The Red Tide

Hi all.

As Gary mentioned, the stars have aligned to bring forth an unholy alliance. We both managed to get the same weekend off work (shift work - bah, humbug) and decided to team up for a doubles tournament.

Although my primary collection is my Red Scorpions I have, for a long time (longer than I've been collecting the Scorps to be honest), had a Khornate force for both fantasy and 40k. I fell out with fantasy years ago during 5th or 6th edition but always maintained some berzerkers and rhino APCs. Two or three years ago I was bitten by the chaos bug again and started expanding my collection. Not long after, the Daemonkin codex was released and personally I thought it was a really good book. Not for its power or competitiveness but for its very fluffy approach. Prior to its release the only way to summon khorne daemons to the table was by using sorcerers and this never sat well with me or, I think, the wider khorne player base. With Daemonkin we could get daemons without the hated magic (sorry, psychics) in a very Khornate way. The blood tithe mechanic really encapsulates what Khorne is all about. As your army dies or enemy units are destroyed, your army gets tougher. Let's all shout together - KHORNE CARES NOT FROM WHERE THE BLOOD FLOWS!

Very early on in my renewed devotion to the blood god the Cold Steel Mercs held the inaugural Champions of Chaos weekend. Most, if not all of us, have a chaos collection of greater or lesser size so we decided to battle it out to see who's top dog. Unfortunately for me (or Sladic more accurately - more on him shortly), I finished in last place and endured the humiliation of being locked in the Guilded Cage for a year (a real cage. Sladic was ritually locked in a small ornamental bird cage at the end of the weekend). He's been trying to redeem himself ever since.

So here we are. Although my collection is now quite reasonable, the Alliance tourney is 2k points of which each player has only a thousand points to play with. Gary and I decided not to be too strict in our list building, going for an overall theme rather than detailing what we should take.  We're going for a fast assault force. We realise that the psychic and shooting phases are where it's at in 40k at the moment but what the hell, it's all about the fun, right? Also, Khorne and Slaanesh! What could go wrong?

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...Sladic stood in the shadow of the throne, his wings furled, his horned head bowed. He dare not look up. He could feel the fury and anger buffeting him as though a storm raged about him. The sea of skulls stretched to the horizon all around, rising to an impossible mountain of bone before him. Atop the mountain,  sat on an enormous chair of brass and iron, Khorne pronounced his judgement.

'For your failure you will bet set a test. My servants have never before been so humiliated in the Trial of Champions. You have been raised to immortality not as a reward but so that you may endeavour for all eternity to try and please me. My thirst for blood and hunger for skulls is endless and there lies my amusement. You must reap such a tally that my appetite will be sated. We both know this can never be done yet you must try. Further, there is an added condition...'

Despite his fear Sladic could not help himself, the words were uttered before he could stop himself;

'You're fucking joking!'

The echos of the Blood God's laughter followed Sladic to the mortal realms. He hears them still.

Sladic, Ascended. Daemon Prince of Khorne, warp forged armour, daemonic flight, Goredrinker. 250

Gharkuul, the High handed Slayer. Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage. 275

PDF squads 1 & 2 (8 cultists each) 58 points each

Gorepack;

Red Claw - 3 chaos bikers, 1 melta gun (replaces twin linked bolters) 86

Red Fang - 3 chaos bikers, melta bombs for champion. 81

The Blood Hunters - 12 Flesh hounds. 192

Army shot

A thousand points on the nose.

Gary will no doubt be doing a round up of the weekend, maybe I will add some insights. I've known Gary for quite a while now, I'm sure at the very least we'll be having some rum inspired fun. 

See you soon.

1st Confrontation Alliances - The First and the Last.

The Great Game
The Realm of Chaos, is not merely the home of the Dark Gods, it is their battlefield, the arena of the great game of supremacy. The Chaos Gods are constantly at war with one another, vying for power amid the immaterial planes. Despite their myriad differences, the great Gods of Chaos have the same goal; total domination.
From time to time there arises a being, place, objective or event in the material universe that attracts the attentions of the Gods of Chaos. So important is this new element, so desired or so dangerous, that all rivalries are put aside in order for Chaos to take advantage of this opportunity.
But the dark Gods cannot stay their meddling hands, as their Champions march forth, the dark Gods pass down rituals to bind their cohorts.
And sometimes the ritual is of great import: "No Weapon, Iron or Steel shall you use, nor any Wooden Shaft, but only the natural Claws and long Fangs that we have given thee." And sometimes the ritual is petty and beneath contempt: "No Blues shall be worn, nor shall the Mauves and Purples be seen upon this field." In the immeasurable minds of the Dark Gods there is purpose that cannot be guessed and schemes unfathomable to the limited mind of mortals.
And the ritual shall be agreed, and it shall be binding, even unto the least creature, even unto the greatest.
Martial pride, knownst unto the first God, knownst unto the last. "You shall not use the Dark Magicks or Words of Power. And you shall bring unto me the greatest number of Souls I am due." So speaketh Khorne and Slaanesh. For when the Dark Gods have spoken, none can gainsay their word. And the battle shall begin......

Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated!

The endless toil of the dark gods' work would have left his soul heavy had he had one.

But a glimmer of purpose shone in the darkness

Finally the inspiration took him. ....he had work to begin!

The Path to Glory

Greetings Sinners!
With 8th edition just around the corner, now is not the time to be splashing out on an army project. Will the current Codices be usable? Will transports be any good? Will close combat get better? Will the game be any good?
No, now is definitely not the time to be starting a new project......or is it?

Battlefield Birmingham 11 - Sheee'la'sar's tale

Greetings Sinners!
I was hoping to do a full write up of last weekends tournament, but unfortunately the lighting was pretty dire, so I'm afraid it will be a quick and dirty report of how I got on and my thoughts on how the army played......

Nestor & Sheee'la'sar team up for Battlefield Birmingham

Greeting Sinners!
Once again, the call to war rings out across the sector. Eager to show off his new ride, Nestor Lustheart gathers his forces to battle with the Emperor's lapdogs, xenos and other unsavoury ne'er do wells.
With the majority of the Castigators' Cohorts hunting Black Templars around Cadia, our intrepid hero has called upon the services of Sheee'la'sar to aid him in his quest.....

Shadow Wars: Armageddon

Greetings sinners!
Could this be the 40k skirmish that I've wanted since 2nd edition?
It's no secret that I've thought that 40k was going in the wrong direction since 3rd edition. That's not to say that I haven't enjoyed 40k through all of the editions (okay, maybe 6th edition was a bit iffy), because I have.
No, the reason I think 40k has been going in the wrong direction is because it has long since stopped being a skirmish game and has started to resemble Epic.
Too many models, Flyers, Super Heavies & now Primarchs, have left me thinking "This isn't the game I signed up for all those many years ago."
Hopefully, that may all be about to change!