40k with the Family

Made a family trip back home, which gave my boys a chance to play some Warhammer 40k with their cousins, my brother's boys.  My boys have slowly developing Black Templar and Ultramarine 40k armies, while their oldest cousin has a large collection of Eldar and Harlequin forces.  The boys also used this opportunity to exchange gifts with their cousins, which of course included 40k units for each other.

So we all journeyed down to my nephews' friendly local gaming store for a battle.  My boys don't have enough for either of them to field a full army, so they combined their chapters' forces into what I'll call Task Force Black and Blue.  Their cousin fielded a mass of very well-painted Harlequins.  TF Black and Blue hoped to shoot down the Harlequins before they could close the distance and tear marines limb from limb.

The only slightly unfortunate part about this was the table.  We ended up on a large table with a painted background, so please excuse the surface in the shots below.

Overhead view - TF Black and Blue at near end, Harlequins at far end of table.

Harlequins advancing on hover bikes.

More hover riders, with a small horde of foot troops behind.

TF Black and Blue takes defensive positions.

Boy 1's new Redemptor Dreadnought lines up to take a shot.  He proved somewhat effective, but some bad dice plagued his employment of his Heavy Onslaught Gatling Gun.

Ultramarines disembark from their Rhino and prepare to engage the onrushing Harlequin menace.

Black Templar dreadnoughts and Primaris forces form a firing line to hope to reduce the Harlequin skimmers at top end of frame.

Things get nasty in the middle as  large scrum develops, drawing in about a third of each side.  Plenty of casualties.  Note the magnificent Harlequin minis, with swirls of cards around them. 

The Harlequins advance in and wrap around both the Ultramarine tactical squad and their Rhino.  The tactical squad would ultimately get wiped out.  The Primaris Aggressors at top of frame proved highly effective, wiping out some Harlequin units that charged them.  If playing against a melee-heavy force, the Flamestorm Gauntlets work well - they hit automatically as the enemy charges.

On the Marine left, the weight of fire ultimately destroyed the advancing Harlequin skimmer fleet.

The Marines held their ground, albeit with some substantial casualties on their right flank.  All in all, a good game and certainly one that will help keep the next generation of wargamers excited about painting and playing in the future.