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Happy New Year

January 1, 2014, 11:25 am
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2014 will be a great year here at Atomic Warlord's HQ. The 40K avalanche shows no sign of slowing down, and I will start covering a few more games here, such as X-Wing, Star Trek Attack Wing, Deadzone, plus a few board games.

We have three campaigns in the works and a host of modeling projects including a terrain building project in conjunction with Peter over at Grim Cheapness of the Future. 

Take a deep breath, slam a fresh mag in, and come along for the ride, it's going to be a good one.


The Emperor Protects
So say we all
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Tyranids Inbound

January 3, 2014, 4:14 pm
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The January White Dwarf has arrived and so has our first (official) glimpse at the new and hopefully improved Tyranids. Some very pretty pictures in the sales pitch zone at the front of the magazine.

The flyer kit looks pretty sweet with parts to build either the troop killing Harpy or the anti-air Hive Crone. Two different heads, carapace, tails, and a couple of weapon options should give this lots of building options.
The Tyrant/Hive Guard box has options for two different guns, and lots of close combat options for the Tyrant Guard including crushing claws, boneswords and lashwips. They stand just a bit taller than Warriors, so they finally look big enough to do their job.
At long last the Warriors have gotten all of their options into the box, plus parts to make a Tyranid Prime.  I just hope the new rules make them the backbone of the army they should be.
The "medium" size new monsters should be fun. I am so happy GW reached back into Epic lore and gave us The Exocrine and Haruspex. I'm fine that they have be given legs now and are no longer "Killer Slugs" that they were back in the Epic times. I do like they way they both look, but the Haruspex does have a certain manga-tentacle horror to it. 

The battle report is substandard with no FOC and not much real info so it is hard to get a good feel for any changes. It was nice to see that a Carnifex brood that has different options within it. At one point in the battle Old One Eye was "Regaining wounds faster than the Riptide can cause them", I don't know what that means in game terms, but I am intrigued.  

I am so looking forward to then new Codex and models next week. Time for a new campaign.

A nice picture for size comparison.

The Hive Mind Draws Near
Guess Who is Dinner?


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Shields Up!

January 10, 2014, 3:20 pm
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While we wait for the new Tyranid Codex to arrive, let's talk about a different game, Star Trek Attack Wing. It has been a while since the two big sci-fi franchises have had a good space combat game. Star Wars got theirs in the form of the excellent "X-Wing" by Fantasy Flight, and Star Trek got "Star Trek Tactics" by Wizkids, based on the Heroclix system.  

I am big fan of Fantasy Flight's X-Wing game and was really disappointed in Wizkids' terrible Star Trek Tactics. Fortunately Wizkids had a smart attack and licensed X-Wing's "Flight Path" game system for another try at a Star Trek game. It was a great fit and what we got is a fun and fast playing Star Trek starship combat game.

The smart attack didn't cover everything. Instead of making a few new sculpts for ships that really needed it, they just re-used the Heroclix models. In some cases, like the Romulans and the Dominion fleets, they are fine and the paint jobs are serviceable. The Federation ships are nice models with okay paint jobs. It's just too bad they went went with light blue instead of grey. The hack job they did on the Klingons we cover next time.
The most visible problem is that of scale. The (in)famous Bird of Prey is a fine model, just far too big next to the other ships. The Enterprise from the original series is in scale with the Enterprise-D, just not anything else. I don't want perfect scaling here (like X-wing did) but just some relative scale would have been great.

Enough with negative side. Star Trek Attack Wing is a lot of fun to play. It is obviously similar to X-Wing, but there are lots of minor tweaks that give it it's own flavor. The average game will take between 45-90 minutes to play out. One of the things that Attack Wing does better that its sibling is each ship expansion comes with a mission card, so is there is good variety if you don't feel like the 100 point line up and kill.

We will be giving this game a lot of coverage this year, starting next week with my Klingon fleet repaint.


Go Roll Some Dice
In Spaaaace


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Codex:Tyranids Rant Part 1, The Bad & Ugly

January 22, 2014, 11:15 am
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The 'Nids have dropped in for a bite and here is my first take on the new codex. Well this is actually my second try. The first draft was really a hate filled nerd rant. Now I'll just sit back and let the rum work it's magic. So I'm now longer angry, just disappointed.

I wanted the new Tyranid Codex to be great in they way the new Tau and Eldar books are great. I wanted to frantically flip through the codex and giggle at all the cool little changes that make the 'Nids better. I really wanted to find Genestealers had something to help them in this new era of shooting supremacy. I needed the Warriors to be the backbone of the army again, and the Lictors return to mythical boogyman status. Nobody got better. Nothing got fixed.

 People don't like to lose things. trade, sure. Lose, never. The Tyranids have been on the loosing side since 6th edition was released. No charge after fleet. No charge after outflank. Overwatch. And now no Doom of Malan'tai, Ymgrail Genestealers, Mycetic Spores, or Parasite of Mortrx. Of which I have models for all of them. Grrr.

Then there is the just confusing. Why mess with scything talons? Drop the Hive Guards BS a point? Make Lictors hang out in a squad? Increase the cost of bone swords? Give the flyers template or blast weapons they can't use on other flyers? For a race that constantly adapts why no anti-aircraft biomorphs? Sigh.

It just feels lazy and/or changing for the sake of changes. A number of small easy fixes could have transformed this to a big win for the Hive Mind. I didn't want any super-overpowered units, I just wanted some help in getting across the the kill zone.

Even though it sounds like it, I don't hate the new codex. I'm not going to melt down my 6,000 points of 'Nids. I am disappointed with it, with what it could, nay, should have been.

Next up, the Good bits of Codex:Tyranids.


The Great Devourer Hungers
Not all mutations are useful

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Codex:Tyranids Rant Part 2, The Good

January 31, 2014, 2:59 pm
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So I have had three games with the new Codex and all is not doom (except for the lack of the Doom) and gloom. I understand Win At All Cost players and those who play them really hate the new book, but here at the Warlords Fortress, that is not our way. Some new options, units, and a new kits make this version of our beloved 'Nids just fine. 

The book itself is well done, good fluff pieces, and some nice new artwork. Most of the Warlord traits are useful and I really like the addition of the bio-artifacts to the wargear. The big winner is the point decrease on the heavies and 'gaunts. The Exocrine is the artillery unit we have been waiting for, and the Harspex is a fun monstrous creature addition to the Elites slot. 


I think all the new kits are great. The Harpy is a solid flying nightmare and it easy to swap out the two main guns. The Exocrine/Harspex kit looks good and seems like it was designed for the magnetically inclined... 
Wether it is positive fallout from the Chapterhouse lawsuits or not, it is wonderful to see all the unit's options included in the kits now. I have loved Tyranid Warriors armed with bone swords since the Advanced Space Crusade days, and it is so good to have them back along with enough rending claws for the whole unit. The option parts build up a nice looking Tyranid Prime as well.
I waited too long and missed the Hive Guard in metal, and just could not bring myself to get them in Finecast, but now they are slightly cheaper and bigger in much easier to build plastic.

The Tyranids are still fun to play, and fun to play against. It's that iconic science-fiction imagery of the vast horde of bug-like creatures versus a smaller but well armed force that resonates with us. They fit their role in the 40K universe as invading monsters that cannot be reasoned with quite well, and I look forward to playing many games with them this year.

And speaking of the magnetically inclined, Monday will be a new guest article by Matt, on how to go crazy with a Carnifex or three.

The Great Devourer Hungers
And it's Not Picky

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In the Mouth of Magnets

February 3, 2014, 9:39 am
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Yuuup. All options magnetized.
Today's guest article comes from Matt on the joy of magnetic force. 

Greetings to you who peruse this blog.

I have come to this place to share my madness. I first delved into the 40k universe with the Blood Angels. One of my first purchases was a Predator tank and I wasn't content with either-or set up of the kit. I didn't want to have to choose between a lascannon or an autocannon. I wanted to be able to switch up as circumstances dictated. So, with the proper application of some extra plastic, a metal washer, and a rare earth magnet, I built a turret that could be opened up so that the cannon could swapped out. This magnet based project worked out so well in fact that you might say that I was instantly. . . attracted to the concept. My apologies, I won't do that again. 

Now then, over the years I have magnetized a fair number of things. Predators, Dreadnoughts, my Stormraven (removable wings for storage is extremely helpful), but because of the recent Tyranid release, today we will be focusing on the humble Carnifex. 

First a word on magnets. I use 3/16 inch neodymium disc magnets that have about 2 pounds of pull force. You can get a lot of them pretty cheaply online and they'll have more then enough power for this kind of thing. Once you've got your magnets, you'll need to find a drill bit that is as close to the diameter of the magnet as possible if not slightly larger (you want it to be snug). Most of the time the plastic will be so thin that you'll punch through with the drill bit, so the better the fit, the better the magnet will hold after its glued in place.  Also, establish a "master magnet". What I mean by this is take one magnet and mark one side with a marker or some paint. This will be the "connecting side", the side that you'll use to orient all other magnets to. That way you won't have a rouge arm that refuses to connect to its socket. Finally, you're going to want get a positioning tool of some kind. The back of a smaller drill bit works well for this. Stick your magnet to it in order to simplify the application of glue and the placement.

On to the main body. Assemble the torso section of the body and the heads and allow the glue ample time to cure. The parts need to be good and secure for the next step. Bore out the arm and head sockets with the drill bit. I do it by hand because drills can be too aggressive and can get away from you quickly causing undo damage and possible injury. Be sure to test fit the magnets before gluing them in place. Apply glue to the sockets and using the positioning tool, apply some glue to the magnet as well. Now place the magnet into the hole that you've made. This is where is becomes an exercise in patience since you need to hold the magnet there until the glue sets long enough for it to hold on its on and you can slip the positioning tool off without pulling the magnet right back out of the torso.

A similar process is used for magnetizing the heads, but you will want to clip of the little plastic peg on the back of the head before drilling out the hole.

As for the back plate (I'm working from memory here so bear with me), there should be a little indentation on the inside of the piece, it should be thick enough there for a magnet without having to bore all the way through. Positioning the magnet on the torso above the head socket takes a little estimation. If you cheat it slightly low that should help hold the back plate down tight against the torso.

The arms are where things get really tricky. Each of the arms has a ball joint that needs to be shaved down a little for the magnet to stick properly. Preposition each arm to find the pose that you like and to determine how to trim the joint so that the arm holds that position after the magnet has been affixed. Since the cannon arms join together you need to set them so that they want to connect to one another. On mine, I also pinned the connection between the arms and bonded them together with green stuff for a stronger joint. If done properly, the cannon arms can attach and detach from the torso as one piece.

And there you have it. With a little extra effort and about thirty magnets, you too can have a highly mutable Carnifex. Now take the lessons that you've learned today, get out there, and start gluing stuff together.

Matt has a full brood of three Carnifexes completely magnetized. The flexibility it gives him is amazing. For his next magnet project we will have pics as the build progresses. Probably.


The Hive Mind Adapts
The better to eat you with
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Multiple Warp Signatures

February 14, 2014, 10:56 am
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Star Trek Attack Wing is speeding up their release schedule. With the some new (non-Heroclix) sculpts in the line-up and a re-do of the Klingon Bird of Prey I do hope that the older Heroclix Enterprise A & E get a new model as well. I'm not going to hold my breath though. Not very many ships left for them to do, I would love to see an Federation Akira class (from First Contact and some DS9) and a bigger Borg Cube without the armor plates. But that's just me.

It will be interesting to see how much the Borg shake things up. They had better keep the Borg as a really hard to kill, but few in number kind of force. I will be covering the Wizkid's Borg Organized Play Events starting in June, should be fun.

Now if they would just release some faction booster packs with some new crew and equipment cards and a couple of new named ships I would be very happy indeed.

Go Roll Some Dice
And make docking space

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Kaiju Swarm vs Blood Angels

February 19, 2014, 1:28 pm
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It was time to try a Kaiju Tyranid army. Matt was kind enough to brave the unknown and brought his Blood Angels to the party. 2,000 points per side; Big Guns Never Tire was the mission, and I went first.

I had a whopping 22 models, it may have been the first time Matt's marines outnumbered his opponent.

Kaiju Swarm Alpha
Hive Tyrant with wings, Heavy venom Cannon and twin-linked Devourers
Old One Eye 
Haruspex
Three broods of 4 Warriors  
2x Harpies
Two broods of 2 Carnifex(es) or is it Carnifexi?    
Tyrannofex                                  

Not many models, but a whole lot of wounds and toughness 6 creatures. The Blood Angels would be in for a rough time. A little bit over 25% of Matt's points was waiting in reserve, a risky gamble. 

As could be expected my first turn was mostly spent running, but a Harpy did take out the Baal Predator with its Heavy Venom Cannon. A few Tactical Marines were picked off by the Hive Tyrant, and that was it. I had a Carnifex shot up real bad and a few wounds spread out among the beasts. 

Turn Two got the monsters in real close, a few units didn't need to run and shot up the Marine's line a bit more. Tragically for Matt, his Stormraven loaded with Terminators and a Furioso Dreadnought didn't make it on the table this turn. I lost a pair of Carnifex and some Warriors to shooting attacks.

Turn Three went quite well for the Great Devourer. A few wounds from overwatch did not halt the onslaught.                                  
  Old One Eye turned a Land Raider into a smoking crater, the Land Raider Crusader was beaten into junk and a lot of assault marines were lunch for the Haurspex. The rest of the Tactical Marines were felled by the Hive Tyrant and Harpies. The Stormraven arrived and unloaded its deadly passengers.
The Haruspex did meet its end by a really angry Chaplain with a power fist and one wound left, and the Tyrannofex was gutted but the Furioso's Blood Talons. One Harpy took four wounds from the newly arrived Terminator squad. As impressive as the last minute heroics were, it was not enough. At the end of turn four only the Chaplain and a lone Terminator remained for the Blood Angels.  Tyranids 8, Blood Angels 3.

A good game that would have been much closer if not for a few rolls. But that is why we play the game.

6th edition Tyranids do seem to favor the Kaiju style armies so far. I am going to try a list that is mostly little fellows and 'stealers and see how that fares. The unpredictable nature of what kind of Tyranid list you will be facing gives a edge to the 'Nids by complicating army creation for their opponent. It will be fun to see this play out in the games ahead.


Feed the Hive Mind!
Must be Blood!

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The Plastic Knight Rises

February 21, 2014, 1:53 pm
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That is a hell of a thing. Even though the rumors broke a few days ago I never thought I would be holding a White Dwarf magazine looking at the new plastic Imperial Knights for 40K. WD #4 is worth picking up for all the pretty pics of the knights and the awesome decal sheet that comes with the kit. And for a mere $20 there is another huge sheet with lots more (different) beautiful decals.

The rules are brief and to the point. Two versions: Paladin and Errant. The Knights can be taken as a primary detachment of 3-6 or as a allied detachment of 1-3.

Interestingly, no mention of a codex. I find it hard to believe this is just a crazy awesome one off. Dare we dream this is the vanguard of a Mechanicus Codex? My bank account suddenly cried out in terror.
If this is the fruit of a weekly GW release schedule no longer tied to the One Big Release, I could not be happier. Odds and ends of various armies showing up just because the studio thought it would be fun to do them? Yes please.

The Emperor Protects
And Surprises

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All Wings Report In

February 28, 2014, 11:02 am
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Today we have a guest article from our very own Red 7, "Foxy" Johnson, on how to paint up your very own Red Squadron.

Mr. Blackheart and I have been playing a whole lot of X-Wing recently. After a couple of games, we thought it'd be super-neato if the X-Wings were painted to represent the individual pilots. Given that the Rebel Alliance scrounges material from pretty much anywhere it can, it makes sense that no two X-Wings would look the same (much unlike the Empire, which seems to have an unlimited defense budget).

As a long time 40K player (I got the Rogue Trader book for my 11th birthday), painting miniatures is almost a force of habit. For some reason (most likely laziness), I was pretty hesitant to get going on this project. As I was perusing the X-Wing forums on the 'Geek, I saw a link that ultimately led to this post: (http://buckaroo13.blogspot.com/2012/09/x-wing-painting-red-5...) (if I could find the BGG post, I'd link it here, but I haven't had any luck). The post is a great article on how to go about painting your X-Wings. Yep - that post is what I needed to get started on painting our own X-Wings!

Righty-o - enough talk. Let's get on with it, shall we?

Red Leader
















Red 2- Wedge Antilles
















Red 3 - Biggs Darklighter
















Red 4 - John D.
















Red 5 - Luke Skywalker
















Red 6 - Jek Porkins
















Paint Palette
When it comes to painting, I'm extra-super lazy. As such, I will go to great lengths to avoid doing mixing of any kind. Shown below are the paints I used. Where possible, I've included the company's color code in parentheses:

Tamiya Deck Tan (XF-55) - matches the X-Wing miniature's hull color perfectly.
Tamiya Flat Red (XF-7) - matches the X-Wing "racing stripe" and wing markings almost perfectly. Also used for Red Leader's Astromech droid.
Tamiya Yellow Green (XF-4) - used for the "yellow" parts/patchwork of the X-Wing's hull (e.g. Red 5's nose stripe, nosecones of Red 2, 4 and 6, yellow trim on Red 4).
Tamiya Flat Yellow (XF-3) - used only for the R2 unit on Red 4's X-Wing.
Citadel Color Ice Blue (61-36) - Used for "candy striping" on laser cannon barrels.
Citadel Color Fortress Grey (61-53) - used for parts/patchwork (primarily the nosecone stripe on Red 4)
Citadel Foundation Mechrite Red (??) - used for red components on the hull of Red 6.
Citadel Color Chaos Black (61-51) - used for touching up canopy windows on Red 4 and Red 6. Also used for the "dagger" symbol on Red 2's hull.
Citadel Color Rotting Flesh (??) - used for a couple spots of slightly greenish patchwork on Red 3 and Red 6.
Citadel Washes Badab Black (??) - for some of the battle damage/weathering on Red Leader. Also to touch up some of the weathering effects in general

NOTE - Games Workshop updated their entire paint range, so some of the Citadel Colors won't be an exact match under their new names.

Oh yeah - one other thing. I strongly recommend rinsing your X-Wing miniatures in warm soapy water before painting them. I soaked ours in warm water with some liquid dish washing detergent for @ 5 minutes. I scrubbed them lightly with a toothbrush, rinsed them and let them air dry. I found that if I didn't do this, the paint (particularly the Tamiya paint) wouldn't really stick to the miniature.

Other Tools
Brushes - I used a Citadel Fine Detail Brush and a Floquil Golden Fox/Renard D'or F302.
Masking Tape - nothing fancy, just the plain ol' masking tape that you can find at any hardware store.

Inspiration
Like I said before, this blog post (http://buckaroo13.blogspot.com/2012/09/x-wing-painting-red-5...) kicked the idea of painting the X-Wing miniatures to look like the individual Red Squadron fighters into motion.

Reference Material
I used the following photographs as reference. I'm not exactly sure where they found data for the paint schemes, so I can't be 100% certain if they're canon. In particular, there seems to be some debate over Red 6's paint scheme (as near as my amateur eyes can tell, the red canopy/trim did not make it into the final film). However, the paint schemes for Red 4 and Red 6 are really freakin' awesome, so that's what I went with.

Paint Schemes for Red 2, Red 3, Red 4 and Red 6 (http://www.modelermagic.com/?p=40137) (this was my primary source).
Red 2 Commission (http://www.therpf.com/f10/x-wing-red-2-commission-157614/) (used primarily as cross-reference w/the first site cited above).
Red Leader (http://www.modelermagic.com/?p=30066)
Red 12 (http://www.modelermagic.com/?p=11564) (haven't painted this one yet, but I might have to... [I think we might need another "generic" Red Squadron pilot])

Stay on Target
and listen to the voices in your head
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Narrative Campaign: Mission One

March 7, 2014, 10:40 am
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It's time for a narrative driven short campaign. For the next six battles it will be the Eldar versus Tyranids. For this little adventure it will closer to a RPG style game as opposed to pure competitive. Mrs. Blackheart will be bringing her Eldar, and I will be running the 'Nids and devising the missions.

I haven't played any RPGs for years now, and I occasionally miss the coherent story aspect of it. But that itch is easily scratched by a branched mini-campaign. It goes a little something like this:

The Eldar are looking for a lost Warp Gate on a planet with a light Human population. A small strike force is sent, with the intent to avoid the Humans as much as possible. They are to find the Warp Gate and determine it's condition. Easy-peasy. or whatever the Eldar saying is for milk run.

Alas, it does not go as such...

Mission One: Recon
One of the Eldar's reconnaissance teams is scouting a small town that had been recently abandoned. The reason for this is made evident when Tyranid vanguard creatures surround the Eldar. The decision is made to fight through and link up with the main Eldar force.

A 1000 point detachment starts near the center of the board. Fast and non-walker vehicles start in reserve.   The Eldar player goes first and receives 1 VP for each unit they get off the far short table edge.

The Tyranids have 1000 points of vanguard units. Litcors, Genestealers, and all three types of 'Guants. Deathleaper is the HQ. They score 1 VP for each Eldar unit destroyed.

We used a couple house rules for this game. Our Lictor rules, and not having any synapse creatures on the table, the 'guants only made a instinctive behavior roll when they needed a morale check. They have been "pre-programmed" for this mission.

Things looked very daunting for the Eldar, but some very good shooting thinned out the swarms of Hormagunts and wiped out a brood of Genestealers hiding in a building.

It got lively on turn two, with the arrival of a pair of Vypers for the Eldar, and Deathleaper and three lictors for me. A War Walker was destroyed by a flesh hook shooting attack from a Lictor. Deathleaper made short work of the very annoying Rangers. Another Lictor charged and killed three Dire Avengers before being killed by the Autarch.
Yes, Deathleaper is painted. I have decided to paint the base green to make him stand out more. 

The next turn was make or break time. Great shooting from the Eldar minced the 'guants and a Lictor despite the 3+ cover save. The remaining 'guants were in charge range so it was go time.

Both the War Walkers went boom, but the Hormaguant charge went poorly. I lost four to overwatch, then lost the combat by one and failed the morale check hard and was wiped out. After the Eldar's next shooting phase I was left with Deatleaper and a half flock of Gargoyles. The recon unit had escaped the trap.

The Eldar play the move and shoot game better than anybody. This would not have gone so nicely for anybody who has to decide between moving or shooting. Playing a small focused mission is always fun and was a good kick off to the campaign.


Kurnous Watches
And helps with shooting

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Drinking the Knight's Cool-Aid

March 11, 2014, 10:24 am
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My, how far we've come since the plastic Dreadnought. The Imperial Knight takes it's place among the "Kinght" sized super-walkers. And a really nice fit it is.

I picked up the Codex and a Knight kit and I am very happy with both. The Codex is slim and only has stats for two units, but is very well done. As you all know, I love the 40K fluff. And they did a good job with this codex. Great new artwork, nice mood setting fiction blurbs, and all the rules you need to use a Knight, including a quick recap of the relevant Apocalypse rules.

I would have liked to seem a few more units in the book, they mention the other types of Knights, and that each house has "men-at-arms" but no stats or list choices. It really is a ally codex, and to re-introduce the Knight Households. Is it too much to hope for the other Knights in the near future? Hard to say.

Do you need the Codex to use Knights? Not really. White Dwarf #4 is all you really need to take them as allies. To use them as a primary detachment you'll need the Warlord traits table in the Codex and the optional Knightly Ranks table. But I really like the book and recommend it.
As for the kit, A+. Lots of detail, goes together very well and looks great. It has the old Imperial Titan "beattle back" feel. A bunch of cool little details, hand rungs, power cables, small eagle heads and the like. The only complaints I have with it at all, is that the legs are one fixed pose, and the main weapons were not made to be interchangeable. Minor issues at best. Three different "faces" and a large decal sheet round out an excellent kit.

The hardest part of new Knights is deciding on how I will paint mine. I am leaning towards the House Raven, Mechanicus ally, look but making a Freeblade or two does have an appeal. Either way, it will be a great ally for my Guard force. Until I get enough Knights to field a primary detachment that is.


The Emperor Protects
And looks good doing it

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Lobster Claws for Carnifexes

March 20, 2014, 12:55 pm
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Top: Haruspex, Middle:Tervigon, Bottom: Carnifex
I'm slowly catching up on my third re-do of my Tyranid army. I've gotten to the Carnifex portion. I have decided to add two more of the big lugs to my force, mostly because I want to see people's faces when I put down six Carnifexes plus Old One Eye. I am adding crushing claws to two models, so I went for a dive in my bitz bin. I pulled out a few, and to my surprise one was bigger.

Doing a little backtracking I found that the Crushing Claws that come in the Tyrannofex/ Tervigon kit are a bit larger than the "standard" ones. As luck would have it I had two sets floating around. Pete had suggested using the big claws from the Haruspex for Old One Eye, and he was right, they look terrifying on him. Pics on his re-do next.
Scything Talons come in multiple forms as well.

The Great Devourer Hungers
And has evolved multi-tools

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Oderus Urungus, R.I.P.

March 24, 2014, 2:01 pm
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If there ever was a band that was an incarnation of 40K-style Chaos it was GWAR. I had many, many gaming sessions with GWAR on in the background. Clever lyrics full of over-the-top cartoony violence and sex, and then some more violence, they were not everybody's cup of tea. I saw then live several times with fellow Warlord Jeff, we escaped covered in stage blood and other alien fluids. It was great.

Sadly today, Dave Brockie, the human alter-ego of Oderus Urungus was found dead in his home. USA Today has a write-up here. He brought a lot of joy to our black hearts, he will be missed.

"From my fortress in Antarctica
I watch the world die
On my Sony Trinitron that's switched to channel 5."

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Old One Eye and the Crushers

March 28, 2014, 9:37 am
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My slightly mad Carnifex upgrade project has seen completion. Soon six Carnifexes led by the new & improved Old One Eye shall crush all before them! Or get shot to ribbons as they lumber across the field.
The Haruspex's plus-sized crushing claws look great on the old fellow. Rules wise, I think he was hit by the lazy brush as well. Making him a HQ unit? Great, but why not have him adjust the FOC a bit? Like making Carnifexes a troop or at least scoring unit? That would be shake things up a bit. I really enjoyed it when Old One Eye might get back up after taking his last wound, or when his regeneration was better, now it is the same as any other unit that takes it. I'm thinking of trying Feel No Pain for him, in addition to his regeneration. Not overpowering, just a little bump to give him back his flavor.

"Hey One Eye!"
OH, YEAAHH!
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Tyranid Hive Crone

April 11, 2014, 2:28 pm
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Almost done with my Tyranid re-redo. I wanted to spice up my Hive Crone a little bit, so I took a spare Tyrannofex head and voila! It fit like it was made for it. I think it gives the Hive Crone an aggressive "I like to ram things" look.

The Tentaclid living missiles are very cool, but the look is wasted if mounted under the wings. After some consideration, I went with the Remora and Shark arrangement:
It seemed more organic to me, rather than the Tyranids copying the wing mounted missiles thing a bit too closely. 

The Hive Crone and Harpy are great additions to the Tyranid force, good looking models that work well on the tabletop. Stay tuned for a Tyranid Air Command battle report. Up next, my take on the new Guard Codex, or whatever the hell they are called now.

The Hive Mind Hungers
Now I want a Harridan


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Space Army, Quick Look

April 22, 2014, 12:55 pm
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Three name changes and six or seven books later we have the new Army/Guard/Militarum codex. Of course there never was a Imperial Army Codex, but they had army lists in the Rogue Trader Expansion books, right next to the Space Ork Raiders and Space Elves.
The new book is a little light on fluff but has lots of pretty pictures. So what does this new fangled hardcover do for us Guard players? Plenty of good and a bit of bad. I have yet to get a game in with the new book (I hope for this weekend) but as a Panzer enthusiast, the new Tank commander HQ makes me happy.

Let's get the bad out of the way. Maybe not so much bad, as missing:
Yeah, Marbo is hidden so well he is not in the codex. Al'rahem, Chenko, Kamir, and Bastone are all also M.I.A. The Medusa, Colossus, and Griffon are absent as well. The rumors are already starting that a few of the characters are coming back, notably Marbo. Strange that we only lost characters and didn't gain any new ones.

The nice new Hydra kit has lame rules. Giving it interceptor would have made it too powerful for the points, but not being able turn off Skyfire to shoot at ground targets is dumb. As is the loss of it's auto-targeting systems to deny bikes and skimmers their jink save.

I am in favor of the cost increase and carrying decrease of the Vendetta, it was far too cheap and good. The changes to the Stormtroopers (aside from the name change) and the new models make me very happy.

I'm sure something else will jump out and surprise me after a few games, but overall I'm happy with the minor rule tweaks. I really like the new and useful orders and the flexibility of where you can attach your Commissars.

The Emperor Protects
But Marbo is Behind You!

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Da Borgs

April 25, 2014, 1:48 pm
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The big cyber-zombie baddies are here for Star Trek Attack Wing. And they don't disappoint. So we gave them a test drive. One Borg Sphere o' Fear fully equipped came to a cool 80 points. I took a firepower heavy Fed fleet. It was almost close.

The Borg do come with a slew of special rules, all fit well into the game without bogging down at all. The Captains have a neat system where they start with a number of drones, 4 for the 3 point Captain and 1 for the 0 point one. Your Captain level is equal to the number of drone tokens on the Captain's cards. The Drones can be spent for attack re-rolls and the Assimilation action card in this set, I'm sure more fun ways to spend drones are coming.

The Borg Sphere moves in a novel way: No turns. You may only change direction by 90 or 180 degrees by the Spin maneuver; you rotate the ship 90 or 180 then make your move with the straight template. Nice and easy, but makes for interesting play.

Sphere 4270 is 40 points of evil. Attack 6, Shields and hull 7. No evade. Target lock, scan and regenerate for actions.

Rule one when fighting the Borg, do not let them get to range one if they have a tractor beam, or FSM help you, a tractor beam and a cutting beam. Yes of course I made that mistake. The Nebula was turned into a cloud of plasma in one turn. Sigh. Let's talk about the highlights of the upgrade cards.
The Borg Tractor Beam is an action at range one, the victim gets two shields disabled and if cloaked, immediately un-cloaks and raises it's shields minus two. Then if the target ship is still alive, next turn it can only pick a 1 or 2 maneuver. 7 Points

The Cutting Beam: Range one attack. 10 dice. The Borg has to have the target in a Borg Tractor Beam, and then the card is disabled. 8 points.

Ablative Hull Armor:10 points, absorbs 4 damage cards before being discarded.

Feedback Pulse: A nasty dirty trick for 8 points. You declare you are using it before any dice are rolled, then half the hits are put on the firing ship, you take no hits and get an Aux Power marker.

Assimilation Tubules: 8 point action. Range 1-2 and costs one Drone. You get to steal a crew, equipment, or weapon upgrade. Fun times.  

Seven of Nine: 4 point Crew, disable to gain 2 drones, up to your max.

The Borg are good addition for Attack Wing, I look forward to the Tactical Cube in June, that should be a hell of a thing.

Go Roll some Crits
Resistance is Fun!


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Lord of Skulls

April 30, 2014, 11:27 am
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Yes, the model is a bit over the top Chaos silly. But I still love it anyways. It was a semi-complicated build and a long, slow time painting. So much brass trim. This was one of those kits that had to be built and painted in sections, put together and then painted some more. I am pleased with the final result.

It makes a great centerpiece for my World Eaters army. I will have a "family photo" of the army up once I finish painting the Heldrake next week.

Skulls for the Skull Throne
Or for the Dozer blade, it could use a few more...

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Chaos Bias

April 30, 2014, 12:47 pm
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Today I bring you a guest article written by Arch-Heretic Peter:

I was paging through the Chaos Marine codex and something struck me.  It’s been gnawing at me for a while and I finally realized what it was a few days ago.  I think it’s a strong indication of why this codex—and the one before it—have been sort of lacking.

If I could, I'd like to bounce a storytelling idea off you.  And the best example of it would be Magneto, the X-Men’s recurring nemesis.  I think he makes for a great parallel.  If you aren't a big X-Men fan, Professor X and Magneto used to be allies.  They were friends who shared the same beliefs and goals.  But at some point, Magneto decided he needed to follow a different, more extreme path.  He became the villain of the series, and the arch-enemy of the X-Men.

So....why did Magneto decide to become a villain?

Well, that’s the interesting point.  He didn’t.  Magneto decided everyone else was doing things wrong and that he was going to start doing them right.  In his mind, Magneto is the hero while Professor X and his students are a bunch of well-meaning idiots who keep getting in the way.  Most good villains have this viewpoint.  They think they’re the good guy.  Look at any war in history.  Both sides believe they’re in the right, and it’s only afterwards that one gets declared “the villain.” 

And this is true of the world of Warhammer 40,000, too.  Read any of the assorted Space Marine codexes and they'll tell you how they're humanity’s glorious protectors, retaking the stars in the name of the Emperor of Mankind.  But in the Tau codex, the members of the Tau Empire are the heroes, bringing a bold vision of peace and unity to the galaxy.  Same with the Eldar, the Orks... heck, even the Necrons come across as the heroes in their own Codex.  They're the original rulers of the galaxy, returned to reclaim what is rightfully, logically theirs from the immature races.  No matter what army I choose to play, I'm playing on the side of the heroes of the story. 


Except...

Take another look at the Chaos Marine Codex.  Check out the language of the book.  Really consider the words and phrases and how they’re used. 

Look all the different events and stories on the timeline (pages 22-25).  These aren't tales of Chaos winning... they’re tales of the Imperium losing.  The codex doesn't talk  about the Chaos Marines versus the servants of the False Emperor.  It’s all about the Imperium versus assorted traitors.  The story of the Abyssal Crusade is fantastic, but it’s not a story about Space Marines switching loyalties to Chaos.  It’s the story of how Konvak Lann and the Vorpal Swords survived, were vindicated, and then exposed and killed the corrupt Saint Basillius.

Consider the descriptions for different entries.  Sorcerers.  Daemon Princes.  Chaos Marines. Cultists.  Spawn.  Heldrakes.  All of these make the point of saying (one way or another) that turning to Chaos is a mistake.  That these characters are doomed because of their poor choices.  Even the entry for Abaddon himself is slanted toward the Imperium and makes him out to be the great villain.  His own rulebook sees him as being on the wrong side.

Codex Chaos Marines is written under the assumption that the Chaos Marines are the bad guys.  It assumes they deserve to be punished.  Every bit of fluff is done from the point of view that the Imperials are the heroes.  It actually tells Chaos players that following the Powers is seen as a sign of weakness and inevitable failure.  And the rules reflect that. 

Compare this to the old 4th edition codex, the one that still gets songs of praise from Chaos players.  The various stories are about the great Chaos victories.  The rise of mighty Daemon Princes and successes against the misguided fools who worship the corpse god.  This book is all about Marines who saw the light (so to speak) and decided to stop following the False Emperor. 

Remember that phrase?  Death to the False Emperor.  Try to find it in the new book.  It’s mentioned in passing on page three, in the introduction, and then never comes up again.  Nothing even close to it.

Because if it did, the Chaos Marines might look like the heroes.


Let The Galaxy Burn
Chaos needs a better P.R. department 

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