HGR Journal Entry No. 046 - Taking Of The Tower...

Date: February 23, 2008
Venue: Robinsons Galleria
Regulars Present: Balian, Sigismund, Kyuzo, Salubri, Ebon, Shink1m
Other Players Present: Adrian, Henry, Marty, Jessie, Alfred, Kei
Highlights:

We got a few more good games in today, with the Regulars giving the new players a wide range of what's out there in the depths of the Imperium...

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Game1 - Balian(13th Company) vs. Sigismund(World Eaters)
2000pts Take and Hold Omega
Balian Wins!

I heard this game got ugly with both sides getting into close combat early. It was a gruelling 8 Turns of multiple attacks from the 13th Company against the World Eaters' numbers. In the end, it was the ferocity of the 13th Company who won out.

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Game2 - Adrian(Azure Dawn - Space Marines) vs. Kyuzo(Chaos Space Marines)
1500pts Recon Omega
Draw!

Adrian came with his fun list. Well, if you call facing 8(!) Tornados, 2 Drop Pods including 1 Seige Dreadnaught(!) fun. Variable ended game length ended in 7 Turns, with the Azure Dawn having a Tornado squadron and the Commander and Termies touching down compared to the Termies and Noise Marine squad in the enemy deployment zone for Chaos.

Some post-game lessons learned:

1) You can't deepstrike the Commander and Termies as one unit, unless the Termies are part of his retinue (Hang on, are the Termies the Commander's retinue? If so, they shouldn't double up in the recon score, correct?)

Balian - a commader in terminator armour can teleport with a squad of terminators... for VP purposes though, only double-up on the squad. Exclude the points of the commander, even if he joined the terminator squad. The case may be different if the termie squad is a command squad of the commander (depends on what codex you are using).

2) When shooting at a squadron, allocate hits to the members of the squadron, then resolve the armor penetration scores per model in the squadron.

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Game3 - Salubri(Death Ravens) vs. Marty(Tau)
2000pts Take and Hold Gamma
Marty taps out on the 5th Turn. Salubri Wins!

Heard Marty's starting to get the hang of what his Tau units can do and maximize the amount of shooting they can dish out. It was only the steady advance of the hard hitting Deathwing that did him in.

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Game4 - Ebon(Deathguard) vs. Henry(Space Wolves)
2000pts Seek and Destroy Gamma
Ebon Wins!

I think its the second time Henry has faced the children of Nurgle. Ebon duly responds with a few alterations to his list, including a special appearance of Typhus, Herald of Nurgle. Typhus with Wind of Chaos + 1 Space Wolves squad just disembarked from a Rhino = Lots of dead Space Wolves. Typhus rocks!!!

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Game5 - Shink1m(Tomb Fleet Vyr - Necrons) vs. Jessie(Luna Wolves)
1500pts Take and Hold Omega
Shink1m Wins!

Shink1m coming to play in Galleria after a long stint from the 40k scene. Welcome back Tomb Fleet Vyr! Third time this particular table rolled the Take and Hold mission. This time, Tomb Fleet Vyr comes in with a Monolith to give the Imperium something to think about.

Lesson Learned: Space Marines shouldn't consult the Imperial Archives regarding Necrons WHILE in the thick of the fighting. Hehehe...

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Game6 - Balian(13th Company) vs. Alfred(Armored Company)
2000pts Recon Omega
Balian Wins!

What high armor and heavy firepower the Armored Company had in spades, the 13th Company made up for in mobility. Commissar Alfred still continues to impress the Regulars with gutsy (bordering on mad) Baneblade shooting. Game ends with two Touchdown Units for the 13th Company with the Baneblade still intact but reduced to half movement. 13th Company edges out on VP.

A lesson was learned in fire discipline

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Game7 - Marty(Tau) vs. Adrian(Azure Dawn - Space Marines)
1500pts Recon Gamma
Adrian Wins!

Wasn't able to see much of this game, hearing it had to end a little short at the start of the 4th Turn, with Adrian winning out with drop pods literally dropping into the the Tau Empire's deployment zone with the dreadnaughts and tornados dishing out a lot of hurt.

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Seven games on two tables in a little under 8 hours. I'd say that's not a bad piece of game management and scheduling. Pats on the back all around. Hehehe... Game session ends 8:30-ish.

Some Quotable Quotes:

Adrian: "So, what do you think of the Siege Dreadnaught?"
Kyuzo: "Hmmm... didn't it blow up the turn right after it arrived? Guess we'll never know what it can really do now, won't we?" ;)

"Nakaka-guilty ang Wind of Chaos!" - Ebon after wiping out a full Space Wolves squad

"When you think you can't, then you lost out right that very instant."

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Pics from last Saturday:



Kim's commentary and a few pics on his game on his blog here.

HGR Journal Entry No. 045 - Holy Bolters! Argh...

Date: February 16, 2008
Venue: Robinson's Galleria, 3rd Floor
Regulars Present: Kyuzo, Ebon, Balian, Sigismund, Salubri
Other Players Present: Henry, Mike, John, Jaime
Highlights:

Change in scenery yet again. Kinda like going on a Galleria demo tour. Haha. But once we got tables set up, we were quick into the carnage, HGR style.

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Game1 - Balian(13th Company) vs. Kyuzo(Dark Eldar)
2000pts Cleanse Alpha
Kyuzo taps out bottom of 4th. Balian Wins!

Lucky me to decide taking out the Dark Eldar army right up against Balian's 13th Company. Most of my raider transports carrying wyches and Archon got shot down by the second turn, but they were effective against 13th Company units that ever got into close combat. By 4th Turn, a quick assessment of the table sees me with not enough scoring units to prevent the 13th Company sweeping in to claim quarters.

Good game.

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Game2 - Ebon(Deathguard) vs. Sigismund(Orks)
2000pts Take and Hold Omega
Ebon Wins via VP!

Ebon's Deathguard takes Rite of Passage against Sigismund's Orks for 4 hours. Noteable is the amount of carnage that has ensued in those 4 hours, with the Green Tide still pouring it on in the latter rounds. Could we say a tired Ebon swinging an imaginary scythe is Quotable? Lolz...

Balian - to illustrate how long this game was... me and kyuzo started our game at the same time, we packed-up after, watched henry and salubri deploy, had lunch, went back, and salubri and henry finished their game same time this game concluded. Whew!

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Game3 - Salubri(Deathwing) vs. Henry(Space Wolves)
2000pts Seek and Destroy Alpha
Salubri Wins!

Salubri comes to Galleria with an all Deathwing Terminator army! No Landraiders, no Ravenwing, just all-Terminators! The Deathwing's steady advance proved to be a little difficult for the Space Wolves to handle. Game ends with Salubri having 2 scoring units remaining to Henry's 1.

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Game4 - Ebon(Deathguard) vs. Henry(Space Wolves)
2000pts Cleanse Gamma
Ebon Wins via Massacre!

Not much highlights from me on this game, it was simultaneous with my game against Mike.

Balian - what I saw were meltaguns, about 6 inches away from landraiders...

Ouch...

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Game5 - Mike(Ultramarines) vs. Kyuzo(Chaos Space Marines)
1000pts Recon Gamma
Mike Wins via VP!

Had my hands full on this one. With the config I pulled out, it was difficult to recover unit losses. Took a big gamble in turbo-boosting my Sorcerer Biker in front of one Tactical Squad na one Scout Squad, taking one wound from a bolter first before finally getting killed by one single Scout missle. To compound my problems, a second gamble in deep striking terminators without the aid of teleport homers proved to be their undoing when they deviated into an enemy squad. That's 1/3 my army in just two turns!

Chaos Space Marines proved to be real nasty in close combat compared to their Loyalist counterparts as they methodically took out three tactical squads in three full turns. Game ended with victory points in the Ultramarines favor, the points difference would've been a bit more respectable if only my remaining CSM squad was able to reach the enemy deployment zone. Just one turn short.

Good game.

Balian - this game reinforced my trust in bolters... and showed all of us an alternative (and effective!) way of rolling dice :D Mike also showed us how Space Marines should fight!

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Gaming ends 8:00pm.

Quotable Quotes of the Day:

"Uh Ryan, I think it feels like its FIVE against one..." +P

"Orks were literally stopping in mid-swing to drop their choppas for a second to check out their codex if they're doing it right..." Wahahaha!!!

Salubri - "Super Mom!!!"
Balian - "What? Where? Oh thaaaaat.... Super Mom nga!"
Kyuzo - "Super Mom?! Where? Wwwaaahhh!!!"

Friday 1K

Romy braved the rally in Makati to trudge to Fortress at Greenhills VMall to face off against Kim, who was trying to dust off his Necrons with more regular Friday games.

Coming from more frequent WM gaming, the long hours of six turns was a culture shock to me. The basic rules were still familiar, but there were some things that I needed to get used to.

I was witness to a mathematical anomaly though, in the form of a lone Khorne Terminator in the midst of my Necron Warriors who survived from the early rounds and which proved to be the downfall of my army. It was one of those times where I wished I had this or that, specifically the Veil or a Monolith. Close combat was never a forte of Necron Warriors, having no sergeant with a Powerfist. Close combat against a melee-strong Khorne Terminator WITH a Powerfist wreaking havoc in the ranks of my Warriors, now that's just plain sad.

Romy's gamble paid off big time though, successfully deep striking his Terminators in my deployment zone after I had brought down his bike-riding Sorcerer (Warriors did this, Heavy Destroyers just flashed their guns to look good). I hope I will have the same luck in future games, as Necrons do have knack in teleporting stuff on the table, too.

Here be pics:

HGR Journal Entry No. 044 - Games Gone The Distance...

Date: February 9, 2008
Venue: Robinson's Galleria That Basement 1 Atrium Place
Regulars Present: Kyuzo, Balian, Sigismund, Salubri, Ebon
New Players Present: Marty, Henry, Mike, Ike, Yano, John
Rules of Engagement: Warhammer 40k
Highlights:

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Game1 - Balian(Steel Falcons) vs. Kyuzo(Chaos Space Marines)
2000pts Secure and Control Alpha (5 counters)
Balian Wins! (Balian claims 3 counters with 1 contested against none claimed by Kyuzo)

I had to be aggressive on this one, or the Steel Falcon light show will punish you in the middle rounds if you're caught out in the open. "Word In Your Ear" screwed up my Havoc squad position and subsequently fail in guarding the flank where the Predators and Landspeeders advanced. On the other flank, I was lucky in Deep Striking the Khorne Terminator squad right behind enemy lines and kill off a couple of Steel Falcons as well as the Inquistor Lord. Daemon Prince got to take out the Scout squad, the (pesky) Calidus Assassin and Librarian. Balian in typical fashion zoomed out his Landspeeders on the last turn (really my fault in not eliminating that threat) to claim three points, contesting one and doing nothing else but do the HBK pose and say, "I'm done". +P

Good game.

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Game2 - Sigismund(Blood Ravens) vs. Salubri(Deathwing)
2000pts Recon Gamma
Salubri Wins via VP!

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Game3 - Henry(Space Wolves) vs. Marty(Tau)
1500pts Seek and Destroy Gamma
Draw!

It's been a hard fought game between two players playing their first game. In the end it was a hard fought draw with a couple of lessons for both players to carry into their next games.

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Game4 - Ebon(Death Guard) vs. Salubri(Deathwing)
2000pts Cleanse Alpha
Joel Wins!

This was the proverbial "fun game went serious" between Ebon and Salubri who just realized they haven't played against each other in a little over two years now. Deathwing Landraiders' misfortunes continued for being immobilized in the early turns. Deathguard advance was hard to stop, winning out over the Deathwing's brave stand.

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Game5 - Balian(Dark Angels) vs. Ike(The Azure Blades - Space Marines)
1500pts Secure and Control Alpha (4 counters)
Balian Wins! (Balian claims 3 counters against Ike's 1)

Whoa. Balian's got TWO armies in the bag?! Balian brought Ike to school with an all-infantry Dark Angel army. Game went through the whole stretch with Balian doing a second HBK move for the day.

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Game6 - Sigismund(Blood Ravens) vs. Kyuzo(Chaos Space Marines)
2000pts Cleanse Omega
Kyuzo Wins via VP!

Some payback against the Blood Ravens, who deployed their initial troops out a little thin. Thin enough to be picked out one by one by the Chaos Space Marines. Game ended with a titanic showdown with the Chaos Sorcerer Killing the Blood Raven Commander with this force weapon and dying by the Perils of the Warp with its death blow. Blood Ravens had only the Terminators on the table against close to half of the forces of Chaos.

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Other new players of note. John's currently working on a Tyranid army (Maybe about 1/4 the way. Ouch.) and his brother Mike just showed his drop pod from plasticard (Maybe he can make LOT more for the others too. :D).

Some Quotable Quotes:

"Independent Characters can't score."

"Somebody's lost his bearings." - Balian's comment after picking up a ball bearing out of nowhere.

Army Roster

I'm updating the army rosters on the sidebar. Each of those armies will have a page of it's own. For several players who own the same kind of army... they will be sharing the page. In view of this can I ask you guys to please send me pictures of your painted units? Send only the ones that are fully painted. Also I need a write up from you guys... about the army... what got you started, what you like about it, etc etc. Oh and I also need a picture of you that I can use as a player portrait pic of sorts. kahit maliit lang.

The write up can be in tag-lish if you like. This blog is mostly for pinoys anyway. :D

HGR Journal Entry No. 043 - Apocalypse Cometh...

Date: February 2, 2008
Venue: Robinsons Galleria atrium-like thingy
Regulars Present: Balian, Sigismund, Salubri, Ebon, Kyuzo
Other Players Present: Naj, Adrian, Jessie, Alfred
Other Friends Who Passed By: Justin, Owen
Rules of Engagement: Warhammer 40k
Highlights:

Strong attendance today, with two 4x6 tables giving some new players a chance to get some 40k gaming, HGR style.

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Game1 - Balian(Steel Falcons) vs. Adrian(Twilight Dawn - Chaos Space Marines)
2000pts Seek and Destroy Gamma
Adrian taps out on Turn5. Balian Wins!

Balian's becoming the resident submissions specialist. Adrian's Daemon Princess made a slight mistake of showing up in the open, right into the Steel Falcon lascannon field of fire. "So, your Daemon Princess got to see the Steel Falcon light show first hand, eh?" Lolz.

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Game2 - Sigismund(Orks) vs. Ryan(Death Ravens)
2000pts Take and Hold Omega
Sigismund Wins!

25 Death Ravens. Three and a half hours. 144 Orks. Three and a half hours. Sigismund was thought to have brought Tau earlier. Three and a half hours. A few Regulars could use an Advil after reading Sigismund's "New Ork Codex". Oh, and did I tell you their game took three and a half hours? :P

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Game3 - Naj(Dark Angels) vs. Adrian(Twilight Dawn - Chaos Space Marines)
1500pts Secure and Control Alpha
Adrian Wins!

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Game4 - Naj(Dark Angels) vs. Ebon(Deathguard)
1500pts Secure and Control Omega
Ebon Wins!

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Game5 - Alfred(Armored Company) vs. Kyuzo(Chaos Space Marines)
2000pts Recon Gamma
Kyuzo Wins!

Baneblade!!! At 577(?) points, dishing out a LOT of firepower including one big-ass ordinance template, it's an intimidating piece on the gaming table. Had to get my Rhino troops to within assault range quickly or I would have trouble getting to what was looking like a solid defensive position. Critical move was baiting half of the Leman Russes to take out a couple of Rhinos and pen them in so my disembarked CSM troops have a chance to close in with meltas and powerfists while Noise Marines who aren't equipped to take out heavy armor so are reduced to do a touchdown role. Armored Company made a gutsy move by wiping out a squad of Chaos Terminators with the Baneblade cannon AT CLOSE RANGE! MVP of the game would be the Chaos Sorceror on bike diverting most of the Baneblade firepower (Alfred threw everything, lascannons, demolisher cannons, even the Baneblade kitchen sink!) and saving ALL instakill fire, as well as one havoc squad hitting the side of the baneblade, taking out TWO structure points in the process!

Game ends with Chaos Space Marines having three units and both HQ's in the endzone against the Armored Company having only the Baneblade remaining on the table with one Structure Point left.

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Game6 - Adrian(Twilight Dawn - Chaos Space Marines) vs. Jessie(Luna Wolves)
2000pts Recon Gamma
Adrian Wins!

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Special thanks to Sigismund for reserving tables for the session as well as Ebon for bringing in some additional terrain. A lot of curious onlookers came to watch and ask about the game too. Balian and Kyuzo's auspexes had their overload moments, while Salubri most likely will be hoarse tomorrow after his match against Orks On Steroids. Hehehe...

Game Session ends 8:00 PM.