The Joker Tanks from Bravo Squadron

by Inquisitor Lord Aki

I FINALLY got done with the two tanks from Bravo Squadron: B01 (Riddler) and B02 (Wise Crack). Now I can work on painting more troops!

What I really like about the new Leman Russ Demolisher kits is the ability to swap out the weapons. They don't need to be magnetized - the fit is tight enough that the sponson and hull weapons stay in place. The turret weapon has a small lip that slides under the top of the turret to keep it in place. This sure beats the last version of the model.

The only complaint I have is that it comes with NO accessories. It's a small complaint - I don't use the blades, chains, and bags anyway. I did like the pintle weapons, but I can live without those. I still think the ability to swap weapons is a good trade-off for not having the accessory sprue included.

The Demolisher Cannon with Multi-Melta sponsons

The Punisher Cannon with Heavy Bolters

Saving the Day

by Inquisitor Lord Aki

One of the most overlooked rules in fifth edition is how saves are made. In previous versions you simply rolled the save of the majority of models then removed casualties. The least important models were the first hit and removed from play.

Fifth edition changed all of that. Now you need to allocate wounds and each squad member with a different profile rolls for his own saves.

Let's assume that you are playing with a typical Marine squad consisting of seven Marines with bolters, one with a missile launcher, one with a flamer, and a sergeant with a pistol and chainsword. The unlucky squad gets hit with twenty rounds.

The first thing you need to do is allocate wounds. You need to allocate one wound to each model before allocating a second wound. Then you need to allocate two wounds to each model before allocating a third wound.

In this case, each Marine would get two wounds allocated to each model. Simple enough. How you allocate wounds is up to the owning player. So if you only got hit three times, then three bolter-wielding Marines would get hit.

So now you have two wounds allocated to each model and FOUR different types of models: Marines with bolters, Marine with missile launcher, Marine with flamer, and sergeant.

All of the Marines with bolters can be rolled together since they all have the same stat line and weapon load. So you roll 14 saves. If seven fail, then all seven Marines are dead. But here is the up-side: if more than seven fail, then ONLY SEVEN MARINES ARE DEAD!

So you can fail all 14 saves and your missile launcher, flamer, and sergeant are safe! Just remember though - if you fail less than seven (let's say five) then five Marines are dead. You can't say that one Marine died twice.

Now here's the part that will get your blood-pressure up. Because the missile launcher, flamer, and sergeant Marines all have different profiles, you roll them separately. So you roll the two dice for the sergeant. It only takes one failed save to kill him. If he fails both, then only he will die. The repeat that for the missile launcher Marine, then the flamer Marine.

Check out page 25 of the BRB for more examples.

So what does this mean during the game?

For one thing, multi-wound commanders are almost a requirement. You can meat-shield your heavy-hitter all you want, but it only takes one stray shot - one failed save - to kill him.

Another consideration is bodyguards. Some armies (Deamonhunters, Imperial Guard, etc.) will allow you to take a model that will suffer a wound of someone else. The new IG codex even has a special rule named for this - "Look Out - Arghhh!". Bodyguards bring a huge advantage to the game.

From the shooter's perspective, remember that your best chances of hitting something is by increasing your number of chances. Think about shooting at a small five man command squad. You can hit the entire squad with a large template weapon which will allow everyone one chance to save. But, if you hit the entire squad with 15 shots, then everyone in the squad will need to make THREE saves. This will increase your chances of them failing a save.

Love it or hate it - the new would allocation and saving throw rules change how you play the game.

Kroggs Karnage vs. Cadian 17th....Civil War?‏

by Steel Thunder

Well, we had an interesting change of pace this time around. Colin showed up at the firehouse to humor me in a game, but also to help me fine tune my 1850 list of Orks in preparation for the GT at Mechanicon. Colin stepped up and took command of my 2nd army, the Imperial Guard's Cadian 17th.

Well, we used both lists I had made up. The Cadian 17th is limited at 1850, as it uses basically all of my models that are currently painted. In time I will be adding more units, but for now the list was as follows:

Company Command Squad, with Power Fist, Medic, Standard Bearer, Plasma Gun, Grenade Launcher, 2 body guards. Squad has carapce armor

Primaris Psyker

Troops: Infantry Platoon command: with plasma gunner, melta gun, vox caster, grenade launcher, & commisar with plasma pistol. Both commisar and junior officer armed with power weapons.

5 infantry squads, all with Vox caster, and either flamer or grenade launcher. 2 have autocannons, 2 have heavy bolters. One is an Armored fist squad with flamer for Chimera.

Special Weapons Squad: with 3 sniper rifles
Heavy Weapons Squad: 2 Lascannons, 1 Missle Launcher

Veteran Squad, with: carapace armor *(grenadiers), melta gun, plasma gun, flamer, sgt with plasma pistol, embarked on Valkyrie gunship.

5-Ratling Snipers

2-Scout Sentinels; 1-multilaser 2-autocannon

Chimera transport: multilaser, pintle storm bolter, heavy bolter, dozer blade

Valkyrie gunship: ****must be modified to have lascannon and 2 rocket pods. I used to field it with hellstrike missles and sponson heavy bolters. (learned i can't fly 12 and fire bolters or rockets, what a waste).

Basilisk

Leman Russ Battletank: Standard battle cannon, sponson heavy bolters, HK missle, pintle mounted heavy stubber, dozer blade, Lascannon. (215).

Orks: 1850.....same list I used in the Freedom Alliance tournament.

Warboss: cybork body, mega armor, kombi-scorcha, bosspole
Big Mek: Shokk attack gun, heavy armor, ammo runt

Troops:
30 boyz, sluggas & choppas, nob with powerclaw, bosspole, heavy armor
30 boyz, shootas, 3 big shootas, nob with 'uge choppa, 'eavy armor
20 'ard boyz: 2 big shootas, sluggas & choppas, armor, nob with powerclaw
20 gretchin, 2 runt herds, squig hound
12 trukk boyz: sluggas & choppas, nob with armor, powerclaw, armor, bosspole
***Wartrukk

Elite: 5 tankbustas, 1-tankhammer, 2 bomb squigs

Fast Attack:
20 stormboyz, Nob with armor, bosspole & powerclaw
20 stormboyz, nob with armor and huge choppa

Heavy support: Deff Dread with grot riggers, extra close combat weapon and skorcha

The battle lines were drawn and in a dawn of war set up, the mission was simple: Anihillation. The orks of Krogg's Karnage set up first and postioned troops. The gretchin mob set up with the Big Mek in a large wooded region in the southeast corner of the ork deployment zone. Central to the battle lines, the 'Ard boyz lined up, forming a wall of iron and ran foward though the night.

On the Cadian side of the field, the Heavy Weapons team set up position to the North West. Ratling snipers infiltrated into a rocky bluff. Colonel Collin McGee set up with his command squad near his heavy troops, but also by a combined infantry squad that included 20 troops, with 2 auto cannons, set up on a grassy hilltop.

The orks surged forward, the only light shining was tracer rounds from ork dakka. The night sky lit up as the flare from the stormboyz rokkit packs launched them behind their troops, taking cover behind the advancing 'ard boyz.

As the rest of the Cadian 17th forces rolled onto the battlefield, Colonel Colin sent the Valkyrie and sentinels to outflank the orks. The Chimera found the 'ard boyz with it's spotlight, and this allowed some rather effective guard shooting, as about half a dozen orks fell in the onslaught.

The Guard commander made one critical error though, he moved his command unit up to engage it's weapons, only to find that stormboyz can sometimes fly 18 inches and assault 6 more. Both mobs of Stormboyz launched over their wall of 'ard boyz and assaulted enemy squads.

On the eastern side, Chubby Chekkaz led his mob crashing into the 20 man guard unit on the hill. In a brutal onslaught the stormboyz wiped out a large number of men, and than chased them up over the hill, cutting them down and running off any would be survivors. (1 kill point).

Tankbustas climbed a ridge and let fly a hail of rokkits, and were delighted to see the chimera implode in a ball of smoke, wrecked, forcing the squad inside to disembark (2 kill points).

On the Western side, Da Red Baron stormed into the command unit of the Cadian 17th. 20 stormboyz, 2 attacks, +1 extra weapon, +1 attack for charging: 80 attacks. 37 wounds. 2 guardmen die.

WHAT?????????????????????????????????????????

Yes, the field medic empowered the unit with "feel no pain". Each man had to make 4 or 5 saves. The armor saves they failed on a 4+ were than rolled wounds with Feel No Pain. Colin saved 35 out of 37 wounds! Simply Amazing. The Medic Went down, but it was by the Nob popping him in the head with the flat side of his huge choppa, knocking the medic out as he was tending a patient. The guardsmen won the combat and thanks to fearless orks, a total of 6 orks died.

Cadian artillery continued to pound the orks with as much firepower as they could muster. The Armored fist squad moved to blast the stormboyz on the hill with flamer fire and orders issued by the Infantry command ordered "First Rank Fire!, Second Rank Fire!" bringing several rounds of lasgun fire into the mob. It wasn't quite enough and a few surviving stormboyz held their ground thanks to Chubby Chekkaz using the bosspole.

Still, several blasts from the Basilisk and Leman russ had diminished the hard boyz squad quite a bit. The heavy weapons team managed to stun the deff dread and the stormtroopers came in via deep strike behind the slugga boyz mob and warboss. The also managed to stop the wartrukk as well, stunning the crew.

In a bold move, the surviving stormboyz mob jumped over the hill and stormed the Leman Russ, managing to immobilize it and take out most of it's weapons. The trukk boyz mob leaped from their open topped vehicle and charged forward, slamming into the armored fist squad that did a number on their stormboy brothers.

As the 'ard boyz kept moving forward, the Warlord Krogg Satogg ordered his slugga boyz to turn around and pour fire into the stormtroopers that popped up behind them. Between their shooting and the shoota boyz to the south west, there were only a handful of troops left to be assaulted. The trukk boyz would score kill point #3 for the orks as the warboss scored kill #4.

Eventually, despite being locked in combat, with the loss of their medic, the Cadian commander and retinue would fall or be run off. This would score 2 more kill points for the orks, bringing them to six.

Eventually the Valkyrie arrived on the West, positioning itself to gun down the 'ard boyz and slugga boyz. Another troops squad with heavy bolter also kept pouring fire into the same troops, while on the eastern side, the sentinels showed up, and managed to immoblize the wartrukk.

More guard shooting cut down a few more stormboyz from both mobs. The shooting was enough to run off the mob with Chubby Chekkaz, scoring a point for the Cadians. Still, the Red Baron was stubborn and managed to eventually get to the Leman Russ and finally take it out, losing 2 orks in the ensuing explosing, scoring kill point #7.

The Tankbustas were happy to have a new target, and so close to them. They moved to get the sentinels, and released the 2 bomb squigs. One squig ran into a walker, dropping it in a nice explosion. The other one managed to hit the ork trukk, taking out the engine and wrecking the vehicle. This scored a 2nd kill point for the Cadians (or an 8th if you count like orks do!).

Finishing up turn 4, the Basilisk, Valkyrie, Veterans squad all combined firepower to oust more orks. They had moderate success, but still too many orks remained after the smoke cleared. The sentinel with autocannon poured rounds into the ork deff dred, only to see the rounds bounce harmlessly off it's heavy armor. The infantry commander was still tied up with the trukk boyz mob until they were joined by another cadian troops squad, and their counter charge was enough to chase off the trukk mob, thus scoring a 3rd kill point for the Cadians.

We had to call time at the end of 4. I had to leave to a fire call, and Colin was coming up on his curfew.

The end result, another win for the orks, 7-3 in anihilation.

Colin did very well with the guard and this battle could have gone either way and was very enjoyable for both of us.

MVPs of the battle:

Orks: Da Red Baron: Despite taking heavy losses, The Baron scored 3 kill points: The enemy commander, his retinue, and a Leman Russ Battletank.

Cadian 17th: The Cadian Medic in the command squad. With his aid, they shrugged off 80 attacks, 37 wounds, by ultimately saving 35 of 37 on 4+ with armor and 4+ feel no pain. In Colin's words: "This will be a recriutment video for Imperial Guard Medics for years to come."

It was interesting fighting my own armies. I've only done that once before, when my son (who really is the Cadian commander), and I played a 1000 point game...which he won.

Colin got to see some things about how guard works, how orks perform in large mass: 160 models.

I got to improve my tactic with the twin-stormboyz-mobs. Still uncertain if I want to use it in the GT, but it was much more effective this time around. I'm sure there won't be too many army lists like that

Reading is Bad for Your Wallet

by Inquisitor Lord Aki

I have been slowly working on a Death Wing army. Of course, it won't be called "Death Wing" and it won't be the "Dark Angels". I like stirring my own fluff. Seeing as I'll be playing this army, I bought the Dark Angels codex.

During this time I also read Fallen Angels, Angels of Darkness, along with Hellforged, which is about the renegade Space Marine Chapter The Soul Drinkers. Three excellent books from Black Library and I highly suggest each one.

So, let's take stock. I've discovered how the Dark Angels prepared (and their justification) for trying to kill their Primarch, Lion el Jonson. I've learned the inner secrets of the The Fallen Dark Angels and why the current chapter, as well as the rest of the Imperium, is completely beset against the original wishes of the Emperor. And I've learned of a renegade Space Marine chapter and how they fought against the chains of ignorance that the Imperium has bound itself in.

All while reading the Dark Angels Codex, which I would like to call "New Space Marine Codex Lite".

My head burst.

I can see a Death Wing army, along with some elements of a Raven Wing army, and a Legion (not "chapter", but Legion) of Space Marines bursting the seams of Imperial thought. They fight for the Crusade, which was never an event that was suppose to end, but a state of mind. They fight for mankind outside of the normal Administratum organization. Their purpose is to take (or retake) worlds for mankind. And as long as they don't interact with others and spread their "blasphemy" (ie: the Emperor isn't God), the Inquisition looks the other way.

I can see a force designed to attack fast, hit hard, and win quickly. Drop pods, bikes, terminators in Land Raider Crusaders.

And, after thinking about it, I can see my wallet shrinking to nothing. My dreams squashed under a pile of bills.

That's when I realized that the dreams were just that: dreams. I would love to see an entire 3000 point Raven Wing force or a couple hundred of Marines standing beside their drop pod. But in reality, when would I ever play them? And would I really enjoy playing Marines like that?

The answer is no. The reason I was looking at a Death Wing army was because a) it is a unique force and b) it is a force without many options. I play Guard and have so many options it makes my head (and wallet) hurt. I wanted an army without so many different choices. The Death Wing is that army. The only options are what to give your terminators and how to deploy them.

In fact, I find the whole Dark Angels codex to be quite limiting in terms of options. But I think it was designed that way on purpose. This codex was designed for specialties (Death Wing and Raven Wing). Without choosing one or the other you can only choose tactical Marines as troops. And even with them you are limited on what you can take.

The beauty of the codex is its lethal simplicity.

So now I see that I need to continue with my original plan and stay with my Death Wing army. Its either that or skip a couple of mortgage payments and build my legion.

Now I am reading Death World, which is about the Catachan's.

An all infantry Catachan force would be pretty cool...

Bad Writing

by Inquisitor Lord Aki

Being a tread-head, I like to have each tank named. Unfortunately, my writing skills with a brush isn't too good. Using one of the half dozen tank name decals that come with the model isn't an option because a) there aren't enough of them and b) I don't like the names.

Home-made decal don't work for my paint scheme because you cannot print white letters (you cannot "print" white on an ink-jet printer). I tried printing "plates" by using the white decal paper with grey background and dark lettering, but the grey background didn't work out too well as the green on my tanks was visible through it.

While working on another project that required decals on a dark surface I came across the problem of the dark decal on a dark surface means a barely visible decal. My solution was to use the decal as a guide and paint over it.

Then the idea hit me to use the same method for my tank names.

I use the Testors Custom Decal System for my decals because it is the best quality I've played with and it's relatively cheap. It's easy to use, doesn't require multiple coats of spray, and applies really. It also works very well with MicroSol and MicroSet (click here for more about these).

I printed the tank names on the clear decal paper, applied the spray, then waited the obligatory ten hours for it to dry. For this example, I am using a turret that I had already completed but didn't like the writing on the side of it.

After painting over the side and re-applying the wash, I applied the decal.

You cannot see the writing very well because it is black. Because the tank was already sprayed with the matt protective spray (which alters everything about the paint), the decal still sticks out even after using the Micro solutions. I applied a light coat of black wash over it to take the shine away.

The next step was easy - just trace the lines. When that was done, I re-applied the weathering (brown dry-brush (click here for details). This looks much better than the first attempt.

Legion of the Damned

by Inquisitor Lord Aki

“The Legion of the Damned are an enigma, one of the greatest mysteries within the Imperium, Space Marines, whose jet-black armor is adorned with stylized flames and macabre symbols of death.”

Games Workshop will be releasing a collection of metal minis for the Legion of the Damned “chapter” in January, 2010.

What’s not to love about these guys? They deep-strike, have invulnerable saves, and the codex lists the Unit Composition as “1 damned sergeant” and “4 damned legionnaires”.

I only wish they counted as troop choices instead of elites so I can make an entire chapter of them.

See the GW links here and here for more details.

King of the Hill Update - 10/18/2009

Click for current status

Congratulations to John T's Task Force Archer for being the first army to reach level 3 in the King of the Hill Campaign! He fought off Gallen's Chaos in a 1000 point battle.

According to the sacred texts (AKA - battles actually recorded in the group logs), Gallen's Chaos has ONLY lost battles to Task Force Archer. During the War for False Hope Campaign, he did not lose a single battle, which earned him second place in the campaign due to the huge wagers placed on each battle.

This looks to be the beginning of a long nemesis-style relationship. I can hear the wedding bells now...

The Joker Tanks from Charlie Squadron

by Inquisitor Lord Aki

I have finally finished Bad Humor (C01) and Jester (C02), two of the tanks in my Armored Company. These tanks are part of Charlie Squadron. Eventually, I'll have an entire company of ten tanks. Alpha Squadron consists of Demolishers, Bravo Squadron consists of Executioners (that sometimes switch to Punishers), and Charlie Squadron consists of the tried and true Battle Tank. These three squadrons will be led by a Vanquisher with Commander Pask, giving the tank a BS of 4 and the +1 to any armor penetration rolls on top of the 2D6 allowed by the Vanquisher Cannon.

I am now working on Bravo Squadron with the Riddler (B01) and Wise Crack (B02). Look of pictures of these next week.

Preparing for the Tournament

by The Sword Saint

So you are wanting to play in the GT and you want to do well. Just about everyone does and there is no guarantee that Lady Luck will shine upon you through all the games. However, there is a few things you can do to help put you in a spot that all it does come down to is the Lady's favor and your own tactical/strategic skills. These things are listed below

Knowledge
Prep
Rest
Relaxation
Exercise
Food and Drink

Each of the above is a key component in a good GT experience and a decent showing. What follows is a break down of what each component means for you in the GT and tourney experience.

**Knowledge**

Its also been called Know Your Army and in these days, knowing all the neat and sneaky bits you can do with said army is a major factor in game play… and having a clue about your opponent's force is also a biggie.

Do not be afraid to make a checklist detailing specific items; we all forget rules and abilities at some point and there will be times that you will forget something that will cost you a game. Having a checklist will go a long way towards keeping a forgotten ability from being a reason you lost.

Common things to put on your checklist should be "Did I move everyone I meant to move?", "Did everyone shoot that was going to shoot?" and "Did I make my assault moves?".

You would be surprised at how many EXPERIENCED players forget one of those three. Usually, this happens at the end of the day or beginning of the second day in a two-day event… and these mental errors can make or break your match. Trust me on that one- I've done it before at least three times I can think of, which is why the checklist.

Another thing is try to have an idea about how your opponent's army works. Knowing the basics about possible enemy forces will help you when you face them across the table. Do NOT be a afraid to ask him or her (yes there are female players and many are pretty good) about their army and anything special, are they all wysiwyg, etc. I will say with confidence that 90% of the players out there will tell you about their force and answer the questions you might have. If you don't know something about that army when it's mentioned, ask to see their codex so you understand. Again, most will help you out.

Remember to be polite- it don't hurt to do so…

**Prep**

Pack your army. Make sure what you plan on using is all there and painted to table standard at the very least. Far too many times, I have seen players madly working on their armies the night before to assemble and paint something that is supposed to be in their list.
Don't be that guy…

Remember your books, dice and templates (I've forgotten templates, which is why I try to put them in the box nowadays). Make certain you have enough army lists printed for yourself, the organizers and your opponents. Everyone wants to know what they are fighting and you will score points on the soft scores from the veteran players out there. If you got something tight in that force, they might wanna give it a spin sometime against their friends…

Knowing ahead of time that you have everything ready will greatly contribute to the next two items…

**Rest**

What it says. Sleep is your friend. Get about 6 hours…. As that is enough to get a decent rest and wake up in a fair mood… The less cobwebs in the head, the better you will both feel and do.

** Relaxation**

If it’s a GT, get to the event the night before if there is pre-GT festivities. Get some games in, have a good time… get loose. Remember, the next two days are going to be fairly intense for some people and it is best to go into it with a relaxed calm posture than a frenzied worried one.

This pre-GT event is usually a good time to pull that list out and play against someone in a pickup game… and it can serve as a confidence booster for the rest of the weekend… or even something to laugh about later.

If it is NOT a GT or two day event, still find time to relax. Read a book, chill out with your significant other, watch something on the boob-tube, maybe paint some figs NOT in the army you are going to play…. Just relax the brain, don't think about the tourney until you get up in the morning.

**Exercise**

I know, a dirty word to the majority of gamers. But getting a little bit before bed or in the morning when you get up helps to loosen your body up, get rid of the tight muscles or nerves and if done in the morning, gives you a bit of the Endorphin rush to wake you up.

I cannot recommend this enough… because if you do the next item along with this, you will not be dragging like so many others will come late on the 1st day and all day on day 2 in a multi-day event.

**Food and Drink**

#1 Rule of Tourney play in terms of sustinence- Breakfast is brain food.

All those reminders about eating right… come into play here. 40k can be a mental game in the strategic and somewhat in the tactical… making sure your brain has fuel to work and your body has something for its sustenance are important for the stress of the day. And believe me, it will be stressed at some point.

Avoid the Junk food. All too often, players will have crap for dinner or a bag of cheetos and Mountain Drew for their meals (if they remember to eat) during the day and it does absolutely nothing for them… Bring with you semi-healthy snacks, preferably something good for you.

Remember, No sugar rush means no sugar crash.

Hydrate… Hydrate… hydrate… I cannot stress this enough. Drink water, drink sports drinks drink something… though if you must drink soda, I recommend diet as there is no sugar. A Hydrated Player is a thinking player. A Dehydrated Player makes serious bone-headed mistakes as the dehydration helps your mind wander off to the moon chasing the nice rainbow butterflies…. when it should be thinking on the game in front of you.

Seen it happen to some degree at almost every RT I have ever played in. Don't be that guy or you deserve the mocking you will get. *grin*

Personally, I recommend the vitamin waters like Propel/Vitawater and sports drinks like Gatorade. Which means bringing a small cooler… usually the organizers have no problems with it so you should be good.

If you are above 21 and have beer stashed in it, that’s on you- just remember to include some bottles of water in there….

AND remember to not give any to those not of age. That last is a definite party foul which can come with all sorts of trouble.

Freedom Alliance Tournament: Adventurer's Guild, Harrisburg PA.

by Steel Thunder

The folks at the Adventurer's Guild, Rich Ditzler (owner), hold this tournament every year. Proceeds from the tournament are donated to the Freedom Alliance fund. It is a fund that serves as a scholarship for children of veterans who have died serving our country.

That in mind, we had a small turnout of six competitors, but the skill level of the competition was very good. It was a standard 1850 points. Rich prefers that armies are painted (3 colors or more), and based. I can tell you that NOT having painted armies really does hurt your soft scores in overall tournament rankings.

I brought in Krogg's Karnage, my Goff Ork list. I tried a new modification, using two mobs of 20 stormboyz, instead of the Heavy stuff I tend to bring (2 Deff Dreads, 3 killa kanz). In theory it was a very cool and scary tactic. In practice, I got way too aggressive with the stormboyz, getting too far ahead of the rest of my armies.

Of the armies present were:

My Goff Space Orks (Me)
Another Goff Space Orks (rival warlord, Scott)
Space Marines: Mentor Legion (Rich Ditzler & Rich Wood)
Space Wolves: (Adam Hargrave?)
Imperial Guard with Battle Sisters support (Rob Morris)
Sisters of Battle (Anthony Gibb).

Well, in the end I placed 3rd overall. Here's are the details of my battles, oh and by the way.....Warlord Krogg Satogg survived every fight!

Game 1: Was Dawn of War and Capture and Control (each with 1 objective marker in your deployment zone). My opponent was Anthony Gibb. He and I seem to have this Arch Rivalry building in tournaments. He won the Mini-GT at the Adventurers Guild in January (beating me, just barely in our match), and I trounced him at the Hard Boyz Tournament. We've tied once before.

He started with nothing on the table, keeping everything in reserve. I put my Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun in a wooded area deep in my south east corner, supported by a grot screen of 20 gretchin. My 2nd troop choice was my mob of trukk boyz in war trukk, hiding behind a large building, waiting to spring out into battle.

With no enemy forces to shoot at starting turn 1, all my orks ran onto the battle field. Deff Dread took up the western (left) flank supporting the trukk mob. I brought my main forces in waves, led by the 'Ard Boyz in a wide screen across the middle of the field, followed by my slugga boyz, and than shoota boyz behind them. I wanted to try to hit them in waves and offer my unarmored troops the chance at cover saves, whilst the 'Ard Boyz had a 4+ armor save. I brought on one mob of stormboyz, and ran them with the tankbustas into cover as well. I held the 2nd wave of stormboyz in reserve.

Sisters turn 1: The battle sisters came out in a fully mechanized force. Several Rhino's, 2 Exorcists tanks. They had their objective (a vortex grenade template) holed up deep on the north east corner. As they came onto the table, some popped smoke, but not one of them caused a single casualty, leaving my forces fully intact at the end of turn 1.

Turn 2: Action started fast and furious. I ran most of my infantry troops, each wave seeming to gain an inch over the one behind them. The Red Stormboyz mob, led by the Nob: Da Red Barun, (and they are called "Da Flyin' Circumstances) leapt towards the lead Rhino on the eastern flank. 20 stormboyz swarmed it, 80 attacks, including one big choppa, but hitting on 6's, all I managed to do was take out most of its weaponry. This would leave the stormboyz out as sitting ducks. On a plus side, the Shokk Attack Gun managed to immobilize another Rhino on the far North West side of the battlefield, away from the main action.

Anthony took full advantage of this and moved his units into position to hit the stormboyz with everything he had. He did a good job, with heavy flamers and such, but all in all, though he wiped out the 19 stormboyz that made up "Da Flyin' Circumstances", Da Red Barun was still alive and well and just stood there laughing how he was surrounded by " umie gurlz wit gunz".

Turn 3 started off with a "Bang!", literally. The Tankbustas moved up, and thanks to the stormboyz drawing fire, it pulled enemy tanks into range for them. They fired rokkits and released bomb squigs. One squig ran away, with nothing else in range for it to hit, but the other one was dead on target, and followed up with a rokkit shot, managed to destroy a tank.

The shoota boyz slowed up their charge, taking up a rear cover position around my objective, while the 'ard boyz and slugga boyz kept running across the field of battle. Big shootas from the shoota boyz mob managed to immobilize another tank. The 2nd wave of stormboyz started to move up into positon, but the Lone Red Barun jumped behind enemy lines and sliced through the fuel tanks of an Exorcist with his 'Uge Choppa, causing the entire vehicle to explode. He laughed out loud as he was covered in fuel and soot and dead girly parts.

Turn 3 for the sisters saw a lot of shooting. Having their units in position, some tanks popped smoke, and some unloaded their passengers, who fired a hell storm of bolter fire into my ranks. The shooting took out a good 2 dozen orks, maybe more. It was enough to cause the 'ard boyz to halt their charge and fall below the magic "11" number and no longer be fearless. I forgot to put a bosspole on the nob, and they started running. Still as it was, I had near if not over 100 troops yet on the table. The look on Anthony's face was great. "Holy crap! Just how many orks are there?"

Turn 4 I made some mistakes. I should just have kept the Red Barun jumping around and popping tanks. Instead I gambled to use him to try and slow down some sisters that were closing in on my trukk mob and deff dread on the western flank. It was a bad move because he got pulled down in a heap. On a good note, my other mob of stormoboyz assaulted some girls and took many of them out. The Tankbustas managed to close up on another rhino and take it down with the tank hammer (STR-10 close combat weapon!). The Explosion was fun, taking out boyz and girls alike. The slugga boyz also got into assault range, and the 'ard boyz kept running.

The sisters did well, eventually taking out both the trukk boyz mob and the sisters toting around Eviscerators managed to stop my deff dread in it's tracks and leave it for scrap. The fight was getting ugly. Sisters had full control of their objective, and mine was under heavy guard by shoota boyz, a nob with a power claw and my warboss in mega armor.

Finishing out turn 5 we were locked in a draw. Sisters were closing in on my objective but they were sorely out gunned and the Warboss made his presence known. We were to play a turn 6, but time constraints would not allow it. So I ended up in a draw.

Other fights on that battle were: Mentor Legion Space Marines vs. Guard & Sisters:

And on the other table: Space Wolves tangled with another ork mob:

My Game 2 was a Pitched Battle of Control and Capture, with 5 objectives. As fate would have it, I would square off against the other ork warlord. Two Goff armies led by their bosses to determine who would get the nod from Grazhkul Ulkthrakka to lead the next Waaagh! Maybe?

The player was Scott and he had played well in other tournaments with other armies in the past. I think he had daemons the last time I seen him in a tournament. Well, he acquired some orks, and had a really cool looking battlewagon he got from a friend in Florida.

We started off and I had the first go around. His army was led by a Big Mek with force field generator. Mine was as listed above and again I got way too aggressive with my storm boyz. I wanted to get jump on him, and moved both of my stormboyz into cover (also known as Dangerous Terrain), to force him to come after me and the objectives. However, I lost 6 stormboyz in the forest and 4 in the ruined building.

As I said, i got too aggressive, and Scott countered with his stormboyz getting the charge on mine. He also had other troops that managed to close up quick on mine and get close enough to make it near the ruins as well.

In the distance, Scott had Flash Gitz with Snazz guns laying down covering fire. I was able to move my white squad of stormboyz (led by the infamous Chubby Chekkaz), and take the fight to them and gun them down and tear them apart. My hard boyz had a tough time making it through the ruins in the center and were backed up by my slugga boyz. On the Eastern side, my shoota boyz were in another structure, claiming another objective and were backed up by my deff dread. To my south west, in the high building was my Big Mek with shokk attack gun, but he was relatively ineffective most of the game.

I was lucky that my stormboyz outnumbered my enemies (he only had 10 in his mob, I had 20). He ended up crashing the lines with his stormboyz and forcing my tankbustas in the woods into combat. My I must say, the tankhammer is nice to have in close combat.

Rounding out turn 2, enemy forces closed in on the middle structure and a huge melee broke out. They took out my trukk boyz and did a number on my 'ard boyz. I followed suit with my Warboss joining into the fray and that was enough to turn the tide and force his troops back. I than pulled my forces west to help counter his charge by his Big Mek. Things were getting ugly on both sides of the battle field. On the Eastern flank, the Battle Wagon made its presence known and dumped off a mob of Skarboyz, Ork Nobs, with a Painboy who gave them all cybork bodies. (cybork bodies are 5+ invulnerable saves, Painboy grants "Feels No Pain" to the unit).

By this time, we both made mistakes. I forgot to fire my shokk attack gun and assault with my deff dred, and he forgot to put 2 trukks with boyz on the table, so there were in reserve for the battle.

We had so many darn models to move, that we only got 3 full turns in. I dominated the Western Flank, taking down his Big Mek and wiping out all resistance there. In the north, middle, my stormboyz wiped out one trukk causing it to careen off the table and explode. (Errata says that the trukk should have stopped at the table edge, found that out later). His other trukk moved and took a nearby objective. As for the objective in the East, he had troops on it, but my deff dred was close enough to contest it, thus leaving us locked in a tie.

It was a good fight that saw well over 270 models duke it out in a huge fight.


Game 3 was vs. Rob Morris and his Imperial Guard & Battle Sisters Army.

Deployment was spear head and mission was Annihilation. This ended up being a very close fight again, but I made a huge mistake again, moving my stormboyz too far too fast.

I got to place and go first. My opponent just saw a wave of massed green forces. I deployed my units to run in waves just like I did against my first opponent. Orks were forced to dodge multiple large blast templates (about 5 per turn) and suffered casualties on the drive.

I got too aggressive because as the Stormboyz ran into cover, they got overwhelmed by concentrated fire. Massed tanks, missiles, and Leman Russ went for the white squad that went North East. Heavy flamers and support of the sisters took a heavy toll on the Red squad of stormboyz too.

My Big Mek had trouble centering the Shokk Attack gun on any viable targets, only glancing and nothing really enough to be made noteworthy.

I tried to keep my forces moving, running infantry and bringing my trukk mob up for support to my stormboyz that were now in danger of being overrun themselves. As for the white squad, they never had a chance, I jumped them too far and they had little to no cover.

The Trukk Boyz gained some ground and entered the woods, trying to aid their comrades. The Trukk kept moving on, lending it's Big Shoota in attempts to take out enemy rhinos and chimeras. It did manage to cause some damage, immobilizing a tank.

Enemy shooting was taking heavy tolls on my men. Pitiful difficult terrain and running rolls kept my forces stymied in trees and mud and out of closing distance to do some serious damage. Then the weird stuff started to happen. My Big Mek fired the shokk attack gun. The result was an 11 (5,6), and forced the Mek to warp himself into his target, causing him to assault the targeted Rhino in the rear. The Mek landed atop the Rhino in such a mad fury that he pulled out his choppa and started carving the vehicle apart. The explosion that ensued took out a few girls and boyz and left the mek sitting in a crater.

Enemy forces rallied and the Mek got off one more shot with the gun glancing a tank before a band of Seraphim swarmed him in the crater and cut him down to shreds. The hardboyz got wiped out, but their nob leader was still running around with a powerclaw intent on carving apart transports. The Warboss, Krogg Satogg jumped in against an elite unit of sisters with his power claw and was doing a number on them. Try as they might, they were unable to do more than a wound or two, thanks to his mega armor (2+ save).

It was a fight to behold, and though we only got 4 turns in, the kill count was close. The orks had scored 4 points, but thanks to the Big Mek launching himself from the safety of his trees and grot screen, the sisters and guard claimed 5 kill points. What could have been a tie ended up in a very close loss for me.

Still, Warlord Krogg Satoog did well, surviving every battle and making his presence known throughout the galaxy. This was a nice test for the GT upcoming in West Chester, where Warlord Krogg plans to unleash his Karnage in yet another tournament.

Thanks to over all scores that include sportsmanship and painting, appearance, army theme and such, I placed 3rd overall despite 2 draws and 1 loss.

1st Place: Scott with Orks (Tied him)
2nd Place: Anthony Gibbs with Battle Sisters (Tied him too)
3rd Place: Mike Biancone (ME!) With Goff Orks. Krogg's Karnage!