Blackjack & Hookers

'Ard Boyz 2011

2011-08-08T10:21:00.000-04:00

So, I'm going to 'Ard Boyz this year. Yay. I wasn't planning on it originally, but it's hard to turn down a free event, no matter how crappy it is.

So, my list:

HQ
Ghazgkhull Mag Uruk Thraka
Big Mek - Kustom Force Field

Elites
Kommandoz - 15, 2 burnaz, Boss Snikrot
2x 9 Lootas

Troops
Nobz - 6, Painboy, cybork bodies, powerklaw, kombi-skorcha, powerklaw, bosspole, Waagh! Banner, kombi-skorcha, Battlewagon w/ deff rolla, big shoota, boardin' plank, grot riggers
2x 20 Boyz, Nob w/ powerklaw, bosspole
2x 12 Boyz, Nob w/ powerklaw, bosspole, Trukk w/ reinforced ram, boardin' plank
12 Grotz, Runtherd

Fast Attack
3x Deff Kopta w/ twin-linked rokkit launcha and buzzsaw

Heavy Support
2x Battlewagon w/ deff rolla, big shoota, boardin' plank, grot riggers
Looted Wagon w/ boomgun, big shoota, 'ard case (unless I can get my Kannonz finished in time)

Total ~ 2500

So yeah, Orks. Not a great competitive army, but 'Ard Boyz isn't a great competitive event. Too reliant on matchups, rewarding seal clubbing over close matches and 2500 is a ridiculous point level.

Still, should be amusing.

Quake Con

2011-07-31T13:05:00.000-04:00

Who's going? Me, that's who.

Vassal Ladder

2011-07-28T13:34:00.000-04:00

Katie Drake is organizing a Vassal Ladder over on 3++. I know, Vassal isn't real 40k, but it's a great way to connect with people across the world and this ladder should be good for some laughs. If you haven't done so already, sign up.

The rules are simple: 1 Codex with list alterations every 2 weeks. That means I need to decide on an army.

Here's the fun part. I want YOU to help me pick my army. I know I haven't been posting much, but I'll use this (and NOVA) as the catalyst to get me back to blogging regularly.

Any and all suggestions are welcome. If things go well enough, I may have a new army to build. Fuck.

Party in Forth Worth

2011-06-17T00:25:00.000-04:00

What's a party without some internet celebrities? Shitty.

Tonight's party was, however, decidedly unshitty.

Not to drop any names-ok, I'm dropping names deliberately to show you how cool I am-but I was hanging out with Mike Brandt. Yes, that Mike. Of Nova Open fame.

Yes, such if the life of an internet celebrity. And here's the best part, we were just acting like normal, social people. You couldn't even tell we played with toy soldiers. It was neat.

There were cowboy hats, burgers with quail eggs, a 21st birthday celebration, bachelorette party, pickles and multiple acoustic guitars. Texas, baby.

Also girls. Yes, female girls. No fucking way. Totally.

Anyway, just bragging about my awesome time. If you ever find yourself lacking in pleasant company when traipsing through the DFW area, give me a holler. We can totally hang out and drink beer, like *gasp* normal people.

See you at WarGamesCon.

METAL

2011-04-01T19:41:00.001-04:00

40k and METAL is probably the greatest combination since peanut butter & jelly, blackjack & hookers or mouths & penises. Our friend Dethtron of Dick Move plays 40k and plays metal, so I'm pretty sure that makes him cooler than any of you nerds.

Any of you nerds heading to Adepticon or in the Chi-town area should go see Dethtron play METAL and maybe go play some 40k afterward.

Deets follow:

Dethtron's band, Crusader:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Crusader/172112556153977?sk=app_178091127385

Show info

when: Saturday, April 2nd
doors at 8:30

where: Ardmore Lounge
340 S Ardmore Ave
Villa Park, IL

who: She Likes Todd
Situation Red
Crusader

how much: free!!!!!!!

age: 21+

directions from Adepticon:

1. Head west on Yorktown Mall Dr toward S Grace St

276 ft

2. Take the 1st right onto S Grace St

0.2 mi

3. Take the 1st right onto E 22nd St

0.7 mi

4. Turn left at S Meyers Rd

1.0 mi

5. Turn right at IL-38 E/E Roosevelt Rd

0.8 mi

6. Turn left at S Ardmore Ave

1.5 mi

METAL

Old Stuff Day: Chumby's Definitive Daemon Discourse Extended Edition

2011-03-01T12:56:00.000-05:00

Howdy folks, long time no post. Still busy with life so no new posts quite yet, but since everybody's riding the old nostalgia express, I figured I'd get in on it too. Here's one of my favorite articles for you to enjoy again, fully remastered with digital audio and some totally non-intrusive and relevant extended scenes certainly not added in just because I wanted more CGI shit cluttering up the action.

Daemons. They're a weird bunch. If CSM was the victim of the late 4th dumb down design paradigm, Daemons were the gooey fun bits left over, stapled together, prettied up and sent out into the world, which I guess means they're the benficiary? Anyway, we're left with a new Codex, first of its kind, with a unique style of play. Daemons are also in effect in WHFB, but that's another tale.

I've been playing them since the books came out and I still enjoy them. They're a bit gimmicky and don't have the kind of variety we've gotten used to with the recent 5th ed books, but overall it's an enjoyable army. Unfortunately, due to their relative newness and quirky workings, a lot of people don't understand how they work, what they can and can't do well, or how to effectively use/stop them. I'm here to fix that, cuz I'm just good like that.

Everything in the army Deep Strikes, bar none. Every army is divided into two "waves" consisting of approximately 1/2 the total number of units. On turn 1, 1 of those waves comes in all together. You can pick the wave, but you only get it on a 3+. Wave 2 comes in normal reserves. Right off the bat, you see just how random this army is. Deep Strike is bad enough, but you're not even guaranteed of getting the wave you want. A botched roll on your wave can put you in a bad position or even cost you the game. It's possible to mitigate the effects of scatter with icons, but they have to be on the board to start in order to work. That means the first wave (the important one) can't use them, so that's a fail. For other units to make use, they have to get nice and close, clustered in "please pie plate me" formation. Mobile units don't need them and most slow units are shooty or static anyway, so icons just aren't very useful.

Like any Deep Striking army, Daemons have difficulties dealing with mobile forces and any army that can effectively castle or reserve to negate their first strike/surprise attack capabilities. They also suffer from a critical lack of anti-tank power with no melta or any reliable weapons above S8 (thought it is AP1). Daemons rely on a few highly mobile units to catch up with enemy armor and either destroy/disable them through weight of attacks in HtH, or blast them with S8 AP1 on side and rear armor.

Overall, it's a fun army with a unique playstyle and lots of potential, but the built in randomness and difficulties handling mobile and mech armies leave something to be desired competitively. I like playing them in casual settings, or for a fun change competitively, but this isn't your normal tourney army.

I'll follow up with a review of each FOC slot, some strats for and against, and a couple lists for perusal. Unlike my Necron blurb there's actually stuff worth reviewing here :P

Links!!
HQs
Elites
Troops
Fast Attack
Heavy Support
Wave Splits and Deployment
Lists

Life Update

2011-01-27T17:43:00.000-05:00

Hey y'all, some stuff to report.

I got a new job, pastry prepping at a cool little bakery. It's not the most glamorous position, but it pays better than register jockey, the hours are nice and they have fun benefits (tuition and 401k, yummy). That means I've got my steady cash flow back in play, which means I can blow all of it on toy soldiers again. Hooray! This, combined with my tax return, should give me plenty of jack to hit up NOVA later this year. Incidentally, anybody who wants to split a room up to save some jack should let me know ASAP and we'll get something together. I'm looking at you Brent, Goatboy and anybody else local ;)

I just started playing League of Legends and it is incredibly entertaining. Best part, it's free. I'm Chumbalaya on there too if anybody is playing it.

I'm going to try and get back to posting and playing regularly now that I've got a cash flow going.

New FAQs

2011-01-14T23:44:00.000-05:00

Get
Them
While
They're
Hot

That's great and all, but the real story is...

DARK ANGELS GOT A FUCKING UPDATE!!!!!!

And I jizzed in my pants.

I'm gonna need a couple days to clean up, but in the meantime I'll leave you with this.

Also, some potential army lists.

Dark Angels
Belial w/ TH+SS
6x DW squads w/ cyclone and TH/SS
3x2 Typhoons
1990

Black Templars get Furious Charging LCs and new storm shields, so BA can suck it. They also get Tank Hunting Krak Missiles in addition to suppression from cheaper Typhoons.

All old things are new again, baby.

A Christmas List

2010-12-24T23:57:00.001-05:00

E-mail:

Hello,

Wondering what you think to this Flesh tearers army list. First 40K army in a while.

I've just created a flesh tearers list that I quite like.
Let me know what you think.

I really loved your flesh tearers list online.

HQ.
Astorath the grim

Troops:
Flesh tearers Tactial squad (10)
Rhino transport

Flesh tearers Assult marines
(Astorath the grim to join this unit)

Death Company (10)
Rhino Transport

Death Company (5)
(Jump Packs)
Unit to be joined by Lemerates guardian of the lost.

Death company Dreadnought.

Elites:
Flesh tearer Terminator squad (5)
(Assult cannon, power sword + 2 x chain fists.)
Land raider crusader transport for terminators.

Fast attack:
2 x land speeders both with typhoon missle launchers.

Heavy Support:

Flesh Tearers Dreadnought

Merry Christmas,

Luke.

Well, Luke, you've been a very good boy this year, so here's your Christmas present ;)

You've got a lot going on with this list here, a big expensive character, a couple decked out units, some foot, some jumpers and a kitchen sink. While the individual elements are good (well, maybe not the vanilla Terminators, Tacticals and Lemmy), the list overall is extremely top heavy and unfocused.

Based on what you've got, you have plenty of options on how to improve it. Unfortunately, they all entail axing a significant chunk of your list and fitting in units that work better together.

Astoroth is a very smashy IC and gives you access to more DC, or rather, more units of DC. DC themselves are durable and killy without need of a Priest to babysit them, but they can be hampered significantly by Rage. Also, DC do not score, so you can't just fill up your Troops slots with them and go nuts on people. If you do Astoroth, I would recommend taking 2-3 smaller units of DC in Rhinos or Razorbacks (TLHF Razors). The vehicles help mitigate the effects of Rage and give you multiple fast and disposable units that, while non-scoring, will cause headaches for most people just from their speed, resilience, and potential for carnage. 3 DC in a TLHF Razor is only 115 points, 140 if you want to round them out with a powerfist, and for the price they are quite nasty. Combine that with ASM in Rhinos, Riflemen Dreads/Typhoons/Preds for fire support, and Termies/Sangy Guard/Honor Guard as your specialists. Running DC on foot takes too long, big hammer units are too expensive, and jumpers are insanely overcosted while easily hurt more by Rage.

Jumpers are another big strength of the Blood Angels book. However, I wouldn't advise running just 2 units of them. The big advantage of jumpers is Descent of Angels, making them more reliable in showing up and not scattering outrageously and allowing you to always get the drop on your opponent by giving him nothing to shoot for 1-2 turns while you always get to strike first. If you go this route, DC and Astoroth can take a back seat to Librarians (Hood, Lance), Honor Guard (multiple true meltas), and Vanguard (Heroic Intervention FTW).

Mech is also very doable. Super fast Rhinos/Razors/Preds give you plenty of mobility and the means to unleash all the firepower/stabby swords when and where you need them, in addition to the normal benefits of tanks (LoS blocking, movement blocking, shocking, protecting cargo, etc). You can incorporate Astroboy and the MSU DC in this scheme, or you can go for something ritzier like TH/SS Terminators or Sanguinary Guard. When bringing big rocks like Land Raiders and Storm Ravens, remember to bring 2 for redundancy's sake. Where 1 might get stunlocked or destroyed on a flukey roll, 2 will give you more flexibility and reliability.

A hybrid force is trickier to pull off, but still doable. You mix up the good bits of mech and jumpers (or bikes, or foot) as you like. You can go for a core of FNP jumpers backed by mobile firepower, a typical mech force augmented with hammer units of Sanguinary Guard or Vanguard, a Blood Rodeo, or anything you can think of that combines multiple elements that can support one another without being a one-trick pony.

And don't forget about Sanguinary Priests. Cheap bubbles of FNP and FC are just too awesome to pass up!

And just some extra elaboration on why Vanillla Terminators, Tacticals and Lemartes are sub-par (not necessarily bad, mind you, just more limited in their uses). Terminators are pricey, don't bring enough firepower (bolters are bolters, after all), and tend to get stomped on by dedicated CC units. TH/SS Termies will see more use because of their 3++ saves, but shooty Terminators can work. 10 with 2 cyclones and an added Priest are very durable against anything short of melta/plasma and quite shooty, just be prepared to pay through the nose.

Tacticals are generalists, so general that they have a hard time focusing on a particular role (ADD Marines, sadly). They can kinda hunt tanks, kinda kill infantry and kinda fight in combat, but do nothing well. It gets worse when Assault Marines work much better as front line troops (bp/ccw is better in assault, 2 meltas rock, and DoA rules) and can pick up transports cheaper. Tacticals do, however, give you a good midfield bunker unit and can be good support for more dedicated units, just don't expect much from them on their own.

Lemartes looks cool and can be incredibly deadly after he takes the first obligatory wound (except that one game where he always made his saves while the DC dropped like flies around him, hrmph), but he's so expensive and pretty much forces your DC to get jump packs. Jump packs are obscenely expensive on DC, like a tax for an already expensive character. All decked out, DC have a huge price tag; I'd much rather have a unit of Terminators and their Land Raider for the points. No go on this mook.

So, tl;dr you should re-do your army from the ground up. Find a theme or style of play that appeals to you and go with that. You'll find that a book as flexible as this one gives you plenty of options. The hardest part, as you've found out, is loading up on too many toys.

Hope that helps, give me a holler if there's anything else you need.

Have a Merry Christmas (that goes to all of you, even Brent)!

Attention

2010-12-15T17:27:00.000-05:00

Howdy all. Long time no see, eh?

Greetings from Frisco, TX, my new base of operations. This past month has been absolutely insane, hence my lack of presence. I doubt I'll be around regularly any time soon as things are still hectic, but I figured I'd let y'all know what's up.

Incidentally, if anybody lives in the DFW area or knows where I can go for a much-needed game, please let me know.

Thanks y'all, see you in the tubes some time.

PS: Texas is awesome!

Brief Update

2010-11-28T21:11:00.000-05:00

Hey all, I'm not quite dead yet.

The move has been hectic with a whole bunch of drama involved, but we're all here in Dallas trying to get life back to normal.

I'll be on Xbox Live sporadically, but internets at home are sporadic as I try to find my laptop.

My Life

2010-11-15T08:09:00.000-05:00

Sucks.

Deets to follow.

What I'm Up To

2010-11-12T15:31:00.001-05:00

This may come as a shock to some, but I haven't been updating all that much. I know y'all are missing out on your daily dose of awesome that is me and I apologize. Things have been quite hectic.

So, just to recap you all on the ongoing drama that is my life:
The Familaya is moving down to Dallas, TX. Mombalaya got a sweet gig after earning her PhD back in May and Dadalaya is starting his new career down there. Cool beans, right? Not so much when you're me, trying to decide if I'm staying in Rochester or going down with them. It'll be my first time living alone so trepidation is expected. It also doesn't help that they've been hemming and hawing over going to Dallas, Maryland, or parts unknown. We really won't know for sure until next week. So, until then, we have to prepare to move somewhere, and all the drama that entails. Even if I do stay in Rochester, I won't have a place until January and I'll be helping my family settle in down south. Transitional period FTL.

Problem is, the movers are coming this weekend. Yes, that's right, all our shit is to be packed up and on a truck by Saturday. Same weekend as DaBoyz GT, oh joy.

This has been going on for the past couple months. It's why I had to miss the Battle for Salvation, it's why I haven't been in school this past semester, it's why I haven't touched my models or a paintbrush in a month, and it's why I may end up missing DaBoyz GT.

Too much shit going on and it's driving me mad. I really hope we can finish packing everything by tonight, otherwise I'm SOL for the GT.

Moving is a bitch.

E-mail: Natural E-Peen Enlargement

2010-11-10T08:56:00.000-05:00

E-mail:
Logan-275

Rune priest-115
Jaws, lightning, chooser of the slain, melta bombs.

10 wolf guard-270
2 with terminator armor, cyclone launchers.

10 wolf guard-270
2 with terminator armor, cyclone launchers.

10 wolf guard-270
2 with terminator armor, cyclone launchers.

6 long fangs-140
5 missile launchers

6 long fangs-140
5 missile launchers

6 long fangs-140
5 multi meltas

comes out to 1620 i do believe.

Few questions

1-should my wolf guard have bolters, bolt pistols, or a mix.

2-should that last fang squad have rockets or multi meltas. I think
mobile multi meltas could be the epitome of 'i thought wolves were an
assault army', and the list is loaded with missiles.

3-i can fill the rest of the points up with 3 solo wolf cav with
hammers, and 2 lone wolves with termie armor, storm shield, and
chainfist. does this seem liek the best way to go?

Hooray Loganwing and hooray e-mails.

I'm not a big fan of the giant 10 man squads, apart from 1 working as an escort for Logan. I much prefer the 5-man set up for the added flexibility. It's the MSU approach, bringing more units means you have more distinct threats on the board, can fire on more targets (really handy for stunlocking), and can effectively cover more ground (extremely useful since you have no transports).

1-I use pistols and ccw, simply because normal Wolf Guard are not Relentless and the extra attack is oh so wonderful. What makes the Cyclone Wolf Guard units good is not just the 2 shot missile launcher they sport, but rather the fact that they can move up while doing so and deliver a fairly effective beat down to most units just through sheer weight of attacks.

2-If you go multi-meltas, you'll need a Drop Pod. A 24" range isn't very handy, even with Relentless. Otherwise, Missile Launchers and potentially Lascannons (for the S10 goodness) are the way to go.

3-The mini-HQs running up front as interference are incredibly useful. They can tie down problem units, intercept charges, and pretty much make a mess of things. I support that.

Stupid Sad Music

2010-10-28T12:19:00.000-04:00

The Halo Reach soundtrack is abysmally depressing. It's awesome.

Dark Eldar: The Armada

2010-10-22T22:28:00.000-04:00

Hey look, Dark Eldar.

I really like the new Raiders. A lot. Having a swarm of transports has always been a pipe dream of mine, but I always end up with infantry or semi-mech armies. Hopefully I can break that trend with the new Dark Eldar.

HQ
2x Haemonculi w/ Venom Blade, Liquefier

Elites
3x 4 Trueborn, 4 Blasters, Venom w/ Splinter Cannons

Troops
2x 9 Wyches, haywire grenades, Succubus w/ Agonizer, Raider w/ Flickerfield, Enhanced Aethersails, Shock Prow
2x 5 Wracks, Liquefier, Raider w/ Flickerfield
2x 5 Wracks, Liquefier, Venom w/ Splinter Cannons

Heavy Support
Razorwing w/ Flickerfield
2x Ravagers w/ Flickerfield, Night Shield

Total - 2000

Almost as many boats as possible, barring the 1 I could get from an Archon's Court. Still possible if I drop the Wyches for more Wracks. Basically, I've got 12 vehicles, albeit mostly open-topped AV10 vehicles, zipping around with massive quantities of anti-tank and anti-infantry. I think I'd rather drop the Venom-bound Wracks and bring the Trueborn down to min-size to fit in 2 units of 6 Reavers sporting Heat Lances, but we'll see how things shake out.

Thoughts?

Blood and Thunder

2010-10-17T00:46:00.000-04:00

I thought up this cool name, so I needed a list to go with it.

HQ
Librarian w/ Shield of Sanguinius, Unleash Rage
Elites
5 Assault Terminators, 3 TH/SS
3 Priests, 1 w/ LC
Furioso w/ Magna Grapnel
Troops
4x 5 RAS, flamer, las/plas Razorback
Fast Attack
2x Flamestorm Baal w/ HK
Heavy Support
Stormraven w/ TLPC, TLMM, HB, XA
2x Rifleman

Total - 2000

Big smashy rock, but a good army behind it. Dual Ravens with Hammernators is just silly.

Thoughts?

New Dark Eldar

2010-10-10T10:11:00.001-04:00

Got to flip through the new Codex yesterday. Hopefully we can get a scan some time soon (pretty please).

Awesome stuff.

Going through some preliminary list building, just for funsies.

HQ
Haemonculus w/ Crucible of Malediction, (75)
Wracks as Troops, free Pain Token for the Incubi, and anti-psyker. Who could ask for anything more?
Elites
9 Incubi, Klaivex w/ Demiklaives, Raider w/ Flickerfield, Aethersails, Torment Grenade Launcher (313)
Hi, I'm here to smash your face.
2x 5 Trueborn Warriors, 4 blasters, Venom w/ Splinter Cannon (185)
Yum, 4 BS4 blasters up in your face.

Troops
2x 10 Wracks, 2 w/ Liquefier Gun. boss dude w/ Agoniser, Raider w/ Flickerfield, Aethersails, Torment Grenade Launcher (230)
T4, FNP, masses of poison and scoring. Woot!
2x 10 Warriors, shredder, splinter cannon, Raider w/ Shard Racks, Flickerfield, Torment Grenade Launcher(195)
Mop up scoring units dishing out tons of poison with re-rolls to hit if they do a fly-by.

Heavy Support
3 Ravagers w/ Flickerfield (115)
Pew Pew!

Total - 1953

This is by no means a definitive list, just me throwing together ideas from memory. You can do a lot with the DE book, but this is pretty straightforward and unlikely to get boned by a FAQ :P Lots of anti-armor, lots of skimmers and plenty of big toughies to hold things up and smash them with massed poison.

Battle for Salvation: Everybody Needs a Friend

2010-10-08T07:18:00.001-04:00

Everybody will be heading out to BFS today. Isn't that cool? I'll be following from the sidelines as best I can, considering I'll be putting in crazy amounts of overtime this weekend.

Also, as a favor to me, keep an eye out for this weirdo:

That's my buddy Kevin. We've been pals since middle school and gaming buddies for about as long. I haven't seen him in years since he ran off to go to Cornell and later live in NYC like some kind of weirdo. I know, right? Well, anyway, we were going to meet at BFS and catch up on things, but my presence will be lacking. So, if any of y'all reading show up at BFS and run into a nerd in a gown playing a very nicely painted (last I checked) Emperor's Children army, say hi for me. He'll be going it solo, so make sure he's got some friends at the event.

So, best of luck to everybody, hope y'all have a great time.

Sad Panda

2010-10-04T22:45:00.000-04:00

Ok, this is super shitty.

My family is moving to parts unknown (Dallas, TX) this November while I stay up here in Rachacha. Pretty standard stuff, birds leaving nests and all that (quite the reverse, actually), and I am approaching it with cautious optimism. However, that leaves me in a sore spot for finding a place to stay and learning how to support myself. Probably gonna cut back on the hobby-related purchases for a while, so much for DE.

Here's the shitty part. I work full time while going to school, so I have a full plate on my hands. On top of that, this whole move thing is stressing me out like crazy. I feel like my blood pressure is shooting through the roof some times, I get headaches and a general malaise has fallen over me. Bad times if I'm looking for a new place to call home. That also explains my lack of any real updates recently, sorry.

Ok, the real shitty part. I have been enlisted to help my family move Thanksgiving weekend. We'll be loading up a truck, driving it down, unloading and having our Turkey Day together before I fly back up here. The problem? I only have so many vacation days to take off of work and I am living on a very tight budget.

As a result, I will not be attending the Battle For Salvation GT. I don't have the vacation hours, I don't have the money, and I don't have the time when I need to focus on boring stuff like finding a place to live and budgeting my money. I'm really bummed out over it, I was so looking forward to seeing everybody there and having a fun weekend. But it is what it is. Life sucks, being a grown up sucks, and it makes me a sad panda.

Sorry for the disappointment, hope I can make it next year.

Prepare for Salvation

2010-10-01T22:26:00.000-04:00

The Battle for Salvation GT is fast approaching. We're a week out from the main event and it's shaping up to be a rousing success like NOVA. The format looks great and there's a huge crowd coming out. A veritable who's who of bloggers and internet personalities will be in attendance, yours truly included.

So, as the hype builds I'm putting the finishing touches on my list and models. It'll be Loganwing, of course, just tweaked.

HQ
Logan Grimnar
Rune Priest - Living Lightning, Tempest's Wrath, Chooser of the Slain

Elites
2x Lone Wolves w/ Terminator Armor, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield

Troops
10 Wolf Guard, 2 WGTs w/ Cyclones
2x 5 Wolf Guard, WGT w/ Cyclone, Chainfist, 2 w/ combi-meltas
5 Wolf Guard, WGT w/ Cyclone, Powerfist, 2 w/ combi-plasma

Fast Attack
3x 1 TWC w/ Powerfist, Storm Shield

Heavy Support
6 Long Fangs, 2 lascannons, 3 heavy bolters
2x 5 Long Fangs, 4 missile launchers

Total - 2000

So, a couple changes from my NOVA list. I added in combi weapons to give me a little extra insurance against higher AVs and tough stuff like MCs. The combi-plasmas are an experiment on a unit made for holding objectives. Double tapping with 2 plasma guns and a cyclone should do plenty of damage to junk like MCs, Sanguinary Guard and the like that get too close for comfort.

The real sticklers for me are the Lone Wolves and Long Fangs. I went for Thunder Hammers to make use of their effect, knocking problem units down to I1. They have a tendency to get killed off before they can swing, but with bad guys at I1 I stand a much better chance of at least taking them with me. The same could be done for the TWC of course. Chainfists work great against armor too, so I'm very much on the fence.

With the Long Fangs, I had considered swapping weapons around. I only have 8 missile launchers, so no changing that, but I could swap out to go with 2 LC/2 ML and 2 ML/3 HB instead of what I have now. HBs provide great torrent fire for cheap, while the LC/ML combo would fit better with Logan providing Tank Hunters.

I'm going to be doing some testing and analysis of my own, but any input from my friends out there would be great.

E-mail: Land Raider Loganwing?

2010-09-29T23:21:00.001-04:00

E-mail in. Be forewarned, it's a doozy :P
Hey Chumb,

I had a small birthday event yesterday, as a result of which I now have 2 boxes of LRC/LRR sitting next to me. Now, I do have the option of trading them in for other stuff, but I'd prefer to be able to use them, since they were a present. Now, I know that it's difficult to make good use of Raiders with Wolves, since you can't get hammernators for 40 points. The other option would be to do a Vulkan army, but I'd rather not have to paint all those rhinos, Razorbacks, and Speeders that I already have. With that in mind, I've tried to write a list which uses 2 LRCs while remaining somewhat competitive. Now, my thinking was that I shouldn't spend more than 200 points for the contents of each raider, since that's how much 5 hammernators would be. So, the advantages I can identify for Wolves running land raiders are as following:

- Can make termies scoring. It's true that it's not possible to get cheap hammernators, but basic termies are quite cheap. This, combined with the ability to equip WG individually might allow me to make a unit comparable in effectiveness to 5 hammernators.

- Logan's USR and +1 attack bubble: when comparing Logan with Vulkan, which I would use if I was doing vanilla, Logan is significantly more expensive, but I can use him to give Preferred enemy to his unit, which is better than master crafted weapons, although this only works for one unit. The attack bubble is pretty awesome as well, but being one use means that I would need to have one very decisive assault phase.

- Rune Priests. My thought here was to give the 2 land raiders a cover save as they advance, which should make 2 raiders pretty hard to stop.

Now, the issue with that is that logan and a runepriest is already almost 400 points in HQs. Still though, I thought I'd give it a go to write a list based on this.

Here it is:

Logan Grimnar

275

Rune Priest

100

5 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour

2 with Power Fist and Storm Bolter

2 with Storm Shield and Power Weapon

1 with Heavy Flamer and Power Weapon

220

Dedicated Transport: LRC with Multi Melta

260

5 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour

2 with Power Fist and Storm Bolter

2 with Storm Shield and Power Weapon

1 with Heavy Flamer and Power Weapon

220

5 Grey Hunters

Flamer

LasPlas RB

150

5 Grey Hunters

Flamer

LasPlas RB

150

3 Long Fangs

2 Missile Launchers

Las Plas RB

140

3 Long Fangs

2 Missile Launchers

Rhino

Rifleman Dread

125

Total: 2000

Now, I'm not entirely convinced about it. The units of WG don't seem to have that much punch, with 9 PW attacks and 6 PF attacks on the charge. The 2 IGs help, with the unit that has logan getting an additional 6 attacks and rerolling to-hit, and the unit with the priest getting an extra 3 PW attacks. However, that for 1300 points? sounds kinda crap tbh. I like the heavy flamers on them, maybe I should go with a much less tooled up unit, just having 2 Termies with flamers and Fist, maybe a couple power weapons and just going with number of attacks as well as 2 heavy flamers. 240 points will give me 10 wolf guard, with 2 heavy flamers, 6 PF attacks and 32 normal attacks.

Anyway, do you think Land Raiders can be worked into Space Wolves? It doesn't have to be Logan Wing, (I will be building a foot Logan Wing army), this is just the only way I could see it work. Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,

43

I was gonna go on some whole spiel about the problems SW have with Land Raiders, but you did it all for me. Jerk :P

Personally, I hadn't really considered it, due to all the reasons you laid out. Hammernators are just too awesome, really. SW have a lot going for them, but rocks aren't one of them (or, rather, relatively cheap and versatile rocks). The strengths of the SW book are awesome HQs, cheap and versatile Troops, cheap and spammable firepower, and cav. With TWC around, SW can deliver their powerful assault units without relying on transport.

Looking at what you made up, I wouldn't change all that much. I think I'd rather go for bigger units of Fangs, Speeders and power armor to fill out those Land Raiders.

So, maybe
HQ
Logan

Troops
Wolf Guard - 5 WG, , 1 PF (joins BCs), 4 WGT, HF+PW, SS+TH, SS, SS+PF, LRC w/ MM, extra armor
12 BCs, power weapon, MotW
2x WG - 5, WGT w/ CML, CF

Fast Attack
3x Speeder w/ MM/HF

Heavy Support
LRC w/ MM, extra armor
2x 5 Long Fangs, 4 ML

Total - 2000

Since we can't take Hammernators, which are anvils and hammers, we go 2 more specialized units. BCs dish out a ridiculous number of attacks and make up for WS3 with numbers and re-rolls from Logan. They do quantity, he does quality. The WG are your anvil. Back that up with a good amount of missiles and Speeders for disruption.

It's not great by any stretch, but that just shows how SW and Vanilla marines operate differently.

Dark...Eldar?

2010-09-26T09:50:00.000-04:00

Holy fucking shit, the end times are nigh!

Archon, The Big Boss of Facerape

Incubi, the Archon's Home Slices and all around dickrippers


Lelith says fuck you.


I can't tell Wych models are best.

Our weapons are terror, darkness and SPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED

The engines. Raise them!

Sure looks nice for a bunch of Dark Lance wound counters.

I need to change my pants.

8th Edition Winsauce: 2250 Skaven

2010-09-25T10:19:00.001-04:00

While I'm working on some build requests for some of you jerks (Sicarius? Seriously? :P) and stuff, I just thought about Fantasy a bit.

I'm not really jiving with it just yet, mostly because I haven't had many chances to play since 40k is king around here. But reading through the rulebook, discussions with folks online and such handy resources as 3++ and YTTH have definitely helped me get the old thinking parts working.

2250 is the standard locally, so here's an idea for a shooty/magic/MSU Skaven dealy.

Lords
Grey Seer - General, Dispel Scroll
Magic is fun, but only when I get it off.
Grey Seer - Power Scroll
Dreaded 13th with IF? Yes please!

Heroes
Warlock Engineer level 1 w/ Doomrocket, Warp Energy Condenser
Another dose of Warp Lightning hopefully as well as the odd extra Power die and the hilarity that is the DOOM Rocket
3x Warlock Engineers
Hi, I'm a 15 point Hero who can cockblock and annoy people all fucking day.

Core
2x 30 Clanrats, shields, full command, Warpfire Thrower
Big bunkers for my Seers to hide in, Steadfast numbers and WFTs to start frying shit.
2x 10 Stormvermin, banner, Poisoned Wind Mortar
More MSU, more weapon teams, hell yeah!
2x 20 Slaves, slings, musician
Dirt cheap screens, flank anchors and 20 potentially poisoned sling shots for lulz.
2x 5 Giant Rats, 1 Packmaster
Hey, I'm an annoying 23 point unit, want to waste time shooting or charging me? No? Too fucking bad!

Special
2x 5 Gutter Runners, Poisoned Attacks, Slings
Hi Fast Cav, fuck off! Also War Machines get dicked by massed poison.

Rare
2x Doomwheel
1) Doomwheels are awesome, 2) Doomwheels are awesome
2x Warp Lightning Cannons
Hey look, a cannon that can blow up monsters and blocks. Sweet!

Total - 2250

So, I just shoot the piss out of you, magic your shit up, and if need be come in with lots of impact hits and steadfast blocks. Hopefully this will work.

Look out for more Fantasy stuff today, maybe I can get my Dr. Doom themed Army of Ratveria finished too :3

Halo Reach

2010-09-19T23:07:00.002-04:00

See y'all in a few weeks :P

DaBoyz GT Primer: Game 3

2010-09-15T23:30:00.001-04:00

I'm up against Joe J, the guy who won Best Painted for his amazingly totally super awesome...

Footdar.

HQ
Eldrad
Avatard

Elites
Fire Dragons - 7, Exarch w/ Firepike, Crack Shot, Wave Serpent w/ TL EML, Shuriken Cannon, Spirit Stones
Harlequin Troupe - 8, Kisses, 1 Fusion Pistol, Shadowseer, Troupe Master

Troops
Pathfinders - 8
Pathfinders - 8
Dire Avengers - 10, Exarch w/ dual cats, Bladestorm, Wave Serpent w/ TL EML, Spirit Stones
Dire Avengers - 10, Exarch w/ dual cats, Bladestorm

Heavy Support
Wraithlord - Bright Lance, EML

My old nemesis, the almighty Footdar. Pathfinders could cause me problems, but everything I can outshoot, outpsychic and outfight.

My list is here.

Mission 3 was Spearhead.

This one is a bit wonky, simply because it goes short to short board edge. I have to get all up in his grill to win and he only has infiltrators and 2 skimmers that can get into mine, the rest has to get through my army.

Terraing was a tad sparse here, dominated by big towers that blocks LoS and some area terrain. Stuff was big enough to hide a Serpent or Wraithlord or even the Forge World Avatard, so there's some potential problems for me.

I lost the roll off so he deployed first. Avatard went dead center, Serps each went to a flank, Wraithlord up top and Eldrad hiding behind a giant tube.

Since he has no real blasts to worry about and I really need to cross the board quickly, I put all my shit up as far as possible, Logan joining a unit of Fangs to give me more mobile firepower. Self-generating cover saves FTW.

Now that I have covered my D-zone, he can't infiltrate Rangers anywhere handy and my Chooser cut out another big chunk of board. They end up bunkered up just outside his deployment zone, so that's 2 fewer problems.

Turn 1

Avatard gets Fortuned, Rangers get Guided. Herpaderp Lava Man runs up to say hi, everything else cowers. Shooting is meh.

All but the 2 Logan-less Fang squads advance. Shooting nails the Dragons' Serpent, wounds the Wraithlord, Avatard and bounces off the Avengers' Serpent. Now just 1 threat remains.

Turn 2

Avatard walks up more, everything else shuffles and shoots. More ineffectual. Harlies advance.

TWC jumps in with the Avatard, everybody else shuffles up. Wraithlord and Serpent get hurt more. Combat is a draw.

Turn 3

More Fortunes and Guides, not many casualties. Avatard and TWC slap each other around to no avail. Harlies jump on my big WG squad and maul the fuck out of them.

Lone Wolf and other TWC jumps in to finish the job on good old Aang. Shooty does more shooty, Serpent and Wraithlord go down. Logan, 5 man WG and a unit of Fangs jump into the Harlies, Logan pops his +1 Attack bubble. Raep ensues. Space Clowns go away. Avatard gets pimp-slapped by a Lone Wolf, but not before killing one TWolf.

Turn 4

Not a lot to shoot, so not a lot happens. Eldrad gets dicked by the Runic Weapon, hilarity ensues.

More stuff advances, Lone Wolf jumps in with Pathfinders, TWC with Fire Dragons. Smashy smahy, Elfdar go running.

Turn 5

Eldrad gets dicked further by the Runic Weapon in some kind of cosmic justice. Rangers manage to plink away the Rune Priest and his squad after only shooting them for 5 turns. Dragons break and flee, Avengers charge a Lone Wolf, hilarity ensues.

My army all make it past the midline, TWC goes after some Rangers, Eldrad takes a krak missile to the face, game is called.

I got all but one point here, just because I couldn't make any of his units flee off the table (I had problems with me killing them before I had the chance to run them off :P).

This report is short and sweet because, to be honest, this game was not challenging. No disrespect to Joe, he was fine to play and got understandably frustrated considering it was his first game against Space Wolves since the new Codex. We talked it out afterward and I'd like to think we reached a good understanding.

One thing did stick out to me though. Joe told me he had played in lots of tournaments in other areas and he didn't enjoy himself in our game because he was unfamiliar with my army, Codex and Logan in particular and I was playing too quickly for him. I apologized and asked him why he didn't speak up about it sooner and he told me he wouldn't normally do that because he would get chipmunked on Sportsmanship for it. How awful is that? I play fast and loose because I know my army and the others so well and I like getting done with time to spare so I can schmooze. And this poor guy had to basically get taken for a ride with a bunch of rules and models he didn't know and had to suffer for it because speaking up would invite retribution. I'll touch on this more when I write about Sportsmanship.

Suffice to say, we managed to turn a potentially socially damaging experience into a mutual understanding with some open conversation. Adults being adults, who knew that worked?

DaBoyz GT Primer: Game 2

2010-09-15T22:57:00.001-04:00

I'm up against Chris, big fish in the local club and beyond, or so I'm told ;)

His list, going from memory since I forgot to steal a copy:
HQ
Archon - Poisoned Blade, Hellmask, Animus Speculum
Retinue - Incubi, Plasma Grenades, 2 Warriors w/ Splinter Cannons, Raider w/ Disintegrator
3 Haemonculi, 1 w/ Scissorhands, Flamer thingy, Jetbike, Shadowfield, 1 w/ Scissorhands, Flamer thingy, Jetbike, 1w/ Scissorhands, Stinger

Elites
10 Wyches, Succubus w/ Goblet of Spite, Agonizer, Raider w/ Disintegrator
6 Grotesques, Raider w/ Disintegrator
Warp Beasts

Troops
Raider Squad - 10, Dark Lance, Blaster, Raider w/ Disintegrator
Raider Squad - 10, Dark Lance, Blaster, Raider w/ Disintegrator
Raider Squad - 10, Dark Lance, Blaster, Raider w/ Dark Lance
Warrior Squad - 10, 2 Dark Lances

Fast Attack
4 Jetbikes, 2 Blasters

Heavy Support
Ravager - 3 Disintegrators, Night Shields
Talos

Yeah.

My list is here.

Mission 2 was Devastation.

So, KPs against mech DE. Yeah. VPs could be a problem since his is even more MSU than mine, but nailing those expensive characters and Heavy Supports should be good. I chose "Hold the Center" as my Secondary, since that's what I always try to do anyway :P

This board had a lot more terrain. Plenty of buildings to block LoS or obscure along with some easy area terrain to make use of.

I won the roll off and deployed first.

All that plasma can cause me headaches, so I made sure all my units got cover from the ruins, other units, or the river. Since I don't have to really do anything but sit back, roll dice, and bum rush the board center, I'm in no hurry to go after those silly space elves.

He hides his Warp Beasts in some ruin and everything else is in reserve.

Turn 1

Excitement.

Turn 2

My army twiddles their collective thumbs.

Ravager, 3 Raider squads, the foot Warriors, the Archon and retinue all come in. The doom ride zooms 24" up to say hello while everybody else goes 12" to shoot. Lots of scattering and passed cover saves later, jack all happens.

Turn 3

18 Missile Launchers, 2 Lascannons, D6 Autocannon shots and 2 Heavy Bolters versus open-topped AV10. Math, do it. This is why I forgot what his tanks all had, they didn't last more than a turn. Cue the passive aggressive. "Aren't Space Wolves an assault army?" Make it into assault and find out (Pro Tip: Don't do this). TWC jumps into the Shadowfield dude and they decide to just fuck around doing nothing.

Wyches, Jetbikes, Talos and Grotesques show up. Archon and Co. jump a Lone Wolf and shank him, but they have nowhere to go.

Turn 4

More shooting, only the Archon and 2 Incubi remain, along with some very bewildered Dark Elfdar wondering where their ride went. Lone Wolf and other Twolf gang up on the Shadowfield, who just laughs.

Archon and Co. jump a unit of Wolf Guard in some ruins, kill 2 and lose an Incubus. Stuff moves up, shooting is ineffectual, and cue whining. Talos and Wyches jump into the big scrum, killing 1 TWolf while mine just faff about.

Turn 5

Logan and his unit pop Preferred Enemy and jump into the fray. Shooting blows up what little is left. Logan pops his +1 Attack aura and they proceed to butcher the fuck out of the Wyches, Haemonculus and Talos. Incubi and Archon get dragged down too. And cue bitching about how broken Logan is.

Jetbikes and Haemonculus zoom up, do nothing. Warriors cower, do nothing. Grotesques shuffle up, do nothing.

Turn 6

Mop up operations are in full force. We're in full bore obnoxious mode and I just want this game to be over.

I got max points here on KPs, VPs and controlling the center. And I also got one of the most unpleasant games I have ever played, yay me.

Now, Chris is very passionate about the hobby, has been in it for years and his painting is phenomenal. He knows his rules, doesn't pull any in-game shenanigans and was perfectly polite before and after the game. I'd be happy to hang out with him, get some painting tips and just nerd out. I just don't want to play him in a tournament. Ever.

DaBoyz GT Primer: Game 1

2010-09-15T10:55:00.002-04:00

Apologies in advance for the poor pic quality, I suck at cameras apparently.

Played against Dan first round. Fantastic color scheme on his Tyranids and an awesome Tervigon conversion using clear resin.

Hist list:
HQ
Hive Tyrant - Lash Whip & Bonesword, Scything Talons, Wings, Hive Commander, Paroxysm, Leech Essence

Elites
Hive Guard Brood - 3
Zoanthrope Brood - 3, Spore Pod
Venomthrope Brood - 1

Troops
Tervigon - Stinger Salvo, Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs
Termagant Brood - 14
Hormagaunt Brood - 19, Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs
Hormagaunt Brood - 19, Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs
Genestealer Brood - 7, Scything Talons, Broodlord
Tyranid Warrior Brood - 4, Lash Whip & Bonesword, Toxin Sacs

Heavy Support
Trygon Prime

So, all told, not exactly my kind of army. AT is down to 2 units and the army focuses on 2 CC critters and the lynchpin that is the Tervigon.

My list is here.

Yes, it's a box top and no, I don't want to talk about it.

Mission 1: Lost Artifact (Modified to only have 4 objectives)

So, it's an objective game with a tweest. Objectives drop in the center and scatter, then units have to forgo shooting in order to "search" the markers for the true objective. Then it's a fight over that one little flag. I actually like this mission, it's random and "fun" but still relatively balanced.

Terrain was fairly sparse with no real LoS blockers and lots of area terrain. I wanted to advance my Wolf Guard into midfield when safe and use the TWC and Lone Wolves to search objectives while I pick off the Tyrant and Trygon.

I won the roll off and elected to deploy first in the bottom right triangle. Long Fangs in cover and in the rear to get maximum fields of fire and prevent any funsies from outflankers. Wolf Guard spread to give me good fire lanes and coverage for potential objective drops. Lone Wolves went inside while TWolves went out due to their larger threat range. Plan is to nail his real threats (Tyrant, Trygon) then advance to mop up and secure the objective.

He set up cover for his important MCs and everybody else while outflanking the Hormies and Genestealers. Zoeys in the Pod.

Turn 1

Wouldn't you know it, he seized :P Shit rushes forward, Tyrant gets out of Venomthrope range and the Tervigon poops out on his first roll. 1 objective scatters toward me, 1 towards him, nobody is able to search.

My 2 objectives scatter right into his lines >,< I shuffle around to line up shots and proceed to nuke the Venomthrope, Tyrant, wound the Trygon and hurt some Warriors. TWC fails to find anything.

Turn 2

All his reserves come in. Genestealers show up on my right, ready to pounce on some Fangs. Hormies show up on the other side, very unhappy. Zoeys show up on top of me, between the Trygon and my army. He moves to secure the markers and start searching while the Trygon advances cautiously. Shooting is fairly ineffectual, though he does find the artifact, deep in a big unit of Termagants. Genestealers muck up a unit of Fangs, though some tricksy wound allocation sinks all the rending hits onto a rather unfortunate Pack Leader :P

Logan and crew prepare to do battle, popping Preferred Enemy. Lone Wolves look to engage the Zoanthropes and Pod while the TWC rush after the Tervigon. Shooting finishes the Trygon, wipes the Warriors and wounds the Tervigon. TWC slap the Tervigon around, killing 5 or so gaunts in the process. Lone Wolves both finish their targets while Logan and his crew tear up the Genestealers. Things already look over by turn 2.

Turn 3

It's a desperate struggle to hang on to that objective, so the TWC must die. Too bad they kinda suck at that ;) Each unit of Hormagaunts charges a TWolf and promptly get beaten up for their trouble. Hormies get away and the TWC are content to simply escort them off the board.

Time to head for that objective. Shooting kills gaunts with frags and the TWC mow down a unit of gaunts.

Turn 4 and on

Bugs get slapped around in combat or shot up and run away, one TWC finally bites it.

At the end I won the Primary, Secondary and Tertiary objectives. I only got 2/3 bonus points, only because the objective was dropped by me and not my opponent.

Before

After

I'm not going to say I'm awesome or anything, because we all knew what was going to happen. As long as comp = gimped, you'll never see strong competition at a comp tourney, unless you count retard slap fights. Now, my opponent was a great sport and we had fun, so I've got no complaints there. He knew his stuff and I'm just stuck wondering what could have been if he hadn't been strapped under the yoke of the "play shit or you're a dick" mentality.

DaBoyz GT Primer: Debriefing

2010-09-11T22:54:00.000-04:00

Back from the tourney, reports to come.

Pic very related.

DaBoyz GT Primer

2010-09-10T15:15:00.000-04:00

DaBoyz GT is coming up in November and we're now in the testing stages. Tomorrow will be the first of 2 Primer events ironing out any issues with scoring, pairing and missions. I'll be taking pics and will be giving out my feedback here and elsewhere.

Taking the Loganwing out for a spin, modified for 1850

HQ
Logan Grimnar
Rune Priest - Living Lightning, Tempest's Wrath, Chooser of the Slain

Elites
2x Lone Wolf w/ Terminator Armor, Chainfist, Storm Shield

Troops
10 Wolf Guard, 2 WGTs w/ Cyclone
3x 5 Wolf Guard, WGT w/ Cyclone, Chainfist

Fast Attack
2x 1 TWC w/ Powerfist, Storm Shield

Heavy Support
5 Long Fangs, 2 w/ Lascannons, 2 w/ Heavy Bolters
2x 5 Long Fangs, 4 w/ Missile Launchers

Total - 1850

I can hear the fluffy bunnies crying now ;)

Blood Angels Build Request

2010-09-10T12:19:00.000-04:00

A Blood Angels army with a overall mobility featuring Dreadnoughts and Sanguinary Guard? Totally doable. Man I love these new books and the flexibility they offer.

HQ
Librarian w/ Blood Lance, Shield of Sanguinius

Elites
Sanguinary Guard - 2 infernus, powerfist, Chapter Banner
Sanguinary Guard - 2 infernus, powerfist
2 Sanguinary Priests

Troops
4x Assault Squad - 4 marines, meltagun, infernus pistol, Razorback w/ TL Assault Cannons

Fast Attack
2x Baal Preds w/ TL Assault Cannon

Heavy Support
3x Rifleman Dreads

Total - 2000

Dreads provide the range, ACs provide the midfield suppression, meltas bust up heavy tanks and Sanguinary Guard provide the hammer/mop up. Hide the expensive dudes behind the Razors and jump out to smash face as needed.

Input is welcome and appreciated.

High Elves Funsies

2010-09-09T15:28:00.000-04:00

New plastics are coming out for High Elves. Combined with the Island of Blood stuff you can make all kinds of cool armies. I'm still in the idea stage for my army, but here's a funny idea.

Teclis - Lore of Purple Sun
Korihil
Noble - BSB, Banner of the World Dragon, dragon armor, great weapon
Mage - level 2, High Magic, Dispel Scroll
38 Phoenix Guard - full command

Sure it's 1400 points, but what's going to stop it? This unit is immune to all magic. All magic. Fuck off. They ignore half the wounds that go their way, get stubborn from Korihil and can re-roll any Ld tests thanks to the BSB. This is pure points denial right here. The rest of the army will be set up as MSU harassment focused on taking out war machines and picking off weaker stuff. Ellyrian Reavers, Eagles, and Shadow Warriors with a side helping of Swordmasters and Archers. RBTs could fit in too if I can pull off Curse of Arrow Attraction.

lols to be had, for sure.

New Fantasy Stuff

2010-09-04T19:50:00.000-04:00

Got my Island of Blood box today. Minis are fantastic. I want to replace all my old Clanrats with these new shinies.

Escalation Tourney Updated 9/3

2010-09-01T17:41:00.001-04:00

Something coming up at the FLGS.

-No SCs
-No more than 1 of any vehicle
-No more than 2 of any particular Troops unit
-No more than 1 of each unit in Elites/Fast/Heavy
-2 HQs max

500 points
-Nothing T6 or greater
-No more than 3 wounds
-No vehicles with AV13 or higher
-1 Troop minimum
-no more than 1 Elite/Fast/Heavy

750 points
-2 Troop minimum

1000 and up
-No more than 2 Elite/Fast/Heavy
Sounds like a fun little event, but the ban of special characters really pisses me off. It's fucking arbitrary as shit and belies a general lack of understanding of the game. I play Loganwing and Bloodwing, one of my buddies plays Deathwing, so fuck us right? If you stock special characters and fully intend to have people buy them, then you had better fucking let them be used.

The ban on dupes is an attempt to keep spam away, but then you're just fucking over the older armies with fewer choices. Guess my nids, DA and Daemons can sit this out too.

I'm not sure if I want to go, but I'll be putting up potential lists with minimal purchases required. I have absolutely no desire to drop a bunch of coin because all the armies I have already bought are invalidated. Anything I do buy is coming from another store, second hand or the Warstore.

Anybody got any ideas?

Int'l House of Paincakes

2010-08-23T09:01:00.001-04:00

The time has come for a new blog network. Forged in the fires of Internet Battle, quenched in the mighty Wall o' Text and created for the sole purpose of totally rocking your shit.

The House of Paincakes is open for business, bitches.

DaBoyz GT

2010-08-20T15:21:00.001-04:00

A couple people have been e-mailing me about the GT later this year in Rochester. I'll just address it all here. Details on scoring and prizes aren't totally settled yet, but I will update the internets as I receive them.

DaBoyz GT is coming to town in November, the 12th-14th. Lots of prize support, awesome venue, and a good bunch of locals running the show. I'll be there, so there's plenty of endorsement. There will be comp and sports, but we're still figuring how much weight they will carry and where they will come into effect. Hopefully we can keep Best General comp-free so there's something for actually winning the tourney :P

As more info comes out I'll be posting it up and offering my own analysis to help provide some perspective for any of your competitive types that are leery of soft scoring. Plus I'll be chronicling my army's preparations.

It's should be a fun event and more oppotunities to hang out with yours truly are totally worth it.

Random 1850 Marine List

2010-08-19T15:07:00.000-04:00

Dunno why, just had a random thought.

HQ
Librarian w/ Null Zone, Avenger

Elites
2x 10 Sternguard, 2 missile launchers, 3 combi-meltas, 2 combi-flamers, Rhino

Troops
2x 10 Tacticals, multi-melta, meltagun, combi-melta, Rhino

Fast Attack
2x Land Speeder w/ multi-melta, heavy flamer

Heavy Support
2x 10 Devastators, 4 missile launchers, Rhino

Total - 1850

So, that's 30 marines sitting back with 12 missiles while 30 more drive up with multi-melta/melta+combi/combis and a Libby in support. Also Speeders. All units combat squad, Tacticals jack the Devs' Rhinos while the combi-filled Sternguard units take theirs. Very MSU. All it needs is some playtesting and a cute name.

Chumby's Internet Fame

2010-08-19T00:12:00.000-04:00

For those of you who missed the live podcasting on Friday and Sunday nights of the NOVA Open, or those of you who just can't get enough of me, here are the links to the recorded footage.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nova-open-live

And also, I did an interview with the guys from 11th Company. Check out episode 30 for me, I show up at 1:22.

I'm awesome.

Lemanade [sic] for Your Loganwing

2010-08-18T23:36:00.000-04:00

E-mail:
My Dearest Chumby,

It is with a joyous heart that I write you to wish you congratulations on your recent campaign in Virginia. Though you were not ultimately victorious, the impact of your actions will be enshrined in history.

While discussing the events of the 13th -15th with some compatriots of mine, a number of questions concerning...

Man i was totally going to write you a letter in the grand tradition of the civil war letter. Turns out its hard and that genre mixing is a tricky best. Let me start over in a completely new style:

Chumby:

Congrats on your success at NOVA! Also a special thank you for providing the viewing public with an actual interesting set of interviews as filler between the lingering shots of the red chairs and the walls. Looking over your Loganwing list, it looks fun as hell (and fairly cheap as well). This is definitely something i'd dick around with on vassel. However, since most of my experience deals with fruity space elves in their indestructo-tanks, I could really sue some advice on using this army.

How does it deploy? What do you do with all the lone wolves and wolf riders. Where do the rune priest and logan go? That kind of thing.

-Lauby

Thanks Lauby. I had a blast, as you can see from the reports I have so conveniently posted. Wait... Glad I could entertain and inform people too; the podcasting thing was brilliant and I had a great time doing it.

I'm going to be posting up battle reports of all my games, so hopefully that will give you some insight as to how the Loganwing works. If there's anything lacking, lemme know and I can give you a more dedicated walkthrough.

My NOVA List

2010-08-18T19:54:00.000-04:00

Finally, the NOVA coverage begins now. First off, here's my list.

HQ
Logan Grimnar
Rune Priest w/ Living Lightning, Tempest's Wrath, Chooser of the Slain, Saga of the Beastslayer

Elites
Lone Wolf w/ Terminator Armor, Chainfist, Storm Shield
Lone Wolf w/ Terminator Armor, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield

Troops
10 Wolf Guard, 2 WGTs w/ Cyclone Missile Launchers, 1 PAWG w/ Storm Shield
3x 5 Wolf Guard, WGT w/ Cyclone Missile Launcher, Chainfist

Fast Attack
3x 1 TWC w/ Powerfist, Storm Shield

Heavy Support
6 Long Fangs, 2 w/ Lascannons, 3 w/ Heavy Bolters
2x 5 Long Fangs, 4 w/ Missile Launchers

Total - 2000

I'm Back

2010-08-16T01:25:00.001-04:00

Wow that was a long drive. Nova was awesome, report to follow.

On the Road

2010-08-13T08:13:00.000-04:00

And I'm off. We'll see if I can get around to blogging while I'm there :D

Update: Daemonic 'Ard Boyz List for Fantasy

2010-08-11T11:02:00.000-04:00

Zanos and I spent some more time trying to hash this out over on Vassal last night. We pulled up his list of models and, under those restrictions, came up with a pretty good list.

Here's what he's got:
GUO
BT
Sigvald = Masque
Crom = Kherald
Tzerald
Epi = Nurgald on Palaquin
50 Bloodletters
20 Plaguebearers
30 Horrors
10 Daemonettes
5 Hounds
3 Flamers
6 Bloodcrushers
any number of proxies for Changeling

It's a lot of models, but all lends itself to the same "run up and say hi, rawr, smash" style of play. Adding in smaller, speedier units helps considerably I think. Now it's 2 big rocks nobody wants to fight, the ridiculously killy BT and a good amount of casting from the Horrors and Tzerald. Hounds, 'nettes, and Flamers give it some flexibility and mobility which is sorely needed.

Zanos' Daemonic 'Ard Boyz

Bloodthirster of Khorne, Obsidian Armour, Axe of Khorne, Immortal Fury - 550

The Masque of Slaanesh - 90 points

Herald of Khorne, Obsidian Armour - 150 points

Herald of Tzeentch, Master of Sorcery, Spellbreaker - 165

Herald of Nurgle, Noxious Vapours, Slime Trail, palanquin, BSB, great icon of despair - 300

core - 40 bloodletters, FC, endless war - 535

31 horrors, standard, icon of sorcery, the changeling - 459

20 plaguebearers, FC, icon of seeping decay - 295

10 daemonettes, FC, siren standard - 175

special - 5 flesh hounds - 175

rare = 3 flamers - 105

Thoughts?

Links Updated

2010-08-09T11:34:00.000-04:00

Just going through my reading list and I realized that I'm missing a lot of them in my blogroll. Time to address that.

40k for the New Professional: This little gem is run by Kennedy of 40k for the New Professional (wait, what?). It takes all that crazy execu-speak and life-planning stuff and makes sense out of it for what really counts: 40k. Very good reads here, funny and thought-provoking.

Game Over: Von's blog give Brits a good name, so there's something. It's also got 40k, Fantasy, Warmahordes and other fun bits all wrapped in a well written, reasonable and funny candy shell. Lauby gave him mad props already, but I think it's worth saying again.

GMorts Chaotica: Another Brit, jeez. GMort's got his own little personal space and it's a nice personal blog. Following his new Tyranid army has been great, it's awesome to see the progression as someone picks up an army from nothing and turns it into something great.

Imperial Life: Messanger [sic] of Death heads this one up. Just another of my e-friends blogging about, well, anything really. Big fan of the snowmobile, which is always nice. Good stuff.

On Death's Wings: SynnerG talks about 40k, mostly Blood Angels. Another cool "rise to power" blog.

Sons of Sanguinius: Oh look, more Blood Angels. There's also SW and Tau too :P Venerable writes up his thoughts on various armies and follows his own personal saga. Cool beans, yet again.

Well, that's it, just wanted an excuse to pimp people and show some funny pictures. If I like these blogs, I figure that's all the endorsement anyone will need.

Daemonic 'Ard Boyz List for Fantasy

2010-08-09T01:53:00.001-04:00

Talking about 40k all the time is boring. Let's shift gears.

E-mail:
Because I asked nicely :D

Bloodthirster, Axe of Khorne, Immortal Fury, Obsidian armour - 550 points

Herald of Khorne, Juggernaught, Obsidian Armour - 200 points
Herald of Tzeentch, Spell Breaker, Master of sorcery - 165
Herald of Nurgle, palanquin, novious vapours, slime trail, BSB, Great Icon of Despair - 350 points

Core - 40 bloodletters, FC, banner of endless war - 535 points

30 horrors, standard bearer, icon of sorcery - 391

17 plaguebearers, FC, banner of seeping decay - 259

rare - 5 bloodcrushers,FC - 400 points

Total: 3000

I'm gonna pull a Stelek here and let the community take a stab at this one, mostly because I want to go to bed but still feel like posting. I'll come back with my thoughts in the morning.

St. John is Colossal Prick

2010-08-06T15:13:00.001-04:00

St. John is an Asshole. No, scratch that, he's the asshole of assholes. Assholes look at him and go, "that fucker gives us a bad name!" I'm pretty sure he's also a furry. A gay furry.

After MVB posted up the matchups for the Friday Night Whiskey Challenge, St. John sent me this horrific e-mail out of the blue. I was unsure of whether I should post it due to the graphic nature. I know I am not one to scoff at harsh language, but this filth made me physically ill. As much as it pains me personally, I am posting it for all the world to see, to truly understand the depths of depravity that St. John has sunk to.

"Chumpalaya,

Your face is smelly and I hate you. Your mother is so fat, when she wears heels she strikes oil. Everything you like is bad. I am going to make your cry on Friday and post it for all the internet to see. I will also be taking your lunch money.

You are a poopy fart,

St. John."

Fuck that guy, seriously.

Your Loganwing List

2010-08-03T00:15:00.000-04:00

E-mail:
Hey m8 ,

Im Dave , its Farseer Dave on 40k forums.
I came across your ''logan wing'' List while reading through your blog . We play 1750 at tournaments over here in Ireland so I was hoping (if its not too much hastle) that you could point out how to best chop your list from 2k down to 1750. Becouse I rly like your list ^^.

this is your 2k List :

HQ
Logan Grimnar
Rune Priest w/ Living Lightning, Tempest's Wrath, Chooser of the Slain, Terminator Armor, Saga of the Beastslayer

Elites
2x Lone Wolf w/ Terminator Armor, Chainfist, Storm Shield

Troops
10 Wolf Guard, 2 WGTs w/ cyclones, 1w/ combi-melta
3x 5 Wolf Guard, WGT w/ cyclone, chainfist, 2w/ combi-meltas

Fast Attack
3x 1 TWC w/ powerfist, storm shield

Heavy Support
3x 5 Long Fangs, 4 w/ missile launchers

Total - 2000

Thanks In Advance , and all the best.
Dave.

Sweet, another Oirishman. You and TKE should hang out, he's Oirish right? I have the best name for a 40k event for you: Lepre-con. Has it been done already? Sounds awesome. Winner gets a pot of gold.

My cultural insensitivity aside, chopping down the Loganwing to 1750 is doable and fun. You can go about it a couple ways, it all comes down to your preferred style of play. At its core, the Loganwing is all about Logan, duh, and scoring Wolf Guard. Wolf Guard make normal marines look like little girls while staying cheap and scoring. Cyclones give them a powerful and versatile ranged attack as well as some extra punch in CC from the various stabby implements they can sport. The key is keeping them cheap so you can spam and get plenty of dakka.

Beyond cheap bodies and firepower, Loganwing can run in many different ways. It's all based on preference really.

If you want to field missile launchers all day, you have that option in the form of Long Fangs. They aren't very durable, even with the added ablative wound an attached Wolf Guard supplies, but they are cheap and dish out a lot of firepower to augment your scoring dakka. This kind of list cuts back on the mobility (Fangs have to normally stay static and vehicle count will be slim to none to prevent them from getting focused on and eliminated early) in exchange for a crazy number of missiles. Dawn of War can be a bitch, as can having all foot, but it's very viable.

Vehicles are an option too. Razorbacks, Typhoons and Rifleman Dreads fill a similar role to Long Fangs and missile spam and with their range they can avoid the common pitfalls of fielding a handful of vehicles in an otherwise all foot army, namely getting ganged up on with melta, all thanks to their long range and easy spammability. Wolf Guard units can each sport a dedicated Razorback to give you extra AP2 guns as well as a cheap platform to shoot it from. Hell, even Fangs can get a Razorback to help you fill out that FOC.

Drop Podding is an option for Loganwing too. It gets you up close quicker, which is handy considering how nasty Wolves can be in assault, plus you can do fun stuff like Logan and his Relentless Multi-Melta loltastic Raider Rape Squad. You'll suffer like any other Podding army from being at the mercy of your opponent's deployment and potentially tragic reserve rolls, but you have flexibility and can pop up anywhere to threaten your foe.

Combat elements are a good add on too. Wolf Guard can put out a lot of firepower, but they're pretty slow. Thunderwolf Cavalry and Lone Wolves give you extra reach in assault that doesn't prevent you from still shooting. They're fast, smashy, durable and can be outfitted relatively cheaply. They exist more for mop up and tying down problem units than anything else, so don't expect them to slap around TH/SS Termies or a Hive Tyrant and retinue.

Personally, I like having all the dakka and going all foot. An ass load of missiles is more than capable of handling enemy armor and killing infantry with frags through sheer rate of fire. Going all foot punishes anybody who goes too heavy on the anti-mech by rendering their meltas and single shot weapons largely useless. Plus, since I can move and fire I can keep advancing to midfield while I blast away. Mobility is always a problem, so I field cavalry and maybe Lone Wolves to give me more reach.

So, for 1750 I'd do something like this:

HQ
Logan Grimnar
Rune Priest - Living Lightning, Tempest's Wrath, Chooser of the Slain

Elites
3x Lone Wolves w/ Terminator Armor, Chainfist, Storm Shield

Troops
10 Wolf Guard, 2 WGTs w/ cyclones
3x 5 Wolf Guard, WGT w/ cyclone, chainfist

Fast Attack
5 Long Fangs, 3 lascannons, 1 heavy bolter
2x 5 Long Fangs, 4 missile launchers

Total - 1745

So, we've got the dakka coming in from all over the place. Normally Logan joins the big unit and dishes out the S9, but I have the option to bring some S10 from the Fangs. Lone Wolves run out front and do interference, forcing my opponent to either waste shots on them or let them run rampant. And, of course, I've got mobile scoring units out the yin yang and plenty of CC to mop up wherever.

Keep in mind this is far from definitive, just what I would use myself. Lemme know if this helps or if you come up with something different.

Beginner Daemon Help

2010-08-01T01:11:00.000-04:00

E-mail in:

Hi Chumbalaya,

I've been reading posts on here and elsewhere for help in building my first Daemons list, and this is what I've come up with for 1500pts :-

Lord Of Change 250

Bloodcrushers x3 w/Fury, Instrument 135
Bloodcrushersx3 w/Fury, Instrument 135
Fiendsx6 w/Might 190

Plague Bearers x5
Plague Bearers x5
Plague Bearers x5
Plague Bearers x5

Daemon Prince w/MoT, Bolt and Gaze 160
Daemon Prince w/MoT, Bolt and Gaze 160
Daemon Prince w/MoT, Bolt and Gaze 160

Before I start buying models though, I'm slightly worried about it. Firstly it's a bit slow - only the LoC and the Fiends have any mobility, and shooting is a bit meagre - only four Bolts.

With Daemons, is it better to concentrate on one element ie speed or shooting, rather than a hodge podge of the two as above ?

Thanks,

Bartali

Yeesh, this has been waiting for how long? Sorry about that, been busy working overtime and going to a bunch of concerts.

I think this list is a solid effort for a beginner list. You've got shooty, durable troops and some hammers. Mobility is a problem as you've seen, but you can fit it in without sacrificing bloodcrushers. Slaaneshi Heralds and Flesh Hounds/Seekers, while not as efficient as Fiends, work just fine in the role they're needed for: catching the enemy and holding him in place for your Crushers, opening up transports and catching wayward enemies.

The big stinker is the Lord of Change. It's an awesome model, but it's just too expensive for a mediocre MC and only 1 bolt. Ditching it frees up points for 3 Sheralds or 2 decent sized units of doggies or Seekers. If you need more points, you can lose a unit of PBs and still be fine.

Moving forward, you may want to consider Bloodletters over Bloodcrushers. Bloodletters cost less than half as much and are just as nasty, if not moreso in assault on top of being a scoring unit and not directly competing with Fiends. They are fragile, but if you have Fiends zipping around it's less of an issue.

Speed and shooting are both important and aren't mutually exclusive. Check out my list. It's got speed and shooty in good numbers across multiple units. It's set up so each wave is exclusively shooty or speedy so each presents a credible threat and I can change up depending on the opposition. Flexibility, wherever you can get it, is very important.

Hope that helps.

Team Tournament in Syracuse

2010-07-24T23:05:00.001-04:00

Had a tourney today at Play the Game in Syracuse. 2000 points, 1000 per team, 1 FOC per player. No comp, no sports, no funny stuff, just straight rulebook missions. Awesome sauce.

We didn't have teams squared away until a couple days ago, so I just decided to run a balanced Loganwing army.

Logan Grimnar
3x 5 Wolf Guard, WGT w/ cyclone, chainfist
3 Long Fangs, 2 lascannons
2x 4 Long Fangs, 3 missile launchers

Lotsa shooty, a scaled down version of what I'm taking to Nova.

My partner, Tim, brought his DE. This is the guy who I played in the first round of the last tourney at the FLGS where my missiles decides to miss and shake his Raiders all day while almost getting tabled.

I'm not sure on specifics, but here's hit list from what I remember.

Dracon w/ agoniser, shadowfield, combat drugs
7 Wyches, 2 blasters, Sybarite w/ agoniser, Raider w/ dark lance, horrorfex
3x 5 Warriors, dark lance, blaster, Raider w/ dark lance, horrorfex
5 Warriors, splinter cannon, shredder, Raider w/ dark lance, horrorfex
2x Ravagers w/ 3 disintegrators

I may be missing a Raider, I dunno, there were lots of them.

So, while we didn't coordinate list building, it looks like 2 balanced lists mix up nicely. All that S8 shooting is bound to do something, right? Riiiight?

Game 1, Tau and Tyranids

Swarmlord
Parasite of Mortex
3x 10 Genestealers w/ toxin
16 or so Hormagaunts

Shas'el w/ plasma, fusion, multi-tracker
Shas'el w/ plasma, missile pods, multi-tracker
2x2 Crisis w/ plasma, missile pods, multi-tracker
6 FW
2 Hammerheads
Broadside w/ shield drones

Mission was Annihilation with Pitched Battle deployment. We won the roll off and deployed first, setting up firing lances and leaning towards the right flank to minimize the effect of outflankers. They spread out with the Broadsides and Fireknives on the top left, Hammerheads and other Fireknives in the middle, and FW, Swarmy, Hormies and Parasite opposite us.

They seized the initiative and advanced. We tried to block off the board edge with Raiders to prevent outflanking, but the Genestealers rolled 6s for fleets all the time, came in around us and proceeded to roll up our flank. Shooting was completely ineffectual (either 1s and 2s to hit or 1s to wound) and our only KPs came from the Shas and Crisis on the top left and the Parasite (from combat with DE Warriors) and 2 units of Genestealers mauled by Logan. The Dracon rolled 3 6s for drugs and promptly died. It was that kind of game. Due to the blocking blunder and our atrocious rolling, we got tabled. Awesome.

After that painful loss we broke for lunch and commiserated over soggy Chinese food. After contemplating a carousel ride to lift out spirits, we decided to go into the 99 cent store for some cheap laughs. I saw a miniature Buddha for $1.50 and quickly snapped it up in an effort to change our fortune. I'm so happy I got it.

Game 2, Eldar and Eldar

Jain Zar
Farseer w/ Doom, Guide, the usual
5 Banshees, Exarch w/ executioner
10 Avengers, Exarch w/ dual cats, Serpent w/ starcannons, stones
3 Jetbikes, 1 shuriken cannon
Falcon w/ scatter laser, stones, holofields, star engines

Farseer w/ Doom, Guide, the usual
5 Fire Dragons, Exarch w/ firepike, crack shot
10 Avengers, Exarch w/ dual cats, Serpent w/ shuriken cannons, stones
5 Pathfinders
6 Swooping Hawks, Exarch w/ sunrifle, Skyleap
Falcon w/ scatter laser, stones, holofields

Mission was Capture & Control with Spearhead deployment. We won the roll off and deployed first, picking the quarter with no terrain for our opponents to hide in. Tim left the Wyches and a Raider squad in reserve, everything else set up to blast shit.

Surprise, surprise, we got seized on again. Eldar zoomed up and immobilized a Raider, big whoop. Our shooting was noticeably better, but all we ever managed to do was shake them. Every holofield roll was a 1 and 5 or 6, it sucked. I nailed the Dragon's serpent and that was it. My Long Fangs ate a charge from Jain Zar's unit, and they were promptly annihilated by lances and disintegrators. They actually disembarked both DA units, the Banshees and the Hawks all at the same time, leaving them clumped up for Horrorfexes and Disintegrators. Near game's end all they had were the Pathfinders, an immobilized and weaponless Serpent and the 2 unkillable Falcons. A Falcon tank shocked out objective and my chainfist tried for DoG. He rolled boxcars to penetrate and then snake eyes to damage. Ugh. We fired 5 missiles and 8 lances at it to no avail. Logan charged it with 7 attacks and whiffed with all.

Since we both contested we went to VPs. I lost 2 units of Fangs and 2 units of Wolf Guard while Tim lost 1 Ravager, the Dracon (OD'd on drugs and got pimp-slapped by a Dire Avenger exarch) and his Wyches. They had lost it all barring the 2 Falcons, a damaged Serpent and the Pathfinders. Victory for the Buddha!

Game 3, Tau and Tyranids

There were more Tau than there were Marines, it was nuts.

2x Shas'O w/ plasma, missile pod, multi-tracker
3x 6 Fire Warriors
12 Kroot
3x Hammerheads w/ Railguns, the usual

Prime w/ talons, spitters
5 Warriors w/ talons, spitters
20 Termagants
2x 20 Hormagaunts
2x 10 Genestealers
3x 1 Zoanthropes

Dawn of War, Seize Ground, 3 objectives. We placed ours centrally, they placed 1 centrally and 1 on the right. We lost the roll off and went 2nd. They spread across the board with the Warriors placed really aggressively, while we set up in the center to hit midfield.

Night Fight yayz, no damage. We walked on and blew away the Warriors with massed S8. The Raiders only went 12" to try and shoot, but they were all out of spotting range. The rest of the game was them blowing up skimmers while I suppressed Hammerheads and killed Zoanthropes. Logan got into a big scrum in the middle with Hormagaunts, murdered all but 1 and was held up with his unit for 1 turn too many. Draw, mostly stemming from us not playing aggressively enough on the virtually terrain free board.

So, 1-1-1, not terrible but not that good. Shitty rolling screwed us, but we could have deployed and moved better in the first and last game. Lots of shitty lists out there, made me sad :(

Still, a fun event and a good time hanging out with my ROC crew. They have a Fantasy event next weekend, but it's using 8th ed so I'm not going. Sadface.

Who Are You And What Have You Done With Games Workshop?

2010-07-23T22:17:00.000-04:00

FAQ for the WHFB rulebook is up. Wowzers, that was fast.

Time to fit in some Bolt Throwers.

Fun with Dragons

2010-07-22T14:45:00.000-04:00

Dragons are cool. Fuck you, they are. Unfortunately, they also cost a shit ton of points and fall over dead when a 100 point cannon so much as looks in their direction.

Today we lament over what could have been.

High Elf Prince - Star Dragon, Star Lance, Charmed Shield, Talisman of Preservation, Potion of Foolhardiness, dragon armor (614)

Star Dragons are silly enough on their own, but the guy riding it is nuts. How many S7 attacks will he be dishing out with re-rolls to hit? 4+ ward, immunity to fire and 3+ armor is pretty good protection, but obviously his offensive power is the real deal here. He will most likely ignore the first hit coming his way too, too bad his Dragon won't benefit.

Dark Elf Dreadlord - Black Dragon, Deathpiercer, Pendant of Khaleth, Charmed Shield, Black Dragon Egg, heavy armor, sea dragon cloak, dual repeater handbows (570)

Looks similar, but different in some key areas. First off, instead of S7 he rocks the Killing Blow and he's rocking the super ward in addition to his 2+ save. Charmed Shield is probably the best 5 point magic item out there, maybe even better than some of the pricier armors. With the Egg both he and his mount can do 2D6 hits before Thunderstomping some poor fools, hilarious. Also, he's got 4 shots for lols.

High Elf Dragon Mage - level 2, Talisman of Preservation, Potion of Foolhardiness (5 point magic sword maybe?) (435)

Not as impressive as the others, but he's a Hero choice and a caster to boot. Flaming Sword of Rhuin isn't so useful on individual models, but Fire magic has some cheap zappy powers to help in a fight or get rid of pesky blockers/fast cav/flankers. Even a Sun Dragon can tear shit up, just don't expect to tango with real killy units and come out alive.

Anybody else have some fun Dragon builds? How about ideas on how to actually use them without eating up 1/4 of your points and giving your opponent an obvious and easy target?

Warmaster's Challenge

2010-07-19T12:14:00.001-04:00

Tourney coming up in September over in Toronto. Only a 3-ish hour drive for 2 days of gaming fun and lots of prizes, also all the finest Canadian beers. Rules and stuff are here.

No comp, so there's a tick in its favor. Scenarios look decent too. Some soft scoring, but it's mostly from painting so no problems there. Kroot Mercs and 13th Company are loltastic.

The sideboard thing for the singles tourney is interesting. I could just roll up with a take all comers list and call it good, but having the option to swap things around would give me more options. You couldn't totally redo your army, but with my Loganwing, for example, I could choose between Long Fangs and mo' dakka or TWC face smashing. Or Bloodwing, swapping Devastators for Vanguard.

Thoughts? Anybody else planning on going?

Bloodletters are awesome?

2010-07-18T12:02:00.001-04:00

E-mail in:

hey, i lurk all over forums, and i notice you know daemons(40k). i've also looked at 'yes the truth hurts.' last time i played 40k was 4th edition demonhunters. and now the thought of chaos demons is really appealing. though i get the 'vibe' that bloodletters suck , but for me thats the most aesthetic part of a demons army, a horde of little letters, after all, arent they the archetypal western image of a demon?. so knowing that slowness and flaw of that i present a list. i saw stelek's demon calvary but honestly, i dont dig the fleshound models at all, plus they're expensive.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1500pts/1500pts list

Headquarters-190

Herald of Tzeentch w/ Chariot; Bolt of Tzeentch-95

Elite-570

6 Fiends w/ Unholy Might-190

Troops-640

10 Bloodletters-160

Heavy Support

Demon Prince w/ Gaze-100

-------------------------------------------------- 1950pts/2000pts (this one is obviously 50pts short)

Headquarters-380

Herald of Tzeentch w/ Chariot; Bolt of Tzeentch-95

Elite-570

6 Fiends w/ Unholy Might-190

Troops-800

10 Bloodletters-160

Heavy Support-200

Demon Prince w/ Gaze-100

- i notice plaguebearers are a popular choice for troops, but i really like the idea of pro-active troops... actually just bloodletters. the demon princes are... bare. i cant really see the use in spending anything on them (other than gaze) really, the 160pts tzeentch-ian bolt prince is ass-expensive, plus i got 4 bolts, the 4+ save is cool... but not 25pts of cool. iron hide, now that one is funny. the gaze is a thing to day while on the way to CC... if he makes it there (he's on land raider duty)

- is the "bloodletters core" doomed to rapid fire failure? i mean the few that "may" survive will carry power weapons and probably never get furious charge, while hounds are WS4 and dont have grenades either, dont have powerweapons, but are fast and can stay out of rapid fire range

-balanced and even waves, i dont want to risk it.

- thoughts?

Bloodletters aren't bad. WS5, Furious Charge, power weapons and multiple attacks is great for an assaulty unit. Anything they touch dies. Problem is, they only have T4 and a 5++ and move as infantry. Their lack of speed and durability really relegates them to mop up or distraction duty. However, they excel in mopping up. Use Fiends, Sheralds, Hounds and other mobile units to weaken, harass, slow down enemy units and hit them with Bloodletters to finish the job. That's how Stelek uses his and how I use them when I field them now and again.

The only reason Bloodletters don't get used as much is simply because other units can fill their roles either cheaper or with more flexibility. Plaguebearers are popular because they are cheap and incredibly durable. You can take 2-4 minimum sized units and have scoring units covered while spending only a handful of points. Very efficient. Hounds are more similar to Fiends than Bloodletters, relying on speed and weight of attacks to crack open armor and drag down enemy units. Using Chaos Hounds instead of the metal doglizards is a good way to save a few bucks.

Now, as for the lists themselves.

The 1500 looks fine, it's got mobility and shooty. The Prince doesn't really fit in though. T5 and 5++ is not very tough and only Daemonic Gaze is not much shooty. I'd just pick up another Tzerald instead, your army is all T4 anyway. Used en masse, Bloodletters can make for good area denial, similar to what Crushers can do. Nobody want to get close to them (unless they have flamers and a metal box to hide in) so you can hem your opponent to help the faster stuff.

2000 is similar, plenty of good bits with random DPs thrown in. DPs should either have Bolt and help you with shooting, or grab wings and smash faces. 4++ is a leg up from 5++, and Bolt makes all the difference in the world. Only 4 S8 AP1 shots is not awesome anti-tank, so you really do need all the help you can get in that area. Land Raiders aren't scared by walking DPs, especially only S5 DPs. They outmaneuver you or can just blow them away since they're so fragile for MCs. Considering your army is entirely medium T units, having a few big beaters to suck up all the heavy weapons is a good way to make target priority easier for your opponent. Instead, either upgrade the DPs to be extra tank busters, or pick up a unit of Hounds with Karanak to give you more mobility. Seekers are an option too.

The Bloodletter core isn't a bad idea, it's just expensive and slow. Like any other Daemon army, you rely on your Fiends and Bolts to suppress and slow down enemy mech while you move in for the kill. 50 Bloodletters are hard to kill and can be used as area denial and mop up, works fine for me if you have the proper tools to shut down enemy mobility.

For waves, I'd advise 1 shooty and 1 fighty. Shooty wave drops in, blasts armor and sets up charges. Fighty brings in Fiends to set up turn 2 assaults. This way each wave is good in its own way and you aren't screwed if you get the secondary. Taking 2 half armies is inadvisable because each half army isn't made to work together and is often just 1 of each important unit, making target priority easier.

Hope that helps.

2250 Skaven

2010-07-15T22:47:00.002-04:00

After reading up on 8th ed and playing a few test games, here's my first Skaven tourney list. Locally we're bumping up to 2250 so that's what I'm going to stick with for now.

I like magic and shooting, and I like Transformers, so here's the list. Themewise, it's a senior Grey Seer and his upstart apprentice (who he never leaves out of his sight, as he is uncommonly treacherous and ambitious, even for a Skaven) collecting tribute from Clan Skryre while escorted by their Ratinue of Stormvermin. Also dragged along for the ride is the twitchy salesrat Skam who gave them a really great price on some high quality and reliable Clan Skryre products.

Lords (515, 22.89%)
Grey Seer Mekakron - General, Lores of Ruin & Plague
Grey Seer Starsqueak - Power Scroll, Lores of Ruin & Plague

Heroes (15, 0.67%)
Warlock Engineer

Core (780, 34.67%)
2x 10 Stormvermin, Warpfire Thrower
2x 10 Stormvermin, Ratling Gun
2x 50 Slaves w/ spears

Special (460, 20.44%)
2x 5 Poisoned Wind Globadiers, Poisoned Wind Mortar
5 Poisoned Wind Globadiers
2x 5 Gutter Runners w/ poison, slings

Rare (480, 21.33%)
2x Doomwheel
2x Warp Lightning Cannon

Total - 2250

So, we've got a crap ton of war machines and various types of shooting. Ratlings get up close and shred MSU and cav units, WLCs, WFTs and Mortars can all take out numbers and multi-wounders, and the Doomwheels can zap big stuff or smash into flanks with impact hits. PWGs can block, screen or lob globes at whatever needs them. 2 big Slave hordes can absorb charges and take up space, and since they're so expendable I can just blast at whatever they happen to be getting killed by. 2 Seers bring the pain with magic, Starsqueak picks up Dreaded 13th and uses his Power Scroll to nuke whatever, while Mekakron tries for the eaiser stuff to keep constant damage from 1 or 2 dice spells. Gutter Runners block vanguard, go after war machines, and annoy the crap out of things with buffed slings and poison. And the random Engy is in for lols, or just some random guy to take up space.

So, thoughts?

Weezer

2010-07-12T00:38:00.000-04:00

It's time I got back to the good life. First show since my surgery and boy was it a doozy. I <3 Weezer and they put on a fantastic show. Rivers Cuomo in a blue Snuggie and platinum blonde wig singing Poker Face while jumping on a trampoline put the show over the edge into crazy awesome territory.

World Crap

2010-07-10T15:24:00.000-04:00

Sure are a lot of butthurt Ghana fans up in this 3rd place game. Maybe you should suck less?

US got knocked out, Germany got beat, so now I supposed I have to root for the Oranje.

Hup Holland, hup!

Fantasy FAQs up

2010-07-09T09:46:00.000-04:00

Linky

Well done GW on getting this out so soon. Gonna have to go through these and detail and digest the changes. Again, kudos to GW for the prompt release.

BA and Tyranid FAQs

2010-06-30T23:00:00.001-04:00

Everybody else has been talking about the FAQs so I figured it was plenty covered. However, this thread on Dakka inspired me to post, if only to laugh at the ridiculous amount of butthurt and ego bruising contained therein.

Linkies here and here.

The Good:
1) Well, it's great that GW is putting these out relatively quickly. Hopefully we'll be seeing these sooner and sooner.
2) They're called official errata and clarifications, none of this "GW's house rules" bullshit. Awesome.
3) They're clear and to the point, no wordy answers. Yes and no is all we need, save the fluff for the bunnies.
4) Idiots who thought Doom could affect models in transports got TOLD. Fuck off, you dipshits.
5) Sanguinary Priests and Mawlocs work like I've been playing them. Deff Rollas and Doom too. I'm awesome.
6) Watching Gwar! completely lose his shit because GW gave answers almost universally opposite of his shitty FAQ, just to spite him because they know him and openly want to make him feel bad. Hardy har har, Gwar is a fucktard.
7) Similar kneejerk butthurt from RAW fundies and people who think Doom got nerfed (pro tip: you were doing it wrong from the start dipshit).

The Bad:
1) Hive Commander doesn't stack. Since the ruling on Astropaths I should have seen this coming, but it doesn't make it any less annoying.
2) People had to have it spelled out how Doom and Mawlocs work, also that Vindicators use large blasts. Fucking A, really?
3) Changes to Mycetic Spores and Hive Commander have hurt my Reserve Tyranid army. Now I'll need to redo it or just see if it still works.
4) They came out relatively quickly. Months is not a good waiting period, even for obvious answers like Doom and Mawlocs.

The Fucking Stupid:
1) Shadow in the Warp doesn't affect models in transports. Hooray, lets make Tyranid anti-psyker measures shitty and force people to use Deathleaper.
2) ICs cannot join units in Mycetic Spores. The fuck? Way to make dropped Warriors useless.
3) Units cannot deploy normally and lob empty Mycetic Spores. Less options, awesome. It's not like dropping free KPs in somebody's face is that powerful.
4) Furioso Librarians cannot take Extra Armor. Why? God dammit, GW.

Overall, it was a good FAQ. GW is getting better bringing out timely errata and clarifications with less fluff and more substance. Hopefully they'll get the next set out even sooner.

Man, I Sure Do Love Surgery

2010-06-28T08:46:00.000-04:00

Here's what's on the docket today. Getting my wisdom teeth out. Not sure what surgery I'll get getting in July, gotta keep my streak going.

Malaise

2010-06-27T17:05:00.000-04:00

Haven't posted recently, haven't been on Vassal, haven't played, built or painted anything since God knows when. Haven't been doing much of anything really.

I've got this cloud hanging over my head. Nothing bad has happened, but it's just there hovering over me, dragging me down.

Gotta shake this, it's driving me meh.

America, Fuck Yeah!

2010-06-23T14:37:00.000-04:00

USA! USA! USA!

Next up, Ghana or Serbia (please not Germany).

1800 Daemons for 8th Edition

2010-06-18T22:52:00.000-04:00

Oh noes, a cheesy powergaming Daemon player, get him!

So, after flipping through the book and throwing out my kneejerks, I started tinkering with lists. I've seen some chicken littles saying that Daemons will be nerfed by 8th ed. I lol'd. Daemons will be plenty fine in 8th, the book has lots of versatility and works very well with the new army construction format. You lose out on tricked out Greater Daemons until you hit bigger games (exception being the bargain bin Bloodthirster and Lord of Change), but you can field plenty of good stuff, particularly the Core units, made so much nicer thanks to the buffs to infantry in general. Really I think only Flesh Hounds got a slap on the wrist since you'll need 10 of them to negate rank bonuses, but a 2+ ward against magic and their nasty statline should make up for it.

We do 1800 points for tournies. It was silly for 7th since so many armies are dependent on Lords and the armies they try to limit (Daemons, Dark Elves, Vampires) do just fine without Lords. Well, it works just fine in 8th since Lords are totally possible. Maybe they'll change it, maybe no, but I thought it would be fun to work with a different points level just to show how the new percentages make scaling much easier.

Heroes
Herald of Tzeentch - Power Vortex, Glean Magic, Flickering Fire
Herald of Khorne - Juggernaut, Obsidian Armor, BSB

Core
39 Horrors, full command, Icon of Sorcery
20 Bloodletters, standard bearer, musician, Icon of Endless War
12 Daemonettes, standard bearer, Siren Standard
2x 5 Furies

Rare
6 Fiends

Total - 1797

So, let's go through my picks here.

Magic is risky in 8th ed. You're never guaranteed to get the power dice you need and miscasts are extremely dangerous. Horrors are great because not only do they ignore miscasts (only losing D6 models instead of blowing up), but they also take up a required Core slot and with the Herald are an almost immovable wall of 4+ ward save awesomeness. As a level 4 wizard, the unit get +4 to cast and has the Icon of Sorcery for a total of +5 to all casting. Holy shit, that's awesome. I can comfortably cast Bolt of Tzeentch (12+) on 2 dice! That's a lot of reliable magic coming out of this unit. The Herald himself can throw out Flickering Fire no problem, and gets +2 to cast so he can reliably put out Glean Magic to steal some of that new hotness coming from the rulebook lores. I think the Power Vortex may be overkill considering how easily the Horrors can zap people.

The Kherald and his khrew, on the other hand, are all about khilling shit. They have numbers so they can increase or reduce frontage as needed, but the real show comes in combat. Bloodletters are fragile and only come with 1 attack, 8th ed mitigated the latter by letting rank 2 step up to swing. That means I have my Herald dishing out his own attacks, the Jugger's normal swings in addition to stomp and the Bletters throw out 8 WS5 S5 attacks with Killing Blow and Hatred from the Kherald. God damn, can anything survive that? BSB is insurance. The magic banner here gives me a charge range of 5 + 3D6" for one turn, an possible 23" threat range, average 15"-16". That's how cavalry moved last edition, awesome! Good way to reduce the effect of a poor roll.

Fiends are nuts. M10 is huge on its own, but now they can fight in ranks effectively. Thanks to enemies being stubborn due to more ranks, the Fiends can go to lunch on basic infantry all day, making an effective flanking or just infantry killing force.

Daemonettes fill out my 3rd required Core unit and give me yet another flanker, which is why I took them over Seekers. The Siren Standard protects them from getting out of position and getting shot up by stand and shoot, and M6 means they can easily hit the sides or go after weaker units.

Furies march block, screen and hunt war machines as always.

Now, this is just a first draft and I'm sure I'll look back on this in a year and laugh at how stupid I was. Just me putting out more ideas I got from 8th ed.

Thoughts?

First Impressions: Warhammer Fantasy 8th Edition

2010-06-18T17:53:00.000-04:00

Flipping through the new rulebook give me lots of stuff to think about (particularly, where the fuck is my mini-rulebook?!). While I sort through everything and get some test games going, here's some scattered thoughts as they come to me.

Main Rules
Everything here is nice and laid out. Much easier to grasp than the convoluted mess that was 7th, but maybe that's just because of my experience with the system. Movement is a lot more streamlined, particular issues with wheeling and moving sideways or backwards (simple half speed as opposed to degree turns and all that nonsense). All changes in unit sizes are rolled up into reforms that cost you your movement and shooting. However, a musician lets you take a Ld test to speed reform. If you pass, you can make a normal non-march move and shoot as if you had moved. Go musicians! Streamlined is the word of the day, similar to 5th edition 40k.

The charging section is particularly great compared to what was previously the most nightmarish section to navigate, especially during a game. Simple and straightforward rules backed by full color diagrams help loads.

Magic is probably the biggest change. Your pool is determined by 2D6, while your opponent gets the higher of the two as his dispel pool. Each caster in your army provides you with an additional power die on a roll of 6, likewise for your opponent's casters and dispel dice. The pool may never exceed 12. Casting is as normal, but you add your wizard level to the casting value (hence the higher casting values in more recent books). Rolling 3 or less on your casting attempt is an auto-failure. Any wizard that fails to cast may not cast again that turn. IF and Miscasts have been rolled up together, any 2 6's auto-casts without dispel possible, and you roll on an extremely punishing miscast table. At best you're taking a S6 hit on every caster and losing D6 power dice, at worst you're potentially losing an entire unit and the caster. Dispelling is the same, though double 6s auto-dispels. Oddly enough, bound spells require power dice to operate, you just have to beat the power level. All magic is sorted into various types so everything is nice and simple with clearly defined rules. One minor change that may be awesome is that wizards can now use RiP spells and still cast new stuff afterwards. Yummy.

Shooting is essentially the same. The largest changes are to weapons themselves (all Cannons cause D6 wounds, for example), partials go the way of 5th edition 40k, S1 can wound T10 on a lucky 6, and ranged units can fire in 2 ranks (more if you have bows).

Assault is another huge change. All combat is at normal I value like 40k, charging only counts for +1 CR. Charging is M + 2D6" as rumored, but it's not a huge deal since charging isn't as important and you can pre-measure everything. Models can fight in 2 ranks, but the ones in the back only offer 1 attack at their basic stats (like 4th edition 40k's supporting attacks if anybody remembers). Spears give you another rank, as does the Horde rule (going at least 10 wide). Another big change is that in order to break ranks, you have to hit the enemy's flank/rear with a unit with at least 2 ranks of 5 models. Ouch, so much for cavalry. Also, if a unit loses combat but has more ranks, they are effectively stubborn. What I like about this new combat system is the added number of dice. You won't be seeing 5 dice rolled per side while 40 models sit around doing nothing, so luck plays a much smaller factor. We're talking 40k level carnage involved and it rules. Horde is easily offset by taking a smaller frontage and focusing on ranks to wade through the crappy troops.

Haven't had a check to look at magic items, missions or the basic lores, but I'll get a chance later.

Overall
It's a very different game. Much less focused on minutiae and taking advantage of opponents, which I'm all for. We also get to actually use all of our models rather than have them act as wound counters and rank bonuses. Magic is more of a crapshoot than ever, but I want to give it more time before I make a final verdict. I'm liking what I've read so far.

So, I'm going to wrap up with some random thoughts on armies I play or know most about.

Skaven
Look at all those infantry blocks people are using now! Poisoned Wind Mortar, WFT and Plague Catapult say hi! With percentages you can fit 2 Doomwheels and 2 WLC/Catapults into 2000 points, awesome! There's no limit on characters, so bring on your 25% of 15 point Engineers! Horde rule and more ranks = stubborn means that for 127 points I can field 5 slaves with spears and a musician. Awesome! Bell and Furnace units are even better now.

Daemons
Who's nerfed? Sure as hell isn't them. 2k games can see a BT decked out just fine, or a Lord of Change with +2 to cast and all the nasty Tzeentch spells. The real winners here are Fiends, Bloodcrushers, Bloodletters and Horrors. Ogre-sized units need only go 3 wide for ranks and each model in the back rank can get 3 attacks added in. With M10 and 18 S4 armor piercing attacks, Fiends get awesome. I accidentally your flank. Bloodcrushers get the same treatment, only they can pick up a Stomp attack (1 attack per model in BtB, always strikes last) in addition to the normal stuff. 3D6" charge (pick the 2 highest) as well as an extra D6" from the banner is nasty. Bloodletters double the number of high S killing blows coming your way, making them crazee good. Also, magic resistance is now a ward save against damaging magic, so if that combines with a Daemon's natural ward, Bloodletters get a 4++ against magic, Hounds get a 2++! Horrors kick ass now. Take a giant unit and you have a level 4 caster with the Icon of Sorcery throwing out tons of magic without worrying about miscasts (since Horrors don't suffer normally, they just lose some models). Fuck yeah, Core superwizards!

Warriors of Chaos
Shields give a 6+ ward in combat now, hello Mark of Tzeentch! 2D6" charging almost doubles the threat range of your foot units on average. WoC don't have to rely on 4 Sorcs to stop magic, all they need now is the Black Tongue and Infernal Puppet. Throgg is nuts considering the changes to Ogre-sized infantry, Trolls I have in mind. Could WoC be not shitty?

Lizardmen
Slann still kick ass. Focus on Rumination and Mystery alone is crazy, but the Becalming Cogitation will neuter your opponent's magic. Tack on the Cupped Hands just so he can remember what a miscast feels like. Saurus go back to beng Predatory Fighters unfortunately, so you may want to stick with hand weapons and save some points. Engine is still win. Salamanders are fucking fantastic.

Vampire Counts
Natural 3 or less auto-fails and failing to cast means no ~~soup~~ casting for you. Fear no longer auto-breaks enemies, bound spells require PD to go off, there's a 25% cap on Heroes and Lords each, and PD is capped at 12. Sucks to be you*.

Dwarfs
2D6" movement can potentially quintuple your charge range! Cannons do D6 wounds! Dwarfs get a straight +2 to all dispel attempts! Stubborn basic infantry if you focus on ranks over frontage! Thunderers firing to full effect while 5x2! Slayers worth a damn! Not being forced to waste all your character slots on anti-magic! Telling all non-IF magic to fuck right off! Anvil and Master Rune of Valaya combined with boosted charge range! Exclamation point! Fuck yeah, Dwarfs!

Beastment
Oh look, the enemy has more ranks than my Minotaurs who just wond combat, guess they're stubborn and not breaking. Look at how many attacks I get. Minotaurs are fucking evil. As always, core chariots, dirt cheap infantry, and the win that is now Minotaurs makes Beastment really quite good.

That's all for now. Hopefully I'll be able to compile this all into a full on Fantasy review when the book drops. Your input, as always, is appreciated.

*Get it, they're vampires!

Allow myself to introduce...myself; again.

2010-06-17T22:18:00.003-04:00

Yes, so I am the other contributor to Blackjack and Hookers. However I have been unable to; I have been far to busy graduating high school and getting into college. Now that I'm done with school and have my position at the Rochester Institute of Technology, I am able to once again post on this here web blag. Ever since I left our audience has become incredibly table top game heavy.(which is awesome and I thank all those that care about what is written here.) My Articles will most likely focus on video gaming, although I do play Tyranids in 40k and I may get into Fantasy, which is dependent upon if this new edition isn't stupid. (We'll be play testing it soon) But yeah gaming is my main focus, it's what I've done all through high school and it's what I'm going to college for. I'll have some posts about this most recent E3 up soon, and from the looks of things I'll have plenty to rage about. Till then, thanks.

Vassal Batrep: Nids vs Razorwolf

2010-06-15T13:30:00.000-04:00

Ok, more Tyranid stuff. Still working on my Pod list so MagicJuggler and I decided to give it a real test. He brought the nastiest Razorspam Space Wolf army to see if my Podders could hold their own against the best.

Here's the list

110: Rune Priest in Power Armour w/Chooser of the Slain; Tempest's Wrath; Storm Caller.

121: 2 Wolf Guard in Power Armour w/ Combi-Meltagun x2, Razorback w/ Lascannon, TL Plasmagun
121: 2 Wolf Guard in Power Armour w/ Combi-Meltagun x2, Razorback w/ Lascannon, TL Plasmagun
121: 2 Wolf Guard in Power Armour w/ Combi-Meltagun x2, Razorback w/ Lascannon, TL Plasmagun

160: 5 Grey Hunters w/ Flamer & Wolf Standard, Razorback w/ Lascannon, TL Plasmagun
160: 5 Grey Hunters w/ Flamer & Wolf Standard, Razorback w/ Lascannon, TL Plasmagun
160: 5 Grey Hunters w/ Flamer & Wolf Standard, Razorback w/ Lascannon, TL Plasmagun
160: 5 Grey Hunters w/ Flamer & Wolf Standard, Razorback w/ Lascannon, TL Plasmagun
160: 5 Grey Hunters w/ Flamer & Wolf Standard, Razorback w/ Lascannon, TL Plasmagun
160: 5 Grey Hunters w/ Flamer & Wolf Standard, Razorback w/ Lascannon, TL Plasmagun

90: 1 Land Speeder (Heavy Bolter; Typhoon Missile Launcher)
90: 1 Land Speeder (Heavy Bolter; Typhoon Missile Launcher)

128: 1 Wolf Guard in Power Armour, 2 Long Fangs w/Missile Launchers, Squad Leader in Rhino w/ HKM.
128: 1 Wolf Guard in Power Armour, 2 Long Fangs w/Missile Launchers, Squad Leader in Rhino w/ HKM.
128: 1 Wolf Guard in Power Armour, 2 Long Fangs w/Missile Launchers, Squad Leader in Rhino w/ HKM.

Total points: 1997

For reference, here's mine.

So, just looking at things on paper, I'm in for quite the adventure. Each unit scares my MCs, each unit scares my gants, and each unit is capable of insta-popping my poor Zoanthropes and Spores. With that in mind, I'll have to use the magical powers of stunlock and Hive Commander to shut down as much of hit shooting as possible while deploying as many targets as possible so he can't destroy all of them, respectively.

Map

So, there's a good spread of LoS blocking and obscuring terrain, so my normal MCs may be safe just walking. I'm going to have to use that terrain to my advantage to protect my units from all the AP2 flying around.

Deployment

We got Pitched Battle and Annihilation. With all my free KPs in the Pods I wasn't a big fan, but considering the Razorspam had a lot more than me it shouldn't be too bad. Juggs won the roll off and set up a castle. I decided to reserve everything since he had first turn and I didn't have much terrain protecting me from an alpha strike. I did outflank the Tervigons as a calculated risk, 2/3 of the time they'd be in good position while 1/3 they would be utterly useless. In retrospect, it was a poor move.

Turn 1

Castling up, waiting for the Tyranids to show up. Notice the use of smokes and positioning to protect every vehicle from my alpha strike. Also, to follow up on why outflanking is fail, check out how the marines are positioned on the board edge to keep me from coming anywhere but right in his face, where all the guns are.

Turn 2

Unfortunately, my Vassal folder got corrupted and all my pretty pictures went kaput. What was to follow was a one-sided beat down. I didn't have enough firepower to shut down the Razorbacks and made some glaring errors in placement and deployment (outflanking Tervigons, dropping DL too close) that got capitalized on.

I'm going to be prepping my Loganwing for upcoming events, but when I get the chance I'll go back to the Bugblower and see if I can make it work.

My Loganwing

2010-06-14T06:00:00.004-04:00

HQ
Logan Grimnar
Rune Priest w/ Living Lightning, Tempest's Wrath, Chooser of the Slain, Terminator Armor, Saga of the Beastslayer

Elites
2x Lone Wolf w/ Terminator Armor, Chainfist, Storm Shield

Troops
10 Wolf Guard, 2 WGTs w/ cyclones, 1w/ combi-melta
3x 5 Wolf Guard, WGT w/ cyclone, chainfist, 2w/ combi-meltas

Fast Attack
3x 1 TWC w/ powerfist, storm shield

Heavy Support
3x 5 Long Fangs, 4 w/ missile launchers

Total - 2000

This is pretty much what I've been running, albeit with more melta just in case I need it. WG and LF provide ridiculous amounts of dakka while TWC and LW run out to munch or tie down problem units for me.

My Bloodwing

2010-06-14T06:00:00.001-04:00

HQ
Dante
Librarian w/ Blood Lance, Shield of Sanguinius, Jump Pack
Honor Guard w/ jump packs, 4 storm shields, 3 meltaguns, powerfist

Elites
2 Sanguinary Priests w/ jump packs

Troops
Sanguinary Guard w/ 2 infernus, powerfist, chapter banner
2x Sanguinary Guard w/ 2 infernus, powerfist
5 man RAS, meltagun, infernus

Fast Attack
2x Vanguard - 5, jump packs, lightning claw, 1 melta bomb

Total - 2000

This one is a bit different from the last Bloodwing I posted. I went for the ridiculous anvil HG to run with Dante so they can take anything on the chin (like the Termies whose LR they just pwned) then H&R away to melta them to death later. The VV are now more for tie down and killing weakened units, though I could drop 1 unit and buff the other up similar to the HG. The mini RAS I added as a cheap scoring unit to hold back objectives or a sacrificial melta unit. Game plan is the same here, reserve up and drop in reliably with lots of melta and durable units with an anvil to smash my hammers against.

2000 Skarry Night

2010-06-13T23:21:00.002-04:00

Screwing around with army builds is fun.

Skarbrand has the potential to be a very potent force multiplier. However, his re-rolls go both ways so you have to kill before you can be killed. Slaanesh units seems to fit in with him best, oddly enough.

HQ
Skarbrand
Fateweaver

Elites
3x 6 Fiends, 1w/ Unholy Might

Troops
4x 5 PBs

Fast Attack
11 Seekers
2x 10 Seekers

Total - 2000

So, the army basically focuses on Skarbrand buffing the already killy Fiends and Seekers to crazy awesome levels. Really, the army isn't that reliant on him to be good, it's got the mobility and weight of rending attacks to do fine, but he helps loads.

Fateweaver acts as a red herring. People see him and he becomes target #1. Since Skarbrand is the only MC here he needs protection too. With Fatey in tow everything gets a lot tougher, which helps with Skarbrand's weakness: making the enemy better at killing you.

So, the game plan is simple. Drop Fatey and Skarry together with whatever assortment of rending nasties they may need and go to town.

Thoughts?

My Armies

2010-06-13T19:26:00.000-04:00

After some deliberation I have settled on which armies I will be keeping/expanding and which ones are going to get the boot. As I write up lists, build and paint models, and foster its growth, I'll be linking them back to here so anybody who wants to can find them all in one place. This is part e-peen stroking to show everybody how cool I am, part show and tell so people can see the final product of my thought processes and experience, but mostly motivation for myself to finally get an army finished and not just have stuff collecting dust.
So, for 40k we have:
Loganwing
Bloodwing
Tyranids
Orks
Daemons
Dark Angels/Deathwing/Ravenwing/Green Marines

And for Fantasy:
Skaven
Daemons
Dark Elves/Lizardmen (depends on how 8th ed turns out really)

So, keep watching this space as I update things.

E-mail: Angels Encarmine

2010-06-12T00:23:00.000-04:00

E-mail in:
'Ello Chum, this is Rybnick I've recently started my adventures in WH40k with my first army the Blood Angels (more specificly the Angels Encarmine). I've flip-flopped a few times on how I want to play my army, but I've finally decided that I want a fluffier force. For my the Angels Encarmine that means Death Company.

Now I've read everything I can find on many blogs (yours of course, as well as Kirby's, Stelek's and many others) about how it's hard to squeeze them into a competitive list, but how would you squeeze them into a fluffier list? I don't plan on fielding only DC, but a smaller unit will nearly always be included in my list making. I'm not after a super competitive list, but I would still like to give my opponent a good game.

At my local shop we tend to play games @1850 pts, so that's what I'm shooting for with this list. I'd really appreciate your help in massaging this list into something worth playing.

HQ:
Librarian - 125pts
- JP
- Shield of Sanguinius
- Sanguine Sword

Reclusiarch - 130

Elite:
Sanguinary Priest - 95pts
- JP
- Power Sword
- Meltabombs

Furioso Dreadnought - 235pts
- Librarian w/ Blood Lance and Shield of Sanguinius
- Extra Armor
- Heavy Flamer
- Drop Pod

Troops:
Death Company - 195pts
- Additional DC (2)
- Power Fist
- Razorback w/ TL HF, extra armor

Death Company Dreadnought - 135pts
- Heavy Flamer

ASM - 235pts
- Additional Marines (5)
- Meltagun (2)
- Power Fist

ASM - 195pts
- Meltagun
- Power Sword
- Razorback w/ TL Asscan, extra armor

Fast Attack
Baal Predator - 125pts
- TL Asscan
- HK Missile

Baal Predator - 125pts
- TL Asscan
- HK Missile

Land Speeder Squadron (2) - 120pts
- HF
- MM

Heavy Support
Predator - 135pts
- Autocannon
- Lascannon Sponsons

Not a horrible list in my opinion but like I said I just recently started playing (about 2 months ago) so I may be way off base. Any thoughts on areas that could be improved or should I just start over from scratch? Thanks for your help.

Hey there, thanks for asking <3 I do a lot of hyper competitive stuff, but making a fluffy army with teeth is a fun challenge. Well, it isn't so challenging with the 5th ed Codices being so good at mixing fluff and competitive goodness.

I think DC are great for throwing out as a big threat that your opponent has to deal with, otherwise they tend to fuck shit up. Keep them relatively cheap and throw them into a speedy transport and you're set. The way you have them set up here is great. Not too expensive to cut into the meat of your army, but still enough of a threat that your opponent has to deal with them.

The Reclusiarch, though, goes against the idea of the disposable DC. With him, you are invested in that unit. You can almost field a whole new unit for the price. It's between that and the single Drop Pod as my biggest problem with this otherwise solid list.

I think a Razorspam type deal with lots of TL Assault Cannons would be a good way to go with this. Take the DC and 2 Librarian Dreads as your assault units and you'd be set.

HQ
Librarian w/ Blood Lance, Shield of Sanguinius

Elites
2x Librarian Dreadnought w/ Wings of Sanguinius, Might of Heroes, Extra Armor, Magna Grapple
2 Sanguinary Priests

Troops
4x 5 RAS, meltagun, infernus, Razorback w/ TL assault cannon
6 DC, powerfist, infernus, TLHF Razorback w/ extra armor

Fast Attack
2x Baal Pred w/ HB sponsons

Total - 1850

You don't have much in the way of long range shooty, but look at all that armor rushing/flying/scouting towards people!

Hope that helps.

E-mail: Sanguinary Guard list

2010-06-09T22:15:00.001-04:00

E-mail in:
Hey Chum. This is Dante. We meet on Vassal for a half game, my All Sang Guard against your Nids.

I was wondering what your general impression is of this list in a more general gaming environment.

Dante

1 Sang Priest, Jump Pack, Power Weapon, Infernus Pistol (goes with Dante)
3 Sang Preists, Jump Pack, Power Weapons (with various Sang Guard units)

5 Sang Guard, 5 infernus Pistols, Power Fist, Chapter Banner (Dante's unit)
5 Sang Guard, 3 infernus Pistols, Power Fist
5 Sang Guard, 3 infernus Pistols, Power Fist
5 Sang Guard, 5 iPlasmaPistols, Power Fist
5 Sang Guard, 5 iPlasmaPistols, Power Fist

1850 pts, 30 models.

Oh, I remember all too well :P All those 2+ saves and FNP laughed at pretty much all my firepower and my crappy deployment sealed the deal. I still have it saved if you ever want to pick things up.

I love the Sanguinary Guard list, but I don't think you can do nothing but them and have a competitive list. The main problems are the lack of range and the big achilles' heel of AP2 stuff, particularly plasma. Swapping Sanguinary Guard for Vanguard, Honor Guard and including a Librarian are all good ways to balance out the list and make it more capable against a wide variety of opponents.

Vanguard allow you to limit enemy return fire by jumping right into assault. They are also one of your two sources of Storm Shields on jump packs, enabling them to go after stuff like TH/SS Termies, MCs and stompier combat units that would give your Sanguinary Guard trouble.

Honor Guard provide you with embedded Sanguinary Priests, which are especially useful in a Bloodwing considering how difficult it is to hide ICs in 5 man squads as well as "real" meltas and more Storm Shields.

A Librarian gives you the all too important psychic defense, and utility powers in the form of Blood Lance for dismantling castles and mechwalls and Shield of Sanguinius to give you protection should you need to drop in the open.

Dropping 2 Priests, 2 units of Sanguinary Guard (you can lose the plasma pistols since infernus are just better in about every way) and a few infernus pistols here and there (a couple AP4 bolter shots before charging can really help against hordier enemies like Guard, Gaunts and Orks) to fit in Honor Guard and Vanguard as well as a Librarian.

Check out the progression of my Bloodwing army if you want to see how I came to this kind of list.

Hope that helps, and I hope to play you on Vassal again (or IRL if we can swing it, where in the world are you anyway?).

Vassal Batrep: Nids vs BT

2010-06-03T12:59:00.000-04:00

Got some Vassalin' in with my best bro Brolo last night, testing out my funky Tyranid reserves army. This is actually our second game, he trounced my regular shooty Fexstar nids last time so I was looking for blood.

Brolo had the Black Templars:
EC w/ AAC
2x super killy death Termies in LRCs
3x Crusader Squads in Razorbacks
2x Autolas Preds

So, looking at Brolo's army for the second time, I know that it's surprisingly shooty for BTs and he really only has 2 good combat units: The Termies. It's a good list with no obvious threats and danger from just about everything. I want to keep his guns from shooting for as long as possible and delay or divert his Termies so I can get them in the open and mug them with Flyrants and supergants.

Map

Click to enlarge as always.

We rolled up Dawn of War and Annihilation. It seems like that's all I ever play with 'nids. Annihilation really hurts us both since he has lots of transports while I have 4 free KPs from my Mycetic Spores and my Tervigons don't have much incentive to spawn things. KPs FTL, really. 15 for me, 13 for Brolo. I did manage to luck out with Dawn of War, which limits what firepower he can throw out at me on turn 1 while most of my units just come in from reserves.

Deployment

Brolo won the roll off and plopped down 2 Razorbacks full of loving. I was considering outflanking the Tervigons, but when I saw the Razorbacks I had a pretty good idea that he'd be castling up in that corner so 1/3 of my outflankers would end up useless (good outflank defense, no wai!). Since gants wouldn't be doing much anyway, I deployed as far forward as possible so I could present as many targets as possible on turn 2 when most of my shit would come in from reserves.

Turn 1

Because it was Dawn of War, turn 1 was fairly uneventful on both sides. Brolo rolled up a castle with his LRCs as the anchor, daring me to come get him. Shooting was ineffectual considering Night Fight, so I just advanced as far forward as possible and prepared for the drop on turn 2. In retrospect, if he had refuse flanked me, I would have been in a very bad position and my army may well have arrived in piecemeal, making them much easier prey. Big problem with Reserve/Deep Strike armies is a lack of mobility, and Tyranids aren't much different. Once we drop in, we're pretty much there all game.

BT Turn 2

Sit and shoot, nothing much going on here. My Tyrant and Tervigon got the worst of it, but are still in good shape to support the coming pwnage.

Tyranid Turn 2

Oh boy, party time. Everything but the Deathleaper came in. The Carnifexes dropped in near his fire support in an attempt to keep them from shooting me. Massed S6 shots into side/rear armor is plenty to shake enemy armor. From those 4 units I managed to completely dick over Brolo's shooting for the next turn, keeping my MCs safe. Plus, anything that's immobilized now is food for the Carnifex next turn. Even with twin devourers, a Carnifex will have 5 S9 attacks charging! Zoanthropes managed to take out a Land Raider, even after 2 of them missed and rolled box cars for its psychic test >,<. I'd have Termies to deal with for sure, so I cast Paroxysm on them and put the Pods and a sacrificial gaunt squad out front to keep them from getting the charge off of any important units. Even in Annihilation, it pays to be able to create free buffer units to preserve your more important units.

BT Turn 3

The problem with spore pods? 3 wounds, T4 and only a 4+ armor save. Brolo picked up 3 easy KPs from them while shuffling his tanks around to keep my MCs from demolishing them. The Termies ran into combat with a Pod and the Zoanthropes in an attempt to kill them off ASAP. Unfortunately, he didn't count on Spore Pods being crazy awesome in combat and how durable a 3++ save can be (it's the new black). I failed more saves from No Retreat than I did his Termies :P Termagants with counter attack, toxin sacs, and Preferred Enemy are surprisingly capable in assault, even charging and with Preferred Enemy the Crusader Squad didn't manage much more than a draw. This put me in an excellent position to counter charge with my Tyrants and use my Carnifexes to start breaking his METAL BAWKSES.

Ignore the position of the left-most Carnifex and the 2 random marines. I actually forgot to save pictures after turn 2 so I had to go back in time to take these and Vassal is fairly retarded about undoing. This will be a recurring theme from now on :P

Tyranids Turn 3

So, more shooting to shut down armor and MCs chasing vehicles around so they can break them. I created another unit of gaunts to protect me from reprisal by the other unit of Terminators, once again giving myself an apparent disadvantage (more KPs, easy kills at that) in favor of my long term survival. Once they lose furious charge, BT Termies suffer due to their outdated Storm Shields and paltry 5++. Both Flyrants killed all of 3 Termies while the Zoanthropes kept making saves. The last Terminator fell to No Retreat, oddly enough. The Tervigon moved to support his babies and they munch on some Crusaders while the Fexes proceeded to immobilize their targets in preparation for future toy-smashing. Deathleaper shook his target, also in preparation to break it next turn.

BT Turn 4

Aww, more stuff died. A misjudged move by the Land Raider left the Terminators with only a Tervigon to mug while the EC went seal clubbing on the Termagants. The Spore Pod got 'sploded by a powerfist, but not before taking some marines with it. Both Carnifexes smashed up their immobile targets (auto-pens FTW) and prepared to go to work on something else. Also some random Griffons showed up, but I didn't notice until I was saving pictures and I didn't feel like undo-ing my undos for the 3rd time so I just said fuck it.

Tyranids Turn 4

More toy breaking and shooting. The leftmost Carnifex failed IB and RAEG-ed right into the Predator. Zoanthrope totally missed the Barn Raider and the Carnifex immobilized the last Razorback. One Tyrant cast Paroxysm on the Termies, while the injured one sucked a wound back with Leech Essence (5++ FTL!) After massed firepower, the Terminators took a morale test and promptly failed it, running right towards the black gants and no regroup-land. The wheels had officially come off. EC finished off the gaunts and wondered where his buddies went

BT Turn 5

Deathleaper got pwned by a meltagun, lame. Zoanthrope held fast against the EC and the LRC tried gunning down the 3 black gaunts for an easy KP but FNP and G2G saved the day. Termies were within 6" of the gaunts so they couldn't regroup and they promptly ran off the board. Ouch.

Tyranids Turn 5

At this point it's just mop up. The Carnifexes shot up and munched on the Crusader squads, one Flyrant slapped the EC silly and the Tervigon blew up the LRC.

We did end up going to turn 6, but we decided to call it since the result was fairly obvious. Final KP count, Tyranids: 13, BT: 8 (we rolled to see how the Carnifex with 1 wound left would fare, he killed his target but was slain in the process).

So, while one game isn't a reliable indicator of performance, I'm really liking how this list is working out. Spores coming in reliably on turn 2 can help me avoid incoming fire and launch an alpha strike of my own, especially if I go second. The Devilfexes and Pods, while not as good on paper as, say, a Trygon, are more than capable of shutting down mech shooting through sheer rate of fire and following up with a solid statline in combat. Wait, so that means that you can't analyze units effectively in a vacuum and their true worth really depends on the army they are in and how they work with other units? Suck it, internet wisdom. The speed of the Flyrants and the option to outflank both Tervigons or Termagant units allows me to come in from just about any angle and threaten armor and infantry when I get there. I'm really liking this army.

It was a fantastic game, Brolo is my homeboy and he took the tabling like a champ. Now we're even, so I look forward to the next bout.

As always, comments and criticism are welcome and encouraged.

Shenanigans Mk2

2010-06-03T00:17:00.000-04:00

Got another game in with my new Tyranid reserve army. Batrep is incoming later.

After some thought and discussion with other peeps, I've made some tweaks to the list.

HQ
2x Hive Tyrant w/ Bonesword and Lash Whip, Heavy Venom Cannon, Wings, Paroxysm, Leech Essence, Hive Commander

Elites
2x 2 Zoanthropes in Spore Pod
Deathleaper

Troops
2x Tervigon w/ Catalyst, Onslaught, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands, Stinger Salvo
2x 10 Termagants

Heavy Support
2x Carnifex w/ dual brainleech devourers, Spore Pod

Total - 2000

So, I dropped the VCs on my Pods in exchange for HVCs on my Flyrants and Onslaught for the Tervigons. The VCs have not been very useful at all, actually more detrimental than anything as the scatter can send the shot so far off course and my army will catch up to the spores so quickly that I can end up hurting myself. Spores are crazy fragile anyway so increasing their cost by 50% isn't necessarily a good idea. Onslaught is in to mitigate the effect of bad scatters or increase the range of Zoanthropes should the enemy try and flee. HVCs on the Tyrant do what the VCs on the Pods should, suppress light armor, only they are more accurate, stronger and capable of hitting different targets. Stinger Salvos are in on a suggestion from MagicJuggler about their use against tanks, particularly side shots I can get from outflanking. Since I can kill infantry with just about everything else, adding more suppressive fire makes a lot of sense.

So now I add in 4 more units that can suppress armor at range, pretty much making every unit capable of shutting down mech while capable against infantry.

Thoughts?

Binghamton RTT June 12th

2010-06-02T15:04:00.000-04:00

http://www.bcadeptus.com/forum/index.php?topic=1763.0

I don't even need to say anything.

Spess Mehreenz for Charity

2010-06-02T14:15:00.000-04:00

In the grim darkness of the near future, there is only help fort he underprivileged!

Ron from FTW along with a superstar cast of 40k e-celebrities are doing what all famous people do best, lending their talents to help those in need. Check it out here. It's a great cause and an awesome prize up to grab.

Tyranids Reserves Shenanigans

2010-06-01T16:01:00.000-04:00

Fine Brolo, here's more content!

I'm focusing too much on one particular Tyranid build. It's helping me fine tune the list, but I think I'm getting stuck in a rut. In my chats with Brolo and other e-friends we've talked lots of Tyranids. And really, just talking about the potential army styles in this Codex is a ton of fun. So I went back to the drawing board and tried coming up with something different. Ultimately, I feel this will help me out with my "true" list as I can see how other builds play and look at the same units in a different light to get some more perspective. If it works out, I'll try doing this with other armies too. Suck it, comfort zone.

This particular army focuses on the potential Tyranids have to be very sneaky. Manipulating reserves to come in on turn 2 and throw their opponent off balance. It's like Drop Pods, only you aren't dicked by your enemy going into reserves.

HQ
2x Hive Tyrant w/ Bonesword and Lash Whip, Scything Talons, Wings, Paroxysm, Leech Essence, Hive Commander

Elites
2x 2 Zoanthropes in Spore Pods w/ Venom Cannons
Deathleaper

Troops
2x Tervigon w/ Catalyst, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands, Cluster Spines
2x 10 Termagants

Heavy Support
2x Carnifex w/ dual brainleech devourers, Spore Pod w/ Venom Cannon

Total - 2000

No Trygons you say. Well, you're right. I went for the Devilfexes and Venom Cannon Pods because I find them to be superior platforms for tank suppression. 12 S6 shots is going to at least shake/stun something. After that, 5 S9 MC attacks should do the trick. Zoanthropes go for heavier targets with Deathleaper running interference against hoods. Tervigons can outflank and establish a beach head while normal gaunts can run up on my side and grab objectives. Tyrants Deep Strike or fly on from reserves as needed, depending on my opponent and map set up.

I played this army for the first time on Vassal against a shooty mech SM army (6 Rifleman Dreads, las/plas Razorbacks). Devilfexes, Pods and Zoanthropes performed admirably upon arrival, cracking open or suppressing the Razors and Dreads while Tervigons walked on from the board edges to seize objectives and crap out Termagants to go tie stuff down (Catalyst vs the most whifftastic Assault Marines ever = tied up all game). The Tyrants didn't do much but pop a Razorback, kill 5 marines and suck up a ton of firepower, but Hive Commander was well worth it. If I can get them Catalyst then I'll be in much better shape to weather return fire (would also help if one didn't roll a 1 to come on from reserves).

I'll give it some more thinking and testing before coming back with something else. Let me know what you think.

Updated Tyranids

2010-05-30T22:03:00.000-04:00

So, after some more games I've come up with a new draft of my Tyranid army. What I had noticed was a distinct lack of speed, particularly against mechanized opponents, as well a over reliance on my fexstar. So I added in Raveners to give me cheap and mobile assault units ideal for munching on units that have just lost their transports in addition to giving me yet more targets that require dedicated anti-tank fire to bring down. I like Fiends so much, we'll see how their buggy cousins work out.

HQ
Tyranid Prime w/ Lash whip and Bonesword, Rending Claws, Toxin Sacs, Regenerate

Elites
3x 2 Hive Guard

Troops
Tervigon w/ Cluster Spines, Catalyst, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands, Scything Talons
Tervigon w/ Cluster Spines, Catalyst, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands
2x 10 Termagants

Fast Attack
2x 3 Raveners w/ rending claws

Heavy Support
2 Carnifexes w/ Frag spines, Adrenal glands
2x Tyrannofex w/ Rupture Cannon, Cluster Spines, Dessicator Larva

Total - 2000

I had also consider losing the Fexstar altogether in favor of 2 Harpies to give me even more firepower or investing in Genestealers to give me independent, versatile Troops that can do some damage with Toxin Sacs and rending. I tried a variation swapping the Fexstar and T-fexes for 3 Trygons and 2 Harpies. The Trygons performed extremely well, but I feel they were unsupported so I'm going to look into a separate build that makes use of these super snakity snakes, detailed on a later post (y'know, next week).

Lemme know what you think.

Thoughts on Tyranids

2010-05-28T15:37:00.000-04:00

Well, after playing with Tyranids on vassal for a few days, I think I've gotten a much better handle on things. While I'm still in the process of hammering out my list, I think I have a much better idea of how all these things work together.

Tyranids are unlike any army in 40k. They have no vehicles. While this may seem obvious, the implications are far-reaching and really alter the fundamental nature of the army. Without vehicles, you don't have protection for vulnerable units, mobile melta or similar tank busters protected by a metal box, an inherent mobility to your entire army, and the added benefits of things like tank shock, being unable to get locked in HtH, and the added size of a vehicle for movement/LoS blocking purposes.

So, without tanks, Tyranids have to be able to cross the board, get some units into assault, avoid assaults with some enemies, protect their vulnerable units and clear bad guys off of objectives all without any vehicles. They can do this a couple ways, though I've only really explored one. Shooting.

Tyranids can shoot and do it well. They don't have much in the way of AP2 shiny toy guns but rather generate so many shots/hits that they can make anything go away. The same applies to vehicles. Tyranids may not be able to pop open heavier tanks with the same reliability as a trio of meltaguns, but they can shake, stun and suppress them long enough to render them useless so they can close and finish the job in combat. Very few vehicles can stand up to a crap ton of S6 MC attacks or even a lot of S5 rending to their rear armor.

The army I've set up is not very mobile but it is quite shooty. Tyrannofexes are capable of harming any vehicle with their rupture cannons, they are quite resilient with 6 T6 wounds and a 2+ save and they are still decent against infantry with their thorax swarm and cluster spines as well as in assault with the aforementioned statline and 3 MC attacks of their own. Hive Guard can pop pretty much anything short of AV14 with their impaler cannons, have T6 to keep them going, and can still manage 3 S5 attacks each on the charge. Termgants and Tervigons can put out a good amount of anti-infantry firepower.

The list itself ends up slow but sturdy with lots of anti-mech and then pie plates and massed fire to clear off objectives. The big difference is the Carnifex Death Star, AKA Fexstar. It's 2 Carnifexes with scything talons and frag spines with a Tyranid Prime sporting a bonesword and lash whip in tow. This unit has 11 majority T6 wounds between 2 wound groups, so it's a huge pain to kill off. The Prime throws out 5 WS6 S5 power weapon attacks on the charge while the fexes dish out 10 S9 attacks at WS3 but re-rolling missed hits. The Fexes have only I3 charging, but if the Prime charges first enemies in BtB will be I1 and the Fexes suddenly start swinging first. Scary stuff. Best part, the unit only runs at 425 minimum. Not bad considering how deadly and tough it is. I love my fexstar.

Tervigons are a huge force multiplier, like game-changing. Adding FNP to any unit makes them infinitely more durable (Fexstar with FNP laughs at my Loganwing missile spam) and can be used to mitigate problems with No Retreat. Gaunts with furious charge and toxin sacs suddenly become dangerous prospects in assault, capable of dragging down enemies much larger (and more expensive). Even the Tervigon itself is passable in assault with 4 S5 poisoned attacks on the charge, 6 wounds really saves it here of course.

I'm still getting to grips with the army as a whole, but I'm enjoying it immensely. So expect more Tyranid thought processey, meandering self discussion, analysis type dealies as I keep going on with them.

Vassal Batrep: Tyranids vs Tau

2010-05-23T12:13:00.000-04:00

So, with my limited mobility I can't get out and go play Warhams IRL. Bummer. However, I can find new and inventive ways to avoid painting. Vassal, as detailed here, is not a perfect replica of 40k but it is a passable simulation and a good way to connect with people all over the world. So I figured, if I can't play real dollies, fake dollies will have to do. Plus, I can test my new bugs without having to waste a bunch of time converting things that turn out shitty :P

So, I loaded up and looked for a game. After a while I had a biter and I was ready to go up against Tau. We ended playing 1750, so I had to alter my list a smidge. Dropping 2 Warriors and downgrading from lashwhips and deathspitters to boneswords and devourers was all it took.

He took a very familiar looking Tau army. Command Fireknife and 6 Fireknives, 3 MP/Flamer suits, 2 big kroot squads, Pathfinders, FW to jack their Fish, 2 Railheads, 2 Broadsides and 2 Piranhas. We talked about YTTH a bit and I learned he had pretty much arrived to the same build as Stelek, so I knew I would be in for a tough fight already.

We rolled up Annihilation with Pitched Battle deployment, he got first turn and we were off.

(click to enlarge)

So, he spread his forces out and I decided to focus all on one flank, hide my valuable MCs behind the LoS-blocking building and use T-fexes to suppress/destroy armor at range. In retrospect it was a pretty bad move, but we'll get to that later.

Turn 1

I actually forgot to take pics of each side turn 1, so this is just the final pic of that turn. Yes, the Hammerhead and Devilfsh both immobilized themselves, lol. He got into range, blew away half of my Hive Guard, wounded a Warrior and killed some gaunts. I advanced, trying to keep my cover up. My left T-fex blew up a Piranha while the other did nothing. Hive Guard ended up out of range. Already I can see that I've put myself in a very bad position since it'll take me at least 2 turns to reach combat and when I do, it'll be right into the bubblewrap. Best I can do now is get close ASAP, keep his vehicles suppressed/destroyed and try and take out his Crisis suits.

Turn 2 Tau

Not very pretty. Tau shooting does terrible things. My gaunts and Warriors got cut in half, I lost the rest of my damaged Hive Guard unit, and I'm not getting any closer to assault. The little skull markers indicate FNP, which helped my Warriors considerably.

Tyranids Turn 2

Getting closer here. I know it's a KP mission, but spawning the gaunts will be a big help to keep my Warriors in cover and with their potential 18" charge range I can get into that bubblewrap sooner. Left T-fex blew up the Hammerhead, right T-fex fails miserably. More running, more cover generating.

Tau Turn 3

Great. Warriors and gaunts got pasted and I am not loving life. Piranha went cowering away, so I can't pick up an easy KP. At this point, I really need to start taking out his Hammerhead and Crisis suits. Luckily my Hive Guard are still alive, so they can threaten the Crisis suits from behind gaunt screens all day (provided he ever failed a save, of course).

Tyranids Turn 3

Whoa, where did those gaunts come from? Unfortunately, both Tervigons pooped themselves out so this is all I've got going for me. Saving your gaunt spawns for later turns is a great way to give yourself a little extra support later should you need it. Think of them as reserves, only coming from the Tervigons' butt. I tried to set up an assault from the black gaunts into the kroot, charigng the one model not in cover so I could strike first. MagicJuggler, of internet fame, actually gave me the idea as soon as the turn started. I was considering it myself at that point, but I felt kinda bad taking help from the peanut gallery. No knock on you Juggs, you're like one of my new favorite people, but I felt uncomfortable taking outside help. It was all for naught, as my Termgants managed to whiff amazingly and kill 2 kroot while getting wiped (failed 7 out of 8 FNP saves, which was to be a recurring theme). The left T-fex kept his streak alive and killed off some Crisis suits, and the right fex kept the failboat afloat by missing his 6th shot in a row. The green gaunts ended up 1" out of assault range, so they were gonna be in trouble. Deathleaper blew up the immobile Devilfish, yayz.

Tau Turn 4

Gee, where did they all go? Gaunts got gunned down and Deathleaper was felled by Fire Warriors. 5 3+ cover saves, 4 1's. Fuck me. Down to 1 Hive Guard and no mobility left, it's pretty much a forgone conclusion at this point.

Tyranids Turn 4

The good T-fex changed places and the right one blew up the Hammerhead while the left one did nothing. 2 salvoes of Cluster Spines didn't hurt any Crisis suits, but managed to panic the kroot off the board. Yay?

Tau Turn 5

Gaunties and Hive Guard may come and go, but Tervigons and T-fexes are forever. Seriously, I want an army with just these guys.

Tyranids Turn 5

This was the final turn and not much ended up happening. The Piranha was out of sight and the Crisis suits made all their saves.

So, all told, I lost 9 KPs to 4.

I'm gonna take some time to look at my list and its application and get back to y'all with some analysis. I'd also like to hear from you out there. What would you do differently? How would you change up my list, if at all? Do you think this battle report format works? Are Richard, Lapidus and Miles still alive? Where's Desmond? Who will replace Jacob? Who will die next?

1850 Tournanids

2010-05-20T09:11:00.001-04:00

Tyranids, on my blog? It's more likely than you think.

While I'm invalid I may as well put everything in my head down somewhere, so this seems like a good enough place :P Tyranids are super cool. I love the new Codex. My brother and supposed co-author is a Tyranid fanatic, so when/if he ever feels like posting it'll be about them. We've got a metric ton of 'nids lying around unused and unloved, and I aim to change that.

We have 6 Warriors, 3 Fexes, 24 of each gaunt, a Lictor, Rippers a Trygon, and a ~~shit load~~ more like 10 shit loads of Genestealers (60+ and Broodlords). Lotsa bugs, but they need a list to call home.

Well, local tournies go to 1850 points, so I could do that.

HQ
Tyranid Prime w/ Boneswords, Toxin Sacs, Deathspitter

Elites
2x 3 Hive Guard
Deathleaper

Troops
2x Tervigon w/ Catalyst, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands
2x 10 Termagants
5 Warriors w/ Boneswords and Lash Whips, Deathspitters, Toxin Sacs, 1 w/ Venom Cannon

Heavy Support
2x Tyrannofexes w/ Rupture Cannon

Total - 1850

So, I've got the typical gaunt farm and shooty team up with T-fexes and Hive Guard going after armor. The big different is in the giant Warrior unit. It's pricey, but there aren't many things that can take them down except TH/SS Termies and Dreads. HG and T-fexes should have Dreads sorted, and the Warriors can even drag down Termies with the sheer number of power weapon attacks.

I'm concerned with the Warriors really. They are incredibly killy, but are on the slow side compared to stuff like Genestealers, Hormagaunts and Raveners.

What do you Tyranid experts think?

In Case You Missed It...

2010-05-18T22:22:00.000-04:00

MVB put up an excellent article on his blog, right here. It's all about how people interact with each other and reconcile their differences.

Not everybody is wired the same, it's just a fact of life. If you run across somebody you don't get along with, you aren't going to continue subjecting yourself to their presence and keep complaining about it (or maybe you will, weirdo). Take responsibility for your own enjoyment and you'll find you're enjoying yourself a lot more than passively letting yourself get bent over by folks and attitudes you don't agree with.

What Time Is It?

2010-05-18T07:37:00.000-04:00

Surgery time!

8:45 is zero hour. See y'all later.

Blood Guard? Raven Angels?

2010-05-17T23:18:00.000-04:00

E-mail in:
Hey Chumb

Ravendove/Jay from LO here. You might recall I posed this same question to
Stelek a while ago but didn't really receive much feedback (he threw the
question to the community who didn't have much to offer) so I thought I
would see how you would approach it? Original email here:
http://www.yesthetruthhurts.com/2010/05/jpdp-blood-angels-counts-as-raven-guard.html

What I don't want to do is just build a BA army and paint it black - I
want to retain the Raven Guard theme throughout the army. What are your
thoughts?

Cheers buddy,

J

Hey dude, happy to help if I can.

I'm no expert when it comes to Raven Guard fluff, I'm more of a Dark Angels, Space Wolves, Alpha Legion type guy, but it's my understanding that the Raven Guard are all about precision strikes, usually with Scouts, Drop Pods, and jump packs. That and getting their butts kicked on Istvaan :P Not every Raven Guard player is a big fan of infiltrating TH/SS Terminators (noobs :P), so we'll see if there's greener (redder?) pastures in the Blood Angels book.

First off, to stick with the theme, there are a couple things I wouldn't want to include unless I really needed them. Fast vehicles are a no no, simply because Raven Guard don't have them. That seems a bit limiting, but considering the flexibility inherent in the Blood Angels Codex and the viability of non-mech coming out of it, this isn't as big a limitation as you'd think. Special Characters, by and large, are not kosher. You can make a case for Dante (no scatter DS and H&R? Sounds Raven Guardy to me!), normal Tycho (Rites of Battle ftw), Corbulo (super Apothecary, good for that unstable gene seed), and Seth (chaintalons), but Mephiston, Astoroth, Lemartes and DC Tycho just don't fit normally. I'd be leery of DC too, unless you wanted to do a post-Heresy army featuring the Weregyld or other genetic freaks. Sanguinary Guard are iffy but doable, consider them elite Assault Squads with super fancy claws or whatever. Sanguinary Priests are Apothecaries, so no problem there. Stormravens will hopefully be retconned into every chapter, so I'd have no problem with them (it's even got Raven in its name!). So, that's the ground rules.

If jump packs are your pleasure, Blood Angels are for you. Assault Squads as Troops, jump packers in every category except Heavy Support (which instead has a transport for jump packers!), Descent of Angels, Sanguinary Priests, and melta everywhere makes the all jump army not only possible, but quite viable. Raven Guard are all about precision strikes, and coming in on a re-rollable 4+ (75% chance of arriving) from turn 2 as well as only rolling D6" for scatter is about as precise as you can get.

Let's see how a jump packer list will work at 1500. First off, I want to rep my second best dingaroo buddy Kirby. Sorry Kirbs, Paul Hogan is my everything. He's put up an awesome array of Blood Angels goodness, particularly on jumper armies. In essence, a jump pack army needs to go full on jump packs so you focus your force where you need it and not give your opponent an army that is nice and compartmentalized so he can face one piece at a time with his full force.

So, 1500 jump packers.

HQ
Librarian w/ jump pack, Blood Lance, Shield of Sanguinius
Librarians are cheap and effective support HQs, the hood alone makes them worthwhile. Blood Lance will help on your drop by messing up enemy castle formations or just helping against tougher armor. Shield of Sanguinius is handy protection should you find yourself in a bad position due to scatter.

Elites
2 Sanguinary Priests w/ jump packs, infernus pistols
The FNP/FC bubble is essential for a jump pack army. On their own, even as Troops, Assault Marines are still just basic marines in terms of damage output and survivability. FC/FNP makes all the difference in the world here. Infernus Pistols help you spread the melta loving wherever you need it.

Troops
3x Assault Squads - 10 marines, 2 meltaguns, Sergeant w/ powerfist
This is the meat of your army. 30 marines with jump packs, melta and powerfists should be capable of handling anything that comes their way, and with DoA and Combat Squads they can be pretty much anywhere you need them to be when you need them. Drop in melta range to vape an important tank, split up and cap objectives, sacrifice meltas for the rest of your force, and so on.

Fast Attack
2x 5 Vanguard Veterans, powerfist, 2 single LCs, 2 storm shields
While you can bring lots of melta down turn 2, you are still vulnerable to getting assaulted or blocked by bubblewrap. Vanguard allow you to bypass that altogether and get into assault straight away. They can pop bubblewrap, tie down problem units, or finish off units that have just been recently evicted from their transports by all the melta.

So, all told, that's 1500 points exactly. While it doesn't have Drop Pods or Scouts, it is big on the precision and jump packing. A DoA army is much better off than a Podding force due to minimizing the downsides of reserves and deep striking, namely unpredictability, while maximizing the effect of its first strike. Very few armies can reliably stay off the board for more than 1 turn (Eldar with Autarchs and not much else), so you will always get the drop on them, unlike Podding armies that are easily thwarted by intelligent use of reserves.

Now, that may seem a bit too Blood Angely for you, which is understandable. Not much differentiates this army from Raven Guard beyond a paint job.

Here's something that might be a big fluffier, though it may not be as optimized. Some times you just have to go for style points.

HQ
Captain w/ dual lightning claws, jump pack
Honor Guard w/ jump packs, 3 meltaguns, powerfist
Shrike and his wing, w00t!

Elites
2x Librarian Furioso Dreadnoughts w/ Blood Lance, Shield of Sanguinius, Magna-Grapple, Drop Pod
What? I'm sure a First Founding Legion has a couple of these lying around. Nobody outside of the Chapter knows about them because them Raven Guard is so sneaky. Drop in, Lance or smoke it up, then proceed to RIP AND TEAR. AV13 is difficult to pop for most weapons, especially when smoked.

Troops
2x Assault Squads - 10 marines, 2 meltaguns, powerfist
Where have I seen that before?
10 Tactical Marines, multi-melta, flamer, Drop Pod
Gotta have that 3rd Pod, also a cheap scoring unit

Also 1500. So, we lose out on a bit of the alpha strike and VV in favor of fluff'n'stuff as well as a more wave-ish approach. Normally I wouldn't recommend, but Librarian Dreads are pretty tough to pop, so they can start the party with the assurance that most of your jump packs should arrive in short order. The Captain and HG is more for fluff that anything else, but a normal Librarian, Sanguinary Priests and Scouts are an option, I just like Shrike.

Now, these are far from definitive, but hopefully they can give you some ideas. Blood Angels have a lot of options, even if you cut out a good chunk of the Codex, so you've got plenty to work with to make your Raven Guard play how you like.

I think if you want to Pod or use Scouts, Vanilla marines will serve you better. Yes, their Assault Marines tend to fail, but Dropping a bunch of Ironclads backed by Shrike and his unit as well as Scouts can put a lot of hurt on your opponent's doorstep early, with extra Pods and Speeders running in reserve to support as needed. Fleet is also totally awesome. Blood Angels are more focused on their reliable and awesome jumpers, fast mech, and funky stuff like Stormravens. They both work well, so it's really up to you to figure out what you want out of your army and pick the Codex that best fits it.

Hope that helps.

Space Wolves Threat Assessment: HQ and Sagas

2010-05-17T09:46:00.002-04:00

Space Wolves cause people headaches every day. Here I try to give you that extra edge in knowledge and advice on how to apply the proverbial rolled up newspaper.

So let's keep on rolling with HQs and Sagas.
HQ
Space Wolves can field up to 4 HQs and they range from super expensive killing machine to cheap support. Their HQ selection, more than any other, defines the rest of their army when it comes to SW. You can often tell what the rest of the army will do just based on their HQ selections.

Wolf Lord: Captain statline minus the Iron Halo. The Wolf Lord can pretty much take any weapon combination, any mount or armor and every Saga except Hunter and Iron Wolf. He is a killing machine, every time. Closer to a 3.5 ed Chaos Lord than a current SM Captain just because of the sheer number of options he has available. His real strengths and weaknesses will vary depending on his outfit, but generally he will be vulnerable to insta-kill (unless he has Saga of the Bear or a TWM, which makes him T5 base) and focused only on combat.

Wolf Guard Battle Leader: A smaller Wolf Lord with 1 less WS, W, A and Ld. He's the bargain bin killer, who has all the same options minus the Belt of Russ and Sagas of the Bear and Majesty, though he can take Saga of the Hunter. While not as tough or killy as a Wolf Lord, the WGBL can still pack plenty of punch for a lower cost. Only 2 wounds and no EW does make him quite vulnerable though.

Wolf Priest: Chaplain equivalent. He gives up Litanies of Hate for Preferred Enemy for him and his unit against a particular unit type (Infantry, MC, etc) chosen at the start of the game, but is otherwise the same (Fang of Morkai = Fearless, Wolf Amulet = Rosarius). He can't swap out his power weapon, but he has all the gun and mount/armor options except TWM. He may take any Saga except Bear, Majesty and Iron Wolf. Like a Chaplain, he's a good support HQ and cheap, but not particularly awesome on his own. T4 2W with only a 4++ and getting stuck with a power weapon really hampers his effectiveness. Be more concerned with his unit getting re-rolls, then try and hit them with a different unit type so they lose the benefit.

Rune Priest: My favorite generic HQ. He's the Librarian equivalent with a different set of powers and hood. The Runic Weapon is a Force Weapon that nullifies any psychic power cast within 24" on a 4+ as opposed to the Hood dice off and always wounds Daemons on a 2+. Runic Weapon is generally superior to the Hood thanks to the straight 4+ roll, while Hoods only work if you have higher Ld and roll higher. He can also pick up a Chooser of the Slain, which is a little familiar thing that gets put down before their opponent deploys and disallows any infiltrators from setting up within 18". During the game, any shooting attacks from the RP that the Chooser can also see gives the RP BS5. He's a handy little booster for an already awesome support unit. The RP can't replace his runic weapon, but he can take any other option barring a TWM or special ccw. For Sagas all he gets are Beastslayer and Warrior Born, so he usually won't be kitted to fighting in HtH due to a lack of invul better than 5++. High priority target, nigh essential in any SW list. He is incredibly fragile for a marine HQ, so most reasonably CC oriented units can slap him silly.

Psychic Powers
Living Lightning: D6 shot AP5 autocannon with unlimited range. Win against mech.
Storm Caller: 5+ cover for everything within 6" (including vehicles). Fuzzy KFF in essence.
Tempest's Wrath: Any jump infantry, skimmers, jetbikes, or Deep Strikers that move within 24" of the RP next turn must test for dangerous terrain. Awesome defensive power.
Murderous Hurricane: 3D6 S3 AP- hits at 24". The target moves as if in difficult and dangerous terrain next turn, even if nobody gets wounded or killed.
Jaws of the World Wolf: Draw a 24" line from the RP. Any Infantry, MCs, Beasts, Cavalry and Bikes touched by it must take an I test (+1 to the test for MCs) or die. No saves, no EW, just gone. It can be used to snipe characters and special weapons.
Thunderclap: Drop a pie plate so that it touches the RP, everything under it takes a S3 AP5 hit.
Wolf Spirits: A shooting attack with 2 profiles and it uses both. 12" S5 AP- Assault 3 and S4 AP2 Assault 2. Any casualties, even just 1, forces a Morale Test.

Logan Grimnar: What doesn't he do? Wolf Lord stats with +1A, Eternal Warrior, Saga of Majesty, WTT, WTN, 2+/4++, his axe can be used as a Frost Blade or Powerfist (you can even split between them, so 3 FB and 2 PF for example). He makes Wolf Guard Troops, making the Loganwing possible (it's awesome). Once per game, he can give every friend within 18" +1 attack for 1 assault phase. Also, every turn he can give the unit he is with a USR: Tank Hunters, Preferred Enemy, Fearless, or Relentless. This guy is the Swiss Army Knife of SW characters. Seeing him doesn't necessarily mean you'll be up against Loganwing since he is so flexible and all around awesome.

Bjorn the Fell-Handed: Dreadnought HQ, w00t! 13/12/10, BS6, I3, 4A, 5+ invulnerable save, Saga of Majesty, WTT, Venerable, DCCW w/ HF and AC, PC or TLLC. Bjorn lets you re-roll the dice to deploy/go first, so expect to go second if you see him across from you. When Bjorn goes boom, he becomes another objectives to hold or he gives up D3 KPs if no SW model is touching him at the end of the game. Killing Bjorn and keeping the SW away from him can be a game-winner.

Njal Stormcaller: Super Rune Priest with +1 A. He has every power, can cast 2 per turn, his Runic Weapon cancels out powers on a 3+, 2+/4++ saves, WTN, Saga of Majesty, and his Chooser gives him an extra D3 S3 I5 attacks in HtH. Njal's nasty just like this, but he has another ability to call in some serious stormage. Every turn roll a D3 and add it to the game turn
2: Nothing
3: All enemies within 24" are at -1 BS for the rest of the game turn
4: All enemies within 24" move as if in difficult terrain for the rest of the game turn
5: At the end of Njal's assault phase, all unengaged enemies within 18" take a morale test
6: 1 unengaged enemy model within 18" and in LoS takes D3 S9 hits, vehicles hit on side armor
7+: All unengaged enemies within 12" and in LoS take D6 S8 AP5 hits

Looks nasty, but Njal needs to go first otherwise the first 2 powers end up totally useless since they last until the end of the game turn. For all the hype though, he only has 2 wounds.

Ulrik the Slayer: Super Wolf Priest with +1 WS, I, and A. He sports a WTN and plasma pistol too. He and his unit re-roll hits and wounds against enemies with T5+. 1 model in the SW army gets +1 WS (max 6) from Ulrik's training. Also, any baddies trying to hit Ulrik must pass a Ld test or they don't get to attack. No EW and only S4 makes him a very poor monster hunter, so the SW end up paying a lot for a worse Wolf Priest and +1 WS on some model.

Ragnar Blackmane: Wolf Lord stats with Saga of the Warrior Born, WTN, WTT, Frost Blade, 3+/4++ and up to 2 wolves to hang with. He gives his unit Furious Charge and +D3 attacks for charging instead of +1. Once per game, he gives all units within 12" Furious Charge. He is ridiculously killy, but costs like a Land Raider has no EW and poor protection, so one good PF ruins his day.

Canis Wolfborn: WGBL stats with BS2, 3W, 5A and Ld8. He rides his super TWM and sports dual Wolf Claws plus Saga of the Wolfkin, WTN, and WTT. He makes Fenrisian Wolves Troops (still never scoring) and let's them use his Ld within 12". In assault, he can swap his A stat with the number of enemies in BtB (he's on a MC base) and adds any bonuses for charging/CA and 2 ccw on top of it. Horde killer if ever there was one, just like his buffed Fenrisian Wolves, but he has no invulnerable save. That's right, almost 200 points of killy with no protection beyond 3W and T5. He hates power weapons or even missile launchers. With Canis they get Fenrisian Wolves as Troops (still never scoring), so that's every FOC slot but Heavy Support full of non-scoring cav. A Canis army will be in your face turn 2, so remember to mech up and bring bubblewrap. Fenrisian Wolves aren't awesome on their own, but they can have Canis or a WGBL/WL inside and are incredibly cheap.

Sagas
This is a huge change from SM. Most SW HQs and even some Elites can pick up Sagas to further differentiate them. Sagas can range from individual bonuses to army-wide buffs. Thankfully, you can only field 1 of each saga (SCs don't count towards the saga limit), so things don't get too crazy.

Saga of the Warrior Born: Every kill in the assault phase becomes an extra attack in the next one. Can you say puree? Extremely nasty on Thunderwolf mounted characters who benefit from extra attacks and strength already. Shoot this fucker.

Saga of the Bear: Eternal Warrior, 'nuff said.

Saga of the Beastslayer: Re-roll hits in HtH against MCs, walkers, and models with T5 or more. Very handy for big game hunters or Rune Priests who want to make the most of that Force Weapon, but useless against basic units. Pro tip: don't send Carnifexes after this guy :P

Saga of Majesty: Re-roll Morale Tests within 6". Since SW have lower Ld that vanilla marines (thanks to no Sergeants unless they spring for Wolf Guard), this helps them stick around longer. If he has Majesty, he won't have Warrior Born or Bear, so he's much squishier in combat (unless it's a SC).

Saga of the Wolfkin: Fenrisian Wolves become Ld7 and I5. Turns them into super buff Hormagaunts basically, and it's totally awesome.

Saga of the Hunter: Confers the Outflank ability and Stealth USR, but it only comes on a model on foot wearing power armor. Outflanking is cool, but not on a walking dude. Not much to worry about here.

Saga of the Iron Wolf: +1 to repair rolls and an extra D3" of movement for any vehicle the Iron Priest is riding in (which doesn't count for firing weapons or embarked troops). Considering that Iron Priests should either be on Thunderwolves or the shelf, this isn't very useful.

Jesus, that was long. SW have tons of HQs and that really influences the rest of the army moreso than any other FOC slot.

Space Wolves Threat Assessment: Overview and Wargear

2010-05-17T09:34:00.000-04:00

E-mail in from Mercer:

Hey Chumby,

How's it hanging?

Right, I've got this tournament in June. I know about majority armies except Tau, Space Wolves and Blood Angels. Tau I am not worried about, who plays Tau anyway? :P . What I do need is cluing up on Space Wolves and seems you're a S.W player who has his head screwed on I thought you could perhaps tell me things to look out for in particular.

Tanks e-bro!

Good man. Not fussed on builds but I need to know how to kill them, stats and what special weapons and rules etc. Knowing your enemy is half the battle. I find that knowing the special rules and profiles the best so I can send the best units to deal with them i.e khorne hounds best to gun down because only 5+ invulnerable but don't let them charge because of furious charge, same for juggernaut.

As for B.A I've asked the mighty King. He seems to know his shit.
Hey dude, I'm fine apart from my tattered ACL and surgery tomorrow >,<. I would have made some silly joke about hung Parliaments, but I'm too classy for that, so I'll just go for the easy dick joke. I appreciate the props, I'll try and do right by you aight? TKE does indeed know his shit, but I've got to give it up to Kirby and MVB for some very useful BA knowledge.

I think I'm gonna try and kill two birds here. It's very important to know your foe in 40k, and we see plenty of articles, tacticas, and so on on how to use an army, but not much on how to go against an army. It can be a bigger problem when you bring in all the variant marine armies, since it's a bunch of similar models that all do drastically different things. It can be I'll do my SW rundown and if it works out I'll see if I can't do something similar for other armies out there.

Overview
Space Wolves share pretty much all the same statlines, vehicles, and wargear with vanilla marines. They give up combat tactics and combat squads for Counter-Attack and Acute Senses. So, right off the bat, SW trade some big tactical flexibilities in favor of a handy defensive bonus that helps them almost always fight at full effectiveness in HtH. They also give up some units in favor of their own versions or new stuff. All told, SW have a very flexible list with their own strengths and weaknesses. SW love assault, particularly with their super awesome cavalry, but they can also shoot very effectively. SM have more tactical and list-building flexibility, but SW have plenty of their own options to make a viable army. In general though, SW assault relies more on forcing saves from a bunch of normal attacks with a handful of high S armor ignoring attacks to tip the balance. On the flip side, if you want to slap SW around, they don't bring much in the way of survivability beyond numbers and toughness. Storm Shields are very expensive on everybody, so they will rely on high model count, T5, EW on characters, and wound allocation shenanigans. TH/SS Termies still beat face.

The big divergence in SW is the focus on characters, particularly HQs, where they get can up to 4, and the addition of the Thunderwolf Cavalry. S5 T5 rending cavalry models can be taken in HQ, Elites and Fast Attack, making the foot cav army extremely potent. Expect SW armies to have very potent (and expensive) characters and a low number of hardcore scary units. On the flip side, they can do the MSU spam quite well. Lots of variety here, so it's difficult to nail them down to one particular build or playstyle. When you're across from the Space Furries, you really can't be sure what they'll bring or how they'll play, just because they have so many options.

Wargear
For the most part, SW and SM have the same gear. Here are the exceptions.

Wolf Claw: Fuzzy lightning claws with a higher price tag and the ability to choose to re-roll missed hits or wounds in assault (chosen at the beginning of every assault phase). It's not a huge buff, but something to look out for. Increased flexibility they pay for.

Frost Blade: Power Weapon that confers +1S.

Runic Armor: Artificer Armor with a 5+ invulnerable save against psychic attacks. It really only works on force weapons and direct damage attacks, so it doesn't quite make up for Rune Priests and Iron Priests being unable to take Storm Shields. Makes them very squishy.

Fenrisian Wolf: Lesser Daemon with Ld5, 6+ armor instead of invulnerable, no Fearless, and beast unit type over Deep Strike. Wolves can be bought for characters and pretty much function as ablative wounds against shooting since they count as a separate unit in HtH. They can mess up infantry and close very quickly, but low Ld and save makes them easy meat when you draw a bead on them.

Wolf Tooth Necklace: Always hit on a 3+ against models with a WS. Your characters won't like it much, and it makes WG and IP much more effective in HtH, so all the more reason to shoot or apply overwhelming force.

Wolf Tail Talisman: Nullifies psychic powers that affect the model or unit he is with on a 5+. Not as effective as the runic weapon, but it only costs 5 points and they can spread them all over the army.

Thunderwolf Mount: +1 A, S, T (base stat increase, so S8 won't insta-kill), beast unit type and rending to boot. It also lets Fenrisian Wolves and Cyber-wolves within 12" re-roll morale. This is totally awesome, turning SW characters into super awesome death machines with high speed and reslience.

Mark of the Wulfen: Kinda like Crushing Claws, only it replaces their A stat with D6+1 attacks with Rending (can't combine MotW and special CCW). Rending is meh, but a bunch of extra attacks never hurt. Its usefulness depends on who ends up getting it. A Grey Hunter with 1A benefits greatly, but a TWC with 4A base and rending already doesn't gain much at all beyond being unique for wound allocation.

Wolf Standard: Once per game, the unit may pop the standard and they get to re-roll all 1's in one assault phase (includes attached characters). Awesome. Luckily it only comes on Grey Hunters.

Belt of Russ: Fuzzy Iron Halo.

So, hopefully that can get the ball rolling. Sorry for taking so long on it Mark. Lucky you, I'm about to have a lot of free time on my hands so I can get plenty done ;)

My Weekend

2010-05-16T19:49:00.000-04:00

So, my Mom got her PhD yesterday, we celebrated, and good times were had. My grandparents (her parents) flew in from Louisiana to come see their only daughter fulfill her dream and it was inspiring. Little did I know, they had planned to stay the whole weekend with us. I haven't seen my grandparents in around four years, so it was awesome to spend time with them. I had planned to go to 'Ard Boyz yesterday and today, but I ended up spending time with my family. We went to the Lilac Festival, played vidya games, ate a whole bucket of Buffalo wings (my grandparents hadn't had them before; if Louisianians think your stuff is hot you know you're doing something right), lounged around the pool, and played with our dog all day. I may not have the highest GPA, the best job, the most money, or the best mad skills with playing toy soldiers, but I do have at least one thing: an awesome family full of love, life, and all kinds of Disney/Hallmark card/Kodak moment stuff that goes with it.

This was not a weekend wasted.

We Who Are About To Die...

2010-05-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

'Ard Boyz is today for most of us. I'd like to wish everyone best of luck in their endeavors. If you'd be so kind as to regale us with your tales of conquest (or bitter defeat), it would be greatly appreciated. We can put together a nice wall of fame/shame for you all.

I'm not going to be able to make the Saturday game. My grandparents are in town and we're all going to see my mom's graduation (soon to be Dr. Mom, PhD) and do family stuff. Yawnsville, I know ;) Lucky for me, one of our local stores got the nod from GW to run the event Sunday, so that's where I'll be come Sabbath day.

Fight hard, die proud.

Competitive-ish Daemons, 1k and 1.5k

2010-05-13T09:14:00.000-04:00

Dafridge here:
Hey dude, this is F'ing excellent. I understand dAemons are not competitve but what I am really interested in is a 1k and 1.5k list thats gonna be competitive.
Well hey, thanks for your support. Makes me all fuzzy inside when I can help out.

I think Daemons get a lot more potent at lower point values. There will be less armor on the board at 1000 and 1500, therefore you'll have less to worry about. Also, there will be a lot more space on the board so you can safely Deep Strike in. Game plan stays the same though, run up and chew on people's faces.

1000 points
HQ
3x Tzerald w/ chariot, Bolt of Tzeentch, Breath of Chaos, Master of Sorcery
Elites
3x 5 Fiends
Troops
2x 5 Plaguebearers, Instrument of Chaos

That's 1000 points on the nose. You only have 10 scorers, but at smaller levels that should be plenty. Instead, all your points are spent on probably the 2 best units in the book: Chariot Tzeralds and Fiends. Tzeralds can break tanks or go after infantry with breath and gaze, while Fiends can bounce around murdering stuff. For wave splits, drop the Fiends and Tzeralds in separate waves with 1 PB unit in each. This gives you insurance against poor rolling since each wave is good on its own and since they are both focused you won't have to worry about diluting your firepower/pounciness across waves.

1500 ends up similar, adding 5 more PBs, 3 Fiends, and 2 DPs into the mix.

HQ
3x Tzerald w/ chariot, Bolt of Tzeentch, Breath of Chaos, Master of Sorcery
Elites
3x 6 Fiends
Troops
3x 5 Plaguebearers, 1 Instrument
Heavy Support
2x Daemon Princes w/ Mark of Tzeentch, Bolt of Tzeentch, Breath of Chaos

1500 points here. Same plan, drop down with tons of fast/shooty critters and munch on things. DPs give you more bolters, relatively durable wounds, CC presence against stuff like Dreads, and more Breath. For splits, go all shooty and all speedy/scorey. If your shooters come in first, you can cripple mech forces (hopefully) and make life easier on your Fiends or BBQ things with super awesome flamer templates. If the second wave comes in, stick to cover or LoS blockers and set up charges for next turn.

That's how I'd do Daemons at smaller levels, but it's not the only way. Let me know if this is what you're looking for. I'll be happy to whip something else up.

Iron Priest Thunderwolves

2010-05-13T08:13:00.001-04:00

GWvsJohn has taken a shining to the Iron Priest, so he's asked me to hit y'all with some knowledge.

Everybody knows and love Thunderwolves, but did you know you can fit even more cavalry models in your army? Grab an Iron Priest and throw him on a Thunderwolf of his own and you can now fill up your Elites slots with smashy cavalry of doom. But how do they stack up to normal TWC?

Well, for 95 points you get a Wolf Guard statline with Ld8 and runic armor instead of power armor, Thunderwolf upgrade, thunder hammer and servo-arm. Compared to a normal Thunderwolf Cavalry model with a thunder hammer you end up paying 15 points for 1 less attack (made up by the servo-arm, but S8 vs S10), 1 less wound, 2+ armor (and 5+ invul against psychic attacks), and the ability to repair damaged vehicles. In a straight up comparison, TWC wins pretty handily. The extra wound is a huge boon here as 1 bad save will only inconvenience your TWC while it will eliminate the IP.

However, IPs still have their uses. As I said before, they allow you to field more cavalry units when you fill up on Fast Attack. Having flexibility across the FOC is important, and with IPs you can field cav in every slot except Heavy Support. You may not always fill out your Fast Attack, but if you wanted Speeders or, Allfather forbid, Skyclaws or Swiftclaws, you can field them without losing your cavalry.

While TWC are made up exclusively of important models, you can give your IP up to 4 cyberwolves to accompany him. Since he isn't an IC, that gives you 4 ablative wounds for only 15 points a pop. They're all T5 so majority T doesn't suffer, and they sport 3 attacks apiece, making them quite formiddable on their own. An IP and his doggies excel at diving headfirst into big enemy swarms and dishing out a ton of attacks at S4, relying on that tasty T5 to reduce incoming damage, and follow up with some S10 and S8 attacks. They are also excellent for screening your TWC without having to waste a slot on Fenrisian Wolves or using Canis if you don't need him.

IPs can also pick up a Wolf Tooth Necklace, making up for his average WS of 4. A Wolf Tooth Talisman is also an option, but Runic Armor protects you pretty well, as do any Rune Priests you should have. It's a handy use for 5 points, but not essential.

An Iron Priest can also fix your vehicles. Saga of the Iron Wolf is not very useful on a cavalry model since it can't ride in a transport, and +1 to repair isn't worth the points. With only his servo-arm he has a 33% chance to fix something, so if you have a mech list with TWC you may want to consider an IP or two to double up as killy cav and fixer. Don't bother spending to upgrade it, just consider repairing a handy option he has to support your mech.

Here's a couple lists using IPs to hopefully good effect.

HQ
Rune Priest w/ Chooser, Storm Caller, Thunderclap, Saga of the Beastslayer

Elites
3x Iron Priests w/ TWM, 4 cyberwolves, WTN

Troops
3x 10 GH, meltagun, power weapon, MotW, Rhino
9 GH, meltagun, power weapon, MotW, Rhino

Fast Attack
2x Typhoons

Heavy Support
3x 5 Long Fangs, 4 missile launchers

Total - 2000

Rhinos and TWC can move up to get in the enemy's face while Fangs and Typhoons provide supporting fire. IPs can help keep the Rhinos rolling should they get immobilized. Adding TWC in any capacity to a Rhino rush list gives SW the ability to get into assault 1 turn sooner and makes up for the lack of punch in GH squads without necessitating WG. Rolling dual melta Rhino bunkers with a weak HtH capacity up to midfield is usually a poor choice, but TWC give you extra reach and punch in assault, they end up complementing each other very well.

HQ
Logan Grimnar
Rune Priest w/ Living Lightning, Tempest's Wrath, Chooser

Elites
3x Iron Priests w/ TWM, 4 cyberwolves, WTN

Troops
10 WG, 2 WGT w/ cyclones
3x 5 WG, combi-melta, WGT w/ cyclone, chainfist

Fast Attack
3x 2 TWC, powerfist

Total - 2000

It's Loganwing, subbing static Long Fangs for 6 units of cav running around to punch you in the face. Iron Priests let me field MSU cav that still hits incredibly hard. Cyberwolf units are ideal for screening, since you can hide 3 in cover and 2 to block the smaller TWC units and get cover for everybody.

So, that's Iron Priests. Overall, they are not as efficient or killy as TWC point for point, but they bring their own unique take on the cavalry unit which, while not always necessary, can be very useful.

Pearl Jam

2010-05-11T09:18:00.000-04:00

I got to see my favorite band of all time for the first time last night in Buffalo. Setlist is here.

Fucking awesome!

2000 Orks again

2010-05-09T19:52:00.003-04:00

Jeez, I'm posting up a storm today. Anything to keep my from doing my tourney report :P

Been thinking about my Orks again after I've decided to cull the herd and sell some off.

Amplified's post about assault armies over on Hard Six* got me thinking, as did Kirby's about suppressive fire. I try too hard to make Orks into a balanced army;** that's why I struggle so much with making a list I like. Orks aren't a balanced army. They lack the necessary tools and flexibility to be one. Orks can be shooty, like my Kanwall I'm working on (9 Kanz, 45 Lootas, lols to be had), but they're just geared for combat. Waagh!, fast vehicles, WS4, furious charge, 4 attacks on the charge, and so on. Why go against nature?

Orks need to be mech to get into assault. Foot Orks are shit useless at getting into assault. They're too slow and it's almost impossible for them to get the charge off. Ork vehicles are fast, but fragile, so you're going to have to take lots. There's also the matter of enemy shooting and mech. We need to keep enemy shooters from scrapping our tanks, so that means a KFF and redundancy. Don't rely too heavily on 1 unit carrying you;*** you'll be sorry when they go boom cuz no matter how well you shield your vehicles, they're still open-topped and low AV. Battlewagons are a must for AV14, but Trukks can be useful as diversions and back up rides for Nobs who lose theirs.

You will also need to pop transports, so shooting is a must. Lootas, Buggies, Koptaz, and Kannonz can all threaten light mech for cheap, and Deff Rollas can be used as can openers on their own. None of them are as super awesome or reliable as autocannons, missile launchers or meltaguns, but they can be used to suppress armor and open stuff up so you can go to work. Even if you don't crack open every vehicle, one turn of it not firing is welcome. Boarding Planks are worth a look too. For only 5 points you get a chance to assault a vehicle without exposing your unit to getting shot up next turn. It's not a guarantee, but it's something. When charging vehicles, the PK will be doing all the work anyway, so any chance you take to not get blown away after fluffing your rolls to hit is well worth it.

Speed is an issue as well. Battlwagons are not fast, but they're awesome and Trukks are fast, but suck. It's an interesting dynamic. Losing your transport at midfield is tantamount to a death sentence with Orks considering their fragility. If only Orks on foot could get boosted movement for a turn so they can reach assault from midfield...Oh wait! They can with Waagh! Fleet for a turn is very important. Let's take a look at Ghazgkhull. He's really pricey, but gives you a guaranteed 6" Waagh! for everybody and boasts an impressive statline with Eternal Warrior. Potentially very handy.

So, let's see what I can put together.

HQ
Ghazgkhull
Big Mek w/ kustom force field, bosspole

Elites
4 Meganobs, 1 w/ kombi-skorcha, Battlewagon w/ deff rolla, big shoota, boardin' plank
2x 6 Lootas

Troops
6 Nobs, Painboy, cybork bodies, powerklaw, Waagh! banner, bosspole, kombi-skorcha, Battlewagon w/ deff rolla, big shoota, boardin' plank
2x 12 Boyz, Nob w/ powerklaw, bosspole, Trukk w/ reinforced ram
18 Boyz, Nob w/ powerklaw
11 Grots, runtherd

Fast Attack
2x 2 Buggies w/ twin-linked rokkit launchaz

Heavy Support
Battlewagon w/ deff rolla, big shoota, boardin' plank
2x 3 Kannonz

Total - 2000

So, that's 3 BW and 2 Trukks rushing up to say hi with KFF coverage and buggies to run interference. Lootas, Buggies and Kannonz provide fire support. I went for a more MSU approach with my shooting since 15 Lootas cost a ton and often end up doing overkill on my target. I don't need to destroy everything, just keep them from shooting long enough for my deff rollas and planks to go to work. Ghaz is the shiny toy, of course, and he can help big time if I really need to hit assault or get left without a ride. Each main assault unit is set up to hurt infantry and hard stuff equally. Ghaz+Sluggas, Nobs solo and Big Mek+Meganobs. Meganobs are a weird unit, but I have them in mostly because I like them.

Thoughts?

*
**Oh shit, a semi-colon!
***Two semi-colons!

Flesh Tearers

2010-05-09T15:03:00.000-04:00

Ok, this guy is effing cool. I've like the Flesh Tearers since my flirtation with them back when the Index Astartes series was passing out special rules like candy to every marine chapter in existence. If anybody remembers the old 3rd edition BA pamphlet, Flesh Tearers basically took all the best bits (free DC) and turned them up to 11. They also threw in DC Dreads. Awesome sauce.

The PDF came out and killed my interest, but the latest BA Codex brought them back, sorta. Seth isn't the meanest Chapter Master in the game, by far, but I do like buzzsaws. The new fluff has the Flesh Tearers trying to redeem themselves before their genetic curse claims them. They may go down, but they'll be remembered as heroes instead of monsters.

So, I want to make a Flesh Tearers army. When I think Flesh Tearers I think Death Company, Dreads, and lots of fast choppy. They don't have much in the way of resources and prefer to stay on the move so they can get into the fight as quickly as possible, in and out before other Imperial forces can respond. So, that means speed. Lucky me, everything in the Blood Angels book is capable of being fast! This'll be a big departure from my typical mech force, which my omnimarines can do already, so I'm all for it.

I've been wracking my brain over it for a while, but Stelek's post about Seth got the wheels turning finally. Here's my initial Flesh Tearers dealy.

HQ
Seth
He's kinda essential for a Flesh Tearers army. He's not a character hunter since he doesn't ignore armor, but he can straight up murder infantry, multi-wounders like Tyranid Warriors, and fast moving vehicles.
Honor Guard - 3 storm shields, 2 meltaguns, powerfist
What Seth can't do, Honor Guard can. Powerfists and meltas can nail tougher targets while Storm Shields help them weather return fire. The Priest makes them even better.

Elites
Furioso Librarian Dreadnought - Might of Heroes, Shield of Sanguinius
Psyker defense and general smashy smashy. Shield can protect my vehicles and he can shred hordes with Might or big monsters with his Force Weapon.

Troops
Death Company - 10, 2 infernus pistols, powerfist
Flesh Tearers are hit hard by the curse of their geneseed, so Death Company just seem mandatory. They, like the HG+Seth, can pretty much mulch anything they come into contact with and are ultimately an expensive diversion.
Death Company Dreadnought
Yes it has lower WS, but it's so delightfully characterful.
3x Assault Squads - 5 men, flamer, hand flamer, Razorback w/ lascannon, twin-linked plasma guns
Objective holders, transport crackers, and general support all for quite cheap. I went for flamers because the Razorback provides anti-tank and heavy infantry, I have melta everywhere else, and the most iconic imagery I can remember for the Flesh Tearers is a picture in the 3rd edition book of a marine with a flamer roasting a bunch of sorry heretics. Who wants theirs well done?

Fast Attack
2x Land Speeders w/ multi-melta, heavy flamer
Mini Stormravens. They can move quickly or Deep Strike as needed and can hit a wide variety of targets with devastating effect.

Heavy Support
2x Stormravens w/ twin-linked plasma cannon, twin-linked multi-melta, hurricane bolters
These are the main event. They'll cart Seth+HG and the DC around to drop them off in somebody's face so they can tear it off.

Total - 2000

It's a rock army, I know. The 2 Ravens load up and drop a big pile of death on my opponent's front door while my paltry support keeps them suppressed long enough. I live or die on the Ravens for the most part, so I either want to deploy first and get in ASAP or reserve and come out zooming 24" with Shield of Sanguinius up. Seth, the Honor Guard, Death Company and Dreads should be able to fuck up anything that comes up, while the RAS can sit back or grab objectives, provide support, and mop up if necessary. Everything is fast and the army is made to come out swinging ASAP, which I think is the epitome of the Flesh Tearers' combat doctrine. Also, as an added thematic element, the numbers are low to represent the Chapter's continual decline and they rely on shiny toys to provide their fire support so they can focus on letting out their inner crazy.

Thoughts?

Pokemon FireRed Nuzlocke Run

2010-05-09T11:39:00.001-04:00

I'm a huge Pokemon fan. I've played all the games and loved them. Now I want something more. After finding the hilarious Nuzlocke webcomic, I found my new calling.

I will accept the Nuzlocke challenge for FireRed.
My rules:
1) If a Pokemon faints, it is released.
2) If my entire party faints it's game over.
3) I may only attempt to catch the first Pokemon I see in a region.
4) Every Pokemon must have a nickname
5) No healing/status items may be used outside of battle, but items like Repel and Escape Ropes are A-OK. Pokemon Centers and event healers are fine.
6) No HMs from fainted Pokemon
7) No running from battle.

Let the games begin!

Sad Times

2010-05-06T22:39:00.000-04:00

I really want to do an Eldar army. I love the models, the background, and the big departure from my Marines and Orks. They just look like a lot of fun to build and play.

The catch?

My favorite Eldar units are:
Striking Scorpions
Warp Spiders
Swooping Hawks
Wraithlords

Makes me a sad panda.

E-mail: 1750 Razorspam

2010-05-06T10:17:00.001-04:00

E-mail in from TKE:
I seem to have lost my Codex :(

Can you please hit me up with a Razor Spam 1750 list without SCs?

Much gratitude... <3

(Of course, you being in the US, I might find the Codex before you even wake up, or at least, stop playing Reach, lol)

*Returns to looking for the bastard...*

I did manage to pull away from Reach, so yay for you and me.

Well, allow me to post a bunch of filler about Razorspam. It's essentially this: lots of Razorbacks. This is shocking, I know. Wolves get tons of cheap Razors everywhere, so you can bring plenty. Of the Razorback variants available, I like the lascannon and twin-linked plasma guns. Yes it does double the cost, but let's look at the other options. Heavy Bolters come free, but they really aren't much to write home about. Lots of S5 shots doesn't really threaten mech and infantry can be handled by your free flamers and ultra grit. Heavy Flamers look neat, but have a silly short range and don't come on a Fast vehicle, like an Immolator or BA Razor. TL Lascannons work fine, but look at the same price range. Assault Cannons kick out a ton of shots at medium S, plus rending, so they can threaten most anything. Range is an issue of course, especially considering that the best anti-Razorback weapons (autocannons and missile launchers) have twice the range. Las/plas gives what TLLC does, only you trade the marginally more accurate TL for an extra gun that hit the sweet spot between basic infantry and stuff like Terminators/Carnifexes that lascannons have problems with.

So, las/plas all day. Razorbacks aren't very tough, so you need lots to offset their fragility. 1 Razor is scrap, 10 is a whole other matter. Las/plas Razors are ideal for busting up transports and killing off heavy infantry and MCs, but they have problems with AV14 and lots of basic infantry. You'll be needing melta or massed fire to handle AV14, and Razors really do the latter well. You can kill off their support easily to ping away with tons of S9. Termies, Storm Shield or no, hate TL plasma. To go for hordes, flamers work just fine.

I'm not going to post a single list because there is no definitive list. I'm just going to present some options, let you know how I decided on them, and whichever you like best is up to you.

First off, you need an HQ and Troops. A Rune Priest is always a good starter for his low cost and runic weapon alone. Storm Caller is handy if you bring lots of armor, and the 2nd power is really your call. Living Lightning is great for knocking out transports, but you have to get out and lascannons do a bang up job already. Tempest's Wrath is looking better every day with all those DS armies around. Thunderclap is a good crowd control weapon, very handy if you get surrounded by assaulters. Jaws is good for popping out to snipe a problem target, but with all that plasma you shouldn't have to worry about MCs much. Murderous Hurricane slows bad guys down, and that's always good for a shooty army. Freki and Geri are not all that useful here consider you'll be riding shotgun most of the game. A Chooser is also useful to prevent the enemy from closing, since you'll want them as far away from you as possible most of the time. For the Troops, 5 GH in a Razorback only costs 150 points.

So, at a minimum you're looking at 410. 10 GH is a bit low for 1750, so double it. 710, time for support.

Long Fangs are always a cheap and efficient support unit. You can either put them on foot or hide in a Rhino bunker, trading shots and and cost for survivability. 3 Fangs with 2 missiles and a Rhino bunker is only 100 points. 5 Fangs with 4 missiles and a Razorback runs 190. Since we're doing Razorspam, the latter is the way forward. Since the Fangs will be on foot, you'll need to bring lots. 3 units will be 570. That's 1280 spent.

Long Fangs need ablative wounds, and Wolf Guard are happy to provide. We can also get more Razorbacks too! 3 Wolf Guard with a Razorback is only 129 points. Split one off to join the LF as a bullet catcher and you're set. While we're here, let's tack on some combi-meltas to help out should AV14 rear its ugly head. 139 each and 3 units comes up to 417. 1697 spent.

Now, we've got 10 Razorbacks and 3 units of Fangs deployed on foot. With that last 50 points we can add HKs to a couple units for even more blast turn 1, or drop the Chooser and give each unit of Fangs an extra heavy bolter bullet catcher.

So, here's one
HQ
Rune Priest w/ Storm Caller, Tempest's Wrath

Elites
3x 3 Wolf Guard, 2 combi-meltas, las/plas Razorback

Troops
4x 5 Grey Hunters, flamer, las/plas Razorback

Heavy Support
3x 6 Long Fangs, 4 missiles, heavy bolter, las/plas Razorback

Total: 1747

Obviously the 3 smallish foot squads can cause problems. However, if deployed in cover, the best way to nail Fangs is with massed medium S fire. The best way to handle Razors is also massed medium S fire. Small arms have too short of a range and heavier stuff is negated by cover.

If you want to go full on Razorbacks though, turn the Fangs into bunker units and add more Grey Hunters. You lose out on 6 missile launchers, but gain 2 more vehicles and scoring units.

Another option is to bring in Dreads and Speeders. Rifleman Dreads complement Razorbacks quite well. Swap out the WG for Dreads and you can save a couple points. Add in MM/HF Speeders to give you that melta and extra burny. Typhoons are an option as well, but they end up pricier. You cut back on overall Razorback count, but add in tougher vehicles as well as speedy support that can reserve or Deep Strike to help keep them alive until they're needed.

So, them's my thoughts on Razorspam. It's a nasty MSU build, but it is comprised of glass cannons and is a bit on the "metagamey" side. It will mess up light armor spam or mech all day, but it will have a harder time with certain rock armies like horde Orks or dual Land Raiders. That's why it pays to include melta and flamers or real combat units. If I had my say on Razorspam, I'd be throwing in TWC to give you that extra bite in HtH.

Hope that helps.

Halo: Reach Beta

2010-05-04T09:24:00.000-04:00

Here's where I'm going to be most of the day. Maybe some IRL 40k, but only if I can tear away from delicious Beta. Gamertag's Chumbalay13, drop me a line if you're on.

It's fucking awesome so far.

Bloodwing Again

2010-05-04T09:12:00.002-04:00

If you'll remember, I've been wracking my brains to put together a good Bloodwing army. For those of you just joining us, Bloodwing is a Blood Angels variant army with Dante in command, making Sanguinary Guard Troops choices. It's an elite army, similar to Deathwing, Loganwing, and so on. My previous efforts are here and here. Stelek finally hopped on the bandwagon and posted his thoughts on Sanguinary Guard here.

So, let's look again at what makes Dante and SG worth fielding.

Dante allows 1 unit to DS without scatter, obviously useful for bringing meltas and possibly flamers, depending on the enemy, into good position to do lots of damage. Sanguinary Guard are very short ranged, so having accurate DS gives you a bit of breathing room and at least 1 assured KO on a tank or MC you may run across. Dante also gives his unit H&R, meaning you can bounce out of unfavorable combats and head somewhere else. This helps him avoid getting insta-killed (no EW and only a 4++), but it also lets you bring your shooting to bear anywhere you may need it (3D6" plus normal jump pack mobility is awesome) and ensures that you will get to enjoy Furious Charge as much as possible. Dante also nerfs an enemy IC, which may not always come up but it does help remove one of the big threats to your SG: armor-ignoring killing machines that strike before them.

Sanguinary Guard themselves all sport power weapons, short range storm bolters with AP4, jump packs and 2+ saves. Even without FNP they can shrug off most any weapon, but AP1/2 really scares them. Infernus Pistols can swap in to help handle armor/tough targets, and a powerfist is never out of style. A Chapter Banner in a unit is also a good bet to make the most of their power weapons. FC makes them even more potent, and FNP just makes them ludicrously resilient against everything that isn't S8+, AP1/2, or ignores armor in HtH.

Right off the bat, we're led to Deep Strike as a way to avoid getting shot up on approach and make the most of Dante's rules as well as DoA. All DS armies need a few things to work. Librarians are a necessity for psychic defense and Blood Lance. SHP in some form are needed for their FNP/FC bubble of awesome. Vanguard Vets are needed to spearhead your assault, chew up bubblewrap/bunkers on the drop, and keep your opponent from being able to hold you at arm's length while shooting you up. They, along with Honor Guard are also the only way to bring in Storm Shields.

So, after much deliberation, here's my latest try.

HQ
Dante
Librarian w/ jump pack, Blood Lance, Shield of Sanguinius
Honor Guard w/ 3 meltas, 2 flamers, powerfist

Elites
2 Sanguinary Priests w/ jump packs, hand flamers

Troops
Sanguinary Guard w/ 2 infernus pistols, powerfist, Chapter Banner
2x Sanguinary Guard w/ 2 infernus pistols, powerfist

Fast Attack
2x 5 Vanguard, powerfist, 2 single LCs, 3 storm shields

Total - 2000

So I stopped worrying about the 2nd unit of Honor Guard because the 1 extra storm shield and bodies really ended up costing a lot for not much benefit. Vanguard can assault on arrival, and I can't just rely on 1 unit to see me through. Dante goes with the HG most days to make the most of his melta (or support the VV), but he can also jump in with the Chapter Banner SG if I don't need the melta as much. That would be a ton of attacks jumping in and bouncing away. Vanguard are there to jump in, murder stuff, and then survive all sorts of punishment to follow. They aren't quite as good as TH/SS Termies, but their added moblity, Heroic Intervention, and buffs from nearby Priests can tip the balance in their favor.

I'm still trying to decide on my Librarian's 2nd power. Sword is handy for the extra S10 to bust Dreads or vehicles, but Shield gives me some protection against the scourges of my existence (AP2/1), and Unleash Rage just makes the SG that much more potent. It'll all come down to more testing I'm sure.

So, thoughts on this latest iteration?

LoganWolf Tournament Update

2010-05-03T11:38:00.001-04:00

Hey all, sorry about my lack of non-Necro-related activity. I've been busy with life, debilitating injuries (call it an Old Battle Wound :P) and stuff like that.

Got a tourney coming up Saturday and after I pick up a few missile launchers I'll be all set to use my LoganWolf army.

HQ
Logan Grimnar
Rune Priest w/ Living Lightning, Tempest Fury, Chooser

Elites
Iron Priest w/ Thunderwolf Mount, 4 cyber-wolves, Wolf Tooth Necklace, Wolf Tail Talisman

Troops
10 Wolf Guard, 2 WGT cyclones, 1 combi-melta
3x 5 Wolf Guard, WGT w/ cyclone, chainfist, 1 combi-melta

Fast Attack
2x TWC w/ powerfist, storm shield

Heavy Support
3x 5 Long Fangs, 4 missile launchers

Total - 1850

Vassalmunda: Ratskins Hard Roster

2010-05-02T11:59:00.009-04:00

Chief Running-Gag - 160
Gear: Club (free), plasma pistol, sword
Exp: 179
Skills/Injuries: +2 BS, +1 Ld, +1 S, Bitter Enmity (ETPs' Scavvy boss), Hip Shooting

Every-Time-Pwns, Totem Warrior - 100
Gear: Sword, Club (free),
Exp: 125
Skills/Injuries: Partially Deafened, +2 Ld, Old Battle Wound, +1I

Lame-Bear, Totem Warrior - 100
Gear: Club (free), Sword
Exp: 132
Skills/Injuries: Combat Master, Horrible Scars (Fear), +1 WS, Counter Attack, Chest Wound (-1T)

Cloud-Runner, Totem Warrior - 100
Gear: Club (free), Sword
Exp: 116
Skills/Injuries: Horrible Scars (Fear),+1 S, +1 BS, Head Wound (Stupidity)

Lifts-Her-Tail, Brave - 43
Gear: Club (free), Scatter Gun
Exp: 38
Skills/Injuries: +1 S, Impressive Scars (+1 Ld), Escape Artist, +1 I, Ambush

Cooks-With-Gas - 50
Gear: Club (free), autopistol
Exp: 40
Skills/Injuries: +2 WS, Combat Master, +1 W

Loves-To-Spooge, Brave - 43
Gear: Club (free), Scatter Gun
Exp: 41
Skills/Injuries: 3 Old Battle Wounds, +1 WS, +2 W, +1 BS

Rock-You-Like-Hurricane, Brave - 43
Gear: Club (free), Scatter Gun
Exp: 23
Skills/Injuries: +1 WS, +1 BS, Captured, Ambush

Random-Task, Brave - 43
Gear: Club (free), Scatter Gun
Exp: 38
Skills/Injuries: Quick Draw, Sprint, +1 A, +1 WS

Smokem-Pipe Brave - 43
Gear: Club (free), Scatter Gun
Exp: 32
Skills/Injuries: Partially Defeaned, Sneak Up, Dive, +1 Ld, +1BS

Love-You-Long-Time, Ratskin Warrior - 43
Gear: Club (free), Scatter Gun
Exp: 69
Skills/Injuries: +1 Ld, +2 W, +1 WS, +1 S, +1 BS, +1 T

Gang Rating: 1535
Turf: Wastes
Stash: 35 creds
Armory: 'Slaught fixer, 'Slaught

1850 LoganWolf

2010-04-26T10:30:00.002-04:00

Look, TKE, it stuck!

I've been using my 2k LoganWolf list in test games, prepping for upcoming tourneys. Well, the first one was a wash. I've got more coming up, but they're at 1850, so I need to chop points.
I want to keep the core of the army, namely Logan and his super duper cyclone squads. TWC and Lone Wolves make for excellent assaulty units as well as bullet magnets, so I want to keep them.

The core:
Logan
Duh, he's kinda essential
Rune Priest w/ Chooser, Living Lightning, Tempest's Wrath
Psychic Defense, D6 shot autocannon, DS defense, infiltrator/outflanker defense, and some more power weapon attacks. Terminator Armor is an option to buff his survivability, as is Saga of the Beastslayer to make him nastier against stuff his runic weapon enjoys smashing.
10 Wolf Guard, 2 cyclone WGT
Logan's squad, biggified to make the most of Tank Hunters early on. 4 mobile lascannon shots a turn isn't too bad for a foot list, right?
2-3 5 man Wolf Guard packs, 1 cyclone, chainfist WGT
The extra squads, set up for maximum firepower, decent CC presence, and low cost

At the barest of minimums, that stands at 1105. Not bad, that's 745 points for toys, like combi-meltas, wargear, Sagas, TWC or Lone Wolves.

So, my core is made up of mobile firepower and scoring units. Missile Launchers can threaten any vehicles short of AV14, MCs, tough infantry and they can even go after hordes with massed small blasts. The only things I don't like are 2+ saves and AV14. Logan's Tank Hunter unit can threaten AV14 with las-missiles, but 2+ saves still cause problems that I can only solve with massed fire.

Well, I've got the shooty, but I'm kinda slow and not great in HtH. Enter the TWolf. Smashy, speedy and tough. My 2k list has a TWM Wolf Lord and 9 TWC, but I can't fit that in here. I could simply swap the Wolf Lord for Lone Wolves and call it a day.

Logan
RP w/ Chooser, Lightning, Tempest, Beastslayer, melta bombs
2x Lone Wolves, terminator armor, chainfist, storm shield
10 WG, 2 WGT w/ cyclones, 2 WG w/ combi-meltas
3x 5 WG, WGT w/ cyclone and chainfist, WG w/ combi-melta
3x 3 TWC, powerfist, bolter, bolt pistol

1850 and looking pretty good. 9 cav models of smashy doom plus Lone Wolves to run interference. I could drop some WG to afford the Wolf Lord, but I like my firepower first and the TWC as support. This is my preferred set up at present, just because it has everything I like about my current 2k list without losing much more than my superhero. TWC are nasty, but they aren't my only trick. Flexibility is key here, and I think it's got it plenty.

TWC running up the field solo seem a bit naked. How about some bullet catching Fenrisian Wolves? I could go for 2x 4 TWC and add 10 Wolves without much change. I go from 3 threatening assault unit to 2, but they're both beefier and I get cheap cav support to screen or go after weaker targets.

Now, if I go for Wolves, why not go whole hog? Drop 1 unit of 5 WG (painful, I know) for Canis, 20 Wolves, and 9 TWC. I lose 2 missile shots and a scoring unit, but damn do I have some cav power running around. Canis is fragile for a TWM Lord, but damn is he killy. Fenrisians are good for screening, killing weak infantry and tie down, but re-rollable Ld and I5 is even better.

I could also make something similar to Stelek's Loganwing. It gives up mobility in exchange for a nasty amount of missiles. 3x 5 Fangs with 4 missiles each is only 345. That's enough to afford 2 solo TWC w/ powerfist and storm shield as well as 2 Lone Wolves with chainfists and storm shields. There aren't many of them, but they're a bitch to kill and very killy themselves. Those extra 20 points can go towards combi-meltas just in case.

So, I've got a lot of options really. Even when keeping the same core I can make 3 very different armies, which is why I love the SW book.

Now, I ask the community, which do you think would be best and why?

Blackjack & Hookers

'Ard Boyz 2011

Quake Con

Vassal Ladder

Party in Forth Worth

METAL

Old Stuff Day: Chumby's Definitive Daemon Discourse Extended Edition

Life Update

New FAQs

A Christmas List

Attention

Brief Update

My Life

What I'm Up To

E-mail: Natural E-Peen Enlargement

Stupid Sad Music

Dark Eldar: The Armada

Blood and Thunder

New Dark Eldar

Battle for Salvation: Everybody Needs a Friend

Sad Panda

Prepare for Salvation

E-mail: Land Raider Loganwing?

Dark...Eldar?

8th Edition Winsauce: 2250 Skaven

Halo Reach

DaBoyz GT Primer: Game 3

DaBoyz GT Primer: Game 2

DaBoyz GT Primer: Game 1

DaBoyz GT Primer: Debriefing

DaBoyz GT Primer

Blood Angels Build Request

High Elves Funsies

New Fantasy Stuff

Escalation Tourney *Updated 9/3*

Int'l House of Paincakes

DaBoyz GT

Random 1850 Marine List

Chumby's Internet Fame

Lemanade [sic] for Your Loganwing

My NOVA List

I'm Back

On the Road

Update: Daemonic 'Ard Boyz List for Fantasy

Links Updated

Daemonic 'Ard Boyz List for Fantasy

St. John is Colossal Prick

Your Loganwing List

Beginner Daemon Help

Team Tournament in Syracuse

Who Are You And What Have You Done With Games Workshop?

Fun with Dragons

Warmaster's Challenge

Bloodletters are awesome?

2250 Skaven

Weezer

World Crap

Fantasy FAQs up

BA and Tyranid FAQs

Man, I Sure Do Love Surgery

Malaise

America, Fuck Yeah!

1800 Daemons for 8th Edition

First Impressions: Warhammer Fantasy 8th Edition

Allow myself to introduce...myself; again.

Vassal Batrep: Nids vs Razorwolf

My Loganwing

My Bloodwing

2000 Skarry Night

My Armies

E-mail: Angels Encarmine

E-mail: Sanguinary Guard list

Vassal Batrep: Nids vs BT

Shenanigans Mk2

Binghamton RTT June 12th

Spess Mehreenz for Charity

Tyranids Reserves Shenanigans

Updated Tyranids

Thoughts on Tyranids

Vassal Batrep: Tyranids vs Tau

Escalation Tourney Updated 9/3