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Blood Vow

Happiness is success... (Buddha)

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

BeakyCon • 5th edition vs. 6th edition


Hi everyone !

I have been told GW has pulled the 5th edition rulebook off their website and shops have been told to not restock them. It sounds like GW is ready to soon release 6th to the public. I am very curious how people feel about which edition they want to play at the GT this October. We have no idea what is exactly in store for us with the release of the new edition. I know lots of people that say they are bored with the current edition and many others as well who've said they are worried GW is going to screw up the game. I'm personally looking forward to the new edition. Of course there are a lot of logistics to consider... Currently I'm thinking if 6th edition is released by early June there will be enough time to sort everything out by October. I'd love to hear what y'all think. Please let me know.

Some of my Tyranid tactics & strategies versus Grey Knights






I have played lots of games versus GK with my Tyranids and I believe I have won more than half those games. The wins were all very close and tough to pull off but it can be done. Maybe I wasn't always playing versus a hardcore tournament veteran but then again GK have many many advantages over Tyranids so in my mind a win against any GK army is big.


Fortunately Tyranids have a few tricks up their sleeve as well and you must take advantage of these to have a chance to win. I run my army with a good portion of reserved units:


—Outflanking genestealer Broods with Broodlords (see my note below)
—Yrmgarl genestealer Brood
—Devilgants in mycetic spore
—Winged Hive Tyrant with Hive Commander option
—Outflanking Warrior Brood


The Broodlord has two psychic powers it can cast in the assault phase - one lowers the enemy unit's leadership by -1 (Aura of Despair) while the other can prevent an enemy model in base contact from fighting (Hypnotic Gaze). Note that the Broodlord can only cast one of these during an assault phase - not both.


I take a Brood of 6-8 Yrmgarl genestealers and their primary purpose is to hunt psyflemen. They have a good chance to penetrate dreadnaught armor with +1S and their rending attacks... If nothing else they can tarpit a psyfleman for several turns and also act as a major distraction as well. Psyflemen are very tame versus other GK units in assault so generally there should be no hesitation to charge them when possible.


Devilgants can lay down a heavy salvo with their devourers... I run my Brood in a spore so I can take an uncontested shot at exposed units. I also try to keep them outside of the GK assault range... If they are shot and break then I try to position a synapse creature close by to bring them to halt so they can regroup the next turn. A large Brood of gants backed up by synapse can actually win an assault versus a small GK squad such as Strike Knights since they are I4.


I typically start with my Hive Tyrant in reserve to lessen the number of turns my opponent can shoot it. My Tyrant has the Hive Commander option so all my reserves come in with +1. He is there to speed up reserves and later cast Paroxsym on enemy GK units to weaken their shooting and melee abilities.


I outflank my Warriors so they can grab objectives and extend my synapse bubble. Mine are armed with poisoned bone swords and lash whips, so they are also quite good in melee when push comes to shove.


Lash whips are a big equalizer versus GK, even when armed with halberds since Tyrants and Warriors are strking at a higher initiative (when not charging into cover).


Shadows in the Warp (SitW) is also another effective deterrent versus GK - but you do have to get close for it to work against them, so always be very careful.


You have to be very cautious when assaulting GK, especially when they have psykotropic and/or rad grenades, or their Librarian has successfully cast Sanctuary. Often it's futile in many cases. So you have to first weaken strong GK melee units such as Paladins, Purifiers and Grey Knight terminators. You can beat them by wearing them down a bit with some shooting first then assault them with multiple units if the opportunity presents itself. I try to avoid big Paladin deathstars as they are currently the kings of melee... If properly equipped they can chew through most any unit quickly. Many Tyranid units are faster though so typically it's easy to avoid them in melee.


The GK Stormraven can be a major problem for Tyranids as one salvo of mindstrike missile can wipe a Tyrant off the table in one shooting phase. I use Hive Guard and a Tyrannofex to shoot down these fliers... And if their fliers are moving flatout for the cover save then they aren't shooting much and you still have a chance to drop them at range.


The main thing is to wisely use your movement phase. As I said above Tyranids tend to be faster in general - movement is the one phase you can really dominate if you play it wisely.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

New terrain for BeakyCon 2012

Hi folks !

This year we are building even more terrain so that we can have some very cool themed tables to play on again. Here are a couple WIP pictures of some of the awesome new terrain that Chris Winans is building for us this year...

Tyranid World Table


Eldar World Table



Monday, May 28, 2012

40k Reserve Manipulation


Hi everyone !! I've been quite busy the past two weeks with a lot travel for work and not as much time for 40k. I did manage to get in a few games this weekend with Tyranids to start practicing again for WarGamesCon (WGC) next month. I need to focus now on painting the last of my Tyranid units I'll be using for WGC. One game I played this weekend that stood out was Planet Strike versus a mechanized Blood Angels army (defender)... It was a lot of fun and I like the ruleset - if you're looking for something different to spice up your games this can be a lot of fun to play. In particular for me the stratagems can make things quite interesting. I think playing the defender is challenging as the attacker has access to lots of advantages and it certainly helped my Tyranids with a strong alphastrike to start the game. The FOC is different - for instance you field more than three elite units which is nice for Tyranids in general.

Six edition is right around the proverbial corner as well and I'm sure it's release will stir things up quite a bit - as usual whenever a new edition is released some armies take a hit while others get a nice boost. I'm thinking the newer armies for the most part should make out okay since their rules were probably written with sixth edition in mind... This obviously includes Grey Knights and Necrons but I wouldn't be surprised to see other armies such as dark eldar also get a bit of a boost as well. Of course there will eventually be some new codices released again - rumors tell us that Dark Angels and Chaos Space Marines (CSM) are next in line. I'm not holding my breath for a great Dark Angels codex as they usually seem to get the proverbial shaft from GW... Oh well maybe I'll be in for a surprise. I think if the new CSM codex is good that could bring a lot of older veterans back to the game, which could be a good thing. I'm just hoping we don't end up with another overpowered army fiasco again. It would be nice if CSM get some new abilities to negate some of the Grey Knights' over the top strengths and bring back some balance between armies.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Immortal Warrior - 5th edition final review


So we are close to the end of the road with 5th edition. It has been a good edition with not many complaints from me. I hope they can tighten up the rules even more so with the new edition and make the game even more balanced. We have heard lots of rumors but it's hard to say what will really happen... GW has really kept a tight lid on things for awhile now. I don't really have a big wish list of things I want for 6th edition to be honest.

I've been playing since the beginning of 3rd edition and have loved the hobby immensely. I don't have a crystal ball to shed more light on the rumors... Whatever will happen will happen. So far we are almost half way through the year without a new codex being released. That is kind of different and I think we are all pretty much wondering what will be the next big army that people jump on. Chaos Space Marines or Dark Angels next... It should be interesting to see what happens.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Tyranids and WarGamesCon


So I have decided to bring my brand of Tyranids to WGC and there are several reasons for the decision. I will have to finish painting some units such as my Yrmgarl genestealers so I'm really glad I have such a simple paint scheme (black and red for my Hive Fleet Gorgon). The vast majority of my army was painted by Next Level Painting so it's not like it's a big deal. One of the main reasons why I decided to bring my army is based upon my experience - I feel confident, so why not? Lots of people talk about bringing their Tyranids to a big event then end up bringing another army such as Grey Knights or Deathwing. WGC is one of the really big events and this is the type of tournament I need to bring them to see just what they can really do and how they will perform. I'm not suffering any delusions of grandeur - if I can just make the cut for the second day I'll be very happy.

Mostly I just want to thank all my good friends like Mat Douthat, John Lennon and Brian Poole who inspired me to stick with the army. They have provided the most valuable input to me for developing my current 2000 point army. I don't think I'd ever be ready without their help and support. I still remember when I first saw my Tyranid army - originally it was a dipped army and after playing several games against it with my Draigowing I felt it had some hidden strengths others might have missed... It's unique and of course I like that a lot.

I had the army repainted after I bought it and changed the composition a bit but all the original fundamental concepts for the most part are still intact. If you follow my blog or the series of articles I've written for BoLS then you'll know that my Tyranid army was originally fully reserved but I've since modified the composition so there is now a solid shooty core. I'm really hoping my Tyrannofex can come through and deliver the goods - Big Pappy has always been rather hit or miss for me but when he is on the old Tyrannofex can bring a lot to the table... He's not the brightest bug out there but he has lots and lots of potential - hopefully the tendril can tap into his awesomeness. Heh !!

I'm actually thinking now that WGC and their battlepoint system is a great format for Tyranids. You can lose a game and still be in the hunt. I think it will be very interesting and I'm excited. Lots of other people have taken their Tyranids to big events this year and some have done really well. They are also a source of inspiration for me !! Another great thing about WGC is that I have for the most part enjoyed all of my opponents there the past two years - it's very competitive but it's not cutthroat either... And that's pretty darn cool.

I could bring my Draigowing as I originally planned but I'd rather just make the second day cut with my Tyranids as opposed to say possibly placing in the final top ten... Not that I can do either - it's just the way I feel.

Friday, May 18, 2012

The White Wyrm • Space Wolf Fiction

Here is a story I'm currently writing about a Valkyrie that crosses over into our 40k universe...

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?showtopic=250486

Thursday, May 17, 2012

rumor has it...



All of these words whispered in my ear,
Tell a story that I cannot bear to hear,
Just 'cause I said it, it don't mean that I meant it,
People say crazy things,
Just 'cause I said it, don't mean that I meant it,
Just 'cause you heard it,

Rumour has it, rumour has it

Monday, May 14, 2012

A New Age is coming soon...


I have spoken with Kenny and we will soon be colluding to create a new online home for the 40k Wrecking Crew. No expense will be spared and there will be no more interruptions.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Necron Melee Unit Analysis - The C'Tan Shard


Introduction
Hi everyone. I've provided an introductory article on this subject a few weeks ago and am now covering individual units separately. I have been asked to cover some of the less popular choices (i.e., not including Canoptek Wraiths and Scarabs). As I have said before I'm not a big fan of Flayed Ones or Praetorians so don't expect to see much about those two units here. I have recently had some success with the C'Tan Shard including winning a local Ard Boyz style tournament. I know that the word on the Internet is that slow moving monstrous creatures will just get shot off the table. Without much reflection that might seem true but upon further analysis I think the C'Tan can be a solid choice. Sure there are armies that can blast a C'Tan off the table with one round of shooting but that's certainly not the case for every army and there are tactics that can help mitigate enemy firepower as well. An important factor to consider is how to tactically use the Shard... Are you planning to simply rush him forward or hang back and play goalkeeper simply protecting softer units such as your troops?

I have found that fielding a C'Tan coupled with two turns of Night Fight will often allow you to move the Shard into a prime position to launch an assault... The addition of being able to run units during the shooting phase has opened up a new set of dynamics. Consider that the C'Tan is T7 which allows the shard to shrug off small arms firepower such as bolters and lasguns. If your opponent is focusing a lot of firepower on your C'Tan that draws the heat off other units such as your Canoptek Scarabs and Wraiths which can move into prime positions to assault. I like to use a three pronged attack for my assaults. I've got the C'Tan, Wraiths and Scarabs moving towards the enemy under the cover of Night Fight. Sure the Shard is slow compared to the other two units but for a deployment such as Spearhead there is a lot less ground to cover in order to quickly reach the enemy line. There are some devious means of moving your C'Tan faster into the enemy rank and file...

The Slingshot
You can teleport one non vehicle unit per turn through a Monolith's portal using the dimensional corridor ability and the unit can even come in directly from reserve. This can be risky as you might have to place the Monolith in harm's way to teleport the Shard. You have a good chunk of points invested in both units so you should carefully weigh your options before rushing in to use this delivery system.

So now let's take a look at some of the options available to your Shards...

C'Tan Manifestations of Power
I'm not going to cover every single power available. I'll simply discuss those I like the best. If I don't happen to cover a certain power you think is good then let us know in the comments section!

Gaze of Death
I like this one a lot. At the end of each combat you place the large blast template over the C'Tan and every model underneath suffers a S3 attack with no armor saves allowed. If any model suffers an unsaved wound then the C'Tan regains one lost wound. Note that these wounds don't count towards combat resolution. This is the most expensive power... It might not seem like much but it can break enemy units and keep your C'Tan moving along to engage other units. I think of this as an old school Nightbringer type of manifestation.

Grand Illusion
This is another expensive power that lets you redeploy d3 units before the game begins and after all Scout moves have been made. You can also move units into or out of reserve. I like this power a lot but it's only effective if you go first so it's going to help you roughly 50 percent of the time. This is great for the old bait and switch routine... I love to put my Wraiths into reserve, see how my opponent deploys then pull them back out again and set them up to attack a weak point in my opponent's battle line - this can really catch opponents off-guard if you do it right. I also like to reposition my Scarabs as well for the same effect.

Pyreshards
While I don't use this manifestation I do think it's worth mentioning as it can be useful and is one of the cheaper powers. This one provides eight S4 shooting attacks at 18" range and is an assault weapon. The C'Tan is BS5 so you should be able to manage two to three wounds versus T4 units... Obviously it's even better versus T3 units. While this is not all that powerful its not entirely useless and lets you save a good amount of points if need be.

Transdimensional Thunderbolt
This is one of the more pricy powers and it's one of my favorites. This manifestation equips the C'Tan with a S9 AP2 shooting attack with 24" range and it's also an assault weapon. You pay for this one and it can be quite good... You've got roughly 60 percent the range of a lascannon and hit on 2+. This power is great versus mechanized armies as you can obviously crack open any vehicle.

Writhing Worldscape
This might be the most well known power and it is also one of the most expensive. At first I was really crazy about it when I was experimenting with a Tremor list but now I rarely ever use it anymore... It did come in handy this weekend though when I ran two C'Tan in my 2500 point list - one game three Battle Sister Retributors carrying heavy bolters died the same turn while climbing into a ruin! Heh. It's very random but it could also help you win a game if luck happens to be on your side. I prefer to run either a TAC or Wraithwing style of army now so this particular power is not as useful for me now.

The Worth of the C'Tan
Okay so I've covered some basic tactics for the initial deployment of the C'Tan and touched on their inherent resiliency. While they are nowhere near as good as they used to be they are also cheaper pointswise - especially if you don't load up on the most expensive powers. They now cost roughly the same as a landraider... The question is can they do as much for a Necron army as the ever ubiquitous landraider can for a Space Marine army? To me that's an open ended question and I will approach it as follows - whenever I design an army list for a tournament I want to include at least one unit that has what it takes to pop AV14. If you play armies that have a lot of access to melta weapons (e.g., Space Marines) it's simple to fulfill this requirement. Some other armies don't have it as easy though.

A common role for the landraider is to deliver a dedicated melee unit into the heart of the enemy line... Once that role has been fulfilled its not as important to protect the tank. I look at the C'Tan in a similar fashion except that the Shard must deliver itself into battle (unless of course you want to invest the points into a Monolith so you can slingshot your C'Tan). Prior to the new codex it seemed to like every Necron army I ran across had at least one Monolith and a C'Tan (aka The Deceiver) but things have changed a lot since the release of the new codex - its been around half a year since then and now other units have moved to the forefront such Overlords in Catacomb Command Barges, Canoptek Scarabs and Wraiths.

The Goalie - Protecting your Troops
Warriors and Immortals are good for midrange shooting but frail in most melees - especially versus dedicated enemy close combat units. One approach is to throw your fast melee units forward to force your opponent to deal with them first but not everyone wants to follow this route. There may be times when specific situations require that you protect your troops and the C'Tan can fulfill this role as a big deterrent versus assault armies. Alone the Shard might only serve as a speed bump but it can buy you some much needed time to reposition your troops. Coupled with a squad of Canoptek Wraiths they have a lot of synergy together and can hold up enemy assault units and often beat them. I am using VeilTeks in my TAC list so this is not so crucial for me but still versus fast enemy armies such as dark eldar it can work.

Conclusion
If you want to include a C'Tan the Shard is still quite strong as a dedicated melee unit but you need to build your list to help protect the C'Tan so that it can reach melee and wreck some serious face. As I said in the opening Night Fight can work well in conjunction with a C'Tan and some armies don't have a lot of high power long range shooting to take it down from afar. I have found that versus armies such as Space Wolves missile spam and even Imperial Guard the C'Tan can still be a serious threat. Fielding multiple dedicated melee units forces your opponent to decide which is the most immediate threat and react to that first. The C'Tan can be your second wave of assault barreling in behind those Scarabs and Wraiths. I don't use a Shard in my Wraithwing army but the C'Tan is definitely a cornerstone in my TAC list. I tend to use my C'Tan as a melee workhorse tackling the harder enemy dedicated melee units and of course the Shard has no problem quickly crushing weaker units such as tactical Marines and guardsmen should they be foolish enough to wander too close.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Friday, May 11, 2012

Calling on the Hive Mind



I am calling on all of my Tyranid supporters to vote for me in the grudge match. I very much appreciate all your support !!!

Wednesday, May 09, 2012

New Flyer Rules


Leaked New Flyer Rules

Necron Flyers are as depicted in the codex.

Ork Dakkajet
BS2 AV10/10/10
Fast Skimmer, Aerial Assault, Supersonic
Strafing Run: BS3 vs all units (except Jump Infantry)

Ork Burna Bomma
BS2 AV10/10/10
Fast Skimmer, Aerial Assault, Supersonic
— Burna Bombs: Similar to Skorcha rules - S5 AP4 Large blast, ignores cover
— Burna Missiles: Similar to Skorcha rules - S5 AP4 Small blast, ignores cover

Space Marine Storm Talon Gunship
BS4 AV11/11/11
Fast Skimmer, Aerial Assault, Supersonic
Ceramite Plating
-> Escort Craft - Place unit on table within 6" of another unit that arrived from Deepstrike, or Reserve
-> Hoverstrike - Remain stationary to gain +1BS
— TL Assault Cannon
— TL Heavy Bolter - upgradable to either:
— TL Typhoon Missile Launchers
— TL Skyhammer Launchers - S7 AP4 Heavy 3 R 60"

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

How Playing Tyranids Helped Improve My Game


It might sound silly but I was thinking about how playing Tyranids for over half a year has improved my overall game now that I'm playing Necrons. It's kind of like a long series of intense workouts. I remember once listening to the quarterback from the University of Florida talking about how his team prepared for a football game versus Florida State - they wore heavily weighted diver belts during every practice leading up to the the big game versus their state rivals. Come the day of the game sans the heavy diver belts they were much stronger and faster than their rivals and won by a wide margin. If you stop to think about it the same type of approach can improve your 40k game. I think we all know that Tyranids are a hard army to play competively due the poor design of the codex. I have been doing very well with my Necrons now - especially versus mechanized armies. Some of us realize that Necrons have a lot of inherent advantages versus mechanized armies in general - it is what it is. I now basically have a better set of tools to deal with mechanized armies. So while I'm not advocating that anyone play Tyranids to improve their game I do think it has it's advantages.

Another perk of playing an army such as Tyranids is when you win a tournament or place high (e.g., top three) no one can accuse of winning with a cheesy army. Sure people can say you got the luck of the draw pulling n00bs and fluff bunnies but at the end of the day if you perform well at a tournament overall it's an achievement as far as I'm concerned. There is definitely a certain satisfaction that comes with winning with an underpowered army and that's a good feeling indeed.

Monday, May 07, 2012

WarGamesCon Less than Six Weeks Out Now !!!


So it is getting close to the time for my first GT this year. I really wanted to also attend the Alamo GT in San Antonio but unfortunately have a conflict with work - I have heard it's an awesome event and hopefully next year I can go. I am still a bit up in the air about which army to take to Austin for the GT - I don't think this is the right setting for my Tyranids (excluding the grudge match with Dave). I am really having a lot of fun with my Necrons now and have developed two solid army lists - one list is the Wraithwing while the other is top secret for now (heh). I could also bring my version of Draigowing.

I have heard there are still some slots left open for WarGamesCon - it is definitely one of the top events in the country so if you're thinking about going there is still time to sign up. They use battlepoints in Austin by the way so you can lose one game and still win which is pretty cool. I have enjoyed all my opponents at WGC - they definitely draw a good crowd there.

Sunday, May 06, 2012

40k Wrecking Crew Grudge Match at WarGamesCon • Tyranids vs. Tau


This coming June I'll be facing off versus another 40kWC member during the Friday evening at WarGamesCon in Austin, Texas. I will be running my Hive Fleet Gorgon versus Dave Boocher's Tau Empire.


Background
The Tau Empire is rapidly expanding and situated inside of the Ultima Segmentum, near the Eastern Fringe. Their empire was founded by the Ethereals, who lead their race in the name of the Greater Good. Several alien races (Kroot, Vespid, among others) have allied themselves with the Tau. The Tau Empire borders the Imperium and lies within the reach of the Astronomican. It has suffered many raids from the Orks, and also seems to lie in the path of several splinter fleets of Hive Fleet Gorgon.

The Tau Empire was invaded by Hive Fleet Gorgon in 899.M41. Gorgon was exceptional for its ability to quickly adapt on a biological level to new circumstances of battle, such as evolving immunities to Tau weaponry. This rapid pace of adaptation may have been unique to Gorgon, or it may have been a response to conflict with the Tau, who are also highly adaptable but on a technological level. The combined forces of the Tau and the Imperial Guard destroyed Gorgon in 903.M41, albeit after losing several trading partners and colony worlds.


Army Lists (2000 points)












— Death Splinter from Hive Fleet Gorgon —

HEADQUARTERS
Hive Tyrant:
- Wings
- Bone Sword & Lash Whip
- Adrenal Glands
- Twin linked Devourer w. Brainleech Ammo
- Paroxsym
- Life Leech

Alpha Warrior:
- Bone Sword & Lash Whip
- Scything Talons
- Adrenal Glands

TROOPS
9x Genestealer:
- Toxin Sacs
Broodlord:
- Scything Talons
- Toxin Sacs

9x Genestealer:
- Toxin Sacs
Broodlord:
- Scything Talons
- Toxin Sacs

3x Warrior:
- 2x Deathspitter
- Barbed Strangler
- Bone Swords & Lash Whips
- Adrenal Glands

15x Termagant:
- Devourer
Mycetic Spore

ELITES
3x Zoanthrope
Mycetic Spore

3x Hive Guard

6x Yrmgarl Genestealer

HEAVY SUPPORT
Tyrannofex:
- Rupture Cannon










— Tau Empire —

HEADQUARTERS
Shas’o:
- Plasma
- Missile
- Multi-tracker
- 2x Shield Drone
- Positional Relay

Retinue:
2x Battle Suit
- 2x Plasma
- 2x Missile
- 2x Multi-tracker
- 2x Targeting Array

ELITES
3x Battle Suit:
- 3x Missile
- 3x Plasma
- 3x Multi-Tracker

3x Battle Suit:
- 3x Twin Fusion
- 3x Targeting Array
- Team Leader
- Target Lock

HEAVY SUPPORT
3x Broadside:
- 2x Shield Drone
- 2x Target Lock

3x Broadside:
- 2x Shield Drone
- 2x Target Lock

Hammerhead:
- Railgun
- Disruption Pod
- Multi-tracker
- 2x Burst Cannons
- Black Sun Filter

TROOPS
6x Fire Warrior

10x Kroot

10x Kroot

10x Kroot

10x Kroot

FAST ATTACK
6x Pathfinder
Devilfish:
- Disruption Pod

6x Pathfinder
Devilfish:
- Disruption Pod

Body Count
Nid = HQ x2, Troop x4, Elite x3, Heavy Support x1 (11 kp)
Tau = HQ x2, Elite x2, Troops x5, Fast Attack x2, Heavy Support x3 (16 - 18 kp)


Mission Format
We will use the BeakyCon mission format - all three objectives (Capture & Control, Seize Ground, Kill Points) are in play. Whoever wins the most objectives wins the game. Pure victory points are the tie breaker. Terrain will be placed by Kenny Boocher, president of the 40k Wrecking Crew.

There is a poll over on my blog so you can vote for which army you think will win. I am predicting a blood bath with a close victory for Hive Fleet Gorgon. Hopefully Dave's Tau will run out of ammo before my Tyranids run low on biomass.

Dave has commented as follows:

This is also a rematch of sorts. Steve and I duked it out early in 4th with my Tau versus his old PDF BA with some really weird rolls throughout the game.

This one will be interesting to say the least. I think a lot will depend on which deployment is rolled.

My thought on deployment are as follows - I used to run a purely reserved army but it has since evolved. If you follow my blog you'll know my list has many built in mechanics to circumvent your normal restrictions due to deployment and I'm sure I'll be using some of those tricks. I'm pretty much comfortable with any of the three standard deployments from the BRB.

Dave has lots of Kroot for the bubble wrap so I'll have to bypas them in order to get my sharp claws on the squishy little Tau... Heh ! I don't have much experience with the positional relay so I'll have to study up on that piece of Tau wargear.












I mentioned BeakyCon above and would like to put in a short plug for this awesome 40k GT. BeakyCon will be held on the weekend of October 6-7 at the Marriott hotel in the Tampa international airport (Tampa, FL). Last year we had 40 players and this year we are expanding the field to 64 players. The format is W-L with six rounds. There will be one undefeated player at the end who will be crowned our new Warmaster. One of our top prizes is a 2000+ point dark eldar army pro painted by Next Level Painting and includes two army cases. If you are interested then visit our blog (BeakyCon). We are already almost halfway full now!


So which army do you think will win the reenactment? Tau or Tyranids?

Saturday, May 05, 2012

5th Edition Pure Power Ranking (2nd revision)


Yesterday I let my hair down and ranked armies based upon how I feel about them - basing the rankings on the merits of the 5th edition codices (well designed versus poorly designed) and heavily weighted them on originality. Tonight I'll rank them on a purely a competitive basis. Again I'm not including any armies from White Dwarf (i.e., Sisters of Battle).

Top Tier I
Grey Knights

Top Tier II
Space Wolves, Necrons

2nd Tier
Blood Angels, Imperial Guard, Orks, Dark Eldar

3rd Tier
Space Marines, Chaos Daemons*

Bottom Tier
Dark Angels, Tyranids*, Chaos Space Marines

Left Behind
Tau*, Eldar, Black Templars*

* These can be competitive armies in the hands of the right generals. Of course that can be said about any army but I think these are better suited due to inherent intracies of their own rules. Black Templars are a direct throw back to 3rd edition Marines which should be evident to the veteran players.

All of the armies listed under the last category are relics from an older generation of rules.

It might interesting to some that I've listed Necrons as top tier for competitive play - this decision was based purely on my own gaming experience. I have changed the original ranking dropping IG from top tier to 2nd tier as I've found them very easy to beat with my Necrons.

I'm still kind of on the fence in regards to Blood Angels and bumped them to the second tier. I crushed a BA razorspam army yesterday with an unoptimized Necron army. Necrons have it easy demeching transports and those five man assault squads are not a big threat in melee versus dedicated enemy melee units.

Friday, May 04, 2012

5th Edition Codex Ranking


Introduction
Here is my ranking of the 5th edition codices. I am putting originality up front along with the ability to field competitive armies. These are not necessarily the most competitive and I truly apologize now if I happen to offend anyone. Remember it is only my opinion. I might not include every army but I'll touch on every one that stands out to me. Note that White Dwarf articles are not included in this personal survey for the most part (i.e., Sisters of Battle).


1st Rank
— Necrons
— Orks
— Chaos Daemons

I chose Necrons and Daemons because they have a lot of new units that are effective. I like how both armies were designed and I have won lots of games with both books. Daemons can suffer from randomness but they are still quite solid. Necrons I think are Mat Ward's best codex for 5th edition. There is change coming with 6th edition and Necrons have ushered in a new era. I can build a Necron army that is both fluffy and packs a big punch - I really like that particularly aspect. I think Orks are Phil Kelly's best 40k codex - the boyz suffer from his typical no brainer choices with a lot of units no one uses for competitive play but like I said I think this was his best work for 40k. Ork players deserved a great codex and Phil delivered.


2nd Rank
— Dark Eldar

I rate dark eldar in the second rank because of not only the codex but all the support from GW in general with all the waves of awesome models. Unfortunately dark eldar have no answer to Grey Knights in competitive play... I just think Phil could have done more justice to them as a competitive army - for instance the only unit that has Eternal Warrior also has no invulnerable save and costs a lot of points to field. Haemonoculus should be an Elite choice.

Mid Rank
— Space Marines
— Blood Angels

Space Marines were Mat Ward's first attempt at 40k so I will cut him a little slack. He introduced a lot of new units and had to address all the many chapters not covered by other codices... Ravenguard, White Scars and Crimson Fists quickly come to mind. This was one of the first codex that featured special characters to unlock unique certain parmies. The previous Space Marine codex by Graham McNeil was much stronger. The current Space Marine codex is sorely lacking in effective choices for troops. Blood Angels are a lot like dark eldar as both were made redundant by Grey Knights and I think that is very poor on the part of both Mat Ward and GW in general. Blood Angels are one of my all time favorite armies and I will not field them as a razorspam army with the behemoth that is Mephiston.


2nd to Bottom Rank
— Chaos Space Marines
— Dark Angels

No thanks to Jervis for the crap that are both of these armies. If it wasn't for GW allowing Dark Angels to have access to the current 3++ storm shields and 2 shot cyclone missile launchers then Dark Angels would have no competitive army at all (i.e., Deathwing). I will mention now that I think the general access to a 3++ save has no place in 40k. A 4++ save would have been just fine. Chaos Space Marines are a travesty compared to what they were... Jervis Johnson took a fantastic codex and totally fucked it up - I refuse to play them.


Bottom Rank
— Imperial Guard
— Space Wolves
— Grey Knights
— Tyranids

Wow two of these were written by Robin Cruddance... One is totally overpowered while the other is a cellar dweller if every there was one. It just shows that Cruddance has no clue how to write a balanced codex... Epic Fail. Why does he still have a job ?? IG veterans are an elite choice that are fielded as a troop choice plus they are also way undercosted. : /

I have spent lots and lots of time developing a competitive Tyranid army - it was a huge challenge and still I have lots and lots of naysayers... I hope to answer that this year at the ATC and it's not going to be easy but I like a challenge !

Grey Knights are the travesty of 5th edition 40k... They are just too good in my opinion - same as IG and SW. These types of armies can suck the fun right out of the game. Grey Knights are absorbing all the hate right now but don't forget that IG and SW are both right up there as well in terms of the general hate towards them. At first I had a little romance going on with my version of Draigowing but all the profound hate pretty much destroyed that for me. Draigowing has still not won a major tournament yet and I'd personally like to see that rectified as much as it might make sound like a hypocrite. Oh well I'm a bit stubborn at times.

Take a look at Space Wolves in comparison to any other codex - no other army has as many units with Eternal Warrior. Grey Hunters and Long Fangs are both way undercosted. Where in the heck did Thunderwolves come from ?? I guess Phil had to undercost both Grey Hunters and Long Fangs so players can still take their Thunderwolves. I'm sorry but RazorFang is not fluffy... Not by a long shot. Jaws of the World Wolf - Epic Fail again in my opinion.


Other Armies
— Black Templars
— Eldar
— Tau

I suppose these will be addressed in 6th edition. We are all waiting. Templars are a fringe army... They are not even a 1st Founding. Luckily GW has seemed to have learned their lesson in regards to developing armies for special interest groups - I sure hope so.


Conclusion
I think I've covered all the major releases for 5th edition. Certainly Daemons and Orks were written with 5th edition in mind. The last thing I want to see is another broken codex (CSM) but knowing GW we will just have to keep dealing with these kinds of situations. It is what it is.

Dark Eldar Voidraven * BeakyCon 2012


Here is a picture of one of the dark eldar Voidraven bombers we will be giving out as a prize at BeakyCon this October.

Thursday, May 03, 2012

Japan's Last Nuclear Reactor to Go Off-line


In the wake of last year’s massive 11 March earthquake and tsunami that damaged four reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, the Japanese government took the dramatic step of taking most of the nation’s other reactors out of service over safety concerns. Now Japan’s last operating nuclear reactor, Hokkaido Electric Power Co.’s No. 3 unit, at its Tomari plant in northern Japan, will shut down for a scheduled inspection on 5 May. This will leave Japan without any nuclear-generated power, something that hasn’t happened since the nation’s first commercial plant went on line in 1966. 

Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Psalm 23




Even though I walk


through the darkest valley


I will fear no evil


for you are with me

Tuesday, May 01, 2012

Alex Fennel's Adepticon 1850 Pt Necron Army

I found this posted elsewhere on the Internet by Alex, also known as the Everliving:

With Adepticon in the rear view mirror a few people have asked me to post up my list with some notes on how it worked, I ended the first day 1st on battle points and finished in 3rd place on Sunday. For anyone who was there, I had the pink Necrons.

I believe Alex is or was the captain of the British ETC team. I played him at Adepticon a few years ago in the third round of the Gladiator event. Alex is a top 40k gamer with many big wins under his belt. He is also very fun to play and I thoroughly enjoyed our game. Alex has been playing Necrons for a long time and has quickly adapted to the new codex. Our armies have some fundamental differences but I respect his choices. I think you'll see some of his core units and tactics are the same as mine.

A brief disclaimer, my list is by no means an optimised one based on army builds other people have designed and even used at some events, and a couple of the models are there principally because I have a soft spot for them. It just works well for my style of play.

I find this comment quite interesting and overall agree with his assessment of his army. There are no bad armies, just some bad generals. Certain self proclaimed Internet 40k gurus could learn a lot based upon what Alex has to say here.

HQ
Overlord:
- Command Barge
- Mindshackle Sapcarabs
- Warscythe
- Weave


You see this guy in most Necron armies, sometimes doubled up. The sweep attack is awesome and he'll usually spend the game acting as a distraction from the rest of my army. He gets blown out of his vehicle in almost every game which is why I gave him scrabs and the weave - against anything less than a dedicated assault unit with power weapons he usually holds his own.

Troops
9x Immortals:
- Gauss Blaster


In with them is a Phaeron Overlord with mindshackle, warscythe, weave and Orb (2md HQ). They are joined by two storm crpteks with the lightning field (Royal Court). This unit is my core firebase. The overlord lets them move every turn and fire gauss blasters which gives me a glancing hit per turn at long range, and then once enemy vehicles get to within 12" the voltaic staffs add serious firepower to the mix. The unit is large enough that I'll often be able to control two objectives at once and the crypteks provide great defence with their lightning against anything that wants to attack them in close combat. Things like Incubi and purifiers will give them trouble but the idea is the rest of the army is somehow dealing with those guys.

8x Immortals:
- Tesla Carbine


They are joined by a despair cryptek with the shroud and veil. I use these guys to teleport over to far objectives once we get to turn 3 or 4. They can be a great decoy unit as well, deploying in one corner and then teleporting somewhere else when my opponent sends stuff over to go and deal with them. Against mech armies they have to stay safe for a little while until there are [other] infantry models to shoot at.

5x Warrior:
- Ghost Ark


They are joined by two destruction crypteks with a pulse each. So I use the Ark because I really like the look of the model, and it spends most of the time moving 6" and firing two eldritch lances. The size of the model makes it a good blocker if I need that, and it can always move 12" over the course of a few turns to grab some late game objectives. The crypteks also fulfill a very important role in making it night fight for two turns, and against another necron army that includes the stormlord I at least get two turns without lightning hitting me as I'll make it daylight in his turn.

Fast Attack
6x Canoptek Wraith:
- 2x Whip Coil
- Particle Caster


Lots has already been said about Wraiths elsewhere. They are great, and the three different model types gives me wound abuse to play with and the squad itself is my [most] durable close combat unit. I only have one squad of these guys so I typically won't commit them early but will hold back for a counter charge.

5x Camoptek Scarab

With the help of the Spyders the scarabs bulk up and screen the front of my army, acting as a possible deterrent to vehicles coming too close. They don't typically make it past turn 3 as by then I'll have sent them forward as a skirmish screen to try and disrupt my opponent but they'll almost always make their points back.

I use my scarabs and Spyders a bit differently but ultimately the fulfill the same role for both armies.

Heavy Support
2x 2x Canoptek Spyder:
- Gloom Prism


I use two units of these and they typically anchor the flanks of my army to provide a psychic save if my opponent tries fancy stuff like Jaws. I keep them close enough to the scrabs to make bases for the first turn or two but once I've sent the scarabs off I use the Spyders as a counter assault unit if my Wraiths and Immortals need back up.

Monolith

The other unit I use because I like the model. The Monolith acts as mobile terrain for me. If I need to hide something in turn 1 it hides behind the Monolith. Its damage output is never particularly high but I found it draws a lot of firepower and will usually last a few turns before being taken out. I'm always pretty happy with this since if an opponent is shooting at the monolith then they're not killing my other models.

While I don't use this heavy skimmer I understand the synergy it bring to a Necron army.

So there you have it. My 'White Dwarf' Necron list (i.e., one of everything rather than spamming a particular unit type). It's certainly not a list that will suit everyone but its worked out very well for me this year and I'm not entirely sure that I'd change anything at the 1850 point level.

So there you have it folks. Alex ended placing 3rd in the Adepticon champion. He is most definitely the man.

40k conspiracy theory • a new world order


Hi folks !

This article is purely speculation. I love conspiracy theories and sometimes they turn out to be true... There's gold in them there hills son !! Heh. 6th edition is right around the corner and GW has finally figured out how to keep an airtight lid on their inner knowledge. I'm sure it must have been a brutal process and apprently it's working... all the moles have been sorted out. I'm not one to complain about the lack of pre-knowledge prior to the release of a new codex or edition. I think everyone who loves gaming in general gets a big thrill the first time they open a new codex and read it. No one knows exactly what is in store for us when the new 6th edition is released and to me that's very exciting. We are all in the same boat now. Many of us have read the pancake edition and it's been speculated that GW pre-released this for feedback from the community. It could certainly be true and it seems to me that GW has done much the same in the past. Based upon the feedback from our community for the most part the pancake leak was well received with open arms by most everyone. One of the rumors floating around now is that 6th edition will usher in a lot of change - according to this rumor 6th edition will not be a maintenance edition to 5th edition. If you really think about it not much time will have elapsed between the leaked pancake edition and the actual 6th edition... It's not like a corporate giant such as GW can make sweeping changes to 6th edition a few months prior to the release. So what if they developed two sets of rules in tandem? Anything is possible, right? Right. If indeed 6th edition is a lot like the pancake edition then all the rumormongers can say "I told you so!" and I'm cool with that as these types of things do happen from time to time. I think for the most part we are ready for a change up to the rules and to some degree it's going to happen. Alessio is no longer there and it just seems like Mr. Ward is the Man now. He is kind of a crazy one too - it is what it is as I like to say. Innovation is very important and he has that bit down.

So soon enough we will all see what it really is. Me, I'm very excited and can't wait.

Peace out,
G

Battlefoam Support for 2012 at BeakyCon



Battlefoam will be sponsoring BeakyCon again this year. Here is a list of the prize support:

  • 1x P.A.C.K. 432 Plcuk Foam Load Out
  • 1x P.A.C.K. 216 w/ Vallejo and GW Paint Foam Load Out
  • 5x $10 Gift Certificates