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…

Just some WIP shots…

Just throwing out a few pictures of some of the lads I'm working on… For the record, the magnets that close together (3 in each Terminator) make it a pain in the ass to get the 2^nd and third ones in place… But this way it won't be painted Monday, but I can put out a truly WYSIWYG force… Might even be painted for the next League…. Now, I just have to decide if I'm playing DA or Grey Knights…

Next League and “stuff”

So, from what we discussed last week, it is looking like a good bet that we'll be playing a team league, 1000 points/each so 2000/side. Assuming that the same side can share things like teleport homers and the like, my DA are in an excellent position to "assist" and quite frankly I think they're about the strongest in this sort of a setup. I'll be bringing 2 squads of Terminators with Cyclone Missile Launchers (CML), 3 Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield and 2 Lightning Claw (CML with the LC) and CPT Bezaliel (CPT Belial) as the basis of any force I bring. From here I can bring Whirlwinds, Vindicators, Typhoon class Speeders, Ravenwing Squadrons (bikes) and even a Land Raider Crusader… That will motivate me to get back to work on that conversion I guess… But in any case, a good "general" list with the "Deathwing base", Whirlwind, Vindicator and 2 Typhoon Speeders is just a bit short for the 1000 points, so one squad will get an Apothecary since the biggest disadvantage I've found so far for the DA is that there really is not much customization you can do, especially with Deathwing. In any case, I'll be fielding a fully WYSIWYG and mostly painted force by the end of the league I'd bet…



With the guns of doom, found one of my old CZ-52's that I'm cleaning up… It's more or less somewhere between an AK-47 and one of the SKS type rifles… 10 round removable magazine, integrated bayonet, semi-automatic rifle chambered in 7.62x45 rather than the 7.62x39. I do have a conversion kit for it to make it "sort of" 7.62x39, but never used it since I wound up with a few thousand rounds of the x45… Once again more random stuff found in the basement of doom… I suppose I should stop being surprised what I find in there at this point :-)

So, it’s March…

So, March already…

 

Big moves on the job front, breaking out the resume to "tailor" it to the upcoming position I found out about. Since it appears I'll not be merged into Atlas like I had hoped, this appears the way to move over there on my own. Not at all sure how fierce the competition will be for the job, but since it's my way out/up I'm gearing up to move. The guy in charge over at Atlas will be moving out to ASU, and looks like he'll be helping move me over there to Department "X" … Anyway, gearing up for that and hoping that it works out. A raise would be nice, but even more important I think will be the working for an IT department and actually doing something I enjoy and not quite so mind numbing. Also gearing up for a move within my current Department to make the transition away from me easier, whether it is an internal "promotion" for the #3 guy here taking over for me or if they actually go out and hire some poor schmuck to fill this slot…

 

On the guns front, getting pictures, but the more I do with this, the less enthused I am… Would far rather have gone with the early 80's Honda Silverwing, but that would involve selling a gun or three with the family finances being what they are… :-\ Yeah, it would probably be selling half a dozen or more, and the market for that is tricky. Can't reasonably just take them to a street corner and sell them like that, too great a chance they go to an undercover cop trying to entrap me in something stupid or to someone who may well use them in criminal activity themselves. So, selling a few guns during an "economic downturn" is not really the best option. Ah well, maybe the motorcycle will actually work… And I AM looking forward to riding again after so long…

 

Gaming, we're between leagues, should be discussing what to do for the next one. I am still putting together my Dark Angels stuff, so lots of Terminator class armor for my Deathwing Squads and bikes for the Ravenwing squads being assembled/painted. 1500 points is a bit tight for all of the options I'd LIKE to have, but it's what we can do at the Gopher, so that's what I'll build…

What Next?

Well, ran through a League and Tournament with my Consecrator's Deathwing contingent ending with a Tournament win and placing fairly well in the League… Was REALLY trying not to let my more competitive nature take over and just win there as well. The main reason I started up my DA Legion force was to get away from the "more competitive" armies almost all of my other armies became after the current run of codices. So, naturally, right after I start building it, GW releases a FAQ that instantly brings the DA right up to a "Very Competitive" level… Only army I have that is not in my opinion overpowered at the moment is my Grey Knights detachment, and they're the next codex… Detachment I say because I have probably 15-20 Terminators, most of them the older RT ones that we could bring in as allies if we felt it necessary to blow a metric crapton of points on a single 5 man squad to go with maybe 10-15 Power Armored Knights… And being the last gamer to move out of several shared "gamer" houses, I wound up inheriting a LOT of random crap, including these lads… Not really playable at the moment, but next month… From the looks of things, they're going to be on the higher end of the "power" scale… Not unbeatable by any means, but REALLY powerful. 'course, I could be wrong…

 

My Dark Angels are being painted as Consecrators I guess, not sure if I am going to actually paint the Consecrators symbol or just use the RT era/DA Legion markings… They're REALLY quite powerful, but they do struggle against horde forces primarily. Not much else can stand against them. Now, my "Horde" definition includes the standard IG or Ork Infantry hordes as well as Vehicle swarms like the DE and… Well, pretty much the DE I guess, maybe IG or Sisters but not as much so I think. Not many other forces can bring a combination of so many of low AP and high volume shooting attacks against my small force in a mess of vehicles that can on occasion simply ignore my AT missiles. In any case, busy converting and painting the lads up in the basic colors, will worry about the Legion/Chapter marking later… Reminds me, I have to get more magnets from Dave…

 

So, my current project(s) are going to be:

 

1. Getting pictures of the various C&R weapons for Mr. Woolsey so that I can get that trade off… Maggie isn't thrilled, but since I'm willing to give up a crapton of my old rifles and pistols for an old motorcycle, she's "mostly ok" with it… 'course, it's been 20 years since I owned a bike, this time I'll even own it legally… In any case, it's an older "cruiser" type bike… Not exactly what I had in mind (an early 80's Honda Silverwing would have been perfect), but the price is right and my options here are somewhat limited…
   
2. MK I Land Raider conversion to a Spartan class raider… It's annoying to me how nice my old Spartan looks, not sure I'll be able to replicate that after 20+ years, but this time I'll have it magnetized in hopes of running it at next year's Adepticon either in a team tournament or just on my own… I think that a team consisting of DA, GK, BA and "other Marines" would be pretty hard to beat if it is put together right…
   
3. Related to that, I have a few Jet Bikes or similar things to convert over for a Sammael (or whoever I choose to be the Master of the Ravenwing)… I like the idea of bringing just Troops out there, and he unlocks the Ravenwing as Troops for the DA like Belial does for the Deathwing… So, a bunch of Scouting, Teleport Homer equipped bikes being the advance force for Teleporting Deathwing, half of whom I CAN bring down on turn one… Yes, please… Death to Mech lists, and the annoying Hordes I can just play "keep away" from sniping with bikes as light Cavalry and my Deathwing as Heavy Infantry sitting in cover (hopefully) and slowly retreating, firing as they do so…

Just a random WIP :-)

Just throwing up a few pictures of a random work in progress… In the ancient times, I bought my first Land Raiders in 88 or 89… It was the original MK I that came 2 in a box… Neat, but since they were 750 points EACH, it wasn't really practical to actually field them… Ever, really… By second edition I actually COULD field them in games other than what would have been "Apocalypse" games. We played some stupid big games back then at my buddies houses, usually a whole weekend… 40K (RT) did NOT scale well above a few squads per sides if you were wanting a quick game. Anyway, I converted one over to a Spartan class Land Raider. Back then the White Dwarf magazine actually had things like this that actually helped the gamers, it had templates to make Whirlwinds, Vindicators and the like out of the Rhinos. And this was a conversion using parts of a Rhino and the whole LR to make a larger Raider that could actually carry a squad of Terminators. And I have always liked the Terminator armor, and have a BUNCH of them nowadays with my Deathwing army and all those other armies I have… Grey Knights, Wolves, and Fleshtearers all have at least a squad or two's worth of them. The Deathwing on the other hand has something like 40 of them so far… So, to that end, I'll be converting my second LR over to a Spartan class and magnetizing the weapon loadouts so I can use it as an ancient Land Raider Crusader in my army… Hopefully it will work out ok… Pics to follow if I can get Word and Blogger to play nicely that is…

Pics from the tournament...

From the Armored Gopher Tournament 19 Feb 2011...

From my first game against the IG :-) Initiative seized, Deathwing dropped in to say "Hi"...  Game ended before they could all be killed, I'd like to think the Teleporters extracted the lads...

This was against Mike's chaos force...  First shot was of my Ravenwing just before they died :-)

Yes, found the camera too... 

Getting into playing "strange" lists...  I figure that some of the things not normally seen on the field like Techmarines, Whirlwinds, etc...  The DNs are solid, and I think that I might field at least a pair of them...  It'll be interesting at least, but will probably lose.  Not a problem, the best lessons I think come from analyzing a defeat.  Wins do not tell you as much I think...

Tournament…

Well, we had our store's league tournament… Played:

 

Belial (TH/SS)

4 Deathwing squads (2 TH/SS, 1 LC, CML w/SP/PF, SB/PF), one w/Apothecary

Land Speeder Typhoon

Ravenwing Squadron (2 Melta, Attack bike w/MM)

DN (TLAC)

 

We played "Rules of Engagement" stuff, so weird missions…

Game one against a good IG Blob/Mech mix. I wound up seizing imitative, with Deathwing assault and my own deployment I was able to pretty thoroughly wreck a flank, deep strike another squad on one of his objectives (mission was to get BtB with objective during movement, and spend the Assault phase blowing it up)… Later my flanking Ravenwing zipped in and got the second one. The sheer number of missiles the army throws downrange makes life hell for a Mech army. So, wound up winning that one on the tiebreaker of kill points as we both ended up achieving our primary and secondary objectives (mine was hold one of my own objectives, and Deathwing in cover are REALLY hard to dig out)…

 

Second game was against Mike's new Chaos army… My mission involved "recovering information" from one of his objective points… Have to spend the whole Movement phase in contact with the point, then that's it… Secondary objective was hold one of my own points. Took a chance, moved the Ravenwing into BtB with his in my Scout move, miscalculated and his Daemon Prince was able to reach me on the first turn… Oops. Well, long story short the Deathwing were able to kill off pretty much everything in HtH or my shooting it with missiles… So, another one where we both got our objectives (his was "Assassinate", he killed Belial with a Daemon Prince before it was hammered out of existence), but I got more kill points so the win…

 

Third game was against an Iron Hands (Salamanders)… Pretty good list, excellent player… It came down to him missing my Speeder, and the Speeder killing the LRC. Vulkan and his TH/SS squad had to get out and walk. We both saw how many 1's we could roll as we each lost a Terminator squad or so to random normally saved shots… A Deathwing squad met Vulkan and his much reduced escort, and was victorious. So, once again Deathwing sitting on objectives in cover win it out…

 

Last game was against a very large IG blob army… My mission was "Annihilation", basically I had to take ALL of his units to less than 50% starting strength… Yeah, not going to happen in a timed game, or frankly with Deathwing. Prevented him from his mission, so won the tournament on win/loss record… Will post pics in a few days, think I left my camera at the store though…

Another week…

    

Updating my resume yet again… Prepping for a few jobs I know are coming up, and having a few folks look it over… I'll be tailoring the resume to try to fit the job description, shouldn't be too hard. I've had more than a few jobs over the years, so I could put a LOT of random stuff on paper, at least what I could either remember or admit to… Yes, this is shaping up to be a bit more intensive than I anticipated, but I think it will be worth it…

 

On the gaming front, tournament this weekend… Biggest choice will be Whirlwind or just stick to the "standard" list as follows:

 

"The Number Shall Be Three…"

Belaziel (Belial) w/ TH/SS or LC

3 Deathwing squads with 2 TH/SS, 1 LC and Cyclone Missile Launcher in each, one of them with the Apothecary upgrade

3 Ravenwing Typhoons (MM/TML)

3 DNs, Mortis (2 TL AC), 2 others… All in gunboat configurations…

 

Whirlwind would be useful against one or two lists really… So probably a "no" for the tournament…

For the Tournament :-)

Well, gearing up for the Tournament next weekend… I think I've narrowed my choice down to one of two lists:

 

Belial (TH/SS or LC)

4 Deathwing Squads, 2 TH/SS, 1 LC and Cyclone Missile Launcher in each. One squad w/Apothecary

DN (TLAC or Plasma/ML)

Land Speeder Typhoon (MM/TML)

Ravenwing Squadron (Attack bike w/MM, 2 Melta)

 

 

Belial (TH/SS)

3 Deathwing Squads each w/ 2 TH/SS, LC, CML, etc…

3 DNs (TLACx2, Plasma/ML, ?)

3 Land Speeder Typhoons (Multi Melta, TML)

 

Well, the first one has 4 troops, the Ravenwing scout, flank and have teleport homers allowing me to deep strike in with no deviation. And the Deathwing have their "Deathwing Assault" rule allowing me to bring up to half of them in on turn one like the Drop Pod Assault, but I "May" bring up to half, I do NOT have to bring them in early. So, mobile(ish) and more troops allowing me to set up in cover and hold a bit longer…

 

Second one is more spamish, LOTS of heavy weapons (21 so far, plus whatever the last DN brings) each turn… So, I think it can take on pretty much whatever I face… Sadly I do actually have pretty much all of it ready to roll, either way really. This second list I think really wins more by killing lots of things than by playing for the objectives, etc… But still it might be the better one for a tournament… I could also change out one of the DNs for a Whirlwind and random upgrades all around…

 

I'll have to look at the Escalation scenarios a bit more to see which one looks like it works better…

Let’s try this again :-)

Bloody magnets are REALLY powerful… Trying to get too fancy I think with some of them since they are resisting my efforts to have the same pole face outward on either side of the bodies, especially some of the truly ancient lead RT Termis… There is a very real size difference there, but with my Consecrators it just feels right to use the ancient metals.

The lads did well at 1250 points, fielded:

Belial (TH/SS)

4 Deathwing squads each with a Cyclone Missile launcher, 2 TH/SS, 1 LC, one squad with the Medic

2 Typhoon Speeders with MM/TML

 

So, a crapton of Str 8 low(ish) AP shots… 14, 12 missiles and 2 Multi Melta… Not bad, especially at 1250 points. Not the most mobile, especially when I roll 1's and 2's for moving through difficult terrain and fail to assault almost every turn with one squad, but I could Deep Strike if I need to. I do REALLY prefer to do so in concert with a beacon like on the Ravenwing, but still, "Who Dares Wins". One of the things I'm really looking at for next year's Adepticon is whether they keep the allied beacons usable by all of the people on that side. Scouting bikes and attack bikes with built in beacons could be a huge advantage for some of the weird missions, especially with me fielding a bunch of Fearless Terminators who can very reliably just appear more or less anywhere on the field. Especially if my partner can back my play with heavy weapons and/or dedicated assault troops. Blood Angels, Wolves and the Dark Angles will all make excellent "team players" in the context of this type of tournament.

 

1250 Level

Ah :-) Finally… Well, the dice were not friendly as my Deathwing died to a BA list last night… Dedicated Assault Terminators with Lightning Claws and a CPT with Thunderhammer getting a grand total of 2 hits and one kill over the course of 3-4 turns of HtH? Yes, the list was solid and the plan was sound, just was not a good night to be a Consecrator Deathwing member apparently…



Anyway up to 1250 and I'm thrilled…



So:

Belial (Bezaliel for my chapter) probably TH/SS or Claws 130

Deathwing "Command" Squad: Apothecary, CML, 2 TH/SS, LC 270

(might swap out the CML for the Standard if I just want to sell out for an assault squad)

Deathwing Squad: CML, mix of weapons 235

Deathwing Squad: CML, Mix o' weapons 235

Mortis class DN (2 x TLAC) 125

Land Raider Crusader (+ storm bolter) 255



Nothing at all subtle here, Land Raider rolls forward with Bezaliel and his squad loaded out with HtH weapons covered by the other two squads and the DN… The Ravenwing might do the same job, but I REALLY like the DNs…



The other major option would just be 4 Deathwing squads, one of the w/ Apothecary option, all with the CML and 2 Typhoon class speeders (breaking out some of the ancient metal ones I have)… I do not think I could deal well with another Terminator based force, but Marines are in trouble with 12 Str 8 AP 3 missiles each turn… Horde forces? Well, against the IG, I'd just be saturating the heavy weapon teams with fire for the first few turns, hoping for even average rolls on the cover saves for him since each missile kills the entire team it hits (more than double the T value). Then more or less choose one blob and just pour all of my fire into it until it goes away or reaches me. Since I am also able to fire on the move, I'll likely be backing up as I fire… Orks? Um, yes… Just choose the nearest blob, fire like we're voting in Chicago… Early, often and targeted…



Power and Internet blipping in and out here, so I'll post as it comes back :-)

It’s a few weeks out, but…

Local Tourney coming up in a few weeks… We run leagues in the store with a tournament at the end of an 8 week league, so this is the end of our "escalation league"… I've been doing fairly well with my Consecrators "Deathwing" force so far, but we're only at the 1000 point level, I have very little experience at the Tournament's level of 1500 points… So, is a second HQ even worth it at the 1500 point level? I considered running something fairly "standard" at least more "old school DW" like this:

Belial (TH/SS or LC)

Librarian (TDA, Combi melta?)

Deathwing "Command Squad" (CML, 2 TH/SS, LC, Apoth)

Deathwing squad (as above)

DN (PC/ML)

Land Raider Crusader

Land Raider

Land Speeder Typhoon

 

But my concerns are that the Librarian is really expensive for a 2 wound "might be useful" model, only 2 "Troops" squads and the Land Raiders are not all THAT hard for a lot of forces to take down when push comes to shove… Still might win a few by virtue of being so compact and tightly focused, just more likely to be destroyed for the same reason I think… That and the LRC I "have" is actually a MK I Land Raider I am converting to a Spartan class LR with magnetized weapons… I SHOULD be able to get it done by then, but…

 

My other initial thought was just Terminator Saturation:

Belial (TH/SS)

4 squads of Deathwing, one w/Apoth, all with: CML, 2 TH/SS, LC, etc…

DN (Gunboat, TLAC or PC and ML)

Ravenwing Attack Squadron (2 Melta, Attack bike w/MM)

Land Speeder Typhoon

 

I've been REALLY liking the Deathwing Assault combined with the Ravenwing's teleport homers allowing me to simply place the deep strikers exactly where I want them (Also a BA player, the Drop pods w/ beacons are HUGE for my DoA lists)… It's surprised a fair number of people locally and allowed me to put my people in the best possible defensive positioning to take and hold objectives… Then just hold until time runs out really… Down sides being: Only 2 vehicles and Terminators are not THAT hard to kill, especially with the new DE 5^th ed "star cannon" (Yes, I remember that far back when the Eldar came out in 3^rd ed with the Star Cannons that just wiped Marine armies off the tables using them…) or just massed AT firepower… Up sides being: 4 troops that are not easy to kill, all fearless so, no worries about running away or IG PBS silliness, fair amount of long range firepower, etc…

Higher Point Levels…

OK, time to start thinking about what the Deathwing can bring at a 1500 point level… And what I can actually have assembled (at least) by the 19^th for the Tourney at the Gopher… Not sure whether to sell out and go with 2 Deathwing squads mounted in Land Raiders or the other way and bring what my old friend Taleni would call "more"… Taleni Pahulu was another SGT in my old company, Samoan… Used to joke that his tribe had "only 5 numbers, but they were a very happy tribe… Their numbers were zero, one, two, three, and more"… My Deathwing are annoyingly difficult to dig out when they hunker down in cover on an objective. Does kind of go against my normal "Attack like you're voting in Chicago… Early and Often" mode… Dropping the 20+ Terminators out there, all of them (except Belial himself) being "Troops" backed by Ravenwing for scouting bikes and teleport homers, and of course meltas… Well, that might be difficult for most armies to face…

More toys being built…

Mkay, so building more of the lads… Experimenting with the rare earth magnets and various weapon and arm load outs… With the Dark Angels, I can field a good mix of Assault weapons (Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield and Lightning Claws) along with the more "traditional" Storm Bolter/Power Fist and even one of the heavy weapons… The Cyclone just got useful, but to be honest I was going to be using one anyway. Assault Cannons are OK, and they'll probably always be the weapon I break out by default since they were the first ones I used in the old days, but they really require me to roll a LOT of 6's to really hurt Marines or vehicles… The Cyclone, average or even a bit below works fine…

 

Anyway, with the DA, I can field the Cyclone on a Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield Terminator for the 3++ save, "I don't care" class weapons in HtH and shooting out to 48" range… Now, I call them "I Don't Care" class because overall it doesn't really matter what you're hitting, barring odd cases like an Eldar Seer Council, 2++ saves, or other Terminator class armor… Well, it all goes splat. Still trying to find the best mix of weapons with the Deathwing, but it is fun to play it, even if… Well, actually especially because it is NOT the most "competitive" build I can field. It surprises a lot of folks, and it is really just rock solid. Not subtle at all. But fun…

 

Also breaking out another thing I found in the basement of doom… An ancient MK I Land Raider, in pretty rough shape, but one of the 2 I picked up in the first box set WAY back in the late 80's… 2 Land Raiders came to a box for $20, and 3 Rhinos for the same price… I'll be combining it with a wrecked MK I Rhino for another Spartan Class Land Raider, but this one I'll be using the magnets on the weapon mounts to allow the swapping of the options… Should be interesting when I finally get it back out on the table… Just hope I can make this one look as nice as the other one from way back then…

Second Stage of the League

Mkay, made it through the first stage of the League (the 750 point level) with one win and a draw… Now we're up to the 1000 point level. So, I can bring more than the 2 squads and Belial out to play… I've also got to remember to just play the mission. Wound up with a draw because I broke cover with the one squad to engage and destroy a Rhino full of basic Chaos Marines. Well, that I ignored my rule of "Missile Launchers shall ONLY fire krak missiles"… With the updated rules for the Cyclone, I can get the 2 shots/turn, and while I was able to cover 7 of them with frag templates and do 5 wounds, I went away with NO kills. Compared to the potential just kill 2/turn, I would have wiped the squad much quicker had both squads maintained fire discipline and just shot from the objectives…

 

Anyway, more magnets picked up, more Thunder Hammers and Shields ordered, so I plan on making more swappable Deathwing models… So, next week, I'll be running something along these lines:

Belial (TH/SS)     130

Deathwing "Command Squad": Cyclone, Apothecary, mix of TH/SS, LC, SB/PF     265

Deathwing Squad: Cyclone, mix of weapons    235

Ravenwing Squadron: 2 Plasma Guns, Attack bike with MM, PF on SGT 225

Dreadnaught (Plasma/Missile or TLAC/Missile) 135

 

Might work out better…

Deathwing Resurgence

Well, with the FAQ released today, my new army just got a WHOLE lot better… Storm Shields, Cyclones, Typhoons, Medics and the like all moved to the current standard types to match the regular Marine equipment… So, I'll try the random picture posting…

Escalation League, starting at 750

Escalation League, starting at 750

 

Starting out my Consecrators from scratch, going for a Deathwing force, we're running an escalation league at the FLGS, so seemed like a good place to start this:

 

Belial            130

Deathwing (AC)        245

Deathwing (CML)    235

And then ? Probably a gunboat DN (ML/PC or ML/TLAC or Mortis if allowed), or maybe a really small Ravenwing squadron to flank and use the homing beacon for the Termis… 750 is a bit "tight" to field an effective force, but it's where we're starting the league…