Happy Holidays

Whoo, been gone a while.  Holidays are great but man are they busy.  Lots of travel and time with family, but its good to be home and with some spare time again.  And lucky for me I got a great 40k christmas gift in the form of 6 bullgryns and the Space Wolf codex!  I think I have some motivation to play some games again so hopefully I can get some models done this week and play a game by next weekend.  There are some things I want to try.

An Interesting Turn of WAAAAGHH!

So after a couple of events, I am in the custodianship of quite a large ork army now.  By brother left his ork army when he moved out and my best friend from college just returned from the east coast and left his ork army with me too.  Basically overnight I have 2-3000pts of orks.

40k Prediction

Well life has been busy, so posting has been tough lately.  Honestly the hardest part is lack of time/motivation to play 40k right now.  Its that time of year where work and family combine to make it hard to do a whole lot else.  Plus I have a lot of things on my wish list that I want to try out and till I get them its been hard to get really interested in playing.  Its just a slow time of year and I'm going through one of my 40k lulls for a bit till I get more motivated.  In other news I have divined the future and have a prediction.

Much Ado About Nothing

Been out of the loop due to thanksgiving.  Sorry, hosting thanksgiving is great, but busy and time consuming.  It all paid off though in that on the day of, everything went smoothly and food was good.  In 40k news there has been a "controversy" over some new bases.  This is pretty silly, and seems like people making an issue out of nothing.

Astra Militarum Tactics: Exploding Shield Wall

Had a fun little idea, not terribly competitive but something that would at least be interesting to try out.  It revolves around bullgryns and cyclops, though you could use demo special weapons teams as well.  Basically you use the bullgryns as a shield to advance up to the enemy and them the cyclops move out to detonate in your enemies lines.

Leviathan: Bit of a Disapointment

Leviathan is out and despite some tempered hope, turns out its all nid lovin.  This is a bit of a shame.  Not saying nids didn't deserve any love, but by god sisters could have used some as well, and some AM/MT love wouldn't have hurt.  This is too bad, as I feel the sanctus reach campaign did this better, giving all sides some attention but still moving on with the story and action.

Half a Mil & More Shield of Baal

Another milestone has been reached for the blog!  Glad that I have been able to still provide interesting articles to keep you coming back, despite the lull of the last few months.  With little time to actually play 40k its hard to get inspiration to write, so as I get back into it, expect more to follow.  Also some big leaks dropped for the first part of the Shield campaign and it isn't as great as I was hoping.

Astra Militarum Tactics: The Armored Repair Shop

So after some thinking on how you can really use some of the special forge world vehicles, namely the Atlas, as well as the Trojan, I have thought of an army idea that can be quite good and exceptionally durable.  I call this the Armored Repair Shop because it centers around leman russes and techpriests with Atlas and Torjan support for lots of repair and support abilities.   With their abilities you can repair a lot of damage to your leman russes and keep them in the fight far longer, also if you have no need to repair then techpriests can throw out PoTMS for giggles. 

Shield of Baal: Why I'm Excited

I am excited about this new campaign. Not because I like blood angels or nids, that pic above gets me excited. I know that is specifically a novel, but what it hints at for at least the first part of the campaign is something that gives me hope.

40k Ambassadors Pics

Ok well I finally have the pics to update the tournament I participated in.  Please follow the link and go check out the awesome armies that participated.  Hope you enjoy

End Times: My Jealousy and Hope

Well I think most people are aware of the huge shakeup going on in Fantasy, and I am jealous.  Despite differing opinions, no one can argue that the fluff and background is being moved forward in way not seen in ages.  Compared to 40k, Fantasy is moving at a lighting pace.  40k is stuck, the clock of doom about to tick but never moving.  I so want 40k to move forward, even if it just moves back to the eternal stalemate.

Astra Militarum FW Tactics: Trojan & Atlas Support Vehicles

There are a couple of cool little support vehicles for the IG that Forge World has and have some interesting things going for them.  They aren't amazing and I don't see them being a common sight, but they have some good force multipliers if you are looking in that direction. 

Astra Militarum Tactics: Cyclops Demo Vehicle and the Invisibility Counter

After reading the Cyclops rules more and thinking and mulling it over, I have realized what an unnoticed gem this unit can be. First off, its dirt cheap, yes it takes up a heavy support slot but its damn cheap for what you can do with it.  They great thing too is that it can help against invisible units as it does not have a shooting attack.  Its an extremely flexible unit and has quite a bit going for it.  Its not perfect mind you and is not easy to use, which is prob why you don't see it often.

Militarum Tempestus Tactis: With Forge Worlds Blessing

So with the blessings of Forge World I have been thinking on the units that I would take with a Scion army, with Imperial Armor filing in for some support and providing some interesting options.  Having the ability to take the same FW units that the IG can helps out so much in filling some of the scion army gaps.

Militarum Tempestus & Forge World: Question Answered

I got an answer back from Forge World regarding some of my Militarum Tempestus questions!  This should help Tempestus out a lot without techincally resorting to allies.  The main questions I asked were about flyers, and they answered as well as cover the rest of the Imperial Armor range.  Read below

Astra Militarum Tactics: Bringing Mobility Back

The reason I have been bringing up some of the forge world units is that they are mobile, fast vehicles.  Currently the IG is pretty static, it has some mobile elements, but building a fast and mobile army as a whole is a struggle with our current codex.  We do not have a lot of outflankers, scouts, or infiltrators.  And some of what we have are not very mobile nor contribute a whole lot to a fast army.  Ratlings for example are infiltrators, but don't fit well in a rapidly moving army, not at least in the best way.  Scout sentinels can outflank with scout, but on their own are pretty slow moving and can't react to events across the board rapidly on their own.  But I think you can build a mobile IG army that does well without relying on allies to do this.

Astra Militarum FW Tactics: Salamander Scout Vehicle

More forge world.  I like the options that Forge World adds and they have a ton for IG.  The issue is that most is at the very least an edition behind, with a large portion being two.  A lot of the points costs are a bit too high and reflect the durability of vehicles in 5th edition, that simply don't exist any more.  I like the Salamander and really want to use it.  I think it can be used, its slightly pricey, but not too much to hurt if you take a couple.

Astra Militarum FW Tactics: Tauros

To continue with the Forge World theme, I will be going over the Tauros, a light attack buggy that is a favorite of the Elysian Drop troops.  For use in 40k it counts as a Fast Attack choice for the IG, and is a good option because of its actual ability to maneuver and shoot well.  There are two versions of it, each with slighty different options but overall they are pretty much the same vehicle

Forge World Ordering Promotion

Got this tip from Mike, in an email.  Thought it would be good to pass the info along.  Forge world is starting a promotion today where when you place an order, the next order will have free standard shipping.  This is a pretty big deal as FW shipping can add up, especially on the bigger items.

You can order your flyer weapons first, then order the actual flyer in the second order to get free shipping on the bigger item.  Note its just free standard shipping, so depending on where you order or what, you may still have to pay shipping.  In either case this is good to know about and to take advantage of. 

Thanks agian Mike!

GG

Astra Militarum & Tempestus Tactics: FW Flyers

Lets talk Forge World.  There are some useful units to consider, especially flyer wise for the Imperial Guard, and probably the Militarum Tempestus.  I emailed FW today to get a clarification on their use for MT, but until I get an answer, lets assume your using them as part of your AM ally slot.  Some of the flyers are pretty darn good, none are honestly crazy though and pretty well priced if even a little
 over priced.  So lets get on with it.

Nerfing and GW Support

A couple of interesting things are going around in the community that I wanted to talk about.  One is on the issue of GW business practices and support, and the other is rules changes and nerfs to the game.  Both are interesting but I think flawed in the end.  People having issues with GW and their business is no new thing, and I don't think this petition is going to change a thing, and it doesn't help that its coming (seemingly) from only one segment of the community.

Militarum Tempestus Tactics: One, Two Punch

This is going to be based off of my recent tournament experience and is a good expanded tactics for an all Scion army.  Basic idea behind the formation is going to be revolving around the  Ground Assault Formation.  Then the rest of the army is deep striking most of the time.  The ground assault formation is going to run you around 1000pts or so, depending a lot on the type of Tauroxes.  I like three missile and a gatling, but you can do fine with three standard tauroxes or whatever mix you like. 

40k Ambassadorial Tournament

Ok so yesterday I played in our area's 40k Ambassadorial Tournament.  Basic concept is a bracket system with 4 rounds, and the main thing behind it is that each player is an ambassador for their faction.  So no allies allowed.  You could only bring units from your faction.   You were allowed to use an ally slot if say you were CSM and wanted black legion and regular CSM.  CADs could only be from one rule book and you could have up to two detachments and formations were allowed.  Total points were 2000pts.

Product Review: Citadel Paint Station

So I have been on a business trip, or at least the army's version of it.  I haven't done a product review, but my experience on this trip compels me to do so.  I am preparing for a tournament coming up and have a bunch of scions to paint.  So I brought them with me on my trip and a Citadel paint station.

The Legacy of Chapter House

To continue off of yesterdays post, there is something else I want to talk about in regards to the Chapterhouse event.  Not going to talk about the right or wrongs and such.  Instead I want to talk about the legacy that this legal battle is leaving on the war-gaming community, as it doesn't just affect 40k or GW.  For us in 40k, we have certainly seen the direct affects of it, but it will not be confined to our little corner of wargaming.

When a Chapter's House Closes

The story of Chaptehouse and GW continues.  If you haven't heard, Chapterhouse's assets have been frozen due to a court order.  This is a continuation of them and GWs long fight and looks to be ending up going against Chapterhouse.  Now I'm sure there are a lot of opinions on this, but lets be clear, a court made this decision against them, and not for bad reasons.

The bland 7th

Another codex is out, and marching on to the next.  Again the cries of bland come.  Eh, not really bothering me.  The dark eldar, like the other 7th codexs is a mix of goodish.  Its not bad, its not great.  Its has strong parts of it, it def has weaknesses.  There are some odd decisions.  But you know what there isn't?  A super death machine.

Life is Feudal

So I have honestly not being doing a whole lot of 40k lately, lifes been busy and I have gotten sucked in to a new game.  Life is Feudal.  Its a newer release, but is only in pre alpha stage, despite that its quite fun with some tedious parts.

Dark Eldar: Hmmm....

So the dark eldar are pretty much leaked and in any case the codex is out soon and can confirm them if not true.  I don't know what to think.  Its not an amazing update, but sadly wasn't expecting to be one with the latest codex's as examples.  I don't think its an out and out stinker, but its really hard to say how its going to fare and whether it will be able to climb up, or be like tyranids and need serious help in forms of dataslates and formations to make it to the top.

Militarum Tempestus Tactics: Formations

Some more Scion stuff coming your way.  Been a busy week at work and all so sorry for the slow down again.  I want to talk about formations, but not the Scion formations specifically, they are damn good and should be used no doubt, but there are two others that are really good for the MT army and help out  a lot.

An Enemy Resurgent: Dark Eldar

The Dark Eldar are coming soon, and while it is not sounding like a huge shake up, they look to be getting a decent update.  My hope is that they will shake things up a bit and be a strong army to compete.  We will see but I am hopeful

Martyrs of Man: A History of Krieg

Time for some fluffy fun.  Its been a long while since I have done one of these, and hopefully will be able to continue doing more of these.  I enjoy them and its a lot of fun to write.  Up for today is the history of Krieg and its Death Korps.  Lets get Grimdark!

Militarum Tempestus Tactics: Fighting Eldar

Alright so back to some Militarum Tempestus tactics finally.  As well all know the big bad boys in the room are Eldar right now, and really this is prob going to be the case for a while, even if the baron from DE is gone, the eldar don't need him to be good, they just lose one good army style.  So with that, you are going to need to know how to fight them with your scions.  I'll assume at first that your army is pure scion, and at the end talk about some ally assistance.  Luckily this is not the worst matchup for scions, as they have a decent number of tools to deal with eldar, and actually have a harder time against horde armies.

New Knight and Ally Potential

Well Forgeworld is at it again and we have another beautiful model to ogle.  The Knight Castigator, its another of the larger knights, about the same size as the lancer.  Profile wise its a knight, its got an ion shield and has the same flank speed rule that the lancer has.  Really though this is the knight that I want and will be looking at how to field it.  It also can be a lord of war so it makes for some good options for certain armies, especially Militarum Tempestus.

Astra Militarum and 7th Edition

Well 7th edition has been out for a bit now and while its hard to say exactly how things are going, there are some definite trends.  The IG has been doing well, if not on the top, at least what is reported and seen.  At the same time, its hard to draw a straight answer, as each of these tournaments has little tweaks and differences that have an affect.  What can be said is that IG can be on top, but your going to have to work for it.

Astra Militarum Tactics: Leman Russ Battle Tanks

Ah and now its time for the last one, the Leman Russ.  Though really this is more than one tank, its the unit that rolls it all together.  The leman russ variants are some of the best heavy armor in the game and when used right can steamroll any opposition.  There really aren't any bad choices, though there are better ones.  How you want to see your leman russ squadron function is critical to deciding what you are going to take in that squadron.  Even though the tanks are ponderous, they can be brutally effective and great in just about any army.

Astra Militarum Tactics: Wyvern

Next up it is time for the Wyvern.  This definitely one of the best new units in the codex hands down and has been an mvp in many games.  I have to say I remember when the info for it was first leaked and everyone was crapping on it, saying that S4 sucked and it wouldn't be good.  Well how about that, now its a staple in many an imperial guard list.  Yeah its really good.

Astra Militarum Tactics: Deathstrike Missile Launcher

Ah and now the doomsday weapon, the Deathstrike!  Last edition it honestly was meh, mainly because it was too easy to keep from firing.  Thankfully there have been some changes to how it fires to make it much more reliable.  It also get a more reliable blast as well.  Overall it is much better than before and can give a killing blow to an opponent when done right.

Astra Militarum Tactics: Basilisk

Next up on heavy support is the basilisk.  Its the humble ole mainstay of the Imperial Guard.  Unfortunately it has some issues that make it not the premier choice for your army.  Most of this is how artillery works in 7th edition, with the major change to minimum range.  Its still not a bad option, but there is more you have to be aware of it you want to use it.

Astra Militarum Tactics: Manticore

Next on the list is the Manticore, one of my favorites!  Really it hasn't changed from the old codex to the new rules wise, only real change is a 10pt increase.  This thing is there to sit back and blow the crap out of your enemy and it does it very well.  The new codex also brings some new synergies with it that can be used to make it even more effective.

Astra Militarum Tactics: Hydras

Alright, time to go over the heavy support section.  First off will be the hydra, though its not as good as its old self, with some of the changes to 7th I think it can be used well and is a viable option for AA.  Whats the big changes?  It went up 5 pts, is opened topped, and lost its auto targeting which meant flyers, skimmers, and bikes could not take a cover save against it.  Sucks, but it still is cheap and can be taken in squadrons of 3 and still has a lot of TL autocannon shots.  It has skyfire, and since interceptor no longer lets skyfire units shoot at ground targets with full BS, it doesn't lose a whole lot to the old quad gun.

One Year Old

Well its official, I am one year old!  Its hard to think that I have been doing this for a year now and how far the blog has come in a short time.  First I really want to thank all of you that take the time to read the blog and leave comments.  I enjoy being able to talk to you and give advice and hear yours.  This has been a great experience and I will continue to blog as long as I have the desire to keep on doing this.

Astra Militarum Tactics: Strike from the Skies - Valkyries & Vendettas

To pick up where I left off a while ago, I will be finishing up the Fast Attack section of the imperial guard.  The Valkyries and Vendettas are similar but have key differences in their role.  With the latest codex, they have been rebalanced in my opinion to where one is just not so much better than the other that there is no reason to take it.  Now they are fairly balanced, with both being good but having enough downsides that they are not auto take.

Tempestus Scions and New Ally Options

Since I am about to have time to start playing again, I have been thinking on the latest releases and one in particular fulfills an itch I have been wanting to scratch for a while.  I always had my scions in mind of an Inquisitorial task force, Xenos hunting experts.  Now when Inq was released I was happy as it fulfilled this almost completely.  But there was something missing that I really wanted to add, but they were stuck in the GK codex so it was not really worth bringing.  But now the assassins are free at last so I can now add them to my Scions and Inquisitor and go happy Xenos hunting.

I has Internets!

Finally I have internet again.  Basically had to rerun phone/data lines throughout the house, fun part about owning a home.  But it is done and I am back online.  Otherwise the moving experience hasn't been too horrible, besides my dogs relentlessly trying to escape and being semi successful at it -_-.

So now that I am back I will be posting more regularly, with moving being pretty much done.  And hopefully I will be gaming soon again too, I have  a lot of tactics I want to actually try out. I have been keeping up in the world of 40k though so I am looking forward to the future releases.  I know GK is a cotnroversial release, overall I don't think its a bad one, if not an overwhelmingly amazing release either. 

Hopefully DE get some good stuff in their upcoming one, we will see.  A lot is rumored and conflicts with each other, so really at this point who knows till the WD start getting leaked.  I will give GW credit, they have plugged their leaks pretty good, with really the only big information coming when a WD is leaked early.

Future posts I am looking at doing is continuing with the Codex Tactica, as well as going into more advanced tactics.  I would really like to get another history post in too.  If I can play some games then more batreps will come, though I think this weekend is going to be painting.  Otherwise more is coming, and I still have to make some assassins to play with them.

Hope everyone else is doing well and see all again soon.

GG

Blog Update

Hey guys, sorry for no posts lately.  I have moved into my new house, but having some difficulties with internet.  Should hopefully be fixed within a week and then I will have internet again and be able to go back online. 

GG

Assassins Dataslate Review

Alright, time to review the assassins!  First off, they are an army of the Imperium and have all the same ally rules that those follow (BBs, Allies of Convenience, etc).  The dataslate can be used in two ways, either you can take one assassin as an ally, or you can take the assassinorum execution force formation, which consists of one of each assassin.  Either case, there is the operation assassinate special rule, which in a game where you are playing victory points, you get an additional victory point if  your opponents warlord is removed as a casualty as a result of wound/s caused by an assassin.  The execution force also has preferred enemy (warlord), which is a decent little boost.  I like it, its fluffy and useful and steers you toward using them in actually trying to assassinate a target, but is in no way over powered.  Its just enough to help you out, but only helps if you really use them while headhunting.

Assassins are Here!

So the assassins are on the loose now!  I would also like to clarify that they are not their own codex, just a dataslate with a few different ways you can play them.  Its a minor difference but an important one, call it a codex and people expect more, a data slate and a few units are more acceptable.  Personally I like this move and all the crybabies can suck it. 

I have been reading through it so don't have in depth analysis yet, but basically there are two ways you can use assassins.  You can ally one in, and only one.   They count as Armies of the Imperium and have all the same ally restrictions and availabilities.  Or you can take the formation, which is one of each assassin.  Each gives you a bonus of an extra VP if your assassin kills your enemies warlord, neat little trick that is not too powerful but encourages fluffy play.

From a quick look through, all four seem to be playable, and the cullexes (anti-psker) is down right mean to psykers and will break psychic stars.  The eversor is still a meat grinder and a great choice.  The vindcare is good, minor tweaks but a solid sniper.  The callidus is a little quirky but has some nice boons that makes it worth bringing. 

All in all I am happy, now I just need to start modeling these guys up!

GG

A Silly Idea With Astra Militarum and Wolves

As I have been continuing to mull over the Space Vikings codex and some ways to incorporate it into the IG army, I came across an interesting idea, its a bit silly really.  The flavor of the week right now is taking those wonderful non dedicated drop pods in the SW and using it in their own armies.  To be hip and up with the cool kids, I have one of my own to add.

Astra Militarum Tactics: Hellhounds

Next on the list is the hell hound and its variants.  I have liked the tanks over the years, being one of the classic imperial guard vehicles.  Last codex, lets be honest, vendettas ruled fast attack so hell hounds were not seen so much.  Not because they were bad mind you, but the other option was just better.  Now though they are better, being able to score.  Yes I know I keep repeating it, but its important to remember when comparing between the flyers as they can't score (unless they drop into hover) and something to consider when deciding what to bring.  The other great thing is that they can move 12" and fire two weapons at full BS, so really there is little reason to not move them around.  Over all they are probably one of the more solid fast attack choices we have that are at a good price for their utility.

Astra Militarum Tactics: Sentinels

Back to some tactics finally!  Well work has been busy lately and closing on the house has taken plenty of time, luckily getting the keys this week and then begin the moving process.  So hopefully next month I'll be back to blogging more, so bear with me.  Today I want to talk about sentinels.  I have always like the models for them, and in the current codex and edition, they are quite good and a solid choice if you want to bring them.

Space Wolves and Astra Militarum

The wolves are on the loose!  First, I really like the codex, its good, not overpowered with enough balance to keep different builds viable, though their are certainly some better units.  As IG, I have always liked the wolves as an ally and more so than ever they make a great choice.  There are some ideas I have been mulling around that I think can really supplement IG armies.