Chaos Suckz - Grey Knights Rulz!! New Army List Ideas

After a fairly successful run with the Wolves + Guard over the last 3-4 tournaments, I am looking to try out a new army. Now I was all about Chaos, but the codex, simply put, does not fulfil any of my high expectations.

Abbadon feeling much like many CSM players right now..

Chaos Sucks...Right?

Now don’t get me wrong, there is some strong options and potential combinations within the book, however I am one of those players who does not like taking extreme lists without a measure of balance to take on all comers. Chaos is, unfortunately, not balanced. Their weakness? Shit troops..

I have tried time & time again to build a list with a strong push, solid fire support & still retain a strong scoring presence, but I am struggling. There is always a lack of mobility if I take too many troops, or a lack of scoring if I take too many hard hitters (which there are plenty of).

The Troops in 6^th are the forefront of most codex’s, and to be honest, I hate the troops for Chaos.

The Marines are completely overcosted (two points less than a marine and loses ATSKNF & Combat Tactics, and two points less than a Grey Hunter who..well …I won’t go there).

Cultists? LD8 thanks to the champion, and do fuck all except hide. Seriously, they are dog shit. Guardsman are 1 point more but have the same LD, more weapon options, better armour & statline, potential to split or blob up, and can be joined by allied characters.

What is the point of this unit? Well like I said, they hide…that’s fucking it…

You can make them into zombies, and they gain Fearless, but now they are even more useless cause they can’t even hide…what..the..fuck! No going to ground makes them as good as dead. FNP? Who gives a shit, they suck.

I wont even bother going into the mark specific units, overcosted and do nothing which the rest of your army can do better. Noise marines comes close, but to get the most out of them your looking at spending a shit load of points.

No, the Chaos Codex for me is not shit, it’s just imbalanced. I hate not having reliable scoring, and since I am used to my scoring having to push for midfield, well good luck pushing squads of Chaos Marines near anything. Seriously, how are you going to stop those 18 wraiths,  or those gargoyles with FNP after your T and STR has been reduced to two? Well Spawn and Havos surely? Oh wait, not I don’t have any fucking troops…

Basically, this rant is pure and utter hatred for the codex, but I do hope someone has fun with it!

Ok So What About The New Lists?

Now this post is getting on and I haven’t even gone into what I want to use next . Well after some consideration I am leaning towards Grey Knights, unless someone convinces me Blood Angels can work. But then again Dark Angels are just around the corner, so maybe I should just wait?

I’ve fiddled around with mysel...I mean...some list ideas, and this is what I am up with at the moment, thoughts & criticisms are taken into account, even if you’re horribly wrong.

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

England Heading Off To The ETC 2012

Just a quick post by myself. Finalising everything here before my trip with the England lads to the ETC.

The  army is ready, the flights are paid for and the train is waiting, all that’s left is to claim gold!

Much testing has been had in preparation for this years ETC and to be honest, it hasn’t been easy. With the release of 6^th I have had to keep well away from playing any games and keep my focus on 5^th (the ETC decided on playing 5^th as 6^th was released a little late).

For those unaware, this years England 40k ETC team is:

Josh Roberts (Captain)- Grey Knights

Alex Harrison (Me!) – Space Wolves

Courtney Rhodes – Orks

Peter Cooke – Blood Angels

Paul Burke – Black Templars

Rob Sims – Necrons

Nathan Roberts – Dark Eldar

Dave Symcox – Imperial Guard

Rob Madely – 9^th Spare Player/Coach

Now this team’s perhaps one of our best, toughest compositions which I feel represents our country well. I am certainly proud to call these lads my team mates.

Our first round match up is Greece, and we have done enough preparation to feel very confident going into this match.

Just for reference, here is the list I am taking this year which has been through plenty of variations & playtesting as many of you may know:

PLAYER 6: Alex Harrison
ARMY DESCRIPTION: Space Wolves

HQ1: Rune Priest (100), Jaws of the World Wolf (0), Living Lightning (0), Chooser of the Slain (10) [110]

Elite1: Lone Wolf (20), Terminator Armour (25), Chain Fist (25), Storm Shield (15) [85]
Elite2: Lone Wolf (20), Terminator Armour (25), Chain Fist (25), Storm Shield (15) [85]
Elite3: 10 Wolf Guard (180), Transport1 [395]
Wolf Guard A: Combi-Plasma (5), Combi-Melta (5)
Wolf Guard B: Combi-Plasma (5), Combi-Melta (5)
Wolf Guard C: Combi-Plasma (5), Combi-Melta (5)
Wolf Guard D: Combi-Melta (5)
Wolf Guard E: Power Fist (20), Combi-Melta (5)
Wolf Guard F: Power Fist (20), Combi-Melta (5)
Wolf Guard G: Power Fist (20), Combi-Melta (5)
Wolf Guard H: Power Fist (20), Combi-Melta (5)
Wolf Guard I: Power Fist (20), Combi-Melta (5)
Wolf Guard J: Terminator Armour (15), Cyclone Missile Launcher (30), Power Fist (10)

Troop1: 6 Grey Hunters (90), Meltagun (5), Wolf Standard (10), Transport2 [105]
Troop2: 6 Grey Hunters (90), Meltagun (5), Wolf Standard (10), Transport3 [105]
Troop3: 6 Grey Hunters (90), Meltagun (5), Wolf Standard (10), Transport4 [105]
Troop4: 6 Grey Hunters (90), Meltagun (5), Wolf Standard (10), Transport5 [105]
Troop5: 6 Grey Hunters (90), Meltagun (5), Wolf Standard (10), Transport6 [105]
Troop6: 5 Grey Hunters (75), Flamer (5) [75]

HS1: 5 Long Fangs (75), 4 Missile Launchers (40) [115]
HS1: 5 Long Fangs (75), 4 Missile Launchers (40) [115]
HS1: 5 Long Fangs (75), 4 Missile Launchers (40) [115]

Transport1: Rhino (35), Dozer Blade (5), Elite3 [40]
Transport2: Rhino (35), Dozer Blade (5), Troop1 [40]
Transport3: Rhino (35), Dozer Blade (5), Troop2 [40]
Transport4: Rhino (35), Dozer Blade (5), Troop3 [40]
Transport5: Rhino (35), Troop4 [35]
Transport6: Rhino (35), Troop5 [35]

[TOTAL POINTS - 1,850]

Wish us luck & I shall update you all on my return! 

Killswitch

War Of The Roses 2012 Tournament & ETC Update

Afternoon gents, just a quick post regarding the new War Of The Roses 40k Tournament held on May 12th & 13th. First of all I’d like to take this moment in saying the title was chosen by moi therefore it’s obviously set to be an awesome event…end of.

So on a serious note, this will be the first England ETC tournament held at Maelstrom Games. The format will follow a basic 1850pt limit seen at the ETC with Special Characters allowed. To be honest, instead of me blabbering away, why not go check out the rules pack for yourself and the forum found HERE.

All details including the sign ups can be found on that forum, and it’s already half full so be quick to get your spaces before it’s too late!! The more chumps for us ETC players to beat on, the better hahaha.

On a side note, I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome our 3 last members of the England squad:

-Dave Symcox, also known for his epic Blog of awsomeness 40kuk.com
-Peter Cooke the ugly troll, also known for owning the notorious club of Brighton Warlords.
- Last but certainly not the smallest, Nathan Roberts the 'Fat Angry Ginger Geek', also from the 40kuk team.

Great to have you lady’s on the team and will be sure to have a blast with plenty of booze and new brides to be in Poland.

FOR ENGLAND!

UK Masters Day 1

So, what happened at the Masters? Was certainly a hard weekend of gaming, with some of the best players around the UK pitted against one another. The way the system works is the winner gains 15 points, the lose 5, and draw 10 each. Then VP difference gives or deducts between 0-5 points depending on the difference.

For those wandering, the lists can be found HERE stolen for Kirby's blog like a boss ;)

I took a fairly strange pick, both army lists I had never used before, but fancied something a bit different and challenging from the norm. Was also hoping to catch a few players off guard, but I think that happened only once in my games (see bellow).

So a quick recap of my games:

UK Masters 2012

Wow, it’s been a while I have completely forgotten how to structure these posts. Not that I ever have a structure, I tend to blabber out whatever is on my mind to the public and sit back and see whether anyone makes anything of it. So I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas & New Year, I know I certainly did.
10 days in Jamaica over Christmas, followed by an epic drinking session in town for New years Eve which was ended at some randomers house party. Was certainly entertaining but now life is back to normal and I guess I should start discussing 40k.

A new Year tends to mean a new start right? Is this the case for me and my 40k career? Well yes and no. Over the past two years I have attended a large number of events, tournaments, GT’s and local store events. The outcome has seen me take home a fair few prizes, meet some amazing players & people, and learnt a lot about my own play style. This has led me to the conclusion that, people are free to take an army off blogs tike this, but try design it to your own playstyle. Not every Space Wolf army needs to be a las/plas spam fest or MSU approach, I found out myself that personally a proper 8 man GH unit perfoms best. This is what practicing does, it helps you develop your own type of build and you learn more as you go a long. Even my self who has plenty of events under my belt always learns something new and different, so be open minded.

Anyways, enough blabbering, what shall we discuss today? Well I want to first inform you of my plans for this year and what I will be doing for all of you. I have kept saying time and time again I will do a bat rep for this, or a tactica covering this and that, but I never seem to get a chance to sit down and produce it. Then at events, the one thing I always forget to take is my camera, and when I do, I forget to take the picture etc. So time for a change and more preparation.

I promise to provide as much as I can in how my games go and how I play to provide some assistance to those who wish to learn, find new tips or simply interested to see what’s happening around the UK events...

2012 Tournaments & England ETC

Venerable Brother takin' a victory stroll!!

Seems Ven’s done it again, snagged another 1 day tourney in the bag, well done mate, done the blog proud! You show those underdogs how we roll lol!
Next on the list will be Caledonian Uprising for us, so hopefully Andy (Venerable) grabbed a spot for that.

So what did I get up to this weekend? Well I can’t say too much, since the whole point of it was to test new builds for the England ETC. However, to say the least it was very productive. Now we have opened up the team to the public, we are seeing more players apply, and this gives us a large branch of capable players to choose from.

The next two players for the 2012 ETC England team will be selected and announced by the end of this week. Both of these players will of show capable and flexible play over the last year, dedication to show themselves at a vast ange of tournaments, and are currently ranked within the top 16 of Rankings.

Why do we do this even though Rankings is potentially a flawed system you ask? Well even though that is the somewhat true (I am far from 3rd best player in the country for example), we use it as a basis to derive data from. It shows us commitment of playes to attend a vast amount of tournaments, and in these tournaments they are doing well. We tend to look at which tournaments they attend and what other players are at attendance. For example, attending the X Legion tournament down south, while a great fun tournament, is no where near the level of play as Caledonian for example.

To this end, to get into the top 16 players, a player has to show his playability and commitment to tournament play. The England team after all is a large commitment, so we like to select players who travel a lot and are committed to playing their A game at a national level.

Anyways, back to tournaments....

Mephiston - He's Still A Pimp

He is a god. No one can stand before his might. Yes, Mephiston is everyone’s lover boy, but how does he fare nowadays?

Onslaught Weekend Tournament

Off to Onslaught this weekend, 1750pt 5 game tournament up in Bristol. Just about to trek it on a 4 and a half hour journey which I am not looking forward to. I shall be taking my Blood Angels for this, which is completely new to me. Should be good fun, with lots of competition.

With 22 out of 50 Grey Knight players at attendance, this will be perhaps the most GK swamped event I have so far had the pleasure of attending. I am sure these lists will come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, sow ill be interesting to see how my list fares.

After using Grey Knights and having some fairly solid results & success, I have the slight advantage of how Grey Knights will be played. I have therefore created a list with this in mind. Yes this list isn’t the “be all end all of Grey Knights”, as I have to consider overall balance as well.

Here is the list:

Mephiston
2x Sanguine Priests with Combi meltas & Lightning claws
1x Sanguine Preist with CCW & BP
1x 5 Assault Marines with Meltagun, Lightning Claw & Infurnus pistol in a Razorback with Twin-linked Heavy flamer & Dozer blades.
2x 5 Assault Marines with Meltagun & Infurnus pistol in a Razorback with Twin-linked Heavy flamer & Dozer blades.
2x 5 Assault Marines with Meltagun & Infurnus pistol in a Razorback with Twin-linked Heavy flamer.
2x 1 Attack Bike with Multi-melta.
3x 5 Devastators with Rocket Launchers. One unit has a Dedicated Razorback with Twin-linked Heavy Flamer & Dozer blades.

So the point of this list is to rush forward using the bodies of FNP marines to help drive my opponent out of their vehicles through the use of durability and melta fire. The Heavy flamers and Mephiston then set to destroy the MSU units which we regularly see in GK armies. Heavy Flamers are also great at getting rid of those pesky henchman squads.

Turn one would be nice, but not necessary as I can hog cover, whilst still storming forward 18 inches. The benefit of the Psychic hood from Meph helps with those pesky Fortitudes and other power. Attack bikes are great in these types of armies as they have the vehicles to cover their advance, creating your own fire lanes.

I would prefer Predator support as they would not only give me a few more armoured hulls, but the manoeuvrability and AV 13 screening which is necessary in some games. However, I don’t own the models and have plenty of Rocket Launcher Devs from my Space Wolf army. FNP Devs are always something to fear, as they are a huge pain to get rid of for some armies.

Ill try get some coverage if I can, the problem is I have no experience with this army so may be concentrating on all my games. Wish me luck

Killswitch

Adepticon Championships 2012 - Team England Challenges you!

Adepticon Championships 2012 is held April 19th through the 22nd in what is perhaps the biggest warhammer scene on the planet, America. With events spanning over 200 players at any given time, the Americans know how to hold events, and Adepticon is from what I hear, the biggest.

This event will see thousands of Hobbyists and gamers come together to compete, paint, and learn in the many seminars and tournaments held over the week, with over 10 game systems in play. I have always wanted to head over and attempt my luck at one of Americas largest events, and wasn’t too sure on which would be a hot choice. I was convinced after seeing the actual scale and effort put into the effort, and the interesting ways it runs.

First, everyone has to grab a weekend bade. This nets you a goody bag, which last year had some awesome stuff including new Warmachine models, key chains and lighter pens. You then have a look at the extensive activities available on the Thursday through to the Sunday, from 40k to Malifaux tournaments, and the Crystal Brush award, similar to the UK’s Golden Daemon, but from what I hear has a whopping cash prize to the winner (think in the region of thousands). It’s going to be a great event, and I am fortunate enough to have the available funds (at this point in time) to go. I’ve already grabbed my weekend pass, 40k Tournament championships & the 40k Team tournament tickets.

The 40k Championship sees 256 games pitted against one another on the Friday morning, playing 4 games over the day at 1850pts. The top 16 players from these players (yes 16 out of 256) get to play in the finals on the Sunday, where then you will play against the other top players over 4 games. I think if this has to be the biggest tournament I would ever attend, and it’s certainly exciting to say the least. I’d love to get a feel for American gameplay, which I’m sure is a completely different playing field to the UK. After playing the Yanks at the ETC, I’m happy to say that not only are they great players, but great hobbyists. What fantastic armies they had.

The 40k Team Tournament sees teams of 4 play against each other. I’m not sure how this will work this year, but either way I’m sure it will be great. Me and Allen El Sour (a great player who played for the England ETC player this year with Orks) are currently participating in this event as a team, representing Team England. Hoping for more of you to join us, as we currently have the team ticket but not the 4 players.

Travelling to America has it’s benefits. Ontop of gaming, we get to enjoy the lovely spring sun, American food & booze, women and massive shopping malls. I’m sure I can handle that for a week. Not sure on the total costs for this “Holiday” but I’m sure it wont be cheap haha.

So that’s it, Team England heading off to the sunny costs of America to war-game, why not eh? Should be a laugh and I’m thoroughly excited. If anyone else is interested in participating, have a look here:

http://www.adepticon.org/

Please feel free to contact me on alexflyf(at)hotmail.co.uk if you wish to travel with us and sort out hotel arrangements etc.

Cheers,
Killswitch

England ETC Recruitment

As promised, here is the message regarding this years ETC recruitment procedure. This is from the captain of the team, Josh Roberts:

"Hi Everyone,The interest for the ETC in the UK has been growing so much recently, with coverage on Rankings HQ, 40kuk and 11th Company, as well as general discussion on the forums and at tournaments, more and more people are aware of what the ETC is, and the best thing is more and more people want to get involved.
This year I have the great honour of being Captain for the English 40k team. In this thread I want to just go into a bit of detail how to apply for the English team, as well as what is expected from an ETC player.

The event this year is in Poland on the weekend 18/19 August 2012.

To compete at the ETC we take a team of 8 players, each using a different army, playing against some of the best players from all over Europe and beyond. Selecting a team is no easy task, as there are so many great players in the UK to choose from. To help ensure the best team is chosen we have a selection system in place, the system works as follows:

The Team Captain is on the Team.

He then picks two players from the top five of the Rankings. This selection for this was done on Friday (07/10/11).The two players chosen were Alex Harrison and Chris Green. So including myself this means that the players ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the Rankings at the moment are all on the team this year.

These two players then form an advisory committee for the Captain; they help him to select the next two players, which must be selected from the top 16 in the Rankings by the 15/12/11.

Then the final three players can be selected from anywhere, they can feature in the Rankings, but equally they don’t have to be on the system at all. The last three players will be selected by the 31/01/12.

The aim of this selection system is to make it more transparent how you can get on to the English team, while still allowing the flexibility to pick the strongest team, especially taking into consideration the fact 8 different armies need to be played to a high level to compete.

If you are interested in applying to play on the Team then you will need to email me at

ETCUK@hotmail.co.ukIn order to have a realistic chance to be selected for the team you should be:

• A regular tournament player on the UK scene
• Be English
• Have a reasonable track record in tournaments
• If selected be willing to play any army, this is key considering how the ETC works.
• Be willing to take said army/race to events despite any detriment on rankings or personal glory
• Have the time to commit to playing practice games, partaking in discussions on an ETC forum, email and phone, keep up with all the ETC FAQs etc.
• Be able to spend around £600 – £1000 in the year on the ETC and associated events.
• Be able to attend the Home Nations event at the end of April at Maelstrom.
• Be a team player, able to put the result of the team ahead of your own personal result at the event.

I know it is a big commitment going for a place on the English team, but if you feel you can commit to the above list I really do recommend you email me, as in my opinion the ETC is the best 40k event of the year without question.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks
Josh"

As you can see, we are trying to make it more transparent for all those interested in playing for their country next year in Poland. So for anyone interested, send an email over to Josh as stated above :)

Cheers,
Killswitch

Starsmash 2011 Tournament Report - Part 2

Sorry for the delay of this guys, been extremely hectic at home with work, Gym and trying to get the Ex back :(. Appologies for the lack of images, I completely forgot and was too tired to remember.

So onto Day 2 of this years Starsmash 2011 Tournament report. We (Brighton Warlords) arrived fairly early, filled with a “fresh” breakfast straight from the local McDonalds. I unleashed hell in the bathroom before the tabletop after this, but lets just say I was more than happy with releasing such a god like log. I would have left it for all to praise but thought it may offend some of those lesser men amongst us.

So onto the round 4.

Starsmash 2011 Tournament Report

I attended the Starsmash tournament at the weekend. Still recovering from the sleepless nights, hence the late post. Starsmash was a 1500pt tournament held in Reading by the one and only Reading Spiky Club. These boys are great at organising events, ranging from doubles to campaign weekends, they hold all sorts of different types of tournaments every year. I could not recommend them any less, so if you are planning to attend any tournaments in the coming year around London, keep your eye on the Spiky lads who post up their events on the Warhammer forums (warhammer.org.uk).

The tournament used Battle point’s on top of the usual win/draw/loss format. 30 pts for a win, 10 for a draw, 1 for a loss. Battle points were fairly simple, 2 points for killing the most expensive HQ, 2 points for killing the most expensive non HQ unit & 2 points for having a scoring unit closer to the tables centre than your opponent.

So onto the event....

ETC Game 1

Day 1 Game 1 – Switzerland

Sorry but I didn't manage any pics game 1 due to my phone running out of battery :(!
Pre match ups saw us pitted against the Nation holding the ETC this year, Switzerland.
We were all rather worried about this round as we were a man down and therefore 20-0 in scoring down before the round has begun. This didn't destroy our spirits but certainly hurt our chances of winning the round.
 I was put forward second and as expected, they put the dual raider chaos army against me.
Expected you ask? Well the mission was Kill points – spearhead as primary (worth 8points), capture & control seconday (worth 4 points).
He got to choose the table and choose a fairly balanced board with a few trees, ruins, hills and bits of LOS blocking terrain for rhinos which was useful for me if I could advance.
To do this I would need first turn.............

Killswitch's ETC Report Part 1

Apologies for leaving this so late. I have been awfully busy with my return to real life that I have had very little spare time. So as you all know, I attended the European Team Championships (ETC) in Switzerland – Montreux. I was elected as England’s Space Wolves player which I was very pleased about, and couldn’t be any happier than to represent the sons of Russ at one of largest 40k tournaments in the world.

Now before I start my epic long ramblings about how I did etc, I just want to give you all a brief description of the ETC Experience. I will be dedicating this post just for that, and you will all have to wait patiently for the bat reps themselves I’m afraid! I feel it is a large part of the event, and I should at least give it the justice it deserves.

Travel

So I wake up at 5am to the loud squawking of my bed side alarm clock. The birds are chirping, the seagulls are bomb diving the neighbours and my army is still loitering around the house being thrown around by my two mischievous kittens. I've had a good 5 hours sleep, 2 cups of coffee and I’m raring to go.

I set off and arrive at Dover, only to be told that the rest of the England team is running late, and they certainly were. I was left standing around for a good hour and 15 minutes before my transport arrived. We missed our first ferry, but were lucky enough to grab another one not too long after we arrived at the docks. Seventeen hours and 4 pit stops later, we arrived at Montreux.

Killswitch Is Off To The ETC

So It's that time. The night before the trip to the ETC. Pretty nervous, more so due to the fact that the journey will take around 12 hours in total (we are driving! I know right..hardcore).

Really excited, and should be a great time. Seems there is also a change to the team. Due to unfortunate circumstances James Ramsay, our Nid player, has had to drop out last minute. Luckily we had a trusty Northerner to fill in the slot. In comes Courtney Rhodes with his Black Templars. Not entirely sure as to what he will be taking, but expect something similar to what he usually brings :)

Ill be there with my Wolves which have been painted over the last 2-3 weeks and STILL not finished (I'm a slow painter, sue me). For those of you who don't know, here is a recap of the list I am taking:

Space Wolves

HQ 1: Rune Priest (100) Chooser of the Slain (10) Jaws of the World Wolf (0) Living Lightning (0) – [110]

Elites 1: Dreadnought (105) Twin-linked Autocannon (10) Twin-linked Autocannon (10) – [125]
Elites 2: Dreadnought (105) Twin-linked Autocannon (10) Twin-linked Autocannon (10) – [125]
Elites 3: 5 Wolf Guard (90) 4 Combi-meltas (20) 3 Power Fists (60), 1 Terminator Armour (15), Cyclone (30) – [215]

Troops 1: 7 Grey Hunters (105) 1 Meltagun (5) 1 Wolf Standard (10) – [120]
Troops 2: 7 Grey Hunters (105) 1 Meltagun (5) 1 Wolf Standard (10) – [120]
Troops 3: 6 Grey Hunters (90) 1 Meltagun (5) 1 Wolf Standard (10) – [105]
Troops 4: 5 Grey Hunters (75) 1 Meltagun (5) – [80]

Heavy Support 1: 6 Long Fangs (90) 5 Missile Launchers (50) – [140]
Heavy Support 2: 6 Long Fangs (90) 5 Missile Launchers (50) – [140]
Heavy Support 3: 6 Long Fangs (90) 5 Missile Launchers (50) – [140]

Transport 1: Rhino (35) Transports Troops 1 – [35]
Transport 2: Rhino (35) Transports Troops 2 – [35]
Transport 3: Rhino (35) Transports Troops 3 – [35]
Transport 4: Razorback (40) Lascannon & Twin-linked Plasma Gun (35) Transports Heavy Support 1 – [75]
Transport 5: Razorback (40) Lascannon & Twin-linked Plasma Gun (35) Transports Heavy Support 2 – [75]
Transport 6: Razorback (40) Lascannon & Twin-linked Plasma Gun (35) Transports Heavy Support 3 – [75]

Sorry about the format, standard ETC layout :). I will try take a good few pics on my phone, so don't expect the best quality. I hear there will be lots of coverage over on rankingshq.com and people will be posting via Twitter and the warhammer.org.uk forums, so keep your eyes peeled for those interested.

Anyways, It's time for my well deserved nap. Wish me luck!!

Killswitch

Back From Solent 40k Tournament

Just got back home after a great weekend. Thoroughly enjoyed my 6 games against top opponents. I will be writing up a Battle rep at some point for the lot in one go or maybe over two posts. Depends if I can be bothered lol.

I took my Grey Knights, which is slightly tougher to play with at 1500pts, and I also took a strange list. Here it is:

Coteaz: 100pts

5x Purifiers: 199pts
2 Psycannons, 2 Halberds, 1 Hammer. Razorback with Twin-linked Heavy bolter & Psybolts.
5x Purifiers: 199pts
2 Psycannons, 2 Halberds, 1 Hammer. Razorback with Twin-linked Heavy bolter & Psybolts.

5x Strike Marines: 161pts
1x Psycannon, Razorback with Twin-linked Heavy bolter, Searchlights & Psybolts.
5x Strike Marines: 160pts
1x Psycannon, Razorback with Twin-linked Heavy bolter & Psybolts.

7x Henchmen: 107pts
3x Acolytes & 4x Psykers. Chimera with hull heavy bolter.
7x Henchmen:107pts
3 Acolytes & 4x Psykers. Chimera with hull heavy bolter.

3x Henchmen: 62pts
3x Acolytes. Razorback with Twin-linked Heavy bolter & Psybolts.

Dreadnought: 135pts
Two Twin-linked Autocannons & Psybolts.
Dreadnought: 135pts
Two Twin-linked Autocannons & Psybolts.
Dreadnought: 135pts
Two Twin-linked Autocannons & Psybolts.

Total: 1500pts

Yeah boy, Psykers in there aswell. How did they fare? Not too bad, almost always made their points back. Only had to kill like 2-3 marines after all lol. It really is a feeble list in comparison to the 1750 list, but still none the less it's relatively solid.

Played against 2 Dark Eldar players, 1 Space marine, 1 Grey Knight & 2 Blood Angels (Mephiston of course). Great time and would certainly recommend it to those who live nearby by for a solid 40 man tourney (well 37 in this case...nice one DAMIAN lol).

Oh and I came 1st for those wandering :) Won a KR Alluminium Multi-case & a Battle force of my choosing. Sweet :D

Killswitch

Do You Build With The Objectives In Mind?

I’d like to put this out there as I still see a lot of people trying to kill their opponent and forget about the mission. The mission wins you games, more so than creating an army list to destroy your opponent. This coincides with army building, as each unit should have something clear to do. Many people skip this forward thinking phase, in search of more powerful codex choices.

Let me go through a few examples which I have picked up on. Venerable Brother took a fairly solid looking wolf list to Brighton Warlords. Now I take nothing of this away from him, but did he consider every mission when building his list? Well he has plenty of scoring units for Seize Ground, s decent amount of tough Killpoints, but what about Capture & Control? We all know at the end of the day you need a decent section of your force sitting on your objective, but you wouldn't want a fairly expensive troop unit hiding on it all game do you? To this end, army design must take this into consideration. One unit of 5 Grey hunters in a Razorback could have done this for example.

Another is mech Guard. I have see time and time against a Guard army sitting backs hooting me to death, whilst I calm sit on objectives. I aim for units which can affect my scoring units ability to sit on the objectives, and by the end of the game I have won simply because I have more objectives than him. It’s not about me rolling more dice than him; it’s the fact that I positioned my army in accordance with the mission.

Similar to Venerable Brother, I faced a chaos army who had 3 large scoring units. Two of which were 7 man Plague marines, the other Berserkers. He had to reduce the effectiveness of his army by keeping a whole unit of 200+pt Plague marines on his home objective in Capture and Control just because he had to. The list therefore lacks the ability to win every mission.

One great example, which although isn’t very sporting, is taking one killpoint from your opponent then hiding. A Decent of Angels list can do this very well, dropping one or two tough units to take a killpoint or two on his opponent’s flanks, then hiding behind line of sight blocking terrain the rest of the game. Is this a fun game? Of course not, but is he playing the mission? Well yes. This is one of the many examples why Killpoints is a flawed system but I won’t go into that.

Now each of these examples show different yet common situations which many players face. Have you ever considered taking perhaps a weaker option just to take on board the missions whom you are expected to find at a tournament? I, for example, wrote a very mech Blood Angel list. 4 Razorback assault squads to push forward with 2 Honor guard squads with Librarians, and 3 Predators laying down firepower. Now in a Capture and control mission, do I really want to leave one of my 165pt built to rush Assault squads sitting on the back field doing nothing? If they were a cheaper and couldn't contribute, I’d consider it, but they aren’t. To that end, I added a 90 point scout squad with camo cloaks & sniper rifles. Some people will look at the unit and say, hey don’t they suck? Well yes, but they are also a great utility in Objective missions. But they suck in Killpoint mission’s right? Well to some extent, but for 90 points I can simply pop them in reserve and hid them, go to ground and have done with it. Other armies do this such as taking a 3 man henchman unit in a razorback for Grey Knights. Lots of armies can do this, but not many people consider it.

I personally never build a list without at least one home objective sitter, but I give them something to contribute. I don’t like to see a unit do nothing. If I foresee that the unit will tend to take a backfield presence, I will equip them with some sort of long range weapon. Be it a Cyclone wolf guard for my 5 man Grey Hunter unit, or a Las/Plas Razorback for that 3 man Henchman squad, I have something to provide support to the rest of my army, without effectively wasting points.

I’d love to hear how you all build your lists. Do you take into consideration common missions, be it Nova style or straight from the rulebook, or do you simply follow advice on the internet and take a list that looks good on paper?

Killswitch

Killswitch Improves His Grey Knight List

So after the fun of Brighton and a few test games there after on vassal and at my LGS, I've made a few changes to my list.
I have been thinking a bit now and the very basics of the list design is very strong. As a matter of speaking, It’s more my playstyle which lead me to make a few mistakes during some of my games.
I think this is normal as it’s a fairly new army which needs plenty of practice to get it right. Different setups, missions and armies meant I was a little confused as what to do.

A big example of this was my game against Necrons. I wouldn’t say I misjudged my opponent or his army, but my approach. I though I could simply sit back and out shoot, which looking back…I could of. However the dice were fickle and after seeing a nNightbringer take 18 wounds in 1 round of shooting and taking only 2 wounds, I began to realize that was a big mistake. This is a game of dice, but tactical decions dictate the outcome overall, so perhaps I should have been more aggressive in that game.

Other games showed me that I simply cannot kill AV 14 at range. This means I either have to sacrifice some of my tanks to block it off which only works 50% of the time, or rely on a few lucky psycannon shots, which also rarely works. So here is my revised list with a detailed overview underneath:

Nova Style Tourney in the UK?

I have, for a long time, only ever played 1750pt Armies or less at Tournaments or in friendly games. Recently, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my friends over at Oxford Gaming Club will be hosting their first of hopefully many 2 day 40k events. So what makes this one different? Well for a start its going to be 2000pts which is very unique for a UK 40k Tourney. This alone was very surprising, but what made it extra special was the fact that they will be using the renowned NOVA format produced by MVB over at whiskey & 40k