Ok, so I played Apocalypse....

... and I loved it. It was a most pleasant surprise, and I was proven very, very wrong about it. That having been said, there were quite a few things about this game that were drastically different from the previous time I'd played an Apocalypse scale game, most notably:

1) Scale - The last time I played, it was 6 players putting whatever the hell they could on the board. Frankly, it was a right, mess, and while it looked pretty cool to see such a ludicrous number of models in one place, it took an insane amount of time to set up and play a turn. Hell, that game didn't even really get very far past Turn 3. And despite the huge area we had available, the table was crowded as hell. It really didn't look like 2 skillfully wielded armies as much as 2 colourful mobs mashing together in a riot.

In this game, it was a 3 vs 3 battle, Chaos Marines vs Regular Marines + 2 Blood Angels (I was on the Chaos side), with each player fielding ~2,000pts, for a neat total of 6,000 pts a side. Big enough to be significantly bigger than a regular game, and small enough not to eat up an entire day. In fact, due to a cunning strategy from my team and a little luck, the game took about 5 hours, including lunch.

2) Organization - This event was planned flawlessly. Hats off to Wong for the insane amount of effort he'd put in to a game he wasn't even playing in. Over the course of a month, the players were briefed, army lists compiled, checked, strategies discussed, army lists checked again, minor battles affecting the main event were organized, strategies rethought, debated again, all contributing to an excellent buildup to an excellent event.

There was Photoshop and characterful trash talk, too. How awesome is that? 

When the day actually came, my team reviewed a plan that took several days in the making, deployed with military efficiency, and executed the plan magnificently. The result? By the end of Turn 4, the enemy was left with 3 models on the board, huddling in the crater where their Stormraven had crashed and burned, whereas the Chaos side had lost 4 units.

Soon...

I swear, it's going to be a long, LONG time before I even consider fielding a second drake...

Ah, the majesty... Still plenty of little details to fill in, though. Wait a minute...

Gadzooks, it's TROGDOOOOOOOR!!!

Crisis suit or Chibi Gundam?

So, I clapped eyes upon the useful bits of the Farsight Enclaves supplement. You know, the army bits, because who gives a toss about Farsight's fluff, eh? And here's my idea for a Tau list...

Man, Helldrakes are tedious...

Progress is slow, but it's still progress... I'm finally getting round to painting up my Helldrake. Started by spraying it black, then a band of Krylon Burgundy around the middle, followed by Army Painter Pure Red around the head and front tips of the wings. Why? Well, apart from the fact that I like red, there are just way too many black Helldrakes in my FLGS! So, here's how it's looking...

First stage of real painting: Blacking out everything that's not going to be red. I also dulled the red a bit with a wash of Carroburg Crimson. 

The tedious bit: Lots and lots and lots of gold banding... 

A closer look at the head. I put a little more effort into the business end of the drake, with a bit of brass to break the monotony of painting gold for hours and hours...  

A new member to the family!

Haven't had a reason for Khador to march for bloody ages, but now Warmachine is picking up steam at the FLGS, at long, long last, the Spriggan has been painted...

All it needs now are a couple of decals, some tundra grass, a little snow, and that's that...

On the workbench...

So, 6th edition 40k is in full swing at my FLGS, and trends have come and gone, only for the next thing to come marching over the horizon. Some of my armies have coped with change well; others, not so. So here's a quick round up of the armies and what's going on with them...

Seriously, Forge World, WTF?

First, look at this:

That's Forge World's lovely Javelin Attack Speeder. Now, look at this and explain to me if there any point whatsoever to taking a Land Speeder Typhoon. Seriously, only the Dark Angels can match it for pts cost, and even then the Javelin has the armour of a Rhino, AND it's Cyclone missile launcher is twin-linked.

To reiterate:
1. It's 15 pts cheaper than a Land Speeder Typhoon (except for cheapass Dark Angels).
2. It has more armour.
3. Its main weapon is twin-linked.

This is quite possibly the best use of 75 pts possible for a Space Marine player, and guess what? It's available at Forge World for the paltry sum of GBP55. Yes, that's right, 50 pence shy of THREE TIMES the price of a Land Speeder. You know what, Forge Word can go f**k themselves...

中華人民共和國萬歲!

There are bad days...

... and then there's today.

I know what my FTO list is like. It has weaknesses, to be sure, and that's a LOT of eggs to put in 2 baskets, albeit AV12 baskets with more firepower than most main battle tanks of the 41st millenium. I've fielded it many times before, and long since learnt what kind of opposition to expect. You know what I didn't expect? To get tabled on Turn 2 because BOTH Stormravens failed to arrived. TWO games in a row. Followed by a third game of failing EVERY reserve roll there was to fail. Imagine going 7 turns of 40k, at 1,750pts, with a 1,285pt handicap.

I did not have a good day.

The Crimson King marches... differently....

This weekend I decided to field the Crimson King a little differently. I started off with a minor deviation from my usual list, i.e. the list I'd been using for several months, ever since I got my grubby paws on the Doom Scythes.

So I threw in this guy:

I don't usually use named characters, but I figured it would be cool if the Crimson Guard were in some way actually different from the rest of the herd. So, I made some room to add this guy to the Crimson Guard. For those who don't know about Illuminor Szeras, he can upgrade one unit of Warriors or Immortals to have either +1 BS, +1 T or +1 S, determined randomly before the game begins. As an added bonus, Illuminor Szeras brings an eldritch lance and a gaze of flame to the blob, making it that much more versatile and difficult to charge.

That trial run went rather well, so I fiddled around with the list some more, ending up with something significantly different to the old phalanx. Here's what it looks like:

Overlord with Mindshackle Scarabs, Warscythe, Sempiternal Weave, Phase Shifter and Resurrection Orb
Illuminor Szeras
A Royal Court of 4 Harbingers of Destruction, one with a solar pulse
20 Warriors (the Crimson Guard) and a Ghost Ark with a Harbinger of Eternity, Chronometron
10 Immortals with tesla carbines, led by Lord with Mindshackle Scarabs, Warscythe and Resurrection Orb
9 Warriors
Night Scythe
Night Scythe
Annihilation Barge
Annihilation Barge
6 Canoptek Wraiths, 2 with Whip Coils

The Crimson King, of course, marches with the Crimson Guard and Szeras. Directly behind them is the Ghost Ark, with the Royal Court inside taking pot shots at whatever needs the attentions of 4 eldritch lances. The Night Scythes are there mainly to take out aerial threats and deposit the Immortals and the Warriors where they can be most disruptive. Once that mission is complete, they can just fly about brutalizing whatever they can reach with their tesla destructors. Coupled with the Annihilation Barges, that's a lot of S7 shooting that will pretty much wipe the board clean of light vehicles and severely threaten light to medium infantry.

I just tested this list today, and I'd say it definitely gets the job done. The thing about Necrons is that 6 Wraiths are absolutely excellent at disrupting any plans your opponent may have. With their ability to pretty much ignore terrain and deep strike, nothing short of a flyer is safe, and anything they can't kill is going to have a lousy time extricating itself out of combat with them.

I like this list. It's a refreshing change from my old phalanx-style list, and I daresay it's time to start kitbashing some new Crypteks and a Szeras...

This Angel and that Angel...

This weekend, I decided to dust off some old, old models who haven't seen action since... September last year, by my reckoning...

So, out they came, and I banged together a happy little list, with some allies to spice things up:

Librarian with jump pack
Honour Guard; one with thunder hammer and meltagun; 2 with lightning claws (one each) and meltaguns; one with storm shield; all with jump packs
2 Sanguinary Priests with jump packs
10 man Assault Squad with 2 meltaguns and power fist for the sergeant
10 man Assault Squad with 2 meltaguns and power fist for the sergeant
10 man Assault Squad with 2 flamers and power sword and meltabombs for the sergeant
Stormraven with hurricane bolters

Lord Commissar
10 Veterans with 3 grenade launchers
Vendetta gunship

I was initially thinking of a 2nd Stormraven and moar wargear instead of the Guard contingent, but I figured it might be a good idea to have a scoring unit about while the Blood Angels go and beat people up. And, of course, is there a better use of 130 pts than a Vendetta?

I tried this in 2 games...