BF4 SP Campaign, A Review, A Rant, and Tashgar

Flirting with the knife to cut the throat of 40K.

A few months ago my interest in 40K and the associated hobby aspect plummeted to a point where I completely lost interest. I tried multiple times to simply work on assembling some models, but the feeling was fruitless. I eventually packed all my 40K and related hobby stuff up and shelved it all. In the same circle, my interest in going to regular game nights dwindled as well to me not going anymore.

The past few months I have had plenty of opportunities to go play 40K, but I usually can find something else to fill my time. Even when I don't have anything planned I simply won't go or maybe deep down it is because I don't want to.

My Blood Angels have slowly dropped in usefulness in my opinion. I can take down certain units and opponents, but when it comes to character fights, flyers, and initiative in general the army falls apart or becomes a quick steady pile of auto-losses. My Tyranids are a bundle of useful and not useful units where I tend to proxy what I don't have or can't afford because it is stupid to spend so much. I still have a brand new Hive Tyrant and Tervigon, but I haven't had the urge to give a damn to assemble the models. Perhaps news of the new Codex might bring some joy, but I wonder of GW will just screw over Tyranids. My only hopes is the current 6th edition every army has some unique trait flows through them and they return as menacing horde and or heavy army.

In the meantime I plunged into the realm of Skyrim and found a huge world of possibilities and quests to keep my mind busy and soon came Diablo III and GTA V. All three of these games are huge and can take a long time to complete and can be repeated. I also now rent a Minecraft server and have my own small community of players I have come to enjoy the company of and watched a small world slowly develop. I can easily bide my time til BF4 and loose myself in a game I do enjoy and with the chance to rent your own server and run games with your friends multiplies the fun rate.

All the lack of gaming has made me question whether 40K is even worth it anymore. I have faced this demon before and I have held it at bay by limiting myself to only two armies. I somehow managed to purchase the new Chaos Codex with hopes to raise a small DIY chaos army from the Dark Vengeance. Sadly the models are still on the spruce like the Dark Angels models. Sadly it is where they may stay and be forever doomed. I guess the fact they came with the small rulebook gives them a pass. The cost of raising a chaos army is so far behind my Tyranid army its not even funny. These days I would rather through down $500 for a new XBOX One then pump money into something which may never get finish, used, or otherwise change for worse or better.

In the back of my mind I question whether buying into the Robotech Kickstarter was worth it. I backed a total of $246 into the Kickstarter so I could get two fully functional armies with plenty of options. This allows me to show the game or play the game not worrying if another player does not have the game. The one thing which saves this in my mind is I like the model and the Robotech saga in general. I am unsure if this game will ever pickup enough of a following or interest. Even more if any would care to try it, like it, and want to play it regularly.

Currently I am backing the Reaper Bones II Kickstarter mostly for some models to goof off with and paint. I missed out on the first Reaper Bones Kickstarter and they had some cool miniatures in there. Hilarious enough my daughter has begun lying claims to some of the miniatures in the current Kickstarter. The excellent compliment of heroes to villains gives me some ideas for a home brew fast paced hack and slash game. The idea may never bear fruit to anything at all, but I find it interesting.

About a month or so ago I managed to find a player who wanted to try the A Time of War RPG and I easily introduced the Battletech portion into our RPG campaign. So far the game is going smoothly with some hilarious RPG sessions. Mixing the ATOW and Battletech sessions is a challenge and more so to challenge the player, but otherwise is some serious fun.

Along the same lines I recently started assembling some Battletech battlemechs I still had in their packages. Some for reasons they might show up in the RPG campaign and other just for the sake of assembling them for hopeful future use. I even picked up a can or Army Painter Purple Alien spray paint to prime a few of my battlemechs. I have not gone further yet as I am looking into a purple wash to apply afterwards. It is easy to tell Battletech is my favorite game. I purchased and played it far before ever playing 40K. I may have found out about 40K before, but I am not sure.

Last week I started something hobby related. The picture below is a by product of the hobby for me and the picture was a good shot. Those who follow me will understand, those who can put clues together from previous posts should be able to figure it out as well. It is good news for me and good news to some on the internet and for anyone local remains hopeful. Perhaps it is an internal spark for the return of something. With this simple start I thought maybe I would go to one of the regular games and still I did not. Maybe I thought it was not right, not the time, but deep down its the feeling of why go, and I don't want to go. A feeling has been captured in my mind of what I can come to expect or not expect and it doesn't reflect everything, but it is enough to make me not want to go. Whether this means anything to anyone has me pondering and slowly tearing me apart.



For what it is worth, this is the only clue I will leave. Hopefully it or others will help kindle a flame which can just as easily burn out.

Battletech Battle Report

First Campaign Battle

I bring to you a great detailed Battletech Battle Report for your reading and viewing pleasure. This report details the beginnings of my friend mark and I's current A Time of War campaign along with the first Battletech combat engagement for the campaign . Mark is no stranger to RPGs, but this was his first game of Battletech. I decided against anything pre-selected and tried to make everything as random as possible along with the fact of tossing Mark and Mark's character Lyndon into something challenging. My last post tells about the Mark's charcter and his lance mates.

The story so far

Lyndon's parent company has been deployed to the Katerra system a group of similar junk works and moons with one detail keeping them from being rendered outright worthless. The world's moons have variable amounts of resources which can be mined. The largest entity and industry, Katerra Mine Works, KMO the local contracted mining company has been mining the resources for decades. The main populated planet Alpha Katerra has six moons, four of have mining operations in place, one moon has no mining resources whatsoever and the sixth moon has been abandoned due to an abundance of asteroid debris from a large asteroid belt near the moon.

KMO has experienced an increase in disturbances throughout the mines surrounding Alpha Katerra ranging from property damage to resource theft. KMO is fine when dealing with minor mining operation disruptions up to a certain point with their available pool of defense assets they have at their disposal. Mining operations on moon KA.M03 were disturbed further than usual when a battlemech was spotted terrorizing the operations. The Katera system is too far in the FWL borders to be a military target, but close enough the Periphery border for pirate incursions and infestations. KMO requested assistance from the FWL military forces once a battlemech was spotted which KMO defense is ill equipped to deal with.

Company command deployed to Alpha Katerra to setup operations while they deployed two lances to her outer moons, one to KA.M02 a moon with no mining operations and the other to KA.M04 a moon with Level 01 mining operations. Company command also deployed Lyndon's lance to KA.M03 a moon with Level 02 mining operations. Lyndon's lance would investigate the last area where mining operations were disturbed and a battlemech was spotted. The lances deployed remotely to KA.M02 and KA.M04 would act as nets and trap any enemy units that would flee from KA.M03.


Battlemech assignment, Pilot experience level, and Skill set

All of the Pirate force Battlemech units were assigned by rolling against a random assignment table. I changed the rolled Hunchback HBK-4G variant carrying an AC/20 to a HBK-4N variant carrying an AC/5. I felt the AC/20 was too big of a weapon for this game, plus the HBK-4N seems more suiting to a pirate force with its rather common weapon set.
The majority of pilots in the attacking force were Green level experience, which I rolled on the green column of the Random Skills Table. The pilots of the Assassin and the Centurion as lance leaders were considered regular so I rolled for their skills on the regular column of the Random Skills Table instead. Overall the random rolling produced some interesting and challenging skill sets for the attacking force.
All of the defending pilots were considered Regulars, but I still rolled for their skills on the regular column of the Random Skills Table. Again, interesting and challenging skill sets for the defending force.

I didn't consult Battle Value or tonnage, I went with the fact Mark's character went to investigate a disturbance and the last known location of an unknown battlemech. Mark's character happened to come across a little more than a simple force of pirate battlemechs conducting a raid.

Battle Setup

Mission

Hold The Line

Mission Objectives

The FWL forces must prevent the Pirate forces from passing the mountain range with any resources raided from the mines.

Mapsheets

Mapsheet Selection

Desert Sinkhole 01, Desert Sinkhole 02
Desert Mountain 01, Desert Mountain 02

Desert Sinkholes are mined resource areas and the mountains are un-mined resource areas.

North is right

Mapsheet layout

Northeast - Desert Mountain 02
Northwest - Desert Mountain 01
Southeast - Desert Sinkhole 01
Southwest - Desert Sinkhole 02

Battle Forces

Attacker

Unknown Pirate forces

Two Light Lances

Mech Lance 01

Locust LCT-1V  -  G 4  / P 5
Stinger STG-3R  - G 5 / P 6
Firestarter FS9-H  -  G 4  / P 5
Assassin ASN-21  -  G 4  / P 6

Mech Lance 02

Wasp WSP-1A  -  G 5  / P 6
Spider SDR-5V  - G 4  / P 5
Hunchback HBK-4N  -  G 4 / P 6
Centurion CN9-A - G 4 / P 6

Defender

FWL 9th Marik Malitia

Heavy Lance

Mech Lance 01

Phoenix Hawk PHX-1  - G 4 / P 5
Wolverine WVR-6M  - G 4 / P 6
Rifleman RFL-3N  - G 4 / P 5
Crusader CRD-3R  - G 3 / P 3

Battle Report

Deployment

The Pirate forces deployed along the South edge with lance 01 to the West and lance 02 to the East.

The FWL forces deployed along the North edge with the medium mechs in the West and the heavy mechs in the East atop a large mountain.

Turn 01

The two fastest Pirate mechs lead the charge towards the mountain pass followed by the slowest mechs down the middle bypassing the sinkholes. The Pirate mechs on the west flank utilized the sinkholes to cover their approach. The Pirate mechs on the East flank utilized the East mountain range to cover their approach.

The FWL heavy mechs held their current positions discerning some of the approaching mechs would have to funnel through the mountain range. The FWL medium mechs were sent ahead slightly into the Western mountain range to intercept any enemy flanking units from the slightly faster lance approaching from the Southwest.

Turn 02

All Pirate units kept the same pace and path .The Locust unlike the Assassin keeping to the middle for the first opening shot veered off behind the East mountain range for complete cover.

The FWL medium mechs moved further out to gain the high ground and protect the West flank against the fast approaching enemy mechs. The FWL heavy mechs stayed in position for fire support.

The Assassin fired his LRM launcher first at the FWL mechs specifically aiming for the stationary Crusader. The Hunchback joined by firing some LRMs at the Crusader as well, but all the LRMs sped harmlessly past the Crusader.

Since the Assassin and the Hunchback both tried for the Crusader, the Crusader was joined by the Rifleman in returning fire back to the approaching Assassin. The Crusader using his superior gunnery skills to surpass the Assassin's speed let loose with his LRM launchers sending a group of twelve LRMs slamming into the Assassin's center torso. The Assassin braced for the incoming munitions, the Assassin held steady, but an alert came up signaling his engine had suffered damage causing a massive heat surge going forward. The Rifleman sent autocannon fire into the Assassin's left arm tearing into the internal structure. Despite suffering no more critical damage, the Assassin's pilot could not hold his mech upright and fell to the ground severely damaging the remaining outer armor on the left torso.

Turn 03

The Assassin gained its feet and jumped away from the middle leaving the territory to the slower mechs. The Assassin was now in the company of a trio of light mechs also fully utilizing the East mountains for cover. The Firestarter lead the Stinger into combat against the FWL medium mechs.

The FWL medium mechs moved to the enemy light mechs while gaining the advantage of the high ground. The heavy mechs stayed in position for fire support.

The Firestarter was the only mech in the West mountains to get any weapon to connect being a ML to the Wolverine. The Centurion's pilot took a chance to fire at the Wolverine atop the mountain firing his heavy autocannon at the Wolverine's right arm causing significant damage and making his presence on the battlefield known. The Crusader causing no damage received some damage from the Hunchback. The Hunchback pilot could only curse his LRM launchers, one missing entirely and the other only causing two small blips of damage. The Rifleman ended the Centurion's joyful shot with a hit from one of his AC/5s.

Turn 04

The Assassin herded his trio of light mechs around the mountains pushing the two faster mechs forward across the gap between the mountains. The Assassin had a plan to launch a two wave strike against the FWL Rifleman, first striking with the fast light mechs followed by a second strike by the Wasp and his own mech. The Firestarter and the Stinger could not take the mountain top from the FWL medium mechs so they jumped ahead. The Ceturion and the Hunchback changed course slightly to ensure the FWL medium mechs would not overpower their lighter mechs.

The FWL medium mechs followed the enemy light mechs also grabbing some unwanted attention from the Centurion and the Hunchback.  The FWL heavy mechs stayed in position for fire support.

While the mechs in the West mountains played cop and robber with their seemingly imaginary guns the bigger mechs didn't play so nicely to one another. The Rifleman used his heat sinks to potential sending twin AC/5 shots back with a LL to the Centurion almost removing the remaining armor in the left leg. The Centurion bent on causing more damage to the enemy Wolverine settled for the enemy Crusader instead sending some well place autocannon fire into the mech's right arm. The Crusader's twin LRM15s connected releasing a spread of 23 LRMs across the Centurion's front arc. The Crusader's LRM barrage was powerful enough to cause the same type of stress it did on the Assassin's center torso causing the gyro to buckle slightly. The Centurion's pilot, alerted to the damage, luckily kept the mech upright. The Crusader again received some damage from the Hunchback. The Hunchback pilot again cursed his LRM launchers, one missing entirely and the other only causing two small blips of damage.

Turn 05

The Assassin and his accompanying mechs now past the gap between the mountain ranges moved further towards the enemy Rifleman. The Centurion stayed with the lighter mechs while the Hunchback continued up the middle. The Stinger jumped to flank the enemy medium mechs while the Firestarter abandoned the medium mechs to for some unknown reason challenge the enemy Crusader on his own.

The FWL medium mechs adjusted position to deal with the enemy Stinger in their zone of control. The Crusader answered the enemy Firestarter's challenge. The Rifleman adjusted position for the incoming swarm of pests.

The Stinger now in the control zone of the FWL mechs traded ML shots with the Wolverine. The Stinger believed his jump movement would provide adequate defense, but the Phoenix Hawk would prove otherwise. The Phoenix Hawk's pilot saw opportunity to possibly rid his lance mates of a pest as he tossed heat consideration out the cockpit and blazed away at the Stinger with every weapon he had available missing with only a single MG. The Phoenix Hawk's short range weaponry did a great deal of damage to the Stinger's right arm singing the armor to the inner parts while his LL heated the left leg to a breaking point sending the Stinger clambering to the ground. The Stinger mech fell to the ground as the pilot watched alerts displayed over and over for the right arm upper arm and lower arm actuators were damaged along with the system losing contact with the now destroyed left leg.

The Firestarter showed his might by blazing the Crusader with twin MLs. The Crusader standing uncaring and pilot laughing traded the same amount of MLs along with a weak amount of SRMs from his duel SRM6s followed up by a MG for an afterthought. Despite the challenge at hand, the Crusader again received some damage from the Hunchback. The Hunchback pilot again cursed his LRM launchers, one missing entirely and the other only causing two small blips of damage. However, some slight relief came when a single ML connected.

The Spider sprung his attack early against the Rifleman without the Locust and landed twin MLs blasts against the Rifleman. The Rifleman prepared for the attack popped the spider with autocannon fire tearing into the mech's right arm all the way to the shoulder.

Turn 06

The Spider moved past the deadly rifleman along with the locust passing the chance while the Assassin and the Wasp moved into position to attack the Rifleman. The Centurion and the Hunchback pressed forward to the FWL heavy mechs. The Pheonix Hawk pilot saw the Centurion at a disadvantage and moved behind him while the Wolverine moved to assist the Rifleman about to be swarmed. The Firestarter pilot took the Wolverine's movement to his advantage and abandoned his challenge with the Crusader to get behind the Wolverine.

The latter portion of the Assassin's two wave attack plan was faltering as the Spider attacked ahead of the Locust thereby forfeiting its chance. The Locust trained his weapons to the Wolverine instead since it had moved in front of him. The Assassin backed the locust both causing minimal damage to their adversary. The Wolverine on the other hand attempted to swat the locust for good with both his MLs and his SRM6 and failed to cause enough damage. The Firestarter gave the Wolverine a twin blast with his MLs and supplemented his heat scale nicely with twin flamers. Burn baby burn! :)

The Hunchback in better range switched to primary ML firepower and got two MLs to connect against the Crusader. The Crusader more focused on the Centurion sent a ML blast and a hail of SRMs to the Centurion. The Phoenix hawk behind the Centurion fired a twin ML blast singing the inner parts of the left leg. The Centurion attempted to hold his mech upright as more warnings appeared displaying the left leg lower leg actuator and foot were inoperable. Alas the Centurion;s could not hold his mech up and fell to the ground with it injuring himself in the process. The Rifleman used a combination of firepower to damage the evading Spider enough to remove the left leg sending the wounded Spider slamming to the ground.

The Phoenix Hawk gave the fallen Centurion while down a swift kick to its right arm breaking and cracking open the outer armor.

Turn 07

The Spider pilot attempted to raise his mech, but the action failed. The Spider's pilot saw the ground again as the left arm snapped to pieces fully destroyed. The Wolverine traveled away from the Firestarter intend on exploiting its over heated state. The Locust followed to continue harassing the Wolverine for what it could. The Firestarter did the same as the Locust. The Assassin maneuvered to get a bead on an enemy mech with less attention to himself. The Wasp kept distance to the Rifleman debating on getting close. The Crusader and the Rifleman barely moved proving their removal was constantly met with stiff resistance. The Hunchback pressed on slightly to engage the Crusader as the Phoenix hawk jumped behind it.

The Wolverine chose to avoid firing any weapons to sink as much heat as possible along with anymore lost due to the Firestarter. The Locust got some damage on the Wolverine while the Firestarter failed miserably to cook the Wolverine again. The Assassin sent a few LRMs to the Rifleman which took aim and blasted it back with a LL causing far more damage.
The Phoenix Hawk and the Hunchback both put an end to the others undamaged state. The Phoenix Hawk's MGs tore across the Hunchback while the Hunchback's MLs beamed across the Phoenix Hawk. With their useless weapons fire both mechwarriors decided to kick one another, both missed their kicks, the Phoenix Hawk kept upright while the Hunchback slipped and fell to the ground in misery.

Turn 08

The Stinger and Spider pilots gave up trying to raise their mechs and abandoned their mechs. The Wasp moved up to the Rifleman and the Assassin followed in support. The Phoenix Hawk moved behind the Wasp in response to its movement to the Rifleman leaving the Hunchback. The Hunchback rose up and continued to the Crusader who was watching his general area. The Wolverine moved to the Crusader for relief from the Firestarter while the Locust broke off in support of the Wasp taking on the Rifleman.

The Wasp backed by the Assassin and the Locust all damaged the Rifleman, however the experienced pilot swayed off the damage. The Rifleman picked the Locust as his target using his AC/5s with precision destroying the Locust's right arm completely along with damaging the MG in the left arm leaving the Locust with a sole ML to work with. The Firestarter still after the Wolverine got a ML in while the Wolverine got a ML to the Hunchback. The Crusader sent punishment to the Hunchback with a large concentration of short ranged weaponry. The Hunchback failed to deal any damage in support of all the other mechs trying to break the FWL mech line of defense. The Wasp's jump movements kept it from receiving a crippling kick from the Phoenix Hawk.  The Wolverine did not fare as well, receiving a strong, non-crippling kick causing the battlemech to fall to the ground.

Turn 09

The Wolverine managed to right itself up and get back to back with the Crusader for protection. The Hunchback  moved to engage the Crusader at short range. The Wasp continued to bombard the Rifleman at short range while the Assassin and the Locust broke off to work on the Wolverine alongside the Firestarter.

The Wolverine's  ML shot from the Locust was not much to worry, but the Firestarter had succeeded in every weapon fired at the Wolverine. The combined might of ML, MG, and Flamers to boost tore into the Wolverine's right arm damaging the upper arm actuator and the attached ML. The Assassin finished what the Firestarter had opened up with a combined ML and SRM2 destroyed the Wolverine's right arm. The Rifleman felt a slight thump against his mech's head from the Wasp, but chose to ignore its presence. The Rifleman trained his AC/5s on the Assassin and destroyed its right arm as well.
The Hunchback displaying its best firing yet with three good ML blasts to the Crusader. The Crusader's response to the Hunchback was far more superior at close range with twin MLs, twin MGs, and twin SRM6s firing a total of ten SRMs at the Hunchback. The Hunchback received a punishing short range barrage along with a random SRM striking the head causing the pilot to reassure his own alertness, but not topple his mech.
The Pheonix Hawk gave a similar punishment to the Wasp with twin MLs, and twin MGs. The Pheonix Hawk followed his weapon attacks up with a crippling kick to the Wasp's left leg which the left leg buckled into the internal armor smashing all the way to the center torso destroying the light mech.

End Game

The Pirates gave up the fight and retreated away grabbing their fallen mechwarriors leaving the pilot of the Wasp surrounded by FWL forces. The FWL forces chose not to pursue the Pirates except allowing the Phoenix Hawk to follow them slightly to make sure they retreat and not double back or bring reinforcements.

Carnage Report

Attacker

Unknown Pirate forces

Two Light Lances

Lance 01

Locust LCT-1V
R. Arm destroyed
L. Arm MG damaged
Critical damage
Stinger STG-3R
R. Arm UAA damaged
R. Arm LAA damaged
L. Leg destroyed
Battlemech Crippled!
Battlemech Aabandoned!
Firestarter FS9-H
Heavy Damage
Assassin ASN-21
Engine hit
R. Arm destroyed
Critical damage

Lance 02

Wasp WSP-1A
Left leg destroyed
C. Torso destroyed
Pilot hit (Head hit)
Battlemech Destroyed!
Mechwarrior Captured!
Spider SDR-5V
L. Leg destroyed
L. Arm Shoulder damaged
L. Arm destroyed
Battlemech Crippled!
Battlemech Aabandoned!
Hunchback HBK-4N
Pilot hit (Head hit)
Heavy Damage
Centurion
Pilot hit (Fall)
Gyro hit
L. Leg LLA damaged
L. leg FA damaged
Battlemech Crippled!
Battlemech Aabandoned!

Defender

FWL 9th Marik Malitia

Heavy Lance

Lance 01

Phoenix Hawk PHX-1
Wolverine WVR-6M
R. Arm upper arm actuator damaged
R. Arm ML damaged
R. Arm destroyed
Critical damage
Rifleman RFL-3N
Pilot hit (Head hit)
Crusader CRD-3R
Heavy damage

Thoughts

* This game was a ton of fun and I didn't really care about the random skill sets or the fact I might lose.
* I played the Pirates so the Crusader would be their priority target and towards the end Mark had disrupted my operation on his own causing chaos and me firing all over the place. Well played.
* The engine hit to the Assassin sucked royally. Every time I jumped the mech which was the most efficient way to keep its defense up overheated the mech.
* I have a renewed respect for the Firestarter now. The twins flamers can really hurt if they both connect. The Firestarter was successful at pushing the Wolverine back somewhat until it failed at a second volley of flamer goodness.
* Mark's ability to cook his Crusader or Rifleman to high heat level becomes outright deadly quick producing stupid amounts of damage. Fuck yeah!
* The Wolverine -6M can dish out and take punishment good.
* Likewise I have more respect for the Phoenix Hawk as it was tough to get away from or simply shake off once it was in range.
* The Centurion gyro hit blew chunks and failing to get him up sucked. I should have kept trying though. The combined leg damage and gyro damage proved to much to beat.
* The Hunchback had some crap roles when it came to weapon attacks and cluster rolls, however it tends to either not or take forever to die. The Hunchback I think is a classic zombie mech which can lose weapons and still pose a large problem until it is removed.
* The Rifleman's low head armor, low armor, and heat sinks in general make it difficult for it to keep up in stand up fights. However Mark played the mech well as a fire support unit.


I hope you enjoyed this Battletech Battle Report and check back for the next report already in the works which is twice as large, twice as long, and full of heavy metal mayhem.

\m/

A Time of War

A Time of War

Previously before my attending Dragoncon 2013, which was completely awesome, I started a Battletech campaign using the rules in A time of War. I wanted to start a campaign with as much difference to any games I have played in the past. Since the new player Mark, had very little knowledge of the Battletech universe I let everything start at the character creation process. This worked out better for a clean slate idea as he didn't have anything he wanted in mind except to ride in a heavy battlemech. The character creation process was a long process to work out, in fact we had to use two sessions to work out all the kinks.

Building a character

With as much unbiased information from me Mark chose the Free World's League for his character's affiliation. His character is primarily a mechwarrior being the only request by me along with some ability as a dropship pilot as well. He also chose to make his character an officer before ending his first tour of duty. During the finalization of character creation I advised Mark to not worry about trying to get a battemech since he would most likely be assigned one to use anyway. Mark did express interest in a heavy mech where possible. With all of this in mind, the era was set to 3028 and the character placed in the 9th Marik Malitia. The 9th Marik Militia has an interesting background along with a home world ripe with opportunity in the future. Initially I wanted to begin a campaign in the new Dark Age era, but since Mark had no knowledge of the older versus newer technology I felt keeping tings simple and more readily available would work better.

Building a unit

Since Mark's character was essentially an officer in the 9th Marik Malitia, he was assigned to a random heavy battlemech. I used a a PDF of tables found on the Battletech forums called "3028-3050 Faction Assignment & Rarity Tables" for battlemech assignments. This particular PDF offers more expanded faction specific selection tables. I let Mark conduct the roll for his character's battlemech assignment despite being random which ended up being a Crusader CRD-3R. Mark was all to thrilled to receive the battlemech liking the variable weapons compliment it offered. Mark's character also holds the position of lance leader so the rest of his lance needed to be created.

Crusader

To create the rest of his lance I used the available tables from FM: FWL for lance composition and again letting Mark conduct the roll a heavy lance was produced consisting of two medium battlemechs and two heavy battlemechs, one of the heavy battlemechs being Marks character's Crusader. I again used the PDF mention before for battlemech assignments and again letting Mark conduct the rolls producing a Phoenix Hawk PHX-1 for the first medium battlemech, a Wolverine WVR-6M for the second battlemech, and a Rifleman RFL-3N for the second heavy battlemech. Mark was very pleased on the results of the rolls seeing two units capable of large amounts of firepower at different range brackets along with two highly maneuverable sniper units. Another bonus would be the Wolverine 6M variant being a FWL variant carrying a large laser instead of an AC/5.

Adding unit details

Mark named his character Lyndon Rayleonard. Lyndon is a regular of the FWL and in command of a lance of battlemechs which are part of reinforced company within the 9th Marik Malitia. Lyndon's unit is the beginnings of a new company being formed. Lyndon's command allows his unit more remote assignments to lessen their dependance on the parent company's resources in the future..
The Rifleman pilot, I named Jave Cobb. Jave is a regular of the FWL and is also Lyndon's right hand mechwarrior who stays at his side and follows orders to the absolute. Jave tends to keep the other members of Lydon's unit in line when necessary.
The Phoenix Hawk pilot, I named Klive Jacobs. Klive is a regular of the FWL and a hotshot pilot with a better understanding in communications systems than his battlemech.
The Wolverine pilot has yet to receive a name yet. The Wolverine pilot is partial officer material being transferred in to Lyndon's unit and placed second in command to Lyndon. His battlemech functions as a command battlemech, however his piloting skills are not on par with his regular gunnery status.
Lyndon's lance rides in a Union dropship for transport which his lance being the only units being transported besides the usual crew and support personnel.

Adding unit assignment

Lyndon's lance and their parent company are off their home world of Carbonis deployed to the west of the FWL to a planet encircled by moons with various amounts of resources. Their current role their is policing up some local pirate activity disrupting localize mining operations.

Mark and I generally meet every Friday evening when we can so I generally look forward to our game sessions. I try to mix in RPG elements as much as possible so I build my experience and challenge Mark's character. In fact to give me some time to learn more about the RPG aspect as well build and prep for their in the future I threw Mark right into the Battletech universe right away. I gave Mark a copy of the intro rules so he could learn them asap and learn the rules he did.

Look for an upcoming battle report. :)

DRAGON CON 2013

Tomorrow my family and I will be leaving Kingsport, TN to go to Atlanta, GA to attend Dragon Con 2013!

http://www.dragoncon.org/

This will be our first large convention, my wife is more excited than I am along with my daughter. Since we will be down there quite a while we hope to check out the Atlanta Museum of Natural History to finally get to see real dinosaur fossils, the Georgia Aquarium to check out the whale sharks, and maybe the Atlanta Zoo as well.

I have been waiting for months ever since we decided on attending and purchasing out tickets. Another bonus is a possible trip to Orlando, FL to attend Minecon 2013. Last, but not least in a few more months I'll have a ton of Robotech battles miniatures arriving.

I finally played a game.

Last Saturday I played a game of battletech with Kushial. The game was setup a month ago with Kushial and the wait paid off.

For simplicity to help learn the game mechanics and rules better I suggested using the first scenario from the introductory rulebook from the introductory boxed set. This was a simple training scenario putting two equal forces against one another. One special rule was in place considering a mech destroyed by having a leg destroyed, suffering one gyro hit or two engine hits. This scenario actually is more useful in the long run if you play by the same rules somewhat.

I originally planned to use two copies of the normal battletech mapsheet, but we used one copy of the battletech mapsheet and one copy of the open terrain mapsheet. I don't think it mattered much as Kushial actually wanted to advance more than stand still which made for a better game.

The two opposing forces each consisted of a mech lance of the following mechs all piloted by regular mechwarrriors at the 4/5 skill level.

Catapult CPLT-C1
Trebuchet TBT-5N
Spider SDR-5V
Commando COM-2D

Using pre-defined mechs and pilots started us both at the same level at game start and somewhat out of any personal comfort zones. I have experience with the Catapult and the Trebuchet, but not with the other mechs and much less with light mechs in general. MKushial may have been at the same level or worse, but he fielded them quite well.

To prove my point further here is a small breakdown on how Kushial and I fielded or given mechs. I recall initially keeping my Catapult paired with my Commando while my Trebuchet took the middle ground opportunity. My Spider would be used to flank Kushial's forces from a Southwest approach. Kushial appeared to have rushed his light mechs towards my Catapult leaving his Trebuchet advancing along the South and his Catapult advancing along the North.

Hive_Angel

Catapult
My Catapult never got to a good stable firing position. Kushial's early light mech rush proved effective enough to push the Catapult back forcing it to deal with light mechs and allow his Catapult to close the distance.
Trebuchet
My Trebuchet got to a good stable firing position and maintained the firing position for some time. This gave me a good advantage for a few turns while Kushial was forced to close the distance.
Spider
My Spider I originally tried to use as a flanker, but the demise of the Commando called it back to shoo off Kushial's Spider which was harassing my Catapult. I did keep with the ideal of making sure the Spider moved as much as possible by either running or jumping everywhere. This did pay off as only the left leg was damaged the entire game.
Commando
My Commando I kind of took a gamble early on in order to intercept Kushial's early light mech rush against my Catapult. The gamble paid off somewhat as it did some serious damage to Kushial's Commando, however the next turn it was somewhat boxed in. To my best efforts to keep the mech from serious harm Kushial was able to detonate one of the SRM ammunition bins after damaging a heat sink.
My Commando was my first mech and the first mech in the game to be destroyed.

Kushial

Catapult
Kushial's Catapult was the slow one to the party and it took a good deal of damage throughout the game. I remember the Catapult's movement was advance, back peddle, and advance again. I think Kushial may have been more concerned with advancing the Catapult against my Catapult instead of gaining a good firing position. His Catapult suffered an engine hit and then later a double engine hit.
Kushial's Catapult was his second mech to be destroyed.
Trebuchet
Kushial's Trebuchet was constantly bombarded by LRMs from my Trebuchet. Plus it was forced to advanced towards my Trebuchet to force it out of its firing position. Throughout the constant LRM punishment it suffered the removal of one of its LRMs and dumped ammo from a damaged location.
Spider
Kushial's Spider mostly harassed my Catapult past his light mech rush. He did a good job of keeping the mech alive, but a few times he let his guard down and the spider got bit itself.
Commando
Kushial's Commando, like his Spider, continued to harassed my Catapult after my Commando was destroyed after intercepting his light mech rush. His Commando had both SRM launchers damaged before suffering a destroyed leg when fighting the Catapult thus taking it out of action according to the scenario's special rules.
Kushial's Commando was his first mech destroyed.


Thoughts

* Kushial did great at understanding to keep the game moving along. If one stops to talk you lose valuable play time and even at starting late at around 7:00 pm we got to play a good four hour game I believe to a point where one could discern a winning and loosing side.

* I can't recall how many turns we took, but Kushial called it once his Catapult fell. I think he had more fight in his remaining mechs despite being outnumbered 3 to 2. Despite my Catapult being in critical condition, Kushial's remaining mechs were also not in good shape at all.

* One head hit was suffered during the game to one of my mechs and I barely held the mechwarrior from taking an in game snooze. A few mechs fell on both sides as well as various mech internal parts being damaged as well. My Commando's ammo explosion was probably the destruction highlight of the game.

* Personally I think both Trebuchet pilots had it out for each other as they tended to focus most of their firepower against each other's mechs. Kushial's Trebuchet's center torso armor was apparently impervious to any damage for the longest time. Both Trebuchet's ammo bins were below 50% meaning we were outright tossing LRMs at each other. Kushial's Trebuchet pilot early on couldn't shoot for shit and after dumping some LRM ammo I recommended he just toss the useless LRM launcher at my Trebuchet for good measure.

* Often I noticed between the heavier mechs it would be a 2 vs 1 LRM firefight. For example My Catapult and Trebuchet against Kushial's Trebuchet and vice versa.

* A few lucky critical rolls were made so it makes me wonder if introducing some advanced rules to help mitigate these lucky shots early on. It helps to stop light mechs from just rushing to a side point and outright hoping for a lucky "2" torso location and a lucky ">7" critical roll resulting in an ammo explosion. I don't believe this was Kushial strategy, at least I hope not, but I believe he had more get to you first frame of mind.

* On the same thought I feel introducing some of the advanced rules for hull down and standing up might be a good idea. The rules actually improve mech survival and longevity, however it is up to an opponent's ability to grasp the initial rules and then keep balance between the two. These extra rules would help stop falls slightly and help mechs get back up in a firefight.


Kushial was a good player throughout the entire game and he seemed to enjoy himself. I wouldn't mind playing the scenario variant a lot more often along with mixing up a few things as long as the intended balance mechanics are kept in mind.

Magnetizing a Battletech Hawk Moth Gunship

I finally finished some work I started ages ago on two models.

The models are VTOLs for Battletech and more specifically Hawk Moth Gunships. VTOLs are great support vehicles in Battletech and the Hawk Moth Gunships with their Light Gauss Rifle can easy provide a variety of battlefield uses. The Hawk Moth Gunship has a larger cousin called the Yellow Jacket Gunship with a full Gauss Rifle at its disposal, but the Hawk Moth has a better speed profile for the time being.

Both of my Hawk Moth Gunship models had the bases, the VTOLs, and the rotor blades modified. Most of the modifications were for a better flight stand for better stability and to magnetize the rotor blades for better storage.

The bases had the center drilled out to fit the plastic tubing which would act as the flight stand. The stock metal flight stand which came in the blister was useless to hold the weight of these models so I had to find a better alternative.

The alternative idea came in two parts.The first part was wire costing maybe $0.50 fro three feet at best from a local hardware store. I had to strip and straighten the wire. but the wire still did not look stable enough. The second part was the white plastic tube which came from a pack of various sized plastic tubes from a hobby store. The wire from part one fit snug in the plastic tube from part two. In sense the model's flight stand has external and internal armor.

The VTOL had two modifications. The first modification was the bottom had to be drilled out to fit the new flight stand.Trying to drill a hole to fit the flight stand perfectly was not worth risking a bore through the top of the model so I ended up with a slightly snug fit. The second modification was to remove the previous rotor blade stand and replace it with a cylinder magnet. Removing the rotor stand was simple along with adding the magnet. Getting the drill to stay in the center is always a pain. One VTOL's rotor magnet is centered while the other VTOL's rotor magnet is slightly towards on side.

Despite having the cylinder magnets in my possession for sometime, the second modification was made last in the actual occurrence of events.

The rotor blades were modified by adding a magnet in the center of all the blades. If you look closely there is not much metal between the rotor blades and the center of the rotor to work with so my margin of failure was very slim. I had to drill enough to get a dremel bit in to smooth out the hole in order to except the magnet. I never had any breaks to the rotor blades during this phase which I am glad.

This rotor blade arrived broken in the blister, but with a little ingenuity and some spare flash I was able to repair the rotor blade. Looking at the first picture you can't tell one of the rotor blades were ever broken unless you are up close or take the rotor blades off.

On the funny side my two kittens apparently think these models are toys for them. Numerous times they kept jumping to my paint stand and batting around the rotor blades, the VTOLs, and the pin vises. I was sure the rotor blades would break despite pushing them into small alcoves, but the kittens would pull them out. One of the VTOLs was paw batted to the floor and disappeared under the couch for bit till I noticed it went missing. I move my models of the paint stand at night and sometimes I find one of the kittens sleeping on it.

I would like to get to use these models in the future soon.

So what happened to that battle report?

Today I was suppose to unveil a glorious Battle Report. Sadly the publishing of the content did not come to pass.

This short passage sums up what happened. Sort of ... not really.



In A.D. 2013

Autosave Fucked Up

Friends: What happen ?
hive_angel: Something set up me the bomb.
hive_angel: We get signal.
Friends: What !
hive_angel: Blog turn on.
hive_angel: It’s gone !!
Interwbz: How are you gentlemen !!
Interwbz: All your content are belong to us.
Interwbz: You are on the way to destruction.
Friends: What you say !!
Interwbz: You have no chance to restore make your content.
Blogger: Ha ha ha ha … (Blank Post)
Friends: hive-angel !!
hive_angel: Profanity!!
hive_angel: You know what blogging.
hive_angel: Move ‘BLOGGER’.
hive_angel: For total bullshit.



Apparently while editing a huge post the screen went blank and blogger's autosave function autosaved the blank screen and instantly lost hours of content. I lost the battle report, the comedy, and the story content. This sucked so bad as I ran out of steam a week or so back and picked it back up determined to produce good content I am known for. What started as a battle report bloomed into a full blown story driven post linking the previous game  and setting the stage for the next game.

I guess I should have been using a text editor, but having the pictures in the post draft helps a lot. For the most part blooger does not backup any of your content at all. If content is published it can be recovered somewhat, but the fact my content disappeared during draft edit means the content is gone like a fart in the wind.

My friend Masta Cheef gave some early sympathy which helped control my rage scale and I think upon hearing about the tragedy a little something died in him as well. He will wait for these posts and I really enjoy his compliments. It was to be my finest yet as there was report as there was so much content including history, story detail, unit information, and pictures. My friend I have know through XBOX Live also gave some sympathy, some good news of becoming a follower, and support by trashing fools in Halo 4. My wife said I can recreate the content and it will be better next time. For these good deeds I award the following medal.

Broseidon!

I considered if I could recreate the content. The most important part are my notes and luckily I still have them. The pictures are safe and my ideas are still fresh in my mind as long as I can get them down before too long. The battle report is the easy part. The big question is it worth the time? I think so and if people desire the content ever more than me I will know for sure.

Oh yeah I know I have been away, I am not dead nor is this blog. My wife recently bought two copies of Dead Island and running around busting zombie infected skulls is some serious therapeutic fun.

The last twelve hours approaches.

The last twelve hours of Palladiun Game's Robotech Kickstarter approaches.

I admit it, this Kickstarter project has had me watching it ever since it started. It was funded in a few hours and yesterday it crossed the 1 million mark. I have always liked the Robotech saga and the models are really great looking capturing the feel of the original series.

Here is a link to the Robotech Kickstarter

I originally pledged for the Battle Cry level which gives the base game along with some additional models and an art print also all the bonus unlocks. I eventually upgraded my pledge to the Showdown level which gives me two of everything Battle Cry offers. In the long run this allows me to play a new game and to play the game with both forces easily.

Right now my Showdown pledge gives me 180 models, which 128 models are playable as is and 52 models are playable Veritech Valkyrie variants. My math my be a bit off, but this is huge amount of models to get for a $260 pledge. This gives me a generous offering of both UEDF and Zentraedi forces.

The extra faction dice, templates, decals, unit cards, and most recently the command tokens are all gravy and there is a ton of gravy in this boat. :)

Here is what I am getting for my $260 pledge so far. Since the KS is still going and in its last crazy pledge level ending hours there is potential for more add-ons and bonus unlocks.

Image borrowed from KS to help promote the last hours of this great Kickstarter project.





The long wait till December will be tough, but this will give me plenty of time to keep my painting progress focused on my Blood Angels.

WIP Reinforcements!

Reinforcements

Blood Angels Sanguinary Guard!

A while ago I purchased a box of Sanguinary Guard for my Blood Angels. I like the unit history and the rules and through assembling the models I have come to like them more as well. The models look great and are full of detail also the abundance of head and shoulder pad variety is an added benefit. Some of the shoulder pads are rather large making the Space Marines inside look they are wearing a larger more ancient armor.

I assembled the models with the weapons they came with. According to 6th edition rules the unit has five Angelus Boltguns, five Glaive Encarmines separated to three Sower Swords, two Power Axes. The banner although expensive at 25 points can seriously boost the unit's close combat power to a point of representing another Sanguinary Guard member or two. The banner is held in the hand with an Angelus Bolgun so its kind of necessary whether I use the banner or not to add the fifth Angelus Boltgun.

I have not added any basing material as I thought to add some of the urban bricks and then have the models standing atop the bricks. The models are not really top heavy, but the models with power swords could take some damage and break if they fell in such a way so I think. Ironically the banner is not too top heavy at all. I might leave the models attached to the bases and build up the base as usual. I would rather have the focus point on the model and not so much on the base.

I have attached the jump packs as they won't interfere with painting the rest of the model at all. The wings will have to be glued on later as they will interfere with painting the rest of the model. I left the head off as they will interfere with painting the jump pack vents and I haven't deciding which heads to use. I don't care much for flesh heads when I have a choice as helmets are much cooler. I am liking the death mask variant heads a lot so I may use a mix. When I look at the box, it appears GW magnetized the head of one model as the head changes, but the model does not..

I lightly glued the left arm and not the hand of the models holding their weapons with both hands. This way I can remove the arms to easily paint the chest armor. One last detail is to snip the nips from the chest armor.

Thoughts on model pose?

These three models have been magnetized to serve different roles when needed. Both left and right model have their left arm magnetized to switch the Angelus Boltgun to an Infernus Pistol. The right model also has the right arm magnetized to swap the Power Axe for a Power Fist. The middle model's left arm is also magnetized to swap the banner for something else such as a Plasma Pistol.

The Plasma Pistol arm is missing a hand for now.

Although I will have the option to use two Infernus Pistols in a squad I am reluctant to do so. The big idea is to use the squad as a tank hunting unit with the option to deep strike. I would rather try to use them as a heavy assault squad as just a few of these should do some heavy damage to most units. The deep strike one trick pony tank hunting trick may not be the best interest for me as I have Furisoso Dreadnoughts to annoy opponents with and they do it fine on their own.

Reinforcebits

Close Combat Bits Galore!

My idea in progress is to create two Assault Squads with some rather bad ass weapon load outs and more dynamic poses. If I can pull it off and magnetize the heads then the squads can easily become a vanguard Squads for even more versatility. A lot of the weapons might just be for looks. The thought of a squad with an Assault Marine toting twin chainswords, or twin power swords, or even twin power axes is pretty sweet. However sometimes looks get pricey money wise as you tend to place cool model on board and then take cool model off the board. Sorry Space Choo Choo, my Furioso Dreadnought sends regards, however Space Choo Choo fought again to live in a different battle.

Tech Priest: So what do you need? Besides a miracle.

Sergeant: Weapons, lots of weapons.

The majority of the upper row of weapons will go to two Assault Squad Sergeants who will have access to use when needed a Combat Shield, Power Sword, Power Axe, or a Power Fist. Since the arms will be magnetized I could use them army wide very easily. The Lightning Claw was for an Assault Sergeant so he could have the choice of a LC or PF, but I needed the opposite arm, lol. The chainswords will be split between the two Assault Squads and the Sanguinary Priests. Some of the Power Swords will be reserved for the Sanguinary Priests as well.

Now time to start drilling new holes for even more magnetic glory to the Omnissiah. I have Assault marines Squads to assemble. With luck they just might have their jump packs attached.

WIP Baal Predator

My intention was to finish painting this vehicle before the end of April, but some early weather issues and a slight slow period robbed me of the goal. With luck I might be able to finish it in a few days or a week, but I am not going to press progress to much. If all else fails I will get this vehicle finished in time and definitely by the end of May.

I remember when I first purchased this tank and it sat for a small amount of time. I wanted to magnetize as much of the tank options as possible. In this I was successful and actually used a total of 23 magnets of various sizes within the many components. I used some hints and tips from the internet and some are of my own design, but I feel I can do the same process again. In some ways I wouldn't mind excepting commission to do this again for someone who needs it done.
For the longest time this tank has been moving around the battlefield with no tracks, no side weapons, and no paint so the goal was to get the tank assembled, out of the box, painted on the table.


Here is what the Baal Predator looks like so far.

Please keep in mind there are areas which will are not completed and some areas which will require cleanup. I don't intend to highlight much or weather the vehicle. The whole highlight and especially the weathered look has become all to common and expected and in some cases used too much. The subject of highlighting has crossed my mind, but the use of orange looks odd to me and begins to turn the model a little like a cartoon character. I paint my vehicle factory finish in most cases and I like this approach.

Front hull

The light is shining heavily on the tracks and they look better from the side.

Left side hull

The gold on the turret blood drop and the gun shield blood drops all have a new gold color recipe. I used a series gold wash and drybrush over a silver wash. It does look good, but I have not compared it to the gold on my Land Raider Crusader. I noticed I didn't get a picture of the Heavy Bolter ammunition bins.

Right side hull

The gun shield wing needs more work.

Turret with Assault Cannon

I used a new color scheme approach to painting the ammunition, but for the most part I think it looks good. I am wondering if a bright brass is better than a dull brass color. The bright brass might look better against the overall bright red color scheme.
The white wing color has not been painting nice. I know it needs a wash and the usual Badab Black is failing to achieve perfection. I might need to get some raw black ink instead. I get the feeling once a pot of GW wash passes the mid point the wash begins to deteriorate.

The cupola has not been glued in place.

Turret with Flamestorm Cannon

Jolly Good Show!

I am interested in painting the tip of the Flamestorm Cannon and the Heavy Flamers some sort of brass color instead of metal for the scorched look of use. I have to do more research for a paint recipe if I can find one. This brass theory kind of makes the weapon weathered and this is fine for me. I don't care to make the vehicle weathered, but rather shining with glory for the emperor. I am also all to happy to apply a new weathering powder if there is one.

I keep seeing a space ship when i hold this turret configuration.

I see more spaceship.

We Break For Nobody

Front with normal side access points.

Using the Flamestorm Cannon only keeps the Baal Predator cheap, fast, and a dangerous suicide unit. I have  used this configuration once, but it was during the older 5th edition rules where being glance/stunned sucked. I have the side Heavy Flamers for use as well, but the ability to use all the flamers is debatable.

Jolly Good Show!

Side with normal side access points.

The Baal Predator is a valuable unit for my Blood Angels army and sometimes its abilities warrants another in the inventory. The main configuration I always use gives the army a good edge and fire base. Lately I have thought to purchase the Strombolter for the vehicle. Within 24 inches the vehicle would be able to increase the overall firepower from 10 shots to 12 shots. The 12 shots consist of 4 twin-linked Str 6 shots, 6 Str 5 shots, and 2 Str 4 shots. Even without the Stormbolter the Baal Predator is a murder machine on tracks. Coupled with a complement of Landspeeders with dual Heavy Bolters I guess I am running a Heavy Bolter circus list, lol.


Looking into the future as the Baal Predator is eventually completed I am most likely going to tackle assembling and painting a full assault squad or two. This like the approach to the Baal Predator is to get the models assembled and out of a box of bits of unfinished models. This goal is becoming more of a reality with my recent large purchase of close combat bits.

Oblivion and My Love for the Post Apocalyptic Theme

Oblivion on the Big Screen

No plot spoiling material ahead.

When I originally viewed the trailer for Oblivion I was hooked and instantly wanted to go see the film. I understood the film had a post apocalyptic theme which is probably why I liked the film much more. I showed my daughter the trailer and she liked the film as well. With all this in mind last Saturday my daughter and I both went to go see Oblivion in the theaters.

Although the film was of a post apocalyptic nature it was a completely different setting and really gave some interesting surprises and twists to my visual amazement. When I say a different setting I mean how the earth is after and how the inhabitants react. The film was fine for my daughter's age as well, no serious unneeded love scenes (although you do get a nice underwater shot of Andrea Riseborough' ass when she is swimming) nor was there any gore at all.

I understood the movie quite well throughout its playing, but there are some things left untold, but I believe I might have missed them or its the writer's way of keeping the mystery alive. I think my daughter got most of the ideas the movie was trying to tell and how the whole plot came together so I am glad she came along. The film has an interesting set of characters and villains or should I say villain? The movie isn't about teaching the wrong doings and be green bullshit so never fear it is new story material altogether.

Some details in the film remind me and come real close to Bungie's new game in development called Destiny. The film is based on an unpublished graphic novel from the writer himself. In a sense this is original material as it gets.

Oblivion is a good movie, so go see it.

The Post Apocalyptic Theme

On the same subject, for some reason I have an attraction to the post apocalyptic themes. I like all sort of material in novels, films, TV series, and even games set in the theme the most recent

Novels

My most recent novel All You Need Is Kill was is a thrill ride from start to finish. Another bonus is the book is coming to the big screen in 2014. Tom Cruise who stared in Oblivion will star in All you Need Is Kill as well. Watching a new science fiction film with Tom Cruise in it refreshing from his past science fiction work being Minority Report and War of the Worlds. Minority Report was definitely science fiction and was good for the most parts, but there are some dull parts you would rather avoid. War of the Worlds is science fiction  and a good film as well, but I don't classify it as post apocalyptic either as the alien invasion was brief.

Films

Films are numerous throughout the years. Some are good and some are crap. I think a lot of my film interest is pulled into the aime world as I feel it gets told better sometimes. Movies like Akira, Neon Genesis Evangelion (Technically TV, but had two films) still have left trying ti understand certain aspects of their story lines. Appleseed probably is my favorite because of the characters, story line, and the visuals all add up a a superb film all set in the universe I enjoy. There is MD Geist who some love and or hate. The MD Geist has the theme and all of the chaos mixed in to make a good set of films, but towards the end of both films it tends to dwell back into ever repeating madness.

TV

The most recent TV series I watched in full was Star Trek Voyager which I always thought was not very, but my thoughts were changed soon enough. When I finish the series I started watching Outcasts which is a British TV series with a post apocalyptic theme. This series was good in my opinion, but unfortunately it got canceled at the end of the first series due to the more than outdated viewer ratings system. Falling Skied might be the only series running right now besides Revolution. I watched and enjoyed both seasons of Falling Skies so far and am looking forward to the third season this year. Revolution did not hook me, but I willing to give the show another look if I can find it on Netflix or a marathon somewhere. I watch a lot of shows when I paint so Netflix is the perfect way to catch up on old and new shows along with painting.

Games

Bethesta's Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas games which I play on my XBOX360 are both set perfectly in the post apocalyptic American. These games stand out so much as the games place the player in the action and in the story line. Like many others I can sit and play them for hours and hours on end. Funny I play 40K, but I don't treat it as a post apocalyptic themed game as things in the universe no matter how bad they get keep on going. Battletech has a post apocalyptic setting sort of in their 3025 eras when everyone went about nuking the piss out of each other blasting all technology down. Plus there is more past the Jihad setting when they nuked the piss out of everyone again and into the Dark Ages. It does give players an ability to be in the action, but no so much or maybe I have not really tried to do so.

I guess I kind of like the post apocalyptic theme, but I don't really ever wish for it to happen.

Blood Angels vs Allied Xenos Battle Report 3,000 Points

Last Saturday I attended the regular local game night and played the usual game of 40K. I had no idea who I would play against, but I ended up with Masta  Cheef. Then the resident Tau player arrived and to avoid him showing up without game we included him in the game. The game was decided as a two versus one being allied xenos composed of allied Eldar and Tau against the might of the Blood Angels.

It was either Masta Cheef or the Tau player who had such a look on their face. They saw I had placed more than fifty marines on the setup table with the intent to deploy them all. Half a chapter's worth of marines were coming to get them. I selected what units I had and borrowed a few from other to fill the ranks. Overall it was a good mix of infantry, tanks, and some elite units.

Blood Angels Host

Quick Summary

Four independent characters
Two dreadnoughts
Sixty-five space marines
Four landspeeders
Three tanks
Two drop pods

Army List

HQ
Mephiston, Lord of Death with  (Proxied using a Space Wolf model from Screech, lol)
(+D3 rage points added to Masta Cheef's rage scale per close combat phase.)
Librarian


Elites
Furioso Dreadnought with Frag Cannon
(+D3 frustration points points added to Tau player's frustration scale per turn once deployed.)
Transport
Drop Pod
(+D3 rage points added to Masta Cheef's rage scale per turn once deployed.)
Furioso Dreadnought with Frag Cannon
Transport
Drop Pod
Sanguinary Priest
Sanguinary Priest with Jump Pack
Sternguard Veteran Squad with 2x Combi-Melta and Power Fist
Transport
Land Raider Crusader with Multi-Melta


Troops
Tactical Squad with Plasma Gun and Lascannon
Tactical Squad with Plasma Gun and Lascannon
Tactical Squad with Flamer and Heavy Bolter
Tactical Squad with Flamer and Heavy Bolter
Combat Squad
Tactical Squad with Flamer
Tactical Squad with Heavy Bolter
Assault Squad with 2x Meltagun and Power Weapon
Death Company x 5 with Jump Packs and Power Weapon


Fast Attack
Land Speeder Squadron with 2x Heavy Bolter
Land Speeder Squadron with 2x Heavy Bolter
Land Speeder Squadron with 2x Multi-Melta
Land Speeder Squadron with Typhoon Missile Launcher


Heavy Support
Predator with Heavy Bolter Sponsons
Predator with TL Lasconnon and Lascannon Sponsons



Big Guns Never Tire

The Tau empire had dispatched a small strike force to a ruined imperial world to retrieve the body of a fallen comrade. The fallen Tau previously gave his essence to the greater good while assisting with planetary evacuations when the planet originally fell to disorder. The Tau emerged to discover a similar sized Eldar strike force bent on similar objectives. Both forces agreed only the need to recover their lost and no need for loss of life. A large force of Blood Angel were on the planet. The Tau and the Eldar agreed to join forces to recover what was theirs. With this agreement the Tau ordered a small bombardment around the objective building as they approved the battlefield.

Battle Report

Blood Angel deployment

The first Furioso Dreadnought transported in a drop pod would deploy via drop pod assault.
The second Furioso Dreadnought transported in a drop pod was kept in reserves.

To the far right off the picture is where the other Predator and all of the Landspeeders deployed.

Neverness took a nice picture of my effective deployment silliness so I swiped it.

Xenos deployment

Eldar A Wave Serpent transporting infantry and a Vypher were both kept in in reserve

Tau Command Battle Suit squad were kept in reserve

Tau deployed a Hammerhead  to the far left and far right.

Turn 1 (Night Fight)

Blood Angels

The first Furioso Dreadnought arrives via drop pod.

The Land Raider Crusader advanced slightly.  A Tactical combat squad advanced along the left side of the LRC to the large ruined aquila. Both Predators moved slightly to better firing positions. All Landspeeders move slightly out of cover with the twin Multi-Melta Landspeeder moving flat out straight towards the enemy line and some cover. The Assault squad walked a few feet. Both Mephiston and the Death Company jumped to nearby cover.

Night fighting reduced a lot of shooting, but the Furioso Dreadnought unleashed its frag cannon upon the unsuspecting Tau. 

Xenos

The Eldar advanced towards nearby objectives. The Tau adjusted firing positions.

Night fighting reduced most shooting power for the Xenos as well. Despite the close proximity of the Furioso Dreadnought and the Multi-Melta Landspeeder, the Tau player failed to harm either vehicle.

Turn 2

Blood Angels

The second Furioso Dreadnought arrives via drop pod from reserves.

The LRC advanced slightly again and opened the assault ramps to allow the Librarian, a Sanguinary Priest, and their attached squad of Sterguard veterans to deploy. The Tactical combat squad kept stumbling on the ruined aquila barely managing to move at all. Both Predators only adjusted position. All Lanspeeders moved slightly. Only the Multi-Melta Landspeeder moved within optimum firing range to the nearby Hammerhead. The Assault Squad jumped to the middle of the battlefield. Both Mephiston and the Death Company jumped to the Eldar front lines.

Blood Angels shooting phase proofed very detrimental to the Tau player. The Multi-Melta speeder destroyed the Hammerhead on the far right. Combined fire power from all units removed two battle suit squads leaving just the Broadsides and almost every Tau infantry unit save two badly damaged squads. The Tau forces responsible for protecting he right flank had completely collapsed.

Mephiston and the Death Company assaulted the Eldar front lines wiping out a Wraithguard unit.

Someone is attempting to use scare tactics and moon the Blood Angels.

Xenos

The Eldar Wave Serpent along with a Vypher emerged on the far left flank to help bring some heavy weapons to bear against the enemy.

The Tau player couldn't get a break and failed to bring in his command battle suit unit by failing both a roll and a re-roll.

Movement was scarce just as much as shooting from the Xenos forces which were quickly being surrounded. The Eldar did claim a second objective, stunned the Furiouso Dreadnought which dropped in the middle flank along with destroying the Multi-Melta Landspeeder.

Masta Cheef's rage meter filled the the break and burst, the battlefield was beginning to heat up. Neverness stepped in with a calm spell. 

The pile of bad dice proven two fold, green sometimes is not best and they were horribly cursed.

Turn 3

Blood Angels

The Blood Angels move for the Eldar in force. The LRC and the Landspeeders and a Tactical squad all move towards the left flank corner. The Tactical combat squad finally moved off the dreaded ruined aquila. The Sterguard move for the Eldar holding the objective on the right flank while Mephiston and the Death move for the Eldar holding the objective on the left flank. The Assault squad jumped towards the last remaining Tau infantry unit.

Blood Angels combined shooting was proving to much to bare for the Xenos forces as more and more fell to the unchecked firepower. The Eldar lost various infantry units along with the Vypher.

Blood Angels launched three separate assaults against units from both Xenos forces. Mephiston battled an Eldar squad while the Death Company watched. The Assault squad tore apart the Tau infantry squad. The Stergaurd fought to remove the Eldar from an objective.

The Wave Serpent came close to destroying the LRC.

Xenos

The Tau command battle suit squad arrived from reserved and seeing all of his army almost completely wiped out he deployed to the far left flank.

The Xenos shooting was low as they only brought two of the Mephiston down by a few more wounds and the Death Company's numbers down by two.

The small clear blast templates are drop pods, lol.

Turn 4

Blood Angels

All Blood Angels continue their advance towards the remaining Eldar on the left flank while the LRC moves to support the Predator Annihilator deal with the Wave Serpent threat.

The Blood Angels shooting and assaults wipe out all the remaining Eldar units along with the Tau commander's body guard and a Broadside.

A mysterious plastic class drop ship arrived to evacuate the Eldar spirits.

Xenos

The Tau now alone failed to any significant harm to a host Blood Angels missing arms, bodies, heads, and weapons and left the Battlefield. Actually when the Tau player did point this out I saw laughter in his eyes, it was lol.

The Eldar gone and the Tau with four units left.

End Game

The Blood Angels discovered a covered among the rubble in a ruined building. The Librarian began to wonder if this was all a big misunderstanding. However, imperial teaching reveal anything Xenos to be bad and the Librarian ordered the Tactical squads to torch and burn what was left of the area.

Was it all a simulated event?

Was it a bad omen?

A moment of silence for those who fell on the battlefield.

Thoughts

For such a large game I added Mephiston to simply try out the character to see how he plays. His psychic ability along with the other Librarian was shut down constantly. I find this annoying a lot. I guess it is a balance of a rule which is table wide, army wide, or limited to certain distances, however I am not one to argue. I only used him for one model which could strike higher than I4. I think he acted more as a fear tactic than anything. If an opponent tends to focus on one model they can literally break elsewhere. The Tau player gained an obsession to kill him, but failed, however I would have done the same. 

The Librarian didn't die!

The Sanguinary Priests saved so many marines with their FNP ability. I feel I got a good amount saved versus losses. These FNP saves really robbed Masta Cheef sometimes of some helpful kills which could have help keep him fighting longer.

I forgot to give the Sterguard their bolters. Masta Cheef always comments glue their guns on. Everyone says my army has no heads. See a pattern of lulz?

The Furioso Dreadnoughts and their Frag Cannons were plain nasty and this is the second time I have used them which they are proven units. When both the first Furioso Dreadnought and the Multi-Melta speeder had survive the first turn I felt I had a huge upper hand as I had two units in my opponent's deployment zone capable of causing major damage. This helps me justify a Drop Pod purchase in the future. I use the small blast templates for friendly game. I usually tend to forget to shoot the weapons on them so they are just plain delivery systems to me. I would like to buy them, but presently I have a new purchase waiting assembly and trying to stay positive and continue painting my Blood Angels to achieve the Ultimate Goal!

Blood Angels players like to use a tactic called wall of armor 13. Although I was not using the tactic so to say it kind of made sense when my opponents had serious trouble breaching the front armor of the Furious Dreadnoughts which is 13. When both Dreadnoughts front armor along with the front armor of the Predators are added together I had 5 units with front armor 13 plus the LRC was 14 all around as usual. This could still fall from better dice rolls.

I love Landspeeders and the twin HB and then two with twin HBs can really do some major damage over time. Still twelve HB shots fired at any unit is potentially bad. I used a Predator Destructor, but for twenty more points I could have two more Landspeeders with twin HBS, but I did not have the models. I also need to order new flight stands.

The Predator Anihilator although expensive is efficient at killing high armor targets. If the vehicle can be deployed and get into a good firing position without much movement it can be very hard to dislodge or fight with out in the open. I may need to rethink my thoughts upon it.

I think the Tau only killed maybe two Tactical Marines and if they weren't his kills then he failed to kill anything leaving Masta Cheef with the feeling of having to fight all on his own the entire game. The Tau player was trying to use new rules for his codex and the crappy ordered from GW left him without a ton of extra units to potentially use. I think this is the main reason his rage scale flourished to its maximum levels. Neverness be praised.

It was fun to get to use a large amount of my Blood Angels units. Masta Cheef is always great to game against and the Tau player is cool to.

All right I am done.