Just a few:
So, the DA Power Field no longer works while embarked on a vehicle... Really, GW? So, just one of the effects for embarked things does not work, but ALL THE REST DO? Yeah, it was a cheap and easy way to get a 4++ for things close to the Land Raider... But is that worst than the Ork cover saves, etc.? I know, consistency is really asking too much from GW, but... I guess it was just too easy for folks to build an army with a few Land Raiders and bikes flanking them... Something to keep the bikes alive amid the Heldrake swarms is probably too much to ask for...
The Necron lightning storm effect Imoptep (or whatever the name is) gets for fucking FREE now affects fliers and Flying Monstrous Creatures. But the Wolves storm and every other "Affects EVERYTHING" thing does not...
Really, just consistency in the rulings is all I am looking for...
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Eldar next?
So, bored with most of my other stuff, and trying to come up with something to fit into the saddle bags of the bike... So, Eldar it is...
Either:
Eldrad
Wraithguard (10, Spiritseer)
Pathfinders (5)
War Walkers (3, Scatter lasers)
Wraithlord (flamers, Shur Cannon or Sword)
Or:
Farseer
Wraithseer (D Cannon)
Wraithguard (10, Spiritseer)
Pathfinders (5)
Wraithlord (EML)
Support Weapon (D Cannon)
So, one has the uber wizard, the rock unit and a few walkers, etc... Small army, but hard to kill... War Walkers throw out a LOT of shots, Guide is possible... As is Doom... Second one is similar, the Wraithseer makes the Wraiths REALLY annoying with FnP, Fleet, etc... And a few D-Cannons are never really bad... So, 20 or so models, and I think other than Demons I could team up pretty well with most of the other players... Both could be pretty good at low numbers of objectives with the ability to hold in place pretty darn well, and kill points are easy with such low numbers... OTOH, any army that can throw out a LOT of fire, well... :-) At least it'll be a short game...
Either:
Eldrad
Wraithguard (10, Spiritseer)
Pathfinders (5)
War Walkers (3, Scatter lasers)
Wraithlord (flamers, Shur Cannon or Sword)
Or:
Farseer
Wraithseer (D Cannon)
Wraithguard (10, Spiritseer)
Pathfinders (5)
Wraithlord (EML)
Support Weapon (D Cannon)
So, one has the uber wizard, the rock unit and a few walkers, etc... Small army, but hard to kill... War Walkers throw out a LOT of shots, Guide is possible... As is Doom... Second one is similar, the Wraithseer makes the Wraiths REALLY annoying with FnP, Fleet, etc... And a few D-Cannons are never really bad... So, 20 or so models, and I think other than Demons I could team up pretty well with most of the other players... Both could be pretty good at low numbers of objectives with the ability to hold in place pretty darn well, and kill points are easy with such low numbers... OTOH, any army that can throw out a LOT of fire, well... :-) At least it'll be a short game...
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Been quiet for a bit... Next?
Well, got the new motorcycle... That killed a bit of time and spare money :-) ... Selling the old Silverwing, so anyone looking for a solid old light cruiser lmk... Been cycling through my armies too, just nothing keeping my interest long with 1000 point team games. Well, to be fair I doubt even at the 1850 level there will be much interesting to me...
Brought out my Crimson Fists last week. We ended up losing a close game despite playing the demon cannon of khorne as Star 8 AP3, no cover... It is AP 5. We lost pretty much the whole DA Ravenwing portion of the army to that piece before finally killing it. That and the random table of doom they roll on every turn... Didn't see a single bad result from that, mostly gave them better invulnerable saves, and hitting EVERY enemy unit on a 6 for d6 "you're dead" hits... We had a Lot of units, so... Sixes will come up... Was still a fun game, just a bit frustrating knowing that with a few good rolls on their part, what we brought and did really did not matter.
So, this league I have played Flesh Tearer, Dark Angels, Wolves and Crimson Fists... May play Eldar next week :-) ... Do not think I can firthe Praetorians on the new bike...
Brought out my Crimson Fists last week. We ended up losing a close game despite playing the demon cannon of khorne as Star 8 AP3, no cover... It is AP 5. We lost pretty much the whole DA Ravenwing portion of the army to that piece before finally killing it. That and the random table of doom they roll on every turn... Didn't see a single bad result from that, mostly gave them better invulnerable saves, and hitting EVERY enemy unit on a 6 for d6 "you're dead" hits... We had a Lot of units, so... Sixes will come up... Was still a fun game, just a bit frustrating knowing that with a few good rolls on their part, what we brought and did really did not matter.
So, this league I have played Flesh Tearer, Dark Angels, Wolves and Crimson Fists... May play Eldar next week :-) ... Do not think I can firthe Praetorians on the new bike...
Thursday, April 18, 2013
So, on to another Army, Crimson fists for a change of pace?
Wolves are doing "OK", and I may well use them next week. I DO like the Wolf Priest mit Jaeger saga, and Wolf Scouts I think will also do well enough to justify their being fielded... Will still get murdered by aircraft though... Might even stop raining by then so I can ride my bike out...
Looking at breaking out my old Crimson Fist force:
Pedro Kantor
Scout Squad (5, shotguns, Heavy Bolter)
Scout Squad (10, cloaks, 9 snipers, Heavy Bolter)
Sternguard (10, 2 Heavy Flamers, 6 Combi Melta, 2 Combi Plasma, SGT w/LC, Drop Pod)
Thunderfire Cannon
and ?
Thinking Land Speeder Storm for the Shotgun squad and maybe an Attack Bike? I could drop the one Scout Squad to 5 men and take a Vindicator or the like I guess... Liking the ability to drive forward and drop the big Str 10 AP 1 Ord template... Might come in handy for 125 points... Still have 55 points, not sure what non useless thing I can get...
Low model count army, and the bulk of the actual Troops are just regular Scouts... Too many things these days taking away the cover save, so might go "poorly", but might actually work... OTOH, Scoring Sternguard can be brutal dropping in on someone and combat squadding...
Looking at breaking out my old Crimson Fist force:
Pedro Kantor
Scout Squad (5, shotguns, Heavy Bolter)
Scout Squad (10, cloaks, 9 snipers, Heavy Bolter)
Sternguard (10, 2 Heavy Flamers, 6 Combi Melta, 2 Combi Plasma, SGT w/LC, Drop Pod)
Thunderfire Cannon
and ?
Thinking Land Speeder Storm for the Shotgun squad and maybe an Attack Bike? I could drop the one Scout Squad to 5 men and take a Vindicator or the like I guess... Liking the ability to drive forward and drop the big Str 10 AP 1 Ord template... Might come in handy for 125 points... Still have 55 points, not sure what non useless thing I can get...
Low model count army, and the bulk of the actual Troops are just regular Scouts... Too many things these days taking away the cover save, so might go "poorly", but might actually work... OTOH, Scoring Sternguard can be brutal dropping in on someone and combat squadding...
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Game play issues, long random post :-)
Mkay, kind of just killing time before next meeting, so...
Wondering if I am missing something, but there seems to be some things that just do not make sense to me...
Comparing Chaos to Loyalist Terminators. Chaos has by default the "Combi Bolter", so twin linked bolter. Loyalists have the "Storm Bolter". Combi Bolter, looking at the math, I get one shot at >12" to 24" range that hits something like 90% of the time (8/9). Storm Bolter for out to 24" range has the Assault 2, so 2 shots at the usual BS 4. Been a while since I took Statistics or Math, but I'm thinking the odds of at least one hit are (1 - [1/3*1/3]) or 8/9... The same odds for a single hit from the Combi Bolter... Getting TWO hits, your odds are somewhat worse, so 4/9? The Loyalist weapon is slightly better for that range bracket, but within 12" range when the Combi Bolter fires twice with twin linking? The Chaos version is clearly superior at the shorter range bracket, and enough so that I would question why I would want to ever run a Storm Bolter over a Combi Bolter. Mind, the reality is both are pretty crap weapons in the grander scheme, but on a Terminator at least I do have to question why I would go away from the working version to one that may be slightly better at longer range, but clearly worse where the bulk of my shooting actually occurs? Started thinking about this looking at my Wolves where I CAN get a bunch of Combi weapons, though not a Combi Bolter. For balance I can see why GW would not change the SB rules given the Grey Knights and the huge mass of them they could field on "non Terminator" models... Would I pay a few more points to swap CB for SB? Maybe... I DO think it should have been a default option, to allow the Loyalists to keep the CB over the SB if they want...
Keeping on the Terminator weapons, I've previously gone over how I feel about the once mighty Assault Cannon... Currently, 4 shots is nice, but needing a 6 on the to wound/armor penetration roll to do much of anything makes it "less useful" as far as I am concerned. Str 6 AP 4 just doesn't cut it these days especially given the 24" range and the Rending shots are still just AP 4, and so less likely to actually destroy a Vehicle rolling on the chart vs. taking hull points... And since I'm looking for 6's a lot of the time anyway to do anything to Vehicles... Needs a range boost, Str boost and something helping with Vehicles... Until then, I cannot see paying an additional 30 points and giving up the (admittedly crap) Storm Bolter for the "gee, I hope I roll lots of 6's" weapon. In general the new Assault Cannon compares unfavorably to the "older" Reaper class Autocannon. Once again, fewer shots, but in this case higher Str and 50% greater range? Yes, loses Rending, so cannot ever actually touch AV 14... OK. But I think I'd rather be able to ping lighter armor more regularly... And of course the extra range would be really nice...
Cyclone took a hit as well, though it is still useful. AP 3 makes the Krak missiles less useful for taking down vehicles, but they still actually kill Marines, so... Not TOO bad, but when compared to some of the more modern choices, it is simply overpriced. But this and the Heavy Flamer are the ones that seem close enough to actually use...
Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield... With the game going away from HtH, not nearly so useful I think. Giving up all shooting attacks is bad, but the 3++ and "I Don't Care" weapon... Worth 45 points on a Terminator. Worth 63? No. Wolves get to customize the hell out of their Terminators, but we do have to pay a really heavy cost to do so. Lightning Claws are 48 points on either Terminator or Powered Armor... Yeah, the LC are slightly better than "Vanilla" ones, but all of the LC took a pretty serious hit in the age of AP on powered weapons... NOT so bad a hit as the "Power Maul" of course... AP 4 on a Powered Weapon? Tre' Craptastic. AND the fact that all of my Chaplain types are stuck with it? Why? Why would I field a standard weapon incapable of actually punching through Powered Armor? Yes, Str 6 so it is not complete crap, but really? Playing a lot with Wolf Priests in my force and finding them losing combats because they cannot ignore 3+ armor...
:-) Mkay, mostly unfocused free riffs there, but a start I think...
Wondering if I am missing something, but there seems to be some things that just do not make sense to me...
Comparing Chaos to Loyalist Terminators. Chaos has by default the "Combi Bolter", so twin linked bolter. Loyalists have the "Storm Bolter". Combi Bolter, looking at the math, I get one shot at >12" to 24" range that hits something like 90% of the time (8/9). Storm Bolter for out to 24" range has the Assault 2, so 2 shots at the usual BS 4. Been a while since I took Statistics or Math, but I'm thinking the odds of at least one hit are (1 - [1/3*1/3]) or 8/9... The same odds for a single hit from the Combi Bolter... Getting TWO hits, your odds are somewhat worse, so 4/9? The Loyalist weapon is slightly better for that range bracket, but within 12" range when the Combi Bolter fires twice with twin linking? The Chaos version is clearly superior at the shorter range bracket, and enough so that I would question why I would want to ever run a Storm Bolter over a Combi Bolter. Mind, the reality is both are pretty crap weapons in the grander scheme, but on a Terminator at least I do have to question why I would go away from the working version to one that may be slightly better at longer range, but clearly worse where the bulk of my shooting actually occurs? Started thinking about this looking at my Wolves where I CAN get a bunch of Combi weapons, though not a Combi Bolter. For balance I can see why GW would not change the SB rules given the Grey Knights and the huge mass of them they could field on "non Terminator" models... Would I pay a few more points to swap CB for SB? Maybe... I DO think it should have been a default option, to allow the Loyalists to keep the CB over the SB if they want...
Keeping on the Terminator weapons, I've previously gone over how I feel about the once mighty Assault Cannon... Currently, 4 shots is nice, but needing a 6 on the to wound/armor penetration roll to do much of anything makes it "less useful" as far as I am concerned. Str 6 AP 4 just doesn't cut it these days especially given the 24" range and the Rending shots are still just AP 4, and so less likely to actually destroy a Vehicle rolling on the chart vs. taking hull points... And since I'm looking for 6's a lot of the time anyway to do anything to Vehicles... Needs a range boost, Str boost and something helping with Vehicles... Until then, I cannot see paying an additional 30 points and giving up the (admittedly crap) Storm Bolter for the "gee, I hope I roll lots of 6's" weapon. In general the new Assault Cannon compares unfavorably to the "older" Reaper class Autocannon. Once again, fewer shots, but in this case higher Str and 50% greater range? Yes, loses Rending, so cannot ever actually touch AV 14... OK. But I think I'd rather be able to ping lighter armor more regularly... And of course the extra range would be really nice...
Cyclone took a hit as well, though it is still useful. AP 3 makes the Krak missiles less useful for taking down vehicles, but they still actually kill Marines, so... Not TOO bad, but when compared to some of the more modern choices, it is simply overpriced. But this and the Heavy Flamer are the ones that seem close enough to actually use...
Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield... With the game going away from HtH, not nearly so useful I think. Giving up all shooting attacks is bad, but the 3++ and "I Don't Care" weapon... Worth 45 points on a Terminator. Worth 63? No. Wolves get to customize the hell out of their Terminators, but we do have to pay a really heavy cost to do so. Lightning Claws are 48 points on either Terminator or Powered Armor... Yeah, the LC are slightly better than "Vanilla" ones, but all of the LC took a pretty serious hit in the age of AP on powered weapons... NOT so bad a hit as the "Power Maul" of course... AP 4 on a Powered Weapon? Tre' Craptastic. AND the fact that all of my Chaplain types are stuck with it? Why? Why would I field a standard weapon incapable of actually punching through Powered Armor? Yes, Str 6 so it is not complete crap, but really? Playing a lot with Wolf Priests in my force and finding them losing combats because they cannot ignore 3+ armor...
:-) Mkay, mostly unfocused free riffs there, but a start I think...
Grey Hunters for the win, but...
Played Wolves last night again... Partner and I both brought a single HQ and only Troops... So, Grey Hunters. Lots and lots of Jaegers... I fielded my Wolf Priest and a foot squad to take advantage of the flanking move he gives them with Saga of Jaeger... One full squad in Rhino and two in Razorbacks... Fully loaded out with options for power weapons, MotW, special weapons, etc...
We won the game based on setup... 5 objectives, we had 3 in our dz, they castled to avoid my partner's drop pod assault... He brought 3 pods :-) .... And my flankers to distract... They tried to pry us off of one objective, but my Razorback protected the squad and allowed us to counter drop and kill their assault force. After that it was mostly cleanup... They killed my flankers eventually, but the Priest held for several HtH rounds, buying valuable time and holding their fast reaction forces in place... So, heavy losses but playing the mission won the game...
Course, no enemy fliers or heavy armor... Wolves are still solid Infantry, and loaded out they match well against enemy assault specialists... I'm not at all convinced that an army built to take down MEQ Infantry wouldn't just destroy my lads in detail. The Tau in particular seem quite suited for this, as are/were the IG and GK that are popular locally. Chaos, with the exception of the Heldrake I think I could match well against. That however... Flanking tricks, going back to mostly Mech... Helps, but I think that someone who builds their Chaos force right will tear my Wolves up.
DA are such a low model count army for me that I think they will not be able to hold in the long term given the modern volume of fire. I WILL roll 1's eventually :-)... So, they are a "neat" niche army for me, rotating them back to the shelf I think.
IG? Yeah... Just got the new bike, and smaller saddlebags than the old Cruiser's hard luggage... The backpack I could probably bring a fair sized force with, but... :-) The force would be a hard one to pack onto the bike... Amusing, but... Guess I'll see what I end up getting repainted before having to re watch "Zulu" for inspiration...
So, leaves my Fleshtearers and Crimson Fists... Until the Tau, I would have said the BA Codex was still decent, if used aggressively... Now? I am honestly concerned about the amount of "Intercept", Marker Light silliness and Overwatch they have access to... I'm just not seeing a rosy future for any army counting on Assault... Fausts? Well, lots of scoring units, but still mostly just 3+ armor... One shot with the suicide drop pods, if it works, it works REALLY well, else... Well :-) A short game in any case...
We won the game based on setup... 5 objectives, we had 3 in our dz, they castled to avoid my partner's drop pod assault... He brought 3 pods :-) .... And my flankers to distract... They tried to pry us off of one objective, but my Razorback protected the squad and allowed us to counter drop and kill their assault force. After that it was mostly cleanup... They killed my flankers eventually, but the Priest held for several HtH rounds, buying valuable time and holding their fast reaction forces in place... So, heavy losses but playing the mission won the game...
Course, no enemy fliers or heavy armor... Wolves are still solid Infantry, and loaded out they match well against enemy assault specialists... I'm not at all convinced that an army built to take down MEQ Infantry wouldn't just destroy my lads in detail. The Tau in particular seem quite suited for this, as are/were the IG and GK that are popular locally. Chaos, with the exception of the Heldrake I think I could match well against. That however... Flanking tricks, going back to mostly Mech... Helps, but I think that someone who builds their Chaos force right will tear my Wolves up.
DA are such a low model count army for me that I think they will not be able to hold in the long term given the modern volume of fire. I WILL roll 1's eventually :-)... So, they are a "neat" niche army for me, rotating them back to the shelf I think.
IG? Yeah... Just got the new bike, and smaller saddlebags than the old Cruiser's hard luggage... The backpack I could probably bring a fair sized force with, but... :-) The force would be a hard one to pack onto the bike... Amusing, but... Guess I'll see what I end up getting repainted before having to re watch "Zulu" for inspiration...
So, leaves my Fleshtearers and Crimson Fists... Until the Tau, I would have said the BA Codex was still decent, if used aggressively... Now? I am honestly concerned about the amount of "Intercept", Marker Light silliness and Overwatch they have access to... I'm just not seeing a rosy future for any army counting on Assault... Fausts? Well, lots of scoring units, but still mostly just 3+ armor... One shot with the suicide drop pods, if it works, it works REALLY well, else... Well :-) A short game in any case...
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Ah, hobby funk...
Yeah, a bit annoyed in general... Guess I'm just not really finding I am enjoying 40K as much as I think I should be. More or less cycled through my older armies, though I have not fielded my Praetorians or Eldar much... Opposite problems there, the Eldar are at the moment hopelessly outclassed by the modern stuff and the IG are more powerful than ever I think. Now, one of the locals who is actually a really good player argues that the Valkyrie/Vendetta (though honestly, who has ever seen them fielded as anything other than a Vendetta for the 3 x TLLC?) is actually not overpowered, in fact severely overrated... Me, I come down on the other side of that argument as the Ven can do a LOT for it's 130 or so points, remain virtually immune to counterfire and be taken in such numbers as to just be silly... SO much cheaper than the modern DA/Marine fliers and while it does only have BS 2, the main weapons are twin linked and freaking Las Cannons! So, the AV 11 that is fairly standard on most modern fliers is just tissue paper really, and the Ven should down one enemy flier/turn on average rolls... Yes, it might well have issues taking down a wall of AV 14 tanks, but why bother? They do not score, just kill every Chimera then start shooting the smaller squads of Infantry that survive the explosions... The Transport capability, while neat, I think is really not necessary to the current environment... Saying that though, I can easily put the Platoon Command Squad with 4 flamers in there as a Scoring unit that I can air drop in if needed... A bit risky, or I can just hover the flier for the late game objective grab or toast up something that is packed in behind say, an Aegis line...
And, yes, I HAVE a Vendetta... Well, I magnetized the weapon load out, so could easily have either... It just feels "unfun" to play that, especially the way I'd play my IG "Light Rifles" company... Not really "light" or "rifles" :-) but... The Artillery in the form of a Basilisk and Colossus (IIRC, the Str 6, AP 3 no cover save one) as separate units... Probably a LR Vanquisher as a third Heavy. Having faced them, screened and screening my Artillery, I think it would be a terrifying thing... One Company Command squad with the Artillery officer at least, PCS to fly around... At least one big Platoon to mob up and screen the Arty. Heavy Weapons teams to set up and take pot shots and keep the Enemy honest... SO many shots outbound... Even at BS 3, should be quite good... Like I said, probably too good...
That's just it... Barring severely bad luck, it is a REALLY powerful army. Not unbeatable by any means, but at such a severe advantage against all but the over the top Necron flying circus... And even that I think has to be VERY careful...
Though, there are some interesting Kickstarters out there: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/649754189/28mm-steampunk-inspired-heavy-weapons-and-carriage?ref=users Looks neat, and VERY much in line with the Praetorians I have... I'll be keeping an eye on this, but with the motorcycle being picked up tomorrow... Money is a bit tighter until I sell the old bike...
So, getting a 1996 Honda Magna... 750cc engine, V4... So a bit more powerful than the Silverwing...
And, yes, I HAVE a Vendetta... Well, I magnetized the weapon load out, so could easily have either... It just feels "unfun" to play that, especially the way I'd play my IG "Light Rifles" company... Not really "light" or "rifles" :-) but... The Artillery in the form of a Basilisk and Colossus (IIRC, the Str 6, AP 3 no cover save one) as separate units... Probably a LR Vanquisher as a third Heavy. Having faced them, screened and screening my Artillery, I think it would be a terrifying thing... One Company Command squad with the Artillery officer at least, PCS to fly around... At least one big Platoon to mob up and screen the Arty. Heavy Weapons teams to set up and take pot shots and keep the Enemy honest... SO many shots outbound... Even at BS 3, should be quite good... Like I said, probably too good...
That's just it... Barring severely bad luck, it is a REALLY powerful army. Not unbeatable by any means, but at such a severe advantage against all but the over the top Necron flying circus... And even that I think has to be VERY careful...
Though, there are some interesting Kickstarters out there: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/649754189/28mm-steampunk-inspired-heavy-weapons-and-carriage?ref=users Looks neat, and VERY much in line with the Praetorians I have... I'll be keeping an eye on this, but with the motorcycle being picked up tomorrow... Money is a bit tighter until I sell the old bike...
So, getting a 1996 Honda Magna... 750cc engine, V4... So a bit more powerful than the Silverwing...
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