Design Studio: Codex Chaos Legions (v 0.792)

Latest update for Codex: Chaos Legions...

After a long hiatus, Design Studio is back. With the first update, here is an look back at Codex Chaos Legions.]
Since the previous update, the codex has doubled. While totally incomplete - with most of the fluff missing - this stuff is mostly done. I'm looking for opportunities to playtest them ASAP.

Updates:
- Added Arrax the Brazen, a new Iron Warrior character. Hate having your artillery miss their mark? Arrax will focus your fire.
- Added The High Orator and his Dark Apostles, reduxed Word Bearer characters. Very similar to the Sanguinary Priests, but not as OTT, these can buff your entire force.
- Added Calaesh, Thrall of Alakhar, a new Alpha Legion character. A cult leader exported from Codex: Lost and the Damned (a project in progress btw), the Thrall is your insane psyker, who guarantees your outflanks to destroy the foe.
- Added Talonmaster Torhren, a new Night Lords character. The only character outside of the HQ choices, in Fast Attack, prepare to screw people over in assault.
- Added Greater Daemons to the codex. With unique wargear, albeit at a large cost, these guys actually represent the true power of the gods.
- Added a bunch of unique Daemon Engines - 4 types of Engine Units, to be exact.
- Added some... decent Obliterator stuff? :O
- Added Campaign Chaos Gifts. If in a campaign - say, my Planetary Empires redux - you can use these rules to modify your champions and characters. With 80 options in the list, no character (should) be similar

SCRIBD LINK: http://www.scribd.com/doc/26225522/Warhammer-40-000-Fanmade-Chaos-Legions-5th-Ed
PAGES: 65
CONTAINS: Full Chaos Codex, Updated to 5th Edition standards. Few missing entries - for now - to be updated soon.

I have GOT to the be the worst blogger ever...

I mean seriously. I revamp the site, post some stuff saying content is coming back, start, stop... return 6 months later... and put the old template back up.

Anyway, yeah. Back again for now. But what does that mean?

Well, it means one certain thing - i'm going to be posting some of the stuff i've been working on for the past few months, whether its crap or not lol. I'm not one for writing long sappy stupid posts which end eventually in my continuance in doing whatever the problem i've felt and advertised in the post, so lets keep this short.

New link bar, bam. Here's why i've added these 6 particular links - and myself - to the side:
- I have about 60 RSS feeds in my browser already. To add all 60 when not all of them are blogs would be insane.
- BoLS and YTTH are what actually got me into the hobby. They are the solder which keeps me stuck here. They are the building blocks of the hobby, and are totally Yin and Yang. To have the truly pretty much all out killing spree of YTTH without the hobby content of BoLS and the community would be so much worse than it is.
- Galaxy in Flames is there because, lets face it, I love Big Jim's work. The Soul Reapers may be the reason I put as part of his Link, being that they're remarkably similar to my still ongoing Codex: Chaos Legions, but his work in another piece - called Killzone - is so incredibly awesome that even my local GW has - or will - cave into it. Big Jim is so larger than life.
- Dethtron is there because I think that even if he, unlike all of the others in the list, uses his blog as a front for a secret underground awesome band of total bitchingness, his Friday Night Internet Fights make me lol. Sooo much.
- Explained 4, so the rest of them. Hmm. King Elessar is a British dude. From the Warp is the second greatest blog network ever (first being House of Paincakes :P). I'm a sap for self advertising, and the opportunity to lock people into an endless link loop is fascinating (makes me want to make 5 more clones of his blog to really screw with people).

Well, the link bar went on longer than I expected. So, tabs at top.
Currently broken, really, at the top but DIGAF? Herald Highlights, Design Studio, and Tactica Chaotica (aka: Tactics) articles up at the top. Added a Contact feature - my email address is battlefleetchaotic@live.co.uk, as if that wasn't already obvious. Send me hate mail if you want, at least it isn't touching my other email accounts. =)

All of my Design Studio files are being updated this week. If you're wondering, since posting Codex Chaos Legions preview in 2009, we're into version 0.791. Yep, thats the Version. 15 Updates have gone into the codex - 7.8 of them are in the Lounge Blog I have at Bell of Lost Souls.
Please, DO NOT TOUCH THE LINKS ON THE OLD DESIGN STUDIO FILES, as in those pre 2010. They're all broken or totally stupid so theres no point.
I'm hosting all of my new files on http://www.scribd.com/. That's a far better site, and its easier to update them. Plus, you can download the documents as Word Docs so that you can spread the homebrew far and wide!

Anyway, good to be back. Now then, time to make the first of many Killzone articles.
~ Herald of Nurgle

PS: Currently accepting applications for writers on Battlefleet Chaotic. Likewise, i'm registering a domain name. Tiem for funnz0rs!

Review: Warhammer Fantasy 8th Edition

Wow. How time has passed since the previous Games Workshop 'core rules' release... and how policy has shifted.

Back in 2008 when the 5th Edition of Warhammer 40,000 was released, we had rumours stretching way back into November 2007. People were sighting the rulebook everywhere in early 2008 and everyone knew the main changes to the rules which were going to occur. Various Games Workshop stores were previewing the book to their customers around April 2008 - well, at the very least here in Britain, which allowed for an air of legitimacy with every rumour... and confirmation.

But what about this release? Well, it's certainly been different - it was around May/June 2010 that most stores were recieving (And letting people open) copies of the book and a tight grip was held on any rumours coming out of Games Workshop's design studio. Many people were denying up until about January 2010 that the rulebook was even going to be released in July - like the 5th Ed of Warhammer 40,000 was - and this led to just... complacency. Well, the rumourmill didn't rest but neither did it seem believeable. Sightings of '10 man ranks' led people to the belief that the (now confirmed) 'horde' system was to become the norm in fantasy.

People were, you could say, pissed.

But, are the changes so bad? I found a summary of the changes here at an awesome blog that I follow: http://quietlimit.blogspot.com/2010/06/eighth-edition-compiled-notes-and.html. From the list here, I think I quite LIKE the changes to the system! It's not too over the top, really - cutting down on Mage spam to make Magic Phases more enjoyable, and giving a horde army a real advantage when it comes to grinding opponents down with attrition.

I think this edition of Fantasy may dumb things down a bit, as some might say, but it will also breathe new life into the hobby with the new scenarios and the sheer amount of content in the Big Rulebook. Pretty much every single page in the 528 page Rulebook is jam packed with useful content for hobbyists - gamers may be annoyed with 2/3 of the book being such content, but does it matter? As some have said, the big rulebook is supposed to be the ground and the basis for the hobby while every other book fills out the real 'niche' stuff.

~ So, what are your comments? Post them below and lets see where they go :)

Review: Codex Blood Angels

On the day of it's release last Saturday I chose to purchase the new Blood Angels codex. This was after constant advertising of how overly fudge coated brokenedness it was over the wild and rampant tubes that we call the Internet, and I guess also due to the fact that since Codex: Chaos Space Marines in 2007 I have, in essence, been a regular show at the bandwagon station.

I have to admit that the codex isn't as bad as it seems though... well, at first glance it isn't.

What's different, then?
Codex Blood Angels is fairly similar to the Thriller of Vanilla codex which normal, boring, SM get, but there are a load of changes to make them seem a bit more hip and fresh. One thing that they have is a lack of Combat Tactics or any characters (aside from Tycho) who have Combat Tactic like effects - so there's no free Stubborness or anything to fall back on i'm afraid. Also, the BA have become a little less badass by losing out on the incredibly fun Conversion Beamer, Thunderfire Cannon, Ironclad AND VENERABLE Dreadnoughts, Land Speeder Storm, as well as cheap Assault Terminators.
So what do they get?
One simple thing: JUMP PACK EXTRAVEGANZA. Every single part of the codex points towards a mass Deep Strike/Jump Pack army here. Sure you retain both types of Veterans, so there's Vanguard and Sternguard here, you also gain Troop Choice Assault Squads as well as the badly modelled 'Sanguinary Guard' (who seem to be freezing in their Artificer armour and, like MWG Joe, could cut through glass with their cold bat nipples) in Elite and the ability to possess Jump Pack 'Honour' (a mix between the Honour and Command Squads in normal SM) Guard units. Theoretically, someone can field 105 models with Jump Packs before considering HQ choices or the other special unit in the codex...
This special unit is DEATH COMPANY.
Take a certain character, and you could theoretically have 180 models who are essentially a big, annoying, combination of the best parts of Khorne Berserkers and Plague Marines... with Fearless, Feel No Pain, Furious Charge, and 4 attacks on the charge with the low price of 20 points pre-pack and 35 with. Sure they no longer have Rending, but at the same time, these guys do have Rage to 'balance' things out. Oh boy... because having Rage is a problem.
But back to the Jump Pack point... The BA have a few rules to give you this...
Descent of Angels: You scatter HALF the normal distance if you're DSing from reserve with a pack.
Prescision Strike: Dante's squad does not scatter, and has Hit and Run USR
Heroic Intervention: Vanguard with Packs are accurate due to DoA...
Stormravens: Assault Vehicle, like LRs, which allow you to DS (without DoA) any unit from them.
It's an insane thought... but it isn't even near the end of it.

Ferrus Manus' Secret Buddy
Blood Angels have Dreadnoughts - but this is obvious. All SM Chapters have Dreadnoughts but BA bring this to a STUPID level with their 4 types of Dread... the standard Heavy Support Dread, the Elite Furioso, the Elite Furioso Librarian Dread, and the TROOP CHOICE Death Company Dread. You can have up to 1 Dread for each 5 DC... so a 2500pt list has a grand total of 11 Dreads. ELEVEN!
Sure you need to take into account your HQ - a 115pt Captain - but then... it's 500pts for 25 Death Company and 1315 for the 11 Dreads (no Librarians here though). 570pts of upgrades for your force, but still hell to take out. Iron Hands have a genuine right to be pissed :P

Emperors Children Rise Again
Just like Ferrus is pissed, so too is his ex-friend Fulgrim. Why? Dante allows for Sanguinary Guard as Troops. These guys are Jump Infantry Terminators without the Invulnerable Save: for 40pts each (5 per squad, so 200 lol) you get master crafted PWs and a load of Pedro Kantor's Storm Bolters. I say BARGAIN. Sure they may seem to be fodder and will be a first turn target for the foe, but think about it: that's what ALL expensive units are for. The more your foe shoots at them, the less they're shooting at the other 1075pts of your force.
That's right... it's 1425pts for 31 models. 31 kickass models sure (i'm converting Sanguinor into a new Dante) but still... is that too few in the current meta? I say nay.

Crimson Fists r teh Suck! Sicarius is a douche!
Two things to say about another HQ close to my heart: Captain Tycho. Not Death Company Tycho - he's too batshit crazy, and he also can't be used as an Independent Character till Blood Angels are FAQed - but normal Tycho. He might not make Sternguard a Troop or Scoring, but he does have another use... the fact that he is a 'Monstrous Creature' vs. Vehicles, the fact he has Special Issue Ammo (which hasn't changed between SM and BA), and his Artificer Armour... which gives him a better save than Kantor lmao!
To add to C: SM misery, he has Rites of Battle, or Sicarius' rule! And guess what... Tycho can beat the crap out of Sicarius any day, even with his 'Battle Forged Heroes'!
All for the low low price of 175pts...

You may call me Death, or Larry...
(Larry is more preferable). Mephiston's back and better than ever apparently! Let's put it this way: you know that time that you left a Carnifex and a Space Marine together overnight in your cupboard? 9 months later, Mephiston was the result. He's Tigger from C: SM, only with a Jump Infantry power, a Strength 10 power, the ability to transfix a foe like a Broodlord, and a Preferred Enemy power he doesn't even need. All for the low, low, price of a Land Raider. He may have absolutely no Invulnerable Save, but he's a monster truck who walks like a man! Who can stand up against such a harsh, harsh combination...
Oh right, a Strength D weapon. Bye bye.

WooOOooooOOOooo!!! I am the ghost of poorly written codexes past!
So we reach the final part of this poorly written review... The Sanguinor. Also known as the worst design decision I have seen in my time in the hobby. He's THE most overdone thing I have ever seen - he combines the fervour of Kantor's aura of attackyness with the big 'I Challenge You!' feature of the Chapter Champion in C: SM (vs. 1 character) as well as... the random blessing of a single lucky Sergeant who would probably turn out to be, ironically, the Sniper Scout Sergeant? What's more he's a Jump Infantry NON SPECIAL CHARACTER just like Mephiston? Wow. For 275pts, you get a mini Hive Tyrant who doesn't have Tyrant Guard but does always have a Storm Shield save and a Master Crafted PW of Strength 5...
Why would you be so stupid to waste your time on him?
Sanguinor is the most retarded ruleset i've ever seen and the only thing the model is good for is conversion fodder, to make a guy worthy of leading your Sanguinary Guard. No more, no less. It doesn't help, however, that there was so much flash and poor casting on my Sanguinor that it's going to take far longer than usual for a SM sized character model to prepare him for painting or such. To add to misery, i'm not even using his annoying chalice and stupid sword... as I said earlier, he's going into my Dante conversion. Dante! The man who doesn't need to be more expensive than the far more useful Marneus Calgar to, well, be needed! Why again would you do that? The guy has NO SURVIVAL INSTINCT WHATSOEVER!!!!


Anyway, that's the end of my review. I'm too busy being pissed off about the wings and two handed weaponry within my Sanguinary Guard to write anything else. I'm preparing my BA Assault List right now I believe... it'll be up soon.

(Still casually posting as it's coming up to exams and even with 11 days left of my break i've got a load of revision i'm being forced to do. Thank god there's no one else in the house right now or else i'd be strangling people)

Herald's Highlight: Realm of Battle Gameboard

As the Christmas season reaches it's peak, i'm beginning to look at the options of a terrain nature. It's fairly hard for someone to plan up a few games if there's no board to actually play it on, I guess.

While the Games Workshop website includes classics such as the Realm of Battle board (and new extension) and large scale terrain pieces such as the damned Fortress of Retribution... do they seem a bit too expensive? I don't like the idea of spending a Baneblade for something I can really only use for Planetstrike.

Likewise, I don't like focussing on the Fantasy or small terrain side of things too much. It's far better to have a bunch of bland hills and temples than to get the manor and struggle to have it classed as a Bastion I guess...

But anyway, i've got a budget of approx. £500 to spend, and i'd love to somehow get an incredibly awesome Nurgle-based board filled with pus and slimy goodness. I'm thinking about small 'UK School League' sized clubs for the sake of a club i'm currently joined with - so that's 4x4' boards. That would open up a load of advantageous tactical options for us all, I bet.

Any thoughts? Please, i'd like to discuss this sort of stuff.

Hurricane: Space Wolves

I sit now with a copy of the new Space Wolves codex and a crate filled with Pepsi. General Storm is grinning as he imagines the sort of bet i'm going to make. Guess what I say?
"I'll drink a single Pepsi... for each part of the list you've made that I CAN'T defeat with my Chaos list"

The grinning stopped.

Face it people, Space Wolves are perfectly balanced, and i'll tell you how I learned this: my local store has this cost efficent Wolf army, which has so far defeated everyone who has tried to destroy it. Amongst the kill count at the moment is a large Ork army, a Leman Russ horde list, and a Marine list.

I brought a tiny Slaaneshi (i'll be piling on the bile soon enough to wash myself of this sin, Papa) CSM army... and won. Lash + Term Champs with Twin LC? Priceless.

Space Wolves are annoying when compared to Space Marines of any type which have come before them, but one thing which needs to be noted is the fact that they are an ELITE FORCE. Cheap squads deployed to take squads out of the game are better when you play against them - try using Combined Squads to force Wolf Guard to stay still in order to wipe out the horde. Maybe you should also look at some things to draw units away - Lash of Submission on a Blood Claw Pack is fairly effective, no?

Your goal is to keep them at arms reach - if they hit your lines, they'll likely wipe out your squads. Stay elusive and stay in the game, as they say in Dodgeball.

This means that Mech armies, Eldar Bikes, and Blood Angels are ALL fairly awesome choices when battling Space Wolves.

It also means... Black Templars, Orks (outside of Biker horde), MEq, and static armies will die horribly to the Sons of Fenris.

Remember this... and remember the metagame: Horde < Mech < Elite < Horde. Guess what? SPACE WOLVES ARE ELITE. Bring enough bodies and they will fall. Expect loads of Blood Claw lists as well.

Hurricane dismissed...

Herald Highlight: Design Studio Progress

This highlight, there is someone different talking to all of y'all. This guest article is being written by someone different... Aun'Byr.

Hi, i'm Aun'Byr. You may remember me from back in the old days when I was the guy running the good old store. This is still the case, however, i'm also the Chaotic Crewbie who pioneered the latest releases of the Design Studio, and also the guy who'll be bringing a few of our near additions such as the BattleBar or Battlefleet Shirts.

Over the next few months, and just in time for christmas, I will be making the inventory. For example:

1. The Site is set to have a revamp on it's first birthday, in November
2. We'll be adding a set of innovations such as MOAR TWEETING, and things such as the pre mentioned BattleBar...
3. We have some CafePress items such as shirts, Flips, and caps! Vote the top 3 things you'd want in this very topic!

Essentially, we plan to give Chaotic a money flow to make it viable. Fun for me, fun for you. Regularly there will be some offers run through with Herald Highlights, so regulars will get some benefits...

That was Aun'Byr, everyone! Wait for some signs of his work in our Twitter pages!

Herald Highlight: Building the Perfect Guard

When I heard about Storm's Imperial Guard codex coming a week early, I immediately requested a read of it. After this, I chose to create a wish list on the GW website. Enough of that though, it's time to build the perfect guard
All Guard players will have a different approach. This can be exemplified by the various forces available to them:

The Cadian Way

Cadia is pretty much the jack of all trades -

shown by the characters that are available. Pask gives you a Tank presence, Bastonne shows off your hardcore veterans, and the Lovable Creed (and or Kell) shows your command presence

ADD: A good mix of troops and tanks - they are designed to work TOGETHER

LOSE: Stuff which will use up your orders. They will serve you the best in the Cadian army

The Tallarn Way

The Imperial Guard codex is perfectly clear on what the two focuses of Tallarn Desert Raiders are... you need to have Al'Rahem outflanking with a fully buffed up platoon, and a load of Tanks supporting them

ADD: Al'Rahem with an Armoured Company, with full Leman Russ support. Add Sentinels for more scouting support

LOSE: Anything which costs too much points, you need to focus your strategy dude!

The Catachan Way

Catachan enjoys the art of the charge and the sabotage, shown off by their three characters - Harker will make your Veterans deadly, Marbo is the best single model alive, and Straken turns your docile guard force into the Hidden BEAST!

ADD: Veterans and Assault Specialised Units

LOSE: Slow units of any sort - you need to be fast in order to advance with Straken's 'Furious-Counter Aura'

The Russian I mean Valhallan Way

Let's put it simply - Chenkov shows that the way of Valhalla is the reckless horde. Nuff Said

ADD: LOADS of Cheap Infantry Platoons and other hordes

LOSE: Expensive tanks or useless elites - they're used in the mission AFTER, of course

Well, this covers the ways of each of the various mainstream forces that are readily available in both stores and codexes. So... how do I build my army?

I chose to follow my usual Valhallan approach. To do this, I build a solid core of about 3 infantry platoons - 1 is an Armoured Company containing Chenkov, and the other two are heavily built Conscript squads (50 man ones)

The HQ is of course a Company Command Squad - a pair of them - which both have a Fleet Officer and Master of Ordnance. I have some Hellhounds (and variants) as Fast Attacks, and some Artillery in Heavy Support to cover the fire. That works rather well...

~ As you were! This is another post on the route to our 100th!

Herald Highlight: I Have to Apologise.

I've not been able to post that much recently, and I have to apologise. Soon enough, I will have a new trove of content to post about.

A feature that will be replacing this Herald Highlight of ours will be the Design Studio, which is where we will regularly add some new drafts of codexes and mini rulesets. You've seen the trial through Spinner's End: A Planetary Empires redux that is actually in the middle of usage now. I might even find a camera to post some pics of it...

Soon we'll also have two additional rulesets being added into it!
- Rings of Terror: Remember those Character Bashes? This is an unofficial awesome set for it!
- Meka-Thunda-Runna: Want to race multiple vehicle types? This is another set for it....

So! Sorry but we're trying...

Reviewing Planetary Empires

Today I was surprised to find a copy of Planetary Empires waiting for me in a storage room, after I had obviously forgotten to collect it or something. Main part of that surprise was how I had cancelled my order for it anyway - seeing as I had found somewhere that had it stocked 10 days earlier than usual.

Planetary Empires is the revamped version of Mighty Empires for Warhammer 40k. It is a long hinted at product, supposedly ready for release far earlier than 2009 (apparently it was ready for the original PS spot in 2008). People already suspected there to be this kit due to GW's practice of reusing ideas and sprues - added to the fact that a hex based mold is easily reproduced anyway.

The kit contains the following items:
- Planetary Empires rulebook: This may look like a big one that's good value and filled with rules, but it's actually just 9 versions of the same one. AKA: we couldn't be bothered to produce more than one version. See later on for a small summary of the small ruleset.
- 48 hexagonal tiles: This is where the pricetag comes from. The set is 6 sprues of these tiles, which also happen to be fully compatible with the previously released Mighty Empires... minus the part where the tiles can come out again. Prepare to see your previous ME tiles, which were so perfect, mutilated in the name of the other Hammers...
- Accessories: Also known as? The Manufactorums, Power Generators, and Command Bastions. These apparently confer additional rules in whatever campaign games you take part in, however you should look at the summary... awfully done by GW.
- 96 Banners!: Hoorah! More badly made snappy snappies.

Ruleset Summary
Also known as the most important section of any review. What does this campaign ruleset give the common player? Nothing much.

The set contains more a list of guidelines than a full ruleset - something to be changed soon enough - and should not be used as the basis for your entire campaign. More as guidelines... guide lines. GW may have released an incredibly awesome and well made (for once) product, but the rules for the product are rather suckish

The fate of the campaign is judged by the value of the upgrades controlled by a player - these are unique for each race. There's one problem though.
If a Space Marine and Ork player both have a single one of each upgrade, the Marine is winning
Each race gains different values... and thus each race has a different maximum point total if they have the same amount of each. This is why i'm scrapping that system for Spinner's End.

Final Rating
If you want the tiles, get it. If you want the campaign, don't.

GW has done a nice set of tiles - i'm considering a third box to the two I already have for this purpose - but the rules leave a lot to be desired. I rate this as a 4/5 for that exact reason.

Herald Highlight: Dice is Life

Words are Ours. Warhammer is Ours. Dice is Life... is it?

Math-hammer is a core component of the game for many people, indeed I use it sometimes myself. For example, you're in the Ork Codex and you want Zogwort. What is the chance you'll get the power? What is the chance that Zogwort's Curse will go off? What is the tactical uses for each of the powers? Who would you be using it on?

It's a question of tactical chance...the chance to do something advantageous, or the chance to damage you. Everything needs to be weighed out, tactics need to be chosen before the game even begins, you need control of the game, you need control of the field. Another example, Wood Elf Dryad armies. Too much Treesinging, expensive troops... incredible amounts of options. That is, until you reach a board that isn't based around trees... then you find the tactical options limited to that single set of trees you get free at the beginning of the game

How do you adapt? Can't precisely ask your opponent if you can add 20 sets of trees at the beginning of the game... but you can't ask for a few of them to be removed either? Difficult. Stop praying for your dice gods, and start praying for an all-rounder list. Pick a race that won't crumble in Khorne's heat. Pick Warriors of Chaos - everyone knows they're a Cold list (see BoLS), which doesn't need good rolling to win. That's the sad effect of Mathammer - you pick the list that won't need calculation, or have to pick a list that relies upon such calculations. How does that work out for the hobby? Answer - not well. Not well at all.

So end it. End the mass calculations. Now

Herald Highlight: And I looked down upon my new dominion... and I thought it good

Temptation strikes from all frontiers, being the single unseen enemy of all hobbyists. One cannot deny this, being such an overwhelmingly obvious fact. Therefore, it stands to reason that this must be crushed - inevitablility must crumble, under the stern gaze of the hearts of good, strong, men!

Out of the long words (aww!) now. That's the key fact of the hobby, which will be covered in this highlight of the hobby. The first key fact to be covered in Hobby Academy Summer 2009. A new section on the site, I believe

It's the first thing we need to overcome each and every day that we take part in the hobby. That creeping feeling at the back of our heads... calling. Planetstrike looks pretty nice. Space Marines get reinforcements - you like that, remember! Don't give in!

Thats the point of every project, work in progress, plan, or army you will do. If you fail to gain any control over your hobby... then the hobby will have the chance to gain control over you. Believe me, we've all purchased something we didn't want... some more than others... and no-one wants to go back on that road!

So look for the signs. Listen for the pains. Consult your doctor for possible side effects. Remember to take the pills. This is one enemy you must defeat, by all costs!

Herald Highlight: So this is Planetstrike... and what have we done?

So this is Planetstrike? I guess we should look back to a month or so ago

I made so many predictions of what would be involved - the assault of Deep Striking specialists, the idea of tunnel systems.... and I have to admit that I think i've got it right. Planetstrike DOES allow units with the Deep Strike special rule to assault on the turn they arrive - giving Raptors an actual use - but it doesn't technically allow Drop Pod marines to do so as well

There ARE tunnel routes, but these are Strategms - Escape Hatch is awesome, by the way

But this isn't the point of this article. This article is about how i'm looking at starting a new army, just for Planetstrike! I am, of course, talking about Dark Eldar

BUT WHY??? You exclaim. Dark Eldar suck, don't they? True - in a normal game, they'll be ripped apart 1 2 3... but in Planetstrike, they finally gain a purpose. You see, Dark Eldar always have to be an Attacker in all missions they take part in (this is an ancient rule that was lost in the 4th-5th change over), and this means that they don't have to think about the mediocre Defender strategies that can be put into place. Also, they have the living terror that is the Lance Army - which is perfect for taking out the objectives

But this isn't it, mind you! You see, i've always admired Dark Eldar really - well, in 4th Ed I did. The fact that they could only have Troops as scoring in 5th, and man are their troops mediocre, it meant that I didn't see the point to them anymore. It wouldn't work!!! So with the whole fact that EVERYTHING scores, it really makes up for it

But what army can someone do with this sort of stuff?

Well, i'd start with HQs. I feel like someone who can kick ass from the word go - so i'll use Lelith. Deadly

Next, we have the Fast Attack. I choose Hellions - jetbikes, or something, so they can Deep Strike. Add some Raiders for DS warriors!

Etc etc... it works... good

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!!!

Herald Highlight: Imperial Guard

It's a common thought that Imperial Guard are a pathetic excuse for an army. Indeed, while they've been able to field decent armies in 3rd-5th edition, they've always seemed fragile, and like they're... not built for it

No longer

Imperial Guard have gone from pathetic to the best army possible in the current 5th Edition climate. While many could argue that Space Marines were overpowered, you do not know overpowered until you read the Guard codex. Circa 5th Ed

But before one can read it, they need to check up upon the various guard variant lists that are available. You have Krieg, Armoured Company, 2 various Vraks Rebels, Lost and the Damned (you can still do 'em), and (to be honest) Inquisition. Each of these pales in comparison to the basic Guard list:
- In Armoured Company, you will never have any scoring units. You may have the ability to gain 17 tanks in your basic list (including, possibly, 30 infantry as well) but Basic Guard can have 18 tanks (Russes and Hellhounds etc) AS WELL AS a vast amount of scoringtank units (Infantry Platoons in Chimeras)
- In Krieg, you have something pretty similar to the Basic Guard and also - technically - have doctrines. Basic Guard will beat you simply by their versatility and point costing
- Vraks Rebels have the power of the horde and also the nify tricks that they get from just being chaos! However, Basic Guard WILL beat them due to their own tricks
- Lost and the Damned are out of date anyway, so Basic Guard willdefeat them soundly
- Inquisition cost too much

That is just the beginning of the Guard Rampage. You then need to actually look at THEIR list, and realise all of the tricks that they can get anyway. For example, they are THE army to defeat when it comes to Scoring Units - all lists in 5th Edition already needed great amounts of wiping and staying power, but this is taken to the extreme when you play Imperial Guard. Life is Cheap in the Guard, and so you will need to be able to wipe out 55 (approx, no likelihood of full choices) models which COULD BE STUBBORN, OUTFLANKING, WITHOUT NUMBER OR DEFENSIVE. That is before you encounter this: all of that is in a single choice

Of course, thankfully you will not have to face all of the Guard threats on a single field for one simple restriction (that also happens to be one of Guard's strengths) - The Force Organisation Chart

However, I have limited space so i've decided to summarise this important Highlight with the following Top 3 Fears that Guard will give you, and ways you'll need to adapt a list to destroy them:

1. Horde in the Jungle: There are many reasons to fear this strength. If you try to pick out targets, then Guard will pretty much ALWAYS have that 4+ Cover save. They have severe amounts of units and rules that can aid those units (Those units of 50 Conscripts just got even more annoying with Send In The Next Wave). So use weaponry that can lay down vast amounts of fire, and punish your foes in assault should they choose to Combine Squads (think about it, instead of 5 units of 10 you now have 1 unit of 50 - charge them!!!)


2. Led Zepplins: Tanks are the one resource that is not lackign compared to the previous book, and many people will be tempted to use the squadrons to take advantage of this. Be happy! Sure, there's more per choice but more means they're fragile. You see that unit of 10 Chosen? Infiltrate near the tanks, and focus all 5 of those Meltaguns upon the Russes and then Melta Bomb them. The hits may be divided equally, but it does mean that Glancing can destroy a Russ (6 = Immobilised. Squadron members die when immobilised)


3. Orders Out!: You might not have noticed, but an important mechanic for Guard are their leadership checks for Orders. Thus, Necrons have a unit perfect for negating it, and so do Dark Eldar. Use Leadership modifiers (for example, Pariahs and Horrorfexes) so that they will not get these off! If a vital order doesn't get through, then you will!

Herald Highlight: Planning

...a Board. Already done something on Projects, so why not? It seems far more appropriate than some of the other topics I could cover, isn't it?

I've spent far too long talking about things such as building armies and game systems yet i've never touched upon where we play with these. That's a bit foolish on my part. Before one can play they need to know about planning the board they will play on

At the moment I am planning a project on a gaming board - not a Games Workshop brand though. Here's the page it's from: http://www.giftsforgeeks.org.uk/ (or it should be, don't know at the mo, sorry). See the scenery and gaming board sections. Bunkers, segments, and GW items at a discount. Intriguing, I thought. It's also £20 a chuck when the GW board segments are £150 for 6 (or £25 a chuck). I can't afford that investment, so I instead chose this one instead

Good choice, no?

But how does one plan such a project? Thank god that this isn't a whole board in a whole piece, or it would become impossible to plan it. All one really needs to do with these sorts of segments is plan which ones they'll usually use and then work out a schedule for actually getting them! So in May i'll begin progress on a board with the first 4 x 2 board

Then, for the terrain

We all know about the Planetstrike rumours (I did a bit on combining Apocalypse with it I think) and we all know what the next army is (Imperial Guard, fool!) so what would be appropriate to get? I'm thinking something on the line of multiple bunkers and stuff like that, so that we have some defensive things to play over. I'm also thinking about getting a load of Manufactorum box sets from GW and building them into a single ruined factory, to give me something to strike onto! The Emperor protects... just not from Nuclear waste!

Anyway, this should be a fun project, and a fun plan to fulfill. I'll post in 2 weeks the progress i've made in another highlight, but until then i've got to go. Cheers for reading

~ If you want a specific topic Highlighted on, then please make a comment and i'll try to plan one out for you... wait, we plan? Anyway, see you soon. Herald

Herald Highlight: Apocalypse

Since Warhammer came out, many people have desired a dedicated system for large scale games. To cut this paragraph short, Apocalypse (released 2007) filled this

Apocalypse is a beautiful system, no denying that, but at the same time does it fully satisfy our needs as gamers? It's given us cheap Imperial Armour rules, given us reasons to bump up our points without bumping up our army detachments, and it's brought gamers together for the probability of immense destruction! But does it go far enough?

How Apocalyptic does Apocalypse need to be?

Well, it seems that many people have the common perception of it needing to be MORE Apocalyptic. We've all heard the rumours (note: CONFIRMED rumours) of the Planetstrike stuff, and it's obvious that on the day it's released, and the store has a mega battle on the day to test it out, that we WILL be using Apocalypse

As WELL

Planetstrike makes it 3 dimensional. Apocalypse gave us Massive Battles over the Second Dimension. Planetstrike will give us EPIC Battles over the Third Dimension



Here's some things we'll be seeing:

• Dude, my Hydra!: We'll find people saying that, since their Hydra has an AA Mount in Apocalypse they'll also be able to shoot at the (rumoured) Attacker-Deep Strike army! Wow, your Long Barreled Autocannons are able to blow my guys to pieces? Wow!


• Dreadclaws: We all saw the Drop Pod models from GW in October, we KNOW that they can mould a Dreadclaw, so why wouldn't they take the chance to release it as part of a Second Wave (of CSM) or even as part of Planetstrike? It's a brilliant oppurtunity to take up, no?


• Stomp!: Oh no! My titan just deep striked right onto your tank! Shouldn't it die? Shouldn't it be able to deal a load of hits, as the Stomp! Attack in Apocalypse allows you to? Wouldn't that be brilliant?


• Swooping Hawks: I'd love to find an upgrade that allows even more Skyleap action, wouldn't you? Or possibly even a better grenade pack anyway?


• Thud! *Tunnel*: Oh no, I can't go straight into terrain? Can I, being a Trygon, tunnel into it? Oh, the special rules they could add to enhance existing units...


• Deep Assault: Sure, this would definately be a step in the wrong direction, but who wouldn't love it? Give us a strategm that allows us to deep strike and then assault with our 20 man Raptor squads/20 man Khorne Berserker squads/20 man Possessed squads/etc/etc...

Hey, a blogger can dream? Right? These are perfectly reasonable interpretations for a ruleset that will allow someone to re-enact the Great Crusade (this Apocalypse battle is the initial landings of the legion...). These are perfectly reasonable interpretations the ruleset that will top even Apocalypse in it's beauty. No denying that

So Planetypse. Apocalstrike. Planetsrike is Apocalypse in a whole new way

Can't wait to see the storm strike