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Guest Article: Walking the line: Competitive and casual gaming

2012-03-17T07:00:00.000+11:00

By Sethis

I am, at heart, a competitive gamer. I wince when I see people fielding Tri-Las Predators or five Tactical terminators in a Godhammer Land Raider. I die a little bit inside every time someone puts Tau down on the other side of the table to me (joking! Mostly...), I enjoy tweaking my lists to get the most out of them, checking the net for new builds and adding/removing units to make them fit my collection while still following the ideas they are based upon. I have a fair interest in math-hammer and enjoy working out optimal units based on it, which seems to work reasonably well for me. I have great fun at tournaments even if I don’t place particularly well because that’s when I play against other top-end gamers.

You might now be asking “Why are you talking about casual gaming at all?” and the answer is simple – the club I go to every week is incredibly casual. A few of my friends and I have been trying to filter competitive lists into it by process of osmosis for the last few years, but it is still very slow going. To illustrate, one of the better lists has 30 Sternguard in it, all with Combi-Meltas. Ultramarines are common (and not played by children either) and even the most cutting edge codices are generally played with units that “look cool”. There is no unit spam, no 8-Razorback/6-Hydra/9 Venom lists. Even outdated tourney lists like Lash and Nob Bikers don’t get played. Consequently, my tourney Mechdar are still undefeated (although there have been draws) in the last three years against anyone but my friends. There are a handful of players with decent armies, but there are also masses of people with bad ones, and playing the same four people gets boring fast.

This leads me into the main body of my post: How to play casually, competitively. Wait, what? Yep. There have been quite a few arguments over the old internet about casual versus competitive, the pros and cons of nerfing your army deliberately, taking bad units, letting people win, teaching new players how to improve and so on. Everyone has their own view on the best way to play with our toy soldiers, and that’s fair enough. This is my personal opinion.

1. Bad players learn nothing from being massacred. Even if you explain step by step why it happened, someone you tabled by turn 3 is not going to be receptive to criticism, explanations or a lecture on army composition. Human nature just doesn’t work that way. However someone who only lost narrowly (by 1 objective to 0, 1 kill point, whatever) will be much more likely to listen if you mention something like “You know, Long Fangs are better with 4 missile launchers rather than 1 of every weapon”.

2. People will not alter their collections overnight, or because you tell them to. It is their army, and their money. Likewise, people will absorb lessons much more easily if it is delivered in small doses. Telling someone to go out and buy 6 Razorbacks accomplishes nothing. Suggesting that “Your 10 man Grey Hunter squad could use a Rhino, and hey, since you’re getting a Rhino you may as well get the Razorback kit for the extra weapons...” might actually make them buy one the next time they consider adding something to their army. A week later you might see the new Rhino and mention “You know Las/Plas is actually pretty good, and really easy to convert...”

3. The casual player does not have an exclusive responsibility to “catch up” to the competitive player by buying more/better models. The competitive player also has an equal responsibility to “drop down” their army a bit. Instead of thinking “Damn, got to nerf my list with some crappy unit” then you might be better served by thinking “Hey, I’ve never used Guardians before, how can I fit them into my list, and how do I think I can use them well?” You can pick up a squad on ebay (where non-competitive units tend to be cheaper and more available) or something and see how well you can make them perform. See it as an excellent opportunity to try out a unit you’ve never used, give it an interesting paint job or convert it somehow, and then roll it out on the table. Minimal investment is a plus, because you’re hardly going to be using them in every single game.

4. No-one has fun if one player whitewashes the other, unless you’re the kind of person who enjoys clubbing seals and who should therefore be safely removed from the gene pool and shot behind the barn for the good of the species. By having the casual player “play up” and the competitive player “play down” a more balanced result can be achieved, and more fun can be had (which is why we play games, right? For fun?). By adding a squadron of War Walkers to my Mechdar, removing a Fire Dragon unit plus Serpent, adding some Guardians on foot and removing a Falcon (basically making the list slightly worse) then my opponent gets to build a kill pile that is more than one or two Wave Serpent turrets and the odd unit of Fire Dragons. Likewise, his dead pile isn’t 7/8ths of his army by turn 5.

What I need to make clear now is that I am not recommending that you play badly, or let the other guy win, or write a 100% terrible list. What I am suggesting is that you take the time to place yourself in deliberately more challenging situations, which you must then play competently to get out of. This sharpens your own skills outside of the tournament scene – you learn to use units in different roles than you might normally, or play in a style you don’t often do (mech, hybrid, foot, whatever). Pick a unit that is “bad” but you always loved the fluff/miniatures for and try to make it work to the best of its ability. Take three different heavy support choices instead of the same one three times. Here’s the important bit: All the time you are doing this, keep helping other players develop their skills, their army list, and their tactics. A bit at a time, every week. Claiming that you have no responsibility to approximate the level of your opponent is openly admitting that you are an elitist dick, regardless of how much “advice” you try to unload on them during the game where you win by 17 KPs to 1. Your games will be closer, more challenging, and more fun for both of you, and eventually, you will both be better players than you were. I’ll reiterate: This is just my opinion.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to painting my new Daemon army...

Necron Codex Review Part 9: Heavy Support

2012-03-16T23:00:00.002+11:00

Welcome to the final installment of the Necron review, everyone. Heavy Support is generally where most armies get their big hitters, and in this regard Necrons are not really all that different from most. The HS selection comes with an array of strong shooting units as well as a few other options, although unfortunately, like Elites, it has a number of largely "dead" or niche choices.

Doomsday Ark

The Doomsday Ark, like a couple other units in the codex, is not quite as bad as it's generally said to be, but it's not exactly great, either. It's a highly niche unit that can only fit into one or two specific builds designed to take advantage of it, and even those are not top-end by any means. If all of those doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement... well, you're right; it isn't. But the Ark does have some uses and an AP1 large blast is something to consider, especially in a book lacking in many other such options.

The Ark's basic numbers come out pretty okay- the standard Quantum Shielding profile, Living Metal, the fancy cannon in front and a pair of Gauss Arrays on the sides. It's worth pointing out that the Arrays can fire at separate targets than the main gun and are defensive- so if you're forced to move, you can still at least pump out some shots in that regard. The Doomsday Cannon is superficially very much like a Demolisher Cannon, but the differences are paramount- 72" range when stationary means the Ark can safely sit in a back corner and pound whatever targets are visible, not exposing itself to close-range Melta and assaults the way the Vindi does. AP1 also makes it more reliable in destroying tanks, although S9 and lack of Ordnance make getting through heavier armor an unlikely prospect. When forced to move, the Cannon is a pretty weak shot- 24" range, S7, and AP4, leaving it mostly only good for trying to suppress a tank or force some saves on clustered models.

The Cannon's real limiters are the price (175pts) and competition (the awesomely-efficient Annihilation Barge.) For an army that plans around it, though, an Ark stationed in each corner of the board can provide some real problems for the enemy to deal with and can cut through FNP/etc in a way that Necrons often struggle with. You won't see the Ark on the board terribly often, but when used right they are a genuine threat.

Annihilation Barge

The Annihilation Barge, along with the Overlord, is the closest thing to an auto-pick the Necron codex gets; it's really just that efficient. Now, of course there are lists that don't want them- Imotekh armies, for example, or those focused on building Scarabs or pulling other tricks. But for pretty much the same price as a Dakka Predator, you get a similar statline and guns but with the added bonus of more accuracy.

None of what the Barge does is particularly unique; it's just one more AV13 tank in the army and a TL Tesla Destructor can be had in many slots; its secondary gun is nothing to write home about, either. But its cheap price, durability (that adds to the weight of vehicle hulls and can provide cover), and reliable firepower are all huge boons to many an army, almost regardless of type. It has its downsides (like relatively short range), but for the most part is is an excellent addition to the arsenal, one that can shut down most any vehicle (if not kill it) consistently and torrent out infantry squads with ease.

This is the Barge's real strength: it's cheap, durable, and can pretty much always do its job. It has okay maneuverability, putting out four S7 shots on the move, and can potentially rack up a huge number of hits on a lucky roll. The Annihilation Barge may not be a flashy choice, but it is one that will consistently be both useful and hard to take out, and that has a lot of value. Necrons rely on torrent shooting to do a lot of their jobs, and few units can produce a more efficient blaze of shots than it can.

When you're picking HS slots or writing a list, you'll have to make a strong case for not starting every one with 3x Annihilation Barges. Boring? Perhaps, but given the flexibility in other slots, I can hardly feel too bad about one of them being slightly bland. Mixing things up slightly (like adding some Spyders) will also be reasonably common, but it will be an unusual list that doesn't feature at least two Barges.

Necron Monolith

The Monolith is no longer a Special and Unique Flower that gets an exception to every single rule in the game, which is nice to see. Unfortunately it gets a lot of other stuff stripped from it as well and is still very expensive without really having a well-defined role in the army. While it does bring a few tricks to the table, they are hard to justify for the hefty cost and none of them end up being really game-breaking, so in the end I think it's something that, despite its iconicness, is better left at home.

It still has AV14 all around, which makes it exceedingly tough at range, but lacking protection against double pen dice, Meltaguns and similar effects can bring it down with relative ease- and considering "units that get in close and do mess them up" is already a weakness of the Necron army, the Monolith doesn't exactly help in this regard. Its weapons are also very awkward- the four Gauss Flux Arcs can't really fire at targets very easily, and mostly you will only get to use one or two of them per turn. Worse yet, the Particle Whip on top is Ordnance, meaning you can't use it alongside ANY other weapons, which is very problematic. It can only move 6" per turn, which isn't a huge problem, but when it Deep Strikes it has no protection against mishaps- and for a model this large, that is a major issue.

It also can use its "door" once per turn to do something, either shoot or pull a unit through. As shooting it's all but worthless, having a laughable d6" range and forcing a Str test or die for any enemy models in the area. As a teleport it's actually semi-reasonable, able to pull one unit (that isn't in CC) through the door as though they were exiting a moving transport; it can also grab a unit from reserve (automatically, no need to roll) and bring it through the same way. This is an interesting option, but it's hard to make really strong use of it because of the limitations (the unit can't move after, can only bring them directly to the Mono, which is kinda slow) I don't feel it's any kind of basis for a strong build.

So what is the Monolith, overall? Expensive. Not very good at shooting. Slow. Vulnerable. Able to move units around the table a bit, but Necrons have several other ways to do that as well. Does it bring anything truly unique to the list? Not really, unfortunately. Is it more efficient than any of your other options for doing those things? Certainly not. Does it have any particular synergy or combination of features that bring it to the fore? Not that I can see. The Monolith is simply stuck in a bad place, lacking in too many things to really have an effective role and too expensive to just fill a generalist slot. You can play it as a more-worser Leman Russ and it won't be completely disappointing, but neither will it particularly impress.

Disclaimer: Chumby likes the Monolith a lot more than I do, as do many other people. Obviously I don't think they're right, but in the interests of fairness I will at least mention that not everyone agrees with me on this subject.

Doom Scythe

The other Doom unit in the codex, like its counterpart the Doom Scythe clocks in at a hefty 175pts and comes with a high-strength AP1 weapon that can hit multiple targets. Unlike the Ark, the Scythe is rather fragile, having the same basic stats as the Night Scythe, along with the Supersonic and Aerial Assault rules (the latter of which it can actually use, as opposed to the Night Scythe.) It comes with the TL Tesla Destructor that should be familiar by now and also a very unique main gun that shoots a S10 "beam" 3d6" long, starting anywhere within 12" of the vehicle. Units take one hit for each model underneath the line (as opposed to the grammatically correct, but ridiculous, interpretation of EVERY model in a unit taking one hit if the unit is under the line), allowing you to devastate tank formations and badly-placed infantry.

The Doom Scythe has a number of advantages- its maneuverability is excellent and the ability to lay multiple S10 AP1 hits without needing to roll against BS is very powerful. The (presumably) high angle of the model also allows it to bypass many forms of cover, mangifying the value of its AP1. The "backup" gun being as strong as the main gun on many tanks is nothing to sneeze at, either. However, balancing this is the fact that it's an expensive and fragile platform- it will rarely have cover due to being on the flyer base and its main gun is quite short-ranged, both major liabilities. How do we compensate for this? There are two main strategies.

The tougher of the two is using Imotekh- the Doom Scythe is practically perfect for such an army, as it can ignore Night Fight itself (the main gun doesn't target a specific unit) and is fast enough to start out reasonably distant ( > 24" ) from the bulk of the enemy's forces and then zip in to deliver a punishing strike. Random lightning strikes will also help bunch up enemy targets as they suffer Immobilize and Stunned results, allowing you more easy hits. Last but not least, it brings good shooting firepower to an army that is otherwise lacking for such tools, being that Imotekh himself goes a long way towards discouraging you to use shooting strategies.

A more conservative plan is simply to rely on Solar Pulses to do the same job, shutting down the enemy in the early turns while your Doom Scythes get some hits in and then conceding their likely destruction in the later turns of the game, when they are left exposed. Such a list probably also wants to invest in other fast-moving units (Night Scythes, Wraiths, Heavy Destroyers, etc) to keep itself together and to provide other targets to potentially draw away fire.

Doom Scythes, like several of the other HS units, are specialized tools and don't always fit into many Necron lists; though they are easier to use than the Doomsday Ark, Monolith, etc, most of the time (and especially in games below 1850 or so) you simply won't be able to afford to run them effectively, as you won't have enough targets for the enemy to shoot and they won't have enough for the Death Ray to really do its thing on.

Canoptek Spyder

Alongside the Annihilation Barge this will be your go-to unit for the Necron HS slot; Spyders are ultracheap MCs with a reasonable set of stats and some support abilities that can provide many different forms of utility to a list. WS/BS3 isn't great, but at least keeps you from hitting on 5s and S/T6 plus MC status make you a major melee threat to anything except dedicated assault units. W3 isn't great, but given that they only cost 50pts (110pts cheaper than a Carnifex, as a matter of point, with almost the same numbers) you really can't complain- and they come in squads with differentiable gear, no less.

Spyders always come with a Scarab Hive, which allows them to add one Scarab base to a unit within 6" each turn; if they roll a '1' on a die, they also lose a wound. This tends to be the focus of Spyders, along with their melee capacity- you run a squad along with some Scarabs to keep it from getting worn down too easily as well as providing another kind of assault threat to double-Jeopardy the enemy. However, they can also upgrade to gear that lets them fix tanks on a 4+ or negate psychic powers on the same, although the latter is extremely short-ranged and so won't be nearly as helpful as most other psychic defenses. They can also get a twin-linked S6 blast, but the cost and middling stats mean it won't be a very attractive option for much of anyone.

Spyders first and foremost duty in most lists is to act as a counterassault (or, occasionally, assault) unit, warding off potential enemies from getting too close. They are effective in this regard because while normal Necrons will generally fall to equivalent MEQ forces, even a single Spyder can walk over any squad that doesn't carry a Power Fist by simple virtue of being immune to their attacks. In this way they function much like a Dreadnought but come in at half or a third of the price, which is an excellent deal. Following a close second will be keeping Scarabs alive, as pretty much every list that includes one will want to consider bringing along some of the other as well.

Of course, there is some fierce competition from the similarly-efficient Annihilation Barge, but the decision of which and how many of each to take isn't easily something that can be summed up in an article like this- suffice to say that they each have merits and running a pair of Barges and a pair of Spyders will often-times be a solid option if you otherwise have no idea how to go.

Well, then, that covers all of the FoC slots and units in the codex. For the final article in the series we'll be talking a bit about different kinds of Necron lists and how they fit together and use the pieces available in the codex to create an effective whole. Due to my being away for the weekend at TSHFT it will likely be delayed a bit, but expect to see it up by Tues or Weds.

Email in: army for evaluation

2012-03-16T15:00:00.000+11:00

Warseer

"Hi Kirby,

I would like to know your opinion for my GK build based on Paladin death star and henchman troops. 1850 points were chosen because I'm thinking about participation on ETC tournament.
There is one open question: in DoW deployment I would like to place the Librarian and the Mystic squad and use the Summoning on Paladins unit in the turn one movement phase. The timing (arriving of reserves versus the start of librarian movement phase) is not very clear, so I'm waiting for the ETC clarification.

What do you thing about this army? What would you change?

Thanks for your time. And btw you do really great job!

Regards, Jindrich.

Army:

1850 Pts - Grey Knights Roster - PalHench

Total Roster Cost: 1850

HQ: Inquisitor Coteaz (1#, 100 pts)
1 Inquisitor Coteaz, 100 pts

HQ: Librarian (1#, 175 pts)
1 Librarian, 175 pts = (base cost 150 + Might of Titan 5 + Quicksilver 5 + Sanctuary 5 + The Shrouding 5 + The Summoning 5)

Elite: Paladin Squad (10#, 790 pts)
1 Paladin Squad, 20 pts + Psybolt Ammunition 20
1 Apothecary, 130 pts (halberd)
1 Paladin, 80 pts = (base cost 55 + Brotherhood Banner 25)
1 Paladin, 80 pts = (base cost 55 + Master-craft Ranged Weapon 5 + MC Psycannon 20) (hammer)
1 Paladin, 80 pts = (base cost 55 + Master-craft Ranged Weapon 5 + MC Psycannon 20) (halberd)
1 Paladin, 75 pts = (base cost 55 + Psycannon 20) (halberd)
1 Paladin, 95 pts = (base cost 55 + Psycannon 20 + Nemesis Warding Stave 20)
1 Paladin, 60 pts = (base cost 55 + Master-craft Nemesis Weapon(s) 5) (hammer)
1 Paladin, 60 pts = (base cost 55 + Master-craft Nemesis Weapon(s) 5) (halberd)
1 Paladin, 55 pts (halberd)
1 Paladin, 55 pts

Troops: Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband (7#, 104 pts)
1 Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband, 0 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 4 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 4 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 4 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 4 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 4 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 4 pts
1 Razorback, 80 pts = (base cost 45 + Twin-Linked Lascannon 35)

Troops: Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband (7#, 104 pts)
1 Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband, 0 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 4 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 4 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 4 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 4 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 4 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 4 pts
1 Razorback, 80 pts = (base cost 45 + Twin-Linked Lascannon 35)

Troops: Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband (7#, 107 pts)
1 Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband, 0 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 7 pts = (base cost 4 + Storm Bolter x1 3)
1 Warrior Acolyte, 4 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 4 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 4 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 4 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 4 pts
1 Razorback, 80 pts = (base cost 45) + Lascannon and TL Plasmagun 35

Troops: Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband (7#, 127 pts)
1 Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband, 0 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 14 pts = (base cost 4 + Meltagun x1 10)
1 Warrior Acolyte, 14 pts = (base cost 4 + Meltagun x1 10)
1 Warrior Acolyte, 5 pts = (base cost 4 + Bolter x1 1)
1 Warrior Acolyte, 5 pts = (base cost 4 + Bolter x1 1)
1 Warrior Acolyte, 5 pts = (base cost 4 + Bolter x1 1)
1 Warrior Acolyte, 4 pts
1 Razorback, 80 pts = (base cost 45) + Lascannon and TL Plasmagun 35

Troops: Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband (7#, 102 pts)
1 Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband, 0 pts
1 Mystic, 10 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 5 pts = (base cost 4 + Bolter x1 1)
1 Warrior Acolyte, 4 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 4 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 14 pts = (base cost 4 + Meltagun x1 10)
1 Warrior Acolyte, 14 pts = (base cost 4 + Meltagun x1 10)
1 Razorback, 51 pts = (base cost 45 + Psyflame Ammunition 5 + Searchlight 1)

Troops: Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband (7#, 106 pts)
1 Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband, 0 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 14 pts = (base cost 4 + Flamer x1 10)
1 Warrior Acolyte, 5 pts = (base cost 4 + Bolter x1 1)
1 Warrior Acolyte, 4 pts
1 Warrior Acolyte, 14 pts = (base cost 4 + Meltagun x1 10)
1 Warrior Acolyte, 14 pts = (base cost 4 + Meltagun x1 10)
1 Warrior Acolyte, 4 pts
1 Razorback, 51 pts = (base cost 45 + Psyflame Ammunition 5 + Searchlight 1)

Heavy Support: Dreadnought (1#, 135 pts)
1 Dreadnought, 135 pts = (base cost 115 + Psybolt Ammunition 5 + Twin-Linked Autocannon 10 + Twin-Linked Autocannon 5)

---------------------------------------------------------------
Jindřich Čadík"

In relation to the Paladins being summoned on Turn 1 - all units move onto the board before your other units can move. The start of the Librarian's movement phase therefore is when you start to move him/his unit.

In regards to the list - concept looks alright though I'm never a huge fan of deathstars. With the Acolytes I think you really have two choices - either keep them all dirt cheap (6x bodies in Razorback) or make them larger and give them things like boltguns + stormbolters and have them sit outside and shoot at your opponent with 3+ cover. They then give you a lot of ranged firepower and a lot of bodies. Add in LasPlas Razorbacks for each squad and you also have some sturdy vehicles with good firepower which any weakened units can jump into for protection. Back this up with a couple Psyfledreads, Coteaz and Paladins and I think you'll be okay.

This will take some point trimming though and I think the best way for this to happen is from the Paladins as they are already really expensive. Dumping lots of MC + weapon upgrades into them is nice to make each model unique but when you're spending nearly 800 points on them? Not so much. They are already super durable so I'd be looking to take them down to around 660-700 points (four psycannons plus lots of MCs). The Apoth is expensive and you want your opponent to be shooting at the Paladins rather than your scoring Acolytes.

Go from there with your Acolytes + RBacks + Dreads providing fire support whilst the Paladins either play area denial midfield or aggressively to try and dictate your enemy's movements.

The Sky Isn't Falling! - new Tervigons (again)

2012-03-16T07:00:00.000+11:00

Remember that post I did on the new Tervigon? I may have over-reacted a little bit *cheeky grin* and I certainly think the message I had set out to write got lost somewhere in my mind. No I still cannot find it, crazy maze of a place it is. For this, you have my apologies.

So, I had the joy of being able to handle a full assembled and beautifully half-painted Tervigon the past week. Being the crazy man I am, I rush to get a tape measure and some other Tyranid models rather than admire the paint work... Hopefully I'll get to see it again in its final glory but to the point and some math!

The Tervigon is 4.5" tall on a base, 4" if we exclude the fume pipe thingies on the top. A Hive Guard is just over 2" tall. Assuming we don't include the spines (which are not part of the main body and as many people indicated in the comments from the previous post, this is outlined in the rulebook), your stock standard Tyranid wall of Termagants (or little gribblies), Hive Guard (or medium gribblies) and Tervigons (or big beasties) still works to give layered cover assuming Termagants manufacture their own somehow (not hard). Not sure about the Tyrannofexes though as without the egg sac, less of the model's actual mass is actually below that 2" mark though it's still technically 50% in absolute terms.

In terms of converted models, I've found your average converted Tervigon seems to be around 3.2-4" tall including the spines so in terms of actual height size compared to the new model isn't too different when the excess spines are excluded. Given that the new model is still getting cover from anything over 2" tall (i.e. Hive Guard), this shouldn't be much of an issue as long as you based your Tervigon off something at least as large as a plastic Carnifex. A good suggestion repeated in the comments as well was to simply buff up the base the model is standing on an extra inch or so and make sure you impress upon your opponent it counts as part of the model. Considering some Tervigons (mine included) were put on normal MC bases, attaching one of the extra large oval bases to the bottom of such a base and building them up to the old base is likely going to be a pretty easy way of getting that extra half inch of height.

So game-wise impact with the new model... there really is none. Venomthropes aren't the must have choice now to ensure cover though they are still an excellent buy if you can withstand not having three squads of Hive Guard and more often than not, if you were getting cover with your converted Tervigons you'll still be getting them with the new models, just a little bit less so from terrain if you were using actual model height.

I'll probably end up getting a couple of the kits to replace my Tyrannofexes (turning them back into Dakkafexes or the like) since they are so small and continuously pointing out they are actually yay (4") tall is tedious ^^. Not a huge fan of the models but a sight better than mine I think :P. I'll try and get some pictures of the painted Tervigon from the local guy as well - it was pretty cool and if he has any Hive Guard, etc., we'll get some comparison pics posted up.

Necron Codex Review Part 8: Fast Attack

2012-03-15T23:00:00.003+11:00

If Elites are the least useful slot in the Necron armory, Fast Attack is perhaps the most misunderstood. For many players, FA just means spamming Wraiths or Scarabs- and to be sure, these are both good units- but the truth is almost every choice in the FA slot is not simply viable, but actually very useful. However, which ones you want and why will be greatly influenced by the other choices in the army- a common theme for Necrons, as they lack the sheer, derp-obvious power of some other codices.

Canoptek Wraiths

Wraiths made a HUGE leap in effectiveness from the old book- like almost everything, though for some reason a lot of people were convinced that Wraiths were good before. (Protip: they weren't. S6 Marines on Bikes? For a ridiculous number of points? Sorry, no.) However, Wraiths now bring a good combination of melee threat and defense to the army and can have excellent synergy with many other choices in a list, and the only thing they really lost was WBB (and some thirty points off their cost.)

With S6, W2, A3, and a 3++, Wraiths come out of the gates looking pretty scary to most things; sure, they only have I2, but jump infantry movement, ignoring terrain completely, and Rending all combine to make that almost a non-issue. Further pushing the envelope are their options- you can wound-differentiate the squad by adding Wraithcoils, which oh yeah incidentally make sure that you're attacking first as well, something of a miracle for Necron units. They can also add a shoddy little pistol to their equipment, but frankly it doesn't impress, so maybe take one to break up the wounds a bit more and that's it. The Beamer is total garbage and should always be ignored. Oh and on top of everything else they're incidentally Fearless, preventing your low Init from becoming a major liability.

Wraiths can serve a couple different purposes in an army, one of which being magnifying other assault units' potential- when Lychguard or Spyders are swinging before the enemy, they are worlds more dangerous. They can also serve as a tarpit unit to hold up enemy melee threats- with their 3++ they can hold off almost anything except Terminators for a good long time and will be able to inflict non-ignorable casualties in return. They can partially fill a counter-assault role, but for all their advantages they simply aren't a devastating enough threat to really do that job all by themselves, so you are almost certainly going to need something else to help them, pushing them back into job #1, above.

Many players will try to push a "Wraithwing" army that fields large numbers of them and uses them in an offensive manner, aggressively assaulting the enemy's position; don't do this. As already stated, Wraiths are NOT a top-class assault unit- they will be mediocre stuff like Tactical Marines and can even do some damage to tougher units, depending on their setup, but they aren't really able to handle a lot of the potential threats out there- and moreover they're expensive, coming in at near-Terminator prices. If you're fielding 15+ of them, you're dropping a LOT of points, which will leave you very vulnerable elsewhere- and once those Missiles, Lascannons, and Meltaguns start raining down on them, they will collapse fairly quickly. Necrons are NOT an assault army and trying to make them into one will, more often than not, result in failure. It's fine to cover your weaknesses, but it's just as important to play to your strengths.

Wraiths are more durable than Scarabs in melee, but less so against shooting; they're more effective against infantry/etc, but less so on vehicles than their counterpart. As a rule they'll require a larger investment than Scarabs, but will be more able to handle different targets and get to where you need them (as Jump Infantry and ignoring terrain are better than Beasts for getting about.)

Canoptek Scarabs

Guess what vocabulary word Mr. Ward had to use in the codex this time around? Scarabs are one of the hot new celebrities of the new book, and with good reason- their Entropic Strike is absolutely devastating to slow-moving vehicles and they are quite resilient as well as relatively cheap. However, they have also been the victims of a lot of hype, touting them as a must-have for armies or the end of mechanized lists. Neither of these things are true.

Scarabs bring three Fearless wounds and four Entropic attacks to the party, along with WS2, S/T3, and the rest of the standard Necron statline. Like the other Canoptek units, they do not have Resurrection Protocols. This means a couple important things: being Swarms, they will usually have a 3+ cover save, making them extremely difficult to remove with many kinds of firepower. However, they do NOT have Eternal Warrior, so S6+ shots that go through will take out significant swathes of the unit; blasts and templates can do the same, with the latter being particularly deadly because they ignore cover. (Scarabs fear nothing more than an Incinerator or Inferno Cannon, which kill two bases for every successful wound.) Their generally weak combat stats also mean they are somewhat middling at killing standard Marine targets- they can drown them in attacks/bodies, but will likely take a fair number of casualties in return, since the enemy is striking first and they must contend with No Retreat. However, this doesn't stop them from being an excellent tarpit when one is needed- indeed, with Beast status they have the potential to assault a lot of backfield targets rather quickly.

Scarabs will most commonly be brought to a list to deal with vehicles, though, since that is where they excel. Any list that expects to be Immobilizing or Stunning a lot of vehicles- including anything with extensive Tesla, Tremorstaves, Voltaic Staves, etc, has good reason to want some Scarabs, as they can quickly pounce on such units (or anything that chooses not to move) and wreak terrible havoc on them. Expect to be largely wiped out in return following such an assault, however- at short range, often with no cover and in the teeth of the enemy's guns, your Scarabs will die in droves. For this reason, Scarabs are often a suicide unit, but this isn't all bad- even just having a small contingent of Scarabs (4-6) in an army can present a very real threat to the enemy that will keep their parking lot moving and reduce their firepower, all for a pretty reasonable price.

It is also worth mentioning the "Scarab Farm" here- that is, multiple Spyders (or units of Spyders) pouring reinforcements into squads with the intent to use them aggressively to tie up the enemy. In the general sense this is fine; they're both good units and the synergy between them is excellent. However, as a grand strategy- that is 3x3 Spyders and a large number of Scarabs the plan is very vulnerable, denying you as it does access to many other units and committing you to an all-or-nothing assault.

Tomb Blades

Of all the new units these have gotten perhaps the least attention, rules-wise, and I suppose that's not surprising; I admit I was skeptical of them myself when the book first came out, but they've since grown on me a lot. To start off, one must remember to look at them the right way- they're cheaper than a Space Marine bike and come with a MUCH better gun and a little worse save (but RP can make up for that.) They also can come in units of one, which is important, as we'll see in a moment. Swapping for Gauss is probably not a good plan- S5 will still glance most transports and the free hits from Tesla outweigh the possibility of getting into Rapid Fire range, which you will almost never want to do. (Remember, though, jetbikes are Relentless.) The Particle Beamer, on the other hand, can be a pretty good choice, and we'll look at it some more in a moment here. Nebuloscopes are silly; Shield Vanes are inferior; Shadowlooms can be useful, but do keep in mind that they are a major price bump.

So what's a Blade good for? Well, one option is if you have a free FA slot and some points to spare, just suit one up with a Particle Beamer (and Shadowloom, if you're feeling fancy) and have it run around your side of the field annoying things. S6 isn't very good against transports, but the moment you start disembarking units, that small blast that wounds on 2s is gonna be annoying, and it can pepper fire support units (Long Fangs, etc) in the interim as well. In KP missions you can simply jet them around whenever there's any danger and in any other mission they're enough of a threat to be useful but too small to really direct firepower at, which is a nice place to be sitting. Squads of Tomb Blades carrying simple Tesla can also make a good harassment unit- they get you a surprising number of S5 hits on the move and can contest and such late game.

Tomb Blades are a little more narrow than Wraiths or Scarabs, but they also strengthen your primary strategy (shooting) rather than investing into defense against a weaker one (melee.) For those looking to diversify their threats, they can be an excellent, mobile choice.

Destroyers

Destroyers, not particularly good before (and again, people will try and convince you otherwise, but it's best not to listen to them), unfortunately got hit pretty hard with the nerf bat. They lost the ability to turbo-boost, which is largely inconsequential, but their gun also lost 12" of range, a strength, and a shot, all of which are very painful for them. As it stands, regular Destroyers just don't have much of any use at all in the codex.

Heavy Destroyers, their cousins, on the other hand, are not nearly as bad off as many think. You are limited to three per squad, but really that is not going to be much of an issue- like Tomb Blades, they will often be a "gap-filling" choice anyways. They remained essentially the same, gaining Preferred Enemy (but should never be in melee) and otherwise being pretty identical. This means they are reasonably accurate with a long-range gun with high strength- something unusual in the Necron army. T5 and 3+ also make them no pushovers to bring down, either, especially at the ranges they operate at; combined, you have a somewhat tough and mobile anti-tank shooting platform, an interesting counterpart to the infantry-killing of Tomb Blades.

Heavy Destroyers, as I said, will usually be taken to fill the last points in a list, although their cost means "last points" may be a bit of a misnomer. At 60pts per body they certainly aren't cheap, but by keeping them solo you can also make them a very poor target for the enemy's firepower- only a few guns will have the range to reach them, and those that do will often struggle to get past T5, 3+ armor, and 4+ cover combined. And if they do? Well, better aimed at your Heavy Destroyers than your other infantry squads, transports, etc- every Lascannon shot that goes to them isn't going elsewhere. This becomes especially valuable in Necron MSU lists that can field in excess of fifteen "major" targets with relative ease, all of them capable of projecting significant firepower. Seen in this light Heavy Destroyers may not be an auto-pick, but they serve their purpose well enough and shouldn't be dismissed as merely worthless.

Email in: Necrons Necrons Necrons

2012-03-15T15:00:00.002+11:00

Warseer

"Hi Kirby

I visit every week and enjoy catching up with the articles. I find the comments on the articles informative too. You reviewed my foot crons list last year. I really enjoyed playing them with mixed results (W2 L1 D2). I plan to use some of the presents I received over the holiday season in the next tournament. So balancing mech into the list now.

Overlord in barge with war scythe
Triarch stalker TL heavy gauss
An. Barge
An. Barge
Ghost Arc with 5 warriors
3 Boomteks, 1 with solar pulse. Pulsetek (with warriors)
1 Veiltek (with one of the immortal squads)
8 Tesla Immortals
8 Tesla Immortals
8 Tesla Immortals
5 Wraiths 2 coils 1caster
5 Scarabs
5 Scarabs
2 Spyders
1750 Pts

Kirby Check list (haha WWKD, What Would Kirby Do)
AT - check *
AI - check
Last turn contesting - check
Scoring units - 4 (OK)
Resilience OK

* Anti tank relying almost exclusively on close combat and sweeping attacks from surf lord. I have read your article and general smooths riposte for the pros and cons of CC AT. I do get the occasional wrecked vehicle where I managed to surround it causing the telefrag deaths to the occupants. Occasionally I have managed to blocked just the exits forcing emergency disembark which is not as good but the scarabs can target something else and tend to live for another assault.

AI improved with the stalker targeting aray twin linking the immortals and maybe lance teks toward 2+ armour from the back. Weird to have it on anti infantry rather than anti tank but it works with the extra range of the heavy gauss. Spyders adding assault range for the scarabs and heck they are cheap MC and slot into offence / defence well depending on how things are going.

Surfing lord, wraiths and scarabs can keep up with each other (as long as scarabs can assault). The barges on light vehicle suppression first maybe getting lucky and helping the CC AT hits. If they are still around they hunt infantry. The core of the list, the immortals, marching forward shooting up what ever the stalker lights up. Occasionally veiling around to keep out of combat or claim an objective.

In kill point games I would play the two other boomtek's in the immortal squads. In other missions they will be in a separate unit just the two of them in cover. If they get targeted they go down quick but one usally pops back up thanks to necron resilience.

Not sure what the ghost arc will be doing but I have the model so it went into the list. I like the fact it is difficult to budge and protects my warriors. So sitting on objectives? It would be cool to play aggressively but I have not tried it yet. It is a long model and can block really well.

Thanks for the input

Rob

You may not want to drop this bit?
Comp has some rules about duplicates I have attached below. They like to keep it fluffy. The tourney is Vanquish in Bristol in the UK. No more places left but they would love the mention. Also they have banded Mephiston as they say he is too good. I have never played against him to comment. He can't be can he?

Best Regards,

Rob Edmunds"

Rob, the list looks pretty solid. The only thing I might consider would be dropping a few of the Immortals (or the Spyders completely) for a couple of Night Scythes for some added mobility (no need for Veiltek here then) and firepower. Also, drop the caster from the Wraiths and give a Spyder a gloom prism if you keep them - some anti-psychic defense never goes amiss.

That said, for the most part the list is quite solid though you're lacking a little bit in armor saturation - 5 AV13 vehicles is solid but not fantastic. Within the comped environment though...shouldn't be too bad and you've met all their silly little tick points.

In regards to anti-tank - I think you'll be okay. You have a lot of suppression fire from the guass, tesla and then the more solid anti-tank in Scarabs, Bargelord, Stalker and Lanceteks. It is a bit light with only three lanceteks but its not exactly lacking.

In relation to the lone Ghost Ark - it can backfield objective sit quite nicely - AV13/14 is hard to break at range consistently though once it does break, the Warriors are kind of left on their own. Consider dropping the veiltek for a Harptek to place with the Warriors for some extra entropic strike pewpew at range though if you're not taking Night Scythes you've lost some mobility. If you move this up to 2000 points taking a 2nd Ghost Ark with some Warriors + Cryptek would be an excellent idea with some tweaking.

Making Fiona Work

2012-03-15T07:00:00.000+11:00

Greetings ladies and gentleman, it's Whitestar333 again fr- okay you get the idea. In continuing with my trend of taking the less popular warcasters and warlocks and making them competitive, today I bring you a mercenary privateer warcaster that you probably rarely see on the table (competitively or otherwise): Fiona the Black. I really like Fiona's artwork, fluff, and design as a pirate. She blurs the line a bit between the mercenary privateers and the undead Cryxian pirates as she worships Thamar - the goddess of ambition. She has a lot of tools at her disposal but it's challenging to figure out what her "win condition" is, and her theme list is honestly pretty bad, so it's difficult to find an appropriate niche for this fine lady. So, I figure that she's a great warcaster to look at in-depth to see if we can figure her out and make her work. Let's take a look at what Fiona the Black has at her disposal for spells and then we'll take a look at her feat and abilities.

Let's start with Fiona's feat, as it's really simple and very effective at what it does: denial. Very simply, for one round, enemy models roll one less attack and damage die while within Fiona's control area (14"). This is a pretty useful feat but mostly to protect your own models from melee attacks. Since the current meta favors melee much more heavily over ranged, this shouldn't be too much of a problem. Also note that this can be used offensively to potentially allow your models to move out of melee without suffering too much from a free strike (depending on the models, of course). Overall it's straight-forward and equally effective against Warmachine and Hordes factions - really helpful in a tournament setting.

Her spell list is also pretty utilitarian with a combination of support/denial and offensive. For her support suite of spells she has the upkeep spell Roth's Mercy which is like self-sacrifice but better since you can just straight-up choose the model that is destroyed. Since this triggers off of a model being 'disabled', it means that tough models can make their roll before you choose the casualty - VERY handy! It doesn't seem like a great spell at first, but if you've played against Menoth Exemplar Errants, you'll know how annoying this spell can be! Telgesh Mark is another solid support spell, simply turning a model into an arc node. Simple, cheap, and upkeepable. You'll probably want to cast this on a heavy warjack but something quick and zippy can always work too. This is a great spell because you can choose the arc node and your opponent can't just focus on taking them out.

Her best support spell, in my opinion, is Nonokrion Brand, however. This upkeep allows the affected model/unit to ignore intervening models when making attacks (whoa!) and they gain magical weapons. This spell is pretty amazing and the fact that it only costs 2 focus is laughable. We'll focus on why this spell is so great when we look at a list but the fact that it grants magical weapons is pretty solid against incorporeal solos or models.

For her straight offensive spells she has Soulfire and Influence - both of which are very useful against lots of infantry models. She finally has Affliction which is an offensive upkeep debuff. It's a bit expensive and situational but useful against high-ARM models or models that are under a defensive feat (pStryker, eBaldur, pSkarre, Ossyan, Ashlynn, etc.) that makes it difficult to get through their ARM.

Fiona, as you can see, is pretty heavy on the spell-slinging so we'll need to be careful which spells we use so that we can make sure that everything gets thrown out there. She has a couple abilities that are worth mentioning out side of those spells, however. First, she can make any Sea Dog unit (note: not just Sea Dog Crew) into cultists - they become fearless and she can gain an extra focus if within 1" of one of them during her control phase. The other significant ability she has is Whiplash, which means that if a magic attack misses against her, it becomes centered on the model that attacked her and automatically hits them instead. This is pretty great on a DEF 16 model but note that this affects magic attacks, so that means spells and attacks with magical weapons - pretty significant to remember against factions like Menoth or Circle which tend to have lots of magical weapons. She also has some offensive benefits on her weapon, but at only MAT 6 and P+S 11, she's not one that you want in melee unless you have no choice.

The Highborn Covenant will allow her to take these guys!

Like I said, her theme list is generally regarded as being pretty bad, although I must admit, being an upkeep-heavy warcaster, having all of them out on first turn is pretty solid. It severely limits her options though, and since she's more of a support/denial/toolbox warcaster, she needs her army to do the heavy lifting for her, and the theme list is far too limiting. For those of you who haven't used a mercenary warcaster before, what you need to know that is different about these lists is that you need to choose to play either a theme force list or choose from one of the Mercenary Contracts, of which there are four: Four Star Syndicate, Highborn Covenant, Talion Charter, and Searforge Commission. Since Fiona is neither Pinnheas Shae nor a rhulic warcaster, she has to choose from her theme force, Four Star Syndicate, or Highborn Covenant. The Four Star is the least limiting as it allows one to take any mercenary models that will work for Cryx and Khador (including allies like the Kayazy), plus Rhupert and Sam and the Devil Dogs. The Highborn Covenant allows you to take models that will work for Cygnar (including allies like morrowan models, but they can't work with Fiona due to her animosity). Taking a Highborn Covenant list also provides some extra advantages: 1) all solos gain advance deployment and 2) you can include one Gun Mage or Long Gunner unit (including attachments!) and they count as friendly Mercenary models.

In Fiona's case, I think she's better off with Highborn Covenant for a couple of reasons. 1) While Kayazy assassins under her feat are hilarious, they still can suffer greatly against blast damage weapons or many opponents are prepared to deal with high-DEF models in other ways (Stormsmiths, covering fire, continuous effects, knock-down, etc.). Instead I think that having a large unit of Long Gunners can be quite the boon for Fiona with Nonokrion Brand allowing them to be able to shoot past intervening models and shoot directly at support solos or the opposing warcaster/warlock. Alternatively, you could also try using a unit of Gun Mages with a marshalled warjack for some fun. So what did I finally decide upon?

Highborn Covenant (35 points)
Fiona the Black (+6)
- Freebooter (6)
- Mariner (8)
- Sylys Wyshnalyrr (2)
Long Gunners (full, 10)
- Officer and Standard (2)
Press Gangers (full, 6)
Doc Killingsworth (2)
Dirty Meg (2)
- Buccaneer (3)

There are many ways to change up this list and try some different options, but let's look at what this particular list that I made does well. First, you should note that the Press Gangers have advance deploy, so they will be starting pretty far upfield, and thanks to the Highborn Covenant contract, Doc Killingsworth, Sylys, and Dirty Meg all get to advance deploy and get into better positions to support your force.

These guys will be a solid tarpit for Fiona

So what's our "win condition" with this list? Well remember that Fiona's feat will effectively buy us some extra time to clear out some infantry and Press Gangers will be the perfect tarpit with 4+ tough when near Doc, they'll be annoyingly difficult to displace with Roth's Mercy on them, and they're fearless because they'll be Fiona's cultists (Note that you'll want to keep one model back enough so that Fiona can get that extra focus every turn!). Doc will be very handy too for healing any damage that Fiona will likely take from blast damage. Why would she be taking blast damage?

Fiona has a Mariner instead of a Mule for a couple of reasons. The first is that a Mariner has a consistently long range and will be a great target for Nonokrion Brand, capable of firing some high-powered shots at a much longer range into your opponent's backfield. The second reason is that the Mariner has lash - an amazing ability that keeps models in B2B from being knocked down - insanely important for a DEF 16 warcaster like Fiona. She will love being in B2B with the mariner for lash and also for loading his gun. Unfortunately, this will also mean that your enemy will probably just shoot the Mariner with an AOE or two to tag her with blast damage, hence Doc being quite useful in healing her.

It looks like he's using his staff as an
air guitar...

The relatively new release of Sylys Wyshnalyrr is a boon for Fiona as well - allowing her to upkeep one of her numerous upkeeps for free to save her some focus, as well as increasing her accuracy and damage of Soulfire, should she want to use it to use it to kill a solo or hit a warcaster/warlock. Dirty Meg is also a great addition because she has the best drive ability in the game, especially when paired with a buccaneer who can also make his assault attack with his net when he gets the free charge from her, knocking down a target. With Fiona's Freebooter and the Meg+Buccaneer combo, you can wreck most heavies in one turn! Meg can also repair warjacks (very important) and either the Freebooter or Buccaneer can serve as a great arc node for Fiona too.

Lastly, you'll notice a very large unit of Long Gunners - a benefit from taking the Highborn Covenant contract. These guys will be instrumental to your victory with Fiona and you will need to cycle Nonokrion Brand between the Long Gunner Officer and the Mariner to be most effective. Since the entire unit has combined ranged attack and the spell lets him ignore intervening models, with the aiming bonus the officer can make two ranged attacks at RAT of irrelevant and a POW of OMGWTFBBQ (I mean 21). Yikes! In case you're worried about your enemy coming too close too soon, you still can throw down covering fire to protect a flank and buy yourself some time, but Fiona's feat also can help you with that by keeping those annoying Press Gangers alive while you shoot the enemy in the face repeatedly.

Like I said at the beginning, Fiona supports her army and denies her enemy the satisfaction of doing what they want to do, but the difficulty lies in the fact that there are so many options for her to consider. For example, she could also do well with a unit of Gun Mages with their UA to 'jack marshal the mariner, or she could replace long gunners for steelhead riflemen and take the Four Star contract to take Kayazy (especially annoying during her feat turn). Similarly, she would do well with Aiyanna and Holt, Ragman, and Gorman di Wulfe. The trick with Fiona is considering what models you have in your collection (or want to have) and considering what models you need in another list (in the case of a multi-list tournament). I think Fiona can be quite potent but she requires more work to wrap your head around but can be more satisfying since she can work with your particular playstyle/collection and can be quite flexible in the hands of an experienced player. More importantly, she's fun, deep, rarely-seen, and is a great 'take-all-comers' warcaster that everyone should consider instead of just writing her off.

Community Spotlight:: Studio Colrouphobia

2012-03-14T23:00:00.001+11:00

Making the missions packet for Feast of Blades is a much bigger process than you would think, mostly because I'm a perfectionist for this kind of stuff, and I want to make something that's a lot MORE than just a few throwaway scenarios.

To that end, I'm working on making a mission book that all our tournament players will receive. Not only will this book have the Feast of Blades missions we're using at the event, it will also have every mission we've ever used, plus extras.

Needless to say, I want it to look good. I want it to be something that's worth having. The goal, ultimately, is to have people go home and consider their mission packet swag, not just more paper to recycle.
So how do you make something impressive and worth having? Simple, art!

The imagery of 40k is what got me into the game, and I know I'm not the only one. I've met more than a few players who picked up the game entirely off of what they saw in the first Dawn of War's intro cutscene. The artwork of 40k is the jaw-dropping spectacle that gets most of us our start.

The piece your looking at up there is the packet cover I commissioned for Feast of Blades. I couldn't be happier with the results. It's the work of Studio Colro uphobia. (Link to blog) You can check out the artist's deviantART gallery here.

Some other pieces, some you might recognize:

The artists name is David Sondered, and he takes commissions for a reasonable fee. Check his stuff out!

Email in: 1500 vanilla marines wall-style!

2012-03-14T15:00:00.002+11:00

"Kirby (or distinguished authors),

Had a list I'd value your input on. I'm trying to rope my younger brother into 40k, as he enjoys models, painting models, and I would love more opponents. To that end, I wanted to land him a list with a decent number of defensive/offensive options as a birthday and/or Christmas present. Here's the list as its currently conceived:

librarian
3x10 tactical marines: plasma/missile
x3 rhinos
x2 dreads: x2 tlac
assault termies: th/ss
x2 landspeeders: mm/hf
x2 preds: ac/hb
total: 1500

Tactics-wise, i'm thinking shield-wall is what I'm aiming for: blast the speeders up 24", then move the rhinos/preds up, using smoke from a couple to cover the rest. The termies move/run behind, while the dreads park in corners or other decent areas and provide supporting fire. turn two, rhinos move up and turn sideways, form a wall to drop marines behind, while dakka preds take up shooting positions. Then shoot stuff as it advances, while termies provide assault deterrent until later-game. Additionally, all the stuff on this list is fairly inexpensive to get ahold of second-hand other than the terminators. What are you're thoughts? I realize that vanilla marines can't hold a candle to newer codexes in terms of raw smashy-power, but they are pretty resilient when it comes to holding the midfield and shooting up anything that gets close. Anyhow, i've got a good six months to tweak the list, so hopefully it'll be wicked-awesome by then!

Thanks!
~shas'el mike
Michael
The chickens are restless...."

For 1500, the list is fine though I'd rather melta/Missile or flamer/MM on the tacticals in Rhinos. Melta/missile is very capable of combat squadding whilst flamer/MM is great in midfield. Plasma/Missile loses you some melta and melta is great :P.

Otherwise, use the Terminators aggressively. Use deep-strike or gate (and maybe teleport homers?) to push them up the field and pressure the opponent/protect your juicy bits, don't run them as a second wave.

It's a nice list to move up to 1750 and 2000 with as well - up the Terminators to full and then start adding more Speeders + Preds and potentiall tacs in RBacks, etc.

Warmachine/Hordes Glossary

2012-03-14T07:00:00.000+11:00

Greetings again ladies and gentlemen, it's Whitestar333 from Steam-Powered Gamer here to bring you another fine article, although this time I'm switching gears from our usual list building article and instead I'll share some of the terminology and acronyms used in Warmachine/Hordes. Some of you might be new to the game and seeking the advice of your peers and mentors but face some confusion when exploring on the world wide web for Warmachine or Hordes advice. I decided to compile a list for you all with a list of some of the terminology and acronyms that you might encounter in your learning about the game. I will be honest, I try to update this list constantly on my blog but I figured that since it seems a lot of visitors to 3++ are developing an interest in Warmachine/Hordes, this would be helpful for you all to see.

I have tried to organize this fairly well so that you can quickly find what you're looking for by category and then in alphabetical order. Like I said, I am constantly trying to keep the list updated but you might notice that there are more terms for the factions with which I am most familiar, so if you know of something I don't have on the list, feel free to contribute it! You will also note that some of the entries are a little tongue-in-cheek, so don't be too offended if there's a remark about how "bad" a choice is - you all should know by now that I am an advocate of making the underdogs work! Without further ado, enjoy the Warmachine/Hordes Glossary!

Warcasters
Abby - Abyslonia, Terror of Everblight.
Argi - Argus, pl. Never seen. Opposite of auto-include.
Barney - Bloody Barnabus. He loves you, you love him.
BnB - Bethayne and Belphagor.
Connie - Constance Blaze.
Denny - Deneghra. Can be p or e.
Doomy - Hoarluk Doomshaper. Can be p or e.
Fatty - Dominar Rasheth. Could also be a Bloat Thrall, in the context of Cryx.
Dr. Frankenpig - Dr. Arkadius
Gaspy - Lich Lord Asphixious. Can be p or e.
Gunny - Captain Gunnbjorn.
Harby - Harbinger of Menoth.
Hexy - Lord Hexeris. Variation: Sexy Hexy and Sexeris.
Chicken legs - Vice Scrutator Vindictus. Specifically refers to the thin legs on the model.
Mechano-ham - Kommander Harkevich, the Iron Wolf. Specifically refers to the weapon carried by Harkevich, and it's similar shape to a chunk of ham.
p, e/1, 2 - Prime/primal, epic versions of a warcaster/warlock (i.e. pNemo vs. eNemo, or Nemo1 vs. Nemo2). The 1,2 notation has become more popular with the future addition of "legendary" warcasters/warlocks.
Thaggy - Thagarosh. Can be p or e.
TOM - Testament of Menoth.
Tree - Cassius the Oathkeeper and Wurmwood, Tree of Fate. Refers specifically to Wurmwood. This may be adopted in the future to refer to Gallows Groves.

Warjacks/Warbeasts/Battle Engines
Angel - Angelius. Typically pluralized.
BBack/Bbtitan - Bronzeback Titan.
[Bone] Chicken - Cryx light warjack type, typically refers to any of the following: Deathripper, Defiler, Nightwretch, Ripjaw, and occasionally the Scavenger.
Carnie - Carnivean.
Coach - Titan Gladiator. Specifically refers to usage with Molik Karn, to increased his threat range.
Cricket - Arcantrik Force Generator.Disco Ball - Storm Strider.
EB/EBDT - Earthborn Dire Troll.
Gunbunny - Grundback Gunner or Blaster.
Molik Karn - Typically mistaken for a character warbeast, he is actually a Hordes faction, typically seen with a red and gold color scheme. Example: "What are you playing today, Steve?" "Molik Karn."
Webcam - Celestial Fulcrum.

Units/Attachments/Solos
AG - Ancestral Guardian.
ATGM - Arcane Tempest Gun Mages.
B13 - The Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team.
BLT - Bane Lord Tartarus. See also: Tartarsauce
BFS - Black Frost Shard.
Blood Pot - Spawning Vessel.
[The] Book - The Covenant of Menoth.
Darragh Wrathe - (pronunciation varies greatly)
Digmies - Pyg Burrowers.
Fatty - Bloat Thrall. Also: Dominar Rasheth, in the context of Skorne.
Harm - Typically refers specifically to the spell Kiss of Lyliss, which causes the target to take more damage from attacks, seen on Lady Aiyanna and Blackfrost Shard.
IFP - Khador Iron Fang Pikemen.
Junior (Jr.) - Cygnar Journeyman Warcaster.
KEE - Knights Exemplar Errants.
Kermit/Kremit - Croak Hunter. It's not easy being green.
Kovnik Joe - Kovnik Josef Grigorovich. See also: WGDS.
KSB - Trollbloods Kriel Stone Bearer
LoF/LotF - Circle Orboros Lord of the Feast
Moneybags - Lord Rockbottom.
Moses - Trollkin Runebearer. Refers specifically to his resemblance to the Biblical character from the Old Testament, known for his affinity for stone tablets and yelling (?).
MOW - Khador Man-o-War troopers. Can either been Demolition Corps, Shocktroopers, or Bombardiers.
PGBH/M - Pain Giver Beast Handlers. Sometimes seen as PGBM or "Pain Giver Beast Masters".
Shrimp - Druid Stoneward and Woldstalkers. Refers specifically to the Woldstalkers, which resemble shrimp. Possibly also "prawns" in Australia or New Zealand.
SoB - Sons of Bragg.
SSC - Stone Scribe Chronicler
The Stone - Krielstone Bearer and Stone Scribes.
Stormnoun - Refers to the set of Cygnar storm knight infantry, including Stormblades, Stormguard, and/or Storm Lances.
Tartarsauce - Bane Lord Tartarus. Believed to be an auto-include for Cryx players.
TFG - Protectorate of Menoth Temple Flameguard.
WGDS - Winter Guard Death Star. Typically a full unit of Winter Guard Infantry with Kovnik Josef Grigorovich nearby. Believed to be an auto-include for Khador.
Wishnailer - Sylys Wyshnylyrr. Often mocked for having the most "y"s of any model/unit.
WoO - Wolves of Orboros.

Misc.
Auto-include - A model/unit that is believed to be necessary for every list.
FA - Field Allowance.
FF - Friendly faction.
Pillow-fisted - A weak hitter in melee. More common among warbeasts, typically a heavy with P+S 14 or less.
Pop-n-Drop - A win condition that involves "popping" a feat (typically with pKreoss), followed by killing - "dropping" - the enemy warcaster.
SR, SR2012 - Steamroller tournament rules for a given year. Example: "SR2011 rules were largely successful, but come January 2012, the SR2012 rules were released with new changes."
Skornergy - A term coined in Mk. I where a perceived synergistic effect is achieved after its desired impact has already resolved. This was most common in the Skorne faction in Hordes Mk I.
UA - Unit Attachment.
WA - Weapon Attachment.

Spells/Animi
AS - Arcane Shield (Various Cygnar, Jr.).
BDtH - Batten Down the Hatches (Lord Carver, Broadsides Bart).
CG - Crippling Grasp (Deneghra, Dr. Arkadius).
CoS - Curse of Shadows (Cassius, Mohsar, various Cryx).
DW - Defenders Ward/Death Ward, depending on context (Menoth, Skorne for the former, Cryx for the latter).
FE - Forced Evolution (Dr. Arkadius, eKaya, Absylonia).
FoC - Flesh of Clay (Wold Guardian)
IF - Iron Flesh (Various Khador, Bloody Barnabus)
RoTE/Roots - Roots of the Earth (eBaldur).
SG - Spiny Growth (Bull Snapper, Carnivean).
SoG - Strength of Granite (Gorten)
SS - Stone Skin (pBaldur)

Necron Codex Review part 7: Elites Part 2

2012-03-13T23:00:00.006+11:00

Warseer

C'tan Shard

Oh, C'tan; terrible before and now... well, we'll see. They get an okay statline S/T7 means they aren't immune to Bolters anymore and Plasma/Missiles are a lot more likely to hurt them as well, which is a pretty significant downgrade. WS/BS5 is nice, putting you above the par in both categories there. I4 and A4 mean that you're a pretty respectable melee combatant. W4 is pretty average for a MC of most any type, and a 4++ save is nice to have... except you get no armor save, which is immensely sucky. If means that those random Boltgun and Multilaser and Splinter wounds are gonna give you a really bad time- you can't reliably shrug them off the way other MCs can.

On the upside you are Fearless and Eternal Warrior, along with ignoring terrain of all kinds. You also explode when killed, doing AP1 wounds to anyone in the vicinity; I guess it's an okay retribution mechanic for if you die in CC, but not really very relevant otherwise. However, with a steep price of 185pts, all of this is incredibly unimpressive, so we're crossing our fingers to see what the "Shard Powers" end up doing and hoping that they are game-changers.

Entropic Touch is awful. If you are already getting hits (wounds) on a target with a C'tan, you are annihilating them anyways, bar some very rare exceptions. Gaze of Death is potentially devastating if you can get it to trigger and can mitigate your shoddy save once you're in CC, but actually getting the model there is going to be nigh-impossible and it's far, far too expensive. Grand Illusion creates a very powerful effect, but I don't think it's one that Necrons can particularly take advantage of- and, moreover, buying it requires investing a huge number of points that you wouldn't otherwise be spending, unlike (for example) Eldrad, where it comes as a tack-on to his other powers.

Lord of Fire is just too short-ranged to be relevant. If it worked at 24" or board-wide range? Sure, meltas and flamers are common weapons. But at 12", you just can't cover enough of the board to reliably keep the enemy from using such weapons against you, even with their short range. Moulder of Worlds if friggin' terrible- lots of monstrous creatures get shots better than that as a free add-on to their normal statline. Likewise Pyroshards- marginally better, but three-ish wounds on T4 targets simply doesn't impress me. Sentient Singularity is another cool ability with a radius of effect that is simply far, far too small. Swarm of Spirit Dust is very nearly a must-take- without it, you're relying on rolling a 4+ vs. all those Lascannons, Missiles, Autocannons, Psycannons, etc, which is simply not going to last. Time's Arrow just tries to make it scary in close combat, but doesn't really succeed- the hard part is GETTING to to melee, not winning once you're there. Transdimensional Thunderbolt is a Lascannon with shorter range; that's sorta okay, but you shouldn't be paying 200+pts for something like that.

Lastly we come to Writhing Worldscape. This has given a ton of people huge nerd-boners and gotten a lot of attention, but I'm here to say something that will make a lot of them very angry: it's just not that good. The so-called "Angry Earth" build relies on a lot of things; it wants to invest a significant number (350+, in most cases) of points into vulnerable characters. It wants to try and win a shooting war with inferior shooting forces. (News flash: many armies don't care if they can't move. They'll vaporize your threats and then proceed to midfield.) It wants to use a limited number (virtually never more than five, and usually four or less) blast weapons to immobilize the enemy, which is somehow "good against MSU," because I guess when the enemy has sixteen units and you can stop four of them, that's awesome?

End result, C'tan are crippled by the horrible overcosting of monstrous creatures, the lack of a good save, and their mediocre statline and abilities. T7 is good, to be sure, but it still means that Bolters can shoot you to death and larger guns will be a significant problem. Widespread presence of high-strength torrent guns, used for suppressing transports and the like, along with poison and similar effects mean that a 4++ simply does not cut it in this day and age- it wasn't enough for Tyranid MCs when they were rolling FNP or cover, and it isn't enough for a critter that does even less and costs even more.

Flayed Ones

Flayed Ones are awful. Don't use them. Done

Flayed Ones

Wait, wait, what? No, I already did this one. We're not going back. No, seriously, they aren't good. Stop saying they are.

Alright, let's break this down. First of all, Deep Strike and Infiltrate are practically irrelevant because of your lack of Fleet and necessity to bring large numbers of models in order to threaten anything. You will pretty much always be starting a significant distance from the enemy (more than 18") and rarely getting much closer than that. Second, you don't have WS5 nor any kind of special ability in melee- no Rending, no Power Weapon, not even Meltabombs. That means that a lot of targets will be effectively invulnerable to Flayed Ones- things like Dreadnoughts or Terminators with FNP. Three attacks is nice, but by themselves they are not really going to scare anyone when backed by WS4 and S4. Third, you still have that shitty I2 and a 4+ save. That means that everyone is going to go first and you aren't tough enough to really take the hits- remember, each Flayed One costs as much as a Marine, and you're going to lose a lot before you even get to make the charge, and more when the other guy punches you first.

So you're going to lose combat, and without Fearless or something else there's a pretty good chance that you could break- Ld10 only goes so far. And then I2 comes back and bites you in the ass as you are pretty easily run down by most armies and the whole unit wiped out. So if you're charging a pack of Guardsmen and you're at full strength because for some reason they didn't shoot at you? Yes, you'll win, congratulations. But against enemies that aren't dumbtarded you are going to have to chase them for several turns while getting shot and then weather a barrage of attacks before you get to swing with your few remaining guys. Does having eight Flayed Ones sound awesome and like you should win a fight? Guess what, you kill two Marines with that. Their Power Fist alone kills almost that many of you.

Oh, and some people will say "they're a distraction" or that they "take pressure off other units." That isn't how the game works; you pay points to put units in your list, you don't get things for free. Good "distractions" are a threat on their own- my Meltavets or LasPlas or Thunderwolves or Annihilation Barge or Tervigon or Ravager or Purifiers are all "good distractions" because they force the enemy to deal with them or suffer consequences. If the only defense you can muster for a unit is "they might shoot at this instead of a good unit," you should've taken that good unit instead with the points you're wasting. There are better melee threats available in every respect- faster, cheaper, more dangerous. There is absolutely no reason to take Flayed Ones.

Triarch Stalker

Although this guy got tons of press when the codex was first leaked, attention has since slowed to a trickle, mostly held only because of the various attempts at conversions folks have tried. Certainly the lack of a model has been part of what has kept him down, but that can't be everything- 'Nid, SW, DE, and other armies had model-less units that still make big waves in the tournament scene despite the lack.

The truth is that the Stalker, while it has a number of ups, also has a lot of downs. Its gun is pretty excellent and brings a statline that can't be gotten elsewhere- Melta is a big deal, as I'm sure everyone realizes by this point, and AP1 is found only a few other places in the book. However, it's still only one gun with two different fire modes- and that means one glancing hit can put you out of action. It's also quite weak in melee, being a walker without a DCCW- this makes it vulnerable to just getting tied up by five Marines and kept there, unable to shoot, for a long time. They may not hurt it, but if they can keep it occupied that's often enough. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that it has to keep much more towards the front lines than most shooting Dreads do- 24" range on its gun is a world of difference from the 48" on a Rifleman.

The Targeting Relay rule offers to bring some additional utility to it, "marking" a unit that it hits and giving everyone else twin-linked when shooting that target. This makes using your Stalkers early in the shooting turn pretty useful, as they can guarantee that their targets will die, one way or another. It can help bring down squads of infantry as well if you have taken care of the tanks or nearby targets are more important- multiple squads of Warriors, Immortals, Deathmarks, etc, shooting with rerolls can get ugly very quickly. The option to swap for a twin-linked Heavy Gauss Cannon or a Particle Shredder exists, but I'm skeptical of both of them- the Gauss is pretty much strictly worse than the Heat Ray except in terms of range, and frankly your other guns don't have enough range to reach targets beyond the range of the Heat Ray anyways, so I think it's largely wasted. The Shredder is simply bad and shouldn't even be considered.

The Stalker's main role will be adding AV13 saturation to certain types of lists- since it brings a good amount of anti-tank as well as some reasonable anti-infantry (mainly from its twin-linking effect), its presence is not unwelcome. Most other lists, however, will see the somewhat steep price tag and decide to pass, as there are some very strong choices in other slots that are likely to be a bigger draw.

3++ Commission Painting and New E-mails

2012-03-13T15:00:00.000+11:00

So, as many of you may have noticed, we have some 3++ painting commissioners coming into play. Vinsanity has finally gotten off his bumb to test the waters and we've brought on the Wizard to not only give us some painting and modelling articles but to provide anyone with painting services! Unfortunately, both of these authors live in Australia and whilst I'm sure they'd be more than happy to accomodate overseas customers, the shipping and care of the models becomes an annoying issue. I'll be putting together a 3++ painting commission page so everything is easy to access for each painter with some general information, etc.

Anywho, in an effort to expand the hobby side of 3++, as well as potentially providing players from around the world with easy access painting/modelling services, the gates are open for some hobby based 3++ authors/commission painters. This is part and parcel of expanding 3++'s reach and some of our older hobby based authors having gone into retirement (Redfinger, Koopa, etc. though we still hope Rupert will one day do somthing again!).

If you're interested, please let me know via e-mail...which brings us to our next annoucement: email changes. My new email address is kirby@3plusplus.net. Easy to remember ^^. I will keep my eye on the old gmail account but if all new emails could be sent to the @3plusplus.net address, that would be fantastic. I'm also looking into getting some extra email accounts for 3++ authors though this would not be wholesale (can't afford that guys!). I might try and setup a group email account though with a few important off-shoots (i.e. myself, AbusePuppy, commission painting, etc.). Does anyone know if this is possible outside of just giving everyone access to a single email account?

Anyway, that's the drop on that! I'll hopefully have that new page up ASAP and details regarding a new email for the blog in general or emails for specific authors overall shortly!

It's Like Magic! - Black Legion CSM

2012-03-13T07:00:00.000+11:00

Greetings!

Welcome to the second in the series, "It's Like Magic!". This time its Chaos Space Marines of the Black Legion.

Primary Colour - Black
Secondary Colour - Gold/Bronze
Spot Colour - Green

Paints used;
Shining Gold
Boltgun Metal
Dwarf Bronze
Dheneb Stone
Calthan Brown
Devlan Mud Wash
Dark Angels Green
Goblin Green

Lets get straight into it

1. Spray paint black - Note that these models have been "inherited" off a mate who doesn't play anymore - hence the parts that are painted already.

2. Shining Gold the raised armour sections.

3. Boltgun Metal for the chains and weapons

4. Dwarf Bronze all the Khorne Symbols and bullets (A tip in hindsight - these could be done gold also, or all the Gold sections could be done bronze. Since we aren't highlighting anything these 2 colours are fairly similar)

5. Dheneb Stone skulls and horns

6. Devlan Mud Wash the skulls, horns and brass khorne symbols

7. Dark Angels Green topnots, power cables on the backpacks and eyes (flesh is Tallarn Flesh, then wash with Ogryn Flesh)

8. Calthan Brown the straps (In hindsight this should have been done before the Devlan Mud wash, also to save time this could be done at the same time as basing)

9. Goblin Green highlights on the green. On the topnots this is done via Overbrushing (essentially just like drybrushing - Load the brush with the colour, wipe a little off on tissue/paper towel, then lightly drag the brush across the area. It should hit all the raised areas and not touch underneath. If you do get more than just the raised areas come back to it with a Thraka Green wash.)

Basing!

1. Sand

2. Calthan Brown

3. Flock

Done! Have yourself a drink.

The finished models;

Quick and easy. If I was doing multiple squads of these guys, I would change the spot colour for squad markings.

Good colours would be;

Purple (Lich Purple then 1:2 Lich Purple/Skull White hightlight)

Blue (Enchanted Blue then Ice Blue hightlights)

Red (Mechrite Red then Blood Red, or for a more Orangey highlight try 1:1 Mechrite / Solar Macharius Orange)

Thanks for reading. Next up is Doom Legion Space Marines (or possibly Space Wolves..). Suggestions/Requests in the comments below.

Cheers!

- The Wizard

Necron Codex Review part 6: Elites Part 1

2012-03-12T23:16:00.000+11:00

Of all the Necron FoC slots, Elites is probably the weakest- its units tend to be rather specialized and many of the "worst" choices in the codex are found here. That's not to say all of them are bad, or that there's nothing in the slot you might want, or you cannot make good use of the units here but if a Necron list has any slot open, it will probably be the Elites.

There are, however, a number of picks in this slot that can drastically help shape or build a strategy, for better or for worse, and along with FA it is the slot that contains the majority of the Necrons' melee defense/countercharge units, so enterprising generals may wish to consider the benefits of mixing in some of the more unusual squads here to cover for weaknesses.
Deathmarks

Deathmarks get an Immortal statline (being only S/T4, unlike most of the other Elite/HQ units) and are slightly more expensive, coming in at 19pts per body. They can Deep Strike and may do so in response to the enemy bringing in any reserve units- as with Nemesor's ability, this isn't really very useful, as it will often just set you up to get shot. However, for small units that can DS into an isolated area and then set up shop it can be a decent plan. When they deploy onto the table- including DSing- you get to pick an enemy unit that you always wound on 2s with any Deathmark unit (and its attached characters), and this is their real golden ability. Their guns are otherwise okay, if a bit short-ranged- 24" Rapid Fire Sniper weapons.

The ability to share "marks" across multiple units is the main draw for Deathmarks; each individual unit is going to be somewhat mediocre, but combined they have a large number of enemies that they can aim at to get maximum benefit. Wounding on 2s with a barrage of shots can be a pretty big deal, especially with the Rends that you'll be able to throw in on top of that; if you can also finagle getting within 12" you can cause some major havoc - everyone knows how much pain Sternguard with hellfires bring right?

Deathmarks can also get a Night Scythe as a transport, and as with all units that can take such a transport you would be wise to do so, as the Scythe is an excellent buy even when it isn't carrying anything.

In the end, Deathmarks aren't providing a whole lot. A few small squads can provide quite a bit of firepower which, thanks to Rending, has some small duality but it's like the majority of firepower you have access to from your Guass and Tesla troop based weapons. The only upside is you can wound certain squads on 2's (and to get maximum benefit, you need to invest more points) and you have some reactive options available - though this isn't really reliable.

Lychguard

Lychguard are the Necrons' answer to Terminators, whom they resemble in many ways. They are of comparable toughness- T5/3+ is a bit worse against Boltguns and the like and obviously worse against Missiles, but RP helps bring them back above most such units in those terms. They otherwise have the standard "elite" Necron profile, but get A2 in the bargain, just like Lords do- and this is important, as it keeps them even with most other "elite" units. They are still I2 though, remember this.

For gear they come with a Warscythe each, which gives you a unit full of very heavy hitters, wounding almost everything on 2s and rolling 2d6 penetration, though you won't ID Marines without some other bonus. You're also ignoring armor obviously. The fact that you swing at initiative, rather than I1 like Fists is a secret advantage- going up against a bunch of Terminators you will consistently punch most of them down pretty effectively. However, they lack an invulnerable save, which is problematic for a melee combat unit; for this reason, the 5pt swap to Sword/Shield is generally the preferred option; this gives you a power weapon (S5, so still wounding on 3s- nearly as good) and a 4++ to shrug off those annoying melee attacks. The shield technically can reflect enemy shots, but you will virtually never get to actually use this ability, so I wouldn't worry about it. You are losing lots of anti-tank ability though with the +2D6 armor penetration (or S7) - this is really important against Dreads but weight of S7 attacks can help against fast moving tanks, too. S5, less so.

This does leave you with a problem, though- you sort of wish you could mix weapons so that you'd have some Shields to ward off attacks and some Scythes to kill big targets, but you have to swap the whole squad's gear or nothing. Enter the Necron Lord, who can come over from a Court- he brings along a Warscythe of his own to an otherwise sword/board squad and can have a Rez Orb or Mindshackle Scarabs for some additional tricks. Such a Lord is nigh-required for the squad, as it gives them some protection against Dreads and MCs so such units can't just tear through you with impunity.

Despite all of these potential positives, Lychguard are still something of a niche choice- they're largely stuck on foot (you can get them a Night Scythe, but since they'll likely be dumped into reserves when it dies, that won't help much) and are far from cheap, unfortunately being even more expensive than their Marine equivalents. As such, they will only sometimes be wanted in an army when you are expecting to run hybrid anyways and think that you'll need a strong melee presence that you otherwise lack (i.e. no Wraiths, Scarabs, or Spyders.) Such a list isn't entirely unheard of and they can be wedged into some other kinds of lists as well, but for the most part the "best" Necron armies will see little need for them in either configuration.

Triarch Praetorians

I've wavered a little bit on these guys, trying to find a way to use them, but after extensive consideration I'm just not seeing anything- they're really not any good. The flaws are all small but critical- a mountain built up out of tiny problems that compound on each other, one by one, to make a unit with no real role that costs too many points for what it fails to do. Mind you, Praetorians aren't godawful, they're merely incredibly underwhelming- anything they could do, another unit could do better and cheaper.

Their basic statline is a good place to start. WS4 isn't surprising, but it doesn't win them any points either. S/T5 is actually quite good- it means they will easily wound most everything in the game and those models will struggle to hurt them back; add in a 3+ save plus reanimation protocols and you have a fairly resilient model, especially considering they are jump infantry and can close distance quickly. I2 is standard for Necrons, but it's worth noting because "standard" for such a unit is still below the grade for the game as a whole- they really need something significant to make up for it. The killer here is A1- as expensive dedicated assault troops, there is absolutely no excuse for them to only be getting one swing and at WS4; it puts them well below other, similar units like Vanguard Veterans, Sanguinary Guard, Terminators, Honor Guard, Tyranid Warriors/Shrikes, etc. It's not simply a matter of price, either- Praetorians come with similar gear to such units and cost the same, but are inferior statwise.

Their rules and gear also fail to make up the difference; a power weapon as standard is basically the minimum requirement for an elite combat unit, lacking anything else in its place. The fact that it can be used for a very, very short-ranged shooting attack is an interesting bonus, but given the incredibly short range and inability to be used against vehicles (which will roll over or smash them with ease), its utility is limited. They are one of the few Fearless units in the codex, but with their inability to really achieve much of note, we can count this as only the tiniest of blessings.

I've been discussing Praetorians in their main configuration, but they do also have a weapon swap option- they can trade their power weapon/gun for a Voidblade and Particle Caster. You can be forgiven for not knowing what those are because they're both incredibly middling; the Caster is a S6 Pistol and the Voidblade is a Rending Entropic CCW. This config has the advantage of bringing them up to two attacks per model, but in turn strips them of their ability to actually hurt armored troops with any degree of reliability and without the weight of attacks... well go figure. Some people point out that Entropic lets them hurt vehicles but Scarabs get six times as many attacks for the same number of points and are more resilient to most kinds of enemy firepower- if you want Entropic, take them instead. Wraiths are similarly a fast melee unit, but they come with significant numbers of higher-strength Rending hits and W2/3++, making them more dangerous to most targets and harder to kill as well (though more suspeticble to instant death).

In short, Praetorians simply fail to really make a splash in any possible arena. They will beat basic Marines in combat, but everything else will still beat them. They are tough and can sort of fight, but not nearly enough of either to justify their price. They are an utterly milquetoast unit. (Interestingly, Praetorians are not allowed to take a Night Scythe as a transport, despite the vehicle having special rules to allow their unit type entry to it.)

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

That's part one! We'll look at the C'Tan shard, Flayed Ones and Triarch Stalkers next!

Email in: Chaos Psychic Powers

2012-03-12T15:17:00.001+11:00

Dakka

" Ok, so I'm a little late to the party. I'm still building up my Word Bearers (thanks for the critique a few months ago!), and am reconsidering the loadout of my Daemon Prince. Simply put, after the FAQ clarification to Warptime (re-rolling ALL dice to hit/wound rather than just fails), is it still the must-take that it once was? Personally I'm considering running Breath of Chaos but I'd appreciate a professional opinion. (If it helps, I'm alternating between a Lash Sorceror and Kharn the Betrayer in my other HQ slot).

Regards,

John"

Personally, if you're running Daemon Princes, run one or none. With Warptime re-done, they aren't as reliable as before and I'd probably be more inclined to running 2x Lash Sorcorers in squads compared to before. That being said, Nurgle Princes are still tough nuts to crack and they can pack a punch in combat - you could simply save points by not taking Warptime or look to take one of the less stellar options though if you're not taking Warptime I'd simply shave the points.

Kharn and Lash Sorcs are good replacements for Daemon Princes though if you wanted to go in that direction.

Necron Review Part 5: Troops and Transports

2012-03-12T07:00:00.001+11:00

Superficially, Necrons are almost as bad off as Sisters for Troop choices- they only get two choices and neither of them really have any unit options. (Technically Immortals can pick between two guns, but you'll almost always go with the same choice.) On top of that, the two choices almost might as well just be one choice with as similar as they are- you pay some points and upgrade to a better save and gun and that's about it.

However, that surface similarity is misleading- not only do Immortals and Warriors differ in a number of different ways, like their gun statlines, but the choices of transports and role in the army also vary. Moreover, their true customizability is hidden elsewhere, not listed in the unit entry but rather in the HQ slot wit the Royal Court.

Courts are the key to making your troops do what you want them to- we already talked a bunch about different roles the Court can help fill, so I won't go over them again, but it's good to keep in mind that you can cover weaknesses, open entirely new options, or just add some extra firepower to any of these squads by bringing a Cryptek (or, more rarely, a Lord) along. Think of those models like the Heavy/Special weapons troopers available in Imperial armies- while the basic dorks in a squad might define its broad abilities, your choice of Crypteks will tell you what the squad is actually going to be good at, whether tank-busting or murdering infantry, slowing the enemy or shutting down tanks.

I'll try to compare and contrast the facets of these two units that make them different from each other in important ways- obviously we know that both of them are largely similar, but as always the devil is in the details.

Warriors
Warriors are the durability-focused selection for a Necron army; though they are technically easier to kill than Immortals, body for body, their significantly cheaper price (a bit more than 2/3 the cost) makes them able to be taken in larger numbers as a result. Their cheapness can also be a virtue by itself- for small five-man squads meant only to score the backfield objectives, Warriors may be a prime choice.

Gauss weaponry is your only option for a Warrior squad, which means mobility will be limited if you want to actually shoot with the squad members (as opposed to just the attached Cryptek.) A Phaeron Overlord can help you ignore this, but given the limited number of such characters you'll have in an army, you obviously can't rely on it to keep all of those units mobile. Gauss is a blessing, on the other hand, for glancing tanks, where the weight of shots (and actual effect of the Gauss rule, on heavier targets) can really start to annoy the opponent.

Warriors will be your pick when you're looking to diversify your threats against heavier tanks, when your other units will be pulling most of a list's weight (leaving the troops free to score objectives and little else), when you're on a tight budget, or when you're running a Phaeron Overlord and want to give him a good place to sit. They mesh well with Immortals when used to sit a backfield point or when providing cover in their Ark.

Immortals
In contrast to Warriors, Immortals come with that almost-MEQ statline, gaining the upgrade to 3+ save but not I4. At first glance one would assume this makes them the tougher of the two choices, but the reality is that they're actually the shootier option as well as the mobile one; point-for-point, Immortals put out significantly more firepower than Warriors do and, thanks to Tesla, are fully effective on the move- an important quality in an army with middling range and a dislike of melee combat.

Immortals also get an option to pick two different guns, unlike Warriors. Both guns are 24" and S5, with Gauss being Rapid Fire and Tesla being Assault 1. This makes Tesla the default choice, as it's not only significantly more effective in the 13"-24" zone where you'll do most of your shooting but also allows you to advance and retreat without requiring an Overlord to hang with you. Gauss has uses, but for the most part Warriors are a better choice for Gauss platforms- their superior numbers make better use of the "glance on a six" ability, and against vehicles S5 will most commonly just glance tanks on a six anyways, so the stat upgrade is a bit wasted.

Immortals will generally be your pick if you are going for a foot or hybrid type of list; their ability to rove about freely makes them much more useful than Warriors in that regard. They also can play MSU better despite being more expensive, as the ability to act independently from their transport allows you to effectively double the number of targets the enemy has to deal with.

Ghost Ark
This is the other half of the Warrior survivability equation- where Immortals are forced to mostly hoof it, Warriors can hide inside their AV13 unshakeable transport and shoot out the top, Cryptek included. This usually gives them a better vantage point, better protection from the torrent guns that can be dangerous to their 4+ save otherwise and even the potential to add members to the squad, on the rare occasions that you get out before it's wrecked.

The Ghost Ark itself is rather pricey at 115pts, but AV13, Living Metal, the ability to repair squads, open-topped status and two arrays of guns that can fire independently to provide suppression or anti-infantry as needed is actually a quite good suite of gear overall. The large profile makes it difficult to get cover, but easy to provide cover for other models (depending on what you build for Night Scythes, of course.)

Any time you're taking a Warrior squad, you'll want to strongly consider giving them an Ark as well- that's one of their main strengths. Smaller squads may pass the opportunity up, but larger ones have little reason not to go the extra mile and get a really good place for guys to sit and shoot from. Arks can also be "stolen" by members of a Court that, for whatever reason, wants to stay together- Lords will appreciate an open-topped transport to assault out of and Crypteks appreciate the extra protection to keep them shooting longer.

Night Scythe
This is an interesting transport because it has some major divergences from what we might regard as the standard Necron template. It's a Fast vehicle and comes with a large transport capacity that can hold some extra unit types, but if the vehicle is wrecked it kicks things back to reserve, which is a major downside in most cases because it means you're walking in from a board edge- probably not where you wanted the unit to be. A twin-linked Tesla Destructor (because there isn't any other kind) gives it some serious firepower, and the 24" range isn't really an issue on such a maneuverable platform.

Despite the superficial similarities, Night Scythes are quite unlike the Dark Eldar vehicles they resemble- lack of open-topped, bump to AV11, and Living Metal makes them actually more survivable than a Rhino is, generally speaking, so they might more properly be compared to a Blood Angels Razorback or the like. Night Scythes will generally run "empty," with their owning squad simply waltzing around the field to avoid getting dumped back into reserves (and to allow them to shoot.) In some situations you may want to start onboard and zoom forward to deploy out, but mostly the Scythe is acting as an independent vehicle.

Night Scythes are the natural (and only) choice of transport for Immortals- unless you're building a foot-only list, you'll probably want to take one for every squad that can, as they are excellent for the points. On Warriors they are technically an option, but as a rule if you're taking Warriors the Scythe is not going to be great- they can't as easily keep up with the battle line while firing when compared to Immortals and aren't as able to handle a variety of targets effectively. A mix of the two vehicles, on the other hand, is still very viable option- Ghost Arks can provide mobile cover for Night Scythes, who can range about to hit elusive targets.

Conclusions
Neither Warriors nor Immortals, Arks nor Scythes are strictly superior to the other- both of them have significant advantages we need to consider when building a list. There are some common builds and themes you will tend to see in lists, though, and I think those are worth looking at in terms of what they achieve.

-5 Immortals (Tesla), Harbinger of Destruction, Night Scythe
This is the MSU option for Necrons, equivalent to the "five Marines with melta in a LasPlas" unit, but better in its own ways. You have a two units that can both put out significant firepower and neither of which is easy to destroy, but neither of which is an easy/obvious target, either. The two can advance up the field shooting and rely on Night Fight or cover to protect them. Where possible, a second Harbinger is added to the squad.

-5 Warriors, Harbinger, Ghost Ark
You have a choice of several Harbingers that can be effective here (Destruction, Storm, Despair, Transmorgrification), each with its own potential uses. This squad doesn't particularly take advantage of the potential resilience of the Ark's ability to repair a squad, but it will occasionally come up.

-9/15 Warriors, Harbinger of Destruction, Ghost Ark
This is a squad that will usually be babysat by a Phaeron and have some portion of a Court stuck inside its Ark, but it can also take advantage of other, nearby Arks to keep "powered up", making it an excellent choice in hybrid lists. Lacking the protection of an Ark, most Harbingers will have trouble finding effective use, with Destruction (and occasionally Transmorgrification) being the only real choice. The smaller version can hide inside the Ark when needed and is better in smaller games; in large games the oversize squad will tend to fare better, as it can weather more firepower and doesn't take as huge a portion of your total points.

-5 Warriors
This is going to be your classic backfield scoring unit- dirt cheap, reasonably tough to bring down, and 100% expendable. You normally won't bother putting a Harbinger in it because you expect to be spending most of the game in reserves, Gone to Ground, or out of range.

Large squads of Immortals will only rarely be seen in good lists, as Necrons have so many quality choices scattered across their FoC slots there is little need to max out on six Troops AND to pump those squads to maximum size.

Some lists will want to run only one of these squads (commonly the Immortals or Warriors in a transport) multiplied many times over, but others will happily mix-and-match them to suit their needs- perhaps 2-3 Immortals for forward threat, 1-2 Warriors in Arks to more securely hold midfield and a minimum Warrior squad to hang on a home objective.

Email in: 1k Imperial Guard

2012-03-11T23:00:00.000+11:00

felix

" Gday 3++ team,

As usual outstanding blog, one of the best on the interwebs. I have a 1000pt tourney coming up in late March and would like your thoughts on this IG list:

Company Comd 130:
2 x melta, flamer
Chimera w/ hull heavy flamer

Melta vet squad 155:
3 x melta, shotguns
Chimera w/ hull heavy flamer

Melta vet squad 155:
3 x melta, shotguns
Chimera w/ hull heavy flamer

Plasma vet squad 170:
3 x plasma
Chimera w/ hull heavy flamer

Vendetta 130
3 x TLLC

Vendetta 130
3 x TLLC

Valkyrie 130
2 x MRP, multilaser

Tossing up with replacing the Valk with either a Hellhound / Devildog or another Vet / Vendetta. Any input would be great. Keep up the good work!
Cheers"

I'd drop the Valk in favor of 2x Hydra for more ranged pewpew. Alternatively if you don't have the models for that, a Devildog or Hellhound would make a nice asset to cover the AV10 of the Chimeras with the Hellhound providing some ranged anti-infantry outside of the Meltavets jumping out of their rides.

Not much to say about the list otherwise - maybe if you get the Hellhound/Devildog, see if you can scrape the points together for HBolters on the Vendettas.

Email in: Blood Angels Jumper List 1850

2012-03-11T15:00:00.000+11:00

122nd Cadian

"Kirby,

Firstly I'd like to say you have an amazing blog I have been a lurker on it for almost a 6 months now and enjoy the articles you and Abusepuppy write. Secondly I would like you input on a BA DOA list if you have time of course!

So the list is 1850 and is a counts as Night Lords list.
HQ

Librarian - Jump Pack, Shield of Sanguinius, Blood Lance

Honor Guard - Jump Packs, 3 Meltaguns

Librarian - Jump Pack, Shield of Sanguinius, Smite

Honor Guard - Jump Packs, 3 Plasmaguns

Elites

Sanguinary Priest - Jump Pack

Sanguinary Priest - Jump Pack

Troops

10 Assault Marines - Flamer, Plasmagun
Sargent with Thunder Hammer

10 Assault Marines - Flamer, Meltagun
Sargent with Thunder Hammer

Fast Attack

5 Vanguard Vets
1 Vet with Thunder Hammer
3 Vets with Power Weapons
Sargent with Dual Claws

5 Vanguard Vets
1 Vet with Thunder Hammer
3 Vets with Power Weapons
Sargent with Dual Claws

That comes in at 1790 giving me 60 points to play with and I'm sure what to add or if I'm even in the right ball park with some of the set ups. Any thoughts on how you would change the list?

- D -"

Not enough Troops by a long shot I'm afraid. Also, too many points sunk into HQ and Vanguard :(.

Going double Honor Guard is always a tempting choice - FNP/FC bubbles and four special weapons? Sounds good but you need to outlay a lot of points just to get there from your HQ and two Libbies has a lot less utility value than just the one - you're getting less bang for your buck essentially. Drop the extra Libby and Honor Guard and grab another full ASM squad with double melta + PFist (or Thunderhammer). Look to change the other ASM to double melta as well.

The VV have too many weapons and just become too expensive. Personally running them with a couple power weapons or LClaws and one PFist is fine - anymore and it's going overboard. Consider those excess points to be switched around to Storm Shields.

At this point you'd have a decently solid pure Jumper list though there are some lists which you will have some serious issues coming up against when you cannot do anything at range (deploying via DoA isn't always the best way). If you're finding this and want to branch out a bit, I'd drop one of the VV squads for 2x5x Devs with Missile Launchers. Gives you some reach and adds a bit of balance to your army's offensive arsenal.

Email in: GK list, I know, sorry...

2012-03-11T07:00:00.000+11:00

Grey Knights

"Hi Kirby, I really enjoy the blog it's got a ton of useful info on there for a relative 40k newbie like me, although I've been gaming in one form or another for 30 years on and off. I'd really like to put a GK list together at 1750 that has some synergy in the list but on my own it's likely to be a poor list. It doesn't need to be a super list but one that can be competative against most armies in the game. I'm building from scratch as i've got a vanilla marine army at present so no real limitations on units but I do like dreadnaughts as models and was quite taken with the GK dread list thats on the site but from the comments it might need some tweeking on the HQ side and troops? I guess at 1750 I'm looking a 2 x Ven dread MM DCCW and 2 x Psyflemen dreads as a start but not sure where to take the rest of the list? Libby as HQ for the buffs? GKSS for troops but full squads in rhinos or msu in razors?
Thanks,

Paul"

2x TDA Inquisitors w/Psycannon
2x9x Acolytes, 6 stormbolters, 3 meltaguns
2x Ven Dread
5x5x GKSS w/Psycannon, Psyback (Razorback with Psybolt Ammo)
2x Psyfledread

I think that satisfies what you might be looking for and you've got two points spare for searchlights.

Inquisitors join the Acolytes and use them as bubble-wrap essentially - GKSS move up in range from Psybacks and provide supporting fire and maintain distance as much as possible. Ven Dreads provide extra melta and some support for the Acolytes whilst Psyfledreads and Psybacks support from a distance.

It's a little light on AT for my tastes as the meltaguns aren't going anywhere quickly but it's got plenty of suppression ability with the Psybacks and enough shots from the Psycannons + Psyfledreads to give mech pause.

I didn't go for a Libby as I don't think you're going to be taking maximum advantage of him without a nice unit to plunk him in (Terminator based) or with Chimeras running around (Coteaz). He's a nice utility box but not really necessary and the Inquisitor + Acolyte units give you some protection against combat and add quite a bit of firepower.

Email in: BA 2000 Stormraven list

2012-03-10T23:00:00.020+11:00

dezr0

"Kirby

As a long time gamer who is just getting back into 40K after a hiatus and really enjoy your blog. I have been updating my BA marines and I was wondering what you thought of the following 2000 point list.

HQ
Mephiston

Elites:
Assault Terminator Squad 2xSS & TH, 3x LC
Sang Priest

Furiosio Dread w/ Blood Talons, Melta and Heavy Flamer

Troops:
ASM (5 man) w/ LasPlas Razor

ASM (5 man) w/ LasPlas Razor

ASM (5 man) w/ LasPlas Razor

Death Company (5 models)

DC Dread w/ BF. Melta and Heavy Flamer

Heavy:
Stormraven, TLLC, TLMM, EA

Stormraven: TLLC, TLMM, Hurricane Bolters

Fast:
Baal Pred, TLAC, Heavy Bolter, EA

Split Mephiston, Termies, and the 2 dreads between the Stormravens. Seems like I should have some good assault options with a decent base of fire. Looking forward to your feedback."

Two things. First, you have a lot of points sucked into those Stormravens with the additions of the Dreads & Combat units. Second, your scoring is very light, particularly with the DC doing nothing. Stormravens are run best when they have either a Dread or a unit inside - decide what you want more. Personally, I'd go with the Furiosos as they make great compliments to ASM units which most Blood Angel lists are built around. You can still keep Meph, you just don't need to run him in a Stormraven but rather hide him amongst vehicle hulls.

This means you can get rid of the TH/SS and DC + DC Dread (though if you wanted to keep the TH/SS in the Stormraven, drop the DC + DC Dread and Furioso instead) and then spend points expanding your force. I'd do this mainly with more ASM in Razorbacks and potentially grabbing some more support fire- whether it's Predators, Devastators or Dreadnoughts is up to you though Devs might find their LoS blocked with all the vehicle hulls.

You don't really need the Priests in a LasPlas based list as you're generally going to be less aggressive but they can still provide some support options for the army, particularly if you're looking to get the ASM out and about. Regardless, you should be getting at least meltaguns on these guys so when their ride pops, they can do something.

Email in: 2000 point orks

2012-03-10T15:00:00.001+11:00

Gluedmyfingers

"Hey Kirby!

I was anticipating on taking...

105 HQ Warboss w/ powerklaw, armor, cybork & boss pole
410 T Nobz x 6 [Painboy, Cybork'd, 3pk,2bc, armor]; Battlewagon w/ deffrolla, big shoota, grots
225 T 29 boyz (choppas) + nob w/ powerklaw, armor, & boss pole
165 T 19 boyz (shootas) + nob w/ powerklaw, armor, & boss pole
120 HS Battlewagon; deffrolla, big shoota, grots
120 HS Battlewagon; deffrolla, big shoota, grots
90 FA 2x deffkopta w/ rokkits
90 FA 2x deffkopta w/ rokkits
90 FA 2x deffkopta w/ rokkits
60 HS 3x big gunz (kannonz)
135 E 9 Lootas
235 E Snikrot + 12 kommandos (2 burna)
155 E 8 bustas + nob w/ armor & bosspole

... to a local tourney whom have already posted the mission line up ( Capture and Control, Pre-emptive strike*, Pillage* [* = Battle Mission book]). Right now I'm fishing for opinions as I have units I could audible to (3 Kanz, 3 more Big gunz, 9 more lootas, 15 more kommandos, trukk boyz, Ghaz or Meganobz). I'm just not sure if forcing the 3rd battlewagon is appropriate or if I need more troops.

If you can help any, thanks!
Love your website btw :)"

More Troops for sure but I will say, I have no idea what the Battle Missions are like! So if they aren't very troops focused... well focus more on what I say in regards to the non-Troop changes.

First, I'm not a huge fan of big Boyz squads. Trukk squads are at least cheap, plentiful and bring extra PKlaws to the table whilst also having a cheap throwaway vehicle which can block, tank shock, etc. Not great but they are a decent tool in midfield and more useful than large Boyz squads IMO. Keep the Battlewagons, I just wouldn't run big squads in them. Second, Big Mek with Kustom Force Field is one of the best buys in the game, get one.

Outside that I'd be looking to take more Lootas. Tankbustas are pretty hit and miss so I'd look to replace them with another Loota squad of roughly the same size - they are vulnerable to being shot off the table but can provide you with some needed firepower at range.

If you add in those Trukk boyz I think you'll be looking alright. You'll need to drop some stuff though so I'd be looking at Snikrot/Kommandos and maybe a Deffkopta squad depending upon points and missions.

It's like Magic! - Catachan Warriors

2012-03-10T07:00:00.000+11:00

It’s like Magic! - Painting Catachan Warriors

Welcome to the first of the “It’s like Magic!” series!

This series will focus on getting a force painted up quickly. No fancy techniques, minimum of mixing and highlighting. The focus here is the army looks great as a whole, not as individual models.

Today’s models – Catachan Warriors!

Uses the following Colour paints (all GW);

Calthan Brown (Foundation)

Dheneb Stone (Foundation)

Camo Green

Boltgun Metal

Chaos Black

Mechrite Red (Foundation)

Tallarn Flesh (Foundation)

Dwarf Bronze

Ogryn Flesh (Wash)

Devlan Mud (Wash)

I'm using foundation paints wherever possible, as the higher pigmentation alows it to go on an undercoat smoother. It also has a quicker drying time than regular GW paints.

1. After assembly, spray paint the model black. Cheap primer will do, just be careful with it and make sure it isn't a humid day (as this will ruin the spray paint).

2. Paint the lower half of the model (pants and boots) Calthan Brown

3. Paint the jackets or singlets (whichever is the most prominent on the model) Dheneb Stone

4. Paint the undershirts Camo Green

5. Paint the guns and dogtags Boltgun Metal, paint the “stamp” Dwarf Bronze (I actually did this later on, but it's probably better to do the "stamp" now)

6. Paint the flesh with Tallarn Flesh

7. Paint the bandanas Mechrite Red (Why does the word “Bandana” have a “d” in it? Because pirates would look silly with bananas on their heads!)

8. Wash the flesh with Ogryn Flesh

The leaves are simply a 1:1 mix of Camo Green and Calthan Brown

9. Wash the clothing with Devlan Mud (or, like me, you can do this while washing the bases)

Basing;

1.Sand (I use sand from the beach - it's free!)

2. Calthan Brown

3. Devlan Mud Wash (at this stage I also did the Clothing on the models) This wash really brings the model together.

4. Patches of flock

Done! It’s a quick and easy way of getting your forces up to scratch. If you wanted to be even quicker you can skip the Ogryn Flesh wash and just wash the entire model with Devlan Mud instead.

Here's the finished models;

Next in line - Black Legion Chaos Space Marines!

Any suggestions or requests for the "It's like Magic!" series, drop them in the comments below.

Cheers
- The Wizard

Necron Review Part 4: Special Characters

2012-03-09T23:00:00.005+11:00

The Necron codex actually does something very interesting with its special characters. Unlike many of the recent books, there are no FoC-swap characters, be they generic or unique, anywhere in the book- in fact, no FoC-swaps of any kind, which I think is actually the only book of this edition with that distinction. (SoB don't count.)

The special characters do, however, open up unique builds of the army, and they do so by virtue of their special rules and characteristics rather than by an explicit change to other units. While there are some characters that do this elsewhere, I think Necrons are perhaps the most effective example of GW having done this.

Imotekh the Stormlord
Let's get a couple things out of the way: Imotekh is not an auto-include, even at the point values he's viable at, nor is he appropriate for every- or even most- armies. Like all of the other special characters, he offers you a unique suite of options to build a different type of army.

What options? Well, he has a perfectly normal statline and can take a Command Barge, but given that he doesn't have a Warscythe there's really no reason to do so. He has excellent defenses (2+/3++, Phylactery) and a one-shot weapon that can do some okay damage to infantry. He's one of the few SCs that are a Phaeron, which can have uses, and Seizes on a 4+ (except against Orks.) He also has some garbage about winning combats and Flayed Ones, but neither of those rules should ever, ever come up. His big deal is causing semi-continuous Night Fighting (which you will want to augment with a Chronometron) and random lightning strikes so long as it continues. The strikes are mediocre against infantry but quite good, if unpredictable, against vehicles, since they are S8 and hit side armor. They tend to punish MSU the most, but will probably do some damage to just about any army you face as a "bonus" on top of why you took him.

So you can cause Night Fighting for a while. Okay, that's nice- regular Necrons can get two turns of darkness anyways without shelling out for a special character- remember, Imotekh costs as much as TWO Scythelords by his lonesome, so you need to get some serious mileage out of him. Can you just stick him inside any ol' 2000pt list and let him do his thing in place of the Solar Pulses? Absolutely not. Solar Pulse only applies on the enemy turn- Imotekh's ability is continuous and will hurt you as well. Necrons may tend to be a bit shorter-range than their opponents, in the 24" band, but at that distance you are still losing nearly half your shots to being unable to see. Sure, the enemy is as well, but they didn't have to pay points for the privilege of doing so.

So if you're going to use Imotekh, you need to take advantage of and mitigate his ability at the same time. Note that Solar Pulse won't help you any here- if you shut off Night Fight on your turn, you won't get the lightning strikes. That doesn't mean you shouldn't take them, but don't count on them to make things work out. You also need to be making good use of what he does- that is, making sure the units you take are ones that need the protection from shooting that Imotekh offers.

What units benefit from this? Melee units especially- Wraiths, Scarabs, Spyders, and Lychguard all appreciate the reduction in incoming firepower that he can bring. Night and Doom Scythes also find it useful, as they (unlike most Necron units) are fast-moving and can change ranges quickly to confound the enemy. The Doom Scythe also has the advantage of its main gun not needing to roll for Night Fight because it does not actually target a specific unit.

Is Imotekh good? I think he is, yes- the ability to punish shooting and MSU strategies, two major foundations of the 5E tournament scene, is quite powerful. However, he relies on a potentially-awkward build and a few poor dice rolls can leave the whole army sitting in the sunshine to get shot to pieces. You can very consistently get two turns of cover, but more than that can be tricky- for that reason, bringing a Solar Pulse is still going to be required for such an army. Note also that many armies (Tau, SW, DE) can mitigate the effects of the limited visibility and virtually all Imperial armies have the option to slap a Searchlight on top as well, though not all of them get it for free.

Nemesor Zandrekh
Coming in cheaper than Imotekh, if not by a huge amount- he's still a pretty pricey dude. Like a lot of the Overlord characters, he comes with 2+/3++ and he also carries a Rez Orb, which adds some nice utility. Once again we have the option for a Command Barge, but without a Scythe it's pretty useless.

His unique rules are interesting, but somewhat unimpressive all things considered. If you hold units in reserve and the enemy does as well, you can "respond" to their arrival by Deep Striking your own units; unfortunately, this won't actually be terribly helpful, since you'd be showing up just in time to get shot, and Zandrekh himself has to be on the board for it to work. So a cute trick for Dawn of War maybe, but that's about it. His other two rules are much more useful- you can pick one unit in his LOS on the enemy side to lose most of its USRs (but notably not Move Through Cover, Fleet, or FNP) and may likewise choose one unit on your side to gain a USR (with Tank Hunters, Night Vision, Stealth, and Furious Charge all being reasonably good picks.) Remember that due to the FAQ you can't take away abilities from inside a transport, since they require LOS.

The question is: how worthwhile is this compared to a normal Overlord? He still brings a Court along, so there's no trouble in that regard, but with no Phaeron or Warscythe he lacks an obvious role to fill by his numbers alone. Taking away rules from the enemy is interesting, but there's no guarantee they'll even have any of those rules to remove, or that doing so will be relevant. Stealth (for breaking fragile cover-based units) and Night Vision (to make mitigating Solar Pulse harder) are the only two real standouts, though others could sometimes be useful. Selectively applying USRs to your own unit, on the other hand, is more useful and something that can be planned around, but it has difficulties of its own. Necrons are oddly lacking in good targets for giving USRs; for example, Tank Hunters wants a unit that is carrying multiple heavy (or at least mid-strength) weapons, but many of the "best" choices there are Tesla, which is actually not very good for killing tanks due to AP-. A lot of people get excited about Furious Charge, generally on Lychguard with Scythes (for S8 and IDing characters) or Scarabs (to wound/penetrate more easily and strike ahead of Orks), but I don't think either option is all that amazing. S8 will only really matter against characters, who should get murdered by your flurry of high-Str attacks anyways; with Scarabs, Entropic is already ensuring that you murder tanks to death easily, so FC only really helps with trying to push an Entropic wound through onto some T4/2+ type guy, which isn't really what Scarabs are for anyways.

All in all, Zandrekh is not a horrible buy and he does open up the ability to take advantage of your units in interesting ways and subtly shift the battlefield in ways that can really make a difference, but he's going to require some very deft play to use.

Varguard Obyron
Zandrekh's bodyguard, Obyron is NOT an Overlord- in fact, he's basically just a souped-up Lord with IC status. His stats are pretty nice- he's the only Necron who goes above WS4 and he does come with a 2+ save, but doesn't have an invuln- which is a big strike against a combat character. He has a Scythe and a Veil that can be used to teleport out of combat, but seeing as he's supposed to be a combat guy the ability to run from fights is not all that great. His special rules let (force) him to teleport to anywhere that Zandrekh is being attacked and join the fight and also give him free attacks equal to the number of swings that missed him, so long as they happened before his own attacks (maxing at six bonus ones.) The latter goes a long ways towards mitigating his I2 and can make mediocre combat units (one-attack Marines, IG, etc) pretty miserable.

The problem, however, is that Obyron isn't cheap and doesn't come with a Court, so you're sinking a bunch of points for a punchy kinda guy when an Overlord can do a very similar thing for a better price and better utility. Pairing him up with Zandrekh (he doesn't take a FoC slot if taken with his buddy) is only going to be workable in a really large game, and even then I think it's unimpressive. Obyron is far from the worst of the special characters, but lacking an invuln, a Court, or a particularly good price/effectiveness, he's just not going to make the cut a lot of the time. His teleport shenanigans are amusing, but as with Crypteks, at the end of the day they don't accomplish all that much.

Illuminor Szeras
This guy is seriously the bottom of the barrel and I almost can't imagine a situation where I'd want to take him- he's really that bad and generic. Remember what I said about how most of the Necron characters are interesting because of how their rules interact with the rest of the army? This guy is why that statement uses the word "most." First of all, he's a wannabe-Cryptek with a better statline (W2, 3+ save and A4, for some godforsaken reason.) He's an IC, but like several of the others, he doesn't get a Court- as always, this is a major strike against using him. He comes with the usual Harbinger of Destruction Eldritch Lance and has Gaze of Flame as well, but no Pulse; boo-urns! He also buffs up one unit of Necron Warriors to be either T5, S5, or BS5. Two of those are pretty good; one of them is shit-worthless.

So he has a very middling suite of abilities and gear, but if he was cheap it might be defendable- a reasonable way to bring an extra Lance and some stat buffs for a small price. But no, you're paying 100pts for this garbage and losing out on the opportunity to take someone useful instead. Even in small games an Overlord or Destroyer Lord is much more useful for a tiny fraction more points. Szeras is completely worthless.

Anrakyr the Traveller
Anrakyr is interesting because he is a straight upgrade from the "usual" Bargelord- he carries a Warscythe and Tachyon Arrow and can get a Barge just like normal, but for 35pts extra. What does that get you? It gets one of your Immortal squads FC and Counterattack, which is not interesting but is a pure upgrade and so might theoretically do you some good. He himself likewise has those USRs and most of the time can "take over" one tank within his LOS- unfortunately due to the FAQ this means he can't use the ability from within a Barge, which is sad.

If you have some points to spare, Anrakyr is well worth considering for many Necron armies; even if you have to finagle it a bit, sometimes getting to shoot with the enemy's tank can be pretty devastating. He is probably the most "generic" of the special characters, but in this case that works in his favor, as he has good gear and no obnoxious rules to drive his cost up too high.

Orikan the Diviner
This is the other guy who's gotten a lot of press lately, mostly in combination with some sort of stupid Writhing Worldscape/Tremorstave gimmick list. I'll straight-up say it: those lists are bad and mostly won't work. Orikan doesn't give you a Court, so you're sinking for him AND an Overlord AND an expensive, vulnerable MC. That's an easy 500pts down the drain and you haven't even purchased a Court or Troops or anything yet.

With that out of the way, Orikan is surprisingly well-packed with abilities. Everyone knows about making the board DT first turn, which can be helpful in pinning the enemy in place or ruining things for them in Dawn of War, but he also gives you a once-per-game reroll on all reserves for a turn- a nice little boost in utility, even if his other abilities don't particularly mesh with it. Orikan himself has a nice statline and a great weapon- rerolling misses and ignoring saves together is a pretty strong combination, even if his statline is a little weak for actually using it. Note that he may only have a 4+ armor save, but he has a 3+ invulnerable save, which is pretty huge once he transforms. He carries a Transdimensional Beamer, but don't expect to actually use it all that often, nor for it to do much when you do fire it.

His transformation is an interesting add-on, effectively making him into a C'tan for a period of time (but retaining his IC status.) Since he's toting a 3++ and rerolls misses in combat, he's only missing the extra d6 penetration- but S7 is plenty enough for most purposes. Like Imotekh, you really NEED to be bringing a Chronometron along with him to ensure that he switches forms when you want him to and doesn't immediately change back- a very real possibility when you're throwing the dice unaided.

What is he good for? Well, he can go a long ways towards bringing melee defense to a Necron list for a reasonable price, although the unreliability of it can be a problem- but if he strikes at the right moment, he is going to cause some real havoc to most anything short of TH/SS (and even they are not going to tear through him.) His ability to lock down vehicles in the first turn gives some potential for a Scarab alpha strike- if you're going first, the 24"+2d6" threat range can potentially be hitting a lot of tanks that remained stationary. If you can find a good reserve build his other ability could be useful, but I don't think Necrons have the pieces to do it- rather, it will help make sure that holding a few units in reserve (in Spearhead, etc) is still a reliable way to bring them onto the table.

Is there a build for him? Obviously yes, although I don't think it can stand up to other strong lists, it still has at least some potential. He might be able to fit into some of the large-points Tremorstave lists, as he interacts nicely with the Scarabs they otherwise want to run and can serve as the point defense that cuts off an enemy unit that manages to roll well or otherwise escape your attempts to cripple it.

Trazyn the Infinite
I do so love Trazyn as one of the coolest bros in the whole codex when it comes to fluff, but his rules fall a bit- if not excessively- short of what you'd usually like to see for the price. In fact, his list of rules and gear is rather short- he's a Phaeron, which is actually somewhat awkward to use since you often won't want him hanging out with squads of Warriors or Immortals in order to properly use his other abilities. He gets Mindshackle Scarabs, which syncs nicely with some of his other stuff, and a special weapon that "echoes" wounds to other models of the same name as one you killed. He can get a Barge and his weapon gives him marginally more reason to do so, but in the end it's probably not a great buy.

More interestingly he is extra-resilient compared to the usual HQ choices; he he dies (i.e. fails to come back with Everliving), on a 2+ he will "possess" one of your other models (Lychguard, Cryptek, Lord, or Overlord) on the field and take their place. Just as importantly, Trazyn is a scoring model and can thus significantly change the purpose of some squads just by being around, turning them from "ignore and avoid" to "must remove from objective."

Unfortunately, Trazyn himself does not actually help any there, since he contributes almost nothing except the scoring status. Compounding this, your Crypteks and Lords will usually be hanging out with a troop squad anyways, making Trazyn's replacing them somewhat unimpressive or even harmful. His best path, then, is to get into a squad of Lychguard or Deathmarks, most likely the former because of the randomness of where he appears, and make the unit a hard-to-shift mass that doesn't die easily at range or up close. This ends up being a pretty expensive way to add a scoring unit, but it can bring some unique qualities (countercharge, anti-horde) to a Necron list and really is quite annoying to actually bring down.

That completes the rather length review of the various HQ units; we'll move on to Troops (and dedicated transports) next, which will be a bit more brief, before tackling the other FoCs, as the TR slot is the other big defining choice for which direction a Necron list points.

New Author & Commission Painting - The Wizard!

2012-03-09T15:00:00.004+11:00

Greetings!

I am The Wizard. I do commission painting on the Northern Beaches of Sydney.

As a founder of the gaming group, "Lords of the Garage", I'm a tournament regular. At tournaments I'm typically found in a Wizards Hat, with a 50-50 chance of being hungover. (ah, the dreaded second day curse).

My good friend Kirby *blinks* has kindly invited me to contribute to this blog of his. I’ll be floating around doing painting articles. The first series of articles, entitled "It's like Magic!" will show how to paint tabletop worthy miniatures quickly and simply.

Anyway, here’s a basic price guide for those who are thinking of having some work done. Cost is per model, so you know exactly how much it will cost and what you are getting out of it. A more detailed price guide is up on my blog, thepaintingwizard.blogspot.com

NOTE: These prices are more like a guideline rather than actual rules. Depending on the detail of the model / how long it takes, the prices may vary. Discounts for large numbers of models / entire armies. I should also point out that things like "Half and Half" will cost more, as it's essentially painting 2 models in 1. Email me at jimmy.wizard.wynen@gmail.com for a quote. I'm in the process of setting up some 3plusplus.net emails as well so we should get nicer addresses for our authors soon :).

Cost is per model.

I have a 3 tier system.

Tier one.
The most basic. Basecoat, wash, simple highlights.

Tier two.
2-3 highlights, washes/inking. Most of my work falls into this category.

Tier three.
The whole shebang. Not recommended for the whole army, maybe for a HQ or a Centrepiece unit.

Blacklining - Highly recommended for armoured troops and vehicles.

All tiers come with basic basing (1 colour sand with a bit of flock).
More advanced basing;
Sand/Rock mixture, highlighted and washed, scorched grass.
Snow - 2 stages of bicarb soda, patches of grass.
Anything else you desire!
Happy to do resin bases if supplied, they come under advanced basing.

Infantry - 25mm base
Tier 1 Special
0-19 models - $4.00
20-29 models - $3.50
30+ models - $3.00
This is per Squad.


Tier 1 Orks

Tier 2 - $6.00 - $7.00
Blacklining - $0.50
Advanced basing - $0.20

Tier 2 Tactical Marines

Tier 2 Tacticals

Tier 2 Scouts

Tier 2 Sternguard

Tier 2 (Converted) Plaguebearers

Heavy Infantry / Bikes and Cavalry - 40mm / Biker base
Tier 1 - $6.00
Tier 2 - $8.00 - $9.00
Blacklining - $0.75
Advanced Basing - $0.50

Tier 2 Terminators

Tier 2 Terminator Sergeant

Tier 2 Lightning Claw Terminator

Tier 2 Eagle Shield Terminator

Tier 2 Fiends of Slaanesh

Tier 2 Fiend

Monstrous Creatures/Dreadnoughts and Small Vehicles - 60mm base
Tier 1 - $15.00 - $18.00
Tier 2 - $20.00 - $25.00
Blacklining - $1.50
Advanced Basing - $1.00

Tier 2 Drop Pod

Tier 2 Drop Pod (Open)

Tier 2 Predator

Tier 2 Daemon Prince

Large Creatures / Large Vehicles
Tier 1 - $20.00 - $25.00
Tier 2 - $30.00 - $40.00
Blacklining - $2.00
Advanced Basing - $2.00

Tier 2 Land Raider

Leaders / HQ's
Tier 2
25mm Base - $15.00
40mm Base - $20.00
Advanced basing comes free.

Tier 3

For more pictures of models head over to thepaintingwizard.blogspot.com

I have a few articles lined up for you folks over the coming weeks, however if there's anything you would like me to do an article on, drop it in the comments!

Cheers
- The Wizard

Centurion 2012 results - quickie!

2012-03-09T07:00:00.001+11:00

fester hosted Centurion this last weekend and I unfortuantely was unable to go :(, however the results table is finally up so I'm going to post the table quickly for others (and because I cannot be bothered doing another Eldar codex review post atm, sorry) and fester will do a more in-depth run down later.

The event was your standard NOVA format with four players making it through to Day 2 undefeated (CSM, Tyranids, Orks and Necrons). Battle was based on the percentage of objectives achieved (i.e. 4/5 objectives, etc.).

In terms of battle points the top 10 army breakdown was:

Necrons
Tyranids
Grey Knights
Grey Knights
Sisters
Grey Knights
Necrons
Imperial Guard
Orks
Dark Angels

I asked the guys up at Centurion to take in as much data as possible to see if we can't get some more data to shove into the pool though in terms of isolated events I think we'll really only get to see the win/loss percentage in relation to going first. Not sure how I feel literally plugging the results into the results from past events we've seen (i.e. adding them all together in terms of W/L for armies) but something to consider as more tournaments come in!

Hopefully fester will have more shortly - I just wanted to get these up, impatient man I am.