Night Lords Tallarn Commander's Chaos (Blue Glowing Maulerfiend Eyes)

[WarriorFish]

A good read, it sounded like a really close game and the draw confirms it :P The new DttFE is great, though against an Imperial army you benefited from only part of the improvement :lol: From the rumour it's replaced with a SM doctrine style bonus that applies to weapon types rather than just close combat, I'd presume sticking to the extra hit on a 6+? We'll see as always but if so it'll be a decent change :)

[Tallarn Commander]

WF, yes, I am looking forward to the new Codex (provided the rumors pan out of course).

I was able to get in another 40K game last weekend. This was a 2,000 point game. I brought Night Lords (the same list as my last game against Custodes) and my opponent brought Necrons. Like last game, this game took place at the wonderful Mox Boarding House in Bellevue, Washington. And, as always, my opponent was a gracious sportsman, a scholar and a gentleman. It was truly a joy to play against him on a nice, sunny winter Saturday late morning/afternoon.

Here are the lists:

Necrons [as usual, I'm fuzzy on my opponents army so this list is a bit of a guess]

HQ

-Overlord on foot

-Chronomancer

-Skorphekh Lord (probably in another detachment?)

TROOPS

-large squad of perhaps 15 Warriors

-another large squad of perhaps 15 Warriors

-Small squad of 5 Immortals

ELITES

-Squad of maybe 5 or 6 Lychguard

-5 Deathmark Assassins

-8 or so Flayed Ones

FAST ATTACK

-3 Wraiths

-3 more Wraiths

HEAVY SUPPORt

-3 or so Lokhust Destroyers

-Canoptek Spyder

-Doomsday Ark

-3 Skorpekh Destroyers (probabably in another detachment?)

Here is a photo of my opponent's very nice looking Necrons army, he had already deployed 1 or 2 units when this photo was taken

My list:

Chaos Lord Duvalier's Doooomguard, Night Lords, 2000 points

HQ

-Lord Duvalier, Chaos Lord with jumppack, Claws of the Black Hunt

-Ruven, Chaos Sorcerer with jumppack, bolt pistol, force sword, knows Death Hex and Warptime

TROOPS

-Jarvak's Jackals, 10 CSM, 3 meltas

-Hatred's Harbingers, 10 CSM, 3 meltas

-Evita's Eviscerators, 10 CSM, 2 lascannons

-Batista's Bastards, 10 CSM, 2 lascannons

TRANSPORTS

-Dragonne, Chaos Rhino

-Murcielago, Chaos Rhino

ELITES

-The Atramentar, 5 Chaos Terminators, 5 combi-plasmas, 5 lightning claws, Icon of Vengeance

FAST ATTACK

-Warpnight, 10 Warp Talons, Mark of Khorne

-Bats out of Hell, 15 Raptors, powerfist, Icon of Vengeance

HEAVY SUPPORT

-Mary, Maulerfiend with lasher tendrils

-Deffy, Defiler with Defiler Scourge and Reaper Autocannon

Here are a couple of army-wide photos of my Night Lords army

The mission was a standard hold 1, hold 2, hold more mission. I don't recall the name of the mission and it doesn't really matter because neither of us took the mission specific secondary.

For secondaries my opponent chose assassinate, attrition, and a Necron-specific secondary called "treasure" something or other, basically this secondary boiled down to he got points for holding objecties.

My secondaries were assassinate, engage, and banners.

Here are shots of the board at deployment

The Night Lords deployment zone

The Necron deployment zone

An overall shot of the board

And another overall shot of the board

Closeup of Batista's Bastard before the game began

Murcielago the Rhino and Duvalier the Chaos Lord before the game

Warriors, Overlord, Lychguard, and more Warriors before the game

Duvalier and Evita's Eviscerators before the game began

Pre-game shot of Ark, Wraiths, and Deathmarks

My opponent was using the Necron faction that gave every unit in the army obsec (very powerful) and gave everyone a free move before the game began (pretty darn good ability)

The green hordes inched closer

NECRON TURN 1

After scouting his entire army, my opponent won the roll to go first and so the thin green line got even closer to the thin blue line

He ended his movement phase by deep-striking his Chronomancer and Flayed Ones from one part of the battlefield to directly in front of my right flank. Uh oh.

He took various potshots, but, since his army is mostly short-ranged like mine, he didn't do much.

Deathmarks bide their time and wait for the Night Lords to get closer

During my opponents charge phase my opponent tried to charge with this Chronomancer and Flayed Ones, but failed the charge. The Night Lords let out a sigh of relief.

NIGHT LORDS TURN 1

During the Night Lords movement phase I moved everything forward except for the Eviscerators CSM Squad. They sat back and raised banners on an objective.

On the left flank the Daemon Engines shuffled forward.

I also moved the Jackals CSM Squad up on my left, you can see them in the bottom right of this photo.

On my right I moved up the Harbingers CSM Squad, the Bastards CSM Squad, Dragonne the Rhino, and Lord Duvalier.

During my psychic phase Deffy benefited from Warp Time which helped him get into position. Thanks Ruven! Ruven was too far from the foe to cast Death Hex or Smite.

Night Lords shooting was pretty uneventful. I think my CSM meltaguns chipped off one wraith (maybe?).

During my charge phase, I managed to get off 5 successful charges: Deffy and Mary on my left against Wraiths. And on the right Duvalier, the Harbingera, and the Bastards against the Chronomancer and Flayed Ones

Here is a shot of the board after Turn 1 Night Lords charges

On the right Duvalier and the CSM prevail and wipe out the Chronomancer and Flayed Ones

Duvalier and the CSM consolidate after the melee

On my left Mary and Deffy take out some Wraiths and lose a few wounds in return

With that Turn 1 ended with the Necrons having lost a Chronomancer and some Flayed Ones, but in an excellent board control position and poised for some close-range firefights and assaults.

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

[Tallarn Commander]

.....Continued from above

NECRONS TURN 2

During the Necron movement phase, my opponent jumped both squads of Wraiths out of melee on my left flank.

This leaves Mary and Deffy feeling a little rejected, "Why do little metal things not want to play with us?"

This leaves a path for the Skorpekh Destroyers to get into melee.

On the right the 2 units of Warriors, Lychguard, and Overlord get dangerously close. The Warriors' 12-inch guns are now in range.

During the enemy shooting various Night Lords units lose models and/or wounds, but thankfully no one is killed outright.

During the charge phase on my right a Warrior Squad charges the Bastards CSM Squad. Duvalier heroically intervenes to save them.

On my left the Skorpekh Destroyers make it in against Mary the Maulerfiend and Deffy the Defiler.

Mary is glad the robots are back to play and waves at them excitedly.

He also uses some sort of fallback and charge strat to get the Wraiths back in melee.

On the right the Lychguard also make it in against a Rhino and the Harbingers CSM Squad.

During the melee phase my opponent activates his Warriors on the left first. Sadly they don't roll very well and just take out a few CSM. I then interrupt with Mary who does a number on one of the Skorpekh Destroyer units, heavily damaging them outright thanks to "Daemonforge."

In return the remaining Skorpekh Destroyers whittle some wounds off of Mary and Deffy. On the right the Lychguard take out a Rhino and whittle the Harbingers CSM Squad down to 2 surviving members. Duvalier responds by shredding many Warriors with his Claws of the Black Hunt.

Deffy then wipes out a Wraith Squad with some good rolls. Speaking of dice rolls...

******Important bulletin: my opponent had pretty bad dice rolling over the course of the game. Mine were about average, but his were subpar. I felt pretty bad. I guess we've all had those games.*********

Here is a picture of the board during the Night Lords Turn 2 movement phase

The fight between the Warriors and Duvalier/the Bastards is at the bottom right, just out of view

NIGHT LORDS TURN 2

On my left Deffy and Mary were content to stay in melee with the surviving Wraiths and Skorpekh Destroyers.

And the Jackals CSM Squad continues to chill on an objective on the left.

In the center I moved the surviving Rhino up to eventually get me Engage during the end game.

On my right I considered jumping Duvalier out of melee. He had the "One Piece at a Time" warlord trait that gives enemies -1 to hit in melee and gives him the old "Hit and Run" ability. It's my go to Night Lords trait because it feels so Night Lordsey. But I reconsidered and kept him in the melee because if Duvalier left the melee then the Bastards CSM Squad would be doomed.

Duvalier stays in melee

On my right, I jump the two surviving members of the Harbingers CSM Squad out of melee. You can see the two dudes in the photo below. Sadly the Lychguard had obsec so the CSM were only contesting the objective.

The Chaos right flank after Chaos Turn 2 movement

In my center I keep the Eviscerators on their objective.

At the end of my movement phase I bring the Atramentar Termies Squad down in my center, ready to go left to support the Daemon Engines or ready to go right to support the lord and CSM.

Termies arrive!

I bring the Bats Out of Hell Raptor Squad down on my right, behind the Warriors and Overlord.*

*RIP Meatloaf, you will be missed. Somewhere you are now rocking out with guitar riffs in the Great Beyond.

After the Bats Out of Hell deepstruck, four of their number were blown away by the Deathmarks. Deathmark Assassins have a cool ability that lets them shoot at a unit that just came on the board. I'd never faced Deathmarks before. They are a cool-looking unit with fun and fluffy abilities.

In my psychic phase, Ruven fails to remove the Lychguard's invulnerable saves when he fails to cast Death Hex. He does smite a couple to death though so that makes him feel better.

During my shooting phase the meltas of the Jackals ate away at some Wraiths and the plasmas of the Atramentar ate away at some Warriors. The Eviscerators' lascannons didn't do anything.

During the charge phase I only had 2 charges to make: the Atramentar Termies against the Lychguard, which they failed...

...and the Raptors against the Overlord and Warriors, which was successful!

During the melee phase, on the left, Deffy and Mary finished up all Skorpekh and Wraith units on the left. Huzzah! Sadly Mary died in the process, exploded, and did damage to everyone around. Ouch!

On the right the Bats out of Hell Raptors whittled away at the Warriors but got whittled away at in return. Also, Duvalier, the Bastards CSM Squad, and the Warriors continued to grind away at each other.

Turn 2 ended with both sides pretty close in points and fighting over the middle of the board, 40K as it should be.

Continued below........

Edited January 26, 2022 by Tallarn Commander

[Tallarn Commander]

...Continued from above

NECRONS TURN 3

During the Necrons movement phase my opponent moved his Lokhust Destroyers and his Skorpekh Destroyer Lord up the middle of the board to get better LOS and to threaten my lines. On my left he moved the Scarabs up and he jumped the one remaining assaulty Destroyer out of melee. And on the right he kept his Overlord and 1 Warrior Squad in melee with the Bats Out of Hell Raptor Squad. He did not like the blending his Warriors were getting from Duvalier though, so he jumped his other Warrior Squad out of melee with Duvalier and the Bastards CSM Squad. His Lychguard shuffled over and stood next to the two surviving members of the Harbingers CSM Squad.

The board during the Turn 3 Necron movement phase

During the shooting phase his shooty Destroyers should have taken out the Termies. But I was in cover, he rolled poorly, and I rolled really well. Squad Atramentar survived. On my left Deffy died to combined Deathmark and Ark shootng. RIP Deffy.

He only had one assault, his Lychguard easily made it into melee with the Harbingers CSM Squad and wiped them out. The fight between the Raptors and Overlord/Warriors continued with some Warriors dropping and some Raptors dropping as well.

NIGHT LORDS TURN 3

The board at the beginning of Night Lords Turn 3

During the Night Lords movement phase on my left I kept the Jackals on the objective. I moved the Atramentar Termies off of the building and towards the left so they could support the Jackals.

Chaos Terminator Aspiring Champion Peron says, "Move out Sons of Nostramo! Let's go save Jarvak and his Jackals."

On my center my Rhino vroomed forward towards the shoot Destroyers. On my right Duvalier shuffled towards the Raptor vs Warrior/Overlord melee.

The Bastards CSM Squad trotted over and snagged the objective on the right.

The models on the top left are on my "dead pile" so they were no longer part of the battle.

At the end of my movement phase Warpnight, my Warp Talon Squad, deep-struck near the Raptors vs. Overlord/Warriors fight on the right.

During the psychic phase, Ruven failed to cast Death Hex on the Destroyer Lord.

But he successfully cast Warptime on the Atramentar Terminators, they moved closer to the Destroyer Lord and remaining assaulty Destroyer.

During shooting the Jackals and Atramentar blew away the shooty Destroyer you see above.

During the charge phase the termies successfully charged the Destroyer Lord and wiped him out.

With the help up the "Raptor Strike" stratagem Warp Night and Duvalier made it in against the Overlord and Warriors and, with various buffs, managed to kill them off. Hurrah!

To add insult to injury, the Rhino made a successful charge against the shooty Destroyers. Thus locking them up during the next shooting phase.

With that, Turn 3 ended.

To be continued.....

[Tallarn Commander]

...continued from above

NECRONS TURN 4 [sadly I didn't take many photos during Turn 4]

The Necrons moved up the Scarabs and the Canoptek Spyder forward on my left, threatening the Jackals CSM Squad. In the center, the shooty Destroyers jumped out of melee.

During the shooting phase he reduced the numbers of the Jackals CSM Squad and Warpnight the Warp Talon Squad. He also finished off the Bats Out of Hell Raptor Squad.

During assault his Canoptek Spyder didn't make it in against the CSM (if I remember correctly) but his Scarabs did. The Scarabs remove all but one CSM, Aspiring Champion Jarvak. This was the only melee.

Scarabs charge CSM on objective

NIGHT LORDS TURN 4

On my left, Jarvak remained locked in melee with the Scarabas. The Atramentar Terminators moved up to support them. On the right Duvalier, Ruven, and Warpnight all moved up. The Eviscerators and the Bastards stayed back on objectives. In the center my Rhino moved up to continue its harassment duties.

Raptor Lord Duvalier grabs the objective that Warpnight had been holding

During the psychic phase Ruven cast Warptime on himself, moving up the board more. He rolled a perils when casting smite, doing 2 wounds to himself. Ouch!

Ruven miscasts

During shooting, lascannon potshots from the Eviscerators and Bastards ate away a little at the Destroyers.

During the charge phase, the Warpnight Warp Talons charged the Immortals on an objective in the Necron backfield. The Rhino charged his shooty Destroyers again. And the Atramentar Terminators charged the Scarabs.

Warpnight slices the Immortals to death

Nothing happens in the Rhino vs shooty Destroyers melee but the Atramentar Terminators easily finish off the Scarabs.

The board after Turn 4

NECRON TURN 5

The Destroyers jumped out of melee with the Rhino (again). He also manuevered the Deathmarks onto the objective held by Warpnight.

Necrons recapture objective from Warp Talons

During shooting the Ark took out the Rhino that had been annoying the shooty Destroyers.

The board during Necron shooting on Turn 5

Nothing else happened during the Necrons shooting phase and there were no melees. With a quick tally of the points my opponent realizes that, while the score is close, he cannot win and graciously concedes. Victory to House Nightfall.

A fun game that could easily have gone either way, especially since my opponents dice were cold.

I sure am loving the various Night Lords strats and Death to the False Emperor's autohits on 6. They take a subpar faction and give it a chance against casual opponents.

That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed the batrep.

Night Lords, "The quick and the dead."

[WarriorFish]

A good game and a good win, nicely done! It felt like a game that was back and forth in the balance a fair bit, but also that you were doing well so I'm glad the result was victory :)

[Tallarn Commander]

Hello everyone,

I finally managed to finish a batch of 6 Night Lords Raptors.

I also finished a couple of projects that upgraded existing Night Lords models: I converted 8 from older 25 mm bases to larger bases and I gave 4 Night Lords Chaos Marines bolt pistols and chainswords instead of bolters.

Here are some photos.

Be advised that some of these photos are Slaanesh-friendly and are NOT family friendly.

A before and after photo of the 6 Raptors. These were a kitbash of Raging Heroes harpies and GW Raptors.

Here are some closeups of each of the 6 Raptors.

Bleak Sister, with my conversion I was trying to make it look like she was flying through the air

Bloody Mary

Murderessa

HeartRend, yes I did accidentally put her jumppack on upside down. D'oh!

Red Queen

Bad Tidings, a Kitbash of an old Raptor from a late 1990s sculpt

And here's a group shot of my Night Lords Chaos Raptors

A picture of the four CSM I upgraded from bolter troopers to bolt pistol/Astartes Chainsword troopers

A before and after pic of the CSM who have had their bases increased from 25 mm to either 32 mm or 50 mm

And a couple of close-ups of my new larger bases....

Insidious Visions

Ironclaw

And, as a parting photo, I was photo-bombed by my cat Simon as I took these photos

And, no, he's not supposed to climb through the blinds. He was promptly scolded.

I've now completed all pending hobbying projects. Since last June I've been working on "Project Raptorkin." This project consisted of 17 models: a jumppack sorcerer, 10 Warp Talons, and these 6 Raptors. I'm now done! Now I'll raid my bitz box for parts and put together and paint a small Tallarn Imperial Guard dune buggy for the current "Sally Forth" IG hobby challenge.

In addition, I brought my World Eaters to a 1k tournament last weekend. I had a blast! I'll post photos from that tournament here soon.

"We have come for you!"

Here are some closeups of each of the 6 Raptors. Be advised that some of these photos are Slaanesh-friendly and are NOT family friendly.

Edited February 12, 2022 by Tallarn Commander

[Tallarn Commander]

Hello everyone,

On the 5th of February I took my World Eaters to a 1,000 point Rogue Trader tournament at Mox Boarding House in Bellevue, Washington in the United States. It was a very casual tournament and I had a blast. The TO's did not keep score, they just randomly paired folks up during each of the three games. This event was a bit different because it was a random pairs tournament. Each player was paired up randomly with another player (who also had 1,000 points) and that team was pitted against two other randomly chosen players. This made for some hilarious pairings.

For this tournament I brought my World Eaters. I haven't used them in awhile and I wanted some good old-fashioned bloody mayhem.

My list consisted of:

HQ

-Barnabas the Butcher, Chaos Lord with bolt pistol and Zaal the Wrathful daemon weapon [this weapon was already decent before we got our Death to the False Emperor buff. But with all the Death to the False Emperor extra attacks, Zaal becomes quite good]

-Constantine the Corrupt, Master of Executions with Axe of Dismemberment [this was my first time using a MoE and I was rather impressed]

TROOPS

-Bloodbliss, 8 Bezerkers with icon, 7 chainaxes, and 8 chainswords, Champion Kilwrath has a powerfist [The new DttFE buff made Bezerkers truly brutal in melee]

-Bloodtongue, 8 Bezerkers with icon, 7 chainaxes, and 8 chainswords, Champion Maggot with lightning claw [til now I'd say the powerfist on a Zerker champion was an auto-take for me, but with the DttFE buff you don't really need to rely on the champion's powerfist]

-The Alliance, 8 Chaos Marines, lascannon

-The Company of Eight, 8 Chaos Marines, lascannon

ELITES

-Dave the Dreadnought, Helbrute with fist and multi-melta

TRANSPORTS

-Wrath, Chaos Rhino

-Tentaculus, Chaos Rhino

Total=1,000 points

Here is a photo of my army

And a closeup of a couple of Bezerkers, World Devourer and Gormenghast

Here are some photos and random comments about the tournament...

GAME 1: WORLD EATERS and IMPERIAL FISTS vs. CUSTODES AND DEATHWATCH

In my first game I was paired up with a very nice Imperial Fists player. Sadly, I couldn't wrap my head around being allied to an Imperium force and I accidentally kept calling his army Iron Warriors the whole game. My Imperial Fist ally took it in stride. He said people often mistakenly call his army Iron Warriors. Both of my opponents were also very nice and sporting folks.

Master of Executions Constantine Moves up in his Rhino with the Support of IW Dreadnought

The dread's Volkite blasters were really really good. I felt sort of guilty benefitting from their firepower.

The Alliance hold an objective, the objective markers were neat custom IW markers!

World Eaters advance with Iron Warriors fire support.

Blending WE choppiness with IW shooting was rather effective, my ally didn't lose a single model.

The board on Turn 2. You can see DW and Custodes on the left, WE in the middle, and IW on the right.

Squad Bloodbliss about to get stuck in against Custodes bikers

Squad Bloodtongue about to charge DW and Custodes

Dave about to get pummeled by IW Termies, luckily he interrupted and chopped down some bikers before dying

Custodes Walker picks on World Eaters Chaos Marines on an objective

The game ended with a victory for the forces of the World Eaters and Iron Warriors, I mean Imperial Fists.

To be continued below.....

Edited February 17, 2022 by Tallarn Commander

[Tallarn Commander]

Continued from above.....

GAME 2: WORLD EATERS and EMPEROR'S CHILDREN vs. ORKS and RED CORSAIRS

This was a hilariously fun game with some bizarre pairings. We all agreed that the World Eaters and Emperor's Children would be more likely to pummel each other. And, in a game which tends to favor shooting, each of our four armies was heavily melee oriented (aside from an EC Land Raider). As a result, the game quickly became a huge scrum in the middle.

Here's a picture from Turn 1, Orcs and Red Corsairs moving up on the left. World Eaters and Emperor's Children on the right.

One of the more blasphemous photos you'll ever see, Khorne and Slaanessh fighting alongside each other

My Red Corsair opponents army. I've played this guy before. He's really fun to play against! As you can see, his army was Khorne-themed.

Orc battlewagon moves up. What a gorgeous model!

Red Corsairs Warp Talon and Venomcrawler hit our line. Fleet of foot on Chaos Space Marines makes them darn fast!

Ork boyz sneak closer to the Chaos line

Ork infantry about to charge

Master of Executions Constantine faces a sea of Red Corsairs. He says, "I got this." [note: he didn't have this]

Warboss hammers on battlewagon, "Let me in!"

Mega-Armored Nobz vs. Dave. Poor Dave.

World Eaters Bezerker vs. Red Corsairs Bezerker

"Glory to Khorne!" "Amen!"

World Eaters Bezerkers square off against Khorne-worshipping Red Corsairs Chaos Lord

Champion Maggot asks, "Have you heard about our lord and savior Khorne? Oh you have. Excellent!"

Game 2 resulted in a victory for the Orks and Red Corsairs. They were just too choppy for us! But Khorne cares not from whence the blood flows.

GAME 3: WORLD EATERS and RAVEN GUARD SUCCESSORS vs. ULTRAMARINES and HOWLING GRIFFONS

Again, my ally and both SM players were all very sporting and chill. As the only non-primaris here, I did feel a little like the odd man out. No 2 wounds and no nifty strats forcing the opponent to only wound me on a 4+.

The board on Turn 1, World Eaters and Raven Guard Successors on the left. Ultramarines and Howling Griffons on the right.

Redemptor peeks around a building and blows away Death's Head, my World Eaters Rhino

But Dave gets revenge and takes a chunk out of the Redemptor (before Barnabas the Butcher finishes him off)

We'll ignore the fact that the bulk of the damage against the Redemptor was done by my Raven Guard successor ally.

The Alliance CSM Squad chills on an objective and performs actions

Squad Bloodbliss chops up Primaris

Squad Bloodtongue takes on the Ultramarines

World Eaters CSM (briefly) take an objective from Ultramarines

Game 3 ended in a victory for the forces of the Ultramarines and Howling Griffons.

All three games were a blast. The TOs put in a lot of hard work and it resulted in a wonderful event! I'm happy to report that out of 32 players I managed to win 2nd best sportsman.

"Blood for the blood God!"

[Khornestar]

Blood for the blood god, indeed!

[WarriorFish]

Always a pleasure reading batreps, you can't go wrong with an Executioner :tu: Well, mostly, you know what I mean :P Great tables and armies are what makes a great day :)

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Thanks for the battlereport - though, you should post it in the world eaters forum as well, as that is what they are, after all. :)

[Tallarn Commander]

Thanks for the positive feedback Khornestar, Warrior Fish, and Dr. Ruminahui!

Dr. Ruminahui, it would be logical for me to put the tourney report up in the World Eaters forum. But I started this Chaos progress blog way back when there was just one Chaos folder rather than a bunch of Chaos folders. The admins probably just tossed my blog here in the Night Lords folder because I play my Night Lords the most. As a result I just put all my Chaos-related stuff in here whether it be Night Lords, World Eaters, Renegades and Heretics, my own Warpborn CSM faction, Death Guard, or my Nurgle Daemons.

I attended another tournament on the 12th of February. I've finally gotten around to writing up a tournament report. This tournament was called "Karnage at the Keep" and it was hosted by Wizard's Keep Games, a friendly local gaming store down in Renton, Washington. It was a 2,000 point tournament, as opposed to the previous tournament's 1,000 points. And, because I'm a glutton for punishment, I brought Chaos Marines. I lost all three games but they were all very fun!

My list was my pretty standard Night Lords list, although the TO kindly informed me a week before the event that Chaos Marines had gone down in points to 12 points each! Since I like to bring along a lot of Chaos Marines, I was able to toss in a Master of Executions and some random plasma pistols. Yay!

Lord Duvalier's Dooooomkin, Being a Night Lords Chaos Space Marines Battalion with 27 Raptorkin

February 2022 Karnage at the Keep Rogue Trader Tournament List, Reid Gustafson, 2,000 points

Long ago there was a noble family, the house of Nightfall. They lived in an age of peace and stability established by their world's ruler. Their ruler was Konrad Curze, the fair and just lord of the garden planet Nostramo. And then one day, a corrupt and weak emperor sent an assassin to slay the Lord Curze. The vile assassin succeeded. The emperor then destroyed the paradise that was Nostramo. House Nightfall managed to escape. But since that day they have never forgotten. Vengeance upon the emperor will be theirs!

HQ [295]

☆ Duvalier Nightfall, Chaos Lord, jumppack , Claws of the Black Hunt, "One Piece at a Time" warlord trait

☆ Sorcerer Ruven, jumppack, bolt pistol, force sword, Vox Daemonicus, spells: Warptime, Prescience, and Smite

☆ Rosas Nightfall, Master of Executions, bolt pistol, Axe of Dismemberment

Duvalier Nightfall is member of the ancient House of Nightfall. House Nightfall has appointed Duvalier as leader of this warband. For millenia he has faithfully helped his house achieve its goals. He and his Night Lords prey upon the Imperium and, in so doing, avenge Nighthaunter's death. Upon retirement Nightfall hopes to join House Nightfall's Ruling Council of Eight. Like most Night Lords, Sorcerer Ruven holds a deep skepticism towards the Chaos Gods. Chaos is a tool to be wielded against the foe not a power to which one should become enthralled. His powers come from a deep understanding of arcane forces not from pacts made with dark beings. Master of Executions Rosas Nightfall is a brilliant duellist. His skill with axe knows no equal. He is Duvalier's cousin and trusted lieutenant.

TROOPS [610]

♧ Jarvak's Jackals, 10 Chaos Marines: Aspiring Champion Jarvak, Rosas, Ninja Joe, Dominator, Damnation, Krukesh, Naraka, Manbane, Deathdealer, Tovac Tor; 9 Astartes Chainswords, 7 bolt pistols, combi-melta, 2 meltaguns

♧ Hatred's Harbingers, 10 Chaos Marines: Aspiring Champion Hatred Nightfall, Edge of Reason, Carnage, Linebreaker, Malithos, Pale Death, Dusk Guard, Krieg, Dream Killer, Dark Enigma, 7 Astartes Chainswords, 7 bolt pistols, combi-melta, 2 meltaguns

♧ Evita' Eviscerators, 10 Chaos Marines: Aspiring Champion Evita, Wulfrik, Vosk, Grey Eyes, Red Moon, Black Sun, Knight of Despair, Shadowcaster, Painkin, Moonslaughter, 7 bolters, 8 bolt pistols, 2 lascannons, power sword

♧ Batista's Bastards, 10 Chaos Marines: Aspiring Champion Batista, Jago, Stygius, Terrorclaw, Dread Poisoner, Kevark, Kheron, Terask, Blackstar, Halaskar; 7 bolters, 8 bolt pistols (120), 2 lascannons, power axe

The Chaos Marine squads skulk around the battlefield, grabbing objectives and peppering the enemy with melta, bolt, and lascannon shots. They excel in terror tactics, slipping behind enemy lines to slit throats and to demoralize the foe.

TRANSPORTS [160]

○ Dragonne, Chaos Rhino, combi-bolter

○ Night Masque, Chaos Rhino, combi-bolter

This ancient transport manuevers the Night Lords around the battlefield.

ELITES [170]

♤ The Atramentar, 5 Chaos Terminators: Aspiring Champion Peron, Kavatar, Sarran, Hatred, Mirac, 5 combi-plasmas, 5 lightning claws, Icon of Vengeance

The Atramentar are the warband's elite veterans. They enforce the will of House Nightfall.

FAST ATTACK [480]

◇ Bats out of Hell, 15 Chaos Raptors: Aspiring Champion Ironclaw, Nox, Insidious Visions, Murderessa, HeartRend, Bloody Mary, Bad Tidings, Red Queen, Bleak Sister, Chaos Renewal, Stormrider, Nocht, Flayer, Night Drinker, Raptorian; 14 Astartes Chainswords, 13 bolt pistols, powerfist, Icon of Vengeance, 2 plasma pistols

◇ WarpNight, 10 Warp Talons: Helbrass, Xerxeth, Reaver, Bloodied Wanderer, Doomseeker, Decimus, Hate Machine, Urzak the Unhinged, Anrathi, Valza; Mark of Khorne

The Chaos Raptors epitomize the Night Lords way of war. They prowl near the foe's flanks terrorizing the most vulnerable enemy units and avoiding a fair fight. The Warp Talons are more akin to Blood Hounds than Chaos Marines, they hunt the foe with vicious zeal.

HEAVY SUPPORT [280]

□ Deffy, Defiler with Defiler Claws and Battlecannon, Reaper Autocannon, Defiler Scourge

□ Mary the Maulerfiend, Maulerfiend fist, set of lasher tendrils

Deffy is Ruven's pet. He loves getting his belly scratched by her almost as much as he loves tearing the enemy limb from limb. Mary always aspires to be the first Night Lord to reach the enemy lines.

Total=1,995 points

• 73 infantry, 4 vehicles=77 models

Relics

• After a centuries-long search, Chaos Lord Duvalier Nightfall found the ancient Nostraman relic, the Claws of the Black Hunt.

• House Nightfall has loaned the Vox Daemonicus to Rosas Nightfall.

Starting CP=11

Here's a slightly blurry photo of my Night Lords on display

And some closeups....

The "Bats Out of Hell" Raptor Squad

"Night Masque" the Chaos Rhino

And "The Atramentar," my Chaos Terminators

I learned during this tournament that +1 to hit from things like "Prescience" or "Prey on the Weak" do not prevent combi-plasma termies from dying to overheats. Oops. Oh well. It's not like I've been winning many games this edition (or last edition) so my accidental cheating hasn't really mattereed. I have since switched them over to combi-meltas. They are magnetized so it was no big deal.

-----Game 1 vs. Death Guard-----

During Game 1 I was pitted against a Death Guard opponent (the TO kindly let the two Chaos-bottom tier armies duke it out). It was a really fun game against a casual, nice opponent.

My opponent's DG list was something vaguely along the lines of:

HQ

-Malignant Plaguecaster

HEAVY SUPPORT

-Blight Hauler Squad

-Blight Hauler Squad

-Blight Hauler Squad

-Plagueburst Crawler

-Plagueburst Crawler

FAST ATTACK

-Plague Drone with mower

-Plague Drone with mower

-Plague Drone with mower

He must have had some other stuff too. It was a low-model count army filled with some very tough and fun units.

The board at deployment. DG on the top and NL on the bottom.

Turn 1 began with the Night Lords getting first turn. Huzzah! I promptly moved everything forward except for my 3 units in deep-strike (the Warp Talons, Raptors, and Termies) and except for my 2 backfield lascannnon CSM Squads.

Night Masque and Lord Duvalier vroom up on the left

Deffy shambles forward on the right

I don't have much shooting, but I think some lucky Night Lords CSM lascannon potshots took out (or seriously weakened) a Plague Drone with mower.

During my opponent's Turn 1 he moved up, blew away the Rhino on my left, most of the CSM Squad inside, and Deffy on my right. He also took some wounds off of Mary. Ouch.

On my Turn 2 I brought "Bats Out of Hell" out of deepstrike. Here you can see them with Lord Duvalier and the remnants of the Harbingers CSM Squad.

These three NL units would kill a couple of Blight Haulers before being blown away by DG shooting/assault on Turn 2.

On my right, the Jackals CSM Squad leave their Rhino and prepare to melta a Plague Drone

A wounded Mary the Maulerfiend moves up to exact vengeance

The Atramentar Terminators drop down in midfield

The Bats Out of Hell charge in and kill a Blight Hauler. Duvalier kills another with his Claws of the Black Hunt.

Mary charges in, gets interrupted, and gets mowed down

The Jackals charge in and neither side does much to the other

Master of Executions Rosas whiffs against a Plague Drone and gets chopped down

I really like my opponent's mowers. He used concrete nails. When I finally upgrade my DG from 3rd to 9th edition, I might have to steal this trick.

On Turn 3 my opponent pretty much killed off most of my army.

I did have some surviving CSM, the Bastards, who ran out into the middle of the board to grab an objective.

Dragonne the Rhino bravely attempts to contest an objective

Warpnight drops down on Turn 3, fails their charge and then gets killed by enemy shooting and Mower Drone assault

The Bastards last stand on an objective before my army was tabled

Despite the one-sided victory it was a fun game full of many laughs and puns. My opponent and I are eagerly awaiting the new CSM Codex.

To be continued with Game 2 below.....

Edited March 11, 2022 by Tallarn Commander

[Tallarn Commander]

----GAME TWO VS. CHAOS KNIGHTS----

Game Two featured my murderous Night Lords up against the fallen nobility of a House of Chaos Knights.

My opponent had 3 knights (I don't know which kinds) and 3 War Dogs.

The board at deployment, Chaos Knights on the left and Chaos Marines on the right

Closeups of a very pretty Chaos Knight

Chaos Knights got first turn. They moved up, moved Mary off of the board, and grabbed the objective in the middle with War Dogs.

On my movement phase I moved an empty Rhino up on my left. In the center I moved Deffy and the Harbingers CSM Squad up. On the right I moved up with a Rhino full of the Jackals CSM Squad.

Board after Night Lords Turn 1 movement

Shooting didn't do much. During the charge phase, Deffy ran forward and stripped 20 wounds off of a knight. Huzzah!

The Harbingers melta and charge a War Dog on an objective

The knights responded by moving up on Turn 2

The board after Knight Turn 2 movement

A knight gets danger close to the Bastards CSM Squad

Sorcerer Ruven gets a bit nervous as the knight approaches

A Wardog strips wounds off of Dragonne the Rhino

And a knight's shooting finishes off the Rhino, causing the Jackals CSM Squad inside to pile out

In the middle of the board, the fight between the Harbingers CSM Squad and a Wardog continues

Ninja Joe hits the wardog with his nunchaku

A knight charges the Bastards CSM Squad, killing a few.

Rosas the Master of Executions then heroically intervenes against the Knight, interrupts, and chops off its last 4 wounds killing it. Huzzah!

On my Turn 2 I moved up a bit with the Jackals on my right. The Atrementar Termies deep-struck in the center while the Warpnight Warp Talons deep-struck on my left.

The termies charged the War Dog in the middle

The Warp Talons charged a knight, but their attacks bounced off of it

And the Jackals charged a War Dog on an objective in his deployment zone, but neither side did much to each other.

The board during Knight movement on Turn 3

During the knight's Turn 3 he moved his knight up to finish off Sorcerer Ruven

My opponent also charges a War Dog into the Bastards CSM Squad, but not much happens

The Atramentar and a War Dog continue to bop each other in the middle of the board

The last two members of the Eviscerators CSM Squad (which had been battle-cannoned down to 2 models) holds an objective

A knight knocks Sorcerer Ruven unconscious

......Game 2 to be continued below....

[Tallarn Commander]

-----GAME 2 NIGHT LORDS VS. CHAOS KNIGHTS CONTINUED-----

And so the top half of Turn 3 ended with the Chaos Knights in a strong position with the Night Lords dwindling but still somewhat in the fight.

During my Turn 3 I brought my "Bats Out of Hell" Raptors out of deepstrike. They charged in to help the Atramentar vs. the War Dog. The Raptors also-multi-charged a knight to tie it down a bit. My two surviving War Talons (the rest having been gunned down on Knights Turn 3) also charged the knight. My remaining two CSM Squads remained locked in combat with War Dogs on objectives.

The board during Night Lords Turn 3 fight phase

My charging Raptors did virtually nothing to the War Dog or Knight, but luckily the Terminators' lightning claws did good work. At the end of Turn 3, the Warp Talons and a War Dog were dead.

During Knight Turn 4 movement, my opponent jumped his knight that was in combat with the Raptors out of combat.

The Raptors were then promptly shot up and their numbers dwindled.

Then the knight jumped back into melee with the "Bats Out of Hell"

The War Dog vs "Bastards" CSM Squad slapfest continued on Turn 4

The board during Turn 4 knight fight phase

You can see knights vs Raptors/Termies on the left and two War Dogs vs CSM melees

War Dog whittling down the "Jackals" CSM Squad

Knights stomp on Chaos Termies and Chaos Raptors

And the knights finished off the Raptors and Termies on the top of Turn 4. Here you see Champion Sarran's last moments before being knocked out cold.

Wardog Slapfest vs. CSM on Turn 4 or Turn 5

On Turn 5 my opponent finally finished off the "Jackals" CSM Squad. Here you can see the last moments of Aspiring Champion Jarvak.

Turn 5 ended with Aspiring Champion Batista and Chaos Marine Kevark as the only surviving Night Lords on the table

The forces of the Chaos Knights easily defeated the Night Lords warband. But it was a fun game and the forces of the Night Lords will have their revenge someday.

My Chaos Knights opponent and I are both eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new Chaos Codex. It cannot come soon enough.

[Tallarn Commander]

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

Game 3 pitted the Sons and Daughters of Curze against the foul Dark Eldar. As the game went along my opponent and I joked about how the Druchii and Night Lords actually share quite a bit in common: a penchant for inspiring terror, a love of clothing and capes made of human flesh, and a fondness for torturing captives and keeping them alive. We joked we were probably fighting over some sewing design for a fancy cloak of human flesh.

My opponent had the following list (which is probably full of errors because I only vaguely remember what he had)

HQ

-Archon with husk blade?

-Drazhar

-Haemonculus

TROOPS

-5 Wracks

-10 Warriors with blaster and dark lance

-10 Warriors with blaster and dark lance

-10 Warriors with blaster and dark lance

ELITES

-Some Incubi

HEAVY SUPPORT

-Ravager

-Ravager

-Squad of 3 Talos

TRANSPORTS

-Raider with dark lance

-Raider with dark lance

-Raider with dark lance

-Raider with dark lance

Here is a photo of the board at deployment, Night Lords on the bottom and Dark Elves on the top

Night Lords deployment zone

(Blurry) photo of Druchii deployment zone

Close-Up of a gorgeous Dark Eldar Raider

Aspiring Champion Ironclaw and his "Bats Out of Hell" Raptors during deployment

Chaos Marine Halaskar peeks around a corner during deployment

A gaggle of Raiders and Talos before the game

Night Lords right flank before the game begins

The Dark Eldar got to go first. They moved up and promptly blew away Deffy who was trying to hide behind a building. But sadly he's too darned big to hide effectively. The Druchi also took out a few Raptors.

During the Night Lords Turn 1 I moved up Deffy and the "Eviscerators" CSM Squad on the left. The "Jackals" CSM Squad vroomed forward in the center in their Rhino and popped smoke. On my right I moved out with the "Harbingers" CSM Squad, their Rhino, all three of my characters (Duvalier the Chaos Lord, Ruven the Sorcerer, and Rosas the Master of Executions).

During my shooting phase my lascannons whittled away at Raiders. Then during the assault phase my Raptors made it in against a Raider on my right flank.

The "Bats Out of Hell" Raptor Squad used Veterans of the Long War and dropped the Raider, which thankfully did not blow up.

-----DARK ELVES TURN 2----

The forces of the Dark Elves moved Raiders full of Warriors up onto the objectives in the middle and on my left. The Warriors that had been knocked out of their Raider held the objective on my right. During the movement phase, Ravagers moved up to get line of sight and Talos moved up ready to pounce on my Raptors.

The board during Dark Eldar Turn 2 movement

At the bottom you can see that my poor Chaos Lord Duvalier has fallen off his base and is now just propped up on the base.

Raider full of Warriors grabs objective on my left

Talos move up on the Night Lords right and salivate over the upcoming kill

Dark Eldar Talos as seen from a Chaos Rhino

During the DE shooting phase the Druchii blew away both Rhinos and whittle down the Raptors.

The "Harbingers" CSM Squad loses their Rhino and is forced to walk.

And the "Jackals" CSM Squad loses their ride too

The Talos easily wipe out the Raptors during the fight phase

The right-flank objective was now firmly held by the Dark Eldar!

-----NIGHT LORDS TURN 2-----

During my movement phase Mary and the "Eviscerators" CSM Squad moved up on the left. The "Jackals" CSM Squad moved up in the center. And on the right all three characters and the "Harbingers" CSM Squad moved up. My firebase lascannon Squad the "Bastards" continued to hunker down on my backfield objective. At the end of my movement phase, the "Atramentar" Chaos Terminator Squad deep-struck into the middle of the board into a ruin. And the "Warpnight" Raptors Squad deep-struck on my right.

The board during Night Lords Turn 2 movement

The "Atramentar" drop in

The Warp Talons and Talos size each other up

CSM front line after movement, Atramentar are in the center left of this photo

....to be continued below....

[Tallarn Commander]

....Continued from above

-----BOTTOM OF TURN 2 NIGHT LORDS FIGHT PHASE-----

During the shooting phase the "Jackals" meltaguns manage to take out a Raider, this leaves them free to charge the Warrior Squad that piles out of the Raider. The "Bastards" CSM lascannons chip some wounds off of a Ravager.

During the fight phase:

-On the left Mary and the "Eviscerators" charge the Raider killing it, the Warriors inside cannot pile out onto the objective because it is blocked by the "Eviscerators" CSM Squad.

-In the middle the "Jackals" CSM Squad charges the Warriors killing some but both squads hold on the objective, luckily the CSM outnumber the Warriors

-On the right Chaos Lord Duvalier and "Warpnight" Warp Talons Squad charge the Talos. The Warp Talons manage to kill all the Talos, with the aid of Duvalier and his Claws of the Black Hunt.

-On the right The Harbingers CSM Squad charge the Warriors on the objective. I should have also charged Ruven in alongside the CSM. He could have contributed to the fight rather and not been left standing out in the open. Rosas the Master of Executions fails his charge against the warriors and is left hanging out in the open as well. The CSM vs. Warriors is pretty much a slapfest, with something like 4 Warriors and 1 or 2 CSM dead. Luckily the CSM outnumber the Warriors on the objective.

Warp Talons vs. Talos brawl

Mary and the "Eviscerators" take out a Raider on my left

"Harbingers" CSM Squad vs. Chaos Warriors on the right

The "Jackals" CSM Squad vs. Warriors in the center

So Turn 2 went fairly well for the Night Lords. I ended the turn holding all three objectives in the middle. Also the turn ended with 2 dead Rhinos on my part and 2 dead Raiders and a dead Talos squad on my opponent's part. I managed to get 3 points for the new CSM secondary for clearing the enemy off of an objective and then occupying the objective. Too bad this secondary caps out at 3 points because if it didn't cap out I would have earned 9 points.

-----DRUCHI TURN 3-----

Druchii vehicles in the backfield before Turn 3 began. During this turn the Raider on the left would jump forward and discharge its contents of Archon, Incubi, and Drazhar

The board right before Dark Eldar Turn 3 movement

During my opponent's movement phase, he kept his Warriors in melee on my left and in the center. He moved up on the right with Drazhar, Incubi, and Archon. the remaining Raider and Ravagers shuffled around in the backfield to gain line of sight.

Blurry shot of Dark Eldar Turn 3 movement

During the shooting phase he easily dark lanced my two characters who were hanging around without screens: Rosas the Master of Executions and Ruven the Sorcerer. I should not have left them out like that. D'oh!

During the fight phase, Mary whiffed vs. the Warriors on the left but the Warriors chopped the "Eviscerators" CSM Squad down

In the center the "Jackals" CSM Squad finished off the Warriors

Hatred's "Harbingers" CSM Squad finished off the Warriors on the right

Drazhar and the Incubi charge "Warpnight" Warp Talons Squad and easily kill off the the daemonic Raptorkin

The Archon forgets to charge the CSM on the left but both my opponent and I are casual players (we are on the bottom table after all). So I let him charge.

He whiffs his rolls and only chops up a few CSM.

-----NIGHT LORDS TURN 3-----

During my Turn 3 I move out the Atramentar you see below. They headed right to deal with the Incubi and Drazhar.

On my left Mary and the "Eviscerators" were locked in combat. And the "Jackals" hunkered down on their objective in the middle, feeling rather exposed with no cover. On the right the "Harbingers" CSM Squad remained locked in melee with his Archon. And the "Atramentar" Termie Squad and Duvalier moved up to tackle Drazhar and the Incubi.

I didn't do much during my shooting phase.

The "Atramentar" Termies and Duvalier charge Drazhar and the Incubi...

...and managed to kill them all off

This means my Chaos Marines finally got vengeance on Drazhar. Here is a photo from a game from last year in which another Eldar player's Drazhar unjustly persecuted small squad of my Khorne CSM on an objective. Revenge is sweet!

The Archon and the "Harbingers" CSM Squad continue to chop at each other. Darn shadow field!

So Turn 3 ends with the Dark Eldar having lost 2 Warrior Squads, Drazhar, and an Incubi Squad. And the CSM having lost a Warp Talon Squad, the "Eviscerators" CSM Squad, a Master of Executions, and a Sorcerer. It was a close game indeed.

-----DARK ELDAR TURN 4-----

During my opponent's movement phase the Warriors in melee vs. Mary jumped out of combat. Various Raiders/Ravagers jockeyed around in the DE backfield.

The board during Druchii Turn 4 movement

I just noticed that the "Jackals" CSM Squad are no longer on their middle-of-the-battlefield objective. They must have been gunned off of it on Turn 3.

During the shooting phase the cruel Dark Eldar shot poor Mary the Maulerfiend to death. There were no charges. The Archon chopped the "Harbingers" CSM Squad down to one trooper. Ninja Joe was left standing.

-----NIGHT LORDS TURN 4-----

On my Turn 4 I moved the Atramentar onto the objective ready to charge the Archon. Ninja Joe jumped out of melee since he was obsec and danger close to Huskbade-wielding madman with a Shadow Field. Lord Duvalier leapt over a building to get at the Wracks.

Board during Night Lords Turn 4 movement

Ninja Joe leaps out of combat while the "Atramentar" Termie Squad prepares to shoot and then charge the Archon

...with that the TO kindly reminded us that our time was up. So we quickly played through the bottom of Turn 4. The Atramentar killed off the Termies and Duvalier managed to kill of a measly 1 Wrack. We then theorized what would happen.

-We agreed the Archon would kill, er knock out, Ninja Joe on the objective

-We agreed Duvalier would fail to kill off the Wracks on the objective because they would just jump out of melee and the Ravagers would gun him down

We tallied up points and it came to a very close (I cannot recall how close) Dark Eldar victory. But the game was a blast and definitely the closest of the three games (the other two games pretty much being shutouts).

In all it was a very fun tournament. Kudos to all my very kind opponents, to Wizard's Keep for hosting the event, and to the tournament organizers. Thanks!

[WarriorFish]

Some tough games, looks like you might need to gear up on some more AT if these are to be more common foes! At least you could get to grips with the Dark Eldar once you could get your claws on them Roll on the new codex!

[Tallarn Commander]

Yes, I agree Warrior Fish, I should increase my anti-tank. I played a game last week where I upped my anti-tank and it really helped. I lost to Salamanders but it was a fun, close game. I tossed 5 combi-meltas into my "Atramentar" Terminator Squad, I gave my jumpack lord a combi-melta, I gave my Biker Sorc a combi-melta, and I gave Harry the Helbrute a multi-melta.

On the hobbying front I've tossed my hat into the ring and pledged a squad of 5 CSM for the ongoing "Anger and Arrogance" painting event.

Here are some photos

A shot of all 5 CSM

Felheart, WE CSM with bolt pistol and chainsword

Moonslaughter, WE CSM with bolt pistol and chainsword (and nunchaku), looks like I still need to remove some mold lines from his nunchaku

Moonslaughter, seen from rear

Blacksun, NL Aspiring Champion with bolt pistol and chainsword

Knight of Despair, WE CSM with bolt pistol and chainsword (and carrying a chain)

Knight of Despair from the rear

Hell's Angel, WE CSM with bolt pistol and chainsword (and Khorne parrying dagger and shotgun)

Hell's Angel seen from rear

I'm also painting up a NL Aspiring Champion with chainsword and combi-melta

But since his shoulder pad is already painted I cannot put Jinx into the competition

I'm also rebasing Sorcerer Bolivar and putting a banner onto a Chaos Biker (the old one snapped off and disappeared long ago)

The banner is from Kromlech. I cannot recall where the mystical base came from.

I'm bringing Night Lords to a tournament on March 26th so hopefully the Night Lords models are done by then. And I'm bringing my World Eaters to a tournament on April 2nd so hopefully my 4 World Eaters models are done by then.

Night Lords, "The quick and the dead"

World Eaters, "Blood for the Blood God!"

Edited March 13, 2022 by Tallarn Commander

[Tallarn Commander]

Hello fellow Chaos Worshippers,

I was able to play a league game earlier this month. I brought along my super-fun Nostroman 9th Renegades and Heretics Chaos Militia (which has never actually won a game) and my opponent kindly took an equally fluffy, casual Grot-themed list! It was little Chaos dudes against little ork dudes. The game took place at the excellent Wizard's Keep Games in Renton Washington.

My opponent's Ork-Themed Grot List (which is vague and innacurate since I don't know orks too well)

HQ

-Makari the Lucky Grot?

TROOPS

-10 Gretchen

-10 Gretchen

-10 Gretchen

FAST ATTACK

-Squad of 5 Grot Tanks

-Squad of 5 Grot Tanks

-Squad of 6 Grot Tanks

-Dakka Jet?

-Dakka Jet

HEAVY SUPPORT

-5 Killa Kans

-Really Big Ork Walker of Some Sort

-3 Grot Artillery Pieces of Some Sort

Here's a photo of my opponent's impressive-army. I love the conversions and diversity of grot tanks!

And here's what the Renegades and Heretics brought....

Being a Renegades & Heretics Chaos Militia Battalion with Bloodthirsty Mauler Hounds and Vicious Space Pirates!

Long ago there was a noble family, the house of Nightfall. They lived in an age of peace and stability established by their world's ruler. Their ruler was Konrad Curze, the fair and just lord of the garden planet Nostramo. And then one day, a corrupt and weak emperor sent an assassin to slay the Lord Curze. The vile assassin succeeded. The emperor then destroyed the paradise that was Nostramo. House Nightfall managed to escape. But since that day they have never forgotten. Vengeance upon the emperor will be theirs!

NOSTROMAN 9TH MERCENARY COMPANY, "HELL'S HORDE,"

HQ [145]

• Dneghra Nightfall, Renegade Commander, Army Warlord, powerfist, leadership bubble warlord trait

• WarpRend, Malefic Lord

• Buzzsaw, Renegade Commander, Army Warlord (35), powerfist, plasma pistol

Dnegrah Nightfall has lead the Nostroman 9th Mercenary Company for decades. She travels the verse, selling her mercenaries' skills to any non-Imperium clients with enough coin. Dnegrah's ancestors were Nostroman nobility, the noble House of Nightfall. They feared Curze but respected his ability to establish order. They seek to avenge Curze's death at the hands of the Emperor. WarpRend is the regiment's spiritual advisor. She can call upon the warp to commit unholy acts upon the battlefield. Renegade Commander Buzzsaw is Dnegrah's lover. He won her affection through his devotion to Chaos and strict personal code of honor.

TROOPS [920]

• Sevatar's 1st Squad, 20 Chaos Militia, 2 lascannons, meltagun, flamer

• Lobo's 2nd Squad, 20 Chaos Militia, 2 lascannons, flamer

• Annika's 3rd Squad, 20 Chaos Militia, 2 missile launchers, flamer

• Vicious Pete's 4th Squad, 20 Chaos Militia, 2 missile launchers, flamer

• Cthulu's 5th Squad, 20 Chaos Militia, missile launcher, heavy bolter, flamer

• Zeva's 7th Squad, 20 Mutant Rabble with shotguns

The Chaos Militia and Mutant Rabble are a diverse lot. Some fight for coin, some for Chaos, some fight against the fascist Imperium, and some fight for the sake of fighting.

ELITES [630]

• Kholek's Killers, Ogryn Beast Handler, Mauler Goad and Ripper Claw, 5 Chaos Mauler Hounds

• Gaur's Guerillas, Ogryn Beast Handler, Mauler Goad and Ripper Claw, 5 Chaos Mauler Hounds

• Wrath's Wraiths, Ogryn Beast Handler, Mauler Goad and Ripper Claw, 5 Chaos Mauler Hounds

• Madame Voodoo's 9th Squad, 10 Marauders (90), 2 plasma guns (20), plasma pistol (5), power axe

• Charles' 10th Squad, 10 Marauders (90), 2 plasma guns (20), plasma pistol (5), power axe

• Captain Zero's 11th Squad, 10 Marauders (90), 2 plasma guns (20), plasma pistol (5), power sword

The Ogryn Beast Handlers are space pirates, wanton miscreants who excel at boarding operations.

FAST ATTACK [150]

• Hound of Chaos, scout sentinel (30), lascannon (20), sentinel chainsaw (2)

• Star of Chaos, scout sentinel (30), lascannon (20), sentinel chainsaw (2)

• Bbbrrrrble and Rrrrraaaawwwwrrr, 2 Chaos Spawn

The sentinel and spawn are fast units. Perfect for harassing the enemies' flanks. The Chaos Spawn like to tag along behind them.

HEAVY SUPPORT

• Reaver, Leman Russ Battle Tank, Battlecannon, lascannon

The tank crew are traitor guard who now use their weapons against their former comrades.

Total Points=2,000

Number of Models=176 (156 infantry, 15 hounds, 2 walkers, 2 spawn, 1 tank)

CP=12

And here's a shot of the Nostroman 9th

Some adorable orky fighter planes (counts-as Grot Tanks)

Rather nicely painted Killa Kans

Sweet-looking Ork Flyer (Dakka Jet?)

My 3 HQs: Warprend the Malefic Lord and Renegade Commanders Buzzsaw and Dneghra

The Blue Horde: members of 1st Squad

Gaur and his Chaos Mauler Hounds

Charles' 10th Squad of Marauders

The board at deployment

The thin red line right before the battle

And the not-so-thin blue line right before the battle

5th Squad mills around before dice are thrown

And Star of Chaos the Scout sentinel does a scout move on the left flank before the game

And Hound of Chaos scout moves up before the game on the right flank

And with our armies deployed and scout moves completed we diced off to see who would get to go first.

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

Edited March 17, 2022 by Tallarn Commander

[Tallarn Commander]

....Continued from above....

And then we both rolled off to see who went first...aaaaaand the Orks won.

-----ORK TURN 1-----

So the large walker trundled forward

As did much of his army. Here's a shot of the board after Turn 1 Ork movement.

And Ork Dakka Jet gets danger close to my right flank

During the shooting phase (he didn't have a psyker), he thinned the ranks of various squads and blew away both scout sentinels.

He was too far away to charge with anything.

-----RENEGADES & HERETICS TURN 1-----

During my movement phase, almost all of my army moved up. I kept Reaver the Russ back and 1st Squad back on an objective, but everyone trotted forward.

Kholek the Ogryn Houndmaster advances with Mauler Hounds

The four surviving members of 3rd Squad advanced onto an objective on my left

Gaur's Guerillas moved up on the right

During my psychic phase, Warp Rend shredded a few points off of the walker. During myshooting phase, I chipped a few wounds off here and there. My left flank infantry and Reaver the Russ concentrated fire on a Dakka Jet and blew it away.

Reaver finishes off an Ork Dakka Jet

The board after R&H Turn 1 charges

The only successful charge: Champion Charles' 10th Marauder Squad was the only successful charge. They desperately hoped to tarpit the walker. But they all died to the walker.

So Turn 1 ended with 2 dead R&H sentinels and a dead Marauder squad. The Orks had lost a Dakka jet. But the much faster orks also held a much better board position.

------ORK TURN 2-----

Except for the objective-holding Gretchen and the artillery, the ork line continued to move up during their Turn 2.

Grot Tanks threaten Gaur's Guerillas and Zero's 11th Marauder Squad my right flank

Board after Ork Turn 2 movement

During Turn 2 shooting the Orks finished off Sevatar's 1st Chaos Militia Squad on the right, Cthulu's 5th Chaos Militia Squad in the center, and Madame Voodoo's 9th Marauder Squad in the center. Ouch! I also accidentally removed WarpRend the Psyker as a 5th Squad casualty. I didn't notice this until much later in the game. Oops. I guess when you have 150+ infantry on the board it's pretty easy to lose track of one Malefic Lord Psyker.

During the Ork Turn 2 charge phase their were 4 successful charges:

-On the left some Grot Tanks charged 2nd Squad

-In the center the walker charged a squad of Mauler Hounds

-In the center some Grot Tanks charged Renegade Commander Buzzsaw

-On the right some Grot Tanks charged Charles' 10th Marauder Squad

Ork Walker vs. Wrath's Wraiths in the center. This was the only fight the Orks won. The other 3 fights were draws and continued on.

------RENEGADES & HERETICS TURN 2-----

During my Turn 2 movement phase I only had 5 units that were un-engaged:

-Renegade Commander Dnegrah on the left (she moved forward to help 2nd Squad in its melee)

-1st Squad on the left (it moved forward in a desperate attempt to tarpit the walker)

-Reaver (it stayed back to shoot)

-Gaur's Guerillas Chaos Mauler Hound Squad (it moved forward to nab an objective)

-Zeva's 7th Mutant Rabble Squad (it outflanked onto the Grot board edge)

The board after Nostroman 9th Turn 2 movement

Zeva's 7th Mutant Rabble Squad outflanks onto an objective on the enemy right flank

Nostroman shooting was very uneventful on Turn 2. I just realized that I forgot to shoot my trooper's autopistols and plasma pistols during melee. Oh well.

During the charge phase, Dneghra charged Grot Tanks to alleviate the pressure on 2nd Squad

She's the trooper with power sword (unequipped) and power fist (equipped)

The melee on the right involving 11th Marauder Squad vs. Grot Tanks was pretty much a slapfest on Turn 2

Gaur's Guerillas successfully charged Grot Tanks on an objective and killed some

The board during Chaos Turn 2 fight phase

The Ork walker munched through all but 2 members of 2nd Squad, who promptly failed morale and fled

So Turn 2 ends with the Orks on 4? objectives and the R&H on 2 objectives (7th Squad who outflanked and Gaur's Guerillas who outnumbed the Grot Tanks). It also ended with both sides' ranks thinned out more, although the Nostroman 9th's ranks were decidedly more thinned out.

.....Continued below

[Tallarn Commander]

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

-----ORK TURN 3------

Except for Grots, Dakka Jet, artillery, the large ork walker, and the Killer Kans (who I forgot to mention had wiped out a Mauler Hound Squad on Turn 2), all Ork units were already engaged. The Killer Kans moved up to threaten Reaver the Russ on my left and the walker moved up to support the Grot Tanks in their melee with Renegade Commander Dnegrah and 2nd Squad on my left. The Dakka Jet kept vrooming around the board.

Oh and a Squad of Grot Tanks had finished off Renegade Commander Buzzsaw last turn and it moved further up the board in the middle.

The board after Turn 3 Ork movement

Clever Grots remained hunkered down on objective on Turn 3

There wasn't much Ork shooting since most units were in melee. Some shots did down a handful of Mutant Rabble but that's about it.

During the charge phase the Killa Kans made a somewhat long bomb charge against the Chaos Leman Russ

They chipped away at the Traitor Tank but didn't do too much damage (thankfully)

The large walker failed its charge against 2nd Squad (whew).

On my right 11th Marauder Squad and the Grot Tanks continued to pummel each other

On my left Warlord Dneghra and 2nd Squad continued its fight against the Grot Tanks

While Gaur's Guerillas kept slowly chewing through Grot Tanks (on the other side of the wall)

No combats were finished on Ork Turn 3. They all continued on to the R&H turn.

-----RENEGADES & HERETICS TURN 3-----

During the Nostroman 9th movement phase I only had one unit un-engaged. 7th Mutant Rabble Squad who hunkered down in a building on an objective.

The board during Turn 3 Renegades & Heretics movement

And, again, all of the melees continued. Reaver the Russ even remained alive after a squad of Killa Kans reduced it to like 2 or 3 wounds.

Marauder vs. Grot Tank battle continues on the right

------ORK TURN 4-----

The Ork Turn 4 saw the Dakka Jet shuffling around the board and the large walker moved closer to 2nd Squad. The jet and artillery finished off the Mutant Rabble Squad in shooting. During the fight phase the Killa Kans finished off the Russ and the large walker finished off 2nd Squad.

Dnegrah fights on during Ork Turn 4 as 2nd Squad evaporates around her. She was quickly mopped up.

The Marauder vs. Grot tank fight and Mauler Hound vs. Grot Tank fight continued on my right

-----RENEGADES & HERETICS TURN 4 AND TURN 5-------

Now all I had left were my 2 units on the right: Gaur's Guerillas Mauler Hound Squad and Zero's 11th Marauder Squad. And they remained in melee during the bottom half of Turn 4 and the Orc half of Turn 5. During Turn 4 and/or 5 both squads finally successfully finished their fights. They were the only surviving Nostroman 9th units.

Board during R&H Turn 5

The game ended with a commanding Orc victory. But more importantly it was a blast. My opponent was very chill. We agreed that the Grot Tank army, while fun and fluffy, might not fair as well against a mid-tier or top-tier opponent. But all those adorable Grot Tanks, Gretchen, and beautiful conversions shined against Renegade and Heretics Chaos Militia.

]

It was a great game!

Ork dead pile after the game...

Nostroman 9th dead pile after the game

The Nostroman 9th shall have their revenge someday!

Nostroman 9th, "Hell's horde."

[WarriorFish]

I think this is the sign you need to invest in more AT, since you seem to be coming up against such lists a lot. A bit more heavy hitting especially at longer range could go far?

[Tallarn Commander]

Yes, my Nostroman 9th also has 2 more Russes and 3 Earthshakers. Perhaps Renegade Commander Dneghra will see fit to include them in future battles. 

 

But no one plays Renegades & Heretics these days to win. They haven't been competitive even in casual settings since 7th. Maybe we will get a Traitor Guard list at some point in the future. 

[WarriorFish]

I'm not sure there's been a period when anyone played R&H to win... The way things are going Guard might even get a half decent codex some time in 2024, so hold that thought I suppose?