Nurgle 2k army list

This is how I would play Nurgle...

HQ
Typhus

Troops
29x Plague Zombies
Plague Zombie Champion

29x Plague Zombies
Plague Zombie Champion

6x Plague Marines (Veterans of the Long War) + Plasma gun x2
Plague Champion, 35 pts = (Combi-Plasmagun + Veterans of the Long War)

6x Plague Marines (Veterans of the Long War) + Plasma gun x2
Plague Champion, 35 pts = (Combi-Plasmagun + Veterans of the Long War)

6x Plague Marines (Veterans of the Long War) + Meltagun x2
Plague Champion (Combi-Meltagun + VotLW)

Heavy Support
3x Obliterator (Mark of Nurgle 6 + Veterans of the Long War)

3x Obliterator (Mark of Nurgle 6 + Veterans of the Long War)

Fast Attack
Heldrake (Bale flamer)


ALLY

HQ
Epidemius

Troops
6x Plaguebearers


Excuse my French... this is a Fuck hte Bullshit list... which is a lot of what I am seeing elsewhere .

Optimizing Grey Knights for 6th Edition

As you know I'm in full swing with Khorne now but I still like to play my Grey Knight-Necron army from time to time. Sixth edition has been out for some time now and we have two new codices (Chaos Space Marines and Dark Angels). I've made some observations regarding my current list and have decided to make a few fundamental changes.


MSU Mech is Dead
My original list featured two five squads of Purifiers in rhinos. The original list was very much a hybrid featuring flyers, land raider and the two rhino squads along with the Necron allies. I've come to the conclusion that rhinos in general are more of a liability than anything else so I've dropped them and combined the two five man squads into one unit. The rhino is easy pickings for First Blood and not being able to launch an assault even if the transport didn't move is a major nerf. At first I still favored the rhino due to being able to move flat out now and Fortitude allows an embarked unit to still shoot even if it's shaken or stunned. GW has really nerfed the rhino and I think the penalties far outweigh its advantages.

Combat Squads
I lost a scoring unit but I can split the 10 man unit into combat squads if necessary. My other squad of Purifiers was nine strong and I have since added another Purifier so I can split it into combat squads as well. So I can almost double my total number of scoring units if necessary. Two full squads gives you a lot of options. I definitely prefer to have one full squad of Purifiers as they are still the best Marines in the game... A full squad can obviously take a lot more punishment and is much deadlier - they are somewhat of a quasi deathstar with Inquisitor Coteaz attached.

Purifiers and Weapon Options
As I've said above I still use Purifiers and run Castellan Crowe so they score. Some people playing Grey Knight-Necrons prefer to use Necrons as their primary detachment... Unlike characters in the new Chaos Space Marines and Dark Angels codices, Crowe still converts Purifiers to troops even if Grey Knights are taken as the allied detachment and that's a big advantage.

Choppy Flamey Smashy Death
I take one Nemesis daemonhammer in each squad along with a Nemesis Force Halberd. The daemonhammer is a huge deterrent to multi-wound monstrous creatures while the halberd is a deterrent to enemy melee-centric characters... Only characters such as Kharn have little to fear versus these two melee weapons. The daemonhammer is also your best bet versus 2+ armor saves in close combat... Never leave home without one per squad.

I am a big fan of the Nemesis force sword for the grunts... There is no additional cost and if Coteaz gets the Divination power that grants a 4++ invulnerable save then suddenly your swordsmen have a 3++ invulnerable save in close combat - remember what I said above, a full squad of Purifiers attached to Coteaz can function much like a deathstar if they are properly equipped.

The Nemesis Warding Stave and Nemesis Force Halberd are your two best choices for the Keepers of the Flame... Never kit them with a daemonhammer as this is almost surely a death sentence in plenty of challenges. The warding stave is quite costly so I just take one for the unit attached to Coteaz.

I think it's worth mentioning Cleansing Flame. Blobs are quite popular now and they really really hate this very painful psychic power. It's one of the really good things that Grey Knights have going for them in sixth edition and it's one of the many reasons why I prefer Purifiers to Strike squads.

Shooty Death
Sixth edition heavily favors shooting over melee... It's okay since Purifiers excel at both. I like to take one incinerator in each squad - mainly because blobs (zombies, cultists, gants, guardsmen, orks, etc.) are very popular in my local meta.

I take psybolt ammo as a standard option for every squad of Purifiers... It's another big advantage for Grey Knights. The psycannon is still boss so each squad has two to three.

Transports
I still run a land raider Crusader (psybolt ammo and pintle mounted multi-melta) plus a Storm Raven (psybolt ammo, twin linked multi-melta, Hurricane sponsons and twin linked assault cannon). They are both absolute beasts, highly survivable and can generate lots and lots of shooting... They are both well worth all the points for me. They also offer excellent protection when needed and can dependably deliver my Purifiers into the heart of battle time and time again.

Coteaz and Crowe
The Inquisitor is still a boss and obviously greatly enhances the army... He is such a bargain for the points and much like the Doom for Tyranids I consider Coteaz an auto-take unit. I think the Castellan has improved a lot in sixth edition - he is a master of the challenge and very few enemies will walk away from a scrap with him. It used to be considered a penalty for playing your Purifiers as troops but now I think he can really add a lot to the army. I never field him as my Warlord though because he ends up dying quite often.

Conclusion
The main changes to my army list were to drop the two rhinos and combine the two five man Purifier squads into one full unit. I also changed out some of my weapon options. I think Grey Knights are still quite competitive - more so especially when combined with Necrons... But you must re calibrate your army so that it's properly prepared for sixth edition.

KILL !! MAIM !! BURNINATE !! Rinse and Repeat...

40k Master Series Interview #3 - West Coast Gamers Reecius & jy2

Hi all !!!

Black Blow Fly here with another very exciting interview.

This is the third in a series of five interviews I'm conducting to show case some of the top tournament gamers. I want to cover a really wide spectrum.


My second interview is a real treat as I am simultaneously covering two great gamers from northern California - Reecius and jy2. Both gamers have made some significant contributions to sixth edition and they both seem to have a knack for breaking new codices with the noted exception of Chaos Space Marines (in my opinion). We will have to wait and see what they come up for the new Dark Angels.

Here is some information regarding Reecius' store in case you'd like to check it out...

Frontline Gaming

www.frontlinegaming.org
Phone: (888) 781-5120 / (925) 231-0440
Fax: 866-571-5120 
700 Alhambra Ave Ste 704
Martinez, CA 94553


I have added some new questions to keep it interesting so this will be an extra long interview (obviously :p). This also marks my first interview that does not feature fellow members of my club and I think that's very important to keep this series heterogeneous. Finally I have added a couple of my own comments following their answers in regards to Chaos Space Marines (CSM).

I am a big fan of both their batreps - Reecius and crew at Frontline Gaming have come up with lots and lots of awesome video batreps while jy2 has really raised the standard for written batreps. I always look forward to each one and really appreciate the time and effort that goes into creating them.

Reecius and jy2 both have excellent online communication skills and are very positive while still very honest... Pure gold !



So let's go ahead and get started !

Rampager WiP Pix

Here are some pictures of my finished squad.

First is the Company Champion...

Next is a Rampager with a power sword...

Here are some close up shots of the squad...

Finally one shot of the entire squad...

I used MkIII power armor since I think the studs project the right image for assault Marines. The helmets are from the Red Scorpions. Together it looks a lot pictures you see depicting Rampsgers. I also used a lot of various bits from different kits to add more character to the squad.

I can use them as either of the following:

- Chaos Space Marines with the Mark of Khorne from the new Chaos Space Marine codex

- Khorne Chosen from the new Chaos Space Marine codex

- Rampagers from the Forge World Betrayal book (simply assume they eschew the use of ranged weapons and carry them only for symbolic display)

It's all good.

List Building 101

Here are some tenents I follow for list building. Note that I used to aim more for optimization but now I find myself focusing more on the theme. I have always believed you can build an army that has both a great theme and is also powerful in a competive environment. I like to build lists that punish the meta.

As has been predicted by many 40k Internet pundits the game has switched over from MSU Mech to Infantry Horde... It's really true and this is causing some problems for some of the Internet 40k gurus. I see a lot of CSM lists that feature only zombies and cultists for their troop choices. Some people tell me you can't go wrong with over 100 T3 models in your army plus throw in two to three Heldrakes with their amazing bale flamers.

I am always constantly reminding myself not to hate on army lists I don't like and I'm very picky. I see some people drooling over Azrael joined to a huge blob of guardsmen. I just don't see these types of lists as very competitive to be honest and I think they can be abused. If you choose to drink the new koolaid then basically you are going to be locked into this style of play. I find it very boring but hey that's okay.

On the flip side what ever happened to Grey Knights... They just seem to be considered poison now. While I am very dedicated to my CSM I still like to play my Storm Crowe army and it just seems to keep getting stronger and stronger. Purifiers are still very much the death of hordes with their Cleansing Flame.

Typically what you see currently for most horde armies are two to three super blobs with one lead by a fearless character. They might be hiding behind an Aegis Defense Line for the 4++ and now you've got Azrael with his 4++ super bubble of iron. If you can pop these characters (e.g., Azrael, Juggernaught Lord, Typhus, etc.) early in the game the other big units can crumple... Live by the sword, die by the sword.

As much as some people say CSM is not competitve I see a definite pattern emerging... The zombies are really good mostly since they are very cheap and Fearless - so they don't need an attached character to lead them. There are also some very nasty combos such as Necrons and Orks. I tip my hat to anyone playing a pure army but that said I am very much a big fan of allied armies and double FOC.

I am really liking the new Ravenwing... A highly mobile elite army that can pour out lots and lots of fire power. I think I will eventually play this army but it's at least a year off according to my present schedule. I'd like to see what else will emerge this year from GW before I make that kind of investment. I see the plasma talons as very effective versus any enemy flyer so if you want to build this army don't worry about Heldrakes.. Ravenwing can handle them very well.

So that's all for now.

The Eagle has Landed !

So like I said in my last post I finally was able to finish building my 15 man squad of Rampagers (WIP pictures will be up soon). So now they need a pimp ride...

The Storm Eagle can transport up to 20 models so it is perfect for Kharn and his Rampagers (16 in all).

I have been so busy with my Rampagers I haven't had as much time to blog... I have to get ready for a GT here in Florida this March. Very exciting !

As I've said before the Forge World Heresy book Betrayal is what really got me back into playing Chaos Space Marines again. The release of both books was fairly close which was in many ways perfect timing for me. You can easily build some beautiful Heresy units from Forge World that can also be fielded in a CSM army such as Berserkers and Plague Marines. Very cool !

:=)

Blood for the Blood God... Tactical Analysis of Kharn

Before...

After...

So what the heck happened to cause this change of heart ? That is what I really want to know. Maybe Kharn simply decided to fully embrace his dark side. What's interesting to me is that there were other World Eaters such as Captain Argus Brond that remained loyal to the Emperor. I don't ever remembering reading anything from GW or the Black Library that explained his decision or delved into his specific situation. Certainly Angron must have played a big part in it... That much we know for sure.

So on the tactical analysis now...

Dark Angels - CORE

Hello everyone !!

I am just too busy with my new CSM and 30k to break out my Dark Angels but one thing I really like about the new codex is I can still use all of my existing units... That's really awesome for some people who have stuck it out with the hobby for a long time. Dark Angels finally got something good and it is about time.

I feel the same way about CSM too and just like it more right now. Lots of people are busy discussing which codex is better... I think they both are really great - you can't go wrong with either army. What a great start for sixth edition !

So I was playing around with the Dark Angels codex - my feeling is this is a super shooty army and it has the basic Deathwing to provide some serious muscle to suppress anything that gets too close for comfort.

The Moritat... an Angel of Death

The Moritat is an HQ choice from the Horus Heresy 30k Betrayal book by Forge World. He operates alone, hovering over the battle field like an Angel of Death come the judgement day.

The name is from the 19th Century, and probably derived from the usual singing elongated word "murder" (Mon-red acetate) or of morality.

Rampager, Chosen Warrior of Khorne

Rampagers

Rampagers are featured in the Horus Heresy Betrayal book from Forge World. They are a fast attack choice and are a very elite unit of the World Eaters.

This Legion has the following special rules:

Legiones Astartes (World Eaters)

Units with this special rule may always attempt to regroup regardless of casualties.

Incarnate Violence
All units with the Legiones Astartes (World Eaters) special rule gain the Furious Charge special rule once they have destroyed an enemy unit in close combat or caused an enemy unit to fall back after a victorious assault phase.

Bloodlust
Models with this special rule must always consolidate towards the nearest enemy unit they have the ability to harm after winning an assault. Should a unit with this special rule fail a Morale test after being defeated in combat, before rolling to fall back roll a D6. On a roll of 6 they do not flee (and count as passing their Morale test instead) and now become subject to Rage for the rest of the battle.

Feel No Pain (6+)

Scout

Unit Specific Rules
Chosen Warriors - Each model counts as a character.

Caedere Melee Weapons

•Meteor hammer
+2S AP5 Melee, Specialist Weapon, Two-handed, Concussion, +1 Initiative

•Excoriator chainaxe
+1S AP3 Melee, Specialist Weapon, Two-handed, Shred, Unwieldy

•Twin Falax blades
AP5 Melee, Specialist Weapon, +1 Attack, Rending

•Barb-hook lash
AP5 Melee, Specialist Weapon, Fleshbane

Any member of the squad can exchange both their bolt pistol and chainaxe for a Caedere melee weapon listed above.

The squad comes with bolt pistols, chainaxes plus frag and krak grenades. The squad can also be equipped with jump packs. If they do not have jump packs then they can take a Phobos pattern land raider as a dedicated transport. The maximum size of the squad is up to ten Rampagers.

40k Master Series Interview No. 2 • Dave Boucher, the Total Gamer

Hi all !!! Black Blow Fly here again.

This is the second in a series of five interviews I'm conducting to show case some of the top tournament gamers. I want to cover a wide spectrum and it's not all about army lists and tactics when you reach one of the top tables in a big tournament - sportsmanship and sincerity can be just as important.

My second interview is with Dave Boucher who is also another fellow member of the 40k Wrecking Crew. Dave is a family man first and not as active in the national GT circuit as other members of our club but he still gets out from time to time and has won some big events. I consider Dave to be a top sportsman. I like Dave as a 40k gamer because he can see the total picture and can look at things from angles others tend to miss. Often when I ask Dave for advice about building an army he will come  up with some great ideas i completely overlooked. Dave is also a total hobbyist which includes modeling, converting and painting.

Of all the people I've played in my club Dave is the only one who has consistently beat me and I have to respect that record. We've had some very close games but he has had at least one big win... Versus everyone else it's typically right down to the proverbial wire.

Dave lives in  the Colorado area where 40k is in full swing.

So let's go ahead and get started !

Dark Angels

I am not here to say the new codex is good or bad but I'm already hearing people compare them to the new Chaos Space Marine (CSM) codex saying that Chaos is quite lame which I think is not right. I will say that for the most part up to this point in time based upon what I do know is that the new Dark Angels seems to a large degree to be a step back in time to what they had back towards the end of third edition with their FAQ by Andy Hoare that brought them in line with the release of fourth edition. They had nifty battle standards and lots of other things you'll see now in the new codex. GW takes away (thanks to Jervis Johnson) and now they have decided to give some back.

A lot of people will say that Dark Angels were always the red headed step child of the Emperor... That they were subpar compared to any other MEQ army. That's not true at all and one of my best armies was 3rd edition Dark Angels with their fourth edition FAQ. Back then you could take five man tactical squads with both a heavy weapon and special weapon - the de facto tactical unit was five tactical Marines per squad with a lascannon and plasmagun. They were Intractable so they never had to take a break check due to enemy shooting... They stood there shooting all game for really cheap and it was awesome. Deathwing was stubborn which almost as good as fearless back then (only had to take pinning checks) and terminators could take two assault cannons for every five terminators plus you could take terminator command squads so it was easy and cheap to spam assault cannons. Dark Angels back then were the best Space Marine shooty army and had very excellent counter assault units in the form of Deathwing (terminator) command squads. The Librarian was I5 with three wounds and could cast Veil of Time which allowed them to reroll everything - saves, to hit and to wound. A Librarian with a Storm Shield and Admantium Mantle was an Eternal Warrior, could reroll his 2+ armor save, 4++ invulnerable save, plus hits and wounds. They also had Furious Charge via their Deathwing command squad... Nothing could even so much as scratch them in melee.

The new Ravenwing
I have always loved bikes but at the end of the day you've got a small expensive squad with a 3+ armor save... They can die quickly to enemy shooting or in melee versus any superior unit and there are a lot of superior melee units. I've seen some great players try to reach the top tables with biker armies but invariably they always fell short... 40k is still to a large degree a rock paper scissors game and there are some armies such as Imperial Guard that simply shoot them off the table. The new Ravenwing is definitely strong but I don't see them as a pure biker army being any stronger than past armies such as White Scars. Black Knights are very good but they are also very expensive.

Dark Angels vs Chaos Space Marines
I hate to see people already comparing the new Dark Angels to Chaos Space Marines and saying that CSM is a poor codex. To me it's obvious CSM are intended to be played with daemons and this was always the way except for the last edition. Allies are very much a big part of the game now.

I think there was too much of a high expectation for CSM... They were the penultimate army back in fourth edition - more so than any army since then in my opinion. It's a big mistake to set them against that as a standard.

Sure Dark Angels have some bonuses versus CSM but CSM have access to Hatred versus any Imperial Space Marine army. CSM made out better in this regard since their bonus is cumulative versus a higher number of armies.

Conclusion
I like the new Dark Angels codex but it's much too early to make a statement that they are better than Chaos Space Marines.

Coming Soon & Note on Last Batrep

Here are some articles that will be coming soon:

• WiP shots of Heresy era World Eaters

• Storm Crowes vs Dark Eldar Batrep

• 2nd 40k Master Series Interview

Also I'm planning to play in a local tournament this weekend so there is a good chance I'll be writing at least one batrep from that if I'm able to attend.

I'd also like to point out that the Khorne army list I posted here in the last batrep versus Space Wolves was illegal - Kharn only makes Berzerkers count as troops if he is taken in the primary detachment. I was not aware of that at the time and I was running Chaos Space Marines as allies to Chaos Daemons. If I had known better I would have fielded a squad of Chaos Space Marines with the Mark of Khorne. It's very important to be aware of these types of situations so that's why I mentioned it.

Heresy Era Kharn (WiP)

40k Masters Series Interview #1 • Paul Murphy, the Man of Iron

Hi all !!! Black Blow Fly here.

This is a series of five interviews I'll conduct show casing some of the top tournament gamers. I want to cover a wide spectrum and it's not all about army lists and tactics when you reach one of the top tables in a big tournament - sportsmanship and sincerity can be just as important.

My first interview is with Paul Murphy who is a fellow member of the 40k Wrecking Crew. Paul and I are both big fans of Blood Angels and I think that it one of the cornerstones of our friendship. Paul has won with Blood Angels at a GW GT and is on the 40kWC BoLS team that has won the American Team Championsip (ATC)  twice in a row which is no small feat. He is also a member of the 40kWC team that won the Adepticon team tournament which is another big feather in his cap. Note that Paul is the captain of both these teams.

Paul lives in the Atlanta area where 40k is in full swing.

So let's go ahead and get started!

More Skulls for the Skull God • Khorne Batrep

I played in a local tournament yesterday - it was 2000 points with double FOC. I'm just going to write one batrep and this is for the second game versus Space Wolves... Sorry but no pictures.


OBJECTIVES

The mission had two primary objectives:

(1) Three Objective Markers - one placed in the middle of the table and the other two were both placed on the center line 18" apart from the center marker on either side. Note that heavy support units could hold objectives and were also worth one point each towards this objective if destroyed (Big Guns Never Tire).

(2) You gained one point towards this objective for each unit you moved into the enemy deployment zone and they must be there at the end of the game (not destroyed or fleeing).

Each primary objective was independent of the other for adding battle points... For example if in the case of the first primary if you and your opponent both held an equal number of objective markers then whoever destroyed the most enemy heavy support units would win this one.

Each primary was worth 10 battle points for a win, 5 battle points for a draw and 0 for a loss.

First Blood and Slay the Warlord were each worth one bonus battle point apiece.


DEPLOYMENT ZONES

Dawn of War (12" from the long table edges).

Note that total battle points scored over the course of three games were used to determine the overall winner, not your win-loss record.

Fallen Angels

BIRTH OF THE FALLEN

"Damn you Luthor - how could you betray us? We were your brothers, and now we must join you in eternal damnation."

Horus Heresy Rumors

I just saw this in the comments over on the Spiky Bitz blog...

- Next book should release around Easter time frame and will feature:

• Night Lords
• Salamanders
• Iron Hands
• Word Bearers

- Third book may release around third quarter featuring Ultramarines

40k Editorial - Forge World and the Wild Wild West

I just had an interesting conversation yesterday with a local friend regarding the use of Forge World for competitive play. Basically I got the message there is a line drawn in the sand... You're either pro Forge World or anti Forge World. I think this is a really bad stance to take and I'll discuss why.

HNY 2013 !!!

Happy new year everyone. This is a short post to ring in the new year. We should see quite a few new codices released this year so things are bound to change and I think it's going to be a lot of fun.

Peace.