Court Is Now In Session: The Court Of The Archon

So I have been reading the Dark Eldar codex with a fine tooth comb. With the release of new Court Of The Archon models, making it so you can actually field all of them, I have been looking at the Court again. They are much lamented as an effective unit. We all know I like trying to “Take back units”. I had great success running mandrakes despite the hate the internet hurled at them. Of course that hate was generally hurled by guys who think the only effective kind of lists are from The Space Wolves and Grey Knights codex’s and involve lots of Razorbacks. SO I take it with a grain of salt.

SO lets look at the Court Of The Archon. The first thing you will notice upon close inspection is that you must take at least one of each member of the court. Thats not a big hindrance. You only really need one Lhamaean. The same goes for the Medusae. Sslyth and Ur Ghuls should be taken to their max or near max. They are the real punch of the unit.

The Ur Ghuls are actually, theoretically, not to bad in close combat. They are strength 5 on the charge and have 4 attacks each at initiative 6. This gives your unit a good solid mass of attacks that go after you Archon. They have FNP from the start so this makes up for their lack of armor, kinda. The Sslyth are the real beefy portion of the unit. They are strength 5 and toughness 5 with 2 wounds. They sport shard carbines so this adds nice mobile shooting. They also have 4 attacks on the charge so this gives you a whole host of attacks that will wound marines on a 3+. Between the Sslyth and the Ur Ghuls, if you take 3 Sslyth and 4 Ur Ghuls, you get 32 attacks at strength 5 on the charge. The Sslyth also give you good options for strength 8 and lower wound allocation. You don't have to just sit there and take a wound you don't get FNP on. You just allocate to a Sslyth and not loose any models from the unit. I do have to note for all my Craftworld brethren that the low leadership of the Ur Ghuls and Sslyth make them prime targets for Mind War. They are leadership 3 so even if they roll a 6 you will kill them outright if you roll a 1, because Farseers are LD 10 and will inflict 2 wounds on a roll of a 1.

The Medusae is a strange duck, as in a duck possessed by Cthulhu. They have a template eye beam that has variable strength and variable AP. As I am a fan of liqufier guns this does not really phase me. Templates are nice to thin the heard before you lay into a unit. Hitting a unit with the Medusae gives you a chance to have some unsaveable wounds in the mix to force allocation. Depending on what you arm your Archon with you can really deal out some hurt before the assault phase.

The Lhamaean is an enhancer. She beefs up any of your Archons poison weapons to wound on a 2+. This basically means you should choose your Archons weapon load out to take advantage of the 2+ wounding ability. She adds a little in combat, but basically is a 10 point ablative wound that gives your Archon a little more potency. Granted the only real poison weapons available are his splinter pistol and a venom blade......which already wounds on a 2+. So take the minimum and throw her in front of that melta gun like a crazy ex girlfriend so you don't scuff up your shadow field.

I am going to try and run a Court this week if I make it to the FLGS this week. I need to get some Ur Ghuls, but I have the rest of the Court I plan on running. With my new found Warhammer Fantasy habit the budget has been stretched thin. I am thinking to just doing high elves as I have always been a fan. I like the ogres, but I have a nice chunk of High Elves to start the army thanks to the Island of Blood set. I am also trying to get some ork truk bits, or whole kits, into the mix so I can get my conversions done for Da Kabal uf Da Big Teef. I have one about 25% done and it is screaming to get done. More on that later.

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

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

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG! Craftworld Eldar Rumors

Well Fresh from BOLS and Stickmonkey we have our first official, I guess as official as rumors can be, Rumors for a new Eldar codex.  Of fourse as all other rumors are pointing to 6th edition soon this baby will be the first or second codex in the new addition.  It even 50% is true I will have to buy a bunch of new Eldar.  so here ya go.

Eldar mid to late 2012. Possibly 1st or 2nd official 6 ed codex

Guardians being redone. Will include new weapons platform and storm guardian bits.

Avatar getting new fine cast version with weapon options (spear/sword) not as big as FW model, but larger than current.

Lots of new mech options. Jump pack/jet options for walkers similar to new FW models, but unclear if this is new model or upgrade to current model. Upgrade packs don't seem likely, and current model is decent, so I have my doubts about this rumor completely.

New tank options...built on wave serpent/falcon chassis still. Hydra like flak turret, Bonuses against flyers and skimmers. Dcannon tank. And some pulse cannon monster tank...scorpion?

New jet bikes and vypers.

New warlock sculpts.

New aspect sculpts, aspects still likely fine cast.

Some sort of shimmershield device. Portable cover save for a unit, but static once deployed...model in design for it. Sounds fishy to me? But the de have the portal...who knows, I say unlikely.

From obvious dept comes the nightwing and some form of bomber. Neither look at all like de ships, or existing FW. Definitely eldar.

Drop pod of some sort that can carry 20 troops, 10 wraith guard, or 1 wraith lord. Deploys as firebase that has higher cover rating for guardians. Sounds like a bastion that drops into play with a weapons platform attached. Not sure I buy into this rumor completely, it seems too complex the way it's been described. And I never saw any evidence of this in design before.

Cheers. Still super long off, though. Have your salt handy. 


I like some of these.  The last one would be nice and really add a WTF factor to dealing with an army most players already don't know how to deal with.  SO what are your thoughts?



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

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

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!! 

No deployment..... Get back to WAR

Hello friendly wargamers, This is Seven returning from a small hiatus. I was supposed to deploy September first.....but that got canceled with Obama’s scale down.

I wanted to write a post about returning back to the hobby and getting back motivated to play & paint. The month prior to my expected deployment was devoted to training and preparing my affairs for my absence. It took nearly two whole months for me to really look at anything 40k related let alone go back down to the FLGS.


The first few days, I had very little interest in my expensive hobby and was finding it difficult to get back down to my FLGS. I had considered starting a new army and selling off my Eldar, as they Seemingly didn’t hold my attention like they used to anymore.



It was sort of depression like feeling. The army that I put so much commitment to was as flashy as it once was. (in mental image at least, I have a notoriously bedazzled army.)

Oddly one of things that pushed me back into playing is my natural hate of space marines. Once my blood was boiling from viewing battle reports online, I was impassioned to mete out some extra terrestrial hatred. Funnily enough the time away I think did some good, The fresh eyes effect is dramatic.


Has anyone else had any success with changing their point of view to overcome loss of interest”


Without further ado I present the newest addition to the council, up close and personal. By the way there is no straight black on this model sadly, the blue-black doesn't show too clearly.

He needs an impressive name........I was thinking.......

Edwardo

The 12th Foundation Of Vengeance: Suffering

Its been a little while since a Foundation of Vengeance has been laid down. We are nearing the end. This time we cover the 12^th Foundation of Vengeance. With the semi final rounds of ard boyz done, congrats to OST for taking 8^th out of 30 with his Death Wing and CVinton for taking 12^th in his semi final round, I have been seeing a lot of hate going out in the tournament circuit towards specific armies. I have also heard from people playing in tournaments that people playing the army they usually play are acting like mega douches to them and their other opponents.

Yes Grey Knights is the flavor of the moment, but all the “hardcore” Grey Knights players will switch as soon as the latest thing comes along. We have talked about dedication in the Foundations of Vengeance ad we have also talked about patience. Both of these foundations go hand in hand with the 12^th Foundation of Vengeance. Suffering.

I speak not of making your enemy suffer. This is the point of vengeance as a whole. No I speak of the suffering you must endure to make your plans come to fruition. Many players suffer and endure it merely by choice in army. I have been playing Eldar since 2^nd edition. There is a pretty sharp learning curve for Eldar. You have to muddle and suffer your way thru new editions of the game and new versions of the codex to find the fine balance the army requires to run it effectively. The same thing goes for when other codex’s come out and you have to find new ways to fight your enemy. The real key is not to suffer and mope about complaining about the new flavor of the month or how cheesy an army is. Granted this me me calling the kettle black as anybody that plays with me on a regular basis knows my hatred for Space Marines. You must harness the suffering and turn it into a constructive thing. Fighting battle after battle against Grey Knights may seem like a cruel game if you loose every one. Every game is a learning experience and shows you weakness and how to exploit it.

Every game you play makes you a better player. You learn new strategy, how rules work in weird situations and new ways to use your units. You also learn about other armies. Play as much as you can and have fun, but at the same time don't forget the lessons. That which does not kill you makes you stronger.

Suffering also extends into the hobby portion of 40K. There are far to many people not taking the time to paint their own miniatures. I can understand if you can't paint well or want a character to look immaculate. To many people look at painting and such as a chore and suffer thru it. I think this makes it easier for people to skip from army to army. Painting is a labor of love and when you sit down and paint your army up you form a bond with it. You “suffer” thru and paint every last model in the army. You feel accomplished, like all the labor was worth it. Its also a good bonding experience with other hobbyists. Sitting down on a weekly basis with The Stormlord and Mr.O is the whole reason I have 6000 points plus of Craftworld Eldar painted. If you suffer thru it all of a sudden its not so bad and you start to even enjoy it. SO the key is in everything, endure.

So stick to it. Keep playing Eldar or Tyranids or Sisters of Battle. Endure what was done to your codex's. Stay dedicated to the cause. Paint that horde army and marvel how your green, or whatever color tide it is, looks on the table. Wait Patiently and endure the suffering, For we are one step away from Vengeance.

Next time I hope to have a report about my first Fantasy Game. I want to try out the rules with a small skirmish between myself and Mr. O and his skaven using the Island of Blood set I bought this past week.  Also Everybody cross your fingers, pray to the Emperor or sacrifice something to the chaos gods that the car I found does not fall through so I have some new wheels later this week.

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

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls................ …....WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ogre Kindoms: You Are Whats for Dinner.

I think having limited funds has driven my need to buy models into over drive. Once again I am being lured into the weird realm of Warhammer Fantasy. I played many many years ago. I think it was basically a by product of working for GW and always loosing the inevitable paper, rock , scissors battle to run the store fantasy events and game day. I actually read all the rule books and sadly knew the rules for all the current GW games. This lead to me running Fantasy and it grew on me for a while. I even inherited an entire High Elf army that I salvaged from the boss's, Painter extraordinaire Jake Vlemix, bits collection. You aren't baller until you can pull an 1850 point 40K or 2000 point Fantasy army from your bits box. So despite the lack of players I am going to delve into fantasy again. Makes you a sort of black sheep in a store dominated by 40K.

I have been contemplating which army to start collecting. Of course I am drawn toward the High Elves. I like my elves I have to confess, be them in space or cutting humans the old fashion way. Chaos warriors is also tempting, but rather plain. As I stated before Ogres Kingdoms is what is really doing it for me. After I buy and Island of blood set I am going to start collecting my Ogre horde, with some High Elves on back up.

I am going to start the horde off with a battalion box and a couple boxes of Mournfang Calvary. I plan on getting a slaughter master and a butcher as well as a Tyrant. I want to add a Stonehorn as well. I know OST is being different and using the thundertusk, but I have a weak spot for hunters and I don't want him all by himself, he needs a big buddy.

I think I would be remiss if I did not include the artillery of doom known as The Ironblaster. Strength 10 Grape shot. Really? Thats ignorant. I really like the model though. All the gubbins and extra stuff you can add to the model adds real character.

So as I get models and get them assembled I will post pictures. I will also hopefully get a couple games in soon and post up some battle reports. Mr. O and his Skaven will be my warm up, probably followed by The Stromlords Bretonians. I also look forward to playing OST when he is back from the east coast.

Well next time I will get back to the foundations of Vengeance. The 12^th Foundation of Vengeance is upon us. Suffering will be our next Foundation.

Until next time....

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

Never Forget

Seerk here to take a pause and remember the victims and the real life heros who risked their own lives on This date in 2001.  My Great Grandfather was a firefighter and I have many close friends serving in the military currently, most of the them in the Marine Corps. 
Take a moment and honor those that fell.  I remember back in 2001 I was out hunting for a job after my release from GW.  I was at Circuit City filling out an app when the friend of mine that worked there said i had to leave.  She said they were closing the store and I was like why?  I came outside to fighters flying in formation overhead heading south towards Detroit.  I saw what had caused it all when I got home and flipped on the T.V.

Until next time........

My First Finecast Foray: Dark Eldar Wracks.

Well I had my first experience with Finecast finally. I purchased 2 boxes of Wracks for use in my webway list. As I laid out the contents of the box I found that I was actually missing a Wrack from each box. This was kind of a strike one. I have been shorted parts only once before and Gw did take car of it. In fact the number of Rangers in my Eldar army double thanks to that. I called Customer service and once again they took care of it and I have a box of Wracks on the way for free.

With all the hate on GW out there, myself dishing out a bunch included, I do have to say I have never had any issue when calling GW customer service or Forgeworld. They have always been very courteous and have taken care of my issues. So I started into the models. One aspect I do like is the sprue. The fill channels are very thin and most of them had snapped off already so clean up on the models was pretty easy. The bottom was another story. I have to get the good files out to clean up the flash on the feet. There is also bubbling like crazy on the bottom of the pants they are wearing. Granted not visible unless you pick up the model and look underneath.

The models fit together pretty seamlessly. The detail on the Wracks is nice. You also get a whole weapon sprue for the special weapons options for the Acothyst. This will be nice for arming your Haemonculi. I will have 4 of these sprue and 3 extra Wracks so I may start kit bashing to make a couple Haemonculi with the extra Wrack figures as I am not a real fan of the new Haemonculi model.

So despite the missing figures and the bubbling issue I am pretty pleased with the models. I am not real convinced GW has planned this out as well as they could. Granted they are producing models in way bigger numbers than Forgeworld, but the flaws in the resin are kinda bush league. I have some examples of weapons cast from home casting kits and they turn out great. Forgeworld kits also are pretty good in terms of casting errors. Its been thrown around that Finecast is GW's “New Coke” and that metal will come back as “Coke Classic” after people get pissed enough. Of course all of this is followed by a price increase.

Well I was hoping to have some Ogre Kingdom models for review as I start down my Fantasy adventure. Sadly My Wave Serpent, also known as My Spec V Nissan Sentra, was immobilized by a Teen age girl driving a Grand Prix. SO as I look for a new ride the model budget has gone to nil.

Wish me luck. Next time I hope to have some pictures of the assembled Webway list. I am still searching for Razorwings. Apparently GW discontinued the model as soon as it came out. I will also have a review this weekend of Gav Thorpes new book “Path Of The Seer”.

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

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls............................ …...........WAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!

Round The World: A Good Weekend Of Gaming

Well its been a whirlwind weekend for old SeerK.  I have been off of  work since noon on Thursday.  I went up to Lansing to visit and of course play some 40K.  I started off by meeting up with CVinton of Dark Future Games and headed over to The Fortress in East Lansing.  This is not my usual FLGS as I am usually found playing at Evolution games across town.  A change of scenary is nice once and a while. There was a sense of battle in the air as well, mainly because Michigan States first home game of the season was also happening,

I got in a good Ard'boyz game in with CVinton.  He had won the prelims at evo with his Imperial guard.  A mech list that included 9 scoring units.  I used the Craftworlders.  I was using two seer councils.  The game was a slug fest that had CVinton emerge the winner, but the toll taken on his army was severe.  I made a couple of Tactical errors that probably costed me the game, but it was fun regardless.  I also took the opportunity to buy my first dose of Finecast...........More on that later in the week.  Needless to say I am less than impressed and GW owes me 2 models.  Not because they were messed up, but because they were missing.

Saturday night 40K at Evolution games was busy.  Its nice to see the resurgence now that the summer is over.  FarSeer Re-Rolls and his Blood Angels based marines challenged me to a 2500 point game.  I decided to use my other possible Ard'Boyz List.  Its basically my Webway List with a 3rd Haemonculus, a fully decked out unit of 10 Incubi and 2 Ravagers with a full complement of Dizzy's.
The game ended on turn 4 when Farseer ReRolls scooped.  The Marines went down hard.  I claimed one of his dice as a trophy.  Sadly I think the rematch is going to be rough as now victory is a matter of honor and one of his chapters sacred relics is now in my possession.

Samsquatch Monster and I were also supposed to get a game in, but it was kinda late and w decided to hit the pub instead.  I also got a look at the new Ogre Kingdoms book and models.  I have to say they have me convinced finally.  I am going to start playing Fantasy.  I think I may have been scooped though as it looks as if Old School Terminator has beat me to the punch and already made an initial purchase.  The model that really convinced me was the Stonehorn.  Its dead sexy and with a hunter mounted on it, even more deadly.  Its a good thing I only have to get some Razor wings for the Webway List.

I am slowly building the orks for use in a Tournament coming up in November, don't quote me on that I will double check, called the "Back To Basics" tournament, being hosted at Evolution games and run by SamSquatch Monster.  Its a 1500 point basic force organization tournament using the basic missions.  Its great if you are new to the game or new to tournaments.  Its also nice for those of you still feeling out an army.


Well that was my weekend, its time to recover and try to get motivated to start painting Dark Eldar.  I also have a display board project I am going to start soon.  It is for the Webway Army when I take it to Adepticon this comming year.   Next time my first experience with Finecast.

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


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