WarriorFish's Legio Venator Blog

[WarriorFish]

Whatever gave you that impression? Once you go Dreadnut you don't go back I've an Ironclad still in the box too, but he's not on my to do list yet

 

Heavy flamers are good, but volkites don't exist in 40k which is why they're not an option for me. I do rather like my Venerable, thanks :D He turned out very nicely, perhaps too nice as nobody can seem to stop trying to shoot him every bloody game! :confused: I have thought about a second Venerable (see Dreadnut comment above) but I really like how this one looks so might not be happy with doing something different which I'd do to keep them varied.

[Stercus]

Loving the leviathan, Fish. He's a bit of a beast isn't he?

Once again I'm hugely impressed by the smooth tone you get on your models, but I do think in this case you might improve him even further by adding some detail or weathering to break up the large flat areas. All in though, it's a lovely paint job set off by a nice bit of basing.

[Knight of the Raven]

I do rather like my Venerable, thanks He turned out very nicely, perhaps too nice as nobody can seem to stop trying to shoot him every bloody game!

"Sir, there's a huge leviathan running towards u-"

"SHOOT THE SHINY ONE!"

*horrible screams follow as the leviathan makes balloons out of people's intestines*

 

[WarriorFish]

It's funny you should say that, but that feels like it happened. Short of the damn Vortex of Dooooooooom... :P

 

I want to add some bits and bobs to the Leviathan to break up the blocks of colour but I need to rummage in the bits box first. I'm still dwelling on weathering for my Marines. While I have a good method for my Guard, or at least most of one, I don't think it'd work as well on my Marines. I'd also like to do something a little different, but I haven't decided what yet. Perhaps some of the chipping effect, and some dry and wet mud?

[WarriorFish]

Things have been a little quiet on the SM front, my focus is on my ETL Knight for the moment. That's not the case for games though, getting a game in against BA again last week:

Cloak and Shadows

Hunter Legion vs Blood Angels 1750pts

Legio

Hidden Content

(Iron Hands CT)

Captain (Warlord, with HG)

-Artificer armour

-Plasma pistol

-The Burning Blade

Chaplain

-TDA

-Stormbolter

-Meltabombs

10x Tactical

-Vet sgt

-Bolter

-Flamer

-Lascannon

10x Tactical

-Vet sgt

-Bolter

-Melta

-Multimelta

5x Scouts

-Power fist

4x Honour Guard

-Champion Relic Blade

-Power axe

Ironclad Dreadnought

-Heavy flamer

-Drop pod

-Deathwind launcher

-Locator beacon

5x Terminator Assault Squad

-3x TH/SS

Stormtalon

-TML

Leviathan Siege Dreadnought

-Cermamite plating

-Siege drill

-HK missiles

Blood Angels

Hidden Content

(Baal Strike Force)

Librarian

-Digital weapons

-JP

-ML2

-Meltabombs

-Veritas Vitae

Librarian (Warlord)

-Digital weapons

-Gallian's staff

-Meltabombs

-ML2

10x Tactical

-Vet sgt

-Vet sgt meltabombs

-Plasma

-Plasma cannon

10x Tactical

-Vet sgt

-Vet sgt powerfist

-melta

-multimelta

-Drop pod

-Locator beacon

5x Scouts

-Sgt meltabombs

-Sgt teleport homer

5x Terminator Squad

-Assault cannon

-2x chainfists

Vanguard Veterans

-Sgt power sword

-Sgt meltabombs

-Inferno pistol

-Thunder hammer

-JPs

10x Assault Marines

-Vet sgt

-Vet sgt powerfist

-2x plasma pistol

Officio Assassinorum

Eversor

Deployment

My first turn deployment, pod units and Termies all reserves. The rest is ready to meet the enemy head on! I roll the rending warlord trait but didn't want that, so used my re-roll to get Imperium's Sword! Furious Charge will be great for my Captain and Honour Guard.

Blood Angels deploy lightly with just a Tac and librarian holding an objective.

Turn 1

With little to go with, my units move up. The Ironclad pods in well and takes a good toll on the Tac squad, hopefully he can keep them busy enough to buy my army time to arrive.

Hullo!

With the BA pod coming in things might not go so well, I'll need to get into combat as the only protection against the melta and multimelta!

Drop pod fight!

Some power is cast for an invulnerable save, but the Emperor grants His chosen reprieve with all three charges nullified Sadly my luck ends there, as a snap firing multimelta takes out the Ironclad Not a very good start...

Turn 2

All but the Honour Guard and Captain arrive which is nice, the Stormtalon races in to lend a hand and Termies scatter only a little onto an objective. I wanted to bring them closer and use the Locator Beacon but too many plasma weapons nearby. Otherwise my army moves up, but Scouts are wary of the Eversor.

Reinforcements!

The Stormtalon picks off most of the melta combat squad, Deathwind and Leviathan HKs drop the Tac squad well - no more plasma!

Return fire takes its toll:

In return BA jump troops arrive in number, DC taking an objective behind my Tacs and AM squad and Libby drop in opposite near my main forces. Vanguard land next to my pod thanks to the enemy Locator Beacon.

Death Company arrive:

plus some Assault Marines and Libby:

Inferno pistol destroys my pod, AM run and Blood Boil 3 Tacs from my combat squad. DC fire ineffectually at another Tac combat squad. The other BA forces shoot at my Termies killing 2 (TDA proves to be relatively useless this game). Not too worried about the AMs as my force is more than enough to deal with them, depends how much damage they and the Eversor can do.

Bye bye drop pod

Spreading out:

Turn 3

No HG and Cap... not good. Time to do what I can and move up. Scouts and Tacs move towards the AM, along with the Leviathan. Stormtalon zooms up along with the Termies who split up to try and tackle both combat squads. Chaplain should be enough to deal with or keep the 2 Marines busy. My reserve Tac combat squads move up to delay the DC as best they can.

Press on, support will come:

Turns out they do well, thanks to shooting and not running they're prime for the flamer and along with bolter and multimelta fire we drop four - great results! Elsewhere melta fails to get through the Eversor's save but the Lascannon does! Excellent, this leaves the Leviathan free to shoot and charge the AM - scrapping the roll through thanks to Move Through Cover. Chaplain gets in after shooting one of the Marines down but the Termies fail their charge. Not good At least the Stormtalon killed a couple of Vanguard including the inferno pistol.

The Tacticals make their presence felt:

Enemy Scouts move to capture the roof objective, and their Termies arrive - Locator beaconing on top of the Skyfire objective. Uh oh. Vanguard move up to help against the Chaplain, and the multimelta combat squad backs off from my Termies. Not looking too good right now, I might lose my vanguard forces. However some jinking saves the Stormtalon from two penetrating hits hits and the Chaplain survives albeit on one wound. The Leviathan does what he does and cuts down more BA, but takes a hull point from the Sgt PF.

Enemy Terminators arrive to take the Skyfire Nexus...

Turn 4

HG arrive near where the Termies did and hop out. I must get them into combat, as with Furious Charge they'll hit like a brick and are not cheap so have been costing me with their failure to arrive. Tacs move up with the Scouts, and my free reserve combat squad wastes no time getting away from the DC who are currently stuck against two Tacs who refuse to die. Heroes! Stormtalon drops to hover and zips back to hide a bit and try and deal with their Scouts.

Pressing to make an advantage:

Getting stuck in:

HG fire is ineffective, but their Drop Pod kills a Termie (see previous TDA comment). The snap firing Lascannon also drops another - usually he sucks but he's the man right now! Stormtalon also does great with shooting and kills the Scouts to a man, made of paper but he knows how to dish it out I feel like I'm in with a shot now my HG have arrived. Termies move in to help the Chaplain and cut the Vanguard down but they're badly outnumbered and need support. Leviathan kills all but the PF Sgt and Librarian and his meltabombs.

The Blood Angels pour in to the assault with little else to shoot. Combat goes quite well, with a Terminator loss each. The DC finally kill the remaining two Marines but they've bought more than enough time to negate the DC. The Leviathan finishes his job and consolidates up...

Turn 5

My forces move up to help as fast as they can. Stormtalon does its thing and kills all but one of the multimelta combat squad and the HG fail their charge to help the Termies. Kind of feeling their waste in points... My escaping reserve combat squad charges the Drop Pod to everyone's confusion but I wanted to get the extra movement as far from the DC as possible. A krak even glances it, for further vindication

All units move up:

My Termie Sgt issues a challenge, met by his opposing number. Victory to the Hunter Legion, as expected as I knew my opponent wouldn't want his Librarian punked by a TH. In the opposing turn the DC move up but again little else but the combat, which is slowly resolving. Chaplain finishes off the lone Marine finally at least.

Press the numerical advantage!

With this I really need another turn to make the difference count ideally two to reliably secure victory but a one is rolled for a draw in objectives. I was disappointed by the performance of my elite units, I was lucky to get the draw. The HG and Captain did nothing (their drop pod had more impact..!). The Terminators mostly just died and kept things busy, taking a while to start killing in return - their failed charge could have changed that.

As usual my Tacs and Scouts availed themselves well, and the Leviathan was nails as you'd hope for the cost. Stormtalon is becoming a favourite, but I'm forever wary of how weedy it is with AV11 and 2HP. I think I tried to play too differently, I'm just not going to be able to compete in combat so I need to stick to shooting more. Perhaps some more Dreads are needed - and one thing's for sure a lot less in reserve!

Maybe it's time for some fresh blood. I'll see what kits I can put on the work desk after my Knight is done

[Flint13]

Awesome write up, Fish.

 

Always happy to have more quality batreps to page through when I should be working :D

[WarriorFish]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it - I'm getting better at them though now I know the picture limit is 16 I can at least focus a bit less on taking them and more on noting things down. I think time to get round to that second Ironclad for super Dreadaggedon, plus I still have those ideas for some tweaks to the Centurions.

[Flint13]

Dreads always seem to work best with good saturation. 

 

I'm curious as to why you podded just the Ironclad though. Leviathans are baller when you drop them all up in your opponent's business in turn one :D

[WarriorFish]

They need it, though with the clarification on how grenades are supposed to work their odds have got better. Without some extra support the Leviathan would be too expensive to risk. It probably could have caused some serious mayhem but I thought it made a great vanguard to my push up the table. Everyone out-combats me, so with Big Brother in the mix suddenly my Tacticals don't seem such easy targets :P

[Arkaniss]

Only just discovered the Bat Rep! Lots of tasty pictures in this one I approve muchly :D

 

Massed reserves is a fun but risky way to play. It spices things up from the standard 'put everything in deployment zone' of most games. So while it may not always pay off like you want it to I think it still has it's place - being able to call in fresh reserves to shore up a flank or press an advantage mid-game can turn the tide of battle :)

[WarriorFish]

I don't usually play the reserves game, definitely not to this level. It has advantages but I generally prefer the reliability of starting on the table - perhaps I play too much Guard (or think?) but much of my strategy is to leverage an advantage as soon as possible and them maximise it which is easier to do with most or all of your toys at your disposal. For this list I think it was a bit too disjointed, and probably too combat weighted.

 

I'll see about reserves again next list maybe, or perhaps try something different altogether :)

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The Marines and their vehicles look GREAT in olive drab.

[WarriorFish]

Thanks Bjorn, one of these days I'll get round to settling on a weathering scheme for them but I can never decide/get it right! So for now I concentrate on getting models ready for the table top and improving my skills :)

[WarriorFish]

Another batrep, this time I steered well clear of reserves and got everything on the table I'm starting to feel a little restricted at 1750pts so I feel it's time that some long in the cellophane Marines got assembled and painted...

Cleanse and Control (I think)

1750pts

Legio vs Blood Angels

Legio

Hidden Content

Beat Stick Captain with Gorgon's Chain

Tacticals

- meltabombs

- melta

- multimelta

Rhino

Scouts

- PF

LSS

- flamer

Assault Marines

- flamers

- TH/shield

2 Dreads

- mortis autocannons

- LC/ML

Venerable

- TLLC

Ironclad

- flamer

- 2 HKs

Vindi

- shield

Vindi

- shield

Pred

- lascannons

Blood Angels

Hidden Content

Captain

Mephiston

Chaplain

Sanguinary Priest

Land Raider Crusader

At least 100 DC

I lost deployment, and failed to seize. While my opponent's list is haphazard it could easily ruin my day as my Assault Marines will be little more than a road bump and even with my Warlord trait boosting my Captains FNP he can't tank everyone. Once more it's up to how much damage I can do before the assault along with mitigation.

My deployment is straight forward...

... as is the Blood Angel's

Turn 1

Not much else to do but hurtle towards me, making best use of cover without slowing down:

In response I waste no time in whittling them down. Some scatter on the demolisher cannons fells some, and aided by some Predator fire I do a pretty good job on the foot DC. Unfortunately the jump troops not so much and they're the ones I need to worry about as if they can keep me busy until the rest hit it's game over. Fortunately my Assault Squad manages to pull an assault off, with my Captain splitting off to try and slow down the right flank (you can just see him):

Turn 2

My assault goes poorly, and with reinforcements arriving I know it's only a matter of time before it ends so more a case of how long they can hold them up... The Sergeant's thunder hammer once again proves a complete waste of points, but at least his combat shield works a bit? My Scouts are zipping around capping objectives, but I need to pull them in to help out so they camp out on an objective on the roof ready to pitch in next turn or so.

Otherwise not much goes on. The Iron clad fails to charge, the Venerable helps out and the jump squad takes casualties. Further DC join in to finish off the Assault Marines. I didn't take a picture for this turn, so I may well be missing things. I'm pretty sure Mephiston takes a lascannon to the face but doesn't seem to mind too much, and the LRC DC deploy and plasma/inferno pistol my left Vindicator, and the right loses a HP to the LRC.

Turn 3

I reckon this was the sort of make or break turn. My Tacs that had dismounted to try and thin the JP DC get assaulted by two elements but hold their own thanks to great saves and the odd FNP roll against a power axe. The LRC DC also line up for a charge:

Obviously this doesn't go so well for my Predator, but at least the resulting explosion kills an assaulter. My turn sees some semblance of retribution as the surviving Vindicator regenerates a HP but scatters to only kill a few DC. Despite pouring a bit of fire in they stand strong and my Venerable must charge them. The Ironclad whiffs against the LRC badly, just glancing once.

My Captain gets stuck in to the Captain and DC foot squad, and picks away at them. The Gorgon's Chain proving worth the points as he shrugs off all wounds. In a move for an objective the Rhino immobilises itself, but I'm close enough for it not to matter.

Things starting to come together for me:

Turn 4

I'm starting to get the upper hand. Mephiston's attempt to bolster the LRC's BS is denied but he gets his Sanguine Sword. This doesn't save the LSS from it though, but at least the Scouts survive unharmed and unpinned. The DC in combat with the Venerable are slowly losing, but returning in kind but I'm confident his HPs will hold long enough.

The Vindi hits the LRC hard and stuns it, the Ironclad gets a good melta hit in and finishes it off in combat. My Scouts hurry to aid the Tacs and the two Dreads join in too with nothing to shoot. My Captain is facing off against Mephiston and the BA Captain having killed the DC - with his 240pts price tag he's proving the worth of every one as he slowly works them down. The Tacs hold true and both DC squads start to dwindle.

Turn 5

The game is coming to a close, I'm completing objectives well and my opponent is running out of forces. Mephiston falls to my Captain and the DC have few left. In my turn the Ironclad joins the fray and victory is claimed without need of the 8-1 objective scoreline.

Last man standing, despite his humble means:

Not a bad game in the end, but with the list I was against it was going to be a lop sided battle one way or the other! I felt my list did well, and I'm loving Angels of Death - I want Technomancy for myself so it may be time to revisit my Libarium... The Vindicators weren't as good as normal, and the Predator showed why she hadn't left the shelf in so long but perhaps not the right battle for her.

As I mentioned I feel I need a bit more to play with as my Marine collection - painted ones at least - start to show their age. My Elite slot is crowded but this can be alleviated somewhat by putting my Dreads in my Heavy Support slots now I suppose. Maybe I should look at adding more Tacs as despite their humble means they prove reliable in each battle. The Assault Squad did their job in slowing the enemy, but it wasn't a cheap deal. Dreads as always great, and nice to see the Venerable survive his first battle and the Ironclad limping on with one arm and HP left!

Think it's time to spruce up the terrain a bit more too, but it's always hard to pry yourself away from new models... My plan is to finish the ETL and get back to my CSM but I reckon I can fit the odd SM unit in. I have a few ideas so watch this space

[WarriorFish]

Had a busy day yesterday getting in three games! I'll write them up as I go today, though the games were pretty straight forward so alas they're not terribly exciting...

Game 1

500pts

Legio Venator vs Black Templars

We all took 1750pt lists for the day, with the stipulation that we must use the same models (not necessarily wargear) to create a 500pts list using the Allied Detachment, so this is my 500pts list's first game of the day. We also decided to keep things quicker and simpler with a standard 12" deployment and slugging it out until someone conceded.

Legio:

Hidden Content

Techmarine with Servoharness

5x Tacticals with flamer

Lascannon Razorback

5x Tacticals with Lascannon

Lascannon Razorback

Predator destructor with HBs

Black Templars:

Hidden Content

Captain with Relic Blade

Crusade Squad with Melta

Lascannon Razorback

Dreadnought with Multimelta

Whirlwind

I lose the roll and deploy second, but this gives me a good way to counter deploy. Whirlwind is behind the building and my second Razorback is in the bottom left - you can just about make them out Crusade squad was in the Razorback, and my right hand squad was in their transport on the right.

The Game

Since it was relatively quick I'll not break it into turns. Things started well when I stole the initiative and made my lascannons count, forcing the enemy Razorback to snap shoot and the Pred glanced the Whirlwind once. In return the Templars move forwards to meet me. The Whirlwind missed and the Dread failed to damage my right hand Razorback.

My forces shuffle up a bit more and continue their shooting. Sadly poor rolls abound and I achieve little, just taking a hull point from the Dread... Fortunately my opponent has equally bad luck, only stunning my left hand Razorback. This is little cause for celebration though as they are closing in rapidly!

Fortunately my guns aim true - more or less - the snap shot from the left Razorback hit but failed to damage the enemy Razorback. The Pred follows the Whirlwind that is trying to shuffle back to avoid both it and my left hand Razorback but fails to get passed the cover save. Lascannons do much better, destroying both the Razorback and Dread. This isn't too great as the Templars are very close.

Next turn sees the Whirlwind glanced to death by Heavy Bolters and the Crusade squad thinned due to Legio fire - both on my turn and on the charge. Two Tacs die to enemy shooting and another in combat, but their brothers kill the remaining Crusaders in vengeance. The Techmarine who had challenged the Captain to a duel weathered the AP3 Relic Blade before crushing his opponent with his Servo-arms. Victory to the Legio!

Quite fun to play a little game, though they tend to be rather basic as there's not much you can do strategically. It is fun to play "low scale" as it tests you out and you normally get some pretty epic scraps going on (usually in the middle of the table)

I have some more pictures for the other two games that I'll post up in due course, but in advance they're pretty straight forward too. So I didn't get many pictures and there's not much exciting to write about but so it does sometimes!

[WarriorFish]

Got distracted by some Knight painting... quick catch up on the doubles game. This was from our 500pts lists with randomly allocated sides, I ended up allied with the Blood Angels against Black Templars and Grey Knights:

Game 2

Legio Venator + Blood Angels vs Black Templars + Grey Knights

Legio and BT forces are the same as above, using the same mission criteria.

Blood Angels

Hidden Content

Chaplain

10x Tacticals with Melta, Heavy Flamer and Power Fist

Attack Bike with Multimelta

Dreadnought with Lascannons and Missile Launcher

Grey Knights

Hidden Content

Librarian in TDA

10x Grey Knights with 2x Psycannons

Rhino

The righteous and faithful Legio and BA won the dice off and deployed first against the traitorous Black Templars and their witch Grey Knight allies. Deployment was a little odd, flanked by the Dread on the left our forces set up in the centre similar to how I did last game. The flamer squad sat in their Razorback on the right flank with the Predator escorting the remainder of my forces.

Due to Warlord traits my ally could infiltrate all but his Dread and the GK Librarian could deep strike on turn 1. Otherwise the enemy set up mostly opposite us behind some LoS blocking terrain which the combat squad and bike infiltrated behind in anticipation of the enemy advance.

The Game

Jumping out to attack the BA unfortunately didn't achieve much, but accurate Lascannon fire stuns the enemy Razorback and glances the Whirlwind. In return the enemy Dread takes out the bike and the GK whiff there rolls to only kill one Tactical. Oh, and the Librarian deep stikes in and plants a vortex of doom on the Predator, inflicting 3 penetrating hits. Damn witches and their witchery. At least he got a peril doing so and suffered a wound, the idiot.

With vengeance on his mind (and a repeat of his performance last time) my Techmarine moved up to shoot and assault but he was gunned down by the heavy flamer combat squad. With the BTs advancing behind the GK Rhino the other combat squad fell back somewhat but failed to damage the Rhino with their melta. Fortunate my right flank Razorback was moving up and provided the freem we needed to pop it open. To make things better the Dread destroyed the BT one and my other Razorback destroyed his opposing number forcing the Captain to disembark.

Things are looking pretty good, but against all those attacks and power weapons from the enemy there's still a way to go. The GK assault the melta squad but due to their positioning are forced to conga line and only kill a single Blood Angel - even though I managed to deny Hammerhands this was some very poor rolling! In return the BA cut down two of the GK and they fail their morale check and flee - fortunately for us the BA squad doesn't catch them. With the rest of our forces moving up (the Techmarine joining the other BA combat squad) the poor GK are gunned down without mercy, the final three survivors from the righteous fusillade cut down by the Chaplain and his diminished combat squad achieving nothing in return...

After this it was very much a case of wrapping up. The Crusade squad that was advancing was gunned down leaving only the Captain who was charged by everyone who could reach. Seeking a rematch the Techmarine issued a challenge and once more weathered the relic blade only taking a single wound. Alas he didn't get to finish the job again as the vengeful Blood Angels took the Captain out despite his 2+ save. With only the badly damaged Whirlwind left on 1HP our opponents concede - victory once more!

The last stand:

I'll work on the final batrep in a bit, though it was a bit of a slaughter so won't be the most exciting of reads so I'll try and keep it brief

[WarriorFish]

Last but not least the final batrep:

1750pts

Legio Venator vs Black Templars (again)

Apparently the BT were glutton for punishment... maybe next time they shouldn't disgrace themselves by allying with witches

Legio

Hidden Content

Fist of Medusa Strike Force

Core

Armoured Task Force

Techmarine with servoharness

Predator Annihilator with lascannons

Predator Destructor with heavy bolters, storm bolter

Vindicator

Vindicator

Whirlwind with stormbolter (gotta spend 'em all, also WYSIWYG :P )

Command

Strike Force Command

Gorgon's Chain beat stick Captain

Auxiliary

Honoured Ancients

Venerable Dread with lascannons

Iron Guardians

10x Tacticals with melta, lascannon

Razorback with lascannons

Ironclad Dread with 2x HKs, heavy flamer

Iron Guardians

10x Tacticals with flamer, missile launcher

Razorback with lascannons

Dread with lascannons

Black Templars

(from memory)

Hidden Content

Captain with artificer armour, relic blade

Razorback with lascannons

6x Crusader squad with melta, sword brother with power sword

Razorback with lascannons

10x Tacticals with lascannon

Rhino

Dread with multimelta

Drop pod

Ironclad Dread with 2x HKs

Venerable Dread with assault cannon

5x Assault Terminators with 2x thunder hammers

3x Centurions with lascannons

Whirlwind

Predator Destructor with heavy bolters

Deployment

I know there's a drop pod with a Dreadnought so I try to spread out a bit to prevent easy landing. There's not much scope for positioning and I don't want to have anything left isolated on the right flank depending on where my opponent deploys and moves up. Captain and Techmarine stand ready to buff troops and intercept/repair respectively. My opponent deploys mostly centrally, his Centurions atop a ruin and the rest nearby the only exception being the Predator and the Tac's Rhino on his left flank.

Turn 1

With my opponent failing to seize I have a great opportunity to start the game off in my favour and I try to make the most of it. Having plenty of one weapon tanks means I could make full use of the PotMS within 12" and scoot my forces up, the Demolishers setting their sights on the Centurions. The Ironclad hangs back a bit intending to intercept the pod Dread - I decide that trying to prevent it would be losing the initiative and by moving my units up he won't be able to get to the more valuable units without landing in front of my army which would have obvious disadvantages!

Weapons fire is effective, the Predator is stunned as is a Razorback and the lead lascannon Centurion falls to a Demolisher shell. Lascannons freem away and hull points are stripped, a good showing overall but nothing huge yet. Even so it sets a precedent for the amount of fire power I can dish out...

The pod comes in behind my lines as expected and the multimelta Dread with little of merit to shoot goes for the Whirlwind... only to roll a 1 on the penetration table. In hindsight this would set the tone of the majority of the battle as Templar fire power bounced harmlessly off the Vindicators.

Turn 2

At this stage I have things in hand, if all goes to plan now then I'll be in a strong position. My Ironclad fails against the drop Dread, forcing the nearby Razorback to pitch in. Fortunately he rolls well and explodes the Dread saving my from expending any more vital fire power to protect my lines. Further shells are lobbed at the Centurions, killing another. Lascannon fire dances across the battlefield and destroys the Predator, knocks out a lascannon on a Razorback and inflicts a glance on the Ironclad. The Legio is gaining the upper hand and if things continue like this the game will be in the bag!

The Templars know they've got a long slog on their hands and advance as fast as they can, functional weapon platforms retaining their guns usage though. Venerable assault cannons strip two HPs from my right hand Vindi including a stunned result (ignored thanks to PotMS). The drop pod's storm bolter tries its luck against the Techmarine but he cares not. The enemy Terminators mishap on the right flank, allowing me to place them all the way in his left hand deployment corner. Oh dear, that's 200 odd points down the drain as they'll do nothing... especially when their run rolls are 1s.

End of Legio turn 2:

Turn 3

As this stage I am quite confident of victory. I have no losses and the enemy has taken a beating, I can easily afford to take casualties and still retain a strong shooting phase as long as I make sure they don't close - something I have every reason to believe I can do. My units continue their slow advance and my Techmarine is off to try and save my Vindicator. The Whirlwind regenerates its HP and it turns out I was looking for 6s on IWND all this time when it should have been 5s... The Ironclad destroys the pod in an assault, earning me a VP.

The enemy Ironclad is destroyed and the Venerable takes a HP. The damaged Razorback is destroyed and further HPs taken off the other Razorback. I can afford some poor rolls which is just as well as the rest of my army does nothing.

In return the Templars know it's more a matter of preserving pride than victory - he's got no VPs and I've stopped caring after I got the second for destroying a vehicle with my own vehicle (which makes 3 with First Blood). Their fire does nothing more than take a hull point from my left Vindicator.

End of Legio turn 3:

Things are looking bad for the BT...

Turn 4

At this stage I know not even a fool could lose this battle, but mercy is for the weak so I offer none! The Rhino that has been speeding up the left flank reached half way which I decide is far enough and it is destroyed by lascannon fire. The last Centurion falls though not after taking a lot of fire power. Otherwise my forces are advancing in an orderly fashion, in particular the Venerable and a combat squad to deal with the right flank.

In response there isn't much to be done, but the Templars aren't known for giving up without a fight. Lascannon fire from the Tac misses the Venerable but his Venerable destroys my damaged Vindicator. Otherwise the Captain and his squad advance further but their bolter fire achieves nothing against my combat squad.

End of Templar turn 4:

Templars with no choice but to hurry up as fast as they can, even if it is to certain doom...

Turn 5

The Venerable and Tacs move to intercept the enemy Tacs and fire power is poured into the Templars. The Venerable falls to a demolisher shell and the Captain takes a lascannon, the rest of his squad destroyed under bolter, Predator and lascannon fire. The Tac squad takes losses to several squads but holds firm and despite a successful hit from an overwatch shot against a failed charge fails to damage the Venerable.

With only two units left (three if you include the Terminators, but why would you?) there is little to be done - and little is achieved. The dice gods appear to show the mercy I could not and decree the game ends here. With 4 VPs to 0 it's a comfortable win for the Legio, as I stopped going for them after about the second turn...

Terminators struggling up the field, passed their losses...

Overall the Fist of Medusa was good, better than I had thought. It was unfortunate that the dice gods decree that it'd be an uphill battle for the Templars as it didn't feel like I victory I earned, rather one I simply didn't lose. That's the nature of the game though. I will take the FoM again at some point in the future, but I'd like to add some more units to the roster first.

Now my ETL vow is slowly coming to a close I'm eyeing up some additions to my SM to flesh them out a bit. I have the rescue Scouts and my Snipers ready for a repaint so I might bump them up the list (my Scouts have a well deserved reputation for slaughter!). I want to replace my Vindicators as regulars in my list, before the fear they invoke turns to weak bladders or worse I'm thinking some grav would be a good alternative?

[Bjorn Firewalker]

 

I do rather like my Venerable, thanks He turned out very nicely, perhaps too nice as nobody can seem to stop trying to shoot him every bloody game!

"Sir, there's a huge leviathan running towards u-"

 

"SHOOT THE SHINY ONE!"

 

*horrible screams follow as the leviathan makes balloons out of people's intestines*

Legio Venator Captain: "Why is the Venerable Brother's heavy flamer spewing harmless helium instead of flammable promethium?"

 

Legio Venator Techmarine: "It was the Venerable Brother himself who ordered the change in loadout."

 

Legio Venator Captain: "I see he earned his reputation for eccentricity. Why did the Venerable Brother order his heavy flamer fitted with a helium tank instead of a promethium one?"

 

Legio Venator Venerable Dreadnought: "Here you go, little heretic! A cute little balloon, made of the guts of the false prophet you foolishly chose to follow! Have fun with it in the minute you have left to live, while I kill all your cute little friends! What, you don't want to play with balloons? That's okay, I understand. I'll just make a balloon out of your guts, and give them both to the cute little Daemonhost your false prophet made! Hey, little abomination! Do you like to play with balloons? Guess what? You're about to become one!"

 

Daemonhost: "Tzeentch have mercy upon me! Deliver me from that metal lunatic's... Argh!"

 

Legio Venator Techmarine: "I intend to wipe this knowledge from my memory, and advise you to do the same."

 

Legio Venator Captain: "Good point."

[WarriorFish]

Now I've finished my ETL work, it's time for some power armour. Though I will focus on my CSM I still plan on doing some Marine projects:

The Cataphractii and Contemptor will be taken for my DIY, the rest will go to my Chaos. The Purifiers will be used to convert some librarians up (and probably a couple of sorcerers) I have plenty of other Marines awaiting work too, so I might mix it up a bit. I have the Centurions sitting in their box for a long time, and a Thunderfire longer still (it's metal!)...

[WarriorFish]

Testing out some pieces, with the various bits I'm aiming for some casting type poses:

I'll see what the bits box can do :)

[WarriorFish]

Feels like a long time since I did any assembly, but I've all but finished the first librarian:

I will add the other magnetised options later :) I'm aiming to try sculpting some horns on the crux skull, nothing fancy but I'd like to make him look a bit more like a GW librarian. Helmet kept separate so I can paint a bit easier (I'm learning! :P ), or maybe if I decide on a different one before priming.

[Stercus]

Nice posing on that second librarian. He's got a real look of coiled menace.

[WarriorFish]

Thanks, he came together nicely albeit by no real plan :P The first will go back to the drawing board as I explore my available bits a bit more :)

[WarriorFish]

Back to another game:

Legio vs Grey Knights

Cloak and Shadows 1750pts

Legio

Hidden Content

Captain

- Axe of Medusa

- Gorgon's chain

Techmarine

- Servo-harness

5x Scouts

- Power fist

5x Tacticals

- Melta

Vet Sgt

- Combi-melta

5x Tacticals

- Flamer

Vet Sgt

- Combi-melta

Stormtalon

- Typhoon missile launcher

Dreadnought

- Assault cannon

Dreadnought

- Assault cannon

- Heavy flamer

Ironclad

- Melta

- 2x Hunter killers

Venerable

- Twin-linked lascannon

5x Assault Terminators

- 2x Thunder hammers/storm shields

Sgt

- Thunder hammer/storm shield

Leviathan Siege Dreadnought

- Ceramite plating

- Drill

- 3x Hunter killers

Grey Knights

Hidden Content

Draigo

5x Terminators

- halberds

- 2x hammer

Justicar

- power sword

Land Raider Crusader

- Multi-melta

10x Strike Squad

- 2x psycannons

Rhino

10x Strike Squad

- 2x psycannons

Rhino

Razorback

- Twin-linked lascannon

Dreadnought

- Twin-linked lascannon

Dreadknight

- heavy incinerator

- heavy psycannon

Deployment

My opponent wins the roll and deploys first, right up to the line and ready to come at me.

In response, I hang back a bit - and leave only what I must to reserves. I want to prepare for the NDK's arrival so I can hopefully deal with that before the rest of his army arrives. I don't see the point of infiltrating the Scouts as they'll just be picked off as he advances so I hold them in my lines to see what they can do. With the +1 FNP Warlord trait (that CAD re-roll always nice) I'm thinking my Captain might be able to handle Draigo in a pinch.

Turn 1

I fail to seize and most of my opponent's forces move up, the NDK fails to arrive which might actually work in my opponent's favour... The Venerable takes a lascannon hit and loses the CCW arm, otherwise I escape unscathed somehow.

The turn starts off great as the Venerable regenerates his HP, but I don't have any reason to press up too fast so I mostly re-arrange in expectation of the NDK's arrival. The Techmarine just misses out on the repair and my weapon's fire is largely ineffective, just stunning the enemy Dread and taking a hull point from the left hand Rhino. It's not a good start, as I need to make my fire power felt before he arrives but with my opponent's poor first turn there's time to pull ahead.

Turn 2

The NDK fails to turn up again, this is most inconvenient as with the other GK fast approaching I don't want to have two fronts. Other than moving up fairly quickly my Dreads just suffer some hull point loss and my Terminators shrug off psycannon fire.

No Stormtalon but good rolling sees all hull points recovered! Ideally the Leviathan would deal with him but I have no choice but to send him up to intercept Draigo. The Techmarine patches up the Venerable so my forces are back at 100%! Great news, but unfortunately I can't boast of being that much better off against my opponent seeing how little I achieve. The enemy Dreadnought is immobilised, which is better than nothing.

To make matters worse, the Leviathan pulls off his charge and ends up immobilising the Land Raider. I was hoping he'd fail his 11+ charge, and certainly that he'd do a bit more than one penetration So far things haven't gone to plan, but will my full forces available there is still opportunity to change that.

Turn 3

The NDK turns up, and lands behind my right flank which isn't too great for me. Fortunately my Captain tanks all his shots. Draigo pulls off his psychic junk and charges the Leviathan but not before a melta slags one of his Terminators. The assault goes poorly, the Leviathan takes the other two non-hammer Terminators down but is taken out in the process Draigo consolidates back.

Turn 3 is not a good one so far, but only being a little behind on objectives and with plenty of options there's only one thing for it! Who dares wins The Stormtalon races in and takes out the Razorback neatly. I plan to see what the objective on the roof does and take out the Dread next turn with him.

My nearby forces throw everything they have at the NDK, but only do a single wound. This is followed by a charge by all but the Tacs. The NDK stuns the Venerable but it's not enough, as the combined fury of the heroes of the Chapter takes him out - but only just. This single act nabs me all three of my objectives (kill a psyker, enemy unit, and enemy vehicle/MC). Along with the captured objective my Tacs got previously I pull ahead on objectives, if I can keep this up victory is more than likely!

Sadly things go poorly elsewhere. The Ironclad tries to hold up Draigo but falls achieving nothing. My other Dreads also achieve nothing, so it'll be down to the Termies more or less. I will have to rush my right hand forces up.

Turn 4

My opponent's forces have little shooting to do, but it is fortunately useless short of stunning my right hand Dread and the lascannons taking out my Venerable. For some luck Draigo fluffs his charge against my Termies, giving me an opportunity. In return my left Dread destroys the Rhino, but they back off too far for a charge. My right Dread charges and destroys the Rhino but not before the Stormtalon explodes the enemy Dread!

Things go wrong when my Termies get snake eyes for their charge, giving Draigo the chance to try again... at least I sneakily nab an objective or two in the process and my forces are rushing up to assist the left flank well so they should be able to get mostly stuck in next turn.

Turn 5

As expected, the GK make their strength count. With excellent rolling both my Dreads are destroyed and all but the Terminator Sergeant are lost achieving nothing in return. Sadly my rolling continues to be abysmal but the Stormtalon does nab an objective and kill a couple of GKs. I send in my Scouts and Captain to help, issuing a challenge that is accepted. My Captain loses a wound but otherwise nothing.

Fortunately my terrible rolls come in handy for once, as I get a 1 for turn 6 and the game ends with a solid victory... 7 objectives to 3.

It was a bit of an odd game as it see-sawed about, but I was lucky in a few ways. I started off with rubbish objectives, but got jammy as I discarded and earned them to get a good count up. All three in a turn was crucial, plus the Termie Sergeant denied a "kill a character" objective by not dying but had the game gone on with such rolling I would have struggled as my opponent had the upper hand in shooting and combat. Never thought I'd be glad to see another 1 this game...

That does mean it's hard to review the list properly, given how the last couple of turns were hamstrung by dice that could do almost nothing right - compounded by my opponent's dice being on fire! The Terminators did nothing other than hold against attack, which on reflection seems to be the best they do in games so I've decided they need a good time out to think about what they're bringing to the table...

Stormtalon did well, but then that's easy to do when nobody shoots at you Scouts had no opportunity and the Dreads struggled. If my charge rolls weren't so bad they'd probably account for more, but they just got plinked away by psycannons with little in answer

Next game I need to spend a bit more time on my list I think, like I normally do. Last couple of games I didn't put much time into them and perhaps I'm seeing the results of that. I've decided I definitely need to spruce up my Marines with some new toys, just need to decide on what!

[WarriorFish]

Looks like I really need to get some more painting done... time for a batrep again!

Purge the Alien @ 1750pts

Legio vs Black Templars

Legio

Hidden Content

Fist of Medusa Strike Force

Armoured Task Force

- Techmarine w/Servo-harness, 2x Servitor

- Vindicator

- Vindicator

- Whirlwind w/Stormbolter

Strike Force Command

- Captain w/Artificer, Axe of Medusa, Gorgon's Chain

Honoured Ancients

- Ironclad w/melta, 2x HKs, Pod w/Deathwind

Honoured Ancients

- Venerable w/TLLC, Pod

Iron Guardians

- 10x Tac w/VSgt, combi-melta, melta, lascannon, Razorback w/TLLC

Iron Guardians

- 10x Tac w/VSgt, combi-melta, flamer, multi-melta, Razorback w/TLLC

Templars

Hidden Content

Captain

- relic blade

- melta bombs

Chaplain

Chaplain

- TDA

Crusader Squad

- melta

- lightning claws

Rhino

Crusader Squad

- power sword

Rhino

5x Assault Terminators

- 2x TH/SS

Land Raider Crusader

- multi-melta

Venerable

- assault cannon

Iron clad

- chainfist

- melta

- 2x HKs

Dread

- multi-melta

Drop pod

Predator

- TLLC, lascannons

Thunderfire Cannon

We're going diagonally across the table, winning the roll I elect to deploy:

The plan is to try and prevent the pod ruining things, but keep room to speed out and get shooting ASAP. As a response my opponent deploys a little cautiously but still pressing up:

Turn 1

My opponent seizes the initiative. Somehow I was expecting this to be the case, so I reckon my deployment will be fine. Turns out I'm right as enemy fire achieves little and the Dread podded in on my left and only destroys the Razorback's lascannon. The Predator finds itself out of range but only just - good for me!

I waste no time in response, moving up to attack and sending the damaged Razorback to get the gun repaired after it regenerated the HP - but not before leaving the melta squad behind... The Dread doesn't make it though a Marine is felled in the explosion. The Rhino that moved up is destroyed by Vindicator fire, and my Ironclad pods into their lines to cause mischief but sadly only manages to inflict a single hull point loss on the opposing Ironclad's rear armour

Turn 2

The dismounted Chaplain's squad runs to try and flank my lines and intercept my Scouts, otherwise the Templars move up. The Predator inflicts some damage on the other Razorback, fortunately only a stun and 2 HPs. A Vindicator loses a HP to TFC barrages and my Captain a wound also. Sadly my Ironclad is destroyed, achieving only a delay. Otherwise not a bad opposing turn for me.

My turn sees things improve, with the Venerable landing to try and continue the Ironclad's work but only shaking his opposing number. IWND does a good job with a HP for each vehicle regenerated, the rest my Techmarine sorts. The enemy Pred is shaken, the LRC too and the foot Chaplain's squad is wiped out under sustained fire. Most my my forces are moving right to intercept, but the melta squad and Dread are moving up the left after destroying the pod.

Turn 3

Somehow my Venerable survives survives being attacked by his counterpart, managing to explode him on his over watch fire! The stunned LRC only manages a glance and a stun on my right hand Vindicator and the TFC fails to score enough hits to finish it off. Things are looking very good for me now, especially as I thought the Venerable would only delay them another turn.

My turn sees this continue, as the LRC is popped by a Vindicator and combined with additional fore power all but a LC Termie are killed. He then fails his roll and runs away! My Venerable goes after the Ironclad, but gets lucky again and survives after taking no hits - taking a chainfist arm in response.

Turn 4

The writing is on the wall, but some trouble can still be caused. The Rhino continues to press left to my small advancing contingent, and the Venerables shape up for a fight. The Ironclad manages only to stun my Venerable who finishes the job - Mr Lucky today!

I decide that shooting the termie is a waste and he deserves an honourable death against my commander. The Venerable attacks the Pred, finishing it off with yet more 6s, and my combined forces pop the Rhino but can only manage to kill a couple of Marines. Could be better, but things are still going my way so I can afford slowing down.

Turn 5

The TFC tries his luck against the Venerable, but it's not enough. The Crusader squad meltas and destroys my Dread and the termie fails his charge roll. There have been better last stands but so goes the dice sometimes.

Fire is poured into the Crusaders, leaving only the Captain and Sword Brother. Melta, bolters and lascannons see to them. My Captain charges, weathers the claws and finishes the job as does the Venerable against the TFC. The game ends accordingly.

Another good game for the FoM. The durability of the list shined and my Techmarine managed to get some good repairs in. Of course PotMS was no small part either; single weapon platforms really enjoy the mobility it offers. Good marshalling of my guns saw a solid victory but despite the initial bad start I think the podding Dreads played no small part. The Venerable surviving and going on to cause destruction was very unexpected of course, but even if it hadn't I would have successfully tied up no small portion of his army.

The game would have been closer no doubt, but at that stage would have still been favourable to me as I would have just had to commit more of my forces for a potentially longer game and keep unit losses down. With the FoM's bonuses I don't think that would have been too much effort. A good result, but high time I got some painting done to supplement my favoured units...