Ultramarines the Movie the Review!

"Is there something on my face?"

SPOILERS

I spent my Saturday going to the free showing of Ultramarines at my somewhat local Movie Studio Grill, I only passed 5 others along the way but that was just fine with me. It was Ultramarines, a movie about a game I've been playing for over a decade now, what wouldn't you do to see this thing for Free!

Now let me be honest, in real life I'm a 3D Modeler and Computer Animator, so my opinion might become a little biased. So I'm going to start off my review with Appearance and follow it up by Story, Entertainment Value, Dialogue, and Fan Coolness. Let's get this review started.

Appearance
Let me just say that just looking at this movie turns me off. The Models are great and true to the Universe but the textures are the first thing that start to fail. Why is it that the marines look like they're undead? Then it get's worse when the marines start to move and jump around. Since when does a 8 foot tall man wearing a freaking tank not shake the ground but look as if he is wearing ballet slippers.

Then we get to the compositing and editing. About 70% of the movie is hidden is dust effects, hiding almost the entire environment and most of the action that takes place in the movie. The editing is also quite bad, leaving pauses in dialog and between scenes where the characters simply stair at each other.

Story
The story leaves something to be wanting. If felt very much like a hack job of Aliens 2. Let's take a small group of novices out and pit them up against some bad guys and watch them all get killed while we bring the alien (demon possessed) infected guy back on Board and have him kill the rest of us until he gets beaten by a hammer. Sure there was foreshadowing but does that make it any better. No not really.

Entertainment
When you start trying to figure out how long the movie has been going so you know when it'll end you know something is going wrong. Like I mentioned earlier the movie had some really weird editing that continued to pull you out of the story. Every once in a while it would break the 4th wall and put you into what felt like a First Person Shooter experience. Does anyone remember that in Doom, did you remember like it, exactly.

There were a couple of bits that were interesting to see, but again the graphics of the movie got in the way. It was either to dark, or there was dust in the way, or something else. Much of the movie just distracted from itself.

Dialogue
So the voice acting was one of the higher points of the movie. There wasn't much I could complain about here other then how some of it was edited. Long pauses between words in a sentence to add emphasis was a common trait of the movie and really stole the moment by making me actually laugh out loud. "It must be.... Chaos" Yeah dramatic little quarks like that, and you just have to laugh.

The script was a little off putting to me too, I understand that you would want to use terms and the like from the game, but hearing them say in unison "And we Shall Know No Fear" again and again and again just got cheesy. If you're going to do that in a movie, don't make it a motto, make it a chant. Jarhead did this very well, "This is my weapon, there are many like it but this one is mine..." Yeah it worked there, but no in this movie. And maybe it didn't work for me because it's the name of a game rule, it'd be like if everytime I got punched I yelled out Feel No Pain. Or When I come back to life, We'll Be Back. Make me smile thinking of Arnold saying that everytime he is shot down and stands back up.

Fan Coolness
If you enjoy seeing the toys you play with on the big screen then this will probably get you going. I've got to say it was cool seeing guys in power armor and Bolters with the shells doing the rocket thing. Are thunderhawks cool, hell yeah, would I have loved to see it do more, hell yeah. It is worth seeing once just because you play 40k... maybe.

Overall this movie met my expectations of no expectations. The graphics were just as bad as they looked in the trailers, and the flow of the movie was just as bad too. Other then a couple good one-liners and seeing Space Marines on the big screen I don't think I would've wasted my time with this movie. I give this movie 2 out of 5 Aquilas.

Henchmen Heavy Bolter Spam

While looking at what could be the premise of the Upcoming Grey Knights codex I noticed that the use of Inquisitor Coteaz could allow someone to spam Heavy Bolters and Plasma Cannons like crazy. Today however I would just like to evaluate the points and see if it's worth doing?

In the New Grey Knight codex it appears we'll have the ability to take a heavy bolter on a BS 3 Servitor for all of 10 points. One hitch though, if an Inquisitor is not in the unit, the servitors do not work unless you can roll a 4+ each turn.

The Breakdown, in 6 turns we can assume it'll fire 3 times, with a hit rate of 4.5 so for ten points we'll be spending 2.2 points a hit.

A Space Marine Devastator with Heavy Bolter will run 32 points. It will fire all 6 turns and will have 12 hits through out the game at 2.66 points a hit.

We can see that it's possible for players to run a Heavy Bolter Servitor at a better cost for firepower then Space Marines. Will this be useful I do not know, but at least we know that they are not completely useless.

Can Winners have Fun and Get Prizes?

"If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?" - Vince Lombardi

Once again I have run into that part of the hobby that feels you can not have anything good to do with the hobby if you're interested in Winning and getting Prizes. After a local event was posted up involving a painting contest and games over a period of time I noticed that they were awarding prizes but there was no mention of what the prize would be. During my inquiry I mentioned how I had felt unfair about the prize support at the location before, after getting first place in a different painting event there, the store credit reward had not even covered the model cost needed for the entry fee (all of $15 bucks).

"Winning isn't everything... it's the only thing." - Vincent van Gogh

The response to my inquiry was, "Then you probably aren't the hobbyist we are looking for. Move along. Seriously. If you care that much about the prizes instead of the fun, this probably isn't for you." I'll be the first to admit that I enjoy a good prize but I would never claim that prizes are more important then fun, I do however believe if an establishment is trying to make sales off a competition for the chance of a reward the reward should be worth the efforts and at least the entry fee of the competition.

To put it another way, do you go out and buy a 1 dollar lottery ticket for the small chance to win a max payout of 50 cents. No you don't, and you never would, so if a store is holding a competition, in my mind the prize should be worth the cost, time and effort. While time and effort can be hard to judge and rewarded cost is quite easy. To me I feel "worked over" if a store charges people to enter and then hands out a significant amount less in prizes, it then feels like they're taking advantage of the competition for their benefit.

"Winning is nice if you don't lose your integrity in the process." - Arnold Horshak

Does this mean there always has to be a prize, of course not. I enjoy playing games, I enjoy meeting new people, I enjoy background of the game, and I enjoy winning, all of these things are fun to me, and unless my opponent is being a jerk, I'm almost always going to have fun, win or lose. Do I have more fun when winning, yup, just like I have more fun when I'm going faster in my car, or getting more chocolate syrup on my ice cream. Winning adds to the fun of the game to me but it's not everything. Would I pay to play in an event that didn't have any prize support, I sure would and have done it many times, it's no different then paying and then not winning an event that has the prize support, as long as I had fun then that's what matters to me.

"You will never win if you never begin." - Helen Rowland

Prizes are a part of most competitions, whether it's money, store credit or trophies depends on the event. So why did I inquire about the prizes, why is it that I'm even concerned about prizes. To be honest it's a great bonus to winning a tournament, especially if you're unemployed and have no budget to spend on the hobby. It helps me to get new toys and have more fun by trying out more and more stuff. Plus knowing what the prizes might be allows me to know how much effort and stress to put into an event. Playing in an event with a $500 reward is quite a bit different then playing in one with a nice little trophy, one I'll try my best and play my hardest in and will stress over and the other I'll play more for fun.

So can winners have fun and get prizes, sure thing, just the same way others can have fun in every other aspect of the game.

40ks Most Expensive Unit

For those who don't know the Dark Eldar second wave is out for pre-order and it's full of beasts. These guys look amazing and I'd love to run a pack of these an army. But then I started looking at the price tag and was blown away. This could vary well be the most expensive unit to purchase for it's point value. Let's check by comparing it to other GW Models..

• Land Raider - 250pts - $62 - 24.8 cents a point
• SM 5 man Tactical Squad with Rhino - 125 pts - 44.4 cents a point
• Valkyrie - 100pts - $62 - 62 cents a point
• Eldar Jetbikes - 66pts - $45 - 68 cents a point
• WarWalker - 40pts - $30 - 75 cents a point
• Beast Master and 5 Khymerae - 72pts - $85 - $1.18 a point

I'm not sure about you, but at that rate a Dark Eldar army can get expensive real fast. What other units break the $1 a point mark? Do you think about cost vs points when you build your armies?

Vegas Invitational Dilemma

I received my Vegas Invitation in my email last night. I can't tell you how excited I was to get it. For one I wasn't in the top 2 of my qualifying event but was third, and 2nd I had completely forgotten about it.

But here's the dilemma, the Tournament ends on the same day I start my summer job. Yeah I know right, it took me about twenty minutes to find the dates for my summer job, where I'll be teaching 3D Modeling and Animation at a summer camp for teenagers, but it starts June 19th, and Throne of Skulls is June 17th - 19th.

So here are a couple of my choices:

1. Reply to the email and tell them I'm not going, and delete it from my Inbox like it never happened (crying myself to sleep).

2. Email my future boss, being as nonchalant as possible, inquiring about the starting dates and kind of mention the invitational and see if he doesn't recommend himself I come in a day later.

3. Show up for the event on the 17th for the non- tournament stuff, and leave Saturday night, after the first day of the tournament and forfeit the second day.

What would you do?

Missions Creep

Have you started to notice how tournaments are shoving in more and more objectives in a game? It's only been a couple weeks since my last tournament but it seems to me that every one I go to has at least 3 different objectives in each game. That's 3 times more objectives then what the 40k rule book has in it's games. It gets even worse when you start to see your Primary, Secondary, Tertiary Missions backed up by 2-3 bonus point objectives.

This wouldn't be to bad, if all of the objectives could be balanced out in a game. What I've started to notice happening is that very competitive players are no longer building their army lists to try to accomplish missions, but rather to table the opponent. Here's why. If you build your army for the in book objetives you have to have a balance of mobility, survivability, and fire power. These 3 items will accomplish the different objective types in the main game. Mobility to capture multiple objectives, Survivability to capture your opponent's objective, and fire power to gain more Kill Points then your opponent.

But Competitive gamers have learned the Skeletal Key of tournament games. If you build your list for fire power only, then all you have to do it table your opponent to win the game. They know that this tactic is the dynamite to your Rock, Paper, Scissors.

What can we do to curve these dynamite players and try to bring tournament armies back to the all-comer lists we used to see. For starters I believe if we began shrinking the number of objectives and stop rewarding those dynamite players for blowing a person up more then the other player who can only accomplish 1 out of 3 we'll start to see army lists at the top tables that are more well rounded.

We can also start creating missions that actually require the objective to be obtained, and on a table result only minimal points are scored. I can hear competitive players screaming now, "But I wiped them out, that's way harder then the mission!" But what if the mission was capture the flag? You don't gain anything by base camping unless you actually are able to get the flag back to your base. If we start to build missions with this mentality then maybe we could see something other then the normal net list across the table.

As I gain more time, I'm going to try to start creating missions like this. And maybe, just maybe the overall tournament environment can be changed a little (hopefully for the better).

Sportmanship Scoring: Your Thoughts

Through out the years I have played in many different tournaments. I have played with and with out sportsmanship scores, and I have played with varying types sportsmanship scoring.

But what is the right way to judge your fellow opponent in sportsmanship. I'm going to highlight three different type of sportsmanship schemes and give the pros and cons of each.

1. The Variable Score - This scoring allows for the most freedom to choose how good of a sport your opponent was during the game. It is usually a score that varies between 0 and another set number. For instance it could be 0-5, 5 being the highest score, and 0 being the worst.

Pros
- Gives the player the choice of what to give the opposing player.

Cons
- Is very subjective to the scoring player.
- Is hard to define what each numerical value is in terms of sportsmanship.
- Players can manipulate this score to hurt their opponents out of spite.

2. The Bad Game Score - I was introduced to this system last year at Wasteland Wars and was pleased with the way it works. The basis is that that everyone starts with the exact same score, and at the end of each game you decide if you had a good game or a bad game. If you had a bad game you mark your opponent as a bad game and that's it. If you only have one bad game as a player you lose a small amount of points, but if you have multiple bad games it escalates going from 4 to 8 to 16 to 32 to 64 for a five game tournament. So if everyone starts out with 64 points you will most likely end the tournament with 64 points unless you had something to be a bad sport about. To read more about this kind of scoring check out www.wastelandwars.org or www.alamogt40k.com where this system is run

Pros
- One spiteful hit from an opponent will not hurt your score drastically. Instead of being a 20% dock in a five game tournament it's only a 6% hit.
- It's not as subjective, it's a Yes or No answer to how good of a game did you have.

Cons
- There is still a small amount of subjectivity, and being hit by a spiteful player still hurts.

3. Answer the Questions Scoring - This is the type of scoring I've run in my events. It is a set of questions asked such as;
Was your opponent reasonably knowledgeable of the basic rules? +2 points.
Was your opponent courteous and civil? +2 points.
Even if you got destroyed, did you enjoy the game? +1 point.
This allows you to create a focus of how you would like people to behave and perform at your event.

Pros
- The TO can customize the how he would like an event to be held.
- Players are making informed decisions on what each point is worth and how to score their opponents.

Cons
- Players do not have as much control as how they are scoring their opponents.


These are the three different sportsmanship schemes that I've seen and played through. As of right now I prefer the last one but still enjoy playing through the second one. I have a problem with the first one as it makes it real easy for players to be spiteful if they lost the game. What are your thoughts and which type do you prefer to use in your events.

Comp Scores: My Thoughts

Ok guys :)

So now that some thoughts have been floating around ya'lls heads I think it's time to share my thoughts on Composition Scores.

I'll be up front about it now. Through my experiences with different tournaments in different areas and different levels of competitiveness I've got to put my vote in with no comp. The reason I'm behind no comp is because I believe that the codices, to an extent, have been balanced to play against each other with no other modifications. I also feel that you can not (without a pains taking amount of work and quite a bit of subjectivity) make a balanced Comp System. Here's why;

Option 2: Although this is the system I prefer in the event of comp scores at tournaments, especially the openness of how it is scored, there is still a large flaw in it. The problem lies in that not all codices are meant to use and be limited by the same FOC slots. The codices are balanced with each other by being able to use all the FOC slots without penalty. When two armies can take the same exact list, and one is penalized and the other is not you can see the break in the system.

Here's an example. We'll take what some might call a cheesy list of 3 Landraiders. Here's a little 1,500 pt list.

Space Marines
Captain
Assault Terminators riding in LR
Tac Squad
Tac Squad
Bike Squad
Vindicator
LR
LR

So that's a little bit less then 1,500 pts and a comp score of -3 or 17 pts.

Space Marines Blood Angels
Captain
Assault Terminators riding in LR
Tac Squad w/ LR
Tac Squad w/ LR
Bike Squad
Vindicator

Now we have the exact same list, (ok some sspecial rules are different) but because all Blood Angel units can take LRs as Dedicated Transports this list get's a comp score of -0 or 20 pts.

Another Example would be the Space Marine player who can take 3 10 man Tactical Marine squads. This squad has 3 scoring units and no reduction in Comp Score, but on the field depending on missions can become 6 scoring units if needed. Now take any other Army out there (other then IG who can get 14 scoring units per Troop FOC) and they have to fill 6 slots to have the same kind of scoring possibilities. That's -5 to their comp score, or a total of 15 points.

There are many examples like these that lead me to believe that this kind of option for comp is not balanced.

Option 3: Option 3 comes down to how much do you trust your TO's or Judges opinions. What one person might find over the top might not be to another player. It is just too subjective for my liking. One Judge might have been beaten by a simular list the day or week before and feels that it's too powerful. Or they may not like a certain army and so score it lower. The point is with out a clear set of rules set in place before the Tournament, it's impossible to walk into an even knowing if your Army Lists will be scored well or not.

Then there are the horror stories of people walking in with the exact same list and being scored differently on them. Once again if two armies containing the same units can't be judged and given the same score then the system does not work.

Option 4: Some of the different things I've heard here talk about opponent scoring and the like. I think this is about as good as Subjective Sportsmanship scoring (which will be a later topic). There are people not out there, maybe not all of them, but some who will give people very low scores just because they lose. Doe losing mean that the other player brought an army that was out of balance, or that couldn't be won against? Sometimes it's the dice, sometimes there are just dumb mistakes, and sometimes people are just matched up against players of different caliber. As much as I would like to believe that people can give fair and balanced scoring against people all it takes is one not doing so to skew the scores and unbalance things.

There you have it, with the different soft score that there are I don't believe that Composition Scores should be part of the tournament scene anymore. Not only have I been unable to find a balanced way of scoring, but I feel that it keeps players from playing what they would like to play without penalizing them.

And then you always have the issue of someone building a list within the confines of Composition, and an Opponent who doesn't and builds the biggest meanest list they can. Because of what Comp Scores are meant to do, one person has a weaker list then the other and makes for an unbalanced game. Comp Scores may balance things out for overall winner later, but makes for a really un-fun game for those who have to play against the person.

And if fun is the name of the game, then comp should be out.

-CKR

Comp Scores: What are your Thoughts?

Hey everyone.

Lately I've seen quite a bit of discussion on Composition Scores in tournament use. Now I'm not here to tell you my opinion on it quite yet, but I would love to know how you guys feel about it. So I'll detail out a couple of the options that are being used, and see what you guys think.

Option 1: No Comp Score. (Easy enough)

Option 2: Comp Score based on units taken. Can be seen at some tournaments such as Astronomi-Con. The scoring system can be found here, http://www.mts.net/~xian/astronomi-con/websiteV2/rules/composition.htm

To summarize it, it says you get to use a set number of FOC choices for free. If you go beyond the free ones, points are deducted from the Composition Score depending on what and how many of those FOC slots you take.

Option 3: Judges scoring. I can't remember the tournament, but it has 3-5 judges and the judges look over each list and try to determine how many games the list is expected to lose. The more games it's expected to lose. The better the composition score.

Option 4: I want a Composition Score, just not one you described. Here's my thoughts on how I would like Comp Scores to be.

So it's all about you guys today, let's hear what you have to say :)

-CKR

Forge World: Eldar Hornet

Forge World just recently came out with a new Eldar Tank model, that Hornet. Along with some experimental rules that can be used with the new craft.

On first glance the model looks fantastic, although it does slightly resemble a lopster, I can get past that as it seems to have gone the opposite direction of many of the Eldar models, and that's smaller. Which given the available table space with the armies we play these days is a good thing.

But I was quite disturbed by the experiment rules they had given it. With weapons it comes to be pretty expensive. Especially compared to the costs of our Dark Brother's Codex. They're still asking 30pts for a BS3 Bright Lance, instead of the 25 Points for the BS4 Dark Lance.

So after drudging through the Dark Eldar codex for a bit and checking out their point values, I figured I'd come up with my own Experimental Rules for the latest Forge World Model.

You'll have to understand that it's going to be slightly cheaper then some Eldar Equivalents as I feel the current Eldar dex is slightly overpriced compared to current 5th edition codexes.

Hornet.............................................................60pts

BS: 3
Armor: F 11, S 11, R 10

Unit Comp: 1-3 Hornets
Unit Type: Vehicle (Fast, Skimmer)

Special Rules: Scout, Maneuverable, Concentrated Fire

Wargear: 2 Shuriken Cannons

Weapons: Each Hornet may upgrade each of their Shuriken Cannon's for the cost below;
Scatter laser..........................................+5 points each
Eldar missile launcher...........................+10 points each
Starcannon..........................................+10 points each
Bright lance.........................................+15 points each
Pulse laser...........................................+20 points each

Options: Any hornet may be ungraded with the following;
Holo-feild..................................................+20 points
Vector Engines........................................+10 points
Spirit stones............................................+10 points
Star Engines............................................+10 points

Manuverable: The light tank is employed for reconnaissance and raiding, and is often used for hit and run tactics. A vehicle with this special rule may always make a 6" move during it's Assault Phase, unless it is immobilized.

Concentrated Fire: The vehicle's computer systems are adapted to fire on a single target and let loose with all of it's fire power. As long as the Hornet is armed with two of the same kind of weapon, the vehicle can forfeit shooting both weapons to instead fire one as Twin Linked. This counts as only firing one weapon.

Well there you have it, some rules that add a little something new to the Eldar. I think that it uses a little of what the Dark Eldar were able to get in their new book, and refresh the Craftworld a little. Let me know what you think, and if you get a chance to play test it at all ;)

-CKR

Strength 6 the new 10

Firstly, why oh why don't my Warp Spiders look like that!?!

Ok, moving on. I've recently discovered the secrets of Str 6 weapons. I know what you're thinking, but yes, there is a secret behind them.

In a recent tournament down in Lubbock I tested a new list. I know it's odd to test at a tournament, but school doesn't allow much free play anymore. But moving on, the list contained 1 Str 8 Weapon other then Fusion Guns. And 30 Str 6 weapons, or 80 Str 6 Shots.

Now why is this impressive. Well for starters Str 6 weapons are usually very cheap, and secondly they wound 95% of the models in the game on a 2+. That means for most eldar it's going to be a 4+ to hit then 2+ to wound. Now I don't know about most people but those odds are much more in my favor then normal.

Now lets do some quick math, 80 shots, at BS3 40 hits, 34 wounds, and 11 Dead Marines. I know that doesn't sound very impressive, but being able to take out a tactical marine squad a turn doesn't hurt.

Not only that, but Str 6 will harm almost every transport vehicle out there. I'm actually considering loading up on another 24 shots, which will make quite a few people mad, I already know that.

So bear in mind, Str 6 is great for everything, even Nids as you'll be wounding those Big Guys on 4+s instead of 6+s.

'Ard Boyz Inspiration

A little Inspirational Music before 'Ard Boyz Today!

Clock Hammer?

So as we're coming up on Tournament Season again I'm reminded of how important it is to play, and play expediently. That doesn't mean to just make a move and hope for the best, but to use the most out of the available time to make the best decisions possible. Using your opponents turns to plan out your moves, and react to his turn as appropriate.

One of the things me and a friend of mine have always joked about, was using a chess timer, to keep both of us playing at a decent rate. So here's my thoughts on that, and how I think it would work.

Each player would get 1 hour total for their turn. Then each of those player turns would be broken down as such.

Before clock starts, mission, roll for sides, etc.

Start Time
Turn 1: 20 minutes per player (this includes deployment time)
Turn 2: 10 additional minutes added per player
Turn 3: 10 additional minutes added per player
Turn 4: 10 additional minutes added per player
Turn 5: 10 additional minutes added per player

Now here's the what happens if you don't use up your entire alloted time. So say turn 1 you have 20 minutes but only use 15 minutes on the clock. Well you get 10 additional minutes for turn 2. So your turn would end at the 30 minute mark on the timer, allowing for 15 minutes of play during turn 2.

This will allow for all players involved to get to turn 5. Now if there is still time at the end of turn five and the game is to continue, both players could decide if they would like to continue based on the time left on there clocks. But would have to dice down once their turn's time ran out, and the other player would finish their turn, and same with turn 7. But I've yet to see a real tournament game go to turn 7, and usually doesn't make it past 4 so this would be a way to get a round played through and entire game.

What do you guys think?

-CKR

Under Rated Units - Eldar Edition

There are many units out there that people consider to be under rated. Today I'm going to talk about 2 of the Eldar units I recently started using and having plenty of fun with.

Warp Spiders - You look at these guys on paper and go, wow they Suck, I can't believe they even exist. Sure they have a Str 6 shooting weapon, but what happened to the AP? Where did it go. At least that's how I was, and how most of the forums were as I was reading them. But then someone said, no no they're actually pretty good.

So I decided I was tired of playing pure competition lists and would try out some different things. Wow was I surprised at how well these guys perform. I'm running 7 of them plus an exarch with power blades and dual Death Spinners. That's 18 Str 6 shots raining out from these guys. Sure the range of 12" isn't the best, but they are fast and have a 3+ save and can move backwards after shooting, they've been doing a great job in my games, and I might end up working them into my 1,500 pt lists later on.

Striking Scorpions - Again you see them, and you have Howling Banshees on the other page screaming out, hey we all have power weapons. The thing that's been eating me up when I run Banshees is the amount of Heavy Flamers that are out there these days, they eat things, and banshees will dies faster then anything else when that template is put down.

But not the Scorpions, they get that beautiful 3+ save, they also are Str 4, which means they don't suck against units you haven't Doomed, and and they get 1 extra attack. So they get 4 attacks on the charge vs 3, and will usually wound on 4s vs 5s. Now I know what you're saying, "POWERWEAPONS" yeah they rock. But the odds are you're actually doing the same amount of kills with Scorpions on everything armor 4 and up. They get edge out with 2+ and 3+ but that's when you shoot those buggers to death.

The pure survivability of this unit makes it a winner in my book, especially when my race is already dieing off ;)

Maybe one of these days I'll trying some Swooping Hawks out, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

-CKR

Helping Stores Help Themselves

It might seem that I'm on a rampage of talking about the Local Gaming Stores, but it's what is being talked about right now so I'm going to share my thoughts. So here are 4 things stores can do to help themselves.

Rule 1: Communicate - This is something I've run into a couple of times during the past year or so, and it's poor communication of event details. Players and Participants want to know as much details as possible. If you have prizes, let people know what the prizes are, it gets them interested. If there are special rules like a minimum of 3 or 5 participants, be up front about it, don't use it as a get out of free card later when people have put in the work and others haven't.

Rule 2: Follow Through - If you say you're going to run an event, make sure it's run, and that you follow through with it. To often I've entered painting contests and the like and a week or two after the event end date no one knows what's going on with it. Results should be decided soon, and a date hopefully known by participants by communication.

Rule 3: Availability - Make sure you're available to answer questions. Most people have to spend money, or use their time to enter events and contests, we understand you're busy, but so are we. If we're spending 20+ hours to paint, write, convert then we would like a couple minutes of your time to spend answering emails on the event. If you don't have the answer right away, shoot us a email saying "I don't know, but I'll get back with you." That way you're following rule number one.

Rule 4: Be Fair - When you make a judgment, ask yourself if it is fair to all the parties involved. We all understand that you're a business and here to make money, but we're also here to support you. So as long as you're fair to us, we'll be fair to you, other wise we can do what I've done in the past, and go play at my place, where I can stay as long as I want, and usually have a couple beers too ;)

If you follow these things, then there is no reason not to have good events and a store worth going to, but it's when these simple rules start to be forgotten there will be mutterings in the gaming halls.

-CKR

Support your Stores

So earlier this week I made a post on a forum talking about going into a GW store. I was quite surprised when another frequenter of the forums said he wouldn't go into a GW store based on principle and then mentioned the number of other stores I could be going to.

I can see where he is coming from, but I don't think I could ever go to a store based sorely on principle. I have formed my own opinion of stores through the past few years based on Employees, Table Space, Events, Products, and more. But I've not banned any stores just because.

This is why I would like for everyone to support the stores they enjoy going to. I know that there are places where you can get things cheaper, I myself can get things much much cheaper, and often do. But that doesn't keep me from also buying from the stores I frequent.

I think lately the DFW area is starting to do a better job of supporting stores, and the stores are starting to help themselves also. In the past I've seen tournaments going for 25 bucks, seems a little steep to me, but if it's a 25 dollar purchase, both the store and player wins. The store gets there cut, and the player gets a product from the store he might have bought elsewhere for cheaper.

But that doesn't mean this is the only time you should buy from them. Remember that they're a business and it takes money to keep that store open and providing tables for you to play at. So try to buy from them when you can, and participate in there events. Otherwise we might see all these incredible new stores close later down the road.

-CKR

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

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

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?