Holiday Loot Haul

I had said that this moment was coming, and that moment is upon us my friends...the holiday loot wrap up! Thanks to the amazing Amazon wish list, the giving gifts to Mik season is much easier. It may take some of the fun out of it but when you have hobbies as specific as ours any ole random present won't do! That being said, I was still in store for many a surprise this holiday season, one of which I'm wearing at the big family Christmas dinner party over yonder to the left. All right, enough, on to the loot.


Legends of Anglerre is one of those books I've had on my wish list forever and just never saw myself actually getting. It's also one of those books I kind of need because we do so much with it, especially as of late. I get by with the PDF, but for roleplaying books I kind of prefer, well, a book. Needless to say, I was very happy to pick that one up. Next up is the Thundarr DVD boxed set. Thundarr! As a kid I loved Thundarr and as an adult gamer now there are so many nuggets and gems to extract from it, especially for post-apocalyptic settings. If you don't know about the world of Thundarr, Lords of Light! Get to it!

Assassin's Creed Revelations follows suit and since I just conquered all of Skyrim, it's pretty good timing. Having played a little bit so far though I can see why it got lackluster reviews, it's more of the same without anything new. Mind you, if you loved the previous Assassin's Creed games like I have, then it's no problem.

I got a mandolin book as well, though mandolin playing isn't something I blog about it is something that I do from time to time, and this book in particular has a bit of a personal connection as well, so I was quite happy to unwrap this one. I also got a movie, the New World. In this day of Netflix and cable and what-not it takes quite a bit for me to want to permanently add a movie to the collection, but this is one of those movies.



My wardrobe grew as well, including a Captain America shirt, a Green Lantern shirt (whose tag claims it glows in the dark), and a rockin' San Fransisco Giants ball hat. Finally would be a pair of Two Hour Wargames 5150 rulebooks, the pseudo-rpg/narrative skirmish game New Beginnings and the campaign/scenario book First Contact. New Beginnings at first glance looks incredibly detailed and is easily over two hundred pages. It seems to have a little bit of everything in it so you can make your games as detailed as you want. First Contact is basically a set of scenarios designed around a central narrative; rebels on Mars breaking away from their Earth benefactors. For what it is it looks cool.

That's it for the loot wrap up, which means this year is fast coming to a close. Stay tuned for tomorrow's post, the third annual Year in Review. Until then, enjoy!

New Games In Hand

Things have been quiet around here on the gaming front. I'm still doing stuff, it just hasn't been the over-the-top game-a-palooza pace that y'all have been accustomed to seeing me do. A cool thing to report on though is a couple of rulebooks I picked this week and last.

First things first is the above copy of Tomorrow's War, and man has this book been highly anticipated! It's the definitive sci-fi standalone in the same vein as the modern cousin, Force on Force. I can't wait to sink my teeth into this one, and there's a lot of sinking to do...it is a mighty tome indeed. I see it's not released for a couple of more weeks yet, so I count myself lucky to have been able to snag an advanced copy.


Next up on the new rules list is 5150 Star Army, and if you've been a reader here you know there have been a lot of 5150 games in the past. Also, readers will note there have been times where getting the rules down consistently has been troublesome for me. Well even after a cursory glance it seems all that and more has been fixed in this new edition. It's not just a new edition, it's a complete overhaul really.

In related news, I will be reviewing these two games in particular, as well as other games and the like over at Santa Cruz Warhammer. In addition to my Barter Bucketing responsibilities at SCWH there's going to be a new feature with me reviewing tabletop games, card games, videogames, movies, whatever that may be gaming related. My first review is up of the Space Marine videogame, and a preview of 5150 Star Army is due in a few days from now. I'll keep the cross-posting to a minimum, and still keep my battle reports here of course.

Routine Mission Is Anything But

In late February of 4821 there was a reported encounter on the remote and rocky moon Marchion within Gaea Prime space. A large Star Army station maintains orbit around Marchion and serves as a launching point for deploying troops to other systems. The dry moon moon has a tolerable atmosphere, but there is little to attract long term colonization. Even base ores and resources prove to be too cost prohibitive to harvest.

Marchion is home to two things, the first of which is an excellent training ground for Star Army maneuvers. The other is that the scattering of populated areas that do exist are far removed from the laws and regulations found closer in the system. If you want to disappear, Marchion may be the best place to go, it's as backwater as it gets.


For the Star Army team I rolled randomly for the REP levels. The rep stat helps determine how competent the individual is and more importantly how they react to situations. I got an interesting mix of both high and low, without anything in between. This must mean that a group of experienced soldiers are taking some rookies out for a jaunt around the block, err, moon. All are wearing Hard Body armor, three have laser rifles, the NCO has a laser carbine, and one trooper is equipped with a rapid-fire laser rifle (SAW).


The Nomads are a force out of the scenario book Under a Hishen Sky (which I no longer see available), and represent wastelanders for the most part. I used Basics as their core profile, Basics being stock humans. For the models I went to my Necromunda Ratskins, since they look the part. I equipped them exactly as the figs look, so it's a mix of assault rifles, pistols, shotguns, even a laser rifle. I equipped all but one figure in soft body armor, because their hides and skins look pretty tough. The last guy is basically nude, so no armor for him. As with the Star Army, I rolled randomly for everyone's rep levels here too.


My junkyard cars are for 15mm games, but I put them on here anyway to just kind of abstractly represent this arid, junked and abandoned moon. Even though the scale is way off, during the battle they just kind of blend in and you don't really notice. I gotta say, this is the one time I wish I had a terrain mat, a desert one would've been perfect!


There's a sat-comm tower here as a type of backwater, remote signaling station. Next to the array is a pair of Boutron-class generators, providing plenty of juice to the station to run autonomously for decades at a time. There's also a pretty crude fence around the dish, just to let chance wandering locals know they need to stay clear of it.

Below are pics I took during the battle as well as my notes. I broke down the notes I took during the game by turns, so I'll list these as bullet points. Had I thought about it, I would've typed these up as I went along instead of having to transcribe them now!

To pick the scenario I used the military encounters table and rolled up 'Raid'. The Star Army's objective is to get the enemy Nomads to surrender, if nothing else at least capture one or more of them and drive the rest off. The Nomads don't have a goal, they're just hanging out and don't even know the Star Army has detected them.

• Star Army enters area and splits into two teams trying to surround the unsuspecting Nomads.
• One trooper and the SAW gunner split right while the NCO takes the others troopers left.
• Starting table edge was rolled for randomly.

• I give the Nomads d6 turns to hang out around the sat-comm array before they get bored and move on the generators.
• I roll a '1', so they get bored pretty quickly!
• This means the Star Army isn't in ideal position before the Nomads are on the move, and that means the Star Army might get spotted.

• So far lines of sight are obscured by terrain and the Star Army is being pretty stealthy.
• The NCO leaves his two troopers at the barricade as he circles back, the Nomads moving early on changed the original plan.

• Leaving the SAW gunner on his own, the other trooper is ordered to join the NCO.
• They hug close to a hill for cover while moving up the middle.
• Two troopers are on the far left, crawling towards cover
• The SAW gunner holds the right flank behind the cover of debris.

• Nomads have now moved to the generators and begin milling about there.
• I had to keep an eye out for their facing, which could trigger in-sight checks on the Star Army, who still weren't quite in position.

• To randomly determine facing at the end of the Nomad's movement I was able to use my new 'cardinal direction' dice. A wrong roll here meant the Star Army would be seen.
• The Nomad leader, Chief Anikando, comes around the generator and makes an in-sight check on the Star Army NCO, passing it.
• He opens fire with his shotgun, but is too far away to be effective, still the Star Army NCO is forced to duck back since his laser carbine is technically 'outgunned' by the shotgun.
• As the NCO falls back, the next Star Army trooper becomes visible, so Anikando makes another in-sight check and passes it as well.
• Again he opens fire and again comes up short, but the booming report of the shotgun causes the trooper who was in the open to go to ground, prone.

• On the Star Army's next activation they move into position to advance upon the Nomads.
• One trooper on the far left flank hits a Nomad in cover from 20" out with his laser rifle, killing him instantly, drawing first blood.
  
• The rest of the troopers carefully use cover as they slowly tighten the noose and advance.
• The Star Army NCO calls out for the Nomad surrender but gets no response, things look to be going very well for the Star Army.
  

• The Nomad named Plantain has somehow acquired a scope for his assault rifle and has wedged himself between the hard cover of both generators, giving him an excellent sniping position.
• As the Star Army SAW gunner moves from one piece of cover to the next, he comes across Plantain's field of fire, and is nailed by the sniper, going down severely wounded and out of the fight.
• Another Nomad rounds the far side of the generator (the spot where the last Nomad was killed) and is immediately sighted-in by a Star Army trooper waiting in cover.
• The Star Army trooper fires at the Nomad, but misses.
• The Nomad passes his 'received fire' check, and snaps off a return shot with his assault rifle killing the Star Army trooper dead before the body even hits the ground.

• The NCO scrambles to the top of the hill and guns down the Nomad with his laser carbine.
• Next he orders the trooper in cover at the base of the hill to go to the wounded SAW gunner and retrieve the SAW.
• As this trooper does, the same Nomad with the scoped assault rifle, Plantain, takes him out with a head shot, killing him instantly.
• The Star Army NCO is now looking at three of his troopers down, two of which have flat-lined on his squad monitor.
• The NCO calls for the all-retreat to the remaining trooper.

• Two Nomads have been gunned down and killed, but three still remain.
• The Nomad leader has snuck around the left flank, hoping to come up behind the remaining troopers, or at least maneuver to a good crossfire position.
  
• The Nomad sniper named Plantain continues to do very well.
• The near-naked Nomad with the two pistols hasn't had an activation since the beginning of the game when he moved to the generators.

• Not wanting to leave anything behind for the Nomads to use, the NCO orders the last trooper to stop by his fallen comrade and remove the rifle and comm-gear.
• The NCO skids down the hill to do the same with the other dead trooper and hopes to drag the wounded SAW gunner to safety.

• Seeing an open target, Plantain moves from cover and around the generator.
• He zeroes in on the trooper grabbing equipment.
• The trooper is unable to make an in-sight check on Plantain because his back is turned to him.
• Plantain is once again successful as he hits the Star Army trooper no fewer than three times (I rolled two sixes and a five!) knocking the trooper to the ground, wounding him and putting him out of the fight.

• The NCO gets to the fallen SAW gunner, shoulders his own laser carbine and hoists the much larger weapon, he then gets ready to haul the wounded gunner to safety.
  
• I make an impromptu 'rep-check' for the NCO to see if he'll stick to his training and get off the board to go get reinforcements or if he'll stubbornly stay and fight to avenge his fallen troops, even if it means suicide.
• Meanwhile, the Nomad leader and Plantain both advance on the NCO's position.

• The NCO passes his rep check, he knows he has to get out of there.
• With two enemies bearing down on him, the NCO also knows he'll have to leave the wounded gunner behind.
  
• The Nomad leader steps from cover to blast the NCO, but the NCO makes his in-sight check and instead blasts the Nomad leader at point-blank range with the SAW.
• The Nomad leader's soft body armor is shredded, but it did its job as he is knocked to the ground unharmed.
• Keeping cover between himself and the sniper, the NCO makes a hasty retreat from the field, ending the conflict.
  

The battle is over and the Nomads mourn the loss of two of their own. They give them proper burials (after their gear has been removed of course). Their ranks are bolstered by many more Nomads across the wastes, however this victory was still costly.


Two wounded Star Army troopers make for some very nice negotiating power, but in reality I suspect these poor fellows are about to become dinner. The other two fallen troopers will be stripped of anything usable and dumped unceremoniously in a shallow grave. Although the NCO did make off with the SAW, the Nomads still picked up an impressive four suits of (slightly used) Hard Body armor as well as three laser rifles. Not only that, but they also have the comm-gear off the troopers which they can use to monitor communications of any future Star Army transmissions that make it down to the planet.

For the following turn within the campaign season I stacked the deck pretty high for another encounter hoping for some Star Army payback. Dice being dice however it didn't work out to the Star Army's favor and the encounter never transpired. I chalk this up to the Nomads being able to cover their tracks too well.

With a military installation in orbit, and a slaughtered squad on the ground, you can better believe there will be follow-up action. You can also bet it is not going to go well for the Nomads. At all. That however is a tale for another time and the galaxy is way too big to dwell on it, we have other battles to be fought elsewhere!


Here are the notes and bullet points I took during the battle. I must say, the reaction system never fails to impress me. This battle was supposed to be a cakewalk for the Star Army, but as you can see, it was as far from that as possible. It certainly made for a good story though, and a fun game, and those are the two things I was looking for!

Winter, 4821

I've got the first strategic campaign turn of my solo 5150 foray finished up and here are the results. There's usually a lot going on in a single campaign turn (which comprises an entire season), so any battles and what-not will get their due as a true bat-rep. To see who's going to war with whom, what morale rolls and all of that good stuff are I'm referring back to this original post. One season consists of three months, and each month is broken down into two halves, with each half potentially seeing action. At the very start of the campaign turn (season) you roll to see which empires are at war, and with whom.

Gone to War:

• Quar vs. Bugs, in Bug space. With the Bug territories encroaching on the system that holds both Quar planets, a pre-emptive plan is put into motion. A Quar strike force launches out in their astro-zeppelins on a suicide mission to head off the approach.
• Grath vs. Grath, intersystem conflict. Two minor warlords, both governors (and both brothers) start a brutal civil war that begins to draw in neighboring provinces. The nature of the conflict is incredibly trivial, having to do with a disagreement over a misunderstood etiquette protocol that occurred during a large stately dinner party.
• Drantakh vs. Zhuh-Zhuhs, in neutral space. Drantakh deep range scouts survey a potential habitable world, but stumble upon a Zhuh-Zhuh war fleet licking their wounds from a previous battle in what they thought was unoccupied space.
• All others at peace.

Turns:

• January (early): ER (Encounter Rating) 1. Result: Pass 0d6, no encounter.
• January (late): ER 1. Result: Pass 0d6, no encounter.
• February (early): ER2. Result: Pass 0d6, no encounter.
• February (late): ER2. Result: Pass 2d6, encounter. Star Army vs. Nomads. On a backwater moon reserved mostly for Star Army training and maneuvers, the Star Army encounter Nomads tampering with sat-comm equipment and move to intercept and apprehend. Before the Star Army troopers are fully in position the Nomads spot them and open fire. Things go from bad to worse for the Star Army, as their troopers are taken out left and right. The Star Army NCO manages to escape battlefield after grabbing a fallen trooper’s SAW. Two Star Army troopers are killed, two more are taken hostage. Two Nomads are killed in the battle as well.
• March (early): ER3. Result: Pass 1d6, with immediate re-roll, no encounter (but close). The surviving Star Army NCO gets whatever troops are on hand back in the field to try and track down the Nomads before the trail goes cold. After searching they find two fallen Star Army troopers in a shallow grave. No signs of the Nomads, or the hostages, anywhere.
• March (late): ER1. Result: Pass 0d6, no encounter. The trail goes completely cold as the Nomads disappear into the wastes with their two Star Army captives and loot; four suits of Hard Body armor, and three laser rifles.

End of Strategic Campaign Turn One

With the way strategic turns are set up, you are given a lot of options of when and where the action takes place and with whom. You could easily go with one of the wars currently taking place, or do what I did and go another route entirely. Of course it also depends on what figs you have on hand, but with so many races in the mix, I foresee a lot of proxying. It's also a great way to get inspired to paint something up quickly.

Being the first turn of the campaign (consisting of six "mini-turns") I kept the encounter ratings low so I could ease into things. From the turns that took place here you can see there actually was some action that took place anyway. I played this out as a full battle (which I'll post soon). All in all I don't have any complaints with how the system is working out. The only way to get to know the rulebook is to actually use it on a regular basis, so there is a learning curve at play. So far I've just been dealing with the 'military operations' part of the rulebook, but the ultimate goal for me is to get to the 'adventurers' section where you're using even fewer models per side but they're more like true named personalities with skills and can gain experience. It becomes kind of like a hybrid roleplaying and tabletop game.

Happy New Year, 4821

This January kicks off turn one of my solo 5150 campaign. To make it easy to track, the campaign system follows a regular Earth-month schedule, consisting of two turns per month; early and late. There are four total "strategic campaign turns" per year consisting of three month seasons; winter, spring, summer, and fall.

The pace of the campaign will pick up obviously and not follow the course of our year as it progresses. Right now is just a good place to start being an "official" new year and all. Strategic campaign turns only happen four times in a campaign year and set the tone for war in the universe, setting up which races are at war with whom.

Within each season of the campaign, there are six encounter turns, which may or may not yield and actual game on the tabletop. You can set your own encounter ratings, so it can be skewed for battle or not. In this first turn I had a lot of other 'bookkeeping' to get done laying the campaign groundwork, so I skewed it towards peace.


There are sixteen total races/empires to keep track of. I whipped up the above chart shown here to put all of the information in one place. Many of these factors determine how often a race goes to war and whether or not they stay there.

I divided the races into two categories with the first eight races as the 'major' players and the second eight races, that were released in the aliens sourcebook, as the lesser races. All this means is if there were star charts drawn up, those first eight races would occupy larger territories. I put on the chart a territory size, which is a number I made up mostly derived from the race's tech level and its motivation for war as well. My plan is to flesh out these systems as the races are pulled into conflict, which should be staggered.

Man, there's not a lot of "fun" in this post is there? Well I've gone on long enough, next time around will be the results for the first strategic campaign turn as well as the encounter for the first half of the first month. Just as a side note, the number 5150 in the game's title refers to an intergalactic penal code, not the year itself. For the year, as you can tell from the title, I went with 4821, one hundred game years after the last time I tried a 5150 solo campaign. That's all for now, until then, enjoy!

Pig Iron Heavy Infantry

Pig Iron Productions puts out some great sci-fi models, if you're reading this blog in the first place you probably already know that. They're not as cheap as say a box of Sci-Fi Greatcoats put out by Wargames Factory, but you get some solid models nonetheless. These models exude pure military sci-fi goodness and really beat out pretty much everyone else when it comes to near-future troopers.

Equipment is fatigues under believable flak armor, rifles that make sense, and little extras that seal the deal. The figs shown here are single piece molds in cast metal, but they also offer multi-piece figures, equipment packs, a large array of head packs for conversions, as well as robots, vehicles, etc.

I've had these for a while now, but I didn't paint them so I never felt the need to post anything about them, especially since they weren't seeing any action. My very talented brother-in-law painted these up for another friend of mine as a commission. He's the same guy who painted up my Dark Angels Dreadnought too, his brush skills aren't too shabby. Through various trading, haggling, and what-not these troops ended up in my possession.

A pair of five-man fireteams

There hasn't been any dirtside action for these troopers until now. I lamented my lack of any consistent gaming with a single ruleset in my '10 Wrap-up, and to fix that I've decided to look (once again) into the oft-hyped, but oft-frustrating, 5150 rules from Dos Horas la Guerra Juegos. The main reason to go back to these is their reaction system, which facilitates solo play easily enough and allows for a good deal of variety.

Looking through my old notes and papers I found a short 5150 solo campaign I ran way back before I started this blog. It comprised of half a dozen games and I remember having a blast with them. Solo gaming is not my preference mind you, but it's good for something to do and will help me get a better grip on the rules with consistent play. Plus, I can leave the table set up and come back to the game at hand a day later if need be.

I would like to also pick up the Mythic RPG system to piggyback fluff and background to the tabletop mechanics and campaign. As a group, it seems like we're playing a different game every other week, so this way I can have my cake and eat it too. It being a new year and the first month, I'll be posting the first campaign turn here very soon.

Theta Squad Command Team

I have just enough troopers to make a single, good-sized squad / section. My section here (Theta Squad henceforth) consists of a command team and the two fireteams you see below. In the command team you have; the squad leader, communications trooper, specialist (sniper), specialist (combat medic), and protocol droid.

Fireteam Chimera

Fireteam Pegasus

Each of the two fireteams are organized with the R-T-F-A format. Each fireteam consists of a 'ready' element (two riflemen), 'team' element (an NCO), 'fire' element (a SAW gunner), and finally the 'assist' element to round it all out (assistant SAW gunner).

I'm going to use the written 5150 universe as the backdrop to my campaign because I simply don't want to have to reinvent the wheel. I'll make some tweaks along the way so it'll fit as I need it too, but it'll be more or less unchanged. To that end, Theta Squad here will represent troopers from Gaea Prime as Star Army soldiers.

The Apes of Wrath

Thanks to a timely post over at All Things Fett, I was privy to a large clearance sale at Fantasy Flight Games. The sale is over now, but not before I got in a good-sized order at a pint-sized price. AT43 items were being sold at nickles on the dollar and I raked in as much as my tight budget would allow, which wasn't much in terms of dollars, but yielded a large box full of "damn dirty apes in power armor", so I was a happy camper.


I picked up a trio of their exo-hardsuits, two core unit boxes of Karmans, a matching unit attachment box for each core unit box, and a couple of Karman heroes, all for just $34 bucks! I blew my nicely padded 'miniatures bought in 2010' number out of the water, but it was worth it because I don't have to paint them!

I do planning on spiffing them up just a bit, not a lot but just enough to make them presentable on the tabletop. If you recall my Sci-Fi Simians post some time ago I scored a pair of these apes and tweaked them ever-so-slightly. Mainly I'll get some flock on their bases, rip off those awful wrist-dual-pistol things, and touch up some details on the faces like eyes, optic lenses, and the like. They will primarily be for 5150, and represent the hulking Zhuh-Zhuh. Really though, they should work in just about any 28mm sci-fi setting.

ZHUH-ZHUH is the common term for
members of the infraorder SUPRASIMIIFORMES
also referred to as SIMIANS. When expeditions from
GAEA PRIME had first contact with the Zhuh-Zhuhs
we were assumed that these were “evolved’ cousins
of the infraorder SIMIIFORMES or “higher primates”
that populate many worlds in one form or another.
This was incorrect as proven centuries later with data
that supports that Suprasimmiformes are much older
than was originally thought. Zhuh-Zhuhs or Zhuhs
come in all shapes and sizes ranging from smaller
three-foot tall members (MUGGIE ZHUH-ZHUHS) to
those close to seven feet tall. Further evidence
suggests that the Zhuh-Zhuhs have more in common
with the average BASIC than what is loosely termed
a “monkey”. Unfortunately, this evidence has done
little to offset the hostility that exists between Basic
and Simian. -from the free 5150 download, "Illegal Aliens"

Some slightly closer-up shots...


Now these hardsuits were $2 bucks a pop, and to my surprise they sport five points of articulation. Also to my surprise they were a lot smaller than I thought. Each one is about the size of the above apes themselves. I thought they were going to be the size of the AT43 Fire Toads, but that's all right. These are fine, since they are just hardsuits, but I thought they were more like walking tanks. Nonetheless, these will be perfect for use in the 15mm realms and form a nice squadron for the smaller guys.

So there you go, a bunch of figures to add to the pile. They'll all see some action sooner or later on the tabletop, well that's the plan anyway, right? Ahem...

An UN40K Game of 5150

As the title states, this was a great game of 40K but also UN-40K.  In this case, the rules are 5150, the Two Hour Wargames sci-fi shoot 'em up. It's a solid set of rules, but they do do suffer from some hiccups in the rules-translation-to-tabletop department. That being said, they're fun nonetheless and all it takes is a little bit of consistency and you should be good to go.

Face it, you cannot deny the "cool" factor of Games Workshop's minis, but sometimes you just want try out different rules. That's what we were doing here. Although there's no "official" stat block for our favorite genetic super-soldiers in 5150, you'd be hard-pressed to throw a stick into cyberspace and not find a homegrown set of Space Marine stats.


After all of my pics of Fall-In! tables you may be a little confused here. That's because the table Andy threw together was every bit as luscious as those at Fall-In!, if not more. The funny thing is, other than the terrain mat, most of this stuff was already in-house, so we could've been playing on terrain like this all along basically!


As amazingly tough as Imperial Space Marines are supposed to be, they kind of lose some of their impressiveness in translation to a regular game of 40k. Well, in the spirit of keeping Marines as elite as possible, how about the odds of nearly 7:1? That's right, the Tau Empire forces numbered 66 total models, the marines, Deathwatch in this instance, numbered just ten troops. Now that feels likes a situation Space Marines should be in!


If you head over to Andy's blog, Little Lead Heroes, you'll see at least double the number of photos. There were a lot of good ones to pick from and unfortunately some got left behind here, so head over there for yet even more eye candy.

The table was immaculate, so any action on said tabletop was bound to be pretty sweet. We were dealing with a couple of speed bumps with the rules, chief among them being our pure rustiness with them. That's going to hurt just about anyone in the same boat.


Tau orbital bombardments had pulverized the building structures on the far side of the field. This is where two fire-teams of Deathwatch took up defensive positions. The Tau Empire was on the move, reaving the planet along the way, and their primary goal was to get through this contested zone and to the next. The Deathwatch were going to make sure this didn't happen. Three Fire Warrior teams, a Pathfinder team, a stealth team in XV-16 suits, and two squads of Kroot mercs rounded out the Xenos forces. The Deathwatch marines comprised two teams of five, each led by a jump pack equipped sergeant. One squad had a SAW trooper hefting an Astartes-pattern Heavy Bolter. Chapters represented ranged from Howling Griffins, Ultramarines, Black Templars, Blood Angels, and more.


Tau troops advanced through the thick jungle and encroached upon the city. The Kroot sprinted ahead of the force and up the middle to the buildings. The wreckage of an Aquila Lander, shot down in the initial hours of the invasion, lays spread out across the field. The Fire Warriors cautiously take cover behind an outlying wall on the outskirts.


A reconnaissance squad of Vespid Stingwings lands among the Deathwatch with their Tau-manufactured Neutron Blasters, causing two of the Space Marines to hit the dirt. Here's where the numbers worked against the Space Marines in terms of stats, the Space Marines, although hard to outright kill, kept hitting the dirt more often than not. I remember in past 5150 games troops would often 'duck back', or seek cover, but just going prone every time was a tad annoying.


The Tau made a strong advance through the city, they had plenty of numbers to keep the Deathwatch suppressed. The Space Marines, in an act of desperation, switched from bolters to grenades...and found this tactic to be most effective. Astartes-pattern fragmentation grenades made short work of even the Tau's hardened carapace armor. In the end it was the morale that became the largest factor working against the xenos.


Two against sixteen; Deathwatch marines take cover inside the ruins of a building as a Stealth team and Fire Warrior squad move from cover to the open. The Burst Cannons of the Stealth suits laid down a withering hail of projectiles. The marines hunkered down below the broken wall and simply waiting for a chance to return fire.


This is one of my favorite photos of the night, and really sums up what the "UN40K" mentality is all about. Two Deathwatch troopers, just two, back-to-back and watching their flanks. Up top one squad of Fire Warriors is fleeing, but a full squad of Stealth suits were intact and en route. On the other side of the field two full Fire Warriors and a Kroot mercenary squads were steadily advancing. The odds were astronomically against them, but it's the kind of odds you read about in the novels, which is what we were shooting for, no pun intended.

Sometimes you just want your tabletop games to represent a certain quality or aspect in your chosen genre. It just comes down to finding the right rules that give you the feel you and your group are looking for for a given game.