~Your daily dose of tabletop fun! Enjoy. If you have an awesome shot you think would make a great BoLS pic of the day, email us!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
40k Pic of the Day 5-31-09
~Your daily dose of tabletop fun! Enjoy. If you have an awesome shot you think would make a great BoLS pic of the day, email us!
WFB SNEEK PEEK: Empire Heraldry Book
Hi Warhammer Fantasy dudes (and ladies),
I'd been waiting for a little more detail on this background and heraldry book for the Empire.
~I just love books like this, and I have a big collection of 40k campaign and background books to more fully immerse myself in the Warhamer worlds. Look for this in June with a list price of: $24.75
40K TACTICA: Daemons of Khorne
So as requested here is the Khornate aspect of our Tactica of Chaos Demon forces. I have played quite a bit with pure Khorne demons since the Codex has come out, and used pretty much all of their options. First I'll go over some 'big picture' tactics then I'll go over the individual units.
Now most of these are important for all armies but they are especially important in all Khorne demon armies.
1. Scoring units are very important. With how killy Khorne units are you can usually just rely on trying to wipe out your opponent for the win. However, the Bloodletter is simply the most efficient Khorne choice in the Codex, thus throwing down a lot of them is not a bad idea. Personally, I take sixty, in the form of four fifteen man units.
2. Pick your targets. Khorne units have no form of grenades, thus are at a real disadvantage against untis in cover. This means luring your opponents modesl out of the cover, even if it's just one model. Maybe Deep Striking your unit just out of rapid fire range, to urge them to take that step. Or just use big beasties like Bloodthirsters or Soul Grinders who don't care about their opponents attacks. Part of picking your targets is deciding when to spread your force and when to focus it. How will you best set up your next turn assaults? These are all questions you should ask yourself.
3. Force your opponent to make hard decisions. Don't give an obvious choice of targets. Does your opponent want to rapid fire his bolters at your Bloodletters or shoot his meltagun at your Sould Grinder? Neither end with a pleasant end. Use terrain and your Deep Striking to limit the number of enemy units that shoot each of your units. The key to Khorne demons is to make your assaults flow into new assaults.
Time to break down the units.
HQ
Skarbrand- I personally love him. A lot of people think he is too many points for something that gives your opponent such a huge advantage. My view point is that there aren't many things better in combat than Khorne units, so I'm getting the better end of the buff (though a nasty Wyche-based DE army has shown me otherwise before). If you are taking a Blood thirster there isn't much reason not to take him.
Bloodthirster- I dislike having to pay to make this guy S 8, however his wings make him somewhat more mobile than Skarbrand. Personally I take both. The Bloodthirster is the second toughest GD behind the Great Unclean One. The fact that he has a 3+ save means he very resilient against small arms fire. There are many things that I wouldn't charge with him. I mainly utilize him for anti-armour duties.
Skulltaker- Amazing against independent characters and multi-wound units. The fact that he only has two wounds can be mitigated by giving him a chariot, but that doesn't mean you can make him any faster.
Khorne Heralds- For weaknesses see Skulltaker. Also not as good as Skulltaker.
Elites
Bloodcrushers- Amazing unit. Higher S and T than a Bloodletter with a 3+ save as the cherry on top. Watch out for getting caught up with enemy Walkers, don't count on Fury to get you out of that spot. If you don't take alot of these the enemy may be able to effectively avoid them.
Troops
Bloodletters- The best point to kill ratio in the whole book in my opinion. Three S5 I5 power weapon attacks on the charge is nother to sneeze at from a 16 point model. In large units (12 or more) they can survive a good round of shooting while still having enough 'oomph' to make some noise in close combat, so it's usually a good idea. There are almost no infantry units in the game that survive a charge by these guys.
Fast Attack
Furies- I don't take them. Generally considered a bad unit. That said I could see them finding a spot for themsleves by using their flight to catch units and hold them so that the big red guys can get to them.
Heavy Support
Soul Grinders- Big awesome killy fire magnets. Armour 13 front and side plus ignoring shaken and stunned means these guys take a lot of punishment. Having a maw cannon here is also the only form of shooting in the army (I don't count throwing the plasma skull). Personally I prefer phlegm, as the one thing this army has problems with it's too many enemy infantry. I feel tounge is unecessary, as the Grinder is already so good at killing vehicles in combat and is fleet.
Demon Princes- Well there are basicallly two main ways to go for these guys, and that's cheap or expensive. I either go no upgrades, as they're a pretty good buy just with base options. Or I get wings, armour, strength, the whole shebang. It really just depends on your taste. I prefer the cheap ones just as a way to spam more Monstrous Creatues into the board.
Well that's it. How many other pure Khorne players are there out there? Anyone found any super bad ass combo they like a lot?
Saturday, May 30, 2009
BoLS SNEAK PEEK: The Badab War - The Blackheart
THE BLACKHEART
Where does evil lie within the heart of man? What forces
can twist the noble into the craven, the defender of the
just into the ruthless criminal? Does the seed of evil lay
within the heart from the beginning, patiently awaiting
its time to blossom? Or, is it a deadly shard, twisting like
glass into the heart of the pure, who were tainted by its
horrors?
More than any other, the Badab War is the tale of one
man. He is now renounced on billions of rightous
Imperial lips as Huron Blackheart, the Blood Reaver, Lord
of the Maelstrom, and Master of the Red Corsairs.
While the Ministorum whips up the masses against the
Blackheart for their own purposes and the Imperial Guard
and Navy step up their vigilance near the Maelstrom, the
Masters of the Astartes and Conclaves of the Inquisition
brood on a darker question. How did the Badab War ever
occur?
For, buried deep in libraries of forbidden knowledge lay
the early history of the Astral Claws. It is a history
of uncompromising loyalty, benevolence, wisdom, and
victory. Moreover, that once mighty chapter was only the
merest reflection of their noble leader:
Master of the Astral Claws, Castellan of the Maelstrom,
Peer of Imperium, Lufgt Huron.
~We are weeks away, so get ready to tread in the footsteps of the Tyrant of Badab, of muster you chapter to stop him. The Badab War approaches so get those paintbrushes ready folks! Also, check out our cool art, and thats just the teaser image!
40K SNEAK PEEK: Plastic Hellhound
Look what got unveiled at Gamesday Spain!
Here is the brand spanking new plastic hellhound variant kit, and she is a beauty.
~Yet another of the old metal-plastic hybrid kits bites the dust as the transition to plastic continues. I like all the little details that got changed like the side hull plates and the forward multi-melta. Overall pretty impressive. Look for this to hit the shelves in August
Friday, May 29, 2009
40K NEWS: New IG Cities of Death Strategems
No joke fellow Warhammer fanatics,
After years of dust settling over Cities of Death, Games Workshop has given it a bit of a refresh of late, and just released a set of new CoD Strategems just for the Imperial Guard.
-Forward Spotters
-Tracked Ordinance Device
-Las-cutters
-Scroungers
-Heavy Ploughs
-The Light of the Emperor
-Vox Booster
-Comms Relay
~Pretty cool stuff. GW dropped some new Ork assets recently and now this. It could be cool to see some of the other armies get this treatment. Cities of Death still works for seting up great nailbiter games, and with a little bit of pre-planning can even be worked into an Apocalypse game.
40k Pic of the Day 5-29-09
~Your daily dose of tabletop fun! Enjoy. If you have an awesome shot you think would make a great BoLS pic of the day, email us!
40K Open Thread: IG Named Characters
Lets have some fun this Friday afternoon guys.
The topic of the day is the new Imperial Guard named characters. I want to hear your thoughts on who's good, who's Ok, and who's not worth it.
If you have any great stories of battefield bravery and victory, craven cowardice, or just plain hillarity lets hear them. Jump in guys!
~I'll start...
While at first I was terrified of Le Soldat Marbo, I've come to realize he is just as unpredicatable and fickle as a callidus assassin, and I dont give him much thought any longer. I also recently broke Creed and ran him to ground with Eldrad.... Take that George C. Scott!
SNEAK PEAK: THQ's Space Marine
Hi all,
It looks like good old Relic is at it again. Check out the first teaser from THQ's upcoming "Space Marine" Enjoy!
~This will be getting much more coverage at E3. If you guys remember that leaked brawler 40k video from last year this game is a surprise. Scuttlebutt says that THQ shut that game down, and transferred the name, and creative assets over to Relic who is making this new product out of it.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
40k Pic of the Day 5-28-09
~Your daily dose of tabletop fun! Enjoy. If you have an awesome shot you think would make a great BoLS pic of the day, email us!
FFG NEWS: Chaos in the Old World
Hi all,
It looks like Fantasy Flight Games got more than the rights to Dark Heresy and Talisman.
Check out this new Warhammer based boardgame: Chaos in the Old World
"In the Warhammer world, four Gods of Chaos battle for supremacy. Khorne, the Blood God, the Skulltaker, lusts for death and battle. Nurgle, the Plaguelord, the Father of Corruption, luxuriates in filth and disease.Tzeentch, the Changer of Ways, the Great Conspirator, plots the fate of the universe. Slaanesh, the Prince of Pleasure and Pain, the Lord of Temptations, lures even the most steadfast to his six deadly seductions.
In the Chaos in the Old World board game, each player takes the role of one of the malevolent Lords of Chaos. Each god’s distinctive powers and legion of followers give the controlling player unique strengths and heretical abilities with which to corrupt and enslave the Old World. Yet, as the powers of Chaos seek domination by corruption and conquest, they must vie not only against each other, but also against the desperate denizens of the Old World who fight to banish the gods back to the maelstrom of the Realm of Chaos…for now."
MSRP: $59.95
No Release date listed.
~It will interesting to see where not only this game, but future Warhammer-related boardgames go from FFG.
GW EVENT: Bizarre Bazaar, May 30-31
Just a quick reminder to everyone that the next US Games Workshop Bizarre Bazaar (i.e., customer flea market) is this coming weekend, May 30-31. Visit the GW website for details regarding which stores are participating.
Bizarre Bazaar allows customers to trade and sell Games Workshop product amongst themselves. It's a great way to find a bargain on current models or perhaps obtain an older rare gem of a model that is long out of production.
Ever since GW started hosting these flea markets a few years ago they've been a great way to subsidize my hobby. I've found a lot of terrific bargains at Bizarre Bazaar events and traded away a lot of older items and collectibles I used to have in order to get some other items I wanted. If you want to have a shot at the best bargains or have the widest set of customers for the items you're hoping to trade or sell, be sure to get there early!
40K TACTICA: Demons of Tzeentch
A recent request from a BoLS follower for tactica for demons led to a discussion amongst the Fly Lords. We decided to split up each of the Gods and since there was one of us that played a demon army comprised of the forces of a single God it worked out well. As likely the most active demon player of all, this is the first in a series that will touch on the aspects of all the individual forces.The demons of Tzeentch are the only shooty options in the codex. Few other basic troops can out shoot horrors and flamers can annihilate entire squads at a time. When I devised my army list, I was going for an all around force that can generally handle itself at range, as well as possibly tie up squads for entire games.
The heart of my force is Fateweaver and my attack is centrally focussed around him. His 'Oracle of Eternity' ability is amazing and makes the army really difficult to take down with any sort of focused fire. I have been seeing more demon armies of the other gods adding him as well as more and more recent requests to borrow my Fateweaver model.
Supporting Fateweaver are four squads of Horrors, each eight strong. I give each squad a bolt of change for anti-light vehicle fire, as well as an icon for reserves. One squad also includes the changeling who is one of the best 5 point upgrades around. I generally keep them as close to Fateweaver as possible, making them very difficult to wipe out. With three AP:4 shots each, they can annihilate lightly armored squads in a single round of shooting.
Behind the Horrors are the Flamers of Tzeentch, one of the most potent template squads available from any codex. I run three squads of four in my army. Four breath of chaos shots will likely wipe out even a large squad of terminators or obliterators. I've even killed off tyranid monsterous creatures with them. The ability to glance vehicles can also provide a way to destroy weapons or at lease prevent it from shooting.The anti-vehicle support is comprised of two Soul Grinders with tongue. I almost always include them in the first wave to try and destroy a heavy vehicle early, or if they fail to do that, they are incredibly dificult to take down in close combat. They will also cause instant death to nearly all character models.
Backing up everything is a Demon Prince of Tzeentch. He is usually equipped with nearly every base upgrade he can get, but I feel giving him multiple shooting attacks and Master of Sorcery makes him too costly. I use him more as a backup counter assault monster. I've been experimenting with one of my favorite shooting attacks from the book, Boon of Mutation. He is often in combat with character models as well and there's nothing more fun then turning them into spawn.
I have not found a good place for Screamers of Tzeentch in my force yet. Their anti-vehicle roll may be better served in less centrally focused forces. I find though they may take down an enemy vehicle once, they are often wiped out by close range fire as they are too far from Fateweaver to benefit from him. I am also working on a Blue Scribes model as well as some other Tzeentch Heralds for some testing without Fateweaver.
So what's your tabletop experience with Tzeentch? If you have any comments or questions, throw em out there, petty mewling of the material plane! Only the Ruinous Powers can say whether a treatise on Khorne, Nurgle or Slaanesh will be detailed next.... Thanks to Goatboy for the art!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
40k Pic of the Day 5-27-09
~Your daily dose of tabletop fun! Enjoy. If you have an awesome shot you think would make a great BoLS pic of the day, email us!
40K HOBBY: Converting Imperial Guard Heavy Weapon Teams
A lot of 40K hobbyists are probably building Imperial Guard Heavy Weapon teams these days, either for new Imperial Guard armies or to add to existing armies. Once you've built more than a couple of these models, the standard poses available from the included parts can get pretty stale. Building every team just like the picture on the box definitely gets old fast.
When I first built my Imperial Guard army back in 2006 I immediately began looking for ways to vary the poses for Heavy Weapon teams. Part of this was just for fun, but I also did it because it allowed me to stretch the use of all those extra bits that come with the model. By using some of the regular walking pose troopers from the Cadian Shock Troops box set, I was able to use some of the additional Heavy Weapons that come with a Heavy Weapon team kit. Prone missile launcher teams, standing mortar teams, etc. allow you to use many more of the Heavy Weapons that you get in Heavy Weapon team boxes without buying quite so many of those boxes. It can also allow you to save some of the kneeling pose legs from the Heavy Weapon kits to use for conversions on the poses of regular troopers in platoon squads, veterans, etc.
The pictures shown here are of the latest Heavy Weapon teams I've built for my Guard army. I already had two Lascannon Squads and an Autocannon Squad, so I thought I'd build a Heavy Bolter Squad this time. One goal I had for the conversions shown here was to simulate something at least relatively close to real two-man machine gun teams and some of the iconic images associated with them, such as a loader feeding the ammo belt into the gun. Each picture below is accompanied by a bit of explanation regarding what makes it unique.
Below is a front view of the model shown at the top. This is my favorite of the three models shown here. The seated gunner was suggested by a friend and fellow hobbyist who is also an army veteran. Machine gun training in the US Army is done seated on the ground behind the weapon. Of course, after receiving the suggestion I still had to figure out a way to do it! Cutting the bent legs from a pair of kneeling legs and boosting the model up on a sandbag gave me a fairly convincing seated gunner with the help of a little green stuff and some minor sculpting. The spotter has no real converting to him, just careful positioning of the head, torso and arms to make it appear as if he is furtively peering over his shoulder and the wall. His rifle is leaning against the wall just behind him.
Cutting and repositioning the left hand on the loader allowed me to pose him as if he is feeding the ammunition belt into the Heavy Bolter.
There are a lot of little conversions to this model and it has green stuff (Kneadatite) earthworks and a small shell hole built up on the base. It is ready for priming with sand already glued to the base. The models shown above will have the same coarse sand mix glued to them to simulate rubble and debris from collapsed buildings and blasted terrain. The gunner was made using a model from the Cadian Shock Troops box with minor converting to the waist and neck to get the prone firing pose. The spotter has a lot of cutting and repositioning done to both arms in order to get the one handed grasping of the rifle up on the shoulder and the left handed steadying grasp on the earthworks. Note the shovel in the background leaning against the ruined wall as if it has just been used to build up the earthworks around the soldiers. Also note the loose ammo belt feeding into the Heavy Bolter, which now sits on a bipod, while a closed spare ammo box sits nearby.
As you can see, through a combination of kit-bashing, thoughtful positioning, cutting and sculpting, a large variety of poses can be obtained. Many more poses are possible than the few shown here. Use your imagination, experiment, and most of all, have fun!
With my backlog of projects I really didn't need anything else to paint, especially for a fairly large and already finished army, but cool models are the hobby to me and I just couldn't resist building a few more items for my Imperial Guard, especially with all the fun new rules and options in their latest Codex.
BoLScon: Imperial Guard Q & A
Jwolf here, slaving away at the FAQs and House Rules for BoLSCon 2009. The first and most obvious area I needed to focus on is the new Imperial Guard Codex. Here's what I have at this point:
Q: If an officer is part of a unit that receives an order, can he issue an order later in the same phase?
A: Generally no, as other than "Get Back in the Fight" all orders require the officer to take an action which prevents him from giving orders afterwards.
Q: Can you issue orders in your opponent's Shooting phase?
A: No, you may only issue orders in your own Shooting phase.
Q: Can First Rank, FIRE! Second Rank, FIRE! be used on hot-shot lasguns?
A: No.
Q: Does the d6" move from Al'Rahem's Like the Wind prevent the unit from assaulting in the Assault phase?
A: No. If the unit would normally be eligible to assault (i.e., not fired a rapid-fire weapon, etc.) then it can assault normally in the Assault phase.
Q: What happens to an Independent Character that is attached to a conscript unit that is removed using Chenkov's Send in the Next Wave ability?
A: As long as an Independent Character is attached to the Conscript unit, the Conscript unit may not use the Send in the Next Wave rule.
Q: Do I get +2 on Reserve rolls if I have two Astropaths? Do I get to re-roll the dice used to determine board edge twice?
A: Yes. No. Two Officers of the Fleet work the same way (i.e., -2 to to your opponent's reserve roll, but only one re-roll for board edge for arriving units).
Q: If I have a Master of the Ordnance and a Mortar in my Command Squad, do they follow the Multiple Barrage Rules?
A: No, the Master of the Ordnance fires a single Ordnance Barrage shot in all cases, targeted at the same unit as the rest of the Command Squad.
Q: If I have only one Bodyguard left, can I still apply two wounds to the Bodyguard that would be allocated to the Company Commander? When does Look Out - Arrgh! happen?
A: Yes. You may only apply two wounds that would've been allocated to your Company Commander to Bodyguards, regardless of the number of Bodyguards you have in the unit. Look Out – Arrgh! happens after wound allocation, which means wounds allocated to the Commander by the opponent (i.e. Vindicare shots) can be applied to the Bodyguard.
Q: Can Rough Riders charging into close combat using Hunting Lances further benefit from Furious Charge (making their Strength and Initiative 6)?
A: Yes.
Q: Is Weaken Resolve a psychic shooting attack? Does it require line of sight? Can a Psyker Battle Squad shoot their laspistols on the same turn they use Weaken Resolve?
A: No. Yes. Subject to the normal rules for shooting, the squad can fire its laspistols at any target in range, not only the unit it used the Weaken Resolve power on.
Q: Must the whole template of a Hellhound's Inferno Cannon be placed in LOS? How do you determine the armor facing hit by an Infero Cannon?
A: No, only the initial point must be in LOS; the rest of the template must follow the Template rules as closely as it can without placing the smaller end further than the larger end of the template. The armor facing is determined by drawing a line from the turret to the target, ignoring the template placement.
Q: Do the other weapons on a Hydra Flak Tank benefit from the tank's Auto-Targeting System (e.g., hull-mounted heavy bolter, pintle mounted heavy stubber, hunter-killer missile, etc.).
A: Yes.
Q: What happens when a mixed Ordnance Battery fires?
A: First, announce which Artillery pieces will fire directly and which will fire Barrage. If more than one piece is firing Barrage, the closest piece to the target fires first, if the target is in range. Measure the range to the target from each other piece firing Barrage before scattering the template for the first shot; only those in range may fire. After determining hits and wounds from the Barrage, determine hits and wounds from any pieces firing directly. Once all wounds have been determined, resolve the wounds and vehicle damage.
Q: Can a Techpriest Enginseer repair a Weapon Destroyed result on a Deathstrike Missile Launcher?
A: Yes, a successful Weapon Destroyed repair on a Deathstrike Missile Launcher eliminates a -1 to the "T-Minus five minutes to launch...and counting" roll caused by a single Weapon Destroyed result. This takes effect on the following shooting phase, as the damage was existing at the start of the current shooting phase.
Q: Can I use my Valkyrie or Vendetta without a flying base?
A: No. Any Valkyrie or Vendetta must be mounted on a flying base similar in height to the one supplied in the current Games Workshop plastic kit, and have a base no smaller than the one supplied in the current Games Workshop plastic kit.
Q: Does a Vendetta have the same transport capacity (and restrictions), fire points and access points as a Valkyrie Assault Carrier?
A: Yes.
Q: What do I measure from when firing at, disembarking from, or passing near a Valkyrie and Vendetta?
A: For the purposes of armor facing, disembarking, and the 1" rule, only count the hull of the vehicle -- ignore the tail and wings. For determining range to the model, use the model as normal. Ignore the height of the model when embarking or disembarking; models get in and out of Valkyries and Vendettas at the height of the base.
Q: How do I assault a Valkyrie?
A: Move into contact with the base of the model. Moving under the model to reach the base is fine.
Q: If Commissar Yarrick is "placed on his side" does the Inspirational Hero rule still work?
A: Yes.
Q: When Commissar Yarrick stands back up due to "Iron Will" and would be in base contact with an enemy model, the rules say I can place him so that he is more than 1" from an enemy model. Does this mean I can place him anwhere that is more than 1" from an enemy model?
A: No, you must place him as close to where he fell down as possible such that he is more than 1" from an enemy model.
Q: When Al'Rahem's Infantry Platoon outflanks, how do they enter play?
A: When the single roll for the Platoon indicates they enter play, each unit within the Platoon rolls individually to determine upon which board edge they outflank.
Q: Do wounds inflicted by Nork Deddog's Heroic Sacrifice count toward combat resolution?
A: Yes.
Q: What happens if Nork Deddog is killed by No Retreat! wounds?
A: Nork inflicts Heroic Sacrifice wounds on one unit he could have attacked during normal combat resolution.
~As you can see, not all of my items are covered under the rules, but all of them relate to questions of the rules or playability issues we have experienced with the new Codex. If you have more Imperial Guard questions or issues, I'd be glad to hear what they are, and will consider them for the FAQ and House Rules.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
40k Pic of the Day 5-26-09
~Your daily dose of tabletop fun! Enjoy. If you have an awesome shot you think would make a great BoLS pic of the day, email us!
40K WFB RUMORS: Space Hulk & Q3-4 Releases
Hi guys,
You know what we haven't heard from in a while... those Space Hulk rumors.
Well by now we can kind of lay out the Warhammer 40k and Fantasy schedule for a lot of the rest of the year and find the holes where it may be:
July: Planetstrike
August: IG Wave 2
Sept:
October: Space Wolves
November:Skaven
December:
Now Planetary Empires is said to be somwhere in the vicinity of Planetstrike, and that leaves us with Space Hulk. There are only a few places it could go. We hear its the in the holiday release slot at the very back end of the year.
Further info says the game plays very fast, and has lots of cool extra bitz for use as objectives such as wounded terminators (Man Down!)
~As usual, caveats apply to most of these and I would easily expect several of these to slide a month here or there. Its going to be a fun back half of the year.
Goatboy's 40k Thoughts: Paint Theme
Goatboy here again. Instead of delving into some kind of tournament nonsense I thought I would go into how I like to work a visual theme into my armies. Nothing is worse to me, then a completely non painted army that you see week in and week out. I know we all can't be painters, but with a little thought and planning, you can create a cohesive force that looks great on the tabletop. So what I want to go into today is how I go about creating a color theme for finishing an entire army.
I know I am not the best painter, but what I consider myself to be is an extremely fast and proficient painter/creator. When I look at starting a new army, the first thing I do is try to figure out a paint theme that I can carry throughout the force, to ensure that it looks cohesive as well as something I can duplicate without the luck of the wash or a random color pull on the paint palette. The first thing I like to do, is create a test mini. Below is the test mini I created for the Astral Claws in the upcoming Badab book as well as the one listed on the Lexicon for the Astral Claws.
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Now as you can see, this isn't what I would call a normal paint scheme. There is a lot going on for a small mini, that all the slashes of color can get lost on the miniature. In fact, I thought it was a huge mess and would have personally never wanted to create an army of that scheme. I knew I could do it, but found the design as something pretty repulsive. It reminded me of some crazy 80's creation, wanting to rock out to White Snake. But, since I can paint quickly as well as having a knack for creating a scheme that can be easily reproduced, I was the one to bite the bullet and create an Astral Claw. Here are some of my rules for getting your basic theme down:
Keep it Simple
This means don't try to make every mini the Mona Lisa if you aren't a pro painter. for the Astral Claws I decided to limit the overall tiger hash marks. This does 2 things, first it allows you to have an easier time getting the design done. Nothing is worse then creating a theme that takes way to long to finish on a per-mini basis. Yeah it is great to have this one awesome squad, but when it comes down to game time, you still only have one squad.
Control your Palette
Remember back in 2nd Edition when everything was a flaming primary color. Well, its not the 1980s any more. Stick to a limited palette that you can reproduce quickly and work on perfecting the subtle shading and blending opportunities within you narrow range. For the Astral Claws I wanted to make the model's design look a lot more modern as well as something that might actaualy see the light of day. I like my minis to at least feel as realistic as I would think life would be like in a state of constant war. Thus the darker colors and the decisions to not have something be incredibly bright.
Devise Shortcuts
Simplify, simplify, simplify. Once I create a paint theme, I go about writing down the color layering technique I use. From there I look for any shortcuts I could make. When you paint armies of 50+ models, you have to look at ways to help you finish the look quickly. I want to play with my new army as quickly as I can as I find playing with the models to be as much as fun as painting them.
Orky Examples
I am showcasing some other minis I am currently working on. I'm going with an Bad Moons theme, so I went with the prominent color yellow throughout each of the minis. I didn't want to go with the fully yellow color I see for them sometimes, as I would think orks would be extremely dirty and dingy. Thus the push of a more brownish yellow that has been rung through the mud. Also, all the vehicles are going to have some of the shield plates yellow, not the entire thing. I would think most orks would get bored painting something yellow, thus creation of a dingy yellow. I just can't get enough of painting the stinky brutes.
Remember the goal here isn't to win Golden Daemons. Its to get that giant pile of grey plastic hiding in boxes under your bed looking good on the tabletop. As usual, shoot me an email if you have any questions. Also if you want some advice on painting themes and painting designs (layering thoughts, color choices, etc). I am always happy to help anyone out.
Monday, May 25, 2009
40k Pic of the Day 5-25-09
~Your daily dose of tabletop fun! Enjoy.
40K Deep Thoughts: Eldar Units
Hi all,
You know I've been a bit down on the Eldar's chances of late, but I refuse to throw in the towel on my beloved Craftworlders. Since codex IG arrived, I've been making a series of omnibus lists that have worked thier way through almost every unit in the codex, from the Avatar to Support Platforms.
Here is my thinking so far on the Craftworlders:
1)There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the armylist (outside of a handful of stinker units, but most codices have some), from a rules perspective.
2)The problem is costing, with the units being fairly overcosted across the board compared to more recent codices, with minor costing problems with infantry scaling up to crazy costs for Eldar vehicles.
3)The biggest issue I'm encountering is the cost of transport options. The vast majority of the killyness of the codex has short range so you have to get the troops to the bad guys in relative safety. The problem is the Eldar transports are very pricy for their abilities, compared to the newer races APCs, leaving you with a very brittle army of troops to do the damage once they arrive. Compare:
Rhino: 35 pts
Razorback: 40 pts
Drop pod: 35 pts
Chimera: 55 pts
Valkyrie: 100
Wave Serpent: 100pts
Falcon: 120 pts
There are of course weapon differences, but you get the idea. Combine this with expensive infantry and you can see the bigger issue. Outside of the ridiculously priced jetbike seer councils or mounted dragons dealing with vehicles is a real issue for the army. Brightlances are pricy and difficult to come by in a cost effective manner. Here is a unit price breakdown per Brightlance (you can roughly apply it to the others as well)
Cost per Brightlance:
Wave Serpent: 135 (Twin linked, BS3)
Guardian Defenders: 110 (BS3)
Viper Squadron: 75 (BS3)
Wraithlord: 130 (BS4)
War Walker Squadron: 45 (BS3)
Falcon: 145 (BS3)
I have had success of late with farseer-supported brightlance war walker squadrons, (shooting hull down from behind vehicles or cover), and a few other standouts in 5th edition:
-Dark Reaper-Tempest Exarchs with crack/fast shots are nasty killers who ignore cover.
-Small guardian jetbike squads with destructor/singing spear warlocks are cheap multipurpose scoring units (maybe the most survavable of the troops choices)
-War walker squadrons are the most cost efficent method of adding heavy weapons to the army and support with farseers.
-Surprisingly, Guardian Storms are now a great choice for aggressive burninating, supported by destructor warlocks. They are both efficient, and cheap enough to risk using in the overpriced transports.
-Eldrad is almost manadatory at this point. Facing an uphill struggle versus the newer codices, his redeployment power can ensure you don't get caught out of position and maximize on a foe's deployment mistakes. Eldrad can also anchor a small section of your line with the effectiveness of 2 farseers, freeing you to try out interesting things with your second HQ slot.
~I'm having mixed results as I adapt to the new IG-dominated world but I feel that the Eldar may be down but not out. What are you guys seeing and using?
REVIEW: Tattered Fates (Dark heresy)
Hi all,
Its review time, and let me welcome you to our latest Dark Heresy article. Lets take a look at Fantasy Flight Games' upcoming: Tattered Fates: the Haarlock Legacy Volume 1.
First up, the basics. We have a hardcover supplement for Dark Heresy, weighing in at 70 full color pages. The book is well put together and is a lavishly illustrated with a combination of old 40k classics and all new paintings and illustrations.
"Something terrible stirs upon the pleasure planet of Quaddis. Portents and ancient evils become evident as the penultimate 13th Hour approaches. Will your Acolytes be able to discover the secret of the Haarlock’s Legacy in time? From the bloody, labyrynthine Red Cages to the mansion of Gabriel Chase, the adventure draws the Acolytes into the dark underside of Quaddis. The affairs of the notorious Rogue Trader Erasmus Haarlock take form, setting the stage for the fate of the Calixis Sector. When the Steel Clock strikes the 13th hour, the Haarlock’s Legacy will be revealed."
Tattered Fates is an intricate first act in the upcoming three part adventure series for Dark Heresy. Within the adventure itself, we get a lavish background, with myriad NPCs, adventure hooks, plots, sub-plots, and sub-sub-plots. The players will explore the pleasure world of Quaddis, and gain an eyeview of the corrupt intrigues of the Imperial upper classes on a world like no other. Above all the module feels very much like a lavished detailed sandbox to drop your party into, with a lot of room for roleplaying and maneuvering. This is not a narrowly designed adventure on rails, but one that will reward creative thinking and investigative play.
This format is wonderful for both the GM and the players, as the background descriptions and play aids are fluffy and specific. The adventure is chock full of all manner of gothic horror and ancient evil we know exists in the Warhammer 40k universe but would never been seen on the open battlefield.
It is at once, challenging, deadly, mysterious, and laden with layers upon layers of hooks for future adventures in the Calaxis Sector. It would be worth the price just for the high quality content, but the physical quality of the book itself is just an extra bonus.
Availability: Out now
MRSP: $24.95
4 Stars (Out of 5)
As usual, comments are welcome all.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
The Art of War-hammer: Brainstorming
"Victorious warriors win first and then go to war,
while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win."
while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win."
Down here in Austin, many of the Fly Lords regularly gather for gaming night at our FLGS. We often discuss very specific details of army composition we have found and open the floor for criticisms and input. I know I could ask any of them for specific advice on my lists/tactics and they would be more than happy to help. I think this is one of the things that has helped to stay ahead of the curve.
Before I moved to Austin three and a half years ago, my mid-sized gaming group never discussed tactics or army choices openly. I would say there were some who preferred to keep their dirty tricks secret until tournament day. I can confidently say this slowed the groups advancement, and still does (I recall a debate on the power level of nob bikers shortly after the Ork codex was released).
This became very apparent before this year's Adepticon Gladiator event. The entire Fly Lords crew got together months ahead of time to brainstorm the Reaver titan lists we were planning on bringing. We tested the lists against the nastiest armies we could throw at it, adjusting where necessary until we had a list that was as close to unbeatable as it could be. Only then did we head out to battle the general public.
~Do your local gaming groups tend to discuss armies and tactics en masse or do you tend to act more individually? How do you spread and gather your tacical knowledge?
40K NEWS: More Valkyrie Apoc Datasheets
Hi Gang,
This month's WD has two Valkyrie datasheets.
Bellerophon' Pattern Airborne Assault Group
This formation makes all of its Valkyries flyers.
"Steel Eagle" Catachan Colonel Paseski's Command Valkyrie
200pts, vehicle, flyer
BS:5
Lascannon, 2x multiple Rocket Pods
Extra Armor
Regimental Headquarters
Instead of Heavy Bolter Sponsons, it has two Snipers. They can ALWAYS fire, and can EACH choose a target different from the Valkyrie as well as each other. Once per game, each can fire a single S10 AP1 2D6 armour penetrating "Champion Shot."
All allied Vendettas, Valkyries, and Vultures can get re-rolls on immobilized damage results.
~Yikes! With rules like that you would think they are trying to push Valkyries or something...
Saturday, May 23, 2009
40k Pic of the Day 5-23-09
~I've been noticing that BoLS could use more nice looking tabletop pics. Expect more of these moving forward.
BoLSCon 2009 Teaser
Its coming!
BoLScon 2009
The Doubletree Hotel - Austin, TX
Warhammer 40k
Warhammer Fantasy
War of the Ring
Tournaments
Apocalypse
Mini-dexes
BIG Prizes
Whats not to love? Save the date. Lots of details coming very soon!
40K RUMORS: Space Wolves Release Date
The Sons of Russ are on the move. The little Space Wolves breadcrumbes dropped here and there in recent publications are coming to fruition.
Latest sources say look for the Australian release date the first week of October.
Check out the latest batch of Space Wolves rumors here.
~The rest of the world gets the codex at either the same time, or a couple weeks earlier. The Wolf Time is close.
Friday, May 22, 2009
40K NEWS: Planetstrike Advanced Orders
And Planetstrike is unveiled formally for all of us Warhammer 40k fans....
Check out all the latest stuff on the Advanced Orders Page:
Planetstrike $25
Skyshield Landing Pad $ 39.50
Imperial Bastion $29.75
Aegis Defense Line $19.75
Chaos Bastion $45.75
Mines Bombs, and Booby Traps $20.00
~Pretty cool stuff, and can someone in marketing get those wonky pricepoints lined up.... :) These ship out in July.
40K SNEAK PEEK: Planetary Empires
Look whats been spotted in a French White Dwarf... Its the Warhammer 40k version of Mighty Empires!
~Planetary Empires can't be far now...
40K TACTICA: Battle of the Wagons
I noticed something in my recent games with my Orks that I thought should be addressed because it deals with a larger, more important, concept. A thought began swimming in my head over the last few months. Why is it that my über points expensive, larger than life, battle wagon ineffective?
Well the thought finally dawned on me what the difficulty was. My Battle Wagon was suffering from a case of Multiple Purpose Disorder (MPD). MPD is an Armored Fighting Vehicle (AFV) that cannot settle on a battlefield role. What I mean can be seen in our friend the Land Raider. A Land Raider is a great transport. It is also a pretty mean tank, but it has trouble when it is being tasked to do both at the same time.
So how does this apply to my friend the Battle Wagon? Well I was arming it to the teeth with tons of upgrades thinking that I would drive forward, drop off troops, and shoot the tar out of my opponent. This in and of itself was terribly flawed thinking. The reason was that it was so expensive that I could only take one Battle Wagon, and so on turn one my Battle Wagon was a fire magnet/ points sink.
This has inspired me to revise how I look at the Battle Wagon. The Battle Wagon is not a tank; it is an infantry support vehicle. Let us take a close look at the upgrades it can be given and it will become painfully obvious how to use this vehicle.
Shooty Weapons
The Battle Wagon has a wide array of weapons available. What should be considered is the range on most of them. The Big Gunz and Big Shootas have comparable ranges. They can hit targets out to 36”. The Kill Kannon and Rokkit Launchas can strike targets out to 24”. The significance here is 24” is too short when it comes to ranges. Almost every army in the game will have longer range artillery/ heavy weapons and they will stomp the Battle Wagon into the ground.
If you were to take the maximum shooty weapon load out for the equally ranged weapons then you would be paying the following: 35 points for 36” ranged weapons and 100 points for all 24” weapons.
Choppy Weapons/ Upgrades
This is where the Battle Wagon gets ugly. The Def Roller, Wrecking Ball, Boarding Plank, and Grabbin’ Klaw make the Battle Wagon a juggernaut. These weapons exceed the strength of the shooting weapons, and are comparatively cheaper than the shooting weapons. They also give the Battle Wagon the ability to inflict major damage on opponent tanks and vehicles. The cheaper cost of these upgrades gives an Ork player the chance to have more battle wagons in their force.
Me Orky No Wat’s
Either option for the Battle Wagon is perfectly acceptable. If you are going to upgrade the guns to be Kill Kannon and Rokkits then by no means should this vehicle consider transport duties. It must shoot every turn and move as little as possible. Once your opponent has knocked the ordinance weapon off then it can be a transport, but not until it has been relieved of its ordinance weapon.
This battle wagon will excel at infantry support. What I mean is primary targets for this tank should be soft juicy infantry models, and not tanks. Let your opponent sweat the decision to target your Wagon or your Boyz, and let your wagon pummel your opponent’s infantry with high-AP-insta-kill goodness. The Shooty Wagon will run from 150 to 270 points, but that depends on the options and weapons you put on it.
For this warlord, my money is on the Choppy Wagons. I think that their ability to get the boyz to their destination will be invaluable. I also think that their ability to engage close-by targets will increase their threat ability. The big consideration is that fully loaded out for close up duties, with infantry killing guns, only costs at most 175 points. A lower cost will allow you to take two of them. Two Wagons will ensure that you will be able to use them beyond turn 1. Failing that, you will have distracted a lot of fire from your advancing horde.
So before you throw your Battle Wagons onto the field, take a look at what you want them to do. I feel that by avoiding MPD, and specifically tasking your Battle Wagons, you will be a force to be reckoned with.
How do you use your Battle Wagons? What do you think is the best way to kit them out? I’m curious what you would do.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Thursday Omnibus 5/20/2009
Hi guys a bit of community news for you this evening:
Vassal 5.2 is Released
A year after its creation, the Vassal40k.com team are proud to
announce the release of their newest module: V40k Version 5.2
Including all the new Imperial guard units and plenty of other updates
this download is a must!
Gorgon Studios Launches
Gorgon Studios, a cabal of veteran hobbyist, game designers/writers and miniatures painter, is proud to officially launch its website (http://www.gorgon-studios.com) and announce its partnership with world-renown miniatures sculptor, Steve Saleh.
'Temperance’
Gorgon is happy to make its first Collector’s range model available. We are proud to introduce “Temperance”, a 40mm post-Apocalyptic she-devil. Sculpted by Steve Saleh, this multi-part figure heralds Gorgon’s eclectic Collector’s range. Walking directly from the blighted and nightmarish wastelands of the dark future, Temperance makes a formidable addition for the collector, painter or wargamer.
'At the Hot Gates’
Over the next few months, Gorgon Miniatures plans to release its first two ranges of 28mm historical miniatures. First off, will be the re-release of Steve Saleh's excellent range of early Spartans, as a forerunner to a comprehensive treatment of the Classical era. Keep checking the website for availability, updates and previews of forthcoming figures.
Concurrently, Gorgon Publishing is working on both miniatures rules and some exciting RPG material. Stay tuned! The next few months will see lots of surprises. Again, all details of our products will be announced first on our website. Keep checking for updates.
~Vassal as always is cool, and Gorgon Studios is the baby of some of the founders of Adepticon. It will be interesting to see where this leads.
EPIC BATTLE REPORT: Quintairn Conflict - Pt. 2
An Epic battle report by Gr00v3r
In my last post, I described the start of the Eldar campaign to cleanse Quintairn of its human defenders (PDF and Ultramarines). For those who missed it, here's the set up:
CAMPAIGN SUMMARY
Quintairn is the site of various Imperium military storage and re-supply facilities in the realm of Ultramar. Its proximity to Macragge brings it under the auspices of the space marines of the Ultramarines chapter, who remain involved in the world’s administration and day-to-day business at a superficial level. It is defended by a Planetary Defense Force (PDF) that follows standard Imperial Guard organisation and doctrine. Other than as a convenient re-supply point between Macragge and the rest of the of Segmentum Ultramar, the planet retains little strategic interest.
However, a craftworld full of Eldar, on an endless patrol of once-Eldar worlds, has now arrived at Quintairn, which, as it turns out, was once a jewel of their ancient empire. They are very displeased to find it now sullied by filthy humans...
It is Week 3, and the second battle of the two required by the current turn has now been played.
The campaign map looks like this:
WEEK 3:BATTLE FOR SOUTHRON
At Southron, Ultramarines forces with an approximate battle value of 4,400 points assaulted the heavily fortified Eldar defenders at Southron, whose battle value was estimated by scholars to have been around 4,000 points.
SETUP AND DEPLOYMENT
The Ultramarines attackers
The Eldar Defenders
The Battlefield
The battle took place on the outskirts of the ruined Imperial city. The plains of Southron offered little cover for the Ultramarines, whereas the fortified Eldar defenders enjoyed the cover provided by DC2 walls and DC3 bunkers, as well as the ruins themselves.
Objectives
The objectives were designated by both sides, as was each side's forward operations base (blitz objective).
THE BATTLE
The Marines went on the offensive immediately, teleporting no less than three Terminator detachments in behind the Revenant titans (destruction of which would hand the Ultramarines the Break Their Sprit victory condition). This strategy was an incredible gamble, as a failure to gain the initiative would without doubt doom the Terminators and cause the entire operation for Southron to fail.
The God-Emperor was with the Ultramarines that day, however, and they caught the Eldar by surprise (won the Strategy roll). The Emperor's most elite warriors engaged the Revenants in close assault, and managed to destroy them utterly.
The Ultramarines followed up this victory with a orbital assault upon the Eldar forward operations base. An intial bombardment softened up the defenses, and the drop pods soon followed.
The brave Eldar flanked the assaulting force, but the stalwart Ultramarines were able to hold their lines and advance to engage the defenders of the Eldar base.
The Ultramarines took significant casualties storming the base, but the result was worth the cost, as victory was now well within their grasp (having taken the Blitzkrieg victory condition, and should have been able hold the Eldar blitz objective until the end of the game).
The Eldar pushed in upon the Ultramarines forward base and the Reaver defending it (to take their Blitzkrieg and Break Their Spirit objectives) in an effort to change the momentum of the battle, but were repulsed when two detachments of Devastators arrived via Thunderhawk gunships to support the Reaver.
And so the Ultramarines won the day (with an emphatic 2-0 victory).
PACKING UP
I hope you enjoyed this brief campaign battle report. Sadly, my campaign opponent, horse, is headed overseas for several weeks, so you won't see any progress in the Eldar purge of Quintairn for a little while now.
I have plenty of Epic action up my sleeve, though, and will be bringing you a plethora (ooooo!) of Epic Awesome in future posts, including hobby-related posts and some of the best Epic battle reports I've found in my trolling of the intertoobs.
~Give it up for Gr00v3r folks. More epic stuff is coming your way.
40K DECISION: Which Russ Type?
Jwolf here. Let’s talk about Leman Russes. In the new Guard Codex we have 5 new types, the option to take up to 3 tanks in a Squadron, and new sponson options. It’s enough to make your head spin, so here is some advice on choosing Russes, for new and old Guardsmen alike.
First issue, should you take squadrons or not? The general answer is do not take squadrons. Russes are expensive platforms and the Squadron rules mean that immobilization kills them, making them more vulnerable. So unless you are committed to taking more than 3 Heavy choices, take your tanks singly.
Here are my suggestions of which Russes to take, their loadouts, and why.
#1 Demolisher, with Hull Lascannon and Plasma Cannon Sponsons. This tank has the best general purpose turret and an awesome amount of anti-anything firepower. If you want to have one to maneuver, drop the sponsons, but the full load-out and sitting in a key position is the best use of this platform. Remember to build your 6” deep barrier of infantrymen if you’re facing Drop Pods or Deep Strikers.
#2 Battle Tank, with Hull Heavy Bolter. The good old Russ still kills Marines across the board and is a threat to any vehicle on the board. Keeping the sponsons off lets you move to cover vulnerable areas.
#3 Executioner, with Hull Lascannon and Sponson Plasma Cannons. This tank is the best use of Pask, having 5 blast templates that will benefit from his BS4. The Executioner is the best tank for killing tough single wound and Eternal Warrior units. The Executioner is largely impotent against AV14, and it is the most expensive loadout, but it inspires a great deal of terror.
#4 Vanquisher, with Hull Lascannon. This tank is your best shot at killing most vehicles at over 48” – but how often do you need to do that, honestly? If you want to upgrade the tank to being generally useful, add Plasma Cannon Sponsons. This makes the Vanquisher a decent all-around killer. Multi-melta Sponsons are just overkill, unless you add Pask and go for the vehicle eraser (at a Landraider price).
#5 Exterminator, with Hull and Sponson Heavy Bolters. The Exterminator Autocannon is very good for killing light armor, but the lack of effectiveness against AV14 means this is tank has a limited role. You could add Pask, making the tank expensive but able to hurt any tank out there (and pretty darn good against Waveserpents).
#6 Eradicator, with Hull Heavy Bolter. This is a solid tank for killing all those Carapace or worse armies out there, but Artillery and Hellhounds are better used in that role. Since such a high percentage of armies have Power Armor and/or transport vehicles, this tank’s only saving grace is moderate pricing.
#7 Punisher, with Hull and Sponson Heavy Bolters and Pintle Heavy Stubber. This is an example of an interesting tank rendered nonviable by price. The second most expensive chassis available, this tank produces an average of 7 wounds to a Marine squad each turn (10.75 with the suggested loadout), or 4 casualties per turn. This vehicle is actually not worth killing for Marines unless there is nothing else to kill or it is in a strategically crucial point. Giving the Punisher anti-vehicle weapon upgrades reduces the efficiency of the vehicle even further.
A final note: I do not think that taking 3 Demolishers is the best way to fill your Heavy Slots. Yes, the Demolisher is the best single Russ to take, but taking a variety of tanks in your Heavy slots lets you accomplish more than simply going for 3 of the "best" Russ.
~I hope this is enough to give those who need it guidance on building out Russes in the new Guard army, and look forward to hearing from those of you who do not.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
40K ARMY LIST: Space Marine Hammertime
Now I didn’t think of this army list, it was a local player named Josiah who came up with this. I think this list might be too much of a one trick pony, but it could make for some fun times on the board if you are seeing lots of newly minted Imperial Guard players. So without further ado, here is Josiah's "Hammertime" army.
2000 pts
HQ: Librarian, Terminator Armor, Null zone, Gate of Infinity, Storm Shield
HQ: Librarian, Terminator Armor, Null Zone, Vortex of Doom, Storm Shield
Elites: Assault Terminators (8), all TH/SS
Elites: Assault Terminators (8), all TH/SS
Troops: Scout Squad (10), Heavy Bolter, Locator Beacon, Half Sniper Rifles
Troops: Tact Squad, Multi-melta, Meltagun, Drop Pod, Locator Beacon
Troops: Tact Squad, Multi-melta, Meltagun, Teleport Homer, Razorback
Troops: Tact Squad, Multi-melta, Meltagun, Razorback
Heavy: Predator, Hvy Bolter Sponsons
Heavy: Predator, Hvy Bolter Sponsons
Heavy: Predator, Hvy Bolter Sponsons
2000 pts - Up to 8 scoring - Kp - 15
I think the list is strong versus Imperial Guard and horde armies, without having to rely on your TH/SS termies to do all your nasty business.
Obviously the thought is to close quickly, teleport your guys up there, and then start wading through chumps with your hammers of doom. I picked null zone to help deal with Daemons and other TH/SS termies. It might be worth it to run both librarians with the same psychic power set up just to help with some redundancy. The other parts of the army, are designed to hold objectives and dish out boatloads of wounds to thin out large attack mob based armies, which can pull the TH/SS termies down under the weight of multiple armor saves.
Again I did not come up with the initial idea of this list, I just had it shove its hammers down my throat one game at the weekend tournament. I thought it had some merit, and with a few small tweaks it should shore up any issues with its ability to cover the horde, as well as give most armies fits as they try to deal with the TH/SS termies. For those needing a smaller point total, drop the one tact squad and pred.
What do you think? Any thoughts on tweaks to this list? Josiah what did you think of how it played? Comment away folks and feel free to email me atgoatboybols@gmail.com.
40K TACTICA: Necron Pariahs
This week I'm taking a look at what is probably the least utilized unit in the entire Necron codex. These hybrid human/necrons have amazing stats and abilities. Just a few glaring negatives make them a tough choice to make for any Necron player.
PROS:
I'll start with the most obvious and the most powerful ability, Soulless. The number of uses for lowering every unit within 12" leadership to 7 is countless. Unfortunately, it doesn't help against the myriad of fearless units out there.
Toughness 5 means that bolters are going to be causing less wounds and las guns are going to need 6s. Strength 5 means their close combat attacks will be doing more wounds.
Their warscythes ability to ignore saves of any kind makes it one of the best close combat weapons in the game. Combined with the built in gauss blaster and you have a unit that can do some damage at range or up close.
CONS:
A high cost means they are going to eat up your points very quickly and it restricts you from taking too many.
Not having the Necron special rule, Pariahs don't benefit from all of the key Necron abilities that make the army really survivable.
3+ armor mean battle cannons, plasma, banewolves, and all the other ap3 weapons will kill them outright.
DIRTY TRICK:
In my last few games, I've been running a minimum squad of 4 joined by a nightmare shroud/solar pulse lord. Once a squad got close enough, the lord forced each squad to take moral checks at leadership 7. I forced 2 space marine squads to flee off the table.
~Has anyone else been giving Pariahs a try lately? Do you think they might be worth their points cost or is it just too high for their abilities?
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
GW NEWS: June 2009 US Price Increases
Following on the heels of the June 1 UK price increase news posted here the other day, the US price change list is now posted on DakkaDakka.
The good news is that many items aren't changing in price at all and most increases are relatively small, though there are a few changes that might give pause. Also notice that if you scrutinize the list carefully you will spot as yet unreleased items on it like the Ork Battlewagon Upgrade Sprue and some of the new Planetstrike scenery items.
LoTR PAINTING: Army of the Dead
With the recent release of the new plastic Army of the Dead boxed set for War of the Ring, I decided it was finally time to add some to my collection. I was looking forward to painting them, as their style lends to some very relaxing inking and drybrushing techniques,. Determining the order and ratio of paints and washes was the tricky part.
I decided to stray from the typical mix of light and dark grays and go with a more green, glowing look, similar to their appearance in "Return of the King." Below I've created a step by step painting guide for how I achieved my particular look.
Step 1:
After priming the model white, I painted everything but the weapon with a slightly watered down shadow grey. After this, I applied a very heavy drybrush of a 1:1 mix of and codex grey and snot green. This was followed by a lighter, but still heavy, drybrush of fortress grey.
Step 2:
The last stage before applying the wash, was a medium drybrush of skull white. The heavier you drybrush the white at this stage, the brighter the model will look in the end. I then applied a full wash with GW's new thraka green citadel wash. After it dried, I added a very light drybrush of skull white again to bring back out some of the edges.
Step 3:
Now for the metal parts. How much of the metal you want to paint is up to you. Going with the pictures on the box that they came in, the only metal areas that were not kept green were the weapons and chainmail. After first painting these parts chainmail, I hit it up with a badab black wash to give it some depth. To give it a bit of an aged look, I gave the sword a light drybrush of mithril silver
Step 4:
Finally, I decided to paint the beard of the model a very bright blonde color to make the model a little more interesting. First I painted the beard and mustache bubonic brown, and then picked out some of the hairs with sunburst yellow. Last, but not least, was one final drybrush of skull white over the beard to bring it out just a little bit more.
All that's left is to base it and put him in with a company of his other former comrades. If you wanted to get them finished a little quicker, some of the steps can be left out and still acheive a good table top standard.
Although this painting guide is for the army of the dead from War of the Ring, it could easily be adapted and applied to ghosts or lesser daemons from Warhammer Fantasy or 40k.
40K NEWS: Imperial Guard Releases
This past Saturday saw the release of the new Imperial Guard Lord Commissar, Regimental Advisors, and the new Battleforces for Cadian and Catachan armies. This completes the IG releases for May, but rumor has it that there will be more coming for the Guard this August with the release of the new multi-variant Hellhound and Demolisher kits.
Now the newly revised Imperial Guard Codex and shiny new models raises some interesting possibilities regarding army selection in every area of their 40K force organization chart, including the HQ choices. Previously, the HQ options for a Guard army were extremely narrow, but with new characters like the Primaris Psyker and Lord Commissar to lead IG armies, as well as selections like Commissar Yarrick and company command upgrade characters like Creed and Straken, Imperial Guard generals now have a plethora of selections and combinations they can try out in the HQ role. Additionally, new flexibility with choices like the Ministorum Priests add even more tactical options for IG enthusiasts.
So, let me ask, both new Imperial Guard commanders and veterans alike:
- Which HQ choices and combinations will you be using most often?
- How do you think the new HQ options will affect the employment of the IG in games? Will they have a significant effect on game play and tactics or do they just add a little "oomph" without much changing the way the army will be used?
- If you're a long-time IG commander, will you be sticking close to the old-style company command squad, will you be switching to the newer options, or will you be using a combination of the two?
- What other items are you planning to add to existing Guard armies? Do options like Penal troops, Veterans and Conscripts seem more attractive under the new Codex?
- Do any of the new options make the Guard feel less fragile in the face of possible close combat situations or do the Guard still need to avoid close combat in all but the most dire and desperate circumstances?
- If you've played games with or against the Guard using the new Codex, what if anything seems significantly different now compared to Guard under the previous Codex?
Okay, Imperial commanders, file your analyses and battle doctrine recommendations in the comments area below. The Lord Commissar gives you permission to speak freely on this topic, so the usual sanctions against tactics that include withdrawal manoeuvres and the like are lifted for a limited time.
I played an Apocalypse game against a friend's Guard army last Friday and the newly increased Guard fire power and special orders were certainly causes for concern, although my Slaughterfiend Bloodpack and massive hordes of Khorne Berserkers were not to be denied their skulls in the end! Nevertheless, what was a good army is now a great one under the new Guard Codex and we've only just begun to scratch the surface of what is possible with an Imperial Guard army now.
I completed a large Imperial Guard army of my own in 2006 (a sampling of it can be viewed here) and I'll be revisiting it this year for sure with new tanks, Valkyries and more. Being a Warhammer collector and modeler first and a 40K player second, I think it will be fun to paint the new HQ characters as well as some troop options that now seem more colorful to me than they did before, specifically, Penal and Conscript squads. I'd also like to go back and paint a few odd unpainted IG models I have like Creed and Kell. Then there are those crazy fun projects I always start thinking of to make my armies more unique. For example, I'm considering turning that old collection of Necromunda Escher gang models I have into a squad of all-female veterans. As always, too many potential projects, too much fun to be had, too little time!
40k DECISION: Vendetta Versus Valkyrie?
Hi all, Jwolf here.
When the new Valkyrie rules came out, I looked and immediate said “Why would anyone take anything but the Vendetta? Three twin-linked Lascannons for 130 points AND transport capacity? Those are too good.” Having played a few games, here is what I have learned:
-The Vendetta is great as an AT platform moving 6”. This is no surprise, but confirmation is always good.
-Often I want to move further than 6” with my fast transports, which means the Vendetta only gets to shoot one twin-linked Lascannon. This is still a good weapon, but a 66% loss of firepower in order to more effectively use the transport function is a big downside.
-Vendettas are a lot more threatening than Valkyries, so they draw firepower that would otherwise go at tanks. This has good and bad points.
-Valkyries with Multiple Rocket Pods (MRPs) are the same price as Vendettas, and cannot really kill tanks at all. They are far more useful for shooting Assault Terminators and even normal Marines than Vendettas, though. I haven’t played them against Orks, but I imagine the Valkyrie will be the far better choice.
-Valkyries with MRPs can move 12” and fire two large blasts and a Multilaser out to 24”. This means they have full firepower when moving at cruising speed.
-Keeping a Valkyrie in Reserve to Outflank (or just Reserve in normally) is a much less painful choice than keeping a Vendetta in Reserve, as the Valkyrie doesn’t have much to do until transports are opened up anyway.
Conclusions:
-No Guard army meant to be competitive should be without at least one Valkyrie or Vendetta.
-If you’re making an Airmobile force, a squadron of Vendettas makes good sense, with two Valkyrie squadrons for transport duty.
-Valkyries are the better choice of the two for mobility purposes, and are best used held in Reserve (outflanking or normal).
-Choose their passengers to maximize the effect:
a)Veterans with plasma or melta if you expect to enter and kill Marines
b)Platoon command with flamers if Eldar/Orcs/Guard
c)Platoon squad if you are only concerned about objective grabbing.
~What say you? How are your airborne Ig forces faring on the battlefield?
Monday, May 18, 2009
GW NEWS: June 2009 Price Increase
First detailed word of the June 01 price increase is out.
A looooooooooooooooooooooong list of the UK prices is available on Warseer here.
We are still awaiting word on the US prices, but initial signs point to a smaller change than people originally feared.
~It is unknown if pricing rumors got blown out of proportion in the first place, or whether the larger price increases that were feared were rescinded at the last moment. More as we get it. Remember folks, we are talking money here, so play nice and NO CHAIRS!
40K RUMORS: Planetstrike Scenery Sets
Promotional posters for Planetstrike are now beginning to appear in US Games Workshop retail stores. These posters have pictures of some of the upcoming Planetstrike related products. Regarding the new Planetstrike scenery, based on the picture on the box cover the IMPERIAL STRONGPOINT appears to contain two IMPERIAL BASTIONS and perhaps two IMPERIAL DEFENCE LINE sets.
No word yet on prices, but I certainly hope the bundle box is bundle priced to save money over buying the contents separately. If it is, I might have to buy two!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Goatboy's 40k Thoughts: Orky Road Warriors!
Hi Goatboy again, I wanted to have a quick talk about a new ork build I feel might do alright in the new landscape of tanks, templates, and massed flashlight fire. The new IG book really throws a nice grenade into the normal metagame we are used too. Nob Bikerz are no longer a groan-inducing match up for an IG player. The psyker battle squad mixed with massive high strength templates means that a small army of bikes is not as spectacular as it used to be. So what is an Ork player to do? Well change and adapt and bolt on more random metal bits.
So what I want to talk about today is a new list I am looking at building up. It has some different choices, as well as a different play style than my previous "goes 24 inches and kills you" that was the norm of Ork tourney armies. What is an ork player to do post IG?
Go mech! The ork codex is one of the most massively customizable codexes out there. I personally find it to be one of the more enjoyable of the current builds, with only a few, overpowered units that can create a bad game. In fact, I feel the IG codex mirrors this codex, with a ton of options with only a few bad units I feel are not a good addition to the game. I will go over those later when I have more time with the codex, but for right now I just want to go into the new Ork list I plan on building in the coming months (in between a huge Ork order for a customer).
The advantages of mech are massive in 5th edition. You have a more forgiving explosion table, as well as a push towards opponents using melta with its shorter range. Mix this with a large push for faster moving armies, and you have a new second coming of the tank. The dropping of the lascannon's killing power (new damage table) also is a great help compared to the guarantee of melta's penetration vs AV:10.
This means that my Ork army has to adapt and change, with the threat of the psyker squad breaking me right off the table, massed templates, and IG tarpits creating a environment that 2 large biker squads can’t handle anymore. So without further ado, I give you my Road Warrior Ork Army.
HQ: Warboss (Da Lord Humongous, of course), PK, Bosspole, Attack Squig, Cybork, Eavy Armor, Kombi-skorcha
HQ: Big Mek, Kustom Force Field, Burna, Cybork, Attack Squigg, Eavy Armor
Troops: Nobz (8), Painboy, PK (4), Kombi-skorcha (3), Bosspole, Waagh Banner, Cybork, Eavy Armor, BattleWagon, Big Shoota (2), Armor Plates
Troops: Shoota Boyz (20), Rokkits (2), Nob, PK, Bosspole
Troops: Trukk Shoota Boyz (12), Nob, PK, Big Shoota, Bosspole, Trukk
Troops: Trukk Shoota Boyz (12), Nob, PK, Big Shoota, Bosspole, Trukk
Elites: Burnas (15)
Elites: Burnas (15)
Heavy: BattleWagon, Big Shoota (2), Armor Plates
Heavy: BattleWagon, Big Shoota (2),Armor Plates
Heavy: BattleWagon, Big Shoota (2), Armor Plates
Now why did I pick the following units? Lets go into each choice and why it might be a good choice.
HQ: Warboss and Big Mek. Since you are running vehicles, the big mek with a KFF is mandatory since it will give all your open topped vehicles a 50% chance to survive fire and get your boyz into some action. The warboss is there, because as an HQ unit, he is one of the best options available. Hard as nails, as well as letting you get another troop squad that can put out a ton of damage. Once he gets locked in, watch him just murder squads with his pet squigg “Precious”.
Troops: The power of the ork army is that their troop choices are one of the cheapest in the game. I decided to run 2 trukk boy squads as ways to go grab board areas as the ork fist shoots forward. The 20 man squad is there to help make the BW a bit scary, as well as give another fat troop squad to help hurt the opponent. The nobz are pretty obvious as most ork armies have them in there somewhere.
The plan with the troops, is to come out and try to spread out and envelope the IG with 3 or more close combats. This is the only way to create what I like to call a massive attack, that can hopefully hurt enough of the enemy as well as demoralize the opponent. There are many times, where the opponent thinks they have lost, when in fact they are sitting pretty. The mech horde list will help give you the horde elements to overwhelm the opponent, mixed with the protection mech can give you.
Elites: 2 squads of burnas are there as a big, oh crap kill on a 2+ squads of guys. The new IG book needs to have a lot of support between all the troops, and with units not always being in a mechanized vehicle, the burna templates can kill a large amount of troops. Plus it can clear out those t-shirts hiding in the woods. If you only shoot half the burnas, you still have a large amount that can put the pain on any heavily armored opponent.
The burnas will be great versus daemons and marines, as hitting 3or more times per Ork model, is a great round of "shooting". Having ballistic skill auto-hit is pretty sweet for an Ork. And hell, we all should have burnas laying around if we built any Lootas. This unit choice of course can change to Lootas, if your metagame is less IG mixed horde, and more IG chimera spam. The funny thing is you can still put them in the Battlewagon and have a nice armor 14 building to shoot from. At that point, it might be worth it to add in some meks to help fix stuff as needed, but that is another army build.
Heavy: To go mech, you need to get as many vehicles on the board as you can. The new Battlewagon kit is pretty awesome so running 4 just makes me happy to see on the table. Being AV14 is a big help and with so much melta these days you should get 12 inches up the board safely. That is the hope anyway...haha. Nothing shouts Mad Max more then a bunch of crazy clapped out vehicles coming at you.
Which is another great thing about the build, it is theme heavy as all get out. You really get the idea that you can create a new Warboss that matches The Lord Humongus from the movie. You could always make a cool buzz saw little grot that is your attack squigg. The modeling possibilities are endless and the real fun of the Ork codex can come shining through.
~So thats it dudes. I am planning on building and trying it out in the coming weeks. I am hoping his list will at least provide a lot of fun as well as let me say “Just Walk away” while wearing a hockey mask a whole bunch.
If you have any questions, shoot me an email. Send me lists, thoughts, or just to yell at me a bit, I try to answer everything as best as I can.
Traitors Logo Sheet
Its time for some love for the Traitors out there. I have a sneaky feeling that there are a lot of you guys out there who are planning to use the Imperial Guard codex to build all manner of rebel and traitor forces. Lets not forget about the Traitor Guard army lists to be found in the Siege of Vraks books as well.
What we have here is a multi-icon sheet that gives you every option the budding traitor might need; from the Nurgle triple-skull, to the Genestealer Cult logo, to the old standby - the Chaos star. Go get em traitors!
Here is the link to the PDF file for the logo sheet you can freely pull down and use:
Download Here
The sheet is designed for printout on decal printer paper which is easily available online. These decals are designed for the CLEAR decal paper. The procedure is as follows:
CLEAR PAPER: If you use the clear decals, the decals need to be applied to a light to medium colored surface to be visible at all. Light tans and greys will work best.
Click here for a detailed Custom Decal Tutorial
This sheet is sized for superheavy vehicles up towards the top and scales down to infantry size at the very bottom. Please make sure you run off a test sheet first on your printer to make sure.
In any case, enjoy and I wish you the best in using this set for your traitorous forces, you rebel scum!
~Please feel free to leave comments if there is a special Chapter, Craftworld, or something else you would love to collect, but have no GW decal options, and I will see what I can do.
40K, FANTASY RUMORS: Rats, Wolves, and Dwarves OH MY!
Rumors brought to the community by Warseer's: Screaming Manti and UberBeast
Lots of interesting chatter this weekend. Lets get right to it folks:
The general info we have been gathering from various sources points to the following armies hitting the shelves this year for Warhammer 40000 and Fantasy:
Skaven (Q3)
Space Wolves (Q4)
The talk from the tubes is that the Skaven may get rolled out officially at Gamesday UK in September, with a slight possibility of some Wolves on display as well.
There is talk of Forgeworld moving forward with more support for Fantasy, and apparently a comment was dropped at Gamesday-Baltimore where they said they were interested in doing complete armies with.....
wait for it....
Chaos Dwarves at the top of their list!
~Caveats on the Chaos Dwarf stuff and there is contradictory talk as to whether they would be reinforcing releases to the mystery "new army" from the main studio or something different altogether. As for the Skaven chatter, Games Workshop does like a big rollout for GD-UK, so I would not be surprised to see either Skaven or Wolves there. Oh how the plot thickens...
Saturday, May 16, 2009
BoLS PoLL: New Race Edition
Following up on this weeks rumors of a new race coming I think its time for some fun for all of us Warhammer (Fantasy and 40k) fanatics.
I'm putting up a poll of the most commonly listed races/sects from the game's current editions and lets see what the community really wants. Pick your most desired 40k AND Fantasy race and lets see where the chips fall.
~We know that we are read by some GW folks, so lets really give them something to talk about around the water cooler. Basically, vote, and grab your Warhammer buddies who never go to BoLS and get them to vote as well. Lets see how many votes we can get into this thing. By all means lets hear your thoughts.
40K REVIEW; Courage and Honour
A review by Timo
Courage and Honour – Graham McNeill
If you thought Uriel Ventris would be able to enjoy his "retirement" after Killing Ground, you will be surprised to find out about the release of a fifth novel in this popular series. Graham McNeill’s short stories in the last couple of Black Library collections kind of hinted that there would be a grand finale with Honsou, and so I was chockful of great expectations regarding Courage and Honor. Isn’t that a bold title for a finale? As it turns out, the book is devoted to an entirely different topic.
Pavonis, the planet from Nightbringer, is under occupation by Imperial troops and Ultramarines after a period of unrest. This state of tentative peace is disrupted when Pavonis encounters a new source of danger: the Tau. What initially seems like a handful of scouts turns out to be more than just a few lost Xenos. An invasion is planned by means of treachery.
Besides the constant battle scenes, Courage and Honor focuses on other issues such as Uriel dealing with his return and his commandership, since his troops fought alone for so long and gained a good amount of competence without him. Pasanius’ whereabouts are discussed, and the novel also poses the question of how prisoners should be treated when trying to attain information.
At this point it becomes evident that there is no avoiding the events of the past few years, as they have influenced even 40k novels. While reading Killing Ground I was already under the impression that McNeill refers to well-known images from the Iraq conflict in several paragraphs. I figured I was probably just over-interpreting. Reading about the pyramids of naked Tau proves my first impression right: McNeill is definitely alluding to the 2004 images from Abu Ghraib. It goes to show once again how our everyday lives and the images we are confronted with are mirrored even in popular fiction.
Unfortunately, just as we start in on these thorny realworld issues the novel starts to drag. Neither depth nor suspense are really build up fom this point on. A handful of skirmishes with the Tau don’t live up to McNeill’s previous Ultramarines novels, not to mention his stellar contributions to the Horus Heresy. Perhaps the novel might be better if one wouldn’t approach it with such great expectations, but I doubt that this should be the new standard following so many great Black Library novels.
It feels as if this book is supposed to fill a gap before finally reaching a big denouement, similar to how second parts are sometimes handled in trilogies. Let’s hope that McNeills returns in top form for that conclusion!
2.5 stars (out of 5)
Friday, May 15, 2009
40k RUMORS: Whispers and Innuendo...
Some Warhammer 40000 tales have come to the Fly Lords of late. For you guys with us on a Friday night, enjoy.
Spear of Sicarius
This July release is a large Planetstrike formation featured in the book. It is the army Sicarius used during his famous Planetstrike assault and is presented as a perfect SM Planetstrike army (similar to the battle company and SM Megaforce have been in the past). It is a hybrid set containing both metal and plastic. There is a diagram of it laid out in the Planetstrike Book much like the diagram of Sicarius company in the SM codex.
Dark Eldar
We hear tales that the long months of sculpting and design for the Dark Eldar minis are coming to a close, and they are moving into the production phase. They will not be the next codex (Space Wolves are next), but they are coming soon thereafter.
~Standard caveats on these, enjoy!
40K Deep Thought: Static > Mobile?
So I've been playing a bunch and watching even more 40k games lately and something odd has struck me.
I've noticed a slow drift to favor the static armies, that I haven't seen since early 3rd edition. This is definately not a hard and fast rule, but with true LoS, and the ability of certain more recent armies to field truckloads of firepower, there seems to be a distinct advantage to being the army that sits back and blazes away. Then you call in reserves midgame to plug up the problem areas and push your survivors forward with objective grabs late game.
I'm seeing the aggressive armies taking it on the chin more likely than not, and not really getting the payoff for their hard earned success in scratching thier way across the firelanes and into the enemy army.
Its seems you can break down all the armies into 3 camps in order of power:
-The ones with lethal long range firepower in volume.
-The ones with lethal assualt troops and some army mechanic to allow them to get into assualt very quickly.
-The victims :)
~Do you guys agree, and what are you seeing in your local areas? If you have specific armies that you are seeing this pattern with (or armies that can successfully strike out cross table) lets hear about it. The floor is open generals. What say you?
40K: Fly Lords Apocalypse House Rules
Its Apocalypse time!
Now we all know that an Apocalypse game can be one of the most fun spectacles that exists in the 40k universe. The bigger games can really be crafted to provide a type of experience that you just can't get in the standard game. Entire companies of Space Marines storming into a breached fortress... Titans blasting entire Tank Companies into scrap, and so on.
However what the book doesn't tell you is running a good tight Apocalypse game requires planning and discipline. If you want a recipe for disaster, just have 20 random folks show up and throw thier stuff willy-nilly on the table over several hours and see what happens...
Here are the Fly Lords 11 commandments for awesome Apocalypse games. You will of course need to adjust these to suit you local playgroup, but you get the idea:
APOCALYPSE COMMANDMENTS
1) REASONABLE POINTS PER PLAYER
We recommend no more than 3-4000 pts per person, not counting war machines. It is difficult for a single player to command more than that in a timely manner.
2) MANDATORY TEAM CAPTAINS
Pick your most senior player per side. His job is to keep your team playing efficiently. Not only does the team captain carry out grand strategy with his team, he is also there to:
-Let the individual players focus on their parts of the table, instead of having to worry about big-picture stuff (they can if they want to)
-He is available to roll for anything on his team if no-one is around to watch or take care of something.
-He mans the clock (bring an egg timer if you need to) and keeps the turn phases moving for his side.
3) NO WRECKS
Keep the table clean. If any non-warmachine is destroyed, it gets pulled from the table. Apocalypse games are notorious for getting all jammed up at critical areas of mass carnage, and becoming parking lots of dead models that make the board very difficult to play on. Just get the dead vehicles out of there.
4) NO DESTROYER WEAPONS WITHOUT APPROVAL
No one gets to bring Destroyer weapons by default. Only after both sides are balanced, do the team captains decide whether they wish to each take an equal number of Destroyer weapons. They should select these as a pair and dole them out to key team members so there are no surprises.
5) NO STRATEGIC ASSETS WITHOUT APPROVAL
Same as with Destroyers. To many Strategic Assets will ruin the game and tick off most of your players. Assume both teams have none, then have the team captains both select a small number per team that they both agree on. These should not be secret, and need to be agreed on by both sides, as the Strategic Assets pool is not balanced.
6) NO "BIG GUYS" WITHOUT APPROVAL
The following units must be pre-approved for use:
-Any super-heavy with more than 3 Structure points
-Any Gargantuan creatures with over 6 wounds
-Any Forgeworld Gargantuan Chaos Major Daemon
Have the team captains determine which of these will be allowed per side. Keep in mind that these become more powerful the smaller the game, and may need to balanced out with Destroyer weapons as well.
7) ONE WARMACHINE/FORMATION PER PLAYER
This just keeps things simple, and prevents lots of unbalanced combos. Its easy for a single player to devise and implement nasty combos. Its harder to coordinate such tricks between different people.
8) "ZONE DEFENSE"
Assign team-members parts of the board to roll for. First priority always goes to a model's owner of course, but if he is busy, rolling elsewhere, in the bathroom, or anything else, have a player assigned to that board section who can roll quickly for anything required.
9) WATCH THOSE RESERVES
Enforce the reserve rules. If stuff is not on the table by the start of turn 3, its DEAD. Players arriving late and just throwing things onto an Apocalypse table late game will destroy the flow of the game and often give their side a decisive late-game advantage. Don't let this happen to your game.
10) DON'T SWEAT THE LITTLE STUFF
Stuff like going to ground, and even break checks get forgotten all the time (especially from turn to turn). Determine if you wish to skip these mechanics altogether or streamline them into something that can be resolved immediately (such as counting pinning results as an extra d6 casualties, or having units which could rally do so automatically and having understrength broken units automatically destroyed). Alternatively you should mark pinned or broken units in some blatant way so they will not get overlooked next turn.
11) HAVE FUN
Remember that Apocalypse is about FUN and telling a great story. About half of all games will end in ties, so don't get bent out of shape and just relax. The most important skill in running Apoc games is to KEEP THE GAME MOVING. The biggest time killers are slow setup (use the time bidding system and stick to it), and folks milling around towards the end of each phase (team captains need to enforce time limits per phase).
~These simple rules should allow people's normal collections to get used without being swamped by the big stuff, keep the game moving fast, and keep both sides feeling like they have a fair shot at winning. We have run 50,000 pt games with these rules that completed each full turn in about an hour. A well run Apoc game has the feel of the floor of a Stock Exchange, with 80% of folks running about moving, rolling, and laughing while the other 20% sit calmly, give key advise, and strategize. I hope you all like these, and lets hear about your local house rules for Apoc.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
HOBBY: Manufactured Scenic Bases
The days of simply covering bases with green flock or sand dry brushed to look like green flock are gone for the most part. The past few years most hobbyists who take the time to finish the bases on their models go for something more elaborate and with more depth. As the variety of materials and availability of ideas for scenic basing have grown enormously over the past few years, the ability to showcase one's models with great looking bases is now limited only by the imagination of the hobbyists. Well, that and one other thing, time. Which is to say, as much as many of us like to scenic base our models with custom cut, built and arranged bits of scenery, the fact is that doing so takes time. For example, the bases I created for my Deathwing Command Squad pictured above were lovingly and laboriously constructed bit by individual bit. The results were fun and rewarding, but the amount of time it took to do this would be prohibitive for the dozens or even one hundred models or more many of us plan for our armies. When building a large army, the time to custom base every model really adds up. A great solution to this problem is to purchase manufactured scenic bases.
Now, there are a number of companies making scenic bases out there. However, the quality and style can vary considerably from one manufacturer to the next. As I've been doing a lot of scenic basing myself over the past few years, I have considerable interest in this topic and I pay close attention whenever anyone introduces me to a new scenic basing product.
Below is a short list of companies who manufacture scenic bases. I have personally seen the products made by each of these companies and I was genuinely impressed by their quality and consistency. If scenic basing is something that interests you, please take a look at the products listed below and if they are to your liking you might wish to seriously consider giving them a try. Additionally, if you know of a good manufacturer of scenic bases that is not listed here, please leave their name and a link in the comments area below so that word gets out about them to the hobby community (including me!). Most of the companies dabbling in making this type of product are small and can use all the support they can get.
- Dragonforge resin bases
- Epicast resin bases
- Champ Industries polystyrene plastic bases
Note that with resin bases super glue is needed and pinning is often helpful or necessary, especially for metal models. Notice that the bases from Champ are made of plastic, so if you're putting plastic models on them you can use plastic cement.
Regarding pinning metal models to resin bases, I often drill straight up through the bottom of the base directly into the foot of the model, thus ensuring the holes in both the base and the model are in perfect alignment. Obviously, the metal tab on the feet of the model that is there for use with GW "slotta-bases" has to go, so I just cut that off. For lighter plastic models, I sometimes just super glue them right to the resin base, though a pin can be helpful here too for the sake of stability.
I have a gigantic amount of Tau stuff just sitting around in boxes waiting to be assembled and painted and I think some of these manufactured scenic bases will be just the right thing for the Tau when I get around to them. I might even try some of these bases out with a few of the new units I plan to add to my existing Imperial Guard army this year. Anything that saves time and helps me finish more models more quickly while providing a high level of visual quality is a welcome product.
40K TACTICA: Necron Scarab Swarms
Since 5th edition took much of the punch out of the 4th edition style necrons. I've decided to take another look at all the available options from the codex.
This last week, I took a close look at the scarab swarm fast attack option. There are a number of possible uses for these much maligned little metal bugs.
Pros:
Scarab swarms are super fast, moving like jetbikes. They also get to ignore terrain as they move. The new 5th edition rules mean the swarms get a 2+ cover save when turbo-boosting with their small target rule.
They also have 3 wounds and 3 attacks each. They can tie up a small squad for quite some time as they are also fearless. It's almost like having 3 wound guardsman.
Cons:
Toughness 3 means they get instant death from any strength 6 things they might come across. That means they are not so good for tying up monstrous creatures.
With only a 5+ save, they tend to fall quickly against massed shooting or close combat attacks, and their WS 2 means they are nearly always hit on 3s.
Vulnerable to blasts means things like the hellhound or redeemer flame templates, or any of the massed guard ordinance will instant kill 2 templates for each wound they do. Combined with ignoring turbo-boost cover saves, ouch.
Tricks:
A small squad of 4-6 swarm bases turbo-boosting toward the enemy lines may be enough to draw some fire off the main army. If not, they can cause a lot of trouble for enemy tanks with the disruption field upgrade. In assault, if they can use their speed to attack a flank they may get assault on a support squad or heavy weapons team.
Dirty Tricks:
A large squad of swarm bases, combined with a destroyer lord with the lightning field upgrade can make assaults painful for your opponent. Even a strength 3 return hit for each wound done to the squad can force a good deal of saves. Combined with the normal attacks from the lord and the bases themselves and it can get pretty nasty. Its even worse for really mean assault units who inflict tons of wounds or have poor armor themselves (I'm looking at you Berzerkers and Ork boyz).
~Has anyone else tried using scarab bases in their necron armies or has anyone had scarabs used effectively against them? I think these squads might have a small place in some 5th edition necron armies.
40K SNEAK PEEK: July Releases
Hi guys,
This rundown of the July releases has been floating around the tubes. It would seem that Planetstrike will have a nice set of boxed sets and the accompanying Space Marine 2nd wave releases.
| Product Name | Contents | Release |
|---|---|---|
| THE SPEAR OF SICARIUS | 142 Model Box | July 04 |
| PLANETSTRIKE | 80page Book | July 04 |
| BLASTSCAPE | 5 Craters | July 04 |
| IMPERIAL BASTION | 1 Model Box | July 04 |
| AEGIS DEFENCE LINE | 1 Model Box | July 04 |
| SKYSHIELD LANDING PAD | 1 Model Box | July 04 |
| MINES, BOMBS AND BOOBY TRAPS | Resin Markers | July 04 |
| IMPERIAL OUTPOST | 5 Model Set + Gameboard | July 18 |
| IMPERIAL DEFENCE NETWORK | 13 Model Set + Gameboard | July 18 |
| SHRINE OF THE AQUILA | 1 Cathedral | July 18 |
| IMPERIAL STRONGPOINT | 2 Bastions, 3 Defence Lines | July 18 |
| VULKAN HE'STAN | 1 Model Blister | July 18 |
| KOR'SARRO KHAN | 1 Model Blister | July 18 |
| SPACE MARINE LAND SPEEDER STORM | 1 Model Box | July 18 |
| SPACE MARINE IRONCLAD DREADNOUGHT | 1 Model Box | July 18 |
~Thats a whole lot of good stuff headed down the pipe. I'm curious about what the defense-network and outpost may be. Perhaps they are the rumored updated plates for the GW plastic battleboard. Also, the Spear of Sicarius sounds like something interesting.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
LoTR: Misty Mountains by the Numbers
In part two of our War of the Ring 'by the Numbers' series we bring you The Misty Mountains.
Misty Mountains is a very odd list. It is made up of cheap troops, high offence/low defence cavalry, and really big monsters. I still haven't quite figured out the best way to design lists using the Misty Mountains, but lets take a look at their units.
Infantry:
Moria Goblin Warband. Wow, these guys are cheap. But, you get what you pay for. All of their stats, save movement, are low. However, the ability to take a shaman (magic), prowlers and large formations make it a tempting choice. These are good for screening your more expensive formations
Moria Prowler Warband. These guys are all about the special rules, Prowlers with poisoned weapons and two handed weapons. Don't let these guy flank you, or you are in for a world of hurt. Even though they cost more than the Goblins, I think their special rules are worth it.
Gundabad Blackshields. Goblins with higher defence and strength. For the price, they are good. Unfortunately there are better choices for your rare formations.
Cavalry:
Warg Pack. Good strength and average defence with a low cost makes them a good choice. Like almost all other Misty Mountain units, the prowler ability will come in handy.
Giant Spider Brood. Extremely fast, great strength but poor defence. These guys are a total offence unit. You have to hope you kill your opponent on the charge, because if he has anything left, these guys are toast. They are almost twice as expensive as a warg pack, so choose wisely.
Cloud of Bats. I guess every list needs to have a unit that makes you scratch your head and wonder why the designers priced it the way they did. These are the same cost as the Giant Spiders, but less than half the strength, terrible defence and none of the cool special rules of the spiders. Sure they can move like flying creatures and case terror, but really not worth the cost.
Spider Broodling Swarm. These guys are awful. High price and low stats. I would never use these units...unless I am facing archers, in that case they are awesome. Being able to be defence 10 to shooting is a great way to spoil an elf's day.
Monsters:
Spider Queen. Like the Giant spiders, the Queen is more offence than defence. Not sure she is worth two trolls though. Her Inspiring Leader (Spiders) makes her a good choice if you are running a giant spider heavy list.
Cave Troll. Not as impressive as its Isengard and Mordor brethren, it is still a tough beast for the points. Probably one of the better choices for a small points game.
Stone Giant. The Trolls big brother. This guy is tough, and gets the Extremely Hard to Kill table. Pay close attention to his shoot value; he can throw plenty of high strength rocks in the shoot phase. He is expensive, but is good in both offense and defence roles. No model for this guy means lots of people will be painting their fantasy giants grey for a while.
Cave Drake. Not an outstanding stat line as far as monsters go, but his special rule is nice. He is definitely a character killer.
Dragon of Ancient Times/ The Balrog of Morgoth. Now we come to the great debate. Which one is better? I'll give you my take on it and let you chime in and tell me how wrong I am. Assuming we give the Dragon the magic upgrade, they are both about the same points (give or take a company of worgs). The Balrog gets 2 more attacks in combat and gets to roll 1 dice lower to cause a wound (form his strength). The Dragon can move further, has one higher defence and gets the Fire Breath shooting attack. For formations with a Defence less than 7, the Balrogs extra strength is negated. However, the dragon must make a choice, use the cool Fire Breath attack, or charge. Between the two, I would probably have to choose the Dragon, but not by much. Despite the iffy nature of the Fire Breath, that one extra point of Defence makes a big difference. Against your average strength 3 opponent, he will take half as many wounds as the Balrog.
Characters:
Durburz. Pretty low stats for a character, but gets the Overlord ability. Druzhag is a better choice.
Druzhag. Ok, here is a model that is the same price as the shaman, only with better magic. But that's not the good part; spend a might point and get D3 Beasts for free! Even in the worst case scenario, he can get 120 points worth of beasts for no cost, and up to 360 with good rolling. How is this guy not worth more points. Never leave home without it.
And that's it, Misty Mountains by the numbers. As always, let me know what I have overlooked.
Misty Mountains is a very odd list. It is made up of cheap troops, high offence/low defence cavalry, and really big monsters. I still haven't quite figured out the best way to design lists using the Misty Mountains, but lets take a look at their units.
Infantry:
Moria Goblin Warband. Wow, these guys are cheap. But, you get what you pay for. All of their stats, save movement, are low. However, the ability to take a shaman (magic), prowlers and large formations make it a tempting choice. These are good for screening your more expensive formations
Moria Prowler Warband. These guys are all about the special rules, Prowlers with poisoned weapons and two handed weapons. Don't let these guy flank you, or you are in for a world of hurt. Even though they cost more than the Goblins, I think their special rules are worth it.
Gundabad Blackshields. Goblins with higher defence and strength. For the price, they are good. Unfortunately there are better choices for your rare formations.
Cavalry:
Warg Pack. Good strength and average defence with a low cost makes them a good choice. Like almost all other Misty Mountain units, the prowler ability will come in handy.
Giant Spider Brood. Extremely fast, great strength but poor defence. These guys are a total offence unit. You have to hope you kill your opponent on the charge, because if he has anything left, these guys are toast. They are almost twice as expensive as a warg pack, so choose wisely.
Cloud of Bats. I guess every list needs to have a unit that makes you scratch your head and wonder why the designers priced it the way they did. These are the same cost as the Giant Spiders, but less than half the strength, terrible defence and none of the cool special rules of the spiders. Sure they can move like flying creatures and case terror, but really not worth the cost.
Spider Broodling Swarm. These guys are awful. High price and low stats. I would never use these units...unless I am facing archers, in that case they are awesome. Being able to be defence 10 to shooting is a great way to spoil an elf's day.
Monsters:
Spider Queen. Like the Giant spiders, the Queen is more offence than defence. Not sure she is worth two trolls though. Her Inspiring Leader (Spiders) makes her a good choice if you are running a giant spider heavy list.
Cave Troll. Not as impressive as its Isengard and Mordor brethren, it is still a tough beast for the points. Probably one of the better choices for a small points game.
Stone Giant. The Trolls big brother. This guy is tough, and gets the Extremely Hard to Kill table. Pay close attention to his shoot value; he can throw plenty of high strength rocks in the shoot phase. He is expensive, but is good in both offense and defence roles. No model for this guy means lots of people will be painting their fantasy giants grey for a while.
Cave Drake. Not an outstanding stat line as far as monsters go, but his special rule is nice. He is definitely a character killer.
Dragon of Ancient Times/ The Balrog of Morgoth. Now we come to the great debate. Which one is better? I'll give you my take on it and let you chime in and tell me how wrong I am. Assuming we give the Dragon the magic upgrade, they are both about the same points (give or take a company of worgs). The Balrog gets 2 more attacks in combat and gets to roll 1 dice lower to cause a wound (form his strength). The Dragon can move further, has one higher defence and gets the Fire Breath shooting attack. For formations with a Defence less than 7, the Balrogs extra strength is negated. However, the dragon must make a choice, use the cool Fire Breath attack, or charge. Between the two, I would probably have to choose the Dragon, but not by much. Despite the iffy nature of the Fire Breath, that one extra point of Defence makes a big difference. Against your average strength 3 opponent, he will take half as many wounds as the Balrog.
Characters:
Durburz. Pretty low stats for a character, but gets the Overlord ability. Druzhag is a better choice.
Druzhag. Ok, here is a model that is the same price as the shaman, only with better magic. But that's not the good part; spend a might point and get D3 Beasts for free! Even in the worst case scenario, he can get 120 points worth of beasts for no cost, and up to 360 with good rolling. How is this guy not worth more points. Never leave home without it.
And that's it, Misty Mountains by the numbers. As always, let me know what I have overlooked.
40K: Lucky 13s Apocalypse Battle - Pt 1
Hi guys,
This last weekend, we had a crazy 50,000 point Apocalypse battle as the first part of the Lucky 13s campaign.
Jwolf, Bushidoredpanda, myself, and several others held our fortified objective "The Alamo" (the square building with the tower in the center) agasint the hordes of xenos and traitor scum led by the nefarious Darkwynn.
It was a hardfought battle and one of the best run apoc games we've ever been a part of (thanks minus67)!
Here are a series of shots to give you a feel for the game.
~In the end the forces of the Imperium held the Alamo, and achieved a hard won victory. When we lost all of our superheavies and the Nurgle plaguetower disgorged a group of sneaky Tyranid synapse creatures right in front of our lines on turn 2 we thought it was curtains for us. In any case enjoy the shots. You can expect a post coming up with BoLS' Apocalypse house rules that have evolved to keep apoc games both fun and fast moving. Comment away...
40k EDITORIAL: Why Mechanized Marines Hate the Guard
Hi all, Jwolf here.
Bulwark suggested that I write about what is bad for the standard Marine lists in the new Imperial Guard Codex. I’m not going to talk about any of the terrible things that can be done with Inquisitorial Allies, just the straight Codex. Here are my thoughts, in no particular order.
-Chimera are cheap enough to be thrown about without any compunction, making Mechanized Guard more effective.
-Hellhound chassis vehicles can mount hull multi-meltas. This makes both opening up and blocking off the advancing Rhinos a good deal easier.
-Orders mean that cheap Guard Autocannon Heavy Weapons Teams will hit a lot better, and Autocannons break Rhinos.
-Vendettas are extraordinary anti-vehicle weapons.
-The Colossus kills Marines in cover from across the board.
-The Banewolf performs extremely well coming on from Reserves to destroy Marine squads that have either arrived via Drop Pod or charged across the board.
-Armored Sentinels can hold Marines in place for a great length of time, even if they have a Powerfist.
-In the previous Codex, AP2 Blasts were hard to come by. In the new Codex, AP2 Blasts are everywhere.
-The profusion of cover in Fifth Edition changed the game. Fire On My Target makes cover almost useless against low AP weaponry.
-The Medusa projects Demolisher firepower at 50% greater range.
-Upping the side armor of Russes from AV12 to AV13 means it takes dedicated AT weaponry to penetrate even the side armor of the big guys with the Battlecannons.
-Psyker Battle Squads make Librarians nearly required, which restricts your HQ choices.
-Guardsman Marbo (forever Le Soldat here at BoLS) means something you care deeply about will die, and there isn’t much that can be done about it.
-Valkyrie-borne troops held in Reserve with reliable outflanking arrival makes delivering troops onto objectives later in the game easy for the Guard.
~I’m sure there some points I have either overlooked or neglected in this list, so let’s hear what you think. The Guard have arrived. What are you Astartes officers going to do about it?
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
40k: Dawn of War II Updates
THQ sends word that their latest Warhammer 40k game: Dawn of War II is getting some updates folks:
The new 1.3 update for Dawn of War II is slated for a May 12 release.
With this update, ranked Two on Two game mode will become available - it also launches with two new maps which have been created especially for the new gameplay mode: "Medean Cliff Mines" and "Ruins of Argus".
New maps info can be found on the Dawn of War II Community site.
Full update notes are available as well.
~Go have fun guys! Kill some Orks for me...
LoTR NEWs: Elven Kingdoms Releases
Hi all,
A new set of Advance Orders just went up for the new War of the Ring Elven Kingdoms range.
Galadhrim Knights
Galadhrim Warriors
Guards of the Galadhrim Court
Haldir
Rúmil
~These are shipping out the week of the June 20th, and are filling the June release slot between May's Imperial Guard and July's Planetstrike.
40K / FANTASY RUMORS: New Race?
So we have all been hearing the vague whispers over the last month or so regarding a new race of some type being given the green light by Games Workshop.
We have been hearing more and more chatter on this one from various sources, with lots of contradictory info on who or what they may be. I'm not even sure what Warhammer system (40k or Fantasy, or both) is being discussed. The common themes of this talk are the following:
1) The studio was given the go ahead to wade into the new race (so we are talking about something that is years off)
2) The new race is non-human in nature.
~Super caveats on this one, but remember that we got early whiffs of Planetstrike over 2 years ago and folks said it would never happen. You all know the fluff and background of both systems. Who do you hope it is? I'm positive we will be hearing more on this one as time goes by.
Monday, May 11, 2009
WFB Tactica: The Magic of Guessing Range
I have a little secret that most don’t know. I have played Warhammer Fantasy Battles (WFB) longer than Warhammer 40,000(40K.) My first and oldest army hails from the Empire. I love the Empire. They have the largest selection of Core Troops and can field most of the weapon types listed in the book. The real strength of the Empire is in their artillery. In order to get the most bang for you buck out of your artillery, you will want to become very skilled at guessing range. To some this will seem like magic, but mastering the techniques I will present will make you an expert artillery man. When you start out with these techniques it will be helpful to have some scratch paper near by, so you can get a handle on range.
Step 1: Battle Field Reference Points
In Warhammer Fantasy Battles you cannot pre-measure out into the field, but while you are deploying you can use a ruler to measure spacing between units and leadership radius. You know the depth of your deployment zone what you’re determining is the width. Get a rough idea where the middle of your deployment zone is. Get to know where the middle of each table quarter is. (It is real easy. In a basic game of WHFB it will be 12” in from the left or right table edges at the front of your deployment zone.)
Make mental notes or written notes where these points are. Also make written or mental notes where these reference points are in your opponent’s side. (This is accomplished by drawing mental lines from your points to the front of your opponent’s deployment zone.)Now that you have made a mental or written map where these point are you are ready to apply step two.
Step 2: Applied Mathematics
Scarecrow in “The Wizard of Oz” summed up the principle we are going to use: Pythagorean Theorem. It states: In any right triangle the length of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the two sides. Simply put a2 + b2 = c2. This is where we use Step 1.
Using our battle field reference points, we can now determine where a unit is on the field plus or minus to the closest point. So now all we do is apply a little math and we will know exactly where they are.
Example: Enemy unit is 6” out of their 12” deployment zone and 6” left of the center line of the table. Your Empire Mortar is at 6” in your deployment zone and 12” right of the center line of table. This means that your opponent’s unit is 18” to the left of your mortar and 24” forward. This makes their unit exactly 30” (182 + 242 = 302) away from your mortar. I would guess 32” to obtain a center of the unit hit.
Tips on These Techniques
First and foremost: work on these calculations during your opponent’s turn. This will speed up how long you take during your turn. Next, you’ll want to practice. If you practice you will increase your speed, and after a while you’ll be able to eyeball ranges. Third don’t be afraid of over or under guessing, especially in the first round. You will improve with time.
Never let any measurement get wasted. A very common occurrence in WHF is to see your opponent measure the distance between their missile troops and your troops to see if they are in range. This measurement works both ways. If you get quick enough you’ll be able to see potential charge distances, firing distances, and other items that are considered guesses.
For example I had an opponent not believe that I was in range with bow shots I was about to make, and asked me to measure it out, which he is absolutely allowed to do and I was happy to comply. I measured the distance for him, knowing full well I was in range, but as I was doing this I made mental notes of the positions of everything along the tape.
Strictly speaking, the only magic here is the magic that comes from applying math and practicing. As you do this you will also become a wiz at guessing ranges.
What tips and hints do you have when it comes to guessing range? Tell us. Inquiring minds want to know.
Games Day Baltimore 2009: Photo Highlights
Well, Games Day Baltimore 2009 is now history and I'm sure there will be some excellent professional photographs appearing on the Games Workshop website within the next week or so. In the meantime, here are a few photographs of some of the cool game tables, costumes and select highlights of the day.
Great costumes were plentiful this year. The Tau Firewarrior was the winner of the costume contest after two run-offs against the Death Jester. It was a close one!
The Red Orktober model by Sabol. This thing is incredibly huge and amazingly well done, with tons of great interior detail and working lights. A few photos don't begin to do it justice, but here's a little peek at it inside and out:
Two great looking model conversions from one of the club tables:
Ace Of Cakes provided this terrific Giant Squig cake:
The poster for the 40K Big Game:
A gigantic Minas Tirith model built by one club. Not shown in the photo, the large Pelenor Fields battlefield in front of it.
This club won the banner contest last year. This year they produced great looking tables for 40K and Fantasy as well as the terrific banner shown here near their 40K table and the Tau Firewarrior costume shown above.
A club table featuring a detailed interior adventurescape:
The Black Gate of Mordor by GW, complete with smoke effects:
A "death race" themed club table:
Check the GW website later this week for full coverage of Games Day Baltimore 2009. There will be pictures of the Golden Demon contest, Armies On Parade display and competition, and much more.
For those of you who took the time to stop and look at my collection display at Games Day Baltimore, thanks very much. I met a lot of really nice people, got some wonderful comments and I had a great time. I've been to every Games Day in Maryland since the first one in 1993, but this was my first time being part of the show. It was an exciting and memorable experience for sure. It took me and a few helpers more than an hour to both set up and pack up the huge amount of models I brought, but it was worth it. Special thanks to Dave T. and John S. for making it happen!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Goatboy's Thoughts: How do you pick your army?
Everyone who reads this site has a favorite army. The question I pose today is WHY did you pick your army? What bits of fluff, minis, or just sheer power level makes you want to play a specific set of plastic toy soldiers from the future? I know why I pick an army and I want to go over the things that make an army say “buy all this now!”
Model Design
Since I like to paint and model as much as I like to play, the armies overall design aesthetic is something I have to like before I even give it a chance to dance with my credit card. Now as you can tell, all my armies fall into the bad guy side of things. If it isn’t mutated, damaged, or just plan gnarly I won’t like it. The more distressed and pulled apart flesh I can paint, the happier I am. If I can’t somehow warp it, I just find it hard to get behind the army. I think that is why my space marines are a bit stuck right now and yet my fledgling fantasy daemon army is kicking up a storm of activity during my own personal paint time. So first of all, the models themselves have to kick butt to get me to buy them.
Army Design
I am a tournament player too, so the army has to tick game-wise. Now this isn’t saying that the army has to destroy all comers, I just want it to be competitive. Nothing is worse then playing games where you really don’t do anything but roll dice and pull your guys off the table. I need to have some kind of edge or advantage that will make the army play both differently and strongly. This leads me to lots of new armies, as it seems the codex creep moves along the release process. Mix this with a desire to paint new models and I normally keep buying stuff steadily as it comes out.
Fluff
I like the fluff. This world of Warhammer and Warhammer 40k has some of the coolest fiction out there. There are so many nooks and crannies within the stories you read that it makes any army breathe with a life that is hard to not get wrapped up in. I know a lot of my armies might seem to stumble on complete fluff, but I do try to write little stories for my characters. Why are there two Daemon princes? Why would two ork warbosses even fight with each? All can be explained and built upon by using the fluff and the back story within the pages of the rules. I know we are not always the happiest with the ruleset, but the fluff is some of the coolest stuff to read in the jam-packed world of games. Now if we could only add some cool post- apocalyptic fluff to Scrabble…heh.
Overall Cost
Now of course, the last thing I think about when starting any new army is the overall cost of it. I am not strapped for cash, and I can get most of the minis I want, but I still think about it. I look for armies that have a majority of plastic parts. Plastic is easier to work with, so it makes sense to try to find armies that let me work with them the most. I like to convert and change up the basic look of my guys. Any army that allows me different options to create cool units is an army I will be happier with.
What I want to know is why you like your current army? What made you start to paint, play and collect this mass of plastic and pewter that takes up a nice section of your Warhammer 40k or Fantasy dungeon? You can see in the two major armies I play with in 40k, orks and chaos, that these thoughts are always flowing through my head as I build upon and continue to feed my modeling beast. The next army that is getting my brain working is Space Wolves. I always liked the color scheme as well as the crazy wolf like space marines beating the crap out my CSMs in hand to hand.
Comment away and tell me about your army. And as usual shoot me an email if you want me to review any army lists or give thoughts on anything from lists to paint schemes.
Here are some Khorne Heralds I painted for myself and my Daemon Fantasy army. I know I know, they are a broken, beardy army, but dangit I have so many boxes of Daemons I need to do something with it.
40k PAINTING: Salamander Librarian
Hi guys,
Demosthenes here, for my first official painting article. You might remember me from my recent article on "The Dreaded Triple Hodgson," or the not so recent article on my Mordian Imperial Guard army.
To help get into the spirit of the Badab War, I thought I'd write about my recently painted Salamander Terminator Librarian.
Although I really prefer the green of the Salamanders, I decided to stick with tradition and paint him in standard issue blue Librarian armor. I kept his right knee painted in the normal green scheme, and hand painted the chapter insignia on it. I generally like to give the faces I paint a more flush, life-like look, but sticking true to Salamander gene-seed, I made it charred black, with dark red eyes.
Rather than paint his sash the typical cream white color of most librarians, I thought it would be a little more interesting to make it look like a mantle from one the salamanders from his home planet, and hand painted a set of scales on the bottom of it.
The shield conversion was very simple, as this particular model comes with the hand itself separated (as though they WANT you to put something cool on the end of his arm). To paint it, I used highlighted streaks of black ink on the shield to mimic the battle-worn look of those carried by the terminators on GW's assault terminator box.
The toughest part, by far was painting all the tiny scribbles on his numerous scrolls and books (I wish librarians didn't read so much). I've found, though, that if you make the first letter really big, and then fill in scribbles with brown ink around it, it makes it look like the illuminated text you see in really old books.
Below you'll find some up close pics to get a better look at some of the small detail work. Enjoy!
~ I've found that using brown ink on the scroll writing creates the best results, as far as the inks go. If any of you have experience with this painting technique, what do you use to achieve your results? Those 'old' GW inks are getting pretty scarce!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
40K SNEAK PEEK: Kor'sarro Khan
Image brought to the community by Warseer's: D-9
Hi guys,
It sounds like not much was said or shown at all regarding upcoming 40k products at this year's Baltimore GT. So far we have this single shot of the upcoming Kor'Sarro Khan said to be part of the Space Marine 2nd Wave coming alongside Planetstrike this July.
UPDATE
So we've had more word from several attendees who said that aside from the Golden Daemons entries, nothing new was shown whatsoever except for Kor'sarro. The Q&A was said to be short with pretty much nothing new going out, and most surprising of all, no mention or display of Planetstrike which is merely 2 months out.
In my opinion not the best of directions to take Game Days. In any case, BoLS will very shortly be announcing something very cool for all you 40k and Fantasy guys to attend later this year. You just know it will be a blast! More soon...
~More as we get it. Expect this post to get updated.
FANTASY Army List: Off With Their Heads!
Hi guys, Minus67 wanted to fill you guys in on his latest invention for Warhammer Fantasy. When he's not off rampaging through Sylvania, he's leading his heartless killers through the icy cold of Naggaroth. This is the list that won him Best General at the latest Warhammer tournament in Austin, the Capitol City Carnage.
Dark Elves Roster - 2250 pts
Highborn (1#, 264 Pts)
1 Dreadlord
General; Hand Weapon; Sea Dragon Cloak; Shield; Eternal Hatred
1 Cold One
Thick-skinned; Causes Fear; Stupid
1 Deathpiercer
1 Armor of Eternal Servitude
1 Ring of Hotek
Hag Queen (1#, 205 Pts)
1 Death Hag (Battle Standard Bearer)
Khainite; Hand Weapon; Extra Hand Weapon; Battle Standard
Bearer; Eternal Hatred; Frenzy; Poisoned Attacks
1 Witchbrew
1 Touch of Death
1 Banner of Hag Graef
Always Strike First
Hag Queen (4#, 200 Pts)
1 Death Hag
Khainite; Hand Weapon; Extra Hand Weapon; Eternal Hatred;
Frenzy; Poisoned Attacks
1 Cauldron of Blood
Altar of Khaine; Attendents; Blessings of Khaine; Khainite;
War Machine; Causes Terror; Eternal Hatred; Frenzy; Magic Resistance
(1); Poisoned Attacks
2 Hags
Khainite; Hand Weapon; Extra Hand Weapon; Eternal Hatred;
Frenzy; Poisoned Attacks
Repeater Crossbowmen (10#, 100 Pts)
10 Dark Elf Repeater Crossbowmen
Hand Weapon; Repeater Crossbow; Light Armour; Eternal Hatred
Repeater Crossbowmen (10#, 100 Pts)
10 Dark Elf Repeater Crossbowmen
Hand Weapon; Repeater Crossbow; Light Armour; Eternal Hatred
Dark Riders (5#, 85 Pts)
5 Dark Riders
Hand Weapon; Spear; Light Armour; Eternal Hatred; Fast Cavalry
5 Dark Steed
Dark Riders (5#, 85 Pts)
5 Dark Riders
Hand Weapon; Spear; Light Armour; Eternal Hatred; Fast Cavalry
5 Dark Steed
Executioners (23#, 455 Pts)
21 Har Ganeth Executioners
Khainite; Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Draich; Heavy
Armour; Eternal Hatred; Killing Blow
1 Assassin
A Killer Not a Leader; Always Strike First; Hidden; Khainite;
Hand Weapon; Extra Hand Weapon; Eternal Hatred; Poisoned Attacks;
Scouts
1 Dark Venom
1 Touch of Death
1 Rune of Khaine
1 Draich-master
Khainite; Draich; Heavy Armour; Eternal Hatred
Executioners (10#, 120 Pts)
10 Har Ganeth Executioners
Khainite; Draich; Heavy Armour; Eternal Hatred; Killing Blow
Executioners (10#, 120 Pts)
10 Har Ganeth Executioners
Khainite; Draich; Heavy Armour; Eternal Hatred; Killing Blow
War Hydra (3#, 175 Pts)
1 War Hydra
Fiery Breath; Monsters and Handlers; Causes Terror; Eternal
Hatred; Large Target; Regenerate; Scaly Skin
2 Beastmaster
Hand Weapon; Eternal Hatred
2 Beastmasters Scourge
War Hydra (3#, 175 Pts)
1 War Hydra
Fiery Breath; Monsters and Handlers; Causes Terror; Eternal
Hatred; Large Target; Regenerate; Scaly Skin
2 Beastmaster
Hand Weapon; Eternal Hatred
2 Beastmasters Scourge
Cold One Knights (5#, 166 Pts)
5 Cold One Knights
Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Lance; Heavy Armour; Shield;
Eternal Hatred
1 Banner of Cold Blood
5 Cold One
Thick-skinned; Causes Fear; Stupid
TACTICS
The list is designed to be hyper aggressive and win any combat you want it to win; though you may not want to win every one to allow for better positioning. The army is very very fast with its slowest combat unit marching 10". This cuts down on list's hideous weakness to shooting.
Executioners are severely underestimated by most people and with the +1 attack from the Cauldron of Blood even 10 of them can take on a ranked up unit. They work especially well at sniping enemy characters.
The War Hydras are always good but with a +1 to attack or killing blow they can also snipe characters or take on fully ranked up units. The option to give the a 5+ ward save again helps vs shooting. The Cold One knights are out of place and will be dropped if I play the list again.
~ I hear this is his Nice list and that even darker horrors await in his Vampire Counts army. More on that list in due time...
~ I hear this is his Nice list and that even darker horrors await in his Vampire Counts army. More on that list in due time...
Hobby: The Eyes Have It
The one thing that can make or break a paint job is the level of detail that is put into the face. The one facial feature that is easy to learn is the eye, and successfully painting eyes will help you conquer half of the facial detail battle. There are three common methods for painting eyes, which I am going to discuss.Before I get into this discussion I need to discuss a topic that is related to painting eyes. What kind of paint brush are you using? If you are like most gamers I know, your tool of choice is a synthetic bristle brush produced by some game company, or bought at the craft store. Synthetic brushes have their place, but not in detail painting. Three years ago, I switched to Kolinsky Sable brushes, and, needless to say, they really took my painting to the next level. Yes they cost more than synthetic brushes, but the benefits of a good brush completely outweigh the price. A good brush will give you better flow control. It will also hold a point better. For all detail work I use a Windsor & Newton Series 7, 3/0 brush.
Your paint consistency is super important when painting any detail, especially eyes. I typically start with a 1:1 mixture of paint to water that is conditioned with Flow Aid. This mixture, along with the good brush, makes painting eyes or any detail an easy job. The key to detail painting is good paint flow. Too much paint on the brush will fill the entire eye socket and ruin any paint work you have done.
Method 1: The Dark Line
This is method employed by many scale modelers. The idea of a just using a dark brown to black line to indicate the eyes is based on the premise of scale. Try this exercise: Hold a miniature between your thumb and index finger at arms length. Next go outside and try and find a person in the distance that looks as tall. Chances are that when you do this you will quickly notice that you cannot see the white of the eye, and that the eye appears as a dark line.Honestly this method is just fine, and is completely appropriate if you are painting for games only. It is also appropriate for True Scale figures like what is in the Lord of the Rings line. Sometimes, painting an actual eye will make a figure look cartoonish, or bug-eyed. The draw back to this method is that on larger Warhammer Fantasy Battle and 40000 figures this approach might make the figure look like they have a hollow eye socket, which may be what you are going for.
Method 2: Paint the White, Dot the Eye
In my experience this is the most common way people paint eyes. This method starts with painting the sculpted eye white followed by dotting the center with black. After you have painted the eye you can clean up any mistakes with your base flesh color. The most common mistake when painting in this way is when the black dot doesnt completely touch at least one eye lid. Since many Games Workshop figures have their war-face on, it is actually better for the black to touch both eyelids. 
Up until a year ago this was my primary method of painting eyes. It worked well for me. The benefit to this method is that is mistakes are easily covered up. I found that my major gripe with painting in this way was that if one eye was off by a little bit they would look wall-eyed and goofy.
Method 3: Paint Black then the White
This is the method I currently use and is the reverse of method 2. You start by painting the entire eye black, and then you use white and dot the whites of the eyes in. Mistakes are cleaned up like in method 2. Some may see this method as incorporating an extra step, but there is a big reason I like this method. If it is done right there will be a very thin line of black between the eyelid and eye. This thin line outlines the eye and allows it to stand out against the rest of the face. I also like this method because it feels easier to get the eyes looking the same direction. 
Try some of these methods. See what you like.The main thing with becoming successful at painting eyes is practice. At first youll mess up some faces, but do not become daunted. Keep plugging away at it and then one day youll be painting eyes and realize that it is the easiest thing to do. It took me about 10 figures to get it right, but once I got it down, painting eyes became something I enjoyed.
How do you paint eyes? If you are having trouble with eyes tell us about it. Chances are good that someone here has faced your problems and might have a fix that will work for you.
Friday, May 8, 2009
GW NEWS: Gamesday Baltimore 2009
Is Saturday, May 9th.
I would expect to see all manner of Planetstrike and other goodies on display.
Lets get out there loyal BoLS readers, and have your cameras ready. Email any juicy stuff to us at belloflostsouls@gmail.com It would be downright embarrasing if our friends from across the pond got the jump on us North Americans over here... :)
Event info is available here.
I would expect to see all manner of Planetstrike and other goodies on display.
Lets get out there loyal BoLS readers, and have your cameras ready. Email any juicy stuff to us at belloflostsouls@gmail.com It would be downright embarrasing if our friends from across the pond got the jump on us North Americans over here... :)
Event info is available here.
FANTASY NEWS: Empire and Scenery Releases
Hi guys a short one on this Friday afternoon,
Games Workshop has just cranked out two new Advanced Orders products for our Warhammer Fantasy readers (and one is usable for us 40k folks as well).
Empire Batallion
This new batallion now now includes the new Plastic Greatswords.
Temple of Skulls
If there is something that defines the Warhammer universe (both Fantasy and 40k) its skulls, and the only thing that could be better than normal sized ones, are GIANT ONES, and lets throw in several of them, just for kicks...
~Khornate scenery piece anyone...? Both of these are slated for release on June 20th.
40K TACTICA: IG Psyker Battle Squad
Hi All, Jwolf here.
I’ve been pouring over the IG Codex for a while and working in games where I can, and I’m sure no one is shocked to hear I love it.
Probably the most unique and talked about infantry unit in the new Imperial Guard Codex is the Psyker Battle Squad. I’ll certainly field one at least some of the time, and I’ve been thinking on how to deploy, use, and build them.
Deployment seems obvious; these guys need to be in a Chimera somewhere near the center of my lines. Eight of them are enough to drop any unit to Leadership 2, but you can add the ninth Psyker to get the Strength 9 blast. I think the ninth guy is worth buying.
Using them is a whole other can of worms. Plenty of discussion has gone into dropping Leadership and hitting with Ratlings for a nearly automatic pinning, or going for the break with blast weapons, as well as a host of other evil tricks.
I think the Blast is actually more worthwhile than the amount of consideration it is being given by most. Half of the time the blast ignores MEQ armor. Since the blast can be Strength 9, it is a fine anti-vehicle weapon as well. I agree that the Leadership busting is very good, but killing is always better than breaking, so keep the Blast in mind.
Now for the really interesting part – modeling the Psyker Battle Squad. The most obvious choice is the metal Sanctioned Psyker models. The upside is these take no conversion at all. The downsides are these guys break my new rule of avoiding metal models if I can help it, and the 9 Psykers come in a whopping 3 poses – none of which is very different from the others. If you go with these guys, you need some other models to add in and spice up the unit. Witchhunter and Daemonhunter Inquisitorial retinues have several models that would work for this purpose, but all in metal.
Forgeworld has some great options in resin. The Tech Servitor (Ref: IA-INQ-I-002) would make a different looking Psyker and provide some variation. A pair of Renegade Militia Rogue Psykers (Ref: IA-CTR-I-005p) would also add some spice to your unit.
One of our readers suggested a great option in plastic – Warhammer Fantasy Empire Flagellants. These have the great crazy looks that you expect from Psykers and need only a few hand replacements and some Imperial iconography added to look great (A box of troopers should have plenty of parts to convert these over). Add to that the fact that they’re the cheapest and lightest choice available, and I think these are the choice I’m going to go with.
~I’m interested in what you all are finding out about the tactical uses of the Psyker Battle Squad you guys are coming up with (and against), and even more interested in what models you’re using to represent them, so I’ll be awaiting your responses.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
LotR: Gondor by the Numbers
Hi Guys, Bulwark here, and I love War of the Ring.
War of the Rings is still new and most of us are in the stage of trying to get our head wrapped around it. In order to help us all out, this is a quick and dirty analysis of Gondor unit choices. I do not have a great number of battles under my belt, so take my analysis with a grain of salt and feel free to correct me when I am wrong or I miss the value in a particular unit.
I'm breaking down the units into 4 broad categories; infantry, archers, cavalry (not to be confused with Calvary, those are two different things; pet peeve) and Heros. Yes, I know, there are several units that fall into more than one category. But we'll use this breakdown for simplicity's sake.
Infantry:
Minas Tirith Warriors. These guys are pretty good. Low cost, high defence and average courage. Their only downside is low fight value and strength. They are the epitome of the Anvil, now we only need a Hammer to go with them. For their price, I see them as one of the best defence units in the game. I like to use these as a baseline for comparing the other unit's stats.
Numenorean Warriors. One greater fight and one less defence than Minas Tirith warriors for the same price. Not terrible, but getting the 1 extra attack per company probably does not offset the one less defence. However, if you are building your army around a theme, they will work fine.
Warriors or Arnor. These guys are good. Low cost and high defence and better than Minas Tirith warriors in a fight. Their only down side is their poor courage value. Keep an Epic hero with Inspiring Leader nearby and you should have nothing to worry about. Fortunately, Gondor has several inspiring leaders to choose from.
Citadel Guards. These guys are the big brothers of the Minas Tirith warriors. Better fight and better strength. Unfortunately, they are also about 40% more expensive.
Men-at-Arms of Dol Amroth. A good choice if you know you will be facing cavalry, but why would you choose these guys over Axemen of Lossarnach. Higher cost and less versatility with same Pike ability. This entry doesn't make sense from a game play perspective. These guys are good for making a themed list, but little else.
Foot Knights of Dol Amroth. These guys are very nice. Citadel Guards that get bonus attacks half the time? yes, I will take some. If only they were not all metal.
Guards of the Fountain Court. It seems like GW put these guys, Citadel Guards, and Men-at-arms all in the same bucket and randomly moved one or two of their stats around. Not spectacular, but not awful either. The models are nice, but costly for a decent sized formation.
Archers:
Minas Tirith Archers. I'm not a huge fan of these guys. They have good armor for archers, but their shoot value isn't spectacular. For the points cost, I'd look at one of the Ranger companies.
Numenorean Archers. Just like in the Numenorean Warriors, a little more fight and a little less defence than their Minas Tirith counterparts. But, unlike the warriors, they will probably see less fighting so are not as good of a deal.
Rangers of Gondor. Probably the best archers for the price in the Gondor list. Good shoot value and low cost mean you can fill the air with lots of arrows.
Rangers of Arnor. Same price as Rangers of Gondor but with lower courage and better pathfinding skills. Unless you are building an army for fluff, I would go with the Gondor rangers.
Citadel Guards with Bows. Adding bows to these guys really adds on the points. If you want a 'do anything' unit, these guys can do it. Personally, I'm more of a unit specialization fan.
Avenger Bolt Thrower. A good number of shots at a decent strength, but the short range and low number of wounds will leave these on the shelf most of the time. For just a few points more, ally in some dwarf ballistas for a much better option.
Battlecry Trebuchet. The big brother of artillery. I have to admit, I haven't see this one in action. But I can't help but think that with only 3 guys manning the gun that it won't last past turn 2 or 3.
Rangers of Ithilien. Spend the points for the 2 special characters and your Gondor Ranger formation gets the ambush ability. Not bad.
Osgiliath Veterans. Good offence, good defence. They fill the same role as the Citadel Guards with Bows, but a steeper initial cost.
The Dunedain of Arnor. Expensive initial cost, but you do get longbows in the deal. I think Blackroot Vale Archers may be a better choice.
The Grey Company. Another expensive 'do anything' formation. Though, probably a better choice than the Citadel Guards. I'm not sure if the banner of the King is worth it; I'd like to see it in action a few times before I make up my mind.
Blackroot Vale Archers. Ambushing with Longbows. Need I say more?
Cavalry:
Minas Tirith Knights. A good all around unit. Like the Minas Tirith Warriors, they are inexpensive and have good armor. They're still not wonderful in a fight, but their lances go a long way towards helping that. If sticking with a pure Gondor list, I would take these as the hammer to the warriors anvil. I also think the shields are worth it most of the time (ok, half the time, but don't go all mathhammer on me).
Knights of Dol Amroth. Beautiful models, high defence, good in a fight, and bonus attacks on the charge like no ones business. A good choice for cavalry, if you don't mind the points cost...and paying for the metal.
Riders of the Dead. Same cool rules as the Warriors of the dead. But, without the lance rule of Gondor's other cavalry choices, they are just a faster version of warriors of the dead with less wounds.
Epic Heros:
Boromir. This guy is a hero killer. No doubt about it. Tons of might, epic strike and treating everyone as R 1. Don't challenge this guy unless you have a death wish. Unfortunately, outside of duels, he doesn't lend a great deal to his formation. Unless you know you are going to face some seriously tough epic heros, he's probably not worth the loss of 7 companies of warriors.
Aragorn. That sword. That amazing sword. Sure, he has good leadership free might and some nice epic skills, but the bonus his sword gives is worth it.
Faramir. Little brother of Boromir. This guy is great for his points. Inspiring leader and a lots of might makes him a good choice in smaller games.
Peregrin Took. Why? Seriously, unless you are building a theme list, spend the few extra points and get Faramir.
Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth. Not a bad guy, but I still think Farimir is 90% as good for 70% the price.
High King Elendil. Other than his permanent Epic strike, Aragorn is probably a better choice.
Isildur. Not a bad character. I put him on equal footing with Faramir. A little better here, a little worse there. But all around, they are about the same.
And there you have it, Gondor by the numbers. What is your take on the forces of Gondor? Who is over priced and who is a bargain?
I'm breaking down the units into 4 broad categories; infantry, archers, cavalry (not to be confused with Calvary, those are two different things; pet peeve) and Heros. Yes, I know, there are several units that fall into more than one category. But we'll use this breakdown for simplicity's sake.
Infantry:
Minas Tirith Warriors. These guys are pretty good. Low cost, high defence and average courage. Their only downside is low fight value and strength. They are the epitome of the Anvil, now we only need a Hammer to go with them. For their price, I see them as one of the best defence units in the game. I like to use these as a baseline for comparing the other unit's stats.
Numenorean Warriors. One greater fight and one less defence than Minas Tirith warriors for the same price. Not terrible, but getting the 1 extra attack per company probably does not offset the one less defence. However, if you are building your army around a theme, they will work fine.
Warriors or Arnor. These guys are good. Low cost and high defence and better than Minas Tirith warriors in a fight. Their only down side is their poor courage value. Keep an Epic hero with Inspiring Leader nearby and you should have nothing to worry about. Fortunately, Gondor has several inspiring leaders to choose from.
Citadel Guards. These guys are the big brothers of the Minas Tirith warriors. Better fight and better strength. Unfortunately, they are also about 40% more expensive.
Men-at-Arms of Dol Amroth. A good choice if you know you will be facing cavalry, but why would you choose these guys over Axemen of Lossarnach. Higher cost and less versatility with same Pike ability. This entry doesn't make sense from a game play perspective. These guys are good for making a themed list, but little else.
Foot Knights of Dol Amroth. These guys are very nice. Citadel Guards that get bonus attacks half the time? yes, I will take some. If only they were not all metal.
Guards of the Fountain Court. It seems like GW put these guys, Citadel Guards, and Men-at-arms all in the same bucket and randomly moved one or two of their stats around. Not spectacular, but not awful either. The models are nice, but costly for a decent sized formation.
Army of the Dead. This is a fun unit that is very situational. They are great at taking on those high defence, low courage troops. Fortunately for Gondor, Evil is full of those sorts of units. Their price is a bit high though. Look at the Court of the Dead King for a better priced alternative when taking a large formation.
Axemen of Lossarnach. Finally, a good offensive unit. A few of these hidden around your Minas Tirith warriors will make those orcs think twice about charging you.
Clansmen of Lamedon. Another good offense unit. And they charge like cavalry...it must be the skirts.
Denethor's Guard. Another fluff choice. The Citadel Guards are exactly the same, but you have to take a couple of special characters with no real advantages.
Court of the Dead King. Army of the Dead on speed. Look at the per unit price of this formation and then look at the price for Army of the dead. Notice anything? Yep, once you count in the cost of a hero and banner bearer, these guys are a steal. And shadowstride is great.
Royal Guard of Arnor. Warriors of Armor with a 6+ invulnerable save. For the points, you are probably better off just buying another company (or two) of warriors.
Wardens of the Keys. These guys have the best defence you can buy, unfortunately buying them costs a lot. For a maxxed size formation, you could buy 3 times as many Warriors of Minas Tirith, and still have points left over.
Axemen of Lossarnach. Finally, a good offensive unit. A few of these hidden around your Minas Tirith warriors will make those orcs think twice about charging you.
Clansmen of Lamedon. Another good offense unit. And they charge like cavalry...it must be the skirts.
Denethor's Guard. Another fluff choice. The Citadel Guards are exactly the same, but you have to take a couple of special characters with no real advantages.
Court of the Dead King. Army of the Dead on speed. Look at the per unit price of this formation and then look at the price for Army of the dead. Notice anything? Yep, once you count in the cost of a hero and banner bearer, these guys are a steal. And shadowstride is great.
Royal Guard of Arnor. Warriors of Armor with a 6+ invulnerable save. For the points, you are probably better off just buying another company (or two) of warriors.
Wardens of the Keys. These guys have the best defence you can buy, unfortunately buying them costs a lot. For a maxxed size formation, you could buy 3 times as many Warriors of Minas Tirith, and still have points left over.
Archers:
Minas Tirith Archers. I'm not a huge fan of these guys. They have good armor for archers, but their shoot value isn't spectacular. For the points cost, I'd look at one of the Ranger companies.
Numenorean Archers. Just like in the Numenorean Warriors, a little more fight and a little less defence than their Minas Tirith counterparts. But, unlike the warriors, they will probably see less fighting so are not as good of a deal.
Rangers of Gondor. Probably the best archers for the price in the Gondor list. Good shoot value and low cost mean you can fill the air with lots of arrows.
Rangers of Arnor. Same price as Rangers of Gondor but with lower courage and better pathfinding skills. Unless you are building an army for fluff, I would go with the Gondor rangers.
Citadel Guards with Bows. Adding bows to these guys really adds on the points. If you want a 'do anything' unit, these guys can do it. Personally, I'm more of a unit specialization fan.
Avenger Bolt Thrower. A good number of shots at a decent strength, but the short range and low number of wounds will leave these on the shelf most of the time. For just a few points more, ally in some dwarf ballistas for a much better option.
Battlecry Trebuchet. The big brother of artillery. I have to admit, I haven't see this one in action. But I can't help but think that with only 3 guys manning the gun that it won't last past turn 2 or 3.
Rangers of Ithilien. Spend the points for the 2 special characters and your Gondor Ranger formation gets the ambush ability. Not bad.
Osgiliath Veterans. Good offence, good defence. They fill the same role as the Citadel Guards with Bows, but a steeper initial cost.
The Dunedain of Arnor. Expensive initial cost, but you do get longbows in the deal. I think Blackroot Vale Archers may be a better choice.
The Grey Company. Another expensive 'do anything' formation. Though, probably a better choice than the Citadel Guards. I'm not sure if the banner of the King is worth it; I'd like to see it in action a few times before I make up my mind.
Blackroot Vale Archers. Ambushing with Longbows. Need I say more?
Cavalry:
Minas Tirith Knights. A good all around unit. Like the Minas Tirith Warriors, they are inexpensive and have good armor. They're still not wonderful in a fight, but their lances go a long way towards helping that. If sticking with a pure Gondor list, I would take these as the hammer to the warriors anvil. I also think the shields are worth it most of the time (ok, half the time, but don't go all mathhammer on me).
Knights of Dol Amroth. Beautiful models, high defence, good in a fight, and bonus attacks on the charge like no ones business. A good choice for cavalry, if you don't mind the points cost...and paying for the metal.
Riders of the Dead. Same cool rules as the Warriors of the dead. But, without the lance rule of Gondor's other cavalry choices, they are just a faster version of warriors of the dead with less wounds.
Epic Heros:
Boromir. This guy is a hero killer. No doubt about it. Tons of might, epic strike and treating everyone as R 1. Don't challenge this guy unless you have a death wish. Unfortunately, outside of duels, he doesn't lend a great deal to his formation. Unless you know you are going to face some seriously tough epic heros, he's probably not worth the loss of 7 companies of warriors.
Aragorn. That sword. That amazing sword. Sure, he has good leadership free might and some nice epic skills, but the bonus his sword gives is worth it.
Faramir. Little brother of Boromir. This guy is great for his points. Inspiring leader and a lots of might makes him a good choice in smaller games.
Peregrin Took. Why? Seriously, unless you are building a theme list, spend the few extra points and get Faramir.
Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth. Not a bad guy, but I still think Farimir is 90% as good for 70% the price.
High King Elendil. Other than his permanent Epic strike, Aragorn is probably a better choice.
Isildur. Not a bad character. I put him on equal footing with Faramir. A little better here, a little worse there. But all around, they are about the same.
And there you have it, Gondor by the numbers. What is your take on the forces of Gondor? Who is over priced and who is a bargain?
Warhammer Poll: Tabletop Painting Standards
This one goes out to all of us Warhammer players, on both the 40k and Fantasy side.
Its a sticky subject, but lets get right to it: What painting quality level do you like to see on the tabletop when you play, and what standards do you hold yourself to?
Lets go over the major schools of thought and see where you guys come down:
Fully Painted:
These folks feel the game is a visual experience, and take great pleasure in fielding fully painted armies. Throwing down with a viable list is secondary to having everything fully painted, and if they lose a few games with an unbalanced aarmy along the way...well so be it.
Mostly Painted:
These folks are like the fully painted people, but will occasionally field one or two unpainted minis in bare metal or plastic to try them out on the board. They are reliable painters, but want to play effective armies, and wont let a couple of unpainted units spoil their fun.
Primed/Tabletop Quality:
These people are all about playing the game, and may paint up an occasional squad or slowly move through their army, painting the easy three-color minimums standards you often see. They are primarily focussed on the rules and tactics of the game, not painting the minis and are perfectly happy with many of thier models assembled and spray-painted.
Unpainted:
Hey guys, its a tactical game, so lets get playing. These folks dont paint their Monopoly pieces, so why should they paint their Warhammer 40k/WFB pieces. They love the playing of the game above all else and have no problems fielding entire armies of just assembled models.
~So what do you consider yourself to be, and what do you see in your area? Be honest, and lets hear about WHY you play the way you do and what you would like to see in your area. Of course crazy funny stories are always appreciated.
Poll, right hand column, ATTACK!
40K TACTICA: Necron Phase Out
Since 5th edition's release, the Necron "phase out" rule which was originally intended for balance, is now a major weakness. Unlike all other armies, your opponent mearly has to kill 75% of your Necron forces to achieve a complete victory, regardless of any other mission considerations. This means that even the Monolith, one of the most feared vehicles in the game can effectively be ignored for victory purposes. It will just disappear once you've killed enough.
There is really only two ways to try and combat phase out as a necron player. The first way I've named...
"Wow, That's Big!!"
If you're fielding 3 monolith's and a C'tan in 2000 points, it can be quite scary for your opponent. The kind of fear only invoked by 16 nob bikers, or 9 leman russ tanks. Unfortunately for the Necron player, the big stuff is not actually as frightening as the other two examples. If the big stuff doesn't kill a lot very quickly, the opposing force will just kill every other thing on the board. Thankfully, those 4 models can hit pretty hard and definitely presents a ticking clock for your opponent. This is the method I've been playing recently with my Necrons, with marginal and occasional success.
The second method that I'm going to be testing out this week with my new forces is called...
"You Can't Kill THIS Many!"
This method centers around a gigantic force of Necron Warriors that makes phasing out unlikely. This concept centers around a minimum of 60+ warriors with supporting necron forces with specialized purposes scattered throughout the FOC. Though this method leaves you vulnerable to assault, there are enough gauss guns to prevent a second round from just about any squad. Combined with some speed bump squads like scarabs, as well as some dirty tricks, it can be reasonably hard to deal with. I'll have more information after I do some testing with this method this week.
Any other Necron players out there have any other ideas or methods you've used to help you avoid getting phased out? We're not getting a new codex for a bit, so lets hear what you fellow Necron Lords scattered around the globe have to offer.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
FANTASY: Austin CCC Tournament
Hi guys,
This weekend, a whole load of the Fly Lords threw down at the Capitol City Carnage tournament in Austin. Minus67 took home the best general prize with his Dark Elf list, and a good time was had by all.
Here is a gallery of pics in no particular order to give you a taste of the Warhammer Fantasy tournament.
