Counter Offensive 7: Patrebs   by Patrick Eibel
Counter Offensive started as a way for a group of gamers to set time aside to get together each year for playing some casual games of 40K, hanging out eating and drinking, and catching up with the events of the past year.  However, sometimes, no matter how long you plan something, real life steps in and throws a curve ball.  This year at Counter Offensive, only two out-of-towners showed up, but we were not to be deterred. We still gamed, ate, and hung out, and here is the report.

Friday, 08/06/2010
The festivities began on Friday afternoon as people arrived from points south and north.  Bryan Layton was driving up from Front Royal, VA and Ken Lacy came down from New York.  Due to the vagaries of Washington D.C. traffic, the New Yorker arrived first. By 6:00 pm, everyone had arrived and unpacked, and we were joined for dinner by recent transplant-to-the-area Michael Lietzke.  We all headed out to Bethesda and ended up at a seafood restaurant, elbow-deep in clams, mussels, crab legs, and beer.  We had a great time, catching up and talking, until we got back to the parking garage to find $45 tickets on our cars. 

Suitably aggravated, Michael headed off to work, and Bryan, Ken and I returned to my house for some gaming.  The first battle of the weekend turned into a large affair, with Bryan and Ken joining forces with 1,500 points of Tyranids each against 3,000 points of my Imperial Guard.  Ken’s ‘nids featured lots of small squads of Warriors, some Warrior Primes, and some Tyrannofexes.  Bryan’s list had Warrior Primes, Hive Guard, lots of Hormagaunts, and two Trygons.

My Guard list consisted of the following:

• Company Command. Commander w/ power weapon, Medic, Standard bearer, lascannon team, meltagun, and Officer of the Fleet
• 10 Stormtroopers, including 2 flamers, in a Chimera
• 5 Ogryn in a Chimera
• Platoon Command and two Infantry Squads, all w/ missile launchers and grenade launchers
• Platoon Command w/ autocannon and two Infantry Squads w/ heavy bolters
• Lascannon heavy weapon team
• Heavy Bolter heavy weapon team
• Veteran Squad w/ Harker, 2 meltaguns, and a flamer
• Veteran Squad including Sergeant w/ power fist, 2 flamers and a meltagun, in a Vendetta
• Armored Sentinel Squadron w/ 2 lascannons
• Hellhound
• Leman Russ Squadron w/ Exterminator and Executioner
• Demolisher Squadron

Here are the takeaways from the battle:

• Guard shooting can be frustratingly unreliable.
• Buildings count as stationary vehicles (which makes some sense). This means that figures inside a building can exit 6" regardless of how far away they are physically from the door they are exiting from. I can understand simplifying some rules, but this seems silly.
• True line of sight and cover saves are probably the most-argued points in the game. I was startled to learn that models get a cover save just by being next to a piece of cover, regardless of whether the cover is actually between the model and the shooter.
• Starting a large battle after dinner is not a good idea.

Saturday, 08/07/2010
After a splendid breakfast of coffee and donuts, the three of us headed to Dream Wizards to see if there would be any other gamers were there.  We were happy to find a guy named Phil and his son Ben there, ready for action.  We also learned that later in the day, there would be some more boys coming in for games, and one of them was learning about Orks.  While Ken played Phil and Bryan played Ben, I ran home and grabbed my Orks. 

By the time I got back, Ken and Phil’s game had ended, and I happily challenged Phil to a game.  He had a creative and fun Guard army, and I used the Space Wolves (trying to use at least one of the lists I posted last month).  We played the Trench Warfare mission at 1,500 points (another Imperial Guard mission from the Battle Missions book). 

Phil’s Guard army looked like a smaller version of what I fielded the night before, with two Infantry Platoons, one Veteran Squad, some Ogryns, two Leman Russ tanks, and Sly Marbo.  The object of the mission was to grab objectives, and only Troops and Heavy Support units that did not have vehicles attached could be deployed to start.  Phil was able to deploy his infantry, but the two Russes were held in Reserve.  I was able to make the most of my superior mobility to seize two objectives and hold on until the end.  The game was a lot of fun, and Phil suffered with good humor the teasing from his son playing at the adjacent table.

After lunch, it was time for the demo games.  Bryan and Ken helped out Ben (not the same one as earlier) and David with an Eldar vs. Space Marine battle.  I outfitted their brother Trevor with a sizable Ork army that included Tankbustas, Lootas, lots of Boys, and a dead-hard Nobz mob.  I fielded the Chaos list I presented in the preview article, and the game was on.  The difficulty with demo games is striking a balance between instruction and keeping the game moving.  An Ork army can be especially frustrating to the new player, as they don’t really get rolling until later in the game.  Trevor was a good sport about me talking too much and really got interested when the Nobz made it to close combat.  In the end, the Chaos Boys couldn’t kill enough Orks to keep from getting beaten down, giving Trevor a solid win.

By the time we got back to my place after dinner, we were too tired for 40k, but not too tired for some Rock Band-action (my favorite non-tabletop game).  We rocked out until the wee hours and then headed for bed.

Sunday, 08/08/2010
Dream  Wizards always  seems to schedule a card event on the last day of Counter Offensive.  This year, it didn’t really matter, as the three of us were the only ones there to play with miniatures.  Ken wanted to get a game in with his Sisters list, so Bryan and I trotted out a combined Tyranid force.  The game was rather one-sided, as both our lists were just for fun, while Ken’s was tournament-worthy Immolator spam.  After a thorough beatdown, we  called it a day and all headed off to start planning for next year.

Conclusion  
Even though the event was small, Counter Offensive was still a lot of fun.  With real life making it harder to get games in, having a special weekend set aside to focus on gaming means that at least once a year, the armies come off the shelf.  I am not sure what armies I will bring next year, but I know that I will try and be there for another round of games. 

Related Pages
Other Counter Offensives

Posted September 2010
 

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