Warhammer 40,000: The Emperor is with the Battalion Detachments

By Method and discipline are to be understood the marshalling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure.
- Sun Tzu: The Art of War, I:10, Lionel Giles translation (1910)

Our first Warhammer 40,000 - Rogue Trader experiment was a success, so we're going to repeat it: this time with bigger armies and more players.

A post shared by Michael Halila (@michaelhalila) on Aug 12, 2018 at 2:45am PDT

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Because it turns out I have more Imperial Guard models than I thought, my first step will be to expand my patrol detachment into a battalion detachment. The minimum required is two HQ units and three Troops, meaning that my mini-army needs one more of each to make the grade.

165th Ophir Highlanders

Our new HQ unit will be Captain de Cleyre, an Ophir Highlanders Company Commander with a power sword and plasma pistol. The model is Ursula, fleet officer from Brother Vinni. As a senior officer, she can give orders to two units from her regiment per turn.

Therefore, it's time to bolster our army with an Ophir Highlanders Infantry Squad. The models are GW Cadians, with the Sergeant's and weapon team's heads from Statuesque Miniatures. Incidentally, since my opponent vocally complained about not being allowed to shoot into melee last time, we've decided that the Ophir Highlanders count as Valhallan Ice Warriors.

I also found some nearly untouched Imperial Guard heavy weapon team sprues, so the Highlanders also get a Heavy Weapons Squad. I didn't have enough Cadians to make the three heavy bolter teams I had intended, so for the time being two of them are deploying with a mortar team from the 113th Acheron Repentants.

41st Boye Dragoon Guards

During the same great miniature-sorting operation that netted me Commissar Zhukov, I was delighted to also find a whole squad of Mordian Iron Guard. I re-painted them in a color scheme based on the Swedish Life Guards regiment, following a visit to Stockholm last summer. For rules purposes, we're counting them as Mordians.

I also found a Mordian officer with a power fist, who was pressed into service as a Platoon Commander. Since the Mordian models are out of production and I don't see myself hitting up eBay for more, my Dragoon Guards will be fine with just a single officer. Incidentally, this also makes them a prime candidate for mechanisation, should I get my hands on a Chimera.

Officio Prefectus

Since I got my hands on an excellent Wargame Exclusive female Commissar model, how could I not include the beautiful and deadly Commissar Mironova?

Scholastica Psykana

Finally, I decided that we should expand our understanding of the game by incorporating psykers in our armies, so we can have a proper Psychic phase. To that end, the Imperial Gyard detachment got its third HQ unit, a Primaris Psyker. For the model, I bought a Fantasy Flight Imperial psyker.

The Imperial army contains the following units:

Lord Commissar Zhukov
Ophir Highlanders Company Commander de Cleyre
Primaris Psyker
Ministorum Priest Brother Malachi
Commissar Mironova
Boye Dragoon Guards Platoon Leader
Ophir Highlanders Conscripts
Ophir Highlanders Infantry Squad
Boye Dragoon Guards Infantry Squad
Chirikov Rad-Guards Infantry Squad
Ophir Highlanders Heavy Weapons Squad

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What about my Chaos army, then?

Iconoclast Chaos Space Marines

Before I ruin it with my painting, I want to start off by pointing out that this Wargame Exclusive Chaos Dark Prophet model that I got to be my Dark Apostle is simply amazing.

I didn't have time to get her painted for our first game, but here she is now!

Now that the other side has a psyker, I'm also bringing a Sorcerer and giving them a combi-plasma. I'm still working on getting a suitable model, so for now, my Sorcerer will be proxied by Ezekiel.

Having done that, I could add another Troops choice to upgrade my Chaos army to a battalion detachment as well. Or, since I bought a box of them to make my Fallout World Eater, I could have some Berzerkers instead.

Frankly, a horde of chain-weapon-wielding lunatics sounds so much more fun that this was pretty much a no-brainer.

Derbe rebels

Finally, my Cultists. Last time, I had ten cultists with autoguns, and they were very unceremoniously wiped out by the Rad-Guards. For this instalment, I'm leaving them home and bringing my old Escher gang from Necromunda as Slaanesh cultists. They're equipped half and half with autoguns and autopistol-assault weapon combos, and two flamers.

Therefore, my Chaos army is simply my Dark Apostle, Sorcerer, Berzerkers, Chaos Marines and Cultists.

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Our forces are ready! In the rustic surroundings of our summer cabin, we set up a 4' × 4' table with my old Necromunda terrain and a couple of new additions.

I got to divide the table into deployment zones, and decided on a split down the line of the river. I got the side to the right in the photo, and below is my deployment: the Marines would hold my right flank and shoot up anyone who made a grab for the objective on the bridge, while on my left, the Cultists would screen my Berzerkers' advance and then redeploy via Tide of Traitors.

Unfortunately, the Imperial deployment meant that my assault force would be advancing straight into the teeth of their heavy bolters.

The Imperial side got the first turn, and surged forward. On the right, the Rad-Guards secured the objective in the graveyard, and in the center, the Ophir conscripts and Dragoon Guards stormed toward the bridge.

The Imperial shooting damn near wiped out my Cultists completely, and I had to hit Tide of Traitors on my first turn. Luckily, there was just enough space to deploy them on the Imperial right, where they quickly overran the Heavy Weapon Squad and forced the conscripts to abandon the Dragoon Guards on the bridge and swing right to face the Cultists.

Meanwhile, my Sorcerer Warptimed the Berzerkers into charge range of the Rad-Guards, and killed several Imperials with his combi-plasma and Smite.

On my right, the Chaos Marines were getting the worst of a firefight with the two Imperial infantry squads, so with the conscripts drawn off, we charged the Dragoon Guards on the bridge.

The Highlander squad on the Imperial left used their Valhallan order to fire into melee, and managed to hit their own company commander with their lascannon! Miraculously, they failed to wound her.

The Marines wiped out the Dragoon Guards on the bridge and gunned down their officer as he tried to charge them. Meanwhile, the Berzerkers crashed through the Rad-Guards and butchered almost all of the conscripts. Their Champion duelled Commissar Zhukov and won, only to be cut down by the Ophir company commander. The Primaris Psyker blasted three Berzerkers dead with Smite, only to be killed himself by my Sorcerer. All the Berzerkers were dead, but they nearly destroyed the entire Imperial center. Khorne cares not whence the blood flows!

What the Berzerkers left standing was gunned down by my Marines and Sorcerer, or overrun by the Cultists. Above is Brother Malachi's heroic but short last stand.

Finally, all that was left was the Highlanders infantry squad on the Imperial left. If they could hold out for one last turn, the Imperials would have enough victory points to win. They survived my Cultists' shooting and my Sorcerer's Smite, but a charge from the Chaos Marines finished them off. Slaanesh prefers the blood to flow from the other guys.

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So, Chaos was victorious, bringing our lifetime record to 1-1. What did we learn?

As the Chaos player, I've again been reminded that Imperial firepower is horrible. My Cultists were, once again, practically wiped out. Even my Marines do worse than I'd like in a stand-up firefight, so clearly our army needs to get stuck in as fast as possible, and outflank the enemy line. Tide of Traitors was absolutely brilliant for this; next time, my opponents will be expecting it, but it's still amazing. The Berzerkers were also great, destroying the conscript horde and generally smashing right through the Imperial center. Of course they all died in the process, but what more can a Berzerker ask for? More Statuesque female heads arrived in the mail, so I'll be making them a proper Champion for next time.

Incidentally, the once per battle FAQ limitation of Tide of Traitors seems to strengthen the case for a massive unit of Cultists. So while I'll be bringing back my shooty ten-model Cultist unit to camp on an objective and bring the army up to battalion detachment strength, I need more hive gangers!

My proxied Sorcerer was a delight, Warptiming the Berzerkers into charge range, Smiting the Imperial psyker dead and inflicting several casualties with his combi-plasma. The only problem with Warptime was that it also made sure that the Berzerkers charged way out of my Dark Apostle's buff range, even with Voice of Lorgar. Still, I think she was worth having around just for the extra Leadership that stopped all the Cultists from running away in the first turn!

All in all, I'm very happy with my little Chaos army. Imperial firepower and numbers are still scary, though, and I'm going to keep on looking for ways to outflank them.

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Next time: the off-season.

Let's Read Tolkien 53: The Taming of Sméagol

"Well, master, we're in a fix and no mistake," said Sam Gamgee.

Leaving Rohan, Gondor and the war behind for the moment, we start Book Four with Sam and Frodo making their way through the hills of the Emyn Muil: a broken, barren landscape that drops toward the Dead Marshes. Beyond them lies Mordor and Mount Doom.

The hobbits find the going tough, scrambling up and down gullies and hillsides. A sheer cliffside nearly defeats them, but they use the elven-rope Sam was given in Lórien to descend. Obviously this means they have to tie it securely at the top of the cliff, and as Sam bemoans the loss of the rope, he gives it a tug, and it comes tumbling down.

As Frodo and Sam rest a little distance ahead of the cliff-face, they see Gollum climbing down it like a monstrous spider. With their elven-cloaks on, the hobbits ambush and capture him. They contemplate killing him, but Frodo recalls his conversation with Gandalf on this exact topic. Instead Frodo makes Gollum swear by the Ring that he will serve the hobbits. Gollum promises to guide them through the marshes to Mordor, and they set off.

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This is, in a sense, a two-part chapter. The star of the first part is the landscape, in as excellent a piece of geographical prose as Tolkien ever turned out, harking back to the hobbits' travails in the Old Forest. I thought Frodo's refusal to see that the Lórien-rope is basically magic was odd and slightly out of place, but maybe that's just me.

The star of the second part is unquestionably Gollum. I still think that Bilbo's initial encounter with him is some of Tolkien's best writing, and certainly Gollum is one of his most memorable characters.

Seeing Gollum as an addict has become the default interpretation of the character, but I have to say I'm quite uncomfortable with it. For starters, there's no particular indication that this was something Tolkien intended, but more crucially, Gollum as an addict doesn't really fit into Tolkien's scheme at all. In a novel about sin, corruption and the Machine that attempts to defy god by cheating death, to say that Gollum is "an addict" is like saying that the Iliad is about being horny. Sure, it is, but isn't this a bit trite?

We learned about Gollum's past and the fact that he used to be more or less a hobbit way back in Chapter 2 of the first book. This underlying similarity is highlighted in this chapter:

For a moment it appeared to Sam that his master had grown and Gollum had shrunk: a tall stern shadow, a mighty lord who hid his brightness in grey cloud, and at his feet a little whining dog. Yet the two were in some way akin and not alien: they could reach one another's minds.

What connects them isn't just their shared background and their experience of the Ring: it's corruption. Fundamentally, that's also what Gollum represents here: the ongoing corruption of the Ring. I don't think it's accurate to say that Gollum is "addicted" to the Ring; rather, he's been corrupted by it. For mortals, the ultimate boon of the Ring is immortality: Bilbo's longevity, but even more so Gollum's. According to Appendix B of my edition, Sméagol acquired the Ring in the year 2463 of the Third Age. Frodo and Sam capture him in March 3019. He's over five hundred years old.

"A mortal, Frodo, who keeps one of the Great Rings, does not die, but he does not grow or obtain more life, he merely continues, until at last every minute is a weariness. -- Yes, sooner or later - later, if he is strong or well-meaning to begin with, but neither strength nor good purpose will last - sooner or later the dark power will devour him."

This is how Gandalf descibed the effect of the Ring in Chapter 2, and it's crucial to understanding what the Ring is in Tolkien's theology. The Ring circumvents Mortality, one of Tolkien's three capitalized theological points. It is, therefore, a Machine: a thing created to defy God. Such a thing exists because of the Fall, and is dangerous because of the Fall. Even Gandalf is subject to the Fall and therefore corruption; mere mortals like Sméagol and Frodo all the more so. Gollum is living proof of the Ring's power, and of its corruption: he's lived for half a millenium, but at what cost?

The description of Frodo quoted above harks back to Frodo's conversation with Galadriel in the Mirror of Galadriel.

"I would ask one thing before we go," said Frodo, "a thing which I often meant to ask Gandalf in Rivendell. I am permitted to wear the One Ring: why cannot I see all the others and know the thoughts of those that wear them?"
"You have not tried," she said. "Only thrice have you set the Ring upon your finger since you knew what you possessed. Do not try! It would destroy you. Did not Gandalf tell you that the rings give power according to the measure of each possessor? Before you could use that power you would need to become far stronger, and to train your will to the domination of others.

What is Frodo doing with Gollum in this chapter, if not training his will to the domination of others? It's not clear if he understands it himself, but he's definitely being corrupted by the Ring. After the Mirror of Galadriel, this is the second significant stop on the way to the Fall of Frodo.

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Next time: swampwalk.