21st and 28th September Club Night Roundups

A packed couple of nights at Crit Happens with everything from The Old World and Warhammer 40,000 to Trench Crusade, Konflikt '47, Dropzone Commander and even classic Space Crusade. Plenty of battles, demo games and questionable tactical decisions across the tables.

Another Monday, another busy night at Crit Happens. This week we had everything from Bretonnian knights and Wood Elves to Weird War walkers, daemonic trench warfare, old-school Space Crusade and plenty of Warhammer 40,000.

There were demo games running alongside familiar favourites too, so here's what was happening across the tables.

Warhammer: The Old World

The Kingdom of Bretonnia faced the Wood Elf Realms in a battle of heavy cavalry against an army whose preferred tactical position is approximately three forests away from wherever you wanted to charge.

The Bretonnian knights did eventually make contact, but only after taking rather more arrows than the Lady would probably have preferred. The Wood Elves managed to keep control of enough of the battlefield to edge the game, proving once again that chivalry is all well and good until someone hides behind a tree.

Konflikt '47

Two games of Weird War action this week.

First up, the United States took on the Axis in a demo game featuring exactly the sort of walkers, experimental weaponry and questionable science that makes Konflikt '47 what it is.

The Americans eventually pushed through to take the win, but the important thing here was getting another game introduced to new players.

Later in the evening the United States were back, this time facing the Soviet Bloc. Apparently 1947 wasn't complicated enough already.

This one went the Soviet way after a suitably brutal fight, with neither side appearing particularly interested in easing their way gently into the coming Cold War.

Trench Crusade

Two particularly cheerful excursions into No Man's Land.

The Procession of the Sacred Affliction took on the Cult of the Black Grail, providing a matchup in which both sides somehow managed to make the other look unpleasant.

The Black Grail eventually claimed the field after a grim battle of attrition. There were casualties everywhere, the battlefield was horrific and absolutely nobody involved appeared to be having a nice time.

In other words, a successful game of Trench Crusade.

The Procession were back for a second game against the Court of the Seven-Headed Serpent. Faith, suffering and extremely questionable infernal powers collided, with the Court eventually taking the win after the battle descended into the sort of chaos we're rapidly coming to expect whenever Trench Crusade appears on the tables.

Space Crusade

A proper trip back in time this week with Space Crusade making an appearance.

Space Marines ventured into the corridors while the Alien player unleashed Genestealers and assorted unpleasantness in their direction.

There is something wonderfully straightforward about old-school Space Crusade: open door, discover horrifying alien, roll dice, regret opening door.

More of this please.

Dropzone Commander

We also had a Dropzone Commander demo game, with the United Colonies of Mankind (UCM) facing the Bioficers.

A great matchup for showing off the game, with the organised military hardware of the UCM trying to contain something considerably more disturbing.

The Bioficers eventually took the win, but both sides got a good demonstration of just how quickly a Dropzone battlefield can change once dropships start moving units around.

Warhammer 40,000

Four games of 40K were running across the night.

Chaos Space Marines vs Ultramarines saw the Long War continue with the Ultramarines attempting to bring some order to proceedings. Chaos eventually took the win, presumably confirming that several thousand years of holding a grudge remains a viable tactical doctrine.

Death Guard vs Raven Guard was a clash of completely different approaches. The Raven Guard moved, hid and picked their battles carefully. The Death Guard mostly just refused to die.

The Raven Guard managed to scrape the victory on objectives despite the Death Guard still occupying rather more of the table than anyone would have liked.

Chaos Space Marines vs Orks delivered exactly what was advertised. The Orks charged. Chaos charged back. At some point any recognisable battle plan disappeared entirely and the whole thing became a large fight in the middle of the table.

The Orks came out on top, which probably means the plan worked perfectly.

Finally, Tyranids vs Necrons gave us an ancient mechanical empire facing an apparently endless swarm of hungry space monsters. The Tyranids pushed hard early on, but the Necrons simply kept getting back up and eventually ground out the win.

Being difficult to permanently kill remains useful.

Kill Team

At the smaller end of the battlefield, Raveners faced Kasrkin in Kill Team.

Elite Cadian soldiers against Tyranid organisms capable of appearing from somewhere underneath you is not an especially comforting prospect.

The Kasrkin poured plenty of fire into the Tyranids, but the Raveners were eventually able to overwhelm the key objectives and take the game.

Turns out "check underneath the floor" should probably be added to standard Imperial operating procedure.

Another Busy Monday

Another cracking night and a particularly good spread of systems, from a 1990 classic through to some of the newest games appearing at the club.

Whether you've been playing for decades, you've just started collecting an army, or you fancy trying a completely new game, there's usually someone at Crit Happens happy to get some dice rolling.

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Crit Happens is Lincoln's not-for-profit tabletop gaming club. We host Warhammer 40,000, Warhammer: The Old World, Dropzone Commander, Trench Crusade, Konflikt '47, Kill Team, RPGs, board games and much more.