Wargaming: Sore Losers

I'm sure all wargamers have come up against a sore loser before. That person who throws their toys out of the pram (and sometimes models off the table) when things aren't going their way. I personally find this to be the single thing most guaranteed to ruin a game. Sure you can have bad dice rolls, everyone does from time to time, but there is no need to mope about it, you can't win every game.

I have suffered from many bad dice rolls, sometimes spectacularly so, but I try not to let it spoil the game for me or my opponent. I will sometimes get worked, up as many wargamers do, but this is usually down to frustration. What I never do is treat my opponent badly. If they beat me then kudos to them. I will always shake their hand after a game unless they have been consistently cheating and acting up.

I had this problem whilst playing at the weekend against an opponent with Tau and an allied detachment of Eldar. I was using my Chaos Marines with Imperial Guard allies and the mission was Purge the Alien with Hammer and Anvil deployment. He got first turn and seemed overly sure of victory but within two turns I had wiped out all of his Eldar, got first blood and destroyed a Devilfish. This is when he started to turn sour and began whining and arguing every time I tried to do anything. The game slowed to a snails pace due to having to constantly check the rulebook and codices to show him rules.

He called my Heldrake, which didn't arrive until turn four, and Khorne Lord (armed with the Axe of Blind Fury and Burning Brand) cheesy and broken because they stopped his cover save shenanigans. At one point he charged my Lord and a unit of Berzerkers with a Farseer and 4 Warlock's and didn't think it was fair when they were cut to pieces! What did he expect to happen?

Every time I had a bad roll he made a point of going over to a nearby table to point it out to other people and try to rub it in. It didn't bother me but seemed completely unnecessary. When my Lord passed his invulnerable save from a Railgun he complained again saying it wasn't fair.

In the end he refused to play on having only 3 Fire Warriors and a Riptide, who was on a single wound, stuck in combat with my Lord so the game was ended early with a 15-3 victory. When someone came over to ask him how the battle went he sighed and said 'As expected. His army's full of cheese'. What? So much for the confidence he had at the start of the game.

If my opponent had persevered and gone for some easy kill points then maybe things would have been a bit different but he instead decided to give up and complain about everything. In the end I had a Rhino and a Chimera that could have earned another two easy kill points for my opponent but he had decided to spread his fire against my army, rather than focus on taking down troublesome units.

This was the same guy who had beaten my Imperial Guard with his Tau due to continually passing his disruption pod saves and made sure to gloat about it afterwards. I found out after reading through the Tau codex that he had been cheating which made this victory all the better.

Ultimately though, it wasn't a very fun game and that's what I play wargames for. It left me with a bad feeling about my opponent (who is older and has been playing 40k longer than me) and the game overall. Going out of your way to make your opponent uncomfortable and frustrated doesn't make anyone want to play against you again.

It is just a game, win or lose, it doesn't matter as long as you had fun doing it.

Image source: Unknown

Games Workshop Announces Support for Android Devices

Games Workshop (GW) has announced that they will be supporting digital publications on Android and Kindle devices. The first five publications that have been announced are the opening instalments of three new series:

• Warlords of the Dark Millennium
• Munitorum
• Index Astartes

Warlords of the Dark Millennium is about taking a closer look at the characters in the 40k universe, Munitorum is about the weapons in 40k and Index Astartes focuses on the Space Marines. These will also be available on iBooks.

Even better, GW have said that all of the codices and rule books, both for 40k and fantasy, will eventually become available on Android, Kindle and iBooks.

Its great to see GW finally picking up their heels with this as a vast majority of the population, me included, have Android devices so have been left out of the digital releases.

photo credit: imjustcreative via photopin cc

Why You Should Play to the Mission

I got my first game against Tau using the new Chaos Space Marine codex at the weekend and it went mostly as I had expected. I allied in some Imperial Guard for objective holding and to provide fire support in the form of a Vendetta, Manticore, Veteran squad with 3 Flamers and a Lascannon and a Company Command Squad with 4 Melta’s and a Chimera. My opponent rolled for deployment and got Hammer and Anvil. I rolled for mission and got Crusade. There were 5 objectives and my opponent got first turn.

The problem for Chaos is that they are mainly an assault army and Tau are a shooty army. This makes it very hard to get assault Troops close enough due to Rhino's only having front armour 11 and foot slogging being suicide. There is also the issue of once a unit disembarks it cannot charge for another turn even if the transport does not move. This means that you’re looking at a turn 3 charge at the earliest and when you’re playing Tau that gives them even more time to shoot your assault troops off the board. There is always the Land Raider but it is hideously expensive considering Railgun's will glance it on a 4+ and most of the time destroy it with the first penetrating hit.

Then there is problem of the Tau's uberwatch. If you actually manage to get into assault range you have to put up with not only the unit that you are assaulting firing Overwatch but also other Tau units that are within 6" of the target. This can be mitigated somewhat putting a Dirge Caster on vehicles but I doubt that there will be any left by the time you've managed to get into assault range. In fact, at the weekend I actually hoped my Rhino’s would get destroyed so that I could get a turn 2 charge.

The other option is to try and out shoot the Tau which is highly unlikely to work.

I didn't expect to beat my opponent at the start and as the game progressed my army was cut to pieces. The most valuable unit was the Manticore, not a Chaos unit! The Vendetta got me Slay the Warlord and the Veteran squad held my objective until the end and ultimately won me the game 4-2. My opponent had got First Blood and Slay the Warlord. He would have also got Linebreaker but the Manticore shot his Outflanking Kroot and pinned them. The only Chaos unit that came out of the game with any credit was the Forgefiend. Even the Heldrake got shot down!

How did I win despite losing nearly all of my army? I used the Manticore and Forgefiend to remove my opponents scoring units and sent the Vendetta straight at his Warlord. Essentially, I played to the mission. That is what is most important in many games and why I have won similar games despite taking horrendous casualties. It is a piece of advice I give to many younger gamers who are often too focused on killing their opponent’s army. It is also something that more experienced gamers can often forget and should keep in mind, especially when playing against a superior foe.

Problems with Rough Riders

I'm a fan of Rough Riders which is why I'm currently converting a unit from Cadian's and Empire Knights. However I struggle to see how effective they will actually be on the table and after reading through the codex I'm wondering what GW were thinking when they equipped them.

For example, in the fluff it says that they use Lasgun's but they can't even take Lasgun's. They have the option of either a Laspistol or close combat weapon (CCW) to go with their Hunting Lance, not both. Why? Surely it would make sense that they would have a pistol or CCW holstered for use after the initial charge. It would also make them a little more effective because after the Lance has been used they are Initiative 3 with 2 attacks on the charge which is very poor. If they were a little more effective then maybe more people would use them.

Another problem now is that Hunting Lance are AP3 meaning they cannot reliably kill Terminators and other 2+ armour units. The Sergeant can take a Power Axe but will be using his Hunting Lance on the initial charge. It could be useful for finishing of a 2+ armour unit provided he is not challenged by a model with a higher Initiative.

Why would a Rough Rider exchange his Hunting Lance for a Special Weapon? Surely they could exchange their Laspistol or CCW.

And now in 6th Edition they can't charge from reserve and with only 5+ armour saves your relying on cover  and screening vehicles to get them where they need to be.

It's not all bad though. One advantage from the current FAQ is that they can now gain an extra attack from having a Lance and pistol/CCW as the sentence that said they could not has been removed and the lance is a 'melee' type weapon. Unfortunately, this will obviously only work for the first round of combat. Also, Mogul Kamir is now better due to the changes to the Rage and Fearless special rules.

I'll be taking them for a few games to see how they do. Also, it should be fun, and not too difficult, to convert them.

So does anyone use Rough Riders in 6th Editon? Are they worth it?

First Impressions of the Chaos Codex

I finally got my first couple of games in with the Chaos Codex at the weekend and I was very impressed. I had two games, both against Dark Angels, and both finished with me wiping out my opponent.

The Heldrake was just as good as I had expected, wiping out whole squads of marines at a time. The Deathwing Terminators were a bit of a problem though but were eventually beaten to a pulp by my Khorne lord wielding the Axe of blind Fury (AoBF). In the hands of a Chaos Lord the AoBF is amazing but unfortunately rebelled twice causing a wound. I am currently considering a Juggernaut to carry him to battle as it would make him even more survivable and it would mean that I could dust off my Spawn and use them as a bodyguard unit.

The great thing about the Chaos Lord is the amount of competitive builds there is in the codex. This means that you are unlikely to see everybody run the same HQ’s as happened with the previous codex.

The other unit I was impressed with was my Forgefiend. I ran it with just the Hades Autocannon’s to keep it as cheap as possible and found it to be excellent for snap-shotting flyers. It shot down two Darktalon’s over the two games, killed 4 Ravenwing bikers and destroyed two predators. Its biggest drawback was the Autocannon’s AP, which overall was ineffective against marines, and lack of combat prowess. It was assaulted in my first game by Terminators and quickly destroyed. The Daemonforge ability was useful but not exactly game changing.

Overall the army seems to be a lot more fun to use than with the previous codex but having read through both the Dark Angels and Tau codex’s I can’t help but feel that Chaos got screwed again by GW.

For example:

No Eternal Warrior for Daemon Princes and a huge points increase due to power armour and wings being must buy options. May your chosen god help you if you play against Tau regularly as their strength 10 weaponry will make mincemeat out of Daemon Princes.

No units with Interceptor and very little access to Skyfire. Compare this to the Dark Angels that can get Flakk missiles in their troop choices.

10 man strong Chaos Space Marine units needed to access Heavy Weapons whereas Dark Angels only need 5.

Obliterators can’t shoot the same weapon in subsequent shooting phases, are no longer fearless and have Leadership 8.

Most units have to pay for Veterans of the Long War but almost all Dark Angels seem to get Preferred Enemy (Chaos Space Marines) or Stubborn for free.

Khorne Berzerkers have Rage and Counter Attack instead of +1 Attack which might not seem too bad but they have pass a Leadership test to Counter Attack (failed mine at the weekend) and if they don’t wipe out a unit in the first turn of combat they are no better than normal Chaos Marines with Bolt Pistols and Close Combat Weapons.

Defilers cost too much, most likely to make people buy the new Daemon engines.

Cultists with Autogun’s cost the same as a regular Guardsmen despite being worse. The Autogun’s should have been a free upgrade in my opinion.

I don’t mean to rant but it just stinks of GW not wanting any other army to be able to challenge the Space Marines. The Tau got a significant boost with their new codex and they are Battle Brothers with them also. The saving grace of this codex is the number of possible builds which will keep it fun, if not entirely competitive.

Faeit212 Has Disappeared



The big news in the Wargame's blogging world is the disappearance of Faeit212. This is apparently due to the blog displaying unreleased images of content from the White Dwarf magazine.

April 22, 2013

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pages in the body of the blog post infringe.

As copyright owner, Games Workshop also has the rights to first release of
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Taken from chillingeffects.org.

I can understand GW's point of view but I don't think this will do anything for their already tarnished public image. Interestingly, it appears that Faeit212 has not been the only blog targeted by GW, with Apocalyse40k amongst others also receiving a DMCA complaint. BoLS also went down but it is thought that it was probably due to a Google error.

The question is what/who will GW target next? They seem to want to destroy their own company by firstly forcing customers to buy direct from them and now slowly shutting down the internet community that supports their products.

FAQ's April 2013

The new FAQ's are up so it's time to see what's changed for my armies.

Imperial Guard

Page 56 / 101 –
Valkyrie Assault Carrier – Scout Valkyrie Assault Carrier – Scout
Remove Scout from the Special Rules section of both the
Bestiary and Army List entries for the Valkyrie Assault Carrier
and Vendetta Gunship.

A minor update. The Scout rule didn't do anything anyway.

Page 71 – Other Equipment, Camo Cloak
Replace the second paragraph with “A model wearing a camo
cloak adds +1 to its cover save”.
Nothing new here.

Q: What Mastery Level is a Psyker Battle Squad? (p47)

A: Mastery Level 1.

Finally GW have decided to give PBS's a Mastery level. Unfortunately there is nothing about being able to take powers from the rule book. Thankfully they already have excellent powers anyway. It's a shame that each psyker doesn't count as Mastery Level 1 because then they might find a way into my lists more often. Imagine a Level 9 PBS!

Q: If an Imperial Guard army includes both Captain Al’Rahem and

Commander Chenkov, and a unit of Conscripts that is part of

Al’Rahem’s Infantry Platoon has purchased Commander Chenkov’s

‘Send in the Next Wave’ upgrade, does it re-enter play using Outflank

as per Captain Al’Rahem’s ‘Stalk the Enemy’ or move on from the

player’s board edge, as per Commander Chenkov’s ‘Send in the Next

Wave’? (p64/65).

A: In this instance, neither rule takes precedence – therefore

simply roll a dice for which rule applies as per ‘The Most

Important Rule’ on page 4 of the Warhammer 40,000

Rulebook.

Finally an answer to this question. I was going to write a blog post about it but looks like GW beat me to the punch. Why it's taken so many years for an answer is beyond me. The IG codex came out in May 2009!

Blood Angels

No update.

Dark Angels

Page 28 –

Warlord Traits, Courage of the Lion

Change rule to “The Warlord, and all friendly units chosen

from Codex: Dark Angels within 12” of him, roll an additional

dice when taking Leadership tests (except Psychic tests),

discarding the highest”.

Only Dark Angels can benefit from this now and Psykers no longer benefit at all. 

 

Page 61 –

Stasis Anomaly

Change to read “Every model in a unit hit by one or more

weapons with this special rule suffers a -1 penalty to their

Weapon Skill and Initiative, to a minimum of 1, until the end

of the turn.”

Added 'to a minimum of one', so no change really.

Page 61 –

Vast Stasis Anomaly

Change to read “Every model in a unit hit by one or more

weapons with this special rule suffers a -3 penalty to its Weapon

Skill and Initiative, to a minimum of 1, until the end of the

turn. This replaces any penalty inflicted on a target by a Stasis

Anomaly (see left).”

Also added 'to a minimum of one'.

Page 64 –

Power Field Generator

Add “If the bearer is embarked upon a Transport vehicle, the

power field’s effects only apply to models embarked upon that

vehicle”.

I'm glad I didn't buy a Land Raider and Techmarine to abuse this rule as it will no longer work. A massive debuff to anyone who was building their army around it.

Page 55 / 92–

Asmodai, WargearAdd “Bolt Pistol” to Asmodai’s wargear.

More lazy proofreading from GW.

Page 95 –

Deathwing Command Squad, Options

Change the fifth bullet point to:

“• Any Deathwing Terminator can replace his storm bolter and

power fist with:

- a pair of lightning claws ……………………………….free

- a thunder hammer and storm shield ………….5 pts

Changed 'all of his weapons' to 'his storm bolter and

power fist'.

Page 96

– Ravenwing Command Squad, options.

Add:

“• The Ravenwing Command Squad may purchase up to two

additional Ravenwing Black

Knights……………………………………………..40 pts / model”

Change the first bullet point to:

“• One Ravenwing Black Knight may take a banner from the

following list:

- Ravenwing Company Banner*...........................................

15 pts”

- Revered Standard................................................................

25 pts”

- Alternatively, the may take a banner from the

Sacred Standardssection of the wargear list.”

The command squad can now take additional bikers for increased survivability and the 'Relic banners' typo is replaced with 'Sacred Standards'.

Page 99 –

Deathwing Terminator Squad, Options

Change the second bullet point to:

“• Any model can replace his storm bolter and power fist

with:

- a pair of lightning claws ……………………………….free

- a thunder hammer and storm shield ………….5 pts

Changed 'all of his weapons' to 'his storm bolter and

power fist'.

Q: Do units deploying via the Deathwing Assault special rule count

toward the limit of units you are allowed to keep in Reserves at the

start of a battle? (p44)

A: Yes.

A debuff for the deathwing that makes it even harder to do a pure Deathwing army.

Q: The Standard of Devastation states that ‘all friendly Codex:

Dark Angels units within 6” of the standard treat their boltguns as

Salvo 2/4 weapons’. Which boltguns does this apply to? (p66)

A: This applies to the standard boltgun (24” range, S4, AP5,

Rapid Fire), twin-linked boltguns on bikes, the bolter

component of combi-weapons, and hurricane bolters.
Confirmation that this works with hurricane bolters which is awesome. Unfortunately though, it looks like storm bolters don't get the bonus.
 

Chaos Space Marines

Page 42 –

Obliterators, Obliterator Weapons

Change the final sentence to “An Obliterator unit cannot

choose to fire the same weapon in two consecutive shooting

attacks”.

I guess this is because of the Puppet Master psychic power which makes you shoot at your own units.

Page 57 –

Abaddon the Despoiler, Mark of Chaos Ascendent

Add the following sentence “If Abaddon rolls Spawnhood or

Dark Apotheosis on the Chaos Boon Table, re-roll this result

(and any further results of the same). The Despoiler is not

meant for Daemonhood just yet!”

I like this because it makes sense fluff wise and if you've spent all those points on Abaddon there could be nothing worse than to see him turn into a Chaos Spawn.

Q: If a model rolls Spawnhood or Dark Apotheosis on the Chaos Boon

Table, does it retain the effects of any Chaos Boon Table rolls that have

been applied to it so far during the game? (p29)

A: No.

This is a bit annoying but probably won't affect a game too much.

Q: If a Helbrute that is already Immobilised rolls Fire Frenzy, does

it lose an additional Hull Point? (p56)

A: No.

Phew! This helps out Helbrute's a bit. Hopefully we will see more of them on tabletops soon but I won't hold my breath. They are competing with  dirt cheap Terminators and cult troops in the elites slot.

Q: Is a model equipped with the Scrolls of Magnus that does not

begin the game as a Psyker, considered to have become a Psyker once

they acquire one or more additional psychic powers from the scrolls?

For example a Dark Apostle with the Mark of Tzeentch. (p69)

A: Yes, the model has the Psyker rule from that point

onward, and is considered to have Mastery Level 1.

The psyker now has Mastery Level 1 whereas in the previous FAQ they were just a psyker.

Dark Eldar

Page 49 – Lelith Hesperax –

The Penetrating Blade

Change the second sentence to “Her close combat attacks

ignore Armour Saves”.

Added 'close combat'.

Q: When allocating Wounds caused by a unit of Reaver Jetbikes

making a bladevanes, cluster caltrops and / or grav-talon attack, from

which direction is the attack considered to have originated? (p29)

A: Use the final position of the Reaver Jetbikes for Wound

allocation.

This makes it much easier than doing random allocations. As a guard player I can say that when you have massive squads that you have to randomly allocate wounds to it can get very annoying and slows the game down.

Final Note

Unsurprisingly the new Tau codex has been FAQ'd already. Sort it out GW! Learn to proofread and play test properly!

FAQ information taken from Games Workshop FAQ's

New Tau First Impressions

Image Courtesy of Games Workshop

I had my first game against the new Tau codex the other day and was very impressed with most of it. The vehicles seem to be just as hard to crack as before due to disruption pods granting +1 cover save. Combined with the Jink save for moving this means they are still getting the 4+ cover in the open. This was the biggest problem I faced as my Imperial Guard weapons just seemed to be bouncing off the Devilfish and Hammerheads, which then dispatched my tanks.

The new tank commander Longstrike is deadly in a Hammerhead,  particularly against Imperial Guard as they are his Preferred Enemy. He destroyed one Leman Russ without it even getting a chance to fire. In fact my opponent had the first turn and the first two shots destroyed a Chimera and a Leman Russ. A third Chimera was stunned and I would have lost a big chunk of a 20 man Infantry Squad if they had not gone to ground in some ruins for a 3+ cover save.

Despite this I fought on and dealt roughly one wound a turn to my opponents Riptide, who shrugged off almost my entire army's firepower. After an initial surge forward my opponent spent the rest of the game retreating and defending with his Riptide. Overall he seemed tough to take down due to his overcharged 3++ save and Toughness 6 but his damage output was woeful. Certainly not something to be feared in 1500+ point games. Below 1500 though, Riptide's could be difficult for many armies to deal with. Riptide's can get Interceptor and Skyfire, which is very nasty, and it nearly shot down both of my Vendetta's before they could do anything. They were dispatched two turns later after they had finally destroyed the Hammerhead with Longstrike. Two Hammerheads still remained unharmed until the end of the game though.

The Vespids still sucked and despite getting to my lines were wiped out without causing a single wound.

I lost the game due to quite a few bad rolls but also because of the ridiculous disruption pods. They should have been removed from the codex in my opinion because of the Jink save vehicles now get or should have been nerfed to 5+. They may cost 10 points more than in the previous codex but they are also better as now they work against models within 12" whereas they didn't before.

At the end of the game all I had killed was 1 Hammerhead with Longstrike, 5 Piranha's, 3 Stealth Suits, 5 Vespids and 4 drones. The riptide had taken 4 wounds.

This game reminds me of a previous post I did about the fact that player who goes first will usually win, assuming similar abilities and experience between the players. This game highlighted that fact and showed why it is so important to get the first turn, especially against Tau, as their weapons can cripple an army very fast.

To summarise, the Tau are back with a vengeance and this codex could well be one of the most powerful around.

Commissar Viktoria Skivlana Unboxing

My Viktoria Skivlana model arrived in the post today and I have to say, it looks awesome! There is loads of detail on the model and I'm really looking forward to painting it. Pictures below:

Female Commissar Miniatures

 

When I first noticed the female commissar model, Viktoria Skivlana, by Warforge I knew I had to get it. It's a great looking model with loads of detail and character.

It got me thinking about using several female Commissars in my Imperial Guard army to add a bit of character and something unique. After searching the web this is what I found:

Viktoria Skivlana
An excellent miniature that I have ordered myself. I believe it used to be available in resin but is now only available in metal. It can be bought from online stores such as eurobitz.com and darksphere.co.uk.

Image Courtesy of Warforge

Games Workshop's Female Commissar
GW produced a limited edition female commissar for Games Day 1998. It's not the best female commissar model in my opinion but would still be a worthy addition to any army. They can usually be found on second hand sites such as EBay where they sell for around £25.00.

The Kurganova Sisters
These metal models produced by Raging Heroes are fantastic. There are three in total:

• Kommander Malinka
• Kapitan Ivanka
• Admiral Olga 

They come with multiple weapon options, optional gas masks and can be brought separately or as a limited edition box set which includes their war bulldog, Charlie.

 

Image Courtesy of Raging Heroes

Edel and her Doberman
This metal model by Gaspez-Arts has a different feel to it when compared to the other female commissars. However I think it is a more realistic depiction of a female commissar, despite the skirt.

 Image Courtesy of Gaspez-Arts

Brother Vinni's Female Commissar

Brother Vinni has a resin female commissar. It's a nice miniature but some people may not like the exposed breasts. It is also worth noting that Brother Vinni has a very nice male commissar model.

  Image Courtesy of Brother Vinni

Commissar Vespera Venko

The final model is Commissar Vespera Venko by Statuesque Miniatures. This is another great model that comes with an optional gas mask. It would fit perfectly into a Death Korps of Krieg army.

Image Courtesy of Statuesque Miniatures

Overall there's plenty of great models to choose from. My favourites are Viktoria Skivlana and the Kurganova sisters. What's yours?

Tau Out of Stock

Image courtesy of Games Workshop

I had an email this morning from Darksphere.co.uk informing customers that almost the entire range of Tau products was now out of stock. Apparently they had spoken to GW's Trade Department and been told that the Riptide, XV8 Commander and Commander Shadowsun models are in such high demand that there is not enough to go round.

GW have also made a statement to say that many of the products are out of stock and orders will not be fulfilled until Monday 8th April or later, depending on the items ordered.

Obviously GW did not expect such a high demand for products but this is still pretty poor on their part. They should have ensured that there would be enough stock available for release date and done proper market research in order to prevent this happening.

Conscripts in 6th Edition

I've always liked the idea of hordes of Conscripts charging at the enemy but have never found them very useful. In 5th edition they were hardly ever used and when they were it was often for fluff reasons. The problem with them is that they have rubbish stats and need a character with them due to their Leadership (Ld) 5 so that they don't run away from the first strong gust of wind. Not much has changed for the better in 6th.

Their main advantage is Commander Chenkov's 'Send in the Next Wave' special rule which allows them to be recycled constantly. To do this the controlling player can remove them at the start of their turn and the full strength squad will come on from reserves at the start of their following turn. Any characters will be lost though, unless they already left the unit before it was removed. This means that once again they will be down to Ld5. Also, at 75pts a unit the Send in the Next Wave rule is not cheap. If the enemy destroys the unit though, they will come back in the controlling players turn anyway.

A Lord Commissar seems the best option for Conscripts due to his Ld10 and Stubborn. However, he will become the army's Warlord unless another Lord Commissar is taken due to his Ld being higher than all of the other HQ choices, with the exception of Commissar Yarrick.

Commissar Yarrick is a decent option for Conscripts as he gives them Fearless and units within 12" gain Stubborn. He is also hard to kill due to Eternal Warrior and the fact that he can get back up on a 3+ when reduced to 0 wounds. Any wounds allocated to him must be re-rolled so putting him at the front of a squad to catch bullets, known as 'tanking', is a great idea. Any that get through can always be deflected onto a Conscript with Look Out Sir making Yarrick very hard to kill.

A Ministorum Priest can be used to grant re-rolls on the charge but you will probably want to use First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire instead, unless you plan to tie up models that can't issue Challenges such as Dreadnoughts and Defilers. Also, the Priest only has Ld7 and no Stubborn or Fearless. He does have an Eviscerator though.

Challenges are probably the biggest weakness of Conscripts due to the fact that if one is issued and accepted, whoever accepted it will most likely be killed before they get to swing. On the other hand they could refuse, but then the Conscripts will lose their Ld bonus. There is no way to prevent this other than to add several characters to a Conscript squad which can make them ridiculously expensive.

The best thing to do with Conscripts may be to keep running them at the enemy in small squads with Send in the Next Wave so they can be killed off and come back in from reserves at the start of the controlling players turn. This way they can also grab and contest objectives that are close to the table edge late in the game.

The other option is to attach Yarrick or a Lord Commissar and charge them at the enemy. This is more risky though and it would probably be better to attach Yarrick or a Lord Commissar to an Infantry Squad blob. This would allow Sergeants to take challenges so the Commissar can attack against the rest of the unit. Alternatively a cheaper 35pt Commissar can be taken for each 10 man Infantry Squad giving them Ld9 and Stubborn.

The points difference between Conscripts and Infantry is negligible compared to their improved stats and ability to protect a Commissar. Also the option for a cheaper Commissar with great Ld cannot be underestimated.
The problem is by the time you've spent points on characters, Chenkov and the Send in the Next Wave special rule you'll be wondering why you didn't just use regular Infantry Squads.

Conscripts can also provide mobile cover to an army due to the Intervening Models rule but will still need a character to ensure that they don't run away.

So Conscripts appear to have become even worse in 6th. Does anyone have any success stories with them?

My First Attempt at a Dark Angels List with the New Codex

As mentioned in my last post, I recently acquired the new Dark Angles codex. Having read through it I don't think Deathwing lists have improved a great deal despite their overall increase in points. With this in mind I have decided to create a dual-wing list with some Imperial Guard allies for support.

HQ
Belial

Librarian
Terminator Armour

Company Command Squad
Lascannon
Astropath

Elites
None

Troops
10x Deathwing Terminators (Belial's squad)
Chain Fist x2
Assault Cannon x2

5x Deathwing Terminators
Chain Fist
Cyclone Missile Launcher

5x Deathwing Terminators
Chain Fist
Cyclone Missile Launcher

Platoon Command Squad
Autocannon

Infantry Squad
Autocannon

Infantry Squad
Autocannon

Infantry Squad
Autocannon

Infantry Squad
Autocannon

Fast Attack
Vendetta

Ravenwing Attack Squadron
Plasma Gun
Sgt: Melta Bombs

Ravenwing Attack Squadron
Plasma Gun
Sgt: Melta Bombs

Heavy Support
None

Total: 1985

I think this list gives me plenty of firepower and flexibility to keep my opponents guessing where the Deathwing will come in. For example, I can send the Ravenwing up one flank and then Deep Strike on the other (Ravenwing have Teleport Homers). I could Deathwing assault with just Belial's squad on turn 1 and then use normal deep Strike for the rest who could come in on his Teleport Homer. The Astropath helps in regard to this, making normal reserves come in on a 2+. I could also Alpha Strike with a turn one Deep Strike and then reliably outflank with the Ravenwing. It's also possible to use a combination of all of these.

Going back to a previous post on getting the first turn, being able to Deep Strike means that you get to shoot your opponent before they can react. This gives Deathwing armies an instant advantage as they can take out key threats and ruin an opponents battle plan. Split Fire and Belial's accurate Deep Strike help in regards to this.

I will put the Librarian with Belial's squad and use the Divination powers for competitive games. In friendly games I'll use Telekinesis and  hope to get Gate of Infinity. This would allow an accurate Deep Strike each turn due to Belial's no scatter special rule and would mean that the Vengeful Strike rule, which makes Deathwing weapons Twin-linked on the turn they Deep Strike, could be used every turn. It also makes them very fast Terminators and keeps your opponent guessing what your next move will be. The only drawback is that they are unable to assault after Deep Strike.

The Imperial Guard will hold objectives and provide fire support. The Vendetta is to ensure there is a unit that can reliably take out enemy flyer's and heavily armoured vehicles.

The only question: What do I spend the remaining 15 points on? An Auspex, Infravisvor or Combi-weapon on the Librarian perhaps?  Or I could change a Cyclone Missile Launcher to an Assault Cannon and take the Lion's Roar.

Any comments and criticisms? How could this list be improved?

Dark Angles Codex Errors

Image courtesy of Games Workshop

I finally managed to get my hands on the Dark Angels codex yesterday and while I can say it's a big improvement over the previous one, the editing is absolutely awful.

I can't believe quite how many errors there are in this book, most of which could have been spotted by a 3 year old. It's no surprise that an FAQ was released so soon. However it begs the question: How did GW let it get to print in it's current state if they knew there was so many issues with it?

It shows a complete lack of respect for their customers to charge them £30 for a book that needs a major FAQ because the unit entries have been cocked up.

For example, Azrael is missing his Bolt Pistol and Belial once again is missing his Iron Halo. At least until you check the FAQ's.

Then there is the Deathwing command Squad where the Special rule Split Fire has been repeated as have the lines 'upgraded to the Deathwing Champion' and 'Any Deathwing Terminator may replace'.

In the Ravenwing Command Squad entry they refer to the Sacred Standards as Relic Banners. The Darkshroud doesn't have Stealth and the Nephilim Jetfighter doesn't have Missile Lock either according to the FAQ's.

There are many other mistakes but perhaps the worst is with the Company Veterans. The entry looks almost like a copy and paste from the previous codex and in the codex only allows for 3 veterans to take a Storm Bolter, Combi-Weapon, Power Weapon, Lightning Claw, Plasma Pistol, Power Fist or a Pair of Lightning Claws. In the FAQ however ANY model can take one of them to replace their Boltgun. Also, the FAQ allows for Bolt Pistols to be replaced with Chainswords.

Overall the book is very good but the sheer amount of errors is disgraceful-particularly with the price tag. If GW had any credibility they would recall all of them and give customers new copies so they would not have the need to constantly refer to the FAQ. Obviously this will never happen though.

I hope this does not become a trend and GW don't rush subsequent books to print without checking them properly first.

Does anyone have any opinions on this? Am I being too harsh on GW?

Snipers in 6th Edition

Snipers haven't really changed much in 6th Edition. The main changes are the ability to 'Snap Shot' on the move and 'Precision Shot' or 'snipe' individual models in units. This allows players to dig out that Melta/Plasma gunner/Power Fist Sergeant hiding behind the rest of his squad. However, this only works on the roll of a 6 to hit meaning there is a 1/6 chance of it actually happening. To make it worse characters can still use Look Out, Sir! to pass the wound onto the unlucky shmo next to them. This makes it very unlikely to happen and certainly not something to rely on.

They also wound everything on a 4+ which is why they have been the bane of Monstrous Creatures for several editions. This is a useful ability considering snipers are usually very cheap. They have Pinning but it is not very useful due to the amount of leadership 9/10 and Fearless units there are. Unlike 5th Edition though, pinning does work on Monstrous Creatures.

The other ability of Snipers is that they are rending weapons. This means a 6 on the To Wound roll is AP2 and allows an extra D3 to be rolled for vehicle penetration. This is unlikely to occur and the chance of rolling a 6 to hit and to wound is only 1/36.

There is a sniper in the game who can be relied for precision shots though, Sergeant Telion. All of his shots count as precision shots and he hits on a 2+ with Pinning and Rending. Unfortunately he is not cheap due his cost plus the cost of the mandatory Scout squad. Also, because he uses a special Boltgun he doesn't get the 4+ to wound against everything bonus. A 6 on the To Wound roll will wound anything though, due to the Rending rule.

There is also the Vindicare Assassin who is even better due to the fact that even if the Look Out Sir! roll is passed, the wounds are still allocated by the Vindicare's controlling player.

Eldar have Rangers and Pathfinders as a Troops choice. Rangers rend on a 6 but Pathfinders rend on a 5+. They both still need a 6 for a Precision Shot but come with Stealth, Infiltrate and Move Through Cover. Pathfinders also get +2 to their cover saves and Scout. However, they are not cheap at 19pts for a Ranger and 24pts for a Pathfinder.

I put 4 snipers in my Company Command Squad to give them a test run. Over 4 games against Tau, Space Marines, Blood Angels and Chaos Space Marines I found them very lacklustre and the only time I rolled a precision shot was when they were shooting at Mephiston.

Overall I am glad snipers are finally able to pick out individuals like they always should have been able to. They now seem more like actual snipers. However it is not something that can be relied on to work with the exception of Vindicare Assassin's and Telion. They may at least see some use now though for jobs other than wounding Monstrous Creatures (and Mephiston).

What do you think? Will you, or have you, run snipers in 6th Edition and what are your experiences with them?

Death from the Skies Review

Death from the Skies has caused some controversy and a backlash from gamers and independent stockists alike due to it being direct order only. The fact that GW is excluding the independent stockists from this release sets a bad precedent for future releases and shows that they want people to buy direct from them and cut out the middle man. Obviously this makes them more money but it could end up killing off the independent stockists. Politics aside, what do you actually get in the Death from the Skies book?

It's a 72 page full colour paperback book. The majority of it is pictures of pretty models and artwork though. Unfortunately, much of the artwork is regurgitated from previous codices.

There is The Battle for Cardrim which was already published in the White Dwarf magazine. It has been changed a little but not by a great deal.

The Burning Skies section appears to have been copied directly from the Crusade of Fire book although Chaos now has a fighter ace of their own.

The main section of the book is the bestiary which contains all the rules for the flyers. The Space marines and Black Templar's now have access to the Stormraven and the updates from the FAQ's have been included also.

The Stormtalon is also included and now has the Strafing Run rule. It is only available to Space Marines and Black Templar's.

The Valkyrie/Vendetta has Hull Points added along with the FAQ updates but has not been nerfed in any way as many (non-Imperial Guard) players were hoping. Other than that it is the same as before.

The Voidraven and Razorwing Jetfighter seem to be the same.

The Necron Doom Scythe and Night Scythe also look the same.

The Dakkajet looks the same as does the Burna/Blitza Bomber.

It's also worth noting that the Chaos Heldrake and the Dark Angels Nephilim Jetfighter and Dark Talon are missing from the book despite the Heldrake being in the some of the artwork. This is probably due to being released quite recently.

And that's what you get for £20. It mostly seems to be reprinted rules and the only reason I can see anyone wanting to buy it is so they can use a Stormraven or Stormtalon or because they need the rules for their Ork flyers. It seems too expensive for what it is and much of it could have just been released as FAQ's and Errata's.
Do you think the Death from the Skies compendium is worth £20?

photo credit: jsutcℓiffe via photopin cc

The Biggest Flaw in 40k?

I was discussing with a friend last club about how the player who goes first more often than not will win. Apparently this is why he stopped playing 40k and moved into other wargame systems. I decided to test this theory and so at the end went around to each table with 40k players and asked who had gone first and who had won.

5 of the 7 games had been won by the player who had got the first turn. In the two games where the player went second and won, one of them was running 3 Vendetta's and the other was an experienced Tau player with two Aegis Defence Lines against an inexperienced Space marine player.

I know more data would obviously need to be collected in order to prove that going first provides a significant advantage but it does show something of a problem with the game system that has been inherent for several editions. From personal experience I can say that if I go first I am more likely to win as I can bring my big guns to bear first and remove the biggest enemy threats. Looking at battle reports on the internet I can say the same thing, whoever goes first often wins. The night fighting rules have probably been more widely introduced in this edition to attempt to mitigate this problem somewhat but it does not help enough and actually gives an advantage to some armies. Also, in 6th edition an entire force cannot normally be put into reserves meaning that most of an army will still be vulnerable in the first turn, if they are going second.

A better system would, perhaps, be where there is more ability to react to threats or a better chance to seize the initiative. This would make both players think more about how they set up their forces rather than one hiding and the other preparing to blow them into oblivion on turn one. Hiding doesn't always work though, as it's very hard to hide from barrage and it all depends on how much terrain is being used.

My First Step into the World of Blogging

This is my first step into the world of blogging. I don't expect anyone to read it but it would be great if you did. I'm doing it for myself and will cover my general musings of the Warhammer 40k hobby. Please forgive me for any blogging errors I make ( I am a noob to this after all) and C&C are always welcome :).