The Forgotten Breed: Zoanthrope

Hive Fleet Erebus

It's an Elite Tyranid. Yes, there are more than just Hive Guard. Yes the get the short stick. Yes psychic defenses make them weep. They sure as hell have a use though so let's really look at the unit.

We know what Tyranid's issues are in 5th - they have a hard time breaking down mech walls and infantry hordes both equally. Dealing with infantry at range is something Tyranids are never going to be fantastic at. They excel at munching infantry in combat however but ensuring you can bring enough weight to bear against lots of MEQ or TEQ bodies is hard whilst maintaining any semblance of ability to deal with tanks. And the major issue in being able to deal with those tanks is all your eggs fall into a couple of baskets (i.e. Hive Guard). For this reason Hive Guard are rightfully considered the best Elite. I mean for 50 points you're going to be hard pressed to find two S8 shots at BS4 on a T6/W2/4+ platform which doesn't need LoS and only gives cover in specific circumstances. And I can take three in a squad? Yikes.

Email in: Possible 6th Ork transport fixes

Miniwargaming

"Hey Kirby and crew. Still loving the blog.



I was reading some of your articles on the problems with orks as well as a few of your ponderings on how to fix the eldar and vehicle damage charts in 6th. And it got me thinking. What can be done to make ork transports better? Or how to make the ork trukk not be completely useless? And I came up with an idea that I'd love to get your feedback on.

Ork transport squadrons!

So the idea is to let orks take trukks and maybe gunwagons as dedicated transport squadrons. Also to take Looted wagons in squadrons. (why should only IG get to have tank squadrons in thier heavy support? Not to mention making the looted wagon with boomguns not completely useless because now you can have a couple per FoS) Not as a dedicated one but to still be able to be a transport squadron for elites or mobs of boys you dont' want in trukks. Also to maybe have buggies/trakks have a transport capacity of 5 or so. I haven't thought it through fully or run any numbers so I don't know if that would make the orks far to mobile and squew to far back onto the side of agressive awesomness.

Mechanised Blood Angels - the Razorback

40k Kings

I love me some Blood Angels mech. I mean it's fast and it's Marines - what's not to love? However I don't really see many mech lists for Blood Angels outside of six AV13 tanks (mostly Preds) so why not do a post on them. And I'm tired and cannot be bothered to do something more in-depth such as the Reserves or Tank-shock articles. Bite me =D (and pester VT2 to finish that damn review).

So this post is going to be largely based on my Mech Blood Angels lists which I haven't really posted here before but a few people know. What I enjoy about the list is there are a lot of options in terms of what you can do to support or even change the core of ASM in Razorbacks. And with that, let's look at the core - Assault Marines! in Razorbacks. Unique I know. Now Archnomad has done many posts on this in regards to Razorbacks or Rhinos but I'm doing Razorbacks for a couple of reasons.

Disruption in 40k

Warhammer 40,000, contrary to 'popular belief' isn't all about lining up your army and then proceeding to run at your enemy and/or shoot, shoot and shoot some more. There are tactics involved and this is most often conveyed during the movement phase. Why? That's when you have as complete control as possible over your army. Your units can move up to X" with various bonuses or reductions depending upon how far they move (i.e. how many weapons a tank can shoot) and only terrain is going to restrict this. This is why random movement is bad (hi Fantasy) and why terrain can be so important (randomness is now entered into the equation). With this premise set up, being able to disrupt your opponent and specifically their movement or deployment, is a very valuable tool. Let's take a look.

When building a balanced list for competitive play there are a couple things your army obviously needs. Mobility, ability to deal with tanks and infantry in spades, durability (whether through numbers or good stats), a way of applying your firepower effectively, etc. Basically you need to be able to kill the enemy and restrict their ability to kill you (or simply not be wiped off the table quickly). Sounds simple right? Some of the factors that don't often make it into lists but which can often make a huge difference are units which not only do the above, but do it in a way where the opponent has to specifically cater for them. This is disruption.

Email in: 2000 points of Blood Angels

"Hi Kirby,
I have learned a lot from your blog, especially what you say when you critique lists be it mine or others with similar armies. I have another tournament coming up soon on the 6th and 7th of august and was hoping i could get you to critique my list for it.

Mephiston - 250

Honour Guard with 2x flamers 2x meltas in rhino with extra armour and dozer blade - 215

Blood Drop

I know some of you are thinking, "Why do I feel like everything in my life has just gotten inexplicably better?" or "Can life truly be this enrapturing?" or "Why do I get this tingling sensation all up and down my body?

Well, that's because I'm back, internet.  Please, take the necessary time to compose yourselves, dispose of your used tissues and maybe change clothes.  I understand, I'm kind of a big deal.

Now that I've got you enthralled, I'm going to run an army concept by you.  Like all things beautiful in this world, it came from Chatbawks.

Imperial Guard Codex Review: Part 2: Headquarters Part 1 & Chimera

WAU

We'll kickstart the Imperial Guard review with our lovely leaders then...as we usually do. Imperial Guard HQs are interesting within the 5th edition construct in there are no FoC movers - something we've become very used to and really look out for. Not a huge biggie within the overall scheme of the codex with a bunch of options in every Force Organisation Chart slot but interesting none the less. Otherwise Imperial Guard HQs are all about supporting the little guys rather than being beastly themselves and should rarely be expensive. If your HQs are becoming expensive you're more than likely doing something wrong. Let's take a look then.

In this post I'll be looking at the Company Command squad and the every loyal Chimera. I know the Chimera isn't a HQ choice but we need to look at it at some point and the CCS has got a lot of entries to cover.

Email in: 1750/2000 Mephiston

Dakka

"Hi Kirby,

I'm a regular follower of your blog, and your articles are what helped me develop my Tau Army into the force it is today. Thanks! I'm looking to start a second army (after bringing my Tau to about 2.5k) and the concept of Blood Angels really appeal to me. I commented a while back about Blood Rodeo, and I want to fully explore the options available in the codex before committing to units and starting to buy them. Above all else, I really love Mephiston. I understand he doesn't have eternal warrior and is more susceptible to instant death, with the abundance of GK players around, but I would still love to build a list around him. On paper he seems to be a close combat beast, but he may have other uses and applications that aren't instantly apparent. Could you suggest a 1750 and 2000 point list built around the Lord of Death, and a short explanation of tactics on how he should be used?

Thanks! Looking forward to receiving great input, as per usual!

Another thought on 6th ed mech

This has nothing to do with the 6th edition rumors running around but rather continuing to look at changes to mech as we head into 6th edition. We've done this a few times here, here and here and I'm doing so again with a quick idea :P.

The major problems of mech are pretty simple as they stand. Their survivability is good and I don't want this to change but sometimes dice can lead even simple Rhinos to taking 10 penetrating hits with nothing to show for it. On the reserve side of the scale we have expensive heavy tanks like Land Raiders who can suffer a single hit from a meltagun and die a horrible death. The same goes for expensive tanks with single guns such as the Vindicator, etc.

There have been lots of ideas bandied about in regards to fixing this such as a 2D6 system for damage rolls, reducing melta effectiveness, 4+ saves for big guns, structure points etc. but here's another I'd like to toss out and see what we think.

Spamming - Bad or not?

This isn't a discussion about the aesthetics, joy or lack thereof in regards to spamming but rather its application on the tabletop and whether or not it produces a bad list. So take those comments and post about them elsewhere - we know people's opinions on this are extreme and mixed but they are opinions.So, spamming. Is it bad? Does it limit you? These are some of the major criticisms of 'spam' lists so let's take a look.

Spamming is the easiest and simplest way of getting redundancy into your army. If you have a unit which is good at anti-tank the best way to ensure you will have access to that anti-tank option is to take more of the same unit. This is in essence redundancy which ensures your army will have the tools necessary to deal with any opposing force. Pretty simple right? This coincides with duality which references units' ability to not only threaten tanks but infantry as well. The correct combination of the two of these concepts will create a balanced army list capable of matching up with anything your opponent throws on the board.

Email in: An army list looking for review.

PetPeoplesPlace

"I would appreciate it if you could get back to me with any comments you have, but don't rush. I know you must be a busy man, with a host of people looking for your help.

Here is the list...

HQ

Lord Kaldor Draigo

Inquisitor Lord Cotaez

Tyranids: The Final Four (For Now)

Another quick post...

I've managed to complete the final four from my first 'stealer unit. After having to reshuffle some of the arms I'm pretty happy with how they've turned out. May have some issues with LoS, but meh, I'm not exactly playing Nids to be l33t.

I want a fast assault-based list. Sadly it's not really tournament-worthy, but I want it to be a little scary - lots of fast infantry in your face.

Email in: GK 2k Dual Stormraven List

"Hi Kirby,

Love the blog and I learn a lot from the various characters you host as authors.

I’m a veteran 40k’er from all the way back to RT days. I’m pretty good on the table but I’m not a fantastic list builder. I realize you and your followers are probably sick of the Shiny Marines by now but I haven’t yet seen a GK list on your blog that features multiple Stormravens.

After trying a few iterations of PAGK and/or Purifiers with two Stormravens I kept feeling like I just didn’t have enough support following up the rush. So I settled on a Coteaz/henchmen build. I would be interested in any suggestions to do this type of a list without resorting to henchmen spam.

What do you want...

Been a busy past several days I'm afraid so haven't been able to put much together (though some brilliant management go posted organised from Wednesday night to Saturday morning :)). With that in mind I'll open the floor for some feedback and any requests.

Currently in the works from my end are the Imperial Guard Codex Review, finishing off the Grey Knights Armies in 5th posts, some progress pictures of my Grey Knights (they are going to two more tournaments in September hopefully) and the Fallacy 40k posts. I've also had some requests to do a breaking bubble-wrap post and some on tank shocking so I'll whip them up in back to basic article formats ASAP. Anything else people want to see specifically or from other authors? VT2 assures me he is working on the Grey Knight codex review (to the dismay and joy of everyone) so we may see a post on them one day. I'm also aiming to get some GK versus BA games in between Vince and myself to highlight some of the things we've been talking about regarding these armies of late.

Anywho, the floor is open so have at it.

P.S. Dice order is trucking along but no word on ETA I'm afraid! Sorry :(.

GWvsJohn Strikes Back: Building Dark Eldar, Part 1

Did you miss me? I've worked like a million hours since my last post, but finally work is slowing down a bit, so I can squeeze in some 40k. When we last left, I was all in on the Dark Eldar, so we'll pick up there. Let's see what's been going on in the 40k-verse since then. Umm, wtf? Hybrid is the new mech? Combat squadding? Foot vanilla Devs? Blood Lance got the nerf-stick? Bols is my new bestie and Stelek is my foe? Master Pink, what a terrible situation you have dropped me into. How shall I ever navigate this brave new world? Let's find out together.

Storm of Magic - Warhammer Fantasy

So the first expansion for Warhammer Fantasy. One doesn't expect much when we can look at Games Workshop's history of expansions for Warhammer 40,000. Will this be any different? No idea but I doubt it. With 8th edition not being a massive success due to some serious imbalances (magic domination, yes?) which makes or breaks games, I wouldn't imagine Storm of Magic is going to be either. In fact, with access to supposedly even more powerful and titanic Magic options than before, this imbalance might even be more heightened than before. It's not like whole infantry blocks don't just disappear as it is now and you want to make Magic more powerful? Cool.

Now I must admit, Magic is by and large, the main reason I got into Fantasy (however shallowly) and more in-depth knowledge, background and rules for Magic in some way excites me. But the competitive player in me who likes game balance winces. Add in the usual new rules which highly encourage the purchases of new products, in this case Arcane Fulcrums and monsters, and there are bound to be lots of people jumping up and down about Games Workshop trying to make money. *tear* for you.

Email in: Dark Footdar

"So hey Kirby. I have sent you a e-mail earlier and got the list posted, was very helpful and lovely to see some interaction from others regarding my little ideas. So how about this. I am getting tired of all the basic no-brainer choices that are being played. I have tried the venom spams, Wych Cults, Darklight storms and so on. So i descided i would do something else. This is what i came up with. I'l just post the 1500 version of the list. There are also a 2000 version but not needed to look at right now.

Here it is.

In Defense of Modular Rules - by Apathyman

Here is a guest article by Apathyman on a change he would like to see, and believe has started to see implemented, for 6th edition. It's all about rule streamlining (which Games Workshop in essence, do like. i.e. no more Chapters, Doctrines, Legions, etc. and who cannot foresee We'll Be Back becoming FNP?) without continuous reference to different pages for minute changes. I'll let him explain more.

A few months ago, I read the Grey Knights Codex. Then I read the 6th edition rumours over on Blood of Kittens, and after a thoroughly deep laugh, I took away from the rumors one line, “there are tiers for most of the special rules,” which made me think a bit about how much anyone cares about the format of the rules. After this, and reading VT2’s highly entertaining rant, I have a few comments about the (hopefully) changing nature of USRs. Any feedback you can supply is welcome, as these comment don’t apply to 40k specifically, and can be applied to most games that someone planned on making regular expansions to.

Chocolate salty stars.

Deathstar.

The name itself is enough to make people laugh these days. In the olden days, the term was used to refer to ultimate bricks (4th edition marine command squads, with three characters), killing machines that, realistically, just couldn't be stopped (nob bikerz), and other assorted stupidity. "Like?" Early 5th, three ironclad dreads.
Yeah, we've come a long way since.

The key thing behind 'deatstars' is points-denial. If you can't kill it, you won't get the points, yes? So if we're playing killpoints, and I have three 500 points units, versus your 1500 point army, that's magically given me an advantage, right? Maybe? Kinda?

Email in: Tau vs DE WWP advice

Mordian 7th

"Kirby-
I’ve been into 40k for about a year (Tau), and have only recently discovered your blog. I’ve been going through the archives looking up all the goodies I’ve missed. Compared to Advanced Tau Tactica, for all of it’s pretense of being high-brow, I find the content on your site much more useful. You actually say whether or not a unit is rubbish or has a place in a competitive list.



At my 2000 point FLGS tournaments, I’ve been having trouble recently with Dark Eldar in general, and with one list in particular. I faced this same opponent two weeks in a row and was stomped both times. Going from memory, his list is something like this (I might be missing something):

How To: Grey Knight Acolyte-spam Part 2

Heresy Online

Last post we looked at the premise of Grey Knight Acolyte-spam. Quick summary: spend minimal points on six Troops + HQ and spend more points elsewhere. We then looked at a bunch of units which we could use and would go well around the core of cheap Troops and how they might be implemented. In this post we'll look at an example list I would run with some links to other sites and then how one might play with and against such a list.

Example List:

So! What list would I recommend? Well there a ton so I'll do what I feel is a personal favourite and will most likely build at some point. I will however send you two more links to MVB's blog where has a couple more Aco-list examples here and here. Hopefully between myself and MVB, you have a good idea of what you can do with these type of lists and what some basic outlines look like. So my list...

How To: Grey Knight Acolyte-spam Part 1

I've had several questions about this list type so today we're going to take a look at not only building the list but how to break it. First, we must establish the premise! Coteaz. Small acolyte squads in Razorbacks. That was easy. Let's explain. By using Coteaz and small acolyte squads to make scoring Razorbacks you are applying minimal points to get six scoring units, a good HQ and six Razorbacks with Fortitude (LasPlas is preference for being able to sit in backfield). What this gives you is a bucket load of points to spend on goodies in the rest of the Grey Knight list, something that Grey Knights rarely have due to their increased point cost across the board. The obvious downside is weak scoring whenever you break open one of their tanks and bleeding Kill Points in Kill Point missions. Let's look at this concept more in-depth, do a list building exercise and then how you might tackle it not only as the general but the opposing player as well.

I'm going to split this post up into major sub-headings so you can skip as you see fit. It's pretty long. I'll first expand the Premise concept and look at Acolyte options. I'll then look at unit options (briefly) to put around them. Following that will be an example list of my own with some links from others I've found and liked. This will explain a bit on playstyle/deployment/etc. Finally we'll take a look at how one can defeat an army like this when it deploys across from you on the tabletop. Edit: This was split into two posts. Part 2 will be the next post! Got too long sorry.

Blood Skies - Blood Angels Jumper Variant

This is a list I've never really discussed but have replied to quite a few times in e-mails and given a vague outline on how I'd like to see it look. I thought I'd give it a post after AbusePuppy's work on some Blood Angel lists (you've seen his full foot version but he also tried a triple Raven list against me...it didn't work =P). So let's break it down! Blood Skies is a Jumper variant with added mech, specifically Storm Ravens and Land Speeders for saturation. What these do is help overcome the glaring weakness of Jumper based armies, ranged anti-infantry and anti-mech whilst also providing the FNP Marines with some relief from weapons that deny them FNP (they are now shooting at tanks...). Speeders and Ravens are both very capable of coming in from reserve as well so don't limit the deployment options of the army too much and the Ravens importantly give us the option to carry around something Jumper armies cannot normally access, combat Dreads.

Email in: Blood Lance and the FAQ

CoolMini

"Hi Kirby,

I played an all jumper Blood Angles list in a couple tournaments this past weekend and was reminded that due to the FAQ, Blood Lance now requires a roll to hit. What is your thought on this? Is the power now quite sub-par as opposed to quite good for its job? Also, how do you handle the shooting: roll to hit the targeted unit and then everything else under the line is hit (making it an all or nothing power), or roll to hit each unit under the line?

Is it still worth taking now that you only have a 2/3 chance to hit any vehicles/units you're actually able to reach? Or does Rage or Darkness tip the scales with all jumper lists.

Thanks,
Antebellum"

By the FAQ I do think it needs to hit but if someone argues well enough I could be convinced otherwise ^^. The extra need to hit is pretty annoying and reduces the usefulness of it but the ability to hit multiple tanks at once with a S8 AP1 shot? Very valuable on the drop and it's going to dissuade people from castling too much even if it has an extra 3+ roll required to hit.

In the end I feel Blood Lance is more of a deterrent to your opponent in that, hey you castle and I have a pretty good chance of whacking multiple tanks and damaging them severely. The main goal really of Blood Lance is to spread out castles so you can deep-strike more appropriately. For this reason I'd keep it but Sword or Rage may see more use because of the FAQ.

How Much Would You Pay For Good Luck?

Simple question, really. How many points is good luck worth? In a lot of ways it's a question you have to answer already, as you can choose to spend extra points for reliability (adding a Combi-Weapon to a squad for some extra oomph, master-crafting or otherwise buying rerolls, etc.) However, Blood Angels are in a unique situation, because they can buy luck directly. What do I mean? Enter Corbulo, Sanguinary High Priest

Email in: 1750 Pt throne of Skulls list

BoLS

"Hi Kirby

I am preparing to attend the UK throne of skulls tornament in October. I have been play testing my army and find it's working well. I wanted a force that could take all commers and where each part of it offered a threat even if another component of the list was destroyed. Any thoughts in it's use or changes to the list are welcome. I am especially interested in thoughts on it's deployment. I find it's alist that needs to dominate mid field to be effective due to the lack of long ranged fire power.

Codex Space Marines

6th edition awesomeness.

In the grim darkness of the 2nd millenium, there is only butthurt. Once butthurt meets insanity, rumors are formed, and forevermore will the internet's collective rear hole quiver in tense anticipation of what's to come next.

There's no time for logic, no sources, no critical thinking. There is only rumors...

* first 6th edition codexes, but release before or with rulebook, small release with single or two waves: Black Templars (1 waves: 2x plactic, 2x Finecast), Tau (1 wave: 3x plastic boxes, 4x Finecast), Necrons (2 waves) - Except this goes against all wisdom and knowledge ever, breaks company tradition, and circumvents the GW cashcow: the space marine. Marines are always the first to get codices, with multiple reasons for it, however, the only one that needs to be listed in this case is: money.

* first real 6th edition codex: Codex Chaos Legions, really big release in three waves, doesn’t invalidate Codex Chaos Space Marines which gets extensive White Dwarf update as Codex Renegade Space Marines - Marines are first. You know this. I know this. Your mom knows this. All this whine's defanged right here, at the point, but we'll go on for fun and games. My serious face just died, too.

Imperial Guard Codex Review: Part 1: Introduction - Orders & Vehicle Upgrades

Imperial Guard has been out for ages so it seems a bit odd to be doing a review on the book now but hey, when you look at how people perceive the book as overpowered, cheese and downright mean, I guess some logic needs to be inserted into the masses yes? We've covered some really broad topics with the Armies in 5th articles on Imperial Guard which cover some key aspects of how their army works on the tabletop. There are obvious deviations from this but do help players understand some core constructs of the army. In the codex review we're actually going to break down each unit and Force Organisation slot one by one and look at unit effectiveness. This is from a competitive stand-point so please keep that in mind.

So some quick overviews and then we're going to take a look at vehicle upgrades and orders. Imperial Guard are primarily a shooting army and when there is minimal terrain coverage, particularly LoS blocking terrain, Imperial Guard armies appear to have a distinct advantage. This is because opposing armies can find games very difficult if Imperial Guard get the first turn as there is no-where to hide and it's hard to get cover. This is not a result of the codex being overpowered but rather poor terrain coverage. Ensure there is a mix of terrain and at least 25% coverage and you'll find Imperial Guard is a little bit more manageable. With that out of the way, let's break into the juicy bits and look at the Imperial Guard order system and how it can affect their gameplay.

Purgatus! Look what you made me do!

Just a quick post to give lil' Mr Kirby a break. Purgatus has been tempting me into getting some bugs for a little while now. When you post sweet-ass models like this and this, you can't help but get people interested. When we took a recent trip to Maelstrom to play at BlogWars, Ms BroLo thoroughly enjoyed The 6th Degree's Tyranids and has been itching for me to get some. Well... when I'm attacked on 2 fronts what else am I suppose to do? That's right, you cave-in and buy some plastic. Well actually, the missus did (double win!). As I know she now reads 3++, I'll say thanks again to her! Hook, line and sinker! =D

Here are a few pics of my first 4 genestealers. I hate the standard... "RAWR I'M WAVING MY 4 ARMS AT YOU!"... look. I've gone for something more along the lines of the Space hulk genes. And who doesn't love scything talons?

VASSAL Battle Report: BA vs SW

Trying out some builds for my new army, I had a chance to play earlier against Comrade_Cowboy, a gentleman of the Auslander persuasion and hanger-about of 3++'s chatbawks, as I'm sure many of you know.

My army:

Blood Angels, 1750 pts
1 Librarian (Terminator, Storm Shield; Shield, Sword)
10 Terminators (2 Cyclone, 2 Chainfist)
10 Terminators (2 Cyclone, 2 Chainfist)
2 Sanguinary Priests (1 Terminator, 1 Jump Pack + Power Weapon)
10 ASM (2 Meltagun, Infernus, Power Fist)
10 ASM (2 Meltagun, Infernus, Power Fist)

This is a slightly middle-of-the-road version of the 2K/1.5K army I've been playing around with. It drops a ton of dudes with high resistance to firepower on the table and just moves forward, spitting out shots. It isn't fast, but the ASM give it some flexibility and it's extremely resilient. Librarian has Shield because it's a default power; I'll probably be switching to something else, but I'm not really sure what yet. Perhaps Lance, or Unleash Rage? The latter would help out a bit in CC, but doesn't mix well with Sword, the former would give me a better way to hurt tanks. Hrm, perhaps Wings? Having that 12" zoom available could be interesting.

Armies in 5th: Imperial Guard Part 6: Summary

Imperial Guard will have a hard time not having a lot of infantry or tanks in their army. Whilst it is obviously easy to forego tanks, your infantry numbers are often going to be high, even when you have 15+ tanks at any given points level. This combination of high infantry and tank numbers is often a problem for your opponent who cannot effectively deal with both aspects of the army at the same time. Whilst Imperial Guardsmen are pretty weak (T3/5+), having a bunch of them in cover (and combine with Go to Ground and Get Back Into the Fight!~) and essentially acting as ablative wounds for heavy or special weapons means shooting at them often doesn't do much to impact upon the game in the short-run.

What this basically boils down to is Imperial Guard can make the 'ultimate' hybrid list with many infantry models (approaching 100+) and many tanks (12-15+). Add in the firepower available to Imperial Guard armies and not only do you have a lot of damaging capacity, you also have a lot of ability to take fire and still run an effective list.  What's great about this concept is the infantry don't all have to be in tanks which allows you freedom of deployment and movement. Obviously units like meltavets prefer to ride around in their Chimeras, maximising their threat ranges and survivability but Infantry Platoons and Heavy Weapon Teams can operate just as effectively outside their armored hulls. This can leave you vulnerable to your opponent's early shooting (everything has a target) but is also very likely to overwhelm your opponent with targets.

40k Terrain Setup - by MVB

To begin any discussion about tournament terrain, the first and most important thing to do is read Games Workshop’s own commentary on terrain for Warhammer 40,000. You may or may not always like what GW does with its company or rules, but we love and play this game for a reason … so let’s see what they say about the game.

As a general rule in Warhammer 40,000, the more terrain, the better the gaming experience. If you use too little terrain, games will be short and not very satisfactory, with too much advantage going to the player who gets to shoot first. For a balanced game, where close combat troops have a chance to get into contact with the enemy without being completely blown away in a couple of turns, we expect that about a quarter of the total playing surface should have terrain on it. The assumption here is that if terrain pieces are roughly 12” by 12”, then six or seven pieces are needed to fulfill the 25% recommendation on a standard 6’x4’ table (of course these dimensions are approximate and terrain features like woods should not be square, as irregular features look much better!).

Email in: Razorknights with Conversion Beamers

LO

"Hi Kirby,

After the comments I made in response to the GK Codex Review article on Elites I thought I should back up my claims with a competitive list using Coteaz and conversion beamers. I remember you did a post a while back with five beamers but I wanted to build a balanced list that uses beamers as a force multiplier to coax your opponent into midfield (where GK want them to be) rather than focussing on them as a core capability.

My initial idea was to take cheap Henchmen squads of basic Warriors to simply use as ablative wounds for the Techmarines. I've decided that, while viable, a better list can be made by taking full-sized GKSS units and combat-squadding half of them into bodyguards for the beamers:

40k Theory: It's all about the Numbers

Nikephoros has allowed me to re-post this from his blog: Bringer of Victory. Basically it's an article taking mathammer to the next level and looks at an army's maximum firepower/combat potential against an MEQ army as a baseline. This is great to determine if your army is weak in a specific area and when you compare to 'lists that do well,' have some baselines which to achieve. Without further ado...

What is ballistic skill?

I mean, what does it really mean in terms of winning and losing on the table top?

Absolutely nothing. Quantity of fire in Warhammer 40k is usually far superior to quality. At very least it's equal. So what am I getting at? There is no correlation between winning and ballistic skill. The army with the superior average ballistic skill shouldn’t (assuming the game is properly balanced) have any advantage over one with a lower average ballistic skill.

Email in: 2250 Mech Guard for you to look at

the back 40k

"Heya Kirbs,

Working with my FW Mech Chaos Guard list right now, this is the one I'm thinking of taking to PAX West this year. I'd love for you to take a look at it.

HQ

Company Command Squad
2x Melta, Autocannon, Astropath
Chimera, ML HF
155

Email in: Army list advice Blood Angels style

B&C

"Hello Kirby,

At First i have to say i am really enjoying this great blog, its a good placet o get an better understanding of the depts of Warhammer 40k tactics.
I myself live in Germany so sorry for any mistakes ,writing in another language isn`t that easy.
I am not knew to playing 40K but never really was a competetive player more the kind of a fluff guy.
Now i want to step my game up without going overboard with cheasy stuff. I really love the options hat the Blood Angels book gives you and came up with this List.
I know many Units are too pricey but i like giving this nice little bling -things to my men :-).

Reply: Purifiers/Grey Knights in combat

Bringer of Victory

Some got the point, some didn't. I will readily admit it was an angrypants post so the message may have been lost. Let's clarify. Apparently my comment in the comments section was also more enlightening so I'll be taking heavily from that.

There is an overriding fallacy out there that Purifiers are a good assault unit and in general Grey Knights are good in combat. The previous post was addressing this. We've discussed quite often about Grey Knights in combat and their similar survivability to Marines and highlighted that Grey Knights use their combat as a counter-assault tool. There are units in the codex which are quite scary as combat units (Death Cult Assassins and Paladins for example) with other units like Dreadknights, Grey Knight Terminators and Purifiers being good as well. The book as a whole though prefers to play on their 24" shooting supremacy. They are their most efficient here whilst armies often gain bigger and better advantages under 12" than Grey Knights. This is not to say against certain armies (i.e. Tau or IG) they aren't going to play more aggressively and look to get into combat but here their advantage isn't really that much greater than a Marine army. Against other generalist armies they certainly have the edge in combat (i.e. Tactical Marines) but this is generally off-set by their lesser numbers.

GW, Spoilers, and Prelease Info: Some Thoughts

Over the past several years, there has been a strange trend at Games Workshop to keep a tighter and tighter lid on information regarding new releases- their policy has always been a rather closed one, but more and more they have avoided allowing ANY information at all to be put out more than a short time before a release hits. This doesn't, of course, stop information from getting out, but there has been a marked decline in the availability of spoilers prior to the drop of a codex. (With the notable exception of a small percentage of the folks at Warseer and the increasingly-helpful Blood of Kittens.)

Of course, most players (albeit not all) are interested in finding out about things ahead of time, to various degrees. This is entirely normal- after all, more information helps make better decisions about what to buy, etc. Games Workshop, on the other hand, has an interest in controlling the flow of information- which is also only natural. However, I am of the opinion that their current "no spoilers no previews not ever" policy is harmful to them as well as frustrating to us as players. Of course the interests of companies and customers don't always intersect perfectly, but I think this is a clear case of them shooting themselves in the foot, and I'd like to explain why.

Tau Codex Review: Summary

Dakka

How long did this take? Several years? New codex comes out soon I bet... There's not much to summarise here. The Tau Codex is showing its age and showed its age long ago. It is essentially left down to a mono-build which the recent FAQ did nothing to fix. There are set units which are good (Crisis Suits, Broadsides, Hammerheads, Piranahas) and units which fulfil necessary roles (Fire Warriors, Devilfish, Pathfinders, Kroot) and then a bunch of not needed units. Across the whole codex you have an outdated style of play (though you can hammer it into an effective mono-build around those listed units) which is overcosted highlighted by the basic cost of a Devilfish.

Luckily this doesn't leave the Tau high and dry thanks to being able to effectively combine the aforementioned good and useful units to create an effective army with some variation. This army has two major weaknesses. There aren't many effective shooting units which hurts you two-fold.

Beating a dead horse - Purifiers in combat

Goatboy

I'm going to give some examples here because BoLS (I know right?) still think these guys are the best thing since sliced bread and that Grey Knights are still good in combat in general. Before we get started, yes Death Cult Assasins and Paladins are awesome but they do have drawbacks. Paladins are bloody expensive so you'd expect them to maul in combat (and GKT to a lesser but still effective extent). They do have a serious weakness to mass S8 firepower or combat attacks (i.e. other Terminators) which needs to be considered but are otherwise very scary with WS5, good defenses (T4/W2/2+/5++ or 4++) and a decent number of attacks. Any army which cannot put in a bunch of S8 firepower at once though is going to find these units very hard to deal with. DCA on the other hand are pretty cheap, strike hard and fast and are going to tear a hole in most units. However, they die to a stiff breeze (bolters!) due to T3/5++ and have no frag grenades. This makes them a great counter-assault unit but without a Land Raider, limits their offensive application.

Grey Knights Codex Review - Elites Part 1

Part deuce of my series on the Grey Knight Codex, will focus on some of the tastiest morsels in the GK book - their elites. I won't, however, go into henchmen, as I think they are filthy creatures of halflife who deserve flogging/beating/killing at regular intervals..... Basically I don't like henchmen, regardless of the holes they fill in our lists.

So, on to the juicy bits - the other elites choices. The GK book is actually really well structured, in regards to fluff/effective choices, when it comes to elites/troops - We have Purifiers, the elite PA GK, Paladins, the elite terminator cadre, various assassins, techmarines, venerable (commonly known as indestructible!) dreads, and... those other imperial guard style things. Plenty of variety, but what exactly does each choice bring to the table?

Ranged anti-infantry: Lost in translation

A Forum

This is something I've seen on the rise: an increase in lists looking to actively include ranged anti-infantry. Why is this the case? No idea, perhaps people are reacting to the increase in Hybrid armies with ranged foot units out there or have realised masses of S7 fire at range + meltaguns up close just doesn't cut it. Either way, you have always needed to deal with infantry at range and armies which don't, often find themselves in a bit of a doozy. Look at Blood Angel Jumpers. Their primary anti-infantry is close combat and this is pretty good (lots of S5/I5 attacks on MEQ platforms with FNP? uh play!) but dealing with infantry in the backfield can be problematic if they are protected well. Dealing with infantry who can beat them in combat or whom are tough is also pretty difficult and they can't really deal with them in other ways. It comes down to a uni-dimensional way in dealing with infantry and this is part of list building I think a lot of people have forgotten or never really knew. I'll lay it out in black and white:

You need ranged anti-infantry.

Email in: Army List advice: 1500 SM

Dakka

"Hello,

Just looking for some advice and suggestions on how to expand my army list from 1000pts to 1500pts. I have my own ideas but have been seeking input from people such as yourself. Anyway, less talk more rock.

Here is my army list 'core':

Librarian [Null Zone, Avenger] 100

Grey Knight Codex Review - Fast Attack (Zoom Zoom!)

CoolMini

Hello friends, from a far off land I have returned... No, actually, my wife and I have had our second baby, and I haven't had any time to do an article in... forever. So I thought I'd start off with something simple - Codex Grey Knights! Now I am not a long time GK player, I'm mainly utilising them so I can create my counts as Thousand Sons army, with psychic might included. What this means for you, my grey-armored loving compatriot, is that I've literally spent every waking moment poring over batreps, the codex, and many other sources, to try and get a feel for Magic Marines (patent pending).

Lets go a bit crazy, and start with the Fast Attack section.

We're still waiting on VT2 to start his review...looks like SneakyDan is joining in the fun.

Wayland: still shipping outside EU

I'll let Wayland speak for themselves but it looks like they have (legally) worked around the embargo by Games Workshop on shipping outside of the EU. For starters it appears they are using previous stock to ship to the Rest of the World (ROW) which is obviously limited but from there they have apparently been able to effectively ship outside the EU. There seems to be an associated and minor price hike with this to cover whatever they are having to do but that's still 49% cheaper than here. It will be interesting to see Games Workshop's response, if any, and I give massive props to Wayland. For the time being I will still be holding off from any purchases as I wish Games Workshop to change their outlook on their customer base but for those who cannot wait, you at least have options that aren't going to bankrupt you.


Here's Wayland's explanation and Q&A copied below:

Hi Guys,

Just a quick note. Firstly we'd like to thank you again for bearing with us during this order spike. As you've seen from some of the photographs we've posted things have been very busy and even a business with our footprint and infrastructure didn't expect for a moment the unprecedented, colossal demand during the last week of May. So we'd like to thank those of you who are waiting for orders to be shipped, once more, for bearing with us whilst we work through the backlog.

Email in: Mail in army list: dark eldar

Heresy

"Hay there!

I'm a long-time reader of your stuff and find your help for lists is full of great ideas. I'm giving dark eldar a go after playing space wolves for yonks. I've only played a few games and enjoy the drastic difference with this army, and would like to think more competitively with what I can do. I'll blurb after the list.

1750 Kabal of the Blooded Sky

Malys counts-as (in with Incubi)

Succubus, Splinter pistol, Agoniser (in with Wyches)

Armies in 5th: Imperial Guard Part 5: Blasts and anti-tank

Imperial Guard shooting has a complex mix of short and long ranged weaponry and a lot is often made about both. The amount of long-ranged firepower accessible to the army is extensive and can be accessed very easily in every Force Organisation slot as covered here. What is often overlooked however is the large amount of ranged blasts (and ordnance blasts) Imperial Guard have access to. Combined with the ease of access to melta-weapons on multiple units and high strength ranged firepower and the Imperial Guard army is capable of having a unique set of effective firepower at all ranges against multiple opponents. Let's look at this a bit more closely and how it interacts with opponents on the table-top.

A very common setup for many Imperial Guard armies is a lot of ranged blasts (Manticores, Medusas, Russes, etc.) with some Hydras, Vendettas and then a bunch of Chimeras moving forward. This splits your firepower into neat little packets. Ranged blasts. Ranged direct fire. Close up direct fire. The problem is many lists often lack in the ranged direct fire department and are on platforms which aren't exactly durable (Hydras and Vendettas for example). This puts a lot more emphasis on ranged blasts (specifically Ordnance Blasts) to hurt tanks and makes many players think Meltavets are a must and need to drive forward and blast things to death. Whilst this can be effective, it's also very limiting in tactical applications and easy for your opponent to negate (block midfield, suppress ranged anti-tank, dismantle IG army).

My Grey Knights

With Event Horizon drawing to an end and my post-game analysis all wrapped up it's time to look at unfolding the army list I want to base my building and playing around for the next several months. The original army list I took to Event Horizon was based on this list analysis which combines the efficiency of MSU style squads to bring maximum firepower and vehicles to bear with a larger squad mentality for reliability and durability in midfield. This was all based around the Librarian which could make the large squads formidable in combat to ensure a unit was finished off and otherwise buffed everything around him. For the most part this list concept worked and I don't want to stray too far from it. It fits nicely in how I like to play, doesn't screw over my own movement too easily (can happen with an MSU army) and I've got large units on which to anchor my forces with enough units to happily split my army.

What I didn't like however was the Librarian and combat weaknesses of the list. I found as well my firepower a little lacking in terms of range and dealing with enemy tanks effectively as well but range I'm not too fussed about. Getting some more reliable anti-tank however (i.e. AP1), I am though. Combat I'm not really going to be able to do much about without investing in something like GKT/Paladins (potential) or Death Cult Assassins. Otherwise it's going to be an Achilles heel of the list and that's that.

Vehicle Movement - Pivoting

Last week I had an e-mail from Mark regarding pivoting and we now have his response. I'll also include some tidbits about ensure people pivot properly as it was pointed out many people often don't. First the reply!

"Having read your article, I wish to present my counter-argument. I'll begin with a simple question:

When measuring movement, when do you start measuring how far a model has moved? Before you touch it, or after?

Pretty much everyone would agree you measure before you start touching models. Except in your example, the tank gets touched (pivoted) and then you start measuring how far it has moved. And that, in my opinion, is where the problems begin.

Grey Knights and BRB FAQ Thoughts

Wow, that was surprisingly fast and also surprisingly useful, Games Workshop. I actually commend you on this one. Lets' take a look at some of the specifics, shall we?

Grey Knights
You can choose not to exchange a weapon for a Force Weapon when you upgrade your inquisitor to a Psyker. This is actually kinda nice if you've bought him a good ranged weapon and don't plan on CCing anything.

Walkers can score when using Grand Strategy. Not unexpected. Since GK Dreads aren't hanging in midfield as much this isn't a huge deal, but they are resilient, so it's something.

Grey knights FAQ and rulebook changes?

Oh, wow, don't tell me GW worked really fast, didn't screw anything up majorly, and there was no nerfing of the highest order? What? You say that's the case!? Unthinkable!

Well, I'm gonna assume they forgot to address obvious and utterly insane claims, such as Coteaz using his magic to unlock unlimited henchmen units. Oh, they got rid of that, too? Then this is must be one of those rare times GW's done everything right.

Let's take a brief look.

Tau Codex Review: Skyrays

ATT

The other ugly step-child of the Tau Heavy Support section, the recent FAQ has given rise to potential use of the Skyray but in the end it still pails in comparison to the Hammerhead and Broadsides which bring the true heavy guns to the game. In the end the Skyray ends up being a utility vehicle providing support to the Tau army. The recent FAQ change has added more potential firepower to the Skyray and made it a 'cheap' AV13 option to support a bunch of Devilfishes but still ends up being an expensive tank that is in Heavy Support and doesn't have a railgun.

Let's look at the Skyray's utility then. As a rule this isn't a bad thing, many armies make great use of utility units which generate an army synergy. Unfortunately as the Tau Codex stands, this utility is based solely around two networked Markerlights and those Markerlights often need to impact heavy weapons (you know like railguns) so having utility in the Heavy Support section is less useful. Add in there are better places for this type of utility (Pathfinder teams currently but if things change Stealth Suits with Markerlights, Makerlight Drones & Drone Squadrons, etc. all have lower opportunity costs in terms of FoC cramping compared to the Skyray).

Sizzle In the Summer 2: Games 1 & 2

Hey all! Roland here again. Time to get into the games and talk quickly about them all. I didn't take photos during my games because...well I was busy having fun and playing and didn't feel like taking out the phone to take some photos. So the only photos are generally overview photos taken by the organizers.

Game 1 vs. John
Army: 2000pts CSM comprised of (IIRC) Khorne Lord (Bloodfeeder, Combi-melta, Plasma Pistol, etc), Slaanesh DP w/ Lash, LR with a full compliment of Berzerkers, TS with a Sorcerer in a Havoc Rhino, PMs in a Havoc Rhino w/ 2 PGs, Defiler with CCWs, 3X Obliterators
Mission: VPs (Primary), Objectives (Secondary), Table Quarters (Tertiary).
Deployment: Dawn of War

That what the board looked like (though that's not our game). I had the bottom half of the table above, he had top. I believe he started his TS rhino behind the ruins in the top left, I started my GHs with RP in a rhino behind the bottom left pillar of the Landing Pad (LP). His turn 1 he moves his LR on right behind the LP, shoots under neath the pad at my rhino, and wrecks it. He forgot to move on the rest of his army turn 1...I reminded him during shooting if he wanted to, but he accepted the mistake and so everything was coming on from reserve. My turn I rolled in everything but the Scouts who were outflanking. My DP with Lord and Termie retinue dropped in right between the LP and the citadel on the right side of the board. My RB squad came in rom the bottom right and took the objective at the base of the citadel. Behind them ran in a LF squad. A speeder zoomed in to the right of the bottom tower, while a LF squad ran into the towers. To the left of the tower is a small ruin which my last LFs ran into, while they had a GH squad move on to their right (to the left of the tower), and a final squad moved on to the left of the LFs in the ruins. My last speeder zipped in 12" from the bottom left edge up to the ruins near the middle-left, giving them a nice shot at the TS rhino in the ruins. Shooting was simple (and ridiculously lucky) - left speeder immobilized TS rhino and the AC WG shot the side of the LR and immobilized it.