Game Reports - Infinity and Zone Mortalis

Game one - Infinity 300 points game. My Ariadna against Nathan's Panoceania. We played the Supremacy game from the rule book - 4 quadrants, each with a console.

Custodians - a small modelling project

Reading books always inspires. I am so aware that the release of a new 40K Codex can result in me entering into dangerous and expensive waters. However, on this occasion, the re-reading of the Horus Heresy Novel, The First Heretic, has lead to a fairly small project. Also my recent introduction to the world of Kill Team/Combat Patrol has made me appreciate that small is beautiful. So the inspiration was there to build some Custodians.

One of my favourite books, The Horus Heresy Collected Visions provided the source material.

And for the models I used a Grey Knight Strike Squad, Blood Angel Sanguinary Guard, a Dark Angel Chaplin from the limited edition Dark Vengeance and a deep delve into the bits dumpster.

And what to transport the Emporer's finest, well my Forge World Proteus Land Raider was looking for worthy passengers. It has been in my collection for a few years now looking for a unit of merit to transport. What could be better.

Happy Gaming.

PHR Food Court - A Piece of Fan Fiction

Dear Reader,

I have now been writing my blog for two months and I am very pleased to say that I have just passed 1000 hits on the site. Thank you for reading my scribbles. (Thanks also to Dan for my new banner). To celebrate the achievement I have entered the arena of fan fiction (see below). As always, I would be very pleased to hear any comments you have about the blog's content. Happy wargaming.

The PHR Drop Ship Veltoria had arrived above the atmosphere of the planet. Preparations onboard were being made for a swift and well planned invasion. A famous general once said 'an army marches on its stomach', and this adage was well known in the kitchens on the 'Velly'; the crew's nickname for the ship.

The catering staff of Food Court 17 began to get ready for their next set of hungry arrivals. As always the Catering Manager gave a short pep talk before the shutters went up and the newest member of the staff, Catering Assistant Third Class Andreson listened intently to the speech and had to admit to himself that he was a little excited to get up close to the soldiers and various pilots and crews of the PHR's finest war machines. His mentor, Catering Assistant Second Class Retmeire was less enthused having seen this cavalcade of post humanity many times before. For him any magic the day had in store had been lost long before now.

Standing at the serving hatches with serving utensils in hand Andreson and Retmeire watched as the very distinct personnel of the PHR armed forces entered the food court. Retmeire gave a running commentary.

"See that young rabble over there in grey fatigues? They are Immortals. Was there ever a more misnamed group."

"Why?" Asked Andreson.

"So that gullible idiots join up. One of the rarest things onboard ship is an old Immortal." Retmeire then pointed out how the young recruits went to sit down next to a group of Sirens, and as usual, the ladies were unresponsive to their lame attempts at pick-up lines.

The shift continued and it became clear to Andreson how stereotypical everyone was. Menchit crews enjoyed barbecued spare ribs and the larger than life Hades pilots made slow trips to and from the all-you-can-eat-buffet without a care in the world. In stark contrast, those in the flying outfits belonging to the Triton squadrons look permanently nervous and when someone dropped a metal tray on the floor they were almost out of the door before they realised it was one of the Immortals playing a prank. Andreson felt sorry for them, and decided to give them larger servings at the next shift.

Time passed, and the tables slowly began to clear as the various groups returned to their embarkation areas. Andreson asked Retmeire about a group who seemed in no rush to move. "Angelos crews" was his short answer. Later still and Andreson was wiping down tables when there was a commotion at the door. The Angelos crews looked up expectantly. Several pilots, in various states of dress stumbled haphazardly into the hall. A member of the catering staff explained to them that everyone had gone already, and the pilots left in the same rushed manner as their arrival.

Andreson went over to Retmeire, "who were they?" He asked. Retmeire looked up, "Athena pilots" and added "always late".

Critical Engagement - A one day Drop Zone Commander tournament

I had had a number of practice games prior to the Drop Zone Commander tournament (Critical Engagement) at my local club. An outing against Joe's Resistance did not go well. Lesson learnt - Sirens do not last long against the new flame weapon stat line (Dodge this!). As Mike says "they must use some brand of knock-off flammable hair product". By turn five I only had one Immortals stand remaining - Not good.

In a civil war engagement against Pete's PHR, I suffered a narrow loss, mainly because of my failure to use my Mercury Drones properly and therefore, not get to a focal point late game. However, prior to the match I had changed my normal list, and went with Menchit's and pulled the same 'burnt hair' trick against Pete's Sirens.

My most recent practice game was against Mike which highlighted to me the importance of target selection and being able to estimate how much shooting is required to cause a model to be removed from the table (there is no point in having losts of wounded models in your opponents army, you must concentrate on one model until it is removed). So with Mike's help my final list for the tournament was composed as follows:

Commanders: Battle Vizier (PHR Standard Roster) 1499 Points

Hand of the Sphere - 276 points
Command Squad: Zeus(Battle Vizier), Odin, Neptune

Battle Pantheon - 166 points
Battle Squad: Phobos x2, Neptune

Battle Pantheon - 300 points
Battle Squad: Menchit x2, Neptune
Angelos Squad: Angelous x2, Immortals x2, Nepture

Immortals - 261 points
Immortals: 2x Immortals, Triton A1 Helios Squad: 2x Helios, Neptune

Immortals - 261 points
Immortals: 2x Immortals, Triton A1 Helios Squad: 2x Helios, Neptune

Pegasus Group - 235 points
Mercury Drones: 4x Mercury, Triton A2(+Stealth Missiles,
+RN-5 Skyhammer), Triton A2(+RN-5 Skyhammer) Sirens: 2x Sirens, Triton A1

Mayhem 2015 - A one day 1500 point 40K tournament

Mayhem is one of two 40K tournaments run by my club each year. It is a 1500 point competition with three 2 hour 30 minute games taking place over on day. The turn out was lower than usual due to  difficulties in securing the venue, but the 16 or so competitors made for a relaxed and good natured event. It was nice to be able to get to talk to a great many friends and discuss armies and the hobby in general.

Above: The days competitors begin to prepare for a days gaming.