Hobby: Kitbashed 'The Masque' and Screamer Progress

It is no secret that the only thing I am good at on the hobby side of 40K is procrastinating. Now though, for a few weeks until things get crazy again, I will have more time, and far less excuses to avoid getting my Chaos Space Marines and Daemons done. Over the last two days I have been busy sorting bits, making orderss online for pieces I want to include, ripping parts off old unfinished conversions (with my converted Dark Eldar Wracks being non-identifiable now), and specifically building The Masque and starting to kitbash my Screamers of Tzeentch out of Deffkoptas.

 This is The Masque. There were two things I knew this model needed, A) a breasted and revealing torso, and B) bare legs with clawed feet. This is not misogyny, this is the bare standard to make the model identifiable. After finding the desired torso on a wych model I decided on a Dark Elf Corsair cape to spruce her up. After filing and greenstuffing the two together I took parts from two Dark Eldar shoulder pads to make hers. I also settled on a wych head. While a corsair head would have been too dynamic, I don't think I could find any which were feminine enough. Her neck line might need some liquid greenstuff which I have never used before, but am going to pick up this afternoon.

Give Yourself A Gift: Go To The Bay Area Open

Maybe the title is trying a little too hard? Regardless, the Bay Area Open is a premier event. If I was not as restricted on traveling as I am due to my job I would certainly try and make the trip. Not only is it well run, but Reece and the Frontline/Zero Comp guys are totally boss (and hilarious). Last I heard they were just over 50% full, so do not hesitant to buy your ticket. With that I turn it over to Reece!

Ready to form Voltron! Activate interlocks! Dyna-therms connected. Infra-cells up; mega-thrusters are go! Form feet and legs; form arms and body; and I'll form the head!

Video Battle Report - Necrons vs. Chaos - 12/14/12

As I mentioned in the last post, I had a chance to play my mixed Chaos force against a seven flyer Necron list. It is a good close game, so check it out. The lists and my post game thoughts are after the jump.

Big Guns Never Tire (4 Points), The Emperor's Will (3 Points), with Linebreaker, Slay the Warlord, and First Blood (1 Point Each) using Vanguard Strike Deployment.

More Content Coming Soon: What's Happening With Me

Life has been a little busy. I finished up one senior thesis, and am in the middle of the data regression for another capstone project, both of which have been keeping me fairly occupied. Now that things will be winding down in the next week, more content will be coming.

Bob's Converted Vendetta

I have gotten a few games in. First, I had a successful match up against Dark Eldar. I was able to use m speed to corner and demech an army that should have been able to explode outward and push me back. Bob, a former winner of TSHIFT and Astronomicon has been in my area recently, and I got a game in against his Black Legion with IG allies. He had not faced the new Tzeentch Daemons, so it was an uphill climb for him, but a ton of fun. If any of you are in the Spokane area, check out his store, “The Gamer’s Haven.” It sounds exactly like the kind of store that creates a great environment for us gamers. I also got in three league games. I took a hard loss to a Necron/CSM list, with two wraith squads walking through much of my army. I had a strong game against triple strike squad Grey Knights, and lastly I played against a seven flier Necron list. There will be a video battle report of this final game.

To be honest though I am not feeling that engaged by warhammer right now. Between real life concerns about life past next May, not having the capital to dive in fully to converting my Chaos, and playing a list that is not “underdog” I am not as devoted to my hobby as I was before. Even reading other blogs and listening to podcasts I am getting increasingly likely to skim rather than study it. This partly could be part of me maturing in this hobby. I have a greater calling to get my army looking good, rather than worrying about beating face all the time. This could be connecting to not needing  to prove myself to the community or as a Tyranid player, or the fact that I have not played in a 40K tournament for a while. I have not even been playing in list building programs or costing out potential armies to purchase (in the contrary I am doing inventory so that I can sell models). If slight hobby apathy was not enough, there is a new version of Total Extreme Wrestling (a pro wrestling business simulator) that was released. I don’t watch wrestling anymore, but I still play this game because it is so good. I have a feeling there will be many a hobby deadline in my future which is not made because of this game.

I enjoy hanging out with the guys, and look forward to when my schedule will be more accommodating toward RTT’s and painting, but am not feeling the same energy as I had this summer when I was playing in competitive events each weekend.

Battle Report: Chaos vs. Sisters of Battle/Imperial Guard (11.15.12)

To prepare for a local GT in March and Adepticon in April twenty of us from the Frozen North Gaming Club are participating in a league to both build community as well as test lists out against a variety of opponents. We are following the Bay Area Open missions and I am using the new Chaos Space Marine Codex with allied Daemons of Chaos. Note that because it is a playtest league there is no painting requirement and proxies are allowed on the condition that you are actually working toward purchasing or converting the model. I have included what model is being used as a [proxy] in brackets.

 

Typhus [Gold TH/SS Terminator]

33 Plague Zombies

10 Plague Zombies

10 Plague Zombies

10 Plague Zombies

Heldrake (Baleflamer) [Vendetta]

Heldrake (Baleflamer) [Stormtalon]

5 Havocs (4 Lascannon)

5 Havocs (4 Lascannon)

Masque [Tyranid Warrior]

9 Flamers of Tzeentch [Black Termagants]

5 Plaguebearers [Grey Termagants]

9 Screamers of Tzeentch [Dark Elf Warriors]

Aegis (Comms Relay)

It was my first time ever playing Michael, who brought Sisters of Battle with IG Allies.

St. Celestine
Uriah Jacobus

20 Sisters (Power Weapon/ 2 Flamers)
10 Sisters (Rhino/2 Meltagun/Combi-Flamer)
10 Sisters (Rhino/2 Meltagun/Combi-Flamer)
5 Retributors (4 Heavy Bolters)
Exorcist
Exorcist

Lord Commissar (2 Powerfist)
Marbo

10 Veterans (Auto-Cannon/3 Grenade Launchers/Forward Sentry Doctrine)

Vendetta [Razorwing Jetfighter]

Basilisk

Aegis (Quad-Gun)

Post Team Game Chaos Marine Thoughts

Tonight I will be getting in my first two league games with the new Chaos Space Marine codex. The league is an 1850 point adventure to get ready for Adepticon and the Dark Star GT. Each month players play three games against an assigned opponent. You are required to use the same list in each game. This format is great to meet a few new people in the club as well as face some armies you might not normally face. I talked the guy running it into doing Bay Area Open missions (Thanks Reece for coming up with such a great system!). Not only are the rulebook missions more accessible to people, but the way they are structured in this format is really balanced and leads to fun games. The max 10 points per game is great for keeping score as well.

Tuesday my Adepticon team met up and played a team game together. The results of that game is neither here nor there since one guy’s 1K list only had 500 points of models in it (and my two Heldrakes paired with a Necron airforce was extremely brutal); after that game though we played 2 vs. 1 in a 2K game. It was my Chaos against a mixed CSM/Sister of Battle force. Here is what I learned.

Adepticon Registration Complete

 

This year I will be making my first pilgrimage to Adepticon, the Mecca of American wargaming. Despite the fact that I was live on the radio for my weekly talk show when the webcart opened at seven, I was able to purchase my tickets. I am glad I didn't wait until after the show, because the team tournament sold out in less than an hour and the 40K championships sold out within two and a half hours.

I registered for the 40K championships, the gladiator, and the 40K team tournament. I hope I will have my CSM army ready to go by Adepticon for the championships. The team tournament will see the debut of "Minnesota Dice" (Get it? It is a play on 'Minnesota Nice'). The only event that I was hesitant about was the Gladiator. I don't have any forgeworld and have never played in an event like this. I had a friend though who offered to let me borrow their Warhound and I love a good challenge, so no reason not to try out playing with the big boys.

Fantasy GT coverage will come later this week, I have a draft of my senior thesis due Thursday that I need to tackle first!

Blood Angels List - Assault Is Not Dead

Last Spring I took a short break from Tyranids and picked up Blood Angels for a change of pace. I typically had two Land Raider Redeemers and on Land Raider Godhammer in each list. The army was my first foray into power armor and was a refreshing change. They even appeared at two tournaments, finishing 2-1 at both. Blood Angels have not gotten much talk though since sixth came out. I have been playing around with this list since this summer, but with last week’s 11^th Company discussion of the army and Hulksmash’s similar yet independently developed list I think it is time for me to post my version of the BA Air Assault.

Librarian (Epistolary)

Chaplain

Sanguinary Priest

5 Terminators (5 TH/SS)

11 Death Company

Death Company Dreadnought (Blood Talons)

Death Company Dreadnought (Blood Talons)

10 Tactical Marines (Lascannon)

10 Tactical Marines (Lascannon)

Stormraven (TL Lascannon/TL Multi-Melta)

Stormraven (TL Lascannon/TL Multi-Melta)

Bastion (Comms Relay)

1850 Points

Dark Elves GT List: A Halloween Monster Mash

Nothing says scary like square base talk on a predominantly 40K-centric blog! Boo!

I am getting really excited about the fantasy GT I am playing in next weekend. I have been putting off and dreading painting my elves, and now today, after reviewing my list and looking at the scenarios I am in a fever pitch of being pumped! That is impressive considering I have not played fantasy since July, and I have only played four games of it in the last year (the other three were in a tournament where I got 4^th out in Cali). I am hoping to get a game in next week, but even that is no guarantee. The night before the event is a Malifaux tournament/Arena of Death fantasy event as well, both of which look great and I am hoping there is a way I can do both. It is really refreshing going to an event where “I don’t care how I do.” I have to put that in quotes because I still want to win games, but with only 45% of the total score coming from battle points I don’t think I would have a shot at winning anything, even if I was good at fantasy. With that reasoning in my mind I built a list out of what looked fun to play rather than what is apparently good;

Check it out after the jump!

Chaos Space Marine Analysis and List Building: Part Four

This series of posts has been composed a few paragraphs at a time over the last week as I have begun the journey of learning a new book, and play style, as I move away from tyranids this next tournament season. Rather than changing previous ideas or reworking this post I have left it as is. I feel that is shows the process I use while creating and testing lists as well as providing insight behind why I am and will continue to make the list building choices I have been. This is part four of four interconnected posts.

This next week a prep league for a GT in my area (and adepticon too) will start up, and after not being able to answer Grey Knights and select Imperial Guard build with my Tyranids I have spent the last few weeks seeing if building up (and converting) a Chaos Space Marine army would be a viable choice for Adepticon. This decision was not fully about simply being competitive and winning, as there are a lot of things that this book gives me to try and convert on top of allowing me to paint in a grimy gory style I have wanted to try, but being at least as good with Nidzilla seems a reasonable standard. I now believe I have found a list that meets both of these requirements.

  

The List

Typhus

33 Cultists

10 Cultists

10 Cultists

10 Cultists

Heldrake (Baleflamer)

Heldrake (Baleflamer)

6 Havocs (4 Lascannon)

6 Havocs (4 Lascannon)

6 Havocs (4 Lascannon)

Masque

9 Flamers of Tzeentch

5 Plaguebearers of Nurgle

Aegis Defense Line (Quad Gun)

The only small change after two games was dropping three cultists for an extra guy in the last havoc squad. It is a pretty simple list. Mass lascannons give me a big presence in terms of ranged firepower and by turn two most games I have three units with flame templates that ignore the armor of most everything, plus a Herald that allows me to move my opponents units into the right position to be hit by said templates. It also has five scoring units that all have FNP and are fearless.

More after the jump...

Chaos Space Marine Analysis and List Building: Part Three

This series of posts has been composed a few paragraphs at a time over the last week as I have begun the journey of learning a new book, and play style, as I move away from tyranids this next tournament season. Rather than changing previous ideas or reworking this post I have left it as is. I feel that is shows the process I use while creating and testing lists as well as providing insight behind why I am and will continue to make the list building choices I have been. This is part three of four interconnected posts.

So after I made two Chaos Space Marine lists in part two, I started playing theory hammer in my head, and decided I value the high rate of fire of the autocannons over the potential utility of the terminators. Ideally the 16 S7 shots would be able to work toward replacing the 24 S6 shots that I normally get out of my Carnifex units. I tested the second list (with the small shift in dropping the Icon of Wrath for the 4^th autocannon in the second havoc squad) against a Tyranid list with two flying combat hive tyrants, two trygon primes, doom of malan’tai, five hive guard, one genestealer squad with a broodlord, and a lot of hormagaunts.

We rolled up the relic and vanguard strike with night fight in effect. I went first and killed one hive guard with all my shooting (nearly all of his army was in cover, and both Tyrants were either out of line of site or out of my range). He had iron arm on both tyrants, with his warlord being T9 all but one turn of the game. I moved my zombie horde forward as well as my biker gang, leaving them on the middle line behind my aegis. His shooting did very little, and he progressed toward the middle.

Chaos Space Marine Analysis and List Building: Part Two

This series of posts has been composed a few paragraphs at a time over the last week as I have begun the journey of learning a new book, and play style, as I move away from tyranids this next tournament season. Rather than changing previous ideas or reworking this post I have left it as is. I feel that is shows the process I use while creating and testing lists as well as providing insight behind why I am and will continue to make the list building choices I have been. This is part two of four interconnected posts.

I got a third game it trying out a few new units. I played against Tyranids and it went quite badly. My biker unit had only passed three 3+ saves by the time they all died, and between both Heldrake's I only got to shoot once because he was rocking the Quad-Gun so well. I also received my non-preferred wave on the daemons. Neither Maulerfiend got into combat either before being wrecked. In other words, it was pretty rough. 

Here are my thoughts on some of the units I tried out;

Chaos Space Marine Analysis and List Building: Part One

This series of posts has been composed a few paragraphs at a time over the last week as I have begun the journey of learning a new book, and play style, as I move away from tyranids this next tournament season. Rather than changing previous ideas or reworking this post I have left it as is. I feel that is shows the process I use while creating and testing lists as well as providing insight behind why I am and will continue to make the list building choices I have been. This is part one of four interconnected posts.

I wish I had the time to write all of my thoughts on the new CSM book and other wargaming topics in my head. Most notably of the topics I will not be covering right now is how hard the hobby bug is getting me. I have big dreams involving doing a fully converted CSM army. I also have only 18 days to paint 2200 points of Dark Elves for a fantasy GT, which is itself a crazy task. Enough of that though, this is about Chaos Space Marines.

I have played two games with the new book. I faced a 3 flyer and a 4 flyer Necron list each game. My first game I had the Biker Lord and Daemon Prince from my last CSM post, 3 untis of havocs with missiles and flakk, 4 small cultist units, 1 large cultist unit, 5 spawn, and two heldrakes. My opponents dice were cold, but I got to see how the Chaos units interacted. The second game I took out the Prince and added Typhus with six units of zombies, and switched the spawn out for some bikes. Here is my unit by unit analysis.

Video Battle Report - Tyranids vs. Dark Angels (Tomb King) - 9/14/12

The night before the Midwest Massacre I was able to meet up with Tomb King, a very good player who even made it to the final 16 at Adepticon this year.

My Nidzilla faced off against his fearless Deathwing!

Belial
5 Deathwing (3 TH+SS/2 LC/1 TML/Apothecary)

5 Deathwing (3 TH+SS/2 LC/1 TML)
5 Deathwing (3 TH+SS/2 LC/1 TML)
5 Deathwing (3 TH+SS/2 LC/1 TML)
5 Deathwing (3 TH+SS/2 LC/1 TML) 
Land Raider Crusader
Venerable Dreadnought (Assault Cannon)

I brought;

Hive Tyrant (Warlord/Wings/Twin-Linked Devourers x2)

Hive Tyrant (Wings/Twin-Linked Devourers x2)

Doom of Malan’tai (Spore Pod)

Tervigon (Onslaught/Catalyst/Cluster Spines/Toxin Sacs)

Tervigon (Catalyst/Cluster Spines)

11 Termagants

10 Termagants

2 Carnifex (Twin-Linked Devourers x2)

Trygon (Toxin Sacs)

Trygon (Toxin Sacs)

Aegis Defense Line

The mission is best 2/3 while playing the Big Guns Never Tire (5 objectives), Purge the Alien, and Table Quarters.

Check out the video after the jump!

The Most "Broken" Part of the Chaos Space Marine Codex

I am currently at Tufts University in Boston for a conference, and spent last weekend at Yale for another. While I have been keeping myself busy slogging through senior thesis research on the chaos of Lenin’s shift from War Communism to the National Economic Program the last two weeks, my travel time now is all about another type of chaos…Chaos Space Marines.

I must say that this definitely is a Phil Kelly book. Nothing pops out as horribly broken or mispriced on first read, but instead there are plenty of options to make anything viable. I came back to wargaming as a Dark Eldar player just before the new book came out, and reading this book reminds me of the joy I had working my way through the multitude of possible builds in that book.

That said, I did find one unit that has stolen my heart as the bee’s knees of the new Chaos Space Marine codex…I have enduringly named him Bad Ass the Biker.

My Tyranids Take Third at the Midwest Massacre GT

 

Nidzilla represent! My big bugs were able to lead me into a third place finish at the six round Midwest Massacre in Missouri last weekend. The first year GT had slightly disappointing attendance with only 28 playing in the event. I was the only Tyranid player, but there was a good mix of armies with only Sisters and Dark Angels being absent (even Black Templars made a strong appearance). First place was a Daemon list with 45 flamers (who I lost to in round two) and second was a foot Grey Knight list. My other opponents played Nurgle Chaos Space Marines, Mech Imperial Guard with Space Wolf allies (Tomb King from Dakka), Hybrid Blood Angels with Grey Knight allies, Henchmen Grey Knights with Space Wolf Allies, and four flier Necrons.

I will be doing full coverage and battle reports as life allows. First I have to finish covering the Golden Throne!

Pyrovores at a GT? My Midwest Massacre List

I clearly should not ever say what I will post when, as my life of being a college senior who is both triple majoring and working full time is not conducive to being able to set a firm writing schedule. But you don’t care about my lovely life; you want to know why anyone in their right mind would bring pyrovores to a GT.

The answer is simple. Pyrovores fill several holes in my current list.

Oh, that isn’t a good enough answer? Lets look at what 45 points gets you. S4 and T4 is a bit low for that cost, but 2W and a 4+ isn’t bad. The key here is that each pyrovore is a walking heavy flamer, plus its close combat attacks ignore armor (thought at I1 and 1A you don’t want to be fighting man to man. My concept is that my list is prepared to engage targets and finish them, against hordes my big expensive beasts get stuck in. Dropping 3 pyrovores in a mycetic spore will do a huge number to anything not in power armor. Using them in this way also gives me two units for line breaker and lets me put   accurate pressure deep behind enemy lines.

The Biggest Changes in this Weekend's FAQ Update

Today I am going to go over some of the big things covered in Friday’s FAQ update as well as a very quick rundown of my performance in four RTT’s over the last month. The rest of this week I will be posting my list and strategy for the Midwest Massacre GT this weekend as well as the final three rounds of the Golden Throne GT (always best to finish writing about one big event before running off to another).

An update on my pre-ordered copy of the Limited Edition Dark Vengeance box; as of this posting it still is not here. I called GW customer service and was treated as though the idea that a preorder would arriving the day (or week for that matter) a product is released was an obscene request. In fact they informed that if I wished to buy something the day it came out I should just go buy it from my local GW store. Considering there are literally zero Games Workshop stores in the state of Minnesota that is super fantastic advice. I personally will be taking the small portion of my business that was with GW’s website and moving it fully into local stores.

 

In the FAQ department I must say that I found GW to be spot on. Many of the questions people had were answered and there seemed to be very few outlandish questions and answers listed. Here is the FAQ items that I found most important to the game…

First and foremost is that paladins, nobz, and wolf guard are no longer characters. This means no more ridiculous levels of precision strikes, as well as limiting look out sir games deathstar armies were playing. It is worth noting that nobz and wolf guard are characters if they are leading a unit.

Page 16 – Shooting Phase, Look Out, Sir

Change the second sentence of the second bullet point to:

“Determine which model in the unit is closest to the character, and resolve the Wound against that model instead.”

This is huge. Now when a character leads a multi-wound unit they can not hand out wounds until everyone has one, the nearest model will take them until they die.

Page 49 – Flying Monstrous Creatures, Grounded Tests.

Change the second sentence of the third paragraph to read “A Grounded Flying Monstrous Creature is treated as if it is in Glide mode with immediate effect, and can therefore be targeted normally and charged in the following Assault phase. Furthermore, the model automatically loses the Jink special rule (if it had it), but can otherwise revert to Swoop mode again in its next turn.”

We can say so long to the monstrous creature bouncy ball argument. Though in some senses this ruling weakens flying monsters, it does make logical sense and should help against things like the Daemon Circus.

Page 71 – Vehicles, Difficult and Dangerous Terrain.

Change the final sentence to “A vehicle that fails a Dangerous Terrain test immediately suffers an Immobilised result from the Vehicle Damage table, including losing one Hull Point”.

While mech is not dead, this is another nail in the coffin. I expect to see more dozer blades in the future.

Page 83 – Skimmers, Special Rules.

Change this sentence to “Skimmers that are not also Heavy Vehicles have the Jink special rule”.

Do not let your opponent jink with their monolith. And to think, I had dual monolith Necron army all ready to post up next week.

Q: Can the BS1 of a Snap Shot ever be modified by special rules that modify the BS of a model’s Shooting attack (such as Tau markerlights, Space Marine Signums or Sergeant Telion’s Voice of Experience)? (p13)

A: No.

Q: How do maelstroms, novas and beams – or indeed any weapon that doesn’t need to roll To Hit or hits automatically – interact with Zooming Flyers and Gliding Flying Monstrous Creatures? (p13)

A: Only Snap Shots can hit Zooming Flyers and Gliding Flying Monstrous Creatures. Therefore, any attacks that use blast markers, templates, create a line of/area of effect or

otherwise don’t roll to hit cannot target them. This includes weapons such as the Necron Doom Scythe’s death ray or the Deathstrike missile of the Imperial Guard, and psychic

powers that follow the rule for maelstroms, beams, and novas.

Q: If a Psyker uses a beam power on an Infantry unit in front of him and the beam proceeds to pass over the base of a Zooming Flyer or Swooping Flying Monstrous Creature, is it also hit by the attack? (p69)

A: No.

One of the things these FAQ’s did was stop people from being able to make silly arguments about how to not be effected by snapshots. Two examples of that are on display here.

Q: Can psychic shooting attacks be fired as Snap Shots (assuming that the Psyker has enough Warp Charge available and requires a roll to hit)? (p13)

A: Yes, but only in your own Shooting phase. This means that psychic shooting attacks cannot be made when firing Overwatch.

It seems like this was coming up at every event I played in. It is good to see it resolved.

Q: Do models that ignore difficult terrain when moving or charging still fight at Initiative step 1 if they charge through difficult terrain?

(p22)

A: Yes.

This clarifies how Necron wraiths interact with terrain. Ignoring the effects of terrain now clearly does not include striking at initiative.

Q: In a multiple barrage, do you determine all of the hits and all of the Wounds separately for each blast, or do you resolve all of blasts in one go? (p34)

A: Work out the total number of models hit by the multiple barrage, then proceed to allocate Wounds and remove casualties all in one go.

This is less of me posting a big change and more of me being confused. The barrage rules state wounds are allocated from under the hole of the blast marker. If there are multiple holes then how can I do both this and remove casualties in one go?

Q: Can the Feel No Pain special rule be used to resist a Wound suffered from the Perils of the Warp? (p35)

A: Yes.

The next question then is how this interacts with a psychic power which gives you FNP. For example, if I roll double ‘1’ when casting catalyst, can I use the FNP I receive from passing the psychic test on the wound from the test? I posted this on a local groups forum and received solid answers from both sides of the argument.

Q: If a model has the Eternal Warrior and Feel No Pain special rules, can it still make Feel No Pain rolls against Wounds that inflict Instant Death (Eternal Warrior states that the model is immune to the effects of Instant Death, after all)? (p35)

A: No.

This is a great example of GW being astute about what people were interested in finding out how to play their armies.

Q: When a model makes a Vector Strike or Hammer of Wrath, do these attacks benefit from any special rules (such as Furious Charge, Poisoned or Rending), or any weapons or other wargear it is equipped with? (p37/43)

A: No.

This makes unholy might a much less attractive upgrade for Daemon Princes.

Q: Flyers are entitled to choose whether or not to use the Skyfire special rule at the start of each Shooting phase. Can Swooping Flying Monstrous Creatures also do this? (p49)

A: Yes.

Yes. Yes. YES! The night before the FAQ’s were released I played against a four flyer Necron list. Oh, how that game would be different now. Each Tyrant would average downing an AV11 flyer each turn by itself with their shooting.

Q: Can a vehicle Tank Shock a Swooping Flying Monstrous Creature? (p49)

A: No. If a Swooping Flying Monstrous Creature would end up underneath the Tank Shocking vehicle when it reaches its final position, move it by shortest distance so that it is 1" away from the vehicle.

I do disagree with part of this call. While it makes sense that a swooping monster can’t be tank shocked, it is bad that you can essentially push FMC’s by tank shocking them. Because these models reply on their movement, a tank shock can be a powerful took against flyer lists.

Q: Does a Flying Monstrous Creature that arrives via Deep Strike count as arriving in Swoop mode? (p49)

A: Yes.

Notice here that there is no choice, the model must be swooping.

Q: If passengers disembark from a Transport that has suffered a Shaken or Stunned result, do they still suffer these effects in their next Shooting phase? (p80)

A: Yes.

This is self explanatory and continues the trend of negative changes in regard to transport vehicle mechanics.

Q: Can a character on a Chariot that is also a Skimmer make a Sweep Attack against a Zooming Flyer? (p82)

A: No.

This is a good start, but I would like this same restriction to be put on sweeping flying monstrous creatures.

Q: To score a Victory Point for achieving the Linebreaker Secondary Objective, you must have at least one model from one or more scoring or denial units within the enemy’s deployment zone. Does such a model have to be completely within the enemy’s deployment zone, or do they still count if they are only partially within? (p122)

A: The base of the model in question must be wholly within the enemy’s deployment zone.

This will require an intentional change to how I at least get line breaker. In many games I simply place part of an MC base in their zone for the point. This is not as much of an issue for infantry armies.

Q: Do units that are transported in a vehicle that MUST start in reserve count towards the number of units that can be placed in Reserves? For example, must I count the units in a Drop Pod or Valkyrie towards the 50% of units I can place in Reserves? (p124)

A: No.

There is some discussion over whether this includes all transports that must be put in reserve, such as storm ravens, or if it is just dedicated transports. I feel based on this working it is clear that it is all transports.

Lots of words and few images in this post…but fear not! You can look for tons of pictures this afternoon when I give a brief report of the four events I have played in since the Golden Throne GT.

What codex specific FAQ updates do you feel are the most game shifting?

Chaos Daemon/Chaos Space Marine List: Can't Beat Em? Join Em!

Note - I have not read today's FAQ release. Thus there could be errors in this article.

On Monday I posted a video of my Nidzilla army getting trashed by a Chaos Daemon flying circus. Yesterday I talked about how I would take down Daemon lists in the future. Today I practice the old phrase, “If you can’t beat them, join them!”

There is a little more than that though. A) In 5^th I played full reserve Tyranids, so I have an affinity for deep strike armies that get in your opponent’s face. B) I love converting. With my DE, all of my wracks were built from random bits I got online (Empire, Skaven, Ork, High Elves, Warriors of Chaos, etc), not to mention my tervigons which frequently draw the question of whether they are a new forgeworld unit. Converting is something I truly enjoy. I believe Daemons have more conversion potential than any other army made by GW. For this reason I firmly believe one day I will have a fully converted daemon army.

Those facts said, Daemons are also really powerful right now. Both 6^th edition and the White Dwarf update gave the Chaos Daemons a huge boost. That naturally does provide some incentive to play around with the new possibilities. Jim who is known as Jy2 on Dakka came up with a strategy called Maximum Threat Overload with his Necrons. His theory, which won him the first GT of 6^th edition, was that if you put enough fast threats on the table your opponent could not afford to take out your low quality/low volume troops due to the damage you could potentially deal if your other units where not dealt with. I wanted to try a list that does this more effectively than my bugs. Two caveats; A) I have never played chaos and could fully be off on everything I say, and B) the only Daemon lists I know is the Daemon/IG build used by Hulksmash and Jeff/Pat’s (11^th Company) flying circus lists. Any semblance to other builds people are purporting is purely coincidence. Oh and C) there may be spam ahead ;).

Beating the Chaos Daemon Flying Circus

On Monday I posted a video battle report in which my Nidzilla army was torn apart by a Daemon Flying Circus. Because of the growing popularity and success of lists that include many flying monstrous creatures, often including Fateweaver for rerollable saves, I though it would be helpful to both myself and the rest of the community to write some of my thoughts on how to take down this style list. If the NOVA last weekend was any indication, the performance of Nick and Pat’s Daemons near the top tables could greatly increase the amount of Daemon circus lists at the tournaments.

1. Play the mission. Unless the mission is big guns never tire (and to a lesser extent the scouring), the flying circus is going to be low on scoring units, and unless allies are taken will be relatively fragile. This is a byproduct of all of their expensive monsters. With most missions requiring a player to have scoring models in some sort of key position, killing their troops is key to victory. This is common sense and has been said plenty by 6^th edition theorists in general. When facing a durable list with very few troops though this is going to be crucial. Unless you have lots of fliers to counter their big Daemons I would assert this is your best chance of winning. If you can destroy their fragile troops while having even a single one of yours alive, then victory is more than possible.

2. Flock together! Another popular statement by 40K pundits is that the movement phase is the most important part of the game. I agree fully. Seeing how Daemons use vector strikes and movement as part of their offense, counter movement of your own can easily foil their plans. The winning strategy? Keep all your models close together. Now this works better for smaller model count armies such as my Nidzilla, but because the FMC can not land on your models and can only turn 90 degrees at the start of each move you can easily only allow your opponent vector strikes every other turn if there are keeping their force together (to benefit from Fateweaver). In the video report I got hit every turn by his daemons because I spread out. Instead I should have placed both the objectives and my models very close to each other. The downside to this is that it makes breath of chaos more effective, so you need to judge this tradeoff before you move in this way (this is a place where multi-wound Tyranids are useful). Along with this, don’t extend too far forward. In the video report I pushed unnecessarily forward when I knew the Daemons would come toward me. Don’t be afraid the move back if it will prevent them from vectoring you a turn.

Missing Dark Vengeance Rant

So I ordered Dark Vengeance from Games Workshop as soon as I saw it had gone on pre-order. I knew I was paying a little more this way than if I bought it from another retailer, but since I was tied down at work Saturday I figured this way I would be able to have all of Sunday and Monday of the holiday weekend to play with my new toys. It didn't come Saturday.

Bummer I thought. I mean, GW sent me an email that said they had sent it Wednesday morning, plenty of time to move the goods from Tennessee to Minnesota, so this obviously was not their fault. Then on Tuesday I checked the mail and there was no wonderful package waiting for me. This is where I started feeling slighted. I paid 25% more to have the limited edition come from GW rather than elsewhere, and $8 more to have a limited edition in the first place so that I would have it a week earlier than the regular release. So I pop open my email and I check out the tracking information.

My package is currently in Illinois. That is some bad work on FedEx's part right? My precious game is only halfway to me after 6 days of transit. Then I noticed when GW gave FedEx my package...Friday night.

Video Battle Report - Tyranids vs. Daemons of Chaos (Flying Circus)

 

Last Thursday I played against one of the regulars in the Twin Cities, Frozen North Gaming club founder Jeff. In the past I had only faced Jeff’s Grey Knight Purifier lists, but over the summer he has been building up some Daemons of the flying circus variety;

Fateweaver

Lord of Change (Breath of Chaos/Chaos Icon)

5 Flamers

10 Pink Horrors

10 Pink Horrors

5 Screamers

Daemon Prince (Wings/Breath of Chaos/Bolt of Tzeentch/Mark of Tzeentch)

Daemon Prince (Wings/Breath of Chaos/Bolt of Tzeentch/Mark of Tzeentch)

I brought;

Hive Tyrant (Warlord/Wings/Twin-Linked Devourers x2)

Hive Tyrant (Wings/Twin-Linked Devourers x2)

Doom of Malan’tai (Spore Pod)

Tervigon (Onslaught/Catalyst/Cluster Spines/Toxin Sacs)

Tervigon (Catalyst/Cluster Spines)

11 Termagants

10 Termagants

2 Carnifex (Twin-Linked Devourers x2)

Trygon (Toxin Sacs)

Trygon (Toxin Sacs)

Aegis Defense Line (Communications Relay)

The mission is best 2/3 while playing the scouring (5 objectives at 3VP and fast attack is scoring and fast give 1KP/table quarters/kill points).

Check out the video after the jump!

Tyranids and Fortifications: Two Lists

As readers may know, earlier this month I moved back to MN from California. If moving into a new place isn’t enough, I have been training for my new contract at work 60 hours each of these last two weeks. All of this means I have not had much time for writing. I have been able to play in two tournaments, placing 4^th and 5^th out of a field of 15 and 16 respectively. I have tried some new things including zoanthropes and hormagaunts which I will be writing about in the future. Today I have two sample lists involving fortifications.

I have not yet used any fortifications yet in 6^th, but I have faced them, and I recognize two that could significantly benefit Tyranids. The first is the skyshield landing pad. While the unfurled benefit of not scattering is great for players who make extensive use of deep striking, the real benefit is when the landing pad is shielded. This rule gives all models on top of the landing pad (which if the picture to the right is any indication could be my full 2000 point list) a 4+ invulnerable save against shooting attacks. Note that that is not a cover save, but an invulnerable save. This is huge from the Tyranid perspective as getting a 50% chance to shrug a wound off a T6 monster who often wouldn’t be getting an obscured save is huge. The biggest issue I have had so far this edition has been weathering shooting when I am going second, so this is huge! The downside is that many events, including the rapidly approaching Midwest Massacre, are not allowing the skyshield. If I could bring he skyshield my list would look like;

Battle Report: Tyranids vs. Space Wolves/Imperial Guard - Golden Throne Round 3

With 6^th edition out for just over a month, I headed to San Jose, California for the world’s first ever sixth edition GT. The tournament would be six rounds over two days with a win/loss format using the book missions. My review of the event can be found here. I brought a 1500 point Nidzilla list;

Hive Tyrant (Warlord/Wings/Twin-Linked Devourers x2/Hive Commander)

Tervigon (Onslaught/Catalyst/Cluster Spines)

Tervigon (Catalyst/Cluster Spines)

10 Termagants

2 Carnifex (Twin-Linked Devourers x2)

Trygon (Toxin Sacs)

Trygon (Toxin Sacs)

My round two opponent was David, a member of Team Zero Comp. He is also ranked 13^th on Rankings HQ. He brought a Grey Hunter based Space Wolves list with Imperial Guard allies;

Rune Priest (Melta Bombs)

10 Grey Hunters (2 Plasma Guns)

10 Grey Hunters (2 Plasma Guns)

10 Grey Hunters (2 Plasma Guns)

10 Grey Hunters (2 Melta Gun/Wolf Banner)

10 Grey Hunters (2 Melta Gun/Wolf Banner)

5 Long Fangs (4 Missile Launchers)

5 Long Fangs (3 Missile Launchers/1 Plasma Cannon)

Primaris Psyker

10 Veterans (3 Plasma Guns)

Manticore

The mission is Big Guns Never Tire with the Vanguard deployment. David wins the roll to go first.

He has a lot of marines, and even worse, a lot of rapid fire AP2. I am fortunate though that the rune priest does not have Jaws, both of his psykers have book powers. One can take away my cover saves and at least one if not both has prescience. I think the key to victory is going to be getting my trygons into combat with his troops, as I should be able to clear a squad each turn. The focus of the carnifex unit will be killing the devastators. This calculation is purely about getting rid of AP3 firepower, as I completely forget about both heavy support units being able to score and that heavy support units are worth victory points. If you are thinking that this is not a good sign going into a game against a much more skilled opponent, you are right. It is not until we are tallying scores that I find out about my blunder. Will I be able to overcome this calculation? Find out after the jump!

Battle Report: Tyranids vs. Space Wolves (Loganwing) - Golden Throne Round 2

With 6^th edition out for just over a month, I headed to San Jose, California for the world’s first ever sixth edition GT. The tournament would be six rounds over two days with a win/loss format using the book missions. My review of the event can be found here. I brought a 1500 point Nidzilla list;

Hive Tyrant (Warlord/Wings/Twin-Linked Devourers x2/Hive Commander)

Tervigon (Onslaught/Catalyst/Cluster Spines)

Tervigon (Catalyst/Cluster Spines)

10 Termagants

2 Carnifex (Twin-Linked Devourers x2)

Trygon (Toxin Sacs)

Trygon (Toxin Sacs)

Despite only ever playing in one other northern California tournament, my round two opponent Tim is a guy I faced during the 6^th edition release event at Heroes on Paper. He once again would be playing with his Loganwing;

Logan Grimnar (Warlord)

Rune Priest (Jaws/Living Lightning)

5 Wolf Guard (5 Terminator Armor/1 Storm Bolter+Chainfist/1 Storm Bolter+Power Axe/1 Power Axe+Assault Cannon/2 Power Axe+Storm Shield)

5 Wolf Guard (5 Terminator Armor/1 Storm Bolter+Chainfist/1 Storm Bolter+Power Axe/1 Power Axe+Assault Cannon/2 Power Axe+Storm Shield)

5 Wolf Guard (5 Terminator Armor/1 Storm Bolter+Chainfist/1 Storm Bolter+Power Axe/1 Power Axe+Assault Cannon/2 Power Axe+Storm Shield)

6 Long Fangs (5 Missile Launchers)

6 Long Fangs (5 Missile Launchers)

Aegis Defense Line (Quad Gun)

Having played nearly the same list before I know what I need to do to beat it. My big advantage here is that I have an abundance of AP2 combat attacks. What I need to do is use my S6 shooting to kill the storm shields so that I can easily mop up the rest of his terminators. My big threat here will be Jaws of the World Wolf which can take out any of my I1 beasts in a heartbeat.

The mission is purge the alien and we both have 7 units. The deployment is hammer and anvil. It is not night fight and I won the first turn.

Battle Report: Tyranids vs. Grey Knights (Draigowing) - Golden Throne Round 1

With 6^th edition out for just over a month, I headed to San Jose, California for the world’s first ever sixth edition GT. The tournament would be six rounds over two days with a win/loss format using the book missions. My review of the event can be found here. I brought a 1500 point Nidzilla list;

Hive Tyrant (Warlord/Wings/Twin-Linked Devourers x2/Hive Commander)

Tervigon (Onslaught/Catalyst/Cluster Spines)

Tervigon (Catalyst/Cluster Spines)

10 Termagants

2 Carnifex (Twin-Linked Devourers x2)

Trygon (Toxin Sacs)

Trygon (Toxin Sacs)

My round one opponent is Bobby, his Draigowing, and their Tau allies.

Draigo

1 Paladin (Thunderhammer)

10 Paladins (Apothecary, 3 Hammers, 3 Halberd, Banner, Stave, 4 Psycannons)

Shas’o (AFL, Missile Pod, 2 Shield Drones, Blacksun Filter, FNP)

3 Shas’ui (Team Leader, Flamer/Missile Pod, Blacksun Filter, 2 Shield Drones)

7 Fire Warriors

Bobby had some pretty sweet Tau conversions;

It was clear that Bobby is a fun guy and not being WAAC. He expressed that he wished he had enough Tau to just play with them, but as he did, not he brought Draigo along.

Deployment is dawn of war with crusade (3 objectives) as the mission. My strategy with Draigowing is to utilize spawned gants as a walls between me and them. The deathstar can only take out one unit a turn. My goal is to position them so that it is only free gants they are able to attack.

Nidzilla and Flying Tyrants in 6th: Changes To My List

Have no fear brave readers, battle reports from the Golden Throne are coming. I will be moving from CA to MN next week, and so I have blogger scheduled to automatically post one each morning while I am driving across the country. While today is not directly about Golden Throne, I will be utilizing things I learned at that event as I tweak my 1500 point list for an RTT this weekend in Pasadena.

So what was the weak point of my list? This may come as a shock...but it was the flying hive tyrant.

For all the love flying monstrous creatures are getting, I kid you not, they are not nearly as good as other fliers. I had four of my six opponents comment on how easy the flyrant took wounds. He was also underwhelming in close combat. Here is a highlight list of bad things that happened to him;

Golden Throne GT Review

Random Tervigon eating a Grey Knight

The Golden Throne GT has come and gone, and let me say that it was an immensely enjoyable event. This tournament was the first GT put together by Rob Pace of Heroes on Paper. The event took place August 4-5, 2012 in downtown San Jose. If hosting his first ever GT was not enough, Rob decided to continue forward and be the first 6^th edition GT in the world even when it was unclear of how the competitive scene would look. On top of that, the store that he owns was broken into two weeks before the event, and the events that followed took up a lot of his time. Despite it all Rob put together a fun event.


 Scoring based on nine categories after the jump!

Golden Throne GT Video Report

Got back from a great weekend in San Jose playing in the Golden Throne GT. This week and next there will be a full tournament review as well as all the battle reports, but today I present you with the first ever video content on Turn 7 Wargaming. This video contains interviews with my opponents and the tournament winner and is full of great thoughts, sights, and sounds related to 6th edition. Two things of note;

1. There is spoilers after the jump. If you want to read the battle reports spoiler free then watch the video

Tyranid Strategy In The Rulebook Missions: Golden Throne GT Prep 2

Yesterday I started off this series by reviewing the first three book missions as they pertain to my 17 model Nidzilla list. You should check that article out first as I reference some of the tactics I wrote there. This analysis is being done in preparation for the Golden Throne GT, the first grand tournament to feature the new 6^th edition rules. Today I continue on with the final three missions.

Round 4

The Scouring

Dawn of War

The big difference between this mission and Crusade/Big Guns Never Tire is that I know exactly how many objectives there will be. My priorities for placement are the same as there are in Crusade: 1^st get an objective in each deployment zone in area terrain, 2^nd is to get one objective near the table edge in area terrain on a single side, 3^rd is place midfield objectives so that my Tervigon can both be scoring and giving synapse to a unit on the rear objective. I don’t have fast attack so no fancy tactics there. Dawn of War here is nice as the linear deployment zones are the easiest to place objectives in when following my outlined strategy.

Tyranid Strategy In The Rulebook Missions: Golden Throne GT Prep 1

This weekend I will be playing in what to my knowledge is the first 6^th edition grand tournament in the world. Six rounds, over one hundred participants, swag bags, and lots of other goodness will be at hand in San Jose, California. This is my second GT I have played in, and my first such major tournament outside of my local area. What have I done to get ready?

Played Malifaux exclusively the last two weeks.

American Football=11 Players...Nidzilla=7 Monsters

That might be a bit of a stretch, especially considering I was out of town for six days, but the truth is that I have not touched 40K in two weeks; no games, no serious strategizing, and not even a bit of painting. The easy hindsight answer would be that I have been spending my time with a casual skirmish game so that I enter this event with a light-hearted have fun mentality, which considering some of the silly (read: both clever and frustratingly powerful) combos and gamesmanship people have been coming up with might be needed, but truth be told I don’t have a reason other than finding Malifaux really refreshing. I will do some write ups about it in the coming weeks. Needless to say DUST and Malifaux are quite enticing compared too much of the negativity going around the 40K-sphere.

That said, here is a run down of my basic strategy for this weekend’s event considering all of the rounds are using the standard book missions. My list can be found here.