3++ is the new black. | Kirb your enthusiasm!

Email in: Mix'n'Match my new Necrons!

2012-06-02T15:00:00.001+10:00

"I've been reading your blog for almost one and a half year and greatly appreciate your articles on tactics and codex reviews, which really helped me analyzing my own play over here in Germany. I've got almost all the toys I'd want for Blood Angels. I can play them as full mech or DoA only, but the painting is... well... mostly lacking. I bought too much too fast and for now they are resting, but I will get back to this army. Now I'm going for something new, I'm building a Necron army, for I like the new rules and fluff (!) and painting a basic Necron model is easy. This army will be fully painted before it hit's the battlefield and I'd be thankful if you helped me deciding on what to take.

I don't play in competitive events and prefer games with friends. I've found optimised (optimised as in having the best chances to win games - with the current meta and a range of enemy forces that I am likely to engage on the battlefield as constraints and assuming equal player skill) to be lacking, as they force my opponents (a.k.a. friends) to field similarly strong lists to not be clubbed to death, meaning the builds converge towards an optimum and become boring. This is a simplified view, but it yields at least some truth. My way to stop the arms race is to write a list that would be competitive at some lower point level - 80 to 90 Percent of the target points level - and fill the rest with "cool stuff I'd like to see on the battlefield".

So, this is what i got for my Necrons by now:

##########

Overlord

- Warscythe

- Mindshackle Scarabs

- Command Barge

(195 points)

Council

- Harbinger of Destruction with Solar Pulse

- Harbinger of Destruction

- harbinger of Despair with Veil of Darkness

(185 points)

##########

Elite

Triach Stalker

(150 points)

Triarch Stalker

(150 points)

##########

Troops

Necron Warriors (9)

- Ghost Ark

(232 points)

Necron Warriors (9)

- Ghost Ark

(232 points)

Necron Warriors (12)

(156 points)

Immortals (5)

(85 points)

##########

Heavy Support

Annihilation Barge

(90 points)

Annihilation Barge

(90 points)

Annihilation Barge

(90 points)

##########

1655 points!

##########

This I would call a solid core, as it gives some armour saturation with 8 vehicles, enough durabe troops and okayish firepower. But I want to take this to 1850 points for my regular games but don't want to play the same list over and over. I'd like your ideas for my "core" and for the following parts, that seem fun to play and isn't utter cr*p.

Six examples of what to add:

## Simple ##

Add three Tomb Blades with synchronized Gauss-Blasters (60 points) and nine Canoptek Scarabs (135 points). I already have the models and they should play nice.

##########

## Walkers! ##

One additional Triarch Stalker with Heavy Gauss Cannon (165 points) and somerwhere I'll find the bits for Heavy Gauss Cannons for the other Stalkers (30 points).

##########

## Double Council ##

Lose five Necron Warriors (-65 points) and the Command Barge (-80 points). Add another Overlord with Scythe and MSS (115 points) and a council of three Harbingers of Destruction with Solar Pulse and one Flaming Gaze and a Harbinger of the Storm with his Anti-charge-field (170). Spend the 55 points left on wargear you'd want to try, perhaps even upgrade an Overlord to a Phaeron.

##########

## Flyers ##

Get two flyers when they become available. Lose one Annihilation Barge (-90 points), get one Doom Scythe instead (175 points) and get a Night Scythe for the Immortals (100 points). Leaves 10 points for... Flaming Gaze or something.

##########

## Doom ##

Lose two Annihilation Barges (-180 points) and get two Doomsday Arks (350). 25 points left for gimmicks.

##########

## Monolith ##

Lose one Annihilation Barge (-90 points) and get a Monolith (200) and a small unit of Tomb Blades or Scarabs.

##########

These are a couple of ways to take my force to full 1850 points and there sure are some good ones more. All need at least some adjustment to tactics but I'm sure I can handle this. Some need fewer models than others, which is good as I can add diversity with bigger or smaller amounts of cash. Care to share a few words on what you think about my core and some of the Addons? Have a few ideas on your own? What would you think are the best (and most diverse) variations? What do you think of this type/style of "recipe"?

Yours, Max

P.S.: Please excuse probable issues with grammar and spelling as english is not my native language. Because of this I didn't go into too much detail, as my english becomes ... cumbersome when I try to explain more complex topics like tactics."

I like Simple and Double council ideas but Double Council is very likely going to turn your list into what you would consider close to optimal - which if that's not what you're going for, should be avoided. The idea of taking a solid core and adding fun stuff around it is a good idea - you have a good army on which you can learn/practice tactics, etc. and you've got something which makes your army a little softer against equally pointed lists but you've still got the good core to expand upon if you want to take it to a tournament.

I'd add another option here to expand the army - something to do with Lychguard. They are a so-so unit but excellent models and can provide something to the army without screaming "I'm crap and trying to make a soft list" sort of thing. Chucking in some Necron Lords or an Overlord can enhance this 'fun' unit though if you need to drop points anywhere I'd look to an Annihilation Barge (which again, softens the list a bit). This could also be used when expanding upon your Simple idea to grab some more Tomb Blades, etc.

Otherwise another idea would be to use all the extra points on Destroyers, Tomb Blades or Wraiths. All so-so to decent units which can add some spice to the army and conversion opportunities if you want.

Games Workshop goes 'digital'...

2012-06-02T11:07:00.000+10:00

Sorry is this 2000?

Games Workshop has apparently gone 'digital' and by that we mean they are releasing more stuff for you to buy from them that you really don't need. Yay for extra Space Marine content in an apple only product?

Going digital would actually involve Games Workshop involving itself in the online world - where the majority of people reside to at least some extent during their lives. It's nearly impossible not to these days yet Games Workshop still seems to refuse to acknowledge the existence of the Internet or that it could actually provide them with insight into their customer base. I'm sure many people will jump up and down over GW goodies for their apple product but really, woop de do. All GW has done is skipped the important part of the digital/IT world which if they paid attention to, might increase their viability as a company and tried to suck more money out of you. Color me unimpressed with a care factor of zero.

I particularly can't wait for the articles on "collecting guides and tactical guidance for making the most out of your miniatures collection on the painting table and the battlefield." and the utter fail the actual tactics will be. At least I'll get a laugh after someone posts it online and we can all read it.

Anyway, discuss, whine at GW, whine at me, whatever away. ^^

Some Circle Orboros List Musings

2012-06-02T07:00:00.000+10:00

So my friend (Chair126) and I have done some Circle list crunching with units and casters we like - there seems to be a lot of correspondence here... That silly blighter has me wanting to start Circle again, particularly with the Privateer Press summer bundle up atm. Le sigh. So let's take a quick look - my friend is pretty keen on 50 points yet I don't see many tournaments around here that high - most seem to be 35 so they'll need to be cut back (and 50 points seems bloody easy to make :P).

pBaldur (+6) – Tier 4

- Megalith (11) *

- Woldwarden (9) *

- Wold Guardian (9) *

Druid Stoneward & Woldstalkers (5)

Shifting Stones + UA (3)

Shifting Stones (2)
Sentry Stone & Mannikin (3)

Druids of Orboros + UA (9)

Blackclad Wayfarer (2)
Gallows Grove (1)

50

Some tiered fun - Gallows is basically something to fill the extra point. I think the list is pretty good and Chair126 likes it but I'm not too fond of getting two shrimp squads (Woldstalkers) and the Mannikins when I'm unlikely to use them both elsewhere (tight on the purse strings!). Dropping those and the Gallows frees up six points (nine from the actual units, three from loss of tier benefits) so there's some stuff to do there but not sure if I'd want to chuck in a Furry beast to up the damage potential against heavies and move away from the construct theme or continue with such. Thoughts on running a non-tier Baldur list beyond this? And how does this theme list seem for Chair at 50?

eBaldur (+5) – Tier 4

- Megalith (11)

- Wold Guardian (9)

- Woldwatcher (5) *

- Woldwyrd (5) *

Druids of Orboros + UA (9)

Shifting Stones + UA (3)

Blackclad Wayfarer (2)

Lord of the Feast (4)

Celestial Fulcrum (9)

50

Now here's a Tier list I am happier with though having to buy two lights which won't see much action elsewhere is again annoying - is a non-tier list here functional at 50? It uses a lot of the models I find really appealing (Fulcrum, Guardian, Druids) and if we drop the solos, lights and Stones UA I've got a 35 point list though it feels a bit light on models with two expensive heavies and the battle engine... Thoughts there?

eKaya (+3)

- Laris (-)

- Warpwolf Stalker (10)

- Pureblood Warpwolf (9)

- Ghetorix (11)

Druids of Orboros + UA (9)

Shifting Stones + UA (3)

Druid Wilder (2)

41

A Furry list! Neither of us were sold on eKaya until we started browsing the forums. Chair still isn't but I really like the concept of being able to throw a punch really far our with your beats and then bring them back like a good little yoyo. To me that screams Circle and whilst there's none of the models I really drool over (Guardian, Fulcrum) outside of the Druids, it appeals to me in other ways. It's sitting at 41 points currently though so several options for moving up to 50 or down to 35.

For 35 dropping the Wilder, Druid UA and Ghetorix down to a Feral Warpwolf seems like the best bet - you still have the nice toolbox from the Druids and three heavy beasts to whack things about.

Going up to 50 though... A second stones unit seems pretty common - more Fury management, healing and placement fun. This could even replace the Wilder though it lessens the management possible. Nine points is also just enough for a Fulcrum if I wanted one (in love with the model, yes?) and it provides some infantry clearing to help support the heavy beasts in their war against harder targets. eKaya doesn't really do much for the Fulcrum though the Druids can hide it relatively well. Its fragility could really come into play here. Otherwise a Nyss hunter unit (dropping stone UA or Ghetorix to a Feral and having a point to play with) could round out the list nicely. I imagine a Gorax being a prime option for his animus and some other combat options but not sure what to do with the extra five points - more stones? Woldstalkers? Blackclade? Open to opinions here!

pKrueger (+5)

- Woldwarden (9)

- Feral Warpwolf (9)

- Warpwolf Stalker (10)

Druids of Orboros + UA (9)
Max Bloodtrackers + UA (10)
Shifting Stones + UA (3)
Blackclad Wayfarer (2)
Druid Wilder (2)
Gallows Grave (1)

50

For everyone who knows me, this should come as no surprise but pKrueger is so quintessentially...me. Anytime I do RPGs, etc. I'm always some sort of spell-caster with the capacity to crap all over what opposes me. pKrueger is known as a pretty good anti-infantry caster and I've tried to not over-emphasis that and ensure I have enough hitting power. Woldwarden and Gallows give Krueger some extra firepower for Chain Lightning and angles for Tornado whilst the Bloodtrackers offer an excellent alternative for Lightning Tendrils over the Feral (with quick work they could potentially kill three infantry each on the charge). Stones & Blackclad offers more movement fun as well as healing & Fury management to go with Wilder. Not sure about Druids here - they nearly always seem like a good choice to me so might just be putting them in here by habit but they are so toolboxy why wouldn't you? Deflection can also help them out if anything ever breaks through their DEF18.

To take this to 35 I'd be dropping Druids, Stones UA and the three solos. I could potentially lower the sizes of the Bloodtrackers to bring some more solos back which might be needed for fury management.

eKrueger (+5)

- Warpwolf Stalker (10)

- Pureblood Warpwolf (9)

- Woldwarden (9)

Druids of Orboros + UA (9)

Shifting Stones + UA (3)

Shifting Stones (2)

Blackclad Wayfarer (2)

Druid Wilder (2)

41

Again, there's room to play here. I was thinking Fulcrum again particularly with eKreguer's Stormwall & Druid's templates - it's not going to get shot to pieces from afar but not sure if I need the extra anti-infantry with a couple Lightning storms going. Not sure if the second shifting stones is needed here and could potentially grab another solo (or drop the Blackclad for a 4 point solo). Could also drop this in favor of two Gallows for different angles on the Gallows spell and range for Lightning Storms. Potentially another unit? Shrimp? I know Gorax is an obvious option along with potentially replacing the Pureblood with a Feral and then go with five extra points of stuff (again though - what to do?).

-------------------------------------------------

Anyway, some discussion and thoughts would be great here. We know Moshar and Kormac were also suggested as good casters but haven't looked at either really deeply yet so anything in terms of list building for them would be nice. Thoughts on trimming lists down to 35 would also be appreciated and the general thoughts going on here - right track or no? Druids & Stones seem to be common features for both of us along with Blackclad, Warpwolf heavies & Woldwarden which all seem like solid units for lots of casters.

Turn Zero: the Most Important Turn

2012-06-01T23:00:00.001+10:00

A lot of people in the game have, at various points, complained about some turns being super-important. For example, complaints about turn one alpha strikes are pretty common now with Razorspam and have also gotten hate in the past over Leafblower, etc. There is also a recurring theme of the game being all about the final turn rush to contest objectives with tank shocks, etc, with all the maneuvering, etc, of earlier turns being nothing but a setup for that last one. However, I don't think either of those are the most important turn, even my thoughts on the validity of those complaints aside, because there is a much more critical point of decisions.

That point is turn zero, the choices you make before the game starts. Whether or not to take first turn and where to deploy are of critical importance and a poor or even merely mediocre choice there can spell the end of a what would otherwise have been a fairly even matchup before it begins.

Once the game type and deployment has been determined and, assuming you win the roll-off to pick first or second, you have a big decision to make: whether you want to deploy and go first or not. Now, there are some general guidelines that you can follow for this one that will, more often than not, guide you through it- go second in objective games, first in KP- but that misses out a lot of very, very important nuances. Differences in the board's terrain can alter the value of picking various sides to take advantage of them or deny the enemy their use. The relative engagement ranges of the two armies are also very important- if you can predict where the enemy will have to deploy against you in order to be effective, going first gains a lot of value.

The elephant here, however, is the actual deployment itself. How you deploy your army is, no overstatement, probably the most important single decision you will make during any game. A poor deployment especially can be absolutely backbreaking as you attempt to get your units into position from where they started and struggle to deal with the enemy's army (assuming they deployed correctly.)

One of the most common offenders here is the "all in a row" deployment, which is very common with new players. It's very simple: you take all your units and you spread them in a big long line across most or all of the deployment zone, and then, if your enemy is smart, you lose, because they stick their entire army into one section of the board, focus fire on you, and wipe you out piece by piece. The lesson here is pretty simple: don't spread out past the point where parts of your army can support each other.

Another common mistake is reserves. With the way reserves work in 5th edition, if you don't have reserve bonuses, you do not want to put significant fractions of your army in reserve. There exist situations where it is the right choice, but 99% of the time it is not. This means you don't want your whole army off the table, you don't want half your army off the table, you don't even want a third of your army off the table. You maybe have 1-3 units- and not major firepower-contributors- held back for some fancy job or to ensure they don't die before getting their shots. Doing anything more than that is simply setting yourself up in the same situation as our last example: the enemy gets to use his/her whole army against you, but you only get to use part of yours. Such lopsided battles are the very opposite of what you want to be happening, and forcing them on yourself is simply not a thing you want to do.

There are innumerable other mistakes that can be made during the deployment phase of the game, both large and small. Going first is especially perilous in this regard because you have to not only try and predict where the enemy will deploy and how to counter it, but also worry about having the initiative seized from you- and this is another common failing, the assumption (when deploying) that you will automatically go first when deploying first. Seize the Initiative exists for a reason, and that reason is to temper the possibility of an alpha strike against the danger of setting yourself up with no defenses. Misjudgements in the enemy's plan are a close second, and misjudgements of how engagements will go ("My Grey Hunters can probably take his TH/SS.") or how the game will flow ("And then on turn 3 my Carnifexes assault his tanks and...") or what parts of the board will be important (for objectives, lines of shooting/retreat, etc.)

My point here isn't to try and illustrate every way to deploy right- or wrong- because not only is that a herculean task even given the lengthy articles I normally write, but also because it will be highly dependent on the matchup and thus not really something that can be stated in broad terms. Blood Hammer will not deploy the same as Nidzilla will not deploy the same as BA Razorspam will not deploy the same as SW Razorspam will not deploy the same as any other army. My point is that you shouldn't just roll the die for going first, grab a random part of the board and start laying dudes down- and all too often this is what I see. It's good to have a general outline of a game plan for your army, but before things begin you need to look at your opponent's army list and think about how it's going to interact with your own and with the mission and what that means to you.

The beginning of a game can be kind of harried, just like any time- the other guy wants to put his toys out, you've got noise going on everywhere, you want to get the game started also, you're trying to hammer out terrain, make sure you understand their list, etc, etc. But it greatly benefits you to step back and think long and hard about what your deployment is going to be and why you're deploying that way. Look back after the game is over and consider how your deployment affected the choices you ended up making and what choices it forced on you. Did your Leman Russ spend the whole game trying to get a good shot at the enemy? You may have deployed it into a poor position.

Deploying correctly is one of the hardest things to do in the game because you only have one chance at it and its effects are very non-obvious- it always feels like other factors (enemy movement, terrain, etc) were responsible for the results of your deployment, but in truth these things are often foreseeable and a good deployment can mitigate or eliminate them as factors. Good generals can win the game even before it starts simply by virtue of how they deploy, and this is something that largely bypasses the dice rolls that can control many other phases, much like movement.

House of Paincakes Idol

2012-06-01T15:00:00.000+10:00

Lauby has asked me to plug his little competition and being the nice person I am, I acquiesced. So behold, HOP Idol - season 2.

With the recent, and most likely (and most hopefully) temporary departure of GMort due to the powers of that bitch IRL, we at the HoP have decided to go ahead on a planned resurrection of the HoP Idol contest. We've upped our timeline on this a wee bit, but are happy to get right into the swing of things again after last year's wildly successful outing. As an added spoiler, we may be adding an author or two prior to the contest getting under way, but we'll keep you abreast of that situation as it develops.

For those that missed it last time around, this will be a singing writing competition aimed at finding a new author to give a permanent weekly series to on the HoP. Weekly/Bi-weekly challenges will be assigned and our readership will vote on who stays in the competition as we eliminate prospects before the big final finale.

Rumors that this year's contest would be patterned off of the highly superior NBC singing contest The Voice have proved false- those fancy ass spinning chairs are expensive as hell.... just ask Gary Numan. More specific details about the contest format this time around will be made available as we make them up. We're going to be pulling out all the stops on this one, but want to wait and see how many applicants we get this time around before we decide how to proceed. This year you can all expect bigger and better challenges and a host of twists- although the twist could be that there are no twists... guess you'll just have to wait and see.

Instructions for entering the contest are after the jump.
So you're interested in writing for the HoP, eh? Well good because we're a pretty great group of people and clearly know how to have a good time on the interwebs.

All applicants are welcome regardless of age, sex, favorite game system, nationality, native language, etc. Entrance into the contest is simple if you follow the steps below. If you don't follow the steps below, we'll probably have to publicly ridicule your ineptitude. Here are those steps (don't forget to follow them):

Write an article of up to 500 words that you think clearly represents your style and viewpoint. There are no restrictions on topic, so feel free to send us a news report, battle report, tactics article, painting/modeling tutorial, or whatevs. All we care about is that it is about tabletop gaming/ roleplaying and that it's short enough that we can quickly read them and potentially publish them quickly.
Do not publish the article created for step 1 on your own blog. All content for the HoP Idol contest is to be considered exclusive to the HoP without written permission. We will link every article back to your blog (if you have one) every time we publish and you're welcome to link to the articles on the HoP.
Send your article to contest@houseofpaincakes.com . Make sure that the subject line includes "HoP Idol entry."
The article may be attached as a word or text document in html format or embedded into the body of an e-mail. You may include up to one picture in your article which must be either attached to your e-mail or otherwise embedded in your article.
The deadline for submitting your article is Thursday June 7. We will beginning announcing contestants shortly thereafter.
Questions can be sent to info@houseofpaincakes.com

Guest Article: Painting Biel-Tan Eldar (inc. Video)

2012-06-01T07:00:00.001+10:00

Hi everyone - my name is Lloyd and I own www.paintedminis.co.uk. You'll see me in and around forums as GLD or GLD1, and I have a little side line as a commission painter. I paint all sorts, although for some reason I seem to attract space marines - not that I don't enjoy a super human soldier as much as the next person! I am based in the UK but willing to work for you wherever you are based. If you are interested then please get in touch either via my website or the comment section.

The main reason I am here however is that I love to make tutorials - and help people learn new skills and improve their painting. I am slowly transferring my back catalogue of tutorials from pictures into video. The first of which you can find at the bottom of this post. In the mean time, I am open to suggestions with regards to what kinds of tutorials people want to see - I have video tutorials lined up for minotaur space marines, lave themed bases, salamanders space marines, Blood Angels Honour Guard and Orks, which will probably come at a rate of around 1 per month. Please let me know if there is anything specific you want to see!

I would also appreciate any comments that you have with regard to feedback on how useful you find the tutorials, or any questions you may have. I am always looking to improve!

So without further delay, thanks to Kirby for this opportunity, here is how I paint Biel Tan Eldar!

Eldar Codex Review - Part 28: Warp Hunters

2012-05-31T23:00:00.000+10:00

40kO

So another re-do of a post due to Forgeworld being silly with their rule updates and not telling me...because I'm the first one who should be told! Here's the old post where a couple of rules were gotten wrong due to changes. BS4 instead of 3, D-Cannon has better chance of damaging vehicles and is a large blast. Without these we were looking at the Prism and Warp Hunter as relatively comparable but with these changes... well let's see shall we?

The Review -

As with your usual larger Eldar tanks, Warp Hunters are AV12/12/10, fast skimmers with the tank property. This gives them excellent mobility and the ability to fire on the move at rather rapid rates. As usual as well with heavier Eldar vehicles, the Warp Hunter comes with a main weapon system and a crappy weapon system which has the option to be upgraded to a Shuriken Cannon (generally a good idea). The main weapon is why you take the Warp Hunter and it's a doozy of a weapon.

At 36" it's not exactly breaking the world open from afar but with a 12" move it has plenty of scope in which it can be applied. The big kickers for this gun are two-fold: barrage and 5" blast. This means the AP2 is relevant all the time against infantry and the haywire like ability to damage vehicles cares not what you hide behind. This means the Warp Hunter can be effective against both tanks and infantry. Wounding on 2's and ignoring all armor means anything clumped up dies a terrible, terrible death. It inflicts instant death on wounds of six as well which is cute when you drop an IC/MC but not something to be relied upon. Against tanks, the Haywire on crack ability (2-4 glancing, 5+ penetrating) means parking lots are in a world of hurt and the Warp Hunter can reliably suppress any single tank.

However, it's a single gun and as we all know, single guns have a lot of issues. They can be shaken or destroyed off the platform and most importantly - they can miss. This is where Fire Prisms can edge Warp Hunters just a little bit as they can be more reliable when run in pairs. The Warp Hunter does have an answer though - Aether Rift or a template with the exact same profile as above but instead of a 36" range large blast, it's a hellhound like template which can be placed 6" from the vehicle. Excellent for hitting what you want to hit though the range leaves something to be desired.

Potential Uses -

Take your Fire Prisms and replace them with Warp Hunters. With the addition of a large blast and damage against vehicles happening on a 2+ the Warp Hunter surpasses the Fire Prism in pretty much every regard. The Fire Prism is still a little bit better in terms of actually taking out lighter tanks, particularly in pairs, but that's not what they are designed to do or intended for. The Warp Hunter is generally superior against tanks due to the anti-castling power it has over your opponent and when you're a mobile army like Eldar, forcing your opponent to spread out works great.

Thanks to barrage, the large blast and AP2, the Warp Hunter is death to all infantry - in cover or not and doesn't need to use the small blast template to break through Terminator armor and thanks to the haywire on crack effect against vehicles, it's the ulimate anti-parking lot tool capable of mass suppression. Don't rely on it too much for actually killing tanks as it only penetrates 33% of the time and has no damage modifier but if your opponent clumps up - punish them. That being said, it is relatively useful against the more expensive/higher AV tanks - you care not what armor you are shooting at though this makes it rather inefficient against single, cheaper vehicles.

With the template option as well the Warp Hunter can become a very reliable source of infantry frying once they are forced out of their transports or after being tank-shocked/engaged in a melee. Without needing a to hit roll and with the 12" move plus flexibility in placement of the template, one can ensure the maximum amount of infantry are basically killed on a 2+ (invuls obviously not withstanding). That's a pretty big boost to an army which can struggle with anti-infantry in general (relies upon mass S6 firepower which is also needed for suppression duty).

As always, Warp Hunters aren't going to say no to Farseer support. Doom ensures all those annoying ones which come against an infantry unit can be re-rolled to help ensure that final model with the meltagun/PFist dies and Guide can really increase the accuracy and damage potential against parking lots and infantry alike.

Potential Changes -

As it is now, the Warp Hunter craps all over the Fire Prism. Too much so - the Fire Prism doesn't really have a use and this means something has to give. Either the Warp Hunter gets hit with the nerf bat or the Fire Prism gets, well something. We also have to remember the Night Spinner here which has a similar, if more utility based, role.

In terms of what does what - something should probably be moved to the Fast Attack slot - though with the current standing of the Warp Hunter, I wouldn't recommend that. This gives the option of several heavy tanks in Heavy Support as well as one in Fast Attack as well as the Hornets there & War Walkers in Heavy Support (so potential to mix and match firepower/chassis demanded).

As it is now, the Warp Hunter has some excellent anti-infantry abilities with good supporting abilities against tanks - particularly parking lots. This makes me want to make the Fire Prism more anti-tank oriented with the small (or large blast) kept and and Heavy 2 direct shot as the primary firing mode with a reduction in points. I think given the Warp Hunter's ability to fry infantry and hurt parking lots (or heavy tanks in general) makes its current price sufficient given its one-gun syndrome downside though if this is in any way rectified through a new rule set, a slight increase would be justified.

Conclusion -

With the recent changes the Warp Hunter has a lot going for it over the Fire Prism. Seeing as it always does some damage to vehicles, even if the blast hole is off the vehicle, essentially damages a vehicle on a 2+, ignores cover, has AP2, wounds infantry on a 2+, is a large blast and has a ranged template option, well the only things the Fire Prism has going for it are range and accuracy when two are brought along. The Fire Prisms is also a little bit more reliable against tanks in terms of actually killing one, but they still aren't great. I'll take the Warp Hunter thanks.

The Warp Hunter gives the Eldar army a lot of options in terms of anti-infantry removal thanks to the barrage blast and aether rift template - something the army has issues with when running full mech. Chuck in the ability to force parking lots to spread out and the Warp Hunter gives the mobility of the Eldar army something else to capitalise on. All in all, a very good buy if you are able to use IA rules and something which would see very good use if brought intho the mainstream book.

1500pts Outside the Box Competitive Blood Angels for VIC5

2012-05-31T15:00:00.000+10:00

This evening in the 3++ Chat Bawks I had an interesting conversation with a regular to the blog and bawks - VIC5. He was reviewing a number of older articles of mine and drawing some inspiration on outside the box thinking and how he could apply that to his own Blood Angels at 1500pts. We got to talking and took it off the blog to refine things and then well, I fiddled. The net result is explored below. I also just received this message from him via email:

Hey Taak, thanks very much for the list. I really appreciate your help and very much look forward to further unconventional army thoughts in the future. Perhaps something with foot Wolves? -- VIC5

I might do something with foot wolves, depends, but that's off topic, Blood Angels! First we'll look at VIC5's list and some strengths/weaknesses and options we could explore. VIC5 started out with this:

vic5 (8:12:22 PM): 125 - Librarian w jump pack
205 - Honor Guard w sanguinary novitiate, 1 flamer, 2 meltas, 1 flamer n melta, all jump packs
75 - Sanguinary Priest w jump pack --
50 - Sanguinary Priest w feet
230 - 5 Terminators w cyclone missile /OR/ 5 Assault Terminators w 5 hammers n shields
235 - 10 ASMs w 2 meltas, power fist
235 - 10 ASMs w 2 meltas, power fist
85 - 5 Scouts w missile, 4 sniper rifles
130 - 5 Devastators w 4 missiles 130 - 5 Devastators w 4 missiles
vic5 (8:12:26 PM): = 1500

Straight away, the Terminators look out of place and the Honour Guard are actually niftily armed. One of the larger US Tournies in the past year or so had one of the top armies running 2 units of 5 Honour Guard in a rhino w/2 Flamers and 2 Meltas so the adaptation of that element to the above unit but also working in the triple melta for that much more reliable vehicle kill (it's commonly accepted triple BS 4 melta shots at short range is enough to deal with a vehicle most of the time, hence suicide melta units being 3 melta's strong and not more - efficiency)jumps out at me. I can see what it's doing but at 1500pts I tend to work to the adage of 'can this list deal with 6-7 vehicles in it's first two turns? If yes, what if you go second? If not, you need to fix this' and the above list can't. So this is what I'll focus on.

At 1500pts Kill Points can be an issue but as this is primarily a jumper list with static support elements we don't quite have that issue, so working in Multi-Melta Attack Bikes is a good option. Land Speeders don't really do it for me due to a general lack of armour in the list itself so they are gonna get smacked up very nicely very fast, so the Attack Bikes are far more appealing. Two options here, pair them up, or run them separately for better target saturation and thus better survivability. The first is more if we've points to get 4 or more into the list but at this stage I don't see it. I also don't see the foot Sanguinary Priest as necessary. He's 50pts to give the Devs and Scouts Feel no Pain, it's nice and all but that's 50pts that could also be another support element and at 1500pts, squeezing as many elements into a list is especially useful in my experience. 10 Devs which, lets be honest, if they get shot are going to die anyways (it's like units of 5 Long Fangs), even in cover if people want them dead they'll get killed as they are too small to survive concentrated firepower/attacks. Feel No Pain is great and all but that just means whatever unit the Sanguinary Priest hides in he gets targeted first and dies whilst not adding anything else. So we'll ditch him and gain more points.

The Scouts, whilst home scoring have no camo cloaks. this is an issue as they'll die easily otherwise so we either find points for Camo Cloaks (a BS 3 Missile Launcher is crap, so ditching that need 5 points and that's the cloaks), but are they contributing much to the army as a whole? They are fairly frail and whilst they can help in objective missions, in non-objective missions they aren't very survivable and don't give us much support for their points...so maybe a unit of 5 ASM instead. To round it all out, I've been as standard, working in 3 Drop Pods to my armies of marines recently, allowing for 2 drops where close ranged or long ranged high strength firepower is better applied on the first turn, and with Blood Angels, this actually could work quite well in the list above. So personalising it a bit more towards my own outside the box approach I'll throw in a Rifleman Dreadnought in Drop Pod. Trimming points here and there gets some more refined elements resulting in the list below:

1500pts Blood Angels (By Taak) - Lets call this the 'Magical Bloodied Flying Unicorn Army'!

1 Librarian w/Jump Pack = 125
5 Honour Guard in Drop Pod (3 w/MG, 1 w/Flamer, 1 Sang. Nov.) = 185
1 sanguinary Priest w/Jump Pack = 75
5 Assault Marines without Jump Packs in Drop Pod = 100
10 Assault Marines w/Jump Packs (2 w/MG, 1 Sgt w/BP+PFist) = 235
10 Assault Marines w/Jump Packs (2 w/MG, 1 Sgt w/BP+PFist) = 235
1 Attack Bike w/Multi-Melta = 50
1 Attack Bike w/Multi-Melta = 50
1 Attack Bike w/Multi-Melta = 50
5 devastators w/3Missile Launchers = 120 5 devastators w/3Missile Launchers = 120
1 Rifleman Dreadnought 120 w/Drop Pod 35 = 155

Total = 1500pts

The list retains the forward mobile elements but works a much more flexible and saturated anti-tank group of elements in the Multi-Melta Attack Bike's, Rifleman Dreadnought, and first turn melta drop with the Honour Guard in Drop Pod. Drop Pods also are great for movement blocking and closing down enemy fire lanes so can be used to set up a more secure drop zone for the ASM if they Deep Strike. It's still a very mobile army with support elements across the force organisation chart rather then concentrated to just the two devastator units. The Librarian has been deliberately left open on Power choice for personal preference, to be honest any of the usual suspects will be nice with him and this army though Blood Lance could be very useful as a personal preference of mine in this list build. Finally, the devastators only have 3 ML's not 4, I needed points to fit in the Sanguinary Priest w/Jump Pack, that meant scrounging points (also meant dropping the 2nd flamer on the honour guard - I want a triple melta unit for efficient suicide melta if needed, but suicide melta that will very quickly be backed up by the rest of the army so in that way survivable). 3 ML's is still as reliable to hit at range as 3 Meltagun shots and doesn't adversely effect the units' efficiency too greatly, so that's why there are three not four missile launchers. And there you have it, something a little outside the box but still very playable for Blood Angels at 1500pts.

Have a great day everyone, Luke.

Vinsanity's Legion of Everblight & Necrons

2012-05-31T07:00:00.001+10:00

Hey pinkies. A painting update from me with Necrons and Legion of Everblight done so far. A fair bit still to do for both and the Necrons have to be done for a tourney in late June and the to do list includes 12 Scarabs, 4 Ghost Arks, 5 Crypteks, 2 Stalkers, 5 Immortals, 3 Annihilation Barges and 1 Command Barge with Overlord ;)

Remember I do commissions so if interested then simply email me here!

1,500pts of Angry Guardsmen, 100% Meltavet free.

2012-05-30T23:00:00.000+10:00

Luca from Italy requested help in rebuilding his 1500 point list to have more of a chance against some of the other armies he faces. The requirements of the sort of army he wants to run are:

No Meltavets
Avoiding chimera Spam
Infantry heavy force
Leman Russes

I like the fact he is pretty specific about the sort of army he is after, and is trying to steer it away from the cookie-cutter ‘netlist’ builds – in fact, I would like to strongly recommend anyone who sends in a list looking for advice is equally specific about what they hope to accomplish and how much they are willing to change.

The Problems

By his own admission the problems with his current army are that he is forced to play a reactive rather than proactive game, the best he can hope to do in ‘Capture and Control’ is draw, and playing ‘Seize Ground’ is a struggle since the distant objectives aren’t threatened by his slow moving troops.

Let’s see if we can take his list and his requirements and turn it into something aggressive, surprising and competitive.

Hello Matt!
I am looking for an alternative approach to Imperial Guard than the usual "Net-Approved" Meltavet in chimera spam (or for that matter all the elite-ish approach to Guard, where veterans are more common than normal troopers!) and when I read that you'll begin writing at 3++ about alternative, powerful guard builds which led you to victory without using veteran spam i knew that my point against meltavets wasn't a daydream!
What I'm looking for is a more Infantry-heavy approach, to obtain the "feel" of endless human waves with heavy tanks support while still being fairly competitive (I am not aiming for powerplay, but still I'd like to at least have some chances against top-tier builds)

Imperial Guard (1500pts)
HQ: Company command squad, Missile Launcher, Vox caster
Platoon 1
Platoon command squad (empty)
Infantry squad, vox caster, commissar (with PW), sergeant with PW and meltabomb, Autocannon, Meltagun
Infantry squad with Autocannon and meltagun
Infantry squad with Autocannon and meltagun
Infantry squad with Autocannon and meltagun

Platoon 2
Platoon command squad (empty)
Infantry squad, vox caster, commissar, Lascannon
Infantry squad with Lascannon
Infantry squad with Lascannon
Infantry squad with Lascannon
2x Heavy Weapons Squad with Autocannons
Heavy Weapons Squad with Mortars

Leman russ battle tank with LC
Leman russ battle tank with LC
Leman russ Demolisher with HB

I am seriously considering a Company Standard, so i can babysit the heavy squads and boost their low morale

The PCS aren't a threat to anyone, but can score and dish out some mid-range antihorde firepower

Platoon 1 is quite controversial and might look a mess. But the powerweapons work wonders when I'll get charged (always) and the autocannons help when in closecombat because they'll allow a lot of models to fight even from ranks behind. The place that it looks like I am wasting points are meltaguns, which i rarely get to fire. I once killed a rhino with DoG, but that's it.

Platoon 2 will be my main AT firepower. 4 TL Lascannons with 35 ablative wounds ARE tough and can destroy everything at long range

The 2 Heavy Weapon Squads with Autocannons are Antitransport for the first turns of the game

The Heavy Weapon Squad with Mortars are cheap scoring troop which can blast opponents hiding behind out of LoS and out of cover. Really not bad for its points

At First Glance

First some general comments before getting into the rebuild:

Platoon Command Squads are one of the most point efficient units in the game, and it is a real shame to leave them without any special weapons. The basic squad with lasguns is 30 points, but for just 20 points you get a scoring unit with 4 flamers, or 40 points more gets you a unit with 4 meltaguns. The meltagun option is not popular, but I believe it is worth looking at because 4 shots at BS3 is the same as a veteran squads 3 shots at BS4, and benefits more from orders. Arming the squad works better in a Mech list where the special weapons have protection, but any list can benefit from using them better than armed with just 4 lasrifles.
It would be a much better idea to have the Leman Russes carry the heavy bolters and the Demolishers carry the Lascannon, rather than vice-versa. The reason for this is simply that the Lascannon compliments the Demolisher’s AP2 cannon, making this a very efficient terminator killer that is also able to handle tanks within its 30’ threat-range. If your opponent’s tanks are more than 30’ away for long you are probably going to win anyway.
The cheap and cheerful heavy bolter is a better match with the Leman Russ’s battle cannon, which is more likely to be used against infantry or very light vehicles.

And now the rebuild!

The goal will be to make something similar to his own list, the "feel" of endless waves of infantry but at the same time aggressive, surprising and competitive with multiple paths to victory.

First, starting with Heavy Support as any honest Guardsman should, we’re using Leman Russes. Under the current rules there is only one time I find Leman Russes really justified, and that is when you actually get to benefit from their massive front armour because the enemy has no other valid target choices.

This means we need to have no light armour on the table, so no chimera spam or vendettas, and no heavy weapon squads (the two HWTs with Autocannons in his original list are the ideal recipients of enemy S6+ firepower, so sadly have to be cut. Sorry).

1 Leman Russ Battle Tank 150

1 Leman Russ Demolisher (Lascannon) 180

These will be the only vehicles that start on the table. Let the enemy scratch their paintwork if they can!

Next, some infantry that will in a similar way be almost a complete waste of the enemy’s shooting; A large platoon armed with Lascannons. This is the deluxe version, and comes with melta, power weapons and a commissar so will take your opponent a long time to shoot through at range or chew threw in combat. Whether they fire at this or the tanks, they are probably wasting their shots.

10 Infantry Lascannon Meltagun Powerweapon
+ Commissar Powerweapon
10 Infantry Lascannon Meltagun Powerweapon
10 Infantry Lascannon Meltagun Powerweapon

They would be lead by a PCS with 1x Autocannon (if they also have a Lascannon this will attract too much attention) and 2x flamers (for close encounters). It is worth considering not deploying them at all, or deploying behind a tank that will later move out of the way.

Next we take an HQ with 2 flamers and a Mortar, accompanied by an Astropath. The Mortar is not a great weapon, but I find taking one serves to remind me to deploy out of sight and still feel like they are doing something useful. I know it's silly, but it works. If you can’t deploy out of sight or behind a tank, keep them in reserve. The Astropath works either way, and reserve control is the main function of this unit.

Taking the fight to THEM!

That is the bulk of the force established, so now we look at the aggressive and fun part – we want to take the enemy’s objectives, and we are going to do it by outflanking a vast wave of angry guardsmen who are going to storm in from a board edge and wreak havoc amongst enemy lines.

Captain Al'rahem, Platoon Command Squad with 4 Meltaguns
Chimera Multilaser, Heavy Flamer
10 Infantry Meltagun Powerweapon
+ Commissar Powerweapon
10 Infantry Meltagun Powerweapon
10 Infantry Meltagun Powerweapon, 10x Krak Grenades

Al’rahem has the only AV12 vehicle in the army, and will use it either stay alive a little longer or get 4 meltagun shots on an enemy vehicle up to 26” from the board edge – that’s a very impressive melta threat range! They can also tank shock – useful near the enemy’s deployment edge. Remember, Al’rahem has the ability to issue two orders including Bring it Down and First Rank Fire (useful for the combined platoon if the enemy are out of charge range – hit them with 3 rapid fire shots per lasgun instead).

The Platoon is kitted out for a fight. One squad has Krak grenades since I almost always find there are a few stationary vehicles worth multicharging, and as a whole this should swamp most of the sorts of things like Combat Squads or Long Fangs you find in the enemy backfield pretty quickly.

Surround and Conquer

The Astropath will give you about an 89% chance of coming in on the edge you need, and that is what makes him so vital. That knowledge should help you direct firepower to soften up the correct side of the board before the men arrive. At this point you will have a mob of 31 angry guardsmen with powerweapons behind the enemy and a brick of Leman Russes and another mob of 31 guardsmen with power weapon in front of them.

That leaves room in the list for one last surprise to keep the enemy on their toes:

Guardsman Marbo.

Yes, he gets his own subtitle. I don’t share a lot of people’s fascination with Marbo, but in a list that can weather the first turn or two with negligible losses and is already using an Astropath for reserve control, Marbo can add a third heat by making sure that no point on the table is safe from a demo charge. Again you really should know where you want him ahead of time and soften the area up. His survival chances are increased if he is one of 36 men who just came from reserve at once and your best case scenario is he messes up an expensive unit with his Demo charge and then gets to charge something with a meltabomb the next turn, but usually he is a one shot wonder.

Here is the 1,500 point list in full:

Company Command Squad
Flamer x2 Mortar x1
Astropath

Guardsman Marbo

Platoon Command Squad
Flamer x2 Autocannon x1

10 Infantry
Lascannon Meltagun Powerweapon
+ Commissar Powerweapon
10 Infantry
Lascannon Meltagun Powerweapon
10 Infantry
Lascannon Meltagun Powerweapon

Captain Al'rahem, Platoon Command Squad with 4 Meltaguns
Chimera Multilaser, Heavy Flamer

10 Infantry Meltagun Powerweapon
+ Commissar Powerweapon
10 Infantry Meltagun Powerweapon
10 Infantry Meltagun Powerweapon, 10x Krak Grenades

Leman Russ Battle Tank 150
Leman Russ Demolisher (Lascannon) 180
Leman Russ Demolisher (Lascannon) 180

Conclusion: Fun.

So I hope you can see this has become a very aggressive, reasonably flexible and unpredictable version of the “wave-upon-wave of my own men” armies favoured by Creed and Zapp Brannigan. It’s probably also about as much fun to play as it is possible to have at 1,500 pts with a Leman Russ derived army.

And not a Vendetta or a Meltavet to be seen. HoooRAH!

Australia's next NOVA tournament - Event Horizon

2012-05-30T15:00:00.000+10:00

This is the 2nd year running for Event Horizon and hopefully it will be bigger and better than last year! For that to happen though, you have to attend. 3++con was an excellent success with over 50 participants so there's no reason Event Horizon cannot be bigger considering the drop-outs we had! Here are the details:

Event Horizon

1850 Points

Date: Saturday 23 & Sunday 24 June 2012

Location: Hornsby War Memorial Hall – next to Hornsby RSL Club, 2 High Street, Hornsby, NSW 2077

Payment: Entry at $50 per person

We've already look at the missions which are NOVA based but with some changes to spice things up for those of you who find the missions boring after six games. Denis, the TO, will be posting some more things related to EH over the coming weeks as we build-up to what is the last 5th edition NOVA tournament in Australia.

Make sure you come!

Project: Biomorph Playtest Patch 1.1

2012-05-29T23:00:00.001+10:00

EDIT: I have updated the patch with a set of initial edit after feedback form the community. Thank you everyone for your comments and criticisms!

This is the first playtest document for Project: Biomorph. It's a big one. Bigger than I had originally intended, at least, and I really hope not TOO big.

This is a big moment for us, bigger than I think a lot of people would think. This is the moment where we stop wish-listing, and start really forging something. It's also the moment I expect to lose some people. No matter what changes I make, no matter what I adjust, I know I'm going to get a dozen people telling me "You're wrong! You're as bad at design as GW!"

Don't be that person. Please. This is a playtest document, which means I want you to PLAY it so that we can TEST it and make sure that there's nothing wrong. And it's not a final list of changes, so don't be surprised when several major issues aren't fixed here- we're yet to tackle them.

I also want to say that even if we never have success with this project, it will still all be worth it. When the design team and I were designing this pre-release, all of us agreed that our games were the most fun we had had playing 40k in years. The expert. The top tournament player. The new guy. The old vet- it was all just a blast for everyone, whatever army they brought.

Maybe that's just new car smell, but I really believe this patch will give you games that are a hell of a lot more fun than what you're playing now (and faster, to boot). You should really consider giving it a try.

Don't theory it. Don't tell me what's wrong after one glance. Play. Play play play. Enjoy it. Tinker with it. Break it. THEN tell me what I did wrong.

Oh, and please tell me what happened and give me your own ideas for design.

(Also, HUGE shoutout to forum user Maelwynn, who saw my original document, saw all the flaws, and did an excellent job reformatting it. Top shelf.) And as usual, no morning post for the discussion to continue unabated.

Project: Biomorph.

Game Update 1.1

Contents

1) Patch Notes

2) General

3) Movement

4) Cover

5) Weapons

6) Assault

7) Reserves

8) Psychology

9) Vehicles

1) Patch Notes:-

The following details playtest patch 1.1 of Project: Biomorph.

· What follows is a series of changes to the rules presented in the Warhammer 40k core rulebook. This is not a complete rule set in its own right. This is a modification.

· All of the following is subject to change.

· Future patches will have a “patch notes” section that details new additions and changes to old patch rulings. For your convenience, these changes will also be highlighted.

Please play your games using the following rules whenever possible, and post reports on the project biomorph forums at: http://projectbiomorph.com/index.php?board=6.0

2) General

· Defensive action has been added:

At the beginning of the game, after the Seize the Initiative roll has been done and final player turn order has been established, the player who has ended up with second turn may take defensive action just before the first game turn begins. That player may choose as many individual units and vehicles as he wishes to count as having moved up to their maximum allowed speed in the previous turn, and any unit may choose to activate defensive wargear such as smoke launchers.

· All HQ units now count as scoring units. HQ units that have the “swarm” or “vehicle” unit type still do not score.

· Instant Death has been replaced with Massive Trauma:

If a model takes a wound inflicted by a weapon with a strength value that is twice as high as their toughness, or higher, that model suffers massive trauma. Instead of losing one wound, the model loses two wounds. If a model would suffer “Instant Death” for any reason, ti suffers massive trauma instead.

3) Movement

· Dangerous Terrain has temporarily been removed from the game.

· Units that move through difficult terrain no longer roll 2d6 and pick the highest to determine the distance they move. Instead:

Terrain offers valuable protection, but can also be difficult to navigate and traverse. A unit that moves through difficult terrain at any point during its movement reduces its total movement by 2 inches.

This means that infantry, which normally move 6 inches, move 4 inches through difficult terrain. If a unit is approaching difficult terrain, and finds that the terrain they wish to enter is between 4-6 inches away, the unit can move up to the terrain until their bases make contact, but no further. Any models in contact with terrain count as being in the terrain for purposes of gaining a cover save,and for purposes of determing if they are moving through difficult terrain during thier next movment. If a unit can move 12 inches or more, and chooses to move over 6 inches, then the movement reduction is doubled: the unit reduces it's movement by 4 inches. Some examples include bikes and charging beasts. These units would only be able to move a maximum of 8 inches through difficult terrain, instead of the usual 12 inches. Units and models that have the Move Through Cover or Skilled Rider rules do not suffer any movement reduction from moving through difficult terrain.

Vehicles also suffer reduced speed when moving through difficult terrain: combat speed is reduced from 6 inches to 4 inches, cruising speed is reduced from 12 inches to 8 inches, and flat-out is reduced from 18 inches to 12 inches. Vehicles equipped with dozer blades suffer no movement penalties from moving through difficult terrain.

Jump Infantry, Jetbikes, Skimmers, and any unit that does not need to touch the ground to move does not suffer any movement reduction due to difficult terrain.

· Running no longer grants a d6 inches move. It instead grants a 1d3+2 inches move. This move is still unaffected by difficult terrain. Suppressed units may only run 1d3 inches. For any effect or ability that increses the number of dice rolled for running (EX roll 3d6 and pick the highest.) Roll additional D3s instead. For abilities that maximize run distance, that run distance is now 5 inches.

3.) Cover

Units may no longer claim a cover save for having half of their unit in cover. At least 75% of the unit must be in cover or obscured from view for any cover save to be granted.
Vehicles and monstroud creatures may still claim a cover save for being 50% obscured.
Vehicles and Monstrous Creatures no longer have a cover save equivalent to whatever terrain is obscuring them. Instead, they have their cover save reduced by 1. For instance, a Rhino obscured by 6+ cover can claim no save. 5+ cover grants a 6+ save. 4+ cover would grant a 5+ save, etc. Obscured vehicles now have a 5+ cover save as their default, not a 4+.
If a player fires at a vehicle and is in one armor facing, but cannot see the facing they are in, only another facing, the vehicle can no longer claim a modified cover save. Instead, the shot is resolved against the only facing that the firing unit can see, and the vehicle can claim a 5+ cover save for being obscured.

4) Weapons

· Rapid Fire weapons no longer need to stand still to fire a single shot at their maximum range. Even if a unit moves it can fire its rapid fire weapons once up to maximum range, or twice if they are within 12 inches if their target.

· Gets Hot! Has been temporarily removed from the game.

· Instant Death has been replaced with Massive Trauma. Please see general changes section for more information.

· Supressing is a new weapon quality introduced into the game.

Suppressing weapons have the following effect:
A unit can become suppressed for many reasons, but is always subject to the same effects. A suppressed unit suffers -1 Ballistic Skill, and counts all movement as movement through difficult terrain. Suppressed units can only run d3 inches, instead of the normal d3+2 inches. Suppression expires on all of a player's units at the end of that player's turn.

A unit has a chance to become suppressed when it takes casualties from a suppressing weapon. These weapons have the suppressing or pinning quality listed in their stat line. When a unit takes casualties from a suppressing weapon, they must take a suppression test, (a special kind of leadership test) after that shooting is resolved. This test is taken at -1 Leadership for every wound inflicted by suppressing weapons during the attack.

(EXAMPLE: An Imperial Guard Veteran squad comes under fire from a Space Marine Devastator squad armed with heavy bolters, which have the suppressing quality. After shooting is resolved, the Veterans have taken 5 wounds from the heavy bolters, and one from a boltgun, which killed 6 models. The survivors would have to take a leadership test at -5 for casualties inflicted by suppressing weapons. Because they are naturally leadership 8, they will need to roll a 3 or less on 2d6 to pass the suppression test. If they fail this test, they will become suppressed.)

A unit may be both suppressed and falling back at the same time.

Fearless units never test for suppression, they always count as having passed. Stubborn units still take a leadership test, but ignore the negative modifier imposed by casualties inflicted by suppressing weapons.

Pinning weapons are even better at pinning down enemy units than suppressing weapons. When a unit takes wounds from a unit that has weapons with the pinning quality, it takes a suppression test, just like if the wounds were inflicted by a suppressing weapon. If the unit fails its suppression test, or was already suppressed or entangled, then they must then take an additional leadership test called a pinning test. This is done in exactly the same way as a suppression test. This test is taken at -1 Leadership for every wound inflicted by pinning weapons during the attack. If a unit fails this test, it becomes pinned.

(EXAMPLE: A Space Marine Tactical squad comes under fire from an Imperial Guard Ratling squad armed with sniper rifles, which have the pinning quality. After shooting is resolved, the Tactical Marines have taken 3 wounds from the sniper rifles, which killed 3 models. The survivors would have to take a suppression test at -3 for casualties inflicted by suppressing weapons, which they then fail, and become suppressed. Because they took wounds from a pinning weapon, they then take an additional pinning test, at the same -3 for casualties inflicted by pinning weapons. If they pass this test, they will not be pinned but they will still be suppressed. If they fail, they will become pinned.)

· Pinning still follows the rules from the Warhammer 40k Main Rulebook.

· See also entanglement in the Vehicles Section.

· Appendix (i) lists all weapons that have gained the suppressing quality.

5) Assault

· Any unit or model that launches an assault through difficult terrain is no longer reduced to initiative 1.

· See also overrun and the change in vehicle melee to-hit values in the vehicles section at the end of this document.

6) Reserves

· Deep Striking units now have an additional option: Hard Lock.

Battlefields are chaotic, and it is often better to wait for a break in the storm before attempting something as risky as a teleportation or drop assault. By holding back just a little longer, these dangerous assaults can be made much safer, by identifying safer landing zones and refining teleportation calculations. When a unit that has declared that it will arrive by Deep Strike becomes available from reserve, it can chose to stay in reserve for an additional turn and lay down a Hard Lock Marker. This marker must be placed in a location that would not cause a deep strike mishap, and cannot be placed within 1 inch of enemy units, or on impassible terrain. Each Hard Lock Marker can only be used by the unit that set it down.

The unit will arrive at the beginning of the next player turn (usually the opponent’s turn) and arrives before any other reserves. It will arrive by Deep Strike anywhere within 6 inches of it's Hard Lock Marker. The unit will not scatter, and will not suffer any Deep Strike Mishap. If the unit cannot be placed within 6 inches of the marker, place it in the closest viable area where it will not suffer a Deep Strike Mishap.

In addition, units no longer must be deployed in a clustered lump when they arrive via Deep Strike. Instead:

When a unit arrives by Deep Strike, place a model and determine the final position of the unit normally. You may then place the rest of the unit in any formation, with no models more than 3 inches away from the first model placed. If that is not possible, place as many models as you can within 3 inches, and then place the rest as closely as possible.

7) Psychology System

· Units now automatically pass attempts to rally if they are above half strength, or have any HQ Independent Character attached.

· Units below half strength may now attempt to rally normally, by passing a leadership test.

· Units may now rally while they are within 6 inches of an enemy unit.

· Death or Glory! Is no longer taken after a unit successfully passes the morale test resulting from a tank shock. Instead, the player may choose to Death or Glory! instead of taking the morale test inflicted by tank shock. If the players attempt to Death or Glory! fails, their unit counts as having failed the moral test inflicted by the tank shock and must immediatly fall back. Fearless units are unaffected.

· Suppression Tests have been introduced into the game. Please see the suppressing entry in the weapons section for more detail.

8) Vehicles

· See Psychology section for new Death or Glory! Rules.

· Units that are inside of a transport when it is destroyed now suffer from entanglement.

If a unit is inside a transport that suffers a Vehicle- Wrecked or Vehicle- Explodes! result, they suffer from entanglement. An entangled unit cannot fight as well until they clear themselves out of the smoke, debris, and general chaos that comes from being forced out of a detonating or burning vehicle. Entanglement is similar to suppression in its effects: an entangled unit suffers -1 Ballistic Skill, and counts all movement as movement through difficult terrain. Entangled units can only run d3 inches, instead of the normal d3+2 inches. Entanglement expires on all a players units at the end of that player's turn.

Fearless and stubborn units suffer entanglement normally- it is not a matter of morale, but of physically being trapped!

A unit can be suppressed and entangled at the same time, but the effects of both these statuses do not stack. A unit only ever suffers -1 Ballistic Skill from suppression and entanglement.

If an entangled unit comes under fire from suppressing weapons, resolve the attack and leadership tests normally.

· Units now have an easier time hitting moving vehicles in melee:

o When attacking a stationary vehicle, melee attackers hit automatically.

o When attacking a vehicle that moved 6 inches or less, melee attackers hit on a 3+.

o When attacking a vehicle that moved over 6 inches but 12 inches or less, melee attackers hit on a 5+.

o When attacking a vehicle that moved more than 12 inches, melee attackers hit on a 6+

· A unit that destroys a vehicle in melee may now become engaged to any unit it was transporting, by using the new overrun rule:

When a vehicle is destroyed by the enemy in melee, there is no time to set up a firing line, or retreat to a safer position. Troops barely have time to clear themselves from the wreckage, before they find themselves fighting for their lives!

When an enemy unit destroys a transport in melee combat, they can chose to overrun whatever unit that transport was carrying. Remove the transport or turn it into a wreck normally, and place the squad in accordance with the normal rules for disembarking. If the attacking unit has chosen to overrun, then both units then immediately make pile-in moves, exactly as if they had just finished a round of close combat with each other. No additional attacks are made this round by either unit. Both units will fight normally in the next assault phase, with neither unit gaining any bonus for charging, (no +1 attack, furious charge, etc.) or any defensive bonus granted from special abilities or wargear (no counter attack, defensive grenades, etc.).

If a transport is destroyed in melee and was carrying multiple units, the attacking unit may decide which of the transported units units they do and do not wish to overrun.

Appendix (i)

Weapons that have gained the Suppressing quality:-

Space Marines Codices:
Assault Cannon

Heavy Bolter
Deathwind Launcher
Hellfire Shell
Thunderfire Cannon (Surface Detonation only)
Sniper Rifle (Pinning)
Smite, Fury of the Wolf Spirits (Librarian and Rune Priest psychic powers)
Whirlwind Multiple Missile Launcher (All types) (Pinning)

Grey Knights (in addition to space marine codex weapons):
Psilencer
Gatling Psilencer
Heavy Psycannon
Mindstrike Missiles

Exitus Rifle (Pinning)

Imperial Guard:
Heavy Bolter

Heavy Stubber
Hellfury Missiles
Hot-Shot Lasgun
Hot-Shot Laspistol
Mortar (Pinning)

Multiple Rocket Pod
Punisher Gatling Cannon
Sniper Rifle (Pinning)
Griffon Heavy Mortar

Sisters of Battle:
Heavy Bolter

Tau Empire:
Rail Rifle (Pinning)

Burst Cannon

Ion Cannon

Tyranids:
Barbed Strangler (Pinning)
Spore Mine Explosion

Spore Mine Cysts
Spore Mine Launcher

Stranglethorn Cannnon (Pinning)
Strangleweb (Pinning)
Terror from the Deep (Mawloc deep strike attack.)

Necrons:
Synaptic Disintegrater

Gauss Cannon

Orks:
Big Shoota

Frazzle (Weirdboy psychic power)
Lobba (Pinning)

Deffgun
Snazzguns
Da Rippa
Dakkacannon

Eldar:
Scatter Laser
Shuriken Cannon
Reaper Launcher
Tempest Launcher
Lasblaster
Swooping Hawk Grenade Pack
Hawk's Talon
Sunrifle (Pinning)
Ranger Long Rifle (Pinning)
Shadow Weaver
Shrieker Cannon (Pinning)
The Maugetar

Dark Eldar:
Baleblast (Pinning)

Disintegrater Cannon
Shrieker Cannon (Pinning)

Void Mine
Casket of Flensing

Dark Gate
Hexrifle (Pinning)
Orb of Despair

Chaos Space Marines:
Any ranged attack from a Chaos Dreadnought under the effects of Fire Frenzy

Sonic Blaster
Blastmaster

Havoc Launcher

Heavy Bolter
Deathscreamer
Doombolt (Sorcerer psychic power)

Chaos Daemons:
Warpfire

Cygnar Stormwall - Rules Card & Discussion

2012-05-29T14:08:00.003+10:00

Card rules after the break. The question here is: auto-include or not? Not sure on all the Colossal rules here (edit: I've been told they are in No-Quarter so if someone could enlighten us that'd be great) but we can assume they are going to be quite easy to hit/impossible to hide, etc. They obviously have two front arcs with specific weapon arcs devoted to them and the sweep ability gives them the ability to not only deal with heavy armor (which with 2 POW15 RNG14 and 2 POW20 open fists they can do) but infantry as well.

Is it comparable to 19 points of Warjacks? ARM19 with 56 damage boxes isn't a huge slap in the face in terms of taking it out and it does come with four weapon systems + two open fists so with the two facings this would probably be relatively comparable.

Anywho, have at it! And enjoy the pretty cards.

So quick summary:

2 POW15 RNG14 guns
2xD3 POW12 RNG 10 guns which can place a 3" covering fire template (models entering or ending activation within AOE take a pow10 hit)
2x POW20 open fists with electro-leap
up to three pods within 10" - when placed draw a line from Stormwall to pod - everything in line takes a POW10 electrical damage roll (warjacks are disrupted)

And thoughts:

The pods seem nice - disruption is always a great ability and although you can only do it three times a game, that's three turns of a Warjack you don't have to deal with. Doens't work against colossals or beasts though. The damage output at range seems pretty good, especially with some upkeeps like snipe - RNG18 POW15s? okay. The ability to drop two covering fire templates or shoot 2-6 POW12s is also pretty nice - again with snipe this goes out to RNG14 so has a nice range. This is all limited of course by having two fields of fire - all of that firepower is unlikely to be dropped onto one poor sucker like a Warcaster (i.e. getting caught in the centreline). Either way, the ranged firepower here is quite clearly capable of doing some damage to lighter infantry but still has the capacity to ding heavier armor.

Combat seems pretty nice with a base strength of 17, reach and the sweep colossal power attack. It's a bit of a glass cannon here though, even with 56 boxes, as charging Heavies should be able to take down an entire field. But beyond, 2x POW20s with electro leap, the aforementioned reach & sweep and the ability to have four focus is going to put the hurt on anything - the only potential issue is overkill - if you're only killing a Warjack a turn with 19 points... Obviously this power is needed to be able to drop other Colossals quickly but it could render them all inefficient once they close the distance. Time shall tell in this regard.

Overall, and this is from a limited knowledge standpoint and without playtesting, it seems to fit nicely. It's a nice addition to an army but something every Cygnar caster is going to do well with or in fact, need (the major worry). It does have a lot of damage output but it is a single target which the opponent can focus on and which isn't as survivable as its 19 points would suggest compared to say two-three heavies.

Making the Witch Coven Work (part 2)

2012-05-29T07:00:00.000+10:00

Alright 3++, let's finish our list building exercise on the Witch Coven of Garlghast today with part 2! These ladies offer a lot of flexibility on the tabletop and are very different from any other warcaster in the entire game. Consequently, they are often ignored as a choice because they are a bit intimidating when you're looking at building a list. Added into that, Cryx is normally a pretty straight-forward faction, relying mostly upon their numbers and melee abilities that the Coven seem a little lackluster without crazy damage buffs. In reality, these buffs come in disguise and the Coven has a great feat which can mitigate the fragility of most Cryx models.

Today I will look at a few models for consideration when taking the Witch Coven. Lastly, I'll share a diagram to hopefully illustrate the power and effectiveness of the Coven on the tabletop. Obviously, there are many situations you could find yourself in, but the example I will share will hopefully help you understand the true potential of the Coven.

Before I jump into looking at specific models, I want to share a couple of caveats. I first want to say that I firmly think that the Coven will be at their best in a 50+ point list. This is due to the variety of threats that the Coven can take in their own list, and their spells and abilities will allow them to deal with the additional threats your opponent might bring at that same level just as well as they would at lower levels. That said, I will be building these ladies with 35 points in mind. Also, I will try to avoid going too deep into their theme list for a couple of reasons. While I think it is a solid theme list, it does require the most popular characters and in the character-restricted environment of SR2012, I want to see what we can build for these ladies that doesn't conflict with other warcasters, in case you want to consider the Coven for a steamroller tournament paired-up with another warcaster. I'm specifically talking about including the Withershadow Combine and Deathjack here.

Okay, with that out of the way, let's look at a couple models which will be most effective with the Coven.

Seether: This is an already super effective warjack. Unfortunately, the Seether is very expensive by Cryxian standards and doesn't offer extra survivability over the cheaper warjacks, but instead likes to flaunt it's focus efficiency and ridiculously high MAT of 8. The Seether should be seriously considered with the Coven because it's focus efficiency helps the Coven spend their focus on casting spells instead of loading up the Seether with focus for getting into position. Additionally, with his natively high MAT you can cast Infernal Machine on other targets instead, giving you two heavies which can deal with higher-DEF models. Lastly, their feat will be great for allowing the Seether to get the alpha strike on your opponent since even ridiculous threat ranges will likely be nullified when your opponent can't even see him to charge!

Malice: This character 'jack was introduced in Warmachine: Wrath and I think will pair quite well with the Coven. Since the Coven aren't soul collectors like most Cryxian warcasters, Malice can actually feel comfortable munching on some souls for messing around with enemy warjacks and/or boosting attack and damage rolls. Since Malice can collect those souls, he can certainly make the most of getting allocated tons of focus too and then he can turn into an absolute monster and wreck most heavies. Additionally, you can feel pretty comfortable walking up into the short range for the harpoon cannon on a bigger target since your feat turn will keep most enemy models from seeing him to try to charge him.

Iron Lich Overseer: For a lot of the same reasons listed for Malice above, the ILO will be a pretty interesting fit for the Coven. The Coven have lots of focus to dish out for their battlegroup but the ILO can collect souls that the Coven cannot, making his marshalled 'jacks have a significant presence on the battlefield too! This allows you to run the Coven with a bunch of warjacks while having a surprisingly low focus commitment for them.

Harrower: The Harrower is already quite the favorite warjack among Cryxian warcasters but with the Coven he shines because they can offer him quite a lot! Since the Harrower can also collect souls his efficiency with the Coven is even more exaggerated since he doesn't compete with them for souls (sensing a theme yet?). While this should be no surprise given what we already mentioned above, the Harrower suffers in some respects compared to most Cryxian heavies in the MAT and SPD department - both of which are completely mitigated by Infernal Machine, making the Harrower quite scary to deal with. Again, under the feat of the Coven his low-SPD and DEF are mitigated as well and you'll find that your opponent will have a hard time dealing with a Harrower so close in their face!

Those are just a couple of the models that I've considered when making a Coven list because their main strength is their spell casting and their focus will be better spent casting those spells than dolling it out to their warjacks. So now let's take a look at some pretty diagrams which I think should illuminate some nifty tricks that the Coven have at their disposal. Let's start with something easy.
Let's imagine that this is the top of the 3rd turn. On your second turn you advanced slowly and popped your feat, Nightfall to protect your models from being charged or shot at. Incidentally, your opponent realized that he needed LOS to rely on his Stormcalls to disrupt your 'jacks, and your feat would prevent him from doing so. Your opponent is not a particularly smart Warmachine player and instead decides to run to engage your Soul Hunters since he couldn't do much else on his turn. His Centurion is camping on ARM 24 thanks to Arcane Shield and the Stormclad is waiting to kill anything that gets past the Stormguard, also sitting on ARM 21 thanks to Fail Safe. eNemo is sitting pretty comfortably back there, but little does he know that he is in big trouble this turn!

You can achieve an easy win with the Coven this turn and take advantage of your "Spiritual Spells" we discussed yesterday. Here's how you can do it. You can safely assume that at least 3 of your Soul Hunters could be in charge range of eNemo but the Firefly can cause problems with his reach weapon. I decided not to include Darragh Wrathe in this particular example, but I'm sure you could realize how he might make this even easier. Instead, we need to use some creative thinking to get to Nemo as well as taking advantage of our multiple activations.

1) Allocate 2 focus points onto the Harrower (7 left)
2) Activate one of your arc nodes and advance it into range of an unengaged Stormguard, for easy targeting for Curse of Shadows.
2) Activate the first witch and cast Curse of Shadows (5 left) onto the Stormguard through one arc node, followed by casting Infernal Machine (4 left) onto the Harrower.
4) The Harrower can now charge through the Stormguard to get to the Firefly. At MAT 8 he'll likely hit with his attack, hopefully threshering and collecting the souls of at least one of the Stormguard. Buy another two attacks and spend any souls to boost the damage and the Firefly should be in pretty rough shape if it survives at all.
5) The Harrower is now in the way! Activate the second witch and cast Veil of Mists (2 left) covering the Harrower up so your own models can advance through him! Note that if you didn't cripple the Firefly, you might have to alter your game plan a bit.
6) Issue a charge with your Soul Hunters against eNemo. If they had a soul on them from the theme force benefit, they will easily be able to hit the old man and with boosted damage from the charge, 4 of them will make short work of him. If Nemo is camping some focus, you can run rightmost arc node past the Stormguard into range of Nemo and hit him with a Curse of Shadows.

Granted, this is an extreme example but I hope it at least illustrates the kind of play you can expect from the Witches. While you might not be able to bring the same might to bear as other Cryxian warcasters, you can simply ignore many elements of your opponents forces and run right by them. Additionally, unlike the Incorporeal forces of some Cryx warcasters, most of your movement can't be ignored or stopped with magical weapons, and that's really significant because it means that your game plan will mostly always be the same.

With that little example, I would like to share a 35 point list that I really like for the Coven. Admittedly, this uses their theme force, but you can save the characters for other lists if you used this in a tournament setting.

Coven (+5)
- Seether (9)
- Harrower (10)
- Nightwretch (4)
- Skarlock Thrall (2)
Darragh Wrathe (4)
Souhunters (max, 9)
Warwitch Siren (2)

In the example above I didn't include Darragh Wrathe but he offers so much for the Coven forces that it's hard not to take him - especially since you'll want to take Soulhunters with them anyway. Not only does he make them incorporeal on their own activation (meaning you can save Curse of Shadows for when you really need it), but with the theme list they also each start with a soul token. Since you'll be able to fairly reliably get the alpha strike with these guys, the extra soul token is a huge boon. A Skarlock is always helpful but even moreso if you want to toss around and cycle spells like crazy (which the Coven can do). An alternative version of this list replaced the Harrower and Seether with 3 Slayers so you can really spread around Infernal Machine to all of them in one turn, so you can also consider the option of running lots of helljacks with these ladies.

Death Ride is such a powerful spell that Darragh Wrathe finds
himself in many Cryx lists

In this list I only have one arc node but as long as you play fairly conservatively (note the placement in the example above), I think that one could be enough. This is something that I would need to playtest and alas, I don't play Cryx really to playtest it. I don't assume that I know everything but I think that the Witch Coven could be absolutely devastating when placed in the right hands and with lots of practice. They have a lot of tricks and spells that completely ignore most defenses and the only bad match-up for them would be against any Circle army sporting a unit of Druids with Countermagic. Even then, with multiple activations of your witches you can apply some nifty buffs for your own models to get to the druid leader and hopefully pop the bubble.

Review of the New WD Flyer Rules

2012-05-28T23:00:00.001+10:00

With the rules for the new flyers (fliers? flyers? damn ambiguous spellings) circulating around, I figured it was time to take a look at their numbers in a bit more detail and give an assessment of them. I don't think any of them (save the Necrons) are gonna be winning any prizes anytime soon, but especially considering most of them are Orks that isn't exactly surprising. So let's dig in and see what we can figure out about them.

(And remember, kids, this isn't the place to complain about how little you like them visually, etc. We already have a thread for that- this one is just for rules.)

Stormtalon
Well, it doesn't say explicitly in the rules I've seen so far, but I'm assuming this is a FA choice for codex Marines, maybe some of the others (BT, DA, etc) as well. At 130pts it is rather pricey with only AV11 on all its sides and most of its special rules are nothing terribly impressive- Hover Strike is hard to read, but it seems to give you +1BS on a turn you don't move, effectively, but with twin-linked on most all its guns that's hardly a big deal. Aerial Assault and Supersonic are always useful, but Escort Craft is... basically worthless and Ceramite Plating won't help all that much with its weak AVs.

The armaments are also kinda middling- TLAC is actually pretty decent, but TLHB is trashy and needs to be replaced with something more functional, so we look over to the upgrade options. And... huh. Well, okay, the Lascannon isn't an awful price and it gives us two good AT guns, but only getting one shot for such an expensive thing is not exactly exciting. The Typhoon Launcher and Skyhammer are even pricier, but much more functional, though the lack of twin-linked is kinda disappointing. Considering a regular Typhoon (i.e. Cyclone) is 30pts, paying 25pts and losing a gun to get one seems a bit weak. The Skyhammer is an interesting choice, being a super-Autocannon (one extra shot) with extended range. Unfortunately if we actually use that range we don't get to fire our other gun, so it sort of defeats the purpose.

What role does a Stormtalon fill? None, really. We can load it up with a pair of good guns, but anything it can do a pair of Land Speeders can do for better, cheaper, and tougher. I can't really see it making any kind of waves anywhere except maybe as a conversion base, since there are some interesting bitz in there.

Dakkajet
Alright, it's got standard "airplane" stats (10/10/10 fast skimmer etc) with standard Ork BS. 110pts and two twin-linked S6 guns with three shots is... not awful, but it gets +1 to hit against targets on the ground, so that means you're actually doing a pretty reasonable number of hits. 10pts to bolt on another gun is kinda a no-brainer, and on a Waaaagh! turn you're spitting out a ton of firepower (18 twin-linked BS3 shots), and even on regular turns you are getting a pretty significant amount of damage. Unfortunately, like many Ork vehicles, you are absurdly fragile and only a KFF can only do so much to save you, though lack of Open-Topped is at least a blessing.

I don't really see these replacing Buggies as the standard for FA choices to throw shots downrange, but you could probably do worse.

Burna-Bomma
Same as the above for the basic numbers line, though a little more expensive for the base chassis. If it doesn't go Flat Out it can drop a bomb on a thing, but having played with both DE and Tyranid versions of the same, that ability just never works out. It's incredibly rare for you to start within 12" of a guy and actually fly over him (since you also need to have that 1" clearance as per the normal rules) in such a way that it will work out. Dropping a bomb counts as shooting a weapon, except you can still aim at another target so I don't see how that matters at all (since Aerial Assault means you can always shoot everything.) The bomb itself has okay stats and will fuck up any non-MEQs that it happens to land on, which is decent, and you do start with a pair of them.

It also has the same S6 gun as the Dakkajet and a regular Big Shoota, with the latter being BS3 thanks to a Grot firing it. You can bolt on missiles with the same profile as your usual bomb (but only a small blast) for 10pts each, so if you want to have a "lulz alpha strike" thing you totally can go for it. Oh, and it gets double shots during a Waaagh!, just in case you were banking on those S5/6 guns tipping the balance for you.

I don't think there's any real reason to want a Burna-Bomma other than having a neat model. Even more so than the Dakkajet it just doesn't bring anything to the field that another unit can't do already.

Blitza-Bomma
Alright, due to the rules being a little hard to read this one is going to more iffy than the others, but I think the most important points are visible. The Blitza is the most expensive of the three variants and comes with one TL Supa-Shoota, one Big Shoota (fired by a Grot), and two Boom Bombs (which are S7 AP4 blasts that roll 2d6 for penetration.) Unlike the other "bomb-dropping" units, the Blitza-Bomma has a special table to roll on when dropping a bomb because, you know, Orks. However, in some ways this ends up working out in its favor, since you activate this by simply getting within 1" of an enemy unit during your movement phase rather than actually having to fly over them.

A roll of snake eyes on the table crashes the plane, dropping a large blast template (with AP2) onto the unit, which then scatters. 3-4 does a S9 hit to both you and the target unit, which has an unfortunately high chance of killing you and probably won't do much to them. 5-9 drops the small blast on them and scatters d6" just like the "normal" bombs. 10-12 lets you drop the bomb as before but also take a free shot with your main gun as well, which is a decently little bonus. All in all not a completely crippling table, at least, merely one that will occasionally kill you for trying to do a thing. Considering your main target for the Boom Bombs is going to be vehicles (because of that 2d6 pen), the "trade S9 hits" one is less awful than it might otherwise be- it's like a Ram that doesn't suck.

Unfortunately, like the other two, its price tag is just too high to really justify an AV10 vehicle for any reason other than lulz or the model. Obviously those are valid reasons to want one, but when we're talking about the rules of the thing... well, they don't really weigh in.

So the only real winners out of this thing are Necrons (who get that all-important flyer chassis that enables the very strong Lance/Immortal/Scythe build) and anyone who wants some kooky models to convert. Of course, in terms of the value of the content this issues of WD is a HUGE jump up from their usual standards, so if we continue to see more of this kind of thing, it's actually possible that people will start buying the magazine again.

Making the Witch Coven Work (part 1)

2012-05-28T07:00:00.000+10:00

Greetings ladies and gentlemen of 3++! I'm finally back after a long hiatus and today I will be bringing you all the eagerly-anticipated list building article on the Witch Coven of Garlghast. I wrote this article already over at my blog but I know that there have been some requests here on 3++ for an article on the ladies of the Coven and so I figured I'd share it here. There ended up being a lot to discuss, so I'll have to share it in two parts, with the second part coming shortly thereafter. In part two, I'll examine some models worth consideration when building a list with the Coven and a tactical example of how the Coven can achieve victory with all of the tools at their disposal, as well as a list that I think would be fun to try out.

The Witch Coven is viewed with a lot of anxiety by the Warmachine community, and especially Cryx players. How can they win? What can they do? Their spell list and feat make it difficult to see exactly how they'll achieve their victory at first glance. Compared to their peers in Cryx, the Witch Coven seem difficult to use and understand, and it's not immediately apparent which models should be taken with them to make the most of their capabilities and achieve victory. Toss in the fact that they operate differently from pretty much every warcaster in the entire game, they're not often seen on the tables.

Naturally, the first thing we should look at is exactly how these ladies work. There are three witches (Helleana, Morgaen, and Selene) but they all have identical stats, including pitiful melee weapons, high DEF, and a really low ARM. They generate 3 focus each, meaning that you start with a focus stat of 9. For each witch that you lose, you generate 3 focus less, but note that your opponent has to be capable of killing all three witches in order to get that dreaded casterkill. Granted, even losing one of these ladies is a serious blow to your effectiveness, but it's worth noting that it's much more difficult to kill three models than one. Fortunately, when you camp focus points, you are raising the ARM of each witch. These ladies will rarely want to camp more than a couple focus, however, as their effectiveness is clearly in their spellcasting abilities.

The coven have a couple rules you need to study in detail. One important rule to figure out how these ladies work is Arcane Nexus. What this means is that the glowing ball Egregore is the point of origin for each spell and ranges (including control range) is measured from it instead of the witches. The Coven rule explains how they generate and share their focus, but Perfect Conjunction is really the ability you want to read. Here's how it works: the Witches must have LOS to each other and as long as they are in a triangular formation, around Egregore, their spells are reduced in COST by 1! This is HUGE! Additionally, if they're in B2B with Egregore, they also gain Stealth, making them quite difficult to kill at range (unless you're playing against Legion, of course). Fortunately, you can see with the picture below that the model geometry works out perfectly to keep your Perfect Conjunction and your witches Stealthed fairly easily and compactly.

Perfect Conjunction achieved while also benefiting from Stealth

Alright so let's get into the meat and potatoes, shall we? Before I jump into the spell list, I want to look at the Coven's feat, as it's absolutely amazing. While in the Coven's control area, enemy models suffer from -2 MAT, -2 RAT, and their LOS is reduced to only 5". This is brutal! Remember before how we talked about how Stealth would keep them alive against most targets but Legion? Now Legion has something to worry about! While Legion is really good about being able to force their beasts nearly endlessly, they need to because they usually suffer from fairly poor MAT values and their ranged-beasts really rely upon their Eyeless Sight to let them hit their targets. The Coven's feat will totally screw around with everyone, but will be especially annoying to Legion players who are used to being able to ignore everyone else's rules. Their melee beasts will suddenly find themselves being unable to hit almost anything - especially when you remember that most Cryx warjacks have DEF 13+. It doesn't matter that your 'jacks have a lower ARM if your opponent can't even hit you!

Even a normally MAT 6 model will need to boost to hit your warjacks and that means that they won't be boosting damage rolls as often (and even then they'd only have a ~74% chance to hit a Slayer). Toss in the limit to LOS and it will be doubtful that your opponent can even see your models to hit them with ranged attacks - let alone charges since you need LOS for those too. This is a very powerful feat for getting your models into optimal positions to strike at the heart of your opponent. "So what? I can get my heavy hitters there with any other Cryx warcaster. Why are the Coven any better?" Not only can you line up the kill with the Coven but you can make sure that nothing gets in your way of killing the target you want, thanks to their Coven's suite of spells.

I really love the spell list for the Coven. Often on blogs and in articles (even my own), you'll see authors discussing 'threat ranges' of models. While it's a great exercise, most opponents have ways to mitigate these threat ranges to make them less threatening, either by throwing other models in the way, casting denial spells, or utilizing terrain. The beauty of the Coven is that they can completely ignore most of these methods of preventing your models from getting the full potential of their threat range with what I call "Spiritual Spells".

The first of their three "Spiritual Spells" is Veil of Mists. This is one way of removing any terrain elements from slowing your models down (except against pBaldur) by placing a 4" AOE cloud effect that your models can move through, does not block FF model's LOS, and lets you move through other models and obstructions. This means that you could hide on the other side of a building and pounce unsuspectingly against a target on the other side. This can be a great spell since it's placed in your control range, meaning you can reach out nearly 18" away to create this wonderful zone of ignoring terrain and models, giving you some great flanking opportunities.

Next in this category is Ghost Walk which simply grants a model/unit the Ghostly rule. If you're going against a pBaldur player and his feat is up and Veil of Mists won't help, this spell is great since it allows a model/unit to not only completely ignore the rough terrain created, but they can ignore free strikes. In many ways, Ghostly is better than Incorporeal because the former rule ignores free strikes while the latter can be free-struck by models with Magical Weapons. Again, Ghostly will let you advance through obstacles as well, so you can ignore buildings or even Mohsar's infamous Pillars of Salt.

The last of the "Spiritual Spells" is Curse of Shadows. What makes this spell special is that not only is it an offensive upkeep that drops the target model/unit ARM by 2, but it lets your models move past them (like they were incorporeal) and they cannot perform free strikes. This is brutal against large units which your opponent tries to screen more valuable models behind (like warcasters but also solos or attachments). Combine this with a trampling helljack and you can have some real fun! Not only can you more reliably kill the infantry models even with your lower STR, but even those which survive can't free strike you! This is especially funny against a bunch of infantry with Reach. You can even combine this with Ghost Walk if you want to go really deep into the enemy's lines to engage vulnerable targets - be creative!

Now that we've looked at the "Spiritual Spells", the only spells which are left are Occultation - which is pretty straight-forward and grants Stealth to a model/unit, Infernal Machine - an amazing buff which gives a warjack +2 MAT, SPD and gives it Terror (combined with the spells above, you can see how this is a devastating buff!), and Stygian Abyss - their only offensive spell which is fairly long range with an average POW but has Critical: Shadow Bind. Remember that while all three of the coven are alive, their focus stat is 9, meaning that Stygian Abyss can be quite the potent spell and can hit even the most difficult targets for only 3 focus (and hopefully also trigger Shadow Bind!), if they're in Perfect Conjunction. Even their offensive spell is designed to support the rest of your army!

There's one last thing I want to mention. Since the Witch Coven is not a unit, it means that each witch activates independently. So? Well this means that you essentially get three separate activations, and if they're in Perfect Conjunction that means that they can throw out lots of spells and can cycle important upkeeps all over the board and you won't run into problems with the order of your activations like you could with other warcasters. Need Curse of Shadows on 2 different units? No problem! Want 3 warjacks to receive Infernal Machine? Done! The best part is that with a Skarlock, you can have 5 (!) warjacks benefit from Infernal Machine on your turn, and it'll only cost you 4 focus, if you're in Perfect Conjunction (upkeep on 1, cast with witchA on 2, cast with witchB on 3, cast with witchC on 4, and cast with skarlock on 5).

Now that you have a fairly in-depth look at what the Witch Coven brings to the table, you should think about what kind of list you would run. The most daunting part of the Coven I think is that there are so many models/units that they could take and have work well. That should be encouraging though! In Part 2 I'll share some models to seriously consider with the Coven as well as a couple of lists I generated that would be interesting to try out. Lastly, in Part 2, we'll look at some tactical examples of how to achieve a caster kill in specific situations.

Email in: Please could you provide your assistance?

2012-05-27T23:00:00.001+10:00

"Hey Kirby,

I've been reading a lot of your extremely useful articles and I've noticed that you help people who email in lists. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind helping me sort out a 1500 competitive imperial guard list.

The two lists below are ones I've been using with a fair bit of success, I feel the first list is better at killing infantry of all varieties but lacks anti tank and the vendetta is to much of a target.

The second I feel can handle anti tank quite well and has a lot of redundancy, however its isn't as adept at killing marines.

I feel that I need to try and bring the two lists together, however I'm struggling do this without diluting the lists strengths to much or not have enough redundancy or the list being to small modelwise.

List1:
Ccs, 4 flamers.
Vendetta.

Marbo.

Veterans, 3 plasmas, demoltions, chimera.

Veterans, 2 plasmas, melta, demolitions, chimera.

Veterans, 3 meltas, demoltions, chimera.

Veterans, 3 meltas, demoltions, chimera.

Manticore.

Manticore.

Leman russ.

List 2:
Ccs, 3 flamers.
Vendetta.

Veterans, 3 flamers.
Vendetta.

Veterans, 3 flamers.
Vendetta.

Veterans, autocannon, chimera.

Veterans, autocannon, chimera.

Veterans, autocannon, chimera.

Manticore.

Manticore.

Leman russ.

Thank you in advance!

Luke."

The first list looks strong though I'd drop the Russ in favor of a second Vendetta - the only issue this list is going to have is lack of ranged firepower once the Vendettas are dropped but you have a nice core of Veterans, particularly at 1500. Consider running your Command squad with Straken instead to make them that much scarier in midfield (drop some plasma to fit this in).

The 2nd list has too much anti-infantry going on and Vets with just an autocannon are very inefficient - if you want to go this route Infantry Platoons are much better and give you access to HWT who can split your opponent's firepower and give you some good heavy weapons from the backfield. To change this list I'd be running Mletas on the Vendetta Vets and turn the other Veterans into Platoons with some HWT support.

Email in: Hello and list advice

2012-05-27T15:00:00.000+10:00

"Hello,

I have been reading parts of your blog for a while now, I help to run a hobby shop and its attached 40k club and your blog helps me to keep abreast of what is actually good in 40k so that if someone asks me "What does my army need next?" or "Are these any good?" I can (hopefully) give them an informed answer. I have been getting around to starting a new army, and I have decided that I will start off with the list for this one first before getting any of the figures. I have decided on Dark Eldar, as my Dad (Who owns the aforementioned shop) has an army of them so I could borrow some as I get the army together, and they are very different to the Marines which currently inundate the club.

So now for the feel of the list, I Love the look of the Venom, so I thought about doing a MSU list transported in Venoms... so Venomspam. Rather than the Ravagers, I have gone for Razorwings in my heavy support slots as I like them a lot better, which from what I have read means Reavers in fast attack with their trusty heat lances. I also want to have Lady Malys in the army, for I just love her fluff. I keep thinking I should have a CC unit to go with Malys (Incubi perhaps?) but I haven't so far. I have put together an almost 2500pt list, which I will build and then put together lists from it for my usual more casual games.

So here goes...

HQ - Lady Aurelia Malys                                                   (130 pts)

Troops -

5 Kabalite Warriors, Blaster, Sybarite with Blast Pistol           (150 pts)
Venom with Splinter Cannon

5 Kabalite Warriors, Blaster, Sybarite with Blast Pistol           (150pts)
Venom with Splinter Cannon

5 Kabalite Warriors, Blaster, Sybarite with Blast Pistol           (150pts)
Venom with Splinter Cannon

5 Kabalite Warriors, Blaster, Sybarite with Blast Pistol           (150pts)
Venom with Splinter Cannon

5 Kabalite Warriors, Blaster, Sybarite with Blast Pistol           (150pts)
Venom with Splinter Cannon

5 Kabalite Warriors, Blaster, Sybarite with Blast Pistol           (150pts)
Venom with Splinter Cannon

Elites

3 Kabalite Trueborn with Blasters                                     (146pts)
Venom with Splinter Cannon

3 Kabalite Trueborn with Blasters                                     (146pts)
Venom with Splinter Cannon

3 Kabalite Trueborn with Blasters                                     (146pts)
Venom with Splinter Cannon

Heavy Support

Razorwing, Splinter Cannon, Flickerfield                             (165pts)

Razorwing, Splinter Cannon, Flickerfield                             (165pts)

Razorwing, Splinter Cannon, Flickerfield                             (165pts)

Fast Attack

6 Reaver Jetbikes, 2 Heat Lances, Arena Champion with Venomblade (171pts)

6 Reaver Jetbikes, 2 Heat Lances, Arena Champion with Venomblade (171pts)

6 Reaver Jetbikes, 2 Heat Lances, Arena Champion with Venomblade (171pts)

All comes out at 2476pts thus far.

So What do you think? Also, for smaller games of say 1000pts or 1500pts how would you break it down into still a useable list?

Thank you in advance for your time"

Venom spam is cute but a winning strategy it is not, particularly when you run Razorwings as well. Lots of Venoms works but not as an entire army, you NEED some Raiders and other ranged anti-tank in there. I'd also be highly recommending just one Razorwing - it provides you some alpha-strike capacity against infantry but still keeps your anti-tank at range up there (and points down). If you're really set on the multiple Razorwings though, just keep in mind you'll want more Raiders to compensate.

With that in mind change several Venoms into Raiders with Shock Prows - ff optional with all the Venoms you have out there. At 1850+ you really want, as a minimum, 20 dark light shots. The more of these which are short-ranged (i.e. heat lances & blasters), the more you want total.

Also, in place of Malys consider the Baron - he brings a nice pre-game bonus in winning the roll off and can add a bit of combat pew-pew though if you do this you want a unit for him to go with (i.e. large Hellion squad or Beastmaster squad) which again takes away from your anti-tank and lessens the need for Venoms. Otherwise a Haemon or two to unlock Wracks for cheap backfield scorers in Raiders or to make Wyches a more viable option helps spice up the list.

In the end the concept of Venoms is fine but the more Venoms you bring, the less you need the Razorwings and the more you need the Ravagers to compensate for the lack of anti-tank. Even then, I wouldn't run nine Venoms + three Ravagers - I'd be looking to throw in a few Raiders as well.

In terms of scaling - dropping one unit per FoC will generally see you move well from 2500 to 2000 and then picking one unit to drop between each points total whilst keeping a balance will see the list still function reasonably well (i.e. don't keep losing a Troops unit between each points level).

Email in: A little fun: making an eldar army with leftovers.

2012-05-27T07:00:00.000+10:00

"Hello Kirby,

I'm a frequent reader of your blog. Good job! I've appreciated so much the tactical advices you give. I'm a 2nd edition player who is starting to play again now. I've got an Ork army which goes well (it seems the way of playing orks hasn't changed so much over time) :P, but back in the time I had a few Eldar miniatures which I have complemented with some miniatures from a friend who quitted long time ago. The things that worked on late 2nd/ early 3rd edition may not be the best in 5th, but I'm decided to try and would be very thankful if you were so kind of helping me. These are the forces I have for now:

The Avatar

Asurmen

Fuegan

3 Wraithlords

18 Banshees plus 2 exarchs (total 20)

7 Warp Spiders plus exarch (total 8)

6 Hawks plus exarch (total 7)

12 Scouts

20 Guardian Defenders (including two graw platforms)

16 Guardian (may be converted into Assault Guardians or into Avengers, though I would prefer the former)

10 Guardian Jetbikes (two of them with shuriken cannon)

1 Vyper

3 Reapers plus exarch (total 4)

Two Prisms and One Falcon (could be easily converted into Serpents or whatever)

1 Artillery Platform with crew

I know these are a bit outdated and that I lack Psykers, Bipods and, mostly, Dragons. But is it possible to make a passable list with what I have, or with few additions? If so, what would you suggest, and how would you play it? I play mostly against Grey Knights and Orks, in a friendly environment we play between 1000 and 2000 points.

Thank you so much in advance, and go on with your good work in your blog!

Tomeu

PD: please forgive any mistakes, as I'm not a native speaker (writing from spain, in the other end of the planet!). Hope I made me understandable!
" d

Unfortunately, you don't have much there at all - the main lack is vehicles. Even with a Footdar list you're going to need to purchase extra options like Harlequins, Farseer, Wraithguard, etc. And only a few people are capable of actually making that list do anything other than suck.

In terms of making a half-way decent Mechdar list you have a good core - you'll just need some Serpents and Dragons. Prisms + Falcon = Heavy Support (5x Dire Avengers go into Falcon). Guardians can be converted as Storm Guardians for some fusion gun support in a pinch and you can use Asurmen + Fuegan as counts-as Autarchs (though grabbing a Farseer as well is going to go a long way). Add in a couple squads of Dragons and Serpents to carry the Dragons + Storm Guardians and you're set. So in reality not too many purchases - they are just the most expensive ones (Serpents).

Spare points can be thrown into smaller Dire Avenger squads with Serpents or run some Vypers in Fast Attack and the Rangers/Pathfinders can always be thrown in as cheap scoring options. There's an unfortunate amount of unused models (your Aspect Warriors) but they will hopefully be more relevant next time around.

Email in: A different 1,850pt Spacewolf list

2012-05-26T23:00:00.000+10:00

"Hi Kirby,

Long time reader (usually every day) and occasional commenter on spacewolf posts. I've played wolves since I started playing 40k with my mates in 2010 and your blog has been a good help over the years. Hoping to head to some tournaments in the future, but in Scotland we don't have many options. After trying out various ideas and nearly every unit over the years I've come up with an 1,850 point list that is different from most lists I've seen on the web. This might be because it doesn't work, but here it is followed by some of my reasoning.

HQ----

(260pts) Wolf lord

Thunderwolf mount, runic armour, storm shield, wolfclaw, saga warrior born, 1 fenrisian wolf

(100pts) Rune Priest

Living Lightning, Murderous Hurricane

Elite----

(85pts) Wolfscouts x5 (1 Melta Gun)

(85pts) Lone wolf

TDA, Stormshield, Chainfist

(425pts) Wolfguard

1 x Bolt P/CC weapon

3 x Bolt P/Melta Gun

3 x Melta Gun/Power Fist

1 x TDA Combi Melta/Wolfclaw

1 x TDA Storm Bolter/Power Weapon + Cyclone

1 x TDA Assault Cannon/Wolfclaw

Drop Pod

Fast Attack----

(155pts) Thunderwolf Cavalry

1 x Bolt P/CC weapon

1 x Storm Shield/Power Fist

Heavy Support----

(125pts) Long Fangs Pack 1

3 x Multi melta/CC Weapon

1 x (Sqd Leader) Bolt P/CC Weapon

(115pts) Long Fangs Pack 2

4 x Missile/CC Weapon

1 x (Sqd Leader) Bolt P/CC Weapon

Troops----

(155pts) Greyhunter Pack 1

7xGreyhunters (1 Melta Gun + Wolf Standard)

Rhino

(155pts) Greyhunter Pack 2

7xGreyhunters (1 Melta Gun + Wolf Standard)

Rhino

(115pts) Greyhunter Pack 3

5xGreyhunters (1 Melta Gun)

Drop Pod

(75pts) Greyhunter Pack 4

5xGreyhunters (1 Flamer)

On Foot

It might seem like a rainbow list, but I'm trying to take some unusual ideas and the quirks of the spacewolf codex and mix it together to create something that isn't a copy of the other lists out there. Before we start with any critique just want to stay I don't like playing spam very much, if it's lots of razorbacks or maxing out on missile longfangs I just kind of find it boring. Think the list is still an all comers list that is fun to play. Think everyone likes a unit that is a star for a game, in here it could be the Lone wolf, Thunder lord, scouts, or Drop Pod WG.

Briefly what I'm aiming for is to get some lethal disruption in the list (scouts and turn 1 melta drop pod), forcing the opponent to deploy very carefully, but hopefully still putting them between a rock and a hard place. The lone wolf, thunderwolves, Multi Melta long fangs and of course 2 big GH squads all want to get close to the opponent (and/or control midfield). If they don't want to leave their deployment zone and come to me I should hopefully be able to box them in. I should be hitting the enemy with melta every turn, which often isn't possible with armies and especially wolves.

So general setup and idea is below.

My footslog Greyhunters are a back field objective holder (I see you used BA scouts recently for same reason), often these rarely contribute in an attacking way in games (it's almost like they're having a picnic away from the action) which is why here they are joined by the TDA cyclone. Now I have a scoring TDA firing off 2 missiles a turn.

The rest of the Wolfguard is designed to be flexible depending on situation. The 3 Combi Melta/Power Fist join GH packs 1 and 2, and the scouts. If the Power Fist isn't needed in the scouts, can just use WG with Combi Melta.

The plain WG will join Long Fangs Pack 1 (as an extra wound).

This leaves 5 WG, 2 TDA and 3 power armour with Combi Melta.

One of the TDA joins GH Pack 3 in the other Drop Pod, giving another scoring TDA. This could add a combi-melta to the unit or an assault cannon.

So I got 2 units in Drop Pods wIth 1 TDA in each. Normally I'd drop the WG pod first turn for an alpha strike of 3 Combi-Meltas and the Assault Cannon or 4 Combi-Meltas, if there's something I really need to take out. A high prority will be anything that can do strength 10 damage which can cut my thunderwolves to pieces (read as instant death).

Also if there's a big tank park taking out a front rhino/razorback can really hamper an opponents movement.

I find that the TDA makes my unit slightly tougher to bring down, especially if I'm using my drop pod as cover. Or I can send down an empty pod for blocking.

The Rune Priest will join a big GH squad for psyker autocannon goodness.

So while a small unit harrasses him with melta turn 1, he's also got to worry about scouts coming on from turn 2 onwards with double melta and multi assault possibilities.

My 3xMulti Melta long fangs are pushing into midfield in the rhino which pops smoke. I now have a Multi-Melta bunker from turn 2. This seems like a crazy idea when I could just get a normal 4 missile longfang pack for cheaper. My thinking is that spacewolves find it hard to get Multi meltas (dreads are in elite slots, speeders are fragile and usually 1 melta), our tank busting is generally the melta gun on grey hunters, WG or scouts (or close combat later in game) We don't always want to use grey hunters in such an aggressive way, so I was looking at alternatives.

A great spacewolf unit is the Long Fangs who get heavy weapons very cheap, looking at marine tactical bunkers it costs them 200 odd pts to have 1 Multi melta in bunker. I get 3 Multi Meltas (I know only 2 can fire from hatch) plus 2 ablative wounds (Sqd Leader plus plain WG) for 143 pts. People some times compare long Fangs (or MEQ equivalent) with Predators, I feel this combines some advantages of both. The armour of the rhino is just the first level of protection for the Multi Melta Long Fangs, unlike tanks/speeders (1 melta or missile can turn them to dust). And also once you destroy the rhino their potential damage increases. If rhino is now a crater you got 3 Multi Meltas covering midfield in cover (any deaths from explosion would be Sqd Leader or WG), if it's a wreck you use it as cover 3 hiding, and 2 Multi Meltas aiming at their next target.

Also pushing into midfield is the Lone wolf, a tough nut to crack and a nut cracker on his own. And then you got the HQ thunderwolf lord (mostly attached to the TWC) using the Long Fang rhino or GH rhinos as cover. Or perhaps going down a flank is there's cover and it seems tactically advantageous to do so. Or perhaps hiding (or reserving them) to use as a brilliant counter attack unit. Kind of like drawing a line in the sand 19 inches away from them and daring the enemy to cross it. If they hit as a unit of one the 3 levels of Initiative (I5 lord wolf claw attacks, then I4 TWC rending, then I1 Power fist attacks) is deadly and cuts out wound allocation funny business, that can often make power weapon attacks less deadly in combat.

As the battle goes on I've got a drop Pod coming down later (Grey Hunter Pack 3 with a TDA), possibly where I need reinforcements or to start a new angle of attack. And a favourite is to grab an isolated objective. Capture and Control can often lead to draws cause it's hard to get to the enemies objective. Now I could have a troop unit and Drop Pod contesting which many backfield objective holders can't deal with easily. Of course if most of the enemies army is there well hopefully I've got him pushed back and other units are close by and ready to contest or finish him off.

So this is experimental, but any comments are appreciated. Do you and others think it works as a concept? Maybe not enough troops for some people, not mobile enough or not enough armour, not able to deal with lots of transports? Is it a one trick pony so that if the plan starts to fail it will just be taken apart piece by piece. Or is it different enough that people might underestimate the threats which all require different ways to counteract them.

Maybe some will play test the list for fun (possibly having success) and provide feedback. I'm lucky if I can play 1 game a week of 40k and I came up with the list while cycling around europe for charity for 8 months (shameless plug www.cycle4africa.co.uk)

--- feel free to delete the last bit Kirby, but I did cycle 9,000km through 20 countries on my own to help children in Tanzania get food, education and shelter so it's for a very good cause :)

Thanks for reading (you may have to shorten for posting sorry)

and good luck with the next 3++ tournament

gary (sunsnowzero)"

Overall there's a lot of options here though a few things could use addressing. The major thing here is lack of ranged firepower - I'm all for not using massed Missile Fangs or RBacks but there needs to be more ranged suppression coming down field. Also, the way you've set up both your Long Fangs makes them prime targets for different armies and without any redundancy there, they will be targeted pretty early.

With this in mind I'd be looking to expand the shooting presence. Something as simple as a Rifledread, couple of Typhoons or RBacks and doubling the MM Long Fangs is going to make your army more reliable and durable in terms of firepower provided. To do this I'd be looking to drop the Lone Wolf and trim the TWC - the Wolf Lord is all the killing power you really need - what you want for the TWC bodyguard is extra wounds and some S10 so one-three strong with one Thunder Hammer works fine. With these points buy one of the aforementioned firepower units and then grab another MM Fang unit in a Rhino (I'd be running with two MMs). This effectively doubles your ranged output and your 24" melta threat as well though you may need to trim a few upgrades here and there to make it fit (depending upon which ranged unit you go with to support your Long Fangs).

And kudos on the charity work - never a bad thing to plug such :).

Email in: Love the blog!

2012-05-26T15:00:00.000+10:00

"Kirby,

I’ve been incorporating much of the advice that I read on your blog into my builds, and my game has been improving steadily. While I am still a novice 40k player, I am definitely getting better. Keep on keeping on!

With my current build, I have room left for one more unit. I run a Mephiston that I use as an all-rounder (anti-infantry, anti-mech, whatever the situation, he’s a beast). However, what I would ideally like is to have a bit of duality with another assault unit that can handle basic, non-terminator MEQ as well as vehicles up to AV14 (a mini Meph, if you will). Here are a couple options that I’m looking at:

Option (1)
Honor Guard
-4x Power Weapons
-4x Meltaguns
Chapter Banner
JP
--295 pts
Probably the best of the options for anti-mech with 4 meltaguns. I like that they have an 18 inch melta range, and a 24 inch str8 ap1 range, while still having the 1str 1ini bonus for charging, ensuring that MEQ and up get slaughtered. Downsides are that there are no ablative wounds, and losing even 1 to torrent fire means their effectiveness degrades very quickly.

Option (2)
Sanguinary Guard
-3x Infernus pistols
-1x Priest w/JP
--305 pts
These are basically impervious to small arms fire, forcing the opponent to target them with anti-mech weapons (thereby protecting my tanks by proxy). Downside is that you have to be extremely close to get the melta off (15 and 18 inches). Tougher than the Honor Guard, but still no ablative wounds.

Option (3)
10x Assault Marines
1x Priest w/JP
1x Fist
2x Meltaguns
--310 pts
The standard. Not as tough as Sanguinary, but more ablative wounds than both. Half the melta power of the Honor Guard, but more range than the Sanguinary. Effective against MEQ due to the high volume of attacks on the charge. More troops means slightly harder to hide behind/in cover. The middle of the road choice, imo, though ironically, the most expensive.

Noticeably absent from this list are Terminators. While I like terminators, the above three have mobility, which I think is a huge asset to a Blood Angels army. I’ve also tried using a Furioso to fill this role, but I find that a standard Furioso with fists and a Magna is too slow on the field and can’t get to where he needs to be all the time, and a librarian Furioso can’t take the melta/magna options, and is thusly not as effective at mech killing (at least in my experience).

Thoughts? Am I spending too many points on this for what I expect it to do?"

Well it really depends what list they are going into. Is this a mech list you are trying to add a non-mech combat element to or looking to expand part of the Jumper list? If it's a mech list I'd keep Mephiston as he works very well with lots of vehicle hulls to hide behind and work around and when supported by the army, he is very hard to get a handle on for your opponent.

If it's a non-mech list I'd be looking at either the Sanguinary Guard or ASM options. Honor Guard are nice but have a huge target painted on them and as you pointed out yourself, lose effectiveness quickly when shot at. What the rest of your list entails will dictate whether you want the SGuard or ASM. If you've got nothing which is really capable of smacking things in combat (i.e. mass ASM), then grab a unit of Sanguinary Guard (but throw in a PFist) just for that extra beater unit. If you already have such a unit (i.e. Vanguard Vets) add in the extra ASM for more scoring, a lightening of the load across your other ASM units and more torrenting options.

Guest Article: Some more Mathammer - the Basics

2012-05-26T07:00:00.001+10:00

Hello 3++ community, T2-Keks here with some math :P

I have been enjoying 3++ and other blogs for some time and read a lot that helped me improve my play and get new, interesting views on stuff. When I was about to talk to my local gaming group about Mathhammer, I looked up the various Mathhammer articles here on 3++. I liked them but I thought they aimed more towards people already knowing how to do the Mathhammer. An introduction that explains how it’s done is missing. So I wrote one up for my group. Since I took quiet some insights from 3++ I now try to give something back by contributing. So I translated my article and sent it to Kirby (original version in German can be found on our group’s blog: bockige-wuerfel.de). Pictures are done by our artist Timo!

First steps in Mathhammer are to look at average outcomes of situations.

You use the knowledge that each pip on a dice comes up equally likely. Then you check how many pips lead to success or failure on a given test. The quotient of number of possible successes to the total number of possible outcomes is the probability to be successful in that test.

A model with BS4 hits its target on a 3,4,5,6. Thus 4/6 possibilities are considered successes. 4/6 = 0.67 aka 67%.

Now if you want to chain partial results together to get a certain event, you calculate the probability for each roll of any die to be successful and then multiply these probabilities with one another to get the overall probability of that event to happen.

For example the chance to kill of a S4 shot fired with BS4 at a target with T4 and a 3+ save is calculated as follows:

To hit: 4/6 pips are successful

To wound: 3/6 pips

Fail the armor save: 2/6 pips

4/6*3/6*2/6 = 0.11 aka 11% is the chance of this to happen.

Graphical this means that you draw a tree that branches at every step between success and failure and has probabilities assigned to every branch. To calculate the probability of an event you follow a branch and multiply all probabilities you come across.

The three ways to fail (don’t hit, don’t wound, target saves successfully) each have their own chance to occur. If you add them together you get the total chance to fail: 89%. In sum with the chance to succeed (11%) you end up with 100%. That is important. All possibilities combined must give you a 100% chance. If you end up with more or less you are certain to have made a mistake. But getting a sum of 100% does not guarantee that you didn’t make a mistake ;)

If you include events that only occur under certain circumstances into such chains (like the reroll if the to-hit-test for twin-linked weapons), you have to carefully watch out to make the correct branches.

The example from above, this time with a twin-linked gun, looks as follows:

The roll to hit is just repeated if it failed initially. Two ways lead to a successful elimination of the target. Their chances are added up to get the total probability of a successful kill.

When interpreting this result one could say “A space marine has an 11% chance to shoot another marine with his boltgun.” (tree1). That is correct but formulating it this way easily leads to mistakes. If you put it like this: “One S4 shot fired with BS4 at a target with T4 and a 3+ save will, on average, net 0.11 dead targets.”, you are on the safer side. This statement can be scaled up correctly: After 18 shots fired one can expect two dead marines (18 fired, 12 hit, 6 wound, 2 failed armor saves). But 18 shots fired won’t get you a 200%-chance to kill a marine. 18*11% = 200% is wrong. More on that later may follow in a later post.

In a nutshell:

- check for every dice how many pips are failures and successes on a given test

- formulate quotient of “number of possible successes”/”number of overall possibilities”

- multiply these quotients along a branch of the tree to get the chance of success

- if there are multiple ways to succeed calculate them all and add up their individual chances to get the overall probability to be successful

- these results are averages not guarantees

That’s it for now. Let me know what you think about this article and ask any questions you like in the comments. If there is interest for more math I’ll do more J

Evaluating Bad Units: Assault Cannon Razorbacks

2012-05-25T23:00:00.000+10:00

Welcome to the second wonderful installment of our little series here. This time around we're going to talk about a more unusual choice in the list of sub-par options: the Razorback with twin-linked Assault Cannon.

"But that's not a bad unit!" some of you are undoubtedly rising from your chairs to shout. And you're right- when fielded by Blood Angels, where it benefits from aggressive mobility, or Grey Knights, where it gets upgraded stats, immunity to suppression and support from other mid-range forces, it's quite good. But when Space Marines or Space Wolves field them, it is decidedly underwhelming.

However, let's follow our usual pattern and talk about things in a more organized manner here first. Keep in mind that, for the purposes of this article, we are ONLY talking about the versions available in the vanilla Space Marine and Space Wolves books, not the other variants. We'll discuss the hows and whys of those at the very end of this whole mess.

The Good

In a lot of ways, the TLAC Razorback showcases the strengths of a dedicated transport in 5th Edition. It is reasonably survivable thanks to the AV11 standard and the vehicle damage table; it brings a fairly effective gun to the table (which we'll talk about more in a moment); and it comes paired with whatever unit you can cram inside it, which has a number of possibilities. It's a nice little generalist tank, able to punch through even the heaviest armor in the game (except Wave Serpents) and putting out enough shots with high-enough strength to scare most anything.

The TLAC is, in fact, a quite effective little shooting weapon; BS4 and rerolls to hit give it unmatched accuracy and S6 lets it wound virtually everything around quite consistently. Add in Rending on top of that and you have a weapon that can pour out significant damage very consistently. In fact, its only real downsides are the mediocre AP4 (which Rending helps compensate for) and range of 24" (but most Marines want to be moving into midfield anyways.) Realistically, the only downside to the weapon is the cost- 75pts for an AV11 hull isn't great, but considering how many roles it fills that's hardly an unfair cost and you can still bring them in abundance in most lists if you care to. What's not to like?

The Bad

A couple of things. First, the aforementioned fragility- even the vehicle damage table only gives you so much protection and when you start spending large chunks of points on things that are no more survivable than a normal Rhino, you have to consider what you're getting. One glancing hit can render the tank useless for the rest of the game- either an Immobilize before it moves into range or a Weapon Destroyed at any time. Oh, sure, you aren't COMPLETELY worthless from either of those, but when 4/6 of the damage table from a penetrating hit renders you useless, things are definitely starting to be a bit less impressive.

That range we talked about above is also a big factor. 24" is a number many people are familiar with from fighting GK or other armies- it means that most of the time you will not get any shots at the enemy during your first turn, since you can only move 6" and still shoot. GK can get around this with driving full speed and unloading troops to do the damage early on; Tyranids bypass it by simply being so tough it's hard to cut them down before they're in range (and by Onslaught.) SM/SW don't have these options- more often than not, T1 your expensive tank just doesn't get to participate in the battle.

Now we get to the third point- the effectiveness of the gun once you manage to get in range. Let me preface this by saying the TLAC is not a bad weapon, but it does have a critical weak point: it's not that great against AV11. AV10, AV12, heck, even AV13 and 14 to a degree? It's pretty golden. On the low end of the scale with AV10, its large number of shots and strength make it into an Autocannon of sorts, using rate of fire to compensate for a middling chance to actually go through. Against AV12 the guaranteed penetration on a Rend stacks up fairly reasonably with other guns- to be honest, AV12 just isn't that easy to break, especially with those S7/8 guns that predominate in many armies, so the Assault Cannon isn't in a bad spot comparatively. AV13+ tends to be rarer (although not so much with Necrons now) so you won't have to expect to face down a dozen of them the way you will with other tanks. But AV11 is in that perfect breakpoint of "you'll often see a lot of it" and "but my numbers don't work out that well." Just like with AV12, you need to roll a 6 to penetrate- Rending doesn't do a damn thing for you. But with 6-10 AV11 hulls on the field, you tend to have a lot more work cut out for you against such targets, and that's bad news for the Assault Cannon.

The anti-infantry firepower is also not a ringing endorsement. While the TLAC does force a good number of saves on most targets, tougher targets (MEQs, Terminators, FNP) will be able to shrug these hits off with little effect and larger beasties (like Tyranids) will similarly laugh off anything except a Rend- and Rending is notoriously unreliable. So you have the ability to do some torrent shooting against infantry, but both codices (SM from Dakka Preds/Typhoons and SW from Frag Missiles and assaults) have plenty of ability to deal with infantry models without the need for such a tool. In short, the anti-infantry the TLAC brings to the table is unneeded.

The Competition

Now we come to the next critical factor: the other options. Or, more accurately, option, since there is really only one, the ubiquitous Lascannon/twin-linked Plasmagun Razorback. Virtually all of the TLAC's weaknesses this chassis bypasses; it has an excellent long-range shot, capable of killing both tanks and other targets. It has two weapons and the aforementioned ranges, making it less vulnerable to being glanced into uselessness via Damaged results. Its guns are perfect against not just heavy infantry (a common problem target for many enemies) but also, if it fires both, superior against AV11 and AV13 as well, giving you a variety of good options not really found elsewhere in the codices. And, of course, it is vastly superior against point-blank targets that you will often encounter when driving into midfield carrying a scoring unit.

Why are these factors different for GK and BA, who can use the Assault Cannon effectively? Well, Blood Angels are a highly aggressive army and have the Fast status on all their tanks. The former means they will often want to be jumping in the enemy's face and the latter means they will usually be able to manage to get to a shooting position on turn 1- and if not they can Flat Out with Smoke and be completely assured of a good shot, as no deployment should leave you more than 18" out of position unless you really screwed up. Space Marines don't really want to be getting into fistfights and Space Wolves, while they are fine in melee, can't effectively bring the TLAC to bear as quickly as is needed- having 200+pts of your army doing nothing for a turn can spell the end of a game in many cases. If we compare Grey Knights and how they use the TLAC, they have not only Fortitude (which is a pretty ridiculous power) but also the ultra-cheap upgrade option of Psybolt Ammo, which turns the main gun into a Psycannon in practice, if not in name. This upgrade doubles the number of penetrating hits you'll average against AV11, giving you a critical boost against your most common foe.

So as you can see, even when a unit is statistically all but identical, a variety of other factors can make very important differences to the uses it sees and how competitive it ends up being. The SM and SW variants, while stastically not really all that different than their BA and GK counterparts, suffer from poor synergy with their respective armies and competitions from other, more effective units that fill the same role. The TLAC Razorback is not bad in and of itself, but its lackluster performance compared to other alternatives and poor fit with some armies leave it usually unable to keep pace, metaphorically speaking, with your other choices.

Email in: 1850 Dark Eldar List for Tournament in June

2012-05-25T15:00:00.000+10:00

"Hi Will,

Great blog yada yada yada...

This A-hole (I mean - a real jerk) wants me to go to Event Horizon in June (Just kidding - you know I love you man). I'm tossing up between two lists at the moment:

List 1 - Webway Hybrid (1850 pts)

Haemonculus (WWP)
2 x 6 Harlequins (2 fusion pistols, 6 kisses)
4 x 5 Kabalite Warriors (blaster) in Raider (FF, SP)
2 x 3 Wracks in Venom (extra splinter cannon)
3 Beastmasters (5 Khymerae, 4 Razorwing Flocks)
2 x 5 Scourges (2 haywire blasters)
3 x Ravager

Plan is for the Haemonculus to zip up with a warrior squad and deploy WWP in games where I need to be aggressive or have more deployment options. Harlequins and beasts will be in reserve and come in through portal unless I need a screen or want to come in off my table edge. In defensive games I may start them on the board to act as a counter assault. Scourges will suppress vehicles to give me some more control. Warriors will try to destroy tanks, and if that fails, their raiders can always be glorified battering rams. Wracks will camp backfield and venoms will shoot infantry from afar. Ravagers do what they do best.

List 2 - Mech with Wyches (1847 pts)

2 x Haemonculus (liquifier gun)
2 x 4 Kabalite Trueborn (2 splinter cannons) in Raider (FF)
2 x 5 Kabalite Warriors (blaster) in Raider (FF, SP)
2 x 3 Wracks in Venom (extra splinter cannon)
2 x 9 Wyches (hekatrix, venom blade, shardnet & impaler, haywire grenades) in Raider (FF, SP)
2 x 5 Scourges (2 haywire blasters)
3 x Ravager

Haemonculi start with wyches to give them a pain token and either ride off with them for some liquifier fun or join another squad. Wyches will then tarpit scary units or kill weaker ones, with some haywires for dreads or backup AT. Haemonculi would stay onboard so the wyches have fleet. Trueborn will move where needed to provide AI and snatch tokens or an extra lance shot from their raiders. Warriors, wracks, scourges and ravagers as per above list.

So there they are. Any comments or preferences between the lists would be appreciated. Additional considerations are that List 1 would probably be more fun but List 2 would be easier for me to assemble and paint since I have/will have most of the units in time. I think getting my army ready in time will be my main challenge! I obviously also need to get some playtesting in to improve my 40k-fu. Blocking and providing cover to my own units and movement in general is where I expect I need the most help.

Thanks,
Damien"

The second list is miles better IMO though I would be running the Trueborn with Dark Lances or Blasters over splinter fire - look to potentially add some extra Venoms elsewhere (for Warriors or Trueborn) to compensate for loss of anti-infantry. Otherwise that list is looking very solid.

For the Hybrid WWP, you really need Duke I feel in such a list to get the most out of your vehicles - i.e. if needed you can deep-strike them and since they have long effective ranges, you don't have to do so too dangerously. Otherwise adding in some Shadowseers for the Harlequins is going to make them better delivery systems for the WWP which only having one of is going tobe restrictive enough as it is.

Since the WWP list needs several changes I'd be looking at the mech list even though it's more painting before the tournament.

Warmachine Knowledge Request - Circle, Cygnar & Trollbloods

2012-05-25T07:00:00.000+10:00

Several friends of mine are looking to start Warmachine, each with a different faction. Each of them asked for help yet there's only so much I can give since I am also learning and not intmately familiar with the factions outside of the one I am currently playing. So, through me, they are asking you for help =D! The armies the are looking at (obviously) are Circle, Cygnar and Trollbloods.

General information about the army and what the general good units/casters and stay away from units/casters would be appreciated. Basics in terms of playstyle, etc. as well wouldn't go amiss ^^. Here's a bit of brief information from each player in terms of likes/dislikes.

Circle -

Huge fan of the wolds - particularly the Guardian so being able to use those would be great. Shifting Stones seem like an obvious shoo-in as well as the Warpwolf plastic kit but what else and are the Wolds viable?

Cygnar -

Has been told eHaley/Caine/Stryker are good - about all I know :P. Like the Storm Lancers, Long Gunners & Jacks in general but otherwise advice on all-rounder lists would be appreciated. Are mercanaries really super necessary?

Trollbloods -

I will be starting off my foray into Warmahordes with Trollbloods. The models are cool and they seem to have very few bad unit choices. With my first purchase I’m looking to get 35 points – I will be getting the warpack starter box but beyond that I’m not really sure what I should buy to compliment it. Note that I haven’t played any games and am still working my way through the rulebook. Here’s what I’ve come up with.

War Party Tier 2 List (35 points):

Madrak Ironhide (+6)
Dire Troll Mauler (9)
Troll Axer (6)
Troll Impaler (5)
2 x Kriel Warriors (max) w/ Standard & Piper (2x8-2)
Krielstone Bearer & Scribes (min) w/ Stone Scribe Elder (4)
Fell Caller Hero (3)

It’s based on synergy. The Mauler can increase the strength of Ironhide or himself, the Axer can boost the Mauler’s speed and the Impaler can increase his own or Ironhide’s throw range. Warriors look awesome for their point cost and with buffs from the KSB and Fell Caller will be pretty formidable units.

Any comment or advice from yourself or the community would be appreciated. I welcome suggestions for the use of other units/warbeasts too.

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So 3++ community - help out the new guys please!