Monday, December 12, 2011

Friday Blather - Upcoming events...what to paint?!

Friday has snuck up on me again already. As I get older, the weeks fly by faster and faster!

This week I spent a lot of time pondering changes to my Skorne army; read a bit of Domination and am considering how to use Battle Engines and some new Legion stuff; an upcoming Warhammer 40k event; some upcoming Flames of War events; and diving in to Fantasy a bit more!

(Whoops! I thought I'd posted this on Friday, mea culpa!)


Hordes

I was not really unhappy with either of the lists I took to the Brothers Grim Steamroller event, but I can't help but think some improvements might be made.

The Morghoul list I like just how it is. I think it's solid against virtually any kind of army, though it lacks both ranged damage and magical attacks. One semi-weak spot in the list is the Brute. His animus is solid, but situational, and his damage output is pretty weak. I think I'll try replacing him with a Cyclops Shaman. Magic ranged attack is spiffy, his animus is situational but gold when it's needed, and having him cast Rush for me frees up a ton of Fury (Marketh and Shaman can Abuse/Rush one beast; while Morghoul can upkeep Admonition and cast Abuse/Rush on another). I'm kind of liking the idea, and will definitely be testing it!

The Zaal list left me feeling a bit...well...I don't know. The Karax do nothing but die, which is fine, but then I end up with a glut of souls. It's nice to have that ARM20, but they move so slow it's nearly worthless. I think I'll try dropping them and the Swamp Gobbers for a unit of min Venators with UA. They dish out a decent long range shot at big bases, and can CRA a bit to even have a good chance at hitting a few high Def infantry models. With mini-feat, 16" range is pretty solid, and with their Reform I think they can Kite to bring folks in to the Guardians. In this list also I felt like the Brute was kind of there "just in case" and ended up not doing anything. I think having a Shaman or Raider (the new shooty Cyclops) would be nice, and I'll be trying both. The Shaman Animus is still handy, and I guess it might be worth having him to get Rush on the Gladiator when Fury is tight, but I think I might get more use out of the Raider...the list would suddenly have a whole lot of shooting, with some respectable range!

I finally tried Molik Karn this week, in some Vassal games. It's hard to get my head around something that can move that fast, hit that hard, then run away. With eMakeda, he's got such a tremendous threat range I simply can't see that far! SPD 6, 3" from charging, 3" from Leash, 2" from Rush, 2" from Road to War, and Reach gives him a threat range of 18", then he's got Side Step. I know the Karn Missile is pretty common, but having tried it first hand now...well, I can see why it's common and commonly hated! I've been using him alongside an Archidon, who lacks Reach but can fly out nearly as far. Being able to fly over enemy models and enjoy boost to-hit rolls on Makeda's feat turn makes for some pretty potent assassination ability! The list I've been testing is this:

Supreme Archdomina Makeda
-Titan Gladiator
-Archidon
-Molik Karn
6 Nihilators
6 Venator Reivers + UA
and 4 Paingiver Beast Handlers

In all the games I've tried with this, the Venators have been able to do significant damage; the Nihilators have been able to tie things up, and either Karn or Archidon has been able to use her Feat Turn to get an assassination. A lot of the success may be attributed to playing against folks that haven't seen Karn work before, myself included, so I'm going to keep using the list to see if it really works as well as I think it does.

With some Birthday money (Yeah, Happy Birthday to me! Forty-one and still gaming!) I've ordered a Cyclops Shaman and the Venators plus UA. Maybe I'll ask Santa for a Molik Karn, and see how many dice Ordo will throw at me!

I'm really liking the idea of the Skorne Battle Engine. It's got a lot of potentially high-power melee attacks, and a pretty powerful ranged attack too. The low RAT makes that big Double-Reiver not quite as useful as it may appear though. The Legion Battle Engine also looks interesting, with that great Cthulu-like theme and the magic attacks, it seems like it might be really good at taking on enemy infantry, but I can't really get my head around what either of those Battle Engines really do for me. I'm thinking that at 35 points their lack of specialization will keep them off the table.

Proteus is another model I'd love to use in my Absylonia Tier 4 list, but he seems to be just one point out of reach for me. I'd love to drop Scythean and Shepherd and plug him in, but that's a point too few. I really don't know where else to get the extra point. It sure would be nice to have him be able to drive the Raek while Absylonia stays safe! No biggie...when a model comes out perhaps I'll try harder!

The Conflict GT: Warhammer 40k

I'm signed up to compete in the 1750 tournament at The Conflict GT next month. Frankly, I wish I'd signed up for WM/H, but I'll press on!

I'll be using my Dark Eldar again:

Baron Sathonyx
Haemonculus
3 Wracks; Venom
5 Warriors (Blaster); Venom
5 Warriors (Blaster); Venom
5 Warriors (Blaster); Venom
16 Hellions (Helliarch)
6 Reavers (2 Heat Lances; Champion with Venom Blade)
6 Reavers (2 Heat Lances; Champion with Venom Blade)
6 Reavers (2 Heat Lances; Champion with Venom Blade)
and the Ubiquitous 3 Ravagers (Lances and Flickerfields)

This is basically the 2000 point list I took to previous tournaments, dropping the Incubi and some fluffy stuff along with a few Hellions. I think it will play exactly the same, and I hope it's speed and "pressure" can carry me past the ridiculous Grey Knight spam I'm sure to encounter.

I'd planned to re-pain the Ravagers to match my more current paint scheme, but I'm really unmotivated for it. Bad time of year for spray-painting anyway!

Flames of War

There are two things happening in Ordo related to Flames of War:

First, we're starting an Infantry Aces Campaign! I'll be missing the kick-off of the event tonight, sadly, but I'll be starting the 500 point phase with a simple German Late War Grenadier company with 2 full platoons of Rifle/MG infantry, and a CHQ with HMG and Mortar sections. I have no idea what I'll add in later. Probably some Pioneers, and some Panzerspah is the rules allow!

We've also got a 1750 Late War tournament coming up in Janurary! I'm pretty psyched for this one, as I'm trying out a new force I've only theorized about, but haven't actually played: Pioneers with Panthers!

I've had a herd of Panthers for awhile, they're still not quite completely assembled, and I have to paint them. I have a can of Dunkelgelb to get a basecoat, then some camo (I haven't decided which yet).

I'm anxious to try them with support from two platoons of Pioneers, with Goliaths and probably 2 flame-thrower teams per platoon (maybe only 1, I'm not sure).

To support these Rifle/MG guys I'll have an HMG section of 2 MG42s and a Mortar section of 2 GW34 Mortars. A frugal Rocket Launcher Battery of 3 NW41 launchers will provide additional support, and I'll bring along my trusty 8rads to take away that Gone to Ground for the guns to be able to range in!

So the total list will look like this, I think:

CHQ:
-2 SMG Cmd Teams
-2 MG42 HMG
-2 GW34 Mortar Teams

Panzerpioneer Platoon:
-R/MG Pioneer Cmd Team
-6 R/MG Pioneer Teams
-Goliath

Panzerpioneer Platoon:
-R/MG Pioneer Cmd Team
-6 R/MG Pioneer Teams
-Supply Truck

Panzer Platoon:
-5 Panther A

Panzerspah Patrol:
-2 Sd Kfz 232 8rads

Rocket Launcher Battery:
-SMG Cmd Team; Observer Rifle Team
-3 NW41 15cm Rocket Launchers

Not having played Flames more than a handful of times in the last year, I'm not very confident in doing well. I'm hoping that my Mortars and Rockets can shut down any AT Gun Teams that are mean enough to penetrate the front of the Panthers, while maneuvering with the big cats to keep enemy armor off their sides. The Infantry can be used to prevent enemy assaulting the Tanks, or to go assault enemy tanks (Goliath, Flame-throwers, and AT4 should be pretty fearsome!), while the HMGs try to deter enemy infantry from getting too close!

Everything is painted except the MG and Mortar attachments to the CHQ, the Supply Truck, and the Panthers. Some play experience in the Infantry Aces campaign will help me find my pace again, I hope!

Fantasy
I really wish there was more fantasy action at the store, as I'm really getting in to list theory again and want to put my stuff on the table!

I'd posted some Vampire Count stuff last month, and have since learned that they have a new book coming soon. I'm hoping that GW tradition of making existing units obsolete in favor of whatever new miniatures they want me to buy does not hold true, as I love me some dead guys! But I'm expecting that the Vampires, Ghouls, and Grave Guard will be taking a break.

To feed my fantasy lust, I'm torn between pursuing the Beastman army I've discussed before, or working on Warriors of Chaos. To be frank, I've evolved as a gamer where I don't try to limit myself or pull any punches. Maybe it's the WM/H influence, but I'm taking the meanest shit I can, period!

The Warriors list I'm considering would look like this:

Sorceror Lord of Tzeentch: Lvl 4; Disc; Enchanted Shield; Infernal Puppet; Talisman of Preservation; Bloodcurdling Roar

Exalted Hero of Tzeentch: BSB; Disc; Shield; Dragonhelm; Golden Eye of Tzeentch; Stream of Corruption

5 Chaos Warhounds

5 Chaos Warhounds

5 Marauder Horsemen: Musician; Light Armour; Flails; Throwing Spears

5 Marauder Horsemen: Musician; Light Armour; Flails; Throwing Spears


17 Chaos Warriors of Khorne; Standard; Musician; Halberds
 
17 Chaos Warriors of Khorne; Standard; Musician; Halberds


17 Chosen of Khorne; Standard; Musician; Halberds; Champion with Favour of the Gods

Chaos Warshrine of Tzeentch

and 2 Hellcannons

So a fair number of deploys; solid magic (Tz lore isn't the greatest, but it's not horrible either); some flyers to go shut down warmachines. The characters both have 1+ armour saves and 3+ wards. Three really killy blocks of infantry; the Chosen getting double-buffed with Favour should be really solid. Basically three T6 monsters and some blasts to put the hurt on infantry blobs. A flame weapon and a little bit of ranged attack from the characters, too. Is it too mean with 2 Hellcannons? I don't know...I don't think so.

If money were not an issue, I'd do the Beastmen. I LOVE minotaurs, but am put off by the cost of so many Ungors and the likelihood that, as Beastmen, the list will pretty much just suck no matter what. I've got all these Warriors things, many of them painted. I started work on a Warshrine that I can finish up, and I have an idea to convert two really old Juggernaughts in to Hellcannons shitting panic on everyone.

I'll listen to feedback on this, and inventory the Beasts to see what I'd need and go from there!

Oh, and one last thing, my son Bobby and I are entering an Ordo-run 40k Doubles tournament! He's SO excited! I can't wait! :)

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