March 2010 Apoc Battle

League Subterranea seems to get an Apocalypse game going about once a year. This time it was a smaller game with only 18,000 total points compared to some of the 30-40K battles in the past. The guys at Labyrinth Comics and Games were nice enough to host the game on a day they are usually closed. Members of the Labyrinth team made up about half the players.

Unlike many of our normal Apoc games this one was a little more themed with Good Guys (Tau, Eldar, Space Marines) verses Nids. While there are really no good guys in 40K these races are ones who might join together (or at least stop fighting each other long enough) to fight off the Nids.

We played on a composite table which was about 10-11 feet wide and between 6 and 8 feet deep. That 8 foot deep part was a problem since there was this 18 inch zone in the center of the table that was very hard to reach. We also played the game with the capture and hold style objectives where you earn points for hold objective at the end of your player turns so last second objective grabs are of minimum usefulness.

My unpainted partially assembled Nids can be seen trying to march up the long way across the table while my opponents landraiders try to roll up my flank.

Here is where my units are trying to go but they never made it. Not because they were destroyed but because we ran out of time after 3 turns. It did not really matter since one of our team deepstriked a ton of units behind the enemy lines while I outflanked a unit of stealer who tied up those broadside for 2 full turns.



While interesting things were happening on my side of the table the real battle was won on the other side. During the bidding for first turn process, we had intended to go second and just absorb their fire but I actually bid 1 minute lower than the opponents so we went first. We decided not to make it to easy for them to get first turn and they thought we would want all the time we could get to set up on hordes of minis so my 9 minutes beat their 10 minutes. We set up heavy and they place their objective in our zone behind on the side with the player who had hold at all costs for his units. I took the advantage to load his side of the table with our 3 objective objectives. Their zone objective I put exactly 1 foot from the edge right past no mans land. Then I placed our other 2 objectives as close as possible. This left 4 of the 6 objectives in easy reach of a massive wave of scoring(hold at all costs) nid army. The rest of the board was just sort of a holding action to prevent them from moving to take all the objectives that we quickly gained back. Turns went 3-2 then 3-2 and by turn three we had 4-0 so we called the game as it was getting late.

40,000 Points of Apocalypse: Side Tables

If you cannot come up with a single table layout which can accommodated all of the players interested in your Apocalypse game you essential have two options. One is Split Table were you essentially have 2 games of apocalypse on 2 different large tables sharing an overall objective count and perhaps some way to transfer between the tables(webway, warp rift, bridge, etc.). This idea is relatively simple with the main question of how many total objectives and how to distribute them between the tables. The other is Side Tables. A side table is going to be smaller than the main table. It may have an objective for the main total or it may influence the main table through some other mechanism.

An example of a side table can be found in Apocalypse Reloaded where space marines assault an Ork Space Kill Kruzer which is dropping bombardments on the main table.

In our recent 40K point game we had two side tables. The side tables were 4*6 with 1 player from each team with 3000 points. Like our main table these were pretty densely occupied with 6000 points on a 4*6. The side tables influenced the main game by allowing whoever controlled a centrally located objective using 5th ed scoring rules at the end of a game turn to give a orbital bombardment to their main table teammates to place. The deployment was done using standard Apocalypse rules with the scatter die determining how the table was divided and 12 inch no mans land separating the deployment zones.

No one at the side tables used any Apocalypse formations by chance at one table and by gentleman's agreement for the other. One table used their assets while the other transfered them to the main table. There were also no superheavies, flyers, or gargantuan creatures on the side tables. Given that their was only a single objective at the center of the table any super heavy could have just rolled up on top of it and been very hard to remove. Also people wanted the superheavies on the main table where the game was going to won or lost since their were only 3 superheavies in the 40K of points. While this makes the games less Apocalypse like, it makes them a little more balanced.

The Problem

The problem that was encountered on the Side-Main interaction scheme was the major advantage it gave to the player going second in the turns. In a normal game, the second player can try to grab objectives or contest at the very end of the game, but the player going first has 5 turns to remove those fast units and establish clear zones, etc. In the normal game it is an advantage that shows up only at the final ending moment. In this setup, the advantage appears every single turn. Even if you table your opponent on turn 5, if he controlled the objective for more than 1 turn earlier in the game he has essentially won the table for his main table comrades. With 3000 points fighting over 1 centrally located objective, pretty much anything the player going first places on the objective will be targeted and eliminated by the opponent or at least contested. This is especially true since the objective is only 6 inches off the deployment line. If the first player wants to hold the objective for the turn, he will have to probably completely cover it with models and build a wall of units around it into the opponents deployment zone.


This pretty much forces the player going first to essential go all in every turn. Certain armies will do better with this than others. One of the tables was Codex SM going first with Tyranids going second. It does not take much to surmise that the tyrnaids with there many assault and close range specialists had a distinct advantage in this setup. If the space marines want to hold that objective 6 inches from the Nid deployment line they will need some serious hitting force. This was compounded by the bid system carried over from the main table. The main table bids were 2 minutes and 30 minutes so the player going first on the side tables which is a disadvantage in this case only had 2 minutes to place his units.

The other side table was Codex Space Marines(me) vs Necrons. The Necrons were going second but were hindered by having very poor in assault warriors as their objective holders. I made the mistake of deploying my scoring units to far on the flanks. I forgot to play the specific mission in my rushed deployment again 2 minutes. The necron warriors did not stand up to my Pedro led rhino mounted Vanguard assault unit who managed in one turn sweeping advance away 2 units of warriors with a Orb Lord through a multiple assault. This was certainly a case of all in where my Pedro + 8 Vanguard charged 2 units each with about 15 warriors each plus the Lord. We both very quickly lost all our scoring units so the fighting was abandoned by agreement after the 3rd turn. The Necrons were able to generate 1 bombardment after destroying 2 vehicles contesting the objective at the end of the second turn.

Future Plan: Side Tables Rules

I think a better plan is needed for side tables in the future. Since we had 2 side tables, it might have made sense to look at asymmetric objective type missions similar to the old nonstandard Battle Missions. Each side could have a table with an attacker and a table with a defender. You could use could use either 1 objective placed by defender or something like 3 bunkers which each give a 2 blasts on the orbital bombardment for the main table when held by defender. These would probably work best with no Apoc datasheets or formations. It should be looked at as a good chance to get some nonstandard mission played. Here you would not use the main table turn order but let the attacker go first like in these battles normally.

If you are only running 1 side table, you can play one of these nonstandard asymmetric missions with the attacking side getting a few extra assets of. You could also do a dawn of war or pitched battle for deployment with the two objective standard mission. Each objective controlled gives the Apoc bombardment (3). This would also be without Apoc datasheets. The player going second still has a distinct advantage but the player going first has a better chance of holding their home objective than controlling a centrally located one. Also if the deployment time is not limited by the main table bids the playing going first is helped some.

40,000 Points of Apocalypse: Table Layouts

The three big Apocalypse games I have played in (24K, 36K, and 41K) organized by our GW Club, League Subterranea , have all tried different table layouts. Our table layouts are complicated by the fact that our FLGS, Labyrinth Comics and Games, is located in a high rent region of Ann Arbor, MI(literally across the street from U of Michigan main campus). To make the business viable, the owners located it in a basement that is long and narrow. In the widest area where you would put a giant Apocalypse table there are support posts for the building above.

Table space is very important in Apoc games. The rulebook wants essential 1 square foot per 125 total points (3000 points total on standard 4*6 table) so for a 40K point game they are suggesting 14 4*6 tables or 320 square feet. Coming up this this much table space is hard and arranging it into something where you can get to the models is going to be also challenging. The Apoc book talks about floor wars but this would not be something I would recommend for a many player game. If you and a few close friends(2-3 more) want to try it, that is fine but for a general game with 14 people you do not play with often, the risk of damage to 150 dollar forge world flyers is too high. We have in general played on less than half the recommended table space. This makes direct surface movement harder since units are played close together giving more advantages to armies with skimmers and more usage of deepstriking and flank marching. It also makes things with Apoc templates and blasts even better.

Table layout is also important. Consider if all regions of the table can actually be reached to place the models. Assuming normal reach levels of about 3 ft every point needs to be within 3 ft of an edge. You could rig up a harness system to float players over the table but that is getting pretty extreme. Also consider depth issues. Are there places on the board where you can be a foot from no mans land and also 2 ft from any edges? Otherwise there is no where that shooty units can be deployed without needing a assault screen.

O Shaped Table

In the first game, we tried an O shaped table around one of the poles. We used 6 by 4 tables for the top and bottom and 4 by 4 for the sides. This game had 8 players with 3K each, Imperial(2 SM, 1 Sister, 1 Guard) vs Xenos (1 Eldar, 1 CSM, 1 Tau, 1 Nid). We called the space in the center a volcano/warp rift that was both impassable to all and LOS blocking. This table setup had the advantage that no point was more than 3 ft from the outer edge and you could go under the table to the center to move unit near the middle of the table. The problem we had was that the deployment zones ended up very close the table joints which happened to have narrow region of the table with about 2 feet across on both side. This created 2 bad choke points that were hard to get through. The game only lasted 3 turns due to time limitation but the only things which got through the line were a Heirophant which could just destroyed SM squads holding the line with its 16 Ap3 shots and assault attacks equal to or greater than the number of enemies in base contact and Flyers (Cloudstrike Squadron and Barricuda) which just flew over the battle line to Lance Pulsar the Armorcast Reaver to dust. The choke points were probably a bigger problem since the Imperial side did not have many units with special deployment rules allowing them to come in behind the enemy. This was an Apoc game back in early 2008 so no one had played a game this big to know that you must have Flank Marchers, and Deepstriking Drop Pod forces if you lack the skimmer transports of the Eldar and Tau.

Long Line Table

The second game was done on a single long table which was say 26 feet by 4 feet. This setup fit well in the long narrow space. This game was a drop in game published in white dwarf so the organizer really had a limited idea of who was coming. Everyone showed up and turned in their points, any super heavy or flyers and he did the best he could to make up even teams on the fly. With the narrow no mans land and very long table it made every point on a close range killing field. This layout also led to a more you verses who ever lined up across the table. We did not have anyone lining up in one spot then redeploying some or all their units way down the table since the time involved walking back and forth between different parts of the battle would have been excessive. The layout also caused me a problem when the opponents placed a disruption pod on my part of the table where my drop pod battle company was supposed to come in so they got scattered to the winds and picked apart one isolated squad at a time. I should have spent my first turn destroying the pod with my deployed units and held the drop pods and deepstrikers all to turn 2. A single long table is probably a standard for many Apocalypse games, but I would recommend making sure it is 6 feet across. You probably have to stretch but any point can probably still be reached.

+ Plus Sign Table

The most recent game had a main table that was like a plus sign with two 4*4 tables making the center with an additional 4*4 on each side. This is similar to the O arrangement but with the center closed off to eliminate the choke points. This table had 10 players on each with 3K points so if was incredibly densely populated. When a Tau players Tigershark came in from reserves he had to proxy its initial location since he had yet to build a flying base and there was no were to set it down due to its size. Both sides had considerable forces in reserves to fill up the space emptied due to the apocalypse sized destruction leaving the table very densely occupied past the 3rd turn of the game. I believe that the edges were called impassible terrain but you could fire over the gaps. I did not play on the main table so I am not sure what the exact rules were. There were also 2 4*6 side tables operating with 2 players each at 3K. These tables certainly allowed for more total points but they had there own problems which I will discuss in another post. Overall the layout seemed to work pretty well, their was enough depth that shooty units could be placed where they were likely free of assault danger for a turn or two. The models were close enough to the edge to position properly. I am not sure if any unit moved very far that were not flyers but there were enough flank marchers and deepstrikers such that nothing on the table was safe.

40,000 Points of Apocalypse: Pre Organization

Our FLGS, the lab, recently had a mega apocalypse game. This game was our third large scale apocalypse battle and I believe the largest yet we have done. An earlier event got pretty close to 40K points. This time we had 41,000 points spread on 3 tables and I hope everyone had fun. The biggest problems were probably at the side tables so I will do a post specific to them in the future.

The event went pretty smoothly except for a lag on the start time due to over 1 month of preplanning. I am in no way taking credit for the event since I was not the organizer, but want to talk about how it was arranged and set up to allow others in the future to build on it. The game was organized by the head of our local GW club, League Subterranea.

1. Poll your local community for interest. Using either a local forum, news group, or even bulletin board at the store to see who is interested in the event. Probably 2 months out even before a date is actually set. Make sure everyone knows this is an all day event.

2. About 1 month using the list of people interested start trying to find a good date and time. The first 2 times we played these battles they were on Sunday since there is free parking downtown but the store is only open 5-6 hours which really is not long enough for a really big game. This most recent one last 9 hours but I personally left after 6 since I was on a side table and neither my opponent or I had any scoring units left to hold the objective.

3. 2 Weeks finalize the players and assign teams. Since most players can only field a few armies at 3K points levels the teams are not usually done with a story in mind. 3K points per player is a good number. The player can get a good size force with several formations but it is not yet impossible to keep track off. We generally tried to balance Super Heavies and Flyers and made people say if they were bringing either. We seem to keep a race all on one side so the sides for this recent battle was Imperial (4 Space Marine Armies) + Eldar (2) + Orks (1) vs Tau (3) + Chaos SM (1) + Nids (2) + Necrons (1). It is helpful to find a backup player if someone has to drop out. This happened to us when a Chaos SM player dropped but luckily one of the Tau players knew someone interested in taking his space.

4. Once the teams are finalized it is up to the players to choose a captain and try to work out an rules issues with the other team and organize the strategy of the armies. It is helpful to gets list ahead of time to assign assets and try to work on making your combined army as nasty as possible. While cheesy is not the goal, raw destruction can be pretty fun. Nothing like running down 800 points of necron warriors with Pedro and Vanguard squad.

5. Lastly, make sure everyone knows exactly what special rules are in place for the game agreed upon by the organizer and the captains. Since Apoc is about fun, you can change any of the standard apoc rules if the organizers and captains agree.

How many objectives? 4, 6, 1 per player
How are the tables going to be laid out? Long line, Circle, Plus sign.
How are you doing the deployment? Bid, Fixed time with dice off for first turn.
If you are using side tables how exactly do they influence the main table? Objective for total, Bombardment, etc.
Are any rules getting changed?Necron Phaseout, Hits on Flyers glance or cover save, scoring units, army interactions.

This is the basic pre organization plan. In another posts, I will go into my observations about several of the issues I have seen while playing in big games.