BeakyCon4 40k GT Announcement

BeakyCon4 registration will soon open. The first two weeks of registration will have a discounted cost for the entry fee ($50 versus $60). We can take up to 32 players. Here is the format:

W-L with 2nd day brackets (5 rounds)
Warmaster (best overall)
Emperor's Champion (2nd best overall)
Awards for best of race (e.g., Space Marines, Tyranids)
Best Army (chosen by staff)
Players' Choice (chosen by participants)

2000 points

Army List:
Primary detachment
Up to one allied detachment
Up to one formation
Escalation*
Stronghold Assault* - necessary to field fortifications
Dataslates (e.g., Belakkor) do not go towards these limits
Forge World 40k Approved

* limitations to be decided

A race cannot ally with itself unless there are official rules from GW stating otherwise.

This year Beaky dice will be Ultramarine blue. You will bring your own dice - anyone found to be using loaded dice will be immediately ejected from the tournament.

BeakyCon4 will held the first weekend in October at Anthem Games in Tampa, Florida.

Why super competitive tournament players are the worst thing for the game

Hi everyone !

I just read a mega page thread on a very popular 40k forum where the people posting explain what they want banned from the game and why they feel that way. Many of them were very honest and admitted they want to eliminate options that they feel will threaten them from winning. The discussion gets really CRAZY—nothing is sacred. I think there is lots of validity when you get down to the brass tacks at this level. On the flip side banning so many things cannot be a good thing. It is time to pony up and play seventh edition as intended.

Believe it or not Markerlights and Serpent Shields are at the top of the most hated list... Ignore Cover has been deemed the worst of all the most hated including Daemonology. Personally I'd add Hit and Run to the list since that would effectively nerf Jetseer Council (JSC) and BeaStar. I am playing currently BikeStar and am willing to take the hit. Some have suggested Ignore Cover should -2... Still sucks as a 4++ would be 6++. Only Tau and eldar can reliably ignore cover.

I have finally had the time to read all the rules and play some seventh edition games. All the gloom and doom is a bunch of crap. Figure it out for yourself. Question authority and think for yourself.

40k Editorial: Return of the Ban Wagoneers

I'd like to discuss the new psychic phase. It is quite controversial and already there is a lot of voice on the Internet (again from a minority) offering advice how to fix it. Keep in mind you now need to roll three times as many dice as the Warp Charge (WC) level in order to reliably cast a spell:

WC 1 - 3 dice
WC 2 - 6 dice
WC 3 - 9 dice
WC 4 - 12 dice

It's obvious there are a lot of armies that don't really have a real chance to successfully cast WC 3 or 4 even though now it's possible in theory for a Level 1 Psyker. Take a moment to remember there is also the movement, shooting and assault phases—not all armies can be designed equally nor could they ever.

Ask yourself these two simple questions:

- Should we alter these other phases as well to better balance the game? For example eldar, Astra Miltarum and Tau typically can outshoot any other army... And we all know that the shooting phase is still much stronger than the assault phase.

- Is the new psychic phase potentially so powerful it will dominate the game?

Some people are so upset about the new psychic phase and Daemonology in general that the campaign against Battle Brothers has taken a back seat—that's really saying a lot too and I've just got to ask myself the question:

Should we allow others to dictate to us how the game should be played beyond the basic mechanics for mission types and approved army builds (i.e., FOCs)?

Invisibility
There is a lot of fuss about the new and improved version of Invisibility. In my opinion there were a number of other spells just as powerful if not more so not so long ago in sixth edition such as the previous version of Terrify... Even Abbadon might have run off the table in fear while just having been locked in a brutal close combat (some people said it was an equalizer—LOL). Now Invisibility is a major threat to Tau (i.e., markerlights) and eldar (i.e., Serpent Shields)—that's a big reason why there is such a ruckus now too.

Daemonology
This new lore is the proverbial magic bullet that broke loose the currently epic viral pandemonium circulating all over the Internet. It's the hottest topic, everyone has an opinion and debating what should be done. The rulebook has been out for just under a week now... Who here has thoroughly digested all the rules and played several games? Maybe it really is broken—even if so I think everyone whose an avid gamer should have the opportunity to form their own conclusions based upon their own experience. We should all be able to draw our own logical conclusions within a month and that's all I've got to say for now on the subject of Daemonology.

The Return of Armor - A Possible Equalizer
It just seems like every edition that armor is really good or overall really bad. Fifth edition was a time when we saw lots and lots of parking lots as vehicles were very hard to destroy and basically had an infinite number of hull points... And so goes the priority of melta weapons versus plasma with each edition as well. Vehicles have some great new buffs - most importantly the new Armor Penetration Table. The design team was quoted as saying they really wanted to make it a lot harder to one shot vehicles so your infantry is safely tucked away from all those evil enemy maledictions whilst embarked and that's a good thing which will go hand in hand with the need for speed to reach out quickly and grab all those shiny objectives. Armor value 13 and 14 were really good in sixth edition but now they're God like if you're willing to pay the points. So consider this while taking a step back to look at the bigger picture... And rest assured you're going to see a lot of Wave Serpents... Count on it.

What Would Really Break the Camel's Back...
An army that automatically casts successful spells and I wouldn't put it past the design team to create such a gnarly hated beast. For now though that is not the case and in truth psychic powers overall are not nearly as reliable unless you decide to build an army whose specific intent is to dominate the psychic phase... Rest assured these types of armies will end up facing off against each other in mirror matches if the current conjecture turns out to be true—sounds like a really fun game too.

Epic Fail
Measures were taken towards the end of sixth edition to nerf the 2++ re rollable save but Jetseer Council and BeaStar still took home more than their fair share of the gold which equates to some massive epic fail - so the question should be asked - if they couldn't fix it then what makes you think they can fix it now? Hit and Run was key to the great success of Jetseer Council and BeaStar. The lack of it was the proverbial Achilles Heel for ScreamerStar which is hard proof but nothing was done to fix this key component which is one of the main reasons why the conversion of the 2++/2++ to 2++/4++ didn't get the job done and it was truly a glaring oversight for whatever reason.

Conclusion
So there you have it. Some people trying to 'fix the game' is currently a bigger part of the game than the game itself. It didn't used to be this way either and I don't remember a lot of nerd raging back in the golden days of third, fourth and fifth edition. Oh well.

Seth - 1st Command Squad Biker

RIP 6th edition Deathstars

Some of the more hated armies will soon either be illegal or no longer competitive with the very soon to release 7th edition... Game over !

O'Vesa Star - Independent characters no longer can join monstrous creatures

BeaStar, Jetseer Council & ScreamerStar - you can only cast a psychic power once per psychic phase so no one will invest a lot of points in a unit that cannot reliably get the 2+ re roll

There's not enough information yet to say whether or not Super Friends will still be viable... It depends on if USRs still transfer between Battle Brothers since Super Friends heavily relies upon Hit and Run to be effective. Prescience is now 2 warp charges but I don't think that is a show stopper.

WraithStar should still be viable since it does rely upon Battle Brothers or psychic powers.

What we want for tournaments

I remember when there were over 20 people participating in local tournaments on average at the more popular stores. Back then everybody was playing with the same set of rules. Now TOs have to decide what they will allow because there are SO many choices:

- Allies
- Dataslates
- Forge World
- Formations
- Escalation (Lords of War)
- Stronghold Assault (SHA)
- Supplements

It seems like most players don't like Escalation as it stands now mostly due to the crazy rules for D weapons. SHA doesn't seem that popular either with silly things like armor 15 and D weapons as well. I remember reading a tournament report for one GT that allowed Escalation and SHA - the attendance was quite low and every game was decided by whomever went first. Most everyone who attended said they would not bother again. As it stands now Escalation and SHA seem better suited for campaigns versus competitive events.

Allies will still play an integral part in 7th edition and there is no getting around that either (love it or hate it) - luckily the matrix has been tightened up... No longer will xenos hating Space Marines ally with xenos nor will independent characters be able to join monstrous creatures... Hooray for some common sense and going back to the basics.

To be honest I'm not a big of formations either as again there are SO many... Kind of like Forge World. It's too much to track and the holy crusade for Forge World seems to have gotten lost somewhere along the way with all this craziness - nor did Games Workshop add it to their new website.

The only dataslates I'm aware of are for Be'lakor and Cypher... I have noticed Be'lakor is very popular across the country and for good reason. I played a couple games with Cypher and he was a ton of fun while not overpowering—I am all for dataslates as they stand now. I also support the supplements as well and they seem to have been very well received.

Hopefully 7th edition will help us all out. I've noticed 40k follows 30k so you can expect to see a variety of Force Organization Charts - some will allow Escalation and SHA while others won't—TOs can choose which ones they want to support so in theory it should be simpler for everyone.

The bottom line is we will all have to work together if we want to participate in local tournaments with higher attendance... As it stands now I don't know two stores within my local area that follow exactly the same guidelines and I think that also hurts overall attendance.

I'd like to touch on the subject of wacky mission rules. I prefer missions that are straight forward and curb randomness. Tournaments are inherently competitive - that it's very nature. Things like mysterious objectives and terrain have not been well received plus they add more time to the game. I've had a good number of fellow players tell me they've had it with really wacky mission rules. On the other hand multiple objectives have become the norm.

Finally I think to a certain degree tournament play is not nearly as well regulated as it used to be... At least in my area. I remember hard line TOs that said up front before the first dice was rolled they would take a hard stand versus cheating and slow play. The last two events I attended definitely could have benefitted with with tighter supervision of the individual games. Cheaters and those that slow play will take as much as what they can get away with at the expense of other more scrupulous players. This also diminishes the number of players who attend... It's just not worth your time if you know chances are you'll probably have to play a TFG that pulls a lot of shenanigans throughout a game. I also remember events with more than one judge so they could better keep an eye on the games. What comes around goes around as per the proverbial saying.

So that's it, I've had my say. Hopefully it comes across as constructive. I'd love to see more players attending again... That's what it's all about.

Biker Command Squad

Army List Construction Rules for 7th Edition

New Ally Matrix

Battle Brothers -
• Eldar/DE
• Chaos/Daemons
• All Imperium

All others are convenience, desperate or apocalypse.

Apothecarion Biker (Command Squad)

Daemonology Table

Hey guys I don't understand the value of the new demonology psychic power Sacrifice. The Primaris power and Cursed Earth are both really good. I know people are raging over Possession but with Riptides and Wraithknights is it really that great? It could be a game winner but I like the other two more for their overall benefits. Maybe if Biomancy gets tanked this is something consoling.

1st Gravitron Biker (Command Squad)

Pictures from 1st game at RTT at Coliseum of Comics

I was testing my Space Wolves with White Scar allies. First game was versus Marc Tomlison's Eldau. Deployment was short table edges with really helped him a lot... Always a big bonus for super shooty armies. Here is my current 1850 point list:

Space Wolves
Wolf Lord - Saga of the Bear, Wolf Tooth Necklace, Runic Armor, Bike, Thunderhammer, Stormshield

Rune Priest - Runic Armor, Bike, Meltabombs

7x Grey Hunter - Plasmagun, Power Axe, Wolf Standard
Drop Pod

7x Grey Hunter - Plasmagun, Power Axe, Wolf Standard
Drop Pod

7x Grey Hunter - Plasmagun, Power Axe, Wolf Standard
Drop Pod


White Scars
Khan - Moondrakken

Command Squad - Bikes, Apothecary, 4x Stormshield, 4x Grav Gun, 4x Meltabombs

5x Biker - 2x Grav Gun
Sergeant - Combi-Grav
Attack Bike - Multi-Melta

5x Biker - 2x Grav Gun
Sergeant - Combi-Grav
Attack Bike - Multi-Melta


I'm going to switch back to using White Scars as the primary detachment... This list has some issues.

7th edition starter kit (rumor)

Blood Angels vs. Orks

Blood Angels
- Captain with Jump Pack
- Tactical Squad (x10)
- Assault Squad (x5)
- Terminator Squad (x5)
-Cyberdroid — Multi-melta, Autocannon & lash array
- Sanguinary Priest (Corbulo option)

Orks
- War Boss
-Weirdboy
- Boyz (x10)
- Boyz (10)
- Meganobz (x5)
- Kommandos (x5)

the next contestant

I judge by what she's wearing
Just how many heads I'm tearing
Off of assholes coming on to her
Each night seems like it's getting worse
And I wish she'd take the night off
So I don't have to fight off
Every asshole coming on to her
It happens every night she works
They'll go and ask the DJ
Find out just what would she say
If they all tried coming on to her
Don't they know it's never going to work
They think they'll get inside her
With every drink they buy her
As they all try coming on to her
This time somebody's getting hurt

Here comes the next contestant


Is that your hand on my girlfriend?
Is that your hand?
I wish you'd do it again
I'll watch you leave here limping
I wish you'd do it again
I'll watch you leave here limping
There goes the next contestant

I even fear the ladies
They're cool but twice as crazy
Just as bad for coming on to her
Don't they know it's never going to work
Each time she bats an eyelash
Somebody's grabbing her ass
Everyone keeps coming on to her
This time somebody's getting hurt

Here comes the next contestant


I'm hating what she's wearing
Everybody here keeps staring
Can't wait 'til they get what they deserve
This time somebody's getting hurt

Here comes the next contestant


I wish you'd do it again
Each night seems like it's getting worse
I wish you'd do it again
This time somebody's getting hurt

There goes the next contestant

Bye bye CentStar (yet more 7th edition information from WD)

Yellow Submarine Space Marines ( YSSM )

The Yellow Submarine Space Marine Legion is a concept in a tranquil state of mind. Need raging about toys is kind of silly if you think about it and the truth is people that have nothing constructive to contribute often resort to this kind of behavior. Don't be a douche.

Daemonology (more 7th edition intel from White Dwarf)

Straight from the horse's mouth (some of the new rules as shown in WD)

Sigismund - original Emperor's Champion

Sigismund was the original Emperor's Champion of the Imperial Fists, later chosen as the first Chapter Master of the Black Templars.