Delta Star

The delta is a Greek symbol for the triangle - three sides formed together - in ancient Greece this was also a symbol for defense. The center is protected on three sides all interlocking. The star is four spears tied together at their ends, this was an ancient symbol for offense. No army can prosper over a protracted war unless it has both good defense and offense. Defense is integral to survival while offense is integral to winning. If you are protecting what you already have taken then defense is enough but if you want to expand your borders them you must also have a good offense. Both the ancient Greeks and Romans were masters of war using basic shields and spears to win time and time again. The shield is defense while the spear is offense and the two were always paired together. Eventually the Roman Empire fell to heavy cavalry. The Germanic tribes were the first to use barding on their warmounts and they wore heavy armor as well. Calvary strikes with the blunt side of their swords using the speed of their mounts to break bone and advance through the perimeter. The fall of the Romam Empire brought about the dark ages which lasted for several centuries - western Europe fell into a state of disorder.

40k is much the same to me. Every army should have both a good offense and a good defense; there must be a balance as well. Mobility is a key to success and is a fundamental cornerstone to both. The Romans eventually lost as does everyone. Their great empire fell because they were too slow to adapt to the change. Time and time again the shield and spear was more than enough then there came the day that it no longer was what it had once been. If you are successful and become set in your ways the world will change around you. Therefore it is vital to keep an eye on change and plan accordingly... Even the best laid plans will eventually fail.

G

Team Championships France- Game 2

Game 2

The first game was under our belt as a team and at the end of the day was not too bad. As a team we came out with a draw. What we discovered was that the majority of teams actually had a draw the first game. The reason for this was the four man team concept. Five people to a team would have seen a lot less draws, but the TOs felt it was easier to bring four people together than five.

Our next opponents were from the local area and had the following armies: Blood Angels, Marines, Tyranids, and Eldar.

Mission- basic seize ground with five objectives and the secondary objective was on odd take on one I had seen in many tournaments. Where as before you had to get as many of your units in your opponents deployment zone. This mission called for you to have more of your units in your deployment than your opponent. So you would have to simultaneously go on the attack to seize objectives but hold back enough units to achieve the secondary objectives. Interesting turn for an old mission objective.

Pre-game strategy session- looking at the four tables I noticed right away which table I did not want to play on if at all possible. The reason was because one of the tables had four of the five objectives already placed on pieces of terrain that my bikes just could not reach (objectives were placed by TOs on all tables prior to game). I quickly pointed out to my captain that I really had to stay away from that table. As for my opponents I listed Marines/Eldar/Tyranids/Blood Angels as my preferred opponents.

The captains roll off and we lose both the initial and the “trade list” rolls. In addition I end up playing on the table I wanted at all cost to stay away from and my opponent was to be the Eldar.

Eldar Army list

1. Eldrad
2. 2 Fire prisms
3. Falcon (fire dragons)
4. Falcon (dire avengers)
5. warp spiders
6. Dire Avengers (wave serpent)
7. 3 units of 3 each jet bikes
8. war walkers
9. Dire avengers(wave serpent)
10. Wraithguard
    

Deployment-

Eldar

The deployment zone was slightly different than standard. You measured 10 inches back from the center of the table and that was your deployment zone, so basically reverse of pitch battle with an added few inches.. The Eldar player won the roll and selected to go first and pick his side. The majority of his army was deployed near the back of his deployment zone and he had a fire prism on each flank. In reserve was placed the three jetbike squads and the war walkers outflanking. Wraithguard were deployed in a building, center of his deployment zone with Eldrad.

Marines

Ok yes I was feeling slightly screwed at this point. Not only was I playing a mission on a table that completely was in favor of my opponent. But he also had enough speed to achieve all his objectives while with a smaller force I would be forced to make some hard choices. Looking at the table I could really only achieve one objective on my far left flank because unlike the rest it was at least in dangerous terrain( great right...). I could probably not even deny the other objectives from my opponent because most of them were up on the 3^rd floor of buildings. Yea my terminators could contest but he had the mobility to pick where he wanted to strike. So I decided on the big gamble. I needed to attempt to table him. I deployed my entire army up to the front edge of my deployment zone and combat squaded everything I could. Everything was spaced so that I would not take to many hits from fire prisms but once I got though the first turn of fire I should be ok.

Turn 1 – I seized the initiative!! Ha this helps a lot but will not win the battle if I play this timid. If you go for a table win you need to commit everything to the attack. So my whole army turbo boosted turn one. The terminators walked/ ran (shooting) and the stern guard rhino went 12 inches and pulled into some ruins.

Eldar- Vehicles moved to get LOS and warp spiders jumped to take shots at my command squad. Fire Prisms/ Warp Spiders / Wraithguard/ Missile Launchers and Dire avengers opened up on my bikes and command squad. Guide and Doom was being used against my command squad. My bikes and command squad were taking losses and so were my terminators but everything passed leadership.

Turn 2 – Like the movie The Light Horsemen where the Australian Cavalry finally gets under the guns of the Turkish artillery. I felt relief, it was my turn. My bike squads pushed forward. Attack bike sections went after the fire prisms and bike squads went after the fire prisms and wave serpents. Terminators continued to run forward. Pretty much every transport or Eldar tank was disabled/immobilized/destroyed this turn (melta is great for eldar vehicles and everyone of my squads has them). My bike troops were able to chase down dire avengers after the assault and the command squad ran over the warp spiders. Only thing left out of combat was Eldrad with his Wraithguard who climbed up to the third floor of the building they were in and fire dragons that I was not able to assault after I destroyed their Falcon.

Turn 3 – None of the reserves came in for the Eldar. He moved the grav tanks that could move but not fire and tried firing on my terminators with the fire dragons (all that was in range). Eldrad / Wraithguard fired on one of my bike squads and cut down 4 bikes but that was it for the turn.

On my turn I finished off the rest of the Eldar army( Terminators came in and hit the wraithguard hard) that was still on the board and than positioned myself for the reserve rolls of the jetbikes and war walkers.

Turn 4 - Two units of jetbikes make it on the table. Probably wishing they were somewhere else or at least a close web way portal nearby. They try to move out of range of my bikes.

My bikes chase them down.. The rest of my army I deploy on both flanks waiting on the war walkers and the final squad of jetbikes. I felt a little like Eldar skeet shooting at this moment. I could almost hear someone yell “pull” and out flys the eldar as my bolters open fire.

Turn 5- Without going into the gruesome details. The Eldar finally lose the game on this turn with nothing left on the table.

I get full points for the game. However as a team we had another draw. Albert beat the blood angel player with his chaos and David lost to another tyranid player with his necrons. Our blood angels lost to a marine stern guard army.

As a side note. My opponent was the first player I had played since I have been in Europe that spoke no English. However, being a long time Eldar player we had no real problems and again there were enough people around to help explain any points of interests.

Overall it would have been nice to pull a full victory for the team on this round but losing the second roll allowed the other team to match their tyranid player to our necrons. This gave them a good chance for a win and a overall tie. Prior to the second roll we had concluded that we should be able to get two wins / 1 tie and a loss but overall the win for the team.

However we are still upper third as the tournament goes so surprisingly still hanging tough.

Terrain in 5th Edition 40K

So, I read a little article over at a site called Yes The Truth Hurts - a place that is always good for a little controversy and entertainment.  The author there was talking about terrain in 40K.  How having terrain big enough to block line of site to things like Land Raiders and Valkyries was a bad thing for the game.  Thought I'd post my own thoughts on the subject.

Personally - one of the things that I think has really hurt the game with 5th edition is the lack of Line of Sight blocking terrain.   Gone is the ability to stage your army, position it utilizing terrain, then launch an assault from it.   Truly using TACTICS to play - vs lining up and rolling dice.   You still had fire lanes, fire control bases, high ground, etc - but you had to place them strategically.   All that was in good old 4th edtion.   Now - with the terrain you see in most clubs (and our club has some AWESOME terrain - but still mostly 4th edition style)you can pretty much shoot almost everything from anywhere.

But at the crux - a good general should be able to adapt his army to whatever terrain conditions he's faced with in a game.   Stating that Having or Not Having blocking terrain is the ONLY right way to play 40K is really just making excuses for why you can't win in a certain situation.   I fall into this myself from time to time.  I Have my preferences - but in all honesty to myself - I need to adapt to what the game board has in place.  That's the RIGHT way to play the game.

My opponents can remind me of this when I start whining in a game.  Although I will stick to my time honored excuse of my dice sucking - because in that category I AM a statistical anomoly.  :)

Team Championships France

Not long ago I played in the Team Championships near Lyon, France. Sixteen teams participated with at least 2 teams coming from Switzerland. It was nice to have team mates that spoke and read French because they had to explain the missions of each game to me and they were slightly complex at times. It was a five game format over two days.

The Basic rules:

1. Only one special character per army.
2. 2000 point army build
3. No triplicate of units. Example: cannot have three units of TH/SS terminators
4. Four members per team and each member must take a different army selection.
5. ETC style format- For those who do not understand what this is than I will explain. Each team member will play individual games. Before the game starts the Team Captains roll a dice. The loser than places an army list on one of the four tables. The winner of the roll matches one of their team lists to the one placed on the table and than places a second list on a different table. This continues until all tables have match ups. Before the game starts the Team Captains roll again and the winner is allowed to swap one army list.
6. You received extra points for having a painted army, good composition and turning in your army list on time. All army lists had to be turned in to the TO basically one month in advance.
7. Win is worth 3 pts, Draw 2 pts, Loss 1 pt and you can gain extra points by achieving secondary objectives.
8. Individual games points are totaled and the team with the highest point total at the end is declared the winner/draw/tie which determines your next match up.
9. Five Games over two days.
10. Winner of the tournament is the team with the most points from: Battle Points, Painting and composition( you also received a few points for getting your army lists in on time and paying the tournament on time)

“Team Genève” brought the following armies.

Brian – Space Marine Bike army (me)

David- Necrons

Greg- Blood angels

Albert- Chaos Marines.

Game 1 – our opponents were Orks, Blood Angels, Tyranids, and Marines. We lost both the dice rolls by our team captain and I found myself playing against the opposing team captain who was the Ork player.

Mission- Capture and Control- except the objectives had to be placed 12 inches from the center of the table and they moved random direction 2d6 each player turn. Secondary objective was killing the enemy commander.

Deployment – Pitch Battle.

The Ork player army list is pretty close to the following.

1. Unit Nob bikers
2. Unit of Nobs in truck
3. Burna boys in a truck
4. Nobs in a truck
5. Gretchen
6. Mech boy
7. 2 couple more units of boyz in trucks.

My army list

1. Khan
2. Chaplain
3. Command Squad on bikes
4. 2 Full Squads of bikes with meltas and multi melta
5. 9 Terminators TH/SS
6. Stern guard in a Rhino
7. 2 units of attack Bikes.

Deployment- Ork player won the roll to go first and deployed his entire army with the exception of his Gretchen. I deployed my entire army in the center of my deployment zone. My terminators were in the center set up in cover.

Turn 1. The ork objective moved toward his table edge 8 inches (note: don’t let an ork player use a squig as an objective marker. Dang thing kept moving towards his lines!!!) and my objective moved towards the ork's edge (this was annoying). The majority of the orks moved forward with the Nob bikers extending to the flank.

I extended my flank with the command squad and moved the termies forward. Attack bikes spread out to look for shots on the trucks next turn.

Turn 2. Ork objective moved another 9 inches toward their side of the board and my objective was wandering around in the middle. The ork player moved his nob bikers back toward the center and both burna boys and nobs toward the center. He is looking to try and get the overlapping charge on my termies. But he is worried about my command squad which is hanging around the flanks.

I move my attack bikes in and was able to bring down one of the boyz trucks. My terminators stay in cover but continue moving forward. I am looking at getting charged by at least 3 possibly 4 units of orks. Not happy about this situation but with my terminators in cover they will be giving out a lot of pain before they go down. In addition I had moved my attack bikes in close to my termies hoping they will get charged. I did this for a couple reasons. 1. Three attack bikes gives me 6 more attacks against the orks. 2 The high toughness of the bikes will draw away some of the attacks and wounds against the termies.

Turn 3. Of course ork objective moves back toward their lines and is almost at the end of the table. At this point I am thinking the secondary objective of killing the ork general is what I need to achieve. My objective stays in the center. The ork player is ready and commits to the charge. Hitting my termies and attack bikes with four units. The marines cause 12 wounds with the nob bikers and burnas taking up most of the wounds. In return the orks kill all the termies and my attack bikes. But it came down to the last ork power claw killing my last terminator. If this did not happen I probably could have passed the moral check.

On my turn my bikes converged on the orks. Stern guard dismounted and command squad moved in. The orks suffered a bunch of twin link bolters shots and the meltas from the stern guard hit the nob bikes. The command squad than hit the nob bikes and were joined in by the rest of the bike squads. The orks took a beating but were not finished.

Turn 4. Gretchen come in and basically walk up to the objective. The close combat continues in the center with more orks getting committed to the carnage. My marines hold the line and give better than they are receiving. Khan pulls the command squad out of combat with the hit and run rule and circles back towards the nob bikes which are stuck in combat with marine regular bikes. The orks had lost combat but during the assault phase had called the waaagh.

Objectives on my turn continue their movements with mine in the center and the orks staying with the 20 Gretchen ( this is just absurd lol)

The Command Squad sounds the charge again and hits the ork nobs bikers with Khan cutting off the Warboss’s head with his special attack. This time the orks cannot take the punishment and flee with 3 units getting chased down.

Turn 5. Yes yes ork objective stays with the Gretchen and my objective continues to move toward the orks.

Ork player commits some boyz to slow down my bikers. After shooting they assault my bike squads. Not much happens but during my turn I have to commit my command squad to free my bike squads to capture my objective. I was hoping to get some attack bikes in range of the ork objective to contest but they were a little to short on distance.

Turn 6. The game ends with both of us holding objectives but I get the points for the win because I had killed the enemy commander. So while I complained that you should not have your ork player use a squig as an objective. I think the real thought maybe is don’t let an ultramarine player use a drunken smurf as their objective!!!

Overall “Team Genève” had a draw against our opponents. Albert with his chaos won against marines. But the Necrons(David) lost to Tyranids and Blood Angels lost to Blood Angels. My opponent knew a little English and I am picking up a few words like fusion is melta and energy stick is a power weapon. But with the team format it is nice because my team mates are around to help with any explanations. But overall what I have been finding is that if the player is experienced than you really need very little explanation from either party. You just kind of get what the other guys is doing even though you may not understand completely the language.

We started learning a little about the tactics of the list placements. At the beginning of the game (strategy phase before captains roll for lists) each of us looked at the other teams armies and gave our captain an idea on what would be a good match up for them as an individual. Our first thought was to try matching lists that our army would have a challenge against but not a rock / scissor game. The first round we tried matching up power list against power list and it resulted in a tie for the team. Our learning coming out of this round is too look for the mismatch next round and worse case put a power list gamer against a power list gamer for maybe a tie. But in order to do this you need to have confidence you can pull wins in the other games.

The next interesting challenge though is once you get your first placement of lists there is the second die roll made by the army captains. This is almost as good as stealing the initiative because than you can change one list placement and this give you that “advantage” hopefully for a win. I actually like the second die roll because it adds an interesting tactical challenge to your thinking because you also have to plan what would change if you had the opportunity.

Well that’s it for now. I will write about my other games shortly….

Designing a Jump Troop Only DoA Army

Hi everyone !!

BBF here again with some more Blood Angels tactica. There is a lot of discussion about what is a Descent of Angels (DoA) army and what is not. Two things I can say right off the bat:

* I have seen some very boring unimaginative lists trying hard to incorporate a Stormraven - strange enough they work well with DoA armies, which brings us to the second point...

* Yes Virginia, DoA armies can use Stormravens !!

Building a Descent of Angels Army

I most often use one Stormraven in my DoA armies so I thought it would be useful to post an article here that does not rely upon the new skimmer. That said the official model has been released and well received in general so no more excuses.

:p

My Decision

I am really torn on what list I want to take to Battle for Stones River/Adepticon. While the new update to the Black Templars make them a good army until somebody pointed out to me that it was basically what I was running before but with more fire power and a crappy HQ. My Shrike list is completely different and I think will be tougher and more tactically versitile. Here are both of my ideas. Let me know what you guys think?

Thanks

Black Templart 1863

: Emperor's Champion (1#, 140 pts)

1 Emperor's Champion, 140 pts (Bolt Pistol; Crusader Seals; Frag Grenades; Accept Any Challenge,
No Matter The Odds)

1 Armor of Faith

1 The Black Sword

Elite: Sword Brethren Terminator Assault Squad (8#, 594 pts)

7 Sword Brethren Terminator Assault Squad, 594 pts (Lightning Claws (pair) x4; Thunder Hammer &
Storm Shield x3; Furious Charge; Accept Any Challenge, No Matter The Odds)

1 Land Raider Crusader (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 15 models; Access Points:
3; Extra Armor; Frag Assault Launchers; Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Assault Cannon; Multi-Melta; 2x
Hurricane Bolters; Accept Any Challenge, No Matter The Odds; Assault Vehicle; Power of the Machine
Spirit)

1 Blessed Hull

Elite: Sword Brethren Terminator Squad (5#, 265 pts)

5 Sword Brethren Terminator Squad, 265 pts (Power Fist x5; Storm Bolter x5; Cyclone Missile
Launcher x2; Tank Hunters; Accept Any Challenge, No Matter The Odds)

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (2#, 140 pts)

2 Land Speeder Squadron, 140 pts (Unit Type: Vehicle (Skimmer, Fast); Heavy Bolter x2; Typhoon
Missile Launcher x2; Deep Strike)

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (1#, 70 pts)

1 Land Speeder Squadron, 70 pts (Unit Type: Vehicle (Skimmer, Fast); Heavy Bolter x1; Typhoon
Missile Launcher x1; Deep Strike)

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (1#, 70 pts)

1 Land Speeder Squadron, 70 pts (Unit Type: Vehicle (Skimmer, Fast); Heavy Bolter x1; Typhoon
Missile Launcher x1; Deep Strike)

Troops: Crusader Squad (7#, 199 pts)
6 Crusader Squad, 199 pts (Bolt Pistol x5; Close Combat Weapon x5; Meltagun; Accept Any
Challenge, No Matter The Odds)
1 Razorback (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 6 models; Access Points: 3; Smoke
Launchers; Twin Linked Lascannon; Accept Any Challenge, No Matter The Odds)

Troops: Crusader Squad (7#, 199 pts)
6 Crusader Squad, 199 pts (Bolt Pistol x5; Close Combat Weapon x5; Meltagun; Accept Any
Challenge, No Matter The Odds)
1 Razorback (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 6 models; Access Points: 3; Smoke
Launchers; Twin Linked Lascannon; Accept Any Challenge, No Matter The Odds)

Troops: Crusader Squad (6#, 179 pts)
5 Crusader Squad, 179 pts (Bolt Pistol x4; Close Combat Weapon x4; Flamer; Accept Any Challenge,
No Matter The Odds)
1 Razorback (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 6 models; Access Points: 3; Smoke
Launchers; Twin Linked Lascannon; Accept Any Challenge, No Matter The Odds)


Space Marines 1845

HQ: Shadow Captain Kayvaan Shrike (1#, 195 pts)

1 Shadow Captain Kayvaan Shrike, 195 pts (Unit Type: Jump Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak
Grenades; Iron Halo; Jump Pack; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol; The Raven's Talons; And They Shall Know
No Fear; Chapter Tactics; Combat Tactics; Independent Character; Infiltrate; See, But Remain Unseen)

HQ: Chaplain Cassius (1#, 125 pts)

1 Chaplain Cassius, 125 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour;
Rosarius; Bolt Pistol; Crozius Arcanum; Infernus; Combat Tactics; Fearless; Feel No Pain; Honour of the
Chapter; Independent Character; Liturgies of Battle)

: Command Squad (6#, 300 pts)
1 Command Squad, 300 pts
1 Apothecary (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Narthecium; Power Armour; Bolt
Pistol x1; Chainsword x1; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Tactics)
1 Veteran (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Storm Shield;
Lightning Claw x1; Meltagun x1; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Tactics)
1 Veteran (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Melta Bombs; Storm
Shield; Lightning Claw x1; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Tactics)
1 Veteran (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Storm Shield;
Lightning Claw x1; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Tactics)
1 Veteran (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Storm Shield;
Lightning Claw x1; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Tactics)
1 Rhino (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 10 models; Access Points: 3; Fire Points: 1;
Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; Storm Bolter; Repair)

Elite: Terminator Assault Squad (10#, 400 pts)
9 Terminator Assault Squad, 400 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield x9; And
They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads; Combat Tactics)
1 Sergeant (Unit Type: Infantry; Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield x1; And They Shall Know No
Fear; Combat Squads; Combat Tactics)

Fast Attack: Attack Bike Squad (2#, 100 pts)

2 Attack Bike Squad, 100 pts (Unit Type: Bikes; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour;
Space Marine Bike; Bolt Pistol x2; Multi-Melta x2; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Tactics)

Troops: Tactical Squad (11#, 275 pts)

9 Tactical Squad, 275 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt
Pistol x9; Bolter x7; Meltagun; Lascannon; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads; Combat
Tactics)

1 Sergeant (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol; Power
Weapon x1; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads; Combat Tactics)

1 Razorback (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 6 models; Access Points: 3;
Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Lascannon)

Troops: Tactical Squad (11#, 275 pts)

9 Tactical Squad, 275 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt
Pistol x9; Bolter x7; Meltagun; Lascannon; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads; Combat
Tactics)

1 Sergeant (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol; Power
Weapon x1; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads; Combat Tactics)

1 Razorback (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 6 models; Access Points: 3;

Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Lascannon)

Troops: Tactical Squad (6#, 175 pts)
4 Tactical Squad, 175 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt
Pistol x4; Bolter x4; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads; Combat Tactics)
1 Sergeant (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol; Combi-
Meltagun x1; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads; Combat Tactics)
1 Razorback (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 6 models; Access Points: 3;
Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Lascannon)

New Contributing Authors!

Hi all,

Just wanted to introduce a few new contributing authors to the site!

First up - we have Lord Mortis.  Mortis is one of the most talented converters of terrain that I have the pleasure of knowing.  Most if not all of our club terrain is the result of his hard work.  We have ice worlds, jungle worlds, desert worlds, ruinded cities, hills, tree's, rivers - you name it.  Thanks to Mortis - our gaming club gets to visit strange and exciting land scapes - and blow them up!   He is also a master converter and modeler, our resident Apocalypse organizer, and a tough as nails opponent to face across the table.   Looking forward to his add's to the blog!

Secondly - It's way cool to announce that Fishboy will also be contributing here from time to time.  Fishboy is a top shelf modeler and painter.  One of the few people I call friend that have actually won a Golden Demon or three.   His famous Salmon Salamander's Army have been winning best painted award after best painted award in the North East of late.   Not to mention he is also a very good player - with at least one Grand Tournament Overall win under his belt!   I am looking forward to Fishboy's articles around his beautiful army, his in progress works, gaming/tournament reviews, and anything else he feels the call to add.

Thirdedly -  we have Warboss - one of my good buddy's and our resident Blade and Bolter Jedi Bartender!  Warboss has done a phenomenal job of running multiple large tournaments over the years - and quite honestly runs one of the most FUN tournaments ever!  He also has an incredible Ork army - is a master converter, painter, and modeler.   On top of that - he's a great player and one of the funnest opponents you'll ever get the chance to play against!   I hope to get 'Da Boss to give us some insight into what it takes to run a great and a large tournament, the story of his awesome army, and his overall gaming experiences.

Fourthedly - we have the legendary Black Blow Fly - veteran 40K player - and gamer extra-ordinary!  I've know the Fly for several years - and happy to call him a friend.   BBF has an awesome collection of some truly phenomenal armies.  He is a guru and master of the Blood Angels - as his tactical and army construction articles on this site have already shown.   A member of the 40K Wrecking Crew and a great friend of the Blade and Bolter - looking forward to the enlightenment that BBF will continue to bring to the blog!

Folks - we should be in for some great treats in the upcoming future on the site!

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions.....

At the end of this month - one of the local stores is having their annual Battle for Stones River tournament - in memory of the Civil War battle of the same name. It's a great little tournament - 50 players - fun scenarios, etc. 1863 points (the year of the battle).

I'm torn between two armies (sounds like that song from the 70's) and feeling like a fool!

In one hand, I have a beautiful Ultramarine Bike army that I love to run. It's a capable army - but a lot of finesse to run. You can beat ANY army - but also lose to any army. They are painted well - and will be my main army at Adepticon.

On the other hand, I have an equally beautiful Space Wolf army. It's probably a bit more forgiving to play. Has a nice combo of in your face hard hitting stuff - as well as supporting units.

I like them both and can't decide between them.....

Thoughts? Here are the lists:

1863 Pts - Space Wolves Roster - 1863 BFSR Mix 2



HQ: Logan Grimnar, The Great Wolf (1#, 275 pts)

HQ: Wolf Guard Battle Leader in Power Armour (1#, 175 pts)
1 Wolf Guard Battle Leader in Power Armour, 175 pts (Unit Type: Cavalry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Wolftooth Necklace; Thunderwolf Mount; Storm Shield x1; Wolf Claw x1; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack; Independent Character; Rending in CC only)

HQ: Rune Priest in Terminator Armour (1#, 120 pts)
1 Rune Priest in Terminator Armour, 120 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armour; Runic Weapon; Storm Bolter; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack; Independent Character; Psyker; Jaws of the World Wolf; Murderous Hurricane)

Elite: Lone Wolf in Terminator Armour (1#, 85 pts)
1 Lone Wolf in Terminator Armour, 85 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armour; Storm Shield; Thunder Hammer; A Glorious Death; Acute Senses; Beastslayer; Counter-attack; Eternal Warrior; Fearless; Feel No Pain; Pack of One)

Troops: Wolf Guard Pack (10#, 530 pts)

1 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armour; Storm Shield; Wolf Claw; Cyclone Missile Launcher; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack)


1 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armour; Storm Shield; Wolf Claw; Cyclone Missile Launcher; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack)


1 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armour; Power Weapon; Storm Shield; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack)


1 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armour; Power Weapon; Storm Shield; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack)


1 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armour; Storm Shield; Wolf Claw; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack)


1 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armour; Storm Shield; Wolf Claw; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack)


1 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armour; Power Weapon; Storm Bolter; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack)


1 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armour; Power Weapon; Storm Bolter; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack)


1 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armour; Power Weapon; Storm Bolter; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack)


1 Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour (Unit Type: Infantry; Terminator Armour; Storm Shield; Thunder Hammer; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack)

Troops: Grey Hunters Pack (6#, 155 pts)

5 Grey Hunters Pack, 155 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x5; Bolter x4; Close Combat Weapon x5; Meltagun; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack)
1 Razorback (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 6 models; Access Points: 3; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Lascannon)


Troops: Grey Hunters Pack (6#, 155 pts)

5 Grey Hunters Pack, 155 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x5; Bolter x4; Close Combat Weapon x5; Meltagun; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack)
1 Razorback (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 6 models; Access Points: 3; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Assault Cannon)

Troops: Grey Hunters Pack (6#, 120 pts)

5 Grey Hunters Pack, 120 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x5; Bolter x4; Close Combat Weapon x5; Meltagun; Acute Senses; And They Shall Know No Fear; Counter-attack)
1 Razorback (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 6 models; Access Points: 3; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Heavy Bolter)

Fast Attack: Thunderwolf Cavalry (3#, 245 pts)

1 Thunderwolf Cavalry (Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Thunderwolf Mount; Melta Bombs; Close Combat Weapon; Storm Shield)


1 Thunderwolf Cavalry (Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Thunderwolf Mount; Close Combat Weapon; Storm Shield)


1 Thunderwolf Cavalry (Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Thunderwolf Mount; Close Combat Weapon; Storm Shield)


1863 Pts - Space Marines Roster - 1863 Khan Bike - BFSR list v1




HQ: Kor'sarro Khan (1#, 205 pts)

HQ: Space Marine Chaplain (1#, 135 pts)
...in Power Armour (Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Rosarius; Space Marine Bike; Bolt Pistol; Crozius Arcanum; Twin Linked Bolter)

: Command Squad (5#, 360 pts)

1 Apothecary (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Narthecium; Power Armour; Unit on SM Bikes; Bolt Pistol x1; Chainsword x1; Twin Linked Bolter; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Tactics)


1 Veteran (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Storm Shield; Unit on SM Bikes; Bolt Pistol; Lightning Claw x1; Twin Linked Bolter; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Tactics)


1 Veteran (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Storm Shield; Unit on SM Bikes; Bolt Pistol; Lightning Claw x1; Twin Linked Bolter; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Tactics)


1 Veteran (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Storm Shield; Unit on SM Bikes; Lightning Claw x1; Meltagun x1; Twin Linked Bolter; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Tactics)


1 Veteran (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Storm Shield; Unit on SM Bikes; Bolt Pistol; Power Fist x1; Twin Linked Bolter; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Tactics)

Troops: Space Marine Bike Squad (9#, 310 pts)

7 Space Marine Bike Squad, 310 pts (Unit Type: Bikes; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Space Marine Bike; Bolt Pistol x5; Meltagun x2; Twin Linked Bolter; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads; Combat Tactics)


1 Attack Bike (Unit Type: Bikes; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Space Marine Bike; Bolt Pistol; Multi-Melta; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Tactics)


1 Sergeant (Unit Type: Bikes; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Space Marine Bike; Power Fist; Twin Linked Bolter; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads; Combat Tactics)

Troops: Space Marine Bike Squad (9#, 310 pts)

7 Space Marine Bike Squad, 310 pts (Unit Type: Bikes; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Space Marine Bike; Bolt Pistol x5; Meltagun x2; Twin Linked Bolter; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads; Combat Tactics)


1 Attack Bike (Unit Type: Bikes; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Space Marine Bike; Bolt Pistol; Multi-Melta; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Tactics)


1 Sergeant (Unit Type: Bikes; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Space Marine Bike; Power Fist; Twin Linked Bolter; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads; Combat Tactics)

Troops: Space Marine Bike Squad (5#, 200 pts)

3 Space Marine Bike Squad, 200 pts (Unit Type: Bikes; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Space Marine Bike; Bolt Pistol x1; Meltagun x2; Twin Linked Bolter; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads; Combat Tactics)


1 Attack Bike (Unit Type: Bikes; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Space Marine Bike; Bolt Pistol; Multi-Melta; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Tactics)


1 Sergeant (Unit Type: Bikes; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Space Marine Bike; Power Weapon; Twin Linked Bolter; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads; Combat Tactics)

Fast Attack: Attack Bike Squad (3#, 120 pts)

3 Attack Bike Squad, 120 pts (Unit Type: Bikes; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Space Marine Bike; Bolt Pistol x3; Heavy Bolter x3; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Tactics)

Fast Attack: Attack Bike Squad (2#, 100 pts)

2 Attack Bike Squad, 100 pts (Unit Type: Bikes; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Space Marine Bike; Bolt Pistol x2; Multi-Melta x2; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Tactics)

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (2#, 120 pts)

2 Land Speeder Squadron, 120 pts (Unit Type: Vehicle (Skimmer, Fast); Heavy Bolter x2; Heavy Bolter x2; Deep Strike)

Bringing It Down... The Ubiquitous Stormraven

I am an avid follower of the B&C BA forum. I ran across this just yesterday...

+++ Bolter and Chainsword Blood Angels Discussion of the Stormraven +++

Basically there are some who still say the Stormraven sucks shnards... well the good news is they are in the minority.

:  )

The only real nemesis of the Stormraven is the railgun, which is not a big deal - who plays Tau competitively these days? Barring a lucky shot it requires a high volume of shots to bring it down. Lets look at the mathammer. The Stormraven has moved flat-out as it should and is equipped with extra armor.

S8 (Devastator firing a rocket)

4/6 (to hit) X 3/6 (to glance) X 1/2 (4+++ cover save) = 16.667% chance to glance

If the glancing shot gets through you will still need to roll a 6 on the AP table to bring it down. That is an odds of 2.778% - good luck with that! All the other results are pretty meaningless if you have a squad full of assault terminators and a Death Company dreadnaught ready to charge the next turn.

4/6 (to hit) X 2/6 (to glance) X 1/2 (4+++ cover save) = 11.111% chance to penetrate

You still only have 50% odds of bringing it down on the AP table (unless you've got a melta)... so the overall odds drop to 5.556%. Good luck with that.

What the people who are slagging the Stormraven fail to tell you is that a DoA army has lots and lots of angry assault Marines swarming the enemy lines... it's not like every gun will be pointed at the Stormraven. Oh and what about the ubiquitous lascannon ?? The good news is that the same people saying the Stormraven sucks are the same people who told you to take rocket launchers to save some points !!! Oh the irony...

Yep if the shoe fits...

G

The Purging of Kadillus

Hello everyone. The Bikeninja here again with another book review. This one though is guaranteed to surprise. You see for those that do not know, my main 40K army is the mighty Space Wolves. Been playing them since 2nd Edition. I am very attached to my Wolves. So you’ll understand when I begin to heap praise on book depicting the silly Dark Angels that is not normal for me. Typically I would bash this book based solely on the fact that Dark Angels are in it. And even greater reason to smack it down is that this is Al’ blog. But integrity calls and I just cannot help but admit that I liked this book. So on with review and the loss of my good sense.

The Story
Finally we have Dark Angels book that shows them fighting for the Emperor and laying waste to some silly Orks. No Fallen or “I have a secret” stuff to get in the way. This is a well thought out book that flows from one chapter to another and really gives you a since of whole campaign rather than just a few battles. I will not spoil anything with these tidbits but the story is the Dark Angels Third Company versus Ghazghkull and Nazdregg on the planet of Piscina. Master Belial is the Captain of the 3rd but he is just one of a few characters that get a lot of attention. The stuff with Scout Sgt. Naaman and Chaplain Boreas is just awesome. Particularly with Boreas. Through his eyes and thoughts you get to see how the Dark Angels view themselves. You get to see how they view corruption and the lessons learned from the Fallen. You also see the ways of and thoughts of an Interrogator Chaplain of Dark Angels. Space Marine Inquisitors that is all I’m saying. Very cool stuff.

The Fluff
Gav Thorpe takes you for a ride into the mindset of the Dark Angels. In some respects this is good. As I stated above the stuff with Interrogator Chaplain Boreas is awesome. However, the Dark Angels have always been portrayed as very aloof and distant. The fluff gives us a lot of this type of behavior from the Dark Angels. This is most assuredly not the case with this book. You can almost confuse their actions with the non-Astartes in the book as those of the Ultramarines. I think this where the Dark Angels in this book fall into the typical Space Marine cliché. Thorpe does them a little disservice by taking them out of character in my opinion. This is the only fluff point I found in the book where Thorpe deviates from the fluff and goes out of character. (And yes, I know Dark Angels fluff; it pays to know ones enemy.)

Final Rating
I am giving this book an 8 out 10. (I know, I liked this one better than Prospero Burns, my soul hurts to admit it). While I believe the Dark Angels to be portrayed somewhat out of character, this book is good. The fights are done well and are very realistic. You can almost see the tabletop and the armies arrayed against each other. The overall campaign was hard fought and you are given a good look, in my opinion, another good luck into the mind of the Space Marines. Good stuff that I think any fan of the Adeptus Astartes will enjoy.

The Power of Feel No Pain

Back when the 3rd Blood Angels codex was released Gav Thorpe introduced two new rules at the time that have been heavily copied by other developers, none more so than 5ed - they are furious charge and feel no pain (FNP). It often amazes me how heavily copied these are - I think every 5ed codex has them both now. It used to be that with FNP you could shrug off plasma (AP2)... just think how good that could be now. The PDF version of the Blood Angels Chief Librarian McFiston was a paltry T5 but with FNP back in 4ed edition he was virtually immune to AP2. Stick him in cover and he could shrug off both lascannons and plasmaguns - that's no joke either. Back then he could use FNP versus Perils of the Warp - the Lord of Death was T5 versus the S6 Perils attack - wounded on 67% and could then circumvent that with FNP on a 4+++. The odds of him taking an actual wound from Perils of the Warp was less than half the time (0.67*0.5)... an eldar Farseer was insta gibbed if he/she failed their 3+++ ward save.

So now we have armies such as Nidz that throw around FNP like it's candy. Sure it's great for those pesky gaunts but I've found it's much more effective for a small elite army such as Blood Angels. FNP keeps BA Marines and their terminators in the game far longer than say an equivalent SM army - that is one of the basic reasons why Blood Angels are so resilient now. You kill them en masse then they come right back at you. It might not seem fair but it's there... A lot like Necrons and their much hated res orb. I have won my share of games with the Blood Angelx because my Marines just refuse to die. Like I said - It is what it is.

G

The Power of The Jump !!!

Black Blow Fly here with a new article on Blood Angels jump infantry. A big shout to brother Al for kindly letting me contribute.

I have been playing Blood Angels for many a year now and the Sons of Sanguinius are by far my favorite army. I started to play them seriously during the very beginning of fourth edition when transports suddenly became burning metal coffins on threads. I thought that by combining drop pod units (tactical Marines and dreadnaughts) with jump infantry the army could be revitalized yet again... Turned out I was right. I only ever lost three games with that army out of hundreds played. I can still remember the three games I lost - one to skimmer heavy dark eldar, one to eldar (aaaaarghhhhh !!!) and one to Speed Freak orks. I played against both the dark eldar army and eldar army again and spanked them both in the rematches. I never had the opportunity to replay the KoS and that match the mission was really against me. All three of three of these armies had something going that took my surprise - they could all match my speed and even out distance my army. Except for the PDF codex (black days) Blood Angels have always been one of the fastest armies in the game. I learned that speed can indeed kill, combine that with the inherent uber choppiness of Blood Angels (Death Company, Honor Guard, now Vanguard veterans and the basic assault Marines) all make for one killer combination. All this has been brought back to the table with the release of the new 5ed codex! It's exciting times for sure. The new rules of Descent of Angels (DoA) and the ubiquitous Stormraven amongst other things has yet again revitalized this army and I can play with my original style which I dub the High Flying Blood Angels.

To me the new Blood Angels are definitely the best assault army. I know a lot of my furry friends will disagree - sure Thunderwolves are the utter sickness - but through much play testing I have learned how to beat Fenrisian Marines on a consistent basis. Every army has it's weaknesses that can be exploited. You must learn how to identify the chinks in their armor and exploit them. Thunderwolves are very fast, you can't get around that too much but they do have a few soft spots such as any S10 attack... That's why my Epistolary rocks the Sanguine Sword and my dreads have Blood Fists. I can't generate enough serious volume of shooting to plink them to death so I have to kill them the good ole fashioned way - my favorite, close combat. Hit them very hard at a higher initiative with a lot of attacks and they will fold. It's much like a chess game with BA jump infantry versus Thunderwolves - you must make sure you charge them. The Stormraven is a big help here as it can outrange Thunderwolves (barely but even just a smidgeon is enough).

The other great nemesis is still the much hated parking lot IG - for me this is not as nearly a tough matchup - hold your entire army in reserve then start deep striking on turn 2 - with the reroll for failed reserves (DoA) 75 percent of your army or even more should arrive on turn 2 then you start blasting the parking lot with all your many many meltas. Burning guardsmen fall out and then you aet them alive. It's very much a Blood Angels-esque approach to rolling guard. Often I read batreps where the Blood Angels player is not comfortable deepstriking his army so they deploy the bulk of their army on the table content to jump across open ground relying upon intervening terrain and the psychic cover save from their Librarians to reach the enemy line - I always find myself shaking my head when I read this type of batrep - DoA is the best thing jump units have going plus you only scatter 1d6"! It's almost too good to be true and has brought a new mechanic to the game. So I say try deepstrking, don't be a sissy, you might just like it. I think it's a whole better than flying across the table exposing yourself to lots of enemy shooting and really how good is a 5+++ save from your Librarians? A five plus plus plus (cover save) means that on the odds two out of every three Marines will die to high strength low AP pie plates. The Shield of Sanguinius is okay but nothing more - any unit that utilizes the 5+++ cover save is going to lose two thirds of their jump infantry if they have nothing better to hide behind - and while that might be somewhat a gross oversimplification it still holds true to a strong degree. If you opt to deepstrike you naturally stand a much better chance to smash mechanized armies.

There we have it for my first article here - I salute you all.

H