Posts Tagged ‘games workshop’
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012
There’s something to be said about the Chaos Lords and Heroes selection over at Games Workshop: the models are beautiful. In fact, it’s part of what drew me over to the Warriors of Chaos, along with their sharp-looking infantry. You might be surprised to see a limited number of the awesome mounts actually fielded on the table though. Whereas cavalry and mounts owned 7th Edition Fantasy, the horde formation and rank bonus rule 8th. As a result, some of the awesome models don’t get much love. Let’s see if we can figure out how to field them without shooting ourselves in the foot: Juggernaut of Khorne
 Image courtesy of GW.
How could you not want to use this guy?! Well, maybe because you have to buy the Mark of Khorne, meaning you’re already at 65 points in addition to what you normally get. At the very least though, this likely gives your Hero or Lord a 1+ armor save, as well as MR1. Causing Fear isn’t that great, speaking strictly from a tabletop definition. The sheer size and majesty of such a model makes your opponent way more likely to target him. You can use this to your advantage, although you have to be careful of shooting attacks. Generally speaking, any template or war machine that hits your Juggernaut rider will be hitting him — you don’t get a Look Out Sir save if there’s less than 5 rank-and-file troopers of the same troop type with him. Unless you’ve got a slew of other Monstrous Cavalry hanging around (hint: you don’t) then he’s vulnerable to such attacks, which your opponent will likely know. Having Frenzy will give you an extra attack, and make you Immune to Psychology, but it may also cause any unit he’s attached to wander out of their way with bloodlust. Keep a BSB nearby to minimize unwanted charges.
Steed of Slaanesh
 Image courtesy of GW.
The Steed of Slaanesh is often left at home, perhaps because of its explicit nature or maybe because the Mark of Slaanesh isn’t that popular. It’s a pretty economic solution: for a mere 30 points you get a Cavalry model that can move 10″ per turn. This guy’s mobility can be used to make a pretty mobile BSB, and his Immune to Psychology status can make him a decent rover. March him towards units that need to rally, because he won’t care about the Panic tests. This is a great way to add some maneuverability to the backfield.
Disc of Tzeentch
 Image courtesy of GW.
The Disc of Tzeentch is super popular, for a few reasons. First of all, Mark of Tzeentch is useful on any unit because Ward Saves are almost always worth having. Secondly, it’s a powerful Lore of Magic that synergizes well with the Mark, so people have a ton of Tzeentch-marked units running around anyways. Finally, it flies. What does this mean in game terms? For 30 points including the Mark, you get a Flying model that will let you zip across the battlefield at 10″ per turn, like the Steed of Slaanesh. Unlike the Steed, however, this allows you to ignore cover. It allows you to charge 10 + 2d6 inches if you want your Disc in combat, but more likely you’ll want it to get good positioning on spells, or to zoom a Leadership support unit around where needed.
Palanquin of Nurgle
 Image courtesy of GW.
Why did I save this for last? Because I think it’s underrated and intriguing. The Palanquin of Nurgle looks like a sickly horse, but Papa Nurgle gave us a gift with it: it counts as Infantry and it’s got 6 poisoned attacks. Now, let’s remember that since his rider still counts as Infantry, he gets a 2+ Look Out Sir save. Since it comes on a 50×50 base, it displaces 4 Warriors (effectively lowering his numerous attacks). It’s quite pricey, coming in at 70 points including mount and mark, the most expensive of the bunch. Still, you have an option to charge out of a unit with it, taking some opponents by surprise. With his low movement they may get to Stand and Shoot in response, but that confers a -1 penalty to hit in addition to his Mark of Nurgle. This sneaky tactic can really catch an opponent off guard, freeing up the Palanquin’s bunker unit to charge something else in the following turn.
Tags: Chaos, games workshop, gaming, warhammer, Warhammer Fantasy
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Tuesday, January 31st, 2012
Having messed around for a few games with different Sorcerer loadouts, I’m absolutely thrilled with the variety that the Magic phase adds to WHFB. Whether you want to radically shake up your army or just tweak a character’s role, swapping out your wizard’s Lore can give you the extra flavor you need. The Chaos book has some very distinct options that will allow you to follow in the footsteps of your Dark God of choice. They all have a certain focus, and require you to take the respective Mark of Chaos. Thus, I thought it would be good to highlight the uses of each Lore:
Lore of Slaanesh
Spells:
- Lash of Slaanesh: Weak magic missile, prevents marching.
- Hellshriek: Nearby units take a panic test
- Hysterical Frenzy: Target suffers from Frenzy, takes damage each turn
- Titillating Delusions: Target must move toward nominated point
- Aura of Acquiescence: Target causes Fear (or upgrades Fear to Terror)
- Ecstatic Seizures: Target unit takes toughness test or takes a wound, no saves of any kind
With an average cast value of 8.2, this lore is relatively easy to cast. Many of the spells rely on enemy Leadership directly (Hellshriek) or need enemies to fail Leadership tests for their true value to come out (Aura of Acquiescence). Two of the spells are Remain in Play spells, which can be countered during the enemy’s magic phase. You can use some of the spells to redirect or force enemy troops to move. This lore is really good against low-Leadership armies that like to stay still and shoot, or whose magic phase may clash with your Remain in Play spells. The mark you get makes you Immune to Panic, Fear, and Terror, which doesn’t necessarily complement this Lore.
Lore of Nurgle
Spells:
- Magnificent Buboes: Put a wound on any model in LOS with no armor saves allowed
- Fleshy Abundance: Friendly unit gains Regenerate
- Plague Squall: Weak stonethrower with no armor saves allowed
- Cloying Quagmire: Target unit takes Initiative test. Those who fail take an Armor Save, and are removed if they pass it.
- Curse of the Leper: Remains in play, target suffers -1 to Toughness and Strength per turn (down to 0, when they’re removed)
- Rot, Glorious Rot: All enemies in range take randomized hits with no armor save allowed
With an average cast value of 8.5, Nurgle is more difficult. While the Mark of Nurgle doesn’t synergize well with the Lore, it does make you immune to certain Nurgle effects, and also makes you hard to hit. Many of the spells ignore armor saves or punish enemies with good armor saves. Low initiative troops will be hurt by Cloying Quagmire, and will also have to grapple with a war of attrition in Fleshy Abundance. These spells are great against an army like Dwarfs, whose low Initiative and heavy armor will be a liability if not ignored outright.
Lore of Tzeentch
Spells:
- Flickering Fire of Tzeentch: Flaming magic missile
- Baleful Transmogrification: Target takes a Leadership test, suffers wounds by amount it failed, with no armor saves allowed.
- Pandaemonium: Enemy units cannot use General’s Leadership, enemy wizards miscast on any double
- Treason of Tzeentch: Target unit attacks itself
- Call to Glory: Friendly model turns into an Exalted Hero
- Infernal Gateway: Target unit takes 2d6 hits at Strength 2d6, if the Strength is 11 or 12 the unit is removed.
Ok, this is a pretty impressive spell list. Combine that with the Ward bonus that the Mark of Tzeentch gives you, and it seems like a good buy. Nevermind that the average cast value is 9.2 for this Lore, because Mark of Tzeentch gives you another +1 on your cast attempts, making this effectively as “cheap” as Slaanesh to cast! There are some great synergies with Leadership, such as casting Pandaemonium and then Baleful Transmogrification. Direct damage is an option with Treason, Call to Glory, or Infernal Gateway. This is a great all-around Lore, although you will find yourself in trouble if you roll the Leadership spells against an army with good Leadership or a lot of Immune to Psychology units.
Conclusion
Some Sorcerers have access to main rulebook Lores, which are very competitive. If you’re looking for some variety, or to keep with a certain theme, the Chaos Lores will treat you just fine. Just remember that your magic should never be relied upon. The Gods are fickle, but when you manage to get some spells off the results are just devastating.
Tags: Chaos, games workshop, gaming, warhammer, Warhammer Fantasy
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Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
Let me come right out and say it: I don’t like a lot of the models in the Warriors of Chaos range. Despite being some of the oldest models in the Fantasy range, the Warriors look amazing when ranked up. Outside of that and some Lords and Heroes though, you’ll quickly find that a lot of the models aren’t too enticing, especially compared to their artwork and rules in the Army Book.
So what’s a warlord to do? Kitbash! Counts-as! There are plenty of options around, and as long as you use appropriate base sizes there shouldn’t be any in-game impact. These ideas come with a caveat that you should ensure your regular opponents are cool with these substitutions and replacements. Rolling Beastmen units in your Chaos army might irritate some tournament players (or organizers!) for example. With that in mind, here are some neat ideas to give your Chaos a more original, thematic look…and even save a few bucks!
Item #1: Trolls for Trolls
 Left: Metal Chaos Troll ($22.25). Right: Plastic O&G River Troll (3 for $45). Let’s start with one of the more interesting and viable Special choices: Trolls. The Chaos Troll line is a bit underwhelming, as you’ll be looking at $22.25 per model. While the aesthetics of the models are up to individual taste, I think we can all agree that the models look a bit…dated. You’re actually paying a premium for metal, which is difficult to customize. The Orcs and Goblins line has River Trolls, however, on the same 40mm base. $45 for a box of 3 plastic, beautiful sculpts with plenty of bits to spare is a much better bargain. With a proper paint scheme and some other Chaos bits, these trolls are a huge upgrade in my book.
Item #2: Ogres for Ogres
 Left: Metal Chaos Ogre ($22.25). Right: Plastic Ogres (6 for $40) Seem familiar? We have the same problem — really old, expensive model in metal. Or, you can look to another line. Both the Chaos Ogre and the Ogre Kingdom core Ogres share a 40mm base. The question is whether you’d rather pay $22 for one model, or less than $7 per model for a box including extra bits and accessories to make the command. I’m not going to comment on the competitiveness of Chaos Ogres on the table, but you can bet that in terms of customization and sheer price point they lose out.
Item #3: Dragon Ogres for…
 Left: Metal Dragon Ogre ($22.25). Right: Plastic Beastmen Minotaurs (3 for $45) Ok, now you can see why I wanted to write an entire article on this. This is the third special choice for Warriors of Chaos whose models are outdated, expensive, and metal. The tragedy of it is that Dragon Ogres may be the most viable of the three, and their models may be the least passable. Luckily, they share the same 40mm base as many other gorgeous models, including the Beastmen Minotaurs. Sure, these Minotaurs don’t have the crackling lightning of the dragonborn as described in the Army Book. Nor do they even look part dragon. Then again, neither do the actual Dragon Ogre models. Instead, you can buy an 80-piece plastic kit of 3 Minotaurs for the price of 2 Dragon Ogres. This one may require opponent permission, but with creative conversion and modeling you can end up with a unique unit that looks far better than the GW options.
In Conclusion
The Warriors of Chaos have some really cool models available to them, but that just makes some of the other models stand out that much more. If you’re willing to poke around in the other sections of GW’s website, you can find some great inspiration for kitbashing ideas. Stay tuned for further ideas on supplementing the Chaos range with additional minis. Don’t be afraid to peruse other lines — look at 40k, or even non-GW models — you may find something truly unique!
Tags: Beastmen, Chaos, games workshop, modeling, warhammer, Warhammer Fantasy
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Tuesday, January 17th, 2012
The WHFB rulebook contains a specific scenario to account for games with more than two players: Battle Royale. The rules diverge heavily from standard WHFB, namely in the way that turns are sequenced and units are deployed. I played my first actual game of Fantasy this week, using the Battle Royale as an opportunity for my Chaos Warriors’ to hone their craft. I came out with a few key lessons about the system in general, but also learned a fair bit about the Battle Royale scenario and its limitations.
Let me start by saying that GW concedes that Battle Royale isn’t a perfect scenario. In a game designed for two players, shoehorning a 3rd (or 4th or 5th!) is bound to create some problems and inconsistencies. The scenario does its best to address these problems up front. The magic phase, for instance, has been overhauled. One player rolls for Winds of Chaos, and then casts all of his spells. The scenario dictates the order and rules for which other players may dispel, allowing you to dispel attempts from each player. This is one of many such adaptations made from the standard fare.
The biggest problem you’ll see with Battle Royale is how the deployment works. One player deploys his entire army in a 16×24 inch box centered around the middle of the table. The remaining 2-4 players then deploy within 6″ of a table edge of their choice. You can immediately see the problems with this setup: the player in the middle is at a disadvantage with his positioning, but also with deployment order. This player has to place his entire army without knowing where or on which edge the enemy will be! The only concessions he gets are that he gets the first go in each movement, shooting, and combat phase. He also gets to dictate the order in which combats are resolved. In the magic phase, this player has to declare his spells and use his power dice first. This strikes me as a crippling rule, because the other players still have a full stock of dispel dice, and can take turns dispelling if they choose to.
As you may have gathered by now, I was the player in the middle. My first Fantasy game was a rough awakening — I was surrounded by Empire war machines and Savage Orcs, my 700 points of Chaos Warriors trembling as they scrambled to re-face the nearby enemies. Moreover, I had to skirt around units with the Frenzy special rule. Despite not wanting to attack me, the Orc player had to watch his units get kited around because my Marauders were trying to steer him towards the Empire. Nonetheless, we all agreed it was a broken scenario, especially with a first-timer taking the middle deployment.
With that in mind, I’d like to propose a few changes that would make the Battle Royale scenario a little more viable, for beginners and experts alike:
- King of the Hill. Players should be rewarded for holding objectives, not for ending the game with them. I’d propose that in addition to General-based points, there be one central objective. If you hold the objective at the end of a turn, you get +1 point. This would give the middle player an inherent bonus, as he’d get a free turn or two of holding the objective before things got messy.
- Middle Deploys Last. If there was any semblance of goodwill towards the middle player (call it pity if you must), it would be gone with the aforementioned King of the Hill rule. This would need to be balanced by letting the middle player deploy last, reacting to the other deployments so that he isn’t getting rear/flank charged by everything on the table. Even changing to a standard unit-by-unit deployment, rather than an army at a time, could alleviate that problem.
- Middle Chooses Magic Order. Magic buffs tend to be polarizing — it’s either a boon or it’s totally useless. Regardless of whether or not you left your wizards at home, being able to manipulate the game by forcing certain players to cast or dispel first lets the middle player stand a chance.
The end result is that you have a middle player who’s ready to fight anyone and everyone. Gameplay is funneled toward the middle of the table in vanilla Fantasy, and with the standard Battle Royale rules they’ve only added juicy rear/flank targets. If you and two or more friends want to mix it up, I’d be prepared to institute changes like the ones outlined above…or at least give the man in the middle a few extra points!
Tags: custom scenario, games workshop, gaming, warhammer, Warhammer Fantasy
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Tuesday, January 10th, 2012
 Image courtesy of Games Workshop US Last week I took a look at the Chaos Marauders, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t do an article on the glorious Warriors of Chaos themselves. The Warriors of Chaos boast what is arguably the best core troop. With access to an easy 3+ armor save, high strength and toughness, and solid initiative to boot, the Warrior of Chaos is a fearsome fighter. All of this close combat prowess comes at a cost — they mostly skip the shooting and magic phases, and they bring a hefty points cost with them. Let’s examine what uses they can have in a Warriors of Chaos army though:
The All-Rounder: 17 points
Seventeen points is a steep cost for your basic troop, with extra points buying you a shield and halberd. While you can’t use both in close-combat, the shield provides an essential boost to your armor save against missile fire while you’re getting there. Halberds will give you two S5 attacks per Warrior in the front rank, three for your Champion. The end result? A couple of ranks five-wide with full command will net 16 S5 attacks at WS5 and I5. That is downright menacing. Including the Mark of Khorne on the unit will up the ante to 21 S5 attacks.
The Brick Wall: 16 points + Mark of Tzeentch
For a more defensive-minded unit, forego the halberd and give the unit a Mark of Tzeentch. This will give you a 3+ armor save and a 5+ parry save in close combat. At range, you have a 3+ armor save and a 6+ Ward save. This means you will shrug off 92.5% and 90.7% of S3 hits in combat and at range, respectively. Those numbers are still very respectable at 83.3% and 79.2% if you’re looking at S4 hits. Such an expensive anvil will require proper protection to ensure they don’t run off, as you will not have steadfast. Nonetheless, they will take a licking and keep on ticking.
The Meatgrinder: 16 points + Mark of Khorne
You could forego defense entirely and just buy an extra hand weapon. With the Mark of Khorne, you now have 4 attacks per front model. It’s worth noting that this doesn’t really boost your second rank, but if you’re running a wider frontage (like a horde, if the situation warrants it) then you’ll be in for a treat. Even in most situations, running 6-wide is an option, meaning you’ll have 25 attacks from the front tank with a Champion, all striking at S4. This build can work well if you know you’ll be facing a lot of weaker troops, where S4 (and its corresponding -1 Armor Save penalty) are sufficient to inflict casualties and numbers are more important.
Other Thoughts:
There are a few things I’d like to point out about the Warriors’ options. Great Weapons strike me as a total waste. While you do get an awesome S6, you’re wasting your Warriors’ I5. Sure, they’re armored enough to withstand a round of combat and then strike back, but you’re already paying for that I5. Even with Mark of Khorne, there are better and cheaper ways to fit Great Weapons into your list (see: Marauders).
Mark of Nurgle is a promising idea if you know you’ll be facing a heavy shooting phase. Keep in mind that the -1 to hit only applies in the shooting phase, and becomes a WS modifier when being hit in close combat. This means that you’ll rarely see the benefits in combat, but it can be useful to keep your boys alive until they get there. Of course, it should be weighed against Mark of Tzeentch, which will reduce all casualties by 1/6 anyways with its free Ward Save.
The Blasted Standard should be used in any decent-sized army, and the Warriors are a great candidate. It works well with Knights as well, but having Blasted Standard and Mark of Tzeentch gives you a 4+ Ward Save against all attacks made in the shooting phase, which is huge.
In Summary:
Your Warriors are tough as nails, but they’re not indestructible. Using other units like Marauders, Warhounds, and mounted units will let them get into combat quickly and do what they do best. Your number one goal should be to get them stuck-in combat and protect them from shooting. Even against enemy combat specialists, the Warriors will put up a respectable fight. If you manage to get the drop on an unsuspecting squishy unit, sit back and let the fireworks begin!
Tags: Chaos, games workshop, gaming, warhammer, Warhammer Fantasy
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Tuesday, December 13th, 2011
It’s been awhile, but I’m back. I’ve focused on a lot of the differences between WHFB and 40k, and what to look out for. But now it’s time for what may be the most important article: how to build your first list.
As always, you need to balance your existing inventory and budget on what you’d like to spend. Luckily, most of the Battalion boxes from Games Workshop are pretty solid buys. Some are better than others, but for the most part you’ll be getting units you’ll use, along with a “free” unit that would cost you another $25 if you bought everything separately.
Going back to my Warriors of Chaos Battalion, I’ve got the following models: 20 Marauders, 12 Warriors of Chaos, 5 Knights, and 10 Warhounds. Once you factor in the cost of a General, you’re not too far off from 1000 points! It won’t bring you to a balanced 1000-point list though, so let’s start a little smaller with 750 points. Keep in mind that 750 points of WHFB isn’t exactly proportional to 750 points of 40k, where the armies tend to be smaller.
20 Marauders – 160 points
This is a solid block of relatively weak infantry. They’re actually not very weak, but relative to the almighty Chaos Warrior they appear so. Having 20 models will allow me to bring 4 ranks, which is a solid infantry block in a game this size. They’ll make a good anvil, or a tie-up unit, while I wait for the reinforcements to arrive.
I’ll equip them with humble hand weapons, Shields, and Light Armour. Their Hand Weapon/Shield combo grants them a 5+/6++ save in combat. I’ll give them a Mark of Tzeentch so they can enjoy a 5+ Ward Save in close combat. Since they’ll be a mainstay in most skirmishes, they should enjoy full command (Musician/Standard/Champion).
12 Warriors of Chaos – 279 points
Now for the scary guys! The Marauders above will give most enemy troops a tough fight; these guys just make it unfair. We’ll again give them full command, but also Halberds. Having your front line strike with 11 Strength 5 attacks is nasty…and that’s not even considering the supporting rank! Giving these guys shields is always a good option — although they can’t use them in close combat, it makes them less susceptible to shooting attacks.
Combine that with a Mark of Khorne. These guys become bloodthirsty, and gain extra attacks. Assuming you’re running two 6-wide ranks, you’re looking at 25 attacks at S5, I5! These guys become a blender. To round them out and help them get to combat a bit faster, let’s give them a Banner of Swiftness. Those extra inches can really add up!
10 Warhounds – 60 points
Warhounds are a fun little unit. They provide speed, two ranks, and never really look like a threat to your opponent. But they’ll always be there to harass flanks, deny charges, and generally disrupt. They’re not going to take out many bodies, and can crumple under any focused fire. But their main job is to buy the rest of your army time, and for 60 points it can’t be beat. I’d avoid the extra options, because they just make a throwaway unit needlessly expensive.
5 Knights (Marauder Horsemen) – 75 points
Knights took a bit of a blow in 8th Edition. Chaos Knights are still terrifying units, but they’re super expensive. Rather than build an 800-point list with a 200-point unit, and then try and add junk to reach 1000, consider playing a 750 point game and using those Knights as really scary-looking Marauder Horsemen.
Being Fast Cavalry gets them a free Vanguard move, and the ability to march and fire. To take advantage of this, I’d give them Throwing Spears (Javelins) so that they can race up to an enemy, throw some spears, and then fall back and regroup when charged. Giving them a shield will maintain their Fast Cavalry status as well as giving them a bit of armor, plus if they ever wind up in close combat it will grant them a parry save!
Chaos Sorcerer – 175 points
Ok, so you have to buy one model outside the Battalion. You can choose to go magic-heavy with a Sorcerer or combat-heavy with a Hero. In low-points games, magic’s erratic nature shows its true colors. Luckily, Chaos has some great ways to mitigate its unpredictability.
Mark of Tzeentch gives you +1 to your casting rolls, which is nice. The Lore of Tzeentch contains a number of good spells, which scale really well to small games. Upgrading to Level 2 means you get +3 to casting rolls, as well as a second spell. Add a Spell Familiar, and now you get to know 3 spells!
Of course, this magic death machine’s going to be a big target, so a few defensive items are in order. Enchanted Shield and Talisman of Protection should help with that. Now your Sorcerer has a 2+ armor save with a 5++ Ward Save. Thanks again, Tzeentch!
The Final List – 749 points
Heroes (175pts)
- Chaos Sorcerer (175pts)
Gifts of Chaos (25 p), Level 2, Lore of Tzeentch, Mark of Tzeentch, On foot
Core (574pts)
- Chaos Marauders (160pts)
Marauder Chieftain, Musician, Standard Bearer, Mark of Tzeentch
- Chaos Warhounds (60pts)
10x Chaos Warhound
- Chaos Warriors (279pts)
Champion, Musician, Standard Bearer, Mark of Khorne
- Marauder Horsemen (75pts)
- 5x Marauder
Fast Cavalry, Horselords, The Will of Chaos
5x Shields, 5x Throwing spears
Tags: games workshop, gaming, Getting Started, warhammer, Warhammer Fantasy
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Thursday, November 3rd, 2011
With all of Drew’s great Imperial Guard content on our blog lately, it inspired me to poke back with some guard info of my own—mostly on how to SMASH THEM! This post will kick off a new series for me, “vs”, where I’ll give you some battle-tested techniques for taking down enemy lists.
 Know Your Foe. Guns and tanks, that’s about it. Guard armies are one of the easiest to plan for because you know, with only the most bizarre of exceptions, that you’ll be up against these two things. Guard rely on a massive amount of artillery to get the job done, and the have easy access to huge templates en masse. While the fusillades of heavy weapons are devastating, their large infantry platoons can be just as effective due to their numerous special weapons and model count.
However, the guard does have a few Achilles’ heels that you can exploit:
- Feebs. The only thing that dies faster in close combat are gretchin. Guardsmen are like lambs to the slaughter for almost any army, which means that if you can get into assault—you’ve probably won.
- No Psychic Defense. Let those powers loose. Blood lance, lash of submission, jaws of the world wolf, fortune… any and all will give you an edge, especially those which provide cover saves to protect you from the hour-long shooting phase you’ll endure.
- Swarms. Units of guardsmen may as well be swarms, because even a standard flamer will take a huge bite out of their numbers. Since they love to hide their huge squads behind vehicles or area terrain, flamers are a handy tool to wipe out their scoring units, of which they can field countless.
- KP Heavy. All those vehicles the guard will bring can catch up with them in the long run; their lists sometimes offer you a KP ratio approaching 2:1!
Beware. When you’re staring down the barrels of a dozen tanks, it can be intimidating, but some things are definitely meaner than others.
- Company Command Squad: This HQ will be buffing up the entire army throughout the game, and it’s usually very tough to do anything about it. Guard players love to keep their HQs very will protected, because their almost as easy to kill as regular infantry. In my experience it is better to leave them be because of the difficulty in getting to them and the certain counter attack to follow if you invest in a tactical strike against them via deep strike, etc. Work on taking down things you know you can get instead.
- Infantry Platoons & Chimeras: While easy to kill on both accounts, guardsmen can surprise you if they catch you in the open. Their transports are rugged and versatile, while many guard players can manipulate the structure of their platoons to wiggle in a variety of special weapons.
- Valkyrie/Vendetta. Probably the best all around vehicle in the guard codex because of their reliable, precision firepower and their speed. A big priority because if anything is going to get a shot on your vehicle’s side armor—it’s this.
- Hydra Flak. These suckers can run in squadrons and put out huge light-armor shots, easily chewing through monstrous creatures and transports.
- Executioner. Do you play marines? Then take this thing out quickly. One round of it shooting will wipe the floor with your toughest, most badass, and expensive unit with massive amounts of plasma!
Tactics. Here are a few tricks I’ve learned to send the guard packing up early.
- Turn order? Unless you have tricks that bring in reserves fast, I recommend that you always take the first turn with the opportunity. A full round of guard shooting will not only give them an early edge, it takes FOREVER! You could instead decide to go second and keep everything in reserve, but unless you’ve got tricks to bring them in quickly I don’t recommend it. Guard shooting at your whole army is bad, but the guard shooting at only a few units as they mingle onto the board is worse.
- Speed! Get in close as fast as you can. In every game against the guard I’ve played it’s been like trying to storm a castle wall; as soon as the line breaks, they fold.
- Target Priority. This is probably the most important aspect to being a general against a guard army. You will have so many targets that it can be hard to pick and choose. In general, it’s useful to take down the things that will keep you from getting to the guard’s front lines, because once you’re there you’ll be in fine shape. Know where you’re vulnerable, and kill whatever the guard has that will exploit that weakness.
- Parking Lot. This is a great tactic to screw with guard players because it uses their tools against them. Position your army in tight formations so that the guard’s gunline becomes less effective. In general, you’ll want to go in the direction that his big guns aren’t, this way he’ll bunch up in an attempt to get line of sight to hit you. You’ll get easy cover saves, and in the best case find all his weak units in a row for a multiassault.
- Outflank. Guard players will usually have their heavy ordinance sitting in their backfield, where it shoots over anything to deny cover. They rarely move these vehicles, since their range is so huge and they don’t need line of sight—which means that they are vulnerable to sneaky assaulters.
Tags: 40k, CMO, games workshop, Warhammer 40k
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Thursday, October 27th, 2011
There are so many reasons why we should hate Space Marines, at least those of us who don’t play them. As GW’s poster boy, they get the most attention, the best rules, the most face time, the largest space on the shelf, and in general—the most everything.
 The first step in my understanding of Space Marines. I started playing 40K with the Tau because I loved their style and flavor. Super precision guns and awesome jetpack battle suits made it a no brainier for me to start them. Imagine my surprise when I found at that marines have almost as many guns that are cheaper and more accurate, or that their special characters give the entire army special abilities, or that they can deep strike more precisely than anything in my army… and so on.
I felt cheated. It seemed patently unfair. Everything that my army was supposed to do well—they could do better. This was only reinforced as I played more games, and made especially painful when the updated Space Wolves codex was released. Again and again my Tau guns, Ork power klaws, and Chaos sorcery bounced right off anything space marine. I hated their codex. I hated their models. I hated the develops for creating a fundamentally biased and flawed game. But then something changed.
I think it happened the first time I actually beat the Space Wolves with my Orks. I didn’t just win—it was a face-crushing landslide. It proved that they weren’t indestructible; it just took smart playing and smart list making. Again and again the Wolves went down under the boots of the Orks, and the boyz actually surprised the gimmicky Blood Angel players at the recent Grand Tournament.
 Goal setting can be very important. In fact, this may have been the turning point. I realized that in the hands of a skilled player, no army is significantly better than another. Once you learn the Achilles’ heel of your opposing list (and player), you can exploit it. In my case, what goes around comes around, and I’ve only lost one game against Space Marine armies (codex, angels, grey knights, wolves, or templars) in the past 6+ months. In fact, I’ve kicked their asses. So if you’re feeling a bit of angst towards GW for a perceived unfairness in the rules, realize that you have the tools to beat them, if you can find right way to use it.
While I do definitely think that the Marine-centric prevalence of GW’s models (and slowness to update armies) hurts competition in the long run, this just makes smoking space marines that much more satisfying—and remember that this is coming from someone who owns a space marine army. I like rooting for the 40K underdog, even though I love my marines now, too.
Don’t give up. Experiment. Reflect on what works and WHY it worked. Know your foe’s weaknesses, and you’ll find that power armor isn’t as tough as you think.
 This is pretty much how I view Space Marines now.
Tags: 40k, CMO, games workshop, Warhammer 40k
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Thursday, October 20th, 2011
Crashing through everything from land raiders to carnifexes are the ork deff dreads, three stories of skorcha-spewing, tank crushing INSANITY!! If you haven’t had the joy of letting lose these clanging monstrosities than I feel sorry for you, because it’s a blast. Very few things in the 40K universe can kill things big and small as quickly as a deff dread, and they look exceptionally handsome in their orkiness when doing it. Let’s see why.
 Time for a dread stompin'! Deff Dread Basics:
- Dreads are very good at killing things in close-combat. Anything. Their numerous dreadnought close-combat weapons give you many attacks that are incredibly strong, so don’t be afraid to be aggressive. If you aren’t attacking with your dread when you have the chance you’re probably making a mistake.
- Deff dreads can form an excellent spearhead for your foot-sloggin’ ork army, going right for the tough stuff so the boyz can stomp face with infantry.
- Deff dreads are cheap compared to other walkers, so you can field many of them without impacting your army list too much. Even minimally equipped they’re a big threat.
- Deff dread shooting attacks are mediocre, so the best dreads are those with extra close-combat weapons. Running will get you closer faster so you can get their sawz and drillz and clawz on your target.
Advanced Tactiks:
- Deff dreads are their most fearsome when deployed in groups, and when paired with a big mek equipped with a kustom forcefield. This will protect them as you charge, keeping your impact as strong as possible.
- Dreads in the vanguard make great screens for advancing infantry. Keep a group of boyz nearby so the dreads don’t get caught up in a tarpit of weak troops.
- Be leery of charging monstrous creatures or other walkers that beat your initiative. Your dread will probably take some serious punishment from these opponents.
- Instead of getting your dread in the thick of things, try keeping it held back to protect an objective alongside a group of troops. Attackers will think twice before charging your position if they know they’ll have to fight the dread. If they shoot the dread on their way in then it means they’re ignoring the boyz, which means you can charge them on your turn.
 WAAAAGH!!! Wargear
Deff dreads have a solid list of weapon options, and only a few pieces of wargear. This makes them easily to drop into nearly any list. You’ll need to take two weapons, which will slightly change the way your dread behaves.
- Extra CC weapons: This is usually the way to go, especially when you’ve got a kustom forcefield to defend the dread. The dread is really only good at fighting things, so you might as well give it the tools to make it its most lethal.
- Big shootas: Two big shootas can make a mess, but remember that you’ll only hit with two shots on average. Great if your short on points.
- Rokkit launchas: Two rokkits are actually worth considering, but only if your dread is going to be on the defensive. With them you can blast incoming troop transports to make infantry vulnerable. Otherwise you’ll probably be running every turn.
- Kustom Mega-blasta: Not worth their price, since you’ll only hit with one out of three shots and the range is so close that you should be charging into melee instead of shooting anyway.
- Skorcha: Definitely the best choice for a ranged weapon. With it you can flush out mobs of enemies that would tie up the dread in close combat with their numbers. And it’s cheap, too!
- Grot riggers: Useful only if your dread is away from a big mek, which isn’t too advisable. Still, a dread that can’t move is practically worthless.
- Armor plates. Handy to keep your dread on the move, and probably more useful than grot riggers, but this will drive up the cost of your dread. It’s better to keep him in a forcefield or behind a battlewagon.
Off the Sprue
The new plastic kit GW gave us last year for the deff dread is an ork player’s dream come true. It’s big, it’s bad, and it’s got a ton of personality. The model will probably steal the show when your opponent sees it riding high over your mobs.
Bits are somewhat barebones though. You won’t get much in the way of orky parts that you’ll want to save for other projects; however, the dread does come with enough weapons for any combination of wargear. This will give you lots of leftovers for arming future projects with very cool looking gunz. All in all a great kit, that while expensive, is a huge improvement over the older metal version.
 It's about to get messy.
Tags: 40k, deff dread, games workshop, orks, Warhammer 40k
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Tuesday, October 4th, 2011
Having talked about starting WHFB, and the similarities and differences with 40k, I’ve omitted a pretty important part of the hobby: painting. Painting up a Fantasy army is going to be very different from painting a 40k army. Sure, you’ve got plastic models, acrylic paints, and brushes. As I’ve started to build up my Warriors of Chaos though, I’m realizing that there’s some additional factors to consider when deciding on a paint scheme. As usual, most of these differences stem from the fact that the games focus on two different styles of squad combat. Even with my horde of 40k Imperial Guardsmen, the unit coherency rules allow them to be spaced 2″ apart. Consistency in color palette really ties the unit together.
In Fantasy, you’re dealing with large blocks of units. It’s pretty common to have 20-40 units strewn together in rank and file, in comparison to 40k’s units of 5-15. This means that having similar colors can work against you, because rather than visually tying the models together they begin to bleed together. You need to find a way to delineate where one model ends and another begins, yet they still need to look like they’re part of the same squad (and the same army!).
I want to take this opportunity to show some of the ideas I considered with my Warriors of Chaos, and point out some of the issues I think people can run into. First up is a pretty vanilla metallic paint scheme:
This is hardly an adventurous scheme. It’s remarkably easy to paint, and certainly doesn’t look awful, but you can tell that it needs some highlighting and edging. A wash or two of Badab Black wouldn’t hurt either. The problem with schemes like this, which I’m seeing a lot, is that you end up with a sea of silver models. This doesn’t do your army or the models themselves any justice. You need color to break up the pieces of the model itself. This also helps to make one model appear distinct enough from another model.
Let’s look at another idea. The new Warrior sports a dark red armor, highlighted and edged up with blood red and blazing orange. Due to the poses of these models, the shields will always be butting against another Warrior’s red armor, helping to break it up. The edging on the armor clearly defines where some plates start and other plates end. You can use a similar palette to paint up troops that correspond to your favorite god, using greens and yellows for Nurgle, for instance. The work doesn’t end here though. You need to consider how you’ll be seeing your models on the table, i.e. from the back:
I went with more red here, which seems at first blush that it would be too much red. For other armies, that may be true. The Chaos Warriors are unique in that they have pretty much no overlap between their front and rear profiles. The surface area of the cape is pretty vast, yet almost impossible to see from the front. This means that you don’t have to worry about repeating colors from one side to the other. This is a boon to us Fantasy painters, because it seems that lots of armies have rank and file troopers with capes and cloaks. I’m a big fan of using a bit of contrast, as I’ve done here with the Dheneb Stone fur, as it breaks up the model a bit. Remember that your basing can give you some contrast as well. Consider using something vertical, such as the long side edges of the cape, to highlight and provide another edge to break up one file from another.
 
Don’t be afraid to try a few different schemes! With the snap-together models that GW has available for many races, it’s easy to pick up some troopers on the cheap and try a new scheme. Best of luck, and remember to always rank them up before you call it a day!
Tags: games workshop, painting, warhammer, Warhammer Fantasy
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