Played a 1500 point game last night at my local club. This week I was facing off against a Black Templar player who by all accounts was a punch in kind of player, as most people were saying he was going to kick my ass (I think I even said that as well). I'm not really that well versed in the Black Templar's list, but I knew a little about it.
My list was unchanged from last week, despite it's shortcomings. I'm taking Ron's advice from From The Warp, and I'm intending to play 4-5 games with the list before I change it around. Partly, I'm forced into this as all my new minis are still in boxes anyway.
My opponents list was roughly:
Captain with Jump Pack and Thunder Hammer
Emporer's Champion (he took a vow that gave the whole army +1S)
Chaplain Grimaldus
2 Initiate Squads of 10, meltaguns, one sarge had a power fist, one had a power weapon
1 Assault Sqaud of 5
20 (or so) Neophytes
2 Dreadnoughts (one with assault cannon and CCW, one with lascannon and missile launcher)
Vindicator
Mission was capture and control, with the pitched battle deployment. I lost the roll for setup and was forced to setup first and go first. The objectives were in diagonally opposite corners. I placed mine at the back corner of some area terrain.
Firstly, I remembered my lesson from last week: don't forget the mission. To win, I knew I'd have to hold my objective and at least contest his. I deployed 2 Plague Marine sqauds and the Defiler around my objective, and my Rhino mounted PM and Daemon Prince to move towards his objective. My Vindicator setup with a good fire lane across the board, and the Terminators held on the orbital space craft ready to deep strike where needed.
His setup was pretty much across the whole board. Facing my objective was Grimaldus and the Neophyte squads, a tactial squad and the lascannon dread. On the other flank was the captain, Champion, a tactial squad, assault squad and other dreadnought.
Generally speaking the game went OK. My Defiler did much better this game, using his battle cannon to good effect (before it got blown off), destroying a tactial squad in CC, then holding up the dreadnought, Grimaldus and the neophytes for 2 turns in CC. He only went down when the captain showed up and lamped him with the Thunderhammer. This meant that squad was then free to advance on my objective in turn 5.
My vindicator was able to put some serious hurt on the big group of Neophytes and tactial marines before being destroyed by the captain in turn 3. I used his ordnance to kill troops rather than shooting at his vindicator, as I learnt from facing a land raider in the last game that this is the way it can do much more damage rather than vehicle hunting.
My daemon prince was next to useless again. He lost two wounds to shooting from the Emporer's Champion and his tactial squad before being finished off by them in close combat. I suppose he held them up for a turn.
My plague marines went pretty well. Anthrax Squad lost the Rhino on turn 1 (going to make this cheaper, way to expensive in the current list) to the assault marines, then jumped out, shoot the assault guys up and then destroyed them in close combat. They were locked in CC with the captain and then got charged by a tactical squad and Emporer's Champion. They died. The other two PM squads just managed to hold onto my objective.
My terminators were a little better. They destroyed a dreadnought in close combat and then made a last ditch effort to contest the enemy objective. Unfortunatley, the Emporer's Champion showed up and spoilt the party. I should have DS'ed them further back, closer to his objective to get on it, in cover and contested it.
The game ended on turn 5 (luckily for me) and finished in a draw. If it had run to turn 6 it would have been game over, as the captain, Grimaldus and the Neophytes, along with the dreadnought were closing in on my objective.
Overall a fun game. The problem with my army is increasingly clear: there's no enough of it. I was easily outnumbered 2:1 in this game, so that's going to be even worse against IG or Orks for example. My marines can't put out enough damage to even the score up. I need to juggle the list, make squads cheaper and increase the model count.
Thursday, 30 April 2009
Sunday, 26 April 2009
Completed Inquisitor Familiars and other stuff
Finally got round to spray undercoating my Inquisitor and his retinue at the end of last week, and I managed to get a bit of time in Friday evening and this afternoon to get some of it painted. I thought I'd do the familiars first as they were small and quick to do. Here they are:
I really didn't like the little stick things the servo skulls came on, so I thought I'd cover them up with a scroll like the cherubim is holding. Unfortunatley, my green stuff work was a bit poor and it went on a bit thick so they look more like they're holding blankets than scrolls, so I'm going to pretend they're banners instead. The bases have been done in the standard ash waste style the rest of the army (and my Chaos army) uses.
Now I suck royally at free hand. I briefly considered trying to do some on these banners, but really for someone who sucks at it trying to do it on an uneven surface it was just a recipe for disaster. I did dare to have a go at an Inquisition symbol on one of the servo skull banners (the one that says REPENT at the top), which I blocked out in paint and then tidied up the edges. The writing on each scroll has turned out really well, I like the look of it, but naturally I "cheated" at this and used a micro art pen with a 0.5mm tip (about £2 in my local art shop, they even do green and red ones) but when you're trying to produce a good miniature you've got to use all the tools available to you to get a good finish.
The village I live in had what amounted to a massive village wide garage sale on Saturday, and I managed to pick up a Necron Nightbringer (boxed as new), and a box of 10 Chaos Space Marines for £10 (£35 in the shops), so that was a bargain. I've also ordered some minis from ebay and Wayland Games, so here's the run down on what my forthcoming projects are:
-Chaos Chosen: With my order from Wayland and the stuff I bought from the garage sale, I've got about 16 CSM's ready to go. The first seven will be a unit of Chaos Chosen of Nurgle with 5 special weapons.
-Chaos Dreadnought: I bought an AoBR dreadnought from ebay, so this will be converted up into a plasma cannon toting Nurgle dreadnought.
-Battle Sister Squad: Finally getting my act together and starting to paint the troops for my WH army, so I've order a box of these (nice and cheap actually).
-Nightbringer: This is at the back of the queue, but he'll be converted up into a Nurgle Daemon Prince for either my CSM's (though I already have 2 HQ choices there) or a future all Nurgle Daemon army.
I really didn't like the little stick things the servo skulls came on, so I thought I'd cover them up with a scroll like the cherubim is holding. Unfortunatley, my green stuff work was a bit poor and it went on a bit thick so they look more like they're holding blankets than scrolls, so I'm going to pretend they're banners instead. The bases have been done in the standard ash waste style the rest of the army (and my Chaos army) uses.
Now I suck royally at free hand. I briefly considered trying to do some on these banners, but really for someone who sucks at it trying to do it on an uneven surface it was just a recipe for disaster. I did dare to have a go at an Inquisition symbol on one of the servo skull banners (the one that says REPENT at the top), which I blocked out in paint and then tidied up the edges. The writing on each scroll has turned out really well, I like the look of it, but naturally I "cheated" at this and used a micro art pen with a 0.5mm tip (about £2 in my local art shop, they even do green and red ones) but when you're trying to produce a good miniature you've got to use all the tools available to you to get a good finish.
The village I live in had what amounted to a massive village wide garage sale on Saturday, and I managed to pick up a Necron Nightbringer (boxed as new), and a box of 10 Chaos Space Marines for £10 (£35 in the shops), so that was a bargain. I've also ordered some minis from ebay and Wayland Games, so here's the run down on what my forthcoming projects are:
-Chaos Chosen: With my order from Wayland and the stuff I bought from the garage sale, I've got about 16 CSM's ready to go. The first seven will be a unit of Chaos Chosen of Nurgle with 5 special weapons.
-Chaos Dreadnought: I bought an AoBR dreadnought from ebay, so this will be converted up into a plasma cannon toting Nurgle dreadnought.
-Battle Sister Squad: Finally getting my act together and starting to paint the troops for my WH army, so I've order a box of these (nice and cheap actually).
-Nightbringer: This is at the back of the queue, but he'll be converted up into a Nurgle Daemon Prince for either my CSM's (though I already have 2 HQ choices there) or a future all Nurgle Daemon army.
Thursday, 23 April 2009
I played another game...
...and this time it was Warhammer 40K :) Paid a visit to a local club in a different town to the one I'd tried last week and it was much more up my street. I got a pick up game of 40K (more on that in a minute), there was a Fantasy games running, and 4 guys were playing Dark Heresy. They've even got an Inquisitor tournament coming up so it's looking good. Just got to get more wife permission to go more often, as it's not easy on her if I'm out whilst she's trying to put two little children to bed.
Anyway, the game. I was playing my Nurgle Chaos Space Marines, and as it turned out, so was my opponent. He was pretty new to the game, and I'm pretty rusty so it was a good training game for the both of us. I made a lot of mistakes, and learnt alot.
My list was:
HQ: Morbus the Foul, Daemon Prince of Nurgle, Wings, Mark of Nurgle, Nurgle's Rot
Elites: 5 Chaos Terminators, Mark of Nurgle, Reaper Autocannon, 3 combi-weapons (1 flamer, 2 melta), Lightning Claw, Chain Fist, Power Fist
Troops: Anthrax Squad: 7 Plague Marines, Plague Champion with Power Fist and melta bombs, one Personal Icon, one Flamer, one Meltagun, Rhino with daemonic possession and havoc launcher
Botulism Squad: 7 Plague Marines, Plague Champion with Power Fist, Plasma Pistol and melta bombs, one Personal Icon, one meltagun, one Plasma gun
Canker Squad: 7 Plague Marines, Plague Champion with Power Fist and melta bombs, one Personal Icon, one meltagun, one Plasma gun
Heavy Support: Defiler
Vindicator, daemonic possession
Total 1498, 8 kill points.
My opponents list was (roughly)
Daemon Prince, MoN, wings, Warptime
5 terminators, 2 with lightning claws, 1 heavy flamer
3 PM squads of 7, including a Champion with power fist and 2 plasma guns. Two of the squads were in Rhinos
Land Raider, daemonic possession
Vindicatior, daemonic possession
The mission was seize ground with 3 objectives, with the table quarters deployment.
There was one objective in my quarter, one in his and one roughly in the middle, which was just about in my quarter. I set up first, and sat a PM squad on each of my objectives, supported by the Vindicator. My PM squad in a Rhino, Daemon Prince, and Defiler setup to head towards his objective (my first mistake), and my terminators were in reserve. He set up a PM squad on the objective in his quarter with the Rhino mounted squads supporting them. In the centre, his terminators were in the Land Raider, next to the Vindicator and DP.
The battle was to and fro stuff, and it ran to 7 turns (luckily for me as it turned out). Over on my left, where my DP and Defiler were heading for his objective I ballsed up royally. My Defiler got mashed by his DP on turn two before it did anything, and my Daemon Prince destroyed a Rhino before losing three wounds to shooting and being finished of by PMs in CC. Both a total waste. That flank was saved by the PM squad with some vicious shooting and close combat to take out two of his PM squads with some help from the deep striking terminators. The objective ended up contested when my lone surviving terminator charged the squad holding it and made two invulnerable saves to stay in the combat. Had the game ended on turn 5, he'd have held this objective and won.
In the centre, my Plague Marines in cover were charged by his terminators and it looked like my boys were going to beat them back. However, the enemy Daemon Prince flew over after destroying the Defiler, and mashed the rest of them, and then blew up my Vindicator. That objective ended up with two of his surviving terminators on it, which he'd forgotten couldn't hold an objective as they weren't troops.
The final objective in my quarter was held for most of the game my my last Plague Marine squad. In the final turns of the game the Land Raider and Daemon Prince advanced on that objective to contest it.
So the final result was a draw with no one claiming an objective, but that was more blind luck on my part than tactical cunning.
Lessons Learnt
Daemon Prince: Mine was wasted, his rampaged. My poor target selection meant he destroyed a Rhino (worth 35 points, woo) and then got shot. I should have ignored the Rhino and advanced on the Plague Marines holding the objective if that was going to be my plan. Warptime proved much more useful than Nurgle's Rot in this battle, as NR is more suited to light armoured hordes.
Defiler: Did totally nothing. Lost it's battle cannon on turn 1, then got destroyed by the DP on turn two. It's clear that the Defiler is such a big model, it was difficult to get it into spaces between models.
Terminators: My terminator squad is way, way too expensive. The one with the autocannon is about 90 points on his own. I'm going to think again with these.
The mission: Not thinking, I tried to take all three objectives. What I should have done was defend the two I held at the beginning of the battle, as holding two would have won it for me.
Daemonic Possession: This is badass, and Land Raider with this is tough to stop.
Overall, a really enjoyable game that ended in a draw. I learnt alot from on the practicalities of the game, and my post-game reflection helped to crystallized how I should have played things.
Anyway, the game. I was playing my Nurgle Chaos Space Marines, and as it turned out, so was my opponent. He was pretty new to the game, and I'm pretty rusty so it was a good training game for the both of us. I made a lot of mistakes, and learnt alot.
My list was:
HQ: Morbus the Foul, Daemon Prince of Nurgle, Wings, Mark of Nurgle, Nurgle's Rot
Elites: 5 Chaos Terminators, Mark of Nurgle, Reaper Autocannon, 3 combi-weapons (1 flamer, 2 melta), Lightning Claw, Chain Fist, Power Fist
Troops: Anthrax Squad: 7 Plague Marines, Plague Champion with Power Fist and melta bombs, one Personal Icon, one Flamer, one Meltagun, Rhino with daemonic possession and havoc launcher
Botulism Squad: 7 Plague Marines, Plague Champion with Power Fist, Plasma Pistol and melta bombs, one Personal Icon, one meltagun, one Plasma gun
Canker Squad: 7 Plague Marines, Plague Champion with Power Fist and melta bombs, one Personal Icon, one meltagun, one Plasma gun
Heavy Support: Defiler
Vindicator, daemonic possession
Total 1498, 8 kill points.
My opponents list was (roughly)
Daemon Prince, MoN, wings, Warptime
5 terminators, 2 with lightning claws, 1 heavy flamer
3 PM squads of 7, including a Champion with power fist and 2 plasma guns. Two of the squads were in Rhinos
Land Raider, daemonic possession
Vindicatior, daemonic possession
The mission was seize ground with 3 objectives, with the table quarters deployment.
There was one objective in my quarter, one in his and one roughly in the middle, which was just about in my quarter. I set up first, and sat a PM squad on each of my objectives, supported by the Vindicator. My PM squad in a Rhino, Daemon Prince, and Defiler setup to head towards his objective (my first mistake), and my terminators were in reserve. He set up a PM squad on the objective in his quarter with the Rhino mounted squads supporting them. In the centre, his terminators were in the Land Raider, next to the Vindicator and DP.
The battle was to and fro stuff, and it ran to 7 turns (luckily for me as it turned out). Over on my left, where my DP and Defiler were heading for his objective I ballsed up royally. My Defiler got mashed by his DP on turn two before it did anything, and my Daemon Prince destroyed a Rhino before losing three wounds to shooting and being finished of by PMs in CC. Both a total waste. That flank was saved by the PM squad with some vicious shooting and close combat to take out two of his PM squads with some help from the deep striking terminators. The objective ended up contested when my lone surviving terminator charged the squad holding it and made two invulnerable saves to stay in the combat. Had the game ended on turn 5, he'd have held this objective and won.
In the centre, my Plague Marines in cover were charged by his terminators and it looked like my boys were going to beat them back. However, the enemy Daemon Prince flew over after destroying the Defiler, and mashed the rest of them, and then blew up my Vindicator. That objective ended up with two of his surviving terminators on it, which he'd forgotten couldn't hold an objective as they weren't troops.
The final objective in my quarter was held for most of the game my my last Plague Marine squad. In the final turns of the game the Land Raider and Daemon Prince advanced on that objective to contest it.
So the final result was a draw with no one claiming an objective, but that was more blind luck on my part than tactical cunning.
Lessons Learnt
Daemon Prince: Mine was wasted, his rampaged. My poor target selection meant he destroyed a Rhino (worth 35 points, woo) and then got shot. I should have ignored the Rhino and advanced on the Plague Marines holding the objective if that was going to be my plan. Warptime proved much more useful than Nurgle's Rot in this battle, as NR is more suited to light armoured hordes.
Defiler: Did totally nothing. Lost it's battle cannon on turn 1, then got destroyed by the DP on turn two. It's clear that the Defiler is such a big model, it was difficult to get it into spaces between models.
Terminators: My terminator squad is way, way too expensive. The one with the autocannon is about 90 points on his own. I'm going to think again with these.
The mission: Not thinking, I tried to take all three objectives. What I should have done was defend the two I held at the beginning of the battle, as holding two would have won it for me.
Daemonic Possession: This is badass, and Land Raider with this is tough to stop.
Overall, a really enjoyable game that ended in a draw. I learnt alot from on the practicalities of the game, and my post-game reflection helped to crystallized how I should have played things.
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
I played a game....
Unusual for me I know, but I actually played a game. Unfortunately, it wasn't 40K. I made a visit to my local wargaming club, clutching my lovingly painted CSM's, only to discover most people hated 40K. Of tables playing, all but one were running Warhammer Ancient Battles (the other was Battlefleet Gothic in case you're wondering). One of the guys there was kind enough to let me use a few units in his army for WAB. I had fun playing but obviously I'd have preffered 40K.
WAB itself uses Warhammer Fantasy rules (6th edition from what I could gather), which is a ruleset I have a vague familiarity with. For me, it was Fantasy without the good bits, you know like monsters, magic, magic items, flyers, stuff like that, as I prefer the Fantasy setting to a real world setting. It was also quite slow paced, but I'm not sure if that was the game or just the way we were playing it.
There's another club in a different town I going to try next to see if they've got more 40K going on as a pick up games (my job doesn't allow me to schedule games three weeks in advance). Failing that, there's always my local GW's games night.
I'm not going to be starting a WAB army, if I was going to pick up a new game, it'd probably be one of these in roughly this order:
-Warmachine: I hear the rules are great, and the miniatures are beautiful, and the cost is reasonable compared to GW products (main Prime:Remix rulebook in softback for £12 for example)
-Hordes: see Warmachine
-Necromunda: great background, cheap entry point, RPG like flavourings
-Fantasy: I love the Ogre Kingdom models
WAB itself uses Warhammer Fantasy rules (6th edition from what I could gather), which is a ruleset I have a vague familiarity with. For me, it was Fantasy without the good bits, you know like monsters, magic, magic items, flyers, stuff like that, as I prefer the Fantasy setting to a real world setting. It was also quite slow paced, but I'm not sure if that was the game or just the way we were playing it.
There's another club in a different town I going to try next to see if they've got more 40K going on as a pick up games (my job doesn't allow me to schedule games three weeks in advance). Failing that, there's always my local GW's games night.
I'm not going to be starting a WAB army, if I was going to pick up a new game, it'd probably be one of these in roughly this order:
-Warmachine: I hear the rules are great, and the miniatures are beautiful, and the cost is reasonable compared to GW products (main Prime:Remix rulebook in softback for £12 for example)
-Hordes: see Warmachine
-Necromunda: great background, cheap entry point, RPG like flavourings
-Fantasy: I love the Ogre Kingdom models
Sunday, 19 April 2009
Completed Nurgle Sorcerer
I posted some WIP of my Nurgle Sorcerer a week or two back. I've finally managed to fit some time into actually getting the painting finished on it:
The colour scheme was done to fit in with the rest of the army, although I'm starting to wish I never included purple in it.
Nothing too spectacular or unusual about the paintjob, mostly drybrushed. I put patches of various washes at the end once the drybrushing was completed to make the green look a little less even.
The rust effect on the bolter was done by:
-Boltgun Metal base
-Badab Black wash
-Snakebite Leather, Blazing Orange, Chaos Black (about 1:1:0.25 mix) as a wash
-Drybrush of Boltgun Metal
It's come out OK for a rust effect.
In terms of running him in a list, well I don't think he will be getting a spot in the 1500 point list and probably not at 1750. For the kit, he's obviously got the Terminator armour upgrade, plus Mark of Nurgle and probably Nurgle's Rot (or possible Wind of Chaos).
The colour scheme was done to fit in with the rest of the army, although I'm starting to wish I never included purple in it.
Nothing too spectacular or unusual about the paintjob, mostly drybrushed. I put patches of various washes at the end once the drybrushing was completed to make the green look a little less even.
The rust effect on the bolter was done by:
-Boltgun Metal base
-Badab Black wash
-Snakebite Leather, Blazing Orange, Chaos Black (about 1:1:0.25 mix) as a wash
-Drybrush of Boltgun Metal
It's come out OK for a rust effect.
In terms of running him in a list, well I don't think he will be getting a spot in the 1500 point list and probably not at 1750. For the kit, he's obviously got the Terminator armour upgrade, plus Mark of Nurgle and probably Nurgle's Rot (or possible Wind of Chaos).
Friday, 17 April 2009
New IG models: I've seen some!
Dropped into my local GW yesterday lunch time, and they've got some new Imperial Guard models on display as well as the Codex.
Codex
They weren't letting anyone see it until Saturday when they are doing a preview day so I can't comment on the contents.
Valkyrie
They had a built Valkyrie on the counter and it is a sweet looking model. The clear plastic canopy comes in two pieces: one clear plastic piece and the frame for the canopy is seperate so you can paint the frame without mucking up the clear plastic canopy. Conversion possibilites are good with this, you could easily Ork-ify it into a Fighta Bomba. It has two crew members in the cockpit. Wing span on the thing is about 7" or so (might be wrong but about that) so its a fair size. Retail is £35, which is the same as a Land Raider IIRC.
Cadian and Catachan Command Squads
They had built examples of both these. The Catachan ones still have big arms, but I don't think they're as big as they used to be so they look slightly better (I thought the old Catachan's were horrible models). They had the Cadian one painted up and its pretty decent looking kit. I was hoping to use the medic in an Inquisitor retinue, but having seen one built it doesn't look all that much like a medic (maybe the paint job, it needed some red crosses on it perhaps). The one they had built was holding a roll of bandages which at first glance I thought was a map.
Lord Comissar
They didn't actually have one of these, but it was mentioned that the model may be a direct only model (i.e. you won't be able to buy it in stores). Given it may be a blister and most GW stores have hardly any blisters these days, this makes sense.
Codex
They weren't letting anyone see it until Saturday when they are doing a preview day so I can't comment on the contents.
Valkyrie
They had a built Valkyrie on the counter and it is a sweet looking model. The clear plastic canopy comes in two pieces: one clear plastic piece and the frame for the canopy is seperate so you can paint the frame without mucking up the clear plastic canopy. Conversion possibilites are good with this, you could easily Ork-ify it into a Fighta Bomba. It has two crew members in the cockpit. Wing span on the thing is about 7" or so (might be wrong but about that) so its a fair size. Retail is £35, which is the same as a Land Raider IIRC.
Cadian and Catachan Command Squads
They had built examples of both these. The Catachan ones still have big arms, but I don't think they're as big as they used to be so they look slightly better (I thought the old Catachan's were horrible models). They had the Cadian one painted up and its pretty decent looking kit. I was hoping to use the medic in an Inquisitor retinue, but having seen one built it doesn't look all that much like a medic (maybe the paint job, it needed some red crosses on it perhaps). The one they had built was holding a roll of bandages which at first glance I thought was a map.
Lord Comissar
They didn't actually have one of these, but it was mentioned that the model may be a direct only model (i.e. you won't be able to buy it in stores). Given it may be a blister and most GW stores have hardly any blisters these days, this makes sense.
Thursday, 16 April 2009
Close Combat Inquisitors
I posted a couple of weeks back about a list I was playing around with which was a Witch Hunters army without using any Adepta Sororitas. Although not the most competative of lists, I like it very much, especially with rumoured plastic Stormtroopers coming along with the second wave of IG (which I may have dreamt but I'm sure I heard this somewhere).
One of the things I put in the list, was an assault oriented Inquisitor and retinue. Feedback I've had on the list from forums (and what I've read elsewhere) is that Inquisitors are weak in assault and not to bother with them. I thought I'd take a look to see if this was the case and run some tests, and see what the outcome was.
HQ or Elite
The stat line is similar for both, though the Lord gets +2 Ld, +1 I and +1 W so he would seem the obvious choice. He can also take a bigger retinue to soak up wounds.
Primary combat weapons
I was torn between three here: power weapon, eviscerator (essentially a chain fist) or the psychic power Hammerhand (doubles the users strength). Hammerhand and the power weapon are the same points cost, eviscerator is 25 points. I've done some maths to compare the effeciacy of these three weapons VS a number of different opponents, with the basic formula being:
chance to hit * chance to wound * chance model will fail its save (result rounded down and expressed as a percentage)
Vs Imperial Guardsman (WS3, T3, 6+ save)
Hammerhand = (0.66 * 0.84 * 0.84) = 46% chance
Power weapon = (0.66 * 0.5) = 33% chance
Eviscerator = (0.66 * 0.84) = 55% chance
Vs Space Marines (WS4, T4, 3+ save)
Hammerhand = (0.5 * 0.84 * 0.33) = 13% chance
Power weapon = (0.5 * 0.33) = 16% chance
Eviscerator = (0.5 * 0.84) = 42% chance
Vs Ork Boy (WS4, T4, 6+ save)
Hammerhand = (0.5 * 0.84 * 0.84) = 35% chance
Power weapon = (0.5 * 0.5) = 25% chance
Eviscerator = (0.5 * 0.84) = 42% chance
Vs Plague Marine (WS4, T4(5), 3+ save, Feel No Pain)
Hammerhand = (0.5 * 0.5 * 0.33 * 0.5) = 4% chance
Power weapon = (0.5 * 0.16) = 8% chance
Eviscerator = (0.5 * 0.66) = 33% chance
Vs Terminator (WS4, T4, 2+/5+ save)
Hammerhand = (0.5 * 0.84 * 0.16) = 6% chance
Power weapon = (0.5 * 0.33 * 0.66) = 10% chance
Eviscerator = (0.5 * 0.84 * 0.66) = 27% chance
Vs Hive Tyrant (WS5, T6, 3+ save)
Hammerhand = (0.33 * 0.5 * 0.33) = 5% chance
Power weapon = (0.33 * 0.16) = 5% chance
Eviscerator = (0.33 * 0.5) = 16% chance
So in all cases, the Eviscerator is the prefered option. This of course does not take into account the fact that Hammerhand would require a psychic test to work, and the Eviscerator makes you fight last in combat and is a two handed weapon.
Other wargear
The Lord gets a 3+ save anyway, which can't be improved with wargear, so a Rosarius for a 4+ Inv save might be helpful. I had considered also using Digital Weapons, but 20 points for a fairly weak attack seems overcosted.
Retinue build
Inquisitor Lord (45), Rosarius (20), Eviscerator (25) = 95
Acolyte with carapace armour and power weapon (8+15)x3 = 69
3 Crusaders = 60
3 Familiars = 18
Total = 242
Crusaders are pure CC troops with power weapons a 4+ Inv save. The acolytes bulk out the unit with gear giving them a 4+ save. They come with a laspistol and CCW anyway, so the power weapon will add to this punch. The familiars are basically free wounds, they'll be the first to die.
Combat tests
So I wanted to test this build out against something tough to see how it would shape up in combat. Here's what they squared up to in the first test:
7 Plague Marines (161), 1 Aspiring Champion (33) with power fist (20), melta gun (10), flamer (5)
Total = 229
Given the PM's are fearless, and the Inquisitor has Iron Will I assumed they would stay in assault until the bitter end. I assumed that the Inquisitor charged, and therefore had no charge bonus due to the blight grenades. I used Vassal40k to keep track of things.
Test 1:
Opening round took down 3 familiars, 3 acolytes and 3 plague marines, with the rest of the retinue and 4 plague marines following in round 2. Round 2 ended with the Inquisitor facing the Aspiring Champion. The Aspiring Champion then instant deathed the Inquisitor with his power fist.
Test 2:
Again, all 3 familiars and 3 acolytes died in the opening round, with the loss of 1 marine. The 3rd round ended with the champion instant deathing the Inquisitor who took him down and the remaining PM before succumbing.
From the above little test, it was clear the retinue was just too weak to cut it alone. The Crusaders were OK, but the Acolytes were a waste. The Inquisitor caused the majority of the casualties. The Inquisitors low toughness also means he's vulnerable to Instant Death from S6 attacks (power fists/klaws, Lictors, Carnifexes, etc.). The mixed WS values in the unit also mean that WS3 is in the majority and therefore this means he's more likely to be hit.
Conclusion
An Inquisitor can be above average in CC, it's just you need to drop a lot of points on him to get him there. He's also hampered by his low strength and toughness values making him vulnerable to instant death, and the Inquisitorial retinue just didn't help much.
I've messed around with other builds like this "Hot Plasma Death" build (comes in at 184 points):
Elite Inquisitor with plasma pistol
3 Acolytes with plasma pistols
3 Veteran Guardsman with plasma guns
2 Sages
10 S7 AP2 shots per turn within 12", with a re-roll incase of a Gets Hot! roll...
One of the things I put in the list, was an assault oriented Inquisitor and retinue. Feedback I've had on the list from forums (and what I've read elsewhere) is that Inquisitors are weak in assault and not to bother with them. I thought I'd take a look to see if this was the case and run some tests, and see what the outcome was.
HQ or Elite
The stat line is similar for both, though the Lord gets +2 Ld, +1 I and +1 W so he would seem the obvious choice. He can also take a bigger retinue to soak up wounds.
Primary combat weapons
I was torn between three here: power weapon, eviscerator (essentially a chain fist) or the psychic power Hammerhand (doubles the users strength). Hammerhand and the power weapon are the same points cost, eviscerator is 25 points. I've done some maths to compare the effeciacy of these three weapons VS a number of different opponents, with the basic formula being:
chance to hit * chance to wound * chance model will fail its save (result rounded down and expressed as a percentage)
Vs Imperial Guardsman (WS3, T3, 6+ save)
Hammerhand = (0.66 * 0.84 * 0.84) = 46% chance
Power weapon = (0.66 * 0.5) = 33% chance
Eviscerator = (0.66 * 0.84) = 55% chance
Vs Space Marines (WS4, T4, 3+ save)
Hammerhand = (0.5 * 0.84 * 0.33) = 13% chance
Power weapon = (0.5 * 0.33) = 16% chance
Eviscerator = (0.5 * 0.84) = 42% chance
Vs Ork Boy (WS4, T4, 6+ save)
Hammerhand = (0.5 * 0.84 * 0.84) = 35% chance
Power weapon = (0.5 * 0.5) = 25% chance
Eviscerator = (0.5 * 0.84) = 42% chance
Vs Plague Marine (WS4, T4(5), 3+ save, Feel No Pain)
Hammerhand = (0.5 * 0.5 * 0.33 * 0.5) = 4% chance
Power weapon = (0.5 * 0.16) = 8% chance
Eviscerator = (0.5 * 0.66) = 33% chance
Vs Terminator (WS4, T4, 2+/5+ save)
Hammerhand = (0.5 * 0.84 * 0.16) = 6% chance
Power weapon = (0.5 * 0.33 * 0.66) = 10% chance
Eviscerator = (0.5 * 0.84 * 0.66) = 27% chance
Vs Hive Tyrant (WS5, T6, 3+ save)
Hammerhand = (0.33 * 0.5 * 0.33) = 5% chance
Power weapon = (0.33 * 0.16) = 5% chance
Eviscerator = (0.33 * 0.5) = 16% chance
So in all cases, the Eviscerator is the prefered option. This of course does not take into account the fact that Hammerhand would require a psychic test to work, and the Eviscerator makes you fight last in combat and is a two handed weapon.
Other wargear
The Lord gets a 3+ save anyway, which can't be improved with wargear, so a Rosarius for a 4+ Inv save might be helpful. I had considered also using Digital Weapons, but 20 points for a fairly weak attack seems overcosted.
Retinue build
Inquisitor Lord (45), Rosarius (20), Eviscerator (25) = 95
Acolyte with carapace armour and power weapon (8+15)x3 = 69
3 Crusaders = 60
3 Familiars = 18
Total = 242
Crusaders are pure CC troops with power weapons a 4+ Inv save. The acolytes bulk out the unit with gear giving them a 4+ save. They come with a laspistol and CCW anyway, so the power weapon will add to this punch. The familiars are basically free wounds, they'll be the first to die.
Combat tests
So I wanted to test this build out against something tough to see how it would shape up in combat. Here's what they squared up to in the first test:
7 Plague Marines (161), 1 Aspiring Champion (33) with power fist (20), melta gun (10), flamer (5)
Total = 229
Given the PM's are fearless, and the Inquisitor has Iron Will I assumed they would stay in assault until the bitter end. I assumed that the Inquisitor charged, and therefore had no charge bonus due to the blight grenades. I used Vassal40k to keep track of things.
Test 1:
Opening round took down 3 familiars, 3 acolytes and 3 plague marines, with the rest of the retinue and 4 plague marines following in round 2. Round 2 ended with the Inquisitor facing the Aspiring Champion. The Aspiring Champion then instant deathed the Inquisitor with his power fist.
Test 2:
Again, all 3 familiars and 3 acolytes died in the opening round, with the loss of 1 marine. The 3rd round ended with the champion instant deathing the Inquisitor who took him down and the remaining PM before succumbing.
From the above little test, it was clear the retinue was just too weak to cut it alone. The Crusaders were OK, but the Acolytes were a waste. The Inquisitor caused the majority of the casualties. The Inquisitors low toughness also means he's vulnerable to Instant Death from S6 attacks (power fists/klaws, Lictors, Carnifexes, etc.). The mixed WS values in the unit also mean that WS3 is in the majority and therefore this means he's more likely to be hit.
Conclusion
An Inquisitor can be above average in CC, it's just you need to drop a lot of points on him to get him there. He's also hampered by his low strength and toughness values making him vulnerable to instant death, and the Inquisitorial retinue just didn't help much.
I've messed around with other builds like this "Hot Plasma Death" build (comes in at 184 points):
Elite Inquisitor with plasma pistol
3 Acolytes with plasma pistols
3 Veteran Guardsman with plasma guns
2 Sages
10 S7 AP2 shots per turn within 12", with a re-roll incase of a Gets Hot! roll...
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
Progress update and other stuff
It's been a pretty busy week with the family over Easter, so I've not had much hobby time. I have managed to make a start on painting my Nurgle Sorcerer, he's undercoated and I've got most of the way through painting his armour. I'm hoping to finish him this week as I'm painting him for the 40k Radio Freebootaz Motivational Challenge they're running on the forums. I've also finished my Inquisitor conversion, and in fact he looks pretty much the same as the WIP. I've also cleaned up and based 2 Servo skulls, a Cherubim, an Acolyte and a sage for his retinue. For good measure I put together an AoBR Ork Nob I got free with White Dwarf a few months ago.
Warpstone Flux has opened voting on his April Army List challenge which is themed around the Alpha Legion. You can read my entry on the blog there or my post here. Why not head over and cast a vote? There's 4 great lists on there.
Not related to gaming, I took my oldest son (who is 3 and a half) to see Monsters Vs Aliens yesterday at our local cinema. We both really enjoyed it, and if you've got kids I'd recommend going. It's got a real classic sci-fi vibe to it, and there are several parts which are really funny.
Warpstone Flux has opened voting on his April Army List challenge which is themed around the Alpha Legion. You can read my entry on the blog there or my post here. Why not head over and cast a vote? There's 4 great lists on there.
Not related to gaming, I took my oldest son (who is 3 and a half) to see Monsters Vs Aliens yesterday at our local cinema. We both really enjoyed it, and if you've got kids I'd recommend going. It's got a real classic sci-fi vibe to it, and there are several parts which are really funny.
Wednesday, 8 April 2009
Witch Hunters and forthcoming IG releases
I'm not a guard player myself, and I don't have the time (or frankly the cash) to start a new army, but some of the new models heading our way for the guard are looking really sweet as alternate WH models.
First up, there's a new Cadian command squad. The only thing I'm interested in here is the Cadian Medic. I've been struggling for a while to think of a second model to use as a Chirugeon in my Inquisitorial retinue, and I think a Cadian medic should fit in nicely.
Second up, the Primaris Psyker. If there was ever a model which says "I am the ideal basis for an Inquisitor conversion" then this one is it. I'd maybe change out the top of the staff for something else, but he's looking good.
Thirdly, the Regimental Advisors. The Astropath in that set would make a nice Sage for an Inquisitorial retinue.
Unrelated to the new releases, I'd really like to use some Fantasy Ogre's as the basis for Ogryns to count as Veteran Guardsman in a retinue.
First up, there's a new Cadian command squad. The only thing I'm interested in here is the Cadian Medic. I've been struggling for a while to think of a second model to use as a Chirugeon in my Inquisitorial retinue, and I think a Cadian medic should fit in nicely.
Second up, the Primaris Psyker. If there was ever a model which says "I am the ideal basis for an Inquisitor conversion" then this one is it. I'd maybe change out the top of the staff for something else, but he's looking good.
Thirdly, the Regimental Advisors. The Astropath in that set would make a nice Sage for an Inquisitorial retinue.
Unrelated to the new releases, I'd really like to use some Fantasy Ogre's as the basis for Ogryns to count as Veteran Guardsman in a retinue.
Monday, 6 April 2009
Inquisitor Lord WIP
Here's a shot of my Coteaz based Inquisitor conversion:
As I already mentioned in a previous post, he fully magentized with 6 different weapon options.
I've done some GS work on the magnetized arms so they fit a bit closer to the body when they're magnetized together. I've also tried to GS the add-on arms so the armour blends a bit closer to the original arm. This is WIP still.
The green stuff work on the face was challenging, and I really learnt alot from Klaus over at the DEI GRECI blog, who is the daddy when it comes to green stuff. Check out his post here for tips. The main things I've learnt about GS are:
1) Look at what you need to green stuff, get the green stuff ready, and then halve it. I always over-estimate what I need and let it go on too thick.
2) Do a bit and let it dry, otherwise you ruin something you've already done. I worked on this model whilst doing my Nurgle sorcerer so one could be drying whilst the other was being worked on. This is a lesson I've had to learn the hard way on many occasions.
3) Never buy cheap, crappy GS, it ends up lumpy even when you cut the middle out. Trust me, I know I've got another 24" of the stuff.
The rest of the retinue is still WIP. I've got a Gun Servitor magnetized and based, and a sage. I've still got to convert up a torturer for the retinue so thats next.
As I already mentioned in a previous post, he fully magentized with 6 different weapon options.
I've done some GS work on the magnetized arms so they fit a bit closer to the body when they're magnetized together. I've also tried to GS the add-on arms so the armour blends a bit closer to the original arm. This is WIP still.
The green stuff work on the face was challenging, and I really learnt alot from Klaus over at the DEI GRECI blog, who is the daddy when it comes to green stuff. Check out his post here for tips. The main things I've learnt about GS are:
1) Look at what you need to green stuff, get the green stuff ready, and then halve it. I always over-estimate what I need and let it go on too thick.
2) Do a bit and let it dry, otherwise you ruin something you've already done. I worked on this model whilst doing my Nurgle sorcerer so one could be drying whilst the other was being worked on. This is a lesson I've had to learn the hard way on many occasions.
3) Never buy cheap, crappy GS, it ends up lumpy even when you cut the middle out. Trust me, I know I've got another 24" of the stuff.
The rest of the retinue is still WIP. I've got a Gun Servitor magnetized and based, and a sage. I've still got to convert up a torturer for the retinue so thats next.
Friday, 3 April 2009
Nurgle Sorcerer WIP
I've been working on a Nurgle Sorcerer this week, and here he is, now completed, ready for painting:
The core of the model is actually an AoBR terminator, with Chaos Lord arms and spawn bits (the greatest kit for Chaos conversions) on the head. The head is supposed to resemble a Plague Bearer.
Equally, I think I could pass him off as a Lord as well. For the weapons I went for a spear rather than the usual Nurgley sycthe, mainly because I don't have an plasticcard for making a sycthe :)
More pics when he's painted.
The core of the model is actually an AoBR terminator, with Chaos Lord arms and spawn bits (the greatest kit for Chaos conversions) on the head. The head is supposed to resemble a Plague Bearer.
Equally, I think I could pass him off as a Lord as well. For the weapons I went for a spear rather than the usual Nurgley sycthe, mainly because I don't have an plasticcard for making a sycthe :)
More pics when he's painted.
Thursday, 2 April 2009
Warpstone Flux Alpha Legion Contest
Warpstone Flux posted a challenge yesterday to design a legal list representing the Alpha Legion. Now I really like themed army lists, so I thought I'd give this one a go. Here are the rules:
Challenge Rules:
(1) No named characters can be used (e.g. Fabius Bile, Lysander, Abaddon, etc.).
(2) If you use codex: space marines instead of codex: chaos space marines, then state your reason(s) for doing so in a brief sentence or two. This can be as simple as "pre-heresy", or more complex reasons.
(3) Post your army lists as a comment to this posting.
(4) On April 14th 2009, I'll start a voting poll that will be open for 1 week to vote for what Warpstone Flux readers consider to be the "most effective army list that also best articulates the theme" (whatever readers interpret that to mean) out of all entrants.
(5) Winner will be tallied and announced on April 21st.
And here's my attempt at an entry:
Here's my entry, showing the Alpha Legion in M41, and trys to capture the feel of the Alpha Legion operating in secret and then coming together to strike out at the enemy. It uses Codex: Chaos Space Marines:
HQ
Chaos Lord, Lightning Claws, Jump Pack, Melta Bombs (145)
Elites
5 Chosen of Chaos, 5 meltaguns, Rhino (175)
5 Chosen of Chaos, 5 flamers, Rhino (155)
5 Chosen of Chaos, 5 flamers, Rhino (155)
Troops
5 Chaos Space Marines, one upgraded to Aspiring Champion with a power fist and melta bombs, flamer, rhino (160)
5 Chaos Space Marines, one upgraded to Aspiring Champion with a power fist and melta bombs, flamer, rhino (160)
5 Chaos Space Marines, one upgraded to Aspiring Champion with a power fist, flamer, rhino (155)
Fast Attack
10 Chaos Raptors, one upgraded to Aspiring Champion with Lightning Claws and melta bombs (245)
Heavy Support
5 Chaos Havocs, 4 autocannons (155)
Total 1500
Let me explain the list:
-Fast: All units (except the Havocs) are either jump infantry or mechanized, enabling them to redploy and strike where the enemy is weakest, acting on intelligence for local cult spys.
-Jump packs: The Legion likes to test its strength against opponents, particularly loyal Space Marines. Often they will hold back parts of the army so they are attacking under strength. To represent this, all Jump Pack infantry would deep strike, being committed to battle when required.
-No heavy tanks: Operating secretly behind enemy lines, I didn't think the Alpha Legion would have access to massive battle tanks like Land Raiders, Vindicators, Defilers etc. so all tanks are simple Rhinos.
-Small units: I imagine the Alpha Legion marines operating in the field behind enemy lines in small cells of a few troopers, and I've represented that in the list.
-Chosen: The indepth planning and intelligence gathering done by the Legion means they can quickly anticipate enemy manouvers and rapidly outflank them. To represent this, I've maxed out on Chosen units (which can Infiltrate)
-Melta bombs: Part of the covert action of the Legion would be to disrupt enemy communications, fuel and ammo dump, transportation etc. I've given melta bombs to as many squads as I had points for to represent the kit they'd use to do this.
I like it, it's go a lot of kill points though. I'm sure others can do better, so head over to Warpstone Flux and give it a go.
Challenge Rules:
(1) No named characters can be used (e.g. Fabius Bile, Lysander, Abaddon, etc.).
(2) If you use codex: space marines instead of codex: chaos space marines, then state your reason(s) for doing so in a brief sentence or two. This can be as simple as "pre-heresy", or more complex reasons.
(3) Post your army lists as a comment to this posting.
(4) On April 14th 2009, I'll start a voting poll that will be open for 1 week to vote for what Warpstone Flux readers consider to be the "most effective army list that also best articulates the theme" (whatever readers interpret that to mean) out of all entrants.
(5) Winner will be tallied and announced on April 21st.
And here's my attempt at an entry:
Here's my entry, showing the Alpha Legion in M41, and trys to capture the feel of the Alpha Legion operating in secret and then coming together to strike out at the enemy. It uses Codex: Chaos Space Marines:
HQ
Chaos Lord, Lightning Claws, Jump Pack, Melta Bombs (145)
Elites
5 Chosen of Chaos, 5 meltaguns, Rhino (175)
5 Chosen of Chaos, 5 flamers, Rhino (155)
5 Chosen of Chaos, 5 flamers, Rhino (155)
Troops
5 Chaos Space Marines, one upgraded to Aspiring Champion with a power fist and melta bombs, flamer, rhino (160)
5 Chaos Space Marines, one upgraded to Aspiring Champion with a power fist and melta bombs, flamer, rhino (160)
5 Chaos Space Marines, one upgraded to Aspiring Champion with a power fist, flamer, rhino (155)
Fast Attack
10 Chaos Raptors, one upgraded to Aspiring Champion with Lightning Claws and melta bombs (245)
Heavy Support
5 Chaos Havocs, 4 autocannons (155)
Total 1500
Let me explain the list:
-Fast: All units (except the Havocs) are either jump infantry or mechanized, enabling them to redploy and strike where the enemy is weakest, acting on intelligence for local cult spys.
-Jump packs: The Legion likes to test its strength against opponents, particularly loyal Space Marines. Often they will hold back parts of the army so they are attacking under strength. To represent this, all Jump Pack infantry would deep strike, being committed to battle when required.
-No heavy tanks: Operating secretly behind enemy lines, I didn't think the Alpha Legion would have access to massive battle tanks like Land Raiders, Vindicators, Defilers etc. so all tanks are simple Rhinos.
-Small units: I imagine the Alpha Legion marines operating in the field behind enemy lines in small cells of a few troopers, and I've represented that in the list.
-Chosen: The indepth planning and intelligence gathering done by the Legion means they can quickly anticipate enemy manouvers and rapidly outflank them. To represent this, I've maxed out on Chosen units (which can Infiltrate)
-Melta bombs: Part of the covert action of the Legion would be to disrupt enemy communications, fuel and ammo dump, transportation etc. I've given melta bombs to as many squads as I had points for to represent the kit they'd use to do this.
I like it, it's go a lot of kill points though. I'm sure others can do better, so head over to Warpstone Flux and give it a go.
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