Unbound, Formations and Allies, it's an Adventure!

Nick speaking,

Call me old school or what, but so far I really haven't got behind the whole Unbound, Formations and Allies thing that 7th Edition offers, mainly due to my small gaming group of friends who do not have a plethora amount of models to play with, and have a limited amount of time and money to spend on making new models, but what the hell, I think it is time to embraced the adventure... 

So, stepping out side my door into the big wide world, and I think I want to start with Unbound. I know that there are plenty of options with detachments and Allies to avoid Unbound, but I am thinking of a particular army of mine that I think would really work in the Unbound format, my sixty strong Flayed One Army, which I will post about in the near future.

For now though, I would love to know how are you finding all the new ways of making armies these days? Has it affected your gaming group? Are you finding yourself needing a load of new toys to keep up with everyone? What impact has it had on your gaming experience?

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Space Wolves as Allies for Blood Angels

Nick speaking,

The one thing I really do like about Allies is the ability to get more people playing in a single game! I very often end up in a position where we have three players who want to play on a gaming night. Usually one player ends up watching, or joining forces with one of the armies. This is fine, but sometimes it is difficult to work out the best way to keep things fair regarding the Force Organisation Chart etc. Now though, we are able to use the Allies part of 6th Edition to get a fairer or more official way of playing with three players, as long as your armies can Ally of course. So the other day I was in this position and thought I would try it out.

We arranged a game of Blood Angels taking on another army, I elected for my Space Wolves to be the Allied detachment for the Blood Angels and we agreed on 750pts for me and 1000pts for the Blood Angels. It was the very first game of 6th Edition for our opponent, so we were really just there for a bit of fun and a chance to roll some dice. Having been inspired by Embolden 40k and his post about Space Wolves as Allies, I went about making my detachment. I know the Blood Angels love to get up close and personal, usually deep striking in with Dante or some other nasty dude, so I told my buddy I would make a long range fire support list to back his Angels up...

Embolden suggested...

Rune Priest - Jaws, Living Lightening (or two new powers) - 100pts
Dreadnought - Autocannons x2 - 125pts
5 Grey Hunters - flamer - 75pts
Rhino - 35pts
5 Grey Hunters - flamer - 75pts
Razorback - Lascannon/Twin linked Plasma gun - 75pts
6 Long Fangs - 5 missile launchers - 140
Razorback - Lascannon/Twin linked Plasma gun - 75pts

It was pointed out in the comments section of his post, that a chooser marker for the Priest would be very useful and I think that was a good comment, so that was going to be my starting point. I then opted for a Plasma Gun and Mark of Wulven on the Hunters to go with the Priest in the Rhino and the Razorback would have another five Hunters, but this time with a Melta gun and Mark of Wulven, as I am not a fan of Flamers on these units.

Six Long Fangs would sport two more Lascannons and three Missiles Launchers backed up by another Razorback for the Fangs. I know there was a bit of a debate regarding the Long Fang Razorback not being worth the points, but I kinda like the idea myself. I will use the empty Razorback as mobile terrain for the Hunter vehicles and it adds another long shot to the list. I can see that it may not be worth the points in a full Space Wolves list, but I think it is perfect for the limited Force Organisation Chart that Allies brings.

Believe it or not, I don't actually own a Dreadnought, so the Dread is out of my list. That means for the last section of the list I have gone for a Lone Wolf in Terminator armour with a Storm shield, Frost Axe and Fenrisian Wolf. I thought the Lone Wolf would make a good distraction unit pushing forward whilst I wait for the Blood Angels to deep strike in.

Here is my final list...

The Wulvenkind Allied Detachment (750pts)

1 x Rune Priest/Lightning/Jaws/Chooser (110)

5 x Grey Hunters/Plasma Gun/Mark of Wulven (100)

1 x Rhino (35)

5 x Grey Hunters/Mark of wulven/Meltagun (90)

1 x Razorback/LasPlas (75)

6 x Long Fangs/2x Las/3x Missiles/Pack Leader (170)

1 x Razorback/LasPlas (75)

1 x Lone Wolf/Terminator/Shield/Frost Axe/Fenrisian Wolf (90)

750 pts

Now to turn up on the night and see what is in the Blood Angels list and who we are playing against? Battle report to follow...

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Reading 6th Edition - Your army & Allies

Nick speaking,

Isn't it interesting how quickly you get used to something! I had a look at the old 5th Edition book just a minute ago, and boy does it look old, it looks like it was a 3rd Edition book or something? Just goes to show how great the layout and ease of reading 6th Edition is, as I come to the Choosing your Army section...

Choosing your army is very much like it used to be, but there are a few things of note. The Force organisation chart now has a 'Primary Detachment', exactly the same as we always had, plus an 'Allied Detachment', which we will come to in a bit. There is also an optional, single 'Fortification' choice. There are four Fortifications listed, and they are the current GW terrain pieces such as a Skyshield Landing Pad and Imperial Baston. All four pieces have there own points values and Special Rules listed, other Fortifications are going to be released in White Dwarf or on the GW website in the future.

In games over 1999 points, you are able to take two Primary Detachments, also unlocking another Allied Detachment, but not another Fortification. However, taking two Detachments still does not make it possible to take more than one 'Unique' Character.

The Warlord

One HQ from your army has to be chosen from your army to be your Warlord, and to gain an additional ability. The Warlord has to be your HQ choice with the highest Leadership, if you have more than one in your army, you are able the select which one it is. As you would expect, an Allied HQ choice is unable to be your Warlord! There are then three types of 'Trait' categories that you can give them, and each category has six different traits that are randomly selected. The 'Trait' categories are, 'Command', affecting an area around your Warlord, 'Personal', combat skills that influence them and their unit, and 'Strategic', which affect your entire army with tricks and gambits.

Allies

If you wish, you are able to choose Allies for your army. You are only able to choose Allies from one Allied Codex in any one list, even if you are using two Primary and Allied detachments. An allied detachment has a compulsory selection of one HQ and one Troops for each detachment taken. You are then able to take another Troops, one Fast and one Heavy choice. Obviously, there are some limitation to which armies can Alliance. Some cannot alliance at all, like Tyranids, whilst others can alliance, but at different levels of confidence. These different Alliances range from 'battle Brothers' to 'Desperate Allies', and have their own Special rules listed.

Personally, my four armies don't seem to form alliances very well. Nids can't do it at all, Necrons and Eldar can't do it, and Necron and Space Wolves are only Desperate Allies. The best my armies can do is Eldar and Space Space Wolves, and that is only as Desperate Alliance. Of course, I could buy a few models from an army I don't already own, hang on, now I am thinking about starting a new army? Well done GW, your plan to introduce me to a new army and spend more money is working!!

Previous Posts:
6th Edition Rule Book Unboxing
Reading 6th Edition - The first few pages
Reading 6th Edition - The movement phase
Reading 6th Edition - The shooting phase
Reading 6th Edition - The assault phase
Reading 6th Edition - Universal Special Rules
Reading 6th Edition - Independent Character
Reading 6th Edition - Unit types
Reading 6th Edition - Weapons 
Reading 6th Edition - Characters & Challenges
Reading 6th Edition - Psykers
Reading 6th Edition - Vehicle basics
Reading 6th Edition - Vehicle types
Reading 6th Edition - Terrain

Next up, missions...

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