Having played Necromunda on Thursday night and waiting for the 40k team tournament on Saturday and Sunday, I had to fill up a Friday. I thought about the 40k friendly, but figured I was going to get enough "real" 40k during the tournament and I wanted to get some other games in. One of my team mates saw there was a Zone Mortalis event, so we figured why not? It is not often that one has a chance to play some of the coolest rules there are. It is just too hard for most of us to build and store a board capable of playing such games.
If you don't know what Zone Mortalis is, it is 40k fighting in the most extreme of environments. It is supossed to represent battlefields such as the inside of a Space Hulk or Starship, the Underhive or a cramped cave network. Sound fun? Well it is AND the rules are FREE from Forge World!
The format at Adepticon was the Combatant Zone Mortalis Force Org Chart and a limit of 750 points. A key thing to note is that in Zone Mortalis ONLY TROOPS AND ELITES ARE SCORING! This would come in handy later.
Knowing that I had a premium for space and time, I wanted to play the lowest model count army I could. This would help speed up games at the event, but more importantly it meant I had less to paint and could ensure I had all the models I needed by and at Adepticon. What fit this bill? Well, Dreadnoughts of course. They also happen to be the largest thing you can take in Zone Mortalis.
In three games I had a W-W-T. BUT This was enough, with my battlepoints and paint score to win BEST OVERALL!
BA Dreads (730)
HQ- Librarian Dreadnought- 225: Melta-gun, Mastery Level 2, Legacy of Glory: Battle of Terra (IWND, though I never had to use it I believe)
Elites- Contemptor Dreadnought- 225: Extra Armour, Magna Grapple, Blood Fist w/ Storm Bolter (I wanted a Heavy Flamer, but had to make do with the model I had), Kheres Assault Cannon
Elites- Furioso Dreadnought-150: Blood Talons, Melta-gun, Storm Bolter (once again, wanted HF, but alas WYSIWYG and such is life with Metal Dreads), Smoke Launchers (also WYSIWYG. Magna Grapple would have been taken otherwise)
Troops- Cassor the Damned- 140: Blood Talons, Melta-gun, Storm Bolter, Magna Grapple
HQ- Typhus
Troops- Plague Marines (5)- 135: Meltagun, Champion w/ Melta-bomb
Troops- Plague Marines (5)- 130: Meltagun
Fast Attack- Spawn(4)- 144
Fast Attack- Spawn(3)- 108
Setup- 4 x 4 board with Table quarters deployment zone. Deploy within 6" of the board edge. Night Fight turns 1 and 2. Primary Objective- Kill Points. Secondary- Slay the Warlord, First Blood, Linebreaker. Secondary are for Battlepoints only and not determining victor.
Strategems available- Attacker- Sustained Assault. Defender- Barricades and Sentry Gun. Reaction fire and Cold Void in effect.
HQ- Lord- 50: Staff of Light
Elites- Flayed Ones(7)- 91: 14 x Flayer Claws
Elites- Flayed Ones(7)- 91: 14 x Flayer Claws
Troops- Immortals(5)- 85: 5 x Tesla Carbines
Fast Attack- Canoptek Wraiths(5)- 215: Whip Coils
Fast Attack- Canoptek Wraiths(5)- 215: Whip Coils
4 x 4, 6" Deployment Zones, single objective dead center, 4 more not withing 6" of another objective or each other. Primary Objective- 3 VP for the center objective, 1 for the surrounding. Secondary- Slay the Warlord, First Blood, Line Breaker. Secondary are for Battlepoints only and not determining victor.
Strategems allowed: None. ZM rules in effect: Reaction Fire, Cold Void, Catastrophic Damage (falling ceilings and what not).
A much tougher game. Apparently, this player won the last 3 or more years with the same list. I tell you, those Wraiths ignoring Terrain kinda breaks Zone. However, he was not counting on facing 4 Dreads. Basically, got a bogged down assault of my Librarian and Cassor vs the 10 Wraiths. This ended up eating up 4 turns (2-5). I did loose both dreads in the end though. HOWEVER while that assault drug on, my Contemptor took the center objective and my Furioso killed off a bunch of Flayed Ones and Immortals. Turn 6 he made a last attempt gambit assaulting my Contemptor with his remaining Wraiths, also attempting to contest the center objective... BUT remember in Zone Mortalis ONLY TROOPS AND ELITES ARE SCORING. So no contesting. I held 4 VP to his 1 (Flayed Ones held the one my two dead dreads had been going for). He took away Slay the Warlord, though I also got First Blood. Neither of us got Line Breaker. So 14 points for the battle, 32 overall.
HQ- Captain- 140: Artificer Armour, Thunder Hammer
Elites- Terminator Assault Squad (8)- 310: 5 x Twin Lightning Claws, 3 x TH&SS
Troops- Scouts(5)- 60: 5 x Sniper Rifles
Heavy Support- Centurion Devastator Squad(3)- 240: 3 x Grav Amp & Grav Cannons, 3 x Hurricane Bolters
4 x 4, 6" DZ. Primary Obj: 3 VP for each unit in enemies DZ. 2 VP for each unit destroyed. Secondary: Slay the Warlord, First Blood and Last Man Standing (Player with greatest number or surviving units at the end game). Secondary are for Battlepoints only and not determining victor.
Strategems allowed: None. ZM rules in effect: Reaction Fire, Cold Void, Catastrophic Damage (falling ceilings and what not).
This game basically involved our forces walking up the sides of the board and slugging it out in the middle. I sent Cassor up the right, Contemptor up the middle and my Lib & Furioso up the left.He sent his Terminators and Centurions at these two and his Captain and Scouts at Cassor.
This actually led to some crazy Shenanigans. Flaw 1 for him was to try and blow open doors with his Cents. Flaw 1 for me was leaving Cassor unsupported.
On the left I broke open a wall (the first one of all 3 games) and sat there waiting for his Terminators. They ended up approaching too close and getting assaulted, loosing and Falling back to where they were hidden but useless.
On the right, I failed a charge at the Captain with Cassor (snake eyes) and then he through grenades at me with his Scouts and Captain, charged, the scout sarge challenged me (Cassor is a Character), and wasted my attacks turn 1. He lost the first turn, but held his ground. Next turn, his SCOUTS killed Cassor with a Krak Grenade, getting him 1st Blood.
With the death the game ended, his scouts and captain just 1 inch short of my deployment zone, so we tied the primary objective, 2 VP to 2 VP. He got First Blood as well. We each had 3 units left, so no one got Last Man Standing. Points for the game: 6. Total, 38. Average: 12.67/18.
In the end, turns out I tied Battlepoints with the Necron Player I faced in game 2, BUT since I had beat him, I won the tie breaker and took the event.
Each of my opponents were great sportsman and the games were really fun. I particularly enjoyed my last game. Such a crazy outcome with the Scouts, and the guy I was playing was awesome!
Each of the armies looked great to boot.
Sorry there aren't more/better pictures, read this post to find out why!
4 Dreads payed off big AND they were SUPER FUN to run. I may try and do Zone again next year, though I will likely run a different list (I don't want to be "That Guy"). I will still include 1 or 2 dreads, but I am thinking a decked out Death Company would be pretty gnarly to have.
