Mostly X-Wing... Some real life/job stuff here and there... Oh, and motorcycles too!
Monday, November 11, 2013
"Pride of the Legion" for this week...
Friday, November 8, 2013
Plasma Everywhere? And the 30K/40K interactions...
So, after playing a fair number of games with the Heresy era Legion... The one thing I am looking at changing is to bring a Tactical Support Squad loaded out with Plasma guns. Yes, a 15 point upgrade per Trooper, but... It is a Plasma Gun, so Str 7, AP 2 and likely 2 shots each at 12" range? Yes, I will take some casualties from my own weapons, but the Medic (Apothecary) for the FnP roll should help... And provide another 2+ save body to help for the inevitable HtH...
Thus far, I have been running EVERY SGT... OK, EVERY body I can get into Artificer Armor in that armor. The big squads with 2-4 of them in the Squad make for an annoyingly difficult thing to take off the table. Power Weapons where I can as well. Finding that there is a LOT more HtH when everyone is fielding Marines and thus not a lot of weapons that efficiently deal with 3+ armor. Challenges, massed attacks, etc. are all pretty important, but the simple ability to deny an Armor save is the thing that is winning more combats for my lads in the 6th...
Which leads to another sort of observation... The Legions are REALLY well focused on dealing with Xenos. Well, 5+ armor and to a great extent 4+ and worse really... Things like the Volkite weapons are BRUTAL against IG, Tyranid or Eldar swarm type armies, but mostly an afterthought against 3+ bodies. Yes, eventually they cause a few casualties, but so often I have a 10 man Tactical Support Squad (TSS) open up on a group of Marines in the open and... Do effectively nothing, maybe get 1-3 casualties out of the massed Volkite fire. One reason I am looking at swapping for Plasma. At least with the Plasma I get some casualties and take out a big chunk of most squads that are trying to assault my position. And I can overload with things like the Havoc Launchers for a lot of Str 5 AP 5 blast markers... Yes, I intend to build a few to put on my Rhino Hulls (magnetized)... Something about having 30+ Rhino Hulls, repainting a bunch of them in the old Wolves Legion colors is not going to have ANY impact on my other Marine armies. But again, AP 5, so unlikely to actually DO much against my primary Heresy Era enemies...
Think that is probably the biggest issue I have with the Legion lists. Everything is so focused, nothing is really a generalist or "Swiss Army Knife". Tactical Squads are just Bolters, no Heavy/Special weapons at all. The Heavy and Support Squads are all armed with the same weapons, so all Volkite Calvers, Plasma Guns, Missile Launchers or whatever... On one level, that makes it simple and if you KNOW what you are facing, you can build a specific counter. But I MUCH prefer a more generalist approach. My Grey Hunter squads in 40K have a little of everything. Rifle, Pistol, Sword, a Flamer or Melta in the Squad, likely a Power Weapon and/or a hidden Werewolf to multiply their HtH presence and riding in a Razorback for Heavy Weapon support. So, the small squad has the ability to move independently, support others like themselves and actually DO a fair amount of damage on the field... Yes, far less resilient than the giant 20 man squads, but standing off and firing the Las Cannon/Plasma into them, the new Wolves will cause a few casualties without any possibility of taking any until the Legion gets into Assault range or has something else deal with the Razorback. Having said all of that, I still believe that the 40K Tactical Squad is mostly useless except for it's ability to camp Objectives, and armies with other Scoring options are almost always doing better overall without the "tax" required to actually try to win some games based on the Missions themselves. One reason I bring Scouts in my Crimson Fist lists, frankly they are simply cheaper scoring bodies that I can try to flank or otherwise hide to keep alive. 3+ armor is simply NOT enough these days to try and stay alive when other armies like the Eldar and Tau have so many weapons on their basic, common units that simply ignore your Armor and in a lot of cases any potential Cover saves you might have had....
And so, back to Rock-Paper-Scissors I guess... Marines (40K) deal well enough with the 4 Tau Riptide if they build specifically for it, as do the Eldar with the same caveat. Tau/Eldar are pretty much dominating the competitive scene otherwise... And ironically, the 30K Heresy era things seem fairly well balanced against all of the above... For the moment, with the breakneck speed of releases in 6th Edition these days, who knows what will happen when the Tyranids hit the field with a new book or the IG, or... :-) Whatever comes next frankly...
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
30K and 40K so far...
So... Got in a fair number of 30k games now, and I have to say it is a refreshing change. Balanced, fun and so far nothing too over the top. Well, there are a few things that are close :-) .... Spartan decked out is close, but mid 300 point range? Neat, but almost never gets back its points on its own.... Transporting a giant unit of whatever across the table.... THAT wins games.
Major downside of the 30k stuff I have seen is that everyone is a Marine. So 3+ saves all over the place. Things that ignore 3+ armor are rare and expensive. Weight of fire works, but you have to be aware that sometimes you get 20 wounds on a squad and they do not lose a single model... FnP all over the place, Artificer Armor for the 2+ in almost every squad for the SGTs...
Biggest down side to 40k locally at least is the broken FOC that the supplements and allies get you. Playing one Army is actually a DISADVANTAGE now that it is legal to field armies allied with themselves for the extra slots... 4 Riptides or 4 Heldrakes is just silly. Legal, and playable of course but... So, I have to have my Centurion Devastator squads ready as the hard counter I think... For the Riptides or Eldar Wraith Knights... Just not liking the extreme"rock - paper - scissors" feel the game has devolved into. I have a good Marine army, just gets kind of boring playing that way. Fielding my VI Legion Wolves, and having fun... NOT winning all the time, but I think both players enjoy the game this way.
Not sure how I feel about the "rumored" expansions coming... Building rules and the ability to field "Lords of War" in 40k games. So, more expensive books to a) fix rules that they failed to do right in the base game and b) giant, expensive kits that were never intended for this scale of the game... If the fortification rules are free downloads publicly available that is one thing, but given who we are talking about? Not holding my breath. Right now, the Skyshield if played as written is stupidly broken, making the Eldar a no brainer to win most tournaments... So, it is killing the game from a competitive standpoint... And that in turn seems to be driving sales lower and attendance at our local store... I am having a harder time getting the motivation to play in a tournament, or even keep playing 40k frankly. REALLY like the Forge World models, just wish the Gopher carried them :-) Picked up a few Cataphractii Terminator suits, amazing models. Spartan is on the list for eventually pick up, even more if the bigger things hit the table in general. Slowly getting more, but... Just hoping the game itself continues...
Monday, November 4, 2013
2000 point Heresy game this week...
2000 Legion 12000 Pts - ~ Horus Heresy (THH1) Army
1 Legion Praetor (HQ) @ 155 Pts
Independent Character; Legiones Astartes; Master of the Legion; #Artificer
Armour; #Frag Grenades; #Krak Grenades; Refractor Field; Rite of War:
Pride of the Legion; Archaeotech Pistol; Paragon Blade; Warlord
1 Forge Lord (Legion Centurion) (HQ) @ 130 Pts
Independent Character; Legiones Astartes; Consul; Battlesmith; #Frag
Grenades; #Krak Grenades; #Artificer Armour; Rad Grenades; Refractor
Field; Bolt Pistol (x1); Charnabal Sabre; Servo-arm; Graviton Gun
19 Legion Breacher Siege Squad (Troops) @ 395 Pts
Legiones Astartes; Hardened Armour; #Boarding Shield; Power Armour; Bolt
Pistol (x19); Bolter (x15); Flamer (x2); Graviton Gun (x2); Frag Grenades;
Krak Grenades
1 Legion Sergeant @ [155] Pts
(character); #Boarding Shield; Artificer Armour; Bolter; Power Weapon
(x1)
9 Legion Veteran Tactical Squad (Troops) @ 275 Pts
Legiones Astartes; Veteran Tactics; Power Armour; Chainsword (x8); Bolt
Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Heavy Bolter w/Suspensor Web (x1); Missile
Launcher w/Susp. Web (x1); Power Weapon (x1); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades
1 Legion Veteran Sergeant @ [85] Pts
(character); Artificer Armour; Bolt Pistol; Power Weapon (x1); Bolter
1 Legion Apothecary (Elites) @ 210 Pts
(character); Legiones Astartes; #Narthecium; Augury Scanner; Artificer
Armour; Bolt Pistol; Power Sword; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades
1 Legion Apothecary #1 @ [70] Pts
(character); Legiones Astartes; #Narthecium; Augury Scanner;
Artificer Armour; Bolt Pistol; Power Sword; Frag Grenades; Krak
Grenades
1 Legion Apothecary #2 @ [70] Pts
(character); Legiones Astartes; #Narthecium; Augury Scanner;
Artificer Armour; Bolt Pistol; Power Sword; Frag Grenades; Krak
Grenades
4 Legion Terminator Squad (Troops) @ 460 Pts
Legiones Astartes; Implacable Advance; Prototype Weaponry; #Cataphractii
TDA; Power Weapon (x4); Combi-Bolter (x3); Reaper Autocannon (x1)
1 Legion Terminator Sergeant @ [55] Pts
#Cataphractii TDA; Combi-Bolter; Power Weapon (x1)
1 Legion Phobos @ [270] Pts
Vehicle (Tank); Capacity: 10; Access Points: 3; Assault Vehicle;
#Searchlight; #Smoke Launchers; #Machine Spirit; Armoured Ceremite;
TL Lascannon Sponsons (x2)
9 Legion Tactical Support Squad (Troops) @ 235 Pts
Legiones Astartes; Support Squad; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol (x9); Volkite
Caliver; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades
1 Legion Sergeant @ [55] Pts
(character); Artificer Armour; Augury Scanner; Bolt Pistol;
Chainsword
1 Legion Artillery Tank Squadron (Legion Basilisk) (Heavy Support) @ 140 Pts
Vehicle (Tank); #Searchlight; #Smoke Launchers; Earthshaker Cannon; Hull
Heavy Bolter
Models in Army: 52
Total Army Cost: 2000
So, NOT bringing my Spartan of Doom... That seems like a simple enough choice, and I know damn good and well that it works. Let's see what the lads can do like this. The Siege Squad joined by the Tech and Praetor seems like a pretty tough nut to crack, especially if I plant them in some sort of cover. Have to admit the Conversion Beam on the Tech is VERY tempting in this setup, and could be easy enough to get if I feel it will work... Seems one of the good ways to put down a Str 10 AP 1 blast to help deal with the Land Raiders being immune to Melta, or the big MCs...
The Basilisk is there to root out things hiding, and with it being a Str 9 AP 3 large blast Ord weapon... Well, barring area terrain, I am hoping to see some large squads of Infantry in the open, or bomb them out of cover... In a pinch I think it also has a decent chance against most Vehicles, even Land Raiders I guess... Thinking it will be able to drop the template on the folks piling out of a Rhino the Volkites destroy... You know, if things go the way I'd like them to... We'll see I guess. Not 100% sure it will be worth the 140 points for a BS 4 Basilisk, but...
Vets will either be Snipers of Flankers, depending on the setup... Both Heavy Weapons have suspensors allowing them to fire on the move, and Sniper for the Unit is just brutal...
So, 4 "Troops" choices, 1 Heavy and 2 HQ elements... A lot of Infantry, hoping that this does not bite me in the ass... But a LOT of FnP for the lads... We'll see if that works at all. Since I know I will not face a Heldrake, I am less concerned... Thinking that a Bastion and/or Mortis DN will become a standard piece of equipment for me going forward...
Friday, November 1, 2013
VI Legion, Wolves
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Legion review and comparing it to 40K...
Kind of brings up the point of irritation for me... NOT with his specific army at all. James' force was a fairly "friendly" force based around Ultramarines using mostly Tactical and Devastator Squads with Salamander Allies. So, essentially, lots of 3+ save bodies. Dies horribly to Heldrake spam, but not really an issue locally at least. More the broader picture. The fact that Allies allow you to take a modified and likely superior FOC. And being able to ally with yourself to gain the extra slots just seems inherently unbalanced. Yes, everyone CAN take Allies. Just annoying that I feel penalized by taking a basic, traditional force. This modified FOC I think is a major unbalancing factor in the Tournament scene. Seeing a lot of the armies bringing 3-4 of the big MC things to win. Given the limited environment and time constraints, those armies will do well if their Troops are fairly resilient or say, their Transports are. Some of the armies that the big MC types would I think have a harder time taking down are things like the massed Infantry/Hordes... Not viable to play those armies in a timed event though.
I don't know. Looking ahead I have to admit to thinking that I won't bother trying to get a team together to go to Adepticon. A lot will depend on the FAQ that the TOs there provide. But right now, the Eldar Wave Serpents spam on the Skyshield seems to be something nigh unbeatable. Put enough up there and you are unassailable in Assault, have a 3+ cover save that goes to 2+ with the Holo Fields and against the few things that may remove the Cover save? Oh, yeah a 4++... Still looking at the RAW, and the rules for no cover save weapons specify "wounds", so strictly speaking it does NOT apply to Vehicles...
So, got the Cataphracts assembled and starting to test out a paint scheme. Going with the Pre-Heresy Wolves... Will have to post a pic when I remember to take my phone downstairs... Have to say I like the way they are coming together...
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Next Week's Legion list
1850 Pts - ~ Horus Heresy (THH1) Army 1850 Legion 2
Unit Name ## WS BS St To Wo In At Ld Save Cost
Legion Praetor (HQ) 1 6 5 4/5 4 3 5 4 10 2+/5++ 135
Independent Character; Legiones Astartes; Master
of the Legion; #Artificer Armour; #Frag Grenades;
#Krak Grenades; Refractor Field; Rite of War:
Armoured Spearhead; Bolt Pistol (x1); Paragon
Blade; Warlord
Forge Lord (Legion Centurion) 1 5 5 4/8 4 2 5/1 3/4 9 2+ 105
Independent Character; Legiones Astartes; Consul;
Battlesmith; #Frag Grenades; #Krak Grenades;
#Artificer Armour; Rad Grenades; Bolt Pistol
(x1); Charnabal Sabre; Servo-arm
Legion Breacher Siege Squad (T 19 4 4 4 4 1 4 1 8 3+/6++ 395
Legiones Astartes; Hardened Armour; #Boarding
Shield; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol (x19); Bolter
(x15); Flamer (x3); Graviton Gun (x1); Frag
Grenades; Krak Grenades
Legion Sergeant 1 4 4 4 4 1 4 2 9 2+/6++ [160]
(character); #Boarding Shield; Artificer Armour;
Bolter; Lightning Claw
Legion Tactical Squad (Troops) 9 4 4 4 4 1 4 1/2 8 3+ 390
Legiones Astartes; Fury of the Legion; Power
Armour; Chainsword; Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter
(x9); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades
Legion Tactical Sergeant 1 4 4 4 4 1 4 2/3 9 2+ [82]
(character); Artificer Armour; Chainsword; Power
Weapon (x1); Bolt Pistol
Legion Proteus 1 BS: 4 Front: 14 Side: 14 Rear: 14 HP: 4 [200]
Vehicle (Tank); Capacity: 10; Access Points: 2;
#Searchlight; #Smoke Launchers; #Machine Spirit;
TL Lascannon Sponsons (x2)
Legion Apothecary (Elites) 1 4 4 4 4 1 4 1/2 8 2+ 70
(character); Legiones Astartes; #Narthecium;
Augury Scanner; Artificer Armour; Bolt Pistol;
Power Sword; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades
Legion Spartan Assault Tank (H 1 BS: 4 Front: 14 Side: 14 Rear: 14 HP: 5 315
Vehicle (Tank); Capacity: 25; Access Points: 3;
Assault Vehicle; #Machine Spirit; #Extra Armour;
#Searchlight; #Smoke Launchers; Armoured
Ceremite; TL Heavy Bolters; Quad Lascannon
Sponsons (x2)
Legion Terminator Squad (Elite 4 4 4 4 4 1 4 2 8 2+/4++ 440
Legiones Astartes; Implacable Advance; Prototype
Weaponry; #Cataphractii TDA; Power Weapon (x4);
Combi-Bolter (x3); Reaper Autocannon (x1)
Legion Terminator Sergeant 1 4 4 4 4 1 4 2 9 2+/4++ [55]
#Cataphractii TDA; Combi-Bolter; Power Weapon
(x1)
Legion Phobos 1 BS: 4 Front: 14 Side: 14 Rear: 14 HP: 4 [250]
Vehicle (Tank); Capacity: 10; Access Points: 3;
Assault Vehicle; #Searchlight; #Smoke Launchers;
#Machine Spirit; TL Lascannon Sponsons (x2)
Models in Army: 41
So, a much smaller force... One ancient Land Raider for the Tac Squad to go forth and camp. Did find out that the Proteus Class LR lacks the Assault Vehicle rule, so the lads woll not get out and charge into Assault... But, not really the plan for them. The whole army is Scoring, at least all 3 Squads... And The big Siege Breacher Squad with FnP, Flamers, Defensive Grenades, Invulnerable Saves, Rad Grenades and 2 decent HtH monsters hidden in there? Should be a PITA to remove from the field once they get out of the Spartan.
So, nothing subtle, just the Spartan flanked by the other 2 Land Raiders rolling up the field. 8 TL Las Cannon shots, each Vehicle with Machine Spirit so the shots can be spread out a bit... Less concerned about Fliers or big MCs... Think they will have a hard time removing the Spartan with the Tech riding in it repairing as needed...