Orks vs. Eldar - Big Mek Stompa Takes on an Old Foe

Hi everyone,

We recently had a chance to play a very fun game against our friend Mr. S.

Some key background items here:

1. We have not ever beaten Mr. S.  In fact, we've been on the fairly substantial end of a whipping the times we have played him.
2. Mr. S. has some pretty powerful Eldar.  And, we've not been too good at tackling those D-1 weapons and all of the fancy-dancy movement his Eldar can do.
3. Mr. S. is an extremely nice person - and has enjoyed Ork modeling - lots of fun to chat with about projects.

So, we did a little bit of thinking on how to give him a run for his money.  Here's what we came up with:

1. Use the Necron-looted Big Mek Stompa we had built for Armies on Parade.  That way if he brings his really tall Eldar we can use the Lifta-Droppa on him!!
2. Put Tank Bustas in the Big Mek Stompa.  That way they have some good armor.
3. (Most Important) Strike a SYK-A-LOGIKUL (that's Psychological) Blow by bringing our Da Pain Train.  That lovely Looted Wagon is Supreme Warboss Fork's armies looting of Eldar technology - and sports a skewered Eldar pilot on the front  :)  :)  [Link to blog write-up about Da Pain Train]

 

Here is Fork's Big Mek Stompa.  We built the Lifta-Droppa out of parts we found washed up on the beach.  Used our green glowing stuff (Necron style) too.  Fork's Big Mek figurz this will keep the Eldar distrakted!!  Oh - and the Ork script on the side does say "Spork Suks".  The Rivalry continues....

 Here is Da Pain Train.  Skewered Eldar pilot right up front.  Lots of shiny Eldar blood for Mr. S's Eldars to look at and think about!  Da Pain Train is pulling a shield generator (why not?)

Here's how the battle shaped up....

We used the Mountain View Game Kastle's Normandy beach terrain.  We were the defenders - the Eldar were invading....

From the Warboss Log of Supreme Warboss Fork:  "Der waz sum weerd chant'in from dose Eldarz.  Figgured we wud attak anywayz."

The Eldar moved quickly to find positions of cover to shoot at the Ork vehicles.

As a set-back for the Orks, the Shield Generators effect on the Big Mek Stompa only granted one extra HP (rolled a 1 on the d6).

Eldar units moving quickly into cover to line up shoots against the Ork vehicles....

The Eldar quickly moved into positions of cover - and made a series of rapid runs against the Stompa.  Clearly their goal was to reach the weaker, rear armor.

However, while the Stompas big weapons pounded away, the Tank Busta crew cleaned up the Eldar units which did manage to get into the rear.

The tone of the battle began to shift.  Fork's boyz were shooting exceptionally well - and it did not appear to be the Eldar's day.

And, so in a move to save their fallen brother, the Eldar made a dash for Da Pain Train.  Successful in crashing the Ork vehicle, they almost managed to save the pilot "figurehead."

Eldar units mounting a rescue for the skewed pilot.  The Ork's looted vehicle is disabled.  This is their chance!

But, alas for the Eldar, the Stompa rounded on the rescuers and dispatched the lead units.

The lead units are wiped off the battlefield by the Stompa.  The Eldar pilot is not rescued....

And, with that, the Eldar retreated from the field.  Clearly seeing the long view of their fight with the Orks.  This battle wasn't crucial for them -- better to build their strength and fight again on a more auspicious day.

None of this made sense to Fork and his Boyz.  None of it mattered either.  There was looting to do on the battlefield!!! 

How to get to Warhammer World (International Travel)

Hi everyone,

A short while back, we had the chance to visit the UK.  And, of course, near top of our list of things to see during any free time while there was Warhammer World!

We're probably the last ones to figure it out what Warhammer World is (seems that pretty much everyone knows that Games Workshop has a sort of company store and model-museum in England).  But, in case you're in the same boat as us, here's a walk-through of how we made our way there....

(Link to the Warhammer World website)

Our favorite Ork and Space Marine by London's Tower Bridge.

Step 1:  Get to England. 

In our case this was a business trip with a weekend in the middle.  If we were to do it again, we'd want to plan for more time - and arrange to take some models along.  In this case, we pretty much arrived in England empty-handed.

Flying was relatively painless.  And, the customs people were quite friendly.  1) They actually thought it was funny when we ("American" speakers) said we'd been working on our English.

Step 2:  Get to Nottingham.

Warhammer World is in Nottingham, UK.  And, pretty much right in the middle of Nottingham proper.  We had decided to avoid driving.  Would have cut down on the travel time - but our "drive on the left skills" aren't so great.  And anyway, if you can manage a train to Nottingham, you can find your way to Warhammer World.

You can see on the Google map search below that it's roughly a two-hour train ride to get there.  Not so bad.  And, we'll point out a few subtle points that we we stumbled upon as we went.... 

Here's a phone screen capture of the trek from London to Nottingham.  Didn't want to risk driving on the left - so working on a route by train.

To begin with, you need to make your way to Kings Cross station.  Pretty easy on the Tube.  We dropped in a handy reference photo for comparison (making sure you're in the right place).

And, depending upon your inclination - while at Kings Cross Station, if Harry Potter fits your liking, you can check out the large display and store arranged at Platform 9 3/4.

A quick hint about booking the train.  There are (at least) two different train routes to get there.  The faster, more direct one costs more.  The slower, less direct one costs less.

We used the slower one on the way there -- the faster one on the way back.

Only downside of the slower one is that you end up spending about 45 minutes waiting for a connection in the nice town of Grantham.

If you happen to be a train fanatic, that's like all good -- because the station in Grantham has lots of memorabilia about the speed run set by the Mallard.  If you're not particularly into trains, this delay might be frustrating....

 

The train schedule board at Kings Cross - showing our train to Leeds (we'd be getting off at Grantham and changing trains for Nottingham)

 And, our train arriving!

 And, we're on the train!!!  Here are our favorite Ork and Space Marine with our ticket on-board.  They were both very excited to be heading for a sort of "homecoming."  [Also, you'll notice on our ticket that it says "via Grantham" in little letters - that's where we switched trains.]

Arriving in Nottingham....  We saw that there were some failed buildings right by the station.  Not sure about how those came to be in Nottingham.  In the US this is what a failed factory building often looks like.  If that's it, here's hoping that everyone in Nottingham sees better times in the coming future.

It did strike us though that these buildings, though falling down, did look very much like 40K scenery buildings.  And, we wondered if they were in some part the source material for Games Workshop artists.

As we arrived in Nottingham, there were several buildings on the eastern side of the station which looked a bit like 40K scenery pieces.  Not sure of the circumstances for these old failed buildings - and very sorry if those circumstances were sad ones.  But, interesting to see how much the 40K crumbling buildings look like those in real-life.

More photos of the crumbling buildings....

Step 3:  Tram from main station. 

When you arrive in Nottingham, make your way out of the station - and then up onto the elevated tram platform.

[From the station, Google maps has it as a 30 minute walk.  It was a little cloudy when we were there - threatening some rain - so even though we had the time for a walk, we took the "NET Tram" tram.]

We were a little bit confused about which side of the street to stand on....  We ended up asking grandmother and grandson for help on which direction's train we needed in order to go "west" to Warhammer World.

Our phone indicated that we should take the "Toton Lane" tram -- ride for three stops to "Gregory Street."

That turned out to be exactly right :)  And, the cool thing is that we would see Games Workshop on the left as we arrived coming down a slight hill toward Gregory Street.

 

 Here's our phone map of the route from the Nottingham Station to the Gregory Street stop for Warhammer Work.

The tram stop has a very nice sign to let you know how long it'll be until the next tram.  As you can see here, they run quite often.

 For piece of mind -- here is the list of stops on the Toton Lane tram line.  Sure enough only three from Nottingham Station up to Gregory Street (Warhammer World's stop)

Here's another phone screen-shot showing the route :)

Step 4:  A short walk.  

The walk down the street is very nice.  On a Saturday it wasn't a very busy road.  Crossed a small bridge with boat canal going underneath....

And, then walked into the parking lot of Warhammer World :)

Walking from Gregory Street back to Warhammer World - crossing over a very nice canal!

A quick shot from our walk to Warhammer World

The good news is that you know pretty well when you've arrived.  You've got the Games Workshop logo on the building.  And, there are also the full scale Ultramarines tank in the parking lot in case the other big graphics on the building aren't enough to tell you that you've arrived!

And, Warhammer World itself -- was awesome :)  Highly recommend making your way there!!  We're already working on ways that we can visit again....

The Warhammer World building with large emblem!!

Ultramarine's tank on display at Warhammer World :)