More Tyranid Terrain for BeakyCon

Necron Tomb World terrain is up next !!

How Tyranids will improve in 6th edition

Hi everyone !!

I'm sure most everyone is busy reading all the new information and rumors circulating on the Internet. While we still don't have a complete picture so far it looks to me like Tyranids will significantly improve in 6th edition. We have to factor in the buffs for the other armies as well for a complete analysis but for now I'll just focus on the perceived perks for Tyranids:

— Rending is AP2; This is a major deterrent to the new 2+ armor save that will nerf power weapons (AP3)... This is great for our genestealers and raveners.

— Bone Swords ignore armor saves and are not classified as power weapons; We have to see if this could change with a new FAQ but my gut feeling is this won't change... If so then Warriors and Shrikes are going to suddenly get a lot better. If monstrous creature melee attacks are AP2 or less the Tyrant won't need a bone sword but the combination with a lash whip is still lethal. If monstrous creatures ignore the effects of terrain as well then you won't need the lash whip so you can take another biomorphic instead.

— Preferred Enemy affects both shooting and melee; I currently a fair amount of shooty units in my army and keep most of these units clustered together for synapse so it will be easy to add a foot slogging Tyrant with Old Adversary to my army in place of the Tyranid Prime for my second HQ... All that bio shooting suddenly got a whole better - especially for my devilgants! It helps my Tyrannofex as well.

— 2+ Sv negates power weapons (AP3); As I said above I'm planning to add a walking Tyrant to my army for preferred enemy and of course he will have an armored shell. I'm also planning to run a brood of two Tyrant Guard with bone swords - this will be an extremely lethal unit in melee and force my opponents to think very hard about assaulting my fire base.

— Monstrous Creatures with wings will function a lot like the new fliers (Vector Strike); This makes them much faster and a much bigger threat... You can play more aggressively with this unit more often and inflict a lot more damage.

— Psychic Powers; This has the potential to be very huge as you can field a lot of psykers in a Tyranid army... e.g., Tyrants, Tervigons, Broodlords, Zoanthropes, just to name a few. ; ) Now it's possible your Tyrant can get an invulnerable save and stuff like psychic hoods have no affect on powers that enhance your own army. Zoies can be used to buff your army. Like I said there's a whole heck of a lot of potential here.

— Beasts ignore the effects of terrain, move 12" and can reroll the 2d6 for the assault move; I'll probably be adding in a brood of raveners in place of my Yrmgarl genestealers. Raveners will be a go to unit that can assault those hard to reach units like frightened guardsmen hiding in a ruin. Heh!

— If you wreck or destroy a transport in melee your melee unit is then automatically locked in combat with the embarked enemy unit that spills out; This is a big one !!! No more popping a chimera then having to soak up a full turn of shooting before you can eat what fell out... A huge buff for genestealers in my opinion. I really like it a lot.

There are some other very interesting rumors floating around such as monstrous creatures will become Eternal Warriors... Yet another huge potential buff and I think we could see the return of NidZilla !! It's looking like monstrous creatures will come into a new level all their own after having been the weak sauce in 5th edition. It's very exciting. Things like snap fire I'm really not too worried about. So I'm thinking Tyranids are going to be a lot more popular again and they will definitely be much more competitive. All of this is great news for me after having done well at WarGamesCon this past weekend. It's time to start tweaking the current list and then see where it goes from there. It definitely can't get any worse and that's a good thing.

Can 40k be everything to everyone ?

A wise man once said something along the lines of you can make a lot of people happy but not everyone all the time. Me as a gamer I am a very competitive player but I also love the background just as well. I have played Blood Angels DoA, pure Khornate Daemons and now Tyranids in 5th edition along with some other armies such as dark eldar. I have done okay with all three of the first three I mentioned at tournaments both locally and nationally. If you think about it for a moment these three are all strong in melee which is what I love the most. Supposedly shooting will be better in 6th edition while melee is going to wither on the vine a bit... That is if you believe what the so called Internet experts have to say so far. There is some hate on the air waves - it is an easy way to build an audience. Fear is a very powerful thing. I say know no fear... Even better yet be fearless if you can. Of course it's much easier said than done and there are definitely some things out there that scare me. You can ask anyone that knows me well - I am very skeptical but I am also an optimist and always have been. No one is going to give you everything you need to be happy. We have to work at it to be happy and content with life... It's a constant struggle. One thing I do not need is another so called Internet expert telling me what I should think - I can figure it out for myself over the course of time.

So where am I going with this - well 6th edition is just a couple of days away. Things are going to change... They always do too. Change can be hard but sometimes change can be good. In terms of 40k I've heard some people say that they love 5th edition and they hoped that 6th edition would be a maintenance release simply tightening the current ruleset. Others embraced the leak of the pancake edition with open arms. To me it's looking like there are going to be some fundamental changes to the game in a big way... It will be neither a maintenance release nor a re-release of 2nd edition. A lot of the rumors have already been dispelled... Hurr hurr hurr !!

I can deal with that and I'm not here to endorse GW and their product line. That said I am excited about 6th edition. Like I said things change and we can't stop that from happening. I'm sure there will be things about 6th edition I don't like but on the other hand overall it sounds pretty good overall so far.

That is all for now.

Straight from the horse's mouth...

Yeah I know we are not supposed to trust them but heck if they say it then it must be true...

Link to GW Video

It looks like 6th edition was influenced by Planet Strike just like 5th edition was influenced by City Fight. I'm all for giving the new rules for terrain a chance.

Reflections on WarGamesCon

Another great weekend with lots of extremely fun gaming. Every opponent was a pleasure to play - not one TFG over the course of three whole days !! Wow that really says a lot.

So the top five armies were Orks, Daemons and Necrons (three Necron armies). It was a bit surprising to not see Grey Knights or Space Wolves at the top for a change. It seems to me that while Grey Knights are very good it's not so easy to build a truly competitive list that can do well on the top tables. I only had to play against Grey Knights once and my opponent was a great guy. The ork army (2x warboss on bike, Nob bikers and lots of 30 man shoota squads)... It seems like it was designed to go against the current meta which is very powerful and with the lack of Grey Knight armies on the top tables I think that helped him a lot as well. I think the ork army played by Alan was basically the same one as last year so from me hats off for sticking with it and winning the tournament this year. Orks can match up well versus Necrons which also definitely helped... Ben Mohile was the only person to beat Alan's ork army and Ben was playing Necrons.

There was lots of terrain on the tables this year which made my overall experience a lot better. One thing that threw me off a bit at the start was that the primary, secondary and tertiary objectives were all equal in battle points awarded - so basically all three objectives were always equal; i.e., there really wasn't primary, secondary and tertiary objectives... Just three objectives each worth 10 battle points per mission. I figured it out after my second game and was good to go. I do like this approach for competitive tournaments and think it's definitely worthwhile and should be considered by other TOs that use a w-l-d format.

One minor nitpick is w-l-d versus a pure w-l system. This hurt me as it's hard for me to max out on battlepoints consistently with Tyranidz. I do think a pure w-l system helps more to even out the playing field as you just have to win versus always needing to massacre your opponents. If you think about it the pure w-l system can promote more friendly games as there is less need for bickering in my opinion. That said I will continue to work on tweaking my Tyranid army list and I foresee lots of major changes coming with 6th edition.

Each round was 2 hours and 15 minutes which I liked a lot. The team tourney and 40k GT both ran on time so it worked out just fine. The extra 15 minutes equated to a lot of games completing at least a fifth turn which is always a good thing. I did have one game that only went four turns but I don't think my opponent was intentionally slow playing. Hopefully 6th edition will speed up the game as well.

So a fantastic weekend and I recommend WarGamesCon to everyone.

So 2+ or what ?

The public will have the rulebook starting by Wednesday. I have been told yet again power weapons and rending are AP2. Monstrous Creatures will be AP1.

WarGamesCon final standings

I went 5-1-1 this weekend with wins versus Blood Angels, Tyranids, dark eldar, Grey Knights and Space Wolves. My one won loss was to infantry based eldar played by the captain of the American ETC team - got into trading shots across the board versus an army with more firepower. My draw was versus Space Wolves - we only got in four turns though. In a w l d system it is difficult to run through a series of games with maximum scores for battle points playing Tyranids... I think it's important to note I wasn't playing on the top tables. I look as this as a very positive result and plan to continue playing Tyranids in 6th edition. It should be very interesting indeed.

I'm excited about Tyranids going into 6th edition

Playing at WarGamesCon this weekend I realize I need to stick with Tyranids and experiment with some new units or possibly some duplication to adapt. There is going to be some big changes and from whst I have read I think fortunately Tyranids will get some love. Some people do not feel the same way and maybe I am off base. I think online it's very important for us to be positive about Tyranids while be honest at the same time. Maybe my army will become more shooty but it will still be a close combat monster.

There will be some Tyranid batreps from WGC. I'll try to remember to take some pix tomorrow.

:D

Day Two WGC

I ended up the first day 2-1-1. My only loss was the infantry eldar played by the captain of the American ETC team. Wins were versus BA and Tyranids. Draw was versus SW... Only got in four turns that game... Nidz were really eating them whole.

Day One @ WGC

Playing today with my buddy Teddy we rolled into the third round of the team tourney with one major win and one massacre. We were playing Grey Knights and Space Wolves versus xenos. The first game was a win versus Necrons and Grey Knights while the second win was versus Orks and Tyranids. Purifiers are broken versus horde... Everyone knows that. Third round was versus a stiff Hogs of War team - Necrons and dark eldar... Which ended in a draw.

Purifier spam is really nasty with a Wolfstar. Tomorrow is Tyranid time.

cry babies and 6th edition

I see a lot of blogs fanning the GW hate machine. Geez guys give it a chance please. Me I am very excited about the new edition. I hate to see the blue koolaid blogs (e.g., YTTH & 3++) feeding the masses their hate. They told us to only play mech msu in 5th edition and that everything else sucks. Well times are changing and they are clueless trying to keep acting like an authority on the game. It is laughable. They are not authorities.

Tyranids and WarGamesCon • Why I'm taking this army

Well it's almost time for the big event. As many of you know I decided to take my Tyranids. Most of my friends in the 40k Wrecking Crew will be bringing Grey Knights. Good for them and I hope they all do well. There is a lot of hate towards Grey Knights and that made the army not so fun for me to play. Sure I occassionally will still break out my Draigowing and of all the popular meta lists on the Internet I think it is the most challenging to play well. Grey Knights kind of ruined 5th edition towards the end and I think a lot of people are hoping that 6th edition will bring the balance back. If it does I sure hope that GW doesn't make the same mistake again and release another over the top codex (i.e., Chaos Space Marines). Maybe for a little while there will be a brief period where there is some real balance... I think that would be a lot of fun for everyone.

I do remember when the GK codex was first released before all the hate and realization how powerful they are in 5th edition. It was a fun time to play Grey Knights. I remember when lots of people said Draigowing sucks then Blackmoor almost won NOVA with them... Instantly overnight they were labeled a WAAC list. I had to laugh because all along I knew just strong is the Draigowing. Time passed along as it always does... I was the ringer at a local tournament and ended up playing a friend's Tyranid army. Everybody says that Tyranids are auto-lose versus Grey Knights and while there is a lot of truth to that there is a flip side and I quickly came to realize that while playing the army that day. Of all the armies it turns out that Tyranids have a lot of inherent advantages versus Grey Knights. I was called out as a liar for my batreps posted on BoLS featuring my Tyranids versus Grey Knights and people said my opponents were a bunch of n00bs. I don't really care and I'll be bringing my experience with the army with me to WarGamesCon. I'm so glad I decided to bring my Tyranids so I'll have the chance to show people what they can really do. I really believe in the army. Sometimes it can still be a bit daunting to bring my Tyranids to a large tournament and see all the GK, IG and SW armies. It's not easy to win with Tyranids versus the big three armies of 5th edition. You have to play the mission and not make any mistakes. If I do well people can say I just got really lucky. If I do bad then people can say they told me so. We will just have to wait and see.

I want to say thanks to all my good friends for all the great games we got in so I could refine my list and develop all my tactics and strategies. I couldn't make it to WarGamesCon with this army without that help and that's all I have to say for now. I'm relaxing this week and couldn't be in a better state of mind. I'm ready to roll some dice.

A little birdie told me (6th edition rumors)...

From Warseer
Originally Posted by Birdy
- Hull Points are in, it is stated that Ghost Arks, Land Raiders, and Defilers each have 4 Hull Points apiece. Necrons have the ability to strip hull points for each roll of a 6 to penetrate/glance vehicles, making rapid-firing gauss weaponry very powerful at removing armour.

- Speaking of rapid fire, you can indeed move and fire once up to the full range of the weapon (it is explicitly stated that Fire Warriors can fire their weapons up to 30" away), no confirmation on the 3x fire for Relentless at half range though.

- Assault moves are indeed 2d6", but added together. Units equipped with jump packs can re-roll the dice to see how far they charge.

- The Rage USR gives you +2 attacks on the charge

- All flying monstrous creatures have the ability to fly 24", doing something called a "Vector Strike", which is a certain amount of automatic hits to a unit they fly over, at the base strength of the creature.

- Monstrous creatures' attacks are explicitly AP 2

- Every army must select a "Warlord" or single general to lead the army, this leader gets an ability. They can choose between three different types of abilities, "Personal", "Inspirational" or "Strategic". They then roll on one of those charts to see what ability it is. The two examples given were a Grand Master giving all friendlies within 12" his Ld of 10 (Inspirational), and a Chaos Lord being a scoring unit (Personal, the ability itself was called "Immovable Object")

- Flyers are a specific type of unit, and it is somewhat unclear as to the rules for shooting at them. Either all units require a 6 to hit them (unless they have a special rule called Skyfire), or this is still the case but only if those flyers move flat-out. Monstrous creatures with the ability to Fly also get this "6-to-hit" rule.

- You have the ability to buy different terrain (it even has its own slot on the new FOC), e.g, you can buy a Bastion with a Quad-Gun (which has the aforementioned Skyfire USR). There seem to be quite a few options for what terrain you can buy, but naturally most of them are typically represented by terrain kits GW sells.

- Now we're on the topic of the FOC, the rules for allies weren't laid out specifically, but it is heavily implied that its not the same as in WHFB. They refer to allied units as "Detachments", and there is an example of a player with a Chaos Space Marine force having some detachments of Chaos Daemons in his army. Basically, I was given the impression that it is far more common (and frequent) for a detachment from another 40k army to join a larger one, than it is for a Fantasy army to have Allies. Think more along the lines of the Storm of Magic rules for using TK, VC, or Daemons.

- Here's a biggie: Units -can- go on Overwatch, giving them the ability to fire upon an enemy unit which charges them, but at BS 1. Eldar (and any other army with access to the Clairvoyance psychic power set) can use a psychic power to give a unit the ability to fire at their usual BS.

- Monstrous Creatures have access to a special "Smash" attack, allowing them to halve their attacks, but double their strength. It mentions that this gives them the ability to destroy tanks more easily.

- It's somewhat hinted that AP will have some kind of affect against vehicles. This is because part of the Munitorum dice set includes vehicle damage dice. It specifies that some of the dice are "AP 1, AP 2, and AP 3 Damage dice", or something to that effect.

- 4 Disciplines of Psychic powers, basically what we were thinking in terms of Clairvoyance, Biomancy, etc etc. There's a chart near the back of the WD detailing which (if any) psychic disciplines a particular army gains access to. It's interesting to see that a large amount of armies don't have access to any at all.

B E Aggressive

Just one girly at the tourney
And it's kill or be killed.
The Dungeon Master is the bastard
Known as Pleeny B. Ill.
But I, I could feel it
Coming through the air that night.
Oh Lord, my sword's out
Jesus just avert your eyes.

Took me years to develop these skills
I'm untouchable thanks to these pills.
The way is paved with knaves that I've horribly slain.
See me coming, better run for those hills.

Listen up now,
You've got me killin', uh 
You've got me blind to feelings.
I crush your face, I take your jewels
You have no way of dealin'.
Be Aggressive
B E Aggressive
Be Aggressive
B E Aggressive

Mirror, mirror, uh
Upon the Wall, uh
Who's the baddest motherfucker of them all, uh
Just like Columbus, uh
He get the bloodlust, uh
Just like Columbus he get murderous on purpose.

You got me hurtin, uh
You got me pullin' curtains.
You suckin' chili dogs while I go all my craze berzerkin'

Be Aggressive
B E Aggressive
Be Aggressive
B E Aggressive

Tens and Twenties
What's so funny?
Fuckin' twenty-ten.
Sweet Jesus please just get me through this
Take me home again.

But I'm all up in the Death World, snap
I rubbed a bump in the Death World, shit.
I'm all heavy with my winnings
Not to mention all the sinning
And I lost it in the Death World, crap.

In the Valley of the Shadow
A boo-berry attacked.
He was the hit-man of the girly
Who survived to the last.
She was the cutest necromancer
I ever did see
I almost wished myself to die
So she could win the whole thing, but, but

Be Aggressive
B E Aggressive
Be Aggressive

New Tyranid Terrain for BeakyCon 2012

Chris Winnans is doing an outstanding job with the new terrain for the GT this year. Enjoy !

40k batrep - Wraithwing vs. Mechanized Blood Angels (2k)

I played a game versus Blood Angels today with my Wraithwing.

Necrons
- HQ -
Immotekh
Destroyer Lord - Sempiternal Weave, Res Orb, Warscythe, Taychon Arrow

Royal Court:
PulseTek
ChronoTek

- Troops -
15x Warrior
8x Immortal - Tesla Carbine
8x Immortal - Tesla Carbine

- Fast Attack -
6x Canoptek Wraith - 4x Whip Coil & 2x Particle Caster
6x Canoptek Wraith - 4x Whip Coil & 2x Particle Caster
9x Canoptek Scarab

- Heavy Support -
3x Canoptek Spyder - Gloom Prism
3x Canoptek Spyder - Gloom Prism

Immotekh + Warriors + ChronoTek
Immortals + PulseTek


Blood Angels
- HQ -
Librarian - Shield of Sanguinius & Unleash Rage

- Elites -
8x Assault Terminator - 3x Lightning Claws & 5x Thunderhammer|Stormshield
8x Assault Terminator - 3x Lightning Claws & 5x Thunderhammer|Stormshield
10x Sternguard - Heavy Flamer - Rhino

- Troops -
5x Assault Marine - Flamer - Razorback: Twin Linked Plasmagun & Lascannon
5x Assault Marine - Flamer - Razorback: Twin Linked Plasmagun & Lascannon
10x Tactical Marine - Multi-Melta & Flamer - Rhino

- Heavy Support -
Predator - Autocannon Turret & Lascannon Sponsons
Predator - Autocannon Turret & Lascannon Sponsons

- Fast Attack -
Baal Predator - Twin Linked Assault Cannon Turret & Heavy Bolter Sponsons

Librarian + Terminator Squad

The 40k Movement Phase

Hi everyone !

With 6th edition right around the corner it can be hard to get motivated writing analytical articles... We know things are going to change but that's all we really know right now. There has been lots of speculation about what 6th edition will usher into the game and I think a lot of the rumors are just that. This current environment creates a challenge to write a relevant tactical article so I racked my brain to come up with a good topic I hope will be helpful. Often I talk about deployment and the movement phase - to me these are the most important aspects of the game and I don't think that is going to change heading into the new edition. In fact I'd go so far as to say they will become even more relevant.

A good observation I often hear about 5th edition is that the rulebook overall is fine but the imbalance between codices is the main problem. Can GW solve this dilemma with 6th edition? Some are already saying that going right into the new edition there will still be a wide rift. Based upon the rumors we've seen I don't think anybody besides GW as yet has had the opportunity to sit down with the new rulebook and fully absorb it. What we see now is just speculation for the most part and I don't want to write about what might be then doesn't come to pass into fruitition. So if you bare with me then I will cover the movement phase of 40k from 3rd edition through 5th edition. It is a historical article and I think there is a lot of good things that come from reflecting upon the past with the desire to use this knowledge to grow and broaden our horizon as competitive players for the future. In many ways I equate this type of thinking to meditation.

Positive versus Negative

I'd like to talk about positive energy versus negative energy... We reap what we sow. Do I always have positive things to say - no, of course not... That said some of the negative things I've posted on the Internet have come back to bite me. We want to be honest (well some of us - heh) and speak our mind. Sometimes we get mad and hit the REPLY button before we have a chance to cool off and think things through to a logical conclusion. It's part of the human condition in my opinion. Often I've had some people tell me something along the lines of "Wow you really overreacted! You need to get a hold of your emotions." Then somewhere down the line the same thing happens to them and they fly off the handle as well. It's kind of funny. Everybody gets mad from time to time... It's how we handle our response that really matters.

Trolls
From Wikipedia:

In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory,extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

We run into this type of behavior all the time. The important thing is to be able to recognize it for what it is and don't let it drag us down. Sometimes the troll will be exacting a vendetta looking to slag a specific person they have in mind. They will constantly attack you waiting for a negative response then go to great lengths to point out that you are being negative. It's kind of funny but it can also be very annoying at times. I think the best solution is to find ways to avoid these types of people. A little humor is okay but just being negative for the sake of it in and of itself over and over again can become a problem. Like I said I think the best solution is try to avoid these types of people. Sometimes though for whatever reason that's not possible so we have to find other solutions.

The Power of Positive Thinking
The main thing is not to let trolls make you react in a negative manner. We can find positive ways to vent negative feelings - it can be hard to do but if you're successful it can go a long ways to your own well being. I think every time you do something positive it will come back to you eventually. Obviously the same can be said for every time you do something negative but the feedback might even be stronger... So be careful and think about it.

: )

Images of Cypher the Fallen Angel

Necron Misdirect Tactics

Introduction
Awhile back when the new Necron codex was just released I wrote an article about fielding an army with three teleporting units. I have since refined my list and now use two teleporting unit. This article shares some of my common tactics for this army.

Fritz recently posted an interesting tactical article (Hit & Fade) and it got me to thinking about some tactics I've been using for my Take All Comers (TAC) Necron army. My tactics are a bit different than his though. I'm not saying one is better than another and actually they can sometimes even compliment each other.

Double Veil
I have two VeilTeks in my TAC army so that's two scoring units I can teleport around the table which can be more than just an annoyance for my opponents. Fritz's article is all about coming in strong during the beginning of the game then pulling back after scoring some early critical damage, forcing the opponent then to come to you in order to retaliate. My tactics are the opposite and I often like to play the game in the manner I'll describe. Night Fight for one half the game really blunts shooty armies and gives you time to move into key positions. My TAC list has four heavy hitting melee units:

• C'Tan
• The Traveller in a Catacomb Command Barge (CCB)
• Canoptek Wraiths
• Brood of 10 Scarabs

Often the role of the C'Tan is to act as a shield for my scoring units. Sometime the C'Tan can also act as a fire magnet moving straight towards the enemy since it is all but impervious to small arms firepower. The scarabs can either tank hunt, tarpit or block enemy units. The Wraiths are the hammer. The Traveller can play many roles typically either tank hunting or moving into the enemy backfield to harass their scoring units. The combination of the four is more than some armies can handle and follows some of the principles from jy2's MTO Necrons. I can force the opponent to first deal with my melee units - this also provides time for the rest of my army to reach key positions and support the melee units if necessary.

Forcing the Opponent into Bad Positions
Using my tactics I've found that often the opponent will play right into my hands moving their units forward into bad positions. My two scoring units with VeilTeks act as bait to draw in enemy units and it can take up to three turns to reach them. I then teleport away to safety leaving the opponent completely out of position and vulnerable to a series of quick counter punches. This is why I refer to my tactics as a misdirect but often it is also a redirect. I can't think of any army that can run down two teleporting units unless they spread out most of their units which in turn leaves them vulnerable... Especially dark eldar.

Necrons have many abilities to manipulate the enemy, more so currently than any other army in my opinion. These abilities are very powerful and also very frustrating for the opponent. Night Fight is one of the main abilities because many people believe that shooting is far superior to melee and build their armies accordingly. If you can constantly hinder your opponent's army directly this in turn can lead them to make mistakes and that is a big part of the game. Of course you must put yourself in a good position to capitalize upon their mistakes.

Conclusion
I remember how much of an annoyance one squad of Immortals teleporting with a Lord could be and now you can teleport two to three units. I think two is enough though as you don't want to build a lopsided army. My primary teleporting unit is a large squad of Warriors with Immotekh, a ChronoTek and a VeilTek. My secondary teleporting unit is a squad of Immortals (Tesla carbines) and another VeilTek. These units are obviously intended to hold objectives but they are also very good at lending fire support. The big unit of Warriors is also okay in melee versus many non dedicated melee enemy units if push comes to shove - I remember one game charging them into two Death Company Marines and a Chaplain to support the C'Tan... It was a bit risky but paid off in the end.

So by using teleporting units as bait you can draw enemy units into bad forward positions and then leave them stranded. That is why I call this tactic the misdirect.

Inquisitorial Grey Knight Army Review

Somebody asked me does the following 2000 point Grey Knight army pass the litmus test:

HQ

Inquisitor Coteaz (100)

ELITES

Purifier Squad #1 (231)
Knight of the Flame - Nemesis Daemonhammer
2x Purifier - Psycannon
3x Purifier - Nemesis Force Halberds
Razorback - Dozer Blades, Psybolt Ammo & Searchlight

Purifier Squad #2 (231)
Knight of the Flame - Nemesis Daemonhammer
2x Purifier - Psycannon
3x Purifier - Nemesis Force Halberds
Razorback - Dozer Blades, Psybolt Ammo & Searchlight

Purifier Squad #3 (231)
Knight of the Flame - Nemesis Daemonhammer
2x Purifier - Psycannon
3x Purifier - Nemesis Force Halberds
Razorback - Dozer Blades, Psybolt Ammo & Searchlight

TROOPS

Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband #1 (133)
3x Warrior Acolyte - Melta Bombs, Chainswords & Meltaguns
6x Warrior Acolyte - Chainswords & Bolters
Rhino - Dozer Blades & Searchlight

Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband #2 (133)
3x Warrior Acolyte - Melta Bombs, Chainswords & Meltaguns
6x Warrior Acolyte - Chainswords & Bolters
Rhino - Dozer Blades & Searchlight

Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband #3 (133)
3x Warrior Acolyte - Melta Bombs, Chainswords & Meltaguns
6x Warrior Acolyte - Chainswords & Bolters
Rhino - Dozer Blades & Searchlight

Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband #4 (133)
3x Warrior Acolyte - Melta Bombs, Chainswords & Meltaguns
6x Warrior Acolyte - Chainswords & Bolters
Rhino - Dozer Blades & Searchlight

Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband #5 (133)
3x Warrior Acolyte - Melta Bombs, Chainswords & Meltaguns
6x Warrior Acolyte - Chainswords & Bolters
Rhino - Dozer Blades & Searchlight

Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband #6 (133)
3x Warrior Acolyte - Melta Bombs, Chainswords & Meltaguns
6x Warrior Acolyte - Chainswords & Bolters
Rhino - Dozer Blades & Searchlight

HEAVY SUPPORT

Dreadnought (136)
Psybolt Ammo, 2x Twin-Linked Autocannon & Searchlight

Dreadnought (136)
Psybolt Ammo, 2x Twin-Linked Autocannon & Searchlight

Dreadnought (136)
Psybolt Ammo, 2x Twin-Linked Autocannon & Searchlight

No 2++ for terminators in melee versus power weapons & rending in 6th edition

One of my contacts let me know earlier today the rumor is bogus. Also looks like old school choppa weapons will be re introduced reducing the 2+ to 4+ .

Tyranids at WarGamesCon

Wow how time flies !! Less than two weeks now until my favorite GT I get to play rolls around. I'm very excited and also very glad I decided to bring my Tyranids. There have been a lot of awesome GTs this year already but due to my busy work schedule coupled with lots of business travel I haven't been able to attend any as yet. I really wanted to make it over to San Antonio for the Alamo but sadly it was not to be. I am trying to find another GT I can attend later this year. My plan was originally to play Grey Knights, Necrons and Tyranids at three different events - I'm thinking I'll be lucky to make it out for a second event the way things are currently looking now. Oh well, that's all the more reason to enjoy my time at WarGamesCon (WGC).

I am under no delusions about how my Tyranids will perform at WGC. Tyranids are not a top tier army by any stretch of the imagination and the primary-secondary-tertiary format used at WGC means that I'm more likely to suffer from the case of a bad matchup. I do have some things on my side though:

— Lots and lots of playtesting with many of these games versus Grey Knights, Imperial Guard and Space Wolves over an eight month period (plus a winning record for the course of these games).

— My army list as a result is finely crafted and totalky tweaked - there is no fat... I know it inside out and there are some really nasty tricks up my sleeve now.

— My playtesting includes several local RTTs with one first place finish and two third place finishes. I have confidence in my army and believe I can give anyone a real run for the money.

— Some other Tyranid players have done quite well this year at other GTs which proves this xenos race can win big... Again another factor that provides me with more confidence.

— Lots of people don't take Tyranids as a serious threat nor do you see them that often at major events. I have learned the hard way repeatedly that going into any game under-estimating your opponent is a good way to end up losing a game and it happens. A lot of players don't know what to expect either which is always a big advantage.

I think it's going to be very interesting and like I said I'm very much so looking forward to WGC. If I can manage to make the cut to the top bracket on Day 2 I feel I will have accomplished my goal. If I can somehow manage to place in the top ten that would really be something. Knock on wood of course !

Tyranid World Terraforming for BeakyCon

Progress is being made for our Tyranid worlds... here is a little sneak peak...

40k 5th Edition Tactical Analysis in Retrospect

Introduction

I've seen a lot of people say that you don't see any good tactics posted on the Internet. Supposedly list building trumps tactics and strategy. I have always tended to stick to the following tactics I’ll cover here and break it down into the three essential phases:

•          Movement
•          Shooting
•          Assaults

Before I get started on the main topic I’ll make a quick reference to the role of deployment and how it has changed quite a bit with the advent of 5th edition. There was a time when you could setup a serious gun line and blast away. Back then a game could well be decided by whoever got to go first. To me these were the most boring games and could be tough to win. I rarely ever play gun line but I have, mostly with Dark Angels or vanilla SM prior to the release of their new rules and 5th edition. Now the ability to hold your entire army in reserve really can befuddle any opponent running a gun line army. Cover saves have also hurt gun lines. I am all for the new rules and think the more dynamic 5th edition has been a great change for the game.

Deployment is still very important and I think it's still the most important part of the game. Look at this way, a bad deployment can kill you before the first dice is rolled. I believe an army should always be deployed such that your units can support each to the hilt. Tyranids have always been about sending in several waves... Tyranid players that can't grasp this important concept rarely if ever win versus a good player that recognizes the Nid army was hastily deployed. Nidz are pretty much designed to be played in waves with synapse. One big change is how does the Nid player go about using their troops. I see a lot of outflanking genestealers, it sounds like a good idea but it is random in that your bugs might come in on the wrong side or your opponent simply castles in the center position of their deployment zone.

I should also mention anti-deployment as well. What is anti deployment? Anti deployment is starting with units in reserve. It used to be that each player would take turns deploying one unit at a time. Now one player first deploys their army then the other player deploys theirs. I have noticed a lot of players don't use the ability to hold units in reserve and I think they are missing out on a great tactic. I sometimes like to hold my best assault units in reserve and then bring them in. For the spearhead deployment your reserves can come in across the entire long table edge, not just your table quarter. This prevents the opponent from shooting them. This is a fantastic tactic for orks... Basically you take a strong unit such as Nobz with a warboss and put them in a trukk or battlewagon, don't forget the red paintjob. The turn they come in the transport moves 13" then the squad disembarks another 2". The warboss then calls down the Waaagh for a d6" fleet move and then they can charge up to 6 more inches. 13" + 2" + d6" + 6" = 21" + d6", or all the way up to 27" total. If it were me I'd always run Ghaz for this style army, you can't beat the guaranteed 6" fleet. Suddenly enemy units over halfway across the table are getting pounded by a huge power klaw. I think of this as an advanced anti-deployment tactic since I don't see many ork players using it. If the mission is objective based then place one of your objectives to lure in the opponent.

Using anti deployment has been with us a long time... Wolf Scouts, webway portals, terminators, drop pods and the monolith all come to mind. I personally think that drop pods were played out a long time ago but for some it's a brand new way of playing SM. I even used the old rules for drop podding prior to the release of the 4th edition SM codex... You had to go all drop pod though and there have always been some restrictions on what you can place in a drop pod. It was a great way to quickly close with the old static armies such as Iron Warriors. I have always been a big proponent of anti deployment and it only makes sense that I play daemons now as just like an old drop pod army everything starts in reserve. Deployment is meaningless to a daemon army and this is one of their biggest advantages.

Movement

Personally I think the movement phase is the most important. All of the best players I have faced excel in this phase of the game. In 4th edition most transports were death traps so armies such as the 13th Company and Necrons had a big advantage since they could move long distances quickly without using transports. Both the Necron Lord with Veil of Darkness and the Rune Priest with Gate could teleport/deep strike anywhere on the table carrying a powerful unit along with them. Blood Angels was another army that could cover a lot of ground quickly due to strong jump infantry units such as Death Company and Honor Guard... Death Company at one time could choose to rage as well for an additional d6 movement. I felt that Blood Angels was one of the fastest armies around which is one of the reasons why it was such a powerhouse at the time.

The beauty of mech is twofold now in 5th, transports are resilient providing protection for your infantry plus you can cover up to twice as much ground as a foot slogging unit not accounting for running. Mech has hurt armies like Nidz due to the resilience of mech. Landraiders are a true terror again. Everything seems to follow cycles.

It's hard for me to lay down simple tactics for the movement phase. There are a lot of variables. The role of a transport changes quite a bit depending on which army you play... tactical squads typically will sit in their rhinos and pillbox. Wyches in raiders want to move in and assault as soon as possible, same thing with boyz in trukkz and battlewagons. The monolith is probably the strangest transport in the game. I'm not a big fan of drop pods (except for dreadnaughts) and for the most part I think they have been played out.

In terms of wargear I do think that dozer blades should be must have for transports... Dozer blades are typically very cheap as compared to extra armor. I only take extra armor for dreadnaughts and landraiders. The chances of immobilizing with dozer blades is 1 in 36 (6*6).

Shooting

If I am up against an army that is better in assault then I will typically target their faster units first in attempt to take them out before they reach my line. Next I will shoot the slower units that can unleash hell once they get stuck... If they are in a transport then you've got to at least take out their ride and make them foot slog. Also I always favor high odds that have the best chance of paying off as opposed to high risks that require a lot of luck.

I believe in the concept of Focused Fire. Once you have selected a target keep shooting it until it's dead. Too many times I've seen people spread their shooting around. This let's remnant units win games. How many times have I seen a couple of genestealers pop five terminators? Believe me when I say it happens... Or when a single Marine runs on top of an objective. I remember once watching a gladiator match at Adepticon. My friend was running L&tD... He charged a Blood Angels Sanguinary High Priest joined with a squad of assault Marines. The Blood Angels assault squad was destroyed and the priest broke but did not fall back far enough to be able to regroup. My friend decided the next turn to ignore the Priest and assaulted another unit getting stuck in. The Sanguinary High Priest then regrouped and lead three small las/plas squads into a counter charge... Preferred Enemy + furious charge... They destroyed a large block of mutants which won the game for the BA player. Now if my friend had charged the priest again it would have gone the other way for sure. So you have to remain focused at all times, especially when you are winning a close game.

I see shooting as broken up into three phases:

•          long range
•         mid range
•         short range

Against assault armies you are waiting for them to move inside your midrange arc... The short ranged units move up and suddenly you can blast them with everything. It's good to have a balance between the three ranges. You don't want too much of any one type.

Assaults

Assaults win games and this is most especially where you want to focus on high odds. If I have an independent character (IC) joined to a unit I'll put all of his attacks on the enemy unit and ignore the enemy IC... generally your IC will hit first, hit on 3+, ignore armor and has a lot of attacks. Kill the enemy squad and their IC will break and possibly you can overrun it too. If you focus on the enemy IC it's harder to hit and typically has a better save so you are wasting attacks that could have killed more. You also want to charge multiple units so you can tie them up. Coordinating your charges is very important.

Conclusion

How often do I see people say one army can beat another solely based upon the two lists? It just does not work that way. If you focus on objectives rather than trying to table your opponents you'll be in a much better position to win late in the game. By playing smart you can neutralize your opponent's best units and force them to not use them as best intended. Killpoints are all about tabling but when it comes to controlling objectives that is a completely different ball of wax.

Okay we all know the game is three phases per player turn - move, shoot and assault. A good friend of mine once said that if you can dominate any two phases you should win. I think this is true. 5th edition has made the game much more dynamic. I've covered shooting in good detail already and provided some thoughts on assaults. If you read my blog (greenblowfly.blogspot.com) some of my articless on Blood Angels tactics I wrote discuss linking assaults. Linking your assaults is very powerful for close combat oriented armies and I had a lot of success with this tactic versus horde style armies such as both Nidz and Orks. Linking assaults helps small powerful elite armies to beat hordes. If you stop to think about it horde armies typically have the following characteristics:

• Many cheap units (gaunts, slugga boyz etc.)
• A few uber units - Nidz have their monsterous creatures and orks have their warbosses and Nobz
• Ability to make the many cheap units fearless

Those large swarms look intimidating and they make for effective screens to protect the uber units. However with the new assault rules it's easy to make horde armies inherent advantages work against themselves. The trick is to multi charge and link your assaults. Horde armies are not going to sit back, they are going to come right at you. Both orks and Nidz have some problems dealing with mech lists, lootaz being a notable exception to lightly armored transports. Linking assaults means that you will let the hordes approach, charge your mech wall and then you counter assault. You hit them with everything and make sure that all combats are linked together by charging each of your units into multiple enemy units. Stuff like power fists should preferably target the big stuff. You have the upper hand since you charged the horde, you score a lot more wounds then each and every enemy unit must take all those additional armor saves since you won combat. Being fearless coupled with terrible armor saves is not a good thing. The cheap units die in droves and even the uber units get torn up. When it's all over and done with your small but powerful elite army suddenly has numerical superiority. This tactic can work against any foot slogging army if your opponent keeps his units close together. I've used this tactic to table many armies.

So to me that is what close combat is all about. One super turn of assault that cripples the enemy. It can be done and works best versus hordes.

The future of 40k

Here are some various rumors I recently heard about 6th edition from different sources...

• All terminators will have grenades
• Some terminator units will gain an extra wound wound
• Power weapons and rending attacks will be AP3 in melee
• Tyranids will get a big boost

Maybe some people are just trolling... maybe it is true - if so we will see lots and lots of terminator armies! I am not going to lose any sleep about it. I like terminators, don't get me wrong but I think that would be a step in the wrong direction. What comes to pass we will deal with and continue to learn how to fight.

I hope that the game does not boil down to epic defensive exercises that result in a win by only destroying one enemy unit. I remember when I was playing my Chaos daemons... if I could get on top of the objectives early in the game there was a lot of armies that had problems shifting them off - that got very boring very fast and it is kind of like professional soccer overseas... the team that scores first then shifts in an uber defense with all 11 players inside the box. To me that is the antithesis of a beautiful game. It works and it can work very well so it is propagated. Seriously that is one reason why I have decided to take my Tyranids to WarGamesCon - I cannot win games playing that style. When you play it that tight to the proverbial vest it only takes one bad roll of the dice to lose and it happens. Fortune favors the bold as they say.

I have also heard that 6th edition will hit the streets by the weekend of July 3rd. I still remember my first game of 5th edition... my Nurgle Marines versus Chris' Crimson Fists. We got a lot of rules wrong - that is just the way it is when you are learning. I hope the game continues to be as much fun as it has been for me in 5th edition. No one really knows and that is kind of exciting. We can pretty much count the days until the new rules are released. w00t !!

An interesting rules condundrum... Jaws of the World Wolf (JotWW)

Here is the link to the discussion:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/452317.page

It's interesting to me as there are two INAT council members who are openly against JotWW being allowed to target enemy models that are locked in close combat and to me that's a big plus for the INAT. No matter how you might feel there are many who staunchly believe JotWW is one of the most over the top broken psychic abilities in the game. Often I ask myself why does GW write such rules? I have no idea.

So there are those whom say it is okay to target enemy models locked in close combat with JotWW as long as they aren't the primary target. I am certain they also enjoy their anonymous status on the Internet while arguing so absurdly. To me that is just wrong in so many ways and many of these reasons against it are given in the discussion by cooler heads... To me it's very interesting to see how these rules lawyers attempt to justify their stance.

I encourage you to read the discussion for yourself... What do you think? I'd like to know your opinion.