Opposing Forces

Post Games Workshop

2011-07-25T17:56:00.006-05:00

Our little gaming group has decided to take a sabbatical from Warhammer and 40k. For the past couple of months we have devoted our hobby time to upstart Privateer Press. Just this past weekend I came to a startling revelation: I don't miss 40K!

I was shocked! 40K has consumed much of my life for the past six years. I didn't take up the hobby until my late 30's (Needed something to take my mind off of tobacco) and for the most part, my hobby time was devoted to 40k.

Like some of you, I have become disenchanted with Games Workshop due to their recent actions. The apparent disregard for their customers leaves me wanting to voice a protest in the most only way that I, as a consumer can, by withholding my dollars.

What does that mean? For the rest of the year I will not purchase any of their products, including Forge World. This is not easy as I am very close to completing my Dark Eldar force which I enjoy playing and I really want a Nightwing and some Haemonculi. Unfortunately Games Workshop will only change their practices if I and others vote with their dollars. Time to take a stand. Honestly I thought this would be difficult....

.....Until I started playing Warmachine....and loving it! I have over fifty points of Menoth painted and just placed an order for fifty points worth of Circle models. Sorry GW...I'll come back when you start thinking about customers first.

Mike

Time Spent Painting----armies vs. time vs. quality vs. kids vs. wife vs....

2011-04-24T22:33:00.002-05:00

So in preparation for our Horus Heresy Campaign (Yes it's coming!)----I'm painting up some Orks for the Ullanor Campaign. I'm speeding through the Boyz pretty quickly----spending a bit more time on my Battle Wagon/Nobz---will spend a lot of time on my Bikers---which got me to thinking; When did I start painting like this?

To explain---I realized that I've pretty much created an internal formula for the amount of time spent painting a miniature. Unlike CMON artists, I lack the skill---and time (Some state 300+ hours on a miniature!) to make an Ork army to a very high standard. Sure, I could take my time and pop out some fantastic Orks (Humbly speaking)----but it would take about 5 years probably.

As you get older, you find yourself having more and more with less and less. Kids, wives, life, staying in shape, school, work, eating, bathroom breaks, kids----etc etc. Getting straight 'paint time' is so tough to find---you have to make concessions (at least I do). So there is my internal formula working away---basically telling my body how much motivation to have on a piece. I think it's something like;

How Cool the Sculpt Is + How Long It will Be on the Table + How Many Different Builds I Can Fit It in = Amount of time/motivation painting it.

So, using that formula----I can see why I spend hardly any time on Ork Boyz---but I hesitate on rushing through my Nob Bikers. My Custodes are similar---I can fit them in as Th/SS Terms, Grey Knights, etc---so I spent an inordinate amount of time on them.

Basically, I'm venting because I have too many projects....and not enough time...

Adepticon Bound---We present the Defenders of Holy Terra!

2011-03-30T08:25:00.003-05:00

Well, Adepticon is almost upon us---and we're getting ready to pack things up and head out. Decided we would post a few shots of our team table before the con---not the final product---but only missing a few bells/whistles.

We'll be putting up more shots on the blog following Adepticon, along with information regarding our kick off Horus Heresy Campaign. Blog info here;

http://op40k.blogspot.com/

We tried to be accurate to the fluff as possible during the Siege----so we have all the Primarchs present with their action/placement on the table representing where they were during the Siege. Full lit underground with the Big E/Malcador/Custodes plotting---full basement for vehicles, etc.

Anyways some teaser pics!

Dakka Friend/Moderator ripped off

2011-03-23T19:12:00.003-05:00

Posting this up-----this is Alpharius from Dakka. A great guy who was recently ripped off by Redstarone.

Redstarone has an infamous reputation online----from getting banned on Bartertown for ripping people off----then Dakka. Anyways, I'll let Alpharius speak for himself;

I am really NOT happy about being, for all intents and purposes, ‘forced’ into posting this.

Clearly Matt has been through a lot – the loss of a child and the loss of a wife.

However…

I started e-mailing Matt (RedStarOne, RSO, Red the Conversionist, etc.) way back in December of 2008.

I was looking for help in getting an all MKVIII marine army on the table.

It quickly became apparent that it wasn’t feasible, and would probably be too expensive in the end.

So, instead, we moved on to other conversions I’d like to have built.

Conversation went back in forth and on 5/13/2009 I sent the following to Matt:

1) Stormhammer Super-Heavy Tank conversion (Baneblade based)
2) Pre-Heresy Land Raider conversion (Land Raider based)
3) Venerable Dreadnaught (Finish a conversion I started but was having trouble completing)

Good communication followed and in late July 2009 he announced he was finished!

He sent pictures, I was happy and so, on 8/3/2009 he requested payment, and on 8/4/2009 I sent $120 to him via PayPal.

Now, oddly enough, nothing ever got shipped – but I was VERY happy with the pictures and figured this was just a minor glitch – after all, he was going through some tough times with his wife’s illness.

I received MANY assurances that Yes, my package is on its way soon!

In September of 2009, we moved forward with the next round of conversions:

1) Stormhammer Super-Heavy conversion (Baneblade based)
2) Stompa Lifta-Dropa arm (bits based, provided by me)
3) Leman Russ conversion – Magnetized with turret and sponson options
4) Space Hulk Terminators – all 12 of them, for removal of BA specific icons.

So, even though he still hadn’t shipped the first round of conversions, which I’d already paid for, I shipped him the next round.

Many excuses and delays later, he announced that the second round was complete!

On 11/27/09 he requested payment, and on 11/27/09 I paid him $140 via PayPal.

I was then told everything was going to ship – no worries!

In fact, I soon heard that everything did ship!

I then FOOLISHLY believed this, and sent in the last round of conversions – ‘upsizing’ Marine vehicles to accommodate my long labor of love, a Pre-Heresy True Scale Alpha Legion army.

So, without waiting to receive the package which had allegedly shipped, in December of 2009 I sent along:

1) 6 Rhinos
2) 2 Predators
3) 2 Whirlwinds

After MANY excused and delays, including TWICE being told that the packages had shipped but… mysteriously BOTH times it was returned to him for… some reason.

On 2/1/2010, he emailed me to tell me that EVERYTHING was complete – finally!

Final payment for this job was requested on 2/1/2010, and on 2/2/2010 $235 was sent via PayPal.

Fast forward 13 MONTHS and over 150 e-mails later and still… NOTHING.

Now, you’re probably thinking … “What were you thinking?”…and I’d have to agree with you.

Basically, I believed all the stories Matt told me, and even though he could never provide a tracking number, I always thought ‘tomorrow’ would be the day he’d finally ship everything AND provide a tracking number.

So, to summarize:

Total paid in conversion fees adds up to $495.

And the list of models?

1) Leman Russ tank - $50
2) Pre-Heresy Land Raider – plastic Land Raider $65
3) Venerable Dreadnought - $40
4) 1 set of Space Hulk Terminators – 12 Terminators, irreplaceable at this point, but call it $100
5) 6 Rhinos - $198
6) 2 Predators - $89
7) 2 Vindicators - $89
Stompa Lifta Dropa Arm – misc. bits
9) Stormhammer Superheavy Conversion - Baneblade Kit $99
10) Stormblade Superheavy Conversion - Baneblade Kit $99

That's around another $829 right there.

That totals up to about $1300.

MANY times I've offered to send more money to get it shipped, but that never helped either.

Fast forward to 2011.

Matt has started a new blog, in order to “Pay it Forward” and “Give Back to the Community”.

Miniature Wargame Conversions.

miniaturewargameconversions.blogspot.com

You could imagine my surprise upon seeing this.

He can find time to continue to model, organize give-aways and give back to the Wargaming Community…

But he can’t find the time to ship my stuff back to me?

Stuff I’ve already paid for and have been waiting, very patiently for, since August of 2009.

I don't know what else to do.

I’ve been supportive of him and his efforts.

As much as it is possible to be someone’s friend via the Internet, I have been his friend.

I can sympathize with what he’s been through.

I have been though some things during this time too.

I’ve had heart problems.

I’ve had a skin cancer scare.

My wife has thyroid problems.

And, most importantly, I’ve had my youngest daughter, now five years old, diagnosed with Autism.

She still doesn’t speak, and the medical bills associated with all of her challenges and now the legal bills as we fight the school department to get her the services she needs…

My hobby used to be a release for me, something to do to get away from the stress of ‘everything else’, at least for a little while.

Now, along with a lot of my money and models, Matt’s kind of taken that away too.

Now, he's almost killed this hobby for me.

I cannot recover from this hit. I cannot afford to replace what Matt is, for some bizarre reason, holding hostage.

I just want my models back.

The models I’ve already paid for.

The models I’ve offered to pay shipping for AGAIN in order to get them back.

The models that Matt allegedly shipped back to me (for the third time) on 3/9/11, that still haven’t arrived.

The models that allegedly shipped back to me (for the third time) on 3/9/11 but for which he still hasn’t provided tracking numbers.

If Matt wants to “give back to the community”, if Matt wants to “pay it forward”, I sure would appreciate it if he would do the right thing here.

Thanks for reading this…

Ken

Some musings on the Space Marine FAQ

2011-01-28T22:07:00.003-06:00

Well, the Space Marine FAQ came out and I've decided I'm doing a pre-heresy Smurf force----led by Guilliman (Counts as Calgar). I had thought about it for some time for other reasons....but two things led me to it. One, I ended up buying an Ultramarine Thunderhawk for relatively cheap---and two, the FAQ! So what changed....

Calgar's God of War no longer triggers No Retreat! wounds.
When Space Marines rally, they get a 3" consolidation (and don't count as moving during shooting). Or you can go ahead and move 6" more for a 9" move.

So what funny stuff can we do now?

Well, first---you can't ever seriously shoot a unit of mine you plan to assault. I'll simply auto-fail, run away----then auto-rally next turn----move 9"----then rapid fire or assault you. 100% reliable with Calgar.

Second, if you choose to shoot one of my units that's in cover because it's out of assault range---I can go to ground for a better save----then auto-fail-----then auto-rally at the start of my next turn. Yeah really.

Third, you better be careful when you multi-assault me. I'll auto-pass with the unit that has one model left and auto-fail with my big unit I want. So you sit in HTH with a one model unit while I dance away----then maybe after I auto-pass at the start of my turn and move 9" I'll go ahead and charge back in with bonus attacks.

So combat tactics----well is combat tactics now! Plus, let's face it....Calgar beats face in HTH as well. So he force multiplies (a great deal now) and can stick it in HTH. I'm going with him. I've also decided I'm going to make this my mech-marine army. I have other variants...so this is the natural gap filler. So something like;

Marn.

Dread
Dread
6 TH/SS Terms in an EA LR

Full Tac Squad with Flamer/ML in a rhino
Full Tac Squad with Flamer/ML in a rhino
Full Tac Squad with Flamer/ML in a rhino

Predator with Hvy Bolter sponsons/Auto Cannon
Predator with Hvy Bolter sponsons/Auto Cannon
Predator with Hvy Bolter sponsons/Auto Cannon

That's 1850 and it's mobile, hits hard and has plenty of Dakka. Thoughts?

1850 Blood Angels....playing around

2010-09-27T21:24:00.002-05:00

So, after playing all jump angels a few times, I've came to the conclusion that all reserve DOA style won't work...or at least it won't work well. When the enemy knows they have the first turn free to move/pop smoke/whatever...well it's easier for them to prepare. So I've been playing around with a Dante list...

Dante
Honor Guard w/ Packs
Flamer x 4
Melta x 4

Sang Priest----x 3
One in power armor
Two with Jump Packs and power weapons

Sang Guard x 5
Power Fist
Infernus pistol x 1

Sang Guard x 5
Power Fist

Assault Squad x 10
2 Meltas
Powerfist Sarg

Assault Squad x 10
2 Meltas

Devs x 6
4 ML

Devs x 6
4 ML

4 scoring units
8 ML shots
10 Melta/Infernus Pistol shots
A great deal of HTH death

So, setup the Devs in cover with a Priest bubble for both....or if I setup/go 2nd I can spread them to different corners for overlapping fire and put the priest in the group across from the most firepower. Other Priest goes with a Sang Guard unit, other with the PF Assault Squad. Dante drops with no scatter within the Honor Guard Squad...which gives me 5 melta shots where ever I want (Or 4 flamers and a melta).

If they want to do the 'move 12 and pop smoke' 2nd turn that's fine, as they'll take 8 ML shots the first turn anyways. They choose to try to get my FNP in cover Devs off the board 1st turn, that's fine too as next turn I'll be dropping several melta shots.

Think I'll give it a go this weekend.

Grytz has opened a store! Check it out...

2010-09-09T19:14:00.002-05:00

I've used Grytz for commission pieces several times over the past couple/three years (Man time flies?). He's always been punctual, honest and turned out awesome pieces...so when he gave me an email stating he was opening his own store...well I had to share it on here. The guy is a class act and will churn out some awesome stuff. Man it's a good time to be a 40k gamer with all the indie shops opening. I really hope to see him succeed as not only is he talented but he's honest...which believe me from failed experiences...is rare combination to find in the online conversion world....

http://hitechminiatures.com/#

I won't go into details about his plans for this coming Christmas...but safe to say if you're a 40k fan/historian......you're going to be happy. You can check out his stuff on CMON under GrytzMinis.

Xenos you say? Heresy!

2010-09-05T19:11:00.004-05:00

So I'm finally going to start a non-power armor army (Well, I have Daemons but Daemons are Daemons). Eldar have always intimidated me as a painter...and the only way to get better is to challenge yourself right? So the Space Elves it is...or at least my version. First rule is----no vehicles! I've played Mechdar enough to hate it and be bored with it...so I'm not going to return the favor :). So Footdar it is, certainly not original but I like the idea of it. Basically going to do Iyanden with some Harlies thrown in (Because I like the models and that's all that matters!). Here are my first goes;

Obviously bases aren't done....but I'm planning on using DragonForge designs "Lost Empires" as they befit Eldar. Slow project for sure but here is my plan;

FW Avatar
Farseer with Seer Council on bikes from Chapter House

Harlies
Wraithguard

Three units of Guardians x 10 with Lances/Spirit Seers

Wraithlords

....and no fething grav tanks! Hope it works!

Well since Mike hasn't, I will--look at his Nurgle Army!

2010-08-09T19:20:00.006-05:00

Mike is breaking down and getting rid of one of his armies; Nurgle Death Guard. Beautiful army and equally as deadly, as I've found at many a weekend (#!$@#$ Plague Marines, unless you are using 30 marines to shoot/assault them, don't bother!). Anyways, I'll let his pics speak for themselves;

The rest of his auctions, including display table, army transport, etc....

Ebay Auctions

Warhammer Fantasy! Yes, really!

2010-07-18T09:31:00.003-05:00

First, apologies for the lack of updates! It's been a pretty crazy month but hopefully we should be back on a semi-regular update schedule. We've actually taken a break from 40k the last couple of weekends and tried something new. Mike and I gave 8th Edition a spin to see how the latest rules changed the game we both loved setting up for....and hated playing!

To explain, I think I can speak for both of us in saying, 7th Edition Fantasy felt like clocking in at a new job. It was exciting getting there, meeting people and setting up....then very quickly you realized it's still a freaking job. Well, 8th is much different! Notably, your warriors actually kill people in hand to hand! Before, you would run up to the enemy, maybe kill one with your 30 guys in a block...then seemingly all your warriors would drop weapons, grab calculators and decide who had to run away. Pretty dull stuff.

So, without going into a detailed review of 8th (There are so many of those out there), suffice to say stuff dies to other stuff now. Your guys actually use the weapons and not the calculators this edition. I decided to give me a Wood Elves a go this past weekend after hearing all the doom and gloom and ran the following;

SpellS. Lvl 4--------Life (duh)
Wand for reroll dispell (duh)

Branch, Lvl 1 w/ TS + Cluster for +1 dispel dice

Glade Guard x 10 w/ musician
Glade Guard x 10 w/ musician
Dryads x 8
Dryads x 8
Glade Riders x 5

Treekin x 6
Treekin x 4

Treeman (woman in my case, Treeperson for the PC crowd)
Great Eagle

Mike and I are still learning the new rules but they performed very well.

My mini-review;

Lvl 4 SS w/ Lore of Life: Pretty much a must in this edition I think. Too bad, as I wanted to run two Tree(Persons!)....but Lvl 4 w/ Wand = Pretty tough dispel phase. Plus access to Lore of Life is a must with Treekin.

Treekin are freaking insane. They are hands down the best looking unit for a WE in 8th right now. They love Life spells and pretty much stomped anything I pointed them at (Chaos Warriors, Knights, etc.) I think either go 3X2 for rank or 4x1 for attacks (Of course, don't forget free reform if you win to add to that front rank...). They rocked out and I was still shorting them attacks!

TreeWoman (Treeperson for the PC crowd) rocks now but to be fair I wasn't playing against a heavy WM army, as he only had one HellCannon and it raged a few times. I would be nervous playing them against a Dwarf/Empire player though considering the non-guess nature of WM now....again Life Lore is a must if you take one.

Glade Guard: They still move, shoot and plink away units. Still a solid choice and two ranks makes them slightly less unwieldy.

Dryads: I put one group in a forest to make them stubborn, tied up a chaos knight unit for a round/two. The other group killed some Maurader Cav but then died later to Chaos Warriors. Unsure on them yet but Skirmish movement rules blow! Easily the worst change in 8th.

Eagles: Can still bait Frenzy units due to TLOS, can still threaten wizards....and no longer takes up a 'slot' in Rares..just 50 pts of your 25%....so I'm thinking 1-2 look pretty good.

Glade Guard: Unsure yet. Vanguard move put me in a good position to harass...but meh, dunno.

So...contrary to belief, I don't think the sky is falling for Wood Elf players. We'll still have some bad rock, paper scissor matchups (Daemons will still be nasty as will Empire/Dwarf gunlines)....but I think that's just 8th edition until they get a proper Armybook redux going.

Target Aquired Sir----Dark Eldar Incoming!

2010-05-01T10:56:00.005-05:00

What's that coming down the street....

Originally posted by Dr. Gonads over on Dakka;

The warriors are not striding forward and hunched over like they are about to tip over- legs are laid out in a wide stance and the models are much, much better proportioned than the old ones, so no more legs that go all the way up and tiny torsos.
Helmets and non helmeted heads included.
Non helmeted head has a high ponytail.
Ribs/shards of bone poke through loincloths and the ponytail.
The helmets are pretty much identical to the above pic, but with lumps/gems over the ears/temples.
From behind the helmets look exactly like eldar guardian ones.
There is a gem/soulstone on the left chest armour- not the shoulder armour piece as per the above pic.
This is where you have to use your imagination as the pic doesn't show it: On the back there is a backpack that looks like it started as an eldar backpack but does not stick out as far, has vestigal 'vanes' compared to the eldar one (so doesn't stick up above the shoulder) and most excellently down the centre of the backpack, it is recessed with scaled armour over the spine (triangular scales with points downwards)
A high collar that flanges out
Rifle is almost exactly the same as the pic for the base model, even down to the jagged bit that pokes up in front of the warriors abdomen in the pic. There is a variant with what looks to be crossbow arms sticking out laterally (ends up looking like a mini anchor)
Attachable Loincloths (variable designs) One has a skull, one a hook on them.
As per the pic, greaves over the lower legs, then knee pads and scales over the upper legs, with points upwards.
Knife scabbard, 2 'rods' and 2 small sachels on the 'utility belt' posteriorly
Blades of differing lengths and size on various armour parts, primarily lower legs and shoulder pads.
Curved knife HW available.
Attachable blades for the end of splinter rifle.

The concept art (Which is in the hard cover rulebook) is stated to be 'Near identical' to the complete models. As seen here;

I remember playing DE a long time ago and always loved the idea behind them...the models not so much. With Phil Kelly writing the rules and Jes Goodwin making the miniatures...I might be tempted into Xenos waters again!

Just to keep it fresh....a couple of pictures

2010-04-28T20:38:00.004-05:00

I saw an interesting debate on a forum discussing true line of sight vs. category heights. One of the major changes of 5th was true LOS and it was received rather poorly overall judging from various forums. I actually enjoy true LOS as it encourages you to get eye level and helps you 'sink' into the game a bit. So on that theme, I had a few pics I hadn't uploaded yet of my Celestial Lions chapter/board;

AgeOfEgos Adepticon Wrap up

2010-04-02T20:28:00.005-05:00

Well, I'm back home and my sleep schedule has finally returned to normal. Adepticon was a blast (again) and I had some great games. I'm particularly proud to say my Wood Elves won best Appearance in Warhammer Fantasy Warbands;

On the 40k side, my army scored 3rdish (I say 3rd as another player scored a 43 as well) in appearance and 2nd in Players Choice (Yellow Side, as there were two sides this year in the 40k competition). Vince from Black Library also snapped some photos of it and put it up on the Black Library site, so that was pretty cool. Mike's (AshAxe) bike conversions he did for me got many a compliment, as well as the LED fire/display board so I was quite pleased with how it turned out. Many thanks to Mike for the bikes! Mike did very well in the Blue too, especially considering the competition...but I'll let him talk about his army.

As far as actual playing goes, I won my first 40k game against a SW player who was one of the coolest guys I've ever played at a tournament. Went by the name Charlie....laid back, witty and had a great looking army. I only won by a KP and really could have went either way. Khan and group performed well in this game.

Second game I got owned by another Scars player. The guy knew his game and man handled me with all bikes. I made some incredibly stupid decisions and kind of rushed to setup without thinking much (Like taking 1st turn in DOW...eh yeah?). This takes nothing away from his win though, as he played perfect with no mistakes to capitalize on. Great guy to play against too with a great sense of humor....but a loss nonetheless.

Third game I played a Necron army fielded by a great player who knew the Scars player who had just curb stomped me (This didn't sound very good!). However, fate smiled on me and my first las cannon shot against the toughest tank in the game....immobilization! This left no room for Deceiver to hide so was great luck. He also had a Destroyer group fail two Ld. 10 tests to run off the board, so really I should have lost this game. Still, I got some very lucky rolls and managed to grab the primary. As a funny sidenote, at one point in the game he agreed to not run Deceiver out of combat if I charged with my Emperor (Lysander) and Custodes (TH Terms). Last game out of Adepticion, why the hell not? So I charge him and he gets ready to make his saves after ripping a few terms....and this golden dice appears. I kid you not, we move a piece of paper and there is a pure golden dice on the board. Doesn't match my dice, doesn't match his...it just appeared as though Zeus was granting Jason his golden shield. So he has to roll it...and makes every farking save. Hah, good times. Game ended with Emperor failing his stubborn and running back to the Golden Throne...because of the Golden dice. If you read this Necron guy, thanks for the great game/memory.

All in all? I had a blast and will be going back next year. Hopefully Mike will share his experiences!

My Adepticon Army/Display

2010-03-24T13:53:00.007-05:00

Well, here is the reason I haven't posted anything for a bit. Mike and I are heading in less than 24 hours...so here goes;

The camera doesn't capture it but all of the fire effects are flickering LEDs, so they look like real fire. I also have a soundtrack that plays in the background (DOW Marine music). The fire burning behind the stained glass in the building...is actually individual wreck markers I can remove when my vehicles blow up (Turned off, they simulate me popping smoke, turned on...well the rhino is dead!);

The display itself is a picture frame with MDF mounted via velcro. So after Adepticon I can pop this display out and put it on my cityfight board...then next year make another display and 'pop' that new one in. I might post an article on that for those whom want to make their own displays. Anyways, looking forward to Adepticon this year...I'll be adding my nick (AgeOfEgos) to my badge...so be sure to say hi!

Ready for Adepticon..(?)

2010-03-23T04:40:00.002-05:00

Just a few short days left before Adepticon and I like many others I'm sure, are scrambling to finish up armies and displays and very unlike Age, who has been ready for at least a couple of weeks now. The finish is in sight though and I will hopefully have everything done.

About my army...I went back to the earlier pledge and am leaving the lash at home and am going with a Nurgle/deathguard theme with one exception. Once we get back, we will be sure to show off some pics and give a full rundown of the weekend.

Until then, may the dice gods smile upon you.

Ash

Adepticon 2010 Revised CSM List

2010-02-07T03:43:00.005-06:00

1850 Pts - Chaos Marines Roster - Adepticon List 2010

HQ: Abaddon the Despoiler @ 275 pts

5 Plague Marines @ 135 pts
2 meltaguns

Chaos Land Raider with Daemonic Possession @ 240 pts

HQ: Chaos Sorcerer with MoS and Lash of Submission @ 125 pts

7 Plague Marines @ 269 pts
1 Meltagun
1 Plague Champion with Power Fist
1 Rhino

7 Plague Marines @ 269 pts
1 Meltagun
1 Plague Champion with Power Fist
1 Rhino

5 Plague Marines @ 160 pts
1 Meltagun
1 Rhino

2 Obliterators @ 150 pts

3 Obliterators @ 225 pts

Total Roster Cost: 1848 pts

First,I am going to have to eat a bit of crow. I tried to make a list without the Lash but my latest draft includes one. Here are a few things I learned so far:

1. Berzerkers as Abaddon's escort really didn't add that much to his effectiveness and they died pretty easily. Plague Marines did not die as easily and with 2 meltaguns were able to pop armor or force a couple of Invulnerable saves on tough units prior to assault.

2. Daemon Princes need terrain. At Adepticon terrain is, let's face it, sparse. During play-testing my DP fell time and again to mass/rapid fire shots. So I switched to a Sorcerer and hid him in a unit of Plague Marines. Success! The trick here was to keep him cheap and effective, hence Lash. It is truly game changing as it dictates movement directly and indirectly.

3. Thousands Sons. Expensive and die just as easily as a 15 pt Chaos Marine to rapid fire. Cover saves are abundant which really reduce their effectiveness. They are good at tying up CC heavy hitters, but they can't kill them. If there was a way to get a hidden powerfist in there....

4. Vindicators. I scatter way too much! My vindicator would usually scatter twice then be taken out.

5. Defilers. I play-tested these to death and just could not get reliable results out of them. Whether I tried to "run" them or shoot with them (scatter problem again); field one or a couple; reserve them, it didn't matter, they just died. Armor 12 just doesn't cut it with a model that big.

6. Chosen (5 man meltagun squad w/ rhino). Actually, this is a decent unit and performs well as long as you don't out flank unless you really have too. The only reason they were cut is that they are not scoring.

7. Scoring units win games. No duh, right. I found in my early lists that I couldn't handle missions with multiple objectives. I could contest, but not win. Plague marines are one of the best objective squatters out there.

This list evolved with Adepticon terrain in mind and sadly, some of my favorite models/units didn't make the cut. I know that there are those who would say this is power gaming or what have you, but this is a highly competitive tournament and I don't want to get my teeth kicked in every game. If I was a true power gamer I would play IG and the 14 lascannons of death list (It's brutal and I still have nightmares about that game) !)

The main thing I learned through out play-testing is that the game is so much more challenging with good, thought out terrain pieces/placement. It also gives those less optimal units a chance to shine which opens up a codex and adds variety making lists less cookie cutter. That is the way I prefer to play.

To borrow a word from Will Ferrel, Strategery, that's what this game is about; not a turkey shoot. Ok people, get some more terrain on those tables!

Ash

Apocalypse Battle Report----Battle for Tarkonda Secondus

2010-02-03T18:22:00.072-06:00

Well, it's been a bit since our last battle report (Mostly blame Adepticon and our new foray into Warmachine for that)...so I thought I would transition our Apocalypse Report from Dakka over to the blog. This was an Apoc game we did awhile back, hope to do another similar soon (Maybe post Con?). Anyways, hope you enjoy;

The Battle for Tarkonda Secondus

Players:
AshAxe: Castellan Marines
AgeOfEgos: Celestial Lion Marines
Zulix24: Eldar
Pipboy: Tau/Traitor IG

During this battle, we have the Tau/Eldar contigent facing off against a Loyalist Marine defense. The Marine Chapters involved in the defense of Tarkonia Secondus are the Celestial Lions (White/Silver) and the Imperial Castellans (Blue/Tan). The battle revolves around an ancient STC relic the Marines have discovered and are awaiting Mechanicus arrival for transport. The device is rumoured to be one of the oldest of its types and involves high yield energy transformation. In essence, the Marines understand it makes not simple machines...but incredibly powerful (and dangerous) explosives. Planet ending explosives.

Shortly after the discovery of this item the planet came under attack from an allied Xenos threat; Eldar and Tau. It seems the Xenos are familiar with the device and wish to recover it for themselves. The Marines have staunchly defended the planet but have been driven back to one last Hive City...Tarkonia Secondus. This is their Alamo..and they must hold until the Mechanicus arrives...

"The slow squeak and grind of tracks from the armored column of Chimera Transports passing the Sister Hospitaler medical facility for civilian refugees echoed up and down the streets as the reinforcements headed to the trench line on the edge of Tarkonia Secondus. Wounded civilians fleeing the oncoming Tau had headed to the medical facility in the illusion of safety from the encroaching enemy. As the center of the column reached the front entrance of the facility a blinding light flashed, stunning all not completely enclosed. Fractions of a second passed and the light became coherent as the Tau Cruiser in orbit started to unleash its full might in support of the Hunter Cadres initial push against the defenders. Even with all of the Tau’s advanced technology, pin point fire support from miles in orbit was not possible but that mattered little since the Tau announced to the inhabitants of the city of their assault. Any civilian still left which died from the bombardment had only themselves to blame. The first bolts of energy struck home in a hitting buildings, civilians and soldiers randomly. As the bolts slowly moved from the area of the medical facility due to the cruiser’s orbit shifting away a round struck home dead center of the roof of the facility. In an instant the floors, patients and doctors were vaporized. The burrowing beam blasted not only the building but deep into the under world of Tarkonia Secondus. Losing most of its power by the time it reached the power generator and its fuel supply it was still powerful enough to detonate the fuel pod. A fire ball grew quickly blowing out the walls of the wrecked place of healing. The force of the explosion sent a shockwave out which dug deeper into the ground and threw the Chimeras of the Armored Column high into the air. Their steel hulls clanging loudly against pavement and collapsed walls when they landed. As quickly as the bombardment started it ended, and quiet reigned. Looking behind at the destruction of their city, members of the Tarkonian PDF watched in horror and waited for the bombardment to end before heading into to render assistance to their people. Every other team breaking away from the front line defenses rushing to assist. As the first Imperial Guard Soldiers crest the crater that was what was left of the medical facility. Stopping in their tracks when the sight of an obvious alien object glowing brightly. Sgt Kevch turned to his vox operator and stated, “Get the Captain on the horn and tell him that we found something. *** Ethereal Shan’o, lost deep in his own thoughts only glancing at the holographic display in the command bridge. Bickering between Tio’ves Shas’o on the best way to crack the human defensive lines ringing Tarkonia Secondus was becoming tiresome. What has troubling to Shan’o is the movement of two large contingents of elite human warriors to a relativity unimportant section of the city. Were the humans planning a spearhead assault, but every time they have tried the fire warriors stuck true to their training by falling back just enough to allow the line to over extend, be cut off and destroyed. These elite warriors of the humans don’t make the same mistake twice. So deep in thought along with the ever increasing volume of the commanders, Shan’o did not hear the Air Caste officer approach. The officer waited to see if his presence would be noticed before interrupting the Ethereal in his thoughts. But the approaching vessel that the scanners picked up could not wait. “Pardon my interruption. Non-allied warship closing onto our position and will be in firing range within 1 dec. “Human warship?” Shan’o asked without opening his eyes or turning to face the officer. “No sir. Warship is an Eldar Cruiser.” “Open communications with the Cruiser and warn it off.” The officer turned to face the communication’s station and turned back quickly, “The Eldar is asking to come along side for a conference.” “Signal back that we await their emissary.” *** The door to the command bridge opened and the Eldar Autarch and a Farseer in tow entered. This was the first time that Shan’o had met an Eldar and the reports he had read was correct. Their movements were graceful and with no wasted movements. “Greetings. It is my pleasure to welcome you to our vessel.” Shan’o said bowing slowing to the Eldar emissaries. “Yes, the niceties are appreciated but time is critical.” The Autarch pulled out a device and projected an image in between the two groups. “The humans have discovered an ancient weapon in the area that your forces are attempting to secure. This weapon was created eons ago by the original inhabitants of this globe. The human do not understand the power that could be unleashed by this weapon.” Shan’o recognized the area shown on the image as the one that the Human elite warriors have pooled up together. The image zoomed into building, passing armored humans and centered onto the device. “I am guessing that you need our assistance to retrieve this device since we already have forces in the area?” Shan’o asked. “Yes, our warriors are ready to assault the humans but their numbers are too strong to assure success.” “Why should we risk our warriors to assist you into obtaining this weapon?” The Farseer step around the Eldar Leader and raised his hand toward Shan’o. Shan’o’s vision switched from the command bridge to a battlefield with metallic warriors marching into withering fire from an unknown race. He recognized the metal warriors as Necrons and he also recognized the device behind the aliens defending against the assault. A metallic form slowly raised open and laughed as the incoming fire bounced off its flowing metal robes. Shan’o could sense that the battle was futile against such an entity. The image swung to the device and its operator. An alien quickly toggling switched and it powered up. A loud hum vibrated through everyone on the battlefield. The Necron warriors and aliens forces stopped as all the light from the stars dimmed slightly. As quickly as the stars dimmed they came back and the device activated. A pulse shot out and every building warrior was disappeared from the field. The image pulled back to distant orbit just as the pulse struck the third moon in orbit shattering it. The menacing entity being pushed along with the pulse, its metal skin flaking off quickly till it detonated in a ball of flame as bright as a supernova. The Farseer dropped his hand and Shan’o opened his eyes, “I understand about the power of the device. We will do what ever to assist in denying the Humans access to the weapon.” ....."

The Last Stand Special Scenario

The Last Stand Scenario incorporates many special rules found over the following pages.

Sewers
The battle for the city has been raging in the air, on the ground and now even below the ground. There are various sewer entrances scattered on the board (marked by specialized terrain). You may ‘embark’ in a sewer entrance during your turn by moving/running within 2 inches of it. That unit is now removed from the board and may be placed within 2 inches of any other sewer entrance on the board the following turn following the rules for disembarking (Counts as moving, may not be placed within 1 inch of an enemy). However, if the enemy has the entrance you wish to disembark from surrounded (within 1 inch) you may not use that exit.

Spread too thin...
The defense of the city with such a small force has left very few units defending entire blocks. To represent this, the defenders MUST place at least 1/3 of their units in strategic reserve.

Teleport Housing/Device
One of the buildings of the city houses a teleport device which is a smaller, less powerful version present on Imperial ships. If your side controls this building, any friendly infantry unit not engaged in close combat and within 12 inches of the building may be removed from the board. This unit will immediately deep strike to any area of the players choosing that is within 48 inches of the building. This happens at the start of the movement phase and only one unit is allowed to use it per turn. The teleportation follows all of the rules for Deep Strike with one exception; if double 1’s are rolled for scatter, the unit is lost!

Radar Array
A small communication building with a powerful radar array is located within the city. The army that controls this tower is able to send a powerful signal through the various jamming present in the sector with coordinates for an orbital bombardment. The bombardment is a Str. 8 AP 3, 5 inch blast that follows all rules for ordinance. If the bombardment scatters, the ballistic skill is considered 2 when reducing scatter.

Sustained Assault
The two Chapters have been battered back deeper and deeper into the bowels of the city desperately attempting to buy time. However, there is no room left to retreat, it’s now defend or die! The Eldar/Tau alliances know this as well and are therefore committing every last reserve to the fight. At the start of their turn, the Eldar/Tau players may remove any Troop choice that is 25% or below from the table. On their next turn, this unit will come on from any of their board edges at full strength. Any dedicated transport vehicles not immobilized are also removed from the table but retain any damage they had previously when redeploying the next turn. If the transport is immobilized, the infantry unit removed must hoof it the following turn!

In addition, each player on the Tau/Eldar team may nominate one unit that is not normally considered a troop and make it such. This unit also benefits from the Sustained Assault special rule!

Scenarios Steps:

1. Setup Terrain
2. Attackers Deploy in the area marked 'Attackers Deployment'
3. Defenders deploy in the area marked 'Defenders Deployment'
4. Attackers get first turn

Deployment Zones:

Objectives:
There are 3 objectives present on the board. Two of the objectives have special rules for those whom control it, the third does not. The three objectives are:

Teleport Room

STC Machine

Radar Array

Control of these objectives follow all 5th Edition rules for capturing objectives, except that control must be determined turn by turn for the Radar Array and Teleport Housing (To see who benefits from its rules). If the objective is contested, its special rules may not be used this turn.

Game Length
Random. On the 5th turn, start rolling a dice. On a 1 or 2, the game ends this turn. On the 6th turn, the game ends on a 1, 2 or 3. The game automatically ends on the 7th turn.

Flanking/Reserves
Each army may place up to half of their forces in reserve. Due to the swiftness and concealment of the attack, the defenders MUST place at least 1/3 of their force in reserve.
Each army automatically receives the Flanking Strategic Asset for free with the following exceptions:
Attackers may ONLY flank-march on the denoted map area above
Defenders may flank-march wherever they choose

Victory!
Each Objective is worth one point, whichever army that controls the most objectives at the end of the game wins. However, if the Marine army loses the STC device than the best they can do is tie, regardless of how many other objectives they hold. It’s that damn important!

Battlefield Overview

Armies

==Celestial Lions==
===Army List===
*Chapter Master
*Masters of the Chapter
*Command Squad w/ Apothecary

*Ancients Assault Force
**Techmarine
**Venerable Dread with Plasma Cannon
**Dread with Assault Cannon/Flamer
**Dread with Assault Cannon/Flamer

*Terminator Assault Squad
*Terminator Squad with Assault Cannon
*Tactical Squad; 10 man strong with Plasma/Missile Launcher and 3 Rhinos
*Tactical Squad; 5 man strong with one Plasma Gun
*Attack Bike Squadron; 2 Bike strong with Multi-Meltas
*Land Speeder with Assault Cannon/Heavy Bolter
*Dev Squad; 7 Strong with 4 Plasma Cannons
*Dev Squad; 7 Strong with 4 Lascannons
*Land Raider Crusader
*Land Raider
*Warhound Titan armed with Vulcan MegaBolter and Inferno Cannon (I refuse to use Turbo Laser Destructors and I regret nothing!)

==Imperial Castellans==
===Army List===
*Epistolary
**Terminator Command Squad
*Master of Sanctity
*Reclusiarch
*Captain
*Terminus Ultra Land Raider
*Formation: Supression Force
**Land Speeder
**Whirlwind
**Whirlwind
*Tactical Squad (10 man strong); Meltagun and 2 Drop Pods
*Tactical Squad (10 man strong); Flamer, Rhino
*Tactical Squad (10 man strong); Meltagun, Rhino
*Tactical Squad (5 man strong); Plasmagun, Plasma Cannon
*Tactical Squad (5 man strong); Plasmagun, Plasma Cannon
*Bike Squadron (5 man strong); Meltagun; Attack Bike with 2 Multi-Meltas
*Predator Annihilator
*Devastator Squad (6 man strong); ML X 3
*Devastator Squad (6 man strong); 3 Lascannons
*Terminator Squad (6 man strong); 2 Assault Cannons
*Terminator Squad (6 man strong); 2 Assault Cannons
*Terminator Assault Squad (6 man strong); 2 Thunderhammers, 4 Lightning Claws
*Assault Squad (10 man strong); 2 Plasma Pistols
*Land Speeder; 2 Assault Cannons

==Tau==
===Army List===
*Ethereal
*Commander Crisis Suit with Crisis Suit Bodyguards X 2
*Command and control drone with operator (Specially made for game)
*Master Shaper with 2 Kroot Hounds each X 2
*Steath Suits 6 strong
*Firewarrior Squad 12 strong with Devilfish X 3
*Kroot Squad 14 strong with 6 Kroot Hounds
*Gun Drone Squads 8 strong X 2
*Pathfinders 6 strong with Pirahana
*Forward Observation Vehicle (Special made for game)
*Broadside X 2
*Heavy Gun Drones 4 strong
*Hammerhead Gunship
*Sniper Drone Team
*Leman Russ X 2 (Human Aux)
*Baneblade (Human Aux)
*Indirect Rocket Battery (Human Aux Special made for game)

==Eldar==
===Army List===
*Farseer
*Dire Avengers
*Fire Dragons
**Waveserpent
*Dark Reapers (2 squads of 5 each)
*Avatar with Phoenix Lords
*Swooping Hawks
*Pathfinders (5 strong)
*WraithLord
*Guardians on jetbikes (6 strong)
*Banshees (5 strong)
**Wave Serpent
*Striking Scorpions

Deployment

Turn 1

==Xenos Turn==

Out of the early morning mist near the border of town the first wave began. Three Tau Devilfish carriers rapidly redeployed their cargo, setting down and disgorging 36 Fire Warriors with drilled expertise. The Fire Warriors quickly opened fire and unloaded a fuselage of rapid fire into the 2nd Lions Tactical Squad behind the wall, killing four of the marines.

A squad of Dire Avengers and Eldar Guardians burst from the forest on the left flank, killing three more marines of 1st Squad. Reapers that had previously snuck into position under cover of night unloaded into the defending marines, the marines quickly sought cover and lost only 2 of their brothers despite the overwhelming amount of shots poured into their position.

The ground trembled and Sgt. Caspus of the Castellans saw a flicker of movement beyond the mist. It almost seemed as if there was an earthquake with the very hills shaking...then truth dawned on him. An immense barrell and tank chasis slithered out of the smoke; "Baneblade! Traitor scum!" shouted Sgt. Caspus, "Take cover!". The Baneblade slowed to combat speed and prepared to fire...

Tank Commander Yelt barked firing orders into the belly of the Baneblade. "Target marked, large cluster of enemy whirlwinds dead ahead, fire on my order." Commander Yelt understood the gravity of what he was doing and realized there was no turning back from this point--he would forever be a traitor to the Imperium once the order was given. Flashbacks of the images the Tau displayed came back to him...the horrible destruction...the countless deaths of innocents due to the use of the 'Device'. There was no question, for the good of all the device must be destroyed. "Fire!"

The concussion of the shot blew over trees near the tank and the shot hurled into the city. Large sections of the already ruined building sheltering the whirlwind detachment flew off into parts of the city, yet the tanks weathered the attack. "Reload, we'll blow the whole damn city apart if we must!"

==Loyalist Turn==

The Castellan Predator rumbled out of the rubble and ruined building to line up a shot at the incoming baneblade. Sgt. Amatius of the Castellan Devestator squad shouted "Fire! and Lascannon streaks ran out of the building into the Baneblade. The Lions Predator joined them by providing its own shots into the armoured hulk....still after the smoke cleared the Baneblade showed no signs of damage.

The Whirlwinds received target information from the scouting Land Speeder and unleased a combined barrage on the Kroot. Impact after impact, seemingly unendless, hit the forest containing the merecenaries and slew the entire lot!

On the left flank, the Celestial Lions Chapter Master asked for the comm, 'From base point, up 400, right 200, close support'. He spun around and shouted "Down and cover!". Suddenly, the heavens seemed to collapse on the Tau with a large orbital bombardment raining down on their position.

The Lions and Castellans on the front line cheered and poured fire into what remained of the Firewarriors, leaving a handful left on the field. The Castellan Sgt. in the area grudginly stated with admiration, "I can't believe they haven't run after that!".

Turn 2

==Xenos Turn==

"Fall back to join reinforcements for a southern approach". The command came over the comm to the frontline Firewarriors, who had dealt (and recieved) terrible casualties, and they quickly retired to the rear. The marines had no time to celebrate, as Brother Giruus yelled "To the south brothers!". With a gutteral hiss, yet another swarm of Kroot came pouring from the southern approach of the city clambering for loyalist blood.

"Target identified sir!", the junior guardsman of the volley gun battery cried out. The holographic targeting array displayed a group of Castellan marines guarding the southern approach. With a series of thuds the battery opened fire on the marines, blasting limbs and ceramite from the podium and wiped out the entire squad. The surrounding marines had little chance to recover from witnessing such devestation however, for the strange chanting again came across the battlefield. A swirling vortex rent reality apart above the command array and surrounded the building. While the building remained intact, the marines inside came tumbling from its doors with stupified looks on their face and blood streaming from their eyes and ears.

The Dire Avengers continued running towards the defensive line in long graceful strides, shooting at the marines from the hip. As they ran towards the line, bright traces fired overhead keeping the marines behind cover and dropping some of the loyalist. "Our Reaper bretheren are lining our advance!" shouted the Avenger Exarch. He ducked as a Tau Piranha streaked by his unit and unloaded its deadly weaponry into the waiting Celestial Lions. Even as he felt the joy of seeing the Tau slay the marines, he could not help a momentary wave of disgust as he witnessed the Kroot stop to consume the fallen loyalist.

The Land Raidar radar started alarming loudly and slowly the lumbering machine spun to face a new quarry; The Eldar Wave Serpent had dropped from the sky and was homing in on the Raider at breakneck speed.

Meanwhile, in the main building on the other side of the battlefield Brother Xiran thought he spotted movement in the dense, low lying clouds. He had just started to communicate over the comm "I think there is something....." when explosions engulfed his squad. Swooping Hawks deftly landed in the middle of the ruined building after dropping their deadly cargo and began firing into the Castellan squad, dropping three of the battle brothers.

Outside, the Baneblade continued its advance, once again firing into the city and the group of whirlwind vehicles. Yet again, large sections of the ruined building came raining down on the whirlwind detachment saving them from the main shot.

==Loyalist Turn==

A robotic voice filled with antiquity rumbled "We've come to destroy you" and as the Kroot looked back to where they had came a gout of flame erupted from the ancient Venerable Dreadnoughts arm. Most of the squad cried out and writhed in pain while burning with a few attempting to crawl away. They didn't get very far as Venerable Brother Ariymus finished them with a pulse of his plasma cannon. Behind him, another of his dread brothers engaged the guardians while the last of his formation charged towards the Dire Avengers. Behind them, the Master of the Forge walked slowly firing his plasma harness weaponry.

Tank Commander Yelt had the hatch popped open and was surveying the field when he felt a crawling sensation pass over his skin. Too late he realized what the sensation meant and there was a distinct *crack* behind the tank as he spun around to see a large terminator group teleport in behind the tank. Utter terror froze him as he saw a figure of imposing stature, even for a terminator, in the middle of this group. The figure was in all black with a leering skull and it pointed its stormbolter at the tank and screamed a primitive war cry. One of the dreaded Chaplains of the Astartes! Even as he slammed the hatch down on his tank, yet more las cannon fire scorched across the battlefield blackening the Baneblade armor.

Not a moment later drop pods began raining out of the sky next to the tank with explosive hatches hitting the ground. No sooner had the hatches disengaged than marines began pouring fire into the rear of the Baneblade. "Meltas and assault cannons, move the tank!" cried Commander Yelt. As he checked the damage he marveled at how tough this old tank really was. Despite all of the focused firepower, the warning lights displayed only slight structural damage while two of the weapons were temporarily offline.

The Land Raider in the middle of the city picked up an incoming enemy and spun around putting two las cannons into the approaching Falcon, which nimbly avoided both shots. The terminators on the overhead walk heard the incoming skimmer as well and Brother Herin unloaded his assault cannon into the tank. Again, the Falcon seemed supernatural in its agility and avoided all fire.

Turn 3

==Xenos Turn==

The Xenos unleashed another wave of reinforcements into the southern part of the city, with another squad of Firewarriors running into the city. They quickly took shooting stances and downed the last Land Speeder flying down the street. The wave serpent holding the Fire Dragons flew towards the Land Raider, at the last moment spinning and unloading its deadly cargo. The Fire Dragons let fly with their melta weaponry and thick pieces of ceramite flew apart as the Land Raider exploded, a few pieces of the Land Raider caught two of the Fire Dragons and made them share its demise.

By the main building that housed the STC, the ground splintered as the elite Tau Crisis Suits crashed to the earth and opened fire on the nearby Castellan Predator. Like its Land Raider cousin, the Predator exploded in a large fireball from the advanced tau weaponry. In the main building ruin itself, the Eldar pushed their advance with a Banshee Squad unloading into the building along with their Jetbike Guardian allies.

"The Teleport building!" came over the comm. The terminators on the walkway spun to see one of the most terrible sights in the galaxy; The Avatar of the Eldar. Even worse, striding next to the Avatar was the deadly Phoenix Lords, with the entire group seemingly burning in the glow of the Avatar.

Another vortex opened above the Radar Array as yet another combined Eldar psychic attack rained down on the Castellans, this time slaying them to a man. Next to the Radar Array, one of the countless waves of Fire Warriors yanked their EMP grenades out of their suits, "To the machine box!" they yelled as they charged the Venerable Dread. It met them head on, crushing 2 of it's number and surviving the multiple short-outs sparkling across its hull. The Tau attempted to fall back out of its deadly range and it cut them down as they ran.

Outside the city, the Baneblade commander was desperately calling for reinforcements. True to their word, the Tau considered this plea as one of their own and the Terminators found their squad surrounded by masses of Kroot and Tau Fire Warriors. A literal hail of Tau weaponry unloaded into the Terminators as they slowly turned to engage the Xenos, yet out of all their shots only two fell! Like an orchestra, as soon as the Fire Warriors finished unloading into the Terminators the Kroot screeched and threw themselves into the squad. Despite being outnumbered nearly 3-1, the Terminators held their ground as both sides suffered casualties.

The Eldar Reapers, overhearing the Baneblade Commanders cry for help, spun and aimed their strange weaponry at the Castellans below. "Take cover!" shouted the Castellan Sgt. as Reaper ammunition, Tau bombardment and Baneblade bolters tore into the squads. Power Armour prevailed and the Castellans rose back to their feet shouting in defiance!

==Loyalist Turn==

The road shook as out of the smoke emerged one of the Adeptus Mechanicus Gods of War---The Warhound Titan Cerberus. A gout of flame the size of a building covered the Tau Crisis Suits and shells the size of attack bikes fell the ground as the Mega Bolter opened up. Incredibly, even though the ground surrounding the Crisis suits was completely destroyed, they lived! Under the Titans feet roared one of the Castellan bike squads lining up its assault on the Crisis Suits ahead.

The Castellans unleashed one of its most deadly machines, the Terminus pattern Land Raider. The Tau Hammerhead tried to move away but was too late as the Terminus unloaded into the Tau machinery, completely destroying the Xenos tank. A Castellan cheer rose from the buildings ahead!

Yet another reserve showed for the Castellan army behind the Avatar, with Librarian Rithen appearing next to his Terminator Command Squad. The Farseer obviously did not see far enough for this and with a roar the Castellan Librarian decapitated the Eldar witch. Ahead of the Avatar group, the mysterious Custodes teleported in with a crack and immediately assaulted two of the Eldar Phoenix Lords. Epic blows were traded and at the end of combat two Phoenix Lords lay dead next to three Custodes....

Outside the city, the remaining Castellan marines rose out of their crater bunkers shouting as they charged the Baneblade. Terminators cracked at the ancient armour with their powerfists and Castellan Sgts. threw their powerful Melta bombs. With a tremendous explosion, the top turret of the Baneblade ripped off the chasis, sending bodies and tank parts flying. The Castellan Terminator Sgt. exclaimed over the vox, "The Baneblade has fallen!" As the Castellans were couragesly were destroying the tank, the Lions sent in reinforcements as Assault Terminators poured out of a Crusader. Kroot fell in great numbers to their fury and at the end of assault the Kroot were wiped out.

Turn 4

==Xenos Turn==

Two new squads of Fire Warriors emerged from the southern flank with their sites centered on the remaining Lions Tactical squad. There was a mad dash of desperation from both armies for the Radar Array.....as the air seemingly shimmered next to the ruins, "Stealth suits!" yelled one of the Lions as the he died with the words in his throat. Three battle brothers fell to their fire and their courage held as they continued clambering over the rhino for the Radar Array.

The drama in the main building was about to play itself out, as a new fresh group of Dire Avengers emerged from the sewer entrance on the street below. Nearby, the crisis suits bravely marched toward the Titan engaging it with its plasma weaponry. Between the crisis suits, the broadsides outside of the city gates and a Tau bombardment...the Warhound lshields shimmered, dropped and it suffered damage to one of its gun and the other was offline. Inside the main building, many Tau gun drones dropped in and prepared to pepper the marines above.

Otherwordly screams issued from the Banshees as they assaulted the Castellan bikes next to the main building and despite losing two of their number, they resolutely stayed in the fight. Meanwhile, next to the Teleport buiding the Avatar and remaining Phoenix Lords ignored the Custodes and charged the Librarian squad. Many fell and the Librarian, despite having all of his squad fall around him, bravely held his ground.

Outside the city, the incredibly powerful Eldar Psychic Choir continued its mindblowing assault and destroyed another 8 marines next to the drop pods and Baneblade wreckage. The Castellan and Lion Terminators met in the middle of the large Kroot and Firewarrior squad, as both squads were dropped on the road going out of the city. Both squads saluted each other and grimly started conslidating back to the city.

==Loyalist Turn==

With its weapon system offlines, the Warhound Titan simply stepped forward and crushed the entire Tau Crisis suit squad under it's gigantic adamantium heel. Next to it's steel foot, the other Crisis Suit squad continued combating the Castellan bikers. In the building next to this assault, the Castellan Devestators turned and let a barrage of missles streak towards the Wave Serpent hovering below. A tremendous explosion followed, with two of the Fire Dragons dying inside its carcass, yet four emerged unharmed. The Castellan devestators let out a scream of triumph that was cut short, as they saw the Avatar next to the newly made wreck cut the Castellan Librarian in half! "Reload and destroy that Daemon!" yelled the Devestator Sgt. To his disbelief, the mighty Custodes teleported out as fast as they had appeared! Apparently, whatever needs the Custodes had was satisified with the Eldar Phoenix Lords they had killed...as their bodies disappeared as well....

Inside the main building, another ear-splitting scream signaled the end of the Castellan bikers and the Banshees lept over their bodies, consolidating towards the second floor and the prize. The Chaplain and his assault squad leveled the Tau machinery inside the building and advanced towards the now unengaged Banshees.

Outside the city, small skirmishes continued with the Celestial Lion Dreads exchanging fire with the Eldar and Tau. "Main building under assault, fall back to the STC!" was heard over the Vox for the marines...while "Main target engaged...lend support to assault" was heard over the Xenos comm. The next moments of the battle would decide the outcome...

Turn 5

==Xenos Turn==

The last of the Tau reserves showed this turn from the southern approach, yet their short dash left many of the squad out of range. Still many were able to fire on the marine running for the Radar Array, yet the marine power armour proved too much. However, the marines had no time to rejoice as two deadly Piranhas appeard in front of the squad and thinned their numbers. There was a perfect trianglulation of fire on the Celestial Lions and only the Chapter Master survived, screaming in defiance and bleeding from multiple wounds.

The Eldar unleashed their ace up of their sleeve and called in their last orbital strike. The building shook and the aim was deadly accurate...the Castellans on the upper floor watched in horror as the chaplain and his assault squad were decimated from the sky. No sooner had the blast stopped than the Dire Avengers and Banshees nimbly jumped over the flooring, shooting and assaulting as soon as they landed. The Castellan Sgt. on the upper floor cired "This is the end, fight or die!" and his squad dropped their bolters and charged the Avengers while a squad from above engaged the Banshees. Despite the element of surprise, the Avengers were shocked and driven back by the furious counter assault from the Castellans. The remaining Banshees fared better and whittled the other squad down to two Castellans, yet they stuck in combat.

In the teleporter room, the fire dragons advanced with Phoenix Lords in tow. The Celestial Lions inside had no chance and were dropped where they stood without so much as firing a shot or issuing a warning over the vox. The Fire Dragon Exarch pressed his communicator, "The teleporter is ours."

On the outskirts of the city, small skirmishes continued with the Tau dropping another Lions Dread and blowing the remaining Celestial Lions Predator up. The Terminators outside the city continued to run for the city but were far away from the main action....as Railgun shots ran overhead smacking into the now reenergized Titan Shields. The shields held and the Titan started to turn towards the main building...

==Loyalist Turn==

The Castellans proved their valour, holding the Avenger assault and even driving them off the objective. As they did, the building shook and an entire wall section exploded as they Warhound Titan Cerberus burst through. Its bolter arm, the size of a Predator, opened up with ear shattering concussions and the Avenger squad exploded into a bloody mist. The Castellan squad consolidated back next to the STC and awaited further instructions from Command/Control.

"Now!" said the Lions Command Squad Sgt. Cassius. The command squad emerged from the bunker where they had been waiting and charged towards the Radar Array in attempts to save the Chapter Master and deny Tau the objective. They dove into the two Tau Piranhas and drones, destroying all in their path and conslidated next to their Chapter Master. The next turn would see the Fire Warriors engaged....

The Game Ends

Game Result: TIE!
Radar Array: Contested, no points
Teleport Building: Held by Eldar Fire Dragons (Was his special 'counts as scoring' unit established pre-game)
STC Machine: Held by the Castellans...BARELY :)

What a battle! Well, with random game length....it's random. Sure enough, at the end of 5 the game ended....which left the Xenos team groaning and the allied team sighing in relief! Here is some player hindsight, which is almost as fun as playing the game...

What went right for the Marines:

The Castellan player (AshAxe is his sig on the forum) saved our bacon. Looking back, I see how little I supported him in the main building and despite assaults from Banshees, Guardians, Swooping Hawks, Wave Serpents and Crisis Suits...Ash held it. The last Dire Avenger/Banshee assault was very harrowing...but Ash had taken the Marine Asset that allows Counter-Assault near a vital objective. I'll be honest, I thought that was rather worthless in Apoc =P....well this crow is quite sour :0! That asset, along with his great play won us the tie. The other two things that come to mind would be the Baneblade being taken out (Again by Ash) and the initial Avenger/Kroot/FireWarrior/Guardian assault near the Radar Array being held by my Dreads! I thought that would be a fun unit but not very useful...hell those dreads tore up!

What went wrong for the Marines:

The Titan proved that expensive resin doesn't translate into battlefield miracles = |. I refuse to take dual Turbo Laser Destructors, as I like the look of the weapons I chose and the fluff, but man..that really limits its power. It did shred the Avengers which would have mattered if the game continued, took a hell of alot of shots and killed the Crisis suits...still it was pretty underwhelming. As were the Custodes! Show up a turn, do great, look great, roll for random, they go poof. Ugh. Ash was pretty down on his Terminus as well, another model that looked great (the pictures did his model no justice!)...so I guess all the big toys let us down. Again, as marine wins often do, it fell to the boring, tough old Tactical Squads to help hold us in the game.

What went right for the Xenos:

Avatar group was killer. It would have been interesting to see the smackdown with the Custodes had they stayed around....but they didn't and that little group walked through Librarian and Terminators alike. Zulix24 (Eldar player) made the Fire Dragons earn their keep, blowing up a Land Raider, killing several marines in the Teleport room and holding that objective. The Baneblade might not have killed much but damn it took alot of our resources! Many of our big hitters had to commit to that beast as Pipboy (Tau player) was wisely marching it into the city rather than leaving it stationary. It would have caused major headaches for us once it got close to the STC objective. The Crisis Suits were insane...they dropped in blew up a Predator, Whirlwind...and then made 18 saves from my Titan. After that little miracle, they blew off his damn Inferno Gun the next turn. The other Crisis Suit team held up a Biker Squad the rest of the game. When my Titan crunched them under his foot... I wanted to crunch them under my foot in real life =p.

What went wrong for the Xenos:

That last Avenger/Banshee assault was really close and probably should have went the other way. Rough dice rolling for the Eldar player (Zulix24) and smart assets/play by Ash. Their southern attack near the Radar Array was another rought spot. Hindsight is always 20/20 but as the enemy, I would say the sporadic attacks hurt them. If they had thrown all of their reserves in the south instead of some here, some there, etc....they probably would have taken the Array pretty easy. Again, hindsight is always 20/20..and perhaps if they had done that we would have thrown more down there too. Still, the southern part of the city proved to be a pretty big stumbling block.

Final Thoughts:

All in all, it was a blast to play. I didn't include even 1/10 of the pictures we took or events that happened as if I did, this report would turn into a novel to rival War and Peace! I tried to hit the highpoints and events we all had a chuckle (or groan) at. A report this size is alot of work but well worth it, as looking back over the report not only shows you where you can better yourself as a player (or painter/terrain maker/scenario designer)....but also makes reliving the moment with friends quite enjoyable. Hope you liked it!

Sidetrack: Warmachine Update

2010-01-09T06:01:00.002-06:00

Update: Did a little painting and now 5 of 12 units are completed. Just follow the link to see pics.

http://op40k.blogspot.com/2000/12/sidetrack-warmachine-progress-pictures.html

or you can click on the Sidetrack: Warmachine lable to the right

Thanks,
Ash

Sidetrack: Warmachine Update

2009-12-29T09:06:00.005-06:00

To make it a bit easier to find and refer too, I thought I would use Age's method and keep a static post and link to it.

Update: Models are based and primed. Oh, and if you notice holes in some of the bases, those are for my painting stands. They will be filled in later.

http://op40k.blogspot.com/2000/12/sidetrack-warmachine-progress-pictures.html

or you can click on the Sidetrack: Warmachine lable to the right

Thanks,
Ash

My thoughts on the new Tyranids

2009-12-28T18:54:00.003-06:00

I'm usually slow to voice my thoughts on a new dex before I've played it (Or before it's been officially released). However, I'm always semi-curious on how my thoughts before play testing stacks up to post-play testing...so I wanted to get this out before confirmation bias reforges my memory. Here we go;

Strengths of the codex:

HQ:
Heavy VC Hive Tyrant w/ Tyrant Guard
Tervigons
Alpha Warrior

Elite:
Hive Guard
Zoanthropes
Ymgarl Genestealers

Troops:
Death Spitter Warriors
Termagaunts

Heavy:
Trygon/Mawlocs

Here is why I think the above:

Tervigons: Make 3d6 Gaunts each turn (yeah really), synapse range of 18" with Ld. 10. Grants special powers to nearby gaunts/units (Like FNP!), 6 wounds with T6...and he's cheaper than a squad of marines. Expect to see this...a lot.

Alpha Warrior: Better than a SM Captain at a cheaper cost, has access to very cheap upgrades...and can lead any unit. Gaunts with FNP, Furious Charge and this guy leading the bunch. Natural T5 too with multi-wound stat line, so piss off Power Fist. Expect to see this guy leading Gaunts near you.

Hive Guard: The answer to transports for Nids. Str. 8 Weapons that don't need line of sight and decent range....on a T6, multi-wound, cover save getting (yeah infantry class, so gaunts give them cover) chassis. Oh and BS 4. So a unit of 3 puts out 6 Str. 8 shots to pop rhinos.

Zoanthropes: I think (I'll need to do the math on this) that their Str. 10 Lance AP1 shots are better at popping tanks than melta in double dice range. Again, BS 4. Oh and they have a 3++ and can ride in pods. What Land Raider? :)

Ymgarl Genestealers: They have the rules the Lictors should have (No scatter DS, move AND assault the turn they come in. Stealers still beat face and this stealer species has 4+ saves... so this could be a fun unit...but the elite section has a lot of competition. Still a good unit.

Death Spitter Warriors: Good fire-base (A max unit will put out 27 Str. 5 shots!) and they score. They die pretty damn easy losing eternal warrior...but if they are shooting their Warriors with that kind of weaponry the rest of your monsters are safe. Put them in cover, squat and shoot.

Termagaunts: Stealers die too easy now with a 5+ and spike rifles can be decent.

Trygon: Beat stick and deep strikes. You get a turn to shoot it before it starts eating your army (that your Hive Guard just popped out of their metal boxes). He scares my marines.

Mawloc: Pops up like the Trygon then vomits a St. 6 AP2 large blast on you. Oh, he's not much weaker than the Trygon in HTH. And can reburrow to do it again. And has Hit and Run. And is the same cost as a Carnifex. Yeah really.

So there are the units that jump out at me. Honestly, I wanted to do a shooting army like Tau...but damn Nids can be shooty now! Plus, you don't have to ride around in your damn tank all game to only move your troops one shooting phase before they get beat in the head. I'm seriously (I know this will make Mike laugh) considering making a shooty Nid army....if anything just to buck the status quo of HTH Nids and stay away from Transport/Troop 40k.

Any thoughts?

Sidetrack: Warmachine

2009-12-27T06:51:00.005-06:00

As if we didn't have a million projects going already, Age has talked me in to giving this game a try. To be perfectly honest, for some reason I had low expectations about this game. After reading the MkII rules and actually trying the game out, my opinion has changed. Warmachine has a genuine strategic depth and I would have to say that the game is more chess-like than other miniature games on the market, but more fun.

Ok, so now I’m in, but which army? Two in our small group already have Warmachine armies, one Cryx and the other, Cygnar. I wanted to field something different so that narrowed the choice between Protectorate of Menoth and Khador, well there is Hordes but I like the looks of Warjacks. Using the Privateer Press online galleries, I found that I liked the looks and color scheme of the Protectorate. That decided I placed a couple of orders and bought some stuff off of eBay. Merry Christmas to me!

So now I have these models:

Grand Scrutator Severius
Avatar of Menoth
Blessing of Vengeance
Revenger
Exemplar Bastions
Daughters of the Flame
Choir of Menoth
Hierophant
Vassal of Menoth x2
Wracks
Covenant of Menoth
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord

All are assembled and based except for the Bastions (process of), Choir and Severius. The Bastions should be based soon, but I need a five more bases to complete the rest. Then I will be ready to prime if the weather cooperates. At that point I will begin posting pictures to chart my progress.

More to come,
Ash

More photos of our armies, added some of our Chaos

2009-12-21T18:42:00.002-06:00

Slowly adding more photos. I imagine we'll each add more of our army shots over time...

You can find our army photos to the right under 'Our Army Photos' or direct linkage to the chaos update is here;

AshAxe 40k Chaos

AgeOfEgos 40k Chaos

Slowly will be adding photos....

2009-12-19T21:20:00.003-06:00

Eventually, I'll upload photos of our armies on here (Ash Loyalists/Chaos, my Loyalist/Chaos, etc). Unfortunately, I'm not very good with Blogger yet ;). So, here is a start

AgeOfEgos Loyalists

AshAxes Loyalists

I plan on adding this to the side bar as well so users can easily see our armies with a click. The only method I can figure out is to make a list of links to the right, which will redirect to posts that I artificially age (So they can remain static). However....if any Blogger gurus out there have any other tips I'm all ears :).

Ryan

My Scars List for Adepticon Take 2

2009-12-05T19:59:00.002-06:00

Well, after a few games now I've altered my list a bit and it's feeling more optimized. I was concerned with light armor, as I didn't want my Heresy Bikes/Thunder Cav being fed light vehicles then spammed with plasma cannons or what have you once they were piled up. So...las cannons were in order! I have melta to cover the heavies but felt I needed something to reach out for light armor. Devs/Long Fangs are out, as that goes against my theme of Scars (all mounted). So what about utility Preds, with a single twin-linked las? Fits the Scars fluff of no side sponsons on their Preds, keeps them pretty cost efficient and gives me some range light AT;

Wolf Lord
--Heresy Bike (Counts as ThunderCav)
--Storm Shield
--Wolf Claw
--Runic Armor
--Warrior Born

Wolf Guard Pack
--One with combi-melta and Thunder Hammer
--One with combi-melta and Thunder Hammer
--One with combi-melta

Grey Hunter/Scars Tac Squad (Wolf Guard with combi/Thunder hammer goes here)
--9 strong with melta
--Rhino

Grey Hunter/Scars Tac Squad (Wolf Guard with combi/Thunder hammer goes here)
--9 strong with melta
--Rhino

Grey Hunter/Scars Tac Squad (Wolf Guard with combi melta goes here)
--5 strong with melta
--Rhino

Heresy Bike Squad (Thunder Cav counts as) 5 strong
--1 storm shield with melta bombs
--1 storm shield
--1 Thunder Hammer
--1 with melta bombs
--1 with nothing extra

Heresy Bike Squad (Thunder Cav counts as) 5 strong
--1 storm shield with melta bombs
--1 storm shield
--1 Thunder Hammer
--1 with melta bombs
--1 with nothing extra

1 Predator with twin-linked las cannon
1 Predator with twin-linked las cannon
1 Predator with twin-linked las cannon

Plan is preds open up light armor for my Heresy Bike Squads to eat whatever is inside. By the way, many thanks to Blackmoor for talking me into spending some points these guys in the form of shields/unique war-gear. Five T5, unique allocation, two wound models with 3++s....yeah they are a brick.

I have a sac melta squad in the form of the 5 man tac squad with Wolf Guard. 2 melta shots from the rhino port and if I lose them, it's only 130ish points. The Heresy bikes move up behind the smoke popping rhinos. That leaves me 20 marines with two Thunder Hammers as backup to 10 counts as Thunder Cav. It's seemed pretty solid in play test so far, guess we'll see again this weekend.

Only thing I'm concerned about is my Wolf Lord. It's going to be a counts as Khan Primarch...so obviously I want him to be a barney....but he's weighing in at 250 points! The games I've played with him he's absolutely tore up...but still 250 points! :)

Thoughts?

So how to arm my Grey Hunter Squads....musings on the new Space Wolf Codex

2009-11-20T09:47:00.003-06:00

Well, as you can see from the below posts I'm slowly constructing a list for my Scars based on the new Wolf dex. While I think I've got a nice Cav list down, I'm still debating on my Grey Hunter squads. Basically, I want to add a Power Fist to my squad (As Ash has finally convinced me that you need a PF) but I'm not thrilled with a one attack Power Fist. With most things needing 4's to hit with your Power Fist, one attack just doesn't cut it.

So, for those unfamiliar with Space Wolves, the new dex allows you to attach a Wolf Guard leader (Elite choice) to each Grey Hunter squad if you wish, which has benefits as I'll list below....and downsides. If a Grey Hunter squad numbers 10 then you get a free second special....but if you attach a Grey Hunter to a squad of 10 you obviously can't jump in a rhino! So there's the rub if you want to mech up----2nd free special or Wolf Guard Leader? Same basic math first;

Grey Hunter:
Base cost 15 points
Power Fist 25 points
Total 40 points for a Grey Hunter with a Power Fist

Wolf Guard:
Base cost 18 points
Power Fist 20 points
Total 38 points for a Wolf Guard with a Power Fist

So you can see, that due to their cheaper Power Fist the Wolf Guard are actually cheaper than a nilla Grey Hunter. What how do the other benefits/drawbacks play out for Wolf Guard?

Pros:
9 Leadership compared to the GH 8. This allows counter-attack to go off more routinely and obviously helps with pinning/rally tests.
2 Attacks instead of 1. This means if someone charges you they'll be getting 3 Power Fists to their face.
2 points cheaper

Cons:
Giving up 2nd special weapon from the GH squad.

Now, considering the proliferation of mech armies that 2nd melta is pretty required in certain situations. So, I'm considering a compromise...taking a Wolf Guard with Power Fist and combi-melta. This only allows a one time shot with the 2nd melta which means I'll need to be conservative with when I use it. This also raises his cost slightly (43 points now compared to the GH 40) but I think his other benefits are worth those three points. Counter-Attack is pretty reliable at Ld 8 but it's really solid at Ld 9 (84ish% of the time will go off). There seems to be more and more pinning too in 5th, likely due to the multiple tests...so I grab what Ld I can. I also get 2 PF attacks base instead of 1, which on average equates to at least 1 hit.

So, in summary I'm going to run the Wolf Guard Leader in each squad with PF/Combi-Melta for now. Another option I muse over is saying to hell with a one shot combi....and taking two Fists! This would give me 4 PF attacks if I charge or get charged...and 3 base! In my normal Celestial Lion foot army, I do this with Terminator Wolf Guard leaders (They are actually cheaper than a dual PF power armor Wolf Guard, go figure). This army is Scars though, so born in the saddle, everyone gets a ride, etc...so no go there. Thoughts?

Adepticon 2010

2009-11-10T15:43:00.005-06:00

Since Age posted his list I thought I would do the same. I plan on using my Chaos Marines and the only restriction I am going to use is......no lash! That's right, I'm going to leave arguably the best piece of war-gear in the codex on the bench. So with that, here's is my first draft:

1850 Pts - Chaos Marines Roster - Adepticon List 2010

HQ: Abaddon the Despoiler @ 275 pts

5 Khorne Berzerkers @ 105 pts

Chaos Land Raider @ 250 pts Daemonic Possession; Combi-melta

HQ: Daemon Prince @ 200 pts Wings; Mark of Tzeentch; Bolt of Change; Warptime

7 Plague Marines @ 284 pts Personal Icon; Meltagun x2;
1 Plague Champion with Power Fist
1 Rhino

7 Thousand Sons @ 286 pts
1 Aspiring Sorcerer with Bolt of Change and Meltabombs
1 Rhino

3 Obliterators @ 225 pts

3Obliterators @ 225 pts

Total Roster Cost: 1850

This is the list I will begin play-testing. Thousand Sons are a unit I want so much to like, but I have a sneaking suspicion I will be trading them out for another unit of Plague Marines. This list is also a departure for me because of how few troops I have. It doesn't seem right but I want to get out of my safety zone a bit.

I'll keep you posted.

Ash

Adepticon List...maybe

2009-11-08T19:12:00.002-06:00

So I'll be going, along with Ash to Adepticon this year. Last year we participated in the Team Tournament (As Team Opposing Forces, go figure). This year we're not doing the team tournament again but instead will be competing in the 40k Championships and Combat Patrol. Last year we used Combat Patrol as an ice breaker for Adepticon (Our first trip) and it proved great fun. Strange enough, out of a pool of 90 or so players and only three games....we ended up paying each other :). So, we naturally tied...considering we practiced our lists against each other this wasn't a tremendous shocker. Still, it was good fun.

Anyways, I plan on doing a heresy era army this year and will likely use the Wolves dex. I really think the Wolf dex captures the way Marines are meant to be played...and vanilla Marines are just plain boring after using this dex. I think I'm going the Scars route for my heresy army, with Custodes allies (Grey Knights)..... but will be doing mixed mech. I could do all bikes but reading up on the Scars, I learned they actually use all mech (Mounted only)....not really all bikes. So, Dreads and Long Fangs are out and everything needs a ride. Here is my first trial list;

The Great Khan
--Wolf Lord with Wolf Claw (Scimitar)
--Thunder-Wolf Mount (Heresy Jetbike)
--Runic Armor
--Warrior Born

5 Grey Knights
--Incinerator
--Brother Captain has Hood

10 White Scars (Grey Hunters)
--Melta
--Melta
--One model with dual chain swords (Mark of Wulfen)
--One model with Power Fist
--Mounted in Rhino

10 White Scars (Grey Hunters)
--Melta
--Melta
--One model with dual chain swords (Mark of Wulfen)
--One model with Power Fist
--Mounted in Rhino

10 White Scars (Grey Hunters)
--Melta
--Melta
--One model with Power Fist
--Mounted in Rhino

7 Relic Heresy Jet bikes (Wulfen Cav)
--One Thunder Hammer
--One Storm Shield
--One Melta Bomb

Custodes Land Raider
--EA
--Smoke Launchers

So, 1848. Plan is pretty simple, advance Rhinos/Land Raider with Khans Heresy Jet-Bike squad trailing. On the next turn, I can split into three combat blocks (Khan----Custodes Term----Jet-Bike/ThunderWulf squad) or stay into two mass blocks. So two hammers, followed up by 30 Marines with counter-attack/meltas and power fists.

I have some psychic defense with the Ld. 10 Super Hood ™. I should be able to handle hordes fairly well and have two hammers for elite HTH units. Only thing that concerns me is a Chimera congo line, as my firepower is midfield. Then again, I don't care if I lose against IG quickly...as I find them rather boring to play against ;). I guess I'll have more time to get another drink if I face that list.

My Celestial Lions Relic Bike Squad Counts as Thunderwolf Cav

2009-10-19T20:42:00.009-05:00

Well, I've seen several posts concerning the new SW Thunderwolf Cav and considering I'm building my Lions around that dex.....and Thunderwolf Cav are so good, time to use something as a counts as. First, I can't get behind Astartes riding animals. I'm not knocking anyone that does it, I simply can't get on board. I even toyed around with the idea of doing Lion riding Astartes for my Celestial Lions....but I knew the He-Man jokes would be incoming! So, I decided I would use Relic Bikes as my counts as (Graciously converted by AshAxe). Initially, these were going to be used for another purpose and still will be...but that project is quite a bit out and I had to use the designs! So, here is my explanation;

Celestial Lion Relic Pride

The Celestial Lion Relic Pride rides extremely rare and sought after jet-bikes from the Heresy era. They are only called up in the most dire of circumstances by the Lion Chapter Master and one of these instances was during the Chaos Siege of the Lions Fortress Hive City. During this long campaign the Relic Pride was extremely battered and many of the rare bikes were damaged and lost but many believe it was their stalking counter-attacks that saved the city. Wave after wave of Chaos were turned back by their sudden swooping attacks and their deeds are still told to aspiring Astartes to this day.

The Bikes are rather unique in their operation and require a great deal of training to operate. The riders of these rare bikes have so honed their skills, the bike is basically an extension of their body thus they receive 4 base attacks. They are armed with a Lion Claw, which normally ignores armor saves but due to the awkward nature of operating the bike while attacking, only confers rending to the rider. Unlike conventional bikes, the Relic bikes require some time to attain speed but are devastating once they attain momentum and rather hardy to damage. Thus, the Relic bikes only move 6 inches in the movement phase but may fleet an additional 6 inches. In addition, the Relic bikes get a full 12 inch assault!

Fluff aside, the Lion Relic Pride follows all of the rules of Thunder-Wolf Cavalry.

So, instead of finding wolves or other animals to ride...I think it would be fun to think of technological counts as for Thunder-Wolf Cavalry as well. Considering how good this unit will be on the table-top, I'm sure we'll see some pretty unique counts-as coming from the net soon.

Cheers,
Ryan

Chaos vs. the Celestial Lions (With new Space Wolf Codex test)

2009-10-02T23:39:00.030-05:00

Well, Mike and I decided to give the new Space Wolf dex another whirl this past weekend. It was his Chaos vs. my Celestial Lions (Counts as SW). I ran a different list this time around and made a few elite units of Wolfguard with my counts-as Logan. Mike ran his typical Chaos list, with a few variants thrown in (One of these variants played a major role!). Our army lists;

My Army:

Logan

Rune priest

Elite

Two Lone Wolves, both equipped with Storm Shield, Chainfist and Terminator Armor

Troops

8 Wolf Guard in rhino with 4 combi-meltas and a power fist.

9 Wolf Guard Terminators with Storm Bolter/Storm Shields (A few with dual power fists). One assault cannon.

10 Grey Hunters with Banner, melta-gun, flamer and one model with the Mark of Wulfen in Rhino

Fast Attack

2 Land Speeders with MM/Heavy Flamer

Heavy Support

4 Las Cannon Long Fangs, 1 Heavy Bolter Long Fang

Predator with Autocannon and Heavy Bolters

Idea was to plant Logan in Long Fangs, giving them Tank Hunters or Relentless as needed, pop armor with the Land Speeders/Long Fangs and gobble whatever was inside.

Mike’s Army:

Daemon Prince of Tzeentch with Wings, Warptime and Gift of Chaos

Daemon Prince of Slaanesh with Wings and Lash

Greater Daemon

Troops

9 Zerks, one with power fist, Rhino

10 Plague Marines, melta-gun x 2, rhino

10 Plague Marines, flamer, melta-gun, power fist, rhino

6 Noise Marines, Blast Master

Heavy Support

3 Oblits

We decided to play a non-standard mission this week and tried one of the 40K Fight Club’s missions; Recover and Reclaim. This mission had a primary, secondary and tertiary as follows;

Primary: Each time a model ends its move in a piece of terrain, roll a d6. On a 5-6 that is the ‘objective’ terrain for the game. Normal rules to control at end.

Secondary: Recover a captured model in the enemy deployment zone

Tertiary: Kill points for vehicles/monstrous creatures only

I won the roll off and decided to setup and go first. I normally think ‘going second is the new going first’ but given that I had the ability to move my Fangs if necessary and wanted a chance to pop pre-smoke armor…I opted for 1^st turn. I setup in a solid line across the board with the quickest elements of my army on the flanks in case I needed to redeploy and my ‘power units’ in the middle of the board.

Mike blew my theory of popping armor all to hell by opting to setup almost all of his army in reserve. The only units setup where 3 Obliterators, a Plague Marine Rhino with Champion carrying Greater Daemon and a unit of Noise Marines behind his bastion. Our setups;

Celestial Lions Turn 1:

After Mike failed to seize, I began my first turn. On my right flank, I advanced my GH Rhino along with the 4 speeders. On the left flank, my Wolf Guard Rhino advanced along with my two Lone Wolves. My shooting phase was rather disappointing, as my 4 Land Speeders only managed to kill 1 of the Obliterators while my Predator wounded another. Logan gave my Fangs relentless to gain LOS to the Nurgle Rhino but fared little better and only immobilized the lone Nurgle Rhino.

Chaos Turn 1:

Mike advanced the two Obliterators and blew one of the closest speeders up. The Plague Marines piled out of the immobilized rhino and advanced, blowing up another speeder. The immobilized Nurgle Rhino glanced another speeder, removing its ability to shoot. As a side note, Mike’s Chaos Rhinos must spend the afterlife (Or undead life) practicing shooting speeders…because their ability to rhino/bolter a speeder is uncanny. Mike played aggressive here and instead of hiding in the bastion, advanced the Noise Marines around it to unleash a flurry of shots on my Fangs. Dice didn’t favor the aggressiveness however and he failed to wound a single Fang.

Celestial Lions Turn 2:

I advanced my GH rhino, popping the hatch and killing a couple of Plague Marines. My Wolf Guard Terminators advanced on the hill, downing another from their assault cannon. Logan gave the Fangs relentless again and walked over to gain LOS to the remaining Oblits, finishing them. One of my Lone Wolves was in assault phase and grabbed the noise marines, killing 3. They passed their fearless.

Chaos Turn 2:

Mike had some good reserve rolls, gaining his Zerks, the Tzeentch Daemon Prince, his Greater Daemon and Plague Marines. This left his Oblits and Slaanesh Prince in reserve. The Tzeentch Prince moved onto the board and promptly turned my Lone Wolf, who was trying to redeem his unit and himself in battle……into a farking spawn. Well, there goes restoring honor eh? Your battle brothers die, you try to make up for it…then get turned into a pile of goo that begins beating on your other battle brothers. It's GRIMDARK! Anyways, this saved his Noise Marines (Which was big for the blastmaster guy later). The Plague Marines on foot advanced and blew up my Grey Hunter Rhino, killing a marine. At the end of movement…the bastion turned up to the main objective.

Celestial Lions Turn 3:

Well that sucked. My Lone Wolf was now a blob beating on my Wolf Guard Rhino and there was a lot of power on the board. I was hoping for bad reserve rolls….but alas no hope. In addition, Mike had all his power next to the bastion objective, not good. Logan gave the Fangs relentless again and between their shooting with the Predator, downed the Prince! This put me back in the game, even though I had lost a Lone Wolf to the damn bird. My other Lone Wolf failed his terrain test and gave the Noise Marines another round of shooting. I went ahead and assaulted the foot Plague Marines, to save myself attacks in his following turn. We tied combat thanks to Mike’s incredibad rolling.

Chaos Turn 3:

Mike’s Plague Marines on my left flank got out of their Rhino and advanced on my Wolf Guard Rhino. His other group of Oblits showed and icon’d off the Zerk Rhino, huddling the bastion. Between the Plague Marines and Oblits he managed to blow my Wolf Guard Rhino, which opened them to assault. The Blast Master Noise Marine nailed my fangs, killing two and wounding Logan (He took one for the team). The Greater Daemon assaulted my WG…and I managed to fail 4 Storm Shield saves. In return I did 3 wounds and my Wolf Guard Terms stuck. The Plague Marines and the once Lone Wolf/now Spawn assaulted my Wolf Guard/Lone Wolf. This combat actually went well for me, as my Lone Wolf killed 3 of the Plague Marines before dying in glory…and my Wolf guard killed the spawn while losing 3 of their number Mike lost yet another Plague Marine to fearless saves.

Celestial Lions Turn 4:

Logan once again gave relentless to the Fangs, which moved back on the hill and killed 2 of the 3 Oblits left and wounded the 3^rd. My speeders managed to down two of the 3 remaining Noise Marines (blast master still there!). My Wolf Guard Terms finished the Greater Daemon this turn and consolidated towards the left flank bastion. My Wolf Guard in the middle traded blows with the Plague Marines, each losing a couple. My Grey Hunters on the right flank did well this turn, with my Mark of Wulfen Hunter putting out 6 attacks and downing 3 Plague Marines! Odd to win combat with Marines against Plague Marines…

Chaos Turn 4:

Mike’s Super Rhinos ™ continued their speeder death toll and downed another of my Speeders (Immobilization so it settled on the hill). His Slaanesh Prince came on this turn and lashed my Wolf Guard back 4 inches (This would be a crucial 4 inches though!). The damn Noise Marine Blast Master managed to kill another Long Fang this turn as well. The Zerks finally got out of their rhino and proceeded to roll 1,234 dice and tore my Wolf Guard in half.

Celestial Lions Turn 5:

Well, I figured time to focus fire on the remaining troops Mike had. I doubted my Wolf Guard Terminators would last so I could at least take away the main objective from him as well. Some very poor rolling this turn though, as between two speeders, my Long Fangs and a Predator I only managed to kill 4 Zerks and a Noise Marine. In addition, my remaining Wolf Guard Terminators failed their terrain roll (By an inch!) and didn’t assault the Plague Marines. Again, that lash from the prior turn proved costly. On the bright side, my Grey Hunters finished the Plague Marines on the right flank and consolidated towards the left.

Chaos Turn 5:

Mike really tore up this turn and lashed my Wolf Guard into the Prince, the Plague Marines and remaining Zerks, killing all. Mike had removed all of my troops now, except the squad way down at the south of the table. Grabbing the bastion looked pretty grim (As did the game overall!). The remaining Oblit killed another Long Fang to add insult to injury.

Celestial Lions Turn 6:

Well, my RunePriest failed his second Perils this turn and his head exploded. So my turn began with the proverbial ‘bang’. I split Logan from the Fangs this turn and charged the remaining Zerks, killing them all. The Fangs and remaining speeders failed to inflict a single wound on the remaining Plague Marines (Which had a damn melta gun in it). Logan only had two wounds and was in the open, not good. The Grey Hunter group moved up and bolter’d the Prince, along with the Predator inflicting a single wound.

Chaos Turn 6:

The Oblit fired at Logan this turn….hit…..rolled a 1 to wound! The Plague Marines begin falling back to the bastion and pumped a melta shot into Logan, along with some bolter wounds. Some tense rolling but Logan managed to make it out with one last wound. Slaanesh went after the remaining Grey Hunters and killed a few. They tried to run but were caught, suffered another wound.

Celestial Lions and Chaos Last Turn:

I’ll combine our turns on this one, as Logan finished the Plague Marines and the Prince finished the Grey Hunter squad. Not a troop for either side left on the field. I had Logan with one wound, a Predator and 2 Long Fang las cannons. Mike had a Slaanesh Prince with two wounds, an Oblit with a wound and 2 Rhinos.

End Result:

Primary: Nobody claimed

Secondary: Nobody claimed

Tertiary: 4-2 Chaos

Chaos win!

My Thoughts (Celestial Lions):

Well, another real bloodbath. I really like the way the new marine dex plays. Can get in their face to rapid fire and not flinch so badly when counter-charged. Mark of the Wulfen definitely seems worth it after 3 games now and the squad banner gave me boost in combat as well. I’m not so keen on the Wolf Guard Terminators though, albeit I saved all my storm shield saves. Dual fists put out the hurt but I think burying them in 18 point power armor Wolf Guard units or perhaps lending them to foot Grey Hunters is the way to go. I’ll experiment with that this weekend.

They definitely don’t mech as well as Vanilla Marines. My Vulkan lists feel more powerful when played but are MUCH more boring compared to this dex. Sit in a rhino and melta marines are only fun for a few games….

I don’t know if the Long Fang + Logan combo is worth it. Yeah they put out the hurt this game but for their cost….they should! Oh well, it was a blast of a game even though I lost. Real nail biter with a lot of dice being tossed…kind of the reason we play the game….

Mike's Thoughts (Chaos):

That, was a really fun game. I really like facing off against the new Space Wolves codex. If I feel the need to field my Castellans again, I may play them as Space Wolves for the same reason I liked Chaos over Vanilla Marines; the ability to mix it up in close combat. Space Wolves can really dish out the pain.

From the beginning of this game, I felt as though I was back-pedaling. My initial plan was to load the left flank and take out the speeders as quickly as possible. First turn went well enough for me with what I had on the table. The objective popping early changed my plans and my units on the left were on their own. I reinforced the objective and towards the end I felt the momentum shift in my favor but only slightly. The primary objective did really come down to weather I could take out Logan in my shooting phase to allow my last unit of PM's to run to the objective. Alas, that wasn't to be and so my last turn I went after the tertiary objective.

About my Force:

I don't know if I like the Greater Demon over a Champion with a powerfist. I had to start a unit of Plague marines on the table to make sure I had a vessel on the table in case I got him on turn 2 which was the case. I also really missed that powerfist in that plague marine squad as that unit didn't have the punch it usually has and led to their demise. But the Greater Demon did do admirably tying up Ryan's terminators for a couple of turns, buying me some much needed time, and thinning down the squad. Jury is still out as I need to play a few more games with him before passing judgement.

Gift of Chaos. Could be over-the-top powerful but I like Bolt of Change for the ability to pop a transport then assault with my Daemon Prince, which I have actually even done with land raiders on a couple of occasions. Still, worth playing around with some more.

Overall, my list(s) really lacks shooting. With only three shooting units total, I tend to rely on close combat heavily. I don't want to add another unit of Oblits as that is kind of bland, effective, but bland. I do have a Vindicator but my success with it has been almost nill except versus Tyranids. I may have to try out a Defiler now......

Thanks for the Report and game,

Mike

As an aside, if anyone has an opinion of how better for us to present the reports (narrative style vs. story-style, pictures, etc) feel free to share in the comments. Thanks for reading.

Ryan

Space Wolves! (Or in my case, Celestial Lions)

2009-09-19T21:32:00.006-05:00

Well, I played a game versus Ash this weekend with the new Space Wolves Codex rules (As in the title, I ran my Celestial Lions). We played 2k/each with his standard Chaos Force versus my first list with the pups and it's really a shame we didn't photograph/report it. Very close game with alot of models getting removed, one of those games that reminds you why you play. Anyways, I thought I would share my thoughts on the new dex with a mini-review.

First, fluff/theme/fun factor. This is a great codex for all of the before mentioned. I can see many different builds coming out of the dex with some terrific modeling opportunity all around. Beast armies, pod armies, mech armies, custom Wolf Lords, etc.....it's all in there. Truly a variety of options.

As to the units, until I play more with the dex I'll simply write about what I tried and my experience with those specific units. No theory hammer, this is my reactions to how they performed. Also, I played pod Wolves....so keep in mind the weakness of pod vs. mech. My list(s)

Stormcaller

Wolf Guard w/ 5 Combi-Meltas + 4 dual wolf claws
Lone Wolf
Vanilla Dread w/ Asscannon

GH x 10 w/ flamer/melta, one Mark of Wulfen
GH x 10 w/ flamer/melta, one Mark of Wulfen
GH x 8 w/ melta, one Powerfist

2 Speeders w/ MM/Heavy Flamer
2 Speeders w/ MM/Heavy Flamer

6 Long Fangs w/ Heavy Bolter x 3, MM x 2

All in pods

My thoughts;

StormCaller Special; A bucket of points (270!)...and I lost him. First, I lost a wound to Perils (When you sling two powers each turn, it's bound to happen) and second was to close combat (This was partly my fault in being two aggressive). Still, the guy only has 2 wounds ...so while I think he'll be pretty standard in most Wolf lists...I'm not in complete awe yet. If you do take him, make him a beacon for his passive power...and not much else. Two wounds isn't much to protect a 270 pt investment. Again however, I think he'll be in most 2k+ lists.

Logan; I'm actually quite pleased with Logan. Although he too costs a bucket of points, he gives so much to the army there is strong argument for taking him. Wolf Guard as troops, fairly tough (only 3 wounds though!)...but he performed well in my game. He also grants a vet skill to the unit he's with, so I'm musing about Long Fangs with relentless. Still, only 2k+...as he's not the force multiplier Vulkan is. You can actually make a meaner beatstick from a Vanilla Wolf Lord too....

WolfGuard: Rock solid. 18 pt 2 attacks with 5 pt combis? Yeah, I'll take 10. I ran a melta combi unit with 4 wolf claws buried...and they were my MVPs. Took a unit of Plague Marines + a unit of Zerks and were only finished by a Tzeentch Prince. They'll be a permanent place in my force. However, they can eat points quickly....Thunder/Shield terms are out unless that's all you want to play with. Maybe a couple in the unit...but still a major point sink. Definitely worth musing over and taking.

Lone Wolf: AWESOME! This guy cleaned up in both games I took him. Charge from a unit of Zerks? Still there. Charge from Plague marines? Still there. Next game vs. Tau...unit of crisis unloading on him? Still there. He is an absolute rock and I'll be taking two for my other elites. Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield= 2+ save, 3+ inv, 4+ FNP w/ two wounds, rerolls against MC. All for much less than a Dread. Plus the modeling opportunity.....

Grey Hunters: They were hyped and I think that while they won't live up to the hype...they are solid. Still can't hang with elites/cult troops but they don't simply fold like vanilla marines. After playing them, I think there is no middle ground on these guys. Either go big with Mark of Wulfen, Power-Fist + 2 specials or go small with 5 and a melta. Regardless, they performed solid (much more so than vanilla marines). Counter-Attack isn't a given with Ld 8 but went off reliably enough to plan around....

Land Speeders: Just like vanilla speeders, MM/Heavy Flamer. They still rock.

Long Fangs: Tried them twice and was underwhelmed each time. No wounds to soak up shots, so the first time you allocate you are either risking heavies or your split fire sarg. Keep in mind, I played a pod list....so this may not be completely fair to the Fangs. Given that, this doesn't reduce the wound issue. The 85 point Predator still looks good to me...

Quick summary thoughts; They play like I envision marines should. Pod in, throw some specials around, stand up in hand to hand. This is a much more exciting list/codex than Vulkan/sit in a rhino and melta marines...so I'm pretty hyped. As I stated earlier, this is a quick review...so after a couple more weekends of playing them I'll throw up a more worthy review. Till then.

Ryan

Planet-Strike Take 2! Marines v. Chaos Space Marines

2009-08-16T12:36:00.034-05:00

Well, Mike and I decided to give Planet Strike another whirl this last weekend over the city fight table. This time around, I was defending with my Celestial Lions and he was attacking with his gorgeous Chaos Space Marine army. We talked over the board and decided to play COD with the caveat of ignoring dangerous terrain tests for the board. We really wanted to play in an urban setting….yet obviously an entire army deep striking into dangerous terrain tests all game would be slightly unfair. So, we threw the terrain tests out and built the table.

We decided on five total objectives with three being bastions, one home-made bunker, and one home-made comm center. This allowed for some generous stratagem selection and our choices were as follows;

Chaos Space Marine Stratagems

Dawn Assault
Heavy Duty Drop
Sustained Assault

Celestial Lions Stratagems

Power Generator—Large north building
Ammunition Store—Large north building
Void Shield—Northern bastion
Machine Spirit—Northern bastion

Celestial Lions--Marines
Counts as Calgar
Two groups of Assault Terminators 6 strong
Venerable Dread with MM, Heavy Flamer
Three tactical Squads with MM, Flamer
Three Speeders with MM, Heavy Flamer
Plasma Devastator Squad
Dakka Predator

Chaos Space Marines
Slaanesh Daemon Prince
Nurgle Daemon Prince
Tzeentch Daemon Prince
Two groups of Plague Marines 9 strong in rhinos with powerfists
One group of Zerks 8 strong in rhino with powerfist
Two groups of Oblits 3 strong, one group of Oblits two strong

Here are some overviews of the table;

I decided to put some items in reserve as defender in hopes I would have a counter-punch after Mike’s initial punch. So I placed my Assault Terminators (both groups), two Speeders, a Predator and a Rhino in reserve. With my reserves settled, Mike launched his firestorm (he received a generous 7 templates)…but my luck won out and the templates managed to shake a bastion and blow off a weapon. Overall, could have been much worse!

Chaos Turn 1

Speaking of worse, Mike’s turn began with a bang (That bang continued all game long!). We often joke while choosing DS locations “Go big or go home” and he went big…and it paid dividends. He chose to deep strike his Slaanesh Prince on the 2^nd level of my building housing the Plasma Devs. A scatter in any direction would have likely meant mishap…and he rolled a hit! The Slaanesh proceeded to probe/eat/defile four of plasma devs in the assault phase as well and they stuck. There went 250+ points…

Mike continued his ‘Go big or go home’ deep strike strategy with his Heavy Drop Stratagem. He chose a Plague Marine group in Rhino as his Heavy Drop and managed to land them right between my two defended obstacles on the bottom floor of my building. This essentially meant they were shooting my tactical squad in the back with no cover now. Nice! Only the Sarg and a regular bolter marine lived.

Two Obliterators walked on in the southern part of the city and launched a melta fusillade at that bastion which exploded, killing two of the marines inside. Luckily, I was out of assault range in the wreckage! Ironically, the east bastion which had the most power next to it (A Tzeentch Prince and three Obliterators!) survived both shooting and assault, albeit the marines inside were shook and could not shoot next turn.

Marine Turn 1

Well, things already looked bad. My plasma devs were basically dead and I already lost a bastion. My reserve rolls were rather unkind as well, as I only received one of my Terminator Assault squads and one speeder. I used my locator beacon from the Sarg in the eastern bastion and brought my Terminator Assault Squad in led by my counts as Calgar. This unit eventually charged the Tzeentch Prince, Nurgle Rhino and Khorne Rhino in the assault phase. The Prince fell but they didn’t even scratch the rhinos! Not good…

In the southern portion of the city, my luck did turn a bit. My speeder fired its MM and Heavy Flamer on the two oblits, causing three wounds. Mike was nice enough to roll three 1s! This was one good piece of luck in my turn. During the assault phase, the Slaanesh prince finished off my Devs…which essentially meant he was free to roam on Mike’s turn again. So much for luck.

Chaos Turn 2

The rest of Mike’s army showed this turn. A Nurgle Prince moved on to the southern bastion ruins where the dead obliterators lay to engage the remaining marines. Emperor and friends attracted a lot of attention this turn…two groups of Obliterators, a squad of Plague Marines; a squad of Khorne Berzerkers surrounded my Assault Terms. After the shooting cleared, only 3 Assault Terms + counts as Calgar remained. After the assault of the Zerks, Obliterators and Plague Marines even big daddy Calgar died, taking 3 Obliterators with him.

In the west, the Slaanesh prince continued his rampage and destroyed my western bastion, failing to kill any of the 5 marines inside. Mike fired at the two remaining Lions in the large building, killing one. I chose to auto-fail my morale test to escape assault and fell back 9 inches. This lone marine actually did something late game.

I’ll use the deaths of my terminators as a good example though of Mike’s play. Many players will do some rough math in their head and throw the required number of troops at an enemy unit, ending up disappointed when a few bad rolls throws off their game. Here was a perfect example of Mike using overwhelming numbers to ensure no dice rolls would prevent the unit from being wiped. Even after all the Zerk, Plague marine attacks….it still came down to Oblit power fists to finish this squad, when mathematically the Zerks and Plague Marines should have done the job.

Marine Turn 2

Night fight unfortunately remained but at least everything, barring my reserve rhino showed this turn. I brought two speeders on to the board centering on the Slaanesh Prince. My Venerable Dread also advanced on the Prince. My Dakka Predator also moved on this turn but night fight foiled any shooting. Between shooting from my marines, two speeders and a Venerable Dread I only did two wounds on the Slaanesh Prince. Not good!

I chose to continue my delaying action in the eastern portion, again bringing my Assault Terms down next to that bastion. A group of obliterators (His last group) and three plague marines died in the ensuing melee. Unfortunately, the Zerks chain axes started revving up…as they would be in assault shortly. In the south, my speeder moved away slightly to remain in night fight range, dealing a wound to the Nurgle Prince. I charged my Venerable Dread into the Slaanesh Prince (Desperate!), hoping he would survive this round to save my marines nearby…and after losing two arms and failing to wound the Slaanesh Prince..he still stood.

Chaos Turn 3

Mike sent his Zerks into my Assault Terms and wiped the unit (The Zerks just tore up this game!). The Nurgle Prince cast warp time and managed to immobilize my southern speeder. The Slaanesh Prince finished off the Dread, which would leave him open to the Dakka Pred and marines next turn. In the west, the Plague Marines that had been brought in via Heavy Drop moved up and blew a speeder out of the sky. Mike was dismantling my army in each sector of the city and it was quickly turning into a rout…

Marines Turn 3

Hmm, Mike had pretty much taken my army apart. After I rallied my remaining marine in the big building, I decided my only hope was that the east bastion would hold against the Zerks and Plague Marines, finish off the Slaanesh Prince and Nurgle Prince, grab the building objective and attempt a tie. So, my Dakka Pred, five marines and a speeder unloaded on the two wound remaining Slaanesh Prince….doing a single wound! So much for those plans…to be fair though, Mike has some rather abysmal rolling earlier…so karma was coming around I suppose. The Nurgle Prince finished off my immobilized speeder (Which failed to wound it during shooting) and started eyeing my bunker bastion in the middle of the city. Night fight remained.

Chaos Turn 4

Mike sent melta shots and powerfist attacks from both his Zerks and Plague Marines..and the bastion held! This was rather improbable but I was hoping that luck would hold. In the middle of the city however, the Nurgle Prince tore the bunker apart and exposed the five marines inside. The Slaanesh prince killed the marines of the bastion wreckage (This Prince had a Rambo kill counter going by now..sheesh). At least Mike rolled poorly for his consolidation and the Dakka Pred would get another salvo at him! He advanced the Heavy Drop Plague Marines up and blew off the MM from my Speeder as well. I was getting down to a handful of models…

Marine Turn 4

I continued moving my lone marine up the big building towards the objective. My Dakka Pred finally finished the Slaanesh Prince…after he ate 1/3 of my army. My remaining marines in the middle bastion rubble managed to wound the Nurgle Prince again (He was down to 1 wound). I turbo’d my speeder off to the south, hoping to claim the furthest bastion rubble. Night fight remained. Few models make for fast turns!

Chaos Turn 5

The Plague Marines managed to melta the west bastion (oops) and both the Zerks/Plague Marines made their difficult terrain rolls for assault. The Plague Marines were essentially unneeded however, as the Zerks Slap Chopped ™ my marines into coleslaw. The Nurgle Prince rampaged into my remaining marines in the bowels of the city, again rolling a poor consolidation. Mike now held the east bastion, the west bastion and the middle bastion. I held the big building objective.

Marine Turn 5

I turbo’d my speeder again towards the southern bastion and swung my Dakka Pred around to fire on the Nurgle Prince (Failing to finish off its last wound). I moved deeper in the building around the objective to remove any visibility on my lone marine. Fast turn!

Chaos/Marine Turns 6/7

I’m going to consolidate the last two turns, as little happened. Mike’s Nurgle Prince ripped apart my Dakka Pred and I moved my Speeder into contact with southern bastion. My lone marine held in the building and Mike consolidated on the other objectives...Night Fight persisted until the very end.

Game end

Mike/Chaos Objectives: 3

Ryan/Marine Objectives: 2

Looks close right? Except when you do this =):

Ryan/Marine remaining army: ONE marine and ONE speeder with a weapon blown off

Mike/Chaos remaining army: Nurgle Prince, three rhinos, 16 or so Plague Marines, 6 Zerks

Marine Player Summary:

What a spanking. Two models left at the end of the game (and one was damaged!). Mike had a lot of power left at game’s end too….well I can see now throwing both of my Assault Terminator groups into the east was a mistake. My thoughts were, if I could bottleneck/hold a bulk of his power down in that sector I would have a chance to separate/kill the rest of his army. I was also hoping that by removing his Oblit groups early he would have difficulty blowing my Bastions (Which he did not!). I sent a lot of points down in that sector…and the Zerks just chewed everything up. It was also my first time trying Calgar out…and I wasn’t that impressed. His invulnerable save just doesn’t cut it and if I were to run non-Vulkan marines, I think Lysander would be my next choice. Mike has some smart play this game as well, by not splitting any of his force and focusing on my Assault Terms in overwhelming numbers. Back to the drawing board on defending with marines…..

Chaos Marine Player Summary:

Well, things went well for me this game, maybe too well. Assaulting after deepstiking is really powerful especially with units like Daemon Princes. Ryan put some thought into his deployment. He knew which three Bastions he would try to keep and set up a defense line and placed units to provide covering fire. After some luck with scatter rolls, I was behind and in his defensive position. After turn one, I had the advantage and pretty much kept it.
Great right? Well no, it isn’t. When I think of Planet Strike, I picture epic fights along the lines of the opening battle of “Saving Private Ryan,” but being able to circumvent defenses kind of defeats this. Not to mention how easy it is for Monstrous Creatures/melta-bombs to blow up Bastions in close combat. Plus it seems in our games it is better to not occupy them at all, unless you like your shooting units to do nothing but die.

As the attacker, I think that it should be really hard to take a defended position and I want to be able to take my strongest units to accomplish it. Sure I could change my tactics and handicap myself by unit selection but then it loses its epic nature and appeal. So with that in mind we made some changes.

Overall Planet-Strike Impressions:

Man defending is tough! In both games now, whoever was the defender just got ran off the board. We talked over our views on the issues and made a short list;

1. Bastions simply die in one turn to assault/deep strike melta

2. Competitive board construction and army design would not lend itself to thematic 40k (Men behind walls and in bunkers). Competitive Planet-Strike would likely be all reserve defenders..and we don't want that.

3. Bastion auto-guns are weak and inconsequential.

Based off those issues, we made the following changes;

1. One bastion has an 8 inch NO Deep-Strike bubble.

2. Bastions need a 4+ in HTH to hit due to the withering fire pouring from them--If the player scores an immobilized result during the shooting phase, then the enemy auto hits in HTH for ONE turn only.

3. Add a 2 point stratagem to add a further 8 inch NO Deep-Strike bubble to a further bastion.

4. Defender may deny the attacker two drop zone board edges, the defender may choose from the remaining two.

5. All bastions are BS 3.

We tried this out as well and the defending marines actually won. The game felt much more thematic and enjoyable, with the result being up in the air until the last couple of turns. Bastions mattered and the board looked like something from the fluff. Now, keep in mind the above rules are customized for how we play and our army selection. For example, a defending marine player could very well put everything in reserve via drop pod and be very competitive in normal Planet-Strike rules. Add the above changes and he would likely dominate. So salt/pepper to taste with how your group plays. Thanks for reading!

Ryan

Planet Strike Battle Report---Marine Imperial Castellans vs. Chaos Daemons

2009-08-06T19:52:00.029-05:00

Ash and I decided to try Planet Strike for the first time this past weekend, so we figured we would take some shots of the game while doing so. Definitely a learning experience for both of us and we both had a good time. Planet Strike definitely makes you rethink a few units in your army and how you setup and such stimulus is always a welcome change to the game. I think we both rate the expansion quite high. Anyways, on to the report;

“It began with a drought. Normal fertile seasons that fed the planet with nourishing rains gave way to foul, acidic rains which spoiled the crops. Wells that had provided for communities over decades became pits of contagion, killing scores of the world’s citizens. Riots broke out along the northern continents with reports of human sacrifice and rivers of blood in the streets. Panic stricken, the leaders of the world had sent a plea to their Imperial masters for aid to quell the unrest. However, the Imperial response was to be much more than simple Arbites for crowd control, for the planet had attracted the eyes of Chaos. Psychic advisors tore their eyes out for the visions they witnessed of the planet’s demise. Of all the screams, two words were consistent; Nurgle and Khorne.

The Imperial Castellans Chapter had long held interest in this planet, as the Emperor himself had walked across the surface in the early Crusades. Some thought it still held mighty artifacts from the Crusades and the Castellans were naturally quick to respond when the cry for aid sounded. They made planetfall and began their defenses. The outskirts of the capital seemed to be the focus of attacks by the cultists and the Castellans quickly deployed their forces among the outlying bastions. Suddenly the cultists fell to their knees and offered their bodies to the Dark Gods by way of suicide. Soon the air began to crack and bend with strange lights… “

Castellan Army

Daemonic Army

Ash placed the terrain as the defender and settled on 4 objectives. Three of the Imperial Bastions and one homegrown version (Ash made this for our Apoc game quite some time ago). So, given four objectives we each settled on four points worth of stratagems. As the attacking Daemon Player, I took Dawn Assault, Ground Observer and Darken the Skies. Obviously, the less I was shot and the less I scattered, the better! Ash took Force Pylons, Power Generator and Krak Missile Trap. The Force Pylons is a doozy of a pick against Daemons by the way….just don’t take it against Marines!

Table Overview

Daemon Player Turn 1

The Gods agreed with what I wanted for a first wave and the assault began. I decided with Ground Observer I was going to gamble big and first turn it paid off. I brought Papa Nurgle next to the Raider, Blood Thirster next to the far left bastion and my Nurgle Princes in the middle of the table supporting my Great Unclean One. I decided to deep strike my Plague Bearers deep in his corner, in hopes I could use the icon to pincer the marines. Lucky for me, my scatter (Or lack of!) was terrific! I only suffered one mishap with a Nurgle Prince and Ash placed him deep back in my corner. Not only that, but he fell prey to the Krak Trap and suffered two wounds. A two wound Demon Prince that is forced to walk across an open table is no way to go through life (or unlife) son. He was out of the game.

The interceptors did a bit of damage as well, injuring my other Princes with a couple of wounds on one and one on the other. FYI, automated interceptor Autocannons will be a necessity in Planet Strike. However, my assaults went spectacular. Nurgle blew up the Raider, Thirster blew up the bastion and I ran the two Princes up the middle next to my Great Unclean One. My Plague Bearers landed safe and things looked great. First turn I had two big pieces of armor out of the way, which makes any Daemon player happy.

Castellan Player Turn 1

Ash chose to deep strike his Dread in the middle of the river, which had a beacon on it. This was a clever move, as it allowed his Libby/Stern squad some rapid and accurate mobility. I was hoping Ash would split some fire between my Thirster/Princes/Plague Bearers….but he knew what was waiting in the warp so chose to do the smart thing; Kill my Plague Bearer Icon. Ash gated his Libby/Stern squad on the cliff overlooking my Plague Bearers and deep struck an Assault Squad right next them. In addition, two land Speeders spun around to pour fire in to them. Wasn’t looking good for the Icon unit but luck came through. Ash rolled very poorly with his Stern squad and only dropped two Plague Bearers. The two speeders and marines overlooking the Plague Bearers took down another two in shooting. At the front, the Dread and other speeder managed to take two more wounds from my closest demon prince and the marines from the destroyed bastion did a couple on Thirster.

The Assault Squad leapt into combat with the Plague Bearer unit, nearly killing all. The PF, which would have really done some damage by ignoring my FNP, wiffed all of his attacks. This proved rather huge, as only two were left standing at the end and the icon lived on.
That Night Fight stratagem really hampered Ash this turn. Overall, it could have been a lot worse had he rolled decent for shooting/night fight.

Daemon Player Turn 2

Everything else in my army showed up (Damn those reserve rolls are friendly for Daemons!). I deep struck the Skull Taker Letter group off my icon to jump into the Assault Squad it was engaged with. I deep struck the other Letter group from the same icon towards the nearest speeder and risked my Crusher unit by deep striking behind the 2nd bastion and rhino, no scatter! (In fact, I didn’t roll a single scatter this turn). The Crushers ended up assaulting the rhino/group of marines next to it, killing all. I dropped my Beasts of Nurgle in front of his dread and assaulted it. Thirster Assaulted a Castellan rhino that had advanced and blew it up, killing one of the marines inside and Papa Nurgle ate the Marines from the last bastion.
SkullTaker and company nearly wiped the Assault Squad, with the Storm Shield Sgt. Falling back. The other letters assaulted and blew up the furthest speeder. Again a terrific turn of rolling scatter and damage tables.

Castellan Player Turn 2

Ash gated the Libby and Stern from the cliff to down by the river and two speeders moved up in flanking positions. He rallied his Storm Shield Sgt and advanced him towards my unit of 5 BloodLetters that killed the Speeder last turn. Automated fire dropped a crusher and a few letters…and then Ash’s ‘luck’ continued. His Vortex of Doom scattered so badly, it ended up killing two of his own Stern Guard. Luckily Ash is a great sport and just laughs at such luck, whereas others might have been throwing dice after two rounds of such rolling! Still, the Stern Guard and Speeders dropped the SkullTaker unit to 4 Letters. The Storm Shield Sgt, with a powerfist, bravely charged into a five man unit of Letters…and killed the entire group! Definitely MVP of the game for Ash, as he continued to drop units until the very last turns. The Dread dropped one of the Beasts of Nurgle this turn and they made their fearless saves.

Daemonic Player Turn 3

I jumped Thirster over on the Dread now that he was in range and he ripped it apart. Skull Taker and company charged the Libby/Stern squad (Failed to get Taker in btb with the Libby though). They dropped five and made the unit run. Papa Nurgle and fellow DP charged and blew up the second bastion. My big unit of Crushers charged the Speeders….and only blew one up. Ash's dice must have touched mine during that roll. Furthermore...Night Fight had ended. Could be a rough turn.

Castellan Player Turn 3

Ash's dice turned a bit for him this turn and he started to bleed me pretty good. A BloodThirster, a foe that exists in the warp and plots across oceans of time…..died to an automated gun at the start of the turn. The Libby/Stern squad rallied this turn and once again turned the heat on the SkullTaker unit. Between the Stern squad, a marine group and the remaining speeder, the letter group was wiped and SkullTaker was down to a wound. Ash also advanced the two remaining combat squads near the river, shooting and assaulting the Nurgle DP. Although they lost combat, they dropped another wound (Half dead now) and stuck in hand to hand. That damn Storm Shield Assault Marine killed off my Plague Bearer unit and advanced towards one of the ruins of a bastion. That dude just wouldn’t quit!

Daemonic Player Turn 4

To be honest, I was a bit nervous now. Although I had had terrific luck with my scatter and vehicle damage rolls, Ash had really taken a chunk out of my assault. Thirster was dead, my Prince was near dead and Taker was down to a wound. I jumped Papa Nurgle into the Marines on my Prince this turn and wiped the unit. SkullTaker joined up with the advancing Crusher squad and took out the remaining Speeder near the river. The Beasts of Nurgle advanced towards the last complete bastion to claim it (but not dying next to it!). Ash still held the high bastion and far right bastion…and I had no units claiming the ruins from the others. So, despite my early fortune…the game was still tight.

Castellan Turn 4

Ash had both Marine units from the last bastions opened up on the Crushers this turn and failed to drop one. Ash's Libby/Stern Guard were safely put on top of the cliff adjoining the overhead bastion. They focused fire on Papa Nurgle this turn, the Vortex went off and hit Papa Nurgle, along with the remaining Stern, which did a wound on the beast. Ash advanced that Storm Shield Assault Squad Marine (Yes, THAT one) over to a ruin by skirting the table edge.

Daemonic Player Turn 5

I activated my last stratagem this turn, the one turn Night Fight. I hoped this would limit fire from the high bastion. Remember my Demon Prince that misshaped at the first of the game? Yeah he finally joined the fight and moved up to help claim a ruined bastion. The Crusher unit along with Papa Nurgles help finally finished off that Assault Squad Marine. Yeah, I wasn’t going to risk anything with this guy and they finally killed the bastard. What a stud that Marine was though, he killed five blood letters, two Plague Bearers and nearly claimed a bastion all on his own. Had I not rolled high on my terrain roll, he might have survived this assault as well.
My other Prince assaulted the last bastion, shaking it and not doing much else. The Beast of Nurgle milled around the base. SkullTaker split from the Crusher unit that was heading back to claim a ruin and hoped to run up the hill to claim the high bastion, provided the game advanced.

Castellan Player Turn 5

The Libby and remaining Stern Guard attempted to drop the Nurgle Prince beating on the right bastion and failed. Night fight bit Ash again and really shortened his turn...as this saved my Demon Prince several shots from the high bastion…and then my Prince blew up the bastion during his assault phase.

Turn 6 and 7 (Yeah it went that far)

I decided to condense those turns, as they were mostly uneventful. The upper bastion dropped the Nurgle Prince that blew up the bastion, SkullTaker wiped the remaining Marines in the open and the gate jumping Libby failed to blow the Beasts of Nurgle off the far right bastion.

End Score: Daemonic Player: 3 Bastions Marine Player: 1 Bastion

Daemonic Player Summation:

Three phrases stuck in my mind after this game; No Scatter, Night Fight and Underperforming Stern Guard. Our group had wondered and mused on how strong Daemonic forces would be in Planet Strike and this game certainly fueled our thoughts. My first turn was rather obscene, where I killed a Land Raider and Bastion. If you don’t scatter with Daemons….you can expect to do a lot of damage the first turn. Daemonic Icons, normally a bit expensive, are gold in Planet Strike when you can assault off them. I can see Daemonic Strike forces consisting of thick Plague Bearer units with icons forming now….

Papa Nurgle, normally an ‘ok’ pick really seemed to shine in Planet Strike. He can assault when he strikes, they really can’t run from him (Unless they abandon their bastions) and he just. Doesn’t. Die. I think he’ll be in all my Planet Strike Forces. This was the first time I tried out the tri-Nurgle Prince combo too (Grinders just don’t survive with all the AT people pack now)…and I was happy with their performance. Ash had some really dismal rolling early on too, with his Stern Guard rolling in particular. He also failed to end Night Fight for several turns (4+ roll) which hampered him in the early phases.

I guess that tells you how strong of a player Ash is. Despite my incredible fortune on scatter and damage tables and his unfortunate rolling, as I looked things over at the start of my fifth turn…the score was 3-1 his flavor. He held the last intact bastion, the high bastion and the ruins of another bastion. So, all in all, a good learning experience about the supplement. I’m on the defense next week with my marines against his Chaos Space Marines…and I’m already devising some dirty tricks….

Castellan Player Summation:

Let me say first, I think we really like PlanetStrike. It really does add a new dimension to 40k and this led us to begin talking of starting a 40k campaign. In that campaign we are going to take advantage of standard 40k, PlanetStrike and Apocalypse. I can hardly wait; now, on with the summation.

There are a couple of areas that stand out (or things I could have done better):

1. My Force. When I began to make a Marine list for this game, I realized that my Marines are sort of stuck in 4th Ed. There isn't a Combi-weapon in site, powerfists are everywhere, my speeders are set up wrong (plus too expensive) and my Assault Terminators are in need of a storm shield make over (which they are in the process of and the reason they were absent from the battle). Suffice it to say the force needs to be updated.

1b. Do not underestimate how powerful Daemons are in PlanetStrike. You are going to be assaulted, early and often, so be prepared and have some good counter-assault units ready. Assault Terminators would do nicely. Thunder Hammers would be nice to have against Daemon Princes and Greater Daemons. Reducing their initiative would be huge. Assault Marines die rather quickly so are probably not a first choice. It would also be worth considering Marnius or Lysander to lead your Terminators.

2. Deployment. This is where I messed up. I tried to limit the areas where Age could deep strike but all it really did was spread me out and cost me a Land Raider. Looking back I should have split the bastions into two groups and placed them on opposite ends of the table, and then I should have kept most of my force in reserve. Now age would have had a choice: go after both areas by splitting up or concentrate on one bastion group at a time. Either way it would have bought me time to shoot more. Since I, as defender, can choose which edge to enter from reserve, I could have reinforced whichever bastion group looked most promising by concentrating my remaining force there. (Edit: Re-read the rules and saw that the defender reserves come in on a random board edge. Still the idea could work, but it would be harder to pull off.) Oh, well, live and learn.

All in all, it was a good game versus a good opponent on excellent terrain. That is what this hobby is all about.

Thanks for the report and the game.

Ash

My First Post----My Marine Tactica

2009-06-08T21:16:00.006-05:00

New Contributor

2009-06-02T15:45:00.004-05:00

I have asked a friend of my to help out with this site, AgeOfEgos. Hopefully, in the near future he will be posting his thoughts and musings on 40k and Fantasy. I thoroughly enjoy his battle reports and have asked him to post one here of our most recent game.

Moving on...Our little gaming group is getting ready to start a Fantasy campaign and we will be starting at a 1000 pts. I am woefully behind on getting my 1k points of Warriors of Chaos ready, so I am at least shooting to have them assembled by our start date in a couple of weeks.

I have also completed my Vindicator to bring my CSM Force up to 2000+ pts. I will post a picture real soon.

Later....

My take on List Building with CSM

2009-05-25T07:51:00.007-05:00

A conversation I had recently about the Chaos Codex got me thinking about this topic. The conversation was more about how much the Codex sucks with me playing devil’s advocate. This person was lamenting the loss of customization that the last Codex provided. I agreed with this, but replied that we have some of the best troop choices in the game with Cult Troops and some really great heavy support choices.

Under 5th, troops are center stage since they are the only choice when it comes to holding objectives. Right next to them is anything anti-tank and next to them is anything anti-horde. These are what I usually try to have an answer for when designing a list. Anything in the codex that can serve double duty usually makes the cut.

So after preening the Codex, my lists are chosen from:

HQ:
•Daemon Princes
•Abaddon

I enjoy the versatility of Princes. Equip them with wings and throw on a mark. For what you get, they are really cheap. As for Abaddon, I haven’t used him yet, but it would be fun (more so for me than my opponent) to let this beat stick off of the bench occasionally. The only downside is the model is terrible and is the only reason I haven’t used him yet.

Troops:
•Berzerkers
•Noise Marines
•Plague Marines

Fearless, Furious Assault, Sonic Weapons/Blastmaster, and Feel no Pain. I found fearless to be a huge advantage in 5th, especially when combined with CSM. Many times I have had a squad, reduced to a couple of models, still running around and causing havoc and holding objectives.

There are only a few units in the game better than Berzerkers at close combat, two of which are Gene Stealers and maybe Harlequins. Throw in tank-busting and the Gene Stealers can’t compete. Berzerkers are my shock troops and are expected to die. I want them to cross the table cut a hole in the enemy, then die as my opponent is forced to deal with them. Hopefully my other units are in position by then. If facing a horde, Berzerkers are my counter assault unit.

Noise Marines are a staple in my list, usually one squad, equipped with Blastmaster and some Sonic Weapons. This unit’s primary use is to squat an objective in my deployment zone and then shoot. The Blastmaster is one of my favorite weapons, but it is unpredictable. Sonic Weapons are there for hordes and outflankers.

Plague Marines are another staple. With Feel No Pain, Blight Grenades, and the ability to take Melta Guns or Flamers, what’s not to like? OK, their Initiative and price but definitely worth it. This unit is great at holding objectives and tying up units. Mine usually clean up after the Berzerkers.

Heavy:
•Obliterators
•Defiler
•Vindicator
•Land Raider

Obliterators are one of the best heavy support choices in the game. They get and deserve a lot of attention. I run six.

I haven’t used a Defiler yet but will do so as soon as I get one. Defilers seem to meet my “double duty” requirement, plus I like the model.

I don’t think I need to elaborate on the virtues of Vindicators and Land Raiders. Both are solid choices.

This look at list building and the CSM Codex was taken from a competitive viewpoint. I like the elite nature of my lists. They require me to be more tactical in my thinking. With the low model count, nothing is expendable as each unit needs to have an impact.

Note: Although I try to make competitive lists, my goal is not to crush my opponent, but to have a good game. Fun above all.

Well, there you have it, one man’s opinion.

Added Photo Album

2009-05-22T13:41:00.004-05:00

Just a quick post to say that I've added a album to show some of my work. It will also serve as a baseline for where I am at the moment, skill wise.

Later...

Local Tournament

2009-05-17T05:39:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, I participated in a small tournament. My army performed OK with 2 wins and one loss. Had the last game gone differently, I would have won instead of ending up 2ND. Had a great time anyway.

My list:

1750 Pts - Mixed CSM

HQ: Daemon Prince (1#, 155 Pts)
1 Daemon Prince
Wings; Lash of Submission; Mark of Slaanesh

HQ: Daemon Prince (1#, 200 Pts)
1 Daemon Prince
Wings; Bolt of Change; Mark of Tzeentch; Warptime

Troops: Khorne Berzerkers (9#, 243 Pts)
7 Khorne Berzerkers
1 Skull Champion
Power Fist
1 Rhino

Troops: Plague Marines (9#, 274 Pts)
7 Plague Marines
Flamer (x1); Meltagun (x1)
1 Plague Champion
Power Fist
1 Rhino

Troops: Plague Marines (9#, 274 Pts)
7 Plague Marines
Flamer (x1); Meltagun (x1)
1 Plague Champion
Power Fist
1 Rhino

Troops: Noise Marines (5#, 150 Pts)
5 Noise Marines
Blastmaster; Bolter (x2); Sonic Blaster (x2)

Heavy Support: Obliterators (2#, 150 Pts)
2 Obliterators

Heavy Support: Obliterators (2#, 150 Pts)
2 Obliterators

Heavy Support: Obliterators (2#, 150 Pts)
2 Obliterators

Total Roster Cost: 1746

It seems this army has trouble playing against horde armies, particularly, Tyranids. Against other elite or MEQ armies, I usually do well enough. In the last two tournaments, I have faced off against the Bugs three times (that's half of my games). My record against them is two draws with one loss. My problem is that I can not kill the big bugs fast enough with the Obits and still manage the large squads bearing down on me. So with that in mind I plan on making room for a Vindicator.

Will see how that goes. Now I have to get back to working on that Vindicator....

Current Projects

2009-05-10T06:30:00.003-05:00

Since Adepticon, I have been working on my sculpting. Nothing to show yet as most of what I am doing is practice which consists of playing around with green stuff to see how to achieve different results. Basically, it's just trial and error.

Also, I'm changing out my Rhino doors with Forge World ones. They are a pain to fit up but look oh so much better. It is sad though, ripping apart painted models.

Last is my Vindicator. The plan is to show Demonic Possession using green stuff. I am trying to model faces pushing out of the armor. Unfortunately, my sculpting skills are not up to the task yet. Practice, practice...

2009-05-09T06:00:00.002-05:00

Here are some pictures of our display for Adepticon.

2009-05-09T05:59:00.002-05:00

2009-05-09T05:58:00.002-05:00

2009-05-09T05:56:00.002-05:00

Learned quite a bit by making this display, unfortunately it was by making a lot of mistakes. Somethings we wanted to do had to be cut because of time or money.

We will go back in 2011 and participate in the Team Tournament again. Making a display like this takes time and money (a lot of money!), so we have decided to do individual tournaments next year and another team tournament the following.

Changing Focus......

2009-05-08T17:56:00.000-05:00

.....To not having a focus. Since my last post I have shelved the Dwarfs. To me, they just were not much fun to play. It felt like I was missing half of the game. That led to me not wanting to paint them. So, I continued to work on my CSM and started to collect some Warriors of Chaos.

During my year of neglecting this site I also bought a house and managed to set up a studio with a game table in my basement.

Attended Adepticon for the first time and really enjoyed it. I was a part of Team Opposing Force (Guess who thought of the name?)and we managed to walk away with Best Heretical Army. The highlight of the weekend was attending a class by Joe Orteza. I was blown away by his work and it has inspired me to work on improving my skills. This also renewed my interest in this site as way to chart my progress.

I make no promises, this will go were it will.

My First Post----Tactica Marines

2008-06-08T20:50:00.002-05:00

Well, initially my first post was going to be our battle report. However, the wife had a great idea to rip up our carpet and go with our original hardwood....so I have yet to get that. That said, I figured I would make my initial post on my Marine Tactica. Initially, when the new dex came out I struggled a bit to make my Marine chapter work. I attempted Marine spam with alot of boots on the ground, Land Raider spam, Pod Stern etc. without a great deal of success. In addition, the builds felt a bit boring.

However, my latest build that I had great success with in the last tourney 'feels' the strongest I've put together so far. So, here are my current thoughts on the space marines;

Unit by Unit Analysis

Before I get into each specific HQ, I think we need to break the HQs down into two terms; Support and Lead. Support HQs only work in tandem with appropriate units while Lead HQs can operate comparably well in any unit they are placed. So, following each HQ selection I'll describe the HQ accordingly. I won't get into the specific Special Characters as well, as they might be deserving of a future article. I also do not feel any of them are worth their cost.

Chaplain
Support

For 100 points you get 3 attacks at WS 5 that need 4's to wound against MEQ (Or Orks). This isn't a great deal to write home about but the Chaplain is a support unit with his ability to grant re-rolls to his unit. Obvious choices are Thunder/Shield Terminators, Assault Groups are not an optimal choice for the Chaplain mostly due to his secondary rule; Fearless. Fearless is a great ability if you have very good saves or Feel No Pain (Or both!). Here again, Thunder/Shield Terminators excel with fearless, as their 2+ save will negate most No Retreat! casualties. So, in summary, if you are bringing Thunder/Shield Terminators (Or Command Squad Bikes) a Chaplain is an ok choice. If you lack those units, he's better left in the display cabinet.

Librarian
Support

Here is one of the best HQ choices in the codex and definitely the best support character. For 100 points you get 2 [[Space Marine Librarian Psychic PowersPsychic Powers]] a turn and a Force Weapon (Although, keep this guy out of arms reach as the new Codex Librarians can't handle combat well). His Psychic Powers are where his real strength are. Null Zone can make Daemon players sweat, Gate of Infinity is always a solid choice and Force Dome is solid as well. The other psychic powers may have their arguments but I find them rather useless compared to the above mentioned. Smite is only Str. 4 and still requires a to hit (Remember the Librarians new BS of 4). machine Curse gives you a glancing, which may save you a shooting phase but with the new damage charts will likely do nothing. Avenger can be appealing but is very situational. Quickening allows you to get into assault quicker with the Librarian, which is exactly where you don't want to be. Might of the Ancients gives you 2d6 Armor Penetration, which combined with his Str. 4 equates to an average of Str. 11...not shabby but not worth spending a power on. Vortex of Doom is a heavy and is good, provided you give your Librarian Terminator Armour. Else, it's rather useless.

Where these guys shine is in a pod with Sternguard and locator beacons. Drop, melta/flame/Special Issue Ammunition, then gate around for more fun. A seriously strong combination.

Captain
Lead

Captains got a buff in the new codex with a WS of 6 now, along with 3 wounds and 3 base attacks this makes them decent at close combat. If you want to go the route of having a close combat character, he isn't bad. A Relic Blade and Storm Shield makes for a good combat modifier, however he still relies on a 3+ save with no immunity to instant death. Power fists can still ruin your day (and your 100 pt character). I will say that Captains on bikes with full [[Space Marine Command SquadCommand Squad]] are a sight and quite nasty on the field.

I won't get into the specifics of Space Marine Bike Armies as A) I don't have enough experience playing them and B) I think they are intricate enough to deserve their own article. Not running bikes though, I pass.

Chapter Master
Lead

A Chapter Master is a glorified Captain, which for 25 points gives you an one shot Orbital Bombardment (Which 66% of the time will scatter 2d6) and [[Honour Guard SquadHonor Guard]]. Honor Guard are a 'fun' unit, which are cost prohibitive and easily replaced in roles by Thunder/Shield Terminators. I pass on Chapter Masters as well, as if you want a cheap combat character Captains fit the role fine.

Elite Analysis

Before I go into specific Dread builds, I'll go on a quick tangent and describe Dread weaponry (As it applies both to Venerable Dreads and Vanilla Dreads). Dreads should always have Multi-Meltas. Melta is a necessity in 5th and it is included in their base cost, so it saves you points. If you are concerned with hordes, then throw a heavy flamer on him (In addition to his Melta). Las Cannons lost a bit of punch in 5th due to damage tables and the cost you 30 points to equip now. One Plasma Cannon shot, with the quantity of cover saves, seems a waste. Stick with your Melta and add a Heavy Flamer if you feel the need.

Venerable Dread

The Venerable Dread returns with his old rule of re-roll damage. Considering 5th's forgiving damage table, this is a pretty nifty ability. I believe the math hammer has been done showing a Venerable Dread 'practically' has the survivability of AV 14 now. However, he costs nearly 165 points base! This is 60 points more than a regular dread, so the question you need to ask before placing one in your army is if 60 points is worth one pip of WS and BS, with his damage re-roll. Considering this is only a 16% chance increase to hit above a regular dread and for his cost + 40 you could buy two Dreads...I'll go with spending 40 pts more and getting two. Again, Melta is the best choice here as the drawback to Melta is one shot...which is BS of 5 will help overcome.

Vanilla Dread

105 points for AV 12, Multi-Melta packing monstrosity who can actually survive now due to 5ths damage chart? Yes please! Always a solid choice and arguably the best Elite unit in the codex. I always take at least one and add more as I scale up in points. Throw him in a pod with a heavy flamer/Multi-Melta kit and you have a deep striking Anti-Tank-Anti-Horde unit that will be in their face turn 1.

Ironclad Dread

There are only two things that fail to impress me about this unit; The model coming out for it and its non-linked Melta. AV 13 is a beast in 5th, as Power Fists and Power Klaws will need a 4 to hit, then a 6 to penetrate. Considering they will not blow him up on a glance, this equates into quite a tar-pit unit. 135 points isn't a bad cost, considering he gets EA free and a semi-melta CCW. The only downside to this guy is his regular melta. For this reason, I like vanilla dreads better simply due to cost and the Multi-Melta...but the Iron Clad is a solid choice as well.

Techmarine

If you are fluff nutter and want a Omnissiah theme, then he's an ok choice (Of course, he takes a Dread's spot as well). Otherwise, leave this guy at home.

Vanilla Terminators

They shoot "ok" and Assault Cannons lost some punch. Not worth their points.

Assault Terminators

These guys can be real ball breakers, provided you support them well. If you run them though, go big or go home. Put them in a Land Raider, throw Vulkan in with them and watch them walk through pretty much any unit in the game. That said, that combination is in upwards of 650 points. It's all smiles until your Land Raider gets suicide melta'd and your Thunder/Shield Terms get lashed back and shot all game. I don't think these guys are as good as their rep, in terms of efficiency, albeit they have a place in a 2k list (See my 2k list below).

The combination of Shrike/Infiltrate/Fleet Terminators is fun and will work once. After people are aware (and laugh at your 'sneaky' terminator fluff), this will cease to be fun. Not to mention Shrike is 200 points and you lose combat tactics.

Legion of the Damned

This is the one unit that seems tantalizing to me but I have yet to play enough to comment on. The build that looks most promising is a Multi-Melta, Melta unit of 5-6 that deep strike in (Rerolling the scatter!) next to a vehicle and send it to hell w/ their Slow/Purposeful. Of course, this is 200 points to do which is semi-pricey. They have a great 3++ but so much of 5th is multitude of fire, they'll still die to mass dice (Not to mention they will be in a nice tight circle after you deep strike). Undecided but definitely leaning towards 'Fun Only'.

SternGuard

Second or third best Elite choice and one of the better choices in the game. They are pricey but if used aggressively, will provide one hell of a headache for your opponent. Take combi-weaponry if you take them as at 5 points each it's a steal. Combi-Meltas are no brainers here with perhaps a few combi-flamers. If you take a unit of 10, you can split your combi-weapons, so 5 have melta and 5 have flamer/Heavy Flamer. This means you blow up the transport and then torch those who get out. The rounds are interesting but it's almost always advantageous to use hellfire (wound on 2+). Negating cover saves is situational, Vengeance can cost you models (and still only wounds on a 4+) and Kraken allows cover saves. Since cover saves abound in 5th, either shoot the negate cover or Hellfire to force more saves. I always pod or Gate these guys around, as they are an aggressive unit...NOT a unit that should park in a forest!

Troop Analysis

Tactical Squad

Always take a 10 man for the free Heavy and Special, never just buy 5 and don't combat squad in Kill Point games. There are the no brainers, the only real question is how to kit them out. This is where Space Marine players will likely schism. I see Marine armies as a mid-field fire point army, with good survivability. I do not expect my Tacs to assault, unless I have Tau or IG in my face. Else, I'm thinking of how to aggressively advance while shooting. Combat Tactics supports this role (and this partly why I dislike specials that take it away), so I think Power Fists are pointless. I usually combat squad. Power Fists in combat squads with wound allocation will leave you frustrated and your opponent happy. Tacs are not meant for elite hand to hand, you need to run away if you are in combat with such. Power Fists simply don't belong in tacs.

Shooting, the free Flamer is a solid choice as wound allocation/cover is so important now. Melta is another solid pick. Plasma sucks in 5th, leave it at home. Heavy choice, Multi-Meltas are very solid (and free!). If you know the squad is going to squat on your objective and shoot down field, a 10 pt las-cannon seems worth it. Missile Launchers, while free, don't do a great deal now since glancing is so weak but I can see saving points to take them. I pass on Heavy Bolters and Plasma as I'm usually more concerned with vehicles than say hordes (and either way, they'll likely get a cover save).

Scout Squads

Another solid pick, albeit just one unit. If you take them, again go big or don't bring them. Camo, Snipers, Telion and a Missile Launcher is a good build. Have them squat in cover on an objective and they should be a serious pain to remove.

Fast Attack

Vanguard

Lets get this nonsense unit out of the way. Here are the arguments I see on forums for Vanguard;

"I had great success when I used a Scout Squad with Beacon and turbo'd over and killed this one unit"
"They rock! I deep struck next to this unit the other day and tore them up!"

Their Deep Strike ability is not good guys. To assault when you deep strike, you need to place your initial model 6-7 inches away from your enemy. Ok, now you roll scatter (Which will happen 66% of the time). If you scatter, you roll 2d6. The most common number on 2d6 is 7 (With 6 and 8 following behind). Guess what happens if the arrow points towards your enemy with that roll? Mishap. Guess what happens if the arrow points away from your enemy with that roll? No assault.

Horrible unit. Over-priced, no consolidation in 5th, can scatter, very situational and did I mention over-priced? Great models, horrible rules. No thanks.

Assault Squad

Interesting unit if you take two flamers, although they cost the same as a tac and don't score. If you need an assault punch, Thunder/Shields are a better pick. These guys are still marines...just a pip in attack. If I need a dedicated assault/counter-attack unit, I prefer it to be a hammer not a fly-swatter.

Land Speeder

Best Fast Attack choice and one of the better choices in the codex. For 70 points you get a Fast Skimmer with Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer that can deep strike off Beacons or move 12 on the table and unload. Solid pick. Either go Melta/Heavy Flamer or Heavy Flamer/Heavy Flamer. I like the Melta/Flamer combination as you can provide horde/vehicle help where needed. That Melta 2d6 threat range becomes 24 inches from your speeder as well...enough to make any armor sweat.

Space Marine Bike

The only reason to take Bikes is for the special weapon allocation and to bury an attack bike. If you are set on taking them, then dedicate them to AT purposes and load up with 2 Melta + Combi-Sarg w/ Melta and an Attack Bike w/ Melta. That's a pretty nasty unit in terms of AT, dishing out one 2d6 Melta at 12 inches and 4 2d6 Melta at 6 inches. This unit 'may' have promise but the bottom line is; It has to compete with a Land Speeder. The Land Speeder has better movement (Over terrain/units) and for the price of the above bike unit, I can have two Land Speeders w/ Melta/Flamer.

Bikes also tend to bleed KPs or go away very quickly if your opponent nods in their direction. Multi-Melta, ML, Las Cannon, Battle Cannon, etc will kill your expensive bikes just as quickly as regular marines. The only time I would take Bikes is if they count as troops and you are playing a bike army, else the Land Speeder wins out in terms of role capability, movement, cost and survivability.

Attack Bike

Attack Bikes suffer all of the negatives listed above for bikes but with even higher price tags! A squad of 3 with Melta will cost you 150 pts, which again is more than two Land Speeders kitted out correctly. This is a very easy KP unit for your opponent and will die to any attention dealt to it. Attack Bikes can have a place in Space Marine bike armies, deep in regular bike units. Otherwise, they simply die. Pass.

Heavy Support

Devastator Squad

With the advent of armor and the ridiculous costs of their weapons, these guys really lost their way in 5th. Keep them on the shelf.

Predator

Solid pick, provided you kit it out right. Las Cannons are wasted on these guys as A) Melta should be doing this job in other units and B) They shake this tank once and you have 165 points that simply sits there. Keep the auto-cannon and slap on some heavy bolters. For 85 points, you have an AV 13 fire-base that can lay out some hurt. This little 85 point gem has killed many a Ork, Demon Prince and Traitor scum simply by forcing so many saves. Good pick.

Land Raider

Land Raiders got really tough in 5th. Still, they are really expensive. If you are delivering some nasty combat unit, then Land Raiders are solid. However, the downside is you need to get close to complete this job...and melta will be grinning and waiting. If you decide to include a Land Raider, make sure you armor overload so they can't focus heavy weaponry. Crusaders are rock solid, Redeemers can have their moments and vanilla Land Raiders have come into their own with the advent of AV 12 vehicles running around. The ONLY time EA is worth it, is on a Thunder Term deliverance vehicle.

Whirl-Wind

For 85 points, I can have a Predator kitted out. Who will be more likely to survive and perform their role?

Thunder-Fire

Read the artillery rules in the main rule-book. Then read them again. Then think about one las-cannon or missile launcher shot and the corresponding damage roll. Cool model (granted a pain in the ass to put together) but simply can't survive.

Vindicator

This will likely be contrary to most opinion but I like the Vindicator. Big templates for horde, nice AP if you catch something in the open and good Str. if you are desperate for vehicle duties (but should be a last option!). AV 13 is nothing to sneeze at the fear factor this guy produces will save other armor. Good pick.

My Sample Armies are based on Mech-Marines. I don't feel straight pod marines can compete with a savvy opponent and I don't have experience running bikes. So here are my thoughts;

General Mech Thoughts

METAL BOXES...ahem, Rhinos everywhere. All your tacs button up in Rhinos unless necessity demands you get out. Flame/Heavy Weapon from the ports. Speeders for your Fast, Dreads for your Elites and Preds for your Heavies. This does a couple of things; 1) Armor overloads. Two tanks are easy to deal with for 4 heavy weapons. 4 Rhinos, 3 Dreads, 2 Land Speeders and 3 Predators are a bit more difficult! Always buy a Rhino for a tactical squad, even if you 'know' that unit will be sitting in cover. With the advent of dedicated transports picking anyone up and the survivability of armor in 5th, an extra Rhino scooting around is always good.

A caveat for Land Speeders/Vindicators. If you are facing an army that is placing a great deal of moderate strength/firepower down field (IE Ash and his Oblit Slumber Party ™) *I kid, he could run more but chooses not to*....use the reserves rules. Your Speeders are fast, they can move on 12 after a few turns of loosening your opponent on and turn the game. A reserve Vindicator will always get a shot at 30 inches, which is midfield. Speeders can also Deep Strike off beacons, which can be pretty damaging if you kit them with Heavy Flamer/Multi-Melta. If you are playing a competent opponent and you see some serious firepower, use the reserve rule.

Here is an army I run (Mostly Mech Marines) at 1750. Pretty competitive, fun to play;

HQ
Libby with Gate and Force Dome

Elite
Seven Sternguard with 5 Combi-Meltas, Sarg has Combi-Melta
Drop Pod with Locator Beacon

Vanilla Dread--Multi-Melta + Heavy Flamer
Drop Pod with Locator Beacon

Vanilla Dread--Multi-Melta + Heavy Flamer
Drop Pod

Troops

10 man Tactical Squad with Flamer, Multi-Melta
Rhino

10 man Tactical Squad with Flamer, Multi-Melta
Rhino

10 man Tactical Squad with Flamer, Las-Cannon
Rhino

Fast Attack

2 Land Speeders with Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer

2 Land Speeders with Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer

Heavy Support

Predator with Auto-Cannon, Heavy Bolter Sponsons

Vindicator

First turn you either drop two Dreads with Heavy Flamer + Multi-Meltas on a flank or a Dread + Libby/Sternguard. Wherever you drop, that's a dead unit, Land Raider, tank or tank squadron. Two Locator Beacons allow you to gate where needed and out of combat. If you drop two dreads first turn, your opponent will be looking at the following armor on their first turn;

Two AV 12 Walkers on a flank; Three AV 11 Rhinos popping smoke and advancing with full Tactical Squads; Four AV 10 Land Speeders with Melta/Heavy Flamers; Two AV 13 Tanks

Here is another list, 2k with Vulkan. "True" mechanized marines. Very competitive;

HQ

Vulkan

Elite

Vanilla Dread--Multi-Melta + Heavy Flamer

Vanilla Dread--Multi-Melta

Five Thunder Hammer Terminators
Land Raider Transport with Extra Armour

Troops

10 man Tactical Squad with Flamer, Multi-Melta
Sarg has a combi-melta
Rhino

10 man Tactical Squad with Flamer, Multi-Melta
Sarg has a combi-melta
Rhino

10 man Tactical Squad with Flamer, Las-Cannon
Rhino

Fast Attack

2 Land Speeders with Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer

2 Land Speeders with Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer

Heavy Support

Predator with Auto-Cannon, Heavy Bolter Sponsons

Vindicator

I think this is the most competitive list Marines can bring to the table at 2000. Lets look at the armor;

One AV 14 Land Raider, Two AV 12 Walkers; Three AV 11 Rhinos; Four AV 10 Speeders; One AV 13 Predator; One AV 13 Vindicator

Multi-Melta count;
Eight

Melta Count;
Two Combi Meltas

Heavy Flamer count;
Six

Pretty straight forward, Rhinos advance and pop smoke, dreads run behind rhinos, Speeders choose a flank and Predator/Vindicator provide a fire base. Re-rolls abound (Mitigate the damn dice!). Vulkan joins the Thunder Terms.

IG Chimera/Russ horde? Eight Multi-Melta shots + a Las Cannon + Auto-Cannon.

Horde? 6 Heavy Flamers, 6 Heavy Bolter shots, 2 Dreads, and 30 marines.

This list should be a great all-comer and has served me well.

Well that's my initial post, sorry for the length!

Ryan

How Things Change or The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

2008-04-09T17:17:00.000-05:00

Well, since my last update things have really changed for me. First off my job has changed and the hours required have increased. Also, I have joined a gaming group in my area which is has been loads of fun so far and a gaming store has opened up in my town. No more driving an hour to get get supplies or to get a quick game in.

All this means I will not devote this year to my Chaos Marines. My local store and gaming group seem to want to focus on Fantasy armies at the moment which means I actually have to start painting my 2000+ points of Dwarfs.

So my current project is to paint up a skirmish band for Warhammer and to build a Dwarf Ironclad. My gaming group wants to start a Fantasy Campaign and wants to include sea battles and I am really excited about this so, hopefully I will soon be posting pics of my fledgling Dwarf army.

Stay tuned.........

Weekly Progress Update

2008-01-28T04:56:00.000-06:00

My goal was to have one CSM unit with Rino cleaned, assembled and primed.

Well, to be honest, I got sidetracked. The unit and rino are assembled, but not primed. I spent quite a bit of time on coming up with a logo. This led me to trying to find out how to make custom decals.

Not wanting to invest heavily into this, I downloaded Inkscape and Gimp. Then spent hours playing around with both programs to get some practice. While I'm no expert, it should be possible to come up with something.

Goal for this week: To prime the assembled unit and work up a test model. Sunday, February 3, I will post a pic of the test model.

2008, The Year of Chaos

2008-01-23T05:06:00.000-06:00

This year I plan to start and finish a new army, "The Sons of Edax" Chaos Marines. The goal is to have at least one unit of each entry from the Chaos Space Marines Codex painted by December 31, 2008. These are the models I have so far:

1 Terminator Lord
1 Sorcerer with Wings and Familiar
10 CSM with AC, Icon, and Rino
10 CSM with AC, Icon, and Rino
10 Berserkers with Skull Champion and Rino
10 Chosen with AC and Icon
8 Havocs
2 Obliterators
1 Vindicator
1 Predator

My plan is to have weekly updates of my progress and only post pics of painted units.

Week One Goal: Clean, assemble and prime one CSM unit with Rino by Sunday, January 27.

Chaplain Arawn

2007-12-09T04:37:00.000-06:00

First up is my Chaplain in Terminator Armor. This is an impressive model from GW and I felt it needed a special base.

AshAxe Loyalists

2001-01-02T21:25:00.000-06:00

AgeOfEgos 40k Loyalists

2001-01-01T21:07:00.003-06:00

This will be updated as I get more photos

AshAxe 40k Chaos

2001-01-01T18:37:00.000-06:00

AgeOfEgos 40k Chaos

2001-01-01T18:35:00.006-06:00

Sidetrack: Warmachine Progress Pictures

2000-12-29T04:14:00.016-06:00

Pictorial Progress:

Grand Scrutator Severius

Hierophant

Blessing of Vengeance

Revenger

Avatar of Menoth

Exemplar Bastions

Daughters of the Flame

Choir of Menoth

Vassals of Menoth

Wracks

The Covenant of Menoth

Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord

Opposing Forces

Post Games Workshop

Time Spent Painting----armies vs. time vs. quality vs. kids vs. wife vs....

Adepticon Bound---We present the Defenders of Holy Terra!

Dakka Friend/Moderator ripped off

Some musings on the Space Marine FAQ

1850 Blood Angels....playing around

Grytz has opened a store! Check it out...

Xenos you say? Heresy!

Well since Mike hasn't, I will--look at his Nurgle Army!

Warhammer Fantasy! Yes, really!

Target Aquired Sir----Dark Eldar Incoming!

Just to keep it fresh....a couple of pictures

AgeOfEgos Adepticon Wrap up

My Adepticon Army/Display

Ready for Adepticon..(?)

Adepticon 2010 Revised CSM List

Apocalypse Battle Report----Battle for Tarkonda Secondus

Sidetrack: Warmachine Update

Sidetrack: Warmachine Update

My thoughts on the new Tyranids

Sidetrack: Warmachine

More photos of our armies, added some of our Chaos

Slowly will be adding photos....

My Scars List for Adepticon Take 2

So how to arm my Grey Hunter Squads....musings on the new Space Wolf Codex

Adepticon 2010

Adepticon List...maybe

My Celestial Lions Relic Bike Squad *Counts as Thunderwolf Cav*

Chaos vs. the Celestial Lions (With new Space Wolf Codex test)

Space Wolves! (Or in my case, Celestial Lions)

Planet-Strike Take 2! Marines v. Chaos Space Marines

Planet Strike Battle Report---Marine Imperial Castellans vs. Chaos Daemons

My First Post----My Marine Tactica

New Contributor

My take on List Building with CSM

Added Photo Album

Local Tournament

Current Projects

Changing Focus......

My First Post----Tactica Marines

How Things Change or The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

Weekly Progress Update

2008, The Year of Chaos

Chaplain Arawn

AshAxe Loyalists

AgeOfEgos 40k Loyalists

AshAxe 40k Chaos

AgeOfEgos 40k Chaos

Sidetrack: Warmachine Progress Pictures

My Celestial Lions Relic Bike Squad Counts as Thunderwolf Cav