Friday, August 31, 2012

Quick update: Aegis defense line

Just want to show off the first piece of my aegis.  Took a Dremel and a couple metal bits and just went to town.  Most pieces probably won't be this bad, and one will actually be worse (planning on a whole section blown off).  Need this done.


Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Tournament thoughts..6th edition and competitive play.

Quick reports on my tournament, I did pretty well going 2-1, getting best sports and more importantly getting to fight lists I had not seen before.




So the first thing I have to note is that IG can, in fact, put out enough firepower at 1500pts to kill off the nob bikers.  Having 2 Leman Russ tanks at 1500 is a challenge for me. I did get one to turn around so I could glance it out with Lootas and living lightning, and nobs killed another (different game) in assault.  The one game I lost was due to scoring Vendettas thanks to The Scouring rules. I did take one out, so that bring my flyer total to 8.  Didn't get any razorwings off the DE player though, I was too busy firing at scoring units.

(as it turns out it was Big Guns Never Tire so the flyers were scoring lol, but luckily my win held up due to secondary mission of objectives)

I still like the list, I liked the Space Wolves in there as well.  The Demolisher in the 2nd game really ruined my day, mainly because I read his list wrong and didn't realize it was a demolisher..sigh.  Stuff happens.  Be more through in your list reading boys and girls.

I might someday use a transport for the Space Wolves.

---

General thoughts.

First, I've played in and watched a total of 3 6th ed local tournaments and the turnout has been disappointing.  Half of what usually shows up.  Not sure why.

Could be summer winding down, people getting ready for school and stuff.
Could be people don't like 6th
Could be people don't like the idea of a tournament where they have no idea what's showing up.

I think option c is more likely.  Just my guess.


The book missions provide some interesting twists, especially objectives and terrain that add quite a random factor to the game I'm not sure fits well with competitive play.  Luckily they didn't really effect my games at all.

Another thing, I was the only one there with a fortification, which was a bit of a surprise.

Fixed terrain with fortifications is quite interesting sometimes, having to fight around rocks and stuff to get the line set up.  I can't imagine trying to put a skyshield in some places.

I had a good time, got away from my kids for a couple hours and played 3 people I had never met before. Can't beat that.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

1500pt tournament list

Just finished throwing together some Space Wolves because I'm going to be taking them to a tournament today at Other Worlds Games

Pretty much going to stuff as much cheese in as possible at 1500pts.

I am playing the same Nob Biker unit.  I don't think there are many lists that can put out the required firepower at 1500pts to kill them off, considering how hard they are too kill vs 1750 and 2000pt armies.

Primary Detachment:
HQ: Big Mek, KFF, Bosspole
HQ: Warboss, bike, pk, squig, cybork, bosspole

Troop: 7 Nob Bikers, Cyborks, painboy, 2xpk, 1x Big choppa, waggh! banner, painboy
Troop: 30 Shootaboys, 3x big shoota, Nob w/PK& Bosspole
Troop: 10 grots + Runtherd

Elite: 10 Lootas
Elite: 10 Lootas

Fortification: Aegis Defense Line

Allied Detachment:
HQ: Rune Priest, JoWW, Living lightning
Troop: 5 Grey Hunters, 1x Meltagun

1500pts on the nose.


So we'll see what happens. Last time I went there, I lost all 3 games lol. Hope I can do better this time.

Friday, August 24, 2012

The need for psychic defense

Over the last 2 games I've lost 7 nob bikers and the warboss to psychic powers.

Basically Jaws of the World Wolf lost me this game. all by itself. If I had made even statistical saves on it, my nobs would have had a good shot at killing all my opponent's scoring units. Necrons are scary at range, not so much up close and personal.




I've thought about the need for psychic defense, but now I've played more the need is clear. 

If you run nob bikers that is, if you don't then it isn't anywhere near as bad.  Enfeeble makes nob bikers weak to S8 again.  JoWW of course is just bad news in general.  I'm sure there are more including the totally unneeded Terrify.

I see two valid options for adding defense as allies:

Option 1: Space Wolves

HQ: Rune Priest 100pts
Troop: 5 Grey Hunters, 1 meltagun 80pts

Pros:
stops all powers on a 4+
useful as an offensive unit
Really good powers
I already own the models (no cash needed!)
A bit cheaper in points

Cons:
limited range


Option 2: Eldar

HQ: Farseer, Runes of warding, Doom (95)
Troop: 5 Rangers (95)

Pros:
table-wide
No need to put models in harm's way

Cons:
Not that useful outside the runes
I have to spend money
Depends on opponent's rolling instead of mine

Overall I think the Eldar are better, simply because the farseer can hide and still do it's job.

So for now I'm going to put together the Space Wolves (converting a priest from the space wolves box) and I'll try that out.  Depending on the points level of the Bay Area Open, I'll have to go for some Edlar.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Jet Wagon progress and special rules! Ludicrous speed!

Working on my jet battlewagon tonight. I finished all the bits for it, so just need to do the main body.

Also might need some way to break up the red a little more. Thinking some decals. Not sure yet.



I put it all together for this pic, and suddenly thought this thing is so awesome it needs it's own rules!


JetWagon

110pts

Type: Vehicle (tank, open topped, transport)
14/12/10, 4HP
Wargear: None
Transport Capacity: 20

Special rules: Ludicrous speed!, Emergency stop!

Ludicrous speed!
The JetWagon is so fast as to be just a blur on the battlefield, frequently flying through the air instead of keeping the wheels on the ground!
-Any turn the JetWagon moves more then 6" in the movement phase, it must move flat-out in the shooting phase.
-If the JetWagon makes a flat-out move, it must move 18", and must do so in a strait line. In addition, when moving flat out it gains the Jink special rule. 
-If the JetWagon fails a dangerous terrain test when moving flat out, it does not stop. Instead it finishes it's move and then is destroyed, but rolls on the ramshackle table to resolve the destruction.
-If a flat-out move moves the JetWagon off the table, it is allowed to leave and enters ongoing reserve.
-If moving flat-out, the JetWagon moves over enemy and friendly models as if it was a skimmer.
-If moving flat out, in the following movement phase the JetWagon is allowed a single turn of up to 90 degrees and then must move 12", but may attempt an emergency stop!

Emergency stop!
Roll a d6, on a 4+ the emergency stop! fails, the JetWagon takes a hull point in damage and follows the rules for Ludicrous speed!  On a 1-3, the JetWagon can act normally, ie move up to 6" and passengers may disembark and assault, etc.

Options:
May add up to 4 weapons:
Big shoota +5pts
Rokkit Launcha +10pts
TL Shootas +5pts
Skorcha +5pts

May add up to 1 main weapon:
Kannon +10pts
Lobba +15pts
Zzap gun +15pts

May take one of each of the following:
Armor plates +10pts
Grot Riggers +5pts
Red paint job +5pts
Reinforced Ram +5pts

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Where has all the close combat gone?

After posting my latest bat rep, against Tyranids (which I was really worried about btw), a commenter asked if there was just one close combat in the game.

Actually there were 2.

6 turns. 2 charges + 1 failed charge.  From Orks and Tyranids. What. the. hell.


The comment really got me thinking about the way I play my army and 6th ed in general.  It is true I have not played my army as close-combat centric in a very long time, but it was never to the point of avoiding combat. In fact my whole plan was to use shooting to soften up units to get ready for the boys smash phase of the game.  I usually moved the boys up getting ready for charging (except against purifiers of course). 

Not anymore. I've been very content with sitting the boys back and just shooting. Just as a side note, I've actually been using big shootas again, first time in a very, very long time and liking them.  Originally I only took the big shootas in one unit because I have the points for rokkits.  I hated big shootas in 5th, always opting for rokkits in the boys squads or nothing at all.  Against these 'nids, I actually benefited from the range. If we see more infantry-heavy armies in 6th, going with big shootas might not be a bad idea.

But anyway back on topic.  Almost every game of 6th I've played, the boys really have not done much. Only the one game against SM/GK's have they really gotten into combat.  I feel like this is where I need to spend most of my time practicing, is what to do with the boys.  They don't take any fire as long a the nob bikers are alive, giving me a chance to reposition or threaten whatever I want to while the nobs are the focus of my opponent, which I have really yet to take advantage of.   The boys are also good at protecting "da wall of awesum", which is important to my game plan.  Of course not every build out there can threaten the lootas, so it's something to worry about on a game-by-game basis.

Even as I go back over the game and look at what the nob bikers have actually done, it really isn't much.  They simply don't get a chance to kill many units, because so much firepower is being poured into them.  Almost all my damage is done by..lootas.  Which is all the more reason why I need to learn how to use the boys the best way possible.

However, all this lamenting over a lack of close combat might be just hand-wringing.  For now at least, shooting is king of 6th.  Trying to go against that trend might work, might not.

I mean I have yet to lose a 6th ed game, so I guess I must be doing something more or less right (along with a lot of luck as well).

Continuing to work on old projects..return of the Jet Battlewagon

My latest video, showing me working on my jet battlewagon which hasn't been touched in a very long time.




I've been working on it since then, and have most of the chipping done on the tank itself.

Next step was to try a wash. I need to add depth, dirty it up and fill in the panel lines.  All this without getting rid of the color graduations I worked so hard to create.

It did work out using a slightly thinned-down devlan mud.  Of course I might have to do the main body in the new earthshade color as I'm almost out of devlan mud.

I really like how it turned out, getting everything I wanted.

Next step will be a light drybrushing of chainmail on the edges, and maybe some black streaks.







I hope to have this cranked out really soon, really does not have much to do.  Then I need a model for next month's freebootaz challenge.


Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Dark Eldar Venom complete!

Finished the Venom I bought for the Freebootaz 2012 Toys for Tots army.  We are doing both Dark Eldar and Chaos Space Marines this year.

I'm really, really happy about this. Took a while, had not painted any DE before.  I didn't wash the whole model, just pin washed the lines.  That kept the nice airbrushing I did. 

I plan on doing a Chaos Rhino as well. Not 100% sure yet.

Anyway, pics...






Sunday, August 12, 2012

Hobby Update: Dark Eldar Venom

Finished the airbrushing on the Venom. I need to decide if I want to wash the whole model or just black the lines.


Need to finish by Wednesday, so I need to get moving. Really once the cockpit is done, the rest is pretty trivial.

Friday, August 10, 2012

My lootas are officially aces!

Last night I downed by 5th flyer of 6th edition (not counting the ones that have gone into hover mode).

I don't see what's the big deal.   They seem to die pretty easily. In fact only one flyer has survived against me, and that's because my opponent made all his flickerfield saves..then it zoomed off the board.

Of course pumping out between 30 and 90 S7 shots may have something to do with that..hehe.

Lootas currently are the best anti-aircraft unit in the game, by a wide margin.

My turn, bitches!


I was planning on taking Space Wolves to the Bay Area Open but that plan is currently on hold both for financial and rules reasons.  As soon as they figure out what they are going to do for BAO 2013, and of course the next 'dex or two plus upcoming BRB faq's, I can figure out what I want to do.

That won't leave me a lot of time to buy, assemble and paint anything. At this point I'm leaning towards playing Orks. I think could improve the paint level and basing on a 2k army in just a couple months.  I would probably add in a Farsear ally depending on the points level.

There is also word that Faeit (who is local to me in the Portland area) is planning on a real GT in the area, something that has not happened in a while to be around the same time as the BAO.  Don't know if the wife would let me out that much :)


Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Hobby update: Dark Eldar, project box clean-out

After digging through my project box, I decided to work on a couple things.

First is the Ork Stompa commander. he's all done, a few layers and highlights here and there.


Next is the Dwarf captain model. he's all done. I wanted to dive into this a bit more but the model just didn't lend itself  to too much detail.  I did blend the fur cloak and did some zenith highlighting on the armor.  I went with a Caucasian skin mainly to make it stand out from the otherwise grimdark paint job.   The red gems and bright gold were done with the same idea. I do like how the grey hair turned out.



And finally starting in on the Dark Eldar Venom for Toys for Tots. It's a new experience for me, never done elves before, but not any harder then grots.  The gunner is almost done, the guns as well. After that is the flag and then breaking out the airbrush for the body.


Very fun to paint, that's for sure. Love the hair color, again chosen mainly to provide contrast to the otherwise dark paint scheme.

That's all for now.

Still open for commission.  Check out the pricing on the services tab and contact me at da40korks@gmail.com

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Brief 40k OFCC afterthoughts and the last game of 5th edition, ever..

I had a good time at OFCC this year.   I ended up 4-1 and the team ended up dead middle.



Just some quick notes on how my list worked and some observations.

1. Every game but 1 I put the 10-man assault squad in the stormraven. I never put the SG in it, though I think I should have.
2. An empty rhino is incredibly useful. I used it for mobile cover, for blocking transport advancement, as a unit to score points in the opponent's deployment zone and (baring a failed terrain test) for last second objective contesting.
3. Empty rhinos are ignored.  Completely.
4. Dante is awesome. I love hit and run.
5. I still hate attack bikes.  They only miss when it really matters.  They are good for bullet magnets.
6. Blood Angels are fast. Really fast. I was able to get around the board so fast every time. Against MC heavy 'nids I was able to move and shoot over and over, stay far enough away and then go in for the kill at the end.  I was able to drop in one side, kill a threat, then jump/flat out my way across the board with little effort.
7. I got lucky several times.  From Dante making 7 invulnerable saves against fists to getting a single hit on a trygon prime with the libby and killing it with the force weapon.   Better lucky then good!
8. I rarely had the tools I needed to deal with something.  Twice I had to face a 40+ marines, and I just don't have the bodies to deal with that. If not for luck (see #7) I should have lost 2 of those games.
9. It is possible to make a really, really bad GK list. I've seen it.

This was the largest OFCC ever, and the largest even put on by Ordo Fanaticus.  Both of these will probably be broken next year.

My very last game of 5th ever will always give me a sad face. First, I made a couple of key mistakes, but even with that I was starting to crawl my way back into the game.  Then the dice really took a dump on me. Even though at the end of the game I still had the chance to fight for a tie, but the dice thought otherwise.  In the last turn I hit with the multi-melta on the SR, only to roll 1&2 for armor pen.  Then later that turn I lost a combat by 2, only needing a 7 and roll boxcars. Sigh.

Even as we were cleaning up I was starting to think about next year, both OFCC and my planned trip to the bay area open.  But that's a discussion for another post..

Saturday, August 4, 2012

OFCC 40k, two day tournament.. can't sleep!

So one of the biggest tips anyone can give when playing in a tournament is get sleep!  Normally I stay up pretty late (as I don't have to be to work until 11am) so trying to get to bed early didn't work.

I do have lots of water to pack, ice, food, etc.  Just no sleep lol. 

If you have not heard of OFCC before, it stands for Ordo Fanaticus Club Challenge (Ordo is the gaming club) and is heavily comped, sports and painting-centric event.  In fact "tournament" isn't entirely accurate. Ya there are prizes for winning games, but that isn't the focus.

This event has been in planning for months, and the lists were submitted long ago so it's going to be a 5th edition event.  It will be very hard to go back to the old rules, even just a month into 6th..

I had to make what I consider a pretty bad list. I got it rated 2 out of 3, with bordering on a 1.

The one thing the list does allow is a great variety of deployment options.

HQ: Dante
HQ: Librarian, shield and unleash rage

Troop: Sanguinary Guard, 1x Fist, 1x pistol
Troop: 10 Assault marines, 2x melta, fist
Troop: 10 Assault marines, 2x flamer, power weapon, meltabomb, rhino w/sl
Troop: 5 Assault marines, melta, power weapon, las-plas razorback w/sl

Elite: Sanguinary high priest, power weapon, jump pack

Fast: 2x MM attack bikes
Fast: Baal Pred, HB sl

Heavy: 5x Devastators, 4x ML
Heavy: Pred, LC sl
Heavy: Stormraven, MM

The primary deployment is I'll be dropping Dante with the full squad of 10 guys and the priest.  The SG will ride in the SR maybe with the librarian, maybe put him in the razorback.

Another option I'm considering is putting the 10-man squad in the SR instead of their rhino, then either with the priest or libby. I'll do this against a heavy shooty army like IG and drop the SG with DoA.  This is the all-reserve deployment.

Against armies without too many power weapons or ap1/2 I'll drop the SQ with Dante instead.

I don't have any real answer for units of 10 TH/SS termies, or for grey knight anything in general. Hopefully I won't have to play too much of that kind of stuff.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

It seems I've been playing 6th for the last year and half..

6th edition is very new, and most everything will change over time as new faq's and codex's drop. So I've been playing some practice games over the last month, getting ready for the August league at Guardian Games.

I've been basically tweaking my 5th edition list, and I'm really liking how it's going. I didn't have to throw out everything I had been doing for the edition change.  I guess it seems I've been playing 6th edition for the last year and half :)

Dropping from 2k to 1750 pretty much means I had to drop my allies. But I think I'll survive that, despite not being able to hurt a bastion at range. I don't expect too many of them at 1750 anyway.

Here is what I'll be running for competitive play this month:


HQ: Big Mek, KFF, bosspole (90)
HQ: Warboss, Bike, pk, squig, bosspole, cybork, bosspole (155)


Troop: 30 boys, shootas, 3x rokkit, nob w/PK & bosspole (250)
Troop: 30 boys, shootas, 3x big shootas, nob w/PK & bosspole (235)
Troop: 7 nob bikers, 2x PK, 1x big choppa, 1x waggh! banner, painboy, cyborks (450)


Elite: 10 lootas (150)
Elite: 10 lootas (150)
Elite:  9 lootas (135)

Heavy: 3x lobba, 3x ammo runts (84)

Fortification: Da wall of awesum (aegis defense line) (50)


1749pts


It's all pretty strait forward. The lootas hide behind DWoA (hehe) getting a 2+ cover save when needed. The nob bikers rush forward as both hammer and distraction. I'd rather have people shooting at the nobs then the lootas.  Most of the time the nobs don't last long, usually by the 3rd turn only the boss and painboy remain.  But when that happens everything else in my army is untouched and the lootas have been blasting away at threats.


The boys almost seem..unnecessary.  Seems weird to say that, huh?  They usually spend the game running up to die or sitting back and waiting.  


Anyway I'm just blowing stuff off the table time and time again. I'm fearing the lack of psychic defense, but you can't have everything..