New Dark Eldar Models Sighted!

So I know its a little late to the rumor party, but I figured I would put in my two cents as I try and get over my writers block.  The last 3 Foundations Of Vengeance are proving elusive.  I have been contemplating them quite heavily as I have not been able to play 40K for like 3 weeks.  Dr. Roxo needs his sweet cocaine kkkkkkkk Yeah!

So I know there is a lot of hate for the Archon's retinue.  I am reserving my judgement until I actually use a retinue in a couple of games.  I wonder if they have the other two units in the retinue on deck though.  The Lhameans and the Ssylth seem more useful, to me at least.  Ur Ghuls are great canon fodder and could possibly be mean in combat and the medusae are an interesting shooting unit.

The models look similar to what I had pictured in my mind.  I am not to sure about the Medusae though.  The model looks good except for the head. I hope the other two models in the retinue look decent.  If they are doing the other ones.  That wouldn't make much sense if they didn't, but then again when has GW ever been logical in their decision making.

Next time, I hope to have the 11th Foundation Of Vengeance.  I may also have a rant about selling on Ebay as well.  My last couple of experiences have not been great.


Until next time......


Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls........... .................Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I See A Bad Moon Risin!

Well with my semi renewed vigor with the webway list I decided to plan out my orky side project. I am going to be slowly building and painting this army alongside the webway list. After much deliberation I have decided I need something that is different color scheme wise than the dark dreary colors of the Wych Cult Of Strife. SO I have decided to paint the orks in the brightest yellow possible, with some red of course.

Da red uns go fasta!

So I have decided to go with a mech list based around the Bad Moon clan. I plan on running everything in Truks and Battle wagons. In true Bad Moon style I am also going to run a mega armored Warboss and mega nobz. My 1850 list consists of

HQ

1x Mega armored war boss, Attak Squig, Cybork Body, Boss Poll

1x Big Mek,Custom Force field, Eavy Armor, Attack Squig, 2x Grot Oilers, Cybork Body

Troops

3x mob of 12 boyz, Nob with power claw and boss pole in truks with red paint jobs

1x mob of 6 meganobz with 2x skorcha shoota, 1x rokkit shoota in a battle wagon with red paint job and deff rolla

Elites

2x Mobs of 15 Burna boyz

Heavy Support

1x Battle Wagon with red paint job, deff rolla, grot rigga, zzap gun, grabbin klaw, 2x big shootas

1x Battle Wagon with red paint job, deff rolla, grot rigga, 2x big shootas

This comes to 1846 points. This is meant to be a fun theme list. It does lack lootas and Flash Gitz, which would also be a good addition to a Bad Moons list, but I wanted to have a very mobile mech list. I also wanted lots of burna boys and mega armored nobs. Even though it may lack in areas I am looking forward to building it and playing it. I think it covers the areas to tackle multi tiered missions adequatly. It is 14 kill points so it is only slightly out of my comfort zone for the number of kill points I can give up.

I plan on painting theses guys rather traditionally, but in the most obnoxious brightest shade or yellow I can find. This also means priming in white and doing some layering to get the yellow right. It should be fun and break up the monotony of painting Dark Eldar.

So there is my list. I am hoping to get a game in this week, but the work schedule may not allow it. I may to try and get the Dark Future Boys down to Ypsilanti to get a game or two in.

Until then....

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls............WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!

We're In It For A @!$#ton Of Money: The Reboot Of The Rogue Trader Campaign

Since I have not been able to play 40K as much as I have wanted as of late, I have been doing some other stuff. I have restarted the Rogue Trader campaign. Since I moved from Lansing to Ypsilanti the game has been on hiatus. We left off with with the group Salvaging a battleship and eliminating an enemy who has come back from the dead at least once. They have discovered treasures unknown and seen the death of a craftworld. They discovered a lost primarch and have conquered worlds.

I like my RPG campaigns to be kind of epic in scope. Rouge Trader is really all about how baller you are both in wealth and influence. So in this reboot we have the group moving coreward searching for the remaining talismans of Vaul. They have discovered one along with its bearer, a Eldar Astartes Hybrid named Pandora. I know what you are saying. An Eldar who is half Astartes? Not only is she an Astartes she is also the daughter of a lost Primarch, Chronos father of the Grey Wardens. A Primarch who turned his back on the crusade and the heresy because he is a pacifist. He and his legion were living in harmony with a rouge group or Eldar who worshiped Vaul exclusively. They also abhorred war and violence except in their own defense. The Cathedral Terra, my groups first ship, and its sister ship the Forge of Vaul, now known as the Spear of Omnissiah since Magos Gabriel claimed it as his ship, were both products of the shipyard in orbit of Vaulisma, the planet and Craftworld inhabited by the legion and the Vaulite Eldar.

The group inadvertently brought the demise of Vaulisma with them in the form of A Farseer from Ulthwe seeking the Talismans of Vaul. The sword Anaris was on this world and its webway gates had been sealed. The Farseer opened them and allowed a Multi Craftworld force to raid the craftworld to try and take it. This lead to all out war as an entire Astartes legion began to defend their home from a huge Eldar invasion force spearheaded by Ulthwe and Eldrad Ulthran.

The group escaped as a third force entered the system. A force they had not seen before. They escaped with many refugees both human and Eldar. They had a few more adventures which included salvaging the Light of Terra, an emperor class battleship. They also discovered that they were the target of a C'tan called The Outsider. He was seeking the Talismans of Vaul as they were one of the only weapons that could end his existence.

The group ended up on the world of Pavonis to regroup and lick their wounds. The began the long task of repairing and refitting their ships and their newly acquired battleship. This is when they learned that there are more Talismans of Vaul. They decided to seek fame and fortune finding them. This is also when an Inquisitor, on Emma Stone, caught up to them and revealed herself as an agent of the C'Tan. She was promptly spaced and shot with a lance form the prow of the ship.

I know I have missed a bunch, but needless to say we had our first session of the reboot and it went well. My players requested I start writing about the sessions again on the blog so here we are. Our cast of Characters for the reboot are;

Admiral Quintus Fabius Tarsus the 27^th, Rogue Trader, fan of Zap Branagan, played by best friend Chris aka “The Stormlord”

Magos Gabriel, Explorator, played by my buddy Steve aka “Mr.O”

Joker, Arch Militant, played by my buddy John. Sadly no handle yet as I have to get him on the blog possibly as a writer.

Dante, a daemon hunter from dark heresy, played by my buddy Joe

Micah Troko, Senechal and black market specialist and Face man, played by my buddy Eric aka “Rabbit”

Telarion, Astropath and hunter of rogue psykers, played by my buddy Larry aka “Farseer Re-Rolls”

I will have another player once she get her character made. A missionary will be joining the group which should prove to be a good foil to the group as they are kinda tongue in cheek with their worship of the God Emperor.

After being held up on the edge of Segmentum Solar the group is divided, mostly because the Stormlord and Farseer Re-Rolls could not make it, and fleet command would only allow one ship to proceed to Alpha Centauri a mere 50 light years from Holy Terra. The group had gained intel that a very powerful noble who is next in line, or at least a major favorite, to be the next High Lord of Terra may be in possession of the Talisman of Vaul the seek. He also may be in possession of Jokers long lost love he believed to be dead. They have an in as there is another minor lord who has his hands in everything and he knows the whos who. They set up a meeting after doing some research. They find out that they can supply him with higher quality materials for his weapons manufacturing concerns, from one of the worlds they “Liberated” in the name of the Emperor.

They pick up Dante as a hired merc. He is hunting the rouge Inquisitor Emma Stone and knows she seeks this group. They set up a meeting with Lord Johansen, the lord that has is hands in everything, and also attempt contact at an exclusive club they gain access to after Micah wows a senior administrator doing an inspection of the Spear of Omnissiah. The Magos discovers in his research and digging Lord Johansens less then legal business concerns and that they are tied to a possible chaos cult.

After making a good impression at the club Dante spots people leaving Lord Johansens booth he did not see enter and pursues them. This leads the group into conflict with cult members of the Cult of the Ascended Mind. Dante makes quick work of them as he pursues their leader. The group finishes them off even taking on prisoner, a big step for these guys as they are a shot first, shoot second, why are we shooting again? Kind of group.

The leader is cornered and sacrifices himself to summon a Daemonette. Dante’s Daemon hunting skills come out as he makes short work of the loan Daemon before the rest of the group catches up.

So we end with a prisoner to interrogate and a meeting the next day to gain favor with Lord Johansen. We also end with a cut scene. Emma Stone being dressed down by her C'tan lord and being sent to find the group along with a babysitter in the form of a Platinum Necron Lord.

SO our 2^nd session is this Sunday. We will have the introduction of our Missionary and some epicness as we explore the Tarsus dynasties past. It would appear they are more tied to current events that the group thinks.

Next time More webway action and I present my Ork list for fun and waaaaghing.

Until then.....

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes,War Calls.......................Waaaaaaaaaagghhh!!!!

The 10th Foundation Of Vengeance: Adaptability

Well laid plans can come to ruin quite quickly. This is especially true in a battlefield environment or a table top battlefield environment as the case may be. It is important to have contingents when your plans go awry, but more importantly you have to be able to adapt when the weird situations happen. You must be able to react effectively to a changing situation that you have not planned for, this my friends is Adaptability. The 10^th Foundation of Vengeance.

Adaptability is one of the most important things to have when you play 40K. Situations can change very quickly and if you let the shock and awe of the moment sweep you up it can be something you can't recover from. The key to adaptability is working with what you have and making the most out of it. This means if you loose your prized unit or tank killing super vehicle or transport you have to improvise and work around it. You still have to carry out the mission despite losses. This does not include throwing away your units in suicide missions that have little chance to turn the tide of battle.

One of the real keys is building a list that has units that are multi rolled. Its pretty inherent when you are an Eldar player. You build a list with units working in concert for a common goal, but still build in a little over lap in case you loose those Dark Reapers or you loose the Fire Prism. This way you have units mutually supporting one another and have a little redundancy so the loss of one is not a major thing. The same principles are used for Dark Eldar. You may have 3 Ravagers and a bunch of Raiders for anti tank, but it does not hurt to have a unit of Scourges with haywire blasters or arming your Wych squads with Haywire grenades to deal with armor. Essentially you plan. A good all comers army list can adapt to any mission. Be it kill points or objectives or a multi tiered mission. Spamming a list may be effective in some situations, but a well built, well thought out army list is what you need to be adaptable.

In my recent game against CVinton I had valuable lessons in adaptability as I failed to adapt to the changing situations. I had deployed in such a way that allowed me to deal with his out flanking army no matter which side he came in on. This normally is a good thing, but it left me totally out of position with the rest of my army as 2 wych squads and a squad of wracks engaged his whole army. He wanted no part of the Beast Master Pack. The should have been in the center of the table from the beginning. I failed to see what was happening and did not adapt my game to the situation at hand. I charged head long into a blob of Imperial Guard when the other had not yet arrived.. Bad move.

So remember you have to stay cool and collected and formulate plans on the fly when the situations change. You must be adaptable and the real key is making a list the facilitates this. One trick or even 2 trick ponies do not get you very far. Relying on the “Power Level” of your army also does not facilitate this. Only a well thought out and jack of all trades list gives you the tools to adapt to any situation.

Next time I hope to get in another battle report with the newly changed Webway list. I will also be posting up some Ebay auctions this week for a few things. I have an Armorcast Eldar Tempest tank and some War machine, rulebook and Protectorate starter box plus 2 figures, stuff for sale. So keep an eye on out or just contact me if you are interested in it. Also I reveal my Ork list. It will be a slow build as I have to finish building the Webway List, but a good distraction. 55 Wychs to paint could drive me nuts.

Until next time...........

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls..............................WAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!

Battle Report: The Webway List VS CVintons Guard Blob

The Battle Field before the carnage

As I contemplate the 10^th Foundation Of Vengeance: Adaptability, I thought it would be nice to do a battle report. Last Wednesday I squared off against Dark Future Games painting and green stuff wizard CVinton. I was using the Webway list. The Webway list has been kind of on a back burner because of my want of putting fun back into my hobby. Since its my tournament list in development I have been ignoring it. I decided to break it out again, as I am in the process of tweaking it.

Vinton brought the hurt in the form of his Imperial Guard. His Creed and Al'Rahim powered out flanking blob squad list has racked up some impressive victories. Its a very non standard Imperial Guard list and I like to test lists against non standard lists. They keep the games fun and throw some real different situations at you. In essence they keep your mind and tactics sharp.

I had first turn. We had a spearhead deployment and it was a strait up annihilation mission. I deployed my raiders while he kept his whole army in reserve. I moved forward and deployed my webway portals so that each end of the table was easily within striking distance of my emerging units.

Turn one went by quick as I moved into position and deployed. Turn two my units began to arrive. In fact all but one of the Wych units made it in. The first blob squad moved onto the table and moved for cover. Despite the amount of reserve manipulation Vinton only got his scout sentinels on vendetta and a blob squad. Big Al did not come onto the table nor did Creed. There was a minimal amount of fire but he did down one of my raiders.

Turn three saw the rest of my units come in. As you can see this game went rather quickly thanks to the deployment styles. I was clearly out of position I realized. Vinton wanted to avoid my full beast master pack at all costs as his blobs would have been shredded before they could even strike back thanks to the sheer number of attacks it generates. He brought all of his army onto one table edge thanks to the re-roll he got for his out flank.

The first wave of the Guard onsluaght

Turn 3 saw my Wyches finally engage the first blob squad, sadly the second Wych squad was an inch short for the charge as I was forced to charge from cover. The second squad was gunned down thanks to Al'Rahim coming in with the second blob squad. The first rank second rank order made short work of the 15 Wychs. The first squad was mired down by the sheer number of guardsman. I lost my second raider and my beast master pack started hauling ass towards the enemy. Sadly they would never reach the lines. The distance was just to far. My Chronos also bit it thanks to concentrated las cannon and heavy bolter fire

Turn 4 saw The wych squad in combat with the first blob squad finally succumbed to sheer numbers. The Hekatrix almost held out by herself killing several guardsman before succumbing to weight of numbers. My wrack units had been stuck in combat with the scout sentinels unable to hurt them since the previous turn. The other Wrack unit was moving across the table moving towards my edge to help the other unit out. The Succubus's and her Wych unit proved to be useless as they had come out on the opposite side of the table and proved to be unmotivated as my difficult terrain and run rolls were no more than 2 or 3 inches. I also started loosing Wracks as the Sentinels finally started to hurt them. I even lost the Haemonculus once the second blob squad joined the fray.

The Wychs had their hands full

Turn 5 saw nothing but the death to wracks and me trying to move my units closer. I might have been able to pull something off if I had not taken 25% casualties in my beast master pack thanks to massed lass gun fire and then fail my leadership test.

The 2nd wych unit before the shooting phase

We rolled for turn 6 but I knew I was done. So I conceded and was sad to learn I had no kill points. The Webway list after 7 games finally had a loss and it was a resounding one. It was a very good learning experience though about position and deployment. The Chronos was given a second chance as in the previous game I had replaced it with a Talos and was not impressed. The Chronos is now out of the list. As is the Succubus. Neither has proved to be worth the points and generally have not been able to carry their own weight. I have decided to go with only one shard net in each wych squad and two razor flails. The re-rolls proved to be valuable.

The wych squad after.......crap

I am adding in the mistress of death and master of the Wych Cult of Strife to the list. Lelith is an engine of destruction and the amount of powered attacks she adds to the unit are very nice. I am also shrinking the wrack units and adding in some aerial firepower in the form of a Razorwing fighter. We will see how this works. I am also tempted to remove the raiders and shrink the Wrack units to almost minimal levels so I can accommodate them with the Haemonculus on Venoms.

We will see. Next time I present the 10^th Foundation Of Vengeance: Adaptability. I learned a lot about this from this very game. Also I may have an update on the Ork horde as I have added a Burna Boy unit to the mix. If I can get some more boyz and a Battle Wagon I may be up to 1000 points.

Until then...............

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls...........................WAAAAAAAAAAAGH

So I Know Its Only White Dwarf......

If you are like I am you pick up a White Dwarf once in a blue moon.  Since they removed all the good features, thank god the painting stuff is still there,  and its become one big steaming pile of corporate propaganda I thumb through it at the shop and buy it if there is something worth while. 

I noticed this while really bored tonight.  So basically if you have a subscription you will be getting your issue of White Dwarf days after people can just buy it in the store.  I thought the whole purpose of the subscription was to get it earlier.  In fact I remember the days when you would get bonus stuff with your White Dwarf if you had a subscription. 

Basically I see GW starting to really roll out the the new way you can expect to be treated.  Between this,  their mail order policies and the debacle with finecast it is clear GW holds you, the people who keep them in business, in utter contempt.  It is also clear they are moving everything towards making it so you have to get their products form them.  Either online or from a GW store. 
Notice you can get an in store White Dwarf subscription at a GW store.  With them scaling back their retail stores here in the states I find it odd they are moving in this direction.

So I know I made some leaps, but GW's audacity and show of contempt, with price hikes and such, towards all of us is akin to a drug dealer taking advantage of the people who buy from him.  I have started to not buy new products at all.  I have been making buys and trading for models with others in bits trading at the FLGS and on ebay. 

I would like to try and set up a boycott of purchasing for a week.  Kinda send a message to GW that they are so successful in business because of the players not because of their marketing plans.  The Models generally look great and the rules sets are usually good.  Maybe I am just getting old and bitter and yearn for the old days.  Better prices, specialist games with support and a White Dwarf magazine that was worth a damn.

Ok Rant over.  Next time The 10th Foundation Of Vengeance.


Until then..........



Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls........................      WAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!!

Rider On The Storm: The Storm Guardian

I think the Guardian is one of the most underused units in the Eldar codex. The Storm Guardian even more so. Most people prefer the use of Pathfinders and Dire Avengers. Being that I like to use underused units I generally field Guardians in just about every Eldar list I put on the table. Not only is is in theme for my Ulthwe army, but people generally ignore them or try to at least. With the acquisition of a whole heap of Guardians, and I am looking for more, that were intended for Eldar pirate use when Imperial Armour 11 comes out, I find myself drawn to the Storm Guardian.

The only real difference in the load out is that the Guardians exchange their Shuriken Catapults for Shuriken Pistols and close combat weapons. You can also outfit the squad with a pair of assault weapons in the form of fusion guns or flamers. You can also add a Warlock. The Warlock is a key component to this squad. Armed with a Witch blade and the Enhance power all the members of the squad get a bump to Weapon skill and Initiative. SO your Guardians will be weapon skill 4 and initiative 5 with 3 attacks on the charge. Add in the massive amount of short ranged fire and a doom on the unit you are attacking and you can deal some damage. The number of models in the unit is important. I always field at least 15. this of course leads to statements of “but SeerK you can't put them in a Wave Serpent!” This is true but remember I play and Eldar army in layers.

The main problem people have in running footdar is that they get pummeled as they walk across the field and the units get eliminated either by fire or they run away. The usual solution for guardians is to put a character in the unit or give the Warlock with the unit Embolden for the re roll on failed leadership tests. Since the Warlock in this case has the enhance power you have to stick an HQ in with a unit. This is all well and good for one unit. SO whats the solution?

The solution is an integral piece to any footdar list. The Avatar of Khaine. The Avatar not only is a beast in combat, but his 12 inch bubble that makes any unit fearless that’s in range keeps those units moving forward. The real key is bubble wrapping the Avatar so that most of your units have at least one model within 12 inches. You then move to make way for the Avatar when combat is to be had.

You must remember to run every turn until you are in range. The Storm Guardians should be supported by artillery and advanced units such as Swooping hawks and Warp Spiders. This ties up the enemies guns as more pressing threats are closer. Concentrate your long range fire on transports to pop them open, but only after you have dealt with any long range artillery especially if ti uses blast templates.

The best thing to do is to hold up in cover until your deep striking units come in and are able to light up the enemy and allow you to advance.

Many of you would be tempted to give the Storm Guardians fusion guns, but it is a waste. The ballistic skill is not reliable enough to pop transports. The flamers are a much better choice. You can saturate units and soften them up before the charge.

I have always loved using guardians mostly because many opponents underestimate their effectiveness. Granted when you run them in units numbering 15 plus they can draw attention. The real key is drawing your opponents attention elsewhere.

SO next time I will be discussing the 10^th Foundation Of Vengeance.

Until next time.....

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls....................Waaaaaaaaaaggghhhh!!!!!!!!

Happy 4th Of July

For all of you in the good old United States Happy 4th of July.  Today we celebrate our freedom and our independence.  To all those readers across the pond, no hard feelings guys we colonials were a handful anyways.
So form all of us at Craftworld Lansing have a happy and safe holiday.  I would like to thank all those who made our freedom possibly.  That means you Soldiers.  It also means all those who fight injustice and speak out against the crap our government trys to pull.

I plan on putting back some beers and tending the BBQ later.  There also may be some volleyball and setting things on fire.  Good times.

until next time.......


Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls .............................. WAAAAAAAAAAGHH!!!!!!!!!

The Great Commission

Recently, I convinced a good friend of mine to start into the great hobby of warhammer 40k.

He has never assembled models for the game and requested that I assemble and paint his army. So, in the last week I took on the challenge of building/ painting the models he has collected so that he would be able to play in the 41st millennium.


I am extremely happy to have the chance to hone my skills as a hobbyist, which is my favored aspect of our game.


SO in the near future expect to see my works in progress and completed commission work.


I deploy for Afghanistan in September, so expect to see this coming out like hot cakes.


WAR IS MY MASTER, DEATH IS MY MISTRESS