Sorry this has been a slow month

I know I have not posted much this month and that is due to a heavy work load plus running my annual GT. Next month you can expect to see a lot of work painting my new Templar army for 30k. Liz Foster is painting my heavy armor and you can check that out here:

https://m.facebook.com/msdaemonette/

I also going to design a new army for 40k and that should be very exciting. I'm not sure what race I will use so check out all my analysis.

Hysteria

Out of touch, out of reach, yeah

You could try to get closer to me

I'm in luck, I'm in deep, yeah

Hypnotized, I'm shakin' to my knees

I gotta know tonight

If you're alone tonight

Can't stop this feeling

Can't stop this fight

Oh, I get hysterical, hysteria

Oh can you feel it, do you believe it?

It's such a magical mysteria

When you get that feelin', better start believin'

'Cause it's a miracle, oh say you will, ooh babe

Hysteria when you're near

Out of me, into you yeah

You could hide it's just a one way street

Oh, I believe I'm in you, yeah

Open wide, that's right, dream me off my feet

Oh, believe in me

I gotta know tonight

If you're alone tonight

Can't stop this feeling

Can't stop this fire

Oh, I get hysterical, hysteria

Oh can you feel it, do you believe it?

It's such a magical mysteria

When you get that feelin', better start believin'

'Cause it's a miracle, oh say you will

Ooh babe

Hysteria when you're near

Come on

I gotta know tonight

If you're alone tonight

Can't stop this feeling

Can't stop this fire

Oh, I get hysterical, hysteria

Oh can you feel it, do you believe it?

It's such a magical mysteria

When you get that feelin', better start believin'

'Cause it's a miracle, oh say you will, ooh babe

Oh can you feel it, ooh babe when you're near

Oh, I get hysterical, hysterical, hysteria, hysteria

Oh can you feel it, you better believe it, start belivin'

Good it's a miracle

Oh say you will, oh babe

Say you will

Get closer to me, get closer baby

Baby, closer, (closer) get closer (get closer), closer to me

BeakyCon 6 40k GT Top 15

Warmaster - Shane Craigland - Chaos Daemons (Best Overall) Back to Back
Best Theme - Jeff Cooper - Grey Knights
Best Appearance - Anthony Ray Hinkel (Orks)

First Chaplain of the Knights Templar - Helix Auroras

Batrep: 30k Templars vs. 40k Tau

Yesterday I had a 2500 point battle versus Tau. Here's my army list:

+++ Templar Strike Force (2490) +++

++ Legiones Astartes: Crusade Army List (Age of Darkness) (2490) ++


+ Lord of War (625) +

Rogal Dorn (625) /Warlord
+Primarch
Teleport Homer

Legion Terminator Command Squad (240)
3x Legion Space Marine Chosen - Tartaros Terminator Armour
Legion Standard Bearer
3x Chainfist - 3x Vigil Pattern Storm Shield


+ HQ (415) +

Legion Centurion (185)
Tartaros Terminator Armour - Vigil Pattern Storm Shield - Solarite Gauntlet - Narthecium - Needle Pistol
_Void Shield Harness (Relic)
+Primus Medicae

Sigismund (230)
+Master of the Legion - Pride of the Legion


+ Troops (795) +

Legion Terminator Squad (440)
7x Legion Terminators - Tartaros Terminator Armour
3x Chainfist - 2x Thunderhammer - 2x Power Fist - Plasma Blaster - 4x Vigil Pattern Storm Shield - Teleportation Transponder
Legion Terminator Sergeant - Thunderhammer - Vigil Pattern Storm Shield

Legion Veteran Tactical Squad (355)
9x Legion Veteran Space Marines - Nuncio-Vox - Plasma Gun - Heavy Bolter and Suspensor Web - 4x Power Weapon
Legion Veteran Sergeant - Artificer Armour - Combi-Flamer - Power Fist
Veteran Tactics: Sniper
Legion Drop Pod*


+ Heavy Support (655) +

Legion Kharybdis Assault Claw (260)

Leviathan Siege Dreadnought Talon (400)
Armoured Ceramite - Grav-Flux Bombard - Phosphex Discharger - 2x Twin-linked Volkite Caliver
Legion Dreadnought Drop Pod


+ Legion +

Legion Astartes - Loyalist - VII: Imperial Fists

*We agreed to let the veterans take a drop pod.

I don't have my opponent's army list so here's an abbreviated list to the best of my recollection:

Stormsurge

Commander - 2x Shield Drone /Warlord

8x Fire Warrior
8x Fire Warrior

8x Pathfinder
8x Pathfinder
8x Pathfinder

Ghostkeel
Ghostkeel

3x Stealth Suit
3x Stealth Suit

Drone
Drone

Riptide Wing

Note:
He was using some various formations such as the Riptide Wing listed above and Stealth Cadre. The Tau army had a lot of Interceptor built into the list but no Skyfire. I asked him about it and he said he was okay with it as is.

Another example of Dakka Dakka Douchery

Dakka Dakka YMDC Link

End of an Era - Death of Super Friends ?

Hi everyone it's your ever friendly BBF swinging through your neck of the internet to spread more mischief. Today is a very special day - it's one of those rare days when your favorite army finally gets hit by the nerf bat and oh boy it really hurts when GW uses the short end. It eventually happens to every top tier army... It's only a matter of time and all it takes is one rules change - that rules change being now Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Grey Knights and Space Wolves negate Space Marine Chapter Tactics (CT) if joined together with a Space Marine unit. Yes it's the death of Super Friends as we all know it or hate it and yes I'm sure many will say it's a good thing for the game. In my eyes I see competitive Eldar and Tau players rejoicing around the world.

Introduction
I still remember when I first started to play White Scars and go all in on Super Friends... Even as easy as they seem to be it was rough in the beginning, almost like starting 40k all over again. I lost a lot of games before that magical point when it finally clicked and everything came together. I mostly play 30k now so it's not that big a deal to me really and to be quite frank it's probably the best for the game from an overall point of view... Well at least for Eldar and Tau players... Heh !

I can laugh about it because I don't really care that much. If we always play the same type of army over and over again we won't grow as players learning how to develop new strategies and tactics. I ran White Scars with Space Wolves and then Ravenwing just like everyone else that played Super Friends. It was a glorious time for playing Imperial allies but now it's all over. It's time to move on now and play something else.

Why the Nerf
I can't say why GW decided to nerf Super Friends but think it's most likely due to one player totally dominating the independent tournament circuit. It will eventually happen to Eldar and Tau just like it did to Grey Knights and Imperial Guard. There's no point in getting upset about it... That won't change anything. Even if you love something consider how others might not like or even hate it. If you're bringing one of those armies everyone else doesn't enjoy playing against maybe you should stop and take a moment to think about it and ask yourself why do your opponents feel that way.

It's kind of like Tau players that always want to bring a Supremacy Suit or Eldar Players that always want to bring a Revenant Titan (rolls eyes). Even though it might be fun for you - well maybe that's just you and not everyone wants to play against super powerful units intended solely for games of Apocalypse... It's literally the same thing with Death Stars and super shooty armies that can literally gut your army if they get to go first.

It finally dawned on me when I played in a couple of tournaments versus another Super Friends army and while I won both games having to play against another Death Star I finally realized how much unfun it can be.

Moving Forward
Now let's be really honest and ask ourselves has anything really changed... The answer is mostly no because you can still field Ravenwing to build your Super Friends army. Dark Angels don't have CT so you can still work the critically needed universal special rule Hit and Run into your Death Star. So while GW took away with one hand they didn't really close the proverbial door. Like I said above I pretty much exclusively play 30k now so either way it doesn't matter much for me.

Even if GW were to re-address this FAQ the loss of Hit and Run won't stop Death Stars - they are never going to go away any time soon and there will always be new ones cropping up all the time - it's how 40k works. Nob Bikers didn't need Hit and Run nor did Screamer Star. If a Death Star is truly nigh unkillable and super duper choppy believe me when I tell it can and will grind through everything that crosses its path.

The Re-Emergence of GMCs and SHW
If we take the long view in my mind the change to how grenades work in melee is actually the biggest blow to Super Friends... Those melta bombs did work versus gargantuan monstrous creatures (GMCs) and super heavy walkers (SHW). Heck even krak grenades were better than nothing. It doesn't make sense to me why GW chose to change this one particular rule and it will truly change the meta, much more so than the new Space Marine FAQs. GMCs and SHW just got that much better now so you'll be seeing them even more often on your local tables. If GW really wanted to address external game balance they would make it such that you need your opponent's permission to field them which is pretty much how 30k works in reality. 30k is not really something you see in a lot of tournaments which is one of the reasons it's become so popular but try explaining that to the players whom wish to always field their big toys... Good luck with that one !

Conclusion
Well like I said above Super Friends is not really dead, you'll just have to use Ravenwing as the kernel for your Death Star which is often the case anyways. The biggest nerf to Super Friends is how grenades work in melee now and those stomps can really hurt too ! Ravenwing works just fine in conjunction with Space Wolves (neither of which have CT) and White Scars so don't worry... Super Friends are still very much alive and doing well... Sorry !

Veteran slinging a heavy chainsword !!!

More Veteran tactical Marines

Templar Sturgissen

Templar tactical veteran

Circa M.31 Legion Tactics - Veteran Tactical Squad

30k has FOCs (force organization charts) just like 40k and there are some good ones too such as the standard Age of Darkness (AoD) which allows you to field terminators and veteran tactical squads as troops which are both scoring units by selecting the Pride of the Legion (PotL) Rite of War (RoW). You'll need an HQ that has the Master of the Legion (MotL) special rule that allows you to take a RoW.

It might seem a bit confusing at first but once you get the hang of it you'll be cruising in no time. For example PotL allows you to field a first company composed solely of terminators for your troops which all score... This is how I run my Sons of Horus army.

Note that scoring units in 30k are not objective secured so most any other enemy unit can contest them... It's a 30k thing. Also the AoD FOC allows you to field up to three HQ and four Elites plus one Lord of War which is fantastic. It has been said that the Battle for Calth boxed set was designed around the PotL RoW which while true to an extent can easily be used to design your army for other RoW simply by using the appropriate bits.

Veteran Tactical Squads (VTS) while expensive and fragile are a heavy hitting unit on par with the 40k Space Wolves Grey Hunters plus a full squad of ten can select up to two heavy weapons and/or special weapons... So for example a full squad could select one plasma gun and one heavy bolter with a suspensor belt which makes the Marine relentless firing at half range when he moves.

VTS also have access to power weapons and I typically kit mine with four to five power axes so they can dice terminators in melee. The sergeant has artificer armor for the 2+ save, a power fist and combi-flamer to round out the squad.

VTS also have access to veteran skills, one of which is the Sniper universal special rule (USR) which grants precision shots and rending for all shooting attacks which includes tossing a krak grenade and flamers. Sniper in my opinion is the best USR for VTS since it makes their shooting attacks extremely lethal. A rending flamer is lethal versus enemy terminators if you can get a clustered shot of prothemium... Of course it simply vaporizes Marines. The heavy bolter and plasma gun both excel at killing infantry plus armor too -

- Heavy Bolter: full range 36" + 1/2 range 18" - S5 AP4 - Heavy 3
Rending S5 is a maximum of S14 (5+6+3) so it can glance down land raiders.

- Plasma Gun: full range 24" + 1/2 range 12" - S7 AP2 - Rapid Fire
Rending S7 is a maximum of S16 (7+6+3) so it can easily penetrate land raiders and even Spartans with flare shields while maintaining AP2 for the +1 on the vehicle damage table since it's a plasma weapon.

The heavy bolter and plasma gun are a great combination since it gives you great synergy between the two... Together they are deadly versus infantry and vehicles. Some will say not to mix weapons - for instance two heavy bolters combine for two more shots and high rate of fire is best for generating rending wounds plus you can shoot and assault but with the abundance of cover taken into account I'd rather go for more versatility.

Mobility
I run my VTS in rhinos with extra armor, dozer blade and a pintle mounted combi bolter. Alpha Legion can select their veteran skill (Sniper) and infiltrate or outflank as well due to their legion tactics which when combined is simply very dirty. VTS need a transport to keep them safe and the the rhino is the most economically viable option. VTS is ideally a midfield unit unless they can outflank plus the transports protect them until you really need their guns blazing. The pintle mounted combi-bolter is cheap and helps to prevent immobilizing the rhino if the transport should ever suffer one weapon destroyed result from an enemy attack.

Melee
VTS equipped as mine with some power axes are no slouches in close combat and have more attacks than the standard terminator. The sergeant is swinging his power fist for the instant death attacks... If you play Imperial Fists you can replace the power fist for a Solarite Gauntlet which functions just like a power fist, is AP1 and isn't a specialist weapon so you benefit from the +1 attack due to the sergeant's bolt pistol. I actually also opt for a combi flamer since its sniper as well and because its a template there is the possible opportunity to cover a good number of enemy models.

Effectiveness and Fragile
VTS are fragile with the majority 3+ armor save and aren't cheap. Effective units in 30k tend not to be cheap though so "in for a penny, in for a pound" as the old saying goes. As I've stated above a transport is a great investment. Play smart and wait for the right opportunities to strike. Eventually an enemy unit will expose itself if you're patient enough... You can get the drop. In terms of points players tend to field larger armies (e.g., 3k is typical) so really it's a wash.

Conclusion
By using the right combinations to create your army list it's possible to field VTS as a compulsory troop with Implacable Advance (i.e., scoring) which is a big deal. Properly played VTS are are a heavy hitting unit on par or even more effective than the 40k Space Wolf Grey Hunters. They have lots of great options and with the Sniper USR I'd rate them over the 40k Space Marine Sternguard.