Author Archives: stonewalljackman

Horus Heresey and Stalingrad 2

Another battle in the books.
Overall, I was impressed by how much closer this one came out. If the Contemptor for the defending Word Bearers does not roll five consecutive failed saves to become destroyed. I actually think the Word Bearers could have pulled it out. Instead, the Ravenguard cruised to victory but with heavy losses. The scenario played much more evenly than in the Bolt Action version. An additional 500 points to the Word Bearers would have balanced the scenario perfectly. I have another lopsided scenario coming in the next couple of weeks, which will be interesting.

Battle Rules

This is another river crossing scenario. This time, the defenders are dug in and prepared for the enemy. However, the enemy has numerical and technological superiority. One thing that Horus Heresey plays much better at than Bolt Action is the addition of flying units.

The Ravenguard are attempting to cross into the city. The Word Bearers are holding. Teams get 1 VP for each unit destroyed and 1 VP for each unit on the Word Bearer side of the river.


Army Lists

Word Bearers1250
Legion Cataphractii Praetor135
Contemptor Talon w/ Graivtron Gun and Melta195
Mhara Gal Dreadnought240
Terminator Cataphractii (6)210
Despoiler Squad100
Despoiler Squad100
Legion Avenger Strike Fighter150
Predator120
Predators are the best tanks. The Strike Fighter punched well above its weight. The despoilers were used to fall back and shoot. The Mhara Gal was useless.
Ravenguard2500
Strike Captain Alvarex Maun/ Command and Drop Pod260
2x Contemptor Dreadnought with Graviton Gun400
Destroyer Assault Squad250
Rapier Battery65
Assault Squad145
Assault Squad145
Tactical Squad100
Dark Furies150
Javelin Squadron x3270
Fire Raptor Gunship315
Basilisk Squadron200
Vindicator Squadron x2245
I was delighted with the Rapier Battery. The Dark Furies did work to remove the dreadnought, but the Fire Raptor didn’t do much. Vindicators shouldn’t have been brought based on their range; I don’t think I even fired with them.

Set-Up

We are on a 4×4 Table with an impassible river directly down the middle. There are heavy woods on the Ravenguard side with some hills. There are hills and some fortifications on the Word Bearer’s side.

Deployment

Not much to report. The Furies, Assault Squads, Destroyer Squads, and Strike Captain are all in deep strike. The flying bases indicate the flying machines. I knock them over too often.

Turn 1

Turn one involved a lot of shooting. I gave the Word Bearers the first turn. I didn’t think there was actually going to be a game. I thought the defenders would get wiped off the table right away. The Strike fighter gets solid hits all game long on the Raven Guard heavy units.

Turn 2

More shooting; a Javelin was destroyed, and a couple wounds to a Contemptor from the Rapier battery. Cover saves doing work here.

Turn 3

The Ravenguard strike. The entire deep strike force hit hard. Many casualties. The despoilers on the bottom left were destroyed, as was the contemptor. The Dark Furies did not miss a hit or a wound, which was ridiculous. Then, the Contempor missed most of the saves. It, of course, took down many furies with it. Enormous casualties on the Ravenguard.

Turn 4

I thought the bearers would pull it off at this point. Multiple Javelins down, the terminators were unkillable. Then, the Rapier destroyed the Mhara Gal, allowing free reign to kill the Predator.

Turn 5

The Raven’s slayed the enemy warlord with the multiple assault squads and the command squad on the Word Bearer side of the river. The Ravenguard took the minor victory at 9 VPs to the Word Bearers 7 VPs. Honestly, if the Rapier does not take down the Mhara Gal. I think the Word Bearers pull this one off. The Mhara Gal would have destroyed another Ravenguard Unit and saved their Praetor, which gives +3 to the Bearers and -3 to the guard. Plus, I think the Predator tank lives.

Below is a glimpse at the next engagement, Stalingrad 3. The table is ready. I need to paint about 30 units.

Stalingrad Scenario 2 Dawn Crossing Battle Report

My second scenario, Dawn Crossing, was a complete disaster for the Soviets. The first scenario was a near run, and the last throw of the dice was a thrilling encounter. The second was over by turn three. Turn one, I thought the Soviets would do well despite being outgunned 2:1. 60% of German boats were destroyed. Turn two saw tremendous luck, where basically every German artillery unit that could hit did hit. Destroying or pinning essentially every Soviet Unit.

I didn’t particularly like this scenario. The openness on the Soviet side of the board meant there was very little maneuver, and it was just sit and shoot, in this case, get shot. I thought there was a little more depth that could have been added as far as reinforcements.

Final score, six Soviet Units were Destroyed, and 3 Units on the bank for 9 VPs for the Germans. The Soviets had 3 VP.

The Rules Basics

On a 4×4 table, the Germans are attempting to cross a 9″ river. Every unit on the Soviet side of the river gains 1 VP; additionally, every destroyed earns them 1 VP. The Germans get twice as many points as the Soviets. The Soviets should have between 500 and 700. The Soviets could begin the battle dug in and in heavy cover. Germans may start with a preparatory bombardment.

Army Lists

Germans127513 Order Dice
Leutnant50
Heer Veteran Infantry981 Soldier, 1 LMG
Heer Infantry1003 Soldiers, 1 LMG
Artillery Forward Observer100
Heer Pioneer Squad106Vets, 2 Soldiers, 5 SMGs
Panzergrenadier Squad159Regulars, 5 Soldiers, 3 SMGs, 2 LMGs
Heer Pioneer65Veterans
MMG50
MMG50
Heavy Mortar75
Sniper50
Medium Artillery, Howitzer85
Panzer IV B,C,D,E,F175
Sturmboot 39’s (2) 52 (26 Each)Regular
Schlauchboot 3m (3)60 (20 Each)Regular
Soviets63711 Order Dice
Free Rifle Squad011+Banner
2nd Lieutenant421 Attendant Inexperienced
Light Machine Gun Squad50Regular
Veteran Squad1462 Soldiers, NCO SMG, 2 LMGs, 1 Panzerfaust, Tough Fighters
MMG50
HMG70
Anti Tank Rifle30
Medium Mortar35
Zis 3 Divisional Gun80

My Strategy

The Germans deployed first. I wanted all my units to hit the river immediately and force the Soviets to divide their fire. I did use the preparatory bombardment to try and pin some of their Veteran. I wanted to use the mortar, howitzer, and tank to soften their center.

For the Soviets I placed machine guns covering the most dangerous rafts, I used my veteran unit with two LMGs to cover a third boat. I put my two regular units farther back to cover where the Germans might penetrate. I wanted my militia squad to hold their side well. I placed the AT gun where it could cover the opposing tank as it hit the wooded area.

Turn One

The prep bombardment didn’t go well. All the German artillery strikes were misses. The veterans and two machine guns were able to destroy both boats and a raft, leaving only two rafts left. This stranded the German MMGs on the opposing bank. The Soviets inflicted solid casualties.

Turn Two

How quickly a game can turn on a few dice rolls. The German artillery observer did work on the center. The Mortar Hit, the tank approached the tree line, giving the Germans four machine guns to inflict damage and pin markers on the Soviets. Both Veterans could land on the Soviet side of the bank and survive. The other units provided cover fire, pinning most of the Soviets, who took heavy casualties. The reserves tried to move forward and were quickly gunned down as they couldn’t make it to heavy cover.

Turn Three

At this point, the game was basically over. The Germans were inflicting tons of casualties and taking very few. Most Soviet units were hopelessly pinned down. The raft returned to the German side to attempt another pick-up. (It was probably against the rules.) A German Sniper killed the Lieutenant.

Turn Four

More Soviet casualties as they lay in their foxholes. The AT Gun was able to put the German panzer on Fire. More Germans land on the bank.

Turn 5.

I did call the game here. Exactly one unit was able to complete an action, the AT Gun. As a side note, this was the only turn in which the Sniper did not kill anyone.

Competitive Wargaming and Rules Bloat

One of the items I struggle with more than anything in wargaming is rules bloat. What do I mean by rules bloat? When you go to play a game such as 40k or Bolt Action, you are all excited to play. You start playing, and the opponent starts saying things like, according to supplement 12 on page 98, cross-referenced to supplement 18, I can kill this. Or my army can do such and such. Whatever it may be, when you need 15 books to play a game, the rules are bloated.

Companies like Games Workshop (the worst) and Warlord Games make millions from simple rules bloat. They are often inconsequential things that take minimal development resources; they can use pre-written lore, stock images that didn’t make the cut in other books, and tada, a new $70 supplement every player must buy to stay current with the rules. Add in codex and army books, and you’re suddenly required to take half a dozen books to play a simple game.

From a business perspective, I 100% understand where companies come from, namely, free money. GW profits from people buying their products. It generates more sales if their products are mandatory to keep using their other products. The only downside is that we push out casual/new players. It is something that happened to MTG. The game is too complicated for new people. The tables are too toxic with competitive players. It isn’t fun if you haven’t played for a few months.

It’s one of the reasons I really enjoy historicals. General De Armee has one rulebook, Black Seas has two books, DBMM has one book of rules and one or two armies. Star Wars Legion and A Song of Ice and Fire are brutal because the rules change with the units.

I fear that rules bloat is where all commercial wargames are going. The bloat makes me fear for getting new players into games.

Selling out of Magic the Gathering A Journey

I started playing magic with simple drafts during Alara Reborn. I was hooked. I was 20, relatively late to start a new game, and broke and in college.

My first box was a simple booster, Magic 10; I think it was a fat pack, not an entire booster box. I needed basic land. It came with a handy box to put my cards in. I continuously purchased one booster box per set until Battle for Zendikar in 2015, when I upped to a booster case. As my finances improved, I improved my position. Dual lands, restricted lists, complete sets, power 9. Fast forward to Modern Horizons 2 with multiple booster cases. I had acquired over 180,000 cards, and it was an inventory and storage nightmare.

My wife and I had a hard discussion; I had too much, and it had to go. At this point, I hadn’t played a game of paper magic in three years. I still purchased four of every standard set upon release, as well as every commander product and collector case. I spent over 25k in a single year on MTG. I wasn’t even enjoying it; it was pure fear of missing out and what else I should do.

I committed to selling everything I wasn’t using. My goal is to get under 10,000 cards and two boxes. I might keep 10 odd decks lying around, 1-2 in every format (vintage included), but what do we sell?

Step One: Deciding its time to sell

Questions to ask yourself.

  • What do I want from Magic?
  • Do I still enjoy collecting?
  • Space requirements?
  • How much is it worth?

This is by far the hardest step: realizing that part of your collection no longer brings you joy or value. I had over 100 booster boxes lying around in my attic. I called my FLGS and sent him a list. He picked them up, and $24,000 later, my journey of selling the collection began.

Deciding to sell your precious cards, usually at a major loss, is a hard choice, especially for me. I have always been a collector. If you follow the full blog, you know I can field every 40k Age of Sigmar, Old World, 9th Age, Star Wars Legion, Star Wars Armada, Star Wars X-Wing, A Song of Ice and Fire, Black Seas, Flames of War, Bolt Action, Blood Bowl, Marvel Crisis Protocol, Necromuda, Lord of the Rings, Kill Team, War Cry, Shatterpoint, faction. Just that list is exhausting.

I also have massive forces for historics, napoleonics, ancients, battle tech, American Civil War, Dead Man’s hand. I like to collect. Magic was no different. I made the decision as I aged and had less time I wanted to be able to play any deck whenever I wanted. It started with standard, then modern, legacy, vintage, pioneer, and commander. It was awful. I was no longer playing; I just inventoried all day long. The fact that it took the threat of divorce from my wife to clean up my act was a wake-up call. I enjoy wargaming and hobbying far more than the gritty ness of magic; I love the universe, and love the game, but to stay current is a full-time job.

I wanted magic to be fun and relaxing. It just isn’t anymore.

I used to enjoy collecting. Saying I have every card from modern and up is tremendous. It also brings a burden. Suddenly, you are the supplier of decks. Every local player would ask if they could borrow a card and would get butt hurt when I always turned them down. I always bought the cheapest version and four of them. I never understood how cards would get returned with Cheeto dust.

I didn’t care about bling until one day, I did. I blinged out Modern Humans, the most expensive version of every card in the deck. Then the Cavern of Soul’s Boxtoppers and the inventions were released. It just kept getting worse.

I have already discussed space, so let’s discuss money. My wife and I would rather pay off our house than have 180,000 magic cards, which could tank in value any day. So that’s the goal. For you, it could be a car, a credit card bill, or a new TV. I asked the hard question: What is it worth?

How to sell?

There are many articles covering this very topic. Sell the whole collection on Facebook or eBay or to Cardhoarder or your FLGS? Piece it out? I used Cardhoarder to get a bottom valuation of $180,000 for everything. But it had to be sorted and ready to go; otherwise, the value was $115,000. I knew I personally could do better than that. A few people offered in the $140,000 range on Facebook, but as the process of selling, the collection became more real. I realized I did enjoy my black lotus and her 8 friends. What were just the items I didn’t want to look like? I decided to sell on TCG. It gave me control, and I could evaluate each card as listed.

A new seller gets 100 listings. I listed 100 premium box toppers, foil, and full art cards from various boxes I ordered. Within two weeks, I was a level 4 seller with unlimited listings. I determined I wanted to do no more than 30 to 40 orders per day, so I kept my inventory small in the 3000-4000 range.

How you want to sell your cards weighs in three factors.

  • How much time do I want to spend listing and selling?
  • How fast do I want the funds?
  • How much value do I want?

The best way to get the most value is to sell piece by piece yourself on a medium like Facebook or to your local group. You can typically get 95% of TCG with very little fees. It is also by far the most time-consuming.

The fastest way is selling the collection in bulk as it sits to whoever takes the risk. It is also the worst way to extract value from your cards. Expect 50-55% of TCG.

Buylisiting is a medium where you sacrifice more value for convenience, 60-65%. TCG is on the other side of that medium with more time but also more value, 70-80%.

I chose TCG because I was already spending 4-5 hours per week on magic. It should work out if I took the same time to list and sell it. If you have less than 500 cards to sell, I would strongly consider a buy list of FLGS. I don’t see online working well for you. The more cards you have listed, the more people are looking at your inventory and the higher chance you have of a sale. If I drop below 2,500 cards, my sales and views drastically drop.

What to Sell?

There is value in every card in magic. Tokens and basic lands; you name it, and you can sell it. How much is it really worth? Most buylists don’t go under $2 unless there is a solid staple. Think fatal push or swords to plowshares. Local game stores typically offer a bulk rate of .15 per rare under $2 and $10/1000 of common and uncommon.

I primarily sold my collection on TCG. I listed about 2,000 cards total when I realized there was a threshold of what I wanted to list. It was about 20 cents. I typically round to the nearest nickel.

I had listed a bunch of .05 cards, and I hated selling them. When you sell one card with shipping, I made about .07 after fees and shipping. If I sold the card for .05. I could do 30 orders in an hour, so when these cards came up, I made $2.10/hr. Completely worthless. At .20 a card I could make between $14-$15 and hour and they sold. It also reduced my inventory, my total number of orders, and how long it took me to fill orders because I wasn’t constantly thumbing through crap cards.

You can really make money with .02 and .03 cards. There is a market for those cards. I didn’t feel it was worth my time, but it’s up to you. Several YouTubers push bulk.

I had very negative experiences selling foils online. If you think back to my first 100 cards listed. These were pack fresh, I opened myself, doublsleeved into toploaders. NM/M cards. I had complaints about the quality of 17 of the 100 orders. People care deeply about foils, and if you are dropping $200 on a force of will foil, you want it to be pristine, minty mint. Anything else, and the buyers just wanted them as damaged. I took the rest to the FLGS, which gave me 60%.

I also had a negative experience with my sealed product. Every person seemed to think I “case mapped” and gave them the shitty box out of a case. Especially the master’s boxes. After three complaints in 5 orders, I took the rest to the FLGS, who gave me 70%.

Inventory Management

I think most people selling on TCG as small sellers struggle here. Knowing where your cards are selling and what you have is vital. Typically, if I have an order of 5 cards all .2 and am missing one, I just cancel the whole order. In my limited experience, if you are missing a card from a shipment, the buyer wants the shipping refunded. TCG has a tool that optimizes your cart to the lowest price at the condition you select, including shipping. If you are ordering those five .20 cards from the same seller on TCG. It is unliking that seller is the lowest listing, however they are the only seller with all 5 cards listed and paying $2.21 for one package is cheaper than $4.50 for 3 packages. That said, people must order an additional card and pay the full shipping fee if they are missing one. They don’t want to pay shipping twice and will complain if you do not get a refund. If you decide to ship those 4 cards you have, expect a loss on the order.

I organized my sell box as follows,

  • By set
  • By card number in said set

I use one 5k box. If you need more, you are pushing yourself timewise to still have a life and job. With my 5k box, I spend about 90 minutes per day shipping and listing. The set number is automatically organized by color and alphabetically.

Pricing.

There are dozens of ideas for pricing your cards. I wanted a fair price, so I rarely undercut the lowest TCG listing. Instead, I would go .05 to .25 higher than the lowest listing. This would allow me to move most of my inventory very quickly.

To decide what to sell, I would open where I kept my card inventory, deckbox.org. You can see pricing based on edition which based on how I organized my collection (by edition) worked out nicely. I would scroll through their pricing and only look at cards over .20. I would add them, price them to my inventory, and put them in my to-sell box. I could do a complete set of 4 of every card in a complete set in about 30 minutes. Then, as they were put into my sell box, they were already organized.

Everything that didn’t go into the sell box went into the bulk boxes to be sold to the FLGS at $12/1000.

Your pricing strategy is up to you. If you need the money and just want the cards gone, pricing 5% below the lowest is a surefire way to a quick sale. Remember that it takes about 2 weeks to get your funds from TCG. If you need the cash that badly, FLGS or Buylist are your options.

Many people use the market pricing tool which bases your pricing on the most recent card sold. This tool is nice and generally gets you more money for your cards but less overall sales. It doesn’t take into account people who offer free shipping or other promos.

Packaging

I actually found very few good resources not in Youtube on packaging your cards. My method of filling orders is as follows;

  1. Open all the orders that day in individual tabs
  2. Place my to sell box on my lap and being pulling cards from each order while going through the tab. So I fill each order as I open the tab, place the cards in a penny sleeve and stack on my desk.
  3. Copy and paste the address to a label template to be printed.
  4. Do as many orders as fill a label sheet (30) and stop.
  5. Switch back to the first tab and begin packing orders.
  6. All cards go into penny sleeves up to 6, and then that penny sleeve goes into a shipping shield. I put a maximum of 18 cards in a plain white envelope. More than 18 get premium shipping. There are lots of people who claim to put 60+ cards in a PWE. I don’t risk it.
  7. I tape the shipping shield shut with scotch tape.
  8. I put the order in the envelope.
  9. Put the label on the envelope.
  10. Stamp the envelope
  11. Mark as shipped

I use the following supplies for 95% of my orders.

  • I order prestamped windowless envelopes
  • I use Avery labels from wal-mart
  • I use card board shipping shields
  • Penny Sleeves
  • I buy stamps 10 rolls at a time.

More expensive orders ($25) get the special tracked shipping.

  • Cards are placed into top loaders
  • They are sent in a 5×7 envelope with USPS ground Advantage Shipping
  • Shipping is purchased through USPS click and save
  • I use a Polono 60 laser printer to print 4×6 labels

I hope this helps

I have spent about 6 months and am 70% of the way though selling my collection. It has been a lot of time and effort, but well worth it. I have recouped about 74% of the collection value based on the deckbox.org tracker.

Selling your collection is an emotional moment. I have also found it liberating. For some reason people have a strong attachment to possessions. I am one of those people. Hopefully this allows me to sell some of my excess Warhammer stock.

The End of Star Wars Armada and Xwing

I was surprised yesterday with a livestream from Crabok. He reported the end of Star Wars Armada (imminent) and Star Wars Xwing.

Armada didn’t surprise me. While it was one of my favorite games for a very long time. There hasn’t been a new ship released in years. I still intend to realize my Outer Rim Sieges campaign at some point. I have many of the rules written. It is just disappointing to see it end. The most shocking bit is that Atomic Mass Games purchased the game from Fantasy Flight and then did nothing. The same thing with XWing.

I wonder if the creativity wasn’t there? They blamed things on COVID, but that doesn’t jive. Xwing was pretty well covered, as far as cannon ships go. They could have gone in many more directions with legends or new pilots. I remember Xwing being one of the best-selling games for years. I know there was money there. It is just a disappointing kill for games.

Armada, on the other hand, had tons of options and places they could go. I can think of 10 ships that played a major role in the Clone Wars that were not instituted. Lucrehulk, of course, diamond corvettes, the federation ship that was a ball split in half, stealth ship, Naboo class frigate, and a couple other cruiser-style ships for the republic, just around disappointing.

The hardest part is I know Armada wasn’t selling well. You couldn’t just attend your FLGS and buy expansions for it. Getting new people into games is hard if you can’t see them on shelves. The same thing is happening with basically any non-GW game right now. You could buy X-Wing at Wal-Mart during its peak. The game was immensely popular, and there were many competitive events, just ugh.

Maybe a group of 20 could get a Patreon and restart the games? Buy the license for just those two games. It seems to me like money could be made there.

My First Old World Battle and Thoughts

I have played a few battles with a local guy over the years, and he is a very skilled player. It is good to practice with him, and he is always respectful. Neither of us has played the old world yet, and it was good to get a game in.

Game Results and What I Learned

I lost miserably.

Sitting back and turtling isn’t a good strategy

Don’t rely on shooting

Be wary of enhancements

Units are always better on the charge

Magic matters.

The Game

Our lists are below.

Dwarves2996Bretonia3000
King with Shieldbearers316Duke on Hippogryf467
Thane227Paladin118
Engineer108Damsel90
Dragon Slayer149Damsel60
21 Warriors25520 Men at Arms104
18 Warriors22520 Men at Arms104
9 Thunderers10020 Men at Arms104
12 Thunderers13020 Knights on Foot238
11 Longbeards1666 Knights of the Realm165
Cannon10510 Bowmen70
Cannon10510 Bowmen70
3 Gyrocopters21010 Bowmen60
12 Ironbreakers24310 Bowmen60
12 Ironbreakers1646 Knights Errant120
8 Slayers2435 Yeomen80
Flame Cannon1255 Yeomen80
Flame Cannon1253 Pegasus Knights172
3 Pegasus Knights172
6 Questing Knights163
Field Trebuchet100
Field Trebuchet100
5 Grail Knights197

The game took us longer than it should, as it was our first time. Understanding winning and losing in combat as well as the amount of shooting and such. There were a lot of rules. I did read the rulebook, but holy shit, there were tons to remember.

We deployed it as such below, so I won’t get into too much detail. In my head, I wanted to have the warriors and ironbreakers make the frontline with small gaps for artillery and handguns. The table was just a little too wide, and the pegasi were too mobile.

Based on deployment, his forces look far more numerous than mine. I was able to grab the first turn and did a moderate amount of shooting. I also deployed as far back as possible. I wanted him to come to me. I should have positioned the units slightly better to take advantage of the impassable lakes. Of course, the pegasi just flew over them.

I was sitting down and took this shot because it just looked cool. To see the knights bearing down on the dwarves and such.

Ditto this one as well.

The game went as expected, with me sitting back and waiting, his knights charging. The gist of the game was that my right flank completely failed, and he just rolled up my center by turn 4. One interesting thing, after the third turn, we totaled our artillery shots. Of the 18 total possible shots to that point in the game, 14 misfired. The image below is turn 2, I think.

The game was basically over turn 3, and I stopped taking pictures. When a militia unit routes my Ironbreakers, I knew it was over.

I did learn a very interesting lesson. Much more damage is done on the charge. My Ironbreakers in the center went toe to toe for three rounds with his knights, and we lost about two models total. I just didn’t bring enough stopping power. I thought the longbeards and slayers would be more deadly, and had I hit either charge roll, they probably would have been. I just didn’t hit a charge roll. The above picture shows how many knights he has bearing down on my right flank (top of the image). My opponent said that once he saw my slayers go onto the table, he knew their weakness and wanted to strike that location. He had 5 more units to drop on the table than I did, allowing him to control deployment and set the matchups. I was setting my main damage units while he was deploying Yeomen.

Constantix II

The Word Bearers convinced Archmagos Delvere of Constantix II to swear fealty to the traitor legions in exchange for forbidden knowledge. Delvere was convinced this would allow his world to ascend to new heights. Perched in the vast Barge City of Leiminota, the Word Bearers enacted their plot. Several smaller Barge Cities resisted, and a call for help rose into the heavens. Primarch Covax and the Raven Guard legion answered the call.

With stunning ferocity, the speartip arrived in Malcaster’s outlying settlement. Malcaster’s purpose was to maintain a small bridge where acid flowed through. The Word Bearers fled, knowing their limited forces must consolidate and draw the Ravens into a protracted siege. The Ravenguard must keep the bridge intact at all costs to speed up the assault.

Praetor Corveran Shixx will lead the speartip. His primary objective is to secure the bridge and destroy as many Word Bearers as possible. He leads his unit of Cataphractii in a deadly dance.

The Word Bearers, led by their Praetor Toradik, the Sonorous Fiend, must preserve as many units as possible for the coming assault. His legion is small, and reinforcements are far away. Drawing the fast-striking Raven Guard into a prolonged siege will lead to great benefit.

Raven GuardWord Bearers
1Praetor Catphractii with Command
Covax		2401Legion Praetor with Command Squad
Sonorous		215
1Centurion, Master of Signals951Contemptor Dreadnought Talon225
2Contemptor Dreadnought 39010Destroyer Assault Squad205
5Mor Deythan Squad1501Mhara gal Dreadnought240
5Mor Deythan Squad with Storm Eagle Gunship3605Veteran Squad with Rhino150
10Terminator Cataphractii32510Veteran Squad225
10Assault Squad14510Despoiler Squad100
10Tactical Squad1005Recon Squad with Storm Eagle344
10Tactical Squad with Rhino13510Tactical Squad with Rhino145
10Tactical Squad with Rhino13510Tactical Squad with Rhino145
2Land Raider Proteus5053Outrider Squadron91
1Basilisk2003Skyhunter Squadron105
1Sicaran2201Land Raider Phobos250
1Basilisk185
3Predators360

Lessons Learned
Terminators and Dreadnoughts are a house. I am excited to play narratively and thematically and add those units to the game. For example, most of the Raven Guard Terminators were destroyed in this assault. There will not be more available until an apothecary can make them.

The punishment for moving heavy weapons is severe. More terrain across the main field would have impacted how I used the tanks. There was no line of sight-blocking terrain across the battle, so the tanks and dreadnoughts just sat and shot at things with very little movement or strategy.

I mis-deployed the Word Bearers infantry. Instead of the flank away from the river, all three units should have deployed near the river to clog the bridgehead.

Rules, rules, rules—there are many rules for the game. It was hard to keep track of them during solo play. I think I could do better once I learned to shoot and keep track.

Smaller games. 3500 was too many points for a 6×4 table like this. 2000 Would have been better. We are at 1250 for the Word Bearers for the next engagement and 2500 for Ravenguard.

The Actual Game

I actually deployed the units twice. I played one round deploying as the scenario said; the Ravenguards were completely wiped off the table. Instead, we selected to deploy 30k style with all units, not in a deep strike on the field. This was my first time using the Horus Heresy rules, so I kept everything as simple as possible. There were no flank attacks.

After the first turn for Ravenguard, very few units were destroyed. I didn’t anticipate the impact that moving heavy weapons would have. Reducing all hits to only on 6’s is a challenge to overcome.

The Word Bearers responded with a general push up the field. I wanted the Rhinos to get in the flank and do some damage. I was still far too unfamiliar with the rules. No model in all 30 tactical squads could dent a land raider. I also learned from my actions with the Ravenguard and kept all the heavy weapons as stationary as possible to maximize shooting.

Round two for the Ravenguard saw something interesting happen. The Sicaran fired on the Land Raider; however, when firing back, the Land Raider scored 3 total hits, once glancing and two penetrating. The penetrating hits did double damage, destroying the Sicaran. A great roll from the raider. However, the gunship single-handedly destroyed the veterans for the Word Bearers. Looking at the image above, you can see them behind the building to the right of the bridge. If you look at the lower image, they are gone. Otherwise, it’s just more heavy weapons shooting and missing.

The Word Bearers focused fire on the terminators crossing the field. Only 3 made it to the Word Bearers lines.

The assault on the bridge is in full swing. You can see the rhino at the bottom of the bridge was pinned by something of the Word Bearers. I think the Dreadnought. A Mor Deythan death squad also made it across the river transported by the gunship.

The Word Bearers used their desolaters to try and push back the tactical marines. They were unsuccessful and lost combat. You can see that Predator and Landraider are now in flames for the word-bearers.

The assault marines finally made it into combat and destroyed the basilisk. The devastators holding the bridge were also destroyed. The Contemptor Dreadnought for the Word Bearers has now been tied up for two shooting phases with the Terminators. We rolled to see if the Desolators could make it in for the Word Bearers. They did, and I decided to call the game. There was just no firepower left for the Word Bearers, as all their units were either in combat or ineffective against the tanks.

I could have charged with the Ravenguard leader and done a challenge here just to try it out. I didn’t.

Units for further expansion

Units that exemplified themselves included all four dreadnoughts, the Ravenguard Tactical Marines that held the bridge, the assault marines that killed the basilisk, and the 30 Tactical marines from the Word Bearers who never entered the battle. Praetor Toradik also bravely charged the Terminators to try and dislodge them from the dreadnought.

Stalingrad 1 Bolt Action

The first engagement is complete. I was surprised at how close the battle was. In the first two rounds, it felt like the Germans were simply wiping the Soviets off the face of the planet. As the game progressed, though, it was a curiously close affair. I usually find in miniatures games that once one army is decimated, it just snowballs and gets worse.

Scenario Review

A thrillingly close game that came down to the last-order dice. I could have constructed both lists differently to optimize for the scenario. I was pleased with the idea and the thrill of combat. I liked the terrain setup and the distances. It played really well.

The army lists are as follows;

Germans1167Gates of Stalingrad
Leutnant50Regular
Here infantry905 Rifles 1 LMG 1 LoaderRegular
Panzgrenadier975 Rifles 1 LMG 1 LoaderRegular
medic30Veteran
artillery forward observer1001 ARRegular
Heer infantry1107 Rifles 1 LMG 1 LoaderRegular
heer pioneer771 Rifle 4 SMGSVeteran
mmg50Regular
medium mortar60add spotterRegular
flammenwerfer50Regular
sniper team50Regular
Anti-tank rifle team (removed)Regular
50mm pak 3875Regular
Sdkfz231100Regular
Panzer iii Ausf E,F1402nd MMGRegular
Sdkfz 7 halftrack44Regular
Sdkfz 7 halftrack44Regular

I based the German list on what an advancing army might look like. Mechanized infantry with early war armor support. Decent equipment. I could have made the squad sizes a little larger which would have brought me up to 1500 pts, as well as a few trucks, but this should make for a decent fight. I think the game plays well at 1250 to 1500.

Soviets Don Volga

Rifle Squad012 RiflesInexpierenced
2nd Lieutenant50SMGRegular
Veteran squad853 Rifle 1 LMG 1 LoaderVeteran
Rifle squad568 RiflesInexpierenced
commissar15SMGInexpierenced
assault engineer squad805 SMGsVeteran
rifle squad817 Rifles 1 FlagInexpierenced
rifle squad497 RiflesInexpierenced
veteran squad1034 Rifles 1 LMG 1 PanzerfustVeteran
Mmg35Inexpierenced
Dshk heavy machine gun team49Inexpierenced
Sniper team50Regular
Dog mines26Inexpierenced
Tank hunters20Inexpierenced
Medium mortar35Inexpierenced
Light mortar24Inexpierenced
45mm antitank46Inexpierenced
Ba20 Armoured Car52Inexpierenced
T-34156Inexpierenced
Truck31Inexpierenced
Truck31Inexpierenced
Truck31Inexpierenced
Truck31Inexpierenced
Truck31Inexpierenced

The Soviet list is based on an army in full retreat. Supplies and such were not a huge issue at this point of the war, so I was happy to give them full equipment. The Soviet army was also inexperienced at this point, which I reflected in the list.

Scenario Rules

The Soviets have to cross the river they get to VP for each unit to cross. The Germans had to destroy the units and get 1VP for each destroyed unit. The bridge can be rigged to blow by any infantry unit within 3″ of the bridge. If the bridge blows, the Soviets get 5 VP.

Round 1.

The Soviets deployed as instructed on the far edge of the river. An AT Gun and a squad of rifles sit near the bridge as a garrison unit.

The German’s 3 Waves are shown here.

1 Panzer, 1 Halftrack Loaded, and the Mortar

1 Armored Car The other Halftrack, the AT gun, is very important for later the forward observer

Last 2 More companies of rifles, the MMG, Flamer, Sniper, AT Team and Medic

I was happy with how the field of battle turned out.

The German came to the table fast and hard despite having 6 fewer order dice. They also deployed well away from any units considered a threat. Their tank quickly knocked out a truck while the rifle company immobilized another. The immobilized truck in the front carried the people’s militia squad, which I am using as the free Soviet Rifle squad from their rule. The quantity and quality are all on their own.



Round 2

The Germans continued their assault on the Russian convoy. Destroying another truck right at the base of the bridge. A very timely shot from the German AT gun. I said earlier that the German forward artillery observer would play a huge role, and he really did. He was the first unit the Germans brought in for Wave 2, and the artillery strike was beautiful. Well placed, hit on target, and pinned 6 units down at the center of the field. The Soviets were able to inflict a couple of casualties this round; they also moved their AT Gun so it could hit the tank and armored car. They also knocked out a half-track.

Round 3

The Soviets still had 0 units across the river, although two trucks packed full were moving hard toward the bridge and a couple of rifle squads. I determined to let the MMG and the mortars sit in place and try to provide some cover fire. In the photo, flames billowing up from the German Panzer tank. You should also notice a single figure lying on the ground behind the smoking white soviet truck. A lone AT man rolled a 6 to hit the tank, another 6 to damage the tank through its side armor, and finally, a third 6 on the vehicle damage table. This run of luck turned the game in favor of the Soviets. All units hit in the artillery barrage were still pinned and failed their order tests.

Round 4

The first Soviet truck crosses the bridge. The Commissar, the Lieutenant, and the sniper team all unload, giving the Soviets 8 VP. The Germans have destroyed 1 Rifle Team, 2 MMGs, 3 Trucks, 1 Mortar, the Dog Mines, and the Armoured car, giving them a one-point advantage. The Soviets will likely get 4 more VPs next turn as vehicles cross the river. The Germans were fully playing the game, sending their armored car on a suicide run to kill the remaining two veterans holding the side of the bridge the Soviets were crossing from. They also went in on the militia squad, which had successfully stayed down and pinned for most of the game.

Round 5

The last Soviet truck was destroyed on the bridge as it attempted to cross. The veterans did run across the bridge as their odds intensified, so 4 more VPs to the Soviets. The Germans knocked out another unit and immobilized the T34 tank. Their flame thrower team moved quickly towards the military squad, trying to eliminate it from contention. Still, the fuse has not been lit.

Round 6

It came down to the last two dice. The Germans were able to kill two riflemen who were attempting to remove their AT gun. The last Soviet activation lit the fuse on the bridge, but the Germans had a dice roll left, a natural 6, to cancel the bridge’s blowing. They succeeded. With the T34 and the rifle squad destroyed, the Germans ended with 13 VP compared to the Soviet 12. Had the Germans not diffused the bomb, it would have been a Soviet Victory.

Conclusions

For the Soviets, the militia squad, the veterans that held the bridge, the truck driver, and the AT Gun, plus the Garrison Rifle squad, all performed well and are up for a little more narrative follow-up next game.

On the German side, the armored car, the Heer Pioneers that saved the bridge, the Flame Thrower, and the Observer are also worthy of more follow-up and a bit of a story piece.

Soviets did not have any truly useless units; the inexperienced rifles didn’t do much, but they were not useless. The German medic was useless, as were the halftracks.

What A Whirlwind

Radio silence killed the blog is a good name for a song. 5 weeks is a very long time to go without a post and it goes to show how insane the last 5 weeks have been. As most of you know I am a soccer referee. I officiate from competitive kids clear up to NPSL and UPSL including High School and College. Wyoming High School season is an absolute hose as far as time goes. I officiated an average of 10 matches a week, very few being less than a two-hour drive away. It was just busy. This last weekend featured the Wyoming State Championships. It was my first year in 7 years not being a member of the championship crew.

I have also been selling off my magic collection. There were several days of 50+ orders per day which take a solid hour to package and mail. Just too much.

I did play a couple Vanguard matches and will finish my Vanguard league this week. That’s my update.

Oh yea. Stalingrad commences this weekend.

Daughters of Khaine Vanguard Battles

The hobby room continues its long, arduous completion process. My desk is ready and fit for work; now, I am just putting items away.

In the meantime, I entered into a Vanguard League. My FLGS saw how many people wanted to try Age of Sigmar, so they created a league. The gist is that everyone purchases a Vanguard box. You get bi-weekly pairings and progress through the various missions. In total, there are eight participants. I have fought two battles thus far.

Final Thoughts on Vanguard

For the battle reports see below. The quick summary is I think Vanguard games are just a little small. They work great as an introduction to the game and really allow new players to use and practice the new abilities, but balance wise they just aren’t quite there. I routinely have command points I can’t use and the many obectives and battle tactics are not achieveable. Unit balance is also off. Some large units while points wise are not out of line, when faced with other options, they are just inferior in every way.

I picked the Daughters of Khaine. I was the last to pick, and I wanted a faction no one else was really talking about. The Vanguard list is below.

1 Mulusai Ironscale with Arcane Tome and Master of Poisons
5 Blood Stalkers or Blood Sisters
10 Witch Alves or Sisters of Slaughter
5 Doomfire Warlocks

My first battle I faced Kolten and his Seraphon. His list is below;

1 Sarus Oldblood on Carnosaur
3 Kroxigor
10 Sarus Warriors

We played the first battleplan, Frontal Assault. I have a decent amount of AOS expierence. My opponent had zero. The game started very slow. Getting the opponent used to Grand Strategy’s and Battle Tactics took a significant amount of time. Once those were arranged I won the roll and elected to go 2nd. I felt like a round 2 double turn on the small table could be decisive.

Kolten advanced up the board, but was unable to get a charge in based on my deployment. My round I used my warlocks and archer to eliminate his entire unit of warriors. I then positioned myself to have the witch aelves charge the oldblood my next turn. I wanted to avoid the Kroxigors at all costs until we met on my terms.
Turn 2 the battle went to shit for me. I did win the double turn, and I threw everything I had at the Oldblood. I should have killed it twice according to mathhammer. Timely rolls, timely saves, I reduced him to exactly one wound with all my units execept the Blood Stalkers engaged with it. His turn he was able to withdraw then charge again, plus got a charge in with his Kroxigors, plus healed the maximum with his heroic ability. My Witch Aelves and Warlocks were elminated. I was able to kill his Oldblood leaving only the Kroxigor, but my Blood Sisters were cornered. At this point he managed to get both of his Battle Tactics and Grand Strategy so I was going to have a tough time coming back on points.
Turn 3 I tried to force my way out. But his unwounded Kroxigors took out my Ironscale. I was left with 3 Blood Stalkers against his 3 Kroxigors.

By turn 5 I had whittled down 1 Kroxigor but he still had two left and I was behind by 4 points. Had I gone second I would have tried to charge my unit into his, but because of the turn structure I would have been tabled going first. I think with shooting and charging I could have gotten him down to 1 Kroxigor, but if I missed I would have been completely tabled.

My second game I went against Eric, he and I have played several times in the past, I never faced his Lumineth.

Same list for me. While his list was:

1 Scinari Cathaller
5 Bladelords
10 Wardens
10 Sentienls

The amount of magic he could must scared me, but I also knew how squishy his army was. We played Burn and Pillage. He placed almost all of his units in a single corner of the field. His archers were kind of out in the middle rather than behind his lines which suprised me.

I was able to take the first turn, and put everything I had into the blade lords. I felt like this was the most dangerous unit on the field to me. They were killed on the With Aelves charge.

I only lost one elf for one of his command abilities and I took out two Wardens as well. In the bottom end of the first he wiped out my aelves using his phalanx and killed a single Warlock. I was able to shoot with my Warlocks and do a couple damage to his Wardens.

I picked off a few of his wardens and took three objectives to his zero. I also completed one battle tactic and elimnated his grand strategy so I felt good about where I was.
Turn three I finished off all but one warden and he eliminated my warlocks. I also killed 2 more sentinels.
Turn four I finished off his commander and wardens and put him down to 5 sentinels. He killed my Ironscale and 2 blood stalkers. To be able to kill my blood stalkers he had to move his sentinels forward, a big moment and what I thought was a mistake. I was also 1 VP behind and handnt completed my grand strategy.
Turn 5, I couldn’t get him off the objective by just shooting, my grand strategy was every unit fights and my stalkers hadn’t. I needed my +1 buff and a roll of 8 to get the charge off. Missed my first roll and used my only command point to try again, got an 8. He killed one of my stalkers on overwatch, but after my round of shooting I had him down to 4 models. The sisters did glorious, he was down to one, I had my two snakes left. They struck, he saved one and missed one tabeling his army and earning me the victory.