Well, over a month has passed since I last wrote about my beloved Grey Knights.
In that time I have moved into a new house, which, as many of you faithful readers can understand, can take some time. Things are mostly settled now, and I am returning to thinking about my next moves in Warhammer 40k and especially my Grey Knights.
As the days and weeks progress, I will be developing my Grey Knights army, putting together a new Space Wolves army, and laying the groundwork for the entrance of a new villian, a sinister Lord of Slaanesh!
The Emperor protects!
D.G.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Profile of an Enemy - A Chaos Lord on the Rise
Grandmaster Emrys of the Grey Knights took his seat opposite the head of the long, narrow table. Already gathered were most of the Inquisitor Lord's retinue and other agents. Seated to his immediate left was Coren Lomak, a former hiver whose job it was to make sure that no unauthorised personnel were in the room. Emrys knew that the man posed him no threat, even though he was currently only wearing his Astartes robes, having given his ancient Terminator armour and weapons to his artificer for repair and restoration. But Lomak was a warrior of superb skill nonetheless, and to an non-Astartes posed more threat that any other person currently in the room.
To his right was a being whose very existence made Emrys uncomfortable. One of the now legendary blunters, or "nulls" as they were sometimes called, those with no psychic presense whatsoever, Teem Alastaire was looking her usual regal self. Emrys had grown accustomed to her presense over the years, and was surprised to find himself comforted by the fact that the Emperor had brought such beings into the service of the Inquisiton. Countless Inquisitors' lives had been saved imply by having these persons near them in times of conflict. While this sometimes got in the way of those with psychic abilities, most Inquisitors still found them useful, especially in the Ordo Malleus where psychic attack was imminent no matter the situation.
Emrys had no further time for reflection as the arrival of several combat servitors, ugly looking with gleaming weapons of like to a power fist welded to their metal and flesh bodies, heralded the arrival of Inquisitor Lord Artos Procius of the Ordo Malleus. He strode in with all the confidence of a Malleus Lord, resplendent in a fine suit of Power Armour that he wore when not in combat, guilded with gold and the Imperial Aquila. Emrys found it interesting that he had actually never seen the Inquisitor Lord not in armour. When he took to the field of battle, Artos always wore a sacred suit of Terminator Armour, gifted to him by the Grey Knights huundreds of years ago for his service to the Chapter during the Graftmar Heresy Reclamation Crusade. Emrys himself had served in that campaign, serving in the Purgation Squad of Justicar Koller as a Psycannon gunner. In a strange way, the respective careers of the two had always been connected, solidified the day that Emrys had been given command of a task force put under the direction of Artos. This meeting was, presumably, to launch the fourth of such task forces.
The Inquisitor Lord and the Grey Knight exchanged nods of greeting before Artos took his seat at the head of the table. With no ceremony, customary of the was Artos preferred to conduct his meetings, the Inquisitor nodded to his communications officer, Laine Drokonachak, which was the signal to begin the meeting. Laine stood and activated the holoviewer in the center of the table.
The viewer flickered to life, revealing a broad rendering of the Eye of Terror. To the north and east, relative to the map as it currently displayed the image, was a highlighted dot, marked Belial IV, a Crone world, deserted and left to rot by the Eldar ten thousand years ago, before the Emperor's Great Crusade was launched from Terra. Emrys wondered why the Ordo Malleus would be interested in such a world, as the Ordo Xenos declared that it should be avoided millenia ago.
"The world Belial IV, known as the Eldar Blacksword World, was abandoned by the Xenos even before the Emperor's Gret Crusade. No force currently contests this world, but it has always been believed by Malleus scholars that the world had something major to do with the fall of the ancient Eldar society. The world has remained barren, isolated, and altogether unadulterated for centuries. That is, until a routine Xenos surveying party was attacked five months ago by an as yet unidentified and unquantified threat, presumed by the Ordo Xenos to be alien in origin and a possible indicator of alien aggression in a sub-sector that has been historically quiet. Agents of Ordo Xenos were dispatched to investigate the attack, but none has returned or sent any communication after the confirmations that they arrived in system."
Laine looked to Artos after the initial brief, and the Inquisitor Lord nodded. Clearing her throat, Laine continued.
"It is well known throughout the Ordos that every Ordo keeps tabs on the others, infiltrating agents and securing a line of information that can be passed to higher Lords, able to root out heresies that crop up. One such agent of the Ordo Malleus was posted on the flagship of the Xenos fleet. He was able to get one of the astropaths aboard the ship to send a message back before their ship was, presumably, destroyed in an ambush. The pict capture that he sent showed us this."
The screen turned to a fuzzy holopict capture of a ship. Definitely not Xenos in origin, it bore the symbols of a traitor fleet, loyal to the chaos god slaanesh. Emrys recognized the despised heraldry and mumbled a prayer of cleanliness to the Emperor. His eyes locked with Lord Artos', and the two nodded in silent agreement. This is what Emrys had been called in for.
Traitor marines. That meant chaos, and chaos meant daemons.
The rest of the meeting was about logistics, tactial information and a plan of entry into the Belial system that would allow Emrys' Grey Knights to properly survey the activity of the traitors in the system.
This short fiction is an introduction into a narrative campaign that I will be doing in the near future. Stay tuned for forces, battle reports, and more story.
The Emperor protects,
D.G.
To his right was a being whose very existence made Emrys uncomfortable. One of the now legendary blunters, or "nulls" as they were sometimes called, those with no psychic presense whatsoever, Teem Alastaire was looking her usual regal self. Emrys had grown accustomed to her presense over the years, and was surprised to find himself comforted by the fact that the Emperor had brought such beings into the service of the Inquisiton. Countless Inquisitors' lives had been saved imply by having these persons near them in times of conflict. While this sometimes got in the way of those with psychic abilities, most Inquisitors still found them useful, especially in the Ordo Malleus where psychic attack was imminent no matter the situation.
Emrys had no further time for reflection as the arrival of several combat servitors, ugly looking with gleaming weapons of like to a power fist welded to their metal and flesh bodies, heralded the arrival of Inquisitor Lord Artos Procius of the Ordo Malleus. He strode in with all the confidence of a Malleus Lord, resplendent in a fine suit of Power Armour that he wore when not in combat, guilded with gold and the Imperial Aquila. Emrys found it interesting that he had actually never seen the Inquisitor Lord not in armour. When he took to the field of battle, Artos always wore a sacred suit of Terminator Armour, gifted to him by the Grey Knights huundreds of years ago for his service to the Chapter during the Graftmar Heresy Reclamation Crusade. Emrys himself had served in that campaign, serving in the Purgation Squad of Justicar Koller as a Psycannon gunner. In a strange way, the respective careers of the two had always been connected, solidified the day that Emrys had been given command of a task force put under the direction of Artos. This meeting was, presumably, to launch the fourth of such task forces.
The Inquisitor Lord and the Grey Knight exchanged nods of greeting before Artos took his seat at the head of the table. With no ceremony, customary of the was Artos preferred to conduct his meetings, the Inquisitor nodded to his communications officer, Laine Drokonachak, which was the signal to begin the meeting. Laine stood and activated the holoviewer in the center of the table.
The viewer flickered to life, revealing a broad rendering of the Eye of Terror. To the north and east, relative to the map as it currently displayed the image, was a highlighted dot, marked Belial IV, a Crone world, deserted and left to rot by the Eldar ten thousand years ago, before the Emperor's Great Crusade was launched from Terra. Emrys wondered why the Ordo Malleus would be interested in such a world, as the Ordo Xenos declared that it should be avoided millenia ago.
"The world Belial IV, known as the Eldar Blacksword World, was abandoned by the Xenos even before the Emperor's Gret Crusade. No force currently contests this world, but it has always been believed by Malleus scholars that the world had something major to do with the fall of the ancient Eldar society. The world has remained barren, isolated, and altogether unadulterated for centuries. That is, until a routine Xenos surveying party was attacked five months ago by an as yet unidentified and unquantified threat, presumed by the Ordo Xenos to be alien in origin and a possible indicator of alien aggression in a sub-sector that has been historically quiet. Agents of Ordo Xenos were dispatched to investigate the attack, but none has returned or sent any communication after the confirmations that they arrived in system."
Laine looked to Artos after the initial brief, and the Inquisitor Lord nodded. Clearing her throat, Laine continued.
"It is well known throughout the Ordos that every Ordo keeps tabs on the others, infiltrating agents and securing a line of information that can be passed to higher Lords, able to root out heresies that crop up. One such agent of the Ordo Malleus was posted on the flagship of the Xenos fleet. He was able to get one of the astropaths aboard the ship to send a message back before their ship was, presumably, destroyed in an ambush. The pict capture that he sent showed us this."
The screen turned to a fuzzy holopict capture of a ship. Definitely not Xenos in origin, it bore the symbols of a traitor fleet, loyal to the chaos god slaanesh. Emrys recognized the despised heraldry and mumbled a prayer of cleanliness to the Emperor. His eyes locked with Lord Artos', and the two nodded in silent agreement. This is what Emrys had been called in for.
Traitor marines. That meant chaos, and chaos meant daemons.
The rest of the meeting was about logistics, tactial information and a plan of entry into the Belial system that would allow Emrys' Grey Knights to properly survey the activity of the traitors in the system.
This short fiction is an introduction into a narrative campaign that I will be doing in the near future. Stay tuned for forces, battle reports, and more story.
The Emperor protects,
D.G.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Grey Knights and Warhammer 40k Apocalypse
I am getting a little more excited about my Grey Knights in Apocalypse games, as it will give me the opportunity to field an amazing amount of guys.
I can field all my Land Raiders, my Dreadnoughts, and I've even been told that my Orbital Strike gets the 0-1 restriction removed.
So the Grey Knights will have plently of armour, tanks, and just general big dakka to start blowing things up. And we can also do Assination Squads (or something like that).
I can't wait to get the Apocalypse book!
The Emperor protects,
D.G.
I can field all my Land Raiders, my Dreadnoughts, and I've even been told that my Orbital Strike gets the 0-1 restriction removed.
So the Grey Knights will have plently of armour, tanks, and just general big dakka to start blowing things up. And we can also do Assination Squads (or something like that).
I can't wait to get the Apocalypse book!
The Emperor protects,
D.G.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Grandmaster Emrys' First Battle - A Battle Blog Report
As Chris' Ulthwe Eldar army has been growing, I have been scaling my Grey Knights army to fit his maximum points value, approaching the 2,000 point mark. This past weekend we had a battle at 1,900 points. As Chris is just two models away from his full army, I thought that the points level would be a good place to promote my Brother-Captain to a Grandmaster of the Grey Knights. A couple of weeks ago we decided that this series of battle we've been having is actually part of a running narrative, in which the Grey Knights under the command of Brother-Captain Emrys and the Ulthwe Eldar under the command of Farseer Calran Ulthroon would have a running series of escalating battles in the pursuit of Chaos artifacts that would culminate in the final battles (at 2,000 points). By the time of the final battles, Emrys is promoted to a Grandmaster and Calran Ulthroon has called upon Lord Ulthran himself, Eldrad Ulthran, to aid in the fight.
Well this weekend was Grandmaster Emrys' first appearance, and he performed very admirably.
The mission was Omega level Take & Hold. We set up an objective marker in the middle of the board and proceeded to separate our armies according to the tenets of the mission.
I was able to deploy my entire force with the exception of my three Dreadnoughts, and my opponent had to keep his two Wraithlords and Vyper Squadron in reserve.
I deployed my army in two groups:
Group One - Squad Emrys (5 TAGK), Squad Auran (8 PAGK), and Squad Dalan (6 PAGK)
Group Two - Squad Detlin, Squad Sirim, Squad Gormann (8 PAGK each)
Group One deployed to the right of my deployment zone, with Auran and Dalan in the trees and Emrys out in the open, defiantly daring the Xenos scum to bring battle to him.
Group Two deployed to the left of the deployment zone, using the building in that table quarter for cover from the Eldar.
Turn One:
I won first turn and started to move my groups into position. Auran and Dalan moved into a firing position in the woods, Emrys moved into an open area towards the center, between the woods and a building. Squads Detlin, Sirim, and Gormann used the cover of a building to advance on the far side of the table. I opened up on the Eldar Pathfinders in their forward position, reducing their number to three. Unfortunately, the resilient Xenos snipers decided to stick around and cause trouble.
In my opponent's round, he moved up the Warlock unit to support the lone Pathfinder and used his Warp Spiders to secure the objective. Opening up fire on squad Emrys, one brave Terminator fell to the concentrated firepower. Three more Grey Knights died, coming out of squads Gormann and Sirim.
Turns Two - Six, the Short Version:
All three of my Dreadnoughts arrived on Turn 2 and shot up the Pathfinders, their Asssault Cannons were in range of nothing else. One Pathfinder remained, though he ran. The Farseers bunkered down in a building near the objective with the support of the Warp Spiders. Emrys then led a daring assault against the entrenched Warlocks, assaulting into thier cover and slaughtering the Xenos to a man. Auran and Dalan continued cover fire, while on the other side of the board, Detlin, Sirim, and Gormann had taken care of the Dark Reapers (whose Exarch had felled a Dreadnought). They now faced both Wraithlords and a supporting lone Farseer.
The remaining rounds saw the destruction of the Swooping Hawks, the Warp Spiders,a Wraithlord who fell to the Assault Cannon of the remaining Dreadnought, Squad Auran (compliments of the arriving Vypers), and another Dreadnought.
The game ended in a daring gambit by Emrys, as squads Detlin, Sirim, and Gormann broke cover (under the guns of the remaining Wraithlord) to add their weight to the secured objective. In the final round, Emrys felled the two Vypers with Psycannon fire, Detlin and Sirim took out the Wraithlord in combat as Gormann added his weight to the secured objective.
In the end, the Grey Knights losses totaled 2 Dreadnoughts, Squad Auran, and half of squads Detlin and Sirim.
The Eldar losses were heavy, with only the lone Farseer and the Guardians remaining.
The Result: Total Victory for the Order Malleus!!
It was a rousing battle, and the tactics session afterwards was good on both sides. I think Chris is learning what not to do against the Grey Knights, and I look forward to the day when he hands me a bitter defeat.
Until that day, though, may the Emperor protect us all.
D.G.
Well this weekend was Grandmaster Emrys' first appearance, and he performed very admirably.
The mission was Omega level Take & Hold. We set up an objective marker in the middle of the board and proceeded to separate our armies according to the tenets of the mission.
I was able to deploy my entire force with the exception of my three Dreadnoughts, and my opponent had to keep his two Wraithlords and Vyper Squadron in reserve.
I deployed my army in two groups:
Group One - Squad Emrys (5 TAGK), Squad Auran (8 PAGK), and Squad Dalan (6 PAGK)
Group Two - Squad Detlin, Squad Sirim, Squad Gormann (8 PAGK each)
Group One deployed to the right of my deployment zone, with Auran and Dalan in the trees and Emrys out in the open, defiantly daring the Xenos scum to bring battle to him.
Group Two deployed to the left of the deployment zone, using the building in that table quarter for cover from the Eldar.
Turn One:
I won first turn and started to move my groups into position. Auran and Dalan moved into a firing position in the woods, Emrys moved into an open area towards the center, between the woods and a building. Squads Detlin, Sirim, and Gormann used the cover of a building to advance on the far side of the table. I opened up on the Eldar Pathfinders in their forward position, reducing their number to three. Unfortunately, the resilient Xenos snipers decided to stick around and cause trouble.
In my opponent's round, he moved up the Warlock unit to support the lone Pathfinder and used his Warp Spiders to secure the objective. Opening up fire on squad Emrys, one brave Terminator fell to the concentrated firepower. Three more Grey Knights died, coming out of squads Gormann and Sirim.
Turns Two - Six, the Short Version:
All three of my Dreadnoughts arrived on Turn 2 and shot up the Pathfinders, their Asssault Cannons were in range of nothing else. One Pathfinder remained, though he ran. The Farseers bunkered down in a building near the objective with the support of the Warp Spiders. Emrys then led a daring assault against the entrenched Warlocks, assaulting into thier cover and slaughtering the Xenos to a man. Auran and Dalan continued cover fire, while on the other side of the board, Detlin, Sirim, and Gormann had taken care of the Dark Reapers (whose Exarch had felled a Dreadnought). They now faced both Wraithlords and a supporting lone Farseer.
The remaining rounds saw the destruction of the Swooping Hawks, the Warp Spiders,a Wraithlord who fell to the Assault Cannon of the remaining Dreadnought, Squad Auran (compliments of the arriving Vypers), and another Dreadnought.
The game ended in a daring gambit by Emrys, as squads Detlin, Sirim, and Gormann broke cover (under the guns of the remaining Wraithlord) to add their weight to the secured objective. In the final round, Emrys felled the two Vypers with Psycannon fire, Detlin and Sirim took out the Wraithlord in combat as Gormann added his weight to the secured objective.
In the end, the Grey Knights losses totaled 2 Dreadnoughts, Squad Auran, and half of squads Detlin and Sirim.
The Eldar losses were heavy, with only the lone Farseer and the Guardians remaining.
The Result: Total Victory for the Order Malleus!!
It was a rousing battle, and the tactics session afterwards was good on both sides. I think Chris is learning what not to do against the Grey Knights, and I look forward to the day when he hands me a bitter defeat.
Until that day, though, may the Emperor protect us all.
D.G.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
A Howling in the Wind
Things have been a little hectic lately, but I figured I'd update everyone on what's going on with my Warhammer 40k hobby.
So, as I continue to work on the Grey Knights and playing about a game a week with my Ulthwe Eldar friend, I was planning on starting a White Scars army, which would be a momentous return for me. The White Scars were my first Chapter, and they will always be special to me. I ordered a Space Wolves Battleforce to start them off, as that boxed set had the best starting set of models for my needs for the Scars.
As I started to organize all of my GW stuff to pack it for our move (Yes, we're moving into our first house!), I came across the Space Wolves models that I had set aside for the day in the future when they finally released a new Space Wolves Codex. Well, I decided to take a small break and look through the models just to remind myself what I have, and a strange realization overtook me.
I can do a Space Wolves army!
It hit me that if I combine the 10 Terminators, Wolf Priest, and Space Wolves Venerable Dreadnought with the Assault Marines, Landspeeder, and Bikes I already had, and add the models from the Space Wolves Battleforce, I'd have a full 2,000 points of Space Wolves!
So, my beloved first Chapter will have to wait for now. The Space Wolves (whom I probably like better than the White Scars) are the Chapter to which I will make my Space Marines return.
Stay tuned for more Grey Knights, more Space Wolves, and more Ninja Warrior...er...Warhammer 40k!
So, as I continue to work on the Grey Knights and playing about a game a week with my Ulthwe Eldar friend, I was planning on starting a White Scars army, which would be a momentous return for me. The White Scars were my first Chapter, and they will always be special to me. I ordered a Space Wolves Battleforce to start them off, as that boxed set had the best starting set of models for my needs for the Scars.
As I started to organize all of my GW stuff to pack it for our move (Yes, we're moving into our first house!), I came across the Space Wolves models that I had set aside for the day in the future when they finally released a new Space Wolves Codex. Well, I decided to take a small break and look through the models just to remind myself what I have, and a strange realization overtook me.
I can do a Space Wolves army!
It hit me that if I combine the 10 Terminators, Wolf Priest, and Space Wolves Venerable Dreadnought with the Assault Marines, Landspeeder, and Bikes I already had, and add the models from the Space Wolves Battleforce, I'd have a full 2,000 points of Space Wolves!
So, my beloved first Chapter will have to wait for now. The Space Wolves (whom I probably like better than the White Scars) are the Chapter to which I will make my Space Marines return.
Stay tuned for more Grey Knights, more Space Wolves, and more Ninja Warrior...er...Warhammer 40k!
Monday, October 8, 2007
Deathwatch Marines
As my esteemed Ulthwe Eldar opponent (see links section for his blog) gain skill and luck, I have begun searching for ways to surprise him, and I believe that I have found one way.This is my Deathwatch Kill Team, assembled from a previous DWKT that I had a few years ago. I replaced many of the bitz, making them a little more dynamic, and I plan to re-paint them to a bit better scheme and standard. I completely replaced the Captain with a Space Marines Veteran model with Power Sword and Storm Bolter. He will make a fine Deathwatch Captain. If you study the pictures, you can also see a Black Templar, a marine from the Space Wolves, and a marine from the White Scars. The
other marines I am painting much as I already have, with no particular Chapter colors.I am also considering this team as alternative to a squad of Grey Knights within my Daemonhunters army. They would make a nice alternative in some situations, and as my dealings with the Eldar become more frequent, it would make sense to include them and develop an running story line with the Kill Team vs. the Eldar.
The list for the Deathwatch Kill Team is below:
Deathwatch Kill Team
- Deathwatch Captain (Imperial Fists)
--Power Weapon
--Storm Bolter
--Frag Grenades
--Melta Bombs
--Iron Halo
-Deathwatch Veteran (Blood Angels)
--Lightning Claws
-8x Deathwatch Space Marines (1 White Scars, 1 Space Wolves, 1 Black Templars, 5 Codex)
--2x Heavy Bolters
--6x Metal Storm Ammo
Total: 385 Points
The Emperor protects,
D.G.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Prelude to a Battle Report
The Mission: Gamma Level Cleanse
The Opponent: Eldar
Points Level: 1,650
I am still awaiting the pictures that we took of our armies. We didn't take turn-by-turn pictures, but we did take a few.
Anyway, I say that the game can be won or lost in deployment, as Chris found out last night. Against an army with Shrouding and playing a mission with table quarters, don't give me a chance to lurk more then 30" away from the Dark Reapers for the whole game, effectively taking them out of the game. They were the anchor for a table quarter, but didn't even get to shoot ay anyone.
I'll expound on tactics later, but I'll post my 1,650 points list, with his list to follow in the actual battle report.
Grey Knights at 1,650 Points:
-HQ-
Brother-Captain
-Psycannon
-Psychic Hood
-4x Terminator retinue
--Psycannon
-TROOPS-
2x 10 Grey Knights
-FAST ATTACK-
10 Grey Knights
-2x Psycannon
10 Grey Knights
-HEAVY SUPPORT-
Dreadnought
-ML, TLLC, EA
The Emperor protects,
D.G.
The Opponent: Eldar
Points Level: 1,650
I am still awaiting the pictures that we took of our armies. We didn't take turn-by-turn pictures, but we did take a few.
Anyway, I say that the game can be won or lost in deployment, as Chris found out last night. Against an army with Shrouding and playing a mission with table quarters, don't give me a chance to lurk more then 30" away from the Dark Reapers for the whole game, effectively taking them out of the game. They were the anchor for a table quarter, but didn't even get to shoot ay anyone.
I'll expound on tactics later, but I'll post my 1,650 points list, with his list to follow in the actual battle report.
Grey Knights at 1,650 Points:
-HQ-
Brother-Captain
-Psycannon
-Psychic Hood
-4x Terminator retinue
--Psycannon
-TROOPS-
2x 10 Grey Knights
-FAST ATTACK-
10 Grey Knights
-2x Psycannon
10 Grey Knights
-HEAVY SUPPORT-
Dreadnought
-ML, TLLC, EA
The Emperor protects,
D.G.
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