RISING LIKE A PHOENIX
FROM THE FLAMES,
FIREBASE RETURNS!
2 G
reat
B
attle
r
eports
!
t
he
I
mperIal
G
uard
s
tep
Into
the
B
reach
!
a
dam
’
s
c
haos
e
volutIon
!
FIreBase
Goes
epIc!
100% HOBBY CONTENT
July 2007 ISSUE 04
www.warseer.com/firebasemag Editor: Ashley Curtis
PR and Advertising: Brandon Vallee Graphic Designer: Steve Gagne Cover Artist: Igor Kieryluk Proofing: Gabriel Schrock
Artists: Nicolas Giacondino, Brian ‘Lexington’
Solomon, Juddski, Pazshadow, Zazz, Toby Alderton, and Andrew Chang.
Writers: Adam Smith, Light of The Emperor, Phil
& Neil from FLAMEON, Matt Stevens, Patrick M. Cullen, Robert Reynolds, Matt Bowden, Christopher Turco, Peter Sanlon, Franklin Ginn, Linus Widner, Fredrik Landelius, Johan Westlund, Hena, and Rob ‘Orangesm’ Holland
FIREBASE ispublished every three months courtesy of WarSeer.Com. All text and layout remains the copyright of FIREBASE. FIREBASE is a fully independent publication and its views are not the views of any company mentioned herein. All characters and artwork shown in this magazine remain the © and trademark of their respective owners. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the express permission of the Editor or Deputy Editor. FIREBASE can accept no responsibility for inaccuracies or complaints arising from editorial or advertising within this magazine. All letters and emails received will be considered for publication, but we cannot always provide personal replies.
This fanzine is completely unofficial and in no way endorsed by Games Workshop Limited. FIREBASE is a non-profit making fanzine with the aim of promoting Games Workshop games, products and hobby.
Firebase
Editorial
The King Is Dead!
Long Live The King!
When I couldn’t continue to produce FIREBASE, the fate of the wargaming world rested on one man’s shoulders. Unfortunately, he was unavailable. And so, with no heir to the FIREBASE throne, the magazine came to a close and there was great sorrow.
Many eons passed (a few days) and a new magazine arose to fill the void. But then a series of epic events followed, leaving Ash, the chosen heir to the Firebase throne, in charge and with a dream to continue the tale of FIREBASE’s glory. The one mag to rule them all!
With Adam, his former mentor, shackled to a desk and forced to produce article after article for the next eternity, Ash ascended to the rank of Head Monkey (or Editor if you prefer) to rule FIREBASE with an iron fist and a shiny new modeling knife!
Adam
Thanks Adam! FIREBASE still has the same creative team, right down to the same layout manager and templates; Adam is no longer editor but will still be making article contributions and is someone I can always turn to for advice.
Now, on to some changes! With a new editor, some new ideas have been brought to the fore. Instead of the themed issues FIREBASE previously followed, from now on we are blown open wide for anything and everything you hobbyists want to throw at us. If it’s Warhammer 40,000 related, we’re interested!
Not too much has changed overall; everybody should expect the same great magazine with all the stuff you love, provided for you, and by you, the hobbyists!
Over and Out, Ash
Editorial . . . 2 The Angel & the Aquila . . . 4 Addicted to chaos
Adam continues to expand his army . . . 5 The Kymrian Final Stand
Lost And The Damned vs. ‘Nids Battle Report –
Which Horde will triumph? . . . 12 Back byPopular Demand
Matt gives some tips about painting Eldar . . . 24 Heavy Armour
Patrick gives advice on using armoured Guard . . . 28 Blitzkrieg!
Rob talks about his love for tanks . . . 31
Imperial Guard Air Cavalry
Matt tell us how to use flyers for the Guard . . . 35
The Chase
Sister of battle short story . . . 42 On the Wings of an Angel
We show off Leon’s great army . . . 48 Epic Basic Training
Robert gives some tactical strategy . . . 54
The Purgin of Cervium II
Epic battle report . . . 57 Engines of Destruction
Modelling big machines for Epic . . . 70 London Doubles Tournament 2007
Peter reports from the tournament . . . 73 A Clash on Ylvair
A conflict between Night Lords and Tau . . . 76 Next Issue Teaser . . . 88
story
The
Angel
&
the
Aquila
Another day casts its mark into the annals of time, but it is one that would rather be forgotten, left to linger amongst hundreds of thousands of other days. It is the 41st millennium. The galaxy lies stricken in an abyss of night and eternal darkness, the shadows only breaking to allow the warm spread of light from neighboring stars. Much like light itself, hope is scarce, a vague reference that is unknown to billions. There is war in the galaxy, an age of strife and bloodshed, the soil of planets turning red with spilt life to mimic the tones of the burning suns. Billions die every minute, every day, yet the balance on which the galaxy sits does not even feel the tremors of death and decay. Amid the seas of rolling ethereal tides lies Terra, the seat of mankind and throne to their God.
This rotating ecosystem spawned forth the race of man, releasing them on their everlasting crusade to conquer the stars. It is also the origin of the Emperor. Intertwined in earth’s endless layers of hive cities and the living flesh that inhabits them, lies the Imperial Palace, a complex that reaches kilometers into the atmosphere and that covers entire continents. Its flying buttresses and dark, dusted halls reflect eons long forgotten. The palace is a symbol that mirrors the struggle of humanity reflecting the scars of war and violence. At its center lies a massive, domed chamber displaying row upon row of standards. The weathered banners waft in the stale air, displaying the accounts of victorious armies now long gone. Among the relics and artifacts lies an even older being; the living corpse of the God-Emperor.
Like a pantheon constructed in honor of ancient gods, the Emperor is encased in a Golden Throne, the epitome of human technology, capable of maintaining life so that he will never die.In this immortal casing of metal and sorcery lies the personification of hope, hope that everyone worships, but have never seen. The Emperor is venerated upon a million worlds and given reverence to by legions. Bound by which they obey, regiment after regiment of the Imperial Guard march forth to war that is now so commonplace, the mighty Adeptus Astartes lending their fighting strength to those too weak and the oratories of the Ecclesiarchy drown out entire worlds. All serve the Emperor, united in their cause, united in survival. The delicate thread with which
mankind is held together is the Emperor, his life force extending to the furthest reaches of the galaxy in the form of the Astronomican. A thousand psykers echo their death throes every waking second as they are mentally bound to the Emperor, the ritual casting their souls into the darkness. This beacon of light pierces the galaxy, uniting all to the Imperial Creed.
The Emperor, immortal in age, continues his eternal vigilance amongst the stars under a double headed golden Aquila, the Cherubium angels fluttering overhead, swinging censers that spread forth their soothing faith.
modelling
ADDICTED
TO
CHAOS
A
dam Smith chronicles the development of his chaos
rabble into a competitive force to be reckoned with.
Last issue you may recall my chaos army consisting of nothing but the finest Space Crusade chaos miniatures, led by a lord of disrepute. Well, it may have only been a few months, but much has changed since then. Mighty warriors have risen and fallen, powerful lords have been sacrificed, swapped, and more often than not sold on eBay for vast sums of cash!
T
h e
T
a l e
of
e
v i l
T
ycho
(
T h e
h a n dsom e
)
Pretty though it may have been, with three chaos marine squads, three dreadnoughts, three obliterators, some havoc-like chosen and a kai gun armed lord, the initial chaos army must have been one of the dullest, most regimented forces ever constructed.
The army sat, it shot, and then the dreadnoughts went crazy. While it was funny watching them blood frenzy and kick a carnifex to death, more often than not when
the dreadnoughts were in trouble, the whole army was in trouble. Close combat was not something they enjoyed like good, honest chaos marines. Evil Tycho, evil and awesome as he may have looked, was about as offensive as a wet hanky.
T
h e
T
a l e
of
l
or d
s
uav ius
(
T h e
cowa r d
)
The first changes began to occur under the new leadership of sissy and all-round nancy-boy Lord Suavius Mojo, armed with a dark blade and daemonic speed as a cheap and effective fighter.
Those crazy dreadnoughts were given close combat weapons in place of their missile launchers and became more infuriated than ever, but that was okay, because now close combat was something to be enjoyed. A brand spanking new defiler was added to the mix, designed to rain death down upon my doomed foes.
Each chaos marine squad was given a mighty champion to lead them with powerfist and bolt pistol into glorious, bloody, combat.
The real let down was Lord Suavius himself. My friends soon coined the phrase ‘daemonic slow’ whenever I rolled for my extra
movement, especially when he encountered terrain and tripped a mere 2” with regular hilarity. In fact, the only time
Firebase • issue • July 2007
modelling
ADDICTED
TO
CHAOS
A
dam Smith chronicles the development of his chaos
rabble into a competitive force to be reckoned with.
Last issue you may recall my chaos army consisting of nothing but the finest Space Crusade chaos miniatures, led by a lord of disrepute. Well, it may have only been a few months, but much has changed since then. Mighty warriors have risen and fallen, powerful lords have been sacrificed, swapped, and more often than not sold on eBay for vast sums of cash!
T
h e
T
a l e
of
e
v i l
T
ycho
(
T h e
h a n dsom e
)
Pretty though it may have been, with three chaos marine squads, three dreadnoughts, three obliterators, some havoc-like chosen and a kai gun armed lord, the initial chaos army must have been one of the dullest, most regimented forces ever constructed.
The army sat, it shot, and then the dreadnoughts went crazy. While it was funny watching them blood frenzy and kick a carnifex to death, more often than not when
the dreadnoughts were in trouble, the whole army was in trouble. Close combat was not something they enjoyed like good, honest chaos marines. Evil Tycho, evil and awesome as he may have looked, was about as offensive as a wet hanky.
T
h e
T
a l e
of
l
or d
s
uav ius
(
T h e
cowa r d
)
The first changes began to occur under the new leadership of sissy and all-round nancy-boy Lord Suavius Mojo, armed with a dark blade and daemonic speed as a cheap and effective fighter.
Those crazy dreadnoughts were given close combat weapons in place of their missile launchers and became more infuriated than ever, but that was okay, because now close combat was something to be enjoyed. A brand spanking new defiler was added to the mix, designed to rain death down upon my doomed foes.
Each chaos marine squad was given a mighty champion to lead them with powerfist and bolt pistol into glorious, bloody, combat.
The real let down was Lord Suavius himself. My friends soon coined the phrase ‘daemonic slow’ whenever I rolled for my extra
movement, especially when he encountered terrain and tripped a mere 2” with regular hilarity. In fact, the only time
he did run fast was when a tzeentchian sorcerer was lobbing bolts of change his way shortly before he was gobbled up by a summoned Christmas turkey.
T
h e
c
om i ng
of
c
a r nage
The Carnage tournament was coming up and after all my important units were blown apart by railguns against Luke’s Tau army, I was setting my sights on the highly coveted wooden spoon.
A week before the tournament (why do epiphanies always come at the last minute?) I decided I would take a winged daemon prince with a dread axe, boosted strength, and boosted toughness. I chose Be’lakor of course! I always liked the model and prefer his sleek daemonliness over some bloated chaos marine daemon prince any day. How Lord Suavius was elevated to daemonhood for such cowardice one can only guess, but the chaos gods are very fickle. I also dropped one of
my three obliterators and swapped another dreadnought for a more stable heavy support choice in the form of a classic predator with autocannon turret and lascannon sponsons. Woefully ineffective I was told, but what the hell.
h
ere’
smy finalarmyforc
arnage:
Daemon Prince Suavius:
Dread axe, close combat weapon, mark of chaos
undivided, daemonic stature, daemonic flight, daemonic aura, daemonic resilience, daemonic strength
9 Chaos Androids (Chosen):
6 with bolters, 3 with autocannons, tank hunter skill 2 Stalker Class Dreadnoughts (Obliterators):
Obliterator weapons and powerfists (X3) 8 Chaos Space Marines:
Including a champion with bolt pistol and powerfist. The rest of the squad is armed with bolters, 1 plasma gun, and 1 missile launcher Predator MKI:
Autocannon turret, lascannon sponsons, extra armour, smoke launchers
Abomination Class Dreadnought:
Twin-linked lascannon. ancient STC design (counts as mutated hull), extra armour Stalker Class Defiler:
7
Firebase • issue • July 2007
a
n d
h er e
’
s
how
iT
w e n T
:
g
a m e
1
d
irea
vengerThemede
ldarWe shot at each other until the game devolved into a massive combat in the centre of the board. The battlefield was strewn with bodies and wrecked vehicles. His army was a bloody mass, while I had only lost my daemon prince and one chaos marine unit.
17-3
g
a m e
2
a
llinfilTraTingc
haosm
arinesandloTsof daemons.
It all started beautifully with me drowning him in superior firepower, even wiping out his obliterators on the first turn; then all three of his daemon units charged in, attacking one chaos marine squad near the centre. My whole army screamed “Get ‘em!” and joined the combat, wiping out the daemons, then finishing off the rest of his guys with superior numbers and great rolls from the daemon prince in combat.
20-0
g
a m e
3
v
eryfasTT
yranidarmyThe scenario was escalation and it was clear from the start I didn’t have enough firepower to put him down or enough mobility to get away and keep shooting. It didn’t help that there was so much terrain, so there was nowhere to hole up and hose him down as he advanced. There was some fine lascannon shooting that nearly killed his flying hive tyrant before a dreadnought finished him off in combat (even after being penetrated!). I just couldn’t cope with his numbers and once he got the warriors and raveners in combat, it was all over. I really needed some bikers with flamers in this one. 0-20
g
a m e
4
c
haosm
arinesOur armies were quite similar, though he had a pumped up lord on a bike and some tank hunting terminators ready to summon bloodletters. I lost this one on a lack of mobility. In the last few turns I ended up running towards his deployment zone as he ran towards mine. I got a dreadnought in, while he got his terminators and bloodletters in, earning him a massive amount of points. There wasn’t much I could do in this one because of his lord keeping the daemon prince away from where he was needed most (which was killing terminators and blood letters).
3-17
g
a m e
5
T
housands
onsI got to choose the mission and I chose cleanse simply because I hadn’t played it, I decided to set up a nice firebase because my opponent had no blast weapons…apart from wind of
chaos on his prince. I regularly play against a Thousand Sons army, so I knew how to hit him where it hurts! I bought him a pint afterwards.
20-0
Total score: 60/100
I was very pleased with how my army performed. My daemon prince did me proud in every game, as did the predator which was constantly overlooked due to its odd armament….until an enemy vehicle became a smoking heap of wreckage! I was concerned about having three eight-man chaos marine squads, but their numbers let them soak up a lot of damage. You can get by on just missile launchers, although lascannons would have been preferred against tyranid zoanthropes and chaos obliterators. One squad always seemed to be too far away from the action, or out of range, or just unable to get involved more. I think a unit of bikes with a powerfist and two flamers would be an ideal replacement, especially against those dire avengers, tyranids, and for general objective grabbing.
e
x pa n di ng
T h e
a
r m y
We’ve got a campaign coming up in my little gaming group, so having 2,000pts to field could become a necessity and opens up opportunities for those cool looking units that don’t really do that much apart from eating up lots of points and dying in droves -terminators and possessed of course!
I also purchased a couple of chaos spawn because they’re cute, great at catching krak missiles and saving precious chaos marines from being splattered. I’ve also ordered some bikers for those much needed flamers and several daemon horrors simply because I like the look of them.
T
h e
p
aT h
T
o
r
u i n
I’m sure you know that it’s not long now until the release of the new Chaos Space Marines codex. So with a carry case packed with full size squads and a variety of well equipped units, I can say I’m sitting very comfortably. Veteran skills may go, daemon weapons may be toned down and you’ll probably need ten-man squads to gain access to heavy weapons, but if you have a balanced and well rounded force, there’s nothing to really worry about.
Judging by the new point costs in the Dark Angels codex, I predict that my 1,500pts army list will look something like this:
Firebase • issue • July 2007
Daemon Prince Suavius: Daemon weapon, mark of chaos undivided, daemonic stature, daemonic flight, daemonic aura, daemonic strength, daemonic resilience. Abomination Class Dreadnought: Twin-linked lascannon, smoke launchers 10 Chaos Space Marines: Including a champion with bolt pistol and powerfist. The rest of the squad is armed with
bolters,1 plasma gun, and 1 missile launcher 10 Chaos Space Marines:
Including a champion with bolt pistol and powerfist. The rest of the squad is armed with bolters,1 plasma gun, and 1 missile launcher 5 Chaos Space Marine Bikes:
Including a champion with a powerfist. The squad carries two flamers.
Predator MKI:
Autocannon turret, lascannon sponsons, smoke launchers 10 Chaos Androids (Havocs):
6 with bolters, 4 with autocannons
3 Stalker Dreadnoughts (obliterators): Choice of obliterator weapons and powerfists
Overall, not much change. I’ve lost the defiler, gained an
obliterator and some extra men in my chaos marine squads. I chose to take a squad of bikers instead of ten more marines, but I could easily take them instead. The loss of extra armour is a bit of a blow, as is mutated hull on the dreadnought. Removal of the tank hunter skill
from the havocs is rather worrying if I ever face an armour 14 vehicle, but my lascannons should be able to deal with that. It’s not all bad; I did get an extra autocannon! The best news of course is that everyone comes with a bolter, bolt pistol, and chainsword as standard; this is perfect for when the whole army needs to bundle into close combat and overwhelm the foe with sheer numbers.
I’m really proud of my chaos space marine army. We’ve had our good times, mowing down hapless imperial guardsmen, and our bad times, like having our heads torn off by tyranids, but every game has been awesome and I can’t wait for what the new codex has in store!
In the meantime, I’ve only filled half of my mighty carry case. I wonder what I’ll fill the other half with?
11
12
Firebase • issue • July 2007battle report
The
Kymrian
Final Stand
s
ce na r io
The self-styled Liche Priests of Kymri have in mind to create a legion of zombie-Tyranids to join the mighty hoard of the Desert of Undeath. To this end, the Tomb Kings have commanded them to raise countless corpses of long-dead Astartes to attack the aliens. Hive fleet Bonbon has sensed powerful warp energies in the desert of Kymri and is swarming onto its scorching sands to investigate. Each army is trying to take out the leaders who control the mindless minions of the enemy hoard.
To reflect the background for the battle (and to make the game as fun as possible!) Phil and Neil came up with the following special rules:
· Tyranids: Termagaunts benefit from the Sustained Assault rule. · Chaos: At end of each turn, Aspiring Champions may attempt to resurrect D6 fallen skeletons in their unit by passing a psychic test.
· Victory points are awarded for models destroyed, plus double points for destroying ‘living’ chaos models (i.e. the Aspiring Champions) and Tyranid synapse creatures.
a
r m y
l isTs
T
h e
h
oa r d
of
K
y mr i
, d
e serT
of
u
n de aT h
(T
h e
l
osT
a n d
T h e
d
a m n ed
, p
hi l
)
hQ:
Sekhment, Tomb King of Kymri – Aspiring Champion Mark of ‘Khorne’, rage of ‘Khorne’, daemonic mutation, daemonic talons, daemonic visage, spiky bits, frag grenades (leads the yellow unit of plague zombies) Osiris, Tomb King of Kymri – Aspiring Champion
Mark of ‘Khorne’, ‘axe’ of Khorne, ‘banner’ or rage, daemonic strength, daemonic visage, bolt pistol, frag grenades,
meltabombs (leads the red unit of plague zombies) Nephthys, Liche Priest of Kymri – Aspiring Champion
Mark of ‘Tzeentch’, bolt of change, four thrall wizards, eye of ‘Tzeentch’, warp talisman, daemonic strength, power weapon, bolt pistol, meltabombs
(leads the black unit of plague zombies)
Anubis, Liche Priest of Kymri – Aspiring Champion
Mark of ‘Tzeentch’, gift of chaos, four thrall wizards, warp talisman, warp focus, powerfist, bolt pistol, teleport homer (leads the blue unit of plague zombies) [The Lost and
the Damned can take up to three Aspiring Champions per HQ slot to lead units of mutants (zombies) or traitors. The marks of the chaos powers are less powerful than those available in Codex: Chaos Space Marines.]
13
Firebase • issue • July 2007
Troops:
15 Plague zombies
Close combat weapons, frag grenades 15 Plague zombies
Close combat weapons, frag grenades 15 Plague zombies
Close combat weapons, frag grenades 15 Plague zombies
Close combat weapons, frag grenades 10 Gibbering hoards
10 Gibbering hoards
eliTes:
5 Rubric terminators of the Thousand Sons
Mark of Tzeentch, combi-bolters, power weapons Isis, aspiring champion of Tzeentch with
combi-melta, chainfist, wind of chaos
fasT aTTacK:
6 Chaos hounds 6 Chaos hounds
heavy supporT:
Defiler
Mutated hull, indirect fire, smokes, searchlight [1749 points, 110 models]
h
i v e
f
l e eT
B
on Bon
(T
y r a n ids
, n
ei l
)
hQ:
Brood Lord
Extended Carapace, Toxin Sacs, Flesh hooks + Genestealer Bodyguard
8 Genestealers, Extended Carapace
Troops:
16 Hormaguants Toxin Sacs 16 Hormaguants Toxin Sacs 16 Hormaguants Toxin Sacs 15 Termaguants Fleshborers 15 Termaguants Fleshborers 15 Termaguants FleshborerseliTes:
4 Tyranid Warriors Extended Carapace, Leaping, Scything Talons, Rending Claws 4 Tyranid Warriors Extended Carapace, Leaping, Scything Talons, Rending Claws 2 Lictors1
Firebase • issue • July 2007fasT aTTacK:
Ravener
Scything Talons, Rending Claws Ravener
Scything Talons, Rending Claws
heavy supporT:
2 Zoanthropes
Warp blast, Synapse [1749 points, 116 models]
s
eT
u p
Phil and Neil had agreed to deploy their hoards down the opposite long table edges, 24” apart, mainly because it was the easiest way to get 226 models on the table!
Phil deployed his defiler, Thoth the Unseen, behind a rock pillar on his far right flank. The four units of skeletons (plague zombies) with their Aspiring Champions lined up behind the two snake swarms (gibbering hoards) with the skeletal horses (chaos hounds) protecting each flank. The allied Thousand Sons rubric terminators waited in the warp, ready to deep strike.
Neil Deployed his horde on mass, a front line of termaguants spaced in three units across the board, each with a hormaguant brood behind. His zoanthropes both took station on his far left while both warrior broods deployed in the centre. Finally the broodlord and genestealer retinue infiltrated on Neil’s far right, on the board edge and just over 18” away from Phil’s far flank.
Maybe it was just because they were pink, but there did seem to be an awful lot of Tyranids ready to charge across the desert, and the teeming undead of Kymri are
1
Firebase • issue • July 2007
unaccustomed to being outnumbered. Neil and Phil readied their colour-coordinated dice (that’s devotion to an army theme for you) and prepared for the clash of the two hoards. Only one thing was certain – this was going to be carnage!
T
u r n
1
p
hil(c
haos)
Phil won the roll for first turn and took it. The undead hoard started shambling across the shimmering sands. Plague zombies always move as if in difficult terrain, but they were obviously keen to get stuck in today as Phil rolled three 5s and a 6 for their movement. The skeletal horses on the left flank headed towards to infiltrating genestealers, hoping to tempt them into range of the skeletal hoard.
The defiler spat a shell high into the air from its battle cannon, blasting apart a Tyranid warrior, some termagaunts and a hormagaunt. Nephthys, the Aspiring Champion with the bolt of change psychic power, hurled crackling warp lightning across the desert to wound a zoanthrope. Eager to finish off one of the synapse creatures so early in the battle, he started sacrificing thrall wizards to cast more
bolts of change. But Nephthys was too bold with his dabbling in the immaterium and despite the protection of a warp talisman his mind was obliterated by a nameless terror of the warp!
KILL COUNT: Tyranids 1, Chaos 6
n
eil(T
yranids)
The pink hoard surged forward. Neil sent the genestealers ahead to assault the skeletal horses. The two that survived turned and galloped into the desert. Also on the Tyranid right flank, the hormagaunts ploughed into the snake swarm shielding the yellow and blue-armoured
skeletons, ate their way through part of it and engaged the yellow skeletons behind. Things had not got off to a great start for Phil!
1
Firebase • issue • July 2007T
u r n
2
p
hil(c
haos)
Again the skeletons showed zeal for battle when Phil rolled 6s for the movement of both the blue and red units. But the black unit, now leaderless, only staggered forward 2”. The defiler’s battle cannon killed one more warrior, eliminating another of the aliens’ connections with the Hive Mind. Meanwhile, Anubis laid into the hormagaunts with his gift of chaos power. Unbelievably, at the end of the psychic carnage, four gaunts had been transformed into statuesque spawns of chaos at the expense of all four thrall wizards and the sorcerer himself! The Kymrians had lost both their pyskers to the perils of the warp by the middle of turn two!
On the right flank the second skeletal horse unit slowly advanced towards the Tyranid line and charged head long into the termagaunt brood screening the zoanthropes. Unfortunately for Phil the termaguants suffered minimal casualties, and in return chased down and wiped out the entire skeletal horse unit in an orgy of strength 3 death.
In the combat on the chaos left flank, the Tyranids sliced up two swarms of snakes and two skeletons. The skeletons and their champion answered by killing four gaunts. The chaos spawns rolled a massive 20 attacks but even after forcing Neil to take 13 armour saves, only five
Tyranids died because of the limit of the spawns’ kill zone. After combat resolution however, the fearless hormagaunts had been wiped out. The yellow skeleton unit consolidated backwards and Sekhment succeeded in resurrecting both casualties. The blue skeletons (including the newly created spawns) prepared to face the genestealers.
KILL COUNT: Tyranids 23, Chaos 25
n
eil(T
yranids)
Suddenly, genestealers weren’t the blue skeletons’ only concern as a lictor appeared on the rock stack behind them! Meanwhile the pink hoard continued to surge forward. Determined to silence the defiler’s battle cannon, the zoanthropes opened fire with their warp blasts. They were, however, no match for the scorpion-robot’s armour. The
17
Firebase • issue • July 2007
termagaunts’ fleshborers killed four bases of the snakes on Neil’s left and all but one base on his right, largely thanks to Phil’s appalling instability rolls!
To the left of Neil’s line, the skeletons in black were assaulted by warriors, gaunts and raveners, while termagaunts made short work of the remaining swarm base. On the Tyranids’ right, three spawn and
no less than 11 skeletons were cut down by the combined charge of genestealers, warriors, lictor and termagaunts! The minions of undeath took no lives in return and even more of the pink aliens piled in! Things were not looking good for the forces of chaos – some help from their allies would be appreciated!
KILL COUNT: Tyranids 48, Chaos 25
T
u r n
3
p
hil(c
haos)
Right on time, the Thousand Sons terminators appeared out of the warp. The teleport homer carried by Anubis hadn’t lasted to turn three, but the rubrics arrived safely next to the zoanthropes on Phil’s beleaguered right flank. Meanwhile at the other end of the battlefield, the yellow and (as yet
1
Firebase • issue • July 2007undamaged) red skeletons prepared to charge in from the left and centre of the battle line respectively. The defiler moved forward and dropped another shell on the termagaunts in front of it, and the terminators squeezed the triggers of their c o m b i - b o l t e r s even as they stepped onto the sand. Their champion Isis also unleashed his wind of chaos to fell a zoanthrope and some more gaunts.
The remaining snake swarm slithered into combat with the termagaunts near the centre of the battlefield. Both red and yellow-armoured skeletons threw themselves into the fray on Phil’s left. The reds achieved remarkably little despite vast numbers of attacks, but the yellow skeletons led by Sekhment avenged their fallen comrades by slaying seven genestealers. The snakes and termagaunts held each other in a deadlock, but the blue skeletons were dwindling, and the black ones were overwhelmed by the combined attacks of the warriors, gaunts and raveners.
KILL COUNT: Tyranids 64, Chaos 41
n
eil(T
yranids)
Neil’s second lictor appeared from the rock formation on the left flank of the defiler, while the terminators quickly found themselves surrounded by a sea of chittering pink. The zoanthrope’s warp blast scored a glancing hit on the defiler but the mighty Thoth shrugged off the damage. The termagaunts unleashed their fleshborers on the terminators who passed eight armour saves to remain undamaged.
The victorious warriors headed off towards the red-armoured skeletons engaged in the massive melee on their right. They charged in with a scream, but Osiris and the red skeletons’ blood was now
up and 12 Tyranids (including three warriors) fell. 15 skeletons were shattered in return but six were later resurrected.
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Firebase • issue • July 2007
The newly-revealed lictor charged the defiler and immobilised it, but received a wound for its trouble and sneakily jumped back 10” to its rocky hiding place. The raveners and termagaunts
charged the
terminators unleashing an unbelievable 85 attacks! But Thousand Sons terminators
are almost indestructible and only one fell! In return they slew a ravener and two termagaunts.
Meanwhile the snakes broke the deadlock against the termagaunts causing 10 wounds from their 15 attacks – one snake
base died in exchange for seven gaunts. Frantic combat ensued across the desert with almost every model fighting for its (un)life and Phil started to hope that things might be looking up for the chaos hoard.
KILL COUNT: Tyranids 81, Chaos 64
T
u r n
4
p
hil(c
haos)
All of Phil’s units were now engaged in combat (or immobilised or dead!). The defiler wounded the remaining zoanthrope with its reaper autocannon, so as not to risk hitting the terminators with a battle cannon blast. The rubrics themselves killed three termagaunts, suffering only a single wound themselves as the aliens’ rending claws failed to find the chinks in their ancient tactical dreadnought armour.
The mass of combat in the centre of the board continued with three Tyranid warriors falling to the victorious red skeletons. The aliens were rapidly running out of synapse creatures! The snakes finished off the termagaunts, but seven yellow skeletons fell (one to be raised again) while only one gaunt died and the lictor jumped back out of combat to safety.
KILL COUNT: Tyranids 89, Chaos 73
n
eil(T
yranids)
A fresh unit of termagaunts appeared on Neil’s table edge courtesy of the Sustained Assault rules. One lictor re-charged the yellow skeletons, and the other re-charged the defiler. This time the daemon engine’s armour was penetrated and Thoth the Unseen exploded in a shower of dust and smoke.
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Firebase • issue • July 2007The zoanthrope joined in the combat with the terminators, hindering their efforts with its Toxic Miasma. Two of the rubrics died, and Isis’s chainfist finished off the last zoanthrope even as the Aspiring Champion of Tzeentch was finally torn apart by the aliens’ claws. The fearless remaining rubric was overwhelmed and wiped out by combat resolution, but there were now no synapse creatures left alive on Neil’s left flank!
On his right flank, the last genestealer finally killed the last spawn, while the broodlord brought down four yellow-armoured skeletons. The hormagaunts killed another two and only two gaunts fell in return. The Tyranids were fighting well, but the fearless minions of undeath were soaking up a lot of punishment and the broodlord was now the only synapse creature left alive.
KILL COUNT: Tyranids 100, Chaos 76
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u r n
5
p
hil(c
haos)
In Phil’s turn all that was left was combat. The remaining snakes assaulted and killed the lictor. In a flurry of attacks, Osiris the Red dispatched the broodlord, the Tyranids’ last synapse creature! The only Tyranid left in that combat was the last genestealer and, bereft of its link to the hive mind, it fled. A tactical withdraw would now have been
the sensible move, but in the spirit of ‘having-fun-is-more-important-than-winning’, the remnants of the chaos hoard consolidated towards the newly-arrived gaunts and resurrected some of their casualties.
KILL COUNT: Tyranids 101, Chaos 77
n
eil(T
yranids)
Neil was now faced with a dilemma: With no synapse creatures, he had to decide whether to leave his remaining models lurking ineffectually on his left flank, or risk taking leaderships tests which would allow him to move if he passed, but make him flee if he failed. With Phil still having three units and two ‘living’ models surviving, the Tyranids were by no means victorious yet, so Neil gritted his teeth and picked up his dice…
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Firebase • issue • July 2007
He then proceeded to pass two Leadership 5 tests and move his gaunts 24” and 30” (after rolling 6’s on both their fleet of claw rolls!!!!!) across table to engage both the snakes and the remaining red skeletons! The skeletons were completely taken by surprise and 32 attacks wiped them out. The snakes managed to kill one termagaunt but lost five wounds. Only moments before, it had looked like the Lost and the Damned might have snatched victory from the slavering jaws of defeat, but the swiftness of the Great Devourer should never be underestimated!
KILL COUNT: Tyranids 123, Chaos 79
T
u r n
6
p
hil(c
haos)
Sekhment led the last of the yellow-armoured skeletons in a final charge against the hormagaunts but lost the combat. The snakes and termagaunts drew, causing one wound each.
KILL COUNT: Tyranids 137, Chaos 86
n
eil(T
yranids)
Finally, the ravener arrived, jumping in and finishing the snakes off. The remaining skeletons were surrounded and pulled down into the dust from whence they had come.
The hoard of Kymri was wiped out, but there was only a handful of leaderless Tyranids left on the battlefield.
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Firebase • issue • July 2007r
e su lT
Tyranids: 2158 victory points Chaos: 1906 victory points 236 Dead Models!
Solid victory to Hive Fleet Bonbon [R]
p
hil(l
osTandThed
amned)
Unlike in some publications, in FIREBASE the featured army doesn’t have to win the battle report (you see – I was just loosing to making a point, honest)! I think I could have held Neil to a draw by getting out of range of his forces in turn five, but where would be the fun in that? Neil is a great guy to play against, and I knew I’d have my work cut out facing his tournament army with my background-driven one – but then I had beaten them last time! But results aside, this was a fantastic, epic battle. For me, the best thing in this hobby is to play with two well-painted armies on a nice-looking board. And with over two hundred models being fielded, it certainly was quite a spectacle!
I pretty much used my standard tactics against the pink hoard, and last time I played Neil they’d served me very well. So what went wrong this time? Well, I’m not a great tactician, but on reflection I don’t think I should have taken first turn. Because I’m used to being shot at, I
automatically grab first turn given the chance, so that I can try and get to grips with the enemy a bit quicker. If I’d made Neil go first, I think I’d probably have got more charges in and those extra attacks would have been a great help against the pink hoard.
Another mistake I made was to bunch my army up too closely so that Neil was able to fight through my first wave and engage the second before they got a chance to charge in. I’m not used to an enemy having enough attacks to plough through my snakes so quickly. Also, when you have to take difficult terrain tests all the time, it goes against the grain not to move the full allowance, so the skeletons’ speediness in turns one and two wasn’t so helpful this time! The skeletons’ durability (toughness 4, 4+ save and fearless) is always a pleasure to watch (and it’s much better when they die in combat than to rapid firing bolters!) although I have seen them do more damage.
Losing both my sorcerers to Perils of the Warp attacks was gutting, but very funny too! The warp talismans give them a chance to re-roll one psychic test each per game, but it wasn’t enough. (Maybe I should go easy on the thrall wizards, but I think its well worth the risk, if only to see the panic on your opponent’s face when you unleash five bolts of change in one shooting phase!) It’s safe to say this was their worst ever performance – and this time they were giving away double victory points! In a game like this, loosing two combat monsters before they stood toe to talon with the enemy wasn’t terribly helpful! Having said that, they both went with a bang, showing some of their worth and providing great entertainment for those watching!
I don’t often field Chaos Space Marine allies with this army but it was fun to have another, highly elite element in the force. And Thousand Sons terminators are just so rugged! Not only do they have the standard 2+ armour save or 5+ invulnerable save, but they’ve got 2 wounds each and they’re fearless! I was amazed at how many Tyranids it took to bring them down. Maybe it’s time to get my Thousand Sons army out again, and their sorcerers don’t have to take psychic tests…
n
eil(T
yranids)
Munch, munch, munch, mmm plenty of calcium for the Hive Fleet tonight! That I have to say was probably the most bloody game of 40k I have ever played, if not just for sheer amount of kills (and I have played a fair number of guard hordes as well), 236 dead models! That’s more than both armies started with (due to Phil’s resurrection and my sustained assault).
Tactics wise, I don’t feel there is much I really did wrong, I have played with this army for several years now and even came close to
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Firebase • issue • July 2007
winning the 40k GT with it, so its safe to say I know it inside out. What did worry me though were Phil’s skeletons. Last time we played I underestimated their resilience (T4 and a 4+ save is a good as my Warriors), which coupled with the large amount of attacks they generate meant they ploughed straight through my force. I was determined not to let this happen again so I concentrated my opening charges into single skeleton units with nearly half my army to each unit respectively! This meant I hammered both units so hard that only initiative denial in combat by Phil (removing casualties so that units lower down on the initiative step are no longer in base-to-base so therefore cannot attack) stopped them been completely annihilated by the charge.
One big factor in this game had to be the resurrection rule for Phil. It meant that despite the horrific casualties he initially suffered, he slowly began to claw back in the war of attrition that the game became and took the lead once he finally brought down all my synapse creatures. Without this it would have been very one-sided and dull I believe, which is why we included it and GOD DAMN (sorry Phil!) it nearly cost me the game!
Also, a special mention has to go to Phil’s terminators, truly the unit of the battle. They took 84 attacks (10 of which where rending) on my initial charge and didn’t loose a single model! They then proceeded to hold an entire flank single-handedly for three turns until finally their armour failed them; truly the stuff of legends, and testament to why terminators are among the best troops in the game.
But ‘Karma’ balances everything out and in this case it was my turn 5: Faced with no synapse I had a simple choice, lurk and conserve the victory points of my three remaining broods (1 hormaguant and 2 termagaunt) and force a draw, or risk trying to pass leadership tests and be able to move them towards Phil’s remaining cluster of skeletons. I chose to go “balls out” (a Flame On term) and went for the Ld test (who wants to play for a draw when you can try and win?). I managed to pass two out of three of them despite testing on Ld 5! Then my near-mythical luck came into play and I rolled sixes for both fleet of claw tests (I am known for my uncanny ability to roll sixes when really needed) allowing the hormagaunts and termagaunts to charge up to 30” across the board and engage the remainder of Phil’s army. Needless to say without this happening it would have all been over.
The final result as you know was a win to me. It just goes to show that you should never give up hope no matter how badly things end up going, and just like the SAS say: “He who dares, wins”.
2
Firebase • issue • July 2007modelling
Back
by
Popular
Demand
Matt takes us through his new addiction and how he feeds it!
H
i, my names Matt Stevens and I managed to go straight
for 3 years. I lived a normal life. I didn’t touch any
solvents, glue – anything, I was totally clean. My wife and I
had a normal relationship, we talked and sometimes I even
listened. But then, it all started to go wrong. I made the
mistake of popping into a Games Workshop I’d happened to
walk past. I thought I could handle it. I thought I was strong
enough. I was wrong…
At some point in our lives we all give up the hobby for a bit. It’s just a fact. It doesn’t matter how long we give it up for – be it a week or a number of years, the end result is the same: we all come crawling back in the end. And so it was that two years ago I came stumbling back into the hobby and once again money began to drain out of my bank faster than I could earn it.
The range which lured me back into the hobby was the Eldar. At the time, they were not a popular army to use; they were a veteran’s army. With the revision of the codex they’ve become a lot more popular thanks largely to some shiny new miniatures and some tasty new rules. I knew that I’d want to tailor the army depending on what army I was fighting. Some people call this cheesy; to be honest I call it common sense. As a result every weapon mount in the army is magnetized, and I have five or six of each Eldar weapon designation all of which are interchangeable. The beauty of magnetized weapons was that (under the old codex rules at least) I could be a total starcannon chump whilst claiming I had simply ‘optimized the weapons for the task.’ Of course
that’s now all changed, heaven forbid there should be an army which is capable of utterly destroying humanities finest. I’m now a scatterlaser chump instead.
Magnetizing your weapons fit is much easier than it sounds, and has many advantages including saving you money (because you don’t have to buy more than one or two of each model). It also means you get the most out of the new plastic kits which come with a variety of weapon fits. I used 4x3mm rare earth (sometimes called neodymium) magnets, drilling holes in the main fuselage of the grav tanks, and using the magnet as the raised mount for the weapon. These magnets are readily available on Ebay and cheaper in bulk so get your friends in on the deal and split the costs. In hindsight I thin it would have been better to use thinner magnets and these days I use either 4x1mm or 3x1mm – both of which are more than strong enough to mount plastic and metal weapons. I got a bit carried away and also magnetized the cockpit windows, Vyper chairs and grav tank
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Firebase • issue • July 2007
turrets. Magnetizing also makes your army easier to transport, as many of the bits which stick out are easily removable for transport.
Some of my favourite models in the army are the warlocks. The inspiration for the poses comes from the late David Gemmell’s Rigante series of books. If you have not read them – you really should. In these books there is an army general called Jarasey who, even under enemy attack, directs his troops with his hands behind his back as if out for an afternoon stroll. I really wanted to embody this attitude in my army, that whatever happened on the battlefield the army would fight with calm and dignity. If only I was able to always play 40k with calm and dignity….
Another of my favourite models is the Banshee Exarch. I love the master of blades mini, and thought his was perfect for the exarch role. At puny str3 however he definitely needs the strength upgrade bestowed by his executioner, so a simple arm twist conversion and voila, he’s armed with a Klingon Batleth. The rangers were a later addition, purely because I loved the models. As with many later army additions you can probably see the difference in the painting standard. I really like how they turned out, particularly the two bare headed chaps.
With so many different models in the army, I felt it was important to tie them together. One of my favourite ways of doing this is not through colour selection but through the bases. I came up with this idea of making each model a unique, greenstuff base which could look like wraithbone. I figured that fluff-wise it could represent them defending their craftworld. It also complements the dark reds and blues I’ve used elsewhere in the army. The result is that even from a distance the army draws the eye and I’m really happy with them.
The army has taught me a few key lessons. Firstly, if you manage to give up this hobby successfully, then do not under any circumstances ever stray into a games-workshop. They have far too many shiny toys on display and you’ll never get out alive. Secondly it taught me that advanced techniques (they were advanced to me anyway) get much easier with practice – sometimes you just need to dive in. Sculpting, Non-metallic metals and magnetization are all within your grasp. The important thing is to take the plunge, and then just keep plugging away until you’re satisfied with the results. You can do it!
After looking at some of the wonderful model’s Rev has put together and painted I persuaded him to let us in on some of his painting secrets - Ed
2
Firebase • issue • July 2007r
e v
’
s
v
y per
r ecipe
:
I found the Eldar vehicles tested my painting skills the most. I am by no means a professional painter; I’m merely a keen gamer whose painting has improved over time. The large flat surfaces on the Vypers, Falcons and Serpents are far more punishing than say a guardian’s armour. That said, I’m pleased with how they have turned out, and here’s how I did it:
1) 2 light black undercoats of Chaos Black. I know people moan about GW sprays but used properly I’ve yet to find a better primer. Any past poor undercoats have been my fault, not shaking enough, rushing the job or doing it in the freezing cold or blistering heat.
2) As always Dry-brushing is your first port of call, as it makes a horrendous mess. I wanted to use the technique as little as possible (to push me to try more advanced methods) and as a result only a small portion of the underside was dry-brushed to pick out the ribbing on the chassis.
3) The real painting started with the armour base coat. The main body of the Vyper was a 75/25 mixture of Vallejo Scar Red (it’s slightly less purple than its GW counterpart Scab Red) and Chaos Black. As always the complex equation; “Big brushes = fewer brushstrokes visible + more time for TV” worked a treat.
4) I used a slightly different recipe for the Eldar vehicles than the infantry, due to the aforementioned punishing large flat areas. Where at this stage with the infantry I used a 100% Vallejo Scar Red highlight (albeit thinned slightly with water) I added a stage, and made the first highlight 95% Scar Red and 5% Chaos Black. This was mainly because I was petrified of the vehicle looking terrible (and lets face it with the current prices you have to get them right first time!) so I decided to add the layer to smooth the highlight. I pushed it from the edges – 2mm inside the edge, being careful to get it smooth (but not always managing!)
5) Next was the standard 100% Scar Red highlight, which was around the entire extent of the edges of the armour plates. I followed this with a 50/50 Scar Red / Citadel Blood Red mix around the corners and extreme edges. If there were any really extreme points (like the fins on the vipers) I did a tiny
100% Blood Red highlight – but there Were not many points I used it.
6) With the main body of the armour done I moved onto the ‘wraithbone’ areas (actually, although I’m going through one colour at a time I prefer to block out all my colours to begin with as I like to watch the vehicle taking shape.) My method for ‘wraithbone’ is fairly simple, It’s a 100% Citadel Bleached Bone base (my Bleached Bone is from the old Citadel hexagonal pots though).
7) The highlights for the wraithbone are simply a case of adding a little white each time until you get to nearly pure Skull White. I used roughly 5 levels of colour on the vyper bone sections (less on infantry) including the base coats. So I’d start 100/0 Bleached Bone; 75/25 Bleached Bone, Skull
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Firebase • issue • July 2007
White; 50/50, 25/50, and then 0/100 again on only the extreme points. I’ve found that Bleached Bone and Skull White are some of the easiest colours to learn how to wet blend with. They react well to water thinning and hide many errors.
8) Perhaps the most challenging part of the Eldar flyers are the glass canopies. I cannot stand clear canopies, and really wanted to paint them. The trouble was, the level of skill needed to attempt an SENMM finish was more than I had (and more than I have now!) I took ages and many attempts, but I’m happy with how they turned out. From a Chaos black undercoat I started with GW Regal Blue all over. While it was still wet I mixed a little black into the top corners of the window, much like you would when painting gems.
9) On this dark basecoat I took a pencil and drew the ‘horizon line’ along the bottom and sides of the glass canopy. I now had the task of blending up to the pencil line, from dark to a lighter blue. With my trusty ceramic tile palette I began the task of steadily layering Regal Blue up to and through Citadel Enchanted Blue mixed with a little Skull White. It was time consuming, and I had to go back time and again to repaint sections I’d gone wrong with or had rushed. That’s the sky portion of the reflection done.
10) Same again, but along the bottom sections using Citadel Scorched Brown nearly up to Bleached Bone. This bit was a real pain, as it’s a much thinner section to try and layer colours from light to dark, I had to use some pretty big leaps but got there eventually. The final stage was to paint a thin nearly black line (Scorched Brown / Chaos Black) between the sky / earth divide for definition. A little white line for the light reflection and there you have it. The canopies are possibly the most advanced technique I’ve tried, but it just goes to show if you have faith in yourself you can do anything!
11) That’s about it I think. The gems were pretty standard, save for a coat of gloss varnish at the end to bring out the shine. I also tried some OSL on the pilots within the flyers – I’m still not totally happy with them but they look ok for a first try! I also made all my bare faced Eldar ‘albinos’ with red eyes which makes them look pretty xenos scary on the field. The whole army is painted in a similar way.
I’d really encourage painters to step out of their comfort zones and try some new techniques, I did and it’s boosted my confidence a lot!
2
Firebase • issue • July 2007Tactica
HEAVY
ARMOUR
S
teady there, Soldier! The next 3 articles take us knee-deep
into Imperial Guard territory and how to use 3 of the
most difficult army builds; those of the Carapace armoured,
Blitzkrieg, and flying variety!
T
h e
a
dva n Tage s
of
i
mprov ed
a
r mou r
Carapace armour has a bad reputation amongst many guard players, and understandably so. It adds 20 points to the cost of every infantry unit in an army, and cuts down not only on the number of troops you can field, but the number of vehicles too. It is most likely that your carapace armoured guard will have few, if any, tanks in support, so
you will have to rely on your infantry to do the job. This is not a bad or impossible thing – the leman russ, while useful, will die to one well placed shot. The infantry platoon will not even notice the loss of one man.
So why take it, if it reduces your numbers? Simple, it increases survivability. With carapace armour, there is no longer a basic weapon in the game that will ignore your armour. Flak armour is ignored by bolters, pulse rifles, gauss flayers, and others besides. Now your infantrymen will shrug off bolt shells, ignore the green crackle of necron technosorcery, and laugh at the Tau’s feeble xenos weapons. In terms of percentages, your basic chance to save has leapt from 20% to 50% – an impressive increase in durability, I think you will agree.
In a nutshell, that is why you should take carapace armour. It massively increases the longevity of your infantry, and more than makes up for their lack of armour support and comparatively small numbers.
T
h e
u
se
of
c
ov er
While your troops are better protected than normal guardsmen, it is still imperative to make the best use of cover. This not only increases the survivability of your squads, but means that the heavier weapons which punch through your armour with ease (such as heavy bolters or rail rifles) are now less dangerous. In turn, your own squads can
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Firebase • issue • July 2007
fire at full effect for longer, and your own heavy weapons can have a better chance of silencing the enemy guns. Buildings, woods, walls, bunkers, trenches – if it’s cover and you can deploy in it or move to it, do so. Obvious, perhaps, but the temptation to walk through the open and rely on your carapace armour is very strong; resist it at all costs. Guardsmen, even ones in carapace, are not space marines. Finally, cover gives you a distinct advantage when the enemy finally makes it through your firepower and into combat with you.
c
lose
a
s sau lT
At some point in the game the enemy will close with you and begin hitting your troops about the head with a wide variety of sharp or blunt instruments. Here, you suddenly have an advantage – yes, even over dedicated assault units. This advantage is partly down to your armour, which will keep your squads in the fight longer (barring an abundance of power weapons, of course) and partly because the ten guardsmen who’ve just been attacked have 25 others in striking distance, and it’s your turn next. If you think you can, don’t be afraid to fix bayonets and charge into a combat. Your superior numbers and decent armour save are often enough to tip the balance in your favour – particularly if you’ve been assaulted in cover.
If you’re very lucky, you may even get to assault the enemy. Usually this is madness for basic guardsmen, but with the addition of a flamer to a few of your squads, and the support of an officer with a power weapon, you can give thanks to The God-Emperor and get some xenos
blood on your bayonets. Again, your best assets are your numbers and your armour. Coupled with a flamer and a burst of fire from some other assault weapons before you pile in (pistols on sergeants and most special weapons), you should have enough impetus to punch through into their lines. However, it’s best not to win the combat until your next turn – this prevents the enemy from shooting you to death.
Th e ma r K iv necrom u n da n paT T e r n la sr i f l e, or “musK e T ry”
The majority of your army has one of the most maligned weapons in the game. The humble lasrifle’s statline is not much to write home about, and on its own it has few things going for it. Have a look at your army, however. Count the number of models with a lasgun. If it is anything like my 1,500 point list, you’ll have somewhere in the region of 60-70 lasguns. That’s a lot of firepower, and at higher point levels it gets even sillier – a 3,000 point guard list has the potential, even with carapace armour, to field upwards of 150 lasrifles alone, never mind the heavy weapons!
Now, the key to using the lasgun effectively is to concentrate your fire on a particular target and kill it until it is dead. Your carapace armour will ensure that more of your men will survive a basic weapons duel than the enemy – yes, even against space marines or terminators – if you concentrate your fire. Ten space marines in a firefight against 30 or more guardsmen are doomed to lose. Not only do the guardsmen pump out over three times the shots, they don’t die to bolt shells thanks to the carapace.
If you’re shooting at a target, shoot at it squad by squad until its no more. Designate two or three squads (whatever you think will be needed – I usually assume that it will take one platoon of 35 guardsmen to kill a single squad of space marines) and as soon as it’s destroyed, move onto the next. If you have assumed that it will take four squads’ worth of fire to kill a unit, and it takes only three, add the fourth squad’s fire to the next target. Overkill is a good tactic when it comes to planning, but don’t actually fire your entire platoon at once. Not only does it result in a sudden shortage of dice – as few wargamers have over 100 d6 at their disposal – but it may prevent you from killing your next target.
So, take advantage of the extra durability given to your men by their armour, concentrate your fire by platoons, and chuckle as you out-shoot everyone else. To borrow from the great Schlock Mercenary, there is no such thing as overkill, only ‘open fire’ and ‘reload’. Winning firefights with the imperial guard boils down to putting more hot lead
