Christmas in Armageddon, and a Happy New WAAAAAAARGHH!The 2nd Ed Revival Project – Game 1: Against The Odds

Brother Lorenzio tapped his comm-link again and muttered a curse. No matter what he did, he couldn’t tune out the sibilant high frequency pulsating that he would almost swear sounded like some form of rhythmic high pitched bell… He put it out if his mind as the sonorous voice of Brother Sergeant Garcia came across the squad net.

“Stay close, brothers, the enemy is lightly armed but numerous. Brother Fiorian, your flamer to the fore.”

The net chimed as Brother Enricio chimed in. “Forgive me, Brother Sergeant – enemy sighted, three contacts, each ten strong, bearings 294, 012 and 027”

The combat squad clustered behind a ruined wall. Garcia’s voice across the net again – “Close and destroy, brothers. Grenades and flamer, bolter and sword. On me!”

With that, the five Space Marines roared their assent and charged toward their foe..

Welcome to 2019! Over the last few months, Dan & I have been working on a plan to utilise the contents of our accidental 2017 purchase in the manner they were originally intended – recreating the mini campaign in the scenario book included with 1993’s Warhammer 40,000 2nd Edition box set. It’s taken a little while, but now we’ve got the urban board, the ruins, as well as enough Marines and Gretchin to tackle the first scenario in the booklet – “First Blood”.

So, with bellies strained to bursting point with mince pies and mulled wine, we deployed troops (Dan taking the Grots) and had at it!

Marines cluster in the ruins at the bottom left, three Grot mobs close from the top..

Seeking to close the range and utilise their superior short range firepower, Marines forgo shooting in this first turn and run forward, flamer to the fore… in retrospect this was a rookie error, as…

Massed autogun fire takes down Brother Fiorian’s flamer… damn, that was going to come in handy!

Bolter fire downs two Grots in return, but the Marines know they don’t want to get bogged down into a shooting match here, they need to get in close and use the force multipliers that are frag grenades..

Brother Enricio falls to massed autogun fire, caught out in the open! This forces a Leadership test, as the Marines have lost 25% of their current strength… but being Marines, they pass it without a hitch! Meanwhile, as Furst and Secund Mobs engage the Marines directly, Furd Mob forgoes shooting to infiltrate around the flank, real sneaky like…

“On my command, brothers!” bellows Brother Sergeant Garcia, “FIRE IN THE HOLE!” – three frag grenades arc toward Secund Mob, immolating the unwary Grots!

With fully half their number torn apart by grenades, and a paltry Leadership value of 5, it surprises precisely no-one when the Grots turn and flee!

Furst Mob form a gun line flanking the Marines, autoguns blazing!

Autogun fire patters off his armour like rain, but one slips through and Sergeant Garcia falls! “Avenge me, brothers….”

And they do! Frag grenades all amongst Furst Mob, killing off half the remaining number..

The survivors turn and flee..

A hail of frag grenades take down the fleeing survivors, but…

Secund Mob rally in the ruins and turn their autoguns on the two remaining marines…

Brother Salatian falls to their fire, but Brother Lorenzio anchors himself and pumps rapid fire bolts into the Gretchin, felling two of them

Bellowing his vengeance, Brother Lorenzio barrels into the sole remaining Grot, gutting it from head to gizzard with his combat knife!

All in all, a very fun game, fortune went back and forth between the two sides – allowing my flamer marine to lead the advance was a rookie error, as that flamer template against the close packed Gretchin would have been carnage!

A few criticisms – why (oh WHY OH WHY OH WHY…) must I move and then shoot? Why can’t I shoot and then move? And why phases????? It just seems unnecessary unwieldy complication…

But overall, it was a giggle, and while there are definitely better systems out there, 2nd Ed 40k is genuinely FUN, nostalgia angle entirely aside. Next scenario will be soon, just as soon as the frankly spectacular hangovers Dan and I are currently nursing decline to more manageable levels. In the meantime, happy new year and a prosperous 2019!