board of wargaming?

Tags

28mm, 40k, Age of Sigmar, Fantasy, fantasy miniatures, Games Workshop, Lost Patrol Boardgame, Shadows over Hammerhal, Space Crusade, space hulk, Wargame, Wargaming, Warhammer Quest

Over the past few months I have found myself wandering away from table-top wargames, toward miniature board-games. This has been due mainly to the ease by which games like Space Crusade can be set-up and played, within a single gaming session, rather than the two or three sessions it takes to play out Epic battles.

I have made mention before of my adventures in Space Crusade, Lost Patrol and Dreadball, so I thought I would talk a little more about some of the projects, both old and new that have been at the vanguard of my hobby activities of late…

Space Hulk

Out in the deep black no-one can hear you scream!.. This fast-paced and tense game of blazing storm-bolters and scything talons, is always an absolute blast to play!

Several years ago a friend of mine had the idea of buying a copy of the game components on eBay, along with a couple of boxes of genestealers and ask if I’d want collect a set of terminators to go with it. The project was eventually left with me and I have played many of the scenarios from the book over the years.

Betrayal at Calth

Going under-ground… In the Arcologies of Calth, Roboute Guilliman’s indomitable Ultramarines fight bitter subterranean battles with Lorgar Aurelian’s arch-betrayers, the Word Bearers.

Another project idea, this time from the ubiquitous Graham. The components for this game can be found at a very reasonable price on eBay and using our collected Space Crusade minis, we have played all but the last scenario from the rule book.

All in all, this is a very simple game with quite a lot of depth. I really like the tactical options created by the consolidation rules, which allow you to separate and link up troops within hexes, allowing you to create ad hoc fire-teams. Each force has their own set of cards which can be used during play and give a distinct ‘flavour’ to each (I love the foul desecration and meat shield cards, which are used by the Word Bearers!)

Warhammer Quest: Shadows over Hammerhal

Whatever you do, don’t split the party!.. Dungeon dwellers unite in this revamp of an old classic.

Last but by no means least, my newest acquisition is Warhammer Quest: Shadows over Hammerhal. I looked at both this and Silver Tower, but decided that I rather liked the possibilities presented by a GM lead game, rather than cooperative play.

Being that I lack any competitive edge and enjoy creating fun and interesting games, playing the GM would suit me rather well, along with the fact that I much prefer to play the nefarious bad guys than the doughty heroes of course!

I have read through the short story, found in the ‘getting started’ book, but have yet to play. Hopefully I shall be putting the dungeoneers through their paces very soon…

Embarking on an Epic Space Crusade

Tags

28mm, Diorama, Epic 40k, Games Workshop, Lost Patrol Boardgame, miniatures, painting and modelling, Space Crusade, Terrain, Wargame, Wargaming

The ever dastardly Graham and I play many different games set in the world of Warhammer 40k, and for someone as tactically challenged as myself, simply keeping a tally of wins and losses holds little interest.

Instead, we combine the multitude of different games into a flowing narrative campaign. This stops things from getting stale and lets me concentrate on being creative, rather than cursing my ill luck and general lack of tactical nous.

A Brief History of Time

There was a time long ago, when space marines were space marines and demons were just a figment of the imagination, so don’t worry your pretty little head about it. Known as the Golden Age of the Imperium, it was a time when the mighty Emperor of mankind was less ‘throne-bound’, and got out and about the galaxy a little more, leading His demigod sons the Primarchs, in their quest of inter-galactic genocide.

However, it all started to come undone the day the Emperor realised that He had left the oven on, and had to rush back to Terra to attend to it, leaving His favourite son Horus in charge until He got back. Horus was brought low by an envenomed blade and started to hear voices from the Warp. The daemonic susurrations told him that the Emperor didn’t even posses an oven! And was actually going back home to the adoring fans, gaining all the glory while His sons did all the hard work.

Horus did what any right-minded son would in such a situation. He plunged the whole Imperium into civil war, sending it into a catastrophic downward spiral from which it would never truly recover.

In the wake of what become known a the Horus Heresy, the space marine legions were disbanded and sub-divided into smaller chapters, so that no-one would be able to wield such power ever again. One such space marine chapter was the Iron Eagles, formerly of the Ultramarines legion, which is the subject of our story.

Betrayal at Ardera IV

In the aftermath of the Horus Heresy, mankind was still plagued by the myriad hostile aliens (no rest for the wicked and all that!) On the agri-world of Ardera IV, an Ork Waarghhh! was gaining impetus and simply had to be stopped before the green tide scoured the planet clean of all humankind.

Ardera IV was a planet within a sector of Imperial space simply chock full of agri-worlds, exporting a plethora of produce to feed the Imperium. Ardera’s main export being that of oils and chemicals derived from triffidicus plants. These six-foot tall carnivorous plants, were not only able to walk, but could fire a stinger out around seven to eight feet, allowing them to incapacitate their prey. On the plus side however, they contained an oil which could be refined to create many useful fuels and chemicals. It was said that a quarter of a billion lho sticks were lit every minute thanks to triffidican oil.

Triffidicus plants were by no means the only indigenous species upon Ardera IV which was inimicable to life. When man first set foot upon her, the planet was simply teeming with strangler-vines, exploding spore frogs, spine-shooting cacti and much more besides. After a century of cultivation however, the flora and fauna become manageable enough to sustain a colony of thousands of triffidicus ranches.

With the ork incursion, came much upheaval. Vast swathes of land fell into the greenskin hands which were left un-managed, allowing the triffidicus plants to break free from their ranches, to seek food (of which in the aftermath of the fighting, there was plenty to spare!) In their wake the death forests started to reclaim the planet. The orks had to be stopped and to this end a vast imperial crusade was sent to Ardera, including a battle group of the Iron Eagle space marines.

Framing the Conflict

I’ve laid out some battle dioramas on my BattleCry game board (complete with new frame to stop it moving around) This creates a pictorial story which will give you an idea of how we combine different games to forge a narrative and push the story along…

Aeronautica: A fierce air battle ensues across the skies of Ardera IV, as the Imperials struggle to gain  air superiority over the Orks. Mighty Titans can be seen far below on the surface.

Epic: The defenders of hive Menddrica ready themselves to repel yet another ork attack.

The greenskins swarm toward the hive. Fortunately the Imperial defenders have ‘angels upon their shoulders‘. The Imperial navy’s persecution of the air war has been exemplary, allowing units to be spared to support the ground conflict.

‘Big guns never tire!’ Though they will be surely tested this day!

Both Gork and Mork are in attendance today (or at least there ork built proxies Boom Boom Mancini and O’wd Yella). Reaver titans of the legio Hydra Cordatiss square up against the xenos abominations.

Space Crusade: At the tactical level, the troops of the Imperial Guard strive to protect the hives all important anti-aircraft guns.

Behind the lines there seems to be treachery afoot. A cabal of space marines confer with the Ork warlord, as an emissary of the foul Word Bearers legion performs some arcane ‘mumbo jumbo’.

Lost Patrol: A reconnaissance platoon of the 7095th Devlan Mudders struggles through the death forests, somewhere deep behind enemy lines. They are urgent to get back to friendly lines with the critical intelligence that they have gained on the enemy.

The forest is full of hidden dangers! Will they get back to deliver their news of the Iron Eagles treachery?

So what in the name of Terra were the Iron Eagles doing conferring with the enemy?! Will the recon troops bring word of this treachery to the Imperial defenders? Only time will tell…

SPACE CRUSADE

Tags

40k, 80's Boardgames, Games Workshop, Space Crusade

That most venerable game from the 1980/90’s ‘Space Crusade’, which was a joint project by MB Games and Games Workshop, is one of which I am most fond and a fair chunk of my gaming time has been dedicated to it over the past year or so.

I am a relative new-comer to actually playing this game as I had never done so until a few years ago, but I do recall the TV advert which was a staple interlude during my ‘Cartoon Time’ on Saturday mornings as a boy.

The simplicity of this game belies the tactical skill needed to succeed in this enclosed urban environment, full of ‘choke points’ and ‘fire lanes’. The rules provide solid & simple mechanics which allow players to get on with planning their next moves and pushing the action forward.

The simple format for Troop Stats of Movement, Armour and Dice Attacks, allow for extra troop types to be added using the stats of troops with similar attributes or stature, such as Imperial Guard troopers (Gretchin) and IG Sergeants (Orks) or mix & match them to create special characters, etc.

As I have possession of two sets of this game and also various extra boards from the expansion games, my board layouts are generally bigger than the standard four board setup and I have had endless fun creating new scenarios and ‘testing them out’ with friends.

‘Iron Eagle’ Marines

‘Scharffen’ Gruppe

Sgt. Scharffen

3x Bolter Truppen

2x Heavy Weapon Truppen

‘Pieper’ Gruppe

Sgt. Pieper

3x Bolter Truppen

2x Heavy Weapon Truppen

The Outcome

Graham came round to have a go at this scenario recently and commanded the intrepid Iron Eagles in their mission to destroy the Armoury on board the Arch-Enemy Flag Ship, the Spawn of Sorrows. After clearing a path, room by room, toward the northern-most corridor, leading to the Armoury, Graham’s  mission team forced an entrance to the objective room and set the Detonator in the form of a 6-sided dice which was placed in the room with the ‘6’ face-up. At the end of each of Graham’s turns the dice was flipped over to count down to the explosion.

This gave an interesting angle to the game as Graham had to get out of the armoury sector before the whole place blew! On returning to the main sector Graham tried to block the corridor and consign my Chaos hordes to a fiery death, unfortunately for him though, I managed to kill all the survivors in a single turn just before the dice was flipped to zero and the time ran out! The game was tense for both players right up till the end and there were lots of twists and turns throughout.

So until the next encounter…

The Dark Gods are Victorious!!