Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Gaming like it's going out of style
The month of September was absolutely nuts. There's been a lot of changes not only to my gaming but my life in general. To get the boring (real life) stuff out of the way, I've been in the process of moving. I have been slowly transporting my stuff to a new place. Its exciting times, gentlemen.
In gaming news: I've been playing with my Raptors Legion (Blood Angels). The paint job is coming together nicely. I'll post up some pictures later this week. It's a solid olive green with white accents and boltgun steel.
I am writing a bit of backstory for them as well. Taking place after the Badab War, the Raptor Legion is trying to regain some clout and respect. I got pulled into an ad hoc doubles tourney and pulled third place. I don't have a lot of experience playing a straight Imperial Army but the learning curve is pretty smooth. I'm working inside of a self-imposed escalation battles with a decent amount of success.
I've made three 1,000 point lists centered around their commanders. So far, a Jump Captain (the Brave), a Reclusiarch (the Imposter), and a Librarian (the Soul) have all taken their armies to the test. The Jump Captain got wiped out, the Reclusiarch has been solid, and the Librarian is pretty good too. The Brave will not be advancing to the 1500 point level, but the Imposter and Soul will make it through.
I'll be providing more background as to the names of the commanders soon. I'm playing it at a deep game here.
In addition to all this, I've acquired the Warmachine bug again. My Khadorian forces are going to be seeing a nice revival with some paint and a few games.
In even more addition to this, my D&D group has finally began regular games again! I've been DM-ing the last couple times. My old roommate will be taking over soon once we finish our current campaign. That's going to be awesome because I haven't played the game as a PC in almost year. We have about two sessions left to cure one of the members from becoming a werewolf. It's a long story, but it's becoming problematic when a fighter starts to turn on his party.
It's been a gaming haven as of late. Tons of fun for everyone. Now all I need to increase some of the storage capacity of my new place. Until next time folks.
Monday, September 19, 2011
NoVA Day 2 - Late to Update
I've been meaning to get this up so I can start talking about my new project. NoVA seems like a fond memory, but according to the Internets, there was lots of drama. At the end of the day, I'd like to think that if you personally had fun for two days playing games, you walk away feeling good.
Anyway, on to the meat:
Day 2, Game 1: Spaaaaaaaaaace Wolves. Long Fangs, as far as the eye could draw line of sight. Thunderwolf Cav. One unit of scouts. And some Grey Hunters for flavor. I decided to try "First to the Fray" with Mordrak's Lads. Originally, I had first turn but he stole it. I drop the Lads into the scatter terrain near one of his Fang squads and just try to force Panic Checks where I can. This brings the Thunderwolf Cav back around the horn to focus down on the Lads. I could not get a single goddamn psychic power off. The Rune Priests he had were turned up to '11' and denied every single power. In addition to that, any time he needed an insane roll, like a 2 to save or lose the HQ, he'd make it. It was a tough uphill battle without powers available to me but such is life. Game Highlight: Incinerator Squad rolling in from Outflank and killing a healthy Long Fang squad by itself. Seriously, these guys are amazing. Result: Loss.
Day 2, Game 2: Deathwing! I've never played against Deathwing! Sweet! This guy was a great opponent. We were both of the mindset that we weren't hitting top tables so why make the game so serious. Terminators everywhere, One landraider, two vindicators, and one tactical squad in a rhino. Having to kill every terminator squad down to the man is a pain. Cyclone missile launchers are no joke either. I might just have to plug a few shooty terminators in my new army. Game Highlight: Mordrak's Lads fighting up against two squads of terminators and clearing them out. I also managed to get the jump on Belial's unit. Result: Loss, but actually Win! We screwed up the scoring for Kill Points (you had to win by three or more, and he only had two over me). The tie breaker should have gone to the Quarters, which I had. Unfortunately, even though we corrected it with the judges, the published results still show me as losing that game. Its probably why I was near the lower tables later on, but it didn't really matter to me. The game was an absolute blast and probably the most fun I had the entire weekend. It just bugs me a little, but hey, there was nothing really on the line except pride at this point, so I'll just keep rolling dice.
Day 2, Game 3: Chaos Marines! Double Land Raider! Khorne guys in both, with Kharn in one. Two sets of Plague Marines to sit on objectives and a unit of three bikes. Oh, and a Chaos Wizard-dude. One thing my opponent taught me is that anything that Marines have that makes them useful, Chaos doesn't have it. No Power of the Machine Spirit on the Raiders. So he tried to castle up on one side while charging in on the other. He went after the assassin quickly but ended up putting his Khorne unit into great position for the Incinerators to fly in. Game Highlight: One Justicar by himself killing the three man bike squad. I also managed to chase the second Landraider into a corner with a Dread. It survived but kept it out of the fight for a long time. Result: Win. Just couldn't keep up with an old codex. The guy was nice but he was definitely giving off a bad, bitter vibe the whole game.
Day 2, Game 4: Grey Knights! Massive Paladin unit, Lib, GM, 3 Strike Squads, a Vinnie, and a Land Raider. This was very similar to my last game on Day 1 but I knew what to expect. Instead of daring him to charge me, I made him choose between confronting me head-on or defending his other units. The Hammer unit kept having to help out the smaller squads throughout the whole battle. Highlight: It finally came down to the last turn, Table Quarters, I had two to his one. He didn't realize what I was doing until after the game. He had let his units die, I would have floated to another Quarter. Deploying too much in one side without respect to the mission is where the fault was. He was a good player too. Our Vinnie stayed out of range from each other, which was funny to measure them just outside of range. Result: Win.
So the whole weekend, I went 4 wins with 4 losses. I hit my target. I wanted to stay for the whole award ceremony but it was crazy late during the drawings. The big thing to pull away is a crazy amount of experience and now I have a fully painted 2000 point army. Feels good, man. The major corrections to the list are as follows:
Dropping Mordrak, plug in a normal GM with Grenades. He's a neat trick or two, but you can get more out of normal GM's with Paladins or Terminator (namely Psycannons). The Librarian can be switched up to be the Swiss Army Knife and I think I get a few points left over too.
Stormravens are insane firemagnets. If I can just figure out a better delivery system for the terminators, like Outflanking them, I can save TONS of points and either spread out the targets or make the units better.
Other than that, I feel really comfortable at this level. I played a game after this with a buddy of mine, Thomas. I changed out the Terminators for Paladins, dropped Librarian and made him Crowe, and swapped all the Strikes for Purifiers kitted out with Halberds. I also tossed in two Techmarines with grenade belts. It was pretty gross, so I might have to practice with that for next time.
As for now, I'm painting up a Raptors Legion from the Badab War. I'm loving it so far. I'm pulling out all the stops for this one too. White is a major color for some of the accents. Lots of practice with that now. I find it incredibly rewarding and looks pretty banging when
Anyway, on to the meat:
Day 2, Game 1: Spaaaaaaaaaace Wolves. Long Fangs, as far as the eye could draw line of sight. Thunderwolf Cav. One unit of scouts. And some Grey Hunters for flavor. I decided to try "First to the Fray" with Mordrak's Lads. Originally, I had first turn but he stole it. I drop the Lads into the scatter terrain near one of his Fang squads and just try to force Panic Checks where I can. This brings the Thunderwolf Cav back around the horn to focus down on the Lads. I could not get a single goddamn psychic power off. The Rune Priests he had were turned up to '11' and denied every single power. In addition to that, any time he needed an insane roll, like a 2 to save or lose the HQ, he'd make it. It was a tough uphill battle without powers available to me but such is life. Game Highlight: Incinerator Squad rolling in from Outflank and killing a healthy Long Fang squad by itself. Seriously, these guys are amazing. Result: Loss.
Day 2, Game 2: Deathwing! I've never played against Deathwing! Sweet! This guy was a great opponent. We were both of the mindset that we weren't hitting top tables so why make the game so serious. Terminators everywhere, One landraider, two vindicators, and one tactical squad in a rhino. Having to kill every terminator squad down to the man is a pain. Cyclone missile launchers are no joke either. I might just have to plug a few shooty terminators in my new army. Game Highlight: Mordrak's Lads fighting up against two squads of terminators and clearing them out. I also managed to get the jump on Belial's unit. Result: Loss, but actually Win! We screwed up the scoring for Kill Points (you had to win by three or more, and he only had two over me). The tie breaker should have gone to the Quarters, which I had. Unfortunately, even though we corrected it with the judges, the published results still show me as losing that game. Its probably why I was near the lower tables later on, but it didn't really matter to me. The game was an absolute blast and probably the most fun I had the entire weekend. It just bugs me a little, but hey, there was nothing really on the line except pride at this point, so I'll just keep rolling dice.
Day 2, Game 3: Chaos Marines! Double Land Raider! Khorne guys in both, with Kharn in one. Two sets of Plague Marines to sit on objectives and a unit of three bikes. Oh, and a Chaos Wizard-dude. One thing my opponent taught me is that anything that Marines have that makes them useful, Chaos doesn't have it. No Power of the Machine Spirit on the Raiders. So he tried to castle up on one side while charging in on the other. He went after the assassin quickly but ended up putting his Khorne unit into great position for the Incinerators to fly in. Game Highlight: One Justicar by himself killing the three man bike squad. I also managed to chase the second Landraider into a corner with a Dread. It survived but kept it out of the fight for a long time. Result: Win. Just couldn't keep up with an old codex. The guy was nice but he was definitely giving off a bad, bitter vibe the whole game.
Day 2, Game 4: Grey Knights! Massive Paladin unit, Lib, GM, 3 Strike Squads, a Vinnie, and a Land Raider. This was very similar to my last game on Day 1 but I knew what to expect. Instead of daring him to charge me, I made him choose between confronting me head-on or defending his other units. The Hammer unit kept having to help out the smaller squads throughout the whole battle. Highlight: It finally came down to the last turn, Table Quarters, I had two to his one. He didn't realize what I was doing until after the game. He had let his units die, I would have floated to another Quarter. Deploying too much in one side without respect to the mission is where the fault was. He was a good player too. Our Vinnie stayed out of range from each other, which was funny to measure them just outside of range. Result: Win.
So the whole weekend, I went 4 wins with 4 losses. I hit my target. I wanted to stay for the whole award ceremony but it was crazy late during the drawings. The big thing to pull away is a crazy amount of experience and now I have a fully painted 2000 point army. Feels good, man. The major corrections to the list are as follows:
Dropping Mordrak, plug in a normal GM with Grenades. He's a neat trick or two, but you can get more out of normal GM's with Paladins or Terminator (namely Psycannons). The Librarian can be switched up to be the Swiss Army Knife and I think I get a few points left over too.
Stormravens are insane firemagnets. If I can just figure out a better delivery system for the terminators, like Outflanking them, I can save TONS of points and either spread out the targets or make the units better.
Other than that, I feel really comfortable at this level. I played a game after this with a buddy of mine, Thomas. I changed out the Terminators for Paladins, dropped Librarian and made him Crowe, and swapped all the Strikes for Purifiers kitted out with Halberds. I also tossed in two Techmarines with grenade belts. It was pretty gross, so I might have to practice with that for next time.
As for now, I'm painting up a Raptors Legion from the Badab War. I'm loving it so far. I'm pulling out all the stops for this one too. White is a major color for some of the accents. Lots of practice with that now. I find it incredibly rewarding and looks pretty banging when
Friday, September 2, 2011
NoVA Day 1
NoVA comes and NoVA goes. Its been hard recovering after not really having a weekend. Thank god for Labor Day.
As you probably heard, we had Irene roll through here, but luckly with minimal damage to the area. I came into the Open with the goal of breaking even. My list definitely wasn't set for tourney level competition but set for a fun game with (what I think is) a cool character. Let me break down some the Pros and Cons of the weekend:
Pros: Terrain was important but not exactly game breaking. Each table had a good set up and you knew what to expect with each game. The different piece allowed for some creative line of sight options. Everything was considered flat but being in an elevated position gave you better line of sight overall.
Bracketing levels. I've been to a few tourneys but never a two-day one. Day one (which I'll get to in a bit) was very random how you got paired up. Day two, you played people around your same level. Pretty much all of my games on day two were very close or at least a blast to play. I think it makes it a better experience for everyone overall. No one likes getting stomped out for two days straight, though I'm pretty sure that happened to a few people.
Cons: The venue was nice and all, but no cell phone reception at the tables. Nit picky, I know, but it sucks having to go up top to get reception. I heard from multiple people that it was wicked hard to find something to eat. Since I'm from the area, I either brought things to eat or waited until I got home.
There were a few issues with getting some of the table assignments correct. Plus whenever they were posted, everyone would create this mass of humanity around the list. Then someone would need to put their hand on the page to read an individual line, blocking half the page. Really now? Still need a hand to read in a straight line? Come on, guys. Not really an issue with the tourney, just an observation. Maybe next year, a big projection of the table placement or a TV, I don't know. The list on the wall is low-tech and cheap. We're a hobby of creative folks: let's find something better.
Ok, now for some meat. For each I'll just give a brief overview and a highlight, good, bad or otherwise:
Day one, Game one: Nids
Lots of bugs. 2 sets Hormagaunts with 24 bugs each, Two terrvagons with their 10 each gaunts, three sets of Zoans, Flying Tyrant. I felt good that I had somethings that could take that much but my hopes were dashed quickly when my Stormraven crashed the second turn. I played too conservatively and let him come to me instead of meeting him half way. I ended up getting tabled, badly. Game Highlight: Watching my Terminators get charged by 22 hormagaunts that were boosted by two of the other big bugs. 66 attacks with re-rolls. I ended up taking 10 wounds on each of my four remaining Terminators. Result: Loss. Horrifyingly apparent, I still can't squish bugs.
Day one, Game two: Mech Blood Angels
Predators maxed out, 3 small assault squads in Razors, and two assault jump packs full, one with a chaplain/priest, and the other with a librarian. The terrain was all pretty flat but tall enough to create these valleys. Those created choke points that let me set firelanes and take out tanks as I felt it required. I did have a really good bum rush turn early (turn 1 or 2) and popped four tanks in one turn. What would have helped my opponent is if he included more melta into his army. A lot of his normal squads had either flamers or nothing. Once the troops hit the ground, my Dreads could walk up and bash them up. EXCEPT MY GODDAMN VENERABLE DREAD WHO IMMOBILIZED HIMSELF STEPPING OVER A RHINO. He has flame throwers. File under "Not Helpping". Game Highlight: After his deep striking librarian nailed the landing with his unit, I dropped a few templates on the unit to try to get it wiped. Didn't wipe it but caused just enough to cause a panic check the unit. I was more than happy to escort them off the board. It was a rough game and we both got bloodied, but really it was the terrain setup that made the difference here. Result: Win. At least I know how to handle BA's now. I wanted to play more BA's throughout the weekend so I got a better feeling how they played (since I'm doing them next), but he was the only one I got to play against.
Day one, Game three: Mech IG
Chimeras for as far as the eye can see, three gunships, a PBS, two heavy blasting tanks (the ones with rockets and, I think, a colossus). An Inquisitor lord and a Callidus from the Witchhunters Book as a last hurrah from the Codex. Lots of shooting and me taking covers saves trying to outflank where I could. This was probably my worst match-up and game. I see where everyone was getting their gripe on competitive IG. The PBS targeted down my Terminator squad to reduce their leadership to a "2", the Callidus pops up and templates them with the better shredder. I lose only two but now a check on a "2", and I'm the one getting escorted off. My incinerator squad outflanked in and managed to kill off a tank and the Inquistor with one turn of creative template placement. Highlight: Had to be the Callidus coming in like a hot rocket of anger that her codex is now in a magazine. I'm kinda glad she's not raged out now in the GK codex. Result: Loss. Felt like I was on a steady diet of my own teeth at this point.
Day one, Game four: Grey Knights
After hearing about how many GK's were there, I finally played against one!
Grand Master, Librarian, Paladins and a Stormraven. MSU Strike Squads in Psybacks. Purifiers and a Vinnie.
I thought I had the upper hand after he reserved a ton of his stuff and I killed the Assassin and a whole unit of Strikes before his other stuff got there. I still have much to learn. They came in and rocked my silver plated world. Psyk-Out grenades, rad grenades, and tropes all on the grand master. My Terminators never stood a chance. They all hit themselves at I1 but it didn't matter since he charged with the Psyk-outs, I'm going last :(. Highlight: I found the proper way to utilize the Brotherhood Banner. In that unit, Mordrak can't be singled out but through wound allocation, and I failed a save on him. Banner activates. Bye-Bye Ghost Knights. His list felt stronger than mine and he gave me some good advice on not overreaching myself. Result: Loss. Tied for objectives. Tied on table quarters. Tied on Kill Points. He won by victory points by a 27 point margin. That's 27 out of 2000 points. Ugh. A fantastic game to end day one, but still, 27 points.
I'll hit up Day Two later, but here's a photo of my army with Mordrak's Fancy Lads up front against Belial on the Second Day.
As you probably heard, we had Irene roll through here, but luckly with minimal damage to the area. I came into the Open with the goal of breaking even. My list definitely wasn't set for tourney level competition but set for a fun game with (what I think is) a cool character. Let me break down some the Pros and Cons of the weekend:
Pros: Terrain was important but not exactly game breaking. Each table had a good set up and you knew what to expect with each game. The different piece allowed for some creative line of sight options. Everything was considered flat but being in an elevated position gave you better line of sight overall.
Bracketing levels. I've been to a few tourneys but never a two-day one. Day one (which I'll get to in a bit) was very random how you got paired up. Day two, you played people around your same level. Pretty much all of my games on day two were very close or at least a blast to play. I think it makes it a better experience for everyone overall. No one likes getting stomped out for two days straight, though I'm pretty sure that happened to a few people.
Cons: The venue was nice and all, but no cell phone reception at the tables. Nit picky, I know, but it sucks having to go up top to get reception. I heard from multiple people that it was wicked hard to find something to eat. Since I'm from the area, I either brought things to eat or waited until I got home.
There were a few issues with getting some of the table assignments correct. Plus whenever they were posted, everyone would create this mass of humanity around the list. Then someone would need to put their hand on the page to read an individual line, blocking half the page. Really now? Still need a hand to read in a straight line? Come on, guys. Not really an issue with the tourney, just an observation. Maybe next year, a big projection of the table placement or a TV, I don't know. The list on the wall is low-tech and cheap. We're a hobby of creative folks: let's find something better.
Ok, now for some meat. For each I'll just give a brief overview and a highlight, good, bad or otherwise:
Day one, Game one: Nids
Lots of bugs. 2 sets Hormagaunts with 24 bugs each, Two terrvagons with their 10 each gaunts, three sets of Zoans, Flying Tyrant. I felt good that I had somethings that could take that much but my hopes were dashed quickly when my Stormraven crashed the second turn. I played too conservatively and let him come to me instead of meeting him half way. I ended up getting tabled, badly. Game Highlight: Watching my Terminators get charged by 22 hormagaunts that were boosted by two of the other big bugs. 66 attacks with re-rolls. I ended up taking 10 wounds on each of my four remaining Terminators. Result: Loss. Horrifyingly apparent, I still can't squish bugs.
Day one, Game two: Mech Blood Angels
Predators maxed out, 3 small assault squads in Razors, and two assault jump packs full, one with a chaplain/priest, and the other with a librarian. The terrain was all pretty flat but tall enough to create these valleys. Those created choke points that let me set firelanes and take out tanks as I felt it required. I did have a really good bum rush turn early (turn 1 or 2) and popped four tanks in one turn. What would have helped my opponent is if he included more melta into his army. A lot of his normal squads had either flamers or nothing. Once the troops hit the ground, my Dreads could walk up and bash them up. EXCEPT MY GODDAMN VENERABLE DREAD WHO IMMOBILIZED HIMSELF STEPPING OVER A RHINO. He has flame throwers. File under "Not Helpping". Game Highlight: After his deep striking librarian nailed the landing with his unit, I dropped a few templates on the unit to try to get it wiped. Didn't wipe it but caused just enough to cause a panic check the unit. I was more than happy to escort them off the board. It was a rough game and we both got bloodied, but really it was the terrain setup that made the difference here. Result: Win. At least I know how to handle BA's now. I wanted to play more BA's throughout the weekend so I got a better feeling how they played (since I'm doing them next), but he was the only one I got to play against.
Day one, Game three: Mech IG
Chimeras for as far as the eye can see, three gunships, a PBS, two heavy blasting tanks (the ones with rockets and, I think, a colossus). An Inquisitor lord and a Callidus from the Witchhunters Book as a last hurrah from the Codex. Lots of shooting and me taking covers saves trying to outflank where I could. This was probably my worst match-up and game. I see where everyone was getting their gripe on competitive IG. The PBS targeted down my Terminator squad to reduce their leadership to a "2", the Callidus pops up and templates them with the better shredder. I lose only two but now a check on a "2", and I'm the one getting escorted off. My incinerator squad outflanked in and managed to kill off a tank and the Inquistor with one turn of creative template placement. Highlight: Had to be the Callidus coming in like a hot rocket of anger that her codex is now in a magazine. I'm kinda glad she's not raged out now in the GK codex. Result: Loss. Felt like I was on a steady diet of my own teeth at this point.
Day one, Game four: Grey Knights
After hearing about how many GK's were there, I finally played against one!
Grand Master, Librarian, Paladins and a Stormraven. MSU Strike Squads in Psybacks. Purifiers and a Vinnie.
I thought I had the upper hand after he reserved a ton of his stuff and I killed the Assassin and a whole unit of Strikes before his other stuff got there. I still have much to learn. They came in and rocked my silver plated world. Psyk-Out grenades, rad grenades, and tropes all on the grand master. My Terminators never stood a chance. They all hit themselves at I1 but it didn't matter since he charged with the Psyk-outs, I'm going last :(. Highlight: I found the proper way to utilize the Brotherhood Banner. In that unit, Mordrak can't be singled out but through wound allocation, and I failed a save on him. Banner activates. Bye-Bye Ghost Knights. His list felt stronger than mine and he gave me some good advice on not overreaching myself. Result: Loss. Tied for objectives. Tied on table quarters. Tied on Kill Points. He won by victory points by a 27 point margin. That's 27 out of 2000 points. Ugh. A fantastic game to end day one, but still, 27 points.
I'll hit up Day Two later, but here's a photo of my army with Mordrak's Fancy Lads up front against Belial on the Second Day.
 |
| "Come on, lads!" |
Thursday, August 18, 2011
NoVA List Finally! (I think...)
We are down to a little over a week to the NoVA Open and I think I've finally nailed my list down. I kept waviering towards a few Inquistion options but I have a feeling that Coteaz and his many clones will be all over the Open. Draigo was tempting but I don't feel comfortable running that few models. I'm pretty good 40K but not to the point where I can keep 20 models alive to see turn 6.
The hardest part about putting together this list was the last 140 points. Originally, I plugged in a small Interceptor Squad with a hammer to be a harassing unit. Everytime I run it, it ends up get blasted before its any use. I do have another list that uses a similar unit but with an Incinerator instead. I don't really think it compliments the list as a whole.
My heavy slots were taken up with Dreads, all of which have performed famously well (I'm a sucker for walkers, what can I say). Both HQ's were also gone, but I still had Fast Attack which was a no-go and Elites open. So my options are:
Slap in another Assassin - gives another dramatic threat if used properly but also has the fault of being able to get punked with one shot, giving up a killpoint quickly..
Get the Vindicarie Assassin a Techmarine sidekick to bolster his ruins and an Orbital Strike Relay - the Techmarine I still see as an un-sung hero in the Codex. It might do this just prove a point. With the relay, he comes in at exactly 140 points. As an Independent Character, join him to Vinnie, Vinnie gives him stealth (mentioned in the new FAQ a while back), Bolster gives the two of them a 2+ cover save. Plus if I need to, I can attach him to a different unit to give them that extra punch in shooting or with the Servo-harness, a powerfist attack or two.
Drop the Purgation Dread and throw in a Purgation Squad with all Incinerators riding a rhino - a really underused combo. Since the Purgation guys get the Incinerators for free, that's a flat 100 points, rhino for 40. The problem with this option is a really, REALLY like the way the Dread works with the Terminators. I could try to find a way to save another 40 points or so to make him Venerable so I can get the best of both worlds. That may involve taking a full Strike Squad > make a five-man with a Psyback to save points. It dramatically lowers the amount of scoring bodies I'll have, but the Grand Master ability can balance that back out.
Internet, sometimes choice is difficult.
I can make each option work in some way or another with the same core but I don't want to short change myself in the process. The third option I think gives me what I want out of the Dreads (plus making one more durable) and more boots on the ground that can burn things like a mean, mean man. Plus, if needed, I can make them a scoring unit.
So my new list looks like this:
HQ
Grand Master Mordrak, 4 x Ghost Knights with Halberds
Librarian, 2 powers (Might of Titan, Sanctuary)
Elites
Vindicare Assassin
Venerable Dread, TL Heavy Flamer //DCCW with Heavy Flamer, Psyflame Ammo
Troops
8 x Strike Squad, 1 Halberd, 1 Psycannon, Rhino
5 x Strike Squad, 1 Psycannon, Psyback
5 x Strike Squad, 1 Psycannon, Psyback
Fast Attack
Stormraven Gunship, Multimelta//Assault Cannons
Heavy
Psyfleman Dread
Psyfleman Dread
5 x Purgation Squad, 4 x Incinerators, Rhino
That's about 38 models total, 18 scoring bodies with potential to expand that by a squad or two.
I had a chance last night to paint up every single stormbolter in the regular guys. It went a lot faster than I expected. Up next is re-tooling the terminators weapons to the black power weapons, build a new Rhino, and finish up the bigger weapons on the squads.
The last big project is the Stormraven's base. That's a Sunday afternoon. Its coming down to the wire but I think I'll be able to get everything done in time! This weekend though, going to Baltimore Comic-Con with my roomie. There's going to be one more post before the Open with the class photo, so until then, keep painting!
The hardest part about putting together this list was the last 140 points. Originally, I plugged in a small Interceptor Squad with a hammer to be a harassing unit. Everytime I run it, it ends up get blasted before its any use. I do have another list that uses a similar unit but with an Incinerator instead. I don't really think it compliments the list as a whole.
My heavy slots were taken up with Dreads, all of which have performed famously well (I'm a sucker for walkers, what can I say). Both HQ's were also gone, but I still had Fast Attack which was a no-go and Elites open. So my options are:
Slap in another Assassin - gives another dramatic threat if used properly but also has the fault of being able to get punked with one shot, giving up a killpoint quickly..
Get the Vindicarie Assassin a Techmarine sidekick to bolster his ruins and an Orbital Strike Relay - the Techmarine I still see as an un-sung hero in the Codex. It might do this just prove a point. With the relay, he comes in at exactly 140 points. As an Independent Character, join him to Vinnie, Vinnie gives him stealth (mentioned in the new FAQ a while back), Bolster gives the two of them a 2+ cover save. Plus if I need to, I can attach him to a different unit to give them that extra punch in shooting or with the Servo-harness, a powerfist attack or two.
Drop the Purgation Dread and throw in a Purgation Squad with all Incinerators riding a rhino - a really underused combo. Since the Purgation guys get the Incinerators for free, that's a flat 100 points, rhino for 40. The problem with this option is a really, REALLY like the way the Dread works with the Terminators. I could try to find a way to save another 40 points or so to make him Venerable so I can get the best of both worlds. That may involve taking a full Strike Squad > make a five-man with a Psyback to save points. It dramatically lowers the amount of scoring bodies I'll have, but the Grand Master ability can balance that back out.
Internet, sometimes choice is difficult.
I can make each option work in some way or another with the same core but I don't want to short change myself in the process. The third option I think gives me what I want out of the Dreads (plus making one more durable) and more boots on the ground that can burn things like a mean, mean man. Plus, if needed, I can make them a scoring unit.
So my new list looks like this:
HQ
Grand Master Mordrak, 4 x Ghost Knights with Halberds
Librarian, 2 powers (Might of Titan, Sanctuary)
Elites
Vindicare Assassin
Venerable Dread, TL Heavy Flamer //DCCW with Heavy Flamer, Psyflame Ammo
Troops
8 x Strike Squad, 1 Halberd, 1 Psycannon, Rhino
5 x Strike Squad, 1 Psycannon, Psyback
5 x Strike Squad, 1 Psycannon, Psyback
Fast Attack
Stormraven Gunship, Multimelta//Assault Cannons
Heavy
Psyfleman Dread
Psyfleman Dread
5 x Purgation Squad, 4 x Incinerators, Rhino
That's about 38 models total, 18 scoring bodies with potential to expand that by a squad or two.
I had a chance last night to paint up every single stormbolter in the regular guys. It went a lot faster than I expected. Up next is re-tooling the terminators weapons to the black power weapons, build a new Rhino, and finish up the bigger weapons on the squads.
The last big project is the Stormraven's base. That's a Sunday afternoon. Its coming down to the wire but I think I'll be able to get everything done in time! This weekend though, going to Baltimore Comic-Con with my roomie. There's going to be one more post before the Open with the class photo, so until then, keep painting!
Friday, August 5, 2011
Checklist for NOVA and more!
NoVA is three weeks away! I'm crazy excited if you can't tell. Now its crunch time to get everything painted. I have at least three-colors-up on everything except for one model. earlier this week, I put the finishing touches on my vehicles so at least they'll make beautiful wreckage. I consider that a fairly impressive feat. That's three dreadnoughts, three rhino chasises and a stormraven.
The big issue I have with painting a big scale army is the repeating the same model over-and-over again. When I was originally planning to do a Coteaz list, everything was different from the piece before it so variety was great. The gratification factor is a lot harder when you paint up 40 guys in just steel color with a few aspects to stand them out. But I am very pleased with the results, which makes a huge difference.
Here's my to do list in terms of painting for the 27th:
[] Grand Master Mordrak (built but needs painted)
[] touch ups on some of the dreadnought pieces (cloth and what-not)
[] books on the strike squads and termies (deneb stone > brown wash > highlight bone)
[] olive for the stormbolters (about 20 or so, again paint and wash)
[] power weapons for the Interceptors (4 of them)
[] base the stormraven
[] paint the strike squad bases
So not a crazy lot to do but its not a single weekend project. I suspect I'll be able to get the stormbolters done this weekend and Interceptors on Monday, Mordrak on Tuesday. The thing that will take the longest is going to be the bases for the troops. I might try to find a way to use the airbrush to get the base color down but they're all mounted already. I'll have to find a tricky way of painting them without a lot of overspray. Or I just use a giant brush and hope for the best.
The terrible thing is that I'm already excited to get going on my Blood Angels! I decided that I would go for a Raptors color scheme. I picked up the Badab War and immediately wanted to do one. It won't be exactly like the one in the book but its in the spirit. I'm basing the army around the time right after the Badab War, so scouts and vets (the new guys and the guys smart enough to duck). I know they're technically a Raven Guard chapter but I really like the flexiblity of the Blood Angels codex. The Dawn of War II army painter is helping a lot in determining how they're going to look. Right now, its an olive body with red-ish brown boots and a desert yellow trim. I'm already geeking out about doing a campaign with them.
To hold me over, I started up on some of the BA models to get my brain cooking. There was a recent painting competition at my local GW so I threw in Commander Dante since I was on a metal painting kick. Here's a good shot of him at the judging. Unfortunately its at a weird angle, but I'll get more shots of him once I have more of the army painted itself.
Well, that's about it for now. My hobby time is planned out for the next couple of weeks leading into the NoVA. I'm thinking about signing up for the Painting Tree. If you haven't heard, its a service that connects painters to clients for commission work. I've done a few commissions in the past and really enjoyed the work. Plus I get to try out new techniques, color schemes and models. I'll definitely link it up here if I decide to sign up. Take it easy, folks.
The big issue I have with painting a big scale army is the repeating the same model over-and-over again. When I was originally planning to do a Coteaz list, everything was different from the piece before it so variety was great. The gratification factor is a lot harder when you paint up 40 guys in just steel color with a few aspects to stand them out. But I am very pleased with the results, which makes a huge difference.
Here's my to do list in terms of painting for the 27th:
[] Grand Master Mordrak (built but needs painted)
[] touch ups on some of the dreadnought pieces (cloth and what-not)
[] books on the strike squads and termies (deneb stone > brown wash > highlight bone)
[] olive for the stormbolters (about 20 or so, again paint and wash)
[] power weapons for the Interceptors (4 of them)
[] base the stormraven
[] paint the strike squad bases
So not a crazy lot to do but its not a single weekend project. I suspect I'll be able to get the stormbolters done this weekend and Interceptors on Monday, Mordrak on Tuesday. The thing that will take the longest is going to be the bases for the troops. I might try to find a way to use the airbrush to get the base color down but they're all mounted already. I'll have to find a tricky way of painting them without a lot of overspray. Or I just use a giant brush and hope for the best.
The terrible thing is that I'm already excited to get going on my Blood Angels! I decided that I would go for a Raptors color scheme. I picked up the Badab War and immediately wanted to do one. It won't be exactly like the one in the book but its in the spirit. I'm basing the army around the time right after the Badab War, so scouts and vets (the new guys and the guys smart enough to duck). I know they're technically a Raven Guard chapter but I really like the flexiblity of the Blood Angels codex. The Dawn of War II army painter is helping a lot in determining how they're going to look. Right now, its an olive body with red-ish brown boots and a desert yellow trim. I'm already geeking out about doing a campaign with them.
To hold me over, I started up on some of the BA models to get my brain cooking. There was a recent painting competition at my local GW so I threw in Commander Dante since I was on a metal painting kick. Here's a good shot of him at the judging. Unfortunately its at a weird angle, but I'll get more shots of him once I have more of the army painted itself.
 |
| No joke, first power weapon I've done like that, and I love it. |
Well, that's about it for now. My hobby time is planned out for the next couple of weeks leading into the NoVA. I'm thinking about signing up for the Painting Tree. If you haven't heard, its a service that connects painters to clients for commission work. I've done a few commissions in the past and really enjoyed the work. Plus I get to try out new techniques, color schemes and models. I'll definitely link it up here if I decide to sign up. Take it easy, folks.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
NoVA List - First Play Through
I may have nailed down my NoVA Open list. It's got a good balance of torrent-o'-fire and gets that punch delivered effectively. Testing now is absolutely required after my first game with it. The best part: I almost have it all painted! Last night I put some finishing touches on the weather for my Stormraven and began weathering the rhino based transports.
Without further delay, here's the breakdown:
HQ's!
Grand Master Mordrak - 200
Ghost Knights w/Halberds x 4 - 160
Librarian w/one power (Might of Titan) - 155
Troops!
Strike Squad x 5 - 100
-Psycannon - 10
-Halberd - 5
-Psyback - 50
165
Strike Squad x 5 - 100
-Psycannon - 10
-Psyback - 50
160
Strike Squad x 10 - 200
-Psycannon x 2 - 20
-Halberd - 5
-Rhino - 40
270
Elites!
Vindicare Assassin - 145
Fast!
Stormraven w/assault cannon and multimelta - 205
Interceptors x 5 - 130
-Hammer x 1 - 10
140
Heavy!
Psyfleman Dread - 135
Psyfleman Dread - 135
Purgation Dread (twin-linked Heavy Flamer//Heavy Flamer, Psyflame ammo) - 130
Comes in at exactly 2000 points. It took a long time to consider what I was going to run in my HQ slots, because that will dictate the rest of the army build. The Grey Knight HQ's have a lot of great abilities but sinking too many points into them will result you getting stomped flat fast. The Librarian offers fantastic defensive ability and aguments your troops into absolute monsters. Originally, I wanted to run a regular Grand Master but the build I had was almost the same amount of points as Mordrak. Mordrak gets +1 WS, MC Hammer, an extra attack, and an extra wound. The Ghost Knights already have Stealth, so attaching a Librarian with Shrouding is pointless unless you feel like you'll have your units really close together throughout the game. And the Ghost Knights can be adjusted down below 5 man starting squad. With Mordrak taking wounds, he can potentailly bring them back.
The Grand Master's abilities with Grand Strategy fit my play style a lot closer than just the Librarian. The Librarian is included there to really provide a hood and the Might of Titan. Sancturary would have been nice, but with the squad kitted out with Halberds I'll be hitting first at STR 6/I 6, following it up with 4 STR 10 hits. I tried to figure out just how many wounds this unit could effectively take before its lost. If going at best luck (taking one wound at a time, and judging that I could roll a D3 to pull in more Knights) it could potentially take 13 failed saves before being wiped out. 13 wounds on a 6 man squad that could evolve itself into a 9 man squad if your dice like you. To me, it covers the best of defensive and tactical decisions to get you a leg up early and often.
Troops are the basic Strike Squads. Yeah they die like Space Marines, but as my opponent said, you still gotta be able to kill them. Two 5-man and one 10-man feels pretty good. My last list had regular terminators, but the Ghost Knights are filling in for them well. Ghost Knights can't capture but they can tear through enemy troop choices well enough.
My Psyflemen Dreads are sitting pretty again as just really annoying firebases along with the assassin. The Dreads are able to fire every turn and draw fire away from other targets like the Stormraven. Stormraven is stock to save points and carries the HQ's and the Ghost Knights up the gut. Plus it has the Purgation Dread underneath it. The Purgation Dread is quickly becoming my favorite Dread. The Raven can clear that distance it needs to cover in order to be effective and then start wrecking face. Against a horde army like Orcs, its the MVP easy after torching more than 12 orcs in one shooting phase.
The Interceptors are the one element that still gives me a little pause. When they work, they work great. But they also seem to be the first thing to die. Even with a Stormraven in the face of the enemy, Interceptors seem to be a better soft target. That's 140 points that I could invest differently. They may get swapped out later for something else.
My opponent over the weekend was my roommate playing a double Big Mek list with a couple of Dreads, Battlewagons, a lootas unit, a few 20 boy units in transports, and a huge Nob squad. I got him down to pretty much half the Nob squad, one Loota, and a Big Mek with the Nobz left.
Lessons Learned:
Might of Tian is no joke. Getting the boosted damage die lets you grind through walkers. The only thing that was troubling the Ghost Knights was a huge Boy squad that was a thick slog through. I did manage to pull an extra Ghost through during that combat, which made a big difference in the next round of combat.
Nobz are also no joke. I tried assaulting the Nob squad. There's the mistake right there. I activated the force weapons to try to double them out quickly, but I failed the leadership test. We calculated out that his squad got five kill points: the Interceptors, a 5-man squad, a Psyback, a Psyflemen Dread, and the Assassin.
The biggest factor for me was getting Scout on the Stormraven. Getting into the enemy lines by the first turn can screw up whatever plans he had. I went second which was actually better because I got my cover save from the Scout move and then dropped out the next turn.
Sorry for the long post. Now all I need to do is to get a few more games in with this list and I'll feel tactically ready for the Open. Once I get everything full up painted, I'll post the 2011 Class Photo.
Without further delay, here's the breakdown:
HQ's!
Grand Master Mordrak - 200
Ghost Knights w/Halberds x 4 - 160
Librarian w/one power (Might of Titan) - 155
Troops!
Strike Squad x 5 - 100
-Psycannon - 10
-Halberd - 5
-Psyback - 50
165
Strike Squad x 5 - 100
-Psycannon - 10
-Psyback - 50
160
Strike Squad x 10 - 200
-Psycannon x 2 - 20
-Halberd - 5
-Rhino - 40
270
Elites!
Vindicare Assassin - 145
Fast!
Stormraven w/assault cannon and multimelta - 205
Interceptors x 5 - 130
-Hammer x 1 - 10
140
Heavy!
Psyfleman Dread - 135
Psyfleman Dread - 135
Purgation Dread (twin-linked Heavy Flamer//Heavy Flamer, Psyflame ammo) - 130
Comes in at exactly 2000 points. It took a long time to consider what I was going to run in my HQ slots, because that will dictate the rest of the army build. The Grey Knight HQ's have a lot of great abilities but sinking too many points into them will result you getting stomped flat fast. The Librarian offers fantastic defensive ability and aguments your troops into absolute monsters. Originally, I wanted to run a regular Grand Master but the build I had was almost the same amount of points as Mordrak. Mordrak gets +1 WS, MC Hammer, an extra attack, and an extra wound. The Ghost Knights already have Stealth, so attaching a Librarian with Shrouding is pointless unless you feel like you'll have your units really close together throughout the game. And the Ghost Knights can be adjusted down below 5 man starting squad. With Mordrak taking wounds, he can potentailly bring them back.
The Grand Master's abilities with Grand Strategy fit my play style a lot closer than just the Librarian. The Librarian is included there to really provide a hood and the Might of Titan. Sancturary would have been nice, but with the squad kitted out with Halberds I'll be hitting first at STR 6/I 6, following it up with 4 STR 10 hits. I tried to figure out just how many wounds this unit could effectively take before its lost. If going at best luck (taking one wound at a time, and judging that I could roll a D3 to pull in more Knights) it could potentially take 13 failed saves before being wiped out. 13 wounds on a 6 man squad that could evolve itself into a 9 man squad if your dice like you. To me, it covers the best of defensive and tactical decisions to get you a leg up early and often.
Troops are the basic Strike Squads. Yeah they die like Space Marines, but as my opponent said, you still gotta be able to kill them. Two 5-man and one 10-man feels pretty good. My last list had regular terminators, but the Ghost Knights are filling in for them well. Ghost Knights can't capture but they can tear through enemy troop choices well enough.
My Psyflemen Dreads are sitting pretty again as just really annoying firebases along with the assassin. The Dreads are able to fire every turn and draw fire away from other targets like the Stormraven. Stormraven is stock to save points and carries the HQ's and the Ghost Knights up the gut. Plus it has the Purgation Dread underneath it. The Purgation Dread is quickly becoming my favorite Dread. The Raven can clear that distance it needs to cover in order to be effective and then start wrecking face. Against a horde army like Orcs, its the MVP easy after torching more than 12 orcs in one shooting phase.
The Interceptors are the one element that still gives me a little pause. When they work, they work great. But they also seem to be the first thing to die. Even with a Stormraven in the face of the enemy, Interceptors seem to be a better soft target. That's 140 points that I could invest differently. They may get swapped out later for something else.
My opponent over the weekend was my roommate playing a double Big Mek list with a couple of Dreads, Battlewagons, a lootas unit, a few 20 boy units in transports, and a huge Nob squad. I got him down to pretty much half the Nob squad, one Loota, and a Big Mek with the Nobz left.
Lessons Learned:
Might of Tian is no joke. Getting the boosted damage die lets you grind through walkers. The only thing that was troubling the Ghost Knights was a huge Boy squad that was a thick slog through. I did manage to pull an extra Ghost through during that combat, which made a big difference in the next round of combat.
Nobz are also no joke. I tried assaulting the Nob squad. There's the mistake right there. I activated the force weapons to try to double them out quickly, but I failed the leadership test. We calculated out that his squad got five kill points: the Interceptors, a 5-man squad, a Psyback, a Psyflemen Dread, and the Assassin.
The biggest factor for me was getting Scout on the Stormraven. Getting into the enemy lines by the first turn can screw up whatever plans he had. I went second which was actually better because I got my cover save from the Scout move and then dropped out the next turn.
Sorry for the long post. Now all I need to do is to get a few more games in with this list and I'll feel tactically ready for the Open. Once I get everything full up painted, I'll post the 2011 Class Photo.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Battle Overview - 2000 GK's Test List
I finally managed to get in a game with the list I posted last time. Overall, I was pretty pleased with how it went. Of course, things could have swayed back and forth depending on our rolls but I think it was a good impression of how the list is designed to play like.
2000 points against a standard shooting Space Wolves list: 3 rune priests, 3 long fangs (two with Las, one with Plasma), 3 tactical squads with 10 men each with a Power Fist, Melta, and Combi-Melta in Rhinos, small Wolf Scout unit, and one Dreadnought with Assault Cannon to flavor, served chilled over ice.
We roll off and I choose to go first. Termies loaded up in a Stormraven, Psybacks spread out a little bit with their Riflemen escorts, Vinnie in a tower and Calli in reserve.
First turn = first mistake. It was my first time using the flyer rules in a regular game, so I had heard from one of our rule-lawyers (who is usually wrong) that if its a transport that moves flat-out and get immobilized-turned-to-wrecked, you lose the squad. Well, with a troop choice, an HQ, and a Heavy Support loaded into it, I wasn't going to risk that. Post-game I looked it up specifically and that only happens if its on your phase (like if you landing in rough terrain and take a dangerous test). So I only move 12" to fire my guns and not risk the crew. What I should have done is blast forward with all power to engines and start chewing up Long Fangs.
Either way, turn 1 consisted of me moving up the line, and destroying most of one unit of long fangs, popping two of the rhinos, destroying the weapon on the third, and preventing the dreadnought from shooting. Not bad if I do say so. I realize I should use the Vinidicare more for HQ sniping at this point but he was dead the follow turn, so "Ooops".
----He responds back by destroying the Stormraven and trying to soften up my Interceptors and Termies. Plasma Cannons shuffle back into position and a Tactical Squad moves forward.
Turn 2, Purgation Dread saunters up, some of my Strike Squads get out of their rides. And the Callidus drops in. The Dreads rock it out with their shots out, bringing the last Rhino to a stand-still and killing off a few Long Fangs. The Purgation Dread is close in so it lays down template 1 and tags 5 marines, template 2 does the same. 10 wounds turns into 8 dead marines. Hot damn! I charge in, kill one more marine, and low-and-behold the power fist kills him with shot straight to the face. The Callidus dropping rolled a 5 for the number of hits (right on!), and then only killed one Long Fang (awwwwwh). The shredder template got another but the unit didn't panic because of the priest.
----His turn equaled some more shooting and at everything that could bleed. Callidus took shooting from two units to get rid of her. The Long Fangs she lit up had only one Lascannon left and she managed the 4++, but didn't see the other Lascannon from the Tactical Squad behind her. Doubled out. His Wolf Scouts came on the board and assaulted my weakened Interceptors. The Hammer in the unit kept it real and prevented a total wipe out from the unit.
Turn 3 = Shooty-McShoot-Shoot. Dreads doing their thing, Termies walking up, and the Interceptors getting a support charge from a Strike Squad to help out. I'm slowly whittling away at their numbers but there's a lot left, so I need to start focusing down. I manage to miss almost completely the lone Tactical Marine with the Power fist.
----Power Fist guy rolls in and pops one of my Razorbacks (the Lascannon one). This guy has more than made up his points in punching out a dreadnought AND a transport. I end up getting some Plasma to the face and lose another transport.
The rest of the game was dancing back and forth while keeping the troops alive. Once a full unit passed the mid-field line, my Termies jumped it but I lost my Librarian to Perils of the Warp from casting Hammerhand, of all things. The game ended with my opponent being up by one kill point in the last turn. A rough, long-fought game but a fantastic test run.
Time for lessons learned:
Two Riflemen Dreads = Required Gear.
Again, still impressed with their performance. They lasted the entire game with 3 Long Fangs on the board. The Purgation Dread did incredibly well, but my opponent had a bad phase of armor saves that happened on that shooting phase so we'll see how he goes. He might just become a third Riflemen thanks to magnets.
Halberds on Strike Squads are worth it.
The Strike Squads are cheap and upgrades are expensive. One or even two guys with Halberds make a huge difference when fighting grunts. The Justicars with 2A (3 on charge) make huge differences in terms of on coming attacks. I might expand to include one more guy in each unit so I have more wounds to throw around.
Be prepared to lose ANY Assassins you bring.
All the Temple Assassins are crazy killy, so they will be a priority. Vinnie did great and Calli drew fire. After a few more games, I will have to figure out if I want to swap out the Callidus with a Clexuss Assassin, and utilize him as a counter attack unit to support the other squads once the line is crossed.
I'm hoping to get at least one more game in this week. As for now, gotta try to finish the bases and get three colors my tanks. Weathering is probably going to start up this week too. If there's enough time, maybe even finish painting the Assassins too. Stay cool out there, Internet, cause its sweltering in Virginia.
Laters.
2000 points against a standard shooting Space Wolves list: 3 rune priests, 3 long fangs (two with Las, one with Plasma), 3 tactical squads with 10 men each with a Power Fist, Melta, and Combi-Melta in Rhinos, small Wolf Scout unit, and one Dreadnought with Assault Cannon to flavor, served chilled over ice.
We roll off and I choose to go first. Termies loaded up in a Stormraven, Psybacks spread out a little bit with their Riflemen escorts, Vinnie in a tower and Calli in reserve.
First turn = first mistake. It was my first time using the flyer rules in a regular game, so I had heard from one of our rule-lawyers (who is usually wrong) that if its a transport that moves flat-out and get immobilized-turned-to-wrecked, you lose the squad. Well, with a troop choice, an HQ, and a Heavy Support loaded into it, I wasn't going to risk that. Post-game I looked it up specifically and that only happens if its on your phase (like if you landing in rough terrain and take a dangerous test). So I only move 12" to fire my guns and not risk the crew. What I should have done is blast forward with all power to engines and start chewing up Long Fangs.
Either way, turn 1 consisted of me moving up the line, and destroying most of one unit of long fangs, popping two of the rhinos, destroying the weapon on the third, and preventing the dreadnought from shooting. Not bad if I do say so. I realize I should use the Vinidicare more for HQ sniping at this point but he was dead the follow turn, so "Ooops".
----He responds back by destroying the Stormraven and trying to soften up my Interceptors and Termies. Plasma Cannons shuffle back into position and a Tactical Squad moves forward.
Turn 2, Purgation Dread saunters up, some of my Strike Squads get out of their rides. And the Callidus drops in. The Dreads rock it out with their shots out, bringing the last Rhino to a stand-still and killing off a few Long Fangs. The Purgation Dread is close in so it lays down template 1 and tags 5 marines, template 2 does the same. 10 wounds turns into 8 dead marines. Hot damn! I charge in, kill one more marine, and low-and-behold the power fist kills him with shot straight to the face. The Callidus dropping rolled a 5 for the number of hits (right on!), and then only killed one Long Fang (awwwwwh). The shredder template got another but the unit didn't panic because of the priest.
----His turn equaled some more shooting and at everything that could bleed. Callidus took shooting from two units to get rid of her. The Long Fangs she lit up had only one Lascannon left and she managed the 4++, but didn't see the other Lascannon from the Tactical Squad behind her. Doubled out. His Wolf Scouts came on the board and assaulted my weakened Interceptors. The Hammer in the unit kept it real and prevented a total wipe out from the unit.
Turn 3 = Shooty-McShoot-Shoot. Dreads doing their thing, Termies walking up, and the Interceptors getting a support charge from a Strike Squad to help out. I'm slowly whittling away at their numbers but there's a lot left, so I need to start focusing down. I manage to miss almost completely the lone Tactical Marine with the Power fist.
----Power Fist guy rolls in and pops one of my Razorbacks (the Lascannon one). This guy has more than made up his points in punching out a dreadnought AND a transport. I end up getting some Plasma to the face and lose another transport.
The rest of the game was dancing back and forth while keeping the troops alive. Once a full unit passed the mid-field line, my Termies jumped it but I lost my Librarian to Perils of the Warp from casting Hammerhand, of all things. The game ended with my opponent being up by one kill point in the last turn. A rough, long-fought game but a fantastic test run.
Time for lessons learned:
Two Riflemen Dreads = Required Gear.
Again, still impressed with their performance. They lasted the entire game with 3 Long Fangs on the board. The Purgation Dread did incredibly well, but my opponent had a bad phase of armor saves that happened on that shooting phase so we'll see how he goes. He might just become a third Riflemen thanks to magnets.
Halberds on Strike Squads are worth it.
The Strike Squads are cheap and upgrades are expensive. One or even two guys with Halberds make a huge difference when fighting grunts. The Justicars with 2A (3 on charge) make huge differences in terms of on coming attacks. I might expand to include one more guy in each unit so I have more wounds to throw around.
Be prepared to lose ANY Assassins you bring.
All the Temple Assassins are crazy killy, so they will be a priority. Vinnie did great and Calli drew fire. After a few more games, I will have to figure out if I want to swap out the Callidus with a Clexuss Assassin, and utilize him as a counter attack unit to support the other squads once the line is crossed.
I'm hoping to get at least one more game in this week. As for now, gotta try to finish the bases and get three colors my tanks. Weathering is probably going to start up this week too. If there's enough time, maybe even finish painting the Assassins too. Stay cool out there, Internet, cause its sweltering in Virginia.
Laters.
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