One of the joys of 40k is sharing the game with new players. This week we start ramping up to Labor Day with small battles.
The summer is flying by, and our Armageddon campaign weekend draws closer by the minute. I’m in the depths of arranging terrain and a table for our clubhouse so we can have some immersive and thematic battlefields while also trying to complete my 2,000-point army. I’m not gonna lie; it’s a lot to manage! Even so, I’m feeling pretty good about where things stand, and I know my three fellow warlords are making good progress, as well.
First Games
As of the time I’m writing this, I’m closing in on my thousand-point list, but I’ve completed all the Marines from the Armageddon box set. This means my Assault Force Combat Patrol is ready to roll and I’ve been having a great time getting a few games in to get to grips with the 11th edition rules.
The best part of these games has been the opportunity to teach my fellow Warlord how to play 40k. Randi’s been a friend for years, and her first minis experience came this past winter when she jumped into my club’s Blood Bowl league. She had a great time but had never played a full minis game. When we sat down to play Combat Patrol last week, it was her first game of Warhammer.
Combat Patrol really does shine as an introductory format, and even though I ultimately won the game, it wasn’t an overwhelming win for me with a final score of 30-25. While I was taking the time to teach some basic concepts (and learn the new edition myself), I didn’t hold back much, and Randi and her orks really made me work for my win. The asymmetrical missions make for very compelling gameplay, and the ‘Ard Mob are a really fun challenge for the Assault Force.
Rematch, Revenge
We had a rematch last night, and I was delighted to see it play out with Randi actually wiping the floor with me and winning 25-15! This time I wasn’t holding back at all, and while dice did play a role in her victory (mine went ice cold, and hers went nuclear hot during her Waaaagh! turn), it was her clever turn 2 placement of her War Trakk via Deep Strike that let her annihilate my poor Captain before he’d even swung his blade in anger. Brutal.
The rest of the game was a proper bloody brawl that saw both sides reduced to a depleted unit each. Really, there’s no better feeling in war gaming than when someone you’re teaching turns the tables on you and scores a definitive win.
Preparing For Bigger Conflicts
With the basics down, we’re turning our sights on the next milestone of playing fully painted 1k point games within a week or two and then making the final push to 2,000 points for the Armageddon campaign over Labor Day weekend. So, let’s see how all four of us are doing.
For my part, I’m having a blast. I’m really happy with my paint scheme and continue to dial it in on characters and vehicles. The red pops, the yellow accents are striking without overpowering my composition, and I feel like I’ve really succeeded in splitting the difference in having a contemporary-looking army with integrated nods to GW’s classic “red era” of the 90s.
With the Armageddon Marines complete, I’m excited to build out to 2k and have collected all the kits I need to do so while keeping under my budget of $300 in additional models. I’ll share my whole list and some highlights in our final installment of this series next month, but I have a plan for a centerpiece Knight Errant to supply my marines with a little heavy firepower.
My first games were fun, but the terminology is unfamiliar. There’s a definite learning curve, but once I played a few rounds I got the hang of it for the most part. I know I overlooked or forgot some special rules and abilities for my ‘lil guys. I wish I could have had more mech in there; in the first game I played, my Wartrakk was out by round 2 (but did a lot better in the next game!). Overall I had a great time, and I’m looking forward to the next games!
I’ve been away for a few weeks, so I’m playing catch-up. This week has been lots of transfers and basing to wrap up a few units. Next up is some intercessors. Then a few more units from the Armageddon box.
My assembly line painting is going on at a steady pace, but I decided to stop and completely finish one of the new Ork Boyz. My reason for this is that I wanted to match the 54 Goff Boyz I painted about 15 years ago, give or take. On the left is one of my older Goff Boyz, while on the right is one of the 11th Edition ones I just finished.
Even though my painting techniques and color palette have changed, I still wanted the new Orks to blend in with my older ones as close as I could. Now that I have all aspects of the new Boy down, I can safely move forward with everyone else that will be Goff!
How are you expanding your Armageddon armies?
Don’t Miss:
Simon Berman has been a wargamer since 1993 and has worked in the tabletop games industry since 2008 as a staff writer for the first three editions of WARMACHINE and HORDES. These days he’s the General President of the Brush Wielders Union, a worldwide organization of miniatures painters of all skill levels, a freelance games writer who has contributed to a number of roleplaying games like Eclipse Phase, Dune: Adventures in the Imperium, and The Hammer and the Stake. He runs his own small-press publishing company, Strix Publishing, and paints more miniatures than he can keep track of. Simon lives with his wife in Tacoma, Washington along with a number of cats and a pack of savage wiener dogs.
Source: Bell of Lost Souls
