Battle of the 69: Part 4

Turn 6
World Eaters
Movement:  The Chaos Rhino in sector one moves towards the home objective to contest.
Firing:  The plasma cannon misses’ with its final shot, Chaos Rhino combi-bolters failing to injure anybody.
Close Combat: Stalemate as The Purge Chaos Dreadnought destroys a second arm on its enemy.

The Purge
Movement:  Havoc squad one jump out of their Chaos Rhino ready for action, as Havoc squad two moves behind the Chaos Dreadnought.  The remainder of the ten man squad moves on the objective.
Firing:  The lone melta Gun Chaos Marine destroys a Chaos Rhino.  Rapid Fire plasma to the rear of the Chaos Dreadnought destroys it.  The Chaos Lord manages to stun his opposing Chaos Rhino.  Havoc squad one stun and immobilise the Chaos Rhino they face.
Close Combat:  The Sorcerer finally charges his foe killing three due his Warptime, the Chaos Dreadnoughts miss each other and the final Berserker dies to overkill.  The Chaos Lord destroys his opposing Chaos Rhino and suffers a wound in the explosion.

Kill count:    World Eaters     21        The Purge    35


Survivors

World Eaters               
Chaos Dreadnought (no arms)
Chaos Rhino (immobilised)

The Purge
Chaos Lord (wounded)
Chaos Sorcerer
Chaos Dreadnought (immobilised)
5 Chaos Space Marines (Inc Aspiring Champion)
1 Chaos Space Marine
6 Havocs
Chaos Rhino
4 Havocs (Inc Aspiring Champion)
Chaos Rhino
Chaos Vindicator (gun destroyed)


Random Conclusions:

I was shocked at the final result; I was honestly expecting a defeat with one Berserker squad holding an objective.  AT best I could have managed a draw by contesting objectives with whatever remnants of my army remained.

I was lucky on the set-up being 24” apart, having won the choice of going first I chose second so I could see where the World Eaters set-up.  By not advancing very far on the table I delayed the close combat until it was either on my terms, or just inevitable. 

Poor dice rolls in close combat could have cost me the game, but I had just enough powerfist or luck to swing the various battles as I required.

Berserkers kill whatever they touch provided they can charge due to furious charge.  For the same points I can take more Chaos Space Marines with more wounds and more attacks than their Berserker equivalent.  If I can negate the charge I can turn defeat into victory.

I did nothing special in this battle to win, but just hung in and picked up on the mistakes of my opponent:

The Chaos Bikers managed nothing except being shot up, for their points they were not going to charge until turn 3 when a squad safely in a Chaos Rhino could have equally charged.  They were chosen with banner so there was a different type of unit in the army, marked with Khorne.  Perhaps Chosen or Havocs would have been more use.

The Chaos Lord was unsupported as the Bikers left him behind.  This in turn meant that moving 6” plus run he was always going to be gunned down.  The one time it charges it rolled nine attacks, plus one for Juggernaut, plus one for Mark of Khorne, plus one for charging - twelve attacks.  As unstoppable in close combat as the Chaos Lord is, it is equally vulnerable to firepower with no soft wounds to support him.

The berserker squads killed whatever they touched except the Chaos Dreadnought, for the want of a powerfist.  A powerfist or two and even a plasma pistol or three would have seen armour and vehicles cracked open. 

The plasma cannons on the two Chaos Dreadnoughts needs to be adjusted to something anti-armour: lascannons or missile launchers.  Even with strength five they can tie up squads in close combat, there was only tree powerfists on the table for The Purge including the Chaos Dreadnoughts.


A surprising victory gives me hope for when the Emperors Children have their rematch.  It is time to start work on a six man Havoc squad and rethink what to arm my Chosen with.

Battle of the 69: Part 3

Turn 3


World Eaters
Movement: Squads in Chaos Rhinos opposite the Chaos Dreadnought and associated squad and the Greater Daemon exit and advance readying to charge. The Chaos Lord tries to advance around a ruined building so as to avoid the machinations of plasma fire whilst attempting to move closer to charge range. All Chaos Dreadnoughts that can advance do so.
Firing: Heavy plasma fire from the Chaos Dreadnought kills three from Havoc squad one. Twin autocannon fire takes a wound off the Greater Daemon as it shakes off bolt pistol and combi-bolter fire from several sources; heavy plasma scatters into the ruins missing the beast.
Close Combat: With a roar the Berserkers charge, slaying the Greater Daemon before it has a chance to swing a talon. On the other side of the battlefield all seven members of The Purge squad charged die before they can switch their chainswords on, beneath the relentless furious charge. The Chaos Spawn is unable to penetrate the armour of the Chaos Rhino and retreats.

The Purge
Movement: The Chaos Sorcerer moves onto the battlefield cautiously behind a hill in sector one as the Havocs move to their Chaos Rhino and park the same side if the hill. Supporting the Chaos Lord appears the final ten-man Troop who line up bolt pistols and meltaguns to gun down the fools who killed the Greater Daemon. Havoc Squad two in their Chaos Rhino move to screen the Chaos Lord and supporting squad from the expected second wave.
Firing: Much shooting at the killers of the Greater Daemon sees only two drop, the terrain protecting them from the worst of the gunfire.
Close Combat: The Chaos Dreadnought charges the Berserker squad in front of it, killing one. The rumble proved too treacherous for the squad to assault the Berserkers so the Chaos Lord leads fives compatriots to near certain death. Two from the five die causing no casualties, only the fist swinging Lord killing three saves the fight.

Kill count: World Eaters 13 The Purge 11


Turn 4

World Eaters
Movement: The Chaos Lord confident in his own abilities moves out the ruins and heads towards the Chaos Spawn. The remaining Berserker squad advance in their Chaos Rhino ready for a charge next turn, ably supported by the twin-autocannon Chaos Dreadnought. The remaining Chaos Dreadnought advances on his evil brother ready to free the Berserkers from eternal conflict.
Firing: Two members of The Purge ten man squad die to Plasma Cannon fire with an additional casualty from the twin autocannons. Heavy Plasma fire scorches the Chaos Rhino is sector three trying to open up the hidden Purge Chaos Space Marines.
Close Combat: The Chaos Lord takes a wound and two more members of The Purge die in close combat for the cost of one Berserker until the powerfist smites three Berserkers, killing the last with overkill. Rolling nine attacks the Chaos Lord makes short work of the Chaos Spawn and heads towards the hidden Havocs. The Purge Chaos Dreadnought fells another Berserker.

The Purge
Movement: Havoc squad one park their Chaos Rhino on the other side of the hill with the Havocs and Sorcerer standing on the hillcrest. The Chaos Lord and remaining squad member advance towards the Chaos Dreadnought bearing down on them until they are again shielded by the Chaos Rhino of Havoc squad two. The bulk of The Purge occupies the ruins sighting the Chaos Rhino containing the last Berserker squad.
Firing: The Chaos Lord is gunned down in a hail of plasma fire. The lone melta gun armed The Purge fires and destroys the Chaos Rhino containing the Berserkers. The remainder of The Purge with bolter and meltagun kill four of the squad.
Close Combat: The Chaos Dreadnought catches one Berserker in its claws.

Kill count: World Eaters 19 The Purge 23


Turn 5

World Eaters
Movement: Movement is minimal, both Chaos Dreadnoughts move into assault range as do the final four Berserkers.
Firing: Fire frenzy from a Chaos Dreadnought sees it shooting the twin-autocannons Dread in the back, catching it twice with plasma cannon blasts and twice with combi-bolter.
Close Combat: The Chaos Dreadnought charges his foe that swings first failing to penetrate its armour. In return it smashes the automotive functions immobilising it.  The charging Berserkers manage to kill two The Purge before all four are downed with pistol and sword, the Aspiring with the powerfist yet to enter action.

The Purge
Movement: Havoc squad one re-embarks The Chaos Rhino and moves towards the World Eaters objective contesting it. The lone melta gun Marine advances on the immobilised Chaos Dreadnought as the remainder of the forces fan out. The Sorcerer moves towards the contest between Chaos Dreadnoughts and Berserkers.
Firing: The melta gun misses.
Close Combat: The terrain proves too tricky for the Chaos Sorcerer to enter. The two Chaos Dreadnoughts swing at each other, the World Eaters misses with all its attacks The Purge manages to destroy the powerfist of its enemy.

Kill count: World Eaters 21 The Purge 28

Battle of the 69: Part 2

My World Eater opponent spent a few points more (over fifty) than his allowance; I think it was because of all the extra armour he packs into the list, if a vehicle can have extra armour he always takes it.

Chaos Lord (Daemon Weapon, Juggernaut, Mark of Khorne)
175 points

Chaos Dreadnought (Extra Armour, Plasma Cannon)
135 points

Chaos Dreadnought (Extra Armour, Plasma Cannon)
135 points

Chaos Dreadnought (Extra Armour, Twin-linked Autocannon)
125 points

8 Berserkers (Skull Champion, Power Weapon, Chaos Rhino, Extra Armour)
248 points

8 Berserkers (Skull Champion, Power Weapon, Chaos Rhino, Extra Armour)
248 points

8 Berserkers (Skull Champion, Power Weapon, Chaos Rhino, Extra Armour)
248 points

5 Chaos Bikers (Icon of Khorne, Plasma Gun, Aspiring Champion, Power Weapon) 240 points

The obvious threat is the Chaos Lord with his maximum 15 attacks in close combat, I was more fearful of the Chaos Dreadnoughts as I only have one long range weapon in the list and two powerfists, I would have to play a game of cat and mouse. I also know that the Berserker squads will be sitting in their Chaos Rhinos waiting until they can guarantee their charge so they get first strike, if I can tempt them with an interesting target…

The weakness of both armies is three scoring units each, World Eaters have 24 models, The Purge only 22. This is going to be crucial turning potential wins into draws or defeats.


Battle of the 69

World Eater Chaos Space Marines fight for the Blood God and care not where the blood or skulls come from. A proposed alliance between two warbands to ally against the local populace and their lackey guardians the Ultramarine counterpart fails. The Purge wanted to end the Corpse-God worshippers with a chemical agent, the World Eaters with a chainaxe. The demise of The Purge emissary commences an all out attack on The Purge.

The battle took place on a 4’ x 4’ board, 12” deployment with each side placing one objective. Unfortunately I am still without visuals, but to briefly describe the table it could be divided into nine quadrants each containing a piece of terrain either a ruin, hilly ruins or a hill.

Mission: Capture and Control, one objective each placed in sectors four and six on the battlefield in no-mans land.

Set-up is 12” and my World Eater opponent adopts a semi- refused centre. On my left is the Chaos Bikers, Lord on Juggernaut, Chaos Rhino and Plasma Cannon Dreadnought. The opposite flank has both Chaos Dreadnoughts and two Chaos Rhinos. Everything is pushed up to the 12” line.

In return I reserve both HQs and the ten figure Chaos Marine squad. On my left I hide a Havoc Squad and the Chaos Vindicator. In the centre are the Chaos Dreadnought and seven man squad. On my right the second Havoc squad and the five man Chaos Space Marine squad. I try to hide everything behind terrain so it cannot be shot at.


Turn 1

World Eaters
Movement: Everything advances as one, the Chaos Rhinos and Chaos Bikers move 12”, the Chaos Dreadnoughts and Chaos Lord 6”. He moves into cover behind some ruins.
Firing: Everything with a smoke launcher pops smoke. The Chaos Bikers manage a shot at the Chaos Rhino in quadrant one, I roll a 5 to make my cover save.
Close Combat: None.

The Purge
Movement: The Chaos Dreadnought enters fire frenzy; I advance the seven man squad into cover to make a tempting target. The Chaos Vindicator moves on top of a hill to gain a clear shot at the Chaos Bikers. The Chaos Spawn advances…
Firing: The Chaos Dreadnought hits with both lascannon shots and all four combi-bolter rounds. One lascannon shot and two combi-bolter wounds later and I make all my saves. The Vindicator scatters but catches two Chaos Bikers in the blast killing both. The Chaos Spawn fleets 2”…
Close Combat: None.

Kill count: World Eaters 0 The Purge 2


Turn 2

World Eaters
Movement: Chaos Dreadnoughts lead the advance except for the one in quadrant 4 which goes fire frenzy. The Chaos Bikers and Lord move out of the Dreadnought’s way as the remainder of the forces all advance.
Firing: Fire Frenzy Dreadnought shoots the side of its compatriot Chaos Dreadnought failing to penetrate. Twin-link autocannons penetrate the Chaos Vindicator destroying the cannon. Plasma gun Chaos Biker again clips terrain and not tank.
Close Combat: None.

The Purge
Movement: The Greater Daemon and Chaos Lord both enter the battle in quadrant three. The Greater Daemon moves through rubble out of charge range of the enemy. The Chaos Lord and Chaos Space Marines advance behind the Chaos Havoc’s Rhino. Havoc squad one advance and exit their Chaos Rhino in Rapid fire range of the Chaos Bikers. The Chaos Dreadnought and associated squad hunker down in a small ruin.
Firing: The Chaos Bikers all die in a hail of plasma as the only success of the firing phase. The Autocannon Dreadnought is immobilised by twin-lascannons and two Chaos Rhinos are shaken due to their extra armour.
Close Combat: None.

Kill count: World Eaters 0 The Purge 5


The battle hots up in the next part as both armies try to wipe each other out.

Battle of the 69: Part 1

So another Thursday goes by, another grab what I can and run out the door in the hopes of a battle of W40K, as I had re-started painting The Purge they had the pleasure of being the most readily available. It also meant that several vehicles I am working on (rebuilding) as well as more Chaos Bikers were left behind, the first casualties of war.

It was decided that I would play 1.5k battle against World Eaters, which was going to be a struggle for me to achieve those lofty points with what I had available. I took all my special weapons, Chaos Rhinos and HQ models as I know that I will be facing a superior hand-to-hand force and more Chaos Rhinos and Chaos Dreadnoughts than I can cope with.

Chaos Lord (Combi-melta, Powerfist)
125 points

Chaos Sorcerer (Warptime)
125 points

Greater Daemon
100 points

Chaos Dreadnought (Twin-link Lascannon)
125 points

10 Chaos Space Marines (2 Melta Guns, Aspiring Champion, Powerfist)
210 points

7 Chaos Space Marines (Melta Gun)
115 points

5 Chaos Space Marines (Melta Gun)
85 points

Chaos Spawn
40 points

7 Chaos Havocs (3 Plasma Guns, Aspiring Champion, Chaos Rhino)
200 points

7 Chaos Havocs (3 Plasma Guns, Aspiring Champion, Chaos Rhino)
200 points

Chaos Vindicator (Daemonic Possession)
145 points

A brief explanation or list of excuses for my armylist follows: the Greater Daemon was taken with the brief of destroying as many Chaos Dreadnoughts as possible, with four wounds and a 4+ invulnerable save I fancied two, one would be enough to make its points back. The Sorcerer was taken as I thought I may be able to kill the Chaos Lord with the force weapon, he was bound to roll a one for his daemon weapon at some point (to note only once in the past two years).

Chaos Lord, Dreadnought and Vindicator are all regulars in my 1k list my opponent expressed surprise at the Chaos Lord’s combination of Powerfist and Combi-melta, but that is what the model is armed with. The Chaos Havocs were chosen as cheaper versions of my Chosen, with only three plasma guns each as I only had six with me. Their Aspirings are the sacrifice for the Greater Daemon.

The Troops were taken on the basis of I wanted two ten man squads and a naked five man squad only to discover I was short of points. I did initially take two seven men squads to compliment the ten man, but I remembered that I wanted to take Chaos Spawn so one was dropped to five to make up the difference. As it was I spent 1470 points so I could have taken the additional two figures. I was hoping the four meltaguns and the lascannon would be enough to cope with all the armour I was bound to face.

I normally take Chaos Bikers in my own 1k list, however as is a larger game I wanted more than the four I have currently built, on a table this side there is nowhere for them to hide or outflank. I should have added my points up better and taken a second Chaos Spawn, I can see better uses for the much maligned Chaos Spawn than my throwaway antics during the battle.

The Purge Strikes Back

My Troop choices from the previous posting:

Chaos Space Marines (10 Chaos Space Marines, 2 Plasma Guns, Aspiring Champion, Powerfist, Chaos Rhino)

255 points

Chaos Space Marines (8 Chaos Marines, Meltagun, Aspiring Champion, Power Weapon, Chaos Rhino)
195 points

So along with the three spare points from my previous armylist I have a total of 453 points to spend on Troops for The Purge. Ideally I would combat squad a squad and take two five men to roam and capture objectives. However I know that I want the two Chaos Rhinos in the list and five guys with an Aspiring is not the most economical use of the points, they last longer and therefore more valuable in larger squads.

Having tried to taking away Aspirings, adding more Chaos Space Marines, switching the weapons around in the end the simplest way to gain an extra Troop was just to take figures and Special Weapons from the squads that already have them making them smaller but more numerous.

Chaos Space Marines (7 Chaos Space Marines, Meltagun, Aspiring Champion, Combi-melta, Powerfist, Chaos Rhino)
200 points

Chaos Space Marines (6 Chaos Marines, Meltagun, Aspiring Champion, Power Weapon, Chaos Rhino)
165 points

Chaos Space Marines (5 Chaos Space Marines, Meltagun)
85 points

The plasma guns have all been removed as I am hoping to add two Chosen squads to the army all toting plasma guns. They look boring but should be effective against anything wearing 3+/2+ armour:

Chosen (7 Chosen, 5 Plasma Guns, Aspiring Champion, Power Weapon, Chaos Rhino)
261 points

I will have the figures then to make changes to the list as required, swapping plasma for melta and vice versa as points allow.

The Purge

Rummaging through boxes in the spare bedroom I came across my half-finished, or is it half-started, army The Purge. Base colours are on most of the figures, they fought a couple of battles and won most of them despite being handicapped by having only two Troops. So quickly looking through what I have in the hopes of getting more paint on them before tomorrow’s battle:

Chaos Lord (Combi-weapon, Powerfist)
125 points

Easy choice, I have the metal Lord miniature and it is armed with combi-melta and powerfist. The Lord will be leading the smaller Troop and having a free ride in their Chaos Rhino. Adding a second melta weapon to the squad and the fist can hopefully be used to ensure victory during the first turn of combat.

Chaos Dreadnought (Twin-link Lascannon)
125 points

I am sure many players will see this as a luxury or a useless unit. Fortunately I have little trouble not rolling ones or sixes when making angry-ness tests, when rolling saving throws I have no difficulty in rolling ones, so I normally have full control at least until its destruction. I find it useful to threaten squads that advance too close to my deployment zone or deepstrike. Squads with no powerfist know they are going to be locked and avoid the situation.

Chaos Space Marines (10 Chaos Space Marines, 2 Plasma Guns, Aspiring Champion, Powerfist, Chaos Rhino)
255 points

My first Troop is built to maximum transport size. They sport my favoured choice of special weapons in plasma guns; I have taken a powerfist on the Aspiring to ensure both Troop squads contain a close combat weapon capable to hurting a Walker or Monstrous Creature.

Chaos Space Marines (8 Chaos Marines, Meltagun, Aspiring Champion, Power Weapon, Chaos Rhino)
195 points

Although lacking as many warm bodies as the plasma gun squad with the support of the Lord I expect these to be the cutting edge in assault or at the very least provide distraction for the rest of the army to achieve victory. By adding the Lord to this squad I also have the option of moving the Aspiring Champion with Power Weapon to the Chaos Bike squad. I do not envisage the bikers to be fighting much, but it will allow me to spread the love, or pain…

Chaos Space Marine Bikers (4 Chaos Space Marine Bikers, 2 Meltaguns)
152 points

I spent a while contemplating an Aspiring with a powerfist in a three biker squad, the number could not match up to the points, I can take seven Chaos Marines in a Chaos Rhino for the same points. In the end I have chose an extra biker and kitted them out as tank hunters; on the charge they still manage twelve attacks so they can always ping small squads or anything not wearing 3+.

Chaos Vindicator (Chaos Vindicator, Daemonic Possession)
145 points

My single luxury unit, but what a hitter; as a player the single vehicle I fear to face is this bad boy. Even if the vehicle is not firing moving it about the battlefield just threatens portions of the table and makes my opponents move their models away from the threat. With Daemonic Possession glancing hits are being ignored, and by using the other Chaos Rhinos I am normally able to ensure a 4+ cover save for a turn or two.


It can be seen that despite the Nurgle tendencies of The Purge they have not taken any Icons. I consider this to be an expensive piece of equipment for what it provides, far better to take more models and I do not like the rules that once the Icon Bearer dies the bonus to the squad is negated. There is nothing wrong with these rules, but they feel too WFB for me. I would much prefer that the squad pays for the bonus on a per head basis.

Ebay Defeat

I was expecting a glut of EBay victories yesterday and a windfall of Chaos Space Marines coming my way. Being out for the day for the wife’s birthday I made my bids and looked odd on certain to come away with plenty but as the stats for the past 30 days Won 18 Lost 180 tells, I ended the day with no new purchases. At least the bank manager will be grateful.


With thoughts of EBay victory on my mind whilst I was out, I formulated a new 1000 point armylist for Beasts of Annihilation. Why them, well my Chaos Spawn finally arrived yesterday and after many weeks waiting and complaining I was also given some bonus sprues containing Chaos Spawn spares. My intention was to convert every Chaos Space Marine to have a Chaos Spawn head, arm or leg. I would need to pick up another box of Chaos Spawn, but every good idea requires some additional expense, right?

They seemed angry, wore red and looked like they enjoyed close combat so I gave them a Khorne bent in choosing several squads at eight models. The armylist I came up with looks fairly competitive and as I am without Beasts of Annihilation I will try to see if I can use the same list with my Word Bearers:

Chaos Lord (Daemon Weapon)
130 points

Keeping the Lord both simple and cheap, he has one purpose killing basic Troops hopefully costing 15 points each…

8 Chosen (4 Meltaguns, Aspiring Champion, Power Weapon, Chaos Rhino)
244 points

The anti-tank element of the force, I could have gone for powerfist as well, but if four meltaguns are not going to take it down I am already past trouble. Taking the fist in a Troop gives me the option of swapping back later if the combination does not work.

5 Chaos Space Marines (Plasma Gun)
90 points

5 Chaos Space Marines (Flamer)
80 points

Chaos Space Marines cannot combat squad; they do not obey the rules of Index Astartes. I do not understand why they then obey the rule of not taking a heavy weapon unless they are ten men, so with Troops slots to spare I have taken two combat squad sized squads to take objectives and be a nuisance. I was contemplating two meltaguns instead of the plasma gun/ flamer combo so we will see how it works out on the table.

8 Chaos Space Marines (Flamer, Aspiring Champion, Powerfist, Chaos Rhino)
200 points

This will be my main objective seizing squad which will be tag-teaming with the Chaos Lord in the same Chaos Rhino. I do have the option of switching the Powerfist for the Power Weapon in the Chosen squad, or taking a Power Weapon and Combi-weapon. Hopefully eight models will be enough otherwise I will have to scrounge a ninth squad member if they are coming up light.

Chaos Spawn
40 points

I did originally have a full squad of three Chaos Spawn in the original list which ended up being 78 points over. Down to a token effort I do no expect anything from it, but if something is shooting at the spawn rather than a scoring Troop or expensive (in points) Chosen or Havoc then it is all golden.

8 Chaos Havocs (4 Plasma Guns, Chaos Rhino)
215 points

The last squad is there to take out the heavy hitters, anything that saves on a 2+ or relies on a high Toughness to get the job done. I have a feeling that the Chaos Rhino is going to be cover rather than a transport once the opposition discovers their contents, but again if they are firing at this squad/ Chaos Rhino they are not attacking the two key squads each led by the Aspiring.

So even though I am without the multitude of expected Chaos Space Marines to make these forces up, I will slowly with whatever spares I have piece this force together. I will have to pick up a box of Chaos Spawn for all my arms, heads and assorted griblies.

Battle of Skalathrax

My battle last week was supposed to be Battle of Skalathrax, Lucius versus Kharn. Four players in a 3k battle based in a city, the side that captured the most buildings won. Circumstance (the wife) saw to it that I arrived very late for the game so instead it became a straight-up fight between World Eaters led by Kharn against Emperors Children led by Lucius. As I arrived so late the table had been set up and the players were almost through their first turn. As such there was little I could do to influence the end result of the battle, victory for Khorne and his World Eaters. Lucius bought the big one at the end of a Dreadnought’s Powerfist; Kharn ran into a Greater Daemon and failed three out of four invulnerable saves.

We will re-fight this battle in a city with better rules, but it made me think Beserker Marine versus Noise Marine, who is the winner? For 21 points a World Eater has WS5, so hits on a 3+ and furious charge giving it an effective S5 and I5 and fearless all for 21 points. Against him for 20 points the Noise Marine has I5, if he does not get the charge then they strike simultaneously and he too is fearless. It is no contest the Beserker wins hands down; I do not see how they pointed the two figures on the same matrix. A Noise Marine can be upgraded to carry a Sonic Blaster S4 Assualt2, which effectively means that at over 12” he gains a second shot, and if he wants to assault that turn gains a second shot, all for the princely sum of 5 extra points. If it were included in the price of the Marine perhaps it would be a worthy addition, as it is not it just becomes and overprices weapon for an already overpriced model.

So what can be done in the Battle of Skalanthrax to make the two sides more even? What can the Emperors children take to make more competitive? In short nothing until the Chaos Codex is updated in 2012, so I need to look at what went wrong last time and try to secure a fix. The biggest weakness of the Emperors Children list was the lack of anti-tank weapons. My compatriot player was playing Noise Marines without any Sonic Weapons, however apart from the odd plasma pistol there were no weapons to punch through the armour of the three Chaos Dreadnoughts or six Chaos Rhinos. The single Destructor class Chaos Predator failed to stop a single Chaos Rhino and only managed to destroy a single Chaos Dreadnought. The second Chaos Dreadnought died a mutual death against our Chaos Dreadnought with a Plasma Cannon, the third killed Lucius. My forces were mostly Noise Marines with Sonic and Blast weapons, and I was wasting shots at Chaos Rhinos that ignored my damage rolls due to extra armour.

I will have to blow the dust off my two Chaos Dreadnoughts and equip a Chosen squad to tackle something in armour, lots of plasma guns or meltaguns. Squads should all carry a special weapon of some sort to penetrate armour, preferably an extra one with the Aspiring. I will take two squads at ten men with two special weapons, taking a heavy weapon I wasting the squad just like when I was firing the Blastmaster at a Chaos Rhino.

Well I have a few ideas to get me going now; I just need to dig out all the Chaos Marine torsos I have kept for just such a purpose and get building them asap. They will be more to come with potential armylists and complaints over lack of heavy weapons in the army.

Book Reviews

Victory was secured on EBay when I managed to buy The Inquisitor Sketchbook and The Face of Battle: The Colour Art of David Gallagher for under a tenner for the pair. Being on holiday the past couple of days it was waiting patiently for me on my return. Knowing nothing about said books I had a quick look on Amazon to see if anybody had posted a review and to see what they are. Yes, I won the two books without knowing anything more than the titles, impulse buying at its worst! So Amazon told me that both books were printed in 2001 so they are now nearly ten years old and most definitely out of print and they are 63 pages long. They are priced at The Face of Battle: The Colour Art of David Gallagher £17.00 and The Inquisitor Sketchbook £55.00, which means they are either collectable or somebody is being extra hopeful.



I was more interested in The Inquisitor Sketchbook when I made the purchase as the author is John Blanche, so of course I looked at The Face of Battle: The Colour Art of David Gallagher first. Split into two sections W40K and WFB it is mostly a retrospective of Codex and Army Book covers from second and sixth edition respectively. Back in the day both sets used somewhat cartoonish covers, I presume when they were targeting a less mature market. I know it can be said that GW is still targeting the teenage market but at least they give the pretence of a more mature gamer.

They also included several third edition W40K Codex covers portraying the more mature style that has been continued since then. Box art from both gaming systems show the change from old to new, whilst we can now expect photographs of the models contained in the boxes this artwork is some of the last of its type we will see.

Called The Face of Battle I was expecting more action scenes, painting or illustrations, more conflict than I was being given. So all in all I was quite disappointed with the book, I am sure that when they were choosing his artwork they could have given all the book covers a miss. I would give the book a rating of 2 on 5 as there was a lack of original artwork, although it was obvious from the title alone that it was a compilation of previous artwork, duh.




Moving swiftly along to the prize of my EBay win; The Inquisitor Sketchbook, this is everything I could have hoped for and more. I do have the rulebook for Inquisitor however I did not notice many repeat pictures as the book is full of artwork that could best be described as work in progress ideas. I am not criticising the pictures, far from it – they are inspirational ideas for building and converting Inquisitors, their henchmen and even the occasional (Deathwatch) Space Marine.  As an owner of the Collected Horus Heresy his sketches have been inspirational even if I have yet to make my figures look Blanchesque.  Even today I am still refering to his two page article in the Chaos Codex 2.0 on converting Chaos Space Marines.

I cannot recommend this book enough, well not £55.00 enough but you get the idea. Definitely a 5 on 5 book and I am going to have to keep my eye out for more material from Mr Blanche.

Warhammer 40,000: Tactica Chaos Daemons | Games Workshop

Warhammer 40,000: Tactica Chaos Daemons Games Workshop

Riding the second wave of Chaos Daemon releases is a Tactica for Chaos Daemons in W40K on the Games Workshop website. Having seen the numerous articles for Chaos Daemons in WFB I was hoping for some insight into the balancing of units and lists to overcome the obstacles of a two-wave army, that you rely on the luck of the gods for the wave of your choice coming down turn one. In WFB, at least in 7th edition, it is just a case of placing your Chaos Daemons, rolling some dice and winning the game. Unfortunately in W40K Chaos Daemons are very bit as weak as they are strong in WFB.

So the article is one of those that tell us pertinent information: Nurgle is green and tough; Khorne is red and hurty; Slaanesh is pink and rending; Tzeentch is blue/ purple and shooty, not what I wanted in a tactica.

My games with Chaos Daemons normally end in either glorious victory or glorious defeat, occasionally in a marginal defeat because my opponent has not got a clue, but enough know-how to still see off a Chaos Daemon list. It looks like I will just have to build/ convert my five Bloodcrushers, buy some new dice and pray to Crom.

Flawless Host: The First 1000 points

With a new plastic Daemon Prince, built and undercoated white soon to be in the colours of Flawless Host it seems sensible to build and paint a few figures to march into battle with it. Not too many figures mind, I am not planning on a full-blown force just a thousand points or so to keep them interesting. It will also give me a chance to see if I can shade (at least poorly) white, or Elf Flesh, or whatever colour they are supposed to be.


There is not much in the way of background for Flawless Host beyond they are a sub-set of Emperors Children. In the Apocalypse Rulebook there is mention of a warband that contains Noise Marines, both squads and terminators. I do not see them just as another Emperors Children warband in different colours, there must be something that made them split, so what was their reformation? In my vision of them I see them as having discovered the secret of possession; perhaps they stole/ acquired it from the Black Legion, so that they are no longer destroyed when they become hosts to daemons, hence Flawless Host… Simples!

I rummaged around in my loft for twenty minutes looking for my secret stash of unbuilt Chaos Space Marines, no surprises they were in the last box I looked in. I thought I had more of the older Chaos Space Marines, from back in the day when they were purchased in eights and not tens. So I have twenty unbuilt bad boys, and I also came across a set of four pairs of Possessed legs purchased from a bits site some years ago. I rummage through my bits and get four torsos (I have lots of spare Chaos Space Marine torsos) and a couple of plastic mutated arms and heads from back in the day. Twenty-four Chaos Space Marines, that will be four squads of six, very ethical and more than I had originally planned on building. I guess I can afford to push the points up to 1250 unless I decide to save six Chaos Space Marines for future purposes.

I normally build all new lists of 1000 points to a system of 1 HQ, 1 Elite, 2 Troop, 1 Fast and 1 Heavy. If I have spare points I will try to squeeze an extra Troop into the list. I only diverge from the aforementioned build to meet some background requirement and will only make one change.


Daemon Prince (Mark of Slaanesh, Warptime)
140 points

I have the model and it is simply the easiest build for what I have modelled and with the Mark of Slaanesh meeting the background of Flawless Host. I expect it to be heavily targeted during battles because of the fear factor; I will be screening it behind Chaos Rhinos and hoping for the best.

Greater Daemon
100 points

The army will be lacking a heavy, instead taking two HQ’s. Again it is all to do with the background of them being hosts to daemons. I will hopefully be sacrificing the Possessed’s champion, but it will depend on battlefield circumstances. To represent the Greater Daemon I will be using a slightly converted first edition Keeper of Secrets.

6 Possessed
(Banner of Slaanesh, Aspiring Champion, Chaos Rhino)
221 points

A potential hit or miss unit that is taking up nearly a quarter of the armies points. The past couple of battles I have fought they have been semi-effective, if they succeed in tying up squads and dying so the two big-hitters can run riot then they will have a use in each battle. I can see them being my swap out unit for Chosen if I get around to building the extra six Chaos Space Marines.

6 Chaos Space Marines
(Banner of Slaanesh, Meltagun, Aspiring Champion, Plasma Pistol, Power Weapon, Chaos Rhino)
200 points

6 Chaos Space Marines
(Banner of Slaanesh, Meltagun, Aspiring Champion, Combi-melta, Power Weapon, Chaos Rhino)
195 points

Two small simple Troops built around expensive Aspiring Champions (60 and 55 points), in Chaos Rhinos that can fire all their weapons before they charge. I wanted something with anti-Dreadnought punch and the double meltagun squad could even hunt something bigger (Landraider) if they turned up in a small battle.

2 Chaos Spawn
80 points

Taken for background purposes they are either pets, or signs of what happens when the Flawless Hosts are less than flawless. I do not expect anything from them in a game, if they accomplish something, even if it is just forcing units to shoot them then that is a bonus.

5 Lesser Daemons
65 points

Taking me one point over the 1k limit I am sure that for friendly games that will not be an issue. Ideally I will be using the Lesser Daemons to capture my home objective, or to sacrifice holding up a major obstacle, Dreadnought, etc. I have several first edition Daemonettes from the 1990’s that will finally be getting painted.

Extra unit for 1250 points

6 Chosen (Banner of Slaanesh, 5 Plasma Guns, Aspiring Champion, Chaos Rhino)
248 points

It meets the just less than 250 point requirement however I am not happy with the mix of weapons, they can annihilate a squad of Terminators but then what? Well I have plenty of time to make a decision, I have got another 18 Chaos Space marines to build/ paint.


Weaknesses:

There are 10 killpoints in this list, playing said mission I do not expect to win, however with cover and my mobility I should be able to challenge for a draw and then perhaps push for a victory.

The lack of long-range firepower to take care of any tanks is galling. Eldar Grav Tanks and Tau Devilfish and Hammerheads can cruise the battlefield staying out of range of the meltaguns. Facing Basilisks or Vindicators I will need to get close and hit them with my two Monstrous Creatures, neither of which is built for speed.

The list is not very competitive but hopefully fun. I want to use them as one of the forces of Slaanesh in an upcoming Apocalypse game along with the Castigators and Emperors Children. I can always swap out the Possessed for Chosen if I feel I need something to take care of Terminators and I can always drop the Daemons and take a pair of Obliterators for some long range punch.

Warhammer 40,000: Monstrous Creatures Tactica

Warhammer 40,000: Monstrous Creatures Tactica

Rummaging through the internet I came across the above article on the Games Workshop website. Sure the purpose of such articles is to drive sales of their models, but there is nothing wrong with a little positive advertisement. It is worth a read if only because the price is free, and in my case I was interested in what they had to say about Daemon Princes.


The last page of the article lists several built using the Daemon Codex. Sigh, it is unsurprising that they use the Daemon Codex as the options available in the Chaos Space Marine Codex are minimal: wings or no wings (avoiding all Paul McCartney references); four Marks of Chaos or no Mark; a smorgasbord of psychic powers. I can remember the 3.0 Chaos Space Marine Codex that was upgraded by a WD article giving options such as Poisoned Tail or Chaos Rune (immunity to instant kills), etc.

Common perception is that the Daemon Prince needs only Wings and Warptime to be successful. For the price of ten Space Marines this Prince should be able to make his points back fighting anything but a fearless horde.

Moving onto the Games Workshop article there are several ‘What’ moments in the examples they list, but as we all know there is no right or wrong way to build units. They can be either what looks good/ has already been modelled or what is perceived as being effective on battlefield.

So read the article first and then look at my complaints.

Slayer:
Hive Tyrant
(Bonesword, Lash Whip, Scything Talons, Old Adversary, Adrenal Glands, Implant Attack)
220 points

I would, despite the points cost increase, look to be taking a gun instead of Scything Talons as you are already getting re-rolls to hit from Old Adversary and it will give the unit something to do on the way to the enemy. Points could be saved from dropping Implant Attack and swapping it for twin-linked Deathspitter for example.


Shooters:
Wraithlord
(Shuriken Catapult, Flamer, Bright Lance, Missile Launcher)
155 points

We would have to call this Wraithlord Jack (of-all-trades) as it has a little bit of this and that. They are avoiding multiple shot weapons as they have a high ballistic skill, and I do agree with Bright Lance and Missile Launcher, only I tend to take two Wraithlords one with each. Again saving points for a sword to re-roll failed to hit rolls in close combat is golden and still gives the Wraithlord a role on the battlefield. One last thing, they take a flamer to help burn infantry out of cover, well the 2 shots at 12” coming from the other fist is almost useless, so take two flamers.


Tanker:
Carnifex - 160
(Bonded Exo-Skeleton, Scything Talons, Twin-linked Deathspitter, Frag Spines, Bio-Plasma, Regeneration)
225 points

A well put together Carnifex, I cannot complain about much on this beastie. As a player I am not lucky when it comes to rolling 6’s so personally I would not take Regeneration and whilst I do take Bio-Plasma for my Old School Screamer-Killer Carnifexes, I prefer to use it on one in a Mycetic Spore. The mix of a mid-range weapon (Twin-linked Deathspitter) and two close range weapons (Frag Spines, Bio-Plasma) I find curious. As Frag Spines are so cheap they are a give but it is the 20 points for Bio-Plasma, a potential one shot deal that will probably miss I am uncomfortable with.

The article talks about taking a second or even a third Carnifex in a brood, and for only 540 points you could take three of my build of Carnifex compared to two for 450 points.


Daemon Prince:
Daemon Prince (Daemonic Flight, Unholy Might, Mark of Khorne)
175 points

This is a points heavy but effective model; perhaps the only change would be dropping the Unholy Might and taking the more expensive Iron Hide. Unless you are going to be taking a beating from Powerfists then you will be effectively double the number of wounding hits needed to kill it at a total cost of 190 points. Or with everything having fleet and the Daemon Prince deepstriking I would drop the wings and keep Unholy Might for a 145 point monster.

Daemon Prince (Mark of Tzeentch, Master of Sorcery, Bolt of Tzeentch, Daemonic Gaze, Breath of Chaos)
200 points

Like the aforementioned Wraithlord, Jack springs to mind. Again it is just a case of pruning some of the options, sure the Master of Sorcery gift allows the Daemon Prince to fire all three of its ranged weapons, including the S8 AP1 Bolt of Change, S5 AP 3 Assault 3 Daemonic Gaze and the Breath of Chaos, a template weapon that wounds on a 4+ no matter what the target's Toughness, but also all at the same target. Far better to take just two powers one for up close Breath of Chaos and one to attack those vehicles, the bane of all Chaos Daemon armies, Bolt of Tzeentch.

Daemon Prince (Iron Hide, Mark of Nurgle, Aura of Decay, Boon of Mutation)
190 points

Simple, just lose the near useless power Aura of Decay and the effective but limited Boon of Mutation and take Noxious Touch for re-roll all wounds on a 2+ (against T5 or less). As with the Khorne Daemon Prince rely on Deep Strike and Fleet to get you to the enemy rather than the overpriced Wings.

Thursday Night Battle Report 29/07/10 Part 4: Battle for Argos’s Grave

Part 4 of my Thursday Night Battle Report, The Battle for Argos’s Grave:


Turn 6

Alpha Legion
Movement: I knew that a draw was the probable result with a victory being in the hands of the dice, a single Tactical squad stood around the objective. Both Chosen squads disembarked from their stationary Chaos Rhinos and advance on the objective. The single Possessed Chaos Space Marine makes it to the foot of the hill, facing six Devastators. The Chaos Lord and Terminator also move towards the Tactical Squad ready for close combat. I continued the right-hand Havoc’s advance and move them into charge range.
Firing: I avoid firing at the Tactical in case anything goes wrong. The Havocs ping another Devastator leaving only five for the Possessed to fight.
Close Combat: The Possessed takes three wounds before it can swing a claw; neither side kills anything. The main battle sees one of the Chosen in each squad die as the squad is eventually wiped out Powerfists and the Daemon Weapon of the Chaos Lord. The objective is now uncontrolled although I have several squads contesting it. Elsewhere the final Scout dies along with the two Tactical marines fighting with the Chaplain. He kills the final Chaos Marine in base to base and finds himself out of close combat with just a stray bolt pistol round taking an overkill wound.

The lone Chaos Marine Troop consolidates 6” towards the objective and gets within two inches of it to score; a single figure carrying a plasma rifle. Units of Chosen move to cover the advance and guard against any unexpected attacks. With both the Chaplain and Chaos Lord free from combat both figures advance towards each other.

Ultramarines
Movement: The battle is over, but honour is at stake. The chaplain charges towards the Chaos Lord.
Firing: The Drop Pod fails to hit the lone scoring figure, the second Drop Pod misses a Chosen marine.
Close Combat: The Chaplain charges the Chaos Lord hoping for vengeance. Re-rolling misses he cause three wounds and sustains two back. The Iron Halo stops one of the wounds and the Powers of Chaos stop two, with a wound each it is drawn combat, but the Chaplain falls to the ground bleeding from the stray bolt pistol round. The only other combat took place on the hill between the Devastators and the Possessed. Again making three armour saves the Possessed survives without killing anything. The battle is over…

Kill count: Alpha Legion 22 Ultramarines 66

Survivors


Alpha Legion
Chaos Lord (wounded)
1 Possessed
1 Chaos Terminator
9 Chosen (inc Aspiring Champion)
Chaos Rhino
9 Chosen (inc Aspiring Champion)
Chaos Rhino (immobilised)
2 Chaos Space Marines
1 Chaos Space Marine
5 Havocs
3 Havocs

Ultramarines
Librarian (wounded)
Drop Pod
Drop Pod
5 Devastators (inc Veteran)


Random Conclusions:

I was shocked at the final result; I was honestly expecting a draw with a Tactical Marine contesting the objective. Looking at the kill total I cannot believe how much I won by, when the drop pods landed on Turn 3 I thought the game would only last another turn or two.

Both squads of Chosen coming in from the wrong side of table won the game for me by eventually being in the right place and the right time. I may have been unlucky with the dice rolls, but in the end they saw me to victory.

Poor dice rolls meant that I passed every leadership check I had to make, every single one. Now that was lucky…

Despite playing most of the game expecting to lose, as did the gamer that was watching the battle and not playing, I hung on and ground out the win. I focussed on dealing with the threats at a time of my choosing and ignored those elements I could not make contact with. The risky Chaos Lord shots at the Devastators could have cost me the battle if I had continued along that course.

Possessed Chaos Space Marines whilst expensive are golden with their 5+ invulnerable save and wounding T4 on a 3+. They are too expensive in points to take a large squad; hopefully I can buy their special abilities when the new Codex comes out.

The Ultramarine player is looking to add assault elements to his list, Vanguard and Assault Squad. He does have and does normally play Assault Terminators; they would have cost him a HQ and Tactical in points.

The Ultramarine player needs to add powerfists, power weapons and plasma pistols to this arm – even at the loss of models. Before every game he tells the opposing player to ignore them on the models.

Both sides were equally poorly blessed with special close combat weapons; the Ultramarines could boast a powerfist, power weapon and force weapon; Alpha Legion 2 powerfists and a Daemon Weapon which rolled a three or four every time it was used.

Thursday Night Battle Report 29/07/10 Part 3: Battle for Argos’s Grave

Part 3 of my Thursday Night Battle Report of the Battle for Argos’s Grave:


Turn 3

Alpha Legion
Movement: No reserves so my battleplan falls apart due to poor dice rolls. The Dreadnought is still threatening as are the Devastators; I am out numbered everywhere and there are reserves still to come for the Ultramarines. The Chosen exit their vehicle and line up for pistol and assault; the Chaos Terminator and Possessed set themselves up for assault against a Tactical squad. I move my remaining Troops forwards with the meltagun just entering firing range of the Dreadnought. Chosen Chaos Rhino moves to a friendlier position for re-embarkation.
Firing: Havocs fail to wound any of the corresponding Devastators; however I finally manage to hit the Dreadnought scoring a penetrating stun. The Chaos Marines fire their meltagun and manage a glancing stun; the Dreadnought is impervious and more importantly immobile for a turn. Chosen manage two kills with their meltaguns and bolt pistols, setting up their charge. Chaos Terminator patters off the armour of two Tacticals.
Close Combat: The Chaos Terminator and Possessed charge the Tactical squad, with two kills each and it is now a struggle with four on eight. Scouts and Chaos Marines manage a single kill as the Lord finally gets up off the floor after having gone to ground last turn. Chosen led by a powerfist Champion fell four for no loss.

Ultramarines
Movement: Two Drop Pods arrive, one to support the ongoing assault the second to protect the Dreadnought. Ten Marines and a HQ unit exit both vehicles and adopt a firing stance, the librarian getting ready to slay the Chaos Lord, the Chaplain the meltagun squad.
Firing: Numerous shots fired at the Chaos Lord, the meltagun misses and all wounds are saved. The Devastators target the Chaos Lord again and dice rolls fall in his favour as he passes all his cover saves. The two Chaos Space Marines hiding in the ruins nearest the objective are quickly put down, each taking several wounds from the Chaplain squad.
Close Combat: The Chosen batter down the Tactical squad due to the powerfist; they are all wiped out. Scouts and Chaos Space Marines fail to kill each other as the Possessed and Chaos Terminator killing four for no loss.

Kill count: Alpha Legion 22 Ultramarines 11


Turn 4

Alpha Legion
Movement: Second Chosen squad moves onto the table, on the wrong side as far as I was concerned, the right-hand side. With a pair of meltaguns and six inches of movement I may be able to catch the Dreadnought. The Chaos Lord decides discretion is better than valour and moves into charge range ignoring the newly arrived Tactical squad. Chosen 1 move embark in the Chaos Rhino and move towards objective, popping smoke.
Firing: Havocs aim at the Dreadnought with two missile launchers hitting once and failing to penetrate. The two melta gunners take aim and one manages to glances the Dreadnought scoring a six it is destroyed. Two Chaos Marine combat squads open up on the Chaplain and his Tactical squad slaying two.
Close Combat: The Chaos Lord joins in combat with the Possessed wiping out all opposition. Two Chaos Space Marine combat squads charge the Chaplain and his bodyguards: victory to the Chaplain, despite rolling 30 attacks against the 11 in return, both sides lose two figures. One Scout eats dirt.

Ultramarines
Movement: No movement as all squads are fighting, preparing to charge or readying heavy weapons.
Firing: The Devastators target the Havocs killing two with a third making a cover save.
Close Combat: The Librarian and his squad charges into close combat, the Librarian unable to wound the Chaos Lord despite hitting twice, the Tacticals wound all the Possessed and Terminator who make their saves. In return three Tacticals are killed as the Possessed start to rend their way though the squad. The Chaplain leads by example killing two Chaos Space Marines as a third falls for the loss of just two Tacticals. The Scouts lose two more of their number as everybody passes their leadership checks.

Kill count: Alpha Legion 39 Ultramarines 18


Turn 5

Alpha Legion
Movement: Chosen 2 move towards the objective in their Chaos Rhino poised for a last turn charge. If I roll well for move though cover the Havocs can join the close assault taking place in front of them, they manage a 2 and a 3. Chosen 1 continue their advance towards the objective.
Firing: The Havocs on the left target their hateful foes the Devastators killing another two with their frag shots.
Close Combat: The Chaplain and his squad survive, both sides felling one model and reducing each side to four models each. The Librarian and Tacticals fare poorly; Librarian takes a wound off the Chaos Terminator and the remainder of his squad lose four for the cost of two Possessed Marines. Scouts and Chaos Space Marines draw a blank as a fifth Tactical dies in the Librarian squad to overkills.

Ultramarines
Movement: No movement as all squads are fighting, preparing to charge or readying heavy weapons.
Firing: The Devastators immobilise Chosen 1’s Chaos Rhino, the occupants remain inside. A meltagun shot at same Chaos Rhino misses.
Close Combat: Victory for the Chaplain and his squad, killing two for the loss of one. The Scouts manage to kill a Chaos Marine for the loss of two of their number. The Librarian again fails to wound the Chaos Lord as his squad is wiped out to a man. Retreating he is chased by a lone Possessed.

Kill count: Alpha Legion 50 Ultramarines 24

To be concluded...

Daemon Prince in Plastic

It’s true the flesh is weak, or is it the mind is weak, either way I gave in and bought the new plastic Daemon Prince without giving it the once over either online or perusing the current White Dwarf. Normally the latest issue of White Dwarf would be in my clammy paws last Thursday of the month, despite reservations over quality, however as a strict W40K fan I cannot justify buying the magazine if it contains nothing of interest to me: last issue nothing, this issue a background article on Chaos Daemons and a How to Play Chaos Daemons. I will probably pick up a copy on EBay in a month or three.

So I have my Daemon Prince out of the box and I am surprised at the lack of options on the sprue, I realise that the kit is two years old (so the internet tells me) but I was hoping for more options for each of the four Chaos Powers, well any options would be an improvement.

Contents are: one set of legs that are similar to the old WFB Daemon Prince legs. I understand that GW did not want to have two sets of legs as people could build two Daemon Princes from the kit, but more armoured greaves than the two provided, perhaps looking vaguely power armoured. Instead we have decidedly WFB looking greaves to go over the chicken legs provided, what happened to the muscle? We have three heads to choose, horns pointing up, horns pointing sideways and horns pointing down. I will avoid the horny devil joke. We have a tail and three body segments, a generic (re: naked) back and a power armoured (W40K) and a naked (WFB) front.

Arms get their own paragraph as we have seven to choose. I do like the pair of Chaos Space Marine looking claws, well armoured and very talon looking. Next we have three right hand containing, sword, bigger sword and axe. All are okay and definitely usable or convertible. The last arm is a lefty and unfortunately it is empty, I would have preferred an additional arm with say a sword for a lefty and an empty right hand just to shake-up the look of the figure. I think a conversion is on the way…

Other bits we get are a pair of wings, Chaos Space Marine backpack exhausts or generic spikes to insert into the back of the Daemon Prince. As well as the aforementioned greaves we get two armoured tabards, one each for W40K and WFB. We also provided are a pair of Chaos Space Marine shoulder pads and a WFB shoulder guard with chaos horn. Last and but least a set of generic chaos spikes, or an Iron Halo effect.

So having sucked in my disappointment what do I think? Well whilst I know GW can and have done better there are enough parts here for me to play with to build a pair of Daemon Princes. My initial Daemon Prince will be a regular fellow with all the Chaos Space Marine parts that I can lay my hands on, so will include W40K torso, generic back, Chaos Space Marine arms and shoulder pads, with regular legs and W40K tabard. Instead of Chaos Space Marine backpack vents I will take the spikes and de-horn one of the heads, or do something with the WFB horn. This will be a Flawless Host Daemon Prince as it seems appropriate to have a Daemon Prince lead a small warband of them.

The second Daemon Prince will use most of the remaining parts, I am hoping to make a Daemon Prince with a serpentine body, so will be using tail and naked WFB torso. I want an old style three-armed beast so will be using both sword arms and the left arm will be converted to hold a sword. I will be adding wings and anything WFB based even though I will be using the Daemon Prince in W40K.
Now where did I put that greenstuff..?

Armylist Building

Just thought I would give a few thoughts on what makes up an armylist, or more appropriately what will be making up armylist son this blog. Armylists are ten a penny on the internet, with everybody stating what they think is the best armylist to take, one that will guarantee them victory. Whilst it is good to win, it is just as important to realise that every victory also means that your opponent(s) has lost. Having played since the early days of 1st edition W40K I have managed many a win in both single and multiple payer, with as many draws as defeats suffered so I would expect if I counted them up I would be scoring an 8-1-1 ratio.


So am I laying my cards on the table, claiming to be a great player and showing you the secrets of victory? Far from it, I came to realise many years ago that the art to winning came in list building. Obviously there is an element of tactical nous and luck via dice rolling, but you can reduce both elements if you have an effective list. And in the many years of gaming I succeeded by building better lists than many of my opponents.

Winning is certainly fun, but is that enough? I can remember playing Tau teaming up with an Imperial Guard player against Space Wolves and Space Marines, wiping out 90% of the opposition and losing just 1 Fire Warrior in the last turn – I did callously sacrifice the Imperial Guard players army; for the greater good. Back in 3rd edition I played a 1.5k Space Marines versus Dark Eldar and killed them to a man in by turn 4 without losing even a single scout. Sure the games may have been fun for me, but what of my opponent?

Whilst putting together 1K forces for the various armies that I hope to finally build and paint I will be keeping one eye on ensuring that the lists are not fun-sucking, fear inducing, smite thine foes with holy flame lists that we read about on the internet. You may be thinking, wait a moment isn’t that what you said you played previously? In my defence I put together better lists than my opponents, however they were very rarely equal to what you read doing the rounds in tournament play, if only because those lists do not meet with my gaming style.

Finally at the meat of this blog, the 1K lists will contain a HW, Elite, 2 Troop, Fast and Heavy. There may for some of the less expensive (in points) armies have more units, or for the sake of fluff switch a Heavy for a Fast, etc.

I have had a few battles already taking this design concept forwards and have found it difficult having only two scoring units, I may decide to try and squeeze a third one into the lists, but mostly playing a 3+ army makes this expensive, in points. In a basic list taking six units gives me 166 points a squad which seems like plenty until you try to build a Troop, ten Space Marines will set you back 170 points before upgrades or transport options. With this in mind I normally give the Troops an extra bite, dividing the points by seven and boosting Troops with the surplus. This gives units 142 points to platy with and the two Troops 216 points each. If I was to ignore taking transport then I could easily fit a third Troop into the lists, but in the 5th edition environment and certainly my gaming tables transport is king.

Thursday Night Battle Report 29/07/10 Part 2: Battle for Argos’s Grave

Part 2 of my Thursday Night Battle Report is a brief listing of what I was facing in the Battle for the Statue; I will have to come up with a better name for the battle than that:

Chaplain

Librarian

Dreadnought (Multimelta)

(10) Scout Squad

(10) Tactical Squad (Plasma Cannon, Plasma Gun)

Drop Pod

(10) Tactical Squad (Missile Launcher, Plasma gun)

Drop Pod

(10) Tactical Squad (Multimelta, Meltagun)

(10) Tactical Squad (Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun)

(10) Tactical Squad (Missile launcher, Flamer)

(10) Devastator Squad (2 Lascannons, Missile Launcher, Plasma Cannon)

The Chaplain was in the plasma weapons Drop Pod, the Librarian in the other.

As I am in the midst of replacing my laptop, I spilled coffee on my previous one, and the one I am currently using is running Windows 2000 there will be a lack of pictures for this battle report, I will back post a few pics in the future. Instead I will run a brief rundown of the events of the battle:


Battle for Argos’s Grave

Alpha Legion Chaos Space Marines attack the grave and monument of the former Ultramarine Captain Argos knowing that the Ultramarines will be forced to protect this revered site. Alpha Legion want to bleed the Ultramarines dry in this sector so they can continue operations unmolested, the Ultramarines want to cleanse the planet of the taint of Chaos.

Mission: Modified Capture and Control, one objective in the centre of the battlefield. The table set-up is best described by splitting the table into a three by three grid, each with a hill or ruined building. The central square has the large flat hill with the statue in the centre and a ruined building at my end.

My Ultramarine opponent sets-up quickly: the Devastators in the left corner, three Tacticals across the remaining area with the Dreadnought on the left almost opposite the objective. His reserves unknown to me was the two Drop Pod squads, which were to enter later in the game. The Scouts ended up being 18.1” away from my right-hand Havoc squad ready to protect the Dreadnought.

My deployment was semi-simultaneous: Havoc squad on left and right flank all four Troops in the middle opposite the objective in a square formation. I decided late to throw the Possessed on the left opposite the Devastators, but hidden behind cover. I attached the Chaos Lord to the squad for what I thought would be one turn only as the Possessed would have a 24”+ march to get to the heavy weapons squad. My hope was to bring one of the Chosen squads on the right and get at the Devastators as soon as possible.

Turn 1


Alpha Legion
Movement: Winning first turn I take it as I fancy my chances of stopping the Dreadnought early as it will become a serious problem if it makes it into close combat as I have no powerfist on the table. I move the Possessed and Lord towards cover, with all four Chaos Space Marine Squads advancing slowly through terrain, thanks dice.
Firing: First pair of missile launchers rolls a double 2, the second a 2 and a 1. Not the best of starts, I run a couple of squads, or more accurately they stumble forwards.
Close Combat: None.

Ultramarines
Movement: The Dreadnought advances along with the two Tactical squads’ sited central to the objective. The remaining Tactical holds their position on a hill as the Scouts move closer to the Havoc squad.
Firing: All squads and the Dreadnought that moved ran, except the Scouts. The Devastators cause three casualties on the leading Chaos Space Marine squad and my poor dice rolls continue and they pass their morale check.
Close Combat: None.

Kill count: Alpha Legion 0 Ultramarines 3


Turn 2

Alpha Legion
Movement: Reserves arrive, a squad of Chosen in a Rhino. Unfortunately they arrive on the wrong side of the table and are forced to move behind the hill the right-hand Tactical squad have made their home. Chaos Terminators arrive and I teleport them close to the Possessed who all move behind terrain as best they can manage. I decide to try to break the Devastators so the Chaos Lord climbs the rocky terrain and takes careful aim with his Daemon Weapon. Seeing where the Scouts are I move my right hand squad of Chaos Space Marines towards them knowing I should get one figure into base to base.
Firing: The Havocs catch ten Devastators in frag missile hits and the Chaos Lord manages to hit four times with total kills of two Devastators, a poor showing. The second Havoc squad manages to roll a double 1 targeting the Dreadnought. I run the Terminators onto the rocky terrain next to the Chaos Lord to distract the Devastators.
Close Combat: The Chaos Space Marines fall on the Scouts, with both sides losing one figure each.

Ultramarines
Movement: Two Tactical squads advance onto the objective as the Dreadnought continued towards the Alpha Legion battleline. The Tactical Marine squad covering the Devastators moves closer to the Possessed and Chaos Terminators.
Firing: Flaming death and bolt guns opened up on the Possessed, taking eight wounds they use up all my good dice by passing all their saves. In the distance a second Tactical squad manages a few derisory shots at the Chaos Terminators scoring three wounds. With die rolls of 1, 2, 1 they are reduced in numbers to one! The Chaos Lord goes to ground in order to avoid death when the Devastators target him. The hill bound Tacticals fail to penetrate the armour on the Chaos Rhino parked behind them due in part to the missile launcher armed Space Marine not being able to see it. The Dreadnought fires its Multimelta hitting a Havoc Marine but fails to wound.
Close Combat: The Scouts hold after taking two casualties as the Chaos Marines finally achieve success somewhere on the battlefield.

Kill count: Alpha Legion 5 Ultramarines 6

To be continued...