Birthday Apocalypse

For my 35th Birthday, I hosted a large apocalypse battle. 12x6' table, 20,000 points per side. We didn't finish many turns, but even so, a bang-up time was had.

The game started, as all good games do, by clearing all of the furniture out of the living room. People showed up around 11:30. We had pizza from Aurelios and a keg of award winning beer from the Flossmoor Station (which probably contributed to some mistakes throughout the game).

Forces

Forces of the Alliance
Shawn (Pink Tau), Jamie (Eldar), Pete (Green Tau), Art (Witchhunters), Erik (Catachan Sentinel)
(For a fun game, you can play at home, try to find Erik's Catachan Sentinel in the pictures. It's in a couple.)

Eldar

The eldar featured an Aspect Wave, a 4-Falcon Cloudstrike Squadron, and a Spirit Host. They also had a Phoenix fighter, which we decided had anti-aircraft mounts for it's shuriken cannons and pulse laser.

Tau, and Penitent Engines

More Tau, and Witch Hunters

The Tau had two Crisis Squadrons, two Gunship squadrons, and one Devilfish squadron (between them). The Witchhunters brought 12 penitent engines. To keep things simple, we did away with all vehicle squadrons, treating each vehicle as a separate target, figuring that the Alliance had piranahs and penitent engines, while the orks had buggies, so no one was really getting an edge here.

Forces of Destruction
Kathleen (Gargant), Alex (Orks), Jon (Emperor's Children)

Emperor's Children

We actually had some unreleased datasheets, that Jervis Johnson had mailed to me in response to a letter I sent him. So, the Emperor's Children had a 'Chaos Conclave', led by Lucius the Eternal, an 'Emperor's Children Warband' (which allowed for the use of sonic weapons on termies and bikes), and a dreadclaw assault, as their datasheet picks.

Orks

The orks utilized the Kult of Speed datafax, as well as the Datasheet for the Great Gargant, found at Bell of Lost Souls. A Gargantuan Squiggoth, and a Fighta-Bomba rounded out the ork's apocalypse datasheet picks.

Forces in the Staging Area

The Alliance took, for their four strategems, A Null Field Generator (placed in the middle of the table), Orbital Bombardment, Precision Strike, and a Minefield. Destruction took an Orbital Bombardment, Careful Planning, Flank March and Jammers.

Neither team wanted to go first, with both of us bidding 30 minutes for deployment. On second pass, the Alliance bid 28 minutes, while Destruction bid 29. Destruction revealed the Jammer asset, and the Alliance deployed.

Table Set-up

The Alliance deploys first.

Firewarriors defend the exorcists, Snipers set up on the bridge.

The Avatar leads the charge of penitent engines, covered by broadsides.

Destruction deploys some static fire elements. Where are the rest?

Deployment complete, the alliance kills all but two of the deployed Emperor's Children

But the Kunnin orks have flank marched with careful planning. BOO!

Except the gargant, who doesn't do flank marches.

Fear the power of Gork and Mork!

Storm the bridge!

The Warp Rift errupts daemonettes.

Behind the alliance positions.

Emperor's Children block lines of retreat.

Behind you!

Penitent's try to avoid the minefield...

To get to the battlewagon.

Stormboyz engage on the bridge.

Chaos forces pile through the city ruins.

Battlefield, turn 1.

Two penitents die to big shootas.

The orks knock over the exorcist.

End of Turn 1

Still the end of turn 1.

Seraphim reinforcements appear.

A cloud of Falcons appear.

Phoenix conducts a surgical bombing run on the looted basilisk.

Where's Yriel

At this point, we had to play a quick game-inside-a-game, of 'Where's Yriel', because the Eldar Admiral had gone hiding, and it was very important that he move on turn 2, so we all stopped and tried to find him, unsuccessfuly. About halfway through the shooting phase, Yriel turned up, lurking inside a building.