About Me

Hey there, as you can see this is blog is all about gaming. And that's what I've been doing for pretty much all of my life. Currently I'm completely enveloped in Warhammer 40,000 and I'm breaking into the new Warhammer Fantasy system with the release of the new 8th edition.

Follow me as I build new armies, find newer and better ways to destroy my enemy, learn more about the rules, and just complain about the things that don't go my way :)
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Thursday, April 29, 2010

TGR - Army BG Contest Entry

Hey Everyone, so as most of you guys know. The Gamer's Realm has been holding mini contests along with the Escalation League. Coming up on the due date is the Army Background Contest, I spent a little time earlier this week writing up a background for my army. It doesn't delve into the leaders of the pack, or how many heavy weapon squads there are, but shows the mystery that is the Grey Knights in the eyes of a witness.

So sit back and enjoy the read, it's a little long, but that's because my fingers kept doing the typing ;)

Myths and Legends

I stood there in the usual spot, behind the looking glass of the interrogation room. I have stood in this spot before, countless times, waiting for the ritual of the questioning process to begin. The room is small and cramped, the walls made of concrete blocks, cold and bland, the window is a one sided mirror affording me the pleasure to watch the interrogation discretely. Beside me is an audio recording device, a wire runs up into the ceiling, to a microphone in the other room the wire also runs to a speaker waiting to project the lies that pour from the subject’s voice.

Tonight however, is different, the story that stoked me out of the comforts of bed was quite disturbing, a small residential fire in the country side, that spotlighted a very violent crime. I had a warm cup of coffee in my hand, the steam filled the room with the sweet smell of caffeine, it was now early morning, and the department was still quite empty. My hat and long coat sat on the rack beside the door, and there I stood waiting for the ritual to begin.

The interrogation room was quite dark a single hanging bulb light hung from the ceiling, it swung back and forth in the current of the air circulators, the walls are tiled in sickly green and crusted near the edges with grime and dirt, including the occasional spot of blood from where the questioning had gotten a bit ‘rough’. The metal table gave me the chills; often I wondered what it would be like, sitting aside it, my hands cuffed to the metal chair as someone poked and pried and my mind until the information they were searching for was stripped away from me.

“Sir,” I turned, partly startled from my thoughts, “we’re just about ready to begin the interrogation.” He handed me a clip board, I signed my name, Detective Chris Darve, in the usual spot, taking responsibility for the subject. The Junior Detective took the board back from me, and proceeded for the door, now ready to question the person retrieved from the scene.

“Stephan, be careful with this one,” I said as he reached the door, “the reports described him as being quite Mad.” He simply nodded at me and smiled. I turned back to the window and watched the door open; two guards brought the subject in, a man from the country side, his shirt covered in dirt, grime and a large blood stain that covered his chest, his trousers were also torn in various places. He looked to be in his mid to late thirties but his eyes looked much older, wide with fear. The guards practically carried the man in, he was limp, the life seemingly drained from him. He muttered to himself but I could not hear because the speakers were off, I turned towards the wall, and flipped the switch to both the speakers and the audio recorder, and watched the wheels begin turn, as the sounds of the other room were recorded onto the strip of tape.

“the devil… demons… death… everywhere… my family… they… the devils…” the subject muttered, as he was played over the speakers in my room. The hairs on my arm began to stand on end, I had encountered the crazy before but the sound of his voice, the depth, the despair it was so hollow, it was almost hypnotic. I stood there watching, as he was sat down onto that cold dark seat, his hands resting on the table, the handcuffs clanked with the twitch of his hands. The guards left the subject there, and walked out of the door, Stephan walked in after their departure, holding the clipboard with the initial report and notes. “Mr. Laric,” the Junior Detective started, “is there anything I can get for you, coffee, smoke?”

“they… devil… slaughtered… my family… knights… death… death… death…” Mr. Laric mumbled. I watched as Stephan turned to face the mirror, and shrugged his shoulders. He took the clipboard and inspected it for a moment, and slammed it against the table, I jumped involuntarily as the speakers blasted the noise into my ears and saw Mr. Laric, still sitting there, his lips mumbling the same nonsense. “Mr. Laric, this isn’t starting off very well is it? Maybe you could start paying a little more attention and we could find out why you killed your family.” Still no motion from the subject, Stephan walked behind him putting his hands on the subject’s shoulders, there was a small pause in the babbling as he lowered his head and whispered into his ear. I couldn’t hear what he was saying but I could imagine the dirty little details that were being said to try to get some kind of emotional reaction, something to get him out of his state of shock, or to get him to stop faking. The fact that the mumbling had stopped showed there was still someone, or something in his head. As Stephan pulled away Mr. Laric began to mumble once again, the clank of his handcuffs still filling the air as he twitched.

There was a knock at the door, not to the watchers room but to the interrogation room. The Junior Detective went and opened the door, and whispered to an assistant as he was handed an enveloped. I assumed that it was the rush job on the pictures taken from the residence, pictures were always useful in stirring up trouble and getting people to talk, to see what they had done after their blind rage, to fill them with guilt. It was a common enough ploy, and I wasn’t sure if it would work on this subject, he seemed pretty lost. Stephan thumbed through the images, I could see the grimace on his face, seeing the images for the first time, I personally can only imagine how bad they must be. He grabbed a couple of them, and planted them right there in front of Mr. Laric’s eyes, the reaction was immediate, he threw himself away falling on the ground hard, crying out in pain, anguish, “Carolise, NO NO… my Carolise… the Devil took her it was the devils…” He shrunk into the wall, crying his face buried in his hands, muffling the sound of his wails.

“Mr. Laric, let’s get you back in your chair.” Stephan said as he grabbed one of his arms and helped him back into his seat. The subject had now been awaken, and I could see a new fear in his eyes, fear of his loss, fear of not knowing where he was, and as if on que, he said, “Where am I?”

“Now Mr. Laric, you’re at a point where you can either start to cooperate, and give us your side of the story, or you can keep mumbling your nonsense and we’ll send you to the block and the Judge will have a swift sentence for you by tomorrow, and you’ll end up hanging.” The Junior Detective said, with much emphasis on the last word. He waited a couple of minutes, watching the subject patiently, and then he took a seat across from Mr. Laric and pulled out a mobile audio recorder and placed in on the table. He started the recording device, and reached out his hand and touched Mr. Laric’s, “Tell me the story, Mr. Laric,” he said softly.

The subject looked into his eyes; I had always been impressed at how well, how fast, Stephan could create that bond of trust with a criminal. I watch, ready to hear Mr. Laric spill his proverbial guts as to how he had slain his family, murdered them in cold blood. Beads of sweat dripped from his brow, running down his face and into his eyes, but he didn’t blink, he didn’t even notice, as his mouth slowly began to form the first words of his ungodly experience. “I was there… inside my house,” he faltered, what I could only imagine was his painful memories flooding back inside of him, “we were having dinner, my wife and children had just sat down… the sun was setting. I remember that because it was shining into the windows, into my eyes. I got up and went to the window to close the blinds.” He looked down at his hands, the dirt, the blood, still stained them. “I started to close the blinds and looked out, the sun sank behind a cloud… and the entire sky became… it… it… went Blood Red.” He began to shake, to tremble as he gave his testimony. I double checked to make sure the recording device was working, ready to grab his confession out of the air. “The, the ground began to tremble, the entire house shook, like an earth quake, I could hear the animals in the yard screaming, I saw some break from their pens and run for the woods. Large flocks of birds took to the sky, flying away from the house. I looked back at my family, just as the floor began to split open just under the table…”

He was trembling, Stephan made him pause and take a breadth. But Mr. Laric went on, “I heard them, Saw them scream and push back from the table… my Daughter Roselyn she, she screamed I looked and saw a hand, a giant red bloody hand appear from the split in the floor, the ground still shook, and the house seemed like it was about to fall apart around me. I was so scared, the screams they were so loud… and… and I saw Roselyn… she scream at me, ‘Daddy’ but I couldn’t move, I just watched as that beast, the devil, came up from the ground, it’s eyes, black as night, the horns on it’s head toppled the dining room table as it came up from the ground. It held a giant sword, wreathed in flame, the table clothe caught fire, and started to burn… I saw my wife grab my son and run for the door.” Mr. Laric started to cry, he buried his head into the table, I couldn’t tell if what he was saying was real or not but he was so convincing, so believable, I wanted, needed to hear more.

“Daddy, DADDY, she screamed out to me, as the beast lifted her by the leg, it’s clawed fingers dug into her flesh, blood flowed from the wounds, down her leg staining her summer dress. She, she writhed in pain, screaming out to me, still I was frozen, the beast turned to look at me, I swear it smiled, laughed at me. But still there was nothing I could do. Its tongue reached out and tasted my daughters blood, it rolled its head back in pleasure. Anger swelled up inside of me, my heavy chains were broken. I ran, I ran and threw myself at the beast, but I was nothing, it stood head and shoulders above me and yet part of it was still in the floor, it slapped me with the butt of its sword and I flew back against the wall, my head smashing the window, the glass fell around me. ‘DADDY PLEASE!’ Those were the last words I heard my daughter say before the beast lifter her above it’s head, her small delicate body hanging from its hand, and smashed her into the ground…” Mr. Laric smashed his hands into the table, the force of which dented the table. “You don’t understand, DO YOU! The devil came and killed my family” He Yelled out. The force of his words, struck out at me, I wanted to believe him, but believing would mean that there were much worse things on our little world.

“I ran, I ran for the door, but the house had caught fire from, from that sword the devil carried. I didn’t care, the devil was behind me, and I had to escape, I ran through the flames, looking, searching for my wife and son who had made it out alive.” He stopped. I could see the grief in his eyes; he had lost everything, but was it the devil, or was he the devil that had taken everything away. The bodies had been butchered, mutilated, the cuts seared, I was told there wasn’t an explanation for the seared wounds, but this, this story would explain that, but it was all lies, they always lie. “Carolise, CAROLISE, I had yelled, but I couldn’t find her, not until… until I turned back to the house. I saw the devil, and another one, and another one, standing there roaring at each other as they circled my dear Carolise, she was huddled over my son, her hands over his eyes, crying, begging, for their lives to be spared. She cried out for me, I could hear her over the roar of my burning house. I watched as one poked at her with its burning sword, setting her clothes alight… I ran to them, as fast as I could, I could hear her screams, my son’s screams as they burned. And then one of the monsters began to swing its sword, again and again, the screams stopped and I fell to the ground.” I could see blood starting to flow from his clenched fists, his nails digging into his skin. I believed, as truly as I believe in the sky above me and the concrete blocks surrounding me, I believed the devil had visited him.

“The Beasts, they turned for me, I watched as they stalked forward, the one that had killed my daughter emerged from my burning house my daughters blood covered it. I was ready, pleading for them to take me, to end it.” He looked at Stephan his eyes wide, “Can’t you see that I didn’t want to live, I wanted to die, to die there with my family, but that was taken away from me, they, the knights they saved me.”

“What knights Mr. Laric, what knights saved you?” Asked the Junior Detective, still in shock from the story being told, still wondering if the subject was telling the truth or not.

“The Knights, they showed up, from no where, I remember the flames reflecting off of their polished grey armor. They, they shot at the devils, giant holes ripped into the flesh as the weapons shot, it sounded like thunder each shot was ear splitting. I covered my head with my hands; the screams of the devils pierced right through them. I saw the knights draw silver weapons, they… they glowed blue almost as if electricity was crackling around them. They ran at the devils, hacking them apart as they… as they prayed… as they chanted… I heard their words, ‘I am the hammer… I am the sword… in his hand…’ they just kept chanting all the while they fought.” He was almost mesmerized while he talked, captivated by these, these Grey Knights, that must have saved his life, it seemed as if Mr. Laric had forgotten all about the death of his family, almost as if he wanted to shout praises to these Knights. “I… I saw them slaughtering the devils, retribution for my family… oh my family. You must understand that I was powerless; I couldn’t do anything against the devils. But I could not watch anymore, I heard, I heard my wife cry out to me, I ran to her, the knights still fought the devils but I ignored them, my wife, my dear Carolise, I saw her there on the ground, she was so badly burned, she had been cut again and again, I wrapped my arms around her, I told her she’d be alright, I picked up my son, now dead and told them everything would be ok, I prayed that we’d be together again, safe, away from the devils, I cried, I buried my face into my now dead wife’s body. I screamed out in rage, why did this happen to me, why… it was the devils… demons… they killed them… death… the fire… devils… knights… the devils…” He had gone back into the trance he had started in. He stared at Stephan, unseeing the blood around his hands began to congeal, the tension from his clenched fists now relaxed. His arm twitched, and the clanking of his cuffs on the table began again.

“Mr. Laric, Mr. Laric?” Stephan asked, “What happened to the remains of these devils, where did these knights go?” The Junior Detective leaned over and reached for the subject, “There was nothing found at your residence other then your family, Mr. Laric do you have any proof, any proof at all Mr. Laric?”

“the devils… knights… fire everywhere… my family… devils… devils…”

Mr. Laric had shared all the information he was going to share, I was sure of that, and without any proof, the man would most likely hang by the end of the week, and there was nothing I could do about it. I flipped off the audio recorder and took my hat and my long coat and went to the interrogation room. “Stephan,” he looked over to me, “there is nothing else we can get from him, let him be, he’s gone now.”

“Detective Darve?” I turned around, there was a man standing outside the interrogation room door. He was tall and dressed in strange clothes, almost like a robe, but not quite. His eyes stared out and me, delving deep inside me, almost as if he was reading my thoughts, and then he smiled. “I am Inspector Loriel Seth, I am here for Mr. Loric.” He handed me his documentation as two of his men walked in to fetch my subject. One of the men took the audio recorder, “Wait a minute,” Stephan said as he went to retrieve the device. “As you can see Detective, I have authorization to gather all information pertaining to this case,” he said as he pointed at a place in the paperwork where the Commissioner himself had signed.

“Yes Sir, Inspector,” was all that I could say, I moved away from the door so that the two men dressed in odd black uniforms could carry the subject away. I knew they had already stripped the other room of its records. “Where will you be taking him, Sir, if I may ask?”

“He’s to be taken to Titan Memorial for observations, thank you for your time Detective,” he smiled again. I walked out into the hallway with him, and watched as he walked off, as he walked I saw a pendant, a medal slip from beneath his coat hanging from a chain, it bore a stylized ‘I’ with a skull centered on it. Myth and Legend I thought, myth and legend.

Monday, April 26, 2010

TGR - TWG April 25th Tourney Results

Hi Everyone, I just wanted to share the results of yesterday with you. The tournament started quite well with 15 out of the 16 players showing up. Luckily I had brought up an extra army, and made the offer to the odd man out of taking a Bi or playing me. They all played, which I can understand, no one likes sitting out for 2 hours.

Everyone said they enjoyed the missions, well except for the first one, which will either get re-worked or dropped from future tournaments. But that is why I appreciate the Feedback, that way the next time I run it, I'll have that info.

Ok... ok... so before I keep babbling on. I would just like to thank everyone for showing up, and I hope you all had a great time.

Here are the results.

Best Overall went to Nick V. playing Salamander Space Marines:


Best General went to Trevor playing Tyranids;



Best Painted went to Nam for his Beautiful IG;




Once again, thank you for everyone who showed up and supported the tournament. For plenty more pictures go to the Flickr Page I set up.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

The Snakes Head: April 25 Battle Mission 3

The earth trembled with the movement of the heavy war machines, silence not being a priority. Inside the mighty beast the artifacts of ages past were being held. The men had grown quite uneasy, complaining amongst themselves of whispers from no where, but not one of them would say anything to the Inquisitor for fear that they might be possessed and purged on the spot.

He's near, very near...

'Yes yes, I know... we have located them on auspex' Loreal said to himself. 'Soon I will have his head on a pike, and I will hang it atop my chimera'

"Sir, are you alright" asked Seth, looking a little worried as Loreal mumbled. "You seem to be elsewhere at the moment, and we are closing on the enemy very quickly."

"Of course I'm fine you idiot, what would make you think otherwise?"

Calm yourself, it will be his time soon enough...

"I'm sorry interrogator, I'm just agitated with all the men we lost during the bombardment," Loreal said gently, "Soon soon, we will be ready to strike at the head of their army, and retake the artifacts they were able to get during the battle."

* * * * *

The battles have been fierce and drawn out. But you have finally caught up with leadership of the opposing force, and your superiors want a trophy. Kill their leadership, and bring them back to be put on display for all to see. But do not let your leader die, for if he does you'll have to keep the enemy at bay so that he can be given a proper burial.

Click Here: For rules to Mission 3

'Ard Boyz 2010 Rules


'Ard Boyz rules are out, be sure that your models have at least some GW parts to them. :D

The Rules


Also Scenarios should be coming out a week before the Prelims, so keep watch for that.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

'Ard Boyz 2010 Retailers


Hey Everyone, with little information so far on the event coming out I thought I'd get a list out of Local Retailers that will be hosting in the DFW area. For a complete list of retailers click HERE. Or simply call your retailer as they may have not made it onto the GW list.

DFW Retailers:
Hobby Town USA - Plano, Contact Pete at 972-473-0800

Lone Star Mesquite, Contact Jason at 972-681-2040

Lone Star Central Arlington, Contact Mike at 817-265-0491

Big World, Contact Mark at 972-245-0968

XMax Games, Contact Andy, Vincent, or Kent at 214-827-0805

The Gamers Realm, Contact Matt at 972-231-5231

Monday, April 19, 2010

The Whispers: April 25 Battle Mission 2

The winds howled, carrying slow burning embers and ash across the field. The first battle, an ambush had taken the party by surprise by it's furiousity. Only moments ago had the cries of bloodshed quieted, both sides withdrawing to regroup and patch wounds.

Inquisitor Loreal looks out across the battlefield. Large piles of debris is smoking, billowing black smoke that rises into the sky blocking his sight to the enemy behind it. Still scanning the field he sees unexploded ordinance. He knows if they must cross the field it could prove to be quite dangerous.

"Sir!" Interrogator Seth calls out as he runs over to Loreal, "You're going to have to see this." Loreal follows the bewildered interrogator. "What is it Seth?" Loreal asks as he cautiously walks over a low hill.

"Emperor..." he breaths silently seeing the gleaming gold ruins of some ancient artifact protruding from the nearest crater. Extruded from the dirt he could make out what appeared to be a bird or eagle, with it's wings spread, buried up to it's chest. It was about 3 meters across and on it's neck sat not one but two heads.

The interrogator interrupted Loreal's Shock. "Sir, the auspex seems to be picking up other objects, it could be more artifacts, or it could be a glitch with the system after all of the artillery that's been thrown around here, who knows what there really is.

We must retrieve the artifacts....

"Interrogator, we must retrieve the artifacts."

"Yes sir, I'll get on it right away." Said Seth as he started to turn away.

We must retrieve all of the artifacts....

"Not just this one, all of them, do a full Auspex Scan, Dig with your Hands if you need to identify them, but I want them All!" Cried out Loreal, "Is that understood?"

"Yes Inquisitor, right away."

* * * * *

The sun has risen high in the sky but still, it sheds little light on the field of battle. Smoke rises from burned out rubble, buildings, and vehicles. Ordnance litters the ground, some exploded some not. But the ordnance has unmasked something else, ancient treasures that may hold the key to secrets long lost, or treasures that might bring in some mighty fine loot.

Click Here: For rule to Battle Mission 2

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Building a Tournament Army


You're going to be playing in a Tournament, a competitive setting and it's time for you to start building your army. You wonder to yourself, what should I take, how can I make my army as effective as possible.

First things First, find out what point level you're playing at, and any rules that coincide with the tournament. It's important to know if you'll be playing a 1,500 pt game, or a 1,750 pt game as this will change your strategy quite a bit. The other thing to find out is what Force Organization the tournament will be using. Often this will be the normal FoC but in smaller or larger matches it can change. For instance a 400 pt Combat Patrol Tournament will often only require 1 Troops Choice and no HQ.

Second, find out if there have been any missions posted for the game, or if there will be. It's important to see the missions as this can change the game play drastically. If there is a lot of night fight, you'll want to take things like Spot Lights, and units with Acute Senses. If it is a majority of Objective Missions be sure to stock up on troop choices so you're not left with your hands tied behind your back when your minimum two troops get killed in the first turn.

Third, try to find out what the Meta Game at the event location is. For those of you who do not know, Meta Game is the typical armies and play styles players use there. In some areas they might be Tank heavy, or they might be chock full of Horde armies, of you might be the only one not playing a Space Marine army. This is very important to find out, as you'll know if you want to take those lascannons to pop some tanks, or if you want to take heavy bolters to mow down the Ork flood.

Lastly, don't be afraid to bug the TO, or tournament organizer, he's there to answer questions and help you out before the tournament begins. Most TO's will agree that questions before hand are more welcomed then questions during or after the event has taken place. TO's like to get things like how does X effect Y and can I take ABC or XYZ in my list out of the way. That way we can all have plenty of fun on the day of the tournament.

-CKR

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

TarGa-Roth Emerges: April 25th Battle Mission 1

In the cold depths of space there is nothingness. Blackness surrounded by the blinking of stars, seen in their purest form. The twinkling of the lights starts to become obscured, just a few at first, but then more and more, as if a ball of energy is appearing from no where blocking out the view. Tendrils of power? Magic? Electricity? Begin to swarm from this hole in space, reaching out, grabbing onto the nothingness. The hole, the blackness, the obscurity pulses, the shear power of energy being felt light years away.

With a sudden burst of brilliance the anomaly gives way, cracking under the shear pressure of the body being birthed. The stars are completely blocked by this heavenly body, a planet that has appeared from no where. The world, covered with clouds of red and orange swirls chaotically, while the blue waters below appear to be much like Terra, along with the greens and browns of the newly formed land.

The final wave of energy released on the emergence of the planet sweeps through the Sector, thousands falling over dead, blood running from their nose, eyes, and mouth, from the psychic resonance and their untrained minds. The Holy Inquisition immediately demands a force be taken to research the new body now designated TarGa-Roth.

Upon entering normal space after traveling, the Black Ships detect other bodies surrounding or heading towards the new planet. Signatures of the ships show both human and xenos entering TarGa-Roth's atmosphere. With reluctance Inquisitor Loreal orders his fleet closer to the planet so they can send a landing party to begin surveying the planet and find out if the planet should be destroyed utterly.

With the research teams needing a safe place to work, Inquisitor Loreal orders a landing party to secure an area hopefully away from the other groups now invading the planet. The Inquisitor warns everyone to be on their toes as at this point anything could happen.


* * * * *

The chill of night is still in the air, and darkness still sweeps the land. You look at your chrono and see the sun should be up soon and that it's time to get your party together after it scattered during the landing. Initial reports shows that there may be an enemy team nearby and it's necessary to gather your forces to prepare to ambush the enemy before they can ambush you.

Click Here: For rules to Battle Mission 1

Monday, April 5, 2010

A 1,500 pt Blood Angels Army

So I had planned on releasing this list earlier this week, but as we all know Life will catch up with you. And that was well Playing some 40k and getting ready for the Escalation League for the week, which ended up going really well.

But anyways, here's the 1,500 pt list that I put together for Blood Angels that I would love to try playing. My only worry is a little lack of Anti Tank, but I think the list can handle most vehicles that will be found at the 1.5k level, unless they're spamming Landraiders.

Blood Angels 1,500 Points

HQ
Reclusiarch – 130 pts

The Reclusiarch, or beefy Chaplain is my pick for the low point cost HQ. This army is all about Synergy, and having your HQ pump up units is a huge thing for me, coming from an Eldar Background. One of the things I wanted to see is a Death Company Squad, and the Reclusiarch, while being actually one of the cheaper HQ choices, allows the Death Company to re-roll hits and misses in a close combat in which they charged. This can make a huge difference in any assaults.


Elites
Sanguinary Priest x2 – 180 pts
2x Jump pack
2x Power weapon

The Sanguary Priests are here once again to booster the units, there isn't really any other army (other then Death Guard) that lets you give everyone Feel no Pain, which really increases the squads survivability by about 50% to non-FNP ignoring weapons. So in most close combats, and as you're flying forward this will help keep those squads alive longer.


Troops
Death Company x 7 – 195 pts
1x Power Fist
2x Power Weapon

The Death Company, I wanted to see it in the list just because they seem to be the staple of Blood Angels, they all have FnP and Furious Charge, so they're most likely going to be striking first, they have plenty of attacks, and with the re-rolls from the Reclusiarch they should be quite devastating. Throw them in the Stormraven for transport and aiming and you're done.


Death Company Dreadnought – 126 pts
Pair of Blood Talons
Searchlight

If you're going to run a Stormraven you might as well take advantage of it right. Throw in a Dreadnought with Blood Talons and he has the potential to take out entire units in a Assault Phase, might be good, could be bad, but play testing will tell. If Tanks start to become a problem, drop the Blood Talons for the Dreadnought CC Weapon to give it Str 10 again.


Assault Marines x7 – 181 pts
2x plasma pistol
1x sergeant power weapon

Assault Marines x7 – 181 pts
2x plasma pistol
1x sergeant power weapon

Assault Marines, they don't need transports, and with FNP from the Sanguary Priests they should be living long enough to get into combat. Make sure they're getting cover along the way and they should rip up some troops. They've also go pistols to help out with light transports which will be getting in the way in most peoples Meta Games.


Fast Attack
Baal Predator – 146 pts
Side sponson heavy bolters
Searchlight

The Ball Predator was an easy pick, with scout and being a fast vehicle, you can place him after deployment and have him tear up some squads, he should also do well at tearing apart rhinos and other light transports but you'll mostly be wanting him to kill the mobs of troops.


Heavy Support
Stormraven – 216 pts
Twin-linked Multi-melta
Extra Armour
Searchlight

The Stormraven, it'll be transporting the Death Company Squad and Dread, if you're not in range to assault on your turn, then move flat out, get that 4+ cover save, and use the Melta to try and pop the transport you're going to want to assault the next turn. Remember that you are transporting a lot of things that want to be upclose, so don't hang back because a dread and death company walking across the board won't do you any good.


Predator – 145 pts
Side sponson lascannons
Storm bolter
Hunterkiller missile

The main anti tank of the list, he should be able to pop the heavier transports, and move from spot to spot as the battle progresses to gain cover and deny it from others. Keep it in the back and use him to snipe while your opponent is trying to figure out what the real target priorities are.


Total - 1500

So with 1,500 points on the dot, with the help of some 1 pt Search Lights, this army should give others a run for their money, if you get a chance to play test it let me know how it goes, or your thoughts on the list itself.


-CKR

My Blood Angels' Picks

It sure was time for the Blood Angels to came out, now we don't have to talk about those Nids from back in January as much anymore. After getting my codex on Friday and having looked through it quite a few times I thought I'd write up what my Picks are for each of the Force Org Chart slots. It might be different then what you think is the best choice, and that's ok as I'll say right now, I've not gone out and play tested these units at all, but this is purely what I'm seeing right off the pages.


For starters I have to start off with the Troops FOC, it is still the most important part of the army list to get right as they are required in 2/3s of all the normal games you will play. Now at a beautiful 18pts a pop, just 2 more points then standard marines you give up the bolter and add a CC weapon and Jetback. These guys are going to be the mainstay of every BA army I think. Now being able to actually capture objectives, and the possible normal movement of 18" (move + run) These guys can last minute grab like the best of the Eldar Tanks.

The 2 CC weapons will come in very handy as you dive face first into enemy lines. I'm seeing these guys run in squads of no less then 6 guys, and will probably be running full 10 man squads. They have the Combat Squads special rules, but I'm not sure you will often run into a setting where you want to shrink your assault squad down to 5 men. As it is I think you'll see 2-3 squads of these guys in most BA Armies.

You might ask why I didn't have the Death Company Dreadnought or the Death Company as my pick, well it came down to one simple thing, they can't hold objectives. So unless you plan on wiping your opponent off the board each time, if all you did was field those two, then the best you could do is tie.


Astorath the Grim is my HQ pick, not only is his model top rate (I'd convert the pose a little myself) but I think he is going to add that extra punch to the BA. Even though he is a rather expensive model, coming in at a bit over 200 pts, the ability to give everyone The Red Thirst on a 1-3 instead of a 1 will come in very handy. As I see it you'll want your Assault Troops to have Furious Charge as this allows them to strike first, and wounding marines on a 3+ is never a bad thing.

With a 2+ 4++ armor save he is sure to live for a while, and with a WS of 6 and Str 6 Power weapon that causes opponents to re-roll invulnerable saves he should do very well in close combat.

I'm not sure if Astorath will fit every ones army and play style, but I'll be keeping an eye out for him.


Now for Elites is was a tough call, you've got the Terminators that all marines get, and then you have some Golden Angels, but I'm all about army synergy and having units build off each other (see Astorath) so choosing Sanguary Priests as my elite pick just seemed like the right call.

These guys are going to annoy quite a lot of players out there. You can purchase up to 3 of them as an Elite choice for a modest amount of points, and because each one is an IC you can then plop them in a couple of units. The thing that is awesome or down right mean depending on which side of the table you're on is that they give all units within 6" of them the Furious Charge and Feel no Pain USR. So if you're planning on running a couple of these guys, you don't need Astorath anymore for the Blood Rage ability because these guys hand it out like candy.


The Baal Predator is one of the best Fast Attack slot units I've seen in a while. With the new Codex all Vehicles became fast at a modest 15pt increase meaning they all can move 18" fire a weapon at 12" and fire all weapons at 6". This is a huge thing for predators seeing as everytime I've played them with side sponsons I was never using them because my opponent would simply move a little out of view. Now I can move 6" and still blast away with everything.

The other great things about the Baal is that it has scout. This means that it can be setup last after you and your opponent have deployed and still move if you'd like. And with the amount of guns you can place on it, you can make sure to be within the 24" range during your turn to let loose with all of them.


And Last of all the mighty Heavy Support choice, the Stormraven. I know we've all seen rumors of this flying around, and seeing those rumors, reading them, and now having the codex it's still a little hard to imagine it exists. Not that it's a bad thing, but without actually playing against it yet, it sure does scream Over Powered on paper.

But as far as I can see it, this thing is going to be a great unit, plane and simple. The ability to transport your assault troops around the board is going to do a lot of things. Not only will it add some speed, but it should keep there unit strength at 100% until you want to release the hounds. And if all you want to do is fly around, you can move 24" and still fire a weapon, and if you're wondering what to fire, trade in for the free Multi-Melta and Lascannon so that you can pop vehicles and be ready to assault the next turn.

I think in the right hands, and played the right way it's going to be a power house, but it still has the same weakness that all other vehicles have, and that's a single lucky shot can pop it out of the sky.

Well that's it for today, and my first take on the Blood Angels Codex. I think that overall it came out very nice and should change the field of battle quite drastically.

-CKR

Saturday, April 3, 2010

TGR - Escalation League Cycle 3

As April arrives so does TGR's Escalation League Third Cycle. Below you will find the scenario used and don't forget that we are at 1000 points now. So grab your troops and head into the dark depths to face your enemy. Be victorious or die trying!






Warhammer 40k Escalation League Scenario 3: Underground
(Cycle 3 – 1000 points)

Background: Landing zones for the various factions warring on the planet surface have been secured and the hunt for the Rogue Trader can begin in earnest. During the previous conflicts, survivors noted fissures in the earth. Investigation has led to the discovery of an extensive cave complex located under the surface.

Strategists within each faction have seized upon the discovered subsurface passages as the most likely explanation for the escape of the Rogue Trader. Exploration of the caves reveals a mixture of natural and artificial passages. There is evidence of recent usage scattered among the detritus left behind by more ancient travelers.

Each faction has dispatched forces to reconnoiter the cave system and find clues among the scattered campsites believed to belong to the Rogue Trader. It is hoped that analysis of the sites and their contents can lead to anticipating where the Rogue Trader is headed and what his goal is.

Set-Up: A standard 4’ x 6’ table is used in this scenario. A total of d6 +1 pieces of terrain should be placed on the table.

Force Organization: The standard force organization rules are used.

Mission Objective: Seize Ground (see page 91 in the rulebook for details)

Special Rules:
At least two (2) of the objectives must be placed in No Man’s Land.

Combat is assumed to be taking place in a series of underground chambers. Access to this cave system is limited. Also, space within the cave system is restricted.

· Monstrous creatures (units with the monstrous creature unit type) and vehicles (any unit with an armour value) are not permitted.
· Jump infantry are restricted to normal troop movement (6”).


Deployment: Pitched Battle (see page 92 of the rulebook for details)

Victory Conditions: The game lasts the standard length (5 turns with checks to see if it runs to 7). At the conclusion of the last turn use the Victory Conditions of the scenario to determine a winner. (details are available on page 91 of the rulebook) In the event of a tie, the player with the most scoring units left is the victor. If both players have the same number of scoring units, the player with the highest point value scoring unit holding an objective wins. If there is a tie once more, the player who went first is the victor.


Previous Winner Advantages: Any player who is a member of the winning team from Cycle 2 enjoys the following advantages during the game:

The first troop unit that is completely wiped out can return to the game as if coming in from reserve. (deployment would follow the reserves rules from page 94 of the rulebook)

Any player who is considered to be a winner from Cycle 2 has the following advantages:
A single troop unit can be given the Scout special rule. (see page 76 for details)

Friday, April 2, 2010

A New Disturbing Trend?

(I used to be a Captain, now I'm a Sergeant)


I just received my Blood Angels codex in the mail today, along with some other happy news. And instead of reading through my Acceptance to UTD I started reading the BA dex. There are quite a few neat things in there. But I also saw something else. Something that I think is going to start becoming a trend in the new books, and something I'm not a fan of.

It's Stat Modifiers for the enemy army. It first started with the Nid codex, with Deathstalker, who lowers any one models LD by a D3 for the entire game. Now I find that to be rather annoying as most modifiers require you to be in range, this just occurs at the start of the game.

Now in the BA codex we get Dante who chooses a single IC and lowers his WS, Wounds, Init, and Attacks by 1 (to a minimum of one) Wow, I mean wow that is a pretty mean ability right there.

For me I'm just finding it hard to swallow that right off the bat another army can affect the Stats of my characters, that often cost quite a few points. I've played against the Deathleaper a couple times, and having Eldrad or a Farseer at LD7 can be very game changing for an army that relies on casting powers as much as Eldar do. Now we've got one that actually causes a wound before the game has begun.

I'm just fearful of how far this will go, and how it will change the game, why take characters if they are just going to get nerfed before they hit the board?

Thursday, April 1, 2010

GW Reaches God-Hood with New Spray Gun!


If you've not seen the latest news today, you're going to want to take a look. Games Workshop has done some amazing things in the past, but today they revealed a new spray gun that will be part of everyones hobby kit in the time it takes to say, "OMG look at that Sally it painted my entire Miniature and all I had to do was hold down the Trigger and Boom, it Looks FREAKING AMAZING!!!"

So if you've not seen it yet, click the here for Awesomeness!