Orks vs. Tyranids: Which do you think is the strongest list?

Posted on April 16, 2011 by ChaosGerbil

One of my hobbies is playing around with Army builder, trying to min max while keeping my lists full of variety. I like variety because it is usually more fun to play with and against.

I still try to keep in mind the concepts of redundancy and saturation as you need a resilient force.

I have been reading some of the codex reviews over at 3++ is the New Black and finding useful information. It inspired me to tinker with more army lists.

Last TSHFT I did not bring Snikrot, and it was a huge mistake. Without him several of my opponents were able to castle effectively and it accounted for my 2 losses and draw. I noticed in a comment on 3++ the idea to add IC’s to Snikrot’s unit. How awesome would it be to drop in a full Kommando squad with 2 Power Klaws in it? I am being risky with this list and taking a Warboss and Mad Doc Grotsnik, which will drop in an opponenet’s backfield. Since they are ICs I could choose to attach them to Boyz squads or the Meganobz trukk if need be.

2000 Pts – Codex: Orks Roster

1 Warboss @ 100 pts (Bosspole; Cybork Body; Power Klaw;

Shoota/Skorcha Kombi-weapon)
1 Mad Dok Grotsnik @ 160 pts
14 Kommandos @ 255 pts (Burna x2)
1 Boss Snikrot

12 Lootas @ 180 pts

12 Lootas @ 180 pts

3 Killer Kans @ 150 pts (Rokkit Launcha x3)

3 Killer Kans @ 130 pts (Grotzooka x2; Skorcha x1)

2 Warbuggies @ 70 pts
(Twin Linked Rokkit Launcha)

10 Gretchin @ 40 pts
1 Runtherd

19 Boyz @ 170 pts (Big Shoota x2)
1 Boyz Nob (Bosspole; Power Klaw)

19 Boyz @ 170 pts (Big Shoota x2)
1 Boyz Nob (Bosspole; Power Klaw)

19 Boyz @ 170 pts (Big Shoota x2)
1 Boyz Nob (Bosspole; Power Klaw)

4 Meganobz @ 225 pts (Count as Troop Troops; Cybork Body;

Shoota/Skorcha Kombi-weapon x2)
1 Trukk


I am really liking this latest Nid list, and it will be an inspiration to paint my unfinished bugs. It is a showcase of Tyranid killing power combined with some dangerous troops in decent numbers. It will most likely fold to Grey Knights but should be a strong contender against other lists.

1999 Pts – Tyranids Roster

1 Tyranid Prime @ 95 pts (Lash Whip & Bonesword)

1 Tervigon @ 175 pts (Cluster Spines; Catalyst)

10 Termagant Brood @ 50 pts

3 Tyranid Warrior Brood @ 105 pts (Deathspitter)

7 Genestealer Brood @ 119 pts (Toxin Sacs)

15 Hormagaunt Brood @ 150 pts (Adrenal Glands; Toxin Sacs)

15 Hormagaunt Brood @ 150 pts (Adrenal Glands; Toxin Sacs)

1 The Doom of Malan’tai @ 140 pts (Mycetic Spore)
1 Mycetic Spore (Cluster Spines)

3 Hive Guard Brood @ 150 pts

3 Zoanthrope Brood @ 180 pts

1 Tyrannofex @ 295 pts (Rupture Cannon; Cluster Spines; Thorax

Swarm (larvae); Regeneration)

1 Trygon @ 210 pts (Adrenal Glands)

1 Mawloc @ 180 pts (Adrenal Glands)

Please let me know which you think is the stronger list, or if you have any specific quibbles.

Posted in 40K Model Photos, Army Lists, Orks, Tyranids, Warhammer 40K | 5 Comments

The Elect of Magnus model list / army list brainstorming

Posted on April 11, 2011 by ChaosGerbil

I have decided that I really want to win both best overall (category A) and player’s choice for appearance at the next tshft. There is normally a pool of about 20 players, almost all who are veterans of the hobby.

I’m going to need durable, versatile troops; plenty of good shooting; and decent cc ability. Utility would be nice too. Now that Tony just won his second major event in a row with Space Wolves I am ready to give mine another shot. Last time I took an untested list that had serious flaws, and lost 3 games out of 5. This time around I want to win 4 games.

The Elect are mutated Thousand Sons, “counts as” Space Wolves, and lest any accuse me of bandwagon jumping I had the idea before the codex was even released. They escaped the rubric by being in warp transit on a space hulk. I have real Space Wolves in my collection, but I just love Chaos too much.

I have been playing around with various lists trying to figure out the best combination. I also want to include some of my better conversions for the appearance goal, so I am hoping to incorporate some cavalry, TWC spawn and Fenrisian wolves.


I want some kind of fun but powerful gimmick honestly. Since he is a powerful psyker (good for theme) and since Tony has been winning with him, I have been considering Njal. He is pricey though and there is no way I could take him and Logan.

Logan unlocks wolf guard as troops, and allows for my drop pod of death idea: Logan, 6 Longfangs with 5 multimeltas, a wolf guard with whatever, and a rune priest. Another idea is 4 rune priests in a wolf guard drop pod. Massed Jaws of the World Wolf would be hilarious.

Anyways I should mention the staples. Grey hunters are in, even in a Logan army they have their place. I only have 2 razorbacks and 2 rhinos for the force, but I will most likely get a third rhino. Standard Long fangs are too beardy to be ignored. I am looking at squads with 4 missile launchers and 1 lascannon. If I do not do my drop pod of death idea I will switch up the LF sqauds to swap out a missile launcher for a multi-melta. Enough stuff comes creeping into  midfield and closer that the MM should be able to shoot, and missile launchers don’t cut it against AV 14.

I love the idea of TWC but they are really expensive. It would be great to get at least 5 in out of the 8.

I have been working my ass off on a new, HEAVILY converted rifleman style dread. I’ll try to get pics up soon. I can find a place for him in the list.

Wolf scouts are tempting and I can probably fit in a squad for 85 points.

Ultimately I have a lot of hard choices to make as to what to bring. 2000 points runs out fast for me.

Without further ado, here’s what I currently have to work with:

28 w/ bolters / bp /ccw (4 are unpainted)
4 w/ wolf standards (1 unpainted)
5 w/ meltaguns (2 are unpainted)
2 w/ flamers
4 w/ plasma guns (1 unpainted)

10 w/ missile launchers (4 are unpainted)
3 w/ lascannons
5 w/ multi-meltas (2 are unpainted)
1 w/ plasma cannon (unpainted)
2 w/ heavy bolter (1 unpainted)

2 sorcerers on flying disks
1 Ahriman
1 converted fabius bile sorceror (unpainted)
7 w/ power swords
3 w/ power fist / combi-melta
12 possessed (wolf guard or mark of wulfen, and can finish 8 more)

2 rhinos
2 razorbacks ( can run TLL, Las/Plas and one as TL asscannons)
1 vindicator
2 predators (one w/ lascannon sponsons
2-3 “land speeders” sculpted gribblies
1 rifleman style dreadnought, (unpainted)
1 land raider hull (under construction, will be a redeemer someday)

30 or so fenrisian wolves, (1 unpainted)
8 TWC, various
1 Canis proxy w/TLLC
1 sorceror lord / terminator armor
1 terminator with assault cannon / reaper autocannon
1 terminator w/ cyclone ML, chainfist, possible combi-melta
3 terminators w/ storm bolter & power weapon (unpainted)
4 bikes (unpainted, probably will be painted as slaanesh)

tons of horrors, chaos guardsmen, daemon princes, spawn, and mutants to choose from

drop pods (yet to be constructed, but I could possibly use my half painted tyranid ones)

Each grey hunter squad in a rhino would look something this:

1 meltagun
1 standard bearer
1 wolf guard with power fist and combi-melta
5 jobbers
1 mark of wulfen (or one last jobber, especially if I use the possessed models for standard wolf guard)

Each squad in a razorback would just be dirt cheap, 4 bolter bp/ccw and 1 with a flamer.

Any suggestions?

Also, I need to finish changing over to Blood of Kittens hosting, currently mirrored more or less over at http://bloodofkittens.com/chaosgerbil/. I have been lax in completing the move, like getting links updated. I just finished a new header for the BOK site and finally found a theme that works.

 

Posted in "The Elect" Thousand Sons, 40K Model Photos, Warhammer 40K | Leave a comment

I’m Back! Model Photos, TSHFT, plus a rant!

Posted on April 5, 2011 by ChaosGerbil

I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

I apologize for the long delay. Between a job as an admin, a weekly RPG, a fiance and dog, my painting and converting, and a ton of video games and TV, I just didn’t have the energy. I also ran out of the higher quality photos that my friend Rory took.  Honestly it is kind of a chore to edit every photo and still not have them come out the way I want, but I will keep at it. My model photography skills are slowly improving, although my camera is till mediocre. As of now my job is over and I am going back to school, so I’ll try my best to blog more. Look for posts about once or twice a month. Also, if you have requests I will pay attention to them. I am still planning to do a Lost and The Damned codex update within the next few weeks or months.

TSHFT Tournament

Tshft was a blast, although I had no team this time around. I was requested to bring orks by the organizer Zen, and so I brought ‘em. I didn’t finish all of my orks to the standard I wanted but I still managed to get all 50 painting points. At the last minute I decided that I wanted to include madboyz models, and instead of doing touchups on my boyz I spent one night upgrading the old pewter torsos with new plastic arms and other bits, and a night or two trying to speed-paint them to a decent standard. I knew I didn’t deserve best appearance this year, especially considering the winner’s spectacular Black Legion Chaos Marine army. I hope “the man from Idaho” return s next September so I can see how my best painted force stacks up in the minds of the public. My pirate landship battlewagon and freebootaz were well received, and I got some other life sustaining compliments. Now that I have been to several of these events I know more and more people so I was comfortable. Honestly my terrain collection saved the day, I supplied about half of the terrain for the event and I plan to bring even more next time.

After my defeats last TSHFT I was categorized in the “B”  bracket. To my surprise I took best overall for the wonderful veteran noob category, at the same time putting me back in the “A” bracket.I hadn’t played 40k since the last TSHFT so I knew things would be rough, but my boyz seldom let me down. Warboss Gorzag was slain every game on Day 1, so I brought in a Death Skull boss to replace him Day 2, and his lucky blue face turned my dice around.

Game one was a draw against castled Necrons, although since my battlewagon should have actually been destroyed instead of immobilized, I could have lost. I repaired the damage and went on to fuck up both monoliths with my deffrolla. The real problem was the Deceiver, I really had no answer to him. For some insane reason I charged him with my Nobz, only to have him float over to some shoota boyz camping on the center objective. It was still a really fun game and my opponent was quite accommodating.

Game two was short and bitter, I conceded after two or three turns of absolutely devastating tau shooting. My opponent was fine but I didn’t get to do much.

Game 3: A swarm of black templar terminators! Assault cannons and power fists all over the place! Thanks to some badly thought out objective placement, stolen initiative, and mistakes on my part, I lost game three after killing over 30 terminators midfield while 4 squads of 5 tacticals clustered on 2 board edge objectives. If I had managed to get my shoota boyz just a little close to one of my home objectives I could have tied. Really my biggest mistake was not placing my objectives close together. I did not like how the scenario allowed you to place objectives on the back board edge, but them’s the breaks.

I won game four against a risky Tyranid list that was nothing but a walking tyrant without guards, two Trygons, and a horde of vanilla and Ymgarl genestealers. The mission helped me out as both sides had to reserve half their force and roll for which half came on. My Lootas and Lobbas were untouched the whole game and shot quite well, I only lost one mob of boyz, the grot screen, a trukk, and random casualties here and there.

My last game was a win against a younger dark eldar player, who probably should have played more aggressively. My Lootas saved the day again taking out ravagers and raiders at vital times. Lilith was kicking my ass in assaults but I managed to trap her and her grenadeless blood brides with my kanz, killing her the last turn for an extra 3 battle points. The battlewagon was awesome again, I deffrollered a Raider, repaired some damage, then later went on to contest an objective last turn. We had to call it after turn 4  which was to my a dvantage, but I probably could have won a longer game the way things were going.

I was pleasantly surprised to win best in category with a 2 /2/ 1 record. At first Zen announced me as Best General in B and handed my a SM dreadnought prize, which I was happy about since my Tzeentch forces need a dread or two. He then took it back and gave me tons of orks, an amusing prize since I have around 10,000 points worth of the green fuckers! I will put them to good use though, I still need to populate my stompa after all.

List overview (not exact) (2000 points)

All basic nobs had a PK and a Bosspole. I don’t care what TKE and Stelek think, bosspoles are way too useful to leave out.

PK Warboss

KFF Mek

Battlewagon with Deffrolla, grot riggers, 2 big shootas

7  fully equipped Nobz inna trukk

2 x 20 Shoota Boyz

20 or so Slugga boyz (Madboyz on foot)

18 Slugga boyz (Freebootaz in BW)

14 grots

3 x 10 Lootas

3 Killa Kanz with rokkits

3 Big gunz (Lobbas, 2 ammo runts, runtherd)

RANT: Ok so you’re sick of grey hunters… get over it!

I see a variant of the following all too often:
“Oh geez, more of the same. A bunch of troops in transports, supported by optimal fast attack, elite and heavy support choices. What a boring netlist.” Um, what? That’s how lists are built. You have a codex and a force org chart, and need to win missions… so what is the problem with trying to make the best list you can within your restrictions? The above quote is admittedly straw mannish but it’s better than calling out individuals.

Guess what… the Space Wolf codex has but three scoring troops choices, and one requires a special character. Grey Hunters are one of the most versatile troop choices in the game, and possibly the most points efficient. Frankly, Blood Claws suck by comparison, with the possible exception of a bunch in a Land Raider… but even then, Logan enabled Wolf Guard are better. So you’re bored by Grey Hunters? Ok, then don’t bring along Ork Boyz, Tactical Marines, Dire Avengers, Genestealers, IG Vets, Necron Warriors, Plaguebearers, or any other common troop choice. I mean really, what do people expect to see from a list?

I am all for creativity, but this can be easily expressed through conversions, painting, army back story, objectives, strategy, etc. I am not one to mock people for taking unusual or subpar units because I recognize that there is more to the hobby than optimized list building. In exchange, how about the fluffier than thou segment please relent from bashing on actually good lists just because they have seen similar combinations before. Marines in Rhinos, IG in Chimeras, Eldar in Wave Serpents… yeah, that is how those forces deploy for battle in most of the fluff and most gaming tables.. Please stop thinking you are clever and original just because you don’t like someone else’s army list. Should everyone stop playing Space Wolves and Imperial Guard because they are strong and popular choices? It’s really just another kind of elitism. Honestly there is nothing wrong with someone trying out flavor of the month forces, a lot of players get excited over whatever the newest book is. Let them.

I can field Orks, Tyranids, Chaos Marines, Daemons, actual Space Wolves, Thousand Sons “count as”  Space Wolves, traitor Imperial Guard, and even some badly painted OOP Eldar. Yay me. What will I take to the next tournament? Umm, how about whatever I feel like? It will probably be my Tzeentch Wolves or Traitor Guard, two forces I have a passion for and have poured countless hours into modeling and painting. they have back stories, conversions, the works. If someone wants to tell me my army is boring or cheesy because of the codex I pick I will just have to laugh.

What will it take to satisfy the haters? An army of nothing but Coteaz and dozens of Jokaero? Let me proxy with my mutants and we’ll try it out.

PROJECTS! And more photos!

As usual I am all ADHD about my hobby and don’t focus on one army for too long. I have been converting and painting models all over the map… Right now on my desk alone I have vehicle turrets, chaos spawn riding flying discs, servitors, orks, space wolves, mutants, and various chaos marines. There’s also a bunch of clutter, tools, paints, etc. Time to clean up I guess.

Besides all the painted minis in progress, and the old ones in need of touchups, I have over one hundred models ready to be primed. Besides the 8th edition set Skaven, they are almost all converted. For example I have about 6 unpainted daemon prince projects in various states of completion. As much as I would love to dive into Grey Knights or Dark Eldar my backlogged model collection and lack of money will simply not allow it. This is what happens when you are simultaneously excited for like five different factions. I should really get organized and finish up some specific pieces so I can get them photographed before Rory moves away.

I will try to get more pics up before the month ends, stay tuned. As always, comments are welcome, even snarky ones!

 

 

 

 

Posted in "The Elect" Thousand Sons, 40K Model Photos, Hobby Articles, Orks, Space Marines, Space Wolves, Traitor Imperial Guard, TSHFT, Warhammer 40K | 2 Comments

The Elect trial list: MSU Cavalry (with lots of Tzeencthy pics)

Posted on October 26, 2010 by ChaosGerbil

The Elect Of Magnus

This first pic, like many others was taken by my friend Rory.  The other pictures below were taken somewhat hastily, I really need to make a proper lightbox.

My life has been hectic these last few weeks. I have gotten a lot done on my orks and Tzeentch chaos marines. I also have been busy converting more traitor guard and fiddling with other projects like mutated horrors and skaven.  My crazy new defiler daemon flesh-sculpt is just about done and ready for painting.

I have some ork lists to throw out there, (hopefully not to be thrown away completely) but this post is dedicated to The Elect.

Here is my latest brainstorm. Honestly it is a Stelek inspired list and I fear the high KPs (18). It should destroy a lot though. One of my favorite parts about it is that all the pieces have a very similar points cost and roughly similar threat, somewhat confusing target priority. It may be hard to play, but should be lots of fun with 9 TWC models spread out over 6 squads. I think rushing all the Cav together is the best bet, followed by Razorbacks moving 6″ towards objectives / center field while firing. The ML Long Fangs stay put, and the MM squad is my “Wildcard.” I have had enough crap rushing into me I do not think the range is a problem.

Continue reading →

Posted in "The Elect" Thousand Sons, 40K Model Photos, Army Lists, Warhammer 40K | 6 Comments

Revised List for The Elect of Magnus: Long Fangs and Wolf Guard theme

Posted on September 27, 2010 by ChaosGerbil

You can skip to the list or read my rambling overview, or both. This thing is for 2,000 points. It aims to shoot you very much, followed by charging mutated champions, very much, in your face until you are dead.

I wanted something that was competitive, fun, and reflected the nature of the army. After my lackluster results at TSHFT, I needed something that hit harder in both shooting and assaults. I hate comp points for tournaments but still wanted some fluff in this list, so the three main squads all have 9 models in them. I tried to do that for the scouts but didn’t have the points.

The plan is lots of can opening type shooting, while I rush three rhinos together at an objective (mindful of emergency exits for destroyed results). They can split up midgame if need be. The Rhinos are full of scoring and killing Wolf Guard and Grey Hunters. I will have one shooty razorback with a scoring Wolf Guard pilot who can camp objectives near my board edge. I have two spammy Long Fangs units each with 4 missile launchers, 1 lascannon, and an extra WG bullet catcher. Now the really fun unit will be based on a crazy, absurd “tactica” I wrote up about a year ago. This half baked, balls out “idea” features 5 relentless Multi-meltas drop podding down and blowing shit up, led by a counts as Logan and accompanied by a power sword wielding maniac.  A  few sneaky mutant scouts can outflank a Powerfist and melta. Two TWC will be a nice reserve unit although they are flimsy to shooting.

I really can’t wait to try this thing out. I miss my cavalry but I feel confident that this should win some games. It can kill noobs for sure, but it needs testing. I included an empty drop pod in case I need to reserve my Logan managed, multi-targeting, mobile, mutated multi-meltas unit, and I can potentially use it to block movement or be a nuisance contesting an objective.

The Elect
2000 Pts – “Space Wolves” Roster

H.Q .- Logan Grimnar, The Great Wolf @ 275 pts

ELITE – 6 Wolf Scouts Pack @ 118 pts (Sniper Rifle x1; Meltagun)

(TROOPS) – Wolf Guard Pack @ 262 pts (9 Models)
1x Wolf Guard in Power Armour (Combi-Meltagun; Power Fist)
2x Wolf Guard in Power Armour (Bolt Pistol; Power Weapon)
6x Wolf Guard in Power Armour (Bolt Pistol; Close Combat Weapon)
In Rhino (Dozer Blade, Extra Armor)

(TROOPS) – Wolf Guard Pack @ 262 pts (9 Models)
1x Wolf Guard in Power Armour (Combi-Meltagun; Power Fist)
2x Wolf Guard in Power Armour (Bolt Pistol; Power Weapon)
6x Wolf Guard in Power Armour (Bolt Pistol; Close Combat Weapon)
In Rhino (Dozer Blade, Extra Armor)

(TROOPS) – 1 Wolf Guard Pack @ 248 pts (These are all divided up into separate squads)
1 Wolf Guard in Power Armour (Combi-Meltagun x1; Power Fist x1) (Goes with Wolf scouts)
1 Wolf Guard in Power Armour (Combi-Meltagun x1; Power Fist x1) (Goes with Grey Hunters)
1 Wolf Guard in Power Armour (Bolt Pistol; Power Weapon x1) (Rides with Logan and Multi-melta long fangs in Pod)
1 Wolf Guard in Power Armour (Bolt Pistol; Close Combat Weapon) (Bullet catcher for Long fangs with MLs)
1 Wolf Guard in Power Armour (Bolt Pistol; Close Combat Weapon) (Bullet catcher for Long fangs with MLs)
1 Wolf Guard in Power Armour (Bolt Pistol; Close Combat Weapon) (The Pilot! Makes the Razorback scoring.)
“The Pilot”  rides in a Razorback (Dozer Blade; Twin Linked Lascannon)

TROOPS – 9 Grey Hunters Pack @ 215 pts (Mark of the Wulfen; Wolf Standard; Flamer;
In Rhino (Dozer Blade, Extra Armor)
FAST ATTACK – 2 Thunderwolf Cavalry @ 115 pts (One Power Weapon)

HEAVY SUPPORT – 6 Long Fangs Pack @ 175 pts (Multi-Melta x5; Squad Leader) <– Logan jumps in here to make them relentless, plus a WG.
In Drop Pod

HEAVY SUPPORT – 6 Long Fangs Pack @ 190 pts (Lascannon x1; Missile Launcher x4, Squad Leader)

HEAVY SUPPORT – 6 Long Fangs Pack @ 155 pts (Lascannon x1; Missile Launcher x4, Squad Leader)

+  Drop Pod (normally dropped empty)

Total Roster Cost: 2000

Posted in "The Elect" Thousand Sons, Army Lists, Warhammer 40K | 9 Comments

TSHFT! Success and failure!

Posted on September 9, 2010 by ChaosGerbil

TSHFT September 2010 is over! I had twice as much fun as last year, seriously. It is a small tourney that packs a mighty punch.

This post may be updated sporadically over the next couple days.

(The Elect of Tzeencth nearing completion… before the final pre-TSHFT touch ups.)

Here are some links that cover the event:

http://bloghammer.net/

http://bloodofkittens.com/2010/09/08/tournaments-a-tshft-experience/

Pictures of my army in action!

http://bloghammer.net/wp-content/gallery/tshft-2010-sep/imag0159.png

http://bloghammer.net/wp-content/gallery/tshft-2010-sep/imag0173.png

http://bloghammer.net/wp-content/gallery/tshft-2010-sep/imag0141.png

http://bloghammer.net/wp-content/gallery/tshft-2010-40k-ii-winners/rh.png

I took home Player’s choice, a goal of mine for a year now… this means best looking army, decided by the crowd. I actually earned second place to Devin and his magnificent converted clockwork army, loosely based on Girl Genius. I think that my painting was slightly better but Devin had more creative conversions and an even more unique army. In any case we were both proud as hell of our creations, and since he won best overall I ended up with a free ticket to the next TSHFT.

Lesson: No matter how many obsessive hours you spend on your army, there will be someone else that works just as hard.

The List:

This list was as much about having fun and showcasing my models than it was about winning. That being said, I could have fielded a much better list… most likely starting off by dropping 2 of the 3 HQs. My Rune Priest was a failure, and having both Canis and a Lord together in one fragile squad did not work. Sure looked cool though. Stay tuned for a “fixed” list in the next week or two. I need something more focused, more lethal, and more durable.

The Elect: 2000 points of Tzeentchy goodness. The final version was thrown together the night before at the last minute, and it needs some changes.

Wolf Lord with TH/SS on Thuderwolf, with Warrior Born, some other crap. (This was a daemon weapon wielding spawn riding a flying disc, one of my failed princes.)

Canis Wolfborn (Using 2 Lightning claw jumpack Chaos Lord model, chained to a writhing mass)

14 Fenrisian Wolves (these three run around together as a fake death star, that could split up but never did)

Iron Priest on TW with 4 cyberwolves (Another spawned out failed prince)

5 Wolf Scouts +  PFist / Combi-Melta Wolf Guard (I forgot to pay for their melta, but having some mutants on the field was killer.)

5 GH including MOW + Melta; + Rune Priest (Jaws and LL)  in Rhino (Also known as squad False Hope, from now one. How many 1s did I roll for Living Lightning?)

7 GH including MOW + Melta; + PFist / Combi-Melta Wolf Guard in Rhino

5 GH including MOW + Flamer; + PW Wolf Guard in AssCan Razorback

5 GH including MOW + Flamer; + PW Wolf Guard in LasPlas Razorback

Long Fangs with 3 missile Launchers (Original plan was to also have 2 lascannons or maybe an ablative HB, and I didn’t have many ML models.)

Vindicator (A favorite target, I should have protected it better)

LasPred (I am now sold on the AC / Las pred instead, this was too much of a points sink. It was nice to move and shoot twin linked though.)

Lesson: Boys before Toys, Warrior Born sucks with a ThunderHammer, Landspeeders and more TWC would have been awesome, and don’t wait until the last bloody minute to decide on stuff!

 

Battle Reports!

These aren’t true battle reports but I wanted to give an overview of each game and a couple lessons that I got from each one.

GAME 1 vs. Imperial Fists (Space Marines)

Lesson: Herohammer Cavalry cleans up against Tac squads…

Mission: 6 objectives, only the three that you place in your opponent’s corner can count, Spearhead deployment

[Day 1, table 6/10 I think] More Imperial Fists to slaughter! My second play test game at a local GW store saw me get my first tabling in years, against Imperial Fists. Here were more of the yellow grunts lining up to be killed, actually a very similar army to the one I pwnzored. The chief differences were that he had more Rhinos, and Storm bolter terms instead of TH/SS ones, and no Dev. squads.

The mission here was to grab the three objectives in your opponent’s corner, while defending your three. My army list was more deadly and my opponent’s rolling was unfortunate. I played aggressively and managed to get enough Cav charges off, while sending in my troops.

Somehow my Vindicator survived being shot at and did some serious damage. The highlight? My vindicator killed 10 tactical Marines in one shot….

The lowest moment for my opponent was a difficult terrain check for his jump pack Assault Marines, against my Long Fangs: Snake eyes!  Rolling a 2, they would have made it.

Result: Win!


GAME 2 vs. A Crazy Wizard and his Clockwork Minions (counts as Chaos Space Marines)

Lesson: Don’t get cocky with your movement when your opponent’s reserves are due on…

Mission: Killpoints, with short edge to short edge deployment.

[Day 1, table 4/10] I got to play Devin (winner of best overall in Category B) in round two and he was a terrific opponent. After an intense, close, and very fun game we fought to a draw with 11 KPs each. Devin took an early lead shooting up some transports, although my forces eventually prevailed in the large assault in the center of the board. My biggest mistake was leaving my LasPred open for a charge from a fleeting, reserved Defiler. I got to snipe his Tzeentch sorceror with Jaws after three tries, which was about all that my “Rune Priest” accomplished all tourney aside from nullifying a couple powers. I found out that actual Thousand Sons stand up pretty well against dedicated close combat units with low numbers of power weapon attacks combined with crappy rolling. Yes, Thousand Sons that counts as Space Wolves fought a unit of robots that count as Thousand Sons…

Result: Tie!


GAME 3 vs. Hordes of Sisters of Getting out of Transports and Killing you with Massed Shooting (Witchhunters)

Lesson: Don’t be gentle, be assertive about speeding up your slow opponent

Mission: 5 Objectives, generic 12″ long board edge deployments

[Day 1, table 3/10] Even though my opponent was fun, I cannot call this a great game since I lost due to slow play. Our game ended on Turn 3, and my opponent took advantage of this to move and capture or contest 4 out of 5 objectives. If the game had gone on longer it could have gone either way, although I admit my opponent was in a significantly stronger position with all the warm bodies he had running around and the damage he had done to my army. 10 scoring units! His list was a nightmare, tons of vehicles, tons of bodies… meltas, flamers, autocannons and lascannons were all plentiful. His only weakness was assaults, but if you wiped something out he would just shoot the crap out of the winning squad. Since he had tabled the previous opponent in a kill points mission, I could very well have lost legitimately if we had gone to turn 5-7. I have to take some responsibility for the slow game since I could have been faster myself, and I could have been much more assertive about telling my opponent to speed up. Also, I was quite tired… and the 110 decibel Mariachi music coming from next door was insanely distracting, as were all the random people walking through our hall.

He deployed first, and very symmetrically strung out along the center. I tried a refused flank and stole the initiative. I was worried about all that long range shooting but I should have been more worried about a last turn land grab. It was obvious he had a lot of experience with the army, and he began moving Rhinos and Immolaters to where they were going to be needed right away. After I ate an exorcist on one flank, he was able to disembark about 30 sisters and focus fire my cavalry beater unit. Quite demoralizing! I lined up for a huge Jaws attempt, but he rolled a 5 for the first squad affected and claimed that it canceled the power completely. I was too demoralized and out of time to argue it at that point… 3 games in a row is tough.

Was the slow play deliberate? I am not a mind reader so I am not going to make mindless accusations. There was a lot of note and picture taking which used up time, and he also had tons of models to move around and roll for. The distractions and my fatigue did not help, and I also took time at the start of the game to ask a couple questions about Sisters since I am not used their old book. In any case it is on me, since I did not insist on my opponent moving faster or talk to the TO about it until the game was over.

Result: Loss!


GAME 4 vs.  Hive Fleet Behemoth (Tyranids)

Lesson: Know exactly what unit is what, and keep your opponent’s list handy.

Mission: 4 objectives in the corners, that all scatter. Dawn Of War deployment

[Day 2, table 4/10] Rats! I came close to winning (and then drawing) against Best General Zach (class A). I chose to go second and Zach reserved everything. After turn 1 which barely happened, My first two turns of shooting were completely horrible, and I think I maybe killed one gaunt. The Zoanthropes shrugged off a lot of fire with their 3++ saves, and I was an inch or two out of range for a critical vindicator shot.

After some clever maneuvering, shooting, and assaults from both sides I was setup for a desperate turn 5 victory (1/3) chance) which was not to be. Then ending on turn 6, as my luck was turning I almost eked out a tie, but then failed 3 out of 4 3+ saves (to be fair Zach’s assualt rolling could have been better.) It was a great game and despite how close it was Zach deserved the win.

I made several big mistakes that game. I mistook his Devourer gaunts for termagaunts (which killed all my Fenrisian Wolves), I wasn’t fast enough or decisive enough with my transports, and threw my “beater” cavalry unit onto the wrong flank. Let it be known that Tyranid warriors eat ICs for breakfast.

Table 4 played much differently going long edge to long edge than short to short.

Result: Loss!


GAME 5 (vs. Grey Knights) [Table 8]

Lesson: Your last minute deployment switch might be retarded

Mission: Killpoints, diagonal to diagonal

[Day 2, table 8/10] What can I say, I was tired. I was deploying second, and at the last moment I thought (oh hey, if I move my Vindicator to the road it can move 6″ farther and shoot.) Why was this so stupid? Well one of his land raiders, filled with Grey Knight Terminators was already on the road. He turned my poor vindi into chunks of redhot scrap metal and crippled the razorback next to it. This left him open for a charge from my Lord, “Canis”, mutant wolves, and one or two squads of “Grey Hunters.” Although I wiped out his squad it left me congested in one chunk of the board, and I got shot up pretty badly. I think lost my two big characters around this time. I was able to blow up one of the raiders with a melta shot (or was it a lascannon?).  His extra armored Dreadnought was kicking ass nearby, my shooting missed or got nothing more than stunned results. I charged him with a powerfist enabled squad and we both whiffed. He countercharged with some grey knights, and due to my poor planning and forgetting to pile in my fist was pulled off of the dread by the incoming squad.   After a certain point I had to concede, since he had less than half the KPs to give up I could only win by tabling him, and after losing enough stuff that just wasn’t going to happen. 7 KPs? Something to think about. I had 17 KPs… =P

Result: Loss!

Conclusion

What a great event. I would play any of those guys again. Everyone tries their hardest to win but also makes sure the opponent has fun. That’s all you can ask for, right?All the other gamers were great guys too, and if I ever get my case I will try and make some trips to play more often.

Zen deserves credit for making this event a reality, and thanks to everyone else that helped.

I feel cool too because half the terrain used was mine and it was appreciated. Since that was probably less than half of my total terrain collection, I could fill up about 10 tables with my collection.

I learned a lot from playing. I know I had no chance of winning taking an untested list with a barely practiced army. I mostly wanted to win best appearance, and I will certainly accept a near tie. Of course there is always more painting to be done to really finish the army. I even got called out for not drilling my rhino smokestacks. =P

Moving on, it is time to join forces with the folks from Dragonflight, PAX, and any other honest event organizers to pool our forces for the next GT. Conquest NW is dead as far as I am concerned (see BOK for details) and it is time for a new group to light the beacons.

Cheers!

Posted in "The Elect" Thousand Sons, Battle Reports, Warhammer 40K | Tagged | 8 Comments

First Kult Of Speed List, + Ork pics

Posted on September 8, 2010 by ChaosGerbil

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Here is the first variant for my next TSHFT Ork list:

Kult Of Speed List #1

2000 Pts – Orks Roster

1 Warboss @ 110 pts (Power Klaw; Attack Squig; Cybork Body)

1 Wazdakka Gutsmek @ 180 pts

4 Warbikers @ 165 pts
1 Biker Nob (Power Klaw; Bosspole)

11 Boyz @ 167 pts
1 Boyz Nob (Power Klaw; ‘Eavy Armour; Bosspole)
1 Trukk (Boarding Plank; Red Paint Job; Reinforced Ram)

11 Boyz @ 167 pts
1 Boyz Nob (Power Klaw; ‘Eavy Armour; Bosspole)
1 Trukk (Boarding Plank; Red Paint Job; Reinforced Ram)

11 Boyz @ 172 pts (Big Shoota x1; Shoota)
1 Boyz Nob (Power Klaw; ‘Eavy Armour; Bosspole)
1 Trukk (Boarding Plank; Red Paint Job; Reinforced Ram)

12 Boyz @ 98 pts (Shoota)
1 Boyz Nob (Shoota; ‘Eavy Armour; Bosspole)

9 Nobz @ 490 pts (Count as Troop Troops; Big Choppa x2; Power Klaw x3; Shoota/Skorcha Kombi-weapon x2; Bosspole x1; Waaagh! Banner x1)
1 Painboy
1 Battlewagon (Big Shoota x1; Armour Plates; Boarding Plank; Deff Rolla; Grot Rigger; Red Paint Job; Stikkbomb Chukka)

2   1 Skorchas @ 80 pts

1 Deffkoptas @ 60 pts (Buzzsaw x1)

3 Wartrakks @120 pts (Twin Linked Rokkit Launchas)

1 Battlewagon @ 190 pts (Kannon; Killkannon; Armour Plates; Deff Rolla)

Total Roster Cost: 1999

Posted in 40K Model Photos, Army Lists, Orks, Warhammer 40K | 6 Comments

Incoming! A Kult of Speed will be invading the next TSHFT.

Posted on September 7, 2010 by ChaosGerbil

RAWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

I just got back from TSHFT, and it was a blast. I had twice as much fun as last year, despite losing 3/5 games. A report will be forthcoming with all the gory details, and I’ll tell you all what I won.

My Kult of Speed will be demolishing all opposition next time around. It’s not going to be some gamey all Nob bikers all the time kind of list either.

Rivets… omg rivets… maybe I will try out GW’s new thin brush on superglue after all.

Also, Island of Blood Skaven have slithered and crawled on to my desk, demanding attention. I couldn’t hold out any longer.

More soon!

Posted in 40K Model Photos, Orks, Uncategorized, Warhammer 40K | 3 Comments

Chaosgerbil's Modular Mission System for Warhammer 40,000

Posted on August 31, 2010 by ChaosGerbil

Let’s face it, the 5th edition missions could be better.

This a 40k mission system prototype, ready for playtesting. Battle Points are used to determine a winner.

Do not be scared by the use of Battle Points, it works differently than you may expect. In tournaments, the winner is granted a bonus of anywhere from 0 to 50 points, depending on the Tournament Organizer’s preference.

If you want to track major or minor victories, thresholds can be set wherever you want, such as winning by 10 or more battle points. Likewise, battle point rewards can be altered for each objective. This is explained more in the notes section below.

The idea is to mix and match objectives within one game. Players can decide randomly or choose bits and pieces that they like. Battle points (BP) make these objectives interchangeable.

Feedback is encouraged, and I am also looking for more optional objectives to add. These will be cannibalized from various sources and repurposed to fit within the system. Balance is key.

For a standard mission: use both primary objectives (worth 10 points each) and 10 points worth of secondary objectives, for a total of 30 points. Outside of tournaments feel free to add, subtract, or modify objectives… as long as all players agree.

Deployments are interchangeable with the objectives, and will be covered in the next edition of the system.

Primary Objectives:

Control: (Max of 10 points)
+2 BP per controlled objective marker. By default this is 5 objectives:  1 at the center, and 2 placed by each player. Use the normal objective placement rules on BRB pg. 91.

Destroy: (Max of 10 points)
+1 BP per kill point, from a list of selected units chosen by the owning player, worth 1 BP each.
(If a player brings less than 10 kill points of units than the opponent will need to wipe out the opponent to score all 10 points for this category.)

(Optional Bonus objective)
Annihilation:
+10 points for destroying or routing off table all of your opponent’s models)


Secondary Objectives:

These can be assigned ahead of time, rolled for randomly, chosen on the spot or even added midgame depending on the event.
To pick randomly, roll 2D6 and use the two objectives rolled. On a double, use “Escort” or “Invasion” instead.

[1] Zone Control: (Max of 5 points)
+1 BP for controlling a table quarter.
+1 BP for controlling more table quarters than your opponent.
To control a quarter you have to have at least one infantry squad in it, and

[2] It’s Bad For Morale: (Max of 5 points)
+5 BPs for killing all your opponent’s Troops.

[3] Assassination: (Max of 5 points)
+2 BPs for every H.Q. unit killed
+1 BP for every H.Q. unit routed off table.
If you killed all enemy H.Q.s you earn the full 5 BPs.

[4] Intimidation: (Max of 5 points)
+2 BP for every enemy unit destroyed or routed off table by one of your Elite squads.

[5] Raid: (Max of 5 points)
+2 BP for each Fast Attack unit within 12″ of opponent’s long board edge at game end.
(When playing short edge to short edge deployments, then this is changed to within 18″ of opponent’s short edge.)

[6] Arms Race: (Max of 5 points)
+2 BP for each surviving heavy support choice on your side. This is reduced to 1 BP for any unit/squadron at 50% strength or less.

[Double 1s, 2s, 3s]
Invasion: (Max of 10 points)
+1 BP for every unit of yours that moves off of your opponent’s primary board edge. Treat the space beyond your opponent’s table edge as “Clear” terrain rather than “Impassable” for normal movement. Deep striking mishaps will still occur if you scatter off table.

[Double 4s, 5s, 6s]
Escort: (Max of 10 points)
+5 BPs for killing your opponent’s V.I.P.:
+5 BPs for moving your V.I.P. off of opponent’s primary board edge (normally the long edge)
Each player gets to use an additional V.I.P. model for this mission, using the profile below.

WS BS  S  T   I  A W LD  Sv:
4    4   4  4  4  2  2  8   4+/4++

Wargear: “Counts As:” Bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon, Carapace Armor, Conversion Field, Frag Grenades

Special Rules:
Independant Character, Fearless, Stealth, Move Through Cover

For casual play, players can decide to use other types of units to escort.  You can use diplomats, spies, squads of civilian workers, refugees, assassins, hackers, royalty, or strange alien equivalents.

Just in case Real Genius or anyone else needs a break, here’s some of my models…………..

Good buddies: My Trygon / Mawloc and his Carnifex sidekick

Special Missions:

Salvage: (Max of 20 points per objective for a 6 turn game)
(Replaces primary objectives) Salvage objectives are scored every turn past the first. They are worth an amount of VPs equal to the turn number, as more and more valuable archeotech becomes unearthed.

Ok this last one is just for fun:
Recover the wounded (Max of 10 points)
+1 BP for every surviving unit you chose to be a kill point.

-All squads gain the special rule: Combat Tactics. Models that already had Combat Tactics may also choose to pass  all leadership rolls they make, other than for psyker powers.

-All units may move off of their primary table edge (usually the long edge).
All squads that move off the table are restored to full strength and enter reserves.

-As an example, if your unit fell back off the board edge on your opponent’s turn, if the unit’s reserve roll is successful they could re-enter at the start of your turn.

Notes:

I have been tinkering with 40k missions for a long time. I wanted a flexible system that could easily be added to, that kept games fresh yet remained balanced.  Having multiple simultaneous objectives that all mattered was another goal. Now not every idea in this system is 100% original. I have been inspired by many people, as well as past editions of 40k. For instance, Stelek’s 5×5 system was the first I know of to use kill points selected by a player.

This system is designed to be modular. As a default, games should be played to 30 battle points for a standard 1,500-2,000 point game. If you want to adjust the points or add objectives it is easy to do. Just decide on a total amount of battle points each game should yield and then pick missions accordingly. The BPs may be adjusted to account for including more optional objectives or special scenarios. As an example, you could use 3 objective markers worth 5 points each, no kill points, and 15 points worth of optional missions.

Tournament Play:

To rig this system to favor of decisive wins over losses, you may decide to award a game winner extra points per win. As an example, you can add things like: Winning by more than 10 battle points: +10 Battle points. If you want categories of victory, use point margins divisible by five for simplicity’s sake.

Objectives:

Ideally these should be detailed 40mm or 60mm markers, but players may agree on a different standard. By default objectives will: block line of sight, provide cover to non-vehicle units, and count as difficult terrain. Any objective marker more than about 2″ high should be discussed prior to playing as it may be problematic or abusive. If using flags, you can optionally agree to treat banners as visible for LOS purposes.

Posted in Game Design, Warhammer 40K | 2 Comments

Yet MOAR pictures: Tzeentch Marines; Orks vs. Tyranids

Posted on August 24, 2010 by ChaosGerbil

Sorry that it has been so long! I moved and took my time getting our internet fixed, got a new job, and just got busy. I am currently trying to finish my “Tzeentch Wolves” for the September (4-5th) 2010 TSHFT tournament.  I am putting together a pretty odd list… but I think it will work.

Thanks to my friend Rory for taking these pictures.

In other news I have joined the International House of Paincakes !!!!

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Posted in "The Elect" Thousand Sons, 40K Model Photos, Orks, Warhammer 40K | 4 Comments