Dataslates, Formations, and the day 40K died..to the competitive set....

Howdy guys.  40K as we know it is going through some tremendous changes at the moment.  No more are we privy to waiting long periods of time waiting for updates, army updates, etc, the advent of 6th edition brought with it updates and changes that we have never experienced before.  To some of us, 6th edition has heralded a golden age to 40K with armies getting updated with much more frequency, updates to the game in the form of codex supplements, etc.  To others, 6th edition has brought the death knell to 40K.  These vocal minority, usually from the competitive side of things are sounding the alarm that 40K is now d-e-a-d, dead, that balance has been thrown out the window in favor of profits.  Well I wont deny that GW is in the business of making money, a lot of money and from the stand point of being a publicly traded company, they do have an obligation to their shareholders to maximize profits.  Some of the Dataslates, GW's newest digital updates/changes definitely are guilty of this by providing special rules and updates to their holiday bundles.  Of course some of these updates/changes have been one-sided, one just needs to look at the Tau Hunter Cadre dataslate and see that by running this Tau "formation", you get tank hunters and preferred enemy space marines for free.  40K as it stands, as it always stood since my beginning of my 40K "career" has never been balanced; in one edition or another, one faction would be favored over another while another one is nerfed to unplayability.  The examples are there, CSM 3.5, Tyranids 4th edition, Grey Knights 5th edition, Eldar 4th and 6th edition, the list goes on and on. So whats my point?  The fact is GW is giving us players something great, and that is options, options to play the game we love how we want.  Last week GW dropped one of the biggest changes to their core game rules with Stronghold Assault and Escalation.  Now usually, these wouldnt be an issue, since they are after all a supplement like a Battle Missions or Planet Strike.  The difference though is that GW in black and white states that this can be used in normal games of 40K .  That alone is cause for alarm in the competitive scene.  I mean how can we crown a champion when all a person needs to do is pay their 500 bucks for their revenant to add to an already over powered book?  What if people add in their Tau formation to this.  Oh the humanity!!! How do we handle the power gaming maddness??!!  We need to ban units or comp tournaments oh no.  Now hold on there, lets take a step back, really how different is this then before?  I mean didn't we ban forgeworld from most of our tournaments?  Isn't terrain already setup for players when the BRB asks that we take turns in placing the terrain.  Do we not run different mission types then those from the book as the ones in the book are perceived as being unbalanced?  The list is of items that need consideration is a little longer now but the answer remains the same, just allow what you want.  Allow what the players want.  Offer different types of tourneys, ones that stick to just using the BRB and supplements, to anything goes gladiator type games.  In the end, play the game how you want to play it.  And this is the beauty of our hobby my friends, choice. 

New Mini dexes and Supplemental codexes

Sup everybody. Today i am here to talk about the fruition of some of the rumors that were hinted at last year and during the first months of 6th edition and that is the coming of mini dexes.  With GW pulling the curtain up on their next project, codex Inquisition the rumors that we would see mini dexes or allies dexes come out seem to have been verified.  I have to tell you this is just an exciting time to be playing 40k as this along with the codex supplements  opens up a lot of options for us gamers.  Will there be codex creep with these new books ?  Hopefully not but what I do wish for is new models to be released along side these new books.  Take in point the new sisters book.  What a golden opportunity GW lost to make more money by the release of new sisters models.  This could have been an easy release with just 2 new boxes, say one for 10 sisters and one 5 sister box with all heavy weapon options to make retributor squads, maybe a clamshell HQ model?  Im sure the new book is selling but think of how more it would have sold with just a couple of new model releases....  There have been rumors for years now that new plastic sisters have already been worked on so whats the hold up?  Which brings me to the inquisition codex.  Wow was this a surprise release, nobody in the world saw this coming.  Will this be a full army?  The codex says you can run it as one but the real strength lies with its ability to ally with any other imperial army or combination.  Of course once the book dropped and once everybody got a chance to read it all everybody will be allying  in is Coetez  or the cheap inquisitor with the 3 servo skulls.  Now making it just another ally choice would be fine.  The fact that this an additional org slot which then still allows you to ally in another army normally is a little over the top.  I am happy though that it specifically says that xenos armies are excluded from being battle brothers as this would have really been insufferable.. lol.. ok so not that bad.  What does it really mean really in the overall scheme?  Nothing just that armies that resolve around infiltrating or scouting (looking at you White Scars) might feel a little invalidated.  Here's  hoping that the next digital codex keeps bringing the options... just hope that its not that broken...

Meta in Peril.... Grey Knights again???!!!

Hey guys, today I finished listening to the latest episode of the 11th company and made the mistake of heading out to everyones`s favorite color commentary and 40k expert Stelek and oh my gosh I got the feeling that they think that the Meta is in peril due to 2 books that were released this year - Tau and Eldar.  Stelek of course chose the little kid route and  took his toys and went home and judging by his last posts over the last 3 months decided that 40k as it stands is unplayable.  I applaud TO's who have taken the steps of leveling out the playing field by adding more terrain or more line of sight blocking terrain pieces so that armies with the ability to ignore cover wont auto win if they get the first turn.  In fact, per the rules of the game, the game is designed to have some line of sight blocking terrain so games are not just shooting galleries.  I will give Stelek credit with his USG game rules for competitive 40K rules, rules to streamline the game for tournament play, I have read some of it and wish him luck with it but to be honest, dont see it going anywhere.  The 11th company in their latest podcast cast what I say a dark shadow on what they call a meta where only if you take eldar or tau will you have a shot at winning any tournament.  I might agree with this to a point but come on.. How do you explain Ben Molie getting to the final tables with a necron/Ork list?  Or the guy from the FTN podcast who took a blood angel list and did very well with it?  Is it harder for players not using Tau or Eldar?  Sure but I still believe that its the player not the list that makes the winner.  Am I blind in my assumptions?   Are we in the era of the Grey Knight, eh Tau/Eldar.  Is that all we we see in every tournament top table or final 5? Where are daemons in the middle of this?  To many of the 40k experts, this codex is part of the problem as well with its unkillable screamer star build.  No matter what, top tournament players are going to take what they perceive as a good or powerful army as they want to win and find that using lists like this will help them achieve that.  If the internet says that Tau are over powered, or Eldar wave serpent spam is the only way to win tournaments, guess what, that is all you are going to see. 

I heard a very interesting rumor/gossip on another podcast in regards to the speed that GW is doing releases.  The host stated that during his conversation with this insider person, one of the reasons that releases were coming out so quick was that GW wanted people to stick to their armies, buy some allies and units to update their armies and to create all comers armies with their armies.  The speed of the releases would make it that the meta would be constantly changing and so people wouldn't be able to keep up with the changes.  This sounds all fine and dandy but in the end, GW knows that the faster it can release product, the more money it can generate.  These top tournament players will and have been buying and playing what is perceived to be the top armies.  What my hope is that with new  releases, new codexs become the top dog.  So what could be done in the meantime?   Bring back comp?  Nah, but when even Goatboy from bols is sad and angry about the current state of the game and proposing that comp gets implemented into major Tournaments is the current state of the game that horrible?  Will maybe its the fact that 40k isnt a tourney friendly game? GW has always maintained that 40k is more a beer and pretzels game which in the end could be the issue after all...

With the new Horus Hersey book out now, I have been in full Nightlord mode and have been working on adding more models to my biker squads, rhinos, and some basic CSMs.  Pics are of my converted dark vengeance DA bikers to Nightlord bikers.  Let me know what you think.

All Hail Forge World!!

I guess Forgeworld is the future for all of us chaos players.  Recently the rules for both primarchs and their legions was released for both the word bearers and the Nightlords.  When Forgeworld announced that they would be doing models and books covering the Horus Hersey, I knew that we were in store for something special. When they released rules for the first 4 legions last year as well as the models to support the book, I couldn't wait to see what they had planned for the Nightlords.   The rules that came out were pretty cool, some obvious like fear or the ability to buy trophies to cause fear to wounding easier if you outnumber your foe in any assault phase which is awesome (talent for murder).  The fact that any nightlord who fails a morale check falls back 1 inch further to being able to decide to run if they get pinned is pretty fluffy.  Night Haunter is a boss with ap2 lighting claws, throwing daggers that on a 6 causes a wound with no save allowed is just plan awesome.  And this is just the start, the fact that they also included characters from the actual black library books like Sevatar the prince of crows is what I as a nightlords player has been waiting for.   Book 2 of the horus heresy has got me motivated to convert my Nightlords army into a heresy army so over the coming months I will start to pull the trigger on several Forgeworld kits like some older marks of armor, some apothecarys, and maybe a storm eagle or 2.  The great thing is I never modeled my models with any chaos daemon bits like possessed parts, etc, they are just "evil marines with lots of trophies and the like. According to fluff, the Nightlords were using the same terror tactics since the very beginning so making the army multi-purpose should be easy.

Now that forgeworld has done something for my beloved Nightlords, what plans do GW proper have in mind for them?  The talent for murder is definitely one rule I would love to see make it in a supplement not to mention more ways to mess with leadership and cause fear checks or leadership checks at minus points.  Leadership checks would also affect marines which would be awesome since they are immune to fear.  What else could be added, stealth for all models like they had in the 3.5 codex would be a great start.  I guess in the end we will see how far GW is going to take these supplements and with the 2 marine ones coming out next month, we wont be waiting long.  Alpha Legion is rumored to be in January which hopefully is the start  of something great for chaos.  In the meantime, we shall see if anybody would mind me using the forgeworld rules for the Nightlords.  Below are my latest projects i am working on.  I am hoping to get some paint on them this week as I will be using these models in an upcoming league.

The chaos space marine dex and the coming of the hydra

Ok so i just finished reading Goatboys article proclaiming that count as armies are not dead but in fact alive and kicking with regards to the new space marine codex.   Many took the article as a power gamer again bitching about the crap that is the chaos dex and in fact a lot of the comments made reflects this idea.  His reputation as a spam artist and power gamer really doesn't help his cause but I read more than just his complaining.  He actually has a point in regards to count -as.  I for one love count-as armies if the hobbiest put in the time and effort to make sure everything is WYSIWYG or lovingly converted his/her army to play as a different army.  During the last couple of years of the old chaos dex, I built a new chaos army with some left over parts that i had and painted it in the colors of skyrar`s dark wolves which is one of the only off shoots of the space wolves that turned to chaos, per bolter and chainsword anyways.  The warband actually made it into the old chaos dex and the color scheme was available in the space marine game as a chaos skin which made me feel even more vindicated... lol.. me anyways.  I purposely built the army to play using the space wolves codex as I really wanted to run an army of cheap dogs and 3 super lords riding khorne juggernauts.  Every last detail i put into the army from wolf standards to berserkers being blood claws to equipment so that any opponent i played knew what everything was.  I even started painting up 5 drop pods for the army but got caught up in other projects that i stopped.  Whats my point, the point is this, if a player spends the time to convert an army and makes the army WYSIWYG, what is the problem?  I understand that a lot of people love to codex jump just to play the newest and most powerful dex but should we poopoo players who actually put in the time?  Who am I to tell people how to play their game,if a person I play is guilty of just codex jumping just because he is a power gamer with his half painted, missing arms, heads army I always have the right to just not play him.  The fact is I have no problem playing people who codex jump as long as I can tell what each model is supposed to represent just by looking at them.  And I guess that's my long winded point, as long as I know what I'm playing, I'm fine with it.  What about tournaments?  On this my opinion differs just slightly, at the end of the day its the TO's call.  If he/she says no to count as armies so be it, its their event and they can run it anyway they want. 

What did I mean about the hydra strikes in my title?  According to rumors, the next chaos codex supplement coming out is Alpha Legion. Due out in January I for one cant wait for this.  I am hoping that this will be the start of supplements with some real meat err um rules that really shake up the CSM codex.  Something that really changes how an Alpha Legion army play compared to a Black Legion army.  I really want to believe that these supplements are going somewhere.  With the new space marine one dropping this month, we shall see what we can expect from the supplements to come.  Speaking of the Black Legion army supplement, I was able to get a copy of it and its definitely not as bad as everyone is saying it is. There is definitely a lack of rules in regards to changes to the army specifically but some of the artifacts, the fact that it adds an extra slot through allying, to taking chosen as troops without the Abaddon tax is pretty good.  The internet is all abuzz about the eternal shield that the space marines get, the black legion has an artifact that also gives you eternal warrior, though not a shield its still an option which is great.

Chaos Supplements Inbound

I hope these are true.. faeit 212 posted that all of the major chaos legions would be getting full supplement support and these supplements would actually have more rules content to them.  The rumor also stated that all of these are being worked on at the same time and they should be released either at the same time or right after the other.  I don't know about you guys but this was the news I have been waiting to hear especially after seeing all of the customization that vanilla marines have now with there new book.  The rumor also stated that these books will bring the flavor back to the legions like never before.  This I certainly will take with a lot of salt as I have been let down so far by book chaos space marine books.  Don't get me wrong, the 2 books are definitely fun to play and offer some options but not to the extent that I would like too see them.   I really hope these new supplements are the real deal and bring with it the options that all csm players have been waiting for.  Some quick points on what I would like to see per my chaos armies..

Nightlords - bikes and raptors as troops at least.  New special characters.  Army wide stealth and ways to miss with leadership - terror tactics.  A way to make standard csms stubborn.

Thousand sons - better aspiring sorcerers, we are currently paying the same price for these guys as your book standard hq sorcerer.  Able to pick other spell lores other than tzeentch like chaos daemons.  Ways to increase the strength of thousand sons bolt guns.  Better psychic defense.  Actual rubric termies.

Iron Warriors/Dark mech - changes to force org.  Actual warsmiths.  Army wide Tank hunters. New dark mechanicus units.   Way to make standard csms stubborn.  New special characters

On my painting station currently im working on some screamers, and of course the required Riptide.  Let me know what you think.

Continuing with Thousand Sons talk

Hey guys.  So lately I have been thinking more on how to run a Thousand Sons list in 6th edition and not be the laughing stock of my gaming group.  Like I talked about in my last post, I love the army and feel that if played correctly, can be a viable option in today's meta.   I just recently signed up for an escalation league at the local flgs and had the pleasure of playing a fellow chaos player who is playing thousand sons in the league.  My opponent shared a lot of tips on how to play the army that I have never thought of before.  Below are some key points that he shared with me.

1.  Maximizing thousand son shooting and survivability by taking large squads - to be honest I was thinking of doing this but found the cost prohibited  but my opponent showed me some of the strengths of running a 18 man squad.  For starters, shooting 17 - 18 ap3 shots from 24 inches is a lot scarier then 8 shots coming from that range. Add in a herald of tzeentch with prescience and the squad will put out the hurt.  Lose a couple of models in a turn and the squad is still scary.  Cast prescience and the squad is re-rolling  hits.  The main weakness of course is close combat however with invisibility and forewarning the unit is going to pull through eventually especially if you are rocking one or two characters. 

2.  Take Ahriman - ok so this I would never consider due to his price tag.  He clocks in at 230 points and in an army where your average points cost per guy is 23 points, makes him a hard pill to swallow.  Lets look at what he brings to the table.  He unlocks thousand sons as troops, he is a level 4 psycher so you are going to get 3 rolls on telepathy or biomancy.  Most importantly though, he automatically gives you master of deception which my opponent used to great effect.  He rolled a 2,and was ableto infiltrate both Ahriman and the 18 man block of thousand sons 24 inches away on my left flank which forced me to have to devote a lot of army to counter it.

3.  Take Tzeentch Daemon allies - I started tinkering with this before my game with my opponent however never realized how good these allies could be.  My opponent took a herald of tzeentch at level 3 and basically maxed his rolls on divination.  He got foreboding which on the surface wouldn't make sense as thousand sons have a 4 up invulnerable but then it hit me... the mark of tzeentch gives you a plus 1 to your invul save... my opponents 18 man blob squad was now rocking a 3 up invul save now!! Imagine this as the unit makes it way up the field..  pretty crazy...The fact that heralds have access to divination open up  a lot of synergy combos that thousand sons never had before. 

I actually played a list similar to what I wrote above and it was a blast to play. I actually ended up losing the game but it was a great game...  I might have to tinker some more to get it just right.

Thousand Sons in 6th edition

Here I go again with 40K ADD, in my last post I spoke about putting together a Khrone list that centered on presenting as many fast killy units to an opponent at one time and basically win games on overwhelming pressure.  Now I'm going to talk about a list that is centered on winning the psychic phase, basically putting out both maledictions and buffs to overwhelm the opponent by buffing or weakening key units.  I`m a huge Thousand Sons fan and own a big Thousand Sons army that I wanted  to dust off and start using again.  The problem of course is to make the army viable in todays meta at least to make it a little competitive and not just a fluff bunny list that loses to everything under the sun.  How do we solve this?  Well, lets look at the unit itself -

The Thousand Sons squad. 
The squad brings with it fearless, a 4 up invul save, power armor, and ap3 bolters.  Not bad so far and on its own something to consider however lets look at its not so good features.  The squad is slow and purposeful which in 5th edition might have been a boon by allowing you to move and shoot but with the changes to rapid fire weapons in 6th, its a big hindrance.  The squad cant run which means you have to invest in rhinos to get them across the battlefield which adds to their points cost and the biggest issue about it, you cant overwatch when assaulted.  This is huge and due to their ap3 bolters, might have actually deterred enemies from assaulting (+3 or higher armor saves).  The next issue is the squad having to take an expensive character with limited options.  The aspiring sorcerer clocks in at almost  65 points which is as much or more than an actual sorcerer.  If I am going to pay the same price, please give me the same options, +1 wound, WS 5 and the option to buy another psychic level.  At least make it that the guy could pick from any psychic tree.  Dont think this what be over powering and the cost itself would be a very good limiter.  The last of course is the cost of the unit.  9 guys with a Rhino clocks in around 277 points.  For that price the unit should at least come with grenades or a way to increase the strength of their bolters so at least they could go after light vehicles.  How about changing their guns to assault 2 so at least they can be the shooty unit that they are meant to be. 

OK,ok so enough with the complaining, now how do we play them in 6th?  I take a squad that maximizes their shooting ability but still keep their sacred number, so 9 in a squad.  To improve the units mobility,  I take a Rhino.   To give the unit some anti tank ability,  I give the champ melta  bombs.  This clocks in at 282 points, pretty expensive but OK for my purposes.  I usually take 2 squads like this unless it's a big game where I take 3 squads.  The strength of the army is not in these squads but the resilience that the squad provides the attached sorcerer lord.  It grants him fearless, and a squad with a built in sigil invulnerable save.  In this army I take 2 sorcerer lords to maximize my attempts at getting the best powers out of telepathy.  And that my friends is the crux of the army, basically taking dual sorcerers to try to get hallucination and invisibility and casting it on as many units as possible so that the thousand sons can pick them apart through bolter fire or in close combat.  If the aspiring champ or the tzeentch sorcerer picks up doombolt than that adds to the squads battle effectiveness.  We could take the squad in small 5 man squads but i feel that other CSM units do this better namely chosen or plague marines.  With my troop choices done, I also take the required heldrake and a squad of oblits.  I have been finding that a lascannon predator also solves my problem of long range firepower as well and for a cheap price.  Now the question remains what to take for a counter attack unit to aid the thousand sons?  I know here i will get laughed at as I usually take possessed.  Here me out though, the squad is fearless, has high strength and the random abilities are actually quite good now.  Now couple that that with lets say a grimore wielding herald of tzeentch getting them to a 2+ invul.  Yeah I know too gimmicky but scary.  Adding daemon allies just opens up more options and more importantly options that would make the list even more effective.  The same trick could be done with terminators and without a doubt the unit would be more effective but I just love how possessed look and the fact that termies are not fearless really bugs me.  Below is a list that I plan on trying.  I already played the list once against a daemon army but would like to try it against several builds before i deem it a success or failure.  This would be my "base" list, one that I would add on too. 

+++ Thousand Sons New Base List (1748pts) +++
+++ 1750pt Codex: Chaos Daemons 2013, Chaos Space Marines 6th Ed (2012) by SN Roster (Allied Detachment, Primary Detachment)) +++

+ HQ + (125pts)

    * Daemonic Heralds (125pts)
        * Herald of Tzeentch (125pts)
            (Change Discipline, Daemonic Instability, Deep Strike, Independent Character)
            D6 Exalted Daemonic Reward (30pts) (Exalted Rewards, Hellforged Artefacts), Psyker Level 3 (50pts)
            * Daemon of Tzeentch
                (Hatred (Daemon of Nurgle), Re-roll all Saving throws results of 1, Tzeentch Psyker Powers)
                Daemon (5+ Invulnerable Save, Fear)

+ Troops + (95pts)

    * Pink Horrors of Tzeentch (95pts)
        (Blue Horrors, Brotherhood of Sorcerers, Change Discipline, Daemonic Instability, Deep Strike, Magic Made Manifest)
        Iridescent Horror (5pts), 10x Pink Horrors (90pts)
        * Daemon of Tzeentch
            (Hatred (Daemon of Nurgle), Re-roll all Saving throws results of 1, Tzeentch Psyker Powers)
            Daemon (5+ Invulnerable Save, Fear)

Chaos Space Marines 6th Ed (2012) by SN (Primary Detachment) Selections:

+ HQ + (315pts)

    * Sorcerer (165pts)
        (Champion of Chaos, Independent Character, Psyker)
        2x Additional Mastery Level (50pts), Mark of Tzeentch (15pts), Sigil of corruption (25pts), Spell familiar (15pts)
        * Power Armour
            Bolt Pistol, Force Weapon

    * Sorcerer (150pts)
        (Champion of Chaos, Independent Character, Psyker)
        2x Additional Mastery Level (50pts), Sigil of corruption (25pts), Spell familiar (15pts)
        * Power Armour
            Bolt Pistol, Force Weapon

+ Elites + (334pts)

    * Possessed (334pts)
        (Daemon, Fearless, Fleet, Vessels of Chaos)
        * Chaos Rhino (35pts)
            (Repair)
            Combi-bolter, Searchlight, Smoke launchers
        * 9x Possessed (279pts)
            9x Mark of Tzeentch (45pts)
        * Possessed Champion (20pts)
            (Champion of Chaos)
            2x Gift of mutation (20pts)

+ Troops + (564pts)

    * Thousand Sons (Troops) (282pts)
        (Fearless, Mark of Tzeentch, Slow and Purposeful, Veterans of the Long War)
        8x Thousand Son (184pts)
        * Aspiring Sorcerer (63pts)
            Melta Bombs (5pts)
        * Chaos Rhino (35pts)
            (Repair)
            Combi-bolter, Searchlight, Smoke launchers

    * Thousand Sons (Troops) (282pts)
        (Fearless, Mark of Tzeentch, Slow and Purposeful, Veterans of the Long War)
        8x Thousand Son (184pts)
        * Aspiring Sorcerer (63pts)
            Melta Bombs (5pts)
        * Chaos Rhino (35pts)
            (Repair)
            Combi-bolter, Searchlight, Smoke launchers

+ Fast Attack + (170pts)

    * Heldrake (170pts)
        (Daemon, Daemonforge, It Will Not Die, Meteroric Descent)
        Baleflamer

+ Heavy Support + (145pts)

    * Chaos Predator (145pts)
        Lascannons (40pts), Twin-Linked Lascannon (25pts), Warpflame gargoyles (5pts)

I plan this use this list or something similar in my next games.  Let me know what you think, great list or fluff bunny list that is incredibly worthless.. Pics are from another Thousand Sons player and Ahriman from the GW site

Concept list #1 - Khorne's Wrath

Hey guys.. so I am thinking for a concept of a list that presents so many important targets that it would overwhelm opponents with what to kill first.  I tried to think of a list using the Chaos Space marine codex but found that I needed more.  I especially needed fast units, units that can threaten an opponent by turn 2.  The Maulerfiend came to mind but since its a vehicle, and armor 12, it could be 1-shotted fairly easily.  With the daemon codex, we finally get a lot of fast choices that are either super cheap or pretty resilient and the fact that they are battle brothers with CSM, compliment each other quite nicely.  The idea that I have was to run 2 chaos lords of khrone on juggernauts, 1 or 2 Maulerfiends, 2 full squads of spawn, a heldrake, and 2 or 3 full squads of cultists. As for the daemons side, herald of khorne on juggernaut or bloodthirster, squad of bloodletters, a squad of bloodcrushers, and a full squad of khorne flesh hounds.  As for heavy support, i would take a khorne damon prince.  The idea is simple, build an allied chaos list that would present my opponent's with so much hard hitting units, that they would be overwhelmed with what to target first.  In todays shoot-centric world of 40k, an army that can close the gaps could be a winning formula. 

I see the writing on the wall, armies that are getting updated are becoming more and more shooty. The heldrakes reign as well as any flyer  is about to come to an end.  With the Tau update, the amount of skyfire the army can bring is astonishing.  The amount of firepower they bring against anything  is just as ridiculous and so my belief of a fast army that can setup multiple assaults at the same time might be the answer.  If an army can hit lets say a tau lines at the same time that would decrease the amount of damage as they would need to concentrate their fire on the first unit hitting their lines.  Once you get stuck in, we know what happens to Tau. 

Below is a sample list of what I`m thinking about, it presents a lot of fast moving units that if not dealt with with prove to be quite nasty for an opponent.

+++ New Khrone Wraths fast army (2000pts) +++

Selections:

Codex: Chaos Daemons 2013 (Allied Detachment) Selections:

+ (No Category) +

    * Warp Storm Table
        (Warp Storm table)

+ HQ + (130pts)

    * Daemonic Heralds (130pts)
        * Herald of Khorne (130pts)
            (Daemonic Instability, Deep Strike, Independent Character)
            D6 Daemonic Reward (10pts) (Lesser Rewards, Magic Weapons), Greater Locus of Fury (20pts) (Greater Locus of Fury), Juggernaut (45pts)
            * Daemon of Khorne
                (Furious Charge, Hatred (Daemon of Slaanesh))
                Daemon (5+ Invulnerable Save, Fear)

+ Elites + (250pts)

    * Bloodcrushers of Khorne (250pts)
        (Daemonic Instability, Deep Strike)
        5x Bloodcrushers (225pts)
        * Bloodhunter (25pts)
            D6 Daemonic Reward (20pts) (Greater Magic Weapons, Greater Rewards)
        * Daemon of Khorne
            (Furious Charge, Hatred (Daemon of Slaanesh))
            Daemon (5+ Invulnerable Save, Fear)

+ Troops + (100pts)

    * Bloodletters of Khorne (100pts)
        (Daemonic Instability, Deep Strike)
        10x Bloodletters (100pts)
        * Daemon of Khorne
            (Furious Charge, Hatred (Daemon of Slaanesh))
            Daemon (5+ Invulnerable Save, Fear)

+ Fast Attack + (320pts)

    * Flesh Hounds of Khorne (320pts)
        (Daemonic Instability, Deep Strike, Scout)
        20x Flesh Hounds (320pts)
        * Daemon of Khorne
            (Furious Charge, Hatred (Daemon of Slaanesh))
            Daemon (5+ Invulnerable Save, Fear)

Chaos Space Marines 6th Ed (2012) by SN (Primary Detachment) Selections:

+ HQ + (345pts)

    * Chaos Lord (170pts)
        (Champion of Chaos, Fearless, Independent Character)
        Juggernaut of Khorne (35pts), Mark of Khorne (10pts), Sigil of corruption (25pts)
        * Power Armour (35pts)
            Axe of Blind Fury (35pts), Bolt Pistol

    * Chaos Lord (175pts)
        (Champion of Chaos, Fearless, Independent Character)
        Juggernaut of Khorne (35pts), Mark of Khorne (10pts), Sigil of corruption (25pts)
        * Power Armour (40pts)
            Lightning Claws (15pts), Power Fist (25pts)

+ Troops + (180pts)

    * Chaos Cultists (90pts)
        (Champion of Chaos)
        Champion's upgrade (10pts), 20x Squad models (champion included) (80pts)

    * Chaos Cultists (90pts)
        (Champion of Chaos)
        Champion's upgrade (10pts), 20x Squad models (champion included) (80pts)

+ Fast Attack + (300pts)

    * Chaos Spawn (150pts)
        (Fear, Fearless, Mutated Beyond Reason, Rage, Random Attacks, Very Bulky)
        5x Spawn (150pts)

    * Chaos Spawn (150pts)
        (Fear, Fearless, Mutated Beyond Reason, Rage, Random Attacks, Very Bulky)
        5x Spawn (150pts)

+ Heavy Support + (375pts)

    * Maulerfiend (125pts)
        (Daemon, Daemonforge, Fleet, It Will Not Die, Move Through Cover, Siege Crawler)
        Magma cutters

    * Maulerfiend (125pts)
        (Daemon, Daemonforge, Fleet, It Will Not Die, Move Through Cover, Siege Crawler)
        Magma cutters

    * Maulerfiend (125pts)
        (Daemon, Daemonforge, Fleet, It Will Not Die, Move Through Cover, Siege Crawler)
        Magma cutters

Side army plans - or what armies to play in a meta full of Chaos

<p>Just like the title states, i'm in the process of finishing a couple of armies to play as the group of players I play with are in the majority playing chaos armies.&#160; And why not, both chaos codexes are great and allow players to play competitive and fun lists.&nbsp; The problem Im having is that I hate playing mirror matches all the time so its time to pull out another army or 2 to get some diversity in our group.  The 2 armies in question are below -

Army 1 = Grey Knights
The original army of cheese, these guys definitely took a hit in 6th edition.  They are still a great army though especially in the shooting department.  During the course of my 40K career, i actually acquired  around 27 grey knight models, 20 of the metal kaskarkin models, and an inquistor set with retinue.  I am planning on playing these guys allied with some sisters to build a fluffy inquistion force My plan also involved using one of my storm ravens for airil support.  The army list is as follows -

+++ Grey Knights/Sisters of Battle Inquisition List (1749pts) +++
+++ 1750pt Grey Knights 5th Edition, Sisters of Battle (White Dwarf) Roster (Primary Detachment, Allied Detachment)) +++

Selections:

Grey Knights 5th Edition (Primary Detachment) Selections:

+ HQ + (100pts)

    * Inquisitor (100pts)
        * Inquisitor Coteaz (100pts)
            (I've Been Expecting You, Independent Character, Psyker (Mastery Level 2), Spy Network, Stubborn)
            Bolt Pistol, Dark Excommunication, Frag, Krak and Psyk-out Grenades, Hammerhand, Master Crafted Nemesis Force Daemonhammer, Psyber Eagle, Sanctuary

+ Elites + (480pts)

    * Paladins (480pts)
        (And They Shall Know No Fear, Brotherhood of Psykers, Combat Squads, Preferred Enemy (Daemons), The Aegis)
        2x Nemesis Daemonhammer, 5x Nemesis Force Halberd, Nemesis Force Sword, 8x Paladins (440pts), 2x Psycannon (40pts), 6x Storm Bolter

+ Troops + (354pts)

    * Formosan Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband (109pts)
        * Acolyte (11pts)
            Carapace Armour (4pts), Chainsword, Storm Bolter (3pts)
        * Acolyte (11pts)
            Carapace Armour (4pts), Chainsword, Storm Bolter (3pts)
        * Acolyte (11pts)
            Carapace Armour (4pts), Chainsword, Storm Bolter (3pts)
        * Acolyte (11pts)
            Carapace Armour (4pts), Chainsword, Storm Bolter (3pts)
        * Acolyte (11pts)
            Carapace Armour (4pts), Chainsword, Storm Bolter (3pts)
        * Acolyte with Special Weapon (18pts)
            Carapace Armour (4pts), Chainsword, Plasmagun (10pts)
        * Acolyte with Special Weapon (18pts)
            Carapace Armour (4pts), Chainsword, Plasmagun (10pts)
        * Acolyte with Special Weapon (18pts)
            Carapace Armour (4pts), Chainsword, Plasmagun (10pts)

    * Grey Knight Strike Squad (245pts)
        (And They Shall Know No Fear, Brotherhood of Psykers, Combat Squads, Deep Strike, Preferred Enemy (Daemons), The Aegis)
        Hammerhand, 2x Psycannon (60pts), 3x Storm Bolter and Nemesis Force Halberd (75pts), 4x Storm Bolter and Nemesis Force Sword (80pts), Warp Quake
        * Justicar (30pts)
            Nemesis Force Daemonhammer (10pts), Storm Bolter

+ Fast Attack + (255pts)

    * Stormraven Gunship (255pts)
        (Assault Vehicle, Deep Strike, Power of the Machine Spirit, Psychic Pilot, Shadow Skies, The Aegis)
        Fortitude, Hurricane Bolters (30pts), Psybolt Ammunition (20pts), Twin Linked Assault Cannons, Twin Linked Multi Meltas

Sisters of Battle (White Dwarf) (Allied Detachment) Selections:

+ HQ + (115pts)

    * Canoness (115pts)
        Inferno Pistol (15pts), Power Sword (10pts), Rosarius (25pts)

+ Troops + (310pts)

    * Battle Sister Squad (175pts)
        9x Battle Sister (108pts), Flamer (5pts), Flamer (5pts)
        * Rhino (40pts)
            Dozer Blade (5pts)
        * Sister Superior (17pts)
            Bolt Pistol, Chainsword

    * Battle Sister Squad (135pts)
        9x Battle Sister (108pts), Flamer (5pts), Flamer (5pts)
        * Sister Superior (17pts)
            Bolt Pistol, Chainsword

+ Fast Attack + (135pts)

    * Dominion Squad (135pts)
        4x Dominion (52pts), 2x Meltagun (20pts), Rhino (35pts)
        * Dominion Superior (28pts)
            Chainsword, Combi-melta (10pts)

Army # 2 - Tau
Ok so these guys just came out with a new a book.  The Tau army was actually my 3rd army that I got into.  I have around 2000 points built and painted but after seeing what new toys they have, I feel like I need to drop some money to bring them up to snuff.  Shadowsun along with a irdim armored commander seem like the way I will be going though I am really excited with the support commander option.  Tooling up a commander with both sensor suites and having him join units and allow the unit to reroll their shots or ignore cover would be just awesome.  Coupling said commander with say a cadre fireblade in a full unitof firewarriors would really make all those strentgh 5 pulse rifles shots super scary.  Of course there is also Farsight whose warlord trait that makes him and his unit not scatter when deepstriking opens up a lot more possibilities as well.  Take a big bodyguard unit armed with fusion blasters and plasma rifles and say bye bye to any armor units on the field.  Throw in a bodyguard with both sensor suite upgrades and you have a really scary unit that ignores cover and re rolls their hits.  And that is just the start of it, the many options that this new book brings is just mindboggling.  In terms of lists, I will put some up during my next posts.  pics are of half painted commander.  Expect more pics of this army up soon..

Continuing with the Dark Mechanicus

Its been a couple of months now playing the dark mechanicus list.  The list has proven to me that it has some merit and for the most part will stand up to a majority of other army lists.  Recently I faced an imperial guard player who played a mechguard list with 10-12 chimeras, and 3 Vendettas.  We played 1750 points, rolled up big guns never tire with vanguard strike.  I played my 1750 list which included the warpsmith, 3 csm squads, an ageis defense line, 3 oblits, a forgefiend, and a maulerfiend.   Like the daemon player I faced in the tournament, this would be a challenging opponent and another that would test my list to the fullest.  I do have to say that one of the unsung heros in my army is the Ageis defense line.  I will never leave my army without it, it provides me with my own piece of cover, a defensive position where I could place my firebase and with the quad gun a weapon that could skyfire.  In this game, it allowed me to weather my opponent's first turn without taking much damage.  My forgefiend opened up and netted me first blood by blowing up a chimera.  My Oblits went next and blew up another chimera with my HQ havoc squad blowing up a third one.  My dice were definitely on fire that first turn and pretty much decided how the game went.  By concentrating on his tanks in the front, I forced my opponent to have to move around his wrecks or roll dangerous terrain tests.  This was the first game I took my maulerfiend which I hid for the first 2 turns as there was nothing in charge range.  By turn 3 I decided to move him up but of course he became bullet bait once his 3 vendettas came on.  My forgefiend also fell prey to them and if it wasnt for my dragons, would have run amok the entire game.  In turns 3-4 the bulk of the heavy lifting came from my 2 CSM squads and the 3 oblits that took turns hammering my opponents chimeras.  I have to say I really hate these multiple veterans squads with either 3 meltas or 3 plasmas, they are way to cheap, these guys kept my opponent in the game and would have won him the game along with his 3 vendettas if it wasnt for the 2 dragons and my obits.  My dragons actually took out 2 of the vendettas with the oblits taking out the last one using twin linked plasma guns.  After taking out his air force it was just a matter of moping up and playing hide and seek with his veteran squads with the 3 plasmas, killing their ride and having the heldrakes munch on them. 

The game ended on turn 6 with my opponent holding 1 objective and me 2 and also having first blood and slay the warlord.  The army is still showing me that it has legs to stand on but I am definitely seeing something.  The list is very dependant on the heldrakes.  They are definitely MVPs every game and I believe until every army gets updated to 6th edition, they will continue to be one of the most hated models on the table top.  I plan on running more troops by adding in more cultists so I might drop one of the heldrakes.  I recently acquired 40 cultists and a dark apostle that I converted using one of the chosen models from the starter box and feel that by having 70 bodies as troops, this might make the game more fun for both me and my opponent.  Fliers are extremely OP right now, having 2 of the most powerful ones might be a little too much for friendly games so I might use the 2nd one for tourneys only. 

Dark Mechanicus test drive

A couple of weeks ago, I finally got the chance to test drive my dark mechanicus army.  I didnt have time to test the list in normal games so actually took the list untested to the local GW's final 40k tournament before it closed its doors as a battle bunker.  The tournament was 1500 points, modified book missions and it was 3 games long.  I would certainly get a feel of the list playing it against 3 different armies.  In terms of the list I took the 1500 pts list I posted in my last post which contained a warpsmith, 3 CSM squads with extra close combat weapons; one with plasma and autocannon, 2 with melta gun and plasma, 2 Heldrakes with baleflamers an Oblit squad and a forgefiend.

Game 1 vs. Tyranids - Without a doubt the coolest guy I played at the Tourney, here was a guy who just made the game fun to play.  His list was what I would call an elite nid list with a flying hive tyrant, a tyrant on foot, big warrior squad, a tyranofex, a Zoai, trygon, and 2 squads of 15 guants.  My army obliterated the nids with knocking the hive tyrant out of the air and killing it by turn 2, my forgefiend killing his 6 man squad of warriors in one salvo.. ok I got lucky with my rolling, and the 2 heldrakes just flying around and killing stuff.  The made mince meat of the trygon that popped up with vector strikes and killing off his 2 troop choices that were left.  By the top of 4, my opponent and I called it.  I tell you what, this guy took it in the teeth and still had a great time.  I dont know how I would have felt with my big HQ dying by turn 2 without feeling like crap.  My army proved to me that it was shooty in this first game with MVPs going to the Warpsmith and his squad behind the ageis and the Forgefiend.

Game 2 vs. Orks - Was this game ever tough, my opponent was running an extremely different ork list, one that I have never seen before.  His army was what I call a killa can list made up of 2 mega deff dreads, 9 killa cans, and 3 deff dreads.  His only unit of infantry came in the form of a 10 man boyz squad in a truck that he hid on his home objective.  We drew vanguard strike and emperors will as the primary mission and I would like to say that my generalship won me the game but truth be told, my dice were on fire.  My heldrakes were the scourge of the battlefield, vector striking, and flaming cans and deff dreads down.  The daemonforge ability helped quite a lot in this battle giving me the ability to re roll damage pens rolls against the Killa Cans and deff dreads and really helped with damaging my opponents ability to move as I concentrated on killing the models in front of his battle line thus forcing him to have to go around or roll dangerous terrain.  Placing the heldrakes in front of the dreads also helped in this as he had to move around them and needed to keep at least 1 inch away from their bases.  By Turn 4, I knew that the game was mine as he only had 2 cans left, 1 deff dread, and 1 mega deff dread that was immobilized and not going anywhere.  One of my Heldrakes had taken out his 1 scoring infantry unit and I had gotten first blood and kill the warlord.  We called it by the bottom of turn 5 as there was no way he could win or tie the game.  MVP's of this game was again the forgefiend, my HQ "Havoc" squad unit, and of course the Heldrakes.

Game 3 vs. Chaos Daemons - By the time the 3rd game around, I was 2-0 and on one of the top tables.  Up until this time, I didnt think my list had legs especially in a tourney setting. My opponent this time around was running one of the most hated netlists of all time. This game of course took place before the new daemon codex had come out so of course the guy was running fateweaver, 3 squads of flamers, 4 small squads of horrors, and 2 max squads of screamers. I deployed as best I could knowing that I had one turn to kill as many of his units as possible and then hope for the best. I concentrated all my forces in a corner giving him few avenues where he could deepstrike safely. I lucked out that he didnt get his preferred wave but due to a huge line of sight blocking terrain piece, he very wisely hid this 4 - 5 man horror squads behind it. I was able to kill 1 squad and mauled another one but that was all I could do before hell broke lose. Next turn he got all of his units in and with it my chance of winning the game. I did my best at holding him off until my dragons came on and was able to actually hold my own when both came on. MVPs of this game were believe it or not a squad of CSM's that wiped out a squad of flamers and put the hurt on a squad of screamers before dying. My forge fiend got to fire once before his other squad of screamers took him down. The game went on to about turn 4 before I decided to call it to save myself from tabling as all I had was 1 dragon left. He did pay me a compliment that I was able to kill the most of his units in all 3 of his games so I will take that as a morale victory. Hard, hard game but glad I wont be facing that list anymore as the new Daemon codex is out. All in all a great first outing for the dark mechanicus. The army is a blast to play and looks quite striking on the table top. I plan on adding in the maulerfiend and a helbrute to give me even more daemon engines. The pics in this post are of my maulerfiend and the warpsmith. Let me know what you think.  

Work in progress

Hey guys, I wanted to talk about my latest project that I am currently knee deep in.  As your average 40k hobbiest, I have ADD when it comes to projects.  I might get inspired to do a certain build and then a week later have something else inspire me and go off on another tangent.  Many things inspire me to "go off" on from listening to the latest podcast, to reading an article, to bouncing off ideas to my poor wife as she is trying to catch up on her shows, inspiration can come from anywhere.  My latest scheme involves adding a dark mechanicus wing to my Dark Wolves army with a warpsmith, a couple of heldrakes, and either a forge fiend or maulerfiend.

  This past christmas was good to me and I ended up with a good start for the army so I needed to just add a Mauler fiend.  My list involves running a warpsmith as my HQ, running 3 CSM squads, 2 Heldrakes, a ForgeFiend, Mauler Fiend, and squad of Oblits.  I know that on face value the list doesnt appear competitive which is not the point, I just love the models and the theme of running just a lot of daemon engines.  The Heldrake on its own is just too good, arguably one of the best models in the game (rules wise).  Having 2 in the list makes it so at least I have a shot at winning games.  And then we come to the forgefiend.  I dont know about you but a model with 8 strength 8 shots just screams awesome to me.  I know that the model is is over costed but the number of shots the model puts out makes it worth to me.  Joining the forgefiend in the heavy support is a squad of 3 oblits.  Oblits might have taken a hit with the loss of fearless but the fact that they can now take marks makes them a lot more survival able then ever.

Over the course of the last couple of months, I have been able to put together the models and actually put paint to brush.  I have completed painting the Warpsmith, the forgefiend, and both Heldrakes.  I also painted up an ageis defense line with a quad gun in order to give me some anti air.  As it stands, the list contains the following at 1500 points-

HQ- Warpsmith
Aura of Dark Glory
Gift of Mutation

(2 units of )Troops- CSM Squad (10)
1x Melta gun
1x Plasma gun
Aspa Champ with Power Sword
Unit has extra CCW

Troops- CSM Squad (10)
1x Plasma gun
1x Autocannon
Aspa Champ with Power Axe
Unit has extra CCW

(2 units) Fast- Heldrake with Baleflamer

Heavy Support- Obliterator squad (2)
Mark of Nurgle

Heavy Support- Forgefiend
Twin Hades Autocannons

Fortification - Ageis defense line with Quad gun

The concept of the list is simple.  The Warpsmith joins the CSM squad with the autocannon behind the aegis manning the quad gun.  This unit effectively becomes a havoc squad armed with 3 autocannons and with the ability to skyfire and interceptor, makes them a threat to all light armor, aircraft and troops.   I keep the forgefiend next to him to add his firepower to the unit.  The other 2 units i use to capture objectives or take a defensive posture in kill points as mark of khorne makes them great in defense (which is very ironic...).  The dragons clear the field after the oblits or the autocannons pop the transports.  I might want to add a big squad of cultists and a Dark Apostle as well to get me up to 1750.  With the new Daemon codex coming out, I might want to add in some daemonic allies to give my opponents a threat in their back field.  Next week I plan on taking the list to our local GW's last 40K tournament before they close.  I am hoping the list does pretty good but we shall see..

Spreading the 40K love

Hi guys, sorry its been a long time since my last post.  This last season has been a busy one especially for us hobbyists who in this time we need to put aside our hobby to help with the preparations to make the holidays the best ever.  My hobby has certainly suffered but no matter how busy I was with setting up the Christmas tree to hanging lights on our house, I always made a point to get some hobbying in no matter what.  We then come to the title of my post, sharing my love of 40K with others in particular people who have never played the game.  40K as it stands is a real complex game for people who have never played  a war game however for our hobby to expand and survive we as players need to bring in new people.  We as gamers should be responsible to teach and grow our community and whenever somebody new expresses interest, we as gamers should try to cultivate that interest.  The purpose of this post is to share my ideas on how to do this, not as a be all, end all guide but to share my experiences in trying to bring my love of the game to somebody new.  Over the course of my 40k "career", I have had numerous friends, family member, etc ask me what the heck is warhammer and why I'm I so passionate about it.   I explain its the lore, the armies, the painting the playing that I love and with each different person asking, I have tried to find a better way to explain the hobby without overwhelming my audience.  Recently I had 2 such people express interest in what I do, one person with little or no experience to gaming in general and the other with a lot of gaming experience but not war gaming experience.  The challenge was how do I share my love of Warhammer without overwhelming them and hopefully getting new converts to the game.  Below are some basic ideas on what I did to inspire this
1.  The use of painted models - Nothing brings out the wow factor in our hobby like painted models.  Its one of the reasons why I try to play with painted models all the time.  Painted models is what brings our hobby full circle, what really brings the game to life.  People interested in the game will really be drawn to painted armies playing on painted terrain more so then grey models or black painted ones. Anytime somebody asked me about the game, it was the painted models that drew their attention.  People might be intimated  by the idea of having to paint their entire army, this is where you bring up the idea of painting techniques, ways to paint models fast and easy.  I always tell those interested that I could show them how to paint models and will go out of my way to support them. 
2.  The Fluff -
      Depending on what you are trying to sell, a good backstory always makes a good selling point.  As it stands, 40K has one of the best back stories that any sci-fi fan can grow to enjoy.  I have seen people get into the game by having a 40K player recommend a book to them or by just talking up the back story.  Its definitely one of the reasons that brought me into the game.  Reading the fluff of a traitor legion called the Night Lords back in the old index astartes  articles got me into wanting to build my first Chaos army.  The different types of armies each with their own back story makes for a game that can  entice any sci-fan.
3.  Videos Games - Let me tell you a little bit about myself.  I was a gamer first before getting involved with 40K.  The guy carrying his big ol PC to his friends lan party, that was me.  Around 6-7 years ago game developer Relic dropped a little game called Dawn of War.  After reading some previews about the game and catching a segment on xplay, I just had to have this game.  I bought the game and just had a blast with it along with friends when low and behold as my wife and I were walking in our local mall I spotted something familiar standing outside a games workshop store.  It was a space marine statue, one of the guys from dawn of war the game I loved, I instantly dragged my wife into the store and the rest as they say is history.
In closing, as I stated at the beginning of this poat, its are responsibility of us gamers to grow our hobby.  Getting new people into the game will ensure not only that we will have new players to play against, but that our hobby will last for years and not grow stale. 
Hobby progress - i am currently working on a dark mechanicus wing for my chaos space marine army.  I am about 80% done with painting up my warpsmith, put together a forgefiend, a defiler and 2 heldrakes. I had an old dred that I will be using as a helbrute. I also startes revamping my old Tau army and have redone all 34 fire warriors, my 4 crisis suits, and my 2 commander models. I still need to get my vehicles done for them as well.