Saturday, September 29, 2012
Membership Drive and BeakyCon2 News
Hi everyone !!
BBF here... Less than 7 days til BeakyCon2 now. I can feel the excitement growing. Lots of people coming out this year and from all over. We have some top gamers coming out this year so I know there will be some really exciting games in store. We have some really cool prizes to give away this year including the beautifully pro painted army by my good friend Kenny Boucher (Next Level Painting). Kenny will have an opportunity to talk to everyone at the GT and he will be bringing one of his gorgeous armies. We will also have a local vendor (Birds of Paradise) present both days and it will be a great time to purchase the new Chaos Space Marine codex. We've also got some great gamers from the local area who'll be playing as well... I think there are a lot of people who have the capability to win the whole darn thing and that's very exciting !!
I would like to ask faithful readers to please sign up as followers if you haven't already done so. If you are interested go down to bottom of the blog and click on the link under the section entitled Taken Onboard the Black Ships. I really appreciate the support and it means a lot to me.
Thanks so much everyone !!!
: )
Friday, September 28, 2012
Fulgrim, Primarch of the Emperor's Children
Fulgrim (380)
Primarch of the Emperor's Children
Stats
WS8-BS6-S6-T6-W6-I8-A5-Ld10-Sv2+
Unit Type Infantry (Character)
Unit Character 1 (Unique)
Wargear
• The Gilded Panoply 2+ Armour, 5++ Invulnerable (3++ in melee); Should Fulgrim pass an armor or Invulnerable save on the roll of a 6then the unit that inflicted the wound must pass an initiative test or be Blinded
• The Blade of the Laer S(As User), AP2; Melee, Rending, Specialist Weapon, Two-Handed
• Fire Brand - Master Crafted Volkite Charger which also has Shred
• Krak and Plasma Grenades
Special Rules
- Primarch - Sire of the Emperor's Children Fulgrim has Crusader and must always issue and accept challenges if there is someone in combat with WS5 or higher; whilst Fulgrim is on the board, all Emperor's Children units gain +2 to combat resolution and may reroll reserves
- Sublime Swordsman Fulgrim gains an extra attack for each point his initiative is above his opponent's
- Strategic Planning A single Warlord Trait from any table may be chosenl
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Designing the Perfect Tournament
First I want to say how ironic I find the 40kWC banner floating on top of the peaceful image of a green environment. For some people peace is war - that is when they feel the most comfortable. Heh!
I want to discuss how BeakyCon2 was designed. It is and will not be perfect but I think that is what we should strive for however we as individuals perceive that to be. First and foremost we want the tournament to be as competitive as possible but also as just as fair. I personally believe in doing as much research as possible. We can learn from others successes and mistakes. I like to use WarGamesCon and Feast of Blades as my models for success - I really like what they are doing. :D
The national tournament scene has changed a lot over the past five years with a shift away from comp heavy soft scores to a more competitive environment. I still am a firm believer in the hobby aspect of the game and that is truly the heart of the game. Beautiful armies with an awesome theme should be rewarded. As a TO I find the competitive element the most thrilling. NOVA did a lot to promote the competitive element and shift tournaments in that direction - I respect that very much.
It takes a lot of planning, which is part of the preparation, to do a great job. You have to assemble a great team of individuals with many skills - fellow judges and awesome terrain builders are part of that equation. Everyone involved should have a lot of enthusiasm and be totally committed. Execution is the other part that is so important but the planning is what can make things run smoothly. You have to be totally focused.
I like to be as fair as possible. I will play games with participants to help them test their army list but I am not going to design their armies for them. Playtesting the missions using a wide variety of different armies is part of the preparation. This allows you to fine tune your missions so that everyone has an equal chance. The worst missions are those that heavily favor a certain type of army. I think you should provide enough information ahead of time so that everyone playing has the opportunity to be well prepared as well. For the most part no one likes surprises. Randomness and silly objectives are two things I try my best to avoid.
I also believe in making myself accessible to everyone involved. You should take a professional approach to running a large event if you want it to be very successful. It is the things that go wrong for whatever reason that will bite you in the arse and come back to haunt you. Being as fair as possible to everyone helps to minimize those kinds of errors. Your goal should be to not make any mistakes in any regard and that is part of the reason why taking a professional stance can be such a great thing.
The more you do the same thing the better you should become in practice but at the same time I also believe in some variance. Changes to how the missions work and your scoring system keeps it fresh and interesting for everyone. I focus on what I know well and stay away from things I know little about in actual practice... as one example I am not a fan of home brewed FAQs. I think in general GW has done a fantastic job with the release of 6th edition and they have stayed on top of things with their most recent errata and FAQs. Please note that I will answer any questions that come my way in regards to the rules and sometimes it can take a lot of work to provide the best answer.
I am also not a big fan of the inclusion of Forgeworld - it might be my own short coming but I find it hard to keep track of all their rules. I think on the other hand most of the dedicated players are quite knowledgeable in regards to the existing codices - they are easily accessible and don't tend to change much over time. Forgeworld on the other hand is spread amongst many books... As a TO it would be quite time consuming to exhaustively be familiar with every single Forgeworld unit. In my opinion there is place for Forgeworld and that is in a specialized type of tournament that specifically caters to this element. I think Adepticon has done a great job overall in that regard and I proverbially tip my hat to them.
We are working hard.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Mortation, Primarch of the Death Guard
Mortarion (425)
Primarch of the Death Guard
Stats
WS7-BS5-S6-T7-W7-I5-A5-Ld10-Sv 2+
Unit Type - Infantry (Character)
Unit Character: 1 (Unique)
Wargear
• Barbarian Plate (2+ Armour Save, 4+ Invulnerable Save)
• Silence (S +1, AP2; Melee, Instant Death, Sunder -may re-roll armour penetration rolls, Unwieldy, Two Handed, Sweep Attack -may exchange attacks to attack every model in base contact)
• The Lantern (Range: 18", S8, AP2; Assault 1, Sunder)
• Frag Grenades • Phospex Bombs (unlimited) - Range: 12"
Special Rules
Primarch Sire of the Death Guard: - All Death Guard are Stubborn - Their frag grenades, frag missiles, and Havoc Launchers have Poisoned (4+)
Shadow of the Reaper: - Leadership against Fear tests caused by Mortarion suffer a -1 penalty - If he isn't locked in combat or embarked in a transport in the owning player's shooting phase then Mortarion may be redeployed (not deep strike) by passing a Ld test - must be within 10" of his starting position and may not finish within 3" of an enemy unit - may not be placed in a transport, building, or impassable terrain - if Mortation was attached to a unit then he leaves it - Mortation may declare charges after performing this move but it counts as disordered
Preternatural Resilience - Mortarion re-rolls failed Toughness tests and "It Will Not Die!" rolls - Automatically passes any dangerous terrain - Any weapon that wounds on a flat dice roll (e.g., Poison) will only hurt Mortarion on a roll to wound of 6 - Witch Spite - Deny the Witch on 4+ - Very Bulky
Site Crash
As you can tell the blog appearance is wacky looking. Blogger has just recently changed their editing system and is not so friendly to certain devices such as Apple unfortunately. I am out of town with limited free time this week... As soon as I have some free time I'll repair this site. You can still view the posts for what it is worth... Heh.
My deep apology to everyone for the inconvenience.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Horde Mentality Part 2
Horde Mentality
While Grey Knights and Necrons were also designed for 40k6 they still have some strong ties to 40k5. Horde armies have some inherent advantages for 40k6 and work well behind the safety of the Aegis defense line. From what've I've seen so far there are not a lot of new vehicles being introduced in the new CSM codex other than the new flyer. Sure there are a couple of new walkers but they both have very similar stat lines to the dreadnaught. That in an of itself tells me the emphasis is placed more on infantry.
If we look at Necrons as a counter example that codex introduced many new vehicles in comparison such as the two flyers (Doomscythe and Nightscythe), Doomsday Ark, Ghost Ark, Catacomb command barge and the Annilihation barge. To me that's quite a huge difference and tells us that vehicles can still have a place in certain armies. Transports took some big hits from the nerf bat which I think is good for the game overall since mechanized MSU dominated 40k5.
The meta is still very new for 40k6 and it will probably be at least another year before we start to see any major lasting trends. 40k4 was dominated by infantry heavy armies often featuring gun lines and I can see a return to that style of play... The big difference is the inclusion of flyers which have really shaken up the game since the release of 40k6.
It will be interesting to see if the new Havocs become a steadfast component of CSM armies since they will have access to flakk missiles - probably this will be the case, at least during the beginning. The main topic is horde but probably it would have been better just to say infantry heavy since not all armies have access to horde style units such as Orks and Tyranids.
BeakyCon2 is right around the corner and it will be interesting to see what types of lists are the most competitive. It would seem that the majority of the players are using allies.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Army lists still needed-Ryan Marsh
One army lists was lost in the shuffle... please resend !!
Thanks !!!
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Epic
Can you feel it, see it, hear it today?
If you can't, then it doesn't matter anyway
You will never understand it 'cause it happens too fast
And it feels so good, it's like walking on glass
It's so cool, it's so hip, it's alright
It's so groovy, it's outta sight
You can touch it, smell it, taste it so sweet
But it makes no difference 'cause it knocks you off your feet
You want it all but you can't have it
It's cryin', bleedin', lying on the floor
So you lay down on it and you do it some more
You've got to share it, so you dare it
Then you bare it and you tear it
You want it all but you can't have it
It's in your face but you can't grab it
It's alive, afraid, a lie, a sin
It's magit, it's tragic, it's a loss, it's a win
It's dark, it's moist, it's a bitter pain
It's sad it happened and it's a shame
You want it all but you can't have it
It's in your face but you can't grab it
What is it?
It's it
What is it?...
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/f/faith+no+more/epic_20052622.html ]
Friday, September 21, 2012
Thursday, September 20, 2012
BeakyCon2 Google Docs
Here is a link where you can download and view the rules and two sample missions for the GT via Google Docs. You don't have to create a membership to view these files. : )
BeakyCon2 Rules & Sample Missions
The rules document will explain in detail how each mission will work. The sample missions will give you a good idea how objective based missions work but note there may some differences to the actual missions. This will allow you to play some games to prepare for the GT.
Let me know if you have any questions or have comments you'd like to share.
Chaos Space Marine Warlord Traits & Tables
Chaos Boon Table
(D66 pick 2d6, one is your tens and the other is your ones)
You have to win a challenge to roll on this table
11-16 - Nothing
21-22 - Replace model with Chaos Spawn
23 - +1 Attack
24 - Eternal Warrior
25 - +1 Strength
26 - +1 BS
31 - +1 Initiative
32 - Return to full wounds, if unwounded gain +1 Wound
33 - +1 Toughness
34 - Shrouded
35 - Armour Save improves by 1
36 - Melee weapon has Fleshbane
41 - Passing a Deny the Witch roll makes enemy Psyker take a Str 6 AP 2 hit
42 - Re-roll failed armour saves
43 - Melee attacks are Poisoned
44 - Crusader
45 - Hammer of Wrath
46 - Icy Aura (enemy models in base contact take a Str 4 AP 5 hit at Initiative Step 1)
51 - Adamantium Will
52 - A ranged weapon has +1 Strength
53 - Hatred (Everything!)
54 - Shred
55 - Melee attacks have instant death
56 - +1 WS
61 - Stubborn
62 - Fleet
63 - Feel No Pain
64 - Roll another d3+1 on this table (re-rolling Spawnhood and Apotheosis)
65-66 - Replace model with Daemon Prince
Warlord Traits
1 - Friendly units within 12" of Warlord have Preferred Enemy (Space Marines)
2 - Melee weapons belonging to the Warlord and his unit have Soulblaze
3 - D3 infantry units may infiltrate (could this be new Creed???)
4 - Warlord and unit have hatred (everything!)
5 - Warlord causes Fear
6 - Warlord may re-roll Chaos Boons
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Here are Psychic Powers and some special rules:
Armor
Improvised Armor: 6+ Save
Powerarmor: 3+ Save
Terminator Armor: Same as loyalist
Fleshmetal: 2+ Armor
Wargear
Chaos Bike (SM Bike)
Infernal Ammunition: AP3
Mechadrites: +2 A, includes 1 Meltagun and 1 Flamer
Plague Grenades: Mark of Nurgle only - Model carries Offensive and Defensive grenades
Seal of Corruption: 4+ Invulnerable Save
Jetpack
Gifts of Chaos
Aura of Dark Glory: 5+ Invulnerable Save
Gift of Mutation: Ahead of Deployment, roll once on the "Rewards of Chaos" table
Battle-familiar: Model gains 2 additional S4 AP- attacks
Wizard's familiar: Model may reroll failed Psychic tests
Warpblood: Everyime a model with Warpblood suffers an unsaved wound, the unit that caused this wound suffers 1 S3 AP4 hit. (it appears this is not limited to close combat)
Palanquin of Nurgle: Model gains +2 Wounds and +1 Attack and gets the Very bulky special rule
Bloodcrusher of Khorne: Model gains +1 Toughness, +1 Attack and +1 Wound and changes it's unit type to cavallery
Steed of Slaanesh: Model changes it's unit type to cavallery. It runs +3 inces. Gains accurate senses and Outflank special rule and is granted +1 attack
Disk of Tzeentch: Model changes it's unit type to Jetbike and gains +1 Attack
Icons of Chaos
All Icons grant +1 on Combat Resolution
Icon of Revenge: Unit is Fearless
Icon of Flames: Mark of Tzeentch Only: Boltguns, Heavy Boltguns and Bolt Pistols have the Soul Blaze Special Rule
Icon of Rage: Furious Charge, Unit may reroll Charge Distance
Icon of Despair: Mark of Nurgle only: Unit causes Fear
Icon of Ecess: Mark of Slaanesh Only: Unit gains Feel no Pain
Marks of Chaos
Mark of Khorne: Berserker, Counter-attack
Mark of Nurgle: +1 Toughness
Mark of Tzeentch: Invulnerable Saves improved by 1
Mark of Slaanesh: +1 Initiative.
Mark of Nurgle, Mark of Tzeentch, Mark of Slaanesh: If they are given to a psyker, he must chose at least 1 psychic power of the appendant dicipline.
Demonprince Upgrades
Demon of Khorne: Hatred (Demons of Slaanesh), Furious Charge
Demon of Slaanesh: Hatred (Demons of Khorne), Rending, Fleet of Foot, runs +3 inches
Demon of Nurgle: Hatred (Demons of Tzeentch), Slow and Purposefull, Shrouded
Demon of Tzeentch: Hatred (Demons of Nurgle), May Reroll all saves of 1
Psyker
May chose psyonic powers from pyromancy, biomancy or telepathy. If he's a demon of Nurgle, Slaanesh or Tzeentch he must chose at least 1 psycic power from the appendant dicipline.
Vehicle Upgrades
Destroyer-Blades: Causes D6 S5 AP - hits while performing a Tank shock. If a Unit choses Death or Glory it suffers 2D6 hits instead
Warpflames: All ranged weapons have the Soul Blaze special rule
Whipping Tentacles: Every model suffers -1 attack for each whipping tentacle it has base contact to. (very strange wording here...)
Twin linked Boltgun: Duh.
Siege shield: Vehicle automatically passes dangerous terrain tests
Demon Engine: BS 3. Ignores Crew stunned and Crew shaken on rolls of 2+. When a unit embarks, roll a D6. On a roll of 1 you remove 1 random model as a casulty, and the vehicle regains 1 Hullpoint.
Magma-cutters. If a Maulerfiend with Magmacutters hits with at least one of it's attacks, it generates 1 extra attack. If it hits with all of it's attacks, it generates 2 additional attacks. These attacks have Initiative 1, S8, AP1 and armorbane.
Sonic Blaster: Enemy units within 6" may not perform defensive fire.
Special Rules
Obliterator Weapons: Kyborgs may chose one of the following weapons: Assault Canon, Heavy Flamer,
lasCannon, Multimelta, Twinlinked Flamer, TL Plasmagun or TL meltagun. All obliterators must chose the same weapon. They may not chose the same weapon twice in a row.
Mutilator Weapons: Pick one of the following at the start of any combat phase the mutilator is in close combat: Pair of: Lightning Claws, Chain Fists, Power Swords, Power Mauls. All Mutilators must pick the same weapon, and may not chose the same weapon two combat steps in a row.
Might of the Soulforge: Once per game, at the beginning of a shooting or close combat phase, a model may unleash the might of the Soulforge to reroll all failed to wound/armor penetration rolls. It suffers a glancing hit at a roll of 1 at the end of the phase.
Master of Machines: A Warpsmith may try to repair a friendly vehicle or curse an enemy vehicle.
repair: Needs to be in b2b or within the vehicle. On a roll of 5+ (4+ with mechadrites) he restores a hullpoint or removes one weapon destroyed/immobilized result.
Curse: Shooting attack: 18" range. If it hits, the enemy vehicles weapons have the 'gets hot' special rule.
Psychic Powers
Discipline of Tzeentch
Primary Power: Flames of Tzeentch Witchfire, Focus 1
24", S5, AP-, Blast, Inferno (Inferno: Each unsaved wound causes an aditional D3 S3 AP - Hits)
1-2: Gift of Mutation: Blessing: Focus 1:
Friendly Character within 2" suffers a S4 AP-hit and ma roll on the "Rewards of Chaos" table
3-4: Bolt of Corruption: Beam, Focus1
18", S8, AP1, Detonation (If the target is an enemy vehicle and suffers a "Vehicle explodes" result the radius of the blast is 2d6 inches instead of D6 inches)
5-6: Odem of Chaos Witchfire, Focus 2
Template, S1, AP2, Poison (4+), corrosive. (corrosive: Vehicles hit suffer a glancing hit on a roll of 4+)
Discipline of Nurgle
Primary Power: Rot of Nurgle Witchfire, Focus 1
6", Assault D6+1, Poison (4+), S2 AP 5. No effect on models of Nurgle (yes, model of Nurgle is the actual wording.)
1-2: Weapon Virus: Curse, Fokus 1
Range 24". All ranged weapons in the enemy unit have the "gets hot" special rule
3-4: Plagued Present Curse, Fokus 1
Range 48". Enemy unit rolls a D3:
1: Corpsefliesinfestation: -1 attack, shrouded
2: muscular atrophy: -1 Strength, may not run
3: Liquifying Fever: -1 Strength and -1 toughness
5-6: Plagued Wind Fokus 2, Witchfier
12", S1, AP2, Assault 1, Blast (5"), Poison (4+)
Discipline of Slaanesh
Primary Power: Overload Witchfire, warp charge 1
24" S4 AP4 Assault 4, concussive, Blind, Pinning
1-2: hysterical frenzy Blessing, Warp Charge 1
Pick non-vehicle unit within 12" and roll a D3
1: +1 Initiative
2: +1 Strength
3: +1 Attack
3-4: Symphony of Pain Curse, Warp Charge 1
1 Enemy unit within 24 inches gets -1 BS and -1 WS. All ranged weapons directed at this unit get +1 Strength.
5-6: extatic wince Witchfire, warp charge 2
24": S: special, AP - Assault 1.
Every nonvehicle model in the enemy unit suffers 1 hit with its own strength.
BeakyCon2 - Shiver me Timbers... Itz duh Orky Cruiser !!
This is some of the awesome terrain you'll be playing on this year courtesy of Chris Winans !!
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Get Wrecked at BeakyCon2 • Dangerous Terrain by Spikey Bits
This just in - two variety packs of wrecked vehicle templates from Spikey Bits by Aaron Hagney...
These heavy duty solid plastic templates come with full paint and are split into two groups. One made to fit the vehicles of the Imperium (8 pieces) and a second that represents vehicles of the Xenos races (9 pieces).
This prize package donated by Spikey Bits can be found on their website in the near future. So keep a eye on SpikeyBits.com to order your own if you cant win them at BeakyCon2 first.
These heavy duty solid plastic templates come with full paint and are split into two groups. One made to fit the vehicles of the Imperium (8 pieces) and a second that represents vehicles of the Xenos races (9 pieces).
This prize package donated by Spikey Bits can be found on their website in the near future. So keep a eye on SpikeyBits.com to order your own if you cant win them at BeakyCon2 first.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Kill 'em All • Let the Emperor Sort Out the Survivors
Introduction
One day maybe I'll write a hobby article about one of my armies and post some pictures. If you have ever seen my Sanguinary Guard I am planning to use the same type of technique for my Purifiers. They will look like shining blue steel. Oh well we all know I mostly like to write tactical articles... Heh !! I think the game is still in a state of great flux - the very soon to release Chaos Space Marine codex could really shake things up a lot. I hope it is a solid well balanced codex without completely over the top units like Thunderwolves or completely undercosted units like Grey Hunters. Rumor has it maybe Phil Kelly wrote this codex - it should be interesting to say the least.
It also will be interesting to observe the effect of Chaos cultists on the game and I see them playing similarly to the defunct Lost and the Damned which was an extremely powerful army. I hope that cultists have some flavor such as different Marks of Chaos. Chaos Space Marines will be the first truly sixth edition codex and I find that exciting. I hope there are lots of options with very strong troops to build a large variety of powerful armies. The Imperium dominated 5th edition so hopefully a balance will finally be restored. Newer codices written for the current edition tend to rise to the top. Grey Knights and Necrons were both written with 6th edition in mind from what I'm told so they should probably hold up well for quite some time. Imperial Guard and Space Wolves seem to be doing okay so far as well.
Kill Them All
Today I'm going to cover one of my favorite topics - is it better to spam lots of cheap troop choices or is it better to design your army to kill lots of cheap enemy units? I've always been in favor of the latter philosophy. Many people are still stuck in the old 5th edition mentality running their mechanized MSU style armies. Holding objectives is very important - it always was but is even more so now. The bonus points (First Blood, Slay the Warlord & Line Breaker) can win games... Which I think is bad for tournaments because it encourages very boring conservative play.
It is more conservative to spam lots of cheap troops as opposed to trying to destroy them all. We saw lots of successful armies in 5th edition that were plentiful in troops and to me that was one of the major hallmarks of the previous edition. It's still working for some armies in 6th edition now such as Necron flyer spam and it could very well carry over with Chaos Space Marines as well.
Killing all enemy scoring units so the opponent cannot hold any objectives was one of my favorite 5th edition tactics and luckily for me it has carried over directly to 6th edition. There are lots of scoring units that are easy to kill in a large variety of ways. Even the ever ubiquitous Grey Hunter is really not a hard nut to crack if you bring the right tools. I think that currently Grey Knights have the best troop choices if you are willing to pay the points.
Rock Troops
If you think about it the developers for whatever reason have broken their own unspoken rule and now allow some very powerful elite units to be fielded as troops. Not that long ago an army like Deathwing was much more of a novelty but with the release of the Grey Knight codex you can field some of the top armies that are based around their troops. Purifiers are one of the most flexible and powerful units in the game now in my opinion - they do just about everything very well and have access to all the right tools at a reasonable cost.
So one of the most obvious methods to achieve the goal to kill all of the enemy scoring units is to field more powerful scoring units. Your list must be designed such that it is very balanced - for example you have to be able to smash both horde and feeble guardsmen hiding behind Aegis defense lines. Remember that cheap scoring units are often not much more than a place holder and sadly this even holds true for tactical Marines.
Speed Kills
You must also be able to penetrate the enemy defense as quickly as possible to crush them into so much paste which is often much easier said than done... You are going to see a lot of armies sitting behind an Aegis defense line shooting as much as possible. Therefore mobility is just as important as ever if not more so these days if you want to overwhelm your opponents. You can overwhelm your opponent via the amazing speed and mobility of flyers.
One technique that has worked well for me is to appear vulnerable during the beginning of the game to lull the opponent into a false sense of security so they will expose themselves. You will take a beating for the first couple of turns but if you play your cards right the counter punch can pack quite a wallop and put you back on top.
Duality
I am liking armies that have both a ground force and an air force. The ground force starts the game deployed and must weather the first two turns until the air force arrives from reserve. Your ground force then wins the game by taking back the objectives towards the end of the game. Your air force should have at least one scoring unit riding in a transport as an insurance policy. Again this type of strategy is one of the main reasons why I like to field powerful troops - they will have their work cut out for them and must achieve their goals.
Conclusion
Many people are still playing their old 5th edition style armies and we are sitting on the cusp of the first 6th edition army to finally release. Chaos will most likely have a huge impact on the game and change the existing quasi-meta. It looks like Chaos will have access to both cheap hordes and powerful troops. If you ever played the defunct Lost and the Damned you know what a strong combination that can be.
The game is more so based upon holding objectives now but often the secondary objectives end up being the difference between a win and a loss. Only one player can score First Blood so it's the most important secondary objective. Denying the opponent the ability to hold any of the primary objectives is the most powerful though assuming you can still hold one. This is the direction I'm headed and I think it's the best strategy when playing in a competitive tournament environment.
Are you excited about the soon to release Chaos Space Marines codex? How do you think it will affect the current meta?
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Game 3 batrep from Comikaze • Storm Crowes vs drop pod Space Wolves
Up to this point I had one win and one loss, both versus Orks.
Here is my army list (1500 points):
Storm Crowes
Castellan Crowe (Warlord)
5x Purifiers - Keeper of the Flame (KotF - daemonhammer), 2x psycannon, 2x sword - rhino
5x Purifiers - KotF (daemonhammer), 2x psycannon, 2x sword - rhino
5x Purifiers - KotF (master crafted warding stave), 2x psycannon, 2x sword - rhino
Destroyer Lord - weave & mind shackle scarabs
4x Warrior - Nightscythe
Doomscythe
Here is my opponent Kyle's army list to the best of my memory:
Rune Priest (Warlord)
Rune Priest
5x Wolfguard - terminator armor - 3x combi-flamer, power axes - drop pod
10x Grey Hunter - meltagun, plasmagun, Wolf Standard - drop pod
10x Grey Hunter - meltagun, plasmagun, Wolf Standard - drop pod
10x Grey Hunter - meltagun, plasmagun, Wolf Standard - drop pod
10x Grey Hunter - meltagun, plasmagun, Wolf Standard - drop pod
6x Long Fang - 5x missile launcher
6x Long Fang - 5x missile launcher
Deployment was Vanguard. Lots of good terrain on the table. I won the roll and opted to go second. I got the Warlord trait that let's you reroll reserves... w00t !!! Kyle got the outflank for his Warlord trait. Both Rune Priests got Prescience (Divination) and some other ones (I forget).
There are three objectives in play and each is worth a certain number of victory points. You also scored bonus victory points for First Blood, Slay the Warlord and Line Breaker (1 point each). Whoever scores the most victory points wins.
Capture & Control - 4 victory points
Seize Ground (3 objective markers) - 2 victory points
Killpoints - 3 victory points
I placed my C&C objective marker deep within my deployment zone close to my long table edge while Kyle placed closer towards the center of the table.
One Seize Ground objective marker was dead center in the table while the other two were off to either side.
My opponent deploys both Long Fang packs (each with one Rune Priest) spread apart in hard cover.
I decided to deploy all three rhinos forming a shield wall with both hammer Purifier squads inside the wall along with Crowe. They are all the way back on my table edge dead center with some cover from the missiles.
Turn 1 - Space Wolves
In comes two pods full of Grey Hunters and the Wolf Guard. I weather the shooting fairly well - two rhinos are wrecked but then two of the Wolf Guard with combi flamers can see some of my Purifiers - I end up with only Crowe (full wounds), and both KotF... Ouch !! It's really not looking good at this point and it's possible I'll be tabled unless Crowe can pull off some really epic shit ! Come on big guy !!!
Turn 2 - Grey Knights
I move the one functional rhino out of the way... Crowe moves in to assault one of the Grey Hunter packs along with one KotF. The other KotF moves into position to assault the other pack of Grey Hunters. First KotF dies to Overwatch so Crowe can make it into melee safely. The other KotF makes it into melee but dies before he can swing his hammer. Crowe casts Cleansing Flame (CF) - roasts two Space Wolves and parries, taking no wounds. Grey Hunters pass morale and Crowe is now tucked away safe inside the melee.
SW KP: 4 - GK KP: 0
Turn 2 - Space Wolves
The other two pods full of Grey Hunters both come in and land on top of objectives. Long Fangs try to pop my third rhino but fail. Crowe casts CF again, roasting two more Space Wolves and parries. Grey Hunters break but Crowe catches them.
Turn 2 - Grey Knights
In comes the Stormraven transporting the Purifiers with the warding stave equipped KotF and the Nightscythe... Could have really used the Doomscythe but even with the reroll for reserves it is a no show.
Stormraven and Nightscythe angle onto the table to blast the forward unit of unengaged Grey Hunters. Destroyer Lord disembarks behind a fat piece of LOS blocking terrain. Combined shooting drops nine of Space Wolves and the lone Grey Hunter falls back 12". Crowe casts CF again, roasts one Space Wolf and parries again - Grey Hunters stick this time. The tide of the battle is beginning to swing back in favor of the alliance. Heh .
SW KP: 4 - GK KP: 0
Turn 3 - Space Wolves
Long Fangs shoot everything at the Stormraven forcing it to evade and it loses one hull point. Nightscythe is untouched. Again Crowe casts CF, drops another Space Wolf and parries. Grey Hunters are down to just two now and break but Crowe catches them yet again.
Turn 3 - Grey Knights
I was informed this turn by the TO that my Necron Warriors didn't count as a scoring unit (which was the wrong call... I didn't challenge the call until after the game... Shouid have immediately challenged it... This screwed up my game plan from here on out and I think I could have won if it had been correctly played... Oh well - shit happens sometimes unfortunately).
Doomsycthe comes in this turn finally and angles in for a firing solution on the Wolf Guard. Stormraven and Nightscythe both exit the airspace leaving the board. Doomscythe fires on the Wolf Guard and smokes three... Death Ray also hits one of the drop pods but only somehow manages to break off its stormbolter. Destroyer Lord pops out to assault the Grey Hunters sitting on the center objective... He drops four and they stick. Crowe roasts one more Grey Hunter who also stick.
SW KP: 4 - GK KP: 0
Turn 4 - Space Wolves
Long Fangs target the Doomsycthe but fail to inflict any damage. The two remaining Wolf Guard join the melee with Crowe and the lone Grey Hunter. Crowe drops the last Grey Hunter and suffers one wound from the Wolf Guard. Destroyer Lord drops three more Grey Hunters in his brawl and the three survivors break, falling back 12". Destroyer Lord consolidates toward them.
Turn 4 - Grey Knights
Both the Stormraven and Nightscythe re enter the battle via ongoing reserves... The Stormraven targets the unit of three remaing Grey Hunters but only manages to kill two... Oh well. Nightscythe targets the other lone Grey Hunter but the Space Wolf passes all his armor saves... Oh sheet ! Destroyer Lord then caps one of two lone Grey Hunters and consolidates into some woods. Crowe drops one of the last two Wolf Guard then snuffs it... Sniff.
SW KP: 5 - GK KP: 2
Turn 5 - Space Wolves
There will only be enough time left for this one last turn and this where things would have definitely gone differently had I been able to count my Necron Warriors as a scoring unit. My opponent Kyle cannot take the primary objective (C&C) and at best can only draw on the tertiary (SG). At this point he was well ahead on killpoints (secondary) but it was possible I could have tied him on this one. He ended up with all three bonus points on the secondary. I ended up with only Line Breaker. If my Necron Warriors had counted as a scoring unit I could have scored the primary and also possibly have scored Slay the Warlord as well.
So that's how it played out. I decided to sit out today to do some site seeing while I'm here. It was a good time except for the bad call but I'm not mad about it - everybody makes mistakes. :)
Friday, September 14, 2012
BeakyCon2 - Resubmitting your army list
Today is the last day you can resubmit your army list if you would like to make any modifications. We will not accept any army lists after today.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
BeakyCon2 - Army Counts
Here is the rough count for armies that will be present -
Blood Angels - 3
Chaos Daemons - 6
Chaos Space Marines - 4
Dark Angels - 3
Dark Eldar - 2
Eldar - 2
Grey Knights - 12
Imperial Guard - 4
Necrons - 10
Orks - 2
Sisters of Battle - 2
Space Marines - 4
Space Wolves - 4
Tau - 2
Tyranids - 3
So the two big armies will be Grey Knights and Necrons - no surprise there. By the odds you can count on facing either Grey Knights or Necrons one third of your games. The third highest concentration is Chaos Daemons... Seems like they are seeing a bit of a resurgence again.
More notes on rules questions:
- If a Nightscythe is destroyed then its occupants are put back in reserve and do not suffer from the Crash & Burn rule.
- The Doomscythe death ray does not have to draw LoS to enemy units and the first point can be placed anywhere within 12" of the gun mount.
Random Spot Checks:
Note that the TOs may perform random spots for army list verification. If you are selected during a game the TOs will check your army you are playing versus your actual army list.
That's all for now.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Storm Crowes to invade Los Angeles !!
I have been busy painting this past weekend and was able to finish my heroes for the my army. I will be running a Grey Knight - Necron alliance which I often refer to as the ubiquitous Storm Crowes. First up is the Destroyer Lord I have christened Lord Shiva...
The first photo is poor quality unfortunately but is a WIP shot. I was trying to emulate Kenny Boucher's (Next Level Painting) air brush style with my paint brush.
Lord Shiva
This is the finished work... eventually I will do the base as well. I think he turned out okay.
Next are a couple of pictures featuring one of my Keepers of the Flame and my conversion for Castellan Crowe.
Keeper of the Flame
Castellan Crowe
Here is one of the Purifiers' rhinos...
And finally the Night Scythe...
Army List
Castellan Crowe
Purifiers #1
Keeper of the Flame - master crafted Nemesis Warding Stave
2x Purifier - Psycannon
2x Purifier - Nemesis Force Sword
Rhino
Purifiers #2
Keeper of the Flame - Nemesis Daemonhammer
2x Purifier - Psycannon
2x Purifier - Nemesis Force Sword
Rhino
Purifiers #3
Keeper of the Flame - Nemesis Daemonhammer
2x Purifier - Psycannon
2x Purifier - Nemesis Force Sword
Rhino
Stormraven
Hurricane Bolters
Twin linked Assault Cannon
Twin linked Multi-Melta
Psybolt Ammo
I have only been able to get in a few practice games with this army and overall it has done well. My concept is to have an equal split between the ground forces and the air force. It has only three flyers and I think that is about right at 1500 points. The list is very easy to scale up and I plan to eventually add Lychguard mounted in another Nightscythe.
Lord Shiva infiltrates the west coast in anticipation of ComiKaze Con...
I heard he has mad skillz... Heh !
Rules interpretations
My personal philosophy on the subject of rules interpretation typically follows two simple guidelines -
1) KISS - keep it simple (don't be silly)
2) When in doubt be conservative
I am somewhat amazed at the FAQs that GW are releasing now. To me it's very impressive and I have never seen this level of response from them before. I think they are really cleaning up their act. It's amazing and I love it. It has been needed for a long time in my opinion.
I am a TO for a GT and invariably I will be asked to make the call on some controversial issues. I have been a TO for several years now and I've made my fair share of mistakes. One thing I can say without a doubt is that RAW is not always right. You can abuse the rules using RAW... I have seen it happen many times. In reality all rules are based on the background for the game... It is what it is.
One thing I do when there is a tough call is perform a lot of research - if you look around there are some very smart people on the Internet to draw from as a resource. I have to say I have learned a lot lately perusing Dakka Dakka's YMDC rules forum - there are some very intelligent and informed people who post there and don't have a bias in any one particular direction - I like that a lot and find it quite refreshing. Of course there are plenty of trolles there as well... We must figure out how to successfully separate the chaff from the wheat.
I feel blessed that GW just released their new FAQs one month prior to BeakyCon2... It couldn't have come at a better time. GW answered a lot of hard questions for me and that's a great thing. I can't say enough how awesome that is and I hope they keep it up.
As a TO I have found that you do not receive a lot of praise for correct interpretation of the rules but people will invariably let you know when you screw the proverbial pooch. It's just part of the job. You can elect to always play the RAW card but I find that to be somewhat of a cop out. I could quote many examples but I won't because that is not what this discussion is all about and I hope you'll appreciate that decision of mine. I am hard nosed about the rules but I am always open to intelligent unbiased discussion... I like to think I have a no nonsense approach to the rules.
In the end it really doesn't matter how great of a job GW does - there will always be some questions. Some people are never happy looking for problems where they don't exist. We have to deal with that at times and my basic approach has worked well enough for me. As a TO you have the final say and I'm not afraid to pull the trigger. That is the responsibility of the TO and we shouldn't shy away from it in my opinion. Like I said I've made some mistakes down the line - everyone who is a TO has - but we can learn from our mistakes and do a better job. Maybe one day 40k rules will be perfect like chess or checkers but I highly doubt that will ever happen... 40k is a very complex game indeed and that's a big part of the reason why I love it so much.
Exalt.
1) KISS - keep it simple (don't be silly)
2) When in doubt be conservative
I am somewhat amazed at the FAQs that GW are releasing now. To me it's very impressive and I have never seen this level of response from them before. I think they are really cleaning up their act. It's amazing and I love it. It has been needed for a long time in my opinion.
I am a TO for a GT and invariably I will be asked to make the call on some controversial issues. I have been a TO for several years now and I've made my fair share of mistakes. One thing I can say without a doubt is that RAW is not always right. You can abuse the rules using RAW... I have seen it happen many times. In reality all rules are based on the background for the game... It is what it is.
One thing I do when there is a tough call is perform a lot of research - if you look around there are some very smart people on the Internet to draw from as a resource. I have to say I have learned a lot lately perusing Dakka Dakka's YMDC rules forum - there are some very intelligent and informed people who post there and don't have a bias in any one particular direction - I like that a lot and find it quite refreshing. Of course there are plenty of trolles there as well... We must figure out how to successfully separate the chaff from the wheat.
I feel blessed that GW just released their new FAQs one month prior to BeakyCon2... It couldn't have come at a better time. GW answered a lot of hard questions for me and that's a great thing. I can't say enough how awesome that is and I hope they keep it up.
As a TO I have found that you do not receive a lot of praise for correct interpretation of the rules but people will invariably let you know when you screw the proverbial pooch. It's just part of the job. You can elect to always play the RAW card but I find that to be somewhat of a cop out. I could quote many examples but I won't because that is not what this discussion is all about and I hope you'll appreciate that decision of mine. I am hard nosed about the rules but I am always open to intelligent unbiased discussion... I like to think I have a no nonsense approach to the rules.
In the end it really doesn't matter how great of a job GW does - there will always be some questions. Some people are never happy looking for problems where they don't exist. We have to deal with that at times and my basic approach has worked well enough for me. As a TO you have the final say and I'm not afraid to pull the trigger. That is the responsibility of the TO and we shouldn't shy away from it in my opinion. Like I said I've made some mistakes down the line - everyone who is a TO has - but we can learn from our mistakes and do a better job. Maybe one day 40k rules will be perfect like chess or checkers but I highly doubt that will ever happen... 40k is a very complex game indeed and that's a big part of the reason why I love it so much.
Exalt.
Sunday, September 09, 2012
Pictures from my Storm Crowe army for Comikaze Con
First up is the Destroyer Lord I have christened Lord Shiva...
The first photo is poor quality unfortunately and is a WIP shot. I was trying to emulate Kenny Boucher's (Next Level Painting) air brush style with my paint brush.
This is the finished work... eventually I will do the base as well. I think he turned out rather well.
Lastly here is a picture featuring my conversion for Castellan Crowe and one of Keepers of the Flame.
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