Alcyon's Revenants Chapter 2nd Co. (Primaris RG Successors)

[Alcyon]

Finally "finished" some miniatures so I figured it was time to make a progress thread. The Primaris sculpts are so awesome and appealing for someone whose rusty painting skills were never that great to begin with, and I always loved playing Space Marines anyway. In the past I started with Black Templars and then vanilla but this time around the redeployment tactics, general ruleset and concepts of the Raven Guard really drew me in.
 
However I can't stand the whole pale emo vibe or the bird obsession, and power armour is so flat I really didn't want to paint them totally black. I also have a weird obsession with codex-adjacent heraldry so I wanted to go with a DIY chapter and pave my own colour scheme. I started with the beloved Space Marine Painter and ended up with this:
 

As LutherMax's Raptors so beautifully demonstrate, yellow is a great highlight colour and I think a good starting point for figuring out how to incorporate rank into the helmet designs of HQs. I also started out wanting a white lower helm, but decided to make the "inside" colour black to reduce steps required on the inner surfaces of the minis. Of course, no paint plan ever survives contact with the enemy (bare plastic)... I picked up the Vanguard Start Collecting box and got to work.
 
Been working on these guys for about six weeks now. The highlights are very sloppy still despite lots of touch-ups but I am generally happy with the workflow for each area of the mini. Starting with Phobos is a pain, there are so many bits all over them - I think Intercessors will be a relief by comparison. Here's Lieutenant Abraxas and his Infiltrators; not the greatest iPhone photos, some faces out of focus.
 

 

Anybody know how I can get these to embed as larger images from my B&C Gallery?

 

Next on the docket is the Suppressors and Infiltrators, and then some Intercessors, a Primaris Captain and an Invictor Warsuit. Plan is to paint the Intercessors up as Veterans and use MoA to get them and the Captain onto some prime objective, supported by the Invictor and Infiltrators. My buddies' armies are full of power armour and include Blood Angels, so I think I'll need some Plasmaceptors before too long too.

Edited July 11, 2020 by Alcyon

[Alcyon]

I really like the crackle paint as an easy basing method and a good contrast to the dark armour. It is a huge pain in the ass trying to daub it on without getting it all over the minis' boots, so I may start gluing them on over top and hoping there's enough superglue to hold them to the base overtop of the flakes.

 

 

As you can see I did a few drybrush and shading steps to see how it turned out. Khorne Red is way too bloody, and Agrax Earthshade left them looking shiny and wet which makes no sense. Drybrushing with Evil Suns Scarlet is close to what I want but still looks a bit unnatural as it's not really darker than the base colour. I'm going to pick up some Kindleflame and give that a shot, and next time I'll put elastic bands around the rims of the bases while applying so I don't have to trim off overflow and repaint. 

 

Next challenge is figuring out what to do with the Eliminators camo-cloaks. I know Tuskgor Fur is supposed to be pretty close in colour to the Martian Ironearth, but frankly I don't really like the idea of extending the base colour onto the minis directly (or painting some kind of block Martian camo.) I think many armies that focus too much on realism or just pick flat colours really struggle to stand out on the tabletop and so I'd like some contrast between the cape, model and base. I may actually paint them Zandri Dust or something.

[Dracos]

Really nice work on the models and the red base is perfect contrast.

[WAR]

Awesome work man

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on the Infiltrators. Edited July 12, 2020 by Bjorn Firewalker

[Lord Raven 19]

Camo cloaks look cool when done with the base colour and splatted with an old toothbrush with a lighter and darker tone. A wash then ties it together a little. I found a foot or two a good distance to splat from.

[Master Issodon]

If you are going to attach the models to the bases after finishing them, but are worried they wont stick, pin them. Drill a hole in the bottom of the model's foot and glue a small section of wire or paperclip into it. Then drill a hole in the base and glue the model in place.

 

If you are worried about the technical paint flaking off, try sealing it with a mix of PVA glue and water (very watery mix) after it dries, but before you paint it. Just soak it into the brush and then 'drop' it on the dried flaky paint. Don't brush it, just let capillary action do the work.

Edited July 12, 2020 by Master Issodon

[Alcyon]

Excellent advice all, and thanks for the kudos, I really appreciate it. Suppressors, Eliminators and Invictor underway. I love model assembly so much more than painting - seeing the results immediately is so satisfying! But I should save the rest of this assembly till I finish more minis. A lot of things to leave off for accessibility while painting.

 

[duz_]

Looks good :yes:

Will we see any vehicles or flyers?

 

As for linking from the gallery check this how to out let me know if you have any other questions :tu:

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/348631-posting-pictures-from-bc-gallery/

Ninja'd u see the answer to my question now :lol:

Edited July 13, 2020 by duz_

[Alcyon]

Thanks Duz - I have always added them using the My Media button in the editor, but the thumbnails turn out so small. Wish I could embed them in a larger size.

 

Right now I don't plan on any vehicles or fliers at all (besides the Invictor.) I don't have an airbrush and the concept of painting something that large is a little daunting. I like my marines as infantry ;) I do like the Xiphon and the Stormtalon but fliers can't hold objectives, and tables being smaller and vehicles being able to shoot into combat I think Dreadnoughts/Warsuits are awesome. 

 

I've entertained the thought of 5 Hellblasters and a Captain in an Impulsor, but with the adjustments to points Plasmaceptors seem like a much more affordable option. Not really a vehicle but I did get an Indomitus box, so I'll be adding some Outriders, and a Vindicator isn't totally out of the question at some point.

[Sergeant_Angle]

I love the how that yellow stands out against the grey.

[Alcyon]

Took a break on the Invictor as I got to the point where I need to buy more magnets for the arm, and I think choosing a pose with so many movable parts is going to be a pain in the ass. I also have a game coming up this weekend, so I'm hustling to finish the Suppressors and Eliminators so I can field the full Vanguard box at ~500 pts. It'll the the first sortie of the Revenants so pretty exciting and I really want to field them fully painted and based (if not totally cleaned up.) 

 

 

I decided to just go with "parchment"/light leather for the cloaks as it's a strong contrast to the armour colours and the martian base. I might change it up later especially since it'll be weirdly close to the colour of purity scrolls, but thankfully Eliminators don't have those so it shouldn't be too obvious at first. 

 

Did some pinning to try and reinforce the flight stand/backpack joint; it's surprisingly hard to line up that connection. I thought about using a magnet between the model and its backpack to make it easier to transport them in two pieces, but I don't think it'll really add to their resilience. I'll probably just put them a pluck foam tray, vertically if they're short enough. 

 

Don't think this Patrol is going to be very powerful running the equivalent of 14 bolters and two Autocannons, but hopefully the Lieutenant and Storm of Fire will help them deal some actual wounds vs. Death Guard and Blood Angels (including possible tanks. Sadface.)

[Alcyon]

Played my first game ever with the Revenants today, 500pt patrol with the Start Collecting Vanguard box. We played it as 9th as much as we could based on the rules we could find, mostly the free Core Rules pdf. I don't think the box is an especially coherent mix of units but I wanted to get them on the table, even though I was expecting things to go particularly badly. The place we play has Necromunda sized tables (4x4) so we just rolled with that... A bit more square than the recommended 44x30" but I figured I needed all the space I could get. We played the Only War mission in the Core Rules book which had four objectives; we put one in each deployment zone and two across the mid-line of the battlefield. I got to pick my board edge and got first turn; we also decided to allow reserves on turn 1 as the turn 2 restriction doesn't seem to be present in the PDF.

 

 

Sixteen unblooded Primaris Revenants under Lieutenant Secundus Abraxas assembled as Vanguards for a training exercise, eager to study under one of the Imperium's foremost and honoured chapters, the Blood Angels. It was a hot, dusty day on the field of battle, a scarred Martian landscape littered with the burnt-out hulks of long decrepit Ministorum gasworks and slab-like rock formations.

 

In deployment, 4th Squad (Infiltrator) under Sergeant Setheus crept forward to seize an objective in the midfield, their sophisticated sensor helms picking up the raucous engine note and clanking treads of a Baal Predator. The 10th Squad under Sergeant Ouriel deployed atop a promethium derrick, giving clear lines of sight to a squad of gold-clad seraphs whose power swords shimmered the air above them, stark even in the baking heat: Sanguinary Guard. Meanwhile 9th Squad under Sergeant Harmas wrapped their camo-cloaks around themselves as they silently clambered up a red-dusted mesa, claiming an objective and bedding down their Bolt Sniper Rifles.

 

High above, Lieutenant Secundus Rann Abraxas was already falling, his grav-chute barely beginning to slow his descent. He kept one forearm pressed against the weapon on his chest, the servos supporting his ceramite vambrace locked as extra insurance beyond the maglocks clamping the weapon to his breastplate. It would not do to lose the Raven Guard's priceless Ex Tenebris on this brotherly bout.

 

Their silent advance had given the Revenants the initiative, but the sons of Sanguinius had cunningly positioned themselves mostly behind obscuring cover. Nevertheless, the council of Captains overseeing the exercise scored the Revenants two points for their dominance over two objectives, and a third for holding more than the Angels. Lieutenant Abraxas executed a perfect dustoff into cover beside 4th Squad, lifting only brief plumes of dust with the soundless touchdown of his boots as he murmured into a direct voxline. "Open fire." The Accelerator Autocannons of 10th Squad opened up on the gleaming forms of the Sanguinary Guard, but to no avail, shells the size of a man's leg deflecting and bursting harmlessly off of the master-worked armour. 

Jump pack turbines suddenly roared like thunder, triggered by the yellow lighting flare of autocannon fire. With the relentless glare, Sergeant Harmas had ordered his squad to switch their optical lenses to the cold blue of magnetic scan, searching for contacts on the highest gain setting. Now their optics whined and refocused as a grip of heavy ferrous shapes landed heavily not ten metres before them. Harmas chanted into the vox, "9th Squad, contact, contact," flipping his goggles up to see five black-clad warriors screaming towards him on contrails of white smoke, brandishing a coterie of power weapons.

 

Lt. Abraxas was beginning to request a sitrep when the marines next to him opened up with their Marksman carbines. A Blood Angel Chaplain, his helmet a stoic rictus, was soaring over the decrepit shack 4th Squad hunkered behind, a Sanguinary Ancient close on his heels. The crackling rounds of his thrice-blessed Angelus boltgun struck Brother Nebrith in the torso, the stun rounds paralyzing his left arm, but his helm and right hand stayed true as his bolter added to the chorus of his squad. The mass-reactive rounds scrubbed filigree and ceramite flakes off the breastplates and greaves of the arcing Angels, but none found their purchase. 

 

Neither did the fire of the "Death Company" catch any of the Eliminators, the shifting patterns of their cloaks disguising them in the ink black shadows of the towering mesa. However, the cloaks could not shield them from the enhanced eyes of the charging marines, now only metres away. The three snipers drew their stun batons but were swiftly felled as a rain of inactive power fists and thunder hammers connected with their lightweight armour.

Sergeant Ouriel swung the long barrel of his autocannon around, drawing a bead on the killers of Harmas' team when the whine of his squadmates jetpacks abruptly cut out. They dropped to the deck with their backs to a rusted out fuel tower as Assault Cannon shells stitched a line of dummy rounds into the crumbling metal. "Crow's luck," he muttered, cutting his hoverjet and joining them. The chattering of the smaller calibre sponson Heavy Bolters and pintle Storm Bolter seemed to come from all directions as the Predator's other weapons systems came to bear. 

The Chaplain and Ancient drew a heavy toll from the Infiltrators as 4th Squad drew batons to meet the charge, moving onto the upper level away from the objective. Two marines, then a third and fourth hit the deck limp as their armour servos cut out in response to the crack-zap of the low-power Crozius and Encarmine Sword. "In two, false flight, six metres!" called Abraxas as his armour-clad finger squeezed the scrimshawed trigger of the ancient boltgun. "Re-address in three beats!"

 

In the briefing pit, Captain Areche looked across the holodisplay at his brother Captain through the tops of his eyes. "Popped from the techpriests' wombs a little early, perhaps." The blond tresses of other transhuman shook gently as he chuckled. 

"You are too hard on them, Aol. Mine have only scored a single victory point, and our esteemed Chaplain has already abandoned the objective in his zeal."

"This is true. A technical victory is still a victory..."

"..if there are enough still standing to claim it," said Captain Raphaen, a mischievous grin splitting his noble, scar-free face.

 

Brother Knyx grabbed the hot barrel of his squadmate's autocannon and pulled it forward, aligning it with his own under the lip of the platform. The fusillade of shells had not let up, and the iron wall was beginning to disintegrate. But beneath it, the Suppressors had an angle on the Sanguinary Guard. With a nod from their sergeant, Knyx and Richram tightened their grips on the firing handles and let loose a hail of fire. Stun rounds finally hit home, knocking one of the shining warriors to the dust from mid-flight. Richram barked out a single, impulsive laugh, and his sergeant cuffed him with an armour-clad elbow. "Idiot. Keep shooting and maybe I won't tell the Lieutenant you squawked the vox."

 

Sergeant Setheus' tightly-drilled Infiltrators fared even better. As one, they bounded backwards as if driven back by the recoil of their coughing carbines. The sheer weight of concussive impacts began to lock and fuze the armour joints of the onrushing Angels, the hypervelocity shells of the Raven Guard's treasured weapon impacting like mailed fists among a hail of regular bolts. "Turn to six," said Setheus to the squad, his hand on his Lieutenant's pauldron. "Brace!" The seven remaining marines wheeled clockwise and levelled their carbines, none looking back as the frozen armour of the Chaplain and his bodyguard thunked heavily into the cracked earth.

 

Captain Areche's scar-lashed face creased into a grin. "One for the warlord. But I don't think they can hold."

"I think you're right this time," said Raphaen. "Not many left, I'm afraid."

"At least it's an honour to be crushed by the legendary Angels, eh?"

 

The Predator's cannons fell silent, which meant the Sanguinary Guard were probably already on them. Richram and Knyx hauled on their cannons, sending rust fragments flying as they tried to bring their guns to bear, but it was too late. Ouriel roared as he swung back his cannon, then threw it forward like a ram, striking a glancing blow against an impassive, benevolent mask. But he was already flanked by two, three others, striking him in the kidneys with their stun swords and driving him to his knees. The one he'd knocked knelt too, bringing his helmet to Ouriel's level. "I'd ask you to buff it out if I thought you'd do a decent job, Ouriel." Ouriel swore he could hear the Angel smiling. 

 

Abraxas flipped through optical filters, trying to draw a bead on the black shapes looming towards them through a cloud of dust. His helmet acquired a lock and he had begun to squeeze the trigger when a storm of rounds lashed his armour and spun him to the ground. In his peripheral vision he saw the remnants of 4th Squad raked with shells and collapsing in a series of sable heaps. All he could think about was how many individual pieces of sanctified armour plate made up the panoply of his patrol, and how long it would take to chisel and reforge each one when the captain assigned him disciplinary detail.

 

 

Wow, what a learning experience. A patrol-sized table is very, very small when your opponent's combat troops move 12" a turn. My Eliminators never fired a shot, and my Suppressors failed the bulk of their hit and wound rolls. I can't believe I piled in and stepped off an objective, but there were still two turns left after tabling me for the Angels to pick up plenty of VPs. 

I had really been thinking my Infiltrators would want to deploy up the board, but they were 9" from the enemy deployment zone so their Omni-scramblers couldn't protect them from a regular old jump pack move and charge. Their carbines do work, even against vehicles, but the RG CT, Smoke Grenades, cover, all protect against shooting and not assaults. Maybe against Tau or Guard I could deploy them aggressively to take board control, but against combat armies I feel like you have no choice but to turtle up in your deployment zone and try to get as many rounds of shooting as possible before they hit. The 12" deep strike denial is great and all, but for 220pts (before 9th ed adjustments!) it seems like a ton for a unit that won't be in range of shooting anything until the second or third turn at best. I'd be better off running three basic squads of Scouts at 165pts to get the same denial zone in deployment and five more bolters in the deal.

I should've listened to whoever told me they deploy their Suppressors into reserves. It would've been huge to have them come down on an objective in the enemy DZ once they'd already moved all their forces a foot or more towards me, and they wouldn't have gotten cornered between DC and Sang Guard with no escape route. They really just seem like a weird unit with a 12" move they don't want to use since it makes their 6 shots hit on 4s. I'd rather pay less points and just get an emplacement. 

LieuTenebris was great as long as he's far out of combat; it's easy to forget he has a 36" range and basically no CC weapon to speak of against power armour. And boy was it sad not to fire a shot with my Eliminators. The Instigator Carbine really took a hit with Overwatch costing a CP but it's way more useful than I had expected given the small tables and fast-moving assaulters. 

If I could do it all again, I would've castled up, made my DZ a deep-strike free zone and ensured sure my LT's aura touched every marine. I was too thin on the ground to hold more than a single flank. To be fair, I think the list he played was basically my worst nightmare for a 500pt game, the table size, 3d6 charge out of deep strike and the power of these close combat BA units is just insane at a low points value. I really wonder if there's a Patrol list out there for RG that compensates for the weaknesses of a mid-tier gunline. Maybe a lot of Vanguard Veterans? 

In any case, it was fun to get them (fake) blooded and it'll really make me re-evaluate my plans for expansion. I think I need a lot more bodies and a lot tougher armour if I'm going to hack it against BA without my own firstborn units. 

Edited July 21, 2020 by Alcyon

[thewarriorhunter]

Really great stuff. As was suggested if you want to add models to the base later pinning them is the way to go. I have to pin all of my models because bases have to be made with no model on them.

 

Regarding your base color and how you felt Agrax looked too shiny, if you matte varnish your models when they're done that shine will get knocked back and you may end up liking the results. I had some washes I used to use that dried satin and a varnish with Dullcoat knocked them back to where I wanted.

 

Looking forward to seeing more!

[Alcyon]

Thank you! I think I will end up pinning them through a boot from now on, just to be able to use cork as a painting handle. I can always flake off some of the technical paint to make room for the boots too if I'm worried they won't adhere.

 

Re: the matte varnish, I do have some, I think the larger issue is the wash pools in places on the flakes and makes it look like they recently were rained on. The base underneath is already painted dark brown so I don't know if there's shading that really needs to be done on them. I might give the varnish a shot just to see how it looks, maybe thin the Agrax down a little too so it doesn't pool as much, but mostly I expect a Kindleflame drybrush to get me where I want to be at least for now. Modelling always feels like a compromise between how lazy and how committed to quality/the Codex Astartes you are, haha.

 

Despite fielding them I haven't finished the Eliminators or Suppressors yet, plan is to wrap them up this week just to have them done. I was looking forward to working on my Veteran Intercessors next, but my friend's Blood Angels apply so much pressure I think I have to pivot to tougher units. My Indomitus box arrives this weekend so I think I'll do the Eradicators next (should be pretty simple to paint) and then the Bladeguard, Chaplain and Lt. for some real punishment. Maybe the Intercessors after that, but from the results of this last game, I have a pretty low view of troops choices when not playing against Guard or Tyranids or something.

[Alcyon]

This is a repost from the "What have your RG done lately" but I wanted to add it here for continuity:

 

 

The Revenants tastes victory for the first time this week, defeating the rage-crazed Blood Angels as the Defender in Assassinate and the perfidious T'au in Supply Drop for our Crusade Campaign. I ran:

• Phobos Captain w/ Ex Tenebris
• 5x Veteran Intercessors w/ Power Fist
• 5x Hellblasters w/ Assault Plasma Incinerators
• 3x Eradicators

First game, the BA had Sanguinary Guard with an Ancient and Death Company with a Chaplain (no punches pulled at 500pts!) I was the defender and castled up pretty hard on one table edge, being very conscious of charge distances. He didn't end up putting anything in reserve so the Captain's Omni-scrambler didn't end up mattering.

 

He split his forces to attack from two sides, which I think was a mistake - I kept my units close enough together that if he'd been more familiar with the rules he could've chain-charged/consolidated into everyone. As it was, he locked my Captain (his assassination target) in combat twice after wiping the Intercessor screen. I used Desperate Breakout for the first time to escape encirclement, risking the whole mission on a 1 but made it, and then the second time he was able to break out by killing off a Sanguinary Guard with his combat knife.

 

Falling back let the other guys shoot the rest of his army off the table and the Captain executed the lonesome Ancient with his relic bolter. Captain kicked ass that game so I Marked him for Greatness and gave him the Laurels of Victory crusade relic for +2 CP while he's alive. Eradicators got Grizzled (6+ FNP) as the victory reward.

 

Second game the T'au had a Crisis Suit team with Missile Pods, a Commander with Fusion Blasters, bunch of drones and a 9-man Warrior squad. I think he was fairly new to the game, I got to pick Defender again and managed to get a table edge with all three objectives on it. From there it was just a game of staying in Dense Cover and plinking away.

 

His Fire Warriors came in from Strategic Reserves near the Hellblasters and got absolutely roasted by Auspex Scan, and the Intercessors finally distinguished themselves by wiping the drones to expose the Commander to shooting, then charging him and carving out a chunk with their PF. The Eradicators did some damage too but got wiped by enemy fire, I was too aggressive with them especially after giving them my Survivor agenda. Should've SftS'd them and brought them on to handle the long-range Crisis Team. 

The Captain was again the MVP, holding multiple objectives by himself while the Hellblasters cowered in Dense Cover, gunning down Crisis Suits and finishing off the enemy commander with, again, nothing but his combat knife. Definitely going to look to give that +1 Str with a weapon upgrade once he gains another rank.

 

Takeaways:

• The RG CT is very strong and I wish I'd taken it over Successor Tactics. Dense Cover is few and far between and really limits your ability to take objectives, so being able to make anything grant you -1 to hit is huge. I will be going with Inheritors of the Primarch or whatever it's called when the new Codex drops and I'm allowed to rejigger my CTs. 
• The Captain's six wounds and a 4+ invuln is quite tough, and the damage output of 5 attacks base plus Shock Assault and Combat Knife at WS2+ is impressive even at S4 AP0. I still shouldn't be charging into combat with him in most cases but I shouldn't be afraid to get stuck in with him if there's a good opportunity.
• Turn 1 often features zero shooting unless someone has LOS-ignoring guns, so bringing things in from reserve is a good use of CP - one I haven't been using enough. Kind of begs the question of what units do I want on the table turn 1? There's a guy running a very strong combo of Ork Battlewagon & Weird Boy which makes Eliminators tempting.

[Alcyon]

And now the most recent update, featuring finished Eradicators!

 

 

Got to play another game today as the "ringer" for another player who's TTS-only, meaning it didn't count for my crusade but did for his. Pretty competitive Ultras player though he noted he brought a not-ideal list for the Assassinate mission:

 

• Indomitus Chapter Master, Imperium's Sword, Vox Espiritum
• 5x Intercessors w/ Power Sword, Fleet of Foot (+1 to move, advance and charge iirc)
• 5x Intercessors w/ Power Sword, Honoured Sergeant w/ Hellfury Bolt
• 5x Devastators with Grav-Cannons, Armorium Cherub
• Drop Pod (which for some reason has BS3+?!)

I kept the same list as above though both my Eradicators and Hellblasters now have 6+ FNPs, and my Captain's got Laurels of Victory for +2 CP. I won the roll and got to choose Attacker/Defender, I went with Attacker just because I'd played the opposite side the last time and it seemed like I had the edge on firepower. 

 

Starting with 5 CP I decided to SftS both the fire support squads even though I knew I'd have first turn; I didn't want to risk them getting Grav'd and I figured it'd give me more flexibility to hit him from different angles. I deployed the Captain and Intercessors pretty aggressively, figuring he'd hide further back in his DZ but he actually deployed right up front within 9" of my Captain which threw me for a loop. 

 

First turn I scrambled backwards with my Captain and Intercessors into ruins and Dense Cover respectively. Captain took a couple wounds off his with Ex Tenebris and I think the Intercessors plinked a wound off. In retrospect I had a Power Fist and my guys were Veterans, so I probably should've taken the opportunity to Rapid Fire for 2 CP and then charge in - I think I could've wiped one squad and consolidated into another.

 

As it stood his Grav Devs came down and wiped my Intercessors off the map; Captain Areche took the rest of the bolter fire and went down to 1 wound (despite his 1+ save in cover!) He went for some charges but it was 9" and 12" and he didn't make it.

 

My turn 2 the reserves landed in my DZ near the Captain. In retrospect again I deployed these guys too close to the edge of the ruins and made it too easy for him to charge them - I had way more space behind the terrain and could've shot him up at the max 24" range. Hellblasters wiped out one of his Intercessor Squads and the Eradicators took out the Devastators; Captain put another 2 wounds on his Captain, but he'd regenerated 1 via the mission rules.

 

His turn 2 he shot up my boys and charged in, I killed one Intercessor with Stand Your Ground overwatch, then he made it in, killing one Eradicator and a couple Hellblasters plus inflicting a couple more wounds. On the swingback I realized I had 5 CP left, so I used Lay Low the Tyrants to wound the Captain on 3s and then Honoured the Chapter with the Hellblasters for a total of 27 attacks between the squads; he failed enough 2+ saves and 6+ FNPs (mission rules) to get down to 1. 

 

Turn 3 everything was locked in combat except my Captain, and considering his track record with the Combat Knife I happily threw him into the mix against the other Captain. With 1 CP I'd earned on the top of the turn, I fired off Lay Low the Tyrants again and got off 7 attacks hitting on 2+ wounding on 3+ and that was enough to take him out, ending the game. 

 

My Phobos Captain continues to come in clutch repeatedly with the Combat Knife! Unbelievable. He's definitely getting some kind of buff to the knife next time he levels up, what do you guys think? +1 AP? +1 Damage?

[Dracos]

+1 damage looks like a good thing imo. As much as I like it, there are too many abilities that negate -1 AP.

[Alcyon]

I realized late last night that I’d totally forgotten the super doctrine, and I would’ve been hitting his Captain on 2s and wounding on 3s even without Lay Low. Gotta remember that for next time!

[Dracos]

Our Super Doctrine seems to be pretty under-estimated or just not come up against very often. I have found even competitive players thrown off when they realize the assault bolters are hitting on “2s” and wounding their T5 character on “3s”

[Alcyon]

The Revenants went to war again yesterday for the 4th Crusade mission in our Escalation Campaign, Supply Cache. I was up against an Orks player who brought the following list:

• Warboss w/ Killa Klaw, Da Biggest Boss, Artisan Bionics, Laurels of Victory
• Weirdboy
• Deffkilla Wartrike (in an Aux Support Detachment)
• Slugga Boys (I think 11?)
• 2x Kustom Boosta Blastas
• Gunwagon w/ Da Boomer

I had heard about his combo with the Weirdboy and the Gunwagon so I decided to run my Eliminators in a 2nd detachment as well:

• Phobos Captain w/ Ex Tenebris, Laurels of Victory
• Invictor Tactical Warsuit
• 5x Veteran Intercessors w/ Power Fist, Grizzled (6+ FNP)
• 5x Hellblasters w/ Assault Plasma Incinerators, Battle-Tested (ObSec, can shoot during Actions, etc.)
• 3x Eradicators, Grizzled (6+ FNP)
• 3x Eliminators w/ Bolt Sniper Rifles

I won the first roll-off and got to pick table side, so I chose the one where I'd stacked an objective on a far corner sniper position and another behind a big piece of obscuring terrain with a platform on top. We played the actual 30x44" board and wow is it small. You can't fit any objectives into your DZ because they have to be 6" from a board edge, and with a 20" span between DZs your DZ becomes 5". So the extra VP for scoring an objective in your opponent's DZ is just broken and can never work with the minimum table size.

 

With the tiny table size Concealed Positions also becomes huge, so I put the Invictor behind the obscuring terrain in the midboard, the Eliminators on their sniper perch, and my Captain on the same objective as the Invictor but with LOS. Eradicators went on the left flank where he put his several buggies and the Hellblasters and Intercessors had to settle for slogging up from the DZ. I chose not to put anything in reserves but he put his Gunwagon full of Boyz and the Warboss into it.

 

 

I won the roll-off and took first turn, then moved up the 'blasters and Intercessors with the Infiltrators stratagem though it probably wasn't necessary. Eradicators blew up one Boosta-Blasta and the Invictor made a 9" charge to kill the other one. His turn, he brought in the Gunwagon from Strategic Reserves (we've ruled you can do this in our campaign since the rules are super ambiguous) and managed to take out an Eradicator I think with its big gun. His HQ wartrike and Gunwagon then charged the Invictor, which promptly blew up and dealt a handful of mortal wounds to both those units and his Weirdboy.

 

 

My turn 2 I scored 20 VP for 1+ objectives and hold more. The Eradicators nuked the Gunwagon and he lost a single Boy to emergency disembarking. At this point he had something like 10 Boys screening the entire rest of his army so it was time to open up. The Intercessors used Rapid Fire and managed to kill all of them except for one Boy. My Captain failed to wound him as did the Eliminators (though I did split fire with them and was able to kill the Weirdboy at the same time.) The only valid target for the Hellblasters was that single resilient boy, so they absolutely wasted him. Turned out to be a good thing too because of the risk of Unstoppable Green Tide.

 

His turn 2 he killed 4/5 of my Intercessors with the Wartrike, and his warboss krumped my Captain in a single charge before consolidating into my Hellblasters. The Veteran Sergeant killed the Wartrike with his Power Fist on the swingback and moved toward the Warboss. Top of turn 3 I scored another 20 VP and my Hellblasters fell back, but I didn't have enough CP left to use False Flight. The Eradicators and Eliminators completely failed to wound and that was pretty much par for the course the rest of the game. His Warboss proceeded to table me except for the Eliminators as I continued to earn VP and roll terribly. One highlight was the Eradicators rolling double sixes to hit on Overwatch before failing to wound on snake-eyes. 

 

Game ended with me on 60 VP to his 20 (1 objective and 10 for being fully painted), plus with him bringing four vehicles I got to score four Priority Target agendas for a whopping 8 XP across my army. Takeaways:

• You probably do need two Eliminator squads to make them worth it. They did snipe the Weirdboy but it is shocking how often they failed to wound even with Str 5. Might be worth running an Lt just for them if I do decide to run 6.
• I've been getting lucky with my dice generally (or at least rolling averagely) and I maybe need to make better use of the Captain aura in future - he's been spending a lot of time by his lonesome because he's so resilient and has Concealed Positions.
• The Invictor is covered in Heavy Weapons and really benefits from Devastator Doctrine, as do the Eliminators! Totally forgot about that one.
• Loading up my list with powerful guns is all fine and dandy until there's a cheap screen that forces them all to waste shots at it. More infantry with bolters are needed. 
• Playing to the mission is always a good strategy! Sometimes opposing fire will be so strong you won't be able to, but in this case, I managed to score a ton of VP while also dealing a bunch of damage.
• Bladeguard might be a worthwhile pick after all even if their only role is to show up with SftS and screen my shooters from insanely powerful combat monsters like Ork Warbosses.

Edited September 22, 2020 by Alcyon

[Dracos]

I’ll look for exact pages but there’s nothing ambiguous about Strategic Reserves. Units can’t be brought in before Turn Two and are dead if they don’t make it on the board by end of Turn Three.

 

In my opinion we aren’t seeing it used competitively because A) it cost CP, but more importantly B) with only four turns to score primaries, it feels like you’re wasting time either collecting VP ow shooting units off objectives denying your opponent said VP.

[thewarriorhunter]

Nice write up, and maybe I'm wrong (or you're just doing it differently) but I thought objectives had to be on the ground now? Now more putting them in terrain or on buildings.

[Alcyon]

In Crusade it's pretty weird - the rules explicitly say Strategic Reserves can arrive Turn 1 but not regular reserves, and the example they use of the latter is Space Marine Jump Pack rules. But then when you look at the Strategic Reserves rule, it says they can't come down turn 1. So why would they bother specifically talking about the difference and turns but then have the rule they refer to bar the same thing? It's some kind of Narrative/Matched Play differentiation that GW handled poorly, and our gaming group just made a ruling to handle it.

 

I think the main reason you see reserves being used at all is to keep units from being killed turn 1, though that's happening less now with more obscuring terrain. In 750pt games though, you're still using the same board size of 30x44" from 500pts up to 1k, so the field is so small it's hard to hide big things. You're also in range with most units really quickly so I think you often want to be able to shoot turn 1. Given that we're allowing Strategic Reserves t1 I should probably be planning to use it more and be zoning out units that could potentially come in from the side table edges.

 

You're right @warriorhunter but you can be vertically on the objective, i.e. on a higher floor. 

Edited September 19, 2020 by Alcyon

[Alcyon]

Game 5 today for the Crusade, mission was the Relic. I was up against a buddy of mine playing Death Guard, his list was:

• Malignant Plaguecaster (warlord)
• 7 Plague Marines
• 5 Blightlord Terminators
• Plagueburst Crawler

I was really well set up for this one with all the RG deployment stratagems. My list swapped out the Eliminators for a Judiciar with Master of Ambush, my plan was to set up on the Relic immediately and start towing it back to my DZ as soon as possible, with plenty of covering fire. For agendas I went with Survivor (on my Captain) and Witch Hunter; 3 XP isn't bad and the other options didn't seem very attainable. Also, after the last game I marked the Invictor for greatness so it levelled, and I gave it +1 damage on its Incendium Cannon (I said they loaded it with some Bane Wolf ammo they found in the Supply Cache mission). Also levelled the Eradicators and gave them Veteran Warriors to re-roll 1s to hit as they're often far from the Captain's aura, and they blew it so hard trying to kill the Warboss last game; I figured Captain Areche made them do a marksmanship course as penance.

 

My buddy put his Terminators into teleport reserve, and I used Concealed Positions to put the Invictor and Captain into obscuring cover in the mid-board, lateral to the Relic. Eradicators went into Strategic Reserves as our campaign allows them to arrive t1 as I noted above, and his tank was really far back in the year. Then I deployed the rest as far forward as possible in Dense Cover (Mechanicus buildings.) Before turn 1, I used the Infiltrators strat to move the Hellblasters forward into range of the Captain's aura, this is a pretty common tactic for me and is especially good when you deploy them out of LoS and then end up with first turn; if you can close the range and get shots off while still starting out of LoS, it's big.

 

I won the roll for attacker/defender and got to pick the table edge, but lost the first turn roll. It's huge that you get to know who's going first with MoA! I re-deployed the Judiciar and Intercessors on the other side of the table opposite the Captain and Hellblasters, lateral with the Relic. Turn 1 he shot them up pretty good with his Plague Marines killing one model. Crawler shot the Hellblasters but didn't do much with -1 to hit. His psychic powers gave the marines +1 T and Str but failed to inflict MW on anyone.

 

My turn 1 I moved everything up a little to get closer to the Relic and try to set up my 12" DS denial bubble from the Captain, while also trying to leave my Hellblasters open to Auspex Scan. The Eradicators came on and took the crawler down to its 3rd wound tier. The Invictor and Hellblasters wiped out the Plague Marines, and the Intercessors and Judiciar just advanced out of cover towards the relic, popping See but Remain Unseen. They couldn't perform the action as they'd advanced, I was just hoping they'd survive the turn. 

 

 

His turn 2 his Terminators came down and took a bunch of wounds off the Invictor, also killing another Intercessor I think. His Plagueburst Crawler killed one Hellblaster since they were now out of cover. Psyker buffed the Terminators and took a wound off my Eradicators. He failed a charge into my Intercessors with his Terminators as they'd teleported onto a 5" high gantry. His Plagueburst Crawler charged my Eradicators and they managed to roll two sixes on overwatch, melting it down into a pile of putrescent goo. 

 

 

My turn 2 I plodded forward a little more and began to perform the Relic action with the Intercessors. Eradicators climbed the scaffolding and opened up but I think failed to wound the Terminators through their 4+ invulns. Hellblasters and Invictor added in their fire and killed one. I pulled the trigger on Death to the Traitors and charged with the Invictor, killing I think two more Terminators before taking a couple more wounds on the swingback (but not enough to degrade him.) Still had enough CP left for Honour the Chapter, so I fired that too and wiped the squad, getting a single additional hit on a 6 off the strat. 

 

That was pretty much the end, but given that I had taken Witch Hunter it was important to figure out which unit was going to take him out, and it ended up being the Hellblasters. Won the mission with no dead squads and gave my Captain the Artisan Bionics crusade relic.

• Captain's in a bit of an awkward spot now as I'm stuck with Bolter Fusillades and he's not a Chapter Master. However he is a decent sniper (str 4 is tough) and generates a bunch of CP between Laurels of Victory and now the Tactical Experience warlord trait (I marked him for greatness and he gained another rank.) I need to find a unit he can roll with that needs to re-roll 1s for a non-bolter weapons, and maybe level up my Hellblasters give them the Battle Honour that does it.
• My Judiciar has done nothing in both games I've brought him. He's a potential trump card against combat lists but I just don't think he does enough when he's not stuck in. An Apothecary or Lt might be a better pick for the MoA slot; I just wish I hadn't put Ex Tenebris on the Captain since I can't hand it off to the latter anymore. Vox Espiritum would've been better.
• Wasn't a super balanced game with all my shenanigans and I think his more fluff-based list. If I were him, I would probably spam models and not bring the tank. Tough mission for an army that moves 5" at a time, and 2w per model can't come soon enough.

Edited January 3, 2021 by Alcyon