In the fifth edition of Warhammer 40k, there has been a brand new focus on mechanized armies. The change in the damage table meant that glancing hits could no longer destroy a vehicle outright. So rhinos, once considered nothing but a death-trap, have become nearly essential.
Various members of the community have established very well how effective a mechanized force of Blood Angels can be. Indeed, over-charged engines have made our rhinos and Baal Predators so very threatening.
However, I have some innate dislike for transport vehicles that I cannot possibly explain. Perhaps it stems from my limited ability to make an effective assault out of a unit that has been embarked in a Rhino.
Also, I just plain love jump packs. Rhinos just don't hold the same appeal.
This has led me to strive for a list that maintains some balance between mechanized and infantry units.
The standard game that I play is around 1500 points. I have hit upon the idea of a "rule of 2" (or more accurately "theory of 2") that is similar to the idea of making "cookie cutter" armies. Basically, if you are going to take one of something, take two instead. I feel like this gives a lot of options tactically.
For instance, it allows you to split your force to be almost even, which means you won't have a "weak flank" or anything. This also forces the opponent to make even more difficult decisions, because each unit you have should have a twin that is roughly equal in threat level.
Additionally, this makes virtually every unit in your army essentially "expendable." That doesn't mean they are useless or anything, just that if you lose one unit, you will always have another to fill its role on the battlefield.
In many cases, I think, this will reduce the number of units that you will be able to take in a list, however, each unit becomes a tiny bit more versatile. Granted, chances are that some units will become marginally more ineffective.
For the Blood Angels specifically, I think the ideal list for 1500 points would include something like: Corbulo, Lemartes (two HQ choices) Veteran Assault squad (as a mirror to your Death Company) Either two assault squads (both in rhinos, or both with jump packs) or two tactical squads (both in rhinos) Either two squads of two attack bikes, or two baal preds.
I'm not sure how those would specifically work out point-wise at the moment, but the idea is there.
This is all very spur-of-the-moment theory though, so as I say often on the forums when dishing out advice, take it with a grain of salt. I am very open to argument, as I am still learning as well.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Exam time is here!
At school, this week is exam week.
Big fun.
As I will be busy procrastinating on my work, there will probably be even less regular posts than usual.
However, soon afterward I shall be home for the holidays (yay Christmas!)
I plan on posting a lot from there, as I shall have the opportunity to play Warhammer 40k against some new opponents, and possibly some Warmachine as well!
With some luck, I will be able to borrow my parents' camera for some picture-fied battle-reports, and maybe even a video or two :O
I want to take some WIP pics of my painting as well, as I am very proud of it!
Additionally, I started painting my Corbulo model yesterday,and he is coming along wonderfully (for me). I sure love painting hair for some reason.
Big fun.
As I will be busy procrastinating on my work, there will probably be even less regular posts than usual.
However, soon afterward I shall be home for the holidays (yay Christmas!)
I plan on posting a lot from there, as I shall have the opportunity to play Warhammer 40k against some new opponents, and possibly some Warmachine as well!
With some luck, I will be able to borrow my parents' camera for some picture-fied battle-reports, and maybe even a video or two :O
I want to take some WIP pics of my painting as well, as I am very proud of it!
Additionally, I started painting my Corbulo model yesterday,and he is coming along wonderfully (for me). I sure love painting hair for some reason.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Battle Report from Last Wednesday (sort of)
Wednesday is the night that I go to my local Games Workshop store to play a game of Warhammer 40k.
This particular Wednesday we were doing scenario two out of the White Dwarf scenarios taking place on Fenris (or something like that, I was just there to play a game)
We used 1500 points, a perfect chance to try out my army list (in my last post).
Before anything let me say that I failed. Epicly.
My opponent was the Space Wolves, defending a fortress wall, all I had to do to win was to destroy it with one hit at AV 16. (if only I had drop pods!)
He was using Nijal, Ragnar, a land raider, a squad of terminators, two squads in rhinos and one squad of something (I am not familiar with the Space Wolves units at all, sorry!) with Ragnar inside the Land Raider. He also had a squad of Long fangs with two lascannons, a heavy bolter, multimelta and a plasma cannon on top of the wall.
My plan as I set up was to just get my veteran assault squad up to that wall as quickly as possible. However, like most of my pre-game plans, it completely passed out of my brain in the first turn as the heat of battle overtook me.
With that in mind I deployed most of my forces in a line on the very edge of my deployment zone. I wanted to get it over with fast.
He deployed his Long Fangs on his wall, And squarely in front of his wall was his Land Raider, filled with Fenrisian Death, flanked by two Rhinos. Nijal hid behind them.
I got first turn, and my Angels rushed out of the starting gate. My left flank, consisting of Corbulo and the Death Co. inside a Rhino, the Assault Squad, and my Furioso, moved forward only 6 inches. I did not want those wolves assaulting me. (In reflection, maybe I should have gone all the way. He could not have assaulted out of his Rhinos and his Land Raider could have only chosen one direction. Neither of them could have probably reached me anyway, but then... it was a very small board.) On my right flank, My Veteran Assault squad rushed forward. Just next to them my vindicator moved 6 inches forward. One combat squad and the other Tactical squad followed it. (the other half of the tac squad with the plasma cannon stayed back in some ruins to provide some fire support. This may have been another mistake because there were four boltguns/wounds in that squad that did nothing for me the entire game). That plasma cannon shot his long fangs, killing one.
Then his turn came. He moved his Land raider forward 6" with one rhino next to it. The other rhino went off to my left towards Corbulo and Co. His squad with Ragnar disembarked from his Land Raider and assaulted my 5 man combat squad, massacring them. My vindicator was in trouble! His long fangs shot half at my Vindicator, half at my Furioso, doing nothing to either of them.
I won't regale you with the rest of the specifics, it was nothing more that assault-y fun-ness. My angels were destroyed pretty much to the man.
I made several fairly detrimental mistakes. For instance, I forgot- two turns in a row- to use smoke launchers on my Furioso. He ended up doing nothing but providing some cover for Corbulo later in the game.
I assaulted his Ragnar- unit with tactical marines instead of rapid-firing at them, this was probably a mistake as well. I did manage to kill his LR with my vindicator, although that's all the vindicator did the whole game. Still though, I suppose he earned his points back from just that.
I think that I should have sent my Veteran Assault Squad on the left flank with Corbulo, because they would have benefitted much more from the furious charge than the RAS did.
Other than that, it was a great learning experience, and I hope to put all of this knowledge to great use in the future!
This particular Wednesday we were doing scenario two out of the White Dwarf scenarios taking place on Fenris (or something like that, I was just there to play a game)
We used 1500 points, a perfect chance to try out my army list (in my last post).
Before anything let me say that I failed. Epicly.
My opponent was the Space Wolves, defending a fortress wall, all I had to do to win was to destroy it with one hit at AV 16. (if only I had drop pods!)
He was using Nijal, Ragnar, a land raider, a squad of terminators, two squads in rhinos and one squad of something (I am not familiar with the Space Wolves units at all, sorry!) with Ragnar inside the Land Raider. He also had a squad of Long fangs with two lascannons, a heavy bolter, multimelta and a plasma cannon on top of the wall.
My plan as I set up was to just get my veteran assault squad up to that wall as quickly as possible. However, like most of my pre-game plans, it completely passed out of my brain in the first turn as the heat of battle overtook me.
With that in mind I deployed most of my forces in a line on the very edge of my deployment zone. I wanted to get it over with fast.
He deployed his Long Fangs on his wall, And squarely in front of his wall was his Land Raider, filled with Fenrisian Death, flanked by two Rhinos. Nijal hid behind them.
I got first turn, and my Angels rushed out of the starting gate. My left flank, consisting of Corbulo and the Death Co. inside a Rhino, the Assault Squad, and my Furioso, moved forward only 6 inches. I did not want those wolves assaulting me. (In reflection, maybe I should have gone all the way. He could not have assaulted out of his Rhinos and his Land Raider could have only chosen one direction. Neither of them could have probably reached me anyway, but then... it was a very small board.) On my right flank, My Veteran Assault squad rushed forward. Just next to them my vindicator moved 6 inches forward. One combat squad and the other Tactical squad followed it. (the other half of the tac squad with the plasma cannon stayed back in some ruins to provide some fire support. This may have been another mistake because there were four boltguns/wounds in that squad that did nothing for me the entire game). That plasma cannon shot his long fangs, killing one.
Then his turn came. He moved his Land raider forward 6" with one rhino next to it. The other rhino went off to my left towards Corbulo and Co. His squad with Ragnar disembarked from his Land Raider and assaulted my 5 man combat squad, massacring them. My vindicator was in trouble! His long fangs shot half at my Vindicator, half at my Furioso, doing nothing to either of them.
I won't regale you with the rest of the specifics, it was nothing more that assault-y fun-ness. My angels were destroyed pretty much to the man.
I made several fairly detrimental mistakes. For instance, I forgot- two turns in a row- to use smoke launchers on my Furioso. He ended up doing nothing but providing some cover for Corbulo later in the game.
I assaulted his Ragnar- unit with tactical marines instead of rapid-firing at them, this was probably a mistake as well. I did manage to kill his LR with my vindicator, although that's all the vindicator did the whole game. Still though, I suppose he earned his points back from just that.
I think that I should have sent my Veteran Assault Squad on the left flank with Corbulo, because they would have benefitted much more from the furious charge than the RAS did.
Other than that, it was a great learning experience, and I hope to put all of this knowledge to great use in the future!
My Current Blood Angels Army List!
This is what my current Blood Angels army list looks like for Warhammer 40k:
Death Company x5
Rhino
Tactical Squad x10
Plasma Cannon
Tactical Squad x10
Power Fist
Flamer
Missile Launcher
Assault Squad x10
Power Fist
Plasma Pistol
Veteran Assault Squad x10
Power Fist
Power Weapons x2
Combat Shield
Meltagun
Furioso Dreadnought
Venerable
Extra Armor
Vindicator
That's about it. This list runs at 1500 points, and it's pretty much all I have at the moment. Some changes I have been considering include getting rid of the assault squad sergeant's plasma pistol, and doing lemartes + jump pack death company instead.
In the future I plan on buying a couple of Baal Predators (I don't have any yet!) to replace the Furioso and the Vindicator, hopefully they will be able to do some escorting of my rhino and it's valuable cargo.
Another option would be to buy just one Baal Predator and a pair of attack bikes with multi-meltas.
I hear a lot of good things about Multimelta attack bikes, but I am very fond the idea of those Baal Preds. I think once I get either of these options I will have a pretty solid 1500 game going on. Then I can start thinking about 2000 points. For that I would probably get a pair of rhinos for those two tac squads, definitely a few attack bikes, and purchase some drop pods so I can get some use out of my Furioso Dreadnought that I absolutely LOVE. I feel bad about wanting to take him out of my 1500 list, but I just don't want drop pods in there for now.
That's about it. I am hoping to get a chance to try out a Librarian here sometime soon, I'll get a post up on what I think when that happens.
I'm thinking about putting him in pretty much the same list (that's all the stuff I have!) replacing the Furioso and dropping a flamer from the tactical squad.
Death Company x5
Rhino
Tactical Squad x10
Plasma Cannon
Tactical Squad x10
Power Fist
Flamer
Missile Launcher
Assault Squad x10
Power Fist
Plasma Pistol
Veteran Assault Squad x10
Power Fist
Power Weapons x2
Combat Shield
Meltagun
Furioso Dreadnought
Venerable
Extra Armor
Vindicator
That's about it. This list runs at 1500 points, and it's pretty much all I have at the moment. Some changes I have been considering include getting rid of the assault squad sergeant's plasma pistol, and doing lemartes + jump pack death company instead.
In the future I plan on buying a couple of Baal Predators (I don't have any yet!) to replace the Furioso and the Vindicator, hopefully they will be able to do some escorting of my rhino and it's valuable cargo.
Another option would be to buy just one Baal Predator and a pair of attack bikes with multi-meltas.
I hear a lot of good things about Multimelta attack bikes, but I am very fond the idea of those Baal Preds. I think once I get either of these options I will have a pretty solid 1500 game going on. Then I can start thinking about 2000 points. For that I would probably get a pair of rhinos for those two tac squads, definitely a few attack bikes, and purchase some drop pods so I can get some use out of my Furioso Dreadnought that I absolutely LOVE. I feel bad about wanting to take him out of my 1500 list, but I just don't want drop pods in there for now.
That's about it. I am hoping to get a chance to try out a Librarian here sometime soon, I'll get a post up on what I think when that happens.
I'm thinking about putting him in pretty much the same list (that's all the stuff I have!) replacing the Furioso and dropping a flamer from the tactical squad.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Thoughts on Future Conversions
Hey readers (there are so many of you! [/sarcasm])
When I was but a lad I always wanted to do cool modifications to my models. I saw all kinds of stuff on the internet, the White Dwarf magazine, various Warhammer 40k codices, and at the game store. Naturally I would go home and try to do all kinds of stuff to my models.
Needless to say (I'll say it anyway) I destroyed a fair share of models. For instance, I destroyed Cheif-Librarian Mephiston's hands to get his sword and replace his plasma pistol. I broke all sorts of pieces on my only Rhino to "convert" it. But hey, I thought I was doing some cool stuff.
Nowadays, though, I still have so many conversion ideas (listed later in this post) floating around in my head. I will probably be purchasing some greenstuff soon, as well as a sculpting tool, and various other tools that I have delayed in getting due to my college-poor status. (Files, drill, better brushes)
Hopefully once I get some of this stuff I will be able to pull off some of these neat conversions I have been ruminating on for weeks without ruining any more models.
First of all, I have this jump pack chaplain model that I loooove. I want to convert him into a Chaplain Lemartes counts-as. I'm going to throw an Iron Halo on his head, as well as a few more purity seals on his body. I will also attempt to model that rosarius that the offical model has hanging from his bolt pistol, because if I pull it off I think it could look pretty awesome. Another option I have been considering is taking the Crozius Arcanum off of my old Blood Angels chaplain (fairly ugly/obviously very dated model) and swapping it with the new chaplain's to make it a little more fitting. Maybe I will be able to successfully sculpt some blood drops for his shoulder as well, I think that would look pretty neat. The only thing I can't come up with is how to make his mask stand out. Lemartes is equipped with the "Death Mask" and I don't trust my modelling skills to make one tiny enough for his face. I know it already has some skull features, maybe there is a quick way to add on to that?
This + This = This?
A second idea I have had is a terminator librarian. I know it's not a popular choice, but I have always found it at least a fun unit to run (it can fly!). I have some basic ideas, making the base model my terminator sergeant I bought a long time ago, and mixing it with some bits I cut off of my librarian model. I want to switch the staff with the terminator's sword, and replace the top of the staff with something more fitting of the army. Then I have to figure out a way to make a psychic hood. That one requires some more thought. (I can't find pictures of these things... must be too old and unpopular :( )
Next, the other day I saw the Chaos Khorne Lord in my Games Workshop. I think that he would make an absolutely WIKID chaplain. He already has a skull face, and I would have to cut/file that mark off of his head (maybe I could replace his head entirely with the old chaplain's... provided I can find a way to seperate it from his body... anyone know how?) I would probably chop the head off of the axe in order to sculpt a gigantic Crozius Arcanum head. *shivers* It looks so cool in my head. I would probably add some purity seals and blood drops to this guy too. (I will need lots of practice making those!)
This + Greenstuff and lots of Filing = awesome?
I have the body of a Blood Angel that has been painted for me to a pretty good standard, and he looks so cool I want to modify him to be a captain! I want to give him one of my old metal jump packs. He is also going to have a winged helmet (I've always been jealous of the Dark Angels' awesome headgear) He doesn't have arms yet, so I was going to use my leftovers from my new assault squad sprue. I will give him a power-axe, converted with a wing to make it look more like Dante's. Actually... I may repaint him gold, and turn him into a counts-as Dante! Awesome! I just got a vision of my extra bolt pistol arm, combined with a flamer (modified to look more melta-y) in order to make a "Perdition Pistol." Yet another one I can't wait to do!
I will have to practice some modding techniques before I risk any of these more expensive metal models with my shenanigans. I do have a few uglies laying about upon which I can experiment.
On another note: I really want some Baal Predators.
When I was but a lad I always wanted to do cool modifications to my models. I saw all kinds of stuff on the internet, the White Dwarf magazine, various Warhammer 40k codices, and at the game store. Naturally I would go home and try to do all kinds of stuff to my models.
Needless to say (I'll say it anyway) I destroyed a fair share of models. For instance, I destroyed Cheif-Librarian Mephiston's hands to get his sword and replace his plasma pistol. I broke all sorts of pieces on my only Rhino to "convert" it. But hey, I thought I was doing some cool stuff.
Nowadays, though, I still have so many conversion ideas (listed later in this post) floating around in my head. I will probably be purchasing some greenstuff soon, as well as a sculpting tool, and various other tools that I have delayed in getting due to my college-poor status. (Files, drill, better brushes)
Hopefully once I get some of this stuff I will be able to pull off some of these neat conversions I have been ruminating on for weeks without ruining any more models.
First of all, I have this jump pack chaplain model that I loooove. I want to convert him into a Chaplain Lemartes counts-as. I'm going to throw an Iron Halo on his head, as well as a few more purity seals on his body. I will also attempt to model that rosarius that the offical model has hanging from his bolt pistol, because if I pull it off I think it could look pretty awesome. Another option I have been considering is taking the Crozius Arcanum off of my old Blood Angels chaplain (fairly ugly/obviously very dated model) and swapping it with the new chaplain's to make it a little more fitting. Maybe I will be able to successfully sculpt some blood drops for his shoulder as well, I think that would look pretty neat. The only thing I can't come up with is how to make his mask stand out. Lemartes is equipped with the "Death Mask" and I don't trust my modelling skills to make one tiny enough for his face. I know it already has some skull features, maybe there is a quick way to add on to that?
This + This = This?
A second idea I have had is a terminator librarian. I know it's not a popular choice, but I have always found it at least a fun unit to run (it can fly!). I have some basic ideas, making the base model my terminator sergeant I bought a long time ago, and mixing it with some bits I cut off of my librarian model. I want to switch the staff with the terminator's sword, and replace the top of the staff with something more fitting of the army. Then I have to figure out a way to make a psychic hood. That one requires some more thought. (I can't find pictures of these things... must be too old and unpopular :( )
Next, the other day I saw the Chaos Khorne Lord in my Games Workshop. I think that he would make an absolutely WIKID chaplain. He already has a skull face, and I would have to cut/file that mark off of his head (maybe I could replace his head entirely with the old chaplain's... provided I can find a way to seperate it from his body... anyone know how?) I would probably chop the head off of the axe in order to sculpt a gigantic Crozius Arcanum head. *shivers* It looks so cool in my head. I would probably add some purity seals and blood drops to this guy too. (I will need lots of practice making those!)
This + Greenstuff and lots of Filing = awesome?
I have the body of a Blood Angel that has been painted for me to a pretty good standard, and he looks so cool I want to modify him to be a captain! I want to give him one of my old metal jump packs. He is also going to have a winged helmet (I've always been jealous of the Dark Angels' awesome headgear) He doesn't have arms yet, so I was going to use my leftovers from my new assault squad sprue. I will give him a power-axe, converted with a wing to make it look more like Dante's. Actually... I may repaint him gold, and turn him into a counts-as Dante! Awesome! I just got a vision of my extra bolt pistol arm, combined with a flamer (modified to look more melta-y) in order to make a "Perdition Pistol." Yet another one I can't wait to do!
I will have to practice some modding techniques before I risk any of these more expensive metal models with my shenanigans. I do have a few uglies laying about upon which I can experiment.
On another note: I really want some Baal Predators.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Assault Squad Finished! (Enought for Me Anyways!)
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I finished my Blood Angels assault squad the other day, and they have been sitting on my desk-altar since then so I can gaze happily upon my handiwork. I just thought I would share their glory with the world.
I'm so proud *happy sob*
That genestealer there is one that my Girlfriend painted. She named him Walter.
I had to name my marines too, (I am so excited about this, I will attempt to name pretty much all of them.)
I call the sergeant "Vladimir." Named after Vlad the Impaler of course, He gets this honor for being my first fully painted (to my current standard) marine.
The dude with surfer hair has been named Aleksander.
Also, sorry for poor quality pictures, I don't actually own a camera, so these were all taken on my Girlfriend's iPhone.
Having these guys complete feels really special. They have the honor of being the first squad to be properly painted by me in a very long time. To me, they are a good omen of things to come. I pray that the rest of my army lives up to the standard these guys are setting!
Up next: Veteran Assault Squad! or Corbulo! Both probably! We'll see!
Yay!
Friday, December 4, 2009
I Still am Actually
Internet blogs are a dime a dozen these days.
So what would compel me to start one? First of all - I have never met anyone quite like me. Sure people may share a couple of my interests, but I'm the only me. Secondly- I want to write something for people to read, something to entertain people, and hopefully something a few people will learn from as well (in other words: I just want some attention.) Thirdly- I'm in college... I have nothing better to do.
Now: what will I write about in this blog? Whatever strikes my fancy mostly, but I guarantee a lot will have to do with games. LOTS of games. Not just video games though- tabletop games, card games, board games- whatever. There will probably be some of everything, so make sure you check up often!
I am currently really focusing on Warhammer 40,000, so a lot of these posts will have to do with it for now, but some games I have played a lot of in the past, and may return to at a moment's notice are:
Pirates of the Spanish Main/Cursed Seas
Magic: The Gathering
World of Warcraft
Warmachine
Dungeons and Dragons
(expect many blog posts about the above)
and then just some of my favorite games in general (that aren't listed above)
Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Calibur (My favorite game ever, expect at least one post about it)
Pokemon: TCG, video games as well
Dawn of War
Call of Duty 4
Spore
The Sims 2
Starcraft
Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magic Obscura
etc...
I also like anime, my favorite being Eureka Seven.
My favorite band is Rhapsody (of Fire).
So... yeah.
Subscribe or whatever.
Or my cat will eat you
So what would compel me to start one? First of all - I have never met anyone quite like me. Sure people may share a couple of my interests, but I'm the only me. Secondly- I want to write something for people to read, something to entertain people, and hopefully something a few people will learn from as well (in other words: I just want some attention.) Thirdly- I'm in college... I have nothing better to do.
Now: what will I write about in this blog? Whatever strikes my fancy mostly, but I guarantee a lot will have to do with games. LOTS of games. Not just video games though- tabletop games, card games, board games- whatever. There will probably be some of everything, so make sure you check up often!
I am currently really focusing on Warhammer 40,000, so a lot of these posts will have to do with it for now, but some games I have played a lot of in the past, and may return to at a moment's notice are:
Pirates of the Spanish Main/Cursed Seas
Magic: The Gathering
World of Warcraft
Warmachine
Dungeons and Dragons
(expect many blog posts about the above)
and then just some of my favorite games in general (that aren't listed above)
Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Calibur (My favorite game ever, expect at least one post about it)
Pokemon: TCG, video games as well
Dawn of War
Call of Duty 4
Spore
The Sims 2
Starcraft
Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magic Obscura
etc...
I also like anime, my favorite being Eureka Seven.
My favorite band is Rhapsody (of Fire).
So... yeah.
Subscribe or whatever.
Or my cat will eat you
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