The Inquisitor translated into system and activated the stealth field. Quietly, they approached the system. Orks had been harassing Valour System for some time, but the Eldar had made a curious move, locking horns with the green skin. The Inquisition wanted to know why, and then eradicate them both.
*This game was too test the most difficult game balance Alternate 40k Rules has tried to achieve. Imperial Assassins. But worthy of Lord of War Slots. They cannot hide in units like Phoenix Lords. They are not flexible. They are pure murder, but only in one specific regard (spoilers, we nailed it!).
The Orks deployed first, taking the far bank and then filling it with Buzzgob in his Stompa and 288 Grots and 12 Runt Herders!
The Inquisition wisely decided to let the two show their intents before intervening. The Eldar deployed second, taking the high ground with their devastating Shadow Spectres. Asurmen took a central posture to provide his potent leadership abilities to Guardian Defenders and Dire Avengers.
Satisfied, a lone Chimera snuck onto the field. The Inquisition was playing hero hammer this go around, so everything had to be exceptional for every threat. The greatest threat was mass infantry. turns out, I was not wrong! The Chimera had a Heavy Flamer in the Hull, Turret, a Stormbolter, and all of the bonus guns and gear that would be helpful.
Inside, a Squad of Inquisition Veteran Guardsmen carried a ton of potent gear. Melta guns, Heavy Flamer Team, Melta Bombs, Krak Grenades, better armor, targeting equipment, a vox caster for area control (different for each Codex), and the Inquisitor herself. She was carrying a Nemesis Daemon Hammer, Combi-Melta, and Command Codes for unlimited use of the Orbital Strike.
Assassins are not suited for Grots. This was a fun surprise to test them out in less than ideal situations. The Vindicare took the tower because he isn’t a moron.
The Callidus is a special infiltrator that joins enemy units and causes massive amounts of problems with her Reign of Confusion. She is only discovered on a 6, so she should be able to stay safe. Eldar wasn’t going to move anytime soon, so I added her to a Grot unit, with another on each flank for maximum effort (the were no joinable units in the Stompa, or I would have done that).
Lastly, the Calexus was best suited for being around psychic casters, so he and the Eversor murder hobo took shelter in the log.
Orks went first. Very first roll of the game, the Callidus was discovered. Her Aura still went off. While it was thwarted by Runt Herders murdering Grots, anything to reduce the number of Grots was better than nothing.
In the Ork shooting phase she took 47 pistol shots from Grots and 2 from Runt Herders. She survived, but then Melee took her. She maimed a Runt Herder.
In this case she did not pay her points at all, but you must understand my choice of units were 6 units of 49 models with pistols that can Da Jump even if she confuses them and stops Moving, Advancing, and Charging. The alternative was a bunch of stagnant Eldar with some very potent characters that I needed to keep alive to help thin the Grot tide, who with characters and rules were ALSO being treated as Pistols in many instances. We discussed outcomes and potential later and agreed she was delightfully good and screwing up early game maneuvers.
Grots piled over through the dry creek bed and slammed into the Eldar. Alex rolled as he do and lost more than he should have. To be fair, this entire game we all had terrible rolls across the board so it was fairly even at least.
Eldar needed to stay in cover. But… Eldar also needed to issue a Challenge. So they left cover and Charged Grots. The Champion managed to survive for several turns before eventually being gunned and clubbed down.
Some early game pistol shots were in range to see the sneaky Assassins! The Calexus winged a shot but they were otherwise okay.
Da Crunch was cast! Just kidding, Grots died as those afore mentioned Dire Avengers dwindled with them.
A warrior seven centuries old, he was embarrassingly killed and eaten by mere Grots. Asurmen said Challenging their Runt Herders to a dual was important for some reason (randomized Objective). The Inquisitor made note of that.
The Chimera was well equipped for the Grot situation, but I was not about to drop my guys out anytime soon. The first Grot unit I encountered was mostly deleted.
Random Objectives said an enemy Psyker needed to die. So I tried with the Eversor as he approached the Eldar (staying away from the Grot volume of fire until they got thinned down at least). His super sniper pistol only injured the Warlock thanks to an excellent set of Invulnerability Saves. The Vindicare remedied this with a head shot.
Now in Alternate 40k Rules, multi damage weapons don’t inherently exist. Some weapons have Monsterbane (which inflicts an additional wound to Monsters and Buildings if the saves fail), penetrated Vehicles, or Destroyer weapons striking Titanic models are the only way this happens.
But as a super sniper, the ability needs to exist. Naturally we need it to be very reliable for the Vindicare point cost. This is (currently and not foreseen to change) the only sniper that inflicts additional Mortal Wounds!
I wanted to take on another character in the Ork ranks, but because the pointy eared witch had the audacity to survive, I was forced to use the Vindicare on the injured model. Easy clean Victory Point at least!
The Orks decided it was rude that I dropped an Orbital Strike and wiped out 45 Grots! The retaliated by Da Jumping the Stompa onto the Vindicare’s tower. He rolled a Direct Hit on the scatter dice and he had to Force Disembark.
The Grots charged the Chimera with help from a nearby mob. Overwatch rolls were not great on my part, but still took their toll. The Chimera proceeded to fail multiple Armor Saves against Glances but by the Authority of the Inquisition they auto passed their Ld Test.
Meanwhile, the Grots broke through on the far flank of the Eldar as another hit the Guardian Defenders.
The Eldar Champion continued to fight! But, Asurmen rolled snake eyes on his Charge distance and decided to let him cook.
My Vindicare popped up from being Pinned and had a tough decision. Did I, A) fire a Snap Shot out of his rifle or B) Shoot the Stompa with his Pistol. Either way a 6 was needed somewhere. I opted for the Stompa, shooting it successfully! Maxed my Mortal Wounds out too!
The Chimera succumbed to being dismantled by the Grots looting everything. The passengers jumped right into Melee to take their vengeance! (Accidental feet pic is a bonus)
As seen here, Mork picks up Grots that died, circa 2026, colorized. The Eldar Defenders pushed back their opponents and moved onto the Objective!
Meanwhile, the Eversor dived into a huge pile of Grots. The blender of destruction was severely hampered by 1s, but he lived to keep fighting.
The Stompa moved to drop one of Buzzgob’s special assistants. For the first time this game it didn’t roll a 1 for Poor Maintenance and have to choose between moving or shooting. However, its engine was damaged twice so it could barely make it to a tree to crush it for the Demolition Objective.
It charged the Vindicare! The Vindicare popped a Blind Grenade into the driver’s hatch, and then stabbed it with his Combat Knife! In turn the Stompa did 0 Wounds and lost Combat! It held because Titanics are Fearless, but still funny.
Previously off pictures the second Orbital Strike forced the Eldar Shadow Specters to move, ruining their effectiveness so they shot at Grots with their assault weapon mode instead of a second volley of Prism Fire into the Stompa. I needed them to not get any funny ideas about my Assassins or Chimera.
This time though, I had dropped it right on my Vindicare to discourage it. It didn’t leave, so I blew it sky high! The Assassin survived!
Buzzgob and his minions jumped out. Once again I needed to kill a Psyker, so my Assassin ran past the wreckage and fired a pistol shot as I passed, killing the Weird Boy! To be fair, the Weird Boy had done poorly most of the game and was only alive because the Mad Doc kept patching him up.
The Vindicare then proceeded to charge the special grot mechanic on Objective 5, stabbing him viciously to death and claiming it as well!
A fourth Orbital Strike was called, but the Lord Inquisitor was struck down. It turns out a 58 point Nemesis Daemon Hammer is not point efficient at killing Grots and Runt Herders. 2 of the latter went into orbit over the course of two very brief Challenges, but when there was no more to be had the Grots ganged up on her.
That being said, Orbital Strikes still be a coming down. While the Eldar and Eversor wiped out the Grots on the other side, the Orbital Strike took out some more Grots.
Forgot to take more pictures, but the jist of it is The Eversor rampaged through many, many Grots, but the Eldar gunned him down with an absurd amount of Shuriken fire.
The Calexus proceeded to slowly but systematically wipe out the entire Eldar back line, leaving only Asurmen and 1.5 squads.
The Vindicare then killed an injured Asurmen, leaving 1.5 squads.
The Grots looted the Chimera some more with Buzzgob making a bee line to get out of site of the Vindicare.
The Eldar earn a Minor Victory with 12 Victory Points to the Ork’s 10 and the Inquisition’s 8.
This was an awesome test for the Assassins, needing only a minor tweak to the Calexus. Their Codex is dropping this week!
The Eldar rework is deemed complete after 8 months of rebuilding it from scratch! It drops this week as well!
Alternate 40k Rules 