tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38304141138370673782024-03-13T11:57:06.967-07:00Cadia's Creed: Warhammer 40k and the Imperial GuardA blog about Warhammer 40K, and my favorite defenders of the Imperium the Imperial Guard. From tactics to painting, to just plain fluff. This is my take on the wonderful hobby that is 40K.Grumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.comBlogger374125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-9608379639155648362017-05-10T10:01:00.001-07:002017-05-10T10:01:43.290-07:008th Edition and the Astra Militarum<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We have been getting lots more hints and looks at the new edition, including a tease of the new Imperial Guard, though I will point out nothing really of substance was in the tease other than "Units you haven't used will be good" sort of things. However, enough is starting to coalesce to start really looking at the new edition through the Imperial Guards lense.<br />
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Some of the interesting things released, in part as a response to the current editions abuses has been how they have revamped how independent characters work. Basically ICs can no longer join units. But you cannot shoot at them unless they are the closest unit to the firer. So, in substance the outcome is basically the same as we have done. You are still going to hide your characters, not much differently than before but it should prevent a lot of crazy combinations. Commissars will help with dealing with battleshock but how specifically is not mentioned.<br />
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It does look like the standard russ will be making a comeback in the new edition, with the stats for the tank and the battle cannon released. The russ will have T 8, 3+ save and 12 wounds, and the battle cannon, since blasts are no longer in, has a modified stat line that actually is pretty good. Same range of 72" and is Heavy D6, so potential of 6 shots, with S8 and AP -2 and Damage of D3. So that means each shot has a potential of 3 wounds. All in all the battle cannon looks to be extremely versatile in taking care of a group of enemies or knocking a lot of wounds off of a tough target. They did discuss that "blasts" will be decent against large groups but anti infantry weapons will end of being slightly better. Another note is that ordnance is gone from the battle cannon profile, and I would not be surprised to see ordnance go away altogether. Will be interesting to see with that.<br />
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Another nice change is that twin linked weapons will now give you extra shots, rather than re-rolling to hit. Overall I think I prefer this, as it essentially is the same but better, as lets say you have a heavy bolter, you roll 3 and then re-roll the misses, with the best being 3 hits. Now, you're still statistically likely to get the same results as in terms of number of hits, but are more likely to also get more hits, as you'll be rolling 6 dice for that heavy bolter. I can see things like hydras seeing a lot of table time.<br />
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Heavy weapons no longer snap fire when you move, which is good for models that this affected, as you now have only a -1 penalty to BS, but this will also affect vehicles as well. Now this is the overall general rule, so I would not be surprised if vehicles will get ways around this, as otherwise this will hurt a lot of IG vehicle shooting. Units though can split their fire now between different targets, so you can fire lasguns at on unit, lascannon at another, and a flamer at another. Note this is units, not models, so tanks will still most likely be shooting at a single target, but squadrons will be able to split fire.<br />
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Orders now are automatically passed, so no more leadership checks! Only order we know is in is first rank fire, making the lasguns and hot shots Rapid fire 2, which appears to be 2 shots to max and 4 at half range. Otherwise don't yet know what the rest of the orders will look like. <br />
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With the changes to assault, charging with a IG unit is something plausible now, though tarpiting will be far, far harder to do since units can leave combat at will. But since guardsmen can go first when they charge, a large unit of them can at least get some good damage in before the return swings, making charging more viable for standard troopers and also a boon to ogryns, though not really enough to make them good in my opinion. <br />
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While there are still quite a few things left to learn, really what we can see is that infantry will still play a crucial role in the imperial guard, though specific tactics will change. Tanks like the leman russ will be seeing a resurgence as well, and will be interesting if orders will be revamped for them also. Overall, the IG have a lot to look forward too, and if the battle cannon is anything to go by, then artillery should come out pretty good as well.<br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GGGrumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-4537053840563165272017-05-04T09:06:00.000-07:002017-05-04T09:06:10.017-07:00Sly Marbo is Back<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well, sort of a surprise today. GW, due in no small part I'm sure to community pestering, has brought back Marbo. I think most of us long time Guard players have fond memories of this lone warrior. Now he is different with some good and bad here.<br />
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First up, you can find his rules <a href="https://www.warhammer-community.com/2017/05/04/sly-marbo-rules-for-warhammer-40000/">here</a>. He is a lot cheaper than he used to be, but importantly Marbo has forgotten where he put his demo charges over the last few editions. This is not a deal breaker mind you, but damn does it hurt to lose those charges. He is only 25pts though, so much cheaper which does make up for the loss.<br />
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Pretty much the same rules as before, fearless, fleet, hit and run, feel no pain, stealth, move through cover. He's Behind you is pretty much the same, he starts in reserve and when he comes on you place him anywhere on the board as long as he is 1" away from enemy models, and can't move in the movement phase. Like a shadow is new, but basically when he destroys an enemy unit or makes a sweeping advance or successfully hit and runs, you can place him in ongoing reserves. Place a marker on his position and when he comes back he must be deployed within 18" of that marker and 1" away from enemy units, and can't move in the movement phase. Loner is basically the same, he can't be your warlord and can't be issued orders.<br />
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Master of Ambush is new, basically after deployment, scout, infiltrate, etc, but before the roll to seize happens, you nominate three pieces of terrain as booby trapped and place markers on them. Enemy units treat that terrain as dangerous terrain.<br />
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The Pistol is basically the same, 12" range sniper, ap 3. Same issues that sniper weapons have. His blade is poisoned 2+ like before. He has melta bombs, frag and krak grenades as well. With the demo charges gone, Marbo is going to have to be played differently. He has 2 wounds, but again, he is only T3 and does not have eternal warrior so he is really easy to take out of the picture. The same is for Feel no Pain, its very situational. He can't be used a surprise pie plate any more, which was his greatest use with the demo charge. <br />
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Now hopefully this means we will see him in the next edition, and don't be surprised for this to change again. But you now can play around with him in the last few games of 7th Edition. <br />
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I wish he had shrouded, as he really relies on cover saves to survive at all, but stealth is still something, but you really want to be finding ruins and other 4+ cover saves to get them to 3+. You can try using psychic powers to buff him, but that means you have to keep him close to your psykers. <br />
Really he works best on the outskirts of the battle. Popping in to deal with weaker units that don't have a lot of support around them. But always keep in mind that he is not going to be assaulting when he comes in so your going to have to wait a turn before he can assault, and his single shot pistol is pretty meh shooting. The hardest part with marbo is keeping him alive so he can get close to take out the enemy units in CC. I really wish that they had given him the ability to charge out of reserve.<br />
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You basically have a budget assassin, with the same strengths and weaknesses that they have. In the right situation he will do great and can pick on weak units and in the right terrain will be hard to take out. But with ignores cover and his low toughness, he is also not hard to kill at all. He is great for snapping up objectives in maelstrom games due to his mobility.<br />
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Against certain armies, marbo will really struggle, mainly Tau, with lots of ignore cover and intercept, he will show up and likely die. But against other armies he can shine well. Main things to consider is how are you going to keep him alive for a turn so he can assault his target and take them out. The booby traps are not bad, but will really only account for a few models during a game, though it can psychologically help in having an opponent scared of going into those pieces of terrain, but good players will know that the risks of dangerous terrain is pretty low.<br />
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Its great to see Marbo back, and I look forward to seeing him in 8th edition as well. To close out, here are some pics of my conversion for him that I did a good while ago(during 5th Edition).<br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GGGrumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-19896932325805007552017-05-02T10:21:00.001-07:002017-05-02T10:21:27.826-07:008th Edition: Vehicles are Dead, Long Live Vehicles!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Obviously today going to take a look at vehicles and how they are looking with the new edition. As the title suggests, old vehicles are dead, but we have new ones. While I personally liked the rules for vehicles, the changes presents opportunities and advantages over the old vehicle rules. Keep in mind this is what we know so far.<br />
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What we know is that vehicles will have the same profile as everyone else, so no more armor values, hps etc. Last week they gave us a glimpse of unit profiles with one being a dreadnought. This gives us a good idea of how vehicles might stack, as a profile wise a dreadnought was middle of the road before in terms of armor and Hps, so we can extrapolate that things like leman russes will be tougher.<br />
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The important take aways here are that the dread has a T of 7, and a whopping 8 Wds, and a 3+ save. What this adds up to is a much tougher vehicle than before. The bright side of the rules change is also that vehicles will have more survivability. Before, a vehicle had an Armor Value, which you rolled against to determine if you damaged it. But this did not work the same as S vs T. For example a S 8 weapon wounded a T8 model on a 4+. For a vehicle, if the weapon was S 10, and the AV10, that was an auto penetration. So now, having a T, a vehicle actually is going to be harder to wound, as there will pretty much be a lot less scenarios where an auto wound will happen. And you have an armor save. Essentially before your armor value rolled your armor save and toughness all into one. So now, you will have more weapons that can potentially wound them, but a lot more chances of that wound being negated. <br />
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And to address the "lasguns will kill land raiders" argument, just going with the given examples of Boltguns and a Dreadnought, it basically will take a 10 man tactical squad 4 turns to kill the dread. So its possible, but not going to be mowing vehicles down either. While I don't love weapons being able to hurt everything, we don't know how exactly it is going to work in these extreme cases. It may be that on any roll of 6 for any weapon, it wounds. Or, you may need to roll a 6, and then roll again, depending on the S and T involved. Now personally, I think for most things a 6 will do the job. But thats a lot of luck to rely on.<br />
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With ap working differently, being modifiers instead of simply negating armor saves, this also helps vehicles out. For the case of the Dread, with a 3+ save the lascannon with a -3 AP, that gives you a 6+ save, not amazing mind you, but it is an anti-tank weapon. This also carries over to close combat, but in more ways than one.<br />
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One of the big boons to non combat vehicles with this system, is that since there is no armor values, the T and armor save remains the same in close combat. Even if a leman russ has the same T and Wds and Save as a Dread, it will take a lot of punching to bring it down. Now obviously there are going to be weapons that will be able to do more damage in CC, I would expect power fists to do D3 or D6 wounds like a lascannon.<br />
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The increased survivability in close combat is something that I am happy about, though don't expect weaker vehicles to last too long. But having to worry about your weak rear armor in close combat is no longer an issue. Watching out for mulit wound causing CC weapons will be something to be aware of though.<br />
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There is one thing I am concerned about, but will wait and see as a more complete picture emerges. When shooting was discussed, it was mentioned that heavy weapons can move and be shot, with a minus 1 to BS. With infantry this is a boon. But vehicles are included in this as well. So its a bit of good and bad. On the good, as vehicles work currently, if you move 6" you can fire one weapon full BS and the rest as snap shots. On the bad, this makes the already meh BS of IG vehicles worse if you want to move and shoot your vehicles.<br />
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Now, we don't have the whole picture and most likely this is just the general rule and types of vehicles will get around this no problem. At least that is what I hope. With blast weapons gone, many of the standard weapons on our vehicles will have to be rethought tactically speaking. Again though, not something to get too upset about as we still have more to see and it is likely that vehicles will have ways around this so as not to have completely neutered shooting.<br />
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I will miss the old rules, but I am looking forward to the new rules vehicles will have and the opportunities that it presents.<br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GGGrumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-7340126509853139882017-04-28T09:39:00.001-07:002017-04-28T09:39:25.032-07:008th Edition Psychic Phase<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today, we got a glimpse at the psychic phase. The psychic phase is arguably the phase that needs the strongest look and needs the most improvement. Thankfully, the changes so far are going in the right direction. Though there are still a few things up in the air, they have hinted at more things as well that are a welcome change.<br />
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First off, there is no more rolling for warp charges at the beginning of the phase. The new phase is simpler. A psyker can attempt to use a number of powers equal to its "mastery level", a a level 2 pysker can attempt to use two powers. Each power still has a warp charge though, but its effects are different. <br />
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Each test is a 2D6 test, with you needing to roll higher than the charge to successfully manifest the power. I would say it is safe to assume that the warp charges of powers are going to increase, and we won't be seeing any warp charge 1 or 2 powers, most will probably be in the 5 range. Deny the witch is being reworked with you needing a psyker within 24" to attempt to cancel the power, with the number of times he can attempt to cancel powers determined by his mastery level. Now no real details other than this have been talked about, so I assume that deny the witch is going to have a bit more to it than that. But it makes sense that armies without psykers will have a harder time denying powers, but I assume that they won't be completely helpless against them, most likely will only get a chance to deny if they are specifically targeted by a power.<br />
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Though not specifically mentioned, they did hint in the comments that summoning will no longer be free. Its going AoS, in that summoning will be allocated pts, so you'll have to have pts left over in order to summon. This is a much needed change as the power of summoning cannot be understated in its current form. I'm sure daemon players will be miffed, but I'm pretty sure they will get some unique love to make up for the loss of free summoning.<br />
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They also talked about mortal wounds, basically this looks like the new D weapon. Mortal wounds basically cannot be saved in any way, at least as stated so far, but I would assume that there will be some defense against them that they have not mentioned. This relates to psykers in that all psykers will know smite. Smite is warp charge 5 and causes D3 mortal wounds to the enemy unit closest to the psyker (18" maximum range) and visible, with a roll of 10 or higher causing D6. I like that they are basically giving every psyker in the game a strong offensive power. So no matter what your psyker can do something.<br />
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I know some will not like mortal wounds, but as we have only seen a small glimpse of it, I will hold judgement. Overall, this looks to be a much welcome update to the psychic phase that simplifies it while not losing too much flavor. Looking forward to seeing more, but it does look like some of the strong elements of the psychic phase is being toned down, but psykers will be simpler to use and will still have power in the game.<br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GGGrumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com62tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-64640387452884718852017-04-25T12:24:00.001-07:002017-04-25T12:24:36.303-07:008th Edition Rules Confirmed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sorry for the lack of posts, been gone and tax season for my business has taken a lot of time. But There really hasn't been a lot to talk about. Until now. In case you missed it, GW did a Q&A on their FB page on the new edition. The video is still up <a href="https://www.facebook.com/WarhammerTVteam/videos/368356113559373/">here</a>. The video and a few more posts this week have started to clear things up and give us more details of what is in store. They are being coy on the release date, but did mention they will be talking more about the new edition at warhammer fest next month, so I doubt its coming in the next few weeks but likely release is early june.<br />
<a name='more'></a>So what is coming? Well Templates are gone, and vehicle armor value and such is also gone. I'm honestly not thrilled about either, but I don't hate it. While wounding vehicles with lasguns is silly, the fact that vehicles and monstrous creatures are now on an even playing field makes up for this in the long run. I'm worried how artillery is going to work, but time will tell.<br />
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One of the big thing that was discussed was Codex's. They are not going away in the long run. But all current codex's are going to be useless as far as rules, so they will be releasing 5 books that will have all the current armies in them with rules to use them. Codex's will then be released going forward giving you more granular rules for each army. With that, they have posted a voucher if you have bought a codex since the end of February, all you need is a proof of purchase and it doesn't have to be from a GW store. That is nice at least. <br />
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The movement stat is back, with Initiative gone. To this, close combat is resolved with the charging unit going first, though I must note that they did not comment on how charging through terrain works, as that really is a kicker. Hopefully it doesn't not force you to go last, as otherwise its back to square one for a lot of close combat units.<br />
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They didn't not fully explain ap modifier, but does seem that you will be more likely to get an armor save, just less than what you would normally get. Not really a bad thing, just different. Weapons will do damage now, so while you can no longer one shot a vehicle, certain weapons will strip wounds much faster so in balance this works well. Especially since multi wound units will lose effectiveness as they lose wounds so MCs and Vehicles will get less effective the closer to death they get. They have also mentioned that stats will no longer be capped at 10, so things can get more wounds, T, S, and such which also helps balance out vehicles as they can now be hurt by everything.<br />
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They also are directly tackling death stars. Basically they described it as a keyword approach to special rules. So a Dark angels chaplain will only confer his special rules to dark angels. So things like super friends will no longer be viable thank god. A very welcome change indeed.<br />
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Most of the rest is army building. They talked about how pts will be done 2 ways. For narrative and open, the pts are broad brush strokes like AoS. So you just pay for a unit. What weapons and upgrades it has does not affect it. Its a way to play quickly and narratively that gets you broadly balanced. But fear not, for matched play, which is how we all play any way, the pts are done the same as now. You pay for unit and all its upgrades.<br />
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For army composition, you will have multiple force org charts to use in the main rule book, as I assume these will be here till codex's come out with army specific force orgs. There will be command pts based on how "battle forged" your army is, which you can burn once for rerolling a dice or interrupting a charge to let your unit go first. Overall seems reasonable and in general sounds good to me.<br />
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WS and BS are different, but not really for BS. Basically you have a standard to hit roll that is in your statline. So units will always hit on the same roll, though its safe to assume their will be modifiers. But one good thing for close combat units is that it is finally possible to hit on a 2+, though this will probably be rare. <br />
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In all, 8th edition is looking to be a pretty good one, though I am still concerned about how artillery will work. I will not miss deathstars and ally abuse, and having MCs lose effectiveness as they take wounds will be welcome. Will see how things go as we get closer to release.<br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GGGrumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-28836040863315580522017-04-05T20:28:00.000-07:002017-04-05T20:28:01.937-07:00New 8th Edition Rumors<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Some new rumors have come, and to be honest not to sure how accurate, but that might be more from me not wanting to believe than it being ridiculous. Also I am going to be out of town till sunday, so this is just good timing for me to talk about it before I head out. Some salt is needed, but it may turn out to be close to the mark.</div>
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On number 1, I think this is probably true, if not codexes completely going away. Its not a wild guess to say that 40k is going to see something like AoS warscrolls. However, Codexes will most likely remain, if nothing more than "collectors" items. Even AoS has seen army books come out, though not necessarily for a single faction, but AoS is much smaller so I don't think an Armies of the Imperium codex will replace all the current faction books. Unit rules will be easily accessible but codex's will be around for having the fluff and a consolidated rules base.<br />
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For number 2, I seriously doubt it. I firmly believe Shadow War is as much a standalone game and test of some of the core rules for 8th edition. Templates are still in it, and while it doesn't really affect AoS to get rid of them, for 40k, you have things like artillery that blasts really represent properly. Not saying it can't be done, but I think its unlikely to see the templates leave, especially since Shadow War still has them.<br />
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Ugh, I really hope not, but this is again probably going to happen. While I don't want this to be true, that doesn't mean that it isn't. It would "fix" things in terms of Monstrous creatures and walkers and even the playing field, but again I think vehicles work well in 40k and getting rid of armor values is not necessary. BUT, it would simplify the game, and this is the theme of this edition. <br />
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Number 4 is pretty much already confirmed, and if you have taken a peak at some of the leaked rules for shadow war, this is basically how it works. Its fine, not my favorite way of doing things, but its a method that also works.<br />
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Hmm, early summer is what I was originally thinking, but as time has gone on, I have moved it back to end of summer early fall. That being said from a pure business sense early summer is great. Everyone is out of school and people take time off, so more time for games. Its a bit simple but not wrong. I wouldn't be shocked if this was true, but I am still leaning for bit later of a release.<br />
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6 is not even a real rumor so won't even bother, as for 7, I doubt it. Now maybe not, it could end up somewhere in between. It may be that more units will be able to disembark and then charge. But that may have nothing to do with vehicles themselves and be on a unit by unit basis, which would also make sense. Howling banshees should have no problem running out of a vehicle straight into combat, but I would doubt a universal all units can charge out of vehicles. We will see.<br />
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Thats really it, more stuff is dropping and hopefully things will solidify a bit more as we get closer. <br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GGGrumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-89132224642076950202017-04-04T11:00:00.002-07:002017-04-04T11:00:43.549-07:00Astra Militarum Tactics: Deployment in Depth<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For today going to discuss an alternate counter deep strike tactic. In principal it is similar to bubble wrapping, but works different enough to be its own thing. This tactic is less effective than bubble wrapping against Drop pod armies though can still be utilized. This is best against armies that don't have a way to mitigate scatter when deep striking. Your goal with this deployment is to give your opponent a lot of bad options and significantly increase his chances of a deep strike mishap. <br />
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Rather than tightly packing your forces to leave no room for deep strikers with meat shields around the edges, as in bubble wrapping, you are going to spread your force out in layers. Layering your forces does a couple of things. The first is allowing you to cover more ground, but second is to also have units that can plug holes and counter units that penetrate your line. Against a deepstrike heavy army, this also makes it hard for your opponent to easily deep strike in. You want to leave room though, this is critical as you want him to try and deep strike in. But importantly you don't want to leave a lot of room. Just enough.<br />
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As you can see, the majority of the open spaces between units is about 6 inches to the nearest unit. Thats enough for a unit to make it in with no scatter or very minimal, but is very easy for a unit to scatter within 1" of one of your units, or off the table edge.<br />
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In the center I have a larger area, but its also away from most of my units as well, so while it is a safer spot for deep striking, there are less targets to go after. The bane wolf is in the back on its own, meaning my opponent will have to focus on it only and hope for the best, or leave it alone and hope enough survives to take it out later. Multi charges can be devastating for vehicles, as a single unit can reliably wreck multiple vehicles in single combat. Deploying in depth also helps in this regard, but only to a point, as a lucky deep strike will get them in position for a multi charge. What you want to do is minimize what he can multi charge and limit the impact that will have. Have units available to take out those units when they come in. <br />
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In this specific case, by putting the tanks up front with infantry on the flanks and behind, I am giving my opponent bad choices. He can safely deep strike in front of my tanks, hoping to scatter not too far out of range. Or can deep strike inside your lines and take the chance with mishap. <br />
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On your following turns you are going to need to keep your formation together, minimizing the openings till you have dealt with the deep strikers. Keep mobile units to plug the gaps and utilize board edges to your advantage.<br />
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This works best on hammer and anvil and vanguard deployment, as you'll have less board space to cover. This can be done on all deployments but the above work the best. <br />
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Advantages over bubble wrapping is board control and mobility. This spreads your army out more giving you more opportunities for objectives in maelstrom and if you are not able to destroy the deepstriking unit, the ability to move away.<br />
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Bubble wrapping is great when it works, but it also concentrates your forces making it easier for your opponent to charge from unit to unit. And if your transports are too close together, when they are destroyed, you may not have room to disembark.<br />
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This allows you to increase the risk of your opponent deep strike, while giving you the most mobility and board control. Redundancy is key as in any guard army. Your going to lose units and can not afford to have one thing that is critical to your army working and winning.<br />
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Now against drop pods, this is going to be difficult as they won't scatter into your units, but they will scatter off the board, and the units still have remain 1" away from your units. So if you leave room for only a drop pod to fit, but none for the unit to disembark, this helps to minimize the damage, and again, deploying to take advantage of board edges. This also can help you simply drive away from them, as drop pod units are not mobile once on the ground. Against deep strike armies, you are fighting for time and space, as space also equals time. You want those units to have as little time as possible to hurt your own. <br />
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There are quite a few units that can assault from deep strike now, and this gives you better options to deal with them compared to bubble wrapping in most cases. Bubble wrapping works great when you have a turn to shoot and possibly counter charge that unit before they can get in and do the most damage.<br />
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Nothing works perfectly and this is no exception. But it is an alternate tactic for dealing with deep strike armies and units.<br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GG<br />
<br />Grumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-37121718553080825792017-03-31T10:58:00.003-07:002017-03-31T10:58:53.995-07:008th edition and future 40k<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Looking at the last year, and what we know about the near future, 40k is heading for change both narratively and mechanically. Disclaimer, I am not privy to any insider information so this is my thoughts based on what has happened and what we know so far, trying to fit pieces of the puzzle. This is my speculation and most will probably be incorrect, but I like thinking about this and hearing what other people think.<br />
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First up, we know a new edition is coming, and from adepticon, that it would come in time for the next adepticon. That gives us a backstop of late Jan early Feb as tournaments don't incorporate rules released generally 30-60 days prior to the event. We have had the gathering storm series and have had major changes, with Cadia falling and the Eye expanding and a Primarch's return. <br />
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We have the release (re-release really) of sisters and custodes. Then Shadow War Armageddon is coming soon, and we have Death Guard and Mortarion confirmed. So what picture is this painting? Well for the last year at least we have not had any major faction releases. Genestealer cult, deathwatch, Imperial Agents, sure, but no major codex had been released in 2016. We got some small fluffy factions and a lot, I mean a lot, of campaign and faction supplements. Traitors Hate, Wrath of Magnus, Curse of the Wulfen, Angels Blade, Traitor legions, Death from the Skies, Angels of Death. Given that 8th is coming in less than a year this makes sense. <br />
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No one wants to be the codex that is released right before a new edition, as that tends to be the codex that gets screwed. So it makes sense that GW is shying away from major codex updates and sticking to campaigns and supplements. And we may be getting some clues to what is to come. Though its important to not read too much into it either.<br />
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The gathering storm book three has a lot of clues in it though I'm sure more than a few are misdirection. But some are certainly not. The primarchs mentioned are definitely hints at the future. Mortarion is one clue that was mentioned and low and behold it is now confirmed new death guard plastic models and Mortarion himself is coming. Fulgrim is also mentioned in rise of the primarch, and that he has plans for the future involvement with guilliman. Given that it has been a while since slaanesh has seen any major release, I would definitely expect to see Fulgrim, the emperors children and daemons released in the near future as well. The real question will be, will this occur before or after 8th edition. I don't know, that depends a lot on how fast they have models lined up. <br />
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The brilliance of having traitor legions already released, all they have to do is release models and perhaps a gathering storm style book to include Mortarion's rules and a special formation and detachment for him and death guard. This could also kick off the next part of the Gathering Storm story line and lead to other releases as well. We know they are coming soon, and with the only other known 40k release so far is Shadow War Armageddon (talons is already out), we could see death guard and the kick off of the next part in the story by the end of April. I also have a feeling that Shadow War is part "we are redoing necromunda" and part playtest of the next editions rules to see how its received and give them time to adjust and make changes.<br />
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Shadow war also ties into the hints in rise of the primarch, with Armageddon and a resurgent Ork threat being mentioned, now not going to read too much into this as their are more than a few different warzones mentioned, but with shadow war, and given the fact that both guard and orks are older codexs, along with chaos (daemons+marines) this could be hinting at both getting updates in the near future though probably nothing major till after the edition change. But with the precedent of the gathering storm and campaigns, models are no longer tied solely to codex releases. We could see some new and updated special characters and maybe some units updated as well, as seen in the previous campaigns. With Models not being tied only to codex releases, we can see minor updates without having to wait for a new codex, as we are seeing with death guard and I seriously doubt CSM is getting a new book in the next month or two (unless 8th is that close).<br />
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Spread out over a few months, this could also lead to the Emperor's children being released at the end of summer, as again, the models are not tied to a codex release and with really only needing rules for Fulgrim and maybe a new formation or detachment, it won't need to be a huge release and can be either the end or start of the next part in the story following Death Guard.<br />
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The big thing I keep going back and forth on, is how soon 8th edition could be. With their current release schedule, and with Adepticon as a back stop, they have time to update emperor's children prior to release of 8th, and makes sense for them to do a chaos cult marine update prior to a new CSM codex, where they can focus on non cult units. To me, I am leaning to 8th being released closer to the end of the year, but who knows could be as soon as june. Will we see a tit for tat release of primarchs, with a loyalist released for every traitor? Probably not, but there is no way that guilliman is the last of the loyalist primarchs, it may just be a bit before another comes back and probably will be a major plotline of 8th edition, but probably won't come sooner.<br />
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Lets also not forget the funny troll video GW released regarding the new things coming, the one that had the cardboard box with plastic thunderhawk on it. I laughed and was all "well played GW", and then forge world announces they have sold their last thunderhawk and won't be making it anymore, and now its Trollception, with the troll video actually hinting at the truth of a plastic thunderhawk! An even better well played. <br />
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Another thing to mention is the absence of Angron, as he is the only daemon primarch of the cult troops and daemons not mentioned in gathering storm, and I think the silence here is deafening. Khorne Daemonkin did not see new berserkers models, and I think the silence here is to not give away that we may get them in the near future, though my bet on them is an after 8th edition release on that, probably with the new CSM codex when it comes, as there is only so many months left in the year, though they could cram a lot in, they also have Age of Sigmar as well, so that cuts off a lot of space on the calendar as well.<br />
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Tyranids are also mentioned, along with necrons, but I think these are just to kind of include all the factions they can in the story, though Tyranids could sorely use an update. Given the codex ages, the next major releases will definitely be Chaos, with most likely Imperial Guard, Orks, and Tyranids following that. <br />
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The time line in my head right now, is with April seeing Death guard, and a new story series kicking off, tying possibly into Armageddon for small Ork and Guard releases around June/July, then a final arc kicking off in late August/Sept with Fulgrim leading to 8th Edition. I'm probably totally off, but I'm no longer feeling confident that 8th edition is coming in early summer. I expect will keep getting more like the gathering storm, keep us interested while they get feed back from Shadow War Armageddon (as it really is looking like a playtest of some of the core changes for 8th) before finally releasing the next edition. Age of Sigmar will take up space as well, with most likely some major releases in early summer. Basically this leaves us with 8th either coming really soon, or closer to the end of the year, as that gives time for the Chaos Cult marine releases that are in the works, and to introduce new special characters for factions (as IG have lost a few, and well orks just need something good for once) and set up more of the story. <br />
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Will be really interesting to see how this all pans out, and excited to see how the release schedule comes to fruition. <br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GGGrumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-25529972028231721122017-03-28T09:57:00.000-07:002017-03-28T09:57:08.711-07:00Krak Grenades vs Melta Bombs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A little bit of a rant today, but also some tactics. I missed upon my first reading the changes for grenades in close combat against vehicles and MCs. If you are not aware, the main rule book FAQ has ruled that you can only ever use one grenade/melta bomb in close combat per unit. This is a huge nerf for armies that do not rely on strength to destroy vehicles in close combat. What is also frustrating is that this wasn't really a needed nerf, as the armies that relied on it are not the main close combat threats to vehicles. It is what it is.<br />
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Krak grenades used to be auto-take for most of my squads, giving most infantry a reliable way to bring down vehicles in assault. And it makes sense, ten guys swarming over a tank should be able to put more than one grenade on it, especially if khorne dogs have no restriction to their attacks. Is using a grenade really that much harder? <br />
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This changes the equation on anti-vehicle weapons, as I would rarely bother with a melta bomb, its a single attack and you are relying on chance to get that explodes, whereas krak grenades would be much likelier to wreck the vehicle, though not explode it. Now though, since you are only getting one attack, krak grenades are a worthless upgrade, and if optional you should never take it, especially over melta bombs.<br />
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Given the cost difference, and no disadvantage now to taking melta bombs, you should always take melta bombs over krak grenades. But it also begs the question should you take anti tank cc grenades at all, especially when considering MCs and walkers. Since you are now much less likely to do significant damage to said monsters or walkers, the "our weapons are useless" rule is useful to prevent the enemy from hiding units in CC away from your shooting.<br />
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Tactically this will depend on whether you wish to tarpit units or not. If you have the firepower to deal with these units, then it is advantageous to make use of our weapons are useless, this way ensuring the enemy unit will not be able to hide in close combat during your shooting phase. The disadvantage is that you will be rely nearly solely on shooting to deal with these units. Personally I like having the option of dealing with vehicles and walkers in cc, in case my shooting fails to get that last hull point. <br />
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On the flip side though, armored sentinels are significantly more survivable in close combat, especially against basic infantry units with krak grenades or only one cc weapon that can hurt them. Since sentinels will never run from combat, they are excellent at tarpiting tactical squads or devestator squads. A heavy weapon unit that is a high threat to your vehicles with its shooting can be reliably neutralized for a few turns with armored sentinels, turning their forcing them to fight in close combat where they are less effective. They are still not great against high strength close combat units, but against units with only krak grenades or a single weapon that can hurt them, they will easily hold that unit up for multiple turns.<br />
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At least there is some good news in all of this, armored sentinels are now much better in cc. Something to consider at least as they will be much more likely to survive multiple rounds of combat, and are quite cheap to bring.<br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GGGrumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-17597743481320980522017-03-25T09:46:00.001-07:002017-03-25T11:07:50.528-07:00Batrep: Astra Militarum vs Chaos Marines 1850pts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Got a game in yesterday, and apologies my camera died so only got crappy pictures from my phone, switched things up and played the cadian battle group. My opponent was playing chaos space marines using black legion and a traitor legion formation. We played maelstrom mission 5, keeping our objectives secret, hammer and anvil deployment. I got to deploy first and go first, he reserved most of his army.<br />
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On to the lists. I had a CCS in a chimera for the Battle Group Command, kitted out with a Master of Ordnance, Standard, and 3 Grenade launchers. The Armored Company had two Vanquishers in the Tank Commander squadron with lascannons, two Exterminators with lascannons and heavy boltlers, and a punisher with heavy bolter and heavy flamers. The Emperor's Blade Assualt company was the last bit, with three vet squads with carapace, 2 meltas and heavy flamer in each in chimeras, the command squad was all plasma and a plasma pistol for commander, and finally a bane wolf.<br />
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For the Chaos, he had a black legion CAD, a lord on a bike with a power fist and CCW, two 5 man marine squads, two rhinos, and three of each obliterators and mutilators with each being on their own, and a heldrake. The last bit was the raptor talon pack which was three raptor squads one with a lord, with them being able to assault on the turn they arrive from deep strike. Each of them had melta guns and a melta bomb. Everything had Mark of Nurgle except his "tac" squads.<br />
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Basically, he had a really good army to counter mine, with a lot of deeptriking that could easily deal with my tanks. To try and help myself out, I deployed in depth, to give little room for deep strikers, leaving some spaces just open enough, hoping he would get ballsy and go for it and then scatter and mishap. He deployed his lord on bike, a marine squad and two rhinos with everything else in reserve, though he really just forgot to deploy his one 5 man marine squad. <br />
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And this game was funny in that the dice gods decided to fuck with both of us, with their favor swinging wildly back and forth.<br />
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Turn 1 I moved the punisher up on my right towards the objective along with a vet squad in chimera, my autocannon russes moved up as well, along with one vet squad in chimera on the left moving towards another objective as well. The punisher did not have range really for anything other than its heavy bolter, but would have line on the lord next turn. I opened up with all my tanks in range on the lone rhino and though I scored a lot of pens and glances, he made all of his cover saves minus one, so I only got one pen through for a stunned result. And my Master of Ordnance missed all game, so won't bother mentioning him anymore. I scored one objective pt.<br />
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His turn one was mostly just some shuffling, moving his rhino back. The lord had a special one use large blast, that could be placed anywhere and caused a haywire hit and D3 penetrating hits against vehicles. It did not scatter and he killed my tank commander and stunned an exterminator russ (losing a hullpoint as well), though thankfully the techpriest was unharmed. And with that, all my russes were back to normal, no more BS 4 for me. He scored one objective pt.<br />
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For me, I moved my punisher into range of his lord on bike and CSM squad, and my vet squad on the left moved in range of an objective. I moved the rest around slightly, but mostly just re-positioning to counter his deepstriking coming up. Again failed to do anything to the rhino, as the dice gods still favored him. The punisher was only able to kill a single marine and put a wound on his lord on bike. I scored one objective for a pt. Now the pain would come.<br />
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For his reserves, he got two raptor squads in, an obliterator, and mutilator, and his heldrake. Now it was his turn for the dice gods to laugh at his pain. One of his raptors misshaped and he rolled a 1, and they were gone, the obliterator misshaped and went back into reserve. So half of his reserves that came in were either destroyed or back into reserve. He went aggressive with his deep strike and I tried to position best I could to give him bad choices, but really this was less tactical genius and more dice god spite. The heldrake failed to do anything with its baleflamer, the lord split off from his squad and went hiding in a ruin out of LoS, one rhino moved up for the squad to embark. The lone raptors, melta'd the chimera, exploding it and then assaulted the squad and punisher. Though he had only one attack that could hurt the russ(melta bomb), he of course hit and rolled an explodes result (techpriest was out of range), the vet squad was obviously wiped. But between overwatch and explosions three of the raptors were felled. He scored two pts and first blood. Now it was crunch time.<br />
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The bane wolf zoomed across my backfield, going flat out to get over to where my right flank had collapsed, hoping that the plasma command squad would be able to deal with the raptors, as he would not be in range. I kept, the plasma command squad in their command squad, hoping the two plasmas and chimera weapons would be enough, one exterminator and vanquisher lined up the mutilator in front of my lines and the other exterminator lined the helldrake up for a hail mary. With everything and orders I was able to kill the mutilator, and all but the champion in the raptor squad, which passed their morale denying me an objective. But for hero of the game, the exterminator snap fired at the helldrake, my opponent didn't jink because what is the worst that could happen, but 3 autocannons hit and the Lascannon! The lascannon immobilized it and it fell out of the sky exploding!! As I said, the dice gods were laughing this game, and they had decided it was his turn to suffer. I did not score any objectives as I needed to kill a character and cause a unit to flee.<br />
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His turn three, and he got his last raptor squad in, the obliterator in ongoing reserve, another mutilator, and the CSM squad walked onto the board. He want ballsy again with his deepstrike, and again his other raptor squad mishapped and was destroyed as well. He was not pleased. The lone raptor hopped onto my objective to contest it, and the mutilator deepstriked right behind by vanquisher and vet chimera in the middle and the obliterator arrived safely on the left between two chimeras. The CSM squad hopped into a rhino and hid behind the building in the center, and other rhino moved up as well, and the footsloggers moved into terrain for cover. The lord on bike stayed in place. The obliterator was able to strip a hullpoint off of a russ and destroy the autocannons and the raptor charged the other autocannon russ the avenge the helldrake, but failed to hit it with his melta bomb. He scored 2 objective pts this round, putting him in the lead significantly. <br />
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My turn 4, the bane wolf again maxed out its movement to fill the hole in my right, and to grab an objective. The plasma command eyed the remaining raptor champion, and the exterminator moved out of base to line up the damaged rhino. The chimeras and vets on the left, disembarked and lined up the mutilator and obliterator. Shooting, the plasma killed the raptor champion, and the exterminator wrecked the rhino without a squad in it. The rest I was only able to kill the mutilator and the obliterator stood defiant. I got two pts for an objective and killing a character (raptor champion) so the deficit wasn't as bad anymore though i still was in the hole.<br />
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His turn the lord on bike came out to support the obliterator and the rest of his reserves came in, with the remaining two obliterators and mutilators coming in on my right on the objective with my plasma command. His obliterator on the right exploded the damaged exterminator and his lord glanced the chimera, he needed that objective that my chimera was contesting. On the right, his one obliterator glanced penned the chimera and stunned it, and the other failed to pen with melta on the front armor (rolled a 1 and 2). To top it off, the lord failed his charge on the chimera. The CSM squad in the rhino disembarked and went into the center building, just in range of the center objective.. He scored one objective pt.<br />
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My turn 5, and it was critical one, as though I had killed a bit, I had only two russes left and the lord and obliterator could chew through my units if I couldn't kill them. On the right, I needed everything to work in order to kill the two obliterators and mutilators, though i had firepower, they were T5 with nurgle so I had nothing to instant kill them, would hope enough wounds could get past their 2+, as I only had the vanquisher and vets with AP2. I ordered first rank fire on the left with my commander, but my shooting was ineffectual as, all four of my melta guns missed (four 1s in a row) I forgot about preferred enemy, but they might not have been in range, as neither the lord or obliterator were right on top of the objective. In either case my left failed completely and both the lord and obliterator were free. On the right I did not use orders, as I wanted the command squad to shoot last, as I really needed the mutilator to die and if one of the obliterators lived, I had a techpriest that could charge and hopefully hold them for a turn. The vanquisher had two lined up and the exterminator two as well. Luckily on this flank everything went to plan, the exterminator fired first, scoring 8 wounds between the heavy bolters, autocannons, and lascannon, killing the first obliterator. The chimera and vanquisher killed the mutilator, and the plasma command easily killed the last obliterator, though one died to gets hot (double 1s baby). The banewolf easily killed the marines in the building with the chem cannon. I scored one pt, but I had failed to kill his warlord (with 4 melta guns wiffing) and with the game possible ending, I knew this was bad, I did not have enough points, and i had the card for killing his warlord (D3 pts), so he had a big lead still though with little left, I was not in position to support my left flank with his lord on it.<br />
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Turn 5 for him, His lord moved up and the obliterator moved onto the objective. The obliterator exploded the chimera and killed three guardsmen in the explosion. His lord assaulted the disembarked squad, my sgt accepted the challenge, luckily he did not use his power fist so I got my carapace saves, and after all was said and done, the sgt and a guardsman were dead, but I had managed a wd on the lord, losing combat by 1, unfortunately as I wanted him to sweep. But the bastards decided to be brave and the four remaining guardsman remained locked in combat with the lord. He scored another pt and we rolled to see if it would end. It didn't! I had a chance.<br />
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Turn 6 the vet squad on the left moved into range to either shoot the obliterator or charge the lord. For objectives, I had to score the objective that the marines in the building had been holding, I needed a tank to kill something, and I needed Kingslayer, if I could pull it all off, and ideally get linebreaker, which the bane wolf was in position to do. My Chimera on the left moved to the center objective and all my vehicles that could turned to shoot the obliterator. With all the vehicles shooting I was able to bring him down and score a pt, I had the second with the chimera on the objective. Now I needed the warlord dead. I charged the vet squad in to join their brothers, and though it was close I got the one wd I needed to get past and the warlord fell. For my D3 I rolled a 5 and got 3pts for his warlords death. This totaled me 6pts with the objectives and slay the warlord. I was just outside of line breaker range as I forgot I needed with be within 12" of his deployment edge, not just in his deployment zone. But it was enough it was now 9-11 in my favor.<br />
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He drew his cards, got nothing he could achieve and we called the game, as all he had left was a csm squad that the bane wolf would murder next turn (if a next turn) and he did not have the cards to pull back ahead. At the end with secondaries it was 10-11 (first blood for him) and I pulled out a narrow victory.<br />
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For this game, and army, most of my expectations were met in how it would perform. Granted the dice gods were fickle this game, though he lost two raptor squads in deep strike, every penetrating hit that could explode a tank, did explode it. His second turn really hurt me. My positioning helped, as I counted on him going for risky deepstrikes and it paid off, him losing two units. Knowing that mobility was going to be a problem, I tried to ensure objectives were placed near to each deployment zone so no matter what side I got, I could reasonably achieve them.<br />
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You have to play cagey with the bane wolf, and though it only killed one unit, it did exactly what I needed it do, when I needed it to do it. Its still a fast vehicle and was able to get to the backfield, despite it staying in my back field for three turns. The MoO did as expected, as this was not the army he does well against with lots of MSU units, he has too much scatter to be of use against him. I will probably drop him and use the pts to give servitor or two to the techpriest as he failed to repair a single thing the entire game. Tactically though what won me the game was positioning objectives and my units, giving me a the ability to score objectives and counter his deep striking. I definitely got lucky on the mishaps, but proper placement increased the chance of them and I knew he would try and get in melta range with those deep striking raptors, increasing his risk. <br />
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Against armies that deepstike but whose mishap risk is reduced, like drop pods, I would have had to change things up significantly though, as the tactics would not have worked. The cadian BG is limited in its strengths but I feel this is about as good as it can get. Luck definitely played a part, but again, he had great luck with cover saves and getting explodes results on nearly every pen he got. Killing the helldrake was great, but again, most of my infantry was in vehicles so he had to pop them open. It probably could have wrecked a vehicle with vector strike but would then have had to go off the board. What saved me was most definitely target priority, as I made no mistakes in lining up my shooting. It was a good game and even with all his losses, was very close up to the end, which is why I love maelstrom, and was glad to finally beat him after losing the last two games.<br />
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Lessons for you to take away is to know what your army can achieve, victory begins with objective placement, maximize objectives in range for you to get and don't count on getting the side you want. Think through target priority and line up properly, as I have said before, it can be worth not issuing an order so a unit can fire when it needs to to give you the best outcome. When facing deepstrikers that can't mitigate mishaps, deploy in depth to maximize mishap possibilities. <br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GGGrumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-70688060272116263552017-03-24T11:14:00.000-07:002017-03-24T11:14:08.054-07:00Guest Hobby Post: Lasgun/Small Arms Conversions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today, going to do a guest post, as I got sent in some great conversions using the various small arms and Imperial Guard bits available. A few a bit advanced but nothing too hard either. This is from Mad Hawky, and I'll have his info he sent me in italics to distinguish my words from his.<br />
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First up is the above photo of what he is calling the FG12, inspired by the real world FG42<br />
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<i><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">FG12</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"> - You need a classic Kantrael lasgun and Vox caster antenna. Magazine is located at the left side of the gun. And if you find if familiar, it's inspired by german FG 42 rifle</span></i><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8px;">This is another great option for a DMR or sniper rifle and would look really nice in a squad, or without the scope it would look great as a standard lasgun variant.</span></span><br />
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Next up a "heavy" lasgun.</div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Heavy Lasgun</b><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> - Composed out of Kantrael lasgun and a Flamer. Conversion is quite difficult, but if you don't have hooves instead of hands, it will go. It's fitting for sniper or marksman rifle, but I personally use these guns on my Grenadiers.</span></span></span></i></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8px;">I like this and the next ones as possible hot shot volley gun stand ins, but both are great for just adding personality to your elite squads.</span></span><br />
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<i><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">SAW</b><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> - Squad Automatic Weapon, or simply said, light machine gun. You need a Kantrael lasgun and a flamer, as shown. It's simple and good looking. Can be used as a Hot Shot volley gun, flamer, or just for aesthetics.</span></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8px;">As above, really cool, and would look good with or without the flamer cable.</span></span></div>
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<i><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Tundra 29</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"> - Another simply conversion, which should resemble an automatic shotgun (AA-12, Saiga 12). It's done in the same manner as the SAW, but without the flamer bit. Also left hand might require some modification, so don't forget to cover it with GS. I use them on Demolition SWS.</span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8px;">This is my personal favorite and actually looks to be a really simple conversion, and as I'm sure I'm not the only one looking for shotgun conversion options, this is really cool looking and would be great for shot gun vets.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8px;">Well there you have it, some great conversions from Mad Hawky, and thank you for sending them in and allowing me to share them.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8px;">Cadia Stands!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8px;">GG</span></span>Grumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-38845507616964446042017-03-23T08:20:00.002-07:002017-03-23T08:20:45.093-07:008th Edition News drops from Adepticon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well our first big news regarding the upcoming changes to 40k have dropped from Adepticon. Not only rumors but also new Death Guard models have been revealed and Mortarion has pretty much been confirmed as the next Primarch (daemon obviously). As far as 40k, it is looking that we are going to get some Age of Sigmar rules, but also a return of rules from Older Editions of 40k.<br />
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Two things that I find good are that GW is looking to implement a Generals Handbook to 40k that will have three ways to play, basically Unbound, Narrative, and Competitive play. Basically not a major change as we essentially have Unbound and Narrative currently, though most likely will see changes to what a Battle Forged army will be in Narrative and Competitive. On top of this will be rewards for building armies "true to Fluff". They are looking at implementing a command pts system and giving buffs to armies that retain true to their lore. So you build an all IG army, you get buffs. You build a less fluffy power list, you don't get buffs (well you do in the synergies that army has).<br />
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I like that they are going to reward armies that keep true to the lore. Really interested to see how these command pts are implemented. Movement values are going to change, rather than unit type movement, it will be unit specific, this is similar to AoS but really this is a call back to 2nd Edition so not really an Sigmarization, just bringing back old rules. This isn't really any simpler that how it is currently, as there are really only 3 movement types for basic infantry, with 6" being standard, then most other unit types move 12" or some variation. To be honest, movement is easy to understand and this doesn't really simplify the game. Sure you just need to know your units movement value, but its not like it was hard to figure out to begin with.<br />
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They are looking to return armor save modifiers, will be interesting to see how this is implemented, as I'm not sure how much of a fan I am of this, will see. Basically shooting attacks will modify the armor save based on the weapon. So not sure if this will mean the ap value will just modify the armor save rather than ignore it. Marines might get tougher to kill, but no luck for guard.<br />
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For assaults, looking to return to charging models going first in combat, but unless they change how charging through cover works the issue will still remain with assault units that lack assault grenades will still be as bad as they are now. In addition looking to adopt battle shock from AoS, so if you lose combat you roll D6 and add the number of models you lost combat by and subtract your leadership, you lose that many models. Not sure how I feel about this, as I honestly like how combat is resolved, and with it looking like sweeping advances and other staples of the assault phase going away. Again though this will depend how this is implemented and what the whole assault phase looks like in the new edition. <br />
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These are just initial hints at what is to come, so really it is hard to say how these initial hints are either good or bad as it matters how it fits into the whole. As long as these differences are balanced for all armies and don't just screw a few armies, then that is fine. To be honest though, not much here is really simplifying the game, more just changing the same complexity to different places. Rather than movement being in the main book its on the units. Its easier to know your army, but good fucking luck knowing everything's movement value. Thats not "simpler". <br />
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Overall though, I am liking what I am seeing, and looking forward to see more. I really hope though that vehicles remain vehicles, with armor values and everything. Small arms fire should not be able to hurt tanks. Yes MCs can be hurt by a lot of fire, but its almost impossible to one shot an MC, and though I would like this to be the case, I feel this is an appropriate difference between the resiliency of metal monstrosities and flesh and bone monsters. So I really hope vehicles do not get massively changed. Will be interesting to hear more.<br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GG<br />
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<br />Grumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-16634711092286515272017-03-22T10:28:00.001-07:002017-03-22T10:28:28.779-07:00Astra Militarum Tactics: Nork Deddog<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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To continue with the Ogyrn theme, I'll be going over the Ogryn special character, Nork Deddog. Like all the special characters in the codex he is highly priced, but for what he does I think he is not too highly priced, unlike some (looking at you Straken). He can be taken in a CCS as an upgrade, and brings some interesting things to the table<br />
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So he is 85pts, which is 45pts over a standard Ogryn. You get standard ogryn rules, with hammer of wrath, very bulky, and importantly stubborn. Stubborn is quite good for a CCS, and helps insure they do not have negative modifiers for their leadership. In addition he has Feel no Pain, and Look out Arghh, meaning look out sirs will always pass and Nork will take them. Heroic sacrifice means that if Nork is removed as a casualty he makes his full complement attacks against the unit that killed him, even if he has already attacked, re-rolling both to hits and to wounds. He has Thunderous headbutt which exchanges his attacks for a single attack a +3 S (S8) Ap3 concussive, he can also use this attack in heroic sacrifice. Loyal to the end means he must declare a glorious intervention and automatically passes, and a commissar or lord commissar will never shoot him as a result of summary execution. His stats are a slighty buffed bone'ead with WS4, 4 attacks and leadership 8 and I 3, otherwise has normal ogryn stats. He has carapace armor, a ripper gun and frag grenades.<br />
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That is a lot, and what you have is a very survivable body guard. I would not consider this as building a close combat squad, but something to give your CCS added protection especially if they are dismounted. Carapace armor gives him a decent armor save and means most small arms won't get past his armor, with Feel no Pain to give added survivability. He's not invulnerable, but adds significant protection. Against shooting attacks though, it is limited as they will still wound on majority toughness, so the squad won't be significantly harder to wound. He is not going to be able to tank, as if out front you will have a lot of wounds put on him, and a 4+ only goes so far. <br />
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His main benefits are if you get assaulted, as then his toughness can help, and he has a decent number of attacks with his special attack not being bad as well. Being able to take wounds off your commander and taking their place in a challenge is quite good as he can fight pretty well against many characters, though will not stand up to close combat powerhouses.<br />
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Because his toughness will not be of significant use against shooting attacks, I find he works best in a CCS that does not contain your warlord. In a transport this gives a mobile ccs that can be kitted out with melta guns to go tank hunting, and with nork can push squishy units off of objectives. The commander can take a power weapon to assist, though not necessary. This isn't an assault squad per say, more of a shooting support squad that then has the assault to finish off the target if needed. This will also work well for monster hunting, as again the melta guns can do the majority of the damage and then nork can finish the monster off in CC. This won't work against close combat focused monsters, but against shooting ones it is effective.<br />
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Nork has a lot of potential, but because of the way shooting works, his Toughness doesn't get to come into play until the squad is essentially down to the commander and him. At that point you'll become much more survivable but nork will have to survive to this point. If guard had an assault vehicle, he could be a much better unit choice for a CCS. As it stands, the squad will have to be in the open for a turn before charging, but ideally this squad should be following other infantry or vet squads in transports around to lend orders and an assault if necessary. <br />
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As it stands, nork is bit expensive, though not to the point of being untakable. Positioned right in the squad, he can survive long enough for his toughness to come into play which will then make the commander much harder to kill. Really he should be positioned next to your commander with the rest of the CCS in front of them. It seems counter intuitive, but since he won't really be protecting them from shooting attacks till most of the squad dies, means if you place him up front he will be wounded much easier and carapace and feel no pain will only stop so many wounds. Nork offers the most protection from close combat, and since your opponent will know the close combat is where guard is generally weakest, a charge is very likely. Nork will help your squad survive but is best to assist with a melta command squad that is following other squads, using his close combat attacks to finish off vehicles and mcs and weaker squads on objectives.<br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GGGrumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-49521597037791992792017-03-21T09:25:00.001-07:002017-03-21T09:25:28.847-07:00Astra Militarum Tactics: Ogryns and Bullgryns<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ogryns and Bullgryns, the overcosted elites of the IG. Ogryns especially, they are expensive, have crappy armor, and no real way to get into close combat. Bullgryns, while not being the most points efficient unit, have some actual uses, they are better in CC than Ogryns, and are more survivable and can actually help your army out. I still think both need a pts reduction, but one is at least usable.<br />
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Lets get the bad out of the way. Ogryns have WS4 as they are a "melee" unit, sure I believe you GW. S and T 5 with 3 W. I 2 is not a huge issue, as guardsmen usually swing second anyway, and their T does help, they have 3 attacks, with the bone'ead having 4. Leadership 6 (7 for the 'ead) is an issue, but they are stubborn at least. They have hammer of wrath, which is something. Its not bad, but not enough in my opinion to make up for their 5+ armor. <br />
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The main issue with Ogryns is two fold, besides their pts. They are very bulky, so at most you can get 4 in a chimera, and having no assault vehicles, they will be out in the open for a turn. With only a 5+ save and lack of numbers and leadership to take losses, they are unlikely to be able to make a charge the following turn. <br />
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So can they be used? There is probably one way and that is keeping the squad minimal. 3 Ogryns in a transport, and since your going to want a character to fix their leadership issues, and doing so will make a chimera irrelevant, go with a standard taurox. Its cheaper, and it will have room for a single character. The Character you want is a Priest. Having Zealot and War hymns makes the most out of what ogryns want to do. Zealot ensures that if they lose an ogryn on their turn out of the transport, they will not run away. Zealot and war hymns give ogryns a close combat boost, re-rolling to hits first round and then I would use the re-roll to wound war hymn. This gives you the best boost to their first round of combat. <br />
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Now ogryns won't be competing for close combat unit of the year, so don't bother using them to kill super strong CC units. They don't have the numbers to tarpit a deathstar either, which will usually have a lot of S8 attacks, so their T is not going to help them out either. They are good though against middling CC units that don't have high S attacks, and great against most troop units. They are useful for assaulting troops on objectives, clearing them out for your troops to secure. <br />
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Their main problem is that Bullgryns are simply better, and have no loss of CC potential when compared to Ogryns. They are 5pts more per model, and have carapace armor, have the same number of attacks. They main thing that makes them useful though is their slab shield. The slab shield does a couple of good things. First it increases the Bullgryns armor save to 3+ when they are in base to base, the second is adding a +1 to the units cover save when they are in the way of shooting. So if in the open, thats a 4+ cover save, if the infantry is behind an aegis, thats a 3+ cover. This also is great for leman russes as well, as because they as so tall, they easily give the 25% coverage necessary for Obscuration for vehicles.<br />
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Bullgryns have some actual utility, as they loose non of the CC potential and can still be used in counter charges and protecting your tanks and infantry, they boost your cover save and are quite survivable themselves. Leadership is an issue, but priests are cheap. <br />
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If you are willing to spend some more pts, the Rampart Detachment in the Sanctus Reach campaign book, is quite good as well. Its spendy as you must have two 5 man squads and a PCS, but the benefits are quite good. The whole formation has Fearless, Counter attack, and fear. Added to that, you get a +1 to your cover save if partially obscured by models from this formation. So with slabshield Bullgryns, thats a +2 to your cover save, a 3+ cover in the open. The formation covers the main weakness bullgryns have, leadership. Well their fearless, and its straight up fearless, no unit required to stay alive. The PCS is a fair tax for fearless bullgryns giving a +2 to your cover saves. <br />
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I have used this formation and it is solid, you have ten bullgryns, spread each squad out in a line in base to base and even in BtB they still cover a lot of ground to give you a cover save. Whether advancing with leman russes or infantry they are a force multiplier.<br />
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Really there is no situation that ogryns do better. Bullgryns are more survivable and buff your units. Though expensive, bullgryns have enough utility to be taken, and if you are taking leman russes or lots of infantry, you should definitely consider taking a least a squad of them. They don't care about transports as they are survivable in the open. While not being the best units in the book, they are useful and can do enough to be worth taking.<br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GGGrumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-69020113524993369962017-03-19T11:36:00.000-07:002017-03-19T11:36:18.913-07:00Gathering Storm: Character Analysis<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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With the gathering storm series at an end, I want to go back and to take a look at the Imperial Characters again and go over the strengths for an Astra Militarum or Tempestus army. There are quite a few good options and a couple are just ok, but workable. I won't go into details of each statline or special rules as I have already done that in previous posts.<br />
<a name='more'></a>From the first book we have three solid characters in the form of Cawl, Celestine, and Greyfax. Greyfax is the cheapest at 150, the others are 200, but all are pretty reasonable for their price, though I think Greyfax is a little spendy for what she brings, but still doable.<br />
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Cawl, is simply a tank, and good in close combat, especially against weakly armored low toughness hordes with his mechadendrite hive, plus having a power ax or arc maul. And his pistol is great. The big thing, or two really, that puts him a step down as an IG choice is that he is best when he is warlord, so that he can reroll his FnP, but you could still take him as an HQ and someone else as warlord. I personally almost always want strategic traits. The other knock against him is the Canticles of the Archmagos. At first it seems great. But it only has a 12" bubble, which while not tiny, still means if you want him to be buffing your vehicles, he has to baby sit them, and the vehicles will need to stay relatively clumped up, making them susceptible to high strength low ap large blast weapons. And unfortunately he cannot repair or give Power of the Machine spirit out. The other main problem is that you are going to need quite a few Cult Mech units to actually get worthwhile canticles buff, as you'll need 4+ units to get the better results. So now he is actually getting more expensive.<br />
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This is doable, and Cawl is great if you want to basically deny slay the warlord, as he is very tough to kill, at least in CC. He is a bit easier to kill with shooting though. And Cult Mech units are not bad, so you can build an army around him, but your going to have to make some hard decisions on army composition. To me, if you want to run this, I see the Armored Company from Mont'ka being your imperial guard force, then spend the rest on Cult mech. Cawl with breachers can hold your battle line and make deep strikers and units trying to assault your russes pay for it, and the other battle servitors are solid. Throw a unit of the 1950s robots in for solid shooting and punching, and you have an army that is very tough to kill and shoots like a beast. You will struggle with maelstrom though, so be aware of that. You can take the previously mentioned cult mech detachment from Imperial Agents to get two more cheap<br />
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Really though, Cawl shines the best with a combined Cult Mech Skitarii army, especially with the Mechanicus detachment in the first Gathering storm book. He significantly buffs the skitarii vehicles and relatively speaking, the vehicles are cheaper, and even though they are walkers, are still just as mobile, more so with dunestrider ones, than leman russes. Cawl will really shine brightest in these combined Mechanicus armies. Overall I like Cawl, but I don't think he is the best choice for guard, he can work, but to make the use of the Canticles that you want you will need to spend a decent amount of pts on non IG units. Doable, but will really require care when building your list.<br />
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Celestine is another great character in the books. Personally, I think for general purposes, she is a better choice than Cawl. Cawl will work better in a few select builds, Celestine will work in just about any IG army you build. She is also another deny slay the warlord character, with her sisters and coming back to life. Plus the continually regenerating wds with being able to bring her sisters back to life. She is more mobile the cawl, and since her warlord trait only affects sisters (technically priests as well) you don't need to have her as warlord if you don't want to. Yes she does offer a good opportunity to deny slay the warlord, but she is still only T3, and even with eternal warrior she will still die pretty quickly to lots of High S AP2 shots, and Grav as well. Not taking her as warlord lets you be more aggressive with her, not worrying about her dying.<br />
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Her saintly blessings are all solid, but unlike canticles, does not require more units to make it effective, so unlike Cawl she does not need other units to make her work better. She brings solid CC ability and mobility and leadership and army buffs. She brings counter assault to IG, and can very quickly chew through 3+ save units that get into your face. And having a once per game S8 AP3 barrage large blast is not bad at all. Compared to Cawl, she is much more flexible and mobile and can work just as well as your warlord or not. And compared to Guilliman, she is cheaper while still providing some of the buffs. Basically she is the budget "primarch".<br />
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Greyfax is the interesting one. I actually like what she can do quite a bit. She brings another anti-psyker option to the table. She has three powers, two from telepathy, one of the best psychic tables, and has decent wargear and weapons. Her warlord trait is good, very solid, but you really don't want her as warlord, she only has a 3+ and no invul. But this is where Imperial Agents come in. Take her in the Inq Detachment as a lone inquisitor and you still get to make use of her warlord trait, but not having her as your warlord. <br />
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She brings you anti-psychic utility, as well as pushing back infiltrators. With her psyhic abilities she works best in a large blob with heavy weapons, having a good chance of getting either shrouded or invis, and her special power will make units trying to assault your line have a tough time doing it. Plus having a psyocculum give her unit BS ten against units that are psykers. She is does compete with a culexes and while not as great at denying powers, she is more survivable by being able to join units. <br />
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Moving to the third book, and continuing in the same vein, we have grand master Voldus. He is basically a Grey knight Grand Master and Librarian rolled into one. He is almost 100pts more than Greyfax at 240pts. He is a psychic beat stick, and gives you the option of strong psychic powers and a very solid close combat character with a Daemon hammer that swings at I5, which is very good. If he is warlord he gets a free power from Sanctic, which isn't bad. But to be honest he really isn't tough enough to get to the level of being tough to kill enough to deny warlord, as he does not have eternal warrior and termies are just not that hard to kill. Really he works well in a squad that is going to get close to the enemy so that he can buff them and then ensure that they can take the objective, with he beating to death most things that the squads shooting doesn't solve. He is ML3, so if you roll on the same table, you'll get the 4th power from psychic mastery so I would probably not bother with Warlord for him.<br />
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Cypher is interseting, he is 190 and has decent abilities plus shrouded. His problem is a 3+ save and no invul. And since infiltrate and fleet don't transfer to squads he joins, his utility is limited. To be honest, celestine has hit and run as well, is faster, can join units, buff units, and is tougher to kill. Plus cypher negatively affects your warlord. There is simply better options from these characters choices. If you want to bring an infiltrating squad of fallen space marines with cypher, that is probably the best way to take him. <br />
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The last is the big-G. He is 350 pts and a lord of war. He is just great for a gunline IG army, as he has all the command traits from the BRB if he is your warlord, which he will be, because why wouldn't you. He is very hard to kill with a 2+ 3++ and FnP and the chance to come back to life. His 3 shot S6 AP2 weapon is solid and his CC prowess is amazing. Then their is the leadership buffs he provides, not only all the command traits, but lord commander makes all your units on the table, no range limit, reroll failed morale fear and pinning checks while on the table.<br />
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He will make drop pod armies seriously sweat, as they will have to deal with him, and with an IG army, you really don't care that he is only going to be walking. He is just going to be walking around your line putting out fires and giving buffs. Fast armies trying to assault you are again going to have to face him when they get close.<br />
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He is not invulnerable, but damn is he hard to kill and presents a very tough choice for your opponent, and will shore up the main weakness of gunline armies, being drop pod or rapid bike armies getting in your face before you can shoot them to death. You have someone that is going to draw a lot of fire away from your guardsmen or vehicles, and will kill just about anything that gets into combat with him. <br />
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He has a steep cost, but can be very much worth it for a gunline army that doesn't care too much about rapid movement. He buffs IG leadership issues and their weakness in CC. While not being an auto take choice, he is something to consider and will work great in the right IG army.<br />
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So there you have it. Most of these characters are very strong choices. To me Celestine is probably the winner, being the most pts efficient for what she does. She isn't the toughest nor have the best buffs, but she is hard to kill, fast, great in CC, and hands out good buffs for a very good price. She is one of the easiest to fit into your armies. There are other great choices here as well though.<br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GG<br />
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<br />Grumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-20957716676045410732017-03-18T11:44:00.000-07:002017-03-18T11:58:43.012-07:00Which Imperial Guard Codex Was the Best<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For a little fun, going to look back through time and see which of our beloved codex was the best. Now this might be contentious for some, but really its fun to look back and see how the army has changed over the years. Despite the first few IG codex's we really haven't been plagued with bad books, at least when taken on their own. My personal favorite probably will surprise a few, but at the end of the day its a personal choice and its not all about which book was the Strongest game wise.<br />
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When I look back at all the IG books I have played, there really are only two that jump out and give me a warm and fuzzy feeling. Sure the current book is good, and definitely has the best orders overall, but its just uninspiring and boring to be honest. So for me, the two contenders are the 3.5 codex and the 5th codex. For those who maybe haven't been around since 3rd edition (or earlier), the 3.5 was the fabled Doctrines codex. But it had some drawbacks, there was a reduction in special characters and vehicle options that had been in the first 3rd edition IG codex (hence why it is referred to as the 3.5 codex). And to be quite honest, though my nostalgia goggles paint a rosy picture of the Doctrines system, looking at it now it is very clunky and only made minor differences in combat effectiveness. It was fun to play with, but a downside I encountered was that due to it being a bit convoluted, many non guard players didn't really understand it so there were a few cheaters out there, scraping a few extra pts, or "forgetting" to buy back unit selections. Granted it wasn't a huge problem, but there were a couple of guard players I wasn't to popular with who didn't like being called out on their "forgetfulness".<br />
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The 5th edition codex, which was really the next major update from 3.5, lost the doctrines, but saw a slew of old characters and vehicles return, along with many new ones. I look through this and there are so many special characters, as well as so many vehicles. And rules wise it is probably the most solid codex, especially during 5th, where leaf blower guard took many tables. But it wasn't just that specific build that was good. Though the doctrine system was gone, most of what you could do from doctrines was baked into the unit rules and the changes to how the army was built. Granted not all the special rules in doctrines carried over, but the army composition options that doctrines "gave" you, were simply allowed now with how the army was built.<br />
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Its important to remember that before the 5th codex, you could not take as many veteran squads as you wanted, nor mechanized squads. Doctrines gave you options to allow you to take these (though grenadiers let you take more storm troopers rather than veterans) and there certainly were some nice special rules, but in terms of all the guard regiment types you could build, it was still quite limited. It boiled down to slight variations on infantry armies, but the many other IG regiment types were still left out. And really the only real variant on the ig army that you "lost" from the doctrines book to the next was the drop troops, though that was one of the best, and even then not really, as you could do it with valkyries.<br />
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Part of the nostalgia I think is for some of the fun special rules, but there were only a few that were really good. Sometimes we forget the reality, and the reality is that Doctrines were OK. It also bears mention that the 3.5 lost a lot of unit and SC choices from the previous book. There seemed like a lot of flexibility, but when you got right down to it, the armies that you saw from that book really did not disappear with the codex change, they just morphed slightly. Added to the fact that the unique character units like priests, psykers, commissars, techpriests, got much better. Its important to note that most of these units were not that great in the 3.5 book. <br />
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It seems like I'm getting down on 3.5, but I'm not really, it still is one of the best books we have had. But there are some strong nostalgia goggles that overlook many of the weaknesses of that book and overstate the "greatness" of the doctrine system. <br />
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Personally I think 5th is the best IG book we have had. And to be honest, actually has more variety of play-styles than doctrines allowed. What could you really do with doctrines? Mech army (5th Check), Carapace BS4 infantry (5th Check), Drop troops (5th Check/mostly), light infantry (minus infiltrate, 5th Check), large numbers of infantry (5th Check). And thats really what doctrines gave you. What 5th allowed was the vehicle heavy regiments. Want a tank heavy army, check, artillery all day, check, air assualt, check. And you had all the special characters to add flavor. Commander Chenkov, Al'Rahem, Mogul Kamir, Sgt Bastonne, Marbo, Nork Deddog, Gunnery Sgt Harker, Colonel Straken. Sure you had Guant and Schaeffer, but 5th added so many characters to the army with most having very good rules. Also lets not forget orders!! I can't imagine not having them now, actually I can, and I don't miss not having them. <br />
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The 5th edition codex boiled down what doctrines allowed you to do and kept most of that flexibility while not having the exact same abilities. The only real loss was to infiltrating light infantry armies, and I have hope the future will see the catachans return. Other than that, 5th boasted far more flexibility and playstyles and made many of the units in the previous codex far better. Added to that was all the characters that could change, even if slightly, the way you played the army. For the first time, armored armies were a real possibility. And with storm troopers having the best rules they probably have ever had, minus their pts cost.<br />
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When I have to compare each in the totality, the 5th edition book wins, if only slightly. I love that book more than 3.5. While 3.5 was good, there were many frustrating things about it, from the army restrictions, to the lack of characters. Doctrines could be a headache as much as a salve. From book to book, I played far more styles of guard armies with 5th than with 3.5. This isn't about 5th being better on the table, which it was, I never played leafblower guard. In terms of how you wanted to build your army and play it, 5th simply had more options, with the majority being good. Fluff wise, its mostly a draw, as neither had amazing fluff sections. <br />
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So what do you think? Which book is your favorite?<br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GG<br />
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<i>Edit: I do really miss regimental officers and the company support platoon.</i><br />
<br />Grumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-72822721797916576852017-03-17T15:15:00.000-07:002017-03-17T15:15:29.452-07:00Astra Militarum Tactics: Orders<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Orders. The fundamental cornerstone of the Imperial Guard. Without it, the guard is just a bunch of mortals armed with angry flashlights and protected my reinforced cardboard. With it, an unbreakable wall of armor and flesh and unstoppable light. Mastering orders will bring victory, and it is no easy task to do this, as your army and situations will change, and how you apply your orders will not be the same every time.<br />
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To begin with, we must understand how orders work. The first is that in order to issue orders, the model must have the voice of command, which allows you to issue one order to a unit within 12" of the officer, with that unit taking a leadership check to see if it passes. Orders cannot be issued to units locked in combat, or gone to ground or falling back with the exception for orders that specify that you can (Get Back in the Fight). Senior Officer allows the officer to issue two orders a turn and can issue senior officer only orders. A few final things, Inspired Tactics and Incompetent Command, two sides of the same coin. For the first, a double 1 causes all following orders to be automatically passed. The second on a roll of double 6 the order fails and no more orders can be issued for the remainder of the turn.<br />
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Importantly, orders must be issued at the start of the shooting phase, so before you fire anything, you must issue all your orders and resolve them. This presents the main complication with orders, you must be careful to not fire anything before your orders, thus losing a turn of orders, sure a nice opponent might forgive the careless mistake, but its not good to reinforce bad habits, nor bring about suspicion of cheating as that is never fun. <br />
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The last few games I played I ran into the issue of having to decide whether to forgo orders with my scions and use the Tauroxes to destroy DE raider first and then use my infantry to take out the infantry inside, or have my infantry use their orders to try and destroy the raider and then use the vehicles to take out the infantry. In this case, as Tempestus is so limited on orders, I should have forgone orders to use the tauroxes to finish off the raider first. Its important to note that though rare, their will be situations where you may need to forgo orders and be aware of this. Sometimes it is better to keep your troops embarked rather than disembarking them just so you can get orders.<br />
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Now there is a way to help you out in this regard in the form of tank commanders. Though they have different orders, their orders must also be resolved at the beginning of the shooting phase, the same time as your other orders. Since whenever you have actions that must be resolved at the same time the controller player chooses the order, so you can use this your advantage by using the tank commander first to pop transports or other targets to give your infantry more options once his order is done.<br />
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As with tank commanders there are formations that helps solve the dilemma of resolving orders at the beginning of your turn when you may want your artillery or tanks to shoot first. With the artillery company in mont'ka, the company commander in the formation can issue orders to its vehicles, thus allowing you fire your artillery before your infantry.<br />
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Thankfully we no longer have to resolve orders from highest ranking officer to the lowest, so you can save those orders for last if needed, giving you flexibility. Your senior officer orders are where the most valuable orders lie and target priority is key, but just as important is using the right unit with the right order against the right target.<br />
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Orders need to used to remove key units from your opponents army, but you must use the right unit to complete the task. For example, using the ignores cover order against eldar jetbikes but using a unit that has no AP3 weapons is a waste of the order. With a large unit that consists mostly of lasguns, first rank fire will be more effective from simply getting more wounds allocated to that unit, where it will likely have a 3+ save whether it jinks or not. You must always consider objectives as well, though you may want to simply lay waste with shooting, it is better to secure an objective. Unless you have so much firepower that you can devastate your opponent early on, take the objective. If you are only a short distance, you can still use the shoot then run order to not completely lose your shooting.<br />
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Because orders are issued at the start, when you are shooting with your vehicles, always consider what orders you need to issue NEXT turn. Your vehicle part of your shooting phase is the first part of your next turns shooting phase! This is especially important when dealing with transports, as you will want to have the occupants exposed to your fire. It will be unlikely that all your infantry shooting will take out every target that you needed to that turn. Use your vehicles to set your infantry up for next turns shooting phase.<br />
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Target priority in the early game, especially first turn, needs to be on your opponents force multipliers. For example in the case of Tau it is their markerlight support. For psychic opponents this will depend on the powers and whether you go first. If they have invisibility, and you have first turn, focusing on those units first is key. However if you do not go first and your opponent gets invisibility off, then you must ignore that unit and focus fire on other targets of high priority. Unfortunately, in most cases there is little that orders can do against psychic death stars without a way to counter them.<br />
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Now I have not gone into each order in detail, and there is a reason for that, mostly because I have already gone over them and if your a guard player you have your own codex. This is not about the details of each order, but how you must think when applying them in the totality of the game. Your orders must build off each other to win the game. And always remember to win the game you must score objectives. Killing enemy units is a means to that end, not an end in and of itself.<br />
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One the biggest mistakes is getting greedy, and forgetting what you really need to accomplish. Orders are limited and must be used against high priority targets, don't get greedy and use them against a unit that can be dealt with later or with shooting that does not require orders. Other cases can be when you use split fire to try and take multiple vehicles out. Will that one shot guarantee a kill? You might get lucky, but luck is a terrible strategy. Better to ensure one unit dies, than hope you'll get a lucky shot.<br />
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In the end, using orders to maximum effect requires you to think beyond the turn you are in and to know how your opponents army works. Easier said then done, and with all the different factions out there, you will learn the hard way sometimes and that is ok. Losing is a great way to learn. Know what your units can realistically accomplish, luck can occasionally save you, but it will just as often damn you. Build your army so that orders can be used to maximum affect. Sure ignores cover is nice on three missile launchers, but when you need six to get the job done, the orders will only take you so far. Hope this helps and gets you thinking on how to get the most out of your orders.<br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GGGrumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-47553921556753065212017-03-15T10:57:00.000-07:002017-03-15T11:12:42.197-07:00Astra Militarum Tactics: Imperial Agents Shenanigans <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The somewhat recently released Imperial Agents book has some little gems inside it for the Imperial Guard to consider. For the most part, there is nothing too special with the Sisters or GKs, and the deathwatch is ok, but I'd rather go the allied detachment route for DW than the detachment in the book here. That being said there are a few choices that are strong consideration.<br />
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The first little one to consider is the Cult Mechanicus faction. The detachment is 1 HQ and 1 elite, they have the Cult Mech Faction, and the HQ must be a Techpriest Enginseer, and the Elite must be a servitor. Units from this detachment have Canticles of the Omnissiah. Now you only get two units so not a high result, but, this opens up some options later on. The Enginseer is the same stat wise as the one in the AM codex, and has the same rules, so thankfully even though he is Cult Mech, he can still repair friendly vehicles and give PoMS to AM vehicles. He has a few extra options, the most notable is that he can now take a refractor field for 10pts, giving him an invul save, which is pretty solid as these guys can die quickly to AP3 weapons, so a small boost to survivability is welcome. The servitors are the same, with the same options.<br />
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Where this starts to get interesting is when you start thinking about taking Cawl for canticles of the Archmagos for protecting your tanks. His main drawback is that you are going to need to take relatively expensive units from Cult Mech to get enough to make the canticles worth while. With this detachment, you are getting two cheap units with Canticles, then Cawl for 3, if you take him in an allied detachment and take two battle servitor squads, you now have 5. For a tank army, that is already going to be considering a techpriest and servitors, that gives you something to think about. The electropriest are cheaper, but they are really squishy and don't do enough in my opinion, rather get the battle servitors that will be more useful. This way you can get use out of Cawl's canticles, for the cheapest way. <br />
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The next interesting section is the Aeronautica Imperialis, which is a detachment with one fast attack mandatory and an optional HQ. The mandatory fast a attack is a Valkyrie, which is exactly the same as the AM book, with the FAQ these Valkyries can transport units from AM, MT, and INQ as if they were the same faction, so you can have a sweet flying ride for your INQ henchmen or if you have a combined army of Tempestus and AM, the valk can take any of those squads during deployment. This detachment can re-rolls failed reserve rolls as well. The optional HQ is an officer of the fleet, who is an IC and has the usual options that he can take from AM, but can also take a refractor field. This is actually quite solid for Tempestus armies, giving you a super cheap reserve modifier, and if you are already taking a valkyrie, well, no issues. He is 20pts, 30 with a refractor, so you have the cheapest way to get a reserve modifier with your Tempestus army. As for a standard guard army, well if you are going with some INQ, then maybe as he is able to join units, but really you can just take him in a command squad. So if you are not taking a CCS, then maybe consider this.<br />
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Now for something I really like, the Adeptus Astra-telepathica. This detachment is compulsory 1 HQ and 1-3 Elites optional. They have the Astra-telepathica faction, but otherwise are the same psykers from the AM book. You have the Primaris psyker, who is exactly the same, nothing to really note here, but the Astropath? Oh boy this guy is a nice little upgrade from the standard astropath in AM. His base cost is the same at 25. Now though things get interesting, he can chose from Telepathy AND Divination, and he can be upgraded to ML2 for 25pts (50pts total), and he is an IC, and he can take a refractor field. Oh and he also has astropathic orders, which means if he successfully manifests a power, you can reroll your reserve rolls next turn. Yeah, I like this. He is basically the cheapest ML2 psyker that can access telepathy. And he doesn't have to be in CCS. So you can throw him with a vet squad in a chimera and go to town. The detachment also has Empyric Link, which means if the Primaris or Astropath is within 12" of 5 or more wyrdvane psykers, their powers manifest on a 3+, the wyrdvanes must be from this detachment, which are the optional elites choice. There is no change to the wyrdvanes. But for a super cheap ML Divination or Telepathy psyker, oh boy I like this, lots of utility out of this guy.<br />
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The inquisition has one little thing from this book that I want to touch on. And that is that the little detachment, which requires only a single inquisitor, can still have a warlord trait even if not your warlord. Oh hello greyfax. So you can still have your normal Warlord rolls, and if you are talking creed, you are getting three warlord traits. This makes a cheap ass inquisitor a solid thing to consider for an extra warlord trait. The only inquisitor that doesn't really get mileage out of this is Coteaz, as then you are losing the Obsec bonus he gives his detachment, and his warlord trait only really affects daemons. But for greyfax and stock standard inquisitors, this is a solid option.<br />
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The rest of the options here are nothing really special in terms of IG or MT. The other factions are just as useful as an allied detachment or separate CAD, and assassins are the same as in the Mont'ka supplement, so really this is only for if you don't have Mont'ka and want assassins.<br />
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There are quite a few little tricks this book has to offer for the guard and scions, with the Astropath being the standout winner in my opinion.<br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GGGrumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-54419249203417943962017-03-14T12:39:00.001-07:002017-03-14T12:39:18.599-07:00Armageddon Shadow War: Necromunda Reborn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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GW said that there was going to be many things to come in the near future and here is our first teaser of things to come. Armageddon shadow war is going to be a boxed game, similar to their other recently released boxed games that have been pretty darn good, that is a skirmish game set in the hives of Armageddon. Sound familiar? Well if you are new to the hobby, GW used to have tons of specialist games, but discontinued them a while ago, with them only returning in the last year or so. Necromunda was one of the most popular, set in the myriad hives of the Imperium, with small gangs fighting over turf. It was a small skirmish game. This appears to be its spiritual successor.<br />
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Initial info is that it will see Blood Angel Scouts facing off against Ork Boys, but from the 40K facebook page, they are hinting that the game won't be limited to just these factions in the future. I have to say, I did not expect this, though in hindsight this should have been plain as day that they were going to do this. <br />
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Calth, Prospero, Deathwatch Overkill, Lost Patrol, Execution Force, Space Hulk, Bloodbowl! Do I need to continue? These 40k board games are really a brilliant strategy. Lets face it, most of our family and friends are not going to be picking up 40k, sure we have a gaming buddies, but I know most of my family and friends have no desire to spend the money and time to get into the hobby. This is where these board games come in. Board games are easily accessible, and far more people play them than table top miniatures. While my family has little interested in playing 40k, they are more than happy to play board games. These cross that gap, creating a bridge. <br />
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They are not cheap, but they aren't aimed at casual family board gamers. They are aimed at you, with nearly all being a good price for the models included and the game itself. So you get some models, and you can get your friends a family to play a little table top without them even realizing it. Its a brilliant strategy when you think about it.<br />
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And as to this one in particular, Necromunda was massively popular back in the day, so getting a successor to it is something that I am interested in, as I love skirmish level games, but unlike kill team, these are kept somewhat within the realm of board games, thus easier for non table top players to swallow.<br />
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I'm looking forward to hearing more, maybe some Steel legion are in the works, though hinted by the 40k community team, that may just be a little smoke and mirrors, either way I am excited to see what else is in store. <br />
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Also, check out the warhammer tv <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/warhammer">twitch</a> page thursday, I think they go live 1500 GMT, as they have been talking about new releases and other community related things the last few weeks. Fridays they do 40k games as well. Weds are for Sigmar fans.<br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GGGrumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-34674339247603197182017-03-13T15:43:00.000-07:002017-03-13T16:23:46.534-07:00Gathering Storm III: Rise of the Primarch Rules<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Moving on to the rules section, this book has the least amount of rules, but only slightly. It has three characters and a few formations and a detachment. A little less than Fall of Cadia as it had one more detachment. This book has a little for the fallen and grey knights, but the big detachment is for the Ultramarines and the Primarch.<br />
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First up is Cypher. Nothing for him has really changed from the dataslate, he can't be in any army with dark angels models, and note that is ARMY, not detachment. So no, you can't have a dark angels detachment and then another different detachment with Cypher in it. The Fallen & Cypher are battle brothers with the Imperium and Chaos Space Marines. Allies of Convenience with all Eldar, Necrons, Orks, Renegade Knights, and Ynnari. Desperate allies with Tau and Come the Apoc with genestealer, tyranids, Chaos Daemons, Khorne Daemonkin. They don't like daemons but got no problem with Chaos Marines.<br />
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Cypher himself is 190pts, has his special pistols with a 16" bolt pistol and a plasma pistol that does not get hot. Blazing weapons allows him to fire each twice, or to run and shoot them once. He also uses them in CC, with half the attacks rounding up being the bolt pistol. Note it is just the S and AP profile he uses in CC so still uses WS for these attacks. He has frag and Krak grenades and has shrouded, eternal warrior, And they shall know no fear, fleet, hit and run, IC, infiltrate. His other unique special rules are As ye show, so shall ye reap, which means he can never be your warlord and your warlord suffers a -1 penalty to their leadership. Divine protection which means that if there is an enemy model within D6" of him when he is removed as a casualty, then he dies. If not then he escapes and does not reward victory pts. There is further rules to this when the opponent has Dark angels, which boil down to if a Dark angel model captures him the player with dark angels gets 3 victory points, if he dies and the model is not dark angel, no victory pts are assigned, and if cypher lives and is not forced to escape or captured, the owning player gets D3. This is more for fluffy games.<br />
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His stat line is WS7 BS 10 S 4 T 4 W3 I 8 A3 Ld 10 and a 3+ save. He is alright in my opinion, he is just shy of 200pts and though he has eternal warrior, he has no invul save. He will be tough to dig out of cover, but there is a good amount of ignores cover to put to use against him. That and the negative leadership modifier to your warlord puts him off for me. But with the right unit, he can use hit and run to sling shot around to targets. He could definitely see use in the formation though.<br />
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The fallen are space marines veterans with 2 attacks base and having Ld 10, with the base 5 man squad costing 100pts. They all do have boltguns, bolt pistols and CCW, so they can shoot and charge with their pistols. They can take a single heavy weapon, and up to 5 special weapons(if no heavy weapon is taken) or up to 4 power weapons, and then a 5th for the champion. The heavy weapons I don't being to useful. This squad will be better kitted out for close combat or with combi-weapons or special weapons. Where it really stands a chance of being used is the Fallen Champions formation which is Cypher and 1-3 Fallen squads. They all get infiltrate and any of the fallen squads within 12" of Cypher have stubborn and ATSKNF. A full squad kitted out with melta guns or assault weapons, infiltrate into some good cover for the shrouding cypher offers and with Ld 10 and ATSKNF and this is a hard unit to move. This could actually be good for armies that lack powerful infiltrating units, as your opponent will need to dedicate so significant fire to remove. Granted this will cost you near 500pts once all is said and done with upgrades, but I can see this actually being used.<br />
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The grey knights get Grand Master Voldus, who is 240pts. He has terminator armor and an iron halo for a 2+ 4++, and usual grey knights wargear. His hammer is pretty nice in that it has all the characteristics of a daemon hammer, but is not unweildy, so he has a S8 AP2 weapon striking at I 5. Not bad at all. Otherwise he is WS 6 BS 5 has 5 Wds and 4 A. He has the Aegis, Purity of Spirit, ATSKNF, IC, Preferred enemy daemons, and Psyker Mastery level 3. In addition he can can generate 4 psychic powers, but 1 must be from Sanctic. He can generate from Sanctic, Divination, Fulmination, Geokinesis, Librarius, Pyromancy, Technomancy, Telekinesis, and Telepathy. He is a bit spendy but is pretty darn good, with 4 powers and a S8 AP2 weapon that strikes at his initiative. Like the other books, he can be taken as an HQ choice for any armies of the imperium. So if you are looking for psychic beat stick and need help against daemons, he is not a bad choice.<br />
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The bulwark of purity is the grey knight formation, which is 1 Librarian, 2 Paladin Squads, and 2 Terminator Squads. The librarian must be a Grey Knight and must have terminator armor, and no unit in the formation can take a transport. Their special rules are bulwark formation, while you have 3 or more units of this formation on the battlefield, you add 1 to your deny the witch tests. Aura of Purity, while 3 or more of these units are on the battlefield, if any unit in this formation casts banishment, all units with the daemon special rule are affected if within 12" of any of the units from this formation. Its not a bad formation and is really meant to take on daemons, so probably won't be seeing a ton of use. There is some special rules for daemonic adversaries when playing against grey knights, but its mostly just for fluff games as both players have to agree to use it.<br />
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Now the big boy himself Roboute Guiliman. He is a Lord of War, and 350pts. His stats are WS9 and then 6s across the board and Ld10. His armor of Fate is a 2+ 3++ and if he dies, you place a marker and on a 4+ he returns with D3 wds left. He is pretty tough to kill. He has the hand of dominion and sword of the emperor, which are used as one weapon in close combat so no extra attack there. It is S10 AP 1 with Armorbane, Concussive, Soul Blaze, Touch of the Emperor, and Whirling flame. Touch of the emperor, on a hit roll of 6 that attack is resolved as S D. Whirling flame allows him to make attacks against all units within 1" of him, with the number of attacks being the number of models within 1" of him. I don't see this happening too much, as it will be hard to have more than 6 models within 1" of him, though some horde armies may occasionally get this. <br />
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He is Lord commander of the Imperium and as such all friendly units from the Armies of the Imperium reroll all failed morale, fear, and pinning checks while he is on the battlefield, no minimum distance. Primarch of the XIII legion allows you to enact the Tactical, Devastator, and Assault doctrines once per game, but all ultramarine models are affected by each doctrine. Unyielding will, His leadership is not subject to any negative modifiers of any kind, so this is the one case where Cypher wouldn't hurt. For his warlord trait, he knows all six command traits from the base rule book (BRB). All in all, he is a great force multiplier, and I actually see more use for him outside of space marine armies with his leadership bonus and all the command trait modifiers that he has.<br />
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The Triumvirate is all three new characters and each model can reroll one saving throw once per turn, and while Guilliman and Voldus are on the battlefield, all units of the Imperium have the stubborn special rule. The only real problem is that you won't have too many units due to the total cost of this formation. The Victrix Guard though is definitely intriguing and might make some appearances with Guilliman due to their buffs. It is Captain Sicarius, 1 unit of Honor Guard, and 4 units of Sternguard or Vanguard in any combination. They get fight like demigods, giving them all +1 to their WS and BS, and the Primarchs Chosen, which allows any unit within 3" of the Primarch to Look out Sir. While not a cheap formation, with the min size being 5 man units, you can put this and primarch in and it gives the Primarch a lot of ablative wounds to get up the field. Keeping to form though, no unit can take a transport, but really you don't want to with this formation, they have be dismounted and near the Primarch to really make use of the formation benefits. This will be seen for sure.<br />
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Next we have a warlord trait table and relics for Ultramarines. For the warlord table, 1 is Noble Visage: Reroll failed morale, fear and pinning when within 12" of the warlord and the units are Imperium. 2 Warden of Ultramar: Warlord has counter-attack. 3 Paragon of War: Warlord has preferred enemy. 4 Master of Strategy: add 4 to your seize the initiative roll (thats a 2+ seize). 5 Master of Tactics: You can discard a tactical objective card at the beginning of your turn and draw a new one if your warlord is alive (reroll if not using tactical objectives). 6 Adept of the Codex: warlord and friendly units within 6" of him have split fire. All really good traits.<br />
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For relics you have the Tarentian Cloak at 35pts and gives the bearer Eternal Warrior and It Will Not Die. Helm of Censure at 30pts and gives preferred enemy, but against Chaos Space Marines gives rerolls to all to hit and to wound rolls. Sanctic Halo is 15pts, captain only, and the bearer has Ad Will and Feel no Pain. Soldiers Blade is 20pts is essentially an AP2 power sword. The Standard of Macragge Inviolate is 60pts and friendly Ultramarines units within 12" have +1 leadership, the bearer and his unit have +1 attack while the bearer is alive, finally when a friendly ultramarines model is killed within 6" of the bearer, roll a 5+, that model can make an out of sequence shooting attack if it is the movement, psychic or shooting phase, or pile in and make its attacks if it is in the fight sub-phase. The Vengeance of Ultramar is 20pts and is a ranged weapon with 24" S1 AP5 Assault 4, poisoned 2+. <br />
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For the relics, most are ok. The banner has potential, if a large unit within its range dies, you have potential for a decent revenge attack, but it is expensive and short ranged. The sword is solid for an ap2 weapon that strikes at initiative and the Vengeance is good for what is essentially a 4 shot poisoned storm bolter. The cloak is reasonable to grant your warlord eternal warrior, that will see some use as well.<br />
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The last part of this is the Ultramarines detachment, the Victrix Strike force. It must include a Core choice and 1 Auxiliary choice, can include 3 command choices and for every core choice 1-10 Aux choices. So if you take 2 core, you must take 2 Aux. Its command benefits are Perfect Doctrine, you can enact Tactical, Devastator, and Assault doctrines once per game each, in addition you can enact any combination of these in the same turn. Each doctrine affects all ultramarines models in your army. All non vehicle models in this detachment also have objective secured and the last benefit is Son of Ultramar, which allows you to reroll your warlord trait on the ultramarines table if this is your primary detachment.<br />
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The Core choices for the detachment are the Battle Demi-company and Strike Force Ultra. Strike force command is one of the command choices and it is one of the following: Roboute Guilliman, Calgar, Captain, Chaplain, 0-1 Honor Guard, 0-1 Command Squad. The other Command Choices are the Reclusiam Command Squad and the Librarius Conclave. The Auxiliary choices are the Victrix Guard, Armored Task Force, 1st Company Task Force, Anti-Air Defense Force, 10th Company Task Force, Storm Wing, Suppression Force, Land Raider Spearhead, and Centurion Siegebreaker Cohort.<br />
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I can see this detachment being used for Ultra players. It has a lot of options and can include the Primarch and the Victrix formation, plus the other things to fill it out as desired. The Doctrines and having Obsec is really good for this detachment and I would expect this to be seen quite a bit, even absent Guilliman.<br />
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For me though, I don't think I will be taking the big G. He costs quite a bit, though he does provide a big amount of benefits, lessening the need for priests or commissars in an imperial guard army. And I really like the strategic traits, so I won't be benefiting from the command traits from the big G or I'm not getting strategic if I make him the warlord. I actually quite like grand master Voldus. He has a good save and invul and having the AP2 weapon strike at initiative is great. Plus the large access to psychic powers. I can see him in a 3 man unit of Ogryns in a chimera, moving them about to put out fires. Depending on the powers rolled, you can go for telepathy for some added survivability and you can use him to tank wounds. Not the most points efficient unit, but used right they can beat a lot of targets to death.<br />
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Overall, some good things in here and plenty of options to think about, though in the end I think Guilliman is bit too much pts for me, and Voldus probably as well. Time will tell.<br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GGGrumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-53764204363268929962017-03-12T13:50:00.002-07:002017-03-12T14:26:45.155-07:00Gathering Storm III: Rise of the Primarch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I got the book last night, and did not put it down till I read the whole thing. I won't go over the rules too much, as there is nothing that really interests me, though G-man has some interesting potential. The story though is satisfying, though the best parts are the beginning and end, the middle meanders a bit but overall not the worst storytelling ever.<br />
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Thankfully the story doesn't waste time with telling us the travels of the Ynnari and the Celestinians through the webway. They all met up in the last two books and agree to head to Ultramar, so rather than creating some contrived travel story, they jump right in, with them exiting the webway on Laphis, a shrineworld in the Macragge system. They decide this as they might be favorably received popping up on the Ultramarines homeworld all of a sudden.<br />
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All is not well as Abbadon has sent forces to tie the ultramarines up and presumably stop the merry band of heroes from completing their mission. They clear out the chaos forces attacking the local stronghold and make a strained introduction to the ultramarines, but are able to relay their message to the local ultra boys and are able to hitch a ride to Macragge. <br />
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Macragge is under heavy attack, primarily the fortress of Hera, which is also where G-man is enshrined. The merry band makes it through to the fortress and are greeted and taken to a round table of the Ultramarine special characters. Tiggy sides with them and convinces Calgar to allow them to go to the primarch. When they arrive though, Calgar is a bit pissed when he hears the details of their plan and is about to arrest them when a thunderhawk crashes into the sanctum, bearing raptors who plant an icon/homing beacon and proceed to jump about attacking the imperials. Then the fight escalates as terminators teleport in and Calgar and his veterans, along with the celestinians attack them. To calgars horror, he sees Tiggy assist Cawl and Yvraine despite his orders to stop them. Cawls reliquary is put in place and yvraine cuts the life support, as the G-man must first die in order to be resurrected. Then a whole company of black legion drop in via pods, turning the fight in their favor, with sorcerers battling tiggy and trying to bring down the whole building. Voldus teleports his fellow grey knights in and they join the fight, but the tide is still against them and calgar is beaten down.<br />
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Then the reliquary unfolds and behold, G-man is alive and well in a new suit of armor. He then proceeds to murder just about everything. Also there is a great moment in here where Greyfax and Celestine resolve their differences, the resurrection convincing her that Celestine is truly a part of the Emperors will. Its a good moment and I will say there are a good number of these sprinkled throughout the story. <br />
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With his awakening, G-man rallies the defenders and basically turns the tide of the battle, coordinating the counterattack and in short order clearing the fortress of all chaos forces. What I like bout most of the story is that G-man does not become a mary sue, though he continues fighting and defeating chaos forces, its not an instant win and the securing of the Macragge system takes months and losses are inflicted, no clean perfect wins. He is a primarch and as such a near unstoppable but, he doesn't just point and the war is won in a day.<br />
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He consolidates his position and assembles his forces to clear Ultramar from the chaos assault and there is some good portions where he comes to terms with the Imperium as it is. And first to tempt him is his brother Fulgrim, sending a servant in disguise as an imperial official who crowns him with laurels, where he is tempted to essentially become a despot. His thoughts of deposing his father jolt him and he removes the laurels and seizes the interloper, though hearing the mocking voice of his brother through the laurels.<br />
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His crusade to pacify his realm begins and its a good part of the book, with the weepers being infected by nurgle and though they are initially cured by G-mans presence, once he leaves the plague returns. Voldus knocks some sense into him, basically stating that nurgle is toying with him to keep him tied up in ultarmar. <br />
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G-man then decides to head to terra and launches his crusade. This part does drag on, as they get sent into the Maelstrom by magnus, then eventually captured by fateweaver and the red corsairs. Fateweavers plans get ruined when khorne shows up because he just wants a primarch skull. At this point, harlies show up with Cypher, who frees the captured crusaders, and G-man agrees to take cypher to terra.<br />
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They escape into the webway and make for the throne world, though they realize that the thousand sons are on their tail and that Magnus had planned for the primarch to escape, that he wants to follow them to terra. The harlies reveal that there is a portal on Luna and they make it there with the Thousand sons close on their heels. They fight on the moon and do well initially until Magnus shows up and goes super saiyan and makes his rubric marines invulnerable and then the brothers showdown, with the G-man slowly losing ground with nothing to counter all of Magnus magic. But the battle has drawn the attention of Terras defenders and the Custodes and Imperial fists drop in, along with a force of the Sisters of Silence, who join with G-man and protect him from Magnus. The battle continues and eventually Magnus is driven back into the portal, with the Harlies cutting the portal off at the exact moment, with it being inferred that magnus has now been trapped deep within the webway. The last of the thousand sons are finished off and the primarch is taken to Terra.<br />
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There is some politicking and the usual grim dark scenery of the masses of humanity, but they make it to the door of the throne room, where the custodes announce that only the Primarch will be allowed to see the Emperor. Cypher is pissed, but the custodes close in too quick and he and his fallen are captured. He of course escapes, but that is the end of his mention in the book. The interesting part is that G-man recognizes the sword he carries and it fills him with dread and that he would never allow it to be brought within the presence of the Emperor. Based on this new info, I wonder if this is possibly the laer blade, the one that corrupts fulgrim during the heresy, probably not, though I can't think of another sword that G-man would recognize and be filled with dread over. Probably will never know.<br />
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G-man take control of the High Lords of Terra, kicks a few of them off and replaces them with ones handpicked by him and basically sets things up for the counter attack against the black crusade. There a lot of little hints at the end, with the mechanicum being hinted at just about to complete some major task and new weapons being built. New ships and forces are being assembled. <br />
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Overall, I liked the story, I feel it does the primarch justice and really captures the man out of time and the pain he feels seeing the imperium as it is. He does not become a mary sue, he has his flaws that are exploited by chaos and through it all overcomes. Its not a masterwork by no means, but probably the best written of the three Gathering Storm books.<br />
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Though nothing massively shattering has really happened, its set things up for the story to continue, with G-man marshaling the imperial forces to stand a fighting chance against the black crusade, the Admech is set up to do new things, and cypher is now on terra, though it remains to be seen what will happen with him. Really not much they can do with him, as revealing his purpose and and the mystery ruins the character, so his story would have to end at that point, and GW is not about to end the story of a model they just remade.<br />
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As for the rules, there are some interesting things here. The fallen have a formation that gives any of the fallen squads stubborn and And They Shall no Know Fear when within 12" of him. The grey knight formation isn't bad, as long as one squad casts banishment, its affects are resolved as if all the squads in the formation had. The rest is Ultra marine focused. I'll prob go over that later, but I don't plan on running the primarch so will save that for later. <br />
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I recommend this book, as the story is the best of the three, and one that is probably worth having. <br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GGGrumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-15477475828186537132017-03-11T17:11:00.001-08:002017-03-12T17:50:35.147-07:00Batrep: Militarum Tempestus Vs Dark Eldar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Rematch! Going up against the Dark eldar again with my Tempestus. Still using the Castellans of the Imperium detachment, only real changes to my list was the hydras, dropping the vendetta. Played around with troops, dropping some guys from one squad to give me another 5 man squad. We played Maelstrom mission 4, the one where you can steal objective cards from your opponent. I got first turn, stealth ruins for warlord, and shriek + Shrouded + Hallucinate for coteaz. He got the infiltrate warlord trait, but forgot to use it, and failed to seize. Learning from my last game, I spread out more prevent being locked into a corner. He had most of his force grouped up, using the big rock to block LoS from the Hydras. Turn 1 I moved tauroxes up to the two objectives on my left. The two on my right moved up as well. Coteaz stayed in the ruins and popped off shrouding. The assassin stayed on top of the ruins.<br />
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For shooting, the vindicare killed the beastmaster, dropping that squads leadership. Then the hydras with nothing else to shoot, opened up on the beasts, and I got 5 hits! Some early luck, and all 5 wounded, killing all of the dogs and one clawed fiend. Few other units shot at them but it didn't matter. My tauroxes in the middle shot at the middle raider with the grotesques but he passed every single jink save. This raider would turn out to be very resilient. The tauroxes on the right were able to kill the raider carrying the archon court. For my I scored three objectives, on being D3 which I got the full 3 pts for, giving me 5pts.<br />
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His beastpack failed it's morale running off the table, giving me first blood. He moved the raider in the center up to my center objective and the other raider with grotesques towards my two tauroxes on the right. The venoms and slyth moved to the objective on the right, he needed to hold it for two turns. He did some shooting, but I think he only got a glance an knocked a hull point off. He was not able to get one objective, I had units on it so was able to steal it. He got 1 pt that turn.<br />
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My turn two I fell back my tauroxes on the right, I should have moved them flat out, but lesson learned, I did not count on him making so damn many of his jink and FnP saves later. The tauroxes on the left moved towards the center to support taking out the grotesques. I got both my deepstriking melta squads in, dropping one by the raider and another on the center back objective in his deployment zone as i needed that objective. Shooting after disembarking most of my squads, I attempted to focus fire on the one raider with the center grotesques. This proved to be less fruitful as I used up a significant portion of my vehicle and infantry firepower. I should have not ordered so I could have saved my squad shooting, but I need to issue three orders as an objective. After a significant portion of shooting, I finally wrecked the raider, with the assassin dealing the deathblow. I was also able to strip two hullpoints off the incubi raider and shake, which was great as it was not able to move. My one deepstriking melta squad blew up a ravager. Coteaz failed his psychic phase but moved towards the center. I was able to score two more objectives, putting me at 8.</div>
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He disembarked his other grotesques, and moved his venoms about and his court to kill the one melta squad. The incubi hopped out and made a for the other melta squad for a long charge. The ravager moved for some shooting. Shooting, his venom killed all but one in a scion plasma squad, and he was able to kill two in a command squad. The ravager wiffed again. Assaults, his grotesques in the center charged, I scored a few wounds on overwatch, and my prime accepted his heamonculi challenge, and was able to survive with one wound and score one on the heamonculi. But the grotesques wiped the everyone out. The other grotesques charged the tarouxes and were able to take a few hull pts but were not able to kill it. The incubi attempted charging the meta squad and failed their range and lost one guy to a melta overwatch shot. The one melta squad was killed by the court. He got a great round scoring two objectives with D3 for a total of 5 pts, and stole one from me and got one more, putting him back in the game for 7 to my 8.</div>
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Turn 3 for me, I moved my surviving squads back and the tauroxes. I should have just flat outed away at this pt, as the grotesques were on foot. Anyways I moved my left units towards the center to deal with his grotesques that had just murdered my squads. My back field melta squad was able to blast a raider and I was able to bring down a venom. The ravager jinked, surviving, but he was neutralized for a turn. Then I attempted to finish off the center grotesque squad, in which everything had taken at least one wound, and most were on their last. Alas after significant fire power, they all remained standing, though all were down to their last wound. Coteaz and friends failed their charge, I should have ordered fleet on them. I will say, the grotesques being T6, as he got the +1 to T from his table at the beginning of the game made a huge difference. I forget who the vindicare killed this turn, he finished the venom off I believe as he made most of his jink saves. Which I will add, my opponent could roll 5s like no other, made so many feel no pain and cover saves during the game.</div>
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His turn he got his jet fighter on, which used the rocks to gain some cover from the hydras. He then proceeded to kill most of coteaz's squad with it, leaving only the coteaz and a scion. The incubi moved towards the melta squad, and he moved his other grotesques up. Charging, his incubi lost another to overwatch but made it in, killing the scions. But they came back! The grotesques charged coteaz and I made a lot of armor saves on my scion, something like 8 or 9. But one wound was left, and it was an instant death. What did I roll for my 2+ armor save, yup a 1. Bye bye coteaz. The grotesques on the other side finished off a few scions and a taurox. He scored big this turn with 3 D3 objectives, putting him up to 12pts to my 8. One other scion squad also made its return roll as well though, so I had two more squads coming back in.<br />
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I deep striked the two squads back into his back field, as I needed the objective. My one taurox on the left immobilized itself, as it would not be a game with Tempestus for me if I did not roll double 1s on my dangerous terrain. I moved one taurox back too line up his lone heamonculi and my gatling taurox to line up shots on the grotesques. Shooting the hydras were not able to bring down the razorwing. The taurox was able to get the haemonculi on his last wound and the vindicare finished him off. My returning scions got revenge and finished off the incubi and got a hull point on the ravager. Then the rest of my shooting took out the grotesques in the middle. Finally. I was able to score 2 pts this round, putting me up to 10.<br />
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His turn he moved towards my deepstriked scions and moved his groteseques to try and chase down a taurox. He was a able to kill a few scions, but most of his damage was from the razorwing, killing a squad that had finished off the grotesques. He got his objectives though and scored another 3 pts putting him to 15.<br />
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My turn, I moved the taurox back and lined my self up best I could. Luckily I drew objectives that I could get, with one to destroy a flyer and another to destroy a vehicle, so as long as I could bring down the razorwing, I would score two. I already had the objective so that was also in the bag. The Hydras had clear line and opened up, but even with all the pens and glances, it was barely enough to bring the flyer crashing down. Unfortunately it didn't scatter onto any of his units. Made more shots but the only real thing of note was the vindicare immobilizing the ravager. But I got my three pts and it was 13 to 15. <br />
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His turn 5 the court hopped into the last raider and it moved out to make for a far objective he needed. The venom made for the center objective that the grotesques had died on, and the other grotesques moved again after the taurox. They failed their charge again and other than that his turn was uneventful with mostly just consisting of moving. He scored 1 pt, getting him to 16. Time to see if the game continued, but alas it did not. We tallied all the secondaries up and ended up with 17 to 16, with the dark eldar pulling out a narrow victory. One more turn, but alas was not to be. <br />
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It was a very close game and, really what helped him a lot is using the supremacy deck, which had harder objectives to get but most were D3 or more, so he was able to score a lot of pts in just a couple rounds. I made a few mistakes, but for the most part kept the game close. The vindicare was great, being the finisher for many targets. Coteaz, ugh, Obsec is great, but damn he is just not impressive, he dies so easily being only T3 and no eternal warrior. I'll keep him for now though. I am probably going to drop a bunch of plasma guns though, as they just explode in my face too often. The hydras were great, they were consistent in putting a lot of damage out and even when snap firing were decently reliable. Getting rid of the beastpack turn 1 was a huge boon to me as it secure my left flank and forced him into range of my hydras. </div>
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All in all, though I did not win, I consider it a successful revenge on the dark eldar. And I just love maelstrom, so much more tactical than the old eternal war missions. I will probably be giving the scions a rest for a little bit though, as I am itching to bring the guard out for some table time.</div>
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Cadia Stands!</div>
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Grumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-59249293845101205812017-03-10T10:12:00.000-08:002017-03-12T14:25:46.377-07:00Astra Militarum Tactics: Hellhounds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Yesterday was about the model, today is about it's tactics. The hellhound and its variants are all quite solid in what they have as weapons and their abilities. Their main drawback is that they are not cheap, with them being at base cost of some of the leman russ variants. Now they can move 12" but I don't think that is enough of an ability to justify the same price as the cheaper leman russes. That being said, they are not bad, just not necessarily optimal.<br />
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The hellhound consists of three variants, the first being the standard hellhound with the inferno cannon a torrent S6 AP4 template weapon. All the variants come stock with hull heavy bolter which can be switched to heavy flamer for free and multi melta for 10pts. This guy runs in at 125pts, 5pt more than an Eradicator, which has a S6 AP4 ignores cover large blast. Yeah the Russ will scatter, but you see where some of the issues come in with the price of the hellhound.<br />
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The hound does have some tricks up its sleave though, with it being a fast vehicle, and it having 12 side armor. Fast gives it the ability to move 12" and fire both its weapons, and flat out 12" giving you a 24" move turn one. With the torrent weapon, it has a pretty solid threat range out of the gate. One unfortunate thing though with all the hellhounds is that they do not come with smoke launchers stock, so you are going to have to pay for them. Which you should, as they are going to need to get close, and unlikely to get in range turn 1, popping smoke gives them added survivability.<br />
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For all the variants, they work best in pairs. This adds to the chances of getting in range and increases their damage potential when they do. Use them as flankers and get into position and clear medium infantry from objectives. Hellhounds work best when supporting infantry, especially mechanized, as they can position themselves on the sides of your chimeras to cover their side armor of 10, with the hellhounds having 12 side armor. This also forces your opponent to choose between your ObSec infantry or the hellhounds.<br />
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The Devil Dog is my personal favorite just because I think its cool. Its 135pts and has a melta cannon, which is a 24" small blast melta weapon. Scatter can be an issue, but a pair of these with multi-melta hull weapons will reliably kill a vehicle in melta range. Why take them over russes? Well that depends on your play style. Again these compliment fast moving mechanized infantry, who can bring anti-infantry weapons to support them. The Devil dogs can root out vehicles and heavy infantry. You are taking them for their mobility and speed over the russ and still retain anti-armor capabilities. Use them as flankers, or if facing a deepstrike or drop pod army you can reserve them to come in after all the drop pods have landed, protecting them from alpha strike.<br />
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The Bane wolf has the best potential use in the current meta. Its 130pts and has a poisoned 2+ template weapon at AP3. It will murder eldar and marine bikes with ease. It is not torrent which is its main disadvantage. A pair is a must, as their deadliness against these unit is well known and they will be a high priority target. You will need to play cagey with them, hide them or reserve them, and wait for the enemy to get close. Then pop out to strike. Infantry support is also highly recommended, as you will want to use the bane wolves to clear objectives for your own to take. The choice on whether to reserve them or not is going to depend on the army you are facing. If it is white scars bikers that are scouting, and have first turn, then its best to keep them on, and find a good spot to keep them out of range of the majority of turn 1 shooting. Against Eldar, it depends on the armies anti-tank ranged shooting. If they don't have a lot, then hiding them behind LoS blocking terrain is more than fine. Otherwise consider reserves, especially if you have reserve manipulation.<br />
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The bane wolf, being the best choice, makes it in some ways the worst. It will be the hardest to use as its deadliness is very well known and will have a lot of firepower pointed its way. But if you can keep it alive long enough to clear a few bike squads, it will pay for itself. The key is keeping it alive long enough to do this, and protecting it from assaults, as it will need to get right up close to use its weapons.<br />
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None of the hellhound variants are bad. The suffer from simply being a bit too expensive. They are fast though and if you need mobile firepower, they are a strong choice to consider if you need something faster than ruses. They work better in numbers, and with mechanized infantry. Hopefully they will get a pts drop eventually.<br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GGGrumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-10951717858729573862017-03-09T10:58:00.001-08:002017-03-12T14:25:55.432-07:00Hobby Post: Swap-able Hellhound Weapons<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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To continue off of yesterday's theme, we have another cost saving hobby advice post, this time for the Hellhound kit. The updated kit is very easy to keep it customizable for you to change it out on the fly. This way with one model, you can have a hellhound, devil dog, or bane wolf depending on how you want to take it. You don't need to buy three kits to have one of each! The hull weapons are not as hard as it seems to get them to fit without glue.<br />
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For the main weapons, and hull, I just assembled them as normal. The same for the tank, but did not glue the weapons to the model. Next I primed both the tank and the weapons. Once primed I tested the fit, to see how well they sat. In this case, both the chem cannon and melta cannon fit snug, but the inferno cannon was a little loose. No worries it was an easy fix. On the square peg of the weapon that slides into the squad hole of barrel, I put heavy coats of paint on the peg to create a tighter fit. Normally gobs of paint are not advised, but here its ok. I recommend doing it one coat at a time and testing the fit each time it dries. <br />
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The same goes for the hull weapons, painted the weapons and the slot are stickier due to the added friction of the paint, and again only the heavy flamer was a loose, so similar to the main weapons, added more paint to the back part of the weapon that fits into the hull slot. After a few coats it fit much more snugly. I recommend a small plastic bag for the weapons for transport so you don't lose them.<br />
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Here is the standard hellhound, both weapons fit snug, and I even lifted it up and dropped it and the weapons stayed in. Obviously a significant drop is not advised and a hard drop will result in the weapons falling out, but moving it about the table you won't be constantly putting the weapons back on.<br />
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Bane wolf, again all fit snug.<br />
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Devil dog, again no issues.<br />
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So there you have it. Another easy cost saving measure. I wish I had realized it earlier, as I would have two hellhounds that could be kitted out anyway I wanted, rather than just one. Hope this helps.<br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GGGrumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3830414113837067378.post-75052261418641405742017-03-08T08:52:00.001-08:002017-03-12T14:26:04.347-07:00Hobby Post: Keeping all your Leman Russ Weapons<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Time for a quick bit of hobby advice regarding the Leman Russ Demolisher kit. This kit is super easy to build and keep all your weapons options available, so you can switch weapons out and have any of the three russes in the demolisher kit, without having to buy another tank. This way you can build one tank, and it can still be a punisher, executioner, or even a demolisher.<br />
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Because of the way the main gun weapons fit into the turret, glue is not required, so once you have your turret built, and the weapons put together, STOP with the glue! And because the top piece of each weapon slides into the turret, it fits nice and snug, no magnets required. So this isn't even advanced customization. Then all you have to do is base coat it, and paint it.<br />
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Here is the tank with the punisher cannon, fits nicely.<br />
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The executioner, again, fits perfectly, no hands, no glue.<br />
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And look, even a demolisher, for the one day maybe sort of thing.<br />
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And here it is painted.<br />
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Slides in and out at will. Note the same goes for all the sponson and hull weapons.<br />
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I know this is not the most advanced hobby post, but I didn't realize they could all fit together at first, so I could have already had two more of these turrets with all three of their weapon options available. Lesson learned. The standard leman russ is a bit harder, but once I pick up another kit I will take a crack at it and see if we can keep all 4 of those weapon options unglued.<br />
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Hope this is helpful and keeps you options open.<br />
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Cadia Stands!<br />
GGGrumpy Guardsmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17589097813598490581noreply@blogger.com6