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December 2006 ISSUE 02 www.warseer.com/firebasemag Staff listing: The Head Monkey: Adam Smith PR Monkey: Brandon Valee Assistant Monkey: Ashley Curtis Subbing Gibbon: Brandon Murray Specialist Monkey: Simon Fisher Design Monkey: Steve Gagne Art Monkeys: Leigh Kade, Donald Carr, Johnathan Ho, Johnathan Ostavia, Logan Lee, Charles Walton Writing Chimps: Leigh Kade, Michael Rudder, Johan Westlund, Adam Smith, Troy Stuart, Luke Bardwell, Luke Houston, Johan Hansson, Jonathan Ho, Ashley Curtis, Jon Boyce, James Le Grys, Leigh Kade
FIREBASE is published every three months in association with Warseer.com. All text and layout remains the copyright of FIREBASE. FIREBASE is a fully independent publication and its views are not the views of any company mentioned herein. All characters and artwork shown in this magazine remain the © and trademark of their respective owners. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the express permission of the Editor or Deputy Editor. FIREBASE can accept no responsibility for inaccuracies or complaints arising from editorial or advertising within this magazine. All letters and emails received will be considered for publication, but we cannot always provide personal replies. This fanzine is completely unofficial and in no way endorsed by Games Workshop Limited. FIREBASE is a nonprofit making fanzine with the aim of promoting Games Workshop games, products and hobby.
Firebase Editorial Merry Christmas you little ho ho ho! Tis’ the season to be jolly and filled with righteous cleansing zeal! What a line up FIREBASE has for you this Yule tide. However, just because we’re focusing on the Emperor’s favourite lap dogs, the Imperial Space Marines, doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of festive cheer for everyone. Santa’s Christmas zombies are rife in the Necromunda underhive, munching merrily on the flesh of the living through Boxing Day and into the New Year. Jon Boyce’s zoat army emerges from the warp like a long lost relative. The genestealer swarm delivers a festive, yet deadly, lick to the Deathwing space marines under the mistletoe and we’ve got more action packed orkiness from Ugluk in Chronicles of an ork.
87,416 What’s that big number you ask? That is the amount of people that downloaded FIREBASE issue #1 within the first month of its release. The response has been overwhelming and we thank you for all your continued support in our very ambitious project. Until next time, enjoy and I hope Santa brings you lots of little plastic men! - ADAM SMITH
Contents Editorial. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 How Do You Carry Yours?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Tricks and Traits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Getting into the Deathwing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 One Army, One Day. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Cleanse The Xenos Filth! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 How to Paint Your Deathwing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 A Stinkin’ Grot of a Squigherder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Get Your Motor Running. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Painting For a Living . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Flame On!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 The Return of Hive Fleet Colossus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Hive of the Living Dead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Let’s Get the Truck Outta Here!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 For A Few Zombies More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
testimonial
How Do You Carry Yours?
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t could be argued that the three biggest steps in starting 40k or any game system for that matter is choosing your army and army list, then the colour scheme, the fourth step you ask? How to transport your army from game to game without it being mashed to a pulp of course! From customised shoeboxes to the case that’s built like an elephant and all those in between, there’s a carry case to suit every gamer. Cases vary from a fairly cheap, homemade solution to the expensive, luxury case whose only limitation is not being able to play the game for you. To present a small cross section of how gamers transport their lovingly painted mini’s I asked the FIREBASE staff “how you do carry yours?”
Mike Glaesar I used to carry my figures in a standard GW case. I never really had any problems with it as it could comfortably carry all my marines and rhinos without the threat of damage. As time went on, I started playing other armies that had different packing needs. The GW case that served me so well before couldn’t handle all the extra models and vehicles. So now I own 2 Sabol transport figure cases. These things are kinda on the expensive side, but in my opinion, well worth it.
The foam trays on the inside give you TOTAL customizability. Large models? Put them in the tank trays. Tall models? Flip a tray over to add an extra inch of height. The Sabol transports also have extra pockets for rulebooks, dice, rulers, drinks etc...and it has a shoulder strap meaning two free hands to carry...the rest of the army in shoeboxes...sigh. After attending several GTs, I’ve realized that constantly packing and unpacking models between games gets very annoying. Therefore, inspired by a “Black Gobbo” article, I built my own magnetic army carrying tray. This tray fits my entire 1850 point daemonhunters army. Thats 6 rhinos, a landraider, HQ and 60 troops! Since its magnetic, I can hold the tray sideways and use my free hand to carry something else.
A shley Curtis Having recently sold off my old GW cases I found myself trying to move miniatures and my modelling equipment back to uni with great difficulty!, I found these reinforced metal cases in Lidl for £8.99 and
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they are an absolute bargain with plenty of space for foam trays, brushes & models of course, I just need to go out and buy more!
A dam Smith The Limited Edition Games Workshop Case I’ve had a lot of joy from this case. No broken or chipped models and best of all, it’s very comfortable for long distances. The most i m p o r t a n t feature of this case is not the stunning aquila on the front or the little clear plastic slot on top where you can put your name and address or in my case favourite army badge. It is in fact, that this is not entirely a Games Workshop case. The first give away? Well, it’s not a large plastic brick. The second is the quality of foam. These limited edition cases were produced for Games Workshop by Figures in Comfort. Now, while Figures in Comfort tend to charge a little more for their cases, every penny spent goes towards quality. You get denser and softer grey foam and you can choose from a variety of trays.
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As these were produced on a limited run, you’re probably wondering how I got my grubby mitts on one. I waltzed into my local hobby store and they had one that had been gathering dust for the past few years. I soon found out why when it had a £60 price tag attached. After some haggling, I got the guy down to £40. It was only when I got it home, I realised that the right hand side had 4 standard 4 X 9 infantry trays, while the other side had been filled with unusable odd chunks of foam. After an order with Figures in Comfort (bless their cotton socks!) I have an awesome case that can hold up to 8 tiers of 36 men. That’s 288 men! Best of all, there is a sturdy dividing wall through the centre of the case, making it ideal to take to tournaments. Army goes in one side, while clothes and wash bag go in the other. Perfect!
Natsumi Kojimoto I use a general plastic GW carry case to transport my army around from game to game, If I need to transport bulkier models such as tanks I make my own cases for them using cardboard & foam from blister packs to save cutting the slots in my carry case up as case’s can be quite expensive
The case itself can carry a fair amount or infantry models as it has 4 foam tray inserts meaning I can carry around enough models within it to play games of most point values
S u mm a ry It’s worth forking out that bit of extra cash to transport your army comfortably for the convenience of not having to touch up chipped paint, or reattach broken limbs. Manufacturers are constantly producing bigger and better cases with all manner of easy comfort features like shoulder straps, leather handles and thicker spongy foam. Take care of your army and I’m sure they’ll take care of your opponents for you with some improved dice rolling luck. - Rob Holland
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tactica
Trust Your Battle Brothers
Tricks and Traits
Often taken in tandem with ‘Cleanse and Purify’, this trait makes your marine squads far nastier in close combat without impacting on their shooting ability. Giving each marine two attacks instead of one makes assaulting a full-size squad a daunting prospect for anything but dedicated assault units, and removes the reliance on getting the charge to win combats. As no extra attacks are received from assaulting, marine squads with this trait are often better off rapid-firing their bolters – which is more likely to cause damage to enemy units anyway. Apart from the ‘True Grit’ ability, this trait also confers the ‘CounterAttack’ ability, which simply makes large tactical squads a very dangerous thing to assault.
T
he full benefits and drawbacks of the space marine trait system. Is it wise to follow the teachings of the codex, or tread the path of a fetid deviant?
Well, the new Space Marine Codex has been out for some time now, with plenty of time spent playing with the new rules. Loopholes have been found and fixed, new tactics created and old ones reviewed. One of the most discussed aspects of the new Codex, however, is the Trait system. After some discussion with fellow marine players on the Bolter & Chainsword forum (Nice plug, I hardly noticed -Ed), we have put together a small list of the pros and cons of some of the more popular traits.
Cleanse and Purify If I had to pick the most popular of the new traits, this would be it. Allowing tactical squads to replace their heavy weapon for a second special weapon is an ability that many marine players have been quick to take advantage of, myself included! The extra plasma gun, melta gun or flamer in a squad allows it to keep moving and still put out a respectable amount of firepower. The downside of this is the lack of long-range infantry firepower, which means armies with this trait often must take several tanks, dreadnoughts and land speeders to deal with enemy armour. In addition, it is almost a prerequisite that these squads have some form of transport, to get them nice and close to the enemy. A good combination with ‘Trust Your Battle Brothers’, ‘Cleanse And Purify’ is an exceptionally useful trait.
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No Mercy, No R espite Tired of your specialist assault troops getting their butts kicked? Don’t want to be caught up in protracted close combats? This may be the trait for you. For +3 points per model, this trait gives your assault of tactical marines a +1 bonus to initiative and strength on the turn that they charge. I will discuss the two units separately. Assault troops benefit most from this trait as they are most likely able to get the charge on the enemy, enabling them to get the bonus. Marine assault troops generally struggle to eliminate tougher units, like other space marines, in a reasonable timeframe, so having the extra strength combined with the initiative bonus enables you to deliver a crippling blow in the first round of close combat. Of course if you charge into cover the initiative bonus is useless, but wounding a marine or equivalent on a 3+ can be worth its weight in adamantine. Combine this squad with a chaplain, and we are talking about some serious hurt being dished out here. Tactical squads can also be given this butt kicking trait. Unfortunately tactical marines are less likely to get the charge in, thus making good use of the trait difficult. The best combination with this trait would see an army using ‘Take the Fight to Them’ (pistol and CCW for each tactical marine) and a land raider crusader for delivery. Alternately you could equip a squad for counter-charge
duties. Probably not worth the points, but if you can make it work for you go for it!
See But Don’t Be Seen ‘See But Don’t Be Seen’ gives you the ability to give Infiltrate to your tactical and devastator squads at the cost of +3 points per model. The obvious utility of this is getting your units closer to your opponent’s lines. In most standard missions, this will let your units start 18” away from your opponent’s units, perhaps as close as 12” depending upon terrain, and how your opponent deploys. Another utility to ‘See But Don’t Be Seen’ is that you get to set up your units after your opponent is mostly (or entirely) set up. It lets you hold back your devastator squads until the infiltration part of deployment, so when you do position them they have the
most opportune fields of fire. It’s very easy to design an entire army where absolutely nothing goes on the table during standard deployment. Not only does this force your opponent to deploy blind and give you a huge advantage, but it often rattles opponents as well. It should be noted that if an opponent has a few infiltrating units, he can seriously constrain your army deployment if he gets to set up infiltrators before you do. If you do the all-infiltrating, all-the-time schtick, every once in a while you’ll play a game where your opponent doesn’t set anything up either. He might be playing a drop pod army, or he might have a heavily mechanised force in an omega-level mission. If that’s the case, you pretty much have the run of the board and can deploy units anywhere on the table that you like. This is amusing when it happens.
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A secondary ability granted by ‘See But Don’t Be Seen’ is that you can give ‘Acute Senses’ to your units with infiltrate for +1 point per model, but this is almost always wasted points. It’s only worth taking if you’re making an army list for a special scenario where the whole game will be played according to night fighting rules, not for the odd chance that you might have one turn of night fighting every once in a while. The upside to ‘See But Don’t Be Seen’ is that it’s considerably cheaper than rhinos: 30 points to give it to a 10-man squad as opposed to 50+ points for a rhino. The obvious downside is that you don’t get infiltrate in alpha-level missions. Complimentary Advantages: ‘Cleanse and Purify’, ‘Trust Your Battle Brothers’
Heed the Wisdom of the A ncients Well, the one good thing about the recent errata that Games Workshop have put out is that it confirmed the 6 dreadnought army as a legal army list. Personally, I don’t see why this was a big cause for debate. Dreadnoughts are fun, but in order to have 6 of them in a single army you either have to skimp on virtually everything else, or be play a pretty big game. I suppose one of the rationales for taking dreadnoughts as heavy support choices instead of tanks is that dreads can fight in close combat. However, I think this is as much a disadvantage as it is an advantage. Dreads have a WS rating, so they can be locked in close combat. Tanks do not, so while they can be assaulted, they can just drive away (assuming they’re mobile). In my opinion, the real utility of ‘Heed the Wisdom of the
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Ancients’ is to a drop pod army. If you want everything in your army to be delivered via drop pod, then the only way you can get a heavy support choice that can fire heavy weapons the turn it lands is by taking this advantage and using dreads for heavy support. Mind you, this is no small utility. Delivering dreadnoughts into the heart of enemy formations via drop pod is huge fun. Having dreads suddenly appear and hose their units with assault cannons and heavy flamers (an upgrade I favour) is hugely distracting to most opponents, both due to the initial damage they do and the menace of having those dreads rampage around the following turn. When I use dreads in this fashion, they don’t often make their points back, but the amount of disruption they cause to my opponents’ game plans usually more than makes up for it. Complimentary Advantages: If you just want a lot of dreads in a standard army: none, really. If you want to play a drop pod army, then anything that would be advantageous to such an army, most notably ‘Cleanse and Purify’ or ‘Trust Your Battle Brothers’.
Blessed Be the Warriors This trait allows assault squads to take up elite slots, provided they take the furious charge veteran skill. These squads automatically become hard-hitting assault units and rightly feared, especially when joined by a character like a reclusiarch chaplain. On the charge, they put out a solid number of attacks at a great strength and initiative, boosted by furious charge. This will easily see off most normal infantry and even some heavy hitters. Their increased cost can be a liability, but it is often worth it. They don’t deploy last either, being elites, but hiding them behind cover works fine. It’s also a very characterful trait, depending on your chapter’s background.
Honour your Wargear ‘Honour your Wargear’ allows you to take devastator squads as elites, provided you spend 3 points per model on the tank hunter or infiltrate, a flexibility that the other traits lack. Both of these
skills can be useful if played correctly, tank hunter giving a +1 to armour penetration rolls means that heavy bolters can now harm armour 12 and missile launchers have a chance to penetrate a land raider. Infiltrate will let you set up your unit last and in some cases outside of your deployment zone, allowing you to look for better positions that have better lines of fire for your weapons. While setting up last may sound beneficial to most, the tank hunter trait is usually better as when the squad is set-up with elites, it has already seen where most of its targets will be, and infiltration isn’t always used or beneficial to the unit unless they’re all carrying multi-meltas and plan to get in close.
but as ‘Uphold the honour of the Emperor’ gives you a 6+ save, you can ignore one wound using the apothecary’s ability each turn. With clever positioning you can keep several squad fairly close together allowing them to share the auto negate failed save rule. Well, that’s just a taste of the trait system, and what it can do for you! May your bolt shells cleanse the impure, and your chainsword rend the flesh from Xenos filth! - Michael Rudder
The drawbacks for this trait would be the extra cost obviously, along with the fact that you now have fewer slots open for your normal elites choices.
Purity above all & Uphold the honour of the Emperor ‘Purity above all’ allows you to upgrade a veteran sergeant to an apothecary. ‘Uphold the honour of the Emperor’ gives all tactical and veteran squads a 6+ invulnerable against shooting. The combo here is to always be able to shrug of a wound caused by an armour negating weapon. Say that your opponent has a squad of Eldar dark reapers (with ap3 reaper launchers) that are constantly pounding your infantry squads and wiping out 2 to 3 marines a turn. Normally you would receive no saving throw,
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army feature
Getting into the Deathwing
A
person can be attracted to an army for many different reasons. Their background, their models or their rules are quite common.
The reason for me to start a Deathwing army is, I would think, a bit more unusual. Banners. I started playing Deathwing in order to paint banners. Or at least, that was one of the main reasons. I was just finishing a Chaos marine army that I had been painting for the past two years and as always when the end of a project is within sight you start to look ahead for new ideas. The Chaos army featured quite a lot of freehand and I came to two conclusions:
1. I liked to paint freehand. 2. I was quite good at it. With this in mind I decided that the next army needed to give me lots of opportunities to do freehand work. And of all the armies in 40K, one had by far the coolest imagery –the Dark Angels. Ever since I saw the cover of the Rogue Trader era Vehicle Manual, which featured an extremely cool Dark Angels banner, I have been in love with their dark, gothic banners depicting hooded angels. A normal Dark Angels army could include some banners and paintings on rhino doors, but most sergeant’s banners would be too small to
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do anything more advanced. With the Deathwing, every sergeant could carry a huge banner. I started painting concept sketches of possible banners and came up with a few ideas, but not enough for an entire army. Since I wanted each banner to be unique I put the project on hold for a while thinking of more ideas. After a few weeks I had around five good ideas and a few okay ones. The project could become a reality and I started thinking more about some practical concerns, such as what to include in the army and how to make the terminators stand out from each other. GamesWorkshop solved the second problem for me by releasing the long rumour plastic terminators. A Deathwing army was suddenly a realistic possibility! I started thinking about lists and borrowed terminators from my friends in order to test the list. Although I consider myself more of a painter then a gamer, I would soon grow tired of playing an army that could not win. I didn’t need an army that could win tournaments, but I needed an army that was playable. The first trial games went alright and I started the army. The first problem I came across was the design c h a n g e s with the new
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terminators. I loved that they were in plastic and larger then the old ones but I really liked the look of the 2nd edition ones a lot more. But it was nothing that a few conversions couldn’t solve! The biggest change was to raise the s h o u l d e r s . GamesWorkshop had listened to the people that complained that no human could ever fit inside a suit of terminator armour since the shoulders were more or less parallel to the head. I realise that this is true and that the new design is much more realistic but the old one is so much cooler and make the terminators look much more menacing. Another change was to remove the new, huge targeter and replace it with a smaller one. I also did some minor changes to most weapons to make them look more like the old versions. And when the new assault terminators released I realised that it would take a lot more then minor changes to get them the way I wanted.
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While the thunder hammers and storm shields looked awesome, the lightning claws were a big disappointment. They are supposed to have huge power blades mounted on top of the knuckles, not look like power fists with spiky knuckle dusters. The lightning claw conversions required a lot of work, but in the end I was very pleased with them. One of the major advantages with a Deathwing army is that you can put a lot of work into even your basic troops and still finish the army quite quickly.
After playing with the army for a while I was quite surprised about how well it worked. In the beginning I didn’t fare so well but the more I played, the more I learned how to play them. And they are now my most successful army ever in tournaments. One thing that needs to be remembered is that the tournament climate in Sweden where I live is a lot different from USA or the UK. Army composition plays a large part and people tend to use a lot less competitive lists than in many other parts of the world. I was still surprised about how well they played and they were fun too. Combined with the fact that the army is easy to transport, most games tend to go quite fast (which is a good thing if you are a slow player like me) and the Deathwing are quite uncommon, which
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has made all the tournaments I’ve played with the army very enjoyable. Since you can really spend time painting each model, the army receives a lot of positive comments, which is always nice… - Johan Westlund
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hobby
One Army, One Day
W
hen umpteen Genestealers arrived in the post, my first thought was how dull it would be to paint 60 near identical models, all in the same pose and colourscheme. I had the idea of making an all-Genestealer army as a great compliment to my Deathwing army. It’d certainly make for some fun and interesting games. The only problem is painting it while all my time is occupied at work, or in the running of this lovely magazine you are reading.
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I gave Blue Table Painting a call. They were incredibly helpful and friendly, but I had never imagined the cost of shipping the army from England to America, getting it painted and then shipping it back, insured all the way. So that was out and there was no big painting service in the UK. If only I could clone myself a few times, the whole army could be finished and ready to play in a day, leaving me time to paint more important things. That was when I had a great idea -I could get my friends to do it! The only downside is that they’re cold, hard, mercenaries and it would have to be a big CA$H bribe. My job in corporate events taught me the value of ‘bespoke incentive rewards’. To put it simply, this involves doing something nice for someone. Instead of giving my friends a wad of
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cash and sending them on their way, I promised to take them out to the finest curry house in all the land, The Royal Bengal.
H ow I t Wor k s No one was going to sit and flock models, then undercoat them, wait for them to dry and start painting. Beside it’s too time consuming. Everything had to be ready for my friends to sit down and get on with painting. I spent the previous weekend assembling, flocking and undercoating the entire army so that they’d be black and dry for the big painting day. I set up the painting area and supplied everyone with a water pot, a good quality paint brush and paints. So that everyone didn’t end up painting whole models each, resulting in a very varied looking army, I came up with a
‘factory line’ process. Certain jobs were allocated according to each person’s painting ability and skills. Simon is good at drybrushing, while Luke is good at base coating and James enjoys highlighting. So that it wasn’t all work and no play, I supplied a crate of beer (renowned for improving painting ability!) and lunch. The army was complete and ready to tear apart some space marine terminators. Six broods of ten Genestealers, including a Brood Lord with a ten-man retinue and two old ‘baby’ Genestealers as wound markers. Ah, the great old miniatures you can find on eBay! I then took everyone to The Royal Bengal for a damn tasty curry. Overall the painting day worked really well. It goes to show that with a little planning and tailoring to your audience you can get a brilliant result and save hundreds of pounds in the process. Now to take the Genestealers out and infect some of the Emperor’s finest! - Adam Smith
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tactica
Always
S
Outnumbered,
Never Outgunned
o you want to play Deathwing? Welcome to the hallowed halls of the inner circle my brothers! This army is not for the faint of heart.
Th e B a s ic s There are two areas you need to concentrate on. The first is your all-important HQ. Now these days a lot of players are going for the high-powered librarians. Personally I think the point expenditure is ridiculous in an already expensive army. I always take an interrogator chaplain. I like him because he is slightly cheaper and he comes equipped with a power weapon, a 4+ invulnerable save. The simple reason I would choose him over a Grand Master or Librarian is because of the invulnerable save and the fact that the model rocks. All you have to do is equip him with a stormbolter and he’s good to go. Which brings me onto the backbone of the Infantry Deathwing army.
Te r m i n ator s
Most of the time you will be heavily outnumbered. The Deathwing are a scalpel army, by that I mean they have to be used with precision, you can’t afford to make mistakes. If this still sounds like the army for you then please read on and learn the secrets of using the all Infantry Deathwing army effectively.
Ah, the humble terminator! The most elevated and decorated marines in the DA army and indeed any army. Terminators rock! Deathwing terminators are even cooler, but then I am biased. Ok there are two types of terminators. First of all I’ll cover the only type terminators I’ve ever used.
Playing an all -Infantry Deathwing army
Tactical Terminators are the ones with the guns. Their standard kit is a stormbolter and powerfist. The stormbolter has a 24” range with the stats of a bolter but is an assault 2 weapon. By moving and firing, termiantors can have a greater basic weapon range then most units in the game.
First of all I’d just like to clarify that I always use infantry so none of this will have anything to do with vehicles. Now you’re probably wondering why I love the Deathwing infantry army. I find the all infantry DW army is a very scary prospect for any opponent, in the hands of a good player the DW can be indestructible. There is nothing funnier then the look on my opponents face when I deploy 26 terminators at 1500pts split into 4 squads of 5 and one of 6 due to my HQ joining them. Since the new assault cannon rules came out I now run 6 assault cannons and 4 cyclones in my list. Having so many terminators on the board is a psychological advantage, because any opponent who has never faced Deathwing won’t have a clue how to beat them.
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Powerfirsts are both a blessing and a curse. Striking at S8 and ignoring saves is awesome without question. However, they also strike last, which can be really
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frustrating. I prefer to shoot the enemy rather than engage them in combat, but we’ll come back to that later. Tactical terminators have access to two very nice heavy weapons. The assault cannon and the cyclone missile launcher. At the start of this little tactica I outlined my list and I told you I take 6 assault cannons and 4 cyclones. The reason for this is the assault cannon is extremely good at mowing down just about anything at S6 and firing as far as a stormbolter. With the new rending rules you have one deadly weapon! best of all Tactical Terminators have access to two of these puppies. I take 6 of these so that I have a lot of powerful medium range firepower to augment my stormbolters, so I can mow down lots of infantry and take on enemy armour. Now on to the cyclone. You’re probably wondering why would anyone take cyclones if the assault cannon is so cool,? The cyclone is basically your standard missile launcher but looks cooler. The reason I take 4 is because with all that short range firepower we need some ranged firepower to kill tanks at long range. I’m
thinking of going with an even mix of cyclones to assault cannons. The cyclone is good because it not only kraks armour, but it can frag infantry too. With the benefits of the new skills the cyclone can become even more deadly with the tank hunter ability.
A s s au lt Te r m i n ator s I’ve never bothered with these guys. The reason I haven’t is because they really don’t work well in a force that is designed to blow the enemy apart with mid-ranged firepower. While it’s nice to think about a land raider crusader delivering a huge lightning claw armed assault squad into combat, led by a chaplain (with lightning claws) who augments the squad with his ’Litanies of Hate’ ability so that they can re-roll to hit and re-roll to wound due to their lightning claws, this comes to over 650 points! Besides, the land raider is bound to get blown to hell on the way in, making over a third of your army uneffective. My advice is not to bother with them. They’re too much of a liability.
D e pl oy m e n t The most important part of the game really, sometimes I have been able to tell who was going to win by their deployment alone. Deployment will always vary, but my general way of deploying is to either spread my terminators out as much as possible across my deployment zone with a cyclone squad on each flank. Then I spread the other units out between the two flanking units, creating an effective net of support as I advance. The other way I deploy is what I call the weighted flank. I deploy 3 squads on one flank and 2 on the other to effectively split my opponents army to come after me. By splitting the opponents army and making them go after two flanks instead of one line, I don’t face anywhere near as much firepower.
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It also wrong foots the opponents you face, because most people deploy in a standard line formation and sit and wait. It comes as a shock when agressively played terminators are advancing, firing and making tactical withdrawals just to do the same thing next turn. Truth be told, most people have no idea how to handle a well played DW force the first time around. I see each of my units as an independent. What I mean by that is they can work very effectively on their own. They have a phenomenal capacity for firepower what with assault cannons, cyclones and stormbolters. They have the best basic weapon in the game with the stormbolter, the assault cannon is plain nasty and devastating if you pick your targets properly. The cyclone is great, better with tankhunter, so you don’t require a 6 to crack land raiders though. All of this means squat however if you don’t deploy well.
I t ’s no t C owa r dic e ! I t ’s W i t h dr awa l
a
T ac t ic a l
but when the enemy is getting close enough to assault me in the next turn, I fall back and shoot the hell out of him. It’s extremely affective against hordes (which when playing DW is every army). Lets face it, tactical terminators were not designed for combat.
S of t e n Th e m U p The best piece of tactical advice I can give is to always soften up the enemy before charging. I don’t care if they are Eldar guardians or Genestealers (although if you charge stealers you’re dead meat!). While shooting and disengaging is effective, you still need to enter combat every now and then. Whether its to hold a unit in place, block line of sight, or just stop them from being targeted by shooting, you will need to engage. Against something like a dreadnought or a carnifex, powerfists will make short work of them.
My opponents have started calling me a coward because i refuse to engage. I will move my terminators forward to get juicy shots
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R e m e mb e r
t e r m i n ator s a r e no t
i n de s t ruc t i b l e You have no room for error due to the fact that the army is so small. Losing just one terminator weakens your whole army not just the unit. That 2+ save is all well and good until someone points an AP2 weapon like a plasma gun at you. Then you can kiss your terminator goodbye. That 5+ invulnerable save isn’t particularly effective and I wouldn’t rely on it unless you’ve got some serious luck on your side.
Use
c ov e r
Terminators need to use cover even more so then other armies. In the open you’ll get shot to pieces, mostly by small arms fire in large quantities. Use cover to block line of sight as much as possible, wherever possible.
T a rg e t t i ng P r ior i t y Before the game starts decide your targeting priority and stick to it. Leman Russ Demolishers and anything else with a large AP2 blast is first on your list to kill at all costs. A single hit could annihilate an entire squad and with just 5 squads to play with, it could be all over by turn 1. Next up, it’s the usual array of lascannons and plasma guns to watch out for. Against horde armies like Orks and Nids that don’t sport any AP2 weaponry, it’s up to you to keep firing every turn to maximise your potential kills. Kill the fast stuff first to stay out of combat, because once one unit has held your terminator
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up, the rest of the horde will pile in very quickly and swarm you with bodies. Often taking out transports is highest on the antiOrk agenda. Force those greenskins to walk towards you while you back up and fire.
D e e p s t r i k i ng –
the
Q u ic k D e at h
Deepstrike is always an interesting topic. When you’re facing tau, deep striking in their faces is the way to go. I have to sat that, after losing 4 units in one turn from deepstriking and getting shot to bits, it’s just not worth it. Deepstriking against Tyranids whether in front of the army or behind it is suicide. I’d really strongly advise against drop pods or deepstrike but thats just me. The problem is that the Deathwing army needs to focus its firepower to be effective. However, with your army dropping in piecemeal, you will produce very minimal damage, which means greater return fire and more casualties. The best deepstriking I have ever seen was a librarian with command squad who drop podded into the middle of a Tau army and cast ’Fear of the Darkness’ sending half the Tau army fleeing off the board, but I can see this tactica getting repetitive and certainly proving useless against space marines, Tyranids, Orks and anything else with good leadership. Well I hope my long rambling diatribe has given you some idea of what its like to use an all infantry Deathwing force A Deathwing army is a great way to become a better player. While the army oozes character, it is very punishing. Just one mistake and it’s all over, but when you do play that perfect game and win, the rewards are fantastic. Best of all, Deathwing are the cheapest army to buy in 40K. So if you need a break from your main army and fancy a breath of freshair, the Deathwing are ideal. - Troy Stuart
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battle report
Cleanse Xenos Filth! The
A
fter painting more genestealers than anyone should in a single day, we felt it was time to take them out for a spin and who better to face them than their old foes the Dark Angels Deathwing space marines!
+++ Transmission from Colonel John Derringer, 125th ScumDogs Regiment to nearby Imperial Guard Garrisons +++ Sector 7 vicinity has been sanitised of Tyranid bio constructs by aerial bombardments. However, recon reports a high genestealer infection in the surviving populace. Lacking the resources to neutralise the thread, recon has placed a sentry gun to prevent infected citizens from approaching our flank. Resource assistance or further bombardment required. +++ Responding transmission from The Rock, Dark Angels Fortress Monastery +++ Cleansing forces have been dispatched.
1,000pts Genestealer Swarm Genestealer Patriarch “Big Daddy” (Brood Lord) with 10 Genestealer retinue 10 Genestealers 10 Genestealers 10 Genestealers 10 Genestealers forward screaming is the plan. None of this fancy ‘scuttling’ or ‘carapace armour extensions’ malarkey. My points are going into as many genestealers as my grubby mitts can muster. It’s a good thing that we’re only playing 1,000pts or we’d have run out of genestealers from the studio collection. My army looked great until I was reminded that I had to take an HQ choice to lead the army, namely that fat bloated waste of space Brood Lord. He’d be pretty good if he could ‘fleet of claw’ with the rest of his mates, but he can’t. He’s old and he’s had one too many hip operations, but worst of all, he holds up a compulsory genestealer retinue with his slow fat arse. Enough rambling, the biggest issue is that he’s pushed me over the limit by 70pts. Adam said that this wasn’t a problem so long as he could have a sentry gun with an assault cannon as the main objective. I agreed and away we went. Now to rush forward and hope his guns don’t thin out my army too much.
Remain vigilant. For the Lion and the Emperor.
G e n e s t e a l e r A r m y S e l e c t ion Luke: With an army consisting of nothing but genestealers I knew I’d have to make the most of what strengths I’ve got over the Deathwing. That boys and girls is numbers. Keep it cheap and run
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D e at h w i ng A r m y S e l e c t ion Adam: Normally when I field my Deathwing force it’s at 1,500pts, complete with tank and dreadnought support, but this time I couldn’t have any of those nice things. It was time to skimp on the points and try to field as many men as possible, which still isn’t much. Basically, I dropped 2 dreadnoughts and a land raider from my usual list and took the remaining 1,000pts. I was a point or two over, but considering that Luke wanted a few more points for a Patriarch and I wanted a sentry gun to generate a few more kills, this was quickly agreed and wasn’t a problem. With just 3 squads in my army I felt horribly vulnerable. Granted, I could have taken a land raider and I could have taken a close combat dreadnought, but these would have totally unbalanced the game due to genestealers being weak against vehicles. Looking at my army list, you’re probably wondering why I haven’t gone crazy with assault cannons? The simple answer is that I normally field a well
1,000pts Deathwing Cleansing Team Codicier Librarian “Corvin” with Fury of the Ancient psychic powers, terminator armour, and stubborn 4 man Terminator Command Squad with 2 cyclone missile launchers 6 Terminators with 1 assault cannon and 1 cyclone missile launcher
rounded army to face all comers and for once this has left me quite vulnerable. But let’s see what those cyclones can do. I’m sure a few well placed frag blast templates will prove their worth.
Ta k e
and
H ol d
We chose to play a basic take and hold mission centred on the sentry gun in the middle of the village. The sentry gun has a computer targeting system with BS2 and an assault cannon. The sentry gun has an armour value of 10 all round and is destroyed if it suffers a single glancing or penetrating hit.
A lpha level The only thing that matters in this game is having the most scoring units within 12” of the objective when the game ends.
S e t Up Luke spread his genestealer swarm out across his table edge, hiding behind buildings, rocks and the refinery. Meanwhile, Adam set up the Deathwing clumped together in the centre of his deployment zone, ready to lay down some withering firepower. It’s going to be a messy one!
6 Terminators with 1 assault cannon and 1 cyclone missile launcher
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genestealer broods. Two genestealers burst into blue flames and died. The combined fire from all three Deathwing squads tear apart the genestealer brood to the far right in multiple sprays of green liquid while the sentry gun cuts down a single genestealer from the nearest brood.
TUR N 2
TUR N 1 Adam won the roll to go first, but after looking at the board, decides that it’s better to wait and let the genestealers come to him with more targets in range for his first turn. Also, if he gets the last turn of the game, he can rush the objective and clear away any opposing units without fear of being charged. “Run you gribblies, run!” Luke yells as his genestealer swarm sprints forward. One brood take cover behind a large rock to the left of the sentry gun while the rest of the swarm runs out from their hiding places onto the open battlefield, followed by the waddling Patriarch. The Deathwing hold their ground. “Kill them. Kill them all.” Librarian, Codicier Corvin casts fury of the ancients across to the right, cutting through three
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The genestealers dash forward screeching loudly. The brood in the centre leaps on the sentry gun, tearing it apart with their teeth and claws. Meanwhile the brood by the refinery move forward to take the place of their brothers that were hideously gunned down last turn. The Deathwing fall back to form a defensive block, much to Luke’s disgust. “Cheese! Beardy cheese!” The librarian casts fury of the ancients into the brood huddled around the mangled wreckage of what was once a proud imperial sentry gun. The psychic force kills a single genestealer in a fiery display of gore while the rest of the command squad and one of the terminator squads annihilate the rest of the brood with frag missiles and bolter shells. Meanwhile, the second terminator squad wipes out the brood on the far right with a volley of highly accurate bolter and assault cannon fire.
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It looks as though it’s all over for the genestealers and the Deathwing gun them down one brood at a time. Luke’s looking very worried and Adam’s looking rather bored at this point.
TUR N 3 Luke carelessly runs his swarm forward, having lost all hope of standing a chance in this game. Then he realises that one of his broods is in charge range. The genestealers on the right run towards the flank of the terminators while the brood to the left sprints forwards at full speed and leaps up the hill into close combat with the second terminator command squad. As the genestealers have a massive initiative of 6, they get to go first with a total of 14 attacks. To Adam’s horror, Luke rolls six rending hits, cutting down the elite Deathwing terminators in a sea of shrieking alien faces and sharp serrated claws. The crazed genestealers then sweep round, slamming into the side of the Deathwing command squad led by the librarian. The Patriarch and his retinue are so far away
and so slow that they pose no threat. The Deathwing terminator squad to the right moves away from the command squad to open fire on the approaching genestealer brood to the right, wiping several of the foul xenos from existence, leaving three that hold fast, ready to charge the terminators next turn. In close combat the genestealers tear apart the terminator command squad with their rending attacks. The librarian swings his force axe, but the swift creatures step aside and dodge his attacks. Heavily outnumbered and stubborn, the librarian is forced to make 10 armour saves. One save for each time he is outnumbered. He disappears beneath a mound of chitinous bodies, never to be seen again.
TUR N 4 Having dealt with the librarian, the two genestealer squads jump on the remaining terminator squad and tear them to shreds without any resistance. It has been a dark day for the Deathwing.
“Time for fisticuffs!” 24
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G A ME OVER Luke – Infect Them A ll! It paid off in the end, but if I hadn’t rolled a 6 for my fleet of foot on the third turn, it would have all been over before you could say ‘lead poisoning’. The terminators just gunned me down brood by brood and there wasn’t anything I could do but run forward screaming. By the second turn I had lost all hope, but when I managed to charge in, oh how the tables did turn! I was lucky, very lucky to roll so many rending hits and to my amazement I totally shredded the squad. That was it for the Deathwing as the
genestealer brood leapt from squad to squad and there was nothing Adam could do about it (apart from cry like a little sissy girl!). You don’t look so big and fancy in your pretty armour now, do you?
A dam – Fall Back! Fall Back! Well, that was a bizarre game alright. It was inevitable that the sentry gun would be ripped apart. Like Luke, I felt that this was going to be a massacre. The Deathwing would huddle together just out of charge range and hose down everything with heavy firepower. I was tempted to call the game and start again with a different scenario…then the genestealers charged and oh sweet Emperor, it was horrible! I remember saying “That’s disgusting!” when Luke rolled all those rending hits, my terminators failed their invulnerable saves (what a shock) and were reduced to a nasty smear. That spelled the death of my army because they were so tightly packed together. What I should have done was spread the army out so that if Luke did come for me (and he had to), he’d have to split his forces or go for one unit at a time, which would have resulted in an easy win for the Deathwing. Regardless, I’m happy about how the game went. What could have been a boring day at the firing range turned into a horror movie with plenty of laughs for everyone. Next time Luke! *shakes fist* Next time! - Adam Smith & Luke Bardwell
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Got wood?
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http://www.miniaturescenery.com/
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tutorial
How to Paint Your Deathwing
I
’ve had several requests asking how I painted my Deathwing. I can empathise with this, since bone can be a very difficult colour to do properly. It was frustrating for me when I was looking for painting guides and tutorials online and couldn’t really find any, back when I had just started on my ‘Wing. Finally, I used a combination of several techniques to come up with my current style. While it can be time consuming, I feel that with a Deathwing army it is worth the investment to make a good looking force - especially since there are so few models to paint. If you are after the basic methodology without having to read the extensive tutorial, my technique for bone can be summarised as: • Skull White undercoat, then • Bronzed Flesh, then • Watered Flesh Wash, then • Bubonic Brown, then • Bleached Bone, then • Bleached Bone/Skull White highlights, then • Skull White highlights. The following pages describe this technique, as well as several hints and tips in more detail. It also describes the methods used for other details on the model.
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Tu tor i a l : Pa i n t i ng D e at h w i ng The first thing to do, obviously, is assemble your model. I’ve done my Terminators slightly larger than normal, with 1mm spacers under the feet, at the connection between legs and torso, and also at the shoulders. In addition, the arms are not glued to the body until the entire model is finished. Instead they are ‘dry pinned’, with only the arm side glued in. This allows for much easier painting of those hard-to-reach places. After construction, undercoat the model. I assumed you wouldn’t need a picture of this. For Deathwing, use a white undercoat.
St e p 1 Bronzed Flesh The first step is to simply paint on a layer of Bronzed Flesh over all the armoured areas. This should be watered down slightly, as we don’t want details obscured. In addition, try and leave the areas that will be a different colour (green, metal, etc) white, although you need not be too concerned about going over the edges.
St e p 2 Flesh Wash After completing a layer of Bronzed Flesh (and giving it plenty of time to dry!), crack open your brown ink. I use Flesh Wash, as it’s my favourite allround ink. Chestnut Ink would probably
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work fine here. The most important thing to do is water it down a lot. We want the recesses to be a very light brown rather than a dark brown. Too dark and there will be too much of a contrast between the top layers of bone and the recesses.
St e p 3 Chaos Black Now that the ink is dry, its time to start putting on the black. Basically, this will go wherever there will be metallics (gold or silver) and also around the eyes, lights, joints, and any other colour you really want to stand out. If you are using Forgeworld shoulder pads, I find it helps to do a thin line of black where the sword meets the featherywings. This will help with separating the green and red later on. This also goes for the breastplate
all the raised sections of armour. Leave the inked recesses visible at the very bottom, but you can go down the edges a bit. Examine the photos to see how far to go. Now is a good time to clean up the black you may have got on the armour-proper. I don’t paint the ‘vent’ type detail on the back of the feet as there is a high potential for error and I think they look fine as is.
St e p 5 Metals Part 1 Now start working on the metals. I use Mithril Silver for all my silver, with black mixed in if darkening is required, as here. Paint all the areas that will be silver or gold. It doesn’t have to be particularly neat since more paint will be going on over the top. Leave some black in the recesses for depth.
Again, keep the paint thin-ish and avoid blacking areas that will be a lighter colour later on (such as green or red). Try not to make mistakes, but if you do don’t worry too much. I often go ‘over the lines’ and as such I have contingency steps later on for virtually all the errors you could potentially make.
St e p 4 Bubonic Brown This is the part where we really start working on the armour. Get out the Bubonic Brown and thin it a bit, then start going over
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S t e p 6: Metals Part 2 Once the metals are dry, water down some black paint a lot. This needs to be more watery than ink. Coat all the metal parts that will remain silver with this mixture. It might take a bit of practice to get the right amount to go on, but I believe it makes the metal look very nice when done properly. Rub lightly over the ‘upper’ areas with
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your fingers; this will remove some of the black paint on edges and the top of curves, adding simple highlights.
Dark A ngels Green and some Detail
St e p 7 Bleached Bone and Gold This step compromises two colours. First, Shining Gold is applied to the previously silver areas. The silver on the previous layer gives it a better shine and makes the gold come up brighter than if it was applied to black by itself. When the Shining Gold is dry, apply some Flesh Wash (or equivalent) to the gold to add shading to the recesses. Later the flat/high areas will be given another coat of gold. Secondly, Bleached Bone is added to the armour. Now it will start to look like a Deathwing model. Water down the bone so that it applies smoothly to the armour plates, but not so much that it will dribble into the cracks. Again, this will take practice. Apply the bone to all the areas of armour, leaving some Bubonic Brown showing in the recesses. You have now worked up from shading to main colour. If some paint does run into the cracks, dab as much as you can up with a tissue, but don’t be too concerned, later you can run some ink in the cracks (almost blacklining) to tidy up. This step allows you to cover up any metallics you may have got on the armour in previous steps.
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Quite a simple step here. Water down some Dark Angels Green and apply to chest and shoulder eagles, and storm bolter casing. If you aren’t into lots of highlight or want to finish the models quickly, you can leave the green here as it is, the watered green over white sort of acts in a similar way to ink, leaving some ‘pre-made’ highlights and shading. Additionally, paint the eyes and lights white in preparation for red.
St e p 9 More Green, R ed and another round of Bubonic Brown Another simple step here. Give all the green areas another watered down coat to make the Dark Angels Green stronger. Paint the detail on the side of the storm bolter in white. Use Red Gore on the eyes and lights/lenses/details, as well as on the seal part of the purity seals and the sword on the shoulder pad. Apply Bubonic Brown to the parchment part of the seals, as well as the skull on the left shoulderpad.
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D e ta i l
D e ta i l
Purity Seals
Crux Terminatus
Purity seals start with Bubonic Brown base layer. Following this, apply an unwatered wash to the surface. I don’t water this because I can direct the ink into ‘lines’ in the deeper areas more easily with the thicker substance. Once the ink is dry, start with another layer of Bubonic Brown on the more ‘upper’ areas, leaving the thickest ink as is. Gradually highlight this further from the ink using a mix of Bubonic Brown and Bleached Bone in as many layers as you feel reasonable before finally using a touch of pure bleached bone on the edges. You don’t want to use too much Bone, as the Seals will then look too much like the armour.
The terminatus symbol is relatively simple. The gold follows steps previously outlined (silver, gold, wash, gold), and the skull is a very similar procedure to that of the purity seal parchment. So similar in fact, that I do them both simultaneously with the same mixes. The difference is that with the Forge World pads at least, the skull needs to be almost drybrushed in some areas to show the detail sufficiently. Also, on the skull the highlighting can go much lighter because the gold prevents the skull from not being discernable fully from the bone armour.
D e ta i l Chest Eagle The chest eagle detail is completed in several steps. After completing the multiple coats of Dark Angels Green in previous steps, start by mixing a 50/50 combination of Dark Angels Green and Snot Green. Use this to fill in most of the raised areas, leaving the darkest colour in the gaps. The seals are a base of Red Gore, followed by Blood Red (sometimes a couple of layers are required to get a good effect) on the edges and part of the interior, and finally a mix of Blood Red and Skull White for the top and bottom edges, as well as a little in the centre. I have tried Bleached Bone in place of the Skull White to reduce the ‘pinkness’’, but I feel both methods work well enough. At this stage you should also be completing the red on the eyes, lights and shoulderpad in the same method.
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Then use Snot Green to colour in about 50% of the raised areas, and finally a bit of Goblin Green at the tips of the raised areas as highlights. I find that if the Goblin doesn’t go all the way to the center end of the raised areas, and curves upwards a little at the outside ends, it gives a very nice effect.
D e ta i l Shoulder Pad and Storm Bolter For the feathery wings of the shoulderpad, use much the same technique as that of the chest eagle, with a couple of small technique adjustments. First; on the Snot Green layer have two lines painted on each raised area along the edges, to help accentuate the feather effect. Second; on the Goblin Green layer, use only very light brush strokes from the centre of the raised areas out, becoming more solid at the strokes progress to the rims. As in the chest eagle, this gives a nice ‘expanding’ effect. Use the same green colours on the storm bolter casing, except only complete the Goblin Green layer on the edges of the casing, not the middle raised areas. I find this highlights the shape better without drawing attention to the edges on the ‘inside’ of the casing if you get my drift. The metal on the bolter could use an additional highlight of mithril/black 50/50 mix, which I’ve been doing on recent models but didn’t on this one.
D e ta i l Sword I used a different technique to my usual sword-painting technique here, but I think it worked reasonably well. This was basically just as case of mixing gradually lighter shades of silver and using them to highlight, with the raised edge receiving more ‘light’ than the shadowed edge. Light blue is also a favourite with Deathwing players for power swords. I have done that on my Librarian to reasonable effect using Ultramarine blue highlighting.
D e ta i l Base (17) The base is also quite simple. PVA some gravel to the base. Once dry, paint black. Heavily drybrush in Bestial Brown, then lightly drybrush in Bubonic Brown, then even more lightly drybrush in Bleached Bone. Paint the edges in solid Bestial Brown (you will need a couple of layers). Once all the paint is dry, glue on some clumps of static grass. Easy! It also complements the Deathwing scheme quite well.
Complete purity seals as outlined above, and paint the red of the sword in the same colours as the red seals.
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Gloss Varnish, followed by another coat of Humbrol Matt Varnish. I don’t like shiny models, and the good thing about a Matt varnish is that it also takes the shine out of inks, leaving them looking flat as well. This helps immensely with the purity seals.
S t e p 10 Highlighting Bone Now, you are almost there! The detail has been done, now all that remains is some highlighting. Use a mix of Bleached Bone and Skull White for the bone highlighting. I don’t have a strict ratio here; I usually just mix by eye which is a bit difficult.
Now you have finished a Deathwing Terminator! - Luke Houston
Basically, you want the layer to stand out, but not too much. Make sure the mix is well watered so that the paint sits flat on the armour, otherwise it can be too distinct when it should look blended.
Fi n a l St e p s Attach arms! That’s always useful. When that is done, use some pure Skull White to pick out the edges and raised points of the armour. Again, keep it well watered and only do this sparingly as it can look too obvious if done everywhere. Uppermost areas only! It helps to do a little more on the helmet, as this brings out the detail better. You want the helmet to look good because the face is the focal point of a miniature. I also varnish my Terminators, to keep the precious precious models (and paintjobs) safe. For this process I do one coat of Citadel
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an ork’s tale part 2:
Stinkin’ Grot of a Squigherder
A
A
fter that fateful day by the tavern, Aghrukk ‘Ard Knuckle became the new boss of the settlement and established his bossydom with ruthless tact.
As thanks to Ugluk for disposing of Gurthak, Ugluk had been given the position of ranking ‘Squigherder’, a task normally given to grots. Needless to say, Ugluk was the number one laughing stock of Da ‘Ard Knuckles Kamp. But Ugluk soon had the last laugh, seeing that he had turned the filthy and mangy squig farm that was placed half a mile from Da Kamp into a prosperous enterprise. Much thanks to the local mek, Drokkrakka. Between them, they had built a working self-pumping well, two windmills to make squig pulp pies and a ‘choppamill’ where you shoved a squig in the one end and it came out in chopped up bits in the other. Not only that, but after a few months Ugluk had bought himself a couple of boars from the neighbouring village and started to breed himself a herd. Soon business was flourishing, his squigs and boars being sold left and right, even being exported to other settlements by orks who stuffed their trukks full.
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It had gone so far that Ugluk had a staff of forty grot slaves and over one hundred snotlings, along with the runtherder Whag-Durk Dimwitt to keep them all in check. Mind you, the runtherder was a drunken old idiot who couldn’t move unless he leaned up against the very grabba-stick supposed to be used to keep the little runts in check. But it all worked out well enough anyway, every now and then Gogg would come by and visit, bringing some new mekboy invention with him that he had picked up in the great ork city of Garg-Gorkdur. The boar screamed and jumped, wrestling the strong hands that had a firm grip around the large tusks of the beast. Mud and dirt was thrown into the air as the boar, enraged, tried to break free. Ugluk wouldn’t give him the chance, he moved with the boar, hanging over its neck, running by its side, pulling the tusks to wrestle it into submission. Along the shabby fence of the corral the grots and snots cheered him on, cursing the beast with various words best not translated (if at all possible) to the human tongue. One of the snots got so carried away that he accidentally tossed a few phrases about a brain being made of the snotling’s poo aimed at Ugluk. In the end it resulted with the snotling getting smacked over the head by the gretchin closest to him, the snotling hitting his forehead against the fence and falling down on his back unconscious. Out of the sun’s way, beneath the makeshift roof of a shed, Whag-Durk was sound asleep, a jar of homemade fungal firewater firmly held in his slumbering embrace. Two snotlings had made their way up on either side of the old ork, and both leaned forward to peek down the huge gaping hole that was the sleeping drunk’s mouth and throat. The space inside the ork’s head fascinated the tiny gremlins. The boar finally became too tired to fight the strong ork that had him in his grip, and Ugluk threw the beast to the ground, slamming the boar into the mud and placed himself on top of the boar to weigh it down.
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“Alright!”, Ugluk shouted, “Yoo grots, tie dis naff grunta up!”. Several gretchin rushed into the corral with ropes and quickly began to tie them around the boar’s tusks and neck. “’Ang on now yer naff runts”, Ugluk leaned himself up on top of the bull, the beast breathing beneath the weight of the ork’s arms. As soon as Ugluk stepped back the boar got back on his own hooves, the twelve or so gretchin that were in the corral pulled on their ropes like Madboyz. “Hold on to him!” Ugluk bellowed, making the boar even more agitated, pulling several gretchin through the mud on their bellies. Chaos and pitched screams followed. Finally, Ugluk had had enough. He strode up to the furious boar that was by now pulling close to twenty grots along. Ugluk kicked with a well-placed boot on the boar’s chin. The boar instantly slumped to the muddy ground, much to the relief of the gretchin that had involuntarily taken part in the mud bath. “Now tie dat mor grunta up an’ turn it into a proper gargy an’ bad, grim, manik waaa-grunta!” With that Ugluk left the corral, the grots got to their feet and cautiously walked over to the knockedout boar. Ugluk walked over to a large barrel of water and dunked his head in it, throwing it back out and spraying water everywhere. He spat out the water in his mouth and wiped his face with the palm of his hand. That was when he heard the noise of rushing engines. He took a few steps out onto the open yard and looked over in the direction of Da ‘Ard Knuckles Kamp, blocking the sun from his eyes with the aid of one of his large hands. Sure enough, trukks were heading his way. Snikwort, a clever gretchin acting as work leader of the grots and snots on the farm, walked over to his master, “Looks likes da boss iz coming”. “Ya... Dat panzee snaga-nob has come for more teef”.
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“He already got teef three Uz-lotz ago”. Ugluk shook his head, “Dat Aghrukk shouldn’t be boss. He would make a badder grubby ripoff villun”. “Watch itz”, Snikwort said, “He may be a villun, but he iz still a skarboy an’ da Nob of da Kamp”. By now, the three trukks were clearly visible, along with the two buggies that trailed them. “Lotz of orkies”, Snikwort pointed out. “Lotz of dakka”, Ugluk added. The trukks and buggies slid through the dirt as they came to a sudden stop, leaving deep ditches behind them where their big wheels had ploughed through the ground. The orks all jumped down from the crude vehicles, all armed to the teeth. Aghrukk stomped his way over to Ugluk, his mob of thugs in close pursuit. “Ugluk, ya stinkin’ grot of a squigherder!”, the boss barked. Ugluk motioned for Snikgrot to stay behind and then walked out onto the yard to face the local chieftain. “Wuzz yer wunt dis time boss?” Aghrukk gave the squigherding ork a slap on the shoulder, “Ha! I wuntz all yer teef an’ all yer gruntas!” “All da teef an’ da gruntas?”, Ugluk could hardly believe his own two ears. “Yeah, ya hurd me!”, the boss gave Ugluk a hard push, “Dat no good for nuffin git Gaffrogg duffed me in a warbike zagrace, now Im gonna rip his kop off!”. “An’ why doz yer needs my gruntas for dat?”. “Ya tit!”, Aghrukk ‘Ard Knuckles gave Ugluk another push, “Don’t gob me! We needs yer gruntas to rip em off in Garg-Gorkdur to rip off some bad dakka kannons!” Ugluk had his suspicions where this was going, “Why do au need new kannons to go after boss Grim’Boy?”.
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“Cos!”, Ugluk got another push, “Im gonna blitz his entire slag an’ snik all of dem naff grots calling themselves Da Grim’Boy Klan!”.
were sprayed down with heavy gunfire, the thick rounds punching through the simple sheds and huts with ease.
“Yer gonna blitz Kamp Grim’Boy?”. Aghrukk leaned forward, his red eyes fixed on Ugluk, “An’ I needs da teef for it”.
By the time Aghrukk and his boys were done, the farm looked like a battlefield.
It was the talk of the village. Some days back Aghrukk had raced against the neighbouring settlement boss, Gaffrogg Grim’Boy, and lost. Now it seemed, Aghrukk wanted to settle the matter through the use of extreme and lots of unnecessary force.
“Dats dat”, the boss said, “Lets get out of ‘ere an’ rip uz off some bad kannons to dreg dem skabs Da Grim’Boys!”. The orks cheered, firing their guns in the air.
To do that, he needed to buy a trukkload of guns from the market at Garg-Gorkdur, and for that he needed ‘teef’. Another way of getting guns was to trade them for something else, namely boars. “Ya manik boss!” Ugluk was not about to give up his large herd of boars against no pay at all, “These gruntas ar’ worth ordz of lotz of ordz of teef, an’ I og ‘em all. Yu wants ‘em, ya rip off for ‘em!”. “Listen ‘ere!”, Aghrukk grabbed hold of Ugluk’s collar, “Im da biggest, so Im da boss! Now yer gonna hand dem gruntas over or else!”. Ugluk’s orkish brain kicked in, “Kop Dis!”. The headbutt sent Aghrukk tumbling, immediately his mob of orks rushed forward and threw themselves in a big pile on top of Ugluk, wrestling him to the ground, hitting and kicking him as they pleased. Ugluk was eventually pulled up from the ground, an ork holding each of his arms, another had his arm locked around Ugluk’s throat and neck. Aghrukk wiped snot and blood from his bleeding nose and then spat a gob of it all in the dirt. “Alright”, the Boss Ork said, “Stuff all da gruntas an’ da teef on da trukk. We’re goin’ for Garg-Gorkdur”. Ugluk tried to wrestle himself free, but the orks holding him were all far stronger than him. All Ugluk could do was to watch when all of his valuable belongings were stolen. The farm was being trashed, the snotlings kicked out of the way, gretchins stuffed in bags to be sold as slaves, walls and doors
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“Wuzz about dis git, boss?” One of the orks pointed at Ugluk. Aghrukk smiled viciously, “Duff him up”. The mob of orks all closed in around Ugluk, all grinning and cracking their knuckles in their palms. It was time for Ugluk to find out why the clan was known as Da ‘Ard Knuckles. Ugluk woke up, his head pounding, his body ached. “He’z awake”. Ugluk shook his head and his eyesight came back to him, he was lying on some bags of boarfodder in the foodshed. Next to him sat Snikwort and the gretchin was waving for someone to come their way. Whag-Durk limped up to them, leaning against his grabba-stick, just as Ugluk sat himself up, holding his head with a hand. Ugluk moaned, “Wuzz happened?”. “Da Boss an’ his boys gave yer a bad duffing”, Snikwort explained. “How yu feelin’?”, the runtherder asked as he placed his hand on Ugluk’s shoulder. “Like I’ve been stomped on by every ork on da slag”. “Only a few lotz of ‘em”, Snikwort corrected. A second ork came over to them, he had a pair of thick glasses and a heavy bag in his hand, the other hand held a nasty looking scalpel. “Told ya”, the ork said, “Hez fine”. It was Thraguz, the village ‘Doc’.
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But Whag-Durk was not so sure, “Wuzz about his innards, maybe dem has been duffed bad too”. The Doc took a close look on his patient, “Hows yu feelin’?”. “My head hurts”, Ugluk said. Thraguz chuckled, “Den there is no problem. After all, if yer head hurts, you can’t be dead, now can ya?”. The other greenskins looked at each other, the logic of the Doc was irrefutable. “Hupp Hupp Hupp!!”. The herd of squigs ran like a single creature, moving like a school of fish, with only the odd little squig making a wrong turn or not turning fast enough. Ugluk lashed the whip above the heads of the herd, urging them on, steering their movements by positioning himself on either flank as it was needed. The boar he rode on grunted and squealed, but with a few kicks along its torso with his heels, Ugluk kept it under control, along with hard pulls on the reins, tied to the boar’s tusks as it were. A small buggy raced by, heading after a small group of squigs that had veered off and was leaving the herd. Snikwort was sitting behind the steering wheel and two other gretchin held on for their dear lives as the grotboss drove at full throttle after the ork-cattle. Snikwort hit the brakes and in one fluid turn, skidded round the runaway squigs in the shape of a U, the two grots with him firing grotsluggas in the air while at the same time they tried their best not to fall off. It had the desired effect and the AWOL squigs instantly turned and headed back in the direction of the herd. Once the last of the squigs had passed through the gate, a dozen snotlings pushed for all their worth and closed it, trapping the squigs in the corral.
last few days had been a hard chase to find and bring back all the squigs that had fled after the boss’s rampage. Snikwort’s buggy almost crashed through the fence of the newly built corral before coming to a stop, leaning up on two of its wheels, dangerously close to falling over. As it finally fell down on all fours, the entire buggy bounced on the huge coils attached to the frame of the vehicle. The engine pounded and shook, like an enraged boar waiting to rush off on some insane charge. “Dats da last of ‘em”, Snikwort said and stood up in the cockpitlike driver’s seat of the buggy. “I dunno”, Ugluk rode over to the buggy, “I think dat miffgit Oghrek has gotten his no good hands on some of me squigs”. “Now dont yer go over to Oghrek an’ starts something silly, boss”. “Yu think so as well!”. “Yu have to go to da Bonk-Pit for it, an’ boss, Oghrek’s twice yer garg”. Ugluk frowned and tossed the reins to a pair of gretchin and then stepped down from the boar. Instantly the boar tried to escape, the two gretchin pulling frantically on the reins trying to keep the strong beast in check. Ugluk walked over to the fence and leaned himself over it, the shabby work bent beneath his weight. “Im da duffgrot of da kamp”, Ugluk said as he watched the herd of squigs moving in the corral, “But I know me can be more”.
Ugluk pulled the reins of his boar and it came to a strained halt, throwing its head, grunting and growling, large puffs of heated air shooting out of its nostrils.
Snikwort turned off the engine and jumped down from the buggy, then climbed the fence and sat down next to his master. “Yu ar’ more, yer da squigherder”. Ugluk tossed a nasty glare at the grot, and Snikwort knew he had spoken out of place.
For the past two weeks Ugluk and his remaining grots and snots had worked hard to rebuild at least part of the squig farm, and the
Ugluk shook his head and sighed, “Yu know wuzz I would do if I wuzz boss?”.
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“Naah”. “First I would snik dat grod Aghrukk, den I would re-shuv da kamp”. Snikwort got puzzled, “Re-shuv da kamp? Why?”. “I would blitz da middle of it an’ shuv an ‘uge yard there instead, a yard where yu could rip off stuff. Den I would shuv a large shak for Drokkrakka where he could shuv his mekgubbins, da mekshak would be unki enuff so all us orks could gets some bad studs an’ gubbins for our own.” As the ork spoke of his grand scheme, his eyes seemed to shine, his brain hard at work, “I would blitz da Boss’s shak an’ wid da scrap I would shuv an ‘uge dur around da kamp, a dur unki and gor enuff to duff any kannon or kan dat tried to dreg it. Ya, I would make da boys an’ da grots work like a proper mob”. Snikwort just blinked with his eyes, unsure of what it was the ork was talking about, “But boss, we already has a mob”. “Not an orky wun!”, Ugluk almost hit the gretchin to the ground when he threw out an arm, “Dat naff mob of skab gits an’ dat grass-snaga of a miffnob ar’ no more orks dan yu grots and snots ar’. Now, da boss over in Garg-Gorkdur, dats a grim boss dat iz. Garg-Gorkdur is a bad kamp”. “But boss”, Snikwort scratched his green scalp, “Garg-Gorkdur is not a kamp, itz a slagdur”. Ugluk frowned and grunted, then left the corral behind him, his head slumped between his shoulders. Snikwort was smart enough to realise something was wrong and that something was eating at the ork, but he wasn’t smart enough to figure out what. Ugluk kicked a piece of leftover engine part, sending it flying through the air. He was frustrated and depressed. He slammed his fist against the wall of a shed to vent out some steam that was building within him, but it had little effect.
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“Yer head gits does it?”. Ugluk looked up and saw the old runtherder walking up to him, ever leaning against his grabba-stick to make up for the heavy limp. “Naah”, Ugluk lied, “I’m just skabby after da squigherdin’”. Whag-Durk Dimwitt chuckled, “Dont yu try an’ naff me, Im tuf enuff to know when a boy is gitty in da head”. “Wuzz do yer know about dat, tuf ork”. Whag-Durk sat himself down on a pile of wooden rubble, as he stretched out his bad leg it clearly pained him, he still leaned somewhat against the grabba-stick, but not with his full weight. The old runtherder looked at the young ork, “Yer only wuzz, a full year old?”. “Ya. So?” “I am tuf enuff to know my skull is coming zaggy”, Whag-Durk said, the old ork seeming even older, “In all my Uz-lots, I have seen many orks, many bosses. Many brawls and Waaghs”. “Yer been in a Waagh?” Ugluk had never thought of old Dimwitt as a warrior, he had always seemed like an old drunk who couldn’t even keep the grots and snots under control. “Ya, ordz of tuf ago”, Whag-Durk smiled and chuckled, “When I wuzz orky and zag wid da choppa, I blitzed and dregged and gored wid da Waagh Ghazghkull”. “Waagh Ghazghkull??”, Ugluk could scarcely believe his ears, Badgarg Waagh-Boss Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka was a legend, the orkiest ork there ever was. “Ya, we had ourselves some bad and orky duffs on dat bugeye ooman slag Armiegiddin”. Ugluk sat down on the ground before the old ork, like a child listening to some great tale of adventure.
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Whag-Durk nodded slowly, remembering his days of youth, “We blitzed and we gored and duffed all who wuzz naff and miff enuff to get in our way. Den came dat grimgrod ooman boss, Yurruck. A bad git he wuzz, gored orks by da ordz an’ ordz. Duffed us right off da slag. Ah, doze were da Uzes, when an ork could pick up a choppa an’ dreg all he wunted, in da Waagh all orks ar’ bad grods”. “But wuzz ar’ yer doin’ here den? On dis naff slag?”. “I got tuf, too tuf to be in da Whaags. When da Uz-lots zag yer by like da Wazza, bosses an’ nobs dont lug yu dat much any more. Da naff task of a runtherder is just wuzz a tuf ork likes meself needs when da skull is coming zagging on a vrum”.
0*.0/,&: , - ÊEPFTOPUIBWFBTUBGGNBEFFOUJSFMZPG TFMFDUJWFMZCSFE HFOFUJDBMMZFOIBODFE(PSJMMB 8BSSJPST8FBDDFQUTVCNJTTJPOTGSPNUIFBWFSBHF NPOLFZ)BJSZMJUUMFNPOLFZTKVTUMJLFZPV
Ugluk sat mesmerised, his ork brain seduced by the tales of old fights and mass killings. To think that he would stand next to an ork who had taken part in the great Waagh of Ghazghkull Thraka against the ‘naff oomans’. Whag-Durk leaned forward and placed a hand on Ugluk’s shoulder. The old ork smiled, revealing the missing teeth of his large gob, “I have seen many orks in my uzes, Ugluk. An’ I have nevva seen an ork likes yu. An ork wid plans, an ork wid da grub to dream, wid da grub to shuv things. Yu ar’ an ‘ard wun an’ a grub wun, as good an ork I have evva seen, an’ I have seen ordz of orks in my life. Just keep yer ‘ead on straight, and lurk of lurky things, then Gork an’ Mork will give ya teef in da lotz of ordz”. “But how? Dat grod Aghrukk sticks grots an’ snots in my plans when ever I comes up wid ‘em, an’ I cant duff him in da Pit, he’s too gargunki”. “Yu will find nosh in da end, young wun. There is a bad an’ grim morgog inside dat thick kop of yers, da grub an’ gubbins of a nob. Yu’ll be a grim skraga yet, yu’ll see”. End of Part 2. - Johan Hansson
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4PHSBCBHVO TIPPUBMJFOTDVN BOEIFMQUPEFGFOEUIF, - 8IFUIFSZPVXBOUUPTVCNJUXPSL BEWFSUJTFXJUIVTPSKVTUIFMQPVU FNBJMmSFCBTF@NBHB[JOF!IPUNBJMDPN Firebase
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tactica
Get Your Motor Running
W
e explore the tactics of the Dark Angels’ Ravenwing black bikers and how best to use them on the battlefield in their hunt for the fallen.
OVERVIEW The Ravenwing are the result of a reorganisation of the Dark Angels Legion following the Horus Heresy. The second company of the now Dark Angels chapter, the Ravenwing follow the organisation styles of the seventh companies of most other chapters, with two exceptions. The Ravenwing are more elite, representing the cream of the crop from centuries of training and experience. Also, the Ravenwing typically take to the field in greater numbers of mounted space marines than any other chapter. To build a pure Ravenwing army would require the integration of both space marine bikes and land speeders into a cohesive force. The land speeders would fill the niche of infantry killers and with the new assault cannon rules, be capable of downing even the greatest of tanks or monstrous creatures. Meanwhile, space marine bikers would form the spearhead that broke through the enemy lines, providing firepower when necessary, but more often than not finishing the enemy off in vicious melee. Tank hunting would also be a primary role of the bike units, in particular attack bikes.
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PRINCIPLES Expensive Fragility You will be outnumbered and outgunned by virtually every other army in the game. Therefore, losses are not something you can readily afford and you will pay for every mistake you make. However, the gain of such an unusual army is the element of surprise! Most of your opponents will have never faced a Ravenwing army, making this a new challenge for them.
Bang For Your Buck The only visible difference between a standard space marine biker and a Ravenwing biker is the points cost (32 compared to 40) and frag grenades on the former. All bikers can now turbo-boost, turning their 3+ save into an invulnerable save. In addition, the +1 toughness bonus makes space marine bikers just that much harder to hurt. Although you are still only Toughness 4 for the purposes of instant death. For those who have read through the Dark Angels codex, you will notice that the Ravenwing also come with what is known as a ‘jink’ save, which basically counts as an invulnerable 6+ save, provided you moved more than 6 inches in the previous turn. Not a great bonus for a whopping 8 extra points is it? Ah but fear not! Tucked away in the current Dark Angels FAQ is the salvation of the Ravenwing list: skilled rider. Each and every Ravenwing biker comes with it and with this ability the Ravenwing is an army to be feared.
Mobility and R each To say that the Ravenwing army is mobile would be an understatement, as they rival the skilled Eldar of the Saim-Hann Craftworld and the raiders of the Dark Eldar. It is in the movement phase that the outcome of your games will be decided and it is here that you must concentrate your efforts. There is a concept you must grasp when you begin to play Ravenwing, and that is the idea of reach. Every army has it, but most people don’t think about it because it is generally the same for
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most other armies. Reach may change when units are mounted in transports and may flux depending on whether a unit armed with a heavy weapon chooses to move or remain stationary. Most players tend not to think about this concept. As a Ravenwing player, you will show them the error of their ways. I want you to take a model. A space marine bike mounted on a 25mm cavalry base is best, but any model will do. Now, with your measuring tape, trace out the following distances in a circle, keeping one end touching the model’s base: 1 . 12” around the model (24” diameter circle) 2 . 24” around the model (48” diameter circle) 3 . 18” around the model (36” diameter circle) 4 . 36” around the model (72” diameter circle) You don’t need to remember these numbers, but keep a mental note of the approximate distances. This series of numbers represents your reach. The first is your actual movement, should you want to shoot. The second is your full movement via turboboosting. The third is the distance you must close should you wish
to charge into an assault. The fourth is your movement, plus range of fire with the majority of your weapons. This means that on a standard 6’ by 4’ tournament table, you could quite easily extend your reach to cover the entire table with only a few units. Also, because of skilled rider, you can effectively ignore intervening terrain in regards to movement reach, allowing you to extend and maintain your reach more effectively than any other army.
D e pl oy m e n t As your army is both significantly faster, and equipped with greater reach and mobility, allowing for quick deployment and redeployment, take some time in the pre-game to size up your opponent. Or more specifically, their army, its components, and how they are being deployed. Here are some questions to get you started on what you want to be thinking about: i. What style of play is it? Primarily shooty, melee, or a balance of the two? ii. How is the terrain set up, and how is your opponent deploying in relation to the scenery? Are there visible or invisible lanes of fire, or perhaps chokepoints? iii. What is the quickest route to the enemy? How many turns will it take for you to close and reach combat? Remember to keep your reach in mind and try not to think of the battlefield as you would conventionally. You need not worry about what would impede your movement, or even about cover. Your greatest concern should be natural obstacles, where you can use appropriate size two and three terrain to deny line of sight as you close in. Additionally, where you would normally deploy to counter your opponent, with Ravenwing, you should try to deploy so as to confuse your opponent. Throw them off-balance with a seemingly haphazard positioning of units. Deploying anti-tank or anti-infantry units furthest away from their most appropriate targets is the
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easiest way to achieve this. Once the game begins, it becomes a simple matter of using your reach to quickly reposition your units to reach their appropriate targets and denying your opponent enough time to counter.
M ov e m e n t Very rarely will Ravenwing be able to achieve a massacre result early on in the game, so you will find it to your advantage to isolate and divide up your opponent’s army. It will take considerable planning and fore-thought, but it will allow you to slowly whittle away at and set up their army for you to land that killer blow. Use terrain to shield you from incoming fire while remembering to fully utilise your reach. Terrain also has the additional benefit of creating bottlenecks for your opponent; situations where you can easily extract your units from but that they cannot.
S ho o t i ng
and
A s s au lt
Weapons choice, both pre and in game is also important. Use the best tool for the job and plan several steps ahead to get that flamer, or meltagun, exactly where you need it most. Once you get into an assault, never let yourself get bogged down. You cannot afford to lose a turn of shooting by having a unit or two tied up for several turns and a war of attrition is one that you can neither afford nor win. Above all, remember that an assault should just be ‘mop up’ for you.
BUILDING YOUR LIST Weaponry and Wargear for Characters What follows is an outline of weaponry and wargear suitable for your leader choices. When kitting out your characters, remember always never to over spend. Keep it cheap and simple, as it will allow some measure of flexibility elsewhere with your list.
Weapons
Unit cohesion is the name of the game. A bike heavy Ravenwing army needs to coordinate its firepower and charges carefully to inflict maximum effective damage while minimizing return damage. Always stack the odds in your favour. If you think one unit can handle an enemy squad, throw another in to be sure. However, be sure you don’t completely kill off an enemy squad with shooting, thereby leaving your designated assault units stuck out in the open. Although careful positioning in the movement phase could help negate this should you find yourself unable to complete an assault.
i. Bolt pistol or close combat weapon – Both do the exact same thing, which is grant you that +1 attack for having an extra hand weapon. You will not need the shot from the bolt pistol as the twinlinked bolters mounted on your bike are more effective.
Target selection is key of course, but more-so with Ravenwing. Remember to coordinate shooters with chargers (chargers will also be shooting at full capacity) so that you don’t waste firepower. Avoid over-extending yourself as well. If you don’t think you can afford to waste fire at a unit, then don’t try. Never let your units handle more than they are capable of and never gamble with units. Those with experience playing Deathwing will grasp this concept more quickly than others.
iii. Power weapon – A must have for your character. Chaplains and librarians come with a free power weapon (or force weapon in the case of the latter), so this is really only an issue for the master of the Ravenwing.
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ii. Plasma pistol – Now here is an item worth taking! Combined with the great ballistic skill of your character, this weapon is a worthwhile addition to your army’s firepower and has the added benefit of also granting your character the +1 attack for having an extra hand weapon.
iv. Combi-weapons – A bit too pricey to give to characters, but if you want a nice little surprise, or really just want that meltagun to hit, or to get that extra flamer, then you may want to look into this option.
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Wargear i. Combat shield – If you have the points to spare (which you shouldn’t), then a combat shield is an easy way to give your master or your librarian a decent invulnerable save in close combat. Avoid taking the iron halo, as it eat up points you probably don’t have to spare. This item also lets you benefit from two hand weapons, which puts it one up on the storm shield. ii. Frag grenades – Cheap and lets your character strike simultaneously when charging into cover. Highly recommended unless you either don’t plan to charge enemy units in cover or you don’t mind being picked off before you can get your attacks in. iii. Space marine bike – A no-brainer considering you must take it. Always remember that you are Toughness 5 only for the purposes of determining to wound rolls and that you are still only Toughness 4 for instant death.
Weaponry and wargear for Sergeants What follows is an outline of weaponry and wargear suitable for your squad sergeants. Again, remember always never to overspend.
iv. Power fist – I highly recommend gearing each and every sergeant with a power fist, as it allows you to deal with monstrous creatures and stray armour in combat, or to pick off the odd character. When something absolutely must die, there really is no substitute. v. Combi-weapons – Invaluable to your arsenal. There are some situations where the added firepower of a combi-weapon will come into play and others where a bolt pistol or close combat weapon would have worked better. I like to take an even mix of the two between sergeants. Combi-meltas and combi-flamers are recommended. A plasma pistol, though it lacks the range, is a better investment than a combi-plasma, as explained above.
Wargear i. Frag grenades – If you ever give any of your sergeants power weapons, be sure to give them frag grenades so that they strike simultaneously with enemy units in cover.
C h a r ac t e r s
Weapons i. Bolt pistol or close combat weapon – Seeing as you don’t come with a hand weapon to begin with, combining either of these with either a power weapon or a power fist is a great way to get an extra attack. ii. Plasma pistol – An expensive investment, but no more so than a combi-weapon. If you find yourself wanting more plasma, then think about investing in some plasma pistols for your sergeants. Though they lack the range of a combi-plasma, they can fire every turn as opposed to once per battle and can also be used in combat for the extra attack. iii. Power weapon – I would place this second on my list of must haves for Sergeants, as another weapon comes to the fore…
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When it comes to choosing a character to lead your list, I recommend you take only one character in your list, for the very reason that two costs too much. That extra character could buy you another Ravenwing squadron.
M aster of the R avenwing Though no longer a mandatory choice, he is still the best choice and you now have the option of taking him mounted either on a space marine bike or flying his pimped out land speeder tornado, Mk Uber. The three wound option is really the best one, as you benefit most from his Rites of Battle special rule at leadership 10 and is quite survivable with three wounds. The Dark Angels codex lists him as having the Raven Sword, but the latest FAQ changes it to an optional upgrade which can be removed at -30 points. I would recommend dropping it and just taking a Power Weapon, as you really don’t need to master-craft the weapon. Another benefit to taking the master of the Ravenwing is that, under the latest Dark Angels codex, he has a basic four attacks, allowing him to reach a potential seven if you combine an extra hand weapon with terminator honors and the charge. Although the tendency with masters is to hide them in the back where they can extend their leadership net without incurring damage, I recommend placing the master of the Ravenwing in the front lines, where he can best utilise his fighting prowess to support your chargers.
Chaplain If you choose to have a chaplain lead your force, then look no further than the reclusiarch. You don’t benefit from the leadership bonus the master of sanctity gives, but that doesn’t matter because the chaplain makes the unit he accompanies fearless. He’s the cheapest choice, comes with a power weapon, a 4+ invulnerable save and best of all his Litanies of Hate ability allows the unit he accompanies to reroll hits on the turn they charge to make ‘mopping up’ units much easier.
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Librarian The epistolary is better for the very fact that you want the leadership 10 to both cast and stop psychic powers with ease. The extra wound isn’t bad either. Librarians, however, have the great negative of being enormous points sinks should you choose to deck them out. i. Storm of the Emperor’s Wrath is great for knocking out nearby deep-striking units, or for heavily armored models. ii. Fury of the Ancients is a fantastic choice, as it allows you to pin enemy units and help to minimise incoming fire. It also has the added benefit of virtually unlimited range, letting you extend your reach just that much further. iii. Fear of the Darkness is a nifty little power, but won’t always work considering just how high every other army’s leadership is. A neat little surprise if you want to fit it into your list, but not one I would recommend as a mainstay power. iv. Might of Heroes is incredibly potent, making your librarian a combat monster. Also great as support because it can boost models around him -perhaps the Power Fist toting sergeant, for when something absolutely, positively must die? v. Veil of Time has its ups and downs. It will make him much more potent in combat, but not by much, as he shouldn’t be taking any hits in combat at all. vi. Vortex of Doom is basically Storm of the Emperor’s Wrath on crack. I would suggest sticking with Storm as Vortex of Doom just isn’t worth the points in an already expensive army, for an already expensive model. Keep in mind that you cannot use both a psychic power, and attempt to instant kill with your force weapon in the same turn, although you can still continue to use the force weapon as a power weapon. You also cannot take a familiar as you are mounted on a space marine bike.
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Troops - R avenwing Bike Squadrons
Always upgrade your sergeant to veteran status to allow him to select from the armory and to give him the extra attack from terminator honours. This will allow you to give wargear to your sergeants, an option I highly recommend you take full advantage of for the power fists. When it comes to picking which special weapons to take, keep in mind what you want the squad to do and how you’re going to fill the following roles: anti-tank, anti-monster, and anti-infantry. i. Anti-infantry. All your bikes are equipped with twin-linked bolters that can always fire as if stationary and you can charge even after you rapid-fire, so you are already half way there. However, with only one bolter for every 40 points, that isn’t enough firepower. You will need flamers to help thin out hordes. I would recommend one squadron out of every three be equipped with two flamers. Giving combi-flamers to your sergeants is also a great way to add some extra punch to your army without compromising your special weapons pool.
You must also strike a balance with the weapons you choose, so that your list is balanced and capable of dealing with any army it comes across. The first thing you must decide is squad size which can be anywhere from between three to five bikers and an attached attack bike. Refrain from attaching attack bikes, as you may want to direct the additional firepower into another unit. There really is no optimal squadron size, merely personal preference. Small squadrons of three will allow you to maximise on the number of special weapons you can take, but casualties automatically mean you begin losing those special weapons. Large squadrons of five will mean less special weapons, but in return you can soak up more hits before having to remove more important models. I strike a balance between the two and take four man squadrons.
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ii. Anti-tank. As with flamers, you will need some punch to deal with armour. Attack bikes will fulfill this role, however, you cannot rely on units that can be picked off so easily. Therefore, a unit or two equipped with meltaguns will allow you to deal with armour effectively, while adding some extra punch against heavily armoured troops or monstrous creatures. iii. Anti-monster. In this category, you will need to deal with the big things in the game that you just don’t want to get into combat with and massed firepower won’t necessarily bring down. Stuff like daemon princes, wraith lords, hive tyrants and carnifex. Plasma guns are the weapon of choice here and will more than likely form the weapons makeup of about half your squadrons.
Heavy Support – R avenwing Attack Bike Squadrons Attack bikes will fill the role of your support units. After you have equipped your bike squadrons, begin plugging in holes in your list by taking attack bikes geared to fulfill either of the first two roles above. Heavy bolters if you find yourself lacking in anti-infantry and multi-meltas to deal with armour and to help out against monsters. Remember to fire those twin-linked bolters as well.
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Fast Attack – R avenwing L and Speeder Squadrons
HOW I PUT TOGETHER M Y LIST With all that in mind, I began piecing together my list, formulating a general plan as to how I wanted the list to flow and work together. I decided from the get go that my list would be divided into two sections: my attack group and my support group. The attack group would form the spearhead. It would lead the attack and be my chargers. The support group would bring up the tail and lend its firepower to the attack group. They would be my primary shooters. I elected to have a master of the Ravenwing lead my force for several reasons. Firstly because it’s cool and secondly, because I knew that I would not benefit from the intractable or stubborn special rules. With four man squadrons, every casualty I take means a morale check and I am not about to risk one of my squadrons running off. I replaced the Raven Sword with a plasma pistol and power weapon combination. Frag grenades to top it all off and my headquarters selection was complete at a modest 141 points.
They are no less fragile than a bike squadron, perhaps even more so, as even light weapons fire can take them down. As skimmers, you have the benefit of counting all hits as glancing provided you moved more than 6 inches a turn, and combined with the “jink” save, offers your land speeders some measure of protection. This in itself does not mean they will survive long if you subject them to lots of enemy firepower, so don’t expose them to more firepower than you can afford to. Reach is always important, and land speeders help you extend that reach. With the ability to ignore terrain completely, or move 12 inches and fire all their weapons, land speeders will greatly aid in your ability to control the battlefield and the flow of the game. Out of the land speeders available, the tornado is the most effective variant , allowing you to add some much-needed firepower to your army and lending it’s support in the three categories: antiinfantry, anti-monster, and anti-tank. However, alone they cannot fulfill these tasks, so support them with your bike squadrons.
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With my general armed and ready to go, I decided he needed an army to lead, so I turned to the Ravenwing bike squadrons. I was aiming for a 1500 point force, so I needed lots of bikes. After some quick calculations, I penciled in five squadrons of four bikers. I immediately gave one squadron two flamers, and another two melta guns. After some deliberation, I decided against taking a second flamer armed squadron, instead giving the last three squadrons plasma guns to fulfill the role of anti light armour and anti-monster. With the weapons selections through, I looked to my sergeants. From prior experiences, I have come to love hidden power fists, so I was giddy with the opportunity to give all my sergeants such potent weapons. I had elected not to take a second flamer-armed squadron, so I decided to give two of my sergeants combi-flamers. I knew that my melta gun and flamer armed squadrons would be part of my attack group, so the honour went to them. The other three sergeants received bolt pistols to boost their combat prowess. With my bike squadrons fully fleshed out, I turned to my attack bikes. I knew that two melta guns alone would not be sufficient
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to deal with armour, so I took two individual attack bikes and upgraded them to carry multi-meltas. They would coordinate with my support group, but could also act as lone wolves should I need to go hunting for stray armour. I also felt I did not have enough anti-infantry, so I took a third squadron of three attack bikes, all equipped with heavy bolters. I could barely contain my glee at the amount of dakka this squadron alone could put out, especially at close range. Some quick math totaled my list at 1498 points. Since I had decided to divide my force into two different groups, I set about organizing them. I placed my master of the Ravenwing, along with the melta gun squadron, flamer squadron and one of the plasma gun squadrons in the attack group. They would form the spearhead of my army and would be the first into the fray. The rest would form my support group and lend its considerable firepower to thin out units targeted to receive a charge. You’re probably wondering why I didn’t take any land speeders. This is because I like the look of an all-biker army and I have a long history of breaking every flying base I come into contact with. Example Army List: 1498 points Gabriel Ezrai, Grand Master of the Ravenwing [HQ] 141 points Power Sword, Plasma Pistol, Frag Grenades Space Marine Bike Angelus Ira, Ravenwing Bike Squadron [Troops] 210 points Veteran Sergeant Power Fist, Bolt Pistol 3 Space Marine Bikers 2 Plasma guns Angelus Vesica, Ravenwing Bike Squadron [Troops] 210 points Veteran Sergeant Power Fist, Bolt Pistol 3 Space Marine Bikers 2 Plasma guns Angelus Ferrum, Ravenwing Bike Squadron [Troops] 210 points Veteran Sergeant Power Fist, Bolt Pistol
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3 Space Marine Bikers 2 Plasma guns Angelus Spiculum, Ravenwing Bike Squadron [Troops] 215 points Veteran Sergeant Power Fist, Combi-flamer 3 Space Marine Bikers 2 Melta guns Angelus Penna, Ravenwing Bike Squadron [Troops] 207 points Veteran Sergeant Power Fist, Combi-flamer 3 Space Marine Bikers 2 Flamers Nex Ira, Ravenwing Attack Bike [Heavy Support] 70 points Multi-melta Nex Furor, Ravenwing Attack Bike [Heavy Support] 70 points Multi-melta Mors Mortis, Ravenwing Attack Bike Squadron [Heavy Support] 165 points 3 Attack Bikes 3 Heavy Bolters
CONCLUSION I hope you’ve all gleaned some wisdom from my somewhat wordy drivel. The most important thing to remember is that these are not set rules. These tactics are merely guidelines and everyone needs to find a style of play that suits them best. The most these articles can do is point you in a suitable direction. The journey is for you to make.
“
- Jonathan Ho
Tu tes phobae, com tes oppohse ce pyre Sancti
”
"Let them tremble, for they face the wrath of Angels"
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interview
Painting For a Living
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IREBASE talks to Darren Latham about love, life, wargames and painting for Games Workshop’s Eavy metal team. Firebase : Let’s start at the beginning. How did the hobby start for you? Darren Latham : My older brother brought a White Dwarf back from school and I was hooked. We played Hero Quest, Space Crusade and Warhammer Roleplay, etc. Sad, I know! FB : No way, Space Crusade started me off too! So talk us through the rocky road to becoming part of the ‘Eavy Metal team. DL : Seven years ago I started as a part-timer in the Leicester store, then I made the excellent carrier choice of leaving Uni and joining GW full time. After moving stores many times I ended up in Notts and then I was way too close to the studio to resist! FB : And how old are you now, if you don’t mind me asking? DL : I’m knocking on 27, but I’ve got two kids and a very expensive missus so I feel about 67. FB : Ha ha! So you support the family with painting? That’s very impressive.
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DL : ‘Support’ is a very loose term for it but I work very hard. FB: How long have you been painting for GW? DL : For GW six years, all together seventeen years. FB : Was this what you envisioned as a career when you were studying at Uni? DL : No, I wanted to be an art teacher! I was studying fine art. FB : Do you paint or draw in your spare time? Or have your hobbies deviated away from your every day job?
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DL : No, undead! FB : What’s so appealing about the undead then? DL : They don’t die so easily and the mummies are ‘ard! FB : What’s your favourite GW game? DL : Warhammer 40k and Blood Bowl. Overall it has to be 40k. I’d love to do another army. FB : What do you mostly play in 40k?
DL : I paint seven days a week nowadays. I used to draw a lot but I’m out of practice now. FB : Getting back on the modeling track, what are you currently painting or collecting? DL : At the moment, most of my work in my spare time is commission stuff. I’m doing another Black Templar Marshall, and we are playing a lot of Blood Bowl at work, so I’m doing my team as well. FB : An Orc team?
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DL : It used to be Space Marines and Eldar. But I don’t have the time to play anymore, and I, erm …sold my armies. FB : How come? DL : Expensive kids, etc. I know, I’m a tit! FB : But if you could have one army to rule all others, what would it be? DL : Space Wolves. I had some stuff in the codex years ago before I was working full time and I was made up!
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FB : Okay, final question and it’s a toughie. What is your favourite model and why? DL : Tough one, mate. Seb Perbet’s new Nurgle Daemon Prince at the moment. The new generation of fig designers are fantastic. Besides, I painted that one for the studio. - ADAM SMITH
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interview
Flame On!
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IREBASE met up with FLAME ON! The craziest gaming team you’ve ever seen. Hang on to your seats, we are in for a bumpy ride! FB: Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedules to have a chat with us guys. Shall we start from the beginning? What exactly is Flame On!, because you’re not a club exactly? Are you group of gamers in one area, or just a bunch of crazy guys? Chris: Flame On! started off as a group of us who went to tournaments. Originally, it started at the GT heats in 2004 when a group of 4 gamers wanted to go around wearing t-shirts. The name Flame On! was coined. Thus it followed on at Conflict Manchester 2005 where a few more of us regular Manchester veteran night gamers went and joined the collective. From there we infiltrated the veterans’ night scene and got our own forum up in June 2005. From there we mentioned the forum to other Manchester veterans as a forum for local gamers to discuss things 40k related and other stuff. Since then we've been to a gazillion gamers, mentioning the forum and group as a whole, making ourselves well known with shouts of “Flame On!” and our world famous t-shirts. At these tournaments, we've invited several further people to join our forums that we get on with. As such, what started off as just a Manchester group has ended up as having members in Stockport, Cambridge and other places around the country. What we are is a bunch of people who enjoy all aspects of the hobby. Whilst some of us are hardcore tournament monkeys (such as Peter and I) and some are fluff driven gamers (Phil and Saul), we all get on and share ideas, which is what makes it cool. The other thing is we have quite a big social scene, which is probably a more important part of our group really. We invade the local bars after veterans’ nights, are the heart and soul of Bugman's when we're there, have barbeques and we all get on outside of 40k. I think that’s what makes Flame On! different. One of our main philosophies when
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going to a weekend tournament is play 40k, drink, meet other gamers, drink, play some more 40k and then drink a bit more. Mark: Aye, I think the great thing about Flame On is the social side of life. We do a lot of stuff together and genuinely enjoy one another's company. It's more of a social collective than anything else with the common denominator being a love of 40K. I can't count the number of times I’ve been off my face with these boys. It's not all about drinking either. I can regularly be found round at Dave's place on a Sunday afternoon, catching up, and doing a bit of painting and enjoying awesome food that his missus Meena prepares for us. Just tonight in fact Pete and myself went rock climbing (and ran into Phil super cool!). On the gaming side of life we do attend a lot of tournies and play hard. However despite said hard playing, we try to never lose sight of the reason why we're there, which is basically to have a laugh. We also run campaigns and silly mega games and generally everyone gets what they want from the hobby without any disrespect and in a friendly atmosphere.
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expected.
Neil: The guys have already pretty much covered what Flame On! is. But I just want to kind of reinforce it is really a social club rather than gaming. Let’s face it, we all kind of use gaming as an excuse to meet up and now there is no need for me or Richard to cry out “Pub!” for 5 minutes at the end of veterans’ night as it’s automatically
when playing in tournaments. The shirt thing is because deep down we're all sad trembling individuals with social problems who just want to belong to something. Don't stare at me!
Shaun: I am probably one of the newest members currently acting as the Flame On! representative in Liverpool. This is the best gaming group I've ever had the honour to be a part of. Everyone’s a laugh with no one taking themselves too seriously and all members being up for a good night at Bugman’s. FB: Some of you caused quite a stir at the last Warseer Carnage tournament, showing up in red t-shirts and screaming “Flame on!” at the start of every round. How did this madness come about? Whose idea was it? Chris: The Flame On t-shirts were originally the ideas of Lifters, Duane, Richard and Neil. From there the rest of us joined in. The red t-shirts came from my girlfriend offering to make them for us. Richard: The Shouting “Flame On!” really came from some comments that Neil and I are incredibly loud especially at tournaments (I also carry a large body mass and as such I don’t really have an option to be quiet). I hear on the grape vine that for a table 1 game in a tournament it was commented on being the loudest funniest and really non-serious game and even though we knew that whoever won had a good chance of winning the tournament, it really was down to a personal triumph between ourselves, but really its just a whole lot of fun. Dave: Shouting “Flame On!” at loud volume isn't one of my specialities, mainly due to mostly being hung over to hell
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FB: The majority of members are in Manchester, England. Is Manchester big for gaming? Chris: I would like to think so from a 40k perspective. There are two veterans’ nights for 40k a week at GW Manchester and these usually are quite full. So yeah. Simon: It started and is still largely centered on Manchester, most notably GW Manchester veterans’ nights (but don't tell GW that). We don't bar 'randoms' playing or any other silliness, quite the contrary we clamor to play against them first - new blood! John B: I'd have to say yes, but my perspective may be skewed. I'm a southern pansy, and returning to the hobby after about 10 years, so it seems that everyone I talk to about it reveals they still paint, collect the models or get the odd game in. There's even a loose club organised at work. FB: What does someone have to do in order to join your merry band?
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John B: There's an initiation rite, but one of the key tenets is that you may reveal nothing about it. Nothing! The first rule of Flame On! is that you don't talk about Flame On! The second rule of Flame On! is "no pets". The Third rule is "ensure food is piping hot before serving". Its kind of an invite thing I guess, we just mention it to people that fit the profile, if they want to just spam the boards they're welcome to, if they want to wear the t-shirt, they're welcome to. At the point that you're told about Flame On!, you're kind of already "in".
Dave: Usually you play a game against one of us, be thought of as officially "alright" and "cool to play against" by said gamer and then told about the forum and invited to the pub after the game. What happens then is up to them, not everyone wants to post all of the time on the forums but are still part of the crew. It’s pretty informal, and we've also got a few people who come on the forums from other groups who've heard about us by reputation or on other forums. We keep it kind of small to avoid flame fests and trolling that you get on other forums. People can argue as much as they want, but you can't go overboard, because you'll probably see the members face to face at some point. This acts as a nice balance so people generally don't say anything they wouldn't be prepared to back up over a pint! Phil: I was invited to join in when I went to the pub after veterans’ night one Tuesday (I think that might have been the initiation?). I'm not a tournament player (although I won best army at our own "Battle of the Chumps" Flame On! tournament)
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- I'm much more interested in having an army that looks good and has a strong theme. I think my army lists really winds up some of the cheese beards like Chris and Peter! (Anti-tank? Why do I need anti-tank?) When people play me, I've noticed they tend to bring their non-competitive 'fluffy' armies - that attitude is one of the things I really like about Flame On! FB: Have any of you actually won a Warhammer 40K tournament yet or come close? Chris: I think some of us play for a laugh and some of us play quite hardcore (me and Pete mainly). But the idea that we follow is that we all go into a game of 40k aiming to have a laugh regardless of what armies on the table. Sportsmanship is a big thing with us really, I think I speak for everyone when I say that we're much more disappointed with a bad game rather than getting massacred. As to tournament wins, well, here goes: 1st at Conflict Manchester 2005. 3rd at Sheffield doubles. 1st at Sheffield Team tournament 1st at Yorkshire Open Wakefield Heat 10th at UK GT final 1st, 4th, 4th at Carnage 1st at Yorkshire Open Finals 1st at German GT Heat 1st at Sheffield Doubles 1st at Sheffield Doubles Fantasy Style 5th(?!) at Conflict North That enough? We love the tournaments we do! John B: Some of us have won stuff. I've certainly attended tournaments. Oh, I did win the Yorkshire open team event. Dave: I was there when John B. single-handedly won the team tournament at Sheffield, and narrowly missed winning the wooden spoon at Carnage. We've won a fair few northern ones and have placed well at the GT. We got 8 to the Grand Tournament final this year and are hoping for more this year. We are kind of going through a tournament play backlash at the moment; people are going for silly and fluffy armies rather than the hard fought win. Most of us are happy with our tournament lists and play so have eased off for in store.
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FB: hat is your tournament schedule like this year? Are you attending all of them? Dave: Most of us are fairly new to the tournament scene, so as such we've mostly been going to GW type events with the notable exception of Carnage and our own Battle of the Chumps tournaments. We're scheduled to go to Toy Soldier and Britcon in the near future as well as the Grand Tournament this year. I'm sure as time progresses we'll end up going further a field. Lee: There are quite a lot of us hitting the tournies for the first time this year. Most of us are building new forces. I’ve always been more into painting. FB: Which is better and why? - 40K or Fantasy Dave: Light blue touch paper and retire! Its weird, Flame On! started as mostly 40K and still is mostly 40K, but there's a growing band of Fantasy gamers keeping the boards full in that strange olde worlde section. I don't play it myself, but there’s a few who play both who can answer more. Richard: Most of us are exclusive 40k players, however some of the older beards (myself, Phil, Lee and the younger beards Jimmy and Johnny, who frequently both sport some radical facial hair) also play fantasy. In fact Johnny and I won the Yorkshire Fantasy Doubles as well with our Ogre/Beastmen team. We are working on corrupting our 40k brethren to play both systems, which can only be a good thing. Phil: I've been playing Fantasy for about 20 years and only got into 40K about two years ago. When I started I thought it was
a vastly inferior game and that only kids really played it! These guys on Flame On! have shown me it's actually very tactical, but in very different ways to Fantasy (although it seems I was right about the (big) kids!). But the thing I really love about 40K is the creative potential of the 40K universe - specially the Lost & the Damned army list. I have at least three totally differently themed armies in the pipeline at the moment! Peter: 40k is much better, none of that square base nonsense! FB: If you could make GW produce 1 model, what would it be? Dave: New Warp Spiders dammit! Phil: It wouldn't be a model, it'd be a new Chaos Codex - one where Thousand Sons don't just look cool but are at least vaguely competitive, and where all those lovely Lost and the Damned units are officially recognized. Who knows, if that happened I might even turn up at a GW tournament! Saul: I want a plastic Ork Nobz sprue with all the weapon options! FB: Who is the cheesiest player among you and why? Phil: Mmmm, there's some stiff competition, but it has to be our German friend Simon aka The Kaser Kaiser! His tactical musings about his uber cheese army lists are way beyond me! He plays Iron Warriors of course. Neil: Well I would say cheesebeard is the worst of us all when it comes to the theory. But only the Kaiser has the balls to actually do it. I Would say Simon then Pete and I. I think if Simon wasn't studying in a foreign country and having to do bucket loads of work, you'd see my theory hammer be dwarfed with the some of the stuff he comes out with. Plus he’s the only among us that actually goes the whole hog with the lists. My lists are pretty beardy for the most part (the tournament ones at least) but 9 obliterators, statured prince, 3 predators, a basilisk and 10 marines with tequila and deckchairs holding up scorecards sums it up! FB: Thanks for the enlightening interview guys, and good luck with the upcoming tournament year! Neil’s signature on the forum really sums these guys up: "This Is A Game About War" "Not War About A Game"! - Ashley Curtis
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blast from the past
Return of Hive Fleet Colossus
The
Z
oats. Big ugly, useless models from the Rogue Trader era, the comedy angle on the all-consuming Tyranid eating machine. Fondly remembered by a few old-time gamers for their diet alone (Zoatibix). Right?
Of course not! Zoats always suffered from not really being one thing or another. Lke a lot of Rogue Trader creatures, their background was a bit blurred. They were Tyranid emissaries, Eldar bodyguards and also hailed from the Warhammer Fantasy Wood Elf list. However I’ve always had a fondness for Zoats and have had several sitting in a box for years without doing much with them.
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Then the 4th edition Tyranid Codex was released, there was a nice colourful piece of fiction about Hive Fleet Colossus - the early olive-branch waving, back-stabbing arm of the Tyranids, populated by centauroid Tyranids. At this point I started thinking. Zoats could easily represent Tyranid Warriors. What about an army full of Zoat Warriors supported by one or two Zoat Monstrous Creatures? There was definitely an army in there. It would need some serious planning and a long lead time to gather all of the Zoats needed, but I reckoned an entire army built around Warriors would have to be taken seriously and take the comedy out of the poor misunderstood Zoat!
S t e p 1 – W h at E qua l s W h at ? Obviously the Zoat models are limited in terms of wargear. I decided early on that each Zoat weapon would represent a single warrior weapon to try and avoid confusion. I also decided that all Zoats would have the same basic biomorphs of enhanced senses, extended carapace and toxin sacs to characterise them. With a bit of creative thinking flamers became deathspitters, missile launchers became venom cannons and power fists became rending claws. Fleshborers obviously stayed as fleshborers, and I could easily convert up warriors with devourers using the Gaunt plastics.
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In the end I decided scything talons would be represented by Zoats trampling forward, those extra legs should count for something.
Gharg the Elder – Hive Tyrant with enhanced senses, toxin sacs venom cannon, rending claws 2 Tyrant Guard
S t e p 2 – H ow M a n y Z oat s D o I N e e d ?
6 Warriors all with enhanced senses, toxin sacs and extended carapace, 3 with deathspitters and scything talons, 2 with deathspitters and rending claws, 1 with venom cannon and scything talons 6 Warriors all with enhanced senses, toxin sacs and extended carapace, 4 with devourers and scything talons, 1 with deathspitter and rending claws, 1 with venom cannon and scything talons
8 Warriors all with enhanced senses, toxin sacs and extended carapace, 5 with fleshborers and scything talons, 2 with fleshborer and rending claws, 1 with venom cannon and scything talons 8 Warriors all with enhanced senses, toxin sacs and extended carapace, 6 with fleshborers and scything talons, 1 with deathspitter and rending claws, 1 with venom cannon and scything talons 4 Swarm bases 4 Swarm bases Gorgravel – ‘Zoatifex’ with adrenal glands (I), bonded exoskeleton, enhanced senses, reinforced chitin, venom cannon and barbed strangler Total 1500
S t e p 3 – S pawn i ng C ol o s s u s The end goal for this army was to be fielded at the Medusa V campaign weekend in May 2006 to be held at Warhammer World in Nottingham. Due to the requirements of the campaign I needed to build a 1500 point army and a 400pt combat patrol as part of the Tyranid faction. I also had restrictions on the 1500pt army to a single heavy support choice. Handily, the Carnage tournament was shortly before the Medusa V weekend which gave me the prime opportunity to give the Zoats their first run out. After some playing with setup, my 1500pt army list was finalised as:
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Getting hold of all the models required for the army looked like a daunting task (30 Zoats just for the 1500pt list), but in actuality it was fairly straightforward. I bought up all the Zoats on eBay I could get my hands on, and I also managed to work out a good few trades through Bartertown, the Collecting Citadel Miniatures Yahoo Group, Warseer and Dakkadakka. The average Zoat cost £8 which is probably the sort of price GW would sell them for if they were part of the current range.
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Warhammer World when I glanced on the photo of the old Dragon Ogre on the stairs. There was my Hive Tyrant! The bulk of the model is stock, but I replaced the feet with those of a plastic toy rhinoceros, gave him a venom cannon and sculpted the face mask over the existing helmet. Although rending claws are not hugely effective on a Tyrant, I gave him a Zoat power fist (my rending claws) to tie him in with the rest of the force.
Gorgravel the Zoatifex Gorgravel was actually completed fairly early on in the process. Essentially he’s a Lizardmen Stegadon lower body, Orc wyvern torso (with the neck chopped out), Monstrous creature weapons and sculpted arms - simple! I’m also thinking about maybe making rules for him as an Inquisitor-scale Zoat, although he might be frightening!
Swarms Converting the Zoats As I was having to pick up any Zoats I could get, this left me with a lot of Zoats with the wrong gear, especially seeing as several of my Zoats were the fantasy figures. In the event, probably 50% of my Zoats are converted with anything from minor weapon swaps to additional sculpted face masks and armour plates. My Tyrant Guard were straightforward with distinctive helmets marking them out from the Zoat line troopers!
I had several false starts with the swarms. I tried two types of Lizardmen lizards which looked rubbish, before I hit on the Warmaster range. These guys are simply Warmaster Lizardmen cold ones mated with Kroxigor torsos. In fact people have asked me if they’re old Epic Zoat models, so they’re obviously fairly convincing to the untrained eye!
Gharg the Elder Creating the Hive Tyrant was a tricky proposition. I couldn’t really think of a model that was right to use as a base. I bought a Shaggoth, but there was too much detail I needed to change, and his front legs were far too skinny. Luckily, I had inspiration visiting
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I decided on a very naturalistic colour scheme for the Zoats based on desert yellow. One of the problems with Zoats historically has been the comedy colour schemes they were always painted with. Red or bright green skin just made them look faintly ridiculous, but hopefully the more natural scheme has taken that down a notch or
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two. I’ve also made sure that each brood in the army has different tail ring markings. Basing was also important, and I thought it was key to get away from the dated rectangular cavalry base. This was a pain clipping off all the tags and filing the feet flat, but I think the end result was worth it. I also tried out a more advanced basing style than usual with long reeds and slates for a bit more interest.
S t e p 4 – C a r n ag e ! With some trepidation I packed up Hive Fleet Colossus, headed down to the Carnage tournament and had an absolute blast! My Zoats performed fairly well in spite of all the AP4 weapons and a complete lack of any AP3 weaponry myself! As the first time out with the army, it was also a steep learning curve.
Game 1 v Chaos
This first game was versus Christian Byrne's Chaos. I knocked out his predator in the first turn, but struggled for parity with all the ranged weaponry, in particular autocannon toting havocs. I managed to drop a Lord of Change in combat and keep enough of the Zoats alive to steal it on table quarters occupied, in spite of the fact Christian had taken out more of my army. 13 points to me.
Game 2 v Tau The board in this game seemed suspiciously tampered with on the terrain front - a vast swathe of nothingness in the centre. My only chance was to try and close on the Tau fast, but with standard trundling warriors chasing stealth suits, I was only ever second best! My only saving grace was the sheer ineptitude of the Hammerheads. If they'd been hitting more often, I'd have been even more toast! 3 points to me.
Game 3 v Emperor's Children Bizarrely I was pretty much outshooting the ECs early on in this game. When the Keeper of Secrets and deep striking Lord arrived I managed to see them off with my warriors, while my Tyrant started romping through some squads. The overall battle was very, very bloody. I ended up with about 5 warriors, my Tyrant and my Zoatifex left. My opponent had just a dread, and no-one scored any table quarters! I just shaded it with 13 points.
Game 4 v Blood A ngels This was my ultimate nightmare. I don't suffer much from escalation, but that didn't help me shooting his tactical squads which were either out of range or managed to save. When the tornadoes and predators came on I was losing 4 or 5 warriors a turn, and I had nothing that could reply. I couldn't even damage the death company in combat! Heavy bolters are definitely a Zoat’s nemesis! 0 points to me.
Game 5 v Guard Tom Cullin's Praetorians playing a take and hold. I must admit I was lucky with the table edges and gave him an edge with not a single piece of terrain to sit in. The Guard were spaced out fairly well to avoid my blast templates, but by the time I got in
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range to shoot, I was killing guardsmen in droves. A unit of Ogryns bounced off one of my units of warriors, but a Commissar/Officer powerfist combo caused me a few problems, before succumbed to warrior numbers. I ended up with several scoring units next to the objective, making a close game seem more in my favour than it should have been. 17 points to me. Overall, I had a great time. And was very pleased with my best army nomination and the reaction that the Zoats got (although several times I was greeted with a blank face by a passing younger gamer who asked what they were). My painting was definitely the least competent of all the other Best Army contenders, but it was great that the conversions and originality was recognised in the nomination!
S tag e 5 – Th e C on t i n u i ng E x pa n s ion C ol o s su s
of
After the Carnage Tournament and Medusa V, I decided I wanted some additional, faster moving, combat power and commissioned Jeff Wilhelm (Dragon Forge Design www.dragonforge.com) to sculpt me a leaping Zoat lower body. These have been cast up in resin so I can start building a unit of leaping warriors. I’m sure you’ll agree the results are fantastic and I’m looking forward to building and painting these. - Jon Boyce
As for the Medusa V campaign – I fared even better and actually had the best Tyranid results out of two factions. I think there might be something in this all-Warrior army after all!
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necromunda zombie campaign
Hive of the Living Dead
The idea behind zombies is that there are hundreds of the blighters. You can run, but you can’t hide because they’re everywhere. Gradually they will get you, whether it takes hours, days, weeks or months. That’s the horror of zombies.
O
riginally a reanimated corpse of voodoo origin, then grossly put to other purposes by the western world to make outrageous accusations about nuclear waste, radiation and the sins of humanity; zombies have had a massive presence in pop culture since the 70s. We’ve all seen The Living Dead Trilogy and Shaun of the Dead (if you haven’t rent them now!) and I’d bet my good right painting arm that the majority of people reading this have had at least one game involving the shambling, moaning, flesh eating undead gribblies that are zombies.
R u n Z omb i e ! R u n ! Those of you who have seen 28 Days Later and have a copy of the Outlanders book will know exactly what I mean. In the original Necromunda rules plague zombies moved 2D6 inches. The scary thing is that the average roll on two dice is 7, with 6 and 8 being close behind. This meant that very often the supposedly slow shambling zombies were running, not shuffling after the gangers. In many cases the zombies could sprint between 10 and 12 inches, quickly catching up with the living and dragging them down. I for one think that running zombies are just not fair.
A single D6 for movement makes more sense. Besides, no one is going to want their favourite ganger ‘Crazy Bob McFlimFlam’ and his gang of miscreants being bundled and torn limb from limb in a matter of seconds. This way they’re slow enough for the gangs to run around, but still potentially fast in the right circumstances. Best of all, when they are all moving at totally random rates it makes them unpredictable.
S top M oa n i ng Here’s an example of a zombie campaign for you. The best thing about it is that you will only need 20 zombies to do it. That’s one boxed regiment of Warhammer Fantasy Zombies for hours of groaning, moaning fun. Although if you want to go really crazy, you could buy 180 zombies for a 1,500pts Lost and the Damned plague zombie army for Warhammer 40,000 and then convert a Resident Evil style Tyrant with a big manky chaos mutation sprue arm to lead it and count him as an aspiring chaos champion. When painting and modeling zombies for your games of Necromunda it’s important not to paint them very well. I’m sure a
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few of you pro level painters will want to make them unparalleled masterworks, but in truth all you need is a little drybrushing, some red wash splatters around the mouth, wounds and hands and you’re read to do the zombie shuffle. Here’s a few I made earlier from looting the FIREBASE bits box.
Experience Generally this is the same for all of the zombie campaign scenarios unless stated otherwise. Each Gang member receives +D6 experience for surviving a mission. Each Gang member receives +5 experience for wounding a zombie. Each Gang member receives +10 experience for hitting, wounding and killing a zombie with a single shot.
I made my zombies from a mix of leftover Imperial Guard Catachans, Cadians and Zombies. Catachans are great for zombie conversions because they look pretty dreadful and gormless to begin with. Their heads are perfect. Besides, there’s nothing quite so amusing as putting a huge and beefy Catachan upper body on puny little zombie legs. Another great thing about modeling zombies is that if you’re short on arms, it isn’t a problem and actually looks more characterful. I couldn’t resist converting a zombie with just one leg and no arms! Without further ado, on to the campaign itself.
Th r e e S tag e s In mimicry of George A Romero’s Living Dead Trilogy, the zombie crisis escalates with each scenario. First there are a few zombies roaming the countryside. By the second stage the majority of the population are running for their lives. By the final stage civilization has been replaced with thousands of zombies and the few survivors are holed up and on the brink of sanity.
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Unlike other scenarios, gang leaders do not gain any experience for completing the mission. Gangers do not gain experience for wounding or killing downed zombies.
Zombie Skills Table When rolling for an experience increase, any ganger, heavy, leader or juve that rolls a 2 or 12 (pick a skill from any table) may choose to roll on the Zombie Hunter Skills Table.
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D6 Roll Result 1
Hip Shooting: The ganger has become adept at fleeing between the rows of reanimated corpses and fighting them off with a good dose of lead poisoning. The model can run and fire a pistol, but will be at -1 to hit.
2
Distraction: The ganger has become great at making enough noise to draw the undead towards him. If he remains stationary and forfeits his shooting phase, the model can ‘distract’ D6 zombies and move them directly towards him.
3
Ace in the Hole: The ganger has picked up a high explosive on his travels and says it’s his only way out of this hell. If the zombies get him, he’s taking them with him! The explosive can only be used if the model is downed in close combat by a zombie. The ganger pulls the pin, detonating the explosive, killing himself and taking all models within D6” Out of Action.
4
Struggle: Able to shakes off a sea of grasping hands, the ganger can fight his way out of the thick of it. Any Zombies that are multiple fighters in hand to hand combat do not receive the usual +1 bonus to their combat resolution.
5
Head Shooter: The ganger has become an expert at blowing the heads off the undead. This ability works on zombies only. When a zombie has been hit by a shooting attack, if a ganger with this skill can roll equal to or under his ballistic skill, he has achieved a headshot and killed the zombie outright.
6
End It All: Overwhelmed by everything they’ve done and seen these past few days, the ganger’s mind has finally cracked and they shoot themselves in the head to escape the nightmares of this world. The ganger is dead. Remove him from the roster, but the rest of his gang get to keep his equipment, including his boots.
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MISSIONS These missions have been loosely described for you to modify to match your terrain and miniature collection as well as any other factors you might like to incorporate. Zombie scenarios should be played on a 4X4 foot board where possible. This enhances the feeling of claustrophobia and allows you to make the most of your 20 zombies by constantly respawning them from the table edge or other terrain feature. It’s assumed that the gangs reload their guns and acquire fresh ammo between each mission. However, it’s highly unlikely that they will be able to go shopping at the trading post or collect income (apart from scavenging) -there is a zombie outbreak after all. Gangs do not make bottle tests and cannot voluntarily bottle out in zombie scenarios.
M i s s ion 1: Th e H ou s e D6+2 of your gangers travel to a house on the outskirts of town to collect protection money from the homesteaders as part of their territorial income. When they arrive they find the surrounding area filled with zombies. It looks like the time has finally come to earn that protection money.
Set up Place the house in the centre of the board. More scenery isn’t really necessary, but that shouldn’t stop you from decorating the area with rusty pipes or twisted and rotting trees for added atmosphere. The family and gang set up inside the house while 20 zombies are deployed evenly
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along the table edges. Each time a zombie is killed, a new one appears on the board edge at the start of the next zombie turn.
The Family The Arbitrator should have control of the family, along with the zombies. This way they can enhance the drama of the scenario and increase the difficulty level if need be. Profile M WS BS S T I A LD SV Pa 4 3 4 3 3 3 1 7 Equipment: shotgun ‘Old Bessie’ with solid and scatter rounds Profile M WS BS S T I Ma 4 2 2 3 3 3 Equipment: rolling pin (counts as a club)
A 1
LD SV 7 -
Profile Jimmy
A 1
LD SV 6 -
M 4
WS 2
BS 3
S 3
T 3
I 3
Equipment: slingshot (range 8”, Strength 3, 4+ ammo roll) Profile M WS BS Emily 4 2 2 Equipment: Kitchen knife
S 3
T 3
I 3
A 1
LD SV 6 -
Surviving the Night Ideally, the gang can try and hold out until morning, when the Arbites will arrive and cleanse the area of zombies. Morning is a
massive 12 turns away! By this time they may have run out of ammo and things will be getting desperate. On turn 12 the game ends. If at least half the gang is in the house when the game ends, they keep their territory, if not, they lose it and must cross it off their roster. Alternatively, if it’s all going pear shaped, the gang can choose to get the family out and make a run for the table edge. By escaping off any table edge, the gang will ensure its survival and take the family with them.
Experience On top of the usual experience system, there are some minor alterations. Each ganger receives an additional +D6 experience per family member alive at the end of the game. If the gang has control of the house at the end of the game, each ganger receives +10 experience.
Juve If Jimmy kills at least 5 zombies in this scenario he joins the gang as a Juve with the experience he earned during the game.
M i s s ion 2: Flee the Cities Before moving on to mission 2, you may wish to play a few regular Necromunda games.
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Sprinkle the board very liberally with as much scenery as you can muster to represent what was once a busy and thriving settlement. If possible, the roads should be cluttered with as many abandoned cars and trucks as possible. Place the gang within 6” of the southern board edge, then set up 20 zombies evenly across the entire board. No zombie should be any closer than 10” to any ganger or other zombie. The gang always gets the first turn.
Getting Out A live
The Scavengers scenario is a great game to represent gangs taking advantage of the chaos and lack of authority created by the epidemic. The zombie outbreak has spread faster than anyone could have predicted. The city is overrun with the undead, transport systems and emergency services have broken under the strain of fleeing people. Your gang is trapped and must make their way out on foot.
R endezvous Roll a D6 for each of your gang before the game starts. On the roll of a 1 they don’t show up to meet the rest of the gang. Chances are that they’re dead or trapped somewhere. The gang can’t risk going back for them. Remove them from your roster, along with all their equipment.
Set up
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The aim is to get from the southern table edge, navigating terrain and zombies to get to the north edge and off the board. Ganger’s can kill zombies on the way if they like (and they may have to). For each zombie killed, a new one shuffles on from the west or east table edges. continues on page 77
battle report
Let’s Get the Truck Outta Here!
movement phase. Models can’t jump on or off unless they pass an initiative test on a D6. If they fail, they sustain a Strength 6 hit. Similarly, if the truck moves to run someone down, the potential road kill must roll under his or her initiative to get out of the way.
T
he Settlement of Poxbourne has been overrun with the living dead! It’s up to your gang to escape the growing horde in an abandoned truck. The only problem is actually getting to it.
The game takes place on a 4ft X 4ft table with 4 buildings and an abandoned truck with enough space to carry a 10-man gang. One building should be placed at each table edge, within 12” of the table edge, although you can mix up the terrain however you like so long as the gang can give the zombie horde the slip if things get rough. The gang sets up within 8” of their table edge, having just run on. Around 20 zombies are placed up to 12” on the opposite side of the board. The gang has to make their way to the abandoned truck, get one of their gang inside, start the engine and make their escape from either the left or right hand side of the board, probably mowing down zombies as they go. You can increase the game difficulty by not leaving the keys in the ignition and force the gang to hotwire the vehicle over a number of turns. The truck can move 6” at slow speed and 12” at fast speed. At slow speed the truck can make as many turns as it needs and models can hop on and off without penalty. However, if the truck moves over 6” it can only make up to two 45-degree turns per
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Z omb i e s Name M WS BS S T W I Zombie D6 2 0 3 3 1 2 Weapons: Basic weapons, hands, teeth and drool.
A 1
LD 4
SV -
Special Zombie shuffle: Zombies drag themselves forward on rotting limbs, urged on by their decaying brains to fulfil their only instinct - to feed! Zombies roll a D6 for their movement each turn. This cannot be doubled for charging. You must roll separately for each and every zombie on the board.
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No Brain, No Pain: Zombies feel no pain and therefore cannot be pinned or suffer the effects of flesh wounds. They are also immune to psychology. Zombies are very stupid and will quite happily walk off buildings, through sludge pits and into large industrial mincing machines to reach their prey. As a result, zombies will always move towards the nearest living model, going around obstacles when they block their movement. Knocked Down: When a zombie is hit and wounded, roll on the downed chart as normal. On the roll of a 1 the zombie sustains a flesh wound and continues to move without penalty. If you roll between 2 and 5 the Zombie is knocked off their feet by the shot and continues to crawl 2” towards their prey each turn. However, if they are engaged in combat they are considered as being ‘down’ and are taken out of action, even if they managed to crawl into combat. On the roll of a 6, the zombie is killed and removed from play. A crawling zombie rolls on the down table until they either get back up by rolling a 1, or roll a 6 and are removed from the board.
Plague: If a zombie wounds a ganger in combat there’s a high chance of them turning into one of the undead. Instead of the rolling on the downed chart as normal, roll on the zombie-nibbling chart below: Zombie Nibbling Chart D6 roll Result 1
Argh! The ganger is badly clawed, but not bitten. Better luck next time zombie boy!
2-5
One of them! The ganger falls to the ground, covered in deep bite marks. The ganger will get back to his feet as a zombie in D6 turns.
6
Feast! The zombie begins to devour its prey, drawing other zombies near. The zombie that won the combat (and any other in base contact) must spend the next D6 turns feasting on the deceased. Meanwhile all zombies within close proximity will move towards the feast to join in. Once the body has been devoured the zombies will move off in search of fresh prey. Back From The Dead! Each time a zombie is removed from play, another will stagger out of a nearby building in its place. Allocate a number to each of the 4 buildings and then roll a D4 for each dead zombie at the start of the undead turn. The respawned zombie will then stagger D6” out of the building.
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S u rv i v e A g a i n s t
the
O dd s
The ‘Crazy Clements’ gang is fresh off the streets. They were unable to earn a great deal of experience having failed to save homesteaders from their zombie luncheon fate and fleeing the undead infested settlement. After neglecting the opportunity to become better fighters in the earlier missions, this scenario could prove quite a challenge. Name M WS BS S T Bolter Barry 4 4 4 3 3 Leader armed with bolt gun and bolt pistol.
W 1
I 4
A 1
LD 8
Name M WS BS S Juice Box Jimmy 4 3 3 3 Heavy armed with a heavy stubber.
W 1
I 3
A 1
LD 7
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T 3
Name M WS BS Sniper Sid 4 3 3 Ganger armed with a lasgun.
S 3
W 1
I 3
A 1
LD 7
Name M WS BS S T W Dead Eye 4 3 3 3 3 1 Ganger armed with a lasgun and an autopistol
I 3
A 1
LD 7
Name M WS BS Automatic Al 4 3 3 Ganger armed with an autogun
I 3
A 1
LD 7
Name M WS BS S T W I A Silent Sam 4 3 3 3 3 1 3 1 Ganger armed with a laspistol with silencer and a lasgun.
LD 7
Name M WS BS S T W Pistol Pete 4 3 3 3 3 1 Ganger armed with a stub gun and an autopistol
LD 7
S 3
T 3
T 4
W 1
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G A ME SET UP The Crazy Clements run 8” on from the board edge, past the ramshackle building, which could be home to any number of zombies. The zombie horde is deployed within 12” of the opposite table edge
TUR N ONE The Crazy Clements casually approach the advancing zombie horde and take aim. Bolter Barry shows his gang how it’s done by decapitating the first zombie in a spray of geyser of gore. Automatic Al follows suit by blowing the brains of another out of the back of its skull. The rest of the gang miss pathetically. “You couldn’t hit a cow’s arse with a banjo!” Said Bolter Barry. The zombies shuffle forward, they’ve caught the smell of hot human meat and two more of them stagger out of the buildings to the left and right.
TUR N T WO The Crazy Clements hold their ground and take aim again. Maybe they’ll hit something this turn? Bolter Barry is just grateful they know which way round to hold their rifles. “Short, controlled bursts lads.” Juice Box Jimmy lets fly with his heavy stubber downing a zombie and cutting another apart in a hail of hot lead before his ammo went dry. “I said short, controlled bursts!” Barked Bolter Barry as he blew a fist-sized hole in the nearest zombie, but it wasn’t enough to knock it down. Dead Eye unloaded a clip into the thing’s chest, but the creature shambled forward without even noticing. The rest of the gang missed their targets and Bolter Barry wondered if he’d hired juves instead of gangers by accident. Attracted by the noise of gunfire, the zombies hasten towards their prey and a new zombie emerges from the doorway behind the Crazy Clements.
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TUR N THREE
TUR N FOUR In a moment of madness, Juice Box Jimmy turns his empty heavy stubber round to use as a massive club and charges the nearest rotting zombie while the rest of the gang provide covering fire. He smashes the reanimated corpse into a lifeless pulp and then falls back towards the rest of the Crazy Clements.
The stench of rotting bodies is overwhelming and the gang falls back from the advancing line of undead.
Bolter Barry blows an arm from a zombie, knocking it down as it crawls to feed on its own dismembered limb, then staggers back to its shaky feet.
Bolter Barry takes aim at the zombie in the doorway and blows him apart before slapping a fresh magazine into his prize bolt gun. Dead Eye knocks another zombie down with his lasgun while the rest of the gang miss their targets yet again. Moans and groans drown out the gunfire as five of the undead are almost upon them!
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Dead Eye covers a zombie with laser burns from his lasgun, but the creature just groans and continues to shuffle forward. The rest of the gang spectacularly miss again, except for Silent Sid, who has been rather silent up until now. He opens fire on the nearest zombie, melting its head in a terrific burst of las-blasts. Another zombie appears from the building on the right and staggers up the stairs before falling over the balcony to get closer to the gangers.
TUR N FIVE It was only a matter of time until the zombies would be chewing on the gang’s entrails. Bolter Barry had to come up with a plan and fast! If the gang could make their way around the building on the right, they could escape the horde of undead shambling down the centre of the board and run past them down the flank to the truck, then make their escape. Bolter Barry takes out another zombie with his bolt gun, while Juice Box ‘the clubber’ Jimmy cracks open a zombie’s skull and pulps what is left of its grey matter. While the undead horde advances, another zombie emerges from the building to the right, dragging a lead pipe behind him. Meanwhile a zombie staggers out of the building beside the truck and begins the long shuffle up the table.
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TUR NS SIX TO ELEVEN
More zombies emerge from the building beside the truck. This could make things a little tricky as the closest zombie groans loudly, alerting the others who turn around and rapidly pursue the gang. I can’t believe how many 6’s the zombies rolled for movement!
TUR N T W ELVE Pistol Pete charges the closest zombie to hold it off while the rest of the gang make for the truck. He gives the groaning creature a good whack or two with the butt of his stubgun, but it’s just not enough as the zombie gets a good grip on his right arm. It doesn’t look good! Juice Box Jimmy makes a run for the truck and smashes another zombie apart on the way with his new club. The rest of the gang take up firing positions and down two of the zombies by the truck in a hail of gunfire, but in all the excitement, Silent Sam downs expends his lasgun power pack and draws his Autopistol.
“Run for it lads” Bolter Barry yelled, as the gang made their way round the back of the building, away from the advancing zombies. As the zombies continued towards their prey, the lead pipe dragging zombie staggered over the edge of the building to drop down in front of the gang, in range to nosh on someone next turn. Juice Box ‘I love clubbing’ Jimmy raced in with his heavy stubber held high before anyone could get a shot off, not that they would hit anything with their poor aim. The zombie’s head detached in a single swing, Jimmy seriously wondered if he’d ever bother firing his heavy weapon ever again. The Crazy Clements run as fast as they can to the bottom right of the board with the zombies in surprisingly hot pursuit. It must be all the excitement of lively prey.
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TUR N FOURTEEN Automatic Al rushes into combat with the next rotting rival who proves a lot tougher. Al fires a shot into the zombie’s midriff, but to no avail. The staring lifeless hungry eyes and groping hands of six zombies suddenly surround him. “Emperor preserve me!”
The zombie that has a firm grip on Pistol Pete’s arm takes a big meaty bite! Pete goes down screaming as the zombie rips out his throat, painting itself in gore. Pete convulses and dies as the plague takes hold. We roll a D6…
TUR N THIRTEEN While, the rest of the gang leg it towards the truck, Juice Box Jimmy stamps on the head of the downed zombie crawling towards him. With Pistol Pete out for the count and the zombie horde approaching, Automatic Al charges into combat and caves in his undead opponent’s skull with the butt of his autogun. Can one man alone hold back the approaching horde?
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“Shoot it man! Shoot it in the head!”
The rest of the gang leap on the back of the truck as Juice Box Jimmy starts up the truck with a loud rumble, drawing out a one legged zombie from the doorway of the nearby building who starts to lollop along as the truck pulls away.
Automatic Al sticks his knife through the ear of the closest zombie, sending it squirming to the floor before swinging his autogun in an arc to strike two more, but the unliving things show no sign of pain and snatch wildly at his improvised weapon.
TUR N FIFTEEN “Let’s get the truck outta here!” Juice Box Jimmy slowly drives the truck away, but it’s not enough to stop the one legged zombie from climbing onto the trailer! The gang on the truck open fire on the one-legged zombie and riddle it with holes, but even Bolter Barry can’t bring the zombie down. It does its best to stand as it sways with the movement of the truck. Automatic Al grapples with the increasing number of zombies and pulls his knife out of the downed zombie, spilling its brains and killing it before thrusting the knife into the chest of another.
TUR N SIXTEEN Silent Sam and Sniper Sid shove the one legged zombie off the back of the truck and watch it tumble with satisfaction and break its neck when it lands. One less undead flesh muncher to worry about. Dead Eye takes aim at the zombies approaching Automatic Al, but doesn’t shoot for fear of hitting his fellow ganger. “What are you waiting for?” yelled Bolter Barry, “He’s already dead!”
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Automatic Al continues his struggle with the ever-increasing zombies until his fallen comrade Pistol Pete comes back from the dead for a bite to eat. “Pete! Nooooo!” Pistol ‘zombie boy’ Pete takes a bite out of Al’s face and the feeding frenzy begins! The other zombies move in as the stench of fresh meat catches on the wind and their ears fill with the Automatic Al’s dying screams.
TUR N SEVENTEEN “Pete! I said leave him alone!” The truck ploughs through the gorging zombies, turning them to mush under its wheels, painting the sides of the vehicle dark crimson and leaving a trail of destroyed and mangled bodies in its wake. Only seven zombies are left standing around the truck until Dead Eye and Bolter Barry finish off another two with highly accurate headshots.
The remaining zombies stagger towards the speeding vehicle and try their best to climb on. Their heads meet with the metal of the speeding truck, sending them groaning into the dirt and one of them under the crushing wheels. But brandishing a lead pipe, one of the zombies manages to hang on and pull itself aboard! “Mug him!” The three gangers heft the zombie over the side and watched it disappear with a large bump under the wheels of their chariot. Automatic Al and Pistol Pete were gone. The Crazy Clements had escaped, but it wasn’t the end, not by a long shot.
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LOOKING BACK Wow, what a game that was! If we hadn’t been rolling so high for the zombies’ movement each turn I think we would have had a much easier game. Individually zombies are rubbish, but because it takes so much to kill them, in large numbers they’re pretty much unstoppable. The Crazy Clements gang’s inexperience really hurt them in this game and as a result they very rarely hit their targets, but even if they had, would they have killed that many more zombies? Statistically they wouldn’t have. Even if they did, it would have made zombie respawning even more frequent. So I guess that this scenario should be ideal for a gang of any level because they’ll only make it harder for themselves. Events could have played out very differently. Did Automatic Al have to sacrifice himself to allow the rest of the gang to escape? If he hadn’t, would the truck have been stormed with zombies as the Crazy Clements tried to make a quick getaway? Could the gang have gotten away with charging the zombies en masse to fight their way through to the truck? Who knows, but you can always play this scenario yourself and find out! - Adam Smith & James Le Grys
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M i s s ion 4: E s c a pe Having acquired transport, the gang makes their way to another settlement seeking refuge, but when they arrive, the city is filled with wandering zombies. The air is filled with the sound of roaring engines as a shuttle flies overhead, then drops beneath the buildings at the end of the road. That’s when the gang realise that the structures up ahead have been barricaded into a makeshift fort, surrounded by Adeptus Arbite sentries. Seeing no alternative, the driver prepares to crash through the barricade…
S t e a lt h
or
B r av e ry
If the gang chooses the ‘stealth’ option, each ganger moves on from any board edge rather than being deployed. However, if they choose the less subtle drive their transport at the barricade approach, their truck (or whatever else they have) is deployed 12” on from any board edge. The sound of the rapidly approaching vehicle will alert the Arbite sentries who will then act normally.
Gang Transport The gang transport has an armour value of 10 all round. To make the game quick and easy we suggest you use the 4th edition Warhammer 40,000 vehicle rules. If the truck crashes into a wall it is counted as being destroyed and any passengers will be wounded on a roll of 4 or more.
Walls & Buildings The makeshift barricade walls have been built high enough to keep the zombies out, but can be climbed over by smarter creatures, like gangers. However, due to the height, it takes a whole turn to climb over a barricade and across to the other side. Obviously, due to their height, buildings cannot be climbed. If the gang crashes their transport into a barricade, the wall will collapse, but at the same time, the transport will become immobilised.
Set up The fort is placed in the centre of the board and consists of 4 buildings with a barricade perimeter around them. The shuttle waits in the middle of the buildings. 20 zombies are placed around the barricades, each D6 away from the walls and spread evenly. The Adeptus Arbite sentries are placed strategically inside the complex. The gang always gets the first turn and can enter from any board edge. They can be accompanied by their truck, which will alert the sentries, or they can try a stealthy approach on foot.
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Zombies The zombies have their attention firmly focused on the fort and its bright flashing lights, but they know they can’t get in. Roll a D3 and a scatter dice for each zombie to determine their movement and direction. If they walk into a wall or barricade, they will stop. However, if a zombie can draw a line of sight to a ganger, they will begin moving towards them at a speed of D6” per turn. As soon as a gunshot is fired, all the zombies will be drawn to the sound of it and move in that direction, only changing direction if they see potential prey and will move towards that instead.
A deptus A rbites The Arbites follow the rules for sentries as outlined in the Rescue scenario. There are 4 Arbites armed with executioner shotguns or bolters and 1 with a grenade launcher, carrying frag and krak grenades.
verbal command, the servitor will take D6 turns to make the shuttle take off, incinerating everything inside the fort with its thrutsters.
Getting Off This Rock The game ends when the shuttle takes off, transporting whoever makes it aboard to safety, or when the entire gang is taken out of action.
Multiple Gangs If you’re playing a larger campaign, you can have more gangs all attacking the fort and battling to get on the shuttle at the same time. In this scenario you may need more zombies and a small Imperial Guard platoon to hold them off. Of course, there are only 10 seats in the shuttle, making the struggle for survival all the more desperate.
EX PA NDING THE C A MPAIGN Profile Arbite
M 4
WS 4
BS 4
S 3
T 3
I 3
A 1
LD SV 8 4+
Imperial Shuttle The shuttle is heavily armoured and cannot be damaged by any weapons in play. Any gangers or even zombies within 2” of the shuttle door may embark. The shuttle is piloted by a mindless servitor who cannot be hurt or infected by zombies. Once given a
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Guns Don’t K ill People, Zombies Do If the gangs are getting too big for their boots, or just for a little variety, nothing inspires fear quite like a zombie with a gun. A simple las pistol, auto pistol or even a shotgun does the trick. Zombies will always hit on a 6 regardless and take ammo rolls as normal. There should be no more than 3 gun totting zombies in the pack. While the chances of a zombie hitting and wounding someone is
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very remote, any ganger hit could quickly find themselves pinned, leaving them helpless for a whole turn.
Heroes of the Hour If you feel that the gangs are too weak, or your players are too incompetent to make it through without some assistance, they can encounter Zombie Hunter Heroes along the way. These can be tailored to your own preferences to imitate your favourite movie heroes, has-beens and video game characters. Heroes cannot gain experience and are treated in a similar way to a hired gun, except that you don’t pay them. Here’s an example. Name Ash Campbell
M 4
WS 4
BS 4
S 4
T 4
I 3
A 1
LD 7
SV -
Equipment: Shotgun with man stopper rounds and an eviscerator. Skills: Fistful of Boomstick (Ash automatically passes ammo rolls for his shotgun), Rapid Fire – Shotgun (Ash may fire his shotgun twice is he remains stationary.)
Th at t h a ng d on ’ t k i l l I t m at e s w i t h you
you …
While zombies are a popular, cinematic and an obvious choice of plague like creature to infest your Underhive, let us not overlook the less common and limitless array of beasties that can eat, absorb and fondle your gangers in all sorts of hideous ways.
Genestealers While someone in your gaming group is bound to have a plentiful supply of Genestealers, I would advise staying away from these. While you may like to reenact ALIENS, your gangs will be torn to shreds in a couple of turns. Genestealers are far too fast for anyone to deal with until the gangs have gained quite a lot of experience.
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Even then, they should only be introduced in small numbers. Brood Brothers and Hybrids on the other hand would be fine and open up all sorts of avenues. Perhaps it would be best to have a single Genestealer as the young patriarch of a new Genestealer Cult who could grow in power as the campaign develops?
The R ats in the Walls The most common Necromunda creature of them all; the humble mutie rat. Whether they spit venom, are covered in spikes or simply leap for the jugular is up to you. It’s unlikely you’ll be able to supply enough rats to make a good go of things, but an invasion of mutant rat men could be the way to go. Anyone with a Warhammer Fantasy Battle Skaven army will become your new best friend.
Sludge Jellies A popular Necromunda creature, although rarely seen as they are confined to water features and pools of gangrenous filth, sludge jellies are mutated jelly fish like creatures with a paralyzing barbed sting at the end of each tentacle. If the Underhive was ever flooded the sludge jellies would quickly rise to the top of the food chain. Emperor knows what other forms of aquatic life would follow them up from the sump? A gigantic white sludge jelly perhaps? One capable of destroying whole towns and flipping battle tanks? This sounds like a job for Inquisitor Ahab! These are just some of the creature features you could run among Scaly territory wars, mutant uprisings and Daemon incursions making life a living hell. The most important thing about this sort of campaign is to make it difficult and challenging. All of the gangs should lose plenty of members along the way, but be able to make it to the end with a few good men. They should have become expert zombie hunters by then. Good luck and may your zombies always shuffle six!
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hobby in-depth
For A Few Zombies More For fast and furious zombie action that’s quicker than a Necromunda campaign, look no further than Kill Team. You’ll need 30 more zombies for this one! Profile
WS
BS
S
T
W
I
A
Zombie
3
0
3
4
1
1
1
Fearless, Furious Charge, Slow and Purposeful
LD SV 2
5+
S pe c i a l Z omb i e R u l e s : R ending: Every weapon counts as rending against zombies in the shooting and assault phase. Sniper rifles rend on a 4+. This is to represent the headshot.
Zombie Hordes: Whenever 3 zombies have been killed, they regenerate into another brute squad at the start of the zombies turn. Roll a scatter die and place the new squad 6 inches strait in from the spot the table edge the arrow points to.
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Specialised K its: The only Brute Squad Specialised Kits available to the zombie player is Extra Brutes and Las-Traps. The Las-Traps were not set up by the zombies but rather by those few who held out against the zombies and are now long dead. Extra Brutes cost 25 points.
when ever a heavy weapon is fired every zombie squad within 18 inches becomes aware.
Barricades: The Kill-Team can elect to spend a turn building or tearing down a barricade and do nothing else. The barricade is 6 inches long and counts as impassible terrain. The Kill-Team player may place the barricade anywhere within 3 inches of the Kill-Team. Zombies that move within base to base contact with the barricade spend 1 turn tearing it down and may not assault.
Turning into a Zombie: Whenever a wound is taken by the Kill-Team roll a D6. On a 3+ the model doesn’t die but has been bitten and infected instead. The model remains fully under the control of the Kill-Team player. After a number of turns equal to the models toughness the model turns into a zombie, taking on the zombie stat line, and immediately charges
S pe c i a l S c e n a r io R u l e s : Numbers: This game is designed to use 10 3-man Brute squads on a 4x4 table.
Becoming Aware: When a zombie brute squad becomes aware of the Kill-Team they will make regular movements in as direct a route as possible towards the Kill-Team.
M aking Noise: When the Kill-Team makes an overt noise by firing their weapons or assaulting every zombie squad within 12 inches hears the commotion and becomes aware of the Kill-Team.
Heavy Weapons: These weapons are great at taking out large amounts of targets but this comes at a cost. Instead of the normal Making Noise rule
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the Kill-Team. After this has happened once in the campaign the squad can elect to spend 1 round killing a bitten model and doing nothing else. Doing this does not Make Noise. If the mission ends before the model turns, simply count it as dead. The Kill-Team will still be able to kill bitten models from this point forward.
area: remnants of a last stand. Your team must make it from your drop site to a more secure location.
Targeting:
This is a standard Escape Mission. 2. Recover – Your team has made its way to a small stronghold and barricaded the entrance. Unfortunately, in the need for a hasty escape, your communication equipment was heavily damaged. You need to scavenge enough parts to repair it.
The Kill-Team may split its fire among as many brute squads as the Kill-Team player wishes.
Z omb i e K i l l -Te a m C a mpa ign Your ship has received several odd reports from a nearby planet about an invasion from within the local citizenry. Shortly after these reports were sent, all contact was lost. A platoon was sent to quell what was thought to be a riot but it has been two weeks and they still have not reported in. Your commander, growing uneasy about the situation, has decided to send in your team to investigate. 1. Escape – Your team has arrived on the planet only to find it has been overrun by the living dead! Rotting corpses baking in the sun have filled the air with a foul stench. Debris litters the
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The Kill-Team’s stronghold should be two stories tall and have two entrances with a single barricade at each entrance. The Kill-Team may pass through the strongholds barricades as though it where difficult terrain. It should be placed on one of the table corners for each mission unless otherwise specified. From now on the Kill-Team will start every mission from its stronghold. Place four loot counters evenly spaced around the board. The team must move within base to base contact with each counter and then return to their stronghold. 3. Rescue – You have managed to repair your radio but the signal isn’t strong enough to reach your drop ship. You did manage to make contact with someone though. He has blockaded himself in a nearby building and has asked for your help. As a bonus, he is a comms technician and thinks he can boost the signal of your equipment with the parts you have.
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Set up a building on the opposite end of the board from the KillTeam stronghold with the model to be rescued inside. Place three of the brute squads within base to base contact of the entrance. These squads will not move away until they are aware of the KillTeam. The Kill-Team has to make their way across the board, kill the zombies at the entrance, remove the barricade and escort the model inside back to their stronghold. The technician is armed with a laspistol and has the following stat line: Profile
WS
BS
S
T
W
I
A
3
3
3
3
1
3
1
Technician
LD SV 7
5+
After the technician has been saved the Kill-Team player takes control of him for the rest of the
pinpointed the location of the originator of the plague. They will need its remains if anything is to be learned of this disease. Hunt down the originator of the plague, kill him and drag his corpse back to the stronghold. The Originator replaces an entire brute squad and has the following stat line: Profile Originator
WS
BS
S
T
W
I
A
LD SV
4
0
5
3
4
2
2
4+
-
Fearless, Furious Charge 6. Last Stand – This is it! Your team has made so much noise killing the Originator that every zombie within a five mile radius knows where you are! Now you just have to hold out until help arrives. Place the Kill-Team’s stronghold in the center of the board. All of the brute squads can be placed no more than 12 inches from the edge of the table. Klaxon Counters aren’t being used this game. All the zombies are aware of the Kill-Team and will head strait for them. This mission lasts for 13 turns. On turn 13 start rolling for reserves with the modified chart below. When reserves show up a drop ship appears and the mission ends.
campaign but he cannot leave the stronghold. Heresy Miniatures make some great creature models to be the plague originators
Optional – After the Kill-Team has reached the technician they will be informed of a nearby armory the technician located through security cameras. If the Kill-Team player wishes he can go into the armory and scavenge supplies. The armory is located within 24 inches of the technicians building but no closer to the Kill-Team’s strong hold. If the Kill-Team does this roll d3+3 and multiply the result by ten. The Kill-Team player may choose that many points of equipment from the armory list.
4 Assassinate – With the help of the technician you have managed to make contact with Command. You have reported back that it seems to be a plague that is spread through open wounds. Although you have requested immediate pickup, Command has
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Turn
13
14
15
16 17+
Roll
6+
5+
4+
3+
2+
A r mou ry At the start of each mission the Kill-Team player may decide to move the deployment of or redistribute equipment to different models. The items listed here are only available if the Kill-Team does the optional portion of mission three and the items must be placed before any zombies are set up.
Sentry Turret For 15 points each (Up to a maximum of two) a sentry turret may be deployed anywhere on the board by the Kill-Team player. Each sentry turret is armed with a twin-linked heavy bolter with an armor value of 9 and a ballistics skill of 2. The sentry turret may
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not be moved until the next mission. If destroyed the turret is gone for the rest of the campaign. Turrets may be deployed in the following manner: Point Defense: The sentry turret is set up with a fixed fire arc. It will engage targets up to 24 inches away which are within a fixed 90 degree arc and in line of sight. Sentry Mode: The sentry turret is set up to fire at any enemy which comes near. It will fire at the nearest enemy target within 12 inches to which it can draw line of sight.
Claymore Mine For 10 points each a Claymore Mine may be deployed anywhere on the board by the Kill-Team player. Each mine is command activated by the technician. The mines will only fire when the Kill-Team player wishes and only if the technician is still alive. Claymore Mines are Template, ST5, AP4. After the start of the mission the Claymore Mine may not be moved. Once a Claymore has been used, it may not be used again until the next mission. - Leigh Kade
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