Death Watch by Nikki Kolls

While I have been playing 40K for a little over a year now, I only recently got to experience another side of the 40K universe – Deathwatch. While I am not normally into RPGs, my friends really seemed to have fun with it and always had fun stories of all of their heroic, and not so heroic moments. I decided not to join at first thinking I wouldn't be able to get into it, but slowly found myself being drawn into it as they fought on other worlds against various enemies. Mix in the stories of guns jamming at the worst possible moment and of heroes carrying their fallen comrades and I knew I had to give it a shot.

So I decided to buy the core rulebook and some dice and create a character. I rolled a Space Wolf of course – Bran Thunderbrew the Rune Priest. I rolled my back-story, stats, and filled in my character sheet the best I could without really knowing the core mechanics. Back-story complete, I built and painted my model in the Deathwatch black and magnetized all of his weapons. I read more of my core rule book and talked to a few friends about it. I was ready to go! Or so I thought.

My first mission had finally come. I had my character and brought my ‘Nids for the group to battle against. I was feeling pretty confident as my friend set up the battlefield.  We rolled for Initiative and took our turns. And then that confidence was gone as they asked “What would you like to do?”

I realized I had no clue.  I had no idea and 10 of my friends are staring at me to come to a decision. At that moment I didn't remember anything I had read and had no idea what the options were. I was told 3 different pages to turn to for reference. Between moving, actions, shooting, psychic powers, and skill checks it was so very different than anything I was used to. Add in all the math involved with these different actions and my brain was mush. I was a little overwhelmed and in all honesty, getting pretty frustrated.

Thankfully my friends were able to nudge me in the right direction and we were on course for our mission. After destroying some gargoyles and termagants, we were able to explore a wrecked aircraft and find the pilot. Brother Algrim Fangson carried the pilot back to his aircraft and supplied him with his grenades, and we were off to fight the horde of Hive Fleet Omnomnom.

As we begin to pick off the horde I started to remember more of my spells and weapon damage. This was just in time as we had to bust into a building surrounded by genestealers. After nearly killing another battle brother, I was able to actually kill one of them and help in the final parts of the mission as we raced back past the wrecked aircraft. The mission ended with a bang as the wrecked aircraft exploded, taking the Hive Fleet with it.

While it started off a little frustrating, I really did have fun with my first mission. I realized that I have a lot more research to do and cheat sheets to make, but once I’m more comfortable with the rules for my character, I think I’ll really enjoy it.  I feel that while the mission-based RPG limits a lot of character development, it does help someone like me who does not have the RPG background.  It gives me a goal to reach with my team, but also allows for me to build a unique character and have his decisions influence the end result.

In the end, I recommend Deathwatch for those who enjoy the 40K fluff even if you don’t think you would enjoy an RPG. While it does take a long time to set up and learn the rules, it makes for some great    stories with your friends and offers a new way to enjoy the hobby. I’m glad I decided to give a shot and hope to have more stories of my own in the near future!

-          Nikki Kolls

Ravenwing Command by Scott Sullivan

I've been playing for just over a year after the Dark Vengeance box set was release with the onset of 6th Edition.  Before picking it up I looked into the fluff of the different armies and really liked the secretive nature of the Dark Angels, so the box set was well worth the price.  Since then my army has expanded exponentially to include over 50 terminators, 30+ bikes, and at least 4 squads of marines.  There is also a slew of support, vehicles, and other fun units to be thrown into the mix.

                I've been running a Ravenwing army on and off for a few months now and have been really enjoying how they play, even if I don't have a high win percentage with them.  They have a good intimidation factor with the number of T5 models on the field, at the cost of model count though.  Their ability to move quickly and hit hard is a huge appeal to me.  They can shoot and assault with reckless abandon them run out of combat giggling as their opponent wonders what just hit them.  In recent games I've really been focusing on using a Ravenwing Command Squad with Banner of Devastation.  I have also started to implement a Ravenwing Darkshroud into my list.  The way these two units work with the rest of a Ravenwing force is great and will be expanded upon further.  I don't profess myself as a tactical genius so I tend to make silly mistakes quite frequently, but I tend to have fun in the process, which is what I enjoy about the game.  Without further ado, I shall delve into my thoughts of these two units.

                Let's start with the Ravenwing Command Squad.  It is a squad of 3 Ravenwing  Black Knights that can only be unlocked by taking a HQ unit on a bike or Sammael.  To run a Ravenwing force, Sammael  is truly your only option, but I digress.  Black Knights come with TL Plasma Talons on their bikes which really outperform plasma guns at shorter range due to the TL aspect of them.  To get the same effect you would need a level 1 Librarian on a bike with Divination and have to get the psychic test to pass.  It's doable, but you still won't get the same volume of fire as you would with the Black Knights.  The Command Squad has the ability to add two more bike to the unit to bring them up to five total, which really helps increase the survivability of one key member in the squad, the banner carrier.  The banner carrier is the soul of my army and what it's built around.  It forces me to stay within a small area but it adds so much additional support with the Banner of Devastation.  If a unit is within six inches of the banner carrier it gains the Salvo 2/4 rule.  This is amazing on bikes as they are relentless and not counting as moved for shooting means that each bike in the unit will get 4 shots from its twin-linked boltgun.  For a full squad, that's 24 shots, four times the amount of a standard squad between 12 and 24 inches, and twice as many shots as a unit between 1 and 12 inches.  It's very important to keep this unit alive so I'm going to start trying out keeping an apothecary in the unit for the Fell No Pain he would give them in case of a wound.

                Last game I added in a model that I was very apprehensive about since they FAQ'd the rules on it very quickly, the Ravenwing Darkshroud.    It does exactly what it sounds like, it shrouds the area in darkness giving any unit within 6" of it the Stealth rule.  Unfortunately it no longer gives the Darkshroud itself Shrouded.  The great part of this is that the cover save stacks onto the Jink save that the bikes get for moving, effectively giving them a 4+ cover save just for moving and staying close to the Darkshroud.  For units with the Skilled Rider rule, this gives them a 3+ cover save!  I kept this centered behind my Command Squad and gave every unit in my army a +1 to their cover save for nearly the entire game.  This was very beneficial as my opponent had quite a bit of plasma and melta which was ignoring my  armor saves.  In addition to this effect it gives any unit that is in an assault within 12 inches a +1 to their assault result.  This manage to keep one of my units in assault even those they lost a model and my opponent didn't that phase.  I was very surprised at how well that ability performed with the rest of my units.  I realize that it won't be beneficial against flamers and other weapons that ignore cover, looking at you Tau and Eldar, but I have other units in my arsenal that can put the pain into them instead.

                I feel like I will continue to use the two units in my Ravenwing army and possibly expand to a second Darkshroud in the future for large point games so I can spread them out more effectively to maximize coverage.  They Command Squad will be beefed out to the full 5 man unit and keep that wonderful Banner of Devastation.  I'm going to try to keep track of how the army performs and try to develop my tactical skills to help them really be the fearsome force that they appear when on the table.

The One Guy

That One Guy

So we have all herd of that one player that no one wants to play. I think a lot of this has to do knowing what type of player you are. In my opinion there are three types of players.

You got the tournament player (Kenny Hill, Mike Stanford). These types of players want a clean game by the rules and are going to bring a hard list. Their not dbags for running hard list its just that’s the type of game they want to play. To see who can be the best general around. As a general statement tournament players will know the rules the best and will in force them the hardest. This helps keep up good practice for when it comes time to play in a big event. Some players will find this off putting it is not meant to be but good practice will make good TOs later down the road.   

The next type of player is your Fluff player (Gregg Etter, Rick Morang). These types of players want to make a story out of the game. Lots of league play or lists that are not optimized but if you saw the army on the field or read about them in a book that’s what it would look like. The Fluff player will know the rule set but, will let some little things slip just to make a better game. These types of players are for a lack of better words what GWs target players are forging the narrative and what not. You will see a lot of fluff players calling out what they say is cheese a list thou. This is where the tournament player and the fluff player will start to fight if they don’t understand what type of game that they are going to play.

The last type of player is the Beer and pretzels player (Luci Breed, Cliff Shelton). These types of players are just looking to have fun. They may or may not be a bit lacking on the rules. Or may know the rules and not care because they like to play the game a different way. Beer and pretzels players have a lot of problems with someone who is looking for a clean game. Lots of these players are in the game to just sit around a table and BS for a few hours while playing and if the rules fall to the wayside so be it.

 Now I play all kinds of players. And I have seen all kinds of fights that didn’t have to happen. People being labeled a rules Nazi or a cheese player. There is no right or wrong way to play but you do need to know the type of player or game that you are playing. I think that if you know what type of player you are playing that it will stop a lot of that whole that one guy label but you will have to have an open mind to how they play the game.

Sarge

Ghazghkull's not happy by Warhamster77

      The Nob dreaded telling Ghazghkull the bad news.  The first time he had felt fear since he emerged from his spore placental sack 50 years ago.  Ghazghkull had put him in charge of watching their "allies".  If there was only a way to get one of the boyz to do it instead, but 'ol shiny dome would listen to an ordinary boy.  No, it had to come from him.

       "Oi Boss, dem panzees done scarped off. "Dey hit some shiny rock an' the 'hole lot jus' went 'bloink!" Said the Nob, Skartoof.  Ghazghkull looked at him with his Ork eye, and the Bionik eye seemed to flare like a super nova.

       "Wot?"  He bellowed, his voice reverberating like thunder in the alley behind the stolen Imperial Fortress.  Ghazghkull loomed over Skartoof, his rage coming off him in waves.  The Orks had taken this Imperial outpost to make repairs and refuel The White Barons Dakkajet Sqwadren and Bombas'.

     Ghazghkull reached out with his massive power klaw, and with a thought sniped Skartoof's head from his body.  The look of surprise on Skartoof's face would have been comical in any other circumstance.

  "Boyz the Panzees fink that we  need'em to fight these pink humies!  Let's show'em that we don't!" Ghazghkull roared.

   Just then four Deamon possesed Chaos Heldrakes flew straight at the Ork lines, flanked by a Helblade, a Storm Raven, and three hideous Greater Demons.  The Heldrakes screamed as they swooped down and grabbed Orks off the ground and sliced them in pieces.  Moments later breathing hellfire on rest.  The smell of sulphur, and burning flesh filled the air.  The captured Icarus Lascannon came to life, being gunned by a weedy little gretchen. The lasbolt carved a huge scratch down the side of a Heldrake, nearly slicing off a wing, healing almost instantly.  The Heldrake screamed in rage, more angered than hurt.  The Chaos line suddenly materialized, they themselves teleporting an Aegis Defence line and Icarus Lascannon.  Their cannon opened fire on one of the White Barons wingman, grounded on a Skyshield landing pad. The lasbolt hitting the fuel hose linked to the plane.  Seconds later a mushroom roared to the sky where the Dakkajet had been sitting.  The White Baron seeing this smacked his gretchen crew on the back of the skulls and yells " Get ta werk you louts, I need in the air NOW!" As he is piling into the cockpit of his plane, orbital fire hits his plane twice, blowing the wings off and leaving it a scrape.  He had just got strapped in when he saw the flash separate the clouds from orbit.  The White Baron being VERY rich for an Ork had the Meks install something that the other Dakkajets lacked, something he had seen those cursed Blue Skin Tau use, an ejection seat.  Pulling on the yellow and black handles,  there was a fizzzzh, and nothing happened. He pulled again, at first nothing happened, then a split second later rokkits ignited under his seat.  The g forces were incredible, almost more than even his orkoid physiology could bear. His vision clouded over, as his body rocketed out of his plane. Seconds later his plane exploded, killing many of the ground-crew refueling and rearming his Dakkajet.  An odd feeling overcame him, his body seemed to be floating in the wind.  He shook his head to clear his vision.  He looked up.  There was a sheet of squig hide several meters in diameter attached to his pilot cradle, looking very much like one of the mushrooms that grow on the lee side of rocks.  From up here he could see the battle unfolding.

    Three more planes screamed in from behind the greenskins lines.  Ghazghkull smiled, showing his huge tusk. His army was rushing to the fight.   Wave after wave of Boyz were almost to the front lines. Warbuggies and Wartraks were zooming up the right flank. Two trukks loaded with Boyz zoomed up behind him on hes left.  Now was the time.  The Ork time.

"WAAAAAAAAARRRGGHH!"  Ghazghkull roared at the top of his lungs.  The entire Ork line surged forward trying to get to the traitor marines.  Ghazghkull thought to himself, first these puny humies, then those panzee Dark Eldar.  No one ducks out on a deal.