Grimdark Future - Dark Vengeance

Its been a long time since I've posted, but I've not been idle.  I got the Warhammer 40,000 starter box called Dark Vengeance and I finished painting and dipping them.  Just in time for Warhammer 40k 8th edition even though the starter box was for 7th edition!  And I haven't played Warhammer 40k since I think 3rd edition!

Anyways, just to see the minis on a board and throw some dice, I decided to use One Page Rules' Grimdark Future (which has gone through its own set of revisions and upgrades, found here: https://onepagerules.com/portfolio/grimdark-future/)

The Units

Battle Brothers (Dark Brothers - all have Dark Resolve):  Front - Captain (Energy Sword, Assault Rifle/Plasma Rifle), Psychic (Pistol, Energy Sword, Psychic (2)).  Back - Dark Destroyers (4 Assault Rifles, 1 Energy Sword, 3 Energy Fists, 1 Minigun)

Brother Bikers (3 Linked Assault Rifles, 1 Plasma Rifle, 1 Pistol/CCW), Battle Brothers [x5] (4 Assault Rifles, 1 Plasma Cannon), Battle Brothers [x5] (3 Assault Rifles, 1 Plasma Rifle, 1 Plasma Pistol/CCW)

Havoc Brothers:  Dark Psychic (Energy Sword, Plasma Pistol, Psychic (3)), Havoc Lord (Energy Sword, Assault Rifle/Fusion Rifle), Brute (Brute Fist, Heavy Fusion Rifle)

Havoc Chosen (2x Energy Claws, 2 Assault Rifles, 3 Pistols, 2 Energy Swords, 1 Energy Fist) with Veterans and Chosen

Cultists [10] (8 Pistol/CCW, 1 2x CCW, 1 Flamethrower), Cultists [10] (8 Assault Rifles, 1 Shotgun, 1 Light Machinegun)

Game One

Havoc right flank, Brute and rifle Cultists.

Havoc Lord and Chosen aim up the middle for easy objective token.

The other Cultists and Dark Psychic have the left flank.

Brother Bikers and Captain have the left flank opposite the Brute.

Both Battle Brother squads cover the middle.

The Psychic has their right flank opposite the Dark Psychic.  The Dark Destroyers are in Reserve.

The Brute heads for the Brother Bikers.

 

These Dark Brothers take aim on some already injured cultists....

...Plasma Cannon and friends wipe them out.

 

The Brother Bikers are wiped out by the Brute and cultists.

The Captain is hiding on the left with an objective as other Battle Brothers move up the middle.

The Dark Destroyers arrive and unleash fury on the Brute, who shrugs them off easily.

 

After a round of shooting and charging, only one Dark Destroyer remains and the cultists escaped.

The Havoc Lord and Psychic battle for the center token.

 

These Battle Brothers capture the token that their Captain died defending as the Brute lumbers his way forward.

The Dark Psychic prays for a miracle as he holds this objective in the final round....

...but a Plasma Cannon to the face wins! 

In the end, the Dark Brothers hold 3 objectives...

...Havoc Brothers have one.

Game Two

This time the Captain and Brother Bikers are across from the Cultists.

The Psychic and Battle Brother squad face the middle.

The other Battle Brother squad with Plasma Cannon hold the right, opposite the Brute, and the Dark Destroyers are in Reserve as usual.

The Brute gets to face off against the Plasma Cannon.

The Havoc Lord has joined the Chosen.

The rifle Cultists have the Dark Psychic assisting.

The other Cultists are hoping for a mad rush to the objective.

Advance and shoot!  But accomplish little! 

The Dark Psychic gives Dark Eye to his shooty Cultists who kill a Brother Biker!

Dark Destroyers pop up behind the other Cultist unit...

...no more Cultists.

Lots of shooting and some Battle  Brothers and Chosen are slain.

The Captain claims the objective in the back as the Dark Psychic tries to do something against those Dark Destroyers.

The Brute charges the Battle Brother squad with the Plasma Cannon.

The Psychic charges the Havoc Lord.

Cultists are about to feel the pain...

 

...and the Dark Psychic does as well.

In the end, the Havoc Lord and Brute contest one objective against the Brother Bikers.  Another objective is held by a Battle Brother squad.

The Dark Destroyers claim an objective as well as the Captain in the background.

Its great finally getting a couple games in.  Especially with some new miniatures.  Grimdark Future is a very light way of playing Warhammer 40k, minimal fuss, just miniatures and dice and fun.

I REALLY need to work on some new terrain.  These cardboard ruins need a little touch up and I just need more.  The green 4'x4' board has worked great for me as a gaming table, but I do believe its time I spiced things up somehow.  Of course it has to be inexpensive or DIY.  I've got LOTS of cardboard and styrofoam waiting to be used and a hot glue gun ready to roll.

And waiting patiently for Warhammer 40k 8th edition.  I think I will dip my toe a bit more into the Games Workshop pool.

Double Tap - Grots vs Veer-myn

I had another opportunity to try out One Page Rules' Double Tap, which just got updated to version 1.1  (https://onepagerules.wordpress.com/portfolio/double-tap/)

This time the teams each were about 75 points and I used non-Infinity models.  As well, the battlefield is 4' x 4' with lots of terrain features.  I made up a 'capture and hold' scenario to be played out instead of a straight 'kill'em all' mission.

Left to right:  Skullcap, Ninja, Doc, Pirate, Buckethead, and Patch

The first team is made up of GW Grots.  Skullcap is Quality 3+, has a Pistol and Sword and the Leader ability.  Ninja is Quality 4+, has a Pistol and Sword and the Martial Arts trait.  Doc is Quality 4+, has a Pistol with Fire Rounds and the Doctor trait.  Pirate is Quality 4+, has a Carbine and the Marksman trait.  Buckethead and Patch are both Quality 4+ and have SMGs.  The total points is 75.5.

Left to right:  Progenitor Skitter, Progenitor Skiffe, Nightmare Bonegrinder, Night Crawlers Krikk and Krekk

The second team are Mantic Veer-myn.  Progenitor Skitter is Quality 3+, has a Pistol with Poison and the Leader trait.  Progenitor Skiffe is Quality 4+, has a Sniper Rifle with Poison.  Nightmare Bonegrinder is Quality 4+, has a Sword and Pistol with Poison and the Large and Veteran traits.  Night Crawlers Krikk and Krekk are Quality 4+ and have Pistols with Poison.  Total points are 76.

Pirate takes a commanding position from the second-floor doorway as the others assemble below.

Patch and Ninja are watching the left flank.

Krikk and Krekk are on the Veer-myn left flank.

The Progenitors and Nightmare are on the Veer-myn right.

The three crates are the scenario objectives.

The scenario requires a teams to capture and hold the most objectives by the end of the 4th round.  To capture the objective a unit must be within 2" without any enemy models contesting it.  If no objectives are captured or there is a tie, then the team that has slain the most points in models wins.

Krikk runs to the stairway to the landing pad, trying to keep hidden from sniping Grots.

Skitter advances on the central tower as Bonegrinder goes for the one on their right.

The Grots scamper their way forward.

Things are grim at this point.  Pirate and Skullcap are all that remain of the Grots.

Skiffe has proven how deadly sniping can be from his hidden position.  Bonegrinder is able to take and hold the right objective as Skitter prepares to climb the tower for the center objective.

Pirate is able to take out Progenitor Skitter.

With the last activation of the 4th round, the Grot Pirate guns down Bonegrinder.

With only Skullcap and Pirate remaining of the Grots and Skiffe of the Veer-myn, the Grots are the winners!

Recap:  The Veer-myn were aggressive running to the objectives, relying on the fact that the majority of the Grots had short range weaponry.  But they did not count on a sharpshooter on the Grot team.  Pirate proved to be the star of this game.  As the Night Crawlers ran for the launch pad, Pirate gunned them down.  When Progenitor Skitter tried to cower behind the central tower objective, it was Pirate who killed him.  And when Bonegrinder was the only Veer-myn left on an objective, in the final seconds of the game, it was Pirate who murdered him in a hail of bullet fire and ensured a Grot victory.

Thoughts:  Playing on a 4'x4' battlefield is a challenge when the majority of your units have short range weapons and one team has a sniper rifle.  Although the Grots pulled out a win and that Pirate's Carbine with Marksman proved to be the deciding factor, it was Progenitor Skiffe's Sniper Rifle that kept the Veer-myn unafraid in advancing quickly.  Having a sniper rifle with a commanding view of the field, the reaction shooting of Skiffe took out many Grots and kept the survivors ducked down.

In this case I think it would have been better to reduce the field to 3'x3' in order to clutter in more terrain and break up firing lanes.  There were zero opportunities where either team could get close to being within melee range.  Part of this fault is due to what units were in each team, but I wanted to try something different out to see how Double Tap handles skewed situations.  I'm thinking of other variations of teams to try out next.