A Few Games of Combat Squads

So last night was game night, and we had our usual games of Combat Squads. I tried to kit out a rather standard Space Marine squad (8 Marines) kitted out with a lot of wargear. Unfortunately, the dice gods were against me and I couldn't really get any footing... so the orks just kept coming!

We found that while Orks are cheap and shoddy, they are also rather hard to put down. And a couple of lucky dice rolls (like Nicolai had!) would end up with a lot of dead marines due to their shooting. It's not something that needs to be fixed, it's just something that opponents need to be vary of when facing Orks.

It's still a work in process; lots of niggling small things keep appearing, but then that's the joys of playtesting. Next time we've all agreed on putting together lists with vehicles and see how that fares.

As I'm rather hooked up on getting Book of the Abritrator up and running (got a game to play tomorrow and a scenario to write!), there won't be that many updates for Combat Squads just yet. It's not that I've lost interest, but I'm a hard case OSC'er (Ooh-Shiny!-Complex) and right now Refuge's End has definately tickled my interest. There will be an additional update later on about the scenario (with download possibilities!) as well as the new and improved Quick Weapon List!

Till next update!

'Clarke' Pattern Exploration & Survey Rhino

While the Rhino is hailed as the workhorse of the Adeptus Astartes, it is none the less part of the massive STC database; accessible from any Forge World throughout the Imperium. While it is true that the Adeptus Astartes are the predominant users of this vehicle, many other branches of the Imperium utilize this rugged and reliable APC; such as the Adeptus Soroitas and the Adeptus Arbites. 

What many fail to realize is that once, on the fringes of the Imperium, many a Forge World will produce the vehicle for the highest bidder - creating a grey market for 'second-hand' Rhinos for any enterprising individual with a wish for an armored transport. 

Although the 'Clarke' Pattern is not a distinct pattern as such, it has come into such common usage on the fringes that many consider it a part of the Rhino family. Predominately used by Rogue Traders or any of the Adeptus Mechanicus subdivisions whenever they need a reliable transport for a survey or exploration mission, the 'Clarke' will do the job. 

Paintshop: Sgt. Telion

Just a quick update to showcase the first of my soon-to-come Marine army.

I was originally going to paint up a Space Marine Mercenary army; but seeing as I already painted a Rogue Trader army, using the Imperial Guard codex I figured it was about time to try and paint something that looked more like, well, a regular army.

And thus, this unnamed chapter was born. I really like these colours and I'm looking at how to incorporate all manner of chapter organisation marks on my Space Marines; currently I'm thinking that a mix of Blood Angel and Ultramarine chapters are the way to go: Alternate helmet colour for the sergeants; left shoulderpad in a different color to signify the unit type, left kneepad to signify the squad and finally some sort of company marking.

But instead of doing what I always do, namely pick a set number of points for my army, purchase and build it, then I'm going to start out with painting up a small Combat Squad consisting of some Sternguard Veterans - and maybe a Scout (as presented above).

Combat Squads are rather addictive! I spent most of last night rummaging about in all of my boxes of unpainted miniatures to see what I could find for a good Combat Squad (which netted me just about a full Witch Hunter Combat Squad!).

Anyway - I hope that I'll find a name for these marines soon enough. As their primary colours are earth-like I'm thinking that they should have a chaptername to reflect these colours... any suggestions?

5th Edition: Combat Squads Test Run

Duncan deploying his Eldar forces

Last night was club night. It's somewhat a bi-weekly affair in a community center where we, a group of roughly 25 members meet and greet and play games. Recently we have been playing a 5th edition league, but as it ended last Thursday we needed something new to fill the void of Thursday night gaming (and yes, that's why I chose to tinker with Combat Squads).

We were four attendants last night, all of us eager to try out Combat Squads. So, an hour to go before game night I figured I'd better type up the missions that I had rummaging about in my head; and they have been included in the new update over at the Arsenal. We found that some of them, of course, had a few kinks that needed correction. But other than that, the games went along just fine.

So fine, in fact, that everyone got to talk about what would be awesome to create; Inquisitorial warbands, Ork Kommandos, Space Marine Scout Teams, solo missions for Vindicares etc. All in all, people got to talking and now I've promised to keep typing until we've got a complete set of rules.

One thing that cropped up during my game against Nicolai was the I shall not Yield special rule for Grey Knights. It made a mess of things in regards to the Combat Squad Morale rules and the turn sequence. In essence, it became impossible to break the Grey Knights. Cinematically correct of course, but not too smart in regards to rules.

What we did was to allow the Grey Knights to roll for their Squad leader first. If he got up, then he had to roll the Morale test. If not, well, then there would be no Grey Knights on the scene and thus the game would end.

Oh, and being the defender in an ambush is harsh! Lesson learned, most definately. Especially if your opponent has a flame thrower!

5th Edition: First game of Combat Squads

Yesterday I had the great fortune of having a good friend of mine, Morten, pay me a short visit before his trip to Corsica. So, as a farewell gesture of sorts, we geeked out till we dropped and played a couple of games worth of Combat Squads.

The games became somewhat jumbled as after the first game (from which there's a battlereport) we got into a craze of making up various Combat Squads; which was a big part of the fun as we both like to tinker around. The important bit, however, is that Morten hasn't played Wh40k since 3rd Edition, so the first game was all about learning the rules really...

5th Edition: Combat Squads - 40k Skirmish System

Well, here we are then! The first real blog about Warhammer 40.000.

I'll keep it short this time around, I owe you readers that after that massive introduction I just posted.

I was inspired by Galaxy In Flames' and their excellent Special Operations: Killzone houserules; what Big Jim had conjured up was nothing short of being rather genious! However, there were a couple of niggles and irritations that kept cropping up. Some bad wording here and there and then, well, I have a knack for tinkering.

And thus I started to write Combat Squads. And it has slowly grown into nothing less than a monster!

Basically, the premise is that you create a small army, worth 200 points, in which each unit is a, well, a unit of one. If you've tried Kill Team or remember the old White Dwarf articles about Col. Schaeffers Last Chancers then you'll be well prepared for what Combat Squads is all about. If not, well check it out anyway!

If you're interested, then head on over to the Arsenal and have a look for yourself; oh and leave a comment or two if you have any suggestions on what might need rewording or fixing!

Welcome to Port Maw!

Welcome to the very first post of Port Maw; the post in which I, the author, welcomes you to my slice (along with a few fellow geeks) of the Dark Millennium.

So, what is Port Maw all about?

Basically, I just love the Dark Millennium setting; there's just something about it's blend of all things sci-fi, fantasy and horror that I can't shake. And I have tried, believe you me! But with that said, I'm not entirely happy about just playing the current edition of Warhammer 40.000 to get my 'fix'. It's not that it's a bad game (in fact it, alongside with Warhammer 40.000 2nd Edition, is probably the best edition ever!); it is just that it can't encompass all aspects of the setting that I love so dearly.

So what's a geek to do? Well, start a blog about it, obviously! And this is then where we get down to brass tacks.

So, what is Port Maw all about?

Boiled down it is a blog dedicated to the following games:

Warhammer 40.000 5th Edition - The current and most well known edition, and also one of the best mass skirmishes that I've yet to play. I have a couple of projects in mind for this edition and this edition will also be what the majority of the posts are going to be about.

Warhammer 40.000 2nd Edition - For all of it's faults, I still find myself coming back to this game, along with Necromunda the bastard child of 2nd Edition. This is what I prefer for my skirmish games; the amount of detail and freedom is just about right - and there is still a lot of the whackyness left over from the Rogue Trader era.

Epic Armageddon - Although I have yet to purchase an army or two for this, then Epic has always been very near and dear to my heart. I am considering picking up a whole slew of 6mm Space Marines and have a go at setting up some Warhammer 30.000 battles. Not nesscarily the Horus Heresy but more the whole campaign up to, and probably including, the Heresy.

Battlefleet Gothic - I have a few ships lying about, here and there, but I'm meaning to get into this game in earnest as soon as possible. It will go together hand-in-hand with all of the campaign ideas that I'm currently scetching out.

So there you have it, the various game systems that are going to be covered in this blog. But what are the subjects I hear you cry? Well, basically, stuff that has yet to be done. Be that a Lost & The Damned fandex, new campaign rules, tournament set ups, battle reports and what have you. Basically, anything but just your average powerbuild and rulebickerin' blog.

Let's see If I can keep my promises. Cheers, and welcome to Port Maw!