Announcing The Renegade Open GT (November 23rd and 24th, 2013)

Get your army ready, because there is a new GT in town. This November the inaugural Renegade Open GT, taking place just North of the Minnesota Twin City metro area, looks to become not just one of the premiere tournaments in the Midwest, but rather the entire country. The event features four rounds on Saturday, judged via a Win/Loss/Draw system, with the top sixteen moving on into a winners bracket on Sunday. The rest of the field will have their scores cleared and will enter into a separate three round tournament scored equally on their table top performance and the appearance of their army.

You should definitely check out the website, as it is one of, if not the, nicest looking tournament website in the world!

More info after the jump!

RTT Report: My CSM Make Their Debut (1.19.13)

Last Saturday I brought my Chaos Space Marines out to their first tournament, which took place at Legion Games in Burnsville, Minnesota. There were eleven players, which is more than they had at some events last fall, but still below how many they used to draw. While I don’t plan to do full battle reports until this army is painted, I will be providing a synopsis of each game. This provides a record for me as well as a point of perspective for other players when looking at match ups. My list was;

Typhus

25 Plague Zombies

10 Plague Zombies

10 Plague Zombies

10 Plague Zombies

Heldrake (Baleflamer)

Heldrake (Baleflamer)

6 Havocs (4 Lascannon)

The Masque

9 Flamers of Tzeentch

5 Horrors of Tzeentch

9 Screamers of Tzeentch

Soul Grinder (Phlegm)

Aegis Defense Line (Comms Relay)

Game one is after the jump!

Indy Open 2013: I Am Going And So Should You

There were a few GT's the first two quarters of the year which were on my list of perspective events either because of their affordability or the praise past years had gotten. After some prodding from Hulksmash I am officially registered for the Indy Open 2013 the weekend of March 2nd and 3rd.

The event is a six round 64 person tournament using a win loss draw format. They will have over $2000 dollars in prize and are drawing some huge names from the 40K community considering it is only their second year running the event. Saturday is four games to determine fight for first on day two, and for those not still in the hunt for can play in a multitude of events including a three round RTT with brackets set up for players to play their peers based on the previous day's results. The only downside is that the event is 1750 rather than 1850, but that is a small detail in the long run.

Last I heard they had about twenty spots left, so if you are on the fence now is the time to buy them before others do!

2012 In Review

2012 was the biggest year of my wargaming career. I played in my first GT (first three to be precise), got what I would say is ‘pretty good’ at one army, started another, and started developing real hobby skills. This is a review of 2012 and a preview of 2013.

First though, a quick background to my history in wargaming. I started playing 40K in December 2002. It took six months of saving my allowance, and I still to this day fondly remember making the purchase of the 3^rd edition Dark Eldar and Space Marine starter set (which compared to today’s starter boxes was atrocious). I began playing the dark elder, which was already an outdated codex, but the fact that I could not afford to buy any vehicles meant that my gunline DE earned no wins over a three year period, leading me to quit the game and put my models in a box.

Most of my now unloved DE army.

In 2010 I by chance walked into a lounge were some guys were playing on a pool table. I asked if it was 40K and we exchanged phone numbers. The next fall I joined their league at my college, and while I was still terrible, I focused on learning tactics. These lessons, combined with the new DE book getting released led my group to call my army over powered and suggesting that I play in a real tournament. Two years form tomorrow was that first foray (winning only one game), and I have loved the competitive side since.  I played DE for a few more months until a temporary move to Detroit led to me leaving the hobby until I got back to MN. In November 2011 I started playing again, this time with Tyranids. This brings us to 2012, I am full of energy with a new army and a mind full of ideas, but I am still lacking refinement in the tactics department.

Hobby: Typhus Conversion

Internet...meet Typhus.

January is my easiest month work wise, which means I have gotten a lot done. The flamers just need a few minutes of touch up, I finished my horrors last night, and both heldrakes are in the final stages of green stuff. The most important completion of late though is my warlord Typhus.

My goal with Typhus is to make him imposing, not a character who kicks ass in assault, but rather a model that is so commanding and powerful that you fear the idea of getting into assault with him. I knew I needed him raised up in order to create that sort or presence. I chose to do this with a rock rather than bark or foam as this would weigh his base down, preventing him from falling like other top heavy models. His legs and powerfist are from the CSM Terminator box, and his torso, head and shoulder pads are from the Forgeworld Death Guard Terminator kit (I believe; I got these bits as part of a bigger trade). His other arm is a cut up combi-bolter arm. The wires come from a CSM Terminator power mace, and the handle above the hand is from a terminator power axe. The scythe head is from the empire wizard box. I need to do a bit more work on the greenstuff, adding more vines to cover the joint. The arms under him and behind the cloak are from the fantasy ghouls box. I believe the tabardesque chains are from the CSM Terminator kit. I will need to hunt down my flagellent chains so as to connect his cape to the front tabard.

Overall I am very happy with him, as I am with all of the conversions thus far. Now that challenge is to find a build for the screamers that I like before an RTT on Saturday. I already have their bases weighted and magnetized, I just need a model to rock on top.

Biggest Changes In Today's FAQ

Today's FAQ release is quite a doozy! Everything from a confirmation of the reported Necron flyer rule, to Mycetic Spore changes that make Doom even more dangerous, plus some new game mechanics. Here are the top changes I found when reading the updates this morning;








Main Rulebook Page 43 – Special Rules, Vector Strike.
Change the second paragraph to read “When Swooping, this model may savage its prey. At the end of the Movement Phase, nominate one unengaged enemy unit the model has moved over that turn. This unit may even be an enemy Flyer. That unit takes D3+1 hits, resolved at the model’s unmodified Strength and AP3, using Random Allocation. Against vehicles, these hits are resolved against the target’s side armour. No cover saves are allowed against these hits.”

Two big changes in here. First, random allocation is now in play for vector strikes. This prevents me from sniping models via heldrakes flying of the table at specific angles, and fluff wise makes sense. I already through some DnD dice with my Chaos army to speed up allocation. The second is a huge benefit to vector strikes...no cover saves! This makes vector strikes one of the most reliable ways to finish off the last two of three guys in a unit.

More changes after the jump!

Defilers, Maulerfiends, and Soul Grinders...Oh My!

A friend who was leaving the hobby invited me over to his place to look through some CSM models to see if there was anything I would be interested in. I already had my early 2013 GT list set for the most part, but figured it was worth a gander. There was some good looking stuff, including conversions that would fit with my army, but I really didn't have the cash to afford models I don't need. Then I saw it...the Forgeworld Nurgle Plague Hulk.

The pictures on the Forgeworld site don't do it justice (partially the bland coloring used on the rotting flesh), this model is superb. My friend also posed it well and modified it so that it would fit on an oval base, making the model sturdier.

So I bought it. The price was low enough that I felt I could fit this monstrosity into my budget. The question was, what would it be used as? I saw three options; a defiler, a maulerfiend, or a soul grinder.

Breaking: Necrons Do Not Take Damage After A Night Scythe Is Destroyed



Credit: Blood of Kittens

I don't normally post "news" as typically it would just be a repost from every other blog, but this is huge and has not spread much yet. The image to the left is from the Blood of Kittens facebook page and shows a very clear change from the previous wording as to what happened when a Night Scythe is destroyed.

Old Rule:  “If the Night Scythe is destroyed, the embarked unit is not allowed to disembark, but instead enters reserve (when they arrive, they cannot Deep Strike).”

New Rule: "If the night scythe is destroyed, the embarked unit suffers no damage."

This should end all the debates, all the arguments, and all the blood feuds...except for one little detail - it does not appear in a GW FAQ yet. I sincerely hope they make that change soon though. As Reece (i assume) from Frontline Gaming said, "I am just glad they're actually addressing this stuff, who cares if the RAW or RAI is correct." I agree, a definitive answer is what I will always prefer.

Either way, this is a clear statement by GW of their position on the matter, and I think that is very much worth noting.


Caveat - I do not own the Necron eBook (or an iPad for that matter), so if anyone who does could comment here, facebook message me, or email me a confirmation of this image's validity that would be awesome! I have now received independent confirmation which verifies this change.

Bastion vs. Aegis - A Fortification Dilemma

It seems like everyone brings an ADL these days.

With my Chaos Space Marine list utilizing Daemon allies, flyers, and fragile troops which I want to keep off the board I knew I needed a comms relay. The question quickly became to take a bastion or an aegis line to secure myself those sweet, sweet, rerollable reserves.

Aegis Defense Line

If you play 6^th edition Warhammer 40K then you are more than familiar with an aegis line. It is cheap, long, and gets the job (in this case reliable 4+ cover) done. Because my troops are T3 with a 6+ save, 4+ cover literally is a life saver (for whatever life zombies possess). The aegis also serves a key purpose in protecting the havocs in case the deployment zone does not have a ruin or area terrain on a hill. With the short sides of the aegis and the table edge you can ensure they are protected on all sides from flyers. There really is not much to say about the old dependable aegis line.

Havocs vs. Obliterators - A Chaos Space Marine Quandary

Partially Kitbashed Lascannon Havoc Conversions

I will have a review of the last year and a preview of this coming year posted next week sometime. This week I will be talking about heavy support choices, fortifications, and why I bought a forgeworld model. Today though, we begin with the age old Chaos Space Marine question…havocs or obliterators? When the book first came out I was all about havocs and gave no thought to obliterators. Several people questioned this behavior and pushed me to try the obliterators. The results of those tests are the basis of this post.

Havocs

One of the major comments the CSM book received upon release was the affordability of havocs. At 115 points you can get five with four autocannons, or for 155 points you can get five with four lascannons. Worth noting is for 175 you can get five with four missile launchers equipped with flakk missiles, though between cost and the low quality found in S7 against flyers I don’t believe this configuration is worth taking. Havocs allow a lot of shooting for very little investment.