The Woes of Power Armor

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Been somewhat back into 40king loosely time to time. However something been observing on my own games and other people games.

I don’t mean that power armor is bad it’s just the expectation for it doesn’t match its capabilities. In a probability wise the Power Armor is really good. We are looking at a 66% chance of success each save which is good.

However in reality is a different story. For those who in the hobby for quite a while know how mess up dice rolls can do. So while overall odds are good. Power Armor have low tolerance for “bad rolls” or unexpected losses.

An example would be Wong idea of using Cultist as benchmark. So let say a 5 men space marine squad is around 90 points. (no upgrades, nothing) . So each cultist is like 4 points each. So for price of 5 Space Marine you can have roughly 20 cultist.

So now both squad takes fire from 3 wound from bolter round.  On paper the Space Marine would only lose 1 man at average and obviously the cultist would lose 3 guys right off. However in game there a chance that space marine squad would fail all their save and lose 3 guys. As for the cultist, losing 3 guys is already expected and if by some chance the squad had cover. Any saves that it make is already a bonus

People can argue saying that those Adeptus Astartes can withstand flamer and autocannon round.  Which yes that true but experience player won’t leave their horde army clump up or out in open to allow their squad to be easily slaughter. Also these are things that player can anticipate and control as mention above. While the Astartes can take less heed than their horde counterpart but still binded a chance that something can go horribly wrong.

Edit: Here a video of relevant content.

New Approach to 40k 6th Edition

After a devastating recent encounter with a Dark Eldar army, I was convinced on 2 things on 6th edition: 1) Close combat is a last resort measure; the combination of overwatch, random charge distance and the added extra dimension of flyers rendered the traditional close combat death stars too rigid for the modern battlefield. 2) Multiple small units with some core elements is the way to go... and you need to pick your units very carefully. 

A sign of modern time, any unit you inducted into your list should have dual capabilities unless they are really really dirt cheap. Stagnant and underutilized resources are the great pit falls of any 40k army. A great example would be a 5 men tactical marine squad dedicated to capping objective. Just to give you an idea for the same points you could get a scout sniper team with rocket launcher who could  lend some fire support while they are capping or 10 men IG veterans with 2 melta guns who are more capable of earning back their keeps.

So there you have it, I am concluding this post with my newly finished painted storm trooper squad with dual role: 1) Strategic deep strike to take out vital target 2) If option 1 proves too suicidal or futile, go deep behind enemy line for line breaker point.

2 pistols, Yipikaye Mother f**ker!

Imperial Air Superiority is the new shiznick in 6th edition

Every version of 40k seems to have its own "benchmark unit" which is a unit with per point effectiveness so high it shine above the rest and becomes corner stone for all new army list to meta against.

In my side of the world that unit in 5th edition was the chaos obliterator. There was a time here the term "9 obliz test" was coined as the standard meta QC for all new list... simply put if you got a new list, you meta it against a list with 9 obliterators; the theory is that if you do well on paper you should be fine, else expect your list to be in a world of hurt when you bring it to the table.

While 6th edition is still new and we will be expecting a lot of new codexes to appear in due time, the flyers rage have since in my opinion made Imperial guard vendetta gunship the new "benchmark unit" in town. Clocking at a mere 140pts arming with 3 twin linked lascanons and 2 heavy bolters, topped with extra armor being standard feature and squadron rule, vendettas is going to rule the unfriendly sky for some time in the dark future.

Air Superiority in 6th Edition

Last weekend I tried for the first time considerable amount of flyers in my list, and the result speaks for itself. Flyers immunity to close combat attacks (i.e. most death stars) and their hard to hit profile made them deadly force in the hands of any capable commander. To add further insult to injury it would seems flyers are best countered with flyers themselves. It would appears the skies of 41st millennium is going to be filled with angry warplanes until most armies can get their hands on decent AAs.

The Perils of "balance" list

Smurf is grim for smurf knows the odds

Some time ago I had a discussion with Redeye about the aspect of playing a "balance list", the suppose 'normal' way of fielding an army instead of the min/max approach.

The main issue is try as we might, it is hard to conjure up memory of any playing a "balance" list, kick arse and lives to tell the day when the said player stand atop of his/her enemies' smoking corpses. The main problem of being "balance" seems to be 2 folds.

1. You can do everything, but good at nothing.
2. Good at nothing is in essence meaning you hold no edge over your enemy

Meanwhile looking from the other side it will be like:

1. Edge list will focus on what they are good at and play accordingly
2. Against a "balance" list, primary threats are easily identified and resources are invested swiftly to neutralize them.

For example suppose you played an mix/max list of landraiders and terminators, automatically you will scan for where the serious armour/terminators threats are in the opposing army. That would mean say against another imperial army you would just want to look at where the meltas and lascanons before you reached the line and after that it will be on the look out for CC death stars and plasma guns/demolisher canon after you breached the line. Everything is clear cut, you can obvious like say ignore that landspeeder which is armed with two heavy bolters for the moment.

Where as being "balance" say you have 50% of units in your army being able to do decent AV job and 50% of them don't, it will actually be like fighting with 50% of your army the whole time.

The same seems to apply to the basic law of operation in reality, imagine going to a job interview and telling your interviewer you can do everything but aint particularly good at anything -- it will be like asking for a general worker's job.

So thought of the day? Get an edge for your army!

The On Going Daemon Hunting Business

Picture credit: The Lord Inquisitor

I have been playing a Mordrak list lately. I found the grand master to be really worthy of his points, the shenanigans you can pull with him can be endless due to the wide variety of options the codex offer.

Here are the basic plan layout:
-Attached a Librarian with Mordrak and his ghost squad
-DS the gang first turn into a cosy strategic location
-Survive one turn of shooting / abuse ( which won't be a hard thing to do, since you can stack ghost knights' stealth USR with shrouding to have 2+ cover sv)  
-Next turn, summon the rest of your army with "The summoning" spell
-Havoc ensured, purge well, brothers

Details to consider:
-Upgrade your librarian to a level 3 psyker for extra insurance getting rest of your army into position
-Get teleport homer for your librarian (D'oh)
-Have elements of rest of your embarked in vehicles equipped with warp field stabiliser so you can summon 2 units with a single spell
-The Might of Titan spell is essential for hand to hand anti vehicles operation

My CMM tournament report.

From Pirate Viking Painting

Although i promise myself to write this up as soon i return but procrastination takes its toll. So without futher ado lets begin.(Sorry no pics as i didnt had much chance to take)

Here my Army list for the tourney

Libarian - Sword + Shield

Assault Squad- Meltagun + Infernus Pistol

Scouts - Sniper rifles, Camo cloaks and Missile launcher

Furioso Dreadnought - Frag Cannon + Bloodfist with Meltagun

Attack Bike Squad - 2 Bikers with Mulitmelta

Stormraven - Assault cannon + Multimelta

So first thing in the morning i grab Wong and head to Midvalley. When we arrive Jinn let us view the list of game mission that he be randomly picking them. Some of them were unique and some were really gay or he call it funky. (Fyi the tourney is 3 rounds sort off swiss with random mission)

So more or less around 10:30am. Jinn randomly pick the pairing (I didnt get to watch Wong game so i hope he write his POV)

Round 1

Vs Jake(Tau)

Modified KP ( Every troop choice dies is 1 point)

It was a quick game as I won roll off so i go first. I send everything except the Scout to the front flat out. Jake attempted to take out my Stormraven but his Broadside only got a glance and i pass the cover safe. Next turn i send everyone to take out his Firewarriors while the Stormraven shoots the Broadside. By turn 3 I wipe out everything in the battlefield. So TA victory for me.

Round 2

Vs Zaki( Nid)

Modified objective (every turn troop secure objective is 1 point)

It was a pretty tough game especially Zaki rolls was insanely above average. I couldnt go near the objective as the Mawloc and Genestealer was wreacking havoc into my lines. Highlight of the day was my Frag Cannon inflicting almost 24 wounds on his nids. However by the time i could handle his troops i was to behind in points. So lost.

Round 3

Vs Mark( Chaos)

Modified 1 + 1 (Wack enemy objective to win)

Another straight foward game. He when first so i decided to reserve my stuff except scouts and bikes. So my bikes go straight after his Land Raider which they blew it up. Later on when my Stormraven arrive i send the whole team to kill the Daemon Prince. After dispatching the Daemon Prince I send Furioso to engage his Plague Marine while i send my Libarian and Assault Squad to assault the objective. So another TA victory for me.

Conclusion

Frankly this tourney i was trying hard to think of an army list. As the limitation is huge for me which limit your slots for Fast, Heavy and Elite. Also with little intel of opposing force i decide to take unit that in my experience are reliable. Although the tourney did mention basecoat only but i decided to just get my Scouts painted anyway. I guess i felt i needed to prove a point or something.

MVP

Definately Furioso Dreadnought his AV13, Str 10 and Frag cannon definately came handy in most situation.

Land Speeder Storm- Dedicated transport for Scout?

Lets face it, This is a rarely used or even seen unit for Space Marine codex. It is a inferior unit? No in terms of stats wise it actually a good unit. For 50 pts you get a Land Speeder with Scout rule, Jamming beacon and Scout blazing with Bolter/Shotgun to their enemies .(As they can transport capacity of 5 scouts and open top allow them to fire at enemies)

So what the problem!!.. Its placement in the FOC chart. Just one lone Land Speeder Storm spends one entire fast attack slot. Which it face heavy competition to Land Speeders, Attack Bikes, Assault Space Marine, and Bikes.

So you can get a max of 3 of this and the impact they make to your enemies wont be huge. So my proposal is that to change it to Dedicated transport for scout. ( After all scouts only can ride on them anyway) and soon enough Scout will have a reason to bring their shotguns as they ride out with their Land Speeder ride. Disembarking to punch whoever who insulted their ride.

Mather of fact i did wrote a email GW about and they actually responded.

Here my email

Dear Games Workshop

I find the Land Speeder Storm is a rarely use unit in Warhammer 40K and i rarely see people owning the models within my comunity.

Honestly i actually like the Land Speeder Storm and i find it sad that it is under use by Space Marine players.

I find the problem is that the Land Speeder Storm for just one speeder takes up 1 Fast Attack Slot.

I would like to propose that the Land Speeder Storm to be under Dedicated Transport for Space Marine Scouts. ( After all that thing can only take Scouts). I am sure a simple FAQ can fix this.

I did ask around and players do like the idea and they said they will actually field Land Speeder Storm in their armies if it didnt consume the Fast Attack slot. So i believe that not only people will start buying Land Speeder Storms but more Scouts to carry Bolters or Shotguns or Close combat Weapons.

Thanks for listening a fans request.

Which this is what they responded.

Hi Redeye

Thanks for the email, we have passed this idea on to the design studio on your behalf, however they may not be able to reply due to their busy schedules.

Regards

Although its a generic respond but atleast they took a trouble to respond and hopefully my proposal would be considered. Even though is ultra slim but then epic rolls happend.

Brag First Despair then..

"Heretics? Mutants? Xenos? No problem..."

Yes, The idea is that before you engage any future tabletop battles. You should brag or local term "Lan Ci" or trash talk before fighting someone.

However do to people who knows you enough that you are not being an asshole or a douche of the matter. Or at least apply to a level that people wont take it offensively but sufficient to show your point.

The point of doing this is like imagine if you are fighting some uber cheese army *cough* Obbys *cough* Peter.. So most people will either despair (if their army isnt up to the cheese) or react cautiously/ humbly(if they think their army has potential). So if you win great.. but if you lose... then it just lead to despair that you been obliterated( no puns intended)

So my tip is before you start the game... BRAG all the way..!! Whatever u want.. even tho it makes no sense.. either your unit capabilities or the fluff behind it even if you made it up..

So if you win.. Excellent then the reign of bragging continues and is reinforce. If you lose.. you may despair but atleast you still got some moment out of it.

So now lets look at the 2 scenario now, One is u despair before you fight then you despair again when you lose. Another is u brag, gloat and trash talk first then you despair from losing.. So since both action end you up the same hole. So why not brag now.. what you gotta lose, You gonna get your ass kick either way so enjoy the moment before it too late.

Actually there a deeper meaning in this action. Its not about being tactically superior or just being a complete idiot/asshole/douche. Its actually staying positive.. The bragging is not for your enemy is for yourself. So at grim moment you do this to have a positive mindset in the battle. It may keep you focus so may see an opening to sneak a victory from a vastly superior player.

That what all this is all about.. staying positive.

Cos when life brings you down.. Look on the bright side!.. You gone from nothing and you gone back from nothing. So what you lost? NOTHING!!

-Monty Python

Even in movies, Who get remembered.. The gung ho show off commander who overestimate his capabilities or The humble or cautious commander?... Since both of them are gonna get their ass kick from insane plot armor, plot ammo, highly accurate , skilled or well talented main characters. Of course the gung ho commander or else such quotes would never be remember.

So i shall leave you such quotes

" IS THAT YOU CAN CONJURE SARUMAN!!"

" Impossible, nothing can go though our shield"

" Evacuate? In our moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances.”

I am sure you can find such quotes of equivalent in any movies you encounter... So feel free to take them for your bragging moment...

P.s:... Honestly i not sure wether is this a motivation entry or simply pure humor... This was a crude joke i made with Wong and i have no idea what this post simply serve.. So anyone of you reading this it mean alot for me if you comment on what you think this entry is suited for.

Unconventional Dreadnought Pattern that works

Hey in this article I am gonna share with you my experience of using uncommon space marines dreadnought weapons load out and explain how to properly utilise them.

First we have here the "MAXIMUS PATTERN" with assault canon and twin linked auto canon load up.

 

What is it for: Transport killer and monstrous creatures ranged control. Maximus pattern dreadnought can dish out a total of 6 shots - 4 str 6 rending, 2 str 7 twin linked shots while on the move, making it and ideal platform to lay down fire on weak armored enemy transports or pulling wounds from an approaching monstrous creature. With its walker rules it has a maximum threat range of 30 inches and have the option of going into close combat when needed!

On field experience: Maximus dread can always hide behind a building or a piece a terrain before that start of a battle and later walk out and fire everything utilising its walker rule. A dreaded (pun intended) threat to light armor squadron vehicles and major annoyance for MC such as daemon prince. Just keep your range and try to benefit from cover. Maximus pattern has thus far served me well. In my opinion for the points you pay it is well worth it.

 Second up we have here the "CUSTODIAN PATTERN" with twin linked auto canon and a dreadnought CC weapon with heavy flamer.

What is it for: The Custodian pattern is a by product of necessity. Ever since I started experimenting using scouts as troops as to maximize points for "killy stuff" my scouts has become a staple in my army list. But the thing is while they are happily snipping and taking cover smart opponent will always take advantage of their weaker stats and number thus try to flush them out. The solution? Get the scouts a "nanny", and thus custodian pattern dreadnought is born.

Designed to be an all rounder deterrent for enemy task force that might come to flush your ground holding troops, a custodian dreadnought is equip to deal with threat of all sizes. A twin linked auto canon to take down incoming transports, a heavy flamer for an incoming mob and a CCW for str 10 close combat action. A custodian dread is a threat to but the most committed enemy offense. Extra armor is preferred.

On field experience: I have enough games to see the frown on my opponent's face when he or she is deciding if sending a part of his/her force to take out my dug in troops is worth it when the custodian is near by... like an angry hen overseering her chicks in the shadow.