Welcome to another BatRep set at Games Workshop Glasgow. I had so much to catch up on and talk about that we hardly got anything done... and so I also forgot to take pre-battle photo's before things got moving. *shrug*

If anyone read any of my wild ramblings about my army choice on the Wiki while TacComm was down, you would understand why I took the army I eventually did take and my intended tactics.

http://www.players.tacticalwargames.net ... ...rumId=3

Tzeentch/Slaanesh Daemon Horde (Warhead, the leery - Commanding)

Tzeentch Warp Palace 400 points ****
Silver Towers of Tzeentch 350 points *
Defiler Daemon Engines of Tzeentch 200 points *
Tzeentch Rhino Pack 50 points
Tzeentch Magi 150 points

Magnus The Red 300 points ***
3x Horror Daemon Packs 450 points
Warhound Scout Titan Pack of Tzeentch 590 points
(2x Quake Cannon... each)- (Chaos attributes or abilities. Yellow with a Bolt of Change +25 points and the Blue with Cyclopean eye +0 points).

Alter of Slaanesh 350 points ***
3x Fiends of Slaanesh 150 points

(12x Chaos Reward Cards)

3015 points... I love that +25 oversight thing. For me it's the best rule ever.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++vs.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dark Angel Chapter Task Force (TheDracon - Commanding)

Deathwing 1000 points
3x Thunderhawk Gunships 300 points

Devastator Company 1000 points
Scatolo (Assault) 150 points
Scatolo (Support) 150 points
Warhound Scout Titan Pack 450 points (Each armed with a Vulcan Mega Bolter and a Melta Cannon). The Melta is illegal but who cares.

3050 points... close enough.

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My head is full of War...

[img]http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk120/Warhead40k/Tyranid%20Swarm/DSC02262.jpg[/img]

Turn 1

Chaos wins initiative and forces the Dark Angels to go first. A unit of Support Scatolo Advance into the ruins towards an Objective.



A cavorting pack of Daemonic Tzeentch Horrors almost make it to the refuge of some craters in an attempt to securing an Objective on the same flank. The Deathguard make a general advance forwards and stay within their transports. More Horrors close around two more objectives in the Centre and the opposite Flank.







The Imperial Warhounds stride forward into the Chaos Right while the Silver Towers of Tzeetch move forward at high altitude, their warp screen sparking with arcane energies. The Assault Scatolo move forward too while the Devastators stay steady in the face of the Chaos Horde closing in.



The Tzeentch Warhounds remain statue still, their guns trained on the Devastators before them. With a boom, three Thunderhwaks break through the cloud cover at attack speed turning into the exposed Chaos Left. The Tzeentch Defilers clank to the left in hopes of covering against the Thunderhwaks. The three packs of Fiends rush forward into cover... mostly while the Tzeentch Rhinos drive into cover before the Devastators and the Tzeetch Magi gets out. The Alter of Slaanesh scuttles behind the Shield of the Silver Towers while the Warp Palace and Magnus hold back. The Tzeentch Warp Palace rolled 4 Power Points but only used one for 10cm of movement.

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My head is full of War...

[img]http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk120/Warhead40k/Tyranid%20Swarm/DSC02262.jpg[/img]

In a fabulous start to the First Fire phase the Magi unleashes his Terror Wave at the multitude of targets before him... and rolls a one... meaning it travels a whopping great distance of 10cm... bollox!



The Scatolo Support Robots missile launch two Fiends into paste while one of my Warhounds brings a Thunderhawk crashing to the ground with it's excellent Quake Cannon. The other Quake cannon's pummel the Devastators... as they were intended to do taking out three or four stands.

After the Alter shows off a bit with one of it's powers (that was out of range but scared the shite out of TheDracon non-the-less)...the Devastators all target the big scary Alter of Slaanesh... again as intended and suffer a -2 To Hit due to the effects of the Tzeencth Warp Shield curtain thingy and the Glamour of Slaanesh. Even so, the Alter takes several hits and three Chaos Reward cards are surrendered to save it returning to the warp.



The Silver Towers destroy a Land Raider killing the two Deathwing stands within while Magnus picks off another... one Deathwing stand manages to jump out on a 6+ fixed save... he's a bit singed and very annoyed though.

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My head is full of War...

[img]http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk120/Warhead40k/Tyranid%20Swarm/DSC02262.jpg[/img]

The Warp Palace used it's mojo on the Silver Towers, giving them a 4+ Fixed save as well as their own normal save and increasing the Defilers save to 3+ from their 4+ save.

There was no close combat so in the Advance Phase the range to the Thunderhawks proved too much for the Defilers. The Thunderhawks let loose with a torrent of Missiles and Battle Cannon... but TheDracon targeted the closest Horrors who split apart. (Question: The Mark of Tzeencth - Can it be given to Horrors too?..If so, what does a Pink Horror turn into when it's killed?.. Two Blues AND a Pink?.. Or two Blue Horrors that then both turn to a Pink Horror each that both later turns into Two Blues again?.. or just another Pink Horrors that then turns into two Blues as normal?.. it's an interesting puzzler.)




More and more shots targeted the Alter of Slaanesh but no more found their mark. The Chaos Force had no further Advance Orders and the Dark Angels couldn't make their firepower work. Another Horror from another pack and another Fiend from the already damaged pack were killed by the end of the turn. We both held four Objectives each and while we had both killed some bits and pieces we had only broken a pack of Fiends and a Thunderhawk between us.

Dark Angels: 21VP       Chaos Horde: 21VP

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My head is full of War...

[img]http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk120/Warhead40k/Tyranid%20Swarm/DSC02262.jpg[/img]

Turn 2

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++DISASTER!++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Not only had TheDracon won the initiative, damn his faith in the Enthroned Corpse God... but I happened to hear someone talking loudly... sorry, louder than everyone else in the store. This wasn't the problem but what he said was something along the lines of...

"I think Firefly is a big steaming pile of crud and I wouldn't sit my extremely lard saggy fat arse in front of TV to watch it even if a big dude with a pretentious Forum name like Warhead duck taped me to a chair and blow torched my toes..."

Well, that's what I heard him say... I may have lost some of the jist and put some of my own words in to fill it out, but hey. Besides TheDracon heard it too, ask him...

So obviously we postponed the game to shout down the uppity little oik... who looked like the comic salesman (whatever his real name is, don't tell me) in "The Simpsons". Ok, so it wasn't as aggressive as I make it sound... but why change a good story with the truth?.. The whole thing back fired on us anyway as this seemed to attract the guy to our table were he then proceeded to lambaste us with movie/TV trivia and his ludicrous exploits at Roll Play... speaking as a G.M. he wouldn't have gotten past the Character Sheet stage, but then I've always had a low threshold for berks.
The guy was so ignorant of the fact that we were only tolerating him and that he was being a nuisance that I ended up telling him we were busy and could he please just go away... which he did, with haste. But, the damage was done and our time and quality of life had been shortened by his inane gimpishness. *sigh!*  (Ok, I'm probably being unfair to the young man but jeeze!.. I had to get a grip when I was young so it's my contention that so does everybody else, it's that simple).

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The movement Phase saw the Tzeentch Terror Wave crash straight into the Deathwing Land Raiders... who along with their Terminator passengers were immune to the effects... I had hoped that the Devastators would have gotten this in the face but that's the way it goes sometimes. The Devastators stayed put as the Horrors consolidated their positions around the Objectives. The Imperial Warhounds timorously edged forward on Advance orders to bring their weapons to bare on the Horrors on the right. The Silver Towers still at high altitude again floated majestically forward and stopped right on the central Objective, their Warp Shield crackled and sparked with unknown energies. The Scatolo moved to intercept them... but not too close. Fiends raced up behind the Warp Shield to secure the Objective while another detachment of Scatolo Support Robots moved in to defend their objective on the Left. However, the mauled pack of Fiends on the Left dashed from cover and contested this Objective forcing TheDracon to Advance a detachment of Deathwing Terminators and Land Raiders to cover them... I then played the Chaos Reward Card "Invisibility" on the Fiends... better luck next time mate. The Objective would stay contested for the turn. More Terminators deployed from their transports in the centre and on the Right as a Pack of Fiends slunk into cover just behind the Chaos Objective on the Right. A Thunderhawk in a bid to contest a Chaos Objective raced forward... until I pointed out that flyers couldn't contest or claim Objectives and offered a re-take of the move, which TheDracon declined. The Chaos Warhounds stood still, obviously on First Fire Orders. The other Thunderhawk did something game winning but I forget what it was so it doesn't count (Sorry). The Alter of Slaanesh charged towards the two detachments of Devastators avoiding the Deathwing detachment, hoping that it can role a really awful psychic power that would hopefully wipe out or disrupt their careful aim. The Warp Palace rolled a six for it's warp power this turn and again only used one point to phase shift 10cm bringing it closer to an Imperial Warhound (Ha! No snap firing these babies!) The other power points were used on an additional 4+ Fixed save for the Alter of Slaanesh and again for the Defilers. I kept two points for the chance of a fun ranged attack in the shooting phase... Magnus closed down the enemies LOS while keeping the Loyalist Warhound in his sight too. The Magi ended up just kicking dust safe behind his cover and [protected by his escort of Tzeentch Rhinos. The Defilers who never really did much this game Advanced behind the Silver Towers to offer some cover fire.



A view from the Imperial lines of the Chaos Objective on the Right. Note - the Chaos Objectives are denoted by the brightly coloured Horrors cavorting around them.


A view from the Imperial Centre of the relentlessly advancing Tzeentch Daemon Engines and the charging twisted Alter of Slaanesh. Note the Devastators about to get pummelled next turn by the Terror Wave.


The genuis move that saw an Objective stolen right out from under the Imperials noses... Chaos Cards rule.


The relatively expensive but in my opinion great Warhound Weapon Fit of two Quake Cannons was impressive... they will be a weapon of choice from this day forward.

...and that was all she wrote... with only one Objective Contested and no further casualties the score had dropped to...

Dark Angels: 16 VP          Chaos Horde: 21 VP

I know it's another inconclusive game and TheDracon may not agree but I think I would have eventually won this one... unless I did something silly. How much of a beating I would have taken to do so remains unknown. I felt more comfortable with this army than I had playing the Eldar against TheDracons Dark Angels even though I know the Eldar had a better all round army I still felt it was a closer game. TheDracon seemed just a bit skittish against the Chaos Horde (understandable). This skittishness was not present when I fought him with my Eldar...

Regardless, I would play this army or a variation of it in a heartbeat. I found it highly enjoyable and since then I have made a stab at painting the Horrors and Towers. I would like to see what TheDracon has to say about it all though.

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My head is full of War...

[img]http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk120/Warhead40k/Tyranid%20Swarm/DSC02262.jpg[/img]

What Tzeentch stuff I have managed to tidy up a bit since the battle...

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My head is full of War...

[img]http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk120/Warhead40k/Tyranid%20Swarm/DSC02262.jpg[/img]

So far my Tzeentch Daemon Horde consists of...

2x Warp Palaces
2x Changers of Ways
1x Tzeentch Warhammer Model for a Greater Daemon Prince called Talos.
1x Tzeentch Warhammer Model for a Greater Daemon Prince called M’Kachan
1x Magnus the Red
1x Chaos Space Marines Thousand Sons Legion (Old School Epic)
1x World Eaters Automatons
1x Tzeentch Cultist Thralls (My own rules using EA Cultists)
1x Firelord Daemon Engine Superheavy
2x Doomwing Daemon Engine Packs
4x Silver Tower Daemon Engine Packs
3x Pink Horror Daemon Packs
2x Flamer Daemon Packs
3x Screamer Daemon Knight Pack (My own Concoction using 40K Horrors, an excellent model IMO too good not to use)
6x Disc Rider Packs
1x Warhound Scout Titan Pack
1x Tzeentch Magi
1x Tzeentch Character Ahriman Lord Sorcerer of the Thousand Sons

1x Tzeentch Daemon Prince... to be made using Warmaster Tzeentch model

Roughly 9000 points. I've been toying with the notion of using all the old metal Horrors as Pink Horrors and using the Warmaster Horrors as the Blue Horrors... that would increase the amount from three Daemon Packs to... nine!.. I like the notion of this idea.

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My head is full of War...

[img]http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk120/Warhead40k/Tyranid%20Swarm/DSC02262.jpg[/img]

You sure those pastel pink Towers dont bat for Slaanesh?

Cool rep.  Would you take the Altar again?  We tweaked it a bit from the weak as .... unit it was in the original V5.0 list but I've never used it.  

The Silver Towers are heaps better under NE and the Warp Palace is kinda neat too.  I pretty much always take one instead of the LoC these days.

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Fire bad, tree pretty - Buffy

Hehe, yeah the towers (the whole Tzeentch army) are loud but most people paint them blue anyway so I'm no further away from Silver Towers than anyone else. I later thought about doing the whole army like Pink Horrors... in that the main Pieces... Greater Daemons and Greater Daemon Engines (Warp Palace and even the Firelord) could be Pink while the lesser Daemon Engines could be Blue, all fading into white like my idea of Tzeentch Warp Fire... if that makes sense. My Slaanesh in contrast are mostly black (S+M...esk) with maybe some pink/purple with some bright neon blue.

At the moment I have a fondness for the Alter... I have been amazed at how well it can do. I have tried it in a few tester games where I could dictate what power to use each turn... but this proved too powerful... and I've tried the way it's supposed to be with random powers each turn, which I sort of prefer as it makes the unit reasonable and not so gamey.

My one problem with it is the stats compared to my model. I would, indeed have changed a few things.

1) I'm using it as a Greater Daemon Engine just like the Warp Palace. It gains the Glamour of Slaanesh like all Slannesh Daemon Engines... I think that's in the rules, but you have to look for it... it's not too clear IMO.

2) Because it's a Greater Daemon Engine it is a Commander (just like the Greater Daemon) so it has First Fire and Charge Orders. This fits as it allows it to move 30cm per turn, so it can keep up with the Slaanesh Knights and Scout Titans.

3) The Caf doesn't do the model I made justice. It's fine for a vehicle sized unit but mine is bigger, so I've made it a Superheavy sized unit (with damage table... but maybe I'll drop the table due to the ability to use Reward Cards to deny damage. I've used it both ways and I think the damage table is too much). I feel the Caf should be increased to +5 Caf... (basic Caf of the Slaanesh Questor and Subjugator so to me it makes sense... oh, and a Warp Palace gets 8+ Caf so why shouldn't the Alter get a bit more too). I thought about making it a Praetorian but couldn't be arsed with the damage table to be honest.

The Silver Towers are excellent but you pay big on cost as always, so it's risky. The Warp Palace is thankfully much better in NE too... how does it receive orders? It's referred to as a Greater Daemon... which seems to indicate Command ability... so that means it gets First Fire and Charge Orders... would that be so? I always think the Warp Palace is a bit skimpy for firepower and would like to see it with the same firepower (as well as the magic stuff) as a Silver Tower (One Beam of Power and four Lightning Cannon Shots). However, in any case the Warp Palaces are always in my Chaos Armies.

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My head is full of War...

[img]http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk120/Warhead40k/Tyranid%20Swarm/DSC02262.jpg[/img]

The Altar is already listed as a Greater Daemon and a Superheavy, just like the Warp Palace.  So, yes, they get all the benefits (and limitations) of a GD.  The Altar was seen as..well..an altar...a big thingy on a carriage pulled by some steeds, so apart from the litany powers, no real combat power of its own and hence the low CAF.

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Fire bad, tree pretty - Buffy

...So why does the Warp Palace get the same Caf as the Tzeentch Changer of Ways while the Alter gets bupkiss?.. ...This is not meant to be accusatory, it's just I find I am a bit disgruntled and it doesn't seem right to me (most likely because I built my own version of the Alter... do any other NetEpic players have this model?.. if not, then I would like to suggest my own Alter as the basis for the stats, obviously...) I have the parts and the intention to build and paint another one.

EDIT: The Horse and carrage idea for the Alter seems fine for a Daemon Engine but when looking at the scale of other models for Greater Daemon Engines... LOB, Warp Palace, Plague Tower... it seemed to me that the model needed to be bigger, just as I have it.

...I already knew the answer would be "because it's meant too be weak in Close Combat" ...so why that and a random roll for powers. Also +5 Caf isn't great but it is fair enough for a Daemon Engine... seems fair to me for the model I've made.

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My head is full of War...

[img]http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk120/Warhead40k/Tyranid%20Swarm/DSC02262.jpg[/img]

Actually, powers aren't random anymore, you just cant use the same power 2 turns in a row.  

Here's a picture of an impressive Altar from the excellent Audrey's Oubliette site.  A big improvement over the old CJ one but pretty much as described in the army book.

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Fire bad, tree pretty - Buffy

Really impressive model... not sure I would know where to get the parts except for the Spawn but the one I made was from bits from a Tyranid sprue and Chaos Bolters and Miliput putty. Stuff I just had lying about so cost nothing much and although not a work of art, it does it's job.

I still think, more so after seeing this fine model that the Caf stat should be +5. That would be half the Caf of a Keeper. Tzeentch Warp Palace +8 Caf... but it floats and is all warpy and magical where does the +8 Caf come from? Not that I want this changed... only the Slaanesh Alter, OK.

No random powers... I know you can't see it but I am grinning evilly. If it was my decision to make I would feel guilty... but since it isn't I guess my conscience is ok with it and is ok about helping find someone to victimise with it... I mean test it on.

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My head is full of War...

[img]http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk120/Warhead40k/Tyranid%20Swarm/DSC02262.jpg[/img]

But the altar of slaanesh is just...a simple wheeled altar...no a big engine full of weapons, teeth and spikes. it's your vision of the altar that was not originally the good one, you build (and I appreciate what you did for your altar) a freaking big machine that do not correspond to the original vision of the altar.

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Fair players live longer
Epic40k.fr Techpriest

The Cart part is from the WM Empire Grand Theogenists Altar, the main plastic bits look like 2 40K marine back packs and the dome is off a MoW Slaanesh Hellship.  Not sure where those little cauldrons of fire came from (but I want some!).

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Fire bad, tree pretty - Buffy