(New) Daemons Review with Archnomad and Chumbalaya

*Note, don't know why but pics are being weird just now, so you're going to have to live with 2 and a wall of text effect*


Blue: Archnomad
Red: Chumbalaya

Hey people, 3 and a half games in now (well, it was at true at time of writing, now it’s 6) with the new White Dwarf release of Daemons (DoC from now on), and I'm going to share some of the stuff I've learned.  I’m just here for the free food.  You promised finger sandwiches. I’ll email you a pizza roll. This is gonna be part of a (hopefully) series of articles that I'm going to be co-writing with Chumbalaya , hi internet, covering (also hopefully) the whole book and the options available to you in 6th edition.

Warmahordes list considerations.

Weeblokes

In Warmahordes you have a lot to consider when you're writing your list. Amusingly, it's 2 Warmachine factions that factor more into list consideration than anything else when I build an army. I just kind of take Hordes as it comes. In this article I'll be going through (in my opinion) the "Big Five" things you should be worried about when constructing an army list, and how this should affect other lists you bring.

Why Rasheth is the Best Warlock in All of Warmahordes

When I go out to get my mail
it measures on the Richter scale.

Disclaimer: I could write literally for days on how I play Rasheth. This is probably going to end up being a fairly long article. 

Rasheth es #1. Huehuehue.

So, Rasheth. He's the warlock I have most experience with him in the entire Skorne faction. Hell, probably the whole game to be honest. I love his playstyle (super passive) and his fluff. And y'know, if I was a monstrously powerful sorcerer, I'd probably roll the same way he does.

Enslave and Subjugate - Archnomad's New Skorne

Disclaimer: This is one of those thought process articles I sporadically write. It's a general summary of my thought process whilst I was writing out my current (post Dominion) eMakeda list. Hopefully you'll find it interesting, and if I'm lucky insightful. Cheers. 

So, I dunno if any of you know this, but I played my Skorne at NOVA (and did pretty damn well, also huge thanks to 200ponies for allowing me to even enter). I was using Rasheth T4, which is considered an unconventional or even bad army by a lot of people. I really don't get the Rasheth hate in the WM/H community, he's really a powerhouse. But hey, that's a discussion for another day. Today, I'm going to talk about eMakeda. Specifically, the eMakeda force I'm going to start.

So you want to be a soviet?

So, you want to be a soviet do you? Sound good does it? A communist state? In that there is no state. Or classes. Joining a vanguard party to lead your motherland to the way it should have been since the beginning? Feasting on hardy Khadoran turnips, and wielding the mighty hammer of the proletariat in one hand, and the noble sickle of the people in the other? It sounds good, doesn't it? Well, it's not. It's a hard life, full of cold, snow, bitterness, iron, and miniscule threat ranges.

So, in case you haven't guessed already, this is an article about marxist politics Khadoran armies. Khador are a powerful army, one of the hardest hitting armies in the game when they put their mind to it, and arguably the most resilient force in the WM/H. No army in the game can take a punch like khadorans when they put their mind to it. Not even trolls or Menoth.

Ok, so, Archnomad is thinking about another army.

So, being bored of Space Wolves he's thinking of another army. Originally, it was gonna be Dark Eldar. But he's got something much more... fun... in mind. At the suggestion of Mike Brandt, I'm gonna run Draigowing. But I'm gonna run it well. ;)

How, you ask? Well, first off, I'm gonna run Karamazov. This is something I think everyone agrees on when you're running Draigowing (I mean, it's common fucking sense), because he brings 2 very important things to your army. One, he is another T5 body you can put in your Paladin squad, which means that units need to ping 3 wounds through before you have to put one on your Paladins. This is big. Why is this big? Well it means that you need to (usually) have 4 S8 shots to scare the unit. Second, and most importantly, he brings you the ability to automatically pass a LD test. That's huge. Means you can't be tank shocked/weaken resolve'd off the table. It rocks. He's also a relentless MM, and has a funny orbital strike.

Also, I'm bringing long range firepower, so people don't just kite me. So, this means our list is gonna look like the following:

Draigo
Karamazov
Venerable Psyfledread
Techmarine w/Blind Grenades + Psychotroke Grenades
10 Paladins w/3 Hammers, 2 Psycannons, 2 Master Crafted Psycannons, Apothecary, Banner and Halberd.
1 Paladin with Hammer
3 Psyfledreads
2000

Warmachine Army Review: Quick and Dirty - Cryx

So, these guys won my poll a while back by a landslide. So, what's good, Cryx? Well, Cryx are widely regarded as the most powerful faction by a lot of people (I don't disagree, but hey. To elaborate I don't think they're overpowered, just have the most competitive options). They are undeniably very powerful with a lot of top tier casters. Now, I'm going to quickly go over the entirety of the unit selection, and give it a simple binary yes or no. Why? Because I don't want you to be working on an arbitrary ratings system. I mean, really, what does "4 stars" tell you in the grand scheme of things? So, here we go! The entire Cryx book.... >_>

Now, I should put down a little bit of a forewarning. When  I say "good" I mean literally cream of the crop. There's a lot of "good" casters in the Cryx book that will get a "No." because they just don't compare to some of the other cryx casters. For example, pGaspy is a great caster, but he's no eGaspy. [=

Warmahordes.

Burrowowl

So, VT2 put up a really stupid post a long while back. I feel I should clear the air. First thing's first (this really, really irritated me, so I'm just going to get it out the way). In Warmachine, you get this thing called a Tier list. Tzeentchling's article explains this particularly well, however, I'm going to rant about it quickly. Basically, a Tier army is a fluffy army, that mirrors the caster's preferred forces in the lore. However, they are not mandatory. In most circumstances, you do not have to take them. So basically, if you're going to bitch about Tier armies, you may as well bitch about people running fluffy armies in 40k. I feel that after that last post about this stuff, that people might have the wrong idea about how they worked. For example, of all the army lists I've ever made (easily more than 40 different casters with multiple lists, I've been playing a while) I think I played 3 tier lists. So yeah, they're really a fun and fluffy option.

Warmahordes - Warcasters, Warlocks, Warbeasts and Warjacks.

pDenny. Pretty much epitomises Cryx. Annoying spells,
Debuffs, and really, really annoying to play against.
Also has one of the most brutal feats in the game.

Foreword: The pictures in this article are some exceptional Warcasters I would absolutely recommend if you want to try out that faction. I'll also give you a little hint as to their strengths.

Ok, so this is where the big difference between the two games occurs. Now, while you "could" just go and read Tzeentchling's comments in the previous thread, I'm going to go over it here. So, lets start with the basics. In a Warmachine force, you get a Warcaster. These are (as previously mentioned) your king pieces. The most powerful (usually, there is Molik Karn) and influential model in your force. So, what do Warcasters do? A lot. What do warcasters do, that they have in common? A lot less. See, 'casters are pretty unique. Definitely within faction in regards to how they play. Yes, some are similar, but they're all absolutely different. Anyway, I'm rambling. What do they have in common? Well, they all use Focus, and they all control Warjacks. Suppose I should explain those two things. But first...

Warmachine and Hordes - An Introduction.

Well, in the near future, I'll be getting right back into Warmahordes. Considering a lot of other people have been contemplating it, I decided to do a little primer series for the game. Now, I could do a full tactical review for most (all the competitive ones anyway) units in most of the books. However, that's not really what I feel is necessary. What I will be writing up is a shiny little idiot's guide to the game, to let you know what's what, seperate the warlocks from the warcasters and generally help you get into the game (hopefully I'll pique your interest).

So, Warmahordes. Warmachine and Hordes. One thing a lot of people don't know is that both game systems can (and should) play against each other. The two games are fully compatible. They use slightly different rules systems, but are absolutely intended, balanced, etc for cross gameplay.

8th Ed Tried to Destroy the Metal, but the Metal, Will Live On.

The Lore of Metal - Better than it seems?

Note: While I use specific examples in this article, you can swap them out for the "closest match" in the armies you face. For example, when I say empire knights, they could just as easily be Stegadons, or Dwarf Ironbreakers that you're struggling to deal with. Continue!

Yup. This is, in my opinion, the most underestimated lore of the edition. I think it's absolutely fantastic in the right army, as it lends a great mix of support and offense. Armies that get good use of it are High Elves, Dark Elves and Lizardmen. There's more in the right situation, but these ones really stick out. What I'm going to do, is go through the lore and discuss some uses it has in "real game" situations. *theatrical music*

Ok, so the Lore of Metal. One of the biggest strengths of the lore is that's it's all relatively easy to cast. Not as easy as fire, but definitely still easy. The erm, "strength" of the lore is against armour. This is pretty obvious if you look at the spells. So I suppose, lets get started.

5th Edition, Grey Knights and Tyranids.

Disclaimer: This isn't so much to make a point above shooty grey knights are the ones to be scared of, and indeed will basically play out as my response to a few opinions I've seen in regards to this issue. As a result it may seem scattered. My bad, but hopefully it opens a few eyes.

Wait, what? We been here before?

Mmk, yes we have. Well, this article is going to be taking my usual rant format. So hey-o, lets go. (:

Abusepuppy recently put up an article about the various weaknesses Tyranids have to Grey Knights. So I'm going to do the same general thing from a Grey Knight perspective. One thing I do kind of want to nip in the bud.

Combat grey knights. Le sigh. Sure, grey knights are pretty killy in combat, especially if you run purifiers. But someone has said it better than I ever could. "they die like bitches". And Stelek is right. They do die like bitches. See, I played against them with my GK (that is, I played against combat GK with my GK) and I shot them off the board. I've also played against mech IG, who I shot off the board. And I played against Tyranids. And I shot them. Off the board. It's because of this I'm not really 100% behind the whole "combat GK are going to end us" thing. No, grey knight combat builts have some horrific matchups. The odd combat unit, ugh, it can be dealt with. They're no harder to kill than other marines. So, where does that leave us? Shooting. Ja, here we are.

Tomb Kings - A wee gander at their magic users.

So then folks, initial lookity loo at the Tomb Kings magic phase. Very much just my thoughts on the prominent stand-outs, after a first read of the book. So, the Tomb Kings magic phase. Well, ********* would accurately cover it. *********ing horrible that is! Wait, that still doesn't tell you if it's good or bad. Well, I'm sure you guys will be able to work it out as we go through it, right?

Now, I'm a long time undead fan, and always wanted to start Tomb Kings. But could never justify another 100 or so undead after my 400 or so from my VC army. Now I have an excuse.... sooooooo!

First (and most importantly) we need to look at the Wizards. A lot of people have been looking at the lore on various sites, but I'm more interested about the platforms they're on. After all, with no wizard left, you can't cast. This brings me nicely to my favourite wizard in the book.

Freaking hardware problems....

So, on the htc at the moment, my pc has finally died, been having problems with it for a while. However, snazzy new laptop this week. Sadly, this means I couldn't record a podcast this week. If obtaining the laptop goes smoothly we should have it up and running next week, same time.

However, I'm just gonna say now I've got a pair of co-hosts. TheLieutenant and Clayman. Hope you guys don't struggle with the accent.

<3

What about Goatboy? 

P.S. It's Kirbeh's birfday today.

Archnomad's Thinking About Dark Eldar

Foreword:This is basically me typing up my thought process since I got the Dark Eldar book out in front of me, had a good read through, and decided to make a list. Now, this has a few little tangents and a fair few personal thoughts, so just remember what this is, a look into how I build a list, rather than a tactics article. You may be asking why I put it up here? Because I think the list's alright, and I want help, of course! (:


I've always loved Skimmers, and the Dark Eldar ones are absolutely beautiful. However, I'm a competitive WAAC ******** so I have to make the army good. Looking at Dark Eldar, they're written by Phil Kelly, who knows his way around an Eldar army, yeah. Doesn't he!

V-Off Topic-V
Erm, does he? Could've fooled me. Looking at the book, and the commentary in it, it seems he's one of these people who thinks Eldar are some army that require an absolute tactical genius to play correctly, and anyone else wont be able to do it. That's probably because you've made them sub par, and it would indeed require an absolute tactical genius to make it work correctly. Gah, it just annoys me that they've made them this "elite" army that can't afford to take losses, and given them almost no way to mitigate them. Also, deciding that 18" is a good threat range for an army of T3 5+ or AV10 open topped units is not good. In addition, they pay for stats they're barely going to use. How often are Warriors really going to NEED WS4 and I5. At least, they should not be paying full points for them. And what the hell is with the costing on their AP2 weaponry? Oh, Kelly didn't get the memo that 3+4E were over. Fuck.
^-Off Topic-^

Podcasts and other plaster.

Ok, so folks. Criticism on the first 2 podcasts well received, thank you all. However, this does raise some issues. One, do I talk too quickly? Personally I think I talk at a fairly medium rate, however I understand this isn't the same for all of my listeners, and as I hate the language barrier, am fine with compromising here.

Second, thanks for all the feedback on these 2 episodes. This is very much going to be a learning experience and I do plan on taking all/almost all (not stupid) ideas on board. And for you folks who winced at my jokes, I'll take a comedy class, I swear.

Third, I'm starting a second podcast. Very much an audio blog in its own right as it were. The current podcast is just a substitute for articles (despite taking much, much longer) but this is going to be far more whimsical. It's going to be a lot more personal, and reflect my own opinions and outlooks. Hopefully you folks will find it interesting, but I hope you guys are ok with me deviating off topic, and probably swearing.

But mostly thanks for the feedback guys.

<3

Offensively Pink Episode 2 - Sympathy For the Devil

Well folks, Episode 2, Sympathy For the Devil. Today, I talk about Grey Knight troops,  and why I feel they don't quite match up to those of other armies. But it all works out in the end, don't worry.

To download, click on "Divshare."

To comment and read other comments, click 'Click for more Pink.'

Archnomad's Podcast Greenlit.

s

So, wonderful people of 3++, Kirbio has greenlit me doing a weekly podcast. Now, this article's here to discuss a few things. First off, it needs a name. Kirby's suggestion was... awful, and I'm not going to even repeat it here. So if you fancy yourself witty, go for it.

Second is the topic. As it's me, it's going to be tactics. Tactics for what, I'm not sure. It'll probably be a look at good tactics, commonly used bad ones, keeping your eyes on the prize (guilty of not doing this) and suchlike. Y'know, tactics. Strategies. However, I would like an indicator as to what level. 3++ is usually pretty basic, and personally I'd like to go far more in depth, but hey, it's for you guys to decide (mostly).

Also of note, MWC has offered to take part in this with me, and do a bit of fluff banter with me at the end. Hopefully, if he's still game, we'll think of some really cool scenarios, stories, what ifs and whatnot, and discuss them. I'd also like a name for this little tidbit as well, if at all possible. Fluff corner? Bah, sounds tacky. But anyway, this should hopefully be some pretty interesting stuff. "The Star Child disproved", "Is Cegorach the Deceiver", "Who was Sebastian Thor?". They're just a few things off the tod. We could also do stuff like "How cool is Eisenhorn?". Whatever, you know.

Centurion - Archnomad's Take

Orks orks orks orks! Orks orks orks orks! Orks orks orks orks orks orks orks orks orks!

Orks orks orks!

Hey there Kirby. From now on, I'M the big spoon. So, I'll give you guys pretty much a mirror copy of Kirby's post, from my perspective.

I do have to say, the event was absolutely awesome, the Rocky guys are awesome, Kirby is... so white it hurts, I'm not gonna lie. I met some other awesome folks, dunno if they wanna be named up here, but basically, everyone I met was pretty fudging awesome. And y'know, saturday night.

Game 1: Bruce (Crons, Table Quarters)
Ok, Crons. Well, Bruce had his work cut out for him here. He was going LD-scary build, with some wraiths, scarabs, destroyer lord, and a lith. Basically, I was way too quick, and managed to pummel him with everything and by the end of the game, and I got all quarters (He had 2 warrior squads left).

CENTURION DAY 1 OVERVIEW

Hi lads and ladies.
Overall, the event has been great, and people are enjoying themselves.

Well, except for SneakyDan who rocked up this morning at 9.00AM after getting home at 4.00AM from a big night on the town :)


Kirby vs Archnomad deployment



Anyway, the critical information you want to know:

How are our intrepid adventurers going!?

The Top 3 are

Loriness - Tyranids

BohicaBob - Tyranids

Archnomad - Orks

Take that internets!

The 4th player, who is 2/1 who went through lost to Loriness in the last game (but stil has the highest BP total)

J.McGowan - Blood Angels