HERO MODE!! Astra Militarum vs Chaos Space Marines | Warhammer 40k Battle Report

[@tabletoptactics]

Want to play at home? Download the free HERO MODE DLC rules here (note this is now the updated Version 2 of the rules): tabletoptactics.tv/2024/11/14/warhammer-40000-hero-mode-dlc-rules-pdf-v2/

[@corvaxblackfeather6529]

Let me say... it's a awesome thing to see NORMAL Cultists and Imperial Guard against each other. I love my Tyranids and Space Marines and all.. but the majority of fights is taken by the Guard. Seeing them as the Heros against Chaos Cultists... thats GOLD for me ^^

[@GrimViridian]

Yeah the non space marine factions need serious attention especially video game wise. I would love an eldar, tau, or guard game, gene stealer cultists would be cool to see too as well as some votann representation

[@rift7609]

​@GrimViridian It could be pretty interesting seeing a game featuring a story where the gameplay jumps between a bunch of different factions and people/heroes to tell that story. Something like the new war quest from warframe if you're familiar with that

[@StrangeKvol]

This type of content (narratives etc) and the banter, is what makes you the premiere 40k channel out there!

[@chaoslordbeard]

We appreciate that! Thanks for watching.

[@RedRaiderV]

Myself (AM), baby bro (Tau), and stepdad (Ultra marines) love playing together, so things like Horde & Hero mode have been a HUGE and welcome discovery. Please please continue to expand upon these co-op or 3 player type modes. You’ll always have players like us who greatly appreciate it!

[@tabletoptactics]

Many thanks!

[@anophelesnow3957]

More Hero mode please. Smaller games for fewer models but less complexity than Kill Team.

[@chaoslordbeard]

It’s a really fun way to play, especially for anyone just starting out as you only need a few models (and a horde)

[@apollogaming7439]

Best painted models, great talent, the level of editing and production are always so high, Tabletop Tactics always outdoing themselves. Incredible channel, been following from the very start. Amazing.

[@tabletoptactics]

Thanks for your support over the years :)

[@markoneill2888]

"Men of Tanith, do you want to live forever?" Very much been looking forward to this!

[@thebardTT]

We have too! Enjoy!!

[@chaoslordbeard]

Men of Tanith! The free rules of this new game mode are in the description!

[@danielwallis9000]

Love the game mode Laurence, but particularly impressed by the way you summarised the rules in so few but clear words in the intro, must have taken lots of writing 👌💪🏼

[@tabletoptactics]

Thanks mate, I did have to spend some time getting that to be clear while succinct 😅

[@danielwallis9000]

@@tabletoptactics I can imagine! Nailed it

[@tm5123]

Whoever painted those Gaunts chost, damn they look good.

[@chaoslordbeard]

That’s our studio painter Fletcher

[@syndarius]

Might not be the first one to say but this would be excellent to recreate moments from the horus heresy books, or even siege of terra. Moments where the stalwart defiance of the imperial fists, blood angels, white scars. (And all the imperial army getting surrounded by demons, heretic astartes, knights, and more) Tabletop tactics if you see this... maybe? HH themed battle where you make a deployment zone that's like holding the wall?

[@mattcargill8655]

Mkoll doesn't die, he just stealths behind enemy lines to wreak fething havoc!!!

[@tabletoptactics]

Accurate.

[@humantwist-offcap9514]

“I AM DEATH”

[@ericsalon5260]

I really love this hero mode, it gibes a lot of opportunities for fun scenarios. I think it would be great to have a stratagem to make a monster or vehicle hero explode automatically, maybe with some « heroic » move like the ork stratagem. That would be really cinematic

[@Unseensoul1988]

i really like this game mode it's hard to balance the hero's to try and make them not too powerful but sometimes the waves just seem too much for the smaller units to keep up with, but definitely keep up the great vids guys

[@shaunsheldon1219]

Great game bosses really enjoyed that, Bard's tank was like the scene out of Fury fighting till the end 😁

[@chaoslordbeard]

Thank tank crew were working overtime!

[@AVoxintheVoid]

I absolutely love this! What an amazing idea!

[@Typhestus]

Awww yeah hero mode and a fryup breakfast. Cheers for a great saturday as always TT!

[@talscorner3696]

Proper breakfast!

[@thebardTT]

That’s how to start a day! Hope you enjoy buddy!

[@TheHaydena76]

BOSH

[@danielbeaulieu5674]

The Gaunt's Ghosts are so amazingly well painted. I love the green.

[@tobiwan80]

what a blast, really really liked that. Will hopefully find some friends to try that one soon.

[@LilGinjaMassive]

Hats off for designing such an exciting game mode Lawrence. Good show sir.

[@snorri8110]

Oh m goodness, those Ghosts look absolutely fabulous!

[@richardebourne6332]

Been waiting for this all week. Such a cool way to play the game! Great design, am hoping this will be a regular feature game

[@chaoslordbeard]

If people keep watching we’ll definitely keep making these Hero Mode shows!

[@ferreirp88]

Would love to see more of this! Thank you for the content!

[@Droplord]

If only we still had rules for Schaeffers Last Chancers! They would be fantastic for this game mode!

[@tabletoptactics]

Oh yes, that would be awesome!

[@Droplord]

@@tabletoptactics I don't even know what to use mine as anymore. *sad Imperial Guard noises*

[@dustycarr8523]

This was a fun watch and would translate so well to some epic Horus Heresy hero mode games for sure. Keep up the good work y'all are killing it.

[@primarchprojects]

This was a great watch. Thank you! I have for a while been thinking about creating just something like this for myself and here you are with a great new gameplay. Do you have any plans to continue developing this? Adding new types of Hero mode narratives and/or quests. Would love to have some sort of game where the heroes defend a chokepoint against overwhelming numbers of low tier enemy troops (cultists, tyranids and so forth). Would also REALLY love a game where the hero is a lictor or a team of lictors 😂

[@tman8978]

Absolutely loved it! Make more ..

[@simonellis7303]

I’ll come out and say it. You guys are the real Heroes!

[@alias-yv2ro]

Will yall ever do a Hero Mode themed game based of the infinite and the divine? Maybe a battle where Trazyn and Orikan must battle the nightbringer and corrupted necrons, just like the final fight in the book?

[@chaoslordbeard]

We could certainly look at it! The options are almost endless!

[@Temptationofangels]

This would be really cool

[@GrimViridian]

@alias-yv2ro still learning the lore, corrupted necrons? That's interesting

[@alias-yv2ro]

@@GrimViridian Pls read the book. Don't get all your lore from videos and shorts. Just read the Infinite and The Divine

[@neshirst-ashuach1881]

Really great game, its a really interesting new take on 40k and feels like it respresents the books perfectly :)

[@bubblesofthecoast6393]

I do see some issues regarding some of the squishier armies. I don’t really see buffing health or anything like that to be needed, but I do think some additional faction specific abilities would be pretty cool. For example, the IG here could spend some CP to call in a Valkyrie air strike or an off map artillery strike to assist in culling the horde

[@chaoslordbeard]

There’s room for DLC later down the line when we’ve got lots of games played! Definitely hard mode when using guard in this game!

[@bubblesofthecoast6393]

@ Definitely my thoughts on this hero mode game, since guard works in dominance through sheer weight of fire. In general horde armies probably will have a harder time in hero mode just cause they are more reliant on numbers and aren’t the tankiest, tho thst might be more of a case-by-base basis.

[@KieF993]

Love this! What a great way to play. Would love to see the Phoenix lords taking on a Slaanesh horde!

[@chief1721]

This is glorious. Can't wait for the next. Seems like the Spider did a great job balancing this rules set. Winable, but not to easy, either.

[@EverydayEldrad]

Seems like a nice fresh way to play narrative!

[@matthewwarren3370]

Yes! Me and 3 friends have a game planned using these rules. Astra as the horde against space marines. The wider story arch is that the Astra have turned on the space marines due to a Tau ambassador’s persuasion of the planetary governor that there is a better alternative to feeding the imperium machine their youth and resource. Will the heroes make it off world to inform the imperium and bring in a larger space marine force? If they don’t, will the Tau and Astra treaty hold? This mode along with boarding actions brings so many brilliant ways to play 40K out side of the normal 2k points battle. Thank you Lawrence for such great rules and big love to the TT crew for bringing it to life

[@cylondorado4582]

This seems cool. It got me thinking about what I’d do with Eldar. I guess Yvraine or a Phoenix Lord (Although I currently own no Eldar named characters, lol). I think I especially like Maugan Ra and some Dark Reapers, and then make the rest of the list around that. They could hang out and just shoot from across the map.

[@stravblardo2624]

I want to see Phoenix Lords vs Daemons. Would be epic

[@andywardle2988]

Great job on that thumbnail Fletch 🙌

[@MagicBaking]

This is really fun to watch and I’m sure to play too

[@captainpower6663]

What a fun, game! Keepu the amazing work guys! Love your spirit!

[@DreadnoughtXXL]

57:22 'The Light in My Darkness' A fantastic Lord of the Rings themed album by a solo artist called Erebos.

[@mattcargill8655]

LOVE Gaunt's Ghosts

[@strawberrypuddin8919]

That tech priest has won my heart!😂

[@Ralndrath]

I'm a simple man. I see beautifully painted Gaunt's Ghosts and I...press?

[@okillcrazyo1009]

TRY AGAIN BRAGG! currently reading the second omnibus of the ghosts, some of the best books going, and this is one of the best bat reps going too 👍😀

[@chaoslordbeard]

Thank you! It’s fun having all the focus on the Ghosts for the whole game

[@jakepetropoulos1074]

I just reread the whole series working my way up to anarch, started it today. Just my favorite scifi series ever

[@GamingPaladin]

As a longtime Guard player, this was the expected outcome. Mathematically, re-rolls on saves favor high save values, which Guard infantry just does not have (and the tank commander does, hence surviving that long); it works much better on Marine equivalents. Could have gotten an extra body with a Commissar, though; that list is 370 points and a Commissar is 30 for an even 400 (not that it would have made a huge difference).

[@midv4lley]

looks like super fun

[@thompsonsj64]

Aww no Sons of Sek? Or Blood Pact of the anarch? Yay for Tanith.

[@tabletoptactics]

Would love to have an army to represent those!

[@joshuademeria903]

Hell yeah guys great job and your camera angles are amazing kick ass!

[@chaoslordbeard]

Thank you! Appreciate you mentioning it 👍🏻

[@markrajca6783]

I dont have lots of time atm and have lots of models. This mode allows me to actually get some time to play with my brother and he doesnt need to re learn that much cause its not as complicated as running proper lists. really fun and super narrative. I burnt out of competitive a while ago, and I like these kind of adaptations.

[@tabletoptactics]

Glad to hear it. Enjoy!

[@Toasteration]

The rules give me such a “Space Marines on Celluloid” vibe. These ancient rules from a White Dwarf.

[@talscorner3696]

Mismanagement? In the Imperium? Never!

[@trialsofthegris7603]

This was Such an Entertaining Watch ❤

[@Rabarbarzynca]

Damn, those Demagogue saves...

[@RoderikPo]

Well, first I'd say we have to name this heroic engine-seer who fought to the last drop of machine oil, I propose Morkys. Second, I can't help but feel, that our heroes rolled particalary bad sometimes... mostly during attacks.

[@RedRaiderV]

Gaunt has the Epic Hero keyword, but does the rest of the squad? I think they get the weapons buff, no?

[@striderfox71]

So cool to see my Gaunt Ghost! TANITH FIRST AND ONLY

[@derekball3965]

This mode is great

[@DS_painting]

amazing paint job!

[@beerbatreps3861]

LOVE HERO MODE. Killteam takes too long. This is great

[@SimonClark]

Good god James and dice are not a winning combination are they 😂

[@thebelltower1145]

This is an awesome idea, but the only thing that kept the good guys in the game (or gave them the illusion of hope to begin with), was the very lucky dice rolls for which objective was active. It seems like the one thing that gives the heroes a chance is rerolling their saves, and that isn't enough when the meltas and the like wander into range.

[@tabletoptactics]

We’ve played a few more since this, the Heroes can win trust me! In this instance they needed to save their CP for Heroic Recovery. They would have been able to string the ghosts out and bring more back in the final turns that way, scoring more points :)

[@Kakos08Theos]

That was SO good!

[@DaThingOnTheDoorstep]

Why Gaunt's Ghosts have no Kill Team rules is one of the many GW things that defy all sense.

[@chaoslordbeard]

Hero Mode is here to help 😎

[@CG-yh6js]

"Holy Feth Brag!!!!"

[@HazMat997]

Love this! Would love to play with Deathleaper and it’s Silent Hunters (2 lictors and 6 von Ryans 🤣)

[@jadenhendrickson5285]

I loved this! Great game!

[@TheHarty1]

I know it's over the points limit for the heros, but would love to see the 4 imperial assassins in hero mode

[@jamesvaughan7274]

Complements to Fletch - he's doing some awesome work.

[@ChernobylKid]

the dark gods rolling 6s after 6s after 6s

[@erichschoenholtz5170]

This was awesome.

[@sirscallywagmcmuffin5394]

Very fun game. Great ruleset 👍

[@KaneWG]

Go the ghosts!

[@Huberman1234]

Aw man, the cease and desist letter from GW is going to be printed on gold etched paper for this one. Cool missions pack though. Definitely giving it a try

[@chaoslordbeard]

Hope not 😅 it’s simply a free rules plug in for 40K so hopefully people can enjoy it alongside regular games of 40K

[@200Rats_in_a_Trench_Coat]

As long as no trademarked icons or copyrighted pictures are used in the rules release, there's nothing GW could go after them about. It is perfectly legal to make and even sell 3rd party material compatible with another company's game. Game mechanics cannot be patented and the copyright only protects the literal exact text of the rules as a creative work.

[@tomwilliams7287]

Chaos Lor… I mean lord commissar BREAD woohoo

[@chaoslordbeard]

😎

[@JoinTheTemple]

All I would say is perhaps the horde needs a 500 point reduction to make it possible for the Hero’s to actually get through it. Right now it seems like they will eventually get overwhelmed every time.

[@tabletoptactics]

We’ve done a few games now and the heroes can win! But thanks for the feedback, I’ll continue to monitor :)

[@scottcrompton6931]

Good fun, lads.

[@wurzella1]

Loving it! I feel like hero mode was made for the Tanith 1st 😁 I did assume you would split the unit into individual heros though, Beard only having a single unit feels a bit limiting.

[@chaoslordbeard]

It works I think. Outside of re-writing their roles, some of the Ghosts would be very dull to run independently of eachother. They were fun to use as a unit 👍🏻

[@wurzella1]

@chaoslordbeard I wrote that before I had watched it and I agree now, it did work better than I expected. Great game, they did pretty well considering the amount of chaos degeneracy running at them 😁

[@bryanv1681]

The Hero Mode rules say that only CHARACTER models can be used, but as a beginning Guard player, what happens if you don't want to just use the Ghosts all the time? Would it be feasible to put together something like a single leader with a basic Troops choice, or combining a few things to make a Hero unit? Or is that getting closer to Horde mode again?

[@Ironystorm]

Did I miss the death befitting an officer role for the tank commander ?

[@liefericson6496]

Wanna make sure I remember my rules - the tank commander didn't shoot on death, because BGNT only works when it's *actually* your shooting phase, is that correct? Was confused for a bit when he didn't shoot til I recalled that

[@RedRaiderV]

Awesome

[@winterwolfcr7]

I love the idea of this game mode so much. I'm still trying to get my game group to give it a try with me. I think I'm wearing some of them down lol Question I do have, are you thinking of making changes to some army rules? I partly ask because things like Votann's army rule does kind off the assumption you are loosing units to judge enemies. I'm wondering how it'd work in this mode. Also, just curious, why did you decide on 400 points for the heroes over say 500?

[@ChimneyJuice]

This reminds me of 2nd edition. Heroes were it.

[@pwootton24]

Maelum Cado needs to have a data sheet

[@ElliottClayton-l9b]

Really like the chaos cultist with the masks / air tanks. Anyone know where I can get them? I want to make an army based on Norts from Rogue Trooper and this would definitely do it!

[@vasdklwje]

Please please PLEASE do a recreation of 1st claw vs Eldar from Void Stalker where Jain Zar is the horde warlord

[@davidjack445]

Can I ask, what was the winrate of heroes vs horde when you were testing? From that one watch I feel like 2500 points is A LOT for gaunts ghosts and a single leman russ to deal with 😅 even with strats and plot armour. Interested to see what you found!

[@WisteriaNelson]

Question. Beings the horde can unify under chaos and it be like all the demons and world eaters. Can the players all be imperium and one player be sisters of battle and another be space marines? If that makes sense

[@tabletoptactics]

Yes makes sense and yes, the Heroes can also unite under the Imperium Keyword, so you could have sisters, guard and marine heroes together :)

[@WisteriaNelson]

@tabletoptactics thank you!

[@trentondunn6834]

Semi think defenders need to go first just cause the hordes able to get in charge range as we saw was distressing Edit: also 2500 vs 900? Maybe reduce down to 2000 and lower amount of vehicles hordes can bring seemed like most of Lawrence army was vehicles by the end

[@MichaelSalinas-m8n]

Hear me out Guys but imagine this as a D&D style campaign like what critical role does

[@StuartMcGee-ky2wx]

one time my screamer killer got killed by one gretchin

[@kaisersozzie]

@tabletoptactics, how would the plot armor re-roll work with the Drukhari Shadow Field which says you cannot re-roll the save? Would it allow that re-roll???

[@tabletoptactics]

No it wouldn’t override a shadowfield. You would have to roll that until you fail it, at which point you could revert to your armour or a different invulnerable save if you had an enhancement that gave one etc :)

[@halgrimhelgrimson]

What kind of chainsword only have Str 3? Did it run out of fuel?

[@floriannarratio8062]

The game mode itself seems really fun, but way too punishing against the players. 2500pt. VS 400pt. is just really extreme and it favors characters with good saves like Custodes or Tank Commanders. Hopefully there will be a few updates in the future

[@GrimViridian]

Between this, solo/coop killteam, and a solo variant of aos warcry i found, i now have even more reason to spend all my money x.x but i get to paint minis with my wife lol

[@BjornKuma]

We really need to encourage more narrative style play with a GM. It was a more regular thing WAY back, and it was the style of play that led to D&D from Chainmail. I think we've lost something vital with the sole focus being on head to head play only. Having a GM narrate and direct games with multiple players, NPCs, enemies, objectives, and ongoing storylines csn really turn your one-off wargames into something special.

[@tabletoptactics]

Absolutely, it makes for a much more cinematic experience. It really brings the hobby to life in my opinion:)

[@philedwards7331]

10th Ed has become Skyrim; a playable, yet janky, base game onto which overlays and mods have been added to make it (re)playable.

[@WraithRaider]

Interesting game mode, but a couple of things. The "escalating threat" says the hero army are the attacker and go first. I think this is the correct thing to do, but didn't happen. I get you're in beta (so the BGNT overwatch is a cool addition for the heroes, but surprised you didn't let it shoot on death also), but you put 13 models in a rhino for the horde army. Interested to see how the rules develop, seems it could swing badly against the heroes if not careful.

[@tabletoptactics]

Thanks for the feedback :) Actually what you’re reading in the rules is version 2 (this game used Version 1) and that has introduced several changes, such as the Heroes going first and the 5th wave of Horde removed (so only 2000pts now). Since playing these changes, it’s been working really well. We have a game dropping with the new rules soon :)

[@WraithRaider]

ah ok, that was the version linked in the video. Fair enough, I think that is a good change.

[@kimsebimse6603]

good fun for sure :) im curious though.. or want to question something. having seen all the Hero Mode batreps you have made.. 5-6 i think ? it seems the odds are insanely against the players. maybe a tad too much against them ? i think the players won 1 of those 5-6 games i have seen so far ? hmm.. think Hero Mode is a tad too difficult for the players.

[@chaoslordbeard]

This is our first Hero Mode game, we’ve played Horde Mode previously. I’d say Guard as a faction is definitely hard mode for this game, but it’s definitely a bit easier for Space Marines. Regardless though, it’s certainly a challenge and takes a different playstyle to beat.

[@kimsebimse6603]

@@chaoslordbeard oh.. my bad :) whats the difference between Hero mode and horde mode ? cause the horde mode games i have seen has been with characters too and a few units too. but as the rules are homebrewn etc, its a learning and a work in progress so things gonna change with tweaks etc as you learn and gain experience with the rules you have made :) Just wanted to start the debate. The horde games i have seen has been gooood fun for sure, and this hero mode seem fun too :) question is.. is it a tad too tough for the player as is ? or do you want it to be this hardcore :D bring more games ! we wanna seeeee ! :D

[@tabletoptactics]

Check out the next game of Hero Mode that drops On Demand on Tuesday, that will give you another good example of how it plays and works well :)

[@kimsebimse6603]

@@tabletoptactics ill for sure look forward to that :)

[@KnIf0rTITAN]

I loved this game.... BUT..... i don't think the Imperial side had enough total models to have a realistic chance of winning even if the dice went their way.

[@tabletoptactics]

They could have if James and Joe had been more frugal with their CP. They needed to keep the Gaunt’s alive, so healing them every turn would have given them a bigger footprint to go and get the objectives. Tough for guard, but possible!