Astronomi-con is an event run by two guys out in Winnipeg twice each year, once in Winnipeg and once in Toronto. This will be I think their 15th or 16th year running now, so they've built up quite a community of people who regularly attend. The narrative has always driven the tournament, and you see it in the army compositions they've implemented in the past (scoring comp negatives based on what units you had in your army, for example), no Lords of War, and 20 unique tables with unique scenarios, guaranteeing that everyone had a unique experience.

The aim is non-competitive play, in the sense that you're not out to beat the snot out of your opponent. And you see it in the scoring. With the advent of 8th Edition, they rebranded their event as a Narrative event, eliminating Tournament from the title. The scoring is also very reflective of the intention: you can earn a total of 125 points over the course of the weekend (25 for each game), broken down as follows:

5 Battle Points (5 for a win, 3 for a draw, 1 for a loss)
5 Narrative Points (you earn these by achieving specific Narrative objectives based on the scenario, regardless of whether you win or lose)
5 Army Sportsmanship Points (basically, how Narrative and fluffy and friendly is your army)
5 Player Sportsmanship Points (how friendly and gentlemanlike you are)
5 Army Appearance Points (rubric for judging appearance).

The players are then divided into factions based on their army faction and Warlord. In this event, it was as follows:

Adeptus Astartes (all the Space Marines)
Imperium (Custodes, Mechanicum, Dark Angels, Grey Knights, and Astra Militarum; for the Narrative, each of these factions are here with their own agenda)
Xenos Minima (Aeldari, Druhkari, Tau; any faction that might ally with the Imperium)
Xenos Ultima (Necrons, Orks, Tyranids; any faction that would never ally with the Imperium)
Chaos (Chaos Astartes, Daemons)

There is only 1 Best Overall award for each faction, determined by your cumulative score at the end of the weekend.

Essentially, Battle Scores only contributed to 20% of your weekend score, with the focus on Narrative, Appearance, and Sportsmanship. This meant that most people were here with fun wacky armies looking for a good time. I say most, because there will always be a couple of try-hards (one Necron player in particular brought a zero-fun army that nobody enjoyed playing against), but overall a good time was had.

Plus, beer-hammer is the best kind of hammer!

Astronomi-con Toronto 2018 - Narrative Event Introduction:

Eos Agrippina. Once a small subsector in the Ultima Segmentum. Barely a blip on the map of the Imperium.

No longer.

Cut off and ravaged by the Cicatrix Maledictum, Eos Agrippina is now the front line. Coreward, the subsector is cut by the edge of the great rift, dozens of prosperous worlds, swallowed up in the tear across space. Their populations unheard from. Lost in the doom of the warp bled into realspace. But even in death and despair, some of those worlds may hold promise. For there is one system, one major world which sits in the narrowest gap of the Maledictum. A tiny hole in hellspace where, sometimes, ships can get through. Where the Imperium can sometimes reach the Imperium Nihilus.

That system is Quadrime. Quadrime II is the one habitable body insystem. Once an unimportant agriworld, it is now one of the galaxy’s few chances for a future where the laws of physics still hold sway. Whoever holds Quadrime II holds the keys to unlock a route between the Imperium and the Nihilus.

That world is my home, and I, once an unimportant rembrancer and reporter, am tasked to tell the tales of the battles for Quadrime II. I am Adept Herelor and what follows is the tale of some of the battles for the Quadrime system.

I've been toiling away for 2 months on my Necrons, and it was definitely worth it. My army grabbed everyone's attention (as intended) and I got called all manner of hilarious names and titles for how intensely ridiculous I am with my projects (but all in good fun!)





There were a handful of units that were basically must-haves (IMO): I knew going in that full unit of Destroyers and 2 Doomsday Arks were always going to be in my list because without them, I had no heavy firepower. I chose a Destroyer Lord built to be an absolute tank as my Warlord because it's hilarious just belligerently pushing her into enemy Warlords to head-hunt (it had always been a Narrative objective in previous events, so I wanted to have a Warlord equipped for it).

The visuals of a Necron army for me isn't complete without at least a block of Warriors, so I took a full unit of 20 backed up by a Cryptek and Ghost Ark for maximum durability. This was going to be the anchor of my army, so I wanted to make sure they weren't going anywhere.

I took 2 units of 5 Immortals to fill out my Troops in a Battalion; I had painted 10 up with Gauss, and was set to do another 10 with Tesla, but decided that I wanted a Tomb Sentinel instead because it's Phased Tunnelling bypasses a lot of the wacky scenario forced Reserves, giving me a distraction carnifex that I could reliably throw into the backfield and distract my opponents with (plus really great for table quarters grabbing!)

I finished off my list with a unit of 3 Scarabs. They're very efficient for their cost, and their speed would allow me to grab distant objectives and just be a general nuisance. They're also great as Deep Strike deterrents, allowing me to protect areas I don't want enemy units to land.



And there it is! The magnetization of the board worked very well, and I never felt nervous moving from table to table. I definitely need to refine how I do this for the future!

My Game 1 opponent was my friend Keir, whom I had met at the Sword & Brush event last month. As the ringer, I actually played him in his fourth game, with basically identically armies, so this was a rematch for both of us! Granted with only 90 Power vs 2000 points, both of our armies had been reduced in size a bit.

His army list (more or less):

Astra Militarum Battalion (Cadian regiment)

Commander (Warlord, Grand Strategist)
Psyker (Smite, one other power?)
10 Guardsmen, Plasmagun, Heavy Bolter
10 Guardsmen, Plasmagun, Lascannon
10 Guardsmen, Plasmagun, Lascannon
10 Guardsmen, Plasmagun, Lascannon
10 Guardsmen, Plasmagun, Lascannon
Heavy Mortar artillery
Heavy Mortar artillery
Basilisk artillery emplacement

Temptesus Scions Detachment
Commander
10 Scions, 4 Plasmaguns
10 Scions, 4 Plasmaguns

Ultramarines Detachment
Librarian (Smite, Might of the Ancients)
Leviathan, Stormcannon ,Grav Flux Bombard
Leviathan, Stormcannon ,Grav Flux Bombard
Quad-Mortar
Quad-Mortar

I'm not 100% how it's all organized, but that's more or less it. It's got a lot of bodies, a lot of artillery fire, and those two Leviathans are a pain in the ass to deal with. Keir's a great guy though, and the game was a lot of fun, so honestly I didn't mind it at all.



Basically capture as many crystals as you can by the end of the game, and you get bonus points for quarters, sitting atop mesas, using a Narrative stratagem, and having your Warlord holding a crystal at the end of the game.

The crystal objectives placed and our armies deployed. My Tomb Sentinel was entering via Phase Tunneling, and my opponent's Scions would Aerial Drop in. I had finished deploying first and had won the roll for First Turn. My opponent failed to seize.


I move my army to envelop as much of the top quarter as I could. The majority of the crystal objectives are here, so I wanted to bubble-deny his Scions and prevent him from sniping any objectives via Deep Strike. My Warlord advanced into contact with the Crystal and spent 3 CP for the 'A Chip Off the Old Block" stratagem. I had decided right from the start that my focus would be on achieving as many of the Narrative objectives as I could, and winning would be secondary.

I popped the Exterminator Protocols strat and shot my Destroyers and both Doomsday Arks into the front Leviathan, but a combination of amazing invulnerable saves and poor damage rolls left it standing with 4 Wounds remaining. My Ghost Ark put out a few shots and killed 3 Guardsmen.


My opponent advanced a bit up, but mostly castled where he was. I had been too aggressive with with my Ghost Ark, and my opponent removed it with the Leviathans, while his artillery bombarded my infantry, removing a handful of Warriors and Immortals.


I don't have a photo of the inbetween, but essentially, I continued my advance, and in my turn poured all my firepower into his two Leviathans, removing them both from the field. In return, he landed his Scions in front of my lines and poured everything into my Destroyers, removing them from the board. It was a costly trade, but I felt it was worth it; the Leviathans were too big of a threat to my army and I needed to remove them ASAP.


I advance my warriors up, and reposition my Doomsday Arks to get line of sight on his artillery. My Immortals and Warriors remove all his Scions, while my Doomsday Arks remove one of the Heavy Mortars. I have my Tomb Sentinel enter play on the bottom right to threaten the flank, and force his two infantry squads to respond to the threat. They succeed in killing it, but ultimately it is successful in distracting them and buying me a turn to advance with my Warlord.


My opponent's firepower and options are severely limited at this point; his mortars plink wounds off my infantry squads, but Reanimation keeps them alive. He begins his advance into my squads and I veil my Warriors and Cryptek to the bottom flank, removing most of the infantry and securing that quarter (and mesas!) for narrative points.


His Librarian meets me in the middle and engages my Warlord, tying him down.


The board-state at the end of turn 5. He ordered all the remains of his squads to run run run, and double move plus double run (almost all 5's and 6's across the board) pushed him to control 5 crystals to my 4. He rolls a 1 and the game ends, resulting on a loss for the Primary objective (curse you, dice!). I had managed to achieve 4 out of the 5 narrative objectives, however, drawing objective C, since we both had units in 3 table quarters.


A great game; I made a few mistakes in positioning and my opponent definitely punished me for my aggression, and I failed to account for the potential of a game end on turn 5 (he had control of zero crystals at the end of turn 4), but that's on me. He played a great game, and I'm happy with the outcome.

Battle Points: 1
Narrative Points: 4

My Game 2 opponent was Jason, a complete stranger but an absolute gentleman. We both took one look at the scenario and laughed, because it involved killing a Datasmith in combat (he's all tanks) and then holding the relic, which he accepted would never happen! But he had a lot of firepower, and his basic plan was to prevent me (as much as possible) from achieving the primary as well.

His army list:

Tank Commander (Battlecannon, Lascannons, Multi-Melta)
Techmarine
Psyker (Psychic Maelstrom, Nightshroud?)
Leman Russ Punisher (all the Dakka)
Leman Russ Punisher (yet more Dakka)
Leman Russ Executioner (all the Plasma)
Leman Russ Executioner (also all the Plasma)
Manticore
Manticore
Deathstrike
3 Basilisk Emplacements




Basically, kill the robots, fight and kill the Datasmith, and then recover the data off his corpse/guard it before he can flee the field. Narrative points for killing the robots, having the Warlord kill a robot, kill the Datasmith, have a unit within 3" of the Datasmith exit point, and (apparently) have one of the robots kill your own units.

Our armies deployed (my Sentinel is in reserve); the Datasmith's exit point was randomly generated as the bottom left corner. My opponent won the roll for first turn, and I failed to seize. The Datasmith and his robots take their turn and slowly move to the exit point, firing at us and killing 2 of my 3 scarabs, but doing no damage to the Leman Russes.


My opponent opens fire and removes a Robot, while he bombards my army, killing a bunch of Destroyers and Warriors, who would promptly reanimate. He repositions his tanks aggressively to box me in, Punishers in front, Executioners behind.

In return, I move up and my Destroyers kill 2 of the robots, while my lone Scarab charges a robot with double fists, promptly dying in the assault. Hurray, narrative! My Doomsday Arks put shots into a Manticore and a Punisher, taking them both to half damage but finishing neither off.


My opponent pours a lot of firepower into one of my Doomsday Arks, but a combination of Quantum Shielding and poor damage rolls means it survives with 3 wounds. In return, my Destroyers and Doomsday Arks open up, removing both Punishers and an Executioner for his troubles.


I missed the in-between shot of this, so I apologize. Basically, my opponent fired his Deathstrike, dealing some damage but failing to eliminate any units (my Cryptek came close, taken down to 1 wound). His artillery and commander removed a Doomsday Ark and my Ghost Ark, and killed the last robot, denying my Warlord the chance to claim a narrative point.

I advance up and kill his Tank Commander with my Destroyers, while my Doomsday Ark lands a spectacular 6 shots on his Executioner (all hits and wounds) and inflicts 24 damage, blowing it sky high. My Tomb Sentinel arrives on the left flank and manages a lucky charge, tying up his Manticores for a turn and preventing him from firing them at me. He flees and his Basilisks fire on the Sentinel, removing it. Once again, the Sentinel pulls his weight and proves successful in distracting and drawing fire.

I use my veil to teleport my Cryptek and Warriors to the left flank to box in my opponent, and my Warlord charges into the Datasmith, killing him and claiming the Relic.


At this point it's purely mop-up. My Immortals spend the entire game literally advancing across the field and achieving nothing, while my Destroyers do their name justice and do work, finishing off the Deathstrike hull, the Manticores, and 2 of the 3 Basilisks.


The board-state at the end of the game. I have achieved the Primary objective, and scored 4 out of the 5 Narrative objectives.


His artillery and firepower was brutal, but he failed to achieve any lasting damage on my Destroyers and Warriors, and by the time I got to the Datasmith and killed him, the game was essentially over. My opponent was a gentleman and played through so we could score narrative points; definitely one of my best games of the weekend.

Battle Points: 5
Narrative Points: 4

My Game 3 opponent was Adrian, who was bringing his classic Space Wolves which he has been collecting since 1998! Really great guy (he provided 8 of the 20 tables at this event), but I felt a little bad because his army was just so underpowered. I had played this scenario in play-testing and knew my army did better as the Attacker, so since I had won the roll off for deployment, chose to be the Attacker before I had seen his list. I did my best to be gentle, but my army did what it does. In hindsight and had I seen his list before the roll-off, I would have chosen to be the Defender and let him Attack.

His army list:

Wolf Lord (Warlord)
Wolf Lord (Jump Pack, Hammer)
Wolf Priest
7 Skyclaws
6 Grey Hunters, Melta, Pack Leader with Fist
6 Grey Hunters, Melta, Pack Leader with Fist
6 Grey Hunters, Melta, Pack Leader with Fist
7 Skyclaws, 2 Plasma Pistols, Pack Leader with Fist and Plasma Pistol
7 Long Fangs, 3 Missiles, 2 Lascannons, Pack Leader in Terminator Armor with Storm Shield and Cyclone Missiles
Rhino, 2 Storm Bolters, Hunter Killer Missile
Rhino, 2 Storm Bolters, Hunter Killer Missile
Rhino, 2 Storm Bolters, Hunter Killer Missile
Venerable Dreadnought, Multi-Melta, Fist
Venerable Dreadnought, Lascannon, Fist
Dreadnought, Lascannon, Autocannon




Wacky attack and defend scenario, where all the non-infantry are in staggered, random reserves, and the Attacker is guaranteed first turn. Narrative points for getting into his Deployment zone, controlling quarters, and having my Warlord headhunt a character in combat.

My opponent deployed his Long Fangs and two Grey Hunter squads. I deployed all my infantry and kept my Sentinel, as always, in Tunnel reserve. I took advantage of the scenario to sneak up to get my Warriors and Immortals a bit closer (I rolled so many 1's and 2's for movement) in the hopes of playing up the narrative of the scenario, and letting him trigger the alarm to at least get off a free round of shooting before the game began. He managed to knock down 2 Destroyers and a handful of Warriors, but I reanimated most of the damage.


My Destroyers remove one Grey Hunters squad, while my Warriors weaken the other (half-strength). My Ghost Ark and one Doomsday Ark arrives behind me.


I continue my advance, removing the majority of his Long Fangs and the Grey Hunters squad. He has a Dreadnought arrive on his right flank, which opens up and removes a few Destroyers. His reserve rolls were consistently atrocious, denying him much of his firepower for the early phase of the game (which basically gave him zero fighting chance). My Scarabs arrive on the left flank and tie up his Dreadnought.


I continue my advance into his deployment zone, where my Destroyers and Destroyer Lord aggressively push into a Grey Hunters squad and Wolf Lord who have just arrived from reserve. I want that narrative point, and I also wanted my opponent to have fun fighting me in combat. He has a second Venerable arrive on his right flank but Quantum Shielding ensure that his weapons do no damage to my vehicles. He finishes off the Scarabs in combat, freeing up his Mortis Dreadnought.


The brawl goes on forever because my opponent makes 4+ saves like a boss, while my Destroyer Lord's Phase Shifter and trait (Enduring Will) keep him alive fight after fight. The Nanoscarab Casket ensures that whatever damage is done is healed up. My opponent engages my Ghost Ark in combat and kills it with a combination if firepower from his Mortis and fists from his Venerable.


My opponent finally manages to charge in his second Wolf Lord, a Venerable, and his Wolf Priest into combat with my Destroyer Lord, tearing her down. Unfortunately, her Casket activates and her broken body reforms, restoring her to full health (he was not happy about that!). I disengage my Destroyers to kill off a few of the characters in shooting, while my Tomb Sentinel arrives and helps my Doomsday Arks finish off the other Dreadnoughts.


I charge my Warlord in on the side, keeping in his deployment zone for the narrative points (and I really want to kill that character!). I shoot my Destroyers into the last Dreadnought and kill it (gak), but my opponent in the ultimate bit of cheek, uses a command point to reroll the explosion, inflicting enough mortal wounds to kill his Wolf Lord and denying my Warlord the kill (and the narrative point!) The dastard!

I finish off the rest of his Rhinos and claim supremacy over the field, having taken the farm.


A great game, and my opponents army was super classic and crisp. It was a blast from the past, seeing so many old models and cool conversions in his force, and we spent a lot of our time during the game (and after) talking about the hobby, terrain, and just life in general (he's a designer, I'm an artist/illustrator, so we had a lot in common to talk about).

Battle Points: 5
Narrative Points: 4

My 4th Game was against Dave and his Deathwatch army. I have very little experience against them, but I know in essence they're very expensive marines with a lot of fancy gear and tactics.

His army list:

Watch Master
Librarian (Smite, Might of the Ancients)
3 Bikers
8 Intercessors, 1 Aggressor, mix of Plasma and Frag Cannon weaponry?
8 Deathwatch Marines, mix of Plasma and Frag Cannon weaponry?
5 Terminators, Cyclone, Assault Cannon
6 Deathwatch Marines, mix of Combat Weapons, Meltagun, Plasma
Corvus Blackstar, Lascannons, Missiles, Hurricane Bolters
Venerable Dreadnought, Lascannon, Fist




Probably my least favorite scenario; poorly designed, and stacked heavily in favor of the Attacker. My opponent informed me that (I suppose, based on the previous day's battle scores and narrative?) that he was the Defender, and that I would be the Attacker. I felt really bad about this game because my opponent stood zero chance, but he played like a champ, super chipper and a plucky attitude.

He deploys his Intercessors on the left, a kill team plus Captain in the bunker, and the Dreadnought on the right behind the ruins. I deploy everything and put the Sentinel in Tunnel reserves.


I move up and shoot my Destroyers into his Dreadnought, killing it for first blood (one of the narrative objectives). The rest of my army focuses entirely on the bunker, but poor shots and damage rolls from my Doomsday Arks only manage to do 7 wounds to it. My opponent shoots into my Warriors and Destroyers, inflicting some damage but ultimately Reanimation brings them all back. I'm advancing my Scarabs up the right flank to just be a nuisance.



My Doomsday Arks shoot and kill the bunker in my second turn, and my opponent emergency disembarks his units to the right, bringing his bikes in from reserve. Again, his firepower inflicts some damage here and there, but Reanimation basically negates it all. It's going to be the consistent pattern this game; a unit arrives, does a little damage, and then I Reanimate the slain models. It's just me grinding his army down while his units struggle to deal with the mass of Necrons marching up the center.


I bring the Sentinel down in the middle, and remove the Intercessors and most of the marines accompanying the captain by the bunker. I'm selective with my Immortals, being careful to only remove 2 of the 3 Deathwatch bikers. I charge my Scarabs in and play the stratagem to explode 1, inflicting 2 mortal wounds to the remaining biker, killing it and scoring a narrative point.


My opponent brings his Terminators, Corvus, and remaining kill team, moving to engage the Doomsday Arks in my back line in an attempt to at least do something to my army. Not sure if that's what the right choice was, but honestly if I was in his shoes, I wouldn't quite know what to engage either.

He manages to inflict some damage and charges in, but my Quantum Shields negate the majority of the damage, leaving my Doomsday Arks relatively healthy.


I disengage my Doomsday Arks and pour firepower into his units in my backline, while my Warlord engages his Watch Master in combat. I start advancing my army to get into his deployment zone for the primary objective.


His terminators use the beacon to teleport back to his lines and remove an Immortals squad, while his Corvus turns around and takes down my Sentinel in a blaze of firepower. He was happy he did at least something to my army, and to be fair, I was too. This game was a methodical stomping, and I would've hated to end the game with my army intact.

My Warlord finishes off his Captain in combat, and I consolidate my position, eliminating his remaining models and securing the field. I secure all narrative objectives as well for full points.


Battle Points: 5
Narrative Points: 5

I ended up facing my friend Brad, who brought his Raptors Dread list. We had played many scenarios in play-testing and knew both our armies inside out. This game took no time at all; we were done in the first 30 minutes and left plenty of time to drink and socialize.

His army list:

Lias Issadon
Jump Pack Smash Captain
Jump Pack Librarian (Smite, Might of the Ancients)
Techmarine with Conversion Beamer
Leviathan, 2 Storm Cannons, Missiles
Mortis Contemptor, 2 Lascannons, Missile
Mortis Contemptor, 2 Kheres Assault Cannons, Missiles
Chaplain Dreadnought
5 Marines, Plasma, Flakk Missile
5 Marines, Plasma, Heavy Bolter
5 Intercessors



This scenario was stupid simple; push into the enemy deployment zone, prevent your opponent from doing the same.

My opponent deploys his Dreadnoughts in a block in the middle, while I deploy on the flank. I win the roll for first turn and pour everything into his Leviathan, but low damage rolls and a lot of good saves left it with 2 wounds.


He returns fire and removes my Destroyers and 5 Immortals. Just like in every practice game we've had.


Rapid-firing Warriors finish off his Leviathan, while my Ark and Destroyer Lord remove his Intercessors. My Doomsday arks remove his Lascannon Mortis and severely weaken his Kheres Mortis. My remaining Immortals charge it to lock it in combat and prevent it from shooting. I bring in my Tomb Sentinel to plink some wounds off his Chaplain Dreadnought, but fail to charge it. His Chaplain turns around and evaporates my Sentinel with his Lascannons.


His Librarian and Smash Captain land behind me and manage to Smite and charge my Cryptek, killing him, but I play Resurrection Protocols to bring him back to life. I veil the Cryptek and Warriors 9" away and rapid-fire his Captain to death, while my Doomsday Arks kill off his Chaplain Dreadnought. My Destroyer Lord charges Lias Issadon and kills him in combat.

My opponent calls the game, as i only need to kill his Librarian and 2 Honor Guard for essentially full narrative points and I have 2 more turns to do so.


Battle Points: 5
Narrative Points: 5

The Imperium were pushed back by the traitors and xenos, having done the poorest out of all the factions.

I won Best in Faction for Xenos Ultima and scored a neat plaque which I totally forgot to photograph.

The organisers just posted this little floof piece:

Overall, of each of the factions, the one which scored the highest (on average) was the Xenos Ultima group, led by the Necrons. As such, here is Adept Herelor's final message from Quadrime...

They had always told us to fear the Xenos.

They did not tell us often enough. Or say it strongly enough.

How this happened I do not know. Were the humans and traitors exhausted from making war upon one another? Were the forces of the Emperor simply not strong enough? There is no peace with these creatures. No negotiation. They destroy the world rather than hold it. The skies are black with pollution and war and monsters stalk the forests. No one, not man, not woman, not child is safe.

There is nothing but slaughter and our best hope is to die quickly. Emperor save us all.