Call To Arms 40k

Space Wolf Dreadnought

2012-02-13T20:16:00.003+02:00

Painted this bad boy for my space wolves, as an alternative for lone wolves (I have a second dread undercoated). I decided to use the furioso dread for this one and the venerable dread for the second one, because the BA blood talons are very similar to the DCCWs on the old SW ven. dread model. The second wip dread also got talons for his DCCW hand. The weapon system is a counts as twin-linked autocannon (although it only has one barrel). I decided to pick this setup because the twin-linked autocannon is a nice and diverse weapon (including a good range) and I wanted to keep the DCCW for counter assault/tarpitting duty. I played a game with the Dreads against Miika. He has a blog of his own, and here is the link to a battle report he put up of our game (I lost btw).

1850pts. Space Wolves list

2012-02-05T12:57:00.003+02:00

Hi guys,
looks like there aren't any tournaments in my neighbourhood in the near future, so I probably need to start thinking about my Adepticon list. GKs are an absolute no. I wouldn't play Grey Knights at any Finnish tournament, so neither am I gonna play them in the US. Currently I'm thinking DE or SW. DE is more rock paper scissors, but I'm more of a DE player. SW are more flexible and interesting to play with, although I would probably need to start winning games with my wolves before going to adepticon :D .

Runepriest with jaws of the world wolf, living lightning @ 100pts.

Lone Wolf with TDA, powerfist, stormshield @ 80pts.

Lone Wolf with TDA, powerfist, stormshield @ 80pts.

5 Wolfguard with 4x combimelta and power fist, 1x cyclone @ 235pts.

10 Grey Hunters with flamer, melta, banner @ 160pts.

7 Grey Hunters with melta, banner @ 120pts.
Drop Pod @ 35pts.

7 Grey Hunters with melta, banner @ 120pts.
Rhino @ 35pts.

7 Grey Hunters with melta, banner @ 120pts.
Rhino @ 35pts.

5 Grey Hunters with flamer @ 75pts.

6 Long Fangs with 5 missiles @ 140pts.
Razorback with twin-linked lascannon @ 75pts.

6 Long Fangs with 5 missiles @ 140pts.
Rhino @ 35pts.

Land Raider Redeemer with multimelta, extra armour @ 265pts.

Total @ 1850pts.

1850 "Bourbon Alphastrike" Venomspam list

2012-02-02T16:37:00.003+02:00

The biggest problems I've had with venomspam is opponents that have a small enough footprint to refused flank. This dilutes my alphastrike and most likely will cause my army to arrive in waves. It's debatable how much better the lanceborn are for this (remember that they only have ~3" of extra effective range and can't deploy sideways out in the open in deployment, or redeploy as effectively). However, it did prompt me to count a list that uses Lady Malys.

Not tried out yet, Lady Malys is an ok combat character, with psydefence for the squad she joins, but more importantly with the possibility to redeploy d3 units (like Eldrad). Suddenly, getting stuff in your opponent's face is not as big an issue. To maximize the use of her redeployment, the Baron seems like the smart choice. However, without access to Haemonculi (and thus troops wracks) taking hellions doesn't seem optimal to me. Thus, this list has none. I've talked about this before, but the baron is just fine without any squad at the start of the game. He jumps up and joins a disembarked squad on t1 (providing stealth and ld, absorbing shots if in trueborn) and shoots off on t2. Can slingshot wyches, go attack tanks and small infantry units, or tie up walkers and HnR out later.

Very similar to the kind of list I used to run (4 warriors and 2 wyches in venoms) but with one less lance (+ without any heatlances), and Malys. Malys is epensive, and that is my main concern. However, I do see this list as more balanced then previous ones. Alphastriking DE work great as long as your opponent lets it work. With a refused flank (and some stuff in reserve) things can turn sour real fast for the DE. Malys should make this easier. Deploy one trueborn venom in the centre, and one on each flank. If you roll a 1-2, move that trueborn squad that is on the wrong flank, if you roll more, look for optimal firing lanes for you ravagers (which originally are deployed in the centre), get the centre trueborns into better range if necessary or look to add vehicle saturation with warrior venoms.

Lady Malys @ 130pts.

Baron Santhonyx @ 105pts.

4 Trueborn with 4 blasters @ 108pts.
Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.

4 Trueborn with 4 blasters @ 108pts.
Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.

4 Trueborn with 4 blasters @ 108pts.
Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades, hekatrix with venom blade @ 75pts.
Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades, hekatrix with venom blade @ 75pts.
Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Total @ 1849pts.

Is this "the list". Dunno. Probably not. 25 dark light weapons, the ability to redeploy and +1 to go first. Sure it seems pretty nice. Wyches+ 2 characters for extra options (and those wyches are a lifesaver against mech guard heavy support).

1850 VenomSpam: new concept

2012-01-30T22:39:00.003+02:00

A completely new concept. With hellions (and the wrack squad for tokens) resilient scoring is better covered. Perhaps a more balls to the walls approach could be taken with rest of my troops? Against mech ig, this will certainly be better. Same amount of lances as the list with incubi, requires closing with the enemy for maximum efficiency. Honestly, in that last tournament warriors rarely used their blasters. I think I could get away with haywire wyches. Hekatrii would be nice, but expensive. It still excells at blasting infantry, and has the same amount of long range lances as my previous list, but for those really bad matchups, it gives a chanve to just close with the enemy. I would like to test this list out.

Baron Santhonyx @ 105pts.

Haemonculus @ 50pts.

4 Trueborn with 4 blasters @ 108pts.
Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.

4 Trueborn with 4 blasters @ 108pts.
Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.

4 Trueborn with 4 blasters @ 108pts.
Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.

3 Wracks @ 30pts.
Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades @ 60pts.
Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades @ 60pts.
Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades @ 60pts.
Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades @ 60pts.
Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.

16 Hellions @ 256pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Total @ 1850pts.

Venom Spam 2nd at a small tournament

2012-01-29T15:29:00.004+02:00

The last game was a game of cat and mouse.

So, yesterday I took a train to Kouvola, a small town with an active 40k community. They have a really nice flgs, which also holds tournaments every month, taking turns with 40k and fantasy. I took my venomspam build, with the hellions and incubi. The tournament was a small 14 player and 3 round event. Each round had a primary objective (worth 8 points), secondary objective (worth 4 points) and victory points (worth max 8 points with 300 points intervals).

HQ1: Baron Santhonyx @ 105pts.
HQ2: Haemonculus @ 50pts.

Elites1: 4 trueborn with 4 blasters @ 108pts.
Elites2: 4 trueborn with 4 blasters @ 108pts.
Elites3: 5 Incubi @ 110pts.

Troops1: 3 Wracks @ 30pts.
Troops2: 5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Troops3: 5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Troops4: 5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Troops5: 5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Troops6: 16 Hellions @ 256pts.

HS1: Ravager @ 105pts.
HS2: Ravager @ 105pts.
HS3: Ravager @ 105pts.

Elites1: Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.
Elites2: Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.
Elites3: Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.
Troops1: Venom with extra splinter cannon, grisly trophies @ 70pts.
Troops2: Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.
Troops3: Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.
Troops4: Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.
Troops5: Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.

Total @ 1847pts.

Round 1:
My opponent was playing a Dark Angels army with 3 godhammer land raiders, 2 regular and one ven dread. The regular dreads had lascannon/missile launcher and the ven dread had an assault cannon. The raiders contained 2 tatical squads and 1 death wing squad made troops by belial. The mission was Spearhead, capture and control (prim.) and killpoints. My opponent made me go first. I deployed as far forward as possible and moved up to get as many blasters into my opponent as possible. Over the course of the game, I destroyed both regular dreads, immobilised the ven and one raider, and tore a lascannon off another raider. Not a whole lot. However, my opponent was playing very static and didn't drive to surround his base in time, as I turbo-boosted stuff forward on t4 to stop the raiders from moving. In the end, VP were a draw, I lost KPs and won capture and control. 12-8.

Round 2:
Against Eldar. He had a good list. Eldar, avatar, 2x5 dragons in serpents, 10 avengers in serpent, 2x5 avengers in falcons, 3 bikes and 3 warwalkers. Mission was pitched battle, capture and control (prim. again!?!), 3 objectives towards the centre of the board. I won the roll to go first, and weighed my options. Eldar skimmers are the masters of contesting, but in the end I decided I would be better off reducing the eldar firepower before Eldrad gets fortune off and went first. Our bases were placed on the same flank, and I deployed trueborn venoms on the deployment line, ravagers at the centre of the board. He deployed opposite my blasters and was alphastruck pretty badly. I took out his firepower and charged my hellions forward. He had to bring out scoring models to torrent the hellions,and then my other infantry units zoomed up and charged his infantry. T4 I already encircled my base objective with vehicles. t5 I also zoomed troops onto all the objectives and the incubi killed off the 3 jetbikes that had zoomed in from reserves onto one of the secondary objectives. Game ends with vp draw and me winning both objectives. 16-4.

Round 3:
This game was against a Space wolves dual raider list: Lord on bike with trimmings, rune priest, 2x lone wolves, rifleman, 2x rhinos, 2x10 grey hunters, 2x5 hunters, 1 godhammer, 1 redeemer and 5 long fangs. Mission was Dow, killpoints (prim.) and three objectives on the centreline. I chose to go first, although with hindsight this wasn't so beneficial. I deployed the hellions with the haemonculus and brought all my stuff on my right flank. Terrain was very limited, so I decided to build my postions behind the two rock boulders that you can see in the image above.

My opponent brings most of his stuff up the opposite flank, but he decides to bring his redeemer, a rhino with 10 hunters and long fangs up the centre. This was the sort of weak point I was looking for. I attacked the centre units meanwhile trying to minimize return fire. His shooting elements are slightly out of range at the start of the game, and aren't rolling too hot. I manage to tear up his stuff in the centre and ensure that the lone wolves don't do anything but scratch some fast moving venoms.

The game ends on t5. I have the secondary objectives, victory points by a 500 point margin and won by 3 killpoints. I made a gamble and brought in my hellions and baron to assault an immobilized rhino in my opponents deployment zone. He reacted by bringing his grey hunters to beat me up, and this way I ensured that I got the secondary objective. However, I should have detached the baron to reduce killpoints and victory points from the squad.

So I finished 2/14
Overall, the event was a blast. First place went to the tournaments only GK player, our very own Joo-o, congratz to him. All the people were very nice and laid back, the shop and terrain were very nice and that last game was very exciting. My last opponent was a very talented player, and in the end it came down to a simple mistake, some bad dice on his part and good dice on my part. The great thing about DE is that it's a very fragile army. This keeps you sweating and the immense mobility allows you to attack targets of opportunity or overload your opponent depending on the situation.

1850 DE list for tournament on Saturday

2012-01-25T17:12:00.002+02:00

I'm taking my Dark Eldar for a 3-game tournament on saturday. It'll be fun playing with Dark Eldar again. The list I'm taking is a little different to what I've run before, but is in essence a similar venomspam.

HQ1: Baron Santhonyx @ 105pts.
HQ2: Haemonculus @ 50pts.

Elites1: 4 trueborn with 4 blasters @ 108pts.
Elites2: 4 trueborn with 4 blasters @ 108pts.
Elites3: 5 Incubi @ 110pts.

Troops1: 3 Wracks @ 30pts.
Troops2: 5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Troops3: 5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Troops4: 5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Troops5: 5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Troops6: 16 Hellions @ 256pts.

HS1: Ravager @ 105pts.
HS2: Ravager @ 105pts.
HS3: Ravager @ 105pts.

Elites1: Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.
Elites2: Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.
Elites3: Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.
Troops1: Venom with extra splinter cannon, grisly trophies @ 70pts.
Troops2: Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.
Troops3: Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.
Troops4: Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.
Troops5: Venom with extra splinter cannon @ 65pts.

Total @ 1847pts.

As you can see, I've got the big squad of hellions and a small squad of incubi. The incubi are still on the watch list, the extra blasters from trueborn could come in handy. In the two games I played with this list yesterday they were really good. Overall, this list has more counter assault options then my previous lists (which had 5-man wych groups, but they are more glasshammer) which is great. The hellions also bring shooting, which is great. I'm just gonna have to see whether the 21 lances and str5 hellions in cc will be enough antitank (or whether the third trueborn squad is necessary).

The wracks and haemy are for getting two paint tokens on the hellions at the start of the game. They still have issues with ld (and I only have one grisly trophy) but finishing off a squad with shooting/cc will give them fearless. After that they really become great. HnR makes them mobile and capable to leave bad combats without breaking first. However, hellions are more of a counter cc unit, and not a deathstar. That's something that I need to remember. They are good against a lot of units, but not able to survive alone. They have to be used carefully. They are also very valuable towards the end of the game, with their high movement and HnR.

Army Showcase: Dark Eldar Corsairs

2012-01-23T19:44:00.003+02:00

Sorry for the bad pics (and apparently there is some black paint on the lens)

I decided to do a post showing some pictures of my Dark Eldar army that I have tuned up for a small tournament on Saturday. It is themed around Eldar corsairs, and game technically is a venomspam build.

It was originally the ravager that I fell in love with from the new Dark Eldar range, and since I had some old Dark Eldar models gathering dust in the corners of my room, I decided to expand that to a fullscale army.

I've repainted this army a couple of times. In the end what brought me to this current scheme was that I wanted a bright and striking colour scheme. In my opinion, lighter and more striking themes stand out better on the battlefield (which these models are for). I chose Hawk Turquiose as the colour I would build my paint scheme around.

There are my latest additions to the force. I bought some hellions, and converted one of my archons into a new Baron model (a scourge-like figure), so that it would better stand out from the group. In addition to Hawk Turqiouse, I used green and red as contrasting colours in the force. Bone I used on some of the infantry to bring some variety to the colour scheme and white has been used to mark out veterans, like trueborn and incubi.

Originally when I bought this army, there were no models for venoms. I bought 8 raiders instead. Over the course of about a year, I've toyed around with venom conversions, starting with a 'small sized raider' and eventually leading to this concept. The sails below the venoms are the latest addition. I really loved the sails in the new Dark Eldar range, and wanted to implement them into the venoms. In my opinion, they look pretty sweet.

I chose a mars-like desert for the bases, to contrast with the blue colour scheme, and it works quite well imo. The painting is not exceptionally good, but imo it is very good for 'tabletop' quality, and looks pretty nice on the battlefield. There hasn't been that much kitbashing with the infantry models, but a lot of time was put into the venoms, and overall small conversions and the different colour scheme makes this a very unique army.

Finecast first impressions: Incubi

2012-01-22T15:38:00.003+02:00

I got my first box of finecast from a christmas raffle at our FLGS. So I picked up a squad of the new incubi models. I really like the new models and was looking forward to painting and playing with them. Are the horror stories about finecast really true?

My box didn't have any airbubbles in awkward places or stuff like that. There was some cleaning up to do, but overall the details were very good. The only problem with the resin is, that weapons might come as warped. I think a couple of the klaives were warped. Overall however, it would seem that gw has stepped up a notch.

In comparison to metal models, the resin models are easier to transport. They don't get chipped like the metal ones, which is really great. They are also less prone to breaking down if you drop them, certainly a plus. Painting them wasn't really that different to any other models.

I would say that GW did the right move when they changed to Finecast. Unfortunately, since we are talking about GW, they raised the prices at the same time. That really pisses a lot of people off (including me) because as far as I understand, resin is cheaper to manufacture then metal. Overall though, finecast is great.

GUEST POST: You see it Roooolling..

2012-01-19T22:58:00.010+02:00

I haven't been posting lately. School and other projects, for example an annoying illusion sometimes also referred as "life", have distracted me from 40k, the true meaning of existence. Anyway, I just had to force myself to do something, and here you see me (t)rolling... (...not hating... hopefully..)

I've personally seen them rolling. Towards me, towards my objectives, towards my army, and those blasted bummobiles are driving my 'nids and Daemons crazy. With GK I do have the tools, but somehow I just can't throw 6's and waste tons of psycannons on them. What's this madness... A year ago Land Riders were a joke. Nowadays they are a force to be reckoned. Solo, twin and triple -Rider builds have massively bloomed over Finnish tournament scene. Armies with mass melta are happy, but my Chaosjappies are not.. Playing 2 objectives against twin Riders is pretty much autolose without superb luck and crazy-hot dicerolling.

What has caused this? There are probably countless reasons;

First and foremost reason could be Grey Knights. When the Steel Power came out with their rifle-toting-psyfle-madness, they made rhino hulls sad metalpandas. Powering up into AV14 helps; even with psycannons rending, it takes really much effort and some luck to wreck or explode a Rider. I have personally wasted many shooting phases on 2 of these powerhouses with my GK. My friend keeps telling me to add melta to my army, but... Maybe I should.
Anyway. Taking AV14 might be a reaction to the shifting of metagame caused by GK.

Land Riders counter many lists very well. For example 'nids or Daemons, or Orks can't really handle them. Same is true with missilespam -type armies. Rock, paper, scissors is a good game, eh.. Well these baddies know how to play it right. Single multi-melta can turn your 250pts bomb into wastepile, but against armies that don't have them.. It sucks to be a Xeno. Deldar have lances, an effective way to get rid of LR, but many other armies are left out cold. This culminates in team tournaments such as ETC or ATC. Playing counter-type lists might help you win against opponents with equal talent regardless of some bad rolls.

AV14 is also a psychological factor. It intimidates and flattens, taunting you to shoot it, and same time laughing at you str8 weaponry, and taking a crap on lower str guns. Forcing your opponent to roll the dice instead of having to perform against the odds yourself is a serious trump card for the LRplayer. I hate performing with my die; sometimes it just doesn't happen even if it by all means should.

And one shouldn't forget the thing itself. AV14 vehicle, with variable good weaponry, cheesy machine spirit, solid transport capasity and massive footprint, not too shabby, even when you have to pay jackload to get it. Also, the model itself offers valuable LOSblock to other vehicles, CSM Daemon Princes, Mephistons and other buggers. To me 250ish points for all this is a bargain, atleast when bought into right type of surroundings (and I don't mean Hawaii beaches and women rubbing sunlotion in the sun -kind of surroundings..(wait what..)). And let's not forget the assault ramp. Assault terminators really do love this rock, as many BAlists have proven.

What armies then use these beasty boys? Lately I have seen Space Wolves, Blood Angels and CSM run twinRaider lists. SingleRaiders are often included in many marine armies, MohlieSM being a prime example. Nick's Black Templars with 2 LR have won big time in USA. Whatever one says, this LRBoom is real, growing, and hurting. Hopefully older 'dexes get their piece of anti-tank-cake in the coming updates.. If not, I know a rock that's gonna crush some armies big time.

Joo-o

Army-wide redundancy: is spamming a shortcut?

2012-01-18T22:48:00.004+02:00

I firmly believe that there are three levels of armylists: (1) there is the collection of models, or "battleforce" list as they are sometimes called, (2) there are spam lists, which are points efficient and have natural redundancy as units are taken in multiples, and (3) there are good lists that don't spam per se, but rather find many means of applying similar roles into the army, and despite taking a variety of units, maintain a good level of redundancy.

Let's begin by looking at why spam lists are good. They often employ the most points efficient choices, thus ensuring that the list is optimised, and if they are able to find a good combination of units, they will have good balance and redundancy. By taking the exact same units, you have multiple choices performing the same role, and thus ensure that your list is not relying on any single element. This makes the list very robust. I'm not trying to say that a spam list is bad. I think there is enough evidence to prove that they are great. However, I think we can take it even further.

A list that combines different units and elements (the best known example perhaps being Ben Mohlie's Vulkan marines) can offer more solutions, or more tools into your toolkit. The problem with these armies often comes from the lack of balance or redundancy. Easily, a list like this might not have the same level of redundancy as a spammed list. However, in a good codex, we know that there should be multiple 'good' units for every role, and by taking these different units, you also make your opponent's target priority more difficult. Not only this, but you have more 'counters' in a world of rock paper scissors. A single land raider can be a real asset against certain lists. Not a game breaker, but something that could give you an advantage. Similarly, dreadnoughts can be awesome in some matchups, whilst still providing the same role as any fire support unit.

Basically what I'm trying to say is that by taking that single drop pod or thunder fire cannon, you open up more options, options that sometimes can be exploited. A predictable list is easier for your opponent to counter. This third level of list building is what I strive to. However, it truly requires skill and understanding to make such a list, and I'm sure I will fail many times on the way.

Daemons: Larger lesser daemon squads?

2012-01-10T18:38:00.003+02:00

Although this talks specifically from a Daemons stand point, in my opinion the ideas are relevant to any foot lists. Feel free to ask me, if you want to talk about implementing these ideas in your lists.

Continuing on my voyage into the depths of the thorpe-doed Chaos Daemons codex, I'm here to report back on some things you might want to consider when building your list. As I mentioned earlier, Daemons have very few ways in which to affect their opponent's movement, CC being perhaps the most sure way. Tank Shocks will rip through anything but CC, and anybody locked in combat is restricted from doing anything else.

That's why I think larger lesser daemon squads (over 15) can be a good pick. They are easy to chain up to get potentially large multicombats going (a linker between your other CC units) and can lash out whilst still maintaining their tail within fateweaver's bubble. Ofcourse, a larger squad gives less killpoints (which is a strong point of daemons) and can be used as bubblewrap, stringed to take multiple objectives etc.. There is nothing more sweet than producing a 30" line of models, charging one end into a combat and watching your opponent's tanks wonder why they aren't allowed to run over these zombies queuing infront of them.

I personally am swaying towards daemonettes. There are a couple of reasons. First, they are cheaper. A large squad will cost a lot of points and although that can potentially be awesome in table quarter missions (depending on the format ofcourse) that is a lot of points away from the rest of the list. Second, they have grenades. When making these 30" lines of doom you get to attack first, and then remove casualties from the guys that just swung instead of from the back of the line (thus not shortening the congo line as much). Finally, the daemonettes have fleet. Not only is this another different threat range in the army, it allows you to better prepare your combats.

Against tanks and infantry alike, blood letters are just simply better then daemonettes. However, in the role that I am playing them, the daemonettes should be just fine. They are perfectly capable of taking on non-dedicated cc units. If in fateweaver range, I think they can drag down a lot of things in a prolonged combat. And they aren't the heavy hitter in my army, that's what I got a freaking crusher deathstar for.

I still need a lot more games under my belt, but these are the thoughts that have arisen from my trip into the eye of terror.

How viable are naked princes in fatecrusher builds?

2012-01-09T16:47:00.003+02:00

I call him Mr. Muscle. He represents a Daemon Prince in my Lost and the Damned themed fatecrusher list. This idea came to me as I was thinking of ways to patch the weak points of a fatecrusher build: antitank and more importantly something to deal with walkers. Although Fiends are pretty good at charging walkers, doing some damage and then HnR out of there, the fiends might have better things to do. So, I started thinking of cheap ways to deal with dreads. MC attacks are probably one of the most reliable methods.

Taking into account the slots I have available daemon princes seemed like the best option. Their upgrades are just very expensive. That got me thinking, do they really need the upgrades for the role I'm playing them in? I'd just have them dropping down in the second wave (within fateweaver range) to potentially charge walkers that came too close. For 80 points they aren't such a bad buy. Since I'm gonna start with just one prince, I was thinking that I need to get results if I commit this guy, and the 15 points mark of khorne seemed ok. I think barebones is just viable an option, but 6 attacks on the charge means that I should be hitting any vehicle that moved fast in the previous turn.

For 95 points it's a decent bargain. They're nothing to rely on, but add another tool into my list that could potentially help me win games, I don't think that's a bad idea. It needs further playtesting but I think naked princes really have the potential to stay in my lists. There is enough resilience in the army already, so upgrades aren't necessary, and well wings are just too expensive imo.

Windows Live Messenger account for the blog...

2012-01-08T19:55:00.002+02:00

I have been informed that apparently it's fashionable for a blog to have its own Messenger-account . So now this blog has one aswell! If you want to contact us for anything (chatting about 40k) you can do it by adding our email address to your Messenger account and hitting us with a message. The address is:

cta40k (at) hotmail.fi

Fatecrusher... first impressions

2012-01-06T13:34:00.002+02:00

Well, I've been busy on my Lost and the Damned army, and I even played a game with them on wednesday. I lost. Played against Space Wolves and didn't destroy his tanks in time, he contested my objectives. It takes a lot of practice to suddenly switch to a practically complete CC army, and I wasn't expecting to do well in the first couple of games. Here are some things I picked up

How do Daemons influence the game:

-Movement - generally they are slow so using the Crusherstar's large footprint efficiently is crucial. At its best, the crushers can really prove a challenge to the opponent. In my first game, they didn't.

-Assault - Fatecrusher has minimal shooty elements (infact my list only had fateweaver) and all the damage is dealt in CC. This has some pros and a lot of cons. You can (and need to) use multiassaults effectively (and I found the 20 man letter unit very good for this role) to deal maximum damage and lock down the enemy.

Not only do you deal damage in assault, but that is the best way in which you can limit your opponent's movement. They literally can't move if they are in an assault. Fiends are very good at this, because they have HnR. They can go into combats that they wouldn't necessarily wanna stay in, and block your opponent's movement through it. Potentially you can do this to tanks aswell. They can't tank shock through combat so good strings are crucial to stopping tanks from moving.

As you can see, Daemons are completely missing shooting. This means that their threat ranges are shorter and they have to commit themselves in order to deal damage. This requires finesse to master, but as I've said before, combat has the POTENTIAL to be a lot more destructive then shooting, it's just getting there that's the hard part.

1850 Fatecrusher Daemons...

2012-01-03T15:39:00.003+02:00

During our long talk yesterday on Facebook with Joo-o, we also talked about my upcoming Daemons project. There are some things that you have to look out for when building a fatecrusher list (e.g. dreadnoughts) and I came up with a list that Joo-o was willing to accept. Not sure on the big bloodletter squad yet, we'll have to see how the list evolves during playtesting. The costly squad can however be useful in e.g. tablequarter missions, and a big squad allows more freedom with fateweaver. We'll just have to see.

Fateweaver @ 333pts.

Herald of Khorne with juggernaut, fury of khorne, blessing of the blood god and unholy might @ 135pts.

8 Bloodcrushers with fury of khorne, chaos icon and instrument of chaos @ 360pts.

6 Fiends of Slaanesh with 1 unholy might @ 190pts.

20 Blood Letters with Chaos Icon, fury of khorne @ 355pts.

5 Plaguebearers @ 75pts.

Total @ 1848pts.

Strike Marine based gk lists will surely be the bane of this list, but I wouldn't be as afraid of acolyte or purifier lists. Multiple land raiders are also a nasty paper to my rock, but this project will give me ample knowledge regarding the assault phase. At the last tournament (where I took my spac wolves) I placed hideously, and I realised how little skills I had regarding assaults in 40k. What better way to learn, then to play a list that pretty much relies purely on close combat :D. This will also be a nice way to reflect upon the differences in CC armies and shooty armies in 40k that I discussed a while back.

2012: What shall I do?

2012-01-02T20:04:00.003+02:00

I hope everybody had a great christmas and new year. I haven't been posting over the holidays, but hopefully I'll be jumping right back in now. A year ago I thought about the possibility of starting daemons as my tournament army for 2011. Well, that plan never materialised (a great responsibility for that falling on the awesome new ravager models :D) but I went ahead and bought the stuff I need for a lost and the damned themed daemon army. What am I planning on making it hobbywise?

It will be an uprising led by word bearers. I'll add some word bearers into some of the lesser daemon squads to act as aspiring champions, kinda like in the old lost and the damned armylist. In addition, I'm using cadian and mantic zombie bits for the lesser daemons, with some west wind miniature heads. Fiends will be a mix of seekers, warhounds and daemonettes and the crushers will be word bearers riding spawns. There was a super sexy apocalypse box at our flgs (with 10 csm and 10 spawns) that should make the right sized models, but with something different and fitting of the theme. Fluff wise it does sound silly to have csm riding spawns, but they're some sort of daemonic mounts. In the pic above you can see some of the first models and I think the spawn riders look pretty good (I'm gonna buy 10 resin bases for the crusher deathstar as atm they are on cardboard bases).

Game wise this list is gonna be a fatecrusher build very similar to the one that made it into the finals at Feast of Blades. I'm buying a used lord of change that I will convert as fateweaver and I'll have one big crusher deathstar with 2 heralds. The herals are probably gonna be the dark apostle and his first acolyte (that's the company chaplain and his future successor for those of you who don't know), so they'll stand out in mainly black power armour.

I'm still working on the details of the list. Fatecrusher is one of those armies that doesn't necessarily do well over the course of an entire tournament (as it has some bad matchups and random factors built into it) but trying out matches against daemons should be a good thing for our etc team, as there are very few daemon players in Finland (as a matter of fact, Joo-o is probably the only one in Finland who plays a decent list at tournaments!).

Final 1750 SW list for tournament.

2011-12-23T17:23:00.001+02:00

Alright here is the final draft of my Space Wolves list, that I'm gonna take to a tournament next tuesday. This list gains a little more options by not having the LRR as a dedicated transport and retains the same amount of missiles (12) then the previous list, despite losing a long fang squad.

Runepriest with murderous hurricane and jaws of the world wolf @ 100pts.

4 Power Armour Wolfguard with 4 combimeltas and 4 power fists, 1 Wolfguard Terminator with cyclone missile launcher @ 235pts.

Lone Wolf with terminator armour, chainfist, stormshield @ 85pts.

Lone Wolf with terminator armour, chainfist, stormshield @ 85pts.

10 Grey Hunters with 1 meltagun, 1 flamer and wolf standard @ 160pts.

7 Grey Hunters with meltagun and wolf standard @ 120pts.
Rhino @ 35pts.

7 Grey Hunters with meltagun and wolf standard @ 120pts.
Rhino @ 35pts.

7 Grey Hunters with meltagun and wolf standard @ 120pts.
Drop Pod @ 35pts.

5 Grey Hunters with flamer @ 75pts.

6 Long Fangs with 5 missile launchers @ 140pts.

6 Long Fangs with 5 missile launchers @ 140pts.

Land Raider Redeemer with multimelta and extra armour @ 265pts.

Total @ 1750pts.

Continuing 1750 wolf lists

2011-12-15T18:40:00.002+02:00

The big question is, do I want njal, or not. I've seen the wonders he can do towards the end of the game, but he is a big points sink. Here is an alternative:

Runepriest with wolftail talisman, living lightning and jaws of the world wolf @ 105pts.

4 Wolfguard with 3 combimeltas, 1 bolter and 4 power fists @ 167pts.
Land Raider Redeemer with multimelta and extra armour @ 265pts.

Lone Wolf with terminator armour, powerfist, stormshield @ 80pts.

Lone Wolf with terminator armour, powerfist, stormshield @ 80pts.

10 Grey Hunters with 2 meltaguns and wolf standard @ 165pts.

7 Grey Hunters with meltagun and wolf standard @ 120pts.
Rhino @ 35pts.

7 Grey Hunters with meltagun and wolf standard @ 120pts.
Rhino @ 35pts.

7 Grey Hunters with meltagun and wolf standard @ 120pts.
Drop Pod @ 35pts.

5 Grey Hunters with flamer @ 75pts.

5 Long Fangs with 4 missile launchers @ 115pts.

5 Long Fangs with 4 missile launchers @ 115pts.

5 Long Fangs with 4 missile launchers @ 115pts.

Total @ 1747pts.

A lone wolf can be a real biatch. In this list, the lone wolves can help bring combat resolution to any brawls that need it.

1750 Space Wolves Njal list

2011-12-10T17:35:00.003+02:00

Hi guys,
I haven't updated in a while. I've never actually played space wolves but I thought I would try my hand at something a little different. Especially since I've been playing xenos for the last summer and autumn. This list isn't meant to be "the best" (you'll probably gonna have to look at Tony K's list for that) but rather something that is interesting to play, and perhaps a little different to play against. I don't think this is a bad list, but I've never played wolves :D. Some CC deathstar might be cool, but Tony doesn't need one, so why would I?

Njal @ 245pts.

5 Wolfguard incl. 1 terminator with cyclone missile launcher, 3 with combi-meltas and powerfists, one with bolter and power fist @ 190pts.

Land Raider Redeemer with multimelta and extra armour @ 265pts.

10 Grey Hunters with 2 meltaguns, wolf banner and power weapon @ 180pts.

7 Grey Hunters with 1 meltagun, wolf banner and power weapon @ 135pts.

Drop Pod @ 35pts.

5 Grey Hunters with 1 meltagun, wolfbanner and power weapon @ 105pts.

Rhino @ 35pts.

5 Grey Hunters with 1 meltagun, wolfbanner and power weapon @ 105pts.

Rhino @ 35pts.

5 Grey Hunters with flamer @ 75pts.

5 Long Fangs with 4 missile launchers @ 115pts.

TOTAL @ 1750pts.

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

2011-11-29T21:32:00.002+02:00

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.

Mobile Melta Disruption Units...

2011-11-23T19:39:00.004+02:00

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.

Tau Hammerheads; 1850 new tau list

2011-11-20T16:32:00.004+02:00

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.

6 Firewarriors with pulse rifles @ 60pts.

10 Kroot Carnivores @ 70pts.

4 Pathfinders @ 48pts.

Devilfish with disruption pods @ 85pts.

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.

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.

New Venom conversions for my corsair DE...

2011-11-13T15:30:00.002+02:00

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

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 .

Another Swampy Necron List...

2011-11-12T18:14:00.006+02:00

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.

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

2011-11-08T22:49:00.004+02:00

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.

New necrons, a 1850 foot list

2011-11-07T19:01:00.003+02:00

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.

Adepticon 2012, here we come!

2011-11-01T17:59:00.002+02:00

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*)....

Eldar Corsairs, adding in the freehands

2011-10-29T16:43:00.004+03:00

I was in quite a hurry to finish these guys for a tournament, and I didn't end up painting much details to the vehicles in my army. They are now officially "painted" but the paintjob doesn't really reflect much of the Corsair theme and is a little bland. Now, I will overtime add some more details onto the vehicles, to better reflect their theme. I'm in no hurry to do this, since the army is already painted to a standard that I can take it to a tourney, but here is the first update.

I've decided to take diamonds as a freehand pattern for the vehicles. Somehow, diamonds just "feel" like Eldar Corsairs in my mind.

Independent Characters in 5th edition list building

2011-10-26T23:04:00.003+03:00

what do you mean my Jacobus looks a little corrupted?

HQ:s are one of the few mandatory choices to all armies in 40k. Generally, the characters that I see used fall in to one of three categories: (1) Psychic defence (such as librarians), (2) independent CC units (such as a TWC lord or Mephiston) and (3) characters that give an armywide buff (such as Vulcan or Coteaz). For example, characters that buff up one unit (such as a chaplain) are very uncommon. Why is this? Perhaps it is best we first look at all of the common groups, and uncover what attributes make them a good pick.

Psychic defence. It is clear, that the impact of psychic powers on the game has steadily increased over the past years. Perhaps it began with Lash of Submission, perhaps it was at some other point, but the need for psychic defence has truly increased in this game. Although characters that bring psychic defence also bring buffs, it is generally the psychic defence that makes these a good pick. Psychic defence can make it easier to counter bad matchups (such as dual lash) but Grey Knights have blown the need for psy-defence completely out of proportions. It is clear that these characters bring more to the game then just a HQ choice. Psychic powers are in many ways another dimension to 40k, and few people in fantasy battle want to leave home without a dispell scroll.

Independent CC units. What I mean by this is, characters that are fully capable of taking on other units unsupported. They add another unit with a clear threat range onto the table. These characters are traditionally beater units, meaning that they are at their best smacking weaker units such as combat squads of tactical marines. This style fits in well with the MSU mindset that has become so prevalent in 40k. The ability to apply pressure at as many points on the board as possible (and possibly combining pressure from multiple sources to overcome a tougher target) is where this stems from. I have seen some very interesting manifestations of this archetype, beginning with the BT bike marshal, and also popping up as biker Warbosses in foot lists and SW bike wolflords. These characters are not just simply hangarounds for a unit. Although they can increase the damage of a single unit (and more importantly hide inside a squad for protection) they are free to break off. This adds tactical flexibility and ensures that the character is truly contributing to the game.

Finally, there are the characters that are simply bought for the buff that they give to the entire army. This might be increasing your chances of going first, unlocking units, or just simply making your units better. It shouldn't be hard to understand why these characters are good. They have good synergy with the rest of the army. Once again, they are not merely characters assigned to units, they give the player something that the enire army can make use of.

Characters that just simply increase the damage output of a designated unit lack synergy on a similar scale. A player is limited by these characters, because the IC is tied to a unit, and only one unit. It would seem that you get more bang for the buck from characters that contribute to the entire army. Indeoendent CC units are an exception to this, as they do not necessarily synergies with other units directly, but they give the player more tactical freedom then a character that cannot break off on its own.

It doesn't mean that a chaplain is necessarily bad, but it is predictable and more constrained then other characters, and doesn't increase synergy armywide. When choosing an HQ for your army, one should always ask "what does this character really bring to my army" and "is he necessary". In the end, 40k games have a certain points limit, and you are looking to make the most use of the points at your disposal. I believe the reason why we don't see HQs that increase the damage output of a single unit is because they aren't flexible enough and they don't add to the strength of the entire army. The movement phase is one of the most important in the game, and if your character doesn't contribute to that, then atleast it should add to your army as a whole.

This isn't necessarily anything new, but something I thought needed saying. Sometimes, by exploring the most obvious choices, you can learn more about the game as a whole.

Reaver Jetbikes in a Venomspam list

2011-10-23T18:06:00.004+03:00

There are so many ways of playing dark eldar that instead of stating that "this way of playing reavers is the best", I'm gonna look at reaver jetbikes specifically in a venomspam list (which I've played the most).

Venomspam is pretty much the ultimate msu list. Unlike many other lists, Venomspam seeks to saturate your opponents shooting, because in order to fulfill that alphastrike, infantry need to disembark. That's why Venomspam is all about pushing too many threats down the opponent's throat.

Reavers should reflect this. I've learned to like 3-man groups. They are cheap and expendable (as is almost everything in a venomspam list). They are easy to hide due to their small size, and you can use them for less important jobs, like giving cover to some of your vehicles, without having to divert a 6-man group.

The main argument that I see for 6-man groups is that single blaster/melta is unreliable. This is very true, but once again we have to look at the reavers as part of a venom spam list. These lists boast well over 20 dark light weapons, and you will rarely find yourself in a situation where you are merely relying on the reavers to stop a vehicle, you will have other units in range aswell. In fact, shooting blasters one at a time is more efficient, because no blasters are "wasted" (e.g. shaking a vehicle twice). The only downside you get out of running 3-man groups is taking ld after the first casualty. That sucks, but the entire venomspam list suffers from ld, and squeezing in grisly trophies is something I haven't put enough effort into.

Which weapon: heat lance or blaster? I'm not sure yet. Blasters give you more freedom with its longer range and allow you to potentially get shots off on t1, but heat lances give your army ap1. Although I began playing reavers with blasters, I found myself using them more and more aggressively at the recent Turku Fanatic -tournament that I attended. This is because, when not firing at vehicles, it is much wiser to use bladevanes then fire the splinter rifles. against t4 (and especially t3) the bladevanes are simply better, and they give you a 3+ cover to boot. However, this strategy requires you to move quite close to your enemies (since the target unit has to be between the starting and finishing point of the squad's movement). This didn't really matter, since my opponent was anyway forced into making decisions (fire at the trueborns and get a lot my antitank down or shoot at 3-man reaver groups?) and the reavers survived surprisingly well throughout the tournament. Against IG, they even went on to beat the crap out of a lot of the IG infantry (after rolling pain token for combat drugs).

So, Reaver jetbikes work best in groups of 3, when played in Venomspam lists that seek to achieve target saturation. 3.man groups are small, cheap, expendable and still bring options and an extra special weapon to a dark eldar player's arsenal.

Painted Succubus. How would I play it?

2011-10-19T20:37:00.002+03:00

There she is. I liked the Dark Elf Sorceress, and I thought she fitted well into the corsair theme of the new paintscheme. She isn't a gladiator, but a female piratelord. I chose to get this model so that I would have more choices with HQs. The 1850 list I've been throwing around lately needs 30 points for a fourth trueborn in one of the squads. I could get that by cutting the Baron. Anyway, I feel exploring all the different choices is a good idea. I could go with a haemoculus, but that maybe adds the least. A blasterchon is ok, I tried that out, but since I'm exploring all options I'm also gonna try the Succubus.

The traditional setup is with an agoniser. 85 points is pretty cheap for a girl with lots of high ws and ini attacks. 4+ invul adds survivability against basic troops. However, I don't have the points for that. What I'm looking for is a cleanup lady (similar to my wyches), but who can also joins squads (reavers and wyches) to add a cc boost.

The Venom blade is nice for 5 points, but I got my eyes on razorflails. 10 points and weaker average of wounds against t4, but smaller deviation. The razorflail has rerolls and isn't so prone to failing horribly due to badd to hit rolls. The razorflails are a sure investment. This is a difficult decision, but atm I'm leaning for the razorflails. Dark Eldar are brittle and I need to know that the Succubus doesn't fail horribly right when I most direly need her. The venom blade's advantage isn't much against 3+ marines, so for I'm gonna try the flails first.

Dark Eldar @ tourney; getting trumped by GKs

2011-10-17T20:46:00.005+03:00

Sorry, that's the only pic I got this time. The entire army deployed to get seized and obliterated by GKs. More about that later. I'm just gonna go through each game and add some overall thoughts at the end.

Each game played seize ground (worth 10 to the winner), bases (worth 10 to the winner) and victory points (worth 10 to the winner) at the same time. Deployment and objective placement varied.

The list (this tourney comped out any triple chloices in elites, fa and hs):

Baron Santhonyx @ 105pts.

4 Trueborn with 4 blasters @ 108pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

4 Trueborn with 4 blasters @ 108pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

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

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades incl. hekatrix with venom blade @ 75pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades incl. hekatrix with venom blade @ 75pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

3 Reaver Jetbikes with blaster @ 81pts.

3 Reaver Jetbikes with blaster @ 81pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Voidraven Bomber @ 145pts.

Total @ 1848pts.

First game was against Orks. The guy was very nice, but his list was weak. He had 3 shooty battlewagons (with 4 big shootas and a kannon), some big gunz, koptas and lootas. His troops were one 3-man slugga squad, a deff dread (that according to the TO was scoring) and a squad of grots. He had a biker boss and kff mek. I didn't realise the wagons had no rollas and wasn't expecting him to castle up in a corner and shoot me. He seized on me, but I won the game with full points (30-0).

The second game was against Tau. Dawn of war deployment and 3 seize markers. I elected to go first and placed my base on my left flank next to two of the three loot counters. He placed his base in the opposite back corner (right flank). I decided to threaten his base instead of driving onto my own, and brought all my tanks onto my right flank (close to my board edge to prevent the tau shooting much of my tanks down). The reavers zoomed up the left flank to deny any random tau units coming on unsupported meanwhile the rest castled on the other side.

The Tau came on the left flank leaving their base for me. Their shooting didn't kill all the reavers (I had rolled fnp) and the remaining reavers locked a crisis squad for a turn. I have pretty good board control, but am badly placed for a shooting battle. All my vehicles zoom towards the tau as fast as possible, the baron trying to be a bullet magnet. In the end, the tau had a couple of bad shooting phases and didn't wipe enough of me. I managed to kill of his scoring units with a combination of combat and shooting, and won bases and objectives. Tau won victory points clearly. 20-10 victory.

Third game was against mech ig. He had a pretty regular setup, with a griffon and couble manticores in HS. Spearhead deployment. I won the roll off and he reserved his vendettas. I turboboosted the wyches, wracks and a couple of warrior groups, disembarking the trueborns and remaining warriors after moving, to get blasters into the lead chimeras. IG shooting wasn't good enough in the first (and to a lesser extent, second) shooting phase and I managed to drive over his army. My reavers charged wittled down veterans and command squads, meanwhile wyches charged manticores, the griffon and some chimeras. The rest shooted chimeras and vendettas crippling my opponent. However, I lost almost all my scoring models and when my opponent wanted to stop on t3 and suggested 25-5, I was happy with the outcome. 25-5 victory to Dark Eldar.

After the first day, I was in third place. However, my luck changed and was up against GKs in my last two matches.

First game of the day was with pitched battle. My opponent is a friend and he knew to give me first turn, so that I wouldn't reserve. Probably should have still, but I deployed. He proceeded to seize with coteaz and blast me off the table. 0-30.

Last game was against Jabbdo with GKs. His list was a henchman list with 20 PA knights (purgation knights and purifiers)+2 dreads. This time I win the roll-off and pass it to him. Spearhead and I placed my base in my back corner, his was at the center of his board edge. He made the mistake of driving in a diagonal front (similar to how he deployed in spearhead). His right wing (that was next to my board edge) was vulnerable and I rolled well for my reserves. I come on and try to smash him. My blasters slightly fail, but I get some damage (including one purifier squad wiped off the table). The rest of the game my opponent retaliates and I try to wipe off his PA grey knights. The baron jumps off to tie up dreads and HnR out of the combats.

At the bottom of four it looks like I can win 25-5. Jabbdo can't do much to the baron who is in combat with a ven dread next to his base. I have another 3 venoms that can swoop to contest objectives if need be. My base is safe. VPs is really tight. On his 5th, Jabbdo destroys or imobilises all my venoms and kills the baron with 5 henchmen that charged out of a razorback. Disaster! Jabbdo has a 100 point VP lead (over the required 200 points to win) and I only manage to contest one objective with wracks. Luckily the game ends and I only lose 20-10. Dark Eldar are brittle and this is a reminder that major turning points towards the end of the game can turn the tide quick.

Overall, I didn't feel happy with the Baron. He was only really good in the last game against Jabbdo. The wyches were good, I liked the setup. Venom blades are often enough for the purpose that I'm using them. I also liked the reavers. I played them a little different in many of the matches. In the test games, I had used them similarly to tau crisis suits. However, I found myself zooming them straight into my opponent's face, or charging weak infantry squads. It's probably because I'm slowly starting to master the list and know my army's units better. I can be more aggressive with my small units, like the reavers, as I know my limits. They also fit in with the msu mindset. Alphastrike, target saturation, win. That's why I'm gonna try them with heatlances, something that I've seen pop up in DE lists lately (etc, german team tournament and other places).

Overall, I feel slightly let down by the second day. I play against those guys weekly, and it felt slightly useless going all the way (well maybe 150km) to play, and play the second day against people you know and a matchup you know is bad. The first day went very well, and I am very happy about beating mech ig. The tournament was certainly fun, but the second day was a slight letdown.

1.85k Dark Eldar list & DE painting progress

2011-10-10T16:44:00.003+03:00

Hi guys,
Time for a little update. You're gonna see a shift towards more 1850 lists on this blog, just as a heads up. I think that the European scene is headed in that direction. This is my attempt at a no-comp 1850 list for my DE. It adds in reaver jetbikes, which I've found very nice with this setup.

Baron Santhonyx @ 105pts.

4 Trueborn with 4 blasters @ 108pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

4 Trueborn with 4 blasters @ 108pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

3 Trueborn with 3 blasters @ 81pts.
Raider with dark lance@ 60pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades incl. hekatrix with venom blade @ 75pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades incl. hekatrix with venom blade @ 75pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

3 Reaver Jetbikes with 1 blaster @ 81pts.

3 Reaver Jetbikes with 1 blaster @ 81pts.

Ravager with dark lances @ 105pts.

Ravager with dark lances @ 105pts.

Ravager with dark lances @ 105pts.

Total @ 1849pts.

Pretty similar to what I've already been running. A couple of wych squads for haywire grenades, tarpit and mop up. Very multipurpose units that I've fallen in love with (despite the internet hating them). Had to downgrade one of the trueborn squads to 3 blasters unfortunately, and had to substitute one venom with a raider to get within the points limit.

I'll write up a post on reaver jetbikes soon. The 3-man groups with blasters are once again very much against the internet's common consensus, but after half a dozen games with them, and the reavers being good in every game, I'm feeling pretty positive about them. It's really just a matter of not thinking in a vacuum.

GUESTPOST: Draigowing @ 1750pts - Balls to the Wall!

2011-10-04T22:28:00.002+03:00

The way REAL men play Grey Knights!

Draigo 275

Librarian, Shrouding, Sanctuary, Excommunion, Quickening, Might 175

(10) Paladins 650

1. MC Psycannon, Hammer

2. MC Psycannon, Hammer

3. MC Psycannon, Sword

4. MC Psycannon, Sword

5. Sword

6. Sword

7. Hammer

8. Hammer

9. Halberd

10. Halberd

(10) Paladins 650

1. MC Psycannon, Hammer

2. MC Psycannon, Hammer

3. MC Psycannon, Sword

4. MC Psycannon, Sword

5. Sword

6. Sword

7. Hammer

8. Hammer

9. Halberd

10. Halberd

= 1750

Yeah.

Usually you combat squad the Paladins to hit 4 targets.

Keep Draigo and the Lib in the same squad so you're opponent doesn't get lucky and blow away your Shrouding in one missile volley.

Usually you'll want to give your Paladins scout to get your Psycans in range faster.

With Shrouding, your opponent still needs 60 instakilling ap1/2 wounds to put down those Paladins. 120 ap3+ wounds. 240 torrent wounds. Good luck.

The list is really stingy at giving up kill points, and in objective missions are pretty hard to force off objectives when they go and camp on them. Watch out for tank shocks though, target vehicles early to stop them pushing you off.

Funnily enough this list should do pretty well against MSU GK razorspam, which is the prevalent competitive build at least in my meta.

Thoughts? Utter crap or awesomesauce?

Eldar Corsairs- First warrior squad done

2011-09-28T18:51:00.002+03:00

Here you go guys, feel free to comment. No flash was used in this image. I'm fairly happy with the new colour scheme. I have a tournament coming up in a couple of weeks and I'm intending to repaint the entire army in time for it. Just need to try out painting tanks with the airbrush.

Eldar Corsairs? New DE colour scheme

2011-09-27T21:10:00.002+03:00

Today, I found myself fiddling around with a possible different colour scheme for my eldar. The current scheme is good imo, but I wanted something that would really pop on the battlefield, and I've been thinking about learning to paint tanks with my airbrush. I came across the idea of painting an eldar corsair fleet. It would also better justify the venom conversions that I did before the models came out. Here's my test model. I'm gonna paint up a warrior squad and a ravager and then report back to you with the findings. The flash messes the model a little, but the picture should give you guys and idea of what the model looks like. The main colour is close to ice blue. The layers are hawk torquise, ice blue, astronomician grey and skull white. Feel free to comment.

Midfield presence, is it important?

2011-09-22T20:52:00.002+03:00

So, how important is midfield presence to an army in the game of 40k?

Well, we can first look at the pros. You have a shorter range to points on the board (objectives, opposing forces etc.) and you increase your threat range to cover a rather large area. This does give an advantage to almost every army. There are few armies that can really deal damage efficiently just from a corner of the board, and that can snatch objectives effectively without midfield presence.

In addition, midfield supposedly gives you the advantage of better using terrain. This is especially true on boards that have losblocks in the middle of the table etc.. The theory is, that by being close to the terrain, one can take cover from it and shoot without giving cover, or atleast only pop out of cover once you want to melta stuff etc.. In my view, this is more situational, but a good point to keep in mind.

Having a strong midfield presence not only gives advantages to you, but puts your opponent at a disadvantage. If you can dominate midfield, your opponent will have more inefficient threat ranges and a harder time making it to objectives.

On the negative, some armies suffer from giving away side armour shots. This depends on the army, but can have a major impact on the game. It also puts you in harms way, placing you essentially within small arms fire. Sometimes it is better to preserve your forces, deploy back (or possibly even refused flank) and try to outshoot your opponent (or outlast him). Some armies are better at staying back and disrupting the opponent (like tau). Against CC armies, this is especially true. You'd rather hang back and shoot for as long as possible.

My observations have shown that most armies gain an advantage from holding the midfield. Most marine armies are unaffected by side shots (due to the nature of a rhino hull) and armies like DE Venom Spam need to move up to get those blasters in range. Towards the end of the game the player that holds the midfield has an advantage in objective games, as he has more objectives within reach, and can extend his threat range further to stop the opponent from taking objectives.

Baron+Incubi, Is there synergy?

2011-09-18T18:46:00.003+03:00

I don't think you've seen my baron yet? There he is, hanging out with the incubi. I feel kinda funny for not thinking of this before, but the baron works well with incubi. The baron is a good addition to any DE army, because it gives you a higher chance of deciding who starts the game. However, it's good to also make use of the baron on the table. Hellions are ok, but I personally don't like them (expensive, not a true cc unit, rather a midfield shooty unit). Incubi work pretty well. They get stealth to make them a little more survivable (although they already have 3+ against small arms fire). More importantly, however, the baron gives ld buff, grenades all around and can block out power fists or power weapons with his shadowfield. Worth giving it a spin.

GUEST POST: Tyranids: Both sides of the table

2011-09-15T00:07:00.013+03:00

"Hmm.. Facing the 'Nids. Those dirty little buggers. The models look so tangled too. What should I shoot.. Or assault? Can I assault? What can they actually do.."

"Damn those tankparks.. How should I deploy to counter those blasts and get cover, too.. Should I infiltrate or outflank the 'stealers.."

Tyranids, with their 5th edition codex, are not an army that is to be taken lightly when playing against. Or with. The Codex isn't nearly as good as the Imperium books, but really has it's tricks when facing the tankparks of 40k nowadays. The codex does "rock" in some way, but definately does not autoplay the games. That's part of the magic, I quess. Good listbuilds are not so variable as they could, too. In my opinion, the "Best" list atm contains some 55 genestealers, 9 hive guards, tervigons and few gaunts. Prime is a good addition, too. Let's look at the topic first from the Nid-cam. A list example:

HQ:
Tyranid Prime: Pair of boneswords 95
Tervigon: Catalyst, Sacs, Glands, Spines 195

Troops:
Genestealer Brood (20) 280
Genestealer Brood (20) 280
Genestealer Brood (15) 210
10 Termagants 50
Tervigon: Catalyst, Sacs, Glands, Spines 195

Elites:
3 Hive Guards 150
3 Hive Guards 150
3 Hive Guards 150

= 1750

So, at first how to deploy, and whether to go first or second? These questions are always important, but how to deal with them?

Who goes first: In general, a good tip is that in objectives, you shouldn't go first as you get the last turn. But how about your genestealers? Do you want them to be shot at 1 extra turn? And pushed back too? Probably you do not. So, a good advice with this list is to go first when you can, ofc depending on your opponents firepower. If you think you can take the extra turn of shooting against you, go for the last turn, and you get better chances to clean up those rhinos and chimaeras having tank shocked into objectives.

How to deploy then: When going first, deploy your Hive guards front, and because of the seize in cover, if the worst case scenario happens. You definately want to harvest that rhino-parking lot or venom-thicket in the enemy deployment zone, and to do that being in range helps. A centrally based formation is well fit, and leaves you with more options. In objective games one would really like to secure the objects to own end of the table to be able to swarm the midfield efficently. 20+20 genestealers probably want to inflitrate to cover in a string, bases 2" apart if your opponent has template weapons. Remember to leave a tail on the units so the tervigons are able to throw FNP to genestealers every turn. The small unit usually should outflank, ofc depending on the opponent. When going second, be wary you are going to be shot before throwing FNP or moving to cover, so make sure genestealers get the 4+ coversave or they are screwed. There are times you just have to hug cover and hope you don't lose that bad, and it's ok. Daemons deserve a special note on deployment. String your units in a string 12" from table edge (pitched and DOW). Then string the stealers in evenly spaced strings through the field. This SHOULD give the Daemon player some headache with deepstrikes. Worked somehow against me when I played Daemons against nids, atleast. This tactic ofc should be varied on Spearhead.

Gameplay: Move aggressively and time your assaults well. The field works in waves of infantry models working in synergy. Gaunts shouldn't be spawned first turn, but later on because they are easily shot down first turns. The gaunts linger midfield or in your own table-edge, and tervigons go where needed. Hive guard should be in cover, or behind a LOS-block using their wonder-aim, especially against Dark Eldar and Grey Knights which can blast the bugs to next week. Prime offers either psydefence or reinforced combat abilites, or just synapse. He's the everyman of the list. Genestealers are rocking against almost anything, but are pretty fragile in the end. Be careful not taking on too much same time. The outflanking unit hopefully assists the weakened flank of genestealers. It's common to deploy using refused flank tactic against nid who have deployed in the middle, and the outflankers balance this out 2 times out of 3. Ahh, sound so Daemonic... ANYWAY, keep focused on distances all the time, remember your Move Through Cover, Fleet rolls and Synapse tricks, and don't get stupefyed by the firepower thrown at you. It'll weaken when you get to harvest the parking-lots.

Winning: Objective games require contesting and clearing out the field with genestealers while taking the objectives with tervigons and spawned gaunts. Beware of the tank shocks, which shift your infantry pretty badly off the targets. Just charge the tanks with wrong facings so they can only shock forwards which should help. Also keep on blasting them with hive guard. In kill points you should be careful on those spawn-gaunts, as they offer up pretty easy points. Just be more careful and try not to give anything voluntarily. Playing 10-10 right from the start and then aiming higher if the opportunity rises is a good tip.

This is just the basic overview. Everything varies depending on what you face, but as a smart player one should be able to figure out what to do every game ;) Be strict and focused on the movement and target saturation, and things should turn out well. And yeah, beware land riders. There is very little you can do exept maybe stun or shake, with luck immobilize these hulks. Tervigons can bust through them, but good luck with that. Those nasties really give Nids hard time. Again, sounds like Daemons... Really, what's wrong with me always playing these move and get shot + Land Rider allergic -armies... : P How about the Opponent-cam then?

Going First or Second: Going first is good as your get more shooting phases before assault units reach you. But, usually with tanks in your army, you probably want to get the objectives too. So don't be afraid to get the second turn and slow those stealers down with sacrificial units, leaving stealers in the open against your full wrath, and later on tank shocking to contest the objectives. Whatever you do, plan it ahead.

Deployment: Against 'stealers you should really try to push them back. Scout moving units are great for this, but starting the game also works. Also a sacrificial rhino or chimaera or whatever is good. Put those units on the edge of deployment zone, to push the 18" inflitrate range further away. Then zoom back to your table edge and watch them crawl under your firepower. It's great to position yourself in the corner or in the middle, depending on the terrain and your army. Ah, everything depends on everything, doesn't it.. Beware the outflankers.

Gameplay: Hard to cover out everything but in general preserve your units and try to keep your firebase(s) up as long as you can. Going to melee against Genestealers requires dedicated assault troops, and maybe additional support of another units. Thinning the tide with shooting and assaulting weaker genestealer units also works. After you have dealt with stealers, move midfield to push the Nids off the table and start cleaning up the trash. Missiles and lascannons, lances etc are best to be pointed at those tervigons and hive guard. Target saturation is really important here, and so is planning your movement. If the stealers die but you are stuck in the corner you are not in a good shape.. Try to remove their antitank as soon as you can.

Winning?: Play your own game, and ofc, avoid mistakes. Make those shots count, and try to set up certain counter-attacks and charges. I can't underline the target saturation enough. Keep the game in your hands and don't be the passive reacter, and you have the game in your oyster. If the dice are against you, look Aleksi's post on law of large numbers to find the solution ;) If that doesn't help, don't mind. It's a game, after all! Tyranids want to win sometimes too, youknow! x)

Whew. This turned into a wall of text. Hope you find something useful out of it. I probably have forgotten to mention so many things, but anyway... Try to fill the holes with your own knowledge. Remember that things mentioned here are sometimes one of the options, and the game-situation demands to do it differently. If you see the opportunity, just jump for it! Sometimes something off-the-box is the essential key to win.

Toni Salenius, aka Joo-o

Venom Spam with Rammer Raiders

2011-09-14T22:44:00.004+03:00

Hi guys,
lately Stelek has been strongly recommending shock prow raiders for dark eldar. It would seem that he has been coming to the same conclusions as I did back in this post. I've been contemplating how I could effectively get shock prow raiders into my venom spam list, without losing too many venoms. This list has 8 venoms, and only loses one blaster (gaining potentially two dark lances) when compared to the baron list I ran at that recent tourney. Ofcourse, some stuff had to go, like the hekatrixs' ld buff (the power weapon is very hit and miss).

Archon with blaster @ 75pts.

Court with 1 Sslyth, 1 Ur-Ghul, 1 Lhamaean, 1 Medusae @ 75pts.
Raider with shockprow, aethersails, tormentor grenade launcher @ 75pts.

3 Trueborn with blasters @ 81pts.
Venom with 2x cannons @ 65pts.

3 Trueborn with blasters @ 81pts.
Venom with 2x cannons @ 65pts.

3 Trueborn with blasters @ 81pts.
Venom with 2x cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Raider with shockprow, aethersails, tormentor grenade launcher @ 75pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons, grisly trophies @ 70pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons, grisly trophies @ 70pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Total @ 1748pts.

Raiders either move 12"+disembark stuff t1, start empty and ram t1, or move up with aethersails to block and drop ld (e.g. against grey knight psychic powers). Not sure whether I like this quite yet.

Quantity is quality; a look at basic probability

2011-09-10T20:08:00.003+03:00

Hi guys,
This post will be concerned with what is called the law of large numbers in mathematics. According to this theory, the larger the sample size, the closer to the expected average (or mean) the results' average should reach. As an example, rolling 2d6 repeatedly has an expected average of 7. However, if there is a small sample size, and you roll snake eyes (which has a very low probability) it will immediately affect the average of the results (and give an impression that the average is lower then 7).

How does all this translate to WH40K? Well, in it's most basic form, the more you are rolling, the less of an impact one bad die roll will have. You should be expecting to achieve results closer to average. Lets look at two weapons: a bs3 shuriken cannon (guardian), and a bs3 missile pod (tau). The missile pod has a probability of 0.5 at glancing a rhino, meanwhile the shuriken cannon is marginally worse (about 0.49). Which one do you think is going to perform better over the course of the entire game? The missile pod should be better, as it has a higher probability, but it rolls less dice (and thus at least in theory would take longer to achieve its expected average). The shuriken cannon, on the other hand, rolls an extra die. This means that one roll, whether good or bad, has less of an impact on the entire results. If the missile pod is rolling well, then it's a good thing, if it has some bad rolls, they will have a larger effect then with the shuriken cannon. At least in theory.

However, this perhaps works better when viewing the army as a whole. An army that rolls lots of dice (like venomspam) will be more reliable in its anti-infantry fire then an army that rolls less dice (e.g. paladins). I have really liked the predictability of my venom spam when it comes to cleaning up infantry. It allows you to better plan your shooting phase, moves etc.. For a strategist, migitating chance is an important factor. Chance is random and cannot be affected. By limiting chance, a player has more control.

This doesn't only hold true in the shooting phase. An army that has a lower model count, will generally suffer more from bad rolls then an army with a high model count. A paladin army will be greatly hindered by a bad ld test or bad armour saves. On the other hand, grey knights msu will be less hindered by the loss of one of its squads to bad armour saves. This has less to do with the law of large numbers, but has a similar mentality. One random event will have less of an impact on your entire game if the procentage of your army affected by that roll is low.

How scientific is all of this? Not very. Just some thoughts and feelings I've been having lately, justified by wikipedia ;).

1750 Venom Spam, another version

2011-09-07T20:39:00.003+03:00

It's really pretty much finetuning by now, but I'm tempted at taking a blaster archon instead of the baron. I've done okay with reserving my army if going second, and the blaster archon adds perhaps more to the army (an extra blaster and flickerfields on the ravagers), besides I get to use my archon model :D. Any thoughts are welcome

Archon with blaster @ 75pts.

4 Trueborn with 4 blasters @ 108pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

4 Trueborn with 4 blasters @ 108pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

4 Trueborn with 4 blasters @ 108pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades incl. hekatrix with power weapon @ 80pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades incl. hekatrix with power weapon @ 80pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades incl. hekatrix with power weapon @ 80pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

Ravager with flickerfields @ 115pts.

Ravager with flickerfields @ 115pts.

Ravager with flickerfields @ 115pts.

Total @ 1749pts.

1750 Venom Spam @ a tourney; takes 3rd

2011-09-04T19:41:00.004+03:00

First off, the list I took was slightly changed from the 2nd draft, I dropped the portal in favour of more blasters:

Baron Santhonyx @ 105pts.

4 Trueborn with 4 blasters @ 108pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

4 Trueborn with 4 blasters @ 108pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

4 Trueborn with 4 blasters @ 108pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades incl. hekatrix with power weapon @ 80pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades incl. hekatrix with power weapon @ 80pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades incl. hekatrix with power weapon @ 80pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Total @ 1749pts.

The list worked pretty well. I played 4 games, winning 3 and losing one, earning me 3/16. The wyches provided some good mopping up units (there were no matchups where I would have needed tarpit but they can do that aswell) and the haywire grenades were nice to have. 4-man blasterborn squads are very nice, even though they are an easy target for opponents. Only thing that didn't do well was Mr. Baron, who died to zoanthropes and meltaveterans in combat and didn't even help me go first. Here is a very brief breakdown of the games

First game was against reserve nids. 3 objectives, dawn of war. He got to place 2 objectives and placed them towards opposit edges. I won roll-off and made him go first. None the less, the nids managed to cut down two shooting phases from me (which I realised is very important for venom spam lists against hordes). Had he rolled better for his outflanking sides (he even had the swarmlord's reroll!!!) he could have made it a more difficult game. In the end however, only around 20 stealers and two podding zoaney squads came to threaten me. I was holding two objectives to his one.

Second game was vs mech ig. 5 objectives, pitched battle. He won the roll off (he only needed a 6) and I was forced into reserve. I rolled well for reserves, but was hampered by an inability to damage tanks (I destroyed a total of 3 tanks in that game, 2 in combat with haywire grenades). t5 would have been a draw, t6 I lost and the game ended.

Third game was annihilation, spearhead against a green tide list. His list wasn't optimised by any means, but didn't bleed killpoints like mine did. I won the roll off and went first starting to fall back towards my short table edge (keeping at 36" from the closest targets). Once I reached the edge I blasted 108 poisoned shots a turn at the oncoming tide, waiting for the game to end. In the end I killed maybe a little under 100 orks and won killpoints 7-1.

The Final game was against mechanised Grey Knights; bases and pitched battle. 8 razorbacks, triple dreads and fortitude. As a little bit of background info, I have never won GKs with anything other then GK. My DE normally keep playing until t3 and then we call it. I was not feeling confident going into this game, but it was a matchup I had thought about beforehand, and in that sense I was better prepared then my opponent.

He won the roll off and I reserved. I placed my objective in the opposite corner to his and he put all his PA marines on the flank opposite of my objective. He had 3x3 acolytes on the other flank (3 guys holding the base behind a big losblock). He gunned forward reaching my deployment line with his lead PA greyknights. I rolled well for reserves and came on the other flank, opposite the GK objectives. 3 venoms zoomed to all threaten charges next turn. Ravagers and trueborn destroyed a dread, razor and immobilized another razor.

He was very divided and couldn't get all his guns to bear. He moved 12'' and deployed 2 squads of PA GK and brought the dreads to firing positions. His shooting only destroys one ravager. My reinforcements destroy come on. I destroy 5 razorbacks and both PA marine groups that were on foot. I charge the acolytes on his objective and take it after a second combat phase.

I almost messed it all up with my final batch of reserves, forgetting Coteaz's "I've been expecting you". I took needless losses and got pinned trying to bring forces onto my own objective. Game ended on t5 and I was able to contest my objective with a venom, holding the GK player's one.

Jesus this has turned into a wall of text. Anyway, a miracle happened. I won GKs with my DE. overall I'm happy about the tournament. I rolled crap against mech ig all game, but I rolled too well in my game against GK.

1750pts. Venom Spam, second draft

2011-08-30T21:11:00.005+03:00

This variant gets the full 9 venoms, sacrificing a blaster. I think this is an improvement to my original list. I have a tourney coming up on saturday in Tampere. If I can finish the army on time, I'll take these guys out for a spin, if not then it's BW orks (maybe with rokkit buggys this time).

Baron @ 105pts.

Haemonculus with webway portal @ 85pts.

3 Trueborn with 3 blasters @ 81pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

3 Trueborn with 3 blasters @ 81pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

3 Trueborn with 3 blasters @ 81pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

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

5 Wyches with haywire grenades, incl. hekatrix with agoniser @ 90pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades, incl. hekatrix with agoniser @ 90pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades, incl. hekatrix with power weapon @ 80pts.
Venom with 2x cannons, grisly trophies @ 70pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Total @ 1748pts.

Finished painting Dais of Destruction; Dark Eldar

2011-08-28T21:16:00.001+03:00

The dais is missing one dark lance (realised after taking the photo), but here is my dais of destruction (in the centre if it's unclear). Old ravager with some tune ups to make it more 'special'. Now I just need to find a way to play the Dais....

Whether it'd be the robbers, or the..

2011-08-25T00:11:00.006+03:00

STEALERS! Lot's of them. Nids are all over my room at the moment, as I scavenge around trying to find all the models I've got for them. I even rearranged my WH-closet and renovated my room by adding some shelves. Wow.. Even I'm impressed.

As mentioned, I figured I won't be able to finish knights 'til the tournament on October. Nids are looking lots of better, even with their paintjob looking pretty rough, and bases being untouched. Again I picked my colourscheme by choosing a fancy pot of paint and just working on it. Iyander yellow, matched with warlock purple.. Looks ok enough. I have to buy 30 more of these bad boys, but luckily I've got a pending deal on 14. So, 16 more.. Shouldn't be impossible. I also have to convert like 4 hive guards from warriors, or maybe buy 1 or 2 and convert only 2. But, to sum up, I really love yellow. ...what...? Cmon, bananas..

By the way congratz' to the ETC and ESC winners and performers. Finland managed pretty well, 'specially in the Single Championships. The performance of Nids in that tournament was pretty solid, which encourages me to try them even more. Knights were also great, and I think the few Daemons weren't that bad either. Good for me, I'd say :D

- Toni Salenius

Counts-As Black Templars, pt2

2011-08-23T20:10:00.003+03:00

Squad Infernus done (sry for flash). Anyway, been thinking about the templars, and I just have to cave in. I need those triple preds. Either I scavenge them from my GK army (don't like playing it tbh) or I buy them. Most likely the cheaper option. I'm keeping AACNMTO for now. Rerolls on those fists makes crappy tactical termies pretty formidable in cc (and the crusaders if they ever end up in combat).

And the list:

Emperor’s Champion with accept any challenge, no matter the odds @ 140pts.

Marshal with bolt pistol, close combat weapon, tank hunters @ 85pts.
4 Terminators with 2 cyclones, tank hunters @ 222pts.

5 Terminators with 2 cyclones, tank hunters @ 265pts.

5 Terminators with 2 cyclones, tank hunters @ 265pts.

5 Crusaders with lascannon, plasmagun @ 101pts.

5 Crusaders with lascannon, plasmagun @ 101pts.

5 Crusaders with lascannon, plasmagun @ 101pts.

5 Crusaders with lascannon @ 95pts.

Predator Destructor with lascannon sponsons @ 125pts.

Predator Destructor with lascannon sponsons @ 125pts.

Predator Destructor with lascannon sponsons @ 125pts.

Total @ 1750pts.

Counts-As Black Templars? Renegade Space Marines

2011-08-21T11:21:00.002+03:00

Hi,
ever since Brent began working on his 'Brotherhood' CSM army, I felt that I wanted to make a renegade marine army. I wanted to make it foot, to better bring up the Renegade Marines, and giving me a chance to adorn the units with banners etc that aren't tucked away in the army transport the entire game.

Full-jump pack marines weren't the kind of theme I wanted to go with. Although Loganwing would have been a possibility, Black Templars have neat special rules making them very unique, and I decided to make a BT army.

The Typhoon above is the first finished model for this army (I also made a test marine to try out the colour scheme). I drew inspiration from Henry Zou's Blood Gorgons, a BL book I had read. I am happy with the colour sheme. It's suitably easy to paint and the hawk turquoise wash adds an interesting element to the scheme imo.

Also, here is an armylist, which is influenced by model restraints and isn't fully optimised.

All crusaders have boltpistols+CCWs

Emperor’s Champion with accept any challenge, no matter the odds @ 140pts.

Marshal with terminator armour, tank hunters @ 108pts.

4 Terminators with 2 cyclones, tank hunters @ 222pts.

Castellan with combi-melta, bolt pistol @ 81pts.

5 Terminators with 2 cyclones, tank hunters @ 265pts.

5 Crusaders with lascannon, plasmagun @ 101pts.

5 Crusaders with heavy bolter, meltagun @ 95pts.

Drop Pod @ 30pts.

Land Speeder with typhoon launchers @ 70pts.

Total @ 1750pts.

GUESTPOST: Shocking!!

2011-08-20T13:43:00.004+03:00

Again, apologies for the missing pic. Should really stack pics to my gf:s place too... The pictures here are not so 40k, like...... Aaaanyway. So, a 30-guy tournament closing in, deadline being 1st of October. I've lately been disappointed with the performance of Daemons. And, no wonder, it's all about dice with them. My knights are lacking too many units and tanks to even dream about it, so I looked to my shelf.. What DO I have besides these two?! First hit was the Eldar, with massed serpents/prisms. Ok, not too bad, but somehow lacking. Then my eyes turned into my nids.

I don't really know how these guys work, but this is my try. I think BroodLords didn't have SITW, but when calculating I thought they had. If so, I'd probably take a prime or something for the added synapse control. Anyway, here's the list:

20 Genestealers: Broodlord with ST = 328
15 Genestealers: Broodlord with ST = 258
20 Genestealers: Toxin sacks = 340
Tervigon: Catalyst, Sacs, CSpine 185
10 Termagants = 50

3 Hive Guards = 150
3 Hive Guards = 150
3 Hive Guards = 150

Tervigon: Catalyst, Sacs, CSpine = 185

The lords are there to provide -ld, and threaten more hitty units. Also work catching xtra wounds. What do you say, can I play with this or should I make it better? A basic 55-genestealer shock-list.

-Toni Salenius, aka Joo-o

Tank shocks to break up infantry formations

2011-08-19T20:53:00.002+03:00

If playing a strongly close combat orientated army, minimising your opponents counter-attack is key. You are giving your opponent the chance to decide the momentum and way the game will play out, by playing an army that has a much shorter threat range. Minimising your opponent's choices and making the conditions as favourable to you as possible, is key. I talked about the problems with CC armies, and the fact that mech is making CC armies very prone to being counterattacked off the board, in an earlier post.

Tank shocks are a very good way to ensure that your troops can assault without the risk of being overwhelmed by a counter-attack. Some armies are better at this tactic (such as dark eldar and orks) and some have to use infantry bubblewraps, that are much harder to perfect (I'm looking at you tyranids). This is also why moving 12''+disembarking and running should be considered when running trukk or raider spam. It allows your tanks to move flatout in the following movement phase (giving you more reach).

Say for example, that your opponent is playing Grey Knights and has disembarked all his forces to shoot at your disembarked wyches and beastpacks (or in the case of orks: boyz, kanz etc.). Once in range to charge with your infantry, you can zoom your raiders to essentially cut in half your opponents forces (thus making any counter CC elements left in the backfield or on the other flank out of charge range for the turn). This ensures that you don't get mass charged by e.g. those purifiers, death cult assassins or paladins.

In many ways, the latest list I wrote yesterday seeks to use this tactic. It is one that I learned when playing my Orks MSU list. The list has a lot of dark light weapons to bring the initial punch, trying to pop open transports and make holes in the opponent's battleline. You can then use these holes to charge the infantry spilling out, or to cut off the rest of the army with your raiders. I still think that the shockprows are good antitank, and if your first turn's shooting doesn't produce enough results, you may well need to try and pop a couple of more tanks in the movement phase before deciding other movement, but against effective counter-attack armies, breaking up infantry formations is really key.

Ofcourse, Orks and DE aren't the only armies capable of utilising these tactics, Any CC army with access to vehicles should be seeking to utilise this tactic. Those transports are not only a faster way to transport men and protect them from small arms fire. Those transports might just be the safety net you need to cut off those TWC or other nasty counter-attack units that can punish you for committing yourself to the battle.

Dark Eldar Beastpacks: An Armylist

2011-08-18T19:42:00.004+03:00

So,
I haven't really tried beastpacks properly. I think the 2x razorwings + 4x khymereas is a very cheap (102pts.) unit and certainly worth a try. I also learned a trick or two playing my orks list (if your transports are shit, why stay inside?). This list is designed to t1 move 12'' and disembark everything. Since you won't be using shockprows t1, I'd keep the dark lances. t2 shockprow stuff to oblivion. Tanks or infantry (tormentor grenade launchers might work well with the amount of hybrid armies around). Beast+wyches start charging stuff.

If going second, it does have a nice amount of bullet soakers (fnp wyches and beastpacks) but your ranged antitank will suffer. Thoughts?

3 Haemonculi @ 150pts.

3 Trueborn with 3 blasters @ 81pts.
Raider with shockprow, tormentor grenade launchers @ 70pts.

3 Trueborn with 3 blasters @ 81pts.
Raider with shockprow, tormentor grenade launchers @ 70pts.

3 Trueborn with 3 blasters @ 81pts.
Raider with shockprow, tormentor grenade launchers @ 70pts.

7 Wyches incl. hekatrix with power weapon @ 90pts.
Raider with shockprow @ 65pts.

7 Wyches incl. hekatrix with power weapon @ 90pts.
Raider with shockprow @ 65pts.

7 Wyches incl. hekatrix with power weapon @ 90pts.
Raider with shockprow @ 65pts.

3 Wracks @ 30pts.

3 Wracks @ 30pts.

2 Beastmasters with 2 razorwing flocks and 4 khymereas @ 102pts.

2 Beastmasters with 2 razorwing flocks and 4 khymereas @ 102pts.

2 Beastmasters with 2 razorwing flocks and 4 khymereas @ 102pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Total @ 1749pts.

MSU Orks @ 2k tourney

2011-08-15T18:09:00.002+03:00

Hi,
This past Saturday I took an Ork list based off of MVBrandt's Ork list to a 3-game tourney. Here's my modified list:

Big Mek w/ Kustom Force Field, Bosspole - 90 points

3 Mega Nobz w/ 1 Kombi-Rokkit, 1 Kombi-Scorcha - 130 points
Battlewagon Dedicated Transport w/ Deffrolla, Big Shoota - 115 points

3 Mega Nobz w/ 1 Kombi-Rokkit, 1 Kombi-Scorcha - 130 points
Battlewagon Dedicated Transport w/ Deffrolla, Big Shoota - 115 points

10 slugga boyz + Power Klaw/Bosspole Nob - 106 points
Trukk Dedicated Transport w/ Reinforced Ram - 40 points
10 slugga boyz + Power Klaw/Bosspole Nob - 106 points
Trukk Dedicated Transport w/ Reinforced Ram - 40 points
10 slugga boyz + Power Klaw/Bosspole Nob - 106 points
Trukk Dedicated Transport w/ Reinforced Ram - 40 points
10 slugga boyz + Power Klaw/Bosspole Nob - 106 points
Trukk Dedicated Transport w/ Reinforced Ram - 40 points
10 slugga boyz + Power Klaw/Bosspole Nob - 106 points
Trukk Dedicated Transport w/ Reinforced Ram - 40 points

3 Warbuggies w/ Twin-Linked Rokkit Launchas - 105 points
3 Warbuggies w/ Twin-Linked Rokkit Launchas - 105 points
3 Warbuggies w/ Twin-Linked Rokkit Launchas - 105 points

3 Killa Kanz w/ Grotzookas - 135 points
3 Killa Kanz w/ Big Shootas - 120 points
3 Killa Kanz w/ Big Shootas - 120 points

Total= 2000 points

I won all 3 games coming in tied 5th. Only 10 points were awarded for each round and 5 points (which almost everyone got) for painting. This led to 3 players going past me even though they didn't win all games.

I won my games 7-3, 7-3 and 6-4. The missions were hard to win big on (all 5 objectives or a 10kp lead) and I wasn't familiar with the list. Thus, my wins weren't big enough. The rounds were also a little tight for what I'm used to (normally 3h for 1.75k and there it was 2h 45min for 2k), which combined with my unfamiliarity with the list led to all the games either going over the limit or ending on t3-4. None the less, I had fun, and here is a fast breakdown of the games.

Game 1: BA with single stormraven DC bomb, razorbacks, vindis and a baal, furioso, and meph. 5 objectives with dawn of war (and a longer night fight). He went first boosting all his stuff onto the board.

Now there was a highway running straight across the board on the table, that was maybe 10 inches above the ground floor. We agreed that only skimmers and jump infantry could jump up there. He brings the storm raven with dc dread, dc and reclusiarch on there, and bang all my buggys drive on and open fire. In the end the raven goes down to the first buggy squad, but theatrical none the less :D.

He still had meph (which I failed to charge and tie up 3 times in a row) but most of his stuff just died to rokkits, klaws or deff rollas. Meph finally dies at the start of t5 and at the end of 6 he had 1 objective, and I had 3. 7-3 victory.

Game 2: BA double storm raven (what is it with all these ravens?) with jumper ba. He is also the writer of a blog: Bringers of Dawn. There were dreads in the ravens and a single autolas pred. Spearhead with 5 objectives. All units have stealth for the first 2 turns (hello kff!!!) and one squad can outflank.

He goes first, but being unfamiliar with my list, zooms right at me. I manage to roll over his army pretty bad, but the game has to be ended on t3. I hadn't remebered to check the time and wasn't on all the objectives I could have been, so I have 2 objectives, he has 0. 7-3 victory to me.

Game 3: Second table against DA dualwing. Pitched Battle, Killpoints. The table was horrible for me. There were large closed buildings that we agreed tanks couldn't drive through all across the board, making manouvering with 25 vehicles very difficult. However, I had some luck in this game.

The KP were modified so that HQ:s were worth 2 and there were 3 objectives worth 2 KP. Each HQ alive at the end gives its owner a further 1 KP. He seizes on me and advances aggressively. He brings his sammael+command squad too close (he misunderstood and thought the battlewagons were not opentopped) but the mega nobz don't do much. There is a grinder at the middle of the table, where I'm bottlenecked by terrain. However, the lucky bit comes when a trukk mob and 3 kans that I was moving up the left flank alone, destroy 3 attack bikes and a 3-man double melta bike squad that had come on from reserve, only losing the trukk (the nob was the sole survivor of the trukk mob).

In the end, I had one objective and killed sammael, earning me a 12-9 victory in killpoints, and thus a 6-4 win (which I thought was a little harsh, 3 kp difference and 6-4 victory? Even with the modified kp's).

That brought me to tied 5th, but more importantly I went through it undefeated (only the tournament winner did the same, atleast within the top6). Overall, I'm very happy. The list was fun and it worked, but boy do I need to learn how to play it faster and better.

Next I need to scale it to 1750....

GUEST POST: GK Armylist

2011-08-12T13:34:00.006+03:00

So, here's THE LIST omg... Sorry for no pics, I'm not posting this from home.

Coteaz = 100

GKSS: Psycannon = 110
GKSS: Psycannon = 110 Transport 1
GKSS: Psycannon = 110 Transport 2
3 Warrior Acolytes = 12 Transport 3
3 Warrior Acolytes, meltagun = 22 Transport 4
3 Warrior Acolytes, 2 meltaguns = 32 Transport 5

Psifleman Dreadnought = 135
Psifleman Dreadnought = 135
Psifleman Dreadnought = 135

Purifier Squad: 1 Hammer, 1 Halberd, 2 Psycannons = 147 Transport 6
Purifier Squad: 1 Hammer, 1 Halberd, 2 Psycannons = 147 Transport 7
Purifier Squad: 2 Hammers, 1 Halberd, 2 Psycannons = 153 Transport 8

Transport 1: Razorback: Psybolt ammunition = 50
Transport 2: Razorback: Psybolt ammunition = 50
Transport 3: Razorback: Psybolt ammunition = 50
Transport 4: Razorback: Psybolt ammunition = 50
Transport 5: Razorback: Psybolt ammunition = 50
Transport 6: Razorback: Psybolt ammunition, Searchlight = 51
Transport 7: Razorback: Psybolt ammunition, Searchlight = 51
Transport 8: Razorback: Psybolt ammunition, Searchlight = 51
1750

11 vehicles, 21 killpoints, not so many models. With those stats, the list could seem fragile. But think again!

Coteaz: Solid, cheap HQ choice. Has the reroll for iniative which is amazingly handy, and some good other specialities. Also makes henchmen scoring which helps.

Troops: 5 scoring troops in tanks, 3 being henchmen but so what, is solid, + an additional GKSS unit. 3 of those troops pack a punch in shooting phase and cc too. And the razors.. So many psybolters DE will cry, pretty much along with anyone else. Solid picks IMO, and not too many points wasted on them.

The Psiflemen: Well. Do I need to add anything? They provide long range support and might tie some units if they have to. That's about it.

Purifiers: For mass control and more psycannons. Also good at punching. They are a no-brainer to almost every GKlist, and covered in those oh so great razorback plates they provide me with some more tl str6 shots.

Tanks: Great for torrenting anyone. APC, infantry, elite infantry... Anything goes. I don't really care if they blow up, as long as atleast few remain. I'd prefer to have atleast 3 searchlights for those IG vendettas in DOW, but I'm testing this atleast for now.

Comments, suggestions? Bring it!

Toni Salenius, aka Joo-o

GUEST POST: So, Grey Knights...

2011-08-12T00:09:00.006+03:00

There was a time people were happy. A time of transports, a time of AV11 spam. People felt good. They were powerful, and independent. Their mech-ness shone it's OP-light upon the planet 40k. But then came the time of darkness. The time of Grey Knights.

So, after throwing a wrong wave with daemons 8th time a row I felt kinda pissed. The dice were against me obviously, and losing because one bad roll felt wrong. Just plain wrong! Why, GW, whyyyyy... Anyways, after a period of whining I looked to the mirror and told myself I'm getting a MEQ army. And so I did.

My options were somehow limited thou. I wanted a strict performer. An army that could perfom well, even when the dice didn't smile. So, Wolves, Blood Angels or Grey Knights? I proxyed some games with Wolves, loved 'em but wanted something more similar to my gamestyle. After a lot of thought put into lists and calculating, I decided to take a journey to the depths of Greyness. Or, pinkness, in my case..

(sorry about the quality.. the highlights and metallic colors also almost look like too extreme because of the lightning, but anyways..)

I stumbled upon an unused pot of Tentacle Pink. What would you have done, CMON?! It's pink, and the name has "tentacle" in it. That's what I call a paint. ...wait what... Anyhow, those guys are my purifiers with black-like helmets. GKSS are going to get purple/lila pots, and Interceptors are probably going to get grey helmets, or maybe purple. Not sure yet, but whatever really. In about a week I have finished this squad and 2 psyfleman dreadnoughts. Not too shabby, I'd say. My aim is to get this army finished before October. Don't know if I make it, but if I do, it'll be awesome.

Ahh, and my army composition... I think I'll be posting that later on, with some thoughts of why I have this and that kind of tweaks and units in my list. So, later!

Toni Salenius alias Joo-o

SCRATCHBUILT: Killa Kans

2011-08-11T19:27:00.002+03:00

My Ork army is expanding (I'm trying to work towards a target saturation list). These Killa Kans were very easy to make. Just cut segment from the tube that tin foil comes wrapped around in, add armour plates and the visor, and the weapon options. They resemble the older Killa Kans pretty accurately imo.

40k in 40 hours

2011-08-10T22:34:00.003+03:00

My friends and I got together during Finland's largest miniature convention (also including larp and other roleplaying etc.) to build 1750 points armies over the course of the weekend, from scratch, with as small a budget as possible. I was in quite a hurry, since half of the weekend would be going into the 40k tournament. I made a counts as paladin army, modelled as adeptus mechanicus praetorians.

Here are the pictures from the weekend.

The 40k status quo - what armies are currently successful?

2011-08-04T22:15:00.005+03:00

Of course, we all know that mech has prevailed in 5th edition, but lately I've being seeing (as I'm sure many of you have also) a preference towards gunlines. In an edition were cover saves were increased and run-moves became universal it might be surprising that infantry CC armies are not doing so well. The simple answer, is mech.

You see, full mech is 'an army within an army' as Kirby likes to call it. When playing an assault force, not only do you have to reach your enemy to damage him, but you have to first destroy his tanks, survive the counter attack and then munch through the infantry. With a shooty army, you are not as prone to being counter-attacked by the infantry pouring out.

But, when looking at the true 'top-tier' armies, one sees that they often are also capable in assault. Space Wolves and Grey Knights are in my opinion the two most powerful codices in the game, at the moment. Both have infantry that doesn't only buy you a transport (like say vanilla marines), but bring something to the table, and more importantly aren't too bad in combat. They aren't great but good at counter attacking wittled down enemies. Even mech guard might use blob squads to tie enemies down.

And that is really why I think that we are seeing a decline in CC armies. The best codices really have the perfect tools to annihilate a CC army, and any army that is meched up will have a distinct advantage against CC armies. It's not that you can't win with CC armies, infact I would dare say that a CC army has potential to do more damage then a shooty list, but meched shooty list are at an advantage against CC lists.

I personally enjoy CC armies, there are much more diverse in game, as your game doesn't revolve around movement and target priority, but includes more subtles variables that have to all be factored in. However, if looking for the highest powerlevel, I would build an army that revolves around shooting, is meched and brings to the table some counter attack for mopping up (which is easiest with ba, sw and gk, although de are also very good at it, just harder to play).

Ork Boyz: Sluggas or Shootas?

2011-08-03T19:46:00.009+03:00

EDIT: I messed up the font-sizes (blogger isn't co-operating with me to change them back) so sorry for the Orky text :D .

This is a topic that is immensely debated, and every ork player seems to have a preference. How to equip your boyz? I personally think there is no single answer, but it rather depends on the size of the Boyz units and what kind of list you are using them in.

The Green Tide

In a mass-ork list, I would personally use shootas. You see, often you are not goin gto be able to get all ork mobs into CC, atleast not against a single unit, so in order to apply the necessary pressure, one must use shootas. In a list like this, and with slow units such as foot slogging orks, I see the value of shootas.

Battlewagons

In Battlewagons, I use sluggas and choppas. This is because, you will not be slowing down to 6" (a requirement for firing shootas) and on the turn that you disembark, you will most likely be fleeting to maximise your threat range (this is why Ghazghkull is so great in Battlewagon lists). In addition, to smaller squad size (~20-man) means that you are more likely to need those extra attacks in CC. That is why in BW lists, I use sluggaboyz.

Trukk-Boyz

It would be easy to repeat myself here again, as trukk-boyz are very similar to battlewagon boyz. On the other hand, trukkboyz are more prone to get their rides shot off under them (and get kareened 18" in the wrong direction) so getting those charges off isn't that easy after all. It really depends on the rest of you list. If you are spamming trukks, then most likely shootas are better, since you can charge multiple mobs to take out any tougher targets and give supporting fire with the rest. On the other hand, when playing only a couple of trukk-mobz, you might well need those extra CC attacks to take on more opponents.

Classic Ork Trukk & New Battlewagon Armylist

2011-08-02T19:06:00.004+03:00

Above is an old trukk that I painted up for my Ork army. I'm trying out a single trukk that hides behind the wall of Battlewagons, and the old ork trukk is cunningly good at it (due to its small size). I love the new trukk figures aswell, and long term I would love to have a speed freak army made out of only the new trukks.

I'm trying to brainstorm ways to tune the Ork list I took to the tournament this past weekend, and one route I haven't tried yet is going even more msu and using Gazzy's WAAAGH to bring fearless on key turns.

HQ1: Gazghkull Thraka – [225]
HQ2: Big Mek, Kustom Force Field – [85]

Elite1: 3 Mega Nobz, Kombi-Scorcha, Kombi-Rokkit - [130]
Elite2: 3 Mega Nobz, Kombi-Scorcha, Kombi-Rokkit - [130]
Elite3: 3 Mega Nobz, Kombi-Scorcha, Kombi-Rokkit - [130]

Troops1: 3 Mega Nobz, Kombi-Scorcha, Kombi-Rokkit - [130]
Troops2: 10 Ork Boyz, incl. Nob, Power Klaw, Bosspole – [100]
Troops3: 10 Ork Boyz, incl. Nob, Power Klaw, Bosspole – [100]
Troops4: 10 Gretchin, Runtherd – [40]
Troops5: 10 Gretchin, Runtherd – [40]

Heavy Support 1: Battlewagon, Deff Rolla, Big Shoota, Grot Riggers– [120]
Heavy Support 2: Battlewagon, Deff Rolla, Big Shoota, Grot Riggers – [120]

Transport 1: Battlewagon, Deff Rolla, Big Shoota, Grot Riggers, Elites1 – [120]
Transport2: Battlewagon, Deff Rolla, Big Shoota, Grot Riggers, Elites2 – [120]
Transport3: Battlewagon, Deff Rolla, Big Shoota, Grot Riggers, Elites3– [120]
Transport4: Trukk, Reinforced Ram, Troops1 - [40]

[TOTAL = 1750]

Ork Battlewagon list at a tourney

2011-08-01T13:52:00.004+03:00

Hi guys,
this weekend was Finland's largest roleplaying/wargaming convention. I took my Ork battlewagons for a rumble. My results rocked back and forth. My games went 30-0, 0-30, 25-5, 10-20. So 2 wins and 2 losses, for a final rank of 17.. I'll maybe write some more detailed aftermath thoughts later. For now, here are pictures of the army and the armylist.

HQ1: Gazghkull Thraka – [225]
HQ2: Big Mek, Kustom Force Field – [85]

Elite1: 3 Mega Nobz, Kombi-Scorcha, Kombi-Rokkit - [130]
Elite2: 3 Mega Nobz, Kombi-Scorcha, Kombi-Rokkit - [130]
Elite3: 3 Mega Nobz, Kombi-Scorcha, Kombi-Rokkit - [130]

Troops1: 3 Mega Nobz, Kombi-Scorcha, Kombi-Rokkit - [130]
Troops2: 19 Ork Boyz, Nob, Power Klaw, Bosspole – [154]
Troops3: 10 Gretchin, Runtherd – [40]
Troops4: 10 Gretchin, Runtherd – [40]
Troops5: 10 Gretchin, Runtherd – [40]

Heavy Support 1: Battlewagon, Deff Rolla, Armour Plates, Big Shoota, – [125]

Transport 1: Battlewagon, Deff Rolla, Armour Plates, Big Shoota, Grot Riggers, Elites1 – [130]
Transport2: Battlewagon, Deff Rolla, Armour Plates, Big Shoota, Grot Riggers, Elites2 – [130]
Transport3: Battlewagon, Deff Rolla, Armour Plates, Big Shoota, Grot Riggers, Elites3 – [130]
Transport 4: Battlewagon, Deff Rolla, Armour Plates, Big Shoota, Grot Riggers, Troops1 – [130]

[TOTAL = 1749]

1750 Venom Spam

2011-07-20T17:58:00.003+03:00

I was playing around with different ideas, and came up with this list that I actually quite like:

Baron @ 105pts.

Haemonculus with webway portal @ 85pts.

3 Trueborn with 3 blasters @ 81pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

3 Trueborn with 3 blasters @ 81pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

3 Trueborn with 3 blasters @ 81pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades, incl. hekatrix with agoniser @ 90pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades, incl. hekatrix with agoniser @ 90pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Wyches with haywire grenades, incl. hekatrix with agoniser @ 90pts.

Ravager with flickerfield @ 115pts.

Ravager with flickerfield @ 115pts.

Ravager with flickerfield @ 115pts.

Total @ 1748pts.

A venom-spam generally has a lot of infantry in midfield (possibly disembarked to get t1 range) and I actually think the webway portal meshes in pretty nicely. All wyches and the baron deploy via reserves (most likely portal) and the rest try and lay down as much hurt as possible. Two empty venoms add firepower and ensure most guys have a ride when they need it. No nightshields on the venoms unfortunately, but the wyches can help against infantry targets. 21 darklight weapons and 15 haywire grenades for antitank.

Night Shields - when to use them

2011-07-17T14:17:00.002+03:00

There are a lot of people who really see Night Shields as a bad upgrade. They are very expensive, but in my opinion, most people just don't use them correctly.

Night Shields aren't meant for those backfield tanks like ravagers, where the 6'' range decrease probably won't have a big difference. They are shooting 48'' range weapons at you, and you're shooting 36'' range weapons back at them. Instead, Night Shields are good on those tanks that are gonna be going upfield towards the enemy, namely your blaster tanks. -6'' makes a bigger difference to weapons that already have a pretty short range. Meltaguns become kinda lol, and it works well on 24'' ranges such as multimeltas, psycannons and plasmaguns.

You can cut down on the amount of shooting going into your venoms. That is really key in a list that uses ~100 poisoned shots a turn as a lynchpin. I've tried them out in my latest list (the one with the shockprows) and have been positively surprised by them.

Shockprows? Dark Eldar Anti-Tank

2011-07-15T00:24:00.002+03:00

Hi guys,
So, I've been lately thinking about the controversial tactic of consistently ramming vehicles with my shockprow raiders to get damage results. The philosophy is to gain as much momentum and advantage early on in the game (something that imo dark eldar need to do well). You exchange your raider for a sure damage result on most vehicles.

I'm sure many have rammed a raider that lost its dark lance into the side of a rhino or land speeder. I've been lately trying out playing a list that aims to ram its raiders into opposing tanks right on t1.

Baron Santhonyx @ 105pts.

3 Trueborn with 3 blasters @ 81pts.
Venom with 2x cannons and night shields @ 75pts.

3 Trueborn with 3 blasters @ 81pts.
Venom with 2x cannons and night shields @ 75pts.

3 Trueborn with 3 blasters @ 81pts.
Venom with 2x cannons and night shields @ 75pts.

5 Wyches incl. hekatrix with power weapon @ 70pts.
Raider with disintegrator, shockprow and enhanced aethersails @ 70pts.

5 Wyches incl. hekatrix with power weapon @ 70pts.
Raider with disintegrator, shockprow and enhanced aethersails @ 70pts.

5 Wyches incl. hekatrix with power weapon @ 70pts.
Raider with disintegrator, shockprow and enhanced aethersails @ 70pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x cannons, night shields @ 75pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x cannons, night shields @ 75pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x cannons, night shields, grisly trophies @ 80pts.

Ravager with flickerfield @ 115pts.

Ravager with flickerfield @ 115pts.

Ravager with flickerfield @ 115pts.

Total @ 1748pts.

Lets look at the cons of shockprow madness:

You are giving away killpoints and vehicles early on
You can't have any squads inside (means you have foot units in the army)

Then the pros:

Ignores cover
Easier to angle side shots
str10 means sure results

In my opinion, the cons aren't even that bad. It's great to get some str10 hits into those dreads/predators that are hiding behind cover/other tanks.

Flickerfields would be pretty sweet, but in the end I decided that it wasn't worth it. Shockprows and aethersails are mandatory. aethersails give t1 reach. I went with disintegrators because your raider should be ramming on t1 until it gets wrecked (the str is reduced once your distance is reduced) and in a match where there are no tanks, the disintegrator is probably better.

Tau Battlesuit equipment options

2011-07-12T19:14:00.002+03:00

The fireknife (plasma/missile/multitracker) suit configuration seems to be almost every tau commanders favorite option. I for one believed that the most versatile configuration would fit best in any tau list. In the new broadside list I've been working on, I tried out some other configurations.

When I playtested the burst cannon/missilepod/multitracker suits I was very surprised. In general, most sources will say that burst cannons on suits is crap. Those suits however, were on fire. I decided to crunch some numbers. It turns out the burst cannons are better then the fireknives at MEQs in cover when allowed into their "optimal" range of 13"-18". And the squad costed 36 points less.

This post isn't really about trying to sell burst cannons to you (although chainguns are freaking awesome!), but to motivate you to try different options. The broadside list I'm playing doesn't deploy its crisis suits, and thus needs to provide enough firepower in a couple of shooting phases. Fireknives are so effective because they are flexible, and can provide weight of fire at range that should over the course of the game destroy enemies. They wouldn't fit aswell into a list that utilises a positional relay,

Crisis suits are some of the most flexible options in the game, and every commander should look at the rest of their list to decide what kind of suits to take.

Chaos without oblits @ 1750pts.

2011-07-04T15:36:00.003+03:00

Something a little different? I remember seeing something like this on stelek's blog.

Sorceror with mark of slaanesh, lash @ 125pts.

5 Chaos Space Marines with meltagun, champion with combi-melta and powerfist @ 135pts.
Rhino with combi-flamer @ 45pts.

5 Chaos Space Marines with meltagun, champion with combi-melta and powerfist @ 135pts.
Rhino with combi-flamer @ 45pts.

5 Chaos Space Marines with meltagun, champion with combi-melta and powerfist @ 135pts.
Rhino with combi-flamer @ 45pts.

5 Plague Marines with 2 meltaguns @ 135pts.
Rhino with combi-flamer @ 45pts.

5 Plague Marines with 2 meltaguns @ 135pts.
Rhino with combi-flamer @ 45pts.

5 Plague Marines with 2 meltaguns @ 135pts.
Rhino @ 35pts.

5 Havocs with 4 autocannons @ 155pts.

5 Havocs with 4 autocannons @ 155pts.
Rhino with combi-flamer @ 45pts.

5 Havocs with 4 autocannons @ 155pts.
Rhino with combi-flamer @ 45pts.

Total @ 1750pts.

It would really require playtesting to figure out the right ratio of plague marines to CSM (they are the same amount of points). Basic idea is to rush forward (with two spare rhinos) and tanck shock/lash stuff for the flamers to hit. The havocs provide long range suppression and the double meltas pop tanks. That is, if all goes well. Now that lash is no longer a shooting attack, what are your thoughts: can you use lash out of a fire point?

1750pts. Tau Broadside list, v.2

2011-06-28T20:47:00.003+03:00

Played a game with this list versus Grey Knights. The ATC mission system requires getting used to and there are things that I would now do differently. However, I played a draw (winning on kp, drawing bases and losing loot counters) and was pretty happy with the concept. The list just lacked anti-infantry firepower. I might just end up taking fireknives, but I'm going to try out a burstcannon+missilepod+multitracker configuration, because that allows me to take the full 9 crisis suits and upgrade my shasel with some actual weapons. This list should deal with infantry a lot better, at 18'' but even at 36''.

A lot of players swear by 'quantity over quality' on anti-infantry firepower, and this list will try whether that holds true with Tau. I also decided to try more kroot instead of the second firewarrior squad. I am unsure which option would be better, but I'll give the kroot a spin.

Shas'el with airbursting fragmentation projector, target lock, positional relay, bonding knife @ 95pts.

3 Crisis suits with burst cannons, missile pods and multi-trackers @ 150pts.

3 Crisis suits with burst cannons, missile pods and multi-trackers @ 150pts.

3 Crisis suits with burst cannons, missile pods and multi-trackers @ 150pts.

6 Firewarriors @ 60pts.
Devilfish with disruption pods @ 85pts.

10 Kroot Carnivores @ 70pts.

10 Kroot Carnivores @ 70pts.

10 Kroot Carnivores @ 70pts.

3 Broadsides with advanced stabilisation systems, leader with 2 shield drones, bonding knife and hard-wired target lock @ 285pts.

3 Broadsides with advanced stabilisation systems, leader with 2 shield drones, bonding knife and hard-wired target lock @ 285pts.

3 Broadsides with advanced stabilisation systems, leader with 2 shield drones, bonding knife and hard-wired target lock @ 285pts.

Total @ 1750pts.

Tailoring lists or countering the meta? Tau armylist

2011-06-25T18:07:00.005+03:00

In your opinion, wherein lies the difference? Meta is a word that many gamers avoid, and imo we first need to define meta. For me, meta means characteristics that are (almost) universally found in armylists at a given time in a given place. I think it would be safe to say, that mech is a strong characteristic of most armies in 5th edition. There is the counter to the trend, horde armies, which have done well at times, but as grey knights become more popular, purifiers will begin to pose a serious problem. At the very least, there is a good chance that horde lists will get knocked out of the competition in the first rounds by Grey Knight players.

Grey Knights require a lot of dedicated anti-tank firepower (preferably with ap1) to take out, meanwhile hordes laugh at that. The question really is, how much are you ready to emphasise antitank and anti-MEQ to help against GK and other marine armies (which are very common).

One of the largest tournaments in Finland is being held at the end of July, and of course I need to start thinking of a list to take there. The tournament might be running ATC-style missions, meaning that there are three objectives (killpoints, 3 obj, bases) each worth 10 battlepoints to the winner (giving a possible max of 30 points). Draw in a win-con is worth points, and a loss 0 points.

Dark Eldar would have serious problem with scoring points from the killpoints department. So, we need a list that can consistently win on objectives and killpoints, is capable of taking 3 objectives (winning objectives 2-1 and at least tying bases), and should be good against the most likely opponents, which is mech and MEQ. I want a list that can really go up against grey knights.

Is this list tailored, or designed taking in mind the current meta?

Shas'el with positional relay, twin-linked flamer @ 71

2 Crisis suits with 2 fusion blasters, 1 plasma rifle and multitracker, 1 twin-linked flamer @ 105pts.

3 Crisis suits with 3 fusion blasters, 3 plasma rifles, 3 multitrackers @ 186pts.

3 Crisis suits with 3 fusion blasters, 3 plasma rifles, 3 multitrackers @ 186pts.

6 Firewarriors with devilfish incl. disruption pods @ 145pts.

6 Firewarriors with devilfish incl. disruption pods @ 145pts.

10 Kroot Carnivores @ 70pts.

3 Broadside suits with advanced stabilisation systems incl. leader with 2 shield drones and hardwired target lock @ 280pts.

3 Broadside suits with advanced stabilisation systems incl. leader with 2 shield drones and hardwired target lock @ 280pts.

3 Broadside suits with advanced stabilisation systems incl. leader with 2 shield drones and hardwired target lock @ 280pts.

Total @ 1748pts.

A Balanced Dark Eldar list?

2011-06-24T12:42:00.004+03:00

All the lists I've made, and most that I have seen on the internet, tend to try to win the game in one phase of the game. There are no half measures. Is this the way Dark Eldar should be played? The benefit is focus, the drawback is RPS-syndrome. What happens when your venom spam comes up against post-FAQ deathwing? What happens when your raider-rush crashes into something that can defeat it in CC? This is my attempt at a more balanced list. It has ok CC elements, and pretty good firepower. Give me some feedback!

3 Haemonculi with shattershard, 2 liquifier guns @ 185pts.

5 Incubi with klavex in Venom with 2x cannons @ 190pts.

4 Trueborn with 4 blasters in Venom with 2x cannons @ 146pts.

4 Trueborn with 4 blasters in Venom with 2x cannons @ 146pts.

3 Wracks in Venom with 2x cannons @ 95pts.

3 Wracks in Venom with 2x cannons @ 95pts.

7 Wyches with haywire grenades incl. hekatrix with agoniser in Raider @ 174pts.

7 Wyches with haywire grenades incl. hekatrix with agoniser in Raider @ 174pts.

7 Wyches with haywire grenades incl. hekatrix with agoniser in Raider @ 174pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Total @ 1748pts.

Repainting my tau

2011-06-21T20:48:00.002+03:00

I thought it would be fun to repaint my tau army. Here are the first models. Unfortunately, the flash makes the suits hard to make out, but I just couldn't get a focused pic without the flash. Any tips?

Webway portals: A hybrid build?

2011-06-18T18:17:00.003+03:00

Alright, so this is the second part of my ponderings on whether webway portals make good builds. Yesterday I talked about a full portal list, today I'm going to talk about hybrid lists, that don't completely rely on reserving and coming through a portal.

An example of this kind of a build might be a gunline army (Loads of lances and splinter cannons) that utilises a webway portal and reaver jetbikes with heatlances. Deploy the portal in the centre of the board, and project a threat area for any tanks your opponent might have. A pretty good way of reinforcing your own midfield presence.

Haemonculus @ 50pts.

5 Trueborn with 3 blasters, 2 dark lances @ 155pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Trueborn with 3 blasters, 2 dark lances @ 155pts.
Venom with 2x splinter cannons @ 65pts.

3 Trueborn with 2 dark lances @ 86pts.
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.

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

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

3 Reavers with 1 heatlance @ 78pts.

3 Reavers with 1 heatlance @ 78pts.

3 Reavers with 1 heatlance @ 78pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Total @ 1730pts.

The 3-man reaver units aren't the most reliable, but they will force your opponent to react to the portal, and should provide some sort of push back effect.

On the other hand, a hybrid list might include CC elements coming from the portal. Especially CC units with a large threat range (such as hellions or beastpacks) are very good at this. The effect is similar to that of the reavers in the list above, but instead of threatening tanks with melta, the CC units are providing some counter-punch into the list.

What makes a hybrid list better then a list without a webway portal? Well, it adds further kinds threats, and utilises the concept of 'a ship in port' (I actually read this name off DakkaDakka). You are threatening your opponent with a unit he/she cannot destroy. If played well this can be very effective. Opening up a new front for reserves is something that shouldn't be overlooked.

What makes the hybrid list better then a full portal list? This might be down to preference, but I find a full portal list gimmicky, or a one-trick pony. A hybrid list has more tactical options and generally tries to take strong points from both ends and bring them into one list. The key is to utilise the portal enough to make it worth the points, but not place too much units in reserve (serving a nice portion of your army on the platter with loads of killpoints).

So, there are some of my thoughts on webway portals utilised in a hybrid build. Go ahead and give your own opinion on the topic.

Full Webway portal builds: In or out?

2011-06-17T18:58:00.003+03:00

So, today I painted up my webway portal marker, inspired by all the GW artwork of imperial guardsmen being pwned. I thought I'd write up some of my thoughts on webway portals. There are two ways to play them: full portal, or portal-hybrid for lack of a better term.

Full Portal

This is a list which is completely built around the concept of reserving and entering out of webway portals. A list like this needs min 2 portals deployed on opposite sides of the board to make the most use out of them, and making outmanouvering you more difficult. Let's look at the pros.

You save points not buying transport vehicles. That's pretty nice since DE transports are min 60 points and generally don't contribute very many turns to the game anyway. Ofcourse, if you love the new raider/ravager models like me, this will be a major con :D .

Units without a transport option (such as beasts, pain engines and hellions) can be in your opponent's deployment zone without having to withstand a single shooting phase. This can wreck shooty armies. It also migitates the slow speed pain engines to some extent.

How about the cons? Well the first is that you need a way to deliver those portals (preferrably on t1). This means starting something on the table. If you're playing 2 portals, that means minimum 4 kill points (2 haemonculi and 2 venoms/raiders) that you are serving to your opponent on the platter. However, we have to remember that portal lists don't have as many av10 transports, so perhaps the 4 killpoints are an acceptable loss?

Another con is predictability. Your opponent knows where you are coming from, and can plan accordingly. Not a big con, but somethinbg to keep in mind. This makes bubblewraping and other forms of blocking easier for your opponent.

Last, and perhaps the largest con is voluntarily going into reserve. My Raider rush list will most often have to reserve when going second, but a portal list will do it every time. This means you are preparing to bring 50% of your army up against 100% of your opponent's on t2. In my opinion, this doesn't work well with the fragile nature of dark eldar. In many ways, the lightly armoured but well equipped Dark Eldar units are meant to drown opponents with high priority targets. Atleast, that is my philosophy, When reserving, you only bring 50% of those units to bear.

However, one easily forgets that we aren't paying for those transport vehicles. Wouldn't a portal list thus have more units and thus get more into that 50% then other lists would? I think time will tell how effective full portal lists turn out to be. They don't fight my playstyle, although I would take a second look if Dark Eldar had gotten some form of reserve manipulation.

I'll try and write about a portal-hybrid army tomorrow. In essence, it is similar to the talos build I talked about yesterday. You begin most of your army on the table (thus making placing the portals easier) and only open up another front for your reserves (generating a threat area that your opponent has to react to). I think, a hybrid list is much more viable, although it has its own problems.

What are your thoughts on full-portal lists?

Dark Eldar Talos

2011-06-16T20:56:00.002+03:00

Hi,
I don't wanna spend close to 100e on triple talos, before I've had the chance to try whether they actually work. Thus, there's a picture for you guys of my first converted talos.

So, the question really is, are Talos better then Ravagers? Of course, that depends on the build, but generally it would seem that the cheap price per lance that you pay on ravagers is better. However, My test games got me thinking. The ravagers go down really fast, and thus normally contribute 1, max 2 rounds of shooting. In a CC orientated army, would the Talos have more synergy? Haven't tried them on the table, but in my opinion they open up a few builds. Here's a list:

5 Haemonculi incl. 1 webway portal @ 285pts.

8 Blood Brides with haywire grenades incl. syren with agoniser @ 150pts.
Raider with enhanced aethersails @ 65pts.

8 Wyches with haywire grenades incl. Hekatrix with agoniser @ 126pts.
Raider @ 60pts.

8 Wyches with haywire grenades incl. hekatrix with agoniser @ 126pts.
Raider @ 60pts.

8 Wyches with haywire grenades incl. hekatrix with agoniser @ 126pts.
Raider @ 60pts.

8 Wyches with haywire grenades incl. hekatrix with agoniser @ 126pts.
Raider @ 60pts.

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

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

Talos with haywire blaster @ 105pts.

Talos with haywire blaster @ 105pts.

Talos with haywire blaster @ 105pts.

Total @ 1749pts.

5 lances, 4 splinter cannons. That sure doesn't look impressive. However, this list plays similar to the Necron build I was playing: suppression fire (or combat in this case) followed by MC CC attacks to destroy tanks. The Talos will survive for longer then the ravagers. The list has a webway portal, but I'm not intending on using it in each game, it just gives me more options (e.g. some armies absolutely fear t7 in CC, and a portal in the middle of the board with pain engines in reserve can spook them).

The problem with the talos is, that they are slow. I'm expecting them to come in later in the game, and either charge tanks that need to be destroyed (and haven't been by the haywire grenades) or bring armour save ignoring attacks into combats involving the wyches (that's why this list doesn't include incubi). t7 MC in the midfield are still a huge advantage late into the game. I'm hoping the 40 fnp wyches will keep my opponent busy (or reserving the talos). The haywire blasters are great for suppressing fire support vehicles that my wyches can't afford to charge (hello vendettas and predators).

So, what do you guys think? I love the new talos models, so if this works I'll get to buy and use them, but I haven't tried it yet. Could it work? We'll see.

Why I think Incubi are a great option

2011-06-06T15:31:00.003+03:00

Hi guys,
I thought I'd share some thoughts on why I think Incubi are a good choice in any Dark Eldar list that is aiming into close combat. Incubi are good beater units on their own, but to get the most out of them, you have to use them together with other units, such as whyches.

The raider rush list that I used as a base for my own list was Ben Mohlie's from the ATC. It originally had a Court of the Archon in it, but I decided to swap it out for incubi. This was because I felt that the list lacked power weapons. Disintegrators and dark lances can make up for this, but in the case of the raider rush list, it was already very low on lances, and so I decided I needed something to punch through heavy armour in CC. The incubi are just simply better at this.

Incubi have a nice ws5 which means they'll be hitting most opponents on a 3+. They have an ok amount of attacks (3 on the charge) and str4 so you should be forcing those armour save ignoring wounds on your opponents. They also have I5, but this is largely countered by their lack of grenades. You can use Archons with phantasm launchers, but although I also originally used an archon (see last post) I personally feel you need all the points you can get.

Most CC characters don't bring enough to the army outside of CC. This is why you don't see Captains in vanilla armies, but you see a librarian. Similarly, lately I've been thinking of dropping the archon in favour of lance trueborn.

One of the problems of incubi is t3 and no invulnerable. As you lose your I5 when charging through cover, you don't get to kill off your enemies before they swing at you. Especially sergeants with armour save ignoring weapons are a pain to incubi. This is where whyches come in.

This is a tactic I originally learned from the Finnish ETC team's captain when we were talking about mega nobz (he is a long time Ork player). My wagon list featured four units of 3 meganobz and one 20-man slugga boy mob. He encouraged me to drop some meganobz and take a second boy mob. Similarly to incubi, mega nobz can deal out a lot of armour save ignoring wounds in CC, but suffer from the lack of an invulnerable save.

The philosophy with meganobz+sluggaboyz is to first charge in with the sluggaboy, moving into B2B with most of the opponents unit (in the case of a 20-man mob probably the entire unit). This will tie in the power fist and power weapons. After that you can charge in the mega nobz, moving into CC with 3 models from the unit and safe from the sergeant.

This same tactic should be applied to incubi. When charging an enemy unit, you can make good use of the 4++ and FNP of whyches in CC, and move the whyches first (tying the deadly CC models) and then bring in the incubi. For example:

You have a tactical squad with power fist sarge standing beside a razorback (they probably disembarked to melta your raiders the last turn) and you have a squad of incubi and whyches nearby. The whyches first charge the razorback (with haywire grenades) and move the hekatrix into B2B with the power fist sarge. You ensure that the incubi are not within range to charge the power fist sarge and they move into B2B with the regular tactical marines. This way you get 8 haywire grenades into the razorback, one agoniser and the incubi into the tac marines, and your incubi will only need to survive the regular attacks of the tac marines in CC.

This is the reason why I think Incubi best fit an army that is already heavily geared towards CC. That way you have the best chances to use the incubi in tandem with the other units (protecting the incubi and getting combat resolution in combats that the whyches need help in). Similarly, I think that the incubi fill a vacuum in CC dark eldar armies, armour save ignoring wounds. One agoniser per a unit might not be enough against some opponents (and wound allocation can spoil it), so it is good to have a large unit of power weapon armed space elves nearby, to help turn the tide.

Here's also the latest 1750 list, without the archon (feel free to comment):

3 Haemonculi @ 150pts.

3 Trueborn with 2 dark lances @ 86pts.

3 Trueborn with 2 dark lances @ 86pts.

8 Incubi @ 176pts.
Raider @ 60pts.

9 Whyches with haywire grenades incl hekatrix with agoniser @ 138pts.
Raider with enhanced aethersails @ 65pts.

9 Whyches with haywire grenades incl hekatrix with agoniser @ 138pts.
Raider with enhanced aethersails @ 65pts.

9 Whyches incl hekatrix with agoniser @ 120pts.
Raider with enhanced aethersails @ 65pts.

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

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

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

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Evolution of my Dark Eldar list

2011-06-02T18:20:00.004+03:00

Hi guys,

So I read Space Curve's battle report from the ATC to check out the Dark Eldar list he's been using, and I decided to take a modified 1750 list for a little spin. The learning curve with such a sensitive list is steep, but I saw the potential in the kind of list he was using. I lost both games, but was truly impressed by the whyches and got some fun and tight games.

It's very low on lances (I might change the wracks' venoms to raiders) which makes it a little hit and miss, and it won't fare well against mech Grey Knights. However, the haywire grenades help against big parking lots. The army will have to reserve against shooty armies if going second.

Anyway, here is a pic of my converted archon and the latest DE list.

Archon with agoniser, combat drugs, shadow field and phantasm grenade launcher @ 145pts.

3 Haemonculi @ 150pts.

9 Incubi @ 198pts.
Raider with dark lance @ 60pts.

9 Whyches with haywire grenades incl Hekatrix with agoniser @ 138pts.
Raider with dark lance, enhanced aethersails @ 65pts.

9 Whyches with haywire grenades incl Hekatrix with agoniser @ 138pts.
Raider with dark lance, enhanced aethersails @ 65pts.

9 Whyches with haywire grenades incl Hekatrix with agoniser @ 138pts.
Raider with dark lance, enhanced aethersails @ 65pts.

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

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

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

Ravager with dark lances @ 105pts.

Ravager with dark lances @ 105pts.

Ravager with dark lances @ 105pts.

Progress: Dark Eldar

2011-05-19T18:02:00.003+03:00

So, at the start of the year I bought a pile of the new Dark Eldar vehicles. I had some old kabalite warriors and combined with new ones I've been building up an army. Here is a picture that I took at the FLGS. It doesn't include everything painted so far, but shows you the colour scheme I've decided to go with.

Finding a list is more problematic. I'm sure the Dark Eldar need patience and a good general, but me and some of the top gamers in Finland have been having trouble finding a list that would really work. I haven't tried portal lists or footdar (although I have been trying some lists on paper) but for a mech list, this is the 'best' I have come up with so far. If you have any ideas, experience or well anything, then leave a comment.

Haemonculus @ 50pts.

3 Trueborn with 2 lances @ 86pts.
Venom with 2x cannons @ 65pts.

3 Trueborn with 2 lances @ 86pts.
Venom with grisly trophies, 2x cannons @ 70pts.

3 Trueborn with 2 lances @ 86pts.
Venom with 2x cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2x cannons @ 65pts.

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

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

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

5 Scourgers with 2x haywire blasters @ 130pts.

5 Scourgers with 2x haywire blasters @ 130pts.

5 Scourgers with 2x haywire blasters @ 130pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Ravager @ 105pts.

Veni, Vidi.. Vici?

2011-05-10T18:39:00.012+03:00

And hello again! Total flame going on from my part. Anyways, as promised, I'll be reporting from my tournament. It was quite small, as only 12 players managed to crawl/walk to our local gamestore. As mentioned, 3 rounds, and I can tell you, total carnage. I entered the fray with my Demons. My list was:

Fateweaver

Bloodthirster

4 Crushers, full stuff

4 Crushers, Fury and instr.

5 Fiends, Might

3x5 Plaguebearers

2 Princes with MoT, Bolt

1 Prince with MoS, Pavane and Aura of Aquiscience

First game: Dawn of war, Capture & Control, Vs Tyranids

I hated the matchup as soon as I saw my opponents list. 2 tervigons, 2 units of gaunts, prime, 2 trygons, 7 genestealers, 3x2 hive guards, and warriors. Could be worse, for example, stealer horde, but still so many models.. Not at first glance but he really popped the wormcan with those tervigons, and gaunts flooded 1 table quarter. He went first, deployed some units, and divided his army into 2 blocks in the first turn. The objective-flank, flooded with gaunts and tervigons, and the offensive flank, holding everything else. I got the right wave, focused on his offensive flank confirming atleast 10 points to myself and wiped it on his 3rd, giving myself plenty of time to wipe the gaunts with my strong and fast-enough units. 20-0 win, wipeout. Killed over 150 models, and felt really good 'cos Tyranids definately aren't my favourite matchup.

Second game: Pitched Battle, Seize Ground, Vs. CSM

This time the matchup felt great. Gotta love marines, really, as Demons rarely struggle against anything they can offer. This was no exeption. Despite the fact I failed and got my second wave, total rolldown ensured. My opponent had a lashprince, a vindicator, 3 obliterators, a defiler, 3 units of 7 plaguemarines, 2x2 plasma and 1x2 melta, and 5 terminators. Semi-competetive list atleast. The "firepower" combined with some one-sided rolling crushed some of my units, and after that it was just a race against time for wipeout. The pic shows all he had at the end of 5th. And then the game ended. Shame, but objectives ensured me 17-3 win. Khorne was to be pleased next game..

..against Black Templars.
Third game: Spearhead, Annihlation, Vs. Black Templars

And marines. Love it. Always fun, final against marines. My opponent's list was your everyday regular BT gunline, massing on missiles and lascannons. 4 5-man plasma-lascannon squads with razorbacks(tl las), 5 terminators with 2 assault cannons and tank hunter, 5 terminators with 2 cyclones and tank hunter, marshall, EC, 3 lone speeders, the basics. Oh my, how can I handle this.. He castled up, and tried to pick my monsters out with shooting. I rolled the right wave and well.. it was a harvest. The tanks popped to my bolts and multicharges, and terminators were crushed (or should I say Crusher'd). After the 5th turn he had only 1 razorback with 5 initiates inside. The game ended, and kp's were 13-4. Devastating, and 20-0 win for the Demons.

..Vici. Chiching, 50e. So, I was like Banelings, Banelings Banelings oooooo ooo.. (check the previous post) -Toni

Meet the Martian(s)

2011-05-04T17:46:00.006+03:00

(Everybody welcome Toni, a new guest writer for my blog. He is a true masochist, playing daemons at a competitive level. -Aleksi)

Hello folks! Greetings from Toni Salenius, nick Joo-o in various forums. As a gw I'm more than glad to do my bit for the blog and add diversity in form of my own views and goings. Thought about a debute article, and what would be better topic for a one than Demons of Chaos and an upcoming tournament!

As I started playing Demons a month back I'm still not so comfy with the as I'd be with some other armies. Still, their playstyle has struck me, and I feel pretty strong about them being my "main" army atleast for a while. I've already faced one bigger tournament with them, and finished right in the middle of the group. Could've done less mistakes, could've rolled the dice better, but that's the spirit of the game. Now, I'm rallying my forces for following Saturday, as there's a smaller tourney in our local gamestore. 3 games, 14 players, 2 objective and 1kp scenario. I have been putting an effort to bring my game up and fix my list, but haven't yet made a breakthrough. If I put this in, I lose that, and I need that too, but how about... Endless circle. Here are 2 final one's, limited by my models (and blindness? Prove me wrong):

Fateweaver
Bloodthirster
4 Crushers: Fury, Icon, Instrument
4 Crushers: Fury, Instrument
5 Fiends: Might
3x5 Plaguebearers
2xDemon Prince: MoT, Bolt
Demon Prince: MoS, Pavane, AoA

or

Fateweaver
3x4 Crushers: (2 units with Fury, Instrument, 1 unit with Fury, Icon)
3x5 Plaguebearers
2x Herald Of Tzeentch: MoS, Chariot, Bolt of Tzeentch
2xDemon Prince: MoT, Bolt, Gaze
Demon Prince: Mos, Pavane, AoA

What do you guys think? Which is better? Or a mixup? Bomb me with ideas. I'll be reporting how the tournament went and write some battlereports later on. Wish me luck! If I prevail I'll be like Banelings, Banelings, Banelings Ooo Ooo Ooooo.. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzMhh8zhTiY -Aleksi)

1750pts. Dark Eldar Army List

2011-04-30T11:41:00.003+03:00

Hi guys,

Not so long ago I bought a big load of the beautiful new dark eldar. I've been a little on and off with them, thinking of lists and playtesting, but having other projects get in the way. Anyway, here is the latest list for you guys.

Baron @ 105pts.

3 Trueborn with 2 Dark Lances @ 86pts.
Raider with flickerfield, grisly trophies @ 75pts.

3 Trueborn with 3 blasters @ 81pts.
Venom with 2 splinter cannons @ 65pts.

3 Trueborn with 3 blasters @ 81pts.
Venom with 2 splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2 splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2 splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2 splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Warriors with blaster @ 60pts.
Venom with 2 splinter cannons @ 65pts.

5 Scourges with 2 haywire blasters @ 130pts.

5 Scourges with 2 haywire blasters @ 130pts.

2 Beastmasters with 4 khymerea, 2 razorwing flocks @ 102pts.

Ravager with grisly trophies @ 110pts.

Ravager with grisly trophies @ 110pts.

Ravager with grisly trophies @ 110pts.

Total @ 1750pts.

Storm Raven Grey Knight list takes 3rd at a tournament...

2011-04-26T18:50:00.005+03:00

Hi guys,
so this Easter I had a real blast. I decided to take the Storm Raven Grey Knight list out for a spin, I thought it would be cool to try something different and it was fresh off the painting station. I had speed painted the army in all the excitment, which would come to haunt me, but overall I liked the overall look of my army. It was themed as a radical inquisitor's force.

I ended up losing my first game 7-13, but then I rose winning the rest of the games 18-2,20-0,14-6 and 13-7. I ended up drawing 2nd place on battle points with another player. Paint scores were used as a tiebreaker and I dropped to 3/40. Here's just a quick breakdown of the games:

List:

Librarian with shoruding, summoning, warprift, might of titan, servoskull @ 175pts.

Coteaz @ 100pts.

2 Paladins with 1 Daemonhammer @ 110pts.

2 Paladins with 1 Daemonhammer @ 110pts.

3 Acolytes with 3 meltaguns @ 42pts.
Razorback with psybolt ammunitions @ 50pts.

3 Acolytes with 3 meltaguns @ 42pts.
Razorback with psybolt ammunitions @ 50pts.

3 Acolytes @ 12pts.
Razorback with psybolt ammunitions @ 50pts.

3 Acolytes @ 12pts.
Razorback with psybolt ammunitions @ 50pts.

3 Acolytes @ 12pts.
Razorback with psybolt ammunitions @ 50pts.

5 Acolytes @ 20pts.
Razorback with psybolt ammunitions @ 50pts.

Storm Raven with twinlinked multimelta and twinlinked assault cannons @ 205pts.

Storm Raven with twinlinked multimelta and twinlinked assault cannons @ 205pts.

Dreadnought with 2x autocannons, psybolt ammo @ 135pts.

Dreadnought with 2x autocannons, psybolt ammo @ 135pts.

Dreadnought with 2x autocannons, psybolt ammo @ 135pts.

Total @ 1750pts.

GAME 1

Orks with 10 nob bikers and boss, 2x15 lootas, 20 boyz and battlewagon, 12 boyz and trukk and a squad of grots. Mission was killpoints (that were halved) and table quarters. Both players allocated points for each quarter (3,2,2,1). Orks got first turn but Night Fight was on and so I deployed my ravens.

He boosted his nob bikers into my army and moved up with the trukk. Boyz and grots were in reserve. Due to spearhead deployment he had to put one squad of lootas in the BW because he couldn't fit both squads smartly. I destroyed the nob bikers but lost the libbie, coteaz and one squad of paladins. After that I made some mistakes with my dreads and the trukk boyz and 20-man mob (that arrived on t2) got locked in combat with the dreads in my quarter. I lost the second paladin squad so I had no counter CC to get rid of the boyz (boy I wish I had purifiers).

His lootas were on fire and he got a 9 killpoint lead! I ended up winning one quarter (2 points) and only lost the mission by 3 points, 7-13.

GAME 2

BA with single raven and raider. Killpoints and dawn of war. BA go first and move up slightly to my left. I come on in the opposite corner. He had one turn to unload his shooting into my ravens, which held and then it was downhill for him. He didn't have a lot of shooting and I knocked out most of it (along with the storm raven).

I gave no killpoints and won by seven, 18-2 victory.

GAME 3

Podding marines. He also had shrike with termies and a command squad. Modified capture and control with pitched battle deployment. He made me go first. Biker command squad deployed out of los, but the termies infiltrated into the middle of the board. My shooting whithers down the squad. His alphastrike takes out 3 razors. I use the paladins, breaking off the characters, to tie the meltasquads. His termies free up some squads and others break away from the paladins. It turns into a slug around the center of the board and my deployment zone.

The command squad is killed way too easily and I use a storm raven to airlift acolytes towards his objective. My shooting reduces his guys down and in the end I have both objectives. Tough game right up until the end. 20-0.

GAME 4

Orks. 2 battlewagons (one burna, one meganob), ghazy, kff, lootas, kannons, koptas and a trukk mob. 5 objectives+victory points (old etc format if any of you are familiar with it). I win the roll off.

Orks reserve and I move around to cover the board. Orks come in piece meal and although I do some screw ups the game goes fairly well. Paladins showed their worth in retrieving the 14 lootas. I manage to win objectives, but orks win victory points by a small margin. 14-6 win.

GAME 5

My favourite game. Against mech guard. special 4-objectives, pitched battle. I win the roll off and deploy aggressively. He deploys across the board but my servo skull forces his vendettas to scout move to the flanks to get cover saves (the other flank had a nice giant ruin making los more difficult for two vendettas). My ravens zoom up and destroy two chimeras. I shake two vendettas. His return fire wrecks a raven and dread. He also kills a pallie from the libbie's squad and weaken resolve passes forcing me to fall back out of good summoning range.

Melta acolytes mishap (one squad) coteaz goes for one chimera and the still full strength pallies go for another 2. My shooting wrecks a vendetta and shakes another one. One sneaky razor got side shots at the manticore, wrecking it. My CC wiff.

At this point the ravens are doing what they are supposed to. They clog up the midfield (he had 4 chimeras that never advanced more then 6'') and draw fire, buying time for my psyflemen to even the odds. His return fire kills the 2-man paladin group and makes the second raven a brick.

The rest of the game I wrecked most of his vehicles and pretty much got my acolytes onto objectives. A couple of failed ld-checks on the last turns meant that I didn't win big, and we were forced to end on t5 without rolling to continue (most likely it would have benefited me) but overall a very enjoyable and tense game.

For the first time I was playing at the top table in the final round, and it felt even better to win mech guard. 13-7 victory. So that brought me 3rd place due to tiebreakers. The tourney was won by another GK army (coteaz spam with purifiers and a termie squad) and a green tide snatched second place from me.

Thoughts on the list?

I was pleased to see that the list actually worked fairly well. It is true that in the last two games (which I played at the second and top tables) I won first turn, which with this list is huge. Still, I feel this list is fairly competitve. It isn't as well rounded as a more typical netlist, but it also adds enjoyment to the game when you have some special combo, and a little excitement compared to playing a mobile purely gunline list.

I'm trying to get the points to try out 2x5 purifiers instead of the paladins, but I can only really fit one purifier squad. Will try that anyway, because that should give me more tools to use (clensing flame, more attacks at full strength etc.).

Army Painted: Inquisition Force

2011-04-14T19:33:00.004+03:00

Hi guys,
Well okay, one of the dreads is missing his real base (it's getting a resin scenic base), but the army is practically painted.

Here's a group photo of a radical inquisition force I got inspired to make after starting to read the Black Library book Redemption Corps by Rob Sanders. The list uses Grey Knight units (it's reeally difficult to make a more fun list with non-GK units) but I've converted them to be stand ins. The Dreads are basically walkers with Daemonhosts inside them and the paladins are painted in a dark blue theme (DIY chapter that I call the Shadow Spectres) representing marine allies that the Radical inquisitor has inducted into his army. I've got death korps of krieg as my warrior acolytes. Definitely a fun list, that still packs quite a punch, for those interested here's the list:

Librarian with shoruding, summoning, warprift, might of titan, servoskull @ 175pts.

Coteaz @ 100pts.

2 Paladins with 1 Daemonhammer @ 110pts.

2 Paladins with 1 Daemonhammer @ 110pts.

3 Acolytes with 3 meltaguns @ 42pts.
Razorback with psybolt ammunitions @ 50pts.

3 Acolytes with 3 meltaguns @ 42pts.
Razorback with psybolt ammunitions @ 50pts.

3 Acolytes @ 12pts.
Razorback with psybolt ammunitions @ 50pts.

3 Acolytes @ 12pts.
Razorback with psybolt ammunitions @ 50pts.

3 Acolytes @ 12pts.
Razorback with psybolt ammunitions @ 50pts.

5 Acolytes @ 20pts.
Razorback with psybolt ammunitions @ 50pts.

Storm Raven with twinlinked multimelta and twinlinked assault cannons @ 205pts.

Storm Raven with twinlinked multimelta and twinlinked assault cannons @ 205pts.

Dreadnought with 2x autocannons, psybolt ammo @ 135pts.

Dreadnought with 2x autocannons, psybolt ammo @ 135pts.

Dreadnought with 2x autocannons, psybolt ammo @ 135pts.

Total @ 1750pts.

Orky Update

2011-03-28T21:35:00.003+03:00

Hi guys,

Progress on my Orks! I opted to go with a battlewagon list in the end. Above is one of the converted Battlewagons. I'm really going with a militaristic feel with the army. I also got 2 games in with the army on Saturday. I played Grey Knights. First game I lost 11-9 (one moving BW on top of turn 2) in killpoints. Second game I learned from my mistakes and won on objectives.

For anybody interested, here's my list:

Big Mek with kustom force field @ 85pts.

Warboss with bike, klaw @ 125pts.

3 Meganobz with 1 kombi-rokkit, 1 kombi-scorcha @ 130pts.
Battlewagon with deff rolla, big shoota @ 115pts.

3 Meganobz with 1 kombi-rokkit, 1 kombi-scorcha @ 130pts.
Battlewagon with deff rolla, big shoota @ 115pts.

3 Meganobz with 1 kombi-rokkit, 1 kombi-scorcha @ 130pts.
Battlewagon with deff rolla, big shoota @ 115pts.

3 Meganobz with 1 kombi-rokkit, 1 kombi-scorcha @ 130pts.
Battlewagon with deff rolla, big shoota @ 115pts.

19 Ork Boyz with nob w/ powerklaw and bosspole @ 154pts.

10 Gretchin with runtherd @ 40pts.

10 Gretchin with runtherd @ 40pts.

10 Gretchin with runtherd @ 40pts.

10 Gretchin with runtherd @ 40pts.

3 Kannons with 1 ammo runt @ 63pts.

3 Kannons with 2 ammo runts @ 66pts.

Battlewagon with deff rolla, big shoota @ 115pts.

Novamarines take to a tournament...

2011-03-23T19:01:00.003+02:00

Hi guys,

So I took my Novamarines army to their first tournament. It was pretty fun. 5 games, 2 wins, a draw and 2 losses is not that great, but I admit to having screwed up in some games. Overall I placed 13 out of 29 and got 5 great games in.

The list I took:

Captain with relic blade, storm shield, bike, artificier armour @ 195pts.

Dreadnought with 2x twin-linked autocannons @ 125pts.

Dreadnought with 2x twin-linked autocannons @ 125pts.

Dreadnought with 2x twin-linked autocannons @ 125pts.

8 Bikers with 2 meltaguns, combi-melta, attack bike with multimelta @ 295pts.

4 Bikers with 1 meltagun, attack bike with multimelta @ 175pts.

5 Scouts with missile launcher @ 85pts.

5 Scouts with missile launcher @ 85pts.

Land Speeder with heavy flamer, typhoon missile launcher @ 90pts.

Land Speeder with heavy flamer, typhoon missile launcher @ 90pts.

Predator with lascannon sponsons @ 120pts.

Predator with lascannon sponsons @ 120pts.

Predator with lascannon sponsons @ 120pts.

Total @ 1750pts.

Different approach to a Necron Wraithwing @ 1750pts.

2011-03-08T19:24:00.004+02:00

So, something a little different. I'm gonna try this list at a tournament this weekend, so we'll actually see how it works. I'm worried about killpoints, but other then that, 11 MCs and 9 wraiths is nothing to frown at. Tomb spyders are actually surprisingly resilient with their scarab swarm meatshield, so they'll clot up the midfield meanwhile the wraiths hopefully cause havoc.

Lord with destroyer body, ressurection orb, warscythe, gaze of flame @ 195pts.

Lord with destroyer body, resurrection orb, warscythe, chronometron @ 190pts.

5 Immortals @ 140pts.

10 Warriors @ 180pts.

10 Warriors @ 180pts.

3 Wraiths @ 123pts.

3 Wraiths @ 123pts.

3 Wraiths @ 123pts.

3 Tomb Spyders @ 165pts.

3 Tomb Spyders @ 165pts.

3 Tomb Spyders @ 165pts

There is a variant, in which I drop 3 spyders and take another 5-man immortal squad for more suppression fire, but I feel the spyders are worth it if you have the slot free.

Thoughts? We'll see after the weekend how bad a beating I take :D .

''Shield Wall'' Dark Angels list analysis

2011-02-23T09:53:00.003+02:00

Time for a post in which I analyse and try to explain my thinking behind this list I made. I've included some eyecandy for those more interested in modelling and painting, but this post will be dedicated to the more competitive gamers. The list draws from ideas from people like Kirby (Thunderbubble concept) and tries to make a gunline list that uses scoring THSS instead of craptastic tactical marines.

Originally when the new DA FAQ came out, after the inevitable ''ZOMG 30 THSS is awesome!'' I started looking at ''RazorAngels''. I found that it didn't scale up to 1750pts. because DA can only take a max of 3 individual typhoons (one per squadron) they couldn't get enough cheap firepower. After leaving the DA to dry for a while, here I am back with this concept.

Belial with thunder hammer, storm shield @ 130pts.

Dreadnought with twin-linked autocannon, missile launcher @ 135pts.

Dreadnought with twin-linked autocannon, missile launcher @ 135pts.

Deathwing Command Squad with 5x thunder hammers, stormshields, apothecary, cyclone missile launcher @ 265pts.

Deathwing Squad with 5x thunder hammers, storm shields, cyclone missile launcher @ 235pts.

Deathwing Squad with 5x thunder hammers, storm shields, cyclone missile launcher @ 235pts.

Land Speeder with multimelta, typhoon missile launcher @ 75pts.

Land Speeder with multimelta, typhoon missile launcher @ 75pts.

Land Speeder with multimelta, typhoon missile launcher @ 75pts.

Predator with lascannon sponsons @ 130pts.

Predator with lascannon sponsons @ 130pts.

Predator with lascannon sponsons @ 130pts.

Total @ 1750pts.

This is a gunline. Sit and shoot. In addition, I can move around with my scoring units and dreads and not lose firepower. I'll make a run down of this list unit by unit.

Belial He gives the scoring termies. Ok combat character, I think THSS is the best setup for him

dreads Relatively cheap firepower, only slightly more expensive when compared to other codices. Dreads can also tarpit enemy infantry if need be. All in all pretty flexible units.

termies cml and thss is the new norm. I don't really see a reason to mix in other weapon options. I want to maximise survivability. These units are my very survivable scoring units that can advance and maintain firepower. They are also pretty good in CC, and can counterattack enemies closing in. The termies can also form a ''Thunderbubble'' in e.g. kill point missions, a bubblewrap that is highly survivable and still packs a punch. My question really just is: apothecary or banner, what do you guys think?

speeders Cheapest typhoons in the game. They have multimeltas because they get them for free. Either hang back in cover and shoot missiles, or if opponent has an av14 raider bomb, I can reserve them and force him to stay back or risk a multimelta zooming in from the board edge.

predators Once again, almost as cheap as with the other codices. IMO the best fire support unit for a gunline from the DA HS slot.

All in all: I've tried to take cheap firepower and mesh it with deathwing troops. The army can sit back and ideally pour 14 missiles, 5 autocannons, 6 lascannons and 3 multimeltas into the enemy per turn. The troops are not deadweight like tactical marines and provide nice CC punch.