AAR with Escalation vs Fleshtearers... and IA2, second edition...

So, played against my first Titan outside of an Apocolipse game...  Warhound class Titan with IG to back it up.  Not a lot to the IG with all those points tied up in the Warhound.  I think there were:

 2 Armored Sentinels
1 Platoon, more or less naked...  4-5 Squads, LT, pretty much just Las Guns
1 Platoon, 4-6 Squads, Heavy Bolters a few Melta Bombs?
Company Command Squad...

I brought:
CPT Tycho
Sternguard (7, Meltas, drop pod)
Assault Squad (10, 2 Melta, Jump Packs)
Sanguinary Priests (2, Terminator, Jump Pack)
Death Company (Jump Packs, 2 Power Axes)
DC DN (HF)
Storm Raven (TL MM, TL LC)
Bastion (Quad Gun, Void Shield)

Joe's Star Wars IG were impressive...  The AT-AT as a Warhound works.  Joe wound up winning the game (Emperor's Will) by getting "First Blood" as neither Warlord died, we both had Line Breaker and his one Objective held matched the Warhound's VP..  It was actually a pretty good game all around :-)...  The Death Company not being able to hold anything and my over caution regarding what happens if the Titan explodes cost me.  So, overall I am less concerned about the big nasties...  Honestly, sending 1-2 Death Company into each Squad of his Infantry meant they would usually kill a bunch and rout them...   Lacking the weight of attacks of a blob or the Power Weapons, etc...  No real threat, and I would have probably been better off with an Assault Squad doing that.  The DC DN did eat a Melta Bomb once, but being immune to shaken/etc., it really didn't notice.  Mostly, I lost due to it ending on Turn 5 before I could wipe out the remaining IG Squads...  The Lads were in close and wiping squads with an almost contemptuous ease...  So, IG NEED Special/Heavy Weapons or they are just speed bumps for an Assault force that is quick...  Like my FT...

What did I learn?  D Weapons are insanely overpowered...  I can certainly see why there are a bunch of people wanting them banned...  A single hit to the Fortification simply destroys it and kills everyone in it.  No rolls needed, it just explodes the building.  :-)  Yeah, I can see this being OK for an Apoc game of "more" points, but at 40K scale the oversimplification has gone too far I think.  Yes, it is the easy button answer to the Tau/Eldar/non flying MC silliness, simply erasing them from the board, but I think they could have done better NOT simply porting the Apoc charts into 40K.  It really does provide a disincentive to play the game really if you are not completely prepared for this.  In other words, do NOT but Fortifications, don't bother with special characters, etc...  Doesn't matter, they all die to the blasts of doom...  Or, bring lots of Fliers and Void Shields of your own.  I wound up killing the Warhound, not as easily as I thought, my Sternguard came in and did 4 Hull Points of damage, the Raven finished it off.  I got lucky and his first turn of shooting with the D laser was bad, I think he took down the Void Shield then missed the building...  Next turn not as lucky, but by then I had it down to the last HP or two.  Still, the mere threat of the D weapon and the explosion when it died was probably worth the 750-800 points.  Pretty sure it took down close to it's points value.  Next time, I know a single Sternguard suicide squad is not enough, so may just wait it out for the fliers to deal with the monster...  Seeing a few IG Super Heavies hit the tables locally, the Warhound and...  Well, one guy does have a Revenent Class Titan...  I do have my ancient Warhound and I have to say the rumored Knights are looking like they'll be fun if true...  But honestly, it becomes a VERY different game when you shoehorn an Apoc element into it.  30K has it right with the 25% rule.  Yes, for games under 2000 points it basically means no Superheavies or Titans.  Good.  So, people can play what they expect and not get blindsided by a one dimensional army built around the Titan with a few Infantry escorting.  Knowing it is coming, you can adjust your build and make it less of an issue...  OTOH, it would shake things up  a LOT at bigger Tournaments if the uber lists had to be prepared to face "I don't give a Damn" class D weapons...  I don't know, for a fun, local environment I think they are a bit overpowered, further expanding the divide between the top tier and the rest...

On to the IA2 book...  Pretty.  Not a whole lot of truly useful stuff from a gamer perspective though.  I'd say I am looking at 10-20 pages of REALLY good game rules, etc., and a whole lot of the "Jane's Defense, 40K" for the rest...  So, just a bit for me to scan/print to have the relevant rules for the things I plan on using.  Mortis Class DNs, Marines get 1/Detachment now (DA not limited so 3/Detachment if they want)...  The Interceptor rules are probably overpowered in the current incarnation, and I have had excellent luck with my "Warhammer" Class DN (Yes, BT ref) with the Las Cannons...  The Autocannons get more shots, but not ignoring Marine Armor I find them far less of a threat overall.  Besides, Str 9 AP 2 almost always hitting for 2 shots is enough to make most Vehicles at least pay attention.  And I regularly splash Fliers with my Legion one, so my Crimson Fists getting one will be most welcome.  Otherwise, the Roc class Storm Eagle is pretty insane, at least on paper...  2 * TL LC, a TL MM and a 4 shot Missile Launcher firing Krak missiles?  On a Flier that can transport 14?  Yes, loaded out like that it is like 320 points, so probably overpriced, but...  Strafing Run and PotMS mean I can pretty reliably tear up Vehicles and Marine armored Squads as I fly around...  No rules for the Raven's Combat Drop or whatever they called it, and I REALLY like that, but for the extra 2 real weapons to fire, I will happily give that up...  The Deathstorm Drop Pod has potential and I am glad to see it actually be something that may even work...  A little curious why you HAVE to buy the 25 point upgrade to Drop Pod Assault...  Without it, it lacks the Deep Strike rule, so is essentially a Vehicle/Bunker...  So, it is a 100 point vehicle :-)...  d3 hits from either the Whirlwind or the Assault Cannon to every Unit within 12" when it lands...  So Danger Close IS dangerous here...  Expensive and probably giving up a fairly easy "First Blood" to a lot of armies if you fail to kill something off on your turn, but looks like fun.  The Relic weapons look neat, but the penalty you must pay to FIELD a Relic is pretty steep.  So, mostly not something I will do outside of my Wolves perhaps...  All in all, "Neat", and my CF army gets a powerful boost in the form of good AAA and a potential gunship...  Wolves/BA/DA?  Not so much really...  So, Marines of most type got some new "now fully legal" toys, and while amusing, not a whole lot really changes except that I suspect more FW or their clones will be ordered here and there...

Local Tiers for 40K so far...

So, looking at the Armies as they are played locally at least…  I think I would put them into 3 tiers.  Rumor has Knights and IG being next up, and I think those have some potential to shake things up quite a bit...  Escalation and Stronghold Assault have helped locally more than hurt I think, but it is still new...  Long run, who knows...

Top Tier

Top tier are the ones that either do not really seem balanced against the others, or are simply problematic to face with anything but a specifically tailored list.  Here is where I would put the Eldar, Tau and probably Chaos Demons.  Though with the Demons, probably REALLY only the FMC (Flying Monstrous Creature) lists and/or the “Screamerstar”.  The argument to add the Necron “Croissants of Doom” list is a good one, but I think as time passes they slip more to the middle tier.  Right now I have a hard time explaining to a new or returning player with a Tyranid or Marine based army exactly how to deal with a min/maxxed Taudar list.  Any serious suggestions?  It is pretty much “Yeah…  You just lose against those armies, doesn't really matter WHAT you bring”.  Massed (current) Marine Grav weapons CAN take down the MCs and be a realistic threat to the skimmers, but it is a limited range and really, if the Eldar or Tau are expecting this it will not likely happen.  Beyond that, the Eldar’s massed high STR weapons (unnaturally accurate ones) combined with their basic weapons having a “Rending” rule means that 3+ armor and even 2+ is of very little use.  Both the Tau and Eldar have a significant number of “Ignore Cover” weapons/shots, so Scouts or anything relying on a Cover save (Orks, Tyranids) or massed numbers simply dies due to the high volume of shooting.   So, Orks with their 4^th Ed Codex are right out against the top tier.  Tyranids?  I suspect they will fare little better, but really have not seen them on the table locally since the new book came out.  They have SOME potential with the big bugs, and overall I think they look like a powerful and fun army…  Just that they cannot compete with the Uber lists.  Same can be said for most of the mid-tier armies…  MAYBE they can compete iff the top army essentially fumbles and they can take advantage of it…  Just doesn’t happen often and gets rapidly frustrating for the other player…

One of the bigger “problem” units is the Tau Riptide…  But let’s be completely honest, it is really only the “Earth Caste” upgraded one that is allowed to join up with ICs that is a really difficult one (s, typically it is NOT just one Riptide).  The rulebook specifies that ICs cannot join up with units that are bought as a single model (Non IC)…  Now, buying wargear that are “models” is the loophole used to allow this, but I would argue that the Riptide is BOUGHT as a single model unit, can only be upgraded and thus is NOT legally allowed to be joined by ICs.  Of course, I’m an Engineer, not a Lawyer thus my interpretation is not the currently popular one J…  I’m a big proponent of fairness, and any rule unequally applied I means nothing (my reaction to growing up near Chicago)…  If the Tau can do this, simply remove the restriction in the rulebook and allow ALL MCs to be joined by ICs, etc…  Wraith Lords would become instantly popular and the GKs Dreadknight would come back into favor I think…  Mind, this is NOT a serious suggestion really…  I would MUCH rather the current problematic thing simply be ruled on via FAQ/rule clarification.  Given the complete silence on this and other things, I am not holding my breath or out for much hope J…  So, yeah, the Tau with their silliness, and the fact that at least locally it seems to draw the “more problematic” players to play that army has perhaps made this more of a sore point locally than it might be elsewhere.  A LOT of players would rather simply sit out and chat than play if it puts them against this particular combo.  Arguments about wound allocation, part of the “unit” being behind a Void Shield, etc…  Just isn’t fun to play so most people don’t.  And this is the silliness I would anticipate if there was money on the table in the form of prize support for a bigger tournament, thus at least MY decision to not bother attending such an event.  Between that and reality being what it is, I doubt we could get a team of folks together.  A shame really, I know we could put together a really nice one with Dave and Steven’s Eldar as the base…  I just REALLY don’t want to play the way we would have to in order to de more than show up and die…  Besides, my RT era crap is amusing, but I wouldn’t want to try my luck at Adepticon subbing RT era “Ghost Warriors” in for “Wraith Guard”.  Really wouldn’t be fair for the other player with the wee tiny Ghosts dropping flamer templates of doom… 

Middle Tier

So, Top Tier being Eldar/Tau…  That leaves the middle tier.  Here is where I put the majority of what has been released in late 5^th Edition to the current 6^th Edition stuff…  A few exceptions.  DA simply do not even belong in the middle tier I think.  Coming from a DA player, there is simply not a lot I could field to compete against the Heldrake backed forces.  They simply eat anything “biker” based, and the Terminators I play  lack the numbers to be a serious contender against the weight of fire from a Tau/Eldar force.  They DO have a single now FAQ’d trick to allow a metric crapton of bolter shots…  “Eh”, and that is from one who played it.  Yes, it could erase entire Blobs, but then anything not threatened by Bolters?  Oh, well…  J

Marine codex was quite good, there are a large number of local players, many playing completely different forces.  White Scars, Ultramarines, my own Crimson Fists, an Iron Hands player…  Pretty sure there are more, just what I am remembering off the top of my head.  Decent armies, and really well balanced overall.  And you CAN build a lot of different forces out of that single book.  This should have been the model on which the other books were based, but…  Chaos Marines are actually not bad overall…  We have a few players actually playing them, and for the most part no more than 2 of the Heldrakes hit the table.  The rest of the book SEEMS lackluster when you compare it to the Drake, but overall they seem an interesting one allowing the players to build ALMOST what they wanted…  The players wanting to do real “Legion Based” things are still a tad bitter, but even they seem to be working well enough with the book as it is.  GK/Inquisition is pretty firmly here as well I think…  Decent to overpowered units (the GK book was what I thought finally broke 5^th ed…) that have been quite frankly passed by the new top tier…  Betting I could make a decent force to compete, and may well have to when the weather turns nice again and I am once again on my bike(s) I will be making forces that CAN fit into the single backpack or the luggage on the old bike…  So, some minor OP things, but nothing new, and people have learned to deal with them…  IG are good, but nothing really outstanding.  Betting again that I could bring a silly force to mess with the Taudar, but I’ve never really been a fan of bubble wrapped Artillery and Tanks…  They seem the big Escalation winners as they have access to a LOT of more tanks that some of the lads are starting to field…  DE and Tyranids I guess go here too, but haven’t seen either fielded much in 6^th, so really it is just guessing.  When Mike was here, I’d have put his DE against almost any army and if he went first, guessing he would do well…  Our battles were typically the bloodiest, so in the hands of a good player who understands his or her force, I think the DE would do well…  Tyranids I am less sure of, but I think they look like a good, balanced book…  Just nothing that can easily compete with the top tier…

Bottom Tier

 So, here is where I put the Wolves, Blood Angels, Orks and…  Wow, I guess that is pretty much it.  Kind of like seeing the great wheel turn J  At one time I felt bad playing the “maybe somewhat OP” Wolves or Fleshtearers…  Now, I am playing them, but more as a challenge than anything.  My Wolves led out by Bran Redmaw have some deployment tricks and the Bastion with Void Shield makes for a pretty good strong point to base a force on…  Guessing I will field my Fleshtearers in something like the same way.  They HAVE a flier, but the last few times I played them, we just got shot off of the table due to the low model count and insane number of shots the Necorn/Tau and Eldar can throw down range…

 I think I will field my “Shock” force just to see how badly it gets mauled…

CPT Tycho

Sternguard (7, 1 HF, 2 Combi Plasma, 4 Combi Melta, Drop Pod)

Sanguinary Priests (1 Terminator Armor for the Sternguard, 1 Jump Pack for the Assault Squad)

Assault Squad (10, Jump Packs, 2 Melta Guns, SGT has Melta bomb)

Death Company (5, JP, 2 Power Axes)

Death Company DN (HF, Fists)

Storm Raven (TL LC, TL Melta)

Bastion w/ Void Shield and Quad guns

So, the Assault Squad likely deploys in the Bastion, Combat Squadding if possible to use the HB’s AND the Quad Guns for some crappy long ranged firepower…  Turn one the CPT and Sternguard drop in and hopefully destroy something important J…  The Storm Raven is here to dogfight, the DC and DC DN will likely ride in that and be my linebacker…  Win or die by turn three usually…  I lack the ability to hold much or hold for a long time, but I can very nearly guarantee “First Blood” if I go first…  Then hope to kill enough quickly enough to slide in Pete Rose style for a narrow win :-)...  Or at least get shot to pieces while scaring them a bit...

Redmaw and Tactical Marines...

So, Bran Redmaw…  With the addition of “Monstrous Creature” to his Werewolf form, he might just be a bit overpowered…  Well, ASSUMING you can get him to HtH.  Looking at typically 6 Attacks, all hitting on a 3+, Str 6 AP 2, and he CAN go to Str 10 if he needs to crack open a Vehicle.  Still an IC, so he can join up with a squad of Grey Hunters or whatever, Fearless and FnP are nice, etc…  Had him run up against a DA force last night and he singlehandedly offed 2 Deathwing Squads with that insane number of AP 2 attacks at I6.

Did lead me to an odd Rule question, and I hadn’t found anything preventing a Monstrous Creature who is also an IC from joining an Infantry unit…  Seemed a bit odd with the giant Werewolf in the Squad of Grey Hunters, but hey, they have damn Wolf Cavalry these days, so really, how odd is it?  Not too familiar with the Tyranids, guessing they are the only other army with MC/IC interactions like this though…

Have to say, I was impressed by the Bastion with the Void Shield.  The Long Fangs being protected in the battlements being able to REALLY split fire and do a lot of damage was quite nice.  Well, the turns the Shield was up…  It got knocked down on Turn 2, I think came back on Turn 5…  Still, for the extra 25 points or so?  Was awesome…

Even so, I am not convinced that the Wolves can face one of the top tier armies.  Well, face and have more than a trivial chance of winning…  Yes, I can do some deployment tricks and have up to half of my army Flank or Behind Enemy Lines, but with Interceptor so cheap and the loss of the ability to Assault out of Reserve, I come in, shoot with the handful of short ranged Special Weapons and the bolters I have, then hope NOT to simply get shot off the table.  Killing 10-12 Marines in Powered Armor is not I think a challenge for the armies I am concerned about facing.  The Wolves senses are a relic of the old rule set, and so mostly useless in Sixth.  The Rune Priest’s weapon is the ONLY real Psychic defense left in the game really at this point other than perhaps the GK Aegis, but even that does nothing to stop boosting powers, etc.  So, yes, having the perhaps slightly overcosted RP is a good thing.  One of the VERY few Wolf things worth still taking I think, and that mostly due to the favorable loophole left with the Psychic powers.  Still no fliers, the Grey Hunters are still good for what they are, but really, they are still just basic Marines.

Was discussing some of the issues with an actual Ultramarine player last night…  He feels that his basic Tactical Marines are more or less useless, and I have to agree.  Even in my Crimson Fist army, I field Troops only because I have to, but Scouts for the most part, Powered Armor tends to be on Sternguard…  The Bolter is just complete crap as a basic weapon.  Yes, it is really good against IG type troops, but when every other race has a much better basic weapon?  Necron Gauss glances Vehicles, Eldar Shuriken Rends against “living” targets, DE have poison, Tau have higher Str AND Range, etc…  To be honest I have yet to see a Tyranid force on the field and haven’t really read over their stuff, so the Marines MAY have an advantage in basic weapons over at least one new army.  Of course, games are rarely won by the Infantry’s basic weapon, but it does provide a good idea of what the Army can do I think.  Necrons can wipe the Vehicles off the field trivially, Eldar can kill off any Living army, etc…  Marines with Bolters are fairly mediocre against everything.  And you HAVE to field at least 2 Squads of Troops of some kind.  For the Marines, it is Scouts or a tax to be paid as they will likely do very little good in the game on their own.  Even Scouts with their craptastic stats are a tax in and of themselves, but at least they are cheap and have the POTENTIAL to actually wound say, a Riptide or Wraithlord…  Doesn’t happen often of course, but…  So, Marine armies by and large fight at something of a disadvantage if they use basic Troops.  Yes, some things like the Centurions have the potential to be amazing, but really they have to in order to overcome the inertia/tax/whatever you want to call the Marine’s now completely outclassed basic weapon.  Sternguard with their different ammo types are great, and at least some of that should be more of a “General Issue” sort of thing for all of the Marine Bolters I think.  Something, hell, ANYTHING to make the Bolters a bit better to keep up with the stuff that has by and large passed them…

Eh, painting a LOT of Grey things these days, might have to actually paint up a few of the Fleshtearer things just as a break from the “All Grey All the Time” Wolf Legion/Chapter theme I have going on my paint desk…

Never WAS a Bran Redmaw model?

I remembered seeing something online when IA 11 came out, but then never really saw the mini...  Turns out they had one as a WiP and then discarded it.  So, no official models...  I guess I'll be fine using a "Standard" Wolf Lord mit axe and one of my ancient Rackham Wolfen to represent him in Lupine form...  Neat I guess :-)...  Am a bit curious what sized base is recommended for the "Monstrous Creature" form...  Not wanting to be unfair, and as he more or less is ONLY a HtH creature, the larger base would be an advantage I think...  As it happens I have a few...

Have to put a kilt on the "Wolflord" form as well I guess...

6th Ed Wolves clarification, minor Tau Rant

It occurred to me after I posted last that I sounded a lot like I was just complaining and did not intend to actually run the Wolves in sixth edition…  Not true at all.  It is just looking to be more of a “challenge” than I had anticipated…  Frankly I am considering them and my Fleshtearers at this point.  The FT I think can compete more readily simply because they HAVE a flier and at least initially, the fast moving Deep Strike based force can surprise a lot of folks.  Wolves?  I guess I’ll see. 

The one thing I am far less sure that I can deal with is the Tau and the apparently completely legal ability to add an IC to a “unit” consisting of a Riptide and its wargear.  Because the “wargear” consists of drones and thus “models”, this means that the MC is no longer a “unit of one” and thus is apparently eligible to have IC(s) join it.  So, back to the 5^th Ed wound juggling and attendant stupidity.  And of course, there is the new Void Shield that may or may not confuse this situation…  This is putting me in a difficult situation as the League Organizer…  It is technically legal, just REALLY stupid.  Causing more arguments and more than one player just quit the game rather than argue the stupidity.  It would be one thing if this were something that were equally applied and EVERY army could do something of the sort, but right now there is really only one army that can do this effectively…  TECHNICALLY, the Wolves could do this with a Lone Wolf, his wolf buddies and then adding their uber-characters to the mix…  “Eh” at best there.  Most people shrug and ignore that…  The new MCs with ICs that would grant amazing bonuses that were CLEARLY never playtested correctly or accounted for in terms of the cost?  This is a game breaking problem.  The simple fix is that if a unit begins as a single model unit, it is ALWAYS a single model unit, wargear being a model or no has no effect on this designation.  Or declare that ICs cannot join MCs, no matter what.  Or alternately, let everyone do it.  I’m sure Wraithlords or Wraith Knights joined by Farseers or Grey Knight Dreadknights being joined by any number of their ICs wouldn’t be an issue J…  Or Tyranid MCs?  Yeah, so making it equal and closing the loophole being exploited seems the best case all around.  Will GW do it?  I doubt it.  I’m going to look at what the major TOs come up with and I guess our local group will use that as an official FAQ to house rule the game…  OK, I guess I was a bit sidetracked by a short rant there..

Got in an actual game last night with my Wolf Legion list…  How different than the 40K Wolves?  Not really sure…  My list was:

Praetor (Paragon Blade, etc., “Pride of the Legion”)

Forge Lord (Rad Grenades)

Primus Medacae (SP?  Centurion upgraded to Medic, AA and PS)

Cataphractii (10, Plasma Blaster and Reaper, various other weapons)

  Spartan (Cataphractii Transport, Ceremite upgrade)

Veteran Tactical Squad (HB, ML, SGT w/AA and PS)

  Rhino (Havoc Launcher)

Mortis DN (2 * TL LC)

Facing an old friend returning to the game after a long time away…  He brought an Iron Hands list with loads of DNs…  His Tac Squads were his Troops and they mostly stayed behind in Terrain camping objectives.  He had a Librarian in Terminator Armor with a Terminator Assault Squad (TH/SS) who combined with one of the DNs wrecked the Spartan…  Then the Cataphractii led out by the 3 ICs hidden in came out to deal with the new Terminators…  The Terminator suits were all remarkably resilient as I had one even survive to the end of the game.  I need to put more “real” weapons in the mix as the loadout with too many Power Swords and even Axes simply did not do well against an enemy DN.  We were locked in combat for a long time until the Chain Fist finally tore it apart.

Somehow we wound up drawing with him getting First Blood (my Spartan), both of our Warlords dying and I had Line Breaker.  We each camped one Objective and one was contested after 7 turns…  Good game, and glad his first 6^th ed game was against my friendly Legion list as opposed to a Tau or Eldar death list…

Did I learn anything useful for my 40K Wolves?  Yes, I think so…  Logan might be leading my forces out or Bran Redmaw with a load of Wolf Guard…  Logan makes them Troops, and the Special Rules he grants might be amusing.  The DNs are actually fairly good these days…  At least the ones with enough shots.  The 2*TL LC Mortis was amazing, coming in on turn 4, but killing a DN each turn until time ran out.  I cannot field that with the Wolves unfortunately, but it has me thinking…  If the Tau stupidity continues, allied Grey Knights with a Vindicare Assassin and the GK Rifleman might be amusing…  Or maybe someday soon my Wolves will be allowed to field a competitive list using the stuff the rest of the Imperium gets…

Wolves in Sixth?

So, looking at the Wolves codex again...  I do not think that I have ever really given it a long enough look in the Sixth Edition.  Probably not the best way to write this, but overall it is just bad. 

I'll start with what works...  At least until they get FAQ'd off the table.  The only things I see people bringing Wolves for are the Rune Priests.  Getting 2 for each HQ slot, they are the ONLY thing left in the game to stop Psychics and they still have non "book" powers that might be somewhat overly powerful against some things...  So, the Rune Priest is good...  And...

No real way around the basic facts and reality of the current game.  I will dig a bit deeper in a bit, but this was clearly written for a very different game.  Lots of things are too expensive and a lot simply do not work.

For instance the army wide rule for acute senses?  Neat when it worked against Night Fighting...  Which was itself rare, but now it only works for outflanking units...  Which I can have up to two if I take a specific HQ and buy the upgrade.  Yes, the Scouts still have the uber flanking.  But they have FAQ killed the ability to bring along a Wolf Guard to lead them.  Also the removal of the ability to Assault on entry from Reserve means they HAVE to be a shooting unit.  In 4+ armor.  With every army getting access to Interceptor, most with Twin Linked doubled up Auto Cannons...  Shooting 4 shots at Str 7 and AP 4 to effectively wipe out the 5 man Scout squad when it does show up.  Yea.  Not even touching the Tau with all of their Intercept.

So, Claw...  It seems to translate to "Craptastic" for this entire Codex.  Wolf Claw?  An overpriced Lightning Claw.  Blood Claw?  Craptastic Assault troops who despite being Marines are WORSE than the IG I see.  BS/WS 3 with restrictive rules making them act stupidity.  Oh, they can also have Jump Packs or Bikes...  Jump Packs are expensive and even more stupid.  There was a brief period where I could lead them out with a Wolf Guard a mitigate their stupidity, but that FAQ change was reversed long ago...  Bikes don't suck, but with Heldrakes even White Scar and DA bikes are unusable and cheaper/better...  So, there it is really...

Grey Hunters are still OK, but overpriced Basic Marines really.  Too many things are too good at killing Marines these days.  MSU was where the Jaegers were their best I think, and with First Blood being simple with just killing a Rhino Hull...  Not really viable.  I have had some success running a maxed out squad as a Flanker...  But really it is a single use trick that doesn't even work against Tau.  If I could shoot then Assault it might, but...  So, overall they have some useless special rules that are relics from the old editions unlike the Vanilla Marines who have a load of good and free updates.  More importantly they have no real way to survive the modern environment.  Too many Str 6+ massed shots, and too many things that ignore 3+ armor and/or cover.  The pendulum has swung too far away from the Marines as far as the game is concerned...

Experimenting with Imperial Armor a bit...  Bran Redmaw from IA 11 is expensive but allows me to do a bit more with a Squad of Grey Hunters gaining the Scouts rule for "Behind Enemy Lines" and Bran himself having the "Mark of the Hunter" which should allow him to flank and lead another unit in a regular Flank move...  Problem was until the Stronghold Assault rules hit, there was simply no way to keep the stuff I HAVE to deploy onto the field alive long enough.  Now I get to play with the Void Shields and the Defense Networks...  Probably NOT the way I had thought to run the army...  The AAA weapons are another thing out of the IA books that are a possibility and I HAVE a bunch of ancient resin missile turrets...  So, lacking ANYTHING in the AAA or Aircraft native in the Codex IA is pretty much the only option.  The Spartan class tank (I REALLY still want to call them Land Raiders) is one option...  Bringing Logan is another option with a lot of Drop Pods I guess...  Just so few viable options.  MAYBE a pack of actual Wolves as beasts to actually GET to HtH and the Wolf Cavalry?  Eh...  I just don't see it happening...  But, hey, maybe I missed something?

Tyranids and the Local Group

So, the new Tyranid book hit...  While I AM happy for the two local players who actually played the army, I am less sure overall.  Of course, I haven't seen it in action yet as both local players have extremely busy work schedules and have little time for gaming at the moment.  Some things look pretty good and it seems like it is a fairly well written book...  Despite the massive cut/paste from the previous book and the obvious missing models that got cut rather than allow a third party model take the place of the non-existent GW model.  So, no Tyranid drop pods for the players. 

Psychics look good, and losing the crutch of Biomancy is probably a good thing...  AA is going to be an issue, but they have fliers of their own to dogfight.  No Allies is a problem.  The ability to break the Force Org chart is now REALLY unequally applied.  And the Tyranids are not I think powerful enough to stand against the current top tier uber lists...  Hive Guard might be able to deal with Serpent Spam, but I am just not seeing the answer to the Tau silliness.  Even the Eldar answer is by no means a guarantee against a competent opponent.  Now, it does seem very well balanced again say, Marines or anything else...  Just nothing to threaten the top tier.

Wound up picking up a Land Raider Crusader from one of the locals paring down their collection…  One of the original ones with the metal sponson guns, etc…  I’ll need to order more Grey paint I think as I have finally decided that all 5 of my LRs will be Wolves…  Or at least 4 of them with the last Spartan Class (Original, MK I) probably staying black for Fleshtearers Death Company/Consecrators (DA) use…  And since no one EVER expects Deep Striking Land Raiders J  Might be hilarious to drop on a Tau army…  So, back to painting and assembling my stuff I guess.  No clue what the real order of releases will be, but I’m pretty happy to be back working on my original Wolves again.  Found a number of truly ancient Rhino track parts and need to manufacture the internal hull parts to get myself another 4-6 Rhinos.  I have some “cash” in the form of a pre-paid Amex card that I’m going to be spending at the Gopher…  Guessing I will have no problem finding enough to spend it all between the one thing I’d like to order and maybe some Magic or Star Trek stuff…  Maggie (My Amazing Wife) has started playing MtG with me again, so perhaps we’ll make it to one of the casual events soon…  I still have a bunch of ancient cards and glancing over the costs of some of them, am frankly amazed J…  Not “I can sell this and retire now amazed mind, just way more than I had dreamed these things would be worth…

Looking at the local group I am surprised to see (NOT including my own armies in this):

2 Eldar players, one Iyanden and one more old school Craftworld/Ghost…  Neither really playing the uber lists, more interested in playing a fun game than a win at all cost sort of thing…  I have a huge collection of ancient Eldar, so could probably play most of the lists….  Just that I got sick of playing the now massively overpowered (IMO) army and feeling like no one really has much a chance against me…

2 Tau players…  One with the Riptides of doom, one more Broadsides.  Powerful armies, good players, so…  Well, I try to steer newcomers away from that J.  But the armies ARE beatable and not really the insanely overly optimized tournament forces you might see as a big event.

One IG tread head…  He is THRILLED to have the Baneblade legal now and loads of LR tanks make up the basis of his normal army.  A few other IG players, one who just found the store last night and with this on the short list for the next book out…

Tyranids…  2 I know of, but neither of them is playing much.  One works for the Public Works Dept, so drives a snow plaw…  Overtime is good I guess J…  Hoping they both get back at some point, good games are had against them…

Marines?  One ACTUAL Ultra Marine player with his stuff fully painted in the colors…  Honestly, other than my brother painting up a squad or so of them I have NEVER actually seen anyone play Marines as Smurfs J…  Is kind of nice to see though, was beginning to think they were a myth.  3-4 others who have various vanilla or at least Codex Marines lists.  Even Ted getting back in with his Iron Hands… 

One other guy playing BA…  Mostly Death Company…  So, pretty close to my Flesh Tearers.  ‘course, he is one of the Eldar players now, so this is being built/painted now.  Another guy now playing Tau who used to play BA, so potentially he could come back J…  But pretty much not an army you see on the table anymore.

Wolves?  One guy who sometimes plays them…  2 of us also HAVE the army and I intend to bring mine back to the table despite it being pretty much hopeless in the modern environment.

Chaos of all sorts…  One Demon player, 4-5 Chaos Marine players…  Pretty mellow group overall.  Mostly themed lists, etc., so more fun than win at all costs…

Necrons…  One, playing a Croissant heavy force.  Tough army, really good player, but always a good game against him in my experience.  Another old time player who no longer gets out, and his Tyranids I think will see the table first…

Grey Knights?  2-3 who at times do play…  One who plays mostly Inquisition, but he works in the local theater group who have a production going now, so have not seen him much recently.  But a LOT of nice conversions in his force…  Again, more themed than focused overall for this group as well…

DA?  Well, I have mine…  One other guy who played, but his job takes him on the road frequently.  Another person was building an army, but has not yet played in a League locally…  Looking forward to seeing more Terminators though J….

So, yeah, not really counting my: VI Legion, Wolves, Consecrators (DA), Flesh Tearers (BA), Crimson Fists, IG (Praetorians), Eldar or Grey Knights in that count :-)...  As my wife says I have too many armies...

So overall now that I have actually written it all in all we have a VERY diverse group of armies being played locally.  Most of us are actually pretty happy with 6^th edition and the expansions…  NOT being a very high stress/competitive place, we are actually growing with more people showing up and actually buying stuff ever week it seems…  May not be seeing the wider picture, but if there is a summer campaign, I would expect that we could get a fair number of folks in to play it…