Wardens of the Eastern Fringes

Our Primarch has returned and so have I.

2017-07-01T13:10:00.000-07:00

With the coming of 8th edition, I have found my way back to the 5th Company. I have purchased Guilliman and the Dark Imperium boxes. My penance is completed. Now I will strive to stay on course.

My intent is to stick to fluff. I have no intention of playing win at all costs. That is what drove me away last time. I want to do big narrative battles. I want my 12 yr old to start playing with me. I want the Techmarine(read:wife) to start playing with me as well. I got into the hobby as something fun to do with my friends I will go back to that again.

So my plan, is to get my army list together. See what I have and what I don't need. 7th saw a lot of purchases made as,"I need this for the new meta". I am going to paint the units I intend to use on a regular basis. I am also going to be doing a lot of help with the wife and son's armies to get them up to snuff. Then I am going play a ridiculous a mount against said armies. Not to master my army, but to have some fun with my family.

I intend to return to the thing I really liked doing, the podcasts. I was just getting the hang of it. I am going to get back into a schedule that should allow not only 40k podcasting, but also a personal show I was dreaming up.

Lets see where this goes,
The Emperor protects,
Torquer

And they shall know no fear

Emperor be praised the new codex is lovely!

2015-06-20T12:23:00.001-07:00

Greetings Brothers,

I have been carefully perusing my new codex over the last week. Worse, I have been following the rumors for the Dark Angels release, and wasting precious time.

My first response to the Codex was relief. I am enjoying the direction GW is going with the new releases. I pray that the other marines get the same love we have. For that matter, even the Xenos players should get the same love.

The new codex has so much to cover; I really don't know where to start. I suppose the best thing is to discuss the major change, first.

As you may have heard, we now have formations. You can still field the CAD. I wouldn't blame someone if they did. With the squadrons all over the new codex, I have a few CAD army ideas myself. However, the new formations are looking fun to me as well. They feel fluffy to me. I like fluffy. They also have the crunch to make them respectable. So without going into too much detail, here are the new formations:

Battle Demi Company(Core):
This is your core formation. It is composed of 1 Captain or Chaplain, 3 Tactical Squads, 1 Assault support unit(bike squad, attack bike squad, unit of landspeeders, or assault centurion squad), 1 Devastator support unit(Devastator squad or Devastator Centurion squad). This formation also has option for command squad or dreadnought squad. The Captain and chaplain can be swapped out for Sicarrius, Cassius, Khan, Vulkan, Shrike, or Grimaldus.

The squads themselves do not need be full strength, providing a great deal of flexibility to the function of the force. Also note that it's not just assault marines and devastator marines for the additional forces. With the potential for bikes, landspeeders, and centurions of both variety, this makes the demi battle company a fairly solid core force.

Also if you take two demi companies (Full Battle Company) you gain free transports. However upgrades to the transports still cost you.

This formation's special rules:

Tactical flexibility-allow the formation access to the tactical/dev/assault doctrines,single use.

Objective secured - makes all units in this formation objective secured.

Anti-aircraft defense force(Aux):

1 unit of stalkers

1 unit of hunters

Restriction: stalker unit must be made up of 2 stalker vehicles

Special rules: skyspear auto targeting- if the hunter his a fleet or FMC the stalkers add one to their BS against that target.

Not really sold on this formation. Fliers just aren't that scary. When I see a flyer I do a mass fire with my army and try my luck at snap shots.

First Company Task Force(Aux):
This formation allows you to take units like the Terminators and Vanguard/Sternguard Veterans in any configuration. This formation grants these units fear and fearless. They can also nominate one unit for preferred enemy. This force is a great way to field Vanguards, Sternguards, and Terminators as a force without having to go with Strikeforce Ultra.

Strikeforce Ultra(Aux):
Same as the previously released dataslate.

Reclusiam Command Squad(Command):
Same as the previously released dataslate.

10th Company Task Force(Aux):
This force allows you to field Scouts on their own with Sgt. Telion and, with its special rules, any of the infiltrated units gain the concealed special rule until they move. Plus, for the first turn of the game all the units have precision shot. The best part of the unit is that scouts are regular statted marines, just with scout armor, making for a very nasty turn one.

Stormwing Formation(Aux):
Same as the previously released dataslate.

Centurion Siegebreaker Cohort(Aux):
This formation is a mix of Ironclad Dreadnought and Centurion Assault squads which grant the special rules to reroll failed AP and glancing hits against buildings.

Land Raider Spearhead(Aux):
3 Land Raiders of any variety. Grants armored behemoth, which lets them ignore all results on the vehicle dmg. table as long as they are within 6 in. of another vehicle in the formation. They also gain the ability to reroll AP and to-wound rolls against super heavy vehicles and gargantuan creatures.

Librarius Conclave(Command):
This allows you to take multiple librarians, working together, as per the Dark Angel dataslate.

Armoured Task Force(Aux):
Allows for multiple vehicles to be fielded. Return of the tank line with this task force. Chronus can be selected for one of your tanks and a tech marine must be taken in addition to any for your Thunderfire Cannons. The special rules for this formation really focus on the tech marines, giving them vehicles within 6" ignore shaken and stunned results as well as a +1 to Blessing of the Omnissiah.

Suppresion Force(Aux):
Allows for Whirlwinds and Land Speeders to work together to provide the Whirlwinds with unlimited range and rerolls to hit.

Strike Force Command(Command):
This allows you to take named captains, chaplains, chapter masters and there appropriate escorts. There are no special rules allotted for this formation.

This is the rough summary of the formations. I will go into my perceived usages of each in a later post, along with some key changes in the new Codex. For now, the Master of the Forge says that I have to go help in the yard.

ATSKNF
Torquer

From the Master of the Forge

2015-05-24T21:56:00.001-07:00

Shoulders have been removed and reconnected with magnets for arm swap capability. Torquer sawed off the gun barrel and flipped it over.

-Master of the Forge

A gathering of allies

2015-05-24T19:02:00.001-07:00

So I have recently procured 2 additional knights. Both built before the new codex. The master of the forge(read: the wife) has begun the refit of these grand additions to my now formidable knight forces.
I will update the progress of the undertaking at each step
ATSKNF
Torquer

Not much to do mod wise on the green fellow. Need to get the pads off. Then arm swap out is a snap.

This fellow needs a little more love. The melta cannon is upside-down. Again, also removing shoulders.

To begin the long road back.

2015-05-22T09:54:00.000-07:00

Its been along while since I last posted. So much has happened in life I can hardly recall half of what has occured. I am now returning, not for the rumored new codex. I am returning for the hobby I love. My army has sat mostly on the shelf through this last year. I have played with little to no passion. I have only used the hobby as a distraction from life. Well no more! I am back. My plan for the next few months, with regards to this blog is: To rediscover my joy in the hobby, To truly try everything once- use all of my models, and to report it here. I want to share my experience. Not for some grand purpose. No I am being purely selfish this time around. This will be my Journal to self, mostly. So sit back and enjoy the ride. I know I will.

Return of the Chaplain

2014-06-14T07:42:00.000-07:00

As the title suggests, I will be resuming my podcast for Litanies of the Chaplain. With 7th edition, We have so many options at our disposal. I will be addressing Marine players, directly. However, I will be talking on how we can incorporate other armies into our strategies.

So I have a request for my readers. If you have a strategy using Imperial forces with our Beloved Sons of the Immortal Emperor, please share it. You need not test your idea. I have access to a wide array of models and will take all suggestions. We will test any recommended list, to determine its strengths and weaknesses. Any and all input is welcome.

As a parting shot, I decided that no Chaplain of the the Immortal Emperor should be without his Armorer Steed.

I plan on getting a personlized plate that says,"Chaplin".
Yeah I am that guy. See you all on the game tables.

ATSKNF
Torquer

Don't call it a comeback...

2014-06-14T07:21:00.000-07:00

Let me start this post off by stating how thrilled I am by the support my little blog has been given by my readers. Once or twice a week I recieve an email from the gaming community asking if I plan on making another post. When I started this it was on a lark with Grumpy Guardsman, from Cadia's Creed. And while Grumpy is quiet prolific in his posting, mine tends to be hit or miss. Real life has a way of biting me in the arse. I own my own business, and travel a lot for sales and training other salespersons in my company. I fell behind and felt horrible for it. Then along came the podcast. This was a bit easier for me in the long run. But my poor little blog has been neglected. So I decided I would, as show of thanks for the support, try to do one post a day. Even if it is a short snippet on what has my attention that day. Hopefully, this will improve my habits.

As a quick aside, Segementum Command is coming along, wonderfully. We are really getting our feel for podcast ins and outs. We have also discussed doing a Video blog to go along with it. Exciting stuff for us. I really hope you enjoy the process. As always if you want to be a part of the fun, we are always looking for new ways to expand on our current ideas!

With that said, I thank you my audience, for the emails of support.
ATSKNF
Torquer

Segmentum Command - Ep. 4

2014-06-10T20:20:00.002-07:00

Episode 4

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Segmentum Command - Ep. 3

2014-04-21T11:01:00.000-07:00

Episode 3

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Segmentum Command - Ep. 2

2014-03-22T21:11:00.000-07:00

Episode 2

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Litanies of the Chaplain

2014-03-13T23:16:00.000-07:00

Episode 1

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Segmentum Command

2014-03-13T21:50:00.002-07:00

Episode 1

Download Here

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Podcasting and other communications from the Holy Terra!

2014-03-13T12:18:00.002-07:00

Greetings Battle Brothers,

This has been a crazy week for me. I am starting ramp up my posting. It has been worth it. I am getting lots of good feedback. I am also starting up 2 podcasts. Segmentum Command, a show I am doing with Grumpy Guardsman, is about Imperial forces in general and our mathhammer goodness. Litanies of the Chaplain, or LoC, is my podcast to try to help the SM players out their get back into the habit of loving the game. Especially our beloved Space Marines.

Segmentum Command- Editing is complete and should be up tonight.

LoC- It is in the can. Editing should be tonight or tomorrow.

Show schedules are looking like:

Segementum Command- Bi Weekly

LoC- Out on Friday nights.

As always I am open to input. If you would like to take part in either show, drop me a line in the comments or use the contact on my page. I have discovered its actually very easy to do remote inclusion and would love to have outside voices involved. If you have ever wanted to take part in podcasting, now is your chance! I will love to get to other voices from around the world of 40k to take part!

ATSKNF,

Torquer

To adhere to Guilliman's holy text.

2014-03-12T20:15:00.002-07:00

So, here we are. I have tried to show you the best way to start a Space Marine army, from my experience. Now I am going to talk about how I build my lists and the factors that I weigh.

I will again remind the reader that I am a novice to 40k. I have played many games in the last few years since starting. However, this is told from the point of view of a novice. If you do it differently, well that's great! Feel free to express your methods in the comments. I ask that any derisive or non constructive comments to be kept to yourself. As always take everything I say with a grain of salt. Lots of salt.

Where to begin? Well this has a simple answer. The Force Organization Chart, or FoC. If you can understand the FoC and why its so crucial to make the right choices in each category, well then my friend you are one step closer to victory!

Once you grasp the basics, the next step is determine what tactic you desire to effect on the battlefield.
You don't need to be able to name the tactic, just that you can visualize it.

-Does it require a special unit?

-How do your units move in relation to one and other?

-Are there special weapons required?

-Do you have a central unit you need to support?

Lets do an example:
I have a love for Tactical marines. I love the look and feel, as it were. So how to do I build an army with this unit in mind?

Well the first step is to determine what I plan on doing with these guys. In this case, I am just going to play capture and hold with them. So, in my opinion, the classic 10 man squad with a heavy bolter and flamer is looking pretty good. Sergeant takes a bolt pistol and chainsword for any bodies attempting to charge on them while they are holding the objective. Maybe a melta bomb to deal with vehicles.
See there, we are well on our way to a list!
Now we just have to add more units to support these guys. Maybe a transport to get them there fast. How about a chaplain to make them more stalwart.(Hold it, at all costs kind of moments) Also we could take multiple units of the same arrangement. Better for grab and hold action!
At this point we look at support units. Thunderfire cannons, to help kill off large tarpits. Perhaps a Sternguard in a drop pod, to rough up the backfield. Predators are great for dealing with monstrous creatures and fliers are amazing at causing fear on the battlefield.
After assembling the ideal picture in my mind of how my army moves, I fill the holes. I select the units in order of precedence, or how often I see them in my mind's picture of the tactical breakdown. Once I have done this. I determine which HQ will best support my army. Some allow for re rolls for reserve. Others have amazing combat abilities. It all boils down to which one fills out the army the best. If you need to strip points to get an HQ into your army, try to start with the units that look good, but don't really conform to your image in your mind of how the game plays out.

When you finish your list, run it against your friends. See what ideas they have. Check in the forums.

But before you change it. Play it.

You need to know how well your visualized list plays. It will help you to better calibrate the picture in your mind. It will help you to understand the game more deeply. And when you play your list, don't be bothered by losing. Only that you can see its actual movement, as compared to your imagined. When you do this a few times, you will start to see a better picture forming.

Assignment:
Build a list with the aforementioned method. After you have played it. Share it here.

Luck in battle, brothers.

ATSKNF,
Torquer

Imperial Knight Fluff and stuff

2014-03-10T23:51:00.001-07:00

-Have a knight constructed? Check!
-Really cool paint scheme? Check!
-Great army tactic ideas? Check!
-Fluffy background stuff to add to the immersive storytelling element? Well not really but I got a great paint job!
This is where you guys come in. I am going to create a custom household and I want it to be a community effort. Anything you guys want to contribute. Chime in! Got a name idea, story element, names of individual knights. As long as its appropriate to the game world I will work in to an ongoing story, I will be doing the same with my 5th company UM's. Once I finish this project.

I want to see if the community can create some good material we can all use!
So let start out with some House name ideas. Throw out as many ideas as come to mind. I will do my best to respond immediately to ideas for this project to finish it in the next week.

ATSKNF
Torquer

The Techmarine has delivered.

2014-03-10T09:59:00.000-07:00

So here it is. We are still working on the fluff. The wife really put in the hours on the details. She magnetized the guns and shoulder armor. I really only did the metallic paints along with the shading. Still have some detail highlights to do. I also did the airbrush work on the general paint scheme. Masking tape is your friend!

Checkout the eyes!

I am really happy with how it turned out. We are already creating a Household. The general idea is a house that is friendly toward quite few space marine chapters. We actually stayed away from any of the major chapter colors. Note even the white we used is a more towards a parchment color. With the wife running SW and me primarily run UM, and kicking around the idea of White Scars/Redhunters, This house can run with any of them. I am going to have my community help with the fluff of the house. Stay tuned, I will be doing that post later today!

The size and shape of the base makes for easy basing. We used a piece of gaming mat for ours.

I also had the weekend to review the codex. I purchased the iPad version. I am not an apple guy myself. But I own upwards of 8 of the interactive books. They are a snap to use. The codex is quite beautiful. It really helped with out painting the model and with house ideas. It also includes everything you need to know on how to play with super heavies. Very nice as I didn't want to buy escalation. All-in-all, a very well done product. I will be going in to that in a later post. I promised the wife to wait on it, she really wants to be a part of it!

It looks daunting, but construction is a snap. I really love all of the details that went into this models design.

I also started work on the Segmentum Command podcast with Grumpy Guardsman and crew. It was a lot of fun. We will have to keep our alcohol to a minimum. I would like to thank my friend Grumpy guardsman and his house for all the help in the construction of the model, and the time on the podcast. The wife and I are eternally grateful. I am also grateful to the wife for her patients with me. As you will learn in time, I am a player of the game. I like the models, but have have little patients for painting and the like. So to her I say,I truly am the luckiest man alive!

Well now that it is out in the wild, I best get busy writing more post. I promise to keep my worship of my master of the forge(wife) to a minimum!

ATSKNF,

Torquer

atsknf... no really, we arent supposed to be afraid!

2014-03-06T21:36:00.001-08:00

Strength D-
Destroyer weapons. The bane of all things smaller than a land raider. The game breaking weapon.

So I have faced a Titan. It was an amazing experience. I lost my Land Raider in turn one.

~I Lost It Turn 1~

And yet, here I am planning on how to bring down a titan, without a titan. You have seen in my previous post, I have an Imperial Knight. I won't be taking it with me on my titan hunt. You see, I see that as the easy road. Victory achieved by Imperial Knight somehow feels cheaper to me. A lessening of the good name of the Wardens of the Eastern March.

So I build army lists. I math hammer.

You will not hear me saying, however, that strength D should be banned. Or how broken it is. Or unbalanced.

All you will hear is the sound of my armies marching into the breech, yet again. Looking for that beast that besmirched the 5th Co.

We will bring it down.

And they shall know no fear- it's the reason I play Space Marines. This game isn't fair? Not balanced?
Get over it.
Learn to defeat your foe, not cry about his OP netlist.
ATSKNF,
Torquer

Exciting projects

2014-03-04T20:06:00.001-08:00

So after a fun weekend with Grumpy Guardsman, his Wife and his Brother. The wife and I are going to be working on a podcast, with those good people. Really excited to see how this turns out. Also on the modeling front, I have started building my Imperial Knight. I will be doing a report on that after I consult the Master of the Forge(READ-wife). I would like to also add a huge thank you to my friend Grumpy for inspiring me to get off my butt and get back on my Blog, and my Wife for helping me get my blog ship shape and in order. Couldn't ask for a better Commisar and Techmarine!
Also, I have some math hammer fun that I will be covering later in the week.

ATSKNF,
Torquer

New year. New battles.

2014-02-24T06:38:00.001-08:00

It's been a few months since I posted last. I got together with grumpy guardsman. I made all the appropriate lists, brought the appropriate models. As I am chatting and pulling out my models. Grumpy pulls out a warhound...

I $h!t you not. The biggest most op model you can bring to a game. He recieved it as a wedding present. And then I let it one shot my landraider... In turn one.

What better way to start my blogging year.

See you all around the table,
Just leave the titans at home.

ATSKNF,

T/Z

Getting started (or how not to do it like I did)

2013-09-12T14:02:00.000-07:00

In this exciting episode, I will talk about logic, or the lack thereof, when building a space marine army.

When I finally worked up the nerve to start building my army, the first thing I did wrong was to start buying models randomly, without a thought for the rules or army building. What I did do was buy stuff that looked cool or inspired me to buy more stuff. All the while putting them together wrong. By wrong, I mean not legal for play. After 2-3 models I picked up the codex. As I absorbed the pages, which took me about a month. I realized, to my horror, That I was doing it all wrong. I set out to right my wrongs. I started hanging out at my FLGS. I watched as Marine players fielded their armies. I gained a glimpse of army-building. It was also at this point that I met my new gaming buddy, Grumpy Guardsmen. Grumpy and I hit it off well. We discussed the Marines in general. We talked tactics and tried to figure the best course of building for me.

So with that being said, let me now impart my wisdom to you. So that you, the reader, may gain from my mistakes.

Step one: Go watch people play.

And by this I mean,"Watch the game all the way through, to learn what-army-you-like's play-style."

It is easy to go back now and correct my errors. I have spent well over a 1000 dollars in models and can pretty much field what I like. But for the new guy, this is the opportunity to really suss out what works for you.

Ask questions. Not, "Wanna be my friend" questions. Direct questions. "Why did you choose that army" or "What makes that unit so special". Everyone playing that I know will gladly talk to you. Some of us are a bit more grumpy while in a game (me). All of us, will however stop and talk to you about the hobby. Goob is half the hobby. The meta game of army-lists.

Try to find either the "fluff" or "style of play" army that suites you through your questions. Don't just jump on the first thing that looks cool. Look for that "I must have that" aspect that will give you the staying power throughout your early days of losing... a lot.

Step two: Go buy the books- Base Rule Book (BRB) and your codex.
Read the BRB. No really, read it. Your codex has so many cool rules and things to play with, but if you don't understand charging through difficult terrain, your early days are going to suck. Trust me, I know. Once you have the general understanding of the rules, dive into your codex. Learn each units strengths and weaknesses. Try to understand the synergies between the units themselves. And not just the obvious, spelled out in your codex ones. EX: Telion with a scout squad, obvious. Running Rhinos with your Tacticals, obvious. Using Telion on a quad gun, not so obvious.

Granted the examples I am laying out are pretty simple ones. But they make my point for me.

Try to really see the strength of your army as a whole, not just single units and the awesome ability they have.

Step three: Build your first army-list, THEN buy the models.
If you have made it this far and not have bought a model. Then you, my friend, have a amazing willpower. I would already be 20 models in. The point of this exercise is not to structure your hobby, just give you some better buying power.
So at this point we begin the most agonizing part. Building your list. Following the force organization chart. Try to get the most bang for the buck. All while trying to build that great tactic you dreamed up. Trust me you will dream up some wild tactics. Half of which are either horribly illegal or just plain mean.

Then take your list to your gaming store of choice and find the pieces.

If you want and have the willpower, take your list to other gamers. Bell of Lost Souls, Bolter and Chainsword, Dakka Dakka are all great websites to help test your lists. They each have Army-list sections on their forums. Go to your FLGS and ask the guys playing there what they think. Don't be shy. We might show you a flaw in your army, you didn't see.

With all this said and done, buy your models. Assemble them so they reflect your lists. Use the"What you see is what you get" rule. If a guy has a Boltgun, put it on the model. It will save you the heart ache of having to remember who is carrying what while playing. Try to not get carried away. Not that easy, at least for me. Build only what you need for your lists. Keep the extra bits. They will be handy on future models.

Step four: Paint your models.
OK this is my downfall. I suck at painting. I have an amazing wife that is brilliant at painting. I am truly the luckiest man alive. I however, could a rats butt about painting models. I just want to thrash stuff. That being said, I have played guys that enjoy the immersion and without my opponents, I have no game. So at least make an effort. Maybe not a pro paint job, but at least prime/basecoat/and one highlight color.

With all this being said, go forth. Build armies and conquer your foes! Or at the very least, build your army with a bit more confidence.

I hope this helps.

ATSKNF,
T/Z

The new guy on the block...

2013-08-23T20:08:00.000-07:00

So I have decided to use this crazy blog thing to outline my experiences with my new war-gaming hobby in the hopes that others may gain from my experiences. Yes there are all sorts of war-gaming blogs out there, in the interwebs. My blog is more for me than you, anyways. I will endeavor to discuss the hobby from a new guy point of view. What problems I encountered and what solutions I came up with (with a little help from my friends!).

Disclaimer: I only play 40k. This is not the whole of war-gaming. Just the part I choose to take part in. I know its dated and expensive. (Curses GW, WHY!!!!) I just really love the Space marines, and more so the Ultramarines. I will not regale you with the boring story of how this came to be. Just that it's a stated fact, from the onset.

Also, as I said before this is an expensive habit. I have hustled a goodly portion of my army through craigslist, eBay, friend deals. I am in no way saying not to buy from your FLGS (friendly local gaming store, for the unenlightened- yes I had to ask the first time I saw it). Only that this was a convenient method to get started, for me. I have, since my start in the hobby, made many purchases with my local store.(Much love to Gabi and Olympic Cards and Comics)

So with that said, and all claims of grandiose pompous knowledge of the amazing-ness of my skills thrown out the window, I will begin posting the tale of my beat downs!

ATSKNF,