Batrep: Necrons Vs Chaos Space Marines, 1750 pts

Figured I'd get in one more batrep for 2012, this time with my Necrons, because I just wanted an excuse to go to battle with my lovely new Necron T-shirt. The Crimson King marches!

My List:
Overlord with Mindshackle Scarabs, Warscythe, Sempiternal Weave, Phase Shifter and Resurrection Orb
Destroyer Lord with Sempiternal Weave and Mindshackle Scarabs

20 Warriors and a Ghost Ark with a Harbinger of Eternity, Chronometron
9 Warriors and a Ghost Ark with a Harbinger of Destruction, Solar Pulse
9 Warriors with a Harbinger of Destruction

6 Canoptek Wraiths, 2 with Whip Coils and a Particle Caster
5 Scarabs
5 Scarabs

Warlord Trait: Master of the Vanguard (pfft...)

 I've taken this list out once before, against CK's Chaos Marines, and they performed admirably, essentially ending the game in 3 turns. This time round, though I aimed to put the Destroyer Lord's Preferred Enemy USR to good use, letting him hang with the Crimson King and the Warrior blob.

Ian's List:
Chaos Lord on a Bike, with Mark of Slaanesh, Veterans of the Long War, Sigil of Corruption and the Murder Sword (aiming at the Crimson King)
5 Chaos Bikers with Mark of Slaanesh, VotLW, 2 meltaguns and combimelta and powerfist for the Champion

12 Noise Marines with VotLW, Blastmaster, 8 Sonic Blasters
12 Noise Marines with VotLW, Blastmaster, 7 Sonic Blasters
6 Chaos Marines with Mark of Slaanesh, VotLW, 1 meltagun and combimelta and power sword for the Champion, all in a Rhino

3 x Predators with Lascannon sponsons and Twin-linked Lascannon turret
2 x Hell Blade

Warlord Trait: The Dust of a Thousand Worlds

I'd encountered Ian's Chaos Marines twice before. The first time was one of my first outings with my Mechanized Angels, and was a valuable education for me as I learnt just how to move with a mechanized army. The second time I faced them with my Necrons, and the pink marines were lain low by a combination of horrible luck and overwhelming firepower. Now the pink marines were back with a vengeance and, notably 8 twin-linked autocannon shots worth of airborne support. And here I am, caught with not a single flyer! Ah, well. Nothing to deter the Crimson King. To battle, I say!

Mission: The Relic
Deployment: Dawn of War. I won the roll off and deployed first. Night fighting was not active on the first turn.

Nothing fancy about either deployments. My Necrons were arrayed in the usual fashion - The Crimson King and his blob, marching down the centre, flanked by the Ghost Arks and Annihilation Barges, and a team of Scarabs on each flank. I kept the Wraiths and Destroyer Lord close to the centre, so I could send the Destroyer Lord to join the Warriors and put that Preferred Enemy to good use.

Interestingly, Ian opted to face my formation head on with his Noise Marines. Granted, he had a pretty hefty amount of anti-infantry firepower, but nothing to compare with Sean's Dark Eldar, so I wasn't really worried about them posing any real threat to my Warriors. The Predators were clustered in a corner, no doubt looking to start chewing into my vehicles from one end and work their way to the other end.

My plan on seeing our deployments was simple enough. My Warrior blob would engulf the Relic and walk away with it. Anything that came close would get shredded by massed gauss fire. All other elements of my army, notably the Scarabs and the Wraiths, were expendable and were there to draw hostile attention away from the Crimson King and the blob. So, here we go...

Looking forward: Projects for 2013!

Ah, well it's been a good year for gaming, but man, my worktable is a mess! So much stuff to work on, and so little time! Here's an army-by-army lowdown on my grande plannes for 2013, starting with the 40k side.

Blood Angels
No plans whatsoever for any expansion. I am happy with the state of my Blood Angels, especially when they're paired with the Crimson Guard. What I'd like to work on now with the Blood Angels is:
a) a workable Descent of Angels list; and
b) putting Terminators and my lovely Land Raider Redeemer to good use.

NEED BATTLE NAOW!!!

Dark Angels

Back then, Space Marine anatomy was subject to... artistic license.

Deathwing, hell yeah! It was 1st edition Space Hulk that first drew me to 40k and it's because of that that my first army is Blood Angels. Naturally, I've been interested in Deathwing for the longest time, but never got round to it, mostly because I didn't like having to muck about with a clunky 4th ed codex. Now the Dark Angels are making a comeback, I'm most eager to put together a Dark Angels army, starting with a small continget to ally with my Blood Angels...

Necrons
I've had 2 flyers waiting for me for quite a while now, and for the moment I'm looking to field either 2 Doom Scythes or one Night Scythe and one Doom Scythe. Still thinking a bit on this one. I do love my good old Necron Warrior horde, but it's high time this list moved with the times and got some air support.

Chaos
My Black Legion army currently holds a special place in my heart for being both the least successful and the most entertaining and characterful of all my armies. I don't know if I've mentioned it before but I'm a big fan of the new codex and the possibilities it opens up.

The tremendous versatility of the basic Chaos Marines have made for a pretty solid troops choice which has thus far performed brilliantly in every battle. The Bikers and the Spikey Bikey Lord have also been consistent performers (mostly) and the promise of insane bloody violence that they carry in every game guarantees that they'll get a LOT of attention any time they take to the field.

The Defiler is probably going to be shelved for a while, in favour of cheaper, more reliable dakka, i.e. Autocannon Havocs!

Yay!

That having been said, they performed atrociously on their first outing, killing a total of 2 (!) of Ian's Traitor Guardsmen before getting pinged to pieces by lasguns. Admittedly, these guys don't quite fit with my playstyle, as I tend to favour a more in-your-face strategy. Still, I like the maths of it, and given that it's only 115 pts for the team of 5 Havocs, I figure I can afford to experiment with them.

Another expansion I've got on the way is a Helldrake, which should be arriving next year. Keep an eye out for that...

And lastly, the other direction in which I'm looking to expand the Black Legion is with the addition of Chaos Terminators, led by a Sorceror in Terminator Armour.

Also, I might want to make use of this guy:

 Still a work in progress, but it's an excellent model and I'm looking for an excuse to put it on the board.


Grey Knights
What Grey Knights? No, seriously, I've no reason to touch my little contingent of Grey Knights for a long, long time...

Imperial Guard
No plans for any major expansion, as I've no intention of building up the Crimson Guard into a real army just yet.  They just function so well as an allied contingent! Maybe I'll put together a Company Command Squad with some mean-ass guns on them, but the Crimson Guard are excellent as they are now, with the Lord Commissar and the Veterans in a Chimera, accompanied by a Vendetta and either a Manticore or a Leman Russ, depending on my mood.

Now the Warmachine...

Khador
Well, the Dark Prince just arrived in the mail, so I'll be getting him painted up ASAP. Add 1 Devastator and 1 Spriggan and I daresay that's it for my involvement with Khador, at least until the day arrives that Privateer Press decides to produce plastic Iron Fangs. 

Menoth
I've been dabbing bits of paint on my Knights Exemplar and Cinerators for months now and you know what? White is the most fricking tedious colour to paint, EVER! I've had enough, and I'm going to get started on them again, with a nice can of Krylon... This is probably the major project for 2013: The Exemplar army...

IG: Sabres vs Heavy Weapon Squads

Got in a game yesterday against Ian's Traitor Guard. He uses massive swarms of painstakingly converted Infantry Squads and it's always a pleasure to take on an army with so much effort put into it. The last time I faced this army was with my Necrons in 5th Ed, I think, at which point Ian quickly learnt the horrors of facing Tesla weapons with masses of infantry.

This time round, I used Chaos Space Marines with IG allies (for the Vendetta and a Leman Russ, of course) and got defeated after a good close scrap. Ian's army has received a massive upgrade in the form of 8(!!!) Sabre Weapon Platforms (see Imperial Armour Aeronautica). If you're a Guard player, these are a seriously powerful upgrade to your army. These things can be taken in batteries of 1-3 guns instead of a Heavy Weapons Squad in an Infantry Platoon. Now let's take a look at the numbers:

Heavy Weapons Squad with 3 Lascannons
105 pts
3 stands of T3 W2 flak armoured infantry.
3 shots of BS3 Lascannons.
Probability of missing completely = 12.50%

2 Lascannon Sabres with extra crewmen
104 pts
2 x T7 W2 artillery pieces with a 3+ armour save and 2 plain Guardsmen crew members each
2 twin-linked BS3 Lascannons WITH Skyfire AND Interceptor AND free Defense Searchlights. Oh, and the Scout USR.
Probability of missing completely = 6.25%

The sheer disparity in bang for your buck is staggering. Honestly, with Sabres, what possible reason is there to ever field plain Heavy Weapons Squads? You can also kit them out with Heavy Bolters, Autocannons and, for some inexplicable reason, Heavy Stubbers. All twin-linked, Skyfire, Interceptor and what-have-you.

The only downside to the Sabre is the price tag. GBP 22 for one, compared to the Heavy Weapons Squad's GBP 24 for 3 bases. But think about it: without the extra crewman, you can put 15 of these things on the board for 750 pts. 30 T7 wounds. 15 twin-linked lascannon shots with Skyfire and Interceptor to maul any Flyer that dares come onto the board. That leaves you 1000 pts to devote to other threats, like infantry swarms or AV14 rudeness, and as we all know the Imperial Guard has a gun for every occasion.

So, what do you think? Is there any point to Heavy Weapon Teams when you can have Sabres?

Hobby: Cheapass forests

I like nice scenery and everything, but when we're talking tabletop wargaming terrain, there's always the trade-off between aesthetics and practicality to consider. One thing I've always found lacking in the FLGS's that I frequent is the lack of forest terrain that shows a nice, clearly defined patch of forest that doesn't really interfere with the model's movement in any way. Here's a cheap (MYR 13.50, to be precise) way to get some foliage that your precious models can stand on and, even if your big, metal Dreadnought falls all over it, won't chip your beautiful paint job.

Step one, get a green rubber doormat:

Step two, draw out some suitably shaped patches on the back with a handy dandy Sharpie:

Step three, cut them shapes out and battle! Note how even my most top-heavy models, the Sanguinary Guard, can easily stand on this stuff... 

Anyways, hope this helps. Happy wargaming,y'all...

From the depths of the internet... Dark Angels incoming!

Saw these floating around the intertoobs. That can of ivory paint is looking like a very worthwhile investment right about now. I'm not so sure about the new Land Speeder, though...

Brief Batrep: Blood Angels vs Dark Eldar, 1750pts

Finally got a chance to play against Sean's Dark Eldar - a Venomspam list with an insane amount of anti-infantry firepower. In this battle, I kind of returned to my roots with mechanized Blood Angels. This one's going to be somewhat abbreviated from my usual batreps as it was so gloriously fast violent I neglected to take nearly enough photos. My bad...

My Mech Angels:

The Razorbacks go to war again!

Librarian
3 x 5-man Assault squads with 2 Infernus Pistols and a meltagun in a Razorback with Lascannon & twin-linked plasmagun
5-man Devastator squad with 4 missile launchers in a Razorback with twin-linked assault cannon
2 x Predators with autocannon and lascannon sponsons
Stormraven with hurricane bolters
Squadron of 2 Land Speeder Typhoons
Baal Predator

I only just realized on writing this batrep that I'd mixed up the Stormraven's place in the Force Organization Chart; I thought it was a Fast Attack choice! And this list comes to 1,730 pts only! Ah, well... Note to self: Switch out a Combipred for another Baal Predator next time. I only brought 1 Stormraven this time, seeing as 2 Stormravens is often a little more flying firepower than is sporting at my FLGS. The general strategy with this list is as follows:

- Librarian rides alone in the Stormraven, using Prescience and whatever Divination powers come in handy to make sure the Stormraven hurts stuff.
- the Razorback squads zip around and generally make a nuisance of themselves, choosing the right moment to dart forward and let the Assault squads within nuke something with their melta weapons when the opportunity arises. The Devastators' Razorback will be following closely and just tearing into whatever it can with that assault cannon.
- long range fire support will be provided by the Devastators and the Combipreds.
- the Baal and Typhoons wait in reserve for a chance to put their firepower where it really hurts.

Sean's Venomspam:

 2 Haemonculi with Liquifiers
3 x 4 Kaballite Trueborn with 4 blasters in a Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons
6 x 5 Warriors with a blaster in a Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons
3 x Ravagers with 3 Dark Lances and flickerfields

1,734 pts, by my reckoning. Those Venoms are toting 108 shots of splintery death and maiming, and the rest of the army has 36 S8 Lance shots. Vicious as hell. With that volume of shots, I'm not sure even my Stormraven could handle that. I'd never fought Dark Eldar before this battle, and this list is quite typical of many Dark Eldar lists I'd seen floating on the Net in the age of 5th Edition, so I was pretty sure it would be a solid match for my Angels.

Mission: The Scouring
Deployment: Vanguard Strike. I won the roll off and deployed first. Night fighting was not active on the first turn.

No Nightfighting and lots of targets. Those who know my playstyle will know I've little interest in objectives and mostly play to cause maximum carnage. I've a fair amount of gunishment at my disposal and with the Dark Eldar's speed, I figured there's no point in hanging back but would do better to send the Razorbacks in for a vicious scrum in the centre with my heavy support elements smashing targets of opportunity. The Typhoons, Baal and Stormraven waited in reserve and were set to arrive with a bang. So... here we go...

Other hobby updates

My Blood Angels have been seeing quite a bit of action lately as I experiment with getting the right balance of killy and fun. Hobby-wise, however, they are at a near-total standstill, other than the occasional dab of paint every now and then. Anyway, never mind them, here's what's been going on on other fronts...

Delivering the wrath of the Emperor...

... and the Crimson King! Christmas came early in my feline-infested household. Behold! The Mug of Righteous Wrath!

This here T-shirt confers a 6+ armour save and 5+ Reanimation Protocols... 

And here's a little something for when the Stormravens arrive, guns blazing...

And something to keep the dice and counters happy as the Winter Guard march for the glory of Khador...

That flag was a work in progress for months. Busy people, we are...

Ah, I love my girlfriend... :-)

Batrep: Blood Angels & Guard vs Chaos Space Marines, 1750pts

Given the resounding success of my Blood Angel & Guard list against Edwin's Tyranids, I figured I'd had enough of that list and would really rather not inflict that level of killiness on anyone, at least no-one without some way to deal with my flyers. That having been said, it's still pretty weak in terms of claiming primary objectives, and 6th ed really is a game of objectives. So, I figured I'd give it one more spin against a list CK was putting together. Regardless of the objective actually rolled, my purpose in playing this game was to see how my list would be able handle a more conventional MEQ list. 

My List:
The Blood Angels
Reclusiarch with infernus pistol and melta bombs
Furioso Dreadnought with frag cannon and heavy flamer
7 Death Company with 2 infernus pistols and 2 power axes
Death Company Dreadnought with Blood Talons
2 Stormravens with twin-linked multimelta, twin-linked assault cannon and hurricane bolters

Land Speeder Typhoon
Land Speeder Typhoon

The Crimson Guard
Lord Commissar
Sly Marbo
Veteran Squad with 3 Grenade Launchers in a Chimera
Vendetta
Manticore

Warlord Trait:Strategic Genius

Nothing new to this list. I've used it before, and it does what it does with startling brutality. The Warlord Trait I rolled made it even more reliable, meaning very bad news for CK in Turn 2.

CK's Iron Warriors:
Chaos Lord with Mark of Khorne, Axe of Blind Fury, Gift of Mutation and Sigil of Corruption, on a Juggernaut
Warpsmith
Hellbrute
Hellbrute
10 Khorne Berserkers with Icon of Wrath, champion with Gift of Mutation and power sword
Land Raider
10 Chaos Marines in a Rhino with 2 plasma guns, champion with power fist
9 Chaos Marines in a Rhino with 1 meltagun, champion with power fist
2 Chaos Spawn with the Mark of Khorne
Maulerfiend with lasher tendrils 
5 Havocs with 4 missile launchers and flakk missile upgrades

*Note: By my reckoning, this comes to 1,791 pts.*

Warlord Trait: Master of Maneuvre

The 5 Havocs certainly caught my eye. I had done the maths before, and a salvo of 4 flakk missiles has a 7% chance of nuking a Stormraven. Fine by me. The Hellbrutes struck me as interesting, and given CK's leanings towards close combat brutality in his previous list, this list seemed pretty solid to me, with sufficient numbers of power-armoured bodies for holding objectives and enough close combat punch to give even the Death Company a run for their money.

Mission: Purge the Alien
Deployment: Dawn of War. I won the roll off and deployed first. Night fighting was active on the first turn.

Well, given the mission we rolled for, CK wasn't too optimistic about the outcome, and who can blame him? My army is designed to kill with almost no regard for taking and holding primary objectives. As such, this was a simple exercise in survival for CK and for me, it was about wiping every trace of his army off the table...

As usual, the Furioso Dreadnought rode in one Stormraven, now dubbed Goldraven since I've given it yellow stripes on its wings. The Death Company elements rode in the other, dubbed Blackraven.  This time, just because I could, I kept a Typhoon in reserve. Alrighty, then, the stage was set, lets roll some dice!

My 2 Khador Armies: pButcher and pSorscha, 35 pts

This is just a quick post detailing the 2 army lists which I've been using with reasonable success. Now, I'm no tournament champion and I'm not in any way claiming these armies will maul everything they come up against. What I will say, however, is that these armies have evolved over several games at the FLGS where I get my weekly Warmahordes fix and, to date, they've performed well enough to have a good fighting chance against pretty much any army I've encountered. These armies are pretty straightforward in their strategies, with relatively little in the way of diabolical shenanigans and as such, lend themselves very well to introducing the art of Warmachine to newbies.

Basic Butchery

 This is the first list I can say I got proficient with, and the one that has won me the most victories. Quite conveniently, I've a batrep showing this list in action.

The general strategy is pretty much the same in all engagements. Close in carefully, with the Winter Guard taking the fore and Drakhun, Manhunter and Widowmakers on the flanks. The jacks form the 2nd wave, advancing close by the Butcher and his dog. Then push forward using the feat and a flurry of CRAs from the Winter Guard as the main punch. If possible, use the Drakhun or Manhunter to get a good charge in, because rolling 5 dice to damage is just awesome. I find that, under the influence of the feat, the Winter Guard are best used firing their CRAs in pairs; 5 or 6 shots of POW 14 + 3d6 damage is often quite enough to deal crippling damage to a heavy warjack or warbeast. And if the opponent decided to lead with his light, high-DEF infantry, just switch to grapeshot, let Kovnik Joe boost the attack rolls and watch as everything within 8" of the mighty Winter Guard just disintegrates in killer shrapnel.

An alternative strategy to use against a more aggressive opponent would be to use the Winter Guard as a cushion to catch the opponent's charge, then countercharge with the feat, Full Throttle and 2 very angry jacks. Taking the enemy's charge on the Winter Guard isn't as painful as it sounds. Put Iron Flesh and Bob n' Weave on the Guard, you've got 15 DEF 17 infantry as your screen. With Kovnik Joe, they're Tough, too! As for the countercharge, with the Butcher's feat and Full Throttle, that's boosted attack and damage rolls and charges for the meagre price of 3 Focus, with not a single one placed on the jacks themselves.

Whichever of the two strategies are used, both converge towards the same endgame. The Butcher has no interesting spells to execute flashy maneuvres or assassination runs from hitherto unforeseen angles. After popping the feat, the objective is simply to kill everything within reach. Against most competent players, this will result in the two armies being depleted to just a few models, and this is pretty much where the Butcher shines. With his excellent armour (and DEF, with Iron Flesh) and tremendous melee power, there are very few single models in Warmahordes that can stand up to a one-on-one fight with the Butcher. 

 Red Gunishment

This is a list geared towards ranged assassination. If, like me, you're wont to checking points totals, you will find this list comes to 37 pts. Note, however, that this is pSorscha's Tier 1 list, which allows me to pick up Kovnik Joe for free.

As usual, the Winter Guard form the screen. The Widowmakers will loiter around a flank, picking off targets of opportunity and generally being a nuisance. Following closely behind the Winter Guard are the Destroyers and Sorscha. At the rear, the Mortar Crews. The initial stages, while closing with the enemy, are spent pounding anything that gets within range with the many guns at my disposal. Of course, these guns aren't anywhere as precise as those of say, Cygnar or Scyrah. So, the trick is to keep Sorscha close to the front lines, moving forward, firing her Tempest and hopefully knocking something down for the Destroyers and mortars to brutalize, then darting back with Wind Rush. Alternatively, feed the Destroyers some Focus to deal some heavy hits. All this is simply a build-up to the good-bit: Sorscha darts forward, pops her feat, freezes the enemy caster, then the Destroyers and Mortar Crew go to work. If the enemy caster has some models crowded round to block line of sight, just feat anyway and whack something nearby with Tempest.

Thanks to Wind Rush and Boundless Charge, it can be surprisingly difficult for an opposing caster to escape Sorscha's feat. And of course, anyone wielding this list would do well to remember that Sorscha herself has a pretty decent weapon with Reach. If guns are not an option, Sorscha can zip up to 19" away to deal a killing blow to the more fragile breed of caster.

And that's the way my two Khadoran armies roll. I'm pretty pleased with how they've turned out. A strong core of Winter Guard and Widowmakers, and I've 2 armies with dramatically different strategies from one another, which is rather awesome, because I do get bored pretty quickly. My only regret with these 2 lists is that only after I'd acquired them, Privateer Press released this. I have to say, they look excellent, and now I find myself tempted to try putting together Supreme Kommandant Irusk's list with 2 Winter Guard Deathstars....