Rumors: Blood Angels Terminators in new Space Hulk Box

There weren’t much news at today’s Games Day in Köln, Germany, but the t-shirts (featuring a Terminator helmet for staffers and a Tyranid head for the general audience) made it pretty clear that the Mystery Box is the new Space Hulk game.

According to rumors in the BoLS Lounge there will be Blood Angels Terminators in the new game again, which is strongly confirmed by the Games Day cover.

I expect many boarding operations coming up in our local gaming club.

Update: Space Hulk has been officially anounced and is available for preorder on the GW website. Man, those Blood Angels Terminators are so beautifully made that I could cry. And I feel almost ashamed of my old Terminators that I am currently painting.

Fresh off the painting table: OOP Space Hulk BA Terminators

As usual, click the image for a larger view:

My OOP Terminators from the old Space Hulk box painted as the 3rd (pictured above) and 4th Squad of the 1st Blood Angels Company. I didn’t take a picture of the 4th Squad as it really looks just the same.

With the three Terminators from my previous post I have now painted a total of 13 Terminators out of my 25 total. When I am done with the remaining half I will throw all my Terminators and Jump Packers at my enemies in Planet Strike.

Battle Report: Another BA vs DA (2000 Points)

Intro

Brother Sergeant Standing Wolf stared at the ruins. The Fallen stood stoically with the electrocuffs around his wrists knowing that any attempt to change his fate had become futile. “Avenger, this is Death Wing One, do you copy?” – “Loud and clear, Death Wing One.” – “We are ready to teleport back into orbit with our freight.” – “Negative, Death Wing One, negative. Teleporting is currently not possible because of a solar storm, Brother Techmarine Rondran is adjusting the signal matrix. Please stand by.” – “Aye, we are standing by. Death Wing One over and out.” Standing Wolf had been watching the horizon for the entire conversation with the ship in orbit because he was expecting someone to arrive. And there he saw them. Red shapes bouncing from the earth as if they were human rubber balls. They were the Blood Angels who originally found a trace of the Fallen when he got too imprudent dealing with his stolen artifacts. The Dark Angels managed to sneak into the orbit and trace the Fallen while the Blood Angels were still busy exchanging formalities with the local authorities. Everything would have been perfect and gone unnoticed. This solar storm really happened at the worst possible moment – one could almost think that Chaos was behind this all. Yet Standing Wolf readied his Storm Bolter for the secret of the Chapter had to be kept at all costs. “Please, God Emperor, please don’t let this happen.”

“Capture the Fallen” Scenario

For this game, we played the homebrew scenario “Capture the Fallen”.
The game is being played over the long table edges.
The terrain is a city fight terrain that provides a lot of cover.
The Fallen is being placed with a Death Wing Squad in a bunker in the center of the table. As long as there is at least one Death Wing Terminator in base contact with the Fallen, the Fallen is captured. If the Fallen is free, he walks 2D6 into a random direction in every movement phase.

The Death Wing wins, if they manage to teleport back into orbit before the game runs out.
The Blood Angels win if the Fallen is still on the surface of the planet when the game runs out.

The Death Wing rolls a D6 at the end of its movement phase. The teleport is successful if the rolled dice beats one of the following conditions:

Turn 1: no roll
Turn 2: 6+
Turn 3: 5+
Turn 4: 4+
Turn 5: 3+
Turn 6: 2+
Turn 7: 1+
The Blood Angels may carry a jammer in a vehicle that worsens the Death Wing roll by -1 if it’s within 12 inches of the Fallen.

Army Lists (2’000 points each)

My Blood Angels list:

(all infantry has Jump Packs)
Lord Dante
Chaplain Lemartes

Death Company (10 strong)
2x Veteran Assault Squad VAS (8 strong, Thunderhammer & Stormshield, 2 pairs of Lightning Claws, 2 Flamers)

2x Regular Assault Squad RAS (10 strong, Powerfist, 2 Plasma Pistols)
2x Land Speeder (Multimelta, Assault Canon)

The Death Wing list:

Death Wing Squad (Apothecarius, guarding the Fallen in the bunker)
Land Raider Redeemer with Death Wing Squad and Grey Knight Psychic Johann Kraus
Land Raider Crusader with Death Wing Squad and Captain Belial
3x Venerable Dreadnought

Battle Report

Turn 1:
The DA get to move first. The Land Raider Redeemer and a Venerable Dreadnought are flanking the bunker on the left.
The Land Raider Crusader is flanking the bunker on the right.
The other two Venerable Dreadnoughts move into cover behind the bunker.
The Blood Angels move everything they have towards the bunker. The Death Company is in the center, a Land Speeder on every flank. The Land Speeder on the right flank is in fire range and shoots at the Death Wing Squad in the bunker, but doesn’t do any damage.

Turn 2:
The DA fail their teleport roll.
The missiles of the Death Wing Squad in the bunker manage to shoot the Land Speeder on the right; it explodes. Unfortunately, this Land Speeder also carried the jammer.
The Land Speeder on the left manages to shoot the Land Raider Redeemer with the Multimelta and destroys it.
The Death Company is landing in front of the bunker and is running into the room on 1st floor level (the Death Wing and the Fallen or on the 2nd floor).

Turn 3:
The DA succeed in their teleport roll with a straight 6 on the dice.
The Fallen and the entire Death Wing Squad guarding him are removed from play.
We decide to keep playing, however.
Belial and his Death Wing Squad exit the Land Raider Crusader and charge Lemartes and the Death Company in the bunker. They kill 6 Death Company Marines, but the Death Company is taking 3 Terminators with them on the journey over Hades.
The RAS on the left charges the Venerable Dreadnought, but only inflicts a shaken result.

Turn 4:
Belial and his Terminators continue to kill Death Company Marines.
Grey Knight Johann Kraus assists the Dreadnought on the left against the RAS, but sees himself cut up by their Chainswords.
The Death Wing Squad previously walking with Johann Kraus moves into the bunker to assist Belial.
Dante an his RAS land on the roof of the bunker.
Dantes Inferno Pistols has the Venerable Dreadnought behind the bunker explode.
The RAS on the left manages to destroy the Venerable Dreadnought’s close combat weapon.
The VAS on the left attacks the 2nd Venerable Dreadnought, but only gets a shaken result.
The VAS on the right attacks the Land Raider Crusader, but only gets a shaken result.

Turn 5:
The Death Company is finally being wiped out.
The Land Raider Crusader shoots at the VAS. They fail their morale check and fall back.
The Blood Angels on the left fail their moral checks as well and fall back.
Dante and his RAS descend to the 1st floor of the bunker and attack Belial.
They manage to kill all remaining Terminators except Belial. However, Belial kills Dante in return.

Turn 6:
The Dreadnoughts and the remaining Land Raider Crusader manage to kill all Blood Angels infantry models as they are falling back.
The remaining Land Speeder takes a shot at the Land Raider Crusader, but fails to do any damage.

Turn 7:
The Crusader kills the Land Speeder. The Blood Angels model count is down at 0.

Critical Review

Although it’s pure madness to fight Land Raiders and Dreadnoughts with such a Blood Angels list, it did a lot better than I expected.
After my last game, I wanted to balance my squads better by giving each VAS a Thunderhammer and Powerclaws. Also Dantes Inferno Pistol definitely was worth its points.
In the end, it was one factor that broke my neck: the Death Wing charging my Death Company instead of my Death Company charging them. The Death Company heavily relies on the Furious Charge and the Chaplain’s rerolls.
If I had had Dante and Corbulo nearby whenever I fought Terminators, I would probably have won.
Finally, this game has also shown that it’s pointless to fight Dreadnoughts and Land Raiders in close combat. A sergeant with Powerfist/Thunderhammer is hitting with 2 attacks (more or less) in every turn. This just isn’t good enough to get a lot of rolls on the vehicle damage chart.

Outro

Lord Dante moved with his men towards the bunker. Brother Lemartes and his doomed angels had already slipped into it. Dante was looking forward to finally questioning that shadowy character who may know something about the whereabouts of the Amulet of Sanguinius. Suddenly, the screams of the Death Company changed into some supernatural frenzy. They must really have hit a terrifying enemy. Dante landed on top of the bunker and his reflexes placed a clean shot on the giant standing behind it. He didn’t trust his eyes as he saw that he just fell Brother Dreadnought Bethor and all his honorable insignia. Dante rushed down the stair to the bunker’s first floor where the frenzy suddenly had stopped. There was black and bone colored armor all over the floor. “Belial,” Dante hissed, “what treachery is this?” The answer came back in form of a pair of Lightning Claws digging deep into his armor.

Fresh off the painting table: Triumvirate

I am currently busy painting a total of 25 Blood Angels Terminators. Fresh off the painting table are the three HQ models who are going to be the Triumvirate of my 1st Company.

The Terminator Captain has fought many battles and seen all enemies the universe has to offer. He’s the type of guy who arrives with the first wave on the surface of a planet and is the last to be teleported up again. His Storm Bolter and Energy Sword are relatively simple weapons, but he knows to master them well. The more killy weapons are being carried by his Honor Guard who would never let themselves be separated from him. Of course, the Captain would never back away from an enemy, but it’s his Honor Guard taking care of the most imminent threads that lets him lead his company even at the frontline.
I’m especially happy with this picture because it nicely shows the different shade of red between the robe and the Power Armor.

The Terminator Chaplain is the Captain’s dark advisor. The Chaplain knows too well the human beings’ faults and weaknesses, but he also knows their strengths and noble feats. While the Captain may be a great tactician, the Chaplain is the strategist who makes sure that everything going on within the company is in the will of the God Emperor. The Chaplain leads the company in prayer, works as its spiritual adviser and sorts out those who are falling to the Black Rage.
I didn’t paint this Chaplain in any special way. However, I decided to leave the eye sockets in the same bone color as the rest of the skull (quickly thought about black or bright green) because this makes him more ghostly in my eyes. I also decided to glue the halo directly to his head rather than having it sit on the Power Armor because it adds more to the look of a tortured person as well. After all, the Chaplain knows all shades of life and death very well.

The Terminator Librarian is the keeper of the company’s arcane knowledge and the chief psychic. Whereas the other two characters heavily rely on their cognitive skills, the Librarian explores unknown worlds with his intuition. He channels the ruinous powers from the Warp into forms that help him and his battle brothers in their quest in the name of the God Emperor. He’s a mighty battle mage and both respected as much as feared not only by his enemies – but by his battle brothers, too.
When I was doing the Librarian I just wanted to combine the Librarians’ typical blue Power Armor with my other default colors for the Blood Angels Chapter. With Red, Yellow and Blue he turned out really bright and funky, however. When I look at the model it kinda feels to me as if Papa Smurf is carrying his own mushroom house. However, after a little while I think the funny look is actually quite good. If the Captain is the king and the Chaplain the dark advisor in the background, then the Librarian functions as the jester. The people around him find him rather strange and quite often don’t know what to make out of his words, as he speaks of things nobody else addresses and sees things nobody else can see, but the company’s Captain knows very well that sometimes the Librarian is his only weapon against the most dangerous enemies.

Battle Report: BA vs DA (2000P)

The game is a Dawn of War setup in a Capture and Control mission. The mission objectives are (more or less) diagonally in opposite corners of the table. I want to test what happens when I deep strike everything and let the other player go first.

My list features all airborne Blood Angels:

Lemartes
Mephiston
Death Company (10 strong)
Veteran Assault Squad (3×2 Claws, Flamers) => infantry hunters
Veteran Assault Squad (2 Thunderhammers & Stormshields, Doublefist, Flamers) => tank hunters
2 Assault Squads (Fist, Plasma Pistols)
Land Speeder (Assault Canon)

Semmel-MEHL’s list is something like:

Azrael and Veterans in Land Raider Crusader
2 Tactical Squads in Rhinos (one combat squaded to guard his mission objective)
2 Vindicators
2 Venerable Dreadnoughts (one in Drop Pod)

The game ends in a draw.

Turn 1:
Semmel’s forces roll onto the battlefield.
Parcival keeps everything in reserve.

Turn 2:
Semmel’s forces keep rolling. He’s guarding his mission objective with one Combat Squad, a venerable Dreadnought, and one Vindicator. His Land Raider stays in the center of the table to assist wherever needed. Two Rhinos and one Vindicator are rolling towards my own mission objective.
The Land Speeder, the Veteran Assault Squad (VAS) with Lightning Claws, and one Regular Assault Squad (RAS) arrive from reserve. The Land Speeder suffers a deep strike mishap and is being destroyed. The VAS manage to land in the 10 inches corridor between the bunker with Semmel’s mission objective and the edge of the table. The RAS move in from Parcival’s own table edge to capture his mission objective.

Turn 3:
Semmel tries to defend his mission objective, but the Vindicator’s and the Plasma Canon’s shots scatter off the table. The RAS on Parcival’s mission objective suffers from the other tanks’ fire, but stand their ground.
The second VAS (Thunderhammers) deep strikes near Semmel’s mission objective as well. The first VAS moves onto his mission objective and instantly kills the Combat Squad guarding it. The RAS on Parcival’s mission objective leaves it alone and moves forward to destroy one of the approaching Rhinos.

Turn 4:
Semmel’s first Dreadnought moves into the bunker with his mission objective and kills the VAS. His Vindicator kills all Veterans in the second VAS except for the two hammer bearers. The Combat Squad from the previously destroyed Rhino is walking towards Parcival’s mission objective.
Parcival’s two remaining Veterans with Thunderhammers move into the bunker and finish off the Dreadnought. From this point on, Semmel only has a Vindicator left near his mission objective to contest it. Parcival’s second RAS deep strikes near his own mission objective, the Death Company lands behind the Rhino and Vindicator still advancing towards Parcival’s mission objective. The massed fire of the Death Company’s Bolt Pistols succeeds in disabling the Vindicator’s Demolisher Canon – hurray!

Turn 5:
Semmel’s second Venerable Dreadnought finally arrives in his Drop Pod right behind the Death Company. The Dreadnought’s Heavy Flamer and Assault Canon don’t cause any significant losses, however. The Librarian exits the Land Raider to finish off the last hammer bearer in the bunker, but the hammer bearer kills the Librarian instead. Semmel also decides to move the Land Raider towards Parcival’s mission objective, but it fails it’s dangerous terrain test and stays in the center of the table. The Veterans exit the Land Raider, walk towards Parcival’s mission objective, and manage to shoot the Sergeant of the first RAS who is the last survivor oh his squad. Semmel’s remaining Rhino and the damaged Vindicator move to Parcival’s mission objective to claim it and block the space.
Parcival’s second RAS charges the Dark Angels and the Rhino on his own mission objective, but causes only insignificant losses. The Death Company follows the Vindicator and tries again to make it explode and clear the space, but only scores a shaken result.

Turn 6:
Semmel’s Dreadnought charges the Death Company and manages to kill Mephiston which produces a satisfied smile on Semmel’s face (Mephiston and his Honor Guard coldly killed Sammael in the previous game ). His Veterans keep on moving towards Parcival’s mission objective.
The Death Company continues the close combat with the Dreadnought and manages to shake it and tear off its close combat weapon. The RAS at the mission objective continues to inflict minimal losses on the Dark Angels claiming the mission objective as well.

The dice says that the sixth was also the final turn in the game.

Review:
To a big part, I was just being lucky with my Veterans deepstriking so well. The Veterans on Semmel’s mission objective didn’t let him focus his entire game on my mission objective alone and the time running out didn’t allow him to bring his adapted strategy to full effect. My list and tactic was very risky and the game could have been over in 10 minutes because of numerous deep strike mishaps. On the other hand, if it works, then a small number of Marines can stir up quite some trouble.
My biggest mistake was that I didn’t spread the antitank weapons more between my various squads. The two VAS should have traded one Marine with Thunderhammer with another Marine wearing twin Lightning Claws from the other squad so they can both fight vehicles and infantry better. A big mistake was also that I didn’t know previously that grenades hit a Dreadnought only on a roll of 6+. Meltabombs have no use when they don’t even hit… I just brought Mephiston for fun, but in the future I’ll definitely take Dante and his Inferno Pistol.