March 06, 2004

A fully detailed battle report on this kick off event for the in-store Plycon 40K League can be found in our forums.

Barton Air Filtration Plant

The calm before the battle. A 12' x 8' table with the Plant located in the center of the board. And yes, the Filtration Plant is made up of several various water-cooling parts we had lying around the store. Necessity is the mother of invention they say - and I didn't happen to have any fully modeled industrial plants stored in the warehouse. The water tanks and radiators looked quite good to be honest. The Rheostat towers would have looked better grey though. ;-)

Speedfreaks reach the plant

The end of turn one saw the Orks as the first faction to reach the plant. They also hold the singular honor of being the only group to enter both buildings of the facility. While the Ork battle group was eventually destroyed as a fighting force - it did manage to hold the facility up until the last turn of the game.

More skulls for the Blood God

After a horrible first turn - the Berserkers of Khorne struck back at the Imperial Guard with a vengeance. The destruction of the Guard's Sentinels was only the first note in a symphony of death unleashed on that side of the table. Shayn's forces easily win MVP (most valuable player) due to the 42 kills racked up by one single Aspiring Champion. The toll would have been worse if the Guard had not had several Leman Russ tanks.

Imperials have entered the base...

Alas, after setting foot on the asphalt of the base proper - a cross fire from the Thousand Sons and remnants of the Ultra Marines saw this group cut down. They were the Guard's last chance at completing their primary mission goal.

Necrons in search of prey...

Bob's Necrons spent the first part of the game slugging it out with the Space Wolves, and ended it by turning on their once ally, the Thousand Sons. They eventually faded out after a last bitter exchange with the Sons near the plant.

The 1000 yard stare...

You see before you one Bryan Layton - commander of the Space Wolves. Normally a quiet, reserved fellow, Bryan was driven to the brink of madness after watching the forces of Chaos develop Jedi-Like abilities during the game. A sample of the things that tortured this poor soul: (1)Thousand Sons decimate his allies the Ultra Marines in two turns. (2) Thousand Sons "turn" the remnants of the Ultra Marines to the side of Chaos. (3) Thousand Sons give advice to IG on where best to shoot their artillery (that is, not to aim it at them) - and the IG takes their advice. Madness!

Thousand Sons claim the Plant

This image is taken just before the Sons storm the plant, and slaughter the Ork force fleeing out the back door. Erin's force easily carried on a war against four opponents. This is of course a reflection of his outstanding tactical abilities, and his little known mutant powers of mind control and illusion.

I for one would like to welcome our new Thousand Son overlords...

Last Hope of the Guard

Evan's last unit on the table was unable to secure the objective. An uneasy standoff between the entrenched Thousand Sons and the "open to the hostile radioactive atmosphere" Leman Russ did not last long. The crew of the Russ gave up and headed home - yielding the field to the forces of chaos.

Overall, we had nine people show up for the event (out of a hoped for 16). It was a great kick off to the campaign story line.