A Return to the Artes System

Anyone wanna buy me a set?

I finally managed to get in the third and final campaign game of the current set of campaign games.  It's been some time coming.  After taking a pair of butt-kickings, things like real life and Adepticon got in the way.  I was on point for scenario design, and decided to give my buddy a chance to wreck my lab.  We had access to the Zone Mortalis board, so that seemed to be a perfect setting.

I took five Lone Wolves in power armor, while my friend took seven Plague Marines with various weapons.  The objective would be protecting or destroying one of three different board exits based on your predilection for evil.  As an additional objective, the Plague Marines wanted to leave as little of the lab untouched to allow the zombie apocalypse to continue to build. 

Because of the small size of the mission, we were actually able to get in three of these games.  It turns out that despite the close confines of the board, range is key for the Plague Marines.  The first two games, my opponent took meltaguns and could not do damage fast enough to stop the Lone Wolves before they got into combat.  We found that once that happened, the amount of attacks the Wolves put out usually produced a few rends per turn, while the Plague Marines lower initiative and lack of ability to bypass armor meant they just couldn't stand up. 

Double tapping plasma doesn't end well

In the third game, my opponent switched to plasma guns, allowing him to dominate the longer hallway on the left hand side of the board.  This pinned some of my forces back in the rear of my end.  I ended up losing one of my guys outright to shooting, while also going into combat with wounds off of two more.  Meanwhile, I got drawn into combat in the center of the board and could not extract myself fast enough.  I seemed to come up small in a couple key rounds, allowing some of the Plague Marines to slip by and start wrecking objectives. 


Overall, I was pleased with the scenario.  The forces actually balanced out rather well, and I'd love to have another crack at the plasma gun version of the force.  The initiative shifts back to my buddy, and I think we are also moving to another setting and set of forces.  I'm glad to be continuing the campaign and looking forward to more narrative games.

Shambling towards the Gates

The campaign continues. 

Game two was designed by Bill.  We had talked about it previously and he decided to stick to the basic plan and center the mission around the Death Guard assaulting a Space Wolves' position.  The idea was that they were at the gates of a laboratory at which the Imperial side was trying to isolate a cure for the zombie virus.

Game setup - Secret lab in the frozen tundra

My Wolves were set up in a defensive position, with two bastions dominating the approach, containers blocking the flanks, and defensive lines giving cover.  Meanwhile, the Death Guard had a Pitched Battle deployment, but were mostly centered up since their objective was right up the gut. 

My force consisted of two Grey Hunter squads, some Long Fangs, five Wolf Guard, five Skyclaws, a Battle Leader with Saga of the Warrior Born, and a Wolf Priest.  The Death Guard had a Lord on a bike with a Daemon Weapon, a Defiler, a Dreadnought, and three squads of Death Guard... oh, and the still apparently impossible to kill Zombies.

The Death Guard took the first turn and rushed forward.  The Dreadnought and Defiler threw some shots downfield, but they mostly scattered and I lost a couple Grey Hunters.  Meanwhile, I threw the Skyclaws forward into the zombies.  The Long Fangs tried to bring down the Defiler, but the most I could manage was a one on the damage chart which was promptly ignored by the daemon engine.  This would be a harbinger of things to come as I rolled terribly throughout the encounter. 

Creating a traffic jam via melta and bodies

The Biker Lord counter-charged the Skyclaws and promptly wiped them out, so the wave of zombies was free to shamble onwards.  Meanwhile, the Death Guard Rhinos pulled up in range of the bastions and started putting rounds into the Hunters and Long Fangs.  I was definitely behind, but I had two lines still manning the defenses.  As the game wore on, the narrowness of my end began to tell and alley began to get congested.  I immobilized a rhino, blocking off half of the approach.  Meanwhile, a reconstituted Skyclaw squad assaulted the other zombie mob to completely close the entrance.  Unfortunately, the Chaos Dreadnought chose this moment to fire frenzy and nuked both his own zombies and my marines.  Ironically, those two shots killed more zombies than I could throughout the whole game. 

So close he can almost taste it

This opened up a lane for an assault by the Lord and the Death Guard.  My Battle Leader murdered a bunch of Death Guard, but he and a bunch of Grey Hunters died, leaving two to fall back.  They regrouped and doubled out the Lord, then a Wolf Guard missile immobilized the Defiler within snapping distance of the walls.  It looked like I had a chance to preserve the victory at this point, but the zombies dragged down the last Wolf Guard in terminator armor and I died a little on the inside (they caused one wound and of course I failed the save).

It was definitely a fun scenario and I think it fit the theme well.  I think poor rolling spoiled it a little, but it was still very close, which I think reflects the nature of defending a narrow access point.  If I could change anything, I'd probably add some points to both sides, give the Wolves a flanking force, and play on a 4'x4' board.  There really isn't a need for a wide board since the vast majority of the action took place in the very center strip.  I also didn't feel like I had a lot of tactical options beyond target priority.  I just sat back and tried to hold the line.  I think a flanking force would add some complexity. Oh, and zombies need to lose their armor save at the very least.  Yes, I'm bitter.

As for the next mission, I was hoping to do a convoy if I had had a better showing defending the gate, but as is, I don't think that would make sense.  I think it's still possible, but I'm more interested to play out what happens inside the lab first.  I'm thinking about a Killzone mission using a few Death Guard, and pitting them against a bunch of Lone Wolves.  That sounds like a good time.  We'll see what happens. 

Hobby Update and Campaign Musings

It's always nice to cross something off the list, particularly when it's been on the list for entirely too long. Drop Pod #2 has qualified for the latter for a while, so to say that it's done feels pretty good. Sadly, I have no functioning camera at the moment. I know, I know. "Pics or it didn't happen." Unfortunately, the wife took all the AA batteries with her on her trip and I have been too lazy to acquire a new set. So instead, I give you other pictures to break up the text!With that done, I will pass on commenting about hobby stuff for now and spend my musing elsewhere.

Campaigns!

I've been thinking about what I would want in a campaign system and trying my hand at designing a simple one. I've done narrative stuff before, but I have always loved maps. I want to do a non-GM, map-based campaign. I have read a lot of rules packs, but not a lot that I've really liked. This is what I'm looking for:
-Static lists, but a few of them, so you have a chance at some variety
-A system for casualties and experience
-Territories and a reason to hold them
-Stratagems
-Not having to fight the same person over and over
-Enough people willing and able to play
I've seen campaigns where guys saw who was next to them on the map, saw that they were going to be fighting them all the time, and dropped out. At the same time, I don't want to feel like the map is just a progress tracker. I want everyone to be able to get in a game each week, but not against "just whoever", and if they win they get a hex. So I guess what I'm saying is some sort of overall strategic element to the larger game needs to be present for me to be satisfied.

More to come, I'm sure.

Hobby Accomplishments
-Finished Drop Pod #2.
-Decided how to paint the Land Raider hull. I also settled on a design for the opposite side and one of the flags. Now to test the free handing skills.
-Paints acquired. Fresh paint makes things so much, though GW paint pots remain one of the worst designed products in my experience. I believe my next project will begin my experimentation with other lines.
-Won Settlers of Catan! Development cards FTW!

Hobby Goals
-Get in a game over the Christmas holiday.
-Get the basecoat on Drop Pod 3. That's right. I'm optimistic that THIS one will get done quickly. To be fair, it will be the simplest of paint schemes. In rebuttal, history indicates it will take forever.
-Sand down some of the rough ideas for the aforementioned campaign system.