TIME OF ENDING?

Hello again gamer’s and welcome to another post here on the hallowed pages of Games-Knight. We continue the Space Marine coverage with a battle report where I used the new Space Marine Codex for the first time. I wanted to try a little experiment with this, I fielded a Space Marine army I would use in 5^th edition and wanted to see if it benefited from the 6^th edition Codex.

Forces of the Imperium.

Primary Detachment –

HQ Slot 1 - Captain Lysander, nominated Warlord and had the Champion of Humanity Warlord Trait.

HQ Slot 2 - Space Marine Captain (Deathwatch captain proxy) Plasma pistol and lightning claw.

Troop Slot 1 - Tactical Squad, Sgt upgraded to a Veteran Sgt with a grav pistol and teleport homer.

Troop Slot 2 - Tactical Squad, Sgt upgraded to a Veteran Sgt with a teleport homer.

Fast Attack - Bike Squad, Sgt upgraded to a Veteran Sgt with a power sword. 1 Space Marine with a melta gun the other with a plasma gun.

Heavy Support – Vindicator with a siege shield.

Elite Slot 1 – Dreadnought with multi-melta and power fist.

Elite Slot 2 – Sternguard squad (Fielded as a Deathwatch Kill Team)

Allied Detachment –

HQ Slot 1 – Coteaz

Troop Slot 1 – Inquisitorial Warband.

My Imperial Fist / Ordos Xenos themed army was pitted against a Chaos War band known as The Warp Wyrms led my Gravius (yes he is still alive!). The mission was The Scouring where no less than 6 objectives were placed on the table to fight over. All Secondary objectives, Slay the Warlord, First Blood & Linebreaker, also applied. Gravius deployed a very strong Chaos list featuring Raptors, Heldrake and a Maulerfiend. My game plan was a gamble but one a thought was worth taking. I would leave Lysander in reserve and teleport him in once Gravius Warlord was in a good position then I would defeat him in a challenge and gain the D3 extra victory points the Champion of Humanity Warlord traits offers.  Once these victory points were secured I would dig in and go on the defensive……

Epic Fail.

I say this is a battle report but in truth the game was over by turn 3 and cut a long story short a combination of bad dice rolls by myself, Chaos being ridiculously overpowered in my opinion and good tactics by Gravius saw me off in good time. I have included some photos of what little of the game was played so you can see the excellent painted models by Gravius.

 

THE MAULERFIEND BATTERS THE VINDICATOR ASIDE....

AND THEN SMASHES THE DREADNOUGHT IN A TITANTIC DISPALY OF STRENGTH.
 

So what do I take away from this game? Well apart from needing some new dice a pretty sour taste was left in my mouth I have to be honest. I have a serious issue with Heldrakes, they are stupidly overpowered for the point’s value they are! For me they are an Apocalypse only model just like a Baneblade is Apocalypse only, especially when uber cheese Chaos players are fielding 2 of them at a time. Chaos seems to get more and more powerful every edition of 40k we progress and It is something I tire of along with the over saturation of Ultramarines in Space Marine Codex’s.  I think it is time Tyranid's became the prime threat in the 41^st Millennium on and off the table or even the Tau but, for me, Chaos being the main threat is a little old hat now.  As for my experiment it is clear that for the new space Marine Codex to work you need the new units to feel the benefits (well played GW accountants). A Hunter Rhino variant will take care of any aerial threats and kitting Tactical and Sternguard squads out with Grav weapons will be crunching special characters and hull points alike.

Games-Knight Verdict.

So after this 3 week focus on the new Space Marine Codex what do I think? I think I am happy to concentrate on playing 40k with my Grey Knights in the main but I am going to put together a new Space Marine army based on the Death Spectres Chapter. In this new army I will be including a Hunter tank and some Centurion Devastators, Heldrakes you have been warned! In a whole I think Space Marines are just a cash camel for GW now which is why they are becoming less and less useful on the gaming table unless you fork out in excess of £100 to get what I a call ‘win-listing units’. This also means Space Marine players are forced to buy and field certain unit types just to be competitive on the gaming table as opposed to building and fielding the models they want and that for me is very sad.

I am hoping that my comments and opinions have stirred some of your own and I would welcome you to share them with me by either posting a comment below or email me direct – contactgamesknight@gmail.com, till next week take care, Ciaran.

  

 

  

 

 

  

 

KNOW NO FEAR

Welcome to this week’s post here on Games-Knight where I review the new Space Marine Codex from GW. In last week’s post I previewed the new Codex and the miniatures that have been released alongside with it, this week I will solely concentrate on the Codex itself.  But with a quick mention to the new models I was lucky enough yesterday to unbox the new tactical and Sternguard squads and have a look at the sprues. I was very impressed with how many different options and variants each kit offered, which will give any Space Marine player the chance to really put his own stamp on how his Space Marines looks and feels. I will concentrate on the new models in more detail at later date but for now let us delve into the tome that is Codex: Space Marines.

CODEX THROUGH THE AGES
I review this new codex as a Space Marine player so I will base my views on past Space Marine Codex’s I have used in the past and compare them with the new Codex.

Let me start then with the first Space Marine Codex I used with was for 40k 4^th edition. At only 80 pages long it is a very slim Codex with no coloured artwork and focused more on equipment and rules, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing but if you are anything like me you want a lot of fluff with your codex. Rules wise it made space marines a very balanced army and would prove tough to beat due to the benefits of power armour and the weaponry at their disposal. Where the 4^th edition Codex failed for me was there was no ‘soul’ to it. It lacked any fluff to Space Marines except for a 2 page history of the Ultramarines chapter which was a sign of things to come with GW’s push on anything Space Marine related revolving around the Ultramarines. Let me make something very clear here, I do not hate Ultramarines but I am bored of Ultramarines which is purely due to the over saturation of their chapter by GW.  Things I did like about the 4^th edition Codex was Command Squads could comprise of a Sergeant and 4-9 Space Marines and you had rules for Librarians to use Familiar’s. Also I felt the Chapter Traits section was a very good addition and allowed players to give their chosen Space Marine chapter a flavour and a personality of its own on the gaming table. All in all for me the 4^th Edition Codex was very average but it got the job done.

Warhammer 40k 5^th edition then rolled around and for me was a vast improvement from 4^th edition and the same can be said about the Space marine 5^th edition Codex. This is by far the best Codex Matthew Ward has put together in my opinion and at 144 pages long Space Marine players had a lot to look at. Fluff wise, despite again being very Ultramarine heavy, we got background information on various other Codex Chapters and a history of battles fought by other Chapters other than the guys in cobalt blue. We also had the biological breakdown of all the extra organs Space Marines have implanted as they become trans-humans in the making of a Space Maine section.  The layout of the Codex was very user friendly and was broken down well for players to assimilate the rules. 5^th edition also saw combat squads introduced allowing Space Marine players the choice of breaking down their 10man squads into 2 separate 5man squads. Vanguard and Sternguard units were added to the space Marine forces and allowed for many players to field Deathwatch kill teams in their games of 40k. This for me was my favourite addition for 5^th edition along with Captain Lysander being an absolute badass! For me the 5^th Edition Codex was amazing to read and easy to use and was universally acknowledged in the gaming community as the best Space Marine Codex ever produced. Could it ever be improved on?

So we come to it at last, the 6^th edition Space Marine Codex. The first noticeable difference is the switch from soft back to hard back, a change all 6^th edition Codex’s have made.  Whilst the hard cover certainly does no harm to the look of the Codex and has a stunning front cover, I am sure most games could have lived with a soft back Codex had it kept it in the £20-25 price range as opposed to the £35 you will have paid if purchased direct from GW. The artwork is all in colour with new and old images alike featured throughout the 179 page long publication, making it the largest Codex GW have ever made. The fluff is pretty much a copy and paste job from the 5^th edition Codex although additional background information has been added as well and the making of a Space Marine section is better presented in this Codex. As you have probably deduced for yourselves my main grievance with past Codex releases was the over saturation of the Ultramarine chapter. I am very pleased to say this isn’t the case with the 6^th edition release. The Ultramarines get a section of their own as do the White Scars, Imperial Fists, Salamanders, Raven Guard and Iron Hands chapters which then also included successor founding chapters. Black Templars have been merged into a Codex Chapter too which may or may not go down well with Black Templar players, only time will tell on that score.  The Chapter tactics section is probably the 2^nd highlight of the Codex giving the Marine Space Marine Chapters specific rules. For example, Imperial Fist players (like me) get the Bolter Drill Chapter Tactic which allows all rolls to hit of 1 to be re-rolled. I think this is a good touch which draws from the unique back ground of each Space Marine Chapter. Don’t worry if you play with your own Space Marine Chapter or one of the lesser known Chapters (Death Spectres for example) you still get to benefit from Chapter tactics by simply picking one of the existing ones that you feel is best suited for your Chapter. There is an all new Warlord chart to roll on in addition to the ones in the main 40k rule book.  A few things I am not so keen on, combat shields now only infer a 6+ invulnerable save as opposed to 4+ making a Company Champion very average when he should stand out slightly more. Command Squads are still limited to a 5man squad make-up and despite the new Librarian model being cast with a cyber-cherub we still don’t have rules for Familiars. Also I was hoping that there may have been a breakdown on the Sternguard rules allowing you to field them as Sternguard or a Deathwatch Kill Team and maybe some variation on rules dependent on what unit you fielded.  

GAMES-KNIGHT VERDICT

Overall the 6^th edition Codex does steal the show but the 5^th edition Codex still remains a favourite of mine and remains the best Codex for the lay out of the rules and army list section. Presentation wise the 6^th edition Codex blows all previous entries out the water but for the £35 GW are asking you to part with it should be visually stunning.

Next week on Games-Knight, see how my Imperial Fists got on against the Chaos War band known as the Warp Wyrms using the 6^th edition Codex rules.

In the meantime I want to hear what you guys think of the new Space Marine Codex, drop a comment below or email – contactgamesknight@gmail.com, till next time. Ciaran.

 

SPACE MARINES CODEX AND MINIATURES PREVIEW

Hello gamers and welcome to this week’s posting where I preview the new Space Marine Codex and the new releases the Adeptus Astartes will be reinforced with this month from Games Workshop. Being a Space Marine player I am excited about getting a new Codex for 6^th edition and I have to admit the new miniatures being released have got me salivating a little!

 

SPACE MARINE 6^th EDITION CODEX.

At 179 pages long, it is the largest Codex GW has ever produced which is only fitting for their iconic Space Marine product. Lots of art work and miniature show cases fill the codex as expected and has the usual anatomy that previous Space Marine Codex’s have had in the past. The making of a Space Marine remains as per the last 2 Codex’s but is done in a grittier manner from what images I’ve seen so far. Each of the First Founding Codex Chapters gets a whole section to itself detailing the back story of the Chapter and a time line of important battles in the Chapters history. Each Chapter gets rules that are unique to them and pull from their makeup and back story which I am very happy about.  I will delve into the Codex in more detail next week when I get my own copy and share it with you all right here on Games-Knight.

NEW SPACE MARINE MODELS AND NEW UNIT TYPES.

It comes as no surprise that GW release a wave of new models alongside a new Codex release and the Space Marines are no exception to that rule. The humble Space Marine tactical squad gets a revamp and I have to say for the better. The miniatures have a more ‘gourmet’ look and feel about them and with 180 separate components on the frames player will have the chance to customise their chosen battle brothers as they deem fit. Combi-weapons and the all new grav-gun are included in the box set along with the trusted bolters, plasma guns and flamers.

The devastator company boasts new units in the Centurion Devastator squad and the Centurion Assault squad. Warriors in each unit are clad in a Centurion warsuit, a bulk of thick ablative armour with an array of heavy weapons or assault weapons. I can see a Centurion Assault squad fitting in with my Imperial Fist army very nicely!

There are updated Sternguard/Vanguard veteran squads which are mouth wateringly good with crisp detail and lavish heraldry sculpted onto the armour. Some great ‘bare head’ options in these kits with bearded, grizzled veterans to stoic, stern faced paragons of the Imperium. I think the parts in these kits lend a lot of options to kit-bashing with the rest of any gamer’s spare bits box to create some awe inspiring miniatures.

The humble Rhino APC gets a twist with new Stalker and Hunter variants both offering great ant-air support.  I am very happy to see this as Flyers are such a big part of 6^th edition and it gives a Space Marine army an answer to the overly powerful Chaos Heldrake.  Looks wise out of the 2 I prefer the Hunter variant but rules wise the Stalker tips it with being able to split its fire at targets.  

The heroes of the chapter come to the fore with new Captain, Librarian and Chaplain models. Whilst not impressed with the new Chaplain model and do like the new Captain model with his crested plume and I think the new Librarian model is the pick of the bunch. The Librarians face is intense with expression, fixed in a grimace of pure concentration under his psychic hood. The cyber-cherub adds a diorama feel to the miniature and is a very nice touch and nod to the dark future of the 41^st millennium. Will we see rules for familiar’s return I wonder?

Rumours have been rife on the internet for months now as to what special rules will be in the new Space Marine Codex and I will share them with you right here on Games-Knight next week as I review the new Codex here on Games-Knight. Make sure you join me for that! Until then happy gaming and don’t forget you can always share your thoughts with me via posting a comment or emailing me direct – contactgamesknight@gmail.com. Ciaran.

 

 

 

 

 

TOP TRUMPS

 
Hello gamers welcome to another post here on Games Knight with me Ciaran. Want to share something totally different with you all this week and look at the DC Universe Top Trump set. Top trumps is a card based game system that has been around since the 1970's and has always had high popularity with comic book fans and school boys passing their break time (Where I discovered Top Trumps). Top Trumps have decks for a multitude of themes ranging from cars, military hardware to comic book heroes.


HOW TO PLAY TOP TRUMPS.

The instant appeal to Top Trumps is that it is very simple to play and thus quicker to get into. Any number of people can play which makes this a great party game or a light hearted addition to regular gaming nights. First, as with any game involving a deck of cards, shuffle and deal all the cards face down. Each player holds their cards so that they can see the top card only. The player from the dealer's left starts by reading out a stat from the top card (e.g Height 180). The other players then read out the same stat. The player with the highest stat wins and places all the top cards including their own to bottom of their pile. It is then the winning players turn to choose a stat from the next card.

If 2 of more cards share the top value then all the cards are placed in the middle and the same player chooses again from the next card. The winner of the hand takes the cards in the middle as well. The player with all the cards at the end of the game is the winner.

DC UNIVERSE: HEROES AND VILLAINS SET.
 
This set contains 30 playing cards depicting various heroes and villains form the DC comics universe-

• SUPERMAN
• BATMAN
• WONDER WOMAN
• GREEN LANTERN
• THE FLASH
• MARTIAN MANHUNTER
• ROBIN
• BATGIRL
• CATWOMAN
• BRUCE WAYNE
• NIGHTWING
• COMMISSIONER GORDON
• ALFRED PENNYWORTH
• CLARK KENT
• SUPERGIRL
• LOIS LANE
• GREEN ARROW
• HAWKMAN
• PLASTIC MAN
• THE JOKER
• TWO-FACE
• POISON IVY
• MR. FREEZE
• THE RIDDLER
• THE PENGUIN
• BANE
• RA'S AL GHUL
• SCARECROW
• HARLEY QUINN
• LEX LUTHOR

Some classic characters with a mix of some of the lesser known characters makes for a well balanced set although I would have perhaps ditched Lois Lane for Aqua Man to get the full Justice league line up in.

The cards are superbly illustrated with great artwork and the characters back story alongside his card stats. Card stats include -

• HEIGHT
• INTELLIGENCE
• STRENGTH
• SPEED
• AGILITY
• FIGHTING SKILLS

GAMES KNIGHT: THE GAMING CRUSADER.

I have a lot of sentimental reasons for liking Top Trumps. Top Trumps was the very first collectible card game I got into as a kid and I was the scourge of the play ground with my Marvel Top Trump deck. As a mature gamer now I still find Top trumps very appealing and a pleasant, easy going distraction from my other hobby interests such as 40k. Cost wise it is a very inexpensive game to buy with a deck of Top Trumps costing roughly £4 and easy to carry around in its plastic case making it a game you can play on the go. The biggest reason to like this game is the simplicity of the rules which makes playing it quick and also getting new people into Top Trumps very easy. The simplicity of the rules also means it is a game that will appeal to people who aren't normally into gaming. The other week I found myself playing Top Trumps with my Fiancee (Who has become my regular opponent and rival) and my future mother-in-law. So in conclusion, its cheap, portable, simple and fun. You cant ask for much more than that can you?

That's going to do it for this weeks post, next week will be the 2nd instalment of Parchment where I will be reviewing 'Angel Exterminatus' by Graham McNeil. Until then happy gaming.

APOCALYPSE NOW

Hello gamers and welcome to this week’s post where I review the Warhammer 40k Apocalypse rule book. For those unfamiliar with what the Apocalypse expansion is all about here is a brief overview. Apocalypse is about gamers having the opportunity to field their entire collection without being restricted by the force organisation chart in the core rules. The Apocalypse rules also allow for huge battles to take place with specialised ‘formations’ that can be put together which have bonus rules that apply. Or another way of putting it, and the way I like to look at it, Apocalypse lets you do what you want and gives 40k fans the tools to fight the battles and campaigns they have also wanted too with the models they want too.

 

RULES

Some very narrative driven rules get introduced for games of Apocalypse as well as rules that add another layer of tactical texture to a game of 40k -

• Divine Intervention
• Finest Hour 
• Sons of The Primarch
• Strategic Assets
• Strategic Reserves
• Unnatural Disasters

Divine Intervention – Drawing from the superstitious elements of each faction in the 40k cannon, each army gets its own special rule from the Divine Intervention chart. For example, any Imperium based army can call upon the entity of The God-Emperor of Mankind if at least half the units in its army have been removed as casualties. As soon as that criteria is met all units left gain the Furious Charge and Fearless special rules. ‘The Emperor Protects’ after all.

Finest Hour – This rule represents one of your Warlords, or you’re Warmaster, having a defining moment in the battle and forging his or her own legend. Players can declare when their warlord will have their Finest Hour at any point in the game and the effects last a whole game turn. The Warlord in question receives a host of special rules for that turn, one of them being a 3+ invulnerable save, and gets to roll on 1 of 3 Exemplar tables.

Sons of The Primarch – Instead of rolling on the Exemplar tables, Space Marine and Chaos Space Marine characters can opt to draw from the Sons of The Primarch chart. For example, a World Eaters Warlord would gain the ‘Lord of Wrath’ special rule.

Strategic Assets- Each side starts with a number of Strategic Assets equal to the number of players in the largest side. The book comes with 54 strategic asset cards for you to photocopy from the book and make you own Strategic Asset decks. These cards grant players special rules and abilities for their army to wield during the course of the game. Each card tells you when you can play the card and its effects.

Strategic Reserves – Unlike a normal game of 40k where reserves are only allowed to come in on certain turns and on a roll of a dice, Apocalypse gives players the role of ‘higher-level Generals’ and have full control over their forces on and off the table. So in short your reserves arrive exactly when you want them too.

Unnatural Disasters – This gives players the option of 6 tables to roll on with each table offering different disasters. These range from a Magma Storm to a Zombie Apocalypse (yes I just said Zombie Apocalypse)  

All the above special rules are all optional. Players now have the freedom to pick and choose what rules they want to apply to their games and which ones they don’t. And for me that is what makes this expansion a winner, it’s the flexibility and choice this gaming system offers 40k players. I want to get something off my chest here regarding GW. GW comes under a lot of criticism, some of it justified, for not giving players enough choice or freedom for their games of 40k. Those complaints really have to end now with the release of this book. Let me stress something to all 40k fans here, you do not have to have massive armies for this expansion to work. You could easily apply this to 2000 point games and 3000 point games and see a totally new element to playing 40k. I myself will be doing that and I am looking forward to throwing the force organisation chart out the window and fielding more than 2 HQ choices. I am looking forward to my Imperial Fists using the Son of Dorn special rule from the Sons of The Primarch table. And most of all I am looking forward to having fun with my hobby. Don’t get me wrong I am not saying GW are perfect they are not but credit where credit is due for this release please folks.

Formations

Also included in the book is a list of Data Sheets that detail specialised formations that players can field for their army. For example a Tau player can choose to field a Counterstrike Cadre formation consisting of 1 Pathfinder team and 2-4 Fire Warrior Teams with each unit in the formation taking a Devilfish. Each formation has special rules and these are detailed on the Data Sheets. Apocalypse also gives players the option of fielding Forgeworld products designed especially for larger or more custom-made games of 40k. Tyranid players can choose filed a Hierophant Bio-titan and likewise Imperium players can call upon the fire power of Battle Titans.

New Range of Models

In addition to the release of the rule book a host of new models and scenery have been released with an Apocalypse feel to them but can also be fielded in normal games of 40k too. I am impressed with all of them, my favourite being the Space Marine Lord Executioner model, with the exception of the Khorne Lord of Skulls which looks like a massive lawnmower.  

KHORNE LORD OF SKULLS - ARE YOU A FAN OF THIS MODEL?
 

So in conclusion I am very happy with this release and would urge 40k fans to embrace it. I think it opens up the 40k game system to a lot more freedom and interesting army projects. I am already debating over which Grey Knight formation to go for and I also want to start a new Space Marine army. I think the Red Hunters chapter would be the perfect allies for my Grey Knights, besides there is only so many times I can mind scrub my Imperial Fists.

So now is the bit where I want to hear from you. What do you think about Apocalypse? Has this article made you want to explore bigger games of 40k? Do you think this release is bad or good? Get in touch and tell us by either leaving a comment below or contact us directly at contactgamesknight@gmail.com. Till next time gamers, take care and happy gaming. Ciaran.