Dark Eldar Lance Spam...

OK. I ran this ages ago whilst I was really bored of Wraithguard Eldar and Mech Tau. SW and Nids were on the distant horizon and I needed my weekly fill of evil cheese.

Step into the breach the depraved Dark Eldar.

No one else (bar one dude who is now in Nottingham or something) runs them at my GW, so I have a complete monopoly on them.

And man, how much do I love it!

I have toned this down a bit since then. It raped stuff. No one could take the evil this put out.

So, I gimped myself. No, I'm not saying how. Work it out.
This is still pretty nasty.

Dracon (Combat Drugs, Agoniser, Plasma Grenades, Splinter Pistol) 83
Incubi x5 Punisher, Tormentor Helm 125
Raider, Dark Lance 55

Haemonculi x3 Destructor, Scissor Hands 135
Grotesques x3, Dirty fingernails 45
Raider , Dark Lance, Terrorfex 70


Raider Squad x5 1xDark Lance 60
Raider - Dark Lance 55

Raider Squad x5 1xDark Lance 60
Raider - Dark Lance 55

Raider Squad x5 1xDark Lance 60
Raider -Dark Lance, Night Shields 70

Raider Squad x5 1xDark Lance 60
Raider -Dark Lance, Night Shields 70

Raider Squad x5 1xDark Lance 60
Raider -Dark Lance, Night Shields 70

Ravager x2 Disintegrators 240
Ravager x1 Dark Lances 120

Total 1493

Get it?

Haemonculi w Grotesques & Dracon and Incubi bomb forward and take out stuff.

15 Dark Lances take out anything. Period.

oh and 6 plasma cannon shots per turn are pretty nasty. 9 is better, but as I said...

Yes, I know an Archon is a combat beast and that the Dracon can't leave the retinue and maximize a hideous 12"+2"+fleet"+12"charge range...

Where is the 2++ Shadowfield? Retinue take the hit...

5 Incubi is plenty when added to the Dracon with Agoniser.

Haemonculi will kill anything with variable D6 AP flamers.. Roll 3 dice NOW! Was one of them lower than 3? Awesome, dead marines! This is of course not a science and they can follow up with 4 attacks each with poisoned wounds.

Why the Grotesques? They take the damage from the Raider exploding and have a higher toughness. In CC, if your opponent loses though they will automatically fall back...

This army is very fragile. Operate at the range of your lances and maximise on your speed.
The CC elements are really only a distraction to be honest. Disposable.

Rape away bitches.

Mech-ish Wolves...Not Hybrid...well OK, it is...

Last for tonight on the Wolves. This is about as far as I have got with the codex. I could knock more up, but these are played and I know they work locally.

Plus they represent a diverse range of armies for SW

This has one hell of an alpha strike for 1500, better than this one. But not as sustainable due to the HKM. Which by the way are so worth the points. IMHO.

At BS4 anyway. I don't think so personally at BS3 - yes, IG I am talking at you.

Rune Priest Asaf Cloudstruck: Runic Weapon, Melta Bombs, LL, JOTWW

Rune Priest Mjarl Thundertongue: Runic Weapon, Melta Bombs, LL, MH

Grey Hunters Fynthir: x7 Meltagun, Rhino - HKM

Grey Hunters Thorgar: x6 Meltagun, Rhino - HKM

Grey Hunters Larth: x6 Meltagun, Rhino - HKM

Landspeeder Tornado: Typhoon Missile, Heavy Bolter

Landspeeder Tornado: Typhoon Missile, Heavy Bolter

Long Fangs Jorgmunson x6: 5 X Missile Launchers RazorB -TLLC,HKM

Long Fangs Fifnir x6:5 X Missile Launchers RazorB -TLLC,HKM

Long Fangs Gurthor x6: 5 X Missile Launchers RazorB -TLLC,HKM

RP's roll with the GH, who are in small sqauds as I don't have the points for more. But, combined they are potent enough. Just ask all the 5 man RAS running around in Blood Angel lists at the minute. Pants on thier own, but supported by others...
The GH run with the same principal. Support is key.

So a dirty first turn of shooting with 25 Krak Missiles and 2D6 autocannon shots anywhere on the board.
Not bad.
Screw it, thats awesome sauce.

At 1500, there will be no transports left on the board end of your turn. Plus, half the heavy armour should at least not be shooting for a turn.
Rinse repeat.
Clearly the missiles will drop, turn 2 they'll drop by 6 to 19 as the HKM are gone, but this is still solid.

plenty of spread out Psychic defense too.
Reasonable CC, provided you keep the GH together.
Some late game mobility to contest if you need to with empty LF Razors and primarily Land Speeders.
Oh, plenty of cover for them too behind rhino chassis.

Again, accepted that they limitation is AV14. Leman Russes, Mono's and LR will be a tough target. But they are supposed to be. If needs be, the list can be used agressively with all 3 GH squads targeting LR (for example) with Melta drive by's...

Thoughts? A bit more of a serious list than a couple of the others posted tonight...

Really big Rocks rock?

OK.
Not really mine this one.
Heard about it on the Space Wolves blog in the GT discussion on how Wolves had done.

Have the models and will try it out one of these days.
I like the very simple concept but not really sure this'll work.

Wolf Priest

Wolf Lord, Frost Axe , TW mount

Wolf Guard x3 2x TDA, Chainfist, 1x Loner who will die…

Blood Claws x13, 2xFlamer

Blood Claws x14, 2xFlamer

TWC x 4

Land Raider Crusader, Multimelta

Land Raider Crusader, Multimelta

BC's in LRC's, one with Wolf Priest and WG (obviously in the 13 man squad), one with just a WG.

The third wolf guard is like a Lone Wolf. Excpet shit. With no gear. No cool rules. I just need him for the minimum squad size of Wolf Guard!

Lord and TWC hang out behind the wall of LRC's.
They then surge out to strike at close range threats. PLus once the BC's hit the lines...they can seperate and hit two more targets.

As I said, not really tried this one, but will do shortly for kicks.

Really can't honestly see how it made the GT finals...shouldn't. But different and left field play a role I guess.

Venerable

Wolf Cav....Troops? Pah?

Next up.
My take on Wolf Cavalry. First saw this concept on '3+, no helmet required' (sorry Kirby, not on 3++)
Took it, mixed it up marginally and here we go...

Yes, this army cannot score.

Yes, I know.

But have you seen it. How cool? How smashed in is your army going to be? Have you got an army left?

Go on.
Try it.
In the words of Dr Pepper....What IS the worst that can happen? You may enjoy yourself?

This will crush face 50% of the time and die horribly 50%...well actually I'm just trying to reduce the flaming I get for this..."but no troops!"...whatever...this is my United States of Whatever...

Canis Wolfborn: 2 Wolf Claw, Fangir
Wolf Lord: Frost Axe,TW mount,Saga WB

Fenrisian Wolves x12
Fenrisian Wolves x11

TWC x5, Storm Shield , Melta Bomb, Wolf Claw
TWC x5, Storm Shield, Melta Bomb, Powerfist
TWC x5, Storm Shield, Melta Bomb, Powerfist

Rock on Wolf Brothers...

Foot Wolves but no Cav...? Read on McDuff...

Trying to get alot of my resources from simple excel speadsheets up to the web so others can use, abuse, flame whatever. Hope it will help someone, somewhere...

First up, Wolves. On foot. No Cav in this list though. Alot of missiles.
I play at 1500.
So does most of this country.
As a result it is fair to say that discounting Dark Eldar and Imperial Guard, maybe Orks (?...Don't think so) that facing you across the board will not generally be more than 10 tanks.

At 1500, Ten tanks is alot. Bearing in mind as well that a fair number will also only be APC's.

Lets take David's Mech Sisters I played on Tuesday - 2x Exorcists, 2x Immo's, 3 or 4 (I forget) Rhino's. 7 or 8...

My Mech BA roll with 8 fast tanks...

Adam and crew over at Space Wolves Grey ( an awesome hobby website, just using it as an example...) roll with 3 rhinos, a Razorback and a Predator.

Isolated examples, but would many disagree? (umm...if so, holla!)

So whats the point? If I want to reach out and remove the protection and speed of mech in a 1500 point army I need to neutralise this.

3-6 AV11 vehicles, and 2-4 AV13? Cool. Seems typical.

How can I do this if I am playing Foot Wolves? And still have enough Wolves left to take objectives? Kill stuff...

This is something I have played around with for a while and works pretty well. I have not faced it off against something like my Mech BA, but I'd like to...see how it turns out...

Rune Priest Asaf Cloudstruck: Runic Weapon, Melta Bombs, LL, JOTWW

Wolf Guard Juggers: 2xPowerFist, TDA (Blackmane)

Wolf Guard Logan: Wolf Claw, Storm Shield, TDA (Thorgar)

Wolf Guard Nirthur: Wolf Claw, Storm Shield, TDA (Larth)

Wolf Guard Andersson: TDA - PW, SB, Cyclone (Fifnir or solo supporting Jorgunson)

Wolf Guard Tyr: TDA - PW, SB (Gurthor)

Blood Claws Blackmane x14 2xFlamer

Grey Hunters Thorgar x10, Meltagun , Plasmagun

Grey Hunters Larth x10, Meltagun, Plasmagun

Landspeeder Tornado : Typhoon Missile, Heavy Bolter

Landspeeder Tornado : Typhoon Missile, Heavy Bolter

Landspeeder Tornado : Typhoon Missile, Heavy Bolter

Long Fangs Jorgmunson x3, 2 X Missile Launchers

Long Fangs Fifnir x6, 5 X Missile Launchers

Long Fangs Gurthor x6, 5 X Missile Launchers

This list is 1500 on the nose. WG assignments in brackets to the relevant unit.

20 Missiles and a D6 shot, unlimited range autocannon. Firing at 10 potentially different targets in the first turn.

Now, this alpha strike is pretty deadly at 1500. Yes, I know...what about Av14? this points level, destroy the support elements and the rest will crumble.

If you don't get first turn thats cool too, make sure your dudes have cover, even if it has to come from other units rather than terrain.

All that melta the other guy has taken? Doesn't help much does it? Sure you are going to vape a couple of Wolves, ok I have a few more...

Yes, the vehicles are easy to kill, but are also on thier own so can find cover far easier than if together in a squadron...

Psychic defense too.

MC. Check can kill those too.

Assault....definately. SW can receive a charge with the best of them..probably are the best of them...

Try it and see?

Not to your liking? Coolio...More to come...

New stuff tonight.......

Over the course of the evening I'm going to try and load up most of the army lists I have prepared across the full spectrum of 40k forces I run.

This will be alongside tactical thoughts on how to run these...

Hopefully this will provide a resource bank that anyone can look at and grab ideas from.

Now I'm no 40k beast, but alot of this is sound and good stuff...

Its a mammoth task and will more than likely take til the weekend too but hey ho.

Plus, I'm pretty close to finishing my first test model for Death Korp of Krieg....yes. THey have arrived.

Bugger...still 3 tanks to weather for the Blood Angels...

So much to do so little time...

Venerable

Tuesday Game time...

Two games in tonight.

Only brief thoughts...

1st Vs mechanised Sisters, 2nd Vs Orks.
Both victories in the local league putting me in a solid position for prizes. Think I'm top but have a few games in hand on a couple of really strong contenders...Who i still have to play...should be good...

Vs Sisters: Spearhead, Annihilation (using VP instead of KP).
I ran this, he ran;
Cannoness - PW, Melta-pistol-thing, some faith book thing...(I need to refresh my sisters knowledge)
3 rhino's full of sisters with melta and flamer
2 immo's with melta sisters in
2 Exorcists
Inquisitor w ISTs

Got first turn, killed a bunch of tanks. He'd deployed in a sort of choo-choo train set up. It made it very difficult to kill everything...I tried. I popped the Inquisitor and ISTs (who'd hidden in a ruin) with the Baal-B-Q, took out 2 rhino's and immobilised a Immolator.
His turn 1, he immobilised a pair of AssCan Baals and a Razor. Still had good fire arcs though for both.
Turn 2 I killed all vehicles bar one Exorcist and a Rhino. Several sisters died in the explosions.
His turn 2 lost the Baal-B-Q and a couple of stunned Razors.
Turn 3, Mephiston ate half a squad who had invulnerable saves (fun times), got tied up, last rhino died. Alot of sisters running around on foot at this point.
His T3, Cannoness and another squad charge into Mephiston. He kills a couple more Invulnerable Sisters. They stay.
My T4, a load of sisters died to combined Baal fire and a multicharge from RAS.
Mephie kills more, they stay...I'm bored at this point, 3++ and 2++ is boring. Effective, but boring.

This game finished on 7 as I failed to kill his last and only model...an exorcist that had been kicking it at the back of the board all game.

I still had around 900 points left on the table. Sound victory. Fun game, David is a great opponent, top boy and has a great looking army. All good - even kept Mephiston alive...

Game 2 Vs Orks.
Spearhead, 3 Objectives.
Big Mek KFF.
Wazdakka
Bikerz
Nobz in Battlewagon w Deff Rolla
Loads of Boyz in trukkz and looted wagonz
Lootas
Kommandos

This game was short. Over by 4. The guy, James, had to run so we called it at 4. At this point in the game, I had 2/3 objectives and he had 2 troop squads of 8 and 12 Orkz respectively, a Nob and the Big Mek. Plus the Kommandos who were massively out of position due to unlucky outflank roll - they would not impact the game even if we went to 7.
I had lost my 3 Baals and an Autocannon from the Pred. Oh, and in 4 I lost a Razorback to a Power Klaw, however, everything else was up and running 110%.
Mephiston had eaten Wazdakka in one round of combat, had fought off 24 Boyz and not taken a wound and was about to charge the squad of 8 in my turn 5....
There was no way for James to win at the end of 4...but I wanted maximum points! No way to do it though as James had to go. Fair enough.

Not much to really say on this. My lascannon and HKM fire took out the battlewagon and trukkz on turn 1, lootas died T1 to Baal-B-Q (which I thought was a fair swap...which it indeed turned out to be) this pretty much neutered the army. I focussed on the Warbikerz and Wazdakka the next turn, this reduced the threats to essentially nil...

Didn't learn a massive amount from the two games. The list is reasonably effective. I am learning to play it better and better each week and still enjoying it.

This is one of the key things. It is fun.

Thoughts from the night;
- Do I change the Flamestorm Baal to a regular Baal? I kill something, then I die. This is not a good way to do things.
- Las/Plas is king. Thanks Chumb, TKE etc for convincing me.
- Do I need Mephiston? Big one I know, but alot of the time, I just don't need the CC beastliness. Alot of the time, I just feel I can blast the crap out of the other dude, and this does it for me. But if I do, I lose a massive deterrant, psychological threat, CC Nuclear Missile...the psychological factor is huge too...

Plus, if I did, what do I gain? A second Vindie, a second AC/LC Pred? A Rifleman Dread? The Rifleman I'd like, but doesn't really fit. A second Vindie would be scary...a pair of Typhoon Land Speeders? Or MM/HF speeders?

I need to toy around, but I still think I need him...

Anyone thinking that he is overkill on occasion?

Venerable

My first Death Korps IG Army...

So check this post for how it all happened.

But here I am.

The start of yet another project. Bugger.

As we speak, the only army I do not have at least 1500 points for is Chaos (CSM and Demons), Sisters and Orks (only about 750points worth)

My attempt at an army for IG then:

CCS - Chimera (HF), Master of Ordnance whatever, Missile Launcher

PBS (full)- Chimera (HF)

Vet Squad - Chimera (HF), Demolitions

PCS - Chimera (HF), 4x Flamers
Infantry - Autocannon, Grenade Launcher
Infantry - Autocannon, Grenade Launcher
SWS - 3 x Meltagun (Rides in Vendetta)
SWS - 3 x Meltagun (Rides in Valkyrie)

Vendetta - 3 xTLLC
Valkyrie - MRP, ML

Medusa - Really big gun, Enclosed Crew Compartment
Medusa - Really big gun, Enclosed Crew Compartment

2 x Hydra Flak Tank - 2xTL Hydra Autocannons

Bang on 1500.

So, not really sure. This is based on my interweb blog reading, my take on the codex from its first read and what I've seen in action locally.

My read comes first, then the internet, then local IG lists.

Also...cool shit on Forgeworld.

The foot soldiers sit back around the Medusa's and Hydras and try and provide a little bit of bubblewrap.

The chimeras take the mid field.

The gunships drop off their cargo turn one and the SWS kill or cripple 2 key targets. Birds kill a third armoured and lay down a couple of templates for any goons in cover.

The PCS, Master of Blastiness and Medusas lay down the curtain of fire.
Granted, its only a little curtain.
The kind that keeps out some light, but isn't really that black out blind you love so much. The one that gives great lie-in potential.


This will not see the game table for quite some time. Mech BA are still my principal focus, this will be built up over time using Fritz's theory here.

And of course, following the painting guide for DKoK from the excellent First Rank, Second Rank found here. Many thanks to Col.Festus

What are the thoughts of the community? Crap? Tweaks?

Shout it out guys!

Venerable

I'm not dead....But I may wish I was...

O.K, O.K.
I give up.
I can't do it.
Even with a blog to support its aims.
Even with a fully painted, 50% weathered now, brand new codex army.


I.
Cannot.
Control.
My.
Army.
ADD...

I have begun an Imperial Guard army.

There. I've said it. It's out there.

Let me tell you how it happened....Gather round young ones, close to the fire. It was a dark and stormy night...or a sunny evening at my local GW.

I forget which...

Anyway, a new league has just started off at the local club. Run by some dude called John. Now John boy fancies himself as games designer/developer.
I don't agree.
However, John boy wishes to put up £100 worth of prize money in GW vouchers for the top 3 (or something) in his new league. He has some funky deployment maps he feels are great for the game and wants to get some experience under his belt.

Or something.

Whatever. Attend on a Tuesday. Check. Play games competitively. Check. Maybe win money...oh, twist my arm some more!

So I've played 3 games in this league. One win and two draws. Sucks I know. But hear me out. I played on the worst tables with the worst deployments...wanted to smash them out of the way so I could have a clear picture of where I stood and where I could go from here.

From now on I have 'normal' terrain boards open to me and 'normal' deployment options. Great. And I'm sitting pretty in the top 3 still despite a pair of draws.

So from here I should be coolio, especially having taking stock of the showers of crap that are appearing in this league...It's good...I'll let you all in on the action Tuesday...

Anyhoo....IG. So my first draw was against IG. With a pair of Valk's and the rest being Stormies DS'ing. Expensive for Guard I thought.
All in reserve and I messed his stuf up pretty bad as it came in. But it was 4th ed VP's so he pulled it back to a draw (less than 150points between our two armies at the end)...fair play. A few mistakes on my part but hey ho.

The week before I'd played a great game against a guy with 3 Valk's (well, a pair of Vendetta's and 1 Valk)...this was my first actual game with my BA and I lost 8-7 on KP's....to date my only loss with BA.

What I could not get away from was how unbelievably COOL the gunships looked on the table.

These weren't even painted well, if at all. One was actually a Land Raider in proxy-disguise...

But, damn! They looked incredible. Swooping over the table...dying so so easily to my mech BA....pieces strewn across the battle zone...

Whatever. They looked sexy doing it.

I re-visited my old IG codex. Nothing had really grabbed me in this, but I knew I needed it to know the enemy. I hadn't updated to the 5th Ed IG 'Dex yet but had relied on the guys at the local being predictable. Mainly mech, Russes, Platoon blobs and a few Valks/Vends...I could play against this without the dex..

But now I needed it... I got it. Looked at it.

Researched on t'internet. Thanks Kirby for some wicked articles! And of course Stelek.

Then it happened. I only bloody looked at the Forgeworld website.

Now, I'm a dude who loves his nights out with the boys.
To take the woman out. To treat her well.
I like to dress well.
Eat out.
Hit the cinema (I'm a film geek too.
Keep up with Daredevil, Batman, Cable & Deadpool...

Well, thats all going to end now.
This site is also responsible. Thanks.

All Forgeworld bar the Valks and Chimeras...

But fuck, my army will look so so good by end of summer holidays (I teach so I'll have a lot of time)...

oh...I'm buying a new house too. Ah.

So that is how it has begun. Next week I'll be ordering a single squad of Death Korps to ride in the new Valk.
And a CCS.
And a weapons pack to ensure plenta of Melta.
And a chimera for the CCS.
Ah, shit. This is how it starts.

Peace.
Venerable.

Response to Brother Loring...

Brother & Chumby raised some great points regarding this list.

I am most definitely still learning but I thought I would address their points in a full on post rather than clogging up the comments...

Yeah, cause so so many peeps comment on my noob site...

BL - I'm not blindly poo-pooing your comments, this is my counter-point only...Not being an IntErnetz n0b.

Mephiston is precious...Not in a camp way:
Mephy dies. Oh boy, he dies. I've killed him almost every game...but not before he smashes up a solid chunk of the enemy.

No s***, 875 points killed 250? Who would have thought it. If it didn't there would be a serious problem with the game hey? ;)

If you aim 875 points worth of anti tank at a LR...you'd expect it to go boom no?

I'm cool with him dying as long as he smashes something serious.

Baals of Brass:

The Baals are a tricky one. I'm still playtesting without sponsons at the minute so the Jury is definitely still out.

I'd be quite tempted to drop a 3rd Baal for a second AC/LC Pred.

Friend, Predator friend (thumbs up) (Inbetweeners Joke):

No onto that lonely Pred in the backfield...he is not alone...

All 3 Razors hang back with the Pred and sit pretty in cover-providing formations. This way they are quite secure and supportive of one another.

Alot of peeps are using the SHP in a supportive but overly aggressive/offensive manner - supporting the Assault Squad with FNP/FC as they smash into the enemy lines with, most commonly a pair of melta and a Fist...

My SHP is to sit back and provide FNP. He acts as a buffer to the survivability primarily over offensive capability.

If something outflanks me or drops into the backfield, then all 3 RAS squads supported, this time offensively by the SHP, will take it out with a trio of meltaguns and FC 15 RAS. Plenty of counter-attack. Especially when backed up by 5 Lascannons and an Autocannon.

So then, due to the LR fire support role of the Razors and Pred, they do not want to be moving into the double-tap range of the Las/Plas.

I fully agree that if I were to use the troops more offensively then Las/Plas would be THE choice. No argument.

But as a long range unit, they don't want to be in plasma range...because that means they'll get popped by...plasma! Or AssCannons, or stunned even by Tau troops! Or shot by Zoanthropes or bloody Hive Guard!

My way, they but their middle finger up to Hive Guard et al.

So thats the reasoning for Razors mainly, jury out on 3 Baals, Mephiston can die as long as he brings the pain first. Which he will as he cannot be instakilled at range whilst he closes....

Smash me down and show me the error of my ways! I'm most definitely still learning!

Venerable

Weathering the Army Part 1: Razorback

So after the reasonably successful test of weathering and mud on a Furioso Dreadnought I have taken the plunge and began to weather back my mechanised Blood Angels.

I will be taking one tank/APC at a time. As all the vehicles bar one AC/LC Predator are painted I will be working through these at a reasonable pace, but not too fast as to rush them.

I do have one dilemma in this process...What to seal them with. I am in the UK so it had to be available here. I hear alot about Testors Dullcote and Tamiya sprays, but what does anyone in UK or Europe use?

As the vehicles will be handled quite a bit and two of the pigments are applied in their powder form they will need to be sealed long term to avoid powder falling off or fading. More importantly I don't want fingerprints all over them!

Although it may be useful to catch any G-Dub criminals...I'll be finger printed surreptitiously anyone I play!

So the first Razorback looks like this...




What are peoples thoughts here? Too weathered? Too dusty? The whole tank has been dulled down quite alot due to the pigment and whilst I like my tanks to look quite realistic, I know it may not be everyones cup of tea.

I think the whole army will look wicked in this manner...very war-worn and different to the bright red Blood Angels of the poop front codex cover...is it just me or is that art a massive let down compared to some of the drop-dead gorgeous work inside by Adrian Smith et al.?

Anyway, as I have a Predator that is only primed and undercoated I'll be doing a step by step guide to painting and weathering my Blood Angels scheme...whether you goons want it or not...

Keep it real kids,

Venerable

Weathering a Venerable Dreadnought...see what I did there?

In warfare, is this not truly where the tank or APC lives?

I think it is.




In the grim far future where there is only war that is 40k I think we all forget that. Dust, oil, rust, MUD, martian mud whatever.

Not a single one of my vehicles has ever had a scratch on it. Not one has ever had oil or rust or muddy tracks (in fair eldar and tau skimmers seem to fit with being clean...just my view)

It has been the treadhead of the Imperial Guard who has recreated 'life like' tanks. But no more.

Clearly, I am not a pioneer.

No S... Sherlock!

But for me, this is new.

My cheap AOBR Dreadnought converted to the Blood Angel cause began life like this:



Yeah me, dirt cheap and not too funny looking, although as was pointed out the converted powerfist is more a pneumatic weapon than a fist - able only to smash in a straight line or with a inflexible swing of the arm...but hey ho :)

So I painted him up... and then weathered him. Breath! Shock.

He came out pretty good for a virgin weathering....

Now I am quite chuffed with this.

Scratches/Chipping:
These are achieved by simply painting with a dark brown, I used GW Scorched Brown which in fairness...is not that dark...but I felt that this would compliment the colours already present on the model greater than by using Chaos Black.
You can of course use CBlack as your first chipping colour.

Once this is dry, use Boltgun metal and paint inside the lines (just like at Primary School...) leaving some brown/black still showing all the way around.

This creates an illusion of depth on an other wise flat surface.

For more 'recent' battle damage/chipping, use a slither of Mithril Silver in place of Boltgun. Now, I have not done this, but after seeing how much the model has been dulled down by the Weathering Pigment I can see that one should not be afraid to use the brightest of bright...it'll only look a touch shiny!

Mud:
This was created using MIG Pigments or can be done using Forgeworlds Weathering Powders.
Simply mix your mud with 40:60 pigment to acrylic resin ratio. This gives a great, gritty consistency.
This consistency can be further made more realistic by throwing in modelling sand, stones etc.
On really big tanks (I'm thinking ambitious Land Raider projects already) you could even throw on filed or sliced figure heads, legs etc to represent bodies crushed under the relentless advance of the metal behemoth! Ahem. Yes. Carried away!

Slap on your mix where appropriate, tank tracks, lower 3rd of the vehicle all the way around...heaviest at the bottom, most gritty at the bottom etc

This needs to dry for at least an hour before advancing to...

Dusty, dried mud stuff:
Yes, the above is a technical term.
Using the dry pigment and an old drybrush, whack it on the vehicle. I believe that dust would go ALL over the tank so brush it on all over...heaviest just above the mud. First use the same pigment as you used to create the mud, then you can seal this with a quick, light spray of varnish. After this layer has been sealed, you can then drybrush on a lighter tone of powder. This lighter tone represents newer mud, less ingrained.

The dust effect can be done equally well by actually drybrushing. Using scorched brown mixed 70:30 with graveyard earth you can create a pretty good colour. When completely dry use a 50:50 SB:GE mix and dry brush this on.
Make sure the drybrush is completely dry before putting on the next mud tone.

OK. So this is not a comprehensive guide. Nor am I an expert by such a long way!
See here for a better one from the Painting Corps.

Try it out. It looks wicked. I have also learnt that if I wish to seriously photo miniatures I need to get a new camera and learn how to do it!

I'm going to weather all my vehicles...so in the current BA model collection its 13....thats alot of mud.

Once I've perfected it I'll do a stage by stage with photos.

Venerable

Revised & Playtested List 1500

Morning all.

I spent from lunchtime yesterday to 10 O'Clock playtesting the actual crap out of this list.

Only versus a well-constructed Tau list did I lose alot of stuff...But I still won (yay me! I am king...ish). I'll try and get a BatRep up for the games, but my camera died and I barely got in 2 photos all day! (which sucks as it means I'll have to write up, rather than let the action speak for itself using in-game video)

1500 Spear of Sanguinius:

Mephiston - Bad ass, tactical usage; ram straight down the throat of the enemy.

RAS 1 - 5x Ass Marines; 1x Meltagun
Razorback - TLLC, HKM

RAS 2 - 5x Ass Marines; 1x Meltagun - Deploys within 6" of RAS 1 (now has FNP/FC)
Razorback - TLLC, HKM

RAS 3 - 5x Ass Marines; 1x Meltagun - Deploys within 6" of RAS 1 (now has FNP/FC)
Razorback - TLLC, HKM

Sanguinary Priest - Powersword, Blood Chalice - Rides with RAS 1

Baal Predator - AssCan, HKM, Searchlight
Baal Predator - AssCan, HKM, Searchlight
Baal Predator - Flamestorm Cannon, HKM, Searchlight

Predator - Autocannon, LasCannon Sponsons
Vindicator - Demolisher Cannon

Simple enough tactics.
First turn of shooting to be mine is important. If I win roll off then great, if its Drop Pods or reserves - pass first turn to them and stay in reserve, then use range and speed to counteract drip-by-drip effect of my own force coming in from reserve.

First round of fire (assuming all units deployed on board, which wherever possible I will) 5 (3xTL) Lascannon, 6 Missile, 2 Autocannon, 8 AssCannon, 1 S10 Ordnance to cripple important sections of the enemy armour or MC.

Yes, this is not a crazy 'Ard Boyz net list @ 2.5k with 36 S10 Ordnance shots per turn! I wish it was. Its 1500 and real.

I wish I could nuke the enemy armour by playing a well-constructed IG army, but I'm not.

Its not a 'leafblower'. Screw that.

I digress. The first round strike will deal with 7 discreet targets. As far as I am concerned, if I can stop return fire on the first turn, even if for 3/4 out of 7 its only for a turn...I am happy. Why? Because I'll do it again next time, albeit without the HKM's but then its a reduced number of targets...oh, and now turn 2...Mephiston is ripping plasteel apart with his bare, emo-vampire hands. Focus on him please.

From here, the game can progress in a number of ways.
My long range strike opened up some transports and its time for the flamestorm to get its shot off. I say shot, because so far, in all games played with, its died after scouting, HKM, 1x Flamestorm shot...its also time for the Baals to smash in any side armour they can and for the vindicator to start scaring the crap out of infantry.

My long range strike didn't kill as much as I'd like? oh, ok I'll fire again and again with the relative impunity of range.

Whats that? You've not killed Mephy yet? Rapid fire Plasma him for gods sake! That'll only take one round of fire to get rid of him...Ah, that was what the flamestorms one shot was...oh.

The troops exist to score, defend themselves and survive. And in my opinion are fast enough and durable enough to do so. Yes, I know there are only 15 men...we'll look at that now...

The list has a very limited amount of melta,and frankly that melta rides in a transport that is designed not to be in melta range! This is this army's first limitation.

Limits/Negatives (and tool-at-hand solutions maybe):

1) Melta. 3 x Meltaguns is not enough really if I face AV14 bunkers, all though vs Monolith it wouldn't help, Vindie or Mephy best bet. Vs Russes...move to the side, I have speed...but vs LR (and I faced 3 yesterday) there is not that much I can do. I have a good number of reliable Lascannons, I have a S10 fast Ordnance and I have Mephiston. In three games yesterday I had to use these tools to do the job. M did his well, Las only immobilised and blew off guns...but the point is it actually penetrated, and Demolisher managed to kill one, but I feel that was lucky. Additional tools are of course a pair of Tl-Rending AssCans, which through weight of fire are more likely to penetrate a LR than a Lascannon, something like 14.4% to 10.9% (actually this doesn't take into account the TL nature of the AssCans in this army, nor the 3xTL Las in the army...so whilst accurate, each has a slightly (negligible) chance of penetrating on average due to higher likelihood of hitting in the first place)

2) Bodies: I lack numbers in a major way. I believe that the army has enough threats to keep focus away from the troops. However, in an objective game, the smart opponent will clearly focus fire on the troops and kill them. I believe this will not happen. By keeping the Razors at range they are protected from most fire. Except of course dedicated Anti Tank. If you use all of your fire up on a trio of Razors, who will be giving each other cover, or popped smoke whilst getting into cover (meaning that statistically you will use a far greater number of shots than Mathhammer would suggest), what are you firing at all the other AV13 tanks? Yes, they are Av11 on the side and I may present some sexy side armour on the Baals to further confuse regarding target priority/ grasping opportunity...but generally the strength of the Spear comes from the same strength as all mech armies...too many tanks, not enough guns.

The Sanguinary Priest is now in, despite my disgust at losing HB Sponsons to do so...From playtesting I have to concede that they don't shoot that much...but I fear I have lost a lot of dakka... anyway, the Razors operate together - strength in numbers, but also FNP to the guys inside. 5 men are now very durable. Check out this article from Stelek on the crucial nature of the Blood Chalice and how to fit it into your army.

3) Assault? This is a weakness for a Blood Angels army? Ummm...sorry but it is for me! My only threat in assault comes on 2 fronts. Mephiston. Plenty of threat. WS7, I7, S10, 6A on charge, rerolling hits, maybe even wounds if against an IC. Oh, they are all power weapons hits too. Yeah, he'll mess you up. Whatever you are. Yesterday he killed dreads with ease, tanks - but they don't fight back, GK Termies (this was my favourite as they are so expensive!)huge bubblewrap kroot squads through glorious combat resolution, Honour Guard, Chapter Master ( the last two in the same list, yeah I know, who does that?)...whatever, he's a beast, but he can't multicharge. He struggles to control when a combat will end, except by charging massive squads and hoping they don't run...He is not all that against an entire army.
My other assault threat comes through the combined efforts of 3x5man RAS and a SHP w PW. These are actually pretty deadly. The whole point of multiple small units, when it comes to offensive output anyway, is to ensure they operate in concert, together. 15 FC marines with 3 attacks each is quite good. Plus the 4 Power Weapon hits from the WS5 SHP. They will pop up most things that actually get close. 9/10 times the guys can jump out of their transports (or 1 or 2 units can if the transports are still alive) to support each other, fire off 3 melta shots and then dive in for the kill. Ork Boyz, Nids, Elite units all should feel threatened by this concerted effort.

So I have some counter charge (not in the in-game-mechanic sense, but in the very real, strategic sense) but no massive offensive assault.

Quite simply that is not the point of this army. Assault army is for another day..

4) Crowd Control - I am mainly looking at mech, elite, out there lists as the target for this army, I have some crowd control, but I have lost most of my dakka and flame templates by dropping sponsons on the baals...not sure what to do here actually and if I faced a Green tide ork list...i'd fucking fold. But with deff-rolla BW being the new black for orks (and its not really new I know, but you get me...) I feel that cool. IG blobs...I'll tank shock, flame, demolish...or actually assault with RAS and Meph in concert...different usage of the same units. Think this is called duality.

Sorry for the long post, but I hope it was interesting reading my thoughts and ideas. If I have missed anything let me know, if I've come at something from the wrong angle...let me know.

Generally, let me know what you think!

Keep it real kids,

Venerable

List tweaks

'Sup people. I have a slightly revised list that I am testing today...Will post battle reports and list thoughts tomorrow.

Keep it real kids.
Remeber, don't be a fool, wrap your tool.

Venerable

Death Company?

What is more characterful than a frothing at the mouth, raving psychopath charging, enraged, at the enemy? The noble Blood Angels fallen from grace by curse of genetics.
Rushing to their death to avenge their Primarch, cast down by the ruinous .....etc etc...

Are they worth it? Do they have a place in a competitive, mechanised list?

Lets examine.

Firstly expense. At 1500, all choices made must be incredibly points efficient.
They need to fulfill the role you have selected them far more efficiently (faster, 'deader') than another FOC choice of the same or similar points. They must not fulfill this role whilst costing the earth. But what is reasonable? Surely no more than 10-15% of the points allocated?
So 150 to 225 points is the range. WHY? Because if you put too many eggs in one basket...or in fact, just reduce the number of baskets to a low level, your opponent will be able to focus fire and remove the threat, without having to worry about a great number of valid threats.

By having multiple units at this reasonable cost we can dilute the firepower attracted to any one, equally dangerous unit and thereby increase its survivability:

6 x Death Company; 2 x Power Sword, 1x Thunder Hammer, Rhino (HKM, EA) - 255 points. 12 S5 Hits, 8 S5 Power weapon hits, 3 S9 Power weapon hits and a S8 unlimited range AP3 missile.

This unit then actually comes in 30 points over the self-imposed 'frugality limit'! Do we count the rhino as a separate and discrete threat all of its own? Only if I want to sway the analysis in my favour...which for now...I will.

This unit will, on the charge, deal with the most typical threats - MEQ or GEQ. I would be hesitant to use Death Company against TH/SS Termies as most in the community know to either ignore them by staying away or "torrent of fire" them to death - don't engage them for God's sake! Far more effort than its worth...

Furious Charge improves the DC chance of wounding through S5 and reduces the amount of attacks back through I5...going first against alot of targets.

Importantly, this unit will not kill an entire unit of Guardsmen or Tactical Marines, Orks etc...but should inflict enough damage to win the combat and wipe out the enemy in their assault phase. This is important as it should allow the DC to survive longer than being a one-hit wonder.

Overkill would result in their own death. Not coolio, well, not yet anyway - we'll give them their glorious death soon.

So how do Death Company stay alive? T4, 3+ only makes them marines. Feel No Pain allows a 4+ save against wounds that go through their normal armour save. Like a ward save in WFB. However, this ward save will not work against twice strength:toughness weapons, Power weapons or AP1 or 2 weapons.
Most small arms fire will be negated through this, as will wounds in combat from regular CCW. This makes the DC's small number (in this case 6 as above) far more survivable than a greater number without FNP.

Further protection comes from the Rhino APC. This fast transport will ensure these lunatics get to where they need to be - into the middle ground and beyond. The Rhino can also contribute to the army's Alpha Strike capability, launching a Hunter Killer Missile into a target. On its own, this HKM is unreliable...when combined with many others as well as long range Anti-Tank firepower, will potentially cripple an enemy's armour before it has time to roll out.

(On a side note; the Alpha Strike only really comes into its own when faced with a limited number of enemy vehicles. by focusing overwhelming firepower until these are dead or leaving their occupants stranded. For me, the Alpha Strike also works if just to silence the enemies big guns for a turn whilst the relatively short ranged Blood Angels get into position unharmed)

A final note on keeping the DC alive - we must always consider the unit being discussed not in a vacuum. In my Mech BA list (see here) 3 Baal Predators and a Vindicator form big threats, as do 3 TLLC Razorbacks...how much firepower can be directed at the DC? Enough to kill them? In solidly build, competitive lists maybe there are enough AT weapons to stop all of these threats...In poorly built armies? I think not. Perhaps I'm wrong.

So we have looked at cost, damage output and survivability.

What about versatility? Are the DC only good at taking out troops? Carving them to meat? With the S9 Thunder Hammer in the unit they can do damage to vehicles very well. Additionally with S5 on the charge and a good number of attacks (typically 4 on the charge), vehicles with rear armour 10 (most in the 40k universe) are targets too.
What about AV14? Land Raiders are no longer real targets for the DC without Rending. Nor is a single Thunder Hammer a sure thing against Land Raiders or Monoliths...against Russes it is more than adequate due to weaker rear armour but...

The key here is that although the DC can just about deal with most things, they are not supposed to be charged at all targets.

They can wade through legions of poor quality troops, cut through elite troops and die in the process, pop vehicles, keep up with the rest of the army and can provide synergy and contribute to the overall effectiveness of all other units.

A great choice at a good price.

However, when deciding the question are they worth it we must consider the alternatives no?
Next couple of posts will look at the viability of Honour Guard instead of DC and a little something something extra that I had not considered until I wrote the start of this sentence....oh dear, more money to spend on plastic crack...

Peace,

Venerable

Hive Fleet Lands!

Mech BA vs Tyranids;

Tyranid List is:
Tyrant - Wings, 2x Scything Talons, Paroxysm, Psychic Scream, Hive Commander
Tyrant - 2+ save, 2x TLMC Devourers, Paroxysm, Psychic Scream, Hive Commnander

Warriors x 5, Adrenal Glands, Scything Talons, Deathspitters (outflank with Tyrant 1 HC)
Hormagaunts x 15, Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs, Scything Talons (outflank with Tyrant 2 HC)

Trygon, Adrenal Glands
Tyrgon, Adrenal Glands
Tyrgon, Adrenal Glands

Nids stay off the board and use the +2 to reserve rolls from cumulative Hive Commander Tyrant upgrades...this way denying shooting except for one round of fire...can you deal with 5 MC in a turn? plus outflanking, fleeting, rereolling everything Hormagaunts and 3 wound warriors?

Lets see if the Blood Angels can...so, its Annihilation (which favours the Nids sue to low number of available KPs) and Pitched Battle... BA win roll off and go first (in hindsight, they should have gone second...I was eager to get my guns out! Fool)

NOTE: In BA Turn 3 I miss out that the Winged Tyrant got Melta'd to death and lost his final wound to something else..think it was rending AC from Baal... Just in case you are wondering where he went!



So game ended Turn 5. BA were in a healthy position and could have taken the win if the game had continued to 6 or 7.
Draw despite the controlling firepower of the Mech BA army. The focus firepower on the MC's meant that only the RAS dealt with 2 dangerous squads of Tyranid troops, and surprisingly were not really up to the task. On the otherhand, the RAS did hold both units up for a couple of turns and as a result allowed that firepower to be focussed on MC's.

If the MC's had been left alone, god knows what kind of damage they could have reaped.

Think the Death Company achieved thier goal of a glorious death, taking out a Trygon and allowing their Librarian commander to escape the beasts wrath with some measure of life still in him!

Whilst the BA vehicles were not really tested in this battle, the troops were, and proved highly useful. The assault sqauds in the Razorbacks armed with just a Meltagun proved useful several times to add another wound to a Trygon or Tyrant, and the Assualt Sqauds did more or less waste a Hive Tyrant on thier own. They really need a Powerfist instead of a Power Sword I think so that they can handle all situations thrown at them.

Whilst discussing the RAS with Jump Packs...I am intending to drop them for a fully mechanised army in the next few days...so they will have their swan song soon... However, I do really see a place for them in BA lists. The ability to pack 3 Melta's is great, especially combined with the mobility of JP's...plus they can do ok in assault...but it wouldn't be my choice of CC unit..

Next!

Mech BA Army List

Guys and Geeks,

Long post sorry, but some good articles linked to and the list is at the bottom, thoughts up top.

This is the Mechanised Blood Angels list I am currently playing. I like it alot however it does have some major issues.

Firstly, for me anyway, is the AV11 side armour of all vehicles. This is really not great. This was hammered home to me in games against Imperial Guard (my very first BA game!) and his hordes of Plasma Guns were smashing into my tanks.

I would hate to come up against a ton of Autocannon heavy weapon teams in an IG army...however, they at least would be static in their fire position and fire arcs, so it would be my fault if they got side shots off!

Second issue is the min/maxed nature of the 'Troop' selections. I have 2x 5-man Tac sqauds in Razorbacks and a 10-man RAS. This is it. No Sanguinary Priests, no Honour Guard to provide that 6" FNP bubble making dudes far more rugged.

I am happy with this minimised nature of the troops selections. I am going to be revising the list below slightly based on my play testing...But this will lead me down the MSU (multiple small unit) road - having 3 x 5-man RAS w. Meltagun in TLLC-Razorbacks and thats it.

Now, this is not very survivable, but will be ok in my opinion for several reasons;
1) Having MSU means that the opponent doesn't gain alot from killing one, he needs to kill all 3. The reason for this is...
2) Redundancy - each Troop choice can do exactly what the other can. Claim Objectives, LR Anti-Tank etc.
3) Target Priority/Dilution - in Objective missions clearly the troops are a high priority target. However, they will be exploiting the relative safety of range due to thier TLLC (twin-linked lascannon) and in a rhino triangle most often for cover saves.
In addition, if you are using Long Range anti-tank to take out 3 Razorbacks, you may have to make a difficult choice between 3 Baal Predators, Death Company Rhino and a Vindicator - all of which are fast vehicles delivering a payload of death to whomever they like.

This 3rd point I believe to be the strength of this list, combined with each vehicle carrying a Hunter Killer Missile.... Is a one-shot S8 AP3 missile worth 80points across the army?

I think so. Write this down: Alpha -Strike. Read this from Fritz from Way of Saim Hann and this and this from Stelek at Yes The Truth Hurts. They will give you an idea of how Alpha Strike works...or doesn't; there is always the possibility that you want to have fun when you play this little game...too much alpha strike is not a good thing...

Having the ability to blast away with range impunity as you either roll onto the board in Dawn Of War, or from good fire positions in regular set up is a great strategic asset. Combine with a trio of TLLC from the Razorbacks and I can potentially cripple the enemy armour first turn.

Ah, but what about AV14? I hear you cry...well, once I've neutered the rest of the army, I'll roll in and melta or rend my way through his last threat...or just drive around ignoring it...

So, the most recent, revised list....this is about as points/cost-efficient as I can make it.....

Spear of Sanguinius
Librarian; Sanguine Sword, Blood Lance (rides with DC in Rhino- shoots Lance out of top hatch)
5-man RAS; Meltagun. No JP's, DT = Razorback wTLLC, HKM
5-man RAS; Meltagun. No JP's, DT = Razorback wTLLC, HKM
5-man RAS; Meltagun. No JP's, DT = Razorback wTLLC, HKM
Death Company x 7, 3xPower Weapon. DT= Rhino, HKM, EA
Baal Predator; AssCannon, HB Sponsons, HKM
Baal Predator; AssCannon, HB Sponsons, HKM
Baal Predator; Flamestorm Cannon, HF Sponsons, HKM
Vindicator; Demolisher Cannon, HKM

1500 bang on.
Remember Baal can scout and all vehicles are fast. So if I don't get first turn, DoW deployment can just roll on 6 and deliver 3TLLC and 8HKM then use speed to get into position after a fairly lethal salvo of missiles. At 1500 I am expecting 8-10 vehicles really max. Does this sound realistic to you guys? I see no more than this except in some extreme Guard builds...there are simply not the points in 1500...Eldar can barley fit 5 decent skimmer hulls on the table at this points level....

So what are your thoughts?

Mech BA Vs Tau Game 2

Tau have rocked up to bring ever greater expansion to the 3rd Sphere...however the fury of the Blood Angels reckons to give them pause...

In this report I have 'mis-commented' or something - I skip in my commentary from turn 2 straight to 3, seemingly ignoring a whole turn of action, this is not the case, just forgot where I was up to when I did the turn roundup on camera.

So this whole game actually is over by turn 4. The final BA player turn 4 I haven't bothered to film as the Angels swept the remaining Tau from the board and frankly, this position is clear enough to see on the film.

Disruption Pods on the Tau vehicle saved them alot from rockets, lascannons, Assault Cannons etc this game, and the importance of either moving within 12" or providing enough penetrating firepower cannot be over-emphasised.

The Tau list is the same as before. This is not the most competitive Tau army out there. When I ran Tau as my principal army I rolled with at great deal more Crisis Suits. TLMP for the win! No Piranha's usually for me, and the IonHead was usually a 3rd RailHead. These changes were made affordable by dropping the Piranha's, dropping the Pathfinders and dropping the Shas'El and bodyguard to 'Deathrain' configurations rather than the hyper-expensive (but hyper-efficint) 'Fireknife' configurations.

So why do the Tau get to roll out a 'sub-par' list against the new and cheaper Mech BA? Well, to be honest I thought the Ion cannon might be more efficient at penetratin the abundance of AV11 side armour and that the plethora of Fusion Blasters on the Piranhas, combined with their phenomenal speed would help to stall the advance of the BA vehicles, plus Flechette Dischargers would discourage CC. Oh, and Fireknives usually are all good for taking out MEQ.

Anyway, have a look at how it all went down....

Mech BA Vs Tau Game 1

Time for Tau!

The Tau Empire is expanding to include the mighty Sector IV (commonly known as my kitchen table) and they must be stopped.

Tau list is:
Shas'El XV84- MP, PR, TA, HWMT, HWTL, HWDC, 1x SD, 1xGD.
Bodyguard x2 - MP, PR, TA, HWMT, HWDC, 1xGD

2 x min sized Fire Warriors squads, 1 w Warfish (BC, SMS, TA, DP, MT) (squad w no transport hi jacks PathFish)
8 x Pathfinders w Devilfish (as above)

3x Piranha w FB, TA, 2xGD, DP, FD

Hammerhead - Railgun, BC, TA, DP, MT
Hammerhead - Railgun, BC, TA, DP, MT
Hammerhead - Ion Cannon, BC, TA, DP, MT

Mech BA Vs Necrons Game 2

OK. So here is game 2 of BA against the undying metal monsters. Except that, well, if you get into CC with them, they DO die. Pretty damn quick.

I am trying to get a good amount of playtesting in, in between games against other, equally competitive dudes at my local GW.

The process you guys are seeing is the behind-the-scenes magic of how I realise my army building is either rubbish or actually reasonable.

The army being used in these videos really is not all that amazing. I think that I made a couple of poor choices in using Tactical marines over Regular Assault Squads (RAS) - this is because the RAS get a 35 point discount on dedicated transports for getting shot of their Jump Packs (JP).

For 15 points cheaper I can have the exact same set up but also get a meltagun for each squad.

Anyway...more thoughts on list building in later posts.

This Necron army consists of the following:

C'Tan Deceiver
2 x 10 Warriors
3 x 4 Destoyers
Monolith

This was the same as in Game 1. I know Necrons are not considered competitive. I know they suck ass. But I like them and I want a variety of different armies to test against. At the local store I get plenty of 'Nids, Marines, Guard (Vendetta/Valk and melta vet heavy usually...a few medusas seem to becoming more frequent too),Eldar (Mech...Mech NOT footdar!), Sisters and Orks.
I need to see test against all kinds of stuff.

So, a slightly more concise report this time:

Virgin....

Welcome my brothers to Venerable's very own blog!

First post - woot!

The purpose of the blog is to share and gain valuable insight into Warhammer 40k.

I have been involved since I was a small child, however I only started to get properly addicted to plastic crack about 18-20 months ago....I'm now 26 and still playing with little plastic soldiers...

I now run a huge number of armies, all reasonably well and have a pretty good W/D/L ratio.

My main problem is that I switch armies so often due to boredom/loss of interest. The armies that have kept my attention the longest are Tau and Space Marines.

Space Marines are boring. Simple as. Unless you roll with something a little different. For me, certain codices allow more interesting builds - the Deathwing, the Space Wolf all Cavalry lists, the vanilla bike lists...these are the SM armies I can dig.

With the coming of the Blood Angels codex I got excited. Here was an army I could get behind. I prepared for its coming with Land Speeders and Dreadnoughts, Assault Marines with Jump Packs...then when the codex landed in my hands....I realised that what I had prepared was not really the list to roll with...

So, next post will be sample army lists, what I am currently running and why.

Plus, a load of variant armies that I MAY run. All Death Company, Mephiston & Land Raiders etc (mainly pants ones that are good enough fun but not hyper-competitive)

Next I have 5 video'd battle reports to come as I test out my current mech list... I'll post these over the next day or so once I figure out how! With write ups too!

This blog will be updated regularly and will educate you and I.

I aim to hit the UK GT this year and make the final minimum...help me get there!

Cheers
Venerable

Mech BA Vs Necrons Game 1

First ever battle report. This is a test game for my current BA Mech list. Several points to note;
1) Sorry about quality of my voiceover! I'll get better!
2) This list is actualy already outdated as I await the arrival of my 3rd Baal Predator and my 3rd Razorback...More on the lists in another post.
3) Really important to note that my kitchen table (yes! I know, how cool am I?) is actually over 6ft long, but is only 3 and a bit ft wide, so weapon range is odd and therefore it doesn't truly reflect the game as would be played in a tournament. I know this, but the principals are similar. Bear in mind, every week I play on full size tables at my LGS.

Anyway, enjoy the first of my vids vs Necrons. The first report is REALLY long! Sorry. It took me half the day to reduce my commentary to succint, accurate and relevant information only...bear with me brothers!

Comments well and truly appreciated.
Venerable