My Experiences with the New Daemons

 Thats my Karanak conversion :)

Before the new codex, my Daemon list was built purely for fluff purposes. I was running pink horrors, flesh hounds and nurglings - none of which could be considered powerful units. OK I had Fateweaver in there too, but in most games he ended up being more of a hindrance than a boon and pissing off around turn 2.

A new codex comes around and of course everything changes. Fateweaver is now a shadow of his former greatness, and Horrors and Hounds are bloody brilliant. Admittedly I am playing primarily on a 4'x4' table where the Hounds can get to the enemy easily and the Horrors are usually in range of something. Still, they have been performing brilliantly even under my sub-par generalship.

I'll take you through my 750 point force and then show how I intend to build this up to 1500. Here's the little version:

Chaos Daemons (750)
Karanack (120)
Herald of Tzeentch - Psyker (mastery level 2), Exhalted Locus of Conjuration (95)
17 Horrors (153)
16 Flesh Hounds (256) 
4 Nurglings (60)
4 Nurglings (60)

Flesh Hounds now have 2 wounds, which makes them amazingly resilient. OK so they don't have power weapons, but thats not always a bad thing. It means that the unit can remain in combat for the opponents shooting phase against Space Marines. And with S5 on the charge they easily rip holes in any kind of mech with rear armour 10. Oh wait they also have scout! Push them forward 12" after setup and you have one uncomfortable opponent :)
Karanak is a beast (as well as literally). Strength and Toughness 5, and he gives Rage AND Hatred to the flesh hounds. Combine that with the Furious Charge that all Khorne Daemons get and you have one unit that is terrifying on the charge!

Initially I was annoyed that the Horrors had lost their previous Assault 3 ranged attacks. But they have gained a lot in this new incarnation, whilst coming in at HALF the points cost. Using the default Tzeentch power, a unit of 16+ gets 4d6 S5 attacks at 24".

But that is not the full story, you have to add a Herald of Tzeentch to get that. He can bump those attacks up +1S and cast prescience on the unit so they can reroll hits and wounds. He also adds another 2d6 attacks to the units ranged attack, hitting on 3s. Sure you spend on points but I'm pretty sure its worth the pennies.

So last of all I have the poor Nurglings, who have picked up Shrouded but lost Eternal Warrior. Pretty much unchanged in effectiveness. I usually keep them in reserve, and deep strike them in to contest objectives, or tie up enemy shooting units. They work OK.

Chaos Daemons (1500)
Karanack (120)
Herald of Khorne - Greater Reward, Exalted Locus of Wrath, Juggernaut of Khorne (145)
Herald of Tzeentch - Psyker (mastery level 3), Exhalted Locus of Conjuration (120)
Herald of Tzeentch - Psyker (mastery level 3), Exhalted Locus of Conjuration (120)
20 Horrors (180)
20 Horrors (180) 
16 Flesh Hounds (256) 
16 Flesh Hounds (256) 
4 Nurglings (60)
4 Nurglings (60)

So this is roughly how I imagine the list will scale to 1500 points. Two big units of Horrors blasting out S6 shots to anyone who comes near. Two big units of Flesh Hounds marching forward to threaten the enemy battleline. The Herald of Khorne is a poor mans Karanak, giving Hatred but not Rage. At least he brings some AP2 to the party.

40k Squeaky Daemons

Kai-Rat Fatecheeser!

I'm going to the Judgement Day 7 tournament on August 4th, less than three weeks from today. They are going to be running 6th edition, of which I have not even seen the rulebook. I'm not going to buy the big rule book (its $120 is Australia!) so I pretty much will have to learn the rules from the internet. That should be fun.

However in order to keep myself on my toes I have decided to build a new army for the event. Its a stupid idea I have been playing with in my head for a while - building a budget Chaos Daemons army using only the skaven models from the Isle of Dread box. My original idea was to model Horrors by taking a basic skaven model and replacing the hand weapons with sculpted flames, so that each rat's hand appears engulfed in fire. The flames would be painted blue/green/yellow to look magicky.

The next logical step is to use the Rat Ogre models as Daemon Princes. Also with their hand on fire to represent the good old Bolt of Change. I had done a couple of test scupts of fire when I was thinking of building a fire themed Ork army, with Wierdboys on fire and Lobbas with flaming ammunition. So I knew it was possible.

I've got a set of moon-themed resin bases that I won at Judgement Day 5, which I am going to use mainly because I have all the right base sizes. My idea in painting them is to keep the colours drab, paint the flames and eyes bright, then have a have a stab at object source lighting. Might not be a good idea to do that in the next three weeks though! I guess they will be lucky to get three colours in the time available.

I have a few more ideas to round out the army. I have some Giant Rats that will work beautifully as Nurgling bases. The LotR Warg models will make a perfect Flesh Hound - everyone needs something to deal with the ubiquitous Grey Knights right? Finally the skaven two-rat special weapons teams should be convertable into Flamers with a little thought.

Thank the lord that Judgement Day aren't requiring list submission before the even. I have a heap of list ideas though I need to settle soon if I am to make sure that everything is painted. I'll leave you for now with the two examples of lists I am thinking of taking:

Squeaky Daemons (750)
Herald of Tzeentch - We are Legion, Master of Sorcery, Bolt of Tzeentch (95)
8 Horrors - Bolt of Change, Changeling (151)
5 Horrors - Bolt of Change (95)
5 Horrors - Bolt of Change (95)
8 Nurglings (104)
Daemon Prince - Mark of Tzeentch, Daemonic Flight, Master of Sorcery, Bolt of Tzeentch (210)

Squeaky Daemons with Cheese (749)
Fateweaver (333)
5 Horrors - Bolt of Change (95)
5 Horrors - Bolt of Change (95)
5 Horrors - Bolt of Change (95)
8 Flesh Hounds - Fury of Khorne (130)

List Evolution: Imperial Guard Tank Company: Part 2

 Having just blogged about my existing projects, I was inspired to revisit my Tank Company and move it forward. From a painting viewpoint it's a relatively easy project. I intend to mainly paint the models with sprays and washes, and won't be too worried about the details.

However I'm theming the army on WWII Russians, so I have acquired some tank rider models to attach to the Russes - probably using magnets. I also intend to replace all the Cadian heads with Russian heads from West Wind Miniatures. Its going to take me a while to get around to ordering those, but meanwhile I can move forward with painting the tanks.

What I'm really happy about is the new list I have come up with. It's always been my goal to squeeze 6 Leman Russ into a 1500 point list. My earlier versions were hampered by trying to include Pask and mechanise the troop selections, reducing me to only 5 Russes which was dissatisfying.

List Evolution: Space Marine Bikes

I've wanted to play a bike list for ages - since I first saw White Scars in a white dwarf many years ago. I love elite (read - cheap) armies and I'm sure that such a mobile army would be a new and welcome challenge to figure out. Problem is that bikes may be elite but they sure aren't cheap - $18 each here in Australia (or something ridiculous like that).

Until recently I had only managed to scrape together 5 bikes for my crimson fists. At the ARC Bring and Buy I picked up 5 chaos bikers for $5. I had to then scalpel and file off all the spiky bits and Chaos glyphs. Then I picked up 4 Black Templar bikers for $25 on WargamerAU. So suddenly I am getting close! But how to play them?

British/Polish Parachute Company (1500)

I've been making good progress with my Paratroopers - pics to come shortly! Ive moved on and bought anti-tank guns and artillery, and have HMGs an Mortars on order. As my forces slowly build, it has become time to settle the 1500 point lists that I want to aim for.

Both these lists come from "A Bridge Too Far", which is the only briefing book I have. The first list is incredibly defensive, a true Parachute list. The second list lets me play around with recon and tanks :) Both lists are accompanied with a brief explanation of why I chose the units in question.

FoW vs 40k: Writing an Army List

As a 40k veteran dipping my toes into Flames of War, with what I assume is a 40k-centric readership, it seems a good opportunity to write a series of articles comparing elements of the two systems. I know I would have found such content invaluable during my preliminary investigation of Flames of War. If nothing else, it is an opportunity for the reader to increase their FoW literacy.

Building an army in Flames of War is superficially similar to 40k. Firstly you pick a briefing (40k: codex); then take the mandatory HQ and platoons (40k: units); choose additional platoons to taste; then fill up the remaining points with upgrade options. Of course whilst doing this you need to make sure that you maximize the synergies between units, and ensure that your selections can handle tanks, infantry, transports and aircraft.

Tau List for Arcanacon (1200 pts)

I'll be at Arcanacon in three weeks (28th January) and lists need to be in by midnight tomorrow so for those of you attending who are as lazy as I am PULL YOUR FINGER OUT. Download the player pack here.

I have been working on a 1200 point for a few weeks now. Basically a streamed down version of my usual 1500 point list that I have a lot of experience with now and am starting to master :) This is what I had up to this point:

Black Templars: Terminator Pod List

So now that you've seen all the toys that the Black Templar codex has available, how do they work together to build a competitive list? It's no surprise that I've built my list with as many of these unique units as possible :)

Shooty Poddy Templars (1750) 
Emperor's Champion - "Accept Any Challenge" (140)
Marshall - terminator armour, chainfist, storm shield, adamantine mantle (175)
5 Terminators Command Squad - 2 cyclones, chainfist, tank hunters (270)
5 Terminators - 2 cyclones, chainfist, tank hunters (270)
5 Assault Terminators - thunder hammer & storm shield, tank hunters (215)
Venerable Dreadnought - twin-linked lascannon, heavy flamer, smoke. searchlight (169)
Landspeeder - typhoon missile launcher (70)
Landspeeder - typhoon missile launcher (70)
5 Initiates - meltagun, multi-melta, frag grenades, drop pod (135)
5 Initiates - meltagun, multi-melta, frag grenades, drop pod (135)
5 Initiates - plasma gun, lascannon (101)

List Evolution: Imperial Guard Tank Company: Part 1

As I've mentioned before, I have been harbouring an urge to build an Imperial Guard Tank Company for a year or so now. Going down the paper tank route failed miserably (that is WAY too much work - respect to those that can manage it!) but I then managed to pick up 6 Battle Tanks for a song off WargamerAU.

As a cheapo gamer, I am now busy converting the turrets and magnetising the hull weapons so that I can switch between demolisher cannons and battle cannons, lascannons, heavy bolters and flamers. Having some good luck there, and I should be able to get a tutorial up in the future...

Anyway this post is about list design and Tank Company strategy, not hobby. I wanted to make a 1500 point list with 6 Leman Russ chassis - yes that sure is a lot. Obviously I need a least 3 troops and an HQ as well. And that's all you can fit into 1500 points - here is my first attempt:

A Six-pack of Themed 750pt Lists

There is tournament here in Melbourne called Judgement Day that I have attended for the last three years. It is a unique event on the calendar - five 750 point games in a single day packs in the fun and makes for a great variety of games. The atmosphere among the 60+ attendees is great and I have enjoyed every game played so far.

Each year I have taken a different army: Plague Marines, then Vanilla Marines, then Tau last year. Here are the lists I am considering to take this year. The event is heavily comped, but that is panel comp so you get a fair score for your list, not an unfair score from a losing opponent. So bear in mind I'm trying to make lists that are interesting and fit to a theme, but still competitive.

Cheap-As Counts-As Paladins

As a self-confessed Terminator lover, I was really itching to build myself a Grey Knight Terminator army ever since the Codex rumours started. When stories of 2 wound Terminator Troops did the rounds my ears perked up, as I realised that an army of these guys could be bought incredibly cheaply. I started to look through my collection to see what I could sell to finance another army.

Today I had the sudden realisation that I basically already have all the models I need. I just need to pick up a new batch of magnets, and a few weapon options I don't already have, and mod my Loyalist Terminators up so that they can fill the role of Grey Knight Paladin on the battlefield.

Why go out and buy a set of models that are virtually identical to the models I already own - including another 2 rifleman dreads? The answer would be for the modeling and painting potential, and to avoid confusion. Well I am happy with my Crimson Fists from an appearance perspective, and am sure I can do the modeling to overcome any confusion in the counts-as department. Besides, the list I am going to build has 14 models so how much confusion could there be?

Lysander Drops In - Legally!

(this follows on from my previous post.)

I had a lot of fun playing with my illegal drop pod list, but I guess I'm going to have to make something legal if I want to get games in the future. Having to drop 100 points AND upgrade to a full tactical squad has forced some hard decisions. In the end I made the call to drop down to 2 scoring units. Sure one has 2+ saves, and the other is coming in from reserves, but it will still be a challenge winning objective games with minimal scorers.

This is why I LIKE playing at 1500 points, you can't have everything you want so you have to make the hard choices. Sure games can be a little one-sided at times, but they can also be exciting as you both exploit weaknesses in the other's forces.

Lysander Drops In

(Not my model - but I have the model undercoated - will be lots of fun to paint too!)

I want to share an army list idea that I have been thinking about recently. It started with the following idea for what I believe is an absolutely sick list at the humble 750 point mark. I was thinking of taking this to Judgement Day, which is a 750 point tournament I have enjoyed immensely for the last 3 years. Then I remembered it is comped (panel comp), and taking Tau last year got me the second highest comp score... so maybe not.

Starting a 40k Army: Tau

This is the start of hopefully a number of articles on beginning a new army. Basically I want to list off the units that are worth buying for each Codex from a beginner's viewpoint - units that aren't going to be played a couple of times and then left in the cupboard. I'll try to give enough advice to build a 750 point list that forms a strong foundation for a larger army.

Building a competitive Tau army doesn't leave you a large set of choices. But this is still an effective Codex in 5th edition if you take the right units and pay close attention to your tactics.

Feral Ork List

Recently we had a 750pt league at the Battle Bunker. Ty, one of the regulars at my local club, built an awesomely themed new army for the league - Feral Orks! Ty has a reputation for being highly fluff driven as you will see from the list he took (which was something like this):

Paper IG Tank Company

Whilst searching for new blogs to follow I somehow ran into this site. They have a bunch of Imperial Guard vehicle templates for download, which you then print out onto card stock and build a bunch of tanks from. Some of these templates are pretty damn cool, with some overlaid layers that need to be glued to card of .5 or 1mm thickness to give detail to the model.

As a total cheaparse this kind of thing really gets my imagination going. I always had a soft spot for the 4th edition Armoured Company list, and you can build something pretty similar these days (though inferior) with the Imperial Guard codex. So I started to think about how I would build an Armoured Company - and to make it as difficult for myself as possible I decided to aim for a measly 1500 point army. I'm sure its easy to expand from there.

In order to keep in the theme of not spending any money, I am going to use paper cutouts for the infantry models too! Haha just kidding, but I will save money by picking up a couple of boxes of Wargames Foundry Sci-Fi Greatcoat Troopers. This will supply all the infantry I need.

Duplicating Units

Duplication (or spamming) is when a player selects the exact same units multiple times, usually with identical options and model counts for each unit. This is a practice that polarises the 40k community. On the one side are those that hate it with a passion - every unit in their army is unique, with it's own strengths, weaknesses and role on tue battlefield. On the other side are players who cannot seem to build a list that has two different units in an FOC category. I am going to look into why spamming is so popular, and suggest some mitigation strategies that spammers could employ to help shrink the gulf.

Why duplicate? There are three reasons I can think of. The first is that some units are just plain better than others. Competitive players will want to maximise the value they get from each point spent, so they gravitate towards the optimal units in each FOC category. The second reason is redundancy. When  something is vital to your battle plan, and you only have one, you can bet that your opponent is going to wipe it off the table first thing. You gotta have a backup! The third is fluff. Throughout history most armies are made up of similarly equipped units. Tank platoons usually consist of 3 identical tanks. If I want to play a fluffy Orc Horde army, I should be taking 6 squads of 30 boys.

There are people that complain that duplication is unfluffy. Don't worry about them, they are probably on the kind of drugs that I can never convince my doctor to prescribe. They are confusing fluff with fun... unless you are spamming something that is rare in the fluff of course.

What about the opposing argument that by taking a variety of units, each tailored to be strong against a certain type of enemy unit, you can maneuver so that your units engage with an optimal opponent? The biggest problem with this approach in 40k is that your opponent can direct all their long range fire against just about any unit they like. It's called target priority - select the unit that is the biggest threat and take it out, then move on. In a game with little shooting this tactic becomes more viable, because you can protect the units that are optimal for the current opponent. If you play 40k with large amounts of line-of-sight blocking terrain then you may also find it easier to protect the better units.

Lets try an example to illustrate the point. Let's say that I have two land speeders in my army - one Typhoon with 2 missile launchers, the other with multi-melta and heavy flamer. Now let's say my opponent is fielding a dual Land Raider list. He will greatly fear that mobile multi-melta, so it will be the target of all sorts of long-ranged firepower until it is just a smoking heap of terrain. Now all I can do is ping at the raider with my ineffectual krak missiles. Now imagine that I had taken 2 Typhoons. Again you might take out one, and the other would ping. I'm no worse off. Finally, what if I had taken two multi-melta speeders? Then I would still have one left, which could very well turn your land raider into slag. By taking duplicate units you have a better chance of the right unit surviving to do the job. Sure, double Typhoons wouldn't help me here - but what about against Razorback spam?

The most commonly hated duplication is when you take identical units with identical options. This is also known as a "cookie cutter" list, because you design the unit once and then "cut out" a bunch of identical copies. Usually the options are optimal for the unit and current meta-game - like 10 veteran IG with 3 melta guns and an auto-cannon in a chimera. This is often a real turn off to the casual opponent, because it make the game more boring! It's the same unit they have faced versus virtually every IG opponent. "Come on", they cry in despair, "play something interesting!". This is important - the best opponents will give you a game that is both challenging and fun!

But the very fact that this identical unit has been encountered in numerous games can also be it's undoing. It means that it is likely that your opponent is experienced at fighting the spam unit, and knows it's capabilities and weaknesses well. You lose any element of surprise or misdirection. Changing things up can cause your opponent to make instinctive decisions that are no longer optimal, given the unorthodox armament of your unit.

So what can you do to tone down the spam and make your army friendlier to play against? Well one option is to change the options of each unit enough to make them recognisably different, but without changing their role. Switch a missile launcher for a lascannon in one of your tactical squads. Take a twin-linked lascannon on one of your rifleman dreads. There are plenty of options out there that aren't bad, try one on each of your spammed units and see. This has the interesting side-effect of making it harder for your opponent to remember the capabilities of each unit. At least with duplicate units you make life easier for the opponent in this department. Oh well you can't have it both ways can you!

The more drastic step is to change the units you are taking. Change a Predator Destructor to a Thunderfire Cannon. Take a squad of twin-linked flamer Crisis Suits, rather than another plasma/missile pod spam unit. You are now making your list recognisably weaker, as I have already explained. There are ways to minimise this however. You look for different units that have similar characteristics. For example a Predator Annihilator (no sponsons) and a Vindicator have similar anti-tank capability (within 30") and armour. Of course, the Vindicator is the superior choice, but you have to move away from an optimal list to reduce duplication.

The second way you can mitigate the risk of taking unduplicated units is to rely on them getting one turn to act before your opponent can wipe them off the table. Against most opponents you have a 50% chance of going first, and this chance might be enough to justify the inclusion of something like a Thunderfire Cannon. With one round of shooting it can cause some serious damage to an Ork horde, basically justifying its inclusion. Alternatively, by placing a unit in reserve you are guaranteeing one turn of fire - or hopefully an assault for outflanking units (or Vanguard Veterans).

Well that's all I have to say on the subject for now. Personally I am quite happy to play with or against duplicated units - probably because i get most of my enjoyment from the strategy of 40k. Hope this has been thought provoking to some degree.

Librarian Terminator Mech - List Evolution (Part 2)

See here for Part 1. The list I came up with is reprinted here;

Libby Termi Mech (1500) 
Librarian - null zone, gate of infinity 100
10 Terminators - 2 cyclone, 1 chainfist 465
Dreadnought - multi-melta, heavy flamer 115
Dreadnought - assault cannon, missile launcher 125
2 x 10 Tactical Marines - melta, combi-melta, missile launcher, rhino 220
3 x Predator - autocannon, heavy bolters 255

I played three games with the Libby Termi Mech list. Once against mech guard, once against Necrons, and once against Tau. The list seems to be pretty robust, because in none of the games I played did it end up getting smashed. I won, lost and drew one game each.

Rather that go into the individual games, I'll just tell you my first impression of the units within the list.

The Librarian was pretty much a waste of points. Null Zone is very situational (I used it once against a Tau shield drone) and apparently Gate of Infinity is too. Every time I saw an opportunity to use it I ended up chickening out because it was just too dangerous. Try deep striking 10 Terminators in front of a Leman Russ Exterminator! That's five plasma cannons of scary AP2. It did let me slaughter a unit of Tau Broadsides but my opponent was unlucky with his positioning - and shooting! He just didn't add anything to the Terminator squad. And he's not very good in close combat.

The 10 Terminators were good. They were robust; good shooting and able to threaten in close combat when required. The cyclone missile launchers were great against Necron Destroyers and Valkyries. Terminators do take their fare share of fire and were often down to only a couple left by the end of the game. I need to move them foward and play them more aggressively.

The Dreadnaughts were good but not fantastic. Having to move them forward on turn 1 really reduces my firepower in that vital first salvo. I rarely got to use the power fists, and in close combat I usually miss with everything anyway. It was nice to be able to threaten a monolith with Strength 10 though.

Half the time the tactical marine models didn't hit the table top, as they stayed snug and warm in their protective Rhino. I didn't get to use their meltas much because I was holding them back, safe out of trouble, to shoot missiles at the enemy. Getting out of the transport didn't really help at any point. Thats why my 40k motto is "stay in the rhino".

The Predator Destructors were good, but by no means overpowered. They were hard kill but not overly so. They did a good enough job suppressing vehicles and killing a few models consistently. God if only heavy bolters were still defensive weapons. Here's hoping for that in 6th edition ;)

So I wanted to make some changes, and thats when I had the thought - put Lysander in with the terminator unit. Lysander has some great rules. Eternal Warrior plus storm shield means that he can always be used to absorb a low-AP shot that comes towards the unit - this is the bane of shooty Terminators. Lysander's Bolter Drill rule goes nicely with the Terminator's storm bolter, although this is only a minor consideration. Of course, finding the extra 100 points for the tough guy is going to require me to make some major changes to the list.

Lysander Termi Mech (1500)
Lysander 200
5 Terminators - 1 cyclone, 1 chainfist 235
2 x Dreadnought - 2 twin-linked autocannons 250
2 x 10 Tactical Marines - flamer, multi-melta, rhino, dozer blade 420
2 x Land Speeder - multi-melta, heavy flamer 140
3 x Predator - autocannon, heavy bolters 255

The only space I could see to squeeze out the extra 100 points I needed was the large Terminator squad.  Lysander will help the smaller squad stay survivable, and the points freed allowed me to purchase some much needed mobile melta in the form of 2 Land Speeders. I just got two in the mail, both unassembled, for a great price. They were easier to build than I had been led to believe by the internet, although I did need to get the rubber bands out to hold it in the correct shape whilst drying. Anyway I am looking forward to using them, they might be awesome!

I bit the bullet and changed the dreads to the Rifleman pattern that is so popular these days - two twin-linked autocannons. This complements the Predators nicely. I am unsure if I would be better off leaving a close combat weapon on one of the Dreads, so that it can provide close combat support in the the back field. At the moment I am going to see how they go with just the plain Strength 6 attacks.

So I need to decide how I am going to convert the dreads. Probably using Imperial Guard heavy weapon autocannons is the easiest solution. I already have 1 - just need another seven!

The final change I made was to the Tactical Marines, switching them to flamer/multi-melta. Not only does this save points whilst keeping the melta threat, it allows the Tactical squad to do something useful on the field. Their role will be to move forward on turn 1 and pop smoke. They will then be hindering my opponents progress through the middle of the battlefield, with a 12" thread range for the multi-melta's double dice. This helps keep the heat away from my gunline backfield.

Librarian Terminator Mech - List Evolution (Part 1)

After playing Tau pretty much non-stop for near a year now, I have finally put them away for a rest. Instead I have been fielding a Space Marine army drawn from my Apocalyse sized Crimson Fists force. Its over 4500 points now, mostly painted. When I last played marines last I found it difficult to win with them, but I am a much better player now than I was then. I've been paying attention and reading up on some of the great blogs that are out there.

I managed to get my hands on three cheap second-hand predators, the old second ed models. I use the old Rhino chasis for my entire Crimson Fists army. It's a way of making your spending money stretch so that you can create a large force. I am in the middle of painting up another six tanks at the moment - the army already has 4 completely painted.

So the new improved marine army I am playing started as a desire to have a go with the Librarian. In fact I had manage to assemble a Terminator Librarian from some old bits I had found in my collection, and wanted to try him out in a game. I actually modelled him with a storm bolter and force weapon before really looking at his rules. I realised that a storm shield was the obvious purchase to make, so I ended up with the task of detatching his storm bolter arm and adding a shield in place (pretty sure I have one somewhere).

I wanted to combine a Librarian with 3 Predators. Taking 3 Predators meant that I would want to take as much armour as possible, so 2 x 10 man tactical marine squads in Rhinos were the obvious choice of troops to complement this. Looking at the Gate of Infinity power, I thought about the possibility of teleporting 10 terminators to a vital point on the battlefield up to 24" away. It seemed tempting, so I started with a list like this:

Librarian - terminator armour, storm shield, null zone, gate of infinity 130
10 Terminators - 2 cyclone, 2 chainfists 470Dreadnought - multi-melta, heavy flamer 115
Dreadnought - assault cannon, missile launcher 125
2 x 10 Tactical Marines - melta, combi-melta, missile launcher, rhino 2203  x Predator - autocannon, heavy bolters 255

The army is a tad light on melta, with only three melta units. I love the firepower of the cyclone missile launchers, and with a squad of 10 you can combat squad them as a tactical option depending on the mission. I usually put the cyclones together in the same combat squad. Basically in the list I tried to maximise the amount of armour and terminator saves. The weapons on the dreadnoughts are chosen because I don't have autocannon arms currently. This is something I need to rectify!

But damn it that's 1535 points and I'm trying to build a managable 1500 point list here. This is probably the most common sized list I face at the Bunker. What to drop? Well the terminator armour and storm shield on the Librarian was the first to go. That weakened the unit, but everyone has to make compromises at this level. All I had to do then was drop a chainfist and the list was ready for its first outing.

There were plenty of things I would have liked to add (a drop pod for the multi-melta dread, lascannons on the tactical squads, the Librarian's Terminator armour) but I am happy with the number of vehicle chassis I have squeezed into the list. 7 vehicles plus 10 Terminators doesn't give any easy target priority decisions.

Libby Termi Mech (1500) 
Librarian - null zone, gate of infinity 100
10 Terminators - 2 cyclone, 1 chainfist 465
Dreadnought - multi-melta, heavy flamer 115
Dreadnought - assault cannon, missile launcher 125
2 x 10 Tactical Marines - melta, combi-melta, missile launcher, rhino 2203  x Predator - autocannon, heavy bolters 255

So ironically I have dropped the model that was my major motivation for building the force in the first place! Coming up I'll let you know how it performed in its first two outings, and the major changes I am making now that I hope will take it to the next level.

Playing with Kids

When I turned up for my weekly 40k game this week everyone had already paired up. Then a younger player, say 12 years old, turned up looking for a game. As a father of two I was happy to give him a game and maybe teach him something in the process. We played a 1000 point game and I had to help him out quite a bit with both rules and tactics, but I could see that he was interested and learning.

I let him take back bad movement decisions even a turn after they were made, when he could see that they had not been the right decision. I also made a few suboptimal moves myself so that he could see what happens to a predator that gets assaulted by terminators. This helped to keep the game competitive! However he also had luck on his side: when I assaulted his tactical squad with my 4 power fisted terminators, he did two wounds and I rolled double 1s before I even got to hit back!

Thinking back to when I was that age, I was playing the Dragon Warriors RPG with my fellow geeks and just starting to get into BattleTech. It would have had a blast to be mentored by a friendly adult gamer. Kids soak up any information you give them and learn so quickly, and can love the hobby every bit as much as we do as adults.

Anyway I wanted to give him some advice on his list and how he could modify it to make it a more cohesive and effective force. I'm going to approach this in two phases: minor tweaks, and buying new models to flesh out the army.

Original List (930 points)
1 Captain - power sword (105) with the Terminators
1 Chaplain (100) with the 5 Tactical Marines
5 Terminators (200)
10 Tactical Marines - flamer, missile launcher, serg with chainsword, plasma pistol (185)
5 Tactical Marines -  serg with chainsword, plasma pistol (105)
Predator - twin-linked lascannon, heavy bolter sponsons, storm bolter (140)
Dreadnought - multi-melta, storm bolter (105)

Hmmm that doesn't even add up to 1000 mate! Also we forgot the plasma pistols during the game, that could have made a difference. The Chaplain was wasted with the small tactical squad as they never even got into combat.

First off I'm going to do what I can without him needing to buy any additional models.

Better List (1000 points)
1 Captain - bolter, relic blade, artificer armour (135) with the 10 Tactical Marines
1 Chaplain (100) with the 10 Tactical Marines
5 Terminators - chainfist, cyclone missile launcher (235)
Dreadnought - multi-melta, heavy flamer (115)
10 Tactical Marines - flamer, missile launcher, serg with chainsword, plasma pistol (185)
5 Tactical Marines - serg with bolter (90)
Predator - twin-linked lascannon, heavy bolter sponsons, storm bolter (140)

OK this is just a few minor changes that will bring your list up to 1000 points, and some advice on using the units together.

• To make a chainfist, you can just cut off a chainsword and clue it to a terminator's power fist. It means your termi's can take down a land raider!
• The dread is much better with a heavy flamer. I have seen one in the bits box at our local store.
• I have seen a great cyclone missile launcher conversion done with the IG sentinel missile launcher. I'm sure you could find enough missiles in the store bits box to do something

Your big tactical squad needs to move and run forward so that it can rapid fire and/or assault. Put the captain and the chaplain in the squad, and put wounds on them as if they fail their save they have multiple wounds to lose. Always keep it in cover from shots that ignore your armour. Use the Termi squad to provide cover for your tacticals above.

Alternatively, join the Captain and Chaplain to the Terminator Squad and keep the tactical squad back in cover, firing missiles and bolter shots at 24". This build puts all your assault eggs in one tough basket.

The small tactical squad should guard an objective or stay out of the way. They should always be in cover, and should go to ground if needed to get a 3+ cover save. They actually did this job OK.

Now, a new improved list with a few new purchases required. I am not trying to make a kick arse MSU net list here! Just a well balanced army that can hold its own against other friendly lists. He said that he wanted to buy the Devastator box, so I want to include this squad, even though it is not a top tier unit. You have to buy the models that inspire you. And I don't want to get rid of models he is already using.

Devasator List (1250 points)
1 Captain - bolter, relic blade, artificer armour (135) with 5 Tactical Marines
1 Chaplain (100) with 5 Terminators
5 Terminators - chainfist, cyclone missile launcher (235)
Dreadnought - multi-melta, heavy flamer (115)
10 Tactical Marines - flamer, multi-melta, Sergeant with bolter, rhino (205)
5 Tactical Marines - Sergeant with chainsword, plasma pistol, razorback with twin-linked las-cannon (180)
6 Devastators - 2 missile launchers, 2 plasma cannons (185)
Predator - autocannon turret, heavy bolter sponsons, storm bolter (95)


So there you go, he will need to buy 2 Razorbacks and a Devastator box in order to build the above list - I know he had at least one extra marine. Note that I say 2 Razorbacks because all the bits for the Rhino come in the Razorback box, and they cost the same price!. Its a bit of an outlay, but should make an army that is fun to play with in my opinion.

With the above list I have designed the Devasator unit to use the weapons that come in the box as best I can. All the weapons can take out light tanks, and all can be used effectively against massed infantry. All the Devastator weapons are overpriced by at least 5 points, the plasma cannons and las-cannons  especially so. This is the best I can do.

When playing this list, the Devastators should stay in the back field in cover and take out enemy transports. The 10 Tactical Marines can move forward in their Rhino, hopefully to sit near an objective on your side of the table and threaten with the multi-melta anyone who comes close. The Predator, Dreadnought, Razorback and Terminators, against a gunline foe, can all move forward 6" a turn whilst firing. You have enough close combat ability to threaten Tau and Guard.

This list has an obvious weakness - only one and a half scoring units. At this points level I would usually include 2 Tactical squads in Rhino's, but they really are quite a dull unit. I thought it more prudent to include as many toys as possible for the younger player to learn the game and have fun doing so.