There is no time for peace. No forgiveness. No respite. There is only war.
Thegalaxy writhes in the mailed fist of all-consuming conflict. The Imperium of Mankind teeters on the brink of annihilation, beset upon all sides by heretic warlords, daemon-summoning witches and rapacious alien empires. In every star system and upon every planet, fierce battle rages as loyalists, heretics and aliens tear reality itself apart in their war for dominance. Every day the flames rise higher.
This is a more terrible era than ever before, and there is no peace amongst the stars…
It had been given a rating of 7.8 on BoardGameGeek from 200+ ratings
StrikingScorpion82 has produced an excellent Guide and Playthrough of Warhammer 40k. Striking Scorpion is a fantastic channel with no end of tactics videos, battle reports and reviews. Give them a Sub!
As this is a Games Workshop game there are tonnes of resources to expand your game and your gaming experience of Warhammer 40k. It even has its own App on the iStore and PlayStore.
Fancy having a go? Why not pick up a Combat Patrol box from SCN Hobby World at 20% off.
It had been given a rating of 7.6 on BoardGameGeek from 50+ ratings.
Beyond the Gates of Antares invites us to a time when mankind has evolved into new and diverse species: the strangely powerful NuHumans, masters of the Panhuman Concord; the ape-like Pansimians, the greatest warriors in the whole Galactic Spill; and feral Revers primitive Humans driven by a irrepressible lust for adventure and danger. It is a universe where technology and humanity intermix indistinguishably, where human knowledge and endeavour has long since been supplanted by integrated machine intelligence IMTel. Where humans go their technology goes also, protectors, workers, and fighting machines in the form of WarDrones armed with deadly weapons and shielded by energy fields a thousand times more resilient than steel.
Warlord Games’ YouTube channel has produced a series of excellent videos explaining Gates of Antares.
1. Introduction
2. Order Dice
3. Shooting
4. Pinning
5. The Assault Phase
6. Leaders
7. Q&A
If you’re interested in getting into Beyond the Gates of Antares, I can’t suggest you start anywhere else but these excellent collection of videos.
Today we’re looking at the Space Wolves Combat Patrol box, continuing our series of 1,000 point start armies using the Combat Patrol boxes as our base, and hopefully going someway to fulfilling my pledge I made last week.
Like the other boxes the Combat Patrol box is filled with goodies and makes for fantastic savings when you’re starting out in collecting an army for 40k.
Inside the box you get:
Space Wolves Primaris Lieutenant (£17.50) – this Lieutenant is only available in this boxed set 5x Reivers (Can also be built as Hounds of Morkai) (£27.50) 10x Intercessors (£35) 1x Invictor Warsuit (£37.50) 2x Space Wolves Upgrade Sprues (£18)
That’s a total of £135.50 if you were buying these kits serparately, meaning you get a saving of £50.50.
It has been pointed out by veteran Space Wolf players however, that this boxed set may not be the best place to start your collection. Instead, they suggest the Blood Angels Combat Patrol box*. But that’s not our challenge, so today we’re going to start with the Space Wolves Combat Patrol box.
To add to this boxed set, we’re going to add two units that are unique to the Space Wolves.
However, remember that if you email Sarah at scnhobbyworld@outlook.com and ask to go on her mailing list, you can get 25% off Games Workshop products. Meaning the whole lot including the books will cost you just £163!
Here’s our final 1,000 point list.
HQ ———- Primaris Lieutenant (General) (80pts)* – Special Issue Bolt Carbine & Master-Crafted Power Axe – Warrior of Legend (-1CP) – Command Traits: Warrior Born & Resolve of the Bear
DETACHMENTS ———- *Vanguard Detachment*Interestingly, Blood Angels players recommend the Dark Angels Combat Patrol box for their own force.
PRIMARIS LIEUTENANT
Space Wolf Lieutenant
We’ve forgone a lot of HQ choices to allow us to get the Wulfen and Stormwolf in the list to add the fast punch the army needs. That said, it means that this small squishy lieutenant will be the warlord and so will need to be protected. Place him with your Intercessors to allow him to buff them with re-rolling 1’s on attack rolls.
If he does suffer any wounds then you can always use Healing Balms for 1CP at the end of the movement phase to heal D3 wounds back. To give him some extra staying power makes he has the Warrior of Legend Stratagem attached to him giving him two Command Traits, then make one of those command traits Resolve of the Bear. this will give him a 6+ invulnerable save and prevents enemy attacks against him from re-rolling their wound rolls or damage rolls.
For his second command trait, equip him with Warrior Born, that way if he does find himself in combat he’ll always fight first that phase.
INTERCESSORS
Primaris Intercesssors
With the Space Wolves, they’re a very aggressive army and love to get stuck in , in the fight phase. Bearing that in mind it’s probably best to equip your intercessors with Auto-Bolt Rifles, giving them Assault 3. This means they can fire off three shots each in the shooting phase and still charge. Plus if you use the Stratagem Rapid Fire, they can all shoot again. This is particularly good if you decide to run them as a large squad of 10 instead of two groups of five.
You can also give on of these units the Stratagem Cunning of the Wolf for 1CP, used during the deployment phase, it’ll give them the outflank ability allowing them to come in on one of your movement phases 6″ away from any table edge and 9″ away from the enemy. Even better to get them stuck in sooner.
If you are wanting to charge and you’re not in Assault Doctrine, you can spend 1CP on Bestial Nature which then treats the unit as if it is in Assault Doctrine. This is good for the Wolves as it means they’ll benefit from their Savage Fury detachment rule meaning that each roll to hit of 6 in melee will score an additional hit.
HOUNDS OF MORKAI
Super-powered Reivers!
With a grapnel launcher equipped as standard this unit already benefits from the outflank ability that you can purchase through the use of Stratagems for your other core units. They’re a good anti-psyker unit too! If they’re the closest enemy unit to a Psyker, then that Psyker will have to target them with any Psychic powers, while also suffering from -1 on any psychic tests that they take if they’re within 18″ of the Hounds of Morkai, or -2 if they’re within 6″. Plus, the Hounds of Morkai get to add 1 to their hit rolls and 1 to their damage rolls if they’re targeting a Psyker.
If you’re using a mission which has the Strategic Reserves rule and you’re more than 6″ away from an enemy, then you can spend 1CP on the stratagem Guerilla Tactics, to place them in reserve. You can then set them in the following turn using the outflank ability once more.
INVICTOR TACTICAL WARSUIT
This and your Stormwolf make up the ant-armour elements of your army. With the Twin Ironhail autocannon this walker can take on a lot of the lighter vehicles in the game and take a wound or two of larger tanks as well.
Also good at getting into combat with vehicles and using its 4 attacks at S14 to smash most tanks to pieces. With its Concealed Positions rule, you can set this up at the start of the game 9″ away from the enemy deployment zone and enemy models to help do just that!
WULFEN
Crazy Boys
Shove these inside your Stormwolf fly them up the table then drop them in amongst the enemy lines and watch your opponent panic. Give a couple Thunder Hammer and shields that way if they’re targeted you can use their 2+ saves against small arms fire and their 4+ save against heavier weapons. This will give them a bit more survivability when you need it.
They’re always treated as being in the Combat Assault doctrine and so will always benefit from Savage Fury as described earlier.
STORMWOLF
The Stormwolf will have two roles inside out list, the first is it makes a perfect transport to move the Wulfen around the table. The second role it can perform is as an anti-vehicle unit. With its powerful strength 9 lascannon and strength 7 Skyhammer Missile Launcher it can dish out some serious wounds on most light armoured vehicles in a single turn. As it can fly your opponent is going to subtract 1 from their hit rolls that target it as well.
WHAT NEXT?
Well once you’ve got that lot painted and have a few games under your belt, you may want to think about another HQ unit at the very least. Bjorn the Fell-handed could be good for this, or any of the other great Space Wolf special characters. Even if you choose not to get Bjorn, perhaps consider purchasing a Wulfen Dreadnought…….
I hope you enjoyed this, please let me know in the comments below how you would build a 1,000 point list from the Combat Patrol Box and why not also let me know what you think to my list. There may well be aspects of the codex or units that I have not included that you think should be, so why not let us know in the comments below.
The work towards Burning Skies continues. Once again it’s daft o’clock in the morning in the UK and I’m up late painting.
This time it’s Rippa’s Snarlfangs that have been finished up.
That brings the completed list to:
10x Gutrippas
1x Swampcalla Shaman and Pot-Grot
3x Rippa’s Snarlfangs
So 355/2000 points completed. But there is a unit of Hobgrots nearing completion that are also looking at me. There’s an outside chance they’ll be done by the 31st as well….
I’ll need to pick up the pace a bit though if I’m going to get the remaining 41 models done by late march…..
This event saw a total of 26 players take part over three games. The event was designed to be a test for the tournament organisers in preparation for their larger competition at the end of the month.
Most Selected Faction/Subfaction
For the first time since we’ve covered the top three lists in 2022 the Ironjawz/Bloodtoofs are the most played faction in a tournament.
Win Rate
The Ironjawz/Bloodtoofs, despite being the most played faction at the event only managed a win rate of 41.7%.
The Top Three Lists
These were the top three lists from Grudge Hammer LVO Prep Event.
Patrick Shifflett – Stormcast Eternals
The most played army at tournaments currently
Patrick won all of his games and beat Seraphon/Thunder Lizard in Round 1, another Seraphon/Thunder Lizard in Round 2 and Disciples of Tzeentch/Host Arcanum in Round 3.
Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals – Subfaction: Hammers of Sigmar – Grand Strategy: Beast Master – Triumph: Inspired
Leaders ———- Knight-Draconis (General)(300)* – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Artefact: Arcane Tome – Mount Trait: Scintillating Trail – Spell: Thundershock
Additional Enhancement ———- Holy Command: Steadfast March
Total Points: 2000 pts
Sergio Ortiz – Idoneth Deepkin
Sergio alson won all three games beating Stormcas Eternals/Hallowed Knights in Round 1, Blades of Khorne/Reapers of Vengeance in Round 2 and Lumineth Realm-Lords/Zaitrec in Round 3.
Units ———- 2x Akhelian Allopexes (250)* – Reinforced: Once 2x Stormdrake Guard (340)* – Allies
Core Battalions ———- *Battle Regiment
Total Points: 1980 pts
Jacob Brandon – Legion of the First Prince
Jacob also won all three games and beat Soulblight Gravelords/Avengorii Dynasty in Round 1, Ironjawz/Bloodtoofs in Round 2 and Fyreslayers/Vostarg in Round 3.
Allegiance: Legion of the First Prince – Grand Strategy: Prized Sorcery – Triumphs: Unknown
Leaders ———- Kairos Fateweaver (435) – Spell: The Master’s Command Bloothirster of Insensate Rage (General) (280) – Command Trait: Ruinous Aura – Artefact: Armour of the Pact Be’lakor (360)* – Spell: The Master’s Command Slaves to Darkness Daemon Prince (210)* – Mark of Chaos: Khorne The Contorted Epitome (255)* – Artefact: Fourfold Blade – Spell: Flaming Weapon
Some of the keen eyed amongst you will have already noticed the name change in the series from Rogue Trader Collection to Oldhammer Collection. Why is this? The answer, is fairly simple. I have no self control!
When a friend at the club says “I’ve a load of old eighties Dwarfs I want to sell”. The first words out of my mouth are “How much?!”. Yes, my name’s Peter and I’m a miniature toy soldier addict!
So which Dwarfs have I purchased?
These bad boys.
And these bad boys…..
AND these very bad boys!
So instead of reducing my pile of shame I appear to just be adding to it this month.
That being said, I can knock one model off that list as complete….
Yup, Marneus is finally finished!
Now to start looking at the Rogue Trader Space Marine Squad. I have to add a massive thank you here, as I originally had just eight of the marines from RTB01. But thanks to the legend that is Planet Oldhammer I now have a complete squad, as he very kindly sent me two more figures (the sergeant and another marine) as well as a few missing arms and weapons that I needed!
Also, a few of you on twitter took to the polls to decide which Chapter I should paint any Space Marines for Rogue Trader in, and I’m pleased to tell you the winner is the Crimson Fists. Nothing shouts Rogue Trader like the Crimson Fists! It was a close run thing between them and the Rainbow Warriors.
This event saw a total of 17 players take part over five games.
Most Selected Faction/Subfaction
For the first time since we’ve covered the top three lists in 2022 the Stormcast Eternals/Hammers of Sigmar are not the most played faction in a tournament.
Win Rate
The Top Three Lists
These were the top three lists from Norwegian Masters.
Stian Engebretsen – Stormcast Eternals
The most played army at tournaments currently
Enge won all five games and beat Skaventide in Round 1, Beasts of Chaos/Gavespawn in Round 2, Stormcast Ironjawz/Bloodtoofs in Round 3, Seraphon/Thunder Lizard in Round 4 and finally the Daughters of Khaine/Khailebron in Round 5.
Allegiance: Stormcast Eternals – Subfaction: Hammers of Sigmar – Grand Strategy: Hold the Line – Triumph: Inspired
Geir won four games from five and lost to Soulblight Gravelords/Legion of the Night in Round 1. After that initial loss he won all four of his remaining matches against Lumineth Realmlords/Ymetrica in Round 2, Soulblight Gravelords/Kastelai Dynasty in Round 3, Skavdentide in Round 4 and Seraphon/Thunder Lizard in Round 5.
Core Battalions ———- *Battle Regiment **Hunters of the Heartland ***Warlord
Total Points: 1995 pts
Benjamin Flodda – Soulblight Gravelords
Benjamin also won four games and beat Idoneth Deepkin/Fuethan in Round 1, Idoneth Deepkin/Fuethan in Round 2 and lost against Seraphon/Thunder Lizard in Round 3, beat Ironjawz/Bloodtoofs in Round 4 and Beasts of Chaos/Gavespawn in the last round.
Allegiance: Soulblight Gravelords – Subfaction: Legion of Night – Grand Strategy: Prized Sorcery – Triumphs: Bloodthirsty
Leaders ———- Mannfred von Carstein, Mortarch of Night (380)* – Spell: Amethystine Pinions Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon (General) (435)** – Command Trait: Swift Form – Artefact: Shard of Night – Mount Trait: Foetid Miasma – Spell: Amethystine Pinions Vampire Lord (140)** – Spell: Flaming Weapon Necromancer (125)** – Aertefact: Morbheg’s Claw
Battleline ———- 40x Deadwalker Zombies (230)*** – Reinforced: Once 20x Deadwalker Zombies (115)* 10x Dire Wolves (135)***
Units ———- Corpse Cart with Balefire Brazier (80)** 20x Grave Guard (280)** – Reinforced: Once 3x Fell Bats (75)*
Core Battalions ———- *Battle Regiment **Warlord ***Hunters of the Heartlands
This event saw a total of 32 players take part over five games. The event was organised by Purple Sparkly Unicorns.
Most Selected Faction/Subfaction
The Hammers of Sigmar are still one of the most popular armies at tournaments around the globe.
Win Rate
The Top Three Lists
These were the top three lists from PSU: March to War.
Paul Scott – Maggotkin of Nurgle
Paul’s Moggotkin in action against Freddie’s Cities of Sigmar in Round 5
Paul won all three games and beat our very own Declan with his Big Waaagh! in Round 1, Kruleboyz/Big Yellers in Round 2, Stormcast Eternals/Tempest Lords in Round 3, Ironjawz/Bloodtoofs in Round 4 and finally the Cities of Sigmar/Hallowheart second place list of Freddie Leggett in Round 5.
Allegiance: Maggotkin of Nurgle – Coalesced: Befouling Host – Grand Strategy: Hold the Line – Triumph:
Leaders ———- Horticulous Slimux (225)** Great Unclean One (General)(495)*** – Command Trait: Master of Magic – Artefact: The Witherstave – Spell: Fleshy Abundance Lord of Afflictions (210)*** – Artefact: Arcane Tome – Spell: UNKNOWN Lord of Afflictions (210)***
Battleline ———- 1x Beasts of Nurgle (110)* 20x Plaguebearers (300)* – Reinforced: Once 1x Beasts of Nurgle (110)** 1x Beasts of Nurgle (110)** 1x Beasts of Nurgle (110)** 1x Beasts of Nurgle (110)**
Core Battalions ———- *Hunters of the Heartlands **Battle Regiment ***Command Entourage
Total Points: 1990 pts
Freddie Leggett
Freddie won four games from five and only lost to Paul’s Maggotkin of Nurgle/Befouling Host in Round 5 who finished 1st overall. Along the way he beat Ironjawz/Ironsunz in Round 1, Nighthaunt/Emerald Host in Round 2, Stormcast Eternals/Hammers of Sigmar in Round 3 and Seraphon/Fangs of Sotek in Round 4.
Allegiance: Cities of Sigmar – Subfaction: Hallowheart – Grand Strategy: Prized Sorcery – Triumphs: Indomitable
Core Battalions ———- *Battle Regiment **Hunters of the Heartland
Total Points: 1995 pts
Andy Bryan – Seraphon
Andy also won four games and beat Stormcast Eternals/Hammers of Sigmar in Round 1, lost against the fifth placed list of Jack Mayland’s Ironjawz/Bloodtoofs in Round 2 and beat Seraphon/Thunder Lizard in Round 3, Kruleboyz/Big Yellers in Round 4 and Stormcast Eternals/Hammers of Sigmar in the last round.
In replacement of listing every post on this project so far, I’ve started a written document that should eventually evolve into the ruleset for the game.
As with everything I would like this to be community driven, so if you see any typo’s or think paragraphs need rephrasing or moving then please let me know in the form at the end of this article.
Orders
My aim is to tackle each stage of the game as you would expect it to occur. So that being said, at this stage my assumption would be for the order phase to come first. But what do we need to look at? We already know that each player will roll 2D6 for their number of orders which will then be modified by their Generals on the table. But how should these be modified?
For example, should order effectiveness be based on a rating of that General? Should it be easier to order some units over others?
Should orders be also used to boost things such as combat effectiveness in a fight? For example, perhaps a friendly unit wants to fire upon an enemy unit. The General has already used one order for this to happen, but perhaps he could use an additional order to add +1 to the dice result?
Order Generation Modification
There’s a few options in regards to the modification on generating orders.
Should the roll be 2D6 plus one for each General in the army?
Should the modification be +1 for a Brigade General, +2 for A Divisional General and +3 for a Corp General?
Should personality come into affect instead? Perhaps having a 2D6 roll but then certain special rules may affect this, such as a General being hot-headed (-1 to the roll) or inspired (+1 to the roll).
Or perhaps some other option?
Issuing Orders
The next matter is all about how the player issues orders to their units.
Order Distances
Should distances between the Generals and the unit it wishes to order come into affect? Or do we assume in a futuristic era that order distance does not matter?
Understanding Orders
Should each General have a command value which the player needs to roll against to see if the order is successful? (Warmaster Revolution Style) e.g. A general has a command value of 2, if the player rolls equal to or higher than this on a single die then it is successful. Should this be on 1 die or two dice?
Perhaps Generals and Units have command values which the combined total has to be equalled or beaten on 2D6? (Clausewitz Style) e.g. A good General has a rating of 2, and a regular unit a rating of 4. The General will need to roll 6 or more on 2D6 to issue an order to that unit.
Should the roll for whether a unit understands an order be a simple amount of 3+ no matter the General or its target?
Should orders be understood automatically thus negating the need for any rolls?
Or perhaps some other option I’ve yet to consider?
Failing Orders
Finally for this week we going to cover what happens when a General fails issuing an order. Note that this vote will be made redundant should the option “Orders are automatically understood” is the winner in the above poll. Should there be a penalty for failing to issue an order?
Perhaps that particular General is unable to issue any other orders if it fails to order a unit?
Perhaps no orders are able to be issued by that side should an order roll be failed?
Well that’s it this week. It’s been a bit of a long one hasn’t it? But the orders section should almost be completed once the votes are in. See you next week!
Do you have any rules suggestions, or a topic you would like us to focus on next. Or perhaps you would like us to reword something in the main document. Anything you want, let us know below.
It has been given a rating of 7.8 on BoardGameGeek from 550+ ratings.
Written by veteran game designers Alessio Cavatore and Rick Priestley, Bolt Action provides all the rules needed to bring the great battles of World War II to your tabletop. Using miniature soldiers, tanks and terrain, you can fight battles in the shattered towns of occupied France, the barren deserts of North Africa, and even the sweltering jungles of the Pacific.
Players get to decide which of the major or minor World War II powers they would like to represent, and then construct their armies from the lists provided. Army options are almost limitless, allowing you to build the kind of army that most appeals to your style of play. The choice is yours.
The original… now changed slightly in Warmaster Revolution
On Point HQ has produced a series of excellent videos explaining Bolt Action. I recommend checking our his other videos as well!
1. Building a Bolt Action Army
2. Unit Quality and Issuing Orders
3. Combat
4. Pinning and Morale Tests
5. HQ Units and Snap to Action
6. Transports and Tanks
7. Ambush
8. Troop and Vehicle Movement
9. Medics and Snipers
10. How HE Shots Work
11. Artillery Movement and Orders
12. The Turn Sequence
If you’re interested in getting into Bolt Action, I can’t suggest you start anywhere else but these excellent collection of videos.
