Apocalypse Now....well, soonish

 

Intro; The Road To Apocalypse

Back in the early 2010s, when I was <ahem> fractionally younger and still a member of St Aidan's Warriors Wargames Club here in Glasgow, a group of us; six all told, who were heavily into WH40K, ventured down to Warhammer World in Nottingham to play out our own mini campaign; 3 games on the Saturday and a big, all in game of Apocalypse on the Sunday. It was an excellent weekend and I still have very fond memories of it (though don't ask me who won as my memory has left that bit of information away in the dim, distant past which probably means the Imperial side were...erm...runners up)

Skip forward 14-15 years and after ditching 40K for historical gaming I, well I got a yearning to play some Space Crusade (my gateway drug into gaming) thanks, in no small part, to the many Youtube and podcast shows reminiscing about and recalling the better days of wargaming in the era of yesteryear. This yearning led to the purchase of a complete Space Crusade boxset which I set about painting up (more of which in another post)

After dipping (or is it re-dipping?) my toe back into the 40K universe a mad, undeniable desire to play some 3rd edition 40K took hold of me. This was in part due to watching a chap on Youtube (Sorcerer Dave) playing out a solo 3rd edition battle of 750 points of Orks v Space Marines to demonstrate how good 40K was back in the day. Agreeing wholeheartedly with this sentiment I said to myself these very words "I could do that; I could put together 750 points of Space Marines and opponents (the nature of which was tbc) and play some solo some 3rd Ed 40K...." Well I could put together one half of it anyway as I still had a heap of Space Marines in my possession as long as I didn't include vehicles etc. I would need to buy some opposition for my solo endeavor and the original plan was to play solo as I didn't think my gaming chums would be interested in 3rd Ed...oh how little I knew. So, one thing leading inevitably to another, I mentioned my daft notion to my chum, Richie, whilst enjoying a pre-game (Bolt Acton if memory serves though I could be wrong...but I digress) chewing of the breeze, Richie had been one of the Six who had duked it out over the marvellous wargames tables in Warhammer World all those years before, I little realised what fertile ground I was scattering my daft notions on. Sure enough before you could say "Death to the false Emperor!!" we had purchased the 3rd ed rulebook, then the 4th and then the 5th on which we settled reasoning it would suit our 40K needs; being fairly straightforward and as long as we kept to about 1000 points per side, the I GO/U GO mechanism wouldn't be that much of barrier to some good, old fashioned wargaming fun with some nostalgia thrown in for good measure: right?

The Road To Apocalypse Broadens

.....well yes and no. Before I knew it I had completely ignored my Space Marines (to which I had added not a few eBay purchases) and had given myself over to the Chaos Gods and the Black Legion and what I am led to believe are now called First Born. Basically I went total nuts...I mean nostalgic after discovering a very entertaining series of mainly 2nd Ed 40K based painting videos on Youtube (Miniscape Retro Warhammer 40K) and gathered together as many old Chaos Space Marines as I could lay my hands on (and making many eBay traders very happy and much wealthier into the bargain...wargaming is all give, isn't it? I mean no one truly loses out, do they? As long as you don't mind being ripped off...I mean having your financial resources and self justification tested to the limit in pursuit of your hobby goals) Also I did get a pretty decent haul from Stu at Colonel Bills that helped kick start my obsession....not obsession, I mean healthy pursuit....yes that's it.....healthy pursuit....

And Richie was no better, rebuilding his beloved Night Lords and his equally beloved Grey Knights. Danny, another of the Six; was already playing (though not really enjoying...enduring might be a better word) 10th Ed with a 3D printed Imperial Guard Praetorian Army though he happily threw in his lot with Richie and I and before you knew it we had recruited Jamie; yet another of the original Nottingham Six, we were all headed off to Common Ground in Stirling for a day of 5th Ed fun; two games apiece and much fun besides....even though Jamie brought his Dark Eldar <cue theatrical booing and hissing....well deserved and very loud theatrical booing and hissing. I'm surprised Dark Eldar players aren't obliged to wear top hats, capes and long, drooping moustaches to underline the dastardly nature of their chosen force, the bounders!! (just joshing, Jamie; we love you really) >. And from that day at Common Ground; that meeting between old 40K, nostalgia and, let's be honest, a lot of fun a yearning was conceived...a yearning that would be named Apocalypse!! 

...And Starts To Head Downhill

    ....okay, I'm getting there, bear with me. I still had in my possession my Apocalypse rule book and the Apocalypse Reloaded supplements as well as a few of the Imperial Armour books (phwoar!!) and what with some very impressive 3D printed 40K proxies available for cheap, courtesy of Barnyard Prints...certainly they're much cheaper than their Forgeworld counter parts, some excellent sci-fi Gothic MDF terrain from TT Combat (and that even cheaper from online shops such as Wayland Games or Element Games thanks to pretty generous discounts), access to acres of gaming table at Common Ground Games (see my previous Black Powder posts for an idea of the scale of table that CG can provide) our own games of Apocalypse suddenly became very appealing and achievable......and that's what the ensuing blog posts will be mostly about; planning and preparing and playing WH40K Apocalypse at Common Ground this summer; the army builds (yes "builds"; I'm building one and adding to another), the terrain plans, builds and layouts; the rules and house rules and, ultimately the game; game number one hopefully in a roll of many in the future.

....And Gathers Momentum...woo hoo!!

    In my next post I'll focus on building my Imperial Guard Army and it's allies...or maybe I'll look at the terrain and how I see the layout of the battlefield...or perhaps my Black Legion Chaos Army....or the 3D printed stuff....or...or...or something, definitely something related to this madcap, hobby venture I've.....erm....ventured on(?) and dragged my willing dupes...I mean chums into.

In the meantime as wargaming miniatures don't paint themselves, I'll say pip pip and catch you later,

General Jimbob