Power Fists Vs Power Weapons in challenges.

VS.

This just hit me like a cold night on Fenris when I was working on a possible list for next month when I was looking at Wolf Guard.

In 5^th, the favorite package was to give them a combi-melta and power fists. My friend and I used to put power weapons in the Grey Hunter squads to balance that out as this option worked better than Wulfin.

With 6^th, we have a new issue being they are “characters” when they attach to a unit. So, a power fist could be challenged now and killed removing the threat from the combat. On the other hand if you swap the power weapon for the fist, the Wolf Guard has a slightly better chance to survive but you take the loss of a +1 attack. Still, this is better than NEVER being able to attack at all if you get challenged (and killed) or you refuse and are unable to fight.

Many other Marine armies are going to take this worse as their Sergeant is usually the only model to have the option to take a power fist. This now comes down to a simple, challenge and kill concept that could push the popularity of the power fist back as time goes on if the Challenge system starts to be used in an aggressive format in games.

Well, this means I will be pulling out my figures tonight and doing a few weapon swaps! 

Chaos Army Photos Started

Well, today I started to take a few shots of my army and fill up some of the folders in my photobucket account that have been sitting there empty for far to long.

So, without further introduction: http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b313/patrickballinger/40k%20Chaos%20Army/

I have added Thousand Sons (a few pictures), a few WIP Death Guard, my Word Bearers and Iron Warriors. Enjoy!

Here is a few samples...

1000 Sons Shoulder Pad (detail on each squad)

Iron Warriors Warsmith

WIP Nurgle Lord

WIP Nurgle Apothocary

Iron Warriors Spawn

Iron Warriors Havoks...

The Eye of Rumors has opened! Chaos Marines ready to roll!

From Faiet's 212 Blog:

Release date – 1st September (7 weeks he said) and it is a hard back like the 8e WFB Army Books. Rumor states the books are in the warehouse worldwide.

There is an Eye of the Gods esque table (Warriors of Chaos players will know what I am talking about) that you get to roll on whenever a character kills another character in a challenge, or a Walker or Monstrous Creature. There is a multitude of gifts (and curses) that your Characters can acquire which range from +1 Save, +1 Toughness, or becoming either a Spawn or a Daemon Prince!!!
Chaos Cultists are definetely in (but we all kinda know that already), as is the ‘Dragon’ – think Necron Night Scythe with the main chassis been replaced by a massive mechanical dragon head with segmented wings sweeping forward and around from it. On top of those there are also:

Dark Apostles – evil Chaplains basically
Warp Smiths – evil Techmarine that can curse vehicles and degrade terrain.
A new Daemon Engine – half way between a Dreadnought and a Defiler.
Speaking of Defilers as they are Daemons they have a 5+ Inv save.
‘Cult’ units are all Elites and are unlocked to Troops by appropriate HQ choices, but there are no Cult Terminators which makes me sad.
Obliterators are exclusively for shooting – so no powerfists. BUT there is a new unit which is basically a close combat Obliterator.
There are 2 types of Raptors now; regular CSM with Jump Packs, and then some kind of Possessed Daemonic Raptors that all come with Lightning Claws!
Possessed are meant to be amazing, and take a lot of benefits from the Eye of the Gods esque table.
There are NO Daemons in the Codex because that is what Allies are for.

My thoughts:

Well, this has me excited to see the new changes and if GW does this right or does another cluster f***. I will tackle each in turn…

Dark Apostles: If true, that rocks for my Word Bearers, combined with allied Demon lists almost brings back the good ole days of Index Astrates rules.

Warp Smiths: Evil Techmarines? Oh yea, could be interesting and as an Iron Warriors player as well this is VERY cool if true.

Defilers with a 5+ Inv Save? Wow! I have three waiting in the wings!

Obliterators: Sadface here, no power fists.  New Close combat (unless they get boosted in I, that is a joke), still nothing to sneeze at now with the changes to weapons, Plasma and Lascannons are +1AP, melta +2 AP, twin linked shorter ranges, plasma blasts, twin linked templates (flamer)…oh yea!

Cultists: Looking forward to brushing the dust off my Beastmen and Old Chaos Cultists until the new stuff is out!

New Raptors changes? Sounds interesting, been sitting on about a dozen of these waiting for them to be of use!

Possessed: Oh yea, I have tons of unfinished ones and some converted cybered out Iron Warriors as possessed sitting in the box waiting for something doo to happen.

The 5th Edition I used to know...lyrics only!

I need to find someone that can animate this to a music video...I may drop the Flashgitz on Youtube a line!

Read this to the Gotye song: "The Person I used to know..."

[Gamer:]
Now and then I think of when we gamed together
Like when you said you felt so happy you could roll a die
Told myself that this list was right for me
But felt so lonely buying from your company
But that was the game and it's an ache I still remember

You can get addicted to a certain kind of rules
Like random game length to the end, always the end
So when we found this game could not make much sense
Well you said that we would still be gamers
But I'll admit that I was glad Chaos is next

But you didn't have to invalidate my codex
Make out like it like 5^th Edition never happened and that it was nothing
And I don't even need your game
But you treat me like a customer and that feels so rough
No you didn't have to raise your prices
Have your trolls collect my orders and then charge my credit card
I guess that I don't need that book
Now you're just a 5th edition that I used to know

Now you're just a 5th edition that I used to know
Now you're just a 5th edition that I used to know

[Jervis:]
Now and then I think of all the times I screwed my fans over
Part of me believing it was always something that I'd written
But I will have the game my way
Reading into every internet word you say
You said that you could let it go
And I wouldn't catch you hung up on an edition that you used to know

[Gamer:]
But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it like 5^th Edition never happened and that it was nothing
And I don't even need your game

 you treat me like a customer that feels so rough
No you didn't have to raise your prices
Have your trolls collect my orders and then charge my credit card
I guess that I don't need that book
Now you're just a 5^th edition that I used to know

[x2]
An edition
(I used to know)
An edition
(Now you're just a game that I used to know)

(I used to know)
(That I used to know)
(I used to know)
5^th Edition

Tournaments, Terrain and Tough Calls!

 Wow that is a great deal of T’s there! Well, this I have noticed is slowly becoming a topic of debate among various forums and one major GT has already posted their primer.
 First let’s look at the issues you have to tackle as a tournament organizer with the changes to 6^th edition:
 Terrain is a great spot to start as this has changed a great deal. For the most part you have to tackle a series of questions:

• Mysterious Terrain and Artifacts allowed? Unless you make this scenario specific or set the same item of terrain on every table this becomes a very tough call. If you leave it up to the players it wastes more time with them looking up stuff and deciding to use the rule or not.

• Buildings are now in and detailed more than ever. Will they work in a tournament? A tough call, to me it makes the game more complex working out results on a building and the squad inside.

• Ruins are now the only thing that is 4+ cover and they have made them a bit more clearly on the rules as well.

• Area Terrain covers a wide range now; just about everything has a 5+ saves.

• Dangerous Terrain is rarely found in a tournament unless the table is set and it is clear.

• Impassable comes up at times when you get that lump of scenery that just is silly and hard to work with.

• Weird odd and end scenery like ammo dumps, fuel dumps, tank traps and such now also have to be reviewed as well if they are practical in a game.

 What we see here is that Ruins, Area Terrain and Impassable are going to be the common staples. Mysterious Terrain, Artifacts, Dangerous Terrain and Weird Scenery are going to only crop up to a well prepared event and perhaps local tournaments. If I ran an event I would have cards or a worksheet for a table stating the trees are Mysterious or that the fuel dump is actually that and provide the rules for easy reference. Spelling out a table to me settles any vague or oversights by players when it comes to scenery. This also takes more prep time from a TO than the usual unless you setup a format.
 Fortifications is another sore spot in events, it appears most events are going to try it with limits such as Nova has said no Skyshields and Fortresses. Our local tournament has allowed everything but the Fortress at our next event. These count to the amount of scenery which also has to be factored in when it comes to scenery.
 A TO here have to think about Fortifications and how to deal with them in a game, the obvious choices are:

• Not allow them, thus saving the time and headache.

• Allow them within limits (as I gave some examples above) and preset the scenery explaining the players can only place the fortification in the empty spots in their deployment zone.

• Place scenery on the table for the first game, and then allow players to random it for the next game by rolling to move each item using a scatter and 2d6.

• Preset the amount of scenery on every table and allow the players to place the scenery along with their Fortifications.

 Another thing to consider is non-GW Fortifications. This came up at our local tournament for August in the planning and was discussed. The early choice was to allow GW only items. Well, these limits to what players could take to fit their list. If they had Orks and Tau they was crap out of luck as they would either have to “capture or loot” an Imperial Variant. Then, I and others brought up why could not a Tau player make a Bastion or an Ork player scratch build their own to fit their theme. This not only adds to the hobby aspect of the game and enriches the game in visual appeal. The key here is to set the scenery size limits to avoid anyone modeling to an advantage (i.e. a Skyshield the size of 1/6 of a table section) to take advantage of the perk.
 Warlord Traits is another topic flying around being discussed by events. Here are some ideas I have seen posted:

• Not allow Warlord Traits

• Nova allows you to pick two charts, roll on each and pick. Time consuming.

• Our local tournament added a layer that after each game the Warlord survives he can roll again on the next mission for another trait on a different chart. Thus at the end of a 3 round tournament he could have one from all three if they never die. As they gain each Warlord trait their VP value goes up also.

 The first one just eliminates the tracking and possibility of a dishonest player from taking advantage of the system. The other system makes it easier but you have to roll each game before the start, thus eating into time. The last, eats into time slightly, could be open to abuse as well if the other player is not paying attention or the player lies to the TO or if the results paperwork verifies it somehow.
 So, if I organized a small event of say 5-10 tables, here is what I would consider doing:

• Set the same amount of scenery per table. With d3 per 2x2 that works to a 9-18 range. So the median here is between 4-5 (4.5 to be exact) add that to a minimum of 1 per section should work out to 13-14 items per table. Now if there are large items, you would reduce this, smaller you could up this slightly for balance.

• Allow players to place the scenery and their fortifications as normal. Terrain is on the table and already defined. Get a table edge; put your fortification down or scenery (if you have none), alternate until everything is out. Rule is something should be in every 2x2 area (at least 1 item) you may place scenery anywhere on the table.

• Terrain will be defined by a sheet of scenery guidelines and I would plan to bring my own scenery to fill in the gaps as needed.

• Allow Warlord traits, changes each game and you roll in front of your opponent. You get what you get.

• Allow Fortifications, bottom line is this anything goes as long as you work it into the scenery deployment. If you spent $115 for a Fortress and paint it, you deserve to play with it, it eats into your points (that is almost the cost of a marine squad with a rhino after upgrades). 

What do you think about the future of tournaments small and large?

Book Review: The Primarchs (NO SPOILERS)

I have just finished reading the Primarchs the latest from the Black Library Horus Heresy line. Overall, the book was well done, added to the fluff and character of the book. As always, I strive to not put spoilers in my review but instead give you an overview that will help guide you if you are interested in picking up the book or not.

I will break this down by each story:

The Reflection Crack’d by Graham McNeill

This was a great story to lead off the book, a power house like Graham in the wings and continues from the Fulgrim book looking at how the legion is changing and Fulgrim’s hints to his early rise to demon hood. What I really liked is that it also brought Bile and Lucius into the story as well as portrayed the loyalty of the legion as a whole and the lengths they would do for their master.

Feat of Iron by Nick Kyme

Every book sometimes has that boring as hell story. One that should be told was well written but very slow and hard to stay interested in. This story focuses on Ferrus and the Iron Hands prior to the Istavan Massacre with one Eldar Farseer trying to change the course of events. Again, it is well written and has some interesting spots of fluff and history, but just lacked something to keep my interest in the story. I finished it as I always do as I never leave a book unfinished.

The Lion by Gav Thorpe

This story was a sharp surprise as it reveals a bit more about the Dark Angels and Lionel’s position during the rebellion. First, the story itself is well written, full of action and gives some interesting fluff as well as some excellent insight into the personality of the primarch.

The second thing is the dark secret they toss out on the table about the Dark Angels and who they really supported during the Heresy. Wow, this was a slap to the face and something I never even dreamed of. They also tease you a bit more about those little guys always seen with the Dark Angels wearing the robes…hrmmm…

The Serpent Beneath by Rob Sanders

This story gives more of a face to the Alpha Legion as the “clean up” a leak of a very dangerous project they was developing. What are interesting are how the story ends and the twists along the way as the Alpha Legion is always full or surprises. Rob Sanders always produces a great story, filled with action and plenty of insight into the legion. Ugh! I want to paint up an Alpha Legion army now! 

A cool pic I found....states that is is a group shot from the Ullanor Crusade. What is interesting is that the book I just finished uses part of the image, wonder if they will use the rest of the picture for other short stories about the primarchs?

Paper training the Space Wolves (revamping the army for 6th)

Well, I took some time last night after having about a week now and 1 game under my belt to absorb the changes and see how they apply to all of my armies. I wanted to get the Wolves up to par a bit more before Chaos rolls in and seduce me back to my first army and my favorite among the choices in Warhammer 40k.

Part 1: Giving the Axes the chop….

One of the first things I wanted to focus on what getting rid of all of my flipping axes…luck has it I had only a few axes, one on a Lord that I converted, a Wolf Guard and 1 Grey Hunter with an axe (power weapon back in 5^th). After just a few months ago of painting, I am ripping them apart to make way for new options.

For the Grey Hunter I am going to give him the Lord’s arm that had the base of a thunder hammer haft that I did a head swap, popping off the axe top and I plan to use a Dark Angel mace (maul) to swap around. While it is AP4, the STR 6 makes up everything nicely to cause wounds forcing saves and busting up vehicles. I may look to magnet this if I hate the results.

The Lord (or Pack Leader) is going to get a standard Frost Blade, sadly for some reason about 95% of power swords are lefties. Again, a swap around should fix the issue.

The Wolf Guard is going to find that he is going to pack two plasma pistols now to allow me a chance to play around with Gunslinger. One of my early thoughts was to add a plasma gun or two; the Gunslinger fits nicely to this theme. I may magnet both arms if my luck runs bad with plasma.

I also plan to make another Wolf Guard with a Combi Plasma; I am fighting the urge to give him a power fist.

One of my Rune Priests is going to get a simple hand swap from a force axe to a force sword using the plastic swords from the SW kit. *sigh* I hate to do this but Unwieldy just f’s you…it should have been -1 I not strike last; I would have taken that exchange with a STR bonus then.

Part 2: Thunderwolves HO!

I also looked over my Thunderwolves and tried to figure out how to revise them to be optimal as well, they are about half painted and the riders would need some magnets to allow some arm swaps. I want to keep the unit economical so I am looking at a simple power fist, perhaps a storm shield or two.

It is hard not to admit that plasma pistols are looking slightly appealing as well with the +1 AP, this would allow a Thunderwolf rider to pop a vehicle and charge the squad inside. Temperance and Temptation are what you have to balance in a unit to make it cost effective, in my theory of the “Economics of Warhammer” the cost to value of the unit is very important in the long haul to see if a unit is making their value or not in a game.

I am also looking to put a character in the unit as well to bolster up the Thunderwolves. I figure the same standard configuration of a Frost Blade is idea, granted a nice Power Lance could be a cool option to toy around with.

Another idea is to toy with is how valid an Iron Priest would be mounted on a Thunder Wolf with perhaps a plasma pistol or some other option, with some Cyberwolves and clever use of cover I may be able to get him into a spot to not only help repair vehicles but break them s well. The other wolves would be chaff and rely heavy on cover saves. Still having the option of a thunder hammer, two plasma pistols and a flamer on a quick mount is nothing to sneeze at.

Part 3: Dealing with the Loners….

Lone Wolves has always been one topic that I have wanted to use but never got around to it, some online reading has indicated multiples can be a huge pain in the arse against opponents. Throw in a Chain Fist and Storm Shield with Terminator armor then run to the enemy daring people to shoot at you, if they don’t crush their tanks, engage the enemy and challenge their characters! Sure FNP was nerfed slightly and you could give away a few rerolls in the challenge against a larger block of troops, but those odds are ok. With the Wolf Scouts taking a kick to the nuts I am now forced to evaluate the rest of the Elites for worthwhile options.

Part 4: Rearming the Dreadnoughts

Twin linked Autocannons, so time to place an order with Forge World for at least a set for now for my only one. May need more if I add more Dreadnoughts later.

Part 5: Wolf Scouts may need to be put to sleep…

Sad to say, I had fun painting up my units now to find they are VERY disappointing with the rules changes with being unable to shoot when they arrive from reserves. So, you arrive, try to blow something up and hope you don’t get showered with shots to do something next turn. *facepalm* I may still experiment with MSU with meltas but still costly compared to other things.

My friend is trying out sniper rifles with BS 4 and the changes to snipers may merit some benefit at sniping off some models early in the game. I look at the idea but then look at the ally’s option and smile at Ratlings when it comes to sniper rifles.

Part 6: Iron Priests

Well, I wanted to add some, but they are just not worthwhile, now with some of the changes to wound allocation, the provision of Fortifications and such, perhaps boosting up the Long Fangs with some Plasma Servitors under the supervision of an Iron Priest, sprinkle in some cannon fodder Servitors and Wolves to the front to soak up the excess wounds and let the Priest man the cannon. If things get bad, have him pull a plasma pistol and go gunslinger (with his servo harness) or tap a flamer along with a flamer. I plan to explore this at a later time once I have the opportunity.

Part 7: I need more Rune Priests

At least 2 more, perhaps more…with the double FOC you could in theory run 8! Wow! Personally, I think 4-6 will be the best.

Part 8: Allies!

I have been thinking of what would be best to pair with Space Wolves….so here are my thoughts:

1)      IG the obvious choice. A command squad in a Chimera  (or Vendetta) with melta guns or plasma guns seem ideal. An Astropath (not using reserves due to no scouts) is no longer of use to Space Wolves, perhaps a Master of the Fleet or Bodyguards? Sprinkle in some Ratlings, Veterans or a Platoon to grab objectives. Autocannons, meltas, flamers and plasma are the weapons of choice with a Chimera. Vendettas are the fast attack of choice (and have to buy more), sprinkle in some Leman Russes to add to the Long Fangs (or possible Vindicators).

2)      Blood Angels, I have some Dark Angels in a box that are unfinished including some jump troops, a pair of units with melta guns and a Librarian with a jump pack could be a nice add on with some sanguinary priests to bolster up the FNP and Furious charge as Battle Brothers. Not real sure about heavy, but fast offers up the flamer Baal as a nice option.

3)      Space Marines could round out a few things in the Space Wolves but I am unsure if it is a good investment, perhaps a Librarian leading a squad or two of Marines, with combat squad rules I could have two Rhinos with split squads inside ready to wreck havoc. Add some melta bikes or speeders for a fast option, then Sternguard as an Elite. I could consider a tech marine like the Iron Priest simply to bloster cover for a Long Fang unit. Heavy wise, wow a hard call there, I was thinking the Thunderfire cannon.

4)      Belial, 2-3 Units of Terminators with Thunder hammers and Storm Shields with a Cyclone (one taken as an Elite), possible Ravenwing as elite. Ignore the rest.

5)      Grey Knights: Take an Inquisitor, Vindicare or Techmarine with good load out of grenades with two Inquisitorial Squads in Chimeras or Razorback with psybolt ammo…not sure if there is anything else worthwhile from Fast and Heavy to use.

So, tell me how your Wolves are changing over in 6th!