Bringing odd things...

Thinking about bringing a Techmarine...  Looking at the terrain we use locally, there is ALMOST always a ruin, and playing the "Dawn of War" deployment by fiat...  And my Scouts would be REALLY annoying with 2+ cover saves...  And 3+ saves for a Dev squad would be fairly nice...  Just the whole need to find the 50, 65 or better yet 90 points for the fully equipped Tech.  Pretty sure I won't bother with Servitors lacking a significant number of vehicles...  But the extra Plasma/Flamer and Power Fists might be nice for a backfield defense... Just having a hard time with the 90 points being the same as a Whirlwind for me.  For a single wound non IC model.  Yet another "GK Exclusive" as their Techs for whatever reason ARE IC.  Annoying, one of those things I want to bring, but it is one of those things I think I am playing at a disadvantage with given the clearly superior choices, in general.  Yes, I can imagine that there might be some situation where the Servo Harness Tech repairs a DN, Razorback or the like and goes on to clean up a HtH situation in my backfield...  But just don't see that happening all that often. Eh, I have several I have not played since the PDF codex days...  When the Techs were like the Tech Priest Engineers of the IG, not taking a slot, etc...  "Eh" even then, but cheap and I played a LOT of Mech as a holdover from my 3rd Ed army, so always amusing having him piece together a crippled Rhino hull to annoy the enemy...

Other than that, looking at bringing back my Vanguard Vets...  Sternguard hitting and the VGV following the Locator Beacon to assault out of Deep Strike and hopefully pull the Sternguard out alive...  Or at least avenge their sacrifice...  Though I am finding not many people are prepared for the Sternguard with CPT Tycho and a Medic...  Dropping a bunch of pissed off Assault Vets with Power Weapons, etc. into the mix just seems like overkill, but it will be VERY fast and decisive...  Something to consider...  NOT a "nice, fun" list, but damn I think it would be terrifyingly effective...  Well, against everything but a flier heavy force...

Magnets, weapon swaps and Devastators...

Well, finally getting to use the wee tiny magnets I picked up from Dave up at the Gopher (http://armored-gopher.com/)...  I have WAY too many Plasma Pistols on my Jump Troopers, but with the Death Company set, there are Inferno Pistols, Hand Flamers and oh yes, MORE Plasma Pistols...  So, my test case is done with in essence a hand swap with Plasma and Inferno Pistols....  Looking like I'll wind up doing this on a few of the lads if it works out, and it is looking very good so far...

Devastators,  thinking that I'll field one unit of the lads...  But not necessarily the standard 4 Missile Launchers...  Thinking of a few Heavy Bolters, maybe a Missile Launcher or two...  Finding the weight of fire thing is pretty important, a LOT of saves forced is a good thing.  Not so sure they will do squat for me in terms of AA fire, I guess the DE and maybe Necron fliers might be concerned about Heavy Bolters...  But missing the GK Psycannon s...  Leads me to a bit of a mini rant :-)

The more I think about it, the more I am annoyed by the GK codex.  Yes, they have a limited selection of Heavy Weapons, but the ones they have are almost perfect for about anything.  No snap fire needed for it because they can shoot Assault 2 OR Heavy 4.  It's Str 7, Rending, so it can punch through whatever is out there as opposed to say, a Heavy Bolter...  The Lightning Claws they use are NOT LC, but they do the same thing without the disadvantage of losing the shooting attacks they have...  And oh, wait, theirs are Str 5 and Assault 2 when they buy the upgrades...  So a HUGE mass of Str 5 shooting followed by Force Weapons hitting in HtH if needed.  Yes, they all have Power Weapons...  Actually Force Weapons, so multi Wound models can all just die too...  And fliers that just murder Psykers...  Scoring units all over the place, an option for anything :-)...  Sadly, I HAVE a GK army, but honestly I feel bad fielding it.  It just seems like I am min maxing and borderline cheating by just fielding the options in the book.  Not really much of a challenge to field a really powerful army, so I'd rather field an army I will have an actual challenge winning with than one I can just wipe people off the table with...

:-)  Looking at converting a Pedro Cantor, or if I can find the actual figure in METAL maybe picking it up...  This way I can resurrect some of my ancient Crimson Fists as an Allied Detachment in REALLY big games to make Sternguard scoring and even more awesome...  Will have to throw together more Drop Pods as well of course...  LONG term plan, especially with this being a 2000+ point concept I think for me...

REALLY tired, changing out some of my workout stuff...  While "planking" LOOKS easy, it is not so much so...  Sore and exhausted...

Yes, they can kill tanks...

So, between the Sternguard, Assault squads following on and the Death Company assaulting, I WAS able to  deal with an overload of Leman Russ class tanks.  Fortunately, there were not nearly enough Infantry to bog me down, and his fliers got stuck in reserve long enough for me to deal with his Punisher tanks.  Did have my Sternguard and CPT Tycho endure a turn of him unloading some 90+ shots into me, killing 4 of my lads.  And by soaking so much fire, the Death Company and DC DN were able to roll across the field and wreck lots of stuff, each accounting for a squadron of Russes...  So, I think the Army is tweaked enough.  Time to see what else I can field, maybe try a Dev Squad and the Storm Raven...

New FAQ, and let's see how the army does this week...

Well, new FAQs came out at the end of last week...  Tycho for instance can completely ignore armor in his HtH attacks.  Neat I guess, and since I am fielding him I'll take it...  I thought it was kind of odd because "ignores armor" IIRC was just the wording for "Power Weapon" in the previous edition.  Could be wrong of course :-)  I just don't feel like looking it up.  Not sure the justification for Bone Swords ignoring all armor, effectively becoming AP 2, but not facing any in the League at least...  Jamie will likely field them of course, so likely see them there, but nothing yet to be concerned about.

So, fielding a variant of last weeks force I think:

CPT Sariel (Tycho)
Sanguinary Priests (2, 1 jump pack, 1 power weapon, Axe)
Scout Squad (10, snipers, Heavy Bolter or ML, might drop the PF)
Assault Squad (10, flamer, melta gun, SGT w/PW/PP or inferno pistol)
Assault Squad (5, Razorback with TLAC ro Las/Plas, melta gun)
Sternguard Squad (Drop Pod, 5 Combi Melta, 1 Combi Plasma, Heavy Flamer)
Baal Predator (TLAC or Flamer, HB sponsons
Whirlwind

Aegis line w/ Quad Gun

Looking at dropping the power fist on the Scouts, so saving 25 points that I have yet to use during this league...  Maybe put a power weapon on one of the Sang Priests...  Maybe Terminator Armor?  That seemed to work out well in the Drop pod...  Or 30 points that I have left over becomes another Sternguard trooper with a Combi Weapon...  Hmmm...  That might be the plan.

I still think army is weak against a mass flier army, but overall it is looking good...

Fleshtearers Heavy Support?

Well, I haven’t used the Heavy Support much in the BA list…  Wound up winning on VCs because I was able to kill off a bunch of them like a Land Raider, Vindicators, etc…  Dropped in Sternguard, Assault Squads and Death Company assaulting are pretty hard to handle for Vehicles these days, assuming that it cannot be bubble wrapped to prevent the charge or Drop in the first place…  But overall I have been playing my Fleshtearers as a fast assault force, so almost no room for non scoring things that do not move quickly…

Thinking about bringing a Dev Squad, but concerned about the whole idea of fielding a bunch of 3+ armor save guys whose job is really to be shot at…  On the other hand a squad of lads with Heavy Bolters and Missile Launchers might just tear something up, especially if I have the Aegis line or a building to base them in…  Keeping a Medic nearby might be a really good idea, and mixing them in with my Sniper Scouts might be amusing.  If I bring 10, I can Combat Squad and either run a super Dev squad with 4 HW’s or split them into 2 Squads with 2 HW each.  Neat, but not being Scoring for most of the missions I’m not so sure they will be valuable enough in general.  Have a hard time bringing a Las Cannon or even a Heavy Plasma given the point cost, but the Heavy Bolters and Missile Launchers are 10 points and so might be worth overloading on.  Bringing a Razorback for the Squad might give me another Assault Cannon or keeping it cheap another TL Heavy Bolter on a fast chassis…  But having a hard time with that over say, a Predator…  In fact, having a really hard time thinking the Dev Squad would do better than a Predator roaming about.  2 Las cannon and an Auto Cannon gives me 4 shots, so fewer I guess, but FAR more mobile if push comes to shove… 

:-)  Just killing time and trying to think about slightly different things to add to the list... 

Fleshtearers 3rd Co, now with pictures...

Mkay, remembered to take my phone downstairs...  Meant to post yesterday, but exhaustion being what it is...

Yeah, crappy camera on the phone...  But getting there on the painting.

So far, Drop Pod and Sternguard are ready.  Threw together a Heavy Flamer trooper, and he has been awesome.  Happy overall with the Medic riding with the Squad...  Change from the 10 man squad that combat squadded and potentially killed 2 things as they come in.  That is the plus, for the biggest negative I think that it was really a one shot suicide squad.  If they failed to kill something, they'd get taken down in HtH.  Running Seth or CPT Sariel (Tycho) and the Medic in the squad has improved the survival of the Squad  by leaps and bounds.  And of course the 2 ICs can be split off to potentially deal with 2 additional things, and of course the potential placed shots are potentially huge...  REALLY happy with my Tycho equivalent when I fielded him, the SI ammo and the Melta

Scouts are ready, but I'm thinking about swapping out the SGT (Power Fist/Sniper Rifle) for something else...  Probably just the Sniper Rifle, but I'd be open to trying Storm Bolter or something else...  Dunno, but the way I play it, I almost never use the Fist so that's 25 points I can use somewhere else...

Assault troops are coming along, just need to finish up a few things here and there...  Need to get a few other special weapons set up...  Only one Melta Gun so far, but I am finding that one Melta one Flamer is a pretty good mix.  Plasma pistols I have WAY too many of, part of that legacy of them being almost standard issue in the ancient times I guess :-), but I guess the SGTs will be using a few of them...  And/or Power Weapons of course, being an Assault army of course...

Librarian/Mephiston?  I have a few painted up and Mephiston, thanks again to 40K giveaway!  But I have almost no experience using Psykers in this edition, and points being limited... I have yet to face a Grey Knight army in this League, but I am really concerned about them being able to be singled out and easily killed....  The GK Storm Raven is really powerful against a single or small number of Psykers...

Brings me to the other one I have yet to face a Necron army with an overload of fliers...  I HAVE a semi Storm Raven now that I could field to go for an Air to Air fight...  But what I have painted and ready, what I fielded last week will be pretty good, I hope...  The Quad Gun and Aegis line has been pretty good all around for me, and while it CAN be shot up and destroyed, I'll take my chances with the cover save I guess :-)  It's what I have, so that's what we run with...

Fleshtearers, 3rd Company...

Well, picked up a "Storm Raven" conversion in a trade...  So, it's a Vendetta that is put together differently, and it actually doesn't look to bad...  Will need to rebuild it and of course it needs to be painted...  So, I now have a flier available to dogfight should I choose to...  Transport capacity of a full squad plus a Dreadnought... But transporting as a Flier is extremely risky I think, I will have to read over those rules again.  But an Assault Vehicle with an assault squad or Death Company and the DC DN?  Devastating if I can get the assaults off...  And with Jump Packs/Fleet?  Yeah, decent odds I think...  On the other hand, it is a BIG target...  And facing a Necron Flying Circus?  Well, I guess it pulls air superiority duty...

Have to say that I am liking the list I used this week though...  CPT Tycho leading out the Sternguard for a quick first strike, the Scouts deploy and hold objectives I guess...  Might drop the Power Fist on the SGT, I do not think I have used it once this league.  With the rest of my army being HtH and generally charging toward the enemy, the snipers don't get charged often.  And to field the Storm Raven I need to find 200 or so points...  100 from the Aegis line and so 25 from the Fist...  :-) So...  Well, have to get it painted up in time...  We'll see.

List about set...

Played the CPT Tycho list this evening, and I think it's about the best I can field at the moment...  Comparing Tycho with Seth, I do think that Tycho is better in every respect for my list...  I need to work a bit on reserves, as I lost First Blood and my Razorback (forgot to roll for Night Fight), I think I could have reserved it and kept it alive a bit longer...  Tycho was able to charge off and destroy a Leman Russ with his Str 5+2d6 HtH attacks so I think he'll so almost as well as Seth against light vehicles.  And with the Combi-melta and SI ammo combined with him being a Character I think he will be able to place shots pretty well.  With the Drop pod, I CAN drop them in, or I can start the squad in cover and shoot say, no cover save shots to deal with things hidden in a horde...  I can also split him off and run him with anther squad, or even I guess as the Death Company version...

So, the Sternguard are good, and with the Drop Pod here and mostly painted the squad is done.  The Heavy Flamer is working out FAR better than I'd hoped as well.  The Scouts are done and FINALLY actually killed a few things...  The snipers picked off a specialist in the IG HQ with the 6 to hit, and the SGT running the Quad Gun allowed me to kill off a bunch of HW teams...  Still haven't faced a flier in a while, so not sure how viable this setup really is overall, but working well so far...

Assault Squads are painted, just need a bit of work on the bases I think, might need to work on the weapon mixes a bit...  Flamer and Melta are working wonders for now...  So, 2 more full squads about done with just some detail work and base cleanup to do.  Will likely run one as a minimum size squad in a Razorback though, seems to work just fine with the discounted fast Tank...

Baal Predator was good, and frankly a game winner for me as he had no answer for it when it finally appeared on turn 4...  Can't count on that happening often, and frankly would rather have had it on turn 2, but...  Just a bit more paint and seal it up...

Slight change for next week...

Thinking of bringing a slight change in leadership next week:

CPT Tycho
Sanguinary Priests (2, 1 PW, 1 Jump Pack)
Scout Squad (9 snipers, SGT w/PF, ML or HB)
Assault Squad (10, flamer, Melta, SGT w/PP & PW)
Death Company (jump packs, 5, 2 Power Axes)
Baal Pred (HB sponsons, flamer or TLAC?)
Sternguard Squad (Drop Pod, 5 Combi-Melta, 1 Combi Plasma, 1 H Flamer)
Assault Squad (Razorback w/ TLAC, LasPlas or TLLC, Melta Gun)
Whirlwind

Aegis line with the Quad Gun

So, same basic premise with some un-named CPT from one of the 4 remaining Companies of the Fleshtearers using CPT Tycho's stats...  Still not sure what the AP of "The Dead Man's Hand" is, but I'll play it as AP 3 since it has a few special rules, etc...  I have one of the ancient "Blood Angels" Captains that I have quickly modified the Bolter to be a Combi-Melta, so should be quick and easy to paint up to get him to the tabletop.  Won't be that nice "golden" color, but I am liking the way the brass is looking after the Min-Wax/Matte spray, so probably the way to go as a Fleshtearers CPT.

Still debating with myself about the whole "model to advantage" of the Power Weapons in this edition...  So far it seems that for the normal Assault squad, Swords are the way to go.  The Death Company has the Power Axes already, and the Chaplain is stuck with the Power Maul unless I add the Power Fist...  The Medics (Sanguinary Priests)?  Tried Power Maul for the Str 7 on the Charge, but the Plague Marines Joe fielded simply shrugged it all off with the AP 4 and FnP rolls...  Not sure a Power Axe will be worth it dropping the I to 1, but with CPT Tycho might be the option I wind up going with for something AP 2 in there...  I'm just not seeing enough 2+ armor locally at least so the Swords are appearing to be the best here at least for Marines...  IG are getting Mauls or Axes I think.  Still irked that Logan Grimmar most likely gets hosed with his magic Axe...

Otherwise, the Whirlwind makes it's reappearance...  I think Ordinance Barrage Sniping is going to be JUST that annoying, picking off specific models.  To say nothing of the IG/DE/Necron armies I am seeing all over the place here, AP4 or AP 5 with no cover save is REALLY powerful against them, allowing me to simply erase Command or other important targets.  And with the casualties coming from the center of the blast, I can get Heavy Weapons, SGTs, etc...  90 points in a BA army, so a bit pricey, but I do think it will be worth it.

Second Assault Squad in a Razorback replacing the overpriced Tactical Squad.  Yes, the Razorback will probably be easy to kill, but twin linking the LC or more likely the Assault Cannons on the Fast platform makes for an emergency AA gun since there are a few armies with a lot of fliers locally.  Not entirely sure how they'll be deployed or used, but there are a good number of options here...  And the lads will all be painted, I think that is one of the more exciting things about all this...

First Blood for the win?

Well, I have to say that Secondary Victory Conditions are becoming really important...  Squeaked out a win against a good Chaos list from Joe L...  Really it was his Warlord rolling the "I can Outflank" that allowed him to attach to a Terminator Squad in their Land Raider...  So, they wound up coming in on Turn 2 or 3, but more importantly, they were not on the table when my Sternguard hit the field.  So, my Combi-Meltas of Doom were more or less usless.  We instead dropped in, Heavy Flamer to the fore and hit a Squad of Nurgle Marines that had disembarked their Rhino to shoot up my Scouts...  The SI Ammo is REALLY nice.

Yes, I had Scouts out in front to grab the "relic" objective.  Joe seized initiative, so the lads who infiltrated, scout moved and were ready to grab the objective and flee were instead gunned down in the open...  Well 4/5 of them, the last one DID escape for a turn, moving the ball back to where my Tac Squad would take it and move it back to my lines.  Game ended after turn 6 when the Terminators and Typhus (? big named Nurgle character) killed the last member of the squad in HtH...  But since they needed to pick it up in the movement phase, no one had control of the ball as time expired...  Line Breaker was claimed by both armies as his Terminators and my sole remaining Death Company Power Axe were camped in each other's DZs...  Both of our Warlords lived, and with my Death Company charging and killing the Nurgle Rhino on turn one, my claiming "First Blood" won the game.  Normally, I get it from Sternguard dropping and Melta/Plasma firing something to death, but I'll take it...

So, it seems that paying attention to the VC, especially the Secondaries is the way to get a lot of wins without having to sweep the field :-)...  Not always possible in this game.  Also, I have yet to find any particular disadvantage for "MSU" (multiple small units?  I cannot really remember the acronym) in this edition...  The old one, 1/3 of the missions were Kill Points, so it punished an Army bringing lots of cheap kill points.  Now, really it just means you risk giving First Blood easier, and with Night Fight (assuming people forget Search Lights/don't have them), loads of terrain blocking LOS, etc...  Even that is not a guarantee for stand off armies by any means...

So, next week I'll have at least one, probably 2 actual Drop Pods ready to roll, the Predator will be done and I think all of my Infantry, bar the Tactical Squad, will be fully painted.  Still not sure they are worth it frankly.  Let me re-phrase that, I still think they suck.  The Las Cannon whiffed the whole game, the Plasma fired only once, and the guys just died...  I'd rather have another Assault Squad I think as at least I can re-position them more easily or at least get the cheaper Razorback...  So, thinking I'll have the fully painted army next week, 90% done now...  Decent army all in all, probably won't win any GT's, but fun to play and it WILL give some of the "net lists" a headache...  Others though it will simply die to :-)

This Week, and Flatcon?

Well, looking like I will be fielding something along this line:

Gabriel Seth
Sanguinary Priests (1 Terminator, 1 jump pack)
Scout Squad (9 snipers, Heavy Bolter, Power Fist on SGT)
Assault Squad (Flamer, Melta, SGT has PP/PW)
Death Company (5 Jump Packs, 2 power axes)
DC DN (Flamer, Searchlight)
Baal Predator (Flamer turret, HB Sponsons)
Sternguard (Drop Pod, 4 combi Melta, combi plasma, Heavy Flamer)
Tac Squad (10, Las Cannon, Plasma gun, SGT w/Storm Bolter, Rhino w/searchlight)

Aegid Defense Line w/ Quad gun AAA

10 points left over, so probably just a few more random things here and there...  LOTS of Troops, so I can Combat Squad and hold lots of things, even with the Death Company and Sternguard going off to run a likely suicide attack...  On the plus side, if I go first, "First Blood" is mostly assured...  Minus side, I risk my Warlord a lot the way I play...  But that is pretty much how I play...

Looking at Flatcon doubles tournament in October...  Assuming we can get a team or two together and wander over to Bloomington...  1250 each, further rules here:
http://getevengaming.wordpress.com/central-illinois-doubles-2012/

Sounds like it could be a good one, and my Fleshtearers will be all fully painted and my Drop Pods will be ready...  So I'll be able to field pretty much whatever I'd need to...

Magnets are fun :-)

Well, got one of my ancient Predator hulls magnetized...  More or less :-)...  It works, but somehow I got the polarities reversed on the magnets so the guns only work on one side...  Until I get around to tearing it apart and reversing I guess, but it works for now and moving on to finishing the paint job...  Looking like the Baal Predator will hit the field in support of my Assault elements with the Heavy Bolter sponsons  for the moment.  I was pretty happy how well it did in support of my Sternguard, and I suspect that they will do well enough against a lot of armies locally at least.  Flying circus is the one I do not think I have an answer for at the moment.  Just SO many fliers locally, and I think that is going to be the biggest problem my lists will face...

4 Wounds?

Wow, I feel silly...  Gabriel Seth has 4 Wounds...  I never realized it, and I KNOW I have pulled him off the field several times after losing his "third and final" wound...  Was playing with my ancient Armybuilder trying to compare him with CPT Tycho, and saw that...  Thought it must be a mistake, but no...  Still, the complete lack of AP on his (defined as) Str 8 HtH attacks make him not quite so good as someone with a Power Weapon I think, but...  Yes, Rending...  But counting on 6's coming up is not the way to go I think...  Besides, he spent almost an entire game kicking a small unit of Necron Warriors into scrap only to have them keep coming back...  He has also bounced against a LOT of Marine types...  Kills light vehicles nicely and is scary to a lot of folks who don't really understand his weakness...  With AP 5 or dare I saw 4 on the giant 2 handed chain-sword he has, he would be Hell on wheels against hordes of light troops at least...  Eh...

Conversion work continuing, more Troop types painted and fully WYSIWYG (Melta armed Jump Trooper, etc...)...  So, other than the Drop Pod, everything is coming together nicely.  I cut the ribs for one out of some 5mm thick wood, and need to attach it to a base to get the bulk of the frame at least in place for that... So, Pods at last I guess...

Storm Raven is a possibility, but with the price increase this year from the $50-60 range to the $90 range for a vehicle I really don't like the look of that much...  Dunno.  Maybe eventually...

Fleshtearers are a FAST army...

:-)  Playing the way I do at least...  Not fast like a lot of folks seem to think, "We'll be in contact by turn 3-4"...  I'm playing it that I drop on top of them on turn one, turn 2 I am usually in Assault either by dropping Vanguard Vets right in or my DC/Jump Troopers have made it to contact.  The 12" move and up to 12" Assault move mean that if you are OK taking risks, you can move REALLY fast...

The trouble is supporting the fast movers.  I have found the Baal Predator, especially with the Flamethrower turret and HB sponsons to be a good way to throw down a fast tank that can help root out even 3+ armor hiding in cover (Str 6, AP 3 template)...  The flame sponsons are still fairly worthless I think, still can fire 2 going fast I guess, but that means you ALWAYS have a weapon you do not fire if you move at all, no snap fire option for the templates...  Now to finish painting my ancient model and getting it fully WYSIWYG...

Debating changing out the leader of the force...  Dropping a Librarian in won't likely work as they cannot cast powers (well, the ones I want them to) coming in from Deep Strike...  Tycho looks amusing for a stand in Captain, but the "general" FAQ seems a bit short here as his attacks in HtH which "ignore armor" are now AP what?  There is no defined weapon really to say "It is a Power Sword that also grants 'armor bane'"...  Which is how I'll likely play it, and hope I don't run across anyone who really wants to argue it out :-)  Seems the most reasonable, but...  Mephiston is still a possibility, but at 250 points?  That is a LOT of my army in a single model that has no Inv save...  Yes, T6, 4 Wounds, so hard to kill, but 250 points is a Land Raider or a squadron of Land Speeders easily...

Did forget to mention I will be looking to put them in with a Sternguard drop pod :-)...  The Medic in Terminator Armor (Sanguinary Priest, but "Medic" just sounds better to an old timer like me) dropped in with a short squad and CPT Tycho would seem like a pretty formidable little package hitting the table with Meltas blazing, a few 2+  saves and FnP for the lot of them...  Gives me a few Power Weapons in the squad as well, and I have been REALLY liking the Heavy Flamer option for one of the Sternguard (converting a weapon now, waiting for the Green Stuff to cure) as a quick couple of hits and the discouragement of a risky charge in... Still a LOT of points that would be wasted against a cheap horde force, or anything without one or more big targets...

Seth and the boys drop in...

Well, I ran the army with Gabriel Seth and 2 Sternguard Squads...  And I have to say that the setup with the second squad was REALLY good...  But I am not sure that the single squad dropping in would work.  In any case, the Heavy Flamer was really quite good, and I think will be one thing I convert ASAP...  Still need to finish up the Drop Pod, but the Medic (Sanguinary Priest) in Terminator armor was HUGE there.  Fearless, Power Weapon, FnP saves for the group...  I don't think Seth was needed frankly, but having some sort of HtH beatstick would be a very good thing...  Perhaps not really necessary, but still...  Someone has to keep them alive until my Cav can get there :-)  So, one Sternguard squad for now, And the Assault squad and Death Company to jump along a flank to rush in to support them.  Hard assault, and casualties will be heavy because we will START at point blank with the enemy, and the Jump Troops will be moving at top speed to make contact with the enemy...

The Baal Predator was awesome, and did exactly what I hoped it would, wiping squads of Powered Armor lads hiding in cover, getting in shots on things with the Heavy Bolters while zooming about...  Definitely need to finish up the painting on that one...  Think it has become a standard option for me now...

The DC DN was a big fear thing, but I rolled an improbable series of 1's and 2's to hit and wound with the thing...  Wound up killing a Rhino, then tearing into the Tac Squad equivalent (Templar) only to kill 1 every round despite the number of Str 10 no armor save attacks...  Was disappointing, and lucky that they were the only Marine squad still in existence WITHOUT Krak grenades...  Still, 135 points of "You'd best not ignore this" that takes a lot of pressure off of the Jump Troops it escorts...

Still, the painting is coming along really well, I should have most of it done by next week with my 30 or so Infantry figs set, and with only a few vehicles, the only glaring thing missing is the Drop Pod at this point...

This week, 1 month til the Tournament...

Well, knocking out more of my Fleshtearers...  I think the Scouts are 99% done with the Minwax and matte sealant...  Looking pretty good, just need to pus some debris on the bases to get them to 100%.  Getting a bunch of my Assault Marines knocked out as well and the Sternguard done...  Well, one squad at least...

Looking at bringing 2 squads of them in one of my variant armies.  My first army will be:

Mephiston
Chaplain (jump pack)
Sanguinary Priest w/Jump pack
Death Company (5, JP, 2 power axes)
DC DN
Scout Squad (9 Snipers, 1 HB, SGT w/ Faust)
Assault Squad (10, Melta gun, plasma or flamer pistol, SGT w/ PW and PP or Flame pistol)
Sternguard (10, Pod, 6 combi melta, 4 combi plasma)
DN (TLAC x 2)
Baal Predator (HB sponsons, flame turret probably, maybe the TLAC...)

So, uber Psycher, drop army, etc...  Move fast, hit hard...  With Mephiston being a rank 3 Psyker he can get a decent selection of powers, and Telepathy looks amusing...  Divination works pretty well as well...

Second variant:
Gabriel Seth
Sanguinary Priests (2, 1 Jump pack, 1 Terminator Armor)
Scout Squad (as above)
Assault Squad (As above)
Death Company (As above)
DC DN
Sternguard Squad 1 (as above)
Sternguard Squad 2 (Drop Pod, 7 troopers, heavy flamer, 4 combi melta, 2 combi plasma)
Baal Predator (As above)

So, an extremely aggressive army with Seth and the Terminator Medic dropping with the Sternguard Squad 2...  Scouts sit back and camp, Assault squad w/Medic backed by the DC and the DC DN are a roving reserve or Cavalry to go forth and rescue/support the Sternguard and Seth.  With the second Sternguard squad, the Heavy Flamer is really just there to discourage charges and fry things behind Aegis lines or in buildings...  With FnP, Fearless, Flamer and of course Seth there it should at least make people think seriously about charging...  Now, I do not have the second squad converted, but this may be the way I run the lads later on if this works out....

Now, you'll probably notice the armies are remarkably similar...  Since I am riding the ancient motorcycle, the army has to fit into the saddlebags and trunk :-)...  So, "limited space" is an understatement I think...

"Dipping" minis :-)

Finishing up my Scouts (Sniper, camo cloaks) and I have to say that the Min Wax treatment is certainly looking pretty good...  So, the lads are drying now, just need to finish the Heavy Bolter and put some foliage and rocks and the like for them then seal them with a matte I think...   Starting to hit the Assault Troopers as well, and I think the Sternguard are about ready to get hit as well.  Just detail work remaining like painting the combi weapons, packs, etc...  

Keeping a few odd things like one of the Sternguard has a Tac Squad marking on his shoulder pad...  I really want to keep the fluff of a dying Chapter, and the lads getting promoted REALLY quickly and with results mattering way more than the uniforms, etc...  Not sure many people not familiar with the Fleshtearers would understand it, but I like it :-)....  Getting closer to actually having a Drop pod as well...

Looking at what to play next week...  Mephiston may make an appearance (thanks to http://40kgiveaway.blogspot.com/ again!) along with:

Scouts (full squad, snipers, heavy bolter, SGT w/ PF)

Assault Squad (full squad, Melta Gun, Plasma Pistol, SGT w/PP and PW of some sort)

Death Company (5, jump packs, 2 Power Axes)

DC DN (Flamer, grapple maybe?)

Sternguard (full squad, drop pod, 6  combi meltas, 4 plasma)

Sanguinary Priest (jump pack, ?)

Then it gets to the "maybe":

DN with either 2 TLAC or the TLAC/Assault Cannon

Baal Predator with HB sponsons and maybe the flame turret...  Seeing a LOT of 3+ armor lads camping in the backfield, so flanking...

So, a bit more long range firepower, but overall a REALLY fast army to go camp on the other side of the table...  Should be fun to play at the least...  Not sure what o do for AAA, so that is a bit of a concern depending on opponent...  Meph has access to 3 powers if I go with the book ones, and Telepathy might work...  Hallucination or Puppet Master could be REALLY awesome against certain armies, and Invisibility could well be what gets a assaul unit across the table... Divination is another one that could be really nice...  We'll see what I end up facing...

A Fully Painted Army? Wow....

I'm getting close to a fully painted 40K army for the first time since I threw the minimum "3 color" standard on my 3rd ed Fleshtearers force to have the "We're just here to kill things" army list to take to the tournaments...  It did really well on the field, looked pretty bad, but it WAS technically fully painted...  This time though, I've got a more or less completely different army, have stripped and repainted a number of things....

10 man Sniper Scout Squad, check, needs a bit  touch-up, shading and "bits" to go on the bases

10 man Sternguard Vet Squad, check, as above, but weapons all fully WYSIWYG converted

Death Company, Check.  Various weapons, Jump Packs, Chaplains, etc...  Could use some base work, but...

Assault Marines, check...  How many?  "More" as Taleni Pahulu would have put it (4 numbers, 0, 1, 2, 3 and more)...  Enough to field at least 2 full squads, one of which I have magnetized the Jump Packs for to allow them to enter "Fromage Grande" mode and get the discounted transports which are better for no apparent reason :-)...  Razorbacks are still good, Land Raiders are "eh", Melta will still everywhere and kill them easily...

What else now?  Well, I cut the patterns to make a simple Drop Ship with a wooden frame...  Foamboard is a possibility, and will probably also work, and since I have to make a few of them...  Otherwise I have some vehicles to finish up, and I have to decide what characters I'll be playing...  Mephiston, Gabriel Seth, Chaplains...  There are a few possibilities here and there.  I like the BA Librarians as well, but lacking any sort of Psychic defense...  Well, it is a bit difficult :-)...  Have to paint up my Aegis line I guess...

So, very close, just a bunch of small details...

Modeling for advantage?

Not sure how best to put this...  What are the general feelings out there regarding the rules for Power Weapons?  I had heard the term "Modelling for Advantage" somewhere, and saw it for the first time tonight...  Now, Power Lances were never a Marine weapon AFAIK, but since there are no real limits, if you build/model it, then it is... So, looking at putting Power Axes on a few of the Death Company at least in place of my traditional Power Fists...  15 points instead of the 25, and both AP 2.  The Power Axe on the Charge gives me 5 attacks at Str 6 compared with the 4 attacks at Str 9.  No real difference between 8 and 9, so the furious Charge is "eh" for this, but the Axe is 10 points cheaper...  Not sure if I will end up doing this for my other Power Weapons, but it is looking like an option for mixing in stuff...

Lost badly this evening, but I think it highlighted a major problem with my list...  The Drop Pod for the DN is I think a failure.  And since it goes out unsupported, I have nothing really to deal with the big nasty characters...  Or even really powerful HtH units...  The Las Cannon on the Aegis line is pretty good, well worth the 35 points, but I think I had a lack of long ranged AT weaponry...  So things like the Predator have to come out to play.  The Vindicator was "eh", and I know I jumped it out too quickly, but barring it coming in from reserve, it wouldn't have lived in any case...  It killed a Rhino and 2 Wolf Cav, so it almost paid for itself...  But that is just running in place really, trading chess pieces and not really winning me any battles.

Something to think about for later in the week or next week :-)

Heavy Support for the Fleshtearers...

So, debating on the Heavy Support slot...

Not really a fan of the Dev squads, even with the ability to move and snap fire most of their weapons this edition.  So, Predator or Vindicator I guess...  With the Vindicator, I can ignore terrain, have the AV 13 on the front...  Oh, and the most powerful gun in the game on a Fast platform.  So 12" move, 24" shot, coming from behind a building is a pretty devastating thing...  But it is a one shot thing, the Vindicator comes out and gets a shot off, then dies to the inevitable counter shots.  There is the danger that I come up against an army like Noah's IG with really NO high value targets for the "cruise missile" to hit...  Predator allows me to do a bit of hit and run from a MUCH greater range.  The weapon mix here is another one.  TLLC turret is expensive, but would almost always put the Str 9 AP 2 hit on target.  In general I use the AC turret though, 2 shots is almost always better...  Unless of course I run into AV 13+...  The Las Cannon Sponsen is a solid choice, but the Heavy Bolters would allow a LOT of shots....

Storm raven, well I do not currently have one, frankly looking more like an eventual purchase though...  Do wish more than BA and GK got to use it though.  Frankly that was one of the main reasons I did not get one before...  Perhaps we will see an expansion in this area though,was kind of disappointed that the 6th Ed book did not do this...  We'll see I guess...

Background for the League...

Running my Fleshtearers, and one of the requirements is having a background justification for the list...  So, here goes:

"War is delightful to those who have had no experience of it." ~ Desiderius Erasmus 

The Fleshtearers, answering the General Recall to Baal are moving quickly.  But we need to more so quickly that even our normal tactics of “Hit them fast and hard, kill them all and move on” are not sufficient.  Speed is far more important than casualties.  General tactics will be Scouts heading out to identify high value targets and call in the Assault troops.  The Schwerpunkt will involve an extremely rapid assault via Drop Pod (DN or Sternguard Vets) or Vanguard Vets assaulting out of Deep Strike.  The remaining forces will follow up the initial assault.  Holding our own objectives will be difficult, but we will take theirs instead or die trying.  An unfortunate reality of our situation is the Death Company.  As we lose more Marines to the Black Rage, we will direct them toward the enemy and let the Chaplain lead them to cause the most damage on their way out.

As we move back to Baal, we will on occasion fight with our allies.  For the current assault, our Scouts have made contact with elements of Bran Redmaw’s Great Company.  They are currently holding an Aegis Defense Line, and we will move to support them.  We cannot stop, but we will render aid to our Brothers, and by doing so may relieve some of the pressure on Baal. 

So, first draft of this one, the list I am looking at is:

 Reclusiarch (Jump Pack)
Death Company (Jump packs, 5 normal, 2 PF/Bolter)
DC DN (Drop Pod, beacon, H Flamer)
Scout Squad (9 Snipers, Heavy Bolter, SGT with P Fist)
Sternguard (6 Combi Melta, 4 Combi Plasma, Drop Pod w/ Beacon)
Vindicator (Siege Shield)

Allies:
Rune Priest
Grey Hunters (Razorback w/ TLAC, Flamer)
Long Fang Pack (3 Missile, 2 Heavy Bolter)

Aegis Line w/Laser Cannon

Thinking that the Laser Cannon will be interesting for anything but the IG horde out there...  We'll see how the lads do though...