2010

Happy New Year!!

/drunk

Foot Wolves

I'm working out my plans for the next couple months, consolidating stuff, eliminating the old and focusing on getting some armies finished.

The Wolf Cavalry army has intrigued me since the book came out, and thanks to St. John's awesome Thunderhoof cavalry (as shown here) I finally have a means to make it happen. This will fulfill my desire to play something besides traditional mech marines and have an excuse to buy Warriors of Chaos stuff without having to endure the suck.

So here's two ideas for how this army will end up looking:

HQ

Canis Wolfborn

Rune Priest-living lightning, tempest fury, chooser of the slain, melta bombs

Elites

2x Lone Wolves-terminator armor, chainfist, storm shield

Troops

3x Grey Hunters-10, 2 meltaguns, Mark of the Wulfen

2x 10 Fenrisian Wolves

Fast Attack

3x Thunderwolf Cavalry-3, thunder hammer, storm shield

Heavy Support

2x Long Fangs-5, 4 missile launchers

Total-2000

5 units of Cav are not to be trifled with, plus I have 30 marines waltzing up the field behind 2 super heroes and backed by a good number of missile launchers.

HQ

Logan Grimnar

Rune Priest-living lightning, tempest fury, chooser of the slain, saga of the beast slayer

Elites

2x Iron Priest-thunderwolf mount, wolf tail talisman, wolf tooth necklace, 4 cyberwolves

Troops

Wolf Guard-6, 5 PAWG, 1 WGT w/ cyclone

3x Wolf Guard-5, 4 PAWG, 1 WGT w/ cyclone

Fast Attack

2x Thunderwolf Cavalry-4, thunder hammer, storm shield, melta bombs

Heavy Support

Long Fangs-5, 4 lascannons

Total-1998

1 less unit of cav, but all 4 are rock solid and a good deal tougher. I lose out on overall bodies, but each unit can now present good firepower on the move plus I've got either moving lascannons or S10 lascannons, so lolz.

That's my take on Foot Wolves, lots of speedy, smashy cav units backed by bodies and enough firepower to force people out of their rides.

Thoughts?

Merry Christmas!!

Hope everyone's having a good one.

I'm posting from our new laptop :D

Culling the herd

Sad to say it, but the time has come.

I have a lot of armies currently, most WIP and unpainted. I'm a college student with a very limited budget, so I can't possibly sustain them all and see any real growth. So, I'm looking at all the stuff I have to trying to figure out what can stay and what must go for the time being. I can actually buy models again and build my armies up, plus I'll have more time and more incentive to paint. Once I graduate and start pulling in 6 figures I'll expand again :P

So, for 40k I've got:
Space Marines
-ungodly amounts of stuff, but mostly basic infantry and Terminators
Orks
-tons of dudes, tons of WIP Battlewagons
Guard
-tons of dudes, handful of tanks
Chaos
-handful of dudes
Daemons
-handful of actual models, lots of WIP sprue daemons and subs (spider Fiends, zombies)

For Fantasy, it's:
Skaven
-tons of rats, skirmishers, and weapon teams, but few bigger war machines
Beasts
-Around 1500 or so, waiting for the new book and edition for Genestealer to get back into them (if at all)
Dwarfs
-Skull Pass
Dark Elves
-Spearhead, Corsairs, Glade Riders

There's also a ton of projects in the pipeline: Tau, Eldar, Inquisition, Lizardmen, Warriors of Chaos/SW dual army, Bretonnians, Tomb Kings, and so on. It's obnoxious, I know.

So, here's what I'm thinking of keeping, just 2 armies per system and Daemons.

40k:
Marines
-I already have tons and can convert stuff into what I need. With so much variety in marine armies, I can have a ton of different playstyles using all the models I have. At a glance, I'm building towards Templarwing, Deathwing/Ravenwing, DA best of, SM best of, SM Bikers, and SW cavalry all using the same models with a few additions.
Orks
-I love Ork fluff and models, but their rules drive me nuts. My fun, fluffy army for sure. Don't need to expand these guys at all, just some conversions and scratch builds.

Fantasy:
Skaven
-My reason for playing Fantasy, love these guys.
Dark Elves
-I've already got a good number of them. I doubt I'll expand past 2250, so I'll do some testing and figure out which kind of army I want.

I'll also build up my sprue Daemon army, or maybe just do the cavspam substitute army Stelek proposed. Either way, I want them cheap and unique to keep things interested.

To make room and make money, I think I'll be selling off the rest. What I have left should keep me plenty occupied. Now I just have to hope I can resist all the new releases and not do anything stupid like buy half an army on release day...

1850/2000/2500Marine Razorspam

This one is for Codex Marines.

HQ
Librarian-Null Zone, Gate of Infinity

Elites
Sternguard-5, 2 heavy flamers, 3 combi-meltas, Razorback w/ lascannon, twin-linked plasma guns
Sternguard-5, 2 heavy flamers, 3 combi-meltas, Razorback w/ lascannon, twin-linked plasma guns
Sternguard-5, 2 heavy flamers, 3 combi-meltas, Razorback w/ lascannon, twin-linked plasma guns

Troops
Tactical Squad-10, lascannon, meltagun, combi-flamer, Razorback w/ lascannon, twin-linked plasma guns
Tactical Squad-10, lascannon, meltagun, combi-flamer, Razorback w/ lascannon, twin-linked plasma guns
Tactical Squad-10, lascannon, meltagun, combi-flamer, Razorback w/ lascannon, twin-linked plasma guns

Fast Attack
Land Speeder-multi-melta, heavy flamer
Land Speeder-multi-melta, heavy flamer
Land Speeder-multi-melta, heavy flamer

Total~1850

6 Razor chassis, 2 speeders in reserve, lots of firepower up close and down range.

For 2000:
Add sniper scouts. A nice buffer and objective holder.

For 2500:
Add a MotF, 3 Rifleman Dreads and bulk out the Scout units. Gives you 3 more armored vehicles and more firepower down range.

Using what I have mostly, but with 6 Razors, 3 Dreads and 2 Speeders plus some cheap infantry sitting back, I can deal with light mech from afar and get in closer to handle heavy armor or BBQ infantry.

2000 Razorwolves

Everybody's doing the Razorwolf thing, here's my take.

HQ
Canis Wolfborn
Rune Priest-Thunderclap, Tempest Fury, Chooser of the Slain

Elites
Wolf Guard-4, 4 combi-meltas, Razorback w/ lascannon, twin-linked plasma guns
Wolf Guard-3, 3 combi-meltas, Razorback w/ lascannon, twin-linked plasma guns

Troops
Grey Hunters-5, flamer, Razorback w/ lascannon, twin-linked plasma guns
Grey Hunters-5, flamer, Razorback w/ lascannon, twin-linked plasma guns
Grey Hunters-5, flamer, Razorback w/ lascannon, twin-linked plasma guns
Grey Hunters-5, flamer, Razorback w/ lascannon, twin-linked plasma guns
Fenrisian Wolves-10
Fenrisian Wolves-10

Fast Attack
Thunderwolf Cavalry-3, thunder hammer, storm shield
Thunderwolf Cavalry-3, thunder hammer, storm shield
Thunderwolf Cavalry-3, thunder hammer, storm shield

Total-1996

As Goatboy would say, AROOO!!! What we lose in overall armor spam (6 chassis vs 12) we make up for in angry doggies running amidst the armored horde. This is mostly because I aim to have 6 Rhino chassis I can swap between Razors, Rhinos and Preds and I wanted to get in on the Razorspam action too.

Basically, it's a pain in the ass to bring down that much armor quickly in addition to nailing the 30 cavalry models running in between them for cover. Lascannons can nail light armor, meltas go for heavy stuff, and the cavalry munch on whatever spills out.

J!-E!-T!-S!

Fail Fail Fail!

See y'all next season.

/Facepalm

Marine bubblewrap

Bubblewrap is like my new favorite 40k euphemism. It means, simply, using disposable units to block enemy movement, shooting and assault to protect your valuable forces, if only for a turn. They can be great protection against alpha strikes, quick assaulters, outflankers, deep strikers, and pretty much anything that can close quickly and is nasty at a relatively short range.



The most common types of bubblewrap are cheap units that can take up a large area, bonus points if they can infiltrate or scout to better draw your opponent in to the roadblock. Kroot, Scouts, Guardsmen, and the like are all very handy bubblewrap units. At face value they're fairly meh, not too survivable or killy, but they're cheap and take up lots of room.



Well, with bugs coming soon, I predict bubblewrap is going to be very useful for many armies. It's going to be nigh impossible to stop so much crap coming in at the same time, from infiltrating bargain bin Genestealers to Spore Pods, Gargoyles, flying MCs, Lictors, outflankers, Deep Strikers, and so on. To counter it, you can do three things: 1) Suck it up and die, 2) Go into reserve and alpha strike the alpha strike, or 3) wrap your army up and let them come. They all work, depending on your army. 1) is best for armies with lots of disposable and versatile units, like mech Guard or marines, 2) works nicely for pretty much any mech army, and 3) is handy for anybody with access to such useful units.



But hey, does bubblewrap always have to be so flimsy? How about some tinfoil wrap? Something that can take a punch and maybe swing back. Inspired by a throwaway comment by Stelek regarding using normal Terminators as bubblewrap, I came up with this little number.



Terminator Librarian-storm shield, Null Zone, Gate of Infinity

10 Terminators, 2 cyclones, 2 chainfists

2 Rifleman (dual TLAC) Dreads

3 Tac Squads in Rhinos, multi-melta, flamer, combi-melta

3 MM/HF Speeders

3 dakka Predators



Ends up around 2000 points, give or take random gear. Basically a best of army with a big anvil unit of Termies. Normally I'd say TH/SS Termies win every time, but in numbers the normal fellas can bring the pain at range and up close. Set up your Maginownt line of Termies and stick your fun bits inside the wrapper. Keep yourself protected and dish out 4 missiles and 20 storm bolter shots with a boat load of powerfist attacks and a force weapon for kicks (Tyranids lose Eternal Warrior, Force Weapons get awesome again). Plus, you've got your normal mechanized, mobile, versatile marine army.



Should be fun

Umpteenth look: Orks: Army list colon #1

So, here's my first in a series I hope to do about possible ways to run my Orks to keep them at least somewhat competitive.

First up is simple, Battlewagons running down your throat.

HQ
Big Mek-KFF, burna, cybork body, bosspole
Warboss-Powerklaw, cybork body, kombi-skorcha

Elites
Meganobs-5, 2 kombi-skorchas, Battlewagon w/ armor plaes, big shoota, reinforced ram, grot riggers
2x 9 Lootas

Troops
Nobs-6, Painboy, cybork bodies, 2 powerklaws, Waagh! Banner, 2 kombi-skorchas, bosspole (all mixed up to be unique, cuz I'm an asshole), Battlewagon w/ armor plates, big shoota, reinforced ram, grot riggers
Shoota Boyz-20, 2 big shootas, Nob w/ powerklaw, bosspole
Slugga Boyz-19, Nob w/ powerklaw, bosspole
Grots-12, runtherd

Fast Attack
Deff Kopta-rokkitz, buzzsaw
2x 2 Buggies-rokkitsz

Heavy Support
2x Battlewagons-armor plates, big shoota, grot riggers, reinforced ram

2000 even.

So, we've got 4 wagons full of ornery Orks ready to stomp on your throat and call it a day. The tricky part is getting there. Battlewagons are deceptive, they look great on paper with AV14, but open-topped and the super narrow model basically turns it into a 4th edition vehicle with AV12 after turn 1. It's almost impossible for them to block for each other because of the shape of the model, so you're going from AV14 to open-topped AV12 quite rapidly. The KFF mitigates it, but once you get into melta range it's pretty much over.

Still, 40 Orks and 2 units of Nobs can break the backs of most anything. The Boss and Big Mek are no slouches either. The former rides with the Sluggas to give them a little extra oomph, while the Big Mek has to babysit the Meganobs. I gave him a burna so he can protect them better by dishing out 4 S5 I4 power weapon attacks on the charge. Shootas will usually stay mounted and blast infantry, but they can hold their own in assault too.

To back that up, I have my Kopta ready to turn 1 pop a vehicle or outflank and annoy. Buggies are cheap, mobile firepower, and Lootas can down light armor from across the board. Having them on foot can cause problems, mostly from LoS blocking Battlewagons, but since I didn't max out to 15 I can find them a good spot to chill most of the time.

Thoughts?

Umpteenth look: Orks

It's maddening coming up with an Ork list that I like, sucky Codices tend to have that problem :P

I'll be reworking my Ork list and hopefully I'll be able to put something worthwhile up.

As is, it's just variations of my battlewagon brigade, featuring:
4-5 Battlewagons full of Nobs, Meganobs, Shoota/Slugga Boyz, Lootas, or even Burnaz/Tankbustas
2 units of Lootas
rokkit/buzzsaw Koptaz and/or rokkit buggies
Grots
Big Gunz if I can swing it
Trukk boyz if I'm feeling lucky

I'll post up some actual lists later after I put more thought into it.

The Gauntlet

If anybody's been wondering where I've been, it's school hell. Last week of school is coming up, followed by finals. I've been through 2 papers, 2 exams, and a presentation this week with more to come.

Kill...me...

New Tyranids

Holy fucking shitballs, these motherfuckers are god damn slap yo bitch ass momma Jesus motherfucking Christ AWESOME!!

Sorry Genestealer, I'll be jacking your bugs for like the next 6 months :P

1800 Fuck You Skaven

Hey, we've had our local tournies set to 1800 points this. It's stupid, I know, which is why I didn't feel like attending. Well, it's the last one and I thought I might want to go out with a bang and maybe convince somebody that we should give armies like TK, BoC, OK and O&G a chance by bringing it up to 2000-2250. At this level, it just makes the awesome armies (Daemons, HE, DE, Skaven, Brets) awesomer.

Heroes
Plague Priest-level 2, flail, Plague Furnace, Dispel Scroll, Warp Scroll
Warlock Engineer-level 2, Doom Rocket, Condenser
Chieftain-BSB, shield, War Banner

Core
Clanrats-24, shields, full command, Doom Flayer/Ratling Gun (x2)
Slaves-20 (x2)
Giant Rats-13, 2 packmasters
Giant Rats-5, packmaster

Special
Plague Monks-27, champion, standard, Storm Banner
Plague Censer Bearers-6
Gutter Runners-5, poisoned attacks, slings

Rare
Hellpit Abomination-warpstone spikes

Total-1800

Holy crap, a Skaven army that can smash face in assault! Who knew? The Furnace unit can steamroll pretty much anything, and whatever it doesn't catch contends with the A-bomb. On top of that, we've got 2 big ranked units with a BSB, 2 Doom Flayers, 2 sacrificial slave units, and flanking GRats. Shooting is fucked between the Storm Banner and Gutter Runners. Magic isn't totally awesome, but it should be fun too.

2250 balanced Skaven

So, in an effort to pin down my tourney army for Skaven, which is slowly driving me mad, I'll be sharing what I've come up with so far.

Lords/Heroes
Grey Seer-2 warpstone tokens, Scrying Stone, Skavenbrew
Plague Priest-level 2, flail, Plague Furnace, Dispel Scroll, Warp Scroll
Warlock Engineer-level 2, Doom Rocket, Condenser

Core
Giant Rats-31, 4 packmasters
Clanrats-24, shields, full command, Poisoned Wind Mortar
Clanrats-24, shields, full command, Poisoned Wind Mortar
Stormvermin-10, musician, Warpfire Thrower
Stormvermin-10, musician, Warpfire Thrower
Slaves-20
Slaves-20

Special
Plague Monks-20, champion, standard bearer, Storm Banner
Plague Censer Bearers-6
Gutter Runners-5, slings, poisoned attacks

Rare
Doomwheel

Adds up to around 2254 so I'm over a smidge.

The Grey Seer drugs up the GRats, who go with the Monks and just cause a ruckus (I was tempted to throw Skweel in there for larfs, but it's tricky finding points for him). Clanrats and MSU vermin do what the old Clanrat/Slaves used to, bait, switch and flank, plus weapon team spam. Stormvermin end up cheaper than minimum Clanrat units, come with higher WS, LD, halberds and heavy armor. So, the Clanrats provide static combat res and the Stormvermin flank and maybe kill something. The big thing is the extra weapon team I squeezed in, yayz! Slaves run out front to make somebody charge, get in the way and die horribly. Doomwheel and PCBs flank and murder people. GRs scout or outflank and go after big weapons and generally be annoying.

I'm not entirely sold on the Storm Banner because I'm not entirely sure if it can be re-used. One Use Only is conveniently absent from its entry, but it seems like something that will be errata'd to say otherwise (you know, in 3 years). I could go for the Banner of the Under Empire to dick any skirmishers or fast cav who dare touch my Monks, combined with Wither it is death on a stick. I'm also not sure if the Plague Monk unit shouldn't be bigger. I removed the censer from the Priest because it seems to hurt me more than anything (15 T tests for me vs. 5 T tests for my opponent, not so good unless they're pansy elves, and Monks murder them anyway), but I don't know if 20 rats will be enough to endure the game.

Thoughts?

Battle Missions

Just got an e-mail from GW about a new supplement book with a whole bunch of new missions. Sounds like a neat concept, I'd be very interested in playing Breakthroughs, Bunker Assault, Assassinations and other fun stuff without having to lug around my 3rd edition book and negotiate terms with my opponent :P

More Marine, Ork and IG models are always cool for me.

Wave Serpent -> Battlewagon?

Just got a Wave Serpent in a trade, and I want to turn it into a Battlewagon.

Any ideas?

Update:

Found an old 2nd edition Rhino. Let the Mekanikal mayhem began anew!

Skaveny fun times

Got my first game in with the new book, yayz.

Played my buddy Kyle's Vampire Counts. He was trying stuff out so it wasn't the nastiest list possible, just your standard PD generation Skelly bunker army (14 PD and 4 bounds, lol).

I threw this together quickly:

Thanquol and Boneripper

Plague Priest level 2 w/ censer, 2 scrolls, furnace

3x 24 Clanrats, shields, flag and mus (champ with Thanquol), 2 Ratlings, 1 WFT

2x 20 Slaves

24 Monks, champ, flag, Banner of the Under Empire

5 PCBs

5 GRs w/ poisoned attacks and slings

Doomwheel

I threw the Doomwheel on the left flank and centered everything on the Furnace, scouted the GRs. He deployed in a nice line, Dire Wolves on the flanks and 3 units of Skellies with Vamps and a unit of Grave Guard with the Lord.

Things didn't get good until around turn 3. The GRs scouted and march blocked plus sniped a few skellies, magic was ineffectual (rezzing Skellies, dispelled wind of undeath) and I just let him come to me.

Notable moments:

-Doomwheel's first shot was a misfire, then it just played keepaway with a unit of skellies. It isn't good for fighting these guys on its own, so shooting was kinda wasted.

-WFT misfired and blew up first chance it got.

-One Ratling kept misfiring, but it got double 3's and double 6's so it kept on trucking. Still managed to pop a lone Vampire.

-I got the Dreaded 13th off TWICE. One from a miscasting Vampire (scrolled it sadly), the other from irresistable warpstone dice. I nuked a unit of Skellies, killing all but the Vampire, who got blasted by a Ratling Gun.

-A unit of slaves got Death Frenzy and charged into his Grave Guard, killing 4 then popping and killing 2 more plus 2 skellies from their cornered rats rule.

-Boneripper did jack all barring firing his Warpfire Thrower into combat between skellies and slaves and killing 16 slaves and 12 skeletons!

-The Lord and a Vampire, plus their units of GG and Skellies charged the furnace and Priest. They whittled the monks down to 12 plus the Furnace and lost around 13 to smoke, censers, and attacks. Next turn the PCBs ran in, I got off Death Frenzy and gave the Monks 5+ poison and I beat the Vampires by 16 or so and crumbled both units and Vampired, including the Lord!

So, my first impressions:

-Doomwheel is a misfire factory, but it will mess up big monsters and multi-wounders with shooting and crush infantry with impact hits. I may just want an A-bomb or WLC.

-Thanquol is redonkulous, even if I did only roll up 3 Tokens. Re-rolling those 1's saved his ass so many times.

-Ratlings got nerfed hard, but they don't totally suck.

-Skaven magic is insane. Death Frenzy and poisoned attacks FTW.

-VCs only have a few worthwhile spells to stop (Wind of Undeath is murder on weapon teams, Vanhel's, and that's about it) so save your dice.

-More power dice means more miscasts.

-WFTs are awesome, even if they blow up.

-The Plague Furnace is insane, but I'll need a bigger unit.

-The Censer ends up being more trouble than it's worth on a Priest riding a Furnace, he forces a ton of T tests on your Monks on top of the gas and doesn't affect nearly as many enemies.

-PCBs are insane. So freaking good.

-Slaves are still the best fodder unit ever.

We had a great game and I'm looking forward to the rematch Saturday, will post up my 2500 list when I finish it up.