Apocalypse Now: Battle for Ebirnan

Me and Kieran recently made the trip to visit Zzzzzz at his pad and take part in an Apocolypse-scale game.  This was the first time we'd played anything on this scale, and my word what a day it was.  Readers of Adm Drax's blog will have seen the recent post on his own visit earlier this year.  He summarised the spirit of the day brilliantly: great company, plentiful brews, a frankly staggering collection of models and terrain from Zzzzzz and a fantastic narrative Apocalypse game.  As well as coma-inducing quantities of bacon.



The Devos IV blog will have a full fluffy report in the coming weeks with all the photos in full so I won't tread too much on how this affects the ongoing wider campaign, I'll just use some photos to illustrate what sort of a day it was and pick out some good moments for the Palladians (and some shockers).  Photo credits are all Zzzz's - the rest of us struggled with phones while he got some great shots on his camera.

The basic setup was:
  • A thin line of beleaguered Valhallans of 903 Division (about 1,000pts) on one short table edge; 
  • The infamous 'Hunter' Division of the PLA, plus reinforcements in the centre of the table (maybe 3 - 4,000pts);
  • The cavalry in the form of the Palladian 905 Division and the Arcomet 887th (fully 7,000pts) on the opposite table edge, coming to support the Valhallans.  Played by me and Karitas of Excommunicate Tratoris fame.
The Bloodcoats in the centre
And the thin line of Valhallans trying to prevent a breakout
Blessings from above!  Keritas' deployment of the air assets made me feel like Tom Hanks at the end
of Saving Private Ryan, blasting away with my .45 at a Tiger, with the Mustangs sweeping in to save the day.
The Motorbike Team, all the way from Mordian 7th!
Huzzah for the Palladians!  Tightly-bunched, the infantry platoons suffered at the hands of the PLA mortars.
That 'one' is the number of wounds left at that stage - the inevitable result when you insist on riding into battle on a white horse waving a sword around.  The highest-ranking casualty in the regiment for nearly forty years.
Nasty - 'Chimeltavets', who unfortunately found themselves on the receiving end of a Demolisher shell
In the end we only had time (5 hours) for two turns, but that was enough to get a pretty good idea of the result.  The Valhallan line was shredded but not wiped out - the timely arrival of the 887th ensured that the PLA's tanks were lascannoned to bits, although not enough to prevent a disjointed breakthrough of individual elements through the Valhallans.  The 'cavalry' suffered very heavily in the first turn, loosing four tanks to missile and lascannon fire from the tops of the buildings.  The Palladians took a pounding with about 50 of 70 men dead, although their artillery accounted for a large number of Bloodcoats and by the start of the third turn the advance was beginning to get underway.

In the end the Palladians did what they do best - looked smart and died in droves, giving the artillery and mortars the time to do their stuff.  Thanks go out once again to Zzzzzz for hospitality and a smashing game - cheers mate!

Ed

Comments

  1. One emotion: jealousy!
    What awesome fun. Great work guys, this totally made me smile today. I love the photo of your Palladian commander - out the fount in an apocalypses game! Is that courageous or crazy?

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    1. It was a smashing day - I seem to be getting the message that bravery isn't appreciated in the 41st Millennium - everyone just thinks I'm mad. Pleased you enjoyed reading it mate.

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  2. Nice! Looks like it was a fun game, Palladian butchery notwithstanding. Happy to see the bikers make it onto the field, too!

    Thanks for sharing the pics!

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    1. No worries. Palladian butchery generally means it's been a good day, lots of glory for the officers and the artillery that way! They led a flank charge but got slightly bogged down (in two units of infantry) but they were hacking and slashing right until the final whistle.

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  3. Once again Zzzzzz causes jealousy amongst the readership. :)

    Very cool sounding and looking game sir. That Palladian commander kinda had it coming to him - what kind of IG officer leads from the front?!

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    1. We'll have to have an international meet up one day in the far distant future. I didn't expect him to live, just die gloriously! Seriously I might stop doing this, the breakdown in the orders is a nightmare and is inevitable by turn three.

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  4. Absolutely smashing! - And yes: there's precisely nothing not to love about a Guard Officer leading a charge on a white horse. Nothing.

    Love the Prvate Ryan reference, too...

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    1. Glad someone's on my side! Glad to hear you liked it mate.

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  5. Poor Maj Drule was run through a bit (how can anyone be run through 'a little bit' ?) in single combat with the Coy Cdr of the 2nd Regt company that was wiped out, all bar one squad. The major would spend the next two years in a military hospital on Acre (the loyalist continent). Despite being obviously daft ("He was so stupid, even his fellow officers noticed" said one Palladian SNCO), he would return to the PG and will probably (eventually) retire as a Lt Gen with a fat pension and a huge land grant.

    More on the whole thing on 22 Nov 13.

    Many thanks to Col Scipio for buying in to the Devos Campaign in a huge way ! The Palladians are always welcome on the casualty table !

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    1. I wait on tenterhooks for that. All the thanks go out to you for hospitality and bacon!

      I love the quote, that's all gone wholesale into the campaign fluff! Welcome on the casualty table? I'll pass that on to the men, I'm sure they'll be thrilled to hear that...

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  6. excellent looking game colonel! I love the idea of having to reinforce another unit before they're wiped out, it adds a sort of haste to the game. Looking forward to the next!

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    1. Thanks James - it was definately the driving force of the game, adding a sense of urgency and steering it away from the Apocalypse Gunline Smash Blast™

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