Prospero Burns

Prospero Burns. A story that any 40k player worth his salt knows or thinks they know. As with many of the Horus Heresy novels we learn alot of the behind the scenes stuff that shaped the lore we see today. This one happens to be about my favorite Chapter of all time, the vaunted Sons of Russ...The Space Wolves

The Writing

Dan Abnett is the man. He not only writes in a way that lets you precisely picture what is happening but there are times where you can feel it as well. Abnett presents the Space Wolves as they have always been to me and more. You get into their thought processes and see how they look at the universe. You also get a better understanding as to where they stand in the orders of the legions. This to me was the best part as you really get the sense of this from the Codex. It is easy to draw the parallels between the two with how the Wolves play out on the table. Abnett lets you get into the mind of a Space Wolf. That is not necessarily a place you are gonna want to go.

The Story

This is where my heart breaks. For all the good info and viewpoints you get, the story does nothing for me. I will not give spoilers but I will say this. This was supposed to be the burning of Prospero through the eyes of the Wolves. I fails at this miserably in my opinion. It is some of the parts but quite frankly it does not go into alot of the needed details to make it as such. It does not coincide with A Thousand Sons until the last quarter of the book. The rest is a loose story that is a cheesy way of tying threads together that do not need to be tied together. It could have been done better in my opinion.

Final Rating

I am giving this book a 6.5 out of 10. Abnett can't write bad but this story just does not pair with A Thousand Sons like I think it should have. So much more could have been to make this happen. That being said I love my Wolves all the more. They are truely the badasses of the Space Marines.

Now if I could just play them as such.

Captain Shrike

I have always been fascinated with this Character in the Space Marine codex. I started playing 40k at the tail end of 3rd and really got into the game at the start of 4th edition. Captain Shrike was a cool character in the 4th edition space marine codex but really didn't come into is own until the 5th edition space marine codex.

Shrike of course replaces combat tactics with the Fleet Special rule. Fleeting Space Marines are no joke and can certainly give your opponent something to think about when he fights your army. Shrike also allows a unit he is joined with at the beginning of the game to have the infiltrate rule. With that you can take one unit and either infiltrate or outflank. Shrike overall is pretty fragile. He only has a 3+ save and a 4+ inv save with 3 wounds. His lightning claws do rend which is nice but other than that he himself doesn't have very many bells and whistles.

When you first read about Shrike you kind of go "wow this guy would be awesome with a squad of vanguard vets that infiltrate or outflank. That means a first turn charge and some serious damage." That is where my thinking first went to but after really looking at the advantages Shrike gives I was disinclined to think that way because of the cost of the unit and how fragile it really was. My next thought was why not get buy 8 TH/SS terminators and stick them in a LRC and charge across the field and maybe take a command squad as support for them. This is an ok approach but I don't think that it is the best way. Why? Because of so many people taking lance and melta spam that in my opinion the LR and LRC are becoming obsolete on the 40k battle field and most people are leaning towards lighter armour vehicles.

So what is the best way to run Shrike in the current set of rules? It all comes down to what your are fielding in your Space Marine army. Recently, I have been running Shrike with 10 TH/SS terminators. Of course I don't run them like most people and try to infiltrate them every game so that they can get the shit shot out of them. I use them in different battle field roles depending on what army I am playing against. Sometimes I outflank with them and sometimes I just line them up in front of my battle line. It all depends on what I am facing.

Overall I think that Shrike is an underutilized character in the Space Marine codex that people ignore in favor of Lysander, Vulkan, and Khan. I feel that in the right army build and players hands that what he brings to the table will certainly be a force to be reckoned with.

KHAN!

Ultramarine Bikers - 6th Company

I have been intrigued by an all biker army for 40K for a long time. Tried a few lists but never was able to really make it work - nor get it done. Conceptually the idea of Khan with a tooled up Command Squad seemed to be a great death star unit. Combine that with the high mobility of bike squads, anti-armor ability of attack bikes, along with outflank provided by Khan - and you should have a high end list. But unfortunately - I was never able to pull it together.

Enter my gaming buddy Sabote - who proceeds to blatantly STEAL my idea and build a highly capable list around it. I watched him play it as my partner during several team games (Adepticon Team and Battle for Supremacy) and loved the mechanics and tactics of it. So - after a little whining and begging on my part - along with a great sales job of how awesome TWO captains/command squads would be for our Adepticon Team tourney lists - along with a little Cash incentive - I've gotten Sabote to paint up my bikers to a high end level - and have started to play them.

I have designed the list with a lot of fluff included. Codex Space Marines has a small blurb around how the 6th Reserve company of Ultramarines, led by Captain Epathus, was fully trained in the use of bikes - and was known to go to battle fully mounted. BINGO! The Codex also showed that their trim color was orange. At first I wondered how that would look - but the results were spectacular. The color scheme - combined with great painting talent has begun to produce (in my opinion) a spectacular army. Here's a few shots below:













Captain Epathus (i.e. Khan)



Librarian





Chaplain



Apothecary








Bike Squads


More to come on the progress of the army and battle reports.

New Blog Contributing Author

I'm pleased to announce a new guest contributor to the blog. My good buddy Sabote (Brian Crew) will be providing occasional nuggets of wisdom and stories of his adventures in gaming abroad. Brian is one of the better players that I know. He has a phenomenal won/lost record with his Eldar and Marines - including a couple of GT wins, top 10 at 'ard boyz finals, and more wins at smaller tournaments than you can shake a stick at. He's also a high end painter and modeler.


Sadly (for me), he now lives in Switzerland and has begun his assault on the European gaming tournament scene - winning his first tournament in spite of the missions being in a language that he couldn't understand.

So - for all 16 of you that for some reason follow my blog - the contribution level is about to get infinitely better. Tell all your friends! :)

Dark Angel - Competitive?

Here's a list I've been looking - as competitive of a Dark Angel list as I can think of....

Any thoughts?

2000 Pts - Dark Angels Roster - Dark Angels Competitive 2K

Troops: Tactical Squad (6#, 225 pts)
4 Tactical Squad @ 225 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x4; Bolter x3; Meltagun; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads; Razorback)
1 Sergeant (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Plasma Pistol; Power Weapon; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads)
1 Razorback (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 6 models; Access Points: 3; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; Twin Linked Lascannon)

Troops: Tactical Squad (6#, 225 pts)
4 Tactical Squad @ 225 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x4; Bolter x3; Meltagun; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads; Razorback)
1 Sergeant (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Plasma Pistol; Power Weapon; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads)
1 Razorback (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 6 models; Access Points: 3; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; Twin Linked Lascannon)

Troops: Tactical Squad (6#, 225 pts)
4 Tactical Squad @ 225 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x4; Bolter x3; Meltagun; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads; Razorback)
1 Sergeant (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Plasma Pistol; Power Weapon; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads)
1 Razorback (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 6 models; Access Points: 3; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; Twin Linked Lascannon)

Troops: Tactical Squad (6#, 195 pts)
4 Tactical Squad @ 195 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x4; Bolter x3; Meltagun; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads; Razorback)
1 Sergeant (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Plasma Pistol; Power Weapon; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads)
1 Razorback (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 6 models; Access Points: 3; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter)

Troops: Tactical Squad (6#, 180 pts)
4 Tactical Squad @ 180 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x4; Bolter x3; Meltagun; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads; Razorback)
1 Sergeant (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x1; Power Weapon; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads)
1 Razorback (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 6 models; Access Points: 3; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter)

Troops: Tactical Squad (6#, 180 pts)
4 Tactical Squad @ 180 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x4; Bolter x3; Meltagun; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads; Razorback)
1 Sergeant (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x1; Power Weapon; And They Shall Know No Fear; Combat Squads)
1 Razorback (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 6 models; Access Points: 3; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter)

HQ: Company Master (1#, 120 pts)
1 Company Master @ 120 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Iron Halo; Power Armour; Melta Bombs; Bolt Pistol; Power Weapon; Fearless; Independent Character; Rites of Battle)

: Command Squad (6#, 295 pts)
4 Command Squad @ 295 pts (Unit Type: Infantry; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Melta Bombs x1; Narthecium/Reductor; Sacred Standard; Bolt Pistol x3; Plasma Pistol x1; Power Fist x1; Power Weapon x1; Meltagun x2; Apothecary; Company Champion; Standard Bearer; Fearless; Rhino)
1 Company Champion (Bolt Pistol; Combat Shield; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Power Weapon)
1 Rhino (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 10 models; Access Points: 3; Fire Points: 1; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; Storm Bolter; Repair)

HQ: Interrogator-Chaplain (1#, 135 pts)
1 Interrogator-Chaplain @ 135 pts (...in Power Armour; Unit Type: Infantry; Fearless; Honour of the Chapter; Independent Character; Litanies of Hate)
1 ...in Power Armour (Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Rosarius; Crozius Arcanum; Plasma Pistol)

Fast Attack: Ravenwing Attack Squadron (4#, 220 pts)
1 Ravenwing Attack Squadron @ 220 pts (Bike Squad; Attack Bike)
2 Bike Squad (Unit Type: Bikes; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Space Marine Bike; Teleport Homer; Bolt Pistol x2; Meltagun x2; Twin Linked Bolter; Combat Squads; Fearless; Scouts)
1 Sergeant (Unit Type: Bikes; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Space Marine Bike; Teleport Homer; Melta Bombs; Bolt Pistol x1; Power Fist; Twin Linked Bolter; Combat Squads; Fearless; Scouts)
1 Attack Bike (Unit Type: Bikes; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Space Marine Bike; Teleport Homer; Bolt Pistol; Multi-Melta; Fearless; Scouts)

Total Roster Cost: 2000

Update

Been forever since I've updated this thing....so a few ramblings. This picture has nothing to do with gaming - but I found it hilarious. An old buddy of mine - I used to work on a farm with him back when I was in High School and College in North Dakota. In a fit of brilliance he has buried one of the biggest monster John Deere tractors to the axle in the mud. UFF DA! Yah - YOU BETCHA! Ok - back to gaming.....

Charity Tournament: Ok - I totally hosed up on this. Had nothing but the best and noblest of intentions - followed up by the worst execution possible. I have lots of excuses around work having me travel a lot over the summer, kids and family things, etc - but they are just excuses - not good reasons. I failed on this one. At some point I may try something like this again - but in all personal honesty I doubt that this is one of my core competencies.

Club Challenge Tournament: Something that has been discussed a lot on the Wrecking Crew forums and I've been working with a couple of local gaming stores to host. The idea is a format almost identical to the ETC format (only up the total to 2K and allow special characters) and have it between the clubs in the US. Timing and exact venue are still being worked - but sounds like Chattanooga TN. Clubs that I've contacted and have expressed a lot of interest are 'da Boyz, Wrecking Crew, Battle for Salvation, Blade and Bolter, Club Toledo (Sparks/Mutch), BOLS, the Canadian guys who won Adepticon Team Tourney - and hopefully many others. This has the potential to be one of the best events ever for those of us who like competing at this hobby.

The overall tournament circuit: I'm pretty burned out on all the drama around tournaments - although it does bring a certain entertainment value. Nova had to be the most hyped and discussed tournament ever. But ever the "Most Competitive Tournament EVER!" still had the same type issue - winning list was over points. It seems that almost every tournament this year has had either Cheating, points over winning lists, best painting being won by someone who didn't paint their own army, etc, etc. It's got me longing for the old days of GW GT's - with all their flaws and pageantry. Really looking forward to Adepticon and hope that their changes don't diminish the event. I'm on the fence with using the "Nova" type format and making the Nationals one of the premier events for the tournament. To me - Adepticon has been known for the Team Tournament (the premier event there as far as I'm concerned) and the Gladiator (the only place you can play all the big crap that you never play otherwise). They were two tournaments that you really could only find at Adepticon. The Nationals were fun - but just a bigger RTT - something that there are lots of around. Now Nationals is basically replacing the Gladiator as one of the premier events. Will see how it goes this year.

Armies: I'm on a quest. I'm selling off the armies that I bought on compulsion over the years and have seldom played - along with all my Fantasy, Confrontation, and Warmachine stuff. Most will be up on ebay over the next few weeks. If anyone has any interest in big Grey Knights, Chaos Demons, Blood Angels (on the fence to sell or keep these), High Elves, Undead, Confrontation (Wolfen and the human guys), Warmachine (Cygnar, Menoth (very well painted army here), Khador, and a HUGE Cryx army) - let me know via email. I'm using the proceeds to fund having my remaining armies painted - and have several in the works or planned. At the end of the day I'll have Marines (Ultramarines, Wolves, Dark Angels), Eldar Biel-Tann, and Chaos Marines (Nurgle, Khorne, Night Lords) - with most everything painted and good to go. Over the years I've accumulated a closet full of mini's - most still in the box and unassembled. Sanity is trying to set in and tell me that it's foolish to have all this stuff sitting around. Especially when I could use the money better elsewhere. So going to have to fight the bug with the new codex's coming soon.

All for now - will try and update on a more frequent basis......

Nashville Flooding

I am blessed to live in the Middle Tennessee area - but as I'm sure many of you have heard - this area was hit by some severe flooding. The damage for Nashville and the surrounding areas is reaching the $2 Billion mark and growing. The total cost hasn't been known yet - and probably will never be known. Middle Tennessee has taken it on themselves to fix things and really risen to the need. However, a lot of folks have lost everything. FEMA helps some, not others. Some have insurance - but many didn't as they had no clue that a 500 year flood would hit them. By the Grace of God - I sat high and dry - only a nice little cascading waterfall down the back steps of my sidewalk.

Here's a few links to pictures and a pretty touching You-Tube song that was written by a local song writer.

Pictures:

Video:


I've been wondering what I could do to help people. Like everyone - money's a little tight, I've got limited home-fixing skills, etc. My wife has an acquaintance who was totally wiped out and we have decided to help them out - at least one person. Here are some pictures of what has happened to them - post flood. They are most likely going to have to demolish and tear down. They have some limited insurance coverage - but what you'll see below shows how well that's working out.

Pictures:


Here is the latest twist in their story:

The insurance company did send an advance payment to us for the cleanup and certified mold mitigation. They made the check payable to me and the bank. So the bank has decided that they want all of it to go towards my mortgage ( their interest in the loan). So I cannot cash it to pay the contractors for their work. The insurance company doesn't get, we don't and neither does my attorney. It is a small amount in the big picture of the actual loan. AHH!

So they are getting hit all over the place. What I've decided to do - and what I'm going to reach out to the greater Gamer community, is to paint up several models to the best of my ability, auction them on ebay, and donate the money to my church. Our church has agreed to match all donations up to at least $1k - maybe more. I am also going to pursue setting up a 40K tournament with the proceeds going to support them.

So...my fellow gamers....my challenge and request to you. Do the same thing I'm doing. Auction something that you paint or already have painted, and donate the proceeds. If you are interested, my email is Alglea@comcast.net. I can get you in touch with how to donate to our church. It's tax deductible and I guarantee it will go 100% to the family to help them - matched by the church (at least up to $1K). I would only hope that people would do something similar for us if we had the same kind of problem.

Join me!

Internet 40K Lists

So a thought that I had around the whole concept of "Uber-List" posting on the internet.

What the internet list posting/debate topics totally miss at is taking into account the person RUNNING the list and their play styles. Different people have and use different tactics (yes some have none) and will play better with an army that fits their playing styles.

For example - I play two types of armies resonably well. A tough in your face army (Nurgle/Wolves) and a dodge and weave speed/mobility army (Mech Eldar). With those armies - I probably won't lose - 90%+ a win/draw. However - give me a glass-hammer army (Dark Eldar) or horde armies (Ork/Bugs) and watch the crappy play commence. With Gun-line armies I'm a middle of the road player (Marine builds/SOB) - same with Marine assault armies (TH/SS Termy-LR types).

I think that's what is missing from BOL's posts - (JWOLF, Goatboy, Bigred, etc) and from a lot of the lists I see on YTTH and really any site - what types of play style does the list perform well with? What Jwolf is saying here http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2010/05/40k-tactics-outflanking-for-objectives.html (take away the personal bias he seems to have towards what many consider sub-par units) is that there is a different level of tactics that many don't explore or consider around reserve/outflanking armies. Having used it heavily with my Eldar - it's a good solid strategy - especially against Mech Guard - which is a heavily prevelant army currently. Guess it's really up to the individual to decide that, but think we should keep that in mind when we call an article/list/individual crappy.

One mans crap is another man's treasure.

Thoughts on playing against Leaf Blower Guard

I had the INFINITE pleasure of facing the Guard gunline list (i.e. Leafblower and variants) a total of 6 times at Adepticon - over 1/2 of my games. My record against them was 3 wins and 3 losses. No less than 11'sh points in any of those losses as best I can remember - so maybe more of a draw than a loss. Max I got was upper 30's against them in one game - upper 20's in the other two.

Here's a few things that worked well for me - both with my Eldar and with Marines.

a) ALWAYS let them go first. Put ALL your stuff in reserve. Few if any armies can withstand getting swatted one turn - minimize the number of rounds you will take fire. Deny them targets and turns. I was never tabled and went 7 turns on at least two of my games. A plus to this is it takes them out of their game - what to do when they have no targets. Obviously this is a tactic best used by Eldar with an Autarch - but worked reasonably well when facing them with Marines.

b) Speed and maneuverability - if you can outflank or have things that can come on behind them - use them.

c) they have relatively fragile troops - focus on them. Pop those Chimera's and then rain hell on the soft stuff inside. Only worry about the Vendetta's when they have passengers - I found them most difficult to drop personally. Eliminate their ability to control things.

d) It's a hard list to get max points off. Pick one or two of the victory conditions and focus on them. The opponent will most of the time focus on the primary - so go for secondary/tertiary - the points still stay good and keep you in the running at least.

It's a tough list - a real tar pit to play against. I would say that roughly 1/3 of the armies I saw at Adepticon for all the tourneys had Guard. That's not scientific - but they were everywhere.

Aldonis thoughts on soft scores

Those that don't like it fuss about it, those that do like it fuss about it. No one's going to agree.

There's a really vocal group that doesn't care for them - as far as I know either haven't played in a lot of tourneys or haven't done very well in them - or had a bad experience. Whatever - sorry if you had a bad time.

Personally, I've played in GT's since '99 and a boatload of other tourneys (Adepticon, Big Waagh, RTT's, etc). I think the most fun tourneys were the early one's in 99 and 2000. They had Comp, Sportsmanship, painting, etc. But - they were fun. Not the drama around cheating that is today, not the win at all costs mentality - and they were FUN! It's not hard to get a good sports score. Be decent to people, give them what you would expect, be nice. Out of 100+ tourney opponents I had a handful that weren't fun to play and maybe 2 that were even close to being jerks.

This whole thing about all the drama about bad players, cheating, win at all costs, TFG, etc - it's REALLY getting blown all out of proportion. A bunch of internet drama queens have really made it into some huge conspiracy thing. I suggest that we has a hobby group collective STOP it - enjoy the d@mn games - play and have fun, thank the tourney organizers for the effort they put on for US to have fun - and stop the crap. I'm guilty of feeding this as well by even replying to these threads. Something that I will no longer do!

Battle for Stone's River 2010 - Aftermath

Have to echo what most people have said - truly and outstanding tournament. My hat is off to Bossman, Chris, Travo, etc for putting on a great event!

From a competitive standpoint - it was a little frustrating for me - so many could have hads and might have hads - but didn't's. Such is the way the dice roll though! Had a grand time and did much better overall than I expected. Wound up in 13th Overall.

Game One - Willy the Nord from Chattanooga said he was coming looking for me - and he got me. We wound up going head to head right from the start. Love to play the guy - but would rather meet him in the later rounds - because he's really good. We had a tight fought game - very tactical in nature. Eldar vs Dark Eldar - with the NORD having around 17 Dark Lances - all wanting to do me harm! Willy pulled out a great victory in the end and blanked me after seven rounds. Job well done! Will catch you in Chi-town!

Game Two - originally Stephan Boada (with the Sisters) and I were going to play - and Donovan and George from Huntsville were going to play. Since both groups can play each other at any time - we decided to switch. And I got to play George and his awesome Ork army. Had a great game - fun match up - against a guy I'm glad to call a buddy. Managed to squeek out a slight victory - 15 points to 6 in a 6 turn battle.

Game Three - Me and the Karate Kid lay it down. Dang but Jeremy has gotten good. We had a HARD fought game - back and forth - for seven turns. He managed to hold onto the main objective at the end for a 7-5 win. Great game man!.

Game Four - Against John Williams from Jackson area. John was just getting into the game - and was a great guy to play against.Another hard fought and close game. My suicide squad just refused to die (actually John's Dreadnought just refused to kill them). Wound up with 9 to zero victory for me.


The hardest thing about this tournament was the fact that I had to pick a favorite opponent - all of mine were very deserving of it.

Congrats to Sabote (overall) and STD (best painted and best themed) for bringing home the big prizes - job well done.

Looking forward to this one next year already!

BFSR Missions

Pretty excited about the tourney this weekend. They have posted 6 missions - 4 of which will be played. Interesting! Think it plays to my Eldar strengths.

Here are the 6:

Scenario One: “They’re out there somewhere!”
The enemy is out there somewhere just waiting to be found. Go out and find the optimum scouting spot! The vantage point from up high is always better… Grab the tallest piece of terrain to give your army the advantage.
Setup: Scenario uses Pitched Battle. Players must choose one HQ choice to be their “General”. Players must also agree on the tallest piece of terrain outside the deployment zones prior to choosing their zones. Continue setup as normal. This game uses Random Game Length or 2 hour time limit, whichever comes first.
Special Rules: Add +1 to all Reserve rolls for duration of the game.
Objectives: Total of 20 points.
 Primary: Seize and hold the tallest piece of terrain for your army. Hold with a scoring unit on or within 3” with no enemy units contesting.(7 pts)
 Secondary: Protect your deployment zone. No enemy models in your deployment zone at game’s end. (5 pts)
 Tertiary: Scout the area… Have more scoring units in your opponent’s deployment than they have in yours at game’s end. (4 pts)
 Also be nice if you could… Get your army “General” to have a look. Have your “General” on the tallest piece of terrain at game’s end, even if you don’t control it. (4 pts)

************************************************************
Scenario Two: “The Bridge is our lifeline!”
The bridge is your lifeline for your continued offensive. You need it to supply your armies as they push further into enemy territory. Take and hold that bridge at all costs!
Setup: Scenario uses Pitched Battle. Players must announce their “Hunted Unit” prior to deployment. Continue setup as normal. This game uses Random Game Length or 2 hour time limit, whichever comes first.
Special Rules: “Hunted Unit” is your most expensive unit that is not a vehicle(has an armor value) or a HQ choice. If your “Hunted Unit” fails to come in from reserve or is fleeing at game’s end, it’s considered destroyed for objective purposes.
Objectives: Total of 20 points.
 Primary: Control the bridge. Have a scoring unit on the bridge at game’s end with no enemy models on the bridge. (6 pts)
 Secondary: Destroy your enemy’s “Hunted Unit”! (5 pts)
 Tertiary: Keep your “Hunted Unit” alive! (5 pts)
 Also be nice if you could… Hold any secondary river crossings with a scoring unit. Another bridge or fordable area will do. (4 pts)

************************************************************
Scenario Three: “The Atrocities of your enemy!”
The war takes its toll on everyone, some more than others… Make your push across the river and hold the far shore. Wait for further instructions.
Setup: Modified deployment. Players roll off for sides of the river. Once chosen the player who won places their army at least 10” away from the river’s edge. Player two does the same. Players must then reveal their “Suicide Squad”. Infiltrators are then setup as normal. This game uses Random Game Length or 2 hour time limit, whichever comes first.
Special Rules: “Suicide Squad”- you must chose one Troop or Elite choice to be your suicidal squad. These lads have seen all too well the atrocities of your enemy and will stop at nothing to kill them all! This squad cannot infiltrate and must be non-vehicle squad (unit without an armor value). This squad gains the preferred enemy and fearless special rules.
Objectives: Total of 20 points.
 Primary: Have more scoring units on opponent’s side of the river than they have on yours! (7 pts)
 Secondary: Your “Suicide Squad” destroys at least one Kill Point and is destroyed themselves by the end of the game. (6 pts)
 Tertiary: Your “Suicide Squad” is destroyed on the opponent’s side of the river by the end of the game. (4 pts)
 Also be nice if you could… score more Kill Points than your opponent. “Suicide Squads” earn their owner a point if destroyed, not the opponent. (Hence “suicide”) (3 pts)

************************************************************
Scenario Four: “Watch out, they’re tricky devils!”
The battlefield is strewn with wounded, supplies and enemy intel. Push out into “No Man’s Land” and pick it up! But beware the enemy may have booby trapped some items, they’re tricky little devils!
Setup: Scenario uses Pitched Battle. Before choosing sides, players must place 5 markers outside deployment zones, but within 6” of the table’s center line. Roll off to see who places the first objective marker. Markers may not be within 10” of one another. Players then continue setup as normal. This game uses Random Game Length or 2 hour time limit, whichever comes first.
Special Rules: To uncover a marker, players must move into contact with it using non-vehicle units (units with no armor value). Players must end their unit’s movement after contacting the marker. At the end of movement(Normal Movement/Run/Fleet), players must uncover the marker… Roll a D6. 1st Marker turned over is the objective on a roll of 6+. If not, disregard and move on. 2nd Marker is objective on 5+. If not, move on. 3rd Marker is objective on 4+. 4th Marker is objective on 3+. If the objective has not been found then the 5th Marker is automatically the objective. On any rolls of 1 the marker is booby trapped and explodes destroying it and creating a Strength 3 large blast with no AP value. Once the objective is found remove all other markers from the table.
Objectives: Total of 20 points.
 Primary: Hold the objective marker uncontested at game’s end with a scoring unit by being within 3”. (7 pts)
 Secondary: Uncover more objective markers than your opponent. (5 pts)
 Tertiary: Destroy all your opponent’s scoring units. (4 pts)
 Also be nice if you could… Divide the table into quarters at game’s end and control more table quarters than your opponent. Control a table quarter by having a unit in the quadrant (no immobilized vehicles) with no enemy units in the same quadrant, (4 pts)

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Scenario Five: “Never leave a man behind!”
You captured the enemy’s general last night in a daring raid… looks like your enemy had the same idea! You returned triumphant only to find your general too was victim to a late night raid. Gather the troops and go get him back!
Setup: Scenario uses Spearhead Deployment. Players must choose a HQ choice to represent their General. After deployment zones are chosen, place your stasis field holding cells in the exact center of your chosen deployment zone. Your enemy general is then placed inside. Setup continues as normal. This game uses Random Game Length or 2 hour time limit, whichever comes first.
Special Rules: Your General starts the game inside the stasis field; only the general’s model, no retinues or vehicles. Your General can do nothing until freed from his stasis. To free your General, you must move a unit into coherency with him (Normal move/run/fleet). Once freed, the General may shoot and assault that turn with the rest of the unit he joins. Enemy Generals cannot be harmed while in stasis.
Objectives: Total of 20 points.
 Primary: Release your General from stasis! (6 pts)
 Secondary: You release your General and he survives the battle. (5pts)
 Tertiary: Your opponent’s General was never released or was killed after being released. (5 pts)
 Also be nice if you could… Score more Kill Points than your opponent. (4 pts)

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Scenario Six: “There’s a traitor amongst us!”
The war is coming to a breaking point… this could be the battle to decide the fate of the world. But you have word from your covert ops that there is a traitor amongst you. You need to figure it out before it’s too late.
Setup: Scenario uses Pitched Battle. Normal setup rules apply. Before deployment, declare which HQ choice is will be the General. This game uses Random Game Length or 2 hour time limit, whichever comes first.
Special Rules: “Traitor”- you must secretly pull one model, with no upgrades (champions/nobs/sgts/special or heavy weapons/ etc.), from a Troop choice to be the traitor. Hold these models until the beginning of your 3rd turn at which point you may replace one Troop model in your opponent’s army. Simply remove the Troop model as a casualty and replace it with your model. The casualty may not be an upgraded model either, nor may it be a special or heavy weapon model. The casualty also must only have one wound on its profile. From this point your model may move, shoot and assault as normal. The model may join friendly units and for all intents is an independent character for the duration of the game.
Objectives: Total of 20 points.
 Primary: Score more Kill Points than your opponent. (7 pts)
 Secondary: Your Traitor survives the battle. (5pts)
 Tertiary: You kill your opponent’s Traitor. (4 pts)
 Also be nice if you could… Kill your opponent’s General. (4 pts)

Battle For Stone's River

This Saturday (2/27) I'm playing in a tournament at Murfreesboro, TN. It's the Battle For Stone's River in commemoration of the Civil War battle of the same name. Usually around 50-60 players - so pretty big tourney. I had originally planned to run my Death Guard army - but in play testing they were not performing well (I lost 4 straight games). So...going to make a switch to Eldar - figuring I can't do any worse - and maybe better as a lot of the missions have mobility needs that Eldar fulfill the best of all. List is 1863 points (the year of the battle). Here's what I'm taking....

1863 Pts - Eldar Roster - Eldar 1863 - BFSR Final

HQ: Jain Zar (1#, 190 pts)
1 Jain Zar @ 190 pts ((pp.54-55 & 61 Eldar); Eternal Warriors; Fearless; Fleet; Furious Charge; Independent Character; Acrobatic; War Shout ; Disciples; Banshee Mask; The Silent Death; Executioner)

HQ: Farseer (1#, 138 pts)
1 Farseer Koios @ 138 pts ((pp.26, 28 & 60 Eldar); Psyker; Doom ; Mind War ; Fleet; Independent Character; Ghosthelm; Rune Armour; Runes of Warding; Spirit Stones; Shuriken Pistol; Singing Spear)

Elite: Fire Dragons (6#, 280 pts)
4 Fire Dragons @ 280 pts ((pp.32 & 62 Eldar); Fleet; Fusion Gun; Melta Bombs)
1 Fire Dragon Exarch (Fleet; Tank Hunters; Crack Shot ; Firepike; Melta Bombs)
1 Wave Serpent ((pp.45 & 63 Eldar); Energy Field; Spirit Stones; Star Engines; TL Shuriken Catapults; TL Bright Lances)

Elite: Fire Dragons (6#, 267 pts)
4 Fire Dragons @ 267 pts ((pp.32 & 62 Eldar); Fleet; Fusion Gun; Melta Bombs)
1 Fire Dragon Exarch (Fleet; Tank Hunters; Fusion Gun; Melta Bombs)
1 Wave Serpent ((pp.45 & 63 Eldar); Energy Field; Spirit Stones; Star Engines; TL Shuriken Catapults; TL Bright Lances)

Elite: Howling Banshees (8#, 259 pts)
6 Howling Banshees @ 259 pts ((pp.31 & 63 Eldar); Fleet; Banshee Mask; Power Weapon; Shuriken Pistol)
1 Howling Banshee Exarch (Fleet; Banshee Mask; Shuriken Pistol; Executioner)
1 Wave Serpent ((pp.45 & 63 Eldar); Energy Field; Spirit Stones; Star Engines; TL Shuriken Catapults; TL Shuriken Cannons)

Troops: Dire Avengers (5#, 97 pts)
4 Dire Avengers @ 97 pts ((pp.30 & 64 Eldar); Fleet; Avenger S-Catapult)
1 Dire Avenger Exarch (Fleet; Bladestorm ; Diresword; Shuriken Pistol)

Troops: Dire Avengers (5#, 97 pts)
4 Dire Avengers @ 97 pts ((pp.30 & 64 Eldar); Fleet; Avenger S-Catapult)
1 Dire Avenger Exarch (Fleet; Bladestorm ; Diresword; Shuriken Pistol)

Troops: Guardian Jetbike Squadron (3#, 76 pts)
3 Guardian Jetbike Squadron @ 76 pts ((pp.40 & 64 Eldar); Unit Type: Jetbike Infantry; Turbo-boosters; Eldar Jetbike; Shuriken Cannon x1; TL Shuriken Catapults x2)

Troops: Guardian Jetbike Squadron (3#, 76 pts)
3 Guardian Jetbike Squadron @ 76 pts ((pp.40 & 64 Eldar); Unit Type: Jetbike Infantry; Turbo-boosters; Eldar Jetbike; Shuriken Cannon x1; TL Shuriken Catapults x2)

Heavy Support: Falcon (1#, 190 pts)
1 Falcon @ 190 pts ((pp.42 & 67 Eldar); Holo-Field; Spirit Stones; Star Engines; Scatter Laser; TL Shuriken Catapults; Pulse Laser)

Heavy Support: Falcon (1#, 190 pts)
1 Falcon @ 190 pts ((pp.42 & 67 Eldar); Holo-Field; Spirit Stones; Star Engines; Scatter Laser; TL Shuriken Catapults; Pulse Laser)


Total Roster Cost: 1860

Aldonis thoughts on Comp and Tournaments

I think the issue about comp rears its head because of one category - Overall Champion - and the fact that it has the most loot attached to it. All the other categories feed into "overall" - and thus if you have a Comp category - it pisses people off towards overall. I suggest that for a GT type tournament that you eliminate Overall from the categories. Have a Best General, Best Painted, Best Themed, Funnest Opponent etc category. You could even break it down by Codex if you wanted - or a 1, 2, 3rd place for each. Split the prize support evenly across those. Yeah - there may be less prize support for winning a category because you spread stuff out more. But at the end of the day, do people really play in tourneys for the loot - or for the fun of competing and maybe getting their 10 seconds of fame for winning something? I think most people do the latter. The more people who get their name called and get to come up front - even if it's just for a trinket - the better.

This way everyone has their "thing" they can go for. I'm a helluva guy and love just to play and have fun - so I go for funnest player. Kenny is a top shelf player - he guns for best General. Brandon..well shit - he wins all the painting stuff. Etc, etc...overall - I think more people have fun - get less bent out of shape about "cheating" and "broken lists" - are less tempted to cheat for the big prize - and you get more positive feedback on your tournaments.

I think we've gotten a little spoiled toward the 'ard boyz type winner take all tournaments - and forgotten about the overall fun part of what the GT's are - getting a bunch of guys who all geek out on the hobby together and getting to play armies/tactics etc you would never see in you local gaming scene.