Let the battle commence ....

Today at the Young Guns club held at Kids Dreams in Shoreham we have started a small 40k campaign with armies starting at just 500 points!

Any of our players are welcome to join in at any point, although you might want to do it soon before any of the factions get to dominant! Players are also free to use the shop armies, as you can see from the campaign map the Dark Eldar, Necrons and Eldar are already being played, but I still have Orks, Marines and probably a second Eldar or Necron force if you want to play!

In our first battle the Necrons lead by George, Eldar under the control of Tom and the Dark Eldar by Alex tried to take control of the first sector! This was a simple case of the survival of the strongest! Whoever dominated this battle would take control and the first victory of this campaign would be theirs. All three armies sent small war parties to fight for this key location. Initially the Dark Eldar only sent one Vemon to scout the battlefield. The Eldar and Necrons had taken buildings to the east and west and ignoring the single craft, exchanged fire as the battle roared into life! The Dark Eldar saw the chance to take the objective and their Archon jumped from the Venom as is swept across the field and opened a webway portal! Within seconds reavers, helions, incubi and wyches charged from the portal and looked set to claim a quick but brutal victory! Both the Eldar and Necron generals were concerned about the speed at which the Dark Eldar forces could advance and chose to take an allied approach to the problem that Alex's army posed! The only question as the two forces opened fire upon the unfortunate Dark Eldar was which army would be the first to brake the pact! The answer came in the closing moments as the Eldar took the first shots across the battlefield towards the Necron forces! The Dark Eldar were forced back towards their webway portal and the Necrons seeing the Avatar cut through the enemy with ease, calculated the odds as against them and chose to save the fight for another day! The Eldar have the first victory, but a single battle will not win this war!

Aprils Club Day Round Up and Avacyn Restored in Hove

Once more we find ourselves at the end of the month club day. This time as promised we were also running the Avacyn Restored Prerelease. This was the view after set-up...

But it quickly turned into this....

We had a massive Warhammer Fantasy Battle Magic game on the go at the top of the hall, featuring club veterans Swifty and Kevin.

 

 

At the same time, the Red Dust Planet was being fought over by a Space Marine Force and Chaos in a 'Dawn of War' 'Capture and Control' game.

We also had a large contingent of 'Young Guns' fighting over a battle wrecked outpost.

In the rumble of a lone church on the eastern fringes of the imperium we find Scott's Eldar led by Eldrich taking on Pete's brand new Tau force.

 

Eldrich is taking on a
whole squad of Kroot!
Apparently he kills 3 and
the rest run of the board!

On the next table we find Mike and Colin preparing for the coming 40k Doubles against a..... army in a time warped medieval village.

Aaron found himself in the catering core this month giving Zoe back up.

After Eldrich had dispatched the greater good they then formed an uneasy alliance to take on a singular yet twice as strong 'Young Gun'. Giving onlookers a possible hint as to plans for the previously mentioned 40k doubles and Rob and Micheal took on Battle Tech once more. (pictures unfortunatly missing)

War Machine kept the battle raging on the village board.

 

That is unfortunately all I can show you of the day as I spent the rest of my time engrossed in the prerelease tournament, sorry. It was a very good tournament though. Gary has previously mentioned a little of what happened. We had a large amount of players new to our prerelease's and indeed new to the game in general. A few of the regular faces were unable to attend which was a shame, but we shall see them again. So without further a do, tournament details....

As per usual each prerelease is different, some people thought it would be a slow event but actually the amount of little creatures and the new 'Soulbond' mechanic meant that games were on the whole a lot quicker, at times a little to quick. I had a couple of games in which I didn't get enough land and by the time I was able to get back in the game it was all over.

The tournament was slightly over shadowed, literally rather than figuratively by this thing
...

The cardboard monolith stood ominously over the battlefield, players watching and waiting in anticipation. It would only open when players performed enough challenges during the day.

After the forth round what would be the final check of achievement cards showed that enough challenges had been completed. The momentous task of breaking the final seal fell upon Ryan. 

'The young Cathar approached the colossal shard of silver. His heart was still yet his soul was restless, for he knew that inside lay both the planes salvation and its destruction. He steeled himself, knowing that every battle he had fought that morning had led to this moment.'

'The final seal had been broken. Both hope, and despair, had been unbound.'

'The Helvault opened and there was much rejoicing.'

Inside were double sided tokens one side showing a 4/4 Angel with flying the other, depicting a 5/5 flying Demon. The Helvault also contained 20 sided die and a 'Commander' sized army of Grislebrand, Avacyn and her angelic lieutenants.

After all that excitement players were then focused once more on the task of victory and for the final two rounds the table chopped and changed, overall victory could have quite easily been in one of six different players grasps, but this is the final standings.....

1. Nathan
2. Craig
3. Tom
4. Dom
5. John
6. Andrew
7. Robert
8. Olly
9. Chris Sisley
10. David
11. James
12. Nick
13. Chris Sherrin
14. Darren
15. Gary
16. Becky
17. Richard
18. Gareth
19. Richard Cooley
20. Will
21. Matt
22. Joshua Sisley
23. Ryan
24. Martin
25. Charlie
26. Josh Mongomery
27. Rakesh
28. Katie

Congratulations are in order for Nathan, but all players as well, as everyone played exceptionally well and fairly through out the day.

 

This was not the last of the day however, a break for dinner, then a Magic draft. The battles in the rest of the hall fell quiet, tables were being collapsed although the draft continued till late the club as a whole was done.

I hope this fills in most of what happened this club day, I'm sure we've missed something so if you want to add anything; info/ bragging/ photos, stick it in the comments or the facebook and we'll see you next time.

Roaming reporters John and Olly :D

P.s join the mailing list, you have been told!

The Planet Mattopia!!!

The young guns campaign came to a dramatic finish on Wednesday! The top three races, the armies that had scored the most points and claimed the most sectors played out the final battle! A battle which would eventually see the planet controller by one race!

The Tyranids, Tau and Imperial Guard all sent elite units to a sector which was known to be the location of a powerful alien artifact. This artifact would allow its controller to dominate the planet (known only as PZ191) and secure all remaining sectors. The only problem was that the sector was extremely dangerous, potentially causing wounds at the beginning of every turn! These units were protected inside sealed domes safe but unable to claim the objective. The main forces of the armies had to break the lines of the other forces and release their elite unit to try and claim the ultimate prize!

The game was extremely close and both the Tyranids and Imperial Guard managed to release their units! These two units fought each other and had to fend of the dangerous terrain and despite heavy loses on both sides a winner was eventually found! Matt's Imperial Guard finally claimed the objective for the Emperor!

The campaign has been great fun to organise and the players have all really got enthusiastic about the fight for planet PZ191! We have had 13 players in total joining in with the campaign a various stages and impressively 11 races have been represented!

From next week the Young guns club will start to prepare for Double Week which starts at the end of May, kicking off with the 40K Doubles tournament on Sunday May 28th by launching a series of small doubles games to form a league which would conclude in Double Week!

Gary of Team Gambit

Bad Weather for the Young Guns

This week a Young Guns we had two more armies join the campaign, Choas Marines and Salamanders, as well as the return of the Eldar. We also had the added complication of extreme weather conditions.

The Chaos took on the Tau Empire on a battlefield torn apart by a vicious vortex storm. Each turn the lethal vortex moved, expanded or split making advancing on the objective very perilous. The Tau lost almost half their troops to the storm before securing the objective and taking the sector.

The Salamanders fought well against the Ultramarines, but with the ground constantly moving with earthquake like tremors, movement was slow and very dangerous. The Ultramarines used their sniper scouts to prevent the Salamander advance and the secured the objective with a Drop Pod assault.

The rapidly expanding Tyranid army took on the Orks with both armies taking cover from lightning bursts that ripped up the battlefield. The thunder louder than any weapon either army encountered in the campaign so far. The Tyranids were simply too quick and claimed another sector!

Chaos Deamons had been reported in a sector just outside of the Imperial Guard borders but as all armies were in need to rations (Easter eggs) they charged into the sector keen to claim it and gather as many rations as possible. Armies made allies and tried to not to betray their new friends. The sector appeared to be rich on much need rations but as they advanced many of these had been either already claimed by deamons which quickly attacked however was unfortunate or had been bobby-trapped causing various types of explosion which claimed several troop units, the Ultramarines captain falling foul of a Vortex mine in the first turn. Some rations had been poisoned and units that found them became so confused that they simply fired on whoever was the closest, which put a severe strain on the already volatile Tau and Tyranid alliance. The Salamanders, Ultra Marines and Chaos Marines all became over run by blood letters and could advance quick enough. The Imperial guard made a deal with the Eldar and between them they managed to clear a route through to main objective and with the Eldars tank immobilised the Guard advanced with their Chimeras and claimed a valuable sector for themselves, but honouring their pack and sharing their bounty with the Eldar.

With the campaign drawing towards its end in the next few weeks, which army will be victorious?

Gary of Team Gambit

The Awakening of the Necrons!

This week the league had two new races arrive to fight for victory in the Young Guns Campaign! The Necrons awoke with a large force which saw forces from all the other races (other than the Eldar, who allowed the others to do the work for them!) rally in an attempt to stop the Necron advance into other sectors and reclaim the area for themselves!

In the first few turns the Necrons became the target of all the armies, with the tyranids, ultra marines and Dark Eldar making the most aggressive moves! The Necrons were wiped out thanks mainly to heavy fire from the Imperial Guard and Tau forces and a sweeping close combat advance by the Tyranids. The Ultra Marines suffered heavy loses having only their captain survive the battle, when the Dark Eldar turned on them in the last turn, they themselves only having one unit left! The Tau and Tyranid armies tried to calim the sector for themselves and despite heavy fire again from the Guard which claimed nearly all of the tyranid troops, the Tau battlesuits proved too strong and it left only the Ork army with a chance to claim a victory on the very last turn. The orks not known for their skills with range weapons typically missed and the Tau were victorious!

In battles for other sectors the Guard, Tyranids and Tau all claimed victories. The Necrons have a small force remaining as do the Orks. With everything still play for the fight looks set to get much tougher, deamons have been reported and scanners are picking up very strange atmospheric conditions!

Gary of Team Gambit

Young Guns - The War Continues!

This week the Eldar clashed with the Dark Eldar, the Tau tried to gun down the Ultra Marines and the Imperial Guard needed to prevent the hoards of the Tyranids. Games were again all set at 500 points and objective based.

The Imperial Guard fought bravely and although lost several men in close combat, the volume of fire power managed to prevent the main body of the Tyranid force getting close enough. The final result was that both armies held their objectives and the game was a draw!

The Tau had changed their force favouring battle suits and this proved to be a good tactical choice and the Ultra Marines were kept off the objective. The Marines assault was heroic but they simply could not deal with the range of the Tau weaponry and lost the game!

The quickest battle and the one with the most casualties was the Eldar and Dark Eldar battle. In the opening turns both armies lost their transport choices and needed to approach the objective on foot. The Dark Eldar came under extremely heavy fire from very early on and without the feel no pain had no chance of survival. Despite heavy early losses the Dark Eldar regrouped well and managed to control the Eldar Assault. In the final turn the objective was still unclaimed and in a final advance the Dire Avengers managed force the remaining Dark Eldar to fall back! At the end of the game there were on 6 Eldar models left, but they had claimed their first win of the campaign!

Next week is half term so the club will run from 10am until 4pm. With more time to play the battles may become a bit bigger! It is rumoured that a large Necron force has been sighted on a sight of great strategical importance, it is likely that all forces will be keen to claim this sector, and already the various forces are preparing forces to investigate!

More update to follow soon!

Gary of Team Gambit

Young Guns League Update

At our Young Guns club this week we have started a series of small 40K battles which will form a small campaign to gain control of a small part of the 40K universe. The battles were all fought using forces of 500 points per army with a single objective to claim.

In the first battles the Dark Eldar fought the Ultramarines but neither side was able to secure the objective at the end of 5 turns but will each earn themselves 10 points which will eventually allow for reinforcements when they have accrued enough points. The Imperial Guard fought a very organised battle that saw them claim a sector of the map against the Eldar and a valuable 30 points. Finally the Tau fought hard to slow a quick moving Tyranid force but was unlucky in its shooting and lost a sector to the xenos.

Next week we should see the arrival or more forces such as the Necrons, Chaos Marines and possibly more Eldar and Ultra Marine Armies.

All the games played this week very close and all the players really entered into the spirit of the event. More updates will follow and games will eventually build up into bigger battles and more complex missions.

Gary of Team Gambit

The Young Guns Campaign

Just a quick update from the 'Young Guns' club which is run on Tuesdays at Kids Dreams in Hove for under 16 gamers. We are planning a series of 40k games which will form a very basic campaign. Games will start from next week and will be 500 points and must conform to standard army rules (i.e 1 HQ and 2 troops minimum).

It looks like we will have Eldar, Dark Eldar, Space Marines, Chaos Marines and Tau and hopefully more!

I will update the blog each week with what has been happening and which faction is doing the best!

Gary of Team Gambit

Battle for the Underhive

Following recent news of the 'Plague Drifters' the gang of Ratskins being spotted in the Underhive, they have become one of the most active gangs in our campaign. After several weeks of heavy fighting in the underhive, with gangs from several different factions all desperate to become the controlling force, we have seen some epic battles, some lasting several turns of tactical positioning, accurate shooting and well timed charges into combat, others ending abruptly before the first turn with a gang bottling it following a brutal hive-quake!

The current standings are:

1. 2031 Plague Drifters (played 11 games)
2. 1924 Knights of Taranis (played 4 games)
3. 1716 West Side Boys (played 4 games)
4. 1589 The Apostles (played 4 games)
5. 1542 Polo's Wenches (played 6 games)
6. 1431 Chris's Gang (played 2 games)
7. 1410 Regulators (played 4 games)
8. 1402 Mike's Gang (played 2 games)
9. 1334 Aaron's Gang (not played yet)

Retired Gangs:

Victors Gang

The campaign continues on Tuesday nights at Kids Dreams and at our Sunday Meeting in Glebe Villas (next date 27th March). For further details e-mail us at gambitgamesuk@gmail.com

In the Young Guns campaign these has been a lot of gang fights taking place and 2 gangs have recently been retired, as well as Olivers Harlequins desperately hanging on despite now only having 5 members.

1. 1518 Kerim's Gang
2. 1398 Jakes Orlocks
3. 1363 Charlies Angels
4. 1283 TheEnforcers
5. 1274 Sewer Runners
6. 1187 The Marque
7. 1168 James Gang
8. 1075 Grouchy Grechin
9. 1058 Marks Gang
10. 660 Olivers Harlequins

Retired Gangs
The Infected
The Original Sewer Runners

The Young Guns meet at Kids Dreams on Wednesdays from 3:30pm until 8:00pm.

Gary of Team Gambit