Ancient Comm Mini

Looking over at James Wappel's amazing Imperial Fists Command Group (and a post of his previous to that), I recognized one of my ancient RT era lads as something Forge World has redone.  And MUCH better I might add, though as the old Marines go, this was not really a BAD one...  Just clearly one that I never had much use for as I never even primed it in all the years it has been in the Basement of Doom :-)

So, not bad and as I eventually choose my 30K Legion, something for me to paint up in the correct colors, but still have to say the FW minis they are coming out with are amazing...  :-)  Will probably have to sell off a rifle or three to start buying more of the resin...

Legion Lists for next week

Looking like I'll be breaking out my ancient plastic MK VI Armor lads next week...  Sadly, I DO have enough I think to field a full Legion Army, albeit in the various Camo patterns I used back then when I painted them up in the late 80's...

So far, up in the air with respect to who I will have lead out the army...  Librarians getting to simply choose a discipline?  So Divination perhaps?  The Praetor is awesome as well though...  And Siege Breaker for Tank Hunter?  Just so many things I could go with...  Librarian is a safe choice, and probably where I'll start.  I need to learn how to use them in any case.

Looking at the number of Land Raiders I can field as Transports...  Kind of imposing really.  Especially as I can pay the extra points to make them immune to Melta fire...  The Spartan with the transport capacity of 25 means I can carry either a full Terminator Squad or a stupid large 20 man Tactical Squad or Breacher Squad with attached Medics (Apothecary) and say, a Librarian or the like...  In an Assault Vehicle with a stupid number of Marines rolling out with FnP, shooting attacks, etc...  Yes, REALLY high point cost for the Deathstar, but Scoring, hard to kill and should do a lot of damage...

Thinking that a 3 Land Raider spearhead will be extremely difficult for a lot of folks to deal with locally at least...  Not entirely convinced that I could easily take on a Screamer Star or an overload of MC's, but...  Lots of Twin Linked Las Cannon around, and my Terminators will have their 4++, and the lads will go down fighting so it will I think at the least be fun to play out...

30K Marne Legion armies viable in a modern high powered environment?

I think so.  The more I look over it and the more I piece together what I could actually field myself the more impressed I am with what Forgeworld has come up with here.  Comparing it to all of the current Marine Codices I find a LOT more options.  5 ACTUAL Troop choices AND Terminators are always scoring.  Yes, 3 of the Troops choices are "support" and so cannot be used to fulfill your mandatory Troop sections, but so many options...  And no silly hoops to jump through to unlock options.  Looking at Blood Angels, while they have lots of Troop options, really only 3 are Scoring and so viable.  2 can never Score, and thus are basically Elites, and mostly useless in 6th Edition.  DA and normal Marines CAN unlock other things as Troops, but basically, Tactical and Scout Squads are it...  With the growth of "Ignore Cover", Scouts are a difficult choice from a survivability standpoint...  Tactical Squads are "Eh" at best.  4's across the board for stats and 3+ armor are nothing special these days, and the Bolter is extremely substandard.  Not enough Heavy Weapons in the Troop sections, not hugely mobile and not particularly survivable.

Looking at the Legion, I have options for  things like a Tactical Support Squad with up to 10 guys, 9 armed with Meltas, Plasmas, or Rotor Cannons or a Volkite Calvier.  The Calvier is a 30" range Str 6 Heavy 2 with the potential for extra Wounds...  But basically, 30" range Str 6 shooting :-)...   Troops, and the Augury Scanner is cheap...  Allows the use of Rapid Fire or Heavy Weapons as Interceptors against Deep Strikers...  So, that could be brutal.

Almost every SGT can be upgraded to Artificer Armor, and most line squads can be up to 20 members...  Things like the BA Medics are standard things.  So 20 FnP Marines should be able to hold out a while...  NOT cheap, but again, something that you can see in a more limited and limiting fashion in modern (ish) codices...  And the Spartan Class Raider can carry 25 models, so the FULL Squad along with ICs...

I guess THAT is the frustrating thing about the 30K vs 40K comparisons...  Using just the basic Legion list as a basis for a list as I want to field it, I can actually make just about ANY of the modern Marine based armies.  And better I think.  Honestly, I think I can field a Legion list that can go toe to toe against the Tau/Eldar silliness that is currently dominating the Internet/Tournament scene...  Scoring Terminators, cheaper Land Raiders, which CAN be immune to Melta and can be Dedicated Transports...  So, no new stuff, and perhaps having a difficult time with an overload of Fliers.  OTOH, the Fliers will likely have a hard time dealing with the Land Raiders.

:-)  Guess I'll break out the 3 ancient Land Raiders and see what the Legion can do this week...  Glad the old Army Builder program had the Heresy stuff in it these days...

Considering a 30K Army... Dammit :-)

Been reading more and more of the Horus Heresy Betrayal book and seeing the truly amazing resin minis coming out of Forgeworld...  Looking at my own actual Pre-Heresy stuff and how very primitive those pieces look in comparison?  Yeah, and the rules for the Legions are actually quite good.  Haven't played them yet, but they look balanced and fun to play...  While staying powerful enough to at least have a chance against the current top tier lists I think.  The basic Legion lists alone are ~ 60 pages, and that is just the generic stuff, the specific Legions are more...  But the first book really only has Traitor Legions which I will not play.  Second book has Salamanders and Iron Hands, neither of which are ones I am much interested in for Loyalists...  So, guess I start looking at redoing my ancient Wolves or Imperial Fists perhaps as the Crimson Fists did not exist at that time.

So, I guess I start trading for and picking up some of the more interesting "ancient" Armors...  I have a set of "Breacher Siege Squad" lads coming to become a Command Squad with Storm Shields in 40K, but guessing that they will just be the first group...  Breachers are Troops in the 30K lists, but unit starts at 10 men...  Assault Squads are also Troops...  Seems weird to me that Forgeworld can write such amazingly balanced and frankly good Army Books and GW comes out with silliness and stupidity in the form of the $50 DA book that was DoA due to the Heldrakes and massed fliers initially seen in 6th edition...  Damn shame, and I have to admit that this causes me a fair bit of concern for the long term viability of the game.

Crimson Fists vs IG

Mkay, going mostly from memory, I played against Marc last evening, 1850 points he brought his Armored IG, I had my CF, testing some different stuff...

He fielded:

Lord Commissar (2 Plasma Pistols)
Vendetta (3 TL LC, 2 HB)
Vulture (I think, FW flier, TL Punisher Gatling Cannon, HB)
2 Leman Russ w/ Punisher, MM sponsons and LC hull mount
Leman Russ Exterminator (Las Cannon)
Vet Squad (Plasmas, Carapice, in a Chimera)
Vet Squad (Meltas, Plasma?  Rode in Vendetta w/ Commissar)
Bane Wolf (MM, Chem flamer)
Line PLT, 3 squads, Commissar


I fielded:
CPT on bike w/Primarch's bolter
Command Squad on bikes w/melta, 3 Grav guns and a Medic
Bike Squad w/MM, 2 Grav guns full squad
2 Scout Squads, cloaks, bolters, snipers, etc...  2 Speeder Storms, 1 MM, 1 HF
Centurion Devastator Squad w/2 Grav Cannon, missiles and split fire
Hunter
Legion of the Damned
Storm Raven
Rifleman DN
Everything that could combat squad, did.  DN rode in the Raven, Bolter Scouts in Storms flanked

So, he got first turn...  Set up his 2 Punisher tanks on his left flank, Executioner on far right. Line PLT in the center in a building.  I sent my Centurions to my left opposite his Exterminator.  Scouts set up in same building and the far Right flank.  Had to start the Bike Squads behind cover as well.  Reserved the Command Squad and Hunter along with the Legion, Raven and Storms.  First turn was my Scouts weathering a LOT of punisher shooting along the way...  My turn was the Devastators moving up and wrecking the Chimeras (well, one Chimera and the Bane Wolf) for First Blood.

His Warlord Trait was -1 to my Reserve rolls...  So while his fliers came in and helped him collapse my Right flank by killing off the few remaining Scouts there and the bulk of my Centurions, I only had my Hunter come in.  My Bike Squads survived by making lots of cover/Armor saves, but are cut down to only a few members each.  I charge one Bike Squad into his Vets and hope for the best...  The other lasts until next turn, but...  So, lots of things die on both side, but I have more reserves so while the board looks sparse for me...  I have to get my lads to the field and let them go...

Turn 3, I have 2 Sniper Scouts alive hiding in a Ruin.  I think mostly because we both forgot about them.  This turn I get the bulk of my Reserves, all but one Scout Speeder (MM one) arrive and it starts to look good for the Marines.  The Storm Raven drops the Rifleman off on the way in, then proceeds to fire at the Punisher Tanks...  Killed one Tank and damages the other.  The Rifleman opens up on the last Chimera and kills it.  LoD and Scout Speeder damage the Executioner.  Last Biker kills off his Vets and then retreats...  To die next turn, but...

Turn 4, his damaged Vendetta drops out the Commissar's squad...  The kill off a the few remaining Bikers hanging around and I think somewhere along the line my Centurions die to the massed fire...  The Storm Raven and Scout Speeders I think off his now hovering Fliers...  To be fair, I think it would not have really mattered had they been Hovering or Flying as the Raven can target 2 with it's array of Vehicle killing weapons and almost guarantee splashing one and potentially both.  Coming in late left his Fliers exposed to a Riposte from the Claymore that is a Storm Raven.  Was good that his lads deployed from the Transport else when I splash the Vendetta, most of them die.  Pretty sure my LoD and remaining bikes in his DZ are killed, but my Scouts and a few other things shoot in and kill off his PCS.

Turn 5 is mostly cleanup, he moves to cover the objective, I shoot him off of it and consolidate.  He still has a fair number of lads in his Platoon, but Las Guns are not going to slow down my Command Squad set to crash in and deal with them in HtH...  After unloading the rest of my army into them.  I do not control the Objective at my Scouts are either in his DZ or have been forgotten and are camping out with a nice lunch started in the original Ruin.  Raven kills off his last Tank that has just vaporized my Rifleman...  Now, the Raven is completely out of real targets as MM/LC are overkill against IG Grunts, but had we continued, so be it... Over the course of 2 more turns I COULD have gotten the Objective as the one Combat Squad with a Storm woula have been able to Turbo Boost over there and deploy onto it the next turn.  Would have been easier to just kill off the remainder of the Platoon though I think...

So, the stars for his side?  Vulture with the huge number of shots on Strafing...  His Punishers were also quite good, but honestly easier for me to take down.  Their weapons have too short a range to NOT play aggressively and so they tend to move beyond their own Support elements and die.  His PCS was also quite good, though I think 2 more Flamers might have been good there.  They played "Linebacker" and dealt with Deep Strikers coming in.  Heavy Weapons in the Line Platoon would have been huge, as it was I could safely ignore that element and deal with the rest.  But they did last the game...

Stars for me?  Bikes are actually quite deadly now...  Making them Troops and Combat Squads means I can saturate the field in Scoring units...  They did well.  The Raven was amazing.  The Rifleman, not so much, but...  LoD was "Eh" at best I think.  Scouts on LS Storms were really quite good.  Flanking and rolling in with a bunch of Bolters and a Heavy Bolter re-rolling 1's to hit is nice...  And...  Well, the CPT did well, and the Grav weapons on bikes were nice, but highly situational I think.  Hunter paid for itself bringing down the then Skimming Flier, and bringing it in from Reserve will I think be SOP henceforth...   Overall the Army did well, would have been better as a White Scar force, but...

Is Forgeworld the equalizer?

So, looking at the rules for the Heresy stuff and other Forgeworld things…  Seems like therein lies the answer to some of the cheesy silliness.  Sad to say, but without a major FAQ or revision from GW it is looking more and more like FW again is the only way to achieve actual balance in the game.  Not sure if people out there are still using the FW AAA…  We used it a bit here and the Mortis class DN is  a staple for the DA players, but the things like the IG platforms?  Not really at all…  But only a small number of IG players locally, and as the main one is playing an armored force with air cover of his own, I think he is FAR less concerned about enemy fliers… 

Was reading a battle report earlier over on BOLS (http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2013/10/30-40k-batrep-sons-of-horus-vs.html) that pitted a Heresy era force up against an ultra-modern Tau force loaded out with 4 (!!!) Riptides.  So, showing the ease of abuse with the ability to ally with your own army to gain additional HQ/Heavy/Whatever slots…  Something I am thinking is an issue, but what would I know…  In any case, the Chaos player brings a force essentially consisting of 3 specialist Land Raiders…  Well, one Spartan which I guess is no longer a Land Raider (MINE are, both of the bloody things J) and 2 Phobos class Raiders, all of which had Ceremite Plating meaning no Melta.  So, without Melta, that means really only MC coming over to kill them in HtH and risk being dragged down by the CC Terminators inside…  If they don’t just die to the masses Twin Linked Las Cannons that is…  8 of them in this configuration.  Might be overkill for a lot of things, but barring some lucky rolling, should put enough Wounds onto one/turn to at least scare them…  Yes, 4 are going to be a problem, but really unless they play hyper aggressively they can’t deal with the 3 heavily armored Tanks themselves.  The Eldar Wraithknight with the Str 10 D Cannon can probably…  Maybe…  But becoming immune to the Melta effect is HUGE.  Thinking I will be looking at one of the Achilles Class as they have the Quad Mortar/Thunderfire Cannon and are immune to Lance as well as the Melta weapons.  Transport Capacity of 6 though, so it’ll be a Command Squad or Honor Guard…  A fitting ride I think for a Chapter Master or Captain though…

I guess I am really concerned that the only way to make a competitive army without playing one of the 2 uber armies at the moment is to find something equally broken in the Forgeworld area…  Locally we play them I think and most big tourneys seem to allow them.  Just feels wrong.  But I think I have a line on a modern Spartan Class Tank from an old Army buddy of mine…  Apparently I have too many magazines, clips, etc. for some ancient firearms, and so…  J 

Since I have a BUNCH of pre-Heresy stuff, and the FW resin looks amazing, kind of looking forward to putting together a 30K army...

Pics of works in progress and a bit more...

So, just a few pics of the things I am working on...  Nothing too extensive, but getting some ancient models ready to hit the table...

So, building a Land Speeder Storm, Bastions, Centurion Devastator stand ins, Swooping Hawks, Storm Talon stand-in, some ancient Scouts with Bolters and  the Marine w/ Shuriken Catapult to stand in as a Grav Gun I think...

Looking at my armies and current projects in the Basement of Doom © I have way too much on that wee painting table.  And frankly finding less and less motivation to actually paint them to maybe play them…

1.      Still stripping and repainting my Praetorian IG, but that is a LONG term project with several hundred models.  And riding the motorcycle, not a practical army to be transporting.  Rumor has them getting a new Codex early next year.  I think they are still way too good in this edition, though I know I do not be any means have an “optimized” force playing mine as a Light Rifles Company.  Still, while they are NOT unbeaten while I play them, I think I have only lost to gimmick setups for a LONG time.  By Gimmick I mean the Scenario allowed say, an Assault based horde army to set up at the mid-point, something like 12” away from my line as I was packed into a corner.  If I had more than a single turn to actually fire before getting overrun…  But that was 5^th edition.  In 6^th I think they still do an amazingly powerful gun line.  Only real struggles are keeping something like Daemons at bay.  But I have Aegis lines, Hydras, Vendettas, etc…  Sadly, running them with Wolves as allies for Psychic Defenses and effectively unbreakable blobs is not a bad thing.  Silly tricks like DA or GK allied in give things like 4++ Fearless blobs or other things really outside of  balance…  NOT really suitable for fast paced Tournament games, so unlikely to see them there…  And frankly, the modern gun lines like Eldar Serpent Spam can throw out a LOT of firepower.  More below…
2.        DA…  Yes, I have a BUNCH of them still in various stages of painting.  Picked up one of the new Terminator Squad boxes…  And repainting/finishing up a bunch of my old models.  I CAN play a pretty good Dual Wing or Deathwing force…  Just such a low model count for overpriced things and the new gun lines put out SO MUCH fire that I’ll roll enough 1’s to just die.  Oh, and the bikes just evaporate to the Heldrakes.  No saves, wound on a 2 or 3 depending if it is the fly-by or flamer…  No defenses possible, unless you somehow get them Invulnerable saves…  Possible, but NOT cheap and that bunches you or slows you down so much…   And overall, the DA book still leaves a bitter taste as it had SUCH potential but ended up just being really bad all around.  Niche allies at best, sadly…
3.        Eldar…  Yes, I stopped painting and playing them for pretty much the opposite reason.  They are just way too good.  The Wave Serpent is insane, and since GW is “somewhat lax” doing things like writing, clarifying or providing FAQs for their rules you get some insane but completely legal combos.  Skyshield with Wave Serpents being the one that comes to mind here.  2+ cover save for a bunch of Vehicles that depending on how the TO rules might be immune to “ignores cover”.  And good luck getting up there to deal with them in HtH.  MOST tournaments do not have giant pieces of blocking terrain at the center of every table, and those are the only ones that I am seeing things like Chaos/Tyranids coming out on top with.  Alpha Strike or no, SO much shooting that it gets silly and they are immune to so much counter fire.  Kind of irking, I was really enjoying playing them in a non “optimized” fashion with Spiritseer and Wraiths as Troops, etc…  There are just SO many good things in the book, and it was interesting to play until this.  I felt it was overpowered before this and I felt pretty bad bringing them to play against folks bringing “fluffy” Chaos Marines, GK or the like, but this just put it way over the top.  Point and click for the win at the events, boring to play and boring to play against. 
4.      And finally the Crimson Fists I am working on now...  So far they are pretty good.  I am enjoying playing the Army and they are doing fairly well...  OK, strike that, they are kicking much ass.  But I have yet to face one of the forces I think will be a hard counter to them.  And unfortunately there are some armies that are simply hard counters to EVERYTHING.  Based on some very poorly written rules and their interaction with some very unclear things, it has led to a situation where I fear the game itself is just broken.  The problem is that until some of the stupidity is sorted out, not sure ANY Army will work.  Frankly, at this point barring local house rulings or a LOT of the major TOs  getting together and making an effectively universal ruling it is simply not worth playing in Tournaments I think...  Locally I think we'll avoid this, but...

 OK, that wound up more of a rant than I was thinking of...  And I haven't even touched all of my armies.  Fleshtearers are still "eh" at best, GK's have been passed I think.  Though ironically they would work very well against the Demons that have apparently been doing well in some of the Tournaments the way I play them at least...  I'm odd I guess as I actually play the GK with actual Knights as the focus and in fact the main part of the force...  But they lose easily I think to too many other things...  Fleshtearers are a Shock army.  I will be able to surprise some people attacking immediately and with everything, holding nothing back and taking chances not many others would...  Works once against most people, but once they have seen this thing, it will not work again, or not often...

Next Week, something completely different and the current meta?

So, looking to try something completely different…  Crimson Fists without Pedro Kantor.  Thinking that a Bike CPT gains me a Command Squad and access to Bike Squads (of 5 or more models) as Troops.

Captain (Bike, Primarch’s Wrath, LC)  145

Command Squad (Bikes, 3 Grav Guns, Melta Gun, Medic)  205

Bike Squad (8, Attack Bike w/MM, 2 Grav Guns) 253

Scout Squad (10, 4 Sniper, HB, Cloaks, LSS w/MM) 142+55

Bike Squad (8, Attack Bike w/MM, 2 Plasma Guns) 253

Centurion Devastators (LC, 2 Grav, Scope, ML) 290

Thunderfire Cannon  100

And…  Well, we tend to play at the 1850 level, so ~300 more points.  Hunter probably, or a Storm Raven for the last Heavy slot.  If Hunter then probably the Storm Talon and…  Well, more Cents?  Or the Legion again I suppose?  Dunno, something to think about…

Really, the above Army SHOULD be fielded as a White Scars one…  +1 cover save, Hit and Run, auto pass terrain tests and +1 Str Hammer of Wrath hits?  Essentially for free…  Yes, they lose the Tank Hunter for the Centurions and swap Bolters on Scouts for Shotguns I guess…  But my army is painted up AS Crimson Fists, so…

So, looking at the current local meta I think things are really starting to balance out.  Yes, the Marines still have to be aware of the Heldrake problem…  But at this point I do not feel totally outclassed by the Drakes.  Between my own fliers and some actual AAA I can field I have some things to threaten them and I’ve learned how to deal with them I guess…  Now, Chaos forces based on the Heldrakes fall pretty easily to the Tau and Eldar I think.  In turn, the Tau/Eldar based on the big nasty MCs they have fall to the Grav weapons fielded by the new Marines.  So, back to a more Rock-Paper-Scissors setup I think…  Necrons are still a tough army, but with the both massed and/or twin linked firepower and increased number of AA platforms or fliers I think their fliers are fairly weak.

Some of the assumptions made above really depend on a few very key rulings.  Primarily the one about “Ignores Cover” and that rule’s interaction with Vehicles.  RAW, it does specify “wound”, and as Vehicles do not have wounds it would in the strictest reading of the rules mean that it does not work against Vehicles.  This leads to silliness like Eldar Wave Serpents with Holo Fields sitting on a Skyshield Platform for the 2+ cover save in addition to the 4++ save the platform gives, should you get around the perimeter cover save…  THAT makes the Eldar stupidly overpowered, and it is not how we’ve been playing locally at least….  But that is not universal by any means.  The other is sort of related, the Grav weapons need some further clarification.  Do they ignore cover as they do NOT roll on the vehicle damage chart because they do not cause a glance or penetrating hit?  Also, should a vehicle get hit by 2 of them, does it take 2 Hull Points and immobilize the Vehicle OR does it take 3 HP as the second immobilized result strips another HP per the Vehicle damage chart?  I’d say it takes 3 HP because the result on the chart doesn’t specify “if this number is rolled”, and they recently FAQ’d rolling a 1 on difficult terrain for a Vehicle and immobilizing yourself does strip a HP as well…  So, IMO that would be consistent.  Yes, I know, applying a standard to which GW has not maintained over the years, consistency…  Still, would be a good thing I think to have officially clarified…

Battle Rep, Crimson Fists vs Chaos at 1850

Right, so played Joe L's Chaos Marines last night.  His list, from memory was:

Warp Smith with harness of doom, 5+ Inv
Land Raider
Squad of Marines with Melta and Flamer
Hell Brute w/Power Scourge
Hell Brute w/Plasma
3 Squads of Marines with Melta, Flamer in Rhinos w/Havoc Launchers
Obliterators
Vindicator
2 Heldrakes




I fielded my Crimson Fists:
Pedro Kantor
Honor Guard in Rhino
Tech Marine
Sternguard (10, 1 HF, 7 Combi Melta, 2 Combi Plasma, LC on SGT) in Drop Pod w/beacon
Scout Squad (10, cloaks, 4 Snipers, HB, Bolters on rest) in Land Speeder Storm w/HF
Scout Squad (10, Cloaks, 4 Snipers, ML, Bolters on rest) in Land Speeder Storm w/MM
Legion of the Damned (5, Melta, Plasma Cannon)
Hunter
Rifleman DN (2x TL AC)
Storm Talon (TL LC)
Thunderfire Cannon
Centurion Devastators (3, 2 Grav Cannon, 1 TL LC, Missiles all around, SGT w/scope)

Everything that could Combat Squad did.  Bolter Scouts flanked in the LSSs.

We played Hammer and Anvil (Long table) with Emperor's Will (2 Objectives).  He got first turn on a table with something like 14 pieces of terrain, so loads of ruins.  I upgraded 2 in my DZ and he vetoed one, so only the one om my left was 3+.  I deployed my Rifleman Honor Guard w/ Pedro in Rhino and the Thunderfire in that one along with the ML armed Combat Squad of Scouts.  Ruin on my right with the 4+ cover had the Centurions, Hunter and the HB armed Sniper Scouts...  Joe's Iron Warriors lined up with his Land Raider taking his far Left, flanked by 2 Rhinos and the DNs.  Oblits to his Center and the Vindicator flanked by a Rhino to his Right.

Night Fighting on turn one so there was a limited amount of damage done by the Iron Warriors...  Mostly they drove forward, popped smoke and bunched up as they rolled toward me the bulk on his Left towards my objective (guarded by the Centurions).  On my turn, the Sternguard dropped in near the center, scattering to my Left and the Vindicator.  It was a rough turn for Chaos.  The Heavy Flamer hit one of the DNs and the Vindicator that it was covering the Rear Arc of...  Rolled a 6 followed by another o destroy it for First Blood.  The Combi Meltas slagged the DN.  Pedro dropped his Orbital Bombardment into the mess on the Right...  Hit the Land Raider and a Rhino.  Stripped a hull point from a Rhino and the Raider passed it's cover save...  Then the Centurions opened up...  The Raider died after failing 4 cover saves.  To be fair, Night Vision made them hard saves, but 4 dice, nothing higher than a 2 doomed it.  So, did a lot of damage, but the Heldrakes haven't shown up.

Turn 2, his Drakes came in.  Flew over and flamed one Sternguard Combat Squad, wiping it out.  The second offed the bulk of a Sniper Scout squad.  His Warlord and squad hoofed it toward my Objective and took a bunch of wild shots into my Centurions   Oblits Plasma and Power Fists killed off the second Sternguard Squad combined with other fire from random Marines...  So, not a good day to be a Sternguard, but they did what they had to.  On my turn, the MM armed Speeder and the Legion arrived.  They wound up killing the second DN, an Oblit and put some damage into some of the trailing elements...  Keeping him from fully engaging my DZ...  The Centurions erased the bulk of the Warlord's squad and split fire into a Rhino with the Las Cannon.  The Hunter hit a Drake, but the 5++ saved it.  Moved Pedro and Co up to block and bait them a bit...  Mostly worked, should have gotten them out as the Rhino lacking the Assault Vehicle rule hurts a unit that WANTS to Assault.

Turn 3, his Drakes continued their rampage...  Finished my Scouts and...  Well, the Thunderfire saved and that was about it...  Rolled the Hunter back to keep it out of Melta range from his Marines, so it took a Glance being outside of 6"...  He destroyed Pedro's Rhino, and the lads hunkered down to wait...  The Oblits shot then charged Legionnaires...  And we bounced...Not a lot of damage to either side. On my turn, the Hunter MISSED, but put a marker onto a Drake.  The DN actually put a hull point onto the other...   Centurions erased another squad, and...  Well, things were winding down as we killed each other off...

Turn 4, one Drake left the second finished off a squad of Scouts that had a survivor or two around, the Centurions ignored it.  He chased the Hunter and immobilized it, but it lived being more than 6" again...  On my turn I killed his Warlord, the missile hit the Drake and the Hunter fired again to finish it off...  The last Rhino of his finally died and my Honor Guard charged in and killed off a squad of Chaos Marines.  I think my Legion finally died, but they kept his Oblits out of action for most of the game.   I made a major error and hopped out and claimed his objective.  So, on turn 5 his Drake came back and killed them all.  ALMOST cost me the game, I should have kept them in the Vehicle knowing I had the final turn.  But at this point (Turn 5) I had the ONLY troops left in the 5 Bolter Scouts in the second Vehicle...  Well, with First Blood, Warlord I wrapped it up...

Legion did well.  Died slowly, but I think the Multi Melta will be their weapon of choice.  No Cover saves and AP1?  Yes Please.  Centurions were probably way too good.  Sternguard?  Good, but I doubt they got back their points directly.  For the first time though, I was not overly concerned about the Heldrakes.  They killed a LOT, but a lot of that was my fault for deploying overly aggressively and stupidly in the case of the Scouts.  In the end, "It Will Not Die" and the 5++ saved them.  I splashed one, almost the second one and by the 5th turn I had all of my AAA ready to go and was left mostly with things not concerned with AP 3...    So, the lessons learned were that I need to play less aggressively with the Scouts...  Might be time to bring a Rhino or two with Tactical Marines...

So, now what?

UMkay, got to thinking over the weekend and here's what I plan on testing next along with some random thoughts...

Legion of the Damned:  125 points gets me 5 of them, 15 points for the Plasma Cannon and 10 for a Melta?  All have the Ignore Cover rule for shooting, so they have AP 1 and 2 weapons allowing NO cover saves...  Later game or if I drop onto an Enemy gun emplacement, I can steal it...  Have to Deep Strike, so not 100% happy about that as I like the OPTION to Deep Strike, but getting to re-roll the scatter and I will likely have a beacon on the table in any case...  3+/3++ saves, cause Fear and are Fearless.  Oh, and Slow and Purposeful...  So, not ALL good, no overwatch or running, but can fire Heavies on the move or as I Deep Strike in.  So, 150 points of non Scoring Infantry...  Going for the Line-breaker or the big disruption that this sort of thing should cause dropping in on the Enemy causes, we'll see if it is 150 points worth or not...

So, 1850 list:

Pedro  185

Sternguard (Combis, H Flamers, SGT w/ LC, Drop Pod w/beacon) 380-390

Scout Squad (10, cloaks, 4 Snipers, HB, Bolters for the rest)  142
  Land Speeder Storm (HF)  45

Scout Squad (10, Cloaks, 4 Snipers, HB, Bolters for the rest) 142
  Land Speeder Storm (MM) 55

Honour Guard   85
  Rhino  35

Thunderfire Cannon 100 (1169)

Centurion Devastators (Scope, 2 Grav, 1 LC, ML all around)  290

Storm Talon Gunship (Las Cannon)  140

Leaving me with a Hunter (75) and Rifleman DN (120) and... 1769 points

I should probably bring more Troops, but if I Combat Squad, I already have 6 (small) Squads to score, one more is unlikely to make THAT much a difference, and the one extra Heavy/Special Weapon with 4 more Bolter armed Marines is just not that impressive to me I guess...

So, comparing the Marine book to the current crop of books out there...

Against the Grey Knights, I feel that I am more than a match for the currently fielded version of Coteaz and Henchmen with Dreadknights, etc...  The only things I have had issue with are the Vindicare Assassin...  The Psykers are annoying, but really not that big of a deal.  But you start getting to a situation where too many of the basic rules of the game are simply broken by individual models and that throws off game balance a LOT.  Picking targets, NO "Look Out Sir", AP1, armor penetration of 3+4d6 Rending, destroying Inv saves, wounding on 2+?  Too many rule exceptions in a single model.  Frankly ANY rule exception is too many if you have built the system correctly...  Perfect timing, Coteaz's squad firing to full effect against ALL units coming from Reserve?  A bit much, but a known thing so easily avoided.  Should change to Intercept, so a single shot/model at one thing, but guessing this changes in next edition of codex...

Against Necrons?  Still an issue dealing with so many fliers, but the Hunter, Rifleman And my own fliers help level the field.  Tank Hunter is huge on the Centurions and the Sternguard usually get first blood, so close game becomes something slightly in my favor...  Tough army, but by no means unbeatable I think.

Eldar?  So much Str 6/7 shooting...  Fast moving, but fragile.  Hunter is rightly feared by them...  Wraith Knight is a joke against Grav weaponry...  So, another one that is a hard fight but should be winnable...

Tau?  Probably the hardest so far...  Though the Riptide should hide from Centurions...  So much shooting, so many things that break or "modify" basic game rules...  :-)  but that has been written about a lot so...

Chaos...  Well, took longer to write this up and actually played last night.  Iron Warriors themed list against my Crimson Fists with our own Tech Marines...  Basic list above, we played Emperor's Will on the long deployment (short board edges were our end zones...).  He fielded an armor heavy list with a Land Raider with the Chaos Tech, Nurgle Oblits, two more basic Troop squads in Rhinos w/havoc launchers, vindicator and..  Oh, yeah...  2 Heldrakes.  For the first time in a LONG time I didn't feel completely outclassed though.  Hunter, Rifleman and Talon were all real threats.  I also had a bunch of 2+ armor around...  It was a bloody fight, but Sternguard got first blood before being wiped out by Heldrakes.  The drakes also killed off my sniper combat squads, but not a surprise.  Splashed one drake, chased the other off and still had all of my AAA ready for it when it came back...  Him Raider died to Centurions...  Night Vision and Tank Hunter make it fairly easy to tag any vehicles, though his not rolling higher than a 2 on his 4 cover saves (smoke) doomed the vehicle...  Made a mistake deploying bolter Scouts from their Speeder too soon, so only one combat squad survived when we called it...  Should have sat the other Squad on the other objective ready to deploy out to win as I went second...

So far the stars in my list are:

Centurion Devastator squad...  Erase a squad/turn, kill Vehicles, split fire and night vision...  Expensive points wise and REALLY bad models (my opinion as always), but insanely powerful on the field...

Thunderfire Cannon...  Barrage 4, Str 6, almost never cover saves, and reinforce terrain...  For 100 points...  Easy choice.

Hunter...  Surprisingly, it has performed quite well for me.  Against a GK Much force it was useless after the Storm Raven was splashed, or so I thought...  Still a Tank, so tank shock is an option, and you can still snap fire the missiles...  But mostly mobile terrain.  Still, so many skimmers and fliers that 70 points is not a bad investment...

Pedro's orbital barrage has been good, but I expect people to figure this one out soon... Would be far better for a CM on bike or in Terminator Armor to be able to move and still fire it, but turn one, best not be bunched up or I will make you pay...

And...  That's about it...  The Legion did well, so will I think make them a regular thing for my lists.  Scouts are still "eh" overall.  Will try Tactical Squads next time I think replacing one Scout squad or perhaps the honor guard...  Though, having those lads around is just REALLY nice...

Realized belatedly that the one other major conclusion I came to was that the Storm Raven is going to be my flier of choice I think...  I have the Dust model that makes a really nice Talon stand-in, but at 140 points?  Armor 11, 2 HP?  And only the 2 weapons, one of which MUST be the overpriced Assault Cannon?  I'll take the TL Multi Melta and Las Cannon, thank you...  Oh, AND 4 one shot Missiles at Str 8 AP 2 please...  Yea, not quite as good as my Fleshtearer version with the AP 1 missiles, but hey, for only 60 points more than the very much substandard Talon?  Seems a simple enough choice...  Just having a hard time fitting all the toys on the motorcycle...

Another game and thoughts...

So, played GK last night...  From memory here's what he brought:

Coteaz
6 Henchmen squads:

1. 6 Crusaders, 5 Death Cult Assassins
2. 2 Jokero and 3 Plasma Cannons
3 & 4. Chimera loaded out with Storm Bolters and Special Weapons
5 & 6. Razorbacks loaded out with small squads
2 Rifleman DNs
Dreadknight with sword and flamer
Vindicare Assassin
Storm Raven


I brought my Crimson Fists again
Pedro
Honor Guard in Rhino
Sternguard kitted out and in Drop Pod
2 Scout squads, full, 5 Snipers 1 ML 1 HB, cloaks and Land Speeder Storms
Hunter
Centurion Devastators (4, 3 Grav 1 LC and all missiles and split fire)
Thunderfire Cannon
Extra Techmarine
Storm Talon w/ LC
Rifleman DN

Pretty standard setup, played Big Guns on the diagonal deployment.  I had a strong point with the Thunderfire and Rifleman in  the upper levels and the Rhino w/ Pedro and the Hunter on the ground floor to use the Orbital Strike.  With so many vehicles on his side, his DZ was REALLY crowded.  He went first, but really didn't do much with night fighting and the fact I was hiding DEEP in enhanced cover (3+ for the ruins).  My turn one was pretty good, the Orbital Strike  and the Sternguard dropping in...  Killed one Chimera and immobilized one of the DNs deep in his DZ behind blocking terrain.  The Sternguard took a bunch of wounds off of the Knight who died to a Sniper the next turn...  First blood being VERY important these days and all.  Pretty brutal game overall but going second and making a LOT of cover saves meant things like the DN and Thunderfire lasted a long time.  Never did kill the Vindicare, but I I think I finally offed almost all of his Troops and both DNs.

Storm Raven was killed by the Hunter and Talon.  Turns out Storm Shields make excellent parachutes.  But the big HtH threat was nullified when they crashed and got shot out of existence.

The Thunderfire was brutal.  After the light Infantry got shot out of their transports, it basically killed a squad/turn.  Turn one I think it stripped some hull points in the parking lot...  Should have offed the Vindicare sooner though.

What to test next?  Surprisingly I think the Legion of the Damned...  They Deep Strike in, and they all ignore cover...  Oh, and they can get a Plasma Cannon with their Slow and Purposeful...  Not too expensive, but I think it fits well with my army play style...

Overall, I am really liking the Marine codex...  I think it will be a fun one o play for a long time...

New Marines after a bit of testing...

Trying again....  Silly mobile app ate the last post...

So, now that I have a few games with the new Marine Codex, here is what I am finding... 

Imperial Fists chapter tactics are really quite good.  Rerolling 1's is not bad, and the Tank Hunter for free on the Centurion Devastators is huge.  Scoring Sternguard is good with my old Crimson Fists, though the Drop Pod going down to 10 capacity is painful.  Honor Guard is nice though and Pedro Kantor's once per game Orbital Barrage has proven useful now that I will actually use it... 

Troops are still a bit lacking.  Tac Marines are OK, cheap bodies to hold objectives really.  The overwhelming bulk of the actual work is done by Sternguard, Centurions and vehicles frankly, so I am torn between bringing the bare minimum and hiding them, or trying to flood the field with them....  Scouts are OK too...  So many ignore cover things these days, so the camouflage cloaks are less of a sure thing.  BS 3 makes them "eh" as snipers but at least they are cheap.  Heavy weapons are iffy with them, but I still take them.  Liking the Land Speeder Storm loaded out with 5 lads armed with bolters or shotguns zipping about the enemy backfield.  Heavy Flamer there is surprisingly effective, ignores the BS 3 of the Scout driver.

Heavy Weapons...  Who came up with the costs for these?  Looking over the book, Missile Launchers are 15 or 25 points if you want Flak missiles.  The Assault Cannon is also one of the more expensive upgrades...  In second edition it was the single most powerful weapon in the game, and we are still paying penance for that as Marine players.  Then it ignored almost all armor (-5 save mod, so Terminators could save on 8+), did d12 wounds and could fire up to nine shots...  Now, it is an upgraded Heavy Bolter.  IMO, the ancient Heavy Bolter is really the worst heavy weapon of this (and several previous) edition.  So being slightly better than the worst one is not really a "premium" thing.  Neither the ML or the AC ignore 3+ armor usually... Yes, the AC rends, but counting on 6's is not a successful strategy I think.  And Flak rounds should have been included as a free upgrade to ALL ML, much the same way "flier" was included as a free and massive upgrade for the Necron Croissant and IG fliers...  :-). Just my opinion of course per usual, what would I know I'm just an Engineer...

Centurion Devastator is really powerful.  Finding at least with my Crimson Fists that mixing in one Las Cannon with 2 Grav ones, oh and Missiles for everyone...  Sgt gets the split fire/night fire upgrade, and turn one Tank Hunters surprise a fair number of folks...  :-)   bonus of night vision for the Chapter Master should he be say, attached to them on turn one for his single shot...  The old Planetstorm miniatures I am fielding as the Centurions look pretty good, and seeing the ancient Fantasians hit the field after so long is good...  Oh, and Tank Hunter works for emplaced weapons fired...  Aegis Gun gets really good with rerolls...  Just saying :-)

Finding the old Assault Marines to be OK as well...  As it happens I have "a few" that have been shelved for several editions now...  Time to paint them up as CF I guess.

Thunderfire Cannon is amazing.  I played the Barrage wrong last week, forgot it was the lay the template and scatter from the first hit...  Would have made no difference in general as large flier bases like on the Riptide or big vehicles will just get hit 4 times, regardless if the first shot hits...  And the packed blob of Kroot were doomed either way as I aimed for the center of the blob...  Going forward, it limited my shooting at single or well spaced small units, but in general it makes little difference for the usual targets...

I was surprised that the Stalker is as good as it has been for me.  Lacking Interceptor I assumed it would be poor at best...  Not so much really...  So many skimmers on the field these days, having either 4 twin linked shots at full BS or 8 twin linked shots at BS 2?  The Hunter is also darn good and scares the Heldrakes locally...  Problem is no squadrons and the Heavy Support slot is tight...

Marines first game reflections...

So, I set up a 1500 point list to test the new book against Tau...

1500

Pedro Kantor     185

Sternguard (10, Combi weapons, drop pod)  365

Centurion Devastators (Missile Launchers, Grav, Omni Scope) 290

Scout Squad (10, cloaks, 4 Snipers, 5 Shotguns, Heavy Bolter)  143
  Land Speeder Storm (Heave Flamer) 45

Scout Squad (10, cloaks, 4 Snipers, 5 Shotguns, missile launcher)  143
  Land Speeder Storm (Melta) 55


Honor Guard for Pedro, in a Rhino

Thundrefire Cannon

Hunter AA tank

And...  I think that was about it...  Mission was kill points, and I played silly wanting to try out the new toys.  Barely scraped out a win, but mostly due to so many easy to snag kill points on my side...  5 man Scout squads are not all that hard to deal with, and Speeders are "fragile"...  But the Army performed quite well.

Stars:

1. Thunderfire Cannon...  It didn't kill EVERYTHING, but 4 Barrage templates/turn put a MAJOR hurt on the Tau.  It's kill tally included the last wound on a Riptide, a Piranha, 18/20 Kroot in a single salvo, and various assorted other Tau... The no cover save round might well be obsolete as the cover is measured from the center of the blast for barrage...  I think I fired the Str 6 AP 5 round all day and there was never cover to worry about...  Well, Speeders got their save :-)...
2. Chapter Master's Orbital Bombardment... Turn one, no night fighting, Pedro riding in the Rhino...  Clear LOS to the Enemy Command group chock full of Crisis Suits, Drones, etc...  Hit dead on for the Str 10 AP 1 "Ouch"...  Dropped the big squad down to a handful of survivors.  Also the AP 4 Storm Bolter he has?  REALLY nice in a field of 4+ save bodies...
3. Centurion Devastators...  Fear factor alone...  I set them up in reinforced ruins with the Thunderfire.  Held them back too long, but there was NOTHING set up within 24 of them, so I had a big bubble of "This zone is protected".  When they got to shoot, they were deadly beyond words.  Hitting Fire Warriors in the open?  Evaporate that squad...  Tank Hunter for free?  Thank you, Missiles away... Split fire too?  Thanks!   I should have been FAR more aggressive with them and just marched them up the field with Pedro and company...  Well, I did, but I should have started with that in mind and on turn one.  By the end of the game, they were in the enemy DZ killing the few remaining things in range...

Other than that...  Well, I need to paint up some more of the old school lads as "Honour Guard" for the Chapter Master.  The Scouts did well enough I think.  I was generally happy with their results, though I played them badly in some ways...  Might use Bolters for the Bolter Drill and have to remember that Bolt Pistols are I think covered...  Storm Bolters?  Damn, have to look that up later...  Guessing that a Squad or two of Tac Marines will be needed, and with the cheapness of Assault Marines and the fact that I happen to have "a few" on a shelf primed and ready for paint...  Been there for a LONG time, 3 editions I think, but who knows they might even work :-)...

Note, the Hunter AA tank did fairly well...  Ended up getting Melta'd before the end of the game, but being able to put a Str 7 AP2, Armorbane missile on target is nice.  Skimmers everywhere with Eldar, Tau and Necrons being the "power armies" at the moment.  So, for 70 points?  Worth it.  Lack of a way to remove annoying cover saves, lack of Interceptor and useless against non flier/skimmer are all very real drawbacks, but it's a start for the lads.  I think the days of Heldrakes roaming the skies with impunity are over.  At least I feel like I have something that CAN threaten the thing...

'course, just my impressions and opinions as always, YMMV...

New Marine book, first impressions...

So, got the book at the Armored Gopher...  Looking quite good.  Did get to see a few games played with them in our wee tournament...  First impressions:

The Hunter (AAA Rhino Variant)...  70 points, and given the current state of the game with all kinds of Fliers and Skimmers everywhere, Str 7 and Armor Bane starts looking good.  Eldar and Tau skimmers being everywhere and of course Necron fliers/skimmers being what they are...  But that leads to...

Heavy Support slots are going to be precious.  There are just 3 slots and with the Centurion Devastators, AAA tanks, Storm Ravens and Thunderfire Cannon all in this slot...

Thunderfire changed a bit, gained Barrage, but looks like the Techmarine manning it is not a Techmarine, but rather a "Techmarine Gunner"...  And he does not get the bolster defenses, IC rules, etc...  But still, 100 points seems a bargain for the Barrage 4 weapon of doom...

So, on to Troops...  This I think is going to be a hard one for me as a Crimson Fists player, my Sternguard will be Scoring, and I am looking at running Scouts.  The Combat Squad rules have changed a bit, but nothing too bad.  For 100 points I can get 5 Scouts AND their Dedicated Transport in the Land Speeder Storm...  Thinking that I will be fielding some of the lads with Bolters given that the IF Chapter Tactics are re-rolling 1's on the Bolter shots, and with the open topped Transport I should be able get a fair number of shots off...  Snipers are going to be "eh" I think still...

Will have to throw something together for Monday...

1850 Marines, last shot before the new codex :-) Updated

So, Crimson Fists for a last shot before the new book hits...  Looking at the rumors, my stuff won't change much, just getting some bonuses really.  Might bring a Tactical squad with the Imperial Fist's "Bolter Drill" being a permanent thing...  Dunno :-)  Troops have always bee the weak point for the more recent Marine armies I feel, so the Scouts might well get bumped to try something different.  Have to say I like the IDEA of the Centurions, but $78 for the box of 3 figures?  A bit rich for my blood at the moment I think. $26 for a non character Terminator figure?  I think it will be horribly effective in my Crimson Fists force gaining Tank Hunter..  Oh, only really considering the "Devastator" version.  Without a FAQ, Slow and Purposeful means the Heavy Flamers are less useful on the HtH version combined with the lack of an invulnerable save means I have to ask "why?".  And honestly I do not have issues dealing with things in HtH, so really just shoot things more...

So, getting in a game this week...  Using the current Codex, Crimson Fists:

Pedro Cantor 175
Librarian (Terminator Armor, Null Zone, Vortex) 125
Sternguard (2 Heavy Flamers, 4 Combi Melta, 3 Combi Plasma, SGT with LC, Combi Melta)
  Drop Pod (Locaor Beacon)   370
Sternguard (2 Heavy Flamers, 4 Combi Melta, 3 Combi Plasma, SGT with LC, Combi Melta)
  Drop Pod (Locaor Beacon)   370
Scout Squad (8 Snipers, Cloaks, ML, SGT w/Sniper)   180
Scout Squad (8 Snipers, Cloaks, HB, SGT w/Sniper)   180
Thunderfire Cannon  100
Thunderfire Cannon  100
Vanguard Vets (5, Jump Packs, Power Weapons, PF)  250

So, Scouts deploy with the Cannons on the field...  Pedro rides in with one and the Librarian with another Pod.  Vanguard comes in on a Locator Beacon to assault out of reserve for one last time...  Fast, and like my Fleshtearers list, win big or die quick...

Wound up dropping a few things to buy Melta Bombs on the Sternguard, figured I'd face a tank line...  Didn't, but still worked out.  Wound up regretting the lack of AAA or a flier of my own as the 2 Heldrakes simply ran the field and killed off a LOT of my stuff.  Game ended up with one Thunderfire on my side and the 2 Heldrakes on his...  Time expired and with my First Blood, I got the minor "I won?"...  Good game as always against Joe...

Marines in a few weeks?

On to Marines?  Looking like Marines come out next.  Interesting, I am a bit surprised they were not one of the first ones, but still…  I DO have a Crimson Fists army and another huge mess of generic ancient Marines, so I’ll be getting the book at least.

Going over the rumors and leaks, I have to admit I am a bit concerned that this might either be broken good or complete crap like the Dark Angels. 

The rumors I am liking:

Scouts getting the Land Speeder Storm as a dedicated Transport:  Why did this take so long?  IIRC, the model was out before the 5^th edition codex.  Personally I never bought the kit because it was “eh” at best and ate up a second slot…  Also, might or might not be able to do cool things like flank and hit the table assaulting, etc…  So, if I can use the open top skimmer as a dedicated transport for the Shotgun Scouts I have in my CF army if I convert one of the many Speeder models…  So, neat, but certainly I think NOT over powered in any way shape or form.

AA Rhino:  Sounding more and more like an actual dedicated AAA vehicle.  FINALLY?  Not that the needing to field your own fliers was a problem or anything…  OK, it was a VERY sore point for me at least…  But in any case, looking like the Marines will have some decent AAA threats.  Have to admit I am REALLY kind of hoping that all of the other flavors of Marine will get this kit as well right out of the box.  My Wolves and Fleshtearers would be well served by having access to this tank…  Not something I am counting on though given GW…

On the fence about:

Grav Weapons:  Have to wait and see I think.  If the info is correct and they wound based on the target’s armor save and are AP 2, then I think they might be overly powerful.  As long as they are rareish like Melta weapons, then I am not really seeing any real problem…  OTOH, if they are common, cheap and better than Melta?  Well…

Things I am NOT looking forward to:

Vanguard Vets:  Word is they lose their ability to Assault from Deep Strike.  If this is true, then why would anyone ever take this unit?  They become just another 3+ armor save Assault Squad.  Extra Attacks I guess and I COULD spend a crapton of points/money and go TH/SS for some reason…  Still a lot of EXPENSIVE 3+ save bodies that still cannot get into Assault easily enough.  Thinking about facing Tau, I drop in, get hit by Interceptors, some of which are large blast Marine Killing weapons…  Then I sit around a turn while the Tau shoot at me with full BS or more likely), THEN I get to take the few survivors (if any) and try to assault into the supporting overwatch fire of doom, which might be at higher BS if there are enough markerlights…  Really?  So, this tells me that this will not ever actually happen on a gaming table…  I guess my BA based Fleshtearers will still do this for now assuming they do not FAQ them out of existence.

Guess that leads me to my next thing I am either on the fence about of not looking forward to:  Is this Vanilla only, or will a lot of the changes be propagated through all of the “Marine” Codices?  Right now, my Wolves are at best and Ally force, incapable I believe of taking on a top tier list on their own.  The DA are just bad all around lacking serious cover from the Heldrakes and now Tau combos.  The BA are an assault or fast Rhino Hull based army, neither of which will work overly well in the modern era.  Not saying that it auto loses, just that the Xenos’ ability to simply kill Marines in 3+ (and even 2+) armor has passed the old standard of 4’s across the board for characteristics and 3+ armor being enough to win games…  The Bolter itself is certainly showing its age as well.  Range, Str and AP are all average…  To put it in modern perspective, the lack of say, Rending like the Eldar get, the Necron’s 6’s glance Vehicles or the Tau’s greater range, Str and extra rules…  Well, why bother really?  I wind up with an inferior weapon on an expensive trooper who is now easily taken down by the things further up the power spiral…  I guess the Marines will themselves be going down in cost, so at least they won’t be so expensive on their own…  Just a wait and see what, if anything else changes and whether the “3+ Armor Mafia” can get back to competing on the tabletop…

Elites, DLC and Marines coming out next Month

Mkay, I apparently read too many other blogs…  Goatboy had a pretty decent write-up about how “Elite” as a slot in the 6^th edition Codices has become something less than “Elite” here http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2013/08/goatboys-monday-40k-elites-are-not-so.html.  I’d have to agree for the most part.  But the same can be said of Fast and Heavy Support really…  While HS has some of the “BFG” stuff, and both HS and FA CAN become scoring in certain missions, frankly the current edition punishes you for bringing anything other than “Troops” or things that can be made Scoring more often than not.  So, the books with the best “Troops” are the most successful armies.  Have to admit, this is one of my major concerns with the upcoming Marine book.

Rumor has the Grav weapons coming in with AP of 2.  So, the new Melta perhaps?  Just remembering 5^th edition where there were IG Vet Squads, whatever else, all armed with as many Melta weapons as they could because there were a lot of Vehicles and there frankly was no real disadvantage to the use of Melta.  It killed “Whatever” you were shooting at.  In some cases not as efficiently as Plasma, but it wouldn't kill YOU for shooting the weapon, so…  Oh, and it was/is cheaper. Hoping the Grav weapons are not too over the top silly, but good to see ancient things hitting the field again...  Now, hoping the AA stuff is actually good enough to keep the Heldrakes at bay for a bit...

In any case, the current Tactical Squad in the Marine books is pretty worthless in my opinion.  Not very mobile, the bolter isn't that powerful a weapon these days, and the 3+ armor just isn’t what it was years ago.  Scouts with the proliferation of “no cover saves” in recent books have taken yet another hit and are now back to novelty status from a solid, cheap Troop option.  And…?  With the Vanilla Codex, a bike CPT would allow you to use Bike Squads as Troops I guess.  Great, until you hit your first Heldrake or Tau gunline.  Then, just more expensive casualties.  Blood Angels get Assault Squads as Troops, as well as Death Company (and DC DNs).  Assault troops are “eh” these days overall.  I do FAR better with them than my Tac Marines in my Fleshtearer force as the Jump Packs at least make the lads mobile enough to try to run a flank or use a big piece of terrain to hide in and assault out of…  So, against all but the most powerful armies like the Necron air force, Chaos allies, Tau Gunlines and now Eldar forces they can at least be a threat that must be dealt with…  The Death Company are really only technically Troops as they can NEVER hold anything, so they are just shock troops for me.  Kill as much as they can and hope I have the only force still standing at the end.  Not being able to assault out of Reserve for the most part means that Scouts and Deep Strikers by and large are no nearly so good as they were.  Oh, and there are Interceptors now that can just kill you as you hit the field.  So, even less useful given I can only Reserve 50% or so of the force in this edition.  Target saturation is hard when you only have a few Deep Strikers…

So, back on topic J..  I am interested to see what, if anything else that GW does for the old Tactical Marines.  It does not appear as if they will themselves be getting anything in the lines of new Transports or armor, so…  Well, I am assuming a major points reduction at least, but really what else?  Another Melta Gun is neat and all, but what else can they do?  Just having the required bodies to hold objectives is not enough I think.  They probably wouldn't get the Sternguard ammo types, and that might well be overly powerful…  Remembering the old CCW/Pistol/Rifle weapon load out would be nice, but really nothing new or all that useful.  Seeing the Tau get the ability to provide cover fire for their own people as they get charged and this being applied in the Apocalypse Marine formation?  Might be something that at least some of the new Tactical Marines might get something to that effect…   But what else really?  Guess this is why I’m not a game developer…

Other thing, the Supplemental Codices…  Are they really supplemental or are they something different?  http://blog.spikeybits.com/2013/08/editorial-digital-releases-are-they.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SpikeyBits+%28Spikey+Bits%29

Pretty darn expensive for the 2 pages of rules, and of course there is the whole bypassing the FLGS thing…  Since I actually PLAY at the game store, I’d much prefer to make my purchases there.  ‘course, with electronic content, this is not an option.  For the most part I am not really seeing this as a major problem…  So far they’re “neat” options, but nothing game breaking or really overly powerful that will be dominating the competitive scene.  I know GW does not support this and they claim to not to care or write their rules with this in mind, but this is how a LOT of the game is played here in the States…  The fact that the rules are “exclusive” and not generally available to everyone is a major concern for me as a player in a tournament, and honestly I’m not sure I’d be allowing them as the Tournament Organizer…  I have a small one coming up at the Gopher next month, and due to the size, not a major issue for me J…  But of course by then at least one more will be released, and if this is the one that breaks it?  I guess my major objection to this is the clear “cash grab” as they release the DLC a bit at a time for “premium” prices.  I am concerned that the cost will continue to shoot up while they release more and more things that break the game further, requiring the competitive players to keep buying direct from GW…  Guess we’ll see.

Eldar continued and the general 40K scene locally

After a number of games involving the Eldar, the one glaringly obvious conclusion I have come to is that the Wave Serpent is vastly overpowered.  I’m not brining what I feel is a “Let’s Spam Them” level of the things, but even the 4 that I was fielding were more than enough.  Averaging 9 wounds/WS/turn.  With 3 of them starting on the field for me, and not particularly caring about cover saves…  Oh, and they can move 12” and fire both of their main weapons?  Mine are coming in at 135 points with the Holo Field.  The Shuriken Cannon would be awesome, but just can’t quite justify the extra 10 points/Serpent…  Yet.  It is a major consideration, and frankly with more Marine rumors floating about?  Not sure this isn’t going to get FAQ’d out of existence.  I can count on one hand the number of times I have NOT fired the Shield as an offensive weapon, and almost all of these were Turn 1 when I either had no targets or the other side went first and I was unable to have fired J…  Hoping to survive the Meltas dropping in on me…

Last night’s game I used the Farseer for the first time.  Doom with the sheer number of shots?  And with Sniper, Shuriken and “d” class weapons all getting huge bonuses on the 6’s to wound?  Have to say, the life span of the big MC’s or Terminators will be very limited I think near one of these lads.  Picked my target, Doomed and Guided…  Did use the Eldritch Storm twice as well, and rolled snake eyes for the wounding myself…  NOT a bad power I have to say.  Fleshbane and a large blast?  2 power points though…  Still, bunched up stuff wounding on 2+?  Thinking that a Farseer/Spiritseer combo will allow me to have the best of both worlds.

Troops?  The 5 man Dire Avenger (DA) squads are adequate if what you are doing is getting the 135 point uber-transport and a few bodies to do the late game objective grabs.  The Wraithguard are awesome, and with the Spiritseer making them Troops and granting a few other bonuses they have been my “go to” troop option.  The DA with their 18” ranged rending (sort of) weapon, move-shoot-move option and not bad stats overall are pretty darn good.  I’ve been less happy with the Guardians with their limited range and large minimum size.  Not bad per se, but unless you are running a 20 man squad I’m having a hard time seeing them being as good as or better than the DA.  The Heavy Weapon upgrades are nice (except the Scatter Laser), but let’s be honest, I am NOT lacking on the number of heavy weapon shots in my army.  Bright Lances might be the exception, but haven’t seen the massed AV 14 stuff in a while…

Picking up some terrain from one of the other games locally…  The set includes 2 Bastions and 3 Aegis gun lines with the various guns.  One Bastion I will be making standard for my Imperial forces.  Seeing the usefulness of these recently playing with limited terrain, but having HtH Wraiths say waiting in the building?  Or just a squad of Praetorians to man the extra Heavy Bolters?  The AAA option will I think be needed as well, though more for the Interceptor option than the Skyfire recently…  Not seeing as many Aircraft, not entirely sure why, I think they are still on the really powerful end of things…  Tau are hitting the field in bulk these days, a bit surprised I’m one of the very few Eldar players..  But back on topic, the second Bastion?  Make it more Eldar maybe?  Dunno…  Forgot to check if these were things I could link together in Apocalypse games for one of the formations…  So, if anyone local is looking to pick up a Bastion or a few Aegis lines cheap, LMK…

Kind of in “wait and see” mode really with most of the local gaming group…  The group is still large and growing, and with the Students coming back now might even get larger…  But most of the people are cutting back on their purchases.  Dropping down to one or two armies, etc…  As more things get released in the 6^th edition, I think the game itself is getting a bit more balanced overall, but there are a few things that really stand out about almost every new Codex.  Chaos Marines got the Heldrake, Tau got the load of “we break a lot of the game’s rules” stuff, the Eldar have their Wave Serpent, etc…  Really the only one I can honestly say did NOT get something that stands out as broken/silly is the Dark Angels.  Without the Heldrake a LOT of their stuff like the uber-bikers and the like would be really powerful and fun to play…  Now, they have the ability to make their Bolters Salvo 2/4 with a magic banner.  Neat I guess, if you are looking at causing mass wounds to things that are concerned about bolters.  So, yes, the people fielding the IG blobs, Cultist blobs or Green Tide stopped doing that after a few of us played DA that way…  But overall, the DA book was the one I’d point to and say it was a complete flop.  A few “new” things in the special speeder and unique flier, but the rules for both are such complete crap.  A real shame, the flier at least looked nice and having plasma armed speeders again was something in and of itself…  Have to say, this is my big concern with the Marine Codex coming out next month, or so the rumors go…  FFS, a major company hiding its release schedule until the last moment in this day and age?  Anyway, the Marines have so much potential, and there is SO much that they could draw on to make something new, unique and customizable for almost every 3+ armor save player out there…  Will they?  Hence the “Wait and See” attitude.  Right now a lot of us who play/played the 3+ armor armies are looking at the game and seeing that for the first time that we can remember the “standard” armor is no longer good enough.  Either weight of fire or low AP and/or the loss of cover saves has made it suicide to bring certain units…  Hell, certain armies are just silly to bring these days.  Thinking for me my Fleshtearers are just silly to bring, but my Crimson Fists are right there next to them.  At least the CF have the win big or die quick thing going for them.  A lot of the players, especially the ones out in Danville were REALLY not prepared for a hyper aggressive army played by someone who understood how to use it.  But against someone who has either seen it or understands how to defend against it or at least react to it?  I have one trick/shot to do so much damage as to force the game to end or I die.  This has gotten far worse with the Tau and Eldar now hitting the field.  My Scouts were my “Troops” to sit on objectives, but they are one of the “Why Bother” units these days.  Sternguard are great, but few in number.  Few AA options and the general feeling that the power spiral has passed the Marine based forces by mean there are more than a few players simply finding other games or just no longer showing up regularly…  Of course, the general feeling of being priced out of the game has grown a lot recently, and I know that with reality being what it is I and a lot of the others I talk to have had to seriously cut back on their purchases…  Thus, dropping to fewer armies, not buying new stuff, etc…  Maybe this will reverse, but…

1850 Eldar list, something different for me...

So, the Wraiths work really well...  Will try testing something different...

1850
Farseer (Phoenix Gem)
Dire Avengers (5, Wave Serpent w/ HF and TLSL)
Dire Avengers (5, Wave Serpent w/ HF and TLSL)
Rangers (5)
Striking Scorpions (9, Exarch w/crushing blow and chainsabers, Wave Serpent w/HL, TLSL)
War Walkers (BL/SL on each)
Crimson Hunter (Exarch, Marksman's Eye)
Swooping Hawks (6, Exarch w/ sun rifle and Marksman's eye)
Warp Spiders (5, Exarch with Spinneret Rifle and Marksman's Eye, fast shot)
Dark Reapers (3, Exarch w/Tempest and Fast Shot, Wave Serpent w/ standard loadout)

So, a LOT of Marksman's Eye...  Yes, I know it means I need to roll 5+ to hit, but getting to place the shots can be huge...  The Jaeger seems like it will be nice with the 4 Str 8 AP 2 shots to deal with Paladins nicely and getting to kill off say, an Apothecary on a flyby?  Not bad...

A little short on actual Troops bodies, but DAMN, there will be a lot of shooting....  And accurate shooting at that...  We'll see how it works out I guess...

Saving up my hobby money, guessing the Wraith Knight will be coming here soon...  Anyone looking for a few ancient Magic cards :-)  Probably break apart my old decks with things like Taigas, etc...

Broken Units in 40K now…

Saw this (http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2013/07/40k-top-10-units-that-are-ruining-game.html) and it got me thinking that while I agree with a number of those on the list…  There are a number of questions I’d raise and of course, my opinion differs a bit…  Could very well be how things are played locally here, but here it goes.  Mr. Vela lists the following as the 10:

Space Wolf Rune Priest

Wave Serpent

Necron Nightscythe

Heldrake

Tau Commander

Nurgle Daemon Prince

Eldar Wraithknight

Necron Annihilation Barge

Tervigon

Codex Imperial Guard

The Necron things I kind of agree on, though there are a LOT of things in the Necron codex broken.  The Barge is pretty low on the list for me.  Tesla getting the 6’s count for 3 hits mean their AAA is pretty darn good given the number of Twin Linked Tesla things they have.  Cheap fliers that ignore a lot of the 6^th edition rules?  Yes, that is the biggest problem I have with them I think.  Cheaper and better than later actual fliers, and no disadvantages for the transported unit should you shoot it down?  This to me screams of a game design problem more than anything, and having seen too many good games die out as game design issues pile up and ruin the base game…

Tervigon?  Not sure I agree here…  But then I am surprised that so few players actually play Tyranids.  I honestly consider them to be among the more difficult ones to face overall, though they DO suffer from a fairly limited list of “these things are good” in their book.  Flying MC’s and the other big nasties though…  Guessing the general feeling from the online “competitive scene” constantly calling the Nids useless combined with the difficulty playing that army in a timed competitive environment mean it ranks pretty low.  For me, it was always a matter of target prioritization and I usually do fairly well against them.  But I tend to pick a target, shoot it off the board, then move on to the next target.  People shooting at a lot of targets will usually end up not killing enough to stop the rush and get overwhelmed.

Heldrake?  Yeah.  When it goes beyond an “auto include” to a “serious players are bringing at least 2” thing…  I made that last comment last night, mostly kidding, but the reality is that there is almost no down side to the thing, it IS a hard counter to almost any army in 3+ armor, or bike based forces and did more to kill off a lot of people’s interest in playing those armies locally than almost anything else.

Tau Commander?  Guess I haven’t played against enough of the Tau at this point…  Though there ARE something like 5 players now locally…  That in and of itself might be telling…

Wave Serpent.  Agreed, and covered here previously.  Probably too good.  Not un-killable, but darn good for the points.  At least it isn’t a damn flier like the Necron equivalent. 

Now some slight disagreement:

Nurgle Prince?  Eh, though perhaps the other Princes hitting the field have hidden this one from us.  Besides, with him hiding in ruins means he isn’t flying about killing things…

Wraith Knight?  Note, I WILL be buying one.  Not though that I feel it to be overpowered…  I could be fielding 6 Eldar DN’s (Wraith Lords) right now, and I find them to be darn powerful at the moment.  The Knight?  For the cost ($ AND points on the field), the limits of it being essentially the same as its smaller brother make it a slightly tougher to take down target that does not have the offensive punch to double that of the WL.  As a MC it can fire 2 weapons.  Neat, and the Str 10 uber guns look amazing.  But the lack of an invulnerable save or immunity to Instant Death mean that configuration is likely out in general.  I CAN add 2 more have weapons I cannot fire most turns.  The WL has this free and the 2 flamers are actually useful at times…  Just saying J… So, the most likely configuration is the Sun-cannon with the 5++ shield and one or two shoulder mounted weapons.

Rune Priest?  Eh.  The only thing in the codex not really killed instantly by the swarms of Heldrakes.  Wolf Scouts have been nerfed out of usefulness, Long Fangs just die to Drakes.  Grey Hunters are still good, but really have been overtaken by lots of the other 3+ save armies.  Blood Claws are still crap.  Frankly everything with “Claw” in the name is crappy in the current book…  So, the wizard in the army still has a holdover magic defense.  Neat I guess, but facing most current armies?  Really not a big deal.  Having said that, if you regularly face Daemons, Tyranid MC or other armies relying heavily on magic…  Might well be different.  Not the current case really locally.  My old codex Eldar nerfed the GK, but it was a serious uphill battle even without their psychics/magic…  Right now, the bulk of the successful armies are simply shooting their opponents off the table, not a lot of reliance on tricks or magic…

Edit:  You know, typed all that and I didn't really add anything I think...

So, what do I feel is broken right now?  Well, there are a number of troubling things in the Tau codex for me.  Getting to fire overwatch at better BS, firing with multiple units, etc.?  No cover save, better BS...  So essentially there are a LOT of things that break the basic rules of the game built into the book.  I find that trend troubling.  Thankfully, other than the Wave Serpent the Eldar codex is pretty well balanced I think....

:-)  Of course, just my opinion on these things per usual...