Neck-rons

As I've mentioned, I'm playing with my son Alex.  I wanted him to have his own army and he chose Necrons.  Since a new Necron Code was (at the time) about to come out, I agreed it was an excellent choice.  The models have been arriving from eBay ever since.  This is the first batch Alex and I had to build ourselves. It was a LOT harder to assemble these plastics than I expected.  In the old days, assembly meant gluing some arms onto a single hunk of metal and sticking it on a base, if that.  These new kits are far trickier, including a lot of tiny, tiny, parts all requiring assembly.  I was surprised how difficult it was for us to assemble these guys, and even now weapons, heads and other parts keep popping off at regular intervals. The Lychguard in particular are very, very, fragile. That's just nit-picking because they look cool as hell.

The one on your right is holding its weapon backwards. I don't like it.  The Overlord is in the foreground.  The fact he came with the barge (in the back) was primary reason I bought the barge.  Well played Games Workshop, well played.

Alex is really gung-ho to paint them, so I expect it won't be long before they're on the battlefield.

-Adam!!!

UltraMarines vs Imperial Guard 2

Alex wanted to do an annihilation battle, and I had no problem with that.  I wanted to do the set-up where the battlefield was drawn into quarters and the armies set up opposite each other diagonally.  He had no problem with that. With that sorted, we placed our minis and got to it.

The Battlefield

Imperial Guard putting Penal Legion troopers out front

"I don't wanna go!"

The Commander leading from the front (that went badly.)

Terminators taking the forward position. Those fence pieces are among my favorite terrain bits. They don't obscure firing, or provide cover, but do obstruct troop movement. Tanks just go through them.

Rhinos and Assault Marines bring up the rear.

Two Speeders, two Dreadnaughts, a Techmarine, and a Servitor.

Ogrynn!

The first turn.

First turn casualties. (Stopped using the flash. The photos are darker, but better.)

Second turn casualties.

Marines, disembark!

Veterans (with Meltabombs) assault!  This was awesome. Two Chimeras full of melta-bomb armed veterans poured out and surrounded the Dreadnaughts. They destroyed one of them. 

Firing range. Killed a few marines, but they killed my tanks right back.

Turn three casualties.

Turn four casualties.

Additional turn 4 casualty.

The game ended after turn 5, with me getting 1 VP for destroying one Dreadnaught.  I could never finish off any other troops or vehicles.  Alex wiped out my Penal Legion squad and Command Squad, for a total of 2 VP, so got his second win in a row.  

-Adam!!!

Dead Soldiers

These guys will be finding new homes via eBay.  About half of them will be missed.

Special Teams

While I certainly need a few more generic Marine with Bolter marines painted, it's more fun to paint the special guys.  The most recent bunch has rounded out my Veteran Squad and Honor Guard in Artificer armor as well as adding to the special and heavy weapon arsenal.

Veterans showing off Terminator Honors

Same veterans from the front

Honor Guard in artificer armor

Lascannon, MultiMelta, MultiMelta, Meltagun

Trooper, Sargeant, Trooper

I'm using my new iPhone4 to take the pictures and I'm really pleased. It's a lot easier to get good closeups with the phone than with my camera.  I'm not sure the quality is quite the same, but for convenience it's really working.

-Adam

http://mentorlegion40k.blogspot.com/

Two for the Road

The Ultras need some more vehicles, so we're getting that fixed. The first of three Attack Bikes is finished, as is the first of two Rhinos.

Attack Bike and Rhino

Rhino, from the front.

Attack Bike w/ magnetized weapon. Can swap MultiMelta for Heavy Bolter

Small update, but still good. I've got more Marines painted, including artificer armor and veterans which I'll post when I get a few more completed.

-Adam!!!

http://mentorlegion40k.blogspot.com/

Battle #2 Ultras vs Guard

Alex wanted to play 40k again, and I was itching to try to learn how 5th ed. Imperial Guard works.  I'm still not clear on how orders work, but I *think* I did it right.  If not, Alex was none the wiser. Also, while the game technically ended in a draw, he was clearly beating me, and he knew it.

For these first few games, the battles are set up more like a 1st edition Rogue Trader game than a modern game.  I let Alex choose the units he wanted, roughly tallied the cost (a little over 1000 pts) and I selected an IG force that was also roughly 1000pts.  I bet he had a few points on me, but I'm sure the forces will practically equal.  Easily saved a half-hour of math just guessing the points.

This is not meant to be a battle report. It's just photos I took of the battle, with captions explaining generally what the photo is displaying.

Ogryn, Chimera Transports (filled with troopers), Leman Russ  tanks leading the charge.

Land Speeder, Assault Squad, and Tac Squads hiding in the woods.

The Brothers Grimm, twin dreadnaughts.

Following a feeble attempt at Tank Shock, the dreadnaught turned around and blasted my tank with its lascannon. The terminators didn't get to assault, as there was nothing left of my tank.

Neither Chimera had any practical way to deal with a dreadnaught.

Guardsmen, DISEMBARK!!!

After wasting the Russ, the terminators and one of the brothers Grimm set their sights on a full Chimera.

At the Imperial Guard objective (an old Robot) the last Marine in his squad fights the Platoon commander. Eventually the commander would win.  

The other Chimera releases its troops (they were safer inside, it turns out.)

The Company Command Squad direct the Ogryn and the remaining troopers.

After routing the Guardsmen, the Chimera (Stunned) is next.

A Tac squad gets read to storm the hill, and eliminate that pesky Platoon Commander now alone guarding the objective.

The game ended at the end of Turn 4, with no winner.  Alex had the clear advantage as his Marines were about to storm the objective and I didn't have guardsmen anywhere near his objective.

I've already found several rules we were playing incorrectly, and I suspect I'll find more.  Alex described the battle as EPIC (which of course is a whole 'nuther thing) and I have to agree.  It was a good one.

-Adam!!!