Tigurius - the perfect Imperial Guard ally?

I have been trying to come up with an Imperial Guard list I am happy with for a while now.  Inspiration is pretty sparse on the Internets.  Most people seem to have written off the once mighty guard as an effective ally and a poor primary, or are sticking doggedly to tired 5th edition mech spam lists.  After a weekend of games at the Throne of Skulls I have concluded that this approach no longer works.  The chimera has neither the firepower nor the resilience in today's environment, and the men inside cannot survive, or do significant damage, once they disembark. 

Therefore I have decided to bite the bullet, pack up my chimeras and try a bit of something else.  A few months back, Ven gave me a template for a guard list using one or more blob squads and several Rune Priests to increase resilience and damage output.  While this worked OK, it was something of a one trick pony due to the expense of the HQ choices and blob squads.  Very few points were available to spend on other toys and my damage sucked, so I abandoned the idea. 

However, upon the launch of the new Space Marine code I began to think again.  Space Marine librarians are cheap and powerful.  Sure, they don't give counter attack to the blob, but at 65 points, who cares.  Then I realised the fatal flaw, they don't get Divination!  At this point I didn't notice Tigurius, but after talking to a mate while gaming last night he mentioned that Tigurius can take powers from any disciple, and he can re-roll the dice on the table.  This is huge, and has the capacity to make a single blob very powerful indeed, especially when combined with the chance of getting endurance on a Primaris Psyker. What is more, it doesn't break the bank, and allows you to take some of the cool toys in the Space Marine book in addition to the usual guard support (which is still very powerful). 

The initial list I have come up with is as follows. 

1750 points Guard/SM Roster

Guard Detachment

Primaris Psyker - 70
Platoon Command Squad - 30
5 Infantry Squads, 5 Autocannons, 3 Power Weapons - 330
Penal Legion Squad - 80
Hellhound Squadron, 2 Hellhounds - 260
Vendetta - 130
Vendetta - 130
Griffon - 75
Griffon - 75

Space Marine Detachment

Tigurius - 165
Tactical Squad, Lascannon - 90
Tactical Squad, Lascannon - 90
Stormtalon, Skyhammer Missiles - 125
Thunderfire Cannon - 100

The Penal Legion and PCS will mostly ride in the Vendettas and drop onto objectives, or just sit tight and hold my own.  The blob advances or holds depending on the mission and the powers I end up with. 

Options include replacing the tactical squads with some scouts, possibly with a storm, but I like the threat of lascannons, and on a cheap scoring platform they are quite useful.  The Techmarine allows me to bolster something, so I have gone without the aegis line this time, thought I feel I may miss the quad gun. 

I am slightly concerned I have gone overboard with the S6 anti-infantry firepower, but the two Hellhounds will scare the crap out of backfield scoring units and little bastards like pathfinders, and the amount of barrage means that successful sniping should be a real possibility. 

Av 14 and even 13 is also a problem.  Lascannons can only get you so far, but there doesn't seem to be much of either around right now, so I might see if I can get away with it. 

Of course I could just be talking out of my ass here.  I have minimal actual gaming experience of 6th and I could be missing something huge and obvious.  Advice from my betters please!

Blog Wars 4 . Bat Reps...

So it was full of Gusto I breezed in to my second Blog Wars with my tourney untested new marine creation, I was hopeful as in play testing the "tool kit" army seemed to be working well and had yet to be trounced (which is not the same as "not lost" :P )

Anyway this was the list I took. The inclusion of Chronus was due to the mission pack making special characters score or give away extra vps but you HAD to take one. Either way a scoring predator that could then cheekily throw the character from the wreckage to go and hide in a squad seemed a good bet. The fact he then gave me immune to stunned and shaken and bs5 was just icing on the cake:

Libby - Gate and Null Zone
10 Sternguard in a pod
Iron Clad with 2 hunter killers in pod

10 tacs with the holy trinity of melta in pod
10 tac with missile, plasma and assault cannon razorback
10 sniper scouts with Telion
Aegis with Las

Storm talon with cyclone
Vindicator
Thunder Fire
Dakka Pred with Chronus

Let's see how I got on then..

Killswitch: Thoughts On 6th + Lists!

Interesting to say the least. I really don’t know where to start! There seems to be a lot to take in, and I hope that the game will bring what everyone wanted. Something fresh, new and balanced. They got the first two designs right, balanced however, far from it as of yet.

So after some playtests, I have found that Troops as per usual is a must have, and in large quantities. Large volume of firepower and hard to kill flyers will be storming the tables which means Troops are more important than anything. Playing the mission over keeping your army alive is a must. There are no VP’s for units (except the KP mission) now, just objective VP’s which are vital to winning. Army’s which can take first blood easier than not, along with a chance to take Line Breaker and Warlord slayer thing is something which comes from an army lists design stage. No longer can you simply write out a stand back and shoot list and expect to achieve the secondary objectives.

Personally, most of the primary missions, bar Relic, are fairly straight forward, and to be honest, fairly easy to draw. To this end, secondary objectives have tended to swing games over to a win. I have also found that although shooting and over watch denies combat armies complete reign; through the new psychic powers, USR’s and the way combat works, I think combat is fairly useful.

To this end I have thrown together 2 lists which I have made through some playtesting and found them both fairly flexible. Lets see what you all think, and no you can’t have them!

Wolves + IG:

Njal: 245pts

Rune Priest: 100pts
Power Axe, Jaws & Storm Caller.

Lone Wolf: 85pts Storm Shield, Terminator Armour & Chain Fist.
Lone Wolf: 85pts Storm Shield, Terminator Armour & Chain Fist.
Lone Wolf: 85pts Storm Shield, Terminator Armour & Chain Fist.

10 Grey Hunters: 220pts
2 Plasma Guns, Mark of the Wulfen, Drop Pod & Banner.
10 Grey Hunters: 220pts
2 Plasma Guns, Mark of the Wulfen, Drop Pod & Banner.
10 Grey Hunters: 215pts
2 Meltaguns, Mark of the Wulfen, Drop Pod & Banner.

5 Grey Hunters: 75pts
Flamer.

Aegis Defence Line: 50pts

Primaris Psyker: 70pts

Command Platoon: 30pts

Platoon Squad: 80pts
Autocannon, Flamer, Power Axe & Melta-bomb.
Platoon Squad: 80pts
Autocannon, Flamer, Power Axe & Melta-bomb.
Platoon Squad: 80pts
Autocannon, Flamer, Power Axe & Melta-bomb.
Platoon Squad: 65pts
Power Axe & Melta-bomb.
Platoon Squad: 65pts
Power Axe & Melta-bomb.

And now here is other way around:

IG + Wolves

Primaris Psyker: 70pts

Platoon Command: 30pts

Platoon Squad: 80pts
Autocannon, Flamer, Power Axe & Melta-Bomb.
Platoon Squad: 80pts
Autocannon, Flamer, Power Axe & Melta-Bomb.
Platoon Squad: 80pts
Autocannon, Flamer, Power Axe & Melta-Bomb.
Platoon Squad: 65pts
Power Axe & Melta-Bomb.
Platoon Squad: 110pts
Power Axe, Melta-Bomb & Commissar with Power Axe.

Platoon Command: 30pts

Platoon Squad: 80pts
Autocannon, Flamer, Power Axe & Melta-Bomb.
Platoon Squad: 80pts
Autocannon, Flamer, Power Axe & Melta-Bomb.
Platoon Squad: 80pts
Autocannon, Flamer, Power Axe & Melta-Bomb.
Platoon Squad: 65pts
Power Axe & Melta-Bomb.
Platoon Squad: 110pts
Power Axe, Melta-Bomb & Commissar with Power Axe.

3 Hydra Platforms: 150pts
3 Hydra Platforms: 150pts
Manticore: 160pts
Aegis Defence Line: 50pts
Rune Priest: 100pts
Rune Priest: 110pts
Chooser.

10 Grey Hunters: 170pts
2 Plasma Guns & Banner.

As you can see, plenty of scoring bodies, lots of capability in ranged, attack and defense, and fairly durable without any easy targets.

Time to get some tournaments under my belt as practise :D

Killswitch

Vendettadins - The new black?

Hey there. So writing a blog with a picture of my own face at the top, pretentious? Maybe. Meh, I just wanted to get some mileage out of it, ha!.

Well as Ven mentioned the other day I/we have really been looking at lists that take out that reliance of the random charge distance. Its nice when it happens but DEDICATED assault units I think are really suffering now.

6th ed, at least in the early days is about fliers, shooting, scoring and resilience. You need to be packing these or ways to deal with these in your lists or Gtfo.

I've also read a lot recently about Deathstars and how they cant be worked well now with the missions. Now everyone has there opinions but personally I think in two missions (relic and kill points), the Deathstar is king. So what about the other 4? Well they are all objective based. So really then you want lots of scoring.  So to make Deathstars work you need numerous scoring options combined with anti flier options to make your death star workable and not just expensive fish in a barrel....hmm ponder ponder...

..so me and Andy 10k came up with THIS little beaut...gentleman I give you the Vendettadins ( tried testing and AWESOME in game :) ):



Company Command Squad - Auto Cannon 60

Platoon Command - Auto Cannon - 40

2x10 Guard Squads with Auto Cannons  - 120

Veteran Squad - Auto Cannon- 80

Aegis Defense Line with quad gun - 100

Vendetta, heavy bolters - 140
Vendetta, heavy bolters - 140
Vendetta, heavy bolters - 140

Draigo - 275

10 Paladins, stave, banner, apothecary, 4 cannons, 4 hammers, 4 halberds - 750

- 1850

As you can see its got numbers, resilience and fliers...lots of fliers...lots of incredibly under costed fliers.

This means you can dominate the skys with the dettas, dominate midfield with paladins and swamp objectives with scoring bodies. It gives me funny feeling in my tummy and everything.

Little tricks I've been noticing:

*You don't have to have the aegis line in your deployment zone. Have it 6 inches in so the paladins can scout to just behind it for the first turn.
*Putting the reroll cover save order onto the vets who man the quad gun means you get 6 autocannons shots that make people reroll their cover saves
*The wound allocation shenanigans with paladins are still fricking redonculous.The unit can take all manner of abuse and can sit midfield just taunting the enemy to come close so you can try your luck at a few 10 inch plus charges...and if he doesnt..well perfect, the army continues to pound out the firepower into the face.
*The vendettas generally means you get 2 on turn 2. More than enough to destroy some opposing air force. If you get the chance go second. Apart from a few exceptions your army can take it on the chin for a turn or 2 (just keep the command squads hidden - its the easiest first blood target)
*Going to ground for a 2+ cover save with a defence line and the ordering back up next turn is ...just..wrong...people will pull "the face" as you keep doing it.
*The cheap platoon command can go in to a detta. If they die to fiery crashing oblivion; well its only 40 points. And you gain an option for a late game hover/debunk on to an objective.
*People tend to not want to charge over watching guard blobs behind defence lines; people tend to not want to charge paladins; people cant charge flyers.....see a theme?

Playing with the list is, honestly, pretty fun. The juxtaposition of having the cheapest of the cheap troops next to the most expensive of troops backed by a bit of mech means a lot of hobby buttons get pushed in game for me.

Going forward I may have a bit of a play with it. Getting a manticore in there for a bit of barrage sniping will be pretty harsh or maybe a Gk dread to better use Draigos grand master rules. A scoring dread that can still be used as AA in a pinch and add some psydefence...go on then.

Anyway, ideas? Glaring Mistakes? Thoughts?

G

Draigo, Coteaz & the little people who die for them

We all love our heroes. Most of the time, we never get to live and act beside them.
We watch them from a distance and never interact.
In this 1850 army list, I intend to give 60 Imperial Guardsmen, everyday men like you (not I, lol) the opportunity to live and die beside their heroes.
The "Heroes" in question are of course, Grand Master Draigo and Inquisitor Coteaz.

So this is what I am thinking is a very strong, adaptable force. The purpose of this army is to push my Necron and Space Wolf armies to the limit and see what each can do. The 2013 UK GT Heats are approaching and whilst I am in good form having won my first 6th ed tournament, that doesn't really mean anything going into this.

What am I thinking then? Well, this is one of my first forays into Allied territory. I have already used a Deathwing/IG Allies army to push against Kabalite's Dark Eldar, which I think is tough as nails, but I think it's possible this is a tougher combo.

The gaps in 5th ed Draigo wing were home objective scoring and with the increased emphasis on objectives in 6th, this problem is exacerbated.
Many sites and myself included, view Allies as only necessary to plug gaps or to raise the game of an army in a certain aspect. Most often this is a weakness that could be exploited.

Imperial Guard allied into Draigowing allows Draigo and the boys to push forward without worrying about what's behind them. They can leave 60 men behind Defence Lines, manning the Quad Gun, in the daunting shadow of the venerable (not in game terms) Dreadnoughts of the Grey Knights.

The Allied block is:
Company Command Squad - Autocannon (vets man the Quad Gun)
Platoon Command - Autocannon
Infantry Platoon - Autocannon, Flamer
Infantry Platoon - Autocannon, Flamer
Infantry Platoon - Autocannon, Flamer
Infantry Platoon - Autocannon, Flamer
Infantry Platoon - Autocannon

Fortification: Aegis Defence Line - Quad Gun

Then we have the Grey Knight/Draigo core:

Draigo
Coteaz
10 Paladins, 4 Cannons, halberds and hammers.
Solodin - hammer
2 x Psyfleman Dreads

How do I see this 1850 force working then? Sixth brings a few nice tricks with it..

Imperial Guard Army for sale!!

Hi guys, a quick one from me today...

My IG tanks are all up for sale on ebay..

The link will take you to the Chimera's (4) and you can take it from there!!!

There are:

4 Chimera's
3 Manticore's (I use them for quick n easy Hydra conversion with Aegis Defence Line kits)
2 Vendetta's
1 Hellhound
1 Colossus/Medusa Conversion
1 Leman Russ Demolisher

Plus if you email me nicely I may throw in a load of dudemen too.. especially if you buy them all...

All 3 colour minimum with neat paint jobs and each one for a bargain price.. get on over there and check them out..

These boys have been kinda fun to play around with over the last couple of years, but I've never given them the attention they deserve..

Each one has just a light coat of paint and could easily be repainted.. all have removal turrets and interchangeable hull mounts.. transport is easy on the Vendetta's with removal wings etc..

Hopefully someone else can give them a better run for their money (on the tabletop! lol).......

With an expensive wedding coming up.. any new geek expenditure has to be funded through the sale of other geek shit.. so there we go! No other reason for sale..

Check it out.. it'll half the cost of that new IG army you've always been dreaming of!

Peace!

2K Gauntlet: IG

In the run up to the Jolly Toys Outing 2K NOVA, we are running a few test games this week to face off against some of the nastier armies that we could be facing.

As both Necron player and a part time/occasional IG player, I am comfy with taking on Mech Guard, but for Kabalite's Dark Eldar and Bringer's Grey Knights it would definately be useful for these boys to get some practice in versus some killer Imperial Guard armies.

Plus, it helps me not be bored of my Necrons BEFORE the tournament..though this will be their 3rd tournament following Blog Wars 2 (1st) and Caledonian Uprising (11th from 116).. I'm hoping for another good finish for them and part of that is understanding how the top armies out there work.

So, the test gauntlet for Imperial Guard will be based on what I like at 1750, then just min/maxed to fuck and pushed to 2k. Now, this may not be the best IG army you'll see, but it is strong IMO and played by a damn fine player...*cough* me *cough* lol...

CCS 2 Plasma, Plasma Pistol, Autocannon Chimera - HHF

CCS 2 Meltaguns, Autocannon, Chimera - HHF

PCS 4 Meltaguns, Chimera - HHF

2 x 10 Infantry Squad, Meltagun, Autocannon, Chimera - HHF

3 x 10 Veterans, 3 Meltaguns, Autocannon, Chimera - HHF

Vendetta

Vendetta

Hellhound - HMM

2 x Hydra - HHB

2 x Hydra - HHB

2 x Hydra - HHB

This is 2k on the nose and can either operate at range as the defender or reactive force, alternatively it can pump out one first turn strike at range, then push up in your face whilst maintaining fire support.
It has a serious amount of AV12, mass S7 and S6.. a crap load of Melta, some decent Lascannons and plenty of Orders to fuck about with..

What do you guys think? Is this a decent representation of 2k IG? I know a lot of people would like a PBS in there for anti-Death Star duty, but frankly I don't give a fuck.. shoot til its dead..then shoot some more..

Caledonian Uprising - a brief rundown (part 1)

Caledonian Uprising, a two day event with 6 games at 1850 points, and over 100 players.  This was the largest 40k event I have ever had the pleasure of attending and I enjoyed almost every second of it.  Most of this post will be a series of very short battle reports, but first i will say a few things about the event itself.

Firstly, it was extremely well run.  I mean this very sincerely, there was not a single thing I think the organisers could have done to improve the smooth running of the event.  All the games started and ended on time, the missions and scores were announced so all could hear, and with enough time to find your table.  Above all, the few rules queries and rulings that myself and various opponents did require were dealt with extremely fast and each time a ruling was made, multiple judges were involved and the reasoning was discussed properly and openly.

Secondly, the soft scores were quite interesting.  There has been some kerfuffle over this because some people think the soft scores are weighed too heavily.  Purely on a personal level I disagree.  I do this hobby because I enjoy all aspects of it, and I don't want to go to a big professional event and see a load of grey plastic after I have spent a lot of effort on my own army.  Getting almost max soft scores is not hard, you need a painted army and not to play like a dick, and that is pretty much it.  Most people only dropped about 4 points out of 50 for painting and sportsmanship so it was largely irrelevant anyway.  

So, on to the games. 

Jolly Toys Outing – expanding the Imperial Guard to 2000 points

Ok, ok, I suppose I had better explain the somewhat ridiculous title.  The Jolly Toys Outing is a tournament that is happening in the middle of February this year at the one and only Warhammer World in the UK.  Link to the blog HERE.  It is a 2000 point event and its main attraction is that it uses a slightly modified version of the Nova format.  This, to my knowledge, is a first for a UK event, and certainly one of this size (around 80 participants at last count).  Accordingly, I am pretty excited!

Sadly though, I have not played more than a handful of 2000 point games in my life, none of which were either with Guard, or in the last few years since I ‘got good at the game’.  Therefore it has been something of an adjustment trying to adapt my list, or write a new one, for larger games.  Today I am going to suggest two lists, one of which is a very simple expansion of my tried, tested and quite successful 1750 list, and the other is a bit more radical.   

As ever, these lists are restricted by what I own.  I really, really need to make some more weapon teams at some point. 

Guest article: Bloody Necrons and their night fight.

I have been pestering Bringer of Death (Steve) to write something for the blog. Steve games with most of the Sons on a very regular basis and attends tournaments with us all. He is a very close friend to the Sons and we treasure his insights... or it could be that I find his 'rants' quite funny...I had hoped he would deliver a Bringer rant, but instead..he delivered a real article!

I still hold out for a comic rant from Bringer on why and how his dice fail him on an almost permanent basis!

So without further ado, Bringer's thoughts on how his newly refurbished IG can take down Night Fightin' Necrons..

Final Blog Wars list - 1750 Elysians

Someone sent me this the other day, and it amused me so much that every reference to deep striking in today's post will be replaced with the term 'derp strike'.

I am using the Imperial Armour (Forge World) Elysian Airborne Regiments army list in the up-coming Blog Wars II event.  It is, in my opinion, the first time Forge World have ever produced a fairly costed and viable list, so I thought it would be fun to try it.  Today I'll give you some information on the army list, and explain my choices.  Hopefully most people attending will read this and have some idea of what they are facing on the day. 

Elysians don't have access to any tanks or armoured vehicles other than valkyries, vendettas, vultures, and Tauros scout cars and Sentinels.  Even the least astute amongst you will note that all these are pretty soft targets.  While they all hit hard, they cannot take the hurt at all.  Secondly, most Elysian infantry units are severely limited in their use of heavy weapons.  They can only take mortars, heavy bolters and missile launchers.  This discounts the usual autocannon spam, and since normal platoon squads cannot take a heavy weapon at all it makes for a quite different gaming experience.

Most of you are probably thinking, "well, if they cant take chimeras or autocannons, why the hell would I play them?"

Outflanking Al for Blog Wars Tournament?

Outflankin' Al' rolls on after the battle...as standard..

The next tournament is coming up next week for the Sons.. Ven (me), Atreides, Kabalite, newcomer Bradimus Prime (new to the Sons anyway, a UK tournament 'mainstay' for at least 18months) and friend of the Sons - Bringer of Death will all be attending.

A strong team presence.

Bringer has had a tough year regarding tournaments..he started the year by taking his beloved MechDar and either drawing or losing to superior firepower at the start of the year. Grey Knights came out and he has polished off all his old models and embraced them..

But he has still not enjoyed the kind of success he is looking for.


You see, Bringer can't roll dice.

Really.

He is shit! Bringer needs to roll about a million dice before he actually approaches statistical average!

So, with that in mind, he has dusted off his Imperial Guard and combined them with my own Guard army. The two armies combined can pick pretty much anything..

Bringer would like to use Al'Raheim for his Special Character mandatory choice for Blog Wars (the tournie requires the use of at least one special character in your army)...

 Here is what he is thinking of taking, he'd love your feedback.....

Blog Wars 2 - my drop guard list

With Blog Wars 2 on the doorstep I think it is about time I started to think about the list I plan on taking this time round.  Last time I tried to embrace the spirit of the event by taking a fun yet still quite competitive list, and I had three great games, coming second only due to my own idiocy and some very good play by my final opponent.  Oh and because Ven might have played ok as well I guess, but don't tell him that.

This time round I want to do the same, but obviously in a different way.  Therefore I have diecided to tak a foot list.  However, since I simply dont have the models to to a traditional foot horde, this is a foot list with a difference.  Enter Imperial Armour 8.  As well as being a good read, this book contains a pretty amusing drop troop codex for the Elysians.  Now back in 4th edition when guard had a shit codex I ran a very successful drop list, so I thought it might be amusing to see what happens if I try to repeat that now in the age of mech.
So how am I going to do this then?

Imperial Guard 1750 Options for tournament

Brighton Warlords - 52 man, 1750 tourney is coming up in just under 3 weeks and I haven't played a game of 40k for almost 3 months...

Shit.
Time to get back into things...I've been thinking about the armies I can take and play well without having any practice time, principally due to my experience level with them.
That gives me:
-SW
-IG
-BA
-DE
-GK
Dark Eldar are out because the terrain is not as blocking at Brighton as DE require to survive and do well, although Mike Marlow played DE last Brighton and came in 15th (ish), a few places higher than me..so it can be done..but I want a Top 10 this time, so they are out.

BA are out as I cannot build a list that I really like. I can build all jumpers, Sang Guard army, full Pred spam/Razor spam mech and everything inbetween...but I can't get them to work for me.. I may revisit them very soon..

Wolves have been my go to army for a long time. I have extensive experience with them and I am always in contention when I run them...

GK I have a competitive Coteaz spam and Crowe spam ready to go if I want to, let's revisit that another day.

IG is what I want to discuss today.. I have experience with them (not arm chair, IRL...) but not for a long time, almost a year in fact...and have never taken them to a tournament...

The amount of money spent on them to get them up and running as a competitive army sort of dictates that I should at least use them once in a tourney setting...

Army Showcase - Straken Hybrid for Blog Wars

Hi Everyone,

Last week I promised you all some pictures, and todays post will hopefully not disappoint on that score.  Below are photos of all the units in the army i will be taking to Blog Wars this coming weekend. 

My final list is as follows:

Company Command Squad - Colonel Straken, Medic, Bodyguard, Flappy Banner, Chimera

Veteran Squad - 3 Meltaguns, Chimera

Veteran Squad - 3 Meltaguns, Chimera

Platoon Command Squad - 4 Meltas, Chimera

Infantry Squad - Commissar (power sword), Sergeant (power sword)

Infantry Squad - Sergeant (power sword), Meltagun, Autocannon

Infantry Squad - Sergeant (power sword), Meltagun, Autocannon

Platoon Command Squad - Autocannon

Infantry Squad - Commissar (power sword), Sergeant (power sword)

Infantry Squad - Sergeant (power sword), Meltagun, Autocannon

Infantry Squad - Sergeant (power sword), Meltagun, Autocannon

Vendetta Gunship

Vendetta Gunship

Hydra Flak Tank

Hydra Flak Tank

Hydra Flak Tank

--------------

1750 points

As expected, very similar to the previous list, but the Platoon Command Squads have been streamlined.  Both now have a distinct purpose, and the army is about as well rounded as I think it can be.  It also suits my play style in that it is very adaptable and can take on most other types of list.

Blog Wars - Tweaking Straken

The deadline for Blog Wars list submission is fast approaching.  Sadly, I have been unable to get in many practice games, but I do have a general feel for how my army performs.  That said, a few tweaks need to be made before I come to a final decision.  Certain elements of the list are underperforming, or just not performing at all.   I guess you could say that this army is a borderline gimmick.  If I had 2000 points, I could redress some of the weaknesses with ease, but let’s see what we can alter with 1750.  

I will start with what I have been running so far, and then go over the good and bad points, as I see them.  

Super Two Part Blog Post: Innovation with Blood Angels, and Blog Wars thoughts.

sorry, no idea who drew this, but its cool, so thanks!

Super Two Part Blog Post Part One - Blood Angels, an army in two half’s

I have a secret.  I actually do play Blood Angels.  Well I used to.  In fact, despite my reputation as a Guard player, BA's were the only army I seriously collected for many years.  When I started playing Warhammer 40k in the early/mid 1990's everything and its dog was painted red and the pansies in blue were only just starting to become popular.  I was only 8, and as a consequence I jumped on the big red bandwagon.  I still have around 4000 points of marines, in various states of painting (most still white, if I'm honest) and given my recent decline in enthusiasm for Guard in 40k I decided to break them out and see what the latest codex could offer. 

My last post was on using Grey Knights as an army of two halves.  I wondered whether a resilient portion of a list could survive turn one and/or two, disrupting the enemy enough for a very hard hitting second wave to deep strike in successfully.  In that post, I touched on the fact that the Blood Angels may also be able to use this strategy, thanks mostly to their 'Descent of Angels' rule.  This rule states that any unit with a jump pack may re-roll reserve dice and may use one less dice when determining deep strike scatter.  This is most often used by armies consisting entirely of jump packs, but these armies are too hit and miss for me.  I want something with a little more firepower, consistency, and staying power. 

UKGT: Killswitch's Ideas

So we have Mr Venerable talking about wolves for the UKGT, so what do I use?

Well I could keep it under wraps, but seeing as its such a big tourney, I care little for whether someone knows what I’m taking or not. The chances of playing me are rather slim, and if someone really wants to build their list to beat mine, go for it :P!

Anyways, onto the selection? Well my Imperial Guard army is completely painted, and My marine chapter is undercoated and not fully built. Well since we are having an SoS outing, I would feel a bit silly taking the same codex as Ven. He hasn’t decided yet by the looks of things, so Im going to write out a few lists and pick one out.

My first choice is Guard as it means I wont have to paint up anything. Here is what I have in mind:

Vendetta Conversion/Scratchbuild (6)

Hello everyone, and welcome, once again, to my Tuesday hobby post.   Today, I am tired.  This is because last Thursday I had a job interview.  An hour after I finished the interview i got a call.  I started yesterday.  This meant I was extremely glad I did so much painting last week, because otherwise I would never have had my army ready for the tournament this weekend!  While I am extremely grateful to have a job at last, it is going to mean much less time for 40k, so don’t be surprised to see a little less of me until things get adjusted.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings and on with today’s post.  This is the final part of my guide to converting a Vendetta Gunship.  Find the rest here.  Today I will do a quick run-through of the interior. 

Vendetta Conversion/Scratchbuild (5)

Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to the penultimate instalment of this guide to the creation of my Vendetta gunships.  Today's post will again be picture heavy, and fairly extensive, because it deals with the creation of the rotors.  These are entirely fabricated from plasticard and as such require a more detailed explanation.

Now, the design of these rotors owes much to another individual.  This guy is one of the greatest scratch builders I have yet discovered on the interweb.  His name is Klaus and he builds, sculpts and paints to an incredible standard.  In fact, his skill is matched only by his imagination.  I believe he has a few blogs, but the one I follow is called DEI GRECI, and can be found here.  My inspiration for these rotors comes from his own VTOL gunship, the Charon, which can be found here.  That link is to the completed diorama, if you search a little you will find his own rotor construction post. 

Anyway, without further ado, here is how i did it.