1250 list of justice

Got to get in some good practice games last week against a Templar army (which was sorta mech challenged) but I am really starting to like this list:

HQ: Palatine with 5 girl Celestine Ret in ImmolatorEA/Smoke: 2 Meltas

2/5 girl Celestine Squads in Immolators EA/Smoke: 2 Meltas

2 Battle Sister Squads in Rhinos EA/Smoke: 1 Melta 1 Hvy Flamer, Vet Superior with Eviserator

2 Exorcists

Added in the Eviserators to the girl squads just so that they have some staying power on objectives. Against horde lists or anyone that is hurting on tank busting this list should do very well. Of course I am worried about IG and other shooty armies but I think I could do well with this. Tomorrow if I am lucky I should be able to get in some more games and hopefully my winning streak continues.

$50 to throw at the hobby

Got a $50 gift card for Xmas from my Sister In laws and now I need to decide what to spend it on.

Should I be a good hobbyist and use it to get some paints and brushes.

Or

another Immolator so that I can go up to 5 in a game.

Or

Something crazy for CSM or for possibly a new army like Necrons. (Necrons are the flavor of the month for a new army)

Review: "The Shadow Out of Time" Lovecraft

It is great to read H.P. Lovecraft when its raining and stormy outside. I just finished this short story a couple of days ago during the storms that came through the area.

Lovecraft is really amazing and when you read a story like this you can see how he is the grandfather of modern day Sci-fi. This story has some great far reaching ideas and themes to it. What always really impresses me about Lovecraft is that his ideas and stories stand up to the test of time. The way he deals with aliens and huge expanses of time makes it feel like you are reading a modern day Sci-fi writer and it is really fascinating. I highly recommend his short stories and if you enjoy Sci-fi and horror they are a must read.

1250 tourney

My local gaming store has kicked off a ton of tourneys for next year which is really cool. Every month it looks like they are trying to do a game and they are kicking off at 1250.

So after the thrashing I received last time I need to decide if I want to go back in and potentially take it again. I think this time I will take the advice of Daughters and write some notes and then paste them to my arms. :)

Or maybe I should name my Exorcists "Cautious" "Patience" and "Perseverance" in big letters.

I have gotten my ass handed to me before but what really pissed me off in the last tourney was that I had a great list and I really dorked the execution. I think if I can get in some good practice I will hit the tourney but if I cant I might pass.

Book review: Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants

Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants by Robert Sullivan is a very interesting book. I got turned on to this book via the Strain from Guillermo Del Toro since he sites this as one of his sources. From the Warhammer perspective I think Skaven players would really get a kick outta this book since it has some really cool insights into the behavior and our relationships with Rats. The first half of the book is great and provides some fantastic information about our day to day living with Rats and how they have evolved alongside us for eons. The only weak part of the book is that he spends a little too much time talking about himself and not the rats and exterminators which are a lot more interesting. Overall I highly recommend this book especially if you are looking for something a little out of the ordinary and it could provide some great background for a Skaven army. One fact out of it that I could not get outta my head is: If you live in an Urban area then within 10 feet from where you are sitting right now two rats are having sex.

Not the best tourney for me

Got it handed to me at the tourney.

I am pretty disappointed in my showing at the local tourney. I know I had the superior army in the 2 games I played and I just really blew it. Both games I advanced when I had superior long range firepower and allowed myself to get wrecked. I don't know what it is, when I dont play for a while I have a tendency to be ultra aggressive for reasons that make no sense. The only thing I can think of is that I get too excited to be playing and then that translates into over confidence which is just stupid. I bowed out of the last game which made me feel ultra lame but the 2 loses and with the tourney going later than expected I had to bail due to time constraints. Also having to face the wrath of my wife and losing another game didnt seem too exciting to me. I have decided that I am not going to be doing tourneys anymore unless I can get some serious practice in before. I need to know the missions better and get a better feeling for my army. I know I have played the Sisters a billion times but I need to beat that overconfidence outta my game.

Getting ready for tourney

Getting my last stuff together for the tourney on Saturday. Just cleaning up some minis and painting my last Vet Superior. I am hoping everything comes to together and I get to go but with 3 kids one never knows whats in the cards.

My list:

1 Canoness with Jump Pack/Mantle/Cloak/Eviserator/Bolt Pistol

3 Celestine Squads in Immolators EA/Smoke with 2 Meltas

4 Battle Sisters Squads in Rhinos EA/Smoke 1 melta/1hvy Flamer 1 vet Sup with book

3 Exorcists

1850 exactly

Looking forward to getting in some games but a little concerned that I didn't get a chance to practice the missions like I wanted to. Our little 40k group has scattered to the winds with the recent holiday coming.

Looking forward to Nids

I am getting pretty excited about the new Nids codex and releases. The models look awesome and the new codex sounds like it will be tons of fun. Not looking forward to getting my face kicked in by alien scum but I really like what GW is doing with the new codexs. The new armies all seem to have great character and diversity which is awesome. This with the new IG and SW really makes me hopefully for an awesome Inquisition codex.

Immolator ready to party

Ready to burn the heretic, traitor or xeno scum.

Got one more Vet Superior to do and I am good to go. I should have my final list together tonight.

New Immolator

So now I am once again questioning what to do with my list since my new immolator showed up yesterday. I can now build Rhinos with my eyes closed its coming together very fast.

Now I need to decided what to do about getting another Immolator in the army or should I do the flying nun army. My gut is to go with the Flying Nun since I know the unit well and think that it really plays up to the strengths of the Sisters but I love the idea of 11 tanks on the board.

Sisters tourney list with Flying Nun

I think I am going to have to roll with the Flying Nun HQ list. I was sorta waffling between both list but the fact that the bits for my Immolator havent shown up has made me go with only 3 Immolators.

This is the list that I am looking at having:

Canoness HQ JumpPack, Cloak, Mantle, Eviserator and Inferno Pistol

3 Celestine Squads in Immolators (TLHvyF EA Smoke), 5 Girls with 2 Meltas

4 Battle Sister Squads in Rhinos(Smoke) with Vet Superior and 1 HFLamer 1 Melta

3 Exorcists

The questions I have hanging are if the Inferno Pistol on the HQ is worth it since you have to get so close. Also I wonder if I have enough troop choices to hold down objectives. If budget stops being such an issue I would like to expand into some IG troops so that I can start fielding Chims but I cant do that yet.

Rant at ForgeWorld WW2 rumor

I saw a rumor this weekend that ForgeWorld is thinking of releasing minis for a 20mm WW2 game.

Rant:

This is one of the dumbest things I have heard of GW doing in a long time. The fact that they have resources to pour into something like this just bewilders me.

How hard is it for them to understand that they have a hardcore loyal fanbase out there that is willing to spend money if they just let them. They create so many of their own gates to purchasing new armies all the time and hearing this makes me just think they have lost it.

If I had some say at GW I would for sure be pushing ForgeWorld as hard as possible to make new armies for 40k and fantasy. Can you imagine how many asshats out there(myself included) would love to buy a ForgeWorld IG Tanith army, or Iron Snakes or even Inquistor forces using Eisenhorn and Ravenor as models. There are so many awesome ideas that they could use to fully utilize their own IP that it just boggles the mind that they leave so much money on the table

The agony of indecision

I thinking I am entering the phase where I over think my List and screw it up.

Been thinking about adding in a Flying nun to advance behind the mass of tanks. The strat would be to get her close behind tanks than advance fast on any hvy tanks out there while trying to avoid infantry fire. Ideally she could be an awesome way to use faith and draw tons of fire with her 2+ Invul save. I would love to have time to playtest both but it might be rough to get in some more practice before the tourney on the 12th.

Smoke and Extra Armor?

I nuked out Smoke and Extra armor outta my Sister list to squeeze in another Immolator. I wonder if this is going to be bad news. Smoke has for sure saved a ton of my tanks but its not always a sure thing and I think pushing more tanks forward if really the way to go.

New Tourney List

With some squeezing I was able to get another Immolator into the list.

11 Tanks total and this could be pretty deadly. My main concern is being confined on the heavy terrain boards at Game Kastle or creating my own traffic jams with blown up tanks.

1 Palatine with Celestine Ret with 2 meltas in an Immolator

3 Celestine 4 girl 1 Superior with 2 Meltas in Immoators

4 Battle Sister Squads in Rhinos with 1 Melta, 1 Hvy Flamer with Vet Superior

3 Exorcists

I had to drop extra armor and smoke which could be bad but hopefully I should be able to create my own cover and have some much armor that I will overwhelm anything.

IG could still really have my number for this but hopefully with so many tanks and with Exorcists drawing fire some Immolators can get in close and start ripping up their armor.

Got another immolator

Broke down and got the bits to build another Immolator.

Now I just need to figure out how to squeeze in 4 and possibly drop a Exorcist to make it happen.

Sisters and Tanks

I stoled this from: YesTheTruthHurts and this is one of the coolest things for my Sisters that I have learned.

YTTH can be a little dickish but the guy writes some good stuff and its awesome that he has playes Sisters. You gotta take it with a little grain of salt since he loves to be as competitive as possible but the dude has some good points and I think has a place in 40k community. There is some great Sisters Tactica there and this tank deployment made a huge difference for me my last couple games.

I don't have the budget these days to field the ultra Immolator armies that he puts up there but I am definitely going to try and field as many as possible. They are a much better unit than I originally thought and provide some great punch to my army.

Optimator

Great winter beer and ideal for the winter time. The only thing to watch out for is that it does pack a punch at 7.8% alcohol but that can be a good thing :).

Its a great German beer and shows off the Doppelbock style really well. Back in my brewing days we tried to reproduce this beer with a couple disastrous results so now I leave it to the Germans.

Sisters rolling hard

I have decided to roll Sisters in the Dec 12th tournament at Game Kastle. I got to get in some practice against Orks and Templars and was happy with the results.

The list I ran had 3 Immolators, 3 exorcists, and 4 rhinos with girls. All the Immolators had 2 melta girls in em with the Twin Linked Heavy Flamers and the girls were pretty vanilla with a Vet Superior, Melta and Hvy Flamer.

In both games I really used my faith points liberally and it worked out very well. That is one thing I will need to remember in the Tourney is to use up all my Faith Points like its the last turn. I was especially happy in some ways with the second game even tho I lost by a couple kill points. On Turn2 I lost all my Exorcists but was still able to wipe out a ton of Orks and remain in contention. The 3 Immolators really made a nice difference and I know they scare the hell outta orks. Hopefully I can get in some more games and I think if I don't play with my head up my ass at the tourney (which is always a 75% chance) I could do pretty well. Wouldn't mind getting a shot at IG with this list just to see what I would have to deal with but I think I am good to go.

Tourney List

That last list I put up was crap so now I am debating between the girls or CSMs.

For Girls I am thinking

Canoness Book/Cloak/Blessed Weapon/Inferno Pistol/Mantle

Celestine Retinue 4 girls, 2 Meltas, 1 Superior in

Immolator TLHFlamer

2 Celestian Squads in Immolators TLHflamer with 2 Meltas

4 Sister Squads in Rhinos EA/Smoke. 1 Melta, 1 HFlamer, Vet Superior with Bolter and book

3 Exorcists

CSMs'
Kharn with 3 Termies in LandRaider

4 CSM squads in rhinos with Melta/flamer

2/2 oblit squads

1 Pred with AC and HvyBolters

Little more pop but still pretty small. I like the idea of Kharn charging out from a Land Raider.

Overall I think I just need more practice. My last games went pretty badly and I felt pretty lost from turn one. I havent had a chance to play much in the last 2 months and I think its starting to show. But playing the new IG isnt really a morale booster either.

Potential Tourney List

Our local game store is running a little 1850 tourney and I am thinking of bring a mean CSM list.

Right now I am thinking

2 CSM Sorcerers with Lash

2 Plague Marine 7 man squads 2 Meltas 1 champ with PF rhinos

2 Zerker 8 man squads 1 champ with PF rhinos

3/2 oblit squads

and I have some extra left over

Seriously this list looks really small and sorta weak. I do have another list that I am toying with that rolls with 10 man csm squads in rhinos and some lesser daemons but I think it would get worked. It is really tough to get a list together for CSM that is competitive that doesn't depend on a lash and Obliterators. I know CSMs are pretty brutal and for sure competitive but comparing their codex to Ork, SM, IG and now SW they really lack character and numbers.

Any advice would be awesome or some links. Hopefully I will be able to get some practice in.

Chaos Lord

For Fluff purposes I have always liked rolling with Huron but he is a wee expensive. He comes in at 170 but he can be a beast.

I can get a Chaos Lord with a Bloodfeeder for 155. The Chaos Lord doesn't have Warptime but the Bloodfeeder is pretty gnarly and could do a lot of damage. I can also throw a Combi-Melta with him so that he could possibly pop some armor as well.

I know Chaos Lords are not too popular for the more serious lists but he does seem pretty nasty too me.

Not reading Black Library right now

Sorta have ventured off the Black Library books since I got sorta stagnated in Ravenor. I have decided to take a break from them until the new McNeil and Abnett: Horus Heresy books come out.

But I haven't stopped reading. Just finished the Forever War by Joe Haldeman which was a really fun read and also just re-read Pattermaster by Octavia Butler which is still one of my favorite books of all time. Both books couldnt be more different than each other but that's how I love reading Sci-fi.

Forever War is a very pulpy book and a great quick read. What I thought was pretty interesting was that Haldeman is a Vietnam vet with true combat experience but his actual combat writing wasnt as engaging as the stuff in McNeil's or Abnet's stories. I know that McNeil and Abnett aren't vets and this has given me something to think about. I suspect that those with no combat experience inherently romanticize combat and it shows in the writing/movies or whatever while those that have been through it know that it's a hellish experience that can't really be described and completely sucks at every level. Over all the Forever War is a good read and holds up pretty well to the tests of time considering it is over 30 years old. I liked the book and thought it was perfect for travel reading. I wouldnt go as far as saying it's the best Military Sci-fi ever like some but is is worth checking out.

Patternmaster by Octavia Butler is one of my favorite books of all time. I stumbled apon Octavia Butler's books when my wife was taking a Sci-fi reading class at UCSC and she had to read a couple of her novels. She is the type of author I wouldnt typically read but once I read that first book she became one of my top 5 authors. Her books really take any typical Sci-fi/fantasy reader out of their comfort zone and she handles some pretty heavy topics. The way she confronts issues of race and gender are really amazing and gets you thinking about issues and views that are insanely complex. I get annoyed that she is consistently defined as just an African American or Woman's issues writer when I find her topics to be very board, complex and should be interesting to everyone,

The reason why I re-read Patternmaster this time (this is my 3rd reading)was Ravenor. Both books deal with psykers in completely different ways. Octavia Butler really thought through combat between psykers and it is very cool. She also completely dives into a host of issues that Psy powers would generate on a social level and its really interesting. I thought Ravenor (the part I read) just didn't really dive into the whole consequences of Psy powers and ow complex This book is the 3rd in a series of books that are independent but in the same Universe. The other novels are Mind of My Mind, and Wild Seed, there are 2 others: Clay Ark, and Survivorist(which is out of print and impossible to find) but those aren't connected as much. Overall its a great book and she is a great author. Might be a little strange to the typical military sci-fi reader but I can highly recommend her books.

2000 points

Trying something new tonight with 2000 point lists. First time for this and I think it will make for some interesting games.

I need to make the decision to either go with

HQ: Flying Nun Canoness

3 Immolators Dominions, 1 TL Mmelta, 2 TL Hvy Flamers

4 Rhinos with Girls

3 Exorcists

10 tanks with 3 Immolators leading the charge could be pretty effective.

Or

HQ: Canoness in Immolator and Inquistor Lord with Hood in Landraider

4 Rhinos with Girls

3 Exorcists

Callidus Assassin

So that one has the big Landraider running around and the Immolator/rhinos for mid range attacks. The long range firepower and Callidus could make a deadly first turn attack if I go first. Also the Callidus could provide some fun midgame action but I always sorta get underwhelmed by that. I wonder if a Culexus would be worthwhile with the Inquistor Psy Abilities but its hard to depend on Psykers being there to be effective. I have always been tempted to take a Culexus in a tournament to really mess with Psykers but am not sure if its valid or not.

Sisters

Finally got a game in with my Sisters and felt a little underwhelmed.

Granted I had to play Tau which is pretty tough for me since they are one of the few armies that can match my range firepower and shrug off Exorcists missiles.

The list I rolled with had 2 immolators, 4 rhinos with girls and 3 exorcists. One of the Immolators with Dominions and the other was a Canoness with her retinue. Pretty standard list with heavy melta and flamer combos. The big problems that I had with the list were: 1: Inability to spend Faith points. With everyone in the tanks and depending on Exorcists I had no real way to spend faith points. There was one point in the battle that I could of spent some but I was sorta spacing out. I notice with Faith Points that if I dont get into the habit of spending them early I have a tendency to forget about em. 2: Inablity to cross over to the Tau gunline. This really hurt me and might of been cause I was too cautious. Maybe I should of pushed harder or maybe I should of kept flamers on my immolators instead of MMeltas and had a flying nun HQ just to advance quickily to their backfield. 3: Chundering Exorcists. This was probably one of the worst outings for my favorite heavy tank. I couldnt roll to hit and had some epic fails. My main problem with the Exorcists is getting consistant high rolls and my average dice luck blows. I know good generals make their own luck but man I can sure run cold on the rolls.

Next game I am hoping to move to a little different list. I am going to try and sneak in the Flying Nun HQ and run her behind 2 Immolators with Hvy Flamers. Hopefully that will give me a nice push and allow me to get into enemy lines.

The item of debate is whether or not it would be better to have one Retributor squad(2 HB, 2 MM) in with the exorcists or not. Also I am curious how run just a solo Flying Nun would do and if she would just get decimated out in the field or get in to do some damage.

Why I am an idiot and choose white

Once again I decided to use white. The logic is that the white Immolator will hold my Canoness and her retinue but man its a pain in the can. Hopefully today I can get some time in to really layer the white paint on the model. Once I get this one done I will be able to get moving on the clean up project for all my Sisters tanks. I have some work to do there since they have taken some beatings and I have learned tons since I painted them.

If all goes well I should be able to field my 9 tank sister army for 1850.

4 Rhinos with Girls 1 melta/1hvy Flamer/vet sup with book

1 Immolator with Canoness +Retinue 1 melta/1hvy flamer/sup with Evis/Canoness with B.weapon

1 Immolator with Dominions 2 melta/2 flamer/Vet Superior

3 Exorcists

Bogged down in Ravenor

Dont know if I am experiencing a little bit of Black Library burnout but I am having a hard time getting into the Ravenor Omni. I think there are a couple factors but the main reason seems to be is that I am not really digging Ravenor as a character. Comparing him to Eisenhorn, Gaunt, and the characters in the Horus Heresy books he seems sorta weak.

I might just take a break for a bit on the book and go grab Margaret Atwood's new book today. I liked Onyx and Crake even tho a lot of people didn't and could go for something different.

Finally got a battle in: CSM vs BTs 1850

After all the family, new baby and job hunting craziness going on I finally got a chance to get a game in. Arrived a little late but was able to do rapid fire bedtime for my 2 eldest and even weathered some serious snarkness from my little girl. Then after a speedy drive to the wilds of Livermore I was able to throw down for a quick game.

I wanted to try out a new semi-competitive list based around Huron so I fielded:

HQ

Huron

CSM Sorcerer -MoS-Lash

2/ 7 man Plague Marine Squads with PFist, 2 meltas in Rhinos with a CombiMelta

1/8 man Zerker squad with a AC with a Pweapon in Rhino.

1/10 man CSM squad 2 Plasma Rifles and 1 PFist on foot with CG banner

2/3 Oblit Squads

1 Pred with AC and 2 Hvy Bolters.

1850

I don't remember exactly with the BTs were but it was something like

HQ

Marshal dude

Grey Knight Grandmaster

Emperor's Champion

5 man termie squad with Lightning claws and THs, in LandRaider

2 9 man BTs mixed neophytes and reg marines in Rhinos

2 5man BT squads with LasCannons and MMeltas

1 Tri Las Pred

2 Land Speeders with Mmeltas

I was happy to not see a vinde since they are the bane of my existence but the list was pretty intimidating. For some reason I always feel really confident against BTs but they are a really powerful army and not to be underestimated.

Mission/Setup: Multi-objective and regular table edge

Deployment : BTs set up pretty standard with the LR in the middle leading the charge and the 2 rhinos on its flanks. The two 5 man squads were on the objectives and the TriLas Pred with lurking on my far left. The 2 speeders zipped around one in front of a rhino and the other tried to get on my flank.

I deployed pretty much in parallel but decided to focus more of my FP on the side with the objectives. I put my 2 oblit squads on my right side so that they could pretty much get continuous shots on his troops, put my CSM foot squad in cover across from one of his objectives and put the rhinos in the middle with my pred on the left just to try and draw fire.

First Turn.

BTs went first and just generally moved forward. His Pred took some shots at Huron's Rhino but just stunned it, one of my PM rhinos also got Immobilized but I dont remember who did it. Landraider moved straight up into my face and popped smoke and the little speeders zipped around, one in front of one of his rhino and the other to flank my Pred (which made me happy cause I didnt want it to come after my CSM Sorcerer rhino).

(picture was taken here)

CSM turn one was pretty blah. Just moved my Oblits into better position and blew up a Land Speeder. Also took so random shots that just blew and did nothing.

Second Turn.

BTs: Land Raider moved forward more, killed 2 oblits that I left out :(, and now was threatening my objective. Remaining speeder blew off my pred turret, and one of my rhinos got stunned.

CSMs: PM squad who became one of the stars of the game popped outta the immo Rhino and popped the Landraider with Meltas. CSMs then lashed the termies+GK into a nice Plasma Cannon template for the Oblits. The Oblits then destroyed all the BT termies and left the GK to be charged by the Plague Marines. Huron just sorta hunkered down in his rhino, my foot CSM squad moved up to start to assault an objective and my Pred immobilized and blew the weapon off the Land Speeder that was threatening it.

Nice turn for me and the lash got to really do some damage here. I was happy I got a chance to hit those termies before he got them out since those are always a bitch for me to deal with.

Third Turn

BTs: His Marshal backed off and Emperor's Champ squad embarked to go deal with my CSM foot squad which he destroyed. The BT Pred shot up the solo oblit and his 5 man squads kept sniping my rhinos and started to hurt my PM squad that was now out in the open.

CSMs: Another good turn for me: Now that I had my Sorcerer in a great position with no hood to worry about it was pretty much open season for the lash. So I could Lash the Emperor's Champ squad into the open for my oblits to Plasm them and then charge the remain Champ to finish him off. Huron went and crashed into a crater to immobilize his rhino but he was in a pretty good spot so it was ok. Also, my Plague Marine squad that was out in the open now went and attacked the Emperor's Champs empty rhino and blew it up just to tidy up the field.

Fourth Turn:

BTs: Secured himself on the 2 objectives with his 5 man squads and they took potshots at my PMs in the open and rhinos. His Tri las shook my Sorcerers rhino and other Rhino with BTs in it moved back.

CSMs: Sorta in mop up mode and didnt want to make any dumb mistakes (which can be my M.O.). Disembarked my Sorcerer so that I could lash a BT squad off an objective and to be plasma'ed. Oblits plasma'ed them and now moved into a better position and the rest of my army just popped off random shots and did nothing.

Fifth turn:

BTs: Moved Marshal's Rhino with troops back to cover the objective I just cleared, and took some shots with his pred and other 5 man squad on Huron's rhino.

CSM: Cleared off the other objective with the lash/oblit combo and secured my objective with PMs. Also moved Huron up to contest and attack the other objective.

Sixth turn:

called the game here cause we were pretty sure I would of secured my one objective and contested or if lucky cleared the other.

From the list there were a couple of things I might have to change:

Huron: I love the model and character but its hard to justify the points. If I do keep him in I have to figure out more ways to get him into combat since 50% of the time he just stays bunkered or gets destroyed out right.

CSM foot troopers: Dont know if they were worth it. The Plasma for sure was sorta bogus since they didnt shot shit. It has potential but I dont know if it was worth it.

Khorne Zerkers: I love them but same as above.

Predator: Now this might have to get tossed. The AC and Hvy Bolters in theory seem cool but they just seem like I am throwing spitballs at Space Marines. But it is an awesome bullet magnet and whenever people see predators they throw everything it even though its nowhere the strength of an Obliterator.

Overall it was a fun game, I know my lash was a little frustrating and on an objective game the lash is very effective. I was very happy to get a game in. It has been a long time since I have got to play and I have really missed it. Hopefully we can start getting in regular games again especially as the kids start to settle into a schedule again.

Painting contest (continued)

Last one in the debate.

I love this mini for some reason and was really happy with how he turned out. Its for sure not a show stopper but I really like how he looks different than the typical Plague Marine

Painting contest (continued)

This is also one of my favorites. This is one that I had painted early on and then subjected to a Simple Green bath. I am really happy with how she turned out and now like her better than the flying nun mini that I converted myself.

Painting contest (continued)

Here is one of the minis I am thinking for the tourney. Its the Huron model and one of my favorite characters/minis in my CSM army. I have always really liked this one and wouldnt mind showing him off.

Painting contest

My local Game Store is prepping up for a painting contest and I am waging a fierce internal debate if I should enter something.

Tomorrow I am hoping to take some pics and ask for some hard critiques and opinions to see what might be cool to enter in.

Right now I am thinking of my Huron, a couple of the Plague Marines I converted, my Canoness with her Celestines or my Jetpack Chaos Lord.

I don't think in any way I could win but it would be fun to have my miniature displayed for a couple weeks at Game Kastle.

late

Happy B-day H.G. Wells

My first Sci-fi book that I ever really got into was War of the Worlds for a 4th grade book report. Since that time its been book after book for me and I will always be grateful to HG Wells for kicking off my love of reading.

Also so the interesting little tid bit that HG Wells wrote the first rule set for a miniature wargame: Little Wars . Whats odd is that when you read it, the rules have a lot of the odd "English-isms" that GW still uses :).

Sorry for the lack of posts

Haven't posted in a while due to family stuff going on but I think I will be getting back into the swing of things now.

Instead of diving into a new army I have decided to start focusing more on the ones I have.

I want to clean up my CSMs to a point where they can be competitive at the mid-range for the tournament painting contests and get my Sisters redone to where I really want them.

To kick off the endeavor I grabbed some new bases from MicroArt and now am scheming to start replacing all my IC and Squad leader bases. So far I go the "Spooky" one for my CSMs and want to get some for my girls but cant decide on one yet.

Any suggestions would be welcome or if anyone knows about another base maker besies MicroArt that looks good let me know.

1k Sisters

There is a now a slim chance that I might be able to sneak to the 1k tourney after all so I am starting to throw lists around.

I basically have 2 choices. Either have 2 Girls squads in Rhinos or 3 on foot

This is what I am thinking:

1 Canoness with Book and Blessed Weapon, Celestian Retinue in an Immolator TLHvyF/EA/Smoke 1 Melta 1 Hvy Flamer, 1 Vet SUp with Eviserator

2 Rhinos with Sisters squads EA/Smoke Hvy Flamer/Melta one Vet Superior with Eviserator, one with CombiFlamer

2 Exorcists

The other option is have 3 girl squads instead of the 2 on foot and without the Combiflamer and Eviserator.

I could run into some real problems if my girls get caught out in the open or I get Spunky and throw them out there. Its a real turtle list and I am going to have to draw guys to me and hope that I can use the Rhinos/Immolator to get the drop on Squads and eliminate them without losing too much in return. Also I am going to bet heavy on the Exorcists putting a lot of Firepower out there and eliminating any armor on the table.

The Quest for Foam

One of the disadvantages of having the best weather in the world is inability to get good insulation foam. I have been practically told that I am insane when I have asked for it at Home Depot or other home improvement places.

I have only found it successfully at one place but the price seemed sorta high and it was pretty thick.

BUT there is some hope. After posting on BoLS' new form I was pointed to these guys:
http://www.bobsfoam.com/ and I think I might drop em an email for pricing today. In the past I had heard of them before but was told that it burnt down. Luckily it seems to be safe and still in business.

Mecha-Nids

The coolest part of the 40k hobby for me is seeing what other people are doing. The new MechaNid pics from BoLScon are just awesome and I am just blown away by every picture I see. I have seen a couple here and there but if anyone sees anything else or if this dude has a blog let me know so that I can give more credit where credit is do.

Idea for GW/ForgeWorld

Now I know there is no way anyone at these companies will read this but I figured I would post it.

Why doesn't ForgeWorld do a Miniature series of all the Primarchs?

It really makes sense especially with how much they have flushed out the world with the Horus Heresy books. There would be tons of business for this and it would be awesome to see some great Primarch Daemon Princes and Primarchs in Terminator armor.

The Mini in the pic is from: HERE an awesome collection of insanely painted minis.

Sisters or CSMs

I think I am going to have to go with my girls, between the 2 lists that I am throwing around. I know that CSMs are the Uber and the lash can be really brutal but the girls have some great options at 1k. 3 Rhinos pack with girls with flamers and meltas is really kick ass and the Exorcist in the back field bring some justice is hard to beat. I dont think I have to worry about low model count armies but I will have to worry about hordes for sure. But hopefully the flamers and tanks will protect my girls. I just wish I could find a way to squeeze in a Callidus since that could be devestating at low points.

Dont know if I will be able to do the tourney and I sorta doubt it but at least I can make believe :).

CSM 1K list

Thinking about the 1k Tourney got me pondering a CSM list and what would be the most nasty list to throw out there.

HQ: 2 CSM Sorcerers with Lash

Troops: 2/6 man CSM squads with Melta in Rhino with Combi-Meltas

Elite: 1 Chosen 5 Man Squad in Rhino with 3 Meltas and 1 Flamer

Heavy: 2/2Obliterator Squads

Run the Sorcerers with the CSM rhinos and use the lash to create targets for the Oblits. Then have the Chosen as the finisher.

Don't know if it has enough units in it and might get overrunned by hordes but it might be cool.

Revised Sisters 1k list

After pondering who my opponents might be in a 1k tourney I decided to revise my list.

New List
Canoness with Celes Retinue in Immolator EA with TLHvy Flam. 1 Hvy Flamer and 1 melta in Retinue and an Enviserator/Bolt Pistol/Book for Canoness

3 Rhinos EA/Smoke with Girls 1 Vet Sup with Bolter 1 Hvy Flamer 1 Melta

1 Exorcist EA

Rounds out perfectly to 1k and should be a pretty good list. I know it could handle those evil Lash DP or Nob Biker list maybe, but would get it handed it it by IG I fear.

Btw: That pic is for you Dan to get you all hot and bothered in your Male only work environment.

Inquisitors

This is the part of the Inquisition Codexs that makes me sad.

After reading the Eisenhorn books, Emperor's Mercy and starting in on the Ravenor books, I have to say they need to make Inquisitors effective ICs. I have been liking them quite a bit in my army for the Psychic hood but why do their units have to blow so severely. The Acolyte, Penitent, Warrior and especially the Sage are just weaksauce in the extreme. The Acolyte is supposed to be an Inquisitor in training and he does nothing but take a shot for his boss or try some random fruitiness with a Mancatcher. The Penitent has a great save but come on lets throw in some abilities that you can buy. Having Distaff Penitents would be awesome. The Warrior is just paltry. In the books these dudes dominate even CSMs, they should at least have different archetypes like sniper, CCers(Deathcult Assassins), and Vet Guard(Marbo). The Sage is really the worst. What does having a Sage have to do with your BS? They should at least give an Inquisitor access to some new abilities or something.

Granted, I did like having an Inquisitor in a Land Raider for my last 1850 game even though it was insanely expensive and the Hood was awesome for me. But man they need to bring them in line with other ICs and the ass kicking we all know they should be doing.

Units of Suckage

Thinking more about changes that would be cool for Witchhunters in a new Codex and I started thinking about units that just suck in the Codex. I know everyone has some stinkers but these are a special breed.

The Acro-Flagellants: First off this unit is an awesome mini and has great character in the game. On many levels I think it is very cool and it was one of the first miniatures I grabbed when making an army. I loved painting him and have even been thinking of throwing them in some Simple Green so that I can do them again because my skills have improved over the 2 years.

But: These units are ultra expensive and just end up falling flat when I field them. The D6 rolls can be cool but killing your own units that cost as much as a CSM terminator is not. The cost is outta hand for these; 35 points and it really needs to be brought into line with the newer codexs.

To fix this unit: If you want to give them random death they should at least cost the same a Possessed CSM at 26 points. That still is pretty high since they can easily kill themselves but at that level I might think of throwing them in for character.

Also why is a Priest needed? When I have encountered these in the Black Library books the Inquisitors seem to have access to these with out a priest. The Priest is an ok unit but sorta sucks when mixed with Sisters due to the Holy Rage stuff.

Needless to say I love this model and love the lore behind it. I would really like find a way to field it competitively and hopefully it will be addressed in a new codex. I would also love to see what GW mini sculptors would do with this piece in a new model.

What would I want in a new Codex for Witchhunters

I have been thinking about this recently since I have been playing Sisters again and have some more experience with one of the new generation Codexs (CSMs). So this got me thinking about what would be cool for a new WitchHunters Codex.

Sisters are not a crippled army in 5th edition. Of course there are some costs imbalances and such but they are not unplayable. There are a couple things though that are needed for them and that I would love to see in a new Codex.

New Acts of Faith: I would keep the system even though you are limited by the number of faith points but I think its fun in a way. The one act that could be cool is granting "Blessed Ammo" to the squad. Other than that I think the mechanics are pretty cool. I could also see having an Act that grants Eternal Warrior an IC for a turn just so your Canoness cant get one shotted.

Unit costs: Overall they aren't bad now. Maybe bring the Rhinos in line with the SM and CSM rhinos so make them cost 35. Also maybe bring down the costs of meltas, storm bolters and flamers in line with the SM costs just cause they are pretty pricey. The Repentia's and Penitents could use some cost adjustments as well since right now they are pretty much worthless. Actually those units IMHO need complete rewrites or should be tossed out the airlock.

New HQs: I would love to see new named IC's for the Sisters. Why not have a named Sister that is the master of Seraphim and makes your Seraphims troops or something. Or a Living Saint that allows you to add in Fanatics to your troop list for next to nothing. I could see some awesome possibilities there that could be really cool. There are also some great opportunities that they could do with Inquisitors but they are too many to get into here.

Fast Attackers: Seraphim are pretty cool how they are done today and I don't know if they need many changes. Dominions for sure need some help. Why not make them Outflankers., There are tons of units out there that can outflank and I cant see why they cant not be the Sister's Chosen.

Troops: I really dont see too many problems for Sisters. Of course the Rhino costs need to be adjusted but they are pretty cool right now and have some great abilities. Inquistor Stormtroopers on the other hand seem worthless to me. Why would you get them when you can get a Sister for 1 more point and she has a Bolter and Power Armor. The only reason that I can think of is to use a smaller Stormtrooper squad to throw into an Immolator and then make it a scoring unit.

Elites: Celestines should have the ability to get Blessed Ammo for all their guns. They should be the Sister's Sternguard. It makes total sense and they should also have more than 2 special weapons. They arent a scoring unit and are supposed to be the Uber Sisters. Assassins I wouldnt change much except maybe give them some sorta frag grenade just so that they can charge guys in cover. Repentia's are the unit that really needs help. I don't really know what you could do for these girls except maybe cut down the costs and let them spend faith points. That way they would be a lot more brutal and would have some numbers to absorb all the fire

Heavies: Reducing the costs on Retributors would make them way cooler. Having the MMeltas cost 25 and Hvy Bolters cost 15 just blows. They are not a cost effective unit compared to an Exorcist at all. Immolators are sort of a lame Hvy choice but I have seen some crazy list Spamming with Immolators so I could see how they can be pretty sick. For the Exorcists I think they got it dead on and would hate to see it nerfed. I think they should make the missiles "blessed" to deny cover but all my friends would really hate them even more.

I know its a pipedream these days but I would love to see an Inquistion Codex with all three Ordos combined. It would be pretty awesome to see all the Orders Militant completely modelled out and I think would bring a lot of people to a very underused army.