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So last Sunday my 11-year-old came up to the studio/game room where I was painting & watching TV and asked if I was interested in a small 40k game. I was pleasantly surprised at this as summer has had his attentions elsewhere for the most part... so I threw some terrain on the table, we drew up a couple of 500 point lists and played two games. This is the report covering the first one.

The Armies

Mantis Warriors:
HQ: Libby (stock) - avenger, VoD
Elite: Tech Marine (stock)
Troop: 5-man tac squad in las/plas razorback, srg w/ PS
Troop: 5-man tac squad in las/plas razorback, srg w/ PS


I have for some time, been looking for a decent 500 point build for marines. This is the first one that I've actually liked. It's mobile with some heavy fire power in the razorbacks. The libby gives it some punch and the tech marine gives me a de-facto power fist as well as helping to keep the razorbacks in good repair. I didn't realize how completely useless a 12" range "heavy" VoD would be... don't think I'm likely to take that again. Gate would probably be better to move the libby and squad around quickly should their ride get toasted.

Doom Eagles:
HQ: Libby w/ jump pack - force dome, machine curse
Troop: 5-man tac squad, srg w/PF in rhino w/ HK missile & dozer blade
Troop: 5-man tac squad
Hvy: Predator w/ autocannon & 2 LC


I did show him my list before allowing him to pick his own.


We rolled for mission and got annihilation with spearhead deployment. He won the roll off and gave me first turn. If this sounds odd keep in mind that there was a concentration of sight-blocking terrain on the table and we could both easily deploy out of sight of the other so the typical "go first, shoot first" didn't really apply.

Deployment


As you can see the table has a cluster of 4 large, ork buildings connected by walkways on the far end, and a large woods (denoted by the felt) in the foreground. Not wanting to make his job too easy, I deployed in cover behind the far building in my chosen quarter. Being naturally cautious... he did the same.

Turn 1 (Mantis Warriors)


Being a coward by nature, I like to try to get my opponent to split up their forces so I don't have to meet their whole army in a fair fight. Especially in a tiny battle like this one, a single loss could be catastrophic. So I send my two vehicles off in two different directions hoping that he'll do the same. Ideally I want to strand the predator so I can focus my loving attention on the rhino and tac squad inside. This also keeps me safely out of site.

Turn 1 (Doom Eagles)


My son, wisely... didn't take the bait... though he did move the rhino to dangle the tasty tidbit in front of me. "come get me, come get me"

Turn 2 (Mantis Warriors)


I (of course) take the bait... however I'm not totally brainless. I reverse the movement distance of the vehicles so that they stay close to each other while still making a strong shift to the left. I want to keep my tech within easy reach of both vehicles. I'm still completely in cover.

Turn 2 (Doom Eagles)


The Doom Eagles answer with their own "student body right", but they're more spread out... so much the better.

Turn 3 (Mantis Warriors)


I continue to press around the left flank, hoping to isolate the rhino in my cross-hairs.

Turn 3 (Doom Eagles)


Unfortunately he catches on to my strategy and before I can spring the trap, he tightens up.

Turn 4 (Mantis Warriors)


I continue my run to the flank, having decided that this game will probably be decided by whoever pops a rhino hull first.

Turn 4 (Doom Eagles)


He pulls back behind the building... and the dance continues. Not sure how the rhino got way over there but I'm not worried about it. I suspect some innocent re-thinking of moves that accidentally resulted in the incredible phasing rhino.

Turn 5 (Mantis Warriors)


But HAH! Now I throw the razorbacks into reverse and get off come clean shots... which either miss or get blocked by terrain.

Turn 5 (Doom Eagles)


The rhino bails and the big guns move in. Unfortunately (for my son) his shooting is no better than mine.

Turn 6 (Mantis Warriors)


My razorback's stand their ground and get two penetrating hits with their lascannons on the Predator. Unfortunately I roll two ones for damage. At least the predator won't shoot at me next turn.

Turn 6 (Doom Eagles)


The Doom Eagles dance around, allowing the HK missile from the rhino to stun the lead razorback.

We roll, game ends. Draw. A very fun game of cat-and-mouse though...


Link to the second game: A small fracas (part deux)

I wish there were more boards like that in the tournament scene.

A great batrep and, I quite agree, great board.

wait, 6 turns with 9 shots fire? Haha, that's funny...

Good stuff never really [played a cat and mouse game of annilhilation looked good though

Imperial Monkey wrote:wait, 6 turns with 9 shots fired? Haha, that's funny...

That's what happens when you don't fight in the middle of the open prairie... you have to do things like maneuver and play a positioning chess game in order to get the chance to shoot.

Batreps like this are a real pain to put together... but I think the end result is worth it.

I am impressed with your sons tactics in this one. He is only 11? Are you sure his name is not Patten?

Gitsplitta wrote:That's what happens when you don't fight in the middle of the open prairie...

The way most battles in the Grimdark would actually be fought

Awe...look at all that lovely line-of-sight blocking terrain. And in da middle no less. I tell ye, it made an old wargamer's eyes water...that's for sure.

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Gitsplitta wrote:That's what happens when you don't fight in the middle of the open prairie... you have to do things like maneuver and play a positioning chess game in order to get the chance to shoot.

Something that in my experience is sorely lacking in 5th edition thanks to TLOS and most peoples preference in terrain

Pretty funny and interesting game !

Thanks for sharing. Great to see a son and his dad playing, as always

@calypso2ts: I'll pass that on, I'm sure he'll be happy to hear it.

@Gilianis: Only the foolish battles mate, only the foolish battles.

@wyfox: You get bored my friend? Every time I look at a post from you lately it seems that you've got a new avatar.

@Grenat: Thanks for reading! Should be one more report as soon as I can get all the photos edited & sorted. We shoot more than 6 times in the next battle even though we play on the same table.

I'm trying to change it up once a week .

wow beautiful armies and terrain! LOVE to see those old miniatures, just wow. And very nice LOS blocking terrain, i always love that and think it makes for better, funnier games.
And i would love to play my son, when he gets to 11.

"Who dares wins". Or fails to do anything other than shake a predator.... Ah well, nice batrep!

ohhhh oop models!

Good bat rep

Excellent rep, and a very fun read.

As was mentioned before, nice board!

I hope your son enjoyed himself. He's lucky to have such a nice board to play on ^ ^

That got a little intense there at the end
Love the board!!
Nice rep as well, your son has an awesome depth for tactics at age 11, i would have charged in there myself, but i fancy the "No risk. No reward" kind of games, none the less, good games, good read

A very riveting sort of fight, though I reckon I would be in the team of lining up crazy shots between buildings or just moving right in, though it certainly does achieve a more chess game like game here, at the point in the game where the pawns are the defensive buildings in between.

Then again, who needs to navigate through a forest when you can just burn it down? Just need some heavy ordnance and you're set. Kaesar II

Nice. thou it could have gone differently if the dice had not been so fickle.

However, he spent his time reacting and not " setting up" his plan. Still at 11 he was making good counter-moves.

On a side note, this goes to show how this edition leans towards Vech. as all the points for the Inf. didn't affect the game at all.

Tanks in Necromunda good one.

great rep hahaha simple!

Looks like "Operation: Scratched Paint" was a roaring success for both sides!

wyomingfox wrote:I'm trying to change it up once a week .

I'll keep that in mind. I have changed my avatar once or twice... usually to put a Santa hat on my warboss there, though I did have my Telion for a while when I was gearing up for Adepticon. Got tired of getting chewed out because people didn't know who I was when I posted.

LordofMuck wrote:wow beautiful armies and terrain! LOVE to see those old miniatures, just wow. And very nice LOS blocking terrain, i always love that and think it makes for better, funnier games.
And i would love to play my son, when he gets to 11.

Best thing you can do when they're young is play in front of them... let them see you having fun and they'll want to play themselves. My youngest started being interested at 5.

Mechanized Space Corps wrote:"Who dares wins". Or fails to do anything other than shake a predator.... Ah well, nice batrep!

LOL! Well, my son calls the battle the "epic fail" (referring to both of our performances).

Adam LongWalker wrote:ohhhh oop models! Good bat rep

Thanks Adam! Yep... OOP-R-US.

Hashbeth wrote:Excellent rep, and a very fun read. As was mentioned before, nice board! I hope your son enjoyed himself. He's lucky to have such a nice board to play on ^ ^

I'm sure he doesn't appreciate it... since most of his games have been at home & I have a lot of terrain. We don't always play with this much LOS-blocking terrain in one area... but I usually have at least a few pieces scattered around the board, so he's quite used to dealing with it (or taking advantage of it).

MikZor wrote:That got a little intense there at the end Love the board!! Nice rep as well, your son has an awesome depth for tactics at age 11, i would have charged in there myself, but i fancy the "No risk. No reward" kind of games, none the less, good games, good read

In spite of my comments, I've actually been playing a very aggressive version of my vanilla marines lately and have enjoyed it greatly. My son is pretty cautious and I didn't want to pound on him when we were just trying to have some fun. Plus... he's smart... if I'd have charged in willy-nilly with my razorbacks, that Pred & the marine with the PF would probably have eaten my lunch.

Lord Kaesar II wrote:A very riveting sort of fight, though I reckon I would be in the team of lining up crazy shots between buildings or just moving right in, though it certainly does achieve a more chess game like game here, at the point in the game where the pawns are the defensive buildings in between. Then again, who needs to navigate through a forest when you can just burn it down? Just need some heavy ordnance and you're set. Kaesar II

I've experimented with a bunch of different rules for the buildings. In this case they were impassible and (effectively) indestructible... however the official GW rules where they are treated as immobile vehicles of varying armor ratings makes for a really fun battle as you can "remove" pieces of terrain from the board (if you can blow them up) which is great fun!

Solar_lion wrote:Nice. thou it could have gone differently if the dice had not been so fickle. However, he spent his time reacting and not " setting up" his plan. Still at 11 he was making good counter-moves. On a side note, this goes to show how this edition leans towards Vech. as all the points for the Inf. didn't affect the game at all.

No question... the transport rules really rule the game if your army is built to take advantage of them. His libby did have machine curse but he never got LOS so it didn't come into play. Had I been in his shoes, I think I would have tried to disembark the tactical squad with the power fist so they could come into play to help pin my vehicles down, and jump the libby out on turn 6 to try the psychic woodgie on one of the vehicles. Your not guaranteed the game would end, but after turn 6 the odds are with you. He is a very cautious gamer, not really aggressive.

Miss Dee wrote:Tanks in Necromunda good one.

Thanks Dee, kinda looks like that doesn't it?

Zid wrote:great rep hahaha simple!

That's the way I like 'em!


Thanks everyone for your comments & for reading. I'll see that he reads through them to get your feedback. I edited all the photos from our next game & hope to get the bat rep up in short order.


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gardeth wrote:Looks like "Operation: Scratched Paint" was a roaring success for both sides!

Good one gardeth!!

I kind of look at it like the two sides were trying to drive each other off without really engaging in full combat. Do just enough damage to make the other chapter withdraw without an action that would result in serious inter-chapter conflict.

The story continues in the next batrep here.