Golden Throne GT South-West Pre-Game Show

Game Time! The crowds of the Con, the fierce competition, the different armies hastily glued together and perhaps a layer of primer applied... I love Grand Tournaments! When it all comes down to it, anybody can fine-tune their army for optimal performance against their regular opponents. But to build a force that can preform against anybody you might run into (known as a WAAC list; Win/Work Against All Comers) is a true skill and one that I constantly strive to perfect.

                                Beware the Grey Phantoms! Scourge of the GT circuit!

I'm going to the inaugural Golden Throne South West Grand Tournament this weekend at the inaugural WaCon in Waco, Texas. Here's a link:

 http://southwest.goldenthronegt.com/

Standard Core Rulebook missions and deployment, 5 rounds. I prefer this, as there's no special mission parameters to keep track of, and this allows you to focus on the game itself, not what goofiness the TO's have come up with. Don't get me wrong, there's a time and place for Forging the Narrative. An event where your paying $65 a head to compete in isn't it.

This will also act as a brief overview of the DE codex, touching upon some of the core features of the codex that makes it the most underestimated of the competitive armies.

The Army: Dark Eldar w/ Craftworld Allies

The Baron: Standard

(4) 5-man Warrior Squad: Blaster
- Venom: Night Shield, Flickerfield, duel Splinter Cannon

(2) 3-man Trueborn Squad: 2x Dark Lances
- Venom: Night Shield, Flickerfield, Duel Splinter Cannon

(3) Ravager: 3x Dark lances

Spirit Seer: Standard

5-man Wraithguard: D-cannons
- Wave Serpent: Twin-linked Scatter Lasers, Shuriken Cannon, Holo-fields

6-man Guardian Jetbike Squad: Standard

Wraith Knight: Standard

Total: 1,999 points

The Plan:

First, a bit a vetting: at the risk of bragging, my Dark Eldar are a force to be feared. They always do well, and my Win/Loss record is a bit better then 3-1. This codex does something that almost no other codex does: spreading firepower around equally. What I mean by that is that with most armies, if you destroy their 2-3 high-threat units, they are left with a smattering of tactical marines/guardsmen, and little else. By turn 3-4, they have nothing left that can do anything but run for the objectives. With DE, there are no obvious threat units. Everything puts out the same damage (if you build your army properly) and the loss of 2-3 units in turns 1-3 isn't crippling. With their advantage of speed and mobile firepower, believe me, its rare that an opponent kills more then this.

Another advantage this codex has, is Splinter Weapons, and Dark Light weapons. Splinter weapons ALWAYS wound on a 4+, regardless of the opponents toughness value. Many codex's pay a premium for higher-then-average toughness (biker units, Monstrous Creatures, the list goes on). Read my lips: I love seeing these units across from me! You have a 3+ save on that unit? I have the mobility and rate of fire that will make you take 15-20 saves. A turn. You WILL fail some. Most armies have to rely upon low ROF, high strength-low AP weapons to deal with these units. No so with DE; my basic troops all wound on 4+ with their guns. Suck it, Tyranids! (Vince, your the exception.)

Dark Light Weapons are the DE's standard anti-tank weapon. STR 8, AP 2, range varies: Blasters have 18" (assault), while the Dark Lances are 36" (Heavy). Each only fire a single shot. However, at BS4 they shine because of a certain USR they both have: Lance. This means that any Armor Values higher then 12, count as 12. This has the effect that you never need higher then a 4+ to glance, and a 5+ to penetrate. This may not seem like a great deal, but when your army has so many, that can move so fast and STILL fire...well, they do wonders. Dark Lances and Blasters are also great for character sniping; simply hose down the unit with splinter fire, and then ally the Dark Light Weapons. Any low model count, high armor unit (terminators and such) are great targets as well.

The Cons: DE suffer against lots of AV 12 tanks, and since the advent of 6th edition, flyers have been a real game killer. In addition, the changes to the disembark and fleet rules in 6th have killed off our assault abilities. Oh, well, we were always better at shooting anyways.

My above army puts out 72 splinter shots at 36" (not counting infantry!) and 13 Dark Lance shots at 36" (not counting movement speeds). All on BS4. And that's before you add in the Craftweorld Allie's shooting power. I've got every confidence in my Kabal's ability to saturate the high-value enemy squads with a hail-storm of poisoned shards of glass.

You'll notice that my firepower comes from my troops almost exclusively. This is a double-edged blade. On the one hand, my scoring units can fight AND make objective grabs. On the other, when I loose a unit, I loose BOTH scoring ability and firepower.

About my allies:

I've never used allies, in any of my armies. I just don't like the idea of ignoring the fluff for an in-game advantage. However, Eldar of both types maintain close ties in the fluff, so I'm okay with it.

As previously stated, the Dark Eldar have some glaring deficiencies  when it comes to fliers and enemy armor. Hopefully, the Wraithguard and the Wraith Knight, coupled with the Spirit Seers ability to 'mark' targets for them will help with this. Also, I believe this combination of units will add an overall "tough cookie" aspect to my army. This will be the very first time I have evert used these units in combat, so I'm going to have a steep learning curve, but I believe my decade and a half experience playing 40k will help negate it somewhat.

The Guardian Jetbike squadron is there to act as wounds for the Baron, and later in the game, abandon him to grab me Linebreaker points and maybe contest an opponents objective.

Watch this spot for  photos from the event and an in-depth battle report!

Until next time, Khaine Protects.

Marching from Macragge: Squad Judah

Greetings fellow dice rollers. Just finished my first full tactical squad, so I thought I'd share them.

Heres the whole squad. Being normal tactical marines, I didn't think anybody would care to see each individual marine. They are armed with a Grav-Gun, Heavy Bolter, and Sergeant Judah has a Combi-Grav. They will ride into battle in a Drop Pod, and that's the next on my list to build and paint. Here are some highlights:

As always, I apologize for the picture quality, I need to get a better camera and maybe a white box.

I've put the Chapter symbol and squad numbers on each marine, as well as Sergeant and Squad Leader markings on the leaders. This is my first time using the transfer sheets from GW, and I've gotten mixed results. Some have gone on perfectly smooth, while others are already starting to peel a little bit.

This squad was built from the new Tactical Squad box, with some bitz cherry-picked from the new Sternguard box. The new kits are excellent, and each and every bit and component has been completely redone. While they look similar, the details are much crisper, and the poses look a little more dynamic.

Side Note: I've scrapped Sicarius. While he is a solid army buffer, I wanted something a little more killy. So, I give you Captain Macabee. Noticed a theme in the names?

Also, I've given up the "recreating the 2nd Company" from the codex idea, too much inflexibility.

He's got a Thunder Hammer, and the shield can either be the relic, or a standard version.

Until next time, the Emperor Protects.

Recent Poll

Recent poll posted shows the space marines as the most popular army. So why is this exactly? Is it because they are featured in all the starter set? Or maybe its the iconic hero mystique that is portrayed in their background. The real reason space marines are so popular is they come in all the color and fluff of the rainbow, they are tactically extremely flexible able to achieve almost every play style with their rules. Lets not forget they are also updated for every edition so you know your army/investment wont be invalidated or unplayable for a decade. At the end of the day they are a players own nature made manifest whether your marines are defenders of humanity or see humans as worthless chattel that get in the way of stomping xenos and as a human it is fundamentally in our nature to be able to relate to these archetypes in space marines easier then say eldar or tyranids .

chapter tactics: or why our way of fighting is better then you(s)

 So this will be a series of articles focused on the way chapter tactics work and how to abuse them for the giant W... I mean the love of the game. So the first set we will have a gander at is the Ultramarines, GWs love child, their bread and butter, though for all you haters out there Ultramarines weren't always the poster, hell they only had the lime light for two editions. First edition also known as Rogue Trader had Crimson fist fighting orks, Second edition had Blood Angels fighting orks, third edition had Black Templar I believe fighting orks, fourth edition finally had Ultramarines vs Tyranids, fifth had Ultramarines vs orks, and sixth is dark Angels vs Chaos.... huh looks like orks are the marines favorite punching bag.

   Okay rant over lol, So Ultramarines get three doctrines. The first is tactical that lets all Ultramarins in your primary detachment reroll 1s when shooting, or if they are the actual tactical marine unit its all misses when shooting, this does allow tacticals to reliable reroll snap shots but onlyin your shooting phase so it wont work on over watch.

  The second  doctrine is the assault doctrine, it lets everyone in this detacthment reoll assault distance, it gives jump packs and bikes'attack bikes fleet instead i get why jump packers got fleet so dumb dumbs don't confuse it with the jump pack rules but I'm not so sure why the decided to point bikes out also.

  The Third doctrine is the devastator one, it lets your detachment reroll snap shots and gives devastaor marines relentless unless they are getting out of a vehicle, so no four heavy weapons and a drop pod combo.
  now you can put some devs in a rhino, call this doctrine and move said rhino up and let the relentless heay weapon troopers fire out the hatch.

  In the hands of a skilled player the Ultramarines tactics are scary game winning combos, there so flexible and help any kind of army you build, don't discount a drop assault with 40-60 twin linked bolter shots coming at you, sorry friends bolters win battle, they aren't high strength or flashy laser/plasma.lava beams but they will work over your opponents troops choices like a fat kid eats cake.


   lets break it down ive got 3 units in drop pods 2 tactical squads and an iron clad, i have 2 dev squads in rhinos and some bikers because lets face it bikers rock. So 2 pods come down try and get them close bar scatter failure. extend the doors for the love of god, then either have two tac squads take more up more space, dreadnought works for this also, pop your dev tactics move the rhinos up and shoot with relentless, unload with tac squad( rerolling with their snap heavy weapon) and now when your enemy wants to shoot hopefully their line of sight passes over your forward line, and yes if a unit shoots through or over a drop pod and its doors it gives you a 5+ cover, next turn hopefully you get tac squad 2 come down and hose the field with bolter shots.

  I did not mention the bikes because if you aren't running 2 grav guns and a combi grav at the very least on the squad and hunting monstrous creatures and elite infantry your doing it wrong. So in conclusion the boys in blue are back and kicking ass.

Awesome Hippo

i so want this as an objective marker, paint the cans as your choice of beer lol

Grav Weapons, quit yer bitchen

The new Space marines are here and man do they rock. The new sherif in town is easly the grav weapon, put simply it turns your your opponets awesome armor value up on its head imagine crushing an empty beer can. Thats what your oppontes 200+ squad/monster will look like in short order. The best platform for these guns besides the new centurion( who'd have thought the new expensive kit has good rules)is bikes. You get a very fast, RELENTLESS( key word) platfom. This way your getting maxium potntial out of these guns with a 12 inch move, 18 inch range so thats a 30 inch gun that fires 3 times with ap2 wounding on your targets armor save, ya termies are pwned on 2+( remember the beer can). Now agaisnt vehicles they are meh you have to roll a 6 and it causes 1 hull point and immobilizaed result. This is where the interwebs has its panties in a bunch. You have all these people saying that it doesnt cause an additional hull point to an alreay immobile vehicle and the only evidence they can throw at this conclusion is a faq meant for drop pods. Its like reading what the guy on ancient aliens says about pyramids and flying saucers( please no one give him a necron codex). Now how this gun works to the letter of the law( yes I grabbed my rule book and said " I am the law"). This is straight from the space marine codex entry on grav weapons( the vehicle part) When resolving a hit against a vehicle, instead of rolling for penatration as normal( what this means is your still rolling to penatrate the vechilce just not like you would with a lascannon so vehicles DO GET cover and invulnerable saves!!)on a 1-5 nothing happens, but on a 6 the target suffers an immobilised RESULT( hence you can get double immobiliezed and cause an additional hull point)and suffers 1 hull point. What this means becaus I talk to much is: if you shoot a vehicle fresh from xibit, new paint job and chrome, with no form of damage on it you will do 1 hull point and immobilize this vehicle. Ifyou shoot at the griswalds station wagon or a vehcile already immobilized you will do 2 hull points, 1 for the weopons ability and the 2nd for the a double immobilized result. If you happen to roll two 6s, which if using centurions its extremly likely as they get to reroll if they dont get a 6 and shoot 15 shots for 3 guys. You will cause 3 hull points, yes 3 hull points because: 2 for the guns ability and 1 for double immobilization. if any one disagrees with you or this please have them show me/you anywhere else in the RULE BOOK where it talks about the immobilization result except for the vehicle damage table (p74), which supports my argument by the way. I know all you Tau/Dar players are knashing your teeth and himming and hommering( yes I'm from the south. Please quit your bitching and lets compare cheesy/broken rules/wargear combos.....okay you done? can we play some 40k now? Look guys this is how it worked for drop pods till it got FAQd, and this is how it works for grav guns. I dont see IG players complaining and they have the most vehicles on the table. Why you ask becasue at the end of the day its a 3+ or 2+ dude who has the gun and enough shots/ russ pie plates or ghetto rending will smack the smurf upside his head and problem solved. Thanks for reading, until next time, Stay classy 40k

Marching from Macragge: Lions of Macragge

IG Fanatic here, time to post up Sicarius's Command Squad. To begin with, I had originally done up a few of them with Meltaguns because the SM CS has had access to these since 3rd edition. Then the new codex dropped, and they said CS didn't get access to Special Weapons anymore. So I refitted them with pure CC weapons. Then the other day, GW FAQ'ed them to get Special Weapons. *cue my annoyed face* Moving on...

Before I begin, bear in mind that none of this is my own creative process. As previously stated, I am copying the pre-established fluff for the Ultramarines 2nd Company which has already been set down by GW. You can find this in the old 5th edition Space Marine codex, or on page 24-25 of the new 6th edition codex.

Interesting fact: unlike the majority of the infantry units, the Command Squad did not receive a points reduction in the 6th edition codex. The Apothecary just became optional, which leaves the unit at the exact same points cost as before. 

Veteran Sergeant Daceus: (If your not pointing at the foe, your not an Astartes!)

  The leader of Sicarius's Command Unit, he has more stylized armor (BA Sanguinary Guard Torso and his left shoulder pad is a super-squirrel version of the chapter symbol). The Codex shows him as having a Power Fist, so he got one. This should be useful when I really need the squad to run up and back-hand an opposing vehicle. He also got a flamer; because it A) looks cool, and B) Power Fists are specialized weapons and don't gain the extra attack from having a bolt pistol, he got one of the squads Special Weapons. (More on that choice of weapon later.)

Apothecary Venatio:

Wow, these guys still can't get any upgrades. But they HAVE become an upgrade option, so if you don't want one, you don't have to pay the points for them. Basically, I just built an Apothecary out of the standard GW CS kit, and made sure to give him a bolt pistol so that he'd be WYSIWYG. Cheers. Note: The new white paint goes on exceptionally better then the old Skull White color. You still need 2-3 layers if your doing a large area like the Aothecary's backpack or his shoulder pad(s), but its definitely a step up from the previous color.

Brother Vandius (Company Standard Bearer):

Since I'm running the Codex Chapter upon which all codex chapters are based, I consulted the 2nd Edition Ultramarine Codex to see how the Company Standard Bearer should look. Chapter emblem on the left shoulder (standard practice) and a laurel-wreathed skull on the right. I also gave him a laurel-helmet from the Blood Angels Death Company kit, to add to his honored status. Regarding his "flag": I took inspiration from the United States Marine Corps, which by tradition has a 'Guide On' flag for each platoon, used for formation runs and basic formation duties. The banner itself bears the colors of the company (yellow) and in game play will count as a Power Lance, NOT a Company Banner.

This gives him +1 str and AP3 on the charge, but str-as-user and AP4 the rest of the time. My reason for this is two-fold: It fits the weapon he is carrying, and no one else I've ever heard of uses Power Lances. At All. That's reason enough for me.

Note: I should not have taken this picture with the bright yellow storage bin in the background, but oh well, I'm too lazy to change it.

Honored Brother Gaius Prabian:

The Codex Fluff lists this guy as the Company Champion, but that unit's wargear is horrible. So I'm taking an exception to the fluff with this model. He's just a standard Veteran whose got a Power Axe, and a Bolt Pistol. Other then that, nothing else special. He's got a head from the new Sternguard plastic kit, and a note about those. They look beautiful, but the facial details are such that even the slightest layer of paint obscures the details and makes their face look like oatmeal. I may go back and replace his head with helmet at some point.

Brother Malcian:

 
 The Companies Chief Communications Officer. Yes, the fluff says that each suit of Power Armor has comms gear, but I love the Horus Heresy squads that have a radio man in each squad. The radio is an Imperial Guard command squad Vox Caster. I just carved down the backpack mount on his rear torso and,... boom! He also has one of the squads flamers as well. Seemed like a good choice for him. I plan to have each Tactical squad in the army have a radio man as well.

The Squad as a Whole:

A few notes. I plan to mount the whole unit with Captain Sicarius in a Land Raider Crusader. This will ensure that it gets to make the charge. This is crucial as its an assault unit, and coupled with Sicarius's Warlord Trait, getting the charge is everything.

I chose Flamers because they are a cheap way to soften up an enemy unit before the charge. Plus, Tyranids and Orks are likely to be the next up for Codex release by GW, so it makes sense to incorporate some decent anti-horde weapons in now. The varied close combat weapons are there to cause maximum damage no matter what unit they need to destroy. Each member has 4 attacks on the charge; that's a lot of STR 6-9 attacks! Note that due to Sicarius's one-time Furious Charge ability (Warlord Trait), those weapons are at 1+ STR. Used properly, this unit should give me the ability to crush a crucial enemy unit in assault. It has an excellent mix of at-initiative AP3 attacks and I1 AP2 attacks.  With a Land Raider as transport, this will be my opponents neglected backfield scoring unit, as most 6th edition armies lack suffient weapons capable of stopping a Land Raider of any type. This will make his/her game plan shift uncontrollably. Well, hopefully.

Modeling: I've given every member of the squad a Veteran Sergeant shoulder pad, as they are the cream of the 2nd Company, and they would all be Veteran Squad Leaders in their own right. I also made sure each member has Frag/Krak grenades and spare ammo pouches, because, well, this just makes sense.

Well, that's all for now, hope you enjoyed reading!

Marching from Macragge: Meh, why not Sicarius

Greetings fellow malcontents. IG here with my Sicarius model, and a short run down of what he can do in games. Yes, I know I went on about how he wasn't that great last post, but point-for-point, he's better then anything else the Ultramarines have going (except Tigurius; but he's just going to be too popular  with other UM players for my tastes).

Here's my Captain Cato Sicarius:

I'm not the best painter or photographer, but you get the idea. I'm happy with how he came out. The only thing I added was his sword. It's a Grey Knight terminator sword, so its taller then he is! One thing I've noticed; he is a good head taller then a plastic marine.

The Rules:

Sicarius has the basic captain stat line, and the normal wargear you'd expect a Marine to have: grenades, Iron Halo, and he comes with a stock standard plasma pistol. I would have preferred he come with a bolt pistol and 15 points cheaper, but oh well. A plasma pistol at BS 5 is pretty good, I guess.

He also comes with two pieces of unique wargear: The Mantle of Suzerain, and the Talassarian Tempest Blade. The mantle gives Sicarius a 2+ armor save, and Feel No Pain (5+). Pretty decent, although like his plasma pistol, I feel like your paying points for something you could choose or not choose to get from another source. He's got about as much protection as any captain can have outside of a storm shield. The Tempest Blade is really just a power sword. However, during any combat, Sicarius can exchange all his attacks to make a single attack. This attack is made at +2 strength and causes instant death. I could see this having its uses; chiefly against foes with multiple wounds that can't breach his 2+ save. Its a mighty big risk, though. I plan to always challenge and always use this ability against ANYTHING with a save of 3+ or worse. It'll be fun to see how many duels he can win.

Sicarius has a host of special rules. I won't really go through them all by name, but suffice to say he has the following abilities: if he's on the board, you get +1 to your reserve rolls and all Ultramarines can use his leadership for pinning and morale checks. He of course has the standard ATSKNF that makes Space Marines what they are, is an Independent Character, and has Chapter Tactics (Ultramarines). His Warlord trait is always The Imperium's Sword. This gives him (and any unit he has joined) a one-use Furious Charge ability. Meh. Might be useful to make his one shot super swing strength 7.

Battle-forged Heroes: This is the real reason to take Captain Sicarius. One of your Tactical Squads (they must be in Sicarius's detachment) gains one of the following USRs, chosen during deployment: Counter-attack, Infiltrate, Scout, or Tank Hunters. CA is pretty shitty. Tank Hunters is sort of wasted on a Tactical squad, theres just no real application that I can see once you see these next two. Infiltrate and Scout. Infiltrate is the clear winner, although wanting to outflank could work with Scout.

Heres the set-up I'm seeing. 10-man Tactical squad. Heavy Bolter and special weapon of choice (I'm still undecided here, probably a Plasmagun. Feel free to comment below on your opinion). Infiltrate into a ruin or other suitable terrain feature mid-field. Proceed to be a huge pain the rest of the game. Also, you could infiltrate directly onto the Relic, and sieze it turn 1. A full strength Tactical squad can be incredibly hard to shift. Another idea is load them up into a rhino or 6-strong into a razorback, and outflank. When you play Hammer and Anvil, this could be ideal.

Well, that's it Sicarius. Tune in next time for a look at Ultramarines Chapter Tactics.     

Marching From Macragge: Sicarius out, Calgar in!

IG Fanatic here, taking a break from homework to up post an update to my army progress.

While I do not yet have the codex (FedEx.com assures me it will arrive tomorrow), Nova Star has been gracious enough to forward me information from his. And I must say, the changes to Command Squads really nerfed my HQ slot idea. Initially, I had planned to run Captain Sicarius as my HQ, and run him with a Command Squad kitted out for bear with meltas and flamers, and maybe some Power weapons/fists. Add a drop pod, deploy to cause havoc. However, with Command Squads loosing the option to take Special Weapons and therefore becoming a CCW unit rather then a shooty unit that can fight in assault well (combi-weapons just aren't worth the one-shot load for their points), I'm left with the task of rethinking the whole idea. I could kit the whole unit out for pure assault, I suppose.

However, several problems arise from this choice: Sicarius is pretty average in close combat. The Command Squad isn't much better. Also, we need another transport other then the drop pod; that would leave them sitting in the open for a turn at best, or leave them chasing the enemy for a couple of turns at worst. Since they are an assault unit, their transport needs to have an assault ramp, basically. That leaves us with either the Storm Raven or the Land Raider as the only viable option. At this stage we're looking at a 600-ish point unit that can be destroyed relatively easy by enemy fire. Here's what would happen: They jump out, SMASH an opposing unit. Next turn they DIE. The transport then goes off and causes some damage. Meh...   

Really, what attracted me to Sicarius in the first place was to infiltrate or scout a FULL tactical squad. Sounds cool, right? Well, it is. But... a drop pod gives you the same effect, possibly with more flexibility. *sigh* So Sicarius is out. Really, Sternguard do the drop pod shooting-role better then a Command Squad would have anyways.

I still need a stalwart Leader to break into the enemy lines (lets face it, that's really what this codex brings to the current meta; what were you thinking, you'd outshoot Tau or Eldar? Pssshhh!).

So who will lead my Space Legionaries into the fray?

     
   Who indeed? Allowing that FedEx is on time, I will update tomorrow with something with a little more substance.

Emperor Protects. 



   

Ravenwing vs Daemons

Okay so my first battle report 

We played 500 points ( I used the exact load out from an earlier post), we rolled relic for our mission, no night fight

I won first deployment and opted to go first, I scouted my army up 12, then my opponent failed to seize the initiative.

The daemons list was iirc

Herald of Tzeentch on disc master lvl2

5-6 flamers

10 daemonetts

10 daemonetts

1 burning chariot

One daemonett squad reserved everything else on the board.

:Just to preface I did do all my moving, shooting etc in correct order but I do not explain it like that:

Turn one:  

Bike squad one moved up to shoot the flamers, I killed one, bike squad two with sammael moved up and took the relic, sammael shot his plasma cannon at the the herald and scored a direct hit and wound, the herald failed his invulnerable and his toughness 3 ass went back to the warp and scored me first blood and slay the warlord in one swoop My typhoon then shot his burning chariot doing 2 hull points and stunning the vehicle.

The daemonetts ran forward( damn they are fast) flamers domed up and killed 2 bikers from squad one. He rolled dick and peanuts for the warp storm chart ad his flamers took a wound and failed a charge on my bikes.

Turn two:

My bikes move at the daemonetts and blast 3 dead, the other bike squad moves away, sammael splits off to hunt the flamers, and my typhoon finishes off the burning chariot. Sammael scores two wounds on the flamers with his plasma cannon and kills 1 then I charge and take a wound and kill just 1, he does 1 wound back to me :(, 

My bikers in some list fueled moment of idiocy charge the daemonetts 

Tactical tip: avoid combat with daemonetts of you can unless you have invulnerable saves out your ass.... Even then it's a bad idea, these tasty crab ladies have better weapon skill then the average marine, is faster and has more attacks and the sweet cherry on top they are rending. This makes marines a SAD Panda. 

So lets just say I had rubber lance syndrome from Warhammer fantasy for my hammer of wrath attacks then my 4 bikes are quickly turned into a German snuff film.

My opponent then makes his reserve roll and lands( did not scatter) his other squad of daemonetts right by relic holding bikes and then proceeds to almost wrap around them with a run move... Remember daemonetts are fast, very fast, in hindsight he didn't need to as the other squad came in with part hats and ball gags and proceeded to show my bikers how to have a good time, ya they got hosed. Oh sammael did a wound and didn't take any back he failed his instability but just by one so he has one flamer left and I opt to hit and run, oh ya he rolled another 7 on his warpstorm

My turn: I have sammael and a typhoon I guess we could have called it but remember never give up and never surrender, so I will paraphrase next few turns I play cat and mouse with his daemons and through amazing shooting kill them all, sammael is killed by some nasty warpstorm knock to the head and in the final round his flamer takes a hull point off my speeder with his breath and charged me and got the last one 

So points were 2 v 2

I got warlord and first blood, he got warlord and line breaker, bit he tabled me in the 11th hour so got the win

Great game, but I will say if you are winning dont charge the daemons, just bite the ham and play the safe game 

Marching From Macragge: Introduction

Greetings, Fellow Wargamers! IG Fanatic here, and this is the first post of my contribution to A Tale of Four Gamers.

 Lets start with being clear about something from the gate: I love competitive play, tournaments are my happy, Zen place. All the troubles of real life melt away, and there's just me and the guy across from me (okay, and my wife rooting me on via text messages). Some people like the hobby aspect of the game (building, painting, converting), some love forging a story while they play. Heck, some people just love buying every new model and stacking the boxes 12' feet high in their game room, never really touching them. I love all these aspects of the hobby as well. But... for me, its all about the Grand Tournament. I'm not a top-notch competitor, but I hold my own and have a blast doing it.  Look for more on that topic in a later post, coming soon.

Oh, and I'll just get the elitist comment out of the way now: if its not fully painted and based, I don't play with it. Period. Same goes for WYSIWYG. My army on the table is EXACTLY what it says on my Army List. It's a pride thing, I guess.

So without further digression....    

We all love Space Marines, right? They have cool armor, the models are cheap, and given enough time, they can chew their way out of a prison due to their acidic saliva. What's not to like? I own a Blood Angels and a Dark Angels army, and they preform well enough. "If you own two Power Armor armies already, why would you start a 3rd?" I hear you say. Well, I'll tell you.

My BA 'jumper' list (also known as a Descent of Angels army list; every unit reserved, and you deep striked into the midst of your opponents battleline) got nerfed due to the changes to reserves in 6th edition (you can only reserve 50% of your units now), and my DA list is very one dimensional (Azrael and friends come down in a drop pod turn 1, along with 2x units of Deathwing. Tactical squads and rifleman dreadnoughts follow behind). That's the way the armies run, that's it, that's all. I could buy new units to try and make them work, and heck, I might even do that one day. But its so much more fun to start fresh. And I'll be honest, I started DA because they were the new hotness. I could care less about their fluff, and really, the color scheme is pretty dull as well. "Oh, half your Chapter turned rebel and stabbed you in the back?" Cry me a river, you pansies.

So there it is. One army that doesn't work anymore, and another whose play style I don't really care for. With the eminent release of Codex: Space Marines (Here after known as Codex: 31 Flavors), I find myself putting my much vaunted Dark Eldar (well, I think their vaunted) on the shelf and returning to my roots: fighting for the Emperor as a super human, acid spitting, quad-lunged donkey-kicker.

(Disclaimer: I would never kick a donkey, but think about it: donkeys are pretty heavy and solidly built animals. Anyone who kicks them for a living would have to be pretty tough, right? Or at least have really cool boots. I mean, the average person would probably cause more harm to themselves, then the donkey. Or it could mean that they kick like donkeys, which the Lore says is very well. Anyways...)

So which chapter? So many choices... I could spend a whole article explaining why I didn't pick uncivilized White Scars, or the cowardly Raven Guard (mostly I just don't want to paint black or white, we'll leave it at that). So, I would like to point your attention to this Youtube video.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AP7XCCUcug&list=FLjm6_OsepA3z831_cQlcFpw&index=16

I haven't figured out how to embed the video, my apology's. When I do, I'll come back and fix it.

If you haven't clicked it, I'll just let you know here. Its the opening battle scene from the movie "Gladiator". In it, a Roman General masterminds a battle with his Roman Legion against some Germanic barbarians. Through superior tactics, equipment and discipline, he defeats them after what is alluded to as a fierce campaign. Great shots of lines of Legionnaires marching in formation towards the foe, their massed artillery covering their advance and weakening the enemy until they can close and shove their gladius's into their faces. What could be cooler, right? So there it is: Ultramarines.

I'll save the exact ideas behind the army for later posts after we have the new Codex: Space Marines in our paint-stained hands, but lets look at what they offer that my more combat role-specific marine armies lack. And that my dice-rolling brethren, is this: flexibility.

This is what allows Space Marines to hold their own against a galaxy of giant bugs, technologically advanced aliens, magic-wielding Elves and their own evil brothers. Take the humble Tactical Marine: He can shoot very well, and swing a knife fairly well. He can threaten most vehicles and Monstrous Creatures in assault (krak grenades), and can take a plethora of wargear options that help mitigate what he can't already do. To top it off, his armor allows him to shrug off damage that would cripple, if not destroy, an entire Imperial Guard Platoon. He can assault the enemy, no matter where they are hiding, and fire a shot off before he does (Frag Grenades and Bolt Pistol, respectively). True, other SM armies have these same abilities, but their more elite, chapter specific units aren't geared to versatility, or are so point-costly that their versatility is lost. Example: Death Company can theoretically be used to form a fire base. But that'd be a waste of the other abilities you spent points to acquire.   You may disagree with this, but its how I see it.

And here's the clincher: he's your basic Troop Choice. Now expand those abilities to the entire army. What makes Vanilla SM powerful is the very thing that steers many players away from the army.

I plan to copy the template given on page 18-19 of the 5th edition Space Marine codex for the 2nd Battle Company of the Ultramarines. I've built my own chapter with their own unique color scheme, and named my own characters, all that jazz. Blah-blah-blah. I want to take something that's already in the fluff, and bring it to life. Note: there are 3 different Captains leading the Ultramarines 2nd company in the 'fluff'. Cato Sicarius in the codex's. That dude from the video game (I won't respect that garbage by properly citing his name), and that weak-ass Captain from the Ultramarines movie (which was a classic, mind you; but it'd be blasphemy to mention that daemon-prince-turning traitor by name). The one true lord of the 2nd is Sicarius. End of story. 

Over the coming months, as I buy, build, and paint the army and take it to tournaments, all the while posting entries and photos about the armies construction, its victories and its defeats. Along the way, hofefully, we'll examine the new codex.

So far I have:
-1x each: New Sternguard, Vanguard, and Tactical squad on pre-order from GW.
- Sicarius and an Apothecary built and painted (that article will be up in a day or two, as school work allows).
- An Ironclad Dreadnought from my aborted attempt to convert my BA list into a Vanilla Army.
-A metric feth-ton of spare SM bitz from my previous 2x SM armies.

To wrap this up, I'd like to make a vow to kick this project off in true Adeptus Astartes fashion. Each Marine will have a different head. I will use NO duplicates. It'll just be cool, you know?

Thanks for reading and see you next time!