Tanks on Parade

So as the 40 hours of 40k approach I'm finishing off a few minor painting parts and I thought you guys might want to see some of what I'm working on...

First...some pictures of my Baals!!! (sorry couldn't help myself ^_^)

This one is freehanded to have flames moving down the hull.

The command tank has blood oozing down the main turret

And freehanded blood drops on the Heavy Bolters

This one has the Eye of Terror and a Flame tipped sword, not sure why I did it, but I did.

Close up. I would like to point out that I have no idea where the fire spurts on the Assault Cannons came from... wish I knew but they give a great effect.

These two are poor little orphan rhino's converted to really mutated Razorbacks. These aren't my nice ones but two spare that I needed.

Quick blurb here. Pictures bad but this is one of my Baal Predators that was magnetized. When I teach new players on how to build armies my first rule is to buy razor backs instead of Rhinos and magnets.

This picture really doesn't give the hatch justice but all my rhino hatches have fun freehanded images all over them.

Here is the Land Raider that Bully wanted to see. The flaming Braziers are from a Halloween village you can buy at craft stores.  

Wait... what is this...let me hit the on switch.

Yeah, it lites up... a little bit of Badass right there.

                                  

Here are my famous las/plas razorbacks. Its amazing how many compliments I get over these guys.

A close up of the lascannon and twinlinked Plasma Gun

I like to make the Plasma Gun look a little pre heresy. Really adds a nice touch.

World Eaters, Main, Burn and Roll Out!

So... as there will be a tournament this weekend for me I want to make sure my list is at its prime. I'm introducing Landraiders as a nice little addition to my list.

That's my babies right there, many are just waiting for their freehand paint jobs for the weekend.

HQ: Librarian: shield and lance

Troop: 5 Assault marines w melta gun  150pts
Las/Plas Razorback

Troop: 5 Assault marines w melta gun  150pts
Las/Plas Razorback

Troop: 5 Assault marines w melta gun  150pts
Las/Plas Razorback

Troop: 5 Assault marines w melta gun  150pts
Las/Plas Razorback

Troop: 5 Assault marines w flamer        335pts
Godpattern Landraider w Multimelta

Troop: 5 Assault marines w flamer        335pts
Godpattern Landraider w Multimelta

Fast: Baal Predator                                145pts
   TL Assault cannons  w heavy bolters

Fast: Baal Predator                                145pts
   TL Assault cannons  w heavy bolters

Fast: Baal Predator                                145pts
   TL Assault cannons  w heavy bolters

Heavy: Predator                                      100pts
    Auto Cannon w Heavy Bolters

Heavy: Predator                                      100pts
    Auto Cannon w Heavy Bolters

Total 1995pts

Lets reveiw shall we...
we have 12 tanks,
5 AV 13
2 AV 14
8 Lascannons
4 TL Plasma guns
4 melta guns
30 mech bodies
5 scoring units
3 TL Assault Cannons
2 Auto cannons
12 Heavy Bolters

Best I've got to work with.

Now some pictures of what I'm working on...

Grey Knight Terminator w Psycannon

Grey Knight Terminator with Bloodletter head

And for those who remember my Ad Mech army Idea, here is my conversion for a rifleman dread...

Each one costs about 35-40 dollars

I just pray you have a use for the billion defense lines you will get ^_^

Playtesting...

So I have been testing my Divine Intervention Grey Knights against my Razor/Predator list.

I finished games three and the score is one draw and 2 wins for the GKs.

Not bad I have to say. The Psycannons are perfect at what they do and the razorbacks are just too easy to kill. While the predators can wittle down the terminator squads they dont have enough time to kill 30 terminators and the Psycannons take their toll over time.

I like the Psychic Communion, really helps land the army by turn three at the least and they land together. The skulls help out as well.

Now my camera is finally working again so I have got a few pictures taken and one of my play test games recorded to help me understand how my games went. Expect them up this week.

In other news, this weekend there is the best event ever going on at my local hobby shop Maplewood Hobbies. We will be holding our annual 40 hours of 40k this weekend. Yes, we play 40 hours worth of tournaments, Apocalypse battles, bizzar bazaars and other fun activities. These past few weeks have been a short escalation league building up to this momentous weekend and over this weekend I will be picking up the majority of my Grey Knight Terminator army. This and my camera working again means more fun for me, and more stuff for you to see. I will post up my test painted Grey Knight tomorrow if luck serves me.

With my army I am trying to NOT paint the army a silver color scheme but actually shades of grey. Then I will be adding my own little free hand flair to the models. I dont want them to just look like every other grey knight army and if it works out they will have a more grimdark look to them. Thats my goal anyway.

Now I have to get back to figuring out how to paint a nemesis force halberd...

Would you be afraid of this?

So, my friend let me borrow his IG codex and asked me to work out a list. Now I hate this codex, love playing against it, hate working with it.

There is something about an army of chimeras that I just dislike I guess.

Multilasers for the win...I guess

So I could have gone the easy way and pay a visit to the shark tank but first I wanted to see what I could come up with.

Tell me what you think...

HQ: Company Command Squad: Autocannon, 2 melta guns   135pts
Chimera: Heavy flamer and Multilasers

Elite: Psyker Battle Squad: 8 Psykers                          155pts
Chimera: Heavy flamer and Multilaser

Elite: Psyker Battle Squad: 8 Psykers                          155pts

Chimera: Heavy flamer and Multilaser

Infantry Platoon:

Troop: Platoon Command Squad: Autocannon, 2 melta guns 115pts 

Chimera: Heavy flamer and Multilasers

Troop: Infantry Squad: Autocannon, 2 melta guns     135pts
Chimera: Heavy flamer and Multilasers

Troop: Infantry Squad: Autocannon, 2 melta guns     135pts 

Chimera: Heavy flamer and Multilasers

Troop: Heavy Weapons Team: 3 Autocannons          75pts

Troop: Heavy Weapons Team: 3 Autocannons          75pts

Troop: Heavy Weapons Team: 3 Autocannons          75pts

Troop: Veteran Squad: Autocannon and 3 melta guns 165pts

Chimera: Heavy flamer and Multilaser

Troop: Veteran Squad: Autocannon and 3 melta guns 165pts

Chimera: Heavy flamer and Multilaser

Troop: Veteran Squad: Autocannon and 3 melta guns 165pts

Chimera: Heavy flamer and Multilaser

Heavy: 2 Hydra Flak Tanks: Heavy Bolters                 150pts

Heavy: 2 Hydra Flak Tanks: Heavy Bolters                 150pts

Heavy: 2 Hydra Flak Tanks: Heavy Bolters                 150pts

Total: 2000pts

So, lets see if I did a good job. 

I have...

9 Chimera with meltas, autocannons, multilasers, and heavy flamers

6 Dakka Hydras to be targets and pound rhinos

9 Troops to hold stuff

Weapon wise I have...

9 multilasers

9 heavy flamers

17 meltas

30 Autocannons

2 Str 8 blasts

2 leadership modifiers  

6 heavy bolters

Alot of lasguns 

That looks good I have to say. from turn one this list is pounding the enemy's face with bullets. Enough melta to skin a company of Land Raiders and enough Flamers to BBQ whats inside.

What do you guys think? My readership stats are climbing by the day and as I now have more people reading I would love to hear your thoughts on what you would like me to write on. 

Once I figure out how to get this camera I have to work again I will be posting up pics of my new Grey Knights.

Please tell me you thoughts.

On Stormy Raven Wings...

*So this was posted a while ago but because blogger was acting up I lost it. So here it is again*


So, A while ago I came up with a Storm Raven list using the Blood Angels codex.



For those who dont want to look back in my blog It right here and It is a Rather Nice Article.



Now if you read the above list you will understand my views of the Storm Brick. Now though we have the new Grey knight codex and with it, the Cement Brick. Now how do I feel about it...lets see.

No, It wont fly no matter how hard you throw it...

So its just like a Storm Raven... but without the cool str 8 missiles...



Why am I paying 205pts for this? Oh, yeah. To transport something...



So lets see, what is worth buying a 205pt transport?



Paladins...No, they should be shooting and they aren't great in assault anyway

Purifiers...No, same issue as the paladins. Besides, they have Rhinos and Razorbacks

Strike Squads...see above

Purgation Squads... see above

Terminators...do they have storm shields? Thought not, just Deep Strike them.

Dreadnoughts...Im sorry, are you implying that yours DO NOT have duel Psybolt Autocannons?

So there are no Grey Knight units that are worth the price. That means that I will have to look somewhere else.



Lets have a look at this:



HQ: Inquisitor w Force weapon and Hammerhand  55pts


Warband: 3 Crusaders, 5 Death Cult Assassins, 3 Melta Warriors 162pts


Total: 217pts


That's actually not that bad I have to say. For its price it is nice and deadly to vehicles and infantry while still having a degree of protection with the storm shields. Lets add the Storm Raven:



HQ: Inquisitor w Force weapon and Hammerhand  55pts

Warband: 3 Crusaders, 5 Death Cult Assassins, 3 Melta Warriors 162pts

Fast Attack: Storm Raven, TL Multi Melta and TL Assault Cannons 205pts

Total: 422pts



Ok, lets take two so saturation and see where that takes us...


HQ: Inquisitor w Force weapon and Hammerhand  55pts

Warband: 3 Crusaders, 5 Death Cult Assassins, 3 Melta Warriors 162pts

HQ: Inquisitor w Force weapon and Hammerhand  55pts

Warband: 3 Crusaders, 5 Death Cult Assassins, 3 Melta Warriors 162pts

Fast Attack: Storm Raven, TL Multi Melta and TL Assault Cannons 205pts

Fast Attack: Storm Raven, TL Multi Melta and TL Assault Cannons 205pts

Total: 844pts



That gives us 4 units with meltas and two scary close combat units.

We have 1156 for support and troops...what could we do?

How about this:

HQ: Inquisitor w Force weapon and Hammerhand  55pts

Warband: 3 Crusaders, 5 Death Cult Assassins, 3 Melta Warriors 162pts

Henchmen Chimera                                                       55pts

HQ: Inquisitor w Force weapon and Hammerhand  55pts

Warband: 3 Crusaders, 5 Death Cult Assassins, 3 Melta Warriors 162pts

Henchmen Chimera                                                       55pts

Troops: 5 Grey Knights w Psycannon                          160pts

             Razorback w Psybolt TL Heavy Bolters

Troops: 5 Grey Knights w Psycannon                          160pts

             Razorback w Psybolt TL Heavy Bolters

Troops: 5 Grey Knights w Psycannon                          160pts

             Razorback w Psybolt TL Heavy Bolters

Troops: 5 Grey Knights w Psycannon                          160pts

             Razorback w Psybolt TL Heavy Bolters

Heavy: Dreadnought w duel psybolt autocannon arms 135pts

Heavy: Dreadnought w duel psybolt autocannon arms 135pts

Heavy: Dreadnought w duel psybolt autocannon arms 135pts

Nice support while the Storm Raven units make short work of those around. The army can work its way into the midfield and cause all kinds of problems with the razorbacks giving cover to the rest.


That's what I'm thinking right now... any other ideas just throw them into the comments section. 

Kirby against the world (or just GW)

A pink blobs gotta do what a pink blobs gotta do...

So Kirby has this letter he wrote to Games Workshop and he is trying to get the blogger sphere to back him at this. Well, I normally dislike confrontation of an kind but Kirby makes good points. (and he is oh so cute with those sunglasses on...)

From the Desk of Kirby:

To Games Workshop,

Why? No seriously, why? I'm sure the excuse of cutting off Australasia and other countries (Canada, India, Korea, South American countries, etc.) to benefit the independent and GW store sales in Australia sounded good but unless you cut the prices here to not be a ridiculous 200% higher price than overseas, it's not going to happen. Let's look at this logically. You've stopped us from buying from stores like Maelstrom and Wayland with an embargo agreement in your Terms and Conditions (remember globalisation? how's that going btw?). Does this mean we are going to now buy at RRP in Australia or other countries? No.



There are other outlets overseas we can buy from which are still much cheaper (hi America), other companies which you cannot touch without raising a helluva lot of crap (hi ebay) and people who are willing to ship to us overseas (hello family and friends) without the 200% tax. We won't be getting as huge a discount as before but it's much better than buying here at RRP. The other option is of course going to be quitting which I imagine some people are going to do. Check out this thread on WargamerAU where a lot of people are indicating they are. The ultimate bottom line? Your bottom line suffers (more people leaving) and the retailers in Australia do not benefit.

Now I'm all for one in supporting the locals. I buy all my products such as spray paint, paints, plasticard, magnets, drills + bits, modelling putty, brushes, etc. from Australia. As an aside, do you actually stock good quality merchandise for all of those options? I don't see you selling plasticard, magnets, good sized drillbits, custom bases, etc. I'd be happy to pay a 5-10% premium on these objects compared to other stores to support your business but then again, I don't really want to support your business currently do I? The point of any business is to make a profit but the problem with your business model is you do not do this whilst concurrently supporting your customer base. We don't ask for much but a short list would look like...

• not raising prices every year, without fail, regardless of the economic situation or inflation rates
• basing prices around the world upon exchange rates (I wouldn't be averse to paying 20% more in Australia compared to the UK or America locally but I am adverse to paying twice as much) - there are circumstances in each country that make operating there more or less expensive but you need a base retail price for your product which is then translated by exchange rates at a given time (i.e. quarterly) rather than a price set many, many years ago. It's part of being in a global market.
• regular and quick FAQs - you've done a fantastic job IMO of creating some pretty balanced books for 5th edition, fix the grey areas quickly.
• official erratas - man up and admit you've made mistakes (hi Tyranids) and work on erratas that are official and re-print the books with these amendments. Admitting a mistake and fixing it isn't a problem and I'd applaud you for it. Ignoring a problem is.
• fix Fantasy - you did it with 40k, why go backwards with Fantasy?
• don't think your customer base is moronic - the resin re-cast to be cheaper than metals whilst hiking prices, not fooling anyone.

Ultimately people in Australia and other countries go overseas for their Games Workshop products for a reason: it's significantly cheaper (I.e. half price). What motivation is there to therefore buy from our locals when you aren't treating your customers with loyalty and support? People will walk away and your bottom line will hurt. A simple solution: care about your customers. Change the Australian (and other countries) prices so they are at least similar to the UK and US. This doesn't have to be the exact same price but some parity would be greatly appreciated.

Here's a quick example. If you could buy a similar product for $45 compared to $150, what would you do? How about if the product was the exact same but if you ordered it overseas it was $80 compared to $150 by the time it reached your door step? I'm pretty sure you'd want to take the cheaper option correct? For you as a company, you make your profit margin through the reseller regardless of where it is purchased. You may make more money off a direct sale at an Australian store compared to an Internet sale from the UK but you have already achieved the profit margin from the Internet sale already. The Australian stores may be hurting but this is down to the initial price you have set, not market trends. Simply put, you are alienating customers from a large and developing market.

I and many of the readers here obviously enjoy your game. We've played it through thick and thin (4th edition...) or come back thanks to an improvement game balance (5th edition) and don't want to leave. We will though sooner or later if you keep piling on idiotic choices on us. Other companies like Privateer Press did very well in the early to mid-2000s for a reason and people will migrate to other gaming systems if you continue to mistreat them and their loyalty.

As it stands I question why you do the things you do. Raising prices every year annoys me but I cannot complain too loudly as your products are a luxury item but you do not provide excellent customer service one usually expects with such goods. I certainly find minimal fault with your staff or when your product is damaged/faulty but your overarching business model seems counter-intuitive to maintaining a customer base. Even if you are getting a large amount of new customers imagine how much better off your company would be if you had maintained a significant portion of your repeat customers. The model you are running currently to me does not seem sustainable as your turnover rate in customers is just too high. I applaud your efforts in making 40k 5th edition a more competitive game but what you've done to Fantasy 8th edition doesn't bode well for the future.

Please, look to satisfy both the shareholders and the customer rather than just the former.

Kirby.

P.S. Anyone who agrees with this, I would greatly appreciate this being re-posted on your blog so we might actually garner GW's attention and hopefully move forward together. That is the ultimate goal, I want Games Workshop to succeed as a company so I can continue to enjoy the gaming systems I do but to do that, Games Workshop must look at altering their business model in the long run to maintain a steady customer base.

 xSignedx

A short story...

A bit of fluff courtesy of my friend Pete, the Pissed off Plague Marine

"So the Grey Knights are ridiculous, have you read there background? Man did Matt Ward have a fun time with this.


So there is this planet and a weird, red, what do you call it? A Minotaur? Yes a Minotaur, but with giant wings, lots of skulls and blood. 


So it woke up on some random planet with some random name and it started to leak blood, but not just a little, not even Monty Python like, but like a river of blood. It was like The Day After Tomorrow just with blood instead of water.


Now this wasn't any ordinary blood but cracked up blood that if it touches you makes you flip out and get all killy on anything around you. People just turned into raving blood druggies and started butchering all the not druggy guys and the blood just kept flowing from this blood thirster/ minotaur guy.


Now the Sisters of battle were on the planet, but since Matt Ward didn't write their old codex they sucked and were too weak to fight off the hoard of blood. Many of them became blood druggies and there were but a few left to defend whatever they were doing. 


But its okay, they did their job in waiting for the Grey Knights to come in and take the credit.


Now the Grey knights didn't want to become crackers but still had to fight the Blood Minotaur at the bottom of now an ocean of blood. So they did the only thing they could, they kill the sisters that weren't druggies yet, covered themselves in their blood and set themselves of fire.


 Yes, this was the most rational method. 


So, with flaming blood covered armor they marched into the blood ocean, did their Grey Knight things, kill the Minotaur and save the day. 


YAY MATT WARD!!!"


Yeah, there are times when fluff just isn't good enough, needs more skulls and blood. ^_^

This is a short interlude for me as I bought my first box of Grey Knight Terminators and am now in the process of building them. More to come...

New Razorwing/Voidraven (Looks awesome)

This is what looks like the new Razorwing/Voidraven I got the Image off a site in a language I have no idea what it was so it must be Legit ^_^

Normally I dont do this kind of stuff but this just looks awesome!

That right there is awesome!

Divine Intervention...with robots.

What DreadKnights SHOULD look like

So as I am constantly looking for ways to make my Divine Intervention list work better I came upon this...

Tell me your thoughts, I like to hear them.


HQ: Inquisitor w Force Weapon and Psychic Communion                                    55pts

HQ: Inquisitor w Force Weapon and Psychic Communion                                    55pts

Troops: 9 Terminators; 2 w hammer, 2 w psycannon and Halbred, 5 with Halberds 525pts
          Justicar Thawn,

Troops: 10 Terminators; 2 w hammer, 2 w psycannon and Halbred, 6 with Halberds 450pts

Troops 5 Terminators; 1 w hammer, 1 with psycannon and Halbred, 3 with Halberds 225pts

Heavy: Dreadknight w Teleporter and Great Sword                                  230pts

Heavy: Dreadknight w Teleporter and Great Sword                                  230pts


Heavy: Dreadknight w Teleporter and Great Sword                                  230pts


Total: 2000pts


Basically I dump 4 Psycannons, 5 terminators, and 15 Interceptors for 3 Dreadknight combat monsters.


When I drop, these guys are there to make the enemy want to assault/shoot them, being distractions for the Terminators. If the enemy ignores them then he will have to deal with them as the teleport 30 inches onto the objectives.


They are alot more aggressive to play but might work out. Though I'm not afraid of two Nurgle Princes...why should three give me problems...


Oh, wait... they land right next to me and I don't have three turns to shoot them/ stall them? Oh, that's why they cost 80 pts more... I get it now... silly me ^_^

I will be testing this, but for now I see it as a BIG maybe. I will leave it as it is and run a few tests, see what happens.

They see me Crowin, they Hatin...

You'd be mad too if you were the only guy without a power weapon...

Now, all credit due, the best list I've seen for Crowe is right here.

But as I would like to not spend $700 on a force...well here is my version...

HQ: Crowe 150pts

HQ Librarian, Halberd, Shrouding, Sanctuary, Might of titan 170pts

Elites: 5 Paladins w 2 Psycannons, 4 halberds, 1  Deamon Hammer 315pts

Elites: 5 Paladins w 2 Psycannons, 4 halberds, 1  Deamon Hammer 315pts
5 Purifiers w 2 Psycannons and Deamon Hammer  195pts
Razorback w twin Heavy Bolters and Psybolts   

5 Purifiers w 2 Psycannons and Deamon Hammer  195pts
Razorback w twin Heavy Bolters and Psybolts  

5 Purifiers w 2 Psycannons and Deamon Hammer  195pts
Razorback w twin Heavy Bolters and Psybolts  

5 Purifiers w 2 Psycannons and Deamon Hammer  195pts
Razorback w twin Heavy Bolters and Psybolts    

Heavy: Dreadnought w 2 autocannon arms, Psybolts  135pts

Heavy: Dreadnought w 2 autocannon arms, Psybolts  135pts

Total: 2000pts

Move forward in a bunch and proceed to profit from the Shrouding while shooting...

12 Psycannons
4 Superheavy Autocannons
18 storm bolters
4 str 6 TL Heavy Bolter

Not bad. Again, not the best, but still very well done.

The paladins fit in well I think as they just are great at being scarry when they need to. They also fire 8 Psycannon shots which in my mind is the perfect amount against almost anything.

Purifiers and Razorbacks make cover for the rest of the army and with Shrouding up they move as one.

Though I wont play it right now, someday I might... I still think Crowe kind of sucks from both a playing manner and backstory.

Comments...

Justicar Thawn?

Hey, so anybody have any opinions of Thawn.

Personally, for an army that likes to go second I think he's awesome.

Just like the Divine Intervention list,

Lets see though what you get.

First things first though, his cost. Its actually rather high for his stat line. For 115pts I get a guy that has one more weapon skill, Psychic mastery (2), and a useful ability to stand back up.

Here is how he fits into my list.

HQ: Inquisitor w Force Weapon and Psychic Communion                                          55pts

HQ: Inquisitor w Force Weapon and Psychic Communion                                          55pts

Troops: 9 Terminators; 2 w hammer, 2 w psycannon and Halbred, 5 with Halberds 550pts
          Justicar Thawn, Brotherhood Banner

Troops: 10 Terminators; 2 w hammer, 2 w psycannon and Halbred, 6 with Halberds 450pts

Troops: 10 Terminators; 2 w hammer, 2 w psycannon and Halbred, 6 with Halberds 450pts

Fast Attack: 10 Interceptors with 2 psycannons, Justicar with hammer                       290pts

Total                                                                                                                        1850pts

There, the perfect amount to bump my list to 1850. Why take him? because think of all the useful tricks you can do with him.

1. Allocate a wound to him and watch him die. If it is early in the game, he will be back and when he comes back he becomes his own scoring unit. He's a troop choice remember.Think of how annoying he will be for my opponents. They blast him to death on turn six only for him to stand up on my bottom and claim/contest an objective.

2. Have him join up his 10 man squad, drop down and proceed to smash anything that gets near you. 5 terminators are ok in close combat, 10 fearless terminators though are terrifying.

3. Distract the enemy by dropping him literally into the enemy lines Make him and his buddies priority number one for the opponent. After they waste his squad (hopefully buying the rest of your army time to fire away) The prospect of Thawn getting up will always be a problem. And as he can always keep standing up, a problem that doesn't go away.


Overall I will definitely be testing him out and seeing what will come of it. Great chance to model an awesome looking character. I'm looking forward to it.

Draigo Wing

Paladins, making you nice Chapter Master look like a wussy

(As per the conversation going on here)

Lets see what I can come up with for Paladins.

First we are Paying for Draigo which while cool and all, is just a beat stick with a cool background.

275pts gone right there.

Next the actual Paladins, well a squad with two psycannons would look like this

5 Paladins,4 w Halberds, 1 w Hammer, 2 w Psycannons  315pts

Dang that's a lot, and we are expected to work like this?

Lets take 4 squads and Draigo and see how that works out...

Draigo  275pts

5 Paladins,4 w Halberds, 1 w Hammer, 2 w Psycannons  315pts

5 Paladins,4 w Halberds, 1 w Hammer, 2 w Psycannons  315pts

5 Paladins,4 w Halberds, 1 w Hammer, 2 w Psycannons  315pts

5 Paladins,4 w Halberds, 1 w Hammer, 2 w Psycannons  315pts

1495!!! Well I'll be. That is a 1500pt force right there. (but I dont think we want that ^_^)

for 500 pts left I'm thinking this...

5 Purfiers, 2 w Psycannons 140pts

5 Purfiers, 2 w Psycannons 140pts

5 Purfiers, 2 w Psycannons 140pts

Inquisitor w Psycic Communion, Daemon Blade and 3 Servitor Skulls 79pts


Now it has some advantages, like the ability to manipulate the reserves system to drop the Terminators on the enemy , can march forward and  blast with the 14 Psycannons that are being carried. They are cool enough in combat, but suffer against massed melta, but then again... with that many psycannons lobbing shots at you there is very little chance a melta can get within 12 without some kind of fast means of getting there.

I am sure there is a better way though... let me have another look... I'll get back to you...

 Draigo    275pts

Elites: 5 Purfiers, 2 w Psycannons, 1 w Hammer 145pts
Razorback: Heavy Bolters with psybolt 50pts


Elites: 5 Purfiers, 2 w Psycannons, 1 w Hammer 145pts
Razorback: Heavy Bolters with psybolt 50pts


Elites: 5 Purfiers, 2 w Psycannons, 1 w Hammer 145pts
Razorback: Heavy Bolters with psybolt 50pts

Troops: 5 Paladins,4 w Halberds, 1 w Hammer, 2 w Psycannons  315pts

Troops: 5 Paladins,4 w Halberds, 1 w Hammer, 2 w Psycannons  315pts

Troops: 5 Terminators,4 w Halberds, 1 w Hammer, 1 w Psycannons  225pts

Troops: 5 Terminators,4 w Halberds, 1 w Hammer, 1 w Psycannons  225pts

Troop: 1 Paladin  55pts

Total: 1995pts

Ehh... a little better

2 less Psycannons, but gain 3 cover making boxes with 9 TL str 6 shots.

Overall I dont see this working. The 1500pt list looks like a fun rock list, but at 2000pts I just dont feel it right now.

I would like to use only one unit of Paladins in a normal list as a good deep striking distraction unit. Land, blow something up, stay in cover protecting psycannons, rinse and repeat.

Thoughts? I would love to see what Stelek comes up with.

Chaos Crashers

Imperial Propaganda for the Win!

Well, I thought I would go over the Assassins today and see what has changed and what has become better or worse.

OVERVEIW: For people just getting into the game the background is incredibly lame. Assasins were always one of the cooler, darker, and mysteriose forces in the Imperium. Their strange Temples, Administrative monopolies, and increadible influence made them an amazing and colorful unit to have in your army. Now, for some reason, they decided to ditch all the grim dark and make them all heroes like the Grey Knights. They even make one reference that the different kinds come from different temples...hows a new person suppose to even know what a temple is?

The fluff is just bad, If you like assassins you have to now search for all the cool stuff about their fluff in other places. It's like they were a half-effort, so sad. I was looking forward to those two pages being a dark contrast to the noble Grey Knights, the opposite of the Grey Knights in every way.

As I Feel that this is a great Tragedy for the background here is some of their Fluff: Assassinorum

One quick thing to note though for these guys are that they are small, one model units. They are easy to hide with the True Line of Sight if you take the time to think about it. As such I am taking into account in the case of some that they will be able to hide behind vehicles or small pieces of terrain (because they can) and my opinions are formulated through this medium .

 Now to see what I think about these guys...In temple order.

A women you do not want to throw herself into your arms

Remember how awesome this lady was last codex, she was able to be really scary. Now she sucks mostly.

Biggest shame was the C'tan Phase Sword, man that thing was cool.

Honestly, she was perfect just the way she was, stupid GW.  

JUST BECAUSE YOU MAKE A NEW CODEX DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO TRY TO FIX THAT WHICH ISN'T BROKEN!!!

Now, I'm not saying she's terrible, just not as good as she once was.

I would like to point out she is increadibly annoying to heavy weapons teams like devastators and Long Fangs as she can pop up, wound a bunch of them, dance into cover (which she has to take a dangerous terrain test for due to here deep strike nature) and let the enemy respond. If they shoot her she has a 3++ or a 2++ if she dives for cover. They could assault her, but she wants them to do that as they are usually a small 5 man unit. She then assaults and moves on, hopefully distracting the opponent from kill the rest of your stuff.

She isn't bad, for 145pts you have another annoying toy to play with.

His metal hair is assaulting you

Here is an interesting character. This one is all about psykers. His gun is perfect for a Grey Knights army, Just surround him with Grey Knights and he will have a billion shots and... (reads page 21: Brotherhood of Psykers)...@#$%!!!

Ok, so he isn't that awesome with Grey Knights but he can join an Inquisitorial army and let loose streams of death if you take a squad or two of Psykers. It costs a lot of points but if you want psykers laying down str 10 blasts all the time, well you might as well have him as well. to body guard them.

Overall you have to build a list around him, that can be a hassle but it is funny to nail a squad of Terminators with 16 st 5 AP2 shots that hit on twos with re-rolls.

He is one angry druggie

  Allright this guy sucks. I'm sorry for the abrupt rudness but the truth hurts sometimes.

He has no transport, no infiltrate, no cool "I'm really your best Friend" special rules and really anything more than just a couple more attacks.

If he had a small one man drop pod that he could assault from and Hit and Run we could be talking... untill that happens, nothing.

Moving on...

He sees you when your sleeping, he knows when your awake...

This guy is without a doubt my favorite. No question about it. Ever other Assassin has either been changed, or made less powerful. This guy is the only one that is actually better. One of my friends loves the model and was ecstatic at the simple change of being able to shoot multiple rounds.

You have about 6 shots with him if the enemy leaves him alone some thoughts of mine on the bullet types.

Helfire: Yes, I would love to kill that one meltagun/Heavy weapon dude. Scary power weapon dude? now he is gone.

Shield Breaker: Dark  Eldar Archons aren't invincible anymore... the peasants rejoice. Seriously there is some value to this awesome bullet.

Turbo Penetrator: Nobs? What Nobs? Land Raiders? What Land Raiders? You get the Idea.

Big tip though: If you are taking him, take a Techpriest to bolster the building he is in, helps a lot. Again he makes an awesome distraction if  you need him to be. Honestly the funnest model of all four if the enemy leaves him be for the duration of the game.

Overall I like most of the Assasins. They arent the best models but they have their uses. (except Eversor)

What are your thoughts? It's nice to see that you guys are enjoying these articles. I'll try to keep them coming.

Forever Mechanicus...

So, while this isn't about Grey Knights I would like to post a cool idea I will be trying one day.

Yeah, I think a perfect Adeptus Mecanicus army is possible with the new Grey Knight Codex

And here is how I would do it...

HQ: Tech Magos (Coteze) 100pts

Elite: Venerable Dreadnought with Autocannons and Psy bolt ammo  195pts

Elite: Venerable Dreadnought with Autocannons and Psy bolt ammo  195pts

Troop: 10 Grey Knights, 2 with Psycannons, Justicar w hammer 220pts

Troop: 3 warriors, 3 servitors with Multi Meltas                       97pts
           Chimera

Troop: 8 warriors, 5 with Storm Bolters, 3 with Meltaguns      132pts
           Chimera

Troop: 8 warriors, 5 with Storm Bolters, 3 with Meltaguns      132pts

           Chimera

Troop: 8 warriors, 5 with Storm Bolters, 3 with Meltaguns      132pts

           Chimera

Troop: 8 warriors, 5 with Storm Bolters, 3 with Meltaguns      132pts

           Chimera
Heavy: Dreadnought with Autocannons and Psy bolt ammo 135pts

Heavy: Dreadnought with Autocannons and Psy bolt ammo 135pts

Heavy: Dread Knight with Heavy Incinerator and Teleporter 235pts

Well, there it is. now let me break it down.

The servitors and  Magos drive into the middle with their multimeltas

Dread knight follows

The rest of the army shoots you to death in a rather spectacular way.

Its not the optimum, but still really good. If this wasn't a themed list I would dump the Dread knight and get another dreadnought and more dakka some where. But it fits perfectly and makes an awesome centerpiece.

Right now use the Dreadknight as a bothersome monster and let the enemy deal with it instead of your tanks.

Now modeling is the fun part.

For the Magos, something like this...

Just a little bit more human-ish but that's the basics right there.

For the Warriors...

have got to figure out how to make these

For the Grey Knights...

So expensive, but so worth it

For the Dread Knight...

By the Machine God! That almost makes me want to buy a dreadknight...

For the Dreadnoughts I have my own Ideas but this is a great start.

While I am building Grey Knights for now, one day I will return and forge this list, make it look beutiful and then kneel before the Alter of Technology and worship my God...

Turns out you CAN buy salvation...

Comments... and suggestions...

Divine Intervention... An idea of mine

The Epic burns my Eyes!!!

So, after looking over the Grey Knight codex I found one little trick no one else is talking about. What is it you say? Well, I was looking over the fluff and thought to myself,

"Aren't Grey Knights supposed to be specialized in teleporting in exactly where and when they are needed? Why doesnt the codex allow the army to be good at massive deep strikes?"

Then I read over the army list and said, "never mind" and built this...

HQ: Inquisitor w Force Weapon and Psychic Communion                                          55pts

HQ: Inquisitor w Force Weapon and Psychic Communion                                          55pts


Troops: 10 Terminators; 2 w hammer, 2 w psycannon and Halbred, 6 with Halberds 450pts

Troops: 10 Terminators; 2 w hammer, 2 w psycannon and Halbred, 6 with Halberds 450pts
Troops: 10 Terminators; 2 w hammer, 2 w psycannon and Halbred, 6 with Halberds 450pts
Fast Attack: 10 Interceptors with 2 psycannons, Justicar with hammer                       290pts

Total                                                                                                                        1750pts

See what I have here, If you know anything about reserves and how Communion works, well...

This is all about working the system.

Anybody remember Ninja tau? Ninja tau was about using some weird equiptment to make your entire army be locked in resereve untill the last turn in which they rush onto the board, kill the enemy, take the objectives and let the game end.

It wasnt good, It involved letting one unit out a turn and even then the Tau army functions by inter working unit's fire over turns. It was a gimmick, nothing more. I know, I was able to smack down these lists before.

So why am I bringing this up again?

Because Grey Knights have a way of playing the reserves denial game in a much more stable way.

I personally think this army should go second, aim for that. (explain it in a bit)

Think about it, turn one you hide both Inquisitors behind rocks or other terrain which on a fair board should exist. (if there isn't any put them in cover with the Interceptors and let them soak the wounds coming at them)







Then the enemy will either deploy in reserves or in a position to defend against you. then you think.


Turn two the enemy will either have an army waiting for you with popped smoke or half still in reserve, if smoked, you can wait till next turn all 4 of your reserves rolls only bring in a unit on a role of a 6 thanks to Communion

Turn three the enemy will have wasted his smoke, or will have even more units marching on, waiting for an army of terminators to just show up. You can either spring your trap, or play luck as your units now come in on 5+ depending on the army you can decide, its still 30 terminators, you should know by know what they can or cant take on.

In fact that determines the whole focus of the force: You have to know the right time to strike. This is a finesse army, not a sledgehammer like the DeathWing

Think the army looks small... look at how it looks when it combats squads and lands 13-24" away from you

Troops: 5 Terminators; 1 w hammer, 1 w psycannon and Halbred, 3 with Halberds  
Troops: 5 Terminators; 1 w hammer, 1 w psycannon and Halbred, 3 with Halberds  
Troops: 5 Terminators; 1 w hammer, 1 w psycannon and Halbred, 3 with Halberds  

Troops: 5 Terminators; 1 w hammer, 1 w psycannon and Halbred, 3 with Halberds 

Troops: 5 Terminators; 1 w hammer, 1 w psycannon and Halbred, 3 with Halberds
Troops: 5 Terminators; 1 w hammer, 1 w psycannon and Halbred, 3 with Halberds  

5 Interceptors with psycannon

5 Interceptors with psycannon, Justicar with hammer

Its only 8 psycannons, but 6 are planted on relentless Terminators, thats 28 shots at 8 targets, enough to shake/stun big stuff and fry rhinos/chimeras. Its an alpha strike you control. Can the enemy reliably stop you their next turn which is turn four or five? Well, its one thing to have to kill 30 terminators in 6 turns, another in 3-2 all the while your shooting him dead.

This doesn't play like other Deep Strike armies because it has a huge advantage. It is durable and has long range guns. I'm not landing within 12" so I can melta you, I have the luxury to be 24 inches out, and still fry you. Bubble wrap isn't as much as a hassle as I just shoot over them. You wonder why Death Wing is so scary? This army gets the same alpha strike advantage except without the many of the disadvantages 

Being aware of when you strike is important too, remember how I said you want to go second, here's why:

TURN1   Top:
                Bottom:

TURN2   Top:

                Bottom:

TURN3   Top:

                Bottom:

TURN4   Top:

                Bottom:

TURN5   Top:

                Bottom:

TURN6   Top:

                Bottom:

TURN7   Top:

                Bottom:

Lets say you wait till the third turn to deep strike and you are on the bottom of the turns, how does that work?

TURN1   Top: waits

                Bottom: waits


TURN2   Top: waits

                Bottom: waits

TURN3   Top: waits

                Bottom: strikes and shoots

TURN4   Top: fires back

                Bottom: fires back

TURN5   Top: fires back

                Bottom: fires back

TURN6   Top: fires back

                Bottom: fires back

TURN7   Top: fires back

                Bottom: fires back

Notice how at most you are playing a five turn game and your opponent only has four of his turns to shoot at you while you have 5 to shoot, including the first shot. Imagine then if you waited till fourth turn... now you see what I mean.

Now I have to test play this. I need too work out nuances and so forth, such as weather to have ten man squads and then combat squad or 5 man squads and subtle nuances.

At 1850 I upgrade a unit of Terms to Paladins and add Thawn because he is one of the most annoying models in the game and he looks cool.

Have the Codex... much to get done

So I now have the codex in my hands (about time) and am going to start studying.

Will be writing articles soon.

Continuing on... Dreadknights

So... Looking over Dread Knights... what do I think?

Honestly? I think it doesn't fit... but lets look this over and figure out why I feel that.

If you have your codex's on you take a second to look over this thing.

Its a four wound monstrous creature with a 2+/5++ for 170pts

I might want to add that he doesn't even have the cool teleporter that makes him work.

Its guns, while cool looking, arent worth a dime cause this is a close combat dude,

seriously, every model in my army has a storm bolter or psycannon and they want me to buy a Gattling Psilancer? I hope that's a joke ^_^. It isn't? Well...

He doesn't even have enough attacks to reliably kill a tactical squad in two turns. That's Bad, really bad. The usefulness of creatures like him are to charge squads, kill half, then sweep the squad in your opponent's battle phase and then charge something next turn. In my calculations he can kill squads by my next battle phase, leaving him in the open to be shot.

God forbid he gets caught in combat with gaunts, orks, or stubborn guard.

Now just to drive my point home lets see what I could use him for...

Alpha Striker: With a Grand Master I can push him into your face on turn one and assault you. Problem with this though any smart opponent will be ready for this and at most you will be smashing a rhino, then you will die. Honestly, Interceptors do this job better because they have 24" psycannons and str 8 or 10 deamon hammers. They can possibly shoot open transports and then charge. DreadKnights I don't see having that chance and then they are left out in the open, waiting to die.

Close Combat Monster: Its a Nurgle Deamon Prince, I'm pretty sure people are capable of stopping this thing. If this cant even beat thunder/shield terminators reliably...well I don't think it deserves the label of Assault Specialist. It can fight in assault, but for its cost it sure isn't a Mephiston or a Vect...That's for sure.

"Shoot ME" distraction unit: A friend of mine wants to use his as a distraction unit for his army and while he is playing a vehicle heavy army that sounds like a great idea, all the heavy weapons aiming at him instead of your dreadnoughts and vehicles...wait... this thing has no good long range guns, its only dangerouse up close. Of course the enemy wont fall for that. At most he might move some units around so your 200+pt monster can only smash small pointless units. Again, nobody's afraid of a deamon prince, even if he has a 2+ save. This guy even has to work hard to get a cover save If you want a good distraction unit and are already spending 200 pts pay up 25 more and get a Terminator squad with Psycannon. That's five 2+/5++ wounds with a real gun and great combat powers. Deep strike it turn two where the enemy doesn't want it, In cover as well, and now you have a scary target that the opponent wants to get rid of. You can even go to ground.

Objective guarder/seizer: Ok, so I'm going to take a 175pt HQ to make my 205pts Dreadknight, which is too big to get cover most of the time, to go babysit an objective instead of a 220pt unit of 10 Grey Knights with 2 psycannons. Someones going to try this and honestly I dont see it working out as they planned. People can be ready for this, I know I would be.

Last turn objective denial: Intercepters can do this better for half the cost, really, its not that hard. There is even a smaller foot print to help them get close to the objective. Try maneuvering the DreadKnights base around , yeah, not going to happen.

Now I don't want to poo poo my readers, this is my opinion and I personal believe that it isn't the best. Will I get one someday? Most likely, when I figure out how to make it not look like a kangaroo pouched terminator.