FtW Bloggers Group

Monday 9 December 2013

Formations, dataslates, inquisition; the fall of the codex paradigm

sorry guys, no picture this time. Just a quick post.

The internet is filled to the brink with articles on how escalation, dataslates etc. are changing the game but there is one thing, I'd really like to take under the spotlight. This article (over on 3++) is well written imo, and the end pretty much reflects how I feel.

People are worried about how formations, allies and all sorts of detachments are breaking up the traditional FOC and codex divisions that armies have had. 15 broadsides frightens people as some of the best units in the book are allowed to be spammed even further (and buffed for no extra points). Finland took a 9 broadside, 3 riptide list to the etc this fall. We realised that alot of the other lists (that featured 3-6 riptides and even only 2 riptides) were just better allround lists. Now sure, a 15 broadside tau gunline is gonna just win some matchups outright, but it will leave more opportunities for its opponents to utilise to work around the list and win it. Those same opportunities that could be utilised against our 9 broadside list at the ETC. Recently, Eetu (one of our ETC players) brought a 6 serpent, double wraithknight list to a tourney. He did pretty bad. The list spammed units that seemed great in the book, but fell short on the table.

So if we follow the assumption that variance adds strength (although I have learned that this is not ALWAYS the case) what is the actual effect of the lack of FOC and codex distinctions? Added diversity. More way in which to fit units into your army. We all know that most codices have some highly contested foc slots, and some that are seldom used. This changes that. Although you could argue that all armies will feature the same units due to the lack of codex distinction anymore, that same could have happened before. Why didn't people play with the exact same armies before?

The underlying idea here is that all these changes haven't changed the missions being played, nor the points you have to spend on your army. It has simply allowed players more freedom in choosing what they bring to the table. The fact that formations get special rules for free, and the dataslates are ridiculously priced is besides the point, GW has always been like that.

Oh, but don't get me started on strength D.

Tuesday 19 November 2013

1850 Daemons tournament report

Hey guys,

The past weekend I played at an 18-man local tournament held in Lauttasaari, by NjT. The missions were similar to BAO, just with battlepoints. Primary objective 4 points, secondary 3 and the rulebook secondaries each worth one. The difference between the two players gave each a score between 0 and 20. Here was my list:





Fateweaver
Bloodthirster (2 greater rewards)
10 Daemonettes
10 Plaguebearers (champ, instrument)
Daemon Prince (tzeentch, wings, armour, mastery level 3, exalted and greater rewards)
Daemon Prince (tzeentch, wings, armour, mastery level 3, exalted and greater rewards)
Daemon Prince (tzeentch, wings, armour, mastery level 3, lesser and 2 greater rewards)

Nice and simple. I slept in and missed the first round, rightfully getting 0 points :D.

Round 1

...zzZZZZZzz... (Megan Fox oiling my bumblebee) ...zzZZZZZzzz...

Round 2

I was playing against IG/SW. A 50-man blob (that didn't combine in the matchup), marbo, 3 vendettas, 2 manticores, LRBT, 2 runepriests and pod with hunters. CCS, PCS and veteran squad went into the vendettas. Mission was Relic (4), Big guns (3) with vanguard strike. I went first, blew up both of the manticores with flickering fire side shots, as they had deployed too far forward. Then I flew off with all but fatey, anticipating the vendettas. I came back ensuring the vendettas would overshoot. They in turn flew off. T4 step one, I grimoired fatey and cast invisibility on all the DPs. Next step, clip area terrain. Third step, 4 guys with 2+ rerollables. Like a boss :D. T5 I took the relic with daemonettes, held an objective with plaguebearers and contested his objectives. Didn't get slay the warlord, so 19-1. The guy was new to 40k (although he's played FB) and felt a little lost with all the daemon shenanigans. He would win best painted.

Round 3

Necrons with dual wraiths and d-lords, triarch stalker, immortals and 2 warrior squads (no scythes!!!), 2 annhi barges and a doom scythe. We played crusade (4) and emperor's will (3) with dawn of war deployment. He seized on me and shot the grimoire prince down to 1 wound. Prince would play keep away and since fatey had rolled misfortune, I went to work on the wraiths with the rest. He didn't ground me, I pounded the crap out of him. Epic movie moment: fatey was grounded and caught by the warlord and wraiths. being the fluff bunny I am, i challenged the dlord into a dual of the warlords. Next round the bloodthirster rolled in, allowed fatey to take the MSS and made a heroic intervention, netting me slay the warlord. I lost 1 prince, maybe the thirster can't remember. In the end I had all the points, 20-0.

Round 4

My original opponent was a no show for day 2. The organizer played me instead. Another 3 vendettas (with veterans),  3 plasmavets in chimeras, plasma ccs in chimera, demolisher and manticore. Purge the alien (4), scouring (3), vanguard strike. It was nightfight so i gave him first turn and deployed out of los, over 36" from the manticore. Fatey flew up with iron arm and 2++, the rest flew off waiting for the vendettas. I couldn't pass a grounding test whole game. T2 it didn't really matter, fatey wasn't dying any time soon. T3 mr. thirster almost felt like giving up first blood (luckily didn't). T4 the grimoire prince took a demolisher to the face. T5 the thirster did infact bite the dust. However, by the end of t5 I had destroyed all the vendettas and forced the CCS to flee. I killed 2 of the vendetta vet squads, the last passed their ld5 against nettes in combat keeping linebreaker. I let him have one objective (all were worth 2 points) and contested the rest, earning me all the points. KPs didn't need counting, I had squads and transports plenty with only 7 units in my entire list. His linebreaker meant it ended 19-1.

Round 5

Taudar: buff commander, 1 skyfire bursttide, 1 iontide, 2x kroots, 3 broadsides with missile drones, jetseer, 2x davu in serpents, 6 warpspiders, wraithknight. Big Guns (4), relic (3) with hammer and anvil. Big gunz is a little tricky for me. it gives me great mobile scoring, but it also means I bleed points from my princes. That's why I prefer scouring. Anyway I give my opponent 1st turn in nightfighting and deploy 3 monsters (fatey, grimoire and the non-exalted prince) out of range of all but his single iontide. iontide does a wound on the grimoire. Fatey powers up with 2++, heading down a flank and eyeing the spiders for first blood. The rest fly off. 1 Spider survives fatey. One of his kroots comes on from outflank, right next to fatey. 

My t2 everything comes on. Nettes lose 7ish to intercepting but none of the monsters are aimed at. I focus on the kroots, bringing them down to below 25% and breaking them. Still no first blood. It got super intense when my opponent was pounding my grimoire prince t3 (brought it down to 1 wound) and only had the resources to bring the nettes down to 2 models remaining. The second kroot squad came up on the opposite flank to the last one. 

All FMCs flew off. My premium assault unit, the plague bearers, took invisibility and charged into the kroot. 3+ to hit (and 5+ for the kroot) coupled with poisoned saw the kroots obliterated. First blood!!!! My opponent was just left with lesser daemons to shoot at, killed all but 1 plague bearer. My t4 saw all the FMCs come one. Dropped the portaglyph and spawned 6 nettes. Intercepting forced me to use the fatey reroll to keep the grimoire alive, fatey failed grimoire. I finished off the lone spider. 

T5 my opponent killed off fateweaver and snatched the relic with some avengers. All game I'd been trying to puppet master the wraithknight to kill the burst tide. Unfortunately, no 6s to wound were rolled. I had stripped a couple of wounds with flickering fire but also given him a 5+ fnp (need to do some math and figure out if it's worth using flickering fire to strip wounds off a wraithkinght). Now I grimoired a warpspeed reroll invul prince and went into the wraithknight, assisted by the 6 nettes from the portal last turn. He was sitting on an objective and worth a point. Brought it down to 1 wound (damn you fnp!!!). Thirster was let lose on the bursttide and commander (who had monster hunter, not stubborn). He rolled 3 sixes to wound and instagibbed both of them giving me slay the warlord. Flickering fire killed the avenger holding the relic. 

Game went on to t6. My opponent killed off the thirster but despite his best efforts the grimoire prince wasn't gonna stop partying. he did get grounded and was charged by the jetseer. I finished off the wraithknight, securing big guns and killed off the avenger who'd again picked up the relic. One FMC also flew to get linebreaker. The grimoire prince might have died to the jetseer, it wasn't relevant. I got all the rulebook secondaries and big gunz, neither had relic and he had slay the warlord and linebreaker. 15-5 victory.

I wrote a more in depth report of the last game since it was the most intense, and it was a good test of evasion as a tactic against taudar. Some minor things both of us should have done differently, but overall it was a great game. It came down to those critical 2 shooting phases (t3 and t5) where my opponent just couldn't do quite enough damage.

Almost forgot to mention my final standing. Due to the small amount of players, battle points and sheer awesomeness the daemons flew in 2/18. Closing thoughts? Troops are for pussies, min troops ftw. Playing with 5 models is awesome! Piotr was wrong in saying that herohammer isn't fun. Seriously though, I've come to the conclusion that FMC spam always pisses off either the daemon player or his opponent. Due to the nature of the rolls, the daemon player will only get pissed off 1/3 of the time whilst his opponent will be glowing 2/3 of the game.

Monday 21 October 2013

1850 UM/IG list

 photo Executioner2.jpg
Hey guys,

sorry for the lack of posts on here. My biweekly vlog over at warhead has been taking up all my blogging energy, whilst I work on all my university stuff, new responsibilities as captain and life in general. Anyway, this time I'll just leave you guys with a list I'm bringing to a tourney next weekend (Turku Fanatic).

Tigurius
lvl 2 Librarian with a force axe
4x5 marines with a lascannon
5 scouts
thunderfire cannon
company command squad
platoon command squad with 4 flamers
50-man blob with 5 lascannons
vendetta
2 leman russ executioners with lascannons and plasma sponsons

As you can see, the list reacts to the fact that the Finnish scene has turned into pure monster bash. Things that I'm still considering are

1) whether the librarian should be my warlord. Tigurius' trait isnt all that good with this list, I think I'd be better off rolling on the rulebook tables.

2) bike on the libby. Extra slingshoting for the blob might be nice. Then again, this is really mainly a shooty blob so the points might be better spent elsewhere.

Anyway, I need to look out for helldrakes (not sure whether the twinlinked lascannons will cut it) and tyranids (although the executioner squadron is golden in that matchup). A lot of matchups require psychic powers to turn my way so that's why I have the second libby (and for the str5 force axe against pesky riptides and wraithknights).

Tuesday 17 September 2013

Daemons Tournament Report


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So last weekend I went to a tournament in Hyvinkää. The weekend had multiple tournaments in different places and with the Finnish scene already being so small, we only had 12 players there. We (the etc players) decided to go to Hyvinkää because they were a new organizer, and it's always good to support new tournaments. Ofcourse, it turned more into a training weekend with a 25e price tag on it. I was rocking my Daemons/CSM:



PRIMARY DETACHMENT: Chaos Daemons
HQ1: WARLORD: Fateweaver (300) = [300pts]
HQ2: Bloodthirster (250), exalted reward (30), greater reward (20) = [300pts]
TROOP1: Plaguebearers of Nurgle (90) = [90pts]
TROOP2: Daemonettes of Slaanesh (90) = [90pts]
HS1: Daemon Prince, daemonic flight (40), warp-forged armour (20), exalted reward (30), greater reward (20), daemon of tzeentch (25), mastery level 3 (75)) = [355pts]
HS2: Daemon Prince, daemonic flight (40), warp-forged armour (20), lesser reward (10), 2 greater rewards (2*20), daemon of tzeentch (25), mastery level 3 (75)) = [355pts]
SECONDARY DETACHMENT: Chaos Space Marines
HQ1: Chaos Sorcerer (60), force axe (0), 2 additional mastery levels (2*25) bike (20) = [130pts]
TROOPS1: Chaos Cultists (50) = [50pts]
FA1: Chaos Spawn (30), 4 additional spawns (4*30), mark of nurgle (5*6) = [180pts]
TOTAL = [1850pts]


Jukka (our CSM player from last year) was also flying high with two csm DPs (all the 350 points worth of trimmings) and IG battlepsykers. We were both pretty horrified to find out that the boards at the venue had pretty much zero losblock. It's great for all those Taudar lists running around but we weren't feeling it.

Game 1: Taudar


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Allu's list had a buff commander, 2 riptides (one ion, one skyfire burst), firewarriors, 2x kroots, pathfinders, skyray, broadsides (with markerdrones and target locks), farseer, 2 davu serpents and a wraithknight. We were playing 5 objectives and dawn of war. I stacked 3 objectives on one side and took it. I think I also took first turn. The ruin in the bottom right of the image above might have hid one fmc but I didn't really fancy my chances any way I looked at it. I tried to bum rush the Taudar, but ended up with one plaguebearer alive on t5 when it ended. 0-10 (first round used halfed battlepoints)

Game 2: Space Marines

 photo tomari2.jpg

This was still using the old 'dex. After loosing the 1. round so horribly, I was playing against the ringer, who'd picked his list in something like 15 minutes from whatever he had. Basically 6 tactical squads, 4 rhinos, 8 devastators with no heavy weapons, chaplain and jump pack captain. It was purge the alien and we didn't need to play it until the end. 20-0.

Game 3: Necrons

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Lauri was rocking imothek, obyron, 8 warriors with chronotek in a pirate ship, 2x5 warriors in scythes, 2 squads of wraiths, 1 scarab squad, 2 anhibarges and 3 spyders. We were playing emperor's will and relic. Lauri made me go first. I moved up slightly, and Lauri moved his wraiths forward on his t1. I'd rolled 2 enfeebles and quickly started making flickering fire minced meat out of one of the wraith squads. Spawns tied up the second wraith squad. Lauri tried to counter this by tying up my thirster with his scarabs, but as he didn't get grounded, scarabs went into the spawns instead. Obyron veiled towards my troops that had come on (with the spyders) but scattered back. I enfeebled them and charged in with my tzeentch staff + iron arm str10 guy. Killed off 2 spyders but they managed to veil out again.

Rest of my stuff concentrated on shooting down flyers with flickering fire and charging the av13 ground vehicles. My plaguebearers deepstruck towards Lauri's emperor's will objective, but scattered out. One plaguebearer would live untill the end of the game. The spawns were tied up until t6 in the scarabs, but the sorceror hallucinated the spyders a couple of times. Daemonettes finished the squad off as they suffered a 3-4 result from hallucination. T4 I dropped the glyph next to the relic and rolled up 2 plaguebearers to go grab the relic. Decided to use fatey's reroll on it, and ended up with just 1 :D. Eventually my daemonettes would take the relic (one guy left holding it t6 after the last scythe shot his friends), cultists hold my emperor's will (although a dp had to clear out some warriors that would have been contesting t5) and the chronotek passed his protocols to contest the last objective. 19-1 victory for me.

Round 4: Necrons


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Eetu was playing a scarab farm list. He had a destroyer lord, overlord on ccb, 2x5 warriors in scythes, 10 immortals and haywiretek in scythe, 10+3 scarabs, 6 wraiths and 3x3 spyders (one prism in each). This was a really harsh matchup as it had lots of smash attacks and mindshackle scarabs. I didn't feel pressured since I'd already lost once and decided to try taking him on nonetheless. We were playing 4 objectives and he won the roll to go second anyway. I moved up t1, and he came at me. Fateweaver failed his grimoire t2. This was huge as I had been hoping to tie the wraiths with him. Instead I flew him and the glyph prince (with flickering fire) in reserve, to hunt his scythes later on. Thirster went into once squad of spyders (leaving 1 with 1 wound), staff of tzeentch + iron arm str10 dude went into a second enfeebled squad and killed them all. Spawns combocharged the wraiths, last squad of spyders and the squad that the str10 prince killed off. Despite the sorceror being out of challenge range first round, I wanted to link up the prince for followup rounds to stop the sorceror from killing himself agains the dlord.

 Linking up is one of the reasons why I like other then just 1-model units in a fmc list. Eetu's scarabs tied up the thrister (and dropped his pants) while the mss went into the big combat and the prince died in 1 round to the overlord. Spawns eventually died aswell and my last chance was to keep the remaining monster alive and kill his scythes. I only dropped one and took 2 hullpoints off the other. Eetu dropped and killed both monsters on t4 and it turned super ugly. 0-20.

Round 5: Necrons



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I continued my necron tour, expertly dodging the taudar and eldar lists. Roni had 2 destroyer lords in wraiths, 4 scythes, 2 anhibarges, sorceror in cultists and a heldrake. We were playing killpoints and quarters (extra kp for holding  a quarter, quarters were held like they were objectives). I chose to go second and deployed out of his guns. I rolled 3(!!) enfeebles and roni didn't feel like pushing forward. I stacked my powers on one prince, fatey and the spawns to prevent first blood and flew the other 2 fmc into reserve (I kept 2 enfeebles on the board to discourage any charges from the wraiths). 2 scythes came on and killed 1 or 2 spawns with the barges. I dropped both scythes and started moving out. Roni just couldn't drop my monsters and t3 I double enfeebled one squad of wraiths, tied up the other with spawns. I made a mistake in deepstriking the plaguebearers in this matchup, leaving them vulnerable to the heldrake that came on t4 and flamed all of them (didn't pass a single invul). Despite this slight setback, and the second wraithsquad not dying (my dp managed to kill off the destroyer lord once, but after it stood back up I failed every mss check despite saving fatey's reroll for it) I ended up on top. I won killpoints by 4, neither had a quarter (didn't expect to have any with the way the rules worked) Roni had linebreaker, I had all the secondaries. 16-4 victory.

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with so few players and the way things worked out, Daemons snatched 3rd place despite 2 very ugly losses. I guess you have to be satisfied with every trophy you get. Interesting things to note: The DPs rolled biomancy 4/5 games (with a couple of flickering fires thrown in). Against Eetu, even the sorceror rolled biomancy as I initially didn't get enfeebles (the other 2 cron games made up for that by rolling above average enfeebles). If the sorceror rolls well on his telepathy, you don't need any more from the princes in certain matchups. I didn't play for lategame objective grabs in any of my games. With some morelosblocking terrain that would certainly be the way to go in tougher matchups (and the ability to fly into ongoing etc. is one of the reasons why I think fmc spam is so adaptible as a list). against Eetu, I should have done it anyway but we had some laughs with the bloody close combats where everybody exploded. Overall, I like the list, just need to work on the player ;)

Tuesday 3 September 2013

1850 Chaos Daemons and Chaos Space Marines


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Lots of toying around with combinations at the moment. The playstyle of Daemons is really different, and watching streams on the internet has been good homework, learning how other people play. Atm I'm looking at taking a good mix of flying monstrous creatures and larger ground units. I'm also trying to take units that would work well in the current meta. However, trying to cram so many things into the list might leave the individual elements a little too thin. Maybe a dozen games later I'll start getting the hang of this army.

Fateweaver
Herald of Tzeentch with disc, exalted reward and 3 mastery levels
10 Plaguebearers
10 Daemonettes
8 Screamers
Daemon Prince of Tzeentch with wings, 3+, exalted, 3 mastery levels
Daemon Prince of Tzeentch with wings, 3+, 3 mastery levels

Sorcerer on bike with 3 mastery levels, meltabombs and familiar
10 Cultists
5 Spawns of Nurgle

Wednesday 28 August 2013

Alternative deployment: finding the right dosage


 photo IMG_1553.jpg Stole my opponent's skyshield t1 at the ESC.

Generally when browsing through the internet, you see 2 kinds of lists: lists that don't consider deployment options like deepstrike, infiltrate, outflank etc., and lists that are built around the concept of alternative deployment. In my gaming philosophy, having the option to utilise things like deepstrike and infiltrate really open up ways to adapt into matchups, something that you might find super useful in a TAC list. However, over usage generally leads to gimmicky lists. I'd divide the effects of alternative deployment into three groups: (1) Giving board control outside your deployment zone before t1, (2) postponing the commitment of your assets and (3) opening up new attack vectors.

The first group is pretty simple, but can be game changing. Fleshhound spam utilises scout moves to already ensure midfield presence on t1 and reduces the distance required to cross towards enemy lines. Basically, you could say scouting takes away a whole shooting phase from your enemy. This is a pretty "crude" tactic in that it's pretty straightforward and one dimensional. Shadowsun + broadsides infiltrating can place your unit in better terrain, give you better shooting lanes or just place your unit withing range of your enemy, no matter how far back he deployed. I'd still say that the biggest advantage of gaining board control outside of your deployment zone from the get go, is in countering these sorts of moves, counter infiltration and scouting. You don't need anything flashy for this, in fact sacrificial units are often the best units for this purpose. Did anybody else notice the 13 flayed ones running around in Hesselberg's wraithwing in the Adepticon finals? he said he'd taken the unit partly for this exact purpose.

Postponing commitment takes a couple of forms. Rule number 1, if your unit has the infiltrate special rule, always infiltrate. If you're deploying first, or your opponent has infiltrators, you can wait and see how he deploys, and react to that. However, any unit can fit into this group, just by being placed in reserves. Your opponent has to react to the possibility of reserved units coming in from anywhere on your table edge (or elsewhere, depending on whether they can outflank/deepstrike). Jevgeni, the Russian Ork/Tau player, placed his riptide in regular reserve (spearhead deployment) during the last round of the ESC against me. This forced me to infiltrate the big kroot squad to block off a portion of the boardedge (6" in so he couldn't jump over), to ensure that he couldn't come on at an angle that wouldn't allow my broadsides cover against the str8 ap2 blast he had. Reserving always puts you at a disadvantage on the early turns, as you have less points on the table, so if you don't take this into account when building your lists, you might not be able to take advantage of reserves, even when it might give you a distinct advantage.

Have you ever deepstruck a riptide? In some matches I've opted to deepstrike him, bringing a pretty resilient threat somewhere in my opponent's backfield, without needing to first hop over his advancing elements. Deepstriking and outflanking can help you bypass parts of your opponent's army, and add new vectors with which to engage. Against some lists, this can shake up their playstyle/strategy. Andrew from Team USA raped our Tau player's backfield in a mirror match at the ESC with about 90 kroots coming on from Joonas' board edge (with the help of a positional relay on his riptide).

Most players would agree with the above ideas in theory, but find it to be less useful in practice. Then again, some people build lists totally around this concept (sometimes referred to as null deployment lists). In my opinion, alternative deployment is something to never count on (and shouldn't be used in every game) but completely neglecting them would be just as stupid. There ARE situations in which these tactics work really well, and trying to keep the option open when building your list adds versatility. It's all about balance.

Saturday 17 August 2013

Unit sizes, footprints etc.


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I came up with this topic when I was considering units for a Chaos Daemons army I'm planning on taking to the next tournament in Hyvinkää (it'll be a cool lost and the damned style army with ig allies but not necessarily the most stable list to play). I was comparing fiends and seekers. On paper, seekers come with way more attacks, don't suffer from instant death etc.. Most lists would include seekers. However, fiends have the nice advantage of a way smaller foot print (easier to avoid focus fire and hide behind losblock), and can stack more wounds into a smaller area on the battlefield.

Larger squads often have the problem of needing to spread out over a wider area. This was already true in 5th. Squads like Ork boyz (or seekers) rarely got to shoot all their shootas or attack with everybody in combat. In 6th, this has become even more significant due to the new wound allocation system. If you want to be in a position to push a certain way next turn, you need to stack more models there or your opponent's shooting might push you too far back. We in Finland try to always work in a blast or two to force your opponent to spread out. It can have a HUGE impact. My Orks really liked playing against crons, because they rarely had any template weapons. Against anything with blasts, your boys were just less effective.

Smaller squad sizes also don't always mean decreased durability. Multiple wounds, better toughness or saves can make up for that. If you have more durability on one point of the battlefield without needing to stack more models, that can work in your favour. I'd say this is most important with assault units. Losing even one model might increase your charge range drastically with how random charge lengths work. I guess that's one of the reasons 90% of CC units in the meta are multiwound models. 

That's not to say that there aren't pros to larger footprints. Some armies play against flyers just by denying effective movement lanes (yes 90 gargoyles, we're looking at you). Sometimes you might need a longer bubblewrap. You might be able to hold one objective and contest another with the same unit. In 5th, when tank shock was the bane of armies like daemons, charging a strung out big daemon unit could block off contesting. But with the way 6th ed wound allocation works, and how a lot of contesters can now move large distances in the shooting phase, there needs to be a good balance. A larger footprint generally means you're giving up your positional strength at a single point, and spreading it thinner amongst a larger area.

Friday 16 August 2013

ETC 2013


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The Swedish captain, Daniel "Papa-D" Hesselberg, feeling good after wooping my ass in the Singles. It was great hanging out with all the guys, some of which I'd already met at Adepticon. 

ETC 2013 is over, and it was a blast. Here's a brief recap of the main event.

Round 1 was against Wales. We'd had plenty of time to think about the first round pairing and had found it to be a close match based on lists, with a slight edge for Wales. I ended up being paired up against their mech gk, as the last pair before champions. He had 3 psyflemen, 7 psybacks (5 strike squads, 2 purifiers), coteaz and a paladin manning the quad gun with aegis.


 photo etc1.jpg
 Forward boys!

We were playing big guns (5 obj.) with 5th ed spearhead deployment. All etc missions had 4th ed style victory points. He won all the rolls at the start, picking the side with more objectives and getting first turn. I reserved all the attack bikes and all but one troop squad, deploying as far back as possible. First turns I moved up slowly, blowing up some psybacks and purifiers who had moved up. He shot at the riptide with his long range stuff, making about a wound per turn. He was still concerned with all my reserves arriving on his flank, and held back 3 strike squads completely out of the fight.


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You'll see many pics just like this.

I brought my stuff on with the rest of the fire base, starting to move up with the attack bikes turn 3. My commander joined the riptide to shoot 2 psyflemen who had a purifier in between to place the marker on (twin-linked, ignores cover, tankhunter ftw) on t2. Eventually I killed off all his HS, scored 2 objectives (one with the broadsides the second with the big kroot and librarian) and denied one objective with attack bikes. Game ended t5 12-8 for me. Unfortunately, our csm player took 0 points from wraithwing and we had some other minor losses. No major wins on our side meant we lost the round.

Round 2 was against The Czech Republic. I played their scythe spam crons (I was paired into the match). He had imothek and some av 13 vehicles starting on the board, with 4 scythes and 1 doomscythe in reserve. Crusade (4 obj) + killpoints with vanguard strike.

  
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 Hiding......

So that was pretty much the match. I got to go second and a fortified ruin in my deployment zone so the doom scythe wouldn't instagib my broadsides. He brought stuff on in the corner, and tried to score killpoints with imothek's storm. I tried to shoot stuff with the commander-riptide combo. I reserved as much as possible first, to minimize lightning. I eventually scored first blood (t3) from a Catacomb Command barge, whilst he had just brought my whirlwind down to 1 hullpoint on his turn. He came up t5 with all his stuff, but couldn't kill anything. I proceeded to shoot his warriors off objectives (ap4 ignores cover ftw) and gain control of 1 objective. Lucky for him, game ended t5. I won 13-7. The rest of the team did well aswell, we won the round.

Round 3 was against Romania. I was put forth as second defender, and they paired Tau into me. He had 2 riptides, 8 broadsides with missile drones, firewarriors behind an aegis and minimal eldar allies. It was one objective in the center of the board, emperor's will with dawn of war deployment. Lucky for me, I got first turn.
   photo etc4.jpg

I'm pushing so hard t1, the camera can't keep up with it.

I deployed my broadsides in my fortified ruin (he had no markerlights for some reason) and all the attack bikes ready to go. My troops and whirlwind were in reserve. TFC is alone on the right flank. 
He deployed behind his aegis with about half his troops on reserve. He didn't seize. My suit commander joined multimelta attack bikes, pathfinders scout moved to mark another broadside squad and suddenly he was two squads down. He retaliated by killing a squad of attack bikes and instagibbing a broadside. However, it was pretty much over by then. Next turn I killed the last broadsides and the game went on to t7. He had a single wounded riptide contesting the center objective and kroots on his base that had passed 2 turns of ld6 morales and killed off the attack bike in combat with them. 14-6 for me. Finland won the round.

Next up was Belarus. I was put forth as second defender and got DE with nightshields. Unfortunately for him, he had splinter rack raiders, which can't range deny my broadsides.



 photo etc5.jpg
 Back in the safety of my fortified ruin

We were playing Relic and crusade (2 objectives) with dawn of war deployment. He got first turn but deployed across his entire deployment zone as my objective was on my left flank. I deployed everything on the right, except one attack bike squad, which hid behind a hill to the left. Whirlwind and troops in reserve. His first turn caused my pathfinders to break, but they rallied. He'd brought up 4 splinter rack raiders and I proceeded to shoot them all down with target locking broadsides. MM attack bikes on the left exploded a ravager. Some ignores cover on the beast pack killed a few khymerea. His beast pack charged some attack bikes, eventually dying to reinforcements. After t2 all his troops were dead, except 5 warriors in combat with an attack bike. Around that time our coach came to tell me to get as many points as possible. I had been planning to gate one squad of troops onto the relic, but since I only had time for one gate, I gated the broadsides t4 and went for the wipeout.

 photo etc6.jpg
Top of 5 only the warriors in combat remained, this is from t6.

20-0 for me and a victory for team Finland.

Round 5 was against Ireland. I was second defender and paired into their Daemons. 3 big squads of fleshhounds with 2 heralds, 2 soul grinders and some troops. Missions was scouring. He made me go first.

 photo etc7.jpg
Daemons t1 movement.

He decided to seize once he saw the blocking infantry I infiltrated. T1 he killed an attack bike, trying to negotiate the infiltrators. He rolled +1 invul on the warpstorm table. I repositioned to continue blocking t2 and lit up the central fleshhounds with nullzone and ignores cover

 photo etc8.jpg
A one wound fleshhound and one wound herald remained.... 

T2 he charged the screeners but didn't do much else. He got +1 invul again. I proceeded to shoot the second fleshhound squad to one model remaining (again) but killed both heralds, scoring slay the warlord. My commander joined 2 attack bikes and charged in to tie up the last hounds (without herald). T3 he shot at my troops. I hit and ran, shooting down all but 4 of the last hound squad. I think I also killed off one of the lone hounds. MM attack bikes charged daemonettes on the center objective. He countered with daemonettes and an 8" inch difficult charge grinder. His 4 remaining hounds charged some attack bikes, one got away with combat tactics. I have to admit I may have played a little slow this game, with all the important positioning at the start of the game. We also had quite a few rules disputes regarding LoS! and denying nullzone. T4 would be the last. My attack bikes went to contest/control objectives and the broadsides annihilated a couple of troops squads. I won 15-5. Finland drew Ireland.

Last round was against England. I have no pictures. This was by far the most challenging match. I was paired late into double sw blob and 3 vendettas as I had promised the most points from the players left. It was Purge the alien with 2 objectives in the unoccupied quarters and 5th ed spearhead deployment. I made him go first. He rolled 4++ on both blobs, ignores cover on his lascannons and prescience on the other priest. I knew I had one possibility. The list didn't have many units, and couldn't influence many targets at a time. He also wasn't fearless and one blob remained about 5" from the board edge the entire game. If my riptide and attack bikes could bum rush that blob, I might break them and run them off the board. The ruin I got was bad, the windows were so low my broadsides couldn't see out. I ended up deploying them in area and trying to weather the lascannons (also fearing the ignores cover ones).

I should have joined the librarian and huddled the walls. Although I couldn't go to ground, I would have received the same 3+ cover and the suit commander could have joined back in t2 (t1 he joined the riptide to try and moneyshot the manticore but only immobilised it). Now the commander had to take some MM attack bikes and go after the vendettas. I destroyed 2 and brought 1 down to 1 hullpoint, but that meant 1 less attack bike rushing the blob.

In the end, all my attempts to charge the blob were unsuccessful and my outflanking kroot squad (who were making a rush for the objective I had pushed the ig back from) rolled the wrong flank despite rerolls, made 1 hullpoint of damage to the manticore and died ingloriously. I should have brought the bigger kroot squad on earlier and joined the librarian there. Silly me holding them in reserve despite rolling rerolls for my warlord trait and trusting one outflanking squad to arrive on the right flank. I ended up losing 3-17.

Luckily we still drew the round. Finland finished with 8 points (a new record) and 4th place (even better). I scored the most points on the team with 77, and despite the last game couldn't help but be very happy.

 photo teamfinland.jpg

And to finish it off, a picture of Team Finland.

Tuesday 6 August 2013

Team Finland off to Serbia

 photo etc2013.jpg

Everything is ready and today I'll be heading off with the rest of Team Finland towards Serbia, and ETC 2013. Apparently the official blogger for ETC 2013 has already predicted us as the underdogs in our first round matchup against Wales, but who doesn't like an underdog story? This trip has even more significance for me personally, as I am yet unsure of whether I'll be applying for the team next year. Mandatory military service (and the possibility of a military career) are looming. I'm not expecting miracles this year, but am rather  looking forward to nice tight games and a fun time with other gamers. It'll be great to see Team Sweden and USA again, we had a good time at Adepticon. Goal #1, don't be the worst player on your team :D.

Tuesday 30 July 2013

Mathhammer and reality; Effects on listbuilding


 photo con12.jpg

Mathhammer is a tool often used to evaluate in game decisions and unit choices. Although crunching numbers is relatively easy in-game, where you know the exact situation and variables, mathhammering during your listbuilding process is often viewed as equally productive. However, simple choices such as the positioning of your models can completely change around the expected outcome (this is especially true in close combats, where having to charge through cover or get singled out into a challenge can make all the difference). I'm going to spill out some thoughts in no relevant order on this very topic.

Mathhammer and listbuilding most often coincide with netlists. These sorts of lists have been built using the theoretically most powerful and cost efficient units in a given codex, maxed out. This will give the list builder the impression that his list will have the highest probability of success. In my experience, these lists often rely on certain factors going their way. The mathhammer has been calculated expecting certain variables. Not only this, but the lack of diversity means that there is a lack of diversity in the threats you'llbe facing. A more uncoventional list will most likely include choices that are not the most cost efficient choice on paper, inclining that the listbuilder has not been solely (or even primarily) relying on mathhammer. Netlists are often more one-dimensional.

What does this mean? As an opponent, you have a clear idea of how that netlist is going to try to win. I've often read on the internet of evaluating your opponent's most likely path to victory and countering it (I think I first read this on 3++). With a spammed out list, this is easier. There are few netlists that are truly flexible. The units it spams may be multipurpose and effective in more than one phase of the game, but they are still the same unit, with the same characteristics.

Once we begin to consider how we are going to counter our opponent's path to victory, it is equally important that your own list has more than one way to play the game. 40k has at times been called a game of rock paper scissors as different spam lists duke it out and hope to come out on top in the round pairings. This is because the less different choices you have, the less variables you control as you are restricted to a certain type of play. Differing deployment options, range bands and mobility will dilute your list in a certain field, but allow you more avenues to take over the course of the game. This is especially true now that 40k is primarily a shooting game. Take away 2 turns of your opponent's shooting and the expected amount of damage he will deal over the course of the game reduces drastically. With more units left towards the end of the game, you may be left with more options to contest, control or saturate certain parts of the battlefield.

Although I feel that theoretically a less spammed out list is better than copy paste, we have to remember there are way more factors when it comes to list building. Some playstyles lend in to aggressive dominance of a certain phase, it's really more about what kind of a player you are. However, it is important not to be blinded by mathhammer both when building your own, and evaluating your opponents' lists. There are many variables that can turn the tables, synergies that may not reveal themselves at first glance.

Monday 29 July 2013

Ropecon 2013 tournament


 photo con6.jpg

 This weekend's 4-round tournament is behind us and I snatched a couple of pictures from it. Here's a brief recap. I played my sm/tau. Attack bikes, some ordnance, a broadside bomb with ninja commander and a riptide.

 photo con1.jpg

Round 1 was against a fairly new player. He was playing tau with some deep striking crisis suits, a riptide, longstrike and a lot of fire warriors. We were playing Big guns never tire and he got first turn. It ended on t5, he had his suit commander left. 13-0 victory.

 photo con2.jpg

Round 2 was against Roni. He had just whooped our Captain's nids with his Crons. Double wraiths with d-lords, 4 scyhtes, 2 a-barges, bastion and some immortals to camp the comms. We were playing purge the alien with vanguard strike. Turkhey shoot, although he got first turn. My broadsides picked a target and destroyed it. T1 it was slay the warlord, first blood and 2 killpoints from one wraith squad. Then the second squad, 2 scythes, a-barges and the last scythes. The deployment allowed me to just shoot everything. I think I won 11-5.

 photo con3.jpg

 photo con4.jpg

Round 3 was against ovv and his Tau. Suit commander with crisis suits forming a markerlight/ignores covers squad, broadsides in bastion, 2 skyrays, 2 riptides, 2 devilfish but very light on troops. It was emperor's will and relic. He won the roll of to go first and I was back to camping in a corner :D. T1 he got one attack bike squad (broadsides were out of markerlight and thus ignores cover range). I reacted by destroying both devilfish and all but 1 of the 12 fire warriors inside. Next ovv would shoot my broadsides and riptide but I would react by killing the fire warriors ontop of his bastion (suit commander + hb attack bikes ftw). The most epic moment was when my multimeltas exploded his bastion, killing the broadsides inside!!!! I had been very slow with my deployment and the game ended on t4. I should have checked ranges to the objectives the turn before but since I hadn't I didn't make it to either of the emperor's will markers. Tau win with first blood 2-1.

 photo con7.jpg

Final round was against Antti and his Necrons. Crusade with 5 objectives was the worst mission for me. Antti played it very well, giving me little targets until t4 when his flyers came on and nuked my troops. Silly me was too preoccupied with keeping my characters in the broadside bomb, fearing the wraith, when they should have been tanking/giving ld to my troops. My large kroots also came on the wrong side of the board despite rerolls and were left in the breeze behing Antti's entire army (the game had turned from vanguard strike into hammer and anvil at some point). When I contested objectives on t5, I had to shoot one warrior squad off of an objective. Cryptek stood back up and the game was a tie. Secondaries for me, one objective for Antti, 3-3.

 photo con8.jpg

So overall I came in at 10/38. Still alright but I'm kinda dissappointed with the mistakes I made day 2. Not to take anything away from my opponents, but I shouldn't be making careless mistakes. Ofcourse 2 tight games and 2 major victories would have been better at a battlepoint event or the etc. Ropecon had victory points as a tie breaker but was WDL.

Finally, our team's necron player, Frenzy, had worked up his space sharks for ropecon and they were looking great. Had to use a flash so it doesn't give credit to the painting, but look at that display board!

 photo con5.jpg 

Thursday 25 July 2013

Final preparations for 40k tournament and Ropecon 2013


 photo tyoumlpoumlytauml.jpg

Since my workday only lasted 3 minutes today, I was left with plenty of time to go home and finish my SM/TAU. My apartment has been invaded by piles of minis for the last couple of weeks (that's actually a lie, my apartment is always filled with miniatures :D). As often is the case, I've been working hard to get comissions out of the way and was left with little time for my own minis, having to cut some corners. Overall, the army isn't bad. I might come back to some things once the new sm book comes out (or after the etc).


 photo broadsidebomb.jpg
The Broadisde bomb

I'm really looking forward to the weekend. Ropecon is a chance to meet up with a lot of my friends (not only wargamers but other kinds of nerds aswell). The tournament is a last chance to practice with my etc list in a tourney setting (although I think we're having one more training weekend before flying off to Serbia). Ropecon is also a real melting pot for gamers and hobbyists. there are some real eye candy armies in the tournaments. I've heard that Frenzy from over at Warhead has completed his Space Sharks, which will be awesome to see, and a long time FB player who paints really pretty armies has worked up an IG project. I'm sure there'll be lots of other armies to look forward to (sorry Joonas, not yours).

 photo attackbikes9.jpg 
Attack bikes, maxed out. Including one that is older than I am.

Everybody have a nice weekend!

Wednesday 3 July 2013

ETC 2013 list: SM/TAU


 photo riptide.jpg

I just don't seem to have the time to update this blog frequently. considering just bringing it down but I do enjoy writing posts every now and then.

Anyhow, here is my list for the ETC:

PLAYER6: Aleksi "notepad" Lehtiö
PRIMARY DETACHMENT DESCRIPTION: Space Marines
SECONDARY DETACHMENT DESCRIPTION: Tau Empire

HQ1 WARLORD : Librarian (100) Bolt Pistol (0) Space Marine bike (35) Artificier Armour (20) Null Zone (0) Gate of Infinity (0) Force Axe (0) [155]
TROOP1: 5 Scouts (75) Sniper Rifles (0) [75]
TROOP2: 5 Scouts (75) Sniper Rifles (0) [75]
FA1: 3 Attack Bikes (3*40) 3 Multi-Melta (3*10) [150]
FA2: 3 Attack Bikes (3*40) 3 Multi-Melta (3*10) [150]
FA3: 3 Attack Bikes (3*40) [120]
HS1: 1 Thunderfire cannon [100]
HS2: 1 Whirlwind [85]
SECONDARY DETACHMENT: Tau Empire
HQ1: Commander (85) XV8-02 Crisis "Iridium" Battlesuit (25) Puretide Engram Neurochip (15) Vectored retro-thrusters (5) Command and Control Node (15) Multi-spectrum Sensor Suite (20) [165]
Elite1: XV104 Riptide (180) Ion Accelerator (5) Twin-linked Smart Missile System (0) Early Warning Override (5) Stimulant Injector (35) [225]
Troop1: Kroot Carnivore Squad (60) 7 Additional Kroots (7*6) 17 Sniper Rounds (17*1) 1 Kroot Hound (5) [124]
Troop2: Kroot Carnivore Squad (60) 1 Kroot Hound (5) [65]
Fast1: Pathfinder Team (44) 3 Additional Pathfinders (3*11) [77]
Heavy1: XV8 Broadside Team (65) 2 additional Broadside Shas'ui (2*65) 3 Twin-linked High Yield Missiles (3*0) 3 Twin-linked Smart Missile Systems (3*0)
3 Target Locks (3*5) 6 Missile Drones (6*12) [282]
TOTAL: [1848]

And for those interested, here is the rest of Team Finland:

PLAYER 1: Jouni "Jouni" Haavisto (C)
ARMY PRIMARY DETACHMENT DESCRIPTION: TYRANIDS
HQ1 WARLORD : Hive Tyrant (170) paroxysm (0) leech essence (0) 2 twin-linked devourers with brainleech worms (2*15) Armoured Shell (40) Old Adversary (25) [265]
HQ2 : Swarm Lord [280]
HQ1.1 : Tyrant Guard [60]
HQ2.1 : Tyrant Guard [60]
Elite1 : 3 Hive Guard (3*50) [150]
Elite2 : The Doom of Malan'tai [90] IN TRANSPORT 1
Troop1 : 10 Termagants (10*5) [50]
Troop2 : 10 Termagants (10*5) [50]
Troop3 : Tervigon (160) stinger salvo (0) adrenaline glands (10) toxin sacs (10) catalyst (15) [195]
Troop4 : Tervigon (160) stinger salvo (0) toxin sacs (10) catalyst (15) [185]
Fast1 : 20 Gargoyles (20*6) toxin sacs (20*1) [140]
Heavy1 : Biovore [45]
Heavy2 : Trygon (200) Trygon Prime Upgrade (40) [240]
Transport1 : Mycetic Spore (40) [40] Elite2
TOTAL : [1850]

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

PLAYER2 : Joonas "läski" Neva
PRIMARY DETACHMENT DESCRIPTION: TAU EMPIRE
HQ1 WARLORD : Ethereal (50) [50]
Elite1: XV104 Riptide (180) Ion Accelerator (5) Twin-linked Smart Missile System (0) Early Warning Override (5) Counter Defence System (5) [195]
Elite2: XV104 Riptide (180) Heavy Burst Cannon (0) Fusion Blaster (0) Early Warning Override (5) Counter Defence System (5) [190]
Elite3: XV104 Riptide (180) Heavy Burst Cannon (0) Fusion Blaster (0) Early Warning Override (5) Counter Defence System (5) [190]
Troop1: Kroot Carnivore Squad (60) 1 Kroot Hound (5) [65]
Troop2: Kroot Carnivore Squad (60) [60]
Troop3: Kroot Carnivore Squad (60) [60]
Troop4: Kroot Carnivore Squad (60) [60]
Troop5: Kroot Carnivore Squad (60) [60]
Troop6: Kroot Carnivore Squad (60) [60]
Fast1: Pathfinder Team (44) 2 Additional Pathfinders (2*11) [66]
Fast2: Pathfinder Team (44) 2 Additional Pathfinders (2*11) [66]
Fast3: Pathfinder Team (44) 2 Additional Pathfinders (2*11) [66]
Heavy1: XV8 Broadside Team (65) 2 additional Broadside Shas'ui (2*65) 3 Twin-linked High Yield Missiles (3*0) 3 Twin-linked Smart Missile Systems (3*0) 1 Target Lock (5) 1 Marker Drone (12) [212]
Heavy2: XV8 Broadside Team (65) 2 additional Broadside Shas'ui (2*65) 3 Twin-linked High Yield Missiles (3*0) 3 Twin-linked Smart Missile Systems (3*0) 1 Target Lock (5) [200]
Heavy3: XV8 Broadside Team (65) 2 additional Broadside Shas'ui (2*65) 3 Twin-linked High Yield Missiles (3*0) 3 Twin-linked Smart Missile Systems (3*0) 1 Target Lock (5) [200]
Fortification1: Aegis Defence Line (50) [50]
Total: 1850

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

PLAYER3 : Miika "Drilling Manager" Kalliokari
PRIMARY DETACHMENT DESCRIPTION: DARK ELDAR
ALLIED DETACHMENT DESCRIPTION: ELDAR
HQ1: Baron Sathonyx [105]
ELITE1: 3 True Born (3*12), Blaster (15) in Transport 1 [51]
TROOP1: 5 Wyches (5*10) Haywire grenades (5*2) in Transport 2 [60]
TROOP2: 5 Wyches (5*10) Haywire grenades (5*2) in Transport 3 [60]
TROOP3: 5 Kabalite Warriors (5*9) Blaster (15) in Transport 4 [60]
TROOP4: 5 Kabalite Warriors (5*9) Blaster (15) in Transport 5 [60]
TROOP5: 5 Kabalite Warriors (5*9) Blaster (15) in Transport 6 [60]
TROOP6: 5 Kabalite Warriors (5*9) Blaster (15) in Transport 7 [60]
FAST1: 3 Beast Masters (3*12) 5 khymerae (5*12), 4 razor wing flock (4*15) [156]
HEAVY1: Ravager (105) Night Shield (10) [115]
HEAVY2: Ravager (105) Night Shield (10) [115]
HEAVY3: Ravager (105) Night Shield (10) [115]
TRANSPORT1: Venom (55), additional splintercannon (10) Night Shield (10) [75]
TRANSPORT2: Venom (55), additional splintercannon (10) Night Shield (10) [75]
TRANSPORT3: Venom (55), additional splintercannon (10) Night Shield (10) [75]
TRANSPORT4: Venom (55), additional splintercannon (10) Night Shield (10) [75]
TRANSPORT5: Venom (55), additional splintercannon (10) Night Shield (10) [75]
TRANSPORT6: Venom (55), additional splintercannon (10) Night Shield (10) [75]
TRANSPORT7: Venom (55), additional splintercannon (10) Night Shield (10) [75]
SECONDARY DETACHMENT: Eldar
HQ1: Farseer (55), eldar jetbike (30), runes of warding (15), doom (25) [125]
TROOP1: 3 Guardian jetbike squadron (3*22) [66]
HEAVY1: Night Spinner [115]
Total = [1848]

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

PLAYER4 : Eetu "Muro" Peltola
PRIMARY DETACHMENT DESCRIPTION: GREY KNIGHTS
ALLIED DETACHMENT DESCRIPTION: NECRONS
HQ 1 WARLORD : Coteaz (100) [100]
Troop 1: Strike squad (100) 5 additional Grey Knight (5*20) 2 Psycannon (2*10) Psybolt ammunition (20) [240]
Troop 2: Strike squad (100) 5 additional Grey Knight (5*20) 2 Psycannon (2*10) Psybolt ammunition (20) [240]
HS 1: Nemesis Dreadknight (130) Heavy Incinerator (30) [160]
HS 2: Nemesis Dreadknight (130) Heavy Incinerator (30) [160]
HS 3: Nemesis Dreadknight (130) Heavy Incinerator (30) [160]
Secondary Detachment: Necrons
HQ 1: Destroyer Lord (125) mindshackle scarabs (20) Sempiternal weave (15) [160]
Troop 1: 5 Necron Warriors (5*13) [65] (in transport 1)
Troop 2: 5 Necron Warriors (5*13) [65] (in transport 2)
Fast 1: 6 Wraiths (6*35) [210]
Heavy 1: Annihilation Barge (90) Tesla cannon (0) [90]
Transport 1: Night Scythe [100]
Transport 2: Night Scythe [100]
Total: [1850]

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

PLAYER 5 : Teemu "Frenzy" Valve
PRIMARY DETACHMENT DESCRIPTION: Necrons
HQ 1 WARLORD : Imotekh the Stormlord [225]
HQ 2: Cryptek (25), Harbinger of Eternity (0), Chronometron (15) [40]
HQ 3: Destroyer Lord (125), Sempiternal Weave (15), Mindshackle Scarabs (20) [160]
TROOP 1: 5 Necron Immortals (85), Tesla Carbines (0) [85]
TROOP 2: 5 Necron Immortals (85), Tesla Carbines (0) [85]
TROOP 3: 5 Necron Warriors [65]
TROOP 5: 5 Necron Warriors [65]
FAST 1: 6 Canoptek Wraiths (6*35), Whip coil (10) [220]
FAST 2: 6 Canoptek Wraiths (6*35) [210]
FAST 3: 10 Canoptek Scarabs (10*15) [150]
HEAVY 1: Annihilation Barge [90]
HEAVY 2: Annihilation Barge [90]
HEAVY 3: 3 Canoptek Spyders (3*50), Gloom Prism (15) [165]
TRANSPORT 1: Night Scythe, transporting TROOP 3 [100]
TRANSPORT 2: Night Scythe, transporting TROOP 4 [100]
Total [1850]

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

PLAYER7 : Jukka "Tukka-Jukka" Halme
PRIMARY DETACHMENT DESCRIPTION: Chaos Space Marines
SECONDARY DETACHMENT DESCRIPTION: Orks
HQ1 WARLORD : Chaos lord (65), mark of Khorne(10), axe of blind fury(35), close combat weapon (0), juggernaut of Khorne(35), sigil of corruption(25), Veterans of the long war (5) [175]
Troop1: 10 Cultists (50), 1 autogun (1) [51]
Troop2: 10 Cultists [50]
Troop3: 10 Cultists [50]
FA1: Heldrake (170), baleflamer(0) [170]
FA2: Heldrake (170), baleflamer(0) [170]
FA3: Chaos spawn(30), 3 additional spawn (3*30) [120]
HS1: 3 Obliterator (3*70), mark of Nurgle (3*6) [228]
HS2: 3 Obliterator (3*70), mark of Nurgle (3*6) [228]
HS3: 3 Obliterator (3*70), mark of Nurgle (3*6) [228]
Secondary detachments: Orks
HQ1: Warboss (60), mega armour (40), Cyborg body (10), Bosspole(5) [115]
Troop1: 4 Mega Nobs (4*40) [160]
HS1: Battlewagon (90), Red paint job (5), Reinforced ram (5), Big shoota (5) [105]
Total: 1850

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

PLAYER 8: Henri "MIES" Simelius
PRIMARY DETACHMENT DESCRIPTION: Imperial Guard
SECONDARY DETACHMENT DESCRIPTION: Grey Knights
HQ1 WARLORD : Company Command Squad (50) 3 Meltaguns (3*10) [80]
Troop1: Veteran Squad (70) 3 Flamers (3*5) [85]
Troop2: Veteran Squad (70) 3 Flamers (3*5) [85]
Fast1: Vendetta Gunship (130) Heavy Bolters (10) [140]
Fast2: Vendetta Gunship (130) Heavy Bolters (10) [140]
Fast3: Vendetta Gunship (130) Heavy Bolters (10) [140]
SECONDARY DETACHMENT: Grey Knights
HQ1: Coteaz [100]
Troop1: Grey Knight Terminator Squad (200) 5 Additional Terminators (5*40) 2 Psycannons (2*25) Psybolt Ammunition [470]
Troop2: 2 Acolytes (2*4) Boltgun (1) Banisher (15) [24]
Fast1: Stormraven Gunship (205) Multi-Melta (0) Hurricane Bolters (30) Psybolt Ammunition (20) Searchlight (1) [256]
Heavy1: Dreadknight (130) Heavy Incinerator (30) Personal Teleporter (75) [235]
Fort1: Bastion (75) Comms Relay (20) [95]
TOTAL [1850]

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Tuesday 28 May 2013

Ultramarines comission complete

Finally got this done. A more grim dark style ultramarines army.

 photo allsmurfs.jpg photo smurftacs.jpg photo stormtalonsmurf.jpg photo smurfsternec.jpg

Thursday 2 May 2013

Comissioned models for space hulk



here are a couple of models I've been working up for a client from and for Space Hulk.

 photo libudw2.jpg photo libudw1.jpg

Wednesday 10 April 2013

VIDEO: Playing around flyers....

Hey, trying out something new. Audio is terrible and editing is minimal, but when writing up this post I thought it would be better to show some concrete examples. What better then through an actual competitive match? Original video by the 11th Company.

Monday 11 March 2013

1850 Tau/Orks list for upcoming tournament


 photo acubroadsides.jpg

So the Turku Kevät Fanatic is coming up. Lists had to be submitted last wednesday. Forge World "40k approved" units are allowed, but I didn't take them :D. This is what I'm bringing. No idea how it's gonna work out.

Ethereal with hardwired blacksun filter
Shasel with advanced stabilisation systems, positional relay, targetting array
6 Fire warriors
19 Kroot Carnivores, 11 Kroot Hounds
3 Broadsides with black sun filters
3 Broadsides with black sun filters
Gazhkull
13 Lootas
30 Shoota Boys with 3 big shootas
30 Shoota Boys with 3 big shootas
Dakkajet with extra supashoota
Aegis with icarus

Friday 8 March 2013

New Releases arriving late at FLGS

Once again I've been awefully quite but now I am back to report on an issue that has been bugging me lately. I wasn't that interested in the new Daemons release but my friend had been anticipating it and reserved the codex beforehand. Unfortunately, the store owner called him on friday before the release that the daemons package wouldn't be arriving until the following week.

My friend was naturally a little let down. He had hoped to get to read the new codex, judge it himself but now he would have to resort to reading stuff on the web until he got his own copy. He even said to me he was considering buying it from a different store. On the other hand, I'm very sorry for the FLGS, who has absolutely no control over when the stuff arrives. They are potentially losing customers.

I've been told that new release sales are where the big money is at. This certainly means that missing that release that is very bad news for a business. So in essence, the game store suffers and the loyal customers suffer. All of this because GW wants to send in the stuff as late as possible to avoid leaks and increase the hype. It's no use increasing the hype if the stuff is not there (well, GW Helsinki was probably fully stocked on that stuff). This is not a one off incident. The same has happened with a number of GW releases in a row. I don't know who's at fault here, but clearly it's not just bad luck. Should the FLGS ask GW to send them a couple days earlier? Should GW send the stuff with a more achievable timetable? Am I just asking for too much?

I don't know if this is just an isolated issue, but I feel very sorry for Hese and Tapiolan Pelikauppa.

Oh look, the first time I've labeled an article a rant

Tuesday 5 February 2013

Ruin corners, CC threat ranges and LOS


 photo mantiswarriors2.jpg

Just a quicky on a pretty fundamental change in 6th. You need line of sight to declare a charge. In certain instances this can have a dramatic impact. Utilising losblock with your assault units not only blocks you from shooting, but also from other charges. Jabbdo was toying around with scarabs behind a defence line at one point. Can't charge them 'cause you can't see them. Ultimate bubble wrap. Turned out it wasn't quite that simple. None the less, things like the corners of ruins (without windows) are perfect for counter attack units. This distorts threat ranges, possibly turning a stand off in your favour. In 5th, placing units inside terrain had a similar kind of impact (and charging through difficult terrain is even more brutal nowadays) but not being able to charge units behind walls or around a hill is even better. beasts/cavalry and wraiths that are the go to fast cc units of 6th might ignore terrain, but they don't ignore the requirements for los.

Saturday 2 February 2013

SW/BA: Mantis Warriors speed painting

 photo mantiswarriors1.jpg
 "a chapter on the edge of the law, teetering on the brink of oblivion and approaching the borders of extinction, fighting desperately to regain its place amongst the chosen. They were not outlaws or renegades, but they had no home in the Imperium of Man." (lexicanum)

Hi guys, I've been a little MIA lately. Uni, life and what not have been keeping me busy. I've still been doing stuff on the 40k front. I've been doing a lot of comissions, but in between I've been playing out and trying things in 6th. As often is the case, I also felt like repainting my wolves. I recycle my minis a lot! This time I wanted to try out a lesser known chapter. The Badab Wars was a great place to start, as being part of a campaign like that instantly adds depth to the narrative. I grew fond of the mantis warriors back story, marines nearly extinct and on the edge of law, fighting for survival and redemption.

Painting wise I was really looking for a super fast paint scheme, so that I would have a real chance to paint them in between comission work (my veermyn are getting painted up very slowly since there are so many models and they still require a certain degree of work to get painted). I decided to try out pigments on these guys aswell. Sometimes over the top, but they instantly add character to the colour scheme. I also made tiger stripe camo on the vehicles, 'cause marines with camo is awesome!

On the list front, I've been moving more and more towards vehicles in my lists. So far I've found rhinos to be good for the points, still having a lot of utility in 6th, despite having to play a little differently and think ahead a little more. Razorbacks are paying for weapons, so you'd really want to be using them aswell. That's why I'm still not certain if they are worth it. Are they just too easy to destroy? Despite this, my latest list is going to try them out. Oh, and did I mention that I've never played mephiston, despite having had the model for almost 10 years?

Runepriest, Runic Armour, Jaws of the World Wolf, Murderous Hurricane
Runepriest, Runic Armour, Bolter, Jaws of the World Wolf, Storm Caller
Runepriest, Terminator Armour, Jaws of the World Wolf, Living Lightning
Mephiston

Furioso Dreadnought, Blood Talons

5 Grey Hunters, Flamer, Wolf Standard, Razorback with twin-linked Lascannons
5 Grey Hunters, Flamer, Wolf Standard, Razorback with twin-linked Lascannons
5 Grey Hunters, Flamer, Wolf Standard, Razorback with twin-linked Lascannons
5 Assault Marines, Razorback with twin-linked Heavy Flamers
5 Assault Marines, Razorback with twin-linked Heavy Flamers

6 Long Fangs, 5 Missile Launchers
6 Long Fangs, 5 Missile Launchers
6 Long Fangs, 5 Heavy Bolters

1850pts
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