Reilly2040's Blog

Yup, after a tonne of posts surrounding the various painting efforts, I finally got round to playing a couple of games of the Assault on Black Reach set the other day.   As it was the first attempt, all my extra units such as the Assault Marines were left out of the game, and we stuck to the units included in the set.  Partly though, this was also just to ensure the armies stayed pretty balanced as I don’t currently have any other Orks.

As mentioned in a previous post, the rules can be quite daunting, so we played two games in total, with the first being the cut-down, simplified game suggested in the quick-start guide, consisting solely of the Ork Boyz (2 units of 10) and the Space Marine Tactical Squad (10 miniatures).  Played on an open field with no terrain to complicate matters, it was a pretty quick game, aside from the frequent flicking through the quick-start guide and rule book whenever we were sorting out a move or combat.

Sadly for my Space Marines, they got pretty soundly trounced by the Orks.  The narrow field we’d setup meant their weapons didn’t have enough time to thin out the numbers before the Orks got in close and pummelled them, which led to the next game, where we decided to chuck everything into the game.

This was definitely a lot more complex, and certain situations involved a lot of rule-book reading (like the first time the Dreadnought was attacked, so we had to figure out all the armour rules.  That took a while).  It was definitely a close battle though and a lot of fun.  There were a few big moments, such as when, in the afore-mentioned Dreadnought attack, the 3 Ork Deffkoptas used their twin-linked rokkit launchers to immobilise the Dreadnought and destroy one of its weapons.   Sadly leaving my Dreadnought useless unless any Orks happened to walk infront of it.   However this was then compensated for by a particularly good round for my tactical squad, who annihilated one of the Ork Boyz units in a hail of bolter fire, allowing them to then focus on the Deffkoptas.

It was that kind of balance that led to a really fun game.  At various points it could’ve gone either way, depending on the dice, although I must say, the superb armour save value of the Space Marine Terminator armour helped a lot, with their ability to take a real pounding in close combat.

It was also nice to see the miniatures I’d painted in an actual game.  Since I was behind the Marines the whole time I couldn’t really appreciate them, but the Orks I’d worked on really worked well.

Looking forward to the next games.  And by then I’ll hopefully have even more of the Orks painted.  Maybe this time as well the Dreadnought will last a little longer.

Since getting the Assault on Black Reach set, most of my effort has been involved in painting the miniatures.  This was because I didn’t want to straight out assemble some of them without painting some of the individual pieces first.  Pieces like the heads of the Ork Deffkopta pilots for example I could see being a pain to paint once assembled as it’d be awkward to get in at them.

So as a result, I’d not really been focusing on playing the game until the miniatures I’d judged as really needing painted prior to assembly were done.  Realistically this just meant the Marine Tactical Squad and the Deffkoptas.  Now granted there’s still some details on the Deffkoptas I’m meaning to go back to, but the main bits have been done for now.  So now I’m starting to move my focus towards playing the game and to this end I’ve started going through the rulebook.

Its truely quite daunting just reading the rulebook.  You’re bombarded with the various types of checks and die rolls you must perform during the game, whether its combat, morale or traversing different types of terrain.   There’s the undeniable feeling that you’ve just jumped headlong into the deep end of a very, very deep pool.

Fortunately the Quick Start guide works to try and soften the blow.  Filled with lots of nice photographs it carries instructions for small starter games to help ease you into the game, starting with a basic game with just the Ork boyz versus the Space Marine Tactical Squad on a flat battlefield, just running right at one another.  It keeps things a lot more straightforward, and means there’s only a couple of weapon types (the marines for example largely have bolters, although there is the Rocket Launcher and Sergeant’s power sword in there as well).

This’ll definitely be my first move.  Although I’ve previously played a few Warhammer games and I’ve got other units I’ve bought, and a ruined building it makes sense to slowly incorporate them into games one at a time, allowing me the time to properly look up rules as they’re needed, which will probably be a lot more practical than trying to just read the rulebook cold.

And this is an area that got me thinking.  When I was younger, I used to play Space Crusade all the time, which was a much-simplified version of the game, using proper game boards and the like to help make some aspects of the game (measuring distances for example) easier.  Likewise the recently re-released Space Hulk seems to me as a nice bridge between the simplified Space Crusade, and the open, complex world of full 40K games.  I can’t help but wonder if there might be a market for these more specialised versions of the Warhammer games, especially given the detail and complexity of the main game could .  As I say, I’ve got very fond memories of playing Space Crusade with friends, and Space Hulk has been hugely popular even with established gamers of the main game, thanks (from what I can gather) to its faster-paced gameplay (in addition to the general quality of the new set).

I’d definitely also like to see more of the Black Reach style sets as well, perhaps focusing on other armies.  Again, Black Reach has been hugely successful even with established collectors due to its large number of highly detailed miniatures.  Similar sets could spotlight different armies or troop types, and perhaps encourage people’s friends to buy the sets, and combine them to create larger games.

Another thing I’d possibly suggest is that Games Workshop release the version of the rulebook included in the set separately.  I lost mine at one point, and when I checked for a replacement I realised my only option was to buy the full rulebook.  Its a beautiful-looking hardbacked book, however its also £35, and as someone just starting out, the idea of £35 just for the rulebook seems quite a lot and could be a bit off-putting.  Releasing the Black Reach version (fewer pages with backstory etc, smaller pages and paperback) as a cheap alternative could be quite a nice option, with the hardcover remaining a collector’s item.  Just a thought.

I’m certainly looking forward to getting started properly with Black Reach next week.  And from a painting point of view its certainly going to keep me busy for a good while to come.  I’m looking forward to finally getting my head around the game mechanics and rules and it’ll be nice to finally play a few games with the miniatures I’ve been spending the last while painting.