Ordo Bowl '17 Season 2 Round 4 AAR

No Friendly games this go around, so round 4 is a little sparse with BatReps. Deathbot's Orcs and my Vampires faced off in the Super Leage, and my Chaos Dwarved played an Elf Union team.

Zorcon vs Deathbot's Super League Round 4

Paravon City Chiefs (Vampires) vs New Orcleans Saints (Orcs)

The Saints received 100k in inducements and hired Bomber Dribblesnot, a Goblin Bombardier Star Player. His stats are 6/2/3/7 with Loner, Accurate, Bombardier, Dodge, Right Stuff, Secret Weapon, Stunty. It was Pouring Rain the entire game.

Turn 2. A Vampire rushes the Orc Thrower in the backfield.

Turn 3. The Rushing Vampire is killed and the Orc Thrower
slots into a cage

An early Casualty to the Vampires. It cascades into a free-for-all as the Orcs pummel their way to the endzone. I recover momentum during the next drive and tie up the game before the half's end.

End of the Game as the Orcs score in the Pouring Rain.
The Vampire Casualties are severe.

The second half was dismal for the Vampire team. Dribblesnot made his first appearance and earned his salary. The Orc front line made the Vampire team pay for their last touchdown causing numerous Casualties. At the end of the game, there were only 3 Paravon City players on the pitch!

The New Orclean Saints win 2-1. More impressively, the Orcs cause 6 Casualties--2 Badly Hurt, 1 Serious Injury, and 3 Kills. Two of the kills were Vampires, only 1 of which Regenerated. The Paravon City Chiefs managed to Badly Hurt and Seriously Injure 2 Orcs.

Zorcon's Premiership League Round 4
Zharr'Thrak Seahawks (Chaos Dwarves) vs Boredom (Elf Union)

Going into this game, Boredome was leading the league with 3 wins, while I was in the middle of the pack sporting a 1-1-1 record.

With 480k in inducements, the Elf coach hired 2 Star Player Elves, Eldril Sidewinder & Jordell Freshbreeze. Eldril's stats are 8/3/4/7 with Loner, Catch, Dodge, Hypnotic Gaze, Nerves of Steel, Pass Block. While Jordell's stats are 8/3/5/7 with Loner, Block, Diving Catch, Dodge, Leap, Side Step. It was pouring rain at the onset of the game.

I was wholly unprepared to defend against so much MV 8. I received the Kick-Off, but it was the Elf team to score on turn 2. We set up again and I received another Kick-Off on turn 3. The weather dramatically changed to Sweltering Heat. This time I held off the prancing Elves until Turn 8 where they scored again.

The second half started and only 7 Elves were on the pitch. The rest of the team was recovering from heat exhaustion. I kicked off and hoped to take advantage of the numbers disparity. The weather again made a sever change as a Blizzard hit the stadium. Unfortunately I was still unable to contain the faster moving Elves and they scored on turn 2.  We set up for another Kick-Off. All of the Elves recovered and were back on the pitch. This time there was a Quick Snap, and I got a bonus square of movement and a touchback. This helped me to finally score on turn 4. I had an opportunity to score again on turn 8, but I failed the scoring GFI due to the Blizzard.

Elves dominate a 3-1 victory. Eldril was ineffectual and spent half the game in the Injury box. However Jordell was the MVP of the game--MV8, AG5, plus Leap was too much for me to handle. As hard as I tried to kill Elves (the other coaches nearby were encouraging me) I only Badly Hurt 2, one of which was a Star Player.

Final Thoughts

This was a tough round. Deathbot decimated my Vampires and my Chaos Dwarves were handed an old fashioned whoop-ass.

Ordo Bowl '17 Season 2 Round 3 AAR

This round I temporarily retired my red set of dice and swapped them out to the original 2e white dice. Lets see if it made a difference. We have another 5-game BatRep this time, as both of my teams played a Friendly.

Zorcon's Premiership Game 3
Zharr'Thrak Seahawks (Chaos Dwarves) vs The Brothers Gory (Ogres)

A Hobgoblin fails a GFI on his way to score after
the crowd threw in the ball

My team had a 630k higher TV, so The Brothers Gory induced Morg'N'Thorg, a Re-Roll, and 2 Bloodweiser Kegs.

Ogres kick off and the Seahawks run in a TD down the weakside on turn 3! The Chaos Dwarves put up a great defense and The Ogres are unable to score before the clock runs out.

Seahawks kick-off opening the second half. The Brothers Gory get mired in the center of the pitch for most of the drive. But on turn 6, a Snotling made a run for it along the sideline. He took 2 GFI's to get out of range of all but 1 opponent. The little guy tripped and the ball bounced out of bounds. The crowd threw it back in play, right into Morg'N'Thorg's hands (back-left diagonal from the Minotaur in the pic above). But the Star Player couldn't catch it and dropped the ball. Then a Hobgoblin scooped up the ball and made a run for it, failing his GFI! The Ogre team attempted to make a harrowing play for a last minute TD, but after a succession of successful rolls, the thrown Snotling scatters too far away from the Endzone.

Current Roster. #10 leveled up taking Sure Hands

Chaos Dwarves win 1-0! Casualties fall in favor of the Ogres, 3-1. I killed a Snotling on turn 1, but received a Badly Hurt Hobgoblin and Chaos Dwarf, plus a Seriously injured CD.

Zorcon's Super League Friendly Game 2
Paravon City Chiefs (Vampires) vs The Ratriots (Skaven)

The Chiefs stuffing a TD attempt by the Ratriots

Special Play cards were in effect this game. Unlike the last Friendly game vs the other Vampire team, this time they impacted the game.

I lost the coin-toss but my opponent chose to kick. I play one of my Special Play cards. On every kick-off, I roll a D6+Fame (I had +1). On a 6+ opponent looses a Re-Roll. I rolled a 5 (+1) and The Ratriots are down to 2 Re-Rolls before the game starts. I ran my patented weak side set up 2-turn score play and scored in 2 turns. Now on turn 3 we kick off again and I roll a 6, causing the Skaven to loose their last Re-Roll. The rats are quick. The make an attempt to score, but I left a couple Thralls on deep defense and they stuffed the receiver. I scooped up the ball, but my TD was thwarted by the dice.

The second half opens and I kick-off, causing my opponent to loose another Re-Roll. The Rats make a good play on the weak side and get deep. Even though there was a decent cage, I managed to pop the ball carrier and the ball scatters outside the cage. A Thrall with Sure Hands picks up the ball in a Tackle Zone and I play my second Special Play Card-Make a Pass with no modifiers applied. So I threw a Long Bomb (-2) in a TZ (-1) ignoring those penalties to a Vampire. Success! The Vampire was also in a TZ and he Blitzed out, running 8 squares down field out of range of any opponents. I scored on my next turn. This time, I did not roll a 6+ during the Kick-Off and the rats did not loose a Re-Roll. My opponent played one of his Special Play cards, giving a linerat Stab and Dirty Player. The Ratriots tried to make a couple plays, but were down too many players to make anything happen.

A surprising win for the Vampires. Final score 2-0. Blood was spilled in this game--The Ratriots caused 2 casualties (a Badly Hurt and a Serious Injury), while 4 Skaven were Badly Hurt (1 self induced).

Zorcon's Premiership League Friendly Game 1
Zharr'Thrak Seahawks (Chaos Dwarves) vs The Mouse House Rejects (Dwarves)

One turn into the second half

What a game! A game to see which Dwarf team was superior. Our TV's were almost identical, so no Inducements for either coach.

I opened the game receiving the ball. I played both of my Special Play cards and my opponent played one of his right up front. One allowed me to take 2 Blitzes in a turn and the other awarded a bonus MVP, while the Mouse Hose played the Re-Roll stealing card I had last game. Unfortunately, My perfect offence for a 2 turn score failed as I was unable to pick up the ball on a 3+ with a re-roll. That set me back and wasted my 2-Blitz opening turn, but I managed to score on turn 6. My opponent punched an opening and made an attempt to score, but failed.

In the second half, The rejects brought out the Death Roller and played his second Special Play card--Give one player +1 ST and Mighty Blow (given to a Troll Slayer) for their first Block action. I kicked off. My opponent managed to get through my front line, but was blitzed on my next turn. After some scrambling with poor ball handling, I managed to get the ball into the Mouse House side of the pitch. I was unable to sustain a defense and lost the ball. the AG+1 Runner got the ball and made a dash for the endzone, ending his turn 2 squares away. I had 3 player that could reach him. Two were set up in case the Blitzer's GFI failed, the third player attempted the Blitz. A Hobgoblin and a Chaos Dwarf were adjacent to the Dwarf ball carrier, and my Bull Centar came in hard with a blitz, knocking the Dwarf Runner on his back. On turn 7 the Dwarf Runner stood up, moved into 2 Tackle Zones, picked-up the ball, threw a 1-die blitz, dodged and ran in for a TD!


Game ends in a 1-1 tie. Quite fitting for a show down between Dwarves in a Friendly game. There wasn't even a casualty! Each team only KO'd  a single opponent. Before the game, the Seahawks were given a brief on Dwarf armor weak points--We broke armor all game long. But my Hobgoblins skipped practice and it showed--None of them (even with Sure Hands) could pick up in less than 2 turns. While my opponent, The Rejects, hired an Elf trainer and taut them the fine points of dodging and passing.

P.S. The Re-Roll stealing Special Play card was essentially ineffectual this game. Even though The Mouse House had +1 Fame, only the first Kick-Off of the game was successful in taking one of my Re-Rolls, but I still had one Re-Roll left at the end of the half.

Zorcon's Super League Game 3
Paravon City Chiefs (Vampires) vs Mad Dogs of Middenheim (Humans)

Set-up for the second half

The Mad Dogs won the Coin Toss and chose to Kick-Off. The Chiefs Induced a Bloodweiser Keg.

This was a back and forth game right up to the end! Both teams sacked multiple TD attempts, and the ball traveled up and down, and to both sides of the the pitch. We both even had a (small) shot at a turn 8 hail Mary play. My dice started to falter a little in this game and I had issues with picking up the ball (3+ with Re-Roll). Blood Lust bit me a few times (pun intended), but with 5 Vampires times 16 turns, it seemed a reasonable amount.

One series of back and forth was in the first half. I had the ball and advanced deep past the line of scrimmage on the weakside. A Thrall had the ball with 3 Vampires and a Thrall running screen. The Middenheim Ogre Blitzed in and broke the screen, followed by a number of Human players marking my players, cutting off Block assists. On my next turn I brought in support and managed to push the Mad Dogs back a few squares. But on the Human's next turn they pushed 2 of my players off the pitch, and put the rest of the screen Prone including the ball carrier. The Human Thrower scooped up the ball and made a 2 turn advance towards the endzone. A Vampire Blitzed the Human Thrower and put him on the ground. A Thrall scooped up the ball and handed it off to a Vampire who dashed up the middle of the pitch through an opening. Two turns later I score.

In the end, it was a tie game, 1-1. But the Humans caused all the physical damage--5 Casualties! A self induced Badly Hurt Ogre, a Thrall and Vampire Badly Hurt, a Thrall MNG, and a Dead Thrall (with Block).

Deathbot's Super League Game 3
New Orcleans Saints (Orcs) vs Jerk store (Goblins)

Deathbot making a run for the endzone

Deathbot won +1 Fame, and Kicked-Off. The Jerk Store Induced a Bloodweiser Keg.

Unfortunately I only watched a portion of this game. But what really stood out was Deathbot loosing focus. He threw way too many 1-die Blocks that could have been 2-die with a simple move to assist. Plenty of Goblins were thrown on both sides. The Doom Diver on the Goblin team is a really smart new addition to the team (instead of scattering d8 direction when thrown, they scatter d3). I look forward to chucking one in the future.

A tough 0-1 loss for the Orcs. They were so close to tying up the game. Unfortunately for the Jerk Store, the Raiders got one thing right, and that was Blocking! Four Goblins went to the Injury Box: 3 MNG, and 1 Dead.

Final Thoughts
Swapping dice has indeed made a difference. Even though I had bad patches, the games seemed more even--Or at least games were not lost by bad dice rolls. Take the Friendly game Chorves vs Dwarves. I rolled Opponent Down and Broke Armor on almost every Block I threw, but I failed almost every Dodge, GFI, Injury, and Pick-up.

Actually, looking back, ball handling was an issue for all of my games with both teams this round. But because dice were rolling average/good in other aspects of the game, it didn't feel disasterous like my dice were last round.

Ordo Bowl '17 Season 2 Round 2 AAR

Deathbot and I each played a Friendly game, in addition to our scheduled games. So here I present all 5 mini-BatReps for our Blood Bowl League Round 2 games.

Zorcon's Premiership Game 2
Zharr'Thrak Seahawks (Chaos Dwarves) vs Pleasant Pheasant Pluckers (Halflings)

Image taken from interwebs without permission.

You would think playing Halflings would be something to look forward to. However, I was giving up 1 million TV! The Halflings induced Morg'N'Thorg (the best Star Player in the game), Deeproot Strongbranch (Treeman Star Player), a Bribe, a Bloodwieser Keg, and a Halfling Master Chef (stealing 2 Re-rolls each half).

The Halfling's front line consisted of three Strength 6 and a Strength 7 player! In an attempt to keep away from the Big Guys, I sacrifice 3 Chaos Dwarves to the Line of Scrimmage, placing the rest of the team one square back. I kick off . The Halflings get Quick Snap and gain a bonus square of movement--Advancing base-to-base with my valuable players. My Minotaur is Badly Hurt on turn 2, and a Bull Centaur spends the majority of the game in the KO box.

As the game continues, this season's curse from Nuffle continues and the dice are my biggest opponent. I roll triple skulls three times, fail picking up the ball multiple times (with Sure Hands), fail multiple Hand-Offs (with Catch), and fail a critical Go For It. Every turn it felt like I was just trying not to make things worse.

Tie game, 1-1. Seahawks suffer 2 Badly Hurts and the Pluckers suffer 5 Halfling Casualties: 3 Badly Hurt and 2 Serious Injured.

Zorcon's Super League Game 2
Paravon City Chiefs (Vampires) vs Jerk store (Goblins)

As I have mentioned, I am only playing in the Super League because my son Deathbot is in it. My role is more of a mentor to the other coaches, than a coach vying for better standings. While I never tank a game, I play a little looser, and help the opponent with strategy when they are behind. However, this was a very strange game--A game that Nuffle disproved of from the beginning.

The Goblin coach had a Bombardier, a Pogoer, a Looney, a Fanatic, a Doom Diver, a Ooligan, 2 Trolls, 7 Goblins (2 MNG), and 2 Re-Rolls. After almost being wiped off the pitch last game, I was limping into this game with 2 Journeymen, 7 Linemen, 3 Vampires, and 5 Re-Rolls.

Both coaches rolled horribly the entire game. It became farcical. At turn 9, one of the Goblin's Trolls had failed it's Really Stupid roll 6 times! I couldn't break Goblin Armor the entire game. In the end what made the difference was my superior number of Re-Rolls.

Game ends in an upset, 3-0 Vampires. The Goblins suffer 4 Casualties (3 self inflicted--A failed Leap, GFI, and Dodge): 2 Badly Hurt and 2 Serious Injuries.

Deathbot's Super League Game 2
New Orcleans Saints (Orcs) vs WWF Hall of Maim (Chaos Chosen)

Deathbot faced the Chaos team that decimated my Vampire team last round.

The WWF Hall of Maim was in charge the entire first half. Deathbot's Saints started to make a comeback with a quick Goblin toss TD in the second half. He began to play a skill game and the first part of the second half went to Deathbot. But the experience of the Chaos' coach prevailed.

Chaos wins 3-1. Surprisingly this was a gentle game with only one player Badly Hurt on the Chaos side.

Zorcon's Super League Friendly Game 1
Paravon City Chiefs (Vampires) vs Baltimourkain Ravens (Vampires)

My fairly new team of 3 Vampires and 8 Thralls (2 with skills) faced an upper league Vampire team in its second season with 5 experienced Vampires: a ST 5, an AG 5 and 3 Pro. I faced the Ravens last year with my Chaos Dwarves and pulled out a win.

Nuffle chose the outcome of this game. My dice rolling was embarrassing. Even my opponent was embarrassed. It was absolutely laughable--12 Re-Rolls couldn't even help me (I won a bonus re-roll on 2 Kick-Offs).

Ravens 2, Chiefs 1. No Casualties. With the bonus earnings from playing an upper league team, I was able to hire a 4th Vampire.

Deathbot's Super League Friendly Game 1
New Orcleans Saints (Orcs) vs The Ratriots (Skaven)

This was Deathbot's first game vs a fast team. It was too much for him. He was unable to contain the high move rats. Even his go to tactic of Goblin throwing failed.
A brutal loss for the for the Orcs. The final score was 5-0. The Orcs caused a Serious Injury to a Linerat, but an Orc Blitzer was pushed off the pitch and violently killed by the crowd

Final Thoughts
I don't like blaming a loss on bad die rolls, especially so frequently this season. However, all 5 of my games this season have resulted in horrible rolls. My opponents have even commented and squirmed in reaction to how bad it has been. I have certainly made mistakes and may have lost all of the games this season anyway, but I haven't caught a break yet.

Blood Bowl is a game of mitigating chance, and I love the game. But the last couple weeks have tested my passion.

Oh yeah, by the way, there is a set of dice that are getting punished.

Ordo Bowl '17 Season 2 Round 1 AAR

Season 2 of the 2017 Ordo Bowl has started! My Super League Championship team, Zharr'Thrak Seahawks has moved up to the Premiership League. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to play the Premiership League Champion at the end of last season. Nevertheless, I am stoked to play! Another bit of exciting news, my son Deathbot has decided to play Blood Bowl, and has joined the Super League. So I started a second team and am also playing in the Super League with Deathbot.

This season there are 14 teams in the veteran league (with 5 teams re-drafted) and 10 teams in the introduction league (with 1 team re-drafted). We used the new re-drafting rules in Deathzone 1. For the most part things went smooth except the league commissioners overlooked a rule requiring re-rolls to be re-purchased, so all the re-drafted teams got least season's re-rolls for free. However, I calculated my team correctly and paid for my re-rolls (loosing 2 in the process). After my first game I was given the 2 re-rolls back.

My battle reports from last season were quite lengthy. With me running two teams plus Deathbot's team, I won't be writing a detailed BatRep for all of our games. But I will try to write up a short combined After Action Report after each round.

Zorcon's Premiership Game 1
Zharr'Thrak Seahawks (Chaos Dwarves) vs Fungis Amongis (Orcs)

I may regret re-drafting my team. I gave up 570k in inducements to my opponent in this first game. With that, he bought 2 Star Players--Ripper Bolgrot (troll) and Bomber Dribblesnot (goblin bombardier) for 330k, plus 2 Bloodwieser Kegs and a re-roll for another 200k.

Dice were not my friend this game. Nuffle was punishing me! I couldn't break armor the entire game, and by turn three my Minotaur and a Bull Centaur was KO'd. I played the entire back 3/4 of the game with 8 or less players.

On turn 8, the Orc player needed to throw a 2-die block for a TD but rolled double skulls (no re-rolls). Maybe Nuffle was done punishing me. Nope! The second half opens with me receiving. The Orc player sets up deep, sacrificing 3 lineorcs to the line of scrimmage. I set up aggressive and strong to my left. I choose to grab the ball with my Sure Hands Hobgoblin first thing, but fail both pick-up rolls. The orcs have a hey-day pummeling my front line. I never get the ball past the line of scrimmage. The orcs get the ball mid-half, and for 3 turns I manage to blitz the ball carrier, delaying my opponent from scoring. On turn 16, he needs a 2-die block and a pick-up to score, and unfortunately he did.

Orcs win 1-0. Casualties results the same 1-0 Orcs favor. My apothecary was put into service saving a Bull Centaur from dying. It was a frustrating game, but that is Blood Bowl. Re-group and forge on.

Zorcon's Super League Game 1
Paravon City Chiefs (Vampires) vs WWF Hall of Maim (Chaos Chosen)

I was looking forward to trying out my new Vampire team. I have never played Vampire's before and expect this season will be a challenge. My team consisted of 3 Vampires, 8 Thralls and 5 Re-Rolls. The Chaos team has 4 Chaos Warriors, 7 Beastmen, and 3 Re-Rolls,

Nuffle was still punishing me this game. I kicked off and got a Blitz. My first activation was a Vampire--I failed the Blood Lust roll, failed the Re-Roll, and Badly Hurt the Thrall that was bitten. On the Hall of Maim's first turn, he Badly Hurt a Thrall, KO'd 2 Thralls and a Vampire! That is how the entire game went.

The Chaos team scored on turn 6 and I only had 3 players on the field. I got 2 back from the KO box at the next Kick-Off, and from that point on, I never had more than 5 guys on the pitch. Mid way through the second half, I was down to 1 player. After getting scored on again, I managed to get back 4 players. If I ever had less than 3 players for a kick off I planned on conceding, but that never happened. After the Chaos' third TD, I could only field 3 players.

Chaos wins 3-0. The Chaos player racks up 4 Casualties (plus my self inflicted injury). My AV 7 Thralls took a beating--They spent more time in the KO box than the game, plus 3 Badly Hurt, 1 Kill and 1 Miss Next Game.

Deathbot's Super League Game 1
New Orclean Saints (Orcs) vs Grim Dregga Purple (Orcs)

Deathbot's first league game was more exciting than both of my games. At one point, he had stunned nearly every opposing player on the pitch. I did hear from a nearby coach that Deathbot needs to work on setting up 2-die blocks--He takes too many unnecessary 1-die blocks.

The teams were slightly different. The Grim Dregga ran 2 Llineorcs, a Thrower, 4 Black Orcs, and 4 Blitzers. While Deathbot's New Oreleans Saints traded a Black Orc and a Blitzer for a Goblin and a Troll.

In the first half, Deathbot pulled off a 1-turn score by throwing his goblin, tying the game 1-1. But he couldn't hold off the opposing orcs, and they scored again in the second half.

Game ends 2-1 Grim Dregga Purple. Deathbot caused the only casualty (a Badly Hurt Blitzer), and threw 2 Completions, while the opposing team threw 1 Completion and an Interception.

New Orcleans Saints WIP

My son Deathbot has decided to play in the OBBL 2017 Super League Season 2 with me. He chose to play Orcs, and I have lent him one of my teams. I have 2 Orc teams--One with a Troll and 4 Goblins and the other without.

I enjoy naming teams in the style of Blood Bowl 2e--Puns of NFL teams. The team Deathbot will be playing is the New Orcleans Saints and is based off the New Orleans Saints.

This is the first time I tried zenith highlighting using 2 colors of primer--Krylon Fusion for Plastic Satin Khaki and Krylon Camouflage Ultra-Flat Sand. I used what I had on hand, although in hindsight the two colors were a little too close in tone.

The team is comprised of various 2e and 3e plastic figures and some 2e metal figures. The troll is a WHFB 3e Swamp Troll with the club removed. Most of the team has had a number plate added to the back.

Salamander Tanks WIP 2

A small update.

I couldn't find a set of standard Predator Sponsons plus weapons within my budget of $10. But I was able to score a pair of Baal Predator Sponsons.

The Blood Angel marking were scraped off with a hubby knife. I also drilled out the barrel. For now Deathbot will have to settle for Heavy Bolters, but I will magnetize the assembly so that Lascannons can be added at a later time.

Here is the tank assembled and waiting for primer.

FLGS Used Score

I have a new FLGS!

Earlier this year, my FLGS of 30+ years closed its doors. A few weeks ago, my son went to Guardian Games for the first time. They have a huge space and Deathbot and I took our time taking it all in.

We both had a little bit of coin in our pockets and were looking for deals.

I searched through the Warmachine and Warhammer 40K used bins. I found two things of interest:

Image taken from internets without permission.

Warwitch Siren Cryx Solo for $6 (Retail $11.99) and a...

Image taken from internets without permission.

Tau Empire Sniper Drone Team (in metal) for $6 (Retail $41.25). Both were complete un-assembled models (minus packaging)

From the video game section, Deathbot scored:

"Gauntlet Seven Sorrows" for Xbox (the first) for $5 and "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" RPG for Game Boy Advance

All-in-all $21 spent between the two of us and a nice pile of booty taken home.

WH40K Salamander Dreadnoughts WIP (part 4)

These are not action figures! :)

This project, let's call it 'Phase 3', has been sitting on my desk for about 10 months--Not counting the time spent on the game table, or being carted around in Deathbot's army box. About 4 weeks ago, I finally started adding highlights over the base colors. To be frank, I almost didn't.

I spruced these guys up with some pieces from other models I've collected over the years. Some were glued on, but some were attached temporarily by poster tack... more on that in a bit.

Progress has been slow on these two, but they getting close. Although I am second guessing the edge highlighting on the left dreadnought, and may use a different highlighting technique.

As seen in this image from a post last February, the dreadnoughts each *had* 2 'shoulder' mounted pieces. They were attached with poster tack. This works great for testing how a finished models will look before gluing. It actually held well enough (in this case) to survive the gaming table and moderate handling.

Deathbot has loved his space marine figures. Phase 1 was completed over 5 years ago, and was My First Blog Post. Over the years, I restricted how often and where he could play with the figures. As the frequency of broken guns and back pack lessened, so did my restrictions. This year, Deathbot has has shown he is very careful with his army, so I let him take the dreadnoughts to his grandparents. The day he got back from that trip, he had some friends over and the space marines were brought out to bolster an epic Lego mini figure battle.

The next day, I asked Deathbot to clean up the aftermath, including put away his Salamander army, and put the box on the shelf. As I occasionally do, I took inventory*. Everything was there, but the shoulder mounted bits. I looked through his Lego bin for about 20 minutes, and Deathbot looked around the room for about an hour. They were gone.

* I normally do not scrutinize how Deathbot treats his things. While Mrs Zorcon and I try and instill respect and responsibility,not having said toy/item anymore is the 'punishment'.

To the point of the sub-title of this article--"These are not action figures" (I went back and forth about how to phrase that. My first iteration was "These are not toy soldiers"). Well, in fact, they are game components--Sometimes pricey ones at that. On that note, I debated weather to replace the bits and/or to shelve the project indefinitely. Eventually, I chose to buy more bits on 'fleaBay', costing about $12, and finish the models. In the mean time they will stay on my work bench and not in Deathbot's carrying case.

In the end, I know these aren't precious stones or irreplaceable valuables. But they are customized painted models specifically for use in game... or simply put, toy soldiers.

BFG BatRep – Space Marines vs Imperial Navy 500 pts

More Battlefleet Gothic!! Again I am almost a month late posting a BatRep!

The other day Deathbot wanted to play 40k, but I didn't think we had time. I suggested a game he had never played, but within the same universe... Battlefleet Gothic. He loved the idea. So much so, he talked Mrs Zorcon into playing too!

SET UP:

I broke out my felt starscape, using the game boxes to mark off one board edge to keep the play area manageable.  We played the intro scenario 'Cruiser Clash'. As the name says, the the scenario is meant to be cruisers only, but we included escorts too.

FLEET LISTS:

Each side had 500 points. I decided to give each side 2 cruisers and 2 escort squadrons.

IMPERIAL NAVY (285pts) - Deathbot

• Tyrant Cruiser
• Cobra Destroyer Squadron x3

IMPERIAL NAVY (215pts) - Mrs Zorcon

• Dauntless Light Cruiser
• Sword Frigate Squadron x3

SPACE MARINES (500pts) - Zorcon

• Strike Cruiser
• Strike Cruiser
• Gladius Frigate Squadron x2
• Hunter Destroyer Squadron x3 

TURN 1:

Image terminated by Inquisitor Nicodemus from the source of transmission.

TURN 2:

This was taken after the Imperial Navy's turn, before the Space Marine's turn. Both sides fired torpedoes, forcing the opponent to take evasive maneuvers. 

TURN 3

Image terminated by Inquisitor Nicodemus from the source of transmission.

This is the only image of turn 3 to make it through the communication black out. It shows the miraculous luck of the Imperial Navy's Dauntless Cruiser as 4 waves of Thunderhawks and a torpedo salvo 6 strong slam into its hull.

TURN 4:

The Imperials lost their capitol ship (taking out a Space Marine Gladius Frigate in the explosion), and the light cruiser was crippled. Morale was lost and the Imperial Navy surrendered.

The game took about 2.5 hours--Re-learning and teaching the rules added quite a bit of time. Reguardless, Deathbot, and surprisingly Mrs Zorcon had a good time.  So much so, we have already planned the next game!

Salamander Tanks WIP

New additions to Deathbot's Salamander force.

I assembled a pair of tanks the other day. Both of these were hand-me-downs from Laertes from his last purge just before moving to Arizona.

Land Raider. This was my first "modern" imperial tank build. I added the quotes because(I don't think this is the current version of the model. All of my previous tank builds are from the Rogue Trader era.

I am going back and forth weather or not to magnetize the doors and sponsons. In the meantime, I need them off to prime the interior.

Predator. My second "modern" tank! The kit was actually a Chaos Rhino. I put the chaos sprue in my bitz box, and added a turret aquired from a previous eBay purchase. The turret was broken when I got it and needs some green stuff repair.

Currently, I am looking for a pair of Predator sponsons with weapons for around $10-12 or without for about $6-8 to finish up the build.

I'm not sure if the kits were missing the accessory sprues when I got them, or if I had already canalized them. Whatever it was, when I dug the models out to build them, there were none to be found. Fortunately, I have plenty of hatches in my bitz box. However, I was all out of smoke launchers and searchlights. Since taking these pictures, I found a set of 10 of each on the ever-giving eBay for about $12.

Here is the most recent Progress Chart. There is a lot of painting ahead, and Deathbot reminds me every day!

Until next time!

40k BatRep – Space Marines vs Tau 1750 pts

A 3 on 1 game! Deathbot invited two of his neighbor friends to play.

Jay and Dom live next door. They came over to visit during Deathbot's and my last game. They showed enough interest in the game, I decided I would endeavor to play 40K with a 6, 9, and 11 year old! To my surprise, all three kidos stuck it out for 6 hours!!

At first we were going to play 2-on-2 (the youngest on my side), but after Jay and Dom arrived, the three compatriots decided to "gang up" on me.

They agreed to split up Deathbot's Army between them. I pulled Deathbot aside and suggested he let his friends choose first--He happily agreed!. After a 15 minute Q&A about each unit/vehicle, it was settled: Jay took a Tac squad and the Lord Commissar/Command Squad, while Dom took both IG Vet Squads. Deathbot controlled everything else with the understanding he would lend a unit to Jay or Dom if they lost one of theirs.

ARMY LISTS

Space Marines with Imperial Guard allies

This time Deathbot wanted to use his Scout Marines. I tweaked his list around to accommodate the addition.

• Terminator Captain (120): Iron Halo; Storm Bolter; Power Sword
• Dreadnought A (120): Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Assault Cannon; Power Fist; Storm Bolter
• Dreadnought B (100): Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Multi-melta; Power Fist; Storm Bolter
• Terminator Squad (210): Sergeant; Storm Bolter x4; Power Fist x4; Power Sword; Hvy Flamer
• Tactical Squad A (190): Sergeant; Bolt Pistol x10; Bolter x7; Chain Sword; Flamer; Hvy Bolter; Rhino
• Tactical Squad B (190): Sergeant; Bolt Pistol x10; Bolter x7; Chain Sword; Flamer; Hvy Bolter; Rhino
• Scout Squad (55): Sergeant; Bolt Pistol x5; Chain Sword x5
• Predator (150): Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; TL Lascannon; Lascannon x2 (side).
• Lord Commissar (80): Carapace Armor; Bolt Pistol; CCW, Melta Bombs
• IG Command Squad (180): Company Commander; Flack Armor; CCW x4; Lasgun x3; Medi=Pack; Regimental Standard; Vox Caster; Plasma Gun; Chimera
• IG Veteran Squad A (180): Sergeant; Flack Armor; Melta bombs x10; CCW x8; Lasgun x7; Laspistol; Autocannon (HWT); Flamer; Grenade Launcher; Demolitions; Chimera
• IG Veteran Squad B (187):  Sergeant; Carapace Armor; CCW x8; Shotgun x5; Laspistol; Grenade Launcher x2; Lascannon (HWT); Grenadiers; Chimera

Total Points: 1762

Tau Empire

I did not change my list from the previous game.

• XV8 Commander + Bodyguards (361): Fusion Blaster x3; Missile Pod x3; Plasma Rifle x3; Target Lock; Shield Drone x6
• Cadre Fire Blade (84): Pulse Rifle; Shield Drone x2
• XV8 Crisis Team  (273): Fusion Blaster x3; Missile Pod x3; Plasma Rifle x3; Shield Drone x6
• Stealth Team (170): Shas'vre; Fusion Blaster; Markerlight & Target Lock; Burst Cannon x4
• Fire Warrior Team (205): Shas'ui; Pulse Rifle x10; Devilfish w/ Disruption Pod
• Drone Sentry Turret Team (220): TL Burst Canons x4
• Kroot Carnivore Squad (260): Kroot Shaper; Kroot Rifle x20; Kroot Hounds x10; Krootox/Kroot Gun x3
• Hammerhead (177): TL Smart Missile System; Railgun w/ Solid & Submunitions; Disruption Pod; Seeker Missiles x2

Total Points: 1750

SETUP

Deploy Zones tinted in red.

We rolled for the mission: Annihilation/Spearhead. I like to stand next to the book shelves (far side of table), plus there is much more "wiggle" room for the three boys on the other side. So I chose sides, letting them place and go first.

This was very much a learning game, but I took plenty of pictures anyway.

TURN 1

Jay and Dom chose to deploy already disembarked from their vehicles. Deathbot chose not to, kept all Deep Striking models in Reserves, and Infiltrated his Scout Marines on top of the tall red building.

I deployed evenly across my table edge, Infiltrating the Kroot, and keeping all my Deep Strike troops in Reserves.

No casualties this turn.

TURN 2

In the middle of the board, all three Chimeras and the Predator fired at my Fire Warriors. To my left, Team Deathbot focused everything else at my Kroot. Surprisingly, I took far less casualties than I expected.

My Hammerhead trashed the Scout Marines, and my pounded a Tac Squad.

TURN 3

The boys decided to bring more forces against my Kroot. They placed the Terminators in assault range and diverted the Commisar, IG Command Squad and a Chimera. I lost 10 Kroot that turn.

My Fire Warriors did nothering. But my Kroot destroyed a Dreadnought. Then my Commander and Bodyguards arrived, disarming a Chimera.

TURN 4

The hail of fire raining on my Kroot finally burned them all out. The kids were ecstatic with their victory!

Unfortunately for them, my Hammerhead had not missed all day. Predator destroyed. Another bout of bad luck for the boys came when I tried to place my Stealth Suits in the middle of their main force. The Suits scattered to the back side of the hill, giving them full view of a Chimera side armor. Dead Tank.

TURN 5

After loosing 2 tanks last turn, the boy's stopped working together--They each chose what to do independently without consultation with their team. I strongly suggested they do not split up their force as I still had two units in Reserve. But they did not take my advice.

Dom went after my Commander and Bodyguards, Jay stuck it out with my Stealth Suits, and Deathbot made a dash towards my Fire Warriors. They caused zero damage.

I tried to place my Crisis Suit Team in front of the on coming Space Marines in an effort to protect my Fire Warriors and Fire Blade. I scattered off the table. The kids were able to place the unit. This made them laugh out loud. They placed the unit to the far side of my Fire Warriors.

The last Scout Marine was hiding in the grey church. 28 Pulse Rifle shots failed to take him out 2 turns in a row! The boys conveniently placed my Crisis Suits right next to him. Dead Scout.

TURN 6

By the time turn 6 started it was pretty late. Everyone was tired and loosing focus. The boys rushed through their turn, knowing they lost.

Things were getting a bit tedious for me in the last two rounds. 40K isn't the most complex game, but at 1750 points and wrangling 3 young boys, my patience was definitely tested! But in the end, fun was had by all! That's what counts, right?