Thursday, July 24, 2008

The Iyanden Project

Back in the day (2nd and 3rd edition) I used to play Eldar.
I began by playing Ulthwe, as their Black and Bone color scheme appealed to a young, teenage boy.
After Codex:Craftworld Eldar was released, I saw a string of overwhelming victories. I sold my Eldar to pick up a new army.

Now, many years later, with the advent of Codex: Apocalypse, I was temped once again to build an Eldar Army. This time, I have chosen Iyanden. (I already have armies in the colors of the other Eldar Craftworlds) Plus, the Yriel model looked kind of cool.

This army will be solely for Apocalypse and will be built on the idea of the kind of tactics that I think the Eldar would use.

To that end, I envision the army looking as follows.

-An Aspect Warrior Assault Wave (2 Dire Avengers, 1 Fire Dragon Squad)
-An Iyanden Ghost Warrior force, I will use all Wraithguard, all in Wave Serpents.
-A Cloudstrike Squadron
-A Squadron of 3 Nightwings.
*I have no idea how many points this will cost.


When I play this list, I will ALWAYS bid 30 minutes. But will deploy nothing on the table.
Nothing will come in until turn 3, after my opponent has already brought in all of their reserves.
Then, I will initiate a series of surgical Strikes.

Some fun things about this list are the interworkings of the different apocalypse formations.

The Aspect Warrior assault wave causes pinning in a radius around the lead serpent. The Ghost warrior squadron confers fearlessness on friendly models nearby. With these two units, I can disembark and let loose the pinning wave, while not being affected by it.

I have bought a good bit of the Army so far, but still have a few more purchases to make.
I will get some pictures up once I really get started.

-Mike

P.S. Nightwings look awesome.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Game Summary (5th Edition)

I took the list below to my Local Gaming Store on Saturday.
I was able to play 2 games.

My first game was against Michael (a member of my gaming club) and his Tyranids.
He had a large 20+ Hormagaunt squad and 3 smaller Termagant squads, 3 Fexes, 2 Hive tyrants, 3 winged warriors, 3 Lictors and 3 Zoanthropes.

The mission was the one where we needed to occupy 3 objective counters.

I got first turn, he failed to seize the initiative.
I split every tactical squad into combat squads, putting 4 lascannons in a central building that had great line of sight to all parts of the board. They, coupled with the multi-meltas were able to ransack the TMC's. My obscene amount of anti-horde firepower killed every non-montrous unit, save for a squad of 8 termagants. Terrain was not on his side, at the end of four turns, we called the game because he had one unit of 8 termagants, and I controlled the other 2 objectives.

The second game was against George (another member of my gaming club) and his Black Templars.
He brought with him 2 20-man (10 marine, 10 scout) squads, 10 assault marines, 8 assault termminators, the Emperors champion, a marshall, and 4 tactical squads between 5 and 8 men, with a heavy weapon. The game was an Annihilation, based on Kill Points. I split only 2 tacticals into combat squads to minimize giving up points. The run option really favored his army, allowing him to get assaults with the terminators and letting his assault squad and 20 man crusade squads run up the field. There was more close combat than my liking. Due to the new preferred enemy rule, the Emperors Champion and other squads were absolutely terrifying in close combat, one phase saw 6 lightning claw terminators (with furious charge) wipe out a 10 member tactical, before re-rolling to wound. The emperors champion consistently killed 3 things every single close combat round. Causing a unit or 2 to flee off the board. Luckily, my vehicles were safer from harm, making some key cover saves. There was only so much I could do to protect Rhinos and Razors... When all was settled, I had killed everything but 3 units with heavy weapons, I had left, 2 full tacticals, corbulo, both Rhinos, a razor and A ball pred. Easily more victory points, BUT I only had 7 kill points, to my opponents 8.

More fifth edition action to come!
This puts me at 1/1/1 on the W/L/D, which now resets for fifth.

-Mike

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

2000 points for Fifth

On Saturday, I plan on playing 2-3 games at 2000 points using 5th edition.

Here is what I have decided to bring. (notice the 4 troop choices)

HQ
Corbulo
Blood Angels Librarian (For the Psychic Hood and to add to Powerfist attacks)

Troops
10 Space Marines w/Lascannon, Flamer, Powerfist
Rhino: Pintle Storm Bolter
10 Space Marines w/Lascannon, Melta, Powerweapon
Rhino: Pintle Storm Bolter
10 Space Marines w/Lascannon, Flamer, Powerfist
Razorback
10 Space Marines w/Lascannon, Melta, Powerweapon
Razorback

Elites
6 Death Company w/Jump Packs

Fast
2 Attack Bikes w/Heavy Bolters
2 Attack Bikes w/Heavy Bolters
2 Attack Bikes w/Multi-Meltas

Heavy
Baal Predator w/Heavy Bolter Sponsons
Baal Predator w/Heavy Bolter Sponsons

Exactly 2000

This list has up to 8 scoring units and a lot of mobility. There is also a lot of high rate firepower. Most of everything is mobile and can unleash concentrated firepower. The consummate reader will notice the multitude of Heavy Bolters (10, in fact). I use so many because I was always a huge fan of the "Torrent of Fire" rule in 4th edition. In fifth, the more wounds you cause, the better. For this reason, I also included Corbulo; his ability to save key models (fists or special weapons) is paramount. Also, he gives furious charge away like a drunk sorority girl gives away ++[DELETED BY THE INQUISITION]++. That being said, I included the Librarian to offset some monstrous psychic powers (most Eldar powers, and of course Lash) The idea is to split the tactical squads into combat squads in order to have more objective-capturing freedom (as missions can include up to 5 objectives). Everyone who knows me is aware of my love affair with Attack Bikes, they are awesome. I will post the results as I get them.

-Mike

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Blood Angels in 40k 5.0

After my perusal of fifth edition and the mission parameters, I wondered how I would adapt my Blood Angels list to accommodate fifth edition.

1. Need Troops: For BA, I have only 2 Troop Choices, Tactical Squads and Assault Squads. I will be moving away from taking assault squads solely because of the role that they play. In fifth edition, there is no need to wipe your opponent off of the board, the missions mainly focus on grabbing objectives with Troops choices. Assault squads are meant to destroy the enemy, not hang back and guard 2 objectives. Granted they are fast and can take objectives in my opponents deployment zone, but they are a bit costly and my mounted Tactical Squads are just as fast (Faster if I use overcharged engines). My Troops choices in fifth edition will be 10-man Tactical Squads with a Transport. I hope to take between 3 and 4 of these and split them into combat squads during missions where getting an objective becomes a priority.

2. The HQ's: Before I ran either Corbulo, Lemartes, or Mephiston; Rarely I would run a non-unique version of one of them, be it a Captain, Chaplain, or Librarian. In Fifth, Mephiston is a bit of a liability, he can be picked out by shooting if not attached to a squad, and the nerfing of Feel no Pain means he will be taking a LOT more wounds than normal, plus he is a but pricey. I am going to go with a cheaper HQ, either Corbulo or Lemartes will be leading my force. Lemartes is a bargain character and Corbulo is great at controlling the Death Company and using his medic ability from inside of a vehicle. Dante is nice, but he is a character for more of a "beat down" list, not this one. Tycho just sucks.

3. The Fast Attack: The main choice for me is Speeders or Attack Bikes? Attack Bikes win, hands down. It is easier for them to get cover saves, and they are cheaper than speeders. With the recent vehicular nerfs, speeders die faster than they ever have. Easy choice for me, 6 attack bikes in every Army list.

4. Heavy Support: The Baal Predator still rules this category with an Iron Fist. Being the only remaining Space Marine Tank to move 12 and fire all of its guns. The improved rules for taking saves vs. firing are beneficial to the Baal, as it may kill more unique squad models. For 125-140 points, it is a bargain. (A bargain of Slaughter)

5. Elites: Do not expect to see any of these pop up in my lists.

The ability of Space Marines (Soon to be all of them when the new Codex arrives) makes them very versatile and valuable on the battlefield. They can split into combat squads if the mission suits them, or stay as a 10 man unit when necessary.

As a whole, I think you will see some of the "power" lists go away because only Troop choices count as scoring now. Nidzilla usually has less than 20 models from the Troops category, and Rippers do not even count as scoring units. Mech Eldar will see a decrease due to only having about 2 units capable of holding objectives; not to mention the decrease in survivability of their Wave Serpents.

-Mike

Monday, July 7, 2008

Escalation League

My gaming club is doing an Escalation League.
Basically, we start at 500 points, play a bunch of games and then increase the point totals by either 250 or 500 as we see fit.

The games will be played using 5th edition. Knowing that, I thought about what race I would like to play. At 500 points, things are quite different because few armies will be able to field anything except the compulsory 1 HQ and 2 Troops. Knowing this, I looked for an army that could include a good bit for under 500. My only real choices were Sisters and Guard. I was a bit cautious about playing my guard because I have so many of them and the league also judges on painting. (there was no way I could Paint all 160+ figures of my guard) With that, I chose the Sisters of Battle.

Now to look at the 500 point list.

I need an HQ, easy, Canoness with Eviscerator and Book of St. Lucius, that way it is unlikely I will break.

For my two compulsory Troops, I have a choice between Sisters and Stormtroopers. Stormtroopers, while 1 point cheaper, are nothing compared to a Battle Sister. Usually, I take a flamer and a heavy flamer and mount the ladies up in a transport. I certainly do not have the points for that, and with the advent of the "Run" rule, I do not need to mount them to make them swift-moving. I opted for 2 10-man (well, woman) Sisters squads with a Veteran and 2 Stormbolters each, for that mobile firepower if I need it.

This left me with a few points left over. I decided that I needed some mobile, heavy hitting power. I opted to flesh the list out with 5 dominions with 2 flamers in a Rhino.

With this, I can move up semi-fast and will have at least a little firepower as I move forward (towards objectives). There is, however, a lack of heavy weapons and Close Combat ability, but that is to be expected of everyone in a 500 point list.

More to come.

-Mike

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Some musings on 5th Edition

After a light review of the 5th Edition 40k rulebook, I offer how every army is affected by the rules changes.

First some general things.
Vehicles - Vehicles ability to move and fire their weapons has been drastically reduced. The other side of this is the new rules with line of sight and the near-impossibility to hide units. With the new scatter rules, Ordnance becomes less useful, especially when your opponent will likely be receiving a 4+ cover save.
Walkers (Specifically Dreadnoughts) - They can still be only hit in the front armor in combat, grenades hit on a 6+ only. No longer can they take glancing hits in close combat, ouch.
Skimmers - Lose the always hit on a 6+ in Close Combat. If you don't move a skimmer, it is auto-hit. Moving 6" or less means you are hit on a 4+ and no auto-glance. Look out.

Now the Armies themselves.

Grey Knights - Still suck. They gain some survivability in the Land Raider, but are still on the low end of causing a lot of damage. They are still good mobile firepower units, but will take more fire from heavy weapons.

Sisters of Battle - The run option is nice, but since they will likely be coming in typical Rhino Rush fashion, that ability is a little moot. Their Retributors get a little boost because of increased line of sight. Their acts of faith however, lose a little due to increased cover saves. The run option is nice for the Repentia and Arco-Flagellants because it lets them get into combat faster. I think they also got the low end of the stick in this regard.

Space Marines (All types and Chapters) - Devastators get a boost as well just like Retributors. Although the new rules for the Plasma Cannon are straight crap. Roll a d6 to see if you overheat, then scatter 2d6-BS; garbage. Run, as always, rewards poor players for not thinking ahead. Scouts get the ability to come in from short table edges, which will probably not be that good. Sniper Rifles get a little better. Land Speeders get a bit worse, losing their auto-glance and having to reduce speed to fire all their weapons. Since their basic Troops are good, they should do well in objective based games. They have a new codex coming out, expect it to be heavily tailored to the rules of 5th.


Chaos Space Marines - Very similar to Space Marines. Lash gets even better because it is MUCH harder to hide from it, expect to see a lot of Dual-Lash lists. As a chaos player, you will need it.

Chaos Daemons - This list gets a little worse because it is harder to Deep Strike out of line-of-sight and very close to your opponent. Run lets them redeploy on a bad scatter (As you can Run after Deepstrike)

Necrons - This army actually gets a bit better. The increased Line-of-sight is good because Necrons usually do not rely on low AP weapons, so the cover aspect is not an issue. Run lets them close faster to get the bulk of their 24 inch weapons into range. The only downside is the Monolith, which is now easier to hit in combat, but harder to destroy in the shooting phase.

Imperial Guard - We get quite the double edged sword with the Guard. Their ordnance heavy tanks get the super-scatter nerf. Increased LOS means that you can bring more of your heavy weapon to bear, but the multitude of models on your side may cause LOS problems. (Giving everyone a cover save) Basilisk and Mortar scatter is just stupid inaccurate (2d6 added together) In 3rd and 4th editions, I loved Mortars; Now, why bother? Guard gain a little in terms of close combat, as now monstrous creatures and extreme close combat units can no longer consolidate into a new unit after close combat, so this should alleviate large scale army slaughter from one or two units.

Tau - Tau get roughly the same benefits/disadvantages as the Guard, except that they won't have such a problem with deployment zone crowding. On the other hand, Crisis Suits jumping back behind terrain after shooting will be less easier due to "True LOS" Their Skimmers will be better because of one of their vehicle upgrades will give them a 4+ cover save all the time. Fish of Fury gets a bit of a kick in the balls because due to the "True LOS rule" models that disembark must see "through the eyes of the model to their target" because of the models themselves, they may be able to be fired at, but not fire themselves. LAME.

Eldar - Kiss Mech Eldar goodbye. Eldar skimmers now have to choose between firing and getting a cover save for moving fast. They also suffer from the same nut-kick as Fish of Fury. On the plus side, Pathfinders will be all but invincible in any kind of cover. Having the Avatar Run is nice, as it lets him keep up with his faster kin. Harlequins still rock thought, even with the toning down of Rending.

Dark Eldar - I suddenly feel horrible for every single Dark Eldar player. You are screwed. You will find it almost impossible to hide your Raiders from incoming fire. If you do not get first turn, you are DEAD. Dark Eldar need a new codex, badly.

The aforementioned armies change a little (Except Dark Eldar) and will not require major overhauls as most of the disadvantages are complemented by benefits. The following 2 lists, however, change extremely.

Orks - The Green Tide becomes amazing and virtually unstoppable. Run lets them close even faster than before. Expect to see first turn runs and second turn fleet/assaults. Close combat becomes even more vicious as the counter attack move gets more Orks into the fight. Coupled with the fearlessness, and GW giving away cover saves like candy, Orks will be a force to be reckoned with.

Tyranids - Tyranids get AWESOME. Their troops will have no problems holding objectives (4+ cover, +go to ground, +lurk = 2+ Cover saves for basic troops.) Nidzilla becomes furiously awesome. The ability to run lets the big guns (Devourers) get into range quicker, the 4+ cover saves everywhere keep the bugs around longer. Lictors allow any other nid within 3 inches to re-roll misses in close combat. Holy crap Tyranids are going to be good.

-Mike