Friday, July 19, 2013

How Dark Angels will Shoot your Nuts Off!




Hello all!  Sorry for the long delay, I’ve had life things happening recently and haven’t had a lot of time to game or write about gaming, but I think the 8 of you who actually read this rag will hopefully forgive me.  In fact, to make it up to you all I’m prepared to send you a nice cash reward for continuing to read my blog. Just send me your bank account and pin number and I’ll deposit the reward in a timely manner.

 ANYWAYS


Today I wanted to talk about running a shooting based Dark Angels army.  Since 6th edition began I can say with certainty that my primary army has been Dark Angels.  I, like most of the online community, at first felt that the 6th edition Dark Angels were a bit meh and didn’t really sync well with the other 6th edition (hardcover) codices.  They don’t have a lot of anti-air, which is pretty crucial in a world of Hell-Turkeys and Flying Croissanwhiches.  What they do have in their OWN fliers are overcosted and underperforming, in my opinion.  It’s not that they are bad, per se, its just that there are units in other codices that do the same thing for a lot less points.  While the Dark Angels certainly have a lot going for them in terms of elite assault units, you have to understand that 6th edition does not cater well to them.  Have you actually tried to run dedicated assault units in a competitive tournament setting?  You will be blasted off the table by turn 3 and left wondering where it all went wrong.  Why did your cat bite you in the toe when you were putting on your socks?  Was it because your girlfriend left you when she found out you were wanking it to My Little Pony fan porn?  I don’t know, I can’t answer that.  All I know is that while the Dark Angels codex certainly has some cool looking and themed units, their point costs are just too high in an edition dominated by low costing, high power outputting units (Tau, Eldar, etc).

I was ready to throw in the towel with the Dark Angels, to be perfectly honest, until I started realizing the point decreases in units that I had previously been overlooking.  Old stand by units like the Whirlwind and Predators were point costed much lower than any previous iteration of Space Marine codex.  It soon became evident that I had been getting distracted by the new shiny Terminator suits and lighting fast motorcycles while overlooking the REAL gems of the Dark Angels codex, the DAKKA.  GIMME DAKKA!

Here are some examples of units that I have been using almost exclusively in the past couple weeks.  After I will show you a shooty list that I think really has a shot in competitive play.

· Whirlwinds – These guys took a significant point reduction and have gotten even BETTER in the 6th edition due to how great barrage now is.  The ability to demolish backfield wimpy units and negate cover saves has won me more games than I care to admit.
· Predators – Again we have a significant point reduction.  I have always been a fan of these, what with and AV of 13 and the ability to shoot 2 strength 7 AP 4 Autocannon and two strength 9 AP 2 Lascannon shots a turn you can really put the hurtin’ on some Wraithknight or Riptide ass.
· Land Speeder Typhoons – I sound like a broken record but again the point reduction really has these guys as a must take.  Put them near a Librarian with Divination/Preciensce and you twin link their missile launchers and heavy bolters.  WINNING.
· Dark Shroud – Ok, this isn’t really a shooting unit but it will keep those shooting units alive longer with the ability to give Stealth to any unit within 12”.  If you are running your gunline behind and Aegis (as you should) that is a lot of AV 13 tanks with a 3+ cover save.
· Dreadnaughts – These guys can come CHEAP for a ton of Dakka.  Personal favorite is the Twin Linked Autocannons but the Missile Launcher/Lascannon is also fairly devastating (and expensive!).
· Tactical Squads – I have been putting these guys in Razorbacks to defend against Hell Turkeys and they're fairly reasonable price wise.  Just give them a special weapon and run the Razorback with Assault Cannon or Lascannon turrets.  Really fast scoring units are great.

So here's the current 1850 list I'm running.

Dark Angels 1850 - Space Marine Allies

HQ
Librarian (Lv.1) Divination

TROOPS
5 man Tactical Squad with Meltagun, Razorback with Twin Linked Assault Cannons
5 man Tactical Squad with Meltagun, Razorback with Twin Linked Assault Cannons
5 man Tactical Squad with Flamer, Razorback with Twin Linked Lascannons

FAST ATTACK
2x Landspeeder Typhoon
Darkshroud

HEAVY SUPPORT
Predator with Autocannon and Lascannon sponsons
Predator with Autocannon and Lascannon sponsons
Whirlwind

ELITES
Dreadnaught with Twin Linked Assault Cannons

Allied Space Marines
Librarian (Lv.1) Null Zone and Gate of Infinity

10 man Scout Squad

Storm Talon with twin linked Assault Cannons and Skyhammer Missiles

Thunderfire Cannon

So, what do you guys think?





Monday, July 8, 2013

GW Trend toward Direct Sales??

It's more likely than you may think.  Today news from Spikey Bitz (I add the Z because the Z makes it sexier) that the Wave Serpent from the Eldar Codex has gone out of print and will now be a direct order item.


Stolen from freshcoastgaming.blogspot,com


So what does this mean?  Coming from a retail background myself it would make financial sense for Games Workshop to gauge the popularity of specific units from new codex releases (i.e. what they are running low on stock in) and then go direct to the customer for beefier margins.  Look at it this way.  You produce a large brown phallic shaped object, we'll call it a Bildo.  It costs you $5 to make the veiny oblong and you decide it should retail for $20.  In order to reach a wider audience and ultimately sell more Bildos you allow independent retailers to buy the sweaty tube for $12, which they can then resell for $20.  Hey, you made a $7 dollar profit on the Bildo and didn't have to worry about logistics.  That Bildo is getting pretty popular!  You can't produce enough of them to keep up with the Bildo orders coming in from those independent retailers.  Wait a minute.  You know that people are literally throwing money at those independent retailers for your Bildo.   Why shouldn't they be throwing their money directly at you?  Screw those independent retailers.  Sure they give you free advertising and provide a place for your patrons to try out their new Bildos with their male friends, but fuck those guys! You can get a larger $15 dollar profit on those Bildos when you sell them directly, and you KNOW that it is hugely popular with tons of guys.  Hey!  Why not retail those Bildos for $22?  It's not so much that people will notice too much, and its not like those guys aren't going to buy and enjoy their Bildos so it's a win win.  AND SCENE.



You kind of get it.  Games Workshop is beginning their slow cut out of the independent retailer.  The way that they look at it, in the bizaro Games Workshop way of looking at things, is that they do not need the independent stockists any longer.  Mark my words.  It began with the slow closure of Battle Bunkers around the United States.  They know that they do not need to provide a gaming space to sell their products.  In fact, it might be detrimental to sales to offer gaming spaces in their shops.  Games Workshop is finally coming around to the fact that the demand for their products is such that they do not necessarily need a middle man to facilitate sales of these products.  These game stores will continue to have tables available to drive sales of other tabletop games, and with the large US tournament scene Games Workshop knows that there will be events to showcase the hobby.  I believe we will see this happening SLOWLY, with more and more hot selling items going to direct only sales.  This does leave the door wide open to second party game companies such as Privateer Press to make headway into the game stores and facilitate events but they have a LONG way to go.  Games Workshop is such fixture in the table top gaming community that Warhammer is almost a verb in the way that Google is.  It will be an interesting year and I for one, with many friends who make their living off of selling Games Workshop products, hope that Games Workshop takes a big step back and remember just who made this hobby what it was.  It isn't their pushy one man stores with the 10 year old brats whining to their mothers about what to buy them.  It's not their shitty website offering bundle deals that are more expensive than buying the products individually.  One click deal?  Thanks, assholes.  The thing that gets people into the hobby are the friendly local game stores.  The place where you walk in and SURPRISE, people are playing and talking about Warhammer.  The place where the owner knows your name and is GENUINELY happy to see you.  The place that runs tournaments because it's FUN.  That is what drives sales.  THAT is what creates excitement. Not bullshit bundle deals.  Not NEVER giving discounts.



So I will wait and see what the future of Games Workshop's relationship with the independent retailers holds.  In the meantime, I'll be visiting and purchasing the models that I love from my local game stores.  Because they sparked my love for the hobby and you know what?  I like being around them.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Happy 4th of July

I'll be spending this rare day off like everyone else i.e. eating too much BBQ and moving as little as possible. 'MERICA!



Tuesday, July 2, 2013

The Trials and Tribulations of a Space Marine Player in 6th Edition

I've been playing Space Marines for about as long as I've been playing 40k (around 15 years if you want to know).  Throughout all those long years wasting my hard earned money I've played all flavor of Marines; from the over-zealous Black Templars to the emo rocker Blood Angels.  Throughout the 4th and 5th edition Space Marines enjoyed a fairly consistent power level ranging from mid to top tier tournament placings.  Sure they got lots of flak from the online community for having a better than average stat level and getting the lion's share of GW attention and why not?  Space Marines are essentially the bread winning member of the household and are about as iconic to Warhammer 40k as you can get.  Honestly, if I read one more asshole on BOLS comment about a Space Marine release with 'SPEZ MARINZ' I would shit my pants.  And not in a good way!




Having become tired of the repetitive nature of the 5th edition tournament scene (Space Wolves or Grey Knights for the win? Yes) I had taken a break towards the end of it's life cycle.  After learning that the 6th edition was coming out and the promise of endless army composition and combinations due to the ally system, I took my marines out of the closet and prepared for battle.  At first, things didn't change much.  My Space Marines were holding steady and in many ways seemed to have gotten better with the changes to 6th edition.  Their rapid firing bolters gained range and their basic troop's abilities to take and hold objectives was game winning in an objective dominated game system. I was happy.  Then the sky darkened.....




I looked up into the air and beheld the fall of an empire.  A beast which breathed fires hot enough to melt through power armor like a hot knife through dog shit.  Cover could not protect me.  I tried to be sneaky and run behind the great behemoth as it flew overhead, but was dismayed to learn that it could also breath the fire out of its asshole.  Whole squads of my beloved Space Marines where annihilated by the hellfire of the Helldrake.  Chaos Space Marines were released and the Emperor wept.  With no viable way to shoot it down, I turned to twin linked weapons with the hope that THEY may fell this foul beast.  It worked. That is, until they decided to take 3.....

My beloved Astartes were reinforced by the valiant Dark Angels.  Surely GW would give us some tool to fell these great Dragon Turky beasts (which were soon joined by flying Croissant-like things) and we would no longer rely on our puny Imperial Guard allies.  This was not to be.  We received Flakk missiles that cost 25 points and were strength 7.  You could certainly take 4 of them in a Devastator Squad, but that would just ensure the Hell Drake knew which unit to fry first.

When Chaos Demons were released I truly learned how weak the Space Marines were in combat.  It took the Demon players about 10 seconds to learn that multiple large units of fast moving rending units would make mince meat out of Space Marine units twice their point cost.  My Assault Marines gather dust.  The basic Herald could annihilate an entire squad themselves.  The only defense against the initiative 6 rending machines was to hold in cover and take the charge, hopefully killing a couple of them before they get into you turn 2-3.  Flying units laugh at our unreliable anti-air abilities.

The Tau Empire got a much needed release and the 40k community learned what it is to play a shooting game without any cover saves.  The plethora of high strength plasma and missile shots ensure that our 3+ cover save is obsolete.  Even the basic strength 5 pulse rifle wounds our hardy Space Marines on a roll of a 3.  Yes, you get an armor save but how many 1s and 2s will you roll on 12-15 dice?  Want to deep strike those Terminators?  Army wide interceptor will ensure that you'll lose 220-260 points in no time!

The sneaky Eldar were next.  Army wide rending once again makes our armor save obsolete.  Eldar special move run shoot rule makes sure you'll be outmaneuvered and shot to pieces in short order.  Surprise surprise, Eldar have a plethora of cover ignoring weaponry.

So where are we now as Space Marine players?  It's certainly not any easy road to the top tournament tables at the moment.  The plethora of high strength low AP weapons is exasperating as is the increasing amount of cover ignoring weaponry.  We DO have some good things going for us at the moment. The great thing about the Dark Angels 6th edition codex is that we see the point costs for future Space Marine units.  Surprise surprise, the things that I list below as being GOOD mostly happen to be the things that got cheaper.


  • Land Speeder Typhoon Squadrons.  Especially near a psycher that can Prescience them to gain Twin-Linked.  These guys are now auto include for me and the amount of damage (especially twin linked) that they can put out is staggering.
  • Librarians.  These are a great primary or secondary HQ, especially for their abilities in buffing your other units.
  • Whirlwinds.  Barrage weapons have gotten really good in 6th edition and the once 'useless' Whirlwind is now a much feared unit for the Space Marines.
  • Thunder Hammer Storm Shield Terminators remain to be boss.  The Invulnerable 3+ save goes a LONG way in the Strength 7 AP 2 ignore cover world of 6th edition.  Blood Angels can get Feel No Pain to make them even more survivable.
  • Bikes.  Toughness 5 fast moving units are nothing to sneeze at.  Unfortunately the Helldrake will kill an entire unit fairly quickly.  Dark Angels is really the way to run them since they can be scoring, but Blood Angels can get Feel No Pain.  
  • Null Zone still rocks face.  Oh, please re-roll those invulnerable saves Demons.
  • Thunderfire Cannons.  Again, taking away cover saves is pretty rad in 6th edition.  Put THEM on the receiving end for once.
So, what do you guys think?  Can Space Marines (and their variants) survive 6th edition tournaments without allies?  What are some other great units to take?