My First Year in the 41st Millenium

From assembling models, painting & basing them, to fielding them on battlefields across the many galaxies fighting against the followers of the corpse emperor and pitiful xenos alike; I've been through an entire year of enjoying this hobby and what a ride it's been!

In this year I've assembled hundreds of plastic, resin and metal models. I've converted 5 bikers (including my Chaos Lord biker), 10 Plague Marines and a Daemon Prince.  I've played a game of 40K in almost every single week of this year. Many weeks I got at least 2 games in. I've played in 5 games of Apocalypse, the latest being a multi-table event with over 100K points worth of painted models. 

I've taken part in 16 tournaments this year. 13 were at my local gaming shop, which holds monthly competitions and I was able to squeak into the finalist end of year invitational. For that finalist tourney I finally brought the dreaded 3 Heldrake list but due to bad dice rolling there was only 1 game of 3 where at least one of those flyers showed up from reserves on Turn 2. Tau and Eldar got the top prizes that day, but it was still a blast.

In addition I've attended 3 national competitions, Alamo 40K GT, Wargames Con & Feast of Blades. In those events I got to step outside my local meta and throw dice with people from around the country. They were all fun events and I plan on going to them all again in 2014 and am thinking about adding the Las Vegas Open and Railhead Rumble to the list.

My plans for 2014 are to start up a Tyranid army, join an inter-city 40K league and get involved in local 40K tournaments at 2 additional stores. For now I've shelved my Chaos Space Marines army. It was a blast to play and a great introduction army for me to test my mettle with. I do have some unpainted and mostly painted models I aim to finish in 2014, in-between painting up 'Nids of course. But for now, they make an impressive decorative addition to my study.

GW Store opening and starting on a new army

A Games Workshop store opened up in my city and I went to go check it out yesterday. It's a really small shop, but well stocked with lots of 40K, WFB and Hobbit models. They had 2 Realm of Battle boards and a 500pt 40K skirmish challenge. 500pts of Chaos Space Marines doesn't go very far and we had to use the force org chart. So I made due with Molitor, my Chaos Lord on a bike with the Mark of Nurgle, Power Maul, Blight Grenades, Sigil of Corruption and Burning Brand of Skalathrax. He brought along a 16 man Chaos Cultist squad with a flamer and 4 autoguns as well as a 15 man Cultist squad similarly decked out. Finally, the big guns were a Heldrake with Baleflamer. I played 3 rounds and got the following accolade for my efforts.

While it's nice for my Chaos Space Marines to have defeated a small Eldar and Space Marine force and to have tied an Ork force, there was no actual prize support. A percentage off a single purchase or $10 gift card would have resulted in me spending more than my time at the opening. But so it goes, I suppose. If I ever need to get something from GW that any of the other 3 independent game stores don't carry, I'll have an option other than the website.

And now, the big reveal. I've decided to roll with a Dark Angels army for the coming year. While I've had a blast learning the game and playing in a ton of tournaments with Chaos Space Marines, I have often felt the lists I've made to be too random (how many times in Feast of Blades did I lose my Daemon Prince in the first turn of Assault due to rolling a 1 on a Daemon Weapon, TOO MANY), as well as not fast enough. I'm an aggressive player and need an aggressive army CSM hasn't felt like its been that great a match. I always seemed to do best when I held to my side of the board, ideally with more points of objectives and my opponent has had to come to me. So with that in mind, as well as a lot of models from 2 boxes of Dark Vengeance, I'm rolling out with a Ravenwing-heavy force.

I'm in the assembly stage so far, but have constructed 2 6-man bike squads with attack bikes sporting multi-meltas.

In addition, I've constructed 2 10-man Tactical squads, from those same DV boxes as well as 4 models from the 40K paint set.

I'm in the process of constructing a Predator, as well as a Sammael models as well. Lots, and lots of hobbying to do before I can unleash this force onto the world!

Just returned from Feast of Blades

Got back into town from Feast of Blades early this morning and what a great trip! Had an absolute blast in Denver moving models, chucking dice and drinking some awesome micro-brew beers. But, since I haven't updated this blog in months, I should probably start from the beginning.

 

The road paved with luck and paint

I had been interested in attending Feast of Blades since I first heard about it in March. I was tempted to buy a ticket as soon as they became available, but with real life creeping in I initially decided to pass. Then, out of the blue one of the local judges said he had a free ticket to Feast and I jumped on it. I was entered in the Open GT which read as:

The 40k Open harkens back to the "Golden Age," of Games Workshop GT's. This event is 60% battle points and fully 40% soft scores (including points for army theme). If you are the kind of person who just wants to have fun meeting new people with beautiful armies while getting in a good game then the open GT is for you. Just to be clear, this event isn't for win-at-all-cost-competitive-play it is about the hobby and having a great weekend enjoying the game, the 'winner,' of this tournament will be a very well-rounded hobbyist. (You must purchase a "40k Open GT pass," to play in this event)

which sounded perfect for me. So I wrangled up a 2,000 point list to take, no surprise it was a Nurgle-themed Chaos Space Marine list.

Molitor's Marauders

HQ

185 pts Chaos Lord Mark of Nurgle, Blight Grenades, Melta Bombs, Chaos Bike, The Burning Brand of Skalathrax, Power Maul, Sigil of Corruption, Ichor Blood

340 pts Daemon Prince Daemon of Nurgle, Power Armour, Wings, Psyker lvl 3, The Black Mace

Troops

177 pts Plague Marines x5, Flamer x2, Rhino with Havoc Launcher

187 pts Plague Marines x5, Meltagun x2, Rhino with Havoc Launcher

197 pts Plague Marines x5, Plasma gun x2, Rhino with Havoc Launcher

Fast Attack

201 pts Chaos Bikers x6 Mark of Nurgle, Meltagun x2, Power Sword on Champion

170 pts Heldrake Baleflamer

170 pts Heldrake Baleflamer


Heavy

237 pts Obliterators x3, Mark of Nurgle, Veterans of the Long War

135 pts Maulerfiend Lasher Tendrils

And so, though I'd had some Plasma gun carrying Plague Marines painted, I wasn't planning on using the champion with the Power Fist for this event and wasn't happy with the rough paint jobs I had previously done on my Rhinos. I got busy painting on the days leading up to the event, and got the Rhinos to match the Predator tanks I had been using pretty closely. Likewise the Plague Marines all looked like they belonged with the previously painted Plasma gun wielders. I sprayed the matte coat on the Rhinos a scant 4 hours before I'd have to leave for the airport to Denver.

 

Game 1 Taudar Shenanigans

So I'd looked at the mobi site Feast of Blades put out with the missions they were using, and was a bit disappointed they were using missions straight out of the book for the Open GT. I'd cased the hall set-up when I arrived Friday night and knew there were going to be some tables with very little line-of-sight blocking terrain, which would be awful when faced against shooty armies. Well, as luck had it, I had to play Purge the Alien against an Eldar/Tau WAAC list. My opponent was a nice, friendly guy (heck he even let me borrow some gel superglue to fix my only travel casualty to Denver, which was one of my Heldrake's necks that had come off) but the list he was running was mean as hell. He won the roll to go first and wrecked a Rhino, killed 3 bikes, and put a wound on an Obliterator in Turn 1. When time was called on this game, my Nurgle forces were all but decimated. Both Heldrakes downed from his Aegis' Quad-gun, the Daemon Prince taken out by volume of fire, and the bikes wiped after destroying a wave serpent. He won by more than 4 kill points so that counted as a massacre for him giving him top points for the round and me 0. Of course, I later learned he was doubling the amount of shots his missile drones were firing in all his games on Day 1. I doubt he was intentionally cheating, but I know I would have done more damage to him had he been firing only the 12 shots he should have had with those drones and not the 24 shots he was doing. Oh well, live and learn.

 

Game 2 Angry Robots with Angry Traitors

This time, Nurgle's forces were facing a Necron force with a contingent of Khorne Chaos Marines. I didn't get any photos of this match as it was a slug-fest from the get-go and was the game I had the most fun in on Day 1. We were playing the Relic with Vanguard Strike deployment. I had first Turn and went in hot with my Plague Marines. I had possession of the Relic by Turn 2 and the Necrons had sent their scarabs to lock-down my Flamer Plague Marines. My Daemon Prince handily destroyed the Khorne lord on a steed in close combat, but was shot to pieces the following turn and my Meltagun Plague Marines responded by blowing up an Annihilation Barge. The battle raged on my side of the field as I did everything I could to get the Relic holder away from the Necron onslaught. In the end, time was called not more than 5 seconds after the Necrons wiped the Plague Marine squad holding the Relic. With nobody controlling the ancient artifact, time was called and an incredible game was determined a draw.

 

Game 3 Daemon Hunters Hunt Some Daemons

The next game was the Scouring with Hammer and Anvil deployment. I was faced with an awesomely painted Grey Knights army and when we revealed the points of the Objectives it was obvious I was going to have to push my opponent's side of the board. But with the number of Daemons in my army against Grey knights, that wasn't going to be easy. And indeed it wasn's. I rolled the Chaos Space Marine Warlord trait which allowed 1 of my Plague Marine units to have the Infiltrate rule and I got my Flamer unit to start in jogging distance of my opponent's 3 point Objective. The Bolters and flames did their job wiping a small squad off the Objecive, netting me First Blood. But the Grey Knight monstrous creature behind them quickly rolled down and got in close combat with the Plague Marines, wiping out all but one. I wasn't too worried as I had my Daemon Prince a short distance away and my next turn got him into close combat. Unfortunately, I rolled a 1 with my Daemon weapon and even with the re-rolls given by Veterans of the Long War I only caused 2 wounds and he passed his Toughness test. He then quickly ended the Princes unnatural existence. He had enough Skyfire to take down one of my Heldrakes quickly and a Pen caused the other to lose its Baleflamer. His Terminators Outflanked next to my Plasma gun Plague Marines and even with my Bikes close by I couldn't wipe the Terminators. In the end I only controlled one 3 point Objective while my opponent had the 4 point Objective and a 2 point Objective, and Day 1 ended with 2 losses.

 

Purity Seals & Paint Scores

All was not lost in the day, however, as I had managed to get the Purity Seal achievement of wiping an entire enemy Unit in a single turn (really, really easy to do when Heldrakes Vector Strike and burninate 3-man squads of Eldar jetbikes) as well as the achievement for having a close combat last 4 player turns. Feast of Blades is the first tournament I've attended with an achievement system, and they award some incredible looking ribbons with them. More tournaments should have a system like this in place as it allows you to try for goals beyond just winning the book missions. I was awarded 34 points out 40 for my armies' paint-job. Not bad for having painted half the army a few days before game day. The points I didn't get were for not having a decorated display board and not having extreme conversions on my models.

Game 4 Robots vs. Rust

The first game on Sunday started against a pure Necron force. We were playing Emperor's Will with Vanguard Strike Deployment on a board with likely the most line-of-sight blocking terrain in the whole GT. My opponent and I both placed our single Objective markers deep into our respective deployment zones. The Necrons infiltrated some guys on my side of the board, but they mostly just hung out. I didn't Deep Strike my Obiliterators this game, and I really should have, as they spent several turns just trudging along the field trying to get a view of something to shoot at. The major battles were in the middle of the board where my Daemon Prince intercepted some Canoptic Wraiths in a combat that lasted for more than half the game and where my Meltagun Plague Marines and Bikes tried for many turns to destroy the Necron Monolith. Eventually, both those skirmishes ended in my favor, but the losses for Chaos were heavy. All my bikes were destroyed, all but 2 of my Meltagun Plagure Marine squad (including the Meltaguns) were toast, my Heldrakes were both down as was the Maulerfiend (he just loves to get focused and exploded in Turn 1). But I still had control of my Objective as did my opponent. In the end I couldn't make the charge I needed with the Daemon Prince to try and pull off the warriors holding his Objective and my Plasma gun Plague Marines were just in range for Linebreaker. Another Draw game ended for the mission known for Draw games.

Game 5 Bugs, Bugs, Everywhere

I ended up playing Game 5 on the exact table I'd played Game 4 on, so lots of buildings blocking line-of-sight. This game was Crusade with Hammer & Anvil deployment. It took my opponent quite a bit of time to deploy as he had a large model count to get on the board with his Tyranids. We both had 2 Objectives on our side of the board and 1 in the middle. I was planning to attack aggressively so didn't leave any of my 3 Troop Units holding my 2 back Objectives. Instead the entire army pushed towards the waves of bugs. The Maulerfiend was quickly made a wreck and my Daemon Prince once again rolled a 1 on his Daemon weapon and fell to a large horde of biting, clawing, xenos. The Doom of Malan'tai showed up and killed a few bikes (including both Meltaguns) but was quickly shot down with Bolter fire and plasma. My Flamer Plague Marines held the middle Objective for many turns, and it was lucky when they controlled the Objective it was found to be a Grav Wave Generator. Combined with the wrecked Rhino and Maulerfiend around the Objective none of the Trygon Primes could make the charge distance. I was really sweating it as the time was counting down and I had lost all but 2 Bikes and my Chaos Lord. The Plasma gun Plague Marines bit it quickly after and the Obliterators were taken down in close combat. The Flamers were able to burn enough Hormagaunts to keep them from the lone Objective I had. And in the last 2 minutes of the game my Heldrakes went into Hover mode and cleared the 2 broods of Termagants off my opponent's controlled Objectives, giving me my first and only win of the weekend and one of the most fun games of the weekend for me.

Game 6 The Imperial Guard and their Big Guns

Game 6 was Big Guns Never Tire with Dawn of War deployment. I won the roll for table sides so got to place 3 Objectives to my opponent's 2. I placed the Objectives conservatively as close to my board edge as I could, all a foot away from each other. Not the most honorable placement, but who said Chaos was honorable? I chose to Deep Strike my Obliterators and kept the majority of my Units close to my Objectives. The Bikes, however, were deployed away from the rest. My opponent went first and fired all he had range to at the Maulerfiend, which between cover and Invuln saves didn't take a scratch, he did however cause a pen on one of the Rhinos and scored First Blood. My Daemon Prince rolled for Iron Arm and became extremely powerful with +3 Strength and Toughness. Only 1 Heldrake came in on Turn 2 but was intercepted by the IG Quad-gun and driven into the dust before it could do anything. My Obliterators mis-happed on the Deep Strike and my opponent placed him on the right corner of my table edge. I sent the Maulerfiend out to one of the IG tanks and had the Obliterators fire their Lascannons at another, penning and blowing it up. The Maulerfiend charged another tank and drove its Power Fists straight through it, resulting in metal shards littering the battlefield. The Maulerfiend was blown to pieces in Turn 3 and more of my Bikes were brought low. I had my Warlord close to my enemies' line and roasted 9 of the 10 with the Burning Brand of Skalathrax, finishing them with the last 2 Bikers. The 2nd Heldrake had come on and roasted all but 2 of the IG Warlord's unit. The Daemon Prince charged a Unit of Sentinels and destroyed 2, leaving the third out of range to retaliate. On the Guard's turn their Quad-gun penned the Heldrake, destroying the Baleflamer. 2 Vendettas had arrived earlier and riddled my Warlord with shots. In revenge the Heldrake flew off the board, Vector Striking the IG Warlord and carrying him into the abyss. The Daemon Prince finished the last Sentinel and moved on towards one of the Objectives my opponent held. The IG cleared off the Meltagun marines from one of my Objectives, while the Daemon Prince cast Nurgle's Rot on the infantry holding an Objective, then finished them off in close combat. When time ran out, both armies controlled 2 Objectives resulting in my third draw of the tournament.

Closing Thoughts

Well, it was a lot of fun playing at Feast of Blades. I placed 29th out of 46 (and would have placed higher if I'd not suffered that massacre in Game 1). My SoS score was the highest in the Open GT (126 while the next highest was 109, so I had the luck of playing some mean lists) and I got a few cool Purity Seals as well as a commendable paint score. I bought some exploded vehicle markers from Spikey Bits and got some Chaos markers handed to me from another vendor (sorry, I can't remember which one). It was a weekend of pure fun. I don't know if I'll make the trip to Denver again, but I'm glad I made it this year, now I've just got to repair the 2 tanks, and 6 infantry that suffered damage from the return trip. Until next time.

What the Army looks like these days

Realized I hadn't posted the new paint scheme my army's been rolling with these last few months, and now is the time to fix that! The only guys missing are the Cultists, but they're not really the stars anyhow. Enjoy.

 

Reflections on Alamo con 2013

Last weekend I was in San Antonio spending the weekend playing 5 games of Warhammer 40K. The local painter I'd hired to finish my army had done an amazing job, with every unit fully painted and based! He even had time to finish off the Nurgle Daemon Prince and 2 Spawn, which weren't part of my list, but could show up if one of my Champions won a challenge.

Game 1

My first game was a classic match-up of Ultramarines vs. my minions of Chaos. The Objectives were laid out on the table with 2 each in both our deployment zones and 1 in the middle of the board. My opponent went first and his Vindicator put a huge whole in my Cultists with his heavy-weapon carrying Space Marines pinging my Predator tanks. I responded with one Predator blowing up a Rhino, netting me First Blood, and pinging the Vindicator while marching my Plague Marines towards the middle Objective. My opponent's drop-pod, carrying his Warlord, landed near one of my smaller units of Cultists, with plans of clearing them off the Objective. In response I sent my Nurgle Bikes, with my Warlord and the Maulerfiend to cement my hold on the Objective. My Heldrakes came in and roasted many Space Marines as well as putting some more holes in the Vindicator. The Maulerfiend and Bikes were able to slay his Warlord and the Plague Marines were able to keep from being pushed off the middle Objective, despite taking major losses. In the end, the Chaos army took the day!

Game 2

This was a Chaos Space Marine vs. Chaos Space Marine match. Black Maces were present in both armies, with my Biker Chaos Lord carrying one and a Nurgle Daemon Prince carrying a cheap knock-off. My opponent's army was lead by Ahriman, and he had an impressive number of Cultists following him. He marched his Maulerfiend into cover after using Psychic abilities to further shroud it and confuse any fire that would be coming its way. Some of his Cultists advanced along my flank to push out a small group of Cultists I had camped in Area Terrain on an Objective. My opponent's Obliterators made good on their name and Lascannoned a Power Fist off my Maulerfiend. It was destroyed shortly after in Close Combat with Ahriman's Maulerfiend. Both my opponent's Heldrakes came in on Turn 2, and like me he was running 1 Baleflamer and 1 Autocannon Heldrake. Only my Autocannon Heldrake came in for me, with the Baleflamer not entering the scene until Turn 4. My opponent successfully used his Psychic powers to cause my Plague Marines and Cultists to hurt themselves, turn after turn. I got my Bikes into Close Combat with the Maulerfiend, not realizing it would still get Invisibility in Close Combat. After my Warlord was killed it was a foregone conclusion I would not be able to turn the tide. Time was called and my opponent's army carried the day.

Game 3

My Chaos army was facing off against a Grey Knights army. Now, I was in a really bad mood before this game started as when I was transporting my large display board holding 117 gorgeous models, an inebriated player jumped out of his chair without realizing I was behind him. He knocked over my display board and my 2 Heldrakes shattered into multiple pieces. I spent the first 15 minutes of Game 3 gluing together the Heldrakes as best I could. While the Autocannon Heldrake was salvaged 100%, the Baleflamer Heldrake is now missing his tail and part of one of his rear claws. Having just gotten these freshly painted models back, I was not happy.

Now onto the game. This was a difficult match-up for me as my opponent had a ton of heavy support that was just decimating everything that charged up the field. There was a lack of ruins and area terrain on my side of the board and all I could do was push forward and remove models off the board. Once again my Baleflamer Heldrake did not enter the field until Turn 4, which meant a considerable amount of Troop removal was denied to me for the majority of the game. In the end, while I had removed many of my opponent's models from the board, he was clearly ahead in a Kill Point game. Time was called and all I had left were both Heldrakes, and 1 Unit of Cultists.

Stay tuned for my next post in which I'll go over the last 2 games of Alamo con. Plus pictures of how the army I took looks!

Getting ready for Alamo con

Been neglecting this blog for awhile now, but with good reason, I've had 114 models to paint for Alamo con! That plus playing 40K at the local club on Thursdays has made me very, very busy. So let's break it down.

Hobby

I have been on a major painting spree and had thrown down ink on all but my Biker Warlord. Things seemed to be going well for awhile as I was making progress, even if it was only painting a single color on a large swathe of Cultists. I got to the point though, where it became painfully obvious I was not going to have enough time to get the models table ready by the tournament on May 18th. And so a decision was made, I hired a very talented, and fast, local painter to finish the job. The bad news was there were 114 models to paint. The good news was that they were most of the way there. I got to take a look at what my friend had accomplished in just a single night of painting and he had added an awesome looking rust effect to the Maulerfiend, as well as having cleaned up and detail washing on both Heldrakes. His goal is to have those three models completely painted and based by the end of this week. My fingers are crossed!

Gaming

So I finally had the opportunity to play against a couple Tau armies, and wow, those guys are brutal with the new Codex. The first game I played was also the first time my opponent had run his new Tau list. Despite some major achievements on my end, including wiping out his Warlord and all the suits grouped with him with a single Baleflamer pass, in the end, they get too many cheap units that can fire way farther than my Cultists. While the body count was pretty epic on both sides, my opponent controlled more Objectives and had Linebreaker on me. It was a fun game, but I knew that Tau armies were going to be a problem for me. And that was reinforced in my second game against another Tau opponent. This fellow had brought an Aegis Defence Line with a Quad-gun and tons of abilities specifically to down Heldrakes. While he couldn't do that as quickly as he was hoping to, he did eventually bring both demon chickens down and the marker-light ability of denying Cover meant my Cultists had no chance. The Maulerfiend was destroyed in Turn 1 and Night Fighting didn't matter to that army. In hindsight, I should have done what I've been trying to break myself from doing, aggressively charging. I should have sent both Heldrakes (was using 2 Baleflamer Heldrakes for this game) at the Defence Line and at least had a single turn of roasting a bunch of fishmen. Mmm, fried fish. Ah well, lesson learned. Cover means little against a Tau opponent who knows how to use marker-lights, so the ravening Chaos horde has to push with no care of the losses.

That's it for now. I'll be posting pics of the finished army as soon as I get the models back. Until next time, see you on the battlefield!

April Tournament breakdown

Played 3 1250 point games today with an altered version of Molitor's army. No Hades Heldrake, minus a Lascannon Predator tank, and only 89 Cultists. The first game was against a horde Tyranid army. I was a bit too aggressive with the Maulerfiend and Bikers and the troop monstrous creature my opponent had too many wounds to take care of. That plus my Heldrakes didn't come in until Turn 4.  After 2 spawnings of more troops in a single turn and my line collapsing, I was done for in Turn 7. When the game ended I had a single small unit of Cultists and Heldrake left. While I had killed his flying Hive Tyrant Warlord and a couple of units, he was spawning more than I could burn. In the end, the bugs devoured the chaos.

Game 2 was against Necrons. My opponent deployed second and wisely positioned himself in a manner which completely blocked line of sight from my lone Predator tank. However, after deployment it was obvious I had a much larger force. He had 2 Night Scythes which came in on Turn 2 and increased the count, but my Chaos Lord and Maulerfiend brought his Warlord down in Turn 1. My Heldrake came in on Turn 2 and that thing didn't disappoint between Vector Striking and its Baleflamer. The biggest hurdle was my opponent's ability to resurrect his models, but when my Cultists are in Rapid Fire range and firing 41 shots I'll be delivering wounds. My Warlord was blinked out of existence in a challenge and I lost all but 2 Bikers. In the end though, the sacrifices served papa Nurgle as the Cultists held onto many more objectives than my opponent's dwindling numbers of Necrons.

Game 3 was against Space Wolves with an Aegis Defence Line. We were deploying in the corners with objectives on the board and a relic in the center of the table. My opponent had 2 tanks behind the defence line with a Quad-gun, I knew what my Predator's first target was going to be. A couple of Lascannon hits later and the biggest threat to my Heldrake was eliminated in the first turn. My Heldrake thankfully came in on Turn 2 again and destroyed a loyalist Rhino, netting me First Blood.  I was again too aggressive with the Maulerfiend and it died from the tanks. After losing 2 Bikers I was nervous about assaulting but they were in range and I decided to press my luck. A roll of 1 for the Black Mace meant I was in serious trouble as my opponent had a model with a Power Axe that devastated my Warlord. One of my Cultist units was wiped out and my opponent had Outflanked with a Rhino carrying his Warlord. My Predator wrecked the Rhino and the elite unit of Space Wolves cleared the Cultists holding a nearby objective. The Predator fired again and a beam of supercharged light burst from the Wolf's Warlord. The game was called and our points were totaled, with both the Chaos Marines and Space Wolves equaling in the tally. The tie breaker was down to kill points, which because of the 2 Rhinos & tanks downed, led to a Chaos victory by a single point.

Today had a very fun run of games, in which I encountered a version of Tyranids that has me scratching my head on how to defeat, and had close games with turn after turn of enjoyable engagements. I'm seeing where the weaknesses in my list are, but on the whole I think it played very well. As always though, the dice rolls determine the outcomes. Until I next see you on the battlefield, happy wargaming!

Adding some Daemon allies

So, one thing that was bugging me with the list I took into the March tournament was how expensive the Plague Marines are. While I like just how tough they are, their Poisoned close combat weapons, Fearless and Feel No Pain simply comes at too high a price for what I want to do. Since the Daemon codex recently came out, I wanted to play with some of those guys in the list. A kind person sent me 2 bases of metal Nurglings and I thought I'd give them a shot. So I bought a pack of Nurglings to accompany them and a Herald of Nurgle as well.

Doing this will provide double the wounds as the Plague Marines and if I take the Greater Locus of Fecundity will give the Herald and Nurglings Feel No Pain as well. The Daemon invulnerable save combined with Feel No Pain and 4 wounds per Nurgling base will make that unit a great tar-pit/objective holding unit, and much more efficient use of points than Plague Marines. I will be giving the Herald Psychic Powers as well as Exalted Rewards and will still have plenty of points left over (for 2,000 point games) to either get more Nurglings or perhaps a Palanquin (though I can't find where they sell such things). We'll see how they do, my main concern is that while they'll hold an objective, they won't be able to kill as well as the Plague Marines. Until next time, see you on the battlefield.

Tournament results and thoughts moving forward

Alright, so the 2,000 point tournament was last Sunday. There were far fewer opponents than usual as many had gone to Dallas for a 2-day tournament, but the competition with those remaining was still fierce. I won the first 2 games of the tournament quit handily. The introduction of the Heldrakes made a huge difference to how my games played, but the true stars were the Chaos Cultists. When you have 94 Cultists on the board, you are able to tar-pit quit a bit. The downside is, your turns will progress extremely slowly.

The last game of the tournament pitted me against one of the regulars who consistently places in the top 3. We only got to the top of Turn 4 before time ran out, but in that exchange, his Space Wolf warlord and Molitor went head to head. Sadly the loyalist scum was able to wipe Molitor's entire biker gang before ending the warlord in close combat. I got my revenge at Turn 4 as I fired my Hades Autocannon and 2 Predator tanks, but the Space Wolf warlord was able to shrug off everything that came at him, until the 12 Cultists, who were in rapid fire range, fired. I forced 4 armor saves and the Space Wolf failed 2, giving me a warlord killed point. In the end my opponent had more victory points than I, but I think if the game had continued I could have done a bit more damage to him.

So the tasks ahead for me are to paint the 94 Cultists. I'm thinking of painting in a manner similar to Imperial Guardsman, who have gone traitor and wield their weapons for Nurgle. Next I need to green stuff and paint my warlord. I've received a lot of compliments on the look of Molitor, but can't wait to get pustules decorating his form. Then I'll re-visit the Heldrakes, Maulerfiend, and the rest of the Chaos Bikers. I've got to have everything 100% painted for the first major tournament in May. Though we'll see how many of these guys actually make the cut.

Which brings me to a kill point game I played post-tournament. Only in this situation have I seen large blobs of Cultists being more of a hindrance than asset. They die so easily, and even Going to Ground won't save more than a couple. In hind-sight, I should have camped behind cover and let my Eldar opponent come to me. Next time I play Purge the Unclean I'll be sure to do so.

Until then, see you on the battlefield!

The new list for tomorrow's 2000 pt tournament

Alright, so the 2,000 point tournament is tomorrow. Some of the regulars will be at another event, but there should still be a dozen+ showing up. I'll likely lose points on the painting department, as just assembling and painting some of the minis ate up entire evenings, so I'll have to offset that by winning.

But first, behold my new Warlord, Molitor.

He's a kit-bash of the Chaos Space Marine Bike, with Chaos Terminator Lord cape and sundries, Chaos Biker Upgrade chest and head, as well as an arm wielding mace from one of the Chosen. And here's the list I'm taking tomorrow.

HQ

160 pts Chaos Lord Mark of Nurgle, Blight Grenades, Melta Bombs, Chaos Bike, The Black Mace, Veterans of the Long War


Troops

330 pts Plague Marines x10 Plasma gun x2, Icon of Despair, Melta Bombs, Power Fist x1, Combi-Plasmagun, Veterans of the LongWar

179pts Chaos Cultists x35 14 Autogun, 3 Flamer

179pts Chaos Cultists x35 14 Autogun, 3 Flamer

69pts Chaos Cultists x12 6 Autogun, 1 Flamer

69pts Chaos Cultists x12 6 Autogun, 1 Flamer


Fast Attack

259 pts Chaos Bikers x7 Mark of Nurgle, Icon of Despair, Meltagun x2, Melta Bombs, Veterans of the Long War

170 pts Heldrake Baleflamer

170 pts Heldrake Autocannon


Heavy

140 pts Chaos Predator Twin-linked Lascannon, Lascannon sponsons

140 pts Chaos Predator Twin-linked Lascannon, Lascannon sponsons

135 pts Maulerfiend Lasher Tendrils


All told the model count is 117. The Predators, Maulerfiend, Heldrakes and Bikes should bring quite a bit of pain, with some Plague Marine Plasma back-up. We'll see how this one does. I'll leave you with the following image to haunt your dreams.

Assembling my forces' new addition

The last Heavy in my army is under construction.

*******UPDATE*********

Got this big guy fully assembled and primed. I wanted to make it look like the Maulerfiend is in motion.

Project Progress Report

Been a busy few days. As mentioned in previous posts I've constructed and am in the process of painting 2 Predator Tanks and 2 Heldrakes. So let's start with the Predators. I've added a few layers and shades to both tanks to make them look like they've been through the Warp and back. One of the tanks has some Green Stuff on it that I'm painting up to look like severe infections. I'm not sold on the scheme so far and am still experimenting. Check them out.

Next up on the to do list were the Heldrakes. I wanted to be able to differentiate the Heldrakes at a glance, so while the Baleflamer Heldrake was painted up with Loren Forest, Sycorax Bronze, and Seraphim Sepia; the Autocannon Heldrake was painted with Death World Forest, Warplock Bronze, and Biel-Tan Green. Funny thing about Biel-Tan green, it took most of the Warplock Bronze right off when I washed it on, so I had to repaint the Bronze. Ate a bit more time, but the Autocannon Heldrake was worth it.

Lastly, since one of the major issues with my Typhus army was how elite it was which resulted in too few boots on the ground, I've decided to try out a heavy force of Chaos Cultists. I've got just shy of 80 so far with 19 more in my to do box. There's still a ton to do though, as I've got one more Heavy slot to fill and then need to paint up the rabble, as well as get some work done on my bikes and the new Chaos Lord they'll be rolling with. And all that needs to be assembled with some color on by the tournament on 3/3. Until the next time, see you on the battlefield!

A wind of plague blows in aka a solution to fliers + infantry

Have constructed 2 models and primed one Heldrake so far. The primed Heldrake has a Baleflamer and the newly constructed model sports an Autocannon. Once I get them painted they will be joining the new Nurgle ranks.

Woodsheddin' 2 Chaos Predator Tanks for my new list

Spending the next few hours on assembling, a little green stuffing and some painting on the Chaos Predator tanks that will be joining my roster. They'll be replacing my Obliterators as 2 of my Heavy support choices. So far I've fitted them with Lascannon sponsons and a Twin-linked Lascannon each. At their base cost, 5 points more than the price of a single Obliterator, I get a Predator. 65 additional points gets me 3 Lacannon shots. Efficiency in points is the name of the game to get as many models on the field as possible with my new list.

Thoughts on the tournament and moving forward

Ok, so I've played 4 games since my last Battle Report. Originally I had planned to write up a full report as I'd previously done, but the thing is, that eats a ton of time and effort. And that is time and effort I could spend on painting, modeling and planning. The point of this blog is to keep me focused, not on updating the blog but on getting my army as awesome as I can. As such, I will only be writing up full Battle Reports on specific games. For this entry I'll just be discussing the last 4 games I was involved in, including the tournament on Sunday.

Before the tournament, I played an Eldar army that looked fantastic. It was obvious a lot of love and care went into painting the army, and my opponent had even used magnets on the figures to attach them to their base. Very cool looking stuff. Other than the Imperial Guard, I hadn't yet run into an army with as much shooting as the Eldar. They demolished my Quad-gun right out of the gate. They then moved in to get the Relic. I moved in with my Chaos Bikers and liberated the Relic from the Eldar's grasp. It was a short-lived victory, however, as the amount of shots the Eldar fired quickly whittled my army to ribbons. At the end of Turn 5, if the game had ended, the Chaos Space Marines would have carried the day. Sadly, that was not the case, and the Eldar left the battlefield triumphant in Turn 6.

The tournament was similar. It seems like the only way for a Chaos Space Marine list can be competitive, is to have 3 fliers, and flood the board with Units of 35 Cultists. I didn't want to be so cheesy, but the cost of the Plague Marines is just too high to have very many on the field and still have Heavy Support and Fast Attack options. The first 2 games of the tournament went fairly well. I lost both of them, but I took out some key Units and had fun. The third game was against another CSM force, and it was nasty. Heldrake, Landraider, Defiler, Daemon Prince, Khorne Berserkers, were all present and gave me a run for my money. My opponent in game 3 also did something I thought was very un-sportsman-like, but oh well. In the end, all three games were lost and I was 2nd to last place in the standings. It just doesn't seem like the list I've been nurturing can stand up to the lists being played in tournaments.

So, onto what can win. I've worked up a new list and have ordered a couple of models that should be here early next week. Once they get in, it'll be time to shift focus. I've enjoyed the Nurgle army I had, and for a fluff army it did ok. But I'm in it to win it. And the next Chaos Space Marine army I take to the local tournaments will be merciless. Until then, see you on the battlefield!

New list for tomorrow's tournament and some quick modeling

I changed up my list recently and did a test run on Thursday. The new list fared a lot better than the previous list. So I'm going for the same list in tomorrow's tournament, which has a WYSIWYG rule. So I swapped arms off my Plasmagun holders and gave them Flamers. I grabbed a couple of Plague Marines with melted faces and gave them Plasmaguns, which seemed appropriate for a warrior wielding a weapon that Gets Hot. They're just lucky they have Feel No Pain. Then I added a little color to some of the models as well. Just little bits, but they're getting me closer to having the force I want both in play and look.

1849 total pts

HQ

230 pts Typhus

Troops

307 pts Plague Marines (x7) with Chaos Rhino (Havoc Launcher) Plasma gun (x2), Gift of Mutation, Melta Bombs, Power Fist (x1), Combi-Plasmagun, Veterans of the LongWar

297 pts Plague Marines (x7 with Chaos Rhino (Havoc Launcher) Meltagun (x2), Gift of Mutation, Melta Bombs, Power Fist (x1), Combi-Meltagun, Veterans of the LongWar

292 pts Plague Marines (x7) with Chaos Rhino (Havoc Launcher, Combi-Flamer) Flamer (x2), Gift of Mutation, Melta Bombs, Power Fist (x1), Combi-Flamer, Veterans of the LongWar

Fast Attack

244 pts Chaos Bikers (x7) Mark of Nurgle, Icon of Despair, Meltagun (x2), Gift of Mutation,
Melta Bombs, Veterans of the Long War


Heavy Support

237 pts Obliterator Mark of Nurgle, Veterans of the Long War

142 pts Chaos Vindicator


Fortifications

100 pts Aegis Defence Lines Quad-gun


We'll see how this list does tomorrow.

Battle Report 1850 CSM vs. Space Marines

With experiencing the obnoxiousness fliers could be in Game 2 of my first tournament and my Aegis Defence Line clipped out, I was anxious to field the Fortification. The Quad-gun is the better choice between it and the Lascannon, as far as I can tell. The Quad-gun suffers from less strength and range, but being 4 twin-linked shots meant it is likely to pay for itself fairly quickly, at least in theory. So I built my list up to 1848 points with the Aegis Defence Gun and Quad-gun. My opponent brought a force I'd been wanting to play against since I first started playing 40K, Space Marines with Imperial Guard allies. Onto the armies:

Chaos Space Marines
1848 total pts

HQ

230 Typhus


Troops 

142 Plague Zombies  +14 cultists

365 Plague Marines with Rhino (Havoc Launcher)  +5 Plague Marines, Meltagun x2, Power Fist, Icon of Despair, Melta Bombs, Combi-Melta, Gift of Mutation, Vets of the Long War x10

375 Plague Marines with Rhino (Havoc Launcher)  +5 Plague Marines, Plasma Gun x2, Power Fist, Icon of Despair, Melta Bombs, Combi-Plasma, Gift of Mutation, Vets of the Long War x10


Fast Attack

269 Chaos Bikers  +4 Bikers, Meltagun x2, Combi-Melta, Power Sword, Melta Bombs, Mark of Nurgle, Icon of Despair, Gift of Mutation, Vets of the Long War x7


Heavy

158 Obliterators  +1 Obliterator, Mark of Nurgle, Vets of the Long War x2


79 Obliterator  Mark of Nurgle, Vets of the Long War


130 Vindicator  Havoc Launcher, Siege Shield


Fortification

100 Aegis Defence Line  Quad-gun

----------------VS----------------

Space Marines
1849 total pts

HQ

200 Captain Cato Sicarius

100 Lord Commissar


Troops

227 Scout Squad with Sergeant Telion

210 Tactical Squad with Tank Hunters

155 Veteran Squad

155 Veteran Squad


Elite

220 Ironclad Dreadnought with Drop Pod

65 Guardsman Marbo


Heavy

125 Vindicator Siege Shield

100 Thunderfire Cannon

190 Deathstrike Missile Launcher


Fortification

100 Aegis Defence Line  Quad-gun


We deployed with Dawn of War and my opponent rolled the Conqueror of Cities Warlord Trait. Typhus got Weapon Virus and Plague Wind for Psychic powers. Nurgle deemed Damocles unworthy of an offering but Ebenezar became a Witch-Eater as Yuri morphed with his gun, giving him +1 Strength on his Twin-linked Boltgun.

Turn 1

I moved out first, slaying a few Space Marines as I went, getting a glancing hit off the Loyalist Vindicator with my Vindicator's Demolisher Cannon. The followers of the False Emperor returned fire, ending 1 of Damocles' cabal. My opponent's Vindicator glanced a Rhino, then the Thunderfire Cannon roared at my Bikers, blowing up the Rhino they were using for cover and killing 2 of Yuri's gang, who failed their Leadership and were riding away from the enemy. The Snipers opened fire on Yuri's Bikers, sending 2 souls to be fed on by the festering god they'd served though Telion failed to wound. The Space Marine Quad-gun, Lascannon and 3 Boltguns fired into Ruins and killed the Unit of 2 Obliterators.

Turn 2

Bad rolls for most of my army, though my Vindicator penned the Space Marine Vindicator, shaking its crew. Marbo appeared behind Zombies and Typhus. He killed 9 zombies and wounded my Warlord. The Dreadnought ended 2 Plague Marines, 1 of them holding a Plasma Gun in his death grip. My opponent's Snipers killed the Biker Icon Bearer, the Thunderfire Cannon destroyed 6 Plague Zombies, his Quad-gun exploded a Rhino and the Deathstrike Missile Launcher fired its payload, killing Ebenezar and his Icon Bearer. The Dreadnought then plowed through a Plague Marine as it Assaulted Damocles' Unit headed straight for the Chaos Champion. Damocles passed his Look Out Sir and one of the other Plague Marines took the slam.

Turn 3

The Bikers, which had been retreating, saw their Warlord in battle and regained their courage, wounding Marbo. The Obliterator could not fire upon the Dreadnought which was assaulting the Plague Marines, so it blew up the Drop Pod. Typhus challenged Marbo, who had no choice but to face the Lord of Terror. The Loyalist could not wound Typhus and Manreaper sliced into Marbo 7 times, dashing his lifeless husk to the ground.  Nurgle smiled on Typhus' offering and rewarded the Warlord with recovery from a wound. My opponent's Vindicator missed the Chaos Vindicator but his Snipers killed a Biker holding a Meltagun and the Thunderfire Cannon stilled a Plague Zombie. The Dreadnought pummeled 2 Plague Marines but Damocles was able to place a Melta Bomb on the Ironclad, destroying it.

Turn 4

The Chaos Vindicator roared with its Demolisher Cannon and destroyed the Imperial Vindicator. None of my other shots were as satisfying as my opponent was holed up tight in Ruins and behind his Defence Line. My opponent's Deathstrike moved onto the middle of the battlefield, then Snipers brought Yuri down. The Thunderfire cannon fired at Typhus but his Armor soaked the hits. The Space Marine Quad-gun, Plasmas and Lascannons finished the lone Obliterator.

Turn 5

Typhus attempted to invoke a Weapon Virus on the Snipers, but the Loyalists were able to Deny the Witch. The Chaos Vindicator glanced the Deathstrike Missile Launcher. The Deathstrike then moved itself direction in the Vindicator's path. The Space Marine Thunderfire Cannon killed 5 Plague Zombies and Typhus took a wound. We rolled to see if the game would continue but it did not. The Space Marines carried the day.

Final Thoughts

Was a fun time getting the Quad-gun on the field and killing a few Loyalists. I probably should not have been as aggressive as I was. In fact it would have been a far different game had I simply turtled on my Objectives. Once my opponent got First Blood though I had no choice but to push and hope for the best. Upon reflection of this game, I've decided to no longer put Typhus with the Plague Zombies. While he's a melee kinda Champion, it takes too long closing the distance with my opponent and the casualties taken have not been worth it. Instead I'll have him join another infantry Unit, one that can Deep Strike. Until next time, see you on the battlefield!

Battle Report 1750 CSM vs. Tyranids

My 6th game of WH40K was against the army I was supposed to play in my first game, the Tyranids. My opponent had a variation of a 'nidzilla army and staring down his side of the table with the number of over-sized models and Monstrous Creatures he was fielding was a bit intimidating.

Total Cost 1737


HQ

295 Hive Tyrant Warlord, Monstrous Creature, Hive Commander, Toxin Sacs, Wings, Leech Essence

295 Hive Tyrant Monstrous Creature, Hive Commander, Toxin Sacs, Wings, Leech Essence


Troops

95 Genestealer Brood

95 Genestealer Brood


Elite

207 Yngarl Genestealer Brood x 9

130 The Doom of Malan'tai with Mycetic Spore

140 Deathleaper


Heavy

240 Carnifex with Mycetic Spore

240 Carnifex with Mycetic Spore


My opponent rolled the Master of Ambush, Warlord Trait. Typhus got the Psychic Powers, Gift of Contagion & Plague Wind. Papa Nurgle was not so rewarding to Damocles and Ebenezar as they were deemed unworthy of Gifts of Mutation. Yuri, however, received 2+ Armor from the god of blight. This fight was starting off with a calm beginning as my opponent only deployed the 2 Hive Tyrants on his end of the map with the rest coming in from Reserves on Turn 2. My troops were closest to an Objective to begin with, but I was planning on splitting my forces to collect 2 other Objectives.

In Turn 1 I moved the Chaos Bikers and a Unit of Plague Marines in a Rhino towards an unclaimed Objective on my side of the board. I then claimed an Objective with my Plague Zombies and the Obliterators moved towards the ruins to get line of sight on the 2 Hive Tyrants. I then moved my other Rhino with the Vindicator to try and take a shot at the Hive Tyrants. On my opponent's turn, he flew his Hive Tyrants straight at my Bikes and killed one with a Shooting attack.

Turn 2 started off rough as my Vindicator and 2nd Rhino couldn't fire at anything, but I moved the Rhino as far as I could towards an unclaimed Objective. My Zombies didn't move and 1 Obliterator got to the 2nd floor of the Ruins but couldn't hit any of the flying Hive Tyrants. My Rhino had disembarked but none of the Plague Marines wounded either Hive Tyrant. The Bikes got off their shots and managed to wound the Warlord Hive Tyrant. At the bottom of Turn 2 my opponent brought in all his Reserves. The Genestealers flanked in as 3 Mycetic Spores spewed out the Doom of Malan'tai and 2 Carnifexes. At the start of my Opponent's Shooting phase the Doom killed a ton of Plague Zombies and an Obliterator. The Tyranid Warlord opened fire, killed some bikes and Assaulted, easily eviscerating the rest of the Bikers. The other Hive Tyrant engaged my recently dis-embarked Plague Marines.

In Turn 3 the Rhino and Vindicator fired upon the Genestealers moving towards an Objective as Typhus unleashed a Plague Wind on the Yngarl Genestealer Brood, killing one. The Lord of Terror then Assaulted, soaked a ton of hits and suffered a couple wounds before he unleashed his Destroyer Hive, killing all but one of the Yngarl which ran for its life. The Plague Marines' Plague Knives stabbed into a Hive Tyrant causing a wound. The bottom of Turn 3 brought devastation to the Chaos force, as the Deathleaper came in from Reserves, all the Obliterators were cleared off the field and the Deathleaper destroyed a Rhino.

Turn 4 started promising as a couple of Genestealers were killed and the Plague Marines in Assault with the non-Warlord Hive Tyrant brought the Monstrous Creature down. The small victory was short-lived as the Doom set its eyes on Typhus and dashed his rotting corpse to the ground and the Deathleaper killed a couple of Plague Marines. Turn 5 and 6 resulted in the destruction of all but one Genestealer, which claimed an Objective, and the Vindicator was destroyed as the Carnifexes made similar slaughter of the Unit of Plague Marines which had killed the Hive Tyrant. The remaining Unit of Plague Marines were being whittled down by an Assault with the Warlord Hive Tyrant. The game ended at the end of Turn 6 with the Tyranids carrying the day. Until next time, see you on the battlefield.

Final Thoughts

The game played out similar to a sci-fi/horror movie with a plodding start followed by an explosion of monsters popping out and ripping apart everything in front of them. My opponent's army was a beast to fight against with needing 6s to hit the Hive Tyrants when flying, to the crazy amount of Reserves that came in on Turn 2. And that Doom of Malan'tai, wow, is it worthy of its name. It made short work of the Obliterators and Plague Zombies, hitting my guys and getting stronger every Shooting Phase. Immediately after the game, I thought I made a poor choice spreading my army out as thin as I did. But upon further reflection if I'd only had 2 groups in my army, that much more would have died when the Doom and Carnifexes came in. The Plague Marines were the stars of this match with killing a Hive Tyrant and putting pressure on another and while I lost Typhus, it's always fun unleashing his Destroyer Hive. Until next time, see you on the battlefield.

First Tournament Game 3 Battle Report 1250 CSM vs. CSM

Game 3 

In Game 3, Typhus received the Psychic Powers Weapon Virus & Endurance (made a mistake with Psychic Powers in this tournament and forgot Typhus can only select from the Nurgle line). As for Gifts of Mutation, Damocles got All-Consuming Hatred, Ebenezar got Witch-Eater & Yuri was blessed with a Mind of Metal. My opponent was running a CSM army with Khârn the Betrayer as the leader, and he had done an awesome job painting up his army in pre-heresy colors. His Khorne Berzerker Champion received the Venemous gift and his Chaos Space Marine Champ could reroll failed armor saves.

1250 total pts

HQ

160 Khârn the Betrayer

Troops

140 Chaos CultistsFlamer x2

220 Khorne Berzerkers Gift of Mutation, Melta Bombs, Power Sword, Veterans of the Long War

270 Chaos Space Marines with Rhino Mark of Khorne, Plasma gun

Heavy

210 Obliterator +2

250 Chaos Land Raider Dirge Caster, Dozer Blade, Extra Armor


For the final game of the tournament we were playing with components of the Scouring and Purge missions. In Turn 1 I had Damocles' & Ebenezar's Unit of Plague Marines at 2 of the Objectives and Typhus with the Plague Zombies at a third. My Obliterators were accompanying Damocles on the 2nd floor of Ruins and fired a couple Plasma Cannon shots at the Chaos Cultists who were sitting on an Objective. My Chaos Bikers were by Ebenezar's Unit ready to charge out. My opponent moved up on the board towards me but no casualties were had on either side, though a wound was given to 1 of my Obliterators.


That quickly changed in Turn 2. My Obliterators blew up the Rhino carrying the CSM getting me First Blood. In response my opponent fired and Assaulted my Bikers, killing a good number of them as Yuri issued a challenge and defeated the Khorne Berzerker champion, receiving Icy Aura from the Chaos Boon Table.


In Turn 3 my Biker squad was quickly cleared out as Khârn challenged Yuri and easily ended him. My Obliterators were glancing the Land Raider, but not doing much more. The Land Raider and my opponent's Obliterators had been firing at my Obliterators the whole game, and were getting a wound a turn which Typhus was able to remove by alternating Endurance casts on whichever Oblit was wounded.


Turn 4 Khârn and his Berzerkers Assaulted Damocles' Unit with The Betrayer issuing a Challenge to Damocles, who quickly died. My options were low, as I couldn't move out to face the Land Raider and wasn't in range with Ebenezar's Unit to do any good.


The game ended in Turn 5 when the rest of Damocles' Unit was killed as were the Obliterators. My opponent scored 8 VP to my 5.

Final Thoughts 

I probably shouldn't have left Typhus with the Plague Zombies again, he's a ton of points and was useless except for casting Endurance (which I shouldn't have had anyhow). I'm revising my strategy with Typhus for my next games before I alter my list. Additionally, I should have put Ebenezar's Unit in the Ruins with the 2 Meltaguns and Combi-Melta that unit had. Fun match and an awesome day playing 3 games against some fearsome armies. Until next time, see you on the battlefield!

First Tournament Game 2 Battle Report 1250 CSM vs. CSM

Game 2

In the 2nd game Typhus got the following Psychic Powers: Gift of Contagion & Iron Arm (as with the first game, I forgot Typhus can only choose from the Nurgle list). For Gifts of Mutation, Damocles got Mind of Metal which confers the Adamantium Will Special Rule, Ebenezar received Warp Frenzy which gave him +1 Attacks & Yuri got Blade of Chaos which gave his Power Sword Fleshbane. Unfortunately I didn't get a copy of my opponents' army for Game 2 and my notes are fast and loose so I'll have to wing this Battle Report.

1188 total pts

HQ

160 Huron Blackheart

Troops

175 Chaos Space Marines x9 Mark of Khorne, Icon of Wrath, 1 Meltagun
175 Chaos Space Marines x9 Mark of Khorne, Icon of Wrath, 1 Meltagun
63 Chaos Cultists x10 Autogun x8, Heavy Stubber

Elite

100 Helbrute

Fast Attack

170 Heldrake Baleflamer

170 Heldrake Baleflamer

Heavy

175 Forgefiend Hades Autocannon



The main mission for this game was Relic with a second element of Big Guns Never Tire (5 Objectives). My opponent went first, had his CSM with Huron Blackheart claim an Objective with a CSM Unit turtling at another. The Forgefiend and Helbrute stomped onto the middle of the board towards the Relic. On my turn, I used the Plague Marines to hold 2 of the Objectives with my Obliterators on the 2nd floor of Ruins which managed to hit 1 of the Heldrakes, destroying its Baleflamer. Typhus and the Plague Zombies moved out slowly and were able to Assault the Helbrute, which the Lord of Terror quickly destroyed, netting me First Blood.


The Heldrakes came onto the field in Turn 2 and they decimated my Plague Marines & Zombies. The Forgefiend destroyed a good number of Plague Zombies as well. The Unit of CSM my Bikers were moving towards opened fire and killed all the Bikers but the Champion, Yuri, who made his Leadership test and didn't run away. On my turn the PZs  moved with Typhus towards the relic, which one of the risen dead picked up. Fire was exchanged with my Obliterators at the Forge Fiend and a Glancing hit was made. I moved out with 1 of my Plague Marine Units to back Typhus and crew up.


In Turn 3 my opponent roasted all but 2 of the Plague Marines which had moved out, as well as the Plague Zombie that had the Relic. Huron Blackheart and the Unit of CSM he was with advanced towards the middle of the board. The Forgefiend picked up the Relic and on my turn Typhus moved to engage with the Obliterators raining hell on the Daemon-forged monstrosity.


The next 2 Turns went by quickly, with the Heldrake, whose weapon was destroyed, hovering in the middle of the board and completely blocking line of sight for my Obliterators. Yuri was finally brought down as was Ebenezars' Plague Marines. The Obliterators obliterated the Heldrake in front of them as Typhus struck down the Forgefiend with a roar. We rolled to see if the game ended, and it did. I had held 2 Objectives to my opponent's 3, scored First Blood as well as destroyed my opponent's Heavy. I scored 8 VP with my opponent scoring 9.

Final Thoughts

This was my first game fighting a Chaos Space Marine army and my opponent had fielded a lot of new Units. I'd heard the Helbrute was about worthless, and he certainly didn't do my opponent any good, but those fliers were viciously effective. Even when one of them lost its weapon it still managed to be a nuisance. If I were to play this game again, I would have moved to finish the Forgefiend first with the Chaos Bikers. They were going to die fast anyhow but they might have taken my opponent's Heavy out with them. Was a fun, close match. Until next time, see you on the battlefield!

Thinking of a festering army for 1850 points

Played my 7th game of 40k last night. After that game I'm mulling over losing the unit of Chaos Bikers and the Plague Zombies. While I like the Biker models and they are fast, I'm having difficulty keeping them alive past Turn 3 of a game. They have none of the benefits of the Plague Marines, just a nice toughness and the possibility of getting a Hammer of Wrath or 2 in Assaults. But that's not enough to get me in Linebreaker position before the Unit is blown to hell. I could try to turtle more with them, but most of my games have had my opponent placing a greater number of Primary Objectives than I, so I have to push. And these Chaos Bikers just don't push hard enough.

The only things falling faster than the Chaos Bikers with the list I'd been using were the highly situational corpses, the Plague Zombies.  They can't shoot, get no increase of Toughness as they can't get the Mark of Nurgle, are Slow and Purposeful so can't move across the board at a competitive pace. All they're left with is Fearless and Feel No Pain which only seems worth it in situations where you are in position to tar-pit an important enemy unit. Better get 35 stumbling husks for the number to properly do that for 2-3 turns, and that's if the PZs get to an enemy Unit not entrenched in Ruins before being ripped apart by enemy fire.

What I've found has worked consistently decent, even when they're backed against stiff odds, is Plague Marines. The pros of PMs are many. They can capture objectives with Typhus as my HQ. They have the stats of Space Marines with Fearless, Feel No Pain, Plague Knives (Poisoned 4+), and I'm thinking of getting 2 Flamethrowers along with them. The cons are they're slower than the Chaos Bikers, but they can take a Rhino as a dedicated transport which can bring another Havoc Launcher and Combi-bolta on the field. They aren't twin-linked, so rolling is more of a gamble and fewer hits will matter. I'm taking the belchers of flame as I plan to use these guys as my main defensive Unit for high scoring Objective control. They'll be behind the Aegis Defence Line manning the Quad-gun and roasting Assaulting infantry. So here's the revised list:

1850 total pts

HQ

230 Typhus


Troops 

367 Plague Marines with Rhino (Havoc Launcher) +5 Plague Marines, Flamer x2, Power Fist, Icon of Despair, Melta Bombs, Combi-Flamer, Gift of Mutation, Vets of the Long War x10

377 Plague Marines with Rhino (Havoc Launcher) +5 Plague Marines, Meltagun x2, Power Fist, Icon of Despair, Melta Bombs, Combi-Melta, Gift of Mutation, Vets of the Long War x10

387 Plague Marines with Rhino (Havoc Launcher) +5 Plague Marines, Plasma Gun x2, Power Fist, Icon of Despair, Melta Bombs, Combi-Plasma, Gift of Mutation, Vets of the Long War x10


Heavy

158 Obliterators  +1 Obliterator, Mark of Nurgle, Vets of the Long War x2

79 Obliterator Mark of Nurgle, Vets of the Long War

152 Vindicator Dirge Caster, Dozer Blade, Havoc Launcher, Siege Shield



Fortification

100 Aegis Defence Line Quad-gun


It's been my experience the Plague Marines already make effective tar-pits, and they can actually fight back, even against larger opponents. At least, that's what I'll be trying out as soon as I get a couple Flamers. Until then, see you on the battlefield.

New 40K FAQ out and a pondering on Plague Zombies

Games Workshop recently released the 40K FAQ version 1.2. Scanning the 40K message boards shows a lot of differing opinions on whether they're the right call or not, as well as some, "I told you that's how it worked," comments. Also released was the update to the Chaos Space Marine Codex to bring it in line with the 40K adjustments. Specifically of interest to me was the wording of Typhus' Plague Zombies:

‘Plague Zombies are Chaos Cultists that have the Fearless, Feel No Pain and Slow and Purposeful special rules and cannot purchase options other than to add additional models to the unit.’

The text in the CSM Codex then explains what the Plague Zombies are armed with, only a close combat weapon, then goes on to say, "any guns are used strictly for the purposes of clubbing their victims to death!"



Now, originally, I took that to mean that they were armed just like Chaos Cultists but could only use their guns in close combat, no firing allowed (though how cool would it have been if there was a chance for the club-gun to misfire while being swung around?). Reading it again after the FAQ release, I'm wondering if that is the case. Do the models holding a close combat weapon and a gun get 2 close combat weapons in assaults? Or is it a single close combat weapon, and no additional attacks (except for charging)?