#42: The best of the best...

I contemplated tackling Troops next, as they're the building blocks of every legion list as well as compulsory elements to every army, but it was hard not to get straight into arguably my favourite Force Organisation Slot, Elites. I personally look to elites when I want to add some serious punch to my army, as there is a tool for the job here. 

I mentioned in last week's post that I would include Command Squads here, so what better way to kick off this post that with these boys! Typically used as a Bodyguard unit for your Praetor, these fine fellows fill a very specific role in your army. The whole unit (of up to 5) are characters, so they can issue and accept challenges, potentially saving your Praetor from a rather unpleasant or undesirable situation. They all come stock with Artificier Armour, making them a unit that will require some serious firepower to deal with. Alternatively, they can all be clad in Terminator armour, which unlocks Land Raider Phobos' as transports. Jump packs, bikes and jetbikes are also available to the Command Squad. Now, while this unit can be geared up for some serious combat pain, they do have a few flaws. The first being dedicated transports; unless you put the squad in Terminator armour, the only transport available is a rhino, which poses some obvious problems for an assault unit. No assault ramps means leaping out of your transport and copping a round of shooting and your opponent getting the chance to move away and deny you charges. This can be remedied, by purchasing a land raider from Heavy Support, but HS is already a brutally competitive slot. The next downside is that only Praetors unlock these boys for purchase, which is alright unless you intend on bringing Centurions or special characters. On the bright side, with a small points investment, these elite marines can quite easily wipe the floor with most infantry they come across. It should also be noted that the Standard Bearer has two wounds, making him the ideal candidate for a Power Fist, increasing his chances of surviving long enough to swing it. 

Our first actual elite choice is the Veteran Tactical Squad. These are probably best described as the 30k equivalents of the traditional 40k tactical squads, but with abilities and wargear that actually reflect their status as experienced vets of hundreds of battles. This squad can number anywhere from 5 to 10, and for every five guys, you can purchase a traditional special weapon or a heavy bolter/missile launcher with a suspensor web (allowing the weapon to be fired as an assault weapon at the cost of halving its range). This gives the squad a great deal of flexibility without sacrificing damage output. The sarge also has some great options, ranging from thunder hammers to Artificier armour, allowing you to tailor this squad even further to a specific role. Lastly, and definitely most significantly, the squad can select a special rule to apply to the whole squad, be it Fearless, Furious Charge, Outflank, Sniper or Tank Hunter. Essentially, this unit is your ready to tailor gap stop unit capable of being equipped to fill a multitude of roles. 

Terminators! Terminators have been a mainstay of elite shock troops in marine armies since the earliest of days, and for good reason. The squad has the option of chain fists, power fists, lightning claws and a range of ranged weapons for thier Volkite arsenal to auto cannons and heavy Flamers. The main choice is whether you want regular terminator armour and act as normal infantry, or choose the added protection of Cataphractii armour, which increases their Invulnerable save to a very respectable 4+, but slows them down significantly. If you do opt for Cataphracts, consider a transport as almost mandatory in order to pose an urgent and constant threat. 

Destroyer Squads are something else. At first glance, I considered this to be a dunce choice (and due to running Salamanders, my Rite of War excludes them from my available units as it is), but these guys can pose a serious threat! They dual wield bolt pistols, they can be mounted in a Rhino or rock jump packs, and they pack some serious punch in the form of Rad Grenades and Suspensor-webbed Missile Launchers (also packing Rad Missiles). The idea behind this squad is to tag a squad with as much Rad as you can, dropping their toughness dramatically, and then flooding them with hits to force as many armour saves as possible! Quite a neat squad, if used in the right army! The Sarge can also throw Phospex bombs around to devastating effect!

Tech marines can be taken as 1-3 in a single Elite Slot. These guys can be accompanied Servo-Automata, and can raise your average Toungbess to five! They also have access to some pretty cool toys. They may have a place in some lists, but I won't be taking any, if we're honest...

Apothecaries are the absolute business! These guys can be taken in the same manner as Techmarines (1-3 per Elite Slot), and they are worth their weight in gold. These fine fellows can be allocated to any number of squads, handing out Feel No Pain as they go. The bigger the squad, the more bang for your buck. Definitely worthy of your points! 

Dreadnaught Talons are as they have always been; Armour 12/12/10, plenty of weapon options, and some great defensive tools in the form of Ceramite Plating. They can pack a punch, but unfortunately be brought low with even the simple Krak Grenade, unlike our next friend...

The Contemptor Dreadnaught!! This guy is significantly more expensive than a regular Dreadnaught, weighing in 50 points more, and bringing an Invulnerable save and front armour 13. Is it worth it? I think yes. That extra point of armour puts him out of reach from damage by Volkite weapons, and mitigates much of the damage front S7 weapons as well. These guys can easily tank squads and splat characters with ease! He comes with Fleet, making it easier to get to combat, and can rock a multitude of weapon kit-outs! The Mortis Pattern Contemptor is the less-combat/more-death-from-afar gentleman. Instead of a hulking Dreadnaught Close combat weapon, he packs as many guns as humanly possible upon his heavy-set chassis, and gains all kinds of special rules to handle aircraft, or any number of threats for that matter. 

Lastly, I'm going to tackle my personal favourites from Elites; Rapier Platforms. These field guns are points efficient, and come with four options for the guns mounted on these tracked weapons platforms. A quad heavy bolter is the standard, but comparing to the other options, this is by far the least impressive. Laser Destroyer Arrays are perfect tank-busting guns, punching out reliable, high strength, low AP shots every turn with terrifying range and efficiency, while Graviton Cannons can cause absolute havoc and long range. Then there's the Quad Mortar; the devastatingly brutal Thud Gun. This artillery piece is either loved or hated, depending on what side of the gun you're on. Don't expect to make any friends with them, but expect to break everything you shoot at! Whether your Thud battery is dropping 12 strength 5 templates a turn or bring Shatter Shells down upon your enemy's prize tank, firing these babies will be satisfying!

Thanks for reading, everyone. Next week, we'll be tackling Troops.

Thanks,

Gabriel

#41: The Horus Heresy and all that comes with it...

As Silly Season (and it is Silly!) is upon us, my schedule is actually winding down, which is nice. Two short weeks of work left after a frantic and brutally busy few months (hence the almost complete lack of content being added here); and for that, I apologise. 

But onto the real reason you are here. Heresy! Plastic MkIV marines, Cataphracts and Contempotors, Oh My! How long have we been wishlisting for this? 

Really freakin' long, that's how long! 

But it's here, and the new kits are exquisite! The marines are brilliantly designed, and fit enough cool extras and special weapons (not to mention the revamped missile launcher and drum-fed heavy bolter!) to gear up squads however you please! The Contemptor, while being practically mono-pose without some clever converting, is no less a brilliant kit, and comes with the option of a Multi-Melta...

...which is perfect for my Salamanders, or a Kheres Assault Cannon, which, if you can beg, borrow or steal one from another hobbyist, makes Mortis Pattern Dreads an incredibly simple (and brutally effective) conversion!

That's not mentioning the brilliant characters or the option-laden sprues of the Cataphractii Terminators!

So, here's what we are going to do, you and I! Each post, I am going to tackle a different Force Organisation Slot and review what options are available, what's good, bad, and downright useless (although, to be fair, pretty much everything has its uses). Legions along with their Rites of War, characters and unique units will get their own post as I work through them! It's gonna be a long road, but a fun one!

So, let's tackle HQ first. 

Legion Praetor: 

This guy is your biggest, baddest character, with huge stats, access to a variety of Rites of War, and so many options for wargear, that his damage output can be tailored to deal with any threat. Unless you're taking a Primarch or special character as your warlord, this fine fellow should be your go-to-guy!

Legion Centurion: 

Centurions are your building blocks for ALL of your secondary characters, able to purchase upgrades to fulfil different roles spending on your needs. Legion centurions have almost as many upgrade options in regards to wargear, not to mention some 'Consul' upgrades come equiped with wargear built into their costs. 

The first upgrade is Chaplain. For 35 points, you get a Crozius Arcanum and the Zealot USR, which is a big deal in 30k, because these armies aren't rocking ATSKNF. This makes leadership really important, especially if you find yourself in a bad situation. These guys are good frontline combat characters.

The Master of Signals is the polar opposite, preferring a defensive, backfield role. The Master, being most at home in a gun line, comes with the tools to amplify that play style. His first force-multiplier is a Cognis-signum, giving one nearby unit +1BS, making their shooting phase more accurate and more effective. He also rocks a Nuncio-Vox, allowing him to be the eyes for friendly Barrage weapons. To top it off, he can call down D3 S8 Ap3 large blasts once a game to hammer a position from orbit. Top notch character, and worth every point in my mind, IF he is in the right list. 

The Legion champion is pretty self-explanatory. He gets an extra Pip of weapon skill for being such a boss at sword-fighting, he can choose a weapon to be master-crafted, must always issue challenges and can re-roll Heroic Intervention. This guy is a little more specific in his role, seemingly being designed for going after other Consuls. 

The Vigilator is a total bad ass, being basically a Batman-Consul. Scout, Sniper, Infiltrate, Move Through Cover and everything in between, this guy has the tools to play complete havoc if used well. But therein lies the tricky part; he is hard to use. His recon armour makes him much easier to kill than a power armoured Consul. He comes with a special-ammo bolt gun, which makes it undesirable to replace it with another, perhaps more useful, weapon you have to pay points for. The one great rule he has, though, is Sabotage, where this Ninja plants a demo charge on an enemy unit and blow it sky-high before the game even starts. This S6 bomb hits rear armour on vehicles, making them prime targets! Used correctly, this fellow can cause complete carnage and remain a thorn in any General's side. 

Librarians are pretty straight forward. They can be raised to Mastery Level 3 and choose a single psychic discipline. Useful, but expensive. This choice, I think, will come down to fluff and background for me, and personally, I probably won't use one. 

A Forge Lord comes with Artificier armour and a Servo Arm. He can purchase items from the Techmarine equipment, and comes with Battlesmith. Iron Hands, anyone?

The Primus Medicae is your Consul-level Apothocary, who can also deny VP's claimed by the enemy from nearby friendly Infantry. Not a terrible choice, but much more affordably accessed through Elites for less points and a very minor tweak in special rules. 

The Siege Breaker is one brutal demolition man! He and his unit's heavy weapons gain Tank Hunter and Wrecker, he comes with a Nuncio-Vox as the Master of Signals does, and can take Phosphex bombs! To further impose his love of brutally inhumane weapons, he can stock any Medusa Siege Tanks with Phosphex shells! Taking this guy will determine where a large chunk of points is to be spent if you want to get your money's worth with this cold-hearted chap. 

Last and certainly, CERTAINLY not least, comes the Moritat, a Chem-fuelled gunslinger capable of quick-firing his way out of any duel. This guy comes with Scout, Counter-attack and Rad grenades. He can only join Destroyer squads.  And he rocks two pistols. This is where he gets silly. Upgrading either to two plasma pistols or two Volkite pistols, your Moritat can 'Chain-fire', basically blasting away until they miss (with BS5), or they kill whatever they were shooting at. This can be a clutch move, and well worth investing points into!

That's all for tonight. You'll notice the admission of Command Squads. Fear not, I have not forgotten them. They will be in the next post! 

Thanks for reading,

Gabriel

#40: Battle Report - Daemons of Nurgle Vs. Savage Orcs

Age of Sigmar. There has been a lot of controversy around this game, but I've got to say, I am thoroughly enjoying it, and I'll tell you why. The Lords of War army structure. If you haven't seen this structure, it's a great way to moderate the brutality that can come with unrestricted AoS. 

Myself and some friends have also been playing AoStrom, (40k Maelstrom but for Sigmar) which uses a standard objective card deck from 40k and uses common sense to transfer those objectives over to Age of Sigmar. This adds a whole new level of strategy to a game that, in its most basic form, is 'kill or be killed'. 

Keen to give this alternative game type a try, my friend Matt and I unpacked two armies and gave it a red hot go. 

My army was first. I chose to give the Daemon Cohort of Nurgle a run on the battlefield. While this restricts my options and forces me into pretty much one possible build, the benefits offer my force a great deal more durability in the form of 'Blessings of Nurgle' as well as a handy damage mechanic in the form of 'Rot, Glorious Rot'. The Great Unclean One would take up the mantle of General, while a Herald of Nurgle would act as second-in-command. 

Three units of Plaguebearers would form the bulk of my army, and five Beasts of Nurgle gave me a durable, quick hammer unit that could fill any role that I need them to. 

Marching against me would be a horde of naked, bloodthirsty Savage Orcs led by a Shaman and Warboss. His formation mirrored mine in many ways. Three units of infantry backed up by a fast hammer unit in the form of Boar Boys. The significant difference in lists was the presence of a Warboss riding a Wyvern; a model that I didn't really have an immediate answer for. I was hoping that perhaps I could get a few sneaky Arcane Bolts into him and then perhaps tackle him in combat, but a 4+ re rollable save on a 10-wound flying beat stick meant that I was probably going to lose a few models in the process...

I won the roll off to deploy, which meant that I would get first turn.

My deployment was a simple one. GUO was front and centre, the herald by his side, and my other units spread out so as to have good channels of movement. We were playing on a 4'x4' table, which in hindsight may have been too small, particularly with two tenacious melee armies. My opponent placed his board on the far left flank, and his Wyvern atop the tower. His Savage mobs filled the gaps backed up by his characters. 

My first round of objectives were achievable. Objective 1 was right at the feet of my Herald, and I was confident in casting a power with my Unclean One, as the Savage Orc Shaman was well outside range to stop spells. 

My first turn was largely uneventful. I pushed up with all units except the Herald, who chose to hang back and sit on the objective. My General placed Inspiring Presence and Mystic Shield upon my Beasts, knowing that they were furthest forward and most likely to be a priority target early in the game. That effectively ended my turn, securing me two Objective cards. 

Matt drew some great cards, with Big Game Hunter making the Great Unclean One a huge target, as he is the only model with the Monster keyword. Objective two was also inside his deployment zone. 

He followed my footsteps in handing Mystic Shield and Inspiring Presence to the far-right mob of Boys, before swooping his Wyvern into the centre of the battle line, flanked by two groups of raging barbarians. He claimed Objective 2, and held on to Big Game Hunter, fully intending on giving my General a terrible time. 

Drawing three new cards left me in a bit of a pickle; hold the two objectives on the far side of the board (with an army notorious for being woefully slow) and kill the 10-wound dragon rider menacing the centre of the board. 

My army pushed up, unsuccessfully trying to cast Mystic Bolt at the Wyvern, and using his special command ability, which hands out extra attacks if a Nurgle unit rolls a 7 on the charge; unreliable but fun if it fires. My beasts pushed up, hoping to make a short charge, while the rest of the Plaguebearers plodded forward. 

In a stroke of luck, that proved to be a double edged sword, I rolled 12" for their charge and launched into combat with his Warlord, not realising that this would draw both units of boys into the same combat purely by proximity. I may have bitten off more than I could chew...

My beasts made that charge easily and unleashed a flurry of attacks, but thanks to the Savage Orc's Ju-Ju Paint, only three fell, causing no damage in return. However, thanks to Inspiring Presence, they ignored Battleshock. 

The combat in the centre went surprisingly well. Sure, I was in some serious trouble, but if I could hold those units in place, perhaps it would give me the chance to gain the upper hand elsewhere in the battle. 

Perhaps...

To my surprise, Matt's Shaman unleashed the Foot of Gork down upon my monstrous leader, stomping three times and shaving four wounds off with frightening ease!

On my left flank, things were looking dire. The boar boys and a very angry Warboss were racing toward my unsupported and isolated infantry.

The Plaguebearers decided to fight with pillows, and got slaughtered by the angry pig riders. The Warboss refrained from combat, instead choosing to make a dash for Objective 3. 

 In the central combat, things got violent. A single survivor was left, enveloped by the right mob. This caused me some major concern, as the very dangerous and very alive Wyvern was now free to draw a bead on my general. 

The Beasts on the right continued to grind down the Savage Orcs, but in the process, began taking damage from the avalanche of attacks that were returned.

 Then the unthinkable happened. My opponent seized the initiative, and again cast Foot of Gork upon the Great Unclean One. I wasn't too concerned; he had 6 wounds, and the odds of taking damage were unlikely. 

Two stomps. Six mortal wounds. You can't fight good luck!

This was the turning point of the game. With my centre collapsed, and my left unit of Plaguebearers being relentlessly ground down by some very agitated pigs, my last hope was to kill the Wyvern and claim D3 victory points to close the margin. My Herald and last unit of Plaguebearers barrelled into combat, but to no avail. The plagueys had no effect, as they have no Rend to speak of, but the beasts and Herald managed to crush 7 wounds off the monster before my entire force was wiped out in its entirety. 

Well, a convincing defeat, but a great game none-the-less and always a pleasure using two fully painted armies!

I think the trouble with that formation is that you simply have to invest too many wounds into Plaguebearers, which, while tough, are slow and struggle to kill anything tougher than a sleeping elf. 

We shall see. 

Anyway, readers, it's great to be back! Can't wait for the coming weeks, when some seriously exciting models are being released!

Keep it real, and bring that hobby back!

Gabriel

#39: The Destroyers of Everything!

Hi, boys and girls. 

I have been absent but not idle. And I'm going to jam in a quick blog post this afternoon to specifically address three topics! 

The first of which, with a decidedly pink flavour, are my necrons! There is not much more satisfying than deploying a powerful and not-often-seen formation on the gaming table, especially if it is painted. But I have attained the goal! I present to you, my Necron Destroyer Cult!

Now, the keen eye will spot a few heavy destroyers in there (converted with the heavy guess blaster from the Triarch Stalker Kit), and these are easily my favourite elements of the formation. Each normal destroyer squad can upgrade one of their number to be 'Heavy' for a measly 10 points, essentially handing him a Guass Lascannon. 

This formation is arguably one of the most powerful in the book. Not only do all these Jet Pack Infantry gain Move Through Cover, an often ignored rule that makes the jump-shoot-jump an effortless affair, but the whole formation gains re-rolls To Hit, To Wound and Armour Penentration. The whole formation. The efficiency of this military force is beyond compare! Taking into account the fact that every gun in the formation can hurt any model in the game, as well as the huge number of Heavy Destroyers you can jam into the restricted unit options!

Currently, my lord is accompanied by three units of four destroyers (one heavy in each), and I'm currently putting the final touches on the last unit available in the formation; a unit of three heavy destroyers. These guys form my strongest and most reliable anti-armour, and I am very confident in their ability to draw some sweat on more than a few Imperial Knights!

The second topic I want to tackle is Tau! Despite my general fear and disgust at the all-welcoming aliens, they look like they are going to get some serious love!if you've been on the Internet in the last few weeks, you will have undoubtably seen images of some new battle suits that tower over riptides, a new "super stealth suit", potentially new Fire Warriors, and of course the Forgeworld Gargantuan creature, the fearsome Supremacy Armour! The rules for this beast have been leaked online, and all I can say is "wow". 

I have fallen into the habit of comparing every gargantuan creature and super heavy unit against the Ork Stompa. A lot of units shine in this comparison, and the Supremacy Suit is no different. However, when thrown into the mix against such units as Warhound Titans and some of the bigger Eldar units, I don't think they throw out the current balance too much!

As for the inevitable new Codex, the one thing I think is a sure thing is the following of trends when it comes to those Decurion/Gladius Strike Force-esque detachment of formations. I don't quite know how this will look yet, but I already fear it!

Last, but definitely not least, and the focus of (ironically) a huge amount of anger in the community at the current time, is Skarbrand. 

For those of you who don't know, this beast of a Bloodthirster was once the champion of Khorne until he got a bit too big for his boots and threw down against his boss, who in turn threw him down out of the Brass Citadel, shattering his wings and leaving him very battered. Cool fluff. So, why the hate?

Well, the big guy got his own model this week for preorder, and his hefty price tag caused a lot of drama. Costing some $80 more than the regular (and very impressive) Bloodthirster, this cool, calm and collected fellow has just taken the top spot as most expensive plastic kit Games Workshop makes by a respectable $60, beating out the super-heavy range of Baneblades, Lords of Skulls and Stompas. 

The fury of the community was only exacerbated at the discovery that Skarbrand only containes a single new sprue, the rest of the model being drawn from the existing Bloodthirster kit. 

So, why such a huge price jump on what is essentially an upgrade sprue? Short answer; I don't know. To me, it doesn't make a lot of sense. If it was indeed marketed as an upgrade sprue, I don't think there would be an issue, but as it stands, I think the wider community feels as though someone is trying to pull the wool over their eyes. The only answer I can really give is that perhaps this is primarily a product aimed at collectors. 

I am largely unaffected by this as a general rule, having no connections to Khorne and all his underlings, but I am mildly concerned that this will become a trend. 

What are your thoughts on Skarbrand?

I know that was a bit of a depressing topic to end on, but I would be remiss if I did not address this current drama, and I'm not about to spin untruths about how I feel. Tough day. 

As always, thank you for reading and Tor patronage on my humble blog!

Thanks, 

Gabriel 

#38: Terrainasaurus Wrecks

This week has been a bit of a "works in progress" week. A lot of hobby progress has been made, but nothing finished off. 

First on my table has been the new AOS Battle Standard Bearer for my Magnificent Host. 

He's only about half done, but the detail on this model is off chops. I ended up plonking his ass on a 40mm round base due solely to the size of his banner. I'm enjoying the diversity in modelling that Age of Sigmar offers, and I've been enjoying just picking the base that looks coolest for the model. It's a simple shift in focus, but it allows a lot of customisation from model to model. 

Next up is a 10-man Tankbusta squad that I'm painting for a narrative campaign. These guys are a really powerful unit within the Ork codex, and having used them once, I won't be leaving home without them! A whole squad with Tank Hunting Rokkit Launchas AND what are essentially melta bombs just spell death for armour of any description. And don't even get me started on Bomb Squigs!

Lastly, I've been pouring a fair amount of time and energy into terrain. 

This blastscape is one of my favourite pieces of terrain, and is definitely a good one to start with. The shattered shell of a Rhino has naturally recieved a Crimson Fist paint job, and while this piece still needs a lot of work, it's definitely coming together!

This leads me to my current dilemma. Terrain variety. I'm a huge fan of the Games Workshop terrain. I really, truly am. However, I'm a little conflicted at the moment, because for 40k, their terrain range can be put into two distinct categories. "Cities of Death" with the ruined buildings and shattered walls, and "Wall of Martyrs" representing the imperial defence networks. Outside of those two categories, I feel like there is not a great deal. Now, to be fair, my desert table that I'm working on at the moment leans heavily upon Wall of Martyrs as an arid, active war zone as well as utilising a few older pieces such as the one above.

But for my next table, which probably won't be too far away, it's going to be pretty heavily converted anyway. Its going to be an Ork settlement table worthy of my sizeable Greenskin horde! But I get ahead of myself... 

So yeah, I sincerely hope that there are some great terrain pieces in the pipelines, but if not, that's ok. I'll just have to brush up on my arts and craft skills!

I'd love to hear what you guys are working on! Don't be afraid to sneak me some work-in-progress pics.

Thanks for reading,

Gabriel 

#37: Packing some serious heat...

How quickly a month goes! It felt like just last week that I painted my HQ choice, Brother-captain Santiago. With work taking up a fair bit of my time and tackling a lot of half-finished projects that have made their way onto and off my desk in quick succession, I managed to come within a handful of points of that ever elusive 500pt deadline! 

Backing up Santiago is my first tactical squad, mounted in a Razorback and wielding plasma weapons. A Devastator squad has joined my force, giving me some focused long-ranged anti-tank hitting power! Four missile launchers seemed adequate for the task, given my tight points budget, with Tank Hunter assisting them in their role thanks to the Chapter Trait. 

I was pretty happy with how my first vehicle turned out. I was a bit concerned that the predominantly blue vehicle would have a certain "ultramarine" appearance, but the flashes of deep red on the turret and primary hatch put my fears to rest, giving me great satisfaction that the infantry colour scheme transferred effectively onto vehicles. 

Other participants are keeping pace, too! Let's take a quick look. 

Jamie: Squats

Backing up the Chapter Master, Jamie has spent a lot of time and attention creating a Librarian Squat Conclave by blending the Dwarf Ironbreaker and Grey Knight Strike Squad kits in a genius fusion of bearded, psychic might! He has also started work on an Aegis Defence Line, utilising the Dwarf fence from the Battle for Skull Pass kit. He has spared no expense to embellish the most delicate of details on this heavily converted army. 

Matthew: Dark Eldar

In this round, Matt has added some speed to his Dark Eldar force in the form of a pair of Venoms. These crafty skimmers can be a real thorn in the side of your opponents if used correctly and Matt has the right idea, packing them full of Trueborn Kabalites!

Tim: Ultramarines

Ever the bane of all heavily armoured shock troops, Centurions spell trouble no matter who they are facing. With Grav weaponry currently being the dominant force when it comes to the Imperium, "Grav-cents" are a common sight on the board of serious marine players! I know for one, that I intend to add a squad to my Crimson Fists eventually, but with no small blame to be placed on the juicy Tank Hunter rule on Devastator Cents in a Fists' army, I'm actually inclined to veer away from the shiny Grav cannons in favour of the ever reliable Lascannons and Missile Launchers. I know a lot of people swear by Grav, but it's hard to argue with my weapon load out when considering every weapon has Tank Hunter...

Ryan: Inquisition

Ryan may be seen as a late comer to the race, but this is not so. In fact, I am probably (read definitely) to blame that it has taken so long for Ryan's models to grace this page. As the start of what I can only anticipate to be a heavily converted Inquisitorial Warband, he has put forth an Inquisitorial Rhino and four Death Cult Assassins, made from Dark Elf Witches and Tempestus Scions. In writing, that conversion sounds bizarre and a little out of place, but have a look at the models! They just work so effortlessly, and really portray these blood-hungry women in all their murderous glory! 

Jarrod: Daemons

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum comes Jarrod with his furious Khornate cavalry! These three brass bulldogs make a solid and fast moving addition to his already aggressive force, and will no doubt be reaping skulls with enthusiasm before the day is out!

Now, I'm going to close this post out with something that I don't really like talking about, but it seems to be necessary, given the circumstances. With Facebook's algorithms being what they are, this Facebook page will be phased out of your newsfeed unless you actively are involved with it. This is a practical, if at times frustrating, function. My point is, basically, if you enjoy reading this blog, and wish to see posts made by the Rune Axe Facebook page, be sure to "Like" said posts if you enjoyed them! That way, when the next post comes along, Facebook knows to show you. 

I don't like to bring it up and I'm certainly not trying to 'click bait' anyone. Just working towards building a healthy, positive and ever-expanding hobby community. And I sincerely hope you join me for the journey!

And lastly, I have just arrived home from my first game with the Orks in a narrative campaign, and I can say that I got a convincing win over some filthy Renegades, despite my warlord getting gunned down by two las-guns in the dying moments of the game. I didn't have time to put together a battle report but I will be sure to do so for my next game, so that you can share in the fun and laugh at the lack of discipline display by my rowdy greenskins!

Thank you so very much for reading!

Gabriel

 

#36: Hobby Butterfly...

I'm going to be honest. My desk has projects from seven different armies. I have a pair of Rat Ogres to add to Clan Itchit, a Devastator Squad from my Crimson fists, an Ork Warboss for an upcoming 40k campaign, a handful of Slannesh Hellstriders for my Warriors army, a Word Bearers Helbrute, a total of eleven Necron Destroyers and a smattering of models from a variety of other projects. 

I'm really struggling to hold focus on a single project at the moment. 

But enough about my attention span and its shortness. 

Let's talk about upcoming stuff! Next week is Stage 2 of our 40k army builder challenge. 500 points, including your big, bad warlord! I'm optimistic that I'll actually hit this deadline! I have minor details left to touch up on the Devastator squad, packing four missile launchers, then just their dedicated Razorback to click over that 500pt mark! 

One big project that I am about to embark on is building a gaming table and painting up a full table's worth of terrain. Terrain is one thing that often gets neglected in this hobby, where so much focus is naturally upon the models and not their environment. 

I've been tossing up what landscape to focus on. Turns out that my armies made this choice very easily. My Grey Knights, Crimson Fists and Necrons are all based in desert schemes. So, a sandy desert world my table shall be!

The plan is to have the board in two rough 'halves'. One end will be a heavily defended, trench-heavy defence line. I will probably use a lot of Wall of Martyr products as well as a few supply dumps, weapon caches and fuel depots. The other half will be scattered with craters, tank traps, razor wire and a few shattered ruins to represent no-mans-land on some far-flung battlefield. Hopefully this table will look like a well thought out scene, rather than just a table with some hodge-podge terrain spaced out here and there.  

I'll probably invest in a desert Fat Mat, purely because they are affordable, practical and they look amazing! A lot of Youtubers and Vloggers use them, and it's easy to see why. 

This leads me to my next piece of news, and by far the most exciting announcement I've had the pleasure of making in the history of the blog. I, and a small team of people, are going to be launching into the big, new world of video content! This ties a lot of recent decisions together, as I'm prioritising a gaming table, painting up armies to a high standard and decent points level. It's going to be a big challenge, but hopefully we can conquer each challenge that comes our way! This is a decision that is for the community! I want to get people involved and play some great games and showcase some great armies! 

Apologies to everyone as well for my pervcieved absence! Facebook being what it is, some articles have not had the coverage they usually receive! But fear not, I'm not going anywhere soon. 

Thanks for reading,

Gabriel

#35: Progress in painting...

Over the last week, I have had a lot of spare time for a variety of reasons, and so I've taken that opportunity by the horns and have been cranking out the painting! I've had my fair share of challenges, but battling my ever-wandering attention span, I managed to focus on priority projects. The first was my Crimson Fists army. 

Determined to keep on top of this challenge and not let it defeat me, I vowed to stay ahead of the deadline!

I always like to focus on mandatory elements of the army first, usually taking the form of a HQ (in the form of my captain from last week) and two troops. This gives me a chassis upon which to build my force, and means I can play legal games with painted models! The first of these troops came in the form of a five-man Tactical Squad packing a plasma gun and a combi-plasma on the veteran Sergeant. 

To accompany them, I backed them up with a Razorback, which will eventually be free! I'm pleasantly surprised at how quick this paint scheme is to paint and I take comfort knowing that I can smash out units pretty quickly to a decent tabletop standard. Onward, the sons of Dorn.

The second project I am tackling is my massive Skaven army. Now that Age of Sigmar is my gaming group's staple game for the Fantasy genre, I was torn as to what army to make my primary force. After a lot of indecision, I chose Skaven because while their models are incredible, I always considered them an awfully daunting army to paint, purely based on the model count. 

But thanks to Age of Sigmar's much smaller game sizes, fielding a fully painted verminous army is not an unreasonable ask. 

The Island of Blood models were the perfect place to start. While the models are probably considered "common-place", there is no denying that they are fantastic quality models. Starting with the basics and focusing on narrative, I painted up Warlord Itchit, an ambitious young chieftain who is attempting to establish himself as a political and military force within the Skaven empire. While his clan is still small and far from influential, his acquisition of a Warpfire Thrower, however the means, has given his clan a bit of martial impact within the hordes of his verminous kin. 

I'm really looking forward to tackling this army on a big scale and forging a narrative to progress alongside the model collection. 

What army have you chosen to focus on for Age of Sigmar?

Thanks for reading,

Gabriel

#34: Heroes of the Grim-Dark...

Photos have begun rolling in, and characters are standing up to represent the forces that will follow them in coming months. 

If you wish to participate in this challenge, it's still not too late! 

But, in a bid to waste no time, here are a few of the entries! 

Tim: Ultramarines

The first character, and champion of the Imperium, is Brother-Librarian Gabriel of the Ultramarines. This new plastic Terminator Librarian is a fantastic lay dynamic model, and the stark contrast between the rich red and royal blue is only accentuated by the flash of green glow effect on his outstretched gauntlet. There is also a great amount of detail taken on the ancient tome atop his armour. Ultramarines have always been the mainstay of the Imperium's military might, and it's a pleasure to see them represented in this challenge!

Kriston: Mordian 213th

This Redcoat command squad is charged with garrisoning an isolated outpost on an Ork-infested savannah world. They are constantly in conflict with roving green skin warbands, but with the help of some long-ranged artillery, they are capable of shattering an assault before it reaches the outer defences of their stronghold. It's wonderful to see an Astra Militarum army comprising of one of the discontinued regiments. 

Matthew: Dark Eldar

Varik the Flayer is the malicious leader of a marauding Kabal, intent upon ascension in power within Commorrah, and afraid of no action to further that agenda! Varik's rise to power has been rapid and bloody, leaving no small body count of murdered rivals upon the way. 

Jarrod: Denizens of the Warp

Taking this challenge by the horns, Jarrod has tackled painting the biggest model he could get his hands on! This towering Bloodthirster stands head and shoulders over almost everything else on the battlefield, and his vibrant colours challenges you to avert your eyes from his fiery form! I am incredibly impressed at the insane level of attention lavished on such a big model in such a short space of time! Bravo, good sir!

Jamie: Squats

By far the quirkiest army to join the challenge so far, Jamie has tackled the notorious Squat armies of old in a series of hilarious conversions that will inevitably make their way onto this blog in the near future. Using the Space marine Codex as the chassis upon which to build the army, this classic White Dwarf model from space will stand in as a Space Marine Captain with a thunder hammer. The backstory behind this army is fascinating as well, based on a military force dedicated to bounty hunting and salvage missions, as well as some activities of more questionable honour. 

Gabriel: Crimson Fists

Lastly, my entry. Brother-Captain Santiago. It only seemed fitting to give him a Power Fist, and I've used a lot of components from the Sternguard kit to give him a regal visage. I also decided to mount him on one of the new oval bases, which on its own, makes him like much more threatening! 

Again, this journey has not closed its doors to participants, so if you'd like to join in, it's not too late!

Thanks for reading,

Gabriel

#33: Sons of Dorn...

So, for those of you who are unaware, the deadline for the painting challenge Warlord stage has been extended to this coming Sunday as a few participants are tackling monstrous creatures as their Warlords! This gives everyone (including myself) a bit of breathing room to put the final details on our glorious heroes!

As we approach the first stage of the challenge, foresight is a valuable thing and I have been investing a fair bit of time into list building and future-proofing my army! With the release of the newest Marine codex, the obvious framework for my 1000pt list is of course the Demi-company formation.

In this formation, I must take a Captain (sadly not Pedro Kantor, as he is a Chapter Master), three tactical squads, an assault or bike squad, and a devastator or devastator centurion squad. There is also the option to include a command squad and a dreadnaught, neither of which I could comfortably fit in a thousand points and still meet the requirements effectively, so they would have to wait. 

I tackled the tactical squads first. I am typically not a huge fan of minimum sized squads, but given the restrictions, I was more inclined toward this course of action. I purchased three five man tactical squads, arming two with a plasma gun and combi-plasma, while the third wielded a melta gun and combi-melta to deal with any armour I might come across. As mentioned in my previous post, I was excited to use Sternguard models as my sergeants, as not only are they incredibly detailed models, but the kit comes with more than enough combi weapons for an entire company!

For my mandatory heavy support squad, I reluctantly steered away from Centurions purely because of cost. Points are tight and I had to cut costs wherever I could! I opted instead for a five-man Devastator squad with four missile launchers. With the added bonus of Tank Hunters from the Fists' chapter tactics, this squad gives me some long range armour-busting abilities. The missile launcher is also pretty flexible, able to drop drags on big mobs of infantry. 

In the essence of future proofing my army, I invested in four Razorbacks for the previously mentioned squads. When I go to two Demi companies, these will all be free, so I figured I'd drop the points on them now! I purchased two with the stock Heavy Bolters for some added anti-infantry firepower, while the other two, I upgraded with the classic Lascannon/Twin-linked Plasma Gun combo. 

My next choice was my fast attack slot. I genuinely considered Assault Marines, but I am a huge fan of Bike Squads. I chose a squad of six bikers, and geared them up with two melta guns and a power fist (which seems a fitting choice). 

This left me with my Captain. It was an easy choice for me to mount him on a Bike, making my Bike Squad a perfect bodyguard. This was the most logical place for him. I stacked on some extra protection with a suit of Artificier Armour, and close combat punch with a Power Fist. This build makes my Captain one tough nut to crack! A 2+ armour save, a 4++ invulnerable from his Iron Halo, and an extra point of toughness (making him more resistant to being Instant Deathed) makes him seriously hard to kill! 

That rounds out my list. The Fist bonuses to my boltguns add a bit of firepower but the real bonus comes from my Formation! Objective Secured on every unit means I can be much more competitive in objective games. The Tactical Doctrine is also a great tool, and I will probably drop it on the turn that I plan on firing the most Plasma shots, reducing the risk of overheating! 

Lastly, thanks to a well-timed White Dwarf article, Crimson Fists now get their own Warlord traits! They are as follows...

1: Feel No Pain

2: Counter-attack and Stubborn

3: Hatred and Preffered Enemy (Orks)

4: If your Warlord doesn't shoot or run in the shooting phase, a friendly model within 12" may use his ballistic skill 

5: Eternal freakin' Warrior

6: Warlord and all friendly Crimson Fists within 12" are Fearless

All in all, this is a very solid table to roll on! #3 is a little situational, but the other five are all fantastic, and fit the Crimson Fists perfectly! I wholeheartedly plan on rolling on this table for every single one of my games!

What army are you tackling for the challenge? If you are keen to have your Warlords shown in next week's blog, be sure to send a great photo my way! I look forward to seeing all these projects come into their own!

Until next time, thanks for reading!

Gabriel

#32: Fists of Fury...

Over the last few months, readers have asked a question again and again!

"When are you going to run an army painter challenge for 40k players?"

Well, that time has arrived. In a similar format (but not entirely the same) as Border wars, I'll be painting a set points allocation worth of models each month. While I think we were perhaps a little ambitious with Border Wars (after all, 500 points of Fantasy a month can really overload the model count), this 40k challenge will be much more achievable! The idea is this. 

Saturday 1st of August - Paint your character/Warlord

Saturday 5th of September - Paint a total of 500 points worth of your army (this will include your Warlord painted in stage 1) 

Saturday 3rd of October - Paint an additional 250 points worth of your army.

Sunday 1st of November - Paint an additonal 250 points worth of your army, bringing your total points to 1000. 

So, there is the schedule. I think it is really achievable, as most armies do not have too many models in 1000 points and there is three and a half months in which to paint them.

So, as with all of these challenges, I'd like to discuss with you my thoughts and decisions when it came to deciding what army to dedicate some attention to! And when it came down to it, I had three main options to choose between. 

Tyranids.

Tau.

Space Marines (more specifically, Crimson Fists). 

Initially, Nids were at the forefront, offering a huge diversity of models in both size and battlefield roles, and while I painted up a small unit to see how they were to paint, I quickly realised that despite the variety of models in the army, literally every single one used the same palette of colour with absolutely no exception. That was almost enough to turn me off them for good. The other factor that disheartened me was the Tyranids codex. When I invest into an army, I want it to be good on the tabletop (says the guy with 5000 points of Beastmen), and while there are certainly ways to be super powerful with Tyranids, there are very few of these ways and typically they centre on spamming a unit or type of unit to the point of redundancy overkill. I wanted a healthy blend of units, but unfortunately, all the units I wanted to use happened to be a little bit less useful that I felt they should be. Yes, Warriors. You. 

So I pushed aside the Tyranids codex and opened the Tau book. Now, Tau have always been an army that has caught my interest, but for one reason or another, I had never committed to buying an army. I own a model or two from the range purely for the joy of painting them, but for the most part, they were foreign to me. I knew, thanks to a mate of slightly murderous tendencies, that you could do terrible things with tau. I knew that their shooting phase is among the harshest in the 40k Galaxy. I also knew that they get belted around the table in combat, having the physical prowess of a balloon full of sand. But I was being drawn in. Despite this decision earning me the disgust of my fellow hobbyists (because Tau players, after all, do have a certain reputation attached to their army), I began to write lists with gusto. 

After three or four lists had been finalised, I realised something. While they were very powerful lists (at least on paper) and they had some devastating tools at their disposal, they all shared a blindingly painful flaw. They were boring. They were the same lists I had seen for the past few years, with minor tweaks here and there, but at their core, they were boring. Fire warriors, suits, broadsides and sky rays. Every single Tau army revolved around these four units, and after realising this, the army lost its appeal. I think for me, and I know that not everyone shares this view, the army would lose my interest very quickly. 

Not to mention, I would have to come to grips with becoming a Tau Player. 

So, I was left with but one option and it was by no means a bad one! The glorious, if genocidally clumsy, Crimson Fists!

I already own a huge marine army that is largely unpainted or unbuilt, for a multitude of reasons. Indecision on chapters, then wanting to integrate Forgeworld upgrades into the army but never ordering them, the delays were endless! But with the release of the most recent and most terrifying Space Marine codex, I decided it was time to give them some much needed attention! 

What is my plan? Well, my plan is actually very straight forward and hopefully quite effective! I'm structuring my 1000pt Crimson Fist army upon the Demi-Company formation, which offers some great advantages in game, as well as being the compulsory building block for the Gladius Strike Force, which this army will inevitably grow into. 

While the lighting is terrible in the photo, for which I apologise, you can see the colour scheme I am using is very loyal to the source material. This model, which was a limited edition Captain from a web store promotion, will be the standing representative of Pedro Kantor in my army. Being equiped with the exact same gear as the Fists' chapter master, he is a perfect proxy, thanks to a head swap for the crested helm from the Sternguard kit, giving him a regal, majestic visage. 

This army will be a labour of love and I am putting particular effort into the little details that the Space marine range offers in abundance. For example, Veteran squad leaders are meant to be grizzled warriors of a hundred or more campaigns, being legends of the chapter in and of themselves. So, I am using the Sternguard kit to make my sergeants, whose armour and weaponry is far more ornate and impressive than a regular Battle Brother of the chapter. 

Not only that, but each squad's transport vehicles (which will eventually be free!) are no exception to the detail. 

This Razorback is a prime example. I have become a big fan of the "Las-Plas" weapon load out on Razorbacks, but as there is no official sprue for such a format, it is left to the hobbyist to convert it to his or her personal taste. 

One common conversion is to trim off one of the las cannons off and simply glue two of the hand-held plasma guns together. But to me, these always seem a little underwhelming and look out of place on the model. So during my search for an alternative option in my extensive bits box, I came across a pair of Plasma Cannons from the Stormraven kit and my mind was made up! Slicing the back off the plasma cannon, I managed to replace the Lascannon with surprising ease, giving the turret a much more intimidating appearance to match its in-game impact. Aesthetically, I think the chunkier plasma cannon looks much more convincing than two plasma guns, especially on the boxy, sturdy chassis of the Space Marine vehicles, and I don't think opponents will have an issue with it looking like a cannon. It's fairly obvious what the load out is, as there is only one that even has access to plasma. 

In the next post, I will publish my intended 1000 point list for you all to read, but in the meantime, I am eagerly looking forward to hearing from you if you would like to be involved in this challenge with me! I'll be more than happy to post photos of your work, and would love to hear the stories and motivation behind it!

What army will you be focussing on? Who will lead your force? Remember, the first challenge is painting your Warlord, so get your brushes ready, and we shall talk soon!

Thanks for reading,

Gabriel

#31: The Bringers of Contagion

To finish an army is the holy grail of hobby. We strive for completion and so often, that is unattainable because of our insatiable thirst for power and expansion regarding any one army or combinations of armies. However, I have done such a task! I have finished painting an army in its entirety! My 'Nurgle Bus', the Bringers of Contagion. 

This has been a long working progress which started years ago as a full metal army, which included something ridiculous like eighty of the old classic Plaguebearers. I do regret that sale, but here we are. This was my fantasy tournament army for quite a while because, quite frankly, Nurgle is brutal. 

My general, the classic Great Unclean One, has had very little table time. After upgrades needed to make him (for lack of a better word) 'viable', he weighed in at a hefty 580 points!! Almost a quarter of my army tied up in one cannon-friendly model! For this reason, I would field him very rarely. I always had to fight the temptation to run him, however, as he is my only source of magic aside from level one heralds of Nurgle, who are far too expensive to be practical! This model is an impressive one though, being heavy enough to club your opponent's precious Warp Lightning Cannon to pieces should it get a lucky turn one shot and kill him outright (yes, this happened and yes, my opponent laughed for about ten minutes straight). 

He is surrounded by eighteen bases of Nurglings, which baffles me. I don't know why I have so many! They are a mix of the hilarious and characterful ones of yesteryear as well as many of the plastic ones that adorn so many of nurgle's sprues! 

No self respecting Nurgle army would be complete without Epidemus, the evil mastermind behind the brutal synergy of the list! His Tally in both Fantasy and Age of Sigmar is incredibly powerful, and my opponent is always in a mad rush to intoduce him to death. This is a converted depiction, as I neither had the cash at the time to purchase the actual model, but more importantly, I didn't feel the Epidemus model 'fit in' to the aesthetics of the newer Nurgle models! So, combining three kits, I made my own!

Drones are the most recent unit to join the ranks of Nurgle's children, and they are brilliant (albeit disgusting) models! I only have three, and while I wasn't opposed to expanding the unit, my main focus was to include at least one of each Nurgle unit, and I achieved that. 

Plaguebearers are such a solid unit! Toughness 4 (at least to begin the game) and Strength 4 is very respectable, and while initiative two is pretty pathetic, Mark of Nurgle and a convenient ward save mitigate much of the damage suffered before they swing. Not to mention, the Locus of Virulence allows them to poison on a 5, greatly increasing their chances of wounding instantly. Interestingly, thanks to a little magic, this can be increased to a 4+, meaning that against almost everything, every hit will wound! I use these solid blocks of infantry as anchors and support units in my army, forming the second wave right behind my shock troops...

Beasts of Nurgle. The stars of every Nurgle army ever. These guys are hands down the best Special choice in the book! There, I said it. They are that good. T5, 4 wounds and regeneration make them all but impossible to shift, and their D6+1 attacks each stack up quicker than you could imagine. Not to mention, they are fast and can issue challenges, tying up units in prolonged combat where they probably don't want to be. Having no flank or rear also helps when it comes to instability. And before you say it, yes. I admit I did a pretty cheap job of converting them. I would have loved to have twelve of the actual Beast models, but they are single pose, and incredibly expensive in bulk and at the time, I simply could not afford it. They are not conversions I am particularly proud of, but I think they fulfil the role with appropriate size and appearance of strength, towering above the surrounding models. Well, not ALL the surrounding models...

Lastly, and definitely most significantly, is this big dog! I really wanted an excuse to use this guy, and so he often fills the role of my Nurgle Soul Grinder, being roughly the same size and definitely imposing enough! This guy was a joy to paint, and makes for an impressive centrepiece for the army!

Do you have an army that you would like showcased? Hit me up on Facebook! 

I hope you enjoyed this display and I look forward to seeing your work as well, regardless of game or genre. 

Thanks for reading, 

Gabriel