New Year Comments

Nick speaking,

Happy New Year to all my readers, thank you so much for staying tuned to my Blog, and for over doubling my viewing figures from the previous year. I hope you have enjoyed the content and will continue to support me in 2012. My new years resolution for the Blog is to try and increase the amount of comments I get on my posts. The problem is, I don't know how to achieve this? I have to admit that I follow many 40k Blogs myself, but only ever comment on a few of them, although I am trying to make more of an effort to comment as much as I can, even if it is just a "nice article" or "looks great" comment. So, what makes you want to post a comment?

Go on, post a comment below and lets find out...

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IDIC Hann (Saim-Hann Eldar) Vs Daemons

Nick speaking,

Now that my Dire Avengers are on my work bench ready for painting, my Eldar Guardians will have to stand in for them for a while as proxy Dire Avengers until they are ready. In this 1750pt Capture and Control battle report, my newly painted Seer Council take on some Chaos Daemons...

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Necron Toys!

Nick speaking,

Did you get your Christmas wish this morning? I did, and I already have plenty of magnets to make them interchangeable. I have promised myself I wouldn't play with any Necrons until they are painted, so I better get cracking, and get these little beauties together...

Happy Christmas and Season Greetings to all my Readers, I hope you all got the 40k toys you wanted.

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Playing at 2000 Points?

Nick speaking,

You may remember a while back, when I posted up a Poll on what point level you prefer to play at? Without a shadow of a doubt, the top two levels were 1500 and 1750 points. Some of the lower levels like 500 and 750 points, did quite well also. I was a bit surprised that 2000 points clocked in at third place, as I thought it would take top spot! Not so long ago, my buddies and I always played at 1500 points. We would occasionally have bigger games, but not very often. I personally always found making 1500 point lists quite difficult to get all the toys that I wanted. This was probably due to me playing Necrons most of the time, and with two Troops, two units of Immortals and a decent Lord coming in at just over 1100 points with the old Dex, that was probably the reason why!

I suggested that maybe we should up the points level to 1750pts, we were experienced enough to still be able to play a game in an evening and still have time for a chat. So, when we decided to up the points level to 1750 at the beginning of this year, I was really up for the challenge of upping my lists in points and having some fun. I have noticed that 1750 points seems to be a lot easier to make a list work. This is probably due to having enough points to be able to, well lets face it, spam units, or are the words I am looking for, unit redundancy! Having said that, I have also found that 1750 points also challenges me with my unit selections, as it still isn't quite enough points to have ALL the toys I want...

I am currently working on a Tyranid list that includes five Tervigons. It is coming on very slowly, as I gradually buy Carnifex bodies to convert up into Tervies, but I hope to be able to play it one day. Although I can make a list like this at 1750pts, it would be a lot better if I had 2000 to play with! So is it time to suggest 2000pts to my buddies?

Well, actually, there's no need! To my surprise, my buddy suggested it to me the other day! I suppose he is also having trouble getting all his horrible Blood Angel units into his 1750pt list as well lol! After all, two units of ten Sternguard are 500 points and that's without some sort of transport! So, we have now decided to up our points level to 2000pts starting in 2012. We are going to have ago and see how we like it. Initial thoughts, that quickly run through my head for my armies are:

Harlequins ~ Now I can take Mauggy and Eldrad in the same list, yeppy!

Saim-Hann ~ Sadly, it probably will just mean a second, much needed Farseer (Eldrad!)

Eldar Mech/Hybrid ~ More of the same!

Space Wolves ~ I think I will be able to max out on most of the FOC!

Necrons ~ Bring it on!

Nids ~ Need to finish my Tervigons and Gants!

More to come on this, but if you want to find out more about the merits of playing at different point levels, go and check out this great post over at 3++.

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Real 13th Company Space Wolves - Battle Report

Nick speaking,

With the first turn seized by my Space Wolves, it was time to put my first 'Real' 13th Company Space Wolves list into action. In this Annihilation mission against Blood Angels, I lined up my Logan lead army and let the missiles get to work...

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Necron Immortals - Tesla Vs Gauss

Nick speaking,

So how do you choose? Should your Immortals have Guass Blaster's or Tesla Carbine's? I have been messing around for a while now with both versions of the Immortal guns to find out how they perform on the battlefield. Obviously the Gauss Blaster is not what is used to be, getting the Nerf bat down to a Rapid fire weapon, but still maintaining auto Glancing hits on a roll of a six against vehicles. The alternative Tesla Carbine has a new ability of getting two additional dice that auto hit if you roll any six's to hit, but no glance on six's to wound!

My first Necron lists involved using all the models I have instead of the new toy's, which meant losts of foot Immortals and Warriors. I also experimented with lists without Crypteks, but of course now they are always in my list! In those lists where I was lacking in the anti-tank department, like Eldritch Lances, I found having the ability to glance vehicles very useful. Most of the time I was standing still for the 24" range, and having the ability to advance forward to Rapid fire anything close was a bonus. I also found in those early games Tesla didn't really offer me anything the Blaster didn't do! I suppose the other thing to consider is how many Immortals you have in a unit, as this will have an impact on the squads ability with certain guns as well!

Since then, my overall list has changed and I have found that with enough anti-tank guns/Scarabs to get those troops out of their tanks midfield, the Tesla weapons really start to come into play. Being able to move into position and shoot 24" with a few six's coming into play, they can be pretty good. Obviously, when you start to put your Immortlas into transport or have a character leading them to give them the relentless special rule, the benifits of each gun changes as well. 

In reality, I think this new gun swap, which has no points difference, is a great idea for this troops choice. I have come to the conclusion that both guns have their place, depending on the build of the rest of your army, and it is difficult to pin point which gun is actually better, which is great really, as it means both guns are a useful option in there own right.

So what has your experience been? Please comment and vote on my poll, as I would love to hear your opinions...

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Necrons Vs Grey Knights Battle Report

Nick speaking,

In my game where I tried out a Monolith and a unit of Flayed Ones who both did nothing all game! I was hoping that my new Traveller list wouldn't end up the same way. I had the Traveller with a Veil of Darkness Cryptek and some Immortals ready to do their business, but would they get a chance to do it in this Annihilation game, against Grey Knights...

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Monolith/Flayed Ones disaster and first Traveller list!

Nick speaking,

Continuing on with putting my old Necron models on the table with the new Codex, meant having just the Monolith, Flayed Ones and the Destroyer Lord left to try out. My first game with a Stormlord lead list using a Monolith and Flayed Ones was a disaster. Flayed Ones flanked on the wrong side of the board and the Monolith came in with a 12" scatter for a mishap. My opponent got to put the Mono in the corner of the table, and both units did nothing all game, plus I lost my C'tan on turn one!

I still gave myself a chance to win having secured my objective with some Immortals at the end of turn five. All I had to do was Veil in a unit of Immortals to contest my enemies objective. Sadly I mishapped again, and this time lost the whole unit. Game didn't end on turn five anyway, so I would have still lost!

Here is a video of the battle if your interested...



With just the Destroyer Lord left to try, and having only ever played the Stormlord, I thought it was about time I had a go at a different HQ. The next HQ choice I was very interested in trying was the Traveller. Having played with the Stormlord and seeing how effective Nightfight can be to help keep my Scarabs alive, I am thinking I would like to get two Solor Pulses in the list. Sadly the Destroyer Lord does not count as an Overlord, so I can't have him and the Traveller, and have two Pulses. So the Destroyer Lord would have to wait a while.

So now I have my two HQ choices done, the Traveller and an Overlord. Next is two Pulse Crypteks and some extra Lance only Crypteks for obvious reasons. I have no Barges available to me yet, so the Traveller is going to have to use the Veil of Darkness trick to do what he needs to do. Having just got a third Tomb Spyder from my local hobby shop, I have them in the list with a single group of nine Scarabs. I have saved the third slot for some Heavy Destroyers, which should work well when combined with the Lances and Solar Pulse.

My initial games have showed me that generally the Troops at the back don't really get too much attention with everything else like Wraiths, Scarabs and Spyders up front, so I thought I would try out some smaller units of Warriors for the Crypteks to join. Probably not the best, as the Lances are sure to draw attention, but this is just for experience and fun purposes only anyway. Of course, I will also have a large unit of Immortals to take full advantage of the Travellers upgrade ability...

Here is my final first Traveller test list:

HQ
1 x Anrakyr the Traveller (165) (Joins Troop 1)
1 x Necron Overlord/Phaeron/Resurrection Orb (140) (Joins Troop 2)

1 x Cryptek Harbringer of Despare/Abyssal Staff/Veil of Darkness (60) (Joins Troop 1)
2 x Cryptek Harbringer of Destruction/Eldridge Lance (70) (Joins Troop 2 and 3)
2 x Cryptek Harbringer of Destruction/Eldridge Lance/Solar Pulse (110) (Joins Troops 4 and 5)

TROOPS
1) 5 x Necron Immortals/Tesla (85)
2) 10 x Pyrrhian Eternals (170)
3) 5 x Necron Warriors (65)
4) 5 x Necron Warriors (65)
5) 5 x Necron Warriors (65)

FAST
6 x Canoptek Wraiths/2x Particle Caster/4x Whip coils (260)
10 x Canoptek Scarabs (150)
3 x Necron Heavy Destroyers (180)

HEAVY
3 x Canoptek Spyders/1x Gloom Prism (165)

Points 1750

Battle report to follow

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Gold Dust! - Green Stuff Scarabs

Nick speaking,

I currently own sixty Warriors, which of course means that I have ended up with eighteen Scarab Swarms. Quite reasonable with the old Codex, but with Scarabs being as they are in the new version, is just not enough! GW still only sell Scarabs with Warriors, which is an incredibly expensive way to buy them, so not surprisingly these Swarms have become gold dust on eBay.

With inspiration from to Ron over on FTW, I thought I would have a go at making my own green stuff Scarabs. Thanks to Ron for sharing his experience with his Forge World inspired Scarabs. His posts meant that I was able to cut out some of the learning curve of making the moulding cast, and I was very happy to have achieved the results I did with my very first cast attempt.

Here is a picture of my first cast based around Ron's advice, it is made of Gale Force Nine's 'grey stuff' mixed to a sixty/forty ratio to make sure the cast was nice and hard...

I am not sure what the normal procedure is, but I found coating the mould with olive oil before pressing in the green stuff worked a treat at stopping them from sticking to each other. With my first attempt pictured below, I put slightly too much green stuff in the mould and ended up with some excess around the edges. I was able to clean up the excess, but I got a bit zealous with one bit and cut off a bit of the 'tounge'. First one was just a test anyway, so I wasn't too worried...

I don't think I want to go as far as Ron did with the quantity of Scarabs, but I can see me making bases with rocks on that match the rest of my terrain with four or five of these guys moving over them on each base...

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Bringing the broods to life - Objective Markers

Nick speaking,

Stinger Hive Fleet objective Markers done, amazing what you can get offf eBay for a pound...

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Next Stage Necrons Vs Blood Angels Battle Report

Nick speaking,

In this battle against Blood Angels I try out the list I made in my recent The Next Stage post. Basically, I wanted to try out a unit of Destroyers/Heavy Destroyers. It was a great battle, and believe it or not the Stormraven in the picture below is in MY deployment zone, and is next to MY objective!

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Real 13th Company Space Wolves - Initial List

Nick speaking,

I know it's been a while since I started to look at making a Real 13th Company army, but my three weeks holiday and Necron Codex release put a few delays on the project. So for those of you that missed my first post, you can check it out here if you wish. In the original post I go through the old 13th Co. units and compare them to the current Codex. I try to get a feel on how a new styled 13th Great Company army might look, and here is my progress so far...

There seems to be two main stand out options for a fluffy type, 13th Company army based around your initial first HQ choice. The first one, and the one I want to concentrate on in this post, is Logan Grimnar. I suppose you could say a sort of Loganwing list, but I want to make sure I keep it within the boundaries of 13th Company.  Logan unlocks Wolf Guard as troops, which if you take Logan, you SHOULD be doing. I think this alone puts you into the smaller elite category anyway, and seems to match a 13th Company themed army very well.

The second main HQ option would be a Wolf Lord, either on a Thunderwolf mount, or a bike. Join him to a unit of Thunderwolves or Wolf Guard bikers, take lots of Grey Hunters and back them up with Long Fangs and Scouts. One of the big things that 13th Company lose in the new Space Wolves Codex, is the army wide (except bikes) Scouts ability. With Logan making Guard a troops choice, that leaves me the Elites section free for Scouts, and just out of principle, my first Real 13th Co. list is going to have three Scout packs.

Three packs of Long Fangs are going to be mandatory, as that's my only Heavy support choice for these guy's anyway, so that leads me onto Troops. With some guidance from Purgatus and his Loganwing Troops post, I am going to start with his basic Troops choice and work my way from there as I progress. So that's the troops section sorted with multiple  packs of five Wolf Guard, one with Terminator armour and Cyclone Missile Launcher, and one with a Strom Bolter. With all that taken and a few Wolf Guard for the Scouts to give them a bit of extra clout, I can have five packs of Wolf Guard and just have enough points left over for some Fenrisians Wolves, to just sit in terrain and go to ground until the opportunity arises for them to be used...

1 x Logan Grimnar (275) 

5 x Wolf Scouts/Meltagun/1x Wolf Guard/Combi-Melta/Wolf Claw (123)

5 x Wolf Scouts/Meltagun/1x Wolf Guard/Wolf Claw (118) 
5 x Wolf Scouts/Meltagun/1x Wolf Guard/Combi-Melta (108)

5 x Wolf Guard Pack/1x Storm bolter/1x Terminator/Cyclone missile (138)
5 x Wolf Guard Pack/1x Storm bolter/1x Terminator/Cyclone missile (138) 
5 x Wolf Guard Pack/1x Storm bolter/1x Terminator/Cyclone missile (138) 
5 x Wolf Guard Pack/1x Storm bolter/1x Terminator/Cyclone missile (138) 
5 x Wolf Guard Pack/1x Storm bolter/1x Terminator/Cyclone missile (138)

5 x Long Fangs/4x Missile Launcher/1x Pack Leader (115)

5 x Long Fangs/4x Missile Launcher/1x Pack Leader (115) 
5 x Long Fangs/4x Missile Launcher/1x Pack Leader (115)

 

10 x Fenrisian Wolves/1x Cyberwolves (88)

1747

I have also been toying with the idea of adding a pack of five Wolf Guard Bikers and dropping two units of foot Guard, or maybe dropping one pack of foot Guard and one pack of Fangs, but I think I will have to see how this initial list goes first, and expand it from there. My first impression is that the list should do what Wolves do best, by having a lot of long ranged missiles, whilst keeping hold of midfield. The three packs of Scouts should put enough pressure on the board edges to help pull the army together!

Any thoughts, ideas and suggestions welcome.

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