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!

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...

Batrep: Necrons Vs Chaos Marines, 1750 pts

It had been a while since I'd engaged CK's Iron Warriors, and from what I've been seeing, his list has evolved quite a bit. Today, the Crimson King goes to war...

My Necrons:
Overlord with Mindshackle Scarabs, Warscythe, Sempiternal Weave, Phase Shifter and Resurrection Orb
20 Warriors (the Crimson Guard) and a Ghost Ark with a Harbinger of Eternity, Chronometron
9 Warriors and a Ghost Ark with a Harbinger of Destruction, Solar Pulse
8 Warriors with a Harbinger of Destruction
Doom Scythe
Doom Scythe
6 Canoptek Wraiths, 2 with Whip Coils
4 Canoptek Scarabs
4 Canoptek Scarabs

Warlord Trait: Strategic Genius (reroll reserve rolls!)

What can I say? Same old list which hasn't been changed for months.

CK's Iron Warriors:
Chaos Lord  with jump pack, Mark of Khorne, Sigil of Corruption, Axe of Blind Fury and plasma pistol
Hellbrute with plasma cannon and powerfist with combibolter
10 Chaos Marines with bolters, 2 with plasmaguns in a Rhino
10 Chaos Marines with extra CCWs, 2 with plasmaguns in a Rhino
Helldrake with Hades Autocannon
10 Raptors with 2 meltagun,  the Mark of Khorne, Icon of Wrath and Lightning Claw for the Champion
Forgefiend with 2 Hades Autocannons
Defiler
3 Obliterators with Mark of Nurgle and Veterans of the Long War

Warlord Trait: Master of Deception (CK let the Raptors and both unites of Chaos Marines have Infiltrate)

I don't remember the details exactly, but it was a list very similar to this one that laid my own Black Legion low not very long ago. Big horrible daemon engines all over and some pretty mean guns for all occasions.

Mission: The Scouring
Deployment: Vanguard Strike. CK won the roll off and had me go first. Night Fighting was active on the first turn.

The Necrons deployed in the usual phalanx formation, with Wraiths to the left. CK deployed way out of gauss range. Previous experiences fighting the Necrons had no doubt left quite an impression regarding the effects of the Crimson Guard on unwary vehicles. The Raptors and Chaos Marine squads all Outflanked.

My plan was the standard plan for this formation when I clearly outgun the enemy. March forward, guns blazing. Wraiths and Scarabs are to dart ahead and either destroy or tie up anything that could threaten the phalanx. The Doom Scythes were to lay down extra pain where necessary. Simple, really, though in fact, things went a bit more interestingly than I'd predicted...

The Necrons march!

... with a matching dice bag! 

Heap big thanks to my lurvely and wonderful girlfriend! May it bring the Crimson King and his cohorts luck... 

Batrep: Necrons vs Chaos Marines, 1750 pts

After doing 3 batreps in one weekend, I just felt like having a couple of games without batrepping for a bit. This past few weeks I've been fielding the same Necron army over and over again. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I like this list. In today's batrep, the Crimson King takes on Wong's Chaos Horde...

My Necrons:
Overlord with Mindshackle Scarabs, Warscythe, Sempiternal Weave, Phase Shifter and Resurrection Orb
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
8 Warriors with a Harbinger of Destruction
Doom Scythe
Doom Scythe
6 Canoptek Wraiths, 2 with Whip Coils
4 Canoptek Scarabs
4 Canoptek Scarabs

Warlord Trait: Night Attacker.

The previous day the Crimson King marched against Ian's Orks, the first time this army had faced a true horde army in 6th edition. That game didn't go too well, but to be fairly I think it was mostly due to bad rolls. MANY bad rolls. Failed reserves, charges, an inordinate number of armour saves and good grief, the Crimson King was inept. There was one truly pathetic moment when the Crimson King and his faithful Cryptek, having gotten back up after the King's Guard were wiped out by stampede of 30+ Orks, charged a handful of Orks to try and throw a spanner in Ian's plans. The Crimson King missed with ALL 4 attacks. The Cryptek hit and wounded once. And an Ork made a T-shirt save. It was just one of those days. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make here is that I'm perfectly comfortable with the idea of fielding this army against a horde army and I daresay that on a day with more average rolls, the Crimson King stands a perfectly good chance at seizing victory.

Wong's Chaos Horde:
Huron Blackheart
Chaos Lord in Terminator armour with a power maul
5 Chosen with 2 meltaguns and 2 plasmaguns in a Rhino
5 Chosen with 3 meltaguns and 1 plasmagun in a Rhino
20 Cultists with 2 Heavy Stubbers
20 Cultists with 2 Heavy Stubbers
20 Cultists with 2 Heavy Stubbers
20 Cultists with 2 Heavy Stubbers
5 Raptors with 2 meltaguns
5 Raptors with 2 meltaguns
5 Raptors with 2 plasmaguns
2 Obliterators with Mark of Nurgle
2 Obliterators with Mark of Nurgle

Warlord Trait: Master of Deception (1 unit)

80 cultists. Man, that looks... like so much fun to kill! That having been said, though, that's enough Cultists to possibly pose a threat to the King's Guard, especially seeing as the little freaks attack at I3. Plenty of anti-armour options, too, in the form of Raptors, Obliterators and Chosen. Apart from the Cultists, there wasn't much staying power, but that's what the Cultists are for, at any rate. The only thing was: How does one get those Cultists across the board and into combat in sufficient numbers to hurt? Compared with Ian's Orks, they only have T3 and can't Waaaaagh. For a footslogging close combat list, that's huge. Well, let's see how this plays out...

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

Looking across the battlefield, I dearly wished I had some blast weapons of some sort...  Wong knew I only had direct fire weapons on the board, hence the boldness of his deployment - packed close at the very limit of his deployment zone. For my part, having engaged Ian's Orks and knowing how fragile Cultists were in comparison, I was confident the King's Guard would cut down huge swathes of the Cultists before they reached combat. But would it be enough?

Nameless blob no longer!

After more battles than I can recall fielding the blob of 20 Warriors, I'm pleased to say I've decided they're worthy of a dab of paint to permanently reflect their role marching alongside the Crimson King. That, and I'm tired of referring to them as "the blob" or "the phalanx" . Henceforth, they are the Crimson Guard!

Not highlighted just yet, but it'll happen sooner or later...

Yah, I know the name's been taken, but sod GI Joe. And I'll think up something else for my IG contingent. I mean, come on, my Overlord has grown into the title, and those warriors guard him; what else could I call them?

Update: The Crimson Guard's first outing wasn't quite so auspicious. Got wiped out by Ian's bikers. The Crimson King was most displeased, got back up and gave the bikers what for shortly after...

Batrep: Necrons Vs Necrons, 1750 pts

 Got a game in with the most gracious and impeccably punctual Mark this morning. It was the first time either of us had faced Necrons, so was most informative for all involved.

My Necrons:
Overlord with Mindshackle Scarabs, Warscythe, Sempiternal Weave, Phase Shifter and Resurrection Orb
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
8 Warriors with a Harbinger of Destruction
Doom Scythe
Doom Scythe
6 Canoptek Wraiths, 2 with Whip Coils
4 Canoptek Scarabs
4 Canoptek Scarabs

Warlord Trait: Strategic Genius (Yay!)

Third time in a row I'm using this list. It pleases me. Nuff said.


Mark's Necrons:
Overlord with Mindshackle Scarabs, Phase Shifter and Resurrection Orb
Destroyer Lord with Sempiternal Weave and Mindshackle Scarabs
13 Warriors and a Night Scythe with a Harbinger of the Storm (led by Overlord)
10 Warriors and a Night Scythe with a Harbinger of the Storm (led by Destroyer Lord)
14 Warriors and a Night Scythe with a Harbinger of the Storm, Lightning Field
Annihilation Barge
Annihilation Barge
Annihilation Barge
6 Canoptek Wraiths, all with Whip Coils

Warlord Trait: Conqueror of Cities

1,746 pts of ludicrous lightning death. Anyone facing this list is staring down the barrels of 6 twin-linked Tesla Destructors. Truth be told, I  wasn't particularly worried about the masses of Tesla death and maiming. Bitter experience had shown me quite precisely what Tesla Destructors are capable of, and I find that the targets of choice are, in order of which is most vulnerable to the least:

1) Vehicles with AV11 or less;
2) Vehicles with AV12;
3) Units of 20 or less infantry with 5+ armour or worse; and
4) Small units of MEQ.

Against any other target, I find it's a bit of a gamble. Against my Warriors, a salvo from a Tesla Destructor can expect, let's say 5 hits on average. These will quite likely wound, and with a 4+ armour save, we can expect maybe 2 or 3 Warriors to go down. With 4+ Reanimation Protocols, at the end of the Shooting Phase, I daresay 6 twin-linked Tesla Destructors can drop about 7 or 8 Warriors. When my turn starts, the Ghost Arks will bring back an average of 4, meaning that by the time my opponent's turn has rolled by again, 3 Night Scythes and 3 Annihilation Barges, all focusing fire on my blob of Warriors, has taken down a grand total of about 3 or 4 Warriors. Quite a waste of S7 weapons, I think...

Mission: Crusade. 5 Objectives
Deployment: Vanguard Strike. I won the roll off and deployed first. Night fighting was active on the first turn.

When determining how to divide the board for Vanguard Strike, we figured it would be more interesting to fight for a line of objectives running directly between our forces rather than right through. I deployed in much the usual fashion, with Wraiths to my right flank. No doubt anticipating the reach of my guns, Mark deployed his Annihilation Barges and Wraiths bunched up in his corner, clearly out of my range. This would later prove to cost him dearly. Read on to see what happens when Necron fights Necron...

Batrep: Necrons Vs Chaos Marines, 1750pts

 Following my drubbing at the hands of Peter's Obliterators (again) I wanted a game against somebody with a more normal list. Ian very kindly obliged, with his peculiar pink and perfidious Emperor's Children army...


My Necrons:
Overlord with Mindshackle Scarabs, Warscythe, Sempiternal Weave, Phase Shifter and Resurrection Orb
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
8 Warriors with a Harbinger of Destruction
Doom Scythe
Doom Scythe
6 Canoptek Wraiths, 2 with Whip Coils
4 Canoptek Scarabs
4 Canoptek Scarabs

Warlord Trait: Strategic Genius

100% the same list as the one in the previous batrep. Strategic Genius was a lucky thing, seeing how much I love inflicting Turn 2 shock and awe.

Ian's List:
Chaos Lord on a Bike, with Mark of Slaanesh, Veterans of the Long War, Sigil of Corruption, combiplasma and the Murder Sword (aiming at the Crimson King)
Sorcerer on a Bike, with Mark of Slaanesh, Veterans of the Long War, Sigil of Corruption and Mastery Level 3
4 Chaos Bikers with Mark of Slaanesh, VotLW, Icon of Excess, 2 meltaguns, a plasma pistol and and power sword for the Champion

6 Noise Marines with VotLW, Blastmaster, 4 Sonic Blasters
6 Noise Marines with VotLW, Blastmaster, 4 Sonic Blasters
6 Chaos Marines with Mark of Slaanesh, VotLW, extra close-combat weapons, 1 meltagun, a combimelta and power sword for the Champion, all in a Rhino
6 Chaos Marines with Mark of Slaanesh, VotLW, extra close-combat weapons, 1 meltagun, a combimelta and power sword for the Champion, all in a Rhino

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

Warlord Trait: Princeps of Deceit

4 units of 6 heavily equipped MEQs, 6 bikes with FNP, 2 of which are Independent Characters. Quite a lot of precision hitting power in this list, but is it enough to smash the Crimson King's phalanx?

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

Once again, Ian's Chaos Marines found themselves fighting my Necrons for some mysterious relic. My deployment is about the same as usual, this time with the Wraiths off to one side and Scarabs on each flank. The plan is simple as it always is with the Crimson King. Advance. Take the relic. Leave nothing within gauss range alive. Let's see how this rolls...

Batrep: Necrons vs Chaos Marines, 1750 pts

Following the dismal failure of my first Necrons list with flyer support, I came to the conclusion that giving 20 Warriors the Preferred Enemy USR was far from enough to justify not having any Crypteks. Also, I decided I really like Death Rays. So, I revised the list and once again hurled myself at Peter's wall of Obliterator death...

My Necrons:
Overlord with Mindshackle Scarabs, Warscythe, Sempiternal Weave, Phase Shifter and Resurrection Orb
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
8 Warriors with a Harbinger of Destruction
Doom Scythe
Doom Scythe
6 Canoptek Wraiths, 2 with Whip Coils
4 Canoptek Scarabs
4 Canoptek Scarabs

Warlord Trait: Some irrelevant crappe.

Of course, I wasn't interested in designing a list with the singular purpose of just killing Peter's Obliterator list. Otherwise I've have just gone with, I don't know, less Scarab and more Doom Scythe or something. I wanted to have the Scarabs there, because of their effect on vehicles and their utility as screens or cannon fodder or something to turn enemy attention elsewhere.

Peter's Chaos Marines:
Chaos Lord on a bike with Mark of Nurgle, Sigil of Corruption, Power fist, Blight Grenades, and a gift of Mutation
9 Plague Marines with 2 meltaguns, gift of mutation and power fist for the champion in a Rhino
9 Plague Marines with 2 meltaguns and power fist for the champion in a Rhino
10 Cultists
10 Cultists
Helldrake with Hades Autocannon
3 Obliterators with Mark of Nurgle and Veterans of the Long War
3 Obliterators with Mark of Nurgle and Veterans of the Long War
3 Obliterators with Mark of Nurgle and Veterans of the Long War

Warlord Trait: Master of Deception. 1 unit has Infiltrate.

Nothing new here. It's the same list as before, the bane of my armies...

Mission: Purge the Alien
Deployment: Hammer and Anvil. Peter won the roll off and had me deploy first. Night fighting was active on the first turn.

I depoyed my phalanx of Warriors in much the usual fashion, though this time I placed the Wraiths in a long line in front as a screen. Peter deployed directly opposite, with his Obliterators facing down my army and a Rhino full of Plague Marines to his left flank. The Cultists and one squad of Plague Marines were in reserve. So, is this going to be the day I lay those Obliterators low?

What's on the workbench?

With the recent arrival of a monstrous pile of plastic crack, I've been struggling to get my hobbying organized. For the moment here's what's going on...

Warmachine-wise, I'm still keeping Menoth to one side. 2 recent acquisitions have just about completed my Khador army. As I'm typing this, I'm waiting for the glue to dry so I can get spraying:
 

That's right, a Devastator and a Spriggan. Because ARM 25 is fun, as is a jack that makes a mockery of Stealth and has a nice big lance with Reach.

I usually spray, then paint the arms separately. In the case of the Juggernaut/Destroyer/Marauder, there's the added bonus of being able to switch out the arms and have an omnijack. The Devastator/Demolisher/Spriggan kit, however, doesn't quite lend itself so well to that, and while it's possible to do so with a little ingenuity, steady hands and patience, I am in short supply of all three and have decided to just stick with a Devastator and Spriggan.

Meanwhile, in the happy worlds of the grimdark future, the Necrons march, with air support! Here's a Doom Scythe.

And here's a somewhat painted version. 

The paintjob is a lot more simple than it looks.

1) The metal bits were done first, and are simply the result of drybrushing with Leadbelcher. Any bits which I didn't want to be metallic were touched up with Abaddon Black.
2) The rest of the body is simple in theory, but horribly tedious in execution. Just paint every edge with Warboss Green, then go over the corners again with Scorpion Green.

Step two is something of an ongoing work in progress for the bulk of my Necron army. There are 2 Ghost Arks, 2 Annihilation Barges, 6 Wraiths and, of course, the 2 Night Scythes awaiting this treatment and man, it is stupidly boring... Still, I like the result. It's going to take a while...

Batrep: Necrons Vs Chaos Marines, 1750 pts

After last week's dismal defeat, I wanted another scrap against Peter's Chaos Marines, and he kindly obliged. This time, I wanted to test drive the Scythes - one Doom Scythe and one Night Scythe.

My Necrons:
Destroyer Lord with Resurrection Orb, Sempiternal Weave and Mindshackle Scarabs
20 Warriors
10 Warriors and a Ghost Ark
10 Warriors and a Ghost Ark
5 Immortals in a Night Scythe

Annihilation Barge
Annihilation Barge
Doom Scythe
6 Canoptek Wraiths, 2 with Whip Coils and 2 with Particle Casters

Warlord Trait: Night Attacker

Besides the flyers, this list has a little departure from the way I usually field my Necrons: No Overlord. As such, no Royal Court and no minor Necron Lords and Crypteks. No Chronometron rerolls, no Solar Pulses, no Eldritch Lances... Man, now that I'm writing this, I'm wondering: What the hell was I thinking? Well, I figured I definitely wanted to have the Destroyer Lord with the blob of 20 Warriors because Preferred Enemy on 20 Warriors is just fun. And I just didn't have the points for Royal Court jiggery pokery, not if I wanted to have 4 Tesla Destructors in my army. So, I decided to rely mostly on sheer number of gauss and tesla shots, with 1 Death Ray to carve up anything that needed some Death Ray love.

Peter's Chaos Marines:
Chaos Lord on a bike with Mark of Nurgle, Sigil of Corruption, Power fist, Blight Grenades, and a gift of Mutation
9 Plague Marines with 2 meltaguns, gift of mutation and power fist for the champion in a Rhino
9 Plague Marines with 2 meltaguns and power fist for the champion in a Rhino
10 Cultists
10 Cultists
Helldrake with Hades Autocannon
3 Obliterators with Mark of Nurgle and Veterans of the Long War
3 Obliterators with Mark of Nurgle and Veterans of the Long War
3 Obliterators with Mark of Nurgle and Veterans of the Long War

Warlord Trait: Master of Deception. 1 unit has Infiltrate.

Only a slight change from my previous encounter. One less Plague Marine and a gift of mutation for one of the Plague Champions. This time the gift of mutation rolls weren't as crazy as before. The Plague Champion got Eternal Warrior (hah!) and the Lord got Icy Aura.

Mission: Crusade. 3 objectives.
Deployment: Hammer and Anvil. Peter won the roll off and deployed first. Night fighting was not active on the first turn, but I turned it on anyway with my Warlord Trait.

Peter kept the Cultists and, of course, the Helldrake, in reserve, with one squad of Plague Marines outflanking. My Immortals were sitting in the Night Scythe. Note that during this battle, the other tables in the shop were occupied, so we had to keep our reserves on the table we were using. The units which aren't actually in play have been marked out with red circles. Read on for the full account of how this played out...

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...

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: Necrons Vs CSM, 1750 pts

It's been a while since I'd last put together a battle report with the Necrons, so here's a quick one against CK's Iron Warriors. I was particularly curious how my Necrons would do against his list, seeing as its clearly made for close-range violence

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
5 Scarabs
5 Scarabs

Annihilation Barge
Annihilation Barge

Warlord Trait: Inspiring Presence, which, to Necrons, is about as useful as a box of band-aids...

Instead of the 10 Immortals and their Lord, I opted for a Destroyer Lord and 2 small Scarab swarms. I really wanted to test drive the Destroyer Lord as the numbers just looked really good to me. 160 pts for 3 T6 wounds and a 2+ armour save, zipping about at jump infantry speed, swinging a great, horrible warscythe. That's pretty awesome as it is, and Preferred Enemy and Reanimation Protocols is really just icing on the cake. Oh, and its got mindshackle scarabs, so no matter how mean the opponent, there's at least a 50% chance (even at Ld10) that the poor sucker is going to end up stabbing himself.

CK's Siege Breakers:
CK's list this time was almost identical to his original list; the squad of Cultists was left out in favour of some more bells and whistles for the CSM squads, I think. For this scrap, CK chose to roll for a Personal Trait from the rulebook, getting Master of Offence, which is absolutely useless for a Khornate Chaos Lord walking with Terminators carrying an Icon of Wrath.

Mission: The Emperor's Will
Deployment: Dawn of War. I won the roll off and deployed first. Night fighting was active on the first turn.

I placed my objective in the open, a little in front of my line, where I planned to advance. CK placed his a little behind his lines and used the Warpsmith to lower the cover save on the ruins

Because of the terrain I'd deployed over a wider front than I usually would. The Crimson King and his Warriors and Arks deployed in the usual fashion with the blob in between the 2 arks. The faster elements of the army, i.e. the Scarabs, Wraiths and Destroyer Lord sat on the flanks. At each end of the line, a nice big gun: an Annihilation Barge. The idea was to present a clear and imposing front (the Warriors) that CK would try to hurl the bulk of his forces towards.  This would absorb the abuse, all the while softening CK's army with a deluge of Gauss weapon fire while the flanks close in. The biggest threat I was worried about was the Lord and his retinue of Terminators. It was a reasonably strong close combat Deathstar unit which I think could reliably hit my Warrior blob in close combat hard enough to cause them to break and run, even assuming the Crimson King manages to have the Chaos Lord succumb to Mindshackle Scarabs.

Read on for how it played out...

Batrep: Necrons vs Nids, 1750 pts

Got in a game with my Necrons on Sunday against Edwin's Nids. My Necrons have been doing great in this edition, largely due to the way Necrons can shred even the toughest vehicles with small arms fire alone. AV 14 makes no difference to 20 Warriors. Quite often a close range salvo from that will end nearly any vehicle. But what about Tyranids and their big stompy monstrous creatures? Only one way to find out... 

My Necrons:
Overlord with Mindshackle Scarabs, Warscythe, Tachyon Arrow, Sempiternal Weave, Phase Shifter and Resurrection Orb

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
10 Immortal with a Lord with Mindshackle Scarabs, Warscythe, and Resurrection Orb

6 Canoptek Wraiths, 2 with Whip Coils and 2 with Particle Casters

Annihilation Barge
Annihilation Barge

I got the Warlord Trait that lets units within 12" roll 2 dice when running then choose the highest result. Pah! Like I wanted to get any closer to those wretched bugs any quicker than a steady walk...

Edwin's Nids*:
(*as far as I could remember...)
Tyrant with Heavy Venom Cannon, Lash whip & Bone Sword
3 Tyrant Guard
Tyranid Prime with Regeneration, Lash whip & Bone Sword
3 Hive Guard
3 Hive Guard
Doom of Malantai in a Mycetic Spore

15 (?) Deathgaunts (Termagants with Devourers) in a Mycetic Spore
Tervigon with Regeneration

Tyrannofex with Regeneration

I forget what Warlord Trait he had and what Psychic Powers were rolled, other than Enfeeble. Not that it mattered, since that was mostly what he used on me...

First thoughts:
This was going to be interesting - an elite Tyranid army with a relatively low model count facing off against swarms of Necron Warriors. My list was built to close slowly and grind away at anything within 24". Vehicles get shredded by the gauss rule and anything else gets it from sheer volume of fire. The Wraiths are there to be nuisance and silence heavy guns or slow down deathstar units. The thing is, there are very few things that can stand up to a fully kitted out Tyrant and his entourage. And those big horrible beasties have Regeneration, making it that much harder for me to whittle away those wounds. All six of them. Each. At T6. This could get ugly...

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...

Things that slither and slash...

Canoptek Wraiths!

My very last 40k purchase, at least until 6th Edition, which, we are informed, is really not that far away...



 Ooh, the anticipation is killing me... Well, actually, no. I've got Warmachine to keep me happy, whatever 6th edition may bring...

News from the GW front...

Just two little things:

1) Price hikes! Boo! Saw this on Bell of Lost Souls and man, am I glad I've already got as many Stormravens as I'd ever care to have.

2) THIS:

Looks... so... tempting! But no. Not yet, at any rate. At least not until I've pieced together my first itty bitty Khador and Menoth armies.

There's more fun pics, too, but I can't say I'm particularly interested. Stormtalon? F*** that, I play Blood Angels! And Ork flyers? I don't do Orks and neither does anyone at my FLGS, so sod that.

Anyway, that's it from me. Next post will, fingers crossed, be an unboxing...

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...