X-Wing Expansion 4 Announced!

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=4645

40K: Tau For Tots Recap, Rants and Memories.

I have been debating as to whether or not to make this post, but I felt it was unfair to not follow up to my previous post.

Late last month CapnMoe and I had the privilege of attending a charity 40k tournament that was hosted by a few friends of ours known as Gateway Gamers.

This event consisted of 1000 point army lists and the only entry fee was to bring a toy for donation.

There were numerous door prizes for all players at no extra cost and all game boards were cut in half, so each game was on a 4'x4' area.

I believe there were about 30 people that showed up total, most of which were fellow gamers that we have had the pleasure of playing with for the past few years, so it was a very casual atmosphere.

I had only ever played Tau once before, and decided to bring them to this event to get some more practice in.

My List:
Commander - Puretide Engram Chip, Command and Control Node, Multi-Spectrum Sensor Suite
6 Firewarriors
6 Firewarriors
Riptide - Ion Accelerator, Smart Missile System, Early Warning Override, Stimulant Injector
Riptide - Ion Accelerator, Smart Missile System, Early Warning Override, Stimulant Injector
3 Broadsides - High Yield Missile Pods, Smart Missile Systems
Aegis Defense Line with a Quad Cannon

I have played in many tournaments throughout my gaming career, but this one would turn out to be different in so many ways.

It would contain both the best and worst gaming experiences of my life.

40k: Battle Report Daemons vs Orks

Hey Hey! I'm not dead! Hooray! 

Yea...Holidays, work, etc...

Real life gets in the way too much of my hobbies. 

Sorry for the long time no post but honestly...there is just SO much to talk about and I hate making posts that are only a paragraph or two long, and are mostly just complaining about the current state of the game.

Honestly with so many new things coming out like Codexes, Data Slates, Escalation, Stronghold, and on and on and on, the game has changed dramatically in the last few months. 

I'm still not sure if its for the better or for the worse, but time will tell.

(Personally I am against Escalation and Stronghold being used in regular games and tournaments, and don't get me started on things like Grimore of True Names being banned in tournaments...)

Anyways, finally had a chance to get in a game last week against so I decided to bring my Daemons for old times sake.

Game was Big Guns, Deployment was Dawn of War

My list:

Fateweaver - Prescience, Endurance, Spontaneous Combustion, Invisibility

Keeper of Secrets - Puppet Master, Hallucination, Invisibility (Dark Blessing, 4+ FnP)

10 Pink Horrors

10 Pink Horrors

15 Flesh Hounds

Slaanesh Prince - Wings, Armor, Lash - Enfeeble, Iron Arm, Warp Speed - Eternal Blade, Etherblade

Slaanesh Prince - Wings, Armor, Lash - Iron Arm, Warp Speed, Endurance - Grimore

Slaanesh Prince - Wings, Armor, Lash - Iron Arm, Warp Speed, Enfeeble - Portaglyh

His List give or take
Ghaz and 8 Nobz in Mega Armor with Power Klaws and 3 Combiflamers in a Deff Rolla
20 Shoota Boyz with some Big Shootas + Nob with a Power Klaw and a Boss Pole in a Deff Rolla
1 Trukk with 12 Shoota Boyz with a few Big Shootas + Nob with a Power Klaw and a Boss Pole
20 Shoota Boys with a Big Shoota + Nob with a Power Klaw and a Boss Pole
15 Lootas
5 Defkoptaz with Rokkits
3 Killa Kans

League Series Final Game Summary: Necrons Vs Adepta Sororitas/Inquisition

My final game of the league series ended up being against Adepta Sororitas. The game was kill points and 4 deep striking objectives that scattered 5d6 from the center at the start of the first 4 turns. Objectives would end up where the arrows are pointing in the picture below.

He had a giant unit of 20 sisters, Jacobus, and 4 Ministorum Priests that I had to take out asap. The majority of my turn one shooting was spent thinning this unit down. It would eventually fall to more gunfire in the 2nd turn.

The Wraiths took out the 8 Crusaders, Ministorum Priest, and Inquisitor in the Land Raider.

 He attempted to out flank 2 Immolators to get mass melta shots on my vehicles. Sadly for him his dice were super cold and he missed with almost everything failing to harm any of my units. In my shooting phase I would kill them both and both units that were inside.

Pushing Forward to take objectives.

I attempted to take down his flyer with one of mine but failed.

Disembarking onto objectives.

His flyers final attempt to shoot my guys off of an objective.

In the end I held 3 objectives, Line Breaker, Slay the Warlord, First Blood, and was well ahead on kill points. Victory for the Necrons. That put me at 5/5 for the league, my best finish so far. This weekend I also managed to qualify for the final game of the Titan Tournament in March. It seems all the practice with this army paid off.

40K December/January League: The Story So Far

With the next Titan Tournament qualifier being an 1850 no allies tournament, I thought Necrons would be the best choice for my personal play style. So, I decided that I would run pure Necrons for the next league to get some practice in. Here's the list:

HQ
Imotekh the Stormlord
Necron Destroyer Lord

• Warscythe 
• Sempiternal Weave
• Mind Shackle Scarabs

Royal Court
Harbinger of Despair

• Veil of Darkness

Elites

10x Deathmarks

• Night Scythe 

Troops
6x Necron Warriors

• Ghost Ark

6x Necron Warriors

• Ghost Ark

6x Necron Warriorsts

• Ghost Ark

6x Necron Warriors

• Night Scythe

Fast Attack
6x Canoptek Wraiths

• 2x Whip Coils

Heavy Support
Annihilation Barge
Annihilation Barge
Annihilation Barge

Week 1:

Opponent: Chaos Space Marines

Deployment: Dawn of War

Objectives: 3x Crusade Objectives + Purge the Alien

Abaddon was still standing at the end but not much of anything else for the Chaos Space Marines. Win for the Necrons.

Week 2:

Opponent: Tyranids

Deployment: Vanguard 

Objectives: Relic + Heavy Support Kills

Squished some bugs. Sadly this opponent has still not figured out how to make legal lists. Oh well, the evil robots still won soundly.

Week 3:

Opponent: Adepta Sororitas

Deployment: Hammer and Anvil

Objectives: 4x Crusade Objectives + Individual Line Breaker Units

Sisters have gotten SO much better. This was a close game. My opponent apparently forgot about his search lights until nearly the end of the game. With Imotekh making it night fight for the first few rounds, it could have been a game changer. I always say 40K is a game of remembering. Usually the player that remembers the most wins, and I remembered the most this game. Thats a win!

Week 4:

Opponent: Orks/Cypher and Chaos Chosen

Deployment: Dawn of War

Objectives: 4x Big Guns Never Tire Objectives + Purge the Alien (Heavy Support Worth 2)

This was only the 2nd or 3rd time I'd ever played Orks. Despite that fact, this game ended on turn 3 with a Necron victory.

So that's where I stand going into week 5. I'm currently 4/4. I don't know that I've ever had this good of a record during a league. I know I've never won a league series. Only 2 more games left. Hopefully I can keep up the momentum and bring home my first league series "W".

40k Battle Report: Chaos Space Marines/Daemons Vs. Adepta Sororitas/Imperial Guard

This week I got the chance to pound some ladies. Not something that happens all that often for me. Wacha Wacha!!! Seriously though, I got my first chance to play against the new Adepta Sororitas codex.

Deployment: Vanguard

Mission: Purge the Alien

My List (Chaos Space Marines/Daemons):

HQ
Daemon Prince (Warlord - Legendary Fighter) (Enfeeble, Warp Speed, Doom Bolt)

• Daemon of Tzeentch 
• Flight
• Armor
• Psyker Level 3
• Spell Familiar

Daemon Prince (Iron Arm, Life Leach, Doom Bolt)

• Daemon of Tzeentch 
• Flight
• Armor
• Psyker Level 3
• Spell Familiar

Keeper of Secrets (Invisibility, Dominate, Psychic Shriek)

• Psyker Level 3
• Greater Reward (+1 Wound, It Will Not Die)
• Greater Reward (3+ Armor)

Troops
10x Pink Horrors
10x Pink Horrors
6x Chaos Space Marines

• Plasma Gun

6x Chaos Space Marines

• Melta Gun

Fast Attack
Heldrake
Heldrake

Heavy Support
Soul Grinder

• Mark of Slaanesh
• Baleful Torrent

3x Obliterators

• Mark of Nurgle

Opponents List (Adepta Sororitas/Imperial Guard):

HQ
St. Celestine
Cannoness

• Mantel of Ophelia
• Rosarius
• Melta Bombs
• Power Sword

5x Sororitas Command Squad

• 5x Heavy Bolters

Primaris Psyker (Lightning Arc)

Troops 

5x Battle Sisters

• 2x Meltaguns
• Veteran Sister Superior with Melta Bombs
• Immolator
• Multi-melta 

5x Battle Sisters

• 2x Meltaguns
• Veteran Sister Superior with Melta Bombs
• Immolator
• Multi-melta 

5x Battle Sisters

• 2x Meltaguns
• Veteran Sister Superior with Melta Bombs
• Immolator
• Multi-melta 

5x Battle Sisters

• 2x Meltaguns
• Veteran Sister Superior with Melta Bombs
• Immolator
• Multi-melta 

10x Veterans

Heavy Support
Exorcist
Exorcist
Exorcist
2x Leman Russ Squadron

• Battle Tank
• Vanquisher with Knight Commander Ask

Fortification
Aegis Defense Line

• Icarus Lascannon

40k: Be'Lakor? Maybe for CSM...

Well this is something new, and what looks to be the future of GW.
Micro transactions and digital releases. I weep for those that still don't have smart phones or tablets.

Everyone pretty much knows the rules for him by now, if not they are as follows:

- Almost same price as a 20 pack of Flesh Hounds
- Same stat line as a base Daemon Prince, except that he is Leadership 10, which means he's the Warlord.
- Only has a 4++, no armor save whatsoever.

- Eternal Warrior and Shrouded
- Mastery Level 3 psyker, has access to all Telepathy powers
- Weapon has Fleshbane, Armourbane, is Master-Crafted, and give him +1 Strength
- If any enemy unit fails a morale check, he gets an extra D3 warp charges for that turn only

- Warlord trait applies a -1 modifier to your opponents Fear checks

- He has no mark of any of the 4 Greater Daemons.

I think the model looks pretty rad and have always considered purchasing one to use as a Daemon Prince in 40k, I could just never find the damn thing. Other than that, I am officially not on the band wagon. Yes new shiny things are always cool at first glance, but I like to dig deeper into the murk to find out what its about.

I will be speaking from a Daemon Players perspective here.

I don't play enough CSM to provide an accurate opinion of him, so I'm not going to just make some random predictions to get more page hits. 

First off, I love his Telepathy mastery. With access to everything he becomes one of the best support characters in the game. Able to buff or debuff as needed every turn., he provides high adaptability in all scenarios which is extremely nice when you don't know ahead of time who or what you will be in competition against.

Eternal Warrior and Shrouded are also nice here in terms of keeping him alive...but how reliable is it?

In my opinion, its not enough to justify his cost. 

At the end of the day, he is still a Toughness 5 creature with 4 wounds and only a 4++ to save his ass.

Let's say I'm facing him with Tau. 

If my Firewarriors get Line of Sight on him, they'll be forcing grounding test on him, or Pathfinders can  with Markerlights. After that he has a 50/50 chance to save whatever else I shoot him with. Hell, you could almost take him down with a small unit of Pathfinders and Firewarriors.

Oh! And the fact that Tau have this weapon available to half of their army called a Smart Missile System. It's just a S5 weapon that ignores cover...and doesn't require Line of Sight. 

Another major issue is that he becomes your Warlord over Fateweaver. This is completely unacceptable as any competitive Daemon player will tell you that Fateweaver's Warlord trait is game changing in and of itself.

Also he has no "mark" which means he doesn't unlock Daemon Princes, and since you are still running Fateweaver for obvious reasons, your locked into Tzeentch Princes. 

Which aren't bad, they just aren't my first choice.

I think if you run the Tzeentch Princes, then you are also basically locked into rolling Biomancy on them, and hoping for Endurance just so you can cast it on Be'Lakor. 

Which has now turned your army into..."If 1 happens then I might be able to do 2, if 2 happens then I might be able to do 3, if 3 happens then I might be able to 4, and I need 4 to happen so I can win."

Daemons are based on this strategy and the key to a good list is limiting the number of these steps, while trying to maintain, if one of the steps does fail. 

This is why Fateweaver is so important, to limit the bad things that happen to your army.

Personally, I will stick with my Mastery Level 3, 2 x Greater Reward, Keeper of Secrets. 

He costs, 90 points less....90!!...Unlocks Lash Princes in the Heavy slot, Still provides me 3 Telepathy power per turn, has a MUCH better stat line, Fleet + 3", and Hatred Eldar.

So basically you get that, and a free unit of Horrors for the same price as Be'Lakor...ridiculous.

This game is all about value. Getting the most out of your points. 

I think Be'Lakor removes too many options from my army, and costs too much for what he is.

Maybe I'm just biased after seeing what a Grimore'd Keeper with Dark Blessing can do.

Well, that and Iron Arm'd Lash Princes are amazing.