Hello there and welcome to this the first of many battle reports we will be bringing you over the coming months. We will try as do post these as often as possible and wherever possible we will include photos from the battles to help illustrate the games as they took place. We will also be covering a wide spectrum of games from a number of companies and you can expect reports based on Deadlands: Great Rail Wars, Stargrunt, Warzone, Chronopia, Warhammer, and Warhammer 40,000, plus many more. If you have a report that you would like to share with us, please feel free to submit your article, I regret that at this time we cant offer any payment for battle reports, but that may change in the future.

So here goes.

SPACE MARINE: FORCE TYCO

I opted to field a force of Marines as at the moment I am quite busy re-painting my miniatures in Crimson Fists colours. I have been collecting models for 40K since the game first came out over 10 years ago and have a good few thousand to choose from when working out armies. For this game I filled my case with some of my painted troop as follows.

The Marines should be able to take on anything really as they had some fast movement troops, such as bikes and jump pack assault troops, and some support from the Dreadnought and the Predator. My Terminators should prove a match for Liam’s elite’s and with their Deep Strike skill I could set them up after the rest of the troops had been deployed. Skimmers such as the Landspeeder are great for getting at those troops who can move upon you quickly and I knew that Liam was going to take as squad or two of Jetbikes, so they could go toe to toe with them. I chose the Chaplain as he is rock solid in combat, and he gets an invulnerable save of 4+ (great for those pesky las cannons!). The army commander was in Terminator armour and I placed him with Squad Charlie for deployment.

The Terminators and other troops in the game that can teleport onto the battlefield, use the Deep Strike skill before you start the game. This is simple to use, place a template where you want them to appear, anywhere on the table, then just roll the scatter dice from the box and if you get the ‘target’ the land directly there, if you get an ‘arrow’ you roll 2d6 and move them that many inches in that direction. The previous day I had tried to be clever and teleport my Terminators as close as possible to a section of cover from which I could mount an assault and then can the benefit of cover, but the dice where against me and I landed smack in the middle of a squad of Eldar Guardians, and ended up with the Terminators pinned in combat, as a Phoenix Lord and a Wraithlord made their way to them. Very messy. Terminators also can move and fire heavy weapons with no penalty.

As I have played against Liam before I knew that he would more than likely take a large amount of Aspect Warriors and fast moving Jetbikes and maybe even a Falcon or two. I was sure that I could last the 6 turns that the scenario Cleanse and Burn required and hopefully hold onto enough board and destroy enough troops to win.

As you may have noticed you can now split squads of Tactical into five man groups. This is great as you can cover more of the battlefield.

Even though I had more points than Liam, I had to wipe out at least 80% of his troops to win the game or hold onto more board sections than he did at the end of turn six to draw. This sounds easy but the Eldar had the advantage of more cover for their troops and only needed to hold onto more board sections than me and I would have lost.

The Eldar are some of the fastest troops in the whole of the Warhammer universe. Even though now all troops have a base movement of 6" in the movement phase, the Eldar have some fast skimmers and flying troops that can easily out manoeuvre slower foes such as Orks and Marines, and I knew that they would cause major problems for Marc. The Falcon is armed to the teeth and added to this it can carry upto 6 models. If I could get my Falcon down to Marc’s end of the table and then deploy the troops inside it, I could grab some vantage point to launch an offensive on his troops from the rear.

The Aspect Warriors are a great all around troop and the Banshees can really do some damage with their powerweapons. Because Eldar have a really great Initiative score I knew that more than likely I would go first in close combat and this gave me an extra edge as Marc would have to think about who to throw at my Aspects.

The Avatar is an awesome model and one of my own favourites. He towers above all other troops on the battlefield and is very hard to take down in combat. The last time we played, a few lucky shots from Marc’s Predator had taken the Avatar down, but he had shrugged off attacks by other troops. As a monstrous creature the Avatar always ignores armour in close combat and he is also classed as invulnerable, meaning that he always gets a saving throw even if he shouldn’t due to the weapons armour piercing value.

The Phoenix Lord last game cut a huge swath in Marc’s Terminators and left carnage in his wake. This time I took the same Phoenix Lord (the old Morgan Ra model) as I like the model and would like to attach him to my Dark Reapers. A Wraithlord (Eldar Dreadnought) would also take care of any troops that got too close and could handle some of Marc’s lager models.

Finally my Swooping Hawks and Rangers meant that I could set up troops after the rest of the forces had been deployed. The Rangers (Scouts in the old version) can infiltrate and set up almost anywhere on the table, and the Hawks follow the same Deep Strike rules as the Terminators.

I brought my Assault troops a few inches away from the Swooping Hawks, and seeing as they can still fire all their weapons I would pick off as many of the Swooping Hawks as I could before jumping in during the Assault phase.

The bikes sped up their full movement (12") along with the Chaplain, and the Attack Bike to take care of some of the troublesome Banshees that where on the left flank of the table. I had suffered at the hands of these before and wanted to get them out of play as fast as possible.

The Predator stayed still so that it could fire all its weapons at the Wraithlord in the shooting phase. The Rhino (with Squad Bravo inside) moved up the right hand flank covered by the Dreadnought who slowly strode behind. As for the Landspeeders! Well I sent both of them over to take care of the Swooping Hawks (just in case) and the moved close enough to open fire in the shooting phase.

With all my movement finished it was down to shooting.

MARINE SHOOTING PHASE ONE.

What to hit first! Well Marines have some great weapons with very good ranges, and looking at the table a few things where well within range. The Assault squad opened up with their bolt pistols on the Swooping Hawks and caused 4 hits, they saved 3 of them, but the Sgt with the squad opened up and took one of the Hawks down from the sky with his Plasma pistol. Liam removed two of the Hawks (you get to choose which figure gets taken off the board now) and I moved onto the next unit. The Landspeeder opened up with its Multimelta and took another Hawk down in flames (the AP of a Multimelta doesn't allow a save at all and if it hits and wounds the figure is removed as a casualty).

The Terminators in Squad Charlie opened up on the poor Guardians and took a heavy toll on them causing a massive 8 wounds all of which they couldn’t save. The Terminator with the Assault cannon killed another 3 on his own.

The bikes opened up on the Banshees and all missed, but having twin linked weapons allowed them a re-roll for all misses. And guess what? They all missed again. I knew that the Banshees would be all over me the first chance they got.

The attack bike opened up with its Heavy Bolter and hit 3 of the Banshee’s killing them outright. The twin linked bolters spat death on another of the squad.

The second Landspeeder opened up on the Avatar as it was the nearest model and the large creature reeled in pain as it scored a direct hit wounding the beast. The Avatar gets a save of 4+ as it is classed as an invulnerable creature, but Liam failed his save and took a wound.

The Predator hadn’t moved at all and could bring all its weapons to bear on the Wraithlord and the Avatar. I opened up with the Autocannon and scored hits on the Wraithlord, who failed its save and took two wounds. The Avatar was lucky as the hits from the Las-cannon just bounced harmlessly off his armour.

The Chaplain opened fire on the Fire Dragons taking cover in the ruins. Firing at models in cover is a lot harder than in the last version as no matter what your ballistic skill is you always only hit on a 5+. I rolled for the bolters and missed and as the bike is allowed a re-roll for its twin linked bolters I rolled again and hit. The Fire Dragon failed its armour save and was taken off as a casualty.

The Dreadnought was out of range and LOS (line of sight) to hit anything, so it just tried to keep up with the rest of the force.

The second Terminator squad didn't have LOS to anything they could hit due to the terrain. And the Rhino opened up with its Stormbolter on the Rangers hiding in cover, and missed.

Finally the Tactical squad on the bunker opened up on the Avatar with its missile launcher, and caused another wound. Things look bad for the aliens.

Liam rolled a morale check for the Swooping Hawks as they had taken over 25% casualties in combat. He used the LD score of the Exarch with the squad and passed with ease. The Banshees failed their morale and had to move back 8 inches (you roll 2d6 when your retreating.) and the two surviving Guardians passed their morale roll as they where near the Dark Reaper Exarch and used his LD score. The Fire Dragons having only lost one man didn't need to make a check yet. With all the shooting and morale checks over it was time to get down to the assault phase.

MARINE ASSAULT PHASE ONE

After taking out a few troops in the shooting phase it was now down to the assault phase and try and cause as much damage as I could. The secret is to try and keep your opponents under a constant hail of fire and move in as close as possible. Most troops and vehicles in the new game can move again in the Assault phase if they are with 6" of an enemy unit. The bikes where just out of range to charge anyone, and so was the Chaplain, but the Assault Squad leapt high into the air and landed next two the Swooping Hawks.

The combat with the Hawks was a deadly affair indeed. The Eldar will normally hit first in hand to hand combat as they have the higher initiative. And hit they did. I lost 2 of the marines to the Hawks in the first assault and only just saved another. When it came to my turn to hit back I faired a little better and managed to kill three more of the Hawks leaving just the Exarch to fight on his own.

The bikes moved in to attack the Banshees and this was a real mistake. I managed to hit two of them but they made their saves. However I lost 3 bikes in the assault.

The Rhino carrying the second Tactical squad moved 6" and tried to run over the Rangers. Using the rule of Tank Shock a troop who is charged by a vehicle such as a Rhino or another tank gets to make a LD check or run away 2d6 inches. The Rangers failed and routed back towards their own lines and ended up right in the line of sight of the second Terminator squad. They got caught in a crossfire and where all wiped out. Crossfire is a new rule that allows troops who haven’t fired that turn to attack fleeing units. Its a little like Overwatch in the old system but isn't no where near as complicated to use and causes less arguments.

The phase over both Liam and myself rolled for morale checks. The Banshees failed theirs and so did the bike squad, but both the assault Marines and Hawks made theirs and where locked in combat.

ELDAR TURN ONE

ELDAR MOVEMENT PHASE ONE

Well after the pounding that my troops had just received from the Marines it was time to press the attack towards Marc’s forces. I rolled for the Rangers who passed their morale and could act as normal that turn. They moved back the way they had came to try and take out the Rhino that had tried to mow them all down. I moved the Jetbikes forward 12" and came within attack range of the Chaplain. I moved the Wraithlord forward and the very annoyed Avatar. The Banshees passed their morale check and moved in for the kill against the Bikes and the Falcon (my secret weapon) took off with its squad of Striking Scorpions safely inside it, and headed for the enemy. I kept the Reapers still so that they could fire if need be and the Fire Dragons still in cover could shoot at the Rhino or the Chaplain.

Movement over now and down to some carnage.

ELDAR SHOOTING PHASE ONE

The Falcon hadn’t moved its full rate so it could fire one of its weapons. I targeted the closest Landspeeder and rolled to hit with the Scatter laser. I hit and rolled a 5 on the Glancing hits table ( vehicles that move fast are always hit on the Glancing hits table), but seeing as it was an opened top vehicle and you add one to the die roll it was destroyed.

The Banshees opened up on the bikes but failed to wound. The Wraithlord opened up with its Scatter Laser on the Chaplain who made his save.

The Jetbikes screamed down the field and attacked the closest target to them, the Terminators. They managed to hit 3 of them and Marc failed his saves rolling all ones in a row.

The Avatar cant shoot as he has no ranged weapons, so he didn't do anything. The Dark Reapers opened up on the Predator but missed.

The Wraithguard opened up on the Chaplain and managed to kill him outright.

The Rangers couldn’t destroy the Rhino so they didn't shoot.

Marc rolled for his morale and passed them all. Jammy or what!

ELDAR ASSAULT PHASE

The Banshees rushed in for the kill and managed to wipe out one of the remaining bikes, but the Vet Sgt took two out the same turn. The Wraithlord moved toward the Terminators and managed to kill two of them but was itself destroyed in the process.

The Avatar swung his flaming sword at the Terminators in front of him and managed to kill all of them outright. Not a nice sight I can tell you.

Over on the other side of the board the remaining Swooping Hawk Exarch carried on fighting and managed to hold his own for a while, but was killed by the Sgt. Died worthy of a song or two though.

The Jetbikes moved in for the kill against the Landspeeder and managed to destroy its weapon, making it useless in combat now.

All morale was rolled and the Terminators passed, and so did the bikers. The Banshees routed again having rolled a 12 on the dice.

MARINE TURN TWO.

MOVEMENT PHASE TWO

Well Liam had given me some major headaches in his first turn and no mistake. I had lost a Landspeeder, while the other was all but useless. A full squad of Terminators ( the hardest troops in the 40K universe!) had died for the Emperor in combat with the Avatar, and my Assault squad was looking very poorly indeed.

I moved my Rhino up again towards the Rangers and unloaded the Tactical troops inside. Having only moved 6" the Rhino could still fire its Stormbolter in the shooting phase.

Seeing as my Landspeeder was all but useless I decided to move it over the battle field and try and take some ground. So it moved off at 24" towards the other table edge.

The Terminators pushed forward towards the Phoenix lord. The Dreadnought was now in LOS of the Falcon and stayed still so it could fire all its weapons.

I didn't move the Predator so again I could use all its weapons. The Jump Troops, no longer in combat took off and headed 12" towards the Rangers.

The remaining bikers moved after the Banshees.

MARINE SHOOTING PHASE TWO

The Marines stood up on top of the Bunker opened up on the nearby Jetbikes and managed to take all five of them down in a hail of deadly bolter fire.

The other squad of Marines (fresh from the Rhino) opened up on the Rangers and managed to kill all of them outright. Then I opened up on the Fire Dragons with the Assault Troops and wiped all but one of them out. Things looked grim for Liam.

The Dreadnought and the Predator both spat death on the Falcon as it approached them. All hits where lucky and I took out its weapons and caused it not to be able to move or fire the next turn. A final shot from the Predators Lascannons took the vehicle out completely, killing the squad of Scorpions inside.

Finally the Terminators managed to destroy the Banshees and still be able to move in for the kill against the Phoenix Lord in the next phase.

Liam rolled for the Fire Dragons and passed their morale check.

MARINE ASSAULT PHASE TWO

I managed to get the Marines up to attack the Fire Dragons and beat them in hand to hand combat, only losing a single Marine.

The Assault squad now denied their target looked elsewhere and found nothing in charge range.

The Terminators rushed headlong into the Phoenix Lord. I somehow managed to beat Liam again with some very lucky dice rolls and sent the alien back to the pit he was spawned from without losing a Terminator.

The Bikes had nothing left to do but attack the Avatar. This would be suicide for them to do (even for fanatics such as Marines) so they waited and would out flank the Reapers on their next turn.

Morale was rolled for the Marines and they passed easily with a 3 on the dice. Now all I had to worry about was the Avatar, the Dark Reapers and the Wraith Guard.

Well it looked grim from the start of the last turn. With only a fraction of my force left I knew that I couldn’t possibly win the battle, but could still die trying.

I moved the Wraith Guard to attack the Assault Troops and kept the Reapers still. The Avatar moved across the Battle field to attack the Dreadnought. And that was all I had to move.

ELDAR SHOOTING PHASE TWO

I opened up with the Wraith Guard on the Assault Troops and managed to kill them all outright. The Reapers opened on the Terminators but failed once again to kill anything.

ELDAR ASSAULT PHASE TWO

Marc didn't make the morale check for the Marines and they ran back 7" towards their own lines. The Wraith Guard didn't need to make a morale check.

It was all over bar the screaming.

MARINES TURN THREE

MARINES MOVEMENT PHASE THREE

The Marines rallied automatically and moved to attack the Wraith Guard once more. The Landspeeder stayed at the far end of the battlefield out of reach of Liam’s remaining weapons.

I moved the Rhino up and the bikes and then pressed the Terminators towards the Dark Reapers.

The Dreadnought moved forward just in case the Terminators failed and for the first time in the game the Predator moved.

MARINES SHOOTING PHASE THREE

I opened up on the Wraithlord with the Marines and managed to wipe them all out. All that remained now was the Dark Reapers at the far end of the board. The Terminators opened fire and three of them went down. Then the Dreadnought shot and killed another.

Liam rolled for the Reapers and failed and they routed back towards their table edge. Not wishing to add shame to honour, Liam conceded a victory to me and the game was over.

LAST WORDS

A great battle and some choices that I had to make could have been a little better. The last we played I kept the Falcon back and it did a lot of damage, and the Jetbikes managed to kill a lot more that time than this time around. The Avatar is a great troop to take, and he more than managed to cause some serious damage to Marc’s troops, just a pity that he went down just when I really needed him.

In hindsight I should have brought the Phoenix Lord up into combat a lot sooner, but I held him back so he could take care of the Assault troops and Landspeeders as I thought that Marc would mount an offensive with them. But none the less it was a great game and we both had fun. I could have also made more use of the terrain and stayed put, making Marc try to wedge me out of my deployment zone. This would have made for a more tactical battle but perhaps a more boring one. When using cover in the new system, all troops are a lot harder to hit and always fight first in hand to hand while in cover. This didn't really make any difference as the Eldar always win initiative against Marines.

And that's it. The first of our battle reports. It was a great battle to play and a learning experience for both of us as we are still getting used to the new rules. The Marines are worth their weight in gold when it comes to pressing the attack forward, but loose out to the Eldar on initiative leaving them open in hand to hand. Of course the game was played using only the basic rules in the book and once the Codexes for both races are out, I can see it being a lot more complex than this. The rules allow for a more streamlined game to be played and if we had played with as many models on the table as this with the last edition, the game would have lasted for a long time, where it only lasted just over an hour.

Of course we didn't take any psychic troops in this battle, but we intend to bring you another report very soon detailing the Psykers and some of the other troops that we missed out in this report. As stated at the start of the report, this was only a friendly game to get both myself and Liam used to the rules and not an all out war against each other. The new rules contain a section on campaign play and advancing your troops with experience in a way that is very similar to Necromunda. We plan on running a large campaign and will post the details here on Gamers Web for all to see, and even take part in.

The new edition of Warhammer 40,000 plays like a dream and even still using the rule book to look up armour penetrations and such we still managed to play the game in far less time. Die hard 2^nd edition players may mourn the loss of Overwatch, and some troops, but these things are more than made up for in the new rules. In comparison to other games on the market such as Warzone from Target Games, the system plays at the same speed (if not faster) and has more depth of variety of troops to take. Warzone is one of my favourite systems as it is simple to play and above all is fun. The new Warhammer 40,000 is exactly the same, a fun system that doesn’t tax the brain to much or lead to arguments.

A lot of people have written to me over the past week about the overview of the new rules here on Gamers Web, most of the mails have been positive with the odd negative comment. I must stat to you all here that when I read the rules and wrote the review I hadn’t had the chance to play the game and couldn’t really give you a truthful comparison to other systems. But now having played a few times I have found a couple of faults, that can be simply addressed with house rules.

Attacking Vehicles with Foot troops using Power weapons

The rules aren’t too clear about normal troops attacking a vehicle with Power weapons. Power weapons as you can no doubt see from the report are very deadly so we ruled that a unit attacking a vehicle with a Power weapon will automatically cause a glancing blow.

The idea of moving and firing heavy weapon troops in the game works really well as you have to sometimes sacrifice moving so you can bring those big guns to bear.

Hopefully we will bring you photos of our next confrontation and a more detailed battlemap.

All comments are greatly welcomed.

Marc & Liam