Long time no see

So allot has happened lately. We put the old board aside (hoth). and began work on our new one. It's trench themed and works really well for our game styles.

Devin quickly got tired of CSM and I have essentially mastered my DE army. So we moved on.
Devin- Chaos Deamons
Orb- Blood Angels

I have realized I am getting progressively more aggressive as I play. Not only  is it more fun, i find tactical advantage in it. I often dictate the game pace and have lately taken to wining at a high rate.

Now on to blood angels. They have my 3 current flavors.

• Ability to reach the opponent quickly
• Ability to deliver CC pain and melta madness
• Feel No Pain

I always hate my wych armies because they depended on a successful webway placement and can't really kill anything. The whole thing was intended to overwhelm the enemies shooting elements with undying torrents of swings. But the wyches cant kill things, rather they slowly let things die.

Raider/Venom spam lists were also very succesfull but fell apart by the end of the game. Eventually I settled on this beast.

The Pointless Pirates (1499pts)

1500pt Dark Eldar 5th Ed (2010) Roster (Standard)

Selections:

HQ (55pts)

• Haemonculus (55pts)
  Altered Physique, Independent Character, Night Vision, Power from Pain
  • Haemonculus
    Venom Blade

Elites (549pts)

• Kabalite Trueborn (183pts)
  • Raider
    Dark Lance, Flickerfield, Shock Prow
  • 4x Trueborn
    Fleet, Night Vision, Power from Pain
    4x Blaster
• Kabalite Trueborn (183pts)
  • Raider
    Dark Lance, Flickerfield, Shock Prow
  • 4x Trueborn
    Fleet, Night Vision, Power from Pain
    4x Blaster
• Kabalite Trueborn (183pts)
  • Raider
    Dark Lance, Flickerfield, Shock Prow
  • 4x Trueborn
    Fleet, Night Vision, Power from Pain
    4x Blaster

Troops (505pts)

• Wracks (Troops) (95pts)
  3x Wracks (Altered Physique, Night Vision, Power from Pain)
  • Venom
    Flickerfield, Splinter Cannon
• Wracks (Troops) (95pts)
  3x Wracks (Altered Physique, Night Vision, Power from Pain)
  • Venom
    Flickerfield, Splinter Cannon
• Wracks (Troops) (95pts)
  3x Wracks (Altered Physique, Night Vision, Power from Pain)
  • Venom
    Flickerfield, Splinter Cannon
• Wracks (Troops) (95pts)
  3x Wracks (Altered Physique, Night Vision, Power from Pain)
  • Venom
    Flickerfield, Splinter Cannon
• Wracks (Troops) (125pts)
  3x Wracks (Altered Physique, Night Vision, Power from Pain)
  • Acothyst
    Agoniser
  • Venom
    Flickerfield, Splinter Cannon

Heavy Support (390pts)

• Talos Pain Engine (130pts)
  Fearless, Move through cover, Night Vision, Power from Pain, Random Attacks
  Additional close combat weapon, Twin-linked heat lance, Twin-Linked Liquifier gun
• Talos Pain Engine (130pts)
  Fearless, Move through cover, Night Vision, Power from Pain, Random Attacks
  Additional close combat weapon, Twin-linked heat lance, Twin-Linked Liquifier gun
• Talos Pain Engine (130pts)
  Fearless, Move through cover, Night Vision, Power from Pain, Random Attacks
  Additional close combat weapon, Twin-linked heat lance, Twin-Linked Liquifier gun

It has 4 venoms and 3 raiders. I realized 11 vehicles is allot for 1500 and readjusted my paradigms. The first things to go were the Ravagers. They rock but at AV11 they die quite easily. What I found was no matter how many raiders I had I couldn't draw fire from the awesomeness of a Ravager.

In its place I ran 3 Talos. Now i love these things. Their isn't one thing they can't do. I like getting them pain tokens because they become so much more badass with FC and FNP. I prefer the TL liquifier over the Chain Flails because the Liquifier helps deal with Meq allot better then the Flails do.

The basic strategy is to crack open as many cans as possible and let the Venoms clean the rest up. I often find my opponent to preoccupied with the Talos or Raiders to mess with the venoms.


Now My current running BA list is untested but packs a two part punch i'm eager to try.

Decent of Orb (1500pts)

1500pt Blood Angels 5th Edition Roster (Standard)

Selections:

HQ (135pts)

• Blood Librarian - Librarian (135pts)
  Blood Lance, Shield of Sanguinius
  • Power Armour
    Combi-Melta, Jump Pack

Elites (285pts)

• Munch-Munch Dread - Furioso Dreadnought (185pts)
  • Drop Pod
    Storm Bolter
  • Furioso
    Blood Talon with built-in Meltagun, Extra Armour
    • Blood Talon
      Built-in Heavy Flamer
• Medical Chaplians - Sanguinary Priests (100pts)
  • Sanguinary Priest
    • Power Armour
      Bolt Pistol, Chainsword
  • Sanguinary Priest
    • Power Armour
      Bolt Pistol, Chainsword

Troops (660pts)

• Hammer Angels - Assault Squad (240pts)
  9x Assault Marines, Meltagun, Meltagun, Retain Jump Packs
  • Veteran Sergeant
    Bolt Pistol, Thunder Hammer
• Hammer Angels - Assault Squad (240pts)
  9x Assault Marines, Meltagun, Meltagun, Retain Jump Packs
  • Veteran Sergeant
    Bolt Pistol, Thunder Hammer
• Tacky Men - Tactical Squad (180pts)
  Meltagun, Plasma Cannon, 9x Tactical Marine
  • Veteran Sergeant
    Bolt Pistol, Bolter

Heavy Support (420pts)

• Blood Dev's - Devestator Squad (210pts)
  9x Devestator Marine, 4x Missile Launcher
  • Veteran Sergeant
    Bolt Pistol, Bolter
• Blood Dev's - Devestator Squad (210pts)
  9x Devestator Marine, 4x Missile Launcher
  • Veteran Sergeant
    Bolt Pistol, Bolter

The Set peice here is the Furioso, aka Munch Munch. I tried one of these out in my first match and got an incredible result. You know something is good when your opponent give it that kind of a name. The dual blood talons produce staggering results. A standard marine stands a 3% chance of survival. 
3%!
So with 5 attacks I kill 4 no questions. I then get 4 more attacks. I then kill 4. etc. etc.


5

4

3

2

1

0

Assuming I ALWAYS fail 1 die per roll, very generous, I still achieve 15 marine kills. Sadly it can be crippled. The loss of one blood talon severely hurts this dread. Until that point this thing is beast.


Aside from that are the 2 Hammer Angel squads that will combat squad into 4. Depending on the enemy I may or may not deepstrike.


The Sang. preists will attach to the blood devs who also combat squad.


The tacky men hold objectives with the Libby.


The game is a salvo of rockets until the Hammer angels come and finish the job. The Munch Munch is meant to cause havok and dismay in the enemies lines. Priority one is selecting his target. Opening it up with rockets or a melta, and removing that unit entirely.


The downside is i have 15 kill points and only 55 models. Off par for my course

Unit sizes

Tonight we had a post game debate about unit sizes. I thought I would round out my thoughts completely just Ronald things clear and give some interesting instruction. 1. The 5-10 rule. When offered with a 5-10 selection always take 5 unless your given a bonus for taking ten. 2. More men means less boats. Larger units cost more and cause the overal number of units to drop allowing your opponent to focus his fire. 3. Aim short. Always design a unit so that it is unable to kill any unit on its own in a single attack. 4. It's about the guns. Larger units means more basic weapons and less of the weapons you want. The whole idea: With large bulky 8-15 man units you end up with a shit ton of basic weapons. While this unit can take allot of damage and dish it out as well it hurts our army in the long run. Having larger units causes you to spend more to protect them. It becomes more of a loss when you lose them. Not to mention these large units are hard to manage. With smaller units I may never be able to kill a single unit in one volley but I am able to hurt multiple units in one. Not to mention I force large units to pick between one or the other. And then theirs the aspect of leadership. 2 5 man units require 2 deaths and a of fail. 1 unit of 10 takes 4 and a fail. I've just doubled my chances of keeping half my guys right their. Then theirs the spreading of risk. In a 12 man unit a Loss of 4 men from one blast can cost me a big sector of my army. With units of 5 I can take 4 kills and not worry. I lost one unit but I have another that is perfectly safe. The other part is smaller units allow me to get what I want most. More. More special weapons and transports. The easiest way to protect your unts is transports. And lost of them. Smaller units allow me to bring these heck heap buggers who often come with decent guns. Rather then 1 squad of ten I can take 2 squads of 5 each with a vehicle and special weapon.I now have better target control and am harder to pin down not to mention I have not of what I want. Often in my lists I will fill my slots with minimalist units that are equally capable of disabling vehicles and troops. These units are a small group of bodies a good gun and a tin can. Though they are easy to take out I can manage many of them and be more powerful in the long run. And example is 2-5 vs 1-15 warriors. 15 warriors could theoretically be more durable however. The 2 5 man units give me acces to 2 boasters and 2 raiders with dark lances. And though the 15 is stronger as a single unit these 2 units are much more threatening.

So ya Um.. New army again.

So boredom struck the Space wolves already. The Rhino rush thing got boring quickly. I prefer the uniqueness of xenos codexes. At least they have weaknesses rather then just being all rounders. So i bought some new codexes for the board.

Devin got Chaos space marines
I got Dark Eldar.

So glass cannon time now.

For now im applying everything ive learned in my warhammer time to this army.

My Strategy

• Be multi purpose - everything can hurt anything.
• Be aggressive - Everything is meant to kill.
• Be fast - Nothing is left behind.

So my current list looks like this:

(1498pts)

1500pt Dark Eldar 5th Ed (2010) Roster (Standard)

Selections:

HQ (105pts)

• Baron Sathonyx (105pts)
  Bones of the Seer, Fleet, Hit and Run, Independent Character, Master of the Skies, Night Vision, Power from Pain, Twilight Shroud
  Custom Skyboard, Hellglaive, Phantasm Grenade Launcher, Shadowfield, Splinter Pistol

Elites (519pts)

• Kabalite Trueborn (173pts)
  • 4x Trueborn
    Fleet, Night Vision, Power from Pain
    4x Blaster
  • Venom
    Flickerfield, Splinter Cannon
• Kabalite Trueborn (173pts)
  • 4x Trueborn
    Fleet, Night Vision, Power from Pain
    4x Blaster
  • Venom
    Flickerfield, Splinter Cannon
• Kabalite Trueborn (173pts)
  • 4x Trueborn
    Fleet, Night Vision, Power from Pain
    4x Blaster
  • Venom
    Flickerfield, Splinter Cannon

Troops (529pts)

• Kabalite Warriors (139pts)
  • Raider
    Dark Lance, Flickerfield
  • 6x Warriors
    Fleet, Night Vision, Power from Pain
    Blaster, 5x Splinter Rifle
• Kabalite Warriors (130pts)
  • Raider
    Dark Lance, Flickerfield
  • 5x Warriors
    Fleet, Night Vision, Power from Pain
    Blaster, 4x Splinter Rifle
• Kabalite Warriors (130pts)
  • Raider
    Dark Lance, Flickerfield
  • 5x Warriors
    Fleet, Night Vision, Power from Pain
    Blaster, 4x Splinter Rifle
• Kabalite Warriors (130pts)
  • Raider
    Dark Lance, Flickerfield
  • 5x Warriors
    Fleet, Night Vision, Power from Pain
    Blaster, 4x Splinter Rifle

Heavy Support (345pts)

• Ravager (115pts)
  Aerial Assault, Night Vision
  Dark Lance, Dark Lance, Dark Lance, Flickerfield
• Ravager (115pts)
  Aerial Assault, Night Vision
  Dark Lance, Dark Lance, Dark Lance, Flickerfield
• Ravager (115pts)
  Aerial Assault, Night Vision
  Dark Lance, Dark Lance, Dark Lance, Flickerfield

Created with BattleScribe

10 fast skimmers 

3 of which pump out 9 lancing shots at 36"

4 of which pump out 4 lancing shots at 36" AND 18 poisoned rapid fire shots AND 4 Short Range Lancing shots

3 of which pump out 36 3+ poisoned shots AND 12 Short Range Lancing shots

Did i mention i have a 16% advantage on the deployment roll.

The pups

So last night was an experiment to see how well I manage with a space wolf army. What happened is I fell in love. Part of it is the conquest of getting to understand a new army and the other part is the new options available to me.  The best part is its not another fringe codex. I use standard weapons and vehicles and can begin to do things my opponent has done for ever.  My current mindset is simple. Get to his face. Fuck his shit up.  Right now I depend upon lone wolves to hold small areas allowing me to stack elsewhere. So far these boyz have don't their job. 2 of them managed to rid them of 2 rhinos and 6 grey knights while also tying up a librarian for a while.  Then I use similarly equipped wolf guard as captains of grey hunter units all carrying meltas.  As our game relies on speed to complete many objectives I think I need to get some bikers or land speeders in there.  So for my next list I plan to: Change wolf guard from expensive storm claw termies to dual claw wolf guard.  It's cheaper and more offensive then defensive.  Add a fast attack melta unit.  Try out  a rune priest. 

Friday lists

No Name (1504pts)

1500pt Space Wolves 5th Ed (2009) Roster (Standard)

Selections:

HQ (205pts)

• Wolf Lord (205pts)
  Saga of the Bear, Storm Shield, Terminator Armour, Wolf Claw

Elites (389pts)

• Lone Wolf (85pts)
  Chainfist, Storm Shield, Terminator Armour
• Lone Wolf (85pts)
  Chainfist, Storm Shield, Terminator Armour
• Wolf Guard Pack (219pts)
  • Wolf Guard
    Chainfist, Storm Shield, Terminator Armour
  • Wolf Guard
    Chainfist, Storm Shield, Terminator Armour
  • Wolf Guard
    Chainfist, Cyclone Missile Launcher, Storm Shield, Terminator Armour

Troops (530pts)

• Grey Hunters Pack (115pts)
  5x Grey Hunter, Meltagun, Rhino
• Grey Hunters Pack (115pts)
  5x Grey Hunter, Meltagun, Rhino
• Grey Hunters Pack (150pts)
  Flamer, 5x Grey Hunter
  • Razorback
    Lascannon & Twin-linked Plasma Gun
• Grey Hunters Pack (150pts)
  Flamer, 5x Grey Hunter
  • Razorback
    Lascannon & Twin-linked Plasma Gun

Heavy Support (380pts)

• Long Fangs Pack (190pts)
  • Long Fang
    Missile Launcher
  • Long Fang
    Missile Launcher
  • Long Fang
    Missile Launcher
  • Long Fang
    Missile Launcher
  • Razorback
    Lascannon & Twin-linked Plasma Gun
  • Squad Leader
    Bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon
• Long Fangs Pack (190pts)
  • Long Fang
    Missile Launcher
  • Long Fang
    Missile Launcher
  • Long Fang
    Missile Launcher
  • Long Fang
    Missile Launcher
  • Razorback
    Lascannon & Twin-linked Plasma Gun
  • Squad Leader
    Bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon

Created with BattleScribe

No Name (1501pts)

1500pt Tau Empire 4th Ed (2006) Roster (Standard)

Selections:

HQ (133pts)

• Commander (133pts)
  Bonding Knife, Hard-Wired Multi-Tracker, Hard-Wired Target Lock, Missile Pod, Missile Pod - TL, Plasma Rifle, Shas'el
  • Hard-Wired Drone Controller
    2x Shield Drone

Elites (318pts)

• XV8 'Crisis' Battlesuit Team (159pts)
  • Shas'ui
    Missile Pod, Missile Pod Twin-Linked, Targetting Array
  • Shas'ui
    Missile Pod, Missile Pod Twin-Linked, Targetting Array
  • Shas'ui
    Missile Pod, Missile Pod Twin-Linked, Targetting Array
• XV8 'Crisis' Battlesuit Team (159pts)
  • Shas'ui
    Missile Pod, Missile Pod Twin-Linked, Targetting Array
  • Shas'ui
    Missile Pod, Missile Pod Twin-Linked, Targetting Array
  • Shas'ui
    Missile Pod, Missile Pod Twin-Linked, Targetting Array

Troops (540pts)

• Fire Warrior Team (180pts)
  4x Pulse Carbine, 6x Shas'la
  • Devilfish
    Disruption Pod, Multi-Tracker, Smart Missile System, Targetting Array
• Fire Warrior Team (180pts)
  4x Pulse Carbine, 6x Shas'la
  • Devilfish
    Disruption Pod, Multi-Tracker, Smart Missile System, Targetting Array
• Fire Warrior Team (180pts)
  4x Pulse Carbine, 6x Shas'la
  • Devilfish
    Disruption Pod, Multi-Tracker, Smart Missile System, Targetting Array

Heavy Support (510pts)

• Hammerhead Gunship (170pts)
  Decoy Launchers, Disruption Pod, Multi-Tracker, Railgun, Two Burst Cannons
• Hammerhead Gunship (170pts)
  Decoy Launchers, Disruption Pod, Multi-Tracker, Railgun, Two Burst Cannons
• XV88 Broadside Battlesuit Team (170pts)
  • Shas'Ui
    Smart Missile System, Targetting Array
  • Shas'Ui
    Smart Missile System, Targetting Array
  • Team Leader
    Hard-Wired Target Lock

Profile Summary:

• Name	BS	Front	Side	Rear	Type	Pg
  Devilfish	3	12	11	10	Tank, Skimmer
  Hammerhead Gunship	3	13	12	10	Tank, Skimmer

Created with BattleScribe

Hybrid 1600

Wazdakka 180
Shokk attack mek 90

7 lootas 105
6 lootas 90
6 lootas 90

5 bikers 165
- Nob w/ PK, BP
5 bikers 165
- Nob w/ PK, BP
5 bikers 165
- Nob w/ PK, BP

3 war buggies 105
-TL rokkits
3 war buggies 105
-TL rokkits
3 war buggies 105
-TL rokkits

Killa kan 45
-grotzooka
Killa kan 45
-grotzooka
Killa kan 45
-grotzooka

1500

I like this list. I have 6 infantry killers and 6 vehicle killers.

Kans as a supporting unit?

Traditionally killa kans have been used in Max to form a "kan wall". Last nights game caused me to question that concept. I found a traditional wall to be very powerful but very limited. The need to be bubbled and the sheer size really limited it's mobility.

What I like was the grotzooka. This is by far the best anti infantry gun in the ork stables. But to bring it the rest of my army has to be a blob?What if I wasn't focused on the wall? What If I want to use kans in a different way?

Obviously any large amount of kans, while cheap in comparison is still a hefty investment. It's a slippery slope where you end up building your army around the wall. So let's limit ourselves to 3 kans.

These would preferably be single kans. this allows us to avoid squadron rules. These kans are independent and kff free.

This means our army has to be free of kffs and is ready to operate fluidly and independently. We also want a shooting focus here.

Behold wazdakka. Bikers are durable and self reliant. Highly mobile. With them kans become a back line unit for support. Now instead of a standard al at once blob army orks can manage to have multiple layers.

However this concept still applies to the standard ork belief that you need to come all at once. You see bikers are often effective turn 1/2. Kans will be the same. The army we build will be a Shooty army that hits all at once.

Unlike kan walls where the kans deliver the boys, this army delivers itself. Everything here will be prepared to strike when the moment is right.

The key shift we need to make is control of the enemy. In a world where players hide in similar tin boxes where does one start.

So often do players talk about speed bumping orks. What if orks speed bump you? Being mostly bikers and fast vehicles we have the mobility advantage. This means that of we focus our efforts on disallowing the enemy to move how they please we will succeed.

My latest game had plenty of examples. Though i was below average on my anti tank I manage to pin 2 razorbacks and flank from behind. I used a buggie with no guns to prevent one from pivoting into LOS protecting a scoring unit. I immobilized another clogging movement on the other side. From this point the game was spent in the enemies deployment zone.

So we need to build this army and use this army with a few things in mind.
-We never want to be assaulted. We want to be the assailant.
-We shoot first.
-We use our speed well.
-We don't clump.

Now is time to build this thing. As far as I can see we can make 2 versions of this army. Grot cans and hybrid.

Grot cans

Wazdakka
Kff mek

Lootas
Lootas
Lootas

Bikers
Bikers
Bikers
Grots
Grots

Buggies
Buggies
Buggies

Battlewagon
Battlewagon
Killa kans.

Hybrid
Wazdakka
Shokk attack mek

Lootas
Lootas
Lootas

Bikers
Bikers
Bikers

Buggies
Buggies
Buggies

Kan/Boomwagon/empty
Kan/Boomwagon/empty
Kan/3 kans

Now the real treat In the hybrid is the 3 individual kans. they can each follow a unit of bikers and be covered without being restricted by a kff. They can shoot independently and require 3x as many shots to suppress.

Later I'll bash these out in battle scribe and see what I get.