WARSURGE

Monday 21 December 2015

Fight Like a Pirate Day - 2015

This battle actually took place a little before 'Talk like a Pirate Day' but due to how busy we were and with so much Halloween terrain and stuff to do at the time, it kind of slipped through the net...


But not anymore - as they say, better late than never! Here we have a Pirate themed battle. We used custom units and modified a barren waste/desert board to accommodate a naval battle!

Before we dive into the batrep, just a quick message that we are doing an e-book on miniature war gaming, including some social aspects of the hobby such as winning friends beyond the battlefield.


Click Here to reserve your free e-book, "How to Really Win at War Gaming"


The Game - Fight Like a Pirate Day

It was a 2v2 game - most of the board was water, which slowed units that could swim and only allowed flying models or amphibious models to traverse safely - this included some pirate ships that could be captured by the players and used as open-topped transports!

The team with the most Pirate Points was the winner. On one team we had Dark Angels and Orks against Tyranids. It was 1500 points.

To collect pirate points, players had to slay NPC pirates and pirate captains, open treasure chests (often with bonus loot!), sink/capture enemy ships and rescue/kidnap wenches. The 'quality' of the wench (you can use your imagination, but it equated to pirate point value) would be determined at the end of the game.

Players also received Pirate Points for defeating units belonging to the enemy team.

Players would need to traverse the ocean in order to collect wenches, treasure chests and engage in battle on the open sea...


CLICK ON AN IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT/BROWSE THE GALLERY





Deployment

The Teams determined their deployment zones then took it in turns deploying their units. They both had access to a Pirate Ship, all under the control of plundering pirates and lead by a mighty Pirate Captain (who would need to be slain to capture the ship). Also, there were tribesmen and various soldiers guarding treasure chests and naval outposts.





Turns 1-3

For the early turns, both teams found themselves attacking pirates that were docked near their deployment zones. By attacking and 'liberating' the ships, they could use them as transports and firing platforms; even the ships themselves had cannons.






The ocean contained several interesting elements, wild animals, some wenches floating in the water along with some naval soldiers and outposts. Apparently our Warhammer 40k armies had stumbled upon an existing conflict zone!

Dark Angels & Orks overthrew the captain and seized it before the Tyranids, however the Tyranids weren't particularly concerned yet.




Tribesmen and naval soldiers were shooting cannons at the players, only inflicting mild damage. The respective teams dealt with the nuisances fairly quickly, mainly focusing on acquiring transportation. Only the Tyranid player had a unit capable of quickly traversing the open sea - and that was the winged Hive Tyrant! It harassed the opposing team throughout the mission from the sky.




Both teams were collecting wenches and treasure chests. The Dark Angel/Ork team in particular were making good use of the ships and dinghies they were acquiring. The Tyranid player was not particularly happy about that, and was using their Barbed Hierodule and it's powerful bio-weapons to shoot down ships!

Captain Dreadbeard!





Turns 4-6

Near Turn 4, the Barbed Hierodule had sunk the ship of the self-proclaimed Captain Dreadbeard (he'd probably spell it Dredbeer'd or something, haha). However... one of the loot chests they found on the turn summoned a Ghost Ship, which was indestructible but had no weapons. Captain Dreadbeard and the Dark Angels were saved it seems!
The Barbed Hierodule is on the top right of the image!



The Black Pearl belonged to Captain Dreadbeard, but that didn't stop the Hive Tyrant from harassing the ship!

In the midst of the fighting, after the chests had been opened, a mysterious but powerful vessel arrived in their midst: the Queen Anne's Revenge, fabled ship of the legendary Captain Black Beard!

The ship was cursed and powerful - it was tough, had enhanced cannons and even the ropes of the ship could come alive under his command to attack! Remember Pirates of the Carribean






The players fought against him and each other. In the end, Black Beard was defeated and his ship was seized by Dreadbeard and the Dark Angels. That Ghost Ship was super handy after all!




Though the Barbed Hierodule was weakening the newly captured Queen Anne's Revenge, the Tyranids were on the backfoot, trying to hang onto their acquired wenches and preserve their units. The game ended (random dice roll), so the value of the wenches was calculated and added to their Pirate Point score...




Epilogue

After working out the Wenches' Pirate Point values and everything else, it was Captain Dreadbeard with his Orks and the Dark Angels that were victorious. Yarr!

The Tyranids had fought nobly, but they needed another turn or two to possibly fight it back to a draw or even a small victory.

And that's the end folks!

Thanks for reading! :)

Again, if you're interested in the e-book or have questions as to how we actually played the game, click the link below:

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Tuesday 15 December 2015

Christmas 2015 - Revenge of the Grinch


“The hard part isn’t finding the toy factory... the hard part is letting go.”







Greetings! Welcome to our second Christmas themed battle report!

We used a lot of things this year: we played the game via our BFR game project (alpha play test) using Warhammer 40k minis, Infinity minis, a snow mat from Frontline Gaming, interior terrain from Sci-Fi Battle Systems, War Games Factory minis and last but not least, a bunch of Christmas themed decorations among other things!

Indeed, here you'll find Christmas Eldar, Orks, USAriadna, maniacal Toy Soldiers and even a big Sewer Beast. Charming.

Before we dive into the batrep, just a quick message that we
 are doing an e-book on miniature war gaming, including some social aspects of the hobby such as winning friends beyond the battlefield.


Click Here to reserve your free e-book, "How to Really Win at War Gaming"


Also! This is a continuation of last year's game, but you don't need to read it. If you're curious anyway, here's the link:

Last Year's Christmas Game - Click Here




CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE IT!

The Story Continues...


--EMERGENCY TRANSMISSION--

The stolen ship was just entering the warp to its next destination when the message flashed on the screen. Its sole occupant, a hooded giant of a man with two master crafted pistols, was now in transit to a seemingly peaceful Imperial world, his next objective a mystery to all but him.

The ship’s interface was suddenly alive with blinking lights and an inbound message.The power armoured figure leaned slightly in over the control panel and pushed a button, producing a holographic video.

A robust man in red armour, crimson cheeks and twinkling eyes with an unmistakable hat and beard appeared, perspiration and grim determination written all over his face. He then spoke his message:

“I don’t know how the basta---- bzzt ---- did it, but he broke into the –bzzt- factory and ---bzzt ---- now the place is und-r ----bzzzzt---. That Grinch brought his mates with him, and looks like h-- going to f--d- ---bzzzzzt--- in the ----bzzzzzzzzzt---. The townsfolk are hostages and --- sleigh is ----bzzzzt-----. If you got this message, then you’re on call NOW. Coordinates --- encrypted in ---- message. You all believed in me once, now –bzztt- bel-eve in –bzzt-.”

-The holographic images blurs and shakes violently as the thunderous crack of an explosion rocks the area-

“Get here now before –bzzzzzzzzzt- lead the –bzzzzzzzzzzzzt -----Th--k of--th---chil-re------“

………………………….

--TRANSMISSION END--

The hooded figure sat there silently for a moment, the computer revealing the encrypted coordinates. Before doing anything, he looked at the sword by his side that had been unused for the last 10,000 years. The sheathed weapon, the Lion Sword, reflected a small glimmer of light from within the ship…

Without saying a word the hooded man, only known as Cypher, pressed ‘Accept’ on the encrypted coordinates. The ship’s computer promptly plotted a new course, leading to the besieged destination.
The Grinch would not triumph over Santa Claus, not while he still drew breath.

Only moments after exiting the warp, the ship’s computer warned that another vessel was hot in pursuit. It seemed that two USAriadna Rangers were attempting to track him. Little did he know that it was Cypher’s intention to lure them. After all, had he so wished, Cypher could’ve vanished without a trace before stealing the ship in the first place.


How fortunate for Santa – Cypher was bringing extra company for the second great battle of Christmas…





Let the Game Begin!

OVERVIEW

The mission was for four heroes to find and rescue Santa and infiltrate Santa's Toy Factory to eliminate the Grinch. Santa is against violence, but sometimes it is a necessity.

Introducing the Team

Orakio: Leader of the Naughty/Nice Brigade

Leader of the Naughty/Nice Brigade, Orakio is a warrior with few to equal him. He hunts down citizens of the universe deemed too naughty for a lump of coal and executes them with his elite squad of power armoured warriors.


Domo Arigato: The Mysterious Necron
For some reason a Necron who favoured melee combat was among them. What was his purpose? How did Santa summon him here? Maybe time would tell.


USAriadna Ranger: Captain Dan Zant
Captain Dan Zant is a seasoned ranger and tracker, having endured wounds in his past that would have killed lesser individuals. He has kept the bullets from his wounds as mementos.

Additionally, he crafted his trusty axe during a skirmish that went horribly wrong. It served him well then, and it still serves him to this day.


USAriadna Ranger: Mick Dundee

Armed with a large knife and a bow, Mick Dundee doesn't take cheek from anybody. Like Dan, Mick was tricked into coming here by a mysterious hooded individual with two Master-Crafted Pistols...

Having seen the problems ahead, the pair had no hesitation helping Santa and the Christmas Elves. After all, they found their stolen ship empty nearby and needed a little break to stretch their legs before returning home...





Step 1: The Siege of Christmas

Our heroes landed and surveyed the area. There were many Orks, gigantic Toy Soldiers and Toy Tanks. Thankfully a force of Christmas Eldar was on standby.






They had two options: use transports to call in the forces of the Christmas Eldar, or use a gigantic toy robot that the Grinch didn't steal.

They opted for the 'ultimate toy'.






Their choice made, the heroes set out on foot with the robot not too far behind. They clashed on the battlefield with the Orks, facing unusually skillful warriors. The Toy Tanks had many heavy weapons, taking out one of the USAriadna Rangers.

The giant toy (Imperial Knight) was a mighty ally indeed - at over 900 points, it's combat capacity was insane. That isn't to say the Orks and Toy Soldiers weren't a threat. The Meganobs in particular with their claws could hurt the machine if the heroes couldn't assist.











Though the heroes were battered, bruised (and one fell in the battle), victory was secured thanks to the 'ultimate toy'.

Getting the USAriadna Ranger, 'Captain Dan Zant' back up on his feet, they rallied and prepared to search for Santa.


They heard a great howl in the distance. Veteran Christmas Guardians informed them that it was the undeniable voice of...the Grinch! Within moments, a second voice spoke.


Voice: “They’ll be back, and in greater numbers.”

The party turned around to see a great man with a handful of Christmas Eldar exiting the workshop house. It was the jolly red saint of children, Santa Clause.


Santa Clause: “Thanks for coming to my aid lads. The Grinch is back and caught me and the wee elves here off guard. He’s looking for a fight, and by my beard, he’s gonna’ get one.”

Santa continued:


Santa Clause: Lads, I hate to ask this of you, but you’re gonna need to go after the Grinch for me. I’m stuck here repairing my gear and without my sleigh… well I just can’t risk going after the Grinch like this even with you at hand. Even worse, I can’t let him get access to this building I’ve been hiding in. We need to keep it at all costs with the Christmas Eldar.


Santa informed them that they needed to find and deal with the Grinch in the Toy Factory. There were three secret entrances into the Toy Factory, two of which became blocked over the siege. Additionally, there were some optional objectives if they had the time: Santa had lost his sleigh (and needed it back), the local village was being occupied by Grinch forces and the Frozen Church with the Ghosts of Christmas may be helpful, though a very risky venture.




‘Enchanted’ Cookies and Milk ‘Traps’

Along the way, there were several traps placed, intended to catch Santa. They were enchanted cookies and milk, but rigged with a nearby trap. Ranging from hallucinogenic gas to boulders, spiked logs, and electricity, these situations could be perilous, but also restore HP lost during the mission.





The First Tunnel

There was only room for one person in this tunnel, so Captain Dan Zant opted to go down...




The place was Santa's underground workshop area - undead Christmas Guardians and a booby trap awaited Dan.


He avoided the trap then shot down the undead with his powerful revolver. Inside he found some bombs dubbed as 'Decoration Bombs' or 'Orktex' Grenades as they were. Following the Grinch's attack last year, Santa had been developing them to deal with the Grinch. They were devastating against Orks.

The other item was a Proto-Type Present, which had no other information. No matter how hard anyone tried, it couldn't be opened either! What was inside this strange box?




Optional Step 1: Secure Santa's Sleigh

The heroes departed for Santa's sleigh. The wolves (who replaced Santa's Reindeer last year) were somewhere in the woods.








On the sleigh were some gifts!

They opened them and received valuable equipment upgrades. After that they sent the wolves on their way, back to Santa's Workshop base.

However, not long after, there was a rustling in the bushes. Dan Zant thought he would sort it - he began to urinate on the bushes when he was dragged in by some... Gremlins!

The team was surrounded. Countless Gremlins had encircled them and prepared to bite and claw them to death. Dan Zant managed to break free and rejoin his allies.






After a violent encounter, the team managed to repel the Gremlins. HP recovery items were used to withstand the onslaught.

Before they left, another bush began to rustle. Several Gremlins came out, but they became combat pets for some of the members. Orakio found a Leprechaun that enhanced him to have an extra +1 HP for the mission and restored any lost HP of the group.

They then departed for the village that was occupied by the Grinch's Orks...


Optional Step 2: The Occupied Village


Upon entering the outskirts, it was clear that the town was unsafe. Orks were holding civilians hostage, looting presents and demanding information on Santa. There were women and children too.





The party opted for an ambush attack, throwing a Decoration Bomb and Mick Dundee shooting a special F.A.T Arrow, causing a catastrophic explosion... regrettably, many townsfolk were in the vicinity. Even the Orks were horrified at the apparent disregard for life - they just had them as prisoners!

The fight didn't last long after that - it was a slaughter. The commando team got stuck into the remaining Orks via melee combat and dispatched them with little difficulty.







Domo Arigato the Necron felt obligated to finish the job - he slew the civilian survivors. Talk about cold-hearted! His logic was that they would be scarred for life, so it 'eased their suffering'.

Santa wasn't going to be impressed when he discovered what happened there, but alas, he wouldn't discover what happened any time soon...

After opening some presents under the tree, the team found another access tunnel. It was very dark, and an unsettling smell rose from below. The whole group went down...







The area was flooded and very dark, but was illuminated by Orakio's Sword. Within seconds, a large beast with tentacles burst out of the water and went for the light source. It sprayed acid and whipped it's victims or entangled them. Both Orakio and Domo were defeated in the battle, but a mysterious stranger appeared...

Cypher with his dual pistols, fought the beast. Although he sustained some grievous damage, he gunned the creature down then vanished, leaving the two USAriadna Rangers stumped.








After getting everyone back on their feet, they could see the area had a locked door with a computer console and a watery tunnel that might lead to the other side. The beast seemed to be responsible for the large amount of damage in the area.

Domo Arigato opted to enter the flooded tunnel. He had night vision and didn't need to breathe. He went through then unlocked the door from the other side.

Through the door was the site of a massacre. Many Christmas Eldar were dead, there was debris and loose power cables. A note was clutched tight in the hand of one dead Eldar.

The damned beast somehow got into the vehicle design vault. Thanks to the Grinch we’re physically cut off from the world and going to die in here from that thing. In desperation, one of the elves started to produce a toy tank, but it won’t be finished when it breaks through. The keys will be in the ignition. Just hope the Grinch doesn’t find a way to access the design servers before ------  ”

And so, it was the beast that killed them, and in their desperation had set their machine to make a Toy Tank.

Sure enough, there was a Toy Tank. They decided to repair and use the elevator to take it up to the surface!




Optional Step 3: The Ghosts of Christmas

Although the group could use the Toy Tank to storm the Toy Factory's Armoury, they had one more stop they wanted to make before heading there: the Frozen Church.



Upon entering, they came across the Ghosts of Christmas: Past, Present and Future. The Ghost of Christmas Future spoke to them:


Ghost of Christmas Future: “Santa endures our trial every century to maintain his immortality, always opting to fight the other two ghosts as he thinks our questions are too easy. Bah, hum bug. He doesn’t know wit if it came up and nipped him on the bum. Lucky for him, he never fights me anyway.”

The group decided to take their Trivia Test and got 80%. Nice job. They received loot and had access to the third tunnel, but decided to storm the Armoury!





Step 2: Infiltrate the Toy Factory

There were three ways to break into the Toy Factory. The armoury, the main door or the secret tunnel. The party used the tank to storm the armoury.








Unleashing all the Toy Tank's guns, they blew a great hole and slaughtered the Orks in the explosion. However, they unintentionally activated some deadly security drones.

Accessing an inactive Toy Tank, the party used two tanks to fight the drones. Dan Zant attempted to disable the drones at their control console by peeing on the controls. Instead he got a severe electrical burn into his privates!








After much grievous damage and even losing a Toy Tank, the drones were defeated.



From here, they used their tank to make some holes through the factory and break into the security room. They found a sleeping Ork who had eaten an entire crate of glittering Christmas doughnuts.

The adventurers shot him - he disintegrated into a cloud of magical dust (apparently the doughnuts were filled with Christmas magic).






The security system's interface was still open as Orakio accessed the computer console. There was information on the rooms, map data, but most importantly, controls to shutdown or even reprogram the Security Drone's protocols.

Orakio attempted to reprogram them and succeeded. With a series of screams, gun fire and laser sounds, the Orks had been purged from the Toy Factory. The only remaining Ork was the Grinch himself.




















They next went to shutdown the Toy Forge that had been producing evil Toy Soldiers and Toy Tanks. No longer would the forge blight the community. Existing toys were immediately shut down too!

Disabling the Forge also unlocked the security doors to the Grinch's Lair and Medical Bay.
The Toy Forge!






After that, they opened a few more presents and accessed the Medical Bay. The time to fight the Grinch lay just ahead...




Step 3: Final Battle: The Grinch


The Grinch was an imposing Ork and was not impressed with the recent activities in his new lair. The commando team rushed through the door and faced him.










The Grinch: "Ya gitz! D’is is my factory now! I’ll thump ya in the boing-loins!"


Captain Dan Zant pulled out the Proto-Type Present he found near Santa's house and threw it at the Grinch. The Grinch caught it, and with contempt ripped it open. It exploded with a bright flash and loud bang, disorientating the hulking green beast.


Without hesitation, the party threw all their remaining Decoration Bombs (or Orktex Grenades as they were known) and delivered catastrophic damage. Enough in fact to just defeat the green giant.

The Grinch's Jet Pack malfunctioned - it fired up and launched him through the ceiling, creating a big hole. Before the party could rest easy, the emergency self-destruct sequences activated, prompting a hasty exit!


Step 4: Emergency Self-Destruct Activated!


The self-destruct sequence had been started by the Grinch's climatic exit, the impact also opening one of the Christmas Present vaults.


The pile of presents was huge. So many gifts and so little time. The temptation of such a treasure trove took it's toll on the commando team - only Orakio managed to resist opening such a stash. Words crossed Orakio's mind on the subject:

“The hard part isn’t finding the toy factory... the hard part is letting go.”

Orakio wasn't inclined to give up on them, even though two of them perhaps deserved to die after the incident with the civilians. He went to the Security Room and accessed the computer to see if there was any way to disable the Self-Destruct Sequence.

By some stroke of luck, there was a way, and he had the skill to do it.

Orakio cancelled the sequence, thereby preventing the explosion of one of the biggest toy factories in the galaxy.

All in a days work.





Epilogue

With the emergency self-destruct averted, the commandos could eventually leave the factory. All the Orks were dead or had fled, giving Santa a chance to rethink his stance against the Grinch and begin rebuilding or relocating his operations.

As for the team that came to Santa's aid, it's debatable that the team caused as much harm as good in some ways, for the blood of the civilians on the white snow screams for justice.

The Grinch had been repelled, but not all was well for Santa...

Santa returned to the Toy Factory with a squad of Christmas Eldar. He investigated a Secret Factory Vault and made a shocking discovery.




Santa: Oh my Beard no, he took it.

Elf: Took what?

Santa: THE Safe. It had that … thing in it.

Elf: Oh sweet candy crap. Will he be able to actually open the safe?

Santa: Ha. Yes, it’s a matter of when. By my jolly name I hope we’re ready when he does...






Meanwhile, outside stands Cypher, resolute and stoic.

Cypher: Looks like my work here is finished.

Elf: But you didn’t do anything…?

Cypher: Oh, didn’t I?

Cypher then vanished before the Christmas Eldar could turn to face him. Yes, he had brought reinforcements to assist, but was he there for some other agenda? Only time would tell.




Thanks for reading!


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...and have a very Merry Christmas!


PS: You can use the E-Book Link to enquire about the game system we used or ask any other questions. Happy gaming!