So I have a dilemma, Rhino, or more precisely Rhinos. With my masses of unpainted Chaos troops I have plenty of them waiting and willing for a lick of paint and swell the armies of Abbadon and his cohorts. For Chaos I am fond of using many of my 1.0 Rhinos, with the newer Rhinos being used mostly by my Sisters of Battle with a few stragglers for my Angels of Vengeance, the only other loyalists I currently play.
The problem is that in 5th edition Rhinos are good, they are cheap in points, provide speed, mobile cover and are normally impervious to my opponents dice rolling. I am lucky that there seems to be a lack of interest in melta guns…
All this sounds good, but I am now about to embark on building several Space Marine armies, I know several. Each of these armies is crying out for Rhinos or Razorbacks and I cannot bring myself to use the 1.0 version with them. So I need to buck up, have a stiff drink and work out how many Rhinos I need to buy. Normally I am looking at three transport vehicles in a thousand points and an extra two in the next thousand points. In this total will also be Dreadnoughts, Land Raiders and Predators, more vehicles to purchase. So if I work on a very conservative total of 10k of additional Space Marines over the next ten months, I will require twenty five Rhinos or Razorbacks, or even Drop Pods, realistically probably more. Add in say an extra ten Land raiders or Predators and I am looking at £750.00 of vehicles to realise my goal.
I have played and do play against players who refuse to bow down to the mighty Rhino; they both win and lose games just the same as me. I think it is time I rethought my goal of everything in a transport vehicle and instead returned to foot cavalry; it was good enough for Napoleon…
I am going to have to revisit and rethink how I build armies, with one eye on the Chancellor of the Exchequer as well as the point cost of the force. I am looking to increase my 1k list of Flawless Host to 2k, I managed to scrape around a little of this and that to make up the numbers, the army lacked heavy firepower that two units of two Obliterators will now provide, and having spent the last points I realised that I will need five Chaos Rhinos for the list, five Chaos Rhinos that have not been sprayed black at some point in their past. I have no Chaos Rhinos that fulfil this criteria so will have to pick up five of them to fill out that list. So it is back to the drawing board, or more accurately the points counting spreadsheet.
I am making a vow that every list has at least one squad that relies on feet to move, they can always take the home objective or borrow another squads transport if needed. This should hopefully reduce transport in 1k lists to two vehicles and if I can take one off the second thousand point list I will cut my costs by 40%.
Hmmm, just thinking about how many more models I can now afford…. Oh and the answer to the riddle is, when it is a twenty pound note!
Thursday, 16 September 2010
Wednesday, 15 September 2010
Sternhammer’s Wulfen Guard
I am hoping to start cracking on this Apocalypse formation this month, grabbing several old Space Wolves and giving them new heads and hands to go with their Space Wolf Grey armour, rather than the new-fangled Space Wolf blue they wear. I can remember them when they were last in action, the Wulfen not Space Wolves. It was a year before the release of Apocalypse and I was engaged in a gigantic two-day 40k a side battle. The Space Wolves were being massacred nearby defending or assaulting castle walls, I am not sure which they were dying so quickly. The Wulfen moved through a nearby forest and took on what I presumed to be the cream of the Chaos army, World Eaters. This was back in the day when Skull Champions were armed with Axe of Khorne allowing them to attack again for every 6 rolled to hit, and with Daemonic Mutation (+1 attack), Daemonic Strength (+1 strength, so killing on a 2+ on the charge), Spiky bits (for a to-hit reroll), they were around 100 points of pure nastiness. Well the Berserkers were allied to a Bloodthirster and the Wulfen had wolves in support, in three turns they hit stopped and pushed back the Berserkers even after we summoned extra Bloodletters to try to save the situation. The battle was never completed and my friends Wulfen have never been seen since.
With the rules for 13th Company being invalid, well technically anyways, this will give me a chance to play Wulfen and the balance of the Grey Wolves will use the regular Space Wolf Codex rules. Sternhammer’s Wulfen Guard costs 50 points and two 10 man Packs are 240 points each. After taking a Space Wolf Priest the formation should be around 700 points, giving me an initial 600 points to add a pack of Grey Hunters or two. I will leave the 13th Company at about 1300 points until I get around to building the remainder of the Space Wolves and seeing how they match up. I fancy the Egil’s Company of Space Wolves, lots of noise! If they are being outfitted with plenty of vehicles then I will ensure a foot based 13th Company, along with a squad of Swift Claw Bikers and Wolves for speed.
So with Wulfen being around £30.00 for ten the question is how am I going to build them? When the Space Wolf Codex was announced last year I picked up several of the older models in preparation for the Codex, but I just never got around to building them. I have already picked up several of the newer models looking to either convert them into Black Legion, or just use the accessories to pimp the Black Legion up with.
Wulfen need gnarly faces, unkempt hair and claws to make them distinct from regular Space Wolves, who themselves have gnarly faces, unkempt hair but cut their nails. Having several unused genestealers I will be using their claws to make the new Wulfen, and hopefully keep the remainder of the genestealer intact so that I can convert new talons on them. Faces will be the hairiest heads I can find with extra green stuff hair. I am sure they will look passable for what they represent, I am fairly sure…
With the rules for 13th Company being invalid, well technically anyways, this will give me a chance to play Wulfen and the balance of the Grey Wolves will use the regular Space Wolf Codex rules. Sternhammer’s Wulfen Guard costs 50 points and two 10 man Packs are 240 points each. After taking a Space Wolf Priest the formation should be around 700 points, giving me an initial 600 points to add a pack of Grey Hunters or two. I will leave the 13th Company at about 1300 points until I get around to building the remainder of the Space Wolves and seeing how they match up. I fancy the Egil’s Company of Space Wolves, lots of noise! If they are being outfitted with plenty of vehicles then I will ensure a foot based 13th Company, along with a squad of Swift Claw Bikers and Wolves for speed.
So with Wulfen being around £30.00 for ten the question is how am I going to build them? When the Space Wolf Codex was announced last year I picked up several of the older models in preparation for the Codex, but I just never got around to building them. I have already picked up several of the newer models looking to either convert them into Black Legion, or just use the accessories to pimp the Black Legion up with.
Wulfen need gnarly faces, unkempt hair and claws to make them distinct from regular Space Wolves, who themselves have gnarly faces, unkempt hair but cut their nails. Having several unused genestealers I will be using their claws to make the new Wulfen, and hopefully keep the remainder of the genestealer intact so that I can convert new talons on them. Faces will be the hairiest heads I can find with extra green stuff hair. I am sure they will look passable for what they represent, I am fairly sure…
Monday, 13 September 2010
Operation 500
So what is Operation 500? Well as stated last week I am hoping to paint more figures than can be humanly possible, but due to circumstances I have a greater number of figures for the Forces of Disorder than the Forces of Order. So I will be spending hopefully twenty pounds and buying 500 points from the internet, well we can call it EBay.
I was hoping to gather the various forces that make up a Space Marine Battlebox; however I think I am being extra hopeful to gather them for the princely sum of twenty pounds. I had to jump on the website to see what it is in the contents of the box as it has been a few years since I bought one, the previous century I think – I got the set with three bikers in, Terminators and Tacticals.
Space Marine Battlebox: Ten man Tactical with popular flamer missile launcher combo; five Scouts armed with close combat or bolter/shotguns; a five man Assault and a Rhino. Breaking down the points according to the website we have a standard Tactical squad at 170 points, the Veteran Sergeant has taken no upgrades. Scout squad is 85 points as they have been upgraded with a Heavy Bolter; again the Veteran Sergeant has taken no upgrades. Again the Assault Squad Veteran Sergeant has taken no upgrades; although in the picture it is modelled with a combat shield so only 120 points. A combat squad of five guys is a bare bones 90 points along with the naked Rhino at only 35 points. Coolly added together we get a nice round 500 points for a snip of fifty-five pounds.
However I have few snips and spending the amount on upgrade Space Marines will mean my budget to complete the other armies I am working is severely cropped. If I can limit myself to just twenty pounds it will give me funds to complete other projects and any spare monies can be saved and funnelled into Operation 500 later in the year.
I know you are thinking that there is no way that I can pick up ten regular Marines, five Scouts, five jump-pack Marines and a Rhino for the money I am talking about and I somewhat agree. It will be a struggle as I know that I can comfortably pick this slot up for twenty-five pounds. Luckily I will be concentrating on the 500 points rather that the actual guys, so for example a Predator tank that will cost around half the budget can be matched up with a squad of Terminators and a character model, giving me a chance to manage 500.
I am thinking about ensuring that at least half the army is in transports of one sort or another, unfortunately the price of transport is expensive (in pounds) compared to the relatively low points cost of the model. I will just have to be careful and build around what I can purchase and check out the templates for Drop Pods, I am sure I saved them somewhere before GW took them offline.
I was hoping to gather the various forces that make up a Space Marine Battlebox; however I think I am being extra hopeful to gather them for the princely sum of twenty pounds. I had to jump on the website to see what it is in the contents of the box as it has been a few years since I bought one, the previous century I think – I got the set with three bikers in, Terminators and Tacticals.
Space Marine Battlebox: Ten man Tactical with popular flamer missile launcher combo; five Scouts armed with close combat or bolter/shotguns; a five man Assault and a Rhino. Breaking down the points according to the website we have a standard Tactical squad at 170 points, the Veteran Sergeant has taken no upgrades. Scout squad is 85 points as they have been upgraded with a Heavy Bolter; again the Veteran Sergeant has taken no upgrades. Again the Assault Squad Veteran Sergeant has taken no upgrades; although in the picture it is modelled with a combat shield so only 120 points. A combat squad of five guys is a bare bones 90 points along with the naked Rhino at only 35 points. Coolly added together we get a nice round 500 points for a snip of fifty-five pounds.
However I have few snips and spending the amount on upgrade Space Marines will mean my budget to complete the other armies I am working is severely cropped. If I can limit myself to just twenty pounds it will give me funds to complete other projects and any spare monies can be saved and funnelled into Operation 500 later in the year.
I know you are thinking that there is no way that I can pick up ten regular Marines, five Scouts, five jump-pack Marines and a Rhino for the money I am talking about and I somewhat agree. It will be a struggle as I know that I can comfortably pick this slot up for twenty-five pounds. Luckily I will be concentrating on the 500 points rather that the actual guys, so for example a Predator tank that will cost around half the budget can be matched up with a squad of Terminators and a character model, giving me a chance to manage 500.
I am thinking about ensuring that at least half the army is in transports of one sort or another, unfortunately the price of transport is expensive (in pounds) compared to the relatively low points cost of the model. I will just have to be careful and build around what I can purchase and check out the templates for Drop Pods, I am sure I saved them somewhere before GW took them offline.
Friday, 10 September 2010
Fear of the Dark
Or rather more accurately Fear of the Dark Eldar. Rumours of their demise have been around for years, as is talk of their revival this coming November. I can remember the good old days of Third Edition, Space Marines gunning down Dark Eldar on the demonstration tables in Games Workshop like turkeys at Thanksgiving. Of course over the next couple of years as the Dark Eldar slowly, slowly had their range released the tide turned slightly and victories against the T4 3+ save armies became more frequent. By which time everybody had forgotten that they had a bagful of Dark Eldar and played other sensible armies like their Eldar cousins.
Come November 2010 we are going to see the arrival of five or even six box sets for the Dark Eldar. Everything is ultimately being remade in the range, a cause for celebration or concern that what we already have will stick out alike a sore thumb?
So what can we expect? The five kits are supposed to be Warriors, Wyches, Hellions, Raiders and Ravagers. The rumoured possible sixth kit Jetbikes. The two metal boxes will be Mandrakes and Incubi, with the blisters filling out HQ options. If these are the first wave of kits it will be like building your Space Marine army with Tactical Marines, Scouts, Assault Marines, Rhino and Predator only. Not very exciting and it is not going to sell well by any stretch of the imagination.
What about the Codex, well we can suppose a few changes and there has been talk about a few of the old units moving about in the codex but no mention of any new units. Previously we had a total of three HQ units, three Elite, two Troops, two Fast and three Heavy, only the Necron armylist contained fewer options. Based on best guestimates from previous codices and what is rumoured on the internet:
HQ: Well we will be losing a HQ option, the Dracon. Two-wound commanders have been exorcised in fifth edition, but we gain an Archite a three wound Wych Lord. There has been no mention on what is happening to Haemonculi, perhaps they will be remaining as a multiple choice HQ, or being added as an optional squad leader?
Elite: Grotesques and Mandrakes staying, Mandrakes gaining Scout or Space Wolf Scout ability to come on the rear table edge. It is presumed that Harlequins will be added to the list as they have dealings with both the good and evil Eldar. There was in the past rumours of Incubi being an Elite option, and even at their extortionate cost in points they would prove popular in plastic, not the rumoured metal.
Troops: Again we will be losing a Troop, no more Raider squads. Instead Raider will be what they always should have been, a transport upgrade for the squad. Here’s hoping that if the squad is larger than ten models they can still purchase the transport. Thumbs up, we can expect options to take pistol and spiky close combat weapon instead of splinter rifle. An option they should have always had and an inducement to buy the new miniatures and not rely on the old figures. Thumbs down, I am expecting the box set to come in ten with Sybarite heavy weapon and special weapon. Gone will be the days of taking ten with two special and heavy weapons. Perhaps if we take eleven or more warriors and invalidate the squad from a transport option they will be able to take extras?
Wyches should be making the move from Elite to Troop. Here’s hoping the points value is fixed, around ten points for a tooled-up Wych sounds about right for 6+ save, strength 3 models. Sure they are better in close combat due to their 4+ invulnerable save, however discounting charge bonuses a Tactical Space Marine has a higher kill percentage fighting against a Wych one on one.
A possible third Troop could be Jetbikes as they moved over in the Eldar Codex. They could be an option like Space Marines, with a commander on a Jetbike allowing you to take scoring Jetbikes. These will have to come down in cost and offer something more than a rapid fire strength 3, or now poisoned 4+ weapon.
Fast: Hellions are going to be in plastic, they either need rending or attacks as a power weapon on turn of charge, along with Hit and Run. Currently they are unable to fight in close combat and their 5+ invulnerable/ jink save is a joke. If Jetbikes remain a fast then there will be two options available to them, perhaps Scourges will move to fast, being able to take special weapons along with splinter cannons. They really do need to lose the dark lance option, or change the stats to the same as a bright lance and make it Assault 1.
Heavy: A new Raider means a new Ravager. The heaviest of all the tanks I think it will sell based on what they change the stats of the Disintegrator rather than being able to take three Dark Lances. Scourges could remain a Heavy, because jump pack troops really are a heavy and not a fast. Or maybe they will differentiate between Scourges armed with heavy or special weapons? We know that Talos is getting a redesign, and will be out in one of the later waves so that gets a thumbs up. Please, please give it toughness eight, or an extra wound?
So as you can tell there isn’t much known to comment on, but by my reckoning we will have three HQ, three Elite (maybe four), two Troop (maybe three), one or two Fast and two Heavy (maybe three). With twelve choices, none of them new; not all of them being released in the first wave; surely this is not what GW is promoting as the next big thing..?
Come November 2010 we are going to see the arrival of five or even six box sets for the Dark Eldar. Everything is ultimately being remade in the range, a cause for celebration or concern that what we already have will stick out alike a sore thumb?
So what can we expect? The five kits are supposed to be Warriors, Wyches, Hellions, Raiders and Ravagers. The rumoured possible sixth kit Jetbikes. The two metal boxes will be Mandrakes and Incubi, with the blisters filling out HQ options. If these are the first wave of kits it will be like building your Space Marine army with Tactical Marines, Scouts, Assault Marines, Rhino and Predator only. Not very exciting and it is not going to sell well by any stretch of the imagination.
What about the Codex, well we can suppose a few changes and there has been talk about a few of the old units moving about in the codex but no mention of any new units. Previously we had a total of three HQ units, three Elite, two Troops, two Fast and three Heavy, only the Necron armylist contained fewer options. Based on best guestimates from previous codices and what is rumoured on the internet:
HQ: Well we will be losing a HQ option, the Dracon. Two-wound commanders have been exorcised in fifth edition, but we gain an Archite a three wound Wych Lord. There has been no mention on what is happening to Haemonculi, perhaps they will be remaining as a multiple choice HQ, or being added as an optional squad leader?
Elite: Grotesques and Mandrakes staying, Mandrakes gaining Scout or Space Wolf Scout ability to come on the rear table edge. It is presumed that Harlequins will be added to the list as they have dealings with both the good and evil Eldar. There was in the past rumours of Incubi being an Elite option, and even at their extortionate cost in points they would prove popular in plastic, not the rumoured metal.
Troops: Again we will be losing a Troop, no more Raider squads. Instead Raider will be what they always should have been, a transport upgrade for the squad. Here’s hoping that if the squad is larger than ten models they can still purchase the transport. Thumbs up, we can expect options to take pistol and spiky close combat weapon instead of splinter rifle. An option they should have always had and an inducement to buy the new miniatures and not rely on the old figures. Thumbs down, I am expecting the box set to come in ten with Sybarite heavy weapon and special weapon. Gone will be the days of taking ten with two special and heavy weapons. Perhaps if we take eleven or more warriors and invalidate the squad from a transport option they will be able to take extras?
Wyches should be making the move from Elite to Troop. Here’s hoping the points value is fixed, around ten points for a tooled-up Wych sounds about right for 6+ save, strength 3 models. Sure they are better in close combat due to their 4+ invulnerable save, however discounting charge bonuses a Tactical Space Marine has a higher kill percentage fighting against a Wych one on one.
A possible third Troop could be Jetbikes as they moved over in the Eldar Codex. They could be an option like Space Marines, with a commander on a Jetbike allowing you to take scoring Jetbikes. These will have to come down in cost and offer something more than a rapid fire strength 3, or now poisoned 4+ weapon.
Fast: Hellions are going to be in plastic, they either need rending or attacks as a power weapon on turn of charge, along with Hit and Run. Currently they are unable to fight in close combat and their 5+ invulnerable/ jink save is a joke. If Jetbikes remain a fast then there will be two options available to them, perhaps Scourges will move to fast, being able to take special weapons along with splinter cannons. They really do need to lose the dark lance option, or change the stats to the same as a bright lance and make it Assault 1.
Heavy: A new Raider means a new Ravager. The heaviest of all the tanks I think it will sell based on what they change the stats of the Disintegrator rather than being able to take three Dark Lances. Scourges could remain a Heavy, because jump pack troops really are a heavy and not a fast. Or maybe they will differentiate between Scourges armed with heavy or special weapons? We know that Talos is getting a redesign, and will be out in one of the later waves so that gets a thumbs up. Please, please give it toughness eight, or an extra wound?
So as you can tell there isn’t much known to comment on, but by my reckoning we will have three HQ, three Elite (maybe four), two Troop (maybe three), one or two Fast and two Heavy (maybe three). With twelve choices, none of them new; not all of them being released in the first wave; surely this is not what GW is promoting as the next big thing..?
Thursday, 9 September 2010
State of the Union Address: Part 2
My last post I boasted that I want to play a 40K of W40K for my fortieth birthday, aiming to game in a mere fifty weeks time, oh and both armies to be fully painted. With a minimum of 20,000 points of Chaos (Forces of Evil FOE) to be completed by me, along with additional painted units of the Imperium (Forces of Good FOG) and terrain, I am going to be a busy bunny for the next year. This blog can record how far along I am getting with the various armies, with perhaps even a couple of photos which would really help to break up all this text.
So I am best looking at what my gaming buddies can bring to the table and try to complement what they are taking. We normally only get a couple of games a month and some armies have fallen by the wayside over the years so these are best guestimates of what they have points wise in descending order: Imperial Guard 7k, Ultramarines 6k, Space Wolves 3k, Black Templars 3k, Sisters of Battle 2k, Dark Angels 1.5k, Blood Angels 1.5k, Grey Knights 1k along with generic Space Marines 5k. My numbers do not add up, I am only totalling 30k and whilst I can add another 10k with FOG figures the Imperial Guard would need considerable work to finish them, although I am sure they would enjoy the ten Leman Russes I have. Previously they fought using 40k points; I will have to see why there is a shortfall.
So how is FOE getting on again? Points wise in descending order: World Eaters 9k, Night Lords 5k, Emperors Children 4k, Chaos Daemons 3k, Death Guard 3k, Thousand Sons 3k, Thousand Sons 3k and Word Bearers 2k. If I added Imperial Guard to the above numbers I would have another 8k to add to FOE to hit their target.
So what do I have and what state is it in? Much of what I have was purchased and played in earlier editions so I do not know how the points stack up with more recent codices, or they have been cannibalised to make or upgrade different units:
Alpha Legion 4k Painted in base colours
Black Legion 4k Sprayed black
Death Guard 4k Painted in base colour black, needs repainting
Emperors Children 5k Being built or sprayed black
Iron Warriors 4k Awaiting unit markings
Night Lords 2k Unbuilt
Thousand Sons 1.5k Undercoated blue
Word Bearers 2k Painted in base colours
World Eaters 3k Various: from sprue to awaiting unit markings
Chaos Daemons 4k Various: from undercoat to shading
Imperial Guard 4k Various: from undercoat to shading
Angels of Vengeance 2k Various: from undercoat to shading
Sisters of Battle 2k Sprayed black
Space Marines 2k Biker army built but unpainted
I am sure that once I start sorting boxes of figures out other units will come to light and I will be able to more accurately assess how many points I have, am able to paint before the deadline. For example I started picking up Grey Knights earlier this year along with some Inquisitorial Storm Troopers. By the time the battle will starts next year they will have a new Codex and who knows what else.
So I am best looking at what my gaming buddies can bring to the table and try to complement what they are taking. We normally only get a couple of games a month and some armies have fallen by the wayside over the years so these are best guestimates of what they have points wise in descending order: Imperial Guard 7k, Ultramarines 6k, Space Wolves 3k, Black Templars 3k, Sisters of Battle 2k, Dark Angels 1.5k, Blood Angels 1.5k, Grey Knights 1k along with generic Space Marines 5k. My numbers do not add up, I am only totalling 30k and whilst I can add another 10k with FOG figures the Imperial Guard would need considerable work to finish them, although I am sure they would enjoy the ten Leman Russes I have. Previously they fought using 40k points; I will have to see why there is a shortfall.
So how is FOE getting on again? Points wise in descending order: World Eaters 9k, Night Lords 5k, Emperors Children 4k, Chaos Daemons 3k, Death Guard 3k, Thousand Sons 3k, Thousand Sons 3k and Word Bearers 2k. If I added Imperial Guard to the above numbers I would have another 8k to add to FOE to hit their target.
So what do I have and what state is it in? Much of what I have was purchased and played in earlier editions so I do not know how the points stack up with more recent codices, or they have been cannibalised to make or upgrade different units:
Alpha Legion 4k Painted in base colours
Black Legion 4k Sprayed black
Death Guard 4k Painted in base colour black, needs repainting
Emperors Children 5k Being built or sprayed black
Iron Warriors 4k Awaiting unit markings
Night Lords 2k Unbuilt
Thousand Sons 1.5k Undercoated blue
Word Bearers 2k Painted in base colours
World Eaters 3k Various: from sprue to awaiting unit markings
Chaos Daemons 4k Various: from undercoat to shading
Imperial Guard 4k Various: from undercoat to shading
Angels of Vengeance 2k Various: from undercoat to shading
Sisters of Battle 2k Sprayed black
Space Marines 2k Biker army built but unpainted
I am sure that once I start sorting boxes of figures out other units will come to light and I will be able to more accurately assess how many points I have, am able to paint before the deadline. For example I started picking up Grey Knights earlier this year along with some Inquisitorial Storm Troopers. By the time the battle will starts next year they will have a new Codex and who knows what else.
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
State of the Union Address
Hitting the age of forty next year has me pondering what I should do for my birthday celebrations, the past two years have been quiet due the impending and now arrival of my firstborn, and I feel that next year I can stretch my wings and do something special for the occasion. This is on my mind as I will be out this weekend sampling the delights of forty pubs celebrating one of my fellow gamer’s birthdays.
Forty years old, Warhammer 40k, forty years old, Warhammer 40k – you know it has a ring to it. Casting my mind back to a year before the release of Apocalypse I gamed a two day battle that reached turn four that had 40,000 points on each side. It was the best game I ever played as the sheer amount of figures and vehicles on display was breathtaking. It could also be said that the sheer amount of unpainted figures and vehicles on display was also breathtaking. Since then four years have gone by, whilst not much more has been painted, at least on my part, more figures and vehicles have been gathered. We have seen new rules, or at least suggestions, to fast play large games and over the years I have played an Apocalypse game or three.
Aiming for bank holiday weekend in August 2011 could I gather a full quarter or perhaps even more of a four player 40,000 points a side battle? I think that is a big ask, but wanting to game only with painted models I would need to crack the whip with my gaming buddies as well, making sure they sleep with a paintbrush as well. Fortunately two of the players are big painters and do not like to have more models than they can paint, one of them probably already has 20,000 points plus painted and ready to battle the other a more modest 10,000 points. Our final gamer perhaps has 500 points painted and I do not know if I have enough dynamite to get him into action.
So ideally I would gather together another couple of gamers, four will be ideal, perhaps two realistic? Secondly I need to paint, paint like the wind. I have no figures that are completed, but many in a state of near finish. Many more just undercoated, and probably an equal number unpainted. Looking in my calendar I have fifty weeks to achieve this goal, fifty short weeks. That does break down to a manageable 400 points a week or two squads in Chaos Rhinos or five Chaos Terminators in a Chaos Landraider. It sounds simpler when broken down into individual models. On top of painting the 20k of Chaos models I will also need to ensure that there is enough terrain to battle over, painted of course and that the Forces of Good (FOG)have enough painted figures and vehicles to match this evil horde, or Forces of Evil (FOE).
Next posting I will be breaking down what I can expect to bring to the battle, and what potentially my gaming buds could be taking.
Forty years old, Warhammer 40k, forty years old, Warhammer 40k – you know it has a ring to it. Casting my mind back to a year before the release of Apocalypse I gamed a two day battle that reached turn four that had 40,000 points on each side. It was the best game I ever played as the sheer amount of figures and vehicles on display was breathtaking. It could also be said that the sheer amount of unpainted figures and vehicles on display was also breathtaking. Since then four years have gone by, whilst not much more has been painted, at least on my part, more figures and vehicles have been gathered. We have seen new rules, or at least suggestions, to fast play large games and over the years I have played an Apocalypse game or three.
Aiming for bank holiday weekend in August 2011 could I gather a full quarter or perhaps even more of a four player 40,000 points a side battle? I think that is a big ask, but wanting to game only with painted models I would need to crack the whip with my gaming buddies as well, making sure they sleep with a paintbrush as well. Fortunately two of the players are big painters and do not like to have more models than they can paint, one of them probably already has 20,000 points plus painted and ready to battle the other a more modest 10,000 points. Our final gamer perhaps has 500 points painted and I do not know if I have enough dynamite to get him into action.
So ideally I would gather together another couple of gamers, four will be ideal, perhaps two realistic? Secondly I need to paint, paint like the wind. I have no figures that are completed, but many in a state of near finish. Many more just undercoated, and probably an equal number unpainted. Looking in my calendar I have fifty weeks to achieve this goal, fifty short weeks. That does break down to a manageable 400 points a week or two squads in Chaos Rhinos or five Chaos Terminators in a Chaos Landraider. It sounds simpler when broken down into individual models. On top of painting the 20k of Chaos models I will also need to ensure that there is enough terrain to battle over, painted of course and that the Forces of Good (FOG)have enough painted figures and vehicles to match this evil horde, or Forces of Evil (FOE).
Next posting I will be breaking down what I can expect to bring to the battle, and what potentially my gaming buds could be taking.
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
Chaos Terminators
Well the Chaos Terminators arrived quickly, all six of them. They are as you can see second edition and need a lot of work on them to make them, presentable. The Chaos Lord’s sword snapped as the packaging was very so-so, but it is nothing superglue cannot fix.
Having ploughed through my list it seems that I have fifty-five points to spend on upgrades for the Chaos Terminators, although this includes the price of a Banner of Slaanesh. The fires themselves provide me with two chainfists, a powerfist and two combi-flamers. I would not normally consider the combi-flamers, and will try to see if I can convert them to combi-plasma guns with some of the bits I have floating around. With the points left I can either take two chainfists or three powerfists, if I had Lightening Claws available I would consider them but I do not have anything suitable to substitute for them. Given I am taking the Banner of Slaanesh the pair of Chainfists wins as I want something that can punch through Dreadnought or even Landraider armour.
Now should I be thinking a pair of combi-meltas and not combi-plasmas..?
Part 2
Having now got to grips with the Chaos Terminators I have taken off all the arms, trophy racks and rebased them on the correct bases I can now revise what I have and what I am going to do with them. I have a third combi-flamer and am now more inclined to keep the powerfist as well. Instead of spending (or wasting) the 15 points on a Banner of Slaanesh I am instead going to use those points to keep the Powerfist and extra combi-weapon which I think will instead be combi-plasma. Rapid firing six shots should give me three kills; I would need eighteen hits with the three combi-flamers to make the same kill ratio against T4 3+ save.
Having ploughed through my list it seems that I have fifty-five points to spend on upgrades for the Chaos Terminators, although this includes the price of a Banner of Slaanesh. The fires themselves provide me with two chainfists, a powerfist and two combi-flamers. I would not normally consider the combi-flamers, and will try to see if I can convert them to combi-plasma guns with some of the bits I have floating around. With the points left I can either take two chainfists or three powerfists, if I had Lightening Claws available I would consider them but I do not have anything suitable to substitute for them. Given I am taking the Banner of Slaanesh the pair of Chainfists wins as I want something that can punch through Dreadnought or even Landraider armour.
Now should I be thinking a pair of combi-meltas and not combi-plasmas..?
Part 2
Having now got to grips with the Chaos Terminators I have taken off all the arms, trophy racks and rebased them on the correct bases I can now revise what I have and what I am going to do with them. I have a third combi-flamer and am now more inclined to keep the powerfist as well. Instead of spending (or wasting) the 15 points on a Banner of Slaanesh I am instead going to use those points to keep the Powerfist and extra combi-weapon which I think will instead be combi-plasma. Rapid firing six shots should give me three kills; I would need eighteen hits with the three combi-flamers to make the same kill ratio against T4 3+ save.
Monday, 6 September 2010
Second Chance
I had the opportunity to pick up eight Chaos Space Marines on a second chance buy, seems unusual to me that they would come up for a second chance given their unique nature. It is almost as if the seller manipulated the price to my maximum and then sold them to me at that price, still he will have been stung for two sets of selling fees on EBay…
So what about the eight figures, well as you can see below they are definitely a mixed bag for the eight pounds-ish I paid. I buy plastic figures at a maximum of fifty pence each and I valued the two Noise Marine special weapons at two pounds each.
I will be adding a plasma pistol, power weapon and Noise Marine backpack to the metal Chaos Lord and painting it in Flawless Host colours. Although I have previously stated that I would not be adding to the Flawless Host we all know that was just pillow talk. Having a second HQ will give me options, in this case:
Chaos Lord (Mark of Slaanesh, Plasma Pistol, Power Weapon)
130 points
By not taking a Personal Icon there will be fourteen points left, enough to upgrade the Lesser Daemons to six and cancel the one point overspend.
The other seven figures will be absorbed into my as yet unbuilt Emperors Children army, which I do not yet have a proper list for. There are now a total of fifty-eight figures lying around waiting for some love, some Emperors Children love so I should really get a move on and come up with a list that I am happy with.
Thursday, 2 September 2010
A List for Skalathrax?
So pouring over my list of wants in the last post I have completed what will hopefully be my 1.5k list to do battle next week on Skalathrax, I just need the Chaos Terminators to turn up in the post and to get busy building and painting the figures. I am sure as I get closer to the day I will make changes based on what I have, but then again we always used to read that excuse for the player losing the Battle of the Month in White Dwarf…
Chaos Lord (Mark of Slaanesh, Terminator Armour)
125 points
I had wanted to take six Terminators as an Elite squad and a Sorcerer as a HQ but the need to spread the points thinly means that a cheap HQ is necessary and I can save the 30 points from the Elite choice.
5 Chaos Terminators (Banner of Slaanesh)
165 points
I will have points left over after completing this list and they will be spent on Chaos Terminator upgrades. From the pics of the Terminators they seem to have a number of combi-flamers which I will be converting into combi-meltas or combi-plasmas, I may even splash the points for a Reaper Autocannon. A powerfist or two to deal with Dreadnoughts is a must for the squad.
Chaos Dreadnought (Twin-link Lascannon)
125 points
Chaos Dreadnought (Twin-link Autocannon)
125 points
These will be my premium anti Chaos Rhino units, with options to thin the Chaos Dreadnoughts if I feel they are getting too close. I will be relying on true line of sight and hopefully a 4+ cover save to keep these alive as long as possible. If taking a shot means certain death for one of these then they will duck back and wait until next turn.
6 Noise Marines (Aspiring Champion, Doom Siren)
150 points
6 Noise Marines (Aspiring Champion, Doom Siren)
150 points
Again keeping this simple there job is to flame the enemy and charge the remnants of the squad. I know there is a lack of power weapon on the Aspiring Champion, and special weapon in the squad but I am short of points and want to keep ten units plus the HQ in the army. The Power Weapon is only worth fractions of a kill needing a 4 and a 4 to kill so I will pray to the dice gods.
6 Chaos Space Marines (Melta Gun or Plasma Gun or Plasma Pistol)
100 or 105 points
6 Chaos Space Marines (Melta Gun or Plasma Gun or Plasma Pistol)
100 or 105 points
Depending on what I feel like building, or more accurately can find in my bits box these two squads will be built with what I can lay my hands on. The only reason I have not decided on a flamer is that I want the weapon to have a little punch if I need to crack open a Chaos Rhino or Dreadnought.
6 Havocs (3 Plasma Guns)
135 points
My heavy hitters that will have to be in the right place at the right time to face Chaos Bikers or Terminators. I managed to fell a Chaos Lord with the same unit last week so I am hopeful that I will not be rolling many 1’s. I can also use the 24” range to ping Chaos Rhinos; I will wait until rapid fire range to chance Chaos Dreadnoughts.
6 Havocs (2 Missile Launchers, 2 Melta Guns)
150 points
6 Havocs (2 Missile Launchers, 2 Melta Guns)
150 points
I am expecting big things from this most strange unit. Two long range and two short range weapons is a combination I have not seen in a list anywhere and probably with good reason. With Night Fight taking place on turns five and six the melta guns will allow me to advance and give close support where needed, the missile launchers shooting anything they can see for the first four turns. If somehow the building they are hiding in gets assaulted I should be able to fire both launchers and melta guns at the squad first to thin their numbers.
I should have around 25 points left to be spent on Chaos Terminator upgrades; if I run short then I will lose a melta gun from the Havoc Squads. Fingers crossed…
Chaos Lord (Mark of Slaanesh, Terminator Armour)
125 points
I had wanted to take six Terminators as an Elite squad and a Sorcerer as a HQ but the need to spread the points thinly means that a cheap HQ is necessary and I can save the 30 points from the Elite choice.
5 Chaos Terminators (Banner of Slaanesh)
165 points
I will have points left over after completing this list and they will be spent on Chaos Terminator upgrades. From the pics of the Terminators they seem to have a number of combi-flamers which I will be converting into combi-meltas or combi-plasmas, I may even splash the points for a Reaper Autocannon. A powerfist or two to deal with Dreadnoughts is a must for the squad.
Chaos Dreadnought (Twin-link Lascannon)
125 points
Chaos Dreadnought (Twin-link Autocannon)
125 points
These will be my premium anti Chaos Rhino units, with options to thin the Chaos Dreadnoughts if I feel they are getting too close. I will be relying on true line of sight and hopefully a 4+ cover save to keep these alive as long as possible. If taking a shot means certain death for one of these then they will duck back and wait until next turn.
6 Noise Marines (Aspiring Champion, Doom Siren)
150 points
6 Noise Marines (Aspiring Champion, Doom Siren)
150 points
Again keeping this simple there job is to flame the enemy and charge the remnants of the squad. I know there is a lack of power weapon on the Aspiring Champion, and special weapon in the squad but I am short of points and want to keep ten units plus the HQ in the army. The Power Weapon is only worth fractions of a kill needing a 4 and a 4 to kill so I will pray to the dice gods.
6 Chaos Space Marines (Melta Gun or Plasma Gun or Plasma Pistol)
100 or 105 points
6 Chaos Space Marines (Melta Gun or Plasma Gun or Plasma Pistol)
100 or 105 points
Depending on what I feel like building, or more accurately can find in my bits box these two squads will be built with what I can lay my hands on. The only reason I have not decided on a flamer is that I want the weapon to have a little punch if I need to crack open a Chaos Rhino or Dreadnought.
6 Havocs (3 Plasma Guns)
135 points
My heavy hitters that will have to be in the right place at the right time to face Chaos Bikers or Terminators. I managed to fell a Chaos Lord with the same unit last week so I am hopeful that I will not be rolling many 1’s. I can also use the 24” range to ping Chaos Rhinos; I will wait until rapid fire range to chance Chaos Dreadnoughts.
6 Havocs (2 Missile Launchers, 2 Melta Guns)
150 points
6 Havocs (2 Missile Launchers, 2 Melta Guns)
150 points
I am expecting big things from this most strange unit. Two long range and two short range weapons is a combination I have not seen in a list anywhere and probably with good reason. With Night Fight taking place on turns five and six the melta guns will allow me to advance and give close support where needed, the missile launchers shooting anything they can see for the first four turns. If somehow the building they are hiding in gets assaulted I should be able to fire both launchers and melta guns at the squad first to thin their numbers.
I should have around 25 points left to be spent on Chaos Terminator upgrades; if I run short then I will lose a melta gun from the Havoc Squads. Fingers crossed…
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
Live and Let Die
Pondering how I can make my earlier victory with The Purge against World Eaters work for my Emperors Children and the upcoming battles of Skalathrax. I cannot understand how I won that battle and yet lost the original game. I am certain that despite better dice rolls in the second game, the World Eater player had a better strategy for the first battle. The two armies despite the differences in points both looked similar, just fewer units. As I was using my own list this time around I had more units in my list and at times was able to sacrifice one squad to save another or double team an opposing squad. Suddenly a light bulb grows dim above my head…
Previously I faced six squads of Berserkers in Chaos Rhinos led by Kharn. There were two large bike squads with Icon (of Khorne) and Aspirings, three Chaos Dreadnoughts a small squad of Chaos Terminators and a Chaos Lord with all the trimmings. By my reckoning that makes thirteen squads in 3k points, my 1.5k list with The Purge had eleven units, although one of these was a 40 point Chaos Spawn. So ten units in 1.5k points means that I should be able to double-up on fighting squads, or sacrifice a few to save the many.
Taking smaller units means that I will have to split my forces into those that crack open the transport vehicles and those that deal with the contents. I am thinking three squads to crack open the armour and two squads of heavy infantry killers (plasma gunners). I will avoid a Greater Daemon this time around due to wanting to slow the enemy down and not engage in close combat until as late as possible in the battle, fourth turn if I can manage it.
Off the top of my head I will be looking at:
Close Combat
Chaos Lord in Terminator armour
5 Chaos Terminators
6 Noise Marines (Aspiring with Doom Siren)
6 Noise Marines (Aspiring with Doom Siren)
6 Chaos Space Marines (with plasma pistol or melta gun)
6 Chaos Space Marines (with plasma pistol or melta gun)
Firepower
Chaos Dreadnought (Lascannon)
Chaos Dreadnought (Autocannon)
6 Havocs (3 Missile Launchers)
6 Havocs (3 Plasma Guns)
2 Obliterators
I will also hope to add a pair of Chaos Rhinos to the list as mobile cover, or to redeploy the squads as needed. I will not be taking the customary Aspiring in each squad as the 30 point premium for Aspiring with power weapon is only marginally worth it; I need more warm bodies on the table.
Previously I faced six squads of Berserkers in Chaos Rhinos led by Kharn. There were two large bike squads with Icon (of Khorne) and Aspirings, three Chaos Dreadnoughts a small squad of Chaos Terminators and a Chaos Lord with all the trimmings. By my reckoning that makes thirteen squads in 3k points, my 1.5k list with The Purge had eleven units, although one of these was a 40 point Chaos Spawn. So ten units in 1.5k points means that I should be able to double-up on fighting squads, or sacrifice a few to save the many.
Taking smaller units means that I will have to split my forces into those that crack open the transport vehicles and those that deal with the contents. I am thinking three squads to crack open the armour and two squads of heavy infantry killers (plasma gunners). I will avoid a Greater Daemon this time around due to wanting to slow the enemy down and not engage in close combat until as late as possible in the battle, fourth turn if I can manage it.
Off the top of my head I will be looking at:
Close Combat
Chaos Lord in Terminator armour
5 Chaos Terminators
6 Noise Marines (Aspiring with Doom Siren)
6 Noise Marines (Aspiring with Doom Siren)
6 Chaos Space Marines (with plasma pistol or melta gun)
6 Chaos Space Marines (with plasma pistol or melta gun)
Firepower
Chaos Dreadnought (Lascannon)
Chaos Dreadnought (Autocannon)
6 Havocs (3 Missile Launchers)
6 Havocs (3 Plasma Guns)
2 Obliterators
I will also hope to add a pair of Chaos Rhinos to the list as mobile cover, or to redeploy the squads as needed. I will not be taking the customary Aspiring in each squad as the 30 point premium for Aspiring with power weapon is only marginally worth it; I need more warm bodies on the table.
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