Ghostwind Corsairs

Youtube video Spotlight: The DM's Craft

2013-07-24T11:16:00.001-04:00

With a lack of anything profound to write, I'd like to introduce you to this guys channel on youtube. Started watching it yesterday and he's got a lot of cool tutorials for making your own dungeon tiles and enhancing your D&D/Pathfinder Games. Really cool, really easy, and most of all cheap! Check them out.

The DM's Craft

In addition I've also enjoyed Miniwargaming's terrain tutorials with Papa Smurf. His projects are also pretty simple, but look great. Not only that but the videos are quite entertaining.

Miniwargaming Channel

Army Fluff: A History of the Ghostwind Corsairs

2013-07-02T12:08:00.001-04:00

Do you have a backstory to your army? What is it? I've been thinking a lot about fluff since reading the Iyanden supplement and have endeavored to improve my own armies fluff. While it makes little difference in terms of tournament play, I do like the narrative aspect of 6th edition and having your armies background figured out helps spread that narrative and ultimately, to me at least, it makes my games more flavorful and interesting.

Previously I have talked in brief about the fluff of my army. Its backstory, characters, and the like have been rolling around in my head since my first Falcon model was painted. This story has changed and evolved quite a bit since it has started and since about 4th edition I have had the general concept of my army locked in.

Ghostwind Corsairs circa 3rd Edition Warhammer 40k
When I began 40k I started working on my army and its back story. I was intrigued by the idea of the Eldar Craftworlds, but wanted something personal and my own. My original Farseer was named Polymethius (Far removed from Eldar naming conventions as I now understand them) and he was aided by the Warlock, Magus of Doomspear. I think that's about as far as I got with my fluff. Polymethius read his Runes and they showed him that Falcon Grav Tanks and Striking Scorpions were awesome, so he used them in his forces. He adopted the Guerrilla tactics made famous by the Pathfinders of Alaitoc and his Rangers obtained proficiency in marksmanship by hunting Kroot. The Kroot Hunt of Pathfinder-dom was the result of a number of left over Kroot bits from my friend's Tau army and my desire to make my own Alaitoc Pathfinder models. The only other note I had made about my armies fluff is that based upon my early encounters with Orks and Tau, my Craftworld was somewhere on the Eastern Fringe of the Galaxy.

I was generally undecided on my overall army scheme and it was at this time that I resolved to collect every Eldar model that I could and make individual Eldar Craftworld armies. My original color scheme was akin to the Detroit Tigers using Blue with Orange highlights and stayed until someone pointed that out to me. Aspect Warriors kept their ceremonial color schemes, for what little I had painted of them.

Ghostwind Corsairs circa 4th Edition Warhammer 40k
In fourth edition my model count grew significantly and my army concept as it is today took a more solid shape. GW released an article about army fluff and design ideas and in it, it had a unique Eldar army design that sort of fit my model purchase plans, The Ghostwind. I have neither been able to locate the original article, nor back up the concept in Eldar fluff since, but the general idea of the Ghostwind was that it was a combined arms of multiple Craftworlds. Essentially, when the Eldar, as a unified whole, needed something done, and something done right, they called upon the Seers of Ulthwe, the Aspect Warriors of Biel-Tan, Rangers of Alaitoc, and so on and so forth. This was of course provided that the participating Craftworlds had goals that were in line. Satisfied with the idea that I didn't have to lock into a Craftworld and I could continue purchasing all the models so I set out to make a Ghostwind. If you played against my army at this time you would have seen three Falcons, one in the colors of Alaitoc, one in Saim-hann, and one in Biel-tan. I had an Ulthwe Fire Prism, and an Iyanden Wraithlord. I started using Seer Councils on foot and really got into studying the Eldar way of warfare. The Ghostwind concept really didn't require much expansion of thought and so I focused on my tactics. I literally read books on the German Blitzkrieg of WWII and adapted the tactics to my Wave Serpent and Falcon rushes. Other than a growing collection of models not much developed in the way of fluff.

Ghostwind Corsairs circa 5th Edition Warhammer 40k
This is when I really began developing the fluff of my army in earnest. I could no longer locate this "army with fluff" article I had read and the lack of a unified color scheme began bothering me. In addition I had no trouble with painted the Alaitoc color scheme, but I had the hardest time with those damn Biel-Tan thorn patterns. I settled on a lightened Alaitoc scheme backed with wraith bone colored highlights instead of Yellow. In old GW paint terms this meant ultramarines blue with ice blue splotches on vehicles. The under carriage was painted bleached bone and blood red was used for eyes and gems. For my Aspect Warriors I continued to paint them with the themes in their temple and my Guardians wore bleached bone suits of mesh armor with ice blue helmets. This color scheme came about thanks to the Dawn of War army painter as I could mess around with paint schemes and not waste any paint.

The "Corsairs" of my army was attached at this time. If the idea of a Ghostwind was gone from the mythos of Eldar (I'm beginning to think I had some sort of delusion that it actually existed in this point) I'd still try and claim it. The Ghostwind Corsairs thus are a band of outcast Eldar brought together on a mission of salvation for the Eldar race. Unwilling to accept that the death of the Eldar race is the only means of defeating Slaanesh, the Ghostwind Corsairs, led by rogue Farseer Laewynn, will stop it nothing to prevent the extinction of the Eldar race. This usually worked its way into my games as trying to retrieve some ancient artifact or the defense/recovery of a maiden world.

In terms of painting, I tried to add little accents to my models to show their former craftworld allegiances. One of my Guardian squads has a red shoulder pad for example to show they were from Saim-hann. My Wraithlord, now bleached bone with an ice blue head and other accents has one yellow shoulder pad to designate it as an Iyanden unit.

To back the fluff of my army I've never really run the Avatar of Khaine in games. In addition I tried to keep the number of Aspect Warriors and Wraith units to a minimum. I also included a few Dark Eldar models to sort of show a mixed group or an alliance between my Eldar and a Dark Eldar Wych Cult. Ultimately it didn't mesh well and unless I converted more models it would look like I just added Dark Eldar units to my Eldar army.... as it still does today.

Ghostwind Corsairs in 6th Edition Warhammer 40k
This brings us to present day. My army sits, fluff-wise, roughly unchanged from its 5th edition incarnation. If I keep the notion of being a Corsairs army, do I add in actual Corsairs models to the mix? What about the Avatar of Khaine? The inclusion of wraith units? They are cool models in this edition and somewhat the focus.

40k Throwback: Eldar Army Lists Part 2: The Evolved Jetbike List

2013-06-05T12:37:00.003-04:00

A While back I made this post about the evolution of my Eldar Jetbike army as it's moved through the codex. Or at least in this case, the Eldar jetbike list I ran from the 4th Edition codex and how it would have looked from the 3rd Edition book. This time I bring you my 6th Edition Eldar Codex Jetbike Army List.

Consider this post an appetizer, An Eldar Aspect Warrior review Podcast is in the works and will be up sometime this week.

HQ
Farseer with Jetbike, Runes of Warding, Runes of Witnessing, Spirit Stones of Anath'lan
Farseer with Jetbike, Runes of Warding, Runes of Witnessing, Singing Spear
Warlock Council (5 Warlocks) with Jetbikes x5, Singing Spears x2

Troops
Windrider Jetbike Squad (6 Guardians) with Shuriken Cannons x2
Windrider Jetbike Squad (6 Guardians) with Shuriken Cannons x2
Windrider Jetbike Squad (6 Guardians) with Shuriken Cannons x2
Guardian Defender Squad (10 Guardians) with Shuriken Cannon Platform
in Wave Serpent with Holofields and Twin-linked Starcannons
Guardian Defender Squad (10 Guardians) with Shuriken Cannon Platform
in Wave Serpent with Holofields and Twin-linked Starcannons

Fast Attack
Crimson Hunter with Exarch Upgrade

Heavy Support
Fire Prism with Holofields
Fire Prism with Holofields
Nightspinner with Holofields

TOTAL 1994 Points

The big change here is in tactics. The Seer Council as we knew it is a risky proposition. You might not get the powers you want or need to make the unit as effective. In that light, I will be taking three of the warlocks and placing them with the Windrider Jetbike Squads. At the very least they can take Conceal/Reveal and the unit will, most of the time (hopefully), have a 3+ cover save. Another thought revolves around dropping two of the jetbikes in the Warlock Council and putting those warlocks with the Guardian Defender squads then running the two Farseers in Windrider Squads as well. This tactic nets me 30 extra points and I haven't really decided on what else to add.

I'm still debating between 3 squads of 6 or 2 squads of 9 jetbikes, but I think 5 troops instead of 4 gives me more flexibility and a opportunity to grab objectives. I feel a lot more confident in my Guardians now and considered a tactics that involved rushing them forward and using Crystal Targeting Matrix(es?) to fire the Serpent shield and then sit on my 3+ cover save until next round, where the Guardians hop out and go to work.

The Nightspinner made it into the list again (as it had been in 5th Edition since it's release) Less effective at slowing the enemy than before but decidedly more killy, I'm given thought to trying it out again. The Fire Prisms are now some solid anti-land raider units and I'm more than happy to give up linked shots for the S9 AP1 Lance that it fires.

Had to lose the Vypers, a little sad by that. I think I may continue to tweak points and run Vypers with Scatter lasers and underslung Shuriken Cannons. The advantage here is that the Scatter lasers make the Shuriken Cannons Twin-linked and the whole set-up cranks out a significant amount of shots. Maybe I'll lose the Nightspinner or the Crimson Hunter to make room for this unit.

The only thing I'm disappointed with is the Crimson Hunter. I really think they dropped the ball with the Eldar flyers. So expensive and yet so easily dead, I was really banking on some sort of Eldar trick or device that kept these guys in the skies, but with no ability to take even Holo-fields, I don't know how I'm going to keep this thing on the table long enough to hunt down Helldrakes and Necron Flying Croissants. Manueverability and Range I guess, and hopefully clearing out every bolter carrying model before the Crimson Hunter hits the table. My high hopes of having the Top Gun Institute of Eldar Aspect Warriors is dashed... sorry Maverick, I can't be your wingman.

Gearing Up For Eldar Part 4

2013-05-29T22:24:00.000-04:00

Final week. It's crunch time. Time to inventory my Shuriken Catapults and Pulse Lasers (I have 7 pulse lasers, I think) More importantly it's time to start converting models. Based on what I know, I'm going to want a Crimson Hunter or two in my list so I've begun converting my Nightwing and painting it in the Aspect Warrior colors. Here's a few pictures I threw together in a quick video. More to come when the project is complete.

Gearing up for Eldar Part 3

2013-05-25T17:43:00.000-04:00

Eldar pre-orders are live and I'm holding the June White Dwarf. I've spent the last few hours reading it from cover to cover trying to take as much from the information inside as possible. Based solely on this White Dwarf I was able to confirm and speculate a few things that I hadn't seen elsewhere. Most of it from reviewing the mini page inserts with a magnifying glass. Also, a few of the rumors I had previously reported may not be as truthful as previously thought, such is the fate of rumors I suppose. I left my salt at home when I read them. As with my usual format facts will remain in normal text, rumors and speculation will be red.

The Army List
First thing I'd like to touch on is the reported army list from the White Dwarf. While accurate in the models presented by the Eldar player, it does not actually list which Eldar units are used and as a result which slot they are in. It could be, for example that the Warlock, listed as an HQ choice, is just the typical Warlock allowable by a Wraithguard unit, in this case attached to Wraithblades. So first speculation: Wraithblades may take a Warlock.

Edit: Just realized my White Dwarf is missing pages 41-56 and it's highly probable that any sort of Eldar army list appeared on one of those missing pages..... sort of weird.

The Wraithknight
The big hero of the battlereport is the Wraithknight. It appears to be equipped with a Shattershield and Suncannon along with 2 scatter lasers. Even with the single Suncannon (not sure if two count as Twin-linked or not) he was able to decimate the Necron Infantry. It also appears to have a 12" jump move, I base this on my ability to determine distances from the pictures. I'm generally good at it and they played on the realms of battle board so I had that as a rangefinder. Also, in the pictures, the shoulder mounted starcannon that comes with the kit is of a different sculpt with a wide, thin fire point similar to the pictured D-scythe. I don't expect this to be put throughout the other kits however as it's still pictured on the weapons page as it's current incarnation. Also shown is the Wraithknight mounting Shuriken Cannons. So this makes it's available shoulder weapons up to the Shuriken Cannon, Scatter Laser, and Starcannon. Time will tell if it can mount missile launchers or brightlances as well.

Dark Reapers
After straining my eyes to read the fine print I can say that Dark Reapers have unchanged statlines from their 4th Edition incarnation. Dark Reapers are Infantry, have the Slow and Purposeful and Ancient Doom (it's really hard to read so I can't tell for sure if it is "Doom") special rules, and have the following wargear listed standard: Heavy Aspect Armour, Reaper Launcher with starswarm missiles, and reaper rangefinder. Let's talk about that for a minute. Starswarm missiles, why list the ammo? You don't see Dire Avenger Shuriken Catapults with Shuriken Ammunition or Heavy Bolters with Bolter ammo. When you do see something like that, it's generally an indication of ammunition options, like on Sternguard. Dark Reapers have alternate ammunition options. Further speculation, this option will include skyfire missiles. Why? Because as it stands they are the best unit to give direct anti-air abilities to the Eldar Warhost. Banshees and Scorpions are out, they're close combat specialists. Fire Dragons would work, but the range is too short. Dire Avengers have the shots, but they don't have the weapons to handle high AV flyers. Warp Spiders can handle AV 12, but they still have the same range issue that Fire Dragons have. This leaves Swooping Hawks and Dark Reapers (outside of vehicle options) We know the Crimson Hunter will be an Anti-Air beast, but it's also a flyer and likely expensive. Swooping Hawks are doable, in a quirky sort of way. The Intercept rule from 4th describes them as being a unit that lands on fast moving skimmers and rips them apart and up until 6th edition this meant they posed a threat to Valkyries and Vendettas. It's possibly that they could tweak this rule to include flyers, but it's still a quirky and roundabout solution. Dark Reapers on the other hand have the range and if I'm right about the missiles, saying missile X has skyfire isn't much of a stretch.

Warp Spiders
Warp Spiders, like Dark Reapers, continue to have the same statline however they've become Jet Pack Infantry. They have Heavy Aspect Armor, Death Spinners, and Warp Jump Generators. Special Rules include Ancient Doom (seriously can't read it, could be Death) Battle Focus, Fleet, and Hit and Run. Off the bat, no points changes this unit got "cheaper" in that you don't need to pay for hit and run. The addition of fleet is nice and making them Jet Pack infantry could reduce the risk of the Warp Jump Generators old assault move. Potentially at least, it could still have that rule. Base on the fact that they have it without having Shuriken Weaponry we can at least speculate that Battle Focus works with just about any weapon, or maybe just assault weapons. My theory though is that Death Spinners could be Salvo weapons and take advantage of the newly earned Relentless quality given by being jet pack infantry. I base this on the fact that while the Deathspinner was an assault weapon in forth edition, it was a rapid fire weapon in 3rd so there is a basis for the weapon really not having a proper footing in its firing mechanism. That can be said for a lot of weapons though, what really makes me think this way is the change to jet pack infantry. Yes it's a convenient way to give rules to the unit to represent the extra assault phase movement, but the issue is that it slows the unit down. 12" move plus a 2d6 assault move, despite the risk involved was a lot faster than what is potentially now a 6" move plus run (with fleet), and a 2d6" assault move. So in effect, it's all a nerf to the unit. The argument against Salvo Death Spinners is that there would be no drawback and they'd be super awesome.

Wraithblades/Wraithguard
These units are covered in the same unit entry. I'm seeing the same statline as Wraithguard had before, but I'm not seeing any mention of the Wraithsight rule. Is it gone? What does a spiritseer do? Perhaps you must take a Warlock with the unit now. As this sort of, every unit needs a leader sort of thing. They are pictured numerous times without Warlock support though, and that still wouldn't alleviate the need for wraithsight as the warlock could be picked out of the unit. Other rules listings show them with Fearless, Ancient Doom, and Bulky which implies they can still be taken in Wave Serpents. That would help with the "getting them into combat issue" though in the battle report they marched their way up to mid-field and smacked a C'tan in the face. For wargear they sport Wraithcannons or Ghostswords and then obviously can take the D-Scythe or Ghostaxe(?) and Forceshield (it's listed as such, suggesting it's the same as the Autarch option)

Edit: According to the article by Phil Kelly at the back the Spiritseer will let you field a whole force of Wraith units from Wraithguard to Wraithlord, Wraithknight and Hemlock Wraithfighter.

Rangers
Rangers see a bump to WS 4 and I 5. This increase in close combat capability would be unimpressive normally, but with my earlier speculation that they could take close combat weapons, I find the stat changes very supporting. Rangers have Mesh Armor, Shuriken Pistols, and Ranger Long Rifles, and have Ancient Doom, Battle Focus, Fleet, Infiltrate, Move through Cover, and Stealth. No news on Pathfinder upgrades confirmed though I had read another set of rumors said that Illic Nightspear was instead an HQ and by taking him you could take Pathfinders.

Wave Serpents
Of note, the Wave Serpent in the battle report fired a "Serpent Shield" which killed two Necron Warriors. I suspect this to be similar to the wave attack the Aspect Assault Wave had access to in Apocalypse in that its a low strength pinning attack. While it's usefulness would be limited as the number of units susceptible to pinning is low, I still think it's a nice addition to the model, though will probably take away from any hope that Wave Serpents will be cheaper.

Eldar Wargear
A single page is shown depicting a Shard of Anaris, Firesabre, Spirit Stone of Anath'lan, Uldanobethi Long Rifle, Mantle of the Laughing God, Faolchu's Wing, and the Phoenix Gem. I can say with some certainty that the Uldanobethi Long Rifle is not Illic Nightspears rifle as his is called Voidbringer. Whether he can take the Long Rifle, which is just a sniper rifle with 120" range, has yet to be determined, but it's likely some other unit/model can take it as an upgrade since most named characters have specific gear. This begs the question as to whom can take it. The Shard of Anaris is the rumored +2 Str melee weapon that gives the wielder fearless while being rending, fleshbane and instant death. The Firesaber is +1 Str, AP 3 and has both Soul Blaze and the ability to spread soul blaze. The Spirit Stone of Anath'lan allows the wielder to reduce the warp charge of a psychic power by one, but takes away the models Rune Armor invuln save until the start of it's next turn. The Mantle of the Laughing God takes independent character away from the model but gives them hit and run, stealth, shrouded, and the ability to re-roll failed cover saves. Faolchu's Wing let's the model run 18" at the expense of being able to shoot, charge, or manifest psyhic powers in the shooting phase. The model then gains the ability to re-roll cover saves until the start of it's next turn. Finally, the Phoenix Gem is the item that lets you drop a blast template over the model when it dies dealing damage with a chance at saving the bearer. Really fine print on this one so it's hard to read entirely.

Models in the Codex
The following models are pictured or mentioned in the White Dwarf so you can expect them to be in the codex: Farseer, Autarch, Avatar of Khaine, Prince Yriel, Warlocks, Wraithknight, Wraithlord, Wraithguard, Wraithblades, Hemlock Wraithfighter, Crimson Hunter, Spiritseer, Rangers, Illic Nightspear, Guardians, Swooping Hawks, Warp Spiders, Dire Avengers, Striking Scorpions, Fire Dragons, Howling Banshees, Dark Reapers, Vypers, Guardian Jetbikes, Wave Serpents, Fire Prisms, and Falcons. War Walkers and Support Weapons are being sold as units of three as part of the pre-order so you can expect them to stay. No units have been taken down from the GW website. The Wraithknight is listed under heavy support and the Crimson Hunter/Hemock is in Fast Attack. Illic Nightspear is listed in the HQ section of the website as well along with the Spiritseer.

Edit: Based on Phil Kelly's article near the end of the White Dwarf, he speaks briefly on battle focus making the Eldar the best at what they do. It's my opinion that Battle Focus may have special effects based on the unit it is applied to. Dire Avengers for example can move-shoot-run.

A lot to digest and in just a week there will be so much more. It's no surprise I'm excited for this release and I strongly recommend checking out the June White Dwarf for pictures as there are so many.

Gearing Up For Eldar Part 2

2013-05-22T20:04:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I gave you my reactions to some of the models coming out. Today I'd like to touch on some of the rules leaks gleaned from the Battle Report in this upcoming White Dwarf. There's a lot of info here taken from an encounter with Necrons and a lot of it looks good. As before my thoughts are in red.

Pulled from here. My compliments to the OP.

Guy on dakka claims to have seen the battle rep in the new WD:

- From what I saw all the non Wraith infantry have the run/shoot shoot/run ability (the rule was called Battle something). Avengers definitely do (from the report) and Rangers definitely do (from tiny printed profile in the WD) as well. Not sure if its just for Shuriken weapons (Rangers do have Pistols I guess).

I'm still trying to wrap the tactical implications of this rule. I like it simply because it makes Eldar a mobile army again, even on foot. I wonder if it influences CC units at all, will Banshees be able to charge after running perhaps? I'd like it to work that way, otherwise it only benefits the shooting units.

- It looks likes all Eldar have the 'Ancient Foe' special rule, no idea what this does but I suspect its something like Hatred Daemons of Slaneesh (don't think it was Necron related as the report was against Crons) since all Eldar appear to have it (including the Wraith units).

He had no idea what this does. Neither do I. Necrons make the most sense, or Daemons, but with no mention of it coming into play in the battle report I guess we'll have to wait and see on this one.

- There are 14 Eldar specific psychic powers from 2 different charts, Runes of Battle and Runes of Fate. However it looks like several of the powers are 2 in 1, i.e they have a buff mode and a debuff mode, so there are actually HEAPS of powers. I.e the Primaris for Battle is Conceal/Reveal (as a single card/roll etc), Conceal gives you Shrouded and Reveal removes Shrouded from an enemy. The 1 on the Battle Chart was Destructor/Renew(?), Destructor being the same as before with Soul Blaze added and Renew allowing you to restore a wound to a friendy model within range (18" I think). Primaris for Runes of Fate was Guide, which is now 24" range but is otherwise the exact same as before. Very surprising to see this as aside from the range it is far worse than the Divination Primaris (although I guess you could take both and effectively Guide two units). The 1 on the Fate Chart was a terrible Focuses Witchfire power. Fortune and Doom are still options (the Farseer in the report had them) and appear to have the same effects.

I'm super excited here. We're looking at 28 possible psychic powers. Does a Farseer take a single roll for each level of psychic mastery and thus get 2 powers for 1? Also Warlocks use this table to I'm pretty excited to see that. Are these powers in addition to those in the core book? I'd like to thing so.

- The Avatar has Fleet. Also one of the psychic powers increases your movement speed/charge range somehow

I have never really run the Avatar all that often. I do like the notion of it having fleet and even better the idea of a psychic power that improves speed. The implications of this power combined with the Battle Focus ability is pretty amazing. Don't mind me I'm just going to move this foot unit halfway across the table in one turn, don't worry about it.

- The Wraithknight is insanely huge, it is literally twice the height of a Wraithlord, and the sword option it can take is basically the size of a Wraithlord as well. It can take up to 2 Suncannons, which are S6 AP2 Heavy 3 Small Blast or up to 2 Wraithlances(?) which are presumably the heavy anti tank option. Sword replaces one of the big guns I think (they are arm mounted like the Titans). This is in addition to the two shoulder mounted heavy weapons (I saw Scatters and Starcannons, so presumably the normal range of heavy weapons are available)

A newer image leaked shows the Wraithknight with it's massive sword and also an arm shield device like the Wraithblades. This could be an anti infantry monster targeting Terminators with a vengeance since it can mount 2 Starcannons and 2 of these Suncannons. I really need some rules on the sword before I can make a verdict, but it'd have to be better than the current Wraithlord's close combat ability to impress me with something to handle hordes of infantry.

- Wraithguard and Wraithblades look good, think scaled down Wraithlords. They looked a bit bigger than the old ones, but I think it was partly just the added range of motion in the poses on 40mm bases (similar to the old 25mm base Terminators vs the newer 40mm base ones, they are bigger but the better poses help as well). Wraithguard can now get either Wraithcannons (which from the fluff descriptions seemed to still be single shot and very powerful) or D Scythes which were described as a multi shot weapon but it could still Pen vehicles on a 6. Wraithblades are only 1A base (sadly) but looked like they could go either 2 CCW(no idea on stats of their weapons, but they appeared to have sword/axe options) or 1 CCW + Shield gen arm.

Pending any changes you still should be able to deliver these guys into battle via a Wave Serpent and while Banshees can't handle that sort of insertion method, I'd imagine a group of 5 T6 3+ armor guys could, especially if those shields give them an invuln save. Let's hope for assault ramps.

- Wraithguard are definitely S5 T6, Lord is almost certainly not T6 (a full unit of Destroyers shot one in the report and did nothing, which suggests T8 or some other equivalent buff). No idea on the stats for the Knight.

If the Wraithlord is T8, I'd imagine the Wraithknight is as well. Could be toughness 9 or 10, but I don't want to hear from non Eldar players at that point. I'm guess it's T8 with around 6 Wounds and a sweet armor save.

- It looks like Aspect Warriors have the same base profile, include Exarches with Ld9

Not surprised here. I don't expect many units to have changed profiles. I've never subscribed to the notion that all Eldar should have there BS and WS improved. Guardian BS 3 is plenty fine when you consider that the trained soldiers of the Tau and Imperial Guard share a similar skill level and my Craftworld just handed this guy a Shuriken Catapult after he finished his dream cycle on the Path of the Dreamer (Read Gav Thorpe's Path of series, it's good.)

- Reapers have Slow and Purposeful

I recall reading in the fluff about how the armor of a Dark Reaper works and wondering why they couldn't move and shoot. This has made my day. Now my question is this, do they also have Battle Focus? I hope so because even though they can move now they are going to be leagues behind the rest of my army.

- Rangers have WS4. They also have a character (not sure if he is upgrade or HQ) who has a 120" range Sniper Rifle.

Rumors indicate that Illic Nightspear is a unit upgrade. Seems like a cool enough cat. Why Rangers are getting WS4 is beyond me unless, as I've thought for some time, that they will have some weapon options. Consider the idea that every Craftworld outcast is given a sniper rifle and a duster. It's a little silly, surely some of these guys have walked the Path of the Warrior before becoming outcasts, maybe they know a thing or two about swords and shuriken catapults. Maybe you could run a unit like the Rangers in Dawn of War 2, one has a Sniper Rifle the rest have swords. It will totally be combat effective I assure you.

- One of the fliers has 2 Heavy D Scythes on the wings and a psychic based main gun. The other has 2 Bright Lances and a Pulse Laser.

We know, based on pictures that the Hemlock has the 2 Heavy D Scythes and the psychic based main gun and the Crimson Hunter has 2 Bright Lances and a Pulse Laser. I speculate them to be AV10 with 3 Hull Points and some weird Eldar gizmo that gives them Shrouded. That, of course, is drawn from my experience with Forgeworld's interpretations of Eldar flyers. It could just be AV 12 and call it a day. Either way I'm really hoping to be able to be able to take them in squadrons. Imperial Guard gets Vendetta squadrons after all.

- Saw stats for what looked like special weapons for characters, might have been for Special Characters as well since the 120" range sniper was in there. One weapon was +2S, AP- Melee, Rending, Fleshbane, Instant Death. Another was +1S AP3, Soul Blaze, and if you killed anything with Soul Blaze then every unit within 6" of that unit would become effected by Soul Blaze as well. There was also a one use only piece of wargear, which you could use when the character died. On a 2+ you place a S4 AP3 template over the character, hitting both friend and foe, but if you cause at least 1 wound then the character stands back up with 1 wound. Last one I saw was an item which gave the user Fearless, Shrouded, Stealth and re-roll cover saves but they lose the IC rule, which gives people a way to make a Solitare (the name was something to do with the Laughing God).

Without knowing who can take these are what they actually are I can't say much. I know the 120" Range Sniper rifle goes to Illic. Some cool items in there, but again without knowing more I really can't comment on them.

From Kirby:

BatRep army list:

Avatar of Khaine
Farseer w/Spear, Mastery Level 3 (choose three powers)
Warlock w/Mastery Level 1 (choose one power) and by choose I mean rolled for

5x Dragons w/Wave Serpent (twin-linked starcannons)
5x Wraithblades

10x DA w/Exarch, Powerweapon Shimmershield
10x DA w/Exarch, Powerweapon Shimmershield, Wave serpent (twin-linked brightlances)
6x Jetbikes w/2x Shuriken Cannons

Hemlock Wraithfighter
Crimson Hunter w/Exarch

Wraithlord w/Brightlance Ghostglaive
Wraithknight w/suncannon, shattershield, 2x scatter lasers

About 2000 pts

Guide is friendly unit now - 24" range.

Conceal/reveal - psyker gains shrouded; enemy unit within 18" loses stealth + shrouded.

Descructor/Renewal (Battle)
S5 AP4 template + soulblaze which causes more soulblaze
18" regeneration of a wound

Jetbikes are Troops. Wraithguard I think are Troops with Spiritseer.

I'm seeing three HQs. Does this mean a Farseer still lets you take X amount of warlocks? A early rumor mentioned Farseers being able to form a brotherhood of psykers maybe they work in tandum like that. I'd like to read the BatRep to see where that Warlock ended up. I wonder if they are like Wolf Guard and you can put them in various units.
I see the Jetbikes are still troops and I like that. Wraithblades are Elite as I'd expect.
The Crimson Hunter w/Exarch is what interests me here. Again with my squadron theory, I can see them like Broadsides. One can be taken, but you can add two more. One gets a sergeant upgrade. In Eldar fluff it could still just be a single fighter as an Exarch is just one who is trapped on a particular path of war.
The Wraithknight is in the Heavy slot, competing with the Wraithlord as I feared. Ghostglaive is hopefully something cooler than a Wraithsword and I see that the Wraithknight shield is called a Shattershield. What I also see is that you can take two guns, 1 gun and a sword, or 1 gun and a shield, or sword and shield. Seems like it has a fair amount of options.
Finally Conceal grants Shrouded! Conceal covers a unit in psychic mist, I've always wondered why being in psychic mist in the woods wasn't better than either situation individually. This opens up so many avenues of play and makes me enjoy the power immensely. I also like that each power has an inverse effect against your enemy. I'd likely use the buffs more as you can avoid deny the witch and most other psychic defenses that way, but some of these abilities are too good to ignore. I also like Destructor is more than just a heavy flamer.

In all I like what I'm seeing and can't wait to see more. I intend on picking up the White Dwarf when it drops and perhaps that will give me more info on the subject. Until then I'll keep an eye on the rumors and regurgitate anything exciting here.

Gearing Up For Eldar Part 1

2013-05-21T22:01:00.002-04:00

I've been refreshing the Eldar rumor thread on Dakka and BoLS all afternoon like a stock broker. I'm trying to take in all the speculative Eldar data I can whilst weeding through the now 100page long threads. It's been as intense as jamming the refresh button every 20mins can be and I gotta tell you I'm liking the look of things.

Here are the thread links for anyone interested:

Here's my take on some of what's going on:

Eldar Wraithknight
I suppose the first thing to talk about is the Wraithknight as it seems to be drawing the most attention. It's an impressive model, though I have mixed feelings on it. It's not that it's rumored to be around 300 points and $115 so quite expensive for a single model, but that's not my concern. Ultimately the problem I have with it is that it will either be a Heavy choice (most likely) or an Elites choice (Like the riptide surprised me with) assuming nothing is cut or moved the Wraithknight will be competing with War Walkers, Fire Prisms, Wraithlords, Falcons, Nightspinners, Dark Reapers, Support Weapon Batteries, and probably the new Hemlock. Or if it's an Elite, Banshees, Scorpions, Dragons, Wraithguard. I could see some models being moved around, like Nightspinner and War Walkers to fast attack, but still the Wraithknight is essentially making the Wraithlord a redudant option. Like you'll want the Wraithknight, but if you can't afford it, take a Wraithlord. Now the rules aren't out yet, just some info on it's weapons, but the Tau Riptide had it's own niche in the army outside of Broadsides and Crisis Suits. I'd like to see that here, but I haven't yet. I'm only hearing about a sword as big as a Wraithlord, the Sun Cannon which appears to be a Heavy 3 Blast Starcannon, or the Wraithlance which is an anti-tank option according to rumors (and because it has lance in the title) It's big, it's awesome, I just don't know what it brings to the table that we don't already have. Rules and time will tell

Crimson Hunter
Decidedly less dick-shaped than previously silhouetted. I like the concept here, finally some trained vehicle pilots. The fluff sounds cool, they basically follow the Path of the Warrior and represent Khaine the Top Gun Pilot. Now you can show your opponent the DANGER ZONE! I don't like that they pilot the "Nightshade" Interceptor when I have a perfectly good "Nightwing" Interceptor on my shelf, but what can you do, it's a little stubby, but still looks good. One rumor I read said something to the effect of an Exarch being able to take starcannons as an upgrade. This raises a question, can they be taken as a unit like other Aspect Warriors? It could just be an individual upgrade, but it stands to reason that if you can upgrade the model to essentially a Sergeant you can take more than one. If it's as fun as my Nightwing was to run hunting enemy flyers I'm ready to run a few of these on the table.

Hemlock Wraithfighter
Reportedly a Psychically armed bomber that will wreck havoc on enemy troops. Sounds like the Phoenix Bomber from IA: 11 which contained a bunch of anti-space marine missiles. Not much to go on, not much to say. The dual kit looks good as they did an excellent job making the two flyers distinct despite using the same parts. If it's anything like the Hemlock Frigate (Destroyer??) from BFG it should have a big underslung gun. I'm glad it doesn't though as I never felt that design was very Eldar-esque.. Here's the picture.

Wraithguard/Wraithblades

Wraithguard get a new multishot gun which is cool and goes with the new plastic kit. I like it and I hope you can mix and match the options in one squad. Though it's kind of their thing, the Eldar war doctrine of this unit is good at this and that unit is good at that is extinct from modern warfare for a reason. The Wraithblades have me excited the most. Close Combat Wraithguard just look cool with their 2 Sword or Axe and Shimmershield looking thing. Based on style I'd expect it to give an invuln save because that's what that wargear seems to do for everybody. Whether it's for the model like an Autarch or squadbased like the Dire Avenger Exarch remains to be seen though I'd expect it to be per model since you're supposed to be taking units of these guys. Again, I'd like to be able to mix and match the weapon loadouts like TH+SS Termies and LC Termies.

This concludes part 1. Part 2 we will look over some of the rules leaked in the BatRep.

Campaign Ideas

2013-04-20T08:33:00.000-04:00

One of my constant struggles as a player of pen and paper RPGs is going between playing a character and a Game Master. When I'm a GM I constantly come up with character ideas and when I'm a PC I constantly come up with campaign ideas. It makes things difficult when trying to stay focused. On the plus side, I'm never without a few ideas to start a campaign. Here's some that you guys can use:

1. Troy Sword of the City Scene
If you've seen the movie Troy with Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom, there is a scene as the city of Troy is falling where Orlando Bloom passes the Sword of Troy to a guy and tells him something to the effect of, "as long as this sword is in the hands of a Citizen of Troy there will always be a Troy" Something like that at least. At any rate, the campaign starts under similar circumstances and the Party consists of members of those escaping from the city as it is being invaded. First adventure consists of bringing the women, children, and elderly to safety. From there it could turn into a Kingdom building expedition as the party seeks to rebuild what they lost. Alternatively it could be a plot of revenge where the party seeks to liberate their former kingdom and stick it to those who have done them wrong.

2. Colonists in a new world
A very simple idea. Party arrives on a ship (or airship, dragons back, whatever) to a "new world" or perhaps an already colonized area similar to Xendrik in the Eberron setting, or Raven Rock in th Elder Scrolls Setting. The point is it's an outpost in a new land. The idea is to get the players out of there comfort zone and have them engage foreign monsters. If your party has spent years fighting orcs and goblins throw troglodytes and lizardfolk at them instead, or make up an entirely new race of monstrous humanoids.Perhaps they can establish relationships with the indigenous folk, learn new magics, and explore a vast new area. Try new environments like the Jungle or Desert, if they arrived by ship you can explore the coastline.

3. Asian Style Empire opens it's gates to foreigners, PCs are one of the first to visit
This idea came about after a botched attempt to run an Oriental Adventures themed game in the past. My group of players wasn't too keen on the idea of playing Asian themed characters, or rather I think there was a bit of a culture shock. Admittedly my approach was wrong, I handed them a document on Samurai etiquette and said, "Here you go!" and it was a difficult transition. Then this idea hit me, what if they were foreigners in an Asian setting. Think Tom Cruise in the Last Samurai or any number of Martial Arts movies where a Western Empire has a foothold in China or Japan. Rewind the timeline a bit (or not) so that everyone is using Medieval technologies and you're good to go. A similar concept could involve the Crusades and it introduces the party to a Middle Eastern setting and Culture. The idea is to let your characters learn about the setting through play and not force upon them this doctrine of unfamiliar etiquette. Having an NPC explain that the Samurai will likely kill you if you touch his Katana is better than having the player touch the katana and promptly start a fight with no explanation.

4. Magical Mech Suits.
In a nutshell, Vanguard Bandits. The idea is they get magical (or clockwork) suits of armor that essentially polymorph them into large (or huge) sized Golems. This idea came about not only because I enjoy mecha anime, but also as a way to get players who'd rather play high level PCs back to level one. The compromise is, I give you a magical suit of awesome armor and you be level one again. I've never pitched this idea to my game group, but I've always kept in on the back burner. You can play around with how they get repairs and also the sizes of Dungeons to make the party enter or exit their mech suits as needed. Maybe there's a big heavy boulder in the way, you need your mech suit to lift it, but the passage beyond is too narrow to continue unless you dismount. As far as rules go, I envisioned an idea where you'd use the polymorph rules from 3.5 to let your players essentially take up the STR, DEX, and CON of the suit as well as some other qualities. Pathfinder vehicle rules might also work, but I think modifying the polymoprh rules might flow better in combat situations. Then again that might change if your mech suits are AT-STs or Gundams, choose a rule set that fits your concept.

5. Renaissance Italy... or just the Renaissance Time Period.
The Assassin's Creed games painted a beautiful picture of Renaissance Italy. In addition I've always been excited to run a game in a Venice like city. Galantri from the Mystara setting is still one of my all time fantasy places to visit. Something about the boats I guess. In terms of technology though, the Renaissance period is an interesting one. You'd have more prevalent firearms and if that's not your groups cup of tea, certainly avoid this idea, but you can explore a Three Musketeers style campaign. Then again, you can explore any traditional campaign style, the point here is to play in a slightly more advanced time period.

6. Fallout, Post Apocalypse
It's Adventure Time! Simple premise. End of the World Scenario, but instead of Nukes in Modern Times (or the 1950s of the Future) it's Global Thermomagical Wizard War as them drop spells that blast civilization back to... well right where it is actually. Imagine though wasteland landscapes and horribly mutated magical creatures. Aberrations and Magical beasts will make up the bulk of your encounters here and the theme of the game is survival. Introducing a survival mechanic is a possibility and it rewards/punishes the party for not finding good sources of water, food, and shelter. Two alternatives here are the Rapture and Zombie Apocalypse. In the Rapture Scenario it's the end of days based on your campaigns religion. Maybe it's the actual rapture or it's Ragnarok, but the minions of Hell (or Helheim) are on the Material plane and they are looking to play. In the Zombie Apocalypse scenario, the zombie plague has spread across much of the known land and the players are just looking to survive. Smashing zombie after zombie gets a little boring however so I might expand this idea to include numerous undead types. This scenario could be focused around finding the cure or eradicating the necessary evil (it's probably a Lich)

That Site Reboot I mentioned

2013-04-14T10:03:00.000-04:00

I have returned from vacation and in the next couple of weeks we're going to start rolling out some of those reboot changes I had mentioned months ago. I say we because I've added a second author, Mr. NerdWatch, who will be bringing you all sorts of content ranging from tabletop games, to video games, to comic books. In addition we are going to be working on some podcast type posts where we can discuss various things, like Kroot for example, which should be one of our first topics of discussion. As soon as we can get a name for ourselves expect to see a change in the sites title, but for now it will remain Ghostwind Corsairs. That's all for now, I have to go prepare for a 40k game. Eldar vs. Blood Angels. I should probably do a battle report on it. At any rate. I'm out.

The Tau Empire: A Reaction

2013-04-06T14:10:00.000-04:00

So I picked up the Tau codex on my way into work this morning. I thought it would give me a good read on a typically slow Saturday afternoon. Rather than review the book in a traditional format I thought it would be cool to give some first reactions based on the conversation I've been having with my good ol'friend Mr. Nerdwatch.

Me: Tau Codex in hand
Him: Ballin' so, any possibility of a super gundam force?
Me: Let's take a look.
Me: You can have all fire warrior type dudes.
Him: So they got rid of the "you must have a battle suit commander?"
Me: Yeah, it looks like you can take an HQ called a Cadre Fireblade.
Him: Cool.
Me: Riptide is an Elite!
Him: Jigga what now?
Me: I would've thought that badass mutha was a heavy.
Him: Yeah, me too.
Me: But it looks like there's no way to make battlesuits a troops choice and so you either have to take firewarriors or kroot.
Him: Sad face.
Him: I would have loved shadowsun to make stealth suits troops.
Me: Not that I'm seeing.
Him: Oh?
Him: aww
Him: read that as "Now that I'm seeing"
Him: I'm assuming stealth suits have changed, looks like there getting rid of those rules where you measure distance to see if you can see them.
Me: Yeah, you instead get stealth and shrouded so a 2+ save in cover is pretty nice.
Him: Cost? any other changes? Still FA?
Me: Elites
Him: Hmm, always with the elites, did they get any new FA's or heavy's worth looking at?
Me: Nothing new save their flyers
Me: They also already dropped a faq saying only broadsides could get missile drones. Doesn't change my plan, but before you could have firewarriors with the drones as well.
Him: Interesting.
Me: Sniper Drones got a bit of a nerf, maybe. In that they got regular sniper rifles instead of the Str 6 AP 3 rail guns.
Me: That said, the new guns are rapid fire.
Me: and have a 48" range.
Him: I'd assume, as I'm pretty sure the new tau still don't like CC.
Me: Nope, in fact, they have a special rule that lets any unit within 6" not just the charged unit, overwatch.
Me: That's their codex wide ability.
Him: Oh, shit, that actually means a gunline would be awesome.
Me: Yeah, I'm thinking put a line of dudes across the front that you'd have to charge then put blocks of dudes behind. Charge the lead unit and the whole army gets overwatch.
Him: Indeed.
Him: An Aegis defnce line makes this a good strategy.
Me: I just broke the game!
Him: Lol
Me: Because you can expend markerlights during overwatch to increase your BS.
Him: Dayum dayum dayum!
Me: There's like 1000 drones
Me: Marker Drone, Gun Drone, Missile Drone, Shield Drone, Recon Drone, Grav-Inhibiter Drone, Pulse Accelerator Drone....
Me: Sniper Drone, Command Drone....
Him: We got all kinds a drones.
Me: Small Drones, Fat Drones, Quick Drones, Sloooow Drones, Come on Down to Cadre's Drone Imporium cause we've got a drone for yooooou!
Me: They have Commander Longstrike a special character for Hammerheads.
Him: What does her do?
Him: he*
Me: Which gives the Hammerhead tank hunters, preferred enemy (imp guard) and BS 5
Me: And a Pathfinder Special Character HQ who is know as Darkstrider. Outside of being a badass Pathfinder he and his unit treat non-vehicle enemies as -1 toughness for shooting and can consolidate D6" after firing overwatch.
Me: Which I can see being used as intended, to get the fuck away from combat, but what if you use that ability to put that squad in front of a squad targeted by a charge. If the opponent can't reach the initial target no charge can happen me thinks.
Me: I might do a battlesuit-less army. They've got some cool shit. The Cadre Fireblade gives his unit "bladestorm" if it doesn't move and it can still shoot next turn.
Him: Datum.
Him: Dayum
Me: I like the cut of this armies jib.
Me: The Damn Riptide has a Shield Missile Drone! Sooo many drones.
Me: Sadly I don't think they've changed Kroot or Vespids at all.
Him: Sad pandas.
Me: There IS however an Ethereal Special Character that is a close combat monster.
Me: I would also take Ethereals in general now. They don't make your whole army run away when they die and they have sweet support powers.
Him: Ehterals were just BAD
Me: Now that rule is changed to All units within 12" can use his leadership for most things and if he does die he gives up an extra victory point.
Me: In addition they can grant all friendly units within 12" one of the following: Stubborn, Fire and extra shot at half range, Feel No Pain on a 6+ or they can fire Snap Shots after running.
Me: The book seems pretty solid. I'm impressed.

So in general those are our first thoughts on the book. I'm still reading through it looking for strategies and inspiration for a list. There is a natural evolution of my previous ideas on Tau in here and I feel like I can bring that to the forefront. Also just some really cool stuff in general. If I wasn't so invested in my Eldar I might just consider switching armies. Ghostwind Cadre perhaps? I doubt it...

Quick Update

2013-03-28T13:57:00.000-04:00

I have been rather busy as of late without much in the way of content to post. I had gotten in the habit of posting on Wednesdays and Saturdays and if possible I'd like to continue doing so, but I don't want to call it a schedule as of yet. Instead of anything practical I thought I'd give you some insight on a couple of things I'm working on.

Infinity
I picked up the rules and Japanese Sectoral Army starter for infinity and I'm working my way through it. The rule book is a tough read but the producers of the game were kind enough to make a number of tutorial videos as well as make the rules, wiki, and army builder available on their main website. Based on my research I have a knack for picking tough armies to play as the Japanese Sectoral Army is an army that excels in close combat in a game where you want to be shooting. Should be fun.

Warhammer Fantasy RPG
Looks like I might be getting together a group to play this game. I've been reading through the rules quite extensively in preparation. Should be fun, provided it pans out. More to come as the game develops.

Warhammer 40k
This Saturday I will be attending a gathering of friends for some 40k and BBQ. Haven't settled on what exactly I'll bring as of yet.

In addition, I've sort of begun "spring cleaning" my Eldar. I started separating my models based on how painted they are and if they need any sort of repair. The goal is to get everything sorted and possibly painted though I'm still in the habit of only painting models I plan on using.

My plans for a Tau army, or at least Tau allies is on hold pending the codex release in the next month. A lot of the new information looks promising. I like the Riptide model and will most certainly field a few in my list.

Super Dungeon Explore
I love this game. I'm looking to do at least a video or two on it as it's really cool and a lot of fun to play. Also, as a result of owning both the core set and first expansion "The Caverns of Roxor" I have a large sum of minis that I need to paint.

X-Wing Miniatures Game
As if I needed another game to play, I've purchased 2 starter sets for X-Wing. Youtube tutorial videos make this game look very cool and I'm exciting to have sort of Space Flight Minis game that looks both fun and has a decent following.

Tau Project Log: Part 1 Planning Phase

2013-03-09T14:02:00.000-05:00

The Tau are an army I've always wanted to run since I began playing Warhammer 40k in 2003. As a big time Mecha Anime fan, the army has a solid appeal to me. Something about Giant Robots battling for justice just draws me in. Now I know the rumor mills are abuzz with a Tau Codex on the horizon, but I just couldn't help myself and bought the current Tau Codex.

With Codex in hand I quickly began to digest how the army works and what elements I'd like to bring forth. Ultimately this army is for the fun of it and it's been some years since I've been able to put a competitive army on the table so winning games is secondary to having a blast playing them. So with that in mind I decided to focus on Battlesuits. Again, my draw to Tau has always been my interest in Mecha anime, Battletech, Heavy Gear, etc. and so I've always found Battlesuits to be the most interesting part of the Tau army for me.

So piecing together my list with my penchant for Tau Battlesuits I decided to take two Crisis Suit Squads and two Broadside Squads. I have a strong interest in Stealth Suits as well, but I wanted to maximize the bigger suits first.

The second thing I wanted to bring about is the use of markerlights. I like the system and think it has more merit than a Farseer using Doom and Guide. Well, Guide. Markerlights I think bring about the same impact as Doom, but in a different way. The benefit of Doom is that any unit targeting an enemy unit under its effect can take advantage of the re-roll. Markerlights have that same advantage.

Wanting to take the upmost advantage of markerlights I decided to not only including them in several places throughout my army, but also took two pathfinder teams. In casual games I've seen Pathfinder teams dropped within Pulse carbine range and subsequently get smashed by enemy units. My plan involves keeping them at the fringes of Markerlight range to support my Firewarriors and Battlesuits. The Devilfish will also be useful in that I can use them to reroll scatter when my Crisis Suits Deepstrike onto the table. I've also included a few Rail Rifles in each squad to help with the final element of my army. Delaying Tactics.

At the end of the day I've created a gun-line list and the key to any gun-line list is getting to shoot the enemy. Therefore I've made sure that I can accomplish this as much as possible. To delay the assault I have two major elements working for me. The first is pinning tests: I've attempted to capitalize on weaponry that forces my opponent to make pinning tests. This combined with target priority and selection should help keep the enemy at bay, at least a little bit. The second element comes in the form of my Crisis Suits which should drop onto the table and give my opponent something to think about.

At any rate, these are my ideas for now. Are there any veteran Tau players have any insight on how I can improve on my proposed tactics? I'd much appreciate the input.

Adepticon Team Tournament Primer Highlights

2013-03-06T18:16:00.001-05:00

Here's the highlights from The Game Room in Toledo's Adepticon Team Tournament Primer. I'm not proud of the video, but I just wanted to get it done and move on to better things. My microphone didn't record my voice in any quality worth adding to the video so you just get moving pictures. Think of it as a silent film with music put to it. Anyway, enjoy! Look for more (better) videos in the future.

Eldar Rumors make the Webway

2013-03-06T12:50:00.000-05:00

As my only 40k army I tend to pay close attention to Eldar rumors floating about the internets. I thought I'd share my thoughts on some of the rumors flying around. These are coming from Faeit 212: Warhammer 40k News and Rumors. Remember though these are only rumors and my comments on them make for a post that has roughly zero credibility. My thoughts are in bold and red so they look like this.

Here's the latest batch of Eldar rumors which can be found here: Faeit 212: Eldar Rumors Unload Lots of Developing Rules

- Autarchs take Paths. These represent completed paths they have walked and are tied to the various aspects. By taking a path you make the respective aspect warrior a troop choice (the exception are reapers who just become scoring)

I like this notion, and it makes the Autarch competitive with the Farseer again for my HQ slot, however there isn't an aspect with the versitility to enter the troops slot and really change the game. If you took all Fire Dragons you're going to have problems with X if you took all Swooping Hawks you're going to have problems with Y. I think it would be cool if you built your Autarch by choosing which paths he took, but I could see how that level of customizability is no longer present in 40k.

- Overall point cost reduction (guardians see it the most, aspect warriors see it the least, but are instead a fair margin better with only a minor cost decrease for two of the schools).

Good news. I'm really hoping they improve the Shuriken Catapult. I'd hope for 18" Range for Guardians and 24" Range for Dire Avengers.

- new special rule that influence how howling banshees interact in combat. It's current iteration really makes them feel like glass cannons that are amazing at what they're designed to do.

Interesting. I'd like to hear how they are going to solve the issue of getting them into close combat first though.

-Seer councils have brotherhood of psykers (the farseers still cast their own abilities in addition, but two farseers together cast more than 2 farseers separately)

Reading the rule for Brotherhood of psykers rule I can see this as giving 2 farseers together an extra psychic power. This is perhaps how Eldar achieve psychic mastery 3 or 4, in a sense. Each Farseer would have their own psychic mastery and then as a unit they would have a psychic mastery of 1.

- in general, aspect warriors are hyper focused and hyper successful if used properly Appropriate
- No new aspect To be expected
- 2 new flyers Bomber and a Fighter?
- lots of units get access to skyfire Exarch powers?
- new tank (on falcon chasis) Combine with above rumor and you get a Firestorm
- Avatar is buffed a lot Not sure how? He is pretty boss as it is. Higher Toughness maybe?
- Two new special characters Old rumors suggest the return of Nuadhu Fireheart, if true I'm guessing he'll use the chariot rules.
- exarchs are all really good in duels in different ways Vague but interesting. I feel like most Exarchs are really good at this as is.
- farseers are still awesome psykers I'm hoping base psychic mastery 2... hoping.
- warlocks improve deny the witch. As psykers they already do. They have a psychic mastery of 0 which isn't the same as no psychic mastery, thus they always add +1 to deny the witch rolls.
- falcon/wave serpent point reduction Much needed
- way to make some of the craftworld specific lists Interesting
- additional rules for allying with dark eldar I like the notion of this and if true I hope it continues in other books. Certain armies allied together have special rules.
- expanded fluff on the war in heaven I can always appreciate more fluff.

In addition here is an older post about Eldar Models: Faeit 212: Details of the New Eldar Models

Eldar Warpspiders/Everguard
5 per box
Spiders: whole squad looks like the old exarch, no huge weapon, helmets smaller, but same shape, wrist blades, two small spinner weapons on rod mount from the back. Spider web like straps on the chest that hold the backpack (doesn’t look as broad as the old version), running, jumping and slightly cowering poses, exarch has extra pair of weapons on the cover, don’t remember the back pictures

Based on description I would say that the whole squad is assault 3 or 4 guns with at least close combat weapons. This makes them assaulting Jump Infantry? Eldar don't really have that unit yet so kind of cool. If the guns stay S6 AP - I could see this units role to be the popping of light transports and assaulting the troops inside.

Everguard: aspect warrior body with runes on the chest, same collar as warpspiders but no mandible arcs and gas masks, different more warlock-like face plate and small arc at back of the head, double bladed two-handed spears, very dynamic models, jets from the side/underside of the backpack, squad leader has larger head-arc, mantle hangs over the backpack, flies in the wind

Everguard appear in the codex in one of the pictures. They look like Eldar versions of the Emperor's royal guard. Eldar Assault marines?

Eldar Sky Charriots/Shining Spears
3 per box, look like small vypers, slightly larger than jetbikes. Two parts: an engine part with jetbike-like canopy but in the shape of a dragon, owl and hawk head, sideway jets, and a distinct winged chariot part, parts are connected by arcs.

Riders either warlocks but arms are not robed, spear, sword and staff; or shining spear aspect warriors with lances, shining spears have smooth canopies with gems instead animal heads, helms look very cylon-like, have collar-like shoulderguards

Let's speculate about Shining Spears using the Chariot rules for a minute. If true, I'd imagine a squad of 3 to 5 AV 10 Vypers. The riders could make sweep attacks and gain D6 hammer of wrath attacks instead of one. A very cool proposition, however the destruction of a chariot forces the rider to disembark, meaning Shining Spears could end up on foot. Sky Charriots could be a fighting platform for Warlocks and Farseers.

Eldar Jetbikes
3 per box, the same pose as dark eldar jetbike, guardian riders with smaller helmets or bareheaded with lots of flying hair (80s heavy metal mane) and without backpack, vyper-esque smooth canopy, jet and wings have the same design as a falcon grav tank, under slung twin shuriken catapults and/or serpent-shaped bladehooks, some riders have axes with a hole in the blade

The close combat weapons and hooks could be an indication of a return of the Wild Rider's of Saim-hann. However, the rules do state that all units have a close combat weapon of some sort even if not listed so it could be nothing. That said I've occasionally beat down some units with my jetbikes in close combat and it would be cool to have swords and axes to model on them.

Eldar Dragon Riders
3 per box, very slender lizard mounts not unlike slaanesh steeds, all female rider, no helmets, long braids, guardian armor without backpack, all have shining spear lances, sabres and/or sniper rifles as sidearms, the armor has no decoration, not even gems or small bubbles, only exception is a gem that holds a cloak that falls to the left side of the rider, very simplistic look, not aztec or tribal at all

These are an interesting unit. They hint at a notion of Exodite Eldar units appearing in the codex. At the very least we have Eldar using the cavalry rules which is both new and kind of cool. I wonder how good they will be with Sniper Rifles.

Eldar Wraithguard/Cataphracts
3 per box, look like old versions but have two rods for upper arms and thighs instead of just one, some have feet, some hooves, large fins at the back

Plastic Wraithguard? Yes please!

Cataphracts: float/fly, fluttering cloth pieces instead of legs, wing-shaped shields and spears, segmented/armored head

Close Combat jump wraithguard maybe? Can't really say for certain, though I've always held the idea that Wraithguard with different weapons options could be cool.

Eldar Swooping Hawks
5 per box, larger wings, not so stiff and two-dimensional, several straps of clothes from the loin, wrists and ankles, model stand on these straps, both shoulder plates have inbuilt missile racks, Exarch has two shoulder-mounted blasters and a scimitar in one hand and two optional rifles, one is the same as the old exarch had, the other is a small star cannon

The idea of Swooping Hawks having missile Launchers is awesome to me, however these could just be a re-model of the grenade pack.

The Avatar of the Young King
Completely new design, much smaller, only as large as a wraithguard, set of aspect armour where every piece is spread out and connected by a body of magma, looks like an fire/earth elemental clad in a suit of armour, dire avenger helm with fire from the eyes and half burnt helm crest, floats and torso pose looks like vader during his Noooo scream, hands are armored, blood is dripping from the left, the right is molten and transformed into a blade

I'm not so certain this is the Avatar. Could be a new unit entirely. If it is the Avatar, I don't know how it could keep it's status as a monstrous creature. What's interesting is that it could join up with other ICs that way and you could form the Court of the Young King. Perhaps the unit will have the option to take Exarchs much like the Biel-Tan Army List in 3rd Edition.

Eldar Warlock
fits the current warlocks but sharper robe edges, hadouken pose but with staff in two hands

I'd like to think he's shooting Destructor. Just sounds like a new model to me.

Eldar Spirit Warrior
wraithlord-war walker mix, trygon base, running bird legs with hooves, huge scaled torso, a dozen poles extend from the back (like wraithlord but three times as much), left forearm replaced with massive lance, right hand holds extra handle on lance shaft or a three pronged swastika blade. Lower back, left shoulder and part of the left arm are concealed by an impressive cloak, head is surrounded by scaled armour plating, large gem at the front, doesn’t bend upward towards the end but downward, whole model leans forward, chest can be opened, female pilot inside

Sounds like everyone is getting a big walker unit of some sort. I'd expect it to use Monstrous Creature rules like the Dreadknight.

Eldar Phoenix Lord Nuadhu, The Fireheart
nuadhua holds lance upright, one end on the ground, points with axe on something, shining spear helm with tail of hair, layered armour like dark eldar-armour but with smooth curves, can be placed on vyper-variant, looks very similar to a vyper, canopy more segmented and wings in falcon-style, one large jet engine, chariot platform on the back, two large pennants

I suppose the Shining Spears need a Phoenix Lord, but Nuadhu Fireheart is a Saim-hann special character from 3rd Edition. He rode a vyper, but could assault like a dreadnought (Again, in 3rd Edition) I'd expect him to use the Chariot rules for sure.

Eldar Webway Gate
Two arcs that almost touch each other at the top, whole construct has hazelnut shape, pyramidal platform with oval basis, several destroyed columns, front columns are intact and carry swooping hawk and dark reaper statues, whole model is covered with thorn-twines (seems to be optional)

I like the notion of special fortifications for each army. Not sure what the rules on this could be. Maybe it's like a webway portal in the Dark Eldar codex. In any case some Games Workshop produced Eldar terrain is a cool idea that I support.

Eldar Dire Avenger Xentarch
holds two handed samurai sword downwards, two wrist-mounted shuriken catapults, banner, 99% that the phoenix on it is modeled on, one foot stands on a rock with an owl next to it, all armour plates are bedecked with a rune pattern, don’t know if this is only painted on

Eldar Howling Banshee Xentarch
golfer pose, bends forwards and slashs upwards with a sabre, stretches other arm straight into the air, holds tri-swatiska, has snakes woven into her hair

Eldar Striking Scorpion Xentarch
jumps forwards, holds two short but thick chainswords in front, back of armour has backbone-like element that looks like a scorpion tail, continued on the helmet and ends in a sting, stands on ornamented plate with roots on it

Eldar Fire Dragon Xentarch
knees almost, holds very long pike with two hands ready to fire, huge cluster of grenades on his back and his belt, helm ends in a dragon head

I'll just sum up my thoughts on these four units down here. Personally they are described almost exactly like the Phoenix Lords. I'm thinking these are going to be new Phoenix Lord models and probably limited release from the GW website, much like they've done with Chaos Daemon units. It seems odd to me to remake the Exarch only since you get one in the box as is.

Eldar Lamia Strike Fighter / Moon Siren Bomber & Eldar Black Warden

It seems odd to me to make completely new flyers when Eldar fluff has Eagles and Nightwings, etc. That said, I support the idea. It seems the rumors were cut off at this point, but I recall hearing about the Black Warden as a female Autarch or sorts? Could be wrong, but I've heard the name before.

40k Throwback: Eldar Army Lists Part 1: Jetbikes

2013-03-02T17:07:00.000-05:00

As I may have mentioned before I began playing Eldar in third edition. At the time my friends and I decided to get into this 40k game some people were playing and we each chose an army to get into. This was a regular habit for us, we get into a new game, it stays interesting for a little bit, then we moved on to something else leaving the old game in the dust. Knowing that was our habit and with the price of 40k models, I didn't really feel too interested in this game. It was expensive and I wasn't really interested in committing the money to something we'd be giving up in a month or two. To top it off one of my friends had already chosen the army that appealed to me the most, the Tau. (I was a big Gundam fan, but more on that later). My other friend started an Ork army and so I was left to choose my army. Most of the armies of the Imperium didn't appeal to me. I've never been a fan of the gothic style and cybernetic implant craziness that 3rd edition artwork threw at us. I also wasn't too much a fan of the Eldar as I was erroneously under the impression that they were a bunch of coneheads, like the Saturday Night Live skit/movie. Fortunately, my friend playing Orks, who was familiar with the game since 2nd edition, convinced me to try them out. I relented, picking up a Falcon as my first model because if anything I could have this really cool tank on my shelves when this game didn't pan out. Now here we are nearly ten years later and I'm the only one of my friends that plays. In addition I've stayed with the Eldar, who after I learned about, I became totally enamored. As a big time D&D/Pathfinder player (D&D 3.0 at the time) I'm known for playing Elves who are generally roguish or wizardly. After learning more about Eldar I was sold on the notion that I could continue that same sort of style IN SPACE!

As I've been a collector of Eldar since 2003 I've accumulated quite the collection of models. Sadly, my original 3rd edition codex decayed with age and use and I was left without it, until my trip to Cleveland last year. Then at this years Adepticon Team Primer in Toledo, I was able to score the old Craftworld Eldar expansion codex and I figured with the two books in hand I would take a trip down memory lane and recreate some of my army lists as they once had been.

The Ground Rules
1) The assumption is that the list is being prepared for the 6th Edition Rules Set
2) The Current Eldar FAQ is invalid for the 3rd Edition rules as it pertains only to the 4th Edition Codex
3) I will only put units on the list for which I have models (i.e. I only have 5 warlocks on jetbikes so only 5 will appear in my list)

Eldar Jetbike List
There are some interesting differences between these two lists. First, The cost of jetbikes in 3rd edition were so expensive that I had to cut a Fire Prism just to fit the rest. Second, changes in how Warlocks as a squad worked forced me to cut them from the Guardian squads, in addition I couldn't field them with a heavy weapons platform and have them in a Wave Serpent so I just took out the heavy weapons platforms. Finally, basic differences in how wargear and equipment function changes the armies capabilities drastically. Runes of Warding for example, only have a range of 6" and make the enemy psyker roll 3D6 and discard the lowest roll. At any rate, here's the two lists:

Eldar Codex 3rd Edition		Eldar Codex 4th Edition
Unit/Upgrade	Amount	Unit/Upgrade	Amount
Farseer	1	Farseer	1
Jetbike	1	Jetbike	1
Ghosthelm	1	Singing Spear	1
Shuriken Pistol	1	Spirit Stones	1
Singing Spear	1	Runes of Warding	1
Runes of Warding	1	Runes of Witnessing	1
Runes of Witnessing	1	Doom	1
Spirit Stones	1	Fortune	1
Fortune	1	Warlocks	5
Guide	1	Jetbikes	5
Farseer	1	Singing Spear	2
Jetbike	1	Destructor	5
Ghosthelm	1	Embolden	0
Shuriken Pistol	1	Enhance	0
Witchblade	1	Guardian Jetbike Squad	9
Runes of Warding	1	Shuriken Cannon	3
Rune of Witnessing	1	Guardian Jetbike Squad	9
Mind War	1	Shuriken Cannon	3
Warlocks	4	Fire Prism	1
Jetbikes	4	Fire Prism	1
Destructor	4	Vyper Squadron	2
Singing Spears	2	Brightlance	2
Witchblades	2	Shuriken Cannon Upgrade	0
Shuriken Pistol	4	Guardian Squadron	10
Guardian Jetbike Squad	9	Scatter Laser	1
Shuriken Cannon	3	Warlock	1
Guardian Jetbike Squad	9	Embolden	1
Shuriken Cannon	3	Guardian Squadron	10
Vyper Squadron	2	Scatter Laser	1
Brightlance	2	Warlock	1
Fire Prism	1	Embolden	1
Guardian Squadron	10	Wave Serpent	1
Wave Serpent	1	Twin-Linked Starcannon	1
Twin-linked Starcannons	1	Wave Serpent	1
Guardian Squadron	10	Twin-Linked Starcannon	1
Wave Serpent	1	Farseer	1
Twin-linked Starcannons	1	Jetbike	1
		Spirit Stones	1
		Runes of Warding	1
		Runes of Witnessing	1
		Singing Spear	1
		Psychic Power	3

Grand Total	1999	Grand Total	1998

As you can see, there was a push for more models on the table, even back in 4th Edition. You will note that I have the Farseers listed with Ghosthelms and Witchblades, that's because you had to purchase those. In addition, Doom didn't exist as a psychic power so I just figured I'd give both farseers the full spread of powers between the two of them. I'd say I'd be interested to see this list on the table, but honestly it's just a weaker version of my current list with less models. Hopefully, if the rumors are true, I can , by the end of the year add a 6th edition list next to these and see how they all turn out.

At any rate, it appears this post has become a bit long winded, so I'll likely make a second or third one later depending on how many lists I want to play around with.

Wave Serpents in 6th Edition

2013-02-23T18:54:00.000-05:00

The Eldar Wave Serpent, always a stand-up vehicle and one of the best in the game, despite it's points. Now they say 6th Edition is a Infantryman's game and the current meta supports this, at least in my area. What I'd like to discuss to day is the Wave Serpent, how it fits in with 6th Edition Eldar, and how you can capitalize on the meta with this wonderful transport.

Let's talk about the Wave Serpent itself for a bit. It's AV 12 on the Front and Sides AV 10 in the back. It's also BS 3 like most Eldar vehicles and has a carry capacity of 12 models (or 5 Wraithguard and a Warlock) It supports a single Twin-linked weapon from the Eldar Vehicle Armory from Shuriken Cannon to Brightlance and has an underslung Twin-linked Shuriken Catapult which may be upgraded to a single Shuriken Cannon. In addition it has the option of taking all the standard vehicle wargear save Holo-fields. It's a Fast Skimmer Tank with 3 Hull points, with all that said it gets better. What makes the Wave Serpent unique is it's Energy Shield/Prow/Field. I don't mean to repeat the codex entry here, but it knocks down any shots strength to 8 and negates any form of bonus dice to the penetration roll (including melta, ordinance, rend, etc.) Now the catch is that it only covers the front and sides of the vehicle and doesn't work in melee, but what it means is that no weapon has better than a 4+ to Glance or Penetrate this tank.. unless you expose your rear.

That's what keeps it alive folks, a 50/50 shot that your lascannon/missile launcher/doomsdayblastersmasher can do damage to this thing. Back in the day, before Hull Points Holo-fields were king and far superior in that yes, you would get damaged, but more often than not it was a shaken or stun. With Hull points and the change to glances, Holo-fields are significantly less favorable and the Wave Serpent with it's Energy Field wins out, but wait it gets better. Jink! You get a jink save! Now your opponent can only deal damage to this tank on a 4+ or worse, but you get a 5+ save against it. Punching these numbers into the ol'Mathhammer machine and you're looking at a 22% chance of taking a hull point and only a 2.5% chance of being destroyed. What happens when you move flat out? More survivability! Added bonus with the new rules for glancing hits, it doesn't spend the whole game shaken and even if it was you could still snap shot!

Have I sold you on the Wave Serpent yet? Well let's sweeten the deal. I give you the Metagame Vehicle Continuum.

My local Meta Game appears to be somewhere between Nobody Brings Vehicles and Nobody Prepares to Face them. Case in point in my last game I only had to worry about Thunderhammers, Powerfists, and a Vindicator Tank and I had Four Grav Tanks on the field, at the end of the game I only lost one due to poor positioning. My point is there will likely be a point, and this is my reading the Runes of Fate a bit here, that you can bring numerous amounts of vehicles and your opponent won’t be able to handle them, hull points or no. If you can hit the sweet spot in your meta, in addition to the survivability of the Wave Serpent I illustrated above you’re sure to get some extra life out of an otherwise expensive transport in an outdated codex.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay

2013-02-20T19:04:00.000-05:00

I fancy myself a connoisseur of games and recently I picked up the latest edition of the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying Game by Fantasy Flight Games, as well as Super Dungeon Explore. While I'm more than willing to discuss Super Dungeon Explore... in great length... whether you want me to or not, I really wanted to open up with WFRPG.

THE GAME
The Warhammer Fantasy RPG is sort of interesting as far as RPGs go in that it comes off considerably like a board game. You open up the box and you are staring at Four rule books, some funny looking dice, several decks of cards, and several heavy duty sheets of punchout tokens, minis, and chits. The art is fantastic, and does a good job painting a picture of the Warhammer world. It comes off as pricey being $100 retail, but if you really think about it you're buying the whole game. It comes with the core rules, the Game masters guide, and a (albeit small) bestiary. On top of that you're getting a box full of accessories to help you play this game and while they are seemingly required I feel a smart group could overcome the special dice and cards by writing out their own and assigning numbers to the different die results. There's a lot of talk in other reviews about how you need to buy Player Toolkits to add more players to your game, you really don't. One guy just gets his own set of custom handmade cards.

WHAT IT DOES POORLY
My biggest problem with the game is accessibility. The elements that make it quick to play also hurt the game drastically. None of the actions appear in the book so you need the cards, and the dice are special so you can't just use your own D6s and D10s. Obviously you'll be buying the set, but where it hurts the game the most is you'll have to go all in to play it. No free sample download of quickstart rules, no pdf of the core rules so you can check it out. You must pay to enter the game. I find this terrible because I have a collection of roleplaying games on my shelf that I've never played because I can't get a group together or the ruleset is terrible. I'm more accepting of this when I didn't just fork over $100.

My second complaint is it looks like a damn board game. The board game elements are really helpful and if you've played Pathfinder long enough, or Dungeon's and Dragon's 4.0 for five minutes you'll be familiar with having things pre-written on cards and different tokens for keeping track of things. These elements often become necessary in larger games or more high level campaigns, but few games are as in your face with them as this one. Besides making it hard to get into the game, I think it really puts up a wall in front of hardcore Roleplayers. With that being a turn off, it means players will be few and far between and that means I may have just purchased another RPG that will collect dust on my shelf.

WHAT IT DOES WELL
One of my favorite elements of this game is the Party Sheet. Your group of adventurers has an area where they can store community fate points and slot in talents and other powers. It also does a handy job of explaining your group of would be heroes in terms like 'Swords for Hire' or 'Gang of Thugs' lastly you use these sheets to keep track of party tension. Without delving into what exactly all that means I can say what it does for your table. It helps them work as a team and builds a level of comradery. Often times I feel like my Pathfinder party is a team of individuals rather than a cohesive unit.

Another thing I appreciate about this game, which I didn't realize I liked until I ran a Flying combat encounter in my weekly Pathfinder game. Abstract Ranges! No squares, no hexes. You put your mini on the table, if you're in melee range I put enemy minis next to you, if they are further out I put a tracking token between them and you with a little distance in between. More tokens denote greater ranges and you spend movement actions to change your relative position. I like my tactical rpgs as much as the next guy, and as a 40k player I've never had a probably breaking out the tap measure, but I found this particular flying combat to be dull as we counted out squares and moved our mans around the table. Not only that, but I find that terrain is generally pointless to draw on the map. Nobody uses it, it's just avoided. Nobody runs up the banister (making acrobatics checks) to get to the enemy, when they can just take the stairs. It's never really spiced up my game, just made a bunch of spaces where the party and the monsters don't bother going. In the case of WFRPG I can lay down a card that says you're in a forest and X,Y,Z happen because of it. I think it gives more opportunity to let your imagination take you to the battle rather than seeing plastic pawns on a hex-grid.

Without going any further, because I have yet to play a game, I can say that WFRPG has some cool elements, but some serious hurdles to overcome if it's going to be taken seriously as an RPG... and I really wish they had a sample adventure to download...

An Update for Lack of An Update

2013-02-16T13:02:00.002-05:00


My Eldar for Adepticon Team Primer

For lack of any real update other than I haven't updated in awhile I give you a number of random thoughts and musings on the subject of Eldar and 40k. Lately I've been getting into a whole slew of 40k games and have several more scheduled to occur in the near future. I feel like I've finally got enough 6th Edition games to start producing Battle Reports again and I've even got some footage from Toledo Game Rooms Adepticon Team Tournament Primer that I attended last weekend. My partner ran an all bikes list. My partner ran a Ravenwing and as for myself with my Eldar Jetbikes, Seer Council, and Shining Spears. Ultimately it went as well as any fluff list does in a seriously competitive tournament, but I had a good time despite some bad games. More to come when I get this battle report finished.

I have been thinking real hard on Eldar tactics lately as a result I have a few tricks that I will share in the near future. Nothing ground breaking or game changing but you can at least have fun playing Eldar with these.

For a little nugget of actual content I will share my thoughts and experiences with Shining Spears in 6th Edition. In a word, they're the same old unit with the same problems. 4+ Jink is nice it adds to the survivability for sure thanks to Skilled Rider. However, they are still about as awesome as a firecracker in close combat. My strategy for the unit was to double assault with the Seer Council and the Shining Spears, using the Seer Council to lock my opponent in place while leaving the Shining Spears to Hit and Run (which works nicely in 6th Edition) but I had difficultly setting up the tactic in all three games I played, only having one opportunity to actually use hit and run. For the points though, Shining Spears just aren't worth it. Maybe if they had more attacks or were cheaper, but the unit maxes out at 5 models and only ever has 11 attacks on the charge. Most of the time you need 4+ to hit so you're looking at about 6 good hits and 5 wounds on marines. A solid assault to be sure, but where they again suffer is the lance is only AP 3 now. Most of my opponents brought Terminators in the tourney and I had nothing to really lay the hurt on them. Under those circumstances and to keep with the theme of an all bikes list I would've rather had some extra guardian bikes and just saturated my targets with shuriken fire.

On the flip side I suppose Shining Spears would have been just the thing to bring in my game last night. My Seer Council got locked in close combat on turn 1 and stayed there until the end of the game. Kind of wish I had the Shining Spears then to clean that assault up. The question though is what would I give up to have the Shining Spears in my list.... Nothing comes to mind.

Also I need to remember to bring discuss Wave Serpents. In a game where vehicles have lost their oomph, these tanks got it going on.

My last bit of news is that I've been thinking about taking some allies. At this time it's Dark Eldar, but we'll see how things go for Tau in the coming months. I do have the models to take them now, but it'd be Lillith Hesperex, a squad of Wyches, and 3 Reaver Jetbikes. I'd like to run a Raider or two loaded with Kabalite Warriors.

To Summarize the Near Future:

This Blog Still Lives
I've been playing some 40k
6th Edition Battle Reports are Coming
Eldar Tricks
Wave Serpents
Dark Eldar Allies

Major Site Reboot in the Works

2012-11-02T06:55:00.000-04:00

I've slowly come to the realization over the past couple of months that I do not play nearly enough 40k to support this blog. Hence the general neglect. I have only gotten in two games since 6th edition released and with my work schedule more games will be few and far between.

My desire to maintain some small section of the internet to post projects, voice opinions, and share my exploits is still strong, however and I do have quite a large amount of other games that I do play. So that's what I offer here. Despite my wishes to keep this strictly an Eldar blog, I feel I can produce more posts and fuel my hobbies better by bringing in other games I play.

This means you can look forward to posts about Pathfinder, Warhammer Fantasy, Warmachine, Shadowrun, and a plethora of other games that I dabble in. 40k posts will still occur, and when they do, you can look forward to hearing about Eldar, because that is still all I play.

A big project that I look forward to posting about is a Pathfinder/D&D 3.5 setting I have been putting together for the past couple of years. As a working title we can call it Arcanatech or Yggdrasil space. The general premise being that Magic enhances technology or that they grow and develop together. So imagine a typical fantasy setting and then advance the timeline by a 1000 years or so. Picture a futuristic setting where the technology has been enhanced and developed along with magic.

The whole setting becomes a playground for the various effects, spells, and abilities, of the Pathfinder setting. As an example, take your basic science fiction starship. It's got deflector shields, laser batteries, and the ability to travel faster than light. In this setting those abilities come from spells. Your shields come from Abjuration effects like Mage Armor or Shield, your laser batteries are scorching rays, magic missiles, and the like, and your FTL travel comes from extraplanar travel via spells like Gate.

To clarify the setting very much uses the Pathfinder rules set and this isn't a Pathfinder: Future or anything. Characters are still Elven Rangers and Dwarven Fighters, they just use more advanced technology and/or it is a high magic setting. Coming from a 40k blog this concept may seem familiar and while inspired by Warhammer, the relationship between the two is a passing nod at best. As a start there is significantly less Grim and a whole lot less Dark in this setting.

The idea for calling the setting Yggdrasil space comes from it being heavily influenced by Norse mythology. The major systems, as an example, draw their names from the cosmology in old Norse myth. Most human systems belong to the Midgardian Confederation, with the central world being Midgard itself. A race of Giants can be found in the Jotunheim system, Elves come from the Alfheim Alliance, and so on. This opens the door for other fun ideas like a gigantic spacefaring dragon called Nidhogg that devours planets.

Eventually as the setting develops I would really like it to come in on its own and if possible I would love to produce a pdf or even a book for it in the future. If anything posting about it will require me to work on the setting and in turn I will get more done. I would also appreciate responses and questions from my small, but appreciated readership as this is something I hope to put together for other people to use.

Smart Phones, Apps, and Aspect Warriors

2012-07-18T06:28:00.000-04:00

Ghostwind Corsairs coming at you with my first smart phone post. If you have been checking the new twitter feed you'll already be aware that I finally made my way into the 21st century and got a smart phone. Nothing special just seeing how this blogger app works and typing with Swype, which takes far too much effort. It is however the subject of apps that brings this post to you today.

I picked up an app by called Battlescribe Mobile that is essentially an quick and dirty army builder. It was free and okay for what it is, but what is interesting about it is that it doesn't have a normal list for Eldar, you have to use an advanced list. The advanced list has all forge world models in it but it also has another requirement to your Eldar list. The program requires the Eldar player to take three aspect warrior choices. I've been playing Eldar since 2003 and I don't recall any rule like that. It did however get me thinking. What if I did have to take three aspect units? Which ones would I take? How would that that change the route of lists I run?

In this edition Dire Avengers would be a no brainer. Though that would be true of any edition. Dire avengers are a solid unit they always have been. Excellent shooting and close combat options on the exarch make them a core unit worthy of any Eldar army but in my army they have one weakness, mobility. Easily solved with a Wave Serpent, but with 6th editions hate parade on vehicles it's not like it used to be. To make up for the points I would have to cut into my jetbike squads. Still you would definitely see me bring these guys. Most likely multiple squads.

As a second choice, keeping in mind the way the game has changed, I'd probably include Shining Spears. Crazy considering there performance last edition but this edition I think Shining Spears really shine (pun intended) jink is one thing, impact his another, but the whole package, plus skilled rider improving the jink savem this unit gets pretty awesome. Not only that, but I'm running a Jetbike army so they will fit right in.

The last unit I would take would more then likely be a toss up between Warp Spiders and Swooping Hawks. Most likely going with Warp Spiders over the hawks for durability reasons and the large amount of Str 6 firepower they pack. Both units bring a necessary amount of speed to the army while being relatively useful. This would be of course, if I didn't take two dire avenger units.

So what about you guys, my small readership. Which units would you take, if you had to take three? Why would you do so? How would such a rule change your Eldar army?

How 6th Edition Changed My Army

2012-07-07T05:31:00.000-04:00

It has been awhile. With a severe lack of games I basically hung up the keys to the Wave Serpent and settled in with some other hobbies. Lack of games of course meant a lack of content and thus I had no reason to update.... until now! BAM! Look at it! It's a book with pictures and words and because of it I can continue updating this blog.

So what can I talk about? Well, you can go plenty of other places to get the skinny on how the rules have changed. Get the book, play some games! This is going to be an interesting edition for everyone! What I would like to talk about first are my thoughts on how this book will change the way I play the game. Let's breakdown the changes to each unit:

Guardian Jetbike Squads
This edition has made the Eldar jetbike a big deal. It is much faster, one of the fastest units in the game. With the ability to move 12", shoot, then move an additional 2d6" in the assault phase. This gives the squad a potential 24" move per turn, with an average of 19" Turbo-boost is where it's at though. The Eldar jetbikes can now move an additional 36" in the shooting phase for a total move of 48". Positioning will never be a problem, ever. The bikes got more durable too. The jink special rule granting them a 5+ cover save just for moving, which becomes 4+ if they move flat out. This on top of the 3+ armor save and jetbikes will be even more of a pain to kill. It gets better though. There is no more 3(4) for toughness. The bike just flat out improves toughness by 1. This means little for the Guardians, but when the Farseer comes into play it's pretty awesome. Shooting for the jetbikes has gotten more deadly. Overwatch will give them an added volley of fire before being assaulted, but more importantly the Hull Point rules make shuriken cannons to the rear armor a lethal treat and far more reliable. Finally, in assault the jetbikes have Hammer of Wrath giving them an extra volley of attacks on the charge. Sure it's still Guardians, but it certainly helps. In all I see a lot of little tweaks to the rules that add up to a big power boost to these units. Biker armies are looking to be the big thing this edition and it's nice that I am already ahead of the curve.

Vyper Squadrons
The humble Vyper sees some improvements this edition as well. Though hull points will have a devastating effects on vehicles this edition, the Vyper has never been a vehicle known for durability. It got slightly vaster with an 18" flat-out move on top of it's normal 12" move. Though my Vypers sport brightlances the new shooting rules give you the opportunity to dakka them up with two shuriken cannons and fire both like the Dark Eldar Venoms do with their splinter cannons. This is something I'll likely explore as my lists evolve. Jink is also a boon shared by the Vyper which in some ways will assist the durability issue. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the Vyper is capable of.

Fire Prisms
My usual list runs two and I don't think the Fire Prism has lost much effectiveness. It's got 3 hull points, but no longer suffers the ill effects on a glancing hit as before. This has an additional side effect in that I no longer see the value of holo-fields. It's not that the holo-field isn't effective anymore, it is. The issue is with it's points cost. It's less needed when hull points are on the line and I can save up the points from two holo-fields to add another Vyper, or Warlock and goodies to the list. Spirit Stones on the other hand have become more useful in that a shaken vehicle may still fire snap-shots. This does nothing to help the prism cannon, but at least the shaken lets me still fire the catapults, or even better a shuriken cannon. Added in the ability jink and you've got a solid tank. I see linking shots as a less useful proposition as you can just as easily take down vehicles with volume fire as a single well placed shot.

Nightspinner
Always a favorite of mine, the Nightspinner is looking to shine this edition. It has a very similar set up to the Fire Prism. I see it shining in this edition simply because of an increased use of infantry, or at least what I expect to see an increase in the use of infantry. The lack of an ability to assault from most transports will hopefully see players compensate by bringing larger squads on foot. This will no doubt make them easy prey for the Nightspinner.

Seer Council
Benefiting from everything this edition gave to the Jetbike Guardian the Seer Council stands to gain the most from these improvements. The Witchblade is disappointing as the weapon is no longer Str 9 vs vehicles, however it is still just as potent against models with a toughness value. The Singing Spear however is under no such restriction though I don't see myself changing the number of spears I bring to the field. The changes to psychic powers I find most interesting. I enjoy the restrictions placed on the psychic hood, but am less exciting out any unit being able to stop psychic powers, fortunately only one of my powers targets enemy units. The new disciplines are very interesting and very appealing however I can discount the effect that fortune has in boosting this unit and as such will stick with my Eldar powers. I do look forward to writing up some other lists that take advantage of the new powers. The Telepathy discipline is greatly appealing. In all, this unit got much more dangerous and I greatly look forward to using it on the field of battle.

In all my list seems quite effective in this edition. Army wide use of the jink rule, extra speed, and an increase in the effectiveness of my firepower should give me quite the edge. I really look forward to seeing how my games will play out

Project Log: Display Board

2012-02-21T23:09:00.004-05:00

For the past two weeks I have been up to nothing, but Skyrim and Burn Notice (Hooray for netflix!) That coupled with my inability to get into a game has made for a severe lack of content. I did however make some headway on my display board. So here is a kind of run down of what I have done....

Remeber this picture? Well this is how I started. I removed all the models from the board and left the bases. After gluing sand to them I left them essentially in the same position and primed them on the board. This left some circles in the locations where the bases would go. Using those as a guideline I set to work with my drill. Using a 2 1/2'' holesaw bit I drilled out the areas where the primer had highlighted.

I decided to keep the plugs left over so I could flock the whole board and keep them to fill in holes in the event that I change up units. Like my snow bases the whole board will have a winter theme. I am currently considering if and how much terrain I want to add to the project. My first thought is to put a tree on each plug so that they are easier to take out. Here is the project now with and without my army filling it out. The first pic is with the plugs in.

Here is with the plugs out. I had two of these boards. I cannot remember what they were, but they came from Lowe's for about $6 each. After drilling the holes in the first board I caked on some liquid nail and pressed the two boards together using staples for extra holding power. You can see how the primer worked to mark the holes I needed to drill.

This shot has my bases in. Still no progress with them, but the idea will be to have the whole board covered in a snowy winter scene. Not much room to add terrain though. I sort of wanted to have some Eldar ruins or a couple of real terrain pieces.

Finally you have the army in place. Between setting it up and taking the pic I took a lap around the apartment while carrying it and the models barely moved, even on the flying bases. So mission accomplished! Now I just need to make it look pretty.

Vlog #2: The Tournament Army

2012-02-05T22:27:00.000-05:00

So here's my second vlog. In this video I show off my 1500pt Eldar army that I plan to take to tournaments. You get a good shot of how I paint up my units. As I state in the video I am still trying to come up with an idea on how to designate my two jetbike squads and I also need to decide what to do with the Dark Eldar jetbikes that I am using. I am open to feedback and strongly encourage everyone to comment below.

The Big Game - Battle Report

2012-01-24T16:37:00.000-05:00

Here's my Battle Report from the Big Game. I had a really good time. The event was co-hosted by Mi40k and Fresh Coast 40k at BC Comix in Fenton, MI. 50,000+ points of Eldar, Dark Eldar, Tau, Imperial Guard, Space Wolves, Salamanders, Grey Knights, and Mantis Warriors hit the field exchanging every kind of fire imaginable. We did a Xenos and Traitors vs. Imperial Forces game with the Imperial Guard player fleshing out our Xenos team as traitors. It gave us some much needed super-heavy support as the enemy team was composed of two Titans and a Thunderhawk as well as a combined Space Marine army that in all outnumbered us by 3000 points.

As I said, it was a lot of fun. Dice began rolling at I believe 10:30am and we were packing things up by 6:00pm. Met a lot of cool 40k players while I was there and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Although next time I do not think I will bring as much Eldar. I honestly have no idea how Ork players can handle it.

I did not add the score though I meant to. It was 20 to 1 in favor of the Space Marine team, however I think that for me at least, I was more interested in blowing things up.

As always, Thanks for watching. If you liked the video let me know. If you did not like it still let me know. I am always looking to improve. As an example, first thing on my to-do list is a more interesting opening to my videos. I am thinking something like a slide show of painted models or maybe some clips of earlier battle reports.

The Big Game

2012-01-19T23:48:00.002-05:00

Between elaborate 6th edition hoaxes(?) and painting I have also found time to put together a list for the Big Game. I will be up at BC Comix in Fenton Michigan with over 10,000pts of Eldar. The list is essentially everything I own loaded up with all the goodies. The only problem is that I lack any super-heavy support or titans. Since I am bringing the rest of the Craftworld though it should be interesting. The list comes in four waves.

Wave 1
The first is a wave of grav tanks contains 4 Fire Prisms, 4 Falcons, and 6 Wave Serpents. Three squads of Dire Avengers and three Howling Banshee Squads are riding inside. Mixed in is a jetbike council with an Autarch, they ride inside the tank wall and drop off the delivery method of Part 2.

Wave 2
The Second Part of my force is an almost complete Ulthwe Strike Force which is only missing support batteries and maxed out Jetbike, War Walker, and Vyper choices. I have used this before and it is really interesting trying to get all of those models out of the wraithgate. Hopefully my opponents lack pie plates.

Wave 3
My Deepstrikers. I have a squad of Warp Spiders and Two Swooping Hawk Squads coming in with some Autarch support. One Autarch has wings the other has a warp jump generator. Swooping Hawks will be dropping grenades and if any vehicles present themselves I will likely try for Haywire Assaults.

Wave 4
The slow stuff. This is where my Wraithlords, Wraithguard, and other elements that are either on foot or otherwise too slow to be with the main force. I would like to just castle them up on an objective in my deployment zone if possible, but we will have to see what happens. Not really looking to do much with this element really.

So that is pretty much how I am going to roll out. My list comes in at over 10000 points and is packing a considerable amount of firepower. The downside is that the rosters are in and my opponents are bringing about 4000 more points than our side and they also have some titan support so this may very well be a one sided match. With any luck I will get some good video from the game though, it is looking a lot smaller than I thought so it should be pretty easy to catch all the action.