In the Year of the Wolf

In The Year Of The Wolf

All the world smelled good

In the snow and the ice

All the rest was blood

In the time of the tribe

We took a thousand lives

When I ran with the wolves

The hunting was good

See me now, I am another

When wolves were brothers

How could you know

There in the forest

Teeth to show

In a different time

when the world was mine

And the sun burned low

Mean and vicious

Fast and clever

My soul was fire

By the cold white moon

Blood red desire

All the tribe ran mad
On frozen lake
With tooth and claw

It was the wolf
When the world was cold
In the darkness below
In the Year of the Wolf

Sample 40k RTT Mission for 2015

Here is a sample mission - let me know what you think !

MISSION 1

Deployment – Hammer & Anvil

Night Fight 1^st Two Turns

Primary 1 – The Relic

·         4 Mission Points for win

·         Primary 2 - Tampa Maelstrom

·         3 Mission Points for win

·         0 Mission Points for loss or draw

Primary 2 - Maelstrom

Both players roll twice on this table at the beginning of each GAME TURN. Reroll the second roll if it is the same number as the first. Note the results below. Each player earns 1 point per Maelstrom Mission achieved (note if you roll both Destroy an Enemy Unit objectives, destroying 1 unit earns you 1 point, destroying 2 units earns you 2 points) at the end of each player’s respective game turn. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins this mission.

The player who wins Maelstrom scores 3 Mission points. There are no points in case of a draw.

Note four objective markers are placed (#1 - #4) and must be outside of either deployment zone.

Tampa Maelstrom Table

1)  Take and Control - Hold an even numbered objective marker (uncontested)

2)  Take and Control - Hold an odd numbered objective marker (uncontested)

3)  Overwhelming Fire Power - Destroy an enemy unit during your shooting phase

4)  Blood and Guts - Destroy an enemy during the assault phase

5)  Forward to Death - Successfully complete an assault move

6)  Suppressive Fire - Force and enemy unit to go to ground

Turn 1 Maelstrom Objectives: ______/______

Turn 2 Maelstrom Objectives: ______/______

Turn 3 Maelstrom Objectives: ______/______

Turn 4 Maelstrom Objectives: ______/______

Turn 5 Maelstrom Objectives: ______/______

Turn 6 Maelstrom Objectives: ______/______

Turn 7 Maelstrom Objectives: ______/_______

Total: ______/_______

MISSION 1 CONT’D

Secondary

First Blood – 1 Mission Point

Slay the Warlord – 2 Mission Points

Line Breaker – 1 Mission Point

Tertiary

Each player earns 1 point for every 3 hull points that reduce from enemy super heavies. The player scoring the most enemy super heavy hull points earns 1 Mission Point.

The maximum battle points a player can earn is 12.

YOU             OPPONENT

Primary 1: ___    ___

Primary 2: ___    ___

Secondary: ___    ___

Tertiary:  ___    ___

Total:     ___    ___

A new class of Dreadnaught from Forge World

Rumor has its AV14 on the front - AV13 on the sides and has a solid invulnerable save via some arcane power field generator.

My Facebook page

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BloodStar version 1.1

BloodStar version 1.1

Here is a new army list I am working as a project for Blood Angels. I'll be using the special detachment from the codex for +1 initiative.

Dante (220) LoW

Sanguinary Priest (120) HQ
Angel's Wing - Valour's Edge

Librarian (115) HQ
Level 2
Jump Pack
Gallian's Stave

10x Death Company (310) Elite
Jump Packs
2x Power Fist
2x Inferno Pistol
13x Bolter

6x Sanguinary Guard (298)
Death Masks (6)
2x Power Fist (20)
3x Axe
2x Inferno Pistol (20)
Chapter Banner (25)

5x Tactical Marine (145)
Heavy Flamer
2x Inferno Pistol
Drop Pod

5x Tactical Marine (145)
Heavy Flamer
2x Inferno Pistol
Drop Pod

Total points come out at 1353.

Probably will take Necrons as an ally for some anti air.

Blood Star

Dante
Priest - Angel's Wing - AP2 sword - meltabombs
Lemartes
15x Death Company - jump packs - 5x power fist - 3x infernus pistol

Sanguinary Guard x10
Banner - 2x power fist - 2x axe - 3x infernus pistol

Self allied detachment will have jump pack Librarian.

40k Batrep • BikeStar vs. Flyrant Spam (1850 pts)

BATREP

Introduction
Hi everyone. I was up north last week and had the opportunity to play two games with my BikeStar versus the new hotness Flyrant spam. I have made some tweaks to my list to adjust for the current meta. These changes are as follows:

Double Psyker
This is something I've wanted to change for some time now. To me the psychic phase is a bit of a gamble but can pay off with huge dividends. Psychic powers can give your army an edge. Sure there are some armies that can shut you down but in a tournament environment you most likely will only face off against such an army once or twice. Space Marine Psykers have good overall stats all around too especially when you consider what you get for the points and come equipped with force weapons which are the bane of many evil things such as daemon princes and other monstrous creatures.

I now run both a Librarian and Rune Priest. The lore I choose for the Librarian depends upon what I'm up against and my go to choice is Telepathy. You can't count on rolling Insta Gizz (Invisibility) but Shrouding is awesome for the 2+ jink save and the Primaris power Psychic Shriek is really good for sniping tough enemy units such as Wraithknights and Dreadknights. I always choose Divination for the Rune Priest as this is the true go to lore for BikeStar. I gave up the Wolf Lord for the Rune Priest with a good chunk of points left over.

Air to Air
The proverbial Achilles Heel of BikeStar is versus flyer or FMC heavy armies - snap shooting grav guns is better than nothing but I found a way to include both a Stormfang and Stormtalon at 1850 points which is pretty awesome IMO . The Stormfang is the new hotness for Space Marine flyers... Much stronger than a Stormraven. The Stormtalon is also arguably a better choice than the Stormraven too - especially when we consider the points saved. By including two flyers the BikeStar becomes much more tactical all around and they compliment each other due to the inherent mobility.

So like I said I was able to play two games which is a good test. Flyrant spam features five Flyrants and is currently being promoted as one of the new top meta internet lists. My general philosophy in both games was the same - be very aggressive and put the pressure on the Tyranids right at the start.

Flyrant Spam is put to the test with my new list... Read on for army lists and the battle report - very exciting game !!!

Is Invisibility Really All that Bad ?

So it's looking like the nerf season is coming up soon and it happens from time to time. Messing with core rules can really draw people's ire. We all know what Invisibility does - enemy units can only snap shoot (no blasts or templates) and they only hit on 6s versus the buffed unit in melee. Back in sixth edition I remember watching more than one game where an invisible unit was completely wiped off the table in one turn by things like Thunderfire cannons. I have seen games in seventh edition where an invisible unit was wiped off the table in one turn just by sheer volume of firepower such as Tesla heavy Necron armies or Tau pulse bomb armies.

Deathstars
Deathstars have taken a big hit from the nerf bat in seventh edition - BeaStar and Jetseer Council are both a thing of the past. Is there some Deathstar still present that can take out an entire enemy army when buffed by Invisibility? Sure an invisible unit is tough to handle but so is Admantium Lance and Wave Serpents. If we change a core rule to nerf something we don't like it because we don't like playing against it this has a fundamental impact on the game. It's better to design missions to create balance rather than change rules - this requires much more time and effort but in the end everyone is better for it.

Aircentric Armies
I have noticed a recent trend towards flyer and certain types of FMC heavy armies. They are hard to deal with for many other armies under the current meta since most people are not building lists any more that have a sizable chunk of anti air units. These types of armies have all the same benefits as one invisible unit - your ground units can only snap fire versus them and no placing blasts or templates plus they inherently negate the assault phase... You can't even hit them in mėlee much less hope to roll some sixes. If you're not prepared to face such an army it's not going to be a fun time but then again if you're playing in a competitive tournament that can and does happen for a whole host of reasons - it's just the way it is. Think of it this way... No one can tell their opponent in a pickup game they have to use the sixth edition rules for Invisibility... You just have to deal with it. Eliminating the things you don't like doesn't make you a better player or more tactical - it simply removes the threat of something you'd rather not have to deal with during a game. To say it's not fair is an understatement.

Murphy's Law
Invisibility is hard to cast since it requires two warp charges so it's unreliable plus you have to roll it. I would never build an army around Invisibility just for those two reasons. Murphy's Law says that when you really need something it won't be there for you - you're setting yourself to lose because you're so dependent on it.

The Real Nerf is to Chaos Players
The real losers are Chaos players banking on Be'lakor to buff their huge pack of Flesh Hounds or Screamers... It's just not going to work anymore - especially versus say a battery of Wyverns so it's back to the drawing board for these players and they have my sympathy. Invisibility was one of the great things for Be'lakor and it just seems like it was intentionally designed to work that way. It's not like the assault phase is all that now nor was it in sixth edition.

CentStar is another unit that can heavily rely upon Invisibility but seeing this particular DeathStar is focused on shooting it's not as big of a loss for them.

As someone who has played with and against Invisibility my strategy is to focus on the rest of the opponent's army until they finally fail to successfully cast it then I hit them with everything including the proverbial kitchen sink - looks like I won't be needing that sink anymore now.

Conclusion
I've always been greatly opposed to any changes to core rules - it doesn't fly right by me. One danger is that one change can give ground to other not well thought changes. I'm sure a lot of people who love to see a core change to the basic principles of the notorious Wave Serpent such as the Serpent Shield - the Wave Serpent can produce a staggering amount of ranged fire power plus it can jink for a 3++ cover save and it's highly mobile to boot. Sure there is a part of me that abhors what the Wave Serpent can do but I'd rather just deal it with rather than nerf the current premier transport but I know that's not the right thing to do... Better to lose rather trying than skew the game by imposing restriction to make things easier for yourself.

Canadian batreps • BikeStar vs. Flyrant Spam

Hi everyone. I was up north last week and had the opportunity to play two games with my BikeStar versus the new hotness Flyrant spam. I have made some tweaks to my list to adjust for the current meta. These changes are as follows:

Double Psyker - This is something I've wanted to change for some time now. To me the psychic phase is a bit of a gamble but can pay off with huge dividends. Psychic powers can give your army an edge. Sure there are some armies that can shut you down but in a tournament environment you most likely will only face off against such an army once or twice. Space Marine Psykers have good overall stats all around too especially when you consider what you get for the points and come equipped with force weapons which are the bane of many evil things such as daemon princes and other monstrous creatures.

I now run both a Librarian and Rune Priest. The lore I choose for the Librarian depends upon what I'm up against and my go to choice is Telepathy. You can't count on rolling Insta Gizz (Invisibility) but Shrouding is awesome for the 2+ jink save and the Primaris power Psychic Shriek is really good for sniping tough enemy units such as Wraithknights and Dreadknights. I always choose Divination for the Rune Priest as this is the true go to lore for BikeStar. I gave up the Wolf Lord for the Rune Priest with a good chunk of points left over.

Air to Air
The proverbial Achilles Heel of BikeStar is versus flyer or FMC heavy armies - snap shooting grav guns is better than nothing but I found a way to include both a Stormfang and Stormtalon. The Stormfang is the new hotness for Space Marine flyers... Much stronger than a Stormraven. The Stormtalon is also arguably a better choice than the Stormraven too - especially when we consider the points saved. By including two flyers the BikeStar becomes much more tactical all around and they compliment each other due to the inherent mobility... You have an army that can compete with the likes of eldar and dark eldar.

So like I said I was able to play two games which is a good test. Flyrant spam features five Flyrants and is currently being promoted as one of the new top meta internet lists. My general philosophy in both games was the same - be very aggressive and put the pressure on the Tyranids right at the start.

Batreps to follow soon.

SoFlo GT - final game summary and results

Time for the last game which I'll quickly summarize:

Versus a good Tau player featuring two commanders, crisis suit team with drones, two Tetras, two burstsides, Broadsides in a bunker, two squads of Fire Warriors (one with devilfish) and a Skyray.

The primaries were scoring objectives (EW & Maelström) plus table quarters. Deployment was Dawn of War. I got both shrouding and invisible for psychic powers. Note I only rolled Insta Gizz at most twice out of the six games.

This game I was overconfident which lead to some mistakes. My opponent castled up a lot of his army with the Broadsides on a flank along with one squad of Fire Warriors. I should have gone straight for his castle but instead decided to go after the Broadsides first then sweep into his castle. The BikeStar was indestructible and took out most of his army but he was able to kill the rest of my army easily winning most of the objectives. Lesson learned !

I did manage to claim all of the secondary objectives so it wasn't a complete wash ending up 3W-3L and overall 10th place out of 32 players. I also won the award for best SM player with was nice and highly coveted as there was a good number of SM armies there.

Not my best performance but this was my first GT playing Thunder and Lightning - I considered this event as a test ground since I'll be playing in three GTs this coming Fenruary (LVO, TempleCon and Crucible).

I would like to have at least one dedicated anti air unit so will be swapping out one bike squad for a Stormfang and am considering running a Rune Priest instead of the Wolf Lord for the double Psyker.

SoFlo was a lot of fun and well run - I'll definitely go back again next year. :thumbsup:

Greater Brass Scorpion of Khorne

By Alicia Ling...

Are the new Blood Angels viable again ?

Blood Angels are my favorite army so I'm excited to see the rules coming out from the new codex. As is the way of the Internet players want to size them up right away to see how they will stack up versus the current meta and see if they can shift the meta. There has already been some discussion as to the nerfing of the Blood Angels assault Marines... Going on what I've heard they no longer count as a troop and have been moved back to fast attack. By my count they were only a troop choice at most twice out of five codices (2nd edition Angels of Death, 3rd edition, 4th edition White Dwarf-PDF, 5th edition and 7th edition). To me it's not a big deal and I'm liking what I've heard about the new tactical Marines plus scouts in general are quite popular now. To be honest I can't remember the last time I saw anyone competitively fielding Blood Angels... Their downward spiral coincided with the release of 5th edition Grey Knights. A lesser nerf is Dante no longer makes Sanguinary Guard count as objective secured but really many of us knew this would most likely be the case.

The three units that stand out to me so far are Dante, Sanguinary Guard and Death Company. The latter two units have both received a significant reduction in points plus Sanguinary Guard can now be taken up to ten per squad. My third edition army featured a full squad of Honor Guard with jump packs and all the characters (Sanguinary Priest, Techmarine, Sergeant and Standard Bearer) plus a large contingent of jump pack Death Company... It was good times for sure and now this style can be played again. I know that Sanguinary Guard are not the same thing as Honor Guard but being able to field a squad of ten with some characters attached can be just as good if not better (e.g., the 2+ armor save). Dante is now where we always wanted him to be with Eternal Warrior and an AP2 axe that swings at initiative

The big question is can a jump heavy army be competitive versus the likes of eldar, Tau, Space Marines and Imperial Knights. Obviously I haven't played a game yet with the new rules but my gut feeling is yes they can. From what I've read so far you can field a mobile army with good short range fire power and it's going to be very powerful in mėlee... The real question to me is how to reliably deliver the army into close combat circumventing all the massive amounts of fire power we now see. If this is possible then Blood Angels can shift the meta.

The inclusion of some drop podding units such as tactical Marines and dreadnaughts can serve as both a distraction for the power house jump units and provide a limited alpha strike. So jump assault Marines are a thing of the past - every point spent towards a Marine with a jump pack strapped across his back should be going towards the elite choices. I can see assault Marines still filling a vital role with five man squads with two meltaguns dropping down in pods.

Only time will tell if the new Blood Angels can compete on the top tables - my gut feeling could be wrong but I think some of the more intrepid players will give them a chance and I've got an army case full of them.

Blood Angels new rules

No new units (no Centurions or Stormtalons)

- Force Organization -
Tactical squads and Scouts = Troops
Assault Marines = Fast Attack
Death Company and Death Company dreadnaughts = Elite
Standard dreadnaught and Furioso = Elite
Predator Baal = Heavy Support
Sanguinary Priests = HQ
Librarian Dreadnought = HQ
Mephiston = HQ (independent character)
Dante (LoW)

- Special Rules -
All units have Furious Charge
Death Company:
- Jump packs are only +3 points
- WS4
- Furious Charge, Fearless, Relentless, FnP, Rage
Dante:
- Axe Mortalis - +2S AP2 - master crafted (NOT unwieldy)
- Eternal Warrior
Sanguinary Priests:
Units they join have +1 WS and FnP
Corbulo (120) gives +1 WS +1 initiative to all Blood Angel units - 6" range
Detachment:
+1 initiative on the charge for the entire detachment when charging

- Warlord Traits -
1. Rampage
2. +1 initiative
3. One weapon is master crafted
4. Adamantium Will
5. Descent of the Angels
6. 12" fearless bubble

- Relics -
- Jump pack allows the bearer and his unit to re-roll when deep striking and enemy units that Iintercept can only fire snapshots (25)
- Fear;fear tests are -2 Ld (10)
- One roll on an additional warlord trait strategic table (15)
- Force weapon +2S AP4, bearer may re-roll one dice in the psychic phase (10)
- Master-crafted plasma pistol, does not get hot (25)
- AP2 power sword (25)

- Psychic Powers -
Primaris: (Blessing) +d3 attacks and initiative to psyker or target character, 12" range
1. (Malediction) takes a Moral test with -2 Ld, 12" range
2. (Blessing) Target unit has Rage, -8" range
3. (Blessing) Psyker and his unit get 5++ invulnerable save
4. (Focused Witchfire) Target makes 2 toughness tests - Take one wound for each failed test; If targed dies then place 5" blast - S4 AP5
5. (Beam) S8 AP1 Lance, 12" range
6. (Blessing) Target infantry unit moves 12" in the psychic phase; no charging after this movement

- Fast Vehicles -
Rhinos, Razorbacks and Baal Predators

Mephiston (175)
WS6 - BS5 - S5 - T5 - 3 W - I5 - 4 A - Ld10 - 2+ Sv
Warlord Trait: Adamantium Will
Level 3 Psyker
- FC, IC, Fleet
Hypnotic Trance: Roll 2d6 if fighting in a challenge - if the result is lower than the opponent's Ld then Mephiston hits on 2+
One unique psychic power: (Blessing) S10
His sword is AP3

1850 pt Full BATREP • Thunder & Lightning ver. 2.0 vs. Serpent Spam

I have been wanting to revise my list so it has an anti-air component after playing in the GT down in Miami last month. Snap firing grav guns while better than nothing isn't all that great. I have also decided to go double psyker dropping the Wolf Lord instead for a Rune Priest. While some say the psychic phase is a big letdown it can give you the edge and most armies I see are rather light in this regard so why not beef it up some ?

Here is my new list:

* White Scars *
Chapter Master (Warlord - Master of Ambush)
Bike - Artificer Armor - Shield Eternal - Power Fist - Auspex

Librarian
Bike - Indomitus Armor - Force Axe - Meltabombs
Level 2 Psyker
Telepathy:
Psychic Shriek - Dominate - Hallucinate

Command Squad - Bikes
4x Grav Gun - 4x Stormshield - 4x Meltabombs - Thunderhammer - Chapter Banner
Apothecary

4x Biker
2x Grav Gun
Sergeant - Combi-Grav - Meltabombs
Attack Bike - Multi-Melta

4x Biker
2x Grav Gun
Sergeant - Combi-Grav - Meltabombs
Attack Bike - Multi-Melta

Stormraven
Twin Linked Assault Cannon - Twin Linked Multi-Melta - Extra Armor


* Allied Space Wolves *
Rune Priest
Bike - Runic Armor - Force Axe - Meltabombs
Level 2 Psyker
Divination:
Prescience - Perfect Timing - Scryer's Gaze

Iron Priest
Bike

9x Grey Hunter
2x Meltagun - Plasma Pistol - Power Axe - 7x Close Combat Weapon
Wolf Guard Pack Leader - Frost Axe - Stormshield - Meltabombs
Drop Pod

BikeStar =
Chapter Master + Librarian + Rune Priest + Iron Priest + Command Squad

Psychic powers are good overall - Psychic Shriek to handle Wraithknights, plus Prescience and Perfect Timing is very helpful for those grav guns versus wave serpents and Wraithknights.


My opponent was running a mechanized eldar army with Wraithknights:

Autarch (Warlord - Stealth in Ruins)

5x Dire Avenger
Wave Serpent - Scatter Laser - Shuriken Cannon - Holofield - Ghostwalk Matrix

5x Dire Avenger
Wave Serpent - Scatter Laser - Shuriken Cannon - Holofield - Ghostwalk Matrix

5x Dire Avenger
Wave Serpent - Scatter Laser - Shuriken Cannon - Holofield - Ghostwalk Matrix

5x Fire Dragon
Wave Serpent - Scatter Laser - Shuriken Cannon - Holofield - Ghostwalk Matrix

5x Fire Dragon
Wave Serpent - Scatter Laser - Shuriken Cannon - Holofield - Ghostwalk Matrix

Wraithknight (stock)

Wraithknight (stock)

Gun Emplacement - 2x Twin Linked Icarus Lascannon (Skyfire - Intercept - BS2)

Gun Emplacement - 2x Twin Linked Icarus Lascannon (Skyfire - Intercept - BS2)

This is a slight variation of Tony Kopach's NOVA winning eldar list with the gun emplacements switched in place of the artillery. I have fought serpent spam before at the GT in Miami so I've got the experience. My opponent has fought my BikeStar army before at a 1250 point local RTT. I felt I had the advantage overall in experience since my opponent hadn't dealt with my full list including allied Space Wolves. He is a good player though so it won't be easy.

We both have excellent warlord traits - my opponent's skimmers have a 2+ cover save in ruins if they jink and the Wraithknights have a 3+ cover save in ruins. Depending on how he employs I can get in some good shooting the first turn.

We played the ATC mission:

Primary 1 - Scouring (4 objective markers)
Primary 2 - Emperor's Will
Primary 3 - Purge the Alien

Secondaries:
First Blood (FB) - Slay the Warlord (StWL) - Line Breaker (LB)

Deployment - Vanguard Strike

There are lots of ruins on the table which is good for both us but better for my opponent - luckily I have Perfect Timing which negates the 2+ cover save for the serpents in ruins.

No Night Fight.


- DEPLOYMENT ZONES -
Most of the objective markers are placed over in one corner. I win the roll to choose my deployment zone picking the side with the majority of the objective markers... No need to make it easy for my opponent... The more he has to think about the better chance he'll eventually make a mistake.


- DEPLOYMENT -
My opponent wins the roll to deploy first and takes it. He spreads out starting with the serpents deep in his deployment zone and the two Wraightknights placed aggressively up front. Gun emplacements are deep in his corner and have line of sight across the entire table.

I use infiltrate to push up one biker squad as bait behind a ruin. The other biker squad hides behind a building deep in my deployment zone as I'll need them for late game objective grabbing. BikeStar is deployed centrally using a big ruin for some cover. Grey Hunters and Stormraven start in reserve.

I fail to seize the initiative.


- PRE GAME ANALYSIS -
I pretty much always abandon my Emperor's Will marker and play that objective for a draw, going for my opponent's... This game though I need to hold mine since that area is where most of the Scouring objective markers are located - so he will have to come to me to have a chance at the Scouring - I predicted he would make a fifth turn push to grab them so I need to make sure I'm in position to go after the surviving serpents when the time comes.

I was sad to see the two gun emplacements - Stormraven probably won't last long. Oh well... Let's see what it can do.

Grey Hunters are my disruption unit and loaded for bear !! They always cause some mayhem. If they take some heat off the rest of my army that alone is quite useful and having an objective secured drop pod is a good counter to the plethora of serpents.

The eldar are super shooty and super fast - I am too though plus I feel I have the advantage in mėlee which is the best way to pop serpents and drop the Wraithknights. BikeStar will have to do the heavy lifting but the rest of my army needs to support them well to win.

I should theoretically have the advantage in kill points as overall my army has less units... Have to make sure I don't get shot off the table though. Every surviving squad will count !!


1st Turn - Eldar
The serpents shuffle while one Wraightknight moves up beside my baiting biker squad. My opponent fires the other Wraithknight at BikeStar - one shot goes through. The Librarian is closest. Instead of Look Out Sir I decide to pop his armor for the 2++ invulnerable save and roll a one, giving up First Blood like a dummy. There goes my chance to see how twin psykers could perform. Note I rolled lots and lots of 1s and 2s this game - it was very disappointing to say the least. The rest of his shooting can do nothing though. The first Wraithknight charges the bikers but only manages to kill two plus I drop a couple wounds - one with Overwatch from a grav gun and another from the sergeant's meltabomb. I pass my break check and then successfully hit and run out of combat... Had I failed the leadership test they probably would have broke off the table... So some good luck for me there.

1st Turn - BikeStar
Grey Hunters come in with a precise drop landing on top of a Scouring objective marker and disembark getting one meltagun behind a serpent out of cover. The forward biker squad moves behind a ruin while BikeStar moves and flatout towards the heart of the eldar line... I want them in position next turn to wreak havoc and apply pressure right away. The other biker squad holds its ground hiding behind the building.

Psychic phase is a wash which will become a common occurrence this game.

The first meltagun fired by the Grey Hunters gets past the eldar cover save but only manages to stun it. The other meltagun can't get past the cover save but the plasma pistol glances it. The first biker squad targets the wounded Wraightknight and drops another wound.

Not a great first turn but it could have been a lot worse plus I'm playing for a pivotal second turn.

Eldar - 1 KP FB • BikeStar - 0


2nd Turn - Eldar
Fire Dragons disembark from the stunned serpent drawing a bead on the Grey Hunters. The wounded Wraithknight moves to counter BikeStar - I think he should have gone after my forward biker squad to finish them off. The other Wraightknight follows suit and the mobile serpents all line up for shots on BikeStar or Grey Hunters as well.

My opponent focuses the vast majority of his shooting versus my Grey Hunters and BikeStar as noted. My Chapter Master takes one wound and all that remains of the Grey Hunters is the lone Wolf Guard. Gun emplacements strafe the drop pod but come up empty.

No assault this phase.

2nd Turn - BikeStar
I need to make something happen this turn looking to inflict maximum damage. Stormraven comes in from reserve headed straight towards the exposed Fire Dragons. BikeStar moves up to multi-assault one Wraithknight and the stunned serpent. Wolf Guard moves into position to assault the Fire Dragons. The forward biker squad drops back away from the eldar line going into survival mode. The full biker squad comes out from hiding to target the wounded Wraightknight.

The eldar gun emplacements manage to strip two hull points from the Stormraven blowing off the multi-melta; I don't jink though so it's still fully functional for shooting its remaining weapons.

BikeStar unloads into the healthy Wraightknight stripping three wounds (note it was in cover). Stormraven and drop pod only manage to kill two Fire Dragons who pass their break check. The full biker squad causes no wounds on the wounded Wraightknight.

Again the psychic phase is a wash.

BikeStar makes the multi-assault with the Iron Priest targeting the stunned serpent. The Wraightknight can't get past my stormshields and the Chapter Master finishes it off while the Iron Priest pops the serpent. Wolf Guard charges the Fire Dragons... One Xenos manages to hit firing Overwatch but then fails to wound. They swing first inflicting a wound but the Wolf Guard passes his save and pops two more - the lone Fire Dragon holds.

Eldar - 1 KP FB • BikeStar - 2 KP


3rd Turn - Eldar
The four remaining serpents shuffle again while the last Wraightknight drops back into a more defensive position.

Shooting see the full bike squad brought down to just the sergeant and attack bike... Ouch ! BikeStar takes no wounds. Drop pod loses one hull point from the gun emplacements and one of the serpents blasts the Stormraven out of the air (he rolled a six for the shield having first hit with only one scatter laser shot).

The Wolf Guard then botches the assault phase but manages to make another save.

3rd Turn - BikeStar
Both biker squads drop further back but can't completely hide away. BikeStar surges towards the remaining serpents.

Yet again the psychic phase is a wash.

BikeStar manages to immobilize the closest serpent with grav guns.

BikeStar then just makes the long charge (10") and destroys the serpent - amazingly all of the Dire Avengers die in the explosion. Wolf Guard passes yet another save then finally manages to drop the last Fire Dragon - he then consolidate behind the wrecked serpent tucked away out of sight.

The tide has turned just a bit in my favor but I'm quickly running low on the support units.

Eldar - 2 KP FB • BikeStar - 4 KP


4th Turn - Eldar
Two of the three remaining wave serpents move and flatout away from BikeStar while the third moves into position to target one of my biker squads. The lone Wraithknight move back as well out of any potential grav gun range.

Combined shooting drops one of the biker squads and the other to just the sergeant (passes his break check) thinning out my line even more. Gun emplacements fail to inflict any damage on the drop pod.

No assault this phase.

4th Turn - BikeStar
The remaining eldar units are all located on one side of the table where there is one objective marker for the Scouring and one for Emperor's Will. One of the Wave Serpents will have to move over to my side next turn if my opponent wants a chance to win. I move BikeStar into the center of the table so they can react to any movement. The lone biker sergeant finds a ruin to hide behind and sticks. Wolf Guard keeps his head down as well.

No shooting or assault for me this turn as I simply position for the next turn.

Eldar - 3 KP FB • BikeStar - 4 KP


5th Turn Eldar
As predicted one serpent sticks its head out moving and flat outs onto a Scouring objective marker on my side of the table. Wraithknight jumps on his Emperor's Will objective marker and another serpent claims the one Scouring objective marker on his side of the table.

Shooting drops one of the command squad and the gun emplacements drop one more hull point on the drop pod.

No assault this phase.

5th Turn - Bike Star
I decide to play as if this will be the last turn. I am in the lead but in a tenacious position as another turn the game could swing back in favor of the mighty eldar. Better to keep applying the pressure with the planned follow up from the previous turn of nothing but movement for positional dominance (as jy2 likes to say).

BikeStar drops back to go after the forward serpent while holding one of the Scouring objective markers and the Emperor's Will objective marker on my side. Lone biker sergeant pops out to grav the same serpent. Note my drop pod is holding another Scouring objective marker.

Finally the Rune Priest manages to successfully cast Perfect Timing !!!

I just manage to immobilize the forward serpent with one grav gun shot from the command squad. The lone biker sergeant then fires his combi grav and rolls a 6 to glance and claim the two remaining hull points wrecking the serpent. The Dire Avengers spill out of the wreck maintaining as much distance as possible from BikeStar.

BikeStar attempts to charge first but fails to reach the Avengers (10") - this was actually a feint as I was hoping my opponent would fire Overwatch at BikeStar and they are holding two key objective markers plus I'm ahead on kill points by a fair margin of 2. The lone sergeant then goes in and passes two rending wound saves via his jink and ties up the Dire Avengers.

Eldar - 3 KP FB, LB • BikeStar - 5 KP LB (Wolf Guard)

We then roll to see if the game ends and up pops a 2 ! I've got the Scouring, Purge the Alien and draw on Emperor's Will for a strong win.


- POST GAME ANALYSIS -
It would have been interesting to see how the game played out if it had gone another turn or two. It's safe to assume my opponent would have probably popped my drop pod but I don't think he could haven't gotten Purge the Alien. The other two primaries could have possibly gone either way depending upon my opponent's decisions and good old Lady luck.

This was a really really bad dice game for me... I rolled more 1s and 2s over the course of the entire game it seemed. Fortunately for me the key rolls went my way when I really needed them most.

BikeStar really had to carry the game for me which I don't feel was nearly as much the case when I was running three biker squads in support.

I'm not totally sold on the Stormraven but this game it was outmatched by the eldar gun emplacements. While it's only one flyer it's better than no air support - I need to play some more games before I make a final decision in that regard.

Losing the Librarian to the first shot of the game was very frustrating to say the least and the Rune Priest only came into his own the final turn. Still I'm liking double psyker and really like having Divination again for BikeStar - it can really give them that extra edge like the fifth and final turn which was a key event.

My three favorite Chaos characters • by Alicia Ling • Valkyrie Painting

Always a pleasure to work with and by far the best. Alicia can do anything and always does it extremely well .

Sanguinary Guard

• 165 points base for five man squad
• WS5 
• Can upgrade to 10-man for 35pts/model
• All have the "Encarmine sword" as stock, but may take an "Encarmine axe" for free
• Fearless
• Lose Red Thirst in favor of Furious Charge
• Death masks are now 1 pt/model as opposed to 5 pts/model
• Can still take power fists, plasma pistols, inferno pistols
• Chapter banner is now 5 pts cheaper

Guest Batrep * Round 2 vs.Eldar - Greg Swanson's SM Biker Army

All right on to round 2.  I was paired up with Tony Grippando and his wave serpent revue (along with the Autarch for pinpoint fire dragon delivery).

 

Tony's List:

Eldar

Autarch – fusion gun maybe some other things

Fire Dragons in serpent

3 x Dire Avengers in Serpent

Two units of jet bikes

Warp Spiders

Wraith lord

3 bright lance war walkers

Dark Eldar

Archon with fusion gun portal and maybe something else

5 Warriors w/blaster in a venom

 

My List:

Dark Angels

Sammael on Corvex

Librarian Level 2, Bike Melta Bombs, Force Axe, Mace of Redemption

Techmarine Bike, Power Field, Melta Bombs

Command Squad 2 extra Black Knights, Champ, Apothecary Grenade Launcher

2 three man Bike Squads sgts with melta bombs and 2 flamers

1 three man Bike Squad agt w/combi melta & melta bombs with 2 meltagun

All bike squads w/multi melta attack bikes

Land Speeder w/typhoon missile launcher and multi melta

Land Speeder w/heavy flamer and multi melta

 

White Scars

Chapter Master Bike, Shield Eternal, Powerfist, Artificer Armor

Five man bike squad 2 grav guns and sgt w/combi grav and melta bombs

Five man scout squad bp & ccw sgt w/combi melta and melta bombs

Land Speeder Storm w/heavy flamer

 

 

The mission was hammer and anvil deployment.  Terrain was very symmetrical, one again no real large line of site blockers.  Once again the objectives were pretty evenly spread out.  Looking back this was a mistake.  I should have clumped then together relying on my speed to get where I needed to be. Each round you would draw enough cards to have 3 objectives in play.  You could discard one each round.

 

He won the roll to go first and deployed the dire avengers and their rides, the warriors and their venom, the warp spiders and the wraith lord on his back line.  The autarch, archon and dragons stayed in their wave serpent to deep strike.  The jet bikes were coming on normally and the war walkers would be outflanking.

 

Here is where I blew the game.  I deployed just my command squad and White Scars squad along with techmarine so they could scout.  I should have deployed everyone.  However I choose to outflank everyone but the speeders who would deep strike.  I am pretty sure if I ever outflank anything again I should be beaten with a hammer.

Anyway I scouted everyone to midfield and let the carnage begin. I failed to seize.

 

EL Turn 1

He shuffles around a bit and begins to shoot at me.  I lose a few wounds here and there no one really dies.  He scores one point for an objective.

EL 1            DA 0

 

DA Turn 1

I could have still probably saved myself here but I refused to listen.  I should have stayed back and waited for my outflankers to come in, but no I moved everyone forward and took some shots.  I think I stunned a wave serpent. And killed some spiders and put some wounds on the wraithknight.  All in all a very lackluster turn for me, and as a bonus I set myself up for massive retaliation.

EL 1 DA 0

 

EL Turn 2

Well he gets everything on and proceeds to rape me.  The White Scars go down like five dollar whores taking the techmarine with them.   The command squad takes a severe mauling leaving the chapter master with one wound killing Sammael and most of the rest of the command squad.  He has his outflanking war walkers about midfield close to one objective he had deep struck his wave serpent on to the middle objective behind the command squad.  Ugghh man I just got hammered.  The wraithknight jumps into the command squad but I am able to lose just one more guy.  I hit and run from the wraithknight . He picks up first blood and a few more objective points.

EL 4            DA 0

 

DA Turn 2

I get all my outflankers and both speeders.  I have everyone arrive in his backfield with the speeders at midfield.  I am able to drop a couple of serpents, the venom all of the jetbikes and some of the avengers and warriors take some wounds.  I hurt the wraithknight and lock him in combat with the command squad.  I get a few points for killing stuff and one objective in his zone, but now all my cards are for objectives in my deployment zone.  Sigh.

EL 4             DA 3

 

Turns 3 to 5

Pretty much the game was over from there.  I was able to pound down most of the stuff in his deployment zone but taking horrendous casualties while doing it.  Meanwhile it seemed like every objective we both drew was in my deployment zone where his wave serpent zipped from objective to objective scoring points.  I had very few units left at the end.  I gave him first blood, warlord and line breaker while I only got line breaker.  The only reason he didn't have max points is that the game mercifully ended on turn 5.  I had a series of cranial rectal inversions that contributed to the result, which was 24 to 6.  My deployment was poor.  I fed him my army piece meal.  When my outflankers did arrive I had placed everything in the opposite board edge of the objectives I needed.  I put the speeders in the middle of the board where they could be erased by the dragons and war walkers.  Finally I did not play the mission enough and concentrated too much on killing his forces

 

Ended up being a debacle.  What was worse was that I did have the tools to give Tony a good game and just refused to use them correctly.  I also learned a few things...

First I really need a multi melta attack bike in the White Scars unit.  Often times they are sitting in front of things (i.e. vehicles) that they cannot hurt with the grav guns.  Sure they could get a lucky six but I need some more out of them.

Second I need more long range firepower.  I am definitely going to drop the scouts and the other speeder to add the multi melta attack bike and two more typhoons.  Finally I am going to try and resist the urge to out flank with my bikes.  Oh well on to the next game.

BBF's Comment - Take a good look at the Stormtalon - it is the new hotness for Space Marines !

SoFlo (Miami) GT Round 5 - BikeStar vs Speed Freaks • End Game

Turn 5 - Speed Freaks
Jon finally decides to make his move. The Warbikes turbo boost right up in front of my BikeStar (2++ jink save) and all the trukkz surge up. Again a few potshots from the last couple Lootas for no wounds.

Turn 5 - BikeStar
Well I've got my work cut out for me now. I decide to take the warbikes head on with my BikeStar and use the rest of my army to wall off his trukkz so it will be hard for them to join in the coming mosh pit of death. BikeStar moves up and spreads out for the charge. Grey Hunters flank to the right while two biker squads flank to my left.

My Librarian successfully casts Fire Shield which potentially could be huge. I then cast the Primaris (heavy Flamer equivalent) and actually manage to toast a couple Warbikes (ignore cover - template).

Chapter Master then calls down his orbital bombardment - it scatters a couple inches - nukes three more warbikes and pops one trukk. Grey Hunters melta down another Trukk and the ensuing explosion takes out half the squad and they break. Bikers focus fire on more Trukkz - popping another (more dead Boyz but they pass their check) and immobilize then wreck another with grav.

BikeStar then charges into the Warbikes - after the smoke clears I win combat by a good number of wounds punking out most of the remaining Warbikes and landing a few wounds on some of the Ork characters while only taking one wound on the Chapter Master... My saves and FNP were on fire... Wulfenstone also was a big help. The Warbikes stick though and I decide not to hit and run out of combat.

KP: Orks - 0 BikeStar - 5
BikeStar - First Blood

We roll to see if there is a 6th turn and it's on like Donkey Kong ! The Orks will get their counter assault.


Turn 6 - Speed Freaks
Here comes the pain ! The remaining Trukkz move into assault range and out piles all those Boyz... I really hate power klaws !!! :( This could really hurt. My Grey Hunters are in terrain and close to the Librarian - remember that Fire Shield is up. Two bike squads are also in charge range too but also sitting in cover. Not much shooting this turn as the Speed Freaks are eager to punch me in the face and lots of other nasty things. Some of the Boyz bite it due to Fire Shield (causes dangerous terrain check) but the Eavy armor helps them out. Both of the biker squads are breached but Overwatch drops a few more Boyz and the Orks fail to reach my Grey Hunters. I get off fairly light as both biker squads manage to survive but unfortunately neither manage to hit and run out of combat. BikerStar really puts a hurting on the last of the Warbikes snuffing them out along with the Pain Boy - again my saves are red hot and BikeStar successfully hits and runs out of combat. It's a thin line but things definitely could have turned out a lot worse.

Turn 6 - BikeStar
This will be the last turn as time is winding down. I move into position to contest Line Breaker and we add up the points... I win by a very slight margin of 2 victory points - it was that close.

This puts me at 3W - 2L going into the final round and I'm still up there in the upper bracket... One more win and I can make the top 5 plus should the award for best Space Marine player which a lot of people there want to walk away with at the end of the day.

- POST GAME ANALYSIS -
I knew it would be a tight game and really it all came down to my Chapter Master and Wolf Lord tanking a phenomenal number of saves in the latter part of the game. I was able to thin out the Boyz enough before they finally got stuck to even out the odds for the bikers.

I think Jon's Speed Freaks list is one of the more competitive builds I've seen for Orks in 7th edition so far. The Forge World War Boss definitely brings a lot to the table. Jon ended up ranked fifth so he did very well overall. I think his one mistake was waiting too long to make his move but I know that the BikeStar can be a bit intimidating.

Pyromancy is definitely the go to psychic lore versus Orks as practically all the spells are Warp Charge 1 to cast - the Primaris and Fire Shield are both strong versus horde. I really love the Grey Hunter pack and most every game they performed well.

White Scars Rune Master - Chief Windrider

(small picture for scale)

Just have to finish the base and banner.

Real Blood Angels codex cover picture

New Sanquinary Priest

Another Black December ?

Well it's that time of the year again... Last December GW rocked us with the release of Escalation and Stronghold Assault throwing them both out there to see if it'd stick when it hit the proverbial wall. This set out a siesmic ripple that hit competitive 40k hard... How dare they expect us to allow things like AV15 bunkers, ranged D weapons in the form of the Trans C'Tan and Revenant Titan ? All the nuts then came out of the wood work telling us how the game should be played - no Battle Brothers, more nerfs to psychic powers, etc. As the batreps poured out on the Internet demonstrating how unfun it is to play against things like the Trans C'Tan 40k seemed to be on the ropes. Finally almost half a year later GW releases 7th edition to put it all back together.

Honestly I like 7th edition and even though it's a maintenance version it did fix a lot of the problems with 6th edition - challenges are no longer a total FU to assault armies, no more precision shots for characters, no more 2++ cover saves for going to ground in area terrain, no more focus fire and a toning down of the psychic phase to name a few of the fixes.

Really though GW put the wagon ahead of the cart by releasing Escalation and Stronghold Assault ahead of the new edition. Hopefully this December there will be no big surprise that shakes up our gaming world again. Things seem to finally be back on track... We don't need another tsunami. Here's to hoping.