Wednesday, July 6, 2011

First 40k Game in a Long, Long time

Its like Going Back to a Girlfriend You Know is Bad News...

As the title says, I played my first 40k game in a long time. Why go back to 40k, you ask? Because I have been in contact with a small group of gamers in Colombo, Sri Lanka - and they play 40k. No Warmahordes there yet, but when I arrive, rest assured I shall introduce them. Until then, I'm tenatatively excited about the prospect of playing with some expat Brits and local Lankans at their chosen 40k.


Just When I Think I'm Out...

To get into the swing of things again, I dusted off my love for the Deathwing and took them for an outing. I faced an IG Cadian army, heavy on the infantry, but with a respectable amount of support. 1500 points. Assault (kill the dudes, nothing fancy).





The Game went well. I was lucky that I faced an infantry-heavy army and had each of my 3 5-man squads with Assault Canons. The others had Cyclones. I also fielded two Dreads with TL AutoCannons and Missile launchers (anti-armor). Belial was in the army, under a standard configuration. That was about it. I wanted at least one Land Raider, but couldnt fit it.



Andy, my buddy and opponent, walked me through the rules and fielded a large IG force. His core was twho IG regiments, with lost of meltas. He had 3 Heavy Weapon squads with 2 Lascannons and one Autocannon. He used one Vet squad with meltas. His vehicles were one chimera (for the vets), one Valyrie, and 2 Leman Russes.

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The battle wne to the Deathwing, but it was tight throughout. Those 2+ saves kept me in the game, but as expected, each loss of a single termie was devastating. The Deadnaughts were golden, being my most reliable anti-armor (each took out a Leman Russ). Late game things got dicey as the chimera came in on the side I was winning, and I suddenly found out how hard it can be to even crack relatively light armor with the Deathwing. Yeesh.

I knew going into it that Deathwing and Dark Angels have an old codex and even with the Dec 2010 Errata, arent elite like the damned Blood Angels or newer Grey Knights. Still, dropping 20+ terminators with Dread support in a 1500 point game is satisfying.

Something I learned:

If you are going to field a Deathwing army, take equal parts Assault Cannons and Cyclones. They are what is going to carry you through the game. ACs are particularly nasty. Additionally, the TL Autocannon w/ Missile Launcher on a venerable Dread is a good build. It helps make up for the anti-armor deficiencies of a small DW army.

Any Game You Walk Away From...

Overall, a good game and a nice (re)introduction into Warhammer 40k. Its been said before, but 40k plays much differently that Warmahordes and getting some time with my Khador last night accentuated the differences.

As someone once said; the GW games are made by a miniature company who attached rules to their models. The PP games are made by gamers who added good-looking minis to their game. Different philosophies - and knowing what they are and what to expect from a game makes all the difference.

"Know what you are getting into," I always... er... sometimes say.

My Viewership in Far-Flung Places

Due to the nature of my work and life, I pay attention to minutiae about countries a bit more than most, I think. In managing this little blog, I tend to watch what days get the most hits, what topics prompt the most visitors... that sort of thing. On a good day I see a spike of about 20 viewers- usually from:

- the U.S. (about 80% of my viewership),
- Canada (love you guys),
- the UK (say "hi" to Kate Middleton for me),

... and fewer but regular hits from:

- Australia (thanks NFB, I know its you),
- New Zealand (way better than old zealand),
- Germany (Koln is one of my favorite cities)
- Scandanavia (mostly Sweden)
- S. Africa (great rugby)
- China (knows how to build a hell of a wall)

.... and then there are the odd ones.

- Iran. I've seen someone(s) from Iran pop in at least a couple times a week. I really hope its a wargamer that, like me, gets stuck in odd places and has to go out of their way to get some gaming in. I cant imagine how it would be to game in Iran - I hear its actually a nice place to live and has a vibrant, if underground, young population. I like to think that Vir Triumphalis is an outlet for some 20-ish gamer who has to struggle to get a couple games. I like that image a lot better than the idea some Iranian intel dude is stuck having to read my blog and try to decipher what the hell I am talking about.

- Russia. I get a lot of viewership from Russia. Okay, not "a lot" but about 10 hits per month of so. Thats statistically significant and usually on par for places like New Zealand and South Africa. I've traced some of the origin pages and its definitely in Cyrillic - and looks to be Russian gaming forums and clubs. Thats very cool. If you are one of my Russian viewers (or the Russian viewer) I say, На здоровье!

- N. Korea. Yup, it hasn't happened recently but for a while there I would get a couple hits a month from N. Korea of all places. Huh. Maybe Kim Jong Il likes himself some Trollbloods and skypes with his buddies while playing Dark Heresy.

Or Maybe not.

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If you are popping in to this post, and have the time and wherewithall, leave a comment and let me know where you are from - especially if you are from outside the U.S..