Change of the Guard

Greetings Havocs!  I am working on some changes to my tournament list and thought I might share some of my progress.  Check out Capnmoe's post about DieCon from a month or so ago to see what my Guard looked like before.

Step 1: Good bye Shadowsword and Hello Cent Star!

The Shadowsword was a great addition to my tournament army as it gave me an answer to big things in the form of a ranged large blast D.  Ranged D has been nerfed.  The Superheavy rules also made this a somewhat risky choice as if it died it can take out large chunks of my army (and its a 500 point tank).  See the report of my game one at diecon for evidence.

In its place, Tigi has joined the guard and is bringing some Cents, Scouts, and a Drop pod.  So far, I have painted up the Cents.

Step 2: Take out a priest and add in the Inquisition

This accomplishes two things very nicely.  Number one it allows me to take Servo Skulls and with the addition of the new Space Marine (especially scouting bikes) to the mix of Death Star style builds out there I want to control where they are turn one. There is also usefulness gained in my Wyverns with the lesser scatter and the drop pod with the Cents is a little bit more accurate with the Servos.  It also gives me one more die in the psychic phase which brings me to the wonderful number of 5 dice per phase min (3 for Tigi, 1 for the Inquisitor, and 1-6 for the die roll). As long as Tigi has Invis (75% of games he will), I can throw 5 dice at the spell every turn.  Finally, the Inquisitor allows the squad he is in to go to ground while the Priest did not which leads me to...

Step 3: Aegis Defense Line

Place my Lascannon blob behind this (and the Wyverns as well) and suddenly I can go to ground for a 2+ cover and use an order to get back up the next shooting phase. Love it.

The working list I have at the moment is as follows:

AM Cad

No Slot
Commissar
Priest

HQ
CCS with Lascannon and Officer of the Fleet

Troops
Platoon
-PCS with 3 Flamers and Heavy Flamer (in Vendetta)
-3x Platoon Squads with Lascannon
-Saber Squad with 3 Sabers with Twin Linked Lascannons (joined by Commissar)
-Conscript Squad (47 Strong) (Led by Priest)
Veterans with 3 Melta Guns (in Valkyrie)

Fast Attack
Valkyrie
Vendetta

Heavy Support
Wyvern battery with 2x Wyvern

Fortification
Aegis Defense Line

Space Marine Allied Detachment

HQ
Tigi

Troops
Scouts

Fast Attack
Drop Pod

Heavy Support
Cent Squad with Grav, Omni Scope, and Sargent with Missile

Inquisition Allied Detachment

HQ
Ordo Xenos Inquisitor with Mastery Level 1 and 3x Servo Skulls

Welcome to the Thunderdome

The Thunderdome cometh! I finally finished painting up my Thunderwolf Cavalry this weekend. I'm super excited to get these guys on the table. I'll be using the Company of the Great Wolf Detachment which allows you to bring 1 HQ and 2 Elites base.

I'll be using 2x Wolf Guard battle Leaders, 2x Iron Priests, and a 3 man unit of Thunderwolf Cavalry. The plan is to pair them with either White Scars bikes or Ravenwing bikes. By taking the special detachment and pairing the independent characters with a bike Command Squad from either army, the unit will gain some crazy rules. Here are just a few off the top of my head:

Company of the Great Wolf Detachment will give all the cavalry WS5
The Characters will have Preferred Enemy in Challenges
Counter Attack
Scout
Feel No Pain from the Command Squads Apothecary
Skilled Rider
+1 to Strength on Hammer of Wraths
Hit and Run
All Grav or Plasma Gun shots from the bikers depending on faction
If Ravenwing add:
Stubborn
Reroll Failed Jinks

Needless to say, the death star should be extremely powerful and resilient. Finishing these guys means I can move on to the next part of my project. That means I need to assemble, paint, and convert 24 Dark Vengeance bikes, 2x drop pods, and few other Space Marine units that have been sitting next to my desk gathering dust. I have SO many models just sitting in boxes or bags right now that need attention and no time to get them done. Those include a Forge World Cerastus-Knight Acheron and the start of my Skitarii army. Thankfully, the rumor mill is saying the release schedule for 40k is gonna slow down until October when Tau will get an update. Guess I have until then to get my back log of models all finished up because I will undoubtedly want to expand my Tau when they come out lol.

Warhammer 40k: DieCon Gateway Grand Tournament 2015 Results

Overall Winner Andy Ford's Amazing Eldar/Imperial Knight Army Converted to Appear as Necrons.

The final standings were as follows:

Overall Winner: Andy Ford (Eldar/Imperial Knights)

2nd Overall: Adam Warnecke a.k.a. Capnmoe (Eldar/Imperial Knights)

3rd Overall: (Tau/Tyranids)

Best General: Eric Darrais (Eldar)

Best Painted: Tobias (Space Marines/Imperial Knights)

Sportsmanship: Dustin Beck (Grey Knights)

Eldar and Imperial Knights ruled the day. There was even an Eldar list that had 5 Wraithknights. I must say, I expected that list to completely run away with the win. To my, and I would imagine many other's surprise, he was tabled in the first round and started the day with a 0. All of the top Eldar lists contained a Farseer, jet bikes, and a Wraithknight. While the odd man Tau/Tyranids list had 3 Riptides, 3 Skyrays, and 3 flying Hive Tyrants. All brutal lists to say the least.

Capnmoe was running his Eldar/Imperial Knights Combo

Bill Keys was running his Astra Militarum

Full lists and game summaries after the jump.

DieCon and the Gateway Grand Tournament 2015

This weekend is DieCon and the 2015 Gateway Grand Tournament! The majority of my 40k year is spent preparing for this tournament alone. A list of events and tickets can found and purchased here http://www.diecon.com/Main/. For the past 2 years I've won the title of "Best General" at this event. Hopefully this year I can finally manage to grab Overall Winner. If you love gaming, this is the place to be this weekend. I know they are also hosting Zone Mortalis, a 40k Character battle Royale, Combat Patrol, an Apocalypse game, War Hammer Fantasy, as well as open play. They also run a huge amount of Warmachine/Hordes, X-wing, and just about any board game or RPG you can think of. This year I'm bringing out my Eldar/Imperial Knight combo. Everything is painted and ready to roll. Bill Keys will also be playing in the tournament with his Astra Militarum. Can the Lonely Havocs bring the noise again this year? Stay tuned for updates.

Battle Report: New 7th Edition Eldar vs Astra Militarum DieCon Mission

Please click this link and play this video in the background for proper atmosphere while reading

Adam (Capnmoe) and I decided to do a test game of the new Eldar Codex vs my 1850 Astra Militarum DieCon list.  I have never seen so much D in one game.  Before I go into what happened in the game, lets take a look at the army lists and a few notes about the units:

Bill's (VaderSeven's) Astra Militarum CAD

No Force Org Slot-
Commissar (Attached to Sabres)
Priest (Attached to Conscripts)
Priest (Warlord) (Bellowing Voice Warlord Trait [can issue orders]) (Attached to Lascannon Infantry Squad)

HQ-
Company Command Squad with Lascannon, 2x Sniper, Camo Gear, Carapace Armor, Krak Grenades, and Officer of the Fleet

Elites-
none

Troops-
Infantry Platoon
    Infantry Squad with Autocannon and Chimera
    Infantry Squad with Autocannon and Chimera
    Infantry Squad with Lascannon
    50x Conscripts
    3x Sabre Defense Platforms with Lascannons and 3x extra crew
    Platoon Command Squad with 3x Flamers and 1x Heavy Flamer (Inside Vendetta)
Veteran Squad with 3x Meltaguns (Inside Valkyrie)

Fast Attack-
Valkyrie (In Reserve)
Vendetta (In Reserve)

Heavy Support-
Wyvern Squadron with 2x Wyverns

Lord of War-
Shadowsword

Fortifications-
none

Adam's (Capnmoe's) Eldar CAD with Dark Eldar Allies

HQ-
Farseer with Singing Spear (Warlord) (Conqueror of Cities) (Mental Fort, Terrify, Hallucination, Psychic Shriek)
Farseer (Terrify, Invis, Mental Fort, Psychic Shriek)
Archon with Webway Portal

Elite-
10x Wraithguard with D-Scythes (All three HQ are attached to this Squad and it is in Reserve)

Troops-
5x Windrider Jetbikes with Scatter Lasers
5x Windrider Jetbikes with Scatter Lasers
5x Dire Avengers in a Waveserpent with Scatter Laser
5x Dire Avengers in a Waveserpent with Scatter Laser
5x Wyches

Fast Attack-
8x Warp Spiders

Heavy Support-
none

Lord of War-
Wraithknight

Fortifications-
none

Since DieCon is quickly coming up we decided to do one of the missions from the packet that was recently released.  We settled on Mission 2.  The Primary Mission was Kill Points with a modification of being able to earn an extra 2 points for every force org slot type eliminated from the primary detachment.  If players did not have a unit in a slot they gave those points up.  The secondary was a modified set of Maelstroms. Bonus Objectives were Slay the Warlord, Solo Blood, and Line Breaker.  To see the mission in detail, visit this link and check out mission 2.

Adam won the roll off to decide who deploys first and choose to deploy first.  He then decided to go first and I failed to seize.  There was three Maelstroms objectives which I have circled in the below picture (they are number 1, 2, and 3 from left to right).  We rolled for Night Fight and there was in fact Night Fight. Let's get into the actual game now.

Battle Report After the Jump!

Eldar 7th Edition Inbound: White Dwarf Rules Review

Thanks to Wargamer Shawn for posting this look at the new White Dwarf. Thing's are looking good for the Eldar. Despite the inevitable nerf to Waveserpents, almost everything I see here seems to be a buff for the codex.

Nerfs,Probable Nerfs, and General Gripes

-Scatter Lasers no longer have laser lock for twin linking.

-According to the Harlequin Codex, Holofields will now only give your vehicles a 5++ if they're not immobilized.

Those 2 alone depower the Waveserpent immensely. Hopefully point costs on the unit will be adjusted to fit its new power levels.

-A jetbike Farseer/Warlock model costs $33 freaking dollars. 

Buffs/Generally Good Things

-Bladestorm remains unchanged.

-Wraithknights are now Gargantuan creatures with D-Weapon options abound. My god I love this. I hope they aren't Lords of War which would suck for anyone that bought more than one.

-According to the video, Distortion weapons are now D. 

-Windrider jet bikes leave me dumbfounded. These are so good it's just plain stupid. They are now in my opinion the best troop choice in the game. Every bike can now switch its Shuriken Catapults for Shuriken Cannons or Scatter Lasers for only 10 points per model. That means a full unit of 10 is putting out 40 S6 AP6 shots with a 48" threat range, or 30 S6 AP5 pseudo rending shots with a 36" threat range. The best part is that the point costs on the bikes remains the same. Wow! And lets face it, the new models are exceptional looking.

-Decurion type detachments. I'm gonna have to pick up some Vaul's Heavy Weapon Batteries. 

Warhammer 40K League Summary

A new league started at the FLGS this month. It's been using the Las Vegas Open style missions. We have a good sized group going to the LVO next year and wanted them to have some experience with the missions. I for one hope these missions become the norm at the club. It's a great mix of both Eternal War and Maelstrom mission styles, and it adds a lot more depth to the game. All of the missions can be found here if you are curious about them. The following is a quick summary of my games so far.

My List (Necrons, Chaos Space Marines, Imperial Knight): This is the list I plan on running for the entire league unless my opponent decides they don't want me to include the Imperial Knight. In which case he will be switched out for 2 units of Necron Warriors in Ghost Arcs.

HQ
Necron Overlord – Warscythe, Sempiternal Weave, Mind Shackle Scarabs - Catacomb Command Barge

Necron Destroyer Lord – Warscythe, Sempiternal Weave, Mindshackle Scarabs
Daemon Prince - Mark of Nurgle, Mastery Level 3, Spell Familiar, Gift of Mutation, Wings, Armor
Troops
5x Necron Warriors – Night Scythe
5x Necron Warriors – Night Scythe
10x Cultists
Fast Attack
6x Canoptek Wraiths
Heldrake – Bale Flamer
Heavy Support
Annihilation Barge
Annihilation Barge
Imperial Knight
Knight Errant

New toy from Forge World, Building my Warhound: Part 1

Hi everyone SeeJay here, This is the 1st part of me building my warhound titan.

40k: Blood Angels New Codex

Makers here, been away from the game for awhile as real life has been getting in the way, and after the push for DieCon I got extremely burned out for awhile. 

I have still been picking up the new codexes, supplements, data slates, pamphlets, booklets, biographies, etc...whatever the hell GW comes out with...

But the one that I'm really looking forward too is the Blood Angels codex towards the end of this year.

The problem for me, is that I am noticing a trend.

So many codexes lately have been nerfed into obscurity, specifically ones written by Matt Ward.

And some of them for good reason.

So far the rumors are as follows:

Imperial Knight Update & Battle Report: Eldar/Imperial Knight vs Tau/Farsight Tau/Chaos Space Marines

I finished all the painting on the Imperial Knight and he turned out fantastic. Now I need to finish the base and get the decals on. I ordered some Micro Sol and Micro Set. Once they arrive I'm going to take the advice I got from my last post and seal the model with lahmian medium or a matte spray once I get them on.

Last night I got this guy on the table for the first time. Sadly, due to my opponent, it may have been one of the most awkward and unenjoyable games I've ever played. To start, his list was about 2728 points from what I can tell. The league is supposed to run at 2000 points. That combined with his sour mood and whiny antics really just put me off. At any rate, here's a quick battle report.

Points: 2000 vs 2728ish
Deployment: Vanguard
Mission: The Relic

My List (Eldar/Imperial Knight):

HQ
Spiritseer (Warlord)(Dominate, Psychic Shriek, Hallucination)

Troops
5x Dire Avengers – Wave Serpent - Holo-fields, Twin Linked Scatter Lasers
5x Dire Avengers – Wave Serpent - Holo-fields, Twin Linked Scatter Lasers
5x Dire Avengers – Wave Serpent - Holo-fields, Twin Linked Scatter Lasers

Fast Attack
10x Warp Spiders

Heavy Support
3x War Walkers – 6x Bright Lances
Wraithlord – 2x Flamers, Scatter Laser, Bright Lance
Wraithlord – 2x Flamers, Scatter Laser, Bright Lance
Wraithknight

Imperial Knight
Knight Errant

My Opponent's List From What I Gathered While Playing and From His Comments (Tau/Farsight Tau/Chaos Space Marines):

HQ
Commander Shadowsun
Cadre Fireblade
Chaos Sorcerer – Mastery Level 3, Mark of Nurgle, Terminator Armor, Power Fist, Gift of Mutation, Spell Familiar (Summoning, Infernal Gaze, Sacrifice)

Elites
Riptide – Twin-Linked Smart Missile System, Ion Accelerator, Early Warning Overide, Stimulant Injector
Riptide – Twin-Linked Smart Missile System, Ion Accelerator, Early Warning Overide, Stimulant Injector
Riptide – Twin-Linked Smart Missile System, Ion Accelerator, Early Warning Overide, Stimulant Injector

Riptide – Twin-Linked Smart Missile System, Ion Accelerator, Early Warning Overide, Stimulant Injector

Troops
6x Fire Warriors – Shas'ui, EMP Grenades, 2x Markerlight Drones
6x Fire Warriors – Shas'ui, EMP Grenades, 2x Markerlight Drones
6x Fire Warriors – Shas'ui, EMP Grenades, 2x Markerlight Drones
3x Crisis Team – 6x Fusion Guns, 3x Shield Generator, 3x Bonding Knives
3x Crisis Team – 2x Flamers, Missile Pod, 2x Plasma Rifle, 2x Fusion Gun, 3x Bonding Knives
20x Chaos Cultists - 20x Autoguns, Mark of Nurgle
30x Chaos Cultists - 30x Autoguns, Mark of Nurgle

Heavy Support
Hammerhead Gunship - Disruption Pods
Hammerhead Gunship - Disruption Pods, Longstrike

Fortification
Aegis Defense Line

Imperial Knight: Work in Progress

So, I thought I would post up some pics of my work in progress Imperial Knight. I'm doing my take on the House Cadmus color scheme. One thing about this model that I'm not looking forward to doing is the decals. I really don't have much experience doing them, and when I do they almost always end up looking shiny and terrible. I've watched a few tutorials on Youtube and they all suggest using Micro Sol and Micro Set. I've also heard that putting a gloss varnish on the surfaces helps but I really hate gloss varnished models. If anyone has any tips or suggestions for using decals and transfers please let me know.

Warhammer 40K 7th Edition Battle Report: Grey Knights vs Necrons

This was my last game using the old Grey Knights codex. I'm really gonna miss how good this army could be. This army was my first 5th edition tournament army and it won me quite a few. With the book being broken into Codex Inquistion, Codex Grey Knights, and Dataslate: Officio Assassinorum, chances of me still playing vanilla Grey Knights is going to be low. I love the aesthetic of the army but that doesn't help me very much in tournament play.

Points: 2000
Deployment: Hammer and Anvil
Mission: The Relic

My List (Grey Knights - Bound):

HQ
Inquisitor Coteaz (Warlord)(Forewarning, Perfect Timing, Prescience)
Ordo Xenos Inquisitor (Perfect Timing, Prescience)

Troops
5x Grey Knight Terminators - Psycannon, 4x Nemesis Force Halberds, Nemesis Daemon Hammer
2x Jokaero Weaponsmith, 3x Servitors, 5x Warrior Acolytes - 3x Plasma Cannons, 5x Bolters (12" Extended Gun Range)
5x Warrior Acolytes - 5x Bolters - Razorback - Psybolt Ammunition
5x Warrior Acolytes - 5x Bolters - Razorback - Psybolt Ammunition
5x Warrior Acolytes - 5x Bolters - Chimera - Muti-Laser, Heavy Bolter

5x Grey Knight Strike Squad - Psycannon, Daemon Hammer, 3x Nemesis Force Halberds -       Razorback - Psybolt Ammunition, Assault Cannon

Fast Attack
Storm Raven - Twin-Linked Lascannons, Twin-Linked Multi-Melta, 4x Mindstrike Missiles

Heavy Support
Dreadnought - 2x Twin-Linked Autocannons, Psybolt Ammunition
Dreadnought - 2x Twin-Linked Autocannons, Psybolt Ammunition
Dreadknight - Heavy Incinerator
Dreadknight - Heavy Incinerator

Fortification
Aegis Defense Line

My Opponent's List (Necrons - Unbound):

HQ
Orikan the Diviner (Warlord)
Destroyer Lord - Warscythe, Sempiternal Weave, Mindshackle Scarabs

Elites
5x Lychguards - Hyperphase Swords and Dispersion Shields

Troops
20x Necron Warriors - Ghost Ark
10x Necron Immortals - Tesla Carbines

Fast Attack
6x Canoptek Wraiths - 2x Whip Coils

Heavy Support
Annihilation Barge
Doomsday Ark
Necron Monolith
Doom Scythe

Fortification

Icarus Lascannon Emplacement (I know this isn't allowed without a fortification but I let it slide.)

Grey Knights 7th Edition Codex Review and Early Impressions

Likes:
Cheaper cost Terminators
Cheaper Librarians
Grand Masters now have ML 2
Psilencers have the "Force" rule and Incinerators have the "Soul Blaze" rule
Dreadknights have a much lower point costs for gear
Crowe is finally an Independent Character
Cheaper Apothecary upgrades
Dreadnoughts moved to the Elites slot
Can throw Psykout Grenades
Land Raiders are dedicated transports

Dislikes:
No more Psybolts

Assassins are Dataslates now
Dreadnoughts got a point increase and lost Psybolt. That's a big hit.
No more Mordrak and Brother-Captain Stern still sucks
No more Grand Strategy
Psychic Pilot vehicles are gone on everything other than Dreadnoughts
No awesome grenades (Rad, Psychotroke, etc)
Psycannons are Salvo weapons and Nemesis Halberds are +1S instead of +2I. Seriously...WTF. Now I have to re-gear every damn model I have. What a ridiculous change. Why would I need +1S when I have Hammerhand to already give me +2. Just idiotic IMO. Sure they reduced the cost to 2 for all units but this doesn't make up for it. It's better just to use the Swords.
Nemesis Force Swords lost +1 to Invulnerable Save
Nemesis Warding Stave lost the 2++ Invulnerable Save in CC.
Mindstrike Missiles on Stormravens are gone.
Nemesis Doomfists are gone.
Kaldor Draigo now just base S4 and T4 and is a Lord of War. But hey his cost went down...

I agree with 3++ Is the New Black when they say:

"All in all, though, I'm extremely disappointed with the half-assed job GW did here. A lot of people aren't happy with the Ork or SW codices, and perhaps that's fair- their is a certain lack of je ne sais quoi about them, especially when it comes to the fluff and picture sections. But the Grey Knights codex takes this leaps and bounds further, pulling almost all of the interesting parts of an already-borderline codex and giving them almost nothing in return. If this is the direction they are taking the game, I am not impressed or enthused."

For a great look at the codex head over to Blood of Kittens.

Warhammer 40K 7th Edition Battle Report: Chaos Space Marines/Daemons vs Iron Hands/Ultramarines

7th edition bitches! Makers and I tackled our first game together. After hearing about some of the crazy new shenanigans happening in the psychic phase with Daemons and summoning we decided to limit our fast game to a single level 3 psyker each. Being competitive players, we also decided to pass on doing the new tactical mission cards, as we can't imagine they will every be used in tournaments due to their unbalanced nature.

Points: 1750
Deployment: Hammer and Anvil
Mission: Crusade with 4 objectives in the center of each table quarter.

My List (Chaos Space Marines/Daemons):

HQ
Daemon Prince (Tzeentch's Firestorm, Boon of Mutation, Cursed Earth, Summoning)
Daemon of Tzeentch, Daemonic Flight, Armour, Psyker Level 3, Spell Familiar
Herald of Khorne - Juggernaut of Khorne, Exalted Reward (Grimoire of True Names), Greater Locus of Fury

Troops
10x Plaguebearers of Nurgle
5x Chaos Space Marines - Rhino
5x Chaos Space Marines - Rhino

Fast Attack
Heldrake - Baleflamer
Heldrake - Baleflamer

15x Flesh Hounds of Khorne

Heavy Support
Soul Grinder - Daemon of Slaanesh, Baleful Torrent
3x Obliterator - Mark of Nurgle

Makers List (Iron Hands/Ultramarines):

HQ
Master of the Forge (Warlord)
Tigurius (Psychic Shriek, Dominate, Invisibility, Hallucinate)

Elites

5x Terminator Assault Squad - 4 TH/SS, 1 Dual Lightning Claws
Land Raider Crusader - Multimelta

Troops

5x Man Tactical Squad - Rhino

5x Man Tactical Squad - Rhino

5x Man Tactical Squad - Gravgun, Razerback - Twin Linked Lascannon

5x Man Tactical Squad - Gravgun, Razerback - Twin Linked Lascannon

Heavy Support

Vindicator

Predator - Lacannon Sponsons

Predator - Lacannon Sponsons

Fortification

Aegis Defense Line - Quad Cannon

Behold the new Allies Matrix in all its glory!!!

My Necrons and Grey Knights are really gonna miss hanging out. Sad times.

The Sky's Not Falling, That's Just Rain.

Hello fellow war-gamers and hobbyists!
In case you haven't heard by now (for the expanses of the Imperium are vast, and the rest of the galaxy has enough dark places to lose oneself), something new is headed our way, in the form of a rules change!

Call it what you will, a new edition, an update, a 'service pack' even; it's a change just like any other.  Change is constant, and generally the 'good' or 'bad' aspect is a matter of your point of view, in my humble opinion. This 6.5/7th edition is no different. Bear with me while I lay out my thoughts on the subject.

Massive Changes Coming to 40k 7th Edition!

Looks like there's some pretty massive changes in store for us 40k players. Follow the link for pics of some of the new changes. I for one am looking very forward to trying an army that uses no force org chart. Oh, the havoc I shall wreak with mass amounts of monstrous creatures. It's going to be glorious.