Diversity In Your Gaming Space

Results from the tournament are in…..I didn’t win. Not a big surprise, but I would have liked to have seen a little more details on how I placed overall. Biggest comment: I need to get out more. I defiantly felt the pain of playing against the same army over and over again in my casual games.

Game 1 – Dark Eldar
Results: Loss
This guy was really nice and fun to play against. He had an unpainted and not completely modeled army, but it didn’t bother me because he was so casual. We played a table corner kill point game. I chock this loss up to my own ignorance more than his tactical brilliance. The first thing is my setup was flawed….I completely didn’t account for dark shields. He was able to take out a lot of my anti-armor threats before he moved into range. Next was my lack of focus fire. I probably shot on 3-5 different squads in the early game, when I should have been shooting till completion. Last thing is we spent a lot of time looking up rules, and we ended up hitting the round time at turn 3. This really hurts my army, I run a shooting army so I am never going to win in one turn, I always need time to let my shooting work.
Game MVPs:

• Chosen – I caveat this by saying they never shot, and died trying to bury their noses in the ground. But regardless of their output they always sit on the board as 150 points of “Gotta Deal with Me” on a flank somewhere. They accounted for diverting half of the assaulting force just so I didn’t get around the back of my enemies transports.
• Demon Prince – He countercharged 10 Wyches and killed over half of them in two turns. Warptime >>> Lash of Submission, nuff said.
  

Poorest Performers:

• Vindicator – Taken out first turn....and it only took one shot

Game 2 – Eldar
Results: Win
He walked in thinking he was gonna lose….self-fulfilling prophesy. This was an objective based game, one in his deployment zone one in mine. I surprised myself by realizing that as an elder he could run the entire table to my objective but I would never get to his if it was far away. I set my objective as close to his as possible. I set around my objective and waited for his initial push. My game plan (for most of the tournament actually) was to wait for the first push, let it break over my shooting, then counter-push late game. He ran at me haphazardly, and I tore him up with my shooting. His striking scorpion infiltrators were murdered by noise marines, obliterators and a CSM bolter line. He then unloaded his transports with fire dragons, howling banshees, and his independent characters. Again they got murdered by shooting, mostly plasma cannons rocking on tightly packed troops. At the end, with his back broke, I secured my objective and ran a suicide run of a vindicator and a rhino to contest his.
Game MVPs:

• Obliterators – Plasma cannons rock

Poorest Performers:

• Vindicator – Scattered off with the first shot, got killed after. He seems to be underperforming.

Game 3 – Marines
Results: Win
This guy was cool, but was on the wrong end of a 20 hour gaming marathon. He played with a lot of troops, a lot of assault marines, predators and dreadnaughts. It was a dawn of war setup for kill points. I set up in a defensive position and let him come at me. By the end of the second turn I had almost my entire army was in position, he had very little on the table. As his army came on piece meal, I was able to hit his transports and force him to run. Then I was able to break him down with templates, even if the opponent is spread out, these rock. Especially when they are at least AP 3 like mine are. I broke him down till he capitulated, probably because he would have rather been sleeping, but I had him pretty much beat.
Game MVPs:

• Noise Marines – They killed transports, chopped out holes in marine squads, and then even pinned them. And that was just one weapon….when they get in close the sonic blasters are like supper bolters.
  
• Chosen – came in from the side killed fools with meltas and then locked up another squad.

Poorest Performers:

• CSM squads – Didn’t really do anything, that’s tough at 600 points total. I guess they would have done a lot more if he got closer, but you always like to see 255 of your force actually contribute.

I’m not sure if I will update this list because I doubt I will be playing a lot of 2250 lists. The only thing I am iffy about is my vindicator. He was always meant to be a close gun support on the defense or a column head on the offense. With my new wait out an attack and push later strategy I doubt that I will be using him as a column head. He seemed a little to fragile to really pump out fire support. It’s surprising because I have seen them used to great effect by other people.

Rix

If You Can't Smell Your Own......

I am heading out to the local battle bunker this Saturday for a 40k tournament. Its 2250 in one force organization and no super-heavies. I have been working feverishly to paint the odd models to finish out the list. I think I might take a break from painting after I finish this off.....but we'll see.

I am bringing my Alpha Legion army. It is mostly undivided but they have fallen a little toward Slaanesh. One day I will post some fluff about this army. The list looks like this:

2250 Pts - Chaos Marines Roster - Xeshinish's Balance

Kit'makardarr the Betrayor (1#, 160 Pts)
1 Daemon Prince @ 160 Pts
Close Combat Weapon; Fearless; Wings; Mark of Slaanesh; Warptime (x1)

Xeshinish Master of the Ritual (1#, 145 Pts)
1 Chaos Terminator Sorceror @ 145 Pts
Force Weapon (x1); Combi-melta; Lash of Submission; Mark of Slaanesh

Squad Tremellius (4#, 160 Pts)
4 Terminators @ 160 Pts
Chain Fist (x1); Power Weapon (x3); Twin Linked Bolter (x3); Reaper Autocannon (x1)

Squad Mlivantus (5#, 155 Pts)
4 Chosen @ 155 Pts
Bolt Pistol (x4); Bolter (x1); Close Combat Weapon (x4); Meltagun (x3); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Infiltrate
1 Aspiring Champion @ [53] Pts
Bolt Pistol (x1); Meltagun; Power Weapon; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Infiltrate

Squad Graviticus (11#, 290 Pts)
9 Chaos Space Marines @ 290 Pts
Bolt Pistol; Close Combat Weapon; Bolter; Meltagun (x1); Lascannon; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Chaos Glory; Rhino
1 Aspiring Champion @ [55] Pts
Bolt Pistol; Power Fist; Bolter; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades
1 Rhino @ [60] Pts
Combi-melta; Twin Linked Bolter; Extra Armor; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers

Squad Allectus (11#, 295 Pts)
9 Chaos Space Marines @ 295 Pts
Bolt Pistol; Close Combat Weapon; Bolter; Meltagun (x1); Lascannon; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Chaos Glory; Rhino
1 Aspiring Champion @ [55] Pts
Bolt Pistol; Power Fist; Bolter; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades
1 Rhino @ [65] Pts
Combi-melta; Twin Linked Bolter; Daemonic Possession; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers

Squad Olcinius (6#, 215 Pts)
5 Noise Marines @ 215 Pts
Bolt Pistol; Close Combat Weapon; Blastmaster; Bolter (x1); Sonic Blaster (x3); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Fearless; Personal Icon; Mark of Slaanesh
1 Noise Champion @ [55] Pts
Bolt Pistol; Power Weapon; Bolter; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Melta Bombs; Fearless; Mark of Slaanesh

Squad Gracchus (6#, 215 Pts)
5 Noise Marines @ 215 Pts
Bolt Pistol; Close Combat Weapon; Blastmaster; Bolter (x1); Sonic Blaster (x3); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Fearless; Personal Icon; Mark of Slaanesh
1 Noise Champion @ [55] Pts
Bolt Pistol; Power Weapon; Bolter; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Melta Bombs; Fearless; Mark of Slaanesh

Plaguebearers (7#, 91 Pts)
7 Summoned Lesser Daemon @ 91 Pts
Close Combat Weapon; Fearless

Squad Volcatius (3#, 225 Pts)
3 Obliterators @ 225 Pts
Power Fist; Obliterator Weapons; Show Weapon Stats; Fearless; Lascannon; Linked Flamer; Linked Meltagun; Linked Plasmagun; Multi-Melta; Plasma Cannon; Slow and Purposeful

Heavy Support: Vindicator (1#, 140 Pts)
1 Vindicator @ 140 Pts
Demolisher Cannon; Dozer Blade; Extra Armor; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers

Heavy Support: Obliterators (2#, 150 Pts)
2 Obliterators @ 150 Pts
Power Fist; Obliterator Weapons; Fearless; Slow and Purposeful

Total Roster Cost: 2241

Before I go any farther, I have to talk about my plaguebearers. My Alpha Legion Army is an army that has Slaaneshi leanings. I started doing this because troop choices in the New Codex are tough. I have been attempting to buy some demonettes for some time but wanted to get the OOP metal ones. In their place in the army I have thrown in some plaguebears, and will replace them as soon as I have painted deamonettes. I do not believe in mixing chaos sects.

I am thinking about painting up some Plague Marines and changing over to a Nurgle leaning army (he was always my favorite). But thats for another post.......

Rix

Netflix Theory

One of my goals for this blog is to have posted info and pictures for every army that I currently have. Unfortunately pulling out my first army (space wolves), taking decent pictures, and writing up a good post about them is just not happening quickly.

I am going to invoke Netflix theory......when you get a movie that you really want but can't find the time to watch it, send it back. I have wasted more money waiting to watch some classic, must-see movies, instead of just getting things that I want to watch. I will get back to my SW posts, but for now I would rather bullshit about what I am doing now.

Rix

Baby's First Squad

OK well my camera is finally working, so now I can post some pics. So to get you caught up here is my entire army.

All its glory

Yes I know what you are saying. I am a photographic Michelangelo. The army is not huge, and lacks the troop choices for 5th edition. It focused on vehicles and high cost elite units.

The first squad I ever completed was actually the first squad I ever bought over a decade ago, my blood claws.

One of the most apparent things about the squad is the old school weapons. This was before bolt pistols was the standard and one had a myriad of different options for any trooper. In the squad there is a mix of bolt pistols, bolters, las pistols and hand flamers. The problem was they didn't have enough of any one weapon in the box so I had to mix it up. I left them how they are cause....well...its bad ass.

Does anyone even remember the small template?

So if you have never played with/against a space wolf army, they typically have limited special and heavy weapon options and instead can sub in power weapons and power fists into the squad. This can be vicious once you get in range. The blood claws are particularly devastating because they get 2 attacks on the charge. In a typical game I would roll in with 13 power fist attacks.....let that soak in a little bit.

Three powerfists in a troop choice? Yes please!!

Combined with my Terminators, the blood claws were my punch. I would ram them strait down an opponents throat and if they didn't survive the first round then..well..you have a pretty hardy army.

One last picture of the army. This is one of my random guys but I really liked the way this picture turned out so I wanted to post it. I just like how the gun is in focus and the rest of him isn't.

He looks all gangsta

Rix

Wolves on a Leash

I hate my camera...the pictures look like crap. To make maters worse I can't even get the SD card to read in my computer so I don't have any pictures to accompany this post....will work on it for next time.

My wolves are on a leash right now, at least till I get a new codex. I have a lot of changes to the force to make them viable in 5th edition, but just can't justify changing weapon and vehicle load outs till I am sure they will match the new codex. I do have some fleeting hope it will be out soon.

I went through a lot to finally get around to painting the army. I started it around 1996 and finished around 2001. But to be honest, I had a lot of drinking to do back then so its understandable. In my mind they were the quintessential 4th edition rush army. They picked a spot on the board and made everything there its bitch. They also had a smattering of other units to handle everything not in the "making-or-bitches" zone.

The army generally consisted of:

• Terminators in a Land Raider Crusader - They were mostly CC but did have an assault cannon and cyclone missile launcher
• Blood Claws in a Rhino - Three power fists and used the rhino rush, they were monsters on the charge
• Rune Priest - Interpretations vary but no-one ever convinced me that using storm caller on the charge did not let me assault first. It was game changing.
• Wolf Guard Battle Leader - Needed an extra HQ so he got termie armor and lightning claws and ran with the terminators. He has a lot of extra punch for them though.
• Grey Hunters in a Razorback - These guys were uber useful, typically they were kitted out to be a shooting force. I would run them at something outside the area of destruction (typically the enemies counter charge force) and would unload with a melta gun, 2 plasma pistols and a multi-melta from the razorback. I would then proceed to charge in. This would inevitably take that unit out for the rest of the game
• Wolf Scouts - Ah these boys were great, the enemy always forgot about them. They handled the guys that were on the opposite side of the board where I was rushing. They averaged one long range vehicle a game, well worth the 82 points
• Predator/Leman Russ Exterminator - Mildly useful as a column head or as a supporting fire base.

It was a really fun army to play.

Rix

Heavy Weapons

Over the years GW has slowly guided the imperial heavy weapons so that they each have a very specific role. This wasn't always the case but the change to melta weapons and the blast template rules have really leveled the playing field. The following are the weapons and their specific uses:

Multi-Melta - The best vehicle killer period. This will tear through vehicles even at max range but get to within 12" and you can pretty much kill any vehicle goodbye. The +1 to the damage roll allows even glancing hits to be scary. Usually they have a pretty minimal cost. It is hampered by its limited range.

Lascannon - Prioir to 5th it was the king of the battlefield. Long range and a Str 9 hit. They are pretty expensive in most codices. The Melta edged them out for pure killing power in 5th but I for one would rather be facing a tank at range and not while its barreling up on me (but of course I am not a superhuman killing machine in power armor)

Missile Launcher - Easily the most tactically flexible weapon, it can at least glance every vehicle on the battlefield. Rips through transports. And if you need some street sweeping switch over to frag and start using it to make light armored troops disappear. One of my favorites.

Plasma Cannon - Wow this got vicious in 5th edition. I remember being pissed after I modeled a devastator squad with two of them and then realized how much they sucked. Now that the blast templates hit everything they touch, it is just a monster. Emperor help a terminator squad that deepstrikes in line of site of one of these. IMO they are the best infantry killers in the game right now cause they are great for hoard but also murder space marine equivalents which is pretty hard to do.

Autocannons - Often overlooked, while not fan favorites they do have their uses. They really shine against very light armor and skimmers. Often are good when rolling hits are harder than rolling penetration (i.e. Imperial Guard). I wouldn't be racing to use them, but opening up with a couple of these on a skimmer and you are very likely to be bringing it down. Doubles as decent infantry killers in a pinch but I certainly wouldn't buy them for that.

Heavy Bolters - Ah my black sheep. Without a doubt the worst heavy weapon in the Imperium right now. You are much more likely to get three hits with a frag missile than with three shots. If your squads have them, pack them up or rip them off, cause there is absolutely no point to having them on.

The problem is that I really like the heavy bolter as a concept. Modern armies all use a squad automatic weapon (in fact in the army that's the exact name of the one we use). As an army team leader my M249 SAW was great, it put rounds downrange off the shoulder and set into a position it had a higher rate of fire than my heavy machine gun. You can bet I didn't ever let my SAW gunner get to far away from me.

So I propose a change to the Heavy Bolter. Make it the only move and shoot heavy weapon in the imperial force, but give it some punch if dug in. it would have two modes:
Shoulder Fire - 12" Str 4 Ap 5 Assault 2
Sustained Fire - 24" Str 4 Ap 5 Heavy 5

To counterbalance the obvious increase in usefulness I have reduced the range and gone back to a standard power bolt (I never believed that they were really stronger than regular bolt guns). I can be honest I would have a tough time passing this new bolt gun up. It would allow tac squads the flexibility to run and gun, and also allow for some serious kick in a gun line.

Well that's my two cents.

Rix

On Squad Composition

So I guess this is a continuation of my rants and raves about Codex Astartes. This time I mainly want to focus on squads and how they are utilized. In a typical military scenario a squad is broken into two or three elements, in the united states these are Fire Teams. Fire teams do not separate and during combat are assigned to do one thing at a time (e.g. suppressing fire, maneuver, recon, etc.). Each of these units are typically armed the same so no matter which unit is engaged you always have the right weapon.

So how would this transfer into 40k. I like how the Space Marine Codex has combat squads. I would like to see that they have some incentive to staying closer to each other. Maybe make them only count as scoring units if they are within 12" of each other. Otherwise I would like to see more consistency in the weapon loadouts, either two special weapons or two heavy weapons. I defiantly realize two heavy weapons would be OP, I do advocate a new more mobile heavy weapon (I will discuss in another post).

Another capability that modern units have is some sort of indirect fire. In today's army we use a grenade launcher or even just a thrown grenade. This allows a unit to remain in cover and still engage the enemy. I would like to see a grenade launcher type weapon as one of the special weapon choices. In older versions of 40K it was alot harder to use indirect weapons, the new rules seem to be pretty good system. I think it would be cool if we brought them back.

Rix

On Codex Astartes

So lets start this post of right and say Roboute Guilliman was an idiot. But to be fair, it wasn't really him, just that the fine people of GW have never organized a combat force. But fear not good peoples, I have. I sit here as a veteran infantryman with combat experience, and I want to talk a little about my problems with Codex Astartes.

The Codex sounds interesting, and is an attempt to give order to the idea that a Chapter is an organization of 1000 marines. But, the flaw is that it doesn't disperse its support elements correctly. Before I go down this path lets have a short discussion on warfare.

Up to World War I it was an accepted fact that wars were won and lost by the intellect of a command structure. Therefore it was necessary to place all of the capabilities at a command level. Commanders looking on to a battle from a hilltop or other vantage point would pit their intellects against other commanders and the winner was decided based on attrition. All very grand, as long as you were the commander. The problem was that wars ground to a halt as no momentum could really be gained because all orders had to be routed through a singular man.

World War II changed all that (at least in America) because it was the first time the military ever embraced the chaos of war. The theory is simple but elegant, if uncertainty and chaos is a constant in battle (and it is) then distribute your available resources at the lowest level feasible and give those commanders the authority to exploit them.

By doing this the low level commander can bring more force to bear immediately because he is the most likely to make sense of the chaos, because he is staring right at it. By doing this the high level commanders allow momentum to be gained and can focus their time on directing more resources to maintain that momentum. The trick to it is to give the low level commanders enough support elements that he can utilize them efficiently while not straining the logistics train (i.e. giving a tank to infantry company who can't carry the tools needed to maintain it).

The next important thing to discuss is the common engagement level. This is really about how your commanders send you out to fight. Typically when you deploy to an area to conduct combat operations you have a unit in reserve, a unit in defense and a maneuver unit. In today's army this is realistically a company (although an argument could be made for a platoon). The three elements described above are platoons and the commander has heavy weapons in reserve, typically mortars and tank busters for light infantry. The important thing is that the commander of the common engagement level force has the capability to conduct operations for an extended period of time and deal with all likely enemies.

So how is the Codex Astartes organized? Well it is organized like the whole chapter is the common engagement level. All of its heavy support (predators, vindicators, whirlwinds, and land raiders) are in the armory, all of its siege specialists (veterans and terminators are in the first company), and all of its reserves (the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th companies) are organized into training companies. Well this is great, but the reality is that chapters rarely go to battle together. So more often than not, if a lower level commander can use a special weapon or unit....its all the way back with the chapter commander.

I submit to you that the proper way to organize your force is by the battle companies. Every battle company should deploy as a single unit and have all of the tools needed at their disposal. If it were up to me a company would be organized as such:

1 Commander
1 Librarian
1 Chaplain
1 HQ squad
1 Veteran Squad
1 Scout Squad
2 Devastator Squads
2 Assault Squads
4 Tactical Squads
2 Dreadnoughts
3 Predators
1 Vindicator
1 Whirlwind
1 Land Raider

There would be ten of them in a chapter and they would deploy as a single unit.

If you look at that the funny part is that it conforms much closer to what you expect to see if you go up against a sizable force. Lets be honest you would never expect to go up against a company and not see some of the heavier vehicles and some terminators. It is also a much more tactically flexible army, you can actually use scouts as scouts, and not some weird training company that never sees any action.

So some counters to some obvious questions you might have:

1. Yes, it might have made more sense when they were fighting as a legion, but when the Codex Astartes was written it was meant to be a guide on how to break up the legions into Chapters
2. Yes I do totally buy into the idea that marines are actually more badass in the fluff than in the game and therefore operate at the squad level instead of the company level (e.g. Legion and Brotherhood of the Snake). This is geared the game.
3. Is there anyone who actually does this right? In all their wisdom the only ones I have seen are the Space Wolves. Take that Ultramarines...trying to tell me what to do.

OK I think that's enough for now. For tomorrow, either I break out my camera and start showing you my armies or I talk about how I would organize a tactical squad.

Rix

Flavors of Heroin (part 2)

So to continue.......

Tyranids

My third army, I think it is the phase we all get when we try and break the molds of our favorite armies. I like marines, I like the fluff and I like how they play. Tyranids was an attempt for me to do something radically different. I think I first started thinking about tyranids back in the previous codex when they were the most mutable army. If I remember correctly the gaunt was the only troop choice. Give them scything talons and leaping and they were called hormagaunts, fleshborrers and they were termegaunts, wings and poof...you had gargoyles. You could even go so far as pay for the entire army to have traits that were based on their hive fleet. There is something deeply endearing to an army that you can know you are going to show up and not just the organization but the troops themselves were going to be different.

Side Rant: GW has systematically taken out the customizability of their game and it drives me insane. I don't see why they thought it was a bad thing. They punish the whole community because they either want to sell more codexes to a younger crowd or that some metagamers are power gaming the grand tournaments. I think it is high time they own up to their own poor playtesting and stop making cookie cutter codexes.

...So back to Tyranids. I think I am mostly done with this army. I tryed a dipping technique when I finished about 1750 points. I thought that it would speed up pumping a lot of nids, but it actually has slowed me down. It is such an event to get ready to do the dip that I could have just painted the entire army. I like how they play I just don't see the army expanding to much.

Imperial Fists

I had a good friend who owned a gaming store and he was such an amazing painter and modeler (Rick where are you? I want to buy your tables!). He had three or four gorgeous armies and one day he randomly picked up some marines and started painting them as ultramarines. Well of course I immediately started laying into him: Why are you painting smurfs? you'll never win with an army full of 'nilla tac squads! Where is the heavy support? What about the top heavy tricked out chapter commander? He simply replied that he was going to do a codex chapter and he was going to do them right.

Years later I completely understood. Regardless of how they play its more of a tribute to the fluff than an attempt to powergame. At the exact same time I was very interested in a painting challenge. So I started looking at the codex chapters to pick out something that spoke to me. My rules where it had to be codex (or very close to it) and I wanted to be able to buy the GW shoulderpads. In the end I chose Imperial Fists. I liked the fluff, they are as close to codex without being ultra marines and it was a chance to confront my old painting nemesis: Yellow. As of writing this I am still not done with the first squad but I like what I see. My goal is to get out a half company, and nothing else. I'm excited.

Rix