WarGamesCon 2013

WARGamesCon 2013 is Coming!

WargamesCon is back for its 5th year, bigger and better than ever.! Great, massive venue -  June 6th -9th at the Austin Renaissance. Be There!

New Dark Angels Elite

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Dropping a Deuce • 40k Tactica

Hi everyone. I hope you're having an awesome holiday experience with family and friends... Maybe even getting in a fun game too. This evening I'd like to discuss one of my favorite 40k tactics which I often refer to as dropping a deuce. The term is an old ghetto reference from backgammon. I play a lot of backgammon - both live (occassionally) and online (often). I started playing the game a long time ago when I was a freshman in college. Just like 40k the game of backgammon uses d6 dice and solid tactics heavily rely upon positional dominance. I prefer backgammon to chess due to the element of chance and its randomness. You can't control the dice but to a certain extent you can lessen their negative impact - in my opinion controlling the board is the most important factor in the game for both backgammon and 40k. Controlling the board goes hand in hand with damping the dice... The stronger your position the less you are affected by bad dice.

Often I will talk about how positional control of the board plays the most important role in 40k. Sometimes you hear about people telling you to play the mission... These are the people you should listen to when they dispense their wisdom. I have to say it just seems like there are some people who don't understand - they always fail to grasp this simple concept. Barring kill points you want to control the most objectives so obviously having an ample number of scoring units really helps a lot. The best armies have the best scoring units. Defining what are the best scoring units is subjective... I tend to play small elite units while others prefer large cheap units. I won't say one is better than another as it really comes down to how you play them. The main point is that your scoring units are your most important units. You can win even if they are all destroyed over the course of a game but it's going to be a lot harder.

An assault army can beat a shooty army simply by controlling the most objectives and you sometimes never have to launch one assault. This is one of those concepts some people have a hard time wrapping their head around... How can an assault army beat a shooty army without even one assault? Think of it this way - everybody has at least one unit in the game they fear. It's true and often they will try to avoid it at all costs which isn't always easy to do. It could be a Bloodthirster or a Manticore. This fear can give you a psychological advantage if you recognize it. Use it to your advantage!

If you are playing an assault army you have more leeway where you can place your objectives. People playing shooty armies tend to place their objectives deep inside their deployment zones since they want to sit back with most if not all their units and shoot as much as possible. They like to roll a lot of dice and avoid any melee.

Now suppose there is an odd number of objectives and you get to place more than half of them... There's no reason not to do the same as a shooty player - place them deep inside your deployment zone. You will immediately have the advantage as this forces your opponent to come to you. A shooty army will inherently struggle against an assault army in this type of situation - they cannot beat you at your own game!

Basically what I am advocating is to play the game to take advantage of your army's strengths... Don't let your opponent dictate the game.

Dropping a deuce means that you are in the lead so you can play more conservatively which in turn puts more pressure on your opponent and they are more likely to make mistakes. You want to capitalize on any mistake your opponent makes. There is no need to take high risks if you can reach this point. This style of play is optimized by playing both strong offense and strong defense. Sometimes a strong defense is your best offense (yes you read that right).

I remember struggling against Imperial Guard back in fifth edition - it was always my worst matchup. IG is one of those armies that was poorly designed by GW - it has many undercosted overpowered units... Too many. If you follow my blog you'll know I did quite well with Tyranids back in fifth edition when they were considered the worst army. Tyranids have access to a diverse range of excellent scoring units, they are highly resilient and excel in melee plus they have some solid shooting... Still though I consider this the worst ever codex released by GW.

Learning to win with Tyranids in fifth edition has made me a better player in sixth edition. I had to go back to the fundamentals and relearn them all over again. Eventually with lots of practice I figured out how to drop a deuce with the Hive. Focus on the mission and control the table.

40k Master Series Interviews

Hi all Black Blow Fly here.

I am going to conduct a master series of interviews showcasing some of the top 40k tournament players. I am planning to cover five gamers and hope to release one interview every other week. Of course there are many extremely good players so I want to cover a wide spectrum. I'm very excited about this project. My first interview will feature a fellow member of the 40k Wrecking Crew who just happens to be one of my favorite gamers.

w00t !!

Happy Holidays !

:  )

Justaerin Terminators

Battle in the Eye of Terror Round 1 Batrep

My friend Brian and I had been planning a one day campaign for a couple of months and played this past weekend. I finally had the time to write the batrep for the first game.

You can find the rules for the mission here:

Battle in the Eye of Terror Mission 1

Primary Objective - Kill Points
Secondary Objectives - First Blood, Slay the Warlord, Line Breaker
Deployment - Hammer and Anvil

Chaos Space Marines and Chaos Daemons vs. Chaos Daemons

You can find the two army lists here:

Chaos Army Lists

Daemonic Shift

I am very dedicated to building the best Khorne list. This commitment means testing different types of army lists. Currently I'm playing a lot of 2500 point games so I can test many different units and decide which ones work the best. I have one style of army I like that uses Chaos Space Marines as the primary detachment and I've played quite a few games with this list - this features two land raiders. I'm now using Chaos Daemons as the primary detachment... This style of army is much more aggressive in nature and is even more powerful in melee. Here is the 2500 point list I used last night versus Space Wolves with allied Grey Knights:

Chaos Daemons - Primary Detachment
Bloodthirster - Unholy Might, Blessing of the Blood God

Skulltaker - Juggernaught
Herald - Juggernaught, Unholy Might, Fury of Khorne, Blessing of the Blood God
4x Bloodcrusher - Fury of Khorne

16x Bloodletter
8x Bloodletter
8x Bloodletter

Chaos Space Marines - Allied Detachment
Abbadon
8x Berzerker - Icon of Wrath
Champion - Lightning Claw, Power Fist
Chaos Storm Eagle - Reaper autocannon, Daemonic Possession

9x Chaos Space Marine - Mark of Khorne, Close Combat Weapons, Flamer, Icon of Wrath
Champion - Lightning Claw, Power Fist
Land Raider - Extra Armor, Dozer Blades, Dirge Caster

Here is the list I played against last night:

Space Wolves - Primary Detachment
Wolf Lord - Saga of the Bear, Thunderwolf Mount, Thunder Hammer, Runic Armor, Storm Shield, Wolftooth Necklace
Wolf Lord - Saga of the Warrior, Thunderwolf Mount, Frost Blade, Runic Armor, Storm Shield, Wolftooth Necklace
4x Thunderwolf Cavalry - Stormshields, Power Fist, Mark of the Wulfen

10x Grey Hunter - Plasmagun, Meltagun, Power Fist
10x Grey Hunter - Plasmagun, Meltagun, Power Fist

Aegis Defense Line - Icarus Lascannon

Grey Knights - Allied Detachment
Grand Master - Nemesis Warding Stave, Incinerator, Psykotropic Grenades, Rad Grenades
4x Grey Knight Terminator - 3x Nemesis Force Halberd, Brotherhood Banner, Psycannon, Daemon Hammer
Justicar - Nemesis Force Halberd
Land Raider Crusader - Extra Armor, Multi-Melta, Psybolt Ammo

4x Interceptor - Psycannon
Justicar - Nemesis Daemon Hammer

Vindicare Assassin


So a very nasty melee army to fight indeed !! I don't want to post a full batrep but in terms of the overall assault results my daemons and Abbadon took out both Grey Hunter packs, Grand Master, Grey Knight terminators and the Inceptors. The Wolf Lords and Thunderwolf Cavalry took out my Khorne Marines, big squad of Bloodletters and one of the eight man squads of Bloodletters. I made a few silly mistakes since this was the first time I played this new list but I was quite happy to see I ended up doing more damage in close combat. Abbadon is a true beast - he is definitely a keeper.

The Warding Stave and special grenades were annoying as always but in the end the Grey Knights and Grey Hunters were outmatched. It is definitely worth noting my opponent held both of his Wolf Lords attached to the Thunderwolf Cavalry in reserve and they didn't arrive until the top of the fourth turn - that really helped a lot. I also took a bit of a risky drop with my Heralds attached to my Bloodcrushers and they didn't scatter... They was huge as my opponent only had one turn to shoot them before they assaulted the next turn.

Grey Knights have a real problem versus Khorne daeomons since Blessing of the Blood God grants a 2++ save versus force weapons and this is also the case for Abbadon since he has terminator armor... as such my two Heralds and Abbadon tanked most of the wounds inflicted by the Grey Knights in melee.

It was a great game.

Winning with the new Chaos Space Marines

Hi everyone !! I had a great time this past weekend participating in a one day campaign with a very good friend down in Fort Lauderdale. A lot of work went into designing the missions which I think is important for enjoying a fun campaign. We were only able to play two of the three missions... There's only so much time in a day. I'll be looking for similar opportunities in the future and maybe even expand a bit. Campaigns can be a lot of fun and they can also present the opportunity to further develop your armies.

So I've been playing a Khorne army with daemonic allies for about a month now. I have had the chance to play some games in a local tournament as well as some friendly matches. I was a bit disappointed when I first read the new codex but having played a new army I've taken quite a liking to it. I will go so far as to say I think the new Chaos Space Marine (CSM) codex is one of Phil Kelly's best yet. There aren't any broken units like Thunderwolves and no silly wargear like psykotropic or rad grenades. I really appreciate that a lot too... You can bring a fun army to play and nobody in their right mind is going to accuse you of bringing the cheese if you happen to win.

After having played dark eldar when their new codex was released one thing I always look for in any army I play now is resiliency... I want to field armies that are tough and will stick around - no more glass cannons for me! You can design tough armies with the new CSM codex so two thumbs from me.

Cult Armies
I think of the four Chaos powers Khorne is one of the two that made out the best... That is what I'm currently playing (obviously) so that's what I'll focus on in this article. I would also like to eventually build a new Death Guard army.

One of my major complaints about the previous CSM codex is that it was very hard to build a pure cult army... You lost access to marked daemons and overall the old codex lacked any real flavor - you were forced to play Black Legion style armies if you wanted to build a competitive list. This has been well addressed in the new codex though through the use of an allied detachment (Chaos daemons) and there are also lots and lots of very good cheap options. Certain characters such as a Chaos Lord with the appropriate mark unlocks cult units such as Berserkers and Death Guard as troop choices. Cult units were troop choices in the previous codex but like I said I found it hard to build an army around a specific theme and eventually lost interest.

I have also seen some of my friends' new CSM armies that are very interesting and were designed using two Force Organization Charts (double FOC)... They aren't spammy either and double FOC doesn't have to be - the ability to field one extra unit from one slot such as a third HQ can really help boost an army.

Melee
If you know me then it will come as no surprise that I enjoy playing armies that excel in close combat and the new CSM codex is very strong in this department. I think that melee can still win games and one of my most cherished 40k mantras is if you want to win on a consistent basis then design armies that can exploit the current Internet meta lists. I'm seeing a lot of armies that are very shooty and setup behind an Aegis Defense Line (ADL). If you stop and think about it for a moment the ADL is probably the most popular kit GW sells now since the release of sixth edition and I'm surprised GW hasn't marked up the price as yet (heh). If you can engage armies such as these with dedicated melee units then you stand a good chance to win. Of course reaching melee is the hard part... But it doesn't necessarily have to be.

Wargear
Let's take a quick look at some units from my current army - I like to run my melee units in the Chaos land raider which gives me access to the following options:

Dirge Caster - prevents enemy Overwatch (possibly the best piece of wargear in the codex)

Dozer Blades - allows your vehicles to reroll failed difficult terrain tests... HUGE for Chaos land raiders

Icon of Wrath (only accessible to units with the Mark of Khorne) - allows the unit to reroll a failed charge distance... Another really great piece of wargear seeing you'll be charging through difficult terrain quite often if you play an assault army

The combination of these three simple pieces of wargear along with the Chaos land raider has lots of synergy and these types of combinations are part of the reason why I finally came back to Chaos.

Chaos Land Raider
The Chaos land raider is your only option for an assault vehicle unless you can use Forgeworld units such as the Chaos Storm Eagle or Dreadclaw. Sure it's not cheap but the land raider provides a much better platform to launch rapid assaults. The Chaos land raider also doubles as heavy support and is decent versus flyers (twin linked lascannons)... Remember you can snap fire the lascannons if you move up to 12" - you haven't lost anything versus those annoying enemy flyers.

You do get a bit of a break in points cost which helps... I run mine with dirge casters, extra armor and dozer blades - which is roughly the same amount of points as a stock Imperial land raider. As I said above the ability to kit your land raiders with dozer blades is a BIG advantage over their Imperial counterparts... Especially if you're using them primary as assault vehicles - the loss of Power of the Machine Spirit (PotMS) really isn't so bad. Use your tools as they're intended.

Try to reach melee using the rhino instead - you'll see the difference soon enough. It's hard to pull off for a number of reasons... Much less survivable, you can't assault out of it the same turn it moved and if it's destroyed you can't launch an assault your coming turn either.

Finally keep in mind that most players are bringing less melta in favor of more plasma... Plasma can't even so much as scratch AV14 so that's another big plus.

Forgeworld
If you can use Forgeworld both the Chaos Storm Eagle and Chaos Dreadclaw are excellent flyers that can transport your troops. Both are AV12 all around. I'm using a Storm Eagle in my 2500 point list - it is awesome. Basically the Storm Eagle gives other Marine armies besides Grey Knights and Blood Angels access to the equivalent of a Stormraven. I don't sink a lot of points into mine as some of the upgrades such as lascannons drives up the total points invested quite high.

Khorne Marines and Berserkers
I run one squad of each. Truth be told the Khorne Marines (Chaos Space Marines with Mark of Khorne) are in several ways the better of the two. Veterans of the Long War (VotLW) grant the Khorne Marines Hatred versus any Imperial Space Marine plus +1 leadership. I run mine kitted out with what I often refer to as über grit - boltgun, bolt pistol and a chainsword... They are equivalent to Grey Hunters plus they have the advantages gained from Mark of Khorne (MoK), VotLW and the Icon of Wrath if you're willing to pay the points. As such they cost more points per Marine compared to a Grey Hunter but they are better in every way except for the lack of And They Shall Know No Fear (ATSKNF). I get around this by attaching Kharn to the unit since he makes them Fearless and you don't need VotLW since he grants them Hatred Incarnate as well.

A lot of people are saying Berserkers got hit with the ever proverbial nerf bat since they lost +1 attack... Who cares? They have Rage and Counter Attack instead plus they're cheaper now for the points. Some people also complain that Furious Charge no longer grants +1 initiative... Everybody is in the same boat there though so not a big deal in my opinion. It's silly when people find one negative aspect and simply write off a unit. Berserkers cost less points now so as far as I'm concerned it's a wash.

Both of these units can smash most enemy units on the charge - yes they are just that good. I find the two units together is a good combination since the Khorne Marines cn lay down suppressing fire for the Berserkers with their boltguns and a flamer if need be. Throwing Kharn into the mix takes them over the top.

Kharn
Kharn is a real bargain for the points plus he unlocks Berserkers as a troop choice. Kharn also costs less points now as well plus he gained some new good abilities, some of which I've already touched on above. Kharn is a scary close combat monster and should treated as such... He can quickly wax many enemy HQ if necessary. Typically though I'll use the champion from the squad to which he's attached to accept or issue any challenges so Kharn can wreck havoc versus enemy rank and file... Like I said above Kharn is truly a scary close combat monster. Kharn destroyed a Soul Grinder on the charge in one of my games this past weekend which is an impressive feat versus AV13 coupled with four hull points.

Tricks of the Trade
If you should decide to follow a similar path it's important to realize that typically at some point your scoring units will come in harm's way. Most missions present objectives versus kill points - so even though your scoring units are very aggressive you still need to protect them. A tactic I use often is to throw some of my daemons out in front as a shield wall - they are the first wave to assault. The Berzerkers and Khorne Marines act as the second and final assault wave. As such they usually have an easier go at it and some will survive and go on to claim objectives.

Another tactic I often employ is to focus on killing enemy scoring units first... Whittle them down until you have numerical supremacy in terms of total scoring units - this can win games and you can get more out of your assault units versus shooty enemy units.

Conclusion
So I've discussed some simple ideas how to win with the new CSM. I'm happy with my army and it's working well for me. I might try my hand soon at using Chaos Daemons as the primary detachment. I'd love to work a Bloodthirster into my list.

Give the codex a chance - I think you might end up liking it.

Death Shroud

Battle for the Eye of Terror One Day Campaign

Hi everyone !

This weekend I played in a one day campaign. The background for the campaign is that it takes place in the Eye of Terror - only Chaos armies can play. You can find all three missions here on the blog if you are interested - they were posted last month. Just so you know we only had enough time to play the first two missions. The third mission (Bridge of Sighs) will be played one day in the future.


Here is my 2500 point Khorne army list:

Note - Units shown clumped together are attached to each other and their transport (Tr) appears directly underneath each of these combined units.

Khorne Space Marines
• Kharn
• 6x Chaos Space Marine (Fallen Angels)- 5x bolter/bolt pistol/chainsword, flamer
Champion - bolter, lightning claw, power fist
- Mark of Khorne, Icon of Wrath
(Tr) Land raider - dozer blades, extra armor, dirge caster

• 7x Berzerker
Champion - lightning claw, power fist
- Veterans of the Long War, Icon of Wrath
(Tr) Land raider - dozer blades, extra armor, dirge caster

• Heldrake - bale flamer

Khorne Daemons
• Skulltaker - Juggernaught
• Herald of Khorne - Juggernaught, Unholy Might, Fury of Khorne, Blessing of the Blood God
• 4x Blood Crusher - Fury of Khorne

• 16x Bloodletter - Fury of Khorne

Black Legion
• Abbadon (Warlord - Black Crusader)
• 3x Chaos Terminator - 2x pair of lightning claws, combi-melta + power fist
Terminator Champion - lightning claw, power fist
- Mark of Khorne, Veterans of the Long War, Icon of Wrath
(Tr) Chaos Storm Eagle - daemonic possession, dirge csster, Reaper autocannon


My opponent played a pure Chaos daemon army pitting arch rivals Slaanesh and Tzeentch versus my Khorne army. Here is his army list:

Lord of Change - Master of Sorcery, Breath of Chaos

6x Flamer (Pyrocaster)
6x Flamer (Pyrocaster)

6x Fiends - Unholy Might

6x Screamer
6x Screamer

18x Seeker - Icon

18 Daemonettes - Icon
18x Daemonette - Icon

Soulgrinder - Tongue, Phlegm
Soukgrinder - Tongue, Phlegm
Soulgrinder - Tongue, Phlegm

The daemon army is highly mobile with a large body count compared to mine, overall has high initiative and lots of rending. To be honest the Slaaneshi units gave me a tougher matchup than the Tzneetch units. Dirge casters on my vehicles worked very well to shut down the Flamers so I could charge them without having to eat lots of templates on the way into those brawls.

I'll post the batrep for the first of two games this week.

Khorne vs Chaos

This weekend is the one day campaign for the Battle in the Eye of Terror. Expect to see some batreps with lots of pictures. Blood for the Blood God and all that rot.

Yeah.

Khorne Axes

Here is a picture from the new Fantasy Skull Crushers kit. If you are building a Khorne army or just one unit this is a great kit for the conversions.

I think Khorne made very out well with the new Chaos Space Marine codex. They are very strong in melee which is obviously appropriate plus a lot of their units have great lots of choices for options and wargear. What I like most about Khorne is the opportunity to ravage gun line armies which are all the rage now. Just one Khorne unit can wreck a lot of havoc. It is a great time to play Khorne.

Tyranids

As some of you probably know I became a big fan of Tyranids in fifth edition. They were diagnosed as epic fail. All it would have required was a few things to fix the codex which I feel was very rushed and not well thought out. That said I saw a lot of potential and decided to play them. To me in many ways Tyranids seem like the most advanced race and they are completely organic in composition. They have one cycle that is endlessly repeated until the end of time - KILL EAT BREED. Tyranids are very efficient and don't waste any of their resources. Every creature ever created is imprinted in their racial memory and can be spawned again and even improved... The Swarmlord is a great example in my opinion in this regard.

With the advent of sixth edition Tyranids have been revitalized to the point now there is a standard meta Internet list. Most any list you see now deemed as competitive features the following units as its core:

2x Flyrant with dual devourers
2x Tervigon (troop)
2x Termagant brood
Doom /Spore
3x Hive Guard

There are some minor variants and often you will also see a Trygon or two. Gargoyles are also very popular and are very good for the points. Biovores close out which units we see the most now.

I am not knocking this meta list but I can't help but find it boring since it is so repetitive... That said it's competitive and popular.

Sixth edition revitalized other armies as well and that is one of the things I like about the new edition. The four most important attributes sixth edition has brought about for Tyranids are as follows:

• No more wounds due to No Retreat (very big boost to the horde element)
• Psychic Powers - Iron Arm grants Eternal Warrior and +d3 toughness... Most armies struggle to bring down T8-9 monstrous creatures with six base wounds
• Flying Monstrous Creature - the Tyrant is competitive again and is very effective versus enemy flyers... 12 twin linked S6 shots
• ZillaNidz - a high number of T6+ monstrous creatures

The changes to the vehicle damage chart and hull points also has been a boon to Tyranids plus kill points are not nearly as prevalent. This covers the majority of of the advantages Tyranids have gained.

One of the aspects I really liked about Tyranids in the last edition is their inherent resiliency and they are obviously even tougher now. I built my 5th edition army to beat the top tiered armies back then - Grey Knights, Imperial Guard and Space Wolves. These three armies are still quite good but with all the changes that have come about I no longer regard them as the top three.

A lot of the units I used in fifth edition are defunct now such as genestealers, Warriors and the once ubiquitous Tyrannofex... You never see any of these units anymore. Sixth edition has nerfed all of these units.

I played Tyranids straight for at least a year... After WarGamesCon I felt the need to take a break and try new things which just happened to occur around the same time that sixth edition was released. So I was looking at having to completely revamp my list but the desire to do so was and still not is there.

I started playing 40k in a relatively small community and composition was very important to the group of people I played. Spam was looked down upon and that has stuck with me to this very day for whatever reason. I look at a lot of the Internet meta lists that are prevalent and my first thought is always how can I exploit those lists. Some the 40k Internet gurus snub my lists... I don't think they understand my point of view nor do they seem willing to take the time and effort to learn. Any evidence given on their part is antidotal.

My primary goal here via this blog is to help you learn how to play more competively. I like to think outside the box and keep an open mind... Question everything, take nothing said as gospel. You can play spammy armies that don't require all that much thought or you can take it to the next level... That is always my goal and it works for me.

So in conclusion I have discussed why Tyranids are more competive now. Hopefully I'll develop the desire to eventually revamp the army and play Tyranids again.

Batrep - Khorne vs Blood Angels • Part 2

Well I knew something wasn't right with my army list so I checked it again today... Turns out I was over the points limit by the amount for the Daemon Prince. This error obviously invalidates the results of the game. My apology to everyone who read part one and most especially to my opponent. We are going to replay the game again but it won't take place until early next year due to my travel schedule. I will be playing in the one day campaign this Saturday so there will be three awesome new batreps next week with lots and lots of pictures.

Batrep - Khorne vs. Blood Angels (long)

I had the opportunity to finally test my 2500 point army yesterday afternoon over on the Big Back Porch in Brandon. Plenty of cold beer was on hand which makes a good time even better.

This article is the first part of the batrep. I took a lot of pictures during the game for your viewing enjoyment. The second article will appear later this week.

Here are our army lists. Note that mine does not follow the rules for a standard Force Organization Chart (FOC) as defined in the sixth edition rulebook. My army is specially designed for a one day campaign I'll be playing in this coming weekend down in Fort Lauderdale. I have posted all of three special missions I wrote for the campaign here on this blog.

Note - Units shown clumped together are attached to each other and their transport (Tr) appears directly underneath each of these combined units. Two Forgeworld flyers were used to proxy the Heldrake and Chaos Storm Eagle.

Khorne Space Marines

• Kharn
• 6x Chaos Space Marine (Fallen Angels)- 5x bolter/bolt pistol/chainsword, flamer
Champion - bolter, lightning claw, power fist
- Mark of Khorne, Icon of Wrath
(Tr) Land raider - dozer blades, extra armor, dirge caster 

• 7x Berzerker
Champion - lightning claw, power fist
- Veterans of the Long War, Icon of Wrath
(Tr) Land raider - dozer blades, extra armor, dirge caster 

• Khorne Daemon Prince* - wings, power armor, Axe of Blinding Fury 

• Heldrake - bale flamer

Khorne Daemons

• Skulltaker - Juggernaught
• Herald of Khorne - Juggernaught, Unholy Might, Fury of Khorne, Blessing of the Blood God 

• 4x Blood Crusher - Fury of Khorne
• 12x Bloodletter - Fury of Khorne

Black Legion

• Abbadon (Warlord - Black Crusader)
• 3x Chaos Terminator - 2x pair of lightning claws, combi-melta + power fist
Terminator Champion - lightning claw, power fist
- Mark of Khorne, Veterans of the Long War. Icon of Wrath
(Tr) Chaos Storm Eagle - daemonic possession, Reaper autocannon

* Note - I could replace the Daemon Prince (HQ) from the Chaos Space Marine codex with a similarly costed Daemon Prince (Heavy Support) from the Chaos Daemons codex to make my army list adhere to the sixth edition rules for a standard FOC. Obviously the CSM Daemon Prince is more Killy.

Here is my opponent's army list to the best of my memory:

Blood Angels

• Recluisarch - terminator armor (Warlord - Outflank)
• 9x Death Company Marine - 9x bolter, 2x power weapon, power fist
(Tr) Land raider - extra armor 

• Sanguinary Priest - power axe
• 4x Assault Marine - flamer
Sergeant - power axe
(Tr) Razorback - twin linked lascannon, dozer blades 

• Sanguinary Priest - power axe
• 4x Assault Marine - flamer
Sergeant - power axe
(Tr) Razorback - twin linked lascannon, dozer blades 

• Sanguinary Priest - power axe
• 4x Assault Marine - meltagun
Sergeant - power axe
(Tr) Razorback - twin linked lascannon, dozer blades 

• Vindicator - siege shield, extra armor
• Vindicator - siege shield, extra armor
• Vindicator - siege shield, extra armor 

• Baal Predator - flamestorm cannon, heavy bolter sponsons
• Baal Predator - flamestorm cannon, heavy bolter sponsons

Imperial Guard Allies

• Command squad
• Commissar 

• Platoon 

• Leman Russ Eradicator - heavy bolter sponsons (Black Betty) 

• Aegis Defense Line - quad gun

Hey Mr. Genestealer... I'm all up in your grill now !

Space Hulk the Video Game

Khorne

So I'm getting a little push back on Khorne and it's current state in the game. That's okay - lots of people told me Draigowing, Necrons and Tyranids don't cut the mustard. I'll give anybody a game that wants to play against my Khorne army. This is my sixth incarnation following the Blood God. Bring it.

Abbadon's new Mournival (WIP)

Wherever Abbadon goes so too does his Mournival... an elite bodyguard of four Justearin terminators... each bearing a different Mark.

Abbadon ~ Work in Progress

Here is a quick shot of my conversion for Abbadon. I used bits from the plastic Chaos terminator Lord and the Finecast miniature.

Some new units for my Khorne army

If you read my latest batrep it featured two new units in my 2000 point Khorne army list - a squad of Chaos Space Marines with the Mark of Khorne and also a Chaos Space Marine Daemon Prince. I'll discuss these here as well as using Chaos terminators.

Chaos Space Marine Squad
This unit is as follows:

6x Chaos Space Marine - Mark of Khorne, bolter/bolt pistol/chainsword, flamer, Icon of Wrath
Champion - lightning claw, power fist

I use them as a retinue for Kharn, hence the relatively small number... There is no reason not to run them in larger numbers if you happen to like this unit. They work very well with Kharn attached since he is fearless and has the Warlord trait Hatred Incarnate. The squad isn't any cheaper than Berserkers but they are obviously more versatile. They don't hit quite as hard as Berserkers in melee (WS4 versus WS5) but the boltguns and flamer can be quite handy versus hordes. Hatred helps a lot to make up for the difference in weapon skill though so you're not really losing much at all. I consider the icon a must take item now - it's a great assurance you'll have a successful charge. They ride in a land raider with a dirge caster so you don't have to worry about enemy Overwatch which is quite powerful as well.

Chaos Space Marine Daemon Prince
I run mine with the following options:

Khorne daemon (Rage and Furious Charge)
Power Armor
Wings (flying monstrous creature)
Axe of Blind Fury (+2S)

I borrowed this build from a friend who is also playing a Khorne army. The Prince can roll up to 13 S9 AP2 attacks on the charge...

5A base
+2A (Rage)
Up to +6A (daemon weapon)

The CSM Prince does not have Eternal Warrior but I feel the high number of attacks offset this only real weakness... For example he can easily drop a full squad of tactical Marines or even an enemy monstrous creature with Iron Arm (Biomancy) on the charge with a high roll for the daemon weapon. The Axe of Blinding Fury imposes a penalty of -1 WS but this is offset by the Prince's high weapon skill. He is not cheap but the Prince is really good and a major threat to any army.

Chaos Terminators
My current build is as follows:

2x terminator - pair of lightning claws
Terminator - power fist, combi melta
Champion - lightning claw, power fist
Mark of Khorne, Icon of Wrath

They are an alternative retinue for Kharn and you have the option to purchase a land raider as a dedicated transport. This is a dedicated melee unit and they can generate a reasonable number of AP2 attacks, especially when Kharn is attached to them. This is another costly unit but I have a lot of experience using elite melee units so the points is not a big concern for me and this is the type of unit I'd use in a larger game such as 2500 points.

Angron - Primarch of the World Eaters

Pre-Heresy

During the Scattering, Angron was thrown to a civilized human world far from Terra. He plummeted into the icy mountains of that planet, and not long after a slaver found him, and a scene of carnage.

Surrounding the wounded young Primarch were the corpses of numerous Xenos. Imperial scholars would later theorize that they were Eldar who had foreseen the great bloodshed that Angron would cause and had tried unsuccessfully to stop him.

After being enslaved and nursed back to health, Angron was brought to the planet's capital called Desh’ea. There, he was forced into the techno-gladiatorial arenas, where he proved to be undefeatable and a fan-favorite. Several times he tried to lead his fellow gladiators in revolt, and each time failed.

Yet once, he succeeded and after butchering his way through the crowd he led his rag-tag army into the mountains of the planet, where he lived for several years. The civilized cities sent armies to destroy Angron, but they were all obliterated. Nonetheless, the issue was never in doubt. His forces had little to eat in the barren mountains, and were exhausted from the constant battling.

His fate seemed sealed when seven well equipped armies surrounded Angron and his starving forces. Just as the battle was about to begin, the Emperor of Mankind's Fleet arrived in orbit over the planet. The Emperor teleported directly to Angron's point of deployment with a few trusted Adeptus Custodes.

The Emperor promised Angron a legion made in his image, limitless power, and life-times spent perfecting the Art of Conquest. But, to his surprise, Angron refused. He chose instead to die amongst his comrades while fighting his oppressors. Reluctantly, the Emperor returned to his flagship above.

Yet just as the battle was about to begin, the Emperor teleported Angron against his will back up to the fleet. He could only watch in anguish as those he regarded as his brothers and comrades were quickly annihilated. The Emperor betrayed Angron right from the very start.

Angron was eventually taken to the fleet of the XII Legion, the War Hounds. Teleported to the War Hounds flagship, Angron initially refused to have anything to do with his Legion, and when several Captains tried to talk to him, he brutally killed them, as they had been ordered by the Emperor to not raise a hand against Angron. Eventually, Captain Khârn of the 8th Assault Company managed to form a rapport with Angron, talking about the rituals of Angron's gladiators and the traditions of the War Hounds. Now convinced of their worthiness, Angron took full control over his legion, which he renamed the World Eaters, saying they would form new traditions together. During the course of the Great Crusade, he reaped many victories, although some criticized the extreme and bloodthirsty tactics he used to ensure the destruction of his opponents.

Batrep - Khorne vs. Tyranids (long)

I was the ringer in a local RTT yesterday and brought my Khorne army to test. The best game was the last round versus a very good local Tyranid player whom beat Marc Parker's Orks recently at BeakyCon2. Note that double FOC was allowed which really helps Tyranid players build more competitive lists - I'm all for it too.

Here is my opponent's Tyranid army list (double FOC):

Winged Tyrant - 2x twin linked Devourers, Old Adversary
Winged Tyrant - 2x twin linked Devourers, Hive Commander (Warlord; Trait = ?) 

5x Ymgarl Genestealer
5x Ymgarl Genestealer
3x Hive Guard
Doom - Mycetic Spore / Psychic Shriek 

10x Termagant
Tervigon*  - Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands /3x rulebook psychic power (Biomancy)
10x Termagant
Tervigon*  - Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands /3x rulebook psychic power (Biomancy) 

Trygon
Trygon

* Both Tervigons got Iron Arm and one got Enfeeble as well... Can't remember their other psychic powers.

Here is my Khorne army list (World Eaters Warband):

- Primary Detachment -

Kharn the Betrayer (Warlord; Trait = Black Crusader) 

Winged Khorne Daemon Prince - Power Armor, Axe of Blind Fury (+2S) 

6x Chaos Space Marine - Bolter/Bolt Pistol/Chainsword, 1x Flamer - Mark of Khorne, Icon of Wrath (Fallen Angels)
Champion - Lightning Claw, Power Fist, bolter 

7x Berserker - Icon of Wrath
Berserker Champion - Lightning Claw, Power Fist 

Land Raider - Dozer Blades, Dirge Caster
Land Raider - Dozer Blades, Dirge Caster 

Heldrake - Hades Cannon

- Daemon Allies -

Herald of Khorne - Juggernaught, Blessing of the Blood God, Unholy Might, Fury of Khorne 

5x Blood Crusher - Fury of Khorne 

12x Bloodletter

Notes
1) Kharn is attached to the Fallen Angels and they are embarked in a land raider.
2) Berserkers are embarked in the other land raider.
3) Herald is attached to the Blood Crushers (primary daemonic wave).
4) Bloodletters are the secondary demonic wave.

Note I'm running some new units now including a CSM winged Khorne Daemon Prince (very super Killy), a unit of Chaos Space Marines with the Mark of Khorne (Fallen Angels) and a Heldrake with the ranged weapon. I was also able to boost the Bloodletters back up to 12 strong which I think is a good number... Eight of them was just not enough. You can see how they all fared in the batrep.

I apologize - I left my camera at home so no battle pictures unfortunately this week.

Kharn the Betrayer • Equerry of Angron • Captain of the 8th Assault Company

Khârn the Betrayer, Traitor Captain of the 8th Assault Company, Equerry to Angron.

Equally cursed and revered amongst the World Eaters, the name of Khârn stands as a legend amongst those who would kill in the name of the Blood God. He has dedicated his millennia-long existence to unleashing bloody carnage upon anyone and anything within his reach. He is drawn by the scent of war as a hungering hound is drawn by fresh meat and it has become impossible to tally his slaying. Even in the Great Crusade, when he served as 8th Company Captain and equerry to the Primarch Angron he was known to be a brilliant but unstable warrior. When the Heresy came Khârn gladly led his warriors against his brother Marines, most notoriously in the drop site massacres at Isstvan.

He wields a chainaxe known as Gorechild (which, along with its twin Gorefather, was wielded by Angron himself during the Horus Heresy), rimmed with the teeth of a Mica Dragon. He is the avatar of Khorne, embodying that God's indiscriminate rage and bloodlust.

Like his Legionary compatriots, his brain was re-wired as a recruit, so that he finds joy only in killing the enemy. His love of killing is so great that he has actually had a kill counter installed in the lens of his helmet.

During the infighting on Isstvan III, Khârn was believed killed in action while fighting Garviel Loken of the Luna Wolves, a loyalist determined to stop Horus from attacking Terra by holding his former legion. Khârn engaged in close combat with Loken, only to be thrown against the dozer blades of a nearby vehicle, impaling his chest. It was believed that the blow was fatal, but this has been proven wrong.

During the Heresy and the culminating siege of the Imperial Palace, he was at the forefront of every assault. At the Heresy's defeat, Khârn already lay dead upon a mound of corpses at the walls of the Inner Palace. His fellow World Eaters carried his corpse away with them as they fought their way back to their ships. Once on board they discovered that by some dark miracle Khârn still lived. Whether Khorne himself breathed life back into the berserker's body or whether the relentless clamour of battle revived his blood lusting spirit remains a mystery, but since the Heresy Khârn has survived the bloodiest battles to the current age and never came so close to death again.

At the Battle of Skalathrax, Khârn became both legendary and infamous amongst his legion. He slew in a berserk rage Emperor's Children and World Eaters alike, earning him the title The Betrayer, and shattering the Legion into many individual war bands. From then on, he has become the unstoppable and bloody avatar of Khorne.

Afterwards he hunted the Eye of Terror, slaughtering any worthy enough to be killed in Khorne's name. During the Thirteenth Black Crusade his wrath was unleashed upon the Imperium as Khârn alongside a few of the most insane of Khorne's berserkers turned on the Emperor's warriors flocking to the defence of Cadia.

Khârn is one of the most deadly yet unstable close combat fighters in the galaxy. He is just as likely to attack his own allies in a berserk fury as he is the enemy. Armed with a Plasma Pistol and his ancient chainaxe (Gorechild), he is able to tear through armour, flesh and bone with ease. To emphasise that he is truly favoured by Khorne, he is subject to the Blessing of the Blood God, as a result he is immune to the effects of psychic powers.