A little Fluff: Vatarian Plate

This post is born from a discussion we had during Dark Heresy after getting spaced. Several times. It goes into light detail of the various suits of Vatarian plate Armour. On a side note, expect more posts soon.





Mark I-A - The Vatarian Mark I-A suit of armour is a reliable design from early M.37. It is expensive, but is durable, easy to maintain, and strong enough to withstand most types of ballistic weaponry.Additionally, the power cables on the suit are covered by a light carapace coating. The joints are also reinforced with additional padding to protect the wearer from shrapnel. It's internal systems give it the ability to track targets, provide multiple vision settings to see in a higher spectrum, and allows the wearer to patch into local computer and navigation networks. More recent upgrades have increased the vox range to nearly a kilometer without having to tap into an external vox link.

The suit also has capacity to go into space for limited time. The wearer can comfortable stay in an airless/toxic environment for about forty five minutes without having to find another air supply. Along with the internal air unit, the suit also has mag-boots to allow the wearer to walk in a Zero-G area. This is the suit preferred by spacers, assassins, and units on long-range missions that expect little to no supply.

Mark I-B - The Mark I-B suit has all the aforementioned capabilities, with the edition of an improved logic engine. This suit can track multiple targets at once, provide an improved HUD for the wearer, as well as increased motor units that allow the wearer to better move around and fight.


Mark II - The Mark II suit loses some of its internal systems, but has gains in mobility. Now unable to track more than one target at a time, it now can allow the wearer to run faster, just higher, and have overall better gyroscopic control.

The upgrades also mean that Zero-g movement has become much simpler with the addition of Mag-gauntlets. However, this comes with a sacrifice: The suit is only able to operate in airless environments for half of an hour. The power consumption of the suit is also led to exposed power cables along the chest and back. Normally the wearer of the suit would be a scout, a medic, or a light infantryman.

Mark III -  The Mark III suit was developed in mid M.38 as a replacement for the aging, and flawed Mark I and II suits. It has an extended battery life to allow to the wearer to operate for several days without having to recharge. It's internal systems were improved to allow the wearer to track multiple targets at once, have an integrated HUD system that connects directly to the user's weaponry, improved communication and navigations modules, and a wireless logic tool that can hack into various frequencies and signals. The power cables on this suit have been covered by several layers of Carapace plating, and the joins have been reinforced with flak/carapace fibers to protect the wearer from explosive and ballistics damage.

This suit also has external hardpoints to mount various devices and equipment, further freeing the wearer from having to carry cumbersome bags and pouches. There is also an optional Vox Caster unit that can be mounted on the back of the suit, but this would definitely limit the wearer's mobility and maneuverability. This suit is preferred by Commanders, Vanguard Units, and Technicians.

Arrakia: Just what the heck is it?

      Arrakia. Interesting name, isn't it? Derived from Arrakis, a planet in Frank Herbert's 'Dune'. But just why the heck are we even here? Well, it began on a regular warhammer Thursday. Myself, the guy who owns the renegade chapter, and a few friends were just laughing and joking around while we were playing. The running joke became Abbadon starting another failing crusade in some system near the eye. Just humor, good times and whatnot. Afterwards though, we began really talking about it, since the game had no true end, what if we have a continuation of what's going on? What if we keep playing until it's resolved? Thus, the Arrakian campaign was born. Field Marshall Peach, which started as a joke, Became the source of the finest quotes of the battles we play, and may possibly make an appearance in future games with his own model. However,since my Imperial Guard Army is being massively reorganized and repainted, It gives me a chance to try out my Marines and see what works and what doesn't. By no means though have I abandoned the Marachan Crusade though. The reason no progress has been made on that is because the VII Legion's CO has gone off to college for the Fall Semester. We will be able to play, but not until whenever he comes back to visit. We have everything lined up for it, too. And I apologize if this seems rambly, ive been up for quite some time. If you haveany suggestions for Organization, the campaign, or anything really, leave a comment. All are welcome. Otherwise, see you all On The Bounce.

 

Glory to Vatar! Glory to the Legions!

 

Tyranid Invasion: Part 1

In the hills and valleys of the planer Maracha, a small imperial outpost has been targeted by a massize Tyranid swarm. In response, segmentum command has deployed an entire army group. Two Space Marine chapters, the Fifth Founding and the Stalkers, along with the XII Vatarian Legion with elements of the VII Legion were all marching into battle side by side. A small force of Necrons had also awoken due to do the activity of the swarm, and were reanimating to do battle against this alien threat.

Not long after Necron reanimating, a warband of renegade space marines made planetfall soon after to do battle with the worthy Tyranid foe. This would be a battle of epic proportions.

This was a massive 3500 v 3500 point game. The foe would be a swarm that had an 'old one-eye' as an HQ unit. On the allied side, I had my Knight-Commander Zaros, The VII Vatarian had Knight-Commander Antoch, the Fifth Founding had a librarian, and the Stalkers had a Captain. The Chaos with Necron allies had a chaos lord as their HQ. Allied deployment looked something like this: 

Enemy deployment: 

Turn One -Enemy

Our opponent began his turn by burrowing the thing that can burrow. (little note here: I'm horrible with Tyranid units so I'm very sorry if I offend any Tyranid players with my lack of knowledge) he ran all of his units forward and took flight with a gargoyle (I think). This turn he focused on nothing but closing the distance between our forces.

The flying thing:

The burrowing thing:

Turn one -Allies

Our deployment plan was simple: Move up behind the armour and use it as mobile cover/fire support. My tanks and chimeras were to roll up in front of the main line with the Space Marine infantry and VII guard not far behind. The right flank was to be dominated by first and second platoon supported by bikes and land speeders from the Fifth Founding. A sniper team from the Stalkers chapter was holding the imperial bunker on our side of the field, and would use its superior line of sight to spot and eliminate targets in the valley below. The Necrons and Chaos marines were to move up on the centre and provide support to which ever flank needed it. 

Shooting Phase: Allies

To begin, the sniper team from the Stalkers fired a single Krak missle at the flying thing that was flying over the centre building. As if the emperor himself had willed it, the great beast fell and took another point of damage. With only one point remaining, I fired my demolisher's Lascannon along with the order Bring it Down at it and killed it with the second shot. The humour in it was that because it was flying, the rocket that took it down should've missed. The Tyranid player had intended to use it as a bullet sponge, and now he was forced to change his strategy. I fired my other tank's (at the time it was unnamed) Lascannon at Old one-eye and managed to score a wound. So far, the hammer of the emperor was doing its fair bit.

The flying thing being removed from play:

Allied forces advancing: 

From his position in the rocks, Zaros caught glimpse of a monstrous beast flailing toward the ground. On the Vox, he heard that a Marine scout team had scored an incredibly lucky hit against the monster, and that it was crippled on the ground. "Knight-Commander to Armour, do you have a firing solution on that grounded beast?" There was a short delay followed by an incredibly hoarse voice. "Commander this is Sergeant Zale of the Tora. We only have a solution with the hull mounted Lascannon. Orders to fire?" Zaros assessed the situation quickly. "Affirmative Zale, Bring. It. Down." A bright light filled the air followed quickly by another one. Zaros couldn't see the shooter or what it was shooting at, but he could tell by the great screeching roar that it had scored a hit. His Vox rang with an incoming message. "Zale here sir, the beast is dead."

Turn Two -Enemy

Our enemy was not very happy with the turn of events, he ran most of his units again, trying to get closer and closer. The unpleasantness started when he tried to deep strike gene stealers. However, they went off the board in a deep strike mishap. He then deep struck a doom of m-something. For people who do not know, it has a 3+ save, along with the ability to gain wounds by how many enemies it kills. So when it killed ten men from first platoon, it gained ten wounds. To make matters much much worse, he unleashed the borrowing thing right under the front of my armoured column. One of the tanks was damaged along with one of the chimeras. A third chimera was outright destroyed. The veterans inside of it escaped with only five of their ten man squad plus a priest. He tried firing a biovare thingy (the biological artillery for the bugs) at my tanks, but managed to hit his own burrowing thingy. That was very convenient for me. Although, truth be told I felt incredibly singled out because he was only firing on my men. (In hindsight, I did bring the most to the field...) 

The doom of m-thing beside the speeder:

The burrowing thing attacking me: 

Sergeant Zale was moving the Demolisher at cruising speed when everything began to shake violently. The Tora was thrown forward several feet and came to a grinding halt. "By the throne what was that?" From the rear view hatch, Zale could only see a plume of smoke and dust. The Vox crackled to life not long after. "We've taken rear damage, but otherwise okay." "Does anyone see the other chimera?" Zale peered hard through the huge cloud of debris and could only see one thing. A massive Tyranid borrower had come up right on top of the rear chimera. 

Turn Two -Allied

This point in the game things were hectic. The allied SM chapters were rushing to try and move up to the forward battle, and the chaos/Necron forces were a too far ahead to properly cover the Tyranids that had attacked from the rear. Fontaine and his men disembarked their chimera and were preparing to melta the burrowing beast. First platoon regrouped and got closer to the doom of m-thing. 

Shooting phase -Allied

I used FRFSRF on the first platoon. Fourty two Lasguns, three las pistols, two bolt pistols, a Krak missle, and two auto cannons were unleashed on the doom of M-thing. Only two hits managed to hit because of its blasted 3+ save. Fontaine and his vets fired their Lasguns and meltas at the borrower. Managed to score two hits as well. It was not going well. My allies fired their weapons in an attempt to stop the Tyranid monstrous creatures, but to no avail. My Demolisher tank fired at old one eye and managed to score a hit. My battle tank (earns the name 'stomper' after this battle) fires its main gun and kills thirteen bugs out of fourteen.

Fontaine and his squad preparing to fire:

First platoon firing on the doom of M-ting:

The unfortunate part

It was about midnight at this point, and we had to leave our local gaming store. (We got kicks out)

We rolled die to see who would win. The opponent rolled a six, we rolled a four. Even though we had more kill points, he won.

We are hopefully going to have a rematch this Thursday so be looking for a continuation of what was going on. I'm sad because it was such a short game, but with so many units each turn took a while. My lesson learned this time around was this: Work closely with your allies.