Sons of San Leor: Redemption Begins in Flames

[The Pounder]

Great looking force and really enjoying the battle reports, thanks for sharing!

[Bonzi]

Sounds a great evening was had and some great success against the enemy's of the imperium!

Seems as though the list couldn't work any better which is great.

It is a great list and I've enjoyed a lot more success that the previous Scion list I ran. The list does have a crippling weakness to fast assault armies, especially if they get outflank. I've really struggled against the Grotesques in a Raider and a small team of Ork Nob Bikers. Anyone who gives me time to shoot and I've got a serious edge but the ones who can get in my face and shrug off my fire because of jink or feel no pain are almost an auto-lose for me.

The other two lists I've though to run via AM would be a Wrydvane list which would let me have ten level one psykers running amok. The other would be a horde of infantry squads with krak grenades and a trio of auto cannons. That one would be fun to just bury these elite assault armies I struggle against in bodies and krak grenades.

I'll cite this as why mortars are great Another riveting read and more successes for the Sons, great work Bonzi you're doing us proud and flying the flag for Kill Team! Unfortunately this only makes me sadder as my last attempts to organise KTs have fallen through

The mortar has been a little hit or miss, but it has really come into its own in the later half of the series. It's been a solid investment for five points, especially when I go against shooty armies that try to hide once I outrange or outgun them.

Too bad about your KT's falling through. We are fortunate to have a dedicated store manager who organizes little events like this. I think the first time they did it there wasn't much interest but now when you walk into the store and there are three KT games going on at the same time it generates a lot of buzz.

Great looking force and really enjoying the battle reports, thanks for sharing!

Thanks. Glad to know that people are reading the reports.

[Bonzi]

Two more kill teams today.

 

First game was a rematch against the Necrons I pummeled last weekend.  He definitely played more cautiously but I pulled another win out via sheer volume of fire, although the first three turns were just us taking max range potshots at each other to no effect.

 

Second game was against a three zoanthrope/gaunt swarm list and I thought I was going to be tabled by warp lance fire.  I managed to position such that I got two free turns of fire before the 'thropes were in range to hurt me and my guys totally squandered the opportunity with a lot of missed shots and 3++ saves made by my opponent.  We went into turn three with nobody having gained first blood.  At that point the thropes had lance range so I stopped hiding and advanced with my Chimmy, roasting a number of gaunts with the heavy flamer and torrenting down two of the thropes with all my other shooting.  After that it was a matter of focusing fire on the leader thrope who had been upgraded to T7.  On turn six my guys proved equal to the task with sniper Nihlus firing the kill shot that netted me slay the warlord.  In turn seven Nihlus then jumped off of his tower and clubbed the last gaunt to death to deny line breaker.

 

I think we have another week and a half of our Kill Team season left but a lot of the mania has died down.  Most of us are eager to see who goes to the final four and to get back to larger games.  I know I'm positioned in the top quarter but I don't think I'm in strong contention to be a finalist because even though I've won a lot of games, I haven't managed to score massive amounts of points doing it.  Once kill teams finished out the Sons of San Leor will be getting some much needed R&R and paint work as I revive my dusty Blood Angels army for the table top.

[WarriorFish]

Another two victories! Great job Bonzi, especially tackling that 'nid list. We'll miss the KT reports when they're gone, but that just means someone else needs to step into your shoes ;)

[Bonzi]

Painting marines is boring so I decided to finish my Hellhound.  Two Taurox, a manticore, and one Chimera to go...assuming I don't buy another Russ or a Wyvern.

 

[WarriorFish]

Very cool, the weathering looks great and the split colour scheme looks as good as ever - very striking on a Guard vehicle as it's usually a Marine thing :) I'm looking forward to seeing more tanks, and I'm sure you'll be adding another Russ and Wyvern to your collection ;)

[CoffeeGrunt]

Gah, out of Likes! A nicely painted Hellhound, too, plus props for keeping Kill Team alive in your store! I'm working with the manager of my local to get Kill Team rolling in our local store. Hopefully our efforts fare well!

[WarriorFish]

They will Kilo, it's a great little game and fantastic for doing a different army you've always wanted to. Low investment with only a few models, yet enough to play with and plenty of scope for trying out conversions and ideas :D

[Bonzi]

Today we did a Skies of Death flyer showdown out of the Shield of Baal: Leviathan book.  It's a great way to hone your understanding of flyer movement mechanics and there were a lot of rules that even the veteran players had to learn how to use correctly.  We did a double elimination bracket with ten total flyers in the event and flyers were to be taken as stock models only with no points to be spent on upgrades but we did roll on the fighter ace table.  

 

I brought my Sons Vendetta flyer and rolled the upgrade that let me bring my flyer in from reserve on any table edge, which turned out to be a huge advantage in dogfights.  

 

*I have magnetized lascannons not shown in these pics*

 

I made it all the way to the final four before I was taken down.  In my first game I took on an Ork dakka jet and carried the day when I dropped down into hover to pivot behind the Ork flyer and scored two snap shots that he failed to jink (twin linked lascannons for the win).  In the second game I used my reserve rule to get in behind a Necron Doom Scythe and blasted him from the sky.  In my third game I went up against a Space Wolves flying brick thing.  We spent four turns dogfighting using our hover mode and jink to maximum advantage.  I kept my rear armor against the board edge to shield that weakness.  I pulled a hull point off of his flyer and shook it but I failed four more pen rolls in a row until he finnaly managed to make a snap hellfrost shot against me which I failed to jink and he rolled an explosion result.

[Neely]

Great looking army! the weathering is looking good on your hellhound, how did you get the rust looking so good? ive been busy painting up my vostroyan and need to paint up a chimera for them.

[Bonzi]

Great looking army! the weathering is looking good on your hellhound, how did you get the rust looking so good? ive been busy painting up my vostroyan and need to paint up a chimera for them.

 

I base coat the metal areas with Leadbelcher and coat the whole model with Nulin Oil, then I pick out areas where I think rust or corrosion would happen (rivet lines, metal edges and corners, exhaust ports ect) and I coat a large area around that in Typhus Corrosion (its basically a thick brown technical wash with sand grit in it).  After that dries I take Ryza Rust (a drybrush-esque technical paint) and I highlight/dry brush the raised edges and sand grit from the Typhus.  I only use the Ryza on the center third of the area I have painted with Typhus (it gives a look of creeping corrosion if you leave and expanding field of brown around around the rust.  

 

The final touch is to come back with leadbelcher on a stiff bristled brush (I have an old wrecked brush with short stiff/curly bristles) and I jab the brush (not paint in strokes but actually jab) at the edges of the brown typhus areas.  This shrinks down the large areas I've created and gives the edges a more rough, jagged, and flaky appearance rather than the unnatural round edged puddles that the Typhus makes on its own.  This also puts some of the Typhus grit under the Leadbelcher metal areas so it looks like the metal/paint is bubbling up around the areas of existing corrosion (just like it does on an old junker car where you have a center of rust in a corner surrounded by bubbling paint where the rust is advancing.

 

The end result is a center of brown corrosion and rust, edged with plain corrosion, ringed with an area of bubbling/corroding base color.  It takes longer to explain than to actually do.  I think it takes me about ten minutes total to rust a tank once all the other work has been done.  

 

On the areas of the tank that are brass I base coat with Balthazar Gold, coat in Nulin Oil, coat in Nihilakh Oxide, then highlight dry brush with Runelord Brass.  It gives the decorative metal areas a oxidized blue copper patina that I like although most of that doesn't come through in the pictures.

 

*I have also used this on the Vendetta above but I don't think I have any pictures posted of that.*

[WarriorFish]

Your Valkyrie/Vendetta looks very good, the two colours you as your vehicle scheme use work extremely well like that on a flyer! You will be adding more to your force after this right? ;)

[Bonzi]

Oh yes. A store mini-campaign to start a new army is just around the corner. I'm going to use it to start a 'new' Sons of San Leor regiment using the battle psyker conclave idea I've been toying with. 9 mastery levels in 1000pts. My kill team is going to be assigned to the new regiment as a primaris pskers bodyguard for some continuation of fluff but everything else will be shinny new with a lot of kitbash on the hq, psykers, and inquisitors.

[scatmandoo]

Sounds an interesting idea for an army. Hope it works!

[WarriorFish]

That sounds very cool, keep us updated on it :tu:

[Bonzi]

Well the event has begun.  I've tweeked my list to get another mastery level (10) when the list reaches 1,000pts.  Last Saturday we rolled our warlords and had a gladiator arena style battle against each other and waves of NPC's. In the campaign our warlords are persistent (psyker powers and warlord traits are permanent over all battles) and will level up as we complete certain actions which gain experience points.  The warlords point costs are not added to the list total, so every 250pt increment will be in addition to our existing warlord.  I kept my Inquisitor cheap so that I could take extra rolls on the relic charts (for every 15pts below 150 we were allowed a roll on a chart of traits).  I managed to roll Haywire and Instant Death for my sword and my armor grants me Feel no Pain.

 

Inquisitor Stein aquited himself well in the arena, gaining points for causing ten unsaved wounds (psychic shriek FTW), entering a challenge and wining said challenge (tricked out Ork Wierdboy of another player), manifesting three psyker powers, and the players wining the overall arena challenge (though I didn't get full points for that since my Inquisitor blew his head off with a perils as he tried to shriek a Keeper of Secrets.  My fist level up perk is +1 ballistic skill.  Now I am earning points towards +1 wound and then +1 mastery level.

 

I'm eager to start playing the 250pt games this week to see if my investment in such a tempermental phase of the game will pay off.  My list as it stands is below.  Pics to follow soon.

 

 

Psyker Battle Conclave

 

Inquisitor Stein: mastery level 1 (Invisibility), force sword, needle pistol, psychotroke grenades, power armor, x3 servo skulls

 

Wargear Rules

-Force sword: haywire & instant death

-Power armor: feel no pain

 

Warlord Trait

-Purity of Mankind (hatred)

 

Inquisitor Xenos: lvl 1

 

 

Henchman Warband: x3 Deathcult Assassins, x5 Crusaders, x1 Psyker

 

 

CCS: telepath, x2 grenade launchers

-Chimera (ml/hhb)

 

X3 Primaris Psykers: lvl 2

 

 

Veteran Squad: x2 melta guns, grenadiers

-Chimera (ml/hhf) 65

 

Veteran Squad: x2 plasma guns, grenadiers

-Chimera (ml/hhf) 65

 

 

Armored Sentinel: lascannon

Armored Sentinel: lascannon

[Bonzi]

Got my fist 250pt level game in today at it was epic.  My list was:

 

Inquisitor Stein: mastery level 1 (Invisibility), force sword, needle pistol, psychotroke grenades, power armor, x3 servo skulls

X1 Primaris Psykers: lvl 2

Veteran Squad: x2 plasma guns, grenadiers

-Chimera (ml/hhf)

 

Crimson Slaughter Chaos Lord: power weapon, sigil of corruption, juggernaut

x15 Cultists: ccw/pistol

Heldrake: baleflamer

 

By turn three all I had left was my Inquisitor and the Primaris Psyker while he had his Heldrake and his Juggerlord.  I was winning by three to zero.  Then his Juggerlord beat down my Inquisitor, got a point for a tactical objective and secured linebreaker, tying the game 3 to 3.  In turn four my Primaris Psyker took a baleflamer to the face...and saved it on his refractor field. In my turn I got off Crush on the heldrake which glanced it, then used my last two dice to move towards his board edge with levitation and run.  In turn five my opponent decided to take a risk and try to capture two objectives on the opposite side of the board by racing his juggerlord towards one objective and zooming his flyer at another.  My Primaris got off levitate once more which secured me line breaker....and the game ended.  I won 3 to 4 with nothing but a single Primaris Psyker vs a juggerlord and a heldrake.  Epic.

[WarriorFish]

A Heldrake at 250pts? Sounds like the Emperor was with you though and a glorious victory was won! Well done on a very well earned win Bonzi :D

[Bonzi]

Some more really wild and fun battles, especially a 2 vs 2 and a 3 vs 3 battle.  We are all enjoying the campaign immensely and fighting hard to level our characters up.  So far my veterans have been decent performers but the 'death star' of my army has proven to be my Inquisitor + Primaris Psyker.....especially that bloody Primaris.

 

So far my Inquisitor has won all but one of the challenges he has ever been in.  To date he has beat down a: Ork Weirdboy, Xenos Inquisitor, Blood Angels Captain, Blood Angels Tactical Sargent, and the Xenos Inquisitor again.  He has only ever lost to a Grey Knight Librarian, and even then it was only because his unit broke and was chased down.

 

My Primaris (the same guy who won the game I mentioned in the previous post) has killed in close combat: three dual falchion Grey Knights, six Blood Angel Tacticals, and two Inquisitorial Henchmen.  In return he has only ever take one wound since he rolls refractory field saves like a fiend.  In all the games I've played he is the only model who has never died.

[WarriorFish]

Sounds like he's earning himself a personalised back story to me Bonzi... ;)

[Bonzi]

As promised, here are some pics of the Son's of San Leor: Psyker Conclave.  Click on pictures for bigger images.

 

 In the background of some pics you can see the Chimera and a pair of lascannon Armored Sentinels.  Along with a unit of kitbashed veterans this constitutes all the units I will bring when the campaign hits the 500pt tier.  So far going for psykers has paid off in spades.  Nobody expected it and nobody invested points in defending against.  As a bonus, my list plays different and has different threats each game as I roll different powers for all my psykers besides the Inquisitor.  Opponents have really have been taken by surprise when I advance my Chimera 6", dismount my vets 6", turn them invisible and levitate them 12" over the field and double tap a transports side armor with plasma guns.  I'm looking forward to the 500pt tier where I will have 5 psyker mastery levels and will really start to pull away from the rest of my opponents.

 

A couple pictures of Xenos Inquisitor Stein.  I really like how the kitbash and painting turned out on this guy.  He stands head and shoulders above the crowd on his custom made heresy board.

 

Some pictures of Stein protected by his elite bodyguard squad: x5 Crusaders, x3 Death Cult Assassins, & a Pysker.  Crusaders and DCA are made from the Wood Elf forest ranger/eternal guard kit and some random bits I found in my box of wonder.

 

Death Cult Assassin up close.

 

Psyker Henhman.  The empire flagellants kit bash well with guard bits.  Can't find a good photo angle to do this guy justice. 

 

Primaris Psyker.  This is the guy who has been beating face and I'm sad to say I'm not impressed with his paint job.  I rushed to get it done for a deadline and the result is sloppy and the details just are not very crisp.  His head especially needs reworked.

[WarriorFish]

Very creative, they look quite tough for psykers! The sky board makes me think of the Green Goblin :P