Night Lords Tallarn Commander's Chaos (Three 'Zerkers Completed)

[Tallarn Commander]

Aah, thanks for the correction! In the future I'll try for an unbuffed "Delightful Agonies" and then buff his Malefic Discipline spells with stabs after that.

[Relic]

That is the way to do it alright. Like I say, easy error that you'd not be alone in!

[Tallarn Commander]

Greetings everyone,

 

I got in a game against IG last weekend. This was a rematch against a Cadian player who I played back in April:   https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/321042-tallarn-commanders-chaos-warpborn-csm-go-to-a-1k-tournament/?do=findComment&comment=5821545  

 

 

This was a fun close game against a very nice opponent. We ran out of time and decided to call it a draw as it could have gone either way. 

 

However, this game definitely shows how the new codex shines in casual games such as this. Both of us brought casual armies both times. The first game he easily wiped the floor with me. The second (post Codex) game was very close because of the 2 wound CSM and various other tricks. I'm also happy to report that I successfully used my Master of Possession stab abilities to only buff the Malefic Discipline. 

 

I also maintained my streak of forgetting about the Wanton Destruction, Massacre, etc.  Hopefully I remember it at some point as exploding 6s can be very good. I've only remembered it in one game I played using the new codex. And, technically, in that game my opponent was the one who remembered and he just kept reminding me. No one ever said I was good at this game.

 

 

Random relevant meme stolen from Discord

 

Here are some photos from the game

 

 

Daemon Prince Buzzard's 2nd Claw Pre Game

 

Some Cadian infantry before the game

 

 

 

BloodLady skitters up the board

 

 

The Guard move out

 

 

Fight in the Center

 

 

Blue vs. Blue

 

 

First Claw Chosen Squad assault the Guard line

This was my first time using Chosen. I forgot that they have 3 wounds each (Doh!), but was otherwise impressed.

 

My 2 squad of Traitor Guard spent the day playing cards on a backfield objective

Go fish!

 

 

Night Lords Chosen take out Cadian infantry

 

 

Tank Commanders blow away Mary the Maulerfiend

 

 

In midnight clad!

 

 

Twas a fun evening of 40K indeed! Enjoy the photos.

 

 

Night Lords, "Ave dominus nox!"

 

 

[Tallarn Commander]

Hello everyone, I hope you all are doing well.

 

I haven't been too active on the hobby front since finishing up Daemon Prince Buzzard back in May. So I'm happy to report that I've finished another CSM project. This time I took a break from painting my main 5 armies of Chaos (Night Lords CSM, Nostroman 9th Renegades and Heretics, World Eaters CSM, my DoomFevers Nurgle CSM, and my own custom faction called the Warpborn CSM). Instead I just painted up 7 Chaos Marines in 7 different color schemes. It was a very fun, refreshing break. I really enjoyed using colors that I rarely or never get to use. It was also a nice chance to see how salt chipping worked with various colors.

 

Here are some pictures...

 

A few WIP pics of some of the Chaos Marines

 

 

And here are some photos of completed Chaos Marines

 

 

Orphan Maker

Orphan Maker is the only paint scheme I didn't really like. I'm going to strip him and he will become a Night Lord.

 

 

Death Dancer

 

Here was what this guy looked like in the planning stages. I do like the new B&S website overall, but I sure miss the old army painter.

 

 

 

Lashmaster, this bloke is definitely a Sons of Malice Chaos Marine

I didn't think I'd like the paint scheme. But after he was done I rather love the stark blacks and whites. 

 

 

Here's what his original plan looked like

 

 

 

Swordhiss

 

 

 

And another original plan

 

 

Devotion, he's probably my favorite of all of the bunch

The blues and whites really contrast nicely

 

 

And his original plan

 

 

Tattersoul

 

 

And I did paint up one Chaos Marine in my Warpborn color scheme, Hell-Lancer. But I used a brighter shade of green, Lothern Green, on him because a the big Seattle GT in May my Warpborn CSM looked a bit too dark in the large gaming hall with dim lights. Now they will hopefully look a bit better in low-light gaming environments.

 

Hell-Lancer

 

 

With Hell-Lancer, I now have 15 members of the Warpborn all done and ready to go. I'm dead in the water with the Warpborn until I get more miniatures. I'm waiting to get the various miniatures I have ordered from Mini Wargaming up in Canada. They did a crowdfunder earlier this year to put together their own Chaos miniatures. It's called "Ravaged Star: Armies of the Veil Touched" and its through a site called Gamefound. I will be getting 14 Possessed, 10 female Chaos Marines, a Disco Lord, a Maulerfiend, and a Daemon Prince. I should get them at some point in the spring. Here's a link for some pics of these nifty models:  https://gamefound.com/projects/miniwargaming/ravaged-star#/section/project-story

 

 

Take care and enjoy the pics!

 

 

Edited October 14, 2022 by Tallarn Commander

[madlibrarian]

I love the Swordhiss colour scheme! Could definitely see one or two squads painted like that looking incredible on the tabletop. Nice work! 

[Tallarn Commander]

Thanks Madlibrarian!

 

Yes, I rather like the black and yellow scheme. It was inspired by the black and yellow used by a fellow B&S Chaos player, McGibs. Sadly, the links to all his photos are broken: 

https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/349869-mcgibss-bloody-beasties-and-other-sundries/

 

But fortunately he has his own website McGibs.com and you can see his excellent army there:

http://mcgibs.com/chaos-contemptor-dreadnought/

 

 

 

[Kythnos]

Something that I have been wondering for a while when following your awesome and enjoyable chaos journey is the lack of backpacks on your marines. What is up with that? 

[Tallarn Commander]

Good question Kythnos. Back in 3.5 when I started this army (waay back in 2002) Night Lords could take 4 Fast Attack units. Night Lords could also take "stealth" at something like 1 point per model which granted them a +1 cover save. In addition back then CSM veteran squads, which I loved, could infiltrate. So I figured that my guys should look all speedy, sleek, stealthy, and sneaky rather than big and cumbersome. I figured that the giant backpacks and huge winged helmets weren't exactly in theme for a stealth-oriented force and so I didn't use them.

 

I've just done that ever since. I do give most of my heavy weapons troopers backpacks since I figure they would need the extra cooling, energy, and ammo storage capacity granted by a backpack.

[Lord Abaia]

Whoa, I've been reading your battle reports and looking at your models for years, and I never consciously realized that your guys don't have backpacks. My mind is blown!

 

My most frequent opponent when I first started playing 40k and the only one who played SM, modeled all of his marines the same way. It must have conditioned me to see this as normal.

[Kythnos]

Thanks for the explanation, @Tallarn Commander. Makes perfect sense when seen from that angle. 

[SanguinaryGuardsman]

Really nice stuff.  These guys look like they have been quite busy burning up the galaxy.  

[Tallarn Commander]

Thank you for the kind words Magpie Knight, Kythnos, and Sanguinary Guardsman!

 

I finally managed to finish 2 Night Lords projects I've been working on since earlier in the summer. I completed 3 heavy chainaxe troopers for my Legionaries Squads and I completed "upgrading" a batch of 20 Night Lords. Most of the upgrades consisted of converting from 25 mm bases to 32 mm bases, but some conversions were more elaborate such as giving Malefic Tomes to some troopers. 

 

Here are some photos.

 

 

A shot of all 3 heavy chainaxe troopers,

 

 

And from the back you can see each has temporarily allied with a particular god, but as Night Lords they see it as a temporary arrangement

The gods, of course, might see the arrangement as a more permanent matter.

 

Seen from the front left

 

 

Dark Chorus, he specializes in composing dirges and other music set to the tune of his screaming victims

 

Here's a WiP shot of Dark Chorus

 

 

 

Extreme Lust, the warband's leaders are a bit concerned he is falling to Slaanesh's siren call

 

 

WiP shot of Extreme Lust

 

 

 

Gorefling, he is an artisan with an axe. Gorefling is steadily rising through the ranks of 2nd Battalion, House Nightfall.

 

 

Some even whisper he will soon attain the rank of "Master of Executions"

 

 

WiP photo of Gorefling

 

 

 

And here are some shots of the batch of 20 Night Lords "upgrades" I completed

 

 

Here is one of the more significant model upgrades: I gave Ruven a new arm and a new tome

 

The Old Ruven Godslayer seen with empty left hand and magnetized right arm

 

A WiP shot of Ruven

 

 

And the new Ruven. I gave him his old staff back and a tome, which will often be upgraded to the Liber Hereticus.

 

 

The old Bolivar with his sidekick Sparky

 

 

The new Bolivar with his tome, he can be a Legionary Squad member

Or he can be a Sorcerer once I get over the sad fact that I can no longer charge after casting "Warptime."  

 

 

My favorite model in the army has long been Ninja Joe, a rank and file Chaos Marine with nunchaku.

 

The old Ninja Joe

 

 

WiP shot of Ninja Joe

 

 

The new Ninja Joe on larger base

 

 

 

 

The old Nightheart with bolter (seen on bottom left)

 

 

The new Nightheart with bolter, bigger base, additional weathering, and trophy skeleton

 

 

 

 

....TO BE CONTINUED BELOW......

 

 

 

[Tallarn Commander]

Continued from above.....

 

 

The old Nightclaws with an "s" at the end

 

 

The new Nightclaw, with the "s" removed from his name, with heavy flamer, additional weathering, and accursed weapon

Now that termies can no longer take lightning claws and now that our flamers get "Let the galaxy burn!" this new loadout seemed like it would be more fun.

 

 

A WiP shot of the new Nightclaw

 

 

 

A WiP shot of Crowsoul

 

 

 

The new Crowsoul with bigger base and chainsword 

 

 

Uros Kas has lost his bolter and now has a Malefic Tome, a WiP shot

 

 

A completed Uros Kas

 

 

In addition to completing 2 Night Lords projects, I have begun 2 additional Night Lords Projects: Malcharion and First Claw

 

 

Malcharion can either be a Contemptor Dreadnought or a Helbrute, depending on my druthers

 

 

First Claw can either be a squad of up to 10 Chosen with 2 powerfists and icon or it can be a squad of 8 "Possessed"

And since many Night Lords would not be fond of being Possessed, First Claw are not "Possessed" per se. Instead they are just regular Marines with storm shields that grant them an extra wound, Toughness 5, and a 5++ save. And their incredible hitting power comes from chainglaives not mutated appendages. Possessed that are not, after all, Possessed. 

 

 

Some closeups of First Claw

 

The squad champion Ravenblade

 

 

Powerfist trooper

 

 

First Claw member, on loan from the Dark Mechanicus perhaps

 

rank and file

 

 

First Claw member with slightly mutated head, don't tell him that of course, he'd kill you for implying he was mutated

 

 

First Claw member with fist and Chaos icon on his back

 

 

While gorgeous, the Pop Goes the Monkey chainglaives break off easily

So greenstuff and jeweler's chain helps keep them in place

 

 

First Claw with Fantasy Chaos Warrior helmet

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

 

I hope to finish these 2 projects by the end of the year, if not by Thanksgiving. I'm waiting on 5 more dragonscale cloaks from Maxmini and then the whole squad can have dragonscale cloaks.

 

 

Night Lords, "In domine nox."

 

Edited October 20, 2022 by Tallarn Commander

[Tallarn Commander]

Hello everyone,

 

I recently got in a game against Space Wolves. It was a fun game and I always enjoy my games against the Space Puppies. It's been a long time since I fought them though. I think the last time was during this game...

 

-link to a game back in 2017 with my Tallarn 23rd:  https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/331141-tallarn-commanders-tallarn-23rd-blog/?do=findComment&comment=4945732

 

 

He brought a very tough list. My opponent kindly offered to tone his list down when he saw I was bringing a fairly casual CSM list with oodles of Legionaries but I'm always cool playing against whatever and he wanted to test his list for a tournament. :) 

 

He brought

 

SPACE WOLVES, 2000 POINTS

 

HQ

-Chaplain character on thunderwolf

-captain (?) on thunderwolf (I'm sure that's wrong)

 

TROOPs

-5 Grey Hunters

-5 Grey Hunters

-5 Intercessors

 

FAST ATTACK

-5 Thunderwolf Cavalry

-5 Thunderwolf Cavalry

-5 Thunderwolf Cavalry

 

ELITES

-10ish Wulfen

-10ish Wulfen

 

I brought

 

NIGHT LORDS, 2000 POINTS

 

HQ

-Buzzard, DP with various and sundry upgrades

-Ruven, MoP with various and sundry spells and such

 

TROOPS

-The Harbingers, 8 Khornate Legionaries with fist, mark, icon, and axe

-The Jackals, 10 Slaaneshi Legionaries with fist, mark, icon, axe, and malefic tome

-The Eviscerators, 10 Tzeenchian Legionaries with fist, mark, icon, axe, and malefic tome

-9th Squad, 10 Traitor Guard with meltagun, plasma gun, and sniper rifle

-10th Squad, 10 Traitor Guard with meltagun, plasma gun, and sniper rifle

 

TRANSPORTS

-Dragonne, Chaos Rhino 

-Murcielago de Muerte, Chaos Rhino

 

ELITES

-Harry, Tzeenchian Helbrute with fist and multimelta

-Malcharion, Tzeenchian Helbrute with fist and multimelta

-First Claw, 8 Chosen with fist, mark, icon

 

FAST ATTACK

-BloodLady, Khornate Blood Slaughterer

 

HEAVY SUPPORT

-Mary the Maulerfiend with magma cutters

 

 

Here are some photos and comments on the game

 

 

A shot of my army, I call this the Daemon Robots from Hell themed army!

 

 

 

The board at deployment

 

 

A closeup of my opponent's awesome-looking army

He left 2 doggos at home so they were hilariously proxied by Khornate Bloodcrushers

 

 

He got first turn and ran everything except for 3 small troops squads forward.

 

I responded by moving up with BloodLady and Dave the Dreadnought on my right. I tried to use Rhinos to screen out charges on my left, but didn't do a very good job. My Traitor Guard were in reserves so I could outflank them and get "RND." This was a mistake. I should have gone with another secondary and used the 20 Traitor Guard troopers to screen my lines. I'm not used to fighting against doggos on the smaller boards of 9th edition. They are really on you quite fast and there is way less room to manuever. Lesson learned: screen out doggos with rhinos and chaff!

 

 

BloodLady makes it into melee on Turn 1

Sadly she rolled poorly (and I was too stingy with my CP to use Daemonforge on her)

 

At the top of Turn 2 the Space Wolf and Night Lords lines meet

 

 

The Jackals Legionaries Squad gets charged by Wulfen and wiped out

Delightful Agonies couldn't save them from all those hammer attacks

 

 

Ruven the Master of Possession survived way longer than he should have in melee with Thunderwolf Cav

Maybe he was rewarding me for painting up a new right arm and book for him. 

 

 

Mary tries to lovingly hug an impressive Thunderwolf conversion. She says, "Aaaw, what a cute puppy. I must hug."

He his having none of it and smashes her down with with his thunder hammer

 

 

My Chosen, the First Claw, after killing off a Thunderwolf Chaplain

My Khornate Squad and Chosen both did quite well in this game, finishing off the chaplain and a Thunderwolf Cav. Sadly that's all I killed this game and he tabled me on Turn 4.

 

 

9th Squad looks judgingly at the main Night Lords force as their Astartes allies get slaughtered to a man

"You should have used us to screen out his Turn 2 charge. He had almost no ability to shoot away chaff like us!"

 

 

9th Squad gets taken out by an Intercessor Squad after successfully RND'ing

 

 

A fun game and I learned a lot. I'm sure there will be a rematch someday and then the forces of Chaos will have their due!

 

 

Painting is proceeding apace on Malcharion, my Helbrute/Contemptor, and on First Claw, my Chosen/Possessed. Here are a couple of pics:

 

 

Malcharion, with half-completed paint job

 

 

Ravenblade, Champion of First Claw

"I need more highlights and weathering!"

 

 

Enjoy the pics!

 

"Ave dominus nox!"

 

 

 

Edited October 25, 2022 by Tallarn Commander

[Prot]

Your conversions are just hilarious and well executed. I can’t get over that side kick nunchuck Legionaire. 
 

I honestly don’t know if a full army loaded with TWC is that competitive but at the same time you clearly have a very fun based list and I love it. I think those Night Lord strats are still amazing and you could easily turn the list up a notch or three of you really wanted. It’s good to see you having fun with just a troop heavy list and it looks great. Nice batrep. 

[Tallarn Commander]

Thanks Prot, I really admire your work and it's fun as heck to read your batreps!

 

Yeah, competitive lists can handle Thunderwolves these days. I am really enjoying the Night Lords strats. They seem even tricksier than our Faith and Fury strats.

 

 

I attended a very fun tournament at Nomad Games in Edmonds, Washington last weekend. I had a great time and finally managed to break my 5-game losing streak. Huzzah!

 

 

Here is a photo of the army I brought

 

 

This 2,000 point army was pretty much the same "Daemon Robots from Hell" army that I brought to my game vs. Space Wolves the week before. 

 

The list...Daemon Prince Buzzard's 2nd Battalion of House Nightfall

 

HQ

-Buzzard, Daemon Prince with wings, Murderous Reputation, Mark of Slaanesh, Death Hex (plus Smite and Delightful Agonies)

-Ruven Godslayer, Master of Possession, Mark of Slaanesh, "Book of Always Taken" (aka the Liber Hereticus), Pact of Flesh, Mutated Invigoration (plus Smite and Delightful Agonies)

 

TROOPS

-The Harbingers, 8 Chaos Legionaries, Mark of Khorne, icon, fist, axe

-The Jackals, 10 Chaos Legionaries, Mark of Slaanesh, icon, fist, axe, tome, Uros Kas the holder of the Malefic Tome knows Smite, Prescience, and Delightful Agonies

-The Eviscerators, 10 Chaos Legionaries, Mark of Tzeench, icon, fist, axe, tome, Bolivar the tome bearer knows Smite, Prescience, and Skeins of Fate

 

ELITES

-Harry, Helbrute with fist, multimelta, and Mark of Tzeench

-Malcharion, Helbrute with fist, multimelta, and Mark of Tzeench

-First Claw, 8 Chosen with fist, Mark of Slaanesh, icon, and the Black Rune of Damnation (which I forgot about most of the tournament!)

-9th Squad, Sergeant Annika's Traitor Guard Squad with 10 troopers, meltagun, plasma gun, sniper rifle

-10th Squad, Sergeant Vicious Pete's Traitor Guard Squad with 10 troopers, meltagun, plasma gun, sniper rifle

 

FAST ATTAcK

-BloodLady, Blood Slaughterer of Khorne

 

HEAVY SUPPORT

-Mary, Maulerfiend with 2 magma cutters

 

TRANSPORTS

-Dragonne, Chaos Rhino

-Murcielago de Muerte (Death Bat), Chaos Rhino

 

 

Here are a couple of pre-game closeups

 

 

Malcharion, Helbrute of House Nightfall

 

 

Evita's Eviscerators

This squad is equipped with bolters, which were lackluster compared to the other squads' chainswords

 

 

Game 1 pitted the Sons (and daughters) of Curze against the foul Dark Angels (so it was Chaos vs. Chaos!)  

 

Here is a photo of my opponent's all termie army

 

His list (from memory and vague/full of errors)

 

Dark Angels Vanguard? Detachment

 

HQ

-Azazel or is it Azrael, well a DA special character

-DA termie chaplain

-some other character

 

TROOPS

-10 Termies with shields and hammers

-10 Termies with claws and missiles

-5 Termies with claws

 

ELITES

-5 Knights

-Apothecary

 

HEAVY SUPPORT

-Land Raider (my opponent joked that this was the wimpiest thing in his list because it doesn't have always-on transhuman)

 

 

The board at deployment

 

 

 

The thin white line

 

 

Land Raider and Termies

 

 

The thin blue line

 

 

I thankfully got first turn and surged forward. My magic phases during this game were very hot and I used the "Delightful Agonies," stab, "Pact of Flesh" for +2, and Mutated Invigoration" for +2 to great effect. Man, Masters of Possession are so good I don't know when my poor Sorcerers are going to see the light of day.

 

He responded by moving up on his Turn 1. 

 

On Turn 2 our forces clashed in a series of tough fights that largely stalemated for the rest of the game

But I had board control thanks to speed, first turn, and Buzzard's ability to turn off enemy obsec (Murderous Reputation warlord trait)

 

 

 

The termies eventually dragged BloodLady down but she had held them up

 

 

Harbingers clang on the outside of a Land Raider

 

 

Dark Angels Terminator close up

 

 

Mary and First Claw fight termies on the left

 

 

Azazel and the Knights come out to play

 

 

 

Termies deepstrike and take out Buzzard

 

 

Malcharion chills on a backfield objective

 

 

It was a fun very close game against a very nice opponent. His army was gorgeous. I voted for it for "Best Army" and it won!

 

So the Night Lords finally get a win. I'm getting the hang of the Night Lords strats. I don't take many heavy weapons or special weapons so the "Wanton Destruction" and "Wanton Massacre" phases are useless for me. I've found that the key events of the game have passed by when the very useful "Wanton Slaughter" finally kicks in on Turn 3. Sigh. I sure hope the World Eaters Codex will include good ways (eg they don't cost a CP) to put us into "Wanton Massacre" sooner. Heck that's a different codex so it might not even include "wanton" rules.

 

 

 

Games 2 and 3 will be recapped below. Enjoy the photos!

 

 

Night Lords, "The quick and the dead."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2022 by Tallarn Commander

[Tallarn Commander]

-----CONTINUED FROM ABOVE-----

 

Game 2 of the tournament pitted the Midnight Clad against the foul forces of the false emperor's largest force, the Imperial Guard.

 

My opponent was very nice but he was a bit rusty this edition. Since I'm a guard player I was able to help him out with various IG rules and reminding him about his "Vengeance for Cadia!" buffs. It was a very fun game. Both of us are very much looking forward to the new IG Codex. It looks like I will be losing my Tallarns' outflanking abilities, but I will be gaining much, much more. I'm particularly happy that horsies will no longer be index. I've still been using them but newer opponents are sometimes confused about my outflanking rough riders. Now they will be a normal IG component that I no longer have to explain to newer opponents.  :)

 

This opponent's army was particularly near and dear to me because his army was Tallarns and my IG are Tallarns. He was not using the Tallarn regimental rules though. He had custom rules.

 

While fun, this game was never really close. The forces of Chaos were trounced. I continue my tradition these days: when my CSM play IG my CSM lose. And when my IG play against CSM my IG lose.   But the games are always fun and remind me of Gaunt's Ghosts novels.

 

Here are some photos from the game.

 

 

The Jackals and an infantry squad fight over an objective

 

 

First Claw holds and objective as Demolisher rounds explode around them

I do miss the days of pie plates. They made things more dramatic.

 

 

I would not want to be that lascannon gunner

 

 

Traitor Guard vs. Loyalist Guard on an objective

 

 

The board on Turn 2

 

 

IG outflank behind Malcharion

 

 

An IG parking lot full of nicely painted tanks

 

 

Sergeant Annika holds out on the objective

 

 

Buzzard sizes up a Demolisher

At least he wasn't killed in overwatch charging it like he usually does when he charges a Russ, I think it stripped him down to 4 or so wounds on overwatch

 

 

Sentinel joins the fray in the middle

I love sentinels and sometimes run up to 12 to 15 of them in a single game. They are pretty lackluster but fast (and fluffy for the Tallarns).

 

A fun game even though it was a blowout. I did have one plucky Legionaries Squad, the Eviscerators, who somehow survived to reach his backline. But most of the rest of my army was taken out.

 

 

 

--------GAME 3 CONTINUED BELOW-------------

 

 

 

[Tallarn Commander]

-----------GAME 3: NIGHT LORDS VS. SALAMANDERS-----------

 

Game 3 pitted the Night Lords vs. the corpse-god-worshipping Salamanders. 

 

If I recall correctly, it's been a long time since I played against Salamanders. They are always a good opponent. I think my last game against Salamanders was with my Tallarns back in this game:  

 

https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/331141-tallarn-commanders-tallarn-23rd-blog/?do=findComment&comment=5244823

 

My opponent was a very chill chap (we were on the bottom board after all).  

 

 

The board at deployment

 

 

 

The Salamander gun line, he had a shooty army with some choppiness and I had a choppy army with some shooting

 

 

 

Salamanders on the Night Lords right flank

 

 

Salamanders ven dread arrives in a pod

 

 

The Ven Dread emerges but misses his shot

 

 

Dread range duel! Malcharion walks up and blows away the dread.

I probably would have lost the duel if it weren't for the "fire frenzy" stratagem. That was a good strat in the old 2017 CSM Codex and now it's a great Strat in the 2022 CSM Codex.

 

 

Buzzard charges bikers on the right

 

 

Intercessors and First Claw Duke it out on the right

I'm really enjoying melee-oriented Chosen this edition. They pack a punch and have some fun mark/icon interactions.

 

Mary and the Harbingers hit the Salamander gun line

 

 

A very fun game. This was a wonderful game featuring two players who don't take themselves too seriously and would rather their unit do something fun than something tactical that will win the game. It was a close game, but in the end the forces of Chaos bested the Salamanders. Fun was had by all.

 

Thanks to the tournament organizer and all my opponents. And thanks to Nomad Games in Edmonds for hosting such a great event. Huzzah!

 

 

In other news, I have finished fully painting up two members of First Claw, my Chosen/Possessed that are kitbashed from 30K Night Lords. Here are some photos.

 

 

Ravenblade and Random Murder

 

 

Squad Champion Ravenblade, Ravenblade maintains House Nightfall's murder of seer crows, rooks, and ravens

 

 

And Random Murder, in his free time Random Murder collects stamps. He also has a treasured collection of human entrails.

 

 

Enjoy the pics!

 

 

Night Lords, "The quick and the dead."

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2022 by Tallarn Commander

[Tallarn Commander]

Hello everyone, I finished up my Night Lords Contemptor Dreadnought this weekend. Here are some photos:

 

 

Malcharion of House Nightfall, he likes long walks on the beach and buzzsawing tanks and their crew in half

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy the pics!

 

 

Night Lords, "In midnight clad!"

[Tallarn Commander]

Hello everyone,

 

It's been awhile since my last post so here's a report on my Chaos hobbying and gaming.

 

 

 

1.) Game vs. AdMech (Loss)

Last month my Night Lords had a fun game against AdMech. It was a very close game and I was rather impressed with my Chosen Squad's performance.

 

First Claw Chosen Squad in Melee against Rust Stalkers and other Admech Units

 

 

Legionary Uros Kas gathers the powers of the warp

 

 

Rust Stalkers go choppity chop

 

 

Champion Evita meets her match

 

 

Aspiring Champion Jackal powerfists Admech to death

 

 

 

2.) More Spawn Added to the Ranks

I completed 2 more spawn. Because Chaos players can always use more spawn. 

 

Freshly painted Maim the Spawn

 

 

And Kill

 

 

 

3. Game vs. Imperial Soup (Loss)

I brought my World Eaters to a tournament last month. The tournament was held at Nomad Games, a wonderful venue in Edmonds, Washington, here in the United States. My World Eaters performed horribly and none of my games were close. But I had a fun time playing with my toy soldiers. Khorne Bezerkers are next to useless now that they can no longer fight twice. Even my World Eaters Legionaries did better in melee because of their heavy chainaxes.

 

Blood Drinker bites off a bit more than he can chew

 

 

Vostroyans nervously eye Blood Slaughterers getting closer

 

 

Scrum over the objective

 

 

Sisters Rhino, Surrounded and Destroyed!

 

 

Dread vs. Dread melee, Dave the World Eaters dread survived on 1 wound and slammed the Corpse Worshipper to smithereens

 

 

 

4. Game vs. Tau (Loss)

This game was short and sweet as I re-created the charge of the light brigade.

 

Spawn cowers in a ruin on an objective

 

 

Advancing Rhino and Blood Slaughterer get vaporized

 

 

 

 

To be continued below.....

 

 

Edited December 16, 2022 by Tallarn Commander

[Tallarn Commander]

Continued from above............

 

5. Game vs Dark Angels (Loss)

This was a fun fight between 2 melee-heavy armies. In the end I was tabled and I managed to kill 2 of his units. D'oh.

 

 

Bloodslaughterer 888 lets the bodies hit the floor, although it's his body that hits the floor

 

 

Azrath the daemon prince meets a glorious end

 

 

Spawn speedbump the termies

 

 

Terminators terminate Bloodbliss Squad

 

 

Wrath the Rhino ties up a Land Raider

 

 

My firebase, the Company of Eight Legionaries Squad, in melee with Terminators

 

 

 

 

 

6. Game vs. Chaos Knights (Loss)

Last weekend I had a pickup game with my Night Lords against Chaos Knights. It was a fun game but I was tabled and I had only killed off 2 War Dogs.

 

 

My opponent's gorgeous knight. This thing is a work of art!

 

 

 

Gramps (borrowed from my Doomfevers Nurgle CSM) and Malcharion serve as a firebase

 

 

First Claw moves out

 

 

War Dog kicks Traitor Guard in a building

 

 

Dark Apostle Nightgaunt in melee with a knight, this would not end well for Nightgaunt

 

 

Aspiring Champion Krieg has his fellow 9 Legionaries blown to smithereens around him. He wisely failed his morale check and headed for the hills.

 

 

That brings my Chaos Marines record with the new 2022 CSM Codex to 2 wins and 11 losses. D'oh! But I'm enjoying my games and that's what matters.

 

 

 

7. First Claw Finished

This week I finally finished First Claw. They are equipped with chain-glaives and shields so I can use them as Chosen or as Possessed. 

 

 

First Claw

 

 

Bella and Zardu 

 

 

 

Crimson Mask

 

 

Diabolist

 

 

Fatefear

 

 

Zardu

 

 

Mournsong

 

 

Bella and Crimson Mask

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the updates! I'm bringing my Night Lords to a tournament tomorrow so I'll post an update from that event next week.

 

 

Death to the worshippers of the corpse god!

 

Edited December 17, 2022 by Tallarn Commander

[Tallarn Commander]

Hello everyone and Happy New Year!

 

I recently took my Night Lords to a tournament. This event took place at Wizard's Keep Games in Renton, Washington. As always I had a great time hanging out and playing 40K. My opponents were all very nice and did a great job of reminding me to roll for my Delighful Agonies buff. :) 

 

 

My list

 

House Nightfall's Night Lords (2,000 points)

 

HQ

-Buzzard, Daemon Prince, wings, Mark of Slaanesh, talons, sword, knows Delightful Agonies, Death Hex (180)

-Ruven Godslayer, Master of Possession, Mark of Slaanesh, bolt pistol, Staff of Possession, ritual dagger, knows Delightful Agonies, Pact of Flesh, and Mutated Invigoration, Liber Hereticus [-1CP] (120)

 

TROOPS

-Jackals, 10 Chaos Legionaries, Mark of Slaanesh, Icon of Slaanesh, meltagun, powerfist, heavy chainaxe, Uros Kas with the Malefic Tome, knows Delighful Agonies and Prescience (250)

-2nd Squad, 17 or possibly 18 Cultists, flamer (90ish points)

-5th Squad, 10 Cultists (50 points)

 

ELITES

-First Claw, 10 Chosen, Mark of Slaanesh, Icon of Slaanesh, 2 powerfists, meltagun, the champion Ravenblade has the Black Rune of Damnation (-1CP) (280)

-Second Claw, 10 Possessed (280)

-Malcharion, Chaos Contemptor Dreadnought, hellforged dreadnought chainfist, multimelta (-1CP) (155)

 

FAST ATTACK

-Warpnight, 10 Warp Talons (280)

 

HEAVY SUPPORT

-Mary, Maulerfiend, 2 magma cutters (140)

-Deathbat, Chaos Predator, 2 lascannons, 2 Soulshatter Cannons (170)

 

 

A shot of the Night Lords

 

 

Death Bat, the sponsons and turret are newly painted up (the day before the tournety)  Deathbat has been upgraded to a Predator from my Rhino Lightning.

 

 

Lightning has been converted to become a convertible when the drivers want a better view

 

 

My Master of Possession, Ruven, and the army mascot, Sparky

 

 

Malcharion, Chaos Contemptor, Chaos Contemptors are not really worth it in competitive settings anymore, but they sure are fun

 

 

Jackals Legionaries Squad and 5th Squad of Chaos Cultists

 

 

My "Possessed" Squad First Claw. They are equipped with storm shields for a 5++ and chainglaives for their str5 2 damage weapons

 

 

 

 

Enjoy the pics!

 

 

-----------CONTINUED BELOW-------------

 

[Tallarn Commander]

------------CONTINUED FROM ABOVE-----------------

 

 

GAME 1 VS. SQUATS, ER LEAGUES OF VOTANN

 

 

I've wanted to go up against a Squats army ever since I got into this hobby 22 years ago. And finally I did! The Leagues of Votann models are wonderful. I don't think they match my playstyle, but I'd love to buy and paint up a squad of them as a hobbying project. 

 

They are a powerful army, but they don't seem over-powered, just good.  They still have some weak points: low model count, vulnerable to assault, and a weak psychic presence. Sadly, I really didn't understand their rules. After 3 minutes of my opponent explaining their rules to me I sort of tuned out. If I were a competitive player I would have paid closer attention. I just made whatever saves my opponent told me to. But basically I understood that, aside from the units with big axes or big swords, they are a shooty army and not an assaulty army.

 

 

I have no idea what units my opponent had so no army list. Here are some photos and comments from the game.

 

A very pretty Squat vehicle. Basically it's like a Land Raider but better, or that's a somewhat close analogy

 

 

Buzzard and the Cultists before the game

Hmm "Buzzard and the Cultists" sounds like a rock band. 

 

 

Second Claw, I finally finished painting this squad this month

 

 

Deathbat before getting blown away by the Squat vehicle

 

 

 

Warpnight descends upon the squad bikers

For some reason this photo looks very Night Lordsy to me.

 

This was the first time using Warp Talons in the new codex. On one hand, they sure miss out on the 3d6 charge out of deep-strike strat that they used to get in the old codex. On the other hand, they really like having 2 wounds. In Night Lords lists, with the ability to deep-strike on Turn 1 (for 2 cp) they are a good unit. In other armies they are more a mid-tier unit due to armor of contempt being a thing.  Although I suspect they would be good in Creations of Bile or Red Corsairs.

 

 

My Possessed shred the enemy terminator-like models

 

 

The Jackals Legionary Squad terrify the bikers into going away

 

 

 

 

Buzzard goes chop chop

He's a good unit on many levels but his true strength likes in his ability to move around the board and psychically interrogate people

 

 

Squats clobber Master of Possession Ruven

 

 

In the end it was a fun game but I lost and the points weren't even close. It was a swingy game. He was ahead on Turn 1, I was in the forefont on Turn 2, on Turn 3 things could have gone either way, and by Turn 4 his firepower (and squad of axe dudes) had put him in the lead. A fun game indeed. 

 

 

One thing I can say is that I have never seen the Night Lords morale rules do as much damage as it did in this game. Usually the Night Lords morale hijinks rarely do much other than force the opponent to look up the leadership of things they've never looked up the leadership for. Also, it was really easy for my army (with Buzzard the Daemon Prince, Ruven the Master of Possession, and the Jackals with Uros Kas' Malefic Tome) to shut down his psyker. And my opponent said his army really needs for his psyker to get off a spell that gives him command points.

 

 

----------CONTINUED BELOW----------

 

 

Ave dominus nox!

 

 

 

Edited December 31, 2022 by Tallarn Commander

[Tallarn Commander]

Whoops it's been three months since my last post. 

 

I've played 6 games and painted up a Night Lords terminator sorcerer in those 3 months so I'm a bit behind. 

 

So I'll pick up where I left off, giving you all a brief tournament summary of a December tournament in which I brought my Night Lords. Game 1 was the game against squats that you can see above. 

 

 

--------------------------------------GAME 2: NIGHT LORDS VS. BLOOD ANGELS ----------------------------------------

 

 

This was a fun game in which both sides were melee heavy. So we both wanted to scrum in the middle.

 

 

The board at deployment: red vs. blue

 

 

 

Red dreadnought

 

 

blue dreadnought

 

 

Death Company treats the Cultists with extreme prejudice

 

 

And, in turn, Mary persecutes the Death Company

 

 

Jackals and Malcharion charge the Sanguinary Guard

 

 

Warpnight charges a Blood Angels Primaris Marine

 

 

And in a dramatic moment, Buzzard and Dante kill each other off

Although, truth be told, Malcharion the dreadnought did the bulk of the damage against Dante

 

 

This was a fun, close melee game. But in the end the forces of the Corpse God managed a close win. Well, it was about 20 points, but since I'm often tabled and the enemy often has way more points than me, 20 points is a lot for me. :) 

 

My MVP would have to be either Malcharion the Contemptor who reliably did damage to the Sanguinary Guard and Dante or Deathbat the Predator whose lascannons and Soulshatter cannons kept doing reliable damage for much of the game.

 

 

Game 3 continued below......

 

 

Edited April 1, 2023 by Tallarn Commander

[Tallarn Commander]

-----------------------GAME 3: DARK ELDAR VS. NIGHT LORDS-------------------------------------

 

Game 3 was against another very nice opponent fielding a melee-heavy army. Although since he was Dark Eldar he also had some solid ranged units to back up his Talos', Grotesques, and other units.

 

 

The board at deployment, Druchii on the left and Sons and Daughters of Curze on the right

 

 

The Blue Hordes before the game

 

 

By Turn 2 his wracks were challenging my Cultists for a backfield objective, man those Dark Eldar sure are fast

 

 

Fatefear, Night Lords trooper, powerfisting a Druchii wych

 

 

And by midgame his Grotesques got off a fun charge on Deathbat the Predator

 

 

 

But they were saved when my squad of Possessed, Second Claw, ran up and saved Deathbat! Huzzah for Possessed!

 

 

 

And by late game his Hellions had a field day in the middle of the board.

 

The Hellions took out a squad of Legionaries and Ruven Godslayer, Master of Possession

 

 

But they, in turn, were then taken out by Malcharion, Night Lords Contemptor Dreadnought

 

 

And Second Claw, the Possessed, managed to retake the middle of the board by chainglaiving an Incubi squad to death

 

 

 

In the end, it was an incredibly fun and close game. Huzzah! But sadly the forces of the tricksy elves had the lead by a few points.

 

 

And so wrapped up an enjoyable Saturday of gaming. Thanks to the TO and all my opponents.

 

 

Edited March 31, 2023 by Tallarn Commander