Something's Stirring in the Jungle

No, that title's not a euphemism I use when asking my fiance to have 'relations' , though it most likely will be from now on.  I'm actually going to give Warhammer Fantasy a start again, which I even find surprising.  Let me throw it down for you.  Two years ago I was still plugging along with 8th edition Fantasy while just getting back into 40k. I had just found a new gaming group in the East Bay, and being new to the area found myself really enjoying their laid back attitude towards the game.  Then I played in my first competitive Fantasy tournament and got tabled by a 14 year old Skaven player in two turns.  Into the closet went my Dwarves and they stayed there for a year before I sold them to buy a gun line Imperial Guard army (because that was totally unique in the 5th edition).

Honesty, I haven't given Warhammer Fantasy more than a thought since then.  Sure, I would see the Fantasy gamers now and again at tournaments and stuff but the old feelings of the overpowered nature of the magic phase for certain armies and the ability to throw a ton of dice to remove entire units (Teclis and Slann come to mind) really turned me off the game.  However, new codicies began to come out and I would hear more and more about the balancing of the 8th edition.  Then, Reece Robbins at Frontline gaming announced a Fantasy escalation league designed to get people slowly into the game.  You can check out the details here.  The long and short of the league is that we will begin at 500 points.  Your models must be painted and you must play a certain amount of games in the allotted time.  Perfect for people just getting into the game (or back into the game!).  Lucky enough for me, I came into a good amount of Lizardmen models about a year ago and lo and behold a new Lizardmen codex just gets released.  Talk about fortuitous kick to the nuts! (If you like that sort of thing).  I just picked up the new codex and a couple models from Frontline after work today and I'm already thinking about lists and nut kicking combos!  We'll see how I balance this with my 40k duties, especially with the new Space Marine codex coming out.  I'll also try and post progress shots of my first 500 points.  So that's it, you can get back to looking at pictures of cats or Japanese nut kicking porn (If you like that sort of thing).

Rawdogger on the Radio?

So my friend Carl asked me to come down to Yahoo headquarters and participate in his podcast, The Independent Characters, this past weekend.  I've been a fan of his podcast since I began really participating in the hobby back when I was living in Korea, so to get this chance to participate really meant a lot to me.  Check it out!

http://theindependentcharacters.com/blog/?p=3085

Blood Angels (Don’t) Suck? How to Use Blood Angels in 6th Edition 40K

Hello all,

 I’m back from my blogging hiatus to drop some knowledge into your eye holes regarding everyone’s favorite 6th edition red headed step child *whew*, the Blood Angels.  No matter how much I try to build and use armies with updated codices I find myself consistently being drawn back to the armored VAMPIIIIRES IN SPAAAAAAAACE *cough* *cough*.  I’m not particularly fond of getting my ass handed to me and I don’t necessarily have a secret WIN button for the little blood suckers, so why is it that I find myself sitting in front of my television night after night writing army lists for the Blood Angels?  It’s most likely stubbornness more than anything else.  I've spent more time and money than I’m willing to admit building and painting my Blood Angels models over the past 3 years and seeing them becoming more and more obsolete as the 6th edition behemoth chugs along makes me see red (wakka wakka!).

Last weekend I took my Blood Angels to a local Grand Tournament, the Golden Throne.  I put together what I THOUGHT was a competitive list and promptly got Bladestormed, Hell Draked, and Riptide(d) off the tables.  It was fairly embarrassing.  Looking at the 6th edition codices that have come out thus far it is easy to see why Blood Angels have suffered the nerf hammer more than most.  Cheap plasma and armor ignoring weapons have made life difficult for your average Space Marine.  More infuriating is that the only Marine codex to come out in the 6th edition, the Dark Angels, have a lot the same units at a fraction of the point cost that the Blood Angels pay.  Throw in Games Workshop’s need to completely neuter assault in the 6th edition and a Furious Charge/Feel No Pain nerf and baby, you have yourself a red armored shit stew!  Yet still I find myself believing that the Blood Angels still have what it takes to be a top tournament army.  Here are a few units that I believe still have what it takes in the current AP2 cover ignoring 6th edition.

Mephiston, the mother fucking LORD OF DEATH - Mephiston got a lot of flack in the transition to 6th edition, and with good reason.  His sword magically became AP 3 and the lack of invulnerable save made him a prime target for AP1 Storm Guardians (like 6 points?).  Also, strength 7 weapons seem to be handed out with every movie ticket.  Despite all of this, I believe that he does have his uses and still causes MAJOR stress on the part of your opponent.  A lot of players will dramatically alter their deployment to stay away from him and that can set you up for a good game.  He can still lay the smack down with a base strength 6 which can be increased to strength 10 with the use of his psychic power, the Sanguine Sword.  I primarily use him as a monster hunter but watch out because he is still only AP3 with his sword so Riptides should only be assaulted if entirely necessary.  He is also quite fast with a jump pack psychic power (Wings of Sanguinius) and a base Fleet, which means he’ll normally getting into assault turn 2.  At the Golden Throne tournament I had him run up to a Wraith Lord and pummel it, then move on to an Avatar and bitch slap it to death.  At 250 points Mephiston should only be taken in high point cost games.  Say what you will about the Lord of Death, but he keeps his pimp hand strong.

Sternguard Veteran Squad - This isn't really fair because this unit is also good in the Codex: Space Marines codex but they are still a must have in the 6th edition Blood Angels.  What’s not to like about these guys?  In an edition dominated by high toughness monsters and mobs of cheap troops hiding in cover, Hellfire Rounds (wound on a 2+) and Dragonfire Bolts (ignore cover) are the FUCKIN TITS.  Put these guys in a drop pod with a priest (I like Brother Corbulo for his 2+ Feel No Pain wound tank ability) and watch your opponent cry as his models melt off the table.

Terminator Assault Squads - The ol’ beat stick is still beatin (dick).   You can’t go wrong with these guys.  Put them in a Land Raider with a priest and a Librarian (Divination) and point them at the thing you want to die.  These guys are good in all Marine codices but whatever,  ITS HAMMER TIME, BITCH.

Death Company - Yes, I am aware that this unit does not score and yes I am aware that they cost 20 points per model.  I am also aware that your squad just shit their pants and died.  DEAL WITH IT.  Throw these guys in a drop pod with a Chaplain and a power weapon and power fist and watch your opponent scramble to deal with them.  Oh and guess what?  They’re Relentless.  Take bolters for maximum death.  Each model has 5 strength 5 attacks on the charge (Rage) and with the Chaplain they re-roll all hits and wounds.  Remember that power sword and power fist?  You can’t challenge them away.  CYA.

Assault Squads - No, I’m not talking about Assault Marines with jump packs.  Don’t take those.  In a world dominated by weapons that are AP3 they won’t last long no matter how many Feel No Pains you have.  What you SHOULD be doing is taking advantage of their cheap pimp wagons and sitting backfield until the Short Bus Dragons get taken out.  My favorite builds are the 5 mans with a meltagun and power ax (yes, you need to be able to kill stuff) riding in a Razorback with Twin-Linked Lascannons.  Which brings us to…

Razorbacks - Did you know that Blood Angel transports are fast?  Did you know that Fast Vehicles can move 12” and still fire a weapon at full ballistic skill?  Now you know.  Assault Marine Squads have a built in 35 point discount on any transports they take.  DEAL BREAKER.

Predators - I’ll cover all the predators variants here.  Look, the ability to move 6” and fire all of your weapons at full ballistic skill has won me more games than I care to admit.  Being able to re-position your auto cannons/lascannons to get that perfect kill shot is worth the higher point cost you’re paying above the Dark Angels.

Baal Predators - GET SHIT DONE.  These guys are my go to with the Blood Angels at the moment.  AV 13 fast vehicles that also have the ability to Scout (Outflank)?  I’ll take three please.  I normally take the Assault Canons / Heavy Bolters combo and they can REALLY lay down covering fire.  The best thing about these guys is their ability to Outflank.  They can come in from behind you opponent and blast the living SHIT out of a tank or a wimpy back field scoring unit.  WILL BUY AGAIN.

So that’s it.  In my current opinion, the way to build a decent Blood Angels army is to mix the fast Razorback scoring units with beater units such as the Assault Terminators in Land Raiders.  I would start by using the 500 points necessary to get the terminators and their pimp mobile and then get as many Razorback Assault Marine units and Baal Predators you can afford. If you are planning on going to a tournament that allows Forgeworld or is 2000 points double Force Organization.....good luck. Thoughts?

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?

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.

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!

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?

Dark Angels Black Knights are the new GOLD

Hello all,

Apologies for the delayed postings, but you know....life.  I wanted to talk with you today about a unit in the Dark Angels codex that recently caught my eye, the Black Knights.  No, I'm not talking about the delightful comedy romp starring Martin Lawrence (though I could write an entire blog post about the topic), I'm talking about the Dark Angel's elite hard hitting, bike riding hooligans.

I'll be honest.  The first time I read through the Dark Angels codex I didn't give the Black Knights a second glance.  I was far more interested in the standard Raven Wing bikers.  This was mostly because I like to run Azrael and his ability to unlock the standard bikers as Troop choices really interested me.  After several months of running Dark Angels as my primary army I was becoming dissatisfied with my Ravenwing bikers.  While their toughness 5 was nice and their 4/5+ jink save is useful, the plethora of Helldrakes being fielded rendered them fairly obsolete.  Don't get me wrong I still love to run them in my army lists, and with Azrael being my primary HQ it's nice to have such fast moving Troop choices, but they just weren't getting as much done as I thought they would.  Enter Reece Robbins.  My roommate and sexual confidant, Reece mentioned that he had begun to use the Black Knights in his own Dark Angels force and expounded their merits both loudly and drunkenly.  Intrigued, I began to look into the unit more closely.  Here's the basics,

• Toughness 5 
• 12'' movement plus a 12'' turbo boost.  Relentless.
• Skilled Rider.  +1 jink save/automatic dangerous terrain pass
• Frag/Krak grenades.
• Teleport Homer
• Grim Resolve (Stubborn LD)
• Hit and Run
• Scouts (12'' move?YES)
• Corvus Hammer.  Strength 5 rending attacks.  Arguably more powerful than a power weapon.  4 attacks on the charge.  Yes please.
• Plasma Talon.  Twin-Linked 18'' Plasma Guns.  

As you can see, they are pretty hard hitting both in the shooting phase AND the assault phase.  They are 15 points more expensive than a Ravenwing biker and get SO MUCH MORE.  Why did I miss these guys? 

There is still one nagging issue.  How to deal with the ever prevalent Hell Turkeys with their 360 degree Strength 7 AP 3 Flamer of Doom (oh and also their Strength 7 no cover save Vector Strikes).   After some thought and consultation with the council (Frontline Games)  it was determined that by taking the Ravenwing Command Squad you could get an Apothecary for around 20 more points (DA FAQ now allows you to add 2 more Black Knights to the Command Squad).  This way you get Feel No Pain against Hell Turkey shenanigans and makes them more survivable to small arms fire.  

That wasn't enough though, I needed them to be MORE durable (I roll a LOT of 1's and 2's).  Since I HAVE to take an HQ on a bike to unlock the Ravenwing Command Squad, I decided to go with a Librarian.  I then gave him the Power Field Generator, which grants the model and any other model within 3'' a 4+ Invulnerable save.  NOW WE'RE COOKING WITH FIRE!  Oh, it also confers a 4+ invulnerable save to ENEMY units withing 3"?  FUCK.MY.NUTS.  Well, the trick is to not get charged if you can help it and break the Librarian off if you MUST charge the unit into something.  The 4+ Invulnerable Save is pretty crucial to my overall list (READ: MY NEXT POST) so it IS very important for this guy to have it, so again, just be smart with your positioning. 

What do you guys think about these Caballero Negroes?

Why Tau Will Rock Your Face 100% of the Time

This past weekend I went to a local RTT that also happened to be a qualifier for the upcoming Feast of Blades tournament in Denver, Colorado.  I brought what I THOUGHT would be a tournament winning Dark Angels/Imperial Guard 1850 point list.  I won't lie, I walked into the game store pretty confident in my list.  If you described me as being a bit cocky it would be an understatement.  Alpha Striking terminators with the Azrael/Guard 4+ Invulnerable save blob of DOOOOOOOOM?  I gots that!  I was ready to beat it like a sore dick, i.e. hard.  Little did I know I was about to be the sore dick getting beaten i.e. hard.

I would like to preface my embarrassing defeat with the fact that I have not really played against nor have I read to far into the new Tau codex.  I knew that they shot dead killy and were almost as tricksy as the light on their feet Eldar, but was ultimately so unprepared for what was to come I'm surprised I was still wearing my pants by the end of turn 2.  By the end of turn 3 I had to call the game, since that's just how I roll (READ: I'm a quitter, Vol.1).  So what happened, Raw Dogger?  What caused you to consider Tau the new hottest thing?  The best army since sliced bread?  Please keep in mind that I STILL have not read through the Tau codex so I'm basing my opinions off of what beat me to hell in the game.

• Did you know that Tau can take Interceptor for basically ALL of their units for around 5 points?  I sure didn't!  Having an all reserve (deep striking) force really, REALLY sucked in a game with 6 Intercepting Missile Broadsides and 2 Intercepting Riptides.  This should also be a lesson on NOT reading your opponents list.  I told my opponent that he could just tell me what things were when he was deploying, and I didn't really pay attention to what he was telling me.  As in 'Hey, your whole army is rendered obsolete so you know...want to get any early lunch?'
• Cover saves?  How you are supposed to operate in a game against an overwhelming shooting army when you cannot get cover saves?  'Why don't you kill the units with Marker Lights, Fatso?'  Well, dick, most of their units HAVE the Marker Lights so if you want to take them out you need to kill the whole army.
• Riptides.  FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU.  My opponent had two of these bad boyz, and to be honest, so would I.  Yes, they CAN hurt themselves when over charging their weapons but that never happened to me.  So yeah.
• NO COVER SAVES.
• Blocking Terrain gets negated by their no line of sight weapons.  So even if you try to avoid being seen, you still get blasted in the face.

I'm sure there is a LOT more that makes them insufferable, I just didn't last long enough to find out.  I think the thing that makes me the most upset is the fact that there is LITERALLY nothing you can do about getting shot off the board.  All I could do was hunker down and hope I had models left on objectives by the end of the game.  This isn't enjoyable.   

Rawdogger's IC Review: Astorath the Grim

Hello all,

Here is the first in a series of posts titled Raw Dogger's Review: Independent Characters.  As you might have surmised, I will be giving my reviews on random independent characters from various codices throughout the 40k game system.  The reviews will focus on the characters fluff as well as their capabilities (or lack thereof) in your army lists.  First on the chopping block,

Astorath the Grim

This guy is one of my favorites and has, in my humble opinion, one of the best looking models in the game.  Astorath the Grim is the high chaplain of the Blood Angels Space Marine.  His innate ability to sense the onset of the dreaded Black Rage has led him to become the bringer of oblivion to his maddened brothers.  He is tasked with searching the galaxy, war zone by war zone, for brothers who have fallen to the cursed geneseed of the Blood Angels and are too far gone (and too difficult to eliminate) and giving them eternal peace with the slash of his Executioners Axe.

Astorath has the basic stats of a Space Marine Captain.   He clocks in at 220 points.

 WS6 BS5 S4 T4 W3 I5 A3 LD10 2+.

Wargear:

Artificer Armor - Having a 2+ invulnerable save is fairly clutch in the 6th edition due to power weapons only being AP 3.

Jump Pack - Astorath is Jump Infantry.  This goes with the theme of the Blood Angels being a hard hitting, fast moving assault force.  It also forces you to put Astorath with a unit of Jump Pack equipped models if you want him to move at the quickness he was designed for.

Rosarius - Standard wargear for Chaplains.  Gives Astorath a 4+ invulnerable save which should keep him alive a little longer than the rank and file.

Executioners Axe - Aw, here we go.  Astorath possesses the dreaded Executioners Axe.  This bad boy is a two handed power axe which rocks strength 6 AP 2.  It is unwieldy so you WILL be striking last.  Best thing about this axe?  Successful invulnerable saves must be re-rolled.  NICE ONE!

Frag and Krak Grenades and Bolt Pistol - Don't forget that he actually does have bolt pistol to shoot before charging in and it is a precision shot, for what its worth.

Special Rules:

Descent of Angels - The Blood Angels universal special rule.  Models equipped with a Jump Pack only role one d6 when rolling to scatter when Deep Striking.  They may also re-roll failed reserve rolls.

Honor of the Chapter - Astorath gives Fearless to his unit.  Same as other Chaplains.

Liturgies of Blood - Astorath and the members of the unit he has joined may re-roll hits in close combat.  Death Company can re-roll hits AND wound.  Thought this is the same as a regular Chaplain in terms of the Death Company.

Shadow of the Primarch - Astorath makes it more likely that your units will succumb to the  Black Rage.  on a 3 or less your units have Fearless and Furious Charge but lose And They Shall Know No Fear.  BOSS.


Redeemer of the Lost - Astorath takes away the 0-1 restriction on Death Company.  The only way to take and all Death Company list is to take Astorath.

PROS

Astorath gives your army more of a chance to become Fearless and gain Furious Charge.  Having a ton of Fearless Space Marines certainly can't be a bad thing.  Furious Charge is also a great boon for your standard Assault Marines and take them from 'meh' to 'yeah!'.  He's a beast in close combat and will really add a punch to any unit he joins.  I like to run him with a standard 10 man Assault Squad.  Let some poor sergeant fall on a challenge and have Astorath chop infantry in half (or Monstrous Creatures).  The fact that he lets his unit re-roll hits on the charge really makes whatever they are hitting more likely to die.  Another great way to run him is with a unit of Sanguinary Guard.  Throw in a Chapter Banner and Astorath himself is getting one more strength 6 AP 2 chop on some poor fool's nut sack.  People who love Death Company love Astorath.  He is the only way to run multiple units.

CONS

While a cool ass mofo, Astorath is still just a Space Marine Chaplain.  That means he dies to strength 8 just like anyone else.  You CANNOT have him out on his own.  You need him with a unit to soak up wounds and to take challenges.  His Axe now being Unwieldy, Astorath will be swinging at the same time as a powerfist, and then you have a 50% chance of losing your 220 point HQ choice.  Speaking of his point cost, I find that to also be a con.  He, like the majority of the Blood Angels codex, is now severely overcosted.  He just doesn't do enough or buff your forces enough to warrant such a high cost.  The sad fact is, he is an assault based character who can be killed quite easily in combat due to his low initiative (thanks to the Axe). I feel it would have been better to give his Axe a special FAQ rule that made it a power axe that strikes at initiative.  It would have made him soooo much better (in my opinion).  I feel he is about 100 points over costed at the moment.  I know that sounds like a big number but he really, really suffers from the low initiative.  Again, this can be countered by having a cheap sergeant in his unit that will take challenges from power fisted challengers.  A lot of people say he is worth it to make Death Company troop choices, but Death Company do not score (how many missions require scoring units to win?) and are EXTREMELY expensive.  If you take an all Death Company list, while very cool and style point worthy, do not expect to be playing on any top tables in tournaments.

USES

Astorath is best used in a combat unit.  I like to run him with Sanguinary Guard since they really benefit from his Fearless and re-roll hit abilities and he really benefits from their Chapter Banner and Death Masks.  They are fast moving and hard hitting, but again they are toughness 4 one wound models and die VERY easily to plasma or strength 5+ weapons (like everyone else) which is cheap and plentiful in this edition.  Bring along a priest to give them Feel No Pain and Furious Charge.  BRUTAL.  If you really, REALLY want to spend a lot of points and not win any games, put him in a unit of jump pack equipped Death Company. Remember what Old Jack always says,  expensive marines die just as quickly as regular marines (thanks Hell Turkey!) so take along a Priest if you want to save a couple before you get into combat.  Lastly, I really feel And They Shall Know No Fear is better than Fearless.  Instead of being stuck in combat, the Space Marine unit can Fall Back in their opponents turn, regroup, and charge again in their own turn.

All in all I give Astorath the Gram 5 out of 10 Mehs.