Vague Attack Wing Battle Report

Deployment

3 way 150 points fleet pure battle between myself, Owen's Romulans (double Scimitars) and Jason's Borg (Tactical Cube and Octohedron). I was quite happy to go after the Borg and their ridiculous amounts of hull points first but Owen placed a Scimitar right next to me and I wasn't having any of that.

Turn 1 End

Owen's Scimitar didn't fair too well after that. Both Voyager and the Enterprise E took huge chunks out of it. The Borg and Actual Scimitar (as in the named version) just moved up slightly.

Turn 2 End

Bye bye Fake Scimitar. Between Voyagers 360 shot and the Enterprise's minefield that ship didn't stand a chance. Now Owen knows not to deploy near me. The Actual Scimitar then fired it's fearsome Thalaron weapon but only knocked out the bonus Hull Armour upgrade on the Cube and killed off the Queen.

Turn 3 End

The Scimitar takes an absolute pounding from the Borg while my Feds maneuver round the planet.

Turn 6 End

The Scimitar got Cubed in turn 4 and Voyager got Diamonded in turn 5. The Galaxy with Riker on took a beating from the Cube during turn 6 and the Enterprise taken down to a couple of hull by the Diamond.

Endgame

With the Galaxy gone the Enterprise stood no chance. I'd almost got the Diamond but couldn't quite finish it off.

It was a great game and I do feel guilty for killing Owen off first on his birthday but he started it :P I think I might try the Starter Picard out. Him being able to take 2 actions is quite nice and might make a big difference to how I play this version of the Enterprise but that auto-crit/extra defense Picard E gets is also a nice feature.

Feel free to check out Jason's view over on his Blog here. He's much more theatrical about battle reports than I am.

Necrons Thoughts

This codex is essentially a lot a little tweaks all over the place. It really is worth reading through it properly, most of the interwebs seem to be unaware that hits from Instant Death reduce your Reanimation roll by 1 for example.

Overall though it's a good book. I think I'll use the Decurion Detachment quite a bit seeing as what I typically put into an army is what is in just the Reclamation Legion. Although I do now need £48 for Tomb Blades and Reaver Jet Bikes so I can kit bash them together. I'm also going to get some more Warriors and use Power Claw/Lightening Claw blades and some Greenstuff to convert them into Flayed Ones. 20 Flayed ones with a Chronometron Cryptek in there for 350 points and just run them into whaever the hell I want to die. Should be fun if nothing else.

Typically what I'm seeing with this book is that where something gets a nerf it also gets a boost. Take the Doom Scythe for example. One player I know who goes to lots of tournaments was saying how they are crap and not worth taking now. However they are 15 points cheaper and instead of a line it's a blast with Lance. I prefer this version. When you fired at tanks before you were typically only hitting 1, maybe 2 anyway. So you'll probably still hit the same number of tanks but now in a worst case scenario you are glancing on a 2+, penning on a 3+. In terms of infantry killing you're probably going to be getting about the same number of models as you were before unless you only played complete idiots who run their units around in straight lines. So it got the "nerf" of no longer auto-hitting but gained Lance and a points reduction.

The only thing that bugs me is that when the Monolith fires its Whip the Flux Arcs can only Snap Fire still. Other than that I'm loving it and can't wait to start using it on the table top.

The Solitaire

Just a quick vent. There has been a lot of talk about The Solitaire. About how it's fairly cheap and will destroy whole armies on it's own (this was from a certain local player). Only it wont. At most it'll kill 1 squad, 2 if it's Marines. Yes it's fast. Yes it hits like a ton of bricks. Yes it'll take on most things in the game. However it suffers from 1 MAJOR weakness. It's an Eldar that can't join squads/be joined by characters. A decent round of fire from a Tactical Squad with just Bolters and it's gone. The only reason I say it'll kill 1 unit, 2 for Marines is because it'll run down what ever it was fighting and then sit there in the middle of your army going "oh shit...", Marines however will sit there and die in the second round of combat (IE your turn) so it can then charge again in it's turn but at this point should have 1 wound left and be easy to deal with. It honestly is not the God Killing Space Clown people seem to think it is. Chill :P

Da Diary of Crusha - Day 1

This series of articles is going to be the adventures of Crusha the 'Tard, my character in our Pathfinder RPG campaign. Crusha is an evil Ogre-Kin (half man half ogre) Paladin with stumpy legs and 3 arms. He currently has full plate armour, a huge shield and a Warhammer. He is also a dick. Our first session was basically an intro that involves us wandering around a dungeon and shit happening.

First thing we did when we entered the dungeon was come across something. The Barbarian just yelled and ran in punching stuff. So did everyone but Crusha. He decided to see what he was fighting THEN run in and punch shit. Turned out they were just some little Goblin things so we beat the shit out of them.

In the next room we discovered a well which was giving out light. Crusha investigated and discovered fire in the bottom then asked "is there water in there too?". The Barbarian then opened the next door and the good guy (only lawful character in the group, can't remember the exact role) just ran in and discovered an Alter with some Skelies which then attacked. The Rogue and Barbarian ran in to help him so Crusha walked up and closed the door behind them leaving him and the Dwarf Healer in the well room. After convincing the Dwarf the a breeze closed the massive stone door he then spent several turns "attempting" to open the door. In the end he smashed it down, ran in yelling "we're here to save you guys!" and then the Barbarian managed to kill the last of the skelies. Crusha then convinced the REST OF THE GROUP that the door closing was in fact the breeze and that it had gotten stuck.

As we explored further down the caves we came across a river and heard a roar on the other side. The Barbarian decided to roar back which caused a pair of baby dragon like things to come over. Then the Barbarian went apeshit and attacked one. While he dealt with that 1 the Rogue and Good Guy were made unconscious by the other one, so Crusha killed it. Once they were dead the Barbarian swam over the river and found an egg. When he returned with it the group was divided on what to do. Some wanted to keep it, some wanted Breakfast. Crusha wanted to smash it. So he walked up to the Barbarian, took it out of his hands and crushed it in front of his face. The Barbarian then went into Rage and attacked Crusha. I thought with his armour of 27 (next highest in the group is 19, average is about 15) he would just tank it. No. No he did not. The Barbarian rolled a natural 20 and caused 18 wounds to Crusha. He only has 10. Thankfully the Dwarf Healer stopped the bleeding and the group rested until I woke up again.

We eventually found an exit and called it a night. This is my first time role playing and it's freaking awesome. We've got a good group that's up for a laugh things are just awesome. Can't wait for the next session.

More Necron Rumours

So today Faeit came out with a load of Necron rumours that aren't complete bovine excrement like the last lot. I'm actually quite pleased so far.

Decurion Detachment: Alternate way to build your army and having used the formation provided in White Dwarf for it it's a pretty good one. I even have to give Tomb Blades some credit for not being completely useless as I always thought they were. Still hate the models though. Might have to convert some, not sure how yet. Maybe some sort of Tomb Blade / Reaver Jetbike kit bash?

Reanimation Change: So now it's a FNP that can be used against everything except S:D and "removes from play". 5+ basic, 4+ with Orb. So basically what it is now except as soon as the wound is taken rather than at the end of the phase.

Warlord Traits: As with all codex ones not bad but not great. 1, 2 and 6 are great, 4 is OK the rest aren't worth it. Eternal Warrior and re-roll hits in a challenge with Hatred if they refuse really are nice on a kitted out Overlord, Zealot is always fun and +1/-1 to reserve and seize can be handy. The others, not worth it at all.

Overlords getting WS and BS 5: About bloody time. I mean, why didn't they have that any way?

Orikan: Stars lookin purty doesn't switch off. Not bad still doubt I'll take him though.

Praetorians: 2 attacks base. Still don't think I'll take them over Lychguard.

Wraiths: T5. Only used them once but might have to get some more for a decent sized unit.

2 wound Destroyers: Awesome. More reasons to put them on the table.

2 wound Lords/Crypteks: Once again great to have.

Phase Shifter going to 4+: Unless it's a lot cheaper then this was a bad move.

Death Ray blast instead of line + Lance: Would actually use it now. Still probably wont but at least I'll consider it.

Doomsday Cannon: Still no. Rather not have the big cannon of doom sitting around doing nothing.

Flayed Ones: YES THANK GOD!! Count as having 2 combat weapons, AP5 and have Shred! So long as they don't go up by more than 1 point per model (ideally lower) I'll finally have a reason to put some of those awesome models into my collection.

Tesla: Same as before but doesn't work on Snap Shots. Who didn't see that coming?

Powers of the C'Tan: The only issue I have here is that according to White Dwarf you pick the target and THEN randomly generate a power. If it was power first that'd be fine. If it was random power(s) at the start of the game then choose which when you use them that'd be fine. But going "I need that Knight Titan dead" *rolls 4 or less* or "kill that horde" *rolls 5+* isn't exactly useful. The powers themselves are quite good but situational.

Overall not bad. No doubt there will be another post in a couple of days like this for other things like Relics, Dispersion Shields and Mindshackle Scarabs but so far so good.

Video Games

In my meeting with the careers advice service the other day I jokingly said that maybe I should make one of those stupid mobile games like Flappy Bird. But actually, why not? I've spent 2 years at college studying video games design and I know what program to use and how to use it. If I look at some of the more popular mobile games they all have a few things in common.

Flappy Bird
Angry Birds
Candy Crush
Clash of Clans

Heck, I've just checked the Play Store and the current best selling game is "Crossy Road". IT'S GOD DAMN FROGGER BUT YOU CAN CHANGE THE FROG!!!! What have all these games got in common though? They are mind numbingly simple but addictive. That's all I have to do. Create a game that is incredibly simple, but addictive. Some sort of high score system, after all you want to beat that record. It's got to be child friendly, a bit cartoony. Bright colours. Catchy name. Maybe involve an animal. Replay-ability. Not the same every time time you play.

I've got a few ideas floating around. I'll do some research into how viable it is first before I start anything though.

The Collective

Yes another Star Trek post. That tournament I've been on about has officially gone up and it's following "The Collective" story line. This is good news as the random ships can be narrowed down now as this story arc was July-September last year. So onto the possibilities.

Jem'Hadar Fighter (3rd Wing Attack Ship)

Maquis Raider (Gavroche)

K't'inga Class (IKS B'Moth)

ToS Romulan Bird-of-Prey (IRW Vorta Vor)

Saber Class (USS Yeager)

None of these are particularly bad. My preference would be the Yeager, B'Moth or Jem'Hader Fighter but the Vorta Vor wouldn't be too bad either. The Maquis though doesn't really bring anything that useful whereas at least with the Vorta Vor I've got other Romulan ships I can use it with. The Yeager comes with some really nice anti-Borg stuff too. At least I can plan what I'm doing a bit better now.

The top prize is a Vulkan ship. Not a great ship but some nice upgrades. You also get the counter attack upgrade and a matching die to go with it. The second one (don't know when that'll be yet) you get a chance to win the USS Raven, once again not a particularly good ship but nice upgrades, and some fleet captain cards. Third round and the Stargazer is the top prize which is the main one I'm after. Decent ship, decent upgrades. Some officer cards are also up for grabs. The overall winner also gets a partially assimilated USS Enterprise D which I'm not sure if it's Borg, Federation or both.

Potential List - Attack Wing

So with my rant yesterday I decided to start looking at what I would actually take to a tournament. Thinking about what I play against usually ships that can cloak give me the most trouble so I've come up with 90 points that should hopefully give cloakers a tough time.

U.S.S. Enterprise - E (32)
- Jean-Luc Picard (5)
- Pavel Chekov (3)
- Deanna Troi (3)
- Photon Torpedoes (6)

Federation Starship, Galaxy Class (26)
- William T. Riker (4)
- Geordie La Forge (4)
- Miles O'Brien (2)
- Antimatter Mines (5)

My third ship would be the random one. The idea here is to have the Enterprise as the main heavy hitter. Thanks to not needing a target lock to torpedo anyone I can quite happily throw some heavy hits at cloaked ships and Chekov keeps me going afterwards by effectively turning all my white maneuvers green. Then there is Troi who is one use only but takes away someones cloak, gives you a free battle stations and disables the targets crew/captain. The generic Galaxy Class is bringing Riker to the party who can get a couple of shots off before being shot at himself. Geordie also forces ships to de-cloak at the end of the turn and makes them roll 2 less defense dice. O'Brien then lets me disable one of their upgrades if there is something annoying me (that and I'd only got 2 points left and he's the only 2 point upgrade I have). Finally the Antimatter Mines. Once they get too close to the Galaxy Class then BAM! 4 attack dice to their face that they can't roll defense dice against and a small section of the table that they're going to have to avoid. The third ship will then try and support the other 2, seeing as I don't know what it'll be that's how I'll have to plan it.

If I can I'll attempt to get the U.S.S. Excelsior expansion. The named version is the same cost as the generic Galaxy but trades 1 attack for 1 shield and gains a special ability. I can then switch out the Dorsal Phasers for some Torpedoes as the Excelsior has a 180 front arc and trade O'Brian for a Positron Beam to force my opponents to move slower.

Attack Wing Tournament Thoughts/Rants

So I played some Attack Wing today with a couple of friends and a guy who owns a games store in Coventry. He stocks Attack Wing and is running a tournament next month so he wanted to get to grips with the rules so we kept it simple at 2 ships each and 70 points per player. That set up is good because you get enough of a feel for how maneuvering ships together without being able to go to heavy with upgrades so things stay simple. Despite being taken out first thanks to getting caught up in between the Romulan and Klingon fleets it was a pretty good game.

The main thing I wanted to talk about was the rules for the tournament. It's going to be using the suggested rules found here. In short this means a few things. Firstly no one will know what their final fleet is until the day. This is thanks to the blind booster ship. While you could get something awesome like a smaller Borg Scout Cube you could also get a crappy Kazon or Vulkan ship. On the upside though at least you get to keep it afterwards and they can go for silly money on Ebay. I had a look to see if I could get the Stargazer on there the other day and they're about £40 as you could only get them from the Organised Play tournament at the time. Also the ticket is £15 and the ships are usually £12 so I'm basically getting to play in a tournament for £3. So yeah back on track I have to use a random ship in my list and it'll take up 30 points but I get to keep it.

Now the restrictions. 120 point games, with 30 reserved for the Blind Booster (so you get 90), and a minimum of 3 ships including the Blind one and no ship may come to more than 50 points unless it's base cost is 43 or more but at that time you're looking at Borg Cubes and the like. I know why they have done it thanks to reading online about other tournaments but for certain ships it seems to restrictive. But that's the point. A lot of people were turning up with a single kitted-out Fed ship or Cube and just screwing people over which isn't fun. It'd be like turning up to a 40k game with a normal army and playing against unbound Leman Russ spam backed up by titans. You won't win and it won't be fun. The problem is ships that are expensive anyway. Take the Enterprise-E for example. It's 32 base. To make the most of it's ability you want Torpedoes, Take your pick, quantum or photon, either way that's 6 points and now you're at 38. You're putting Picard on there and you know it. That'll be another 5 for the good one (FYI it's 6 for the other version). Now the E is usable it's 43 points. That's only 7 points for any Crew or Elite abilities and all I have is 1 ship with Torpedoes and a Captain. I know with some decent rolls it'll screw over even cloaked ships but with those basics on and not really any room to move is it worth it? I guess I'll find out after a few games under these rules.

If you read all that and are still going congratulations as it's mainly just me ranting. Might not sound like it but I am looking forward to this thing. I'll get a new toy and to (hopefully) play some people I've never met before. I'm already thinking up possible lists with what I currently have but hopefully soon I'll have another ship and new upgrades to consider as well.

Tha Grayer Gooooodddd

They look cool. Don't care what anyone says Tau look cool. That's why I've decided to give them a go. I want to paint something different to the normal Imperial stuff and Necrons don't really count for anything for painting. I'm not going the route of every other Tau player though. No Riptides, no Commander Helpful, no vehicles (except maybe a flyer because I like the look of them) and only a couple of Markerlights. I'm taking Pathfinders with special weapons, plenty of Fire Warriors, a pair of Broadsides and modelling my Battlesuits to be wielding their guns 2 handed, possibly like pistols instead.

As for colour scheme I'm thinking a dark blue with orange in between the groves of the armour and on the sergeants helmets and a dark grey cloth. Already worked out my Commander wargear wise too.

Tau Battlesuit Commander - 85
XV8-02 Iridium Armour - 25
Onager Gauntlet - 5
Failsafe Detonator - 10
Repulsor Impact Field - 10
2x Plasma Rifles - 30
Shield Generator - 25

for 190 points. He's a lead-from-the-front kind of guy that doesn't like losing combat :P

Shield of Baal: Exterminatus

Having got a copy of the book I've decided to give a quick review of the interesting bit. The Mephrit Dynasty stuff.

The Relics aren't much, they are only from a supplement after all, but seeing as we've got the only codex without them they're not bad at all.

The God Shackle: 10 points and Cryptek only. +1 S and T for a C'Tan Shard. If you have both of these and 10 points spare then why not but considering they are S and T 7 normally it's not really worth it.

Solar Thermasite: 25 points and you get +1 S for your weapons and re-roll saving throws of 1. Very useful for your lord and one I intend to use often.

Edge of Eternity: 20 points for a warscythe that is AP2 instead of 1 and precision strikes on a 2+. Oh dear god yes! Overlord with Thermasite, Edge, Scarabs, Weave and Shifter for 210 points. I'd take that over the Weather Reporter any day!

Warlord Traits: Not bad at all. 2/3 of them are actually useful. 3 and 4 are a bit rubbish (re-roll morale and adamantium will) and number 2 is for when you really want to kill that tank (haywaire on a warscythe :P ).

The Mephrit Dynasty Cohort: IE the force org chart. Standard chart with an extra mandatory Troops and 2 more Troops than normal total. Bonuses are re-roll warlord trait (always useful) and Troops choices get to re-roll 1's for reanimating. All it comes down to really is Objective Secured or bonus to reanimation. Personally I think I'll use the bonus to reanimation.

Formations;

Conclave of the Burning One: Put God Shackle here. A bit meh but a C'Tan with FNP aint bad if you want one.

Zarathusa's Royal Decurion: Take a specific army. Get Crusader, Counter Attack, Fearless or Monster Hunters on EVERYBODY!! Be great if Praetorians were worth the points.

Anrakyr's Strategic Decurion: Bullshit from a fluff point of view as Anrakyr doesn't like Deathmarks but needs them for his formation. Take what is in most Necron armies anyway (obviously with Anrakyr) and get re-roll reserves. Meh.

Guardians of Perdita: All of the above, Zarathusa's bonus for everyone!!



Overall not bad. Not great but not bad. I don't think I'll use any of the formations but the force org and Relics I will.

Necron Rumours - My Thoughts

So the Necron rumours have started up. For those who don't know 'Crons are my favourite army and the only one I have never got rid of at some point. They were also my second army from way back when Phase Out was a thing. Safe to say I love my metal menaces. Which is why I'm so disapointed with these frankly bullshit rumours.

Mini Tournament

Todays mini tournament went well, even if I wasn't feeling so good and forgot to take photos. I think my list worked well apart from some bad dice but that happens from time to time.

Game 1 VS Imperial Guard
Short table edge deployment, mission 1 (4 objectives).

Massacre. The only word I can use to describe this game. A Guard list designed to function at whittling the enemy away from long range simply couldn't do anything to stop the Drop Pod Assault. Despite being fluffy my list hits hard and fast and at then end of turn 4 he only had a few models left (2 tech priests, 2 russ's and the remnants of a blob squad fleeing) and I'd yet to loose a whole unit. Absolutely brutal.

Game 2 VS Orks
Standard deployment, Relic

Another massacre, but I did loose a few units this time. Taking the Relic from a horde of boyz is easy, keeping it is something else. Eventually though I managed to bring it to another table but with the loss of a Dreadnought, the Sternguard, Issodon, a Tac squad and a Techmarine.

Game 3 VS Blood Angels
Diagonal Deployment, mission 1 (4 objectives).

This one was something a bit different to face. In the Exterminatus supplement the BAngels get a detachment called the "Archangels Strike Force". Compulsory, 1 HQ and 2 Elites. Optional, 1 HQ and 14 Elites. So he took 2 Sternguard units, a shooty Termie unit and a TH/SS Termie unit with a Captain. Termies were held in deepstrike but arrived too late. End of turn 1 and he only had 4 Sternguard on the table. Thankfully for him I went first and the "no models you loose" is at the end of the GAME turn not PLAYER turn. Turn 2 his shooty Termies came down but got wiped out through sheer firepower so his Assault termies came down in turn 3 and went after my scouts camping on a back field objective. I just waited on the other 3 in his deployment zone so turn 4 was the last turn anything actually happened. There was no point me going to him and he wasn't coming for me.

Game 4 VS Taudar
Diagonal deployment, 1 objective in each deployment zone.

Massacre again, but for me this time. 3 Wraithknights backed up by Battlesuits with Commander No-Guns are a pain in the arse to deal with when you scatter horribly. Tried to focus fire but simply couldn't put enough wounds on the T8 bastards and eventually got tabled.

Game 5 VS Flesh Tearers (BAngels)

Hilarious game. We both rolled so crap we couldn't help but laugh. I thought between 4 melta guns (1 being master crafted) and Issodons Infiltrate, Isolate, Destroy I should be able to take about a Land Raider. Apparently though Land Raiders are pretty hard to hit at point blank range, on the side, without it moving as only the master crafted one hit AFTER it's re-roll and all it did was Immobilise it. He ended up almost tabling me but god damn did I have fun in that one!

Overall it was a fun day I despite being unwell I had a great time, even with people trying to spoil it before it was organised. Hope to do something like this again soon.

Mini Throne of Nerds

On Saturday some of us at my local games club (mainly the ones of us going to ToS) are having a mini tournament for practice. I'll be sure to take some photos and post them up on here afterwards. We've got a fairly good mix going, well sort of. There is an Iron Hands player (myself), an Orks player, 3 Blood Angels players (well, 1 BA, 1 Flesh Tearer and an Angels Encarmine), a Death Guard and an Imperial Guard for definite with Taudar as another possible entry. OK so not a great mix but hopefully it'll be a good day :P