Introduction:
Following my recent appearance on the Crown of Command Podcast, I was looking forward to tuning into a live game of 2nd Edition Space Marine on Sunday afternoon between the CoC host Joshua and a fellow Scot (also called Gordon). What I hadn't realised was that when Gordon unfortunately couldn't make the game, I'd be asked to step in and play in his place! As Joshua is based in Japan and I'm in Scotland, this was an international encounter which spanned space and time - with Joshua playing 8 hours ahead of me!
As someone who'd been playing (some version of) Net Epic for 20 years or so, it was interesting to revist 2nd Edition again. There aren't that many differences between the two systems - Net Epic is the fan version of 2nd Edition after all - but it did mean that you'll hear me checking a few things with Joshua as we played.
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| Image Copyright: Games Workshop |
Preparations:
The original game planned was intended to be 4K (hence the title on YouTube), but, due to the last minute switch, the battle was reduced to 3K. The forces were as follows:-
My Squats:
And Joshua's Orks:
Please note that the Bowelburnas were dropped from Joshua's force. This was due to my force totalling 2,950 rather than 3,000 points. While I was happy to take the slight shortfall, Joshua very sportingly reduced his force by the same amount.
Highlights:
Praetorians v Slasha Gargant: Joshua positioned his Slasha opposite my trio of Praetorians - a Leviathan, Land Train and the might Colossus! Although Gargants can soak up a fair amount of firepower, facing that mighty trio inevitably led to a punishing bombardment upon the beleaguered Slasha! As much as I love fielding Gargants myself, Squats are possibly the most dangerous opponents for them to face because of the power of their relatively cheap war machines - and I felt sorry for Joshua when the sheer number of hits stacked up and inevitably pummelled the Slasha into destruction!
Ghazghkull Thrakka: I never owned the Space Marine Battles book which I understand introduced a number of special characters to the game, one of whom was the Ork leader Ghazghkull Thrakka. On one turn of the game he can call upon an ability which sees enemy forces suffer a -1 on all of their rolls to hit AND all of the Orks gain an additional attack dice to their Close Combat attacks. When this ability was unleashed, the Goff mob which had just engaged my entire Squat Guild Biker Force suddenly cut through the normally very effective bikers like a hot knife through butter! Had I not just taken out that Gargant, I would have been feeling very sore about the encounter, but fortunately I had the luxury of being amused by it! That said, when Ghazghkull got back in his battlewagon and made the mistake of being caught out in open ground by my Land Train, mortaring the little swine was very satisfying! Net Epic doesn't have any of the special characters, but on this evidence I can see why! In a larger battle, that ability could prove near-impossible to beat!
Closing Reflections:
I had a lot of fun playing against Joshua and remote play, a few minor technical hitches aside, went better than I had reason to believe. It certainly helped that there were two cameras showing me views of the board (only one can be seen in the Youtube video) and that there wasn't an over-abundance of terrain, meaning Line of Sight issues were minimised.
In terms of tactics, the open board definitely benefited my praetorians, which in the end dominated the centre of the board. An accurate ball round could have certainly impeded my progress there, but the Slasha went after my Squat warriors with the more reliable high explosive rounds. I'm not criticising Joshua for making that decision as there was an objective my Warriors were protecting which he could have reasonable expectation of taking during the game - although he did mention that with my three Praetorians bunched so closely together, even if the ball round had scattered, there was a fair chance it would hit one of my war machines!
I was surprised that Joshua kept some of his troops in the transports, because for longer than I care to remember, I've been instinctively dismounting my troops on the first turn. I can see how giving the units a 4+ save in the transports may be tempting, but that is no cover at all if it is hit with the devastating Doomsday Cannon. In general terms though, if the transport is destroyed, it and the troops inside are all wiped out (usually 3 models, but in the case of Orks in battlewagons, 4): better to make the opponent have to destroy 3 or 4 targets than 1. Note: In Net Epic you get a 4+ bail out roll but this too is modified by the weapon TSM. I was very pleased to significantly thin their ranks this way and it almost broke the Evil Sunz Clan on Turn 1. The other argument I'd make for dismounting troops is that if they're inside vehicles, they can't fire or close assault which means you aren't getting the use of the infantry.
As mentioned, the Ork ability tore apart my Biker Force. The Squat bikers +4 CAF is usually great and I expected my bikers to cause the Orks massive problems on that flank - so this was pretty shocking to see!
I want to thank Joshua again for having me on and giving me my first taste of wargaming in Japan - all from the comfort of my chair in Scotland! Thanks also for running about and trying to follow my sometimes poorly described orders for moving the miniatures! If he'll have me again, I'll be delighted to face him in a rematch!
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