Steady as a weathervane

And now that I have about 75% of my 1850 points worth of White Scars assembled and ready to prime, what better time to radically rethink my Combat Patrol selection, and switch to Orks?


400 - Da Firestartas

HQ: Big Mek w/ Kustom Force Field - 85

Troops: Boyz Mob x 20 - 120

Elites: Burna Boyz x5 - 75
-???x Meks w/ Kustom Mega Blasta, or Slugga/Choppa, or Big Shoota: free

Heavy: Killa Kans x3 - 105
-each w/ Skorchas - 15

Basically all I have to do is assemble the Killa Kans (two extra Skorchas are e'en now winging their way here thanks to eBay) and find my Big Mek with KFF who is in the garage, somewhere.  The Boyz and Burna Boyz are already assembled from the handful of games Britt and I played back in 5th edition; the biggest thing is trying to decide if I want to run more than the one Mek I have in there right now.  I hate losing the burna for a KMB on somebody with BS 2, but having a spare Mek around to fix the Kans might be useful? Or maybe not, I dunno.

We learn by failing

So a while ago (two years now? how time flies) I tried to inaugurate a Warhammer 40,000 "Combat Patrol" league at my local game store.  This format, for those of you unfamilar with it, is basically supposed to represent a few squads of troopers running into each other unexpectedly, rather than the pitched battles of full-sized 40k. I think we had a decent turnout for 'opening day' - eight players, if memory serves, which isn't bad for a store with virtually no minis scene anymore.  Unfortunately it fell apart nearly immediately, for a few reasons which I will address frankly here:

1. no one was sufficiently familiar with the rules
2. some people outright cheated
3. other people brought 'netlists' specifically designed to abuse the Combat Patrol format
4. #2 and #3 above got me so pissed off I basically abdicated my responsibility as league coordinator

So it died a flaming and well-deserved death, and I'm only sad about it in the abstract.  However!  Another local game store (well, 45 mins away, but still) is starting up a Combat Patrol (now called 'Force Patrol') league to begin in the new year, and I am interested again.  There's a new version of 40k out there, several new codicies, and from what I understand the player base up there is not horrible.  So I'm playing with list ideas again!

400 point Lamenters (Blood Angels)

Troops: Assault Squad #1 - 135
-Sergeant w/ Infernus Pistol, Power Axe
-4x Marines: 1 w/ Flamer

Troops: Assault Squad #2 - 265
-Sergeant w/ Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield
-9x Marines: 1 w/ Plasma Pistol, 1 w/ Meltagun

These guys are actually built and primed from the failed league - they were the list I built to punish the guy who bragged about his net-built abusive list, and they worked for that.  I would kind of like to play them for fun instead of for punitive reasons, but I am assuming the typical Space Marine-heavy metagame so maybe....

400 Point Recusant 113th (Traitor Imperial Guard)

HQ: Primaris Psyker 70

Troops: Veteran Squad 80

-Sarge 

-9 Veterans, 2 w/ Flamers

-Chimera w/ Dozer Blade 65

Troops: Veteran Squad 80

-Sarge

-9 Veterans, 2 w/ Grenade Launchers

-Chimera w/ Dozer Blade 65

Fast Attack: Scout Sentinel 40

w/ Smoke Launcher

Again, this one is mostly built from my earlier Traitor Guard project, that fell apart due to the sheer distance I was having to drive back then.  I think all I need to do here is hammer together another Chimera (ugh). The Dozer Blades are frankly a points sink, but the backstory is they're a PDF from an Agri-world that falls to Nurgle so all the armor has Dozer Blades as they primarily used them for civilian work before they turned to Chaos.

396 point Kabal of the Annihilating Embrace (Slaaneshi Dark Eldar)

Troops: Kabalite Warriors x 10 - 105

-1 w/ Shredder, 1 w/ Splinter Cannon

-Raider w/ Splinter Racks 70

Troops: Wyches x 9 - 140

-1 w/ Razorflails

-Hekatrix w/ Phantasm Launcher, Agonizer

Fast Attack: Reavers x3 81

-1 w/ Blaster

I have no idea how these guys will work but they are the ones I actually think I want to play the most.  The only thing I wonder is if I would be better off leaving the Warriors on foot (which gives up access to the Splinter Racks on the Raider) as a stationary firebase and loading the Wyches on the Raider for delivery of boot to head (in which case I'd probably shave points from somewhere else to buy them another body and special H2H weapon.

400 point Necrons

Troops: Immortals x 9 - 153

Troops: Warriors x 9 - 117

Fast Attack: Canoptek Wraiths x 3 - 130

-2 w/ Whip Coils, 1/ Particle Caster

I have boss red plastic rods to replace the green ones on the gauss weapons, so I am kinda stoked to play these guys as well.  The warriors are color primed and ready to go with just a few details and some metallic drybrushing; the Warriors are clipped and ready to go.  But I'd have to buy a box of Wraiths for this list, which is not the biggest problem in the world as I really like the Wraith models.  Plus I think they'd be a very good mobility element for this level; I'd love to run a unit of Praetorians instead but that'd be half my points for 5 guys....

So what I have here are four lists, one which is actually ready to paint, two that are a model or ten away from being ready to prime, and one that's half ready for paint and then 1/4 unassembled and 1/4 still unbought.  Expect my usual dithering and screwing around before deciding.  Updates to follow, etc.  

PS obviously if any of you reading this have any Combat Patrol experience I'd love to hear feedback/critiques/suggestions/etc!

Summer of Slaanesh: Dark Eldar build list

500points

HQ Succubus w/ Agoniser, Venom Blade 90

Troops A:
Kabalite Warriors x10 w/ Shredder, Splinter Cannon 105
-Sybarite w/ splinter pistol, power weapon 20
-Raider w/ splinter racks, shock prow 75

Troops B:
Wyches x9 w/ Razorflails x1 100
-Hekatrix w/ blast pistol, Agoniser, phantasm grenade launcher 45
-Raider w/ Disintegrator Cannon, shock prow 65

Summer of Slaanesh: Angels of Ecstasy build list

first 500 points:

HQ: Chaos Sorcerer w/ Terminator Armor, Mark of Slaanesh, Lash 140

Troops A: Chaos Space Marines x 10 w/ Mark of Slaanesh, Hvy Bolter, Flamer 185
-AspChamp w/ PW, Meltabombs 35
-Rhino 35

Troops B: Chaos Space Marines x 5 w/ Mark of Slaanesh, Meltagun 105

upgrade to 1000

HQ: Chaos Sorcerer w/ Terminator Armor, Mark of Slaanesh, Lash 140

Elites: Chaos Terminators x3, Mark of Slaanesh, HvyFlamer, Combi-flamer, Combi-melta 120

Troops A: Chaos Space Marines x 10 w/ Mark of Slaanesh, Hvy Bolter, Flamer 185
-AspChamp w/ Power Weapon, Meltabombs 35
-Rhino w/ Havoc Launcher 50

Troops B: Chaos Space Marines x 10 w/ Mark of Slaanesh, Meltagun, Plasmagun 195
-AspChamp w/ combi-melta, Power Fist 50
-Rhino w/ Havoc Launcher 50

Fast Attack: Chaos Raptors x5 w/ Mark of Slaanesh, Plasma Pistol, Meltagun 145
-AspChamp w/ Power Weapon 30

Back to the salt mines

Well, the blog and my minis gaming both took a huge nosedive last May. What's the best way to remedy that this spring/summer? Why, biting off way more than I can chew, of course. Here's the project list in rough priority order:

1) AK-47 Republic, in 6mm (minis by GHQ). Minis are here, waiting on bases. Slightly terrified of trying to paint stuff that small; the infantry is roughly grain-of-rice-sized. On the plus side I won't be painting web gear or belt buckles at this scale...

2) Battletech, using the highly superior Quick Strike rules. I'm still waiting on about half of my mechs, which I bought from an increasingly shady looking eBay dealer. Paint job will be simple as I'm rolling with the Fighting Urukhai this summer. My friend Britt is putting together a campaign setting and six of us will be recreating (precreating?) the 3039 War.

3) Flames of War. I have finally started assembling my filthy Nazi bastids, and am eyeballing a valiant workers' Soviet Lend-Lease army. Emchas! Woo!

4) WWI naval gaming. I've got some incredibly cheap (and incredibly tiny) 1/6000th scale minis on the way in from Strange Cargo games in Marathon, FL (one of the few places in South Florida I don't detest). I grabbed enough stuff to do the German East Asia squadron stuff (Coronel and Falklands) as well as the Goeben's run to Constantinople.

And the biggest, most indigestible thing I'm working on?

The Summer of Slaanesh! Lots of 40k and WFB stuff that has been languishing way too long. Most of what I'll be putting together now that the weather is turning is going to be Slaaneshi-themed, viz:

a) WFB Chaos Warriors, all Slaaneshi-aligned, for the Slow-Grow League at All Fun and Games in Cary. What better way to learn the rules than to play other people who already play? Minis inbound. I've been agonizing over the listbuilding stuff as I have no real idea of how this game actually looks on the tabletop.

b) 40k Dark Eldar for the same league, fluffed as being a renegade Cult of Slaanesh (in memoriam of the great old Cult of Slaanesh list from WFB about 2 or 3 editions ago). What's the one thing guaranteed to irk the jaded Dark Eldar establishment? Worship of She-Who-Thirsts! Bulk of the first 500 points are already here, although I forgot to order any transports.

c) 40k Chaos Space Marines, Angels of Ecstasy. I just want to play some Marines damnit!

d) Mordheim Cult of the Possessed: I think the Mordheim gaming at The Game Connection in Knightdale is on hiatus, but it's only like 6 minis and I'll be using the same color schemes as some or all of the Slaaneshi stuff above. Why not?

e) Blood Bowl Chaos team: I'm not certain of the mechanics of my local BB league this summer, as I haven't discussed it with my benevolent commissioner Da'vesh (or is his brother in charge this year?) lately. But whatever store it winds up at, and even if I only get to play a few exhibition games, what better time for a return of the Libertines than in the Summer of Slaanesh?

f) Battlefleet Gothic: Angels of Ecstasy warfleet. 'Nuff said.

Time to stock up on pink paint.

So anyway, since I have various materials shortages for some of these, the current worktable is slapping together 500pts of Angels of Ecstasy. One CSM unit in a Rhino, and a Terminator Sorcerer with a small retinue (yes, I know the retinue rules are gone. shut up). Pics tomorrow; I should have everything bar the Rhino built by then.

BONUS FALL PREDICTIONS:
A Very British Civil War (Fascist Yanks take the Isle of Wight!)
Martian Empires
Revolt on Antares gaming in 15mm
Heavy Gear
hell freezing over, etc

I can quit anytime I want: aka Alt-itis, the Hidden Killer

(EDIT: have fairly radically changed all 3 lists after a bit of browsing at Advanced Tau Tactica)

TAU v1: 400pts
Troops: 12x Fire Warrior Team
-upgrade one to Shas'ui w/ Bonding Knife, EMP Grenades
-Devilfish APC w/ Disruption Pod
223pts

Elites: Stealth Team x5
-upgrade one to Team Leader w/ Fusion Blaster, Bonding Knife, Hardwired: Targeting Lock, Drone Controller, 1x Gun Drone
177pts

TAU v2: 400pts
Troops: 12x Fire Warrior Team
-upgrade one to Shas'ui w/ Bonding Knife, EMP Grenades
-Devilfish APC w/ Disruption Pod
223pts

Troops: 10x Kroot Carnivores
70pts

Elites: Stealth Team x3
-upgrade one to Team Leader w/ Fusion Blaster, Bonding Knife, Hardwired: Targeting Lock
107pts

TAU v3: 400pts
Troops: 12x Fire Warrior Team
-upgrade one to Shas'ui w/ Bonding Knife, EMP Grenades
-Devilfish APC w/ Disruption Pod
223pts

Elites: 3x Crisis Suits
-2x suits w/ TL-Missile Pods/Flamer
-Shas'ui w/ Bonding Knife, Hardwired Multitracker, Hardwired Target Lock
--suit w/ TL-Flamers, Missile Pod
and EITHER:Hardwired Drone Controller, shield drone x1
OR Failsafe Detonator
177pts

The first demo night!

Lists here - in case I forget/lose them I can look them up on my phone tomorrow:

ORKS REDUX REDUX, 399pts
Troops: Slugga Boyz x 12
-upgrade one boy to Nob
--w/ Bosspole, Power Klaw
-mounted in Trukk
147 pts

Troops: Slugga Boyz x 12
-upgrade one boy to Nob
--w/ Bosspole, Power Klaw
-mounted in Trukk
147pts

Fast Attack: Deffkoptas x 2
-both w/ TL-rokkit launchas
-one with Bigbomm
105pts

vs

Scouting elements of the Recusant 113th, 395pts:

Veteran Squad #1 170pts
-Meltaguns x3, Vox-caster
-mounted in Chimera w/ Dozer Blade

Veteran Squad #2 185pts
-3x Plasma guns, Vox-caster
-mounted in Chimera w/ Dozer Blade

1x Scout Sentinel w/ Autocannon 40pts

War Without End League: the Recusant 113th gets it in the neck

For a few minutes there I was worried I was going to get tabled, but in the end my Traitor Guard did better than I thought they would have, and held on until the bitter end when Chris Genest's Deathwing list snatched the only objective out of 4 on the board by burning the remnants of one of my Veteran squads off of it with an extreme-range, non-scattering plasma cannon shot from his sleepy Venerable Dreadnought (who almost snoozed through the whole game, only arriving on turn 4).

But lets not put the cart before the horse. We rolled the Seize and Hold mission and the 'Dawn of War' deployment style, and Chris wisely chose to go second and keep his HQ and 2 Troops units (Belial and two squads of Deathwing Terminators) in reserve for a Deathwing Assault in turn 1. So deprived of anything to shoot at, my two Chimeras full of Veterans popped smoke and loitered near my edge of the board, while my command squad went to ground in the second floor of a ruin near my right-hand corner.

Chris then teleported his two squads of Terminators in close to my board edge, using the Assault Cannon-armed squad to hose down that ruined building, killing 3 members of my command squad and wounding my Commander.

I got fairly lucky on my reserve rolls for turn two, getting my Autocannon-armed chicken walkers, my explosive-lance armed Rough Riders, and a Penal Legion unit that I wound up criminally underusing by hiding behind a wall and only firing once in the game (NB: if you're going to have a cheap scoring unit, you need to either score with the damned thing or fling it into combat, not have it sit on its collective thumb all game). At this point I got a real taste for just how ludicrously survivable Terminators can be. Shoot 'em with whatever you want - either they get their 2+ armor save or their 5+ invulnerable save. Plus Chris was running a (wonderfully converted!) Terminator Apothecary, which means one that I could have killed with a lucky autocannon shot got to ignore that wound instead. Also, whatever I should be doing with my Rough Riders, slamming them into a CC-tooled Terminator unit probably isn't it. Maybe throwing them at the shooty squad would have been the better choice. As it was, they all got slashed to bits by Belial and the other Lightning Claw-armed members of termie unit #1. Grr...

Chris's only other unit in reserve, the Dread, failed to arrive this turn. So he made hay instead by pranging one of my Chimeras and killing like half the dudes inside in the resultant explosion (at some point his CC Termies did the same thing to my other Chimera, but I'm a bit uncertain as to whether it was this turn or the next one).

Turn 3, I brought my second HQ - a Primaris Psyker (reskinned as a Chaos Sorcerer in my Traitor Guard theme) and the lovely, lovely Leman Russ. Whatever else I've decided, I think the main thing I've learned is that my next 250 points are going for a 2nd Leman Russ and 55 points of who the hell cares, because the LR is gold. If I'd been smarter and deployed it further off to one side or another I could have really capitalized on it; even so I think it accounted for all but 2 of the 9 Termie kills I got in this game. It did much better than the sorcerer, who promptly rolled boxcars on his Psychic test and ate his own brain rather than dropping some lightning on the shooty Termie squad like I'd hoped. Still, between the lone survivor of my command Lascannon team and the rapidly backpedaling survivors of the plasmagunner Vetsquad, I think I got two Termie kills on the shooter group. Meanwhile, the CC Termies with Belial started soaking up Leman Russ fire. I'm a bit hazy on who died when, but I know that by their assault next phase this unit was down to 3 or 4 men instead of the 6 it started with.

So lets move on to that. In a really smart move, Chris launched this unit into contact with my Sentinels - which meant that since the Sentinels were walkers, he was locked in combat, and therefore untargetable by the thundering guns of my LR. Curse the craftiness of the Deathwing! Plus he was able to aim his charge so one of his Thunder Hammer termies was knocking on the sides of my LR. Fortunately he never got through the armor on the Leman Russ. One of the Sentinels went boom, but who cared. At this point I'd have been happier if he'd killed all 3 immediately, since I'd have had an extra turn to shoot him up.

We were starting to run out of actual real-world gaming time by this point, so I'm a bit hazier on what happened and when. Suffice it to say that my other two Sentinels got Luke Skywalkered to death, the LR pounded his CC Termies down to just one, and Chris ran his shooty Termies towards the midfield objective. His Dread showed up and cranked a shot at my LR that bounced off the armor; this was clearly just a ranging shot however, as the next (and final) turn he wasted 6 of my 7 Veterans off their objective, leaving one guy armed only with a lasgun and harsh language to try and fend off the Master of the Deathwing. That didn't happen, and while his other squad didn't make it to their objective due to a mediocre 'run' roll, Chris's destruction of my Veteran unit was enough to claim the one and only objective anyone held at the (slightly early) game's end.

Scattered highlights from the game for me include the moment when Chris saved against two meltagun hits from the dwindling remnants of my melta-Vet squad, but lost a terminator to their buddy and his lasgun (aka 'flashlight). I also can look back now and see a few things I should have done differently, as well as a few things I just plain old forgot about (ie using any of my Company Commander's 'Orders' to bolster my shooting). Still, it was a fun game all in all; Chris was a friendly and helpful opponent, who was able to put up with my slight unfamiliarity with the rules and helped me to remember stuff that slipped my mind. So a loss, but a good game; and that's what it's all about anyway, right?

"The loud lament of the disconsolate chimera."

-T.S. Eliot, "Four Quarters: Burnt Norton"

But Chimeras are Imperial Guard vehicles, I hear you say. But Eliot didn't write anything about Rhinos (so far as I know), and this was the only time I could recall that he uses the word 'lament.'

Anyway. Thanks to insomnia, enjoy a few Lamenters Space Marine CP lists, built from the new Blood Angel Codex

No.1: Jump-pack Assault, 400pts ("Let us go then, you and I"))
Troops:
Assault Squad #1: 5-strong (155)
-1x flamer
-sgt has Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield

Assault Squad #2: 10-strong (245)
-1x meltagun, 1x Plasma Pistol
-Sgt has Power Weapon, Inferno Pistol

nb: can split squad #2 with 'Combat Squads' rule for 3 scoring units

No.2: Tacsquad/Jump-pack Assault combo, 400pts ("Grishkin is nice: her Russian eye")
Troops:
Assault Squad #1: 5-strong (155)
-1x flamer
-sgt has Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield

Tac Squad #1: 10-strong (245)
-1x flamer, 1x missile launcher
-sgt has Power Fist
-mounted in Rhino

nb: can split tacsquad with 'Combat Squad' rule for 3 scoring units also

No.3: Razorback Assault ("Apeneck Sweeney spreads his knees")
HQ: Sanguinary Priests x2 (100)
-attach one to each Assault Squad

Troops:
Assault Squad Alpha: 5-strong (150)
-1x flamer
-sgt has Power Fist
-swap Jump Packs for Razorback with Twin-Linked Heavy Bolters

Assault Squad Beta: 5-strong (150)
-1x flamer
-sgt has Power Fist
-swap Jump Packs for Razorback with Twin-Linked Heavy Bolters

Lists #1 and #2 are actually kinda tempting, as they share one squad, and the tacsquad from list #2 can be built (almost) entirely out of the raft of starter set marines I have floating around the garage. List #3 would be fun to run, and I'd love to see if the Furious Charge and Feel No Pain from the Sanguinary Priests would make up for the tiny squad sizes. But it would be the most hassle to build, and while I think I could get plenty of use out of the other three component squads that make up lists #1 and #2 at higher point levels, I'm not as sure about any of the stuff for list #3.

Hypermind 40k League - not dead yet

Actually a tiny little flurry of activity and renewed player interest this week/weekend, which was nice. At the same time, I need to get off my ass and do a lot of wargaming-related stuff:

1) finish assembling and start on painting the Recusant 113th, or at least the first 1000pts or so of them. I've been coming up with all sorts of keen stuff to paint on the sides of their tanks, which would of course necessitate getting said tanks, you know, built and painted.

2) get some primer on Hashut's Hammers, my Chaos Dwarf Blood Bowl team for this year's Bloodlust Football League, as mentioned on my buddy Britt's blog.

3) paint up my Sorylians for Firestorm: Armada

4) ditto my Ork and Chaos fleets for BFG, since that's ever so slowly moving forward at Hypermind as well

So what did I spend my free time doing tonight? Making up lists for the army I'm wanting to field in the Hypermind league, of course. Hooray for the Angels of Ecstasy. Now I just need a good recipe for a nice creepy pink paintjob....

War Without End League: lists for the Recusant 113th

Well, while the attempt to build up a 40k league at Hypermind in Burlington is stalling out, apparently The Game Connection in Knightdale has a very healthy 40k league scene. While I still want to build something up at Hypermind, I'm starting to think it's a good idea to get some more experience under my belt, both simply playing 40k and seeing how a thriving league gets run. So for a change of pace I'm about 90% sure I'll field a (Chaos-tainted) Imperial Guard list up there. Here's some tentative lists at the stated point values for the league:

1000pts
HQ
Company Command Squad 100pts
w/ Regimental Standard, Vox-Caster, Lascannon Team, Commander has Power Weapon

'Primaris Psyker' (Chaos Sorcerer) 70pts

TROOPS
Veteran Squad #1 170pts
-Meltaguns x3
-mounted in Chimera w/ Dozer Blade

Veteran Squad #2 185pts
-3x Plasma guns
-mounted in Chimera w/ Dozer Blade

'Penal Legion' Squad (maddened cultists) 80pts

FAST ATTACK
Scout Sentinel Squad 120
-3 Sentinels, all with Autocannon

Rough Rider Squad (1 Rough Rider Sgt, 5 Rough Riders) 80
-2x Grenade Launchers, Sgt has meltabombs

HEAVY SUPPORT
Leman Russ Tank 195
-w/ Lascannon, Heavy Bolter Sponsons, Dozer Blade

1250 pts: add
TROOPS
Infantry Platoon #1 250
-Platoon Command Squad w/ Vox-caster, Autocannon team
-Infantry Squad #1.1, w/ Vox-caster, Autocannon team
-Infantry Squad #1.2, w/ Vox-caster, Autocannon team
-Heavy Weapons Squad, w/ 3x Autocannon teams

1500 pts: add either
TROOPS
Infantry Platoon #2, equipped as #1 250
OR
ELITES
Ogryn Squad (1 Bone'ead, 5x Ogryns) 250

1850 pts: add
2nd Leman Russ, equipped as #1, 195
FAST ATTACK
Hellhound Squad 155
-1x Bane Wolf, w/ Multi-Melta, Dozer Blade

2000pts: add
5x more Rough Riders 50
ELITES
'Ratling' Squad x10 (possibly Skaven minis?) (100)

EDIT TO ADD:
SPECIAL BONUS 400pt COMBAT PATROL LIST
Veteran Squad #2 w/ Plasma guns
Penal Legion Squad
Full-strength Rough Rider Squad
TOTAL: 395

Battlefleet Gothic

"Announcing your plans is a good way to hear God laugh."

Well, after some (admittedly rather disorganized) pushing to get the 40k league off the ground, maybe the smart play is to get the people who are already regular Hypermind Attendees and who already have BFG stuff to start something up as well? Who do we have, and what fleets are they planning to use?

ALTON - Space Marines (Black Templars)
JIM - I honestly cannot remember which fleets he had
STEVE - has large Chaos fleet, needs some escort ships though
ME - can bring 500pts of Imperial Navy, Chaos, and Eldar
NEW BRAD - seems like he'd mentioned BFG as well, maybe this is an opportune time to email him again?

I need to work on some way to synergize this stuff. Jim brought his copy of the BFG supplement about tying boarding parties, gamed out with 40k, into BFG - maybe when the new Battle Missions book gets here there'll be some inspiration for an update of that idea (and maybe if I win that eBay auction for a whole Necron fleet, Britt might borrow them to run tandem with his 40k Necrons for that kind of dual-game fun)?

Plus maybe we need an "Admiral's Cup" to compete with the prestigious "Golden Warboss" trophy....

(EDIT: the fact that an Al Swearengen quote came to mind for this turn of events has nothing whatsoever to do with the name of my Imperial Retribution-class Battleship, the Lord Swearengen)

EDIT #2 - added Steve to list

Loaner Lists and the Build Queue

I suppose Mark G. will be the person to ask about these, since he'll be the one borrowing them, but here we go just so they see the light of day:

CHAOS SPACE MARINES: (Alpha Legion, 400pts)
Troops: 8x Chaos Space Marines
-flamer
-IoCG
-Asp Champ with PF
-mounted in Rhino w/ Havoc Launcher
225pts

Elites: 5x Chosen
-3 flamers, 2 meltaguns
-mounted in Rhino w/ Havoc Launcher
175pts

The Chosen can infiltrate, or outflank if held in reserve. And the two missile-armed Rhinos might be a big plastic hassle for people to deal with at this level. But it's a small list, only 13 minis, and only 8 of them are scoring.

SPACE WOLVES: (13th Company, 400pts)
Troops: Grey Hunters x10
-flamer, plasmagun
-power fist
-Rhino
210pts

Elites: Wolf Scouts x10
-plasma pistols x2
-meltagun
190pts

Like the Chosen, the Wolf Scouts can infiltrate or outflank, or even come in from the enemy's own board edge using their special rules. They don't have quite the ranged punch of the Elites, and they don't come with their own transport, but then again there are 5 more of them.

These lists are a fair amount alike; both have a mobile Elite element that will probably get devoted to anti-vehicle work before turning on any remaining infantry. The CSMs have more punch, but might be more brittle, since they have only 13 men to the Space Wolves' 20. On the other hand, the CSM have an extra APC, and both of them are much shootier than the Space Wolves' vanilla ride. Both of these lists will have the (mild) added complexity of the Infiltrate/Outflank rules to deal with, but I don't think that will make them too much of a headache for a starter army.

I've also toyed with pulling two of the Wolf Scouts and their Rhino; if I did this, I could give them an 8-strong unit of Fenrisian Wolves for some additional melee punch, as well as an additional maneuver element. But at the moment, I'm not sure that losing the mobility of the Rhino for the only scoring unit is worth the addition. They'd certainly be the 'sideboard' unit for this list.

And storyline-wise there's no problem with them; having spent the past 10,000 years or so in the Eye of Terror, I'm sure any Emperor-fearing Sister of Battle would attack these guys first and ask questions later. Frankly, I'm starting to sell myself on these guys; if Mark doesn't want to play them I might (especially since all my Dark Angel stuff is on hold in case the current rumors about them getting a new codex sometime this summer wind up being true).

Oh, and the third possible list, in case Mark surprises me and wants to go swarmy:

TYRANIDS: (Hive Fleet Name-to-be-determined-later, 400pts)
Troops: Genestealers x10
Troops: Termagants x18
Troops: Hormagaunts x20
Elites: Zoanthrope x1

The Zoanthrope will act as a half-assed synapse creature to keep the gants and gaunts on a slightly shorter leash than their instincts would permit; it'll also be a potential anti-vehicle unit assuming the stealers don't crunch the vehicles up first. They'd be even more straightforward than the two lists above, and having 4 units instead of 2 will probably be at least a little useful (particularly when 4 of them can hold objectives). Also, I priced this list out from memory - I might be 10 points off on the price of the Zoanthrope, which means two more gants have to go bye-bye (or two gaunts, and suffer the indignity of running a 398-pt list instead of using all 400). One of the best things about this list is that it's already built, and Nids are supposed to be tailor-made for the dip method of painting.

As for the Traitor Guard, I think they'd be too wonky for someone who doesn't own the rulebooks to work with for a first-time list; I must admit, however, that they look better and better. My Eldar are, conversely, looking worse - I'm just not sure that the two Vypers in that list can reliably (or even semi-reliably) handle 2+ Penitent Engines. Of course, having said that, I do have the odd notion of replacing one block of Dire Avengers with some Fire Dragons, and using the Vypers to mow down infantry like Khaine intended....

Combat Patrol League: inching towards Doomsday

Fortunately, Britt has sharper eyes than I do, and noticed someone painting up some Sisters of Battle at Hypermind yesterday. Brad (the gentleman in question) did seem interested in joining in once we got a firmer idea of what nights we'd play (he also mentioned Battlefleet Gothic, but that's a post for another day). Mark G. also seemed like he'd at least be interested in playing a few scrimmage games with a loaner army, and possibly joining the informal league; and finally original Brad said he'd want to use my Orks while he works on getting his built. So, preliminary interest and armies seem to be:

Britt: Sisters of Battle
original Brad: my Orks
new Brad: Sisters of Battle
Chris Knight (who we met at the 4 corners game): can't recall what army, although Space Marines sounds right for some reason
Mark G: whatever I foist off on him, I guess, although I will get some feedback from him next Tuesday if he's got any preferences and if I've got stuff that would fit
myself: whatever I don't foist off on Mark G, yet can still fight Penitent Engines (bane of the tables that they are)

So here's six players, one overlapping army (which is no problem, in my opinion - presumably Britt's SoBs and Brad's SoBs can try and burn each other to death over which hymnal they're supposed to be using this century), and I've got to figure out two more 400-pointers to finish up in a semi-timely fashion, along with my poor Orks that I'm going to be fostering out. I'm not going to use my Berzerkers, or hand them off to Mark, as I still think they're a bit one-note and cheesy in this format. My Eldar are almost assembled, so I think I'll go with them, and maybe I'll make a non-Berzerker Chaos Marines list for Mark's loaner - although I did get the new Nid codex last week, and I've actually got everything built to make a passable CP list for them already. I still would like to see the Guard make an appearance, but I've only come up with two lists for them, one of which is a static autocannon spam gunline with a borderline-cheesy three Chimeras, and the other of which is a probably almost impossibly gimmicky and unwieldy collection of convicts, veterans, Sentinel walkers and explosive-lance-wielding cavalry (which, to be fair, will probably be much more fun and characterful for Traitor Guardsmen than the disciplined gunnery one). If anything, that one might replace Eldar for my pick, assuming I don't wuss out and run the easy-to-paint Nids instead of either of them.

This looks disturbingly like the nexus of a decent little 6-person ladder league as Britt envisioned last year. Maybe now I should start working on firming up commitments, and trying to nail people down to Thursday nights; or conversely, get everyone to tell what nights work best for them and try to reach some consensus that way.

The next question is how to handle our rosters. I guess there's two main ways to approach this - either everyone turns in a master list at the beginning of the league, and sticks with it for the whole thing, or we allow some degree of change. I don't particularly want to end up with people custom-tailoring their lists to fight whoever's going to be their next opponent (not to mention that since I'm going to be providing half the armies in the league, I've got no real desire to be retooling three lists every week), but I'd hate for people to realize they don't like their force composition and yet be stuck with it for the foreseeable future. Maybe we can declare some sort of halfway point where everyone can totally rewrite their list, so long as it's still the same Codex they started with? Give everyone one or two free rewrite tokens, which they can cash in whenever? In any event, in the interest of fairness I'll finalize my list first and hand it off to someone unaffiliated, then collect initial lists and vet them for point totals, adherence to the CP rules, etc.

Hopefully we can maybe get this cranked up by late February? It's interesting that we're slowly unearthing people at Hypermind who play - one can only hope that real live games will flush more closet 40k players out of the woodwork!

EDIT TO ADD: assuming arguendo that we get 6 players and make a little 3-2-1 triangular ladder as per the 'War Without End' format GW mentions, how should we fill the board for this first informal league? Right now I'm frankly thinking just a pure random draw to populate the board, but I'm open to other suggestions. Also, what order should challenges be resolved/played in? For example, Players 4 and 5 (third rank) both issue challenges to player 3 (2nd rank); deciding whose challenge resolves first might be a significant decision, but at the same time, real-world issues might dictate who will have time to meet up in a given week. Or am I just borrowing trouble by thinking about this stuff this early, and should I just wait to resolve such possible 'problems' if and when they occur?

A brief interruption for new content

Got a nice heavy box in the mail yesterday from WarWeb.com, containing two really sweet looking Old Glory 15mm armies: mid-Republican Romans and Late Carthaginians. Earlier I think I mentioned that first game of Napoleon's Battles as my true move into full-on grognardism; however, I think the two bags of triarii I got yesterday, complete with piano wire spears, are the real descent into madness. I'm planning on using them with the Field of Glory rules. (Interestingly, while I'm sort of pushing uphill to get the 40k thing started up, Brett from Hypermind and my old buddy Steve have both, totally unprovoked and without lobbying on my part, expressed interest in some wargaming with this ruleset. I've actually lent all my FoG books to Steve, and he probably knows the rules better than I do at the moment.)

Also included was a copy of Sam Mustafa's "Might and Reason," a set of 18th century wargaming rules. I've barely skimmed them so far, but they look interesting - there's a nice initiative system, and each turn is made up of a variable number of sub-turns, or 'pulses.' It seems like it should do a good job of mitigating the 'I-go/U-go' problem, without being too cumbersome. The other thing I've skimmed is the campaign system. There are actually two of them - one a way to model a year's campaigning in a particular region, the other a method to run a large Europe-wide (or possibly worldwide, if I read it right) campaign of up to eight players. The problem with this second system is that it's predicated on using a boardgame called "Soldier Kings" as an integral part of the grand campaign system. I guess it won't be a huge issue, as playing the grand campaign stuff isn't on the radar for the foreseeable future, but I do wish it had been more self-contained. Also, Soldier Kings is listed on the Geek as a playtime of 4 hours, so I don't see being able to work it in boardgames night at Hypermind anytime soon.

Just so I don't sound overly negative, I do really like what I've read of the rest of the rules - they look simple enough to be quick to pick up. The book itself is nicely organized and laid out, and is full of little gems like the random battle naming table (Unterhunddorf will fall!) and some good historical primers (which makes sense, as Mr. Mustafa is a history professor). There's a nice list of rated officers for the various nationalities, and while there are only two scenarios in the book, there are several more offered for free on the game's website, as well as two free expansions for adapting the rules to other locales and conflicts (such as the War of Spanish Succession, or the wars of the Ottoman and Persian Empires). I'm looking forward to grabbing some 6mm dudes and slugging it out - maybe the War of Jenkin's Ear?

Finally, while I've been too shiftless to get my German list finalized for Monday's game (tonight, I swear!) in the interests of fairness/full disclosure/all that happy nonsense, here's my new Ork list that will hopefully be less horrible against crazy people bolted into spinny cutty burny things like Penitent Engines:

ORKS REDUX, 399pts
Troops: Slugga Boyz x 12
-upgrade on boy to Nob
--w/ Bosspole, Big Choppa
-mounted in Trukk w/ Wrecking Ball
137 pts

Troops: Slugga Boyz x 12
-upgrade one boy to Nob
--w/ Bosspole, Power Klaw
-mounted in Trukk w/ Wrecking Ball
157pts

Fast Attack: Deffkoptas x 2
-both w/ TL-rokkit launchas
-one with Bigbomm
105pts

We'll see if the ability to get around the table a bit faster does any good, or if it just gets me cut into steaming green bits that much quicker... If Brad doesn't run Orks in the league, I think this will be the Ork list I use. If he does, I guess I need to get into R&D on something else!

Playing catch-up #4: Combat Patrol for the first time

I am in a mad dash to get current before Monday, when the plan is to get in some Flames of War and some Warhammer 40k Combat Patrol; so I'm going to try and churn these things out pretty fast. Fortunately, this one will be short, since it was a total learning/practice game. Britt brought a Vindicare Assassin (basically a super-bad-ass sniper) and two ten-strong units of Sisters of Battle. I brought two eight-man squads of Khorne Berzerkers. We lined up on opposing table quarters with no real cover and started rolling.

Already I'm taking some pretty big casualties, despite being in power armor. Fortunately (and cheesily) Berzerkers effectively don't take morale checks, so I didn't really care; I kept popping bolt pistol shots into the groups, not really caring if they landed or not since I was just desperate to launch an assault. Unfortunately I inadvertently cheated, having my right-hand unit of Berzerkers both run and assault during their second turn. While I think I was probably in charge range anyway, this could have made a big difference - either another turn of rapid bolter fire, or a spoiling charge, might have changed the outcome pretty drastically.


The results of my perfidious behavior - each of my squads launched an assault on one of Britt's squads, and the Berzerkers' simply goofy amount of attacks (three, four on the initial assault) took over. Britt's Vindicare keep shooting into the melee, but there wasn't much he could do at one kill a turn. The left-hand Berzerkers killed their way through their victims, and prepared to turn on the Vindicare while their slowpoke comrades kept chainswording their way through the remainder of the Emperor's most devoted servants.


Eventually the surviving Berzerkers took down the Imperial Assassin with a flurry of bolt pistol fire, which seemed anticlimactic but was probably smarter than giving him another round to pinata-stick their noggins.



If, at this point, you find yourself feeling bad for the Sisters of Battle, bear in mind that this act of martyrdom would apparently piss the rest of the chapter off to no end, as they prepare to beat the whiz out of all comers for the rest of these batreps (and possibly the foreseeable future).

Things that will probably replace my Burna Boyz for Combat Patrol

SWAP BURNA BOYZ FOR
Fast Attack: Deffkoptas x3
-all with twin-linked Rokkit Launchas
-equip one with a Bigbomm
PROS: I have the models already from the Black Reach set; Twin-linking the Rokkit Launchas is a good way to counter crappy Ork BS with the low-ROF but high-ST rokkits; adds some real mobility to my otherwise footslogging list for late-game objective contesting; dropping the Large blast template in Combat Patrol sounds like good clean fun
CONS: only 3 of them; unit may be even more fragile than I realize (and I already think it might be heavy on the 'glass' and light on the 'cannon')

OR SWAP BURNA BOYZ FOR
Fast Attack: Warbikers x6
PROS: tons of dakka (18 twin-linked shots sounds nice, even at BS2), love the models, more mobility (see above)
CONS: will have to buy 3 more of the minis; will still need to be rolling 6's on the dakkaguns to even glance AV11

OR SWAP BURNA BOYZ FOR
Elites: Lootas x10
PROS: potentially sick amounts of dakka, 48" range will be brutal in the 4 foot by 4 foot Combat Patrol universe, at ST7 popping light armor will be quite possible
CONS: will be a stationary firebase so LOS will be a huge issue, seems kinda... dull, and dare we say it, responsible, for an Ork list, even with the random ROF

OR SWAP BURNA BOYZ FOR
Elites: Tankbustas x8
-up to two swap Rokkit Launchas for Tankhammers
-w/ Bomb-squigs x3
PROS: stupid fun; killing a Penitent Engine with a 5-point bomb squig would totally make my day; can build them from parts I have on hand
CONS: crappy BS plus only 6 guys firing single shots - on average that'll be 2 hits/turn, but 6 is a really small number of dice so they'll be flukey; will have to model up something for the Tankhammers and my scratchbuilding sucks

Playing catch-up #0; and the Battle of Four Corners

Dang, I've got a decent-sized backlog of played games to work through, which I'll probably condense a great deal and post about in the next few days. But before I forget them, here's some thoughts I've had about today's four-way demo/learning game of 40k at Hypermind:

1) Four-way games of 40k should probably be 2v2 teams. Way too much downtime for the other players in a four-way, plus while it didn't seem to be a huge issue today I could see the last guy up getting totally shafted on a variety of things, both in set-up and in actual gameplay.

2a) Chaos Daemons DO NOT ENTER PLAY NORMALLY. I am so mad I forgot this, as it radically changed the way Brad had to play them. I'm still not sure how well they'll work in the Combat Patrol setting with their almost total lack of anti-vehicle capability, but not fielding them correctly means I'll never figure out how they'd have actually fared.

2b) they also don't make a great loaner/learner army, as the ones I have built don't have any shooting capability at all, and their Fearlessness means they don't help the person playing them to learn anything about the Morale phase (and I'm not really planning to buy any Horrors/Flamers just for this mini-list). The Berzerkers are better in that while they're still Fearless, you at least have to learn the shooting rules, and make the occasional decision between shooting with them and sneaking in an extra bit of running. Based on these two factors, I really should bash together those Traitor Guardsmen and probably some non-fearless CSMs for my other opposing forces.

3) Kill Britt's Penitent Engines at all costs. They're just plain nasty at this level, and the minimum amounts of anti-tank I'd been planning on in my earlier listbuilding exercises just doesn't seem like they will cut it. I haven't looked through all my other codexes (I wish GW would say 'codices' since that's the actual plural) yet, but I am thinking the PE's are the only 'fighty' walkers available in the CP setting. I know that the Eldar have their ugly War Walkers, and the Guard can bring Sentinels, but neither of those are the kind of CC ugliness that the PEs are; and in the small boardspace of a CP matchup, the PE's low armor and lack of long-range shooting are much less of a drawback since they're getting stuck into CC by turn two at the latest.

4a) I need to print off and bring multiple copies of the following-
-the quick-read rules from the back pages of the main rulebook
-summary sheets for all forces
-FAQs/erratas for all forces
-some sort of contact sheet/'league info' handout package to facilitate getting new people interested...

4b) ...because we had one person in the store today approach us during setup, and he seemed really interested in getting involved, so I grabbed his e-mail address; having a nice concise one-sheet handout (with some league info, my e-mail address, etc on one side, and a copy of the Adepticon CP rules/guidelines on the other) would have been perfect.
EDIT TO ADD: a stack of these for Denise to give out if people ask about the league might not be bad either; plus maybe an info sheet for the store bulletin board.

5) I really desperately need to shield my Burna Boyz with something. I keep creeping them forward in the deployment phase, and they always get slammed into CC without ever getting to drop a single flamer template. If this keeps up they might be 150pts I'd be better off spending on Lootas or even Deffkoptas; as it stands their Meks with Kustom Mega-Blastas are my only reliable anti-Penitent engine weapons, but I'm just not getting to use them in anything like a manner that makes them worth their pricetag. It's a shame, because they're probably my favorite Ork models, but what can you do?

6) my loaner World Eaters need some list work (assuming I keep them in the loaner pool, see #2b above); while I shoved in a few plasma pistols at the last minute today for a faint attempt at giving them anti-vehicle capability, it didn't seem like enough. I'm pretty sure their krak grenades will be fine against APCs, but again Britt's fighty-assed Penitent Engines screw that math all up.

7) We really need to figure out how to handle bunkers in this CP setting; I like the tactical decisions that having them available will bring to the game, but I also don't necessarily think that having something that's virtually untouchable on the board is a great idea either. I think giving them an AV of 12 at maximum is a good start; I just worry about some future game where the vicissitudes of terrain placement give one person a scoring (or even just a contesting) unit that is totally unshiftable, standing on an objective or scoring a table quarter. I'm not saying we shouldn't allow them at all (or at least I'm not saying that yet); but I do think I need to think about them more.

8) I need to build some cheap-ass terrain I can leave up there; preferably running the gamut of cover values, rather than just the pretty solid 4+ ruins that are already there (although they did look nice, and added a lot to the tactical space for my Orks at least). More terrain, and more types of it, will hopefully reward us with both prettier pictures for the blog, and more interesting games. Also I should really try and source a 4x4" chunk of cheap-assed green or brown or something fabric; something I won't care about leaving up at the store that will lay flatter on those boards.

9) I need to figure out if people are ever going to be playing when I'm not there, and if so I need to decide if I should put my cheap-assed old template set and a scatter dice in a box or a bag or something for Denise to hide behind the counter.

That's all I can think of for now. Pictures to be added later when I locate my frigging USB cable.

40k Combat Patrol: who to bring to the dance

So as mentioned in the previous post, I'm still thinking pretty hard on a third* opposing force to try and get built/painted before New Year's for the embryonic store CP league I'm trying to get off the ground. Some outside perspective would be quite helpful, so I'm going to expatiate on the choices I mentioned earlier and pray for feedback. Now at the moment I think I have exactly two readers, but a) I'd be happy to get both their opinions, and b) presumably at some point someone else might read this and I'd be happy for them to chime in too. So, here are the choices, complete with my proposed CP lists for said choices, and some pros and cons for each.


CHAOS SPACE MARINES: Alpha Legion, 400pts
2 squads (1 scoring), 2 vehicles, 13 troops

TROOPS: 8x Chaos Space Marines
-flamer
-Icon of Chaos Glory
-Asp Champ with PF
-mounted in Rhino w/ Havoc Launcher
225pts

ELITES: 5x Chosen
-3 flamers, 2 meltaguns
-mounted in Rhino w/ Havoc Launcher
175pts

PROS: well, other than liking the Alpha Legion and thinking that two APCs (one with the possibility to use the Flanking rules) at this level might actually be a pretty hard thing to beat, nothing specific
CONS: having to build/paint two Rhinos, which is something I haven't tackled yet; the Chosen will require some light conversion work as I'm planning on making them on the so-called Doghouse-pattern Marines; there's already two, if not possibly three power-armour/bolter toting lists spoken for in the league and this would add one more to the MEQ (Marine equivalent) pile; only one troop choice for objective-grabbing; lowest troop count of any list I'm considering (even the one I'll mention in the footnote that I cleverly teased with an * above)


ELDAR: Craftworld Iybraesil, 398pts
3 squads (2 scoring), 2 vehicles, 15 troops

TROOPS: 8xDire Avengers
+Exarch w/ twin shuricats, Bladestorm
140pts

TROOPS: 7xDire Avengers
+Exarch w/ power weapon+shimmershield, Bladestorm
138pts

FAST ATTACK: 2xVypers
-both with Scatter Lasers
120pts

PROS: Eldar are neat; this avoids the issue of MEQ spam at the league level; the only conversion work will be trying to magnetize the Vyper weapons for future versatility
CONS: I keep hearing that Eldar are a finesse army, which means that handing them off to someone to use as a loaner/learner group might be counterproductive; I'm unreasonably skittish about painting and assembling the Vypers what with their clear canopy bits and all

TRAITOR GUARD: The Recusant 113th
4 squads (2 scoring), 1 vehicle, 3 walkers, 26 troops

TROOPS: Veteran Squad x10
-2x flamers
-mounted in Chimera, total 135pts

TROOPS: Penal Legion squad x10, 80pts total

FAST ATTACK: Scout Sentinel Squadron
-3 Sentinels, all with Autocannon, 120pts

FAST ATTACK: Rough Riders x6
-2 swap hunting lances for Grenade Launchers, 65 pts total

PROS: lotsa dudes, again we avoid turning the whole league into a MEQ fight
CONS: lotsa dudes, plus 3 walkers and an APC to build (although the Chimera doesn't seem like it will be too bad); the Rough Riders will be one of the more conversion-heavy things I'd be looking at building for these possible lists

So, anyone got any real pressing reasons I should go with one of these over the other?

Oh yeah, the footnote:
* I also realized that in additon to the tiny-model-count (21 models woo hoo) Slaaneshi Daemons list I've already built, I've also already (probably over 2 years ago) built ~2/3rds of a 16-man World Eaters list that will probably not win but would be stupid easy and fun to use, and probably also stupid easy and fun to paint. So I guess I am, in my own way, already contributing to the dreaded problem of MEQ spam. The sickness is within us all....

Trying to put together a 40k Combat Patrol league at the FLGS

I've been blathering about it for something like a year now, and I'm making a big effort to get said league off the ground in 2010. The guiding document will be the 2009 Adepticon rules/scenarios packet, since they were kind enough to extend permission for me to use said resource when I contacted them. I've been waffling and waffling on which army I'll field for this event, rotating through basically every Warhammer 40,000 army I've got minis for (which is an embarrassingly large number of them for someone who's never played more than half of a demo game multiple years ago). Having said that, I think I'll be putting together three lists: one for me to field as my 'official' league entrant, and two as opfors and/or if anyone else wants to get in on the tourney and doesn't have an army of their own as of yet (based off Britt's offer of his teams to people in the Blood Bowl leagues he's run, hint hint Chris this is basically aimed at suckering you into at least playing, if not collecting).

For my actual list I think I'll be running some Orks (a decision almost entirely precipitated by finding out they finally made plastic gretchin that don't cost a fortune), putting together a nice little low-model-count Chaos Daemons list for opfor #1, and still deciding between Eldar, Traitor Guard, and Chaos Space Marines for opfor #2. At the moment I've got tentative responses from a handful of players - Alton has mentioned bringing some Black Templars, Britt actually has (and is therefore I guess not really tentative) Sisters of Battle, there are two possible Tyranid entrants, and Brad is (I think) still looking at some sort of possible list, maybe some sort of combo Guard/SM list from one of the older Inquisition codexes?

EDIT: while it's implied by the nature of a blog, I am of course soliciting suggestions as to which of the three potential second opfors I should put together. Show your work!