Tenth in an ongoing series
THE GAMING STORE “PORTALS” opened last year on Kent Island, MD, a few minutes’ drive from my home, featuring “Tabletop Thursday” open play from 5:00 to 9:00 pm. Since then, my brother-in-law Drew, Drew’s son Daniel, my neighbor Dylan, and I have often used this opportunity to get together and play using the Grimdark Future rules from OPR Games.
(Why Grimdark Future? Because I ditched 40K, and you should, too)
Though we had been playing fairly regularly, and the 3-D’s (Drew, Daniel, and Dylan) had been improving, they had been unable to best me in just over a year: the last time I had lost against them was in September 2025. Several of those defeats that I dished out were serious beatdowns.
Despite their initial enthusiasm for the game, my decades of experience (and tutelage under master wargamers) was clearly too much for them, and I was getting the sense that the others were reluctant to play me, which would doom our little group.
To rejuvenate the gang’s interest, I said that whoever played against me:
- Could pick which of my armies they wanted to fight;
- Could set up the table scenery any way they like and pick their side;
- If they beat me, I would buy them anything they wanted at Portals*
*I had received an unexpected tax refund, so I had extra money lying around
Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is
There’s nothing like a friendly, nothing-to-lose offer to get someone stoked to play: the others jumped at the chance, taking turns in challenging me.
More beatdowns followed, but the 3-D’s were not discouraged. Instead, they learned from each defeat, refining their lists and their tactics, as I had hoped they would. Because believe it or not, I had started to feel bad about slapping them around week after week (but I didn’t feel bad enough to go easy on them: that would be disrespectful).
ln one of our recent get-togethers, Drew stepped up to the plate, wanting to fight my Sabretooth Tigers of Veda. We threw down to the tune of 4000 points per side, the equivalent of 2000 points each in Warhammer 40K.
As is his wont, Drew’s force consisted of “Masta Blasta,” an Orc Marauder Great Walker (like an Ork version of an Imperial Knight) made from a converted Bumblebee Transformer toy. He supplemented “Masta Blasta” with six huge mobs of 20 Boyz each, two small mobs of Burna Boyz, a few leader Orcs, and three Goblin artillery guns.
My Sabretooth Tigers are the GF equivalent of Blood Angels, so I brought a considerably smaller force:
- Kshatriya Rajesh Kumar (a Lieutenant)
- Destroyer leader + 3 Destroyers (aka Terminator hero + 3 Terminators)
- Destroyer Preacher + 3 Destroyers (aka Termie Chaplain + 3 Termies)
- Three squads of 10 Tactical Marines each
- Squad of 3 Marines w/ missile launchers (aka Devastator squad)
- Two APCs (aka Rhinos)
- White Tiger 2 Heavy Tank (aka Land Raider Crusader)
The Game
True to my word, I let Drew set up the table, which he did with minimal scenery, because while he acknowledged that I would have favorable lines of sight, he didn’t want his massive advance slowed by terrain. Fair enough. We determined randomly that we would have three objectives to fight over (the craters in the photo below), and we lined up our armies.
In addition, we decided to experiment with some house rules that I had proposed regarding taking objectives:
- To take an objective, a unit had to move onto it (or within 3″) and stay on it. If the unit moved off the objective, it no longer held it.
- If, at the end of the game, units from both sides were on an objective, it would belong to the side that had the greater number of Wounds on the objective. If the number of Wounds was equal, then the objective was considered contested, held by neither side.
The battle began with Drew’s Orc Marauders surging forward, as did my tanks and Destroyers (Terminators). Firing from the White Tiger tank wiped out an entire mob of Boyz in one go (which Drew found VERY impressive), but plenty of Orcs remained.
On my left, the two Tactical Squads and their APCs gunned down more Orcs and moved pretty much unimpeded toward the objective before them, on the flank. Despite taking some heavy losses in Turn 1, the Orcs managed to inflict several wounds on the White Tiger tank, shaking it (which meant that it would not move or fire in Turn 2) as they swept toward the objectives in the center and my right flank.
For the rest of the game, the Orcs and Sabretooths fought bitterly for the central objective. Drew’s Burna Boyz popped out of “Masta Blasta” (who had been carrying them) and unleashed their flame throwers on my troops, inflicting heavy casualties before being gunned down by my remaining Destroyers (Termies).
On my left, my Tactical Marines seized their objective, took out two of the three Gobbo guns, and pivoted toward the center to aid their brethren.
Once the White Tiger was back in the fight, it evaporated another mob of Orcs before being charged by another, which managed to finish it off in close combat.
“Masta Blasta” continued to stomp about at will: my 3-man missile-launcher team hadn’t been able to even scratch the paint on MB before the Orcs shot them with pistols. The multi-melta on the White Tiger didn’t hit him once all game, and the Destroyers/Termies had no joy against him with their power fists.
The end of Turn 4 saw the Orcs holding the right-flank objective, the Tigers held the left, and the Orcs had the weight of numbers (i.e., more Wounds) on the center objective. A solid and well-deserved win for Drew!
Post-Game Analysis
I made two crucial errors in this game. The first was that I did not have enough anti-tank weaponry, despite knowing that Drew would bring “Masta Blasta.” I should have spent some more points and brought a 3-man team with laser cannons instead of the missile launchers, which did nothing against Drew’s Walker, and were useless against his mobs of Boyz (missile launchers in GF don’t fire anything that can take out a large number of infantry at once, so they are best used against light tanks).
The second mistake was that I committed too many units (four) to my left flank. I knew I did not have enough bodies to take all three objectives, so I sacrificed the one on the right and overcompensated on the left. I should have put one squad of Marines and one APC on the left, and used the other squad and their APC in the center. They would have been a huge help in Turn 2 while the White Tiger was shaken and doing nothing.
We both liked the proposed house rules, even though the second one (counting the number of Wounds that each side has on an objective) kept me from tying the game. I’m hoping that OPR will incorporate something like those in the next version of the basic game, which should be coming out in December (and will be free to download: seriously, why are you still giving GW your money every three years for new rules?).
For his winnings, Drew asked if I would buy his son Daniel what he wanted, and Daniel chose this Tyranid Battleforce. I think it’s a good choice, as Daniel’s Nids (who lost badly–again–to Dylan’s Human Defense Force while Drew and I were playing) need bodies.
As for Drew, this was the first time that he has ever beaten me in a solo game (he and Daniel teamed up to beat my Necrons last year, and he and Daniel beat me and Dylan in a mega-game in the summer of 2025). This was particularly satisfying for him because he hates Space Marines the way fans of the Washington Capitals (which he is one) hate the Pittsburgh Penguins. Hats off to him for a game well-played!
COMING SOON!
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FMSP is the game I’ve been wanting to build for the past 30 years, and soon I can share it with you. I have not used any AI when writing or editing FMSP, or for any of its artwork, because AI sucks, and you deserve better.
FMSP is a labor of love designed by gamers for gamers; it’s not a cash grab by a big corporation that only cares about churning out product. Everything the players need will be in one slim, softcover volume. A separate book (about the same size) for the game master will cover monsters, treasure, and magical items. That’s it. Nothing else needed. All reasonably priced, with minimal frills. And, of course, there will be digital versions you can pull up on your phone.
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Kenton Kilgore writes books for kids, young adults, and adults who are still young. Follow Kenton on Facebook for frequent posts on sci-fi, fantasy, and other speculative fiction. You can also catch him on Instagram.