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Tuesday 30 June 2009

Herald Highlight: Where have all the days gone

Tomorrow, we will officially be half way through the year. Yes - thats 26 weeks pretty much down the drain. It's pretty depressing



But what achievements have we as a community accomplished? I can name mine on 1 hand:

- Kicked a few exams out of the way

- Introduced my father to the Hobby (on his 50th birthday. Aww)

- Started 2 new armies - Dark Elves and Isengard

- Spent over £3000 on the hobby... and not in a good way

- Begun a saving scheme for my models



Pretty awful. HOW CAN WE KEEP TRACK OF DAYS?

Friday 12 June 2009

Herald's Twittering Again...

Added the Twitter updates to the site... Well, my one for now

I'll be using it to update on projects and stuff...

Friday 5 June 2009

Tactica: Building an Army

Two months ago, I began the process of building an Isengard army for War of the Ring. While I haven't got a load of images, heck I never take pictures, I do have the process...

How the heck do you start an army?

Few things I look at for any army are the obvious ones - Army Play, Army Content, and Army Possibilities. You can't play any army that doesn't focus on these things, however soulless you are. That is, unless you're an android, or a guy with a grudge

But actually, there's 3 other factors people don't take into account - for example, a person I know began a Dark Elf army simply because of bad experiences with High Elves and bearing a big grudge. Sure, he likes the Army Play, Army Content, and the Army Possibilities, but he still absolutely loathes High Elves! It's the same with me - i'm starting a Wood Elf army soon in order to deal with my deep aggressive urges against a certain other Wood Elf player I know


But then, there's the other two factors. Those are the Public Opinion - which while not as important, you don't want to play an army that people turn their noses up at - and Painting Possibilities - since you don't want to do a really boring army, do you???

How the heck do you plan an army?

This is the stage that far more people already know firm images are needed at the start of any project... and in this case (my Isengard army) I chose to do the good old Phalanx army. My aim is to have 160 Uruks in my army at the end - just basic box sets, too. I've got 60 at the moment. These guys will form up blocks, Pikes in the main units, and sword-shield Uruks on the flanks. Obvious flanking force, but since it's a deathwish to even think about charging them it works. Then there's the Shaman conversions i'm doing - the metal ones are either too expensive or they're too inappropriate (think about it, you've got a naked guy, and there's a guy on a rock... awful)

I've also got a set of Trolls for the approach - Trolls are a cert in any evil army anyway, right? So there's going to be 4 in the army - 1 per Phalanx. Added to this is a final force of many Crossbows and Berserkers. For the coolness factor, thats all


Finally, the Epic Heroes? I suppose Lurtz should be used... But I don't like him anyway. So it's only Saruman and Grima for me (seeing as Thrysdan, the other guy, is the stupidest guy ever)

Anyway, thats an update and a badly made 'Tactica' in one. Sweet!

Vengeance... With a Side of Pie

Herald likes Warriors of Chaos. Aun'Byr (remember him? Off the Blog, but still) likes Dark Elves. But what do I like?

I liek Mudkips

Not really, it's more like 'I Liek Daemons' specifically. Khorne specifically. Nuff Said

Herald Highlight: 10th Anniversairy Part 1 (10a)

We've hit 10a, people. Time for a poll

What article do you want as 10b?

Post in topic. We'll continue on regardless

Herald Highlight: The End Times are Coming!

No, that isn't the Storm of Chaos campaign comign back. Time for the good guys of middle earth to take back the Battlefleet

A month or two ago, I did a Highlight on something called http://battlefleetchaotic.blogspot.com/2009/04/herald-highlight-darkness-of-war.html. This article was quite decent, but I have one eeny question... How hard is it for the Free Peoples to defeat the darkness of Sauron and the rings?

The forces of evil are numerous, and well equipped for the era, but at the same time they are ALL (yes, I mean ALL) Horde Armies. The endless tide of common troops (i.e: Easterlings, Orc Warriors, Uruk-Hai, Giant Spiders, Goblins, Haradrim...) is a BIG archetype in the Evil army, mostly due to the fact that if you're going to need a load of cheap core... then why not have hordes of cheap core? Face it, that 15 point unit of Moria Goblins will allow you to have One Balrog of Morgoth... so why not use the whole box on it, and have either 1 unit of 3 companies, or 3 units of 1 company? Remembering that infantry trump ALL in Objective Games, it not only allows you to get a dead killy unit (the Balrog, or even a Cave Drake for cheapiness) but you get a unit that WILL have a chance of surviving the onslaught between it and the objective (instead of 4 casualties to finish it, you need 20 casualties. Even with Goblins, thats a lot)

But how does that affect the Good army. You are the opposite. You have 3 horde choices. Yes, just 3. That means that you need to look away from the idea of completely decimating your foe under a mountain of bodies... especially since two of those horde choices are HOBBIT ARMIES. Hobbits will not build a good foundation for the horde, however you look at it, but they do have the options you need for the dead hard Shoobit Army (Hobbits... So many Hobbit Bowmen...)

You do enjoy a vastly superior selection of troops, such as the basic Minas Tirith Warrior or the Galadrim Warrior... Sure, a company of Minas Tirith is 35 points, but it has better armour, better weaponry, better courage, better choices of hero to lead... and they are more per box! Unlike a box of Orkies, you come with 8 Sword/Shield, 8 Spears, and 8 Bows (the Orcs will come with 8 Sword/Shield, 8 Spear, 4 2H Sword, and 4 Bows). This means that the Minas Tirith is not only a good starter set, but it's also a brilliant solid choice anyway... think of them as the Space Marine of WotR

But moving on... what is Good's other advantage? We're not cheap, but we have the best set of Legendary Formations ever. We outnumber them COMPLETELY in legendaries, although these are mainly in the major pointed areas, and most heroes cross between them all. Saruman, the White Wizard and not the White Hand, is in the Council of Wizardry (500pts), the White Council (500pts), and his own Epic Hero version (200pts). Then, you have Gandalf the Grey who is in The Fellowship of the Ring (500pts), Council of Wizardry (500pts), the White Council (500pts), and his Epic Hero form (175pts), as well as the Gandalf the White upgrade Epic Hero (225pts). Overlapping is the only disadvantage for this, as they will kick the s**t out of any formation that isn't The Nine Abroad (damn scary those guys) or The Dark Lord Sauron (see previous brackets)

But anyway, the topic is getting a bit too large, so i'll begin the summary. First, the best standard Core Choices for each army (i've got 5 here. FIVE):
  1. Gondor and Arnor: Stick with the Minas Tirith Warrior, or a variant. Want an all rounder? Warrior of Minas Tirith, with good courage, orc Fight Value, and good defence. Want a Armoured Fighter? Warrior of Arnor, with bad courage, good Fight Value, and good defence. Want a Steadfast Fighter? Warrior of Numenor, with good courage, good Fight Value, and bad armour. ALL of these are 35pts per company, and then there's the variant Bowmen (in the pre-mentioned modes, who only lose the Shields for a Bow)
  2. Elven Kingdoms: This is the more difficult choice, being that the choice is based entirely upon box sets rather than box value. High Elves are hampered by the Warriors of the Last Alliance box set (which is the only set they come in - 8 Warriors of Numenor, 8 Sword/Shield Elves, 8 Elf Bows), while the Wood Elves are only good as a flanking force. However, I believe it's obvious who wins - the Galadrim not only have a brilliant box set, but they also happen to be so good at their job, that there is NO shifting them!
  3. Dwarven Holds: This is another difficult choice, since Dwarves are pathetic againse Elves. I'm going to go with a bit of a dead cert - Dwarven Rangers will rip many other Ranger forces to shreds. Decent defence, decent options (2h weapons, bows, or sword/shield) which means that they are a firm favorite with me. They also happen to be an example of a Core unit that can be made into a Legendary with just one model - thats not very common with the Good armies
  4. Kingdom of Rohan: Awful. So many choices in Rohan are Core, that it becomes hard to select a winner. Royal Knights, Riders Eored, Outriders, and Sons of Eorl... ALL are beautiful cavalry units. Then there are the Oathsworn, though, and these are what Rohan should be about. Rohan does Cavalry, but can you afford to get an army full of them? I don't think so - Oathsworn are cheap, in points and models, and a good 'Hold the Line' force. If you want Cavalry, then go and get the Cavalry
  5. Forgotten Kingdoms: Kingdoms cannot have an independent list, but they contain ALL of the Legendary Formations that mean anything (e.g: Fellowship of the Ring). However, there are 3 cores that are brilliant - Hobbit Militia, Hobbit Bowmen, and Ents. Ents are hard, and one of the only Monsters the Good Army can get. Hobbits are 10 (15 for Bowmen) per company, for a Shoot Value rivalling elves. They are pathetic though - the Ent gets my vote, for being a cheap versatile model

Thats the Top 5 lists as well, by the way. Gondor and Arnor is a brilliant cheap list, followed by the bruising Elven Kingdoms, next of all being the Dwarven Holds which are a great Objective army, and then Rohan with the Cavalry horde... with Forgotten Kingdoms holding them all up, with their countless Legendary Formations

But there's one last question I ask... What are the Best Army Choices ever? Even more candidates for this one... for a future poll. There's 3 categories for this: Core, Rare, and Legend/Hero. These each take 2 options from each list in the Good Army

  • Core, G/A: Minas Tirith Warriors
  • Core, G/A: Rangers of Gondor
  • Core, EK: Galadrim Warriors
  • Core, EK: Wood Elf Warriors
  • Core, DH: Dwarven Rangers
  • Core, DH: Dwarven Warriors
  • Core, KoR: Riders of Rohan Eored
  • Core, KoR: Oathsworn Militia
  • Core, FK: Ents
  • Core, FK: Hobbit Militia
  • Special, G/A: Knights of Minas Tirith
  • Special, G/A: Knights of Dol Amroth
  • Special, EK: Elven Cohort
  • Special, EK: Galadrim Knights
  • Special, DH: Vault Wardens
  • Special, DH: IRON GUAAAARD!!!
  • Special, KoR: Sons of Eorl
  • Special, KoR: ???
  • Special, FK: ???
  • Special, FK: ???
  • Legend/Hero, G/A: Boromir of Gondor
  • Legend/Hero, G/A: Warden of the Keys
  • Legend/Hero, EK: Galadriel (Either Form)
  • Legend/Hero, EK: Rivendell Guard
  • Legend/Hero, DH: Drar's Hunters
  • Legend/Hero, DH: Gimli, Son of Gloin
  • Legend/Hero, KoR: The King's Guard
  • Legend/Hero, KoR: Theodred, Prince of Rohan
  • Legend/Hero, FK: The Fellowship of the Ring
  • Legend/Hero, FK: The Council of Wizardry

Well, that ends our look at War of the Ring in general. Time to actually get a themed article in...

Herald Highlight: With Great Cheese comes Great Responsibility

Welcome to Part 1 of the 'I Love the Monkey Head - Space Marines' tactica, within my Herald Highlight section. People often come to me exclaiming 'Mr Nurgle, why do your Chaos Hordes now suck' and I have to tell them things such as 'it's going to get better in time' or 'CHAOS LEGION WILL COME SOON. SEE WHERE YOU'LL BE THERE, HUMAN!!!'

Well, it's time for me to one-up you all, puny beardlings. The Hordes of Chaos shall swallow you all up, start chewing, note that you're disgusting, and then spit you into a big random portal into General Storm's bedroom

But on a more serious note, it's time to delve into the cheese fest that is... Marines. 5th Ed.

Overview
Marines enjoyed a massive buff in 5th Ed, compared to the Codex: CSM book having a massive downturn in it's awesome factor. They remain stalwart and steadfast, thanks to a vastly unchanged And They Shall Know No Fear, but they also have more allies - the Combat Squads rule from C: BA and C: DA means that they have more options than ever, and they also gain the Combat Tactics rule that will OWN anyone who thinks they have the choice on whether they break

They do, however, actually lose a big system that brokened the old book - Traits are gone, at last - so I don't have to worry about them. Huzzah! They did gain the 'Fluff Characters' such as Vulkan He'Stan (God in Man's Form, though thats a circular reference) which was a good thing - limits are good - but they gained MORE Ultramarines (boo!) which can only be a bad thing

Alpha Legion Tiem
Well, we can't have any of that, can we? Space Marines are TOO good now - and they must be exterminated! However, I can't really do that immediately, can I? I need to call in my secret ally, the Alpha Legion, to infiltrate the poxy army. They'll be using a few models i've been using till recently - stealing the army and stealing the armour for their own nefarious schemes

After a long period of retraining (i.e: Remembering to put the CCW back at home) the list was prepared! I always admired the White Scars, as well as the Salamanders, so I was thrilled to find a scheme perfect for me - I chose a sort of 'Knights of the Purple Flame' colour scheme. I'm already planning to add a 10 man Biker Squad with a captain in order to get the speed that these former Slaanesh ensigns have had, in order to continue on (and feed my Chaos army at the same time - huzzah!)

So, the list?

HQ Choices: I have chosen to take a plain, simple, Chapter Master for this. A small, basic sized, Honour Guard will accompany in order to give a large amount of protection, while an additional HQ (a Terminator Librarian, from my Slaanesh army) will be brought for more Tele-PORT! feature

Elite Choices: I have chosen to take a small Terminator Assault Squad with a magnetic mix of Lightning Claws and Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield in order to give me a Hitty Retinue for my Terminator Librarian. To this solid base, I add the Dreadnought - seeing as he's far more reliable than my Chaos variant!

Troop Choices: I've got 2 options for this, being the Tactical or Scout Squad. I've chosen to take a pair of big Tacticals (10 man) for the free weaponry, and a big Scout Squad for some Sniper support. I've also got a 5 man Scout Squad with Telion, for the authentic 'SNIPER' feeling

Fast Attack Choices: This one's the biggest choice in the list - Assault Squad, Vanguard Squad, Biker Squad, Attack Biker Squad, Land Speeder, Land Speeder Storm, or Foot Variants of the Assault/Vanguard Squad? I've chosen a good hitty unit - Vanguard Veterans - as well as a pair of faster Biker Squads for Mobile Fire Power

Heavy Support Choices: This is more obvious - I choose 2 Vindicators, not only to complete my Linebreaker (got 1 already) but also to give a two prong approach

Tactics: This is simple - Scouts are set up, or Tacticals if it's an Objective Game, with the Honour Guard in a central position. The Vindicators and Bikers are split, to give me a manoevring stroke across the sides of the force. Finally, Terminators and Vanguard Veterans use intervention to attack vulnerable important points, finishing the force

What next?
Part 2 of this tactica, where I will cover my mixed success with the incredibly cheesy, but still specialised, Space Marine army. Heck, there might even be an exact army list

The next part of 'I Love the Monkey Head' will be a basic Horde summary, followed by individual tacticas on Orks and Imperial Guard themselves. the HHHAHD will fall!!!

Herald Highlight: I love the Monkey Head

And not the Age of Empires cheat either - this is the monkey head that happens to be the monkeys at GW Central

How did I start to love the codex monkeys?

Simple, it's fairly easy to complain when you're on the other side of the spectrum - i'm the diehard Death Guard player who not only doesn't have that many troops, but doesn't have heavy weapons. I do enjoy benefits - say goodbye to the charge bonus, and my entire army can be used as a cheese substitute should I get hungry

However, what is this monkey head? I'm talking about the three codexes that are the absolute BANE for my life, the Codex: Orks, Codex: SM, and Codex: IG. AKA: The Unholy Trinity of Horde - Hard - Horde. And they happen to be the anatheme of eachother, the bane to all of 40k is also the bane of the UHToHHH (or HHHUHT)

Over the next 3 Herald Highlights I have to do in order to redeem myself for the hiatus, I will look at how to defeat the big HHHUHT. I'll start with Space Marines - the Hard - and then continue with the two horde armies in a sort of two-parter of themselves...

MY DEATH GUARD WILL SUUUURVIIIIVEEE!!!

How to Stop an Exploding Blog?

Sorry. MAJOR hiatus due to other commitments. Guess we owe you... 15 articles? Dang, that would get us to 88

No matter

We're back