Our first game of Warhammer 40k Kill Team!

We played the new version of Kill Team today.  Since my friend, Ron, and I are pretty much of the same mind when it comes to games we were pretty stoked to get our hands on the game and give it a go.  We both like small model counts and fast paced games with a limited amount of rules. Based on all the buzz surrounding this game before its' release, we knew this would be a good fit for us.

Terrain: Corvus Games Terrain

Last month I posted the work in progress of the terrain from Corvus Games Terrain.  Here are some shots of the completed project used in a game of Warhammer 40k.

Door open on this one

Definitely fun terrain and pretty easy to paint up.  Very sturdy too.  I really like the modular aspect of the pieces which allows you can create different sized/shaped buildings to better fit a specific scenario if needed.  All in all, a very good add to anyone's terrain list.

Space Hulk: Introducing Different Armies

When I first got the the boxed set of Space Hulk 4th Edition I used the Blood Angels that came with it.  The boxed set sculpts are great and all but two things sorta bugged me: a. I am not a huge BA faction fan (nothing against them but I'm just not into them) and b. I don't like the way they are posed...more artistic than functional in my opinion.

I happened to be at a swap meet at my local FLGS (sadly now closed) and there was a guy wanting to unload 5 Salamander terminators.  I have never played that faction but I really wanted to use the models in Space Hulk so I got them.  I decided to keep with their original faction but went ahead and re-painted them and then re-based them onto square bases and then it was off to the races to acquire the models needed for any mission in the game.  Most of the models I used afterwards to build out the force are re-purposed Ultramarines Terminators.

I marked the originals with an "O" on the bottom of their bases so I would know which were the original, "Band of Brothers."

Original Band of Brothers

And the whole gang!

Space Hulk: Just Keep it Simple...

I posted in May an article reference our approach to the way we play Space Hulk (going back to the beginning) and the affect of slight rule changes to missions that were created before we made them. 

I mentioned not being able to complete a mission that we were able to when that mission was created but neglected to say what the exact changes were.  Turns out, it was actually a single change that made everything go to crap.  That rule change was to give the Genestealer player D3 command points.  What an impact that turned out to be!

Enabling the GS player to have up to 3 command points per turn meant that the Marine player could no longer just count squares to see how far a particular bug could go and still be safe.  Yes, that is part of the strategy when playing normal Space Hulk which we refer to as "gaming" the game.  We wanted to add a bit more uncertainty (and stress) for the Marine player and limit the ability to "game" the game. 

We decided to go back and play our custom 5 mission campaign using the new GS mechanic.  As mentioned in May, neither of us could complete the first mission.  The mission is difficult as is using our normal rules so we decided to play the second mission with the new mechanic.

We played the second mission yesterday.  Ron started as the Marine player.  The game started out as expected with him moving smartly down the corridor towards the objective.  Ron is an extremely smart player and positions his models in such a way as to provide maximum support to all models in his squad.  But the addition of CP's for me meant he couldn't know if my bugs could make an additional move or not or react to his moves.  That ability for the bugs eventually resulted in a near wipe out of his squad.

Mission 2: Activate the Reactor

Looks ok so far

Things start to fall apart from here.

So we decided to play it again without bug command points.  We haven't played this campaign since we finished it over a year ago so the tricks to winning it were not fresh in our minds.  As I said above, Ron is a very good player and easily won this mission without losing a single Marine.  So the GS command points was a definite game changer and completely unbalances the game for us.  So that mechanic was ejected.

We normally end our gaming sessions debating keeping or eliminating a certain mechanic, discussion of adding a type of model (i.e. the Lictor), etc.   What we discussed this time was....

We always go back to the simple game.  We have been playing regularly now for over 3 years and during that time, we've tried out different mechanics in the game in an attempt to mix it up and keep the game from getting stale (sort of).  We've played using Harlequins in the place of bugs, hybrids with shooting abilities (ugh), put ambush counters on the board, tunnels, duct work, Librarian, Magus, Missile Launcher dude, etc.  And at the end of the day (yesterday to be exact) and using our core home rule set, we realized that it is our basic, simple 5 Marine squad vs. straight up bugs that is the most fun.  All the other things I mentioned above added either too much complexity or completely threw the game out of whack.

The great thing about our games is we are not afraid to try new things to enhance our enjoyment of this already awesome game. 

Imperial Fists 5th Company Detachment: Hammer of Wrath

From the moment that I saw this model while cruising Forge World's website, I knew that I had to add it to my detachment force!  The model is just beastly (and is actually quite heavy).

This wasn't my first Forge World model but it certainly was the biggest one I have done.  I'm not kidding when I say you could hit someone with the model and probably do a lot of damage the thing is so solid and heavy. 

Being my first big model, I did a completely stupid thing....

And nearly took my thumbs off.  I was using a basic hobby knife to cut away the resin like you would with mold lines.  The sprues this thing comes on are huge and they didn't break cleanly when I removed each piece.  So I went to cutting and scraping and....

How I got both thumbs is the knife slipped off of the resin, across my left thumb (I was holding the piece in my left hand) and stopped just enough to allow my right thumb to go across the top of the blade.  What isn't shown is my palm which was also cut as I drew both hands back and the knife spun and cut my right palm as well.  I was out of the hobby game for a month before the thumbs healed sufficiently where I could hold something again! 

The offending piece

Once I was able to get back to working on the model, I removed the pieces from the sprue and then used a dremel to get rid of any extra resin (and wore a mask when doing so....safety first...wish I had practiced that before starting this thing!).

I finished the model and (still) really love it!  I haven't had a chance to use it in a game as of yet since my friend and I predominately play Space Hulk.  Once I finish my last couple of models of the detachment, I think we can get a game in and see how it goes.

Imperial Fists 5th Company Detachment: 7th Assault Squad

The detachment is coming together!  A few more models to complete and then I am done (for now).

Latest squad to join the detachment.  Once I complete the last 2 models of my Hellblaster squad, I will post the whole detachment.