FtW Bloggers Group

Tuesday 29 November 2011

How to minimze VenomSpam's problems with KP? Armylist.

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Hi guys,
time to talk dark eldar again. The biggest problem I've found with DE is killpoints. There is a lot of them and against many balanced mech lists, winning KPs is hard work. This is a clear weal point in VenomSpam and I've been trying to find some kind of solution. I haven't tried this out, but perhaps reserving the venoms (and most likely the ravagers) in the early game would give your antitank units time to kill off tanks (and anti-tank vehicles). Then you bring your venoms onto the board and start chewing infantry. The main problem is that you risk not having enough turns to chew through your opponent's infantry, but VenomSpam plays from reserve all the time, right?

Haemonculus @ 50pts.

4 Trueborn with 2 dark lances @ 98pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

4 Trueborn with 2 dark lances @ 98pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

4 Trueborn with 2 dark lances @ 98pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

3 Wracks @ 30pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons, grisly trophies @ 70pts.

3 Wracks @ 30pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

3 Wracks @ 30pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

3 Wracks @ 30pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

3 Wracks @ 30pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

3 Wracks @ 30pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Scourges with 2 dark lances @ 140pts.

5 Scourges with 2 dark lances @ 140pts.

5 Scourges with 2 dark lances @ 140pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Total @ 1849pts.

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Mobile Melta Disruption Units...

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Hi,
Yesterday I managed to paint up my piranhas in the new tau colour scheme I've had on the workbench since the summer. It also got me thinking about the uses of a unit like this, and decided to do a write up.

Mobile Melta Disruption Units (I'll just call them MMDU for short) are cheap, fast and disposable units (and inevitably small and rather fragile). Their popularity has declined lately but some armies, such as tau still utilise them often. The 3-man reaver units that I use in my VenomSpam are a similar unit, as are land speeders.

What are the advantages of these units? They are cheap and still provide a credible threat to any tanks in the game. Comparing a MM attack bike to a full 10-man tac squad in rhino is a good comparison. The tac squad should have atleast double melta, making it more reliable then the speeder. However, you are paying about double the price per meltagun. This is because there is more to a tac squad then just the melta. However, when you purely need the melta, the land speeder is more cost efficient. They are also fast, meaning that they are quick to redeploy, work pretty well from reserves etc.. However, here is a common misconception. Infact, the threat range of a melta squad in a transport is often longer then that of these units. The land speeder and attack bikes have multimeltas. so their threat range is longer, but comparing a piranha or reavers to other melta units shows that this is not always the case. It would seem that the first point is the main reason for why we would want to take a MMDU.

What other ways do we often utilise cheap expendable units? We use them as movement blockers, or as disruption. Especially with tau piranhas, I feel that very much emphasis has been placed on their ability to be used as disruption. The logic is to use the squads good movement and expendability to move up and disrupt your opponent's movement. Good manouvres can atleast delay your opponent to a great extent. Sometimes you might even be able to stop tanks from moving all together. However, I feel that this tactic is often overemphasized. You are placing your unit in harms way. Cheap, yes, but can we have a situation in which we can disrupt enemy movement and still preserve our melta unit?

This involves playing with threat ranges. Instead of driving your MMDU straight in your opponent's face, you place it in a position to threaten a certain area of the board. Thus, if your opponent wishes to move up the most desirable route for him, he will have to risk being shot by the melta squad(s). Alternatively, he can attempt to move around. This way your are better preserving your unit, even though it's cheap. MMDUs are the cheapest way to get credible threats to armour, not necessarily 'sure' kills, but a threat none the less and are a good way to get these sorts of 'threat bubbles' onto the battlefield for a very cheap price. This, combined with their ability to redeploy effectively (between 24"-36" a turn) makes them great for this purpose.

There are some direct downsides to this sort of indirect disruption. For one, if your opponent's aim is to bring that deathstar as close to you as possible, you would rather stop the tank as far away from you as possible. It is in your opponent's interest to ram that unit up your throat, regardless of the melta. Thus, physically limiting movement is the better alternative. This is often (but certainly not always) the case with tau, but not necessarily with more mobile armies. I feel that direct disruption techniques are often overemphasized.

That is not to say that setting up threat bubbles is a better tactic for MMDUs. As with so many other things, it depends on the given situation. I just feel that it is important to remember that alternative. It isn't necessary to drive up to your opponent's face to block his movement, in many cases simply exerting enough pressure to a certain area will guide your opponent to move around it. And it is in the movement phase that games are most often won.

Sunday 20 November 2011

Tau Hammerheads; 1850 new tau list

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Most people online believe that there is a 'default' heavy support layout for all tau armies. Theses default builds aren't always even the same. Some believe in double railheads, some in only broadsides. First off I'm going to say, there is never a default build. Tau have a good chance of customising their suits, and IMO you can play a wide variety of HS layouts, as long as the rest of the list balances different aspects out.

For a long time I just simply ignored the railhead. What I saw was a railgun, and I saw that broadsides do it better. Ofcourse, that is still true. However, the main reason why people tend to take the hammerhead, is for the big template. Horde control, which is traditionally an achilles heel to tau lists.

Against a horde army, and a good player, the models will be so stretched out that infact you aren't getting a lot under the template. The Hammerhead is nice to have against hordes, but there is a list type against which it excells even more. That is against mechanised lists.

This is especially against lists that don't go msu, but have large squads (the best example is Space Wolves with large grey hunter squads). Your chances of exploding a rhino are bigger then just wrekcing it, with railguns. If you do explode a rhino, it is very likely that these 8-9 -man squads will be left in a nice clump. That is where the hammerhead excells. Firing at these demeched squads, forcing wounds so that your army can cope with the amount of 3+ saves (especially since so many tau lists don't utilise plasma anymore).

The Hammerhead is also adaptable, it has two firing modes. This makes it capable of dealing with mech and infantry. However, often people forget that so do broadsides. They have SMS. This doesn't mean that the two firing modes are a bad thing on the hammerhead, just simply that that shouldn't be the reason you take a hammerhead. The reason you take it is for the big blast. It forces your opponent to spread out and punishes any squads that are left clumped. The anti-tank round is really for those bad rounds of shooting where you didn't manage to drop enough tanks.

How many should I have then? Many people seem to advocate 2 hammerheads and 3 broadsides. I personally think two squads of broadsides is better. This means you can fire at 4 targets (when your team leader has a target lock). I think railguns really form the backbone of Tau antitank. Crisis suits can surpress, but you need something to knock those tanks out for good. That's where broadsides are needed. Thus I will be trying out this list next:

Shas’el with burst cannon, missile pod and multitracker @ 75pts.

1 XV8 Shav’re Bodyguard with burst cannon, missile pod, targeting array and hardwired multitracker @ 70pts.

Shas’el with burst cannon, missile pod and multitracker @ 75pts.

1 XV8 Shav’re Bodyguard with burst cannon, missile pod, targeting array and hardwired multitracker @ 70pts.

2 XV8 Crisis Suits with burst cannons, missilepods and multitrackers @ 100pts.

2 XV8 Crisis Suits with burst cannons, missilepods and multitrackers @ 100pts.

2 XV8 Crisis Suits with burst cannons, missilepods and multitrackers @ 100pts.

6 Firewarriors with pulse rifles @ 60pts.

10 Kroot Carnivores @ 70pts.

10 Kroot Carnivores @ 70pts.

10 Kroot Carnivores @ 70pts.

4 Pathfinders @ 48pts.

Devilfish with disruption pods @ 85pts.

Piranha with fusion blaster, targeting array, disruption pods @ 75pts.

Piranha with fusion blaster, targeting array, disruption pods @ 75pts.

3 XV88 Broadside Battlesuits with advanced stabilization systems, incl. team leader with hardwired drone controller, 2 gun drones and hardwired target lock @ 270pts.

3 XV88 Broadside Battlesuits with advanced stabilization systems, incl. team leader with hardwired drone controller, 2 gun drones and hardwired target lock @ 270pts.

Hammerhead Gunship with railgun, two burstcannons, disruption pods and multitracker @ 165pts.

Total @ 1848pts.

I haven't tried the burstcannon/missilepod/multitracker layout in squads of 2, it might not work well enough in suppression and I'll switch out for twin-missiles and flamers. I just like the amount of torrent that the burst cannons bring for a cheap price. Anti-tank should be pretty solid with a couple of meltas, 6 broadsides and potentially the hammerhead. Scoring is fine and I like the fact that my crisis suits are divided into 5 squads. losing the ethereal is a blow, because my ld drops pretty dramatically, but we'll just have to see how this list does.

Sunday 13 November 2011

New Venom conversions for my corsair DE...

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Alright, here are some pics of the new venoms. I found enough of those eldar grav tank wind shields to make cockpits for all my venoms. Now, I think it will be easier for anyone to instantly recognise my skimmers as venoms.

An idea of the side profile of one of these venoms

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I personally like the fact that the front end of the raider chassis has been raised into a more diagonal position. I think it fits in well with dark eldar imagery. Now I'm back to converting the rest of my venoms. Anything to keep me distracted from plunging into a revamp of my necrons with the new codex :D .

Saturday 12 November 2011

Another Swampy Necron List...

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Some of you are probably sick and tired of the necron content all over the web. I was gonna show you pictures of a venom conversion I made, but the lighting is bad, I'll have to do it tomorrow in natural light (it's already late in Finland). This list is an evolution of the 'Harvest' list I posted. I played a game with imotehk, but I think double solar pulses would be better. A lot of internet figures have been pointing out that solar pulses allow the necrons to fire freely in their shooting phase. This is what I'm thinking.

Overlord with warscythe @ 100pts.

Overlord with warscythe @ 100pts.

2 Crypteks with eldricht lances, solar pulses @ 110pts.
2 Crypteks with tremor staves, 1 seismic crucible @ 70pts.

C'Tan Shard with Writhing Worldscape, Swarm of Spirit Dust @ 240pts.

8 Warriors @ 104pts.

8 Warriors @ 104pts.

5 Warriors @ 65pts.

5 Warriors @ 65pts.

5 Wraiths with 1 whip coil and 1 particle caster @ 190pts.

5 Scarab Swarms @ 75pts.

5 Scarab Swarms @ 75pts.

Monolith @ 200pts.

3 Tomb Spyders with 1 gloom prism, 1 fabricator claw @ 175pts.

3 Tomb Spyders with 1 gloom prism, 1 fabricator claw @ 175pts.

Total @ 1848pts.

The overlords join the tomb spyder groups. That gives you two pretty big high toughness squads. This, combined with the c'tan, should give you okay cc capabilities towards the end of the game in midfield. They are also all good at finishing off immobilised tanks (which I'm hoping to produce with the tremor staves). The wraiths are a little worse without the destroyer lord, but they can still move up under protection from the solar pulses and kill off a squad or two. Great harassment.

The list's main issue is the light scoring capability. The solar pulses should help, and the monolith is great for protecting your last scoring models. By playing carefully, you should always have scoring models left, but this does limit how aggressively you can play with the squads. Then again, the solar pulses mean that you can hang back utilising your range, since unlike with imotehk, you will be firing freely in your own turn. Porting squads through the monolith also doesn't stop it shooting, so towards the end of the game you can start bringing forth the scoring units to take the objectives.

As I said with the previous list, this list isn't going to be "the" netlist. There are more optimised routes. However, this list is interesting to play. It has a lot of different options and different parts. It also has that 'rogue' factor in a couple of combinations. Your opponent will find cover practically useless for his tanks if they wanna move. Tremor staves don't care about cover, and coupled with the c'tan shard, make moving dangerous.

Tuesday 8 November 2011

The Necron 'Harvest' list, reborn in the new book

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The list I used to play revolved around the 'capstone' strategy, taught to me by Fritz's youtube videos. Basically, you had a monolith close to the centre, pushing up, and the deciever behind him. I supported this with a healthy dose of warriors for suppression, tomb spyders for tank killing and speed bumps, a destroyer lord for options and scarabs for contesting. Later I used 5-man immortal groups for more mobile suppression fire, and wraiths for some nice charging from the monolith's portal.

In the new codex, that list isn't exactly the cheese. There are probably better built more optimised builds, but I could see this as being viable none the less:

Destroyer Lord with warscythe, sempiternal weave @ 140pts.

Destroyer Lord with warscythe, sempiternal weave @ 140pts.

C'tan Shard with writhing worldscape, swarm of spirit dust @ 240pts.

10 Immortals with tesla carbines @ 170pts.

10 Warriors @ 130pts.

5 Warriors @ 65pts.

5 Warriors @ 65pts.

5 Wraiths with 3 particle casters, 1 whip coil @ 200pts.

5 Scarabs @ 75pts.

5 Scarabs @ 75pts.

Monolith @ 200pts.

3 Tomb Spyders with 1 fabricator claw array, 1 gloom prism @ 175pts.

3 Tomb Spyders with 1 fabricator claw array, 1 gloom prism @ 175pts.

Total @ 1850pts.

The list is now a little different. The scarabs can pull off neat assaults with the tomb spyders pooping out and extending their threat range by a potential 7-8". The monolith protects one 5-man warrior group (if the second can't find some los block terrain) and the deciever. Writhing landscape is good, even though it comes with a pretty high price tag. Helps limit the choices of deathstars in landraiders e.g. and can help you get those tanks immobilised and ready for the wraiths+lords.

The wraiths and lords make a nice 16 wound squad. Once in range, they can just as well peel off and attack 3 seperate targets. They are pretty nice. The spyders give psydefence and are great for the late game (when you should have 7 monsters in midfield). The immortals could take gauss blasters, although the tesla weapons are mobile. Once entropic strike kicks in, those teslas can really start dealing damage.

Overall, the list has a pretty nice mix of different elements in my eye. A lot of different ways you can make use of the units available (losblock, t1 charge, monsters, jump infantry and some shooting) which keeps it interesting. it's not the list to beat everything, so don't expect it to be, but it reminds me of the way I used to play my necrons, and I loved playing my old necrons.

Monday 7 November 2011

New necrons, a 1850 foot list

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Hi guys,
so the necrons are out. Some of you may remember that I have a necron army. In fact, I played a fairwell game on tuesday with them against loganwing, winning KPs. A couple of short comments on the codex in general? Tomb spyders are just insanely cheap for their points cost. They also buff scarabs, making them faster by making new models and placing them at the edge of coherency. Overall, at first glance 9 spyders and a lot of scarabs (although I'd still take 2 squads of wraiths) seem very good. Difficult to say whether they will be THE list, but point for point they are great options.

This list will be different. I've seen the 9 spyder lists. I don't need to copy that same list here and try and take credit. Instead, I set out (this is dangerous) to make a list that feels the most necrony to me. A horde of approaching metal skeleton undying robots! List first, then comments.

Overlord with warscythe and tachyon arrow @ 130pts.
Command Barge with tesla cannon @ 80pts.

Royal Court @110pts.
1 Harbinger of Eternity with chronometron
2 Harbingers of Destruction

Overlord with warscythe and tachyon arrow @ 130pts.
Command Barge with tesla cannon @ 80pts.


Royal Court @130pts.
1 Harbinger of Eternity with chronometron
2 Harbingers of Destruction incl. 1 solar pulse

10 Immortals with tesla carbines @ 170pts.

10 Immortals with tesla carbines @ 170pts.

10 Immortals with tesla carbines @ 170pts.

10 Immortals with tesla carbines @ 170pts.

10 Immortals with tesla carbines @ 170pts.

5 Warriors @ 65pts.

Annihilation Barge with tesla cannon @ 90pts.

Annihilation Barge with tesla cannon @ 90pts.

Annihilation Barge with tesla cannon @ 90pts.

Total @ 1845pts.

Overlords begin game in the same squad as the chronometron crypteks. You get a reroll for that crucial one shot arrow. Not too shabby imo. Ideally you get to use it on the damage result! The other cypteks add ranged antitank into the other squads. The 5-man warrior group will probably get a chronometron cryptek, since they probably won't contribute much to the game, camping an objective. Your opponent's t1 you'll want to pop solar pulse, it only affects a single player turn which imo is a little crazy.

After t1, the overlords board their dancemania mattresses of doom and start driving over stuff. Annihilation barges just add firepower. Is it good? Not necessarily, but it certainly looks fun. The tesla carbines on the immortals are a bit iffy. I think the loss of suppression fire against high av is pretty big, but then again most tanks are av11 anyway.

Tuesday 1 November 2011

Adepticon 2012, here we come!

Hi guys,

no pictures, since this is just a quick announcement. Next spring I will brave the cold and dangerous Atlantic Ocean in a luxurious economy-class airplane seat, invading Lombard and the Adepticon 2012 40k Championships.

This will be my first tournament outside of Finland, and I'm really looking forward to attending such a large convention. In Finland, a 60 player tournament is big, but over 200?? That is insane. I can express how happy I am about this. I signed up for the Geek Nations tour, so if any of you are on it, you might just have to sleep in the same room with me.

I'll also play in the Fantasy championships on saturday, but I suck at FB and expect to lose every game. Not that I'm expecting to do well in the 40k Championships. I would probably be a little sad if I lost every game, but if I can't win a 30-man tournament, then 200 seems very unlikely :D. I've reserved Sunday just for looking at the finals, hoping to learn something from the pros (something you don't have the time to do in regular tourneys since you're playing).

Perhaps the biggest concern with me is the time limit. 2h and 15min for a 1850 game? We generally play three hours, even three and a half! I need to start training (*Eye of The Tiger Intro*)....
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