Lieutenant Complete (not a primaris)

Lieutenant Aurelius was completed the other day and he has even participated in a battle!  He survived a point-blank Warp Spider ambush and even knocked one out himself.

So much fun.

As is standard for my army I sealed with dullcoat and then gave the cape brooch and chest eagle gems a layer of 'ard Coat glossy varnish to make them a real gem shine.  This, and the robes on my D&D (AoS) warrior priest are the first fabrics that I've painted - still need practice but starting to get the hang of it.  I had used this post (one of the top google searches right now) for tips on painting robes: http://gravengames.co.uk/how-to-paint-natural-coloured-robes-tutorial/

Free-handed skull icon and rank marking.

Terminators Complete!

Really happy with how my early era Terminators came out.  The orange highlights really warmed up the red and with the rest of the army they stand out as the elite troops as I wanted.  I ended up using paint on Testors Dullcoat instead of the usual spray on version because it got cold out.  It seemed to work ok.  I used two coats and made sure to open the window.  Here's the first post where I started

This one is magnetized and can serve as either a power fist in a 10 man squad or...

 ...as a sergeant in a second 5 man squad.

 Really happy with how the gems turned out with a little bit of 'ard coat.

Magnetized Arms

I have one terminator that I wanted to double as a Sgt for 2x 5 man squads or as a power glove for a 10 man squad.  Thus we magnetize!

The first magnets I got were small enough to fit into the standard arm hole, but as anyone that has done this knows, those magnets are a bit too small and so the arm will droop.  I had read this too, but of course I had to make the mistake myself.  Luckily the local gaming store (seems like the only ones left in my area) had 1/8" magnets which work better.  I would now have to drill both the arm and the body, but its ok.

I first snipped off the arm post from the body and since the mini is classic metal (I think pewter) it didn't cause other problems.  I then used the pin drill to put in a pilot hole.

Later at my dad's house we used the Foredom to drill out the holes.  This machine was handed down by my grandpa who was a jeweler, its great. 

The metal wasn't as hard to work with as I was worried about.  The main problem was just extracting the smaller magnet I had tried in one of the arms.  Again my dad's workshop came to the rescue, he has very fine dentist drill bits for the thing that allowed me to dig around and pry out the smaller magnet.

Then it was a matter of drilling to the correct depth and putting them in with a bit of glue.  I eyeballed the depth and got lucky I think.  The magnet into the body didn't even need glue.  One of the arms didn't quite seat properly, so definitely should be more careful next time.

And the arms stay in position!

Painting Schedule - Excel Nerd

I use Excel a lot at work, for everything.  It's like a swiss army knife.  Even in my hobby I find a way to use it.  I created a table to simply schedule things that need to be painted as I think of them, because sometimes I notice things are missing from finished models.  My hope is to avoid that by adding them to the list.  Another benefit is the list can be sorted to optimize color usage when working on multiple groups.  Finally it also lets me start estimating about how long things will take to paint.

Campaign Part 2 - Full 40k Game vs Saim-Hann

Continuing my 40k weekend with dad, Sunday we had a full match - Ultramarines vs Saim-Hann.  Our mini campaign started with a Kill Team skirmish in which the Emperor scored a major victory and routed the Xenos, allowing me to choose whether to go first or second (instead of a roll-off) for our second game.

Ultramarines list was all classic 1st to 3rd-ish edition minis:
1x Land Raider
1x Land Speeders (squadron of 2)
5x Tactical mini squads (5 men each)
HQ: Lieutenant Aurelius (classic mini)

The picture shows my Rogue Trader beakies as well who just wanted to pose, but they would have put me over the points limit dictated by the number of Eldar we had.  Back then it was ok to put camo on marines.

Saim-Hann list also classic minis:
1x Falcon Grav Tank
1x Wraithlord
3x Vypers in (2 units of 3 and 1 unit of 2)
1x Warp Spiders (4 models)
1x Dire Avengers (10 models)
1x Guardian Defenders (12 models)
1x Rangers (5 models)
HQ: Autrach Skyrunner

Mission was basic Only War with Domination victory condition.
Objectives included 1 atop a mountain in the center of the table, one in ruins in the Ultramarine deployments zone, and 2 in the Eldar deployment zone.

Deployment -
Ultramarines aggressively deployed at the edge of the neutral zone ready to take the southern objective and central objective.  The Land Raider was loaded up with 2 squads ready to get there.  The close by eastern ruins were guarded with one squad that stretched over to a nearby hill to set up a missile launcher.  Speeders deployed to the north to harass the northern objective deep in Eldar territory.

Eldar positioned to take the objectives in their deployment zone, but did not deploy as aggressively.

Round 1
Ultramarines:
Moved up to take the central mountain objective.  Fire from the Land Raider and Heavy Bolter squad killed 4 Guardians, 1 Spider, and put some damage on the Wraithlord.  The Speeders raced up and got some lucky Multi-Melta crits taking the Wraithlord down to half health.  The weak Xeno infantry lost more as they fled the battle.
Scored 2 victory points.

Eldar:
Moved into the objectives with infantry.  Vypers and Falcon moved to intercept the Land Raider which was a juicy transport target.  Only succeeded in putting on 4 wounds.
Scored 2 victory points.

Round 2
Ultramarines:
After dumping out the Emperor's Finest with blazing weapons, the Land Raider moved in to contest the southern objective.  Heavy sustained fire from the Land Raider, and 3 tactical squads succeeded in pacifying the Falcon (Is First Blood still a thing in 8th edition?).  A frag missile from range took out a sniper Ranger.  Damage was done to the Vypers which are surprisingly sturdy.  2 Squads charged and engaged the hover bikes doing some slight damage and the Xeno cowards would end up speeding off to the north.
Scored 2 victory points (and maybe another for first blood

Eldar:
Moved all units off the northern objective to engage the Land Speeder squadron doing moderate damage.  The Vypers also retreated from the southern objective to assist to the north.  In a daring move, the Warp Spiders and 2 Vypers flanked Lieutenant Aurelius but he was protected by the Emperor's Will.
Scored 0 victory points.

Round 3
Ultramarines:
Moved in to capture the southern objective and eliminated the Warp Spiders.  Lieutenant Aurelius personally delivered the Emperor's mercy.
Scored 3 victory points.

We ran out of time and also we thought that there was no way to recover for the Eldar so we called it there.

Analysis:
My dad and I both agreed that he needed to be a bit more aggressive with deployment positions and he didn't quite get the hang of the hit and run tactics that the Saim-Hann can do.  I think the critical mistake was focusing on the Land Raider on round 1.  He should have moved up forces beyond the southern objective to create a buffer and prevent the Land Raider from contesting it, while using the Vypers to also contest my own objectives in the back.  Meanwhile, I was focused on taking and holding my objectives and creating opportunities to deny/delay his scoring just to get ahead for the win.


++++Transmission: Adeptus Astartes Ultra++++
Battle Report from Lieutenant Aurelius
Date: 5863018.M42

Location: Rust Planetiod 492
Sub Sector: Sigmatus
FW: Primus Leo Exevio Faustus

Aurelius reports after initial skirmish with Saim-Hann, the main force was detected on 492.  Strike force was sent to purge the alien.

The Xeno threat was driven away from the Weapon Test site in a major victory for the Emperor, however, analysis indicates that their objective was to probe our defenses and withdraw.  Only a fool would believe they will not return with greater numbers.  Request Tactical Dreadnought Armor

REF: QLT/564138135486135486135483
THOUGHT: Do not waste your tears.  I was not born to watch the world grow dim.  Life is not measured in years, but by the deeds of men.  RT 113

 ++++End Transmission++++

First Kill Team Battle - Ultramarines v Saim-Hann

I have a small ~1.2k Eldar force passed on to me from a friend that gave up the hobby.  After repairing some minor damage, my dad was a good sport and agreed to try 40k and field them vs my Ultramarines.  They're well painted and are classic 3rd-ish edition so really compliment my antique army as well.

While we wait for the glue to dry, and to ease into the rules a bit, I decided it would be fun to do a mini narrative campaign with a Kill Team skirmish using a few of the troops today.  Kill Team was really fun and I think once we get the hang of it we will be able to play the games much faster.

With the Eldar force relegated to us, it wasn't easy to make an interesting team, so I actually customized the rules a bit to use Warp Spiders.  I changed up the flicker jump rules a bit to make them like flip belts per suggestion on reddit.  I think it worked ok.

Battle Report:
I had strategic advantage.  We placed 4 objective markers in a diamond pattern across the map, one in each of our deployment areas, and then two in the ruins straddling the neutral zone.
The random objective was Infiltrate - thus objectives in the enemy zone would be worth points.

Scout Phase:
Xenos scouted out enemy forces.

Deployment:
Ultramarines deployed with plasma gun sniper in overwatch down the road and Hvy. Bolter in cover position over both objectives.  Sgt. Cornelius and rest of team set up to run into the objectives to take and hold.

Xenos took position in the hills outside the ruins.

 Round 1:
Xenos had initiative but mostly remained non-aggressive.  Turns out I should have done a better job explaining the ranges before deployment.  Ultramarines advanced onto both center line objectives, but were unlucky with run progress.

Round 2:
Ultramarines had initiative and continued to move up.  Captured north objective.  Xenos began shifting to the southern objective.

Round 3:
Eldar initiative, continued cautious progress to south objective only around the hill.  Ultramarines moved up plasma gunner and comms spotter leaving Heavy Bolter on watch.  Heavy Bolter caught Xeno Warp Spider Exarch in the open and inflicted 1 wound at long range.  Xeno took shots at advancing marines but were ineffective.

Round 4:
Ultramarines with initiative.  Sgt. Cornelius advanced past the south objective to the hill to force the Xenos to come around out into the open to contest.  Marine elements behind ready for support.  Xenos took the bait and ran out of cover to attempt to eliminate Cornelius and take objective.  Cornelius shrugged off Xeno fire with the grace of the Emperor's will.  Return fire was ineffective.

Round 5:
Xenos with initiative.  Eldar move to surround the Ultramarine Sgt.  Ultramarines charged engaging a Warp Spider and  Dire Avenger in close combat.  Hvy Bolter fire elimiated one Guardian Defender at long range.  Close combat was a complete draw.

Victory Condition:
North objective - Ultramarines.  East and West objectives - no points.  Southern objective ended in a draw.  Thus it was a victory for the Imperium of Man and the Xenos warped away as suddenly as they appeared.

Analysis:
My dad tends to play things cautious and unfortunately he wasn't familiar enough with his army or the rules to have the right approach.  I think he needed to be a bit more aggressive with his mobility and move up to and past the central objectives right away.  He could have consumed my slightly smaller force (but equal points) with hit and run tactics and then held the objectives with lone defenders hiding in a corner.  Unfortunately also the map layout kinda favored my side a bit inadvertently.  Its true that he might have taken losses, but clearly the dice make it so that he could have had a chance.  Was a fun learning experience for both of us and tomorrow we will play a full 40k game as a follow up to the skirmish!

++++Transmission: Adeptus Astartes Ultra++++
Battle Report
Date: 5861018.M42

Location: Weapons Test Planetiod 493
Sub Sector: Sigmatus
FW: Lieutenant  Aurelius

Scout Kill Team Cornelius reports contact light with Xenos - Eldar.  Markings matching Saim-Hann from record.

Secured artifact coordinates.  No casualties.  Enemy sustained light losses before warping away.  Victory for the Emperor.

 ++++End Transmission++++