Category: League reports

Shadows Over Felgate: Shadows approach 

A psychic shudder shakes the city of Vaedominus as a burst of light appears from the Telepathica district. A message has been sent off-world…but it has become clear that the world is shrouded from the light of the Astronomican. 

The towers of the Telepathica act as an effective landmark when the streets line up properly in Vaedominus and looking at these three towers now reveals that something is very wrong here –  a great arcane symbol hangs in the air above the towers, a sinister mark of corruption.

Exactly what message was sent off-world was unclear, but all of you receive a response in some form or another: The response is essentially that reinforcements are on their way.

Team Sanctus have been awarded 3 additional campaign points for completing a secret objective.

Team Sanctus will be defining the next escalation level and whether it will be 1,400pts, 1,500 pts, or 1,600 pts. 

As the shudders of this psychic pulse die down, you all collectively feel a sense of darkness descend, as if Felgate’s sun is partially obscured.

All psychic tests are at a -1 to cast for this week, and all Deny The Witch tests gain a +1 modifier.

 

Shadows Over Felgate: Final round of Act 1

This week (4/11/2019) will be the final round in Act 1 of Shaodws Over Felgate. The next phase will require a new list at a points level to be defined as mentioned above!

  • Your list may be completely different from the 1,000pt list if you wish, but it is preferable to have some consistency.
  • If you stuck with the same 1,000pt list for the entirety of Act 1, you will gain the “Vaedominus Veterans” bonus and be awarded +1 CP at the beginning of each subsequent match.
  • Act 2 will begin on 18/11/2019 – allowing a week of down time for people to build new lists and generally have some non-campaign games if they wish!

Dispatches from Tuhinga 56: Doomsday approaches

Forces on all of the major planets in Tuhinga 56 report the same thing – the skies are growing turbulent, the air is becoming thick, and those sensitive to it feel the warp screaming out in tortured cries as it is contorted forwards and backwards against its natural ebb and flow.

After skirmishes on Biss, the plant life has continued to die out after crystals were harvested from the surface, leading many bioforms to leave the planet in search of further sustainable, being inexorably drawn towards The Swirling Abyss, or as you now know it, the entrance to the Sundered Stacks.

The new settlers of Tuhinga have taken to rebuilding the old imperial settlements and digging in for the long haul, the crystalline structures on Krystallia grow more and more dull and frustrated screams replace the whispered promises inside the heads of those on Cagos.

Arrakanis stirs, and those in control of the planet are able to hold the line and observe.

Finally – a new planet is revealed, glowing with a chaotic and fractured blue light that astropaths and the psychically sensitive report to be “of an impossible nature”. This is unmistakably the source of power you have been searching for. This is clearly the work of the Chronologus.

All feel it. The end is near. Salvation or Annihilation approaches Tuhinga 56.

—

An outstanding showing for Team Salvation who successfully pulled off a series of pre-game psy-ops to throw off Team Annihilation leading to a 5 games won and George and Nigel grinding their forces in to a draw!

The scores going into the final two weeks are one point apart, leaving it all to play for!

Next week is the last week of deciding planets – for the final week, everything will be fought on Doomsday before we wrap the campaign up!

If you haven’t already, check out the Tuhinga Tactical hub to see where everything is and read up on the new planetary condition!

Dispatches from Tuhinga 56: Annihilation Nation

During Team Annihilation’s last mission to Arrakanis, Necron forces leading the coalition secretly unearthed the Seraptek god-machine Heavy Construct. Cryptek Ilmtek then lead the charge on Cagos where he came face to face with the Lord of Skulls.

The day was won with Team Annihilation defeating the forces of Salvation across the entire Tuhinga system. Will knocked Nathan’s Dark Eldar out of the sky, and Max did the same to Josh’s. Meanwhile the imperial navy battered Nicky’s forces of chaos into submission and the Necron Heavy Construct managed to best the Lord of Skulls.

Off on some remote moon, David and Leo participated in training manoeuvres which had no impact on the fate of Tuhinga, David won. Until turn four at which point he died. Then Leo won.

This means Team Annihilation have stolen a narrow lead in the Tuhinga Enigma, coming back from what seemed like an impossible distance, but have lost their ability to dictate which planet battles are taking place on, as they are now in fact one planet ahead with the majority being tied!

On Tuhinga Prime, newcomers have arrived and given co-ordinates to a major cosmic entity at the heart of the system that has up until now remained hidden. You have the option of launching a Kill Team to investigate.

Dispatches from Tuhinga: Susan Strikes Back

Larger forces clash over the core planets in Tuhinga 56. Fighting is bitter as those seeking to claim the source of the signal find themselves under a vigorous and renewed assault from those seeking to destroy it. The gap is closing as more of the mysteries of Tuhinga are being steadily revealed.

Team Annihilation have managed to close the gap in the Tuhinga Enigma. Leo, Will and Denis all defeated Alex, Josh and Nicky respectively with Max and Nathan having a particularly close and brutal game that concluded with a draw…until they remembered about line-breaker, giving Max the upper (crimson) hand.

Daniel fared less well by managing to fail multiple six inch charges and all of his psychic powers, letting Chris stop to a 14 point lead under the feet of Susan the Renegade Knight. David also continued his six-game losing streak whilst Rob continued his unbroken win streak.

Next week, Team Salvation will get their choice of planetfall unless Team Annihilation can crack a cipher in time! Never mind they solved it!

Meanwhile, strange whirrings continue on Arrakanis, scouts report an unusual gathering of Team Salvation in a remote area of Demikoss and the warp rent above Tuhinga Prime looks like it could be clearing up…

Dispatches from Tuhinga 56: The signal revealed?

The war for Tuhinga 56 escalates as the source of the signal is revealed…

“Whatever comes over that wall, we’ll be fine if we stick togeth…”

The Tuhinga Enigma enters its second escalation level with 1,500 point battles breaking out across the system.

Team Salvation have uncovered one of the system’s secrets and thus enjoyed the benefit of an additional command point in each of their battles, whilst Team Annihilation managed to claim Arrakanis, the apparent source of the signal. Then they made a decision. Something happened. And to echo Denis’ question, why IS there a big “5” on the planet? What does that mean?

This week saw Annihilation take three victories with Will destroying Nicky’s chaos with wave-upon-wave of guardsmen and Leo defeating both Stuart and later on Josh with the debut of Roboute Greeniman in Tuhinga 56.

Meanwhile, Salvation took two victories with Warmaster Nathan’s Grey Knights charging through the walls into David’s (surprised) Iron Tigers and Warmaster Denis being caught off guard by Euan’s Eldar.

A reminder, last week Team Salvation made a discovery based on information recovered from some dead guardsmen on the battlefield. 

Bugs. Do your part. Would you like to know more?

The campaign continues again next week! Check out the current state of Tuhinga 56 here.

 

Dispatches from Tuhinga 56: The calm before the storm

The ebb and flow of war means sometimes things can feel like they are settling down. It is times like this that you must be on your highest guard. In times of (relative) peace, prepare for (absolute) war.

Bikes are cool now.

The last week of fighting at 1,000 points saw Team Annihilation and Team Salvation finish their final skirmishes of the round. David and Chris fought over Krystallia with Chris’ bike/demon prince/rhino combo coming out on top, Nigel and Daniel Wicks accidentally landed on Demikoss with Nigel’s chaos marines constantly regenerating to claim the day and Josh faced off against the Nurgle mercenary Daniel Gilson who brought his aircraft crashing down with plague-y flamethrowers (technical term)  onto the surface of Tuhinga Prime.

This leaves Team Annihilation without a planet as Demikoss is now contested, although they are catching up on the stonking lead that Salvation claimed upon Tuhinga Prime in week one.

However, now, if you check the Tuhinga Enigma Tactical Hub, you will see that (what appears to be) the source of the signal has been revealed!

This means that the fleets will be committing more resources to each battle, so next week, we are escalating to 1,500 points with the option of running a maximum of two codexes (codicies? codexi?) in your list!

Dispatches from Tuhinga 56: Salvation for Krystallia

Forces storm the newly discovered Krystallia and discover large blue crystal formations covering the entirety of the planet. Whenever outcrops of crystal are struck with a stray round or energy beam, they create a harmonious ringing sound that seems to make time slow for a millisecond before they shatter into innumerable tiny pieces. Close inspection reveals Aeldari runes and markings in several places, suggesting Eldar outposts once sat upon this world, but there are no signs of their former occupants. 

Leo has a ballistic skill of 3+ and an imaginary bolt pistol (S0, no AP, D1)

Meanwhile, insurgency strikes Tuhinga Prime with patrols of Team Annihilation fighting running battles on the long-dead imperial city world.

Week three of the Tuhinga Enigma saw Team Salvation stomping ahead with their generals claiming the new planet, Krystallia.

The Warmasters fought to a draw on Krystallia with neither team leader giving ground to the other. Nigel’s army introduced the first possible sighting of Abbaddon the Despoiler in the Tuhinga system (although maybe it’s a clone or imposter) facing off against Leo’s Ultra-ma-greens. Josh also defeated David on Tuhinga Prime, despite David knocking a plane out of the sky with a hammer, wish frankly should be worth something.

Everyone else dog-piled onto Krystallia – Will and Chris fought with Chris claiming victory, utilising a lesser-spotted Rhino, Max lost out to Rob with a Kelermorph taking the winning shot by killing a Culexus Assassin in overwatch, and Euan won against the campaign’s first Mercenary combatant, Stuart, who was boldly representing Team Annihilation this week.

New Tuhinga Enigma Rules: Battle Honours

If you have played three games with the same codex, you now qualify for a single unit in that codex to be granted a rank 1 battle honour (p23-25 of Chapter Approved 2018).

The unit has to be from your codex, but does not necessarily need to be one you have fielded.

You cannot change your battle honour later or transfer it to another unit later on in the campaign.

Critically, and this is the most important bit, the unit that you give the battle honour must be given a name, and you must introduce this unit using its name to your opponent in your next fight!

Stay tuned for more – Planetary Conditions to be defined soon!

Dispatches from Tuhinga 56: Cagos and Demikoss

Team Salvation establishes general control of Tuhinga Prime as a warp rift tears across the planet’s sky. All forces now begin to spread out to the nearby worlds of Demikoss and Cagos.

Many tactical decisions were made on this day.

Demikoss is a blasted landscape littered with the decayed corpses of fallen warriors. Runes, icons and frequent altars dot the landscape, clearly raised by some and demolished by others. What is left in tact shows the same thing – a corkscrew-like formation with words that generally translates into high gothic as “the swirling abyss”. The pattern shown looks similar to a tear in the warp yet somehow more stable with fractal patterns crudely etched throughout the design.

Cagos sports reddish sands falling around craggy hills and rock formations. Sources of water are extremely limited but still present and the air is arid and uncomfortably warm to breathe. Periodically, the entire world shakes in widespread quakes across the entire planet. Those attuned to the warp swear these quakes are accompanied by low frustrated growls.

Night two of the Tuhinga Enigma saw Team Annihilation attempting to dog pile onto the planet of Cagos, with Team Salvation diverting forces in one battle away to Demikoss.

Annihilation have taken control of Demikoss with a single point, whilst Demikoss was more hotly contested – it still came down to the final point however and it has been claimed by Team Salvation for now.

Tuhinga Prime meanwhile has been left alone and continues to be comfortably held by Team Salvation.

A new planet has also been revealed to the navigators of your fleets – next week, you may also choose to fight on Krystallia. Check out the Tuhinga Tactical Hub if you want to take a closer look on how things are going, and keep an eye on Facebook Messenger for new updates!

Additional Tuhinga Enigma campaign rules

To encourage playing the same faction throughout the league, I am introducing the following to the campaign. You get some optional bonuses to your army based on the narrative section of Chapter Approved 2018 as follows:

  • Play three games with the same faction: A single unit in your army may select a single Rank 1 Battle Honours bonus (p23-25 – select from the appropriate page) – this must be a single unit and you can’t swap your honours between units between battles
  • Play six games with the same faction: A single unit in your army may select a single Rank 2 Battle Honours bonus (p23-25 – select from the appropriate page) – this must be a single unit and you can’t swap your honours between units between battles
  • Play 10 games with the same faction: You may upgrade one of your characters to a named special character (which you must name yourself) and select an additional ability (p15) and either a weapon improvement, a characteristic modifier, or a psychic enhancement if they are a psyker (p16).
“Eldar vision is based entirely on movement, so if we stay very still…”

Throw all questions that I have failed to answer and edge cases I haven’t thought of my way and I’ll dodge the question and ask it back to you, and ultimately we’ll make a decision!

Dispatches from Tuhinga: Planetfall on Tuhinga Prime

Team Salvation and Team Annihilation both converge on the world of Tuhinga Prime. The generals discover the ruins of cities all across the planet that appear to belong to a long lost colony of humanity.

Despite the ancient, derelict and abandoned nature of the ruins, their architecture is unmistakably that of the contemporary Imperium of 41M.

Seven brutal games were played on the opening night of the Tuhinga Enigma – an amazing turn out and I hope everyone had as much fun as me, and I hope nobody lost as quickly and decisively as me.

Head on over to the Tuhinga Enigma Tactical Hub to see how the results are looking and stay tuned for more. Team Salvation will soon be deciding the planetary conditions for Tuhinga Prime that will be in effect for the rest of the league.

Next week, the following things come into effect:

  1. At the beginning of your games, you will roll off to decide who chooses the planet you fight on (Annihilation gets +1 to the roll as they’re currently behind by one planet)
  2. Team Salvation players gain +1 command point each to spend in their battle because they currently hold one planet.

May the war for Tuhinga 56 continue!

“Well this is going well”

Kill Team: The Three Tank Problem

A Mechanicum excavation gone horribly wrong, a T’au incursion and a complete failure in imperial communications leads to an utter mess of a skirmish over the remains of three destroyed vehicles, each containing valuable information for each faction.

Something verging dangerously close to art has been coming out of the Kill Team league with Dominic’s board setups – this lead to a sidestep away from the Kill Team league with the Three Tank Problem. This was a simple custom scenario devised by Dominic and developed by Aidan and David basically as they were playing.

Three Kill Teams enter the match, each has a vehicle near to their deployment zone that represents their faction. Holding a tank at the end of the round gives you one VP if it’s yours and two VPs if it’s an opponents.

As we didn’t specify any kind of denial on the tanks, this did lead to some rather daft situations like a Blood Raven reiver chasing a scion around a Leman Russ for a couple of turns, but also encouraged some mad plays to try and hold all three tanks. It quickly became apparent that to break a three-way tie, that’s what you needed to do.

Benny Hill music plays throughout.

The game was remarkably close with only a single victory point between Aidan’s T’au that took the win and David’s Scions that jogged into second and another victory point between those Scions and Dominic’s Blood Ravens.

The mission was essentially a tweaked version of Recover Intelligence, but it was an excellent example of how a few tweaks can push Kill Team in interesting directions.

Kill Team continues to prove to be an excellent game and I would strongly encourage anyone who’s on the fence about it to give it a shot!

Some Match highlights

  • A T’au sniper with a rail gun turning the Scion leader into a fine red mist in the second shot of the game.
  • Three guardsmen appearing in T’au enemy lines and managing to somehow survive all of the close-ranged out-in-the-open shooting that followed
  • Blood Ravens mostly failing to chew through the guardsmen
  • A mad dash from the guard to get across the board to hold a tank at the same time as a mad dash from the T’au going in the opposite direction
  • The Blood Ravens’ irrational hatred of grav drones
  • Aidan’s spectacular run of unlikely 6s to hit, followed by equally unlikely 1s to wound. Balance.

10/10 – would play again. Custom scenarios look like they could be a ton of fun, even if (especially if) you break them somehow.