Newsletter March 2001

Next meeting:

Saturday March 10^th 2001, at St. Johns Church Hall, Norrie St., Drury, starting at 9a.m.

Games arranged:  

Morning session: 9.30 am to 1.00pm

Afternoon session: 1.30pm to 5.00pm

If you can't make any of these games let me know - Kevin 2670319

Copy for the Newsletter

Copy for the news letter needs to be to me by week before we meet .- Kevin

************* OFFICAL WARNING **************

In April the hall that we use is needed by the church so the April Meeting has been postponed till the 21st. One week later

************  You have been warned  **************

FEW SHORT WORDS FROM AN AWOL CLUB MEMBER

Battlecry 2001

Well it was an interesting tourney to say the least. When I got there at 9am, every table was already setup with terrain and some people around them... They were PREPARED! This left me in shock that I didn't even notice that most people in the room were looking at me. It seems that together I made no.6 and therefore the minimum number of players. Nobody knew where everyone else was 'till I pointed out that the Hero parade was on the same weekend.

My first game against Sisters was a lost. It was very close with a couple of deciding factors. Heavy flamers, Power weapon, Heidi not showing up until the last moment (Callidus assassin). Jack the Muss (Inquisitor) also spent conciderable time fleeing from my Grand Master (Sword of secrets on t3 is instant death) He's now Jack the Wuss. Next up was Eldar. I won that battle for one reason. Mobility. Striking Scorpions walking the lenght of the battlefield (Falcon destroyed) were no threat so I shot the army piecemeat. Chaos took to the pedestal next and this was closer than at first thought. Night fight and they had first turn. They charged me on turn two after shooting at my termies with ten berserkers. Three wounds, three fails. Flesh hounds and Bloodthirster also came out on this turn. Praise be to stubborn! My army held firm in time to let my Librarian and Grand master to kill them all (they had no power weapons) My attack bike held off a whole squad of berserkers for six turns single-handedly until reinforcements came. He finally won when he broke me to ten models exactly. He was six away but had a unit of ten cultists skulking around. Space Wolves, my eternal enemies. Anti-marines who hit me on a three plus. He charged on turn two, lost, and ran. I charged back with my termies until they were wiped out. His remnants charged me , broke me and I turned around and broke him! A draw! Lastly the sinister Dark Eldar in a rescue mission. I got the rescue objective early on and spent the rest of the game holding it, then I was broken on the very last turn. Damn.

End result 1 win, 1 draw, 3 loses. This ensured me of 5/6 place but taking along termies who are worth 290 pts which is not tactically sound but still fun to use is worth it. Strangely though is the fact that everyone got four or five for army composition, and the points difference between first and last is 18pts. I was also noted for getting runner up to the sportsmanship points (Actually it was a tie but Aidan had to have only one winner so 4+ Ivan wins). I was most stunned by that bit. For next year though, I expect to see more of us around, so paint up those armies and beat Craig Dewes at painting, Play more games so you can beat Damien and his Daemon prince, THE DAEMON FORMERLY KNOWN AS PRINCE rant rant rant.

If you want to know about the biggest highlight of it then go to Portent 40k general forums and check out what Son of Lion has to say in the post "Funniest or bravest thing to happen to you"

The Pete-House Forum

 Ahhhh yes, this is where I get to take editorial privileges again, and rant, rave, moan and praise what I see fit…

Also, I will give you all some tasty updates and juicy, scrumptious pictures of the new Inquisitor models!

Now onto my usual schlock!

After a couple of games of the new edition of Fantasy, I have some observations very clear in my mind.

First off…magic.

The generic lores of magic are a great touch, I’m very happy about that…

But on closer inspection, they let a brilliant opportunity slip out of their hands. The games designers didn’t tailor the lores of magic. They all have a blasting spell, and are so generalised in so many ways. The chance to load them with one very obvious genre of magic. The Lore of Fire has some blasting, and some hand to hand, and something that slows movement…and it’s the celestial lore of the heavens that has the comet of cassandora…which is a downgraded Conflagration of Doom… the shadow lore disappoints me, but all in all, the added flavour is a VAST improvement on battle magic.

Which brings the next point I dislike. Games Workshop’s atomic increase syndrome. The Lores aren’t too overpowered… but the Waaagh decks that followed the Lores are more potent, and I fear that Necromancy is fairly respectable power and effect wise, and then Dark Magic… THAT is going to hurt, then High Magic (this will REALLY hurt) and then there is the Chaos magic, followed by Skaven magic which will undoubtedly draw an involuntary shudder from yours truly.

And this will also hold true of the Special Characters. Luthor Huss of the Empire may prove useful against Chaos, in large games. And Balthasar Gimp… Oops, I mean Balthasar Gelt, is a little better than your standard wizard because he has a little more power to cast (GAWD the staff of Volans got crappy in a hurry didn’t it?). Ho-hum characters really. Then came Grimgor Ironhide. Talk about an obscene, green, killing machine! That bastid is MEAN! I haven’t yet had a chance to peruse the rules for the Savage Orc Shaman character, but suspect he will be quite good. That was a scary increase in power there, but I suppose not earth-shattering. Then came Warhammer Armies: Dwarfs. And with it came the most frightening runesmith I have ever laid eyes across! Is it just me, or does an entire army of Dwarfs that cause fear seem a worrying prospect? And the Dwarf Lord whose Book of Grudges has been COMPLETELY RESOLVED (He’s been busy ain’t he?) is not one to sneeze at either.

It won’t be long until we see the new Vampire characters… They don’t need to be unique to be scary!

Then comes either the High Elves or the Dark Elves. Of the Dark Elves, there will be a new dragon. There will be a new Malekith. There will be a new Malekith mounted on a new dragon. There will be many Dark Elf players rejoicing, and many people who can’t take dragons kicking themselves.

I don’t think I even have to mention Chaos now do I? Archaon, need I say any more.

Next point on magic after that aside, it’s VERY hard to get a spell through isn’t it? You practically have to gear your entire army up for magic to get an effective phase…which leaves most people lacking a bit of punch. All except the Vampire Counts as it happens. Ouch ouch hurty ouch! I had a chance to look at the new Dwarf army…they definitely have made an improvement. The army itself is a lot better to collect, with vastly more to explore in the army and tactics. These guys are HARD! Ld9, T4, WS4, 3+ armour save CORE TROOPS!!! THIS is dwarfs! THIS is what they were supposed to be, but never truly became! The characters have a serious edge with runes. The sheer customising ability is potent in itself, and knowing that the stunty characters can have more points of magic items as usual for their lever, makes this rather painful. The Dwarf army has an edge in the magic phase. A SERIOUS, STRONG edge! This I feel is wrong, and hurts greatly. This is one solid army that will be very hard to beat. Magic barely touches them, and attackers just bounce off the battle line. Their artillery is VERY good (especially with the help of the Engineer’s Guild) and their shooting is nothing short of solid (Dwarf handguns get +1 to hit within 12", owwwww). The Anvil of Doom can cast Elemental Magic, which I find to be quite useful myself. Watch out for them, new tactics will have to be formed I’m afraid.

The new rules themselves are rather good. Chariots aren’t the army-slaughtering monsters they used to be! You rarely see character/monster driven armies anymore. You see lots more infantry and cavalry, and, get this, TACTICS! People are using TACTICS, thinking TACTICALLY!!! Isn’t that something? Sword and shield rule, however… GOD this hurts! You don’t really know what it is to desperately hack at a unit of skeletons wearing heavy armour and shields, with hand weapons, trying DESPERATELY to get through their 3+ armour save…only to watch the bastids gain back ALL LOSSES and then some! It makes one despair. But the game is still Warhammer, and nothing of the problematic 2dimensioning effects of the 40K revision have made their way into this revision.Even though losing my beloved Reiksguard was a heavy blow…

And NOW onto the rumours!!!

Codex Tyranids is imminent. New Tyranids, new rules, new book. New SPECIAL CHARACTERS!!! The Red Terror, one of the soon to be legendary FIRST tyranid special characters EVER, has 6 attacks… apparently, if it hits with at least 4 of them, he simply swallows his target in one gulp! Fun fun fun! Interested to see what changes have occurred for the ‘Nids Not sure what exact date for the release for the Nid codex is, but its here, really.

Okay, the new races. The Kroot, and the Tau. We haven’t heard much. And it doesn’t seem like we care that much either. But what I have seen is that the Kroot and the Tau are from the same race, with the Tau being really shootie, and the Kroot being hand-to-hand muscle. Also mention of one of their toys, apparently charges into combat, but if it scores a hit, it does no damage, but the character is apparently hit on a 2+ from that point on. Could be interesting.

OOH!

And they have plastic Space Marine Dreadnoughts! They’re made! They physically exist! Blood Angels may not be far off my shopping list =)

And now for the juicy one, Inquisitor! The new models are breathtaking! The HIGHEST level of detail I have ever seen before! This looks to be a very interesting game, and the models will be making many an imperial player drool! The game will have very small forces. VERY small. This makes a Necromunda Gang look like the Russian army in WW2. Unfortunately, being that the customers won’t be buying as many models, Games Workshop in their infinate wisdom have decided to price them proportionally. UGH!!! I mena, SURE, they are BEAUTIFUL models, but I don’t see how you can justify charging $40 for ONE MODEL!!! The game will apparently be a role-playing wargame almost, with a lot of action. One quote claims: "You can roll out of a window, snap off 4 shots with your gun, blowing a guy's hand off, duck behind cover and than sprint round a corner, all in one turn" I’ve seen mention of there needing to be an umpire… Impartiality through strict umpiring rules I would hope will be a feature, otherwise some very ugly arguments could arise (with the stakes so high of having your beautiful, and horribly expensive, model shot dead because the umpire and your opponent are mates, I pray this never happens)

The GOOD news is it’s like the OLD 40K AND THEN SOME!!!

"Over 150 individual weapons and items are going to feature in the 192 page rulebook, including 4 different types of bolter, each with 5 different ammo types, different loading times, rates of fire and possible customisations. Psychic powers also feature heavily, but the main emphasis is the kind of heroics only seen before in the stories in Inferno and Warhammer Monthly." Sounds good don’t it???

I must admit it does interest me.

And as promised, here is the tasty new pic of some inquisitor models… this is my personal favourite picture =)

Pretty quiet on the Fantasy Rumours front…

Chaos!

Apparently they’re getting back to their old, chaotic roots, with mutations and rules for them. Hopefully this follows through to the Chaos armies we had before, with the Chaos feel, and centaurs and all the great, rich, interesting and original feel it had! And I’ve seen on portent a rumour for Bloodline Design Rules, like the Vehicle Design Rules, and Tyranid Design Rules…

Dubious about that one. There is a new manticore model, being ridden by someone that looks of the Undead persuasion… again I am cautious of the new Undead special characters, they could be quite mean. The model looks great, with a more dynamic pose! Harpies look more like the classic mythological image of them, ie. nekkid chicks with wings and claws. Good to see, the old models didn’t impress me really. The NEW cauldron of blood is sculpted. Looks rather good, not as goofy as the other one looked (true the other one wasn’t overly goofy, but this one looks a bit more, well, mean) Funnily enough, it don’t have wheels. HA! Immobile cauldron of blood! The new Khemrian undead looks… robed. I don’t know what to expect, they look… different. Wait and see. This army will be interesting, and a damn long time coming! Well, that’s about it as far as rumours go at the moment. And just to show the true extent of some gamers’ lunacies, I present to you, SPACE COW!!!

The Battle for Bakersfield!

"It goes from bad to worse, does it not?" Mayor Jonathon Davisz of the beleaguered city of Bakersfield inquired of his most trusted seer. "So it doth seem’th, m’lord" Celestial Seer Munky replied despondently. "The portents are undecided, we have to hold out as best we can. A tide of good fortune flows across the Holy Cross, the stars tell of fortunate encounters, if we can but hold on for a month, maybe a week in excess" "And what news of reinforcement, Fieldy Marshal?" "AHEM" the Field Marshal of Bakersfield, Fieldy to his friends, cleared his throat in preparation to read from the written reply to the request for Imperial Reserves. "M’lord, doth state, and I quote: ‘Bwaaaaahahahahaaaaaaaaa, heheheee, hohohahaaa. Thou must be kidding.’ End quote" "Marshal?" "I think it means we won’t be receiving those reinforcements, m’lord" Things were indeed looking pretty bleak for Mayor Jonathon Davisz. Drastically unsupported, their military could not sit through a siege, and could not give battle. The fears of the people were rising. The moral of the soldiery was dropping. Even the commanders were losing a bit of their respect for the Mayor. They’d even stopped addressing him with a capital ‘M’!!! There was only one choice left.

"Fieldy, we need delaying actions. In an open battle, our army is as useless as tits on a bull. We NEED reserves. Anyone, anyTHING, just help! You have to find a way to slow the blighted tomb-rot down!" "M’lord, I have already prepared for this eventuality, on your command I’ll order the actions" Good! Thought Davisz. They might have a chance, AND his peers are addressing him with a capital ‘M’ again! Wait, that was because of starting a sentence, oh bugger! 

Okay, the BIG BATTLE FOR BAKERSFIELD has been confirmed for the APRIL meeting.

This gives us more chance to get used to the changes in the game, new army lists, and the opportunity for me to assemble and paint some of my damn army! I haven’t finalised the size of the armies to be used, as I have not had a chance to finalise the competitors. I suspect 3,000 points each, minimum of 3 players on each side, should about do the trick. It may jump up to 4000. Anyone needing to reinforce their army to pump it up to 4000, don’t worry, we can either find more models to help with that, or drop someone’s force down a bit. Now, there is some interest in this, I know there is. If you wish to take part, please see me as early as you can at the next meeting so I can arrange the details with ease. Alternatively, you could e-mail me either before, or after the March meeting, at colson@xtra.co.nz

I would appreciate to have this happen within one week after the march games-club meeting. The next alternative is to phone me (298-7293, area code 09 if you need it), also either before or after next meeting, within a one-week period please. But I would prefer to be told at the meeting. Now, when you inform me of your desire to take part in what will no doubt be a spectacular and glorious battle, enjoyed by all and talked about for years to come, something to tell your grandchildren with pride, while mumbling about how easy kids have it these days… ARGHHH!!! Sorry, wandering off topic

When you inform me that you want in on the game, please tell me what armies you can play, and tell me your preference, as I may need to do a bit of juggling to make sure both the ‘good’ guys and the ‘bad’ guys have the same size forces and so on, but I will do my best to make sure your preference is what you play, and try my hardest to protect your right to personal enjoyment from the game. Also I will appreciate any limitations to be told to me at that time, like how much you can field by way of points if perhaps your force isn’t that big (doesn’t need to be, I just want to know how big or small I should go, you know), and anything else you may find terribly important. Also, if you wish to tell me the names of your valiant/insidious leaders and their idle threats to each other, that’s okay too… and no-one’s above a spot of maniacal chuckling either =) And an important note, don’t double-book next month, as this game will be rather big, and even after the end of turn 6, the deciding turn, it will be fun to keep going till the death (which will be interesting as players leave to return home, possibly resulting in a lot of evil armies looking at the remnants of my Empire forces with hunger in their eyes, and malicious intent in their black hearts, curse them all!)

See you there!

It’ll be a blast

-Your hard-working and humble freelance journalist

Peter

Battle Reports

Kevin Carberry and Anthony Beat Paul Krevenko - Things did not start well for the Blood's with the HQ Razorback getting stunned and with that many termies on the other side of the table we held back. Much to my joy the smurf's advanced. with the termies firmly lined up in our sights we finally charged. Basicly what followed was a near perfect bloodangel assualt the tactical troops held all the smurfs in place and the honor guard tore them ALL apart .

Kevin Carberry V Arthur (the chicken man) Young - he bloody well hid !!!! Arthurs army consisted of just 18 models. 15 termies 1 dred and 2 landraiders  and for all but the last turn of the game 10 of the termies hid in the landraiders - Bastards - good army choice Arthur very hard nut for my army to crack

Kevin Carberry Beat Manoj Prasot - got in a thrid game. This time against long time chaos warrior Manoj. Chaos are fun as they all seem to like getting close and that really appeals to my army. But he fooled me by using his brothers army (a very nice army it is to.) of crimson fists. More bloody terminators. A close fought match that could have gone either way but in the end the bloods won through.

Battle Report - Napoleonic Electronic Wargame.(repeated on attached sheet)

This was a ‘friendly’ between Brian and Ken at last months club meeting. The battle was fought as the best of three games which represented the left, centre and right of a large battle. The troops were entirely historical, ( no monsters, sorcerers or flying units ) and represented Russian ( Brian ) and French ( Ken ) Napoleonic armies. Each game had six units per side with a total of ten different units available to each player.

The most notable feature of these games was the success of the light troops such as infantry skirmishers and light cavalry. The Russian Cossacks and Riflemen proved particularly devastating under Brian’s capable direction. In general the light troops would quickly run as the main armies closed leaving the heavy troops to slog it out. Then when as the line infantry and heavy cavalry decided that it was all over and time to go home the light troops would come racing across the battlefield to harass the survivors and pursue the routers. All the games were dominated by these troops in the later stages of the game.

The first game was decided when the French Dragoons rallied in the nick of time and were able to defeat Brian’s Cossacks and win the game for the French. The second game looked like going Brians way but unfortunately his Line infantry who had rallied after a severe battering early on let the side down, being repulsed by French infantry skirmishers. However any ideas of a French whitewash were dismissed in the third game when Brian’s Russian army ( without the unreliable line inf. ) steamrolled the French for an extremely decisive win.

Although technically a two - one win to the French it should be noted that the French victories were close while the Russian victory was decisive, and if it had not been for one slightly dubious Russian unit it could easily have gone the other way.

Club Information

This newsletter is edited by Kevin Carberry so anything you would like included in the newsletter should be sent to me at 48 Beaumonts way, Manurewa, South Auckland. Phone 2670319, kevin@profax.co.nz

Robert "Dictator" Davies is the Club President so any queries, problems, issues or suggestions about the club should go to him at 14 Grebe Street, Manurewa. Phone 2670899.