Hi again everyone!
If you read my last blog entry you will know that this weekend was one of two massive games for me. That first post covered the first one, and this one is all about the second. For this game I had to travel up to Warhammer World in Nottingham, which has just been reopened after renovations. I knew it was going to be worth the trip just to see the new layout of the place, let alone the huge game we had lined up, and I wasn't to be disappointed. The venue itself was so impressive in it's latest incarnation that I thought I'd share a little bit of that with you first before I get on to the game itself, so here you have a few pictures I snapped as I went in and walked around.
The Imperial Aquila on the wall outside the doors.
I wonder who got to drive the rhino across the car park to its new resting place...
The games hall, now complete with separate GW, BL and FW shops plus Bugmans Bar.
Some of the most impressive gaming tables you can reserve to play on...
A Tau themed battlefield.
The Gates of Numas, Tomb Kings battlefield. I've played on it before.
A big Zone Mortalis board too.
One of the bigger boards for 40k and Horus Heresy...
Walked into the Forgeworld shop and what do I see... the new Warlord.
Tempting...
Now you are probably wondering why I didn't visit the actual display areas with the huge dioramas and didn't take any pictures of those. Since you now have to pay to enter that part of the building, I decided to wait since I was there to game and since I am going back up next Sunday for Forgeworld open day. I'm sure since it reopened there have been plenty of blogs and pictures up about those but I will still do my best to photograph them, as well as whatever new releases I can find, and do another blog post next week about the event. For now though it is time to concentrate on what happened on the weekend just gone rather than the weekend coming up.
I was there once again to play 30k with the guys from Slayer Gaming. Theirs is a great community and one of their regulars Kai had organised this big game and invited me along. I wasn't sure just how big it was going to be until I got there, but it turned out to be 6 players per side, each with a 4000 point army. Yes that's right, 24,000 points per side! My first blog post was about the awesome heresy weekend I had up at Slayer and that was only a 30k game, this one was going to be a 48k game and the largest game I had played in yet. Even on one of the biggest tables there it was going to be a tight squeeze, but I eagerly got my Salamanders out and prepared to play.
The traitor players each had a number from 1-6, and we rolled in turn to see who we would start opposite. The rules were quite simple, you could only fight your opposite number on turns 1-3, and after lunch on turns 4-6 the board opened up into a big free for all. We were trying to play out the Urgall Depression, the scene of the Dropsite Massacre at Isstvan V at the outbreak of the Horus Heresy. There was a few armies missing and a few extra ones included but it certainly had the feel of the Dropsite to it, with legion infantry and vehicles everywhere on a war torn battlefield that looked as though it had just been bombarded. To represent the mass of reserves coming into the battle we were using a Meatgrinder rule where any troops with the infantry type that got destroyed went into ongoing reserves, while anything else was taken out as normal.
Victory points were awarded as follows,
1 point for every unit killed by shooting.
2 points for every unit killed by assault.
3 points for every super heavy killed.
5 points for a Primarch kill.
And here they are, all the photos I took throughout the course of the game...
Getting deployed. I was sat between an Imperial Fist and another Salamander player.
My opposite player for turns 1-3 was Kai with his Word Bearers.
Iron Warriors ready for battle.
Some of the allied Salamanders next to me and Knights in the background.
Imperial Fists' Knight bravely marches forward as the Word Bearers come forth!
Carnage begins...
So much Volkite in this corner it was unreal...
The Fists armoured forces move up alongside me towards the hated traitors.
My own army on the move. Cassius Dracos leads the way as the heavy armour flanks around.
The Word Bearers promptly sent a Bloodthirster and DP at me. Daemon worshipping heretics!
The Glaive disintegrated almost all of the Ashen Circle on its first shot.
And they were summoning more daemons as they came forward!
Scorpius batteries rained shells down upon the oncoming infantry.
Fists doing what Fists do best, bunkering up.
Up on our other flank, the Iron Hands led the way.
Alpha Legion and Sons of Horus were opposing them there.
The Word Bearers also employed a unit of Castelax with Dark Lances. Ouch!
The Iron Warriors all dug in during the early game.
The Death Guard made their relentless advance up the centre.
In an awesome game moment, one of my Contemptor Mortis shot the flying Bloodthirster out of the air right in front of my Fire Drakes who had just disembarked like they knew it was coming.
They wasted no time in charging the angry daemon!
The other Word Bearers opposite the Fists with Lorgar and two Contemptors.
Lovely paint work on the yellow tanks.
Our Raven Guard player pretty much started off the board but in they came!
View down the table from the far end during the mid game.
Sons of Horus.
And they brought a Thunderhawk with them...
Some of their ground vehicles went up in flames however.
The advance of the Death Guard continued in the middle.
Death Guard Scorpius.
More Raven Guard reinforcements falling from the sky.
My army from the Word Bearers point of view as it closed the gap.
Lorgar in all his dark majesty.
The Gal Vorbak and Fire Drakes face off, Cassius Dracos right behind them.
More daemon summoning with Bloodletters this time.
The Ashen Circle I kept killing but more kept on coming back in.
Gal Vorbak and Fire Drakes fight it out in a long fought combat that lasted several turns.
Still untouchable... Word Bearers with Volkites in the corner.
Tanks charge beneath the mighty Thunderhawk gunship.
The Imperial Knights made it across into the enemies dug in position.
Emperors Children were there too, lovely models.
Vulkan (not mine) and Fulgrim enter a fight with their retinues.
Another Bloodthirster summoned in after I dispatched the first one.
Scary looking model.
Ferrus leading his Gorgons up the other flank.
I am Alpharius.
More Death Guard.
Tyrant Siege, one of the best units in the Iron Warriors arsenal.
Death Guard tanks didn't last too long.
Imperial Fists marching on despite heavy losses to the Volkites.
More Word Bearers.
Sons of Horus Fire Raptors circling the battlefield over allied Salamanders wrecks.
One of the Iron Hands.
More daemons and the nicely done crashed Baneblade.
Gal Vorbak and Fire Drakes still locked in combat, Salamanders gaining the advantage.
Angry Bloodthirster was still on the rampage.
Legionnaries with a good vantage point.
Imperial Fists Templars.
More Raven Guard dropping right into the thick of it.
The Word Bearers were still massing against us.
After finally getting the Gal Vorbak down to just one guy. Chaplain Numos dispatched him.
Another view of the battlefield.
Sons of Horus flyers were causing a real problem to us loyalists.
Tanks everywhere.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire...
The Iron Hands still castled in their corner without heavy casualties.
Alpha Legion and Templars meet on the battlefield.
The Thunderhawk dropped two Sons of Horus Contemptors down in front of us near the very end.
Nicely painted this squad dropped down too, right in front of my Pyroclasts.
Some of the Word Bearers.
Still summoning daemons like mad.
Caught between two walls of fire these Word Bearers didn't last too long though!
Iron Hands Dreadnought.
Raven Guard drop pods littered the battlefield after every assault.
Pyroclasts hit the ground as a Fire Raptor swoops in on a strafing run.
Back in combat, now my Fire Drakes had another Bloodthirster to deal with.
My allies Salamanders.
Burning traitors. The Knights did a good job.
The battlefield towards the end of the game.
Iron Hands still advancing and dominating their table end.
Screamers summoned by the Bearers of the Word.
The Sons of Horus ground troops.
Numos and the Drakes dispatch the Bloodthirster then take a last turn charge by the Screamers.
The Sons of Horus engage the Pyroclasts, wading through the wall of fire on overwatch into combat and striking mercilessly in my last combat action. They wiped me out in no time.
So there we have it. 48,000 points of Horus Heresy and a whole day gaming at Warhammer World!
In the end we totalled up victory points and came up with the score. 140-118 in the Traitors favour.
