March Ends…

Mostly just random thoughts at this point…


Yeah, that was random and confusing...  Rewrite maybe...




Did get to play an excellent game this evening, so that was good, and it is the last week with the ancient Codex. Partner played it pretty much as well as she could have, and we nearly pulled off the draw, but I think I made a few tactical errors in shooting and committing my Terminators too quickly and it cost us the win… Dave @ the Gopher ordered the few things like Codex and Dreadknight to get me started with the new army… I'll probably end up playing my Cygnar Storm Guard/Knights as stand-ins for the first few weeks until I get more Power Armor lads up and running. Terminators, at 1000 points, I probably have about enough, but of course going back to 1500… Well a few more lads are going to be needed I think… Making the "Rifleman" DN arms, so I should have a few of them up and running soon as well… Not 100% sure what I'll be fielding at 1500+ points, but at 1K it's going to be tight… I have one of the "Emperor's Champion" figs to convert to a Brotherhood Champion, changing the "LE" fig over to this should at least be interesting…

Grey Knights beginning…

Last week with the old codex… So, I'll probably run something like this as my part of the 1000 point teams league (2 of us, so 2k/side, and one force org chart…)



Grey Knight Brother Captain (Terminator armor, Psycannon)    91

Grey Knight Terminator squad (4 troopers, 1 Psycannon, CPT has Psycannon and Psychic Hood)    320

Grey Knight Land Raider (Extra Armor)    255

Grey Knight Squad (2 Psycannon, Justicar has Teleport Homer)    210

Grey Knight DN (Assault Cannon, Flamer)    120

996  



So, more troops on the table, lots of Psycannon out there… Oh, so ready for the new codex…



Speaking of which… I think the biggest thing will be the mobility and (for basic infantry) long ranged basic weapons. Yes, 24" ranged Storm Bolters are pretty much the same range as every other Infantry weapon in the game, but the ability to fire with them on the move gives me the tools I need. I tend to think a lot more in terms of mobile elements and having the ability to move my basic squads and fire with almost full effect (Psycannon are 2 shot on the move vs 4 shots standing still… TANSTAAFL). Other armies give me some of this, my Wolves have excellent basic Infantry in their Grey Hunters, and I've played them since… Um, well 89 or so? I can play mobile, aggressive and when I keep my eye on the mission, one that I can take against just about any other force in the game with confidence. My Fleshtearers are aggressive. And… Yup, aggressive pretty well sums it up. The only way I tend to win with them is by tabeling the opponent. Powerful, but pretty much one dimensional. My Guard? Set them up, shoot like you're voting in Chicago… Early and Often… Yes, they do move some times, and I use things like Air Cav (Vendetta for 130 points? Um, ok…) and Scout Sentinels to flank and cause a bit of havoc in the backfield, but by and large it is just standing still and shooting… Poor Praetorians are a bit bored…



But back to the Knights… Assault weapons everywhere, so I'm thinking that we'll be able to run and gun to be able to play the fluid style that I am most comfortable with. The Troops, both the Terminators and the Powered Armored lads will be able to at the very least compete with any army out there. Their psychic powers are absolutely awesome, and woe to the armies out there without any psychic defenses. A lot of the "easy button" solutions just won't work against the Knights, and I think some of the more common builds will be a hard counter for a lot of the "harder" armies, at least in our local scene.



Building and painting is going to be "time consuming" :-) Mike has a fairly large GK force already, I have "some"… Ordered a few new things, and hopefully the Dreadknight will be easy to put together and magnetize… Weapon options being what they are and all, I'll want to have all of those options to swap out. The more I look at them, the more I'm liking all of the options, so this should be interesting at least… I'll probably use the "teleporter" option because I REALLY like jump troops, I have flashbacks to falling out of aircraft myself, so am familiar with and very comfortable with the tactical options opened up by these lads…



Well, a bit of a ramble, but just getting some of my thoughts about these things in order for the next few weeks…

More hobby stuff…

Just a few more rifle pictures… Model Swedish Model 96 Mauser… The most accurate rifle I currently own, I was able to outshoot SWAT snipers with tricked out "uber" rifles with this off the rack GI (not really sure what the Swedes call their soldiers…) rifle at 3-500m with iron sights… Up for trade for the motorcycle of doom…

Getting some of the ancient Wolfen painted… So, kilted werewolves from a dead game :-) But they're coming along nicely, probably because there's no pressure to get them done whatever… Working a bit on my Grey Knights as well… Those lads at least will be used in an actual game soon…

Random stuff…

So, looking over the stuff in the Grey Knights codex… Thinking that I'm probably going to be running a number of things that "most" other people do not bother with… In other words, probably not the "Internet Approved" stuff overall, so no "Dakka" stuff for me… For instance, I'm looking at the "Brotherhood Champion" for a HQ choice. 100 points for a WS 7 2+/4++ (3++ in close combat) guy armed with a Nemesis Force Sword that also allows re-rolls on the "to wounds"… Down side, his "attacks" are much like the Menoth Paladin, or at least the 1^st edition version I remember… He gets a "stance", one where he gets re-rolled armor saves (Hello Seer Council level of survivability), one attack against everything in BtB, or an I 10 d3 (+1 for charging) attacks against a Monstrous Creature or IC that he's in combat with… Yeah, he's one wound and his "I won't die alone" power is kind of "eh" against a lot of armies, but still :-) Plan on sticking him with Purifiers and using the Land Raider or Storm Raven to roll them directly into combat… The Librarian looks good, the Grand Master is solid… The special characters seem hit or miss, all of them are powerful but expensive… An all of them pretty well define what your army setup will be. 'course, I'm just running the Knights, so not even really looking at the Inquisitors…



Job? Ah, Limbo is so much fun… Amusing hearing what other people are saying here and there, and the dawning realization on their parts that I am NOT subtle, I do mean pretty much exactly what I say, and politics can be played by those who talk, and those who do… I think of it more like "Klingon" politics, and apparently I can do that fairly well after all… Maybe next week something will actually break loose and be resolved…

Spring Break?

Well, apparently it is spring break here at the U of I…. Having never actually gone anywhere for any of mine when I was a student here, it wasn't ever really a big deal… Was an Engineering student, so it just meant that the computer labs were slightly less crowded, and the other "campus town" things were pretty much deserted for a week or so… Staff seems to be MIA this week as well by and large… A tad annoying since I was really hoping to get some moves made on my current job situation/move, but a lot of the "principle players" are out for the week as well.



On the gaming front, the new league started, and I'll be running my Grey Knights with my partner (http://aychplace.blogspot.com/) running her Black Templars… So, her fanatics and my Daemon hunters… Pretty well gimped the first two weeks having to use the ancient "Daemonhunter" codex before the GK one releases the 2^nd of April (ish… Supposed to be the official street date). I have some plans for the last 6 weeks of course, and have ordered a few of the new toys from the FLGS (www.armored-gopher.com) like the Codex and Dreadknight and… Well, I'll probably pick up some more Terminators and "powered armored" Knights, but that $ limit thing being what it is… Should be another army I can fit into a pistol case, and I'm REALLY looking forward to that since I hope to be riding a motorcycle in the near future… :-) Amusing since I've never actually carried/stored a pistol in a "pistol case", but they do make excellent cases for my wargame toys…

Yet another army…

Mkay, time to expand my Grey Knights from the dozen or so terminators and another dozen or so Powered Armor troops for them into an actual army… For the first bit I have Cygnar Halberdiers to stand in for the regular lads, and I do have a "few" extra Terminators here and there… In terms of extra purchases, I'll likely have to buy or trade for some regulars, some Terminators, maybe a Storm Raven and definitely a Dread Knight.



The DK is one of those things that I think has potential. It is not nearly as broken as it's "playtest" incarnation, and it will take some actual planning and skill to use them properly… Bloody huge model, so cover saves will not be likely, T6 and 4 wounds puts them a bit worse off than the Eldar Wraithlord's current incarnation… The weapon loadout I think is a bit better for the DK, and they do have an inv save, though only a 5+… The Heavy Incinerator is more or less the IG's Hellhound for 30 points, the Gatling Psilencer is a Str 4 Heavy 12 AP- weapon costing 35… Not really liking the Heavy Psycannon at 40 points.. Str 7, large blast, AP 4 and rending… 24" range though, frankly I'd rather have the normal Psycannon's 4 shots (same specs, no blast of course) since we play with so much area terrain giving the 4+ cover saves to everything. Maybe I'm just missing something obvious, but it just doesn't seem worth it overall. The flamer and Psilencer are good horde control/just throw out mass fire weapons to go along with the Monstrous creature's Str 10 +2d6 AP vs. vehicles…



Other than that, the DNs are going to be beasts… Specifically, the "Rifleman" Dreadnaughts are going to be quite useful. 'course, GW does not make twin linked auto cannon arms for the DNs, so I'll be using green stuff and resin I think to make the 6+ I'll be using over the course of my armies… Green stuff for the first "master" for the right and left arms, then make the molds and cast away… Should be good for a dozen or so arms at least, not a "high capacity" industrial operation in any sense of the word, but it'll work for my purposes I guess…



Locally, the cats are getting more and more clingy by the hour…. Maggie has been gone for a few days, and the cats have been getting more and more nervous about the possibility of her not returning, and so they are lurking about keeping a watch over the girls and I… Even with me running the vacuum cleaner and doing laundry they're still all about here, at least the current "shift"… There are usually 2-3 of them right in view while the rest are off resting… Advantages of the Pack training and mindset I guess…



Fixed a few random computers yesterday :-) 2/3 are back up and working now, need parts for the 3^rd, so we'll see about that last one next week. Good practice, hoping that things work out and I start the new job next week…



Dug out some ancient boxes of Army stuff and firearm parts… And ammo, lots and lots of ammo… Apparently I was set up for a "rougher" Y2K than we experienced… Or whatever random invasion might have occurred up to and including Alien invasions :-P The old 30-06 AP ammo was useful when I shot in the Garand competitions, but it can also defeat any body armor worn today at 100m or so… That and shoot chunks out of things like engine blocks should the need arise…

St Pat’s Day :-)

Ah, St. Pat's day…. So different than when I was younger… I was pretty much in the bar, either drinking or working (yeah, ok, both in that case)… These days though? :-) Here at home with the giant dog and pack of guard cats watching over the little girls… Instead of drinking, lifted weights, a bit of time on the elliptical, some minor "hobby" stuff and cleaning some of my old weapons… Specifically, my old 1935 M1911A1 Colt… The .45 I was "issued" during my first combat deployment… It was a fairly chaotic thing, we really just wandered through a big warehouse with a shopping cart and took pretty much whatever we wanted… "Combat Loss" is a good thing, and I had it rebuilt after I got out… It's the only gun I KNOW I ever shot someone with, and so it's the one I trust for "emergency use"… Amusingly, it was also the one I started my wife out on, and it's the kind of pistol she is able to chamber a round in and fire more accurately than me… At targets at least :-)


Back to gaming next week… Think I'll be breaking out my Grey Knights… 1000 points each with my partner bringing Black Templars. One force org chart though, so this will require a bit of planning for the first week or two… The new codex comes out early April, and having seen pretty much all of the details by now, it looks like a pretty fun one with more Terminators as troops, a power armored option that is a GIANT FU for horde forces, Purifiers. They have a Psychic power that causes a wound on a 4+ to every enemy model in the HtH with them? Um, yes please… Sure, they get saves, but just doing the math every single IG figure has a 1 in 3 chance of dying, so SGTs with the Power weapons, Commissars to keep them from running… Every one of them has to roll the dice, and those numbers count for the close combat resolution… So, "Green Tide" and IG "Power Blobs" are in a LOT of trouble, having a hard counter now. So, for next years Adepticon, the teaming of a DA Deathwing (insert BT, BA or SW here as well) and Grey Knights is going to be really hard to beat…