New Warhammer 40k Army - Test Game: Space Wolves vs. Dropturions

March 1, 2015, 5:28 pm

≫ Next: Battle Report: Space Wolves vs Dropturions

≪ Previous: Battle Report: Eldar vs. Adamantine Lance

What's up 40k fans, Chaplain Sam here. Like I said in my last post, after playing a few games with Eldar I found that I liked the army. But I didn't love it. "If you don't love it don't buy it." Those are words to live by folks. Back to the drawing board!

When I build a list that I'd eventually like to take to a tournament, I consider a lot of factors (scoring ability, anti-air, etc.). I also consider a few specific match-ups, including Ad Lance lists. But I think going forward I will have to consider Dropturion lists (4+ centurion squads in Drop Pods). Chris has come up with a real monster, one that I think is worth considering with the other heavy hitters. With that said, here is what I came up with:

Company of the Great Wolf Detachment:

Wolf Guard Battle Leader - Thunderwolf, Runic Armor, Shield, Hammer, 1 Fen Wolf

Wolf Guard Battle Leader - Thunderwolf, Runic Armor, Shield, Hammer, 2 Fen Wolf

Iron Priest - Thunderwolf

Thunderwolf Cavalry x 3

Skyshield Landing Pad

Tau Firebase Support Cadre

Riptide - IA, early warning override (EWO)

Broadside x 3 - Missiles, EWO

So let's look at a few matchups and think about how this list might perfom:

Adamantine Lance - plenty of S10, invulnerable saves, and tank hunter Broadsides. The number of units in my list should help play to the objectives well too.
Dropturions - Majority 6+ save in the Wolfstars to offset the grav-cannons, invulnerable saves and interceptor on the Firebase Support Cadre.
Flyrant Spam - Twin-linked fire from the Broadsides. Wolves will control the ground and objectives.
Mechdar - Tank hunter Broadsides and ... hope the wolves catch up?

Chris is going to help me test the list. First up - Dropturions!! I did design this list with the Dropturions (and other builds) in mind, so I like my chances. But I know that if I lose a few Wolf Guard Battle Leaders the list will start to fall apart quickly.

Chris' Dropturion list this time will include the following:

2 x Librarians
3 x Centurion units in Fleshtearer pods
1 melta heavy command squad with Lysander in pod
2 x Tactical squads in pods

His list is a bit different this time. He wanted to try adding a beatstick (Lysander) and some melta into the mix.

So as is becoming tradition, let's put it to a vote!! Who do you think will come out on top? We'll get you the battle report soon.

Who will win?

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Battle Report: Space Wolves vs Dropturions

March 9, 2015, 9:22 pm

≫ Next: Ork Tournament Results

≪ Previous: New Warhammer 40k Army - Test Game: Space Wolves vs. Dropturions

Hey everyone, Chaplain Sam back with another mini battle report. So the last vote had me the underdog (again) and Chris the favorite to win. Come on guys! Where is the love? Well, we actually played the matchup twice instead of just once because Chris is really trying to hone in on a list he wants to commit to. As a reminder, here are the lists we ran:

Sam's Four Fangs

Company of the Great Wolf Detachment:

Wolf Guard Battle Leader - Thunderwolf, Runic Armor, Shield, Hammer, 1 Fen Wolf

Wolf Guard Battle Leader - Thunderwolf, Runic Armor, Shield, Hammer, 2 Fen Wolf

Iron Priest - Thunderwolf

Thunderwolf Cavalry x 3

Skyshield Landing Pad

Tau Firebase Support Cadre

Riptide - IA, early warning override (EWO)

Broadside x 3 - Missiles, EWO

Chris' Dropturions - Game 1 (list from memory, probably not 100% accurate)

Sentinels of Terra

Lysander

Command Squad - Melta spam - Drop Pod

Librarian

3 x Centurions

Tactical Squad - Drop Pod

Flesh Tearers

Librarian

Scouts - Drop Pod

Drop Pod

Battle Report - Once again the underdog, I was eager to prove that both myself and the Four Fangs list had a chance. I won the roll off and elected to let Chris go first, rather than waste a turn when he had nothing on the table. Chris deployed nothing on the board, in true drop pod alpha strike style. I deployed a line of wolves right in front of the Sky Shield Landing Pad with the Tau detachment standing watch, their trigger fingers itching to fire intercepting shots at anything entering the battle field. Chris' drop pods poured onto the battlefield, all three Centurion units in range to unleash a fury of Grav-weaponry. Lysander and his Command Squad veered way off course, landing right in front of the full force of wolves.

Without hesitation, the Tau detachment peppered the Space Marines with interceptor fire as the Drop Pods crashed to the Earth. One Broadside unit and the Riptide fired upon the Centurions, but their armor and cover (and the Emperor apparently) protected them and only a single Centurion fell. The second Broadside dedicated its fire towards a drop pod, reducing it to a pile of rubble and securing the Four Fangs First Blood!

The Centurions unleashed their arsenal of a truly fearsome amount of twin-linked (Prescience) Grav shots. Thanks to the Fenrisian Wolves, the Wolf Star units were majority 6+ save, which meant that the Centurions needed a 6+ to wound the unit.The Wolf Guard Battle Leaders tanked wounds with their invulnerable saves. When the dust settled a few Fenrisian Wolves and Thunder Wolf Cavalry were lost, diving in front of their leaders to protect them fire (Look Out Sir!).

Time for retaliation! The drop pods landed close, too close. The wolves split off into separate groups and assaulted two of the three Centurion units. The Thunder Wolf Cavalry charged into battle against Lysander's unit alone, without a leader and to their likely doom to delay the great warlord. However, by the grace of Russ Lysander's hammer missed it's target and his armor failed him several times. The leaderless Thunder Wolves won combat.

The Four Fangs (Wolf Guard Battle Leaders) swung their great Thunder Hammers mercilessly, erasing Centurions, their armor proving ineffective this time around. The next round of Drop Pods joined the battle (Chris turn 2), but they were largely ineffective.

In the next turn the Four Fangs cleared the remaining Centurions, a Tactical Squad, and the great Lysander fell in combat to the Thunder Wolf Cavalry. Recognizing defeat, what remained of the Dropturions fled from the battlefield.

Space Wolves Victory!

Wow. That went better than expected! Lysander was horrible this game, but aside from that there weren't any devastating failures. The Fenrision Wolves 6+ saves sparred the majority of my force turn 1 and once I got into combat it was game over.

Chris adjusted his list and game 2 was on!

Chris' Dropturions - Game 2 (list from memory, probably not 100% accurate)

Sentinels of Terra

Lysander

Librarian

3 x Centurions

Scouts - Drop Pod

Scouts

Flesh Tearers

Mephiston

Scouts

Drop Pod

Chris dropped the tactical marines, the Command Squad and picked up Mephiston, Lord of Death, and 30+ scouts.

Battle Report - I'll keep this one brief since I had a bit of fun with the other one. Chris won the roll off this time and elected to go second. Bummer for me as it essentially costs me a turn. I rolled Master of Ambush and infiltrated one Wolf Star into Chris' deployment zone (Mistake 1). The Wolves moved a little, but otherwise waited for Chris' to drop down. Chris came down again, positioning himself far from the Wolf Star in his own deployment zone, but within range of the Wolf Star in my deployment zone. The Tau detachment fired their interceptor shots from the Sky Shield but Chris failed 1 of 30+ saves (Ugh), fortunately the Riptide forced him to take some cover saves and took out 2 Centurions. I got greedy and opted to try to remove the last one rather than taking the guaranteed First Blood by popping a drop pod (Mistake 2), but he passed his saves. This time he targeted the Tau detachment instead of the Wolves and utterly erased them, both Broadside units and the Riptide (Damn). In my turn I multi-charged two units of Centurions with the Wolf Star that was in range. After that it was mostly clean up. The Wolf Star in range basically killed Chris' entire army by itself and just ignored Lysander's unit. The other group of Wolves cleaned up some scouts. However, I waited a bit too long and some bad run rolls kept me off objectives (Mistake 3). We rolled to see if the game went on. If it ended, we'd tie. It went on and Chris conceded.

Phew! Despite some poor play on my part I was able to sneak out a win. I think Chris was happy with his play, but I believe he is going to drop Mephiston. He's still considering what to do with the Scouts and Lysander as well.

As for me... I love the Space Wolves! It's just the kind of army I would like to add to my shelves because I'm short on a close combat oriented army. Something with a real punch. More than anything though, I've loved the look and fluff of this army for a long time and that's what counts. It may not be a tournament winner, but I'll still win some games and have blast doing it. With that said, I'm happy to announce that Space Wolves will be my 2015 Army!

Stay tuned for army building updates! Chaplain Sam signing off.

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Ork Tournament Results

March 22, 2015, 7:48 pm

≫ Next: New Warhammer 40k Army - Space Wolves Progress

≪ Previous: Battle Report: Space Wolves vs Dropturions

Waaagh! Orks for da win! Last weekend the escalation league at our local store finished up with a 1,500 point tournament. Our showing was a little slim but we had enough for everyone to play three games over one long day. Waaagh! Scott made a good showing and came in 2nd over all. To be honest it wasn't a deathly competitive group but still was a great experience. My list is below

Primary Detachment: Green Tide Formation

Warboss: power klaw and Big Boss Pole

4 power klaw Nobz

96 Slugga Boyz

Ork Horde Detachment

Zhadsnark Da Rippa

Painboy

Painboy on Warbike

10 Warbikes

3 x 10 Grotz

Traktor Kanon

Deffkopta

The idea was to put one Painboy with the Green Tide to give Feel No Pain to the whole blob. The other Painboy, the one on the bike, went with biker blob and Zhadsnark for the 2+ cover save and Feel No Pain for all of them. Zhadsnark can stay with the unit or break off to attack separate targets.

Game One: Orks vs Imperial Guard

I wish I had pictures of this first game as it was a very hard fought draw and I was proud of it. It was on the same board as the third game so if you're curious what it looked like then see those pictures below.

I had second turn. The Guard deployed with a large blob of Guardsmen in the middle with a Basilisk and 3 strong auto cannon heavy weapons teams on both flanks. His right flank was also supported by two plasma cannon touting Leman Russ and the other flank had an extra, smaller guard blob. He had some veterans supporting the middle with melta and flamers in a chimera and two command squads in the back, one of which had his warlord.

I deployed with the Green Tide facing opposite of the flank with the two plasma Russes. The bikes were on the opposite side. Most of the Grotz were held in reserve to prevent him taking them out for first blood, the Deffkoptas outflanked, and the Traktor Kopta sat on a back field objective. My over all strategy was to focus on gaining VP rather than killing him right out.

For the first time ever the Green Tide did not make it across the board into combat. Each run move I rolled for it was a one. So in the end the Tide turned to help kill the Chimera and Veterans who were sitting on a mid-field objective and avoid dying and giving my opponent an auto 11 VP.

The Warbikes performed great. They stormed up the left flank and shot up a small blob of Guardsmen for 1st blood and a VP. They spent the rest of the game killing units and shooting off independent characters to tie up/kill other units. The best was by far Zhadsnark's rush on the Warlord. The Command Squad with the Warlord was surrounded by a 30 strong Guard blob, the remaining plasma Russ, and some Veterans. On turn 6 Zhadsnark blew past the units surrounding the Command Squad on a suicide run for slay the warlord bid. With his 5 attacks he took out most of the squad, who failed their moral check, and then swept them for slay the warlord.

In the end the game ended as a hard fought draw.

Game Two: Orks vs Imperial Guard

This was a quick game against another Guard army consisting of 4 Leman Russ Tanks, 2 Chimeras, a heavy weapons team of 3 lascannons, a guard blob, a psyker, and some other guards/veterans.

The dice just favored me this game. Turn 1 went to me. I deployed the Tide on one side of the hill and the bikes on the other. The Deffkoptas outflanked again and Grotz came up from behind to snag objectives. The bikes flew up the side and quickly annihilated the Guard blob deployed against them. They then swung left to join in the tank killing frenzy. On their way they took out the psyker and his unit.

The Green tide slowly marched forward under relentless tank fire. They took a lot of casualties but eventually reached the tanks and started tearing them apart. The Deffkoptas assaulted the Heavy Weapons Team just to tie them up.

It was a pretty one-sided fight. My opponent should be given a good 10 VP for sportsmanship. The dice didn't favor him either. He couldn't even once get psychic shriek to go off or hit.

Best part of the game was that it brought my VP up high enough to beat out the Guard player from my first game for a spot on the top table.

Game Three: Orks vs Black Templar

The Templar player deserved the win. He was a phenomenal player and I learned a ton playing against him. His army was amazingly painted too. He fielded two 5 man tactical squads, two rhinos, some kind of flamer dreadnaught, a Drop Pod, two Lascannon Predators, a Land Raider, crusader squad with some gnarly chaplain as Warlord, and a Forgeworld Fire Raptor Gunship.

At the start I was sure I had him. He had very limited firepower and I had a lot of Boyz. I also masterminded all the objectives being in the middle of one side of the board with the intent of placing my Green Tide right on top of all of them.

I took first turn and started out by running my Boyz and Bikes straight towards him. This was actually a bit of a mistake. I am not used to players playing aggressively back at me. He charged the bikes with his Crusader Squad and Chaplain. After about 3 turns of combat, and zero failed invulnerable saves on his Chaplain during challenges, he swept the bikes. He then took the Dreadnaught through the middle building towards my Boyz. The Crusader Squad jumped back into the Land Raider and eventually died to the Tide.

Meanwhile, the Boyz and Deffkoptas ran up the fielded, gradually getting blown away while killing Tactical Squads, Rhinos, the Land Raider, and anything else they could reach. I was forced to spend time killing the Tacticals and Rhinos because they all had objective secured. I couldn't let him keep getting points with them.

By the end my turn 5 I gained 6 VP for a total of 19. I was well a head and thought I had it. With his last turn, my opponent tank shocked the Green Tide into a mass that was easily roasted by the Dreadnaught. The rest of what was left of his army opened up until all that was left standing was my Warboss Warlord. His last Predator opened up with all its lascannons. My Warboss died from a lascanon to the face. This gave him an auto 11 VP and a commanding lead. Game over and well played Templar.

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New Warhammer 40k Army - Space Wolves Progress

March 24, 2015, 8:18 pm

≫ Next: Damocles Gulf Crusade

≪ Previous: Ork Tournament Results

Hey everyone, Chaplain Sam here with a hobby update. In case you missed my previous posts, I've decided on Space Wolves as my 2015 army. I love the way the army looks and I'm having a blast putting it together. I'm also loving the way my list plays as well--aggressive. All I want to do is smash things with hammers!

I've officially completed my first Space Wolves model. Introducing...

Berek "The Hammer" Ironside

I'm pretty happy with the way he came out, since I've never considered myself a talented or patient painter. I'm still figuring out how to paint the Thunderwolf mounts but I'll get plenty of practice in with all the Thunderwolves I'll be painting.

So who is Berek Ironside? He's a Wolf Lord (or Wolfguard Battle Leader when I need him to be), one of four that I include in my Space Wolves list. I've decided to name each one and come up with a unique background story for them. I'll also track and share their conquests to spread their legend. In the three games that I've played them they've already defeated several impressive foes. One erased Mephiston, Lord of Death, in a challenge and another single handedly struck down a Warlord Imperial Knight. I'll expand once I have all the models finished.

I'm generally most interested in the competitive gaming scene, but the fluff bunny deep down is really enjoying getting creative with my Space Wolves army. That's it for now! Stay tuned for more Space Wolves hobby updates.

Chaplain Sam signing off.

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Damocles Gulf Crusade

March 29, 2015, 8:14 pm

≫ Next: Tyranids Ambush the Guard

≪ Previous: New Warhammer 40k Army - Space Wolves Progress

Damocles Gulf Crusade, 745.M41. The Imperium and the Tau are at war, as the Imperium tries to stamp out the unrest caused by the Tau forces, and the Tau try to take their place in the galaxy.

In the Imperium-controlled system of Tiskar, on the edge of the Tau Empire territory, the Tau and the Imperium are fighting over the rich mineral deposits on the planets and asteroid belts in the system. A Necron tomb world begins to awaken from a small moon in the system, previously mined to its ultra dense and impenetrable core. Utterly riddled with caverns and warrens, it is a haven for pirates and malcontents, but little do they know what lies beneath their feet. On many of the system's planets, an ancient city is discovered, buried under eons of rubble, runes of unknown origin decorate the structures. It appears as if the Imperial Eagle decorates these structures, but anyone who tries to discuss these events disappears mysteriously, and the ruins quickly fade into obscurity. When the ruins were discovered, a warp rift opened on the edge of the system. Disgorging hordes of Chaos forces, the warp rift shuts as mysteriously as it opened, but not before a space hulk crashes its way into the material universe, brimming with Orks. On the planets, rumors start to spread of corruption in the human noble classes. A fractured nobility presides over the system, with some converting to the Greater Good, some practicing more...barbarous faiths, while most yet cling to the God-Emperor of Mankind. They have all noticed, however, a final few are found dead from a sniper's bullet. Meanwhile, the astropaths notice that the warp grows dark with menace, a blackness that creeps closer and closer. One final message is sent, destined for those who may heed its call, then a warp storm encloses the system. It is a dangerous time to try to eke out a living in this sector of space...

----INQUISITORIAL DISPATCH----

Lord Inquisitor Khan of the Ordo Xenos, to the Grand Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos

My Lord, the Damocles Gulf Crusade is in progress. Forces are allying together against the Imperium, as the Tau attempt to take what is not rightfully theirs. Messages have been sent to all available forces, for runes that have been found are believed to have been from M30, from the time of the Horus Heresy. I fully expect to see Excommunicate Traitoris Legions appear within the following weeks. I request that you to forward this to those in Ordo Malleus and Hereticus who may be concerned, as I do not have the resources to deal with this. I was prepared to deal with the Tau, but the extra forces arrayed against us will be a problem. We will begin corrective actions against the foes of the Imperium, but I have my doubts. This is a vital source of adamantium and promethium, and also hosts a known warp route. I have fully deployed my Scions and the assassins available to me, and I believe some of the Adeptus Astartes will aid us. It will not be enough. Send support.

We are one with the Emperor, our souls are joined in his will.

Selius Khan

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Tyranids Ambush the Guard

March 29, 2015, 8:19 pm

≫ Next: Tau Repel the Astra Militarum

≪ Previous: Damocles Gulf Crusade

Hive Fleet Ouroboros was transported centuries ahead of the other tyranid fleets by warp currents in M36. These were the first tyranids the imperium ever encountered. During their voyage, they were plagued by warp storms, and one of these swallowed a large piece of the fleet. For centuries, they survived in the warp, seeking whatever little biomass they could find on the twisted daemon planets they came across. Now, as the storm descends on the Tarsis system, a shadow falls across the warp with it. A fraction of the size they once were, a ravenous new fleet emerges at last from the warp. Designated Hive Fleet Azathoth by the imperium of man, these tyranids fight with starved ferocity, consuming all before them.

https://i.warosu.org/data/tg/img/0298/54/1390951460785.jpg

750 pts Big Guns Never Tire

IG(Chris)vs Tyranids(Kyle)

An Imperial Guard patrol was ambushed by the Tyranids as they investigated the loss of contact with a small Imperial outpost. Only a veteran sergeant who ran from the battle survived to tell the tale. The Tyranid Hive Tyrant warlord personally destroyed two veteran squads, the patrol's Leman Russ and killed the commander of the patrol and his command squad. The last sounds the fleeing sergeant heard were the brave mortar squad being killed as they were overrun by the rampaging Tyranids.

Final score was 13-0, as the Tyranids tabled the guard, while holding all three main objectives, destroying the Russ heavy support and achieving Slay the Warlord, Linebreaker and First Blood.

--Kaer'aqi Hussars Taskforce Commander Chris Southwick

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Tau Repel the Astra Militarum

March 29, 2015, 8:27 pm

≫ Next: Tyranids Devour the Ultramarines

≪ Previous: Tyranids Ambush the Guard

To: Shas'o Ta’u Ol'nan

From: Shas'o Tau’n Shi'eldi

Subject: Enemy Action Near Anti-Orbital Installation 34 on Taskir IV

Commander, I am bring this to your attention so we can be ready for similar attempts.

Enemy forces were attempting to seize control of a generator that feeds the orbital defence network in an bid to take control of Installation 34. If successful it would have created a breach in the orbital defences and allowed orbital assistance to Imperial ground forces.

One Captain Fazalur of the Astra Militarum lead 2 assaults on the generator. In the first he was trying to capture the facility intact. He was able to ambush me before the entirety of my forces were present and pinned down a number of my Crisis suits, injuring several. I was able to regain the initiative once the rest of my forces arrived and destroyed 2 tanks along with routing 2 infantry squads. In an attempt to flank Captain Fazalur I moved up the field but in the process lost my marker drones. I was forced to engage in melee combat with one of the infantry squads and killed the Gue’la’ui (Sergeant) before they withdrew. Losses on both sides were high. We both retreated and obtained reinforcements to replenish our losses.

The second attempt he made was more brute force than the first. Fazalur, seeing that he couldn’t capture the generator intact determined that the next best course of action was to destroy it. A number of charges were planted around the facility but luckily I was able to arrive before they were ready to be detonated. Due to an error in command I lost a crisis and a stealth squad for little gain but was able to recover from my mistake and kill his command squad and the infantry platoon he had. I wasn’t able to keep all of the charges from going off but had disabled enough to prevent the generator from being completely destroyed.

Shas'o Tau’n Shi'eldi

Ben Pond vs Chris Southwick

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Tyranids Devour the Ultramarines

March 29, 2015, 8:35 pm

≫ Next: Ork and Ultramarine Slugfest

≪ Previous: Tau Repel the Astra Militarum

Hive Fleet Azathoth descended on the ruins, following the scent of the warriors of Ultramar who investigated it. They attacked at night, using the darkness to their advantage, but their approach was detected. Before a single shot could be fired, a drop pod plummeted into their midst, disgorging a powerful psyker and his retinue.

Stung but not seriously wounded by the marine's alpha strike, the mighty Hive Tyrant leading the Tyranid force turned his guns on them. Despite the aid of a nearby Carnifex, the fusillade was insufficient to finish the enemy warlord. The Tyrant charged, expecting to easily finish his wounded foe. Ultimately, he fell to the Librarian's blade.

Even as the fight raged in the rear of the Tyranid lines, the Hive Mind advanced across the board, sending their two Carnifexes toward objectives near the center of the board. One unit of Termagants cowered in the cover of some nearby ruins, protecting a third objective. The other unit moved up with a Carnifex, providing a screen to him and the nearby Warrior Brood.

By the end of the second turn, both warlords were dead, as well as the Librarians retinue. The Ultramarines obtained first blood, slaying the Tyrant moments before being finished off themselves. Other losses at this point were minor.

Both sides advanced toward one another, and the Warrior Brood fell to a blast from a Vindicator. The Carnifexes wreaked havoc on the enemy, damaging both Rhinos and thinning the enemy combat squad that lacked transport.

Without synapse, the tyranid forces were hard pressed, and each Carnifex spent a turn feasting on the bodies of the dead, neglecting their living prey. However, as the Marine advance continued, they came too close to their foes, and the hungry gunbeasts were able to destroy the Vindicator and kill all but one remaining marine, the Drop Pod, and a single Rhino.

In the end, the Tyranids were victorious over a nearly tabled foe, but at a steep price. The victory was narrow, and the biomass lost reviving their slain Tyrant would tax the small fleet, despite the biomass consumed from the battle.

Tyranids won 7-6, once again leaving only a tiny fraction of their foes alive, to spread tales of death and fear.

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Ork and Ultramarine Slugfest

March 29, 2015, 8:42 pm

≫ Next: Big Boss Grognik Da Rumbla

≪ Previous: Tyranids Devour the Ultramarines

The warriors of Ultamar after clearing their initial landing zone of Tau established a base camp, but their can be no rest for the vigilant. HQ had barely been established before the cries for aid came in. The sound of battle pulled the Ultramarine second company in several directions. Librarian Skippio lead a Strike team to face down the bug threat; The imperial guard unit in the area had gone quite after lots of screaming and gun fire where heard in the background of their distress call. Capt. Septimus led fresh Marine reinforcements to strike at an Orkish threat that had been discovered nearby...

Capt. Septimus led second company in a search and destroy mission to root out the local ork's in an attempt to secure the imperial flank. Septimus's brother marines preformed admirably slughtering the Ork's with the divine fury of the holy bolter, however, the marines were unable to deal with the fury of the Ork's warboss Big Boss Grognik Da Rumbla and his complement of Meganobs! As the fight dragged on Grognik would end up being responsible for all but three of the Marine casualties. Despite Capt. Septimus best efforts he was unable to come to grips with Grognik. After hours of fighting both side had suffered grievous losses but neither warlord had been hurt. Septimus believing the situation to be untenable without reinforcements, takes his wounded brothers and withdraws, but not before swearing revenge against Grognik!

Ork's vs, Marines 11-10 for the ORKs!

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Big Boss Grognik Da Rumbla

March 29, 2015, 9:01 pm

≫ Next: Ultramines' Revenge Against Orks

≪ Previous: Ork and Ultramarine Slugfest

"Waaagh! I be Big Boss Grognik Da Rumbla! Da boyz follow me kaus I be da biggest an killiest dar iz! Dat makes me da best, see! I smashed da blue marine boyz. I iz gonna smash evey tink! Waaagh! Grognik iz gonna stomp da galaxy flat. Orks iz da baddest dar iz!"

WAAAGH!

Introducing Big Boss Grognik Da Rumbla. He leads a ragtag, horde of Greenskins bent on finding the biggest fight possible. The capricious warp dumped their space hulk right in the middle of the conflict developing throughout the Tiskar and they couldn't be more pleased. After their initial foray against the Ultramarines they are fired up to take on all comers. Grognik and his choppa-swinging swarm of green-skinned lunatics live and die by ancient wisdom passed down by Ork Weirdboyz since time immemorial, "Orkses never lose a battle, if we win we win, if we die we die fightin' so it don't count. If we runs for it we don't lose either, cos we come back for annuva go, see!"

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Ultramines' Revenge Against Orks

April 3, 2015, 10:18 am

≫ Next: Assault on Kokoytos - Tournament Results

≪ Previous: Big Boss Grognik Da Rumbla

Capt. Septumis realizing the tenuous position of the Imperials led a lighting counter-attack against the Ork’s threatening the imperial’s right flank. Bringing together his surviving brother marines and the recently arrived 20^thMacragge PDF Septumis moved rapidly against the Orkish threat. Approching at night the imperial forces were set to unleash hell, but before the orders to fire could be given the Imperial approach was discovered by an alert ork bike squad. The ork’s who, celebrating their recent victory over “dem umies” where sluggish due to being inebriated, and approached in a staggered formation. Unfortunately the orks advanced into the guns of pre-sighted imperial artillery and suffered extensive losses under the guidance of the PDF ordnance officer. Big Warboss Grognik Da Rumbla unable to wait the time it would have taken for his trukk to bring him to the enemy kick his pass-out drunk weird-boy awake and shoved a gun into his face to, “mak em an is’ boyz’ telleeportz! NOW!!!!” stumbling to his feet the weird boy burped in acknowledgment, however being drunk and attempting to manifest warp powers never ends well, and after failing to, “telleeport!” twice the weird boy managed to pull the Grognik and his nobs into the warp. The Imperial line advanced gunning down all ork’s within range, with targets being prioritized by Capt. Septumis. Under the withering and precise gun fire, and in the absence of Grognik the Orkish line crumbled. As Capt. Septumis surveyed the wreckage of the battlefield Grognik was not to be found anywhere. Grognik never reappeared from the warp after he entered into it. Being denyed his revenage Capt. Septumis finds this triumph over the greenskins hollow. The Imperium suffered only minor losses, and Septumis will continue his hunt for Grognik, but he must turn his attention towards the Imperium flagging war effort.

A dark patch of rock on a desolate moon in the Tiskar system is lit by a flash of brilliant green light. A mob of hulking figures materialize. They stand, blinking oafishly, and take in their new surroundings. The Ultramarines are gone. One of them, by far larger than the rest, begins a low growl in his throat. He soon breaks out into a full fledged roar of berserk rage. Grognik, consumed by furry that he missed, "da big fight wid da blue beakie boyz" lays about him, clubbing his retinue of Meganobz into unconsciousness. After his rage subsides he sits quietly a top the corpse of the addle-brained Weird Boy who brought him here. Grognik begins doing something all together un-Ork like. He begins to think. Deep within his somewhat unhinged brainstuff an animal cunning awakens. The marine Boss is dead. By Mork, Grognik will smash him into blue paste. But first, he will need more Boyz and a different approach to war. Something all together more sneaky.

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Assault on Kokoytos - Tournament Results

April 6, 2015, 9:15 pm

≫ Next: Warhammer 40k - Best Allies for Space Wolves

≪ Previous: Ultramines' Revenge Against Orks

Hey 40k fans, Chaplain Sam here with a tournament report. This past weekend I drove up near Seattle to attend the Assault on Kokoytos (AoK) Warhammer 40k Tournament. I said I wanted to attend 4 tournaments this year and I've already got 2 under my belt with TSHFT and AoK. Now I just need to get going on the rest of my goals!

The tournament was a 30 person ITC event using ITC missions and FAQ, so I was pretty familiar with the format. It was a bit of a last minute decision to go so I just grabbed a list I had used in the past. Here's what I took:

CAD
Flyrant with E-grubs
Flyrant
Rippers
Rippers
Mawloc
Mawloc
Mawloc

Skyshield Landing Pad

Hive Fleet Detachment
Flyrant
Flyrant
Flyrant
Rippers
Rippers
Rippers

I've run this list in the past and while many people moan and groan about PenTyrant lists, they are actually pretty overrated. It's pretty difficult to effectively control objectives or the relic with such little ground presence. A Flyrant on the ground equals a dead Flyrant. I took this list again because I've been too distracted and busy to buy/build/paint models for a different list. Unfortunately, I failed to account for the cost to upgrade rippers with the ability to deepstrike (how have I gone this long without knowing that?). Fortunately, my first opponent spotted it before things got going so I just scrapped the Skyshield Landing Pad and played 35 points short of 1850.

The Skyshield is actually pretty integral to this list, so losing it was a big hit. I'm suddenly VERY vulnerable turn 1 if I go second, which I generally prefer because it helps so much late in the game. But, what the hell, let's roll some dice!

Opponent 1: Tyranids Mission: Emporer's Will + Modified Maelstrom

Flyrant

Malanthrope

Mucolid

Mawloc

Barbed Hierdule

Everything listed above had the usual upgrades. Well well well! Believe it or not but this is the first mirror match I have ever played in 40k. I was confident because I know Tyranids better than most armies. At the same time, I knew that killing three Mawlocs and a Barbed Hierodule would be a tall order with so little AP 2/3 in my list. I won the roll off and decided to go first rather than second because two of my Flyrants rolled Psychic Scream, which is particularly devastating against other Flyrants.

The power works as follows: Roll 2D6+2 and subtract the leadership of models impacted by the power. The unit impacted suffers wounds equal to the remainder with no cover or armor saves allowed. It's a Nova power so everything within it's 6 inch range is automatically hit by the power. What makes it especially deadly against Flyrants is Shadow in the Warp, which reduces the leadership of all psychers within 12 inches by 3. The average 2D6 roll is 7, add 2 and you've got 9. A Flyrant's leadership is 10, less 3 for Shadow in the Warp and you've got 7. That means with an average roll a Flyrant should take 2 wounds per Psychic Scream with no saves allowed. Awesome.

My opponent deployed the bulk of his army huddled up in or near the same ruin to benefit from the Malanthrope. After he deployed I practically started to salivate at the idea of what was about to happen. All three Flyrants were huddled up close together and within my 30" effective range (24" swoop + 6" Psychic Scream). With two Psychic Screams and average rolls all three Flyrants should be dead... All. Three. Flyrants. Should. Be. Dead. He rolled to seize and failed. Game time!

I flew up and threw a ton of dice at each Psychic Scream. That power was going off and I was going to make damn sure of it, Perils be damned. Both go off and two Flyrants are gone, one of which was his Warlord. I had less than average rolls, but who cares!?! He's down 500 points two minutes into the game and I just picked up First Blood and Slay the Warlord.

Game over right? Let's pack it up and proceed to round 2! Except that's not what happened. What proceeded was a torturous display of punishment from the dice gods. His Barbed Hierodule went on an absolute TEAR. He averaged 4 or 5 hits while snap firing and I failed 6 of 8 grounding checks. (an average roll would yield 2 hits). He killed a Flyrant a turn. The game went 6 turns and I just wasn't able to keep enough alive on the board to effectively contest objectives for the primary or the secondary. I went on to lose 3 to 8.

It was one of the most remarkable comebacks I have seen, I just happened to be on the wrong side! My opponent was a blast though and we both had a great time laughing our way through the game. I wished him luck and looked forward to redemption in the next round.

Opponent 2: Imperial Guard Mission: Purge the Alien + Modified Maelstrom

Pask + 1 Bodyguard Vanquisher

Enginseer/Tech priest thing

10 Veterans in a Chimera

Vendetta

Hyrda

Avenger Strike Fighter

Shadow Sword

Vindicare Assasin

Aegis Defense Line

Bah! When I wrote this list way back when I remember thinking, "Eh I won't come across that much AV 13+". I was definitely wishing I had those damn E-grubs in that moment. Oh well, I'll just fly behind them and shoot 'em in the ass. I lost the roll off and he chose to go first. I thought about keeping the Flyrants off the board, but I knew I would just be hemorrhaging kill points for the first few turns until they all came back in. I deployed right on the line, eager to get behind those tanks as fast as possible. He blasted my Warlord off the board pretty easily the first turn for First Blood and Slay the Warlord. My opponent was pretty content to sit back and shoot from behind his Aegis Defense Line rather than move up and contest objectives. It cost him the secondary quickly, by turn 2 or 3 he was behind more than he could make up. Once I was airborne it just a race for kill points. I tried to balance forcing his Flyers to Jink and wracking up as many kill points as I could. I decided to just ignore the Shadow Sword rather waste time and gun power trying to bring it down. The last turn of the game he D'd up a Mawloc picking up a lucky kill point and his Assassin managed to survive a full volley and a Psychic Scream from a Flyrant, costing me a kill point and tying up the primary. The game ended and I took a 5-2 victory. I felt a bit bummed that he managed to tie the primary in the last turn, but I also felt fortunate because I think that he probably could have won that game.

Opponent 3: Blood Angels Mission: The Relic + Modified Maelstrom

Dante

Astorath

Priest w/ jump pack (the Priest ran with the Sanguinary Guard and Dante)

Sanguinary Guard

Death Company w/ jump packs (large group with Astorath)

Death Company w/ jump packs (medium group)

10 Tactical Marines w/ max special/heavy weapons

Devastators w/ flak missiles

Stormraven Gunship

Yes!!! A fellow Son of Sanguinius. Blood Angels are in a bit of a tough spot right now, but his list had a decent amount of AA and enough bodies with 2+ or 3+ saves that I wouldn't be able to remove them all. I knew I needed to keep him off the Relic. I won the roll and chose to go second. I deployed all the Flyrants in a large ruin. His first turn was fairly ineffective. My first turn I grabbed First Blood. I kept dropping Rippers and Mawlocs in his deployment zone hoping he wouldn't be able to resist the urge to turn his Death Company and Sanguinary Guard around to smash something. He took the bait rather than pursuing the Relic. I was comfortable with the way the game was going so I decided to go for as many points as possible rather than playing it safe. I poured shots into Dante's unit and eventually only Dante was left standing. I was afraid that he would move Dante into another unit, basically saving him and costing me Slay the Warlord, but he didn't. I killed him the next turn. 10 - 0 victory.

Conclusion

Anytime I go to a tournament my goal is to win at least one game and preferably win more than I lose. I went 2 - 1 and placed 9th of 30. But most importantly, I had a blast so that's a success on all fronts in my book! But the biggest success of all was avoiding THIS:

That is the very same Necron Pylon that D'd up 2 or 3 of my Flyrants at TSHFT. I consider that game my greatest loss ever because it's a miracle I was able to take keep the game as close as I did (4 - 5 loss). Still, I wasn't particularly eager for a rematch so I was happy when I didn't see his name next to mine in the pairings. Fortunately, I won't be seeing that nasty bugger at anymore ITC events.

That's all for now, thanks for reading.

Chaplain Sam signing off.

↧

Warhammer 40k - Best Allies for Space Wolves

April 14, 2015, 9:39 pm

≫ Next: Just A Games Con - Warhammer 40k Tournament Results

≪ Previous: Assault on Kokoytos - Tournament Results

Hey 40ks fans, Chaplain Sam here. I've been working on building up my Space Wolves army lately and I've been thinking about how to build the most competitive Space Wolves list. In friendly games I'll probably run my Wolves without any allies because I don't want to dilute their wolfy-awesome-ness with anything! More Wolves or nothing at all! But at tournaments I like to take something I feel confident that I'll be able to win a few games and make it a game for anyone there. In my opinion Thunderwolf units are the best the Space Wolves have to offer (and my personal favorite). They also happen to be fairly one dimensional. Generally speaking, units mounted on Thunderwolves want to run up and smack something with their hammers (or other weapons). So I've been thinking about what I might add to the mix to boost my Wolf Lords, Iron Priests, and TWC. Useful allies bring strength in an area Space Wolves are lacking and/or act as a force multiplier in a manner not achievable within the Space Wolves codex alone. Here are my thoughts on the allies available to Space Wolves. Please let me know what you think or if I'm overlooking an option.

Battle Brothers

Ahhh Battle Brothers. The mechanic that single handedly enables some of the more annoying combinations in the game! Let's see how I can abuse it ... Muahah!

Blood Angels

Blood Angels can get you access to Feel No Pain (FNP) easily and cheaply. Grab a Sanguinary Priest with a bike and some scouts. Done! The Priest can cruise around with a Wolf Star and give the whole unit 5+ FNP, effectively increasing the durability of your unit by 33% to most incoming fire for a bargain price. Having the priest in the unit will cost you fleet, which is a bummer, but I think the bump in durability is worth the trade off. The scouts are useful for scoring objectives of course. Of all the options I'm considering, Blood Angels are the easiest to integrate into the army and leave plenty of points to fill out the list.

Dark Angels

Dark Angels were the first sixth edition codex. Admittedly, as a standalone army they aren't the greatest. I have read about some people doing quite well with them though. The unit that perks my interest is the Ravenwing Command Squad. Plugging a handful of Thunderwolf characters into the Ravenwing Command Squad gives them FNP, Scout, and Hit and Run. That gives you the same durability boost I mentioned above, assures you at least a turn 2 charge and gives you a little bit a tactical flexibility Hit and Run. Not bad at all! The Ravenwing Commad Squad itself adds a bit of short ranged AP2 firepower with their Plasma Talons. You can fill out the rest of the allied detachment requirements with a number of things, but I'd keep it cheap and take a librarian on a bike and roll for invisibility and some scouts. This option isn't quite as efficient as others because the costs of Dark Angels units are a bit outdated.

Grey Knights

Grey Knights probably aren't the best option. Grey Knights' strengths are similar to Space Wolves so they can't bring anything especially new to the table (unless I'm missing something). The one thing that really catches my eye is Sanctuary, which increases the invulnerable save of the psycher and his unit by 1. The idea of a bunch of Thunderwolves with 2+ invulnerable saves charging up the field sounds incredible. The downer is Grey Knights don't have access to bikes, so I would have to stick a Librarian on foot in with the Wolves and get creative with placement and use Fenrisian Wolves to keep the Librarian in unit coherency. On top of that I still have to roll Sanctuary and Grey Knights don't have access to cheap troops like scouts. It's a neat idea and I'll have to give a try sometime but I don't think it's the best option here.

Space Marines

Vanilla marines can really add a lot to a Space Wolves list. Cheaper flyers, grav bikes, Centurions that can take advantage of Space Wolves fast attack drop pods, and more. Here's the build I have in mind:

Sevrin Loth
Command Squad on bikes with max grav guns
Scouts
Centurions

That combo gets you FNP on the Wolves from the Command Squad and now the unit has a ton of grav fire (again, at the cost of fleet), Centurions you can pop in a puppy pod to go murder something, scouts to grab objectives and of course, Loth, who can toss out invisibility on the Wolf Star or another unit as necessary. Loth will probably need a back field unit to chill with though because he can't keep pace with the wolves. Lots to like! You run the risk of Loth getting shut down by psychic heavy armies, but you can alleviate that some by bringing another librarian to ride with the centurions for prescience to make them more of a threat to flyers. Alternatively, you could bring a Chapter Master with the Shield Eternal to add an eternal warrior to the mix and then you can drop the scouts for troop bike squads. Tons of options and most of them are pretty good.

Imperial Knights

Grab a Knight, or two, or three and completely forget about AA! Who needs it! Frankly, you could probably do just fine even against flyer heavy armies by destroying everything on the ground and completely dominating objectives. Imperial Knights work pretty well with Iron Priests too, who can keep pace with them and restore hull points. It's a simple concept, but an effective one that should win you at least as many games as you lose. The Knights should pull most of the heavy fire away from the Wolves too.

Astra Militarum

Imperial Guard can add plenty of shooting to Space Wolves list and give you a solid backfield presence while the Wolves advance. Personally, IG just isn't my cup of tea for whatever reason so I'm not exploring this option extensively.

Allies of Convenience

No more combining units and benefiting from allies' psychic powers. From here down I'll need allies to bring strength where Space Wolves lack - mainly effective and mobile shooting.

Eldar - Well... So much is in flux right now with the new Eldar Codex coming soon so it's tough to say how the Eldar will help. The current book would have worked fairly well with Space Wolves with Wave Serpeants adding mobile and effective shooting (see above) as well as objective secured. I'll have to revisit this option once the new codex hits.

Desperate Allies

Tau Empire

Tau can shoot with the best of them and they can get it done in a variety of ways. I've run Space Wolves with the Tau Firebase Support Cadre (6 Broadsides and 1 Riptide with Tank Hunter and Preferred Enemy: All Space Marine Chapters) with some success. It adds plenty of ranged punch, but I really don't like how immobile Broadsides are. A standard CAD or Allied Detachment adds a bit more variety. If you take the Farsight Enclave you could essentially take nothing but units of Crisis Suits which have plenty (read: lots) of shooting and can be kitted out to take on a variety of targets. I've always thought Tau and Space Wolves made a lot of sense together. Great shooting + great assault just like peanut butter and jelly. The only down side is you have to deal with the One Eye Open rule which can be annoying.

Dark Eldar - I honestly had no idea Dark Eldar weren't Come of the Apocalypse allies. This pairing may have some merit, but it's not for me. It just seems wrong.

So what do you guys think? Which pairing do you think has the most potential? Which would you LEAST like to see on the other side of the board for fear of total destruction?

Thanks for reading!

Chaplain Sam signing off.

↧

Just A Games Con - Warhammer 40k Tournament Results

April 20, 2015, 11:01 pm

≫ Next: Storm of Silence - Warhammer 40k Tournament Results

≪ Previous: Warhammer 40k - Best Allies for Space Wolves

Hey everyone, Chaplain Sam here. Chris and I drove down to the 40k ITC tournament at the Just A Games Con (funny name huh?). It was a small RTT with three rounds and close to 20 people in Corvallis, Oregon. I think Corvallis is actually a little bit of a 40k hub because it seems like they have a pretty strong gaming community down there. For such a small tournament there was definitely some heavy hitters in the mix, including the following:

Aaron "Captain A" Albert - Top 8 at the LVO
Ben "Freedom" Schimmoller - #17 overall in the 2014 ITC
Ben Cromwell (dude needs a nickname) - #4 overall in the 2014 ITC
Sean "Abuse Puppy" Morgan - #7 overall in the 2014 ITC and winner of TSHFT 2015
Jeremy "the French Overlord" Veysseire - #13 overall in the 2014 ITC

Soo... In a group of 20ish that is some serious competition. Apologies to any 40k Internet celebrities who were in attendance that I left out of the list. I brought my Tyranids, which I've decided to stick with for the remainder of the 2015 ITC season. I'll still play other armies plenty in friendly games or non-ITC tournaments. Chris brought Imperial Fists and Imperial Knights.

1850 Tyranids

Hive Fleet Detachment

Flyrant - E-grubs

Flyrant

Rippers - Deepstrike upgrade

CAD

Flyrant - Fight Ace

Flyrant - E-grubs

Malanthrope

Rippers - Deepstrike upgrade

Barbed Hierodule

So I finally moved away from my PenTyrant list! I had three lists in mind before the event, (1) 3 Flyrants + Hierodule, (2) 4 Flyrants + Hierodule, and (3) 5 Flyrants. I knew that the first list would provide me with the most ground and scoring presence and the second option was leave me with the fewest spare points. With the primary and Maelstrom missions being worth the same number of points now in ITC events, having solid scoring units is more critical than ever. I thought to myself, "what the hell!" and went with #2 because it sounded fun and it was most similar to my previous list. I think it's important to play a list you're familiar with (words of wisdom from Captain A) and without any time for practice games it seemed like a good choice.

Opponent 1: Necrons and Tau - I'm going off memory so this is an incomplete and imprecise list

Decurion Detachment

Reclamation Legion

Overlord

2 Warrior blobs

1 Immortal unit

Destroyer Cult

Destroyer Lord

3 Destroyer units

1 Heavy Destroyer unit

Tau Empire

Cadre Fireblade

Fire Warriors

Melta Crisis Suits

Aegis Defence Line with Quad Gun

Again, I'm positive I'm forgetting units. My opponent was short one copy of his list so I generously let him hold onto the copy that I would usual keep at the expense of those who follow Battle Brothers...

Primary - Purge the Alien

Secondary - Modified Maelstrom

Tertiary - Ground Control, Quarters, Linebreaker

Battle Report - The game started fast and I jumped out to a huge lead in the primary by blasting his Tau units off the board with devourers and psychic scream. I was behind in the secondary after the first few turns, but not so much that I couldn't recover. Then I made critical mistake... I moved the Hierodule up and out of cover and left the Malanthrope and the comfort of 2+ cover behind. I wasn't clearing those ridiculously durable Necron units fast enough and I thought that some S10 in combat and some SD stomps would help. It did help, it helped too much in fact. I cleared the unit of Destroyers I charged, leaving me vulnerable instead of safely locked in combat during his turn. The next turn my Hierodule was gone and so was my hope of catching up in the secondary. I turned my focus instead to the Tertiary missions. My opponent wisely picked off my Ripper Swarms rather than focusing too much on the Flyrants. We were short on time so I knew turn 5 would be the last turn. We both had line breaker locked up. I landed one Flyrant as a distraction hoping to lure him out of the other board quarters to give me that that point, but he cleared some more Ripper Swarms didn't take my bait. Tyranids lose 5-6! It was a nail biter the whole time and a great game. I also left with a valuable lesson: don't leave the comfort of 2+ cover with the Hierodule unless you are very, very confident in your decision.

Opponent 2: Captain A's Invisible Draigo Centurion Star

Grey Knights

Draigo

Librarian

Strike Squad

Dreadknight

Space Marines

Sevrin Loth

Scout Squad

4 Centurions

Primary - Big Guns Never Tire

Secondary - Modified Maelstrom

Tertiary - King of the Hill, Linebreaker, Slay the Warlord

Battle Report - Flyrants vs. Draigo-Cent-Star always makes for an odd matchup. He has no skyfire but enough AP2 twin-linked shots to make me jink and I have very little AP2. Aaron won the roll and opted to go first. He deployed the Draigo Star in the very back of his deployment zone planning to uses Gate to get wherever he wants. It's a pretty standard deployment for this list. He put the Dreadknights (DKs) right on the line. His first turn was pretty quiet, he moved the DKs up a bit and left the Draigo Star in the corner for the turn. I flew forward in my turn with big plans for Psychic Scream, my favorite psychic power. I landed with two Dreadknights in range of the power. I explained the spell and the impact Shadow in the Warp had on the Dreadknights and Aaron wisely threw all his dice at the power and denied it. In hindsight I wish I would have thrown more of my own dice at the power. It didn't matter too much though because I downed one Dreadknight and inflicted a few wounds on another in my shooting phase anyway. During Aaron's second turn he moved his Dreadknights up more. Onto the Psychic Phase! I usually sit on my pile of dice waiting for the power that seems the most vulnerable and only passes with a few 4+'s. He threw 6ish dice at Gates and only pulled two 4+'s. There's my chance! I chuck all my dice at it and deny the power, effectively taking the Draigo Star out of the game for another turn. I placed my Flyrants conservatively, trying to avoid him Gating behind me the next turn and forcing me to waste a turn turning everything around. I killed another Dreadknight, a Strike Squad and crippled the other Strike Squad. All he's left with at this point is 1 Strike Squad model, 1 Dreadknight, Scouts in reserve and the Draigo Star stuck in the corner. In his third turn the Scouts come in and he gets Gates off. He decides to be aggressive because he's behind in the secondary and he's short models to compete for the primary. He tries to Gate into the back of my deployment zone and scatters 5 inches taking him off the board and into ongoing reserves. I'm already up and will likely win at this point, but I decide to try and finish the game in turn 3. I commit 100% and sacrifice my Flyrants positioning. If I don't table him I will be stuck either flying off the board or turning around for several turns. I have three units to clear to table him: 1 Strike Squad model, 1 Dreadknight, and 5 Scouts. One Flyrant downs the Strike Squad and another uses Psychic Scream to clear the scouts. My other other two Flyrants down the Dreadknight and the Barbed Hierodule hangs out and just looks cool. Game over!

Well it was a bit a fluke that the game ended during turn 3, but I was feeling pretty confident anyways. There was going to be too many objectives for him to contest and he was already behind on the secondary. 11-0 Tyranid Victory!

Opponent 3: Jeremy the French Overlord's Eldar and Harlequins, named "The Last Laugh"

Jeremy's printer broke or something so he didn't have a copy of his list for me, but you can read about it here:

https://www.frontlinegaming.org/2015/03/22/the-last-laugh/

I can't say for sure if that's the exact list, but it was some variation of the concept. Basically the list takes of advantage of negative leadership modifiers and spells similar to Psychic Scream to seriously punish and in some cases automatically remove units.

Mission

Primary - The Relic

Secondary - Modified Maelstrom

Tertiary - First Strike, Table Quarters, Slay the Warlord

Battle Report - Jeremy won the roll off and chose to go first, hoping to kill a Flyrant or two before they got into the air. I figured out the effective range of the powers (escape hatch out of building, movement, and psychic power range) and deployed out of range. He blasted a single Flyrant sitting in ruins with a 3+ cover save thanks to night fighting and managed to inflict two or three wounds with his entire army. He also failed a bunch of psychic powers, including invisibility (I may have blocked that one). It was a rough first turn and he failed to accomplish First Strike. In my turn I wrecked a Hornet, a Wave Serpent and cleared half of his Psychic Star. I scored the First Strike point and achieved both of my Maelstrom points. In his second turn his Flyer didn't come in, saving me from jinking, and he shot his entire army at the same Flyrant which flew into some more ruins. He failed to inflict a single wound. A swooping Flyrant in cover with Feel No Pain is pretty durable, but I still got pretty lucky that turn. Jeremy fell further behind on the secondary that turn and I rolled two "Destroy an Enemy Unit"'s which would be easy pickups. At that point Jeremy was going to be down big on the secondary and likely wouldn't have enough of an army left to compete for the relic against my nearly untouched army. He conceded. 11- 0 Tyranid victory. It's a bummer we didn't get to finish the game, but the result wasn't really in doubt. He bought me a drink and we chatted for a bit and enjoyed watching some other games.

I ended up with 2027 points (5 + 1011 + 1011) and placed third, well into the top 20%. My best finish yet! Chris finished 4th as well, making for the best combined showing of the Battle Brothers since the creation of the team. We both had a blast and I think we both liked our lists better than we expected. Well, that's all for now. Until next time, thanks for reading!

Chaplain Sam signing off.

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Storm of Silence - Warhammer 40k Tournament Results

May 9, 2015, 10:36 am

≫ Next: Tyranid Barbed Hierodule Review - Include or Exclude From Competitive Tyranid Lists?

≪ Previous: Just A Games Con - Warhammer 40k Tournament Results

Hey everyone, Chaplain Sam here with another tournament update. Last weekend I drove up to Spokane, WA to join in the fun at the Storm of Silence Warhammer 40k tournament. I was flying solo this time because Chris is traveling and Scott is stranded in the land known as Utah. I had a blast nevertheless! I've noticed I have been to enough events now that am recognizing more people and have made enough friends that going to events solo isn't as awkward as one might think. Great fun! I decided to roll with the same Tyranid list I took to my last event.

1850 Tyranids

Hive Fleet Detachment
Flyrant - E-grubs
Flyrant
Rippers - Deepstrike upgrade
Rippers - Deepstrike upgrade
Rippers - Deepstrike upgrade

CAD
Flyrant - Fight Ace
Flyrant - E-grubs
Malanthrope
Rippers - Deepstrike upgrade
Rippers - Deepstrike upgrade
Barbed Hierodule

I'm going to keep my Battle Reports pretty brief because it's been long enough that all the details are becoming fuzzy.

Game 1 - Orks

I love playing Orks because I find the players are generally very pleasant. It helps that it's one of the armies I know pretty well having played Scott so many times. This gent was new to the game and the tournament scene, so we played a pretty relaxed game. Frankly, I was steam rolling him the whole time but I tried to make it fun for him. Towards the end once the game was decided we just had fun with it, charging things for laughs, playing the Hierodule as toughness 6 so the boys could hurt it. It was a good time, but in the end our lists were on different planes.

Tyranid Victory 10 - 0 (never killed Ghazzy)

Game 2 - Chaos Space Marines and Daemons

My opponent's list included 3 Maulerfiends, 3 Chaos-dreds, Belakor, a Biker Star and a Helldrake, among other things. The game would basically depend on my ability to deal with the Helldrake and Belakor and kill enough of his army that I would be able to compete for objectives late in the game. I ended up basically tabling him and then we called the game early. I think he was a little too aggressive with his units. I would have kept more off the board and safe from Flyrant shooting in order to have more end game scoring presence.

Tyranid Victory 11-0

Game 3 - Space Wolves and White Scars

This guy's list was pretty nasty. It was the usual White Scars grav-biker spam with Space Wolves beat sticks mixed into the units. Our board had no ruins either, meaning I'd likely be jinking a bunch. He wanted desperately to go first so he could start running his squads up the field and when I won the roll off I was happy to oblige him, as I usually prefer to go second. I mis-played my Hierodule horribly early in the game and got him killed. The rest of the game I targeted his grav units first, and avoided shooting into the Space Wolves without guns. He was hitting his 3+ saves like they were 2+ saves the entire game. This match-up really should favor my list, especially if you can deal with the grav units early. But they just weren't dying! The game was incredible close. On the last turn he charged a half dead ripper squad with an Iron Priest on a Thunderwolf. The rippers rolled one 6 to hit, one 6 to wound, and he rolled a 1 - killing the Iron Priest before he could swing! That secured me an objective and a Malestrom point that won me the game. Well, well, well! I guess sometimes the dice can torture you all game only to repay you at the very end. This was the closest game of 40k I have ever played and it had an epic (and funny) finish.

Tyranid Victory 9-2

Game 4 - Orks (Chuck Arnett)

I went into day two undefeated and seated at the top table no less! Another Ork player, this time our lists were not on different planes. I've played against Orks plenty, but I think this guy's list is the best I've seen. He also was a fantastic general. Many times he'd make a move and I'd think to myself, "that was a mistake, score!", only to realize later in the game the evil genius behind the move. His list was essentially one giant Biker Star with Zaddy (2+ jink dude), Pain boy, Warboss with a lucky stick and a few more characters and then Tank Busta Truck spam with the obligatory game winning grot squads. Nasty killy and durable death star? Check. MSU scoring ability? Check. Jink-forcing-AP3 shots? Plenty. He started the game with just the Bike Star on the board. We exchanged first turns doing very little, him moving way up and not shooting, me moving and shooting to little effect. In my second turn, realizing there was no saving the Barbed Hierodule at this point, I stacked three Paroxyms on the Bike Star which reduced the whole group to WS1. Then I charged in with the Barbed Hierodule and stomped the whole thing to death over the next to turns. Those stubborn green bastards dragged the Hierodule down with them though. So I dealt with one third of the army, then the other two thirds came in. The swarm of Trucks with Tank Bustas came in and controlled the board the rest of the game. I had a chance to win on the last turn but I rolled the worst two Malestrom missions I could. Game over! Chuck went on to win the whole event!

Tyranid Loss 2-10

Game 5 - Eldar and Dark Eldar (Sean Morgan)

Here I thought I would get through the whole event without facing Eldar or Crons... Nope! Sean is a great player with a great list. I rolled the Fighter Ace ability that allows me to fly off the board in my opponents shooting phase so I thought, "hey, I won my 3 games already and I'm out of the running to win, let's try some shennanigans!" My plot was to focus entirely on one mission, snag first blood, and get line breaker and I would win. So I deployed just the Fighter Ace Flyrant and flew up and shot some bikes. In his turn, I flew off the board. First blood still in play. My turn came and all my Flyrants came in and most of what I wanted to stay off the board did (including my Hierodule). My scheme was working! I would easily clear one unit of bikes off the board and snag first blood. I wanted to keep my Rippers off the board so I place them in the corner to intentionally mishap. Bingo - but then I rolled a 1... First blood goes to Sean. Bah! I was playing risky the entire game so it wasn't a surprise. I made it competitive for the rest of the game but Sean went on to claim max points.

Tyranid Loss 1-11

That last game was a blast and Sean was a pleasure to play with. We both were out of the running at that point so it was a very relaxed game.

Overview

I went 3-2, finished 13th overall in a field of 64, and had an opportunity to play on the top table in round 4. I had so much fun at the event and I am eager to attend the next Storm of Silence. Next up is the Guardian Cup in a few weeks! I've already been to 4 events in 2015 which was the goal I made for myself earlier in the year. I'm having a great time at the ITC events and I intend to keep going. Thanks for reading.

Chaplain Sam signing off.

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Tyranid Barbed Hierodule Review - Include or Exclude From Competitive Tyranid Lists?

May 17, 2015, 1:04 pm

≫ Next: 40k Status Update - Where is Chaplain Sam?

≪ Previous: Storm of Silence - Warhammer 40k Tournament Results

What's up 40k fans, Chaplain Sam here.

The ITC tournament meta changes. A lot. The massive influx of new armies and units, changes in the ITC missions and the number of allowed sources has a lot of players, including myself, constantly at the drawing board working on their lists. I've been holding my own just fine in the tournament scene lately, but the wheels are always turning. How can I improve my list? What units could I potential leave out or add? I haven't been able to come up with a list that I am truly happy with yet. At the root of my indecision is the biggest bug available - the Barbed Hierodule. The Hierodule unquestionably brings value to a Tyranid list that cannot be replicated elsewhere. But at what cost? His point cost is hefty and he can be detrimental in some missions. Two of the best Tyranid players out there have pretty starkly different lists, one with and one without a Hierodule. Geoff "iNontroL" Robinson runs a Hierodule with a Swarmlord or Dimachaeron bodyguard. Sean "#LictorShame" Nayden runs MSbugs and hasn't included a Hierodule any of his tournament lists (that I've seen). Obviously, Sean won the LVO with #LictorShame, but I try not to read into a single performance too much.

The Question:Barbed Hierodule - Include or Exclude?

It's depends on the list of course, but at 565 points you are likely building your list around the Hierodule if you choose to include it. Lets look at some pros and cons.

Pros

Ranged Firepower - There is not another source of 12 strength 10 AP3 shots for Tyranid players in the ITC format. Bugs struggle with AV 13/14 and toughness 7/8 monstrous creatures. The Hierodule's shooting really mitigates some of the downfall of spamming so much strength 6 AP- shooting. Instanta-gibbing Wraiths, Thunderwolves, and other T5 multi-wound models is extremely useful.
Close Combat - Stomp attacks are infinitely useful for removing units that just won't die to shooting. No cover and no armor saves!
Durable Ground Presence - Most Tyranid players rely on Flyrants pretty heavily, which leaves a lot of points up in the air and not on the ground grabbing objectives. Hierodules can also absorb a ton of fire power with T8 3+/5+ FNP that you can easily stick in ruins with a Malanthrope buddy for a 2+ cover save.

Cons

Points Cost - 565 points is pretty dang steep when you consider the cost of an Imperial Knight or Wraith Knight. 565 points could fill out your army in a lot of different and useful ways. It's a lot of points concentrated in one model that at most can only contest/score one objective.
2 Secondary Points - In the ITC if a player without a SH/GC Lord of War gets 1 point towards the secondary Maelstrom mission for every 3 wounds/hull points the remove from a SH/GC Lord of War. Bascially, opponents will likely get 2 points towards the secondary for killing a Hierodule. 2 points is huge and often game-winning! Being forced to play carefully with the Hierodule takes a way some of its value too.
Big Game Hunter - BGH is an ITC tertiary mission that gives 1 victory point to the player that killed the unit worth the most points. If you lose the Hierodule you almost certainly will lose this point. Again, is it worth bringing if you have to play carefully by keeping it hidden away in your backfield or in reserves?

To me it seems like it basically boils down to the following: The Hierodule is good at things Flyrants aren't and complements them very well but it's extremely expensive and detrimental in some ITC missions. But which outweighs the other? I'm not sure yet! I think the next question is whether you can find another way to cover the weaknesses of Flyrants in another way? You could bring 3 Exocrines instead of a Hierodule. That covers you with low AP shooting but isn't really beneficial for combat presence or taking out those high AV/toughness problem units. Spamming E-grubs on your Flyrants will enable you to take out AV 13/14 vehicles but is that really an efficient use of Flyrants?

Let's put it to a vote! I'm curious to see what y'all think. If you don't play Tyranids please still vote and consider whether seeing a Hierodule on the other side of the table scares you or makes you happy.

Include or exclude the Barbed Hierodule in the most competitive Tyranid lists?

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40k Status Update - Where is Chaplain Sam?

June 27, 2015, 2:31 pm

≫ Next: Top 10 40k Characters

≪ Previous: Tyranid Barbed Hierodule Review - Include or Exclude From Competitive Tyranid Lists?

Hey 40k fans, Chaplain Sam here after a pretty long blogging absence. I'm getting married in a few weeks and I am in the process of buying my first home, so I've been a bit distracted. But I've still been getting my hobby in! I finally jumped into the Horus Heresy series. I read the first two books and I am absolutely hooked. I had to take a break before starting the next one at the request of my fiance because I spend too much time reading. Ha! My Space Wolves project is coming along nicely as well.

So what's coming up? I'd like to share a few pictures of my Space Wolves progress, so keep an eye out for that. I'm also going to try to attend TSHFT in August. If I am able to attend it, I will have been able to meet the goal I set for myself at the beginning of the year (4 tournaments). Anyway... More to come so stay tuned.

Chaplain Sam signing off.

Where's Chaplain Sam?

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Top 10 40k Characters

July 5, 2015, 7:57 pm

≫ Next: Warhammer 40K Army Collection Showcase and the New House

≪ Previous: 40k Status Update - Where is Chaplain Sam?

Hey 40k fans, Chaplain Sam back again. You know those blog posts or forum threads that rank things in the 40k universe that are totally subjective and basically meaningless? Well here's another! I've been getting into the fluff and background of the 40k universe more lately, so I thought I'd have some fun with it and rank the ten most badass 40k characters. I'm excluding monstrous creatures from the rankings. Sorry Daemons and Tyranid players.

10 - Sebastian Yarrick - Yarrick's level of badass-ness is off the charts, especially when you consider that he is a man as opposed to an Astartes. He lost his hand in a battle with Orks and replaced it with the power klaw of the Ork who took his hand (after decapitating the Ork). He has a robo-eye that can shoot lasers and rides a pimped out Baneblade into battle. He's one of the few men to fight Ghazghkull Thraka in close combat and live, which is utterly insane.

9 - Vargard Obyron - Perhaps the ultimate Necron badass? He's Zahndrekh's personal bodyguard and a complete beast in combat. After recently-captured White Scars Captain Kor'sarro Khan, Eldar Ranger Illic Nightspear and others try to escape, Obyron defeats them both in combat! BOTH. He eventually lets them both go at the order of Zahndrekh. Somehow his loyalty and obedience to Zahndrekh makes him seem even more awesome.

8 - Arjac Rockfist - Logan Grimnar's personal champion! Arjac once saved a bunch of iron priests by holding off a swarm of Kraken-spawn. The corpses of all the Kraken-spawns he killed literally buried him. He killed that many! He also happens to throw a relic hammer around that teleports back to him (he's 40k Thor!) and he's so strong that he carries a massive storm shield which we uses as a secondary weapon to smash his foes with.

7 - Ghazghkull Thraka - The biggest, baddest, meanest Ork in the 40k universe. Ghazghkull is an absolute monster, capable of calling a Waaagh! greater than any other Ork. Ghazghkull is the most dangerous Ork alive, both for his ability in combat and his ability to unite and mobilize an impossible number of Orks.

"Humies is all weak scum that deserve ta get stomped. 'Cept for One-Eye Yarrick. He knows how ter fight." - Ghazghkull Thraka

6 - Mephiston, Lord of Death - Brother Calistarius fell victim to the Red Thirst, the cursed gene-seed flaw of the Blood Angels, and was admitted to the Death Company. After being sent to battle as part of the Death Company, a building collapsed on top of him and others. He laid trapped for seven days fighting death and the Red Thirst. On the seventh day, he conquered the Red Thirst, becoming the first and only Blood Angel to do so (Lemartes doesn't count). He broke free of his rocky tomb, reborn as Mephiston, Lord of Death. Nearby Orks heard him break free and moved to attack Mephiston, who was weaponless and nearly stripped of his armor. However, Mephiston's gene seed reactivated and increased his power dramatically. He killed the Orks with his bare hands, including punching through the chest of the largest Ork and ripping his heart out. Mephiston also had the strongest raw stat line among all space marines (in the 5th edition Blood Angels codex). He boasted base strength and toughness 6!

5 - Darnath Lysander - Lysander is the First Captain of the Imperial Fists Chapter. His ship was sucked into the Warp and lost for 1000 years. When they finally remerged from the Warp, his ship was destroyed and he was taken prisoner by the Iron Warriors. After being tortured for a while, he breaks out without any weapons or armour and fights his way to freedom, eventually reuniting with his Chapter. They screened him for six months and found that he was completely untainted from the experience. That. is. bad. ass. It helps that Lysander is also a complete beast on the tabletop.

4 - Logan Grimnar - The High King of Fenris is a fierce warrior and a charismatic leader. He is beloved by many and considered to be among the very strongest of all the Imperium's warriors. He led the Imperium's forces to victory against the Primarch Daemon Prince Angron. He follows his sense of right and wrong at all times, even against the Imperium if it comes to it. He has slain both an Inquisitor Lord and a Grey Knight Grand Master. Santa jokes that dare taint the honor of the Great Wolf will not be tolerated here!

3 - Eldrad Ulthran - The most powerful Eldar Farseer ever. He lived/ has lived (fluff conflict on whether he's dead) over 10,000 years and has had a immeasurable impact on history. He foresaw the Horusy Heresy and tried to warn the Imperium. He's also an incredibly powerful psyker. Not sold? He bested Abbadon in combat. That alone should paint a pretty clear picture of his badass-ery.

2 - Abbadon the Despoiler - This guy is just nuts. He was crazy powerful pre-heresy, and post-heresy his power swelled to new heights after being blessed by all four gods of Chaos. He swings the Talon of Horus in one hand and the Daemon Sword Drach'nyen in the other. He is among the greatest threats to the Imperium. It also helps that the first time I ever saw an Imperial Knight die on the table top (back when one seemed invincible right after the release) was in close combat with Abbadon. Why is he above Eldrad? Cool factor.

1 - Lord Kaldor Draigo - Draigo has bested several Daemon Princes. After his predecessor was laid low by the Primach Daemon Prince Mortarion, Draigo defeated him and carved his dead boss's name into Mortarion's heart. I repeat - Draigo defeated a Primarch. One that was further empowered by the forces of Chaos. Now he's trapped in the Warp and roams around wrecking Daemon-face and remains pure in the face of incomprehensible challenges and assaults on his loyalty. Rawr!

Note - this list is based 100% on absolute fact and there is no room for discussion. The list is law! (kidding of course). I hope you enjoyed the read!

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Warhammer 40K Army Collection Showcase and the New House

July 28, 2015, 9:17 pm

≫ Next: Warhammer 40K Space Wolves Conversion - Iron Priest

≪ Previous: Top 10 40k Characters

Hello everyone, Chaplain Sam back again. So I moved into my new house, got married and went on my honeymoon. All the packing and unpacking gave me the idea to get all my models together to take a picture of my entire collection since I had to move them around anyway. There's something very pleasing about gathering everything together, starring at it and thinking, "I made all this and it is awesome!"

My Blood Angels are pretty close to 100% painted! I haven't done anything with them in a while but all that's left is the Predator in the back and the Death Company. Of course, several units need to be redone. The Space Wolves are coming along as well. They are almost entirely mounted units or little wolves, which is just the way I like it! The big bugs are all done but I still have a pile of unpainted little bugs just like most Tyranid players. Not too bad for 3 years of playing 40k.

More exciting for me though is my hobby space in the new house. My wife and I decided to dedicate one of the spare bedrooms to all things Warhammer related. I'll probably do some painting and modeling in here, but mostly it will be for displaying my collection and storing terrain and hobby supplies in a more organized fashion than our old one bedroom apartment allowed. It's a bit sparse right now because we haven't finished unpacking and moving into a much bigger space leaves a lot of rooms empty.

I saved the best for last! We have a loft/suite (I have no idea what a space upstairs like this is called) upstairs that my wife generously allowed me to use as the official gaming area. Again, super sparse right now, but I'm imagining a pretty cool area once we've unpacked and filled out the area a bit. Notice the mini fridge and grubby couch, both are key in a good man cave.

Anywho, just a quick update with what I've been up to lately. Chaplain Sam signing off.

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Warhammer 40K Space Wolves Conversion - Iron Priest

July 31, 2015, 8:15 pm

≫ Next: Guardian Cup 8.25 Warhammer 40k Tournament Report

≪ Previous: Warhammer 40K Army Collection Showcase and the New House

What's up 40k fans, Chaplain Sam here again. When I was in the process of moving I built and painted some converted Iron Priests that I wasn't able to get a good picture of and share. Better late than never! I knew I was going to have to do some kind of conversion to get an Iron Priest on a Thunderwolf (or converted equivalent) given that GW doesn't sell that model, so I figured I'd do something interesting. I love the oversized harnesses on the tech marine models so I grabbed a few. I like the maximum "techy" look. I also used the WHF's Mournfang Cavalry as the mounts but I cut off the oversized saddles and used the Thunderwolf Cavalry saddles and some green stuff. I'm pretty happy with the outcome. I like to think that the additional bulk of the Mournfangs is necessary to carry the extra weight of the Iron Priests' equipment. I get that this probably isn't every loyal Space Wolves players' cup of tea, but I like the look and I've also been drawn to conversions that make my army just a little different. It's part of the reason I've never painted strictly to the GW paint schemes.

I've got at least one more to build, maybe two, in order to fill out my collection and to be able to play some of the lists I have in mind. Comments and criticism welcome!

Chaplain Sam signing off.

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