Hammertime

So, I'm in the States! Last week was a bit awkward, a series of meetings between The Company and our supplier. All got a bit fraught with emotion. Ho hum, not sure I can really write about that here.

On to more fun stuff! (Warning - this post contains a lot of Warhammer 40K)

Well, I've had a few good games of 40K over the last few days. The hammers have certainly had an impact ( ho, ho, ho), cutting a swathe before them. Three games so far, two wins and a draw - and I think I'm learning just how different the current version of 40K is from the previous.

First up was Vince (an Irish-American, who I make a point of oppressing whenever I see him) and his Imperial Guard. Unfortunately, let's face it, the current (old?) codex is not very competetive. Infantry exploded from Whirlwind barrages, got set on fire by tactical squads, whilst Old Man Telion showed his boys how it's done by blowing up their Basilisk. Lysander and Squad Hammer just strode up the middle hammering things, tanks, infantry, characters, whatever. There was a particularly epic combat where the Terminators, in typically Imperial Fist style, charged a unit of ratlings and routed them off the board (For those that don't play 40K, imagine 8' tall genetically enhanced super-warriors wearing tank armour and wielding giant electro-hammers. Now imagine them fighting Hobbits). Oh yes, songs shall be sung about that battle. Anyway, I had both objectives, Vince had none, cue mock-outraged shouts of how Storm Shields are 'broken'.

Next up was a daft Apocalypse game between Imperial forces and the new Ork Stompa - which is a much nicer kit than the photos make out. Again, if you don't play 40K, imagine a 40' tall robot with chainsaws and cannons for arms - and a beer belly. The first turns consisted of inneffectual fire from Imperials with the Stompa's main guns wiping out whole squads. Fortunately, the Imperial Fists were there to save the day! Despite a Chainsaw the size of a lorry, the Stompa couldn't get through the Storm Shields and the Terminators were safe. The Stompa on the other hand, was detonated in a single blow from the mighty Captain Lysander and his Fist of Dorn Hammer (Three structure points from one hit!) leaving the Stompa in a ruin and the game over.

The final game was 1000 points against an Ork army. An Ork army where over half the points were sunk into a single unit of Nobz warbikers led by Wazdakka Gutzmek. Well, I figured as I'm probably going to face these all the time at tournaments, I may as well get some practice at facing them (Right, 9' tall 'orrible green aliens with giant axes, robot bodies, filled with drugs and riding giant motorbikes equipped with huge machine guns. Oh, and led by a 10' tall green alien with a hydraulic Klaw and armed with a huge ray gun - they're HORRIBLE). Fortunately - and you may be noticing a theme here - Captain Lysander and the Thunder Hammer Terminators were there to soak up the horror. Two-wound models with medics don't like instant kill Thunder Hammers. I lost the Terminators, but Lysander finished them off before hammering a Battle Wagon to shreds. The remaining Orks were no match for the rest of the marines and were roundly slaughtered. Unfortunately, the result was a draw as three pesky Orks remained on the opposing objective, having survived four rounds of shelling. Grr... with another turn, I could have done it. Oh well.

So, to sum up, in three games, Squad Hammer have taken out:

• 25 Guardsmen (including HQ)
• Leman Russ Demolisher tank
• 10 Ratlings
• An Ork Stompa
• Seven Nobs Bikes, including Painboy
• Wazdakka Gutzmek
• An Ork Battle Wagon

In every game, they've killed at least their points value. They're pretty powerful! And I think I've worked out a general tactic with them. It's not very subtle, and it's very similar to the Ork one of loaading the Ork Nobz up on bikes and smashing all before it. But basically, that's pretty much it. You have one or two devestatingly powerful shock units (and the old 'eggs in one basket' issue isn't as important now due to the deimse of victory points) which rampage through the enemy army whilst your horde of Troops choices scuttle to the objectives. I'm not too worried about spending points on making the troops more killy as they're there to hold objectives, although I'm willing to spend points to make them tougher. It seems to be working fine so far! And I plan on taking it one step further by doubling the size of the hammer boys from five to ten. I look forward to seeing how they fare at Vanguard Vanquish in April.

And finally, just to annoy Ben, here's my current rental car. Unfortunately they were all out of Dodge Challengers.

And for those of you who aren't interested in toy soldiers or cars, here's a photo of San Francisco at night.