When Spam Attacks! Fritz40k, Faeit212, and BoLS??

Looks like some of the heavyweight 40k blogs may be under siege by spam attacks. Fritz40k reported being drowned in Chinese spam posts, but seems to be holding down the fort.

Faeit 212 and BoLs are currently down. Probably others too that I haven't noticed yet. These may or may not be related to what Fritz is battling.

Anyone spotted any other blogs that are unexpectedly down?

Hang in there guys, and good luck.

-Spellduckwrong

Duct Tape Tactics: Improvised Grenades

Sometimes in a game, you find yourself wanting or needing to pull a maneuver off that you might not have the right assets on the field to do properly. Be it a restriction on what your Codex offers, what units you have in the area, maybe your list didn't have the right unit, or simply that you and your opponent have laid waste to each other and there simply isn't much left to do the job. 

This is where some Duct Tape Tactics come into play. 

Because we still have a job to do, even if it won't look professional.

In this edition of Duct Tape Tactics, I'll be going over a few ways to get around the fact that you want to assault something in cover but don't want to be hindered by the reality that you don't have assault grenades.

Fix 1: Pinning Weapons

This fix is pretty straight forward. Put some wounds on the target unit with some Pinning weapons and hope they fail their check. If a unit is assaulted while Pinned, the assaulting unit does not suffer any penalties to initiative for assaulting into cover. Same effect as having assault grenades. Obviously, if the target has good leadership, this one is going to take a few tries. Thankfully, you can force multiple Pinning checks in a single turn.

 Check your tool box:
Barrage weapons are Pinning.

Sniper weapons are Pinning.

Lots of other weapons have Pinning, look around in your Codex and your army list.

Fix 2: Make 'Em Go To Ground

Ok, so maybe we didn't bring any Pinning weapons, maybe they are busy/out of range/destroyed/etc, or maybe our target automatically passes Pinning checks. Well, we can still Pin our target so our would be assault unit won't be penalized for assaulting into cover. 

Going To Ground is functionally identical to being Pinned. Main difference is that it is voluntary and not dependent upon the enemy unit failing a leadership test. 

In my opinion, there are two main ways to get an opponent to Go To Ground.

A) Put a significant amount of wounds on a squad. So many wounds that they have to Go To Ground to have a decent chance to save enough of those wounds to survive. The amount of wounds needed here increases dramatically based on the target's armor save. Ten Ork Boys trying to save ten wounds on a 6+ armor save is pretty slim. Going to Ground for a 4+ cover save sounds much more possible.

B) How many wounds do you have to put on Tactical Marines? Or even Terminators? Well, the Tac Squad will have a very high threshold, but the Terminators have no need to Go to Ground from sheer volume of incoming wounds.

So how do you get Terminators to hit the dirt? Pound them with AP2/AP1 weapons. If you have 250 points of Terminators looking at six AP2 wounds, Going to Ground probably sounds better than risking that 5++ Invulnerable save they have in their back pockets.

 

Bonus Tip! You can have your Sniper weapons do double duty here. Sniper weapons are Rending. So, you might get the opponent to Go to Ground just so they get a save against the AP2 shots. Good rolls depending, of course.

Fix 3: Tank Shock!

Ok, so maybe you know right away that Fix 1 and 2 aren't going to do the job. Unfortunately, we still have a grenade-less unit that has to assault the enemy later this turn but we need to strike at initiative to pull of the win.

This is where your tanks come in. 

Tank Shock! the unit you want to attack. Since we can pre-measure our distances in 6th, you can get downright surgical with your tank. The purpose of this maneuver is to push some enemy models out of their cover so that when you assault them later in the turn, your units don't have to go through terrain and get slapped with the initiative penalty. You will have to move your assaulting unit so that it is positioned properly o comply with the strategy, but there you go. This tactic is also good against units with great leadership (unlike the Pinning strategy) because a unit with good leadership is likely to pass the check and let the tank do what it's trying to do.

And who knows, if the unit has crap leadership, you might get them to Fall Back. That may solve your problem, too.

Conclusion:

 

Obviously, any time we have to improvise, it is implied that we aren't going to have the best options. But we do have options, even if they aren't how we would normally want to do it, much, like fixing something with duct tape.

I have presented three ways to get around not having assault grenades. Anyone else have any tactics to get a similar effect?

-Spellduckwrong

Path of the Autarch: Mobility [Part Two]

Weathering the Storm of Fire

Last time, we discussed a brief synopsis of the new beneficial rules of 6th Ed. for mobile armies. 

Now, how do we leverage these against the enemy? Over the course of discussion, I may mention units but I don't want to get into too many specifics. This isn't an article series about list building, it is an article series about a thought process on how to use your list (or at least the more mobile elements of it). 

Deployment Phase:

At the beginning of the game, one of two things will happen. Either you will deploy first or your opponent will.  These are immutable facts of the game. What is not immutable is whether the person who deploys first will take the first turn.

Mobile armies are at their most vulnerable before their first turn.  Movement is the sword and shield of a mobile army but before the first turn, the shield is neither raised nor is sword unsheathed. Having the enemy blast your army with  a blistering storm of fire when your army is at its weakest can be devastating. This threat is always there. Since it is a 50/50 shot whether you will get the first turn and even then the Initiative can be seized which means that we must always try to mitigate the possible incoming storm of fire. 

The mobile army is at its most vulnerable during this time and there is always a chance the enemy will fire first, therefore the initial goal of the general in command must be to survive long enough to get a turn and, in addition, take as few casualties as possible in order to have sufficient forces left when that turn comes around in order to accomplish the battlefield's demands.

Reconnaissance:

What do we need to know about the enemy's army before we lay our first model onto the table?

What weapons do they have that can harm us during the first turn? We're looking for the obvious like high strength, long range weapons that threaten our vehicles, or are there long range blast weapons that would bring us harm?  Or anything else that may be tricky or particularly nasty to the particular mobile elements of our force.

If there are blasts, be they large or small? Since blast templates are full strength all the time in 6th, we want to make sure that our units are spaced out enough to make sure two units cannot get hit at once, especially vehicles. It seems so simple to do this and yet I see multiple vehicles getting hit on turn one all too often. If you have to, lay a blast template on the board and use that to space out your tanks, using the appropriate sized based on your knowledge of the enemy's weaponry.

Another question would be, are there Barrage weapons? If so, are there multiple level ruins to protect our infantry with an overhead roof? Or if it's a big ruin, can we turn it into a car port?

Taking the Field:

Now that we have done our recon on the enemy's forces. We move to the two scenarios. 

Scenario 1: Storm Watch (we deploy first)

We've won the roll off and decided to go first or the enemy has forced us to go first. Either way, we now take the field blindly. We don't know what the enemy battle lines will look like, merely their contents. We can, however, make educated guesses about likely enemy positions. Odds are good that long range units will be deployed in terrain with good lanes of fire and bonus cover saves. This seems obvious but it is worth thinking about every time. Since we will be deploying with the expressed goal of surviving the enemy shooting at us before we get to move, we can use these forecasts to decrease our first turn casualties. For example, we can infer that the opponent's Devastators/Long Fangs/Anti-tank equivalent unit will likely go in the obviously best place for them, therefore we position their most likely targets out of line of sight or barring that, with the best cover save available in between. You have to play the game with your opponent that if they want the best positions for their units, they will have the most difficult time accomplishing their goals. Hopefully, we will also go first and most of the time, this will be true. Most of the time isn't all the time and since this is our most vulnerable moment, we can take no chances.

Scenario 2: Storm Warning (we deploy second)

Odds are, the storm is imminent. 5/6 of the time (unless you have cute little tricks) the storm is coming and we need to be ready.

So here is what is most likely going to happen. The opponent is going to light us up like the Chinese New Year on turn one, we get a turn and then the opponent is going to get another go at it, this time with the possibility of reinforcements (generally pronounced "flyers").

Knowing this, what are we to do? Well, the plan is going to be similar to Scenario 1. We are going to make sure that to the best of our ability, everything is either going to be out of line of sight of their most potent weapons or at least getting the best cover saves available to them. This is easier in this scenario because we know exactly where the opponent has set up.

There is another major factor in our deployment that must also be considered in this scenario much more than the first one. Setting up for the counter attack. Since we only get one turn before the opponent can fire on us the second time, we need to have a plan on how to make that second volley as impotent as possible.

By now, due to your recon, you know what the immediate threats will be, and since we deploy second, we know where those threats are lurking. The opponent's powerful weapons are our main targets. If I have many tanks, I will ignore the small arms fire like Bolters,  Shootas,  Lasguns,  soft blob units, etc. I'm hunting Lascannons, Missile Launchers, pockets of AutoCannons, Dark Lances, enemy battle tanks, and other heavy weapons. My goal is to kill, pin (or make go to ground), stun,  make fall back, or diminish anything that is going to make Turn 2 as bad or worse than Turn 1.

With this in mind, We are going to position our units such that they meet two criteria:

1) They have the best cover save available against the opponent's best weapons (no LOS is the best cover, by the way)

2) If they are still mission capable on our first turn, they are poised to strike at the most dangerous parts of the opponent's army. This is also in preparation for the odd chance that we will seize the initiative.

Remember, please utilize 6th Edition's pre-measuring for the purposes of fulfilling the two criteria. 

If the opponent's weapons are too severe, the danger too great, or the terrain too scarce, we can also Reserve some of our long range weaponry to ensure we at least get one shot with it. Though this comes with its own risks and drawbacks and only you can know if this is the correct course of action. You may even be reserving units already for deep striking, outflanking, etc. Just beware of having too little on the table initially. This runs the risk of making your subsequent turns less effective.

Now that the basics have been laid out, what is your mental process for setting up your forces? I would love to hear other generals' pre-battle logic.

Next Path of the Autarch, The Surgical Strike.

-Spellduckwrong

Adepticon 2013: The Aftermath

Well somehow I managed to get today off from work.  It is nice having a day to recovery before going back
to the grind.  Well we survived another Adepticon.  I have a ton of pictures and so does our local shutter bug  Jim.  SO once I get through looking through all of the pictures I will post a bunch of them.

I managed to get some good deals on some Eldar and I picked up a small amount of Tyranids to start painting.  I feel very invigorated right now.  It was like my hobby battery was almost dead and Adepticon was like a Hobby charger.  So I feel refreshed.  Which is good because we have a new codex on deck.


I am not even going to really do the rumors thing past what I have already done.  There are tons of guys in the blogsphere that are totally into that and its their bag.  I will however be pouring over the codex and playing the helll out of it when it does drop.  New tactics and strategy must be learned.  Spellduckwrong and I will be analyzing this codex inside and out over the coming months.


I will be finally starting my Flames Of War Painting projects as well.  I have enough STU assault guns to run the formation out of the German book form Operation Market Garden.  I will be doing updates on that as well as my Rense System Navy fleet for Firestorm Armada.  After talking to the founder of The Black Ocean I am pumped to try and do an event at next years Adepticon.  I had a conversation with a couple board members already and Lord Solar Steve and I will be working on a proposal for the Adepticon Board.

The real key to an event is interest.  SO I need input.  I will be contacting The Black Ocean this week to start the ball rolling.


Well I have models to assemble and laundry to finish.  A lot more hobby and more tactics are down the road.



Until next time.....


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

Adepticon 2013: Almost Live Day 3

SeerK here with some more pictures from Adepticon 2013.  I have some pictures from the army displays
that were set up for the armies on display after the first part of the team tournament Saturday night.  Before that though I want to get a plug in for a couple of guys.

First I want to let everybody know that once again we had a conversation with Mr. Paulson over at Paulson Games.  He has a new game that is close to completion called "Mecha Front".  Its a futuristic Mech combat game.  The mock up card cut outs of the concept art are to scale.  A mechanic I found awesome and usually lacking in most games of this nature is
the ability to completely destroy the terrain.  in Mecha Front you can.  In fact you can still cause damage to Mechs hiding behind the building.

I also want to give a shout to the main man over at The Black Ocean.  He was here helping run demos of a favorite game around the Craftworld and the FLGS, Firestorm Armada.  We had a massive 6 player game going last night that went until 4 am. I am going to be working with the guys over at Gaming, Beer and Bullshit to see if we can get an event going for Firestorm Armada next year at Adepticon.  So stay tuned.


Now on to the pictures of the Armies on display.  I have pictures of 3 of my favorites.  The first is by the team and band, I bought their first album, Da Gof Rockers.

The Gargant has a Jumbotron in it playing a flash music video

Orks love "da metal"

I feel as though there should be a mosh pit

The Inqusition always tells us to look beyond the surface

This was my favorite part of the display

The mutant and heretic rabble

The Might of the Mechanicum

So there you have it some more images from the front.  Its the last day of the convention and myself and the rest of the crew is taking it easy.  Vogrin is going to finally teach me Warmachine.  I got a Cygnar battle box in my swag bag and picked up a unit of Gun Mages at bits trading.  So we will see how they do.

BigMek SkrapKlaw is also going to be doing some reviews of the many Demos he played at the convention this weekend, so look for those later this week.


Until Next time...



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

Adepticon 2013: Almost Live Day 2

SeerK here once again bringing you images from Adepticon 2013.  I have some images from the 40K Friendly and the Gladiator today.  I am also happy to say our Codex is imminent.  Images have surfaced of a plastic Farseer and The Judge has just informed me of some codex rumors that have now been popping up.  The day of reckoning is upon us my friends.

First lets see some pictures.

This Big Guy gave the judge a whole heap of trouble in the Gladiator

The First Kevin I fought in the GT and his Necrons Taking another crack  at the Eldar

An awesome traitor guard army blessed by Grandfather Nurgle

Nice conversion work on the Titan.

The Vendettes were amazing

And of Course the plastic Farseer

This from Faeit as well

Eldar are indeed coming.

Path system has been revamped. Autarchs take paths that are now fixed in point cost (before they became more expensive the more you took) but do not make their aspect troops.

Instead it allows corresponding aspects to be taken as compulsory troops.

Ergo, the Path of the Striking Scorpions would allow you to take up to two striking scorpions as troops.

If you also took the path of Swooping Hawks you could take up to two Swooping Hawks as troops or one and one.

Guardians are a lot cheaper and have more options for special weapons.

New transport for dire avengers / weapon platform (with no transport capacity).

And lots of new goodies.


Well looks like we are in for some major treats this year.  Now if you will excuse me I have some more Adepticon to see.


Until next time....


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

Adepticon 2013: Almost Live

SeerK here coming to you from the Excutive suite at the Westin in Lombard Illinois. Sorry for the first update a little late.  I played in the 40K Championships yesterday and it started late.  So late in fact I conceded my last game around 10pm.  It was a day full of Daemons and Chaos Marines with three of my opponents bearing the first name of Kevin, I kid you not all three named Kevin.

But here are some pictures from the from the front as it where.  Pardon the quality.  I was a bit drunk during the GT

The Craftworld Lansing Warhost Assembled for War.

My 2nd round opponent Kevin and His Nurgle Daemon Army.

Very nice Maulerfiend

Mechanicus Imp Guard Army Elements

My First opponents Soul Grinder.  Guess what His name was? That's right...Kevin

Kevin's Warlord

Dead Sexy Razorwing from a Dead Sexy DE army

Nice Saim Hann Army with Allies

So there are some Highlights from day one of Adepticon 2013.  I will be posting more throughout the weekend.


Until next time......



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

Path of the Autarch: Mobility [Part One]

Image used without permission. All rights belong to the artist.

In the grim dark future of the 41st millennium, there is only war. Accepting that there is no respite from this, how do you want to fight that war? This is a fundamental question that needs to be addressed. You have to be honest with yourself and figure out how you want to deliver bitter defeat to your enemy.

This article series will explore mobility as the chosen way of war.

The Eldar are still fast even though the codex is old, the units aren't modern compared to nearly all other codexes,  and you are going to pay a points premium on nearly everything which is sometimes referred to as the 4th Edition tax. Now that we have the normal drawbacks of the army identified, let us move on to why they do not mean that the battle is lost before it begins. 

Some things happened when the sun set on 5th edition, some excellent things for the Eldar actually. 

Let's list some of the major ones.

-Fast skimmers can move at Cruising speed and still fire two weapons at full Ballistic skill.

-Skimmers get a cover save just for moving.

-Glancing hits don't shut off a vehicle's weapons for a turn.

-Pre-measuring distances is legal, all the time.

-Eldar Jet Bikes are able to cover ridiculous distances in a single turn.

-Wounds are applied to squads from the direction the shooting has come from.

-Holofields are useless (this isn't joyous but it does make Eldar battle tanks 35 points cheaper)

-Spirit Stones aren't necessary anymore (same as Holofields but saves an extra 10 points per grav tank).

While 6th Edition isn't all roses for Eldar, in battle, very few things are ideal. The trick is to leverage your advantages against the enemy's disadvantages and with some luck and a series of sound decisions, hopefully you will steal victory from the opposition. 

What elements have you found to be a boon to fast, mobile units in 6th Edition? I know I didn't list everything.

Next Path of the Autarch, Weathering the Storm of Fire.

-Spellduckwrong

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

A New Member of the Council Has Arrived...

Used without permission. All rights belong to original artist. 

Hello All, SeerK had asked me to guest write on this blog from time to time and I accepted the invitation. So, I guess I should start with a small amount of my 40k background since I will be contributing to a 40k blog, after all. I'm not one for introductions so I'll try to be brief.

So here it goes. I bought my Eldar Battleforce box and my first Farseer model the week before the new 4th edition book came out. Having a new rules set meant that everyone had a learning curve ahead of them, so I wouldn't be so very far behind. I was stationed in Germany at this time during my enlistment with the U.S. Army. Europe was the first continent I played 40k on, North America the second and Asia was the third. 

During 5th edition, I was playing in Iraq, FLGS's in Kansas and when I left military active duty, I traveled to different events and tournaments in Michigan taking a sample of each local meta's flavor. I think that I have greatly benefited from my exposure to diverse gaming groups throughout the years.

Now here we are in 6th edition and I am still commanding my Craftworld's war host in the uphill battle against codex creep. I have stuck with Eldar through the years because they really mesh with how I play games in general. I like fast, semi-resilient things with devastating firepower.  Not surprisingly, I favor the faster elements available to the Eldar armies and most of my tactical doctrine involves targeted destruction and weaponized mobility. 

This is just a post to say hello and introduce myself. The topics that I will be posting on in the future will probably be strategy based, at least my version of it anyway, seen through the Eldar lens of course. Hopefully, there will be some sincere discussions on these topics. I have noticed that many people have sentenced the Eldar to mediocrity and won't even try to find ways to succeed with them.

 I find this a pity because, true, the Eldar codex is no longer shiny or flashy, but just like that old trusty revolver your grandfather had left over from the war, it still does the job if you know how to use it.

Good luck at Adepticon, everyone.

-Spellduckwrong 

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

The Test Of Khaine Results!

Well I thought I would finally post the winners of the Test Of Khaine from this past weekend.  We had 14
players this year and it was a very laid back and fun tournament all around.  so here we go

1st.   George Gasser (Eldar)

2nd.   Bill Kim (Daemons)

3rd.  Austin Proux (Chaos Marines/ Tau)

4th.  Jacob Dungy (Tyranids)


The Sportsmanship award went to Luke "The Judge" Slocum.


Well there you have it.  General Chaos and his mighty WAAAAAGH! had their 2 year winning streak broken. Me thinks this is for affect, and we will be seeing the Ancient enemy of the Eldar return under his command next year.  It was a scorcher for points this year as well.  George and Bill were only seperated  by 2 points in the standings.


I have also asked George to contribute to Craftworld Lansing.  So look for articles and musings fromm the mind of the other Seer on the Council in the coming months.


The Craftworld Lansing crew will be leaving for Adepticon tomorrow.  BigMek SkrapKlaw and I will be joining DFG and The Gaming, Beer and Bullshit crew for yet another year of 40K games and drunken shananigins.  I am currently doing the last of my laundry as I write this.  I am all packed up.  The army is painted packed and ready to roll.  My Display board did not turn out as I wanted so its kind of bad.  It will have to do though.  My Eldar themed defense line was also not going as planned so I am forced to use an Imperial one.  Oh well means I have a year to get a new board and line made.  Granted we will have a new codex by then.  I wont need a defense line......



Well for those of you going to Adepticon if you see one of us wearing a DFG, Gaming, Beer and Bullshit and of course a Craftworld Lansing Tshirt stop and say hi.  I know several of us will be looking for late night pick up games.  I have also been told by Inquisitor Vogrin that I am giving Warmachine/ Hordes a 3rd try.  I guess there are way more ladies playing in those rooms.  I swear the Inquisitor knows how to get my attention.



See you at Adepticon............




BLOOD RUNS, ANGER RISES, DEATH WAKES, WAR CALLS!

Happy Birthday To Us! And some Predepticon

Well less than a week from Adepticon and I am scrambling to get everything done.  I have the Army painted
and I am still trying to hash out an Eldar looking defense line so I don't have to go to plan b, which is a normal Imperial Aegis line.  I should have my very simple display board ready.  It is basic but will get the job done.

I am going to start making one for next year, but I think I may wait for the New Eldar stuff to really put the polish on it, especially if they release an actual Webway gate model.  Its just a rumor, but I hope they Craftworlders get a nice army specific piece of terrain.


Speaking of scrambling and pre Adepticon prep.  The 3rd annual Test Of Khaine Tournament is tomorrow at Evolution Games in Lansing.  I have their address and such up in previous posts.  Doors open at 10 and I want dice to fly at 11.  Entry is $10.

I would also like to wish the blog Happy Birthday!  We have been at this for about 3 years now and its been fun.  Things are going to start picking up around here, especially with the impending rumored release of a new Eldar Codex in June.


I would also like to announce that there will be a post battle party at Renos West on Saginaw Highway in Lansing.  The official bar of Craftworld Lansing.  Its traditional to have a pint when all the carnage has passed.  It is also my Birthday this weekend so come out and hoist a pint with old SeerK after the Tournament.


See you all tomorrow and hopefully some of you in Lombard at Adepticon next weekend.


Until then



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

Test Of Khaine Is A Week Away!!

Well we are a week away from the Test Of Khaine. I am excited for this year. It marks the 3^rd year of the

tournament. We already have some pre registered and the pre registration sheet is up at Evolution Games. So give the shop a call and save your spot.

Just to go over the detail again. We are starting registration at 10 am and I want to get started by 11 am. The entry fee is $10. it will be a 3 round tournament using the Adepticon Primer missions. And as promised the 3 missions are, mission 1, 3 and 5. So study well. Remember playing to the mission wins the day!

The updated FAQ is also now up on the Adepticon site. Here is the link.

http://www.adepticon.org/wpfiles/2013/40KAddendum.pdf

Well just wanted to post a reminder. I am going to be posting my next Aspect Of Khaine in the next few days. The Howling Banshee has gotten a nice boost and the traditional tricks and methods can be enhanced by the rule set changes. So The daughters of Morheg Hai are next up in the Aspects Of Khaine reboot.

I will also throw in my 2 cents on the new Tau codex. Mother of god...........Prepare yourselves. The Greater Good is going to come out of every dark corner its been hiding in. Tau players are back with a vengeance. I still cant get over kroot snipers......

Until next time......

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