New Year, New Models

Greetings everyone, I've just returned from the land of Westboro and sadly must admit to have neither brought them the Emperor's wrath nor the message of the Greater Good. But I do have good news for you; In my searching of the internet I found two pictures.

This is picture brings not only confirmation that GW is continually stepping up its game with the second wave of blood angels, but also some possible implicit confirmation of Grey Knights. I know GK have been the talk of the town for months, but assuming this is an actual sprue, this pic confirms some support for them atleast.

Look at the top two torso fronts in the picture, specifically the one on the left. You may need to expand and flip this picture on its side, but it sure looks to me like there's a book on the dread's right side. I don't know all that many chapters that use a book in their iconography (Dark Angels and Grey Knights, to my knowledge) and instead of the standard dread faceplate there seems to be an enlarged version of a psychic hood on that front plate. I could be wrong as Blood Angels have librarian dreads, but I'd rather hope to be right on this one especially for ZerkeX's sake as he's had a shitty end of the year.

Dramatt will be happy when he looks in the bottom left of the picture as well. Those seem to be some sparkly little blood talons for him. As much as I hate Blood Angels for continually kicking my ass, I will eat about half a crow concerning what I said earlier about the leaked Storm Raven picture. That picture may have been about as representative as a zoom shot on the back door of a wave serpent. This next treat actually looks like it could have some meat to it, rather than being the vehicular equivalent of a servo-skull in terms of balance. I'm not sure if I'll like it more than the flying land raider everyone thought it was going to be, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be.

Santa wishes he had a sleigh like this! Happy new year to you all!

Holidays!

From all of us at Rites of Battle, we wanted to wish everyone happy holidays. We hope your choppas are still choppy, and your bolters still bolty.

So go out and spread some Christmas dakka!

Machinegun "Techno" Eldar, pt. 2

If you haven't read the first part of this article take a few minutes and have a look.

And when we've got a theme going, why not keep it rolling? It may be a bad theme, but getting some more strength 6 shots brings more shots that can wreck transports or slaughter their contents. I've run out of heavy support slots and can't really get more strength six out of my elites and only mediocre amounts out of troops choices, so I have to turn to the one part of the Eldar codex I hate, the fast attack section. Once again, I've got to give credit to my friend B from the Keep, he used warp spiders before I started using my Eldar and gave me a reason to respect them. Now they are packing 6/- guns, but each gun has two shots, so I can get twenty out of one squad.

Warp Spiders have a tactic that doesn't spring to mind when you look at them. They don't come dual armed, nor do they have the option for grenades and only the exarch can buy a power weapon, but with the exarch power withdraw warp spiders can be a worthwhile assault unit. Don't get me wrong, they won't stand up to assault units from other codices or even their own, but they can be used for defensive assaulting. Instead of letting that squad of assault marines assault you, charge them! This takes away their bonus attack for charging and gives it to you. After a round of death spinners the unit will probably be weakened to the point that you can pass your leadership, should you lose combat or you may even win. During the opponent's turn stay locked in combat, depriving the enemy of their movement and possibly finishing them off. At the end of their assault phase don't roll a six on your Hit and Run test and you get 3D6 movement in any direction. I generally don't like the exarch upgrade, but this tactic and the avenger bladestorm are well worth buying the exarch for.

That brings us to the necessary parts of the force organization chart, troops and headquarters. Eldar have a variety of troops choices, but only two are coming to the techno party, with a third at lower points. Not on the invite list are guardians/storm guardians for different reasons. Guardians don't get to come because they have flimsy armor, mediocre ballistic skill and pathetic range, barring a weapons platform. They can hold down a point, but rangers can do it better and for about the same points. Storm guardians can bring some anti-heavy tank in the troops slot, a rarity for Eldar, but it costs them 92 points to bring two meltaguns. If I wanted a close combat Eldar army, I'd bring these guys but as is they aren't needed for anti-tank.

Rangers make the invite list, but only five. These guys may not seem like a fitting choice in a mechanized army, but their ability to stay static and fire while being somewhat durable is an asset. Yeah, they don't have any strength six for my strength six army theme, but they can wound monstrous creatures as is they were strength six (or eight for the wraithlord) and they have blown up a rhino for me.

Their rules lend them to staying in a crater all game, but on Capture and Control that is a gift straight from Khaine. Without upgrading them to Pathfinders they have Move Through Cover and Stealth, with the upgrade they gain an additional bonus to their cover save and ignore difficult terrain. For 95 points I can throw these guys on a point and have them kiss the dirt to stay alive all game. These guys can't move much if they want to kill anything, so they can Infiltrate where they want to. If they can hold down one point and not attract attention, they've done their job which isn't so much to kill anything, but to take the responsibility of holding a rear point so my other troops choices can move forward and fight.


At lower points levels I may bring some guardian jetbikes, but at 2000 they don't bring enough fire power for my tastes. They are durable (for Eldar) and can move quickly, but they only bring a eight catapult shots and six cannon shots for 152 points. For the same amount I can bring the most feared and in my opinion best Eldar troops unit, the avenger bladestorm squad. Consisting of nine avengers, exarch with two guns and the bladestorm power this can put out 44 strength four shots over two turns or 32 shots in a single turn albeit at the cost of the next turn's shooting. I bring two of these squads to be able to claim up to three objectives. I don't expect to ever be able to claim a full three, but if I can claim one and contest the rest I'll win. In my experience from playing Tau says the best way to hold a point is to clear it's occupants and then stroll up, no need for orky fightin. But even as good as dire avengers are, they can't do it by themselves.

This lady and her sister is the linchpin of my Eldar army. The farseer is one of the worst psychers in terms of personal destructive power, but they bring obscene buff spells to the table. The best two for my army are guide and doom, allowing one unit to re-roll to hit when shooting and allowing any roll to wound a unit to re-roll until the beginning of my next turn, respectively. These gals ride with the avengers both to buff their shooting and leadership. With so much strength six in the army doom doesn't always make itself known when fighting marines, but if I get fight Tyranids, having re-rolls against those toughness six monsters will help and it makes bladestorm half again as powerful against most troops. Marines may not know fear, but my ladies do; they fear pyschic negation. I stopped running my seer council because of getting tired of being negated so much, so when I decided to replace them I wanted a back up seer to make sure if nothing else that doom went through.

The last part of my army is possibly more widely hated than bladestorming avengers, fire dragons. One of our other Eldar players, Meister Kei, swears by these guys and brings three squads to every game. I only wanted to bring two and I know that's going to bite me in some games. With no lances, these guys are my answer to armor fourteen, with the exception of the fire prisms. They are an automatic part of every Eldar army if you ask the internet, and it's hard to argue with a squad of five meltaguns for 80 points. These poor, unfortunate souls have the shortest life expectancy of any unit in the Eldar codex and when your average warm body is tough three with a 4+ save, that's saying something. These guys fly up to a land raider, cook it and pray the guys inside are pinned. They seem to be made to suffer, it's their lot in life.

But there you have it, my latest take on the dying race that used to control the galaxy. So far I've played three very fun games with it against B, ZerkeX and Anthony, losing every one. I underestimated B's beastmaster squad and wasn't able to stop him from dropping a webway portal that brought in suppression fire on my wave serpent before annihilating them. ZerkeX managed to keep his blood claws holding a point and getting a lone wolf to my lines that I simply couldn't kill (tough five, Feel No Pain, two wounds and terminator armor). Anthony's orky boyz held his point and I couldn't get a last exarch close enough to hold a point, but my farseer did punch out a deff dread without dying. I don't know if this army will be better than the seer council, but it certainly is more fun to play with and in the end that matters most.

Machinegun "Techno" Eldar

You may remember Loki's article a while back about playing units you like whether or not they are "good," where he pointed out my love of the seer council. Alas that romance seems to have seen its last days after one too many turns without fortune turning the unit into an expensive smear on the ground. An offer from a friend to buy the squad prompted me to question what I would do with the points.

I wanted to keep most of the same models to keep costs down, but that leaves a large gap in points and only a few openings. What I did have (fire dragons, dire avengers and fire prisms) gave me a definite bias toward shooting over close combat, but I needed something fill the points that fit with that theme. I didn't want to buy another squad of fire dragons, good though they are. The problem I had seemed to be having wasn't killing transports, but killing what comes out. Infantry killing, especially marine killing, has two ways to go: Rate of Fire and Save Denial.

Save Denial
Easier to do against units with horrible saves (5+, 6+), this method relies on bringing weapons that have an AP value equal to or lower than the target's armor save value. The plasma gun is one of the best examples of save denial and is available to most armies' troops in one form or another. Since I can't get any plasma without taking fragile troops in the form of guardians, taking vypers which I'm selling to another friend for his Dark Eldar army's venoms or giving up my bright lances I can't really justify going this route. It's not a bad way to kill infantry, but with cover becoming more prevalent in 5th edition, Save Denial has lost a lot of it's appeal.

A guardsman in a crater might as well have carapace armor unless you have a way of denying his cover save because he can choose to take his 4+ cover save . If he chooses, that guardsman can hit the deck and have just as good a chance of dodging a railgun as a marine has of taking a lasgun in the chest. I'll save the rant on guardsmen blobs with stealth for Loki, he does it better. Whether or not you think this should or shouldn't be (what we call a normative statement in economics), this is a provable fact of playing 40k in 5th edition (a positive statement) and when I build lists I try to stay positive in my thinking and outlook.

Rate of Fire
The other way to go about killing infantry or tanks. You don't need to have high strength weapons like railguns or meltaguns to kill heavy armor, though you need 216 missile launcher hits to kill a Land Raider Crusader. If you have a weapon whose strength is equal to your opponent's armor value minus five, you can kill that vehicle with one shot. It's not a good chance, but it is a chance. So you've got lower strength weapons, what makes these weapons worth taking instead of weapons to deny saves? Weapons that have lower strength generally have a higher rate of fire to compensate. If your weapon can take the -5 test and can boast a higher rate of fire, you've got multiple chances of which you only need one to achieve your goal.

For my Eldar, I decided to take a gamble and drop my faithful bright lances from my wave serpents to solve my problem with infantry. I'm losing my chance at save denial and wounding monstrous creatures on a 2+, but if I can keep a decent strength on more shots I can try to force my opponent to roll saves and the dice may favor me more. If I wanted to go halfway between rate of fire and save denial I could opt for the star cannon, a nice two shot 6/2 weapon, but where's the fun in that?
Instead I'm loading the serpent turrets with scatter lasers (maybe subwoofers later) and upgrading the underslung catapults for a shuriken cannon. Instead of having one 8/2 lance shot each serpent can bring seven 6/5 or 6 shots with the four 6/6s being twin linked. Honestly, the odds are pretty bad even against rhinos, about a 1 in 6 shot of destroying but it is oddly better than a single lance shot. Where the scatter laser / cannon combo really comes into its own is against horde armies like the one I played against tonight. I lost, but it was a refreshing sight to see an ork mob reduced to failing a morale test in one shooting phase.

Now I don't claim this as my idea, another friend at the Keep was the first person I saw use this unit to devastating effect and like any good teacher, I stole it. The concept is simply rate of fire turned up to eleven, as Eldar love to do it better. Fitting in my last heavy support slot and coming in at a relatively small 180 points is a unit of three war walkers with two scatter lasers. Unlike their more stompy cousin the wraithlord, these come in a squadron and can take two of the same guns without twin linking them. While they are still ballistic skill three, this unit can pump out 24 6/6 shots a turn. On average that's enough to force ten armor saves on marines, go and do the math I'll wait. Forcing saves doesn't mean killing, but it does give a chance to kill, especially the special weapon, heavy weapon and sergeant out of a tactical squad. They may all live, they may all die, but forcing those saves gives me a shot at killing them where a save denial weapon would guarantee my killing a non-essential model.


I've been rambling long enough for one night, so look for a second part coming over the weekend. Feel free to chip in and give your thoughts. If I might as well be putting underwear on my head and thinking it's a hat tell me, won't you?

Inside Look: Dark Eldar Raider

Hello Everyone. After looking through some of the past articles, I remembered a spot I did looking into the new plastic Daemon Prince model. Having enjoyed opening and constructing some of the new Dark Eldar models, I thought this would be a good chance to give everyone a look into the new models. The most notable being the Raider, I figure it's a good place to start.

So right off the bat when opening the new kit, it looks daunting. There are a lot... and I mean A LOT of little bits for this thing. This was a scary moment for me, but I must say that GW really stepped it up on the instruction booklet. It was a very simple process to follow step by step, and before I knew it, my raiders were assembled and ready for action.

The body of this agile beast is pretty sturdy, and I'm sure it could handle a few oops moments. The extra gubbin's on the other hand are far less durable. The trophy racks, the blades, and the thin chains that dangle from the sides and bottom are very fragile. I can easily see these bits breaking within the first couple trips outside the homestead without an exorbitant amount of padding... and even then the padding may break them off!

The detail is unparalleled in a vehicle. Most, if not all the options for the raider are present (and the ones that aren't can be found in the Ravager Kit). Every inch of this new model is eye candy, and as I said when looking at the Sanguinary Guard models... GW has really stepped up the detail. Of these new details, the addition of the sail was interesting. At first I was not a fan, but looking at the model itself, I must say it does provide a nice look to the new design. And between the Raider and the Ravager, there are plenty of sails to chose from.

The biggest upgrade to me was nothing on the model itself. The new ball-joint flying bases are brilliant! No more snapping problems, and it allows these floating barges to have more angled and varied looks to them. I hope these become the new main stream for skimmers GW produces in the future.

I must say this model is a great new piece to the dark armies of Commorragh. I myself was shocked at the amount of love I find myself having for these little guys, and I mean little (they're tiny!).

Cheers!

The Crusades Part VI

Revisions to the original Post have been made in light of the newest FAQ. These revisions will appear in red

Greetings to all you crazed 40k players out there, and welcome to Part VI of the Crusades. Last time I covered the agile fast units and transport vehicles, so lets look at the bulkier units today. We're looking at selections ranging from the big daddy heavy shells fired from the back field, to the megaton transports shoving the killiest of killy right down the enemy's throat. that's right, it's time to look at the Heavy Support section of the Black Templars codex.


Heavy Support
Just like all codexes out there, this unit's title sums it's roll up very nicely. The units chosen from here are those that answer the big shots that make your enemy worry about his little space men/monsters/robots/bugs/whatevers! Often these are the primary targets the enemy will seek to silence before they can cause too much harm to their own forces. Within the Black Templar Codex, each has a specific roll to play in an army's construction, much like other marine codexes out there. However, I feel that some have a larger roll to play over others based on the style of the Black Templars. So what's the selection look like?

The Vindicator
Probably the biggest of the big shots, the Vindicator is a monster of a support unit. The threat of a 10 2 pie plate blasting the bajesus out of anything it looks at is already enough, but to rock a 13 front ark as well can make this baby a pretty tough nut to crack. As far as punching a whole in the enemy's lines, it's hard to pass this option by.

Now, it is still for the most part a standard Vindicator, and so it's impressive strength is balanced by it's slow speed, and limited range of visibility. While some argue that a max 24" range (potential 30" when adding the movement in) is not very long, it can be very misleading. This can be a misconception to capitalize on. The one glaring difference I see when looking at this baby is it's lack of Siege Shield. This piece of wargear is a relatively new addition to the marine vidicators out there from 5th. And while no it can not purchase it, it still has access to the dozer blades... but remember, the old dozer blades only work when moving 6" or less. However, a vindicator will usually only be moving that or less to optimize it's use.

Now with that set back addressed, I can offer one amazing counter to it. This codex still has access to purchasing Power of the Machine Spirit for it's vehicles. It is pretty salty, but it does allow the vehicle to fire in the event it is shaken or stunned. This is amazing. Vehicles have the weakness of only getting to fire 1/6th of the time when the enemy hits the damage table against them, and even so they're now immobilized. This add-on gives it a remarkable 50/50 chance of firing. And now with the new rules for Power of the Machine Spirit, we maintain our normal BS4. I whole heatedly feel that you should run the PotMS in ever vindicator you can to keep these things throwing death as much as possible.

Overall, I have a special place in my heart (and my list) reserved for the Vindicator. If you want a tank that will not only cause psychological harm to the enemy, but also have the brute force to back that threat up, the Vindicator is a prime choice. Thumbs up here mates.


The Predator Annihilator / Destructor
I will start by saying these are two separate options in this codex, but as they are very similar I will cover both together. They perform the same basic rolls as the selections from any other marine counter part. But remember back when I said some options have a bigger roll than others? This is one of those moments.

Looking at Black Templar as a whole, the infantry units in the army have all the anti-infantry you could want. Generally having 2 attacks base, and 3 on the charge, all with the Preferred Enemy rule to back them, they can cover taking out the enemy footsloggers. As this is the roll of the Predator Destructor pattern as well, it's uses tend to bleed into something the army already has covered well. Of course it can be helpful to have the extra shots, and with the strength and ap value of the Heavy Bolter and Auto cannon, it will put the hurting on anything (even the Space Marines).

What the Black Templar Infantry need is a way to punch open enemy mech, or drop the big nasty MC's out there. And while the option of a special weapon like a meltagun or plasma gun can help with this, sometimes it just isn't enough. This is where the Annihilator comes in. Bringing 3 lascannons (of which one is TL'ed) to bear against the enemy, it can be pretty scary; and like all Preds, it boasts 13 front armor.

Now, as they are two different patterns, they both come with no side sponsons, and both patterns have the option to upgrade to either heavy bolters, or lascannons on the side. The only real difference is the turret mounted weapon which can not be changed. The Annihilator (TL LC) comes in at 20 points base over the Destructor. And here is where the new FAQ really hit the jackpot. the new rules for PotMS are unbelievably amazing for the Predators. Both benefit quite well from this perk for several reasons.

One the one hand, they can continue to fire at least one weapon (probably the turret mount in both cases) in the event they would not normally be allowed to fire. They can also use this perk to fire an additional weapon on the move. So move 6" and fire two weapons, or 12" and fire one. But above all else it's great to be able to fire at an additional target. So now the Destructor can fire HB's at troopers, and the Autocannon at another unit or even a vehicle; likewise the Annihilator can potentially crack two tanks in a single round.

Overall, they both look great, but I can only really recommend the Annihilator when building an assault based army for the above mentioned reasons. The new FAQ has increased both tanks ability by a substantial bit, but the Destructors still suffers from doing something the rest of the army already does well.


The Land Raider
This is once again a moment where I must say I find this unit a little less than ideal for the Templar. While still bringing 14 box armor, heavy fire power in the form of 2 TL LC's, and all while being a transport, I don't think it synergies well with the army, or even itself. This tank is a good ranged platform and can be used quite well from a distance or moving forward, but it just seems a little off to me; like it doesn't know what it wants to do. It also holds a max capacity of 10. This is a bit of a bummer to me as it is roughly 5 times the price of a rhino, with no bolster to it's capacity.

Overall, it has a place... well it has a few places, but in comparison with the Iconic next choice, I'm not a fan of this variant. But let me assure you in no way does my opinion make this a bad choice, just not my first.


The Land Raider Crusader
In my opinion, not enough good things can be said about this tank. First off this is a variant that was created by the Black Templar chapter itself. Second it hosts an impressive variety of shots (including a massive number of bolter shots which count as defensive weaponry). Third, it has a built in multi-melta, frag assault launchers, and extra armor for 15 points base over the standard pattern (making it 10 points cheaper than the alternative marine codex variants out there). Forth, it has the option to take Blessed Hull, nullifying the lance rule. With Dark Eldar now hitting the tables more with their recent update... this can prove quite handy on the table. Fifth, it has a capacity 15 (or 8 terminators), making it a superb transport that wants nothing more than to bring the pain to the enemy in the form of throat shoving goodness.

I just can't say enough about this tank. I love it, and just about ever list I run about 1,500 points has one in it somewhere. Generally it holds my Sword Brethren Assault terminators or a Command Squad with Helbrecht... and I have yet to really have many problems allowing it to serve it purpose. To me if you run Templar, a small portion of you should want to run this tank. Also, don't forget that darn near every unit may take one as a dedicated transport unit. While not particularly found of the land raid spam army... if you are, this codex, and this tank are made just for you.


So there you have it. Some of the heaviest shots around lie within this selection. Bringing death from a far while supporting the infantry of your own army is what these units are made for. And generally it shows.


And with that we have covered the standard options provided by the Black Templar codex. In the next and final part of The Crusades, we'll take a closer look at the Special Characters as well as a closing summery of the codex. So until then

Cheers!

Make your own Librarian

As I promised you, where is a WIP shot of my latest project, a librarian model made from spare bits and green stuff. He's taken a few hours to complete, not too difficult as far as green stuff conversions go, and I've probably got another half hour or so to make a column of energy to hold up his book in front of him. I took some hints from a post by Modeling, Painting and Gaming hosted over at From The Warp. MPG did a much better job with the cables than I did, but I'm satisfied with adding the cables inside the hood. If you're interested in how to make the hood all you need is a spare shoulder board, preferably a blank one, and some snips or a knife.

I'm still coming up with ideas for a name for him, currently in the running are Alexander and Alhazred, but I'd love to hear any suggestions from you all. I'm planning to include him as part of my penultimate installment my counts as salamanders. I tried to model him for the powers he'll be using (Null Zone and Might of the Ancients) and was wondering what you thought.

Echo

Well, the semester is winding down and hobby time is beginning to be found behind some rocks and in the dark recesses of the night.

Personally, I've just spend a few hours customizing a a marine into a librarian for my codex marine army (pictures coming later this week). There's a lot of work still to be done, but I managed to get a game in against dramatt this Saturday. My marines went up against his blood angels and was nothing short of hilarious, including one of my dreadnoughts consistently winning combat against his standard and furioso dreadnoughts, leading to his terminators coming to rescue them. My counts as Vulcan was one failed invulnerable save away from taking a charge from his terminators (including Corbulo and a Reclusiarch) solo. The game was a hilarious slaughter with only one scoring model left on the table with its point being contested by less than an inch.

In a broader spectrum I've been looking into starting a Cygnar army (also later this week), Loki has been returning to his roots in 40k (and the sheep are nervous), dramatt's cheerleaders are one day closer to the board and Ishmael has been waxing philosophical. I'm glad you've stuck with reading our posts this long and hope we will be able to bring you something better than this placeholder soon.

On Khador Units I'm Considering.

by Ishamael



Hey there folks, Ishamael here with some comments on some ideas that have come to me while pondering point efficiency in my dealings with Khador. Specifically, the cheap cost of a full unit of Winter Guard Infantry caught my eye. 6 points for a 10 man unit with a decently powered (12) ranged attack, albeit at range 8, is tempting off the bat. The spark came when I was looking at the UA with the Standard Bearer and Officer. 2 more points to let them re-roll a command check, and the Officer gives every single man in the unit the option to make an 8 inch spray out of his blunderbuss. SO, that issue I found seemingly insurmountable when I first began this game, Stealth-concealed melee units, becomes null and void. Sprays ignore the Stealth advantage.

Wow. And I am not even done lauding this yet.

It should be noted that currently I have visited the Privateer Press forums for more ideas, a number of which come from combining a full unit of Winter Guard Infantry, their Unit Attachment, then adding in Kovnik Josef Grigorvich for his Speeches.

This is a whole 10 points to do. Given that the WGI have Combined Ranged Attack, "uncle Joe" will be able to boost the attack rolls of other Winter Guard units, ranging from Mortars, Field Guns, or the Rifle Corps. Now, for the CRA, let us assume that the full unit is capable of giving up firing, except the one that makes the shot. That is an accumulative +11 to hit and damage the target, taking the WG from its normal RAT 5 + 2d6, to RAT 5 + 11 + 2d6. Then the POW is 12 + 11 + 2d6 That will devastate pretty much everything. I must admit, I find that in the future I will purchase a full unit, with the UA, of the Winter Guard for utility. Luckily, I already have Josef.

Moving along, there is another model I am looking at: the Koldun Lord. Nicknamed "Bad Santa" for a reason, this 'Jack Marshal can be quite effective when coupled with the Destroyer. By virtue of being Marshalled, the jack can boost an attack role, and the Koldun Lord can use a special action to allocate a single focus to a nearby jack, or cure it of Disruption. Combine this with the bonus for not moving, and one gets a RAT 6 + 3d6, POW 14 + 3d6 beast that hangs out at the 14 inch marker. If needed, the Lord can use his magic shotgun of 8 inch spray, POW 12 goodness, or cast Ice Cage on a single model, making a model easier to hit. So, the single attack on the Destroyer can be worth something in such a situation, although it would probably be better to just give one focus to the jack.

Next on the list of considerations are two units, the first of which is a unit of Man-O-War Shocktroopers, minimum sized. A seemingly balanced unit to use, these fellows have a short ranged POW 14 shot from their shields, or a POW 14 Reach halberd for their melee weapon. With 8 HP per man, as well as ARM 17, as well as the Shield Wall Order (+4 ARM), these guys are equivalent to some Warjacks in their damage output and endurance capacity. Not to mention that their look has rather grown on me, so they just look sweet. Among all this is their ability to perform a Combined Melee Attack, so for a min unit it gets a +2 to attack and damage. I can not say that this is a more attractive option than the three just going to town on an enemy, but it will do well against high DEF opponents. Next on the list is a unit of Demolition Core. These guys I am the most ambivalent to. Their damage output is fantastic, either they can make 2 attacks, or get the damage equivalent to Weapon Master with just one. The issue lies in their ARM of 16, which is rather easy to break through. So, this is a unit to come into play late game, and will need screening in order for it to get into position. Both units cost the same, and I must say I am leaning to the side of the Shocktroopers.

Luckily, I have had some small amount of time to look around for ideas regarding my Khador army, and I would be appreciative of any further input anyone might have.

It's cold out here,
Ishamael