Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

This past weekend I played in a 350 boss battle; no special characters, no vehicles or bikes; just the meanest 350 point HQ choice that you can make. For the armies without a retinue, they were allowed to pick the most sensical elite choice to be a retinue (nobs, chosen, pariah, celestial, etc).

On a full 6x4 table, there were nine players, arrayed like this:

Orks(1)--------------------Space Wolves(2)------------------------Inquisition Grey Knights(3)
|
|
Demon Hunters(4)------------Tau(5)--------------------------------Chaos Demon Prince(6)
|
|
Tau(7)-----------------------Chaos Demon Prince(8)----------------------Tyranids(9)

As best as I know, the armies had composition like this:

1: Warboss + Nobs, 'Eavy Armor, Cybork bodies, powerklaws
2: Rune Priest Psyker with 24" line of death and 3d6 shots + terminators (TH/SS)
3: Grey Knight Commander with Force weapon + terminators
4: Brother Captain and 5+ terminators, Lightning Claws
5: Shas'o with two bodyguards; mix of fusion, plasma, flamers, shield drones
6: Lone demon prince (player opted to take him alone so chosen wouldn't slow down his wings)
7: (ME): Shas'o, two bodyguards, shield drones, fusion/plasma on two, twin-linked plasma on the third.
8: Demon Prince + a swarm of chosen.
9: Brood Lord + swarm of genestealers

If you've never played a boss brawl, every army is fearless, its a last-man standing affair where the table is an arena (with terrain), and killing enemy models/units gets you crowd pleaser points to spend on initiative rolls and combat resolution; every round players roll a D20 to determine initiative order to see who goes in which order.

Game Start:

-I'm in my back corner of the table, and plan on staying there since I'm shooty Tau and suck in close combat; any army on the table would destroy me up close.
-The Demon Prince(6) flies into the Tyranids(9) on turn1, kills a couple of genestealers, and is butchered and eaten. First player is gone from the table.
-The Genestealers(9) sit in cover to recoup, hoping to sit there the rest of the game and let everyone else fight it out.
-Demon Prince(8) takes a 6" move towards my Tau(7), runs an extra 2" and looms threateningly on my horizon. I ask him if he knows what armaments I have (which he doesn't) and I inform him that Plasma is AP2, Fusion is AP1, and if he moves closer I'm going to annihilate him from the table. I eye the other Tau player in the middle of the table and motion furtively at the demons....for the greater good, Tau have to stick together!
-Orks(1) try moving towards the Demon Hunters (4) and have trouble with terrain. He takes a few pot shots at the terminators with shootas to no effect.
-Space Wolves(2) sits in his forest and will pretty much sit there the whole game waiting for everyone else to fight it out.
-Tau(5) jumps 6" towards the DP(8) and opens up killing a few chosen, then jumps 6" back.

Next round:
-DP(8) decides that the Tau in the middle are closer and less apt to kill him, so he unveils lash! He lashes the Tau into close combat and they will actually spend the next several turns in close combat.
-Tau(7) me - retreats further into his table corner to see how the game develops.
-Orks(1) difficult terrain through forest again and take a few more potshots at the Demon Hunters(4).
-In turn, the demon hunters turn around and open up on the Orks causing several wounds but no casualties due to wound allocation magic.
-Space Wolves(2) drops a 24" beam of "pass initiative or be removed from combat" onto the Grey knights(3) and take down one terminator.
-Tyranids(9) are feeling antsy and leap out to start closing distance with the Grey Knights(3). The grey knights open up on the Tyranids and kill a couple genestealers.

Next Round:
-Tau(5) and DP(8) are still stuck in close combat.
-I talk to the Demonhunters next to me about allying against the demon prince(8) when he comes out of close combat. We reach an accord.
-The demonhunters(4) and Orks(1) agree to stop shooting at each other or the Space Wolves (2) will win the game since everyone is ignoring him. Both (4) and (1) spend a turn leaving their starting positions to close in on (2).
-I sit back in my corner and wait for things to develop.
-The Tyranid player jumps into the forest where the grey knights are and assaults. Apparently he didn't bring flesh hooks and isn't familiar with 5th edition because he threw his dice across the room when he learned that he was going to be assaulting at I1 because he assaulted into cover. Nonetheless, he and the Grey Knights start battling it out.

Next Round:
-DP(8) finishes off the Tau and moves directly between me(7) and the demon hunters(4) who is coming out of his own forest. (8) states that he's going to lash me, and I point out that I'm 20" or so away and if he does so, he not only won't make it into assault with me, but that I will subsequently melt his face into a sad rivulet of demon prince tears. He ponders for a moment, then lashes the demon hunters into him. He assaults them, kills a terminator or two....and then demon hunters being demon hunters....they proceed to wtfpwn him. Second player leaves the table.
-Space Wolves(2) drop another 24" death ray into the Grey Knights and Tyranid mess trying to kill something. He kills a genestealer.
-Orks(1) halt their movement and retreat back to their corner.
-Thus far, I've not fired a shot at anyone, and I'm starting to feel guilty. I start edging toward position (4).

Next Round:
-Grey Knights(3) and Genestealers(9) stay in combat over at position 3.
-Space Wolves(2) rearrange their armor and stand fast.
-Demon Hunters (4) move towards position (5). The Grey Knights(3) are being played by his girlfriend, and he's not sure if he wants to help her or fight the Space Wolves at (2).
-I nudge into position (4), eyeballing the Ork player who sits in his cover. I announce that I apologize for having to do so (and really felt guilty), then shoot at him (in cover) killing a single nob. I jump 6" back.
-Ork player rolls a 6" out of cover towards me, and declares a Waaaugh! I start sweating. He rolls a 4 and ends up 9" away from me out in the open.

Next Round
-Grey knights(3) finish off the brood lord and genestealers(9) with only the captain remaining with a single wound. Third player leaves the table. (3) starts running towards position (6) to get away from (2) and the 24" death lance.
-I jump 3" forward to get in plasma rapid fire range, drop a markerlight on the orks, and proceed to unload fusion and plasma death needing 2+ to hit, 2+ to kill. Everything dies but the warboss. I jump 6" back to end up 12" away. His boss has mega-armor, so I cross my fingers.
-Demon Hunters(4) array themselves in front of position (2) and begin exchanging fire with the Space Wolves.
-Grey Knights(3) continue running to position (9).
-Ork warboss fails to get to me.

Next Round
-I finish up the Ork warboss. Fourth player leaves the table.
-Grey Knights(3) make it to position (9) and hold there. She's not sure what to do with only one model left with a single wound, and none of us are either.
-Demon Hunters (4) decide to mix it up with the Space Wolves(2) and assault. Much terminator destruction ensues on both sides.

Next Round
-Grey knight moves towards position (8) as if to flank me....I'm not sure what's going on because I haven't lost a model yet, but I oblige and jump, run, and jump over that way.
-Terminators keep bashing at each other.

Next Round
-Grey Knight realizes their mistake and turns around to try getting away. I jump 6" into my maximum 24" plasma range and deal the single wound required to take her out of the game. The sixth player leaves the table (I forgot the Tau in the middle).
-My Tau is still untouched, so I close in on the last two players stuck in close combat to finish off the victor. The Space Wolves win; the Runepriest comes out of combat with a single wound left and tosses his 24" ray at me hitting two drones and a suit. Both drones live, the suit is removed from play. I jump forward 6", open fire and cause the last wound.

Tau prevail and escape with their lives.

where would I go abouts to find the rules for a boss battle? Cause this sounds like a load of fun.

and is their a warhammer fantasy equivalent?

Would you mind posting the full rules for a boss brawl?

I want to try this out!

Dashofpepper wrote:I did almost nothing during that battle but still managed to win because I convinced everyone else to do what I wanted them to.

Are you sure you're not playing Eldar?

Haha, very sneaky tactic, but well played.

I too would be interested in hearing the rules for this game, as it does sound very fun.

sounds like a fun game!

my favorite part was when the daemon prince, as the first action of the game, suicide charged some genestealers. Bravo, sir....

Here's a copy and paste of the rules: Since its last man standing, the prize pool is winner take all. Hopefully the rules are petty simple to follow if you haven't played in one before.



Warhammer 40k Boss Brawl

The sadistic Dark Eldar have prepared an arena where their tortured prisoners will fight in a free-for-all battle to the death. Only the last survivor in gruesome pit will earn their freedom, and something else…

Date/Time: TBD

Location:

Details:
Tournament Oganizer:
Entry Fee: $5
Prize: Store Credit for all entry fees.
Army Size: 350 points, HQ choice only – no special characters allowed, nor vehicles or bikes.
For armies without a retinue, you may bring one of the following as a retinue:
Chaos: Chosen
Necron: Pariah
Sisters: Celestians
Orks: Nobs
Other: Whatever your elite “bodyguard-looking” unit is.

This is a Free for All, Last Man Standing tournament

Each turn, players all roll D20 to determine player turn order.
+1 point for killing any model, for each model killed.
+2 points for killing any model in close combat.
+5 for finishing off an enemy unit.

Crowd Pleaser points may be spent to add +1 to any combat resolution, or to increase a player’s D20 initiative roll (declared before the roll)


The last HQ unit on the board is the winner.
All units are fearless for the duration of the Boss Battle.
The Brawl is not turn-based, but ends when there is only one HQ surviving.

Other Details

For the TO: You can fit up to 12 people on a single table if you must; optimal size is nine or less with players spread evenly around the outside edges.

If multiple tables are required, the winners of each table(s) face off against each other in a death match.

Thanks for posting rules, looks like a lot of fun.

Good battle report, and thanks for the rules.

Wow that sneaky tactic must have been performed by a tactical genius.....

That sounds like it was alot of fun. And kings to you man, you played that perfectly.

Nice twist on the character-base idea.

This should be fun... I have to tinker on 350 HQ only lists...

I loved the wtfpwned bit where the deamonhunters just destoyed the daemonprince. Why did he assault them in the first place the fact they are called daemonhunters should have made him realise they are good against daemons, even if he didn't know the special rules for them.
(im assuming that the daemon player is a guy btw, sorry if i got it wrong)



ps: you dont mind if i quote you do you?

It would have been more fair if the army in the center went first and the four armies on the corners went last.

G

Not bad, but forcing players to not take bikes but allowing others to take winged Daemon Princes or mobile Tau HQ seems a bit unfair. Other than that, though, it seems really fun and sounds like a great way to both have a twist on 40k games and provide a way for people without much of an army to compete in large games.

IMHO, the chaos should have been able to choose raptors too. that was lame.

WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON?! WHAT IS ANYONE TALKING ABOUT?!

Dash of Pepper has said not but sentence fragments, and you are quoting things that were never said! I don't understand! Where is the battle report? What rules?

I have this problem too, dunno why. I clicked 'quote' and it displayed his full post.

DarkHound wrote:WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON?! WHAT IS ANYONE TALKING ABOUT?!

Dash of Pepper has said not but sentence fragments, and you are quoting things that were never said! I don't understand! Where is the battle report? What rules?

YEP

Not sure what folks are quoting about sentence fragments or whatever...

I didn't make the rules, I just ran the tournament.

As for bikes: The Dark Eldar have been keeping everyone in prison cells. They wouldn't let anyone keep their bikes!

As for Raptors: If any army can pick any elite choice for their retinue, might that not be unbalancing? A Necron lord with a unit of immortals that deep strike around the table?

I personally probably wouldn't care if those without retinues got to pick any elite as a retinue, as long as it didn't unbalance the game, but I don't know how to judge that.

For Chaos, the Chosen got picked as the retinue because they are the most experienced and dedicated chaos marines. They are better than any other chaos marines. Why would a demon prince, or sorceror, or chaos lord choose to surround themselves with less than the absolute handpicked finest?

Sounds like it was just for fun so no big deal about unit restrictions... It's always fun to win your own tournies too.

G

I wouldn't call it "my tournament" since it was hosted by a store owner in his store. I just proctored it.

I do a lot of calling / e-mailing / marketing to get players to come to events wherever I am. There's an 1850 tournament coming up at the same store on the 28th; I'm helping run it (and doing the legwork to make people aware of it to get them there), and also playing in it. I don't get paid for it, or get anything out of it except for more people to be aware of the 40k community around where I play and to meet more people. I *really* like the store where I play and the people who play there, so I'm willing to donate time and effort to expanding the 40k community there and get events going.

I think if I was a store owner, I wouldn't play in my own tournaments (or at least wouldn't count my wins) because I wouldn't feel right about it. I'm just a player though, albeit a rabid 40k player. First and foremost I want to play. If helping run it, or creating a mailing list, or calling people about 40k events helps make an event happen where I get to play games, so be it. Eventually my help won't be needed anymore I hope.

--------------------------------------

Anyone with any insight about other elite units?

If you consistently win tournaments you run there will be problems. If you really want to play then consider being a ringer.

G

If only those 5000+ post dakkaites made a detailed photo-heavy turn-by-turn battle report on a 10k+ megabattle...It seems to me that most battle reports sacrifice detail in favour of size and vise versa.

I had a game against my brothers Blood Angels with my CSM (1 chaos lord with daemon weapon + term armour + 4 terminators with 2 pairs lightning claws + power weapons).

Made the mistake of standing around in front of him getting shot too much before I made it into CC, so lost (very narrowly - 1 or 2 wounds) against, I think, 5 honour guard, 1 chapter champion and one of the characters from the BA codex.

It was certainly fun, but I would definately advise playing with more than 2 people, as I could see how much more fun it would be forging alliances and betraying one another

So a few of us really liked the idea of doing this battle, but were looking to open it up a bit more. I'd like to get your input on this rule-set since you have had experience with this type of battle. This was the email that went out to our regular gaming grp.


If you've never played a boss brawl, every army is fearless, its a last-man standing affair where the table is an arena (with terrain), and killing enemy models/units gets you crowd pleaser points to spend on initiative rolls and combat resolution; every round players roll a D20 to determine initiative order to see who goes in which order.


Warhammer 40k Boss Brawl

The sadistic Dark Eldar have prepared an arena where their tortured prisoners will fight in a free-for-all battle to the death. Only the last survivor in gruesome pit will earn their freedom, and something else…

Date/Time: TBD

Location: TBD

Tournament Organizer: Rob
Entry Fee: Your time

Prize: A 40k sized “trophy” built by Rob (nothin’ fancy)
Army Size: 350 pt HQ squad. HQ must take an elite choice retinue consisting of at least 2 models, unless the model takes a normally available retinue. All models may be proxied as long as the size and general shape matches. No vehicles or bikes may be taken as the Dark Eldar would never allow such a thing.



Board size 6x4 – Heavy Terrain (~60+%)

Deployment – All players place their HQ only anywhere on the board in D20 order, staying at least 12” from any other player. Once all players are placed everyone automatically scatter 3D6 and place their remaining models as per deepstrike rules. Players may then move a 3” consolidation.


This is a Free for All, Last Man Standing tournament

Each turn, players all roll D20 to determine player turn order.
+1 point for killing any model, for each model killed.
+2 points for killing any model in close combat.
+5 for finishing off an enemy unit.

Crowd Pleaser points may be spent to add +1 to any combat resolution, or to increase a player’s D20 initiative roll (declared before the roll)


The last HQ unit on the board is the winner.
All units are fearless for the duration of the Boss Battle.
The Brawl is not turn-based, but ends when there is only one HQ surviving.

Crowd pleaser points, please explain...sounds wicked otherways. Its like a concentrated piece of 40k action, just the elite vs elite!

Crowd pleaser points....

You're fighting for the entertainment of Dark Eldar; you're in a giant (6x4) gladiatorial arena enclosed in unbreakable clear durasteel while thousands of dark eldar scream down at you and millions upon millions more tune in and watch via holographic...whatevers.

The crowd wants blood, and when you give it to them, you get rewarded. That's the basis for the crowd pleaser points - you're rewarded for mixing it up and killing other models. You're rewarded more for killing in close combat because a distant bolter shot to the chest bringing someone down is not nearly as gory or exciting as a chainsword ripping someone in half up close and personal.
----------------------------------------

To BlueDagger; make sure that your scenario doesn't favor or disfavor any particular army. If you're allowing any elite choice, what about a Necron Lord with a unit of immortals, who has veil of darkness to teleport around the field every turn? That's probably a little unbalancing. I didn't create the rules, but the guy I learned all this from (Randy, bless you eternally for being such an awesome 40k mentor) created the retinue choices specifically to bring balance...and the retinues are specifically meant to be aspiring HQs like nobs, chosen, pariahs, etc.

You'll have to balance that as you will.


As for your starting spots....you're REALLY nerfing the table if you let people start where they want instead of randomly putting them in pre-selected positions that *are* 12-24" away from everyone else. I absolutely wouldn't change that one. You added more terrain, which is conducive to more close combat....that's all personal choice.

With the 350 points cap, you can only fit a Veil Lord and 6 Immortals(5 if you want the Res Orb). I think there are a lot more abusive combos out there, like the shell game Nobs.