Games Workshop have a new mission up on their website.  Since you have played every mission in the Battle Missions book twice and the Spearhead scenarios are starting to bore you, might as well take a look, eh?

The premises is simple enough; split the table down the middle and force each half to fight their own battle, with a force field keeping the mini-battles apart.

Comments:-

1. No restrictions on reserving means that you can reserve your whole army (as usual), and bring your reserves on on either side of the fence.  Your opponent will realise this also, so you want to force him to go first, if possible. See below for how you can use this to try and score a cheesy win.
2. Redeployment.  Anything that lets you redeploy (Eldrad, The Deceiver, Callidus etc) will have a disproportionately strong effect in this mission.
3. Movement over the fence.  Although skimmers and jump infantry cannot cross the forcefield (presumably jetbikes, too, but it doesn’t include them so be prepared to argue the point with Eldar players) certain models can.  Units that can put themselves back into reserve (such as Deathleaper, Trygons and Swooping Hawks) or that can teleport (eg. Librarians) can cross the line with impunity.
4. Note that the field blocks all line of sight and shooting attacks, which will block some powers (eg. Jaws of The World Worlf), but not others (eg. Spirit Leech). Most will be blocked, though.
5. The rules don’t mention template weapons, although it’s fair to consider those “shooting attack” which the wall blocks.  I would rule that you cannot lay the marker such that it falls across the opposite side of the force barrier.  Also note that although blast markers cannot scatter across the barrier, there is no rule saying you cannot place them so that some part of the blast marker will lie on the other side of the barrier.  Again, I would house rule it so no blast marker can be placed like this.
6. What happens if you destroy the Emitters at either end of the bisecting line?  The rules don’t cover this, but I would rule that you treat it as if there is another Emitter just off the table.  Otherwise you create a clear passage, probably in your own deployment zone, and thus ruining the aim of the mission.  Which my suggestion below will do for you anyway
7. The force barrier is not classed as impassable terrain, meaning it is not clear how Drop Pods’ Inertial Guidance and other similar abilities (eg. Subterranean Assault) would function, nor how something like the Monolith or Mawloc would be treated if it scattered into the force barrier.  While the Monolith/ Mawloc question is fairly easy (the force barrier is not “another model” so they would roll on the mishap table) I would treat the force barrier as impassable terrain for the purposes of deep striking rules that let you avoid impassable terrain.
8. Emitters are tough, and shooting at them will require S7 weaponry at the very least.  I wish they hadn’t called them “Hit Points”, though.  Would it have hurt to use Structure Points?
9. Objective placement ignores the usual rules about staying away from table edges and other objectives.  I don’t think this is deliberate (just an oversight), but worth bearing in mind.

Here’s how I would play.  Place your own objective marker on one side (say the right) within 1″ of the force barrier.  Then place everything in reserve.  When your forces come on, bring them all on in the other half of the table (ie. the left side).  The objective in this table half is the one you will capture, using your entire army to overwhelm 1/2 of your opponent’s army.  The objective in the other table half?  Move a unit to within 1″ of the force barrier across from that objective on the last turn of the game and contest it for the win.  You must stay at least 1″ away from it due to the rules of the objective placement, but you only need to be within 3″ to contest and, unless he destroys the barriers, there is nothing your opponent can do about it.

If your opponent is deploying first and puts everything (or mostly everything) down on the table, then you don’t need to reserve your whole army and can place everything on the left side to begin with.

All done but for the bases.

Another night’s painting, and I’m just about done. I have never had to paint to a deadline before, and I know it is only 4 models, but for me that is a lot! And blogging about it keeps me motivated, as well.

I am pretty pleased with how they have turned out, and I think I have managed to match the originals reasonably well.

The weathering on the Crisis Suit is just thinned down (7:1) black ink and some washing up liquid, applied sparingly, with some less thinned ink (1:1) applied with a very fine brush to line the armour. A few spots of Smoky Ink here and there, and some wear along armour edges applied with a graphite pencil. Not too much. I will add some dust, and mud to the feet but, again, I need to keep it looking like its Cadre members.

The bases are just done by applying tacky glue with a toothpick and then dunking the model in my ready-mixed basing solution (sand and other bits and pieces of varying sizes). Nothing fancy.

Legacy40k's Farsight Conversion (click for log)

Once you start playing with Crisis Suits a lot, you are drawn to the idea of a Farsight army and the deadly Farsight Bomb. Up to nine Crisis Suits dropping into the middle of the enemy forces and wreaking havoc – and! – and! – you get the only power weapon in the entire Tau codex. Steady now, young Shas’la.

Except it’s not so good. You are left with approx 800 points of your army sitting in reserve. Unless you have a unit on the table with a Positional Relay, that 800 points might only show up on Turn 5

And when it does show up, the enemy will be waiting for it. Either in classic deep-strike defence pattern (known to the students of Puretide as Eat My Kroot), or spread out. Farsight and his pals kill one unit when they arrive and then get bogged down in assault next Turn. They might win it, but if it takes only 80 points to tie up 800 then that is a good price to pay.

So, Farsight. Any use? I think so, but start him on the table and make sure his bodyguard have long range weapons – Missile Pods and Plasma Rifles. Vary the loadout for wound allocation and add shield drones as needed. Just like Shadowsun (dual fusion blasters), Farsight’s chief selling point, that MC-class power weapon, is a distraction. Unlike Shadowsun, whose ungeekly radiance confers Ld10 on all smitten-kittens who behold her, he doesn’t have much else in his locker of tricks to make up for it, and he ran from the Tau Empire with a whole lot of unpleasant baggage to boot. 0-1 restrictions on Hammerheads and no Kroot being the smelliest socks in that particularly rancid suitcase.

That said, Farsight appeals to the fluff-general in any Tau player. He has a compelling and mysterious (funny how those two are so often related) backstory and he imposes a set of challenges that makes playing Tau even trickier.

I can do a Farsight army for Counter Attack. The question is, should I? It would go a little something like this:-

Farsight
3 XV8 Bodyguards
-(MP, PR, MT, Shield Drone)
-(MP, PR, HWMT, Shield Drone)
-(TLMP, PR, HWMT, Shield Drone)
2 Deathrains
6 Fire Warriors in a Warfish
6 Fire Warriors
8 Pathfinders in a Warfish
2 Fusion Piranha
1 Hammerhead
3 Broadsides with 2 Shield Drones and Targeting Array
1 Skyray

Demonstrably worse than my preferred list, but something appeals about it. I would use R’myr for Farsight, since I don’t have the model. Any thoughts?

My slightly messy painting station. Note the dangerous arco-flagellants, lurking within charge range

Quick painting update. Got the other base colours on the Crisis Suit and three Pathfinders. Shading and lining tomorrow. Nothing fancy. Probably basing on Thursday.

Current army models are shown since I am using them for reference.

The six Crisis Suits and three Pathfinders await the starter's pistol

(Original post here)

Got six Crisis Suits assembled, primed and basecoated with the airbrush (Vallejo Earth) tonight. I did three Pathfinders as well. And I cleaned the kitchen. Am some kind of modern superman.

Also started assembling another Skyray, just because I love those things. Gorgeous curvy lines, like Betty Boop, but with gun drones. I will make it swappable between a Skyray, a Hammerhead/ Ionhead and a Devilfish, with the aid of rare earth magnets. Why ‘rare earth’? Are they made from special mud, or something? Anyway, I loves ‘em. I magnetise practically everything (except these Crisis Suits, both for time and because the Fireknife is such a reliable configuration I will never regret having another six of them – got nineteen of them now ).

All sprayed and ready for the next stage. Which will be tomorrow. After GSFWC.

The Good won’t just get Greater all by itself, you know, so I am going to the Counter Attack 40k tournament in Edinburgh on the 12th September, taking my Tau.

I have played at only one tournament before, Conflict Scotland, where me and a friend played in the 1000 pts doubles tournament, so this is the first outing for my Tau all by themselves. Not that they need the Imperial Guard, you understand. No, no. Although that Hellhound was damned handy.

I will be taking the following:-

Shas’el and 8 Crisis Suits (all Fireknife config), Fire Warriors and 2 Kroot units, Pathfinders, 2 Piranha, 2 Hammerheads and 2 Broadsides.

Which means I need to paint one Crisis Suit and maybe a couple of Pathfinders. Even I can manage that in five days…

EDIT: The alternative is the 5-man Crisis Team army I have played on a few occasions:-

2 Shas’els and 5 Crisis Suits (all Fireknife config), Fire Warriors and 2 Kroot units, Pathfinders, 2 Piranha, 2 Hammerheads and 2 Broadsides

The trick here is to team both Commanders with one unit of 3 Crisis Suits, to give a super-unit of 5 Crisis Suits. And then to give them a total of 6 shield drones, 2 of which will have a 2+ save thanks to one of the Commander’s Iridium Armour. This unit soaks an enormous amount of firepower and dishes it out as well.

Any thoughts?

Just a few photos from a recent game at the G3 club in Glasgow. 3000 points; Heroes of the Imperium vs Foul Xenos Scum. Blood Angels, Imperial Guard and Sisters of Battle vs Necrons, Orks and Tau. I played Tau, but you knew that already.

Tis not a batrep. Highlights included:-

• A unit of Crisis Suits being wiped out by Retributor heavy bolters and some expedient Faith Point usage;
• Broadsides turning to port, locating a distant (67") Blood Angels Venerable Dreadnought, and turning him to slag. Thus is my inexplicable hatred of the Blood Angels vented once again;
• Kroot charging a unit of Sisters (containing a Sister Superior and a Priest, no less). And winning. But failing to Sweeping Advance (rolled a 1, dammit, when I had made sure my unit I was 5 by taking casualties from the Kroot Carnivores and not the Hounds). They took a charge the next Turn from the remnants of the Sisters unit and a unit of arco-flagellants, and all three units wiped each other out – not a model left standing
• My brave Fire Warriors holding the objective, whittled down to only three shas'la by more heavy bolter fire.

The result was a win for the Intolerable Xenos Abominations, with the Necrons nabbing the win from the Blood Angels through superior mobility. Hah – take that you High Gothic-speaking, Throne-worshipping, hair shirt-wearing sacks of mostly water!

Lots of fun, and the game was well GM'd by Doug. Cheers, mate

The Blood Angels, before the Reaping. And the Railgunning. Oh, yes - the Railgunning.

1000 pts of Necrons. They won us the game, you know. Not bad for 65 million year old Zimmer-frames with guns.

Models are moved. Dice are rolled. The heavens, breath bated.

Turns out I didn't need all those shield drones. I needed the Kroot, though. KROO-OO-OOOT!!!

Custom missions are easy enough to find, but this is one I created a while ago and have played several times. It always seems to go right down to the wire.

Mission: The Gauntlet

Elite units have freed a captured VIP and must return him to safety. As they make their escape to the waiting transport they must pass through the last line of sentries, but the enemy have been warned and are lying in wait…

The Rescuers must field a force using this FOC:-

HQ 0-1
Elites 1-2
Fast Attack 0-2

The Pursuers must field a force using this FOC:-

HQ 0-1
Troops 2-5
Heavy Support 0-2

Ideally, both sides should limit their forces to 500 points, but you can change this as you see fit.

Deployment:

The Rescuers deploy as the Defenders and the Pursuers deploy as the Attackers. The Pursuers set up using the Hidden Set Up rules (see below).

No Rescuers’ unit may be held in Reserve. Pursuers units may be held in Reserve, and come in along either of the long table edges.

The Pursuers may not Infiltrate, but the Rescuers may do so.

Who Goes First?:

The Pursuers set up first, and have first turn. The Rescuers may not attempt to steal the initiative.

Special Rules:

VIP

Use three counters (normal 25mm bases will do fine) to represent the VIP. The counters do not form a unit and can be placed separately when deployed. They should be numbered, and the player should keep a secret but written note of which one represents the actual VIP – the other two are distractions. The following rules apply to the VIP counters and, when he is revealed, to the VIP himself:

• Each is an independent unit (not an independent character) and the counters move independently of one another.
• Each moves like infantry and is subject to all the normal infantry movement rules, including Running.
• Cannot join any unit or be joined by any other model or unit and cannot board a transport.
• Cannot be targeted by the enemy with any shooting attacks. Cannot be targeted with nor affected by any psychic powers of either side.
• Has no ranged attacks and cannot charge.
• If he/ it comes within the area of effect of any game occurrence (blast template, exploding vehicle etc) he/ it is unaffected.

If an enemy unit comes within 6″ of a counter and has line of sight to it (or assaults it), that counter is flipped to reveal if it is the actual VIP. If it is, the other two distraction counters are removed from play. If it is not, only the flipped counter is removed from play. Note that the counter is flipped once the assaulting unit(s) is moved, not before. No consolidation is possible if the counter is not the actual VIP.

Hidden Set-up

This is a rule from the 4th Ed Rulebook, reproduced here since it never made it to 5th Ed:-

Objectives:

The Rescuers win if they get the real VIP within 6″ of the escape route edge.

The Pursuers win if they stop the VIP from escaping or if they re-capture him (ie. move into base-to-base contact with him)

Have fun! Hope you enjoy it, and let me know how you get on.

I haven’t picked up Space Hulk, and I might not do so. Not only is a friend planning on buying it, but I played several games of a version of Space Hulk recently, so while I fondly remember the original game I have gotten my fix in since then.

The version I played was called Hulkhammer, designed by all-round hobbymeister Precinctomega, and it went a little something like this:-

40k, inside a Space Hulk.

That was it. As many of the 40k rules as could be fitted (and as many of the models, but no vehicles, bikes, walkers or MCs), along with custom rules to deal with movement, firing, doors etc etc. Quite a lot of custom rules, actually, including some basic psychology rules, but all simple and sensible. Custom missions, as well, and each army had their own special rules to add a little extra flavour. We used the corridors that GW provided for download on their website, printed out onto card or photopaper.

I helped with some of the playtesting, and everyone who tried it really enjoyed it. Shadowsun melting doors; guardsmen seeing their comrades torched to cinders and running away to cower in a corner; arco-flagellants scaring the bejeesus out of everyone; lone fire warriors treading warily down darkened corridors towards mysterious blips; death cult assassins waltzing through rooms full of space marines. Why stick to just Terminators and Genestealers?

I have asked Precinctomega whatever happened to the final rules set. If he gives permission, I will make it available for download.

The players set the pieces out before they know what the mission is. Infinite variety.

Tau vs Witchhunters. Close combat specialists are brutal, able to hit multiple enemies in one Turn.

The ladies of the Death Cult teach the Ultramarines to lock their doors!

Just some images of my completed Tau Tetras. AV10 fast skimmers with BS4 markerlights – love ‘em