Inspiration: Duncan paints a 2nd Edition Blood Angel.

 This video popped up on my feed today, figured I'd add it to the blog.  Duncan Rhodes (now of Duncan Rhodes Painting Academy and of previous GW painting tutorial fame) does a retro paint job on a Blood Angel miniature from 1992.

Inspiration: Eldar Pirates and Dark Angels working together?

 After many moons of not gaming 40K (in any edition!), we finally played a proper 2nd edition game.  No modifications (except how we handle flamed units).  No PA Activations, etc...just classic 2nd edition by the book.

We took two 500 point forces and played cooperatively against a 1,000 Tyranids list.  Running my Eldar I opted for two small squads of Pirates, led by heroes...and a unit of Eldar scouts.  The Dark Angels, led by a Techmarine, ran two battle squads in rhinos.

We added a narrative mission focus, in case this turns into a campaign:

• An Imperial world had ceased communicating with the nearest system.
• A nearby Dark Angels frigate was dispatched to investigate.
• Upon arriving in system, the Dark Angels frigate experienced long-distance communication issues.
• The Dark Angels frigate was hailed by an unknown Xenos ship.
• This Xenos ship turned out to be an Eldar Pirate vessel.
• While prepared to destroy the Xenos vessel, the Dark Angels first accepted a hail from the self-proclaimed captain of the vessel.
• The Eldar Pirate Captain informed the Dark Angels that the Tyranids Xenos had overwhelmed the planet.  The Pirate Captain and his ship were monitoring the Tyranid fleet as it was nearing the Eldar Craftworld of Yderis.
• The Dark Angels acknowledged this possibility when their long-range communications failed, an issue consistent with evidence of the Tyranids hive fleets.
• Within hours of translating in system, the Dark Angels came under attack from the Tyranid hive fleet.
• A small combined party of Eldar Pirates and Dark Angels made for the surface of the planet, hoping to fire off a distress signal from the planet's communications satellites - perhaps the only communications strong enough to break the cloud of the Tyranids' fleet.

Our goal: At the start of each turn, if we possessed models inside the communications command building, we could roll a single D3.  If we acquired nine points, the message was sent successfully.

The odd alliance between Eldar Pirates and Dark Angels Space Marines attempts to hold the line.

The Dark Angels valiantly hold their line against the wave of Tyranid creatures.

The Space Marines fall as they engage the merciless Tyranids.

Using the other Pirate squad and the Space Marines as distractions, the last Pirate squad tries to reach the command station.

As the Tyranids swarm forward, one of the rhinos crashes into their lines, running down several creatures.

With their armour and skill, the Dark Angels plow directly into the Tyranid lines, firing boltguns and flamers out of the hatches of the rhino - hoping to buy enough time for the signal to be sent.

Unaccustomed to open warfare, particularly on the ground, the Eldar Pirates move up cautiously.

A squad of Eldar Scouts who had deployed inside the command structure are attacked by Hormagaunts within two turns - dying quickly.

One of the Pirate Squads and its hero engage the Termagants, hoping to buy more time.

With few weapons capable of harming the Carnifex, the rhino drivers resort to ramming - with little success.

Gargoyles spit acid all over the tactical marines - however, with 'Insane Bravery', they interrupt, gunning down several and driving them off.

 

 

In the end...we were victorious, but only just.  Our survivors included two damaged Rhinos (both of which had been sliced up by the Carnifex but luckily survived), one Techmarine and the Pirate Captain.  At the last moment they managed to fire off the message and leapt into the top hatch of a Rhino which was driving by.

Every other model was slain by a Tyranid, and we had a LOT of bugs left on the table.  We were suddenly reminded how vicious Tyranids were in 2nd edition.  We'll probably do more games in this series and continue our co-op struggle against Tyranids.

First, an apology!

 As with my other blogs, I didn't realize that Google had stopped sending comment notifications - so I just stumbled upon a dozen or more comments which I have never seen.  I apologize and will reply to those shortly!

I will now occasionally check the comments section as Google no longer notifies the blog owner.

Reference: Battle Reports from 2nd Edition

The following is a list of the battle reports featured in White Dwarf magazine during 2nd edition.  This list may be expanded (see below).

Issue 166 "Angels of Death": Blood Angels vs. Orks

Issue 167 "Bridge of Death": Space Marines vs. Orks

Issue 171 "Witch Hunt": Eldar vs. Orks

Issue 175 "Dawn Raid": Ultramarines vs. Orks

Issue 177 "Hold the Line": Space Wolves vs. Eldar

Issue 180 "A Bitter Harvest": Howling Griffons vs. Orks

Issue 182 "Blood and Fire": Ultramarines and Imperial Guard vs. Orks

Issue 187 "Heretic": Space Marines vs. Imperial Guard (Traitors)

Issue 189 "The Great Devourer": Tyranids vs. Imperium and Eldar

Issue 194 "Redemption": Dark Angels vs. Orks

Issue 196 "Civil War": Eldar vs. Eldar

Issue 200 "Kneel Before Me!": Chaos vs. Orks

Issue 202 "A Warrior's Duty": Imperial Guard vs. Eldar

Note: It was at this point that White Dwarf magazine changed into a bad acid trip.  The layout became absolutely terrible and it looked as if a child had discovered photoshop for the first time.  White Dwarf had changed in the previous 10-12 issues, but then it went completely off the rails.  This list may be updated in the future - but the "proper" battle reports disappeared in favour of short cliff-note game articles with...every graphical layer they could add.  This includes meaningless grids over everything, typeface over dark pictures, and if you like neon and random colours; all of them are included in almost every page.

Issue 213 (Abbreviated)

• "Defend the Shrine": Chaos vs. Sisters of Battle
• "Liberate the Relic": Eldar vs. Sisters of Battle
• "Pierce the Darkness": Orks vs. Sisters of Battle

Issue 215 (Abbreviated) "Shadows in the Night": Space Marine Scouts vs. Orks

Issue 216 (Abbreviated) "Wings of Darkness": Eldar vs. Chaos

...at this point I stopped going through my available White Dwarf magazines.  My eyes hurt.  The battle reports were now four pages total (including huge intrusive graphics).  I'll check the rest sometime soon and see if anything changed before the launch of 3rd edition.  I doubt it.

Resources: Chaos Datafaxes 2020

New, we have some Chaos datafaxes, mainly conversions from some existing Space Marine ones, and a few new ones added.

2nd Edition Chaos Datafaxes 2020 (Download)

Sample Datafax:

Includes the following Datafaxes:

• Chaos Marine Bike
• Chaos Rhino
• Chaos Predator
• Chaos Land Raider
• Chaos Dreadnought
• Chaos Contemptor Dreadnought (PA Creation)
• Chaos Leviathan Dreadnought (PA Creation)
• Chaos Defiler (PA Creation)
• Chaos Vindicator (PA Creation)

Resources: Datafax Templates

These are the art files I've been using to produce Datafaxes via GIMP, etc.

Other races can easily be done by simply converting over a couple of colours (for Necrons and Squats for example - stuff I don't have on hand at the moment!).

Resources: Squat Datafaxes (2020)

Quickly revised the Squat Datafaxes for the 2020 set.

2nd Edition Squat Datafaxes 2020 (Download)

Sample Datafax:

Includes the following Datafaxes:

• Squat Bike
• Squat Heavy Bike
• Squat Land Raider (PA Creation)
• Squat Rhino (PA Creation)

Inspiration: White Dwarf Images from the 90's.

I grabbed a few decent pictures from some PDF scans of old White Dwarf magazines during the 90's.  I will upload more as I stumble upon them.

 Orks in Mega Armour combat Karandras and his Striking Scorpion Aspect Warriors

 Catachans and a Leman Russ Battle Tank encounter Ghazhkull Thraka and his Ork horde.

 Ultramarines allied with Imperial Guard for a battle report.

 A Thraka-led large Ork force for a White Dwarf battle report.

 Ultramarines defend a bunker from vicious Tyranids.

 An Ultramarine Dreadnought faces off with its Ork counterpart.

 Ultramarine Terminators engage Tyranids and a vicious Screamer Killer.

 Ultramarine Terminators and Imperial Guard forces run into the Orks.

Ultramarine Assault Marines defend a landing pad against the Ork menace.

Resources: Space Marine Datafaxes (2020)

A new set of Space Marine datafaxes.  Keep in mind, I'm aware that dozens upon dozens of new Space Marine vehicles exist.  These are simply the ones I could stomach creating and spending time on!

2nd Edition Space Marine Datafaxes 2020 (Download)

Sample Datafax:

Includes the following Datafaxes:

• Space Marine Bike
• Space Marine Attack Bike
• Space Marine Land Speeder
• Space Marine Rhino
• Space Marine Predator
• Space Marine Razorback
• Space Marine Whirlwind
• Space Marine Vindicator (PA Creation)
• Space Marine Drop Pod (PA Creation)
• Space Marine Land Raider
• Space Marine Land Raider Crusader (PA Creation)
• Space Marine Land Raider Redeemer (PA Creation)
• Space Marine Dreadnought
• Space Marine Ironclad Dreadnought (PA Creation)
• Space Marine Contemptor Dreadnought (PA Creation)
• Space Marine Leviathan Dreadnought (PA Creation)

Resources: Imperial Guard Datafaxes (2020)

A revised set of datafaxes for the Imperial Guard.

2nd Edition Imperial Guard Datafaxes 2020 (Download)

Sample Datafax:

Includes the following Datafaxes:

• Leman Russ Battle Tank
• Leman Russ Demolisher
• Leman Russ Executioner (PA Creation)
• Leman Russ Exterminator (PA Creation)
• Leman Russ Punisher (PA Creation)
• Leman Russ Vanquisher (PA Creation)
• Imperial Sentinel
• Imperial Armoured Sentinel (PA Creation)
• Imperial Chimera
• Imperial Basilisk
• Imperial Griffon
• Imperial Hellhound
• Imperial Wyvern (PA Creation)
• Imperial Hydra (PA Creation)

Resources: Eldar Datafaxes (2020)

A revised set of Eldar datafaxes.

2nd Edition Eldar Datafaxes 2020 (Download)

Sample datafax:

Includes the following Datafaxes:

• Eldar War Walker
• Eldar Dreadnought
• Eldar Jetbike
• Eldar Vyper Jetbike
• Eldar Falcon Grav Tank
• Eldar Fire Prism Grav Tank
• Eldar Night Spinner Grav Tank (PA Creation)
• Eldar Wave Serpent Grav Tank (PA Creation)
• Eldar Hornet (PA Creation)

Resources: Sisters of Battle Datafaxes (2020)

Here is an updated set of Sisters of Battle Datafaxes.

2nd Edition Sisters of Battle Datafaxes 2020 (Download)

Sample datafax:

Includes the following datafaxes:

• Sisters of Battle Rhino
• Sisters of Battle Immolator
• Sisters of Battle Exorcist (PA Creation)
• Sisters of Battle Repressor (PA Creation)
• Sisters of Battle Penitent Engine (PA Creation)

Unboxing: 2nd Edition Warhammer 40K (Midwinter Minis)

A couple of months ago, YouTube Midwinter Minis did a nice unboxing video of the 2nd edition starter box.  A starter box which is in shockingly good condition.  It's a nice video showcasing the components:

Terrain: 2nd Edition Style Imperial Bunker (from Ziterdes)

Many die-hards of the oldhammer scene will be familiar with this item, but it's worth putting the information out.

Anyone reading rule books or battle reports will remember the rather prominent Imperial Bastion/Bunker which was frequently featured. Ziterdes of Germany currently produce a "version" of this bunker in hard foam. There are rumours that Ziterdes used to produce this stuff for GW, but I haven't found any concrete information (it's just as likely they copied the design of the GW one!).

Regardless, if you can stomach shipping from Germany, this Ziterdes bunker would look perfect on your 2nd edition tables:

Ziterdes Bastion (Hard Foam)

I hope to get my hands on one of these soon...and perhaps assemble some old red and green spiked cactii!

Resuming Content!

After getting exhausted with 2nd edition editing and re-works, I'm back at it.  Took a sojourn into 8th edition Warhammer 40K, and have now been rather burned out on it.  So, getting back into 2nd edition and will finish up the resources needed for this blog.  Have a few plans for the next few weeks:

• Revise and update all sets of datafaxes.  These will be labeled "2020" when updated.
• Edit, and relaunch the 2nd edition dice pack (adding 2nd edition compatible tokens)
• Finish a few more cheat sheets.
• Eventually add a 2nd edition battle report or two to the blog.
• Revise and release some "Project Anvil" game modifications that my friends and I use to streamline some of the clunkier portions of 2nd edition.

Resources: Ork Datafaxes (2020)

Here is an updated set of Ork datafaxes:

2nd Edition Ork Datafaxes (2020)

Sample Datafax:

Includes the following Datafaxes:

• Ork Scorcher
• Ork Wartrak
• Ork Warbike
• Ork Nob Bike
• Ork Battlewagon
• Ork Trukk
• Ork Dreadnought
• Ork War Buggy
• Ork Killa Kan (PA Creation)
• Ork Deffkopta (PA Creation)