oddly enough.) But now all Nobs strike back, the first wound is taken by the Black Shield who instantly dies, the next 5 are taken by the Captain.... he fails his first Halo save and is killed outright. The Mega Armoured Nobs claim Warlord Kill, but as useless as the Captain was, the Black Shield took them down to one model.... + The Orks draw several cards, and are now clearly in the lead with on card coming up to kill a Bunker! We normally have a House rule: Any incompletable card from the start of the game, is a free discard, but since I actually has the bunker he had to keep it. Also the marker in front of the bunker was being contested by my ObSec Stalker Bolter crew.... speaking of which.... +++ Meanwhile on the Eastern Deathwatch front lines, all hell breaks lose. The Culexus breaks from the shadows as all other forces fail miserably. Can he hold the beast back long enough? +++ + The objective in front of the bunker is hotly contested and means points for both of us, but I haven't' been able to draw a single card for 2 turns! He is up 4 points to my 2 points and he is drawing up to his max of 6 cards a turn by just parking ObSec trukks on markers all over the table. + In this eastern line, I have an Aquila fail to do anything to the trukk in front of them. Now the desperate actions of the Stalker Bolter team in the bunker try and Fail as well to glance the AV10 trukk. + In pure desperation I force my Dreadnought to fire into the trukk with Assault Cannon and gets ONE glance that takes the Trukk down to a wreck. Wow. I couldn't believe how many 1's + 2's I rolled that entire turn. + Desperation reaches a new high as I must assault the Nob squad as they passed the pin check.... so my 2 Bikers (above) ignore terrain and we calculate I needed a 3 to assault the Nobs... Snake eyes! So I look at the Dread... he needs an 8, rolls a 7. Now I'm worried, I can't leave the bunker, so I throw the Culexus in... he makes it... + The Culexus goes first, and the Orks fail the fear test and are hitting on 5's anyway.... he hits about 8 times!!! The Culexus only hits 1 time, and fails to kill anything. The Culexus takes 5 wounds, fails all saves, dies outright. Wow. Thanks Assasinorium! Maybe send a guy with a smaller head next time so it doesn't get hit so easily!!! +++ The dire news of the state of the attack reaches the Custodes and the Chaplain. Instead of folding, they dig deeper and push even harder in the Ork lines. The Custodes' Guardian Spears effortlessly block 2 attacks adding insult to injury as they dice up another squad. +++ + The situation is very bleak. I draw my first card since Turn 1 (having even limited ObSec really blows) I am behind 5-2 but I can now grab an objective with my empty "ObSec" pod. I take the chance, and get a bullseye. + A remnant squad of Orks is running, along with a solo Nob Biker with FnP. He hopes to rally the Boyz with the Nob Biker and give them all Feel No Pain, but the Deathwatch Chaplain knows the beast all too well, and Pain will be Felt! He steers the Custodes into a multi assault, blowing up a Truk, while the Custodes dice up the rest of the Trukk Boyz and Nob Biker. + He still wants the objective #6 and my bunker. He gets his remaining squad of Tank Bustas up on a tower building and with S8 he needs to hit on 5's and then roll 6's on my bunker to glance.... he glances the bunker 3 times!!!! Wow. I have one hullpoint on it. I want to get the Stalker Bolters OUT of the Bunker but if I do (it's a back door) I lose the 3" I need to stop him from scoring a point he's been trying to get forever..... I stay inside, and fire all Stalkers at yet another ObSec Truck he has parked in front of the Bunker. I glance it to death. +I take an Aquila out of the ruins with a solo Cyclone Termie and mince this squad up which had wanted to assault me: +++ Split by indecision and typical faulty Xenos leadership, the thick headed Beast is ripped to shreds by the Deathwatch, but the Orks have another plan... +++ + The Orks are shot up badly above, even with Jink they are down to 3 Bikes, and all are Independent Characters. He drew a card needing 3 units in my zone, he splits these bikes up and rushes deep er in my zone to score 2 points.... Orks are now in a strong lead of 7-3. + Deathwatch forces are depleted, but I get to finally pull 3 cards. One for Objective 6 (in front of my bunker), one Primus DW card for killing characters, and one for shooting a unit to death. + The Orks are spread out. Their leadership is gone, but the Deathwatch are too slow. Both bikers are dead, and the Stalker Bolters have under performed immensely. The Custodes have 10 pounds of dried Ork entrails on their blades and seem to move slowly as a result, but in their travels the Chaplain points out an objective marker and orders the Custodes to chase down the loan Mega Armoured Nob who fatally wounded the Watch Captain. They destroy him without thought, and recover the Watch Captain's body. + The Independent Characters the Orks drove deep into the Deathwatch zone are mutilated by Dreadnought assault cannons, Terminator fire, and Frag Cannon shots. + Looking around the field all Orks are somehow dead... debris everywhere, smoking antiquated trukks litter the battlefield... in the distance only a squad of Ork Tank Bustas remain. They cling to their abandoned tower for refuge. The Deathwatch Captain runs as hard as his power armour will let him, and reaches the Ork zone, but well short of the last squad on the table..... + I score a few points. Orks are winning 7-6. We are in Turn 5, he rolls to end the game. I need one more turn... one more, but the game ends. We tally the score and realized my Chaplain had secured his zone for Line Breaker making the game 7-7. Incredible. Somehow a tie is eked out. Conclusion: - My opponent couldn't believe the Custodes. I couldn't either. They'd been good, but this was a very good match up for them. No AP2 shooting makes a massive difference. My Opponent estimates he threw 30 guys at the Custodes and Chaplain, and that includes his Warlord, and FnP saves in there, as well as about 4-5 power fists. They stalled the green flood, and bought the Deathwatch time to position and fire. They were definitely the best aspect of my army. - The captain held the beacon, but as usual did little else. The Beacon did not get used in this game, but rarely am I seeing such a fast army that wants to assault. The Black Shield did very good.... it's too bad I couldn't have kept him alive somehow but without a competent tank HQ it puts a lot of stress on the squad. - The Culexus... he was a total throw away, non-factor in this game. I wanted to keep using him in more games because not everyone has a broken pskyer formation to defend against and it turns out this was a good test for him. I kept him back with defense in mind, and he just whiffed and died. Even his special gun only killed an Ork. Thanks for reading this. Hope you found it entertaining.