Are the Eldar TOO good again?

The more I play the new Codex and understand better how to use the Units in the book, the more I think that perhaps the Eldar are back to being overpowered...  The 2 big things that worry me about this are: Marines are next, and if this is a power spiral, then that bodes ill for the game itself.  And the LAST time the Eldar were what I thought of as overpowered, they spent more than 2 full editions in "penance mode" with a severely crippled and craptastic codex.  I hope that neither of these happens again, but not holding my breath.

Don't get me wrong, the Eldar do not come off the shelf with the plug and play answer to every situation out there, but I do believe they have access to the tools that will make them able to stand against ANY other army out there currently and easily take apart a good number of them.  Most of them in fact.  There are only a few that I would hesitate to take my standard "All Comers" list against and be confident that at the least I will have a fighting chance against.  SO much (almost) Rending, D Weapons, re-rolls/twin linking and Ignore Cover firepower in everything that it just feels like I have a FAR better force than my old standards of Wolves or Fleshtearers.  GK and IG are I think likewise out shot and more importantly outmaneuvered by the MUCH faster Eldar forces.

Even my ancient Scorpions are getting back onto the field.  They are actually REALLY good these days, though require a lot more finesse than say, the Death Company :-)...  My Swooping Hawks are also quite good.  Not 2nd Ed good, but using them as Light Cavalry to harass a flank, assassinate something specific hiding in the rear, or even Score on some missions...  For 106 points?  NOT bad at all.  Mind, not like the FT's Vanguard Vets, but I think overall more useful.

Looking forward to testing out a Crimson Hunter.  I think that upgrading to the Exarch will be a good thing for the called shots, re-roll on AP against fliers, etc...  Not sure if the 5+ to call the shots will be useful in the short term, longer term as the massed Flier armies fade, I do think it will be.  Being able to call shots against say, the Apothecary in the Draigo Wing's Paladin Squads might well be something to consider...

Overall, I think that the Eldar Codex is a VERY powerful one in the right hands, just hoping it is not TOO powerful for TOO many people.

Getting the Apocalypse book read now.  Sad to see how many damn formations I CAN field without proxies all at once.  No clue the actual number of points I can field, but it is going to be a LOT over the 6+ full armies I own.  Only one Titan and one Super Heavy Tank (Eldar Tempest Class, no longer exists of course...), but still...  When the lads gather and march, might be needing a cargo vehicle to haul them all...  Looks like fun, but the potential for forever games seems there...

Eldar so far... Wave Serpents for the win...

OK, so far I have found that the Wave Serpent is in and of itself a game winner against certain armies.  Specifically, gun lines that are depending on cover or massed Infantry trying to rush across the field.  So, unfortunately for my Ork opponent last evening...  His exact army.  I had 3 of the Wave Serpents in the list, and I have to say, they DID do a big portion of the killing for my army.  The twin linked Scatter Lasers making the Shield shots also twin linked is powerful.  I would argue it is almost borderline TOO powerful, certainly for the points and lack of a slot in the ToE for it...  Yes, the WS can be killed, and it is not too terribly difficult for some things to do so, but really for the 135 or so points?  On the other hand, the ability to move out from cover or onto the table and get those 4+ (d6+1) shots, most likely all twin linked against everything but Fliers?  Heck, even Fliers should worry about this as lots of dice rolled with re-rolls will usually mean a few 6's come up...

So, while the WS is HUGE, and if rumor is correct being pulled off the bloody market...  Mkay, slight rant here, NOT sure this is happening, but the rumor is that it is going direct only going forward?  Wow, that does seem to put the independent retailers in a difficult position as the new codex comes out with a brokenly powerful unit that will only or mostly be available through GW itself?  Seems an "interesting" choice for a company to make...  Unless this is simply the interrim step as the kit is redone/repackaged?  Maybe.  But given their history, I am less hopeful.  Besides, this is NOT the oldest kit they have in that line...  Though making the old Falcon kit more efficiently would seem logical...  I guess we'll see.  I actually have a few Falcon hulls around and will likely be recasting some of the ancient Epicast/Armorcast ones I have...  They are just THAT different that they fit in with my ancient figures a bit better I think.

What else worked?

Swooping Hawks:  Well the Swooping Hawks were INSANE.  Though a lot of that had to do with him bunching up Lootas and Grechin behind cover.  The large blast template ignoring cover and what armor they had meant that between that and the Las Blaster shots after, there were no survivors.  I think I caught something like 26 Grots in the blast and killed 24 with majority T of 2...  NOT game winning in and of itself, but that was their second appearance.  They also cleared the Emperor's Will objective, were themselves scoring for line breaker and  holding that objective...  Of course, the fact they also more or less erased a full Loota squad on Turn 2 meant they had already more than paid for themselves...  More testing I think, but a six man squad seems to be an excellent thing to have.

War Walkers:  The loadout of Bright Lance/Scatter Laser seems to be an excellent "all comers" one, and with 3 of them hitting 195 points?  Flanking with the move/shoot/move potential?  5++ save, though a really light Vehicle with 2 Hull Points...  Oddly, mine never took fire at all as they appeared then used a building to shoot and duck for the game.  Again, not a list that included a lot of AT firepower or fliers, so further testing I think...

And...  Well, that was about it really.  The Spirit Seer DID use his Destructor power, then charge a few Orks killing them...  With the residual flames (Soul Blaze) unfortunately for the last one so he could not move after combat...  Left him in the open to get shot off the field.  Dark Reapers came out, killed a few things (Warlord power was Split Fire) but then they got destroyed by the BFG on the looted wagons...

So, basically, it was my TRANSPORTS that killed off the bulk of the other army...

So, Eldar at 1850...

So...  Looking at the new book, and a combination of what I have and what I can play well I think...  Here is the first draft...

Spirit Seer... Leading out the army I think.  Not a bad wizard, and frankly opening the Wraiths as Troops is worth a lot to me.  Still learning the spells and frankly how to use them at all...  But, I think this is a good start... Bit less than 100 points...

At least two Wraithguard units... One with flamers, one the normal d-guns... In Wave Serpents for the mobility and the added threat from that vehicle.  Not sure how best to use them against the big uber MC's  like the Tau, GK, Demons, etc. get...  Suicide unit just rolling up and hitting hoping for 6's seems a waste but if it works... Also, building a Bastion for my elves, these seem to be a good unit to hold it... So, ~600 points here...

Other troops?  My Dire Avengers will likely be hitting the field.  They are decent against Infantry but helpless against armor...  Their Wave Serpent will have the Bright Lances and they are likely my backfield security/objective campers... ~200-250 points here?

I think my Rangers will continue to make an appearance, but with so many things ignoring cover saves, I am not hugely confident they will survive.  They ARE cheap, and have some potential in objective based games but... CHEAP, so 60 points here...


So, a lot of points on Troops, but the way 6th edition plays now I think this will form the base of my 1850 force...

Continuing to learn the Eldar Codex... Kind of a rolling review...

So, mostly looking closer at the things I plan on fielding...

My Army will likely be led out by a Spiritseer as I am REALLY liking the Wraiths for Troops.  Yes, they are a bit slower and their weapons may well be short ranged overkill.  I am looking at the Fearless and extremely high Toughness.  I will be fielding one as the D-Scythe unit and one as the "normal" ones, both at 5 strong in Wave Serpents.  Not sure if I will be sending my Seer with one squad or not.  But Distort weapons are looking like a terrifying answer to the big nasty things out there...  Tau uber suits, Demons, etc...  Whatever, I roll a 6 to wound and ID it at AP 2, so only the 5++ for a lot of things.  I do not think that the army, if I based it COMPLETELY on Wraiths would work given the small numbers on my side and the inability to stand up to a real torrent of fire...  Kind of like my DA force...  But as the "anchor" or "anvil" for the rest of the Army I think this will work well.

Swooping Hawks...  I am REALLY liking them.  I think they will be the thing that actually wins me a few games.  Large Blast, no deviation on the Deep Strike and then a torrent of shooting...  I think they will be assassinating things like IG Command Squads, Marine Scouts, etc...  Line Breaker if they live I guess...  But have to be a LOT more careful with these lads than a standard Marine Assault element.  They have bad armor, but are very mobile...  Decent shooting, though only Str 3 for the most part, so I'll be hoping to roll well on the cause wounds and hoping they roll poorly for armor saves.  The Exarch's weapons have changed a bit with this edition, have to say I am kind of liking it, but have only gotten a few games in with them, so not 100% convinced which to use.

Scorpions:  Standard HtH, flanking to hit the enemy in the vulnerable areas, hopefully...  Still annoyed they cannot Assault out of Reserve, but...  Keeping the squad cheapish, the Exarch is an absolute beast in Challenges or just HtH in general with Chain Sabers...  Kind of an "eh" option overall I think.  I feel like I NEED something to deal with HtH threats, and I can have flankers come in on my own edge to be mobile reserves, or more likely attack the enemy strong point and go for Line Breaker and disruption of their firing line...

Heavy Support:  It is CROWDED there.  Honestly I am thinking I will continue to play the things I have for the last few editions with one exception...

The Dark Reapers finally get to come back from their shelf exile.  No jink cover saves mean I think that Eldar and Tau are going to be really hating seeing these lads on the field.  It kind of goes without having to say it, I will be using the AT missile upgrades for all of them.  So, either 2 shots at Str 5 AP 3 or one at Str 8 AP3...  I guess pinning might come into effect some times, but I have not seen it happen often :-)...  Exarch's weapon, the Tempest Launcher I have might be the thing to keep playing, though without Split Fire, it may be wasted some times...  But Night Vision, Fast Shot and people playing for the Night Fighting hoping that I cannot see them to shoot at them?  Might be getting First Blood a LOT with this unit on the field...

War Walkers:  The more I use them, the more I like them.  Still unhappy that the AAA option for the EML is even more expensive, I think that EVERY missile launcher should just have the damn Flak option built in at the base cost of the ML, but I'm just an Engineer, not a game designer, what do I know...  The 5++, move shoot move option and the weight of fire these lads can put down range is really quite impressive.  The standard weapon mix has shifted, but better balanced I think.  No longer really going dual Scatter Lasers for everyone, the SL/Bright Lance option they came with in the most ancient times seems to be the one I have the best luck with.

Wraith Lords:  Still lacking the ++ save and still vulnerable to massed poison or AT shooting, but these guys are still insanely powerful for Armies not prepared to deal with the T8 Monster hitting their lines...  And now I can get 2 Heavy Weapons without the stupid "twin linked if you buy 2 of the same"...  Wow, that was stupid.  But is also past edition.  Now, they are pretty darn powerful.  I tend to keep mine in a "free safety" position as a mobile reserve should anyone try to crash my lines...  Yes, I played American Football for a while in the ancient times because my HS did not have a Hockey team at the time, I was a Free Safety and I played like Gary Fencik or Doug Plank...  NOT nearly so well, but I had no particular problem playing the game a "bit rougher" or fighting if it came to that.  The Linebacker and I would arrainge it to have one of us get to the player (receiver or QB) and hold him.  NOT tackle, just set him up to be hit really hard by the next guy.  Technically legal as the player was NOT down, but a bit dirty...  Getting myself tossed out of the game as long as I took their QB with me was a net win for my team :-)...  But keeping the WL back to guard objectives and snipe with heavy weapons makes for a rough choice on the other side of the table...  Ignore it, give up the objectives being held and just take the 2-3 Heavy Weapon shots/turn or crash in and hope for the best.  Oh, the WL is a Character too :-)  So, precision shots, challenges, etc...

Fire Prism/Night Spinner:  YES...  I am liking the various fire options for both of those tanks.  I HAVE and have played the Fire Prism several times.  The 3 choices are awesome, and with Holo Fields, it is an annoyingly survivable light Tank.  NOT something I can just drive up the middle of the field daring them to shoot me like a Land Raider with the 4++, but...  Overall I think a better tank.  The Spinner is one I am looking forward to trying.  My initial thoughts are that it depends too much on good rolls to be useful overall. Yes, it can Pin, Rend, etc., and it has the Torrent template option which would murder the enemy bikers of doom that hit the field here...  But with just average rolls?  I think the Prism is still the better one at least for me...

Vaul's Wrath:  Support Weapons?  The D-Cannon looks amazing, and if I can put it up in a Bastion or behind an Aegis line?  Maybe.  But the 24" range kind of kills it for me.  If only they did not have so many other Heavy options I just feel are better...  So, a gimmick option for me...  I HAVE 2 old D-Cannons, so I can legally field them, but honestly I do not see this happening often.

Wraith Knight:  Eh...  Yes, he would be better than the WL...  But a monstrously huge target.  I will probably get one eventually, and I do think I could easily make it work with my army...  Just do not think I NEED it now, and with real life expenses being what they are...  Mind, should someone want to pick up some ancient firearms or an old motorcycle :-)...  But, something for "later" I think.

Falcon:  The only one in the section I do not see myself using.  Ever.  It costs the same as the Fire Prism, and the Pulse Laser is not as good as the Prism's main gun.  Yes, it has transport capability, but 6 models?  And it is NOT a dedicated transport option...  If it were, I could see using them all the time, but giving up one of my 3 HS slots for a substandard tank/transport option?  No thanks...

So, for my armies the choices are: War Walkers, Wraith Lord, Fire Prism and Dark Reapers...  All of which are ~ equal for me, depending a bit on the makeup of the rest of my force...  But I tend to play a VERY mobile Eldar style, even with Wraiths...

So, next Eldar army for me...

Well, broke down and got my second "Finecast" figure...  The Eldar Spiritseer.  I have not opened the clamshell yet, but it looks pretty good.  I have a bit more confidence in this as it is a new sculpt rather than a retread from the metals.  So, yes, I am continuing my Wraith based armies I think...  Testing the "flamer armed" Wraithguard next, I think they have the potential to be excellent shock troops against a LOT of the local armies.  Will be using my ancient Ghost Warriors as them:

So, a bit on the smaller side and on the old 25mm bases rather than the new 40mm ones, but...  It IS WYSIWYG and armed correctly with a flamer...  OK, some do have the Shuriken Catapults, but...  Ironically I ended up with 3 of these and 2 of the Shuriken armed ones...  Close enough :-)...  In any case, T6 Fearless Troops armed with AP 2 flamers?  And they no longer have the 1/6 chance of stupidity?  Down side being their cost of 45 points each...  Still, roll them out of a Wave Serpent and watch a lot of armies just cry...

WRT the rest of the force, I will be fielding my Scorpions as flankers most likely, some Dire Avengers as general utility Troops, the Dark Reapers as "We Kill Marines, even on bikes" heavy support...  I am REALLY liking the War Walkers AND the Wraith Lords...  Can't see spending $120+ on the Wraith Knight yet, but I am guessing that will be an eventual purchase to go next to my ancient Warhound class Titan and Eldar Tempest heavy tank...  Neat, and while I am NOT on the extremely negative side like some folks, I just do not see it doing all that much for the armies that I actually play.  Or at least not that much more than a new Wraithlord, of which I have "a few"...

A bit torn on the potential use of say, a Wraith Seer from IA 11...  Clearly something written for 5th edition, and I traded to get one of the old Confrontation Elves constructs for the stand in figure...  Might be insanely powerful in combination with a Spirit Seer as the other HQ (we only play single FOC games here) giving the Wraiths FnP, etc...  And he DOES have a 5++ save and access to a d-cannon for a heavy weapon...  Neat, but really what would that do that I cannot already do?  Honestly, the old Fighter flier is more tempting just because it is a cheaper version of the new Crimson Hunter...  OK, TOO cheap, so I'd not field it, but...  I do need to think of some way to deal with fliers for my army, none of the options are looking too good other than take CH's and deal with them in the sky fighter to fighter, hoping I go second...

Otherwise I am looking at constructing a Bastion for my Eldar...  Need something NOT Imperial, but with the same dimensions I think...

Next League, 1850 points and more Eldar

Looks like I will be running the next league...  I'll be running it at 1850 and looking like a fair number of the folks want to use the missions from the Adepticon this year (http://www.adepticon.org/?page_id=3783) since a bunch of us are looking at heading up there next year...

I'm a bit torn on the 1850 level...  Seems like it is a bit on the higher end where you no longer have to make as many of the hard choices WRT your army...  But we'll see :-)  And any games I get in will be with the new Eldar...

Picked up some more paint hopefully this one will actually be a good match for the stuff I used 20 years ago when I originally painted my Eldar...  I am using the Executioner and Assassin class Ghost Warriors as the new Flamer armed Wraithguard...  With a Spiritseer HQ, they become Troops, so I can have them and normal Wraithguard both loaded up in Wave Serpents as some pretty darn tough Troops.  Another thought is to build an Eldar Bastion equivalent and "staff" it with WG and maybe the Seer?  Something of a small project and I'd need to make it "Eldar" enough to be a good strong point for my lads to hold...

Other than the Wraithguard I am liking a lot of the things I used in the past, the Spiders, Dire Avengers, War Walkers and Scorpions...  The Dark Reapers have made it back to the "YES" list with the inclusion of SnP and the revival of their ancient missiles...  Minus side, I have only the one ancient Armorcast Falcon that I'm going to use as a Wave Serpent...  Guess I do the mold and either dental plaster or resin or something to that effect to make more...

So, more thoughts on the Eldar stuff...

OK, so the more I read about the Eldar stuff, the more I am finding that I like...

Dark Reapers:  Yes, they will be expensive as hell.  And they will be an absolute fire magnet for pretty much EVERYTHING on the other side of the table once they hit the table...  But with "Slow and Purposeful", they can easily deploy from a Wave Serpent even if it comes in from Reserve...  They can deploy from the WS and shoot the turn they arrive at full BS.  So, 38 points each as I cannot see using them without the Str 8 AP 3 shot option...  Don't get me wrong, the Str 5 AP 3, Heavy 2 is nice and all but the AT missile shot is going to be huge.  Especially as they ignore jink cover saves, so skimmers, bikes, etc. are all in trouble...  Haven't decided on the Exarch's weapons, but the Tempest Launcher is looking pretty darn good...  Mind, unless one is fighting a Marine "foot" list, his weapon does not fit in well with the rest of the squad's and no split fire so...  Guessing there will be times he just does nothing much at all...  OTOH, there will be times when he wipes out whole squads himself and the rest of the lads can stand back and golf clap...

Holo Fields:  Holy Crap, how did I miss this one the first time through...  So, for the Wave Serpent, the standard cost is NOT 120, it is 135...  Skimmer, so the Junk save of 5+ is a cover save and the Holo Field gives +1 to that...  4+ save in the open, 3+ from ruins, Aegis Lines, etc...

A few more things, like the War Walkers are on my mind...  I have to say the Walkers have a ton of potential, but they can get expensive REALLY quickly.  The Night Spinner with the Torrent Mono-filament template has a bunch of potential as well I think...  Like I said, still wrapping my head around a lot of the things...

First game in with the Eldar...

Well, got in a first game with the new Codex...  I played at the 1850 level with the following:

HQ:
Spirit Seer
Illic Nightspear
Warlock Council (2)

Troops:
Guardian Squad (10, Bright Lance)
Guardian Squad (10, Scatter Laser)
Dire Avengers (10, Exarch w/ TLSC)
    Wave Serpent (Bright Lance)
Wraithguard (5)
    Wave Serpent (Scatter Laser)
Ranger Squad

Elite:
Scorpions (10, Exarch w/ Chain sabers, Crushing Blow and Stalker)

Fast Attack:
Swooping Hawks (6, Exarch w/ Sun Rifle)
Warp Spiders (5, Exarch w/TL Spinner, Fast Shot, Marksman)

Heavy Support:
Wraithlord (Ghost Glaive, 2 Bright Lances)
Fire Prism


So, as you can see, a VERY haphazard group of more or less random things I wanted to try...  Some things I realized:

1. ALWAYS remember to use Battle Focus.  There were several times I remembered, and so on turn one I  was able to get a Guardian Squad within 12" range to let loose a hail of fire to kill a bunch of Chaos Marines...  Other times I completely forgot like with the Hawks, leaving them nicely bunched up after their drop in and shooting phase...  And a few times with Spiders I think...   But it is HUGE and something that I will need to get used to as a mechanism.
2. Base Rangers are 60 points.  They lost a lot, and frankly are about as useful as Marine Snipers now.  Which is to say, not really so much.  Relying on 6's on the damage roll makes Nightspear "less useful" as well.  Yes, BS 9 and 48" range so he can hit almost every time and he does place EVERY shot where he wants to, but still needing the 4+ to wound hurts.  Yes, iff he rolls the 6, it is Rending and Distortion, so the target it really, really dead, but...  Too easy to get cover saves and lacking Night Vision, etc. made him fairly useless for me.
3. The Wave Serpents are AWESOME.  I think my standard loadout will be the Scatter Laser though... BS 4, Twin Linked, and I get even one hit, the Shield in offensive mode gets twin linked.  D6+1 Str 7 no cover save shots now twin linked?  Yes Please.  They really did not get tested I think against a dedicated AT force though...  The mere presence of the shield was enough several turns to convince the Chaos player (Max, one of the better players at the Gopher) that there were other targets.  The ability to deploy, run then shoot means that the single hatch at the rear of the vehicle is not as much a problem as I had feared, certainly not for the Dire Avengers and Wraithguard.
4. Thinking that I will be switching several weapon loadouts from their old, traditional ones to something else.  The new "twin linked" option for the DA and WS Exarchs are less useful than I had thought.  Loosing out on the extra shots at BS 5 for the almost guaranteed, but only 2 now meant that I would much rather use other options.  The DA NEED something like the 5++ from the Shimmer Shield, so guessing that model gets deployed for me going forward.  Not so sure for the Spiders, though the always AP 1 Spinneret Rifle and Fast Shot/Marksman (for the 5+ to choose targets) might well be the best option.
5. Going forward I think I will be needing something toit deal with the obnoxious cover save things going on...  Dark Reapers with SnP are looking pretty good with their new special rules, and the Wraithguard with their alternate template weapons might well prove to be an excellent shock/line breaker unit.  Loaded out in a Serpent to deliver them to problem areas and drop in with a bunch of AP 2 flamer attacks.  Only Str 4, but Distort for the quasi rending effect...  And assaulting them would be suicidal with EACH of them getting d3 hits with their weapon...  The Reapers are looking REALLY good, though expensive.  Getting the old Reaper launcher AND the "Krak" missile options (at an additional cost) seems like a no brainer.  And with SnP they can be reserved or transported without losing their ability to shoot.  Exarch will be absolutely silly if I deck him out with say, Fast Shot and the Tempest Launcher...  3 Barrage blast markers at AP 3, no jink saves against ANY of the DR shooting...  So, death to bikes and light skimmers, sucks to be Scouts or even up to Marines behind cover...  And he will Artillery Snipe the hell out of things being able to place the Barrage template over what he wants to kill first with casualties coming from the center of the blast...
6. Wraithlord?  Was OK, but died due to an obnoxious number of 5++ saves being made when he crashed into 2 Obliterators...  The Ghost Glaive for 5 points gave him +1 Str and Master Crafting for a re-roll which did prove useful.  His loadout of 2 Bright Lances was less than optimal though.  I think a Scatter Laser or Star Cannons might be more suited to the local environment at least...
7. Weapon Platforms...  The Bright Lance at 20 points was not bad...  The Scatter Laser was much more of a "Why did I bother?"...  Think the Star Cannon might be one to bring for the AP 2 shooting...  Brings me to:
8. Stat lines...  Holy Crap, I5 everywhere...  Even Guardians get WS/BS 4 and I5...  We go first in HtH.  Won't DO shit for the most part, but at least I am going first, dammit.  Something I think to get used to with the old War Walkers being useful in the previous edition despite the BS 3...  Now with BS 4?  Guessing they will hit the table for me soon as well...  Damn, the Heavy Support slot is full...

So, was mostly a learning game for me, as I was clearly NOT prepared for an 1850 game with the much cheaper options...  I am thinking the Crimson Hunter will be the (current) premier air superiority fighter, so that may well be on the purchase list.  The Wraith Knight?  I do think it is an amazing model aesthetically.  I am just concerned that it is another model like the "Loki" Blood Claw "upgrade" in the Wolves Codex where it looks great and has a bunch of rules that simply do not work in the current edition of the game...  And it is NOT a $20 model, coming in at $115 pre-tax...  

Next week the Dark Reapers awaken from their long slumber of several editions...  Bikes as well likely, not sure what else though...

Eldar Saturday... So, next League

More and more of the book is "in the wild" now...  I have to say that I am liking most of it...  It appears that the old ones penance is finally over for the stupidly overpowered 3rd edition codex...  The range of their Shuriken Catapults is the only major disappointment for me...  Well, that and the lack of a good way to actually use the old Scorpions and Banshees...  No assaulting from Reserve and no Assault Transport, so...

Wraithlords can now take 2 heavy weapons, 2 flamers AND the sword...  So I guess I have some modifications to do...  They lost a few points of Str, but overall, not at all bad I think...  The Wraithguard I am less sure of, but I do NOT need to bring the huge unit of 10 to make them a Troop choice.  Just a HQ Choice, the Spirit Seer.

Comparing the Guardians and Dire Avengers...  Haven't seen the whole DA listing, but 18" rage for their guns vs the 12" on the normal ones...  The new shoot/run or run/shoot thing is a neat idea, but I think the Heavy Weapon the Guardians have might prevent that or be wasted...  I will probably have a mix, and I am liking that the Guardians are NOT looking completely useless...

Looking forward to fielding the Swooping Hawks again, and the Spiders are looking pretty darn good... And depending on the Flier's rules and how the model looks...  Well, looking like another purchase I guess :-)

So, Eldar...

Looking very much like the Eldar are the next codex to be released...  Not sure as GW of course has not officially announced that, but there agree leaked photos from overseas versions of the White Dwarf...  So, another surprise release with no coordinated announcement...  Eh, par for the company.   They are surprised when something released in say, Deutschland can be scanned in and shared with the rest of the world...  Or pictures at least :-) ...  Of course that brings up the Whole part of them (GW) punishing retailers for breaking their sacred "street date" with the WD...  Now, different countries have different dates, their own stores have different dates than outside vendors and of course the subscription bonus was in theory that you would get yours prior to"street date"...  Never worked that way at least decades ago when I was a subscriber, but...  Goes back to my theory that rules must apply equally to all, or they mean nothing.  But then I grew up near Chicago where it was pretty obvious that the rules (laws) were NOT equally applied, it mattered more who you knew and how much power, money or influence you had...  :-)   but back to games...

In any case, getting the book, Dave has my previous order for the as of now not official release :-) ...  The pictures leaked look good...  So guessing if the rules are reasonable, I will get a flier and probably some Wraith Guard...  The Wraith Knights look amazing, but the "rumored" price of $115 +tax is something that I will have to wait and see on...  That much for one model seems pretty high...  I mean the Baneblade and Gargant are that price... Those are bloody huge and of course not really playable in 40k..  This might be the start of the Knight class Titans for 40k, merging apoc with 40k....  No clue myself of course, but it would be fun I think...

The rumors and rule leaks have been good, but honestly I am really hoping for a book I feel like I have more than one viable army out of the book...  It will be interesting to read I guess...  And of course, I posted this on the wrong blog :-)  Could be why I could not later find it...

All quiet on the 40K front?

Seems like there is a LOT less traffic out there, or perhaps I am simply not getting it...  With the demise of Faeit's site, almost no real news or rumors on a regular basis...  And with GW changing the way they are doing business by shutting down all of their competition for online sales, a lot of other people are shifting a lot of their coverage from GW stuff to anything BUT GW games.  Not necessarily a bad thing I guess, to be honest I am thinking VERY seriously about picking up a small Rebel fleet for X-Wing, and the increased coverage is nice for that.  Seeing blogs and stores shut down would it seems make one cautious about posting anything or perhaps simply make one want to avoid GW altogether...  Not really sure which, assuming it is a mix for everyone out there.

Locally, it is looking like a few other games will be starting up or restarting in a few cases...

Warmachine/Hordes: I have 2 big armies still from V1 of the game, so start-up would be minimal, but I'm not convinced that the problems that killed the game for me are really fixed.  OTOH, if a decent sized local group were to get going, I would love to get back into any other game...

Malifaux:  Seems like a really neat game...  The only real problem I have with it is that it seems to be a really "dark" game with all of the sides simply being various flavors of "evil".  I won't play an evil army, or Undead (in general, Eldar Wraiths would I suppose be "Undead", but different I guess being that they volunteer to come back to fight...), so there are really not any choices there that interest me in the least...  Too bad, but I am guessing I am very much a minority as far as that goes for a reason NOT to play...  Oh, and a V2 coming out, so who knows...

Infinity:  Looks neat, I had a big PanO army that I traded for and then traded away...  Still have some of the Adrianna stuff, mostly the Werewolf stuff of course, but would like to snag some more of the Caledonia stuff  as I like the idea of kilted lads wandering about supported by Werewolves and shooting people...  So, maybe.  Almost zero startup cost for the rules, etc...  Just a few more models...  Oh, and a large group of folks to play against...  THAT is what is missing locally...

Flames of War:  Same thing...  I have the new rulebooks, a decent US Airborne force and some tanks to support them, just not seeing a local group actually playing the game...  Might not help that only one of the 2 local stores has not (yet) banished me, but I do not think that really severely limits my options...  So, the lack of local players combined with the last time I really played being V1 (is V3 now) when I used US Artillery to terrifying effect...  Mind, the rules were pretty "familiar" to anyone who actually DID call for fire stuff while they played Army, so I was VERY familiar with the correct application of Artillery and was able to quickly and efficiently dismantle some well built German and Italian forces without any real risk to my own lads...  Guess I left feeling that certain things, US Artillery being one were simply overpowered...  Perhaps realistic, but too powerful in the hands of someone who understood how to actually use them.

X-Wing:  This one looks interesting, and if Dave is able to get them in and on the shelf when I am actually in the store, I'll likely be picking some up...  Was always a big fan of the Y-Wing and B-Wing fighters, so whether or not they are good I'll definitely be playing them...  Guessing a few X-wings are going to be needed too...  I just have zero interest in the Imperial things, so if there is a trade or sale potential I guess I'll go that route...  So right now the only thing keeping me out of that is the need to buy the starter set and feeling like I am stuck with models I will not use just to get the rule book, etc...

And back to 40K:  Eldar are rumored next month...  I have some store credit built up and have reserved a copy, should the Codex actually be released...  Still mind boggling that a major company would hide it's releases until a week before release.  Even from retailers, who it does seem to treat as enemies in a LOT of respects...  And probably why there is a LOT less buzz and talk about the potential re-release of one of the oldest 40K races.  A real shame, but I guess already having a "somewhat large" collection of Eldar minis, they really aren't loosing too many new sales from me should I choose to buy less...  Oh, and I will be buying less.

Got burned I feel on the Dark Angel codex and army.  Really left a somewhat bitter taste for me, so that pretty well cemented my decision to just buy less GW going forward.  Having such a craptastic $50 book with let's call it "lower standards" of editing hit after virtually no information, etc.?  Eh, I didn't buy the Tau when it came out, won't be playing that army.  Will probably see what the Eldar book does before buying more models if any.  As of right now, the game is holding less and less interest for me with the few massively overpowered units/Armies dominating the more competitive scene.  While the local group is NOT super competitive, playing an army like say, the SW with their completely outdated codex means I am severely limited and will get frustrated a lot quicker.  Right now, my Eldar are mostly a "spoiler" army as they completely shut down enemy Psykers but really are not that difficult to beat.  Depends on what changes in the new book I guess...  Lots of potential there, just hoping it doesn't become something like the 3rd edition Codex where the Eldar get punished for the next few editions for having something stupidly overpowered...  Guess it's a wait and see, but one thing for sure, no more "Finecast" anything for me I think.  Who knows, might even get me excited about playing 40K again, but I'm not holding my breath...

So, X-Wing I guess :-)  Worst case I have a few more nice little models for my desk at work...

Free Play, I get to play "Opfor"

An old friend wants to test out a "Tournament" list so I'll be taking as "spoiler" list...

1850 Crimson Fists w/ Eldar allies

Pedro Kantor
Sternguard (10, 4 Combi Plasma, 4 Combi Melta, HF, SGT w/LC/CM Drop Pod)
Sternguard (10, 4 Combi Plasma, 4 Combi Melta, HF, SGT w/LC/CM Drop Pod)
Scout Squad (10, 9 snipers, ML, cloaks)
Scout Squad (10, 9 shotguns, HB)
Thunderfire Cannon

Farseer
Pathfinders (5)
Wraithlord (ML, Scatter Laser)


Still 200 or so points to go...  But potentially 9 scoring units, complete denial of enemy Psyker powers...  REALLY rapid assault.  Easiest way to fill the points would be change the Farseer for Eldrad and bring something like a Land Speeder with MM/HF...  Have to think about it, I think I'd rather play something like a Vindicator...  Have to think about it...

The more I think about it in the long run I think I'll be running either the Storm Raven or a Storm Talon...  Though the changes to the "Escort" rule there make it "less useful" to escort something like say, Scouts...  The Raven or the Talon will be dedicated Air Superiority I think, the Raven really does that fairly well, as long as I am not completely overwhelmed by 5+ fliers...  2-3 it can handle I think...

Tournament Sat...

So, looking like I am playing Eldar this weekend...  The basic part of the army is Wraithguard Maxxed out with the Spirit Seer to make them Troops.  The second Troop is a squad of Pathfinders.  Beyond that...  Well, at least one Wraithlord.  the choice beyond that is either the Wraith Seer from IA 11 or Eldrad.  I am leaning towards Eldrad as it gives complete"magic" control, punishing the enemy for daring to use spells and able to cast three a turn while casting one twice if needed...  Not sure the War Walkers are worth 60 points each these days at AV 10 and 2 hull points...  8 shots at S 6?  Not horrible I guess...  But T8 on the Wraithlord?  Other than the Dark  Eldar Not many armies can easily deal with them...  100-150 points, I tend to use 2 heavy weapons to go with the 2 flamers....  Star 10 MC for the AP 2 makes them a threat to anything in HtH...  Kind of...  2 attacks base, so not killing much..

The FnP on the Wraithguard was amusing...  But ultimately I think not needed.  If I had marched them up the field it might have been, but hiding in cover, not so much...

Still no real answers to fliers and Necrons in general, so thinking we will lose that matchup...

All in all, looking forward to the new book...

Gearing up for the Team Tournament in 2 weeks...

So, I'll be partnered with one of the GK players for the Tournament...  Looking like I'll be bringing my Eldar.  A bit of a surprise how well they are doing within the limits of the Team Environment.  Helpful that a single Farseer can completely shut down the Psychic powers on the other side of the table...  Mind, I was playing Eldrad, so the best wizard in play...  The Wraithguard with Fortune are annoyingly difficult to kill and almost impossible to shift off of an objective...  The War Walkers were OK, a LOT of shots but not a lot of damage really...  Pathfinders were sacrificed.  They probably won us the game by drawing off so much of the other army to deal with the super ninja snipers appearing on a flank...  Wound up not really doing much other than threaten the objective and put a wound on Castellon Crowe...  And I know they wound up lasting a LOT longer than they should have against Necrons and GK...

Major changes?  Putting the 2 real heavy weapons on the Wraithlord, remembering the Monstrous Creature rules...  That thing with the move through cover, dual flame throwers and Str 10 attacks?  Was a beast, killed off an entire Necron squad with attached character in a single turn between flames and assault.  Cleared one of our two objectives and saved the game...

Debating bringing Eldrad or a Wraithseer from IA 11...

Will be getting one of the Cynwall Nova in a trade for the model:

 The Seer with a normal Farseer would provide buffs to my other Wraiths, and is pretty brutal himself.  The Seer can also run with a D-cannon.  That army would also have an Artillery piece, a D-Cannon...  No War Walkers in that list, but just a small number of insanely tough pieces...  T6 Wraithguard with re-roll-able saves and potential FnP?  Good luck prying them off an objective...  Oh, and YOUR cover saves are at -1...

Odd one, how to most people feel about IA units in the 40K games?

Blogs disappearing...

  Wow, so the arguably most popular and pro-GW rumor site that a lot of folks used to visit has been taken down by GW asserting DCMA claims...  Seems an odd way to grow your fan base and increase sales, but what would I know.  So a fair number of folks are talking about boycott or the like...  Will I?  Not exactly... To be fair, I haven't really been buying all that much over the last few years...  Though thinking back, between the Rulebook and the Codexes at their current price point along with a few boxes of minis I'd guess it is several hundred dollars...  Not a huge amount by any means, but...  Guess this is just one more data point or straw to keep in mind when considering what TO purchase in the future.  I'm going to buy the rumored Eldar Codex when/if it hits in June, but...  The books going to $50 each and hitting every other month has already mostly priced me out of the "gotta have them all" mindset.  $50 for poorly edited and not really all that well done work, looking at the Dark Angels from a player's perspective?  No, burned me once, I'm going to be more cautious going forward.  Might even be a good time to stand back and see what plays out for the next 6-9 months.  As of right now, the game itself is spinning pretty far out of balance with a VERY few overpowered armies making the game almost pointless to play competitively..  I'm not exactly lacking for army choices, just that the game itself seems to be broken.  The Tau seem like a step in the right direction, but they missed a HUGE chance to address the balance issues with their "Death From the Skies" book...  But laziness struck, and it was 95% simply reprinted materiel and it was "Direct Only" meaning they were essentially cutting the LGS out...  Not a good idea as a manufacturer, but again just an Engineer, not a sales type...  The math seems fairly obvious though, more places selling more of your product would seem to equal more profit...

The last time a fair number of us locally got tired of the GW silliness we picked up Warmachine.  For several years that was a staple game at our local game store, but it died out about the time the 2nd edition of the game came out...  Again, locally.  Might be time to revisit that.  Rumors of Confrontation coming back were hot and heavy a while back, but seem fairly quiet these days...  Another of the odd but locally popular games...

Seeing X-Wing here and heard it was pretty good...  And the fact that Dave can't keep it on his shelves tells me that it is likely to be another good one...   Guessing I'll be picking up some of them.  At the VERY worst, I'll have more Rebel fighters patrolling my desk here at the office...  Right next to the big Warhammer class Mech (BT) and Wolfen from Confrontation...  Yeah, the Werewolf figs decked out in my Clan's kilts do get a few odd looks here and there, but whatever...

New FAQ rulings...

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...  

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Ever have one of those games?

:-)  Where EVERYTHING that could go wrong did?  Played partnered up with a DA player who brought a Ravenwing force...  Seemed a fairly decent one, I'm still unconvinced that the Black Knights are at all worth it, but on paper they look neat...  So, I had my Scouts behind enemy lines and my big Grey Hunter squad flanked with a Wolf Guard in Termi Armor and the Wolf Priest (who I had upgraded to Runic Armor)...  They both arrived on Turn 2, catching the enemy in their DZ lining up for some REALLY good rear arc shots...  Scouts missed with everything but the Plasma Pistol, which failed to penetrate the 11 Armor.  Next turn they were wiped out by a single weapon...  The Grey Hunters, despite a LOT of Preferred Enemy shooting, several Meltas, Plasma, etc...  Hit a Tau skimmer with a 4+ cover save...  All told with insane rolling on his part, a single HP got through (a Bolter glance).  Next turn the squad dropped to 2 Grey Hunters and the Priest...  Who split off and charged a separate unit as the Jaegers got shot out of existence on overwatch fire...  Oh, and after their lone flier came in to wipe out 1 squad/turn for both turns it was there my sole remaining model, a Razorback decided to suicide by doing 2 HP to ITSELF...  Twin linked Plasma Gun missed twice, snake eyes on re-roll followed by 2 fails on the "Gets Hot"...  Yea.  Perfect ending for that game though :-)  If you are going to fail, do so in an epic fashion...

Mostly a lot of bad dice on our side and really good dice on theirs...  Am thinking the Tau are going to be a powerful force though...  A LOT of twin linking, and the ability to "cover" each other with a metric crapload of overwatch fire makes charging with small units a difficult thing...  I think it will matter much less against a large force or one with really good defenses, etc...

Still having NO defenses against a flier for my Wolves really I think hurt almost as much as the failed end run...  With complete impunity the IG flier was able to just roll in, destroy one small squad/turn and there was nothing at all I could realistically do to prevent it...  Wonder if I will have to run a Land Raider or a Bastion to sit my AAA in...  Might wind up running the Raider just to see...

This week's 1k list... Wolves again...

So, looking at bringing the following:

Wolf Priest (Saga of the Hunter, has the 4++, Power Mace)
Grey Hunters (10, Plasma Pistol, Power Weapon, Flamer, Melta, MotW, Banner)
Grey Hunters (5, Razorback w/LC TLPG, Flamer, MotW)
Grey Hunters (5, Razorback w/ TLAC, Flamer, MotW)
Long Fangs (5, 3 ML, HB, SGT)
Wolf Guard (3, Combi Melta, PW?)
Wolf Scouts (Melta)


So, for 1000 points, a lot of bodies and even 2 light tank/transports...  Counting on Flank/Behind Enemy Lines to deliver a lot of the lads where they need to go and frankly NOT be on the table getting shot up from the beginning...  I'm not really liking the "light" Wolf Scouts, I'd like to throw some more points in there for things like MotW, a few Melta Bombs and Plasma Pistols, but the low points is REALLY a limiting factor here.  Guessing they'll be a "line breaker" unit and something to try for a tank/camping unit kill...  Still, just 5 guys in 4+ armor, so not something I'd be banking on.  I'm much more confident in the 10 man Grey Hunter squad with attached Wolf Guard and Wolf Priest Outflanking.  With the now mostly useless "senses", they'll likely come in on the side I want, and 12 guys fully kitted out in actual Powered Armor along with a few Characters to take challenges as needed...  Well, guessing it will work out at least once before folks start putting their stuff in the center of the field to avoid my lads...  Screens will work too, but really not so sure how often I'll be seeing them here locally for now...  Gone are the days of IG "blobs" simply lining the DZ to keep out flankers.  More realistic concern is that I may run into an IG (or other) tank parking lot and be unable to get to the important things, perhaps just hitting a Rhino/Chimera before getting shot out of existence...  So, like I said, this thing I think has a limited number of uses before the locals at least react and have very solid plans to deal with my one trick Army...

Still, ~20 points left over...  I can get Runic Armor for the Priest, I guess 2+ would be nice for him, just not so sure how often really...  Another HB Long Fang would fit nicely, or perhaps a Plasma Pistol and Melta Bomb for the Scouts?  Leaning toward more offensive firepower (Plasma Pistol/Melta), but the 2+/4++ might just give the Jaegers the staying power to win me some games...  Doing the math however, I look better putting the Terminator Armor on the Wolf Guard as it comes to the same bloody point cost as I had them originally...  +5 points to change the SB to Combi Weapon...  So, that and Plasma Pistol in the Scouts I guess...

With enough more points of course, the Wolf Guard would have 5 members and one would be kitted out with Terminator Armor and a CML to get himself attached to the Long Fangs...  Would likely also have the Flankers joined by a WG in Terminator Armor for the Combi Weapon and Power Weapon...  They are prohibited from joining the Scouts in Terminator Armor, but nothing prevents Grey Hunters as far as I can see...  Seems a bit silly, bulky Terminator Armor being snuck around to hit a flank, but no more silly than the Legion that used to be "Planetary Assault Specialists" now fearing teleporters and Jump Packs...  So, at least I have the framework for 1500-1850 point games...  We mostly play 1850 locally, so most of what I do is with that level in mind...  Guessing my Heavies get the Vindicator and maybe a Predator?  2 Long Fang squads is neat, but with so bloody many of the Heldrakes locally, they simply cannot do heir jobs anymore... Elite might well get a DN...  The TLAC mount is pretty stable, and will almost always put 3 Str 7 hits on target...  May well never actually kill anything with AP 4, but light vehicles and maybe even light fliers may well be worried...  I've never really been a fan of Lone Wolves, and ALWAYS bring Wolf Guard, so my Elites are pretty well set.  Fast Attack?  Eh...  While I liked fielding my Rackham/Confrontation Wolfen as "Thunderwolf Cavalry, I see way too much locally that will just shoot them off the board.  I can only make so many 3+/3++ saves...  Speeders I have, and if I really feel like resurrecting one or three...  "Eh" again.  So fragile.  I always joked they were my "guided missiles", and the new edition has really solidified that opinion for me...  Bike squad?  Maybe...  Still not liking the silly shooting restriction, BS/WS 3 and higher cost overall...  The Attack bike is cheap, but you get what you pay for.  Worse than IG crew...  Eh.  The Land Raider as either a dedicated transport for the Wolf Guard or just a Heavy on it's own might be amusing...  If I didn't regularly see 2-3 LR Vanquishers in several of the IG lists locally, the "Death Ray" weren't so bloody good, or there was some realistic defense against someone just dropping Melta on top of my position I could see bringing the 250+ point vehicle.  I like them, I really do...  Just that even with 4 HP, they mostly just die to Melta appearing before they really get rolling or do much of anything.  Yes, I did the DA LR of silliness with the (for them ) IC Techmarine giving the 4++ save and repairs from inside the vehicle...  DAMN expensive and while it usually worked for what it was, there were several instances of if simply being killed by say, a Necron Chariot fly by...  Lacking however the IC status on my bloody Iron Priest and the 4++ save?  Not yet...  Maybe in a big enough game where I can realistically protect the tank...

OK, enough random long term planning, back to the game at hand...  Still not a lot of heavy anti tank, nor do I really have an answer for the fliers other than trying to outlast them...  I do think with the limits in the league I WILL have enough AT firepower, it is mostly the AAA that I am concerned about...  Though I guess I can hope they bring an Aegis line and just walk on to steal the gun...  Or that time runs out...

Claws = Crap for Wolves?

:-)  Yeah, trying hard to rebuild my ancient Wolves army...  Finding the running theme of Claw = Crap though.

So, Blood Claws, I can have up to 15 crappy Marines.  Iff I have 15, I can get a second Special Weapon, but I shoot WORSE than IG.  At least around here, Vet Squads hit the field a lot... I can get a single Power Weapon...  Yea?  Oh, and unless I have them on leashes the give up their shooting attacks and try to charge.  I can get a special character...  But wait, the rules for Loki or Lukas do not actually work until he is alone or in a Challenge.  They didn't work in 5th either, which led me to question whether the designers actually play the game...  To create a unit with so many special rules and a really nice miniature only to find out that it is massively overpriced (in game, $ wise I was fine with the figure) and confusing as the special rules were things that will NEVER actually occur in the course of a normal game...  In the edition the book was written in at least.  Now, well, he is a Character and so can Challenge/Accept Challenges...  So on the off chance you field them, AND he survives long enough to actually get into HtH, etc...  Eh.  Guessing I'll never see it actually fielded...

Sky Claws are overpriced Jump Infantry, and Swift Claws are overpriced Bikers...  Guess the bikes at least suck less.  Irks me as I still have the Jump Troops from 2nd edition, and I REALLY like Jump Troops...  Just that they have the Blood Claw disadvantages...  In one FAQ I WAS able to give a Wolf Guard a Jump Pack and assign him to the squad...  Then it got erased a few days later...  So, I can have wild berserkers on their own OR I could spend a bunch of points on an actual Character to kind of keep them in line until they get killed off..  Eh at best...

Wolf Claws?  So re-rolling either the to hit or to Wound...  I think I can honestly say I almost never use them as anything other than "Lightning Claws" for the re-roll on to wound, but...  Not horrible, but I'm having a hard time seeing it as worth it :-)...  A shame, I really like the weapon, just seldom use them, especially as they are AP 3 and by and large preclude shooting which the Wolves actually do quite well...  NOT as well as my Grey Knights, whose "claws" do not in fact prevent the shooting...

:-)  Painting coming along...  Grey Hunters are actually looking "tabletop good"...  Fur actually looks like fur, and fully painted army is looking possible...  The vehicles on the other hand...  Well, I have a LONG way to go on that...

Wolves again, maybe it will work again...

Well, Bran Redmaw worked well in his own way...  OK suspect that it would be far better at higher point levels though.  210 for one figure in a 1000 point game is a LOT...  So, replacing him with a Wolf Priest who has "Saga of the Hunter" is 110 points.  This gives me preferred enemy against one "type" and frankly the Chaplain types are all fairly well equipped for whatever they face...  The WGBL could come close and likely be better if slightly more expensive...  But the loss of Fearless and Preferred Enemy for the Grey Hunter squad makes it far less likely for me...  So, I tool out a full squad of Jaegers...  Bring a Wolf Guard and the Priest for the 12 man squad with a mess of special weapons and rules to hit a flank...

The cost reduction also gives me the ability to field a squad of Scouts...  More bodies and "Behind Enemy Lines" with Meltas huge locally with so many tanks...  Until people figure out that an Aegis line with Quad Gun kills the Scouts as s they deploy...  But for now not seeing many of them...

Another note...  I bring all of my Jaegers with MotW and special weapons...  Plasma and/or power weapons if I can as well...  Yes, fewer bodies overall but the lads are there to fight not just bring the Razorback and be technically scoring...  Everyone shows up to fight in my lists...  I guess I am also not so averse to bringing Plasma weapons, just that they cost a LOT more than I think they should given the cost of Melta...  And since I actually have some of the ancient Wolf Scouts w/ Plasma pistols, guess I field them in place of my old Power Weapons that used to actually be quite good...  Just not being able to assault out of Reserve these days means we're kind of stuck for at least a turn...  MotW on the other hand...  I'm going to have to modify the lone Sniper I have for the lads in some way I think...  Spending the 3 points on the SR seems silly at times, but 36" range is nice later in the game or if I just roll REALLY badly on the board edge roll...  And it's not like I am actually giving up a HtH attack with the d6+1 attacks for the Werewolf...

So, Wolves for the win, but...

Well, we won...  so good I guess.  But just not so sure, I fielded:

Bran Redmaw
10 man Hunter squad with 2 melts, MotW
2 x 5 man Hunter squads w saw, MotW in Razorbacks...
 Long fangs w 4 ml
Wolf guard, 3 with combi weapons...

So essentially I have the one squad go behind enemy lines an Bran riding a flank with the second...  Kind of counting on slow opponents who cannot take advantage of 2/3 of my points starting off the table...  So, can win but still have some doubts...  still, getting the lads painted...

Outflank rules question

So, Bran Redmaw has the saga of the hunter...  Allows outflank.  So, were I to deploy him in say, a Grey Hunter unit in a Razorback...  Would the reserved unit be able to flank?  I am thinking so, but not sure that declaring the IC to be with the unit makes it "part of" the unit...  If so, neat...  I just have to keep at or above 50% deployed normally with one Grey Hunter unit getting Wolf Scout deployment rules (behind enemy lines)...  So need 3 things at least to deploy...

Liking the Werewolf aspect...  Doubt he'll be worth the 210 points, but might be fun...

300th post, Wolves and Praetorians... Back to the beginning...

So, repainting the ancient lads...  Playing a few more weeks at 1000 points, so I am thinking the Wolves come out to play...  Not really enough points to field a cohesive force, but...  Grey Hunters in Razorbacks for my Troops, a few Scout Squads I think for the "Behind Enemy Lines"...  Not sure if I will bring Long Fangs, Rune Priest in Terminator Armor or Bran Redmaw :-)  IA 11, Werewolves everywhere?  Might be amusing...

Repainting and digging the lads out...  I forgot how many of them I had...  For larger games I have the ancient Land Raider, I can field Logan Grimmar and his Guard, Njal, Ragnar, Ulric, etc...  Found my full GW hard fig case of the old army and still more in other boxes and on the painting table...

Repaint is coming along, I have to say I really like how they are turning out.  Going in the old Legion colors of Grey with Yellow trim and helmet stripe...  The bulk of my force in the MK VI "Corvis" Armor with a number of MK II thrown in there...  Even a few of the very first Marines in the most ancient armor...  And my Scouts are led out by Leman Russ himself...  :-)  I find it a fine joke, and think that will be the way he returns to us when the time comes...  Just slipping into the battle with the Scouts, showing up exactly where and when needed the most...

Still painting a few of the Praetorians as well...  Really liking how they are turning out, but since I only have 30 or so finished of my 120 or so...  May be a while yet before the Light Rifles hit the field...

Are monkeys writing the FAQ for 40K? Do they even play the bloody game?

Thinking about fielding my Wolves, so I snagged the January FAQ (latest for them)...  The one change is that if a Wolf Scout unit has an IC OR an assigned Wolf Guard Pack Leader, they lose the ability to go behind enemy lines.  Understandable if it is the IC, this was the case in the previous edition, but now the WGPL?  Wow, it wasn't enough to take away the ability to go to Assault and actually use the Melta bombs they can buy or be safe briefly and give every army out there the ability to probably kill 3-4 of them with the Quad Guns firing Interceptor as the Wolves have NO BLOODY FLIERS of their own.  Oh, we CAN get an ace :-)  For all the fliers we do not have...  All I can say is wow.  GW had an excellent opportunity with the "Death From the Skies" book to get fliers out to all the armies and some form of AA to the armies lacking it but instead we get a $37 FAQ adding the Fliers to SOME armies, but not fixing anything really and being really a disappointment overall for the players out here.

So, no Fliers, no AAA, neutered Wolf Scouts and Wolf Guard...  Hmmm, wonder how well the Wolves will do in our local environment?  Not really.  No defense whatever against the Heldrake or tank lines I see across the table, no really compelling reason to field them really...  A bit of a caffeine inspired rant as I am snowed in, but really kind of confusing and disappointing...

So... Wolves and Praetorians? Maybe Eldar?

Yeah, the Fleshtearers are OK, but 1000 points is stifling...  The Storm Raven is amazing, as long as it stays a Flier...  Landing to have the lads and DN assault is the turn before it dies...  So, have to learn a bit better when to actually works out in my favor to fully commit...  Something to work on, but REALLY only something I think comes into effect at levels over 1500 points...  Means I am committing ONE of my assault elements, not the bulk of my army...  And with my usual attack involves several elements all going at the same time, so it will not be the same guarantee that the Raven dies...  VERY vulnerable of course, but not just waiting to die.

Brings me to what I am thinking about...  Probably going to switch out my army.  Wolves are interesting, and seeing more than a few Tank Line armies locally, I think the Wolf Scouts are going to be brutal.  My initial response was they are shelved with almost every army fielding the Aegis line with the quad gun...  Now, not really seeing the Quad guns or Aegis lines, so the Scouts appearing in the backfield with Melta and Plasma would be a very good thing...  The Rune Priest is still the only real psychic defense Marines have, and it till wounds Daemons on a 2+...  Long Fangs are OK, but with the Heldrake roaming everywhere, I do not have  the same confidence I once had.  Maybe with a Wolf Guard and Rune Priest in Terminator armor in the squad...  Just seems a LOT of my points in one small squad.  Grey Hunters are a solid choice and I am liking  the Razorbacks with small squads these days...  Probably helps that I snagged the last metal Njal at the Gopher and Munin sent me the last of my Wolf Scouts, but we'll see if I can make them work...  And I am REALLY liking how my new paint scheme test mini came out, so the lads will be getting repainted...  Or painted :-)  Some of the lads haven't ever really been finished since they hit the field in the ancient pre Heresy days of the RT edition...

Praetorians and Eldar are also starting to make their way back to the top of the list...  With my Praetorians, I am thinking I could abuse Artillery and just win by shooting and Arty sniping...  So, potentially devastating  but ultimately boring I think.  Eldar will be more of a challenge, but mostly because I do not believe they are competitive in the current edition.  OK, I didn't think they were competitive in the previous edition either, and it has really just gotten worse...  Farseer or Eldrad look like they'd be good, and I can put out a metric crapton of Str 6 shooting...  Neat, but...  For Troops, the Pathfinders are good, but only until someone else locally figures out that there are a lot of things that ignore cover saves...  Once someone else figures it out, well, the Pathfinders will evaporate...  HtH is limited and the Vehicles by and large are overpriced...  Oh, and unless I use IA, nothing close to a Flier or AAA...  OTOH, excellent flier in IA 11...  So, I think I could make something work...

1K Team League starts tonight...

So, I'm bringing my Fleshtearers...  I toyed with a few other armies, and I think we CAN change it during the league, so not a big deal...  Just that the Eldar are nigh unplayable in this edition unless I am playing one of the IA lists like the Corsairs...  Even the Nightwing Flier they have in there is really quite good at 145 points...  But the IA lists are probably overpowered, and a single Flier is not so much fun to bring to the table...  If Pedro Cantor changed Sternguard to Troops rather than just making them Scoring, I'd be using that again, but the "tax" of having to bring at least 2 minimum sized squads of crap troops is just too much I think.  DA I just played, and while I think they are OK, the parts I want to play would not work well in small 1K games...  That and frankly I was tired of playing the same army every week...  There really are some things it does well against and some it is incapable of dealing with barring insanely good dice.  So, the game devolves to a "Rock Paper Scissors" game that takes several hours to play out, but that most of the players know what will likely happen before Deployment...

/rant off :-)  So, I am bringing a nice "Team Friendly" force, either my Roddy Piper force ("We're here to kick ass and chew bubblegum...  And we're out of gum") being the first:

Reclusiarch (Jump Pack)
Death Company (5, 2 Power Axes, Jump Packs)
DC DN (Claws of Eternal Combat, HF)
Storm Raven (MM/TL LC)
Assault Squad (10, Flamer, Melta, PW SGT)
Sanguinary Priest (Jump Pack)

Aegis Line w/ LC

So, nothing at all subtle, the Raven loads up with the DC elements and comes in to hit the enemy on or about turn 3...  Assault Squad and Medic can combat squad and hide in ruins/Aegis line...  The line is just the extra 85 points...  I COULD bring the Whirlwind at 90 if I really wanted to, but given the DA version @ 65...  Just no where really to sink those points...

Second is a straight up stand and fight list...

Librarian (Jump Pack, Blood Lance and ?)
Assault Squad (10, 2 Melta, SGT w/ Inf pistol and PW)
Assault Squad (10 Melta, Flamer, SGT w/ ?  Flame pistol maybe)
Storm Raven (TML, TL LC)
Furioso DN (HF)
Attack Bike w/ MM

So, nothing subtle, just bringing scoring bodies, a Flier to dogfight and ....  Well, that's about it.  Should be a good "half" of another Army for a team...

All in all, nothing TOO overpowered...  Should be interesting at least.  I still have the Death Company squad I won in the Tournament a few leagues back...  Might have to paint them up as Honor Guards...  Think I have enough DC with 25+ Jump Troopers...  Or I'd be happy to trade them for something else if someone is needing more DC...

Are Assault Armies Dead?

So, I've been hearing this over and over...  I'm not sure, but I DO think they have taken a serious hit since the new edition hit.  Not being able to Assault out of Reserve in general is bad, and of course having an entire new class of target that is completely immune to HtH is pretty bad as well...  Random Charge length can be annoying, but overall I actually like that.  It HAS killed off the 5th edition standby of the "Power Blob" the IG could field.  Casualties being taken closest (or directed by placed shots) leads to some interesting situations that could well allow you to kill so many targets that you are no longer IN combat...  Or you lose wounds done because you can only kill the close things...  Of course the inability to assault from non "Assault" (or open topped) Vehicles is pretty bad...  Especially because this prevents you from Assaulting if you have to get out of a wrecked or destroyed Vehicle...

This and the no assaults from Reserve are particularly difficult to justify.  The stated reason is that the designers have is that they did not want the players to be hit by things that they could not react to before getting hit...  All well and good, except then you get things like the Heldrake that CAN simply fly on, hit you with the Vector Strike then hit you again or another unit altogether with it's Flamer of Doom...  The first happens before ANY reaction is possible, including Interceptor fire, the second after, but by then it is too late usually and frankly how many Fliers get killed by Interceptor fire?  Most of my armies will have the Quad gun, or an Icarus Las Cannon...  If they're lucky and have access to the Forgeworld stuff or are allowed to proxy in stuff then the Hyperion Missile turrets or Mortis DNs perhaps...



Kind of lost track of where I was here...  "Assault" to me I guess I apply my own more modern definitions to.  So, I would include short ranged "shock" shooting as part of an Assault strategy.  Sternguard or IG Stormtroopers dropping in onto a target and smacking it with Plasma and Melta at point blank range to me is every bit as much "Assault" as the Death Company jump packing into HtH...  More suicidal I think as you are not "safely in HtH and will likely take heavy casualties or get wiped out by the return fire, but My Sternguard never failed to get me First Blood when I played them regularly...  Yes, in my best iteration of that list was in the 1850+ point range and included CPT Tycho's Fleshtearer doppelganger, Sternguard, Medic in Terminator Armor and the Vanguard Vets following the Drop Pod's beacon in to deal with anyone silly enough to be close to the CPT and the boys...  Sometimes they even survived.  And I usually won the fight, and the battle because First Blood, Line Breaker and Kill the Warlord were all pretty good odd wise for that setup...  NOT long term holding the line, unless I happen to kill them all of course :-)...

Off to work out I guess, I am finding that I think a lot better when I am on the move...

1000 points of Fleshtearers, take 2 (Now with pics :-))

Mkay, got in a 1500 point game last night against Bradly's Grey Knights...  He had a really good list, not quite as Meched up as his previous ones, but...  The only real weakness I could see is the lack of real long ranged firepower, specifically AT firepower...  But the HtH silliness and the melta guns everywhere on the Henchmen squads is solid if a bit fragile outside of their Chimeras...  Weight of fire is a concern as well as he can throw out a LOT of fire in the 24" range bracket...  Still, my thrown together list did fairly well, mostly due to the Medics (Sanguinary Priests) allowing my insane number of FnP rolls to keep my lads on the field...  I made something like the first dozen before failing one, and overall made something like 20+ in the course of the game.  So, I think the Medics are keepers...

Gabriel Seth was also on the field...  Did well, but his 2 big HtH rounds were destroying an Interceptor SGT in a Challenge and then wiping out a Henchman Squad single handed on the Charge...    He ran with a tooled out Honor Guard, so the Medic there helped a lot, but I think overall I would have done better with Death Company.  The Furioso I used in place of the DC DN did well, but the DC DN has Fleet and twice I rolled a bad Charge distance and failed the Charge...  And died as a result.  The DC DN in Assault would have wiped the Terminators and Coteaz easily I think...

Oh, and here's the Raven:

So, here's my second take at 1000 points:

Gabriel Seth
Death Company (5, 2 Power Axes)
DC DN
Assault Squad (10, Melta, Flamer, PW on SGT)
Storm Raven (TL Las Cannon, TL Melta)
Medics (1 Termi, 1 Jump Pack)

Have to juggle the points a bit...  I WANT the H Flamer on the DN, so the Medic riding with Seth might well go away or lose the Terminator Armor...  I tried the "Typhoon" Missile Launcher on the Raven, but was pretty disappointed with it, especially given the extra points I paid for it...  Might be that I simply did not face a flier, but AP 1 and Melta is HUGE, and a free swap, so there we go...    Might bring in an Attack Bike in place of the Medic in the Raven...  Would LOVE to have a Chaplain, and may well swap  a Reclusiarch for Seth...  Hmmm...  Then the DC might get Jump Packs...  Probably not though :-)  Bloody expensive...

Fleshtearers for the next league...

Looking like a team league, but I am looking at playing at least some of the games with the 1500 or 1850 lists...  Last time I played CPT Tycho and the Sternguard All Stars.  Pretty effective, and VERY "Fleshtearer" with the win or die nature of the army...  Not sure I want to do the same thing again, especially with FT Sternguard NOT being scoring.  Was different with the Crimson Fists, especially with Pedro Cantor being able to ride in the Drop Pod with a full 10 man squad.

So, Gabriel Seth...  Thinking of running him with an Honor Guard squad, loaded out with a variety of weapons, power, melta, etc. and having them ride in the Storm Raven...  Really liking how that thing turned out, will have to get some pictures...  The DC DN or a Furioso rides in there as well...  A few full Assault Squads, some Sanguinary Priests (Medics to me...), and?  Dunno, guessing a Vindicator, maybe a Predator or two...

Leads to a rule question, does Gabriel's "Ferocious Instincts" mean that anyone rolling one's against his unit in HtH takes the Str 4, or does it only work when he is on his own/in a challenge?  As I read it, I'd say it is only him, but the Necron codex has a similar character, and it goes the other way as I understand it...

1000 points of Fleshtearers

Well, not sure this will work well...  Looking at the Partner League starting up, so here's my rough draft:

Librarian (Jump Pack, Blood Lance and ?)
Assault Squad (10, 2 Melta, Infernus Pistol, PW on SGT)
Assault Squad (10, Metla, Flamer, Flame pistol and Melta bomb on SGT)
Attack Bike (MM)
Stormraven (TLLC, TML)
Furioso DN (HF, DN CCW)

Not thinking it will win a LOT of battles on it's own, but I have an answer for first blood on the MM Attack bike and Jump Troopers...  The Raven can take it's shots at 2 Fliers/turn and they are the Str 9, 4 Str 8 shots.  Done messing around, I do not want to glance, I want penetrating hits and destroyed results.  AP 1/2 on high Str shots seems to be the way...

The Troops can Combat Squad, Deep Strike if needed, move fast and probably hold if needed...  I am concerned that it has no medics for FnP, might have to drop the TML on the Raven and maybe the Attack bike for one...

Old Stuff Day 2013, Ancient Wolves...

Well, here's something from the REALLY ancient times...

Shame I do not feel the Wolves can compete these days...  Would like to take the old girl out for a spin, but I think the time of Land Raider Dominance is past...  Built this back in 88 or 89 I think from the White Dwarf templates...  Have since converted the other MK I Land Raider to the Spartan Class like this one, but the Black one has magnetized weapons for swapping...

Not great pictures, but the new phone does have a MUCH nicer one...