Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team - Renegade Astartes vs Salamanders

I was able to get in a game of the new Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team. I used my very old Chaos Marines, which meant I had very little choice in what to take because I only have one squad painted. I played against a co-works Salamanders Space Marines, with a mix of Primaris and "regular" marines. It was the first game for both of us and neither had managed to read through all the rules, but we wanted to give it a try and learn as we went. We played the basic Cover War mission that is included in the core rules, and skipped rolling on the scouting table. We also left out command points and tactics. Even though they are a big part of the game, for this first game we just wanted to try to get the basic rules down and not slow things down learning the different tactics.

For the Covert War mission, we each place an objective. We then roll for a victory condition. In our case, holding an objective in the enemy deployment zone was worth victory points, but holding your own was not. You hold an objective by having more of your models than enemy models within 2" of it at the end of the 5th battle round. In the event of a tie, the person without the strategic advantage would win a minor victory. I had the strategic advantage (as I won the roll off), so I could choose which side to deploy on.

Kingdom Death Monster - Olympus Year 21

Dionysus, Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena II prepare to hunt an ancient (level 3) screaming antelope. Dionysus wears screaming armor, a forsaker mask, and a lucky charm. He is armed with his twilight sword and a beacon shield. Hera wears the lantern helm, cuirass, mail, and greaves. She also wears monster grease to make her harder to hit and carries dried acanthus to apply to any severe wounds. She is armed with a scrap sword, and wears a monster tooth necklace to increase the strength of her attacks. Aphrodite and Athena both wear full rawhide armor with monster grease applied and carry some dried acanthus. Aphrodite carries the adventure sword and a beacon shield, while Athena is armed with a counterweighted axe and is wearing a cat eye circlet.

Not far from Olympus, the survivors are struck by the scent of rotting meat wafting from a hulking corpse ahead. As they get closer they discover the corpse is that of a dead antelope, and are startled by the arrival of the antelope's killer, a massive (level 4) white lion! The lion doesn't spot them and the survivors are able to sneak up behind it. Unknown to them, this is a particularly ancient and rare white lion with golden eyes (lion gains +1 speed and +2 accuracy, and when survivors attack they suffer 3 brain damage unless in its blind spot). Though they prepared for a showdown with a screaming antelope, the survivors are unwilling to waste the opportunity before them and resolve to attack the lion.

Kingdom Death Monster - Olympus Year 20

Another butcher approaches Olympus from the darkness. Zeus gathers Hera, Hephaestus, and Artemis to defend their settlement from the monster. Zeus wears rawhide armor and a forsaker mask and carries the adventure sword. Hera carries a scrap sword and beacon shield and wears lantern helm, mail, greaves, and cuirass. Hephaestus wears the other set of rawhide armor and is armed with a cat gut bow and claw head arrow. He also carries bandages to use on any severe bleeding. Artemis wears a suit of screaming armor and a cat eye circlet, and will fight with the cleaver taken from the last butcher who tried to enter Olympus.

Kingdom Death Monster - Olympus Year 19

Dionysus, Helen (the green savior), Athena II and Aphrodite depart Olympus in search of a mature (Level 2) phoenix.

Dionysus wears full rawhide armor and carries his twilight sword and a beacon shield. Helen is still cursed with the regal gauntlets that can not be removed, and also wears a skull helm, lantern greaves, lantern mail, and lantern cuirass. She is armed with a counterweighted axe. Athena II wears screaming armor and a cat eye circlet, and is armed with the butcher's cleaver. Aphrodite wears full rawhide armor and the forsaker mask, and is armed with the adventure sword and beacon shield. Well armed and armored, they feel confident they can face whatever is in store for them.

Kingdom Death Monster - Olympus Year 18

Zeus, Athena II, Aphrodite, and Icarus depart Olympus on a quest to find a new monster unknown to them, the fabled phoenix (level 1). Uncertain of what to expect of the encounter, they are careful to leave behind any critical gear that the settlement wouldn't be able to recover from their corpses if things go badly.

Zeus wears rawhide armor and carries muramasa and a beacon shield, along with some bandages for the inevitable self-inflicted bleeding he will cause with the ridiculously sharp sword. Athena II wears the forsaker mask and cat eye circlet over a skull helm, and carries a counter-weighted axe and beacon shield. Aphrodite wears screaming armor and is armed with a scrap sword. Icarus, the red savior, wears rawhide armor and is armed with a cat gut bow and claw head arrow.

Nova Aetas Primaevi

I have been painting up the miniatures for the game Nova Aetas, which I pledged for on Kickstarter. I haven't played it yet because I want to have everything I need painted before I start the campaign. I've been trying to paint everything to match with the official art on the cards and in the rule book as much as possible. I have now completed painting all the miniatures for the Primaevi faction. Here are links to the official artwork that I was trying to approximate with my paint jobs:

Primaevi Faun
Primaevi Centaur

See the pictures below to see how the painted models turned out.

Kingdom Death Monster - Olympus Year 17

The Hand returns to Olympus. Apollo, Hera, Aphrodite, and Artemis gear up to face the being, who waits for them on the outskirts of the settlement. Apollo wears a full suit of screaming armor and a man mask, and wields a scrap sword and beacon shield. Hera wears rawhide armor and a forsaker mask and carries the other beacon shield. Aphrodite also wears rawhide armor and carries bandages and a founding stone. Artemis is armed with a cat gut bow and counterweighted axe, put a skull helm is her only armor. She also wears the cat eye circlet.

This is the settlement's second time facing The Hand, and the survivors are planning a very different strategy this time. They will use their rawhide headbands to predict what the monster will do and try to control who it will attack. Apollo and Hera will try to absorb most of The Hand's attacks with their beacon shields. They will attempt to outlast The Hand, trying to survive his attacks as best they can until the creature tires of testing them and leaves. Most of their resources have been spent constructing the heavy beacon shields for just this purpose, and they hope it has been worth the effort.