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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Saturday, October 9, 2010

Tactics: Reserve Denial


So at the Wasteland Wars 7 Tournament back in August I used a tactic called Reserves Denial for 4 out of the 5 games I played. It's a tactic a picked up a little from reading the internet and a little from playing against my good friend who was using his Drop Pods to take out make tanks before I ever got to begin my turn.

The point of Reserves Denial is to deny your opponent a turn or two of shooting. The way this works is much like the way going second in Dawn of War works. Player one is on the board, and has their entire army. Then you either have your 1 HQ and 2 Troops, or you leave them all off the board. Player one's turn then consists of moving his units, and if nothing is on the board he then losing out on a shooting phase. Leaving you the chance to come back and shoot after you come onto the board during your turn.

This tactic favors the Eldar quite a bit, as it allows their weaker units the chance to attack before they are shot at and destroyed. It also gives them a chance to either turbo boost or move flat out to get those cover saves in games with very little terrain.

The main issue with Reserves Denial is that it can leave you open for some bad rolling when it's time to bring your units onto the table. I've had a couple games where my units dribbled onto the game board leaving me wide open to taken out piece by piece.

Advantages:
- If you're not on the board, you can't die.
- If you go second, you deny your opponent 2 turns of damage against you.
- Creates a great Alpha Stike ability for your army.
- Lets you react to your opponents deployment and movement.

Disadvantages:
- Creates a chance for your forces to come in sparactically.
- Gives you less time to destroy your opponent/complete objectives.

There are three armies that can really take advantage of Reserves Denial by minimizes the disadvantages. The Eldar, Space Marines and Imperial Guard all have ways to increase the chances of your units coming on the board from reserves.

Eldar: They have the Auctarch, with the master Strategist Ability which allows you to add 1 to your rolls for reserves. Eldar also have the benefit of taking two which allows you the ability to add plus 2 to your reserves. So what are the odds of your men coming in?

Normal: Turn 2 - 50% Turn 3 - 67% Turn 4 - 83% Turn 5 - Automatically
1 Autarch: Turn 2 - 67% Turn 83% Turn 4 - 83% Turn 5 - Automatically
2 Autarchs: Turn 2 - 83% Turn 3 - 83% Turn 4 - 83% Turn 5 - Automatically

You might be wondering why it caps out at 83%, this is because a roll of a 1 always fails, and you always have a 1 in 6 chance of rolling a 1. But with 2 Autarchs you should be very confident in getting 80% of your forces on the board.

Space Marines: Have Varro Tigurius, the Chief Librarian of the Ultramarines and a Special Character. He has the ability, Gift of Presence, which allows you to re-roll any reserve rolls. His ability actually gives you a chance to re-roll that 1 on the dice, and will also allow you to re-roll passed rolls if you have something you want to stay in reserves. So what are the benefits of his re-roll?

Normal: Turn 2 - 50% Turn 3 - 67% Turn 4 - 83% Turn 5 - Automatically
Re-roll: Turn 2 - 75% Turn 3 - 89% Turn 4 - 97% Turn 5 - Automatically

Imperial Guard: Under the Regimental Advisors there is the Astropath. He has the Telepathic Relay that works exactly the same way as the Eldar Autaurch, along with a bonus of allowing you to re-roll your outflank rolls (wish the Autarch could do that). I've not yet seen any IG players do Reserve Denial because it's usually players pulling this tactic against them, but it could open up some possibilities of an outflanking army or something else if you're not playing the normal Gunline IG. Here's your odds.

Normal: Turn 2 - 50% Turn 3 - 67% Turn 4 - 83% Turn 5 - Automatically
1 Autarch: Turn 2 - 67% Turn 83% Turn 4 - 83% Turn 5 - Automatically
2 Autarchs: Turn 2 - 83% Turn 3 - 83% Turn 4 - 83% Turn 5 - Automatically

While people may not always find it fun playing against the Reserve Denial List, it's a great way to counter the Alpha Strike or Leaf Blower list that wipes you off the board Turn 1.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Eldar: Army Overview


Models:
*Plastic to Metal ratio, Eldar have slowly been updated through out the years to plastics, these include the basic troops, vehicles, and jetbikes. All Aspect warriors HQs and Specialists will still be in metal.

*How old the current models are, Many of the current models have been updated in the Last 5 years, with Weapon Support Platforms and the New Plastic Fireprism/NightSpinner coming out in 2010.

*Anything new coming out soon, as of right now there is no News of new stuff.

*Large back catalogue of Classic/OOP models? GW does not carry any of the older models, but they are still floating around on the internet, and for relatively cheap prices.

*Fun/easy to paint, many schemes available to choose from? Eldar have quite a few different army theme, with many different painting styles and color combinations. The models are about middle diffuclty to paint, but they lend themselves to very nice detailing such as stones, and the like.

*How many models in an average army of 1,500-2,000 points, Most armies will consist of about 45-65 models. Slightly more if you use less transports and bikes and concentrate on Guardian Defenders as your troops choice.

*Costs in £/$ in collecting the average army, relatively cheap or expensive when compared to other armies, The average starting army for Eldar will run you about $500. This will include a little variety in HQ and supporting options. Because of the amount of metal that is needed to field the more specialized side of eldar, this list will probably run a little above average when it comes to other armies.

Background:
*Small summary of the race's history, The Eldar are one of the most ancient of races. They are very technologically advanced and known for their speed and psychic powers. However at the apex of their civilization the Eldar were dominated by lusts and sensations at which point their emotions became so extreme the Chaos god known as Slanesh was created, in this event the Eldar race was almost utterly destroyed. Those that saw it coming, went to live on giant Craft Worlds, cities in space. The others that were caught in the wake of destruction and survived went to live in the warp, and are now known as Dark Eldar.

*How do they get on with other races, The Eldar feel very much like High Elves in space. They feel very much above the other races and only deal with them when there is danger to their race.

Play Style:
*General playing style, the Eldar are known for being fast and specialized. Each Eldar unit plays a critical role in doing one thing. If you're looking for versatility, that's not the Eldar. They have units specialized in CC, units specialized in Tank Hunting, etc. The current meta and play style of Eldar requires them to almost take a fully mechanized army as they have low armor values and must survive to do their jobs.

*Themed army list types, there are a couple of themes, which can be seen in the Codex's Craftworlds.

Biel-Tan - Takes mostly aspect warriors (the specialists) which are mostly elite choices, these lists will usually contain 2 units of Fire Dragons for Tank Hunting, 1 CC Unit (Banshees or Striking Scorpions) and then Units of Dire Avengers for Troops choices. All fielding in Wave Serpents, with either Falcons or Fire Prisms for Heavy Support. These lists are very specialized and usually leave the smallest room for error.

Saim-Hann - Are the fully mobile lists, usually consisting of a Farseer Council on Jetbikes with an Autaurch as the Death Star Unit. Then units of Eldar Jetbikes for Troops Choices and Vypers for Fast Attack support. This army is very fast and mobile.

Iyanden - This list is the Toughest (Toughness and Armor Wise) It usually contains 2 units of 10 Man Wraithguard so you can take them as Troops, at T6 they become hard to take down. There is usually 2 Farseers, or 1 Farseer and Eldrad there to Fortune and Doom. And then 3 Wraithlords for Support.

Ulthwe - Are the masters of Psychic powers, back in 3rd ed they were the first to let you take Seercouncils. They are usually very low on aspect warriors and use Guardians as Troops. They've taken a hit with 5th ed as Mobility is now a key factor, and Guardians are not usually worth the points you spend on them.

Alaitoc - Is one of my favorites fluff wise, they are known for stealth making use of the Pathfinders and Rangers found in the codex to snipe off enemies. They will usually have a low Aspect model count and rely on the Guardians for numbers.

*Competitive list types, - All of the current competitive lists are very heavy mechanized. Usually consisting of Dire Avengers in Wave Serpents as Troops Choices or Eldar Jet Bikes. They will almost always contain 2 units of Fire Dragons for reliable anti-tank, and will have a Farseer to buff their units. The rest of the points then go into filler units that help you play to your play style.

*Current tournament standings, Eldar have started to slide in the tournament brackets because of the large amount of anti-tank now hitting the tables. They have a hard time balancing a list that can both go against MEQ units and Hoards. You will usually see one in the top 10 at large tournaments but not much more then that until they are able to find a way to deal with Leafblower IG Lists.

Misc:
*How popular is the army, The Eldar have been a favorite of many since they've been around. They were one of the original races and large following of players who enjoy them.

*When was the book released, The current Eldar Codex was released in November 2006, making it one of the older 4th Edition books, just above Tau and Black Templars.

*When is the next one due if known, it's not known when the next one will be due, but some rumors have said Late 2011, or 1st Quarter 2012.

*Any race specific forums, I've not found any Eldar Forums, if you find one let me know and I'll update.


***If you find any information on here outdated or inaccurate please let me know so that I can update, thanks***

Dark Eldar Advanced Orders begins Today


The Dark Eldar are now ready to be purchased. Advanced Orders are up on the Games-Workshop site. And boy do they look good!

The Warhammer 40k Army Overview Project


Hi everyone. I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be starting a new project for my blog. The 40k Army Overview. Warseer has one for Fantasy and it's a great place to look for a general idea of how each army plays, what it's made up of, it's style and so on.

I'll be starting with an Eldar overview as that is the army I'm most familiar with. But what I'd like from everyone else is for your help in gathering information and assembling it into one place so that those new to the game can have a place to go to for army information.

So here's what I'm looking for.

Models:
*Plastic to Metal ratio,
*How old the current models are,
*Anything new coming out soon,
*Large back catalogue of Classic/OOP models?
*Fun/easy to paint, many schemes available to choose from?
*How many models in an average army of 1,500-2,000 points,
*Costs in £/$ in collecting the average army, relatively cheap or expensive when compared to other armies,

Background:
*Small summary of the race's history,
*How do they get on with other races,

Play Style:
*General playing style,
*Themed army list types,
*Competitive list types,
*Current tournament standings,

Misc:
*How popular is the army,
*When was the book released,
*When is the next one due if known,
*Any race specific forums,

So if you'd like to help out with gather information about an Army or even multiple Armies, just send me an email at thewraithgate@gmail.com and I'll start consolidating everything into a nice document for each army so that we can help out the new players.

-CKR