Review and Sample List: Renegades and Heretics - Defenders of Vraks FW PDF update

While the original list has been out for quite a while in Imperial Armour 5, the Vraksian Renegades have had a recent rebirth via Forgeworld tweaking the list and releasing it via PDF.

Get the list HERE , and also grab the FAQ, which has some important clarifications, changes and errata. 

At a basic level, the Defenders of Vraks are an Imperial Guard army, but they're somewhat of a hybrid of the previous IG codex and the more recent one, along with some extra options like bringing along some Chaos Marines or Minefields.  I'm going to discuss them in a "regular" 40K environment, where people are OK playing against the list, but you're not going to use FW/Apocalypse-specific things like flyers or superheavies.



They also have a special rule for their Leadership for their core (Renegade Militia) units, "Renegades".  This gives each unit with the rule a random Ld, determined when they first need to test, of 4+d6, so a range of 5-10.  While at first glance, the potential for a 5-6Ld looks pretty grim, there are a number of ways to get the odds in your favor:

• With a cheap vox-caster, you get to re-roll when determining the Ld, improving your chances of a decent result greatly. 
• "Leadership" - one of the holdovers from the old IG codex, the Ld bubble.  Even if the squad rolled a bad Ld, if your Champion rolled a good one and is close enough you can use theirs instead.
• Chaos Banner - good ol' regimental standard equivalent, re-roll failed morale checks within the bubble.
• Enforcers - the Renegade commissars.  While too pricey for regular use, if you're going to take big combined squads they can be a good investment.

The random Ld, when paired with the re-roll from the vox caster, can also allow you to set things up nicely sometimes.  While often you'll want to get a high Ld, there will be times when the ability to get a low Ld will be to your advantage, and your vox re-rolls can help you get them.  Sometimes you'll want to have a chance to fall back out of assault range, or you'll want your sacrifice squad to get run down in combat resolution, leaving the enemy out in the open for a round of shooting, and random Ld with re-rolls can help you set those situations up.

While the Renegade Militia all have the random Ld, most of the unit selections available don't suffer/have the opportunities.  The more elite choices have good Ld (or are even Fearless, in the case of the Ogryn Berserkers), the Workers Rabble have poor Ld, and of course all the vehicle options ignore Ld.

HQ
Company Command Platoon - This is your only actual HQ choice, so you'll have 1-2 of these.  This is another place where the old IG system carries over, as your HW squads are part of a command platoon instead of a troops platoon, so these HW teams won't be scoring.  The HW squads can't get vox casters, so will be stuck with whatever they initially roll for Ld, so keep them near the Champion, hopefully with Chaos Banner.

The command squad itself is not a special weapon spam squad like the regular IG version is, only one special weapon available (plus a heavy team if desired).  No four meltas/plasmas/flamers here.

Enforcers/Rogue Psykers/Apostate Preachers - Yet more carryover, old-style Advisors.  Don't use up force org spots, assign to squads.

• Rogue Psykers...pretty pointless.  Ld8 psyker with generally poor random powers (and 1/6 of the time, no power at all) even if you do get them off.  Fun special rule where they get possessed if the suffer a Perils test.  If you really can't find another way to spend the points, pick one up.  Otherwise pass.
• Apostate Preachers - boost the assault power of a unit, can be worth it if you're taking a big Workers Rabble unit or a big combined squad you don't want to have shoot.  
• Enforcers - again, good with a big combined squad or with a big Workers Rabble (depending on how you interpret the Summary Execution rule).  Shoot the leader to auto pass a normally failed morale check.  (the issue with Workers Rabble is that the Summary Execution rule says you shoot the Champion or Veteran, but Workers Rabble don't have either...if can just shoot a random guy and have it work, Enforcers and WR are a perfect match.  If not, WR themselves become very weak.)  Unlike their Imperial counterparts, do not grant Stubborn, and also have the fun option to take demo charges.  

Elites
Disciples of Xaphan - the veteran guardsmen in the list, have Infiltrate, take up to three specials as well as a demo charge, good Ld and BS.  Can take a Chimera, and if you don't want to infiltrate/outflank with them you probably should.  If you can get them into position potential to do some serious damage.

Renegade Ogryn Berserkers - Ogryn with no guns, Fearless, Feel No Pain, random attacks, smaller squad sizes.  One can take a power weapon.  Risk killing themselves if they roll high with the random attacks.  A potential question for them is if their FNP helps against wounds they take from their combat drugs; they way the rule is written I would say that it does not help them.  Can be pretty nasty, but it's a footslogging dedicated HTH unit in a primarily shooting army, so consider how they're going to fit before taking them.  If you're going to mob up lots of them and a bunch of Workers Rabble and go charging across, great.  If you intend to play more traditional IG style, maybe leave them at home or at least keep them in Reserve to enter and charge enemies that have closed to your DZ.

Alpha Legion Squad - CSM with Infiltrate free, can also get a Rhino (or Dreadclaw, if you're using flyers).  Very standard CSM, with addition of Infiltrate and downside of only being able to take one special weapon (and no heavy).  Could be a good unit to stiffen the militia lines, or to infiltrate/outflank into the enemy to distract them and so allow the firing line to keep plugging away.

Troops
Renegade Militia Platoon - bascially guard squads and command squad.  Can combine (along with the command squad, but no medic option so not really ugly), no transport option so if you want mech take the Renegade Armored Fist Squads (see below) instead.  Again, no quad-special weapons in the command squad.

Worker's Rabble - conscripts with pistol/ccw (you can swap for lasgun, but little reason to do so).  Poor Ld, so to be worthwhile as more than a one-turn screen you'd need a favorable answer to the question about interaction with Enforcers.  If Enforcers work with them, a full squad with an Enforcer and a Priest could be pretty icky, especially if the Enforcer and Priest are packing PF, as they're not ICs so are untargetable in CC.  As with the Ogryn though, keep in mind that would be a dedicated CC unit in what is primarily a firepower army.

Renegade Armored Fist Squad - guard squad in a Chimera, this is your Troops choice if you're going mech.

Fast Attack
Hellhound, Scout Sentinels, Armored Sentinels - pretty much as per IG.  HH only, no Banewolves or Devildogs.

Salamander Scout Squadron - faster, open-topped Chimeras in squadrons of 1-3, no transport capacity, run around and do some shooting.  Cheap but pretty fragile.

Heavy Support
Can take many of the familiar IG tanks and arty pieces, singles only; no squadrons.  Also have some more unique options.

Artillery Strike - similar to the Inquisition orbital bombardments, with some differences.  Basically off-board artillery called in by spotters.  In general you'd probably be better off with an on-table piece, but this option is cheaper and allows for some neat tricks since you can target a spot on the table vs. enemy units if desired, so can ignore Shrouding, Veil of Tears and things like that.

Sentry Gun Battery, Turret Emplacement - immobile, so probably best in special scenarios vs. regular games.

Heavy Weapons Platoon - command squad with extra heavy weapons squads, can also get some Sabre Platforms, but again since immobile those would be better in special scenarios.  If you really feel the need for more heavy weapons squads after maxing out your HQ slots, here's where to go if for some reason you're not getting tanks instead.

Minefield - here is one of the gems of the list.  Be sure to read the FAQ for this entry, as it completely changes it.  For a very cheap cost you're basically able to lay down significant areas of dangerous terrain, which is a godsend for a shooty army.  The ability to reshape the battlefield is golden. 

I could write a whole article about the potential joy of the minefields, but I'll contain myself at least for now.  Instead just a few points/reminders:

• One selection's worth is too easy to bypass; if you're going for mines, get two sets.  Keep in mind that this seriously limits your other HS options.  With proper spacing two sets can cover the whole 6' of table length, and it's even easier to box in an enemy with Spearhead deployment.  
• The mines make dangerous, but not difficult, terrain.  It won't slow down infantry, etc.
• You only need to take one dangerous test when you move through "one or more" areas of dangerous terrain in a move.  So where possible consider proper spacing if going for depth, so regular vehicle, jump packs, etc. can't 12" move over two minefields in one move, only requiring one test.
• Remember that things like dozer blades, siege shields and grots can let the enemy get through fields more easily.
• Adjust your use to the mission, your opponent, and the rest of your own army.  Use for Outflank/Deepstrike defense, make objectives dangerous, make those Land Raider assaults more risky, etc.  Don't just string them across the length of the table if there could be a more useful way to deploy them.
• It can often be a good idea to shoot for deploying second, as you'll be better able to respond to the enemy deployment with the minefields that way.  In Dawn of War you probably want to try to go first, so that you can set them up closer to the midpoint if desired.

 
 And here's a sample 1500pt list.  There's many other possible builds of course, but here's a sample of how a Defenders of Vraks army might look.


HQ
Company Command Squad
Chaos Banner, Vox Caster, Autocannon.
Chimera with Autocannon/Heavy Bolter.
(120)

Mortar Squad (60)
Autocannon Squad (75)
ML Squad (90)

(The Command Squad's main purpose is to provide a Ld bubble to squads that roll lower than the Champion and the Banner re-rolls, while also throwing a little anti-transport firepower downrange. The R&H Chimeras get a nice option to upgrade the multilaser to autocannon.)

Troops
Renegade Armored Fist Squad
Vox Caster, meltagun, autocannon.  Chimera with Autocannon/heavy bolter, hunter-killer missile.
(145)

Renegade Armored Fist Squad
Vox Caster, meltagun, autocannon.  Chimera with Autocannon/heavy bolter, hunter-killer missile.
(145)

Renegade Armored Fist Squad
Vox Caster, meltagun, autocannon.  Chimera with Autocannon/heavy bolter, hunter-killer missile.
(145)

Renegade Armored Fist Squad
Vox Caster, meltagun, autocannon.  Chimera with Autocannon/heavy bolter, hunter-killer missile.
(145)

(Toss out a lot of anti-transport fire early, try to de-mech enemies and force them to slog through the minefields/be exposed to firepower longer.  Meltaguns if anything dangerous manages to close, or if need to take a hard target off of an objective.)

Elites
Disciples of Xaphan
5xDisciples, 3xPlasmagun, Champion has Demo Charge
(110) 
(Outflank and cause some pain, especially if you've gotten the enemy to cluster on the flanks to avoid mid-field mines.)

Alpha Legion
10xCSM, Icon of Chaos Glory, Meltagun, Champion with Powerfist.
(205)

(Also Outflank around the mines, distract the enemy and keep him from advancing on the firepower base.  Primarily included here as a "fun" option, to add some variety to the IG-ness of the army and add some of that old Lost and the Damned army feel.  This is an easy place to swap out for some other flavor options, like a unit of Renegade Ogryn Berserkers, or a unit of 40 Worker Rabble with an Enforcer.)

Heavy Support
Minefield (50)
Minefield (50)

(Cheap and different.  Have fun reshaping the battlefield and hopefully fouling up the enemy's plans.)

Manticore (160)
(High-str ordnance to help bust things like Land Raiders, and potential for multiple templates to punish enemies who bunch up to go through supposedly "safe" channels through the minefields.  This is another place for easy substitution, just plug in preferred HS unit.)

Total  1500pts

Island of Blood starter set for $100?

Now, I'm normally not one to price gripe too much, but geez.

First came the 8th Ed WHFB rulebook,  weighing in at 74.25USD.  Many, myself among them, decided to just wait for the starter set instead.

Then that starter set arrives, Island of Blood for 99.00USD.  Hmm.

Seems like just a few years ago when the hardback books were in the 40-50USD range, and the starter sets were 60-75USD.  Don't get me wrong; the minis in IoB look pretty nice, but I have no real interest in a Skaven or HE army, reducing the utility, and that's probably the case for most players too.  I also question some of the choices - while the lord on Griffon looks great, you're not likely to field more than one, cutting down on the value of the "buy two and swap figures" plan many do with the starter sets.  I've seen people with whole armies built out of multiple sets of Black Reach Orks or BfSP Gobbos and Dwarves; that seems less likely with Island of Blood.  

Since I have had a fantasy army bestowed upon me, it would seem crass not to get back into WHFB at some point, but I imagine I'll just be ebaying for a book and maybe a few specific figures like the Rat Ogres instead of plunking down for the whole shebang.

For those of you interested in 8th ed, are your WHFB plans?  Did you already get the big book?  Plan on Island of Blood?  Both?  Piecemeal approach?

Review: Risings and Rebellions 1919-1939

Recently after being tipped off to a sale by Chris at The Raz File, I picked up Risings and Rebellions from Foundry, and got to read it during down time on my recent vacation.

Rather than just reiterate what's in their official blurb, here's the basics via Foundry:

RISINGS AND REBELLIONS 1919–39
Interwar Colonial Campaigns
in Africa, Asia, and the Americas
By Edwin Herbert
Political background and campaign narratives, organisation, tactics and terrain, dress and weapons,
command and control, and historical effects
A4 sized hardback with traditional linen
and glittering gilt binding, 192 pages.
Illustrations include 137 drawings of soldiers,
50 other illustrations and maps.
Interwar Colonial Campaigns in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
Following on from the author’s highly-acclaimed Small Wars and Skirmishes, this volume covers the most significant ‘small wars’ of the interwar period up to the Italian occupation of Abyssinia in 1935–36. Coverage is also extended to include the activities of ‘social bandits’. Its title Risings and Rebellions reflects this change in emphasis compared with earlier colonial campaigns. Indeed, the sheer scale of such wars as the risings against the French and Spanish in Morocco and the Italian reconquest of Libya takes them out of the category of ‘small wars’ altogether.

There's a wide range of conflicts covered, from small ones involving a few hundred participants to massive undertakings like the Spanish and French unpleasantness in Morocco.

The book is split into three main sections.  The first has more in-depth descriptions of sixteen different events/campaigns ("The rise of resistance movements"), the second has thirteen shorter narratives ("A synopsis of other colonial incidents").  There's also a nice section at the end that discusses some of the common weapons, aircraft, and armored cars used during the period.  It's interesting to see some things carry over from the Great War, some lessons that are apparently unlearned, and some foreshadowing for WWII.


For anyone interested in 20th century history or colonial conflicts this would be a good read.  For gamers who want to recreate some of these conflicts it would be a great resource for scenario ideas and the parts of the summaries that detail uniforms would be very helpful for choosing and painting figures appropriately.  Each summary is also followed by suggested sources for further reading, should you wish to delve further into a particular event. 


I do have a few minor criticisms.  

• At times the division between "resistance movement" and "other colonial incident" seems a bit odd; I don't know if such a division was really necessary.  
• While I guess it qualifies as an "incident", the inclusion of the Amritsar massacre felt out of place as it was just that, a massacre, and doesn't fit with the rest of the examples which while they may have been asymmetrical, involved fire from both sides.  Instead a section on the anti-British action in general in India at the time, including but not focused on the massacre, would have fit better.  
• The book itself is beautiful, and while that itself is not a criticism, I wish that it had come with a dust jacket to help protect it.  The gilt flakes off very easily which is a shame.  I imagine I can come up with something myself, but an official cover would have been nice.

 It's a good book, and I imagine it's predecessor, Small Wars and Skirmishes (apparently no longer available from Foundry's web store) is as well.  It is a bit pricey at its regular $63USD price.  For interwar enthusiasts looking for a good place to start or for a quick reference, it could be worth it.  For the more casual reader it would be well worth it if you can find it discounted, but I'd hesitate to recommend it unreservedly at full price for anyone who wouldn't use it as a springboard for more reading and exploration.  It also presumes a good bit of basic background knowledge that could be a hurdle for some.


At the discounted price I got it at, four askaris out of five.  At full price, I'd give it three askaris out of five. 

What armies would you want for opponents?

There are a lot of factions out there in the 40K universe.  There's sixteen different codexes (though 5 1/2 of those are various versions of loyalist marines), each of which can do a number of different army types.  Plus Forgeworld lists, fan-made material and so on.  Despite this range of options, many local "scenes" don't see the same kind of variety.

You have control over what figs you buy, how you paint them, what rules you want to use.  But you rarely have the same kind of control over what your opponent brings to the table, and may find yourself frequently facing armies you either don't give a whisker about or even actively dislike.

But what if that could be different?

If you could choose what your local 40K gaming scene would be like and what kinds of armies you'd get to play against, what would you pick?

Personally, I love the whole Imperials vs. Chaos mess and would love to have most of my games centered around that.  I can have fun playing or playing against the various 40K aliens, but in general I'd like to see waves of Imperial Guard, Space Marines, Chaos Space Marines and Lost and the Damned type armies on the table.

Ideally I'd get to play against good looking armies of:

*Imperial Guard, various regiments and builds.  Cadians, Catachans, Vostroyans, Steel Legion, Krieg, Elysians, Valhallans, Mordians, Praetorians, etc.  Heck, 40K as as much variety just in Imperial Guard as many games do altogether.
*Space Marines, various types and builds, including at least one good Space Wolf army and a super-elite force like Deathwing.
*Witch/Daemon Hunter armies, various types - all GK/all SoB, puritan/radical Inquisitorial types.
*Chaos Space Marines and Lost and the Damned/Traitor Guard type armies, various types and builds. 
*A sprinkling of Xenos.

When I played my IG or loyalist marines I could fight traitors or aliens, and when playing my own traitors I'd have a variety of Imperial lackeys to battle.  With my own aliens (currently Orks and Tau) I could face anyone, but would probably generally prefer Imperials.

In the larger sense, of course we'd have a variety of game types, events, campaigns and the like.  I'd like to see bigger stories (campaigns, etc.) vs. just bigger games.  The Apocalypse bug never bit me.

Who would you fight if you could choose?  Do you like fighting bugs, bugs, and more bugs?  Anything but Orks?  Sick of Marines?  

I'd fight Shatner.

Renegades and Heretics FAQ available from Forgeworld

Hot off the recent redo of the IA5 Vraks list, they released a PDF FAQ via their newsletter.  Also a MKIV armor kit and some pretty cool looking bolters.

Scythiak Usurpation - WIP Possible Russ

Just a WIP shot of a potential Russ for the Scythiak.  I have some other tank chassis I was thinking of using with a Defiler turret, but when I saw this at the local store for a reasonable price I grabbed it to see how it would look.  Figuring that the Defiler turret would look a little small on this, tried out a leftover turret from the Ork battlewagon.  Overall I like it.  It's about the same width as a regular Russ model, a tad longer and especially with the Ork turret a good bit taller.


For those who may not recognize the chassis, it's an M3 Lee, an early US design from WWII.  One of several early WWII tanks that had the main gun in the hull, with a smaller gun in the turret.  All the high profile of a tank and all the arc of fire of a self-propelled gun!  For a long time I've considered doing some Russ conversions based on that generally poor idea, with battlecannon in hull and lascannon in the turret.  For this one, I decided to build it like a "normal" IG tank, with main gun in the turret and lascannon or HF in the hull.  It's got lots of flat panels and rivets, helping it look like a 40K tank.  There's enough space on the sides if you'd want to add sponsons, but I don't plan to.

If I end up using this, I'm not sure if I'll keep it as the Eradicator with HF (and accordingly chop off/replace the hull gun), or if I'll run it as a regular Russ and keep the hull gun largely as it is, calling it a lascannon.  In either event extra decoration, spikes and iconography will be added.

Even if I don't use it for this, it'll get used at some point for the Scythiak, or my regular IG or the Orks.  It's a good deal, and the 3rd-grade skill level is a good fit for me.

Comfort Zones and Stretching

     We all have things in this hobby that we're more comfortable with, techniques or game types that we're better at.  These are our comfort zones.  We get a little nervous venturing outside of them, but it can be rewarding.


     Comfort zones aren't bad, by any means.  For things that you're comfortable with and good at, you can make a lot of progress fast on the hobby side of things.  And with a little bit of planning, you can leverage your comfort zones for even better looking results.


    How so?


    If you love mixing and matching parts of various kits to make different-looking models, why not choose an army that will let you do that more easily?  Armies where most of the guys are pretty similar and have a lot of multi-piece kits can feed into this well.

     Empire, Chaos Warriors, Orks, Space Marines off all stripes and Chaos Marines can all work very well with this.  Some other armies where kits are limited and/or the look of the various units is pretty different are more limited in this regard - you're not going to get much use out of Kroot parts on either your Fire Warriors or your battlesuits in a Tau army, or be able to use leftover Saurus heads on your Skinks in a Lizarman force.  But take a Marine tactical squad, a Sanguinary Guard box and a Black Templar upgrade sprue and you can go to town.

    If you like variety and easy conversions, when you're looking at new projects consider how much the prospective armies are "unit in a box" vs. "bunch of bits in a box."  It can also be worth looking at other armies too - mix up the various Elves, add fantasy parts into a 40K army, etc.  Don't be afraid to branch out beyond GW either - there's lots of great companies making pretty compatible parts, like Pig Iron, Micro Art Studios, Chapterhouse Studios and many others.

     On the painting side, say you're like me and love things like washes and drybrushing, and hate big flat areas, multiple paint layers, blending and things like that, and have poor freehand skills.  An army with a lot of built-in depth on the figures could suit that style well, maybe something like an organic looking army with a bunch of Lizardmen Saurus or Tyranids, or something like Orks with well-defined muscles and features and with vehicles and weapons that have lots of texture instead of smooth surfaces.  On the other hand, if you're an ace with freehand, consider something like the Deathwing, with lots of smooth spaces on Terminators and Land Raiders to filigree and decorate to your heart's content.

     I'm not saying that you should choose your armies based solely on what you think will be easiest to paint.  But it is something that you may want to consider so that you don't end up with a case full of half-painted figures that you're not happy with.  Consider them as part of your planning for the long haul, not instead of it.

     When gaming, your comfort zones will help you speed up, as you get more familiar with the rules and your army.  You won't have to consult the book every time your Plague Marines take a hit to see if it negates FNP or not, you'll have the vehicle damage table memorized, and so on.

     Being familiar with a particular army or list can be comfortable too, as you get to know the ins and outs well, can react more instinctively, understand the weaknesses and synergies better, etc.  I've heard many stories about how someone made a last-minute change to an army list right before a tournament, and the whole army fell apart, or they switched to a different codex that they weren't as familiar with because it was "more powerful" but they didn't understand as well.

     While comfort zones are good, we all need to stretch them!  If you never tried something new, you never would have played a game or put brush to plastic in the first place.  After a while though you can settle into new comfort zones which you may want to try to shake up from time to time.

     In modeling, are the extent of your conversions easy bit swaps?  Do some experimenting with green stuff and sculpting, or chopping and repositioning.  Start exploring magnets, to make your special weapons guys and tanks more modular. 

     For painting, try out some techniques you've seen but haven't tried.  It may be slow going and the initial results may not be the greatest, but the more you do them the better you'll get. 

     You can find tons of great modeling and painting advice online.  Check out the sites for the various manufacturers, blogs, and most of the big forums have extensive hobby-related sections with tons of great examples and tutorials.  Poke around; you may find the next thing you want to try yourself!

     As to gaming, if you're getting bored, mix it up a little.  Swap armies with your opponent or do some proxying and see how a different army style plays.  Use some of the official supplements like Planetstrike, Spearhead, Cities of Death or Battle Missions.  Or try some of the fan-made things like alternate army lists and scenarios from Dice Like Thunder or The Rules Manufactorum.  Perhaps give some smaller games a try, like with some of the interesting Kill Team variants coming about recently from Galaxy in Flames or A Gentleman's Ones.

     So get to know your own comfort zones and take advantage of them, but don't be afraid to stretch!

Purge the Unclean...and Unpainted - Batrep Daemon Hunters vs. Scythiak Usurpation

Normally I don't like fielding unpainted units, much less armies, but when JVB wanted to run his recently-recovered Grey Knights, it was hard to resist the temptation to put the traitors on the table.  And since when is Chaos about resisting temptation? Besides, this will be a chance to see the recruits so far in action.

We set out for 2000pts, which is the size I was building the Scythiak Usurpation towards, but since I haven't built the vehicles yet I made a few substitutions and proxies.  Instead of a Hydra I used the Heavy Bolter squad, a second-hand Chimera served as one of the Chimeras, and some tanks looted from the Merkans provided others - a Hellhound as stand-in for another Chimera, and a Russ as the Eradicator.

JVB just got the DH back from someone who was going to paint them but never did, so there's a lot of Bare Metal Knights and Black Knights mixed in with the Grey ones.  His guardsmen that he's using for Stormtroopers need repairs, and we subbed in some borrowed dreads and a rhino to fill his list out.  Neither side is going to look top-notch here, so if  you want a pretty report, move on.  If you're just looking for a bit of a lark, read on!

We rolled up a standard mission, Annihilation/Pitched Battle.  GK won the roll, picked a side and setup.  

My list was:

Scythiak Usurpation (Codex: IG)

Company Command Squad
"Astrakenor", Word Bearers Prophet - Counts-as Iron Hand Straken.
Regimental Standard (+LP/CCW)
2xFlamer
LP/CCW
Chimera - Multi-laser, HF 220pts

Elites
Sorceror Coven - 9xPsykers + Overseer
Chimera - Multilaser, HF 165pts

Elites
Chaos Ogrynx10 410pts

Elites
"Khonan" - counts-as Marbo 65pts

Troops
Infantry Platoon
Platoon command - PF/laspistol 2xflamers 55pts
Inf squad - PW, grenade launcher 65pts
Inf squad - PW, grenade launcher 65pts
Mortar squad 60pts
Lascannon squad 105pts
Heavy Bolter squad 75pts

Troops
Infantry Platoon
Platoon command – PW/laspistol, 2xflamers 50pts
Inf squad - PW, meltagun 70pts
Inf squad - PW, meltagun 70pts

Fast Attack
10xRough Riders (1) sgt has meltabombs 110pts

Fast Attack
10xRough Riders (2) sgt has meltabombs 110pts

Fast Attack
3xSpawn Riders (Scout Sentinels) w/Missile Launchers 135pts

Heavy Support
Leman Russ Eradicator, HF hull, Dozer Blade 170pts

2000pts (with the exception of the "real" list having a Hydra instead of the HB squad, this is the list I've been building towards)

JVB took:

Grey Knights (Codex: DH)
GK Termie Captain
GK Termie squad, two psycannons
GK squad, incinerators
GK teleport squad, incinerators
GK heavy squad, 4xpsycannons
2xStormtrooper squads, PF and two plasmaguns
Stormtrooper squad, PF and two flamers, Rhino
2xGK dreadnought, TL lascannons, missile launchers

2000pts

He set up spread out fairly evenly.  One ST squad and a dread on my left moving through a large ruin.  Captain, psycannon GKs and another ST squad middle-left.  Middle right had termies and flamer STs with second dread in back, right had incerator GKs with the Rhino as moving cover.  Teleport squad in reserve.

I set up HBs and Eradicator on my left. Mid-left came both Chimeras and their occupants, followed by the Ogryn, a RR squad and the techno-barbarian platoon.  Mid-right came the cultist platoon, another RR squad, and the lascannons/mortars.  Since we were doing KP, I went ahead and combined the two infantry squads in each platoon.  No commissars or anything to make them real solid tarpits, but mainly I just wanted them to run interference to allow the Ogryn and RRs to close.  My right was pretty open with no good fire lanes, so I just left it empty of troops and tried to concentrate more towards the middle.  Spawntinels would Outflank, and Khonan/Marbo was of course in Reserve.

The washed, but unpainted masses.

Turn one the DH moved up, and the forces of Chaos sluggishly advanced, repositioning some forces on the left more towards the middle.  One GK dread blew off the Eradicator's main gun, starting the trend for what would be a very poor day for the tank.  The Captain's psychic hood shut down the psyker battle squad, and that and some poor (but not deadly) psychic tests would keep the PBS from managing to do anything all game.

Turn two the STs on my left shot and ran off the heavy bolter squad.  Dread fire wrecked Astrakenor's Chimera, so he joined the wave of folks heading towards the center.  The teleport squad arrived, and landed next to the Captain via homer.

Sorry for the poor pics throughout - still trying to figure out my wife's new camera and how to bypass settings...

  In the Chaos turn the Spawntinels and Khonan both arrived, and one demo charge later the recently-teleported GKs were slain, but the Captain made his invulnerable save.  Shortly thereafter, Khonan gets gunned down by a ST's plasmagun.

More light in the game room would probably help too, and I'm sure the black board isn't doing me any favors...

Rough Riders get shot up, prep for assault.

STs flamer cultists, while Terminators and Ogryn position for the true battle...

Stormtroopers climb over rubble to assault the stricken Eradicator, eventually managing to kill it.

Cultists move aside to allow Ogryn to assault STs and Rhino.  My plan was to try to only hit the STs with a few guys, prolonging the combat and blocking the Termies from shooting/charging the Ogryn.  In the end my good to hit rolls and JVB's poor armor saves doomed the STs but left the Ogryn open.

RRs attack GKs, kill a few but are dispatched.

Rhino tank shocks through Chaos lines, pushing them aside but failing to make anyone break.  Termies and GKs assault Ogryn as Gyro leads RRs to better positions.

Lucky SOB who for a time was the sole survivor of his ST squad, making many saves against attempts to kill him and collect that KP.  He eventually succumbed to repeated mortar fire.

Tramplemaster Gyro flanks the GK Terminators and attacks from behind as they're occupied with Ogryn.  With a Furious Charge boost from Astrakenor it makes it even easier, and the hunting lances finish off the Terminators.

Meanwhile Astrakenor, Von Drakin and their retinues try in vain to destroy the Rhino.  It makes Astrakenor so angry that his backpack falls off.

The GK captain moved up and attacked the RRs.  With hunting lances expended, he's a much harder nut to crack!  He cuts down two riders, and then...

Bzow!  Apocalypse, you heretic scum!  Seven more RRs go down, and Gyro hoofs it away to fight another day.

The captain's glory is fleeting, as soon Killgore!, Kantor Fett and others beat him down. 

Not pictured, but other achievements on the left, with the techno-barbarian platoon, Papa JJ helped direct a good bit of FRFSRF lasgun death into various ST and GK squads, with Khorne Dog helped the platoon make its Ld rolls to accept the orders, and Notbrent's aim was true.

End result, Chaos victory.

The army still feels woefully light on anti-tank.  Maybe having the Hydra instead of the HBs would help there, but probably not enough.  Maybe some more games on somewhat less cluttered tables will show it to be sufficient, maybe not.

The Straken/Ogryn/RR combo worked like I thought it would.  Ogryn to suck a charge, with Counter Attack to help them out a bit, and standard for rerolls on their Stubborn 7.  Then RRs, if necessary with help from a Move Move Move order to make the Fleet roll high move around to countercharge whoever the Ogryn have in hand, aided by Straken's Furious Charge to make them I6/S6.  Granted, it's a horribly expensive combo, but fun to pull off vs. fancy elite units.