Reflections so far on Nurgle

I have always thought of Nurgle as the Hippie God of 40k... Death is but a doorway to a new life. No need to fret the end my friend.

So based upon my first game versus Tyranids I have made some of what I consider to be crucial changes to my army list. I was sorely lacking in long range fire power. Currently I am now running a list with an Aegis Defense Line (ADL) specially taken for the quad gun, land raider and a squad of three Obliterators. In the beginning of sixth edition I saw many lists that featured an ADL with a quad gun manned by a character with a high ballistic skill. Nowadays I have to wonder what armies have the balls to man the quad gun. The addition of these units to my army has made it much more complete in a total sense of pure balance.

Nurgle is what I consider to be the most balanced of the four Chaos Gods... More especially so if you build an army consisting of Chaos Space Marines and Chaos Daemons. This is what I like and what currently works best for me. Death Guard are very good for sixth edition and well worth the points. Five man squads in rhinos work very well. The five man squad is maximally efficient and does not use a big chunk of your points. Four to five scoring units including Plaguebearers seems to be the way to go.

In many ways I have learned that what I play now is a direct throw back to fifth edition and surprisingly enough it works just fine. I am not using any flyers either nor Forge World. Balance is the key to success... You must excel at movement, shooting and assault to be the top dog. I had a 2250 point game today versus eldar and will be posting a batrep with pictures soon.

An MSU Approach to Building a Death Guard Army

Hi everyone it's your friendly Black Blow Fly reporting in again with another article on Chaos. I am going to discuss how to design a competitive Mono Nurgle army applying the MSU approach.

Kharn comes home !!!

My World Eaters were returned to me late this afternoon. Blessed be the one who sent them and a very special thanks to everyone who helped look for them.

Angels and Daemons

It seems to me that angels are extremely rare to find while daemons are quite plentiful. An angel could help lift you to a higher plane while the daemon will only use you and corrupt you. Sometimes it takes a long time to figure it all out. Maybe angels are just as plentiful but harder to recognize.

Keep searching.

BeakyCon3 Dice Unveiled

Missing models from WarGamesCon • Heresy era World Eaters

I lost Kharn, a squad of Chosen, two squads of Berzerkers plus some Death Guard at WGC. Kharn and the Chosen are Forge World 30k models painted in the Heresy World Eaters color scheme (white and blue). I put a lot of work into them. If anybody sees them I'd really appreciate it if you let me know.

And here is the dude with the sword...

Battle Analysis • Nurgle vs. Tyranids

I had an exciting game yesterday evening versus Tyranids played by one of the better local players. We used the fourth sample mission from BeakyCon3...

Two main objectives:
• There are three objective markers placed along the mid line of the board (long way). One objective marker is in the center of the table. The other two are 18" on either side. If you control the objective marker in your opponent's deployment zone it's worth 4 battle points. If you control the objective marker in your own table quarter it's worth 2 battle points. The objective marker in the center is worth 3 battle points.

• Table quarters - Each table quarter you control is worth 1 battle point. You must have the most scoring units wholly within a table quarter to control it. Dedicated transports don't count and squads must be disembarked.

Modified Night Fight is automatic the first turn. Units cannot shoot more than 24". Night vision does not work. Barrage automatically scatters 3d6 if the large blast template is placed beyond 24" range - if you roll a HIT then use the small arrow to determine the direction of the scatter.

A scoring unit can only hold one objective marker.

Deployment: Hammer and Anvil

Bonus Points: 1 battle point each for Slay the Warlord & Line Breaker (no First Blood)

No Mystery Terrain or Mystery Objectives rules.


Here is my 2250 point Chaos Nurgle army:

Chaos Space Marines Primary Detachment


Chaos Lord (Warlord)
Mark of Nurgle, Blight Grenades, Power Axe, Sigil of Corruption, Chaos Bike, The Black Mace

Sorcerer
Mark of Nurgle, Blight Grenades, Psychic Mastery Level 3, Sigil of Corruption, Force Axe, Spell Familiar, Palanquin of Nurgle

5x Plague Marine - Flamer & Meltagun
Plague Champion - Power Axe
Chaos Rhino - Dirge Caster, Dozer Blades, Havoc Launcher

5x Plague Marine - Flamer & Meltagun
Plague Champion - Power Fist
Chaos Rhino - Dirge Caster, Dozer Blades, Havoc Launcher

5x Plague Marine - 2x Meltagun
Plague Champion - Combi-Melta & Power Axe
Chaos Rhino - Dirge Caster, Dozer Blades, Havoc Launcher

Chaos Daemons Allied Detachment

Great Unclean One
Greater Rewards x2, Psychic Mastery Level 3

16x Plaguebearers of Nurgle

16x Plaguebearers of Nurgle

5x Plague Drones of Nurgle - Rot Proboscis
Plaguebringer - Rot Proboscis, Greater Reward

Daemon Prince - Daemonic Flight, Warp Forged Armour, Greater Rewards x2, Psychic Mastery Level 3, Daemon of Nurgle

Here are the psychic power and greater rewards I rolled up:

Sorcerer - Plague Wind, Iron Arm, Endurance
Great Unclean One - 3+ armor, +1 W, Iron Arm, Endurance, Life Leech
Daemon Prince - Bale Sword, Armorbane & Fleshbane, Iron Arm, Endurance, Life Leech


Here is the Tyranid army to the best of my memory:

Hive Tyrant - Wings, Twin Linked Devourers, Ancient Adversary (Warlord)
Hive Tyrant - Wings, Twin Linked Devourers

Tervigon
Tervigon
Tervigon

17x termagant
10x termagant
10x termagant

3x Biovore

3x Hive Guard

Doom - Mycetic Spore

3x Zoanthrope - Mycetic Spore

5x Yrmgal Genestealer
5x Yrmgal Genestealer

I don't remember all the psychic powers he rolled up but just like me every monstrous creature had Iron Arm. Doom took Psychic Shriek.

We made a few mistakes. This was my first time playing this army with Nurgle daemons so keep that in mind. First we forgot that the first is automatic Night Fight. Second I was not aware that Chaos Space Marines can't join daemonic units even though they are Battle Brothers. Lastly I thought the Great Unclean One is WS9 (looked at the stat from the Daemon Prince by accident... whoops).

I got to choose my deployment zone and go first selecting the side with more terrain.

I opted to hold the Great Unclean One in reserve so I could deep strike him to the rear of Tyranid army and act as a distraction. Of course he misshaped and my opponent decided to place him close to his Tervigons so he could tarpit Big Fatty with lots and lots of spawned gants. My opponent stated he was going to wipe Big Fatty off the table first turn. The Great Unclean One managed to stick around for at least the fourth turn though and ate lots of gants, easily destroying two broods. Of course my mistake in regard to his WS certainly helped the greater daemon last a lot longer than he should have. In retrospect I should have deployed him along with the rest of my army to bolster my forces.

I also held both Plaguebearer squads in reserve as well. One squad mishapped but fortunately went right back into ongoing reserves.

I deployed the three rhinos with the Sorcerer embarked in one along with the Daemon Prince, Chaos Lord and Plague Drones in the center of my deployment zone. The plan was to draw in the Tyranid units held in reserve and rack up the kill points. This worked well overall... I managed to take out the Doom (meltagun to the face.. gotta love that - heh), Zoies, both Broods of Yrmgal genestealers and both spores. In return I lost the Plague Drones in the exchange along with some of my Plague Marines. I think if the Plague Drones had lasted a bit longer it could have really swung the final results. As it was they lost a good number of wounds to the Doom's spirit leech power and I forgot to use their stealth plus shrouded cover save 2++. The Plague Drones still did great tarpitting several enemy units for a few turns and helped to eradicate the genestealers.

I flew the Daemon Prince right into the front of the enemy lines barreling straight into the large brood of 17 termagants on the second turn. He also stuck it out a long time killing at least another two broods of gants as well. Again in retrospect I think it would have been better to have held him back as well.

The two big blocks of Plaguebearers performed great along with both the Chaos Lord and Sorcerer. I have opted to gift the Sorcerer with a Palanquin of Nurgle which is awesome... He basically functions like a walking Daemon Prince plus he can still join other units (Plague Marines of course) and fits in a rhino.

Towards the end of the game the two Flyrants were able to remain in my deployment zone and they caused me the most problems by far. Not having any long range shooting in my army is its major weakness and must be addressed. I think I might change out one of my monstrous creatures for a squad of Obliterators. One failed grounding check and either Flyrant would have been easily consumed by my hordes of Plaguebearers. One Flyrant is a whole heck of a lot easier to handle than two. As it was the dual Flyrants had free reign eventually shooting down all three rhinos and contesting the objective in my deployment zone the last turn for a xenos victory.

Shadows in the Warp is major problem for enemy psychic heavy armies. I rarely was able to successfully cast any powers and that hurt. This is something I need to figure out how to address. I think it can be done too by use of proper positioning.

So there you have it. The game went six turns and we both destroyed 10 enemy units each. First Blood was not in play, neither of us scored Slay the Warlord and my opponent got Line Breaker. The central objective marker was contested along with the one in my deployment zone while my opponent held his. If it had gone a seventh turn I might have had a slight chance to take the central objective marker... I was down to my Chaos Lord with 15 Plaguebearers in the middle while my other squad of Plaguebearers were back sitting on my objective marker contested by a Flyrant. In hindsight I should have pushed them forward as well to fight for the central objective marker.

Warhammer 40K Primarchs as Japanime high school girls

Loyalists to the right and Traitors to the left... Can you name them all ?

Here is a hint - Angron is the fourth over from the left.

black tattoo

So I got a small black tattoo a few weeks ago inside my wrist. It's a four leaf clover. Funny how my luck has seemed to change from - to + since then for whatever reason. I think in many ways luck is a state of mind. I'll gladly take the good luck and knock on wood.

: )

The ancient fallacy of mathammer

We love the game. We love to roll the dice but sometimes the dice betrays us. That is fate. Me - I like to rock. Often I see people on the Internet extolling the virtues of pure odds in a vacuum but that's just not the way it breaks down in epic games. One roll of the dice can change everything. Sometimes Lady Luck has us in her back pocket and other times she wants nothing to do with us. Anything we can do to lessen the effects of chance is to our advantage. An excellent point in case is a tight game I watched at WarGamesCon between a pair of top daemon players versus one top Tau player. The daemon players rolled up some very tight Biomancy psychic powers. Funny enough the Tau player won based upon his movement phases which is THE phase the least affected by the dice. He was truly fearless. Do you have the balls ?

Sure you have your one guhzillion bah gillion uber high strength shots that reroll to hit and ignore cover versus my tiny elite armies. I'll take those odds ANY day of the week. Mathammer is not something we can reply upon as a tool to win games simply due to the pure odds of chance. We should respect the odds but to solely rely upon them to win inevitably results in EPIC FAIL... We must look upon the game at a higher level if we want to be truly competitive and take all comers. It is what it is. The cosmic thinker will prevail.

Part 2. Building a Competitive Mono Nurgle Army

The first article in this series covered my choices for the Chaos Space Marine primary detachment.

Nurgle Chaos Space Marines

This article discusses my choices for the daemonic allies...

Great Unclean One
Greater Rewards x2, Psyker (Mastery Level 3 - Biomancy)

15x Plaguebearers of Nurgle

15x Plaguebearers of Nurgle

Plague Drones of Nurgle
5x Plague Drones of Nurgle - Rot Proboscis
Plaguebringer - Rot Proboscis, Greater Reward

Daemon Prince
Daemon of Nurgle, Daemonic Flight, Warp-forged Armour, Greater Rewards x2, Psyker (Mastery Level 3 - Biomancy)


The Greater Daemon provides support for the troops or can deep strike versus certain armies and act as a major distraction. If he rolls up Iron Arm even Tau are going to have some problems dropping him in one turn which lets the rest of your army rush forward unhindered. Biomancy is THE psychic lore of choice for monstrous creatures. Big Fatty is the one unit in 40k that can go all the way up to T10! That's just crazy. A railgun or demolisher cannon wounding on a 4+... Missile launchers needing 6s... Heh. It's not always going to be there but when it is use it to the max. Nobody can do Biomancy better than Nurgle.

I prefer two big squads of 15 Plaguebearers versus three squads of ten. They will last that much longer plus you've got the Death Guard... Six tough as nails scoring units. Plaguebearers for this type of army are my preferred choice for objective squatting over the zombies. To me there is no comparison plus they can deep strike as well. Over the course of a game the Plaguebearers will last longer and this is another reason why I have steered away from the Typhus list. An opponent must first work their way through the Death Guard and other big nasties before they can even start to think about messing with the daemonic troops. Plaguebearers are +1T, 5++, shrouded and have poison versus the zombies plus they will never break as well. I always go with quality over quantity.

My last two choices are there to add more mobility to the army that is very hard hitting in melee... Plague Drones and the flying Nurgle Prince. These are two more highly resilient units that can quickly reach out and spread the disease! What's not to like about Plaguebearers riding giant blow flies?? The Drones have 3+ poison attacks plus the Plague Bringer has a Bale Sword when needed to make short work of any nuisances. There is also the option to equip the Daemon Prince with the Bale Sword which is an AP2 melee weapon due to Smash when he wields it and that's pretty nasty when you stop to think about it. Plague Drones are one unit that can go toe to toe with Canoptek Wraiths and that's really saying something plus they are faster and tougher. Take into consideration the Chaos Lord and you quickly realize this army has a lot of speed when it needs it which is something Nurgle is not known for in the 40k universe... The mobile element takes some of the pressure off the Death Guard so they can get into position to do what they need to do.

The one component lacking from this army is long range fire power but I'm okay with that due to the fast units. It's my style of army all the way. In conclusion I think this army can work well and there is a lot of synergy between the various units plus i think it has great theme.

BeakyCon3 Prep Tournament • Birds of Paradise Games • August 24

August 24

Birds of Paradise Games, Dunedin










- 2250 points
- Double FOC
- Allies
- Up to one fortification
- Forge World units with 40k Approved stamp from Imperial Armor Apocalypse 2nd Edition & Aeronautica
- Bran Redmaw is allowed for Space Wolf armies

All models must be WYSIWYG. No proxies.
If you use Forge World then you must use the actual models and you must bring the rules.
Bring five printed copies of your army list (Army Builder Tournament format is required).


This is a perfect time to test your armies. We will use actual GT missions.


Modifications to the GT format
• 3 rounds
• Rounds are 2.5 hours each
• 5 turns with one possible extra turn 6 on a roll of 4+ on 1d6
• Final standings will be determined by W-L record and total battle points accrued

Part 1. Building a Competitive Mono Nurgle Army

I am a long time avid Death Guard player. I was not a fan of the last codex due to its overall blandness. I am really liking the new codex though. Sure it does not meet the heights of the fourth edition codex but in my mind its at least a few steps in the right direction. While the Chaos Space Marine codex is not the most competitive book I think it has all the tools you need to win big plus we have access to daemons again! The combination of the two can be very powerful. As always the goal is to design a very balanced army. You've got to ask yourself Can I beat the top armies with my list? If the answer is no then it's right back to the drawing board. Sure it's easy to design a rock-paper-scissors army and copy another latest and greatest Internet meta list but in a top tournament environment you will probably end up facing your worst nemesis if you make it to a top table.

My last article compared the popular use of cultists as compared to Chaos Space Marines - the conclusion is while most every CSM army has some cultists you rarely if ever see any Chaos Space Marines in the top armies. Cultists are dirt cheap and seemingly perfect for holding objectives. Chaos Space Marines are quite costly when compared to other units. Daemons can provide you with your cheap troop choices plus they are all superior to cultists plus they don't need an expensive baby sitter to fight off all the big scary monsters you see flying around now. You can field Chaos Space Marines as elite units and they score... The combination of daemonic troops and Chaos Space Marines can be highly synergistic just as it was once upon a time in fourth edition.

I think that Chaos Space Marines are still viable but it requires more thought to craft a competitive army list. Death Guard were extremely popular in the last edition back when mech was the king. They are still very good and can do more good things for you than cultists.

This article is the first of my discussions regarding building a mono Nurgle army. I am thinking of something along the following lines for the primary detachment:

Primary Detachment - Chaos Space Marines
Chaos Lord - Mark of Nurgle, Chaos Space Marine Bike, the Black Mace, Power Axe, Blight Grenades
Chaos Sorcerer - Mark of Nurgle, Lvl 3 Psychic Mastery, Power Axe

5x Death Guard - Flamer, Meltagun
Champion - Power Axe, Boon of Mutation
Chaos Rhino - Dozer Blades, Havoc Launcher

4x Death Guard - Flamer, Meltagun
Champion - Power Fist
Chaos Rhino - Dozer Blades, Havoc Launcher

4x Death Guard - 2x Meltagun
Champion - Power Fist
Chaos Rhino - Dozer Blades, Havoc Launcher

4x Death Guard - 2x Flamer
Champion - Power Fist, Combi-Flamer
Chaos Rhino - Dozer Blades, Havoc Launcher

The Chaos Lord is my personal version of a winged Nurgle Daemon Prince with the Black Mace. He unlocks Death Guard as a troop choice which is necessary for this list and he is almost as fast as a winged daemon prince. The one disadvantage is the Black Mace wielded by a Chaos Lord is only AP4. However at T6 he is more survivable and immune to instant death from S10 attacks such as Smash or a demolisher cannon... There is lots of S10 out there too. His speed lets him choose whom he engages in melee and his main purpose is to clobber T3 hordes. I see lots of armies featuring T3 hordes... Gaunts, guardsmen and now eldar again for example. A Lord on a bike is easier to hide behind LOS blocking terrain which also makes him more survivable than a daemon prince. My Lord also has a power axe should he have to square off against anything with a 2+ armor save... Coteaz really hates on him... Heh !

I find the Chaos biker Lord to be a better choice than Typhus for two reasons - first the biker Lord is much faster and second he is overall more survivable. It seems the Typhus-Zombie era has finally come to a close... I didn't see any of this type of army on the top tables at WGC nor did it fare that well at Adepticon to the best of my knowledge. There are plenty of things that can quickly shred right through cultists and zombies such as the ever notorious Heldrake.

The Chaos Sorcerer is there to provide a tough melee character to support the troops. I have been taking two spells from Biomancy... They are all good and you really hit the proverbial jackpot when he rolls up Iron Arm. Of all the psychic powers available in the Chaos Space Marine codex I like Nurgle the best so it's win-win.

I have four troops so at 2000 points and above so I can field one daemonic allied detachment. If I want to take two primary detachments then I'd have to take a second Chaos Lord with the Mark of Nurgle instead of the Sorcerer if I want to take two HQ from the Daemon codex (i.e., two allied detachments).

The Death Guard are the best elite choice for Chaos Space Marines hands down. Small units such as what I've selected can take quite a beating and still dish out the punishment. If nothing else they can be extremely annoying. I prefer meltaguns and flamers since they are assault weapons. The plasma gun is more popular now but there is still some armor out there and meltaguns are as always an excellent deterrent. For those new to Chaos Space Marines ere is what you get for 23 points per model:

• Fearless
• T5
• 3+ armor save
• FNP
• 2 base attacks (plague knife & bolt pistol)
• Bolter
• Poison
• Blight Grenades
• 2x special weapon

In many ways Death Guard are the Grey Hunters of Chaos and much better in just about every way... You get what you pay for with these bad boys. For example FNP is really good this edition... If you stop to think about it FNP is a lot like the Necron Reanimation Protocol.

Rhinos don't last long these days but one full move plus a flatout gets your Death Guard where you need them to be in a hurry. I think the Havoc Launcher is worth the points since there is so much horde out there. One of the biggest weaknesses of the Chaos Space Marine codex is the lack of a reliable and low costed delivery system. Plague Marines can still work due to their inherent toughness. Mainly you want your troops in midfield if necessary and this is the cheapest method.

You probably noticed there are no Heldrakes in my list. I would rather use these points towards monstrous creatures in my daemonic allied detachment plus taking no flyers totally nerfs armies designed with a heavy anti-air component.


The next article will cover my optimal choices for daemonic allies to compliment this Death Guard army.

One half million views

w00t !!!

Chaos Cultists as your Main Troop Choice

I have been following the major national events this year and it looks like cultists are in while Chaos Space Marines are out. As I predicted many of the competitive Chaos players are now using both the Chaos Space Marine and Daemon codices to build their winning armies. Daemons are the preferred choice for the primary detachment. Chaos Space Marines are an ally and what you typically see is as follows:

• Flying Nurgle Daemon Prince with the Black Mace,
• One to two squads of cultists,
• One Heldrake,
• Maybe one squad of Obliterators

No Chaos Space Marines.

I knew that cultists would be popular and that allies is the right way to go but I am both surprised a bit and sad to rarely see any Chaos Space Marines. I suppose the underlying thought is Chaos Space Marines are too costly and not worth their points. Cultists on the other hand are cheap as chips and are there only to score objectives. Typically cultists are held in reserve to lengthen their life on the table... When they arrive they jump on top of an objective and go to ground - it's just that simple.

I have been having good success with both Khorne Berserkers and Plague Marines. You have to build your list around Berserkers to a certain extent since they need land raiders to be effective. Plague Marines on the other hand are much more resilient and can work in rhinos. Thousand Sons still have all the same problems as the last codex... Namely easy cover negates the effectiveness of their AP3 bolters. I don't think Noise Marines are all that competitive either - you are spending a lot of points for a small blast S8 AP3 template that ignores cover.

At this point the meta still seems to greatly favor shooting over melee but I am seeing some assault heavy armies dominating the national level at this point in time which was quite evident at WarGamesCon a couple of weeks ago. In fact neither of the two Saber platform|Thudd gun heavy armies were able to crack the top three and only one made it into the top five. Assault was the king. Super shooty gun line has problems scoring objectives outside their deployment zone.

It's still too early to say which way the national scene will go with the inclusion of Forge World 40k approved units... It seems to be an even split so far in terms of events allowing its use or not. Maybe the release of the new Imperial Armor book from Forge World scheduled for next month will help TOs to decide one way or another going into the 2014 season. Based upon what I've seen so far the use of Forge World doesn't seem to have all that much impact with the exception of some formidable anti-flyer defense.

So back to the topic of cultists and Chaos Space Marines (CSM)... Like I said I'm a big fan of CSM and they will be featured in all of my Chaos armies. I think they still have a role to play in competitive 40k. One of the major shortcomings of the CSM codex is the lack of reliable delivery. Space Marines have their cheap drop pods which has helped to keep them competitive. Rhinos on the other hand seem to be more of a liability than anything else. Daemons have plenty of fast resilient units such as Daemon Princes, some of the Greater Daemons (BT & LoC), Flesh Hounds and Plague Drones. The main question is how do you make CSM be competitive and worth their points versus other units that are less points, more resilient and more Killy ? Obviously it requires a certain type of build and I think that Plague Marines are the best choice... Sure they aren't cheap but they are both tough and quite Killy. A mono Nurgle list using both CSM and Daemons can work - this will be my next project so expect to see more here soon.

My review of WarGamesCon 2013 • What it tells us about the current meta

I arrived early last Thursday spending the entire preceding Wednesday to paint a few more big models and then pack everything... It was a long day starting at 8:30am and not finishing until 9:30pm that evening. I then had to get back up at 4:30am the next morning to catch my flight to Austin. I came to play in the 40k team tourney on Friday then play in the large 30k event on Saturday. I also played in a huge 40k Apocalypse mega battle on the Sunday. I enjoyed each and every event... Most especially the 30k event. There were two other 30k World Eaters army along with mine. It was fantastic to see all of the beautiful 30k armies, one of which featured a gorgeous Blood Angels jet bike command squad - they are quite vicious to say the least!

This was my first time playing in a non competitive event so it was a new experience. Both the 30k and Apocalypse events were very well organized by the two TOs running them... They really did an outstanding job! If they have another 30k event I will definitely play again next year. I found it overall to be more fun than a GT... Everyone participating was cool and there was not one rules argument to the best of my knowledge. Each phase for every turn was timed so you didn't have to deal with a few players eating up all the time. It's not for everyone but I really like 30k a lot and it's not like you can do something like this every weekend. I will try to most more pictures soon.



Moving onto to my observations on the 40k GT... It seemed like the 1850 point level worked well and the TOs were able to stick to their schedule. As it turned out three of the four top armies were very heavy assault oriented:

#1 Necrons/Orks - Ben Mohile
#2 Daemons - Gareth Hunt
#3 Daemons - Kenny Boucher
#4 Imperial Guard/Dark Angels - Alan B.

There was a lot of buzz on the Internet about the allowance of Forge World this year in the 40k GT. Of the four top armies only fourth place had any Forge World units featuring lots of Saber defense platforms (twin linked lascannons) and Thudd guns. To me this demonstrates that Forge World is not as overpowering as some claim... That is just my opinion though. If you stop to think about it there was a lot of complaints on the Internet in regards to flyers when sixth edition was first released. Funny enough things like the Saber defense platform were one of the first major deterrents to flyer heavy armies.

The two daemon armies were unique enough from each other which I found very interesting. Prior to this GT my opinion was daemon armies are not that competitive but probably I was wrong. I learned a lot about the new daemons this past weekend and will have to reconsider. Tau did not do that well and I'm thinking they really need a good ally to be more competitive. I believe the fifth place army was Tyranids - the army list reflecting what you most commonly see on the Internet in terms of being competitive (e.g., Flyrant, Tervigons, Doom, etc.). I have been a strong advocate for assault armies being the most competitive in sixth edition which is mostly due to the current meta - again just my opinion. The results from this past weekend tend to support this view. If armies tended to be more balanced rather than the current over emphasis on shooting I think the heavy assault armies would not fare as well overall. The assault units in these types of armies must be both very mobile and highly resilient... e.g., Flesh Hounds, flying monstrous creatures, Canoptek Wraiths, etc. Note that Ben Mohile's army featured an Ork Warboss in mega armor attached to a squad of mega armored Nobz (troop) riding in a battle wagon.

The missions had players place the terrain. I was originally against this remembering many tournament games in third edition where most of the terrain ended up either along the table edges or clumped up in the middle. Having played in the 40k team tournament though I can say that for me this was not the case. Also like I said the tournament ran on time to the best of my knowledge so it did not seem to be a big deal in terms of a negative impact.

So in conclusion another fantastic GT. It seemed like everyone had a great time that talked to during the weekend.

Pictures from WarGamesCon Apocalypse Battle

I really enjoyed playing in the 30k event on Saturday then the Apocalypse event on Sunday. Both were really crazy with lots of epic things happening. It was a very nice change of pace from the competitive track. If they have another 30k event year in Austin I will do that again. I took some pictures from day two. The first turn our Titan went super nova with an enormous blast radius of 27" nuking a huge chunk of our forces. Skarbrand was gone just like that along with many other forces of disorder. My team mates and I were a bit bummed out but then we all pulled together. We still had many heavy hitters left such as Angron, Abbadon and Kharn. Angron would do much of the heavy lifting.

When you play in a huge multi player event there are many epic things occurring all at the same time. It's a lot of fun and an excellent alternative to competitive gaming. There was a very high tower in the center of the table with a golden statue of the Emperor on top. The forces of disorder wanted to destroy that statue !

Angron (played by my friend Emit) landed on the second level of the tower in a drop pod with his command squad to storm the castle. There were many Imperial Space Marine drop pods landing on top of the tower using a homing beacon to come in safe. My two daemon princes were both able to deep strike onto a perch along the edge of the second level while Angron and company quickly made their way up top.

Angron and his crew made short work of the Imperial Space Marines clearing out room for my daemon princes to come up and join the party. The mighty Primarch destroyed the Emperor's statue and their was much rejoicing amongst all the remaining forces of disorder. The Space Wolves were not to be undone though sending in a jet bike command squad to recapture the top of the tower. Oh noes those dirty bastards !!

Floating in rarified air of the high altitude the jet bikes attempted to ground one of my daemon princes but failed. The two evil princes then flew up to engage. Angron and company were ready. Moving into attack formation the veteran Space Wolves soared up under the cover of their Rune Priest's invisibility. The final battle then commenced. Angron slew the Fenrisian Warlord seemingly unencumbered by the wolf magic.

It was over and the forces of disorder emerged victorious again !

Defense of the Garden of Nurgle - Part 4 • WarGamesCon

The Black Blow Fly limped back into Isha's private chamber. Only two of his personal retinue remained. The massive attack by the enemy had been much stronger than expected with prolonged fighting throughout the garden. The enemy took quite a beating during the initial assault but the second wave of the attack was brutal. Slowly and steadily the rot took its toll depleting the enemy lines. More and more daemons had been constantly summoned to even the numbers. The Blow Fly was shocked by the alliances he had seen. Truly Nurgle's many enemies had set aside their differences to take the realm of death but it was not quite enough. The attackers were finally repelled and cast out. Isha looked upon the scarred face of the ancient Death Guard veteran. "If you had fallen." was all she had to say. He felt his many wounds reknitting themselves as Nurgle replenished him. "I didn't though." was his sole reply.

Defense of the Garden of Nurgle part 3 - WarGamesCon

Black Blow Fly looked down the dead. Mephiston and Captain Darnath lay shattered at his boots. Daemon Princes swooped overhead casting down dead bodies upon the ever flowing sewage of death. The lesser daemons of Nurgle swarmed the ground reeking of rot and decay. Black Blow Fly held the warp horn to his bloated lips and blew a low vibrating throbbing note that signaled the beginning of the next attack phase.

The defense of the garden of Nurgle - part 2... WarGamesCon

The bloated Death Guard slowly ambled over to the an open veranda overlooking the gardens. Fronds of various forms of fungi filled the air. Dank black waters swirled below and clumped offal floated by. "Bring me my bike." commanded the Black Blow Fly. No sooner than his request had been made he turned to see his ancient rusted charger. His personal cadre of Death Guard veterans stood by silently waiting his command. "Armor up." commanded the Black Blow Fly. "There is much work to be done and so little time."

The defense of the garden of Nurgle - Part 1... WarGamesCon

Isha stood upon the black helm within the sacred cathedral at the heart of the Garden of Nurgle. The constant buzzing drone of the bloated black flies filled the air. The eldar goddess held up one fist in a sign of pure revolt. Slowly she mouthed the silent words calling to her chosen champion. The putrid air stank like rot. A black spot started to grow at the center of the chamber. Isha smiled as a corpulent viral form began to take place. The drone of the blow flies lowered and the numbing chant of the many Plague Bearers filled the chamber. A single entity clad in a suit of pitch black warp forged armor stood upon the summoning Dias then bent a knee in deference to his queen.

"It is the time my chosen." said Isha. "We have held our ground. It is the end time for this cycle. We must remain still undefeated."

The image of a large black blow fly was embossed upon one the champion's shoulder pads. "As you wish." he said. His votive voice overrode the changing daemons. "Death shall reign supreme." He held out one huge gauntlet tightly gripped in a fist mimicking the sign of Isha. "Death is but a new beginning. Take my hand and I will lead you there."

A better picture of Skarbrand

Kharn's Land Raider (finished)

4th BeakyCon3 sample mission

4th Sample Mission

If you want to start practicing now for BeakyCon3 here is our fourth sample mission to help you play test your armies.

[1] Sequence of Order
01. Objective markers (if appropriate) are preplaced as per the specific mission rules. Game begins.
02. Roll off for deployment zones and place fortifications.
03. Roll for Warlord Traits.
04. Roll for Psychic Lores.
05. Roll for army specific rules (e.g., Grey Knights' Grand Strategy, Dark Eldar Wyche drugs, etc.)
06(a ). Roll for Night Fight.
06(b ). Roll to see who deploys first and second. Player who deploys first goes first as well unless their opponent seizes the initiative - see step 9 below.
07. Deploy infiltrating units and make scout moves (as per rulebook).
08. Redeploy (e.g., Necron C'Tan Grand Illusion).
09. Roll for Seize the Initiative.
10. First turn begins...
11. Game ends - Note that random game length is modified. There are six turns and then a possible seventh turn on a roll of 4+ on 1d6. Dice Down when time is called.

[2] There are two main objectives:
• Three objective markers are placed along the mid line of the board (long way). One objective marker is in the center of the table. The other two are 18" on either side. If you control the objective marker in your opponent's deployment zone it's worth 4 battle points. If you control the objective marker in your own table quarter it's worth 2 battle points. The objective marker in the center is worth 3 battle points.
• Table quarters - Each table quarter you control is worth 1 battle point. You must have the most scoring units wholly within a table quarter to control it. Dedicated transports don't count. Squads must be disembarked and not broken or fleeing.

Modified Night Fight is automatic the first turn. Any unit cannot shoot more than 24"; this includes barrage.

A scoring unit can only hold one objective marker.

[3] Deployment: Hammer and Anvil

[4] 1 battle point each for Slay the Warlord & Line Breaker (no First Blood).

[5] No Mystery Terrain or Mystery Objectives rules.

1st Tie Breaker:
If at the end of the game there is a draw on total battle points then use kill points as the first tie breaker.

2nd Tie Breaker:
Whoever destroys the most enemy scoring units wins.

Bonus Points:
Record how many kill points you earned at the end of the game. This is used for pairings and possible tie breakers after the final round. These points do not count toward your individual mission battle points.


Army Guidelines:
• 2250 points
• Double FOC
• Allies
• Fortifications (up to 1 per army)
• You can field Forge World units with the 40k Approved stamp of approval from the following two books:

- Imperial Armor Apocalypse 2nd Edition
- Imperial Armor Aeronautica

• Bran Redmaw (Forge World) can be taken as an HQ slot for Space Wolves.

Note that you must follow the guidelines from Forge World.


Sons of Horus battle squad (by Sheep)

By Sheep (Aaron Bailey), see...

http://www.blogger.com/sheepsforlornhope.blogspot.com

400 point batrep - Death Guard vs. Tau

Here are the two armies facing off...

Death Guard
Chaos Lord: Mark of Nurgle, Bike, Black Mace

6x Death Guard: flamer & meltagun
Champion: power axe
Rhino: Havoc Launcher & dozer blades


Tau
2x Crisis Suit: plasma rifle & missile pod, 2x drone

Ethereal

12x Fire Warrior
12x Fire Warrior
12x Fire Warrior


Mission - Annilihation

Deployment - Dawn of War

Warlord Traits:
Death Guard - Infiltrate d3 units
Tau - Entire army can go to ground and then get back up the next turn (one use only)

Death Guard win the roll to choose deployment zone choosing an edge with some Line of Sight blocking ruins. Tau deploy all three Fire Warrior squads in a forest with the Ethereal. Crisis Suits set up beside them out in the open.

Rhino deploys within deployment zone behind LoS blocking terrain along with Lord.

Tau win the initiative and go first. Death Guard fail to seize.


- 1st Turn Tau -
Tau hold their ground and shoot at the Lord but fail to inflict any damage.

- 1st Turn Death Guard -

Rhino moves flat out straight towards Tau gun line. Lord turbo boosts using rhino to cut off LoS from Crisis Suits.

Tau: 0 kp, Death Guard: 0 kp


- 2nd Turn Tau -
Suits move a bit closer towards Death Guard, Fire Warriors hold their ground. All shooting is focused on the rhino which is finally wrecked by the Suits. Death Guard spill out in front of Fire Warriors.

- 2nd Turn Death Guard -
Death Guard move up right to the edge of the forest to multi assault two Fire Warrior squads. Lord scoots over to one side to also assault third Fire Warrior squad. Shooting kills two to three Fire Warriors. Nurgle forces then declare assault, Overwatch kills one Death Guard. Assault then sees all three Fire Warrior squads and Ethereal destroyed.

Tau: 1 kp, Death Guard: 4 kp


- 3rd Turn Tau -
Suits move away and shoot Lord dropping a wound. Suits then jump away but only 4".

- 3rd Turn Death Guard -
Lord moves to within assault range of Suits. Death Guard move through forest to target Suits. Combined shooting drops both drones. Suits break and just miss hitting the table edge moving them roughly 8-9" from Lord. Lord decides not to risk the charge to avoid Overwatch.


Tau: 1 kp, Death Guard: 4 kp


- 4th Turn Tau -
Suits regroup and target Lord dropping him.

- 4th Turn Death Guard -
Death Guard move out of forest and drop a bead on the suits. They inflict five wounds and Suits fail first four saves. Game over.

Tau: 3 kp, Death Guard: 7 kp

Black Cherubus

World Eaters by Dan Halverson

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.396300423816389.1073741859.369384579841307&type=3

Skarbrand Unbound