Blood and Iron - Horus Heresy Casual Gaming

During the last week or so we've had some neat Horus Heresy going on, and have got some proper games in after quite a while! To begin the fall gaming season we met with Rob from Medders' Miniatures and Heresy Hammer podcast, along with a crew of eager generals attending Rob's famous Kratos Tank Painting Course organized here in Helsinki! Arranged at Nopat ja Taktiikka, the weekend of professionally guided painting was a superb technical exercise that was able to educate and inspire all of its hardworking attendees. 

Before the course kicked off we assembled at our studio for an evening of dining, discussions and dice rolling, as we had the guys try out War Head Civil War's multiplayer "carnage" format. Always nice to witness new, spectacular models take to the field, and it was particularly cool to reconnect with Rob after the SN Battle Reports: No Retreat experience we shared earlier this year. Thanks for the visit!

This weekend myself and Ollie attended a three round narrative Horus Heresy event at Nopat & Taktiikka, taking our 3000 point rosters to reinforce the Traitor alliance. The positive gaming buzz, quality hobby vibes and the old and new acquaintances all played their part in making the day a success - we both enjoyed the rare occasion of taking part in an event as a regular participant instead of being part of the organization as usual. Ollie especially had gone through a massive effort to complete his new Iron Warriors detachment and I bet it was hugely rewarding to finally deploy them (first in our practice game, and finally at the event venue for the first time against loyalist opposition).

Game 1 - World Eaters vs Dark Angels Armoured Spearhead

First game, massed armoured onslaught of Willy's first legion. My reserve-based list is rather good facing tank opposition and I went with the usual modus operandi - deep striking right into the thick of it, trying to annihilate enemy scoring capability mostly or entirely upon the initial touchdown, even if it means leaving the enemy hard-hitters unscathed. The Dark Angels Deredeo proved to be super imposing and Marduk Sedras made a valiant push, but as the tank line was halted on their own deployment zone and most Line units lost their lives on turn 2, Dark Angels had hard time gaining any points in the progressive scoring mission. Both of us suffered huge losses in the bloody contest, but World Eaters took the win with a considerable margin.

Game 2 - World Eaters vs Alpha Legion and Armigers

Battle two against KuoFi's Juska was a great learning experience, as the expert Alpha Legion Headhunters scouted to kill my Master of Signals (and the precious reserve rerolls) on their first turn despite of my protective efforts. Luckily the deep strike element arrived on time and only the outflank aspect was delayed, and the World Eaters went to work. The allied Dark Fury and Deliverer units proved to be super spicy as is their reputation - I also had hard time with the opponent using their narrative trait to blow up one of my preferred objective markers and placing a denying Callidus Assassin upon another! Finally my MVP was a Skyhunter Jetbike Sergeant, who refused to give ground against a Contemptor and an Armiger on an objective, denying crucial points from the Alpha Legion and their allies before World Eater reinforcements were able to hurry to the fray. The end score was 4-2 in an intense clash, brilliant game against a great and sporting opponent who went on to win the Best Painted for Loyalists faction.

Game 3 - World Eaters vs Ultramarines and Imperial Knight

A perfect game to end the day, Kill Points and a single objective in the middle, fought against old mate Teemu Juselius! This game was essentially about hobby chat, a good laugh and banter as well as us both learning each other's lists and Legion intricacies. The city board provided a neat visual theatre for the bloody affair where Ultramarine characters in particular produced amazing feats, most notably the XIII Legion Champion taking my Warmonger Warlord's head in the challenge. Loyalists were not able to hold their formation together and lost most of their scoring capacity on turn two, so there was no comeback to report good news to Macragge - World Eaters pushed the Ultramarines all the way back for the 18-8 end result.

As the dust settled Ollie had recorded the Best Painted Traitor award with the newly-finished IV Legion, whereas my World Eaters were crowned with the accolades of the Best Traitor General and the Best Traitor Sportsman! We'll carry this inspiration to the fall painting sprees and hopefully recurring games, as Ollie finally has a tournament-sized list to direct!

The 308th Void Assault descended on city-guarding Ultramarines on the last event round. The Praetor of the XIII acted an epic last stand on the lone central objective, a command squad banner firmly planted on top of it, valiantly fending off ravenous assault troops closing in from all directions. Ultimately, despite the heroics, the day belonged to the scions of the Red Angel!