Saturday, October 29, 2011

Finally, GW opens up about the new Necrons.

This morning I woke up to a pleasant surprise in my inbox, the official GW release about the new Necron army.

Click here to see GW's advance order page, featuring some pretty awesome codex artwork, and a look at a few of the reissues and kits that haven't been leaked.

I'll post more of an in depth review as I see the models in person, and when I get my hands on a copy of the codex.

-StormLord

Quick Edit: I noticed going through GW's site the follwing things:

- Pariahs are gone... Maybe Lichguard now?
-Immortals/Deathmarks are listed both as Troops and Elites
-The new flayed ones look SWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!
-C'Tan are now ELITES, not HQ

0_o

-SL


Mother Of God: The Necrons Awaken

Well kids the Necrons have gone up on the GW site for pre order and we have a nice view of some of the new stuff, some limited rules included.  I have to say I am impressed and a little scarred.  I will let the Stormlord give the break down on everything once he stops drulling and doing the robot happy dance.

I have noticed a couple things though and I have to say I am a bit jealous.  I am noticing a pretty good amount of AP 1 and 2 in this codex.  The big enchilada being the strength 9 AP 1 large blast from the Doomsday cannon on the Doomsday Arc.  Keep those storm shields handy Mon-keigh.

The Death marks are also pretty slick.  They can deep strike in your opponents turn when one of their deep striking units arrive.  When they mark the unit all Deathmark units will wound them on a 2+ in close combat and shooting.  Note the Deathmarks have sniper rifles.

C'Tan are now able to be customized and the selection of Named lords is very nice.  So yeah I will be picking up a codex and plotting with The Stormlord.

I would also like to announce a new author on the Craftworld.  Given I have not been able to write or work on my back burner Ork project, I have invited BigMek SkrapKlaw to give a proper orky perspective on things.  He iz Da Big Boss and I iz only un uf da boyz.  SO welcome him and look for Orky articles and musings in the future.


Until next time..............



Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!



WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

More Necron Leaks

Well I would love to say I found these, but Fritz40K had them up today.  More leaked pics and point costs.  The Stormlord will have a bunch more once he gets his cold metal hands on the codex, Hopefully this weekend if the black boxes and pre release stuff hits the shops.  So first some point costs.

Necron Lord @ 45 points

- Necron Cryptek @ 35 points and 55 points (depending on wargear no doubt)

- Lychguard @ 40 points...however, one squad of 5 was +25 points more expensive...could be that the shield option is +5 points.

- Deathmarks @ 19 points...not that bad, actually.

- Flayed Ones @ 13 points (and no mention at all of the "Fearsome Visage" rule or something they used to have)

- Warriors @ 13 points

- Ghost Ark @ 115 points

- Immortals @ 17 points regardless of weapon

- Scarabs @ 15 points per base

- Destroyers @ 40 points

- Heavy Destroyers @ 60 points
 
 
I see some changes but nothing to extreme.  Apparantly scarab swarms are clocking in at 15 points a base to.  Given the rumors of what they can do thats pretty cheap.  SO here a a couple of codex shots to wet your whistle as well.  I am not sure how I feel about them yet.
The Doomsday Ark is an oddity to me.  It has an excellent mix of weapons and the shielding makes it a rough target combined with what living metal is going to probably do.  I feel jipped I have to pay for flicker fields on my transports.
This personal transport of doom is also a departure from the 40K usual.  The whole sweep attack rule is pretty scary.  At its face value it it seems not to bad, but I see some issues.  granted it is carrying a lord all by himself, but its an ablative vehicle rather than a wound for a lord. 
So there are some tidbits.  This codex is going to be scary.  Matt Ward has given it the usual treatment.  granted I am glad its on a Xenos codex rather than a dirty Imperial one.  Still this is going to be rough.  I think Necron players are kind of due though.



Until next time......


Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


WAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





 

Monday, October 24, 2011

Necron players, don't fall for this BS!

Sorry Stormlord I had to add this - SeerK
Necron Megalith

When I was out at the shop the other day, another one of the Necron players was all excited and showed me this video about the new Necron Megalith.

After doing a very brief search (took me about 2 seconds of digging....) I found out that this was an April fool's joke. So, despite all the current hype about the new Necron Codex and models, this is absolute BS.

Just goes to prove, don't believe everything you encounter out there. GW is keeping the Necrons tightly under wraps (which I think is a really bad idea...) so we will NOT know ANYTHING for SURE until the codex is published..

-Stormlord

Saturday, October 22, 2011

The 13th Foundation Of Vengeance: Acceptance

The foundations have been laid. Spite, Patience, Misdirection, Speed, Relentlessness, Truth, Kindness, Knowledge, Pain, Adaptability, Dedication and Suffering. We come now to the 13th Foundation Of Vengeance. The final brick in a well laid plan to exact retribution, whether they deserve it or not, upon your foes. When I was still studying Martial arts my Sensei always told me that you cannot proceed without a firm foundation. He was referring to the hours of drills and such for the basic techniques and stances associated with Shorin-Ryu, but the statement is true no mater the situation. You must know the basics so well they become reflex. This of course means knowing yourself and knowing what you cannot do. It is knowing your limitations and accepting them. This is the 13th Foundation Of Vengeance. Acceptance.

Ultimately you have to face reality when it comes to your army and your army list. You also have to face the reality that opponents are not all going to be baby sheep and will be trying to win at all costs. Accepting your limitations and the fact there will be douche bags out at shops and at tournaments will make you a much better player and a much happier player.

Probably the biggest thing you can accept is that no matter how much hate is thrown at a codex its not going to change. The saying making the best with the hand you are dealt comes to mind. Once you get past things in an army you perceive as overpowered or cheesy, you can then plan on how to deal with them. Basically bitching about paladins or long fangs or whatever does not help you defeat them. You must use the tools at hand to the best of your ability. Accept your faults and weaknesses.

This also goes the other way. Be accepting of other players faults. Basically you are trying to reach a Zen. This is a game and its supposed to be fun. A lot of people forget this and can't accept it. Be yourself and play how you want to play. Revenge is a dish best served cold. Acceptance is the beginning of Vengeance. Your road to retribution starts with Acceptance.

SO there you have it The Foundations Of Vengeance. I hope they have been somewhat informative and possibly even made you ponder your game a bit. Well I am preparing for the “End Of Days”. OST and the boys over at Dark Future Games is hosting their signature tournament November 5th at Evolution Games. Vogrin and I will be bringing the hurt with the combined might of the Eldar and The Imperial Guard. I hope to see some of you out there. Just remember there will be no quarter given.

Also later this week I will be having a battle report. I took the Webway List up against OST's Deathwing for a rematch. Lets just say once again Belial survived and I have a very pissed off Leader of the Cult Of Strife ready for more Space Marine blood. I was not ready for the appearance of the Ravenwing. More on that later.

Until then......................



Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!

Monday, October 17, 2011

We are not dead.

We were sleeping. Now we are awakening.

We are many. We are legion.

and we are coming.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

BATTLE REPORT: The Webway List vs Orks

I was able to test my 3 portal Webway list this passed Wednesday night at the FLGS. Big Mek Scrap Klaw and his boyz came for a good scrap and they got one. The modified Webway list ditched Lelith and the Razorwing Fighter for an Archon and a group of Trueborns. We had a Spear Head deployment with a capture and control mission. I set up 3 wide to get the best possibly deployment zones for the portals. I was set up inside a village while the orks mustered in the outskirts of the village in a 3 wide battle wagon wall.

Turn One
Having gotten first turn I moved forward. The Archon and his Trueborns took their raider to the left side of the village while the Haemonculi and their Wracks took their Venoms up the middle and to the right side. I got good deployment on the portals. Sadly the Trueborns Failed to do any damage to the nearest battle wagon. The orks surged forward and opened up with all the dakka they could muster. A mob of slugga boys poured out of the battle wagon nearest to the trueborns and began to take them apart. You see ol Skrap Klaw is ded cunnin and most of his boyz are snipers. Matt has an uncanny ability to do pretty well in the shooting phase with his orks. Me thinks Skrap Klaw has been looting targeters from all his crushed enemies. The Trueborns were cut to pieces by slugga fire and then beaten down under the weight of massed choppas, only the Archon defied the green skins and lived.

Turn Two
With the portals open The Beast Masters whipped their menagerie of death into a frenzy and came howling out of the middle portal. The first two squads of Wyches came out of the far left and right portals. The Haemonculi and their wrack bodyguards began to retreat back towards my objective while the Venoms continued to engage the Def Koptas hitting my flanks. The Beast Masters and Wych squad on the left slammed into the mob of boyz assaulting the Archon. The Wych Squad on the right side slammed into a battle wagon. They immobilized it. The other 2 wagons found themselves damaged but still operational and the mob of boys was cut to pieces by the Beasts and Wychs, but somehow managed to stand fast as not all of them were killed.
The orks responded by moving the besieged battle wagons back, but not before disgorging their cargo of shoota boyz. The Wych squad on the right side was laid low by a hail of bullets and Big Mek Skrap Klaw letting loose with his favorite skorcha, while the remaining slugga boyz were finally cut down with a second battle wagon made immobile.

Turn Three
The Archon had been killed in the swirling melee of the previous turn. The Beast Masters and Wychs on the board moved to engage the battle wagon in the middle of the army, as well as the now empty battle wagon on the left side of the board. The last Wych squad came screaming out of the right side portal towards the immobilized battle wagon. The Clawed fiend managed to destroy a battle wagon in close combat while the Wych squad that came late to the game got a little overzealous and slammed their haywire grenades onto the immobilized battle wagon on the left. This caused one of the best explosions ever as it hit pretty much every unit on the table except the Haemonculi and their Wracks jetting back to the objective while blasting the remaining Def Koptas.
The Orks now on the ropes, and wondering where in the hell the Warboss and his Nobz were, ( they apparently had better things to do as they failed to come in for two turns now.) Brought all their remaining Dakka to bear. The Wych Squad that blew up the battle wagon got to do the burnie dance as Skrap Klaw took vengeance for the destruction of his prized battle wagon.

                                                                                    Turn Four And Five
Turn 4 and 5 saw more destruction and mayhem as the orks Were killed to the man. Well that is until the Warboss finally arrived with his nobz and laid into the remaining wyches. The Beast master pack had been broken after the Remaining wyches had been slaughtered. The Haemonculi and their Wracks had disembarked to hold the objective while. The Venoms moved to support the Wyches which had been laid to waste. A nob had been killed a couple injured but that was about it. So the game ended in a tie


Overall I like the 3 portals. I really have to reevaluate the method of deployment for the third portal though. I am going to try the list in another game just to make sure as we kind of got into the thick of things pretty quick. I should have just held back the Trueborns for webway Deployment and Just slapped the Archon out on his own. I honestly like having the razor wing in the list. It is so effective at dealing with massed infantry. I am going to play with the point totals a bit and see what I can come up with.

Until then......


Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Something Ancient This Way Comes: New Necron Pics

Well since the Storm Lord is busy with school I thought I would post some of the new leaked pics of the Necrons coming out in November.  I have to say they look pretty decent and have that new feel, but really retain the feel of the old models.

So here they are











So what is your opinion.  I really like the new transports.  They have a deathly feel about them.

Well next time I will have a battle report involving the Webway list bumped up to 3 portals Vs Boss Skrap Klaw and his Boyz.  It was quite the slug feast and despite the fact I did not like the performance of the Archon and Trueborns, the third portal was a very nice addition that added some good tactical flexability.


Until next time.............



Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Webway Portals Now In 3D: Webway List Development Continues

I got in a game vs CVintons new space wolves army this past weekend while I was in Lansing at the FLGS. I have dubbed the list “The Tour Of Fenris” as it really hits all the high points of the codex. We played a strait up book mission. Capture and control with dawn of war deployment. It ended in a tie. I think he might have edged me out in kill points though as I took massive casualties.

I may do a blow by blow of the game later this week. I really want to talk about the Webway list and some post game changes I made after some rather expensive pieces of wargear once again failed to do anything. I speak of Agonizers. The 20 point power weapon that always wounds on a 4+. Its a main stay of Hekatrix Wargear to add some more kill power to a wych unit for those monstrous creatures and tough opponents. A main stay that is now dead to me. Much like the Dark , or Fail, Lance The Agonizer will now have no place in any of my lists. I have taken them all out of the webway list and replaced them with venom blades. I have also stripped out the night shields on the venoms. After stripping out over 100 points in Agonizers I was able to add a Chronos Parasite engine to the list.

After further thought I was thinking about how I can add some more flexibility to the list. The Razorwing fighter has been pretty solid in killing things, but is a big target that I can't hide behind anything. Lelith is also pretty solid, but lacks some punch against tougher foes when she does not have any pain tokens. I digress a bit though. The whole thought process about flexibility started when CVinton surrounded my furthest forward Webway portal with a group of Grey Hunters.

Although the Webway style list is not that widely used and opponents have a hard time adjusting tactics to combat it, CVinton has been part of conversations about it and has already played against it once. With one portal effectively cut off I had all of my forces pouring through one portal. I thankfully had placed it in a good spot with lots of surrounding cover, as I knew there would be Long Fangs on the table. Regardless my whole army was packed into a proverbial barrel for a frag missile fest. I decided I need to add a 3rd portal. I could just add a 3rd Haemonculus, but I need to have some punch as the addition of another Haemonculus would require the removal of Lelith, due to points and stripping out the Chronos, as its an untested new addition.

My solution is to strip out Lelith and the Chronos and possibly the Razorwing. This will free up a good number of points. I will be adding an Archon and a warrior squad. I may also add in a fully dizzied out Ravager. Basically the whole point is to add a 3rd Webway portal. After having 50% of my deployment options cut I decided I need to squeeze a 3rd portal in. The list is based on this alternate deployment method. It revolves around engaging the enemy quickly and brutally. With the Haemonculi and Wrack units hanging back to seize objectives as momentum carries the Wych squads forward. The Beast Master Pack tears apart large low toughness units while occupying tougher units for a turn or two.

I am prepping for a game as we speak so I hope to have a report up Saturday about how the changes worked, or did not work. Warboss Matt and his Orks should be an excellent test.


Until next time.......


Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Really? This Is Your Solution?

So here I am sitting at the FLGS, Evolution Games, putting together the last of the Wyches I need for the Webway list. While flipping through the new White Dwarf one of the regulars at the shop pointed out a funny and somewhat rage inducing tidbit of information. Granted from a business standpoint the tidbit in question is a logical move for selling more products and patching, in this case literally, the quality issue with fine cast while they perfect making resin in mass quantities.

I digress though. If you have a copy of White Dwarf handy turn to page 6 and look at the new product dubbed “Liquid Green Stuff”. Green stuff in liquid form. This could be handy for gap filling on quickly and if your actual green stuff skills are lacking. Ok this seems like a gimmick product that may have some uses if you experiment with it enough. Now turn to page 60 in White Dwarf. One of the studio guys is putting together a model, a fine cast model. In step 4 it shows him using the new Liquid green stuff to take care of an air bubble in the fine cast. Ok this is what you would normally do, fill the gaping imperfections in the fine cast. The only real issue I have is that I can see this being GW's actual answer to the imperfections in Fine Cast. I don't see any actual improvements to the actual casting process to get rid of the bubbles, which Forge World does not have as much issue with.

So am I just that jaded by GW that I am making a mountain out of a mole hill? I am not happy with fine cast, that much you know, yes details that were not there before can be seen, but it makes no difference if there are air bubbles messing up the whole model.

Ok what do you think? Next time I hope to have some battle reports for the Archon led version of the Webway list and some on field use of the Court Of The Archon.

Also go over to Dark Future Games. OST has posted the FAQ for their now infamous “End Of Days” partners tournament. Vogrin and I plan on winning this one again. Granted we need a date and a point total to do it. I have to give OST crap, sorry dude I know you are busy as hell, but I got to raz ya.


Until next time...
Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Blast From The Past: We Got A Necromunda League

I have not been able to play as much 40K as I would like to. Sadly there are not many people around that I know I can get a decent game in with. I have not been able to get up to the FLGS in Lansing anywhere near as often as I want to. My buddy Adam, an ex GW staffer like myself, is an avid war gamer, but he does not play 40K. He recently told me he was itching to play some old school stuff. This past Thursday we did just that. We started a Necromunda league.

It was a major blast form the past for me. Necromunda was the second GW game I ever played. My gateway drug, as it were, was Blood Bowl. I had a pretty decent Escher gang back in the day. Having sold off all my old stuff though I had no gang, so I dipped into my model collection and made a Goliath gang using my newly acquired orks. Da Big Teef Boyz was 10 members going into my first game.

Big Mutz and Big Futz set up for optimal fire
I faced up against Adams buddy Jeff and his Redemptionist gang. It was a scavenge scenario and sadly there was a monster lurking about. I was dealt a blow as Big Futz, one of my heavies, was dragged away in the opening turn of the game never to be seen again. One of my gangers, Lutz, was also beaten to a pulp and lost some fingers and has an old battle wound now. Needless to say I got F'ed up. We played a second game with 4 gangs on the table. There was an overturned transport in the center with a bunch of loot tokens. Combine that with a toxic fog that kept viability down to 10 inches and we had an interesting game. I basically ran forward to just grab what I could as I set up the closest to the wreck. I Got about half the loot tokens. Meanwhile my very scarred ganger, lutz, took one of my juves and the new heavy, sans heavy weapon because I could not afford one, thru my gangs tunnel network, basically lets me deep strike or set up like infiltrators, to take vengeance on the leader of the Redemptionist gang Maynard. Besides loosing fingers and getting the old battle wound he also hates Maynard. This game proved to be fun but very costly. I lost my new heavy and Lutz lost his left hand. I did get a bunch of loot though and experience. My Juves are now pretty beefy in close combat thanks to both of them leveling up 3 times. Lutz gained back the weapon skill he lost because of his hand and also gained a very coveted weapon in the under hive. A power Claw.

Big Futz makes a last stand to protect one of his boyz
So with two games in I am ready for more. I am going to mod up my spare orks so they are WYSIWYG. I think this will be a good distraction. Playing Necromunda also has me very very interested in playing Kill Zone with the guys at the shop. A dark Eldar gang as it were would be fantastic.

Next time I will be Talking about the webway list and integrating Archons into it rather than Lelith and the Haemonculi. I am also hoping to have a game next weekend involving the Court Of The Archon.

Until then.......



Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!