Battle Report XI

Welcome to another Battle Report!  This time it's a wild and crazy 3,000 point per player battle where Orks but heads against the forces of Chaos.  For starters, we got to play on the amazing Istvaan table, which was designed for a massive battle at it's core.  Even though our armies pale in comparison to the scale (and beauty) of those it was intended for, it was a fast paced game.

I brought my Orks to bear against another local from my FLGS, and while it was a harsh match, he was a most enjoyable foe all the way to the bitter..... bitter end.  So sit back and enjoy the carnage!  I didn't have a copy of his list to put here, but I can give you the jist of both forces:

RoBPod #22: Khorne Daemonkin

Havoc joins Godfrey and I for this especially red edition of the podcast. The three of us talk about Khorne Daemonkin, including what it does to buff out the assault phase, compensate for Khorne hating stupid magic, and allow for unique ways for players to spend more money! Likewise, make sure to check out our associated reference links.

Chaos Theory

Greetings folks, and welcome back. Admittedly a little behind the current release buzz of the newest faction, The Adeptus Mechanicus (a long awaited faction for myself), my topic today is centered around the spiky chaps of Chaos. With so much to look forward to given their brand new codex of Khorne Daemonkin, Chaos has a lot of ground in which it covers. The army has two distinct feelings that dominate the design as a whole: Legions and Cults. But while the latter has been very well covered for the past few editions, the former has been very underwhelming. So with so much going on for Chaos (considering this most recent codex, the growth of the legions in Horus Heresy and it's potential implementation in GW, and the general idea that Chaos is up soon for revision), the army has the potential for a huge paradigm shift in how the design team can handle it.

Sorcerous Ways: Thousand Sons

Greetings fool mortals, the way before you is ever changing, and only those gifted of higher consciousness may yet experience it. A tale told in two parts, each dependent on the other. For those of you unaware, my first 40k army is my Blood Ravens company, near and dear to my heart. As I dug and dove into the lore of the army, I was lucky enough to experience their story as it unfolded across DoW II, as well as some of the novels, not the least of which was A Thousand Sons, so hailed for cryptically documenting the birth of Magnus's last great offering unto the Imperium. Upon reading the tome, I too fell in love with the first sons of the Red, slowly working myself away from my highly competitive Necrons, and the breadth of my loyal Company. Where this love lead me was into a second book (and happily soon to be a third) in the form of Ahriman: Exile as well as into what I have deemed my 'escalation army', a joint venture into the fluffiest purposes of Tzeentch. Read on for reviews of two sorts.

Heresy in the Library - Night Lords Omnibus

Greetings good people and welcome back! Trooper here with another installment of "Heresy in the Library", where I review Black Library publications and let you, the reader at the other end of the data-slate, know how it is! Up for review is the newly released omnibus for a not so new series. Night Lords: The Omnibus is Black Library's collection of the Night Lords series of books into one gigantic tome. There isn't much new, but for fans it will be a treat to revisit the prophet of the eighth legion. So sit back, grab some amasec, and enjoy my review of Night Lords: The Omnibus.

Chaos Cults: The Showdown

Greetings folks.  Among the turbulence of the warp, Chaos has sprung anew with more followers of the Dark Gods.  Whilst the new Codex: Crimson Slaughter has come at the disappointment of many of the die hard fans of the older legions of Chaos, it is indeed more for the Chaos Space Marines to consider.  While I myself am a bit underwhelmed by the book overall, it did come with a few new kits and a dataslate.  The Terminators and the Lord got a minor re-cut, and the Hellbrute got a full blown kit.  Not only that, but a great dataslate with three options, all of which offer something great.  I am a fan of this because I have always loved the dreadnought as a model and a unit.  Now there is a way to run it with a pretty unique set of options.  I'd dare say they even do it better than their highest competition, the Iron Hands.  If nothing else, Iron Warrior's everywhere should really like these formations.

Regardless, a midst the swirling chaos of the warp, I have decided to take a look at the more prominent members of the dark ranks.  The Cult Legions of the Chaos Space Marines.  Everyone knows the fluff behind these guys, but what I am interested in right now is how they compare with each other.  Nothing here should sway you away from using them in a themed list should you desire.  But with the fascination with Nurgle Marines being the current flavor, I wanted to take a look at all four and really see what each cult has to offer, and which I think wins the favor as greatest among equals.

WARNING: the following is based completely on my views as a player, and I recognize bias is ever an issue with opinion/observation-based articles.  As such, take all that you read with a colossal size grain of naturally occurring, flavor enhancing crystal.

Catching up with Corvus

Greetings all! It has been far too long since I've had the opportunity to post here at Rites of Battle, and I'm here hoping to rectify that with this, a peek into the Raven's nest. There's a list here, and more than a couple photos of my recent hobby workings, and a few musings about the road before me. So, strap in for an article that has more soul than science. For readers who loved my HtC series, this will feel very very different.

Let's Be Friends! - Chaos Space Marines

Giving us a one two punch of darkness, comes our look at allies for Chaos Space Marines! These guys have access to a lot more friends than what their Daemonic counterparts do, and all of them offer something pretty darn amazing. To me, the biggest reason to look at most of these allies is because for a (mostly) minimal tax, they replace your cultists, which is awesome! Cultists aren't bad by any means, and certainly work in the right list, but some of these allies ought make you question their necessity or validity. So, let's try to keep an open and evil mind as we examine those who are willing to ally themselves with the servants of the dark gods.

Codex Astartes- The Rhino APC

            

I have been meaning to write a detailed tactical guide to playing Space Marines well for a very long time. Despite this series’ title, "Codex Astartes," this applies equally to any Space Marine or Chaos Space Marine army—there is nothing that will be discussed that is contingent on the army list you bring to the table in and of itself.

Triple Your Pleasure?

Just a quick bit of interesting scuttlebutt for everyone from Shas'ui De'terra on ATT.  I can't really speak for my source's credibility, but at least if it's a fake he's not saying he heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend who (heard it from another you been messin' around ).

"Roll" With the Punches

Hey there everyone.  I thought I'd take a look into some units that don't get much press these days.  You know, the ones that make you roll to see what they're going to do on that particular day?  Yeah, those.  These units are something of a remnant of 4th edition's look to make things a little less formulaic.  Though the only real place they were seen is those days are with within the Chaos Space Marine and Chaos Daemons codexes... must be something about the warp that makes you forget what you do on a regular basis :P.

These units rely on fate to make their uses seen.  From possibly rolling a negligible or potentially crippling result to massively powerful perks... these units add a certain x factor to the somewhat mathematical happenings of the game.

Chaos Theory

So it has been a long time since Chaos Space Marines have received much love from the dark gods of GW, and the few rumors floating around the interwebz have been few and far between, with the bulk of which surrounding the idea of chaos in the 6th edition box set. In my opinion, the codex still has a few nifty tricks up it's sleeves here and there, but against the ever growing number of 5th ed. armies it's age begins to show through rather quickly.

With several options in their troops section, as well as unique units like the Obliterators (though the Grey Knights try to imitate them) and tricks like Daemonic Possession, the armies of Chaos Space Marines have ways to keep pumping pain and heresy throughout the galaxy. But are all these options enough? Or are they possibly too much? Unfortunately I find it to be a little of both.

In my opinion, the biggest change I see in the new armies that hit 5th is the points change. If you stop to look at units from 4th (or older) to 5th, their points generally lower, if only by a little bit. This "streamlining" often helps the army afford other things, be it entire units, more wargear, or a combo of the two... 5th armies can often bring much more to the table than the old expensive... and rather underwhelming units of old. I can attest to this with my Black Templar army. While I will still sing the praises of my one and only troop choice, it is somewhat disconcerting to pay 17 points a model for a marine who can be either duel armed or have a bolter, and only have frags... while wolves have both duel armed, bolters, frags, and kraks... for 15 points per. It's these points that are saved which quickly add up... and like other older armies, the CSM's feel it hard.

So what can be done? I have compiled a few things I scavenged from around the internet, as well as a few ideas of my own that may hep to improve the codex. Again, these are a gathering of ideas, and not all are great.. but I could see them improving the army.


Chaos "Undivided"
As much as I enjoy the concept of Daemons fighting alone, the two codexes could really do for a re-unification. I'll get to it later, but the use of marks on HQ's could help to improve lesser daemons into a version (buffed or nerfed) from the current daemon codex. I personally feel like there is a lot of interesting uses for more potent daemon allies to the Chaos army, as the current daemons in the CSM army are limited severely in their uses. They aren't bad, but certainly not forgiving to bring in an army that is hurting for points as it is.


The Right Leadership
While I understand the reason for cult troops being placed in the... well Troop section... I think there is a way to bolster their cult troops in a unique way to allow while keeping things fair.

I like the 4 cult troops, but feel they could use a bit of a bolster... but if they become too much better than regular troops, they become OP. So make all cult troops in a non-troop section, placing Khorne and Nurge in Elites, Slaanesh in Fast Attack, and Tzeench in Heavy Support. Now before berating me here's the trick. An HQ with a mark (including unique characters) make that corresponding Cult Unit a troop choice.

This could also come into play for the dameons if they were to be incorporated into the same codex.


Free "Mark"et of Ideas.
I personally believe the way to make this army stand apart from others is the put a little more emphasis on the Marks. This means that the cost of many of the marks could use a reduction to make them more accessible. If I remember right, the mark of Nurgle on Terminators is 50 points. That's pretty darn steep for a buff that disappears if the bearer is killed.

On top of this... I feel the marks themselves could use a little improvement, at least where the cult troops are involved. I think plague marines could use true T5, and CSM with the mark would still only have the T4(5). Minor buffs to the cults would make them feel a little more bang for the buck like than simply running cheap CSM units with similar effect.

A last little trick I'd like to see is the inclusion of marks for vehicles. Each mark could have a unique buff to add to a vehicle.

Khorne- Makes the vehicle an assault vehicle.
Nurgle- ignores shaken and stunned (I know this replaces D.P., but I'll get back to this.)
Slaanesh- makes the vehicle fast
Tzeench- grants the vehicle a 5+ invulnerable save.

As for Daemonic Possession, this could allow daemons to be transported in the vehicle.

Pick your Poison
I look at the CSM codex as one of limited options. "But Loki," you ask, "The CSM army has so much to choose from!" Yes it does... but in a way it limits you. For instance... there are only two transports in the whole army... the rhino (which you can't assault from, and the Land Raider which is 220 points for the same 10 cap as the rhino. This hardly compares to the loyal marines who have 4 transport options (and the LR has variants).

I would love to see some new units as well as some nice new variants for existing units. Dreadnoughts could use for a bit of a tweak. Maybe a corrupted techmarine or something to keep the shenanigans to a low. We see this kind a thing already with the Dark Eldar Grotesques.

The big thing here I'd like to see is the inclusion of cultists. I think there could be much fun to be had with a sacrifice engine. These could be cheap little 6 or 8 point models that can access wargear to bolster their own power and make for a cheap horde like troop choice, or just spam them to sacrifice to bolster other units. When I see Chaos, I think sacrifice... and this little unit could answer that gap nicely.


I think these are just a few ways to add some flavor and power to the codex. There are some things that I haven't mentioned that would be nice to see back in the army. The inclusion of Legion characters (an Alpha Legion Raptor, Word Bearers possessed, or Night Lord Chosen upgrade character would be interesting). Not to mention the Holy Numbers. It was a nice way for fluff to interact with rules. I also think you could make the rule heralds of the Chaos Daemons where an HQ with a mark can not join units with a different mark would be a nice touch of fluff rules.

All in all, the codex works decently now. But if these addition/changes were made... I'd have to consider them as a next army. Any thoughts, or suggestions?

Cheers!

Tank killing in the 41st Millenium: Space Marines Rolling Thunder

Hope you all had a good week, but now it's time for some mental stretching. First off I need to say that this idea isn't entirely mine. I read an article on YTTH back during their Ard Boyz gear up bonanza and have considered the army style and how it works. While the base is Stelek's I've done some tweaking. So lets dive into how to solve our problems with the much derided Codex: Space Marines.

Our first, and possibly biggest, threat is the standard APC. Whether it comes in the form of a Rhino, a Chimera or a xenos skimmer, these vehicles get infantry where they want to go faster. Getting your infantry where you want them is conducive to your plan to win the game. Deductively reasoning, allowing your opponent to get where they want to go is detrimental to your winning the game. So we need to kill these transports as soon as possible.

We've got a few basic options on how to do this: short range fire or long range fire. With short range fire we have meltaguns and plasma guns. Loki recently discussed the advantages and disadvantages of meltaguns and plasma guns, so I won't here. As a Tau player, I've found that stopping your enemy in their deployment zone gives you time to choose how to fight them and that choice is always an advantage. To do this we need to have long range firepower.

Our first candidate for long range vehicle kill is the classic devastator squad. As pictured, it's a horrible unit with no focus on either vehicle or infantry killing and a mix or ranges. Mixing in multimeltas and plasma cannons, while they have the strength to kill, means you won't have the range for all of your guns to come to bear early. Let's keep the squad small and weapon dense, four missile launchers: 160 points. You can upgrade a ML to a lascannon, but it costs more than another missile launcher, so I say strength eight is fine. But there are better for fewer points.
I present the Mortis pattern dreadnought, more colloquially known as the "rifleman dread." Bringing two twin-linked autocannons to the table for a measly 125 points, this dread sacrifices its CCW for some of the the most efficient anti-tank in the codex point for point. Each dread has approximately a seventy percent chance of immobilizing a rhino and a forty percent chance of immobilizing a chimera. At forty-eight inches of range, these dreads can stay out of the range of most anti-tank return fire. I'd recommend three of these, so 375 points off the top.

Now to fix the other problem we have, the vehicles that the rifleman dread can't touch: AV 14. While I said melta wasn't the end all vehicle killer, it is the best way to kill AV 14 vehicles, except for the monolith. But how can we bring the best platforms for these melta weapons, and while we're at it let's bring some troops to the table.
Pictured above: the classic 5th edition melta box. A squad of either marines or IG veterans with as many melta weapons as they can bring. Every Imperial army can do this, and generally does. But by bringing the same tools as your opponent, who wins comes down to who uses them better and who rolls better. Instead, lets bring a better tool to the table, albeit sacrificing some protection for more destrcutive potential.

First, the disadvantages of the melta box and why we need a better unit from the codex. The only troops choice that can bring a transport is the tactical squad. They can pack a meltagun, a combi-melta and a multimelta. Because of the inability of the multimelta to fire if the unit moves, it cannot fire if the transport moves or if the unit disembarks, so it can generlly be discounted in a mobile fight. That leave the meltagun and the combi-melta. To have a chance at the 2D6, the unit has to start the tun within 12" of the target. Not an unreasonable distance, but one that can be avoided or maneuvered around. For 220 points, the melta box is an expensive unit for what it does.
Instead, let's go with the bike squad. Able to bring two meltaguns at any squad size, a squad of five models can be a troops choice with the right headquarters choice. We need five models and start with three, so let's bring one more and attach an attack bike for an additional wound and a multimelta. Remember how I discounted the multimelta in the melta box squad? Well the problem that handicapped it is resolved through mounting it on a bike. This is because bikes are by nature Relentless. Along with Relentless, the bike platform gives the squad an extra six inches of movement and therefore threat range. While they can be targeted directly, unlike the melta box squad, the bike squads gain an extra point of toughness and the ability to turbo-boost and gain a three plus cover save.

This squad clocks in at 185 points, a full thirty-five points less than the melta box squad. If you bring one of these squads the difference in points can buy your captain his bike to allow the squad to be troops.

Bringing four bike squads, a captain on bike and three riflemen dreads totals to twelve melta weapons, six twin-linked auto cannons and four scoring units for 1250 points. That leaves you with plenty of room to bring additional units if you want more of anything. I would suggest either some anti-horde units and / or a master of the forge and three more dreadnoughts in your heavy support slots.

Until next time, what do you think?

Inside Look: Daemon Prince

GW has finally released the sprue pictures for the new Daemon Prince model, and from the looks of it, this will make several beautiful variants. I like the detail that has been put into the model which is a vast improvement over the older metal model (which is still gorgeous), though I am surprised by the lack of the dark god iconography that usually comes with the chaos models.

Look to see this and the other boxes hitting stores soon. Check out the link to see the full Daemons Pre-Order line up.

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/armySubUnitCats.jsp?catId=cat1490603&rootCatGameStyle=wh40k

Not Quite Dreadzilla

by Ishamael

With the current metagame on melta weapons, str10 Lance, and massive points reduction in current codices, it is high time to change up my list from just the dual Land Raider Chaos army I enjoy playing (read: two 14 box golfcarts that just get you where you're going, then tankshock the rest of the game). The following list is in progress, and was mainly inspired by a new interpretation on the Crazed rule for Chaos Dreads concerning True Line of Sight:

HQ
Kharn the Awesome 165

Troops
2x 8 Zerks w/Power Fist Champ, Personal Icon, Rhino, Extra Armor, Twin-Linked Bolter 536
1x 7 Zerks w/Power Fist Champ, Personal Icon, Rhino, Extra Armor, Twin-Linked Bolter 247

Elites
3x Chaos Dreads with Multi-Melta, Extra Armor 345

Heavy Support
Defiler One extra CCW, Reaper Autocannon 150
Vindicator Posession, Dirge Caster 150
3 Obliterators 225

Misc
2x 7 Lesser Daemons 182

This is 2k on the dot, and looks to be quite balanced for the Ruinous Powers. With multiple Large Blasts each turn, along with a good amount of Walkers that can tie weak units up, 6 Multi-Meltas with a potential of 4 different targets, along with 5 Troops that have decent assault capacities, this looks to be a nice list to put on the table.

Note: Much of the inspiration for this list came from Stelek over at Yes The Truth Hurts. You can see his list over on the site, and it was he that pointed out the difference in the Chaos Dread's Crazed rule.