40K: Theorycrafting with Marines and Tau

I thought about posting another Codex review for the new Space Marines, but damn, that shit is everywhere. I mean, come on, do we really need another "Review" of Tactical Squads? Besides a few minor changes here and there in leadership and point costs, they really haven't changed much.

If you're here reading our blog, then I respect you enough to know that you understand how a Tactical Squad works and I'm not going to waste your and my time by going over them again.

So let's get into some of what everyone is actually interested in...finding combinations that are amazing.

I have been looking into a lot of different combinations lately and so far, my favorite combination is Farsight Enclave with some Space Marines. Since they are Battle Brothers, there is tons of hidden stuff in there!

A quick disclaimer here before I get started:

I build lists for tournaments and league play, not casual games. Sure I'll play a casual game here and there on the fly, but if things like "Spam lists" upset you, then this is not the blog for you. If it's an available option to play, well then, I'm playing it.

Starting off, my lists will always include Farsight as he is needed to unlock the others of "The 8." Most notably, O'Vesa and Ob'Lotai.

One of the first things to look at here, is that if you run Space Marines with Farsight Enclave as an ally, you can technically run 2 Riptides; one normal one and O'Vesa.

Yes O'Vesa is very expensive in terms of points, but being able to run 2 Riptides in an ally can be game changing in and of itself, especially when you look at what O'Vesa has to offer.

The other thing to notice is that in the Supplement, concerning the 8, it clearly states that "the Signature Systems rule, left, does not apply to them," which means that even though O'Vesa already comes equipped with an Earth Caste Pilot Array, you can still give one to that base Riptide as well. Double bonus!

The second thing that caught my eye was Ob'Lotai, who is a single Broadside with all the trimmings, including 2 missile drones and a seeker missile. He shoots 3 times as many shots as a devastator squad full of Missile launchers and costs 2 points less...and since he's a independent character he can join a unit of Devastators. Or anything else for that matter...but more on that later.

I currently only run Farsight and a small unit of Crisis suits to clear and grab an objective here and there, so I am really not to interested in the other special suits at this point, but then again, I am just getting started with this combination, so you never know.

So now we know what we are dealing with, lets add the Space Marines into the mix and make shit work.

First question is which chapter to pick. For me there are really only 2 options here, Ultramarines and Imperial Fists.

With Ultramarines, the major draw here is Tigurius. His Psyker abilities alone are absolutely outstanding, but you already knew that. Now let's put him to better use. We are rolling him on Divination all day long, aiming for Forewarning, Perfect Timing and Prescience, which shouldn't be too hard with his ability to re-roll when choosing his psychic powers. This gives an army like Tau, that already has a lot of options to ignore cover, even more options. Add in that he gets to re-roll when casting his powers, and that he is LD10, and you're virtually guaranteed that his powers will work every turn.

If we add Tigurius to a Riptide we get this.
A Riptide, that because of Earth Caste Pilot Array, can re-roll to Nova Charge if it fails, has all Twin-linked weapons from Prescience, so it can re-roll those pesky "Gets-Hot!" results and re-roll the blast template if it scatters, Ignores cover from Perfect Timing, and has a 4++ save.

Now that's a good combo, but kind of expensive, and if we add Tigurius to a Riptide, it severely limits the Riptide's movement. Not too bad for a 1st turn, but lets look a a different option.

Let's add Tigurius to a unit of Devastators, and put them behind an Aegis Defense Line with a Quad Cannon. Then to make it even more entertaining, lets add Ob'Lotai to that unit. That gives us roughly 20 Twin-Linked shots, that all Ignore cover. Who cares if you don't have Skyfire, that's enough shots to take out almost any flyer. Plus the unit has a 4++ save to piss of those Heldrakes. But wait a second, what this? It looks like a free thing that the Space Marine Sergeant has called an Signum! Oh Glorious, Glorious Signum! Let's review what this does for a second.

The codex states:
"At the start of the Shooting phase, a model with a signum can choose to use it instead of shooting. If he does so, one model in his squad is Ballistic Skill 5 for the remainder of the Shooting phase."

Let's see,  who is in this unit, would benefit the most from being BS5...Ob'Lotai of course! "Hittin on 2's!"

To make things even more ridiculous, if you are running O'Vesa, he can join the unit for 1st turn as well to help take out a nasty Deathstar if needed.

Fear of that unit getting assaulted? Ultramarine's Devastator Doctrine is the way to go then. Move that unit back 6" and fire off a barrage of Missile Templates at full BS to thin the incoming unit. This does 2 things. It forces your opponent to decide which unit to assault, and whether or not to multi-assault.

If your Devastators do get assaulted, you get to re-roll those over-watch shots! Speaking of, don't forget that Devastators no longer have to lose their Boltguns to acquire Missile Launchers. So if you are getting them assaulted by a horde or large unit, you can still overwatch with Boltguns to get more shots off.

Unfortunately Psychic powers don't always work out how we plan, and some people like to rely more on consistency. So instead of Ultramarines, let's switch it up to Imperial Fists. Why? Tankhunter.

Same unit as above.
Devastator unit, Aegis, Quadcannon, Ob'Lotai, O'Vesa.

Since only one model in the unit is needed to give it all Tankhunter, and Marines and Tau are Battle Brothers, everything here gets the Special Rule for as long as they stay grouped up, including the Quadcannon itself, and O'Vesa and Ob'Lotai's drones...which is just sick. Group up first turn or two then spread out to take some objectives and win games.

Run some bikes, or a base Librarian...hell I don't even care anymore, doesn't really matter at that point.

I got my new Riptide in mail last night and managed to get most of it together for tonight's game.
I will finally be able to get my Tau on the table.

Here's the list I'm running tonight.

Ultramarines
Tigurius
5 Man Tactical Squad - Veteran Sgt, Flamer in a Razorback - Twin-linked Lascannon
5 Man Tactical Squad - Veteran Sgt, Flamer in a Razorback - Twin-linked Lascannon
5 Man unit of Devastators - 4 Missile Launchers, Signum

Farsight Enclave
Commander Farsight
3 Crisis Suits - Twin-linked Plasma Rifles, Missile Pods, 6 Gun Drones, and Bonding Knives
10 Firewarriors - Shas'ui, Bonding Knives
7 Pathfinders - Shas'ui, Bonding Knives
Riptide - Ion Accelerator, Smart Missile System, Early Warning Override, Earth Caste Pilot Array
Riptide - Ion Accelerator, Smart Missile System, Early Warning Override, Stimulant Injector
Riptide - Ion Accelerator, Smart Missile System, Early Warning Override, Stimulant Injector
Aegis Defense Line + Quad Cannon

I couldn't really find the points to cram in Ob'Lotai for this list but it's still a work in progress.

Hopefully will be able to get a Battle Report posted up tomorrow at some point, but tonight should be interesting to say the least.

40k Battle Report: Eldar/Tau Vs. Tyranids

Deployment: Vanguard Strike

Mission: Big Guns Never Tire

My List (Eldar/Tau):

HQ
Farseer (Warlord. Guide, Fortune, Eldritch Storm)

• Jetbike
• Singing Spear

Farseer (Prescience, Dominate, Hallucination)

• Jetbike
• Singing Spear

6x Warlock Seer Council (Conceal/Reveal, 2x Embolden/Horrify, 2x Protect/Jinx, Empower/Enervate

• 6x Jetbikes

Tau Commander

• Command and Control Node
• Puretide Engram Neurochip
• Multi-Spectrum Sensor Suite 
• Twin-Linked Missile Pods
• Target Lock

Elites
Riptide

• Twin-Linked Fusion Gun
• Ion Accelerator
• Stimulant Injector
• Early Warning Override

Troops
10x Dire Avengers

• Exarch with Twin-Linked Shuriken Catapults

3x Guardians Jetbikes

• Shuriken Cannon

10x Fire Warriors

• Sahs'ui

10x Fire Warriors

• Sahs'ui

Heavy Support
Wraithknight

• Scatter Laser
• Suncannon and Scattershield

3x Broadsides

• 3x Twin-Linked SMS
• 3x High-Yield Missile Pods
• 6x Missile Drones

Fortification
Aegis Defense Line

• Twin-Linked Quad Gun

Opponents List As I Remember(Tyranids):

HQ
Swarm Lord
Tervigon

• Adrenal Glands

Elites
Zoanthrope
Zoanthrope
Zoanthrope
Hive Guard
2x Hive Guard
Doom of Malan'tai

• Mycetic Spore

Troops 

15x Gene Stealers

15x Gene Stealers
15x Gene Stealers
4x Tyranid Warriors

Heavy Support 
Biovore
Carnifex
Tyrannofex
Tyrannofex

Looking back now his list appears to be illegal as his list went well over the 2000 points that we were supposed to be playing at. But whatever, I like a good challenge.

He won the rolls for sides and deployment. He chose to go first. Night Fight was rolled and it was indeed night. 

Turn 1: He marches his 2 Tyrannofex, Carnifex, Zoentrhope, and Genestealers straight for my ageis line. His Tervigon spawns 12 Termagaunts and move towards the corner of the board where I've castled up as best as I could. The Swarm Lord, another Zoenthrope, and 15 more Genestealers would do the same. I deployed so that the Swarm Lord was about as far away from me as I could get hoping the game would end before he ever got to me. The Biovore, Hive guards, and 3rd Zoenthrope reposition in the mid field to get into better position for firing. Torrent fire from the Tyrannofexes killed 9 Fire Warriors and 2 missile drones. The rest of his shooting would prove ineffectual. The one unit of Fire Warriors forced to test passes and holds strong with 3 men. 

I cast all of my powers on my Seer Council as well as Guide on the Riptide and Prescience on the 8 man unit of Fire Warriors. The Riptide Nova Charges his Ion Accelerator. They move up 12" to mid field. But can't make it into shooting or charge distance of any of his units. They would eventually turbo boost into his backfield to try and divert his attention from my main force. The Wraithknight jumped up on top of terrain to get a better line of fire at his Genestealers. The Dire Avengers moved up to get into shooting range. The broadsides unload on the nearest Tyrannofex and turn him into a pile of poodoo for first blood. The Riptide and Dire Avengers took out the Warriors. The Fire Warriors took the Zoenthrope down to 1 wound. The Wraithknight killed all but 1 of the Genestealers.

Turn 2: He rolls for his reserves. Genestealers stay out and the Doom and his pod come in. The pod lands right in the middle of all of my Tau. Sad times. The Tervigon spawns 14 Termagants and rolled a double so no more babies. They both moved towards the Seer Council. The rest of his army pushed forward into my corner. Between the Doom, Tyrannofex, and the Carnifex he managed to kill the unit of 3 Fire Warriors, 1 Broadside and all of the remaining drones, and all but 2 Fire Warriors in the last unit. They fail leadership and break. He assaulted the Seer Council with his Termagants which were promptly squished and destroyed. I then consolidated away from his Tervigon.

I roll for reserves and my unit of Jetbikes comes on. The Fire Warriors rally on snake eyes! I attempted to cast my powers on the Seer Council but Shadows in the Warp only allows me to get Protect and Prescience up. The Riptide Nova Charges his gun. By the end of the turn the Carnifex is shot dead, the bikes wound the Tervigon, the Zoenthrope in the middle dies to the Seer Councils Fire, all but 1 Termagant are killed by the Dire Avengers, and the Doom is smashed into goo by the Wraithknight. 

Turn 3: He forgets to roll for his one unit of Genestealers in reserve. He again pushes everything towards my corner. His shooting from the Tyrannofex is ineffective. He assaults the Tervigon into the Seer Council and the single Genestealer into the Wraithknight. The Seer Council gets a couple of rends on the Tervigon during overwatch and thanks to Prescience and Fleshbane, kill it before it even swings. The brave Genestealer gets squished by the Wraithknight. 

With no more Shadows of the Warp to hinder my Seer Council they get all of their powers up. The Dire Avengers move towards the last Zoenthrope and the Swarmlord. The Broadside, Commander, and Fire Warriors take a couple of wounds from the Tyrannofex. The Riptide kills half of the remaining Genestealers and the dire avengers kill the last Zoenthrope. The bikes multi assault all of the Hive Guard and the Biovore and kill them all. The Wraithknight shoots and assaults the Tyrannofex killing it.

Turn 4: He again forgets he has Genestealers in reserve. He moves his remaining units forwards and attempts to assault the Seer Council but is shot up really bad on overwatch and is cut down in close combat. At this point I had First blood, an Objective, and 4 points from killing heavies. He had 1 Termagant and the Swarm Lord left and decided to concede. 

I'm really loving the Seer Council so far. I'm still waiting for that one game that I don't get Fortune on one of my Farseers and I just get totally punked. Overall though I'm very happy with the performance of this list. I'd like to drop the Sunncannon Scattershield on the Wraithknight and a handful of Fire Warriors so I could get 2 Scatter Laser War Walkers into the list. I may have to try it out next game.

40k Battle Report: Iron Hands vs Iron Hands?!?

Last night I headed up to my LGS to test out some new Space Marines with my Sons of Medusa.
Normally at the store on a Thursday there are around 10-12 players which is nice.
Sometimes someone can't find a partner so we try to make due.
Last night however, there were 26+ people at the store...crazy stuff.

Games are randomized, and I get paired up against a player I have played many times before, who is also playing Space Marines...and is also playing Iron Hands...go figure.
Amazingly enough, his army was Brazen Claws and mine is Sons of Medusa...both of which are Successor Chapters to Iron Hands.

Playing behind us was actually a game a Sisters of Battle vs Sisters of Battle...with no allies!! When's the last time you can say you saw that in person...

We rolled up for the game and it was Relic, but no one likes to play Relic so we re-rolled and got Emperor's Will, which we decided was good enough.

Deployment was Dawn of war.

I of course forgot my Aegis Defense Line and Quad Cannon at home so I borrowed and created a make shift Bastion for this game.

Objectives are in Yellow.

He won the roll, and decided to let me deploy and go first.

My List - Sons of Medusa
Master Of the Forge
Terminator Librarian - Mastery Level 2 (Biomancy)
5 Man Tactical Squad in a Razorback with Twin-linked Lascannon
5 Man Tactical Squad in a Razorback with Twin-linked Lascannon
5 Man Tactical Squad
5 Man Tactical Squad in a Land Raider with Multi-Melta
5 Thunderhammer & Storm Shield Terminators in a Land Raider Crusader with Multi-Melta
Devastator Squad with 4 Missile Launchers
Vindicator with Siege Shield
Predator with Autocannon and Lascannon sponsons
Predator with Autocannon and Lascannon sponsons
Bastion with Quad Cannon

Master of the Forge is in the Land Raider with the 5 Man Tactical Squad.

Librarian is in the Crusader with the other Terminators.

The single 5 man tactical squad is inside the bastion, manning the Em-placed Heavy Bolters.

His List: Brazen Claws
Captain with Artificer Armor and a Lightning Claw
Chaplain in Terminator Armor
5 Man Tactical Squad
(Reserved) 10 Man Tactical Squad with a Flamer in a Drop Pod
10 Man Tactical Squad with a Melta Gun in a Land Raider Redeemer
(Reserved) 5 Scouts with Shotguns
(Reserved) 5 Sterngurd with a Heavy Flamer, Combi-Grav, Combi-Melta, Melta in a Drop Pod
(Reserved) 5 Terminators with Powerfists and Storm Bolters
6 Assault Bikers with a Melta-Gun, and Combi-Something
5 Devastators - 2 Lascannons, 1 Missile Launcher, 1 Boltgun, Sgt.
Vindicator
Stalker

All of his units had Sergeants, and they all had melta bombs.
Some of them had plasma pistols.

I placed my Bastion on my side, in the middle of the board, and put my objective right behind it. His objective is in the far left corner, behind a small ruin.

Librarian rolled Iron Arm, and Smite.

I put the 2 Land Raiders on my left with the Vindicator between them, hoping to just push them up the board in a wall.

On the right side of the bastion, the Master of the Forge Bolstered the forest, making it a 4++ cover save. I placed one razorback inside of it, and then the 2 Predators to the right of him, with the last Razoback behind them to negate possible shots from his drop pod assault. (although, thinking back I should have turned it sideways, but I was too excited since I haven't played my Space Marines in almost a year!)

He deployed everything as far back as he could to try to stay out of range of my shots on the first turn.

We roll for night fighting and it is most definitely day time instead.

He grabbed a dice out of habit, and said "Roll to Seize!" and then rolled a 6...
Then he realized what he just did.

He had just placed all of his stuff out of range of my stuff...and now...HE didn't have range on me.

I offered to let him take it back, because I don't like playing against someone, who on turn one is already going to be upset about a mistake, but he said that he wanted to play it out, and maybe get an Alpha strike or first blood on me. I looked around and realized that he had some prime shots on my vindicator if he could get his Drop Pod to stick behind it, maybe even a transport.

Well, here we go...

Turn 1 - Brazen Claws
His Sternguard Drop Pod comes in, and he places it in front of my Vindicator, hoping to pop it on 1st turn, but it scatters over in front of my Crusader instead. I asked why he didn't go behind my transports, and he said he was afraid of going off the table.

He moves his Land Raider in front of his Vindicator to block it.

His Bikes move up a bit to mid field.

The Lascannons on the devastators manages to cause a hit on one of my predators which immobilizes it.

The Sternguard fire off some crap at my crusader, he gets 2 glances, and of course, one penetration...which immobilizes it as well.

He shoots the Land Raider at it as well, but nothing happens.

That was about it for his turn.

Turn 1 - Sons of Medusa

Iron Arm is fails on boxcars and my Librarian is already down to 1 wound...well shit.

Puke and rally right?

I move the Vindicator up a bit into the forest to get a better shot on his Sternguard.

My Land Raider moves up a bit to light up his Land Raider with some blasty goodness.

The Predator that can, moves up a small amount to get line of sight at his Bikers with both Lascannons.

The Terminators Jump out of the Land Raider Crusader and move to a location where they have charge range of the Bikers or the Sternguard. Basically which ever one doesn't completely die to shooting.

Between the guns on the Land Raider Crusader and the heavy Bolters from the bastion, the Sternguard is wiped out quickly for 1st blood. 

The Vindicator, Devastators and Predators manage to unload on the bikes but only take them down to 3 models, due to him making Jink and Feel no Pain saves like crazy.

The other Razorback manages to take out 1 of his devastators. Of course it's the Bolter guy.

The It Will Not Die roll on the Crusader regens a hull point so its back up to 2.

Brazen Claws Turn 2

His Terminators come in, but not the other Drop Pod, or Scouts.

He deploys them off of the beacon on his 1st drop pod and places them in front of my Terminators.

His Land Raider moves up, so does his Vindicator.

The remaining Bikers move around his drop pod toward my other Land Raider.

His Vindicator shoots at my Vindicator, he rolls and only gets a 2 as his highest, giving him 12, which does nothing.

The Bikers shoot at it out of spite, and do nothing to my Vindicator either.

He then shoots his Terminators at my Terminators, which of course make all their saves.

His Devastator Squad unloads one of my Predators and manages to wreck it. Boo!

Sons of Medusa - Turn 2

Iron Arm is successful on the Librarian again, with a 3+/3+.

I pivot the Vindicator just enough for a better shot at the Bikers, and leave the Land Raider in position to fire at full ballistic in case I need the shots.

The Vindicator shoots and manages to take out the remaining 3 Bikers.

The Land Raider and Devastators then manage to explode his Land Raider Redeemer and spill out the guys, taking out 1 from the ensuing explosion.

My Land Raider Crusader and Razorbacks then focus fire into the unit of his Terminators, and take out 2 of them.

I assault into his Terminator with mine and declare a challenge with my Librarian, since he is currently S7/T7.

He accepts but nothing happens and all saves are made.

My remaining Terminators manage to finish off his squad easily.

No hull points are gained back.

His 10 man unit in the remaining crater fail the test and are pinned.

Brazen Claws Turn 3

His 2nd Drop Pod comes in and so do his Scouts.

The Scouts outflank and the Drop Pod comes in, both of which are on my right flank.

He moves up his Vindicator hoping to cause some kind of damage and swing things back into his favor.

Unfortunately it shot and missed. 

At this point in the game he was making the Feel No Pain saves like a mad man, but shooting was causing him problems. Luckily he's a real nice guy to play with, who knows his rules, and was still enjoying the game.

I hate playing in games where the dice just go cold for someone.

He got a little encouragement back when his Tactical squad from the drop pod managed to wreck my 2nd Predator tank. Small Victories.

The challenge was a stalemate once again.

Sons of Medusa - Turn 3

Iron Arm is successful again with a 3+/3+!

I move the Land Raider over towards his deployment zone, to get an angle with both Lascannons on his Vindicator.

My Vindicator pivots back toward his Tactical Squad and Warlord in the Crater.

I leave the Razorback where it is, thereby blocking his units from getting to me, and forcing him to go over it.

I unload the 5 man Tactical Squad that was inside of it and run into cover towards the objective, hopefully out of range of his flamer in that unit.

The Vindicator and Crusader manage to take his 10 man unit down to only 3, and kill his Warlord in the process.

2 of the Devastators and the Heavy Bolters in the Bastion manage to take the other 10 man squad on my right flank down to 7, but fail to take out the flamer.

One Razorback and the Land Raider manage to take his Vindicator down to 1 hull point, and shake it, so at least it cant shoot.

The other Razorback doesn't have line of sight, so he shoots at the Devastators, but does nothing.

Challenge is a stalemate once again.

Crusader Gains back a hull point.

Brazen Claws - Turn 4

He attempts to ram my Land Raider with his Vindicator, but comes 1" short.

His Tactical Squad and Scouts move up towards my objective.

He rushes in his Tactical squad and manages to wreck my Razorback, now creating a wall he has to go through.

I was really hoping it would explode and take out the unit with it, but oh well.

My Librarian manages to finally kill his Chaplain in the challenge and the unit then consolidates toward my objective to play a little defense and prevent him from getting to it hopefully. 

I have the secondaries right now, but if he can contest my objective, it won't matter.

Sons of Medusa - Turn 4

Iron Arm is successful again, but only a +1/+1 this time.

I turn the Land Raider and move flat out towards his objective.

I move the Tactical Squad out of range of his remaining flamer and the Terminators move up to block his path.

I rotate the Razorback to take a shot at his Stalker and prevent him from blowing it up with Bolt Guns from the Tactical Squad he has left.

The Vindicator manages to take out most of the remaining Tactical Squad in the middle of the board as well as the Drop Pod, leaving 1 guy by himself. 

I shoot everything I have on the Crusader at the single Tactical Marine in the middle of the board and manage to cause 8 wounds. He then, in turn, manages to make his Armor and Feel No Pain saves.

The Land Raider snap fires the Multi-Melta into the side of his Vindicator and immobilizes it.

The Crusader gains back another hull point taking it to full again!

Brazen Claws - Turn 5

He moves the 5 man Tactical Squad he has on his objective toward my Land Raider hoping to blow it up with a Melta Bomb, but fails on a 1.

His Tactical Squad move over my wrecked Razorback, and fire off a flamer into my Terminators who all make their saves.

The Stalker attempts to fire and does nothing, and the Devastators don't have line of sight on anything to shoot at.

The scouts move up, hoping to maybe go around the wrecked Predators.

Sons of Medusa Turn 5

Iron Arm is Successful again, with a 2+/2+.

The Terminators move up closer to him to assault and wipe out the unit if needed, and the other unit of Tactical Marines move up within Double Tap range of their Boltguns.

I deploy the 5 Man Tactical out of the Land Raider with the Master of the Forge.

The Land Raider then attempts to Tank Shock his Tactical Squad. He attempts a "Death or Glory" and fails, killing his Sergeant. 

The Flamer from the Master of the Forge's Servo Harness manages to take out the rest of the unit.

The Vindicator shoots at the lone Marine in the middle by himself and it hits, turning him into a fine paste on the ground.

The Librarian casts Smite which takes out his flamer and that was pretty much the end of it.

He then realized that I still had a 5 Man Tactical squad inside the other Razorback, and one in the Bastion, plus the one right outside of it on foot.

That compounded with the fact that I would have his objective next turn meant there was no point continuing.

Victory for the Sons of Medusa

9 points - 0 points

After Thoughts

1. Always make sure to bring everything you need to a game. Even though I forgot my Aegis Defense line, the Bastion did work out pretty well.

2. Iron Hands are ridiculous. a 6+ may not sound like much, but without it, this game would have been over two turns earlier.

3. While the vehicles are ridiculously strong with the ability to regen hull points, I found myself on turn 3 thinking, "Oh shit, how the hell am I going to get Line Breaker?"

4. Being able to bolster a forest to a 4+ is amazing, especially when you put your objective in it.

5. The Terminator Librarian was a horrible idea, made even worse since he only has 2 wounds. If I was running 2 Masters of the forge instead, he could have fixed the Land Raider Crusader on a 3+ and had it back up and moving after turn 1, which is exactly what I will be switching too next time.

6.  We were talking during the game and he asked why I was running a Master of the Forge, after I explained to him that they have a 3+ on the Blessing roll, plus the It Will Not Die roll on a 5+ at the end of the turn, he just stopped shooting at it.

7. Only one person was playing Raven Guard, and he was using them as an ally. All that was left of them in the end was Shrike by himself. He stated that he was extremely unimpressed. This coming from a Veteran Player.

8. There was only 2 people playing Imperial Fists, both of them did extremely well.

9. The people playing Ultramarines were complaining that they were too difficult with the chapter tactics. Personally I believe that Ultramarines will be extremely popular in tournaments, because if you plan turns ahead they can be amazing. It just takes experience I guess.

10. ALOT of people are playing Space Marines. More than you think. 

Be prepared.

40K: Space Marine Codex Review

So much to talk about since I last posted. For me its been like a 2nd Christmas as I am a huge fan of the Space Marines in general including all chapters...except maybe for the Space Wolves. If it weren't for Rune Priests, Long Fangs and Grey Hunters, I probably wouldn't like them at all, just not my cup of tea.

Anyways, back to the codex.

First off, I really enjoy this book. The fluff, the artwork, the descriptions, all of it are exceptional. I also really enjoy the fact that they included most of the 2nd foundings with descriptions and a little history. And the fact that It's not just a static picture of their colors. Nice work GW.

Warlord Traits

In my opinion, besides Storm of Fire and Rites of War they are all crap.

Champion of Humanity is great, but when will that every actually happen in a game against a smart player? Probably never considering they can just deny the challenge, unless you are playing against Chaos.

I think the BRB Traits are considerably better.

Chapter Tactics
These are all great.

Yes everyone loves the White Scars. That obvious, and I'm sure if you are here reading this, then you have read the same thing everywhere else, so I'm not going to waste time going over it. I believe everyone should memorize it because you're going to see a lot of people buying up Dark Vengeance Ravenwing bikers from eBay, and you will see White Scars armies everywhere.
5 out of 5.

Ultramarine Tactics is interesting. I would go Tactical on 1st turn for the shooting advantage, then Devastator on 2nd turn to be able to move those Devastators away from that Heldrake or behind cover and still be able to shoot. Its good but not great.
3 out of 5.

Imperial Fist is a perfect balance. Re-roll for your bolters for anti-infantry and Tank hunter to take out some Vehicles. The best case here I could see would be 2 units of Devastators and a unit of Centurions behind an Aegis, just be wary of the Heldrakes.
4 out of 5.

Black Templars...Everything is Fearless, Has Hatred, and Adamantium Will, which is nice. I still wish rhino rush was a viable strategy as those were my favorite BT lists back in the day, but oh well.
3 out of 5.

Iron Hands, where do I start?! I love these rules. FnP on all models at a 6+, which isn't great, but still gives you a fighting chance against Plasma Weaponry and other AP2/AP3 stuff. All vehicles get It Will Not Die? Crazysauce. And to make it even better, Techmarines and Masters of the Forge get +1 to Blessing rolls! Think about this for a second, 2 Masters of the Forge inside 2 Land Raiders. Those are 90 point HQ choices (who are amazing btw, but more on that later) who can ride in a Landraider, and each turn regen a hull point to it on a 3+. If that fails, at the end of the turn you still get to gain one back anyways by rolling a 5+ for It Will Not Die. Theoretically you could regain 2 Hull points per turn.

This is how you lose friends, and is obviously what I will be running to start my testing purposes. I have enough friends right now.
5 out of 5.

Salamanders didn't change too much and are virtually the same as before, which is good because they were perfect. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
4 out of 5.

Raven Guard, oh how I had big hopes for you and you failed to impress me. The scout rule on first turn is amazing, love that part, but stealth for only 1st turn and the fact that it doesn't affect bulky or very bulky models...well that's where you fail. Guess what's bulky? Assault Marines. Which is the main reason to play Raven Guard in the first place.
While being able to scout Land Raiders is nice, I think that is really the only plus here, but I could be wrong.
1 out of 5.

HQ's

Calgar - Not worth the points in my opinion. There are just so many better Options. Too expensive points wise.

Sicarius - Amazing utility here all around. He can buff a Tactical squad with Infiltrate, Scout, Tank Hunter or Counter Attack. He grants +1 to reserve rolls and lets everyone use his LD for tests, which is also nice considering Tac Squads are only LD8 now, so it saves you points on Vet Sergeants.
He is pretty expensive, but could be worth it depending on your Army List.

Tigurius - This should be the default HQ choice. He's mastery level 3, can roll on any chart, can reroll to chose his powers, can reroll when casting his powers, and lets you reroll reserve rolls. So far, my lists are built around trying to decide if there is a better choice than Tigurius for the points. The majority of the time there isn't. Unless you absolutely have to have another Chapter Tactic, there is no reason not to take him as one of your HQ choices.

If you're thinking about running Space Marines with Tau allies ( I am currently working on my SM/Farsight Amry) he is your go to choice. Perfect Timing and Prescience on O'vesa? Yes Please.

Cassuis - He's Toughness 6, has a 3+/4++ and Feel No Pain...and he has 2 wounds. I...just...what?

Telion - Very nice, but extremely situational.

Kor'Sarro Khan - If you're taking White Scars then you're taking him.
He's too good not too, considering he gives all your transports and bikes scout.
AND he's only 125 points....which is the cheapest of all the named HQ's.

Vulkan He'Stan - While you can take Salamanders without Vulkan, I still think he brings so much to the table its hard not too. It is kind of sad though that Thunderhammers are no longer master-crafted.

Shrike - Unfortunately he can only join Assault Marines now.
His Raven's Talons are OK I guess. But really are just normal Lightning Claws with Rending.
I think there are far better Options, especially for 185 points...

Lysander - If you were thinking about taking Calgar, take Lysander instead, you will be a lot happier.

Pedro Kantor - Love this guy. Make sure to note that he only makes Sternguard SCORING, and does not make them troops choces.
More scoring units is always better and extremely underrated.

Helbrecht - Everything about him is geared toward assault...to bad he's only T4 with no Eternal Warrior. He can also "grant all friendly models that have the Chapter Tactics (Black Templars) special rule, the Hatred and Fleet special rules until the end of the phase." which is nice, except that according to the chapter tactics...they already have Crusader...which already gives them Hatred...redundant is redundant.

Grimaldus - Not bad actually. 3 Wounds, 3+/4++, IWND, Zealot. Alot to like here, but expensive points wise.

Emperor's Champion - This guy will tear up any Melee combat. The problem is getting him there. With only 2 wounds you will want to attach him to a big unit to make sure he doesn't die before hand.
The other problem is, that while he will dominate almost any challenge, this doesn't stop your opponent from denying the challenge, unless of course you're playing against Chaos.

Chapter Master - Just wow. Extra Wound, Extra Attack for 5 points more. Worth it.
You can literally use this guy to build any type of HQ you need.
Also, there is the fact that if you put him on a Bike, you can technically fire normal weapons, then fire orbital bombardment, and then assault in the same turn thanks to the Relentless special rule.

Captain - Same exact stats as last time, but 10 points cheaper. I like things that are cheaper.

Terminator Captain - For when you just have to have a Captain in Terminator armor...whenever that may be.

Librarian - The fact that they lost access to Divination is upsetting. And to get a decent invulnerable save on him, you basically have to double his points immediately.
Since the removal of divination, their job roles in my opinion have completely changed, and I can see a lot of people going other directions with them now.

Chaplain - Almost exactly the same as before. The addition of Zealot is nice.

Master of the Forge - My favorite so far. I love this choice, as I always look for value. How much can I get for the fewest points. The more points I can save here, the more I will have to use in other places.

Pros:
- Only 90 points.
- 2+ Save
- Has a Bolt Pistol, Boltgun, and Servo-Harness with a built in Plasma cutter and Flamer so he can basically adapt to any enemy.
- Bolster Defenses now allow you to bolster ANYTHING besides a fortification up to a 3+. Who does't love the possibility of 3+ cover saves in ruins, or 4+ forest saves? That's like an extra Aegis defense line.
- 3+ Blessing Rolls if Iron Hands is chosen.

Cons:
- No Invulnerable save unless you take a relic.
- Only 2 wounds.

Conclusion:
Personally I love the possibilities right now with a Master of the Forge and some Iron Hands.
The league I play in on Thursday nights is 2000 points, Dual Force Organization. Tomorrow night will be taking advantage of this and running the following list.

HQ

Master Of the Forge
Terminator Librarian - Mastery Level 2 (Biomancy)

Troops
5 Man Tactical Squad in a Razoback with Twinlinked Lascannon
5 Man Tactical Squad in a Razoback with Twinlinked Lascannon
5 Man Tactical Squad in a Rhino
5 Man Tactical Squad in a Land Raider

Elites
5 Thunderhammer & Storm Shield Terminators in a Land Raider Crusader with Multimelta

Heavy Support
Devastator Squad with 4 Missile Launchers
Vindicator with Siege Shield
Predator with Autocannon and Lascannon sponsons
Predator with Autocannon and Lascannon sponsons

Aegis Defense Line with Quad Cannon

Strategy:
5 Man in the rhino will be in reserves to come in for late game objective grabs.

The Master of the Forge goes in the Landraider with the 5 Man Tactical squad. His ability to regen Hull points on a 3+ should keep it mobile and causing devastation every turn.

The ability for him and his unit to assault out if needed to Flame an objective clear, and then steal it, is nice as well.

The Librarian is rolling on Biomancy and attaching to the Terminators in the Land Raider Crusader.
I'm  hoping for Endurance to give his whole unit Feel No Pain, or Iron Arm.
(I have considered going with Pyromancy Powers as well as they could be devastating against Tau.)
This units role is to clog up my opponents lines or take out some riptides and Wraithknights if needed.

When I build a list, I always start with the question of "Can this beat Tau or Eldar right now?" and I think this list should be fairly well. With the amount of Lascannon fire, the Riptides and Wraithknights of the world should fall quickly, then its just mop up duty.

I think it may struggle against flyers, and as much as it pains me, I have thought about dropping the rhino and giving the Devastators Flakk missiles, but that's crazy talk right?

I'll be posting a bat rep on Friday hopefully so I'll let everyone know how it goes.

Other Items of note:

- I think the Skyspear Missile Launcher is better than people think.
- Crusader Squads are extremely good.
- Sternguard are good, but can get really pricey very quick.
- Bike Armies in some shape or fashion will be everywhere.
- Almost everything is cheaper point wise. If you play against Space Marines frequently, then get ready to face even more of them on the table now.

For example, let's compare Blood Angels to New Space Marines.
If we compare a 5 man Tactical squads in a Razorbacks with Lascannons, for the same price Blood Angels can run 2 of those units, Space Marines can run 3 of them with the same exact stats, except that the Blood Angels are fast...that's it.

Grav-Guns
One big controversy so far is the Grav-gun,  and whether or not vehicles get cover saves against it.

My opinion of this debate is that, as of right now, No. Here's Why.

BRB says this: "If the target is obscured and suffers a glancing or penetrating hit, it must take a cover save against it, exactly like a non-vehicle model would do against a wound"

Grav Gun says: "When resolving a hit against a vehicle, roll a D6 for each hit instead of rolling for Armour penetration as normal. On a 1-5 nothing happens, but on a 6, the target suffers an immobilized result and loses a single Hull Point."

Since the Grav-Gun does not technically cause Penetrating or Glancing hits, there is nothing to roll against.

Is this dumb? Most people will say yes, but if you actually read how the Grav technology work it makes sense.

I do believe enough people will complain that GW will FAQ it soon

If this is the way it was intended to be used, then it would explain why Centurions are so expensive point wise, and why they have the limited range.

Warhammer Fantasy: Tale of Gamers

The Warhammer Fantasy: Tale of Gamers escalation league at my FLGS has finally come to an end. After 3 months I've managed to build a fully painted, 3000+ point army for about a 1/4th of the cost of what it would normally retail for. That's a major score right there. As an added bonus I learned I really like Warhammer Fantasy and got to meet some cool new people. I only wish our store had more players interested Fantasy. Going into the last game, Ogre Kingdoms were leading the pack with my Daemons of Chaos just behind. If I won the game, we would tie for the league and split the $100 prize. The real prize however, was getting our units for 1/2 price or free if we were the MVP of the week during the coarse of the league. Needless to say, I was already happy wether I had won or lost the last game. Here's the list I used in the last game:

Lords
Daemon Prince of Nurgle

• Daemon of Nurgle
• Level 3 Wizard 
• Chaos Armour
• Daemonic Flight
• Exalted Gift 

Heroes 

Herald of Tzeentch

• Level 2 Wizard (Lore of Metal) 

Herald of Nurgle

• Greater Locus of Fecundity  
• BSB - Razor Standard 

Epidemius

Karanak

Core
14x Pink Horrors of Tzeentch

• Iridescent Horror
• Standard Bearer 
• Musician

38x Plague Bearers

• Plagueridden 
• Musician
• Magic Standard Bearer – Banner of Discipline 

Special
3x Beast of Nurgle

3x Beast of Nurgle

9x Flesh Hounds of Khorne

Rare
Skull Cannon of Khorne

Soul Grinder

• Mark of Nurgle 

In the end the Daemons would defeat the Ogre Kingdom to tie for 1st. I was very happy with this league and it was a nice little break from 40k. But now I have the itch again and I'm ready to jump back into 40k headlong. The next few weeks are open play at the store for 40k. I'll be practicing with my new Eldar/Tau list which was featured in the last battle report between Makers and I. This weekend is also a Rogue Trader tournament at the store. I'm looking to possibly mix it up and bring a list that I think will win the Painting category and just have a bit fun with a few units I wouldn't normally run. 

40K: Battle Report - Chaos Daemons vs Eldar/Tau

On Friday night I met up with Capnmoe at his house for a "Test Game." He recently assembled his Eldar/Tau army, and I recently picked up my new Keeper of Secrets, so of course we had to test them out.

Makers List:
Fateweaver
Keeper of Secrets - Mastery Level 3, 2 Greater Rewards
10 Pink Horrors
10 Plaguebearers
15 Flesh Hounds
Slaanesh Daemon Prince - Wings, Armor, Mastery Level 3, Greater Reward (Lash), Exalted Reward
Slaanesh Daemon Prince - Wings, Armor, Mastery Level 3, Greater Reward (Lash), Exalted Reward
Slaanesh Daemon Prince - Wings, Armor, Mastery Level 3, Greater Reward (Lash), Exalted Reward

CapnMoe's List:
Farseer - Singing Spear, Jetbike
Farseer - Singing Spear, Jetbike
6 Warlocks on Jetbikes as a Seer Council
Tau Commander - Command and Control Node, Puretide Engram Neurochip, Multi-Spectrum Sensor Suite, Twin-Linked Missile Pods, Target Lock
Riptide - Ion Accelerator, Twin Linked Fusion Gun, Stimulant Injector, Early Warning Override
10 Dire Avengers - Exarch with a TL Shuriken Catapult
3 Guardian Jetbikes - Shuriken Cannon
10 Firewarriors - Shas'ui
10 Firewarriors - Shas'ui
3 Broadsides - High Yield Missile Pods, Twin-linked Smart Missile Systems, 6 Missile Drones
Wraithknight - Scatter Laser, Suncannon and Scattershield
Aegis Defense Line - Quad Cannon

I rolled for my powers.
Fateweaver: Inferno/Perfect Timing - Invisibility/Iron Arm
Keeper of Secrets: Psychic Shriek, Dominate, Hallucination - Touch of Uncreation, Corpulence
(Red) Slaanesh Prince - Enfeeble, Life Leech, Warp Speed - Warp Tether
(Grey) Slaanesh Prince - Enfeeble, Hemorrhage, Warp Speed - Portaglyph
(Mini-Me) Slaanesh Prince - Endurance, Iron Arm, Life Leech - Grimore or True Names
Pink Horrors - Bolt of Change

CapnMoe rolled for his powers:
Farseer - Death Mission, Doom, Eldritch Storm (Warlord)
Farseer - Fortune, Guide, Prescience
Warlock - Embolden/Horrify
Warlock - Embolden/Horrify
Warlock - Protect/Jinx
Warlock - Conceal/Reveal
Warlock - Conceal/Reveal
Warlock - Empower/Enervate

Game was Relic
Deployment was Dawn of War.
I won the roll off to pick sides and to go first.
No Night Fight.


Makers Deployment:
I deployed the Plaguebearers in cover and my Horrors on the other side of them to run up behind the small building on the right.
Flesh Hounds in the middle, so that I could scout move them up into the area terrain to draw fire.
I made sure to deploy the princes and Fateweaver out of range of his Broadsides.
I kept nothing in reserves, and had everything on the table to avoid the intercept on the Riptide.

Capnmoe's Deployment:
I deployed everything  behind the aegis except for the Seer Council and Farseers. They were placed in the back corner as far away from any of this shooting as possible. I didn't want to loose any before I could get their powers up. I decided to put the jet bikes on the table which is something I normally wouldn't do, but they're great at grabbing the relic turn 1.

Before the game started, the Flesh hounds scout moved up just behind the area terrain in front of the Aegis Defense Line.

Daemons Turn 1
Makers Typing:

Fateweaver goes Invisible and Iron Arm is successful.
Mini-Me Prince successfully casts Iron Arm and Endurance.
Warpspeed successful on other 2 Princes....because you just never know...
Grimore is Successful on the Hounds giving them the 3++ saves.
I try to drop the Portaglyph behind the building, in the middle to the right so that I can spawn more troops each turn and get a huge horde of troops on the Relic, but it scatters 12" to the right side of the board in front of the Grey Prince and Fateweaver instead.

I move Mini-Me and the Red Prince up behind cover on the left, knowing I can stay out of Line of Sight of his guns, and still be able to Vector Strike his lines next turn.

I move the plaguebearers up to the edge of the cover they are currently in knowing he will make a move for the Relic first.
The 10 horrors move over to get a shooting lane on his Dire Avengers.

The Grey Prince swoops up the right hand side of the board for some turn 2 vector strikes and Lashes.

Fatewaver, now invisible, swoops up behind the building in the middle of the horrors.

The Keeper of Secrets moves up behind the Flesh Hounds.

The Flesh Hounds move up to within 1" of the defense line, to make sure they can make the assault next turn.

Shooting Phase Begins and I roll on the Warp Storm table.
I roll an 11.
We agree to randomly select one by using Dice Rolls.
Ends up being his warlord.
He fails the Leadership test.
Instant Death and Spawns me a Tzeetch Herald.
And so without even having to attack something yet...I just clinched First Blood, Slay the Warlord, and Line Breaker...

I fire off a couple shots from the Horrors and the Tzeentch Herald and manage to take out a few Dire Avengers but that's about it.


Eldar/Tau Turn 1 -
Capnmoe Typing

Stupid Warp Storm table...sad times. So my spirit was kind of crushed by his first turn, but I refused to go down without a fight. I cast Guide on the Riptide and Prescience on a unit of Fire Warriors. The rest of the powers all went off on the Council. Sadly I forgot to overcharge the Riptide. It was my first time using him and forgot to do it. Lesson learned. So at this point I have 15 dogs sitting right in front of me so getting rid of them was priority number one. The Council moved up to get position for shooting the dogs but would end up turbo boosting into the daemons deployment zone. Wraithknight moved out 12". The jet bikes moved on to the relic and picked it up while also setting up to shoot the dogs. Dire Avengers moved toward the grey prince and run. They shoot doing 1 wound but fail to knock him out of the sky. I overcharge the Riptide's Ion Accelerator and roll a gets hot result...damn. Good thing it was Guided so I rerolled, and was fine. Dropped a large blast on the doggies killing a few. Everything else shoots the dogs as well. By the end of my shooting I had killed 10.

Daemons Turn 2
Makers Typing

All Blessings are successful.
I chose to go with Perfect Timing on Fateweaver this time to try to get some shots in as well.

The Grey Prince casts Enfeeble on the Dire Avengers.
The Red Prince casts Enfeeble on the WraithKnight.
The Keeper of Secrets successfully casts Dominate on the Riptide, and then casts Hallucination on the Broadsides which pins them.

Grimore is successful on the hounds.
Portaglyph spawns me 5 horrors, who get Bolt of Change.

I move Mini-Me up the left flank and vector strike 1 unit of firewarriors taking out a few of them.

The Red Prince cant make the line now, but is able to vector strike the WraithKnight which causes 1 wound.

The Grey Prince moves up behind his line to take out the Dire Avengers.

Fatweaver moves to the upper right hand side of the board, to where the Grey Prince was, for a nice firing lane on the Dire Avengers.

The Plague Bearers move up toward the relic, with 1 unit of horrors following in right behind them.

The Keeper of Secrets is able to move up and over the the defense line successfully.

Nothing really happens from the Warp Storm table this turn, but it has already served its purpose this game.

The Grey Prince casts Hemorrhage on the Dire Avengers which are enfeebled, but he makes the toughness test...a sign of things to come.

Fateweaver tries to cast Inferno on the Dire Avengers and he denies it.
So he tries to cast Flickering Fire on them instead and he denies that as well...I guess they are tired of being picked on.

The unit of 10 horrors cast Bolt of Change and manages to take out 1 bike on the relic.

The unit of 5 horrors cast Bolt of Change, trying to take out the Dire Avengers and manages to take out 2 of them...finally.

The Tzeentch Herald tries to shoot the firewarriors but doesn't manage to do anything.

The Flesh Hounds multi-assault both units of firewarriors successfully and lose 3 to over watch leaving only 2 models left. A few firewarriors fall, and so does 1 hound. Leaving me with only 1 hound from that unit still alive.

The Keeper of Secrets Assaults in and chops up some more fire warriors. The fire warriors units both fail morale and are swept off the board.

Slowly but surely I'm taking out his troops. If I can get them dead then he can't beat me.

Eldar/Tau Turn 2
Capnmoe Typing

Things look pretty bleak at this point but I still have the relic and I still have some fight left in me. The council powers up getting off and also casts Horrify on the Plague Bearers and Guide on the Wraithknight. The Riptide nova charges and takes the 4d6 assault move. The jet bikes start moving toward the back corner of the board as far away from his MC's as they can get. The council moves into position for the multi charge into the Plague Bearers and Pink Horrors. The Wraithknight jumps across the ruins. The dire Avengers get the hell out of dodge and start moving away from the Keeper of Secrets and the Grey Prince toward the middle of the board. The pinned broadsides all unload on Mini-Me and take him down to 1 wound, he manages to stay in the air. The Riptide fires at Mini-Me, misses with the ion accelerator, but connects with the twin linked fusion blaster. He, of course, makes his invulnerable save and stays in the air leaving me feeling bitter. The Wraithknight fires on the unit of 10 Pink Horrors and wipes it off the board. The council kills 5 Plague Bearers with shooting before assaulting in and killing the unit. The jet bikes turbo boost an extra 6" toward the corner. The riptide jumps 18" inches from behind the line with its Nova Charged assault move.

Daemons Turn 3
Makers Typing.

At this point the beers are starting to flow pretty well and I'm able to focus my forces and cherry pick his army piece by piece. When he moved his WraithKnight up and the Riptide in behind him, he was basically grouping up his forces for me, which is exactly what I wanted.

All my powers are successful again, and Fateweaver casts Perfect Timing on himself.
No troops from the Portaglyph this turn, even with the reroll.

The Grey Prince casts Enfeeble on the Broadside unit.
The Red Prince casts Enfeeble on the Riptide.

Hallucination is successful on the Broadsides as well from the Keeper of Secrets, and  they can no longer attack in close combat.
I think he casted Dominate on something else but Capnmoe denied it.

Mini-Me swoops straight down the back of his board, behind the Dire Avengers and vector strikes take out a few drones and 1 Broadside.

Grimore is successful on Fateweaver making him virtually Invincible, and he swoops straight up into the middle of the fight, vector striking the Dire Avengers along the way to take out another 3 of them.

The Single Hound moves up within 1" of the Broadsides as well, because...well he has nothing else to do.
The Herald moves over to watch the party.

Warp Storm Gives all my Daemons a +1 to Invulnerable saves!

Fateweaver continues his rampage, goes Beast Mode and decimates the 2 jetbikes on the Relic, leaving Capnmoe only the Dire Avengers left.

Mini-Me lashes down a few drones to thin the squad and the Grey Prince lashes down another drone and a broadside.

The Grey Prince assaults into the broadsides first to soak up the overwatch shots, and manages to come out unscathed. 

The Keeper of Secrets assaults in as well, and together they wipe out the entire unit, leaving the hound kind of sad he didn't get to do anything.

The Red Prince assaults into the Riptide, tying it up in close combat and manages to cause a wound thanks to Warp Speed.

Mini-Me rolls on "It will not die" and gains back a wound to end the turn!

Eldar/Tau Turn 3

Capnmoe Typing

I attempt to cast powers but only manage to get prescience on the Wraithknight and Conceal and Protect on the Council. Not a great turn for psychic powers. The Wraithknight moved over and would eventually assault the red prince hoping to cut the Riptide out of combat. The Dire Avengers move and run towards the relic. The Dire Avengers and Seer Council all shoot at the Keeper of Secrets taking him down to 4 wounds. The Red Prince would end up killing the Riptide and the Wraithknight would end up killing the Red Prince in close combat. The Seer Council assaults the Keeper of Secrets and takes him down to 1 wound.

Daemons Turn 4
Makers Typing

Mini-Me was able to cast Iron Arm and Endurance on himself.
The Grimore was successful on the Keeper of Secrets.

Warp Speed was also successful on the Grey Prince.

At this point Capnmoe conceded defeat as there was really no way he could win. Fateweaver and Mini-Me were going to destroy the unit of Dire Avengers, and the Grey Prince and the Keeper of Secrets would be assaulting into the Seer Council. His only real option was to sweep me off the table and that just wouldn't be possible with only 2 units. Plus, I still had the possibility of creating more troops from the warpstorm table or the Portaglyph and making it to the Relic if I chose Daemonettes.

I still had 4 Monstrous Creatures up, and with the Keeper having Fleshbane and Preferred Enemy Eldar, the council wouldn't be lasting too much longer, especially when you add in another Daemon Prince with Warp Speed and Mini-Me moving in right afterwards.

Also the fact that the Red Prince was on his way back into the game from Warp Tether.

Victory Daemons!

After Game thoughts

Makers:
- Keeper of Secrets is a Bad Ass. Considering he had the 2 worst possible Rewards, he still performed like a champ and I truly believe he is the key to beating Tau and Eldar which are some of the top tournament armies right now.
- Even with bad rolls on Biomancy, I still managed to pull out a win. Was really hoping to have more than 1 Daemon Prince with Iron Arm, but the combination of Enfeeble and Hemorrhage  is really nice on troops.
- I have been thinking about switching out the 15 Flesh Hounds for 9 Screamers, but it just amazes me how much damage that unit of 15 hounds can soak up. My opponent can't ignore them, but can't afford not to focus them either.
- Dire Avengers can go die in a fire. So many deny the witch rolls were made...
- Yes the first turn Warp Storm Table pretty much won me the game, but that's why we take Fateweaver for the rerolls right?

Capnmoe:
-Sometimes Warp Storm kicks you in the junk so hard that you feel like giving up, but you shouldn't.

- I was very impressed with the Seer Council over all. Fleshbane is great against monstrous creatures. I will be including them in all my Eldar lists for now.
- Wraithknight was everything I had expected it to be. It killed a unit of 10 Pink Horrors and a Daemon Prince on its own. Earned back every bit of the 300 points I spent on it.
- Pinned Broadsides with a tricked out Commander are still a shooting threat. Be warned.
- When playing against a Daemon army with this many threats I'm not sure gun lines have the power to stop the charge. I should have taken the Seer Council and Wraithknight into assault with his monstrous creatures on my turn 1. It would have been the only thing that could have stopped the loss of all my troops and Broadsides.
- Can't wait for a rematch to apply what I've learned.