My standard dark eldar list and why it works for me

Here is the core of my 2000 point list:

HQ
> Vect
> Succubus - haywire grenades, blast pistol & agonizer

I run Vect more because he is so much fun to play plus many opponents are afraid of him. He is a true powerhouse and worth his points though. The Succubus is a fantastic bargain and well worth the points - she can destroy many units in close combat when teamed up with her Wyches.

Elites
> Incubi w. Klaivex - Demiklaives
Raider: flickerfield, show prow

This unit is the bodyguard for Vect. You could replace the Incubi with a squad of Wyches but its nice to have the 3+ armor save for soaking wounds. My advice is don't let Vect stray far from his retinue... sure he is the man but he is still a fragile eldar at the end of the day so be careful with him !

> Trueborn (shard carbines, splinter cannon & blaster) w. Dracon - blast pistol & venom blade
Raider: flickerfield

Troops
This is the real core. I am very happy with my choices here...

> 8x Wych (hydra gauntlets* & haywire grenades) w. Hekatrix - blast pistol & agonizer
* Corrected - thanks to Shin40k : )
Raider: flickerfield, show prow & tormentor grenade launcher

> 9x Warrior (blaster & splinter cannon) w. Sybarite - splinter pistol & venom blade
Raider: flickerfield

> 9x Warrior (blaster & splinter cannon) w. Sybarite - splinter pistol & venom blade

Raider: flickerfield

I have not run into a problem yet where I did not have enough troops and three seems to be the perfect balance. Both Warriors and Wyches are very solid choices and can do a lot for your army. Note that I used to run Bloodbrides but lately decided to swap them for Wyches so I can upgrade one unit of Warriors to Trueborn. While Bloodbrides can be simply amazing the Wyches can still definitely get the job done.

Fast Attack

> 5x Reaver jetbike (2x melta lance) w. Arena Champion - venom blade

I go with the melta lances over cluster caltrops due to all the mech out there plus they come with blade vanes standard anyways. This squad is pretty much guaranteed to drop a landraider if you are patient... I always hold mine in reserve and it never ceases to catch my opponents offguard. They can turbo boost 36", are skilled riders and have the 6" jetbike assault move - definitely another solid unit. Mine have beat down genestealers in close combat (after blasting them with their splinter rifles of course)... yes they have combat drugs as well plus 2 base attacks and are T4. While they are not an assault unit sometimes you don't have a choice and that is important to remember.

Heavy Support

> Voidraven: flickerfield

> Voidraven: flickerfield

Everyone tells me to swap these for three Ravagers. Oh well they work just fine for me.

I feel that my army is very well rounded - lots of shooting and some strong close combat units as well. I am hoping that people will try out more modern builds instead of running the boring old pure Wych cult armies and MSU gunboat Kabalite armies.

Hunting eldar

Tomorrow afternoon will be my first game versus eldar and I have a lot of dirty tricks loaded up my sleeve... should be fun. Expect a batrep to follow sometime soon.

The Power Cosmic

I had one heck of a game with my dark eldar versus Tyranids tonight. The game went down to wire over the course of seven turns. The best part was I kind of felt a cosmic click and then my dice started rolling good again. :D

It was a reserve Nid army that really hammered my army on the second turn but I was able to slug it back into the battle with some good shooting and my wyches blazed a trail across the battlefield. We tied on the primary and I lost by one killpoint on the secondary. I'm cool with that for sure.

Alpha Strike * The Key to Winning with Pure Grey Knights ?

I have seen lots and lots of theory hammer about winning with Grey Knights on the interwebs... So far it seems like no one has presented the penultimate net list yet though. A trend I've noticed is that the players who are reporting big success all seem to be using the Grand Strategy to consistently pull off the alpha strike... Fast units such as Paladins in a Stormraven or units which shunt making the pre game scout move to get right into their opponent's grill on turn 1 - blasting the enemy with psycannons, torching them with incinerators and punching out armor with daemonhammers that automatically hit... This just seems like the way to go now.

The Rubber Meets the Road
My first experience with the new Grey Knights involved a huge 8000 point team game with four players apiece on both sides of the table. I saw the power of stormbolter en masse firing their deadly psybolts so I envisioned an army of infantry marching across the battlefield laying down one salvo after another totally obliterating the enemy. Fast forward a few weeks ahead and finally I realize that an all infantry army is going to have some problems depending upon the match ups. I will definitely be fielding Draigos and a Librarian attached to a squad of Paladins - as resilient as they are long ranged weapons such as lances and lascannons are their bane if you opt to march them across the battlefield. Even with Draigos' mighty stormshield and the Librarian's Shrouding you can't afford to lose two or more Paladins to strafing hi-X enemy shots that worm their way through your defenses... It's just too expensive and too hard to make back their points.

The Grand Strategy and the Alpha Strike
The best units to alpha strike are those with the shunt move (i.e., personal teleporters) and these units are obviously Dreadknights and Interceptors. The Dreadknight was much ballyhooed as an ultimate avatar of death incarnate but now that the codex has been out for awhile it seems their hype has leveled off dramatically. On the other hand though the Interceptors seems to be growing in popularity - they can function much the same as a squad of Blood Angels Vanguard veterans if you get to go first and use the pre game scout move via the Grand Strategy. Stormravens also have the potential to be great for the first turn alpha strike however it would be very helpful if GW were to clarify that a unit such as Paladins can embark inside the Stormraven (i.e., non dedicated transport) and use the pre game scout move. A lot of IG players have had lots of success using this same tactic with squads of melta vets riding in Vendettas. Now that the proverbial shoe is on the other foot it will be interesting to hear what IG players have to say and remember they have lost some of their best defenses to enemy alpha strikes with the release of the Grey Knight codex - namely the old Daemon Hunter allies - Inquisitor with Mystics and the Emperor's Tarot. I will wait to see if the upcoming FAQ addresses this issue.

At first I was dead set against playing Grey Knights like Blood Angels but as the smoke begins to clear it's looking more and more like this is a sure way to design a competitive pure Grey Knights army. Seeing that both codices were written by Mat Ward I think that is a sign. Time will tell if this is the right path.

50% is Not Good Enough
An alpha strike typically hinges on going first (unless you are playing BA DoA or Daemons) so I don't think it's a good game plan in general to design a list that is dependent upon going first to win. It can happen - such as leaf blower going first nine times in a row to cruise through the Ard Boyz for the big win a couple years ago - but the odds are astronomically against you... In fact the odds of going first three times in a row is only one out of eight times - I just don't feel that lucky.

Kaldor Draigos
If you are going to design a balanced army that doesn't have any in games mechanisms to go first (e.g., Vect) then you don't want to put all your eggs in the proverbial basket. Therefore your army must be able to perform well when going second. I think that the Grand Strategy can account for going second as well and that's one of the reasons why I'm so big on Draigos... Besides being one of the ultimate melee gurus with S5/T5,4W, Eternal Warrior, stormshield and a Nemesis force weapon he is also a level 2 psyker and has the Grand Strategy. Combine him with a Librarian or suitable Inquisitor and a squad of Paladins - you have your 5ed deathstar plus he is buffing your army overall.

I hope that Grey Knights pan out well because if they do that will help to change the current meta in my opinion and that is always a good thing as far as I'm concerned. Certainly IG players don't want daemonhammers popping their tanks the first turn and Paladins can go toe to toe with Thunderwolves. If Grey Knights become a popular winning army then some things will surely change. Heh...

So that's all for now - let's keep tweaking our lists !

: )

Castles Made of Sand

Down the street you can hear her scream you're a disgrace 
As she slams the door in his drunken face 
And now he stands outside 
And all the neighbors start to gossip and drool 
He cries oh, girl you must be mad, 
What happened to the sweet love you and me had? 
Against the door he leans and starts a scene, 
And his tears fall and burn the garden green 

And so castles made of sand fall in the sea, eventually 

A little Indian brave who before he was ten, 
Played war games in the woods with his Indian friends 
And he built up a dream that when he grew up 
He would be a fearless warrior Indian Cheif 
Many moons past and more the dream grew strong until 
Tomorrow he would sing his first war song and fight his first battle 
But something went wrong, surprise attack killed him in his sleep that night 

And so castles made of sand melts into the sea, eventually 

There was a young girl, who's heart was a frown 
Cause she was crippled for life, 
And she couldn't speak a sound 
And she wished and prayed she could stop living, 
So she decided to die 
She drew her wheelchair to the edge of the shore 
And to her legs she smiled you wont hurt me no more 
But then a sight she'd never seen made her jump and say 
Look a golden winged ship is passing my way 

And it really didn't have to stop, it just kept on going... 

And so castles made of sand slips into the sea, eventually

Bald and Screaming is back online again !!!

Danny Internets is back online again. He always seems to have something interesting to say. I don't agree with everything he says but its usually quite entertaining to say the least. Here is his blogsite...

>> BALD & SCREAMING <<

Bad dice blues... Oh noes!!! Not again!!!

Bad Dice Blues

By Black Blow Fly

I feel I have been recently plagued by the much hated bad dice syndrome. I know it's not a good idea to blame the dice for your losses but sometimes what else can you say? For example yesterday versus mech Blood Angels my Archon failed his first shadowfield save and my wyches were penned when spilling out of their wrecked raider after a lucky whirlwind barrage scattered on top of it with the hole just barely over the skimmer. Both of these bad rolls happened during the first turn and it just got me really down. Then on top of it all the next turn I poured every lance I had into a landspeeder but could only manage to immobilize it... The landspeeder was lined up for a shot with it's heavy flamer on my penned wyches... By some amazing luck my opponent rolled a bunch of 1s to wound them and I only lost two wyches... Then another barrage from the whirlwind scattered back 11" on top of the wyches... After the smoke clears I'm left with only the Hekatrix. What a way to start a game. The first game was even worse, much worse - don't even wanna talk about it.  :'((

Oh well what can you do?

Re-examine your army list
I have had some time to think about it and looking back at the two games yesterday I can definitely see some ways to improve my current 1500 point dark eldar list. The changes I'm thinking about aren't huge but I think they will improve the army overall. Unfortunately my squad of Trueborn with shard carbines rolled horribly to hit in their shooting phases both games so I think it's too early to throw in the towel on them yet... I'll give them a couple more tries and take it from there. I'm planning to drop one of my heavy supports so I can beef up my Incubi with more bodies... Running the Archon with a small squad as a bodyguard is too much of a risk and I've got plenty of lances throughout the rest of my army. I'll be playing another game tomorrow night so I'll see how it goes.  :  )

The main point here is if you just blame your losses solely on bad dice you haven't really learned anything - and every loss is a golden opportunity to learn how to improve - both in how you've designed your army list and your tactics. On the other hand if your dice are really rolling poorly then don't go to the other extreme and completely revamp your army list. Play through the bad dice and try your best to suck it up. I think most of us are happy to roll average and unless you've got a really poorly skewed set of dice everything will even out over time.

Keep your head in the game!
I know in the past I've had a few other brief stints where my dice just seemed God awfully bad cursed. It happens to everyone at some point in time too. It's very important not to let bad dice bring you really down - if you start focusing on the dice too much it'll take you right out of the game - and sometimes you could have probably still drawn or even won.

For example in my second game yesterday losing my Archon's awesome 2++ save and the penned wyches, both occurring in the first turn, pretty much took my mind off of playing to the primary mission objective. I ended up killing a large portion of the Blood Angels army over the course of the game. Towards the end of the game we both had two scoring units left apiece and both of mine were holding objectives. My opponent was only holding one objective and needed to take one of mine for the win. I actually could have drawn or even possibly won the game if I had been more focused. Instead I let the initial couple instances of bad luck funkify my normally competitive gaming attitude and made some really silly mistakes down the stretch because I wasn't focusing on playing to the primary mission objective. In my mind I lost my two heavy assault units early in the game and decided that was insurmountable. Bad form!

I do want to say my BA opponent is a great guy. He has won most of the games we've played but it always a good time and he also has some beautiful armies as well. Losing to someone you enjoy playing can really help to take the sting out of it so keep that in mind.

Maybe it's finally time to buy some new dice...
Some of us are superstitious about our dice. You have some shiny green dice you always roll for armor saves, some bright red dice you roll to hit and wound in assault and some big black dice you roll to penetrate armor... Whatever. Typically your dice roll average which is good enough and sometimes they are just so smoking hot they literally burn holes in the table. Then one day you come to find your dice have gone and lost all their magical mojo... Oh noes!!! They been sucked completely dry of all their good luck it seems... Game after game you keep failing tons of terminator armor saves. It's just not fair!

I'm peculiar about my dice so I'll stick with them through the good times and bad. I've collected mine from various gaming clubs, shops and big tournaments - they look really cool and they all have some awesome logo on the six sided pips.

If your dice keep betraying you then maybe it's time to buy some new dice.  Straight edged dice such as Game Science sells supposedly roll more on average so that means you should roll less 1s with them.

I have found that using a dice tray seems to really help and I'm going to start using mine again. You know exactly how many dice you rolled and there is little to no chance of any ended up cocked. Rolling dice in a tray can really help to speed up the game as well so it might be worth a try for you if you're really down on your dice.

Oh Lord why are my dice always so cursed???
We have all heard a player say this type of phrase and they tend to say it more often than not whenever they lose. The worst case is that schmuck that cries about his bad dice rolls all game long, every roll of the dice, then somehow manages to pull off a win right at the end and probably on his last roll of his rotten dice. Suddenly they are all smiles and telling you stories about just how awesome they are. Not only do you have to listen to them whine all game but then at the end they rub it in your face too. Yuck!!!

The point here is that if your dice are stinking it up like a pile of rotten garbage try not to whine too much about it - it's just as bad as gloating about a win. Sure when you roll triple 1s for your Bear Lord in runic armor saves versus three lucky wounds from a squad of fleeing guardsmen lasguns you're going to say something - it just human nature and there is nothing wrong with that at all. To be a good sport though means you don't constantly whine about how bad are your dice or how awesome are your opponent's dice throughout an entire game. Maybe you're not having much fun but that doesn't mean you have to go and ruin it for your opponent as well. If you do then remember in a tournament it could hurt your sportsmanship score if you're concerned about that kind of thing.

Conclusion
Everyone will at some time experience the bad dice blues. It happens. On average though over time dice rolls will even out. Everyone has different ways of dealing with it. The main thing is to remember it's mostly just a phase and for every game where your dice stank it up you'll have another game where they are on fire. Keep your mind focused on the mission objectives and play it through. Often you can still draw and sometimes manage to eek a minor win if you stay positive. Don't hate your dice as they are simply inanimate objects after all. There's nothing you can do about lots of poor dice rolls so try not to take it too hard... It will all eventually turn around for you if you stay the course.   :D

Love and Hate

This is one of my favorite subjects. We as human beings have the choice which of the two we can focus upon. Hate is bitter and the taste is awful. Love is sublime. Both are two of the most powerful emotions. You can choose to focus on either, it is your choice. The world is full of hate and nothing good ever comes from hate. Love on the other hand can set you free. Be free. Rise above... Don't let others pull you down - Exalt!

Trueborn - Dark eldar unit analysis

Introduction to Trueborn
My current 2000 point list has three ten man Warrior squads all mounted in raiders:

Dark lance & blaster
Syrabite: venom blade & splinter pistol

This is the core of the army and they are my only troop choices. I am playing in a local escalation league to gain more experience with dark eldar versus a wide variety of other armies. I have to play games with lower points than 2000 points and this has been a great opportunity since it allows me to experiment with other units I typically don't use. If you follow this blog then you're probably aware that I'm a huge fan of Warriors. Warriors are basically the dark eldar equivalent of tactical Marines and in my opinion they are better except for the lack of ATSKNF.

Dark eldar vs. mech BA (1000 points)

So this afternoon I finally got in a couple of games versus Blood Angels with my dark eldar. This battle report showcases the second battle. Here is my list:

HQ
Succubus: haywire grenades, blast pistol & agonizer

Troops
10x Warrior inc. Syrabite: blaster, dark lance, venom blade & splinter pistol - raider: flickerfield
10x Warrior inc. Syrabite: blaster, dark lance, venom blade & splinter pistol - raider: flickerfield
10x Warrior inc. Syrabite: blaster, dark lance, venom blade & splinter pistol - raider: flickerfield
5x Wych - raider: flickerfield (Succubus attached to this squad)

Fast Attack
6x Reaver jetbike incl. Arena Champion: 2x heat lance & venom blade


Here is the Blood Angels army to the best of my memory:

HQ
Librarian

Troops
5x Assault Marine: flamer - razorback: lascannon & twin linked plasmagun, dozer blades
5x Assault Marine: flamer - razorback: lascannon & twin linked plasmagun, dozer blades
5x Assault Marine: flamer - razorback: lascannon & twin linked assault cannon, dozer blades
5x Assault Marine: meltagun - rhino (Librarian attached to this squad)

Heavy Support
Whirlwind
Dreadnaught: pair of twin linked autocannons

Fast Attack
Landspeeder: multi-melta & heavy flamer

Pre Game Analysis
This game was a good test in general versus a heavily mechanized army and I was interested to see how my dark eldar would perform versus the fast Blood Angels. I am an ardent Blood Angels player myself but much prefer to run DoA armies. While razorspam Blood Angels can't out maneuver dark eldar in terms of speed you do have to respect their ability to move 12" with a razorback and still fire a turret mounted weapon. This Blood Angels list has more than enough long range firepower to pop my paper airplanes. On the other hand my dark matter weapons shouldn't have much problems popping those razorbacks and the rhino. Five man assault squads shouldn't be much of a threat in close combat, even versus the Warriors since I'll always be striking first assuming the Warriors don't have to charge into difficult terrain. My plan was simple:

1> Wait to see where the enemy deploys then drop my two objectives far away from them, forcing the Blood Angels to split up if they wanted to attempt to take or contest either.

2> Focus dark matter firepower on the razorbacks and rhinos first, forcing them to foot slog.

3> The Reavers are going to target either the dreadnaught or whirlwind first - whichever is the easiest to reach. The landspeeder is a secondary target for dark matter weapons since it has a heavy flamer - it's armor is no better than my raiders so it shouldn't be a problem either.

Deployment
Dawn of War

Primary Objective
At the top of our respective second turn each player drops two objective markers which then scatter 2d6" at the beginning of their third turn. If an objective marker scatters then it can mishap. Only scoring units can hold an objective - any unit can contest. The player controlling the most objective markers at the end of the game wins. There was also one bonus point each for destroying the enemy lowest and highest point units.

I had to go second and opted to hold all units in normal reserve. I rolled for combat drugs and got +1WS... Nice as the assault Marines would only be hitting the Succubus on a 5+ in close combat (my favorite result is reroll wounds). There was plenty of terrain on the table and I pretty much require at least 25 percent when I play my dark eldar. The Blood Angels player rolled for the Red Thirst but none of his units succumbed except for the dreadnaught.

1st & 2nd Turns - BA
The Blood Angels player started with his assault Marines in the rhino (Librarian attached) up at the edge of his deployment zone. The rest of his army then rolled onto the table at the start of his first turn using their overcharged engines to move up in support of the command rhino. He then popped smoke on all of his vehicles including the dreadnaught during his second turn and he dropped his two markers in the middle of the table close to his tanks. The whirlwind hung back along his board edge hiding behind a wall. The dreadnaught moved and ran both turns so it was not that far away from his parking lot.

2nd Turn - DE
I rolled for my reserves and in came two squads of Warriors plus the Reaver jetbikes. Everything moved flat-out/turbo boosted across the table using a tall barricade to block off enemy LOS. It was a tight fit but everything was well hidden. The only real threat the following turn would be the whirlwind - I'd just have to hope for a big scatter. I dropped my two markers off to the side of the table beside where my block of dark eldar had moved into place.

3rd Turn - BA
Not much shooting for my opponent as I cut off all of his LOS. The whirlwind took a potshot at my jetbikes but the big blast marker scattered wide. All of his smoke was gone now so in could proceed to light up his armor.

3rd Turn - DE
I rolled for reserves and the rest of my army arrived. The Reavers moved out from behind cover to target the dreadnaught. The newly arrived Wychs' raider moved onto the table in position to target the landspeeder. The newly arrived Warriors' raider moved into position to target the rhino. Both of these raiders were placed such that they would have a 4++ cover save from return fire. My other two raiders moved into positions such that they could both fire the blaster and the raider pintle mounted dark lance - one targeting the razorback with the assault cannon and the other one targeting one of the laserbacks. The Reavers only managed to shake and destroy one of the autocannons on the dreadnaught - not great but not bad either. The Wychs' raider popped the landspeeder. The three mounted Warrior squadrons wrecked the rhino and stunned the razorback with the assault cannon. Note that my Wychs/Sucubbus would be in a position to assault the Librarian and his assault Marines the next turn. All in all a solid round of shooting as most of the Blood Angels transports, along with landspeeder, were either gone up in smoke or could not shoot.

4th Turn - BA
My opponent conceded the game at this point. He said I was well positioned to win the game and he had to leave so he could attend a birthday party for his brother.

Post Game Analysis
I felt like my initial plan had worked rather well - I had managed to cripple most of the Blood Angels long range shooting during the first half of the game without taking any losses in return. The second half of the game would have consisted of finishing off the last of my opponent's vehicles then shooting/assaulting his Marines. Like I said a full squad of Warriors are good match versus squads of five Marines - I can either rapid fire their splinter rifles and charge them with a second unit. The Sucubbus and her Wychs match up very well versus small squads of Marines - the Sucubbus being fairly impervious versus a Marine hitting on 4+ in close combat, her agonizer cuts right through a basic Marines due to her hitting on 3+ in assault, wounding on 4+ with the agonizer which ignores armor saves. My dice were pretty hot and my opponent's cover saves were terrible during the crucial third turn.

Grey Knights * Return of the Gun Line

Midrange Superiority
If you have looked at any of the recent lists I've posted here you'll see that they all feature lots of stormbolters, psycannons and psybolt ammunition. Basically I see Grey Knights as a mobile gun line which is the style I used to play back in 4th edition with vanilla Space Marines. The advantage of Grey Knights is they can move and shoot (midrange). The main disadvantage is Grey Knights don't have as much in the way of long range firepower. There is the option for the rifleman dread/ven dread which could really help a lot with their option to take a pair of twin linked autocannons plus psybolt ammo... The rifleman is not appealing to me though because I like my dreadnaughts to have some form of close combat weapon. If you like riflemen then I think they can really fill a big hole in the army. The ven dread while pricy is very nice mainly due to BS5. All the dreads have re inforced aegis which is pretty darn good versus nasty stuff like lash.

Enhancements
The nice thing about Grey Knights as a mobile gun line is you have lots of tricks up your sleeve such as being able to outflank up to d3 units (I prefer this tactic for the Dreadknight over the first turn scout move - psychological deterrent) or using the Librarian to gate units where you need them. The Grand Master also has the ability to manipulate your reserve rolls. So I think there is the potential for lots of strong tactics using a mobile gun line approach to building your army.

Mobile Bunkers
My lists include a rhino and a pair of razorbacks to augment the gun line. I think it is always good to have a few rolling bunkers to screen your infantry. Keep them cheap is my philosophy. Transports are a new option for Grey Knights and I think it's advantageous to take a few. This element helps to provide some of the inherent advantages in playing a mech style list. If you want you can play a completely mechanized army but then your army is going to be even smaller and that is why I currently only plan to use three.

Rapid Assault Force
There is the ability to build an army that is an assault force using the Stormraven. I have used this approach for Blood Angels - while it can work well it would be dull for me to build another army around this same principle. I like mixing jump infantry and dreadnaughts with the Stormraven but don't want to go the same route with Grey Knights. I think it will be nice to be able to field an army designed to shoot first then assault.

Grey Knights - 3rd time is a charm... (2000+ points)

The list...

HQ
Lord Kaldor Draigos
Librarian: Nemesis Warding Stave, 3x servo skull, Might of Titans, Dark Excommunication, Summoning, Shrouding, Warp Rift

Troops
5x Paladin (psybolt ammo)
> Nemesis Warding Stave & psycannon
> Nemesis daemon hammer & stormbolter
> 3x pair of Nemesis force falchions & stormbolter

10x Grey Knight (Strike squad): 5x Nemesis force falchions, 2x psycannon
+ rhino: warp stabilization field & dozer blades

Elites
Vindicare Assassin

6x Purifier: 4x Nemesis force halberd, 2x psycannon & psybolt ammo
+ razorback: warp stabilization field, psybolt ammo & dozer blades

6x Purifier: 4x Nemesis force halberd, 2x psycannon & psybolt ammo
+ razorback: warp stabilization field, psybolt ammo & dozer blades

Heavy Support
Nemesis Dreadknight: personal teleporter, Gatling psilencer & Nemesis great sword

Second shot at Grey Knights list (2000+ points)

As you know if you follow this blog I'm still very much in the development phase at this point and I have been working with the concept of an infantry based army. I feel that Draigos is the best choice for a competitive (pure) GK list - sure the generic Grand Master has some nice options such as orbital strike and rad grenades but I think that Eternal Warrior is too good to pass up on seeing that there's lots of stuff that can insta gib the generic Grand Master. The Tech Marine is really good seeing he is classed as an independent character but I'm not planning to run lots of mech.

So here is the list I'm currently work with for now:

HQ
Lord Kaldor Draigos
Librarian: Warding Stave, Might of Titans, Warp Rift, Quick Silver, Sanctuary, Summoning & Dark Excommunication

3x Paladin (counts a troop choice): 1x Nemesis Falchions, Nemesis Daemon Hammer, Nemesis Warding Stave, 3x Master Crafted & psybolt ammo

Draigos, Librarian and Paladins form up to create the hub of the army.

Elite
6x Purifier: 4x Nemesis Force Halberd, 2x psycannon & psybolt ammo
+ razorback: warp stabilization field, psybolt ammo & dozer blades

Vindicare Assassin

Heavy Support
Nemesis Dreadknight: personal teleporter, gatling psilencer & Nemesis Great Sword

Troops
10x Grey Knight (Strike Squad): 4x Nemesis Force Falchions, Nemesis Daemon Hammer, 2x psycannon & psybolt ammo
+ rhino: dozer blades & warp stabilization field

10x Grey Knight (Strike Squad): 4x Nemesis Force Falchions, Nemesis Daemon Hammer, 2x psycannon & psybolt ammo
+ rhino: dozer blades & warp stabilization field

So that's it. At first I was planning to run two squads of Purifiers then just recently decided to drop one squad in exchange for the Nemesis Dreadknight instead... A bit less shooting overall but the Dreadknight is a good instant threat. I'd love to fit in a squad of Grey Knight terminators but they just seem quite expensive for what you get plus those points could go towards more Paladins as well.

If I were to drop one Strike Squad then I could buff up the Paladins something like this:

6x Paladin (all with master crafted force weapons & psybolt ammo):
1st Paladin - pair of Nemesis falchions, stormbolter
2nd Paladin - pair of Nemesis falchions, stormbolter
3rd Paladin - pair of Nemesis falchions, stormbolter
4th Paladin - pair of Nemesis falchions, stormbolter
5th Paladin - Apothecary w. Nemesis Warding Stave
6th Paladin - Nemesis Daemon Hammer & psycannon

Let me know if I made any mistakes. : )

Grey Knights * Troop Choices (pure GKs)

So if you want to run a pure Grey Knights list then your troop choices are terminators, Strike squad or Paladins if you field Kaldor Draigos. The ability to field Paladins as a troop choice is a nice touch but I don't think we are going to see large squads in the more competitive lists so the staple choices are either terminators or the Strike squad. You can also take Purifiers as a troop choice if you include Castellan Crowe but i don't see him as all that competitive as an HQ - definitely Draigos, a standard Grand Master and the Librarian bring a lot more to the table in my mind. I played around with the numbers and came to the conclusion that terminators are a tad too expensive for what you get... A squad of 10 terminators is over 400 points if you take a couple of heavy weapons, psybolt ammunition and a couple of daemon hammers. On the other hand a squad of 10 Grey Knights in power armor (couple of heavy weapons, psybolt ammunition and some Nemesis falchions) runs around 350 points plus that includes the cost for a rhino with dozer blades. Off the top of my head I see the main advantages to fielding terminators are as follows:

- 2+ armor save
- Deepstrike
- free upgrade for Nemesis halberds or Daemon Hammers
- Ability to move and fire their special weapons at the full rate
- Better choice for breaking into combat squads

The 5++ invulnerable save is okay but I don't see it as a huge advantage over the reduction in points when compared to Grey Knights in power armor. You are paying in points for the advantages I listed above and that cost makes your army smaller... pure Grey Knights are going to be quite a small army anyways. I think the inclusion of a rhino is pretty darn good too - it provides a mobile bunker to protect your Grey Knights and adds some mobility which tactically speaking is a nice touch when compared to the previous codex.

I think the 2+ armor save is the best advantage that terminators have over Grey Knights in power armor as they become immune to Long Fang missile spam. Missile spam can well be a problem for Grey Knights in power armor as the Long Fangs have the advantage of range. If you can get close enough to shoot the Long Fangs with significant numbers they will quickly wilt and drop like flies. Deepstriking is nice too since you could feasibly start with an entire army held in reserve.

I'm still on the fence though... An army consisting solely of terminator HQ (e.g., Draigos and a Librarian), one small squad of Paladins to form a retinue for the HQ, standard terminators plus a couple of Dreadknights is appealing to me.

2000 point Grey Knight List

I finally was able to play a game this past weekend and see the new Grey Knights in action. Sometimes because of all their amazing close combat abilities some of us might forget they are still Space Marines for practical purposes and can also shoot very well up to 24". Psybolts add +1S to weapons that fire ammunition (e.g., bolters, assault cannons, etc.). So basically a stormbolter is better than a Fire Warrior's pulse rifle. Overall Grey Knights are stronger now but definitely not over the top. I want to play a pure Grey Knight list with the addition of one Vindicare assassin. Here is a sample list I came up with yesterday... I'm just kicking around some ideas now:

Lord Kaldor Draigos
3x Paladin: 3x pair of Nemesis falchions, 3x master crafted, psybolt ammo

Librarian: Warding Stave, Might of Titan, Warp Rift, Quick Silver, psybolt ammo

Vindicare assassin

Purifier Squad 6x): 2x psycannon, 4x Nemesis force halberd, psybolt ammo - razorback: psybolt ammo, dozer blades

Purifier Squad 6x): 2x psycannon, 4x Nemesis force halberd, psybolt ammo - razorback: psybolt ammo, dozer blades

Strike Squad (10x): 2x psycannon, 4x pair of Nemesis falchions, psybolt ammo - rhino: dozer blades

Strike Squad (10x): 2x psycannon, 4x pair of Nemesis falchions, psybolt ammo - rhino: dozer blades

So like I said I've got plenty of midrange firepower with the assassin to deal with stuff like landraiders.

DoA vs Mech

As promised here is my tactical article on how to consistently beat mech armies with DoA. The first article deals with treads - think Imperial and orks.

You have all the tools at your disposal to beat mech:

* Deepstrike with 1d6 scatter
* Plethora of melta weapons
* Jump packs
* Special Characters

Notice I listed the special characters last. They are very powerful and if you pick the right ones they will heavily buff your army but don't get into the habit of expecting them to win your games for you.

Coming Soon * How to Beat Mech with DoA

I have been requested to write an article on how to beat mech armies with DoA... look for this soon.

On another note I will be unveiling the new blog for BeakyCon soon.

Cheers,

G

BeakyCon * Florida 40k GT * Oct. 29-30 * Marriott Hotel at the the Tampa Airport

Today we are announcing the new 40k GT, BeakyCon, that will be held on October 29 - 30 at the Marriott Hotel in the Tampa airport. If you are coming from outside the state of Florida you can fly in and never have to set foot outside the airport. The Marriott also has it's own parking garage if you want to drive. We will have some hot coffee to start off each day.

40k GT, Our System, Awards
The main event is the 40k GT (2000 points) which will run over both days and we are also planning to run a 40k Combat Patrol event as well. The format for the GT is based on the NOVA and WargamesCon competition systems; that is, there will be enough rounds played to determine the best general based upon their overall score for objectives gained each round. You will have the opportunity to play both days in the GT - there will one award for the overall best general (Warmaster) and another for second place. There will also be awards for Best Sportsmanship, Best Army and a Player's Choice award as well.

Sponsors
Our main sponsors are Games Workshop and Anthem Games (right out of Tampa) plus we are looking for some vendor support from great gaming companies such as Battlefoam.

Registration and E-Memos
General registration for the public should open next month and we will be sending monthly e-memos to keep you abreast of the latest details.

Website
An official website for BeakyCon is currently under construction and should be ready to go public in approximately one month.

We hope to see you there!

: )

My favorite Adepticon ever (seriously)

I was not planning to play in the team tournament this year then at the last minute my friend Mike Walsh said some friends of his from North/South Carolina had a team mate drop out... Could I play on their pure Black Templar team? I thought about on said okay on Friday. Wow what a great time I had. Horton, Eric and EJ - three great guys for sure. We ended up in the top third and had a blast. I have never played Black Templars before and was amazed at what a solid army they are. The army lists were very tight. Designing a good list for the Adepticon team tournament is an art. All I had to do was show up and roll the dice. I had a bad day in the 40k championship so this unexpected event was a blessing indeed.

A big thanks to Horton, Eric and EJ. You are three very good sportsmen and good tacticians as well. Also a big thanks to all our opponents for great games. I didn't run across any TFGs the entire weekend which is a first for Adepticon. I would also like to thank all four of my opponents from the 40k championship. I got to play Ben Mohile with his webway portal of death dark eldar army... I certainly learned a lot about dark eldar in that game and that is one of the great things about playing in big tourneys.

I have to say congratulations to my club mates who won the 40k team tourney - Paul Murphy, Kenny Boucher, Rob Baer and Josh. Paul seemed very confident but not cocky at all. They were running a hybrid version of Blood Angels which I think is a good choice in a big tourney versus DoA since it's more forgiving. I'm still all about DoA though - one poor showing is not going to rock my world. Like I said it happens and there is nothing you can do about the dice - it's not worth getting bent.

Finally to Adam Tricola I had a good time watching the Nuggets|Lakers game with you in the bar. Also a shout out to Lorek and Monster Rain from Dakka Dakka... Nice to see ya there.

Peace!

Dice Betrayal

Oh well a black day for the Blood Saints. The title says it all. It happens.