FAQs are here!

The FAQs are up, and the world of 40k is shaken most mightily. Of particular note is that ALL the 5th ed codices (Grey Knights, Blood Angels, Space Wolves) and the Orks have lost their codex specific psychic powers in favour of the new 7th ed powers.

It is also worth noting that the little summary card that comes with the Psychic Power Cards was in fact meant to indicate what powers could possibly be taken in a faction, but is NOT a blanket statement determining what is available to all psykers within that faction.For example, Chaos Marine players rejoiced on seeing Divination get a tick in its happy little box. However, that just refers to such things as the Hamadrya or the Banestar of Mammon. Alas, the Master of the Corvidae, Ahriman, STILL has no access to Divination. Shame on you, GW...

Here's what's going on with the other factions I play:

Blood Angels
Fine, no more Sanguine Sword and what-have-you. I can live with that. And I can definitely live with the fact that upgrading a Librarian to a Epistolary is now 25 pts, rather than the insanely priced 50 pts. Also, the Furioso Librarian is a level 2 psyker, which makes more sense.

On the downside, Blood Angels still have the most absurdly expensive Land Speeder Typhoons, at 90 pts compared to the rest of the Imperium's 75 pts. Also, there appears to be some kind of typo - Blood Angel Razorbacks, Rhinos, Vindicators, Whirlwinds and Predators have all lost Fast. Since there was no accompanying revision to the points costs of these vehicles, I think it's safe to assume that these vehicles did NOT, in fact, lose Fast, it's just that whoever prepared the document was either too lazy, too ignorant, too careless or too feckless to noticed he omitted one of the Blood Angel's defining characteristics.

Astra Militarum
Nothing much. The Primaris Psyker and Wyrdvane Psykers now add Daemonology to their repertoirs.

Chaos Space Marines
The Heldrake has lost it's ridiculous bendy gun, and now fires like it bloody well should - as a hull-mounted weapon, to the front. The Spell Familiar didn't change, so I'm guessing one gets to reroll a failed attempt to cast a psychic power.

Dark Angels
Psykers add Daemonology to their repertoirs. This FAQ still doesn't address the question of whether Deathwing Terminator Sergeants can switch out their weapons for thunder hammer and storm shield. And Blades of Caliban are still the most absurdly useless weapon in the book, coz who the hell needs an AP3 Unwieldly weapon, eh?

Necrons
Canoptek Spyders have had their Gloom Prism updated - it gives +2 to Deny the Witch in a 3" bubble. Also, if Deathmarks choose an Independent Character as a target, they wound any unit the IC joins on a 2+ as well. Nice! Other than that, nothing new that I can see.

Grey Knights
Saved the best for last. Since these guys have lost their codex powers, they've ALL been replaced with the new versions from Sanctic Daemonology. Pretty much everything with Hammerhand now has the new, improved Hammerhand AND Banishment. The Purifiers (including Crowe) have Cleansing Flame as well. All the vehicles which had Fortitude now have Banishment and Sanctuary. Grandmasters and Brother Captains now roll for their powers, with access to Sanctic Daemonology, Divination, Pyromancy, Telekinesis and Telepathy.

The Aegis now means rerolling 1's on Deny the Witch attempts. Reinforced Aegis means the unit can reroll any failed Deny the Witch attempts.

4 years of grimdark - HQ showcase!

It's been quite a while since I started 40k, and I just felt like looking back to my earlier forays into the grimdark. I always knew that I wouldn't have the discipline to paint every miniature in my armies to the very best of my abilities, but that said, I would most certainly lavish a bit more love on the HQ units. This post is a collection of the minis which have led my armies to glory or defeat since I got into the hobby.

The first HQ unit I painted was this Blood Angel Captain. I bought and assembled him based more on how cool he looks as a model rather than how much pain he can dish out on the battlefield. I really hadn't played that many games at the time, mind you. The thing was, by the time I'd gotten the rest of the army to a reasonable standard, I realized how bloody useless he was compared to the Reclusiarch and Librarian, so this is one mini which has never been fielded in combat...

I got the Lemartes model and decided against ever using him as Lemartes, simply because Death Company with jump packs is ludicrously expensive. With all the Blood Angel iconography on him, though, he made an ideal Reclusiarch, and as such has led my Death Company into absurdly violent and destructive charges.

While a Reclusiarch or Chaplain truly shines when he leads the Death Company, Librarians have far greater utility, especially now in 6th edition, with access to the Divination psychic powers. Even back in 5th, the Unleash Rage power worked just as well as Prescience (at least in close combat) and my Librarians often found themselves leading Assault Terminators into battle. Now he finds himself going to war alongside my Sternguard, lending his plasma pistol to their devastating salvos.

Here's another Librarian I painted up, for the sake of WYSIWYG when I don't have the points to have him toting a plasma pistol. That staff took bloody ages...

I made a half-hearted foray into Grey Knights, once upon a time. The things that stopped me from getting into them more seriously were the Dreadknight (one of the most stupid-looking models I've ever seen, in my opinion) and the simple fact that after painting up a few Grey Knight Terminators, I couldn't really be bothered to make it happen. This guy's my take on the Brotherhood Champion. I figured one long Nemesis Force Sword didn't quite feel like it could pull off such cool abilities as Blade Shield and Sword Storm, so I snipped up some falchions and came up with this guy. I'm pretty pleased with the result, and every so often I still toy with the idea of a Grey Knight allied contingent.

A throwback from 5th edition, my Librarian with a jump pack led my Descent of Angels army. In 5th, there was much to be said for null deployment, coupled with the Blood Angels jump infantry's unparalleled reliability in Deep Striking. These days, not so much, and 6th is really not kind at all to squads of jump infantry having to get across the board the old-fashioned way, even with their jump packs. Maybe I'll cobble something together again sometime and give it a whirl...

Ah, the Crimson King... Master of the most consistent of my armies. Since I got my hands on a pair of Necron fliers, the Crimson King has rarely known defeat. Mind you, it took a few defeats in the early days of the Necron codex before I learnt how to properly wield the 20 Warriors who walk with him, the Crimson Guard. I love his pose. Body upright, strong and proud, in contrast to his hunched Warriors. One arm bearing his custom-built Warscythe, commanding his legions onward, the other clutching his precious Resurrection Orb close to him, and his head very slightly tilted back in utter contempt for his foes.

My nameless and cursed Chaos Lord onna Bike. To be sure, he has performed spectacular feats of martial prowess, killing monstrous creatures, battlesuits, Terminators, Obliterators and Leman Russes with the reckless abandon that Khornate champions are wont to display. The thing is, he has never, EVER ascended to Daemonhood. Turned into a Spawn twice and got gunned down shortly after, though. His quest continues...

Belial, Master of the Deathwing, leader of what is by far the most stressful of all my armies. Deathwing is what I field when I want to travel light and have a radically different experience of 40k. I don't know about the rest of you, but in 6th edition, this army strikes me as playing in Hard mode. The simple reason is 6th edition is the edition of the gun. As they say, everything counts in large amounts, and in this edition, I feel we're seeing more models on the board, more guns and certainly more anti-infantry firepower. Not good news for Terminators and man, it stings when every little casualty counts.

"Glory for the first man to die!" In an age of gene-enhanced super-soldiers, fearsome aliens and traitors in league with unspeakable horrors, there's a special kind of charm to the humble human in all his frailty. I decided I needed a right hardass to lead the army of Men to glory, and nothing was quite as fitting in my eyes as a Lord Commissar. I'd been reading a bit too much of Gaunt's Ghosts, I think. Given my general loathing of metal and resin, I used the little officer dude that came with the Baneblade kit, seeing as he had a nice big commissar-esque hat. No, I don't have a Baneblade (yet), I just picked this guy up separately off eBay.

So, that's it from me for now. Next up, a closer look at my lovely Imperial Guard army, the Red Thunder!

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!!!

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...  

Batrep: Chaos Marines vs Vanilla Marines, 1750 pts

At long, long last, a batrep! It's been a while since I've gotten round to one of these. Today, the Black Legion takes on their age old enemies, the Ultramarines, led by Shazli. I do believe this is actually my first game against Shazli, and thus felt it well worth jotting down. That, and I do believe this is the first time my Chaos Marines have actually engaged a Vanilla Marine army. So, here are the armies...

My Black Legion:

Chaos Lord on bike, with Mark of Khorne, Sigil of Corruption, Axe of Blind Fury, Gift of Mutation (Blade of Chaos - My axe now has Fleshbane!)
10 Chaos Marines with 2 plasmaguns, extra close combat weapons and a lightning claw and meltabombs for the champion, all in a Rhino with Dirge Caster
10 Chaos Marines with 2 meltaguns, extra close combat weapons and a lightning claw and meltabombs for the champion, all in a Rhino with Dirge Caster
10 Chaos Marines with 2 meltaguns, extra close combat weapons and a lightning claw and meltabombs for the champion, all in a Rhino with Dirge Caster
7 Bikers with Mark of Khorne, 2 meltaguns, Icon of Wrath and a lightning claw and meltabombs for the champion
Helldrake with Baleflamer
Forgefiend with 2 Hades Autocannons
5 Havocs with 4 Autocannons
Vindicator with Siege Shield

All units which can take Veterans of the Long War have it, except for the Havocs.

Warlord Trait: Master of Deception (all 3 of my Chaos Marine units Infiltrate!)

Same list as before. Again. I can't really remember ever using a different CSM list successfully. Well, not in 6th edition, at any rate. And that time I partnered them with the Imperial Guard most certainly doesn't count. I like this list.

Shazli's Smurfs:

Chaplain Cassius
6 Sternguard Veterans with 4 combimeltas and 2 plasmaguns in a Drop Pod
Ironclad Dreadnought with 2 Hunter-Killer missiles in a Drop Pod
5 Assault Terminators, all with Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields
10 Tactical Marines with flamer, missile launcher and powerfist for the sarge in a Drop Pod
5 Scouts with sniper rifles, camo cloaks and a missile launcher
Land Raider
Land Speeder Typhoon
Land Speeder Typhoon
10 Assault marines with a power fist for the Sarge

Warlord Trait: Legendary Fighter

1,715 pts, by my reckoning. Looking at those Drop Pods, I knew I was going to be on the ugly end of a pretty fierce alpha strike on turn one.

Mission: The Emperor's Will
Deployment: Hammer and Anvil. Shaz won the roll off and forced me to go first. Night fighting was active on the first turn.

I kept the Vindicator in reserve, together with the Helldrake. Shaz kept his Scouts in reserve, and of the Drop Pods, the Ironclad and the Sternguard were set to arrive first, the Tacticals later. Looking at the photo above, I know the deployment looks kinda strange, but there's a method to the madness! Apparently, Shaz's plan was to use the Terminators to draw me in, then launch a massive counterattack. That's what I had gathered from the deployment, anyway. Suffice it to say, I had other plans.

For the life of me, though, I know not why Shaz bunched his forces along the centre line like that, letting me put 2 Rhinos full of nasty Chaos Marines right behind that building ready to burst out and give the Terminators some dakka. My plan at this point was simple: The Chaos Marines move, disembark, dakka, then let the Rhinos move flat out to screen them. They take the brunt of the enemy counterattack, then the Bikers sneak up and maul anything the Chaos Marines are having trouble with (I'm looking at those Terminators). I didn't particularly care what the Sternguard and Ironclad would do. I knew they'd turn up behind my Chaos Marines, so I could leave them to the tender mercies of the Helldrake and my Heavy Support choices.

With the Terminators and Assault Marines out of the way, I'd push straight through, killing anything in my path, confident that whatever scoring unit Shaz put in my backfield would easily be dealt with by the two daemon engines (i.e. the Helldrake and the Forgefiend). That was the plan. Here's how it went...

Batrep: Chaos Marine vs Space Marines & Imperial Guard

Once again, the Spikey Bikey Lord rode forth. This time the Black Legion faced the hated Imperium of Man! Right, to business...

My List:
Chaos Lord on bike, with Mark of Khorne, Sigil of Corruption, Axe of Blind Fury, Gift of Mutation (Nothing!)
10 Chaos Marines with 2 plasmaguns, extra close combat weapons and a lightning claw and meltabombs for the champion, all in a Rhino with Dirge Caster
10 Chaos Marines with 2 meltaguns, extra close combat weapons and a lightning claw and meltabombs for the champion, all in a Rhino with Dirge Caster
10 Chaos Marines with 2 meltaguns, extra close combat weapons and a lightning claw and meltabombs for the champion, all in a Rhino with Dirge Caster
7 Bikers with Mark of Khorne, 2 meltaguns, Icon of Wrath and a lightning claw for the champion
Helldrake with Baleflamer
Forgefiend with 2 Hades Autocannons
5 Havocs with 4 Autocannons
Vindicator with Siege Shield

Warlord Trait: Hatred

Same list as before. Probably the most balanced list I've concocted of all my armies, with a nice, kickass Warlord on a bike. Who, I must add, still hasn't had a chance to turn into a daemon prince. Somehow, I doubt it'll ever happen...


Wong's Space Marine & Imperial Guard:
Vulcan Hestan
Master of the Forge
Company Command Squad with 3 meltaguns, plasma pistol and vox caster
Ironclad Dread with meltagun, heavy flamer and chainfist in a Drop pod
Ironclad Dread with meltagun, heavy flamer and chainfist in a Drop pod
5 Scouts with sniper rifles, a missile launcher and camo cloaks
5 Tactical marines with combimelta and meltabombs for the sergeant in a Drop Pod
Platoon Command Squad with 4 sniper rifles
Infantry Squad with meltagun, autocannon and vox caster
Infantry Squad with meltagun and autocannon
Vendetta with heavy bolter sponsons
Rifleman dreadnought
Rifleman dreadnought
Leman Russ Demolisher with hull-mounted heavy bolter

Warlord Trait: Counterattack while in deployment zone.

Drop pods full of nasty-ass Ironclads. And with Vulcan Hestan there, that massively increases their reliability in nuking vehicles in a static gunline. On top of that, 3 troops choices with 3 radically different approaches to taking objectives: Guardsmen to sit on an objective within one's deployment zone, Scouts to infiltrate onto one, and Tactical Marines in a Drop Pod to wrest it from the foe by force. Looks to me like this list would be murder on a gunline army. Against something like my Black Legion, designed to surge forward, disembark and overwhelm with a mass of fairly high-quality troops, I'm not so sure, but we'll see, yes?

Mission: Big Guns Never Tire, 3 objectives
Deployment: Vanguard strike. Wong won the roll off and forced me to go first. Night fighting was active on the first turn.

Knowing there's going to be Ironclads with twin-linked meltaguns dropping into my midst, I elected to leave my Vindicator and Forgefiend in reserve, which would at least guarantee they get one shot in. The strategy, then, was very simple.

I'll have the bikes, Rhinos and Havocs on the board. The bikes and Rhinos would move at full speed towards the enemy lines. Looking at the list, I could see there was really nothing in Wong's army which could withstand a solid charge from the bikers. The contents of each Rhino were pretty mean, too, so I was pretty confident in chucking them right in. If they get to enemy lines, they shoot stuff and beat it up in close combat. If their Rhinos blow up, they can either plod forwards, bolters blazing, or shuffle back to the objective in the middle.

The Havocs, meanwhile, would camp on their objective and shoot whatever comes into range. On top of that, being a heavy support choice sitting on an objective and only comprising 5 measly MEQ models, I knew the Havocs would prove an irresistible target which would command a lot of attention while the rest of my army went to work.

That was the plan. Here's how it worked...

Batrep: Chaos Marines vs Chaos Marines, 1750 pts

I decided it was time for a change of pace today. After something like 5 or 6 games in a row, fielding nothing but Deathwing, I felt the urge to put a real army on the table - something with some bite and mindless bloody violence... CHAOS!

After getting my Helldrake a few months back, I pieced together a Chaos Marine list which I felt was pretty solid and suitably balanced. The thing was, it never saw action, seeing as I was distracted by any number of other things, like my Necrons, Deathwing, a little Warmachine (alas, Warpspace, I'll miss you...) and of course, experiments with my good old Blood Angels. So, I decided today was a good day for the Black Legion and the Spikey Bikey Lord to go forth... As it turned out, I wasn't the only to think so - the first four 40k gamers who walked into the happy FLGS ALL brought Chaos Marine armies! All is not well in the Eye of Terror...

My List:
Chaos Lord on bike, with Mark of Khorne, Sigil of Corruption, Axe of Blind Fury, Gift of Mutation (Shred)
10 Chaos Marines with 2 plasmaguns, extra close combat weapons and a lightning claw and meltabombs for the champion, all in a Rhino with Dirge Caster
10 Chaos Marines with 2 meltaguns, extra close combat weapons and a lightning claw and meltabombs for the champion, all in a Rhino with Dirge Caster
10 Chaos Marines with 2 meltaguns, extra close combat weapons and a lightning claw and meltabombs for the champion, all in a Rhino with Dirge Caster
7 Bikers with Mark of Khorne, 2 meltaguns, Icon of Wrath and a lightning claw for the champion
Helldrake with Baleflamer
Forgefiend with 2 Hades Autocannons
5 Havocs with 4 Autocannons
Vindicator with Siege Shield

Note that the Lord, all the Chaos Marines and the Bikers have Veterans of the Long War. This is a nice, straightforward and aggressive list, designed to surge forward en masse and force the opponent into some tough target priority decisions.

David's World Eaters:
Kharn the Betrayer
5 Chosen with 4 meltaguns, combimelta for the champion, in a Rhino with Dirge Caster and Dozer Blade
5 Chosen with 4 meltaguns, combimelta for the champion, in a Rhino with Dirge Caster and Dozer Blade
8 Khorne Berzerkers with Veterans of the Long War and Gift of Mutation for the champion (+1 BS)
8 Khorne Berzerkers with Veterans of the Long War and Gift of Mutation for the champion (+1 W)
8 Khorne Berzerkers with Veterans of the Long War and Gift of Mutation for the champion (+1 BS, 2+ Armour)
Helldrake with Baleflamer
Chaos Predator with twin-linked lascannon and lascannon sponsons
Chaos Predator with twin-linked lascannon and lascannon sponsons
3 Obliterators with Mark of Khorne and Veterans of the Long War

It was only on seeing this army deployed on the table that I noticed a glaring oddity - 3 squads of Berzerkers, walking with Kharne... and NOTHING to help them cross No Man's Land? 6th edition has put a lot of small arms on the table... is 24 power-armoured bodies enough to get across the board and put a chainblade where it hurts?

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

Objectives clustered to one side, just how I like them. Well, in the rare event that I actually could be bothered to seize objectives, at any rate. It's been a while since I'd taken to the field with the Black Legion, but I figured with the units I had, the strategy was simple enough. The Rhinos and Bikes surge forward at full speed, under the cover of supporting fire from the Forgefiend, Havocs and Vindicator. The saturation of targets would ensure either Bikes or the Chaos Marines would get in close enough to bring some hurt, either with bolter or blades. When the Helldrake arrives, it would soften targets up some more so the boots on the ground can deal finishing blows.

Against the World Eaters, I would have to check my advance somewhat, and make sure the engagement is decided by guns, rather than up close.

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...

Batrep: CSM & Guard Vs CSM, 1750 pts

I'd finally put enough paint on my Crimson Guard not to be ashamed of putting them on a wargaming table and was itching for a scrap. Fortunately, I found a worthy one in the form of 1750 pts of Iron Warriors. So, straight to business...


My List:
The Black Legion
Chaos Lord on bike, with Mark of Khorne, Sigil of Corruption, Axe of Blind Fury, gift of mutation (Blademaster)
10 Chaos Marines with 2 meltaguns, extra close combat weapons and a lightning claw and meltabombs for the champion, all in a Rhino ("Melta Squad 1")
10 Chaos Marines with 2 meltaguns and a lightning claw and meltabombs for the champion, all in a Rhino ("Melta Squad 2")
7 Bikers with Mark of Khorne, 2 meltaguns, Icon of Wrath and a lightning claw and gift of mutation (fail!) for the champion
Forgefiend with 2 Hades Autocannons
Vindicator with Siege Shield

The Crimson Guard
Lord Commissar
Sly Marbo
Veteran Squad with 2 Grenade Launchers in a Chimera
Vendetta
Manticore

Warlord Trait: Hatred Incarnate

CK's Iron Warriors (the Siege Breakers)
The full list and its intended usage can be found on CK's blog. I have to say, it looks nice and solid, geared to close quickly and deal massive damage around Turns 2 and 3 with assault and medium range gunishment. Those 2 Vindicators and the Maulerfiend could prove to be a problem if left alone, so I'd target them first, hopefully leaving me free to take control of the field with superior firepower. As he mentioned in his write-up of this list, it is susceptible to flyers, having no flyers of any sort or any Skyfire weapons. Good news for my Vendetta, then...

Warlord Trait: Black Crusader (haha!)

Mission: The Relic
Deployment: Hammer and Anvil. I won the roll off and deployed first. Night fighting was active on the first turn.

I suppose you could pretty much guess my plan from my deployment. The Rhinos and Chimera move up 12" on turn 1, lighting up targets of opportunity with their searchlights. My big guns, i.e. the Forgefiend, Vindicator and Manticore will then proceed to nuke anything that gets lit up. The Guard will be lumped with the task of grabbing the relic and making a break for it, after which all other elements are just there to cover their retreat. Here's how it actually went...

Chronicles of the Spikey Bikey Lord

One of the big advantages I feel 40k has over Warmachine is the sense of narrative. Since 6th edition came out it just seems to me that 40k isn't so much a deeply cerebral duel of cunning and finesse as Warmachine but is more simply about fun and watching an awesome story unfold on the board. I find what really adds to this is the way characters work.

I don't know about the rest of you 40k players out there, but I like the Look Out Sir! and challenge rules. It really gives a sense of the characters in your army standing out from the crowd. They don't feel like faceless grunts anymore, you can kit your sergeants and captains and lords and what-have-yous out so each is a minor hero in your army. The wound allocation rules force you to be that little bit more careful with them. Characters have made the game more characterful.

Anyway, what brought this about was the way my Chaos Marines have been playing lately. Around the time I created him, I'd also been toying with the idea of Space Wolves. On reading the Space Wolf codex, I loved the idea of an army centered around sagas and telling the story of whatever great hero (or 4, in the case of Space Wolves) you've lovingly crafted to lead your army. I've always been attached to that idea, and my Necrons and Chaos Marines, while not my most lethal armies, have always been a little special to me for being my more characterful. My Necrons, with the Crimson King marching with rank upon rank of relentless, implacable Warriors. My Spikey Bikey Lord, hurtling into battle with his cohorts, ever questing for Daemonhood, and somehow falling behind his bike.

The new Chaos Space Marine Codex has been very kind in this respect. 40k feels like more than a game. It feels like something from the Black Library. Across the battlefield, you're drawn into the myriad of little stories that play out as each aspiring champion fights tooth and nail for daemonhood, and at the head of it all, SBL the Cursed. I haven't figured out a name for him yet, but he will most certainly have the words, "the Cursed" behind his name. For the moment, we'll call him SBL for short. Why? Here's how his first 2 battles went.

Battle 1: 1750 pts vs Jun Tseng's Chaos.
SBL takes the lead, first blazing away with his bike's guns at some nearby hostiles as they spilled out from their shattered transport. Seeking a foe worthier of the attentions of the Axe of Blind Fury, he and his squad roared across the battlefield to smash into none other than Huron Blackheart, the Tyrant of Badab! They dueled mightily to a standstill, both reduced to their last wounds and then, the fates turned their backs on SBL. The daemon in the Axe of Blind Fury turned on him, and SBL fell most ignominiously to his own weapon...

Later in the battle Huron was slain by overwatch fire from SBL's squad. 

Battle 2: 1750 vs Red's Blood Angels and Tau alliance
Once again, SBL and his squad zoom into the teeth of the enemy's guns. This time, though, those guns included 3 demolisher cannons belonging to Blood Angel Vindicators. Still, in the manner of a true Lord with the patronage of the Ruinous Powers, his squad were there as mere meatshields for him to get close enough bring the Axe of Blind Fury the blood of his foes. A team of Crisis Suits were first to face his wrath. Overwatch fire from plasma rifles and a lucky swing took 2 wounds off SBL, but he tore them and their drones to pieces while the rest of the bikes held the attention of other big guns. After finishing with them, a nearby squad of 5 assault marines found themselves on the nasty end of SBL's daemon weapon. And as he ripped the hapless marines to shred, the Ruinous Powers saw fit to touch their enterprising son with a blessing of change! Bike, rider and diabolical weapon were twisted and melded together as hellish powers wrought them anew... into a spawn. Moments later a squad of Fire Warriors arrived from reserve and blasted the abomination that used to be SBL to pieces. 

And that's the story so far of SBL the Cursed. I expect there will be many more similarly entertaining, albeit pathetic tales to be told, but for now I'll leave you with just the two. Happy wargaming, all...

Batrep: Chaos Marines vs Chaos Marines, 1750 pts

Civil war has come to the Black Legion! Got a game in against Jun Tseng with my Black Legion against his Black Legion. Neither of us have Heldrakes ready, so it's mostly groundpounding all round.

My List:
Chaos Lord on bike, with Mark of Khorne, Sigil of Corruption, Axe of BlindFury, gift of mutation (Meteoric Charge)
Plain old Hellbrute
10 Chaos Marines with 2 plasmaguns, extra close combat weapons and a lightning claw and gift of mutation (Witch Eater) for the champion, all in a Rhino ("Plasma Squad")
10 Chaos Marines with 2 meltaguns, extra close combat weapons and a lightning claw and gift of mutation (fail!) for the champion, all in a Rhino ("Melta Squad 1")
10 Chaos Marines with 2 meltaguns and a lightning claw and gift of mutation (+1 Attack) for the champion, all in a Rhino ("Melta Squad 2")
7 Bikers with Mark of Khorne, 2 meltaguns, Icon of Wrath and a lightning claw and gift of mutation (fail!) for the champion
Forgefiend with 2 Hades Autocannons
Defiler with Havoc Launcher
Vindicator with Siege Shield

Warlord Trait: Master of Deception (3 units)

1,747 pts in total. Note that in my list, wherever possible to take Veterans of the Long War, I took it. It's bad enough that these twits don't even have And They Shall Know No Fear. I was a bit disappointed with the gifts of mutation, seeing as ALL FIVE turned out to be nigh useless in my army.

Jun Tseng's list:
Huron Blackheart
Khornate Daemon Prince with wings, power armour,  Axe of Blind Fury, ichor blood and the Burning Brand of Skalathrax (285 pts!!!)
Plain old Hellbrute (Yeah, we both got Dark Vengeance 'brutes...)
10 Khorne Berserkers with powerfist and meltabombs for the champion, all in a Rhino with havoc launcher
10 Chaos Marines with Mark of Khorne, Veterans of the Long War, 1 flamer and powerfist and meltabombs for the champion, all in a Rhino with havoc launcher
10 Chaos Marines with Mark of Khorne, 1 flamer and powerfist and meltabombs for the champion, all in a Rhino with havoc launcher
5 Warp Talons with Mark of Khorne and 2 gifts of mutation (Fleet and +1 wound) for the champion
1 Obliterator
1 more Obliterator
5 Havocs with 4 Autocannons

Warlord Trait: Master of Deception (2 units)

1,771 pts, by my reckoning. Bear in mind that, unlike myself, Jun Tseng has elected to give Veterans of the Long War to only ONE of the Chaos Marine squads. Also, his Chaos Marines are all armed with bolt pistols and chainswords. Those troops were completely geared for close combat, and could easily achieve 4 attacks each on the charge. I'd have to take care to avoid that...

Mission: Crusade. 4 objectives.
Deployment: Hammer and Anvil. I won the roll off and deployed first. Night fighting was active on the first turn.

Okay, I haven't played to objectives for a while, no thanks to my ludicrous Blood Angel FTO list, so I need a better plan than "kill everything in sight". My plan this time round was for the Spikey Bikey Lord to take the center, advancing under close fire support from the Daemon Engines (the Forgefiend and Defiler). If all went well, the onslaught would hit hard enough for my Chaos Marine squads to roll forward along each flank as a second wave, mopping up after the boss and the beasts. Even if the intial onslaught didn't quite deal as much damage as I'd like, 30 MEQs with melta and plasma weapons should be able to do something, right?

Soon...

So... much... gold...

Man, I can't even imagine what painting a Heldrake will be like...

WIP: CHAOS!!!

Just a couple of pics of some stuff I'm painting up for my first 6th ed CSM list...

8 S8 AP4 shots. I don't care that it's only at BS3, that kind of dakka, with a model that looks this cool is simply going to find a way into this army. Since my Helbrute, I've kind of decided that all daemonic fleshy bits will be done in Mephiston Red and Devlan Mud.  Speaking of the Helbrute...

Here he is, in all his glory. Just some minor touching up left to do, like highlights and sticking more stuff on the base, but I'm perfectly happy to let him on the board as is. Here's a look at the back:

I swear, Devlan Mud/Agrax Earthshade is just magic. 

The new Chaos Space Marines are quite possibly the most flexible troops choices in the game. As such, I've bulked up the ranks with some more plug n' play marines. You may notice there are two shades of black here. After spraying I noticed that Krylon's Matt Black was a little too Matt, almost grey. So I pulled out a pot of old, old Undercoat Black, which I found gave a deeper, slightly glossy black finish.

Here's another Dark Vengeance model that just looks too cool not to play. At bare minimum, you're looking at 100 pts worth of Chaos Lord with a plasma pistol, power sword and Veterans of the Long War.  One could easily give him a Sigil of Corruption and Mark of Tzeentch. A 40 pt 3++ save, compared to 20 pts for the loyalist Captain's Storm Shield, BUT you get to have 2 close combat weapons... And let's say that sword is the Murder Sword. 160 pts of badass, and woe betide the target of the Murder Sword. He hasn't got a place in my army yet, seeing as the position of Warlord is taken by the Spikey Bikey Lord.

Man, I love Mephiston Red... 

I've neglected the Defiler for many months now. He's another model which I field coz it looks cool, though back in 5th, AV 12 was pretty crap for the points you pay. Now, however, he's stomping around with 4 hull points, a 5++ save and It Will Not Die. And the battlecannon is even more hurty on vehicles. Hell, yes...

One thing I noticed about the new Codex and the buzz all over the net is that the Chosen are rubbish. Well, they're crazy expensive to field, and there are simply better options in the codex. Still, no point letting those lovely Dark Vengeance sculpts go to waste, eh? I think they'll look absolutely stunning as Aspiring Champions. They certainly look nice and bulky compared to my current ones.

The Black Legion stirs...

Just got my hands on a copy of the new Chaos Space Marine Codex, and I have to say, I like it. 3 things in particular stand out:

1) BIKES! Seriously, these have gotten SO much better! In the past, my 7-man bike squad with 2 meltaguns, a powerfist champion and an icon of Khorne was 321 pts. Now, I can get the same, plus Veterans of the Long War, Furious Charge and rerolling charge distance for 236 pts! Spikey Bikey Lord is pleased, too. With a Mark of Khorne, the Axe of Blind Fury and his posse rolling with him, he's hurtling at the foe with 6 + 1d6 S7 I5 AP2 attacks on the charge! This is NOT something you want to face in a challenge!

2) Troops choices - The basic Chaos Marine has gotten a LOT more versatile. Starting at a paltry 13 pts for a basic MEQ statline and equipment, there's a crazy tonne of options for a Chaos general to get just the right flavour out of your CSM squads. Also of note are the Cultists. I've always liked the image of swarms of screaming, psychotic Cultists running willy-nilly into the enemy's guns as Chaos Marines march in steady, disciplined ranks behind them. At last, Chaos players have a codex that actually makes such a thing viable on the tabletop! The question is... could I be bothered to paint that many Cultists?

3) Daemon engines - I'd always loved the whole concept of the Chaos Marines marching alongside diabolical constructs blending technology and sorcery in equal measure. As such, I'd fielded a Defiler and a Daemonically possessed Vindicator. Now, there are even more daemon-haunted freaks in the Chaos army, notably the Forgefiend/Maulerfiend and the Heldrake. Now, together with the Defiler, all of these have Daemon, Daemonforge and It Will Not Die. A 5+ invulnerable save at all times PLUS the ability to regenerate lost hull points each friendly turn on a 5+! Sounds pretty good to me. I've already put it my order for a Forgefiend, and can't wait to unleash its gunishment...

Well, that's enough ecstasizing for now. Stay tuned and we'll see if I can put a Chaos army through its paces...

WIP: Hellbrute progress

Dabbed a little more paint on. I like how it's turning out, and just can't wait to see it in battle, even though I get the feeling it'll perform pathetically. Still, if I've a spare slot and the points costs isn't too prohibitive...

The horny, boney, toothy bits were all based in Screaming Skull, washed with Devlan Mud, then touched up again with Screaming Skull.

I'm still thinking about what colour to paint the all that piping. Stay tuned, and we'll see the finished product soon enough...

WIP: Hellbrute!

I got started painting this guy and I have to say, I love this model. The detail is excellent, the mould lines are easy to remove, it fits together beautifully and it's just nice to paint a nice, big, whopping monster after months and months of Angels, Knights, Khador and Necrons. Here's how he looks now:

Started with the fleshy bits first. Quite simple, really. Just Mephiston Red and a Devlan Mud wash, with a little layering of Mephiston Red to bring out the shape more. Like any Chaos Marine kit, there's loads of gold banding to paint. Still, he'll get done sooner or later.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the new codex is reasonably kind to him - I really want to field this guy! And the Defiler. And the Forgefiend. I don't know about the rest of the Chaos players out there, but I'm really excited about the prospect of daemon engines and cultists and the possibility that my Spikey Bikey Lord can possibly do some serious damage...

Anyway, enough of that. Will post more pics when the Hellbrute is done. Next up, a batrep - Vengeance of the Blood Angels!

Updates on the 40k Front...

... because really, with all this Warmachine I've got going on, I haven't been neglecting 40k completely. Here's what I've been up to on 6' x 4' tables with 6th ed...

Army status update

Just thought I'd try to get organized and keep track of what the hell I'm doing. So, here's what's going on. army by army:

Blood Angels
My first love and it shows. I think I've about 5,000 pts of Blood Angels now - quite enough to field a tremendous variety of builds, with 10 Assault Marines and 5 Scouts waiting to be properly painted up. No more Blood Angel purchases for a very, very long time, I daresay.

Necrons
WRAITHS! I WANT WRAITHS! But seriously, I've a comfortable 1750pt army which mostly gets the job done and is great fun to play. The Wraiths and Spyders look really awesome but they can wait, I think.

Chaos Space Marines
Have a 1750pt army which is fun to play, what with something like 500 pts put into bikers. That having been said, I refuse to touch Plague Marines, Lash of Submission and Obliterators, so everytime I've used that army was a struggle just to survive. I think I'll wait to see if the new codex is kinder to bikers.

Imperial Guard
Waiting for about 10 vehicles to arrive. Then I'm looking to try out some shenanigans with obscene amounts of firepower. Until then, I reallyhave to get the infantry elements prepared.

Grey Knights
Have about 15 Paladins and a Land Raider Crusader. Still need a little tweaking to bang it together into a viable Draigowing, and that's as far as I'm going to go with Grey Knights. Not a high priority, so this can wait til I manage to get bored of everything else.

Khador & Menoth
Still waiting for that damned battle box... When that happens, I'd like to get in a few games to get a better feel for the mechanics. Then, I'm looking to build 3 armies, each with a specific theme:

1) Infantry-heavy Sorscha (this will take a LONG time)
2) The Butcher and his brutes (lotsa Man-o-War units)
3) Kreoss' Crusade (lotsa Knights Exemplar)

Armies 2 & 3 are almost entirely plastic. It's just Sorscha that will take a while to piece together. Slowly does it...

So, what am I going to pull my wallet out for? Crap, I really don't know. I'll come back to think about this when the Battlebox arrives. Until then, hobby funding is FROZEN. Except for paints and brushes and glue, of course, assembly and paint MUST continue, lest I fall into the awful trap of accumulating ludicrous amount of grey plastic that never sees a gaming table...

Current projects

Okay, it's been a while since I've had the time to post. Here's what's going on with the armies I play:

Blood Angels


The Angels took a backseat to Necron enthusiasm for a while. Now it's the Necrons which are on hold, I'll be looking at 2 more ways to play my Angels. For those who've forgotten, I usually run a mechanized list, with 4 Razorbacks, 2 combiPreds and 2 Baal Preds as the core of the army. Now I'm looking to try out 2 completely different playstyles:

1) Jump army! Yep, a Descent of Angels list. I've already got 2 full Assault Squads, a Librarian with a jump pack, and 2 jumping Priests, so I figured it would be fun to try. I'll be looking to field Sanguinary Guard, too, coz I just love the models!

2) Death Star! 5 Assault Termies (4 claws, 1 hammer) riding in a Redeemer with a Librarian and a Priest. Pass the psychic check for Unleash Rage and that's 16 S5 I5 power weapons attacks, with rerolls to hit and wound. And the squad has Feel No Pain, to boot. Outside of Grey Knights, there's really not much which can stand up to that...

3) Something with Stormravens! I dunno, I still haven't quite figured this one out yet, but I've got 2 nearly painted Stormravens, and by damn, I want to field them in battle in some way...

Necrons


I've been playing quite a few games using my Angels to proxy as Necrons and I have to say: I'm completely hooked!

I've been playing with a list centred around 20 Warriors marching about with an orb-wielding phaeron, flanked by 2 Ghost Arks each loaded with 9 Warriors and a Harbinger of Destruction and it's been awesome. The blob of warriors attracts an insane amount of firepower, but between the orb and the Arks, that blob is insanely tough to kill with shooting. It has, however, fallen to assault, pretty much every game it was assaulted... So far, I've tried out this style of Necron list against IG, Tau and Grey Knights.

Against Tau, the Warrior Blob is nigh unstoppable. Turn after turn, it weathered the abuse from 2 teams of battlesuits, 3 Broadsides and a Hammerhead, leaving the rest of my army free to outflank and chew away at the edges.

The IG opponent I usually play against favours big blobs of infantry. I've played twice against him. The first time round I lost and only later realized that due to a horrible miscalculation, I was fighting with a ~250 pt handicap. The 2nd time round, the dice simply weren't with me. In that game, I managed to fail 5 out of 6 armour saves with my Immortals (5 ones!), and a vital assault with my Scarabs into one of his Leman Russes fell flat on its face, when I only rolled 5 hits out of 20 attacks hitting on a 4+. Not to mention the absurd number of below average volleys of gauss fire...

Against the Grey Knights (Draigowing), I played using 2 huge Warrior blobs. A bit unwieldly, but in this game, the Doomsday Ark really shone, helping me to wipe out a squad of the dreaded Paladins.


In all the abovementioned games, I fielded a Doomsday Ark and 2 Annihilation Barges. I found that the barges certainly get the job done for the points invested in them, but I've mixed feelings about the Doomsday Ark. Its tremendous range, firepower and physical presence on the battlefield make it a VERY enticing target for the enemy. In every battle, my opponent detached a small force specifically to destroy the Ark. That in itself is a pretty useful trait of the Ark, but at that amount of points, I really wonder if I'm not better off with a team of 3 Canoptek Spyders pooping out Scarabs, with 25 pts left over for miscellaneous gadgets for the Lords and/or Crypteks...

I think the list still needs a bit of tweaking before I make any major investment. In any case, I'll be coming back to them after I sort out my Angels, perhaps in early 2012...


Chaos Marines


Gathering dust. I like that army and all, but every game I've played has been a fight against getting wiped out. It's ok, I'll busy myself with the other armies until the rumoured Chaos Legions codex turns up sometime in 2012.

Grey Knights
Gathering dust. I'll be back for them someday...

And that's it from me. Next update in... the hell I know. It'll happen when it happens...