The Best Army In 40K...and a word from my heart.

On Facebook I recently asked my friends to supply questions for a Q and A post on my other blog. While most of the questions were close to the topic of that blog, there was one question asked by friend and regular GT winner Matt Root which stuck out from the bunch.

He asked…What is the best Warhammer 40K army? I respond with the following 1850 list.

Coteaz

Inquisitor (Psy lvl 1)

4 x 3 Acolyte

2 x 12 Acolyte

2 x Storm Raven (Melta/Lascannon)

3 x Imperial Knight (Paladin or Errant depending on the meta)

I think that the Imperial Knights are really good, especially when you have multiple divination sources also on the table. I think this list overcomes a lot of the issues had by other Imperial Knight lists; lack of scoring units and vulnerability to flyers.

Coteaz and the other Inquisitor deploy in the 12 man units of Acolytes, in order to give them plenty of ‘Look Out Sir’ opportunities, and try and stay out of LOS from enemy units while each spotting a Knight to give it benefits from their psychic storehouse. You can allocate your Knights as Paladin’s and Errants as needed depending on what your local tournament meta looks like.

Two of the three man units of Acolytes deploy in reserves and will hug cover to grab objectives near our own table edge. The other two small units of Acolytes naturally hang out in the Storm Ravens, ready to hop out on objectives in the late game. The Storm Ravens are configured in order to deal lethal damage to other flyers. Their Mindstrike Missiles are also key in handling the other psychic based armies currently seeing play.

I feel this list gives a tactically minded player who is capable of planning movement several turns ahead all the tools they need to overcome any opposing army…or maybe not. I have no idea what makes up a competitive list. In fact, I can’t even remember if allies of convenience can target each other with psychic powers. Other than one game as ringer at the Renegade GT, it has been eleven months since I have played any Warhammer 40K.

 

Last Spring I was coming off of my best string of tournament performances I had ever had. With 3^rd overall at two GT’s, 6-1 at another, and Best Sportsman at Bugeater I was not only at the top of my game but having more fun than ever. Going to gaming stores was less about getting ready for tournaments and more about seeing friends and building up the community.

Last May I graduated from college and began preparing for a year of ministry abroad traveling to eleven countries in the developing world over eleven months with only what I could carry in a backpack. Not only would I be using all three of my degrees but I would also be fully living out my faith and social justice values.

As part of my preparation it became clear in my heart that I needed to give up table top gaming. I already was selling all of my other possessions as part of my fundraising, so it would be out of place that I would hold onto this while casting off the rest of my life. Plus not playing freed up time for me to both get an additional job and spend a greater amount of time preparing mentally and spiritually for what was to come during my year abroad. I played in one final tournament on my birthday; placing third with a silly list that was made up of models borrowed from seven of the gamers who had became my friends thanks to the gaming community.

Then it was over. I had joined the uncounted ranks of former Warhammer players. 

Teaching at a school in El Salvador this March.

Honestly though, I am glad I quit cold turkey. On one hand it was, and will always be, worth it by virtue of making my present life of teaching orphans in El Salvador, working with gang members in Honduras, and speaking messages of freedom in Albania possible; on the other hand, in a less immediate sense, it is a full expression of a truth which hides just beneath the surface and is never fully talked about in our community.

The Warhammer community does a lot of good; Foodhammer, Toys For Tots drives, and numerous events to support members of our gaming family who have faced tragedy. Even the Nova Open has/is becoming a charitable endeavor. Our community is full of bright minds, incalculable skills, and bold hearts which seek a more just world. What if the time, talents, and vast financial resources of our community, rather than being invested in the games we both enjoy and challenge ourselves with were instead applied directly toward curing the ills of the world. What if those events which bring out the best of our community became the focus of our community?

This is not a call for everyone to abandon table top wargaming, I cannot make that decision for everyone, that is for you to discern. I would though challenge you to ask the questions which were in the back of my mind as I rolled dice and sought glory on a miniature battlefield. I encourage you to address with your gamer buddies the elephants in the room.

How do we justify spending the sums we do on models in a world where innocent children are dying every day from starvation? How do we account for the hours spent building and testing lists when that same degree of research and strategy could bring great strides in tangible plans to stop the rampant human trafficking that enslaves a greater number of human beings than were captive at the height of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade? What if the devotion and consistency we applied to reading 40K blogs and listening to Warhammer podcasts was applied to further educating ourselves and generating true civil discourse over these and other issues which challenge our society and world?

These are the elephants in the room at every tournament hall. It may only be now that I am abroad that I physically look into the eyes of the starving and hold the cold fingers of those who could have their lives saved by our community, but I have known for a long time the cost my (our) actions and choices. Maybe you play these games to, “Get a break from the real world,” but to deny that each hobby room contains the resources necessary to change lives is to disregard the empiric fact that if we choose to continue to use our discretionary income in this way then we sentence other human beings to death. To refuse to accept our connection to these issues to use the same defense that has been used by the bystanders who allowed the greatest dehumanizations and violent acts of our world to occur. That is not flagrant hyperbole, that is the true that is before my eyes each day.

Working with the homeless and sick in Guatemala in February.

If you read this and change nothing, keep on playing and enjoying the game that I loved and I look back on with the fondest of nostalgias, then I am sorry. Despite the pain that would place in my heart, I cannot judge, I continued to play and spend and invest my time even though I knew these truths. If this leads something to change, or a conversation to happen in your gamer group though, I would love to hear about it.

If you are interested in contacting me or following my journeys in the developing world, my personal blog at anthonyguidotti.theworldrace.org is the best way of doing so. To those in the community who have supported me and my mission thus far either in prayers, financially, or in another way, I am eternally grateful. To my 40K friends in Minnesota and across the country, this is not the end of our time together, and I look forward to seeing you all once I return.

Anthony “Turn 7 Wargaming” Guidotti

Sofia, Bulgaria

5/12/2014

anthonyguidotti@gmail.com

Developing sustainable agriculture at an orphanage in Honduras in January.

 

PS: To those of Christian faith reading this, I encourage you to read the first part of Colossians 3. This scripture has came up time and time again for me as I debate these issues and the way in which I am called to live my life. That said, I don’t think the points I make here rely on Christian beliefs, but rather are truths that are universal to our global human family.

Video Battle Report: Bugeater GT Winning Tyranids vs. Blood Angels/Imperial Guard

I will have a full rundown of Bugeater later, but in short I went 3-3, my worst showing ever at a GT, but in the process won best sportsman and was nominated by the judges for best painted. While I am quite perplexed as to how my army, many of the models included having been painted in the car on the way down to Nebraska, got a perfect score on the initial appearance rubric, I am more than honored that my opponent’s thought so highly of me that I would earn the sportsmanship award.

Only the best armies are painted in this manner.

Before I go more into Bugeater (and all the GT's I have played in this Spring), I thought I would share this battle report which has been lost in a sea of tech troubles. It is timely though, as in it I face off against Matt Root, who not only won Bugeater for the second year in a row, but did so with the list I face here in this video. Facing off against his monster of a list, I will be using my triple land raider blood angels with imperial guard allies.

You can check it out after the jump!

Blood Angels List: Three Land Raiders and a Blob (and a RTT Report)

I have always like land raider redeemers. The idea of AV 14 bringing a payload of S6 AP3 flamers is far too awesome to not like. I decided to start playing Blood Angels at the tail of 5th strictly because they could bring more redeemers than anyone else. I tested my old list out right when 6th drop, and after it did not perform I put them in a box for eight months, taking them out to play in an 1850 point tournament with only 90 minute rounds because I knew I would be able to play fast. Chaos was giving me much to focus on so I forgot them again. After being disappointed by the abundance of bad matchups for daemons I decided to start looking at the old raiders again. Something was missing though. with changes to FNP in the new edition the assault marines were not cutting it for me. I have always wanted to play with an Al'Rahem outflanking IG blob...and finally the opportunity had presented itself.

Librarian
5 Terminators (5 Thunder Hammer and Storm Shields)
~Land Raider Redeemer (Melta)
5 ASM
~Land Raider Redeemer (Melta)
5 ASM
~Land Raider Redeemer (Melta)
Vindicator (Dozer)

Company Command Squad (Astropath)
Infantry Platoon
~Al'Rahem Platoon Command Squad (Chimera/Vox/2 Melta)
~Infantry Squad (Axe/Vox)
~Infantry Squad (Axe)
~Infantry Squad (Axe)
~Infantry

 Find out how this list is supposed to work after the jump:

Ork List: And Not A Assault Was Given That Day

Woah. Nothing says crazy post Adepticon meta shifts like a random list to end the week. On the way back from the Gt we started talking about some of the things that we do and don't see in orks after seeing both the successes and failings of our nob biker/60 boy teammate. I have for a while been thinking about how to create a full ork shooting list, and used this opportunity to build such a list. Taking suggestions from my other team mates and a friend who won Bugeater last year with Orks we came up with this concoction at 1850.

Warboss (Squig/Armor/Cybork/Klaw/Slugga/Bike)
15 Lootas
15 Lootas
15 Lootas
11 Gretchin (Runtherd)
30 Shoota Boyz
30 Shoota Boyz
30 Shoota Boyz
Dakkajet (Extra Gun)
Dakkajet (Extra Gun)
Dakkajet (Extra Gun)
Skyshield

My thoughts after the jump...

New Chaos Daemon Codex List & Analysis: Part 3 (Chaos Space Marine Allies)

After the nonsense that was fine tuning the Chaos Space Marine/Daemon list of the last few months, I really feel like just having a good time. I enjoyed my list, it played how I liked and allowed me to come from behind to win in many circumstances. Honestly though, it wasn't fun for many of my opponents. At the GT last weekend my round two opponent only had two models left after my second turn (vendetta and a wolf priest) and my third round opponent only had three models left after my third turn (three ork flyers).  I quickly realized it was not a list to bring to friendly games, and if the new codex wasn't just released I would bring it to local tournaments either. While I had fun, if I bring a list to a tournament where we both are having fun, then it will be more enjoyable for the both of us. On top of this, 6th edition is way too rock-paper-scissors right now to rely on a list. A bad draw on the wrong mission makes any amount of mathhammer and playtests void. All we can rely on the "competitive" 40K is skill. I like to think I have some of that, and learning more with every game I play, but since the list matter less now than it ever has I think it is a great time to start having fun in the hobby. This was my teams philosophy when we finally built our list for the Adepticon team tournament. we thought about adding wraiths to our necron players list, but then we said it would be more fun to have a second C'Tan. Yes, it is going to be that much fun.

Speaking of fun, I tested out the daemon list with the Al'Rahem blob, and it was a good time. I spent the night after playing it dreaming of whether I would go for a nurgle-look blob or if I would pick up some dreamforge eisenkern models for a more clean look. I kept looking through the book and reading other's thoughts though and kep fitting new things in, things that pushed the guard out. Sometimes my nidzilla genes act up and I get a lust for flying monstrous creatures. I made a list that had nine juggernauts and four khorne heralds on juggernauts, I couldn't contain the coolness of it. Plus, with the number of conversions I already need to do before Adepticon, building and painting a guard blob is probably a bad idea. So without further build, here is my fun daemon list;

New Chaos Daemon Codex List & Analysis: Part 2 (Imperial Guard Allies)

Unfortunately the opponent who I had planned to film the battle report with and I did not have time to finish our game, so there will not be a video this week. I will give you a quick summary of the two games I have played and then give a list which is very different from what I have previously suggested; an allied Al'Rahem blob. But first, I will actually provide the conclusions I have came to thus far.

1) The problem is not the horrors, seekers, or heralds. These are working like a charm. The problem is that the rest of the list does not synergize in a way which protects their weaknesses. One of the big reasons for this is that the Great Unclean One, despite his great point cost, is too slow to do anything of note even when deep striking off of an icon and thus is not even targeted by my opponents.

2) My ally is not an efficient use of points. Yes the heldrake is great, but I am paying a huge tax to get it in the list. These are points that are putting me "behind the eight ball."

What I need is an efficient ally who can at a minimum match what I can do with my heldrake and havocs. Enter the traitor imperial guard:

Herald of Slaanesh (Greater Reward/Ex. Loci/Psyker Level 1/Steed)
Herald of Tzeentch (Exaulted Locus/Psyker Level 3)
Herald of Tzeentch (Exaulted Reward/Psyker Level 3)
Herald of Tzeentch (Exaulted Reward/Psyker Level 3)
17 Horrors
10 Plaguebearers
20 Seekers (Heartseeker)

CCS (Astropath/Chimera/3 Meltagun/Vox)
Infantry Platoon 
~1 Squad (Meltagun)
~2 Squad (Meltagun/Power Axe)
~1 Squad (Meltagun/Power Axe/Vox)
~PCS (Al'Rahem/Chimera/3 Meltagun/Vox) 
~1 Special Weapons Squad (3 Flamers)
~Commissar
Vendetta

New Chaos Daemon Codex List & Analysis: Part 1

Three of the top five most read posts on this blog are from my Chaos Space Marine “List Building and Analysis” series. As such it only makes sense that I do the same with Chaos Daemons. I am on a strict timetable as I need to come up with a new list and build and paint the conversions by Adepticon, so look for these posts to be coming in rapid succession!

The new codex means some proxies meet the tabletop.

Knowing I would be at the Indy Open, I preordered a copy of the new codex in Indianapolis.  This meant that while I was painting all night Friday, and on the ten hour drive home, the four of us who made the trip from Minnesota got to make ourselves familiar with the book and start working out some combos. As such not all of the ideas in this post are my own. Extra credit goes to Hulksmash who I have been bouncing ideas off of.

My original plan was to keep the CSM as my primary detachment and just ally the daemons so that I could keep using two heldrakes, but the fact that I cannot put four heralds in a single unit for an allied detachment put that plan to the kibosh. I decided to make a list that included most of the units I wished to try out (excluding Beasts of Nurgle, which as cool as they are happen to be far too pricy).

Check the list out after the jump!

6-1 At The Indy Open

I had a great time in Indianapolis at the Indy Open GT. I was painting right up until 11PM the night before in my hotel room to get my army to look at least half way decent (I didn't get lowest paint score!). While I didn't win the GT I did have an impressive showing, only losing one game (to Hans who won the last Indy Open and took 2nd this year) and winning my bracket. I doubt I will do battle reports as the new daemon book makes the tactical side of reports defunct, though I took pictures so I may post them another day. Here is my army and a list of my games:

Typhus

15 Plague Zombies

10 Plague Zombies

10 Plague Zombies

Heldrake (Baleflamer)

Heldrake (Baleflamer)

5 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)


Round 1: MSU GK

He had first turn and combat squaded everything. By the time he moved up and used the jump move on his now four squads of interceptors I had very little space to land my deep strikes, leading to a soul grinder mishap. At the end of my second turn I only had 19 models on the table. Typhus was forced to roll five saves and failed four of them, dying. It was an uphill climb, but with some major help from my Heldrakes when the dust settled on turn six I was winning by a slim margin.

RTT Report: Blood Angels w/ Dark Angels Allies Take On 90 Minute Rounds!

A few Saturdays ago I played in a ‘silly’ RTT at Village Games in Anoka, Minnesota. Why was the even silly? First, being Super Bowl Sunday, only five of us showed up. Second, we found out a few days before the event each round would only be an hour and a half despite the points limit being 1850. Third, though we didn't know this ahead of time, the missions, while from the rulebook, were hilariously described, with us all laughing together as we tried figuring out what we needed to do. With this in mind those of us considering going made a “gentleman’s agreement” to not only bring an army that could play five turns in that amount of time, but also to not bring any daemons. It is worth noting that every game did go at least five turns.

Everyone suspected that I would dust off the old Nidzilla to fill the ‘low model count roll’, but I have been aching to have a reason to bring out my unfinished blood angels, anchored by three land raiders. I spent a while playing with the numbers since I have not used my Angels since the end of 5^th edition, and made a silly list that looked like fun, and hopefully could show that assault angels – of all varieties – could be effective. I introduce…THE ANGELS OF DEATH!

Blood Angels

Mephiston

Chaplain (Meltabombs)

Sanguinary Priest

5 Terminators (5 TH+SS)

~Land Raider Redeemer (Multi-Melta)

5 Assault Marines

~ Land Raider Godhammer

10 Death Company

~Land Raider Redeemer (Multi-Melta)

Dark Angels

Librarian

5 Scouts (Camo Cloaks)

5 Tactical Marines

The essence of the list is three hard hitting assault units in durable vehicles which are also offensively potent. Mephiston, who should be improved by biomancy, deploys with the priest behind the empty Godhammer (as the ASM are in reserve with the other troops). On my first turn they split up, with Mephiston rocking the Godhammer, and the priest joining the terminators and divination librarian in a redeemer. The chaplain naturally rides with the death company. Lets break it down…Mephiston before biomancy will have 6 S6 AP3 attacks on the charge that have the force ability, the Terminators are S9 on the charge and should be durable with a 2+/3++ and FNP, and the death company who will have 55 WS5 S5 attacks on the charge that reroll all to hits and to wound on the charge. The list hits hard, plus the land raiders, sporting either two twin-linked lascannons or two S6 AP3 flamers with assault cannons, are nothing to forget about. The natural weak spot is the scoring units, which are only five marines strong in each. This hopefully can be mitigated by threat vectors and reserves.

I really like the list which has no spam (minus one dedicated transport) and lots of unique was of killing. But how did I do? Check it out after the jump!

Tournament Pro Tips

As part of getting the local community excited for the Renegade Open GT my team asked me to write up a guide of tips for individuals who have never participated in a Warhammer tournament prior to ours. This document is a result of that request. A lot of these tips were already on the internet, so I am certainly standing on the shoulders of giants, but I believe that through my compiling and adding of my own tidbits that this document can be of use to both novice and veteran players alike. Please let me know anything you think I might be missing, and if you run a blog, feel free to run this on your website (all I ask is that you provide a link to the original here).

Why should you play in a tournament?

There are lots of reasons people play in Warhammer tournaments. Some people enjoy the social aspect, others like showing off their hobby skills and seeing the conversions and paint jobs of others, and of course some people enjoy the competitive side of the game. I personally enjoy crunching numbers, making lists, and trying out new tactics against exciting opponents. No matter why you like wargaming, tournaments are the best, and most fun, way to experience it.
  

What should I bring?

1)     Your army. Duh.

2)     A copy of your list for yourself, the TO, and each of your opponents. See below for more information.

3)     Dice. See below for more information.

4)     A 6^th edition rulebook, any codex you are making use of in either your primary or allied detachments, a printed copy of the most recent general game FAQ and a FAQ for every army used in both your primary and allied detachments.

5)     Hydration and a snack. See below for more information.

6)     Medication. Does standing all day make your back hurt? Does thinking to hard give you a headache? Bring whatever medication you will need to have the best day possible.

7)     Two tape measures. I always bring two because between opponents forgetting and mine breaking, you will use the second more than you think.

8)     All three game templates. It doesn’t matter if your army uses all of them or not, you want to have them in case your opponent forgot theirs. This prevents you from having to harass another table in order to borrow one. I would also highly suggest a tactical template (1”, 2”, 4” and 6” measurements) as they greatly speed the game up. The Gale Force 9 version is most popular, but you can also order them from the Renegade GT’s event sponsor Applied Perspective for only $5.99. I also suggest a way to mark exploded vehicles. Terrain Foundry produces great ones cheap, but psychic cards work well too.

9)     Two pens (or pencils if you are one of those people…).

10)   A way to carry your army. See below for more information.

11)   Comfortable clothes. See below for more information.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.