How to Optimize Armor of Contempt

 How to Optimize Armor of Contempt (AoC)

AoC has been out for awhile now and given a sorely needed boost to Space Marines. Let’s take a look how it works and how to best take advantage.

The rule:

Each time an attack is allocated to an Adeptus Astartes, Sanctic Astartes, Heretic Astartes or Adepta Sororitas model, worsen the Armour Penetration characteristic of that attack by 1.

This rule does not apply to any of the following:

• Models equipped with a storm shield, a relic shield or a combat shield (or a Relic that replaces one of these shields).

• Models with either the Sacresant Shield or Force Shielding ability (Celestian Sacresant and Nemesis Dreadknight units).

• Models that are under the effects of any other rule that worsens or reduces the Armour Penetration characteristic of an attack.

A simple example is a Space Marine in the open shot by enemy bolt rifle (AP1). If a wound occurs then the Space Marine armor save is 3+ ignoring AP1. Here’s a table up to AP4:

AP     Sv  (NO COVER)

 0      3+

 1       3+

 2       4+

 3       5+

 4       6+

AP     Sv  (COVER)

 0       2+

 1        2+

 2       3+

 3       4+

 4       5+

Now let’s consider the same example for a Terminator:

AP     Sv  (NO COVER)

 0       2+

 1        2+

 2       3+

 3       4+

 4       5+

AP     Sv  (COVER)

 0       2+

 1        2+

 2       2+

 3       3+

 4       4+

Now let’s consider the case of a Terminator with a storm shield (does not benefit from AoC):

AP     Sv  (NO COVER)

 0       2+

 1        2+

 2       3+

 3       4+

 4       4+

AP     Sv  (COVER)

 0       2+

 1        2+

 2       2+

 3       3+

 4       4+

So AoC is great versus both ranged and melee attacks, although the Terminator with a storm shield is still the most resilient. The difference for melee is there’s no benefit from cover. If you’re playing a melee centric army versus Space Marines the assault doctrine (typically does not occur prior to turn 3) coupled with at least an AP1 melee weapon (effectively AP2) helps dampen the benefit of

Space Marines - Hope and Tragedy

Black Blow Fly here to discuss Space Marines. Ultramarines were a dominant force when their codex first dropped lead by the return of their beloved Primarch Rouboute Guilliman but as more and more codices have been released their overall performance has continued to falter. While points were reduced for Primaris Space Marine units via Chapter Approved last year there’s some that feel it wasn’t enough and there should be a point reduction as well for the standard Marine. Personally I’d rather see the focus on the new Primaris Space Marine units and conducted an informal survey to see what players want, I’ll present the results here.

The biggest desire by far is a fairly costed transport so that Primaris Space Marines can be properly mechanized... currently the only option is the Repulsor, which while it is truly a powerful grav tank with an amazing array of deadly firepower, its a big chunk of points clocking in at well over 300 points. I feel like GW missed a golden opportunity with the release of 40k rules for the Termite earlier this week.

The next most popular request is for more individual options such as power fists for sergeants and special weapons or chainswords for certain units such Intercessors. A lot of players would also like to see a buff for Reivers such as an armor piercing (AP) value for their combat blades. I would like to see GW get rid of the Unwieldy rule which makes no sense to me - a sniper scout can pick off an enemy character across the battlefield but a hardened veteran can’t hit the broadside of a barn when he’s standing right beside it.

I do like the current strategems, relics and psychic powers for Space Marines in general, however that said I do feel that Primaris Space Marine characters should have full access to the various relics such the Teeth of Terra. Truly the old Marines covet their holy artifacts... heh.

Finally a new codex for Deathwatch is on the way and one rumor is the ability to mix various types of Primaris Space Marines in one unit - for example the combination of outflanking wieldy Aggressors and some Hellblasters would be quite tasty. It’s only a rumor so liberally apply salt.

So what’s your opinion of this matter? Do Space Marines already deserve a boost or are they fine as is?

New Primaris Marines

Redemptor Dreadnaughts stats

More Primaris Goodness - Reiver Stats

Primaris Space Marines are the Nü Black

Black Blow Fly here again to discuss the Nü Marines and I think they are the awesome. Funnily enough it seems like they are receiving some push back and even more funny it seems to be mostly coming from Space Marine players of all places. Sure their background is a lil wonky but in the world of grimdark anything can and does happen from time to time. Nü Marines remind me a lot of Thunder Warriors and that works for me. My first 8th edItion army is going to be purely composed of Nü Marine units. I realize that some people feel threatened that Nü Marines will invalidate their armies but to me that's a silly outlook and here's why.

First you don't have to use them and until they get some transports I don't see them being all that competitive... but sure they are still pretty good (refer to the 3rd point below). However if you do want to use them then they'll integrate well into any Space Marine army. If you don't want to use them just don't worry about it. It's not like GW is going to stop selling all the Beta Marine units any time soon.

Second I've already mentioned their background is a lil wonky. Some people have gone so far as to claim Roboute Guilliman is going to attempt a coup to overtake control of the Imperium... lol. Remember when Mat Ward was screwing up the lore for chapters such as Blood Angels allying with Necrons and Lord Draigo living in the warp ? How dumb was that but I seem to remember Grey Knights being extremely popular back in 5th edition. How about Phil Kelly and Thunder Wolf cavalry ? A lot of people thought that was silly too but again they are popular irregardless of whether or not these types of things are a good fit in the story line. I'm not saying the lore isn't important as most people say this is what really drew them into the hobby in the first place... BUT things do change and you just can't deny ole Tzneetch his right. Given enough time everything settles down and is accepted one way or another.

Third and this very important - Nü Marines represent what a Space Marine should be as compared to the old Beta Marines. Nü Marines' stat line is in line with how I imagine a Space Marine should be in terms of game play. Look it all the great units xenos armies like eldar, Necrons and Tau got back in 6th and 7th editions... it's about time Space Marines finally got some love of their own. Also in many ways the Nü Marine is true scale compared to the old Beta Marine. Some people don't want to admit it but it is what it is so just best to get used to it and move on. I remember the first picture of a Nü Marine leaked onto the interwebz... it got passed off as being a shopped photo but turns out it is the real deal.

I could go on but I think I've made my case so I'll let it rest for now. If you love Space Marines then I bet there's a place for Nü Marines in your heart too. Don't be another hater.

FAQ Rules for Primaris Captain and Librarian

Nü Primaris Units

Nü Marine - What is It ?

The Primaris Space Marine has quickly gained some serious attention. Stats are given below for the first squad to be introduced. The main advantages tactically are 2 wounds per Marine, the extra attack and the Bolter Rifle which has 30" range and is AP -1. Model wise the Nü Marine is true scale (refer to the first figure below).

For now I am ignoring their background - it could be for any reason to introduce the first in a new wave of Space Marine.

The Primaris Space Marine redefines what is a Space Marine at the very core. The new unit is best compared versus the existing tactical squad. The tactical squad has been around for a long long time and is a staple unit for Space Marines. There was a rumor at one time that the tactical squad would be revamped to have 2 attacks base but never came to fruition.

The existing tactical squad is fundamental being very much a jack of all trades but master of none. The Intercessor squad is much the same but much more survivable with the extra wound better able to survive small arms fire and a decent melee unit, closer in relation to Grey Hunters from the Space Wolves due to the extra attack.

I think they will make a big splash and become quite popular for Space Marine players. Some will say this is a bold move but in truth is just what Space Marines need the most providing a more robust trooper. The changes are at the core level and something totally new.

Reaction to the new Space Marine Psychic Powers

So Space Marines finally have their own psychic powers... I have discussed these new psychic powers including an introduction and provided some tips on how to best use them. Some people are really upset about them but after having finally read them my conclusion is the really good ones are spread across the four new lores - Librarius, Fulmination, Technomancy and Geokinesis so even with three Librarians in a conclave you might at best only roll up one of the really good ones, some of which are very situational. I would never take more than three because after this amount you lose efficiency and start wasting points. The main purpose of the conclave is to enhance other units in your army, not to be your army's lynchpin unit.

The best new psychic powers let you move a piece of terrain up to 24", switch positions between two squads (including a squad locked in close combat), shoot while ignoring line of sight, and re roll saves. These psychic powers will definitely shake up the current meta bringing back the assault phase back which is a problem for Tau and eldar players whom like to play the shoot and hide game - and that's a good thing in my opinion if these new psychic powers are given a chance and not immediately nerfed automatically by tournament organizers. My gauge on the overall reaction across the Internet is close to mine... No the sky is not falling.

Eldar have their own psychic lore which includes Fortune that lets them re roll saves - nothing new there and it's been a staple for jetseer council for a long long time. Tau have units which can shoot at a high rate of fire power while ignoring line of sight without having to use any psychic powers so nothing new there either. Maybe they don't like it when another army has access to the same abilities but this kind of thing happens all the time. If they don't have any qualms using these abilities why should anyone else ? Think about it.

Chaos Space Marines used to have Lash of Submission which was similar to the new Geokinesis psychic power that lets you move terrain. Sure it was very popular but there was never a movement to ban it's use - back then players learned how to deal with it. So while I'm not going to deny some of the new psychic powers are really good I just don't see them as game breaking like some say and I'll even go so far as to say it could actually be a good thing since it'll help deal with those annoying units like Warp Spiders and Windrider jetbikes.

In conclusion my opinion is Telepathy and Santic Daemonology are still your go to psychic powers for Death Stars closely followed by Biomancy and Divination. I will add Geokinesis to the list now but like I said above its all random and some of the new psychic powers are very situational such as Null Zone which is a malediction that debuffs the targeted enemy unit's invulnerable saves. You can bet that opposing players will save their warp charge to dispel this one too which is not all that hard to do with a conclave and Admantium Will.

Using the new Space Marine Psychic Powers for your Death Star

My last article covered the most powerful new psychic powers and which lores from which best to select them. This article demonstrates how to optimally use them for your Death Stars. My advice is don't rely upon them to buff sub optimal units such as terminators as they are still sub tier even with the new super buffs.

Libarius Conclave is your go to formation since you'll be able to roll for the most psychic powers and very reliably cast them too. The good news is Super Friends are even better now. I know there is still some hate out there but seriously with Tau and the very OP eldar it's not a big deal at all. 40k has never been more broke and that's the name of the game... Always has been. If you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen. There's lots of cry babies that play 40k... You always have options and nobody is forcing you to play the game.

BUFFING WULFEN
The new Wulfen can greatly benefit from these new psychic powers since you can cast them on friendly units. Put them in a big piece of gnarly terrain then launch it 24" right up into your opponent's grill... And yes they can assault out from the terrain the same turn - of course that's the best part. This is absolute proof GW is really bringing back the assault phase in a big way. If you can combo this with Endurance and Invisibility it's even better.

Remember how at first when the new Centurions were released nobody really knew how to fully utilize them then Khaldor Draigo came along... Same thing here with Wulfen - they just got a lot better now. It's never been easier to make a unit more unkillable while simultaneously juicing up its killability.

BUFFING SUPER FRIENDS
I'm very excited to test the new psychic powers on my Super Friends army for the extra über buffage. The army already is fast enough as is and the ability to re roll all saves for your Death Star will take them right over the very top. I see this as being a major problem for Tau - they have been relegated to sitting duck status... Heh ! Remember you can move line of sight blocking terrain to shut the dirty xenos down too. It's like I said above - completely unkillable with even more killability. The correct combination of old school Biomancy and Telepathy lores with the new ones will yield the best overall results. Ravenwing will greatly benefit since you can give them re rollable invulnerable saves... Yeah Tau are not going to like this at all.

You'll want to start with your conclave first roll on either Endurance or Telepathy... I personally prefer Telepathy since I don't run a lot of multi wound models in my units. I would next roll on Santic for Hammerhand and Sanctuary. Your last lore is from the new ones... I'd go for the re roll saves since my army is way fast. Basically you'll have to figure out yourself what's the best combination for your own army.

CONCLUSION
The new psychic powers will help some armies more than others. A lot of people are already overreacting. Eldar have had their own psychic powers for a long long time - it's not a big deal. Units that were already good will get even better now.

Review: New Psychic Powers for Space Marines

I finally had a chance to read the new psychic powers in the Angels of Death supplement today. I've also read or watched some batreps featuring these powers. There's been a lot of talk about these new psychic powers and how they are very over powered. Just like any other psychic lore there are some good ones and some duds. My favorite go to lores are still Divination, Santic and Telepathy.

There is one really good psychic power from the new Fulmination lore called Veil of Time which is a blessing and allows the target unit to re roll failed saves... Obviously this is really a great thing for Death Stars. The other new power (Shifting Worldscape) that really stands out is from the Geokinesis lore which allows you to move a piece of terrain up to 24"... Again really good for Death Stars since you can use the terrain as an open topped transport to launch assaults... Should work very well with the new Wulfen.

The other new powers didn't really grab me to be honest and even with a Libarius Conclave you're fishing for these two super powers with no guarantee you'll get them. There is one other new psychic power called Null Zone I should mention that's a malediction and subtracts 2 from the invulnerable save for the targeted enemy unit... I don't rank it as high as the other two since it's quite situational only being of value versus certain armies. Finally there's another new power Electrodisplacement from the Fulminations lore that lets you swap the position of two friendly units, one unit being the one with the casting psyker... This is a great way to get a soft unit out of combat and insert your Death Star into the melee in their place which is definitely a viable deterrent.

Seeing that the good psychic powers are spread over three lores (Techmomancy is not all that much to be honest) it's like I said above - you're fishing for them and probably won't get all the ones you really want. So I think due to the randomness alone you're at a potential risk rolling on these new lores. Have fun with them and hopefully you'll get some of the ones you really need.

Repost - White Scars vs. Tau • New Formations

Here is an exciting battle report from a fellow White Scars veteran... Enjoy !

White Scars vs. Tau [1850]

Ravenscar vs. Chaos Batrep Part 1

The big game was played while I was home for vacation earlier this month with Kenny Boucher at Atomic Empire in Durham, NC.

Chapter Master Thorr has convinced a small contingent of Ravenwing to join his biker company leading them to the outer edge of the Eye of Terror where an ancient Chaos relic resides upon a hidden planet. The relic must be captured and brought back to the Imperium so that it can be used against the forces of disorder in an impending Black Crusade predicted by Seer Kharbis of the Storm Giants' Conclave. They are either surely fearless or quite foolish as many have ventured there before them only to meet their sudden demise...

Here's the mission:

As you can see the mission is a twist on maelstrom that most often requires you to score two objectives each turn to earn victory points. Note that you can score more victory points after the second turn.

How Grav has brought back the Space Marine tactical squad

The tactical squad at one time was one of the best troop choices in the game back when a five man squad could take both a heavy and special weapon. This unfortunately changed when the fifth edition codex dropped with the re advent of combat squads. I have never been a fan of combat squads... Five Space Marines die too easy. Another big factor was the point cost. Now that tactical Marines have access to the grav cannon and the big reduction in cost the five man squad is viable again. Here is a solid basic build:

3x tactical Marine
tactical Marine - Grav Cannon and Grav Amp
Sergeant - Combi-Grav - Melta Bombs - Auspex
Rhino - Dozer Blade

Ultramarines and White Scars chapter tactics are the best and fielding Khan allows your tactical squads to scout move or outflank. If you field a Demi Company these units benefit from the Ultramarine Tactical Doctrine. If you field a Gladius Strike Force (GSF) then your White Scars have access to all of the Ultramarine chapter tactics as well which a huge bonus along with the free transports for GSF. The combination of the scout move with several tactical squads embarked in rhinos is very powerful and provides an excellent opportunity to perform an alpha strike. If you field a GSF I think the best combination is three tactical squads in rhinos and three more in drop pods. You have five units that can concentrate their fire power the first turn for the alpha strike.

Personally I am more inclined to run one Demi Company so I have a lot of points left over for other more specialized units that can't be selected for these formations such as biker squads and the Librarius Conclave. I would run Khan on Moondrakken attached to a biker command squad. You can add a combined arms detachment to your Demi Company.

Storm Giant Biker Squad Painting Tutorial

Hi everyone !!! It's your friendly Black Blow Fly swinging through your neighborhood again to spread lots of mischief and some decay again !!! Today I have a simple painting tutorial for you. This tutorial is aimed at achieving a tabletop quality level you will enjoy playing with in friendly pickup games or even competitions. I used only GW paints, technical effects and washes. I used mostly GW base brushes which now come in different sizes... I prefer the medium size. I also used a layer brush and one of their tools to apply texture to the bases. The entire project took roughly 30 hours to complete six Space Marine bikers including a sergeant and attack bike.

Pro Tip
Here's a tip for those of you that want to save some money... Buy a second hand army then either repaint it yourself or have it pro painted if you're short on time. I got a really good deal on my Space Marine biker army and played it as is for over a year. I finally had a large block of free time over several days during the holidays I could dedicate to start repainting the army to match the background I developed for it.

Tutorial
Here is one of the bikers as is before being repainted....

Before...

Here is the same biker after I finished repainting the model... It's not going to win any Golden Daemons but I'm happy with it and that's what really matters.

After !

As you can see the army was originally painted using a Blood Angels color scheme. I did some research on White Scars successor chapters and found one named the Storm Lords whose color scheme is half white and half red... The color of their helmets denote where they are assigned within their battle company - yellow being for troops. You'll note I did not following the exact color scheme to help save time. I can always go back and repaint them some more. I also decided to rename my chapter the Storm Giants because I think that sounds more appropriate for Imperial Astartes.

Paints, Technical Effects and Washes

Paints
GW has a color chart that shows you how to achieve various color schemes and that's what I followed for this project. Here are the colors I used:

Red
Khorne Red (base)
Mephiston Red (1st layer)
Evil Sunz Scarlet (2nd layer)
Wild Rider Red (highlights and trim)

Here are a couple of WIP pictures when I first started the project to shade the red...

The original paint scheme is the biker up front with yellow trim on his shoulder pads...

Red is one of the easiest colors to shade and for my army I wanted a bright red. If you're starting from scratch then a white primer is the best to make the red really pop. I had to work with what I have though and didn't want to reprime the army... It's a lot faster to just repaint. I have problems painting models with a white primer coat because it's really hard for me to make out the details and I'm color blind. I think it worked out okay since this project was to repaint the existing models.

White
Abbadon Black (1st base)
Dawnstone Air (2nd base)
Celestine Grey (1st layer)
Ceramite White (2nd layer)
Ceramite White Air (3rd layer)
'Ardcoat (shine effect)

Note that using some 'Ardcoat applied liberally over the final white coat helps to make it look much more smooth. White has traditionally been considered a difficult color to paint but by applying it over a light grey shade helps a lot and the Ceramite Whites don't dry out quickly which has been one of the major problems encountered when painting this color.

Yellow
Averland Sunset (base)
Yriel Yellow (1st layer)
Cassandora Yellow (wash)
Flash Gitz Yellow (2nd layer)

This was a very easy method to paint a bright yellow and doesn't take much time. I like the yellow helmets since it makes the squad look more distinct.

Texture
I used a texture for the bases which is easy to use and then later dry brushed the surface with a lighter color for contrast. The texture from one pot was not enough for all six bases which makes sense since Space Marine biker bases obviously have more surface area. GW has a kit with tufts of grass you can apply to the bases with a dab of PV glue. I later went back and touched up the grass tufts with a bright green so they pop a bit more. A couple of tufts per base is fine although I did use more for the attack bike.

Decals
I used a good deal of decals to add a nice final touch to the unit such as squad type and Roman numbers. You'll want to really wet the surface of the model where you plan to apply each decal so it's easy to move them around into the right position. I cut out the decals right along the edges so there's the least amount to apply. Shoulder pads are tricky due to their curvature - the less decal you have to apply the better. Once the decals completely dried I then applied a matte finish to secure them on the models. If there's some trim left over once a decal has dried you can go back and carefully paint over the trim... Just be sure not to use lots of paint on the tip of your brush.

Project Complete
Here is the completed biker squad...

I'm really happy how they turned out and plan to paint some more soon. I might even paint the next squad with a reverse color scheme which will help to distinguish each squad separately. In case you're interested I used my iPad to take all of these photos.

Batrep Preview - BikeStar vs. Chaos

The big game went down yesterday afternoon with Kenny B at Atomic Empire in Durham, NC. Here's the mission:

Here's most of Kenny's amazing Chaos army...

Belakor

Cultists and Maulerfiend

Soulgrinder and Maulerfiends

Daemonettes and Nurgle Spawn


Kenny won the roll to deploy first and did so holding the Soulgrinder in reserve which would deep strike...

I deployed second holding my Storm Giant biker squad in reserve...

I failed to sieze after scout moves and there was no night fight.


There should be a video batrep in a week or so.

Before and After...

Before...

After !

I'll be posting a complete painting tutorial how I created a squad of Space Marine bikers using the Storm Giants color scheme, repainting the original models based on a simple Blood Angels color scheme.

You'll notice I didn't follow the color scheme exactly and the bike is pure red but my interpretation was easy for me to achieve and it's still close to the original. Also the actual name is Storm Lords (White Scars successor chapter of course) but I like Storm Giants better.

It took roughly 20-30 hours to complete this project for six bikers including the attack bike.

Here are the colors I used:

Red
Khorne Red (base)
Mephiston Red (1st layer)
Evil Sunz Scarlet (2nd layer)
Wild Rider Red (highlights and trim)

White
Abbadon Black (1st base)
Dawnstone Air (2nd base)
Celestine Grey (1st layer)
Ceramite White (2nd layer)
Ceramite White Air (3rd layer)
'Ardcoat (shine effect)

Yellow
Averland Sunset (base)
Yriel Yellow (1st layer)
Cassandora Yellow (wash)
Flash Gitz Yellow (2nd layer)

I used decals to add a nice touch to the unit such as squad type and number.

Storm Giants complete

I'm really happy how they turned out... Awesome color scheme !

Storm Giants almost ready for battle versus the great heretic !