Well after a few months away from the hobby I'm back!
I have a great new job that I have settled into, a steady income, and my health has improved so much that I no longer sleep 11 hours a day and spend the rest in a mindless fug!
Ok everyone so I was looking for something different/unusual/cool to field at my local club for mini tournaments and such. Now these are always 1500 points or smaller and normally most armies are played with no strong bias towards super-powered-cheese-doom lists.
Anyway here is something I have been working on for a couple of days after reading about the Raptors chapter of marines.
All shall be explained below the list -
HQ
1 Sicarius.
ELITES
7 Sternguard, 3 combi plasma, drop pod.
TROOPS
10 Tactical marines, meltagun, missile launcher, powerfist.
5 Scouts, bp/ccw, combi melta and melta bombs.
5 Scouts, bp/ccw, combi melta and melta bombs.
10 Scouts, sniper rifles, camo cloaks, missile launcher.
10 Scouts, bolters, heavy bolter.
FAST ATTACK
1 Land speeder storm, multi melta.
1 Land speeder storm, multi melta.
8 Scout bikes, powerfist, 3 grenade launchers, cluster mines.
Total = 1500 points.
Tactics -
1) Sicarius will travel in the pod with the sternguard.
2) Tactical squad will infiltrate thanks to Sicarius special rules.
Basically this list is all about creating multiple angles of attack and using the alpha strike to my advantage. By plonking the tactical squad and the scouts with heavy bolter in the midfield I can completely change where my main attack is coming from. The bikes and storms are great for killing scary stuff right away and the drop podding sternguard can make a mess of most elite infantry/monstrous creatures when they come in.
Thanks to the re-roll for seizing the initiative I have a much better chance of getting it and with all the infiltrating and scouting going on I can really start to apply the pressure from turn 1. Admitedly there is very little combat capability, but then reading the fluff for the Raptors this is completely normal as they prefer to use stealth, assassination and shooting to do most damage.
At 1750 points I would add the following -
5 Assault terminators, th/ss.
1 Sternguard marine.
Locator beacon on scout bike sergeant.
Does this seem fun to you or am I chasing rainbows?
Tuesday, 8 May 2012
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
The new Sisters of Battle and how they roll
Well I meant to do this last week but events have gotten crazy of late. I have recently been trying out the new SoB mini WD codex and to be honest it hasn't helped SoB players at all. In fact I would argue it has weakened the overall list considerably. Now this isn't going to be a complete White Dwarf bashing article because I have actually WON 4 games out of 5 with them so far! Admittedly 3 of the games were against fun lists but the other 2 were against cheesed up IG and luckily I still managed a win once!
Now at this point I am going to shock you all and say that the best unit in the new codex are Repentia. Why? Lots of attacks, feel no pain, one of the better acts of faith, cheaper, and frankly there isn't much else worthwhile in the elites slot. More importantly this unit provides a fast and hard hitting counter assault that is as much at home killing vehicles, infantry, or anything for that matter. Forget the silly Battle Conclaves and just take these ladies, or better yet why not take a unit of both and actually win combats once in a while.
Ok so they have rage... Well stick them in a Rhino from a Battle Sisters squad you plan on camping on an objective, or nick the one you gave to your Retributors.
I find them great at about 8 or 9 with a priest if you want, mounted in a borrowed Rhino. Give them a go and you might be surprised by just how much they can accomplish compared to their old selves. I have used them to guard my shooty units of Retributors and Exorcists, and as front line troops following my Immolator mounted units of Dominions up the board.
I will do an overall tactica for the new Sisters of Battle list when I get time so watch this space in future.
Now at this point I am going to shock you all and say that the best unit in the new codex are Repentia. Why? Lots of attacks, feel no pain, one of the better acts of faith, cheaper, and frankly there isn't much else worthwhile in the elites slot. More importantly this unit provides a fast and hard hitting counter assault that is as much at home killing vehicles, infantry, or anything for that matter. Forget the silly Battle Conclaves and just take these ladies, or better yet why not take a unit of both and actually win combats once in a while.
Ok so they have rage... Well stick them in a Rhino from a Battle Sisters squad you plan on camping on an objective, or nick the one you gave to your Retributors.
I find them great at about 8 or 9 with a priest if you want, mounted in a borrowed Rhino. Give them a go and you might be surprised by just how much they can accomplish compared to their old selves. I have used them to guard my shooty units of Retributors and Exorcists, and as front line troops following my Immolator mounted units of Dominions up the board.
I will do an overall tactica for the new Sisters of Battle list when I get time so watch this space in future.
Monday, 24 October 2011
My 50th game of the year and my first loss.
Yep you heard me right, I have been playing space wolves all year and my results are as follows -
42 wins, 7 draws and 1 loss!
Now I haven't been taking the same list all the time but my lists usually revolve around 3 squads of grey hunters in rhinos with a Long fang squad, whirlwind and rune priest as support. Sprinkle in extras as I like.
The best bit about my recent games is that they have been at various points levels which has really meant that I have had to learn the space wolves codex from cover to cover so I know all the tips and tricks available. Great for me... Not so great for the guys at club. Also as anyone who has played me will know, I tend to shy away from cheese lists, even at most tournaments as they are boring to play with and against. I think my win to loss ratio clearly shows that you don't have to spam stuff to get a good list. And before anyone says that my opponents must be rubbish, well they aren't all competitive gamers, but most take playing me pretty seriously.
42 wins, 7 draws and 1 loss!
Now I haven't been taking the same list all the time but my lists usually revolve around 3 squads of grey hunters in rhinos with a Long fang squad, whirlwind and rune priest as support. Sprinkle in extras as I like.
The best bit about my recent games is that they have been at various points levels which has really meant that I have had to learn the space wolves codex from cover to cover so I know all the tips and tricks available. Great for me... Not so great for the guys at club. Also as anyone who has played me will know, I tend to shy away from cheese lists, even at most tournaments as they are boring to play with and against. I think my win to loss ratio clearly shows that you don't have to spam stuff to get a good list. And before anyone says that my opponents must be rubbish, well they aren't all competitive gamers, but most take playing me pretty seriously.
Thursday, 30 June 2011
For the greater good... yeah right!
Yikes I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted... guess that's what happens when you buy a heap of gym equipment and then spend ages trying to work out how it goes together (instructions were useless).
Anyway I haven't been totally deprived of warhammer and have been slowly gaining the hang of using a tau army in 5th edition! Yep you heard me correctly - TAU. Since the list I posted last month I have been toying with the idea of vespid more and more, mostly because I nabbed a box on ebay for a fiver and I want them in the list.
Now everyone is going to say they suck and tau really don't need them but I disagree somewhat. I have played 4 games so far with the tau and of those 3 had vespid in them. I have managed 1 loss and 3 draws but sadly no wins so far (I'm going out on a limb here and saying that's probably because I am new to tau and they work so differently to space wolves).
Now my vespid have played a crucial role in each of those games in the form of harrassers and objective contesters. Their speed is just great being able to move 12" and then fleet up to 6" followed by an assault move is sweet. It works wonders when you want to stall IG meltavets as T4 and I5 is so useful when facing other weak combatants. They work perfectly in conjunction with outflanking kroot or fast moving battlesuits and I have had a lot of success using them to take out IG heavy weapon teams, command squads, and space wolves long fangs squads. A squad of 6-8 is perfect and their ability to reroll failed terrain rolls is the icing on the cake.
Oh have I mentioned the S5 AP3 guns they carry? At BS3 they arent going to do much, but with a few markerlight hits then suddenly you have BS 4 or 5 and can strip away cover saves as well. This is great in my list as most of my battlesuits are BS4 so my pathfinders have more time to be choosey about who they shoot their markerlights at.
To see what I mean, here is my list as it stands -
2 crisis suits, twin linked missile pods, targeting arrays = 106 pts.
8 fire warriors, shas’ui, bonding knife, devilfish, disruption pods = 180 pts.
10 kroot + 6 hounds = 106 pts.
10 kroot + 6 hounds = 106 pts.
10 kroot + 1 krootox = 105 pts.
HEAVY SUPPORT
1 hammerhead, railgun, multi tracker, burst cannons, disruption pods, blacksun filter = 175 pts.
1 hammerhead, railgun, multi tracker, burst cannons, disruption pods, blacksun filter = 175 pts.
1 broadside suit, advanced stabilisation system, team leader, 1 shield drone, hardwired drone controller, hardwired blacksun filter = 103 pts.
Total = 1749 points.
Anyway I haven't been totally deprived of warhammer and have been slowly gaining the hang of using a tau army in 5th edition! Yep you heard me correctly - TAU. Since the list I posted last month I have been toying with the idea of vespid more and more, mostly because I nabbed a box on ebay for a fiver and I want them in the list.
Now everyone is going to say they suck and tau really don't need them but I disagree somewhat. I have played 4 games so far with the tau and of those 3 had vespid in them. I have managed 1 loss and 3 draws but sadly no wins so far (I'm going out on a limb here and saying that's probably because I am new to tau and they work so differently to space wolves).
Now my vespid have played a crucial role in each of those games in the form of harrassers and objective contesters. Their speed is just great being able to move 12" and then fleet up to 6" followed by an assault move is sweet. It works wonders when you want to stall IG meltavets as T4 and I5 is so useful when facing other weak combatants. They work perfectly in conjunction with outflanking kroot or fast moving battlesuits and I have had a lot of success using them to take out IG heavy weapon teams, command squads, and space wolves long fangs squads. A squad of 6-8 is perfect and their ability to reroll failed terrain rolls is the icing on the cake.
Oh have I mentioned the S5 AP3 guns they carry? At BS3 they arent going to do much, but with a few markerlight hits then suddenly you have BS 4 or 5 and can strip away cover saves as well. This is great in my list as most of my battlesuits are BS4 so my pathfinders have more time to be choosey about who they shoot their markerlights at.
To see what I mean, here is my list as it stands -
HQ
1 shas’el, bonding knife, positional relay, hardwired multi tracker, fusion blaster, plasma rifle, hardwired drone controller, 2 shield drones = 137 pts.2 bodyguards, fusion blasters, plasma rifles, hardwired multi trackers, targeting arrays = 164 pts.
ELITES2 crisis suits, twin linked missile pods, targeting arrays = 106 pts.
2 crisis suits, twin linked missile pods, targeting arrays = 106 pts.
TROOPS8 fire warriors, shas’ui, bonding knife, devilfish, disruption pods = 180 pts.
10 kroot + 6 hounds = 106 pts.
10 kroot + 6 hounds = 106 pts.
10 kroot + 1 krootox = 105 pts.
FAST ATTACK
6 vespid, strain leader = 102 pts.
7 pathfinders, shas’ui, bonding knife, devilfish, disruption pods = 184 pts.HEAVY SUPPORT
1 hammerhead, railgun, multi tracker, burst cannons, disruption pods, blacksun filter = 175 pts.
1 hammerhead, railgun, multi tracker, burst cannons, disruption pods, blacksun filter = 175 pts.
1 broadside suit, advanced stabilisation system, team leader, 1 shield drone, hardwired drone controller, hardwired blacksun filter = 103 pts.
Friday, 27 May 2011
Tau Expansion - Making Them Tournament Worthy(ish)
I really fancy a change of pace and a break from power armoured troops. Luckily my brother has tau and doesn't mind me working on them for him.
Here is my attempt at making them reasonable for tournaments and reasons behind my choices.
HQ
1 Shas'el with bonding knife, twin linked missile pods, flamer, hardwired drone controller and 2 shield drones. 1 shas'vre bodyguard with targeting array, twin linked missile pods = 170 points.
ELITES
1 Crisis team leader with bonding knife, hardwired drone controller, 2 shield drones, twin linked missile pods and targeting array. 1 crisis suit with targeting array and twin linked missile pods = 146 points.
1 Crisis team leader with bonding knife, hardwired drone controller, 2 shield drones, fusion blaster, plasma rifle, multi tracker. 2 crisis suits with plasma rifles, multi trackers and fusion blasters = 226 pts.
1 Crisis team leader with bonding knife, hardwired drone controller, 2 shield drones, fusion blaster, plasma rifle, multi tracker. 2 crisis suits with plasma rifles, multi trackers and fusion blasters = 226 pts.
TROOPS
16 Kroot = 112 pts.
16 Kroot = 112pts.
9 Fire warriors and 1 shas'ui with bonding knife, mounted in a devilfish with disruption pods = 200 pts.
FAST ATTACK
8 Pathfinders and 1 shas'ui with bonding knife, mounted in a devilfish with disruption pods = 208 pts.
HEAVY SUPPORT
1 Hammerhead, railgun, burst cannons, multi tracker and disruption pods = 175 pts.
1 Hammerhead, railgun, burst cannons, multi tracker and disruption pods = 175 pts.
Total = 1750 points.
The basic idea behind this is my 2+2+2+2 theory. Now tau are never going to be able to outshoot imperial guard and just can't take a beating like space marines, but what they do have are some nifty little rules and some supercharged guns. When creating any list for a tournament I try and ensure I have at least 2 units capable of fullfilling each role I need in game.
Firsty I need at least 2 units to take out transports at range. Deathrain crisis suits are perfect for this as twin linked BS4 autocannons are super. I will need elite slots for harder hitting units so my only option is to turn 1 squad into my commander and bodyguard which is fine.
Next I need something to take on marines and terminators. Helios suits fill this role well as plasma rifles and fusion blasters are AP 2 and 1 respectively. So 2 units of 3 suits are just what I need to finish up my elites choices.
Then I need battle tanks for both firepower and as distractions for enemy heavy weapons. Hammerheads are the best we can field and with disruption pods they have protection from shooting and with multi trackers giving the ability to shoot as if a fast vehicle, then it means I can still move 12" and shoot with the railguns... awesome. 2 of these please.
Lastly I need troops to hold objectives. I have to take a unit of fire warriors but don't want a static force so they get a devilfish so that they can act as a mobile reserve unit that I can hold back and use to fill any gaps or add weight of firepower to where I need it most. Secondly I need kroot. They are the only thing that can launch a proper assault and although not great, they can hold against eldar, IG, nids and dark eldar as long as they aren't dedicated assault troops. They also function as pretty good screens for my crisis suits.
So I have some spare points left. What do I spend them on? Well as it's a tournament list and objectives missions are going to form a large portion of the missions available then another troops choice is needed. I think 16 more kroot will do nicely to help shield my crisis suits and infiltrate ahead.
Now what every tau army can't really work without - a large unit of pathfinders to help with markerlight support. I prefer larger squads as BS3 is pretty unpredictable and more marker hits means more helios suits shooting at BS4 or BS5.
So there is a rundown of my list and ideas behind it. If you have any feedback then feel free to post.
Here is my attempt at making them reasonable for tournaments and reasons behind my choices.
HQ
1 Shas'el with bonding knife, twin linked missile pods, flamer, hardwired drone controller and 2 shield drones. 1 shas'vre bodyguard with targeting array, twin linked missile pods = 170 points.
ELITES
1 Crisis team leader with bonding knife, hardwired drone controller, 2 shield drones, twin linked missile pods and targeting array. 1 crisis suit with targeting array and twin linked missile pods = 146 points.
1 Crisis team leader with bonding knife, hardwired drone controller, 2 shield drones, fusion blaster, plasma rifle, multi tracker. 2 crisis suits with plasma rifles, multi trackers and fusion blasters = 226 pts.
1 Crisis team leader with bonding knife, hardwired drone controller, 2 shield drones, fusion blaster, plasma rifle, multi tracker. 2 crisis suits with plasma rifles, multi trackers and fusion blasters = 226 pts.
TROOPS
16 Kroot = 112 pts.
16 Kroot = 112pts.
9 Fire warriors and 1 shas'ui with bonding knife, mounted in a devilfish with disruption pods = 200 pts.
FAST ATTACK
8 Pathfinders and 1 shas'ui with bonding knife, mounted in a devilfish with disruption pods = 208 pts.
HEAVY SUPPORT
1 Hammerhead, railgun, burst cannons, multi tracker and disruption pods = 175 pts.
1 Hammerhead, railgun, burst cannons, multi tracker and disruption pods = 175 pts.
Total = 1750 points.
The basic idea behind this is my 2+2+2+2 theory. Now tau are never going to be able to outshoot imperial guard and just can't take a beating like space marines, but what they do have are some nifty little rules and some supercharged guns. When creating any list for a tournament I try and ensure I have at least 2 units capable of fullfilling each role I need in game.
Firsty I need at least 2 units to take out transports at range. Deathrain crisis suits are perfect for this as twin linked BS4 autocannons are super. I will need elite slots for harder hitting units so my only option is to turn 1 squad into my commander and bodyguard which is fine.
Next I need something to take on marines and terminators. Helios suits fill this role well as plasma rifles and fusion blasters are AP 2 and 1 respectively. So 2 units of 3 suits are just what I need to finish up my elites choices.
Then I need battle tanks for both firepower and as distractions for enemy heavy weapons. Hammerheads are the best we can field and with disruption pods they have protection from shooting and with multi trackers giving the ability to shoot as if a fast vehicle, then it means I can still move 12" and shoot with the railguns... awesome. 2 of these please.
Lastly I need troops to hold objectives. I have to take a unit of fire warriors but don't want a static force so they get a devilfish so that they can act as a mobile reserve unit that I can hold back and use to fill any gaps or add weight of firepower to where I need it most. Secondly I need kroot. They are the only thing that can launch a proper assault and although not great, they can hold against eldar, IG, nids and dark eldar as long as they aren't dedicated assault troops. They also function as pretty good screens for my crisis suits.
So I have some spare points left. What do I spend them on? Well as it's a tournament list and objectives missions are going to form a large portion of the missions available then another troops choice is needed. I think 16 more kroot will do nicely to help shield my crisis suits and infiltrate ahead.
Now what every tau army can't really work without - a large unit of pathfinders to help with markerlight support. I prefer larger squads as BS3 is pretty unpredictable and more marker hits means more helios suits shooting at BS4 or BS5.
So there is a rundown of my list and ideas behind it. If you have any feedback then feel free to post.
My Insane Games Tournament Result
I was lucky enough to enter a local tournament last weekend at Insane Games in Bridgwater. It is the first I have been to in a long time and it made a change to actually enjoy meeting new people who had just entered the hobby and were still discovering everything that 40k has to offer. I didn't realise how much I had missed going to a proper club. I took the good old space wolves and with 1000pts packed into my case I headed to what I hoped was going to be a fun filled day.
Well I couldn't have been more pleased. There was a very relaxed mood to the whole thing and most of the people there were new(ish) to the game, or had been out of it for a while (like myself).
My first game was objectives against an eldar player who had an army made up of all the models he had so far. It was short and sweet with me winning 3 objectives to none after my long fangs killed most of his army with frag templates.
Game 2 was much more challenging as I faced a defiler, 2 squads of chaos marines, berzerkers in a rhino, abbadon and 2 obliterators! It was kill points and we were deploying on the short table edges so I was facing a long drive with my rhinos and lots of battle cannon and plasma cannon shots all the way. Luckily the game ended with a draw at 2 kill points each. Thankfully living lighting managed to kill his last obliterator and abbadon didn't turn up until turn 5.
Game 3 was against a very young marines player who I had a great time playing because it wasn't really much of a tournament game, but was more of a tutorial by me on how to get the most out of his army. At the end of it I had won but he was just as happy to have been given some helpful advice. The mission was basically assassinate the enemy HQ choice (and luckily this one wasn't taking Calgar).
Game 4 was a match up between the top 4 armies. We played a doubles game with my space wolves currently ranked 2nd and another chap with space wolves who was ranked 1st, taking on the two chaos players ranked 3rd and 4th. We massacred them... which was great as one of them was a real ass. He was a bully who was picking on some of the other younger lads there (he himself was only maybe 14), and he didn't like having to face a 22 year old and a 23 year old in a match up as he couldn't cheat his way to the top because we knew the rules so well.
Anyway he ended up 3rd and I stayed 2nd which was great considering I had a very average army compared to some of the stuff taken... I saw 2 abbadons and ragnar blackmane at 1000 points!
My list was -
1 rune priest, chooser of the slain, living lighting, stormcaller.
8 grey hunters, powerfist, meltagun, rhino.
1 wolf guard, combi melta, powerfist.
8 grey hunters, powerfist, meltagun rhino.
1 wolf guard, combi melta, powerfist.
9 grey hunters, powerfist, plasmagun, rhino.
1 wolf guard, frostblade.
6 long fangs, 3 missiles, 1 heavy bolter, 1 lascannon, razorback.
Well I couldn't have been more pleased. There was a very relaxed mood to the whole thing and most of the people there were new(ish) to the game, or had been out of it for a while (like myself).
My first game was objectives against an eldar player who had an army made up of all the models he had so far. It was short and sweet with me winning 3 objectives to none after my long fangs killed most of his army with frag templates.
Game 2 was much more challenging as I faced a defiler, 2 squads of chaos marines, berzerkers in a rhino, abbadon and 2 obliterators! It was kill points and we were deploying on the short table edges so I was facing a long drive with my rhinos and lots of battle cannon and plasma cannon shots all the way. Luckily the game ended with a draw at 2 kill points each. Thankfully living lighting managed to kill his last obliterator and abbadon didn't turn up until turn 5.
Game 3 was against a very young marines player who I had a great time playing because it wasn't really much of a tournament game, but was more of a tutorial by me on how to get the most out of his army. At the end of it I had won but he was just as happy to have been given some helpful advice. The mission was basically assassinate the enemy HQ choice (and luckily this one wasn't taking Calgar).
Game 4 was a match up between the top 4 armies. We played a doubles game with my space wolves currently ranked 2nd and another chap with space wolves who was ranked 1st, taking on the two chaos players ranked 3rd and 4th. We massacred them... which was great as one of them was a real ass. He was a bully who was picking on some of the other younger lads there (he himself was only maybe 14), and he didn't like having to face a 22 year old and a 23 year old in a match up as he couldn't cheat his way to the top because we knew the rules so well.
Anyway he ended up 3rd and I stayed 2nd which was great considering I had a very average army compared to some of the stuff taken... I saw 2 abbadons and ragnar blackmane at 1000 points!
My list was -
1 rune priest, chooser of the slain, living lighting, stormcaller.
8 grey hunters, powerfist, meltagun, rhino.
1 wolf guard, combi melta, powerfist.
8 grey hunters, powerfist, meltagun rhino.
1 wolf guard, combi melta, powerfist.
9 grey hunters, powerfist, plasmagun, rhino.
1 wolf guard, frostblade.
6 long fangs, 3 missiles, 1 heavy bolter, 1 lascannon, razorback.
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Painting Yellow... The Gritty Imperial Fists Way!
Just how do you get the perfect yellow? Back in the old days it was hard to master and even harder to get an entire army looking the same. Well thanks to GW and their foundation paints and washes things have become a tad easier of late. Here is my recipe for getting what I like to call 'Gritty Imperial Fists Yellow'.
It is -
1) black undercoat.
2) 1 coat of dheneb stone.
3) 1 watered down coat of sunburst yellow.
4) 1 heavy wash of gryphonne sepia.
5) 1 watered down coat of sunburst yellow.
6) first highlights of 70/30 sunburst yellow and dheneb stone.
7) second highlights of 50/50 sunburst yellow and dheneb stone (not shown in pics).
It actually looks better in the flesh and doesn't seem so thick and patchy. I think my photo skills need improving and I need a lightbox. Give it a go... it takes a while but it is better than the bright yellows I have seen.
If you want more pictures and examples then check out my post 'Who Watches the Watchers?' (April 2011)
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