SFSNNJ King of Games Day

[cavalier1864]

Howdy Gang,

As many of you know, I will be at the store all day on Saturday to run the annual SFSNNJ King of Games day event (www.sfsnnj.com). I will be available to run one shot modules of Dark Heresy for roleplayers, but more importantly I will be running Demo games of AT-43 and Warhammer 40K Kill Teams. This should be a fun day with lots of SFSNNJ folks who do not normally get to play such games, and I look forward to getting a chance to play at the store. See you in the morning!

[cavalier1864]

As always, I would like to thank our hosts for providing a great venue, and being just all-around terrific guys. Manuel Rivera and Jeff Hering of Fantasy Games and Hobbies, we salute you! I would also like to give a big "thank you" to all the store regulars who put up with our little invasion, as well as great sports like 11 year old Stephen Hering who helped me out immeasurably with both the AT-43 demo and the Warhammer 40K Kill Teams demo. Thanks for all your efforts guys!

Now, on with the show!

The day started with Thom Purdy, Stephen and Todd Ehrenfels demonstrating AT-43 (http://games.rackham-e.com/en/at-43). Stephen played the part of the heroic forces of the United Nations of Ava (UNA) under the command of the ultimate Tank commander, Captain Newton, while Thom got a chance to test his mettle as the revolutionary forces of the Red Blok under the command of Captain Pavel Vrakov. Todd, as demonstrator extraordinaire, got to challenge the humans with the vicious Therians under the command of Wraith Golgoth Gamma. The battle started with the humans taking pot-shots at each other while evading fire from Golgoth Gamma. Thom's Red Blok Dragonov Troopers used their sniper fire to knock out several of Stephen's advancing Wing Trooper Medics, while Steve's Fire Toad tanks rocked Golgoth Gamma, weakening it enough that Thom could finish it off with Rocket fire from Vrakov's enormous Krasnye Soldaty squad. Suddenly, however, the Therians were reinforced with two squads of Storm Golems under the command of Overseer Alphas, who in turn resurrected the destroyed Golgoth Gamma! Caught between the Red Block Troopers and the UNA's elite forces, the Therians were quick to hunker down, however Thom used his Nakovalny Scout Striders to run down the hapless Therians before they could regroup to strike. The battle quickly went downhill for the Therians, however the Dragonovs continued to whittle away at both the Wing Troopers and Shock Troopers who had moved too far out of position to easily support one another. The Battle ended on Turn 4 for a devastating victory for the Revolutionary Forces of the Red Blok, with the UNA hanging on to finish off the last of the Therians and sweep up into second. The Therians lost yet another important battle, but it's OK, they're Therians. The post game wrap-up saw Stephen excitedly showing off his surviving UNA troops to his proud father and explaining the rules of the game like an old hand! Easy to learn and fun to play, AT-43 remains one of my favorite tabletop war games for a reason, and seeing the fun being had by all involved I was happy as a clam. The only problem is that Captain Pavel Vrakov, clone medic extraordinaire is just too darned good, as the evidence will show... VRAAAAAAKOV!

Meanwhile, at the next table, the Remi, Chris, Deena, and Haywood were chugging along at a hard pace and vying for supremacy at Trivial Pursuit. The 1981 version of the game had a lot of questions that most of us quirked eyebrows at (being way before our time), and we all enjoyed kibitzing and dropping broad hints, much like Barry does during Films to Come. I laughed heartily when the question of "Who Directed Spartacus?" came up and I hinted that I was pretty sure that the director also did 2001 a blank Odyssey, and Remi said, "Oh, you mean Mel Brooks." Chris reigned victorious with good grace, managing to get the victory on a fun film question. I suspect that the Red Blok had a hand in this... VRAAAAAKOV!!!!

At another table, Barry and Ann-Marie were playing a confusing game of Grue the Card Game, followed by an even more confusing game of Cosmic Wimp-Out, a dice game from the late 1970's. Barry had initially wanted to play Space Hulk, thinking that it had to do with the Marvel Comics character of the same name, but realized that some dolt had forgot to put the rule and scenario books back in the box. The dolt in question offered to set it up and show him how it was played, put the Revolutionary Forces of the Red Bloc stopped him using the wiley tactics of communist clones... VRAAAAAAAAAAKOV!!!!!

We took a brief break for Pizza from Pizza Master, and then pushed on to watch Percy and the Olympians while a larger number of players gathered around for another game of Kill Teams. As per the description on the website, the table was divided among 4 teams.

The Blue Team:
Imperial Guard Cavalry & Veteran (played by Stephen)
Daemonhunters Grey Knights (played by Thom)

The Red Team:
Chaos Marines Thousand Sons (played by Andre)
Orks Boyz and Nobz (played by the bloodthirsty Deena)

The Green Team:
Tau Stealth Suits and Fire Warriors (played by Jeff Hering and Todd Ehrenfels)
Eldar Harlequin Assault Troupe (played by Aurelia)

The Black Team:
Dark Eldar Wyche Cult (played by Rob)
Necron Warriors (played by Ann-Marie)

The goal of the game was to get to the hill (dubbed Frog Hill because it is a Rackham hill). The teams took a few moments to strategize and work together to determine a plan. Poor Rob and Andre got thrown in to the deep end of the pool, being given some difficult armies. Luckily, everyone was in the mood for carnage and the game proceeded apace. Initiative was scattered throughout the teams, and the battle proceeded with the Dark Eldar taking the lead early on, by taking advantage of their advantages of speed to dash up the field to the Frog Hill. Next up, the Grey Knight plodded their way up the field, not concerning themselves with the Thousand Sons on their flank. The Imperial Guard split their Roughrider Cavalry elements under the able command of Stephen, and advanced half towards the Orks and half towards Frog Hill in support of his Grey Knight allies, while the supporting infantry split the difference hoping to draw the Thousand Sons and Orks into a blind alley near a crevasse. The Tau advanced quickly using Jet Packs, and took the first casualty and Stealth Suit trooper Gary face-planted into a rock (jet packs are dangerous, kids) while the Fire Warriors advanced to cut the soon to be moving Necrons off from the Harlequin Troupe. After the Tau, the Thousand Sons plodded up the board, firing their bolters at any and every one in sight and dealing the first casualties to the Grey Knights, who lost a simple knight. The Eldar Harlequins then took the ball and ran with it, running pell-mell up the field to take advantage of the opening pried for them by their Tau allies. The Orks advanced quickly and began wildly firing Shootas at the advancing Roughriders, killing two of the brave cavalrymen (Deena's bloodlust was already setting in by this point). Lastly the Necrons advanced slowly, separating two of their number from the pack to help their Dark Eldar allies on the flank while the remainder of the force smashed the Tau with withering Gauss Rifle fire. Turn two showed the Dark Eldar running faster for the center, taking the lead, and splitting their forces in anticipation of stalling the Green Team on their flank. The Grey Knights showed the favor of the Emperor and ran forth, narrowing the gap to Frog Hill, though they were still too far to overtake the early lead of the tricksy Dark Eldar across the table. Seeing the death of two of their comrades and desirous of preserving the unit, the Imperial Guard withdrew the Cavalry back to support range of the Veterans, who continued to dangle as bait in front of the blood maddened Orks, the outriding roughriders were hard pressed to get closer to the hill, though. Next the Tau Stealthsuits jumped out in front of the advancing Dark Eldar and fired burstcannons ineffectually in the air over the heads of the advancing Warp Beast pack while the Firewarriors did in two Necrons (who promptly came back to life). The Thousand Sons, seeing Grey Knights charging ahead, plodded forward with Bolters ablaze while their aspiring sorcerer zapped another Knight into the Immaterium. The Eldar continued charging forward, however an unlucky run roll stalled them in a position that left their Tau allies unsupported. The Orks ran fast, however and closed the gap, believing that a good Waaaaagh! would deliver the Veterans and surviving Roughriders to their hands next turn. The Necrons, apparently annoyed with the Tau for killing two of them and forcing them to come back to life, turned and slaughtered the Fire Warriors with a hail of fire that killed 4 of the Tau, leaving 3 standing in an expanding red mist. Turn three began the true bloodbath as the Wyches ran forward with part of their force while the Warp Beasts and Beastmaster slaughtered the unsupported Tau Stealth Team. Not to be outdone, the Grey Knights advanced more cautiously and opened fire with stormbolters and psycannons on the Thousand Sons, cutting down two of the Chaos Marines with a hail of exploding bolts. The Imperial Guard, seeing an advancing Ork horde, decided to hold fast and try to funnel the Orks into a spot where they could be tied up for a couple of rounds, and fired a couple of grenades from their Grenade Launchers to cover their movements and whittle down the Orks. The surviving Tau took cover in some handy terrain, hoping to act as a speed bump and draw Necron fire away from the Harlequins. Back near the center, the Thousand Sons lurched inexorably forward, firing effectively with Bolters and knocking out another Grey Knight while their Sorcerer atomized the lone advancing Roughrider, leaving the last survivor in place to cut off the Ork advance. The Eldar Harlequins snapped up and totally eviscerated the Beastmaster and Warp Beasts with pistol fire and a devastating assault, while the Death Jester remained behind and fired a few shots of his Shrieker Cannon at the advancing Necrons. The Orks Waaaaaaaaagh!-ed directly into the Imperial Guard Veterans eliminating every Guardsman in their path, however the Guardsmen were so spread out that two of the squad were out of range of the initial charge and thus survived long enough to hold the Orks back, buying the Grey Knights precious time to get into cover. The Necrons finished wiping out the Tau and polished off the Death Jester for good measure. Seeing a danger to his advance from the now closer Harlequins, Rob dispatched half of his Wyches to stall the Harlequins (an assault that ended in a draw), while his Succubus and her coterie dashed up the center line. The Grey Knights fired ineffectually at their Chaos Marine foes while they moved into the cover of some rocks, hoping to stave off the Orks and the Chaos Marines. The Imperial Guard Veterans died with honor, holding up the Orks and buying time for their allies. The Thousand Sons fired into the now in range Dark Eldar, hoping to eliminate the small squad around the succubus and were rewarded with a host of dead Dark Eldar Wyches. The Harlequins rapidly finished up the Wyches that they were in combat with, however the delaying tactic left the pointy-eared colorful troupe dangerously far from victory. The Orks piled in and assaulted directly into the Grey Knights, doing dozens of wounds and killing two of the remaining three, but being unable to kill the Justicar in Artificer armour. The Necrons blasted the Harlequins, whittling away at the troupe and leaving only one trouper and the Shadowseer alive. The Dark Eldar Succubus, alone and unsupported pulled a huge victory with a 4 on her Run roll, catapulting Rob to the top of the hill, from which he assaulted the Chaos Space Marines, killing two of them. The Grey Knight Justicar bravely held the pass, cutting the Boyz to ribbons while they hammer him with hit after hit which he shrugged off. The Thousand sons died in further horrifying assault attacks to the Dark Eldar Succubus while the Eldar managed to scratch their way up the base of the hill, but not close enough to enter the scrum. The Orks continued to ineffectually batter at the Justicar, who was doing his best Gandalf impersonation (You... shall... not... pass). Finally the Necrons managed to wipe out the last of the Green Team's Eldar. The game ended at this point with Pavel Vrakov taking the hill from the Dark Eldar and Thousand Sons Marines... VRAAAAAAKOV!!!!! Seriously, though, Rob and the Black Team took a huge chance and pulled victory out in the end. Congratulations, gang!

We cleaned up, thanked our hosts, and brought the tons of boxes back to Todd's car to be packed away. Thanks again to all who participated, and I apologize for not getting a video of this fun game:)