Road to Apocalypse: 4. Junkyard Brawl

Road to Apocalypse: 4. Junkyard Brawl

15 January 2022

👈 Part 3: The Dread Mob

👉Part 5: Meat Grinder

Big Meks love their Kustom Force Fields!

Buzzmek turned the wrench one more time then stepped back to admire his handiwork. Dat wizzy fing was just what his Ruzzbot needed. Of course, Buzzmek had no idea what it was going to do when the driver pressed the new, shiny red button, but he had a feeling in his gut that it was gonna be good!

Warboss Gulskrag had left the Mekaniak behind to fix up his walkers while he and da boyz went looking for a scrap. The scramble back to the Roks and Landas to escape the dying planet had taken it out of the clanking machines, and the Boss wanted them running in tip-top condition in case those Beakies caught up with them again. Buzzmek and his crew of Grots had been hard at work on tuning up the Dread Mob before his natural inclination for tinkering had distracted him, and he had left half the Dreads and Kans immobilised on the landing field while he began dismantling bits of spaceship to make some new worky gubbinz. Given enough time, the Mek would have completely disassembled all the grounded spacecraft, expanded his junkyard as far as he could see, and constructed a horde of walking death machines to stomp across this planet in an orgy of destruction. Gulskrag would probably be back before then, and he might not look so favourably on his space fleet being dismantled... he'd probably rather let those thieving Deffskullz loot whatever they could from the planet's inhabitants and use THAT to build more war machines. Buzzmek didn't have that sort of foresight, that was why Gulskrag was Da Boss!

He might have had plans for the Deffskullz, but Gulskrag still didn't like being around the gitz; it was tiring to always be on the lookout for their grasping hands trying to nick anything that wasn't nailed down. The Evil Sunz had managed to rejoin the WAAAAAGH! during the escape off-world too, but he didn't like them much better... days of them riding their bikes round and round the cargo holds on the journey here had made Gulskrag dizzy. He'd sent the lot of them off in the opposite direction when he'd jumped into his battlewagon and trundled off to find trouble, leading his Goff boyz tramping across the plains of this new world. He'd told them it was a Grand Plan to spread out and find more enemies to kill - the sort of genius plan that Ghazghkull himself would be proud of! But, really, they were doing his head in and he wanted some peace and quiet. With the promise of some proper violence for him and his ladz, of course.   

  

Road to Apocalypse: 3. Dread Mob

Road to Apocalypse: 3. Dread Mob 

👈Part 2: ApORKalypse

👉Part 4: Junkyard Brawl

Classic! I would love to have one of these bad boys!

Our initial practice Apocalypse game (the ApORKalypse) had gone well from a 'learning the game and having fun' perspective, and from a 'stomping lots of Space Marines into the dirt' point of view. But, in terms of the Orks getting points and focusing on the objectives... not so well really. Typical Greenskins!! 😁 

We've got a month until the big game at the Midhurst, so we're looking to get some more practice games in so that we're more familiar with the rules. Combined with a reduction in the total PL per side, we should (fingers crossed!) be more successful in completing the game, as we only managed 3 turns the other day. 

I think there's one other 2 v 2 Apocalypse game going on at the club (Black Hole Wargamers) on Saturday morning, and I'm going to take on Tris and his Imperial force. I'm not sure exactly what he's bringing, other than he said that he would have a Hellhammer Super Heavy Tank, so he asked me to bring a Stompa... I was more than happy to oblige! In fact, I decided to do the entire 100 PL (like I said, just a very small game) as a Dread Mob - so a single Big Mek with Kustom Force Field (to ride in the Stompa), with as many other stompy things of various sizes as I could fit into the points limit. 

My narrative for the game is going to centre on the fact that Gulskrag and his ladz made it to the chopper in time (OK, spaceship) and escaped off-world before the nasty Space Marines blew the planet to pieces. They've landed on another planet, and while Gulskrag has led the boyz out to find a bit of a scrap, he's left Buzzmek behind to give the 'eavy armour a bit of a tune-up. Then, whatever Tris has got rolls into view and there's killin' to be done. 

Something like that anyway! 

So I'll have to look at the book before Saturday and find a good mission for that. Might mean that the Orks are defending again, which is sort of weird unless the planetary defence forces catch them unawares while Buzzmek is mekking away... or maybe he manages to sally forth from his junkyard with all the walkers that are functional and attacks the enemy that he's seen through his spying scope. Something will work.

Anyway, I think this is a pretty cool little force, should be really fun having one of each type of (non-Forgeworld) walker in there! 

+++ Da Mekyard Clankers (Warhammer 40,000: Apocalypse) [100 PL] +++
++ Spearhead Detachment (Orks) ++

+ HQ +

Buzzmek - Big Mek: Kustom Force Field. WARMASTER.

+ Heavy Support +

Orktimus Prime - Deff Dread: 2x Kustom Mega-Blasta, 2x Dread Klaws

Grimgob Irontoof - Deff Dread: 2x Big Shoota, 2x Dread Klaws

Grod Stompas - 3 Killa Kans: 2x Grotzooka, 1x Rokkit Launcha

Stompzilla - Gorkanaut

Buzzmek's Ruzzbot - Morkanaut: Kustom Force Field

++ Super-heavy Auxiliary Detachment (Orks) ++

+ Lord of War +

Da Great Green Gitkilla - Stompa: Commander

👉Part 4: Junkyard Brawl

South Downs Dark Skies Photography Competition 2022

I heard about the Dark Skies competition online and decided to try submitting a couple of photos to it - seemed like fun to try and improve my night sky photography, and my daughter was showing a lot of interest in the stars so I figured I could try and take her up a hill somewhere to get a good look at them while I took some photos. The trouble was just trying to find a good, clear night when she could have a slightly later bed time to do it, which was proving a bit of a struggle! 

It was interesting to learn that the South Downs National Park is an International Dark Skies Reserve, with lots of places to stargaze. I'd already thought that Butser Hill would be a good place to go, and it is one of the best places for reduced light pollution according to the map they have. 

Moonscape

The first photo was one I actually took from the back garden in February last year. I had bought myself a new telephoto lens and wanted to try it out, and on this evening the moon was full and particularly large and bright. I was really pleased with how this came out - I cropped the photo down a bit (it's a telephoto lens, not a telescope!), so the details as you zoom in more become a little rough. But you can see some really nice things on it, and I had a good time experimenting with different exposures and stuff like that to ensure it was bright enough to see the details but not overwhelmed by it. 

Butser Hill

The deadline for the competition was 12th January, so by the time the start of the month came around and I hadn't managed to get any more photos taken I was quite keen, but the weather wasn't on my side! I drove home on a Friday evening and saw the sky was pretty clear so we all just jumped in the car and went for it. Unfortunately, as we drove up Butser Hill we found we were going into mist and visibility wasn't great. I was hoping it might clear up once we got to the top, but it didn't really. Actually, as we were up there (in the freezing cold, it was sitting at about zero degrees), more cloud started to roll in and the few stars we had been able to see at first were becoming obscured. We couldn't see much of anything as we looked out from the hill. The only thing was the moon, beaming brightly through the mist, and looking quite eerie above this skeletal tree in the car park.

So, I set my tripod up and tried to capture the moon shining above and through the tree. I messed about with the manual settings, varying the F-stop, exposure time and ISO number to get different effects. This was a really interesting challenge, to get enough light in to be able to see the tree, but not so much that the moon just became one big bright light with no definition at all. For one of the photos I found there was a 'bulb' setting for the Exposure time, which seemed to just keep going until I told it to stop... I probably let it have a couple of minutes before stopping it, and the brightness was amazing, able to see all the trees  - the moon almost looked like the sun on a dreary day! It wasn't a great photo, but was interesting to see what the camera could do. Photos through the tree branches were interesting, but difficult to focus properly as you couldn't see anything until it had taken the photo.  

Here are a few of the better / more interesting photos I decided not to submit to the competition:

This was the photo that I chose to submit, I think it got the right balance of light and dark, capturing the glowing moon through the mist quite nicely. Not the best photo in the world, but we had spent enough time up on the cold hill so I called it a night there and we got back home to warm up! 

We'll see what the judges make of it 😊

Road to Apocalypse: 2. ApORKalypse!

Road to Apocalypse: 2. ApORKalypse!

1 January 2022

👈 Part 1 - Mustering
👉 Part 3 - Dread Mob

Everyone arrived nice and early to start setting up the huge battlefield and arranging their troops on tables around the hall. Unfortunately we didn't have Tom and his Evil Sunz Speed Freeks, but we had plenty of extra Goffs and Deffkulls to make up the numbers! Around 600 or so PL per side... it was going to be a huge battle!  

Forces - Orks and Chaos

My Goff Orks

Dave's Deffskull Orks (1/2)

Dave's Deffskull Orks (2/2)

Andrew's Chaos (Deathguard and Thousand Sons)

Forces - Space Marines

Patrick's Space Wolves

Mark's Crimson Fists, Space Wolves and Deathwatch

Sam's Black Templars

Tris' Blood Angels

Road to Apocalypse: 1. The Mustering

Road to Apocalypse: 1. The Mustering

👉 Part 2 - ApORKalypse

Down at Black Hole Wargamers, we're  preparing for the Midhurst Modelling Exhibition on Sunday 13th February, something we've been going to regularly for quite a few years. We've found in the past that the crowd is a bit more train- and Meccano-oriented, not so interested in rolling dice on the battlefields of the 41st Millennium, so instead of trying participation games we're doing a showcase of Warhammer 40,000 Apocalypse. (There had been more success with smaller bespoke games in the past, but we're not really in a position to do that this year). 

I've been keen to give Apocalypse a go for a long time. I bought the box when it came out (during the previous edition of 40k), but not had a chance to use it yet. It would be a good opportunity to get out my Stompa and other big machines of Orky destruction, and we figured there were enough Ork and Space Marine players to get a proper good rumble going (and stomp some humies!).

We had the opportunity to book the hall for an extra-long session on New Year's Day (we would have been doing the morning as normal on that day anyway), and so decided to run a game of Apocalypse as a bit of a practice run ahead of Midhurst. We had four Marine players signed up, to fight against three Ork hordes and a Chaos warband (it seemed that perhaps the Chaos boys had been stoking up trouble for the Imperium, and the Orks would always be up for a good scrap!). We knew the Chaos warlord was going to have to leave at lunchtime, as was one of the Marine players, so that would balance out pretty much. 

We were at something like 600/620 PL per side in total - a pretty huge total for a game of Apocalypse (higher than the suggested limits in the book!). One of the lessons of the game was that we should lower the total PL a bit for Midhurst, as that was a bit much for a single day... 

I had planned to take a force of mostly vehicles, dreads, kans, 'naughts and a Stompa - lots of big stompy stuff! As it turned out, one of the Ork players dropped out ahead of the game, so we split the additional PL between the other two Ork forces and I spent the day before adding in a load of infantry and other bits, increasing from about 160 to 260 PL. 80 Ork Boyz and 60 Gretchin added quite a lot to the amount of stuff that needed to be taken down, filling up the wife's car! 

This is the list I ended up with. The plan for Midhust (as it is a modelling exhibition) is to ensure that all the models are painted. My smaller list was pretty much all painted, but this one wasn't. As we'll be dropping the points anyway, I won't be taking so much to Midhurst, but there are a few notable pits I'd like to get painted up over the next month in preparation for the game - it's a good incentive! 

My trusty old Warboss conversion would be the Warmaster for the combined force. He was essentially my take on Ghazghkull (before the old metal Ghaz in Mega armour came out), but he quickly became my own warboss, Gulskrag Thraka - Ghazghkull's cousin or brother or something, depending on whether he remembers his story when someone asks! I think he was present on Armageddon and likes to tell Da Boyz he has some connection to Ghazghkull to help keep them in line... He leads a big battalion of Goff boyz and Meganobz, supported by a Gorkanaut and a Morkanaut. His battlewagon was an old conversion of mine, based on a land raider. It needs some modifications though - I was building it in the era of Gorkamorka where the rule was that you could fit as many boyz in the transport as could physically stand on the model, so I super-sized the land raider a bit to allow 20 boyz to actually fit. The newer battlewagon model clearly isn't really big enough for that, and I've since learned about the scale of vehicles in 40k, so I think I'll cut it down a bit and finish it off... It also has some weapon options that are no longer permitted. 

Anyway. other than that I had another battalion with a dread mob in it, some heavy support in terms of big guns, Snikrot and his Red Skull Kommandos (because I painted them for Kill Team), two planes and of course, the Stompa. It's a fun lot of stuff covering most of the bases, though far from everything I have for my Orks. One day they will all be painted... one day! 

+++ Goff Orks (Warhammer 40,000: Apocalypse) [257 PL] +++

++ Battalion Detachment (Orks) ++

+ HQ +
Gulskrag Thraka - Warboss: Warmaster
Da Amayzin' Bozgit - Weirdboy

+ Troops +
Dagratz Ladz - 30 Slugga Boyz: 3x Big Shoota
Skarfist's Choppaz - 30 Slugga Boyz: 1x Big Shoota, 1x Rokkit Launcha
Snotty Grotz - 30 Gretchin

+ Elites +
Gulskrag's Tuffgitz - 9 Meganobz
Makari da Magnificent - Nob with WAAAGH! Banner

+ Heavy Support +
Gulskrag's Wagon - Battlewagon: 4x Big Shoota, Zzap Gun
Stompzilla - Gorkanaut
Buzzmek's Ruzzbot - Morkanaut

++ Battalion Detachment (Orks) ++

+ HQ +
Buzzmek - Big Mek: Mega Armour, Kustom Force Field: Warlord
Grukk - Warboss

+ Troops +
Hedbasha's Boyz - 10 Slugga Boyz
Grimdakka's Shootas - 30 Shoota Boyz, 1x Big Shoota
Grotty Snotz - 30 Gretchin

+ Heavy Support +
Deff Dreads
Attak Trampla / Skorcha Torcha (AT/ST) - Deff Dread: 2x Skorcha, 2x Dread Klaws
Grimgob Irontoof - Deff Dread: 2x Big Shoota, 2x Dread Klaws
Gitslasha - Deff Dread: 2x Dread Saw, 2x Dread Klaws
Orktimus Prime - Deff Dread: 2x Kustom Mega-Blasta, 2x Dread Klaws

Kans
Grod Stompas - 6 Killa Kans: 3x Grotzooka, 3x Rokkit Launcha

++ Super-heavy Auxiliary Detachment (Orks) ++

+ Lord of War +
Da Great Green Gitkilla - Stompa

++ Spearhead Detachment (Orks) ++

+ HQ +
Deddeye Dregmek - Big Mek: Shokk Attack Gun: Warlord

+ Heavy Support + 
Big Guns - 2 x Kannon
Mek Guns - Smasha Gun, Bubblechukka, Traktor Kannon
Gunwagon - 4x Big Shoota, Kannon

++ Vanguard Detachment (Orks) ++

+ HQ +
Boss Snikrot: Warlord

+ Elites +
Red Skullz Alfa Skwad - 5 Kommandos

Red Skullz Beeta Skwad - 5 Kommandos

Red Skullz Delta Skwad - 5 Kommandos

++ Air Wing Detachment (Orks) ++

+ Flyer +
Baron von Blueback - Burna-Bommer: Skorcha Missiles, Commander
Da Hurrykane - Dakkajet

👉 Part 2 - ApORKalypse

Steam Illuminations - January 2022

The Watercress Line is a heritage steam train line that runs from Alresford to Alton. It's great, I grew up near the station in Alresford and loved going on the trains as a child. It's still great as an adult - especially the real ale train (up and down the line a few times with more than few pints of ale, lots of fun!). They have also been doing an illuminated train experience over the Christmas period for a few years, which is a bit more family-friendly. We went on it last year with my dad, which was lovely, but decided this year we would just go down and try to get some nice photos of the train going past - my daughter loves watching trains and it was a good chance to experiment with taking photos at night. 

We went to the Ropley station as there was a mini train there to go on and a good view of the train. I might try to get down to one of the bridges another evening before it finishes to get a shot of it head-on, but I think some of my photos came out pretty well. I haven't done any editing on the computer, these are just as they came straight off the camera. 

It's a great place to go, lots of very enthusiastic people working on it so we're very lucky it's right on our doorstep. 

Watercress Line – Experience the golden age of steam travel