Tag Archives: redcaps

To Infinity!

Posted on by tjkopena

A year and a half after painting up a half squad, I finally got in my first game of Infinity. Our PAGE Infinity Get Started Day seemed successful, with a bunch of newcomers showing up alongside the Sunday regulars at Redcap’s for over 16 people playing or watching. A few more photos are in the gallery.

Infinity-Logo

To Infinity... and beyond! (that will never get old)

To Infinity… and beyond! (that will never get old)

I’ve been sick and had told Caitlin I’d be home early so I only got in one game, but it was a solid learning experience. Colin’s Ariadna Highlanders partnered up with my PanOceania Military Orders to fight Steve’s… Haqqislam? Nomads? I have no idea. They were painted in typical Nomads colors but my impression is he’s only ever talked about playing Haqqislam. It… feels a little weird to me to be so new to a miniatures game as to not even be able to definitively recognize an opposing faction’s models. Also, I actually saw very little of his army because they all hid behind buildings and then popped out just enough to shoot from cover.

Why are we fighting over this shanty town again?!?!

Why are we fighting over this shanty town again?!?!

One small note is I should paint the front arc on the base of my models. Steve seems to have done that on his. Most of the models are pretty clear about which way they’re facing so it’s not a huge thing, but it’s a nice touch. Facing is important for critical game mechanics like taking opportunistic shots at troops moving around, so it’s nice to make the front arc completely unambiguous.

The enemy!

The enemy!

The game I think is pretty good. I’m not sure what to make of the rulebook. Previous editions I didn’t think were written very well, though some of that could be the translation. So far this edition is hard to gauge. It seems like many things are left unsaid or a bit ambiguous. But that could just be me not having a grasp of both the core mechanics and presentation style. The book does seem to have somewhat formal and systematic language around models being in particular states and so on, which is promising. Clearly though the game encompasses a million little fiddly abilities and a good number of stats, many of which seem like they may not come up all that often. There’s a lot going on, and a lot of interactions.

Overall though, the core mechanics are obviously fun and very tactical. They play out quite different from many miniatures games, and especially 40k. Infinity is hyper-focused on line of sight and sniping. I knew to expect that, but it was interesting to fool around and start to actually get a feel for how it plays out. For example, a bunch of regular troopers caught in the open really should not engage in a firefight with a sniper at long range in cover. That’s… actually pretty realistic? Similarly, charging with your sword against a guy pointing a shotgun your way is probably not going to work out well. That’s… even more realistic?

Holding down the right flank.

Holding down the right flank.

In the end Steve rolled us off the table in a straightforward annihilation mission. Knights on the right flank got wiped out moving forward aggressively toward close combat. Order sergeants made a serious thrust up the center but all got put away by a sniper camped out in the backfield. On the left the Highlanders got a bunch of kills with their machine guns as enemy troops parachuted in all around them, but were eventually themselves tagged. The final moments came down to a lone sergeant in high tech camouflage sniping from the rooftops, but an enemy doctor was able to creep around a building out of sight and save the downed troops, who then overwhelmed the sniper and eliminated Colin and I from the game.

So, in the end, I’m pretty excited about playing more Infinity. Definitely a substantial learning curve just to pick up all the core rules, let alone all the common abilities and weapons. But it’s a fun game and the skirmish style right up my alley.

Pop, pop!

Pop, pop!

40k Battle Report: Enter the Eldar, Come Captain Nitrol!

Posted on by tjkopena

kingbreakers-iconRecently I painted my first couple hundred points of Eldar after talking about starting an army for quite some time. Last night they made their first appearance, battling Jason’s Chaos Marines. He’s also got his own battle report.

Armies

I only have about 300 points of Eldar finished at the moment, so I figured I’d ally them with some Kingbreakers Space Marines to make up 1000 points. At the same time, I wanted to debut a captain and squad of Legion of the Damned that Alex painted for me in our club’s secret servitor this past holiday season. They even have their own little bit of fluff that Alex wrote to tie them into the chapter’s story:

Captain Nitrol is one of the oldest veterans of the Kingbreakers, a survivor of the fall of Forestway. On multiple occasions he has been all but mortally wounded in combat and thought lost, only to be rescued at the last moment by the timely appearance of the Legion of the Damned. What faith keeps him going? What power ensures his survival?

The overtones at the end are especially dark given the chapter’s surge in psykers after Forestway was lost to Chaos and exterminatus, as well as the ongoing plight of the captured and possessed Sergeant Titus. Rumors and theories abound of the Kingbreakers’ ultimate destiny!

Captain Nitrol and Sergeant Harbinger, in the thick of the battle.

Captain Nitrol and Sergeant Harbinger, in the thick of the battle.

In any event, I thought my army would wind up a bit of a random hodgepodge from being built on those two elements and only 1000 points. But it actually wound up kind of interesting, with some reasonable strategic rationale:

  • Kingbreakers (Salamanders)
    • Captain Nitrol (unnamed captain w/ artificer armour, plasma pistol, mastercrafted powerfist)
    • Legion of the Damned x5 w/ mastercrafted combi-grav, plasmagun, heavy bolter
    • Squad Harbinger (Tactical Marines x5 w/ veteran sergeant, mastercrafted boltgun, combi-melta, meltagun) w/ Razorback
    • Predators x3 w/ autocannons, heavy bolter sponsons
  • Eldar
    • Guardian Defenders x10 w/ scatter laser heavy weapons platform
    • Guardian Defenders x10 w/ scatter laser heavy weapons platform
    • Windriders x3 w/ scatter lasers

My thoughts in building from those two arbitrary cores were:

  • The Eldar bring cheap, mobile units to hold objectives. No Objective Secured because the list is completely unbound, but I still need warm bodies after all. The jet bikes are obviously super mobile. But the Guardians are no slouches either with their ability to run and shoot/shoot and run. So the Guardians are tasked with holding home objectives or nearby markers, while the Windriders hopefully swoop in at the end to claim or contest in the enemy’s zone.
  • The scatter lasers and Predators bring a bunch of mid-strength shooting that can really wreck a light vehicle or monstrous creature, both of which are common in our scene and probably in general at 1000 points. Note that the Predators have a special rule granting Monster Hunter and Tank Hunter while all three are alive, which just furthers this thought.
  • The Tactical Squad provides a unit for Nitrol to hide in while out in the open. Otherwise, he rides with them in the Razorback toward some contested midfield objective. Any actual close combat squad will wipe them out, but if it can be whittled down or the opposition is less combat oriented, they’re reasonably able to get stuck in and prevail. Meanwhile the Legion of the Damned hang out in the warp and eventually come down to help them out.

Jason on the other hand brought a cohesive, balanced Nurgle list, something like:

  • Nurgle Champion
  • Plaguemarines w/ meltas
  • Vulture Legion (Chaos Space Marines)
  • Fly Lord (some kind of Nurgle flying daemon prince)
  • Chaos Spawn (some kind of Nurgle blobby thing)
  • Plague Drone
  • Nurglings x3
  • Nurglings x3

After much back and forth about missions we eventually settled on 3 objectives and straight 12″ deployment zones on a fairly dense 4×4 board.

Fight!

Out on patrol, a small exploratory force of Eldar are startled by a bulbous daemon schlubbing its way nonchalantly across a clearing in an abandoned Imperial town.

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With no reinforcements of their own to call on and fearing a Nurgle infestation, the Eldar entreat a nearby force of Space Marines to come assist. Their hatred of the Plague Lord’s minions overcoming their aversion to the xenos themselves, the Kingbreakers accede to the request. Captain Nitrol and Squad Harbinger mount up with a small mechanized task force to go assess the situation. Once on site, the mission escalates immediately as a gigantic insectile horror crashes into their tank column, obliterating the Predator leading the way.

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The Kingbreakers and Eldar rapidly focus their combined firepower on the beast, taking it down. It’s now clear however that the threat is severe. Guardians retreat to defensive positions, while Nitrol and the jet bikers move deeper into the town. Several transports of the traitor legions rapidly appear, but are also blown away by sheer volume of fire. Out of the flames though jump Plague Marines and a squad of the Vulture Legion. The Plague Marines come head on at Nitrol, while the Chaos Marines attempt to flank the Eldar. Their efforts are supported by torrents of pestilence vomited forth by a Plague Drone come to protect the mewling spawn.

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With Nitrol’s rash position at the center of the battle already threatened on all sides by monsters and heavy infantry, the Kingbreakers are momentarily troubled by the wisps of eldritch flame arising forward of their location. Concern turns to relief, however, as the legendary Legion of the Damned emerge from the light, pouring heavy bolter and plasma fire into the Plague Marines. The traitors and their daemon kin are forced to concentrate on the new threat.

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The ghostly warriors can only stand the combined assault for so long, but their intervention grants Squad Harbinger and the Windriders a critical moment to recover and provide long range fire support against the Vulture Legion encroaching on the Guardians’ rearward positions.

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With their primary flanking threats dispatched, the Eldar and Predators divide their attentions. Scatter lasers snipe the blubbering Chaos Spawn that prompted the battle, while shurikens and heavy bolter fire shred Nurglings arisen amid the death and gore of the small but heated conflict.

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The Plague Lord’s army all but cleansed from this corner of the materium, Captain Nitrol and Sergeant Harbinger are left chasing after Papa Nurgle’s champion that orchestrated the infiltration. His vast bulk crashing through the detritus of the town, the Emperor’s warriors finally run the traitor to ground atop a dump yard of broken supply containers, their contents spoiled and reeking. The heaving wreck barely recognizable as a once-human form, Nitrol pulps it back to the Warp with a momentous swing of his power fist.

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Outcome

Three cowering Nurglings keep the Kingbreakers from a full table sweep, but the town is secured and the Eldar and Space Marines part the best of friends…

Thoughts

I didn’t know for sure I’d be fighting Jason on Sunday, but I have to confess I was thinking of his usual armies as I put together this list. The end result has a fair amount of S5–S7 shooting, with a good balance of strength versus quantity of shots to go against his Rhinos and monstrous creatures. In particular, the decision to take the third Predator for the Monster Hunter/Tank Hunter bonus was made in that light. That didn’t do all that much in the end as his Daemon Prince poofed one of them right away, but it helped shred the Plague Marines’ Rhino well away from my home objective. The scatter lasers also did a great job with those kinds of targets. All in all, at several critical points I was able to concentrate a lot of solid firepower to take out targets like those and the Plague Drone.

One big mistake I made was I got sloppy with the Windriders and let them get assaulted toward the end of the match. I thought the Legion of the Damned were going to keep the Plague Marines and Chaos Spawn tied up in combat for another turn, so I had moved the Windriders close in order to get shots down a firing lane across the table and onto the Vulture Legion, while also moving them toward Jason’s home objective. The Damned crumpled that turn though, and Jason was immediately able to consolidate and make an easy charge on the jet bikes in his turn. That left me without any real option to go after both the mid-table and enemy objectives, so I would have been in trouble if I’d lost either mine or the mid-table.

All in all it worked out though and this list seemed a lot more capable than I was initially thinking. Don’t forget to check out Jason’s battle report, while Captain Nitrol and his Eldar friends await further action!

The Eldar are ready for you!

The Eldar are ready for you!

 

40k Battle Report: Necrons vs Kingbreakers

Posted on by tjkopena

Phil and I had a great game of 40k last night at Redcap’s Thursday night fights, so I was inspired to draw up a map and post some photos.

Nagash brings oblivion! Phil's Transcendant C'Tan.

Nagash brings oblivion! Phil’s Transcendant C’Tan.

Top of Turn 2, Necron move.

Top of Turn 2, Necron move.

Glorious combat.

Glorious combat.

Setup

A relatively lightly terrained board, 1850 points each. I continued my experimentation with the Stormlance formation aided by a 1st Company formation. The Stormlance requires all your foot dudes to start embarked but lets them run after shooting, and to use that run to embark even if they disembarked in the movement phase. So it’s great for moving forward in a Rhino, popping everybody out to let loose a full round of shooting, and then hiding back inside. The mission was Emperor’s Will (just two objectives on the board), Hammer and Anvil (long table).

Battle

Things went something like this:

  • Wraiths move forward a bit hesitantly, then rush forward. Tacticals move up enough to concentrate fire into each of the two units in turn, making full use of their recently learned transport embarkation skills. Landspeeders fortuitously come on to help from reserve, and the Wraiths are eliminated with minimal losses. Devastators meanwhile cripple The Nightbringer, enabling Tacticals to finish him with opportunistic long range bolter fire.
  • Captain Angholan and a Deathwatch team drop onto the Necron objective, but the Lychguard defending it shrug off the waves of flamer fire and fail no saves from almost two dozen wounds. In response they obliterate the Kingbreakers veterans just before Oberon warps all his friends across the battlefield and onto the Kingbreakers’ objective.
  • Kingbreakers Ghosts drop onto the Necron objective, attempting to assassinate The Deceiver lurking nearby. They cripple the supernatural ghoul and nearly succeed, but he’s rescued by a Transcendant C’Tan who wracks the Marines with energy attacks before pummeling them into Oblivion.
  • Terminators waiting in the Kingbreakers’ backfield charge in to tie up the Lychguard, but are completely eliminated before inflicting any wounds. The Lychguard are somewhat off-footed by this though and fail a critical charge on Squad Harbinger also coming at them. This enables the entirety of the remaining Kingbreakers to turn and pour fire into the Necron, cutting them to shreds. It’s not enough to clear the field though, as Oberon, a Necron Lord, and a few Lychguard survive to continue battling the Emperor’s finest.

Outcome

The Emperor’s Will mission is notorious for typically coming down to the secondary objectives. With just two objectives, in each other’s deployment zones, it’s just so hard to claim or contest both. So Phil basically locked this one up early by claiming First Blood and Slay the Warlord. My only hope was to somehow contest his objective while holding mine, possibly while also slaying his warlord. By Turn 4 this looked possible with some very tight play, if I could clear the Lychguard and then flat out the Landspeeders across the board and onto his objective. Unfortunately I came up a few models short on clearing out the Necron menace, and the game ended on Turn 5 anyway while I’d decided to hope for a Turn 6 in order to get in a few more shots with the ‘Speeders before boosting across the board. That left us tied on objectives with each holding our own, but Phil still up those 2 points…

Analysis

Putting the Landspeeders into reserve but flying onto the board rather than deep striking was, as usual, a good move. I was hesitant about that because deep striking would enable me to get across the long Hammer & Anvil board. With the shorter player table edge reserving them is also less useful than usual because they can just fly across it anyway, as compared to entering on the flanks of the usual table orientation. But here they were able to come on precisely where they needed to in order to shoot right at the most menacing Wraiths before they could obliterate all the Tacticals nearby.

Throwing down the Sternguard piecemeal first to the Lychguard and then to The Deceiver and Nagash was unfortunate. But I’m not sure what else I would have done. That seemed my best chance to get on top of Phil’s objective, as the Rhinos would have had a hard time making it across the long table without being blown up. I did also think they’d do better against the Lynchguard. Their sacrifice did also basically take both of the C’Tan out of the game, as they were forced to turn around and take care of the drop team, keeping them away from my objective.

So far I’m a big fan of the Stormlance formation from the Kauyon campaign book, thematically for the White Scars but not actually tied to their Chapter Tactics or characters. It’s quite a change of pace for me having to equip and embark everybody in Rhinos rather than most in Drop Pods and the others largely on foot. But being able to jump out, shoot, and hop back in is a huge boost to the effectiveness of basic Marines. Bringing 20 bolter shots to bear is quite a bit different than 4 out of the hatches. Sheer weight of fire did a lot here to overcome the Necron’s intrinsic survivability—overall I had just under 50 Marines on the board.

The big immediate thing I should change army-wise is adding another Drop Pod to the 1st Company formation with some unit complementing the others, e.g., another Sternguard squad, so that I have two pods coming down Turn 1. Currently the two units individually can go after a good variety of either squishy or vehicular units, but against a sort of middle ground hard target like the Lychguard their attack needs more oomph. In general I could also use more of the newer firepower units in the army. Centurions are of course the leading candidate.

In any event, I need to change something up as I’m now 0 and 2 against Phil in 2016, though this game was much closer than our last. To the future!

Deathwatch flame the Lychguard on their home objective.

Deathwatch flame the Lychguard on their home objective.

Kingbreakers surround the invading Necron.

Kingbreakers surround the invading Necron.