Crucible 40k GT registered armies

Here is a list of all the 40k armies registered for Crucible. Space Marines are by far the most popular and represent roughly half the playing field (including allies). Roughly one third of the armies feature allies.

=Imperial=

- Space Marines -
01) Gabe Dobkin--------Blood Angels
02) Juan J. De la Nuez--Blood Angels
03) Nick Maxwell------Blood Angels
04) John Petrelli--------Blood Angels
05) Robert Paredes-----Dark Angels
06) Hendrik Alvarez----Ravenwing
07) Alex Aguila---------Grey Knights
08) Chris Humphries----Grey Knights
09) Hector DeJesus-----Imperial Fists
10) Rob Carr-----------Space Marines
11) Nathan Williams---Space Marines
12) Ray Ortega---------Space Wolves

•Allied Space Marines
13) Christian Cordon----Blood Angels/Space Marines (Battle Brothers)
14) Daniel Rodriguez----Black Templars/Grey Knights (Allies of Convenience)
15) Cesar Villfana------Space Marines/Grey Knights (Allies of Convenience)
16) Rich Banks---------Space Wolves/Grey Knights (Allies of Convenience)

-Imperial Guard -
17) Eric Isaac-----------Imperial Guard
18) Zachary Voskuil----Imperial Guard

•Allies
19) Christopher Young--Imperial Guard/Space Wolves (Battle Brothers)


= Chaos =
20) Charles Knighton---Emperor's Children
21) Joseph Sledge III----Chaos Space Marines
22) Jonathan Dispigno--Chaos Daemons

•Allies
23) Patrick Ballinger---Chaos Space Marines/Chaos Daemons (Battle Brothers)


=Xenos=

24) Remy Colin----------Necrons
25) Teddy Woody-------Necrons
26) Richard Haggbloom-Necrons
27) John Lennon--------Tyranids
28) Michael Coxson-----Tyranids
29) Reinaldo Ponce------Tyranids

•Allies
30) Devin Schafer------Eldar/Dark Eldar (Battle Brothers)
31) Reggie Sanchez-----Tau/Eldar (Allies of Convenience)
32) Jovan Rodriguez----Orks/Necrons (Allies of Convenience)


= Allies of Convenience =
33) Paul Dispigno-------Necrons/Grey Knights
34) Steve Turner-------Necrons/Grey Knights
35) Joseph Abel---------Tau/Space Wolves



By the way this is my 1000th post on the blog. w00t !!

More Necron - Grey Knight feedback in

Here is some more feedback regarding Necrons with Grey Knights. I received an email from a gamer in a foreign country whom is planning to try their hand at qualifying for the ETC this year. Of course there's some comments.


In the next two months i am going to participate in a series of tournaments to get a place in the Greek national team, which will compete in the upcoming ETC tournament this August. I really value your opinion.

Good luck and best wishes in your attempt to qualify for the ETC this year. I think you've picked a great army for very competitive play. It's good to know that they are allowing the use of allies this year. I know that in the past the ETC had been conservative in regards to what is and what's not allowed. I think this is a big step in the right direction. 


I am writing to you because i have read your post Building the Perfect Metal Beast - Necrons with Grey Knight Allies.

I found your post very interesting and I would like to share some thoughts with you. I am planning to build such an army myself and agree that Necrons should be the primary detachment.

It just seems that Necrons are stronger overall plus you get a lot more good units as compared to the elite Grey Knights (GK).


I believe too that First Blood is crucial and using rhinos is an easy way to give it to your opponent.

Very true. While the ever ubiquitous rhino still has some good things to offer, the inherent disadvantages outweigh them. It used to be that five five Grey Knights with two psycannons in a rhino was a fairly cheap unit and great for quickly moving into a midfield position for shooting, but now rhinos and razorbacks are so easy to remove, then the small squad is standing there unprotected.


With all the flyers out there, we need something to bother them and Night Scythes cannot do that alone, even up to five flyers (especially againt armies like Imperial Guard with Vendetta spam). Aegis fortification is useful, but needs something there to boost it with it's ballistic skill. I don't think that GK (troops or Purifiers) with just 24" range can get the job done alone... Many points and very stationary. On the other hand I find that the use of dreadnought with twin linked autocannons and 3 annihilation barges may solve that problem (with or without Aegis). But this way, we don't we give First Blood as easily to our opponents.

The psyflemen are still good but I don't use them - like the rhino they die fast too. The Reinforced Aegis is still very nice though. Remember Anni barges can move 12" and snap fire - this is great versus flyers!

Furthermore I find that Destroyer Lord with Wraiths is more durable than overlord on barge. Overlord's barge is vulnerable against melta (especially against deep striking ones) or even lucky penetrating shots (AV13 is good but still). I need to test that more, because I almost always run with a destroyer lord, so i would like your opinion on that.

I like the greater speed of the barge plus being a chariot offers many great advantages in melee. I think they are really worth it.

My biggest concerns are focused on GK allies. I find Coteaz very helpful against drop pod armies, but if i am not going to use Razorback/warriors (for not giving FB), is Crowe's Purifiers a better choice? And by using Purifiers on foot with just 24" range, do I point out destroy lord or overlord as first priority for opponent's shooting? Terminators are expensive but they are troops who can deep striking. Any playtest on them? Can you share with me the list you currently playtest?

A D Lord can ride in a Scythe. They have a small foot print and are easy to hide. You can also either attach the D Lord to Scarabs or Wraiths. I'm a fan of Coteaz with Purifiers. Their deployment is critical.

Necron Grey Knight Army List Feedback

Here is an army list sent in for feedback.

Necrons - Primary Detachment
Destroyer Lord
Overlord - Catacomb Command Barge
2x Nightmare Cryptek  (each attached to a Deathmark unit)

2x 15x Warrior
9x Warrior  - Ghost Ark

2x 5x Deathmark - Night Scythe

3x Annihilation Barge

15x Canoptek Scarab
3x Canoptek Wraith


Grey Knights Allied Detachment
Coteaz

2x 10 man Strike squad - Razorback


Here are my thoughts... Not sure how many points (2000?) is this list so keep that in mind.

- Necrons -
1) The Destroyer Lord should have Mind Shackle Scarabs and Weave. He is a real nightmare for many armies. I am supposing you plan to attach him to the Wraiths... Might as well equip them with Whip Coils. I'd try to find the points to bump the Wraiths up to four strong.

2) The Overlord should have a Warscythe and Mind Shackle Scarabs... That's all he needs.

3) I wasn't aware you can field a starting swarm of Scarabs over 10 strong. I run eight and they do just fine. Five on the charge can drop a land raider.

4) The big blocks of Warriors are awesome. They can do a lot of damage to most enemy units that move into double tap range. You've got lots of big scoring units and that's a good thing.

5) I'm a big fan of the Doom Scythe - people absolutely hate it. It's a huge fire magnet and does double duty shooting at enemy flyers with the Tesla destructors and can nuke any ground unit with its Death Ray. I'd drop one squad of Deathmarks and a Barge to fit one into your list.

- Grey Knights -
1) Coteaz is the man !

2) I'd drop both razorbacks as they give up First Blood very easy. Each Strike squad should have two psycannons. You might also want to include a daemonhammer in each unit.

-General-
You've got lots of midrange firepower. The flyers can cover the rest of the table.

So you've got to decide whose your Warlord. I run a similar configuration for my Necron HQ... So far I tend to prefer using the Overlord in the CCB for my Warlord... It can be situational though.

The Scarab swarm can do lots of great things for you and are the answer to land raiders... Keep them protected so they don't get decimated by blast and templates. You can use them as a screen versus fast enemy dedicated melee units to buy you another turn of shooting. The Scarabs can also tarpit enemy units such as IG blobs.

With Coteaz and two Strike squads you've got lots of anti drop pod defense as well as versus daemons... We've Been Expecting You and Warp Quake. It's a very solid combination for sure.

I'm sure you'll find this is a strong list in the current meta. You've got lots and lots of firepower plus some decent melee.

Happy hunting !

BeakyCon3 is coming...

Just wanted to let people know this will be our third year in a row... Still growing. Our goal is an attendance of 96 players. There will be a lot of focus on beautifully painted armies with fantastic theme this year.

- 2250 points
- Double force organization
- Allies
- 2.5 hour rounds
- Stricter guidelines and enforcement of what is not allowed (i.e., cheating and poor sportsmanship will not be tolerated)
- Some Forge World will be allowed this year with heavy restrictions and early army list submission
- October time frame

This year a lot national GTs are cutting back below 2000 points (no double FOCs) and less time per round. We encourage you to bring a lot of your favorite toys and have a great time. There will still be a competitive track just like the first two years again.

A very special thanks to most everyone whom made it out last year - we really appreciate your support.

Kung Fu

One thing I find funny is there is no such thing as Kung Fu... In China where it originated it is called Gung Fu. Supposedly some people are psychically charged individuals and if they achieve balance then they can become very powerful. Is there the potential for Gung Fu in 40k... Sure but to get to the top of that high mountain means you always play fair and help others because it's not all about winning every game... Far from it in fact. I don't have much time for people who cheat or feel they must win every game they play. They don't really understand.

Gung Fu was developed by Shaolin Priests and they still practice the art - they can be deadly if necessary. Buddha was once contemplating beside a pond when suddenly a group of beautiful enticing young women came towards him from the water. Buddha saw through their guise because his third eye is open. They were actually daemons. He fought them and destroyed them all. Buddha is not Chinese. He grew up in northern India then later in life moved to Nepal. Buddha represented change and advocated the middle path... He is not a god, he is-was a very enlightened person.

I remember once when I was young a good friend told me his father was a very bitter man. His dad was a great guy and I promised myself I would never be bitter as I grew older. It is still something I strive not to be. Sometimes it's not easy but I always remember my promise to myself. We should be happy. That is what I believe.

: )

On the road

Hi all

On the road for like two weeks straight so no time for 40k besides the internet. I can't wait to get home and start painting again.

Guest Batrep Orks & Dark Angels vs Necrons & Grey Knights

Today we have a guest batrep from a friend I play often in my local area. There is some commentary.  ;  )

Here are the 2000 point army lists to the best of my memory:

My opponent runs a double FOC list featuring a Mekk Boy with KFF (Warlord), two Weird Boyz, lots of Lootaz, Shoota Boyz, grots, four dakkajets, Librarian and five man tactical squad in a drop pod plus an Aegis Defense Line with a quad gun.

I have played twice before against this army with my old Storm Crowe list and lost both times. My opponent's army has lots and lots of long range firepower with the Lootaz and Dakkajets plus often he can teleport a huge mob of Shoota Boyz using an attached Weird Boy for even more shooty! I consider this to be one of the more competitive armies in my area. I redesigned my army list to be more balanced... I had this particular Ork army in mind but I didn't specifically redesign my list solely to counter this one.

Here is my list to the best of my memory I was running for this game:

Overlord - Warscythe, Mind Shackle Scarabs - Catacomb Command Barge (Warlord)
5x Immortal - Tesla carbines - Night Scythe
3x 5x Warrior
2x Annihilation Barge
Doom Scythe

Coteaz (Prescience, 4++ invulnerable save blessing)
10x Purifier - Warding Stave, Halberd, 2x Daemonhammer, 2x psycannon, incinerator - psybolt ammo
10x Strike - 2x psycannon - psybolt ammo
Land Raider Crusader - multi-melta - psybolt ammo

Mission
Emperor's Will

Deployment
Hammer and Anvil

Lots of terrain was on the table with plenty of LoS blocking. My opponent won both the rolls to choose his deployment zone and go first. I attempted to seize but failed. My opponent deployed his army deep in his deployment zone. I deployed using reserves so that none of my armor started on the table since he had three meltas in the drop pod.

I have found this particular mission often comes down to First Blood with each player trading shots across the table the entire game.

Opponent's Pre Game Thoughts
So I pulled out my Orks with my 'Feed my opponent First Blood Dark Angels drop pod' army out for the first time.  Of course Mork would force me to play 'Emperors Will' as a curse for using filthy pink humies in power armor for my allies.  Also a bonus curse for playing Steve too! He excels at playing this mission if there is a piece of blocking terrain on the table.

1st Turn - Orks/Dark Angels
I drifted with my drop pod away from him and had to hide the First Blood unit in some ruins because I was out of range.

NOTE
I was kind enough to remind my opponent about Coteaz' We've Been Expecting You special rule before he decided where to place his drop pod.

I got 'Ere We Go' for my Weird Boy and his 30 Shoota Boyz.  The problem was that my Warlord was also attached!   :  (

The Orks failed to take out the Strike squad in shooting. Steve assaulted and it took him four more turns to get Slay the Warlord from my Big Mek with KFF.

Rest of the Game
My Dakka Jets came in piecemeal which sucked big time.

Opponent's Post Game Thoughts
I failed to set up my Aegis Defense line up on the 24" line on the edge of my deployment line so Steve had 12" of 'Free Parking' in his deployment zone that I could not shoot with my Lootaz. The comms relay is getting added to the list instead of the quad gun.

NOTE
I didn't know Lootaz can't move or run. Must suck to be a Loota these days.

I made a lot of mistakes... Not shooting my quad gun at his flyers when they arrived from reserve... Not shooting the Lootaz for a turn because I thought his models were out of range when they were not.

The deployment of my Wall and Lootaz - I knew Steve would hold most of his stuff in reserve and they would be safe.  Also making sure he brought in all his reserves on the turn he rolled them. He "forgot" to bring everything on the table.

NOTE
This was the first time I played this list. All my units in reserve were over on a bench on the far side of the table from me. I forgot to place my Anni Barges the turn they both arrived. It was an honest mistake... I forgot about them since I hadn't used them in a long time. The Anni Barges really helped me shoot down all four dakkajets and the S6 guns can't touch my AV13... Didn't really alter the final outcome in my opinion - I would have shot down more dakkajets faster is all.

At the end he won with Slay the Warlord and First Blood. We both had an objective that was in our deployment zones.

Congrats on the win to Steve. Also congrats on the strategy of playing an entire game on 14" of table out of 72".

NOTE
Like I said I lost to this army twice before and it has been tweaked to score First Blood versus my land raider Crusader via the melta pod. So after doing some serious thinking I decided to completely overhaul my army list to make it more competitive. I tend to play the same list rather than tailoring it for each army I play against. There was nothing preventing the Lootaz from moving and running to get into range of my army. I did have one decent size piece of terrain that blocked LoS and used that to my advantage... Why shouldn't I? This particular mission favored my army. If the table had been turned I would have played the Orks more aggressively moving and running forward each turn.

Indy FAQs

Premise
I have not had a lot of major issues with sixth edition rules so far. Overall I like the rulebook and think that for the most part GW has been doing a better job with their FAQs. It's not perfect but like I said I haven't had any major problems except for one specific instance. Compared to previous editions it's an improvement in my opinion.

Two Questions for You
1) I am very curious to know what you think and what are problems you've encountered so far with the rules.
2) I am also very curious to know how you resolved these issues.


There is an Old Adage...

Leave well enough alone.

Here is another one...

If it's not broke don't fix it.

I am an engineer and to be honest I've never really liked either of these sayings. Everything can be improved. Often I say we should question everything. If you can make something better and the solution saves significant money then over the course of time it will pay for itself. Is this a win win scenario? No it is not because these types of solutions invariably impose problems for some that don't want to have to leave their comfort zone and they will resist... It's human nature.


Houston Is There a Problem?
I have always said that in order to best manipulate any system already set in place you must convince enough people there is or are problem(s) that should be addressed. Manipulation could simply be an enhancement or it could be to better serve yourself. You are setting the stage to justify your will. If there is no problem then the two adages quoted above hold true.

Independent Ruling Bodies (IRB)
So I ask you again are there any major problems with sixth edition that still need to be addressed. To me it simply depends upon on whom you are playing at any given time. In a tournament I can possibly see the value of a FAQ developed by a group of veteran players independent of GW. You could go into a tournament using their rulings knowing better what to expect - their FAQ might help to remove some of the grey areas.

Where Do We Draw the Line?
If we except the rulings from an IRB it is total submission... As a player you cannot simply follow only the rulings which you see as fit. It's all or nothing. While an IRB may have many good things that bring a lot of value invariably they will cross the line... That is they will change some rules based upon their own experiences for whatever reason. There is a big difference between changing a rule and clarifying a rule. Sometimes this is very subtle and it can be extremely subjective. I think we should never change the rules because it is not fair.

So there will be some things you like and some that you don't and this varies from person to person.

Do I Need an Independent FAQ?
I have played in too many tournaments to keep count. My experience has been that the majority of the time when there was a dispute involving the rules the judges ruled in my favor without the use or need of an independent FAQ. So for me based upon my experience overall there is not much value in an independent FAQ. This is my own opinion though and I realize some feel different about it.

Level Playing Field
I like to see a level playing field as opposed to one group above any other. As a TO though you are the ultimate authority. In my opinion if you plan to use another set of rules created outside those established by the manufacturer (i.e., Games Workshop in this particular case) then it should be made public knowledge well in advance of your event and you should be willing to adapt it to better suit the views of the majority of the people attending your event. This is fair and gives players time to decide whether or not they will except it.

New Religion

You are the air in which I breathe

You are the blood I drink in me

These words beyond forever true

My new religion is you

Forsake me

Its you that I serve

Take me

This undying love

You are the air in which I breathe

You are the blood I drink and bleed

These words beyond forever true

My new religion is you

Heresy Kharn update

I have finally finished painting Kharn. I am very happy with the results and would like to get a better quality picture than my cell phone before I post him online.

I now have to paint 10 Purfifiers, 10 Strikes, four Canoptek Wraiths and two Scythes for a GT here in Florida next month... So I won't have any time for anything else until after I've finished them. They are all primed which is a good start but still it is going to take some time.

Hopefully I'll have some good photos of Kharn to post soon.

: )

Building the Perfect Beast - Necrons and Grey Knight Allies

So it's been awhile since I've discussed one of my favorite sixth edition armies - Necrons with Grey Knight allies. I know they are much hated and for good reason but I will say this... It's an army I can play competitively in tournaments while I work on my new Chaos Space Marine army. They are a lot of fun too.

I think there are two ways you as a reader can view this article - you hate it and that's it (if so then why even bother reading past this point?)... or you possibly can glean some useful information for Necrons and/or Grey Knights. I've found the two forces work best independently of each other except for certain situations such as when you focus fire on one particular enemy unit.

Introduction

Originally I started with Grey Knights as my primary detachment and used Necrons as the allies but slowly I came to realize that while it's a solid combination it had some problems versus some of the more popular meta lists we see lately. So I decided to go back to the proverbial drawing board and completely overhaul the army.

I wanted to keep the units that worked best in the original list - Coteaz, Purifiers, Destroyer Lord, Scythes, etc. I also wanted to build an army that does well versus the armies that gave me the most problems while maintaining its existing power level versus the rest. To achieve these goals I needed more boots on the ground and more ranged firepower - switching over to Necrons as the primary detachment made these both easy goals to accomplish.

What Had to Go and Why

I really liked the land raider Crusader with psybolt ammo - its a tough nut to crack in sixth edition, lays down an awful lot of wicked firepower and is an excellent assault vehicle. I also really liked the Storm Raven for mainly the same reasons plus it's a flyer as well. These are two costly units though and the Storm Raven can present some major problems... Namely if it crashes and burns with a squad of Purifiers or Crowe inside you've just lost a big chunk of your army. So by dropping these two units I freed up lots of points that can go elsewhere and reach the two goals I mentioned above in the introduction.

While I'm a big fan of Crowe in sixth edition since he makes Purifiers scoring and is the master of the challenge, he also presented some major problems as well. Namely how do you get him into melee... Basically you have to dedicate one transport for one model and I found its just not worth it. If you put him in a rhino that's an easy target for your opponent to score First Blood plus it's just not very effective. I had the best success with him catching a ride in the Storm Raven but had my share of games where the flyer was shot down and he failed his invulnerable save while jumping out of the crashing wreck. This is directly tied to another inherent weakness of the Storm Raven... If it goes into Hover mode so the squad inside can attempt to launch an assault then it gives up its best form of protection in the process.

So these were the big three units I dropped from the army. I miss the land raider Crusader the most of all but then again  you can't have everything.

Hybrid MSU

To flesh out my army i looked at using the MSU concept to increase my number of scoring units. Armies I'll refer to as a hybrid MSU can be very strong now but not mechanized MSU featuring lightly armored transports... Heldrakes rape transports such as rhinos by vector striking them then flame whatever spills out plus they (disembarking units) are more clumped since its only 3" out of a wrecked transport. On the other hand running a good number of units such as five man Warrior squads is much more tactical than running 10 man squads which is one of the main strengths of MSU. The option to split Grey Knight units into combat squads works a lot better now in sixth edition. So if you have some MSU it can work very well.

Alpha Strike Protection

Using Coteaz along with a Strike squad provides an excellent defense versus drop pod armies which have come back en vogue now. Coteaz has his special rule We've Been Expecting You and Strike squads have the Warp Quake psychic power. These two units are also very effective versus annoying units such as Marbo, the Doom and Daemons... If they can't drop in close then they don't present nearly as much of a problem and you get a turn to shoot them first before they start to close in on your army.

By going over to a hybrid MSU build for my army it's possible to start with all my armor in reserve so I don't have to worry about any drop pods full of melta weapons - this goes right back to one of the key fundamental changes to my army. It also helps to greatly curb the dark eldar alpha strike as well. If they hang back the first turn then I can turn the proverbial table and pull a second turn alpha strike with my Necron flyers versus their fragile lightly armored skimmers.

To me it's very important now to build armies that don't easily give up First Blood (FB) and my new army meets this criterion due to the MSU component. There are certain missions such as The Relic and The Emperor's Will where just one bonus point can easily decide the game. Denying your opponent FB can go a long way towards winning these types of games.

If you're familiar with the types of armies I commonly play then you'll know I did not play any MSU type armies in fifth edition so this is a big change for me and it's working well so far.

The Necron Nemesis

So far I've mainly discussed the use of Grey Knights while just touching on a few of the Necron elements. Necrons are now the primary detachment though so they deserve some discussion as well.

Big Papa

I'm a big fan of the Destroyer Lord so he has remained in my starting line up. He can function as a mobile solo unit that is a major threat to many enemy units and with the emphasis now so strongly focused on the shooting phase you'll find that most infantry units don't really have an answer to him in melee should they be so unfortunate as to receive his charge. Mind Shackle Scarabs means that he is a major threat to any enemy dedicated melee character. I've got the points now to attach a squad of Canoptek Wraiths which confers their Fearlessness and helps him to weather a turn of shooting on the way into some serious melee.

I was recently discussing with some friends the value of a Necron Overlord riding in a Catacomb Command Barge (CCB) ... At first I just didn't see it but after going back to reread the rules for chariots I realized this is another great highly mobile dedicated melee unit for sixth edition. We all know just how awesome is the Sweep Attack with a Warscythe. The new rules for chariots provide some excellent buffs to a stock Overlord armed with only Mind Shackle Scarabs and a Warscythe:

• +1 armor save
• Fearless
• D6 S6 AP - Hammer of the Wrath attacks
• Cannot be locked in combat
• Cannot be challenged
• Can target any unit in base contact with the chariot

The CCB also has the following special rules:

• Symbiotic Repair - The Overlord can expend one of its wounds to ignore a glancing or penetrating hit
• Quantum Shielding - AV13 on front and side until it suffers a penetrating hit
• Living Metal - Can ignore both shaken and stunned results

Finally the CCB is an open topped fast skimmer so it can flat out move up to 18" and gains a 4++ cover save. A great tactic (situational though) is to move in close to the enemy then Sweep Attack the next turn, disembark the Overlord and assault another unit.

There are a few disadvantages but I think overall the advantages far outweigh them plus the CCB comes with a heavy weapon (Gauss or Tesla - your choice) so you've got some more shooting as well.

More Shooty

As I said in the beginning one of my main goals was to increase my army's overall firepower. I dropped the land raider Crusader and Storm Raven which are both very shooty and can effectively target up to four enemy units together per turn due to Power of the Machine Spirit. Necrons though have access to several vehicles that are much less costly, have high armor value due to Quantum Shielding and have excellent ranged firepower that is perfect for dealing with enemy flyers (i.e., Tesla Destructor). If you play Necrons you know this and I'm taking advantage of it now.

The Bubble

I also decided to use a large swarm of Canoptek Scarabs as they can do so much for an army and here is another one of those situations where there is some synergy between Necrons and Grey Knights... Versus an assault army Scarabs can form a mobile shield wall to deny your opponent the charge versus your infantry. They are still very good at wrecking land raiders and can quickly tarpit units such as IG blobs. They are well worth the points and can go a long way towards the win.

Conclusion

I wanted to redesign my army so it is a top tier list. You don't see much about the army because it's not popular but that doesn't mean it's not competitive. On the other hand it still takes some serious thinking to create a balanced army using these two codices, which should be a main goal (i.e., balance) for all competitive players. I have a lot of experience playing both armies but found it to be quite a challenge to build what I'll call the ultimate list. I think I'm on the right road now and will have the opportunity to test its mettle at a GT here in Florida next month.

Painting White the Simple Way (Heresy World Eaters Tutorial)

I have never painted a white army before and had some terrible experiences using white paint as a base coat in the past - my main problem with using white paint as a base coat is I am color blind and can't see any of the model's details after the model is painted so I really struggle to paint it after it is based. I recently tried a test mini with Armory white in a spray can over a thin black coat (this way I could still see the detail)... Unfortunately this spray is rather heavy and coats over a lot of the raised details on the mini.

Next I decided to talk to some members of my club who are great painters - Dave (Crazy Dave), Aaron (Swags) and The Paul (TPM of course). They all had some great suggestions and I decided to combine their techniques for painting white. It is very simple but very time consuming since I paint everything with a brush straight out of the pot. That's not a big deal to me though as painting is simply for the enjoyment of the hobby. Something nice about white armor with blue trim (e.g., World Eaters) is it's a great combination on the color wheel - they work very well together.

The Technique
I start with a soft blue grey base coat (the old GW Space Wolf Grey comes to mind). The blue grey base doesn't need to be completely covered by the next layer (light grey) so you have an excellent shadow in the recesses that works well with the blue trim and you can even keep some areas exposed that will be blue... A bright blue over white will really pop though. Like I said the next layer is a very light grey... Just paint everything you want to end up being white in the end.

It used to that white paint was very thick and you had to mix it with a relaxant to thin it down... To me that was a major pain and another one of my big deterrents to painting white. GW has some excellent whites now such as White Scar White which is very smooth, goes on easy and doesn't need much thinning at all.

So basically there are three main layers:

1) Blue grey base coat
2) Light grey layer
3) White final layer

Once you are done you can shade the white around edges with various levels of grey to create more shadow effects and some contrast plus grey is very easy to shade as there are many good greys to choose from in the market.

I am using a blue wash for greaves and armored straps as it matches well with the blue.

White Armor versus Other Things like Cloth and Skulls
The white armor will look cold since its applied over light grey. I want a contrast for other things such as cloth (e.g., purity seals) and skulls. If you're painting GW miniatures there's always going to be lots and lots of skulls.. That's just the way it is... Heh ! I want a contrast between the armor because otherwise you'll end up with a model that looks a lot like a black and white photo. I suppose that could be cool but it's not the visual image I want... So I want a warm appearance for things such as skulls. To achieve this effect go back and paint brown over the skulls and other things such as purity seals. Start off with a darker brown and then shade up a couple layers with lighter browns. This is really quick as your only painting little things, not the entire miniature. Finally apply the white.

You'll see what I mean when you're done... The armor looks cold while the skulls are warm in appearance and it makes for a very nice overall appearance.

Some World Eater WIP Pictures

I have been slowly working on my World Eaters... it takes several layers to get the color white just right and I am not rushing. I think maybe in a week I should have Kharn along with his retinue finished. I still have a long ways to go. I don't think these pictures do them full justice... I took them with my cell phone by the way.

Here is Kharn...

Here is Kharn with a couple of his Chosen...

Here is the Champion...

And here is the dude with the sword...

Further reflections upon Grey Knights-Necrons

So I have been playing my army a lot and what I've found is it tends to win really big or I struggle versus some of the newer more popular armies. I have been thinking about my list a lot and what I could do to really take it to the next level in terms of competition. First I want to keep all the best components that work so well:

• Coteaz-Purifier Death Star (mounted in Land Raider Crusader)

• Storm Raven

• Destroyer Lord

• Immortals (mounted in Night Scythe)

• Doom Scythe


The army I'm presently running suffers from low model count and lack of a sufficient amount of ranged shooting. So in order to strengthen the list I'm going to switch over to using Necrons as the primary detachment with Grey Knights as the ally.

This fundamental change will help in many ways...

First while I'm a big fan of Crowe in sixth edition since he is a master of the challenge, I won't have to field him anymore and he creates some problems for the army since he cannot join other units.

Second I can take a Strike squad which will add Warp Quake to my army which is very good in sixth edition, such as being a major deterrent versus the occassional drop pod army you run across now and then.

Third I'll be able to add Canoptek Scarabs and Wraiths to my army, both of which work well in sixth edition too.

I had the opportunity to play a game versus Necrons-Grey Knights back during the holiday season and I can say for sure it's very strong. So I'm very excited about this change.

Nurgle 2k tactics and tips

This is a brief follow up on the Nurgle list I recently posted last week. Here are some basic tactics:

Zombie blobs form up as the front rank spread out to cut off movement from enemy flyers and deny objectives. They soak the brunt of enemy shooting the first two to three turns providing your Death Guard time to move into key positions. Be careful with them... Sure you've got over 60 wounds between the two squads but they can die quickly versus certain armies such as Imperial Guard. You want them to last as long as possible while soaking up most of the enemy shooting.

Death Guard form the second rank using zombies for cover. Keep them out of enemy LoS if possible until they get into good range to shoot. They will win games by holding objectives midfield objectives and can press forward into the enemy deployment zone if necessary.

Typhus joins one squad of Oblits and they have the option to deep strike. They are your third rank and take down anything that manages to get past your first two ranks. The other squad of Oblits are your only non-fearless unit... They sit back and shoot all game. They can also camp on a backfield objective in Big Guns Never Tire.

The Heldrake is a harassment unit burning exposed units and vector striking enemy flyers. It forces your opponent to consider shooting your flyer versus other key units such as your Obilterators and Death Guard.

Epidemius and his Plague Bearers hide somewhere and may be able to hold another backfield objective... They are there purely for his Tally which can turn the Death Guard into Death Stars.

You've got anywhere from six to eight scoring units depending on the mission and the army only gives up 11 kill points.

NOTE - Zombies do not count as having Mark of Nurgle.

Rereading the Rulebook

Well sixth edition has been out for quite some time now. The new edition is very long in terms of all the rules, many of which are new or modified, and it's much more complex overall when compared to the past two previous editions. I see people make fairly significant mistakes all the time or not using a new rule that could be useful for them. I think this is pretty much always the case when a new edition is released but it seems this time it's taking a bit longer for most of us to completely digest everything.

If you consider yourself a competitive gamer then you must know all the rules inside out. I have started to reread the rulebook and have discovered a lot of things I was either playing wrong (for whatever reason) or rules I was not aware existed. As is often the case we sometimes slip up and play some of the rules according to previous edition. There are also lots of new FAQs out now that have been modified several times and then there are two new codices... It's a lot to keep up with but like I said it's very importsnt to fully comprehend all the rules.

If you want to play competively and win I highly recommend picking up your rulebook and then read it again. I think if you do it will tighten your game and I bet you'll do a lot better.